Norabelle414's Trilogy in Four Parts

Happy Halloween from the maddest lion you've ever met!

Hello and welcome! I'm Nora. I live in Washington DC. This is my EIGHTH YEAR of having my own thread in the 75ers group! I have not been reading that much for the past few years but I still love books. I also love:

animals - on the weekends I volunteer at Smithsonian's National Zoo
TV - scripted only, mostly science fiction and fantasy, especially anything based on a book
feminism
theater - I have season tickets to Arena Stage but I often go to shows elsewhere as well
podcasts - especially about books
knitting
travel

You can find me on Twitter @ norabelle414

A selection of books I have finished recently:

The Murders in the Rue Morgue (Short Story) by Edgar Allan Poe - 3.5/5 stars
If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio - 5/5
The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee - 4.5/5
Amberlough by Lara Elena Donnelly - 5/5 stars
A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel by Hope Larson - 3.5/5 stars

For a full list of books I have read this year, click here: https://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=norabelle414&collection=430963

47. An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole

Elle Burns is a former slave, now working as a spy for the Union. She is on assignment undercover in the household of Confederate Senator McCaffrey when she (literally) runs into Malcolm McCall, a soldier who is wooing McCaffrey's daughter. Turns out, McCall is also a Union spy, Elle's contact, and also very, very handsome....

A very good story, but way more explicit of a romance novel than I have read in quite awhile! I'll definitely read more by this author (a woman of color writing romance novels!) because the plot and writing were both great, but I could take-or-leave the romance-y parts. There wasn't anything wrong, it's just not my thing.

Rating: ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ♥ (4.5/5)

Happy new thread, Nora.

>3 norabelle414: As always, much appreciated! xx

48. The Walking Dead, Volume 28: A Certain Doom by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, Stefano Gaudiano, and Cliff Rathburn

Rick and the rest of the survivors fight off a horde they think was directed their way by the Whisperers....but was it? Negan ends up saving the day....again. What's his endgame? And in the end the group suffers a great, great loss.

Ouch.....so long, Andrea. I sometimes forget that she's in the comics since she's been gone for so long on the TV show, but I did feel everyone's pain. I really liked the point she made that her death was not a total loss, because she is dying in bed surrounded by her loved ones, and Rick made that possible. I noticed Michonne and Rick looking at each other after Andrea's death.... are they being set up together now that their significant others are both gone? That would be interesting. They are a great pair on the TV show, I wonder if Kirkman likes that direction better.

Rating: ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ♥ (4.5/5)

>5 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul! Now that I'm reading a bit more, other people besides you are allowed to click on the link too ;-)

>4 norabelle414: Yay for diverse romance!

Also, happy new thread!

Happy new thread!

Happy new one, Nora!

>8 MickyFine:, >9 drneutron:, >10 katiekrug: Thanks guys!

Sorry I haven't been around more, I've been traveling SO MUCH. I was in California for work Oct 8-11, then in South Carolina for my best friend's baby shower Oct 27-29, and now I'm preparing to go to Texas on Sunday for a 3 day conference, and then 2 days visiting my aunt and uncle, and then 2 days visiting some friends. But then I'll be done!!!

I'm WAY behind on TV because I haven't been home. I've been reading a little while traveling, and knitting a little. But I really do everything best when I am on a regular schedule and travel is not conducive to that!

After I bought books at the library book sale a few weeks ago (see https://www.librarything.com/topic/260834#6217629), I noticed that my bookshelves were getting messy and so I did a quick inventory and reshelve. While doing so I got rid of a LOT of books, most of them ones that I have owned for a long time and will probably never read. This brings my total books deaccessioned this year to 29! In 2016 I got rid of 19 books, and in 2015 I got rid of 4 books.

I haven't decided what I'm going to do with some of the records yet. If I get rid of a book that I never read, should I just delete it from my LT catalog, as if I never owned it? Or do I want to keep a record that I owned it at one point but decided I would never read it? I also need something to do with records for books that I got rid of because I got a better copy. Should I keep the record of the previous copy? If so, what collections should it go in? If I put it in "read but unowned" then the blue checkmark of that collection will supersede the green checkmark of "your library". Maybe I'll make a new collection for all the books I've ever gotten rid of and dump everything in there....

I have a Collection called "DEACCESSIONED" where I put the books I've gotten rid of - whether I read them or not.

>12 katiekrug: Yeah that's what I think I'm going to do as well.

>13 norabelle414: Hopefully it's warm in Texas. We got snow in Edmonton today. Happy Halloween? :P

>14 MickyFine: It's going to be in the mid-80s in Texas, which is too hot! It's in the mid-60s here right now which I think is perfect, and I'll be sorry to leave it

Where are you going in Texas?

ETA: Never mind. I think I remember you saying you'd be in San Antonio a few weeks after I was :)

>16 katiekrug: Yup, 3 days in San Antonio, 2 days at Canyon Lake, and 2 days in Austin.

Nice. Canyon Lake is pretty, if it isn't drought-stricken (as it was the only time I went because of course).

>18 katiekrug: My aunt and uncle live there so I've been a couple times. It's very beautiful! They have a TRAM in their backyard that takes them from the back door of their house down to the lakeshore because their yard is so steep.

Happy new thread, Nora!

>3 norabelle414: I am glad I am now clicking that link with approval ;-)

Happy November 1st, Nora! Love the little lion!

I have officially given up on the OUAT reboot. The plots feel too recycled, the guy playing Henry feels out of his depth as an actor, and there's just not enough fairy tale content which is what I loved about the show in the first place.

>20 FAMeulstee:, >21 ChelleBearss: Thanks Anita and Chelle!

>22 MickyFine: I *loved* the first episode of the season, a whole lot. But it's gone downhill so fast from there. (Although I am a few episodes behind). I think that having Regina, Hook, and Gold shoehorned into the new world is actually a detractor. I understand wanting to keep good actors on the show when you can but I would have liked it more if they had just said "these people look exactly like other people you used to know but you don't know that!" instead of coming up with such awkward backstories for why they are there. It makes it painfully obvious that there was an exodus from the show and they have to get the backstories taken care of RIGHT AWAY because those actors will never come back again. Even having literally zero returning actors would be better than this.

I like the main actor and I think he does a good job acting like Jared Gilmore, but I've also seen him in many other things like Greek, Dead of Summer, and The Walking Dead. I think he doesn't have great chemistry with the woman playing Jacinda. I like them both separately but together they are blah. I really liked Alice in the first episode but she hasn't done much since.

I think the problem is partly lack of fairy tale content but also the loss of the dozens of fairy tale characters who had become background characters and side characters over the years. If the story had stayed in Storybrook we would have continued to see dwarves and granny and Hopper and the blue fairy and whoever in the background. IMO this is a bigger loss than any of the main characters.

>23 norabelle414: Let me know when you've watched the Rumple backstory episode. I feel like you'll have feelings. :)

Happy new thread! I stopped watching OUAT at the mid-season break a couple seasons ago, and have never picked it up again. If I ever do, it sounds like I may want to pretend that the current season never existed...

>24 MickyFine: I'm currently 8 days behind on TV and I'm about to go on another trip, for a whole week! I'll never catch up! My only salvation is that some shows are starting to go on winter hiatus already, like The Good Place and Marvel's Inhumans. Also now Once Upon a Time is on at the same time as Crazy Ex-Girlfriend so I'm never going to watch it when it actually airs.

>25 foggidawn: If you ever do want to watch more, I would suggest watching just the first episode of this season, which begins with a cute wrap-up of the story so far and contains several homages to the pilot.

For anyone interested (literally no one) here are the TV shows I'm trying and failing to keep up with (with some links to book sources so I can pretend this is at all relevant):

Z Nation
Superstition
The Exorcist
Andi Mack
Jane the Virgin
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Once Upon a Time
Marvel's Inhumans
Ghost Wars
Will & Grace (revival)
The Good Place
The Orville
Gotham
Arrow
Mr. Robot
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
The Baroness Von Sketch Show
The Shannara Chronicles
You're the Worst
Speechless
This Is Us
The Mick
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
The Flash
DC's Legends of Tomorrow
The Mayor
Kevin (Probably) Saves the World
The Halcyon
The Gifted
Supergirl
Poldark
The Durrells in Corfu
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
The Walking Dead
The Simpsons
Ghosted
The Deuce
Saturday Night Live
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

Netflix Shows to watch:
Stranger Things
American Vandal
Mindhunter
Alias Grace

>25 foggidawn: Nora makes a fair point. The premiere for this season wasn't too bad. And if you're overly emotionally invested in Hook and Emma like I am, then the second episode. But after that... *shrug*

>27 norabelle414: Hey! I'm not no one! ;) That list is mildly terrifying but I do have some overlaps with you.

I'm currently trying to keep up with:
Outlander (actually caught up)
Poldark
Alias Grace (which airs on CBC so I've got it all waiting for me on the PVR)
Travelers (which you should put on your Netflix list if you haven't watched it already)
Bull (which has vastly improved over last season)
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (the new episodes are waiting on the PVR for once I finish watching the prior season on Netflix)
Big Bang Theory
Star Trek: Discovery
This Is Us
Rick Mercer Report

I'm hopelessly behind on everything though because on evenings where I hang out with The Boyfriend (i.e. most evenings) we're watching Doctor Who (my place) or Arrow (his place).

Oh and I know you probably need another podcast like you need another hole in your head but I feel like you'd enjoy I Hate It But I Love It. Two very funny women from Canada discuss pop culture that they hate and love simultaneously. I dip in and out of it depending if I have watched or want to watch the thing they're discussing that week. I don't always agree with them but they're funny. :)

>28 MickyFine: I've watched seasons 1 and 2 of Outlander but I'm waiting for a free weekend of Starz to see season 3
I love Travelers!!!! The second season isn't available here yet but I think it should be soon.
I can't wait until you get to this year's Halloween episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
I won't pay for CBS All-Access to watch Star Trek Discovery but you've reminded me that if I "go to Canada" I could watch it on Netflix

Adding I Hate It But I Love It to my subscriptions! I'll listen to the Buffy episode, unless you have a fave you think I should listen to?

>29 norabelle414: If you "go to Canada" Star Trek Discovery is on Space. I haven't seen it hit Netflix yet... But I'll keep you posted. ;)

Hmmm, the She's All That, Dawson's Creek, and Vampire Academy episodes of IHIBILI are all highly enjoyable and decent points to dip your toe in.

>30 MickyFine: Interesting. I thought Netflix had all of the non-US rights but maybe not Canada. I'll check out another country (when I have time to watch anything!)

If it makes you feel any better, I've started a running list of movies/TV shows folks are recommending to me and I've only just finished season 6 of Gilmore Girls. I've been watching this show off and on all year...

I'm also at least a complete season behind on Doctor Who (I don't get BBC America). But I did watch Stranger Things 2, bingewatching with a friend over two days.

Always late to the game on the new thread. This time WAY late. ;(

I'm ridiculously behind on shows too because of travel but I'm getting there. Good luck!

I just got back from an 8-day-long trip to Texas, so I'm behind on EVERYTHING: TV, reading, adding new books to LT, updating my thread, life, etc.

Now I'm home, and can catch up on some of those things. But we've had a very tragic death in my extended family and so I'm probably only going to get caught up on TV. And I might have another trip coming up.

I'm so sorry to hear that Nora. Sending hugs and sympathies.

So sorry for your loss!

Sorry for your loss.

Thanks Leah, Jim, and Foggi.

On Saturday I went to Book People, the largest independent bookstore in Texas. I bought:
The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin
Acceptance by Jeff Vandermeer
Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor
Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

On Sunday I went to Austin Books & Comics and bought:
American Vampire, Volume 1
Saga, Volume 1
The Umbrella Academy, Volume 1
Josie and the Pussycats, Volume 1
Bitch Planet, Volume 1
Pretty Deadly, Volume 1

Sorry to hear about your loss, Nora. *hugs*

>38 norabelle414: I'll be very interested to see your thoughts on Crazy Rich Asians. I enjoyed it but I feel like it's one of those divisive reads.

I'm sorry about the sad news you received.

>38 norabelle414: Ahh, Book People! My favorite! I was devastated that I didn't get a chance to go back there when I was in Austin for work a few months ago. Very glad you made it and came away with some good books.

Sorry to hear about your loss, Nora.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on The Fifth Season and Saga. I've been enjoying the N.K. Jemisin trilogy this year (book 3 is on my stack) and haven't read any of Saga yet, but bought some of the series for our library collection.

This is a time of year when I as a non-American ponder over what I am thankful for.

I am thankful for this group and its ability to keep me sane during topsy-turvy times.

I am thankful that you are part of this group.

I am thankful for this opportunity to say thank you.

>39 MickyFine: Thanks Micky. I'll probably be pushing Crazy Rich Asians toward the top of my list because of the upcoming movie.

>40 katiekrug: Thanks Katie.

>41 leahbird: What a great bookstore!

>42 bell7: Thanks Mary. I tried reading The Fifth Season from the library a few months ago but decided it was too long to read from the library and I would wait until I got my own copy. I'm looking forward to it. (Though I will probably read Saga first because it's short :-))

>43 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul! I am thankful for you too.

>44 norabelle414: Wait! How did I not know there was a film adaptation of Crazy Rich Asians coming? *goes to IMDb* Oh man is that cast drool-worthy.

Hmm... I've been kind of vaguely thinking about reading Crazy Rich Asians, so maybe I will add it to my list and make it official.

It was great seeing you again, Nora, only I'm sorry I didn't have any time to visit with you. We will definitely try to do a May meetup in Philly. There seems to be a lot of interest in it. We might even be able to persuade torontoc and jessibud2 from Toronto to come down and join us. Remind me in the early spring, and I'll see what I can get together. I'd love to see my Canadian buddies again.

I'm sorry we didn't have much time together as I forgot to tell you that Barbara just got back from a safari in Botswana and South Africa, a trip that I think was sponsored by the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore. I'm sure she would have loved to tell you all of the stories about the safari she told me this week! :D

I'm sure that you, _Zoe_ and radicarian had fun. Did you make it to the other Politics and Prose in the evening? I'm so sorry I had to run, but I had to be up at 5:30am the following morning to babysit, Barbara had to drive back to Catonsville, and Laurel had to get home to walk her malamut! Such is life. I will start following your thread so I don't lose you again,

*starring your thread* :D

>46 foggidawn: I highly endorse this choice.

>47 SqueakyChu: Hi Madeline! It was great to see you too. If could remind me again what weekend Laurel's race in Philly is I will put it on my calendar.

We did go up to the big Politics & Prose, where I purchased a remaindered copy of The Moor's Account by Laila Lalami, which I see you also bought at the smaller bookstore! What a coincidence.

It’s May 12-13th.

That is so cool that we both bought the same book! I also today gave a copy of Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits, also by Lalami, to my dental hygienist. Lalami seems to be the author of the week! :)

Apparently I missed the memo about what book to buy!

>51 _Zoe_: LOL!

I *finally* got all caught up on TV over the weekend, but then yesterday the power in my apartment building was out until 10PM! It was scheduled to be out from 9am to 3pm for maintenance, but there is a HUGE difference between 3pm and 10pm.... I was in pitch black after 5:30, with no internet and no way to charge my phone. There is a lobby with power and free internet and sofas and such, but it was full of people. So I couldn't watch TV or do anything requiring light. I had a tiny reading light, but I was too anxious to read. So nothing got done at all yesterday except one giant anxiety attack.

I did not do anything on Thanksgiving this year, because my brother and his wife were on their honeymoon and my mom and her husband were visiting his family in Wisconsin and my cousin and his wife (who we usually have Thanksgiving with) were in Texas to be with their immediate family. So instead I'm doing many other Thanksgiving events, including brunch with my dad and cousin last Sunday, dinner with my mom and brother tonight, dinner with my dad and brother on Friday, and a holiday party with my mom and brother next Friday.
So I'm going to fall behind on TV again.

As mentioned above I bought The Moor's Account by Laila Lalami, which has been on my wishlist. I also won an LTER book recently: The Atomic City Girls, a novel by Janet Beard (not to be confused with The Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan, which is non-fiction)

>53 norabelle414: Boo for power outage! That is less than an ideal way to spend an evening.

Sounds like you have some fun plans in the offing for the next little while though. Good luck with all the socializing.

Congrats on the ER win!

TV Updates! A quick rundown of shows I watch and how I feel about them. Stars indicate I'm watching the first season.

*American Vandal - very sharp, funny satire
Andi Mack - cute and fun. Glad to see Disney channel introduce a character realizing they are gay at a realistic age.
Arrow - good
Brooklyn Nine-Nine - great!
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - I don't love this season as much as previous seasons because it's too dark (and hits way too close to home, honestly). But it's still a great and important show.
*Damnation - okay, but I might drop it
DC's Legends of Tomorrow - soooo good this year. Funny how the show got way better as soon as a woman was the leader...
*The Deuce - interesting
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency - as delightful and bizarre as ever
The Durrells - delightful
The Exorcist - Still way better than it has any right to be! Season 2 is even better than the first.
The Flash - great as always, but they are not good at writing off characters. Where did Julian go???
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee - great
*Ghost Wars - way too good for a show with such a dumb name! It's like Midnight Texas but better and less cheesy.
*Ghosted - dumb but funny enough
*The Gifted - really great! Well thought-out plot and fantastic acting all around
The Good Place - amazing!
Gotham - so good and so cheesy
Henry Danger - I feel weird about this show now that all the "kid" characters look much older. Being an adult is weird.
Jane the Virgin - yaaaaay so good!
*Kevin (Probably) Saves the World - I like this show? It's stupid though? I wish there was way more of Joanna Swisher's character. Every time we check in with her she is consulting with the Department of Defense and getting picked up in a helicopter or fixing a car or discussing astrophysics over coffee and then the show is like "enough of her, now back to Kevin!". I really don't care about Kevin.
*Marvel's Inhumans - terrible, but the kind of terrible that I enjoy
*Marvel's Runaways - Really good so far. They made a LOT of small and medium-sized changes from the comic, some of which are really good choices, some of which make no sense, and some of which are TBD
*The Mayor - okay
The Mick - still funny and awful and funny
Mr. Robot - very good but I'm having trouble with the latest twist - are we supposed to believe that Angela has been delusional this whole time and we just didn't notice?
Once Upon a Time - okay
*The Orville - I don't want to like this show but I kind of do? It's like a cross between a pretty good episode of Family Guy (which is not a high bar) and a very mediocre episode of an episodic space opera like Star Trek or Stargate.
Poldark - Ross Poldark is the absolute worst, everyone else is great.
Saturday Night Live - much more diversity in hosts this year, which is wonderful. Most of the episodes have been pretty good except Larry David's episode, which was not.
The Simpsons - same as ever
Speechless - good
Stranger Things - good
Supergirl - fantastic
*Superstition - okay
This Is Us - good
Vikings - season premiere tonight
The Walking Dead - not great this season, but they've had not great seasons before
*Will & Grace (revival) - okay
You're the Worst - good as always!
Z Nation - okay

Coming soon:
Frontier, season 2
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Marvel's The Punisher
Alias Grace

I need to catch up on Poldark - I've watched the first 3 or 4 episodes of the latest season. Having read the books, I know that I'm likely to smack my head on flat surfaces regularly over some of Ross's idiotic choices.

>56 MickyFine: He's just SO AWFUL. All he does is complain about how everything is messed up but and then multiple chances to fix things literally fall into his lap and he says no for zero reasons. Thankfully Demelza and Morwenna and Drake and Caroline are interesting enough to carry the show despite him. He reminds me of people who complain about political parties and political systems and then don't vote.

>57 norabelle414: He does get better, I promise.

>55 norabelle414: I love seeing your TV updates. I feel like I'm always picking up on shows that I didn't even know were out there or getting reminded that I need to catch up on things I enjoy and which are languishing on the DVR.

Sounds like you're watching lots of good TV. Your lists always bring up shows that sound intriguing, or that I suspect I would like -- if I would just take the time to watch them. (Instead, apparently, I play games on my phone.)

>59 lycomayflower: Thanks Laura! I'm glad people don't find them annoying. I love finding little obscure shows that are really remarkable but don't get the attention that more popular shows have.

>60 foggidawn: You gotta learn to play games on your phone during commercials, like I do ;-)

49. Runaways, Vol. 1: Pride & Joy by Brian K. Vaughn, Adrian Alphona, and David Newbold

Six teenagers - Gert, Karolina, Nico, Alex, Chase, and Molly - are NOT friends, but they have to spend time with each other because their parents are friends. Bummer. Then one night they find out what their parents are really up to at their "friendly" gatherings - supervillainy! The teenagers are horrified by what they see, and decide to run away. But that's easier said than done, and only the beginning of the secrets their parents have been hiding from them.

A great start, and a very cool premise. I really enjoyed it and would love to read more! The only parts I did not like were 1) it is very dated, there are many specific references to things that happened in the early 2000s that seem silly now, and 2) out of the 6 main characters, 4 of them are girls... and yet there are zero women involved in creating the comic. Par for the course but disappointing none the less.

Rating: ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ♥ (4.5/5)

(I don't have a picture of the artwork at the moment but I will post one later. It's the same main artist as Ms. Marvel, Vol. 1: No Normal, which I read earlier this year.)

I finally finished A Spy in the House, and I owe a review. I've just started reading Crazy Rich Asians and I love it, but it might be too long for me to focus on right now. Thankfully I own my copy so I can take my time.

For today, and probably today only, I am 100% caught up on all of my TV shows! Yay!

I look forward to your thoughts on A Spy in the House and so happy to hear you're enjoying Crazy Rich Asians.

Congrats on being caught up. I am not caught up at all. And it doesn't help that I am a huge sucker for fluffy holiday romance movies so that's basically all I watch right now. :P

Nice job being all caught up! I am not... I kept forgetting it was Thursday and haven't watched Supernatural since before Thanksgiving. I certainly won't catch up this week either, I'm working every day through Saturday and have plans every night after work. Also, I still have about half of season 7 to finish up Gilmore Girls but haven't gotten to it because any night that it didn't make me stay up super late I've been watching Christmasy films.

Late, late, late to the party... but....Poldark...sigh. Yes, an idiot. But...Poldark... (insert heart eye emoji here).

50. A Spy in the House by Y. S. Lee

Mary Quinn is an orphan, condemned to hang for stealing. She is rescued by two well-dressed women who train her, first in a normal school for girls and then as a spy. She’s assigned to pose as a companion for a girl named Angelica Thorold and gather evidence on her father, a businessman who is suspected of some kind of illegal something in India. Mary also meets Mr. Thorold’s suspicious business partner Michael Grey, and two of Angelica’s suitors – George and James Easton.

Unfortunately, I didn't care for this book at all. The plot was okay though unoriginal (in fact, the first half was almost the same as An Extraordinary Union, but not as good). Something about the writing style really rubbed me the wrong way. It very frequently told the reader that things had happened instead of showing them. For example, Mary is rescued and has a conversation with the heads of the school. Then the plot skips ahead several years to when Mary is done with school and has an identical conversation with the heads of the school about joining the Agency. Then, the plot skips ahead again and she has an identical conversation about going on her first assignment. I can understand if the author did not want to write about Mary’s time at school or her training (though I would much rather read that book), but why not just deal with them in flashbacks instead of awkward time jumps between identical recap conversations? The narration is a tight 1st person that alternates between Mary and Michael. This can be used effectively sometimes but is not here. One of the most interesting events of the story is heard by Michael from Mary, instead of experienced through her eyes. Also, the reader learns a secret about Mary through her POV, when it doesn’t make sense that she would not have been thinking about her secret the whole time. Why not use Michael’s POV for that? It took me a long time to get through the book because I just couldn't sustain interest and kept getting frustrated by annoying writing. I won't be continuing with this series (and maybe I should stop reading so many mysteries, because I have these same problems with a lot of them). I’d rather read something similar but better written, like Philip Pullman’s Sally Lockhart books or Gail Carriger’s Finishing School.

Rating: ❤ ❤ ♥ (2.5/5)

>67 norabelle414: Sorry to hear that it didn't work for you. I really enjoyed the whole series.

>68 MickyFine: Sorry! I know it's an LT fave.

>67 norabelle414: I also didn't love A Spy in the House (I couldn't tell you why because it was so long ago), so your review made me happy. This probably means I'm a bad person, because I should be hoping that you enjoy your books even if I didn't. Sorry.

>67 norabelle414: I only gave it 3.5 stars when I read it back in 2011, but at this point I have absolutely no recollection of it. Even your summary doesn’t strike a spark.

>70 _Zoe_:, >71 foggidawn: That makes me feel a little better! Thanks.

I'm hoping to finish Crazy Rich Asians before the end of the year (I'm on page 200!) but if not I'll sneak in a quick graphic novel on New Year's Eve so that won't be my last read of the year.

Oh, wow. That lion picture is fantastic!

>73 The_Hibernator: Thanks Rachel!

For my own planning, here are the contenders for top 5 books of the year:
Ashes to Fire Martin, Emily B.
Camp So-And-So McCoy, Mary
Mockingbird, Vol 2: My Feminist Agenda Cain, Chelsea
Amberlough Donnelly, Lara Elena
If We Were Villains Rio, M. L.
Every Heart a Doorway McGuire, Seanan
Lumberjanes, Vol. 1: Beware the Kitten Holy Stevenson, Noelle
The Hate U Give Thomas, Angie
Exit, Pursued by a Bear Johnston, E. K.
Akata Witch Okorafor, Nnedi
The Soul of an Octopus Montgomery, Sy
March, Book One Lewis, John
Brown Girl Dreaming Woodson, Jacqueline
Station Eleven Mandel, Emily St. John
Never Let Me Go Ishiguro, Kazuo

I read lots of good books this year! I'll narrow them down to the top 5(ish) later.

Good luck with the narrowing! Always the hardest thing to do at the end of the year, I find.

Happy holidays! I am thankful this holiday season for all the good friends I have made in this group. You are all so supportive. I don't know what I'd do without you!

It is that time of year again, between Solstice and Christmas, just after Hanukkah, when our thoughts turn to wishing each other well in whatever language or image is meaningful to the recipient. So, whether I wish you Happy Solstice or Merry Christmas, know that what I really wish you, and for you, is this:

Wishing you all good things this holiday season and beyond.

Thank you for the holiday wishes Rachel, Roni, Robin, and Paul!!
____________________________________________________________

It was a good book Christmas this year, which for me means more that I was able to gift other people books than receive them myself. My brother's angel of a wife did a great job of crafting wishlists for herself and my brother so I was able to get them things they really wanted/needed. I gifted to other people:

Caroline: Little House, Revisited by Sarah Miller for my mom
Artemis by Andy Weir for my mom's husband
Salt Fat Acid Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking by Samin Nosrat for my brother and sister-in-law
Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan for my sister-in-law
The Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston for my brother

My brother asked for a few books specifically (or, at least, his wife put them on his wishlist and he was very excited to get them) which is the first time he's ever asked for books and I am quite pleased with this development.

I received:
Tickets to Hamilton at the Kennedy Center in July, from my dad
From my mom: a new lamp for my reading corner (which I asked for), a toaster oven (actually she just wrapped up a burnt-ass piece of toast and told me she would take me to Target and buy me a toaster oven (which I asked for))
A skein of yarn and a cookbook and a hand-stitched throw pillow from my brother and sister-in-law's honeymoon trip to SE Asia
My mom's husband got me The Zoo: The Wild and Wonderful Tale of the Founding of London Zoo, 1826-1851 by Isobel Charman, which I had not specifically asked for but is on my list of books to look out for.

I hope you all had/are having great holidays too!

TV shows I've watched lately:

I've watched the first 6 episodes of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, which is amazingly good and somehow even better than the pilot
I watched season 2 of Frontier which was just as mediocre as the first season, and also just as short
I watched Marvel's The Punisher, which was also mediocre but was decent background TV while I wrapped presents, etc.
I started both Knightfall and Happy! and didn't care much for either of them so stopped watching
Marvel's Agents of SHIELD is pretty good this season but I don't think it's as spectacular as some other people do. It's basically been 2 seasons since any of the characters interacted with the real world, and I don't love that. I am glad to see Hunter though
Vikings is fine.
Marvel's Runaways is entertaining to watch, but doesn't make much sense. It's been 7 episodes and these kids still haven't run away. They keep finding out more and more awful things their parents have done, but they still sit down to family dinner every night. The kids keep getting into small, normal show arguments with their parents and then making up with them, as if they don't know about the bad stuff at all? I don't get it.
Call the Midwife Christmas special was good as usual. I liked it better than last year's which took place in South Africa and didn't feel very Christmas-y (though otherwise a good episode).

I'm going to watch the Doctor Who Christmas special at the movie theater tomorrow.
Also to watch soon:
Dark
Freedom Fighters: The Ray
The Crown (season 2)
Travelers (season 2)
Lovesick (a.k.a. Scrotal Recall) (season 3)

I have two cats in my apartment at the moment, as I'm taking care of my friend's cat while he is out of town. His cat is weird but mostly gets along with my cat. His cat really likes to open cabinets in the night, and also somehow managed to TURN ON MY SHOWER at 3am on Christmas Day. That was fun.

Hamilton! That's great. A very thoughtful gift. Glad you had a good Christmas!

>84 The_Hibernator: Thanks Rachel! I hope you did too.

Here are some Christmas Stories, Nora's family style. Gather 'round, children!

- Christmas shower miracle, see >83 norabelle414:

- As mentioned in >81 norabelle414:, my mom wrapped up a piece of toast to give me for Christmas, as an indication that she would buy me a toaster oven that I asked for. What I didn't mention is that my sister-in-law saw my mom wrap a piece of toast in tissue paper and put it under the Christmas tree, and thought my mom was going senile. She was agonizing all evening about whether she should tell anyone what she saw.

- My mom asked us all to come over to her house at 3pm on Christmas Eve for dinner and then dessert and then presents. When we got there right on time, my mom had not wrapped a single present yet and so made everyone wait in the spare bedroom for ~20 minutes while she wrapped about 16 presents. As a reminder, my mom has been almost fully unemployed since August. Her only job is that she walks dogs for 2 hours every-other day.

- My mom's house doesn't have heat, because almost a full year ago one of her dogs chewed through a bunch of wires in the boiler room and now the heat doesn't work anymore (?!?!?) so she just has several space heaters.

- Last year my mom bought fancy new matching Christmas stockings for everyone in the family. Immediately after Christmas last year one of her dogs chewed her stocking to bits so now everyone else has fancy matching stockings and my mom has a literal sock.

- I asked for a small plant for my desk at work, and one day when we were shopping together my mom had me pick out one that I liked. Then, on Christmas Eve, she hands me a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PLANT. I had picked out something aloe vera-like and she handed me a cactus. I haven't asked what happened to the plant I picked out and I'm kind of scared to.

Wow, sounds like the stuff that happens in our family... 😁

51. Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

A massive cast of characters embroiled in drama among the super rich families of Singapore. Normal New Yorker Rachel Chu goes on vacation with her seemingly-normal boyfriend Nicholas Young and meets his family - who are so rich that even the very rich have never heard of them. Nicholas' mother Eleanor is convinced that Rachel is a gold-digger and enlists a private investigator, and her friends' daughters (all of whom would rather have Nick to themselves), to help scare her off. Nick's glamorous cousin Astrid likes Rachel a lot, but is too busy buying next season's fashion in Paris and supporting her working-class husband to come to Rachel's rescue. Nick's best friend Colin is getting married and whisks Nick off on a jet-set dubiously legal bachelor party weekend, leaving Rachel to join fiancee Araminta's bachelorette weekend at her parents' resort. Can Rachel stand up to this kind of life?

This book was so much fun to read. The world is so intricate and so foreign to me that it might as well be a fantasy. There are strict rules about who can talk about what and who can wear this and how those people are related. Schools, designers, last names, and generations of money are of the utmost importance. It's comedy-of-manners hilarious, like Downton Abbey or a Jane Austen novel. Nick and Astrid's other cousin Eddie is a delightful comic device - so spoiled and rude (despite his many-generational fortune) that the rest of the family can't stand him (and he gets a very satisfying comeuppance!). Best of all, there are FOOTNOTES! And a FAMILY TREE! The footnotes (and sometimes the text) contain just enough SE Asian history and politics to provide context without being overwhelming (nor does it feel condescending). While nothing about the plot leaves me dying to know what happens next, I enjoyed reading this so much that I would do myself a disservice if I didn't read the sequels. Highly recommended if you like light-hearted family drama, and "old money vs. new money" feuds. And footnotes!

Rating: ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ♥ (4.5/5)

Another fun holiday story: There must be a substitute mail carrier this week because yesterday everyone in my whole apartment building got their mail offset by one mailbox. That's about 35 apartments per floor, times 13 floors. I'm in apartment 731 and the mail in my box was for apartment 730. Thankfully they are the only neighbors I know well enough to just go ahead and knock on their door. When I talked to them they said they got all the mail for apartment 729. Then I went to the front desk and they said that everyone in the whole building is having the same problem.

*sigh*

I am still expecting a few Christmas cards, AND my year-end bonus. Who knows when they'll get this all sorted out.

Sounds like your holidays have been... entertaining. :)

Yay for finishing (and liking) Crazy Rich Asians. I have yet to get to the third book but I enjoyed the second. Odds that you'll finish another book before the end of the year?

I love the story of the toast and your SIL's concern for your mother. Also, I now want to read Crazy Rich Asians...

Ahh weird family holiday stories! I was sooooooo insanely relieved this year to NOT have many stories (because last year was ENOUGH for years) but half the family did have the stomach bug. Instead of two turtle doves we had two just-in-case vomit buckets. ;) Luckily everyone managed to hold it together through our actual Christmas celebration and it turned out to be a really nice day.

>90 MickyFine: They have! Thankfully nothing too bad. I'm glad to hear that the sequel to Crazy Rich Asians is good! I have a graphic novel that I am going to read before the end of the year (on New Year's Eve, if I have to!) but I doubt I'll finish anything else. To be honest I haven't started anything else since finishing Crazy Rich Asians, shhh!

>91 katiekrug: Thanks Katie! I was putting away Christmas presents last night and found the piece of toast again and chuckled to myself. I think you would really love Crazy Rich Asians! It's escapism, but very well-written.

>92 leahbird: I'm sorry your family was sick, Leah! Glad it didn't interrupt your Christmas too much.

>93 norabelle414: No judgement about not starting something new. I've spent most of the month reading one book. Which I am going to finish before the end of the year if I have to ignore everyone at the New Year's Eve party I'm going to to do it. :)

>82 norabelle414: I finally watched the first two episodes of Agents of SHIELD, but I'm just not feeling it. I think you've hit the nail on the head with the no real world stuff.

I loved this year's Call the Midwife Christmas special. Last year's was great telly, but didn't feel Christmassy. This year's had the Christmas feel and made me excited for the new series (not that I needed to get more excited, but there we go!).

Most importantly - what did you think of Doctor Who?

>82 norabelle414: I'm loving The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel! I have two eps left to go....

>95 archerygirl: Agreed about CtM. Loved the special this year!

>94 MickyFine: Thankfully I won't have to ignore anyone at my New Year's Eve party to read because my New Year's Eve party consists of me and two cats

>95 archerygirl: I can tell that this season of Agents of SHIELD would be exciting under other circumstances, but I feel like the appeal of the show, as opposed to the Marvel movies, is that it's more grounded in normal, everyday people.
I haven't watched Doctor Who yet!! I was going to watch it at the movie theater but it's so dang cold that I couldn't make myself go outside after I got home from work. (I'm sure it's colder where you are though)

>96 lycomayflower: It's so good! I'm done with the whole season now and I kind of want to go back and watch it again....

Zoe posted this New Yorker story on her thread so I will too and if you don't like it you can blame her.

(The picture for this story weirds me out and I don't want to post it so here is the cover of the issue containing the story instead)



52. Cat Person by Kristen Roupenian

Twenty-year-old Margot meets a guy. They go on a few dates and she's not sure how she feels about him, and then they don't anymore.

This is what I picture a normal New Yorker story to be, so I'm not sure what the fuss is about. The writing is very good and almost everything that happens to Margot has happened to me at some point. Which is to say that nothing very interesting happens, but it's an accurate portrait of what going on a few dates with someone is like. And this is why I hate dating. If you're interested, it'll only take 10 minutes to read. If you read short fiction, you're not missing much.

Rating: ❤ ❤ ❤ ♥ (3.5/5)

Hope you had a good Christmas holiday!

I was super confused at first because I was sure I hadn't posted anything about Christmas trees.

>99 ChelleBearss: Thank you so much for stopping by, Chelle! I hope you and your family are having a peaceful end of the year.

>100 _Zoe_: :-D

_____________________________________

I'm calling it quits on finishing books for the year, so stats are coming soon!

2017 Statistics

In 2017, I read 53 books.
13,980 pages, plus 4hrs and 27 minutes of audiobooks.
I averaged 22 days per book, 47 pages per day, 4 books per month.
Average book length was 269 pages.

The longest book was Crazy Rich Asians at 527 pages. The shortest was the short story Cat Person at 23 pages.

I acquired 57 books.
I bought 50 books.
I deaccessioned 29 books.

38 (72%) had female authors/artists (for graphic novels I am counting only the artist, not the author).
29 (55%) were marketed for adults, 21 (40%) for young adults, and 3 (6%) for children.
12 (23%) had authors/artists of color, and 13 (25%) had a main character of color.
11 (21%) had LGBTQ authors/artists, and 12 (23%) had an LGBTQ main character.
0 were translated from another language.

18 books (34%) were purchased by me. 33 (62%) were checked out from the library. 2 (4%) were free. 0 books were gifts and 0 were borrowed from another person.
51 books (96%) were physical books, 1 (2%) was digital, and 1 (2%) was an audiobook.

34 (64%) were prose books. 1 (2%) was a play. 17 (32%) were comics. 1 (2%) was a book of poetry.
47 books (89%) were fiction, and 6 (11%) were non-fiction.

2 books (4%) were rereads. 15 books (28%) were published in 2017. 38 books (72%) were published before 2017, and 7 (13%) were published before 2007.

My best reading month was July, in which I finished 11 books (mostly comics). My worst reading month was November, in which I finished 1 book.

My most-read genre was speculative fiction/science fiction/fantasy/horror, of which I read 20 books (38%). 13 books (25%) were adventure/mystery/thriller. 5 books (10%) were romance. 5 books (10%) were general fiction. 4 books (8%) were historical fiction/historical fantasy. 4 books (8%) were biography/memoir. 2 books (4%) were science nonfiction.

This year I read books taking place in the following decades:
1480s
1550s
1720s
1810s
1820s
1840s
1850s
1860s
1910s
1920s
1930s
1940s
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2030s
2080s

My Top Five Books of 2017:
Camp So-and-So by Mary McCoy
If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio
Lumberjanes, Vol. 1: Beware the Kitten Holy by Noelle Stevenson
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Amberlough by Lara Elena Donnelly

Honorable Mention:
Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
Ashes to Fire by Emily B. Martin

Dishonorable Mention:
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien
A Spy in the House by Y. S. Lee

I read a lot of good books this year, and not any very bad ones.

53. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol 1: Squirrel Power by Ryan North, Illustrated by Erica Henderson

Doreen Green, AKA Squirrel Girl, is starting college! She learns to balance talking with squirrels and normal college girl life. But small problems keep popping up, like a bank robbery, the supervillain Galactus trying to eat planet Earth, and getting to class on time.

A really delightful, fun comic. Squirrel Girl treats even the worst supervillains as if they were Scooby-Doo villains. She dresses and acts like a normal person. The squirrels are really funny and cute. Fun all around, and highly recommended if you like lighthearted, funny, non-sexist, minimally-violent comics.

There are several pages of Q&A after every issue, which are sometimes fun but can get pretty redundant.

Rating: ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ♥ (4.5/5)

This volume also contains Marvel Super-Heroes Winter Special #8 (1991), which is the first ever appearance of Squirrel Girl. Fourteen-year-old Squirrel Girl runs into Iron Man in the woods, and (unsuccessfully) tries to convince him that she should be his sidekick.

This comic was surprisingly enjoyable, considering my experience with other older comics. The art is very weird, though. She looks NOTHING like a fourteen-year-old girl, even one in costume.

>97 norabelle414: I don't know where you are, but we've been having daytime highs of -10C (I dread to think about windchill). I was thinking about going to the cinema to see Doctor Who, but I decided it was too darned cold to wait for the bus I would have had to get!

>106 archerygirl: I'm in Washington DC and the highs here have been about 24F (-4C), so only a little bit warmer than you. I volunteered at the zoo yesterday and the wind chill was 9F (-12C). Brrr! I would have happily gone to see Doctor Who at the theater if I was going with someone else, but without the accountability I just couldn't find the motivation. It's supposed to get a bit warmer today but right now it's 13F (-10C) with a windchill of -1F (-18C)

I ended up paying $3.99 to watch the Doctor Who Christmas Special on demand! A small price to pay for an evening inside in the warmth :-)

I'll go talk about my Doctor Who feelings on my 2018 thread to keep things moving along.