Reading challenge 2021

[Simba's Mom]

Time for another update-
41. "When Twilight Breaks", Sarah Sundin 4stars-Historical Fiction-Most of the book was great, but the ending was just a little too "wrapped up" neatly and quickly.

42. "Malibu Rising", Taylor Jenkins Reid 4 stars-I kept thinking that this would make a great night time soap opera or movie of the week, so if you like that sort of thing (as I do), you'll love it.

43. "Hideaway", Nora Roberts 4Stars-Reminded me of the traditional Nora Roberts, wish they talked a little more about the foreign countries she went to.

44. "We came, We saw, We left, a Family Gap Year" Charles Wheelman, 3 stars-OK book about a family who visited different countries, some very non-touristy countries.

45. "The Forest of Vanishing Stars", Kristen Harmel-overall 4stars. Another Historical Fiction, the first almost half of the book was a 3 star for me, but in the second half it all came together as a strong 5 star, very thought-provoking.

46. "King Richard", Michael Hobbs, 3 stars. If you want to read about the Richard Nixon presidency during Watergate, this is it. Very factual. However, for me, I'm not a fan of non-fiction and this book read like a History text book.

 

[OKW8297]

67. The Girls of Ennismore by Patricia Falvey. Set in Ureland early 20th century. Very good story.

 

[mgarbowski]

Book 15 of 24 Once upon a Time in Hollywood by Quentin Tarantino
Book 16 of 24 The Parasitic Mind by Gad Saad
Book 17 of 24 Odd Hours (Odd Thomas Series Book 4) by Dean Koontz
Book 18 of 24 Tears of the Anaren by C.W. Longbottom
Book 19 of 24 All My Darkest Impulses (House of Crows Series Book 1) by Lisa Unger

• The Tarantino book is a hoot if you have seen the movie. It is very much not a simple novelization. Among other things, the ending of the movie is discussed as a flash forward maybe about 20% of the way into this book and then only in passing. Not sure it has any appeal if you did not see the film.
• Tears of the Anaren is also a derivative tie-in, this time to the Apple TV series Mythic Quest. Again useless if you have not seen the show, in particular S2E6 "Backstory."
• All my Darkest Impulses. Well. This is a free short novel on Kindle Prime. Halfway through I thought it's actually below par and a bit amateurish for the self-published material you often find there. Turns out Lisa Unger is "a New York Times and internationally bestselling author. With books published in thirty languages and millions of copies sold worldwide..." I might still read the entire series as they're pretty short and all free. Maybe it gets better, too.

I'm more or less on track to hit 24.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Before Green Gables - Budge Wilson
Loved this! The title pretty much says it all. - It's a story about Anne's life before she arrived at Green Gables. I enjoyed it a lot.

Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter - Blaize Clement
OK. About an ex cop who left the force after a personal tragedy and now takes care of animals. She finds a murder victim and gets re-involved in investigating. I really wanted to like this series, but it didn't quite fit what I'd hoped for.

Nine, Ten: a September 11 Story - Nora Raleigh Baskin
A fictional account of four middle schoolers in the days leading up to and on September 11th. Geared young, but well worth the quick read for adults as well!

Decluttering at the Speed of Life - Dana K. White
The best decluttering book I've ever read!! If you've got too much stuff, get borrow this book from the library.


I'm up to 27/21.

I realized that you didn’t necessarily enjoy it, but I was looking for a new mystery series, so I read “Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter.” It wasn’t what I was looking for either.

It was my 65/50. I’ve read more this year than I thought I would.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Happiness is a Choice You Make - John Leland

...weaves together the stories and wisdom of six New Yorkers who number among the “oldest old”― those eighty-five and up...collection of lessons that emphasizes, above all, the extraordinary influence we wield over the quality of our lives. With humility, heart, and wit, Leland has crafted a sophisticated and necessary reflection on how to “live better”―informed by those who have mastered the art. - Amazon​

- I liked this and got a lot out of it!

Hocus Pocus & The All New Sequel
- I'm a big Hocus Pocus fan, so I really enjoyed this! Highly recommend to fellow lovers of the movie.

33

 

[bobbiwoz]

This month I read 13 books, bringing my total for the year to 85. This month I read:

73) Border and Rule: Global Migration, Capitalism, and the Rise of Racist Nationalism by Harsha Walia – Non-Fiction/Social Justice. Disputing easy explanations for the migrant & refugee crises, Walia shows how they are the inevitable outcomes of conquest, capitalist globalization, & climate change and how those same things also bring about the rise of right-wing nationalism around the world. 5/5.

74) Home Again by Kristin Hannah – Romance. A perfectly fine Lifetime/Hallmark Channel movie in book form. Not really my cup of tea, but a reading challenge I’m doing had “Read a Kristin Hannah book” prompt. So I picked up whatever the library had available. 3/5.

75) Vernon Subutex 1 by Virginie Despentes – Satire. 1st in a series of a down on his luck former owner of an infamous music store. He’s life begins to change when an offhand post he once made about having personal tell all videos recorded by a now dead famous musician gains life. 3.5/5

76) A History of America in Ten Strikes by Erik Loomis – Non-Fiction/Labor History. From the Lowell Mill Girls Strike of the 1830’s through the Justice for Janitors strikes of 1990, Loomis examines how 10 specific strikes shaped both the labor movement and the ountry as a whole. 4.25/5

77) The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen – YA(MG?)/Disability/Sports. Jessica was a star of her track team until an accident left her an amputee. She begins putting her life back together, in part with being a friendship with Rosa, a girl with Cerebral Palsy. 4/5

78) Dread Nation by Justina Ireland – YA Alternate History/Horror. Set close to two decades after the civil war ended after the Battle of Gettysburg due to the dead rising, African Americans and Native Americans are sent to specialized combat schools so they can fight on the front lines against the dead. It’s at one of these schools where Jane McKeene begins to learn that the fight against the ead may not be going as well as people are being lead to believe. 4.5/5.

79) The Price of Justice: A True Story of Greed and Corruption by Laurence Leamer – Non-Fiction/Law. Traces the 14-year long battle of two specific lawyers and a group of associates to bring justice to Don Blanckenship, America’s most powerful coal baron. 4.25/5

80) Misfits: A Personal Manifesto by Michaela Coel – Non-Fiction/Essay. Expanding upon her Edinburgh Festival MacTaggart lecture Coel argues for greater transparency and how speaking ones truth and owning their differences can transform your life. 4.75/5

81) The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo – YA Contemporary. Coming of age novel written in verse about a young Harlem girl finding herself through Slam poetry. 4.5/5

82) The Sisters of Auschwitz: The True Story of Two Jewish Sisters' Resistance in the Heart of Nazi Territory by Roxane van Iperen/Joni Zwart (translator) – Non-Fiction/History/Biography. First released in the Netherlands in 2018, the international bestseller has finally been translated into English. Van Iperen began writing the book after her family moved and she discovered the forgotten history of a house that was central to the Jewish resistance in the occupied Netherlands. 4.75/5

83) Realm Breaker by Victoria Aveyard – YA Fantasy. The first in a new series by Aveyard. A young woman discovers she and the rag tag group assembling around her are the only hope left against an ancient darkness. It took a while to get into, but by the end I’m interested enough to see where the second book goes. 3.75/5

84) The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton 1965-2010 by Lucille Clifton – Poetry. All 11 of the acclaimed poets published collections as well as over 50 unpublished poems. 5/5

85) The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura/Lucy North (translator) – Psychological Fiction. A tale of envy and the desperate desire to be seen as told from the obsessive pov of the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan looking into the life of the Woman in the Purple Skirt. 4/5.

I read “The Sisters of Auschwitz” after I read your description. It’s a powerful story. I gave it 4.5/5.

66/50

 

[bobbiwoz]

67/50 After the very somber “The Sisters of Auschwitz “. I read lighthearted “Cape May Summer Nights” by Claudia Vance today. Easy read 3/5

 

[jen7233]

#16/25: Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty. Definitely good, better than her last book, a few underdeveloped characters, one character I never felt sympathetic too but think I was supposed to, and plot twists a little too late.

 

[KevM]

67/50 After the very somber “The Sisters of Auschwitz “. I read lighthearted “Cape May Summer Nights” by Claudia Vance today. Easy read 3/5

Yeah Sisters was a powerful story.

I’ll probably check out these Cape May books. While I was more of an Ocean City (as a kid) & Sea Isle (20s-early30s) guy myself I have like Cape May the couple times I’ve been there.

 

[OKW8297]

68. Terminal JL Bryan Another ghost story. Very good!

 

[mrs. magoo]

27 - The Huntress by Kate Quinn - This was my favorite of the 3 books I read by Kate Quinn. It was a great story that blended the post war with actions during the war.

28 - The Alice Network by Kate Quinn - This was my least favorite book of the 3 I read in the past month by Kate Quinn. I still enjoyed it but not as much. It was a good read but all the characters seemed to have something about them that I just didn't like. I don't know how to explain it.

 

[Allison Joy]

19/50 - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

I forgot how annoying Harry's attitude gets in this book. No, Harry. I'm sorry, but the Wizard world does NOT actually revolve around you.

 

[willowsnn3]

#51/60 Dwelling Places by Vinita Hampton Wright
Mack and Jodie have no idea how much their lives are going to change when they decide to give up farming. Mack is hospitalized with depression, Jodie finds herself tempted by the affections of another man, and their teenage children begin looking for answers outside the family—Kenzie turns to fundamentalist Christianity, and Taylor starts cavorting with Goths.
Told in the unforgettable voices of each family member, this powerful story of family life reveals the stubborn resilience of love and how sometimes the very thing we're looking for has been waiting at home all along.

I enjoyed this one. A little long in places but overall, a good read.

 

[bobbiwoz]

#62/90: All the Little Hopes by Leah Weiss (4.5/5) (historical fiction/coming of age)

1943 North Carolina: Lucy lives on the farm with her family and dreams of adventure through the Nancy Drew books she reads. Bertie is sent away from her home in the mountains after a family tragedy, and ends up living with Lucy’s family. They navigate the war years and adolescence together.

I enjoyed “All the Little Hopes” by Leah Weiss. 4/5

68/50

I’ve changed my goal to 90, so, 68/90.
11/2/21

 

[KevM]

Read 20 books in October, which brings my total for the year to 105. My original goal was 52. I then revised it to 104. For will need to revise it again for the remainder of the year. The books I read this month were:


86) Tender is the Flesh by Augustina Bazterrica/Sarah Moses (Translator) – Dystopian/Horror. In the future a virus has made all animal meat poisonous to humans. Now there are humans breed specifically for human consumption. But what happens when a meat processor begins falling for one of them? Yeah, talk about dystopian. 3.5/5

87) Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland – YA Alternate History/Horror. The sequel to Dreed Nation. A nice follow up that picked up right where the first one left off before having the second half jump ahead a year. 4.5/5

88) The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins – Urban Fantasy/Horror. Yeah, I really don’t know how to summarize this one. A missing god, a library with the knowledge of the universe, focusing on on of the god’s apprentices/adopted children. Weird and bizarre but interesting enough. 3.5/5

89) Yours Cruelly, Elvira: Memoirs of the Mistress of the Dark by Cassandra Peterson – Nonfiction/Autobiography. Cassandra gives an in depth look at her life from childhood to now. And she led a very interesting life. 4.75/5

90) The Turn of the Screw by Henry James – Classic Horror/Classic Gothic. To a new governess’ horror so discovers that there is something horrific stalking the estate. To her greater horror she soon realizes her charges are welcoming to whatever is out there. 4.25/5

91) Anoka by Shane Hawk – Horror/Anthology. Short horror stories all taking place within the same small town. 4/5

92) The Book of Dragons edited by Jonathan Strahan – Anthology. Over 25 short stories and poems about dragons across various genres. 3.75/5

93) Opium and Absinthe by Lydia Kang – Historical Fiction/Mystery/Thriller. NYC, 1899. Tillie’s sister has just been murdered; her body drained of blood. Are vampires real or is something more human but equally sinister going on? 4.25/5

94) The Wages of Sin by Katie Welsh – Historical Fiction/Mystery/Thriller. Edinburgh, 1892; Sarah is in the first class at the University of Edinburgh’s medical school to admit woman. When a young lady of the night that Sarah helped treat turns up dead, she seems to be the only one that things there is more to the death than just another fallen woman dying. 1st in a series. Interesting enough that I’ll check out the next. 3.75/5

95) My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite – Thriller. Korede’s sister, Ayoola, has just killed her third boyfriend in self defense and Korede has helped cover them each up. But when Ayoola starts dating a colleague, and crush, of Korede’s, she begins wondering; each incident had been in self-defense, right? A quick, fun read. 4/5

96) Reprieve by James Han Mattson – Horror/Mystery. When only the second group ever makes it to the final cell of a “full contact haunted escape room” a fatal incident occurs. This was not what I was expecting it to be. Most of the book was actual flashbacks to the characters lives before the invent. Frankly I didn’t care for most of the characters either. 3/5.

97) The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole – Classic Gothic. Published in 1764, this is considered the first Gothic novel. It takes place in a haunted castle in roughly 13th century Sicily. 3.5/5

98) This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron – YA Urban Fantasy. Briseis has a power over plants. When an unknown aunt, her birth mother’s sister, dies and wills her an estate in upstate New York, Briseis and her moms decide to check out the estate for the summer. While there Briseis will find answers she has about her powers while gaining a whole lot more questions as well. This started out a bit slow, but by the end I am looking forward to the sequel being published next summer. 4.25

99) Projected Fears: Horror Films and American Culture by Kendall R. Phillips – Nonfiction/Film Criticism. Selecting 10 Horror movies from across the decades Phillips looks at what makes horror a popular genre and what cultural influences might go along with what type of horror movie is popular. This was written back in 2005, so the last movie looked at is the Sixth Sense. I’d be very interested in an updated version. 3.5/5.

100) Mimi Lee Gets a Clue by Jennifer J. Chow – Cozy Mystery. When the puppy mill breeder Mimi gets into a shouting match with ends up dead the police focus on her as their prime suspect. Now with only the help of a talking cat that only Mimi can hear, she needs to solve the case and clear her name. All while trying to keep her new pet grooming business a float. A fun quick read. It’s the first in a series and I’ll most likely check out the next one. 4/5.

101) Apple and Knife by Intan Paramaditha/Stephen J. Epstein (Translator) – Horror/Short Story collection. Inspired by horror stories, fairy tales, and Indonesian myths. A good short story collection. Some of the stories though are more than a bit unsettling. 4.25/5

102) The Double by Fyodor Dostoevsky – Classic Russian Lit/Psychology. As Golyadkin is walking home in a snowstorm, after being kicked out of a party, he runs across a man that looks exactly like him and has all the charm and social skills he lacks. Slowly the other Golyadlin begins taking over his life. 3.5/5

103) The Twenty Days of Turin by Giorgio De Maria/Ramon Galzov (Translator) – Horror/Mystery. Set 10 years after a series of violent events that never were really resolved an unnamed narrator decides to investigate what really happened. 4/5

104) Underworld Lit by Srikanth Reddy – Poetry. Prose poetry journey through several different cultures’ realms of the dead. 4.5/5

105) Noctuidea by Scott Nicolay – Horror. Sue-Min, her boyfriend Ron, and Ron’s friend Pete are hiking a remote trail in Arizona. When Ron disappears, Sue-Min needs to figure out if Pete’s a killer or if there’s something else out there with them. 3.5/5

 

[willowsnn3]

#52/60 The Woman With The Blue Star by Pam Jenoff
1942. Sadie Gault is eighteen and living with her parents amid the horrors of the Kraków Ghetto during World War II. When the Nazis liquidate the ghetto, Sadie and her pregnant mother are forced to seek refuge in the perilous sewers beneath the city. One day Sadie looks up through a grate and sees a girl about her own age buying flowers.
Ella Stepanek is an affluent Polish girl living a life of relative ease with her stepmother, who has developed close alliances with the occupying Germans. Scorned by her friends and longing for her fiancé, who has gone off to war, Ella wanders Kraków restlessly. While on an errand in the market, she catches a glimpse of something moving beneath a grate in the street. Upon closer inspection, she realizes it’s a girl hiding.
Ella begins to aid Sadie and the two become close, but as the dangers of the war worsen, their lives are set on a collision course that will test them in the face of overwhelming odds.

 

[tiggrbaby]

October:
#73/90: Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead (4/5) (family saga)

Ray Carney is trying hard to make something of himself. He came from an unstable background, but he has his own furniture store in Harlem, and is hoping to save enough money to move his family to a better neighborhood. But he ends up working with his cousin Freddie in some not quite legal scenarios.

#74/90: Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson (5/5) (nonfiction)

In 1991, sixty miles off the coast of New Jersey, deep wreck divers found the remains of a WWII German U-boat. But there were no visible markings to identify the vessel nor any record of such a vessel at that location. A pair of elite divers risked their lives and marriages to solve the mystery over a period of years.

#75/90: The Windsor Knot by S J Bennett (3.5/5) (mystery)

Queen Elizabeth is in residence at Windsor Castle prior to her 90th birthday when a guest is found dead in his room. The Queen works with her Assistant Private Secretary to solve the mystery of his death.

#76/90: The Magdalen Girls by V. S. Alexander (3.5/5) (historical fiction)

Dublin, 1962: The Magdalen Laundries are workhouses for “fallen” women. But many are just young girls who are sent there because they have tempted the wrong man. Three young girls, stripped of their names and contact with the outside world, band together to escape.

#77/90: The Color of Air by Gail Tsukiyama (4/5) (historical fiction)

In 1935, Daniel returned to his native Hawaii after suffering a tragic loss as a doctor in Chicago. His Uncle Koji is eager to see him, and wants to finally share the truth about Daniel’s parents. But Mauna Loa is erupting, and the lava flow is heading towards their village.

#78/90: The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles (5/5) (historical fiction)

Emmett Watson has just arrived home from a juvenile work farm, planning to take his little brother to California. But two friends from the work farm had smuggled themselves back with Emmett. They embark on a journey to New York City.

I really enjoyed this book! It was sad and funny all at the same time.

 

[OKW8297]

69. Blue Bistro by Elin Hilderbrand

 

[threeboysmom]

So awesome to see this thread continue year after year!!

I set a goal of 40 books on Goodreads and just checked on my stats -57!! What?!

What really boosted my numbers is reading multiple books at once. Something I’ve always balked in the past but it apparently works!

Still have over 200 books on my “to read” list. Sigh.

 

[drwitz]

And I have continued my exploration of Tarot and the Mysteries. For those who think Tarot is some kind of dark art, it isn't... I love the beauty of the cards and the difference in artists' depiction of them. While I am a scientifically rational person, I also appreciate the mystery and esoteric nature of the Tarot. Just as I can hold in my head scientifically that both G-d created the world in 6 days and also that it took millions of years for the Earth to emerge from the cosmos, I can be in touch with the artistic and creative side of myself through Tarot and still be a rational and scientific person.

I offer this comment as a prelude to my recent reading which may strike some of you as particularly new-agey. It is an explanation, not an apology...

44. Around the Tarot in 78 Days: A Personal Journey through the Cards by Marcus Katz and Tali Goodwin

This book is more like a workbook for a class which I feel the author's never really offer. There is some interesting stuff here, but the style and format of the text did not appeal to me. It says it is an introductory book, but I think you would need a deep understanding of Tarot before tackling this, and even then some of the text is off-putting. Also the order of the cards in the text don't really make sense - they mix minor and major cards together without a great rationale. Interesting to flip through, but not nearly as good as my next read.

45. Tarot Wisdom: Spiritual Teachings and Deeper Meanings by Rachel Pollack

Rachel Pollack is an master of Tarot explanation and thinking, and her work and mastery show here. To this point, I have recommended her book Seventy Eight Degrees of Wisdom as the seminal book for someone first learning Tarot; now I will have to change that recommendation. Everything that the last book I read above isn't, this book is. Approachable, understandable, well organized, and clear, this book is a wonderful companion for anyone starting their Tarot journey, and for anyone looking to learn more with some passages that call for contemplation and return reading.

46. The Secret Teachings of All Ages: An Encyclopedic Outline of Masonic, Hermetic, Qabbalistic, and Rosicrucian Symbolical Philosophy by Manly P. Hall

So to be fair, I am about halfway through (don't worry I will finish) but it seemed to fit with the others above, so I am including it now. This is an old text (originally written in 1928) but reads well even today. This is a dense book (the version I have is more than 700 pages long) and is a thorough review of mystic systems and Mysteries. Manly was a member of the Masonic system and founded the Philosophical Research Society. For those interested in mystical systems going back to Egyptian and Greek and spanning through modern times, this is a treasure trove.

It's been a while, and I've been busy busy busy with work, but it's time to update my reading list:

47. To Hold Up the Sky by Cixin Liu

This is a fantastic collection of short stories written by the author of the Three Body Problem which I reviewed previously. Each of these short stories is a beautiful work of speculative fiction geographically centered in China, and global (dare I say universal) in their application. These stories show the early work and evolution of this amazing author and while very modern they are also very close in spirit and heart to what I imagine the 50s and 60s science fiction magazine stories were. Very worth the read, and wonderfully evocative.

48. Peril by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa

No review here in keeping with my policy but happy to share my opinion if you want to private message me.

49. Higher Education Rulemaking: The Politics of Creating Regulatory Policy by Rebecca S. Natow

Read this for work. I am part of a negotiated rulemaking effort and wanted to get an understanding of the history and practice. Likely would not be of interest unless you also use this practice with the Federal government, but it was of interest to me.

50. Cotton Capitalists: American Jewish Entrepreneurship in the Reconstruction Era by Michael Ralph Cohen

An interesting historical review of the history of Jewish merchants and mercantile exchange in the anti- and post-bellum periods. The author makes the case that Jews were very successful as merchants post Civil War due to bonds of common heritage as well as outreach and work with freedmen. A very detailed review which looks at the relationships between these Southern merchants and the big houses in NYC and Europe, this is a short but dense read, Added to my understanding of Reconstruction era history.

51. Radical Compassion: Learning to Love Yourself and Your World with the Practice of RAIN by Tara Brach

An interesting approach to mental wellness and healing. I was exposed to this for a retreat with work and I appreciate the lessons and the practice. The acronym RAIN refers to Recognize, Allow, Investigate and Nurture. A quick read, but will take a long time to master.