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Hi everyone, sorry for the late post!

At in-laws for the holiday. we quarantined and have been wearing masks at all times except while eating. Along with many other precautions like open windows and lots of fans etc. haven’t seen them since March, so good to see them again.

Hope everyone who celebrates had a good holiday, in whatever format it took.

This week I finished:

Disappearing Earth- I didn’t feel this one at all. Didn’t like the characters, no plot, just really tiresome. Kept wondering when something would happen.

Grant Morrison's 18 Days- this was weird, expected a graphic novel, ended up being an illustrated script. No idea if the show actually exists? It was in an I dian comics humble bundle.

Rogue Protocol- got back into murderbot, lots of fun. Hadn’t read this one yet, good to get into the new stories.

Exit Strategy- last murderbot that I have, need to get the full novel eventually. Great story

A Perfect Blood-continuing hallows reread

Broken- won an ARC from goodreads, I loved this so much! She always makes me laugh and cry and laugh cry, 100% recommended!

Currently reading:

A Gathering of Shadows- Audio reread, enjoying the dual narrators

European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman- just barely started

QOTW:

Anyone have a favorite holiday read?

I mostly don’t do seasonal reads but I’ll probably read the Hogfatger just because.

Made way too much food for two people, in the proper tradition of the day.

I was familiar with the poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar, but when I did a library catalog search, I found the short story collection The Heart of Happy Hollow. Really they're more character studies than stories, almost parables but very short. After last week, it was nice to read some quality prose. If you will indulge a quote: "A language should be like an easy shoe on a flexible foot, but to one unused to it, it proves rather a splint on a broken limb." So yeah, he's the comfy shoe type of writer. I did eventually realize that all his work is in the public domain now, so at some point I'll grab his poetry from Gutenberg.

I considered reading a Thanksgiving-themed cheesy mystery, but somehow this year it did not appeal. I decided to get something by an Indigenous writer and ended up with Heart Berries. This was a tough read, largely because much of it is presented as letters to the author's partner that really didn't seem like they should be public. Obviously the author wanted to publish them, and I would hope she got her partner's consent, but in navigating the line between exploring generational and individual trauma and mental illness, and airing actual personal marital disagreements, I felt it ended up on the wrong side. I had a better time with the parts that were not that.

QOTW: I always reread A Christmas Carol. I have a nice edition with a ribbon marker and I just read a bit before bed for a few days; it's pretty short. (Also "The Blue Carbuncle", the Christmas Sherlock Holmes story, but that's really short.)

One finish this week, the book club pick The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. Enjoyed it quite a bit. so thanks friends for voting it in :)

That leaves me with 2 prompts to complete the 52 Book Club, and both the books I had planned have a wait list from the library. So I pivoted and picked a different book for the prompt author that shares a last name initial with you. I got fancy and chose an author who shares both initials. We'll see how that goes.

In other news, the Book Nerds With No Shelf Control (fka BookBot Reading Challengers) 2021 Reading Challenge is almost ready for its big reveal! I've tried very hard to make it as easy as possible to participate, but challenging enough for avid readers who want more specific prompts. So if you are planning on reading at least 5 books next year and you want a friendly challenge, come by the FB group and check it out!

QOTW: Not usually into seasonal reads. But a few years back, my SO gave me How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. Although it's my favourite holiday special, I'd never read it! So that's officially an annual thing, even though it's quicker than the cartoon.

We had a lovely Thanksgiving - no guests or traveling, just the four of us, but we had a two hour zoom with my spouse's side of the family (we alternate years, and it was our year with them) that was quite a lot of fun - we had a centerpiece contest and played a bunch of games.

Looking for inspiration I turned to my kindle back catalog and ended up ripping through Opium and Absinthe, historical fiction that I'd received as a free Kindle First book a few months ago. I loved it and it reminded me that I really should read more historical fiction! It's a murder mystery that takes place in 1899 NYC and I couldn't put it down. Definitely looking up other books by this author, because I'd never heard of her and now I want to read more.

I've been so mentally drained that the thought of starting another new book during the week was daunting, so instead I turned to some old favorites and decided to re-read a bunch of Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar books for the millionth time. I'm on Winds of Change right now.

QOTW: I don't have any particular holiday reads, but I definitely intend to read Hogfather with my 9 year old this year, as he's on a real Discworld kick.

We had a good holiday. I got to make dinner rolls and pumpkin pie, and the neighbors brought us a blackberry pie.

I finished Guards! Guards! last week. I first read quite a bit of Discworld when I was in high school, and then I kind of dropped off. I'm hoping to get back into it. I remembered liking the City Watch, so I started there. It was lots of fun, and I'm looking forward to reading more next year.

I also finished Seven Ways We Lie, which was my Popsugar book featuring one of the seven deadly sins -- actually, this book had them all. Each of the main characters was meant to somewhat personify one of the seven deadly sins. I found it an enjoyable high school drama. It managed to address a bunch of issues in a short space, and I felt like it did so pretty well. The only thing I didn't care for was that one of the narrators was written mostly in verse, I guess to reflect her personality, but I found it a bit awkward and disjointed. I think she was the character I felt like I got to know the least because of that, even though she was important to the plot.

I'm still working through the audio of The Hallowed Hunt when I can. I'm also just starting The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. I rearranged some of my prompts so I could fit Addie into Popsugar 2020, so I don't run out of time to finish the challenge. :D I have 6 more prompts to complete over 4 weeks, and all the books ready, so I think I can do it!

QOTW: I don't really have any holiday reads. Usually I'll catch up on manga from the library while I have more time off/downtime at work, and I usually like to try and read a cute romance around Xmas time, too.

this year, like last, was just me and hubby. younger daughter was with her boyfriend's family, older daughter was with her grandmother (my mother-inlaw). everyone is well, so that's good.

this week i read William Shakespeare's The Merry Rise of Skywalker: Star Wars Part the Ninth, and now i'm reading the Supernatural novel Joyride.

since i finished NaNo last saturday, i un-suspeded my books on hold at the library.... but only a few at a time, otherwise i'll have 5 books at once (and with all my crocheting, i won't be able to do that!) i do have The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and The Once and Future Witches on my list to get to reading.... i usually read whatever, whenever. i also have the entire Poldark series on my list to read - after having watched the show.

oh, and i just bought Dune: the Graphic Novel, Book 1 today! woo!

The problem with absolutely LOVING a book (The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue) is now I want everyone else to love it so anxiously await the reactions haha. I really should answer my own questions over in that section. I spend so much time making the posts I get tired and then forget to put my own thoughts.

It was just my husband and I for Thanksgiving. We did a video call with two of our three kids for dinner and then the 3rd joined during dessert. We ended up adding external family (my daughter-in-law's father and his family, and my daughter's boyfriends parents). With a bunch of "strangers" on the call it actually was a lot of fun and felt like a holiday. I felt most bad for my youngest, 22, who lives alone. Thankfully we were able to meet her at a park on Friday for a long outdoor walk on a rail trail together.

Anyway, I finished Miniatures: The Very Short Fiction of John Scalzi. Many of those were fun stories. My favorite was "Your Smart Appliances Talk About You Behind Your Back." I really loved that one! It was hilarious and even more so as we just got a new dishwasher and range.

I am still reading Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants. I am enjoying it. The author lives in the Adirondacks area of NY. Parts of it reminds me of when we go to a lake up in that area for fishing. I sometimes clean fish that we catch and when I do, I talk to the fish, apologize for cutting it up, and thank it for the food it will give us. So I "get" a lot of what she's writing about.

I started listening to the next Expanse book #5, Nemesis Games. This will be my first one where the TV show isn't giving me a headstart on the story content. I'm interested to see how that works for me.

QOTW: No, I don't usually read seasonal books. Sometimes I'll read a Christmas themed romance but that would be it. I've never read any seasonal books for any other holiday. Several weeks ago, I reported I listened to Scalzi's A Very Scalzi Christmas. I think I listened to it in August or Sept. It was short so maybe I'll give it a listen again.

I'm hijacking this thread to announce that the Book Nerds With No Shelf Control 2021 Reading Challenge is launching tomorrow evening, December 2, at 7 pm, on the FB group of the same name. Just search for Book Nerds and it comes up, or find me, Dann Giroux, on there and I'll show you the way to the prompts list and AMA type discussion!

The last couple weeks have been busy at work and home, so I haven't done as much reading as usual! We cooked for the local family for Thanksgiving and they came and picked up their boxes of food, and that went pretty well, so we'll probably do the same thing again for Christmas. We put up one tree over the weekend, and we'll probably do one more, but not the usual forest since it's only us to put them up and see them.

Before the crazy hit, I finished Assaulted Caramel, which I really enjoyed - it was fun and had good characters, and you could tell that the author is actually from that part of the state based on her descriptions and the affectionate yet realistic way she depicts the Amish/English interactions. I'm looking forward to reading more of the series, hopefully soon.

I also finally finished listening to Nut Jobs: Cracking California's Strangest $10 Million Dollar Heist, which had moments of being really interesting, but I couldn't get past the author/narrator's complete lack of knowledge of agriculture and his shock at things that are pretty normal in American life. I'm guessing it was aimed at an Australian audience (since that's where he's from), so I just wasn't the target audience.

I also continued through my backlog of Audible freebies by listening to The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey, which also continued the theme of not being the target audience. The first review on the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ page perfectly sums up the problem - this is squarely aimed at folks who are on the fence about whether queer people should qualify for basic human rights. Assuming that nobody in this group falls into that category, I can't really recommend it - it's fairly horrifying for the rest of us.

For the rest of the past two weeks, I've been trying to read Black Sun - there is absolutely nothing wrong with it, and I am very much enjoying it when I have time to read - it's just a hard one to come and go from since there are a lot of characters and storylines to keep straight. It reminds me a lot of both The Fifth Season and Onyx and Ivory in different ways (we read both of them in this group), so if you enjoyed those, you would probably enjoy this. I'm about halfway through, so I'm hoping to finish this week.

QOTW: I do enjoy reading seasonal things, but I'm usually not organized enough to make it happen and end up reading Christmas books in the summer. I did enjoy A Town Divided by Christmas a few weeks ago, so I will try to get my book clubs to pick seasonal things for December more in the future!

@daniele when I search on FB for "book nerds" it only shows me "For Book Nerds Only", "Book Nerd's Book Reviews" and "Book Nerd's Paradise". Which, if any, of those is the right one?

Full name is Book Nerds with no shelf control :)

Thank you everyone, I have found it (TY Sheri) and joined the group! The prompts look doable to me and I think I am actually going to give a challenge a try!

Thank you Sheri - I was down and out with a migraine most of the day. And I'm so happy you're giving it a try Susan! Looking forward to hearing about your picks :)