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@Arlenecw@federate.social cover
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Arlenecw

@[email protected]

Mother of twins and wife to beleaguered health care professional. Book lover, camping enthusiast and feminist concerned about democracy.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

kimlockhartga , to bookstodon
@kimlockhartga@beige.party avatar

Woohoo! @bookstodon Do you try to read the Booker nominees? Which have you already read?

I've read Wandering Stars and James, both of which I put on my own best of 2024 list.

The 2024 Booker Prize longlist is here. ‹ Literary Hub

https://lithub.com/the-2024-booker-prize-longlist-is-here/

Arlenecw ,
@Arlenecw@federate.social avatar

@kimlockhartga @bookstodon I do try to read the long list every year and usually read most of them. I’ve only read Orbital so far so I need to get reading!

Arlenecw ,
@Arlenecw@federate.social avatar

@kimlockhartga @bookstodon No, but Zi think it is my fault that I didn’t enjoy it more. I didn’t know anything about it, and because it is fiction, I was expecting more…fiction!

kimlockhartga , to bookstodon
@kimlockhartga@beige.party avatar

Okay, @bookstodon I have the full list of comps (If you liked this book, you may also like this other book). It's very very long, so I alphabetized the first books in each pairing, if that helps at all. Without further adieu: BOOK THREAD

1000 Best Books to Read Before You Die // Read This Next // The Western Lit Survival Kit
11/22/63 // Fatherland
The 1619 Project // Four Hundred Souls
1984 // Julia
1Q84 // The Bone Clocks
After Annie // Swim Home to the Vanished
Aftershocks (Kloos) // Nova (Delany)
The Alice Network // The Lost Girls of Paris
All Our Wrong Todays // Bridge (Beukes)
All The Birds in the Sky // Midnight Robber
All The Light We Cannot See // The Paris Library
All The Names They Used for God // New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color
American Delirium // The Burned Bridges of Ward, Nebraska
American Gods // Sorrowland
American Prometheus // The Cassandra (Shields)
Annihilation // Roadside Picnic
Apeirogon // Immortals of Tehran
Appleseed (Bell) // The Red Garden
Ariadne // Clytemnestra
Ascension (Binge) // High Crimes (GN) Sebala
At Night All Blood is Black // Hangman (Binyam)
Awayland // The Summer People
Babel // The Starless Sea
Bad Cree // Crooked Hallelujah
The Ballad of Perilous Graves // The Black God’s Drums
The Beast That Shouted Love at the Heart of the World // And at my Back I Always Hear
Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance // Other Birds
The Beauty of Your Face // The Topeka School
The Beekeeper of Aleppo // The Wrong End of the Telescope
Before We Were Yours // The Home for Unwanted Girls
The Best of Me (Sedaris) // The Fun Parts
The Binding // The Kingdoms
Bird by Bird // How Not to Write a Novel
Birds of America // Your Duck is my Duck
Black River Orchard // Red Rabbit (Grecian)
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman // Kaleidoscope (Selznick)
Bliss Montage // Gods of Want
The Bloody Chamber // Red as Blood
The Body is Not an Apology // Full of Myself (GN)
The Bone People // The Whale Rider
The Book of Fire // Harrow (Williams)
The Book of Lost Names // The Book of Lost Friends
Book of Night // Hex Life (Golden)
The Book Thief // The Librarian of Auschwitz
Broken (Lawson) // Solutions and Other Problems
The Broken Earth Trilogy (Jemisin) // The Earthsinger Chronicles (L. Penelope)
Caste // Read Until You Understand
Cat’s Cradle // The Crying of Lot 49
A Certain Hunger // Tender is the Flesh
A Children’s Bible // How High We Go in the Dark
Chouette // Blue Hour // Reproduction
Cloud Atlas // Cloud Cuckoo Land
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena // Magenta (Foden)
Crow Mary // James (Everett)
Cuyahoga // Attack of the 50 ft. Indian
The Dangers of Smoking in Bed // Zombie Sharks With Metal Teeth
Dark Matter (Crouch) // The Space Between Worlds
David Copperfield // Demon Copperhead
The Days of Afrekete // In the not Quite Dark
Deacon King Kong // Black Bottom Saints
Dead-end Memories // Things That Fall From the Sky
Dear Edward // The Book of Two Ways
Dear Life (Munro) // The Relive Box
Death Valley // Where Echoes Die
Detransition, Baby // Manhunt
Dinosaurs (Millet) // I Love You, But I’ve Chosen Darkness
Dinosaurs on Other Planets // Reptile House
Disappearing Earth // Hold The Dark
A Discovery of Witches // Middlegame
The Dog Stars // A Beginning at the End
The Dovekeepers // To The Edge of Sorrow
Dr. No (Everett) // American Mermaid
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead // Remnant Population
Drowning Practice // Flood (The Reset #1) Greene
The Dutch House // The House of the Spirits
Eat The Mouth That Feeds You // This Wicked Tongue
The Echo Wife // The Ones We Choose
The Employees // Genesis (Beckett)
The End of Men // The Men
Everything I Never Told You // All That’s Left Unsaid
Exhalation // Memory Wall
Far Out (Guran) // Love After The End (Whitehead)
The Fell (Moss) // Burntcoat (Hall)
The Fervor // Hex (Knight)
Fever Dream // The Ones That Got Away
The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of North America // Baking with Kafka
The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of The Whole Stupid World // OMFG, BEES!
Filthy Animals // A Minor Chorus
Fingersmith // Once Upon a River
Florida (Groff) // Ghost Summer (Due)
The Forest of Vanishing Stars // The Yellow Bird Sings
The Foretelling // The Steerswoman’s Road
Four Treasures of the Sky // Straw Dogs of the Universe
The Four Winds // The Past is Never
The Fox Wife // The Fox Maidens (GN) // Ninetails (Mao)
A Gentleman in Moscow // The Diamond Eye
Get in Trouble // Windeye
The Ghost Bride // The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane
Gingerbread // The Book of X
A Girl is a Body of Water // Shallow Waters
The Girl With the Louding Voice // The Dragonfly Sea
The Glass Hotel // It Came From Del Rio
Gnomon // ZED
Going Zero // We Are Satellites
The Goldfinch // Rules of Civility
Goliath (Onyebuchi) // Thrust (Yuknavitch)
The Great Gatsby // The Chosen and the Beautiful
The Great Glorious Goddamn of it All // Pity the Beast
The Great Reclamation // Okinawa (GN) Higa
The Great Transition // Sucker (Hornsby)
The Guns of the South // The Underground Railroad (Whitehead)
Hamlet // The King of Infinite Space
Hao: Stories // Skinship (Stories)
Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World // Franz Kafka: The Complete Stories
The Harpy // The Forbidden Territory of a Terrifying Woman
Heaven (Kawakami) // Bloomland
Hell Bent (Alex Stern #2) // The Indian Lake Trilogy (SGJones)
The Henna Artist // A Burning
Her Body and Other Parties // Delicate Edible Birds
Her Smoke Rose Up Forever // Meet Me in the Future
The Hero of This Book // Delphi
A History of Burning // Beyond the Door of No Return
A History of Wild Places // Dead Eleven
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy // The Grand Scheme of Things (Strang)
Homeland Elegies // Radiant Fugitives
The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet // Clark and Division
A House Between the Earth and the Moon // The Future
House of Leaves // We Spread
How Can I Help You // Sing Her Down
How Long ‘til Black Future Month? // Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora
Hummingbird Salamander // Blue Skies (TCBoyle)
The Huntress (Quinn) // The Wind Knows my Name
Hurricane Girl // The Last Animal
Hyperbole & a Half // Barely Functional Adult (GN)
I Hold a Wolf by the Ears // The Collected Stories of Shirley Hazzard
I Hope This Finds You Well (Baer) // Dark Testament (Smith)
If I Survive You // How to Learn Jamaican
Illuminations (Moore) // Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick
In The Dream House // [EXTREME CONTENT WARNING]: A Blue Sky
The Invention of Wings // The Yellow Wife
Jackal // My Monticello
Jacob’s Ladder // Little Foxes Took Up Matches
Jesus’ Son // Stone Mattress: Nine Tales
Joan is Okay // Edge Case
Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 // Flowers of Fire
Kindred // The Sweetness of Water
The Kite Runner (GN) // Yazidi! (GN)
Lady Tan’s Circle of Women // The Night Tiger
Land of Milk and Honey // In The Quick
Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century // Tomb Sweeping
Libertie // Wake (GN)
The Library at Mount Char // The Gone World (Sweterlisch)
Lies my Teacher Told Me // Stamped From the Beginning
The Light Pirate // Lark Ascending
Lighter Than my Shadow // Margaret and the Mystery of the Missing Body
Like Life // Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea
little gods // The God Child
A Long Petal of the Sea // Last Evenings on Earth
Lore // Olympus, Texas
The Lost Man // The Last Word
A Lush and Seething Hell // Wounds: Six Stories From the Border of Hell
Luster // Speaking of Summer
Magic Hour // The Water Keeper (Martin)
Marguerite (Kemp) // Flowers of Darkness
The Mars House // The Olympus Project
The Mars Room // Chain-gang All-stars
Matrix (Groff) // The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
Me Talk Pretty One Day // Assassination Vacation
The Measure // The Wishing Game
The Memory Police // You Feel it Just Below the Ribs
The Memory Theater // Adjacentland // At The End of the World
The Metamorphosis // The Bonus Room
Mexican Gothic // Just Like Home (Gailey)
The Midnight Library // The Other You (JCOates)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream // Shakespeare for Squirrels
Milk Fed // Written on the Body
The Minority Report // Veracity (Bynum)
The Mountains Sing // The Best We Could Do (GN)
Mouthful of Birds // We Show What We Have Learned
A Moveable Feast // The Elegance of the Hedgehog
Munich (Harris) // The Torqued Man
The Murmur of Bees // The Hummingbird’s Daughter
Music for Wartime // What Becomes
My Government Means to Kill Me // Manywhere
The Nature of Fragile Things // Vera (Edgarian)
Neverwhere // Slade House
The Nickel Boys // Home (Morrison)
The Night Circus // Caraval
Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird // Song for the Unraveling of the World
Ninth House // The Book of Love (Link)
No One Left to Come Looking for You // Brooklyn: A Crime Novel
Normal Rules Don’t Apply // The Rock Eaters
The Ocean at the End of the Lane // The Ten Thousand Doors of January
The Office of Historical Corrections // Heads of the Colored People
Old Babes in the Wood // Wednesday’s Child
Old God’s Time // Distant Sons (Johnston)
On Earth as it is on Television // Ripe (Hider)
Only The Beautiful // The Foundling
The Only Good Indians // The Removed
The Only Good Thing Anyone Has Ever Done // Away! Away!
Oona Out of Order // The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano
Open Throat // What We Feed to the Manticore
Orange World // What’s Yours is not Yours
Oranges Are not the Only Fruit // Mostly Dead Things
Organ Meats // Dazzling (Emelumadu)
Oryx and Crake // Borne (VanderMeer)
Our Missing Hearts // Paper Names
Our Share of Night // The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina
Our Wives Under the Sea // I Who Have Never Known Men
Out There Screaming // Twice Cursed
Outlawed // These Women
The Overstory // Once There Were Wolves
Pachinko // The Island of Sea Women
Paingod and Other Delusions // The Glassy Burning Floor of Hell
Pandemic (Riddle) // Child Zero
The Paper Menagerie // Beastiary
The Parable of the Sower // American Afterlife
To Paradise // Every Drop is a Man’s Nightmare
The Paradox Hotel // Flux (Chong)
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake // Peaces
The People of the Book // Ghostwritten (Mitchell)
The Pessimists // Why Did I Ever (Robison)
A Phoenix First Must Burn // Crosshairs (Hernandez)
Piranesi // Whether Violent or Natural
Poland (Michener) // Marzi (GN) Sowa
Poor Deer // Brother & Sister Enter the Forest
The Power // Woman World (GN)
Pride and Prejudice // The Other Bennet Sister
Project Hail Mary // Star Splitter
A Psalm for the Wild-built // Light From Uncommon Stars
The Pull of the Stars // As Bright as Heaven
QualityLand // Golden State (Winters)
Quichotte // FKA USA
Recursion // Big Time (Winters)
The Red Arrow // Dayswork
Red at the Bone // Riot Baby
The Refusal Camp // The Jackson Brodie series (Atkinson)
Remarkably Bright Creatures // Sea Change
The Resisters // Trashland
Ring Shout // Friday Black
Ripe (Etter) // The Startup Wife
A River of Stars // Central Places
The Rose Code // Good Night, Irene
Rosewater (Thompson) // Noor
Rubyfruit Jungle // With Teeth

Arlenecw ,
@Arlenecw@federate.social avatar

@kimlockhartga @bookstodon @Likewise This wonderful! I have it bookmarked.

NickEast , to bookbubble
@NickEast@geekdom.social avatar

Reader questions: What are you currently reading, and would you recommend it?

@reading @bookstodon @bookbubble @books


Arlenecw ,
@Arlenecw@federate.social avatar

@NickEast @reading @bookstodon @bookbubble @books Just finishing Yellowface by R.F. Kuang.

Arlenecw ,
@Arlenecw@federate.social avatar

@kimlockhartga @wendypalmer @NickEast @reading @bookstodon @bookbubble @books Putting it on my list now!

fskornia , to bookstodon
@fskornia@glammr.us avatar

What are the books that have /stuck/ with you?
I mean the books that you find yourself thinking about at random moments long after you have read them.

One for me is 'Great Circle' by Maggie Shipstead. I find it hard to define exactly what gripped me so much about this book, but it still rattles around my brain.

Another is Virginia Woolf's 'To the Lighthouse'. I read the last 2/3 of this book in a 4 hour sprint and when I was done it was like waking from a dream.

@bookstodon

Arlenecw ,
@Arlenecw@federate.social avatar

@fskornia @bookstodon Great Question! I loved Great Circle too. The books that have stuck with me are All the Light We Cannot see because I will have Marie Laure’s father’s boxes as I imagined them in my head forever and Saint-Malo. Another is The Love Songs of W.E.B Dubois. Ailey Pearl Garfield is one of my favorite all time characters. I will add The Sheltering Sky too. The feeling of heat and tension is so memorable even decades later.

skaeth , to sffbookclub
@skaeth@writing.exchange avatar

Hey bookish folks, I'd love your help! How do you find new-to-you books to read?

I'm trying to figure out where to advertise my books now that I have a fourth book out ( https://buy.bookfunnel.com/vxvlyi6b0v ). I'm rather unknown so can't spend big $$ but it's hard to know where is best to find readers. And yet, it's hard to have a budget without readers, too!

@bookstodon @sffbookclub @fantasy

Arlenecw ,
@Arlenecw@federate.social avatar

@skaeth @bookstodon @sffbookclub @fantasy I listen to many podcasts that recommend books monthly and watch a lot of youtube videos of readers. I avoid advertising.

KitMuse , to bookstodon
@KitMuse@eponaauthor.social avatar

I need your help . One of the classes I'm taking at the graduate level this semester is Religion & Science Fiction. I read more fantasy, and would like to do my research paper on something that's not obvious (like ST/BS5/Matrix/etc.) & I'd love to use more modern sf rather than the golden age classics.

Anyone have any interesting ideas for my research paper on regarding the intersection of religion and science fiction?

@bookstodon

Arlenecw ,
@Arlenecw@federate.social avatar

@Liesvanrompaey @KitMuse @bookstodon I would also recommend The Sparrow. It’s perfect for what you’re looking for. Maybe In Ascension that came out last year as well by Martin McInnes.

FionaMNT , to bookstodon
@FionaMNT@mastodonapp.uk avatar

Book no. 4: The Lost Bookshop, by Evie Woods. Three storylines, past and present, revolve around a Dublin bookshop that may or may not actually exist...
Very enjoyable, and a little magic realism goes a long way!







@bookstodon

Arlenecw ,
@Arlenecw@federate.social avatar

@FionaMNT @bookstodon You read so many interesting books that I have never heard of. I will definitely. try a couple. This one looks sweet

timrichards , to bookstodon
@timrichards@aus.social avatar

When I was in a book club, I wouldn't show up if I hadn't read that month's book. I eventually left when almost no one each month read the book. The socialising was nice but, c'mon, read the book.

Why we keep showing up to book clubs — even when we haven't read the book https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-18/book-clubs-still-popular-bringing-readers-together/103326462

@bookstodon

Arlenecw ,
@Arlenecw@federate.social avatar

@siftinsand @feather1952 @bookstodon @timrichards My bookclub just switched from reading a book together to discussing books we have read/reading. I was doubtful, but it has been more fun and brought some new energy to our club.

Likewise , to bookstodon
@Likewise@beige.party avatar

Dear Bookworms,

What’s the first book you’ve finished in 2024?

This is mine: Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward
@bookstodon

Arlenecw ,
@Arlenecw@federate.social avatar

@Likewise @bookstodon Mine was Four Treasures of the Sky by Jenny Tinghui Zhang.

owlislost , to bookstodon
@owlislost@nerdculture.de avatar

Happy weekend ! I want to know what you're ! I'm currently reading Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark and it's quite good so far https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Fellowship-Point/Alice-Elliott-Dark/9781982131821
@bookstodon

Arlenecw ,
@Arlenecw@federate.social avatar

@owlislost @bookstodon I am reading Four Treasures of the Sky by Jenny Tinghui Zhang which I believe was on some one’s favorite books of the year.

lunalein , to bookstodon
@lunalein@federatedfandom.net avatar

2023 in , inspired by https://shereads.com/traci-thomas-best-books-of-2023/ and I'd love to see other people answer these, too!

Two books I loved, part 1: Honeybees and Distant Thunder by Riku Onda, which is about four entrants in a classical piano competition in Tokyo, and the characters are all interesting and charming but best of all it just has wonderful writing about music -- like the title itself as a description of how a particular player makes a particular piece sound. It's beautiful, and unlike many books with multiple POVs, I loved all the protagonists equally and was never annoyed by a switch at the wrong time. Just beautiful stuff.

@bookstodon

Arlenecw ,
@Arlenecw@federate.social avatar

@lunalein @bookstodon Glad to see this because I just got it from my library. Looking forward to it!

bibliolater , to bookstodon
@bibliolater@qoto.org avatar

Can the the quality of a city be measured by how many it has?

@bookstodon

Arlenecw ,
@Arlenecw@federate.social avatar

@bibliolater @bookstodon Yes

camilla_hoel , to bookstodon
@camilla_hoel@hcommons.social avatar

My thoughts on the most salient reads of 2023, which may or may not make sense to other people. http://www.circumlocuted.com/articles/2673/
@bookstodon

Arlenecw ,
@Arlenecw@federate.social avatar

@camilla_hoel @bookstodon Wow, that’s a lot of books. I picked up The Parisian this fall at a library sale and I’m excited to read it.

bibliolater , to bookstodon
@bibliolater@qoto.org avatar

Did you have a goal for 2023? Did you meet it? I did not have a goal; but, I did read quite a few books over 2023. I cannot say how many exactly as I did not keep a written record. Is keeping a record important? Should keeping a record be my for 2024?

@bookstodon

attribution: Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Page URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Plate_8-_Man_in_a_hat_reading_a_book_with_a_magnifying_glass;_from_Icones_ad_vivum_expressae_after_Giovanni_Battista_Piazzetta_MET_DP883386.jpg

Arlenecw ,
@Arlenecw@federate.social avatar

@EllenInEdmonton @bibliolater @bookstodon Same. I was buying paperback versions of hardcover books that I loved more often than I would like to admit! I will pull out my Goodreads tbr list to help me pick out books when I’m at the bookstore too.

Likewise , to bookstodon
@Likewise@beige.party avatar

Top 10 Favorite Books of 2023 ( no order )

The Half Moon by M. B. Keene
Chasing the Boogeyman by R. Chizmar
Demon Copperhead by B. Kingsolver
Hello Beautiful by A. Napolitano
One Second After by W. Forstchen
Crow Mary by K. Grissom
Yellowface by R. F. Kuang
This Time Tomorrow by E. Straub
Ducks by K. Beaton
Our Missing Hearts by C. Ng
@bookstodon

Arlenecw ,
@Arlenecw@federate.social avatar

@Likewise @bookstodon Ooh, Hello Beautiful just came off hold for me yesterday so I’m looking forward to it even more. Yellowface is on my hold list too. I thought Demon Copperhead was genius, but Poisonwood Bible is still my favorite Barbara Kingsolver novel

BethFishReads , to audiobooks
@BethFishReads@mastodon.social avatar

My top 10 of 2023 (in reading order; mix of print/digital & )

Homestead by Melinda Moustakis
The Diary Keepers by Nina Siegal
Dust Child by Nguyen Phan Que Mai
The Road to Dalton by Shannon Bowring
The Last Ranger by Peter Heller
King of the Armadillos by Wendy Chin-Tanner
On a Bright Hillside in Paradise by Annette Higgs
Distant Sons by Tim Johnston
The End of Drum-Time by Hanna Pylvainen
Above the Fire by Michael O’Donnell

@bookstodon @audiobooks

Arlenecw ,
@Arlenecw@federate.social avatar

@miki_lou @BethFishReads @bookstodon @audiobooks i loved some of those books too. I have never heard of The Weight of Ink or Four Treasures of the sky. Already put them on my TBR list.

LincolnRamirez , to bookstodon
@LincolnRamirez@mstdn.social avatar

A round up of my year in books, my top 5 reads and a look ahead to what I've got lined up for the new year.

@@bookstodon

https://conversationsaboutbooks5.wordpress.com/2023/12/23/my-round-up-of-2023-in-books/

Arlenecw ,
@Arlenecw@federate.social avatar

@LincolnRamirez @jillrhudy @bookstodon I love the Wolf Hall books and everything by Maggie O’ Farrell. Her Hamnet is one of my all time favorites. I have never heard of This Lovely City so I have added it to my TBR list.

Likewise , to bookstodon
@Likewise@beige.party avatar

What’s a book you’d like to read next year, either a newly published book in 2024 or a book that you didn’t get to this year?

I’ll start:

The Year of the Locust by Terry Hayes (2024 pub. date) & A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (not new 😉).
@bookstodon

Arlenecw ,
@Arlenecw@federate.social avatar

@Likewise @bookstodon Fun question! It would have to be one of the books in my pile of haven’t gotten to them yet. The Books of Jacob by Olga Torarczuk and Black Leopard Red Wolf by Marlon James. I may add The Trees to my list as well!

kimlockhartga , to bookstodon
@kimlockhartga@beige.party avatar

@bookstodon As we approach the end of 2023, I would love to know about the very best books you read this year. (They don't have to have been published in 2023 for your "best of" list.)

Arlenecw ,
@Arlenecw@federate.social avatar

@kimlockhartga @bookstodon My favorites this year are Northwoods by Daniel Mason, The Bee Sting by Paul Murray, In Ascension by Martin MacInnes, The Covenant of Water by Abraham Vergese, Matrix by Lauren Groff and O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker. The last being a recommendation from people.

Arlenecw ,
@Arlenecw@federate.social avatar

@kimlockhartga @bookstodon Right? I have become very selective in my old age.

sunflower , to bookstodon
@sunflower@plush.city avatar

recommend me a book! i like fantasy, paranormal romance, sci-fi, queer fiction. i need 12 recommendations from other people for a 2024 reading challenge :blobcatblep:

@bookstodon

Arlenecw ,
@Arlenecw@federate.social avatar

@sunflower @bookstodon In Ascension by Martin MacInnes.

kimlockhartga , to bookstodon
@kimlockhartga@beige.party avatar

@bookstodon Just out of curiosity, how close are you to your reading goal for the year? I need to read 12 more books to meet the goal I set for myself. 📚📚📚📚

Not everyone works the same way, of course. We've discussed before that reading goals are counterproductive for many. Having a goal really helps me, but it doesn't work for everyone. Just like reading for pleasure and reading to write a review are very different processes.

Arlenecw ,
@Arlenecw@federate.social avatar

@kimlockhartga @bookstodon @Likewise My biggest goal is to finish my Libby books before they go back! I belong to one library consortium that loans for one week. Just got Covenant of Water and realized it’s 700 pages. The pressure is real.

Arlenecw ,
@Arlenecw@federate.social avatar

@kimlockhartga @bookstodon @Likewise I get 21 days at two of mine, but only 7 with this one. Waitlists are short though!

Arlenecw ,
@Arlenecw@federate.social avatar

@kimlockhartga @bookstodon @Likewise I am loving The Covenant of Water so far.

kimlockhartga , to bookstodon
@kimlockhartga@beige.party avatar

@bookstodon Happy December! November reads round-up: what was/were the best book(s) you read in November?

One of my fave November reads:

Courage to Dream: Tales of Hope in the Holocaust, Neal Shusterman, Andres Vera Martinez. [Graphic novel of aspirational stories, giving power to characters against the Nazis.]

Arlenecw ,
@Arlenecw@federate.social avatar

@kimlockhartga @bookstodon I read two of my favorites so far this year in November. North Woods by Daniel Mason and In Ascension by Martin MacInnes. I also read Prophet Song by Paul Lynch and Julia by Sandra Newman. It was my best month of reading this year.

meshell , to bookstodon
@meshell@mastodon.social avatar

I think I need to pick up some 500 pagers to round out the year.

Any doorstopper suggestions? @bookstodon

Arlenecw ,
@Arlenecw@federate.social avatar

@kimlockhartga @meshell @bookstodon Adding Wayward to my TBR list!

kimlockhartga , to bookstodon
@kimlockhartga@beige.party avatar

@bookstodon I was thinking we might make a list of books which speak to the Israeli/Palestinian experience.

I have read:

Apeirogon, Colum McCann. Highly recommend. Beautiful and painful story of a bond between grieving fathers on opposite sides of the conflict.

Exodus, Leon Uris (seems a bit dated now)

And I plan to read:

A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy, Nathan Thrall (next on reading list)

Palestine, Joe Sacco

The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East, Sandy Tolan

The Almond Tree, Michelle Cohen Corasanti

Israel: A Concise History of a Nation Reborn, Daniel Gordis

What books do you all recommend?

Arlenecw ,
@Arlenecw@federate.social avatar

@kimlockhartga @bookstodon I have Apeiragon on hold at BPL and it’s a 22 week wait. Loved Exodus when I was young.

sarahf , to bookstodon
@sarahf@mastodon.social avatar

This is very sad news! RIP #A.S.Byatt.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/nov/17/as-byatt-author-and-critic-dies-aged-87

@bookstodon

Arlenecw ,
@Arlenecw@federate.social avatar

@sarahf @bookstodon Possession is one of my favorite books. So sad to hear she is gone.

Likewise , to bookstodon
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Tell me a good book you’ve read this year that you’d recommend.

I’ll start: Crow Mary by Kathleen Grissom
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Arlenecw ,
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@Likewise @bookstodon North Woods! May end up being my favorite of the year. Written by Daniel Mason.

kimlockhartga , to bookstodon
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@bookstodon I don't know how you all cure a reading slump, but I just loaded up on as many graphic novels as I can get for free. It usually works. Bonus: getting to read some new graphic novels!

Arlenecw ,
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@kimlockhartga @bookstodon Historical Fiction always gets me out of a slump. My go tos are Alison Weir, Phillipa Gregory or Kate Quinn. Always works.

stephenwhq , to bookstodon
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So a dilemma. A book with a great premise, written with panache, should be in my love zone, by a small press I admire.... doesn't land for me.

I don't particularly like posting meh reviews, unless they're big authors who can take it. It has a hefty number of reviews which really like it. And I'm not an edgelord who just wants to be a contrarian.

So, do I give it a three stars review for trying.

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Arlenecw ,
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@stephenwhq @bookstodon I would give it three stars. Any fewer and it looks like you hated it!

kimlockhartga , to bookstodon
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You know the drill, @bookstodon Whatcha reading this weekend? ❤📚👀

I finished WE ARE THE CRISIS, the excellent second installment of Cadwell Turnbull's Convergence Saga. NO GODS, NO MONSTERS was the first book.

I'm currently reading Ed Park's bizarro SAME BED DIFFERENT DREAMS.

Next up: THE FUTURE, by Naomi Alderman, author of THE POWER.

Arlenecw ,
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@kimlockhartga @bookstodon I will be starting Never Let Me Go and Study of Obedience this weekend.

lunalein , to bookstodon
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October roundup part 1:
Ponyboy - Eliot Duncan*
The Witness for the Dead/The Grief of Stones - Katherine Addison
Land of Milk and Honey - C Pam Zhang*
If I Survive You - Jonathan Escoffery
Silver Nitrate - Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Tomb Sweeping -Alexandra Chang
What Kind of Mother - Clay McLeod Chapman
Blackouts - Justin Torres*
Lute - Jennifer Thorne
Moonrise Over New Jessup - Jamila Minnicks

*tell me if you’ve read these, i love them.

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Arlenecw ,
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@lunalein @bookstodon I Just finished If I Survive You which I loved.

kimlockhartga , to bookstodon
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All right, @bookstodon what are you reading this Friday the 13th, and is it a spooky read? 🎃❤📚

Arlenecw ,
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@kimlockhartga @bookstodon I don’t know if it’s spooky or not, but I will ne starting Birnam Wood.

kimlockhartga , to bookstodon
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Okay, kids, it's FRIDAY! So whatcha reading this weekend? 📚😎📚

I've got a load of new books to read. I don't even know where to start. A friend gifted me a copy of the graphic novel Black Hole, by Charles Burns, so probably that and another graphic novel Flights, which has like six volumes, and somehow I'm starting with vol. 2. edited by Kazu Kibuishi. And I plan to fit in The Vaster Wilds by the incomparable Lauren Groff.
❤📚❤ @bookstodon

Arlenecw ,
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@kimlockhartga @bookstodon The Fraud by Zadie Smith!

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