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Flowers are so delightful. Being sent flowers is such a beautiful surprise. Letters are also wonderful. A lost art.

I'm always in awe at the reviews that people write. A few years ago I made a New Years Resolution about writing them. I started out by writing them in a small book that I had purchased because I just felt under-qualified to put anything in the web. I don't think I even made it to 3 months. To be honest, the internet scares me a little. I read so many awful commentaries attached to newspaper articles that I fear expressing my opinion about anything.

I'm excited about October this year because I am finally making a trip to Australia to visit family and friends. It has been 7 years since I last visited which is far too long but Covid, a new job and a relocation made it impossible to travel.

I feel you on the reviews Carol. Sometimes it's all I can do to rate a book amd this year seems to be one of my slowest reading years. It's just like that I suppose. I try to write something about the books I read, but as the year progresses more slip by.

I love the season change to fall. Mostly because since moving to Texas I have yet to acquire a thin enough skin to thrive in this heat and humidity. I look forward to cooler days and breezes, and spooky reads!

Congratulations to your husband's upcoming retirement Ozsaur!

Liesl wrote: "I started out by writing them in a small book that I had purchased because I just felt under-qualified to put anything in the web. (...) I read so many awful commentaries attached to newspaper articles that I fear expressing my opinion about anything."

This is making me so sad. I mean, those people writing mean and awful comments are often the least qualified to write their opinions. Don't let them get to you!

I am a person that *tries* to write a review for everything I read, just because I really like to read them later when I forgot what I thought about while reading a book. I don't feel particularly qualified to write them either, but I mainly write them for myself and for an occasional friend to whom they bring some joy or stimulating discussion. I had a few unpleasant comments, but honestly nothing too bad. I guess I'm in a great GR bubble though!

I really try to write a review for every book I read, but I don't always make it. Right now, I'm quite behind because I was really busy with school and had a bit of burnout from it in June so writing was bit of a struggle. But that happens sometimes. Also reviews for some books seem to write themselves while others seem impossible to write. I read The Female Man in February and I still don't know what I want to write about it, because what was that exactly?! Joanna Russ is completely bonkers...

My reviews of a book are typically personal: how did the book make me feel, what in particular drew me in or dropped me off; what of any interest was going on (I read some quite dark books during my husband's last ICU stay I later realized). Anymore, instead of putting them in the reviews section, I write them in the notes section. That way I still see them but no one else can.

Anita wrote: Congratulations to your husband's upcoming retirement Ozsaur!

Thank you! I'm so excited about for some of the plans we've made.

I rarely write reviews, only sometimes a few sentences to remember for myself what I liked of didn´t like about a book.

Otherwise I had a bad reading month. I had two 5 star reads that were perhaps more like 4 stars, but the rest I either dnf (which I rarely do) or bit myself through them. Even my cosy mystery of a series I like wasn´t too good. One book I didn´t rate at all, as it was so personal for me with all the hatred against my own country and the black-and-white drawing.

Not sure if anyone else has noticed the latest GR glitches: disappearing "likes" from past reviews; and posts on threads showing as unread when they're not. We discussed these in another of my groups and one of the mods checked with GR who apparently know about the issues and are looking into resolving them!

Alwynne wrote: "Not sure if anyone else has noticed the latest GR glitches: disappearing "likes" from past reviews; and posts on threads showing as unread when they're not. We discussed these in another of my grou..."

Thanks for the update Alywynee, you saved me an email. I had noticed many posts showing unread....which were previously read....but I hadn't noticed the disappearance of the "review likes."

Jassmine wrote: "I read The Female Man in February and I still don't know what I want to write about it, because what was that exactly?! Joanna Russ is completely bonkers...."

I am now very intrigued to read this book.

Thank you for your comments Jassmine.

Gail W wrote: "My reviews of a book are typically personal: how did the book make me feel, what in particular drew me in or dropped me off; what of any interest was going on (I read some quite dark books during m..."

This is a great tip. I might try doing that.

I haven´t had notifications in 12 hours, so I wonder if there has been a glitch too.

Liesl wrote: "I am now very intrigued to read this book."

It is a weird one and not an easy read. Kameron Hurley said about it: Her book The Female Man is so ragingly, teeth-gnashingly nuts that I couldn't get through it the first couple of times I tried.
And I have to agree... 🤭 (I did get through it on the first try though, but it was a struggle.) I'm not sure if it's a book I would recommend per se. It gets a lot of bad press for being transphobic, which... I don't think the text itself is, even though it could definitely be unpleasant/triggering to read for trans readers - the way this book works with gender is kind of crazy...

Alwynne wrote: "Not sure if anyone else has noticed the latest GR glitches: disappearing "likes" from past reviews; and posts on threads showing as unread when they're not. We discussed these in another of my grou..."

The posts showing threads as unread is driving me crazy.

Liesl wrote: "Alwynne wrote: "Not sure if anyone else has noticed the latest GR glitches: disappearing "likes" from past reviews; and posts on threads showing as unread when they're not. We discussed these in an..."

It’s annoying as hades.

Love the new posted collage of various female authors that pops up behind the club single female reader which posts as this group's picture logo under groups. The multi-picture popped up behind when I opened the group site today.

Recognized some favourite authors but not all due to part and half pictures. Very creative and compelling.

Mj wrote: "Love the new posted collage of various female authors that pops up behind the club single female reader which posts as this group's picture logo under groups. The multi-picture popped up behind whe..."

I'm so glad you like it, Mj! I tried to figure out where I found it yesterday and couldn't, alas.

Question: New Adult as a category - does it resonate with you? Are you confused? Is it more than YA with more graphic sex?

I am really late to the party in terms of the New Adult category, which I understand was coined in 2009. I became aware of it for the first time a couple of weeks ago. So I FaceTimed my daughter (22) and inquired, and she responded consistent with what various bloggers and publisher blogs say, it's YA with more graphic sex scenes. Which I don't really get, because to me YA crosses all genres and is about writing complexity + a protagonist that's under 30. I've never thought of YA as exclusively high-school-age MCs because I've read so many featuring protagonists in their early- to mid-20s.

Here's a BookRiot article on point:

Do you read and enjoy NA? Was/is there a marketing gap that wasn't being explored? Are there NA books you recommend that aren't primarily romances? Other thoughts?

I only read about new adult as a category for the first time a few days ago, strangely enough. This is the age group that I thought young adult was. The word adult is confusing here because it actually means teenagers at and under 18 who are technically not all adults... As to whether I enjoy reading it, sometimes. I have my more serious day reading which tends to be literary fiction and a little non fiction, no YA or NA here. But in the evenings in bed I tend to read fantasy or sci fi on my kobo, I can tolerate books intended for a younger audience here but only if they're done well. For example I'm currently reading Pullman's dark materials books. The protagonist is young but smart and thoughtful. If the characters are too whiny (shallow or immature) or there's too much of a focus on romance I will DNF.

As someone younger (I was born in 98), the YA vs NA actually makes sense to me because it was a thing when I was a teen in a way it actually doesn't seem to be a thing now? Like, back then YA basically meant that there was no sex in it, those were high-school stories (or high-school aged in case of SFF) that were focused on relationships and might have discussions about sex, but the characters rarely had sex together and if they did it wasn't on page. Like, I'm thinking To All the Boys I've Loved Before series or Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles).
While NA kind of bordered on erotica? Like those are stories about collage aged people, who are starting to be adults (young adult, haha, to make it more confusing) and those stories are usually explicit. I'm not sure if the names of these books will ring any bells, but examples would be Beautiful Disaster or Easy and my brain also see a lot of Elle Kennedy's books as NA (I just checked and and GR lists it as NA, so I guess I'm right, even though those books are also without a doubt erotica books).

So what I meant to say is, the distinction makes sense to me, but I also understand why it doesn't make sense to so many people. I think one of the main reason for that is that the book market really changed in the last few years. Like A Court of Thorns and Roses were originally marketed as YA books, which from some parameters makes sense, but considering the sex scenes this would very much be NA in my original distinction (I don't actually remember how old the characters are, but some of them are immortal, so that doesn't work so well as a metric here...). And they actually later re-branded the series as Adult (which I think is kind of misleading). But I think this shows the confusion kind of well? What I think happened is that the NA label didn't catch on very well at the time it was first introduced (early 2010s, I think?) which led to YA expanding and actually containing stories that are for more different audiences then is usual, so they are trying to re-introduce the NA label again to solve this (maybe also because of some of the more conservative influences lately, in the lot of countries who call for the cleaner literature for kids/teens?).

Most of the second part is a speculation, but it makes sense to me. Also, I tried to use well-known examples of books, but... yeah, not sure if that was completely successful....

Jassmine wrote: "As someone younger (I was born in 98), the YA vs NA actually makes sense to me because it was a thing when I was a teen in a way it actually doesn't seem to be a thing now? Like, back then YA basic..."

your comments and perspective help me alot, Jassmine. Definitely successful. I think my head-tilting response is because my experience of YA has always included adults over 18 and has included (I thought) as much sex as anything else, but it's also as much sex as anything else I read. Definitely violence and the threat of violence - whether random or domestic. I'm thinking of books by Tiffany D. Jackson and The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas.

If it's a helpful distinction for fantasy and romance readers, cool, but they have to get librarians and marketers on board and define it across more genres, I would think, for it to have legs.

@Carol: Yes, I think it's definitely more complicated once you take romance-focused books out of the equation. I think it's hard for me to even think about this, because as a teen I read mostly romance books or classic adventure stories nevermind the intended audience (so like from Gulliver's Travels to Arthur Ransome and James Oliver Curwood) and even though now I see how some of those are more intended/appropriate for children than others it didn't really make a difference to me then. And I'm like this even now, reading books for all ages without really thinking about it too much. It's true that the most of the books I read are probably Adult and then Middle Grade though...

Also, now that I think about it, I don't think I ever saw New Adult outside of romance genre. Which... is interesting, because does this mean that we think that sex & romance are the only themes that need this extra middle-category? But it's hard for me to consider properly, because... I don't really read much genres that are based on violence (like thrillers), so I mean, even existence of YA thrillers is weird for me to imagine (even though I know they exist).

It seems to be something like the ratings on Movies - some of which are allowed to be seen by persons only over a certain age or if accompanied by an adult.

My guess is Young Adult previously was assumed by most people to be written for mid to late teens by everyone including the youth who read them and the parents who also did and a lot of adults who read young because they enjoyed them.

It would seem that some authors and publishers started introducing sex and sometimes more graphic than had previously been in this genre - and perhaps got flack from the youth who weren't expecting it and didn't like it and/or librarians and parents who were concerned about graphic sex in novels categorized as young adult that might be read by youth not prepared or expecting it. Makes sense to me.

Changing it to only to a "lame" name like "New" Young Adult seems to be a publisher's lack of integrity. Why not just put a label on the book - Young Adult - Warning Sex some of which might be Graphic. Don't think it is fair or ethical to catch young readers unaware and than fall back and claim - well we called it "New" young adult.

I think publishers should step up to the plate and be more responsible to their potential audiences and clients and take more of a leadership role.

Hello everyone, does anybody have any list of contemporary(namely 20th and 21st century) literary fiction written by women authors? I have browsed through listopia and the other webs but I can't seem to find a well organised list.

Ankita wrote: "Hello everone, does anybody has any list of contemporary(namely 20th and 21st century) literary fiction written by women authors? I have browsed through listopia and the other webs but I can't seem..."

Ankita - are you thinking of a global list or one limited to English-language offerings or some other subset? Wiki typically has great lists, but they're more comprehensive which equalizes everyone on the list in a way that can be unhelpful. Are you looking for a list to read from or for another purpose?

Ankita wrote: "Hello everone, does anybody has any list of contemporary(namely 20th and 21st century) literary fiction written by women authors? I have browsed through listopia and the other webs but I can't seem..."

I also haven't seen any lists. You could look at past longlists from prizes such as the Booker/International Booker Prize (picking out women authors), the Women's Prize or the Stella Prize. They won't be comprehensive as they are just the ones a group of judges has liked, but it may give you some ideas of authors to look into.

Carol wrote: "Ankita wrote: "Hello everone, does anybody has any list of contemporary(namely 20th and 21st century) literary fiction written by women authors? I have browsed through listopia and the other webs b..."

hello Carol, Sorry that I didn't mention it. I am not particularly looking for any countries and leaning more towards a global list which I found from a google sheet someone shared in this group(and from the group bookshelf) but the thing is that currently, I am looking for women authors who have written 2 or more critically acclaimed books (or like greatest women authors of 20th/21st centuries, ik it is very subjective ) like Joyce Carol Oates, Iris Murdoch, Margaret Atwood, Ursula K le guin, Alice Munro, Deborah Levy etc. I hope I am making sense. I am making a list of women authors who are very critically acclaimed but I have yet to read anything by them for read Women authors Challenge 2024

Sonia wrote: "Ankita wrote: "Hello everone, does anybody has any list of contemporary(namely 20th and 21st century) literary fiction written by women authors? I have browsed through listopia and the other webs b..."

Hey Sonia, thank you for the tip. my dumb brain didn't even think about it �.

Ankita wrote: "Carol wrote: "Ankita wrote: "Hello everone, does anybody has any list of contemporary(namely 20th and 21st century) literary fiction written by women authors? I have browsed through listopia and th..."

That helps alot! I'm a big fan of lists; they give me ideas and stop me from getting stuck in my own ruts. I'll poke around and see what I can find.

Carol, thank you for putting so much work into next years challenges! Thanks also to Gail for the Bingo board and Listopia.

NaNoWriMo is squeezing my brain, so if I missed anyone, believe me, I appreciate what you're doing.

All of you make this a wonderful group!

Ozsaur wrote: "Carol, thank you for putting so much work into next years challenges! Thanks also to Gail for the Bingo board and Listopia.

NaNoWriMo is squeezing my brain, so if I missed anyone, believe me, I ap..."

You're so welcome, Ozsaur - really appreciate the acknowledgement.

Is NaNoWriMo over this year or are you still writing? I'd love to hear about your experience of it if you care to share, and if you're happy with your output based on the criteria you have for it. I think I would totally struggle to write to a word count and then waste time feeling ashamed that I"m behind. (Clearly, this works better for folks whose brains work differently and like the discipline and commitment.)

So I'm reading a wonderful non-fiction book authored by a woman and the Audible narrator is a man. He's fantastic, but still I'm troubled that this choice feels like another way in which the industry undercuts women as experts, and readers will walk away from it with the subliminal impression that the expert who taught them about X was, of course, a guy. Am I bean-counting to expect that a woman-authored book will be narrated by a woman? If anyone knows, who engages the narrator and does the average author have any say in the selection?

Carol wrote: "...Am I bean-counting to expect that a woman-authored book will be narrated by a woman? If anyone knows, who engages the narrator and does the average author have any say in the selection?..."

Well, as a real-life bean counter (and not-so-closeted-feminist) you are not wrong in your feeling. I've had that experience as well but with the added insult that the man was a TERRIBLE narrator. It was a series and they threw him in around installment five.

I had read a few years ago that the author has no say in the choice of the narrator. Again, sometimes to horrible results. (Last few installments of the Mrs. Pollifax and the middle installment of the Rosalind Thorne series are great examples. ) I don't know if that is still true and a search on Google makes it seem that there is a choice but more so for indies.

Gail W wrote: "Carol wrote: "...Am I bean-counting to expect that a woman-authored book will be narrated by a woman? If anyone knows, who engages the narrator and does the average author have any say in the selec..."

I'm glad I'm not alone in noticing. It just feels so wrong. I agree that, at least he's wonderful, because a bad narrator to boot would be exponentially more frustrating. I think ever since I woke up to the disparity in non-fiction reading (men won't read women NF authors, and bc men read so much more NF than women, their choices are the ones that matter most), I observe everything from disparate marketing budgets (to the extent I can judge by the output) to ... this. And it bugs me on behalf of Katja Hoyer, who was at least fortunate enough to have her book translated into English and marketed in the West while it's current. But I digress.

Carol wrote: Is NaNoWriMo over this year or are you still writing?

I'm right in the middle of it and doing okay. I'm making my daily word count, and I'm pleased with what I've written so far.

The challenge is the entire month of November, and the final word count has to be 50,000 to win.

I don't have discipline, I have a lot of people rooting for me, and believing in me, so I feel compelled to get it done. It's been a learning experience, to say the least.

Good luck Ozsaur, I'm sure you can do it!! You're half way through the month so hopefully you will find that motivating and not stressful. Especially with lots of people rooting for you, it should be a no brainer for you to achieve your goal with extra time to review and edit (if necessary) your literary short story. Bon chance. MJ

Carol wrote: "Gail W wrote: "Carol wrote: "...Am I bean-counting to expect that a woman-authored book will be narrated by a woman? If anyone knows, who engages the narrator and does the average author have any s..."

Ahhh it's your East Germany read that has the male narrator? I can imagine that being off-putting.
And that is so interesting the marketing/sales angle issue. Well I appreciate all the more the nonfiction goals for next year's reading program in this group.

@Ozsaur, I very much hope you were happy with the outcome of NaNoWriMo. If you opt to share it, we'd love to hear how it went.

What's everyone doing between now and year's end? Are you frantic? contemplative? traveling? debating? struggling with New Year's, family dysfunction, big decisions, seasonal affect disorder? Excited to see family, have some downtime, start a new adventure in January?

We are hoping to have a restful Christmas. We will have family round for drinks and nibbles, but othewise are planning on snuggling on the sofa with a pile of books.

I'm hoping for the same Sonia, recovering from a long, nasty bout of Covid, and still feeling washed out. Plus been very busy. So hoping for walks and time to read. Managed to get out of various things which is a bit antisocial but will see some friends/family too. I don't drink so not that keen on things like New Year parties.

Sonia wrote: "We are hoping to have a restful Christmas. We will have family round for drinks and nibbles, but othewise are planning on snuggling on the sofa with a pile of books."

that sounds like the best plan ever, from my perspective.

Alwynne wrote: "I'm hoping for the same Sonia, recovering from a long, nasty bout of Covid, and still feeling washed out. Plus been very busy. So hoping for walks and time to read. Managed to get out of various th..."

oh, man, alwynne. I'm so sorry to hear you've been laid low by COVID, but if it got you out of events you're not sorry to miss, that's a valuable upside : ) I'm not keen on New Year's parties because I"m invariably really cold and would much rather be home with my pile of books, long sleeves, long pants, a warm cup of tea and a cozy blanket.

Carol, NaNoWriMo was a success! No one is more surprised than me that I wrote 50K words in November. I have more to go, plus editing. That's pretty much what I'm going to be doing next year.

As for Christmas, no one wanted to cook this year, so we're catering. Never did that before, so we'll see how it turns out.

New Year's will be a celebrated with black eyed peas, collard greens and cornbread. Yes, I'm southern! ;-)

Ozsaur wrote: "Carol, NaNoWriMo was a success! No one is more surprised than me that I wrote 50K words in November. I have more to go, plus editing. That's pretty much what I'm going to be doing next year.

As fo..."

Yay!! That’s so exciting, Ozsaur. Congratulations.

Your Christmas solution is most elegant. My husband’s from Tupelo, Mississippi, and is almost visibly uncomfortable in years when we don’t have all 3 on Jan 1.

Carol wrote: "Ozsaur wrote: "Carol, NaNoWriMo was a success! No one is more surprised than me that I wrote 50K words in November. I have more to go, plus editing. That's pretty much what I'm going to be doing ne..."

I know nothing about Tupelo but always think it sounds romantic mainly because of Cassandra Wilson's cover of Tupelo Honey which is an all-time favourite.

Haha! that's funny, Carol. He must have a great accent!

I also like the black-eyed peas tradition. I try to do it on years we are with my (American) fam.

Thanks, Carol! Give your husband a fist bump for me! ;-)

Alwynne wrote: "Carol wrote: "Ozsaur wrote: "Carol, NaNoWriMo was a success! No one is more surprised than me that I wrote 50K words in November. I have more to go, plus editing. That's pretty much what I'm going ..."

It's in the northeast corner of Mississippi, and Elvis' birthplace. A great place to be from, as is my upstate NY village birthplace.

Ozsaur wrote: "Thanks, Carol! Give your husband a fist bump for me! ;-)"

I shall : )

Jen wrote: "Haha! that's funny, Carol. He must have a great accent!

I also like the black-eyed peas tradition. I try to do it on years we are with my (American) fam."

He does, although they all think he's lost his accent when he visits - of course.

Hope everyone has a peaceful day, good company - whether people or books - and loads of delicious food x