I have no idea how this prompt ended up with a preponderance of books written by people who are not doing a very good job at whatever they are writing about. The only book here in a language I can read that was actually good was a middle grade novel. It is, granted, a fairly good middle grade novel, inspired by another award winning middle grade book. That latter is by Jane Yolen, who wrote a wizard school book that you could still give to kids! Continue reading “A book with something crossed out on the cover”
A book with a key on the cover
I’m an absolute fool for having made this prompt, because of course half the books ended up being about some sort of spooky house situation, which in itself isn’t bad, only when you then read several in a row so the comparisons are immediate. I had a tiny bit of extra energy, so I actually managed some category suggestions this week, though they are still incomplete. Continue reading “A book with a key on the cover”
A book with tie-dye on the cover
I made this prompt because I wanted a presumably easy prompt and more queer possibilities. Unfortunately, nobody found anything queer using tie-dye, which is rather disappointing. For that matter, almost no one actually found any tie-dye style covers. I guess it wasn’t as easy as I thought! Admittedly, the last tie-dye anything I actually owned was a cheaply printed shirt having something to do with pretty anime boys. I think I still have it somewhere, though it is certainly threadbare and probably doesn’t fit anymore. Continue reading “A book with tie-dye on the cover”
A book with a toy on the cover
These reviews were written in the spaces between migraines and a fever, so they probably aren’t my best work. We did get the requisite creepy doll on the cover. We also got some items that are not strictly toys, or really toys at all. I’m actually surprised there was neither more horror nor more children’s books. Also, one author turned out to be a transphobe, but not the author I had predicted based purely on titles. The universe giveth, and the universe taketh away. Continue reading “A book with a toy on the cover”
A book inspired by another book
Most of these books have either obvious inspirations, or they explained in their summaries. I think a few were misunderstandings – sequels to other books, or books about books, which is technically correct but not quite the spirit of the prompt. Continue reading “A book inspired by another book”
A book by an author from Southern Europe
I didn’t expect this prompt to result almost exclusively in books I did not enjoy. I’m sure this is perfect for all of you reading this blog for my snark, but at least my irritation led me to finally grab some guaranteed hits I had been saving on my to-read list for a rainy day. What I’m saying is, we went to places famous for their lack of rain, and I got a downpour. Continue reading “A book by an author from Southern Europe”
A book from OpenLibrary’s front page carousels
I wanted to add some randomness into all our reading and also introduce folks to the OpenLibrary, which is a treasure trove of obscure old books. I actually peruse the “Recently Returned” carousel fairly often, and add a few books to my to read list every week because of that. There are folks doing research on topics I’m interested in who are much better at ferreting out good books in the massive catalogue than I am. Continue reading “A book from OpenLibrary’s front page carousels”
No post due to migraines and other adventures
As the title says, I lost 3 days this week to a migraine, and then I went on an adventure (on my broken foot!) to try to attend a party, which ended in failure but not too much trouble with my foot and wiped me flat as far as my energy goes.
I know I have a bunch of new folks to the challenges this year, which is exciting. I’m really looking forward to seeing the books you read. I haven’t read nearly as much this month as last, but the days when I did read, I read quite a bit. How is your reading going so far?
A book involving science
For having so few books I actually had to read, this post took far too long to write. Part of it was fatigue and illness, and part of it was that the books here are all long and mostly boring and none of them did anything egregious early on so I could get grumpy and trash them in short order. Only one of the newly reviewed books really has accurately presented science in it, and it is a history book. Go figure. Continue reading “A book involving science”
No post today, hopefully just delayed
Well, this was a bit inevitable. This was a bit of a rough week health-wise and somehow I didn’t get up the energy to knock out the handful of reviews for this post. I did manage to work on the blog some – mostly just continuing to get all the book links and figure out what I need to read for the rest of the year. We made it a whole month without a delayed or missed post, and if I feel well enough tomorrow, I’ll get the actual post done!
In the meantime, how has your year in reading started? Are you still enthusiastic about your goals or challenges you joined?
What We've Been Reading 