Deedledee can't believe it's 2020

My reads for 2020:
January
1. Bye Felipe: Disses, Dick Pics, and Other Delights of Modern Dating by Alexandra Tweten (ANF)
2. Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know by Malcolm Gladwell (read by Malcolm Gladwell) (ANF)
3. Resistant: A World Divided by Erika Modrak (ARC) (ebook)
4. The Institute by Stephen King (read by Santino Fontana)
5. Beard Science by Penny Reid (read by Joy Nash & Chris Brinkley)
6. Vanessa and Her Sister by Priya Parmar (read by Emilia Fox, Julian Rhind-Tutt, & Clare Corbett)
7. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (ebook)
February
8. Warcross by Marie Lu (YF)
9. First, We Make the Beast Beautiful: A New Story About Anxiety by Sarah Wilson (ANF) (ebook)
10. Africaville by Jeffrey Colvin (read by Robin Miles)
11. The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland by Jim DeFede (ANF) (ebook)
12. The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman (read by Marin Ireland)
13. The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson (read by Bill Bryson) (ANF)
14. Akin by Emma Donoghue (read by Jason Culp)
15. Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson
March
16. The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell (read by Dominic Thorburn, Bea Holland, and Tamaryn Payne)
17. First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones
18. Zone One by Colson Whitehead (ebook)
19. A Longer Fall: Gunnie Rose book 2 by Charlaine Harris (read by Eva Kaminsky)
20. The Waking Dark by Robin Wasserman (read by Mark Deanins)
21. The Very Principled Maggie Mayfield by Kathy Cooperman (read by Amy McFadden)
22. Wildwood (The Wildwood Chronicles, book 1) written by Colin Meloy and illustrated by Carson Ellis
23. Live Through This: A Mother's Memoir of Runaway Daughters and Reclaimed Love by Debra Gwartney (read by Joyce Bean)
April
24. The Dream Daughter by Diane Chamberlain (read by Susan Bennett)
25. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (read by Stephen Fry)
26. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (ebook)
27. Child of My Heart by Alice McDermott (read by Sheryl Bernstein)
28. Light Lifting by Alexander MacLeod
29. The Dutch House by Ann Patchett (read by Tom Hanks)
30. This Little Light by Lori Lansens (read by Nora Hunter)
31. Tony's Wife by Adriana Trigiani (read by Edoardo Ballerini)
May
32. The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe (read by Katherine Kellgren)
33. Trickster Drift by Eden Robinson
34. Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center (read by Therese Plummer)
35. Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
36. Stone Mothers by Erin Kelly (read by) Fenella Fudge, Jane McDowell, and Polly Edsell
37. 90 Days of Different by Eric Walters (YF)
38. Oranges are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson
June
39. French Milk by Lucy Knisley (AGN)
40. Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren (ebook)
41. The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman (read by Gloria Reuben, Tina Benko, and Santino Fontana)
42. Across the Universe by Beth Revis (read by Carlos Santos) (YF)
43. Larry's Party by Carol Shields
44. Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
45. Wenjack by Joseph Boyden
46. Someone We Know by Shari Lapena (read by Kirsten Potter)
47. Storm Front by Jim Butcher
48. Robert Bloch's Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper adapted by Joe Lansdale and John Landale, art by Kevin Colden (AGN)
July
49. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins (read by Santino Fontana)
50. I'm Still Here by Clelie Avit
51. Barbarian Alien by Ruby Dixon (read by Hollie Jackson and Mason Lloyd)
52. Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
53. At Home: a Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson (read by Bill Bryson) (ANF)
54. Lost in Austen: Create Your Own Jane Austen Adventure by Emma Campbell Webster
55. Sister Wife by Shelley Hrdlitschka (ebook) (YF)
56. The Friends We Keep by Jane Green (read by Jane Green)
August
57. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (YF)
58. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (YF)
59. Wolf Gone Wild by Juliette Cross
60. Sweet Pea by CJ Skuse
61. Minds of Winter by Ed O'Loughlin (read by Bill Webster)
62. Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
63. The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory
September
64. My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix (read by Emily Woo Zeller)
65. Tidelands by Philippa Gregory (read by Louise Brealey)
66. Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? Big Questions from Tiny Mortals About Death by Caitlin Doughty (ANF) (ebook)
67. Watchmen by Alan Moore (AGN)
68. Nine Pints: a Journey Through the Money, Medicine, and Mysteries of Blood by Rose George (read by Karen Cass) (ANF)
69. Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (ebook)
70. The Red Lotus by Chris Bohjalian (read by Rebecca Lowman)
71. Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies about Who You Are So You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be by Rachel Hollis (ANF)
72. Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki; illustrated Rosemary Valero-O'Connell (YGN) (ebook)
October
73. Out Loud: Essays on Mental Illness, Stigma and Recovery (ANF) (ebook)
74. Black Klansman: Race, Hate, and the Undercover Investigation of a Lifetime by Ron Stallworth (ANF)
75. Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre by Max Brooks
76. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (ebook)
77. Child Soldier: When Boys and Girls Are Used in War by Jessica Dee Humphreys & Michael Chikwanine, illustrated by Claudia Davila (YGN)
November
78. Resistance Women by Jennifer Chiaverini (read by Saskia Maarleveld)
79. The Mall by Megan McCafferty (YF)
80. Newfoundland: Journey into a Lost Nation by Michael Crummey and Greg Locke (ANF)
81. The Best We Could Do: an Illustrated Memoir by Thi Bui (AGN)
82. The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline (ebook) (YF)
83. If It Bleeds by Stephen King (read by Will Patton, Danny Burstein, and Steven Weber)
December
84. This Book is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How to Wake Up, Take Action, and Do the Work by Tiffany Jewell (YNF)
85. Minding the Store: a Big Story About a Small Business by Julie Gaines (AGN)
86. Gold Dust Woman: the Biography of Stevie Nicks by Stephen Davis (read by Christina Delaine) (ANF)
87. The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix (ebook)
88. Live by Night by Dennis Lehane (read by Jim Frangione)
89. Bird Box by Josh Malerman (ebook)

Popsugar Reading Challenge 2020:

*1. A book published in 2020: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins (July 1)
*2. A book by a trans or non-binary person: Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (Sept 17)
3. A book with a great first line:
*4. A book that is set in a city that hosted the Olympics: Vanessa and Her Sister by Priya Parmar (Jan 26)
*5. A book about a book club: The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix (Dec 21)
*6. A bildungsroman: The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman (Feb 23)
7. The first book you touch on your shelf with your eyes closed:
*8. A book with an upside-down image on the cover: The Dream Daughter by Diane Chamberlain (Apr 2)
*9. A book with a map: Wildwood written by Colin Meloy and illustrated by Carson Ellis (Mar 26)
*10. A book that was recommended by your favorite blog, vlog, podcast, or online book club: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (Apr 6)
*11. An anthology: Out Loud: Essays on Mental Illness, Stigma and Recovery (Oct 9)
*12. A book that passes the Bechdel Test: This Little Light by Lori Lansens (Apr 27)
*13. A book with the same title as a movie or TV show but is unrelated to it: Across the Universe by Beth Revis (June 16)
*14. A book by an author with flora or fauna in their name: Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice (May 24)
*15. A book about or involving social media: Bye Felipe: Disses, Dick Pics, and Other Delights of Modern Dating by Alexandra Tweten (Jan 2)
*16. A book that has a book on the cover: The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe (May 6)
*17. A medical thriller: Resistant: A World Divided by Erika Modrak (Jan 15)
*18. A book with a made-up language: Barbarian Alien by Ruby Dixon (July 6)
*19. A book set in a country beginning with “C” - The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland by Jim DeFede (Feb 17)
*20. A book you picked because the title caught your attention: Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center (May 16)
*21. A book published in the month of your birthday: Stone Mothers by Erin Kelly (May 25)
*22. A book about or by a woman in STEM: Warcross by Marie Lu (Feb 2)
*23. A book that won an award in 2019: Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Aug 14)
*24. A book on a subject you know nothing about: Minds of Winter by Ed O'Loughlin (Aug 13)
25. A book with only words on the cover, no graphics or images:
*26. A book with a pun in the title: The Very Principled Maggie Mayfield by Kathy Cooperman (Mar 25)
*27. A book featuring one of the seven deadly sins: The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell (Mar 7)
*28. A book with a robot, cyborg, or AI character: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (Apr 5)
*29. A book with a bird on the cover: Trickster Drift by Eden Robinson (May 6)
*30. A fiction or non-fiction book about a world leader: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Aug 9)
31. A book with “gold,” “silver,” or “bronze” in the title:
*32. A book by a WOC: Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson (Feb 29)
*33. A book with at least a four-star rating on Goodreads: Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know by Malcolm Gladwell (Jan 3)
*34. A book you meant to read in 2019: Light Lifting by Alexander MacLeod (Apr 13)
*35. A book with a three-word title: The Waking Dark by Robin Wasserman (Mar 20)
*36. A book with a pink cover: Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren (June 6)
*37. A Western: A Longer Fall: Gunnie Rose book 2 by Charlaine Harris (Mar 18)
*38. A book by or about a journalist: First, We Make the Beast Beautiful: A New Story About Anxiety by Sarah Wilson (Feb 8)
*39. Read a banned by during Banned Book Week (Sept 20-26): Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki (Sept 24)
*40. A prompt from a past PopSugar Reading Challenge: (a book about a family) Africaville by Jeffrey Colvin (Feb 13)
*41. A book written by an author in their 20’s: Oranges are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson (May 31)
42. A book with 20 or “twenty” in the title
*43. A book with a character that has a vision impairment or enhancement (or a reference to 20/20 vision) - Bird Box by Josh Malerman (Dec 29)
*44. A book set in Japan -Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata (June 20)
*45. A book set in the 1920’s - Live by Night by Dennis Lehane (Dec 25)
*46. A book by an author who has written more than 20 books - The Institute by Stephen King (Jan 16)
*47. A book with more than 20 letters in its title - The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Jan 27)
*48. A book published in the 20th century -Larry's Party by Carol Shields (June 18)
*49. A book from a series with more than 20 books - Storm Front by Jim Butcher (June 28)
*50. A book with a main character in their 20’s: Beard Science by Penny Reid (Jan 19)
45/50

2019 statistics
Read 89 books

81% were fiction
88% were adult and 12% were YA
39% were audiobooks, 40% were paper, and 21% were ebooks
and 84% were borrowed from the library.

Completed 42 of the Popsugar Reading Challenge prompts.

Welcome back!

Hi Dee, followed your link and starred your thread. I see that you are in NS. I'm on the opposite side of the country in BC.

Best wishes for 2020!

Another resolution is to keep up in 2020 with all my friends on LT. Happy New Year!

Happy reading in 2020, Dee!

Book #1
Bye Felipe: Disses, Dick Pics, and Other Delights of Modern Dating by Alexandra Tweten
Not exactly what I was expecting, I thought this book would be more screenshots from the Instagram account. Instead, Tweten spends some time talking about toxic masculinity, some tips to avoid being a victim and some responses when you get a dick pic.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book about or involving social media

Book #2
Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know by Malcolm Gladwell
My second read of the year and it's also non fiction.
Gladwell gave me a lot to think about. As with his other books I don't agree with everything he says but it is very interesting. In this book he examines how our interactions with strangers can go awry because we misread signals and make assumptions. It's not groundbreaking information but it's always good to get a reminder and Gladwell applies this in an interesting way.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book with at least a four-star rating on Goodreads

Hope your 2020 is full of good reads!

Resistant: A World Divided by Erika Modrak

The writing was a little clunky but the overall story was a pretty good thriller.

Wren lives with her mom in a camp with other survivors of a virus that killed most of humanity. Not far away is The Community, a domed compound where only the privileged are allowed to live. Cat, a young woman who has spent her whole life in The Community, watched her mother die. These two young women are linked and will go up against a doctor who created a vaccine that may have more side effects than anyone bargained for.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A medical thriller

>12 Deedledee: That one sounds interesting. Thanks for the recommedation, Dee! Off to see if my local library has a copy. . .

Book #4
The Institute by Stephen King
One of King's favourite subjects - kid's with special powers.
This one sucked me in right away and kept me interested the whole way through.
Tim is fleeing from his past in Florida and ends up as a glorified security guard (WTH is a Night Knocker) in Dupray, SC. Luke, a brilliant child with a glowing future ends up kidnapped and in an "Institute" in Maine. These are characters you really start to care about and want to succeed.
I had no idea how the two of them were going to connect but was excited about the result.
A must read.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book by an author who has written more than 20 books

Agreed. That one was great!

Book #5
Beard Science by Penny Reid
I liked this book far more than I expected to. My friend has been raving about this book for years but she's a big romance fan and I am not. I agreed to read it because we're going to be doing a radio show on romance in February and I needed to have something to talk about. But let me tell you this book is fun.

Jennifer Sylvester has always been the obedient daughter, doing whatever her mother has told her, even if she didn't like it. As the Banana Cake Queen she's worn the outfits picked by her mother, dyed her hair blonde, taken part in the social media campaigns that she doesn't enjoy. But at the age of 22 she realizes that she needs to change something if she's going to ever get married and have children. She enlists the help of Cletus Winston, one of the Winston brothers. Well, actually she blackmails him into helping her. After talking to her for a few minutes he realizes she needs to get to know herself and stand up for herself. This puts her on a path to finding herself, pissing off her parents, and falling in love.

If you read this don't think about it too much. It's a fun romp of a book but once I started questioning plot points I felt like it was a bit unbelievable.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book with a main character in their 20’s

Book #6
Vanessa and Her Sister by Priya Parmar

Primarily written in the form of Vanessa Bell's (nee Stephen) diary, along with some letters, cables, etc. The novel attempts to capture the Bloomsbury Group and the relationship between Vanessa and her sister Virginia Woolf.

I only knew a bit about the Bloomsbury group and this book makes it seem like they were all swapping partners all the time. I don't know how they ever found time to write or paint.

And Virginia Woolf was portrayed as being very unbalanced. I know she suffered with mental health issues, now they believe it was bipolar disorder, but in this story Woolf seems to consider only herself and she also seems unable function without the help of her sister’s constant attention.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book that is set in a city that hosted the Olympics

Book #7
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Wow, just wow! You should go read this book.

Evelyn Hugo is a Hollywood icon. As a teenager in Hell's Kitchen, Evelyn decided she was getting out and getting rich and figured out a way to get herself to Los Angeles. For the next several decades she acts in movies and goes from scandal to scandal. Many of her relationships (and most of her marriages) are about using people.

Monique is a journalist who has been invited to interview Evelyn about donating dresses to a charity auction. But Evelyn has an ulterior motive, she wants someone to write her life's story. All of it, the good, the bad, the ugly, no holds barred. Evelyn recounts her life through her seven marriages and current time as Monique tries to unravel why Evelyn Hugo, potentially the worlds most famous actress, wants her of all people to write this tell all.

“People think that intimacy is about sex. But intimacy is about truth. When you realize you can tell someone your truth, when you can show yourself to them, when you stand in front of them bare and their response is 'you're safe with me'- that's intimacy.”

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book with more than 20 letters in its title

Book #8
Warcross by Marie Lu
This is the first book in a series but I don't think I'm going to read any further. I was very interested in the book when I started but my attention flagged as it went on.

Emika Chan is a hacker and bounty hunter. She's fallen on some hard times and only has a few days to scrape up enough money for back rent or she's out on the street. Because she's desperate she tries a hack that she's never tried before during the opening game of the Warcross Championships (the biggest game in the world) but accidentally glitches herself into the action. Next thing she knows she's being hired by Tanaka industries (inventor of Warcross) and the amazing Hideo Tanaka to be a spy in the game.
All is not well in the world of Warcross - someone is out to stop the game and will stop at nothing to do so.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book about or by a woman in STEM

Book #9
First, We Make the Beast Beautiful: A New Story About Anxiety by Sarah Wilson
I both loved and was irritated by this book. Wilson's memoir/self-help book has some really interesting information and theories of anxiety but it's also structured oddly and contains some kooky stuff.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book by or about a journalist

Book #10
Africaville by Jeffrey Colvin
First of all I'm going to start with a really picky point - I listened to this on audiobook and the narrator's pronunciation of Gottingen irritated me to no end.

Colvin says: "Africaville is not a strict retelling of the story of the Nova Scotia community, but an exploration of the themes of struggle, loss, and family that are part of its legacy." That frees him from making it strictly historically accurate and allows him to focus on the dynamics of racial injustice throughout the decades as he tell the stories of multiple generations of the Sebolt family.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A prompt from a past PopSugar Reading Challenge: (a book about a family)

>21 Deedledee: That looks interesting, Dee, and because I don't listen to audio books I would not have to be irritated by poor narration.

Book #11
The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland by Jim DeFede
Having just recently seen Come From Away I thought I would read about about the "plane people" that was published just prior to the anniversary of the attacks.
I remember this time well. I was living in Halifax and the university I worked at turned the gym into a shelter for stranded passengers. People took them into their homes. There was even a wedding.
Reading these stories helps remind us that there are lovely, decent people willing to help out those in need.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book set in a country beginning with “C”

Book #12
The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

Frances, Bridget, and Vincent Owens grow up in New York in the 1960s. Unlike many kids the rules set out by their parents are to protect them from the influences of magic and the curse of their family:
"Susanna felt she had no choice but to set down rules. No walking in the moonlight, no Ouija boards, no candles, no red shoes, no wearing black, no going shoeless, no amulets, no night-blooming flowers, no reading novels about magic, no cats, no crows, and no venturing below Fourteenth Street.”
They throw themselves into breaking every rule. But they also have to contend with a curse that their ancestor Maria Owens placed that the men they fall in love with are doomed to an untimely death.
And then there is Aunt Isabelle, who lives in a small town in Massachusetts. She introduces them to their magical abilities.
A prequel to Practical Magic, this novel can be read as a standalone.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A bildungsroman

Keeping up with you Dee.

Book #13
The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson
I love these wide ranging books by Bryson, especially on audiobook. He has a lovely soothing voice and is telling me all kinds of interesting facts about what makes up the human body. Bryson goes into details about the various systems of the body, the skin, circulatory system, nervous system, skeleton, etc.
There was only one issue that I didn't even pick up but in chatting with a friend who was also reading the book - she pointed out that Bryson seems to have confused aspiration and swallowing.

Book #14.
Akin by Emma Donoghue
Noah is about to turn 80. He’s going to take a long awaited trip to his native France, where he hasn’t been since he was 4. But there’s a wrench in his plan. He’s contacted by social services as the only relative who was able to take in his great-nephew. So he brings young Michael along with him to France and their week together proves to be educational for both of them.

Book #15.
Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson
A contender for this year's Canada Reads.
Jared's mom loves him so much, she really does, but she struggles with addiction. So does his dad. His maternal grandmother won't talk to him because she believes that the Trickster is his actual father.
The story is mostly about his being the adult in the relationship with his parents but then weird shit starts to happen. He thinks he was slipped hallucinogenics but it turns out that he just becomes attuned to the magic around him.
I really look forward to reading the next book in the trilogy.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book by a WOC

Book #16
The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

Libby's whole life is about the change. She's just turned 25 and is going to inherit a trust from her biological family that she knows nothing about. What she inherits is a mansion in London and the story of her family, including murder and disappearances. As the story unfolds we learn through two of the kids who grew up in the house about it's dark secrets.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book featuring one of the seven deadly sins

Book #17
First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones

The premise of this supernatural romance sounded intriguing so I thought I'd give it a try.

Charley Davidson is the grim reaper, but it's now what you think. She isn't all dark robe and a scythe.
She's a sarcastic PI who speaks to the dead and helps the police solve murders. The book is all one-liners and Charley getting the crap beat out of her at every turn.

While a good weekend read I don't think I'll be picking up more in the series.

Book #18.
Zone One by Colson Whitehead

I started reading this back in mid-February, back when we weren't looking at a pandemic crisis. Finishing it today, as my province goes into the beginning stages of lockdown, I'm feeling pretty despondent.

Mark Spitz is a sweeper helping to clean up the remnants of zombies in Zone One - part of Manhattan - to try to make it habitable again. The current government the USA is seated in a refugee camp in Buffalo. And they're back to the regular government bullshit -i.e. sending PR people to set up a fancy hotel for officials, getting corporate sponsors for food and equipment, telling sweepers to not damage buildings in the process of removing the undead.

Mark was completely average before the Last Night (the night the zombie apocalypse is considered to have officially tipped in favour of the zombies) and his only real talent seemed to be a knack for coasting through life with a minimum of fuss. Somehow been completely average is an excellent survival mechanism.

Book #19.
A Longer Fall (Gunnie Rose book 2) by Charlaine Harris

An alternate universe fantasy western (how many of those have you read?) about a 19 year old gunslinger named Lizbeth Rose.

In this second book in the series, Lizbeth is working with a new crew. Their job is to guard a chest traveling by train to Dixie. But the chest contains something a lot of people want and so someone blows up the train. Then everything pretty much goes to hell in a handbasket.
Back in this novel is Eli, the Grigori Wizard, whom Lizbeth has the hots for.
Much like the first book the book is heavy on action and light on plot. A fun read for dark times.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A Western

Book #20
The Waking Dark by Robin Wasserman
This book just slightly missed the mark with me. There were some pretty big plot holes that I just couldn't overlook.

A group of disparate teens bands together when their town suddenly becomes a very dark and frightening place.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book with a three-word title

Book #21
The Very Principled Maggie Mayfield by Kathy Cooperman
A light, fun read for not so fun times.
Maggie is an elementary school principal who loves her job. She takes the time to learn the kids names, to work on their needs, and to try to keep her school running smoothly. Cuts to education funding means that she needs to look at cutting "non-essential" programs like art, gym, or science. Then an opportunity arises that means she might be able to keep them and not do tons of fundraising. A new tech company wants to beta test a math program and will pay with stock. If the program takes off Maggie will have funding for maybe years! And it doesn't hurt that the CEO of the tech company is handsome and charismatic.
But things don't go as planned and Maggie and her best friend/assistant Diane take matters into their own hands to do what they think will be best for the school

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book with a pun in the title

Book #22
Wildwood written by Colin Meloy and illustrated by Carson Ellis
This is a hefty book - 541 pages. Targeted at middle grade kids, I don't think this book would really work that well for that age group. It's super long. And there's a fair amount of death, not super bloody or anything but still.
Twelve year old Prue is taking care of her baby brother when a murder of crows scoops him up and flies away with him. She runs off into the woods (known as the Impassable Wilderness to Portlanders) to get him back and finds herself on a major adventure with talking animals, a bad queen, and bandits.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book with a map

Book #23.
Live Through This: A Mother's Memoir of Runaway Daughters and Reclaimed Love by Debra Gwartney
After Gwartney's marriage fell apart and she moved with her 4 daughters to Oregon hoping to start a new life. But her teenage daughters start acting out, self-harming, cutting school, drinking, and staying out all night. Gwartney tries to help them but they choose to run away rather than abide by her rules. She then spends years alternately trying to find them and getting them into therapy and treatment programs.
In this surprisingly candid memoir, she looks back on that difficult time. She states all the ways she could have done better or been better. But hindsight is 20/20 and no one is perfect.

Book #24
The Dream Daughter by Diane Chamberlain

I picked this up from my library before it shut down and grabbed it without reading the back and was pleasantly surprised to find out that it involved time travel.

Carly's husband was killed in the Vietnam War, leaving her pregnant and alone. Worst still, she finds out that her baby is critically ill and there is nothing that the doctor can do. Then her brother-in-law drops a bomb on her - he is actually a time traveler from the future. And he can send her to the future to get treatment for her baby.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book with an upside-down image on the cover

Have a lovely, peaceful, safe and healthy weekend, Dee.

Book #25
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
I've lost count of how many times I've read this book. It is comforting and familiar during these extraordinary times. I listened to the audiobook as narrated by Stephen Fry which made it even more lovely.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book with a robot, cyborg, or AI character

Book #26
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
This book was hugely popular last year, bolstered by Reese Witherspoon making it a book club pick when it was first released in 2018.

Kya is only young when her family members leave one by one. She stays on at their shack in the marsh, alone. She's resilient and resourceful - finding ways to survive. Kya doesn't just live in the marsh, she is one with it. Studying the birds and plants and shells. But people are not made to be solitary creatures and when Kya meets Tate she finds love and acceptance. When Tate has to leave she tries to find love with Chase and things go terribly wrong.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book that was recommended by your favorite blog, vlog, podcast, or online book club

Book #27.
Child of My Heart by Alice McDermott

This has been on my TBR list for a long time. I came across the title while reading Book Lust by Nancy Pearl.
The story is kind of low key following 15 year old Theresa and her young cousin Daisy over the course of one summer. She has a magical connection with children and animals and uses that to keep herself employed.
There seemed to be very little emotional connection in this story and an overabundance of creepy older men hitting on the teenage babysitter.

I wanted my message this year to be fairly universal in a time we all should be pulling together, whatever our beliefs. Happy Celebration, Happy Sunday, Dee.

Book #28
Light Lifting by Alexander MacLeod
I picked this up at the library book sale last year and meant to read it over the summer, but now I'm reading many books off my shelves.
Light Lifting is anything but, this collection of short stories is fairly dark and heavy. The titular story is about a high school student working at a summer job, which sounds innocent enough but the ending.... well, I won't spoil it but it ain't pretty. The 6 other stories in the collection are about loss, death, fear, and failure.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book you meant to read in 2019

Book #29
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
The Dutch House is a silent character in the novel that focuses on the Conroy family over several decades.
Cyril Conroy buys the house and all its contents just after World War II and moves his family in. The house is giant and grandiose but that doesn't mean that the family is happy.
Told from the point of view of Danny, the youngest Conroy, it is the story of a dysfunctional family made more so by his mother leaving and his father's subsequent remarriage.
This is a fantastic novel. Patchett is such an excellent writer and the audiobook is narrated by Tom Hanks, which just makes it that much better.

>18 Deedledee: I read and enjoyed that one too.

>23 Deedledee: I liked that one so much I bought a copy for my personal library.

>27 Deedledee: I loved Donoghue's Room, did not much care for The Wonder, so I need to read that one to break the tie :)

>29 Deedledee: Adding that one to the BlackHole!

>30 Deedledee: I have enjoyed that series - I am up to book 12 now. Sorry you did not enjoy it more.

>32 Deedledee: I agree - "a fun read for dark times"

>34 Deedledee: That one looks fun! I will give it a try if I can get my hands on a copy.

>35 Deedledee: I have already read that series, so I am dodging that BB.

>44 Deedledee: I really need to get that one read!

>45 alcottacre:

I'm glad I could add a couple of books to your TBR list.

Book #30.
This Little Light by Lori Lansens
There's a lot to think about in this book.
Set in the near future (4 years from now), Rorie is a privileged 16 year old growing up in an exclusive community in California. She and her friends (The Hive) attend an "American Virtue Ball" at which they pledge that they will remain virgins until marriage. But some shocking events take place at the Ball which leave Rorie and her bestie Fee on the run as terrorists.
As Rorie goes back to tell us how they found themselves in this predicament she talks about poverty, food and water security, women's rights, access to abortion, access to medical care, and more. This is obviously set in a future in which the far right extremists have taken over the United States.
Read this only if you are prepared to be angry.


Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book that passes the Bechdel Test

Book #31.
Tony's Wife by Adriana Trigiani

This book was just meh for me.
Saverio Armandonada is a talented young man. He sings in the church choir on Sundays but spends the rest of the week working at the Ford plant. His desire to follow a career in music prompts his father to kick him out of the house. We follow his life for the next 60+ years, alongside the life of Chi Chi Donatelli, a talented singer in her own right and an even better songwriter. The two meet, get married, have kids, etc., etc.
The part of this book that frustrated me is that Chi Chi starts out as such a strong, independent character and then subsumes her desires and goals to those of Saverio.

Book #32.
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

First of all, I want to know what this author has against archivists and librarians. Every one that her character encounters is rude and unhelpful. Seriously, why?

I read this book because it was part of the syllabus for Plagues, Witches, and War, a course on historical fiction. I don't understand why the professor picked this book. The parts of the book set in 1690s Salem were fascinating but the main character was a drag.

Connie is trying to find a good topic for her post doc thesis when she's asked by her mother to go clean out her grandmother's home that's been abandoned for 20 years. It's here she makes a discovery that will not only be beneficial to her academic career but will change her whole life. She discovers a key in an old family Bible. The key contains a piece of paper with the name Deliverance Dane. This discovery launches Connie on a quest to find out who this woman was and to find her physick book.

In this fictional account, Deliverance is not only an accused witch but also dies during the Salem witch trials. The book follows her and her descendants as they use their cunning powers.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book that has a book on the cover

Book #33.
Trickster Drift by Eden Robinson
I think I enjoyed this second book in the Trickster trilogy even more than the first.

Starting about a year after the end of Son of a Trickster, Jared has gotten sober and is in Vancouver to go to college. Unfortunately, even as he tries to avoid the magical world, as the son of Wee'git the trickster, he attracts ghosts and other supernatural weirdness. Also, his mom's ex, David is stalking him.

I love Jared. He's trying so hard but has a lot of disadvantages. I cannot wait to see what he does in the next book.

Highly recommended read!

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book with a bird on the cover

Book #34.
Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center

I picked up this book because I liked the title. Right now I seem to be picking books and not even checking to see what they're about. Kind of like a book Russian Roulette. This was okay. There was a bit of a love story, a bit of a theme of forgiveness and redemption.

Cassie is a firefighter in Austin whose life completely changes when she wins an award and she pummels the presenter. She gets a call from her estranged mom who begs her to move to Massachusetts for a year to help her with a health issue and it's the perfect time to go. She signs up with a small town fire department that has never had a female firefighter and the crew believes her incapable of doing the job.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book you picked because the title caught your attention

Book #35
Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

I read this book in back in high school and of course had forgotten all but the most salient points.

Louis' is turned into a vampire by Lestat but he continues to search for mortal answers on the place of good and evil, love, and redemption.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book by an author with flora or fauna in their name

Book #36
Stone Mothers by Erin Kelly

I really enjoyed this book. It was dark and suspenseful and kept me engaged.

Marianne's husband surprises her by buying a condo in her hometown so she can more easily spend time with her mother who is suffering from dementia. But there's a major secret about Marianne's life that her husband doesn't know and it's centred on the former asylum turned into luxury condos, the very same building in which he's just purchased a pied-a-terre. The secret isn't hers alone - it's shared with her ex Jesse and MP Helen Greenlaw.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book published in the month of your birthday

Book #37
90 Days of Different by Eric Walters

Sophie is reliable, predictable, some might even say boring. When her boyfriend breaks up with her on the last day of high school her friend Ella decides to help Sophie become more spontaneous. Ella has Sophie agree to try one different thing everyday for the 90 days between the end of high school and the start of university. Some of these are small (trying a new ice cream flavour) and some are huge.

Book #38
Oranges are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson
I initially read this semi-autobiographical novel back in the mid-90s and was inspired to pick it up again when I was recording a radio spot about 80s books.
Jeanette (the character) is adopted into a very religious family. She's told from a very young age that she's going to be a missionary and do God's work. And she is very active within her church, even preaching in her teens. She meets a young woman and falls in love. Her mother has the church group get together to exorcise the demon from her, for what else would lead her to "unnatural passions". However, Jeanette decides to be true to herself, leave home and find her own way in the world.

"... there are different kinds of infidelity, but betrayal is betrayal wherever you find it."

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book written by an author in their 20’s

Book #39
French Milk by Lucy Knisley
In January 2007, Lucy and her mother spent a month in Paris. This is essentially her travel diary in graphic form. It doesn't really have a plot or anything but it's still a fun read. It reminded me of many things I loved in Paris and made me long to return.
Knisley was 22 when she went and so has all of that life about to launch anxiety that I remember and am so glad that I am past. She's gone on to chronicle her marriage and the birth of her child in graphic form and you can see how much her style has progressed over the years.

Book #40
Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren
A fluffy contemporary romance.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book with a pink cover

Book #41.
The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman
I had no idea until the afterword that this was historical fiction about the mother of Camille Pissaro, the Impressionist painter.
A very interesting book about Rachel Pomié Petit Pizzarro who grows up as headstrong young woman, chaffing against the restrictions placed on her due to her sex. She would like to run her father's business but instead is made to marry a much older man so he can take on the business. After his death she meets his nephew and they begin an affair. This man would eventually be the father of famed painter Pissaro.

Book #42
Across the Universe by Beth Revis
A bit of romance, a bit of suspense, and a bit of sci-fi.

Amy Joined her parents on a 300 year flight to a new planet. She, along with hundreds of others, are cryogenically frozen passengers aboard a spaceship as part of Project Ark Ship. But 50 years before the ship's scheduled landing, Amy is mysteriously unplugged. When she wakes she finds out that someone tried to murder her. And she's not the only one.

Now, Amy not only has to figure out how to live on a spaceship where everything is foreign to her but also has to try to figure out who is killing "the frozens".

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book with the same title as a movie or TV show but is unrelated to it

Book #43
Larry's Party by Carol Shields
This has been on my reading list for quite a while but for some reason I had never gotten around to reading it. Not sure why. I love Shields writing. She made the regular extraordinary.
Larry's a middle age man with a successful career, divorced twice, one teenaged son. He and his "lady friend" decide to throw a dinner party on the occasion of both of his ex-wives being in town. Prior to this event the book takes us through Larry's adult life. Told from Larry's point of view we're given a glimpse into his doubts and insecurities.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book published in the 20th century

Book #44
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

Keiko has never fit in, until she finds a job working at a convenience store. She loves the rhythms of the store. The daily schedule. The manual that tells her the right thing to say to the customers. But while this was the perfect job when she was fresh out of school she's now being pressured by everyone to move on with her life. A woman in her mid-30s should be married or at least should have a better job. Keiko tries to find a way around the societal pressure by inviting a man to live with her.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book set in Japan

Book #45
Wenjack by Joseph Boyden
Today is National Indigenous Peoples Day so I decided to read a short novel about Chanie Wenjack. Wenjack ran away from a residential school and tried to make his way home but died of exposure. This prompted a public inquiry into residential schools - although they didn't shut down the last one until 30 years later.

Book #46
Someone We Know by Shari Lapena
Amanda Pierce's body is found in the trunk of her car sunk in a lake. Was it her husband? Or was it someone else? In the course of the investigation many people in the neighbourhood have their secrets revealed. Was Amanda cheating on her husband with a neighbour?
There were a lot of twists and turns in this book and I did not guess the killer before the end.

>62 Deedledee: I haven't seen that one before, Dee. I really liked The Orenda when I read it.

Book #47
Storm Front by Jim Butcher
Book 1 of the Dresden Files introduces Harry Dresden, wizard for hire. Harry has a lot of problems: the rent is due on his office and he's broke, the White Council has their eye on him and he could be put to death, and his paying gig with the Chicago PD could hasten that death. What's a wizard to do? Well, if you're Harry get into one scrape after another.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book from a series with more than 20 books

Book #48
Robert Bloch's Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper adapted by Joe Lansdale and John Landale

This graphic novel explores Jack the Ripper as a supernatural being who kills to remain immortal. Set in World War II era Chicago, it's an interesting take on Jack the Ripper.

Book #49
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
A prequel to the Hunger Games trilogy focusing on the backstory of Coriolanus Snow (who in in original books is the evil President Snow).
Coriolanus is a member of the elite, but the war has completely decimated his family's fortune. With the 10th Hunger Games looming, Coriolanus as a mentor, has an opportunity to turn the family fortunes around but then he's assigned Lucy Gray Baird from district 12.
This is less about the creation of a villain than the unveiling of one. Snow, as a young man, was ambitious, and calculating. He was nice to people in order to advance his own personal gain.
I think I may go back with this background and re-read the Hunger Games.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book published in 2020

Book #50
I'm Still Here by Clelie Avit
This is kind of a While You Were Sleeping story.
Thibault, while trying to avoid visiting his brother at the hospital, pops into a room of a coma patient, Elsa. Elsa unbeknownst to her friends and family, can hear everything but is unable to move to let them know she's still aware within her comatose body. Thibault starts spending several hours a week with Elsa, speaking to her, napping next to her, and meeting her friends. But the doctors have given up hope and trying to convince her parents to pull the plug.

Book #51
Barbarian Alien by Ruby Dixon
Wow, this book was NOT my cup of tea at all. The first 85% of the book is having sex in a cave on fur. The last 15% of the book is an obstacle to the main couple being together that is not plausible.

Liz was kidnapped along with several other women from Earth by aliens to be sold into slavery. The spaceship they were on was damaged and jettisoned its cargo (ie a hold full of women) on to an ice planet. The aliens living on this planet welcome the women. They provide them with a symbiotic creature that will help them survive the planetary conditions, but this khui also selects their mate for them. The khuis "sing" for each other and that's the person you have to be with.
Liz fights against getting a khui, which she refers to as a cootie, but once she has one it resonates for Raahosh, a 7 foot tall but alien with a tail and horns. She then spends the next big chunk of the book telling him not to touch her while also humping him.
This book was terrible. Liz was whiny. Raahosh seemed deliberately obtuse.

Why would I read this book? Well, it was a challenge set by my co-worker who I record a radio show and podcast with. She read a different book in the series.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book with a made-up language

Book #52
Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
I love Kate Atkinson's writing but had never read any of her Jackson Brodie detective novels. Now I have a whole new series of books to look forward to.
Jackson Brodie is down on his luck. He's divorced (acrimoniously so) and is not in a great financial situation. His work as a private investigator brings him three cases, that in some ways become tied together. This is not the usual who-dunnit although there is an element of that, it is more a character exploration of Brodie along with a revealing look at the cases he's investigating.
I've already put the next one on hold at the library.

Book #53.
At Home: a Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson
I love listening to Bryson read, in his soothing voice, all kinds of historical information. By working his way through the rooms of the house he covers history in such wide ranging topics as hygiene, the hunt for spices, the invention of the telephone, and more.

Book #54.
Lost in Austen: Create Your Own Jane Austen Adventure by Emma Campbell Webster
Unlike when I was a kid reading Choose Your Own Adventure books, I did not leave my finger in the page to go back if I disliked the results. Which is why Elizabeth Bennet ended up alone and destitute in the Highlands of Scotland. Oh well, better luck next time.

Book #55.
Sister Wife by Shelley Hrdlitschka
Celeste's 15th birthday means that she will soon be assigned a husband by the Prophet but she doesn't want to get married. She would like to have more in life, to go to school and become a vet. To do so would mean being severed from her family forever. To never see her mother and father again. To be forever an outcast from her community. What can she do?

Book #56.
The Friends We Keep by Jane Green
A light, summer read.
Evvie, Maggie, and Topher meet in the first year of university and become instant best friends. Once they graduate they each go off into the world vowing to stay friends forever but of course, life gets in the way. Evvie becomes a supermodel who starves herself to make it big and just can't find a happy relationship. Topher wants to be a star but languishes away in a soap opera. His one true love dies and he doesn't believe he'll ever find love again. Maggie marries the man of her dreams but his drinking turns their life into a nightmare. When the friends find themselves together again at their 30th reunion can they reignite their friendship or has too much happened?

Book #57.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
I read this book when it came out in 2008 but decided to re-read it after reading Collins new prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A fiction or non-fiction book about a world leader

Then I read
Book #58.
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Now I'm waiting for my hold on Mockingjay to come in.

Book #59.
Wolf Gone Wild by Juliette Cross

Poor Mateo, someone has cursed him and he can't shift into a wolf. Without his ability shift he's going insane, the wolf inside him is pushing him to perform violent acts. What he needs is a witch to help him break the curse. This is where Evie comes in. Although her sister (and the leader of their coven) has always had a no werewolves rule, Evie convinces her to give Mateo help. Plus, he's super sexy.

Lots of lighthearted, nerdy fun!

​

Book #60.
Sweetpea by CJ Skuse

A cross between Bridget Jones Diary and American Psycho.

Rhiannon keeps a journal, but in addition to talking about her job (which she hates), her boyfriend, and her friends (who she also hates), she makes a list of the people she wants to kill. Some of them are for small transgressions like the grocery clerk who packs her bags wrong, or the guy who honked at her for crossing the street too slowly. Some people are added to the list because they are truly terrible - like rapists and pedophiles.
The thing is, she actually kills some of these people. She's a psychopath and a serial killer.

Book #61.
Minds of Winter by Ed O'Loughlin
A bizarre tale of interconnections between Arctic explorers and two people who meet by chance in the airport in Inuvik.
It's hard to even describe this book as it goes from the 1800s to the present day. Starting before the final disastrous voyage of the Sir John Franklin expedition to find the Northwest Passage and then continuing on to involve Scott, Amundsen, Jack London, Capt Leopold McClintock, and more. Somehow all tangled in a web.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book on a subject you know nothing about

Book #62.
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

I LOVED this book. Almost as much as I loved her book The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.

A fictional 70s band that is so well written you can almost hear the music. It's like reading the script for a VH1 Behind the Music episode.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book that won an award in 2019

Book #63.
The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory
After a "meet cute" in the elevator - Alexa agrees to go to a wedding with Drew, a stranger albeit a very cute one. She can totally fake being his girlfriend for a weekend. But what starts as a lark becomes much more.
A fantastic beach read.

Book #64.
My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix
Ahhh, the 80s. The time of leg warmers, synthpop, and giant hair. Oh, and the satanic panic.

Abby and Gretchen become fast friends at an ET themed roller skating birthday party - how 1982 is that statement? And 6 years later they are still besties, along with the rest of their friend group made up of Margaret and Glee. But then one night the girls drop acid and Gretchen disappears into the woods. When she comes out she's different. Is she possessed by a demon? Is she having some sort of breakdown? Abby does everything she can to help Gretchen.

This book isn't that scary but there are a few creepy parts. And a bit of fun nostalgia.

Book #65.
Tidelands by Philippa Gregory
Alinor is a midwife and is rumoured to be a witch. You know this is going to become a issue for her.

Set in England in 1648, at a time of civil war, Tidelands focuses on Alinor. On Midsummer’s Eve, Alinor goes to a churchyard to determine if her missing husband is actually dead, but instead she found James, a young man who needed to stay hidden. She decides to keep him safe and finds herself on the wrong side of the conflict as James is a secret priest and is working to free the imprisoned king.

Book #66
Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? Big Questions from Tiny Mortals About Death by Caitlin Doughty

“He won’t be diving straight for the human flesh. But a cat has got to eat, and you are the person who feeds him. This is the cat-human compact. Death doesn’t free you from performing your contractual obligations.”

Doughty answers questions about dead bodies in a forthright and entertaining manner, while still remaining respectful. A hard line to tow. In addition to this book she also has a YouTube channel where she talks about the remains of famous individuals, various ways to dispose of a corpse, and so much more.

Book #67.
Watchmen by Alan Moore
I can't believe I haven't read this Hugo Award winning graphic novel before this. Probably because it involved superheroes and I was thinking along the lines of Superman or Batman. These superheroes are... flawed might be the most generous description.

Book #68
Nine Pints: a Journey Through the Money, Medicine, and Mysteries of Blood by Rose George

Over the course of 9 chapters George explores different blood-related topics, including the history of blood transfusion, blood donation and the tainted blood scandal, leeches, HIV and AIDS, menstrual taboos and products, trauma treatments, and the future of blood.
All in all I found this pretty interesting.

Book# 69
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
I don't want to spoil a major plot point but I do want to yell about it! I SAW THIS COMING A MILE AWAY, WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT???
Ok, I feel a little better.
A romance between the First Son of the US and the "Prince of Wales" (more on that to come). If I just read it for the fluffy love story I would have been alright but I just kept finding logistical issues. Maybe I'm too fussy.
For one thing, Henry would not have been the Prince of Wales. There is one Prince of Wales and that is the next male heir in line for the throne. Henry is second in line. The spare. He would more likely be the Duke of something. Still in line for the throne but not THE prince.
Putting aside my nitpicking I did like the romance between Alex and Henry.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book by a trans or non-binary person

Book #70
The Red Lotus by Chris Bohjalian
Wow! This book will not be everyone's cup of tea at the moment because it's about weaponized plague - so that's pretty... distressing. But I was literally yelling at the book at the end. Good yelling because I was concerned about the characters and wanted them to make it through. Oh the ending, I can't tell you about it because big spoilers but wow!

Alexis and her boyfriend Austin are in Vietnam for a bike tour. He's gone off for the day without the rest of the group to do a more ambitious tour and visit the spots where his father was injured and his uncle died during the war. But as the day progresses without his return Alexis begins to panic. They had met months earlier at the ER where she is a doctor after he had been shot as a bystander in a botched robbery.
Eventually Austin's body is found and Alexis returns home to Manhattan to grieve but there are loose ends. Things that don't make sense. Was Austin lying to her? Why had he really wanted to go to Vietnam? And was his death really accidental?

Book #71
Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies about Who You Are So You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be by Rachel Hollis

I can see why some people would find this book inspirational but I did not. I thought that Hollis gave contradictory advice.

I do agree that we all struggle with believing lies about ourselves and we need to stop comparing ourselves to other people. But this whole "you choose your happiness", "you are in control of your own life" stuff is a bit of BS. If you don't have that much privilege or money, or you've struggled with mental illness, or if you've had any number of other awful things happen in your life that you had no control over, her advice sounds hollow and useless at best.

Book #72
Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki; illustrated by Rosemary Valero-O'Connell

I think we've all had that significant other that you're just head over heels for and they really don't feel the same way. Poor Freddy's got it bad for Laura Dean but Laura Dean is a bit toxic and manipulative. Freddy will blow off her friends to spend time with Laura, who then won't show up. Or she'll go over to spend some alone time with Laura and find out that it's a party. And Laura's not quite the best at being monogamous.
Still, Freddy just has a hard time quitting Laura.

This graphic novel shows how hard it can be to disentangle from a toxic relationship. Freddy not only learns her own value, but she learns the value of friendship too.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: Read a banned by during Banned Book Week (US)

Happy thanksgiving Dee.

Made it to 75 yet?

>89 PaulCranswick: Almost there. Just a couple more books to go

Book #73
Out Loud: Essays on Mental Illness, Stigma and Recovery
A series of short essays by those who suffer from mental health issues, their friends and family, and those who provide mental health supports. Really eye opening in the way that mental health treatments have changed and how many stigmas remain.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: An anthology

Book #74
Black Klansman: Race, Hate, and the Undercover Investigation of a Lifetime by Ron Stallworth
Stallworth began working as a police cadet in Colorado Springs in the early 70s, the first black officer in the department's history. In the late 70s he began an investigation into the Ku Klux Klan by following up on a classified ad placed in the newspaper. He acted as the voice on the phone while having another officer go to the meetings with the Klan members.
An interesting account that suffers from poor writing. And a good reminder that the KKK is a terrorist group.

Book #75
Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre by Max Brooks

After Kate’s move to Greenloop (an isolated high-tech eco community) with her partner Dan she began to keep a journal, little did she know that it would be used later to piece together what happened to the community after the eruption of Mt. Rainier. Kate describes a encounter with a tribe of Bigfoots and it’s horrific impact on the citizens of her community.
Much like Brooks’ book World War Z, this novel is told in the form of journal entries, interviews with experts and investigations into what happened to the people of Greenloop.
Great book - little bit of horror and suspense and a little bit survivalism.

Congratulations on reaching 75, Dee!

Congrats! I read that one this month too, loved it.

Book #76.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
I read this back in university, about 20ish years ago, and remembered barely anything about the plot. On re-reading I've determined that I have much less patience for long, poetic, romantic passages. I really don't want to read about every tree, rock, flower, etc. that every character encounters.
I do realize the monumental background of this story, Shelley was young when she wrote and published this book. Women were generally not thought to be capable of much at the time. So in that sense I respect it.

Book #77.
Child Soldier: When Boys and Girls Are Used in War by Jessica Dee Humphreys & Michel Chikwanine

Michel was only 5 when he was kidnapped to be a child soldier in the Congo. He escaped but his childhood was destroyed. Later his family had to move into a refugee camp and eventually some of them were able to immigrate to Canada. Michel now spends his time telling people about his experiences to raise awareness in hopes that no other child will have to go through what he has endured.

Book #78.
Resistance Women by Jennifer Chiaverini
This book was a difficult read so took me a long time. Set in Germany in the 1930s and 40s it covers the rise of the Nazi party and their terrible and violent regime. Two women, Mildred and Greta are part of the resistance and the novel follows their stories.

Slightly belated congratulations on passing 75, Dee!

Have a lovely Sunday.

>99 PaulCranswick:
Thanks Paul!

Book #79.
The Mall by Megan McCafferty
I was a teenager in the 90s. I graduated from high school in '92 and remember that summer between graduation and going away to university. Knowing that there were lots of people who would not make that transition or ever leave my tiny hometown. In that way this was a walk down memory lane.

Cassie Worthy had a plan, "the plan". She and her boyfriend of two years, Troy, were graduating and then heading off to different universities in New York. But then she got mono and spent 6 weeks of her summer at home while Troy worked at the mall. When she's finally able to join the world again not only is her job gone but her boyfriend has moved on too. What's a girl to do? Well, Cassie goes on an adventure to find herself.

I think Cassie is selfish and snobby. She puts down anyone whose ambitions don't match hers. Perhaps I'm too old to get this novel because I am well past the age of 17.

Book #80.
Newfoundland: Journey into a Lost Nation by Michael Crummey and Greg Locke
A few months ago I saw a virtual reading with Michael Crummey and he mentioned this book. I love his work so sought this out. It's really the story of his father's life as a fisherman, and later working for the mines. And it's the story of a lost way of life as illustrated by Locke's wonderful photographs.

Book #81.
The Best We Could Do: an Illustrated Memoir by Thi Bui (AGN)

Bui talks about her family's history intertwined with the history of the conflict in Viet Nam and then their story as the came to America as refugees.

Book #82
The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
A dystopian teen novel set in a time where most people have lost the ability to dream except Indigenous peoples.
Frenchie and his "family", a group of Indigenous people banded together, run from the Recruiters who are trying to capture them to take their marrow to get their ability to dream.
This explores the destruction of the Indigenous cultures through years of Settler violence, exploitation, and suppression but in a futuristic bent.

Book #83
If It Bleeds by Stephen King
Four new short stories by King. The titular story, "If It Bleeds" brings back Holly Gibney in a sort of follow up to The Outsider. "The Life of Chuck" was an interesting, sort of existential story about the end of the universe. These two were my favourites in the collection.
"Mr. Harrigan's Phone" and "Rat" were entertaining but not likely to stick with me like the other two stories in the collection.

Book #84
This Book is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How to Wake Up, Take Action, and Do the Work by Tiffany Jewell

This teen book is a really helpful guide to anti-racism. Jewell gives clear definitions and provides activities to think through how everyone can work against racism.

>105 Deedledee: Two of the busiest authors alive:

Stephen King
Joyce Carol Oates.

Stephen King I count 130 original works (novels, novellas, short story collections, plays, chap books and non-fiction)

Joyce Carol Oates I count 177 original works (same as King with the addition of poetry collections to boot).

Amazing that despite being so prolific they have maintained - largely -quality control.

Have a great weekend, Dee.

Book #85.
Minding the Store: a Big Story About a Small Business by Julie Gaines
A graphic memoir about the couple who started Fishs Eddy, a homewares store in New York City. I think the best way to describe this story is nice. The couple, Julie and David, have been married for over 25 years, they have two kids, and built this business together.

Book #86.
Gold Dust Woman: the Biography of Stevie Nicks by Stephen Davis
I started looking up some things about Fleetwood Mac after reading Daisy Jones and the Six because some of it was obviously based on them. And I picked up this book to help finish up the Popsugar Reading Challenge. Because I otherwise would not have finished it. Maybe it's because I listened to it on audio but I found the writing style really clunky. Although there are really only so many ways you can say that they all hated each other but kept going out on tour together to make money.

Book #87
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
This is my second book by Hendrix this year and I'm really enjoying his humorous and dark take on Southern living. It's hard for a book to be both light and fluffy and dark at the same time.
Starting in 1988 with the creation of a book club and ending about 10 years later with death. The book club with no name meets to talk about true crime. Patricia, Kitty, Maryellen, Slick, and Grace become very good friends and help each other out but when a stranger moves into their neighbourhood things start to go badly wrong.

I hope you get some of those at least, Dee, as we all look forward to a better 2021.

Book #88
Live by Night by Dennis Lehane

We start with Joe Coughlin on a boat in Tampa with cement "shoes" hardening around his feet, then travel back to Boston in 1926 to find out how he got here.

Joe is the youngest son of a Boston police captain who decides to go a completely opposite way joining a gang that committed minor crimes. One night he and his gang rob a poker game protected by one of the city's biggest mobsters. Joe falls in love with a woman he's robbing, who just happens to be the girlfriend of the aforementioned mobster. This leads him on a crazy ride over the next ten years in the rum running and moving up the gangster ladder.

Fast paced and interesting read.

Yeah, that was a good one! Lehane’s a favorite I haven’t visited lately.

Book #89
Bird Box by Josh Malerman
You know terrible things are going to happen in this novel but when they do it still comes as somewhat of a surprise.
Malorie takes her two children out into the world to try to find a better place. This means keeping them blindfolded as what is out in the world can drive them insane with just one glance. While she's rowing down the river she flashes back to what brought them to this point, the growing fear and death, her surprise pregnancy, living with virtual strangers trying to survive, and the eventual reveal.
I haven't seen the movie but if it's half as good as the book it would be pretty great.

I know the year isn't quite over yet but well... maybe I'm trying to rush it out the door.
Anyway, here are

My top 5 reads of 2020:
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Trickster Drift by Eden Robinson
This Little Light by Lori Lansens
Nine Pints: a Journey Through the Money, Medicine, and Mysteries of Blood by Rose George
Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre by Max Brooks

>114 Deedledee: Bird Box was definitely a good read. I haven’t seen the movie yet either - definitely not mrsdrneutron’ s cups tea.😀

Here I am for 2021:
https://www.librarything.com/topic/327756

Dee

As the year turns, friendship continues