Reading challenge 2021

[melk]

25/35 Just My Luck by Adele Parks

Three couples chip in on a lottery ticket every week for 15 years. Then one weekend they have a falling out and two couples pull out. The remaining couple plays the usual numbers anyway and win big.

I wanted to like this book more than I did because it’s an interesting premise. But the majority of the characters were completely unlikeable so I didn’t care. Also, the book started out as regular fiction then about 3/4 in, turned into a mystery.

 

[mini22]

28/30 Captive Star by Nora Roberts

 

[mrs. magoo]

9/25 - Little Fires Everywhere

This was recommended to me to read. I did not really enjoy it at all. I feel it pitted moms against each other and I could not find a character that I liked.

 

[PollyannaMom]

3 More:

Forget Me Not - Fern Michaels
About a woman who is told her parents just died in a car crash, goes to clean out their house, and finds out they had a whole secret life. I liked the story idea but not the writing style. (There was just something off about the dialogue. I kept thinking: "Nobody actually talks like that.")

Mindwise: Why We Misunderstand What Others Think, Believe, Feel, and Want - Nicholas Epley
The title pretty much explains this one. It's non-Fiction, but accessible. - It doesn't read like a heavy textbook. Worth it if you have time!

Seventh Son - Orsen Scott Card
An alternate history someone already mentioned above. I read it years ago and recently dug it back out. I love the genre and definitely recommend it. (Though I'm reading the second book in the series now, and really noticing the negative stereotypes I probably didn't when I read it the first time.)

14/21

 

[JayMass]

9/25 - Little Fires Everywhere

This was recommended to me to read. I did not really enjoy it at all. I feel it pitted moms against each other and I could not find a character that I liked.

I absolutely loved this book! But I also love books with not entirely likable characters. The book brings up issues of race, class, and privilege in ways that I found important but uncomfortable.

 

[mini22]

29/30 A Good Women by Danielle Steel

 

[bobbiwoz]

....
27. "The Paris Library" by Janet Skelsien Charles, 4 stars. Historical Fiction which alternated between the story of a Paris Librarian during WWII and neighbors in the 80s.
...

32/50. I gave it a 4.5, I especially enjoyed knowing how the library functioned during the war. Good people!

 

[willowsnn3]

9/25 - Little Fires Everywhere

This was recommended to me to read. I did not really enjoy it at all. I feel it pitted moms against each other and I could not find a character that I liked.

I did not care for it either. Or the little series on tv either. Muddled thru about one episode & that was it.

 

[drwitz]

Moving on... In honor of Juneteenth, and in recognition of my own need to dive deeper into understanding, here are a few more resources that I have read (and learned from):

27. Celebrating Black Americans: African-American History and Its Meanings, 1619 to the Present by Nell Irvin Painter

This is the history of the African-American experience which I wish was required high school reading. Painter has done a terrific job of explaining African-American history and pairing each element of history with art (by African-American artists) which add color and texture to the history. The only drawback to this text is that it ends with the second Bush presidency. I would loved to have read an update encompassing the Obama and Trump presidencies. With that said, this is a fantastic read.

28. At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance - a New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power by Danielle L. McGuire

Another great read which introduced me to stories I did not know. This historical review recenters Black Women as the foundation and vanguard of the civil rights movement prominently highlighting their work and telling their stories. The text is compelling, and the stories are important. It also highlights the contradictions between the white supremacy narrative of black men as threatening to white women's sexual purity when the reality was white men and their sexual violence against black women. An important read to fully understand the civil rights story.

Three more in quick succession. Wow, I loved these... All fiction and very readable and enjoyable.

29. Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline

I can't say much about this without spoiling a lot of the first book, but let's just say that the main characters from the first book are back again with a new challenge. There are a lot more pop culture references from the 80s and 90s, and while technically a science-fiction story, the online world of the Oasis is only a short hop from the social media spaces we live in now (I cannot wait for The Dis planet in the Oasis once it happens for real). Credit to the Dis reader who mentioned there was a sequel out. Somehow I missed that.

30. Welcome to Higby by Mark Dunn

Mark Dunn may be one of my new favorite authors. His epistolary novel, Ella Minnow Pea, was brilliant and in this book, the second of his novels, he shows that his talent is not a one-off. This book tells the story of a small Southern town through what happens to its residents one Labor Day weekend. Each chapter is VERY short (no more than 3 to 5 pages) and the narration bounces from character to character, but rather than being disorienting it is actually charming. We get to learn the stories of the residents of the town and see their interconnected stories. It is deeply moving and at times laugh-out-loud funny. Worth a read.

31. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

I know some of you have read and recommended this already (I'm looking at you @JayMass). This was on my list to read and wow is it good. I sped through it in one day. A pandemic apocalyptic novel which is a work of literary beauty. Read it. It's worthwhile...

 

[JayMass]

31. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

I know some of you have read and recommended this already (I'm looking at you @JayMass). This was on my list to read and wow is it good. I sped through it in one day. A pandemic apocalyptic novel which is a work of literary beauty. Read it. It's worthwhile...

I'm so glad you liked it! I was DONE with post apocalyptic novels but I'm happy I read it as this one stand out as one of the best!

22/50. We're All Adults Here by Emma Straub. An American family and all its messiness. This was entertaining enough but although it presented with some real life issues--marital infidelity, LGBTQ issues, bullying--it wasn't exactly deep in any way. The characters were likable--maybe too much so. My taste tends toward conflicted characters who you are not sure if you like or not so this definitely did not meet that criteria. But I think, as a summer beach read, its good enough. Straub is an excellent writer but this all seemed too easy. I give it a "meh."

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

There a ready player 2 - gotta get it.

 

[bobbiwoz]

33/50. I decided to read more of Margaret Coel’s series.

The Dream Stalker

 

[OKW8297]

43. The Hellfire Club by Jake Tapper

 

[bobbiwoz]

34/50. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Very good book that’s set in WWII in France and Germany.

 

[Allison Joy]

11. The Archer's Cup by S.D. Smith
12. Ember's End by S.D. Smith
Final two books in the Green Ember series. I technically read these two out of order. But I really liked reading it this way, because this way, you kind of know what happened before the last book. I guess there would be some fun in reading "Ember's End" and wondering how they got all the forces together, and then going back to find out, but I really liked ending with the last book chronologically (as opposed to order published.) There wouldn't be anything lost by not reading Archer's End before Ember's End, but I thought it worked perfectly. The series ends on a bittersweet note. Big war, expected loses, but hope. #RabbitsWithSwords

13. Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan
Absolutely fascinating book about the author's struggle with Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis. Makes me wonder how many people have this but have just been misdiagnosed. I thought it was really good.

Currently Reading:
Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, about a school shooting. Not far enough into it to give a proper review.

 

[MGMmjl]

15/30 - Imagineering an American Dreamscape: Genesis, Evolution, and Redemption of the Regional Theme Park by Barry R. Hill

Description:
"Finally, the story of America’s regional theme parks. Everybody knows pretty much everything about Disneyland—how it got started, how the Imagineers do their thing, and so on. But nobody ever talks about the parks that most of us across the country enjoy far more often. Regional theme parks, different from amusement parks, owe their existence to the magical land Walt built in Anaheim. There were a few false starts, but in 1961 Angus Wynne opened Six Flags Over Texas, triggering a tidal wave of Disneyland-lites over the next twenty years.

Imagineering an American Dreamscape tells the story of the regionals and the strong-willed individuals behind them—where they came from, how they got started, and how they’ve changed over the decades. Some of the stories you may have heard. Most you probably haven’t, and it’s a fascinating tale to tell. Sit back and enjoy the long journey from the grand world expositions of yesteryear to the parks you grew up to love and cherish."

I enjoyed reading about the reginal theme parks, including a couple that I have been to (Six Flags Over Georgia and Dollywood). It was an interesting book overall and I enjoyed learning more about some of the early parks.

 

[OKW8297]

44. North of Normal by Cea Sunrise Person read this in one day. Outstanding.

 

[mrs. magoo]

10/25 The Abominable by Dan Simmons - This combines 3 of my favorite things - history, Mt Everest and Yetis. I liked the book but it was a slow read. There are lots of technical terms for climbing that I am familiar with but did not need to read about in such detail. The middle of the book was slow but once they got to Mt. Everest it picked up.

 

[MGMmjl]

He's also got a great podcast on the Haunted Mansion and all of its versions called The Doombuggies Podcast.

Thanks for the recommendation! I have started at the beginning listening to it.

 

[bobbiwoz]

35/50
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
When I realized it was Science Fiction, I almost didn't bother with it, but I had waited for it on hold for a few months, so I decided to give it a try, and I enjoyed it. It’s about life and our choices. 4.5/5