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Book a Week 2021 - BW1: Infinite Sky Reading Adventure


Robin M
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My old nineties era book group that invited me to rejoin them on Zoom will be meeting this week. The book we'll be discussing is one that I first read last year for my local book group.  Thus, I reread the book with pleasure. I'll recopy what I wrote in November.

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

This was an interesting mix of nature writing and mystery; it's the author's first novel, but she'd already published three books about her work as a wildlife scientist in Africa. It was a gripping read with an ending that surprised me.

Here is the book blurb:

"For years, rumors of the "Marsh Girl" have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life--until the unthinkable happens."

Regards,

Kareni

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Interweb wanderings.  We traditionally have started our BAW year with Murakami and I put him off for another historical.  The universe is trying to tell me something when I stumbled upon three different sites about Murakami and what to read after.  I may be reading Killing Commendatore sooner rather than later.  Plus I have several other books set in Japan that are calling my name.  

Like Murakami? Try these works in translation next.

https://dolcebellezza.net/2020/12/06/the-japanese-literature-challenge-14-coming-january-2021/

Exciting books and translations from Japan to look out for in 2021

And since I like encouraging you all to read outside your norm.

My 2021 Reading Challenge: 10 Goals to Expand My Literary Horizons

I love creative nonfiction, reading it as much as writing it:  How to Render Epiphanies in Nonfiction Without Getting Didactic

Brainpickings   The Snail with the Right Heart: A True Story

😘

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22 hours ago, Granny_Weatherwax said:

continue the no spend reading challenge I began in 2019. This was a challenge someone (Robin, I think) began here and I jumped on board. It has been fun finding my reads through the library, little free libraries, and from other people

Yep, that would be me and the dusty and chunky challenge

 

22 hours ago, Granny_Weatherwax said:

My son was thrilled to receive The Wheel of Time series. My DGD also gave him two books and he read those first before diving into WOT. He's well into the first book and has begun writing a commentary via text.

I loved this series and currently on the last book.  It will be interesting to see what he thinks of them. 

 

22 hours ago, Granny_Weatherwax said:

100 books which influenced David Bowie

How neat. Will check out the list.  Which lead me to Bowie Book Club   and reminded me of Neil Pearts - Bubba's Book Club.  Also a good resource.

 

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Somehow, I didn't know about Audible's Plus catalog. Now that I do, I downloaded a whole bunch of cozy's to listen to while I sit at the computer doing a not very mentally challenging data entry project.

I already have two for 2021:

2. "St. Peter's Fair" by Ellis Peters. Audible book read by Johanna Ward. Cadfael has always been my favorite fictional detective!

1. "The Mysterious Mr. Quin: A Harley Quin Collection" by Agatha Christie. Audible book read by Hugh Fraser. I found the narrator's voice made me a bit drowsy, but enjoyed the stories anyway.

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Hello, everyone!  I plan to start less ambitiously than last year.  I very much enjoy lurking and updating at the beginning of the year, but often fizzle out toward the end.  

Last year I read 41 books.  My favorites in 2020 were Whiskey in a Teacup by Reece Witherspoon, The Green Ember children's series, and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.  I found out that I love Agatha Christie and can't wait to read more of her works.  

This year so far I've finished an audiobook on time management that dh and I listened to together and The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo N. Tolstoy.  You can read my review here https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3744324588 I'd love to see what you are reading on GoodReads if you feel comfortable sharing your link.  Unfortunately, I update that site about as often as I do this one, but I love pursuing it and meeting new friends.

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On 1/2/2021 at 11:14 AM, AmandaVT said:

This is not the first time I've joined a BaW thread. I always end up not returning because I feel badly if I haven't posted each week. This year, one of my resolutions is to not let "perfect be the enemy of the good", which to me means, working out a few times a week instead of daily is better than skipping it. And I'll add that not adding to the thread as much as I feel is "good" is still ok and I'll let myself jump in and out as I'm able if that's ok? 

This week I read The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. I've been a friend of his on Twitter for years, since he wrote his first book, I think. But for some reason, this is the first book of his I've read and I loved it. There were no great surprises in it or anything, but it was lovely.

I could've written your post!  I can't wait to read your updates no matter how infrequent.  

On 1/3/2021 at 6:01 PM, Lady Florida. said:

I don't know if we had a 2021 goals thread but if we did I missed it. If you have upcoming plans for one @Robin M I apologize for jumping the gun.

Considering all that 2020 was I didn't do to badly with my reading goals. I planned to work on my personal Shakespeare challenge by finishing the poems and sonnets, and reading 10 plays. I didn't finish the sonnets but I finished the poems and read 9 plays. I wanted to read the first two Palliser novels (Trollope) and I read the first one so that's not bad. The rest of my 2020 goals aren't worth mentioning. 😄 

This year I have several books I specifically want to listen to, and my long term (all year long if necessary) read will be A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn. That was in last year's goals but once the pandemic hit I wasn't in the mood for it. The only book I plan to reread this year is Anna Karenina, and ds gave me a copy for Christmas. It's not a special copy, just a paperback, but it's the one I wanted.

Every year I plan to get to books on my TBR list and then other books come along (Squirrel!) so I don't get to them. This year I decided to try a new, more fun way of doing it. I saw something online about making a TBR jar and there were a number of ways to pretty-up the jar. I was feeling the need to create, and both my crochet supplies and sewing machine and supplies are still in bins stacked in the spare room of our new house. This helped alleviate my "create something" craving. I put names of the books I want to read on slips of paper and added them to the jar, and instead of just folding the slips of paper I decided to make origami stars. They're not as easy to make as they look lol. After a while I got tired of starting over and included the sad looking ones as well as the good ones. I color coded fiction, nonfiction, and Audible books in my account that I bought with credits and still haven't listened to. 

I'm a mood reader, so my goals and plans still leave me plenty of room to learn of a book I want to read and start reading it without worrying that it will interfere with my goal completion. Also, I'm going to put 52 books in the Goodreads challenge just so they'll leave me alone. I don't like number challenges but this will make GR happy. All last year I kept getting notices that it wasn't too late to join the challenge. My 52 books goal will keep them off my back lol.

So... my currently reading list if you made it this far -

Lady Chatterly's Lover - I started this during Banned Books Week 2020 but couldn't get into it. I was told that if I persevered it would get better, so instead of abandoning it I added it to my GR shelf of books to finish another time (another goal of 2021 is to finish some of those books). It's starting to get better so I'm glad I didn't give it up. I can understand why it was scandalous at the time, but now I see that there's also so much more to it. It's not just about an unfulfilled woman but about the changes in the UK after WWI, and it's about class inequality.

A People's History of the United States - see above. 

Murder on Mulberry Bend - #5 in the Gaslight Mysteries and because I need fluff bedtime reading.

Light in August - The fiction book I pulled out of my TBR jar. This will be my 3rd try for this book and my 6th or 7th try with Faulkner. It's his last chance to convince me he's an author I should read. So far he's not doing a good job. 

Catch and Kill, Ronan Farrow - the nonfiction book I pulled out my TBR jar.

I didn't pull an audio book star out of the jar because I'm still listening to The Mirror and the Light. My plan with the jar is to pull a star each out for fiction, nonfiction, and audio at the end of the previous month. These are all books I either own or are readily available at my library but I don't want to wait until the new month starts just in case there's a wait at the library. 

Here are some photos of my jar and stars. I'm including the sorry looking stars too just to keep it real. 😄 

 

 

 

TBR Jar.jpg

TBR Jar lables.jpg

TBR good stars.jpg

TBR good stars-bad stars.jpg

I love your star jar!  What a fun way to select books!!

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Some currently free books for Kindle readers ~

ETA ... One more ~ The Cleansing Flame (Swords and Saints Book 1)

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower

Dark Desires (Dark Gothic Book 1) by Eve Silver

FOREVER THIS TIME by Maggie McGinnis

Blaze (Tranquility Book 1) by Krista D. Ball

The Sharded Boy: (Standing Stone Book 1) by L. Darby Gibbs

The Dragon Question by L. Darby Gibbs

LGBT: Rival Princes by Jaxon Knight

Regards,

Kareni

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I just finished my 30 hour listen to Christopher Paolini’s To Sleep in a Sea of Stars and have to say it was awesome!  At first I thought it was highly reminiscent of some of the parts of The Expanse series but he managed to create a clever new world populated by some great characters.  When I was giving it 5 stars on Goodreads I noticed that it received the Goodreads award last year as the best science fiction book and it was deserving.  Apparently he spent 9 years working on this book and it shows.  It appears to be a stand alone at this point.😕

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48829708-to-sleep-in-a-sea-of-stars

@Seasider tooI read Goldfinch back when it was the most popular book around and was left seriously underwhelmed.  That book started incredibly great and fell to seriously awful.  Some people here loved it but I wasn’t the only one who disliked it overall.....not sure how I rated it because the good was really good.  I just felt ripped off.

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12 hours ago, Seasider too said:

 

 The Goldfinch. 

Y’all. The book is literally FIVE INCHES THICK. I am tempted to weigh it but it might break my kitchen scale.

So tell me, before I risk a pair of sprained wrists, perhaps a broken toe if I drop it and devote many hours to read this chunk, please tell me if you liked it. Is it worth the danger?😂

 

 

Oh boy. I loved that book. Until I didn't. The prose was beautiful at first. Then it just went on and on and on, and had one after another "you're kidding me!" twists. I thought it took too many unbelievable turns and was way too long. It definitely needed a more assertive editor. It was my first Donna Tartt and I've only read one other since (The Secret History). I went to see the movie with a friend who had also read the book. After it ended she let out a long sigh and said, "That movie was way too long, just like the book." 

I don't think I'd recommend it but I also wouldn't tell someone not to read it if that makes sense. It's a wildly popular book. I usually don't read wildly popular books but sometimes I make an exception and I'm usually disappointed. A lot of people loved it. People who's reading choices I respect and who I often get recommendations from loved it. I think it's a loved it or hated it book and there's no real way to tell where you'll fall unless you read it. 

Sorry. Telling you maybe you shouldn't read it but maybe you should, probably wasn't helpful. 😄 

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I just finished Good Mail Day: A Primer for Making Eye-Popping Postal Art by Hinchcliff and Wheeler which was a fun book to browse through. 

"“What is a good mail day?” A good mail day is a day when, instead of just bills, catalogs, and advertisements, your postal carrier delivers artful, beautiful, personal mail from friends and acquaintances all over the world. Mail art is a collaborative art form with a long and fascinating history populated by famous artists as well as everyday practitioners. The term “mail art” refers to pieces of art sent through the mail rather than displayed or sold in traditional venues. Mail artists often use inexpensive and recycled materials including postcards, collage, rubber stamps, and photocopied images. Mail art is a truly international activity and a fun way to connect with people in every corner of the globe. Readers will learn to create decorated and illustrated envelopes, faux postage and artistamps, find penpals, make a mail art kit, and much more!"

Regards,

Kareni

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I've recently finished a number of stories and novellas. These are all male/male romances with adult content; they are available as part of a free giveaway through January 10. Some I liked and starred below, others were ho-hum.

***Winter Term by Neil S. Plakcy

Cool Story, Bro by Lisa Henry

Wish by AJ Sherwood
***Enthralled by A. H. Lee
Accidental Detour by DK Sutton

I also enjoyed The Last Text by Alice Winters, a novella that was not part of the above offer. (Adult content)

Regards,

Kareni

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2 hours ago, Excelsior! Academy said:

I just finished book 3 of the year, Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka.  Why is this required reading for high school and college students?  The book lacks depth of emotion and, frankly, a point.  If you've never read it, don't bother.

I agree.  I read this a few years ago and didn't even bother offering it to my high schoolers.  I mean, maybe I'm missing something, but I really didn't like this book at all.

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Thanks to @Kareni I just finished reading Baking Bad by Kim M. Watt at Christmas; a different kind of mystery she said.  It certainly is.  It's a cozy mystery with a twist set in a little fictional town called Toot Hansell in England somewhere between Shipton and Leeds. The vicar is poisoned and the ladies of the women's guild, the Women's Institute take it upon themselves to investigate with the help of special friends, the High Lord of the Cloverly Dragons, Beaufort Scales, and his sidekick Mortimer.   Yep, dragons. 

The story is told from multiple points of view including the two dragons.  The foursome get themselves into all kinds of trouble when the Detective Inspector who arrives to investigate. She can't exactly see the dragons but keeps seeing something strange that makes her vision wonky and reminds her of a past experience she'd rather forget.  There's plenty of mayhem and misdirection before the mystery of the murder is finally solved.  Baking Bad is humorous and sweet as well as mysterious and well worth reading.  I'm looking forward to reading more in the Beaufort Scales Mystery series. 

 

@mumto2 With my first two books, I've been to Isle of Wight, Whitby, Skipton, and Leeds.  Plus with When Christ and his Saints Slept see a pattern going on here and I may inadvertently be Brit Tripping this year.  😉

Edited by Robin M
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1 hour ago, Robin M said:

Thanks to @Kareni I just finished reading Baking Bad by Kim M. Watt at Christmas; a different kind of mystery she said.  It certainly is.  It's a cozy mystery with a twist set in a little fictional town called Toot Hansell in England somewhere between Shipton and Leeds. The vicar is poisoned and the ladies of the women's guild, the Women's Institute take it upon themselves to investigate with the help of special friends, the High Lord of the Cloverly Dragons, Beaufort Scales, and his sidekick Mortimer.   Yep, dragons. 

The story is told from multiple points of view including the two dragons.  The foursome get themselves into all kinds of trouble when the Detective Inspector who arrives to investigate. She can't exactly see the dragons but keeps seeing something strange that makes her vision wonky and reminds her of a past experience she'd rather forget.  There's plenty of mayhem and misdirection before the mystery of the murder is finally solved.  Baking Bad is humorous and sweet as well as mysterious and well worth reading.  I'm looking forward to reading more in the Beaufort Scales Mystery series. 

 

@mumto2 With my first two books, I've been to Isle of Wight, Whitby, Skipton, and Leeds.  Plus with When Christ and his Saints Slept see a pattern going on here and I may inadvertently be Brit Tripping this year.  😉

Breaking Bad sounds great and I am looking forward to reading my copy!  My mental pictures should be pretty awesome as we have spent a great deal of time near Skipton.....which means we drove by/through Leeds.  Definately keep track of the Brit Tripping.  I had a really successful year last year......I think it was 39 counties visited and I just read and kept track in the recommended line on Goodreads. That way my master list on Goodreads keeps updating too!

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Late checking in for the new year! I am mainly a serendipity reader. Once I find an author, I try to read his/her books in order of publication. So I am still working on Mary Russell & Sherlock Holmes, partly because they are pretty popular at my local library and I am not the only one to have them on hold. I also started a new series by Susan Elia MacNeal about a woman spy (Maggie Hope) in WW II who started out as Churchill's secretary (first book), saved a kidnapped princess (book 2), and via Berlin exposed the Reich's program for eliminating defective children (book 3). Now she's back in England/Scotland suffering from burnout/depression and the former klutz is doing physical training for prospective spies. Bletchley Park and codebreaking have also been featured. Fun!

I had to get a new Kindle because my old one has quit holding a charge. It can still be used, but only plugged into the charger. The software has moved on 5 generations or so in the meanwhile, so it's a bit of an adjustment to the new one. OTOH, now I can keep one upstairs and one downstairs, right? I've had time to read because my p/t work has been pretty non-existent this month. Hoping for more work in Jan., and dh just got his first paycheck at his new job. Hurrah, hurrah, AND he's liking what he's seen so far. Travelling for training over the next couple weeks. Hopefully the small town he'll be visiting won't present serious infection risks!!

For the person who likes dog books, you might like Doranna Durgin's "A Feral Darkness" which combines canines and a bit of welsh mythology. Durgin also has a series that features shape-changing, but into equines instead of wolves. I found them quite fun.

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I finished my first book of 2021 - Murder on Mulberry Bend is #5 in the Gaslight Mystery series. I love this series but only gave this one three stars because the murderer and method were pretty far fetched. I suppose they all are but this one more than the other four I read so far. Still, I enjoyed it, especially because the victim and her family were Italian immigrants living in NYC's Little Italy. This is where my great grandparents and their families (both came here as teens) settled and is even set during the same time they were living there. My great grandmother's family came in 1888 and g-grandfather's around the same time. The story takes place in 1897 so I doubt Little Italy would have changed much in <10 years except it probably had more people crowded into more tenements. It's not my first full book of the year but is close enough since I started reading it New Year's Eve.

I also started Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China I'm only a short way into the first chapter but I'm already finding it interesting. 

Still reading: Catch and Kill, A People's History of the United States, Lady Chatterly's Lover

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I’m one of those who pops in here from time to time but rarely posts. Maybe this year I’ll become more regular, both in my reading and in my participation here. I finally bought readers (🤓) after months (years?) of complaining that the lamp in the den was too far away from my favorite chair, the light on the nightstand was too dim, the font in every book was too small . . . . Duh. 

I started the year with an easy and cozy book: I’d Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of a Reading Life by Anne Bogel. This was a perfect choice to start my reading year. 

I’m a few chapters into You're Not Listening: What You're Missing and Why It Matters by Kate Murphy. The subject is timely and the author is skilled. 

And I just started the novel My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Otessa Moshfegh. Too soon for an opinion. Will report next week. 

 

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Without planning to or even hardly noticing it, my first book for 2021 was a page turner.

"What is a Girl Worth" by Rachael Denhollander.  

I bought it immediately after publication in 2019, and promptly lost track of where I put it.  I ran across it last week, and was delighted.  I started flipping through it in a desultory way, and read it in a day.  Literally.  

First of all, I adore her.  I saw her speak at Nasser's trial online, and I became a fan immediately.  

Secondly, all the things.  All the little girls, the stars of the US, the best of the best, so young, so isolated, so freaking abused.  It was all of that.  She wasn't part of any dream team or a participant at the infamous Texas camp where no parents were allowed, and I think that that made her more able to break this story--she didn't have as much invested in the team/represent/all for one one for all thing like the other girls did, and (KEY!) she started gymnastics much later than most so she was not normalized into it like some.  

I remember watching the testimony of the accusers at Nasser's sentencing hearing, and just being so heartsick, and then recognizing names, and then looking up their gymnastics feats, and just OH GOSH WE FAILED THEM SO BAD.  

And concurrently there was the ballet scandal.

And it was really a close miss, but DD could easily have been in a modelling scandal her own self.  It was so hard to say no to the offer, and she clearly had the right stuff to do very well, and I felt like a old-fashioned, stupidly paranoid stage mother.  Until, well, until I didn't anymore.  It was a good call but it was also a close call, and if something else VERY GOOD had not presented itself as an opportunity right then, who knows what I would have done.  It was a difficult no to say, and it was mostly based on chaperonage that I would have wanted to provide but would have had great difficulty in fitting into our family, and would have been mocked and criticized for requiring.  Just like in all the other ones.  

You're holding your kid back.  This is how things really work.  This is how to move forward.  Why would you deny this talent this opportunity?  Yes, whether it's gymnastics or skating or ballet or modelling, it's the same stupid pattern.  Kids who don't know better, inadequately protected by those they are led to trust.  

So, the book.  Well, the book is very well written and edited  It's got the right amount of detail here and there.  It's Christian, which is a plus for me.  It's one I'm going to be recommending to parents frequently from now on.  And I still think that Rachael rocks, big time.  #still a fan

#waytostarttheNewYearright

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43 minutes ago, Hyacinth said:

I’m one of those who pops in here from time to time but rarely posts. Maybe this year I’ll become more regular, both in my reading and in my participation here. I finally bought readers (🤓) after months (years?) of complaining that the lamp in the den was too far away from my favorite chair, the light on the nightstand was too dim, the font in every book was too small . . . . Duh. 

It's terrible, isn't it?, how publishers keep decreasing font size. They're clearly trying to save money by using less paper!

I look forward to hearing more about what you're reading with those new readers.

25 minutes ago, Carol in Cal. said:

Without planning to or even hardly noticing it, my first book for 2021 was a page turner.

"What is a Girl Worth" by Rachael Denhollander.  

I bought it immediately after publication in 2019, and promptly lost track of where I put it.  I ran across it last week, and was delighted.  I started flipping through it in a desultory way, and read it in a day.  Literally.  

It sounds like a great (albeit sad/scary) book. Thanks for sharing, Carol.

Regards,

Kareni

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4 hours ago, Laurel-in-CA said:

Late checking in for the new year! I am mainly a serendipity reader. Once I find an author, I try to read his/her books in order of publication. So I am still working on Mary Russell & Sherlock Holmes, partly because they are pretty popular at my local library and I am not the only one to have them on hold. I also started a new series by Susan Elia MacNeal about a woman spy (Maggie Hope) in WW II who started out as Churchill's secretary (first book), saved a kidnapped princess (book 2), and via Berlin exposed the Reich's program for eliminating defective children (book 3). Now she's back in England/Scotland suffering from burnout/depression and the former klutz is doing physical training for prospective spies. Bletchley Park and codebreaking have also been featured. Fun!

I had to get a new Kindle because my old one has quit holding a charge. It can still be used, but only plugged into the charger. The software has moved on 5 generations or so in the meanwhile, so it's a bit of an adjustment to the new one. OTOH, now I can keep one upstairs and one downstairs, right? I've had time to read because my p/t work has been pretty non-existent this month. Hoping for more work in Jan., and dh just got his first paycheck at his new job. Hurrah, hurrah, AND he's liking what he's seen so far. Travelling for training over the next couple weeks. Hopefully the small town he'll be visiting won't present serious infection risks!!

For the person who likes dog books, you might like Doranna Durgin's "A Feral Darkness" which combines canines and a bit of welsh mythology. Durgin also has a series that features shape-changing, but into equines instead of wolves. I found them quite fun.

Emphasis mine.  I love that idea!! What a fun way to see how an author grows in their storytelling and as a person.

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49 minutes ago, Carol in Cal. said:

Without planning to or even hardly noticing it, my first book for 2021 was a page turner.

"What is a Girl Worth" by Rachael Denhollander.  

I bought it immediately after publication in 2019, and promptly lost track of where I put it.  I ran across it last week, and was delighted.  I started flipping through it in a desultory way, and read it in a day.  Literally.  

First of all, I adore her.  I saw her speak at Nasser's trial online, and I became a fan immediately.  

 

I remember watching the testimony of the accusers at Nasser's sentencing hearing, and just being so heartsick, and then recognizing names, and then looking up their gymnastics feats, and just OH GOSH WE FAILED THEM SO BAD.  



So, the book.  Well, the book is very well written and edited  It's got the right amount of detail here and there.  It's Christian, which is a plus for me.  It's one I'm going to be recommending to parents frequently from now on.  And I still think that Rachael rocks, big time.  #still a fan

#waytostarttheNewYearright

It is an EXCELLENT book.  I followed the case (loosely) but then right after the sentencing for Larry Nassar my now ex-husband was arrested on similar charges....and they both were in some of the same courts, jails, etc.   Her book shows just how good some of these abusers are.....how well they can hide things for years and years.

I heard Rachael speak at a book release.  Such an inspiration.   I just listened to the book as an audio book about 2 weeks ago again.  Even more powerful when you listen to hear read/tell her own story.

She also has a great book out there for preschool and elementary age girls How Much Is a Little Girl Worth?

 

 

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1 minute ago, Ottakee said:

 

She also has a great book out there for preschool and elementary age girls How Much Is a Little Girl Worth?

 

 

I'm going to look for this one.

PSA:  An excellent book to share with your kids is "My Body Is Private".  It is clear, it is empowering, and it doesn't induce fear, but rather it conveys information about where and how to draw lines, and when and how to get help and support with that.  I read it with my DD when she was 4, because a classmate of hers in her preschool was being groomed by his instrument teacher, who was a convicted child molester who was not supposed to ever be around kids.  The classmate's mother realized that he was way too complimentary and handsy with her son, and went to the police, where she found his picture in a book of convicted sex offenders.  His arrest was on TV that night, and I dug out the book, which I had been reserving for 'later' shortly after that.  It was really really good.  One thing I did that I'm really glad about is emphasize that this is awfully rare, but that it's good to know what to do about it, but that it probably won't be necessary.  It's a rough balance sometimes between creating anxiety and taking care.

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A question for you, @mumto2

On 12/14/2020 at 7:46 AM, mumto2 said:

2.  If I could talk to the animals......unusual animals/pets in books is something I want to keep track of 😂, I read a book with a moose friend last week.  This is purely for my entertainment.

For this category, would an animate gingerbread man or a sourdough starter familiar count?

**

I recently finished with pleasure A Wizard's Guide To Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher.  This book is appropriate for teen readers as well as adults. It also happens to be on sale for 99¢ for Kindle readers.

"Fourteen-year-old Mona isn't like the wizards charged with defending the city. She can't control lightning or speak to water. Her familiar is a sourdough starter and her magic only works on bread. She has a comfortable life in her aunt's bakery making gingerbread men dance.

But Mona's life is turned upside down when she finds a dead body on the bakery floor. An assassin is stalking the streets of Mona's city, preying on magic folk, and it appears that Mona is his next target. And in an embattled city suddenly bereft of wizards, the assassin may be the least of Mona's worries..."

Regards,

Kareni

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5 minutes ago, Kareni said:

A question for you, @mumto2

For this category, would an animate gingerbread man or a sourdough starter familiar count?

**

I recently finished with pleasure A Wizard's Guide To Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher.  This book is appropriate for teen readers as well as adults. It also happens to be on sale for 99¢ for Kindle readers.

"Fourteen-year-old Mona isn't like the wizards charged with defending the city. She can't control lightning or speak to water. Her familiar is a sourdough starter and her magic only works on bread. She has a comfortable life in her aunt's bakery making gingerbread men dance.

But Mona's life is turned upside down when she finds a dead body on the bakery floor. An assassin is stalking the streets of Mona's city, preying on magic folk, and it appears that Mona is his next target. And in an embattled city suddenly bereft of wizards, the assassin may be the least of Mona's worries..."

Regards,

Kareni

If I could talk to animals .......is where I plan to put books with things like hedgehogs,pigs, moose.  All of which I was reading when I decided on that 10! I have How the Penguins saved Veronica https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50519007-how-the-penguins-saved-veronica currently in my stack which I expect to put in that 10.  I suppose I could add a sourdough starter to the assortment and it does sound intriguing so I just bought it!

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23 hours ago, Carol in Cal. said:

Without planning to or even hardly noticing it, my first book for 2021 was a page turner.

"What is a Girl Worth" by Rachael Denhollander.  

I bought it immediately after publication in 2019, and promptly lost track of where I put it.  I ran across it last week, and was delighted.  I started flipping through it in a desultory way, and read it in a day.  Literally.  

First of all, I adore her.  I saw her speak at Nasser's trial online, and I became a fan immediately.  

Secondly, all the things.  All the little girls, the stars of the US, the best of the best, so young, so isolated, so freaking abused.  It was all of that.  She wasn't part of any dream team or a participant at the infamous Texas camp where no parents were allowed, and I think that that made her more able to break this story--she didn't have as much invested in the team/represent/all for one one for all thing like the other girls did, and (KEY!) she started gymnastics much later than most so she was not normalized into it like some.  

I remember watching the testimony of the accusers at Nasser's sentencing hearing, and just being so heartsick, and then recognizing names, and then looking up their gymnastics feats, and just OH GOSH WE FAILED THEM SO BAD.  

And concurrently there was the ballet scandal.

And it was really a close miss, but DD could easily have been in a modelling scandal her own self.  It was so hard to say no to the offer, and she clearly had the right stuff to do very well, and I felt like a old-fashioned, stupidly paranoid stage mother.  Until, well, until I didn't anymore.  It was a good call but it was also a close call, and if something else VERY GOOD had not presented itself as an opportunity right then, who knows what I would have done.  It was a difficult no to say, and it was mostly based on chaperonage that I would have wanted to provide but would have had great difficulty in fitting into our family, and would have been mocked and criticized for requiring.  Just like in all the other ones.  

You're holding your kid back.  This is how things really work.  This is how to move forward.  Why would you deny this talent this opportunity?  Yes, whether it's gymnastics or skating or ballet or modelling, it's the same stupid pattern.  Kids who don't know better, inadequately protected by those they are led to trust.  

So, the book.  Well, the book is very well written and edited  It's got the right amount of detail here and there.  It's Christian, which is a plus for me.  It's one I'm going to be recommending to parents frequently from now on.  And I still think that Rachael rocks, big time.  #still a fan

#waytostarttheNewYearright

Thanks for sharing this one @Carol in Cal. - I coached gymnastics for almost 10 years and am sickened by what happened to those athletes. Denhollander is an amazingly brave woman and I would like to read this one. 

I am currently reading a MUCH lighter read. It's a series by Emily Harvale. The first is called Christmas at Wynterhouse and it's honestly just what I need this week. I'm on book two and will probably finish the series this weekend. I love Kindle Unlimited when I'm looking for enjoyable, easy reads. I've also read her Merriment Bay series this year, which is 4 books. Also, good and light! 

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1 hour ago, Kareni said:

I hope you'll enjoy the T. Kingfisher book. Funnily enough, @mumto2, the above book is the second one I've read recently that featured an uncommon sourdough starter. The other was Sourdough: A Novel by Robin Sloan.

Regards,

Kareni

I really liked Sourdough by Robin Sloan......it made it onto my top ten for the year a couple of years ago.  
 

Not sure if your library has the Moose Springs books but I am really loving them and I think you would like them.  The first is The Tourist Attraction.......... https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43352294-the-tourist-attraction

 

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1 hour ago, mumto2 said:

Not sure if your library has the Moose Springs books but I am really loving them and I think you would like them.  The first is The Tourist Attraction.......... https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43352294-the-tourist-attraction...

Thank you! I've put a hold on the first book.

Regards,

Kareni

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 I always seem to start the year with many goals and then mid year life gets in the way. Having 8 kids at home, all with varying social lives and needs, reading seems to be the thing that get thrown to the back burner. Audiobooks seem to be the way for me right now. 
 

  I listened to 20 books last year, although I think I’m missing a few and updating good reads isn’t something I’m very good at. I read a lot more non fiction and psychological thrillers then in the past. Tarryn Fischer was an author I found and enjoyed a few of her books.

I finished The midwife of hope river. I love a good birth story so this book was right up my alley. I also finished the woman in cabin 10 by Ruth Ware. It was a painful listen. I probably won’t read anything else by her.

Not sure what I will read next, gathering my want to reads. Can you believe I’ve never read Nora Roberts?? Maybe I’ll try her out!!

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2 hours ago, welovebooks said:

Not sure what I will read next, gathering my want to reads. Can you believe I’ve never read Nora Roberts?? Maybe I’ll try her out!!

I discovered Nora about 14 year ago and loved her writing, read and reread many of her books.  I just finished rereading her Key Trilogy which is a good place to start with her or one of her standalones. I've read Northern Lights a few times.  She writes  romance, romantic suspense, or paranormal suspense, plus she has a futuristic detective series In Death as J.D.Robb which is excellent and has a wonderful cast of characters, but it also deals with themes of sexual assault and murder so if that's a trigger, avoid that one.

 

 

I was listening to Key of Light in the car and as with all her books wanted to continue the story in the evening and was frustrated because we'd cleared out bookshelves and moved stuff around and my boxes of Nora got stuffed into the garage and buried at some point. This past weekend finally unearthed two boxes of Nora.  Yay!  This is going to be a Nora reread year I've decided.  Her writing inspires mine and I need all the help I can get. 😁

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On 1/7/2021 at 7:24 PM, Carol in Cal. said:

Without planning to or even hardly noticing it, my first book for 2021 was a page turner.

"What is a Girl Worth" by Rachael Denhollander.  

 

I haven’t heard of this, sounds like an interesting read. Adding to my list!

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This week I finished up For the Children’s Sake by Susan Schaffer McCauley. I found some of it interesting, but most of it I had make myself stay awake for. I think this book could use an update. I want to try Elizabeth Foss’s updated book on CM but it never goes on sale. Womp womp.

I listened to the Christmas Table by Donna VanLiere. Sweet and fluffy book, although not as good as some of her other Christmas stories.  It was nice distraction while scrubbing grout and cleaning drains. Lol. 
 

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Web wonderings this morning:

Guardian's 2021 in books: what to look forward to this year

A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders review – rules for good writing, and more --- Added to my wish list 

Guide to the classics: The Wind in the Willows — a tale of wanderlust, male bonding, and timeless delight -- Make me want to read it sooner rather than later. I think I've started it a few times but didn't get too far.

If you've reading Frankenstein -   Frankenstein: Our Dark Mirror, Ep. 256 podcast

Six Degrees of Separation: From Hamnet to MacBeth  - I like how she chains the books together.   I'm going to have to try again this year and pay attention to how each book I read links to the next.   @mumto2  Are you doing the book chain again? 

Edited by Robin M
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2 hours ago, welovebooks said:

 I always seem to start the year with many goals and then mid year life gets in the way. Having 8 kids at home, all with varying social lives and needs, reading seems to be the thing that get thrown to the back burner. ...

Not sure what I will read next, gathering my want to reads. Can you believe I’ve never read Nora Roberts?? Maybe I’ll try her out!!

I can't imagine how eight children could possibly get in the way of reading!

I'm another longtime fan of Nora Roberts; I've been reading her books since the early ... eighties. Some places to begin ~

 

Regards,

Kareni

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Good afternoon, fellow readers~

I am quarantining in preparation for my daughter's surgery next week and moving in with her and her family to help her recover so I've been playing in my bullet journal and drawing bookshelves, reading lists, bingo cards, and generally having a good time of it. I took the dog for a three mile walk to the public library to pick up a book. I had put a hold on The Count of Monte Cristo and it's in already. I can only check it out three times and, after looking through the proposed schedules, I may just have to break with the no spend reading challenge and buy a copy. Unless I can get it on Kindle. I've never read a chunky ebook. 

What editions is everyone thinking about using? Is there something I should be on the lookout for?
 

--

DS's Wheel of Time reading progress - he has finished the prequel and Book 1. 

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12 minutes ago, Granny_Weatherwax said:

I am quarantining in preparation for my daughter's surgery next week and moving in with her and her family to help her recover so I've been playing in my bullet journal and drawing bookshelves, reading lists, bingo cards, and generally having a good time of it.

Best wishes for your daughter's surgery and recovery. And happy reading!

Regards,

Kareni

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2 hours ago, Granny_Weatherwax said:

I had put a hold on The Count of Monte Cristo and it's in already. I can only check it out three times and, after looking through the proposed schedules, I may just have to break with the no spend reading challenge and buy a copy. Unless I can get it on Kindle. I've never read a chunky ebook. 

What editions is everyone thinking about using? Is there something I should be on the lookout for?
 

 

First, good thoughts for your daughter's surgery.

Did I miss a posted schedule or proposed schedule? Should I have started reading it? I knew we would be reading it this year and I thought I was keeping up on the threads but maybe it was posted last year? 

This will be a reread for me and I have two Kindle editions. One is a free public domain edition that doesn't seem to be available anymore and the other is a Penguin Classics edition. Amazon says I read the Penguin Classics one. I have a feeling the public domain edition was poorly done. I read it in 2012 and back then there were a lot of errors when public domain books were put in digital formats. During the reread I'll stick with the one I previously read. From what I understand this is a truly complete and unabridged version and the translator is well respected.

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Virtual high-fives to all of those who, like me, have the best of intentions to post weekly and follow a reading schedule and participate unfailingly but who then end up binge reading fluff, forgetting to note what's been finished, and letting weeks and weeks go by without a single BaW post.  My Goodreads shelves are a mess, I can't remember to update my lists, and when I do remember to update I do it in batches and everything ends up with the same date so it looks like I finished 15 books on the same day.  Sigh.  And I'm TOTALLY an organizer and a planner!!!  My lack of reading organization/planning is a weird anomaly.  I think I might be old-school and would do better with some sort of paper planner/journal for reading.  Any favourites to recommend?

And did you all know that Frixion makes erasable highlighters??  Genius.

Finished my first book of 2021:

1. Changes at Fairacre (Fairacre, #18) by Miss Read   *Fiction

I've given up on rating books because it stressed me out.  I don't know why - probably because there was no "right" answer to the rating.  My science/math education brain likes "right" answers. 😉

I'm currently reading a horror/thriller novel by an Icelandic writer:

I Remember You by Yrsa Sigurdardottir (in translation)

The whole 'Nordic Noir' genre has really been appealing to me lately.  I've also been watching 'Fortitude' and 'Wisting' on Amazon Prime.  If anyone has author suggestions for Nordic Noir, I'd love to hear them!

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I made a post in the very first Book a Week 2020 thread saying I was finally going to do this...and then all hell broke loose in the second week of January. 🙃 2020 was rotten here before it was the in thing for 2020 to be rotten. 🤣😒🎻 So here I am again. I've got to go back and read all the posts from this week, but I wanted to get this post in before week 2 started. 

I am currently reading Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson and just today I received The House in the Cerulean Sea, by TJ Klune, hich I hope is going to provide some nice escapism this weekend. 

My favorite reads last year were The Goldfinch and News of the World. I had just finished the second chapter of the latter when the movie ads with Tom Hanks started playing, and I was happy to read the rest of it in his voice. I think that is probably some great casting, but I need to see the movie, which will probably disappoint me despite Tom Hanks being good in the role. LOL

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1 hour ago, Lady Florida. said:

First, good thoughts for your daughter's surgery.

Did I miss a posted schedule or proposed schedule? Should I have started reading it? I knew we would be reading it this year and I thought I was keeping up on the threads but maybe it was posted last year? 

This will be a reread for me and I have two Kindle editions. One is a free public domain edition that doesn't seem to be available anymore and the other is a Penguin Classics edition. Amazon says I read the Penguin Classics one. I have a feeling the public domain edition was poorly done. I read it in 2012 and back then there were a lot of errors when public domain books were put in digital formats. During the reread I'll stick with the one I previously read. From what I understand this is a truly complete and unabridged version and the translator is well respected.

There were two proposed schedules in a previous thread. I believe we aren't beginning until Feb.; hence my distress upon the early arrival of my book.  When I put a hold on it, it wasn't available until the end of Jan so the previous reader must have returned it early or a second copy became available. I'm using the current edition as a way to browse the book and see if I like it while looking for something I can have on hand for the duration of the read.

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59 minutes ago, Dicentra said:

Virtual high-fives to all of those who, like me, have the best of intentions to post weekly and follow a reading schedule and participate unfailingly but who then end up binge reading fluff, forgetting to note what's been finished, and letting weeks and weeks go by without a single BaW post.  My Goodreads shelves are a mess, I can't remember to update my lists, and when I do remember to update I do it in batches and everything ends up with the same date so it looks like I finished 15 books on the same day.  Sigh.  And I'm TOTALLY an organizer and a planner!!!  My lack of reading organization/planning is a weird anomaly.  I think I might be old-school and would do better with some sort of paper planner/journal for reading.  Any favourites to recommend?

<snip>

I have tried two ways to journal my reading. For two years, I created a list in a blank lined journal.. I wrote the title, the author and a quick rating. Then I got all fancy and purchased a legit book journal that requires quite a bit of info: author, title, publisher, # of pages, genre, why I read it, who will I recommend it to, quotes, start and end dates, etc and etc. It's too much for me and it's only partially filled in. It holds info for 100 books (I'm on 96); as soon as it's filled, I'm going back to the standard blank journal

I do track on Goodreads so I can see my progress for the Reading challenge and the end of year review. I like having the paper copy too.

 

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