Reading talk (and challenges!) in 2022

[elisanns]

On 1/2/2022 at 6:39 PM, Gemma said:

I'm currently reading Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle (which I love)

 

May have to add this one to my list, along with a few public speaking books I've had in my tbr pile since...basically forever at this point.

[Scaly Freak]

 

My library district held a short live event on Facebook where they revealed the 50 categories for this year, and the new software platform, that will be used for tracking progress for those of us who prefer to do it online. Unlike last year, almost all the categories have me genuinely excited, and I'm almost entirely sure that at least two of the three books I need to go pick up from the library fit a category each.  

[Scaly Freak]

In case anyone is looking for reading inspiration, here are the 50 categories from my library's Extreme Book Nerd Challenge:

 

 

Spoiler

1. A book with North, South, East, or West in the title
2. A book with a black cover
3. A book with a building on the cover
4. A book you’ve been meaning to read
5. A book set in the future
6. A book published under a pseudonym
7. A book with an LGBT+ main character
8. A medical mystery – fiction or nonfiction
9. A book with a subtitle
10. A book by an author with a last name 5+ letters long
11. A book about someone you admire
12. A book about a mom, dad, or grandparent
13. A fiction book with an alternative history
14. A book with Life or Death in the title
15. A book dealing with addiction/recovery
16. A book with a crime in it
17. A book by or about indigenous peoples
18. A book by an author with the same first or last name as one of your loved ones
19. A book set on a farm or in a rural location
20. A book from a library display
21. A book about a major world event
22. A book set in <our state> or with a state connection
23. A book with a circus or carnival setting
24. A book of satire
25. A book by a new-to-you author
26. A book with a matriarch as a character
27. A book with a firefighter or police officer as the main character
28. A book written by a comedian
29. A book set in the Middle East
30. A book of your choice
31. A book published in the 20th century
32. A book about the career you wanted to have as a child
33. A book with a main character of Asian descent
34. A memoir
35. A graphic novel/manga
36. A book about a cult
37. A book suggested by another Extreme Book Nerd
38. A retelling of a classic story
39. A book with a bird on the cover
40. A book about animals
41. A Printz Award winner or nominee
42. A book about survival
43. A book with less than 200 pages
44. A book from the Adult Nonfiction 800s
45. A book published this year
46. A horror book
47. A book with a cover you don’t like
48. A multimedia book
49. A book that taught you something new
50. A book with food in it

 

And here is a link to the full Book Riot challenge as well: https://bookriot.com/read-harder-2022/

[Sylvaa]

I'm 100% going in on this this year!

 

I'm a huge reader, but usually for escapism purposes. This year, my goal is to work on being intentional with my reading choices. I've set a Goodreads goal of 12, which means 12 that I will admit to reading . 

 

Currently, I'm reading The Happy Runner, which I picked up for Christmas. 

[Scaly Freak]

2 hours ago, Sylvaa said:

I've set a Goodreads goal of 12, which means 12 that I will admit to reading . 

 

An honest reading challenge! 🤯

[MezzotheLefty]

2 hours ago, Sylvaa said:

I'm 100% going in on this this year!

 

I'm a huge reader, but usually for escapism purposes. This year, my goal is to work on being intentional with my reading choices. I've set a Goodreads goal of 12, which means 12 that I will admit to reading . 

 

Currently, I'm reading The Happy Runner, which I picked up for Christmas. 

 

LOL I can relate to that! I'm mean, there IRL people are following my GoodReads... so sometimes I sensor what I log there too. Less so now than 3 years ago though. Reading is highly personal!

[Silmarilliane]

On 1/2/2022 at 12:15 AM, Rebel Pilot Gar said:

I am slowly working my way through the Witcher series

 

I love these ❤️

 

On 1/3/2022 at 12:17 AM, juliebarkley said:

you could try Rosemary's Baby

 

I once saw a guy on the tube reading this for a significant amount of the journey (I live at the end of the line). He finished the last page as we pulled into the station and I've wanted to read it ever since 😄

[juliebarkley]

On 1/3/2022 at 2:49 PM, Asha Phoenix said:

Is it just me, or does anyone else take fiction books and read the last sentence in the book before starting it? Like, I've been doing that since I can remember and have absolutely no clue why I do it. 🤷‍♀️ Just wondered if anyone else does this, or has something they do when reading?

I read the end of most thriller-type books that sound interesting. Then I don't have to actually read the book.

[juliebarkley]

3 hours ago, MezzotheLefty said:

LOL I can relate to that! I'm mean, there IRL people are following my GoodReads... so sometimes I sensor what I log there too. Less so now than 3 years ago though. Reading is highly personal!

If anyone should ever stalk me on LibraryThing, they will learn stuff, because I log everything.

[Alanna]

On 1/2/2022 at 8:28 PM, bigm141414 said:

The biggest release is The Lost Metal by Brandon Sanderson which is the 4th and final Wax & Wayne Mistborn book. It's a given that any time Sanderson releases anything I am going to buy it and read it immediately.

 

I'm looking forward to this release, too! I also still need to read Cytonic - I'm just waiting for the kindle price to come down.

 

After completing the current eras of Mistborn and The Stormlight Archive, though, I'll probably let Sanderson get ahead of me so I can the next set of instalments back-to-back. Cosmere is getting more and more complex and I forget too much in the year or two between publications! 

[Scaly Freak]

Is anyone else here using the kobo App for Android or iPhone? And if you are, have you also lost the ability to change to a font that isn't garbage?

[Maggie-Miau]

On 1/5/2022 at 10:07 PM, Scaly Freak said:

A book with a black cover

 

I have Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell for this one! I've had it for a couple years now and have only ever read about halfway. I'm bringing it back to school with me to finally finish it  

 

It'll be a few months before i have access to a library, not sure if i'll be able to get through the whole list, but reading anything is better than reading nothing and i'd love to give it a shot  

 

[juliebarkley]

I'm reading a book about La Salle and (supposedly) why the US didn't end up with more French influence, and the author is going on a long aside about the Notre Dame Cathedral in Montreal and the relationship between Gothic architecture and the printing press. The he moves into this:

 

Quote

The Gothic style, in a broader sense, lives deep in the psyche of Canada - a nation founded by two peoples who rejected the American Revolution and the French Revolution and who have thereafter tended to outward inhibition and inward brooding. One has only to compare the Gothic revival architecture of Ottawa with the Roman architecture of Washington, D.C. It is no accident that Canada's longest-serving prime minister was addicted to seances and crystal balls, and no accident either that Canadian literature is far more prone to visions of demon lovers and spirit-haunted wastes than the literature of the United States (except perhaps for the literature of the American South, another region of defeated peoples).

 

I don't know my country's literature well enough to be able to identify these spirit-haunted wastes and demon lovers, but now I want them. And I think the book is telling me I should be reading Flannery O'Connor.

 

[Artemis Prime]

Finished my first book of the year last night: Heartstone by Elle Katherine White. It is Pride and Prejudice with dragons. (As in: Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy in a fantasy setting; they themselves are not dragons in this version.) It was an enjoyable read, but one of those cases where the more I think about it the more flaws I see. It was at it's best when she stuck close to the original, when she ventured away from that it became a fun but pretty standard and kind of shallow fantasy romp. I think my biggest critique would be that much of the subtlety of the original is gone. Wickham isn't a dishonorable rogue, he's a violent criminal. Jane isn't falling in love with Bingsley but reserved about showing her feelings, she is quite obviously head over heels in love with him. I'm not sure if White thought readers might not get how atrocious Wickham's actions would have been to Victorian sensibilities so decided to magnify them (and similarly with how Jane's small signs of affections might be seen as "bold") but I find a book is never improved by underestimating its readers. 

 

All in all, I did think it was a fun read, but not sure I'm going to continue the series.

[Alanna]

5 hours ago, Artemis Prime said:

Finished my first book of the year last night: Heartstone by Elle Katherine White. It is Pride and Prejudice with dragons. (As in: Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy in a fantasy setting; they themselves are not dragons in this version.) It was an enjoyable read, but one of those cases where the more I think about it the more flaws I see. It was at it's best when she stuck close to the original, when she ventured away from that it became a fun but pretty standard and kind of shallow fantasy romp. I think my biggest critique would be that much of the subtlety of the original is gone. Wickham isn't a dishonorable rogue, he's a violent criminal. Jane isn't falling in love with Bingsley but reserved about showing her feelings, she is quite obviously head over heels in love with him. I'm not sure if White thought readers might not get how atrocious Wickham's actions would have been to Victorian sensibilities so decided to magnify them (and similarly with how Jane's small signs of affections might be seen as "bold") but I find a book is never improved by underestimating its readers. 

 

All in all, I did think it was a fun read, but not sure I'm going to continue the series.

 

Last year I read a different "Pride and Prejudice with dragons" set of stories - Pemberley: Mr Darcy's Dragon by Maria Grace (+ the next two books to complete Pride and Prejudice). Interestingly I thought it was better when it didn't stick so close to the original book - there are parts where it lifts text directly, especially in the first couple of books, and they are a bit jarring since the author goes from mentioning dragons about every sentence to a block of text without dragons. If I remember correctly, some of the plot also changes by the end. It was a fun fluff read that I got through Kindle Unlimited. The part that I disliked the most was how the baby dragons talked (very annoying improper grammar). 

 

I think other P&P variations were discussed in my challenge thread at the time, and I found a fun list of versions including one in which all the men are were-creatures. Mr Darcy was ashamed of being a were-platypus if I remember the book blurb correctly 😂.

[Artemis Prime]

5 minutes ago, Alanna said:

Interestingly I thought it was better when it didn't stick so close to the original book - there are parts where it lifts text directly, especially in the first couple of books, and they are a bit jarring since the author goes from mentioning dragons about every sentence to a block of text without dragons.

I could see that being jarring. Also lifting text directly seems like cheating to me, even if it is in the public domain. In Heartstone, I think the problem was she did such a good job of recreating Elizabeth and Darcy's banter that when she veered off into dragon fighting, it felt like the huge conflict had popped up out of nowhere, since previously the biggest problem was Darcy being mean to hobgoblins.

 

9 minutes ago, Alanna said:

I think other P&P variations were discussed in my challenge thread at the time, and I found a fun list of versions including one in which all the men are were-creatures. Mr Darcy was ashamed of being a were-platypus if I remember the book blurb correctly 😂.

I feel oddly compelled to read this. Also to meet the person who thought to turn Mr. Darcy into a were-platypus.  😂

[Salinger]

Hello, knock knock

 

may I join in?! Xx

[Artemis Prime]

7 hours ago, Salinger said:

Hello, knock knock

 

may I join in?! Xx

Certainly!

[Salinger]

1 hour ago, Artemis Prime said:

Certainly!

 

Wonderful!

 

I am starting a Masters in March, so will need to do a lot more reading eeeek. 

 

Due to mental health issues, I generally struggle to concentrate but recently finished an incredible book. 

 

First book by author Gus Moreno - This Thing Between Us.

 

Wow is all i can say.

 

An original horror novel about grief, loneliness and the oppressive intimacy of technology.

[Scaly Freak]

14 hours ago, Salinger said:

Hello, knock knock

 

may I join in?! Xx

 

Obviously. 

 

I should add this to the rules. It can be Rule Zero: "Anyone who wants to join is considered a member"

[Defining]

[Scaly Freak]

I have claimed the first badge in my Book Nerd challenge, a book with a building on the cover: The Murder at Sissingham Hall by Clara Benton.

[Scaly Freak]

 

[Sylvaa]

I finished my first book of the year (that I'm counting): The Sun is Also a Star. It was 100% not my jam (I'm not as a rule a fan of YA fiction), but I'm doing a reading challenge through ALA and Sourcebooks and that was the book of the month. The author seems to be a fan of twists that, in my opinion, just aren't necessary (she has another book out that I didn't read, but I did watch the movie with my girls). 

[Maggie-Miau]

I don't know if audiobooks count here but, i just started The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*CK. Also read three chapters of (paperback copy) Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell  I haven't much tried audiobooks before, but am finding i enjoy listening.