Deedledee is hoping for better things in 2021

My reads for 2021:
January
1. Coal: A Human History by Barbara Freese (read by Shelly Frasier - Hoopla)
2. The Widow of Rose House by Diana Biller (read by Samantha Desz -CD)
3. A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table by Molly Wizenberg (ANF)
4. Radicalized by Cory Doctorow (ebook - Overdrive)
5. Fat Girl Walking: Sex, Food, Love, and Being Comfortable in Your Skin... Every Inch of It by Brittany Gibbons (read by Lauren Fortgang - Hoopla)
6. We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir by Samra Habib (ANF) (ebook - Overdrive)
7. From the Ashes: My Story of Being Metis, Homeless, and Finding My Way by Jesse Thistle (ANF) (ebook - Overdrive)
8. A Study in Emerald by Neil Gaiman and Rafael Albequerque (AGN)
February
9. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous (YF)
10. The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean (AGN)
11. Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi (read by Bahni Turpin - CD)
12. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (read by Neil Gaiman - Hoopla)
13. Art Matters: Because Your Imagination Can Change the World by Neil Gaiman; illustrated by Chris Riddell (ANF)
14. Return of the Trickster by Eden Robinson (ebook - ARC)
15. The Kid by Ron Hansen (read by Mark Bramhall - CD)
March
16. Listen to the Marriage by John Jay Osborn Jr. (read by Gabra Zackman - CD)
17. Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High by Melba Pattillo Beals (ANF) (read by Lisa Renee Pitts - Hoopla) (ANF)
18. Imperfect Women by Araminta Hall (read by Helen Keeley - CD)
19. The Duke and I by Julia Quinn
20. Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
21. Forever, Interrupted by Taylor Jenkins Reid
22. Interworld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves (read by Christopher Evan Welch - CD)
April
23. Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead
24. Looking for Alaska by John Green (read by Jeff Woodman - CD)
25. The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
26. Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life by Eric Klinenberg (ANF)
27. Wolfsong by T.J. Klune (ebook - Hoopla)
28. Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing (read by Simon Prebble - CD)
29. Strange Library by Haruki Murakami
30. In Search of April Raintree Beatrice Culleton Mosionier (read by Michaela Washburn - OverDrive)
May
31. The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
32. Broken (in the best possible way) by Jenny Lawson (read by Jenny Lawson - CD)
33. 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill (read by David Ledoux - CD)
34. Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah (ANF)
35. Hamnet & Judith by Maggie O'Farrell
36. The Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows (read by Arthur Morey, Paul Michael, Tara Sands, Kirby Heyborne, Cassandra Campbell, Kimberly Farr, Lincoln Hoppe, Mark Deakins, Ann Marie Lee, Danny Campbell, Julia Whelan, Linda Montana - CD)
June
37. One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson (read by Robin Atkin Downes - Overdrive)
38. I Am Not a Number by Jenny Kay Dupuis (JGN)
39. Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder (ebook - Overdrive)
40. The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
41. The Education of Augie Merasty: a Residential School Memoir by Joseph Auguste Merasty with David Carpenter (ANF)
42. Home Before Dark by Riley Sager
43. You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories about Racism by Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar (ANF)
44. Shit, Actually: The Definitive, 100% Objective Guide to Modern Cinema by Lindy West (ANF)
45.Taken By The Weremoose by Tabatha Houston (ebook - purchased)
July
46. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (read by Carey Mulligan - Overdrive)
47. The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict (ebook - Overdrive)
48. Middlemarch by George Eliot (read by Juliet Stevenson - CD)
49. The End of Procrastination: how to stop postponing and live a fulfilled life by Petr Ludwig and Adela Schicker (read by Kirby Heyborne - CD)
50. Disquiet by Julia Leigh
51. Service Included: Four-star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter by Phoebe Damrosch (ebook - Hoopla)
52. Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel (ebook - Overdrive)
53. The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton (read by James Cameron Stewart - Overdrive)
August
54. Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas
55. The Brides of Rollrock Island by Margo Lanagan (YF)
56. Hour of the Witch by Chris Bohjalian
57. Look Again by Lisa Scottoline (read by Mary Stuart Masterson - CD)
58. Girl A by Abigail Dean (ebook - Overdrive)
59. Little Black Dress by James Patterson with Emily Raymond
60. The Heroin Diaries: a Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star by Nikki Sixx (ANF)
61. No and Me by Delphine de Vigan
62. Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel
63. Bring Me Back by B.A. Paris (read by Cathleen McCarron and Kevin Hely - CD)
64. Cash: An American Man by Bill Miller (ANF)
September
65. Down the River Unto the Sea by Walter Mosley (read by Dion Graham - CD)
66. Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh (ANF)
67. The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt
68. Foregone by Russell Banks (read by Stephen Mendel - CD)
69. Later by Stephen King (read by Seth Numrick - CD)
70. The Midnight Bargain by C.L. Polk (read by Moira Quirk - Overdrive)
October
71. Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner (ANF)
72. Lock Every Door by Riley Sager (ebook - Overdrive)
73. Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots (read by Alex McKenna - Hoopla)
74. The Apocalypse Suite (The Umbrella Academy #1) by Gerard Way, Gabriel Bá, and Dave Stewart (AGN)
75. A Friend of the Family by Lisa Jewell (read by Helen Duff - CD)
76. My Favorite Thing is Monsters, book 1 by Emil Ferris (AGN)
77. Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien (read by Christina Moore - Hoopla)
November
78. The Guest List by Lucy Foley (read by Jot Davies, Chloe Massey, Olivia Dowd, Aoife McMahon, Sarah Ovens, and Rich Keeble - Overdrive)
79. The Anthropocene Reviewed: essays on a human-centered planet by John Green (ANF)
80. Stuff You Should Know: an incomplete compendium of mostly interesting things by Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant (read by Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant - CD) (ANF)
81. Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss (read by Christine Hewitt - Hoopla)
82. The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner (read by Richard Armitage - CD)
83. Lore Olympus, vo1. 1 by Rachel Smythe (AGN)
84. Woman in Red by Eileen Goudge (read by Susan Ericksen - CD)
December
85. Christmas Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella (read by Nathalie Buscombe - hoopla)
86. Grumpy Unicorn Saves the World by Joey Spiotto (JGN)
87. The Children of Red Peak by Craig DiLouie
88. Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Pérez (ebook -Hoopla)
89. The Most Dangerous Thing by Laura Lippman (read by Linda Emond)

Popsugar Reading Challenge 2021:
*1. A book that published in 2021- Return of the Trickster by Eden Robinson (Feb 26)
*2. An Afrofuturist book - Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi (Feb 10)
*3. A book that has a heart, diamond, club, or spade on the cover - Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel (July 21)
*4. A book by an author who shares your zodiac sign - The End of Procrastination: how to stop postponing and live a fulfilled life by Petr Ludwig and Adela Schicker (July 16)
*5. A dark academia book - Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas (Aug. 1)
*6. A book with a gem, mineral, or rock in the title-Coal by Barbara Freese (Jan 5)
*7. A book where the main character works at your current or dream job - The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (July 5)
*8. A book that has won the Women’s Prize for Fiction - Hamnet & Judith by Maggie O'Farrell (May 21)
*9. A book with a family tree - The Duke and I by Julia Quinn (Mar 20)
*10. A bestseller from the 1990s - The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien (June 14)
*11. A book about forgetting - Interworld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves (March 29)
*12. A book you have seen on someone’s bookshelf (in real life, on a Zoom call, in a TV show, etc.) -The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune (Apr 11)
*13. A locked-room mystery - Home Before Dark by Riley Sager (June 19)
*14. A book set in a restaurant - Service Included: Four-star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter by Phoebe Damrosch (July 20)
*15. A book with a black-and-white cover - The Kid by Ron Hansen (Feb 28)
*16. A book by an indigenous author - From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle (Jan 31)
*17. A book that has the same title as a song - Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead (Apr 4)
*18. A book about a subject you are passionate about - Palaces for the People by Eric Klinenberg (Apr 11)
*19. A book that discusses body positivity - Fat Girl Walking by Brittany Gibbons (Jan 19)
*20. A book on a Black Lives Matter reading list - Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High by Melba Pattillo Beals (Mar 5)
*21. A genre hybrid - A Study in Emerald by Neil Gaiman and Rafael Albequerque (Jan 31)
*22. A book set mostly or entirely outdoors - Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing (Apr 23)
*23. A book with something broken on the cover -Forever, Interrupted by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Mar 27)
*24. A book by a Muslim Canadian author -We Have Always Been Here by Samra Habib (Jan 24)
*25. A book that was published anonymously -Go Ask Alice (Feb 4)
*26. A book with an oxymoron in the title - Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (Feb 20)
*27. A book about do-overs or fresh starts -The Widow of Rose House by Diana Biller (Jan 9)
*28. A magical realism book - The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean (Feb 10)
*29. A book set in multiple countries - Girl A by Abigail Dean (Aug 12)
*30. A book set somewhere you’d like to visit in 2021 - No and Me by Delphine de Vigan (Aug 18)
*31. A book by a blogger, vlogger, YouTube video creator, or other online personality -A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table by Molly Wizenberg (Jan 17)
*32. A book whose title starts with “Q,” “X,” or “Z” - Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien (Oct 31)
*33. A book featuring three generations (grandparent, parent, child) -Disquiet by Julia Leigh (July 19)
*34. A book about a social justice issue - Radicalized by Cory Doctorow (Jan 19)
*35. A book in a different format than what you normally read (audiobooks, ebooks, graphic novels) - Taken By The Weremoose by Tabatha Houston (June 30)
*36. A book that has fewer than 1,000 reviews on Amazon or Goodreads - Imperfect Women by Araminta Hall (Mar 19)
*37. A book you think your best friend would like - Broken (in the best possible way) by Jenny Lawson (May 2)
*38. A book about art or an artist - Art Matters: Because Your Imagination Can Change the World by Neil Gaiman (Feb 26)
*39. A book everyone seems to have read but you - Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid (Mar 21)
*40. Prompt from a past POPSUGAR Reading Challenge - 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill (May 13)
41. The longest book (by pages) on your TBR list
*42. The shortest book (by pages) on your TBR list - 74. The Apocalypse Suite by Gerard Way, Gabriel Bá, and Dave Stewart (Oct 22)
*43. The book on your TBR list with the prettiest cover - Lore Olympus, vo1. 1 by Rachel Smythe (Dec 5)
*44. The book on your TBR list with the ugliest cover - The Midnight Bargain by C.L. Polk
45. The book that’s been on your TBR list for the longest amount of time
*46. A book from your TBR list you meant to read last year but didn’t - One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson (Jun 1)
*47. A book from your TBR list you associate with a favorite person, place, or thing - The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green (Nov 6)
*48. A book from your TBR list chosen at random- Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots (Oct 12)
*49. A DNF book from your TBR list - The Drowning Season by Alice Hoffman
*50. A free book from your TBR list (gifted, borrowed, library) - Born a Crime by Trevor Noah (May 16)

48/50

2020 statistics
Read 89 books

79% were fiction
84% were adult and 16% were YA
40% were audiobooks, 37% were paper, and 23% were ebooks
and 94% were borrowed from the library.

Completed 49 of the Popsugar Reading Challenge prompts.

Welcome back!

Welcome back, Dee.

Welcome back and happy reading!

Best wishes for a better 2021!

Good luck with your challenge!

Happy reading in 2021, Dee!

And keep up with my friends here, Dee. Have a great 2021.

Book #1
Coal: A Human History by Barbara Freese
Freese talks about coal and all the changes its use have brought to the world - advances in technology, the ability to spread out, and terrible pollution. An interesting history of a rock that I don't really think about but that provides the electricity to power my home and leads to millions of deaths each year as the pollution ruins the air.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book with a gem, mineral, or rock in the title

Book #2
The Widow of Rose House by Diana Biller
This was more romance and less ghost story than I was expecting.

It's 1875 and Alva Webster is trying to overcome her scandalous past by returning to New York and working on a book on interior design. She buys a decrepit mansion to redecorate to show off her talents but then ghosts scare away the contractors.
Famous scientist, Samuel Moore, is very interested in studying the ghosts but he's way more interested in Alva.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book about do-overs or fresh starts

Book #3
A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table by Molly Wizenberg

I finished A Homemade Life - I will be talking about this book on a Facebook Live with a coworker on Jan. 30th.
https://www.facebook.com/events/399357841327943/
I am mostly going to say bad things. This book drove me nuts. It was like reading the most frustrating parts of food blogs.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book by a blogger, vlogger, YouTube video creator, or other online personality

Book #4
Radicalized by Cory Doctorow
I read a description of this short story collection that called it social sci-fi and it seems a very apt way to describe it.
The four stories are all commentary on the current state of the world and where we're heading.

In 'Unauthorized Bread', Salima's toaster stops working because the company that owned it goes bankrupt. So she "jailbreaks" it, by making the toast stop recognizing the specific types of bread it will accept. While this is a story of working around technology it's really discussing how the poor, immigrants, and PoC are treated.

The American Eagle, a superhero from another planet, tries to fight a corrupt police and justice system in 'Model Minority'.

When Joe's wife becomes sick with cancer he's so angry that the insurance company won't cover her treatments. He finds a forum of people just like him, people whose loved ones died because the insurance won't pay. The people on the forum become 'Radicalized' (thus the title) and begin a violent uprising against the US health care system, insurance providers, and the politicians who let it happen.

The final story, 'The Masque of the Red Death', follows Martin and those he's hand selected to live in a bunker with him in attempt to ride out the collapse of society.

Four great, interesting, thought provoking stories.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book about a social justice issue

Book #5
Fat Girl Walking: Sex, Food, Love, and Being Comfortable in Your Skin... Every Inch of It by Brittany Gibbons

Gibbons accidently became a body positive advocate when she began a "mommy blog" in the early 2000s. In addition to writing about raising 3 small children and the difficulties of marriage she started to talk about not feeling comfortable in her skin. In this memoir she discusses her body image issues as a child and how she came to find herself stripping on the stage at her TEDx talk.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book that discusses body positivity

Book 6
We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir by Samra Habib
Winner of 2020 Canada Reads, Canada’s battle of the books for the title of the one book the whole country should read.
Habib talks about her life as a young girl in Pakistan, her family's immigration to Canada due to the persecution they faced due to their sect of Islam, her life as a young woman, and the final awakening of her sexuality.
I found her exploration of being a queer woman Muslim really interesting. How do you express yourself when you're told you don't exist? When many in your religion tell you that you're damned? When you can't be yourself with your family?

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book by a Muslim Canadian author

Book 7
From the Ashes: My Story of Being Metis, Homeless, and Finding My Way by Jesse Thistle

It's hard to believe that Thistle is still alive.
As a child his parents struggled with their own addiction issues. Eventually Jesse and his brothers ended up with his grandparents. While his grandparents tried their hardest, Jesse falls into drinking, drugs, and crime. Thistle doesn't make excuses for his behaviour, he very frankly describes his drug addiction and what kinds of things he did to feed it.
It is so good to read about Thistle taking the steps and doing the work to overcome his addiction and get an education. Although it's obvious that he lived because he wrote this memoir, you can also see that he thrived. Education and connection with his family and culture did a lot to heal his soul.

This was a contender for Canada Reads 2020.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book by an indigenous author

Book 8
A Study in Emerald by Neil Gaiman and Rafael Albequerque

This graphic novel explores Sherlock Holmes-esque character in an alternate Victorian London in which members of the royal family are H.P. Lovecraftian "Great Old One" creatures. This follows the story of A Study in Scarlet but of course emerald because the blood of the Cthulhu-type creature.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A genre hybrid

Book 9
Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
I'm obviously no longer the audience for this book but it seems to be the most fake crap I've read. My library has it labelled as fiction, which is good, because this was obviously written as fearmongering to get kids to never try drugs. How about talking to them? How about giving them a real, true story?
Also, the writing was terrible and completely unconvincing. The voice just sounds wrong for a 15/16 year old.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book that was published anonymously

Book 10
The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean

A creepy graphic novel about an adult remembering a summer of his life when he lived for a period of time with his grandparents. He discovers a Punch and Judy show and through that lens explores violence, relationship, and how our childhood affects our adult life.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A magical realism book

Book 11
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Book 1 of the Legacy of Orïsha introduces us to Zelie, a young woman who finds herself leading a revolution and trying to bring back magic to her country. Her desire to bring magic back is born of the intense inequality and hatred shown towards those of magical descent.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: An Afrofuturist book

Book 12
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
I cannot understand why I haven't read this book before now.

Richard's life is the kind of regular boring life that most people lead. He works a desk job and he's engaged to a woman who I don't think he particularly likes. Then one day he sees an injured young woman laying on the sidewalk. His fiancé, Jessica, steps over her to continue on to their important dinner with her boss. But Richard can't. And this meeting changes his entire life and introduces him to "London Below". The London he never knew existed. The London in which he goes on a great adventure.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book with an oxymoron in the title

Book 13
Art Matters: Because Your Imagination Can Change the World by Neil Gaiman
Speeches, poems, and other writings by Gaiman illustrated by Chris Riddell. My favourite is the snippet about libraries from a speech he gave at the Reading Agency Lecture. Because of course it is!

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book about art or an artist

Book 14
Return of the Trickster by Eden Robinson
Okay, I can't even tell you about how much I love this trilogy.

In the third book we follow Jared as he not only navigates sobriety but also being a Trickster and all that entails.

Go read this trilogy! It's funny, it's sad, it has witches, ogres, otter people, a sasquatch named Chuck. What more could you ask for?

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book that published in 2021

Book 15
The Kid by Ron Hansen
In The Kid, Hansen takes all the facts of Billy The Kid's life and fictionalizes them. While it was interesting there were way too many characters to keep track of.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book with a black-and-white cover

Book 16
Listen to the Marriage by John Jay Osborn Jr.

A short but intense book covering 10 months of a couple going through marriage counselling. All from the point of view of the counsellor. The married couple try to find new ways to communicate and interact with each other.

Book 17
Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High by Melba Pattillo Beals

In 1957, Beals and 8 other students began attending Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas after a groundbreaking court decision to end segregation at all American schools. These 9 young Black people were abused horribly. In Beals' book she talks about daily abuse of name calling, spitting, being pushed down stairs, having ink sprayed on her, having acid sprayed on her, being tripped, kicked, and heel walked. And having no one stand up for them, including the teachers.
She interspersed her memories with articles saved from the newspaper at the time.
I do not know how any of them made it through a week, let alone a whole school year.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book on a Black Lives Matter reading list

Book 18
Imperfect Women by Araminta Hall

It's a thriller but more than that it's an exploration of the relationships
between women.

Nancy, Mary, and Eleanor have been friends since university. Their lives took very different tracks but they stayed close to each other. When Nancy turns up dead it shows the imperfections in each of their lives.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book that has fewer than 1,000 reviews on Amazon or Goodreads

Book 19
The Duke and I by Julia Quinn

I read this because my co-worker and I are going to talk about Bridgerton novels on a Facebook Live. I'm not really a romance reader. But in terms of romance this was very readable and the characters were pretty good.

https://www.facebook.com/events/491437512242998

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book with a family tree

>27 Deedledee: I do not know how any of them made it through a week, let alone a whole school year.

So true. I literally cannot imagine it. Especially because not only will no one else stand up for you, you can't stand up for yourself. (In any way except holding your head up and still showing up every day.)

Book 20
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
Emira is barely making ends meet working as a babysitter 3 days a week and as a typist. She's 26 and having a hard time figuring out what she wants to do with her life. Her employer, Alix (pronounced Ah-leeks, I think) calls her when she's out on the town with her friends because they had an emergency at home and need their toddler out of the house for a few hours. Emira takes her to a grocery store - and then is accused of trying to kidnap the little girl. This is obviously a racially driven accusation. Kelley records the confrontation in the grocery store.
This leads Alix to decide she wants to befriend Emira, but I think she doesn't realize that she want to be a saviour figure rather than a friend.
There are lots of messy intentions and human complexities in this novel.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book everyone seems to have read but you

Book 21
Forever, Interrupted by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Grrrr, this book made me cranky. I finished it because I love Reid's other books so much. This was her first book and I'm so glad she's grown as an author since this.

Elsie and Ben meet on New Year's day and it's insta-love. Within months they move in together and shortly thereafter get married. And then tragedy strikes. Ben's death puts Elsie into a spiral made much worse by the fact that their relationship was so short lived and that Ben's mother didn't know about her.
Most of the book was Elsie trying to come to terms with how her life has changed and building a relationship with Ben's mother.

I also am peeved by how Elsie did her job. Like when her favourite patron comes in and is looking for something different and she just points him to the section without giving him any help. There's more but I won't bore you with it.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book with something broken on the cover

Book 22
Interworld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves
Joey was just a little bit lost when he took a turn and found himself in a different world, literally. He's known as a Walker, someone who can find portals to other worlds. Because of this he's drawn into a war between the forces of magic and the forces of science in which the whole multiverse is at stake.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book about forgetting

Book 23
Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead
The winner of this year's Canada Reads, Jonny Appleseed is the coming of age story Jonny, an Indigenous two-spirited sex worker trying to get enough money together to travel to the Rez for his step-father's funeral. In the time when he's trying to earn the money he remembers his time growing up, memories of his kokum, his mother, and his relationship with Tias.
It's a difficult read but also really beautiful and lyrical.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book that has the same title as a song

Book 24
Looking for Alaska by John Green
This one is a re-read for me but it's been quite a while so I thought I'd pick it up again.
In Green's first novel he explores friendship and loss. Miles goes to boarding school in Alabama and finds friends likes he's never had before. His roommate, Chip aka "The Colonel" teaches him to loosen up. Alaska teaches him to look for meaning in life. When he loses a friend he needs to figure out how to cope with this.

Book 25
The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
A magic realism book that has all the feels and a message about friendship, acceptance, and belonging.
Linus Baker works in the Department in Charge of Magical Youth (DICOMY) as a case worker. He examines orphanages to ensure that the magical children are taken care of, in the sense that they are not beaten and are being fed, not in the sense of being loved or cherished. He remains very objective and follows all the rules. Then Extremely Upper Management send him on an assignment that will change his whole life.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book you have seen on someone’s bookshelf

Book 26
Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life by Eric Klinenberg

I wish that every politician and senior administrator would read this book.

Klinenberg's central premise is that physical environments matter to social cohesion, and we must invest wisely in them. He talks about libraries quite a bit, but also about parks, buses, community gardens, playgrounds, walking trails, etc.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book about a subject you are passionate about

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/331635

Book 27
Wolfsong by T.J. Klune

This book started off so strong for me but then my interest petered out around the 3/4 mark. I think it could have been stronger with about 100 pages cut.

Ox's dad left when he was 12, leaving he and his mother to struggle through. It was a hard and lonely time for him until years later when a new family moved in next door. Ten year old Joe latches on to Ox as his new best friend. They have an instant connection. Joe's whole family takes Ox in and makes him part of the pack. At 17, Ox finds out why they refer to themselves as pack. At 23, Ox realizes that his feelings for Joe go deeper than friendship - right around the same time a monster shows up and destroys everything.

I was invested enough in the characters and story to give the next book in the series a try.

Book 28
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing
But why? Why? So many people risked. So much money spent.

In 1914, Shackleton led a crew out to seek the South Pole. I'm shocked they lived. Their ship was crushed by ice. They lived on an ice floe and then on a couple of islands with next to nothing to eat, in the freezing cold, and never getting dry. They then split up and and ship went off for rescue. I can't believe it actually worked.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book set mostly or entirely outdoors

>40 Deedledee: Hard to understand the drive for exploration at that time, now.

Shackleton's voyage is easily the most miraculous in terms of being able to bring his crew back. Most of these stories do not end nearly as well!

Book 29
The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami

A very short, very strange book about a boy locked up in the basement of a library. The "librarian" plans to eat the boy's brain once he has lots of yummy knowledge in there. With the help of a beautiful girl and a sheep man the boy plots his escape.

Book 30
In Search of April Raintree by Beatrice Culleton Mosionier
Sisters Cheryl and April are taken away from their parents at a young age. They then go on to live in a series of foster homes, usually away from each other. While Cheryl embraces her Metis heritage and learns about it, April choses to pass as non-Indigenous.

Book 31
The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty

I haven't seen the movie for a few years but they made a really great adaptation of this book.

Chris MacNeil is a fairly famous actress, in Georgetown to shoot a movie. While there her pre-teen daughter, Regan, becomes increasingly disturbed, acting frantic, not eating, talking to an imaginary friend. Chris takes her to multiple medical and psychiatric doctors looking for answers. Then in desperation she seeks out a Jesuit priest.
Father Karras struggles with the idea that this young girl could be possessed but as the evidence mounts he seeks the permission of the Church to provide an exorcism.

Unlike in the movie, the exorcism part of the book is at the very end and not really the focus of the story.

Book 32
Broken (in the best possible way) by Jenny Lawson
In turns heartbreaking and hilarious, this just continues to show Lawson's over the top writing style.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book you think your best friend would like

Book 33
20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill

Hill's first collection of short stories ranges from whimsical, to creepy, to downright gore filled.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: Prompt from a past POPSUGAR Reading Challenge

Book 34
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
Noah's memoir talks about his upbringing in South Africa along with information about apartheid and it's impact.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A free book from your TBR list (gifted, borrowed, library) -

Book 35
Hamnet & Judith by Maggie O'Farrell
We all know about Shakespeare and his famous plays. We know all about his will and how he left the second best bed to his wife. O'Farrell tries to tell the story not only of his child Hamnet, but of his wife Agnes, and the life he left behind when he went off to seek his fortune in London.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book that has won the Women’s Prize for Fiction

Book 36
The Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows
It's 1938 and the US is still in the grip of the Depression. Layla Beck is a spoiled young woman whose father kicks her out but he does organize a job for her on the Federal Writer's Project. She's sent to Macedonia, West Virginia to write a history of the town. This is where she meets the Romeyn family and gets involved not only in their lives but in the history of the town.

Book 37
One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson

This is the second book in the Jackson Brodie series. I liked the first one, Case Histories, so there was no reason to believe I wouldn't like the second one as much. I was wrong. The coincidences drove me nuts! I do like Atkinson's writing though so I will give the third book a try.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book from your TBR list you meant to read last year but didn’t

Book 38
I Am Not a Number by Jenny Kay Dupuis

I have read a few books about residential schools. I cannot even begin to imagine how parents dealt with their children being taken away. Nor can I imagine what kind of living hell those schools were for the children.

This short juvenile graphic novel is a way to start the conversation with children about residential schools. The terrible things the settlers did to the Indigenous people - destroying their families, language, and souls.

Book 39
Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder

This book is amazing and amazingly depressing. Bruder follows around several nomads who live in vans, RVs, cars, etc; many of these people have been forced out housing or jobs and have found a way to not be homeless. And many of them are retirement age. Bruder followed several people over a few years, even purchasing a van herself, traveled to nomad gatherings, and took up seasonal jobs, to see what this life was about.
Her interviews and personal stories were interesting and empathetic. She really tried to convey the people and their situations without making them subjects of pity. But, I felt so depressed. When you've worked your whole life don't you deserve a little security in your later years?

Book 40
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
This is fiction that read a lot like a confession. O'Brien's connected short stories, or maybe loosely connected novel, focus on the character's time in Vietnam during the war. The confusion lies in that the main character in this is also named Tim O'Brien. And O'Brien, the author, served in Vietnam.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A bestseller from the 1990s

Book 41
The Education of Augie Merasty: a Residential School Memoir by Joseph Auguste Merasty with David Carpenter

This memoir was written over the course of several years. Merasty sent Carpenter his remembrances of his time at the St. Therese Residential School in Saskatchewan, and these are almost universally painful. He recounts not having enough to eat (while watching delicious food being carried through to the nuns and priests), being beaten, abused, frozen, and more. Very distressing.

Book 42
Home Before Dark by Riley Sager
Obviously inspired by the Amityville Horror, this thriller/ghost story has two narratives. One is the House of Horrors, a "true" story written by Maggie Holt's father about the 20 days they spent in Baneberry Hall. The other is 25 years later when Maggie goes back to Baneberry to find out what really happened.
The writing was a bit uneven but the narrative was compelling. I finished this book over the course of 2 days. It was hard to put down.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A locked-room mystery

Book 43
You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories about Racism by Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar
As a white, middle-age woman it's so hard to believe that someone would treat another person this way but then as Amber and Lacey explain it - racism doesn't make sense. And the stories are nonsensical, except in that they are completely true and the answer to every one of them is racism.
Don't think you shouldn't pick this book up because the subject is heavy, Ruffin and Lamar have a way of making awful stories funny (I think they decided not to include the most frightening and egregious ones), and it's a minor glimpse into the life of a Black person in America right now.

>53 Deedledee: This is my favorite book of all time.

Book 44
Shit, Actually: The Definitive, 100% Objective Guide to Modern Cinema
by Lindy West
I laughed out loud at some of these reviews. For a moment I thought I might watch some of the movies that I had never seen but then decided these reviews gave me more than enough.

Book 45
Taken By The Weremoose by Tabatha Houston
So bad. So, so, so bad.
I told my friend if she found a Canadian lumberjack romance that I would read it so I really brought this on myself.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book in a different format than what you normally read

Were moose. Were. Moose. Of all the lousy animals to be cursed with…

😂

Book 46
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Do you have regrets in your life? Do you wish you had made different choices? Stuck with a job or left it? Went for a coffee or not? Went on that trip with your friend or stayed home?
Nora is in a place between life and death. This limbo is the Midnight Library, and on it's shelves she can try out all the lives she could have had if she made different decisions.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book where the main character works at your current or dream job

Book 47
The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict
A fictional account of the disappearance of Agatha Christie in 1926. Benedict's novel starts when Agatha Miller meets Archie Christie at a dance just prior to World War I, and flashes between her marriage to Archie and his reaction to her 11 day disappearance.
Although I ascribe to the alien wasps theory of Christie's disappearance this is also an interesting premise.

Book 48
Middlemarch by George Eliot
I'm sure I was supposed to have read this book in university but I've finally gotten around to it.
Set in the early 1800's, this novel follows the life of several inhabitants of the village of Middlemarch.

Book 49
The End of Procrastination: how to stop postponing and live a fulfilled life by Petr Ludwig and Adela Schicker

I listened to this on audiobook and think I'll need to find a paper copy to go over some of the concepts again.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book by an author who shares your zodiac sign

Book 50
Disquiet by Julia Leigh
This short book certainly was disquieting.
"The woman" shows up with her two children at her family's estate. She's obviously been abused and is in flight. Her brother also arrives with his wife and stillborn child. The matriarch of the family seemingly takes this all in stride, while also trying to hide the limitations of her age. It's dark and tense and claustrophobic.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book featuring three generations

Book 51
Service Included: Four-star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter by Phoebe Damrosch
This wasn't exactly what I had expected based on the title. I thought it would be a lot more about dealing with the customers but really it's about Damrosch's love of food. An interesting glimpse into the world of fine dining.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book set in a restaurant

Book 52
Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel

Pieces of a gigantic robot are being found all over the world, most are deep underground, some under the ocean. The initial piece is found by a little girl while out biking. Twenty years later that same woman is in charge of a team to find all the pieces and put it together
A mysterious, anonymous interviewer frames the story as he talks to those involved in the discovery, assembly, and eventual attempts to use the robot.
I got sucked into this story right away and already have the 2nd book ready to read.
Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book that has a heart, diamond, club, or spade on the cover

Book 53
The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
The best description I've seen of this book is Agatha Christie meets Groundhog Day.

Aiden Bishop has 8 days, and 8 different hosts, to discover who murdered Evelyn Hardcastle. Each morning he wakes up in a new person and relives the same day, trying to determine who the murderer is while avoiding those who are trying to kill him.

There were so many twists and turns and things that connect from one day to the next.

Book 54
Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas

Catherine House is a very exclusive post secondary school. It's not quite a university, it's more of an immersive experience. Graduates go on to become hugely successful in their fields. And all of this is available for free to those who are accepted, including free room and board, clothing, toiletries; everything is provided. But students have to give three dedicated years to the school, in that time they don't go home, see friends or family, watch tv or take part in any pop culture, they devote their whole life to Catherine House.
There is also something darker going on in the school, and when Ines finds out what it is she has to make a decision about the rest of her life.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A dark academia book

Book 55
The Brides of Rollrock Island by Margo Lanagan
Misskaella has the ability to bring the woman out of the selkie and the men of Rollrock island will pay any price for a beautiful sea-wife.

Book 56
Hour of the Witch by Chris Bohjalian

Mary is the widow Thomas Deerfield's second wife; in their 5 years of marriage she has had to put up with ever escalating abuse. But it's 1662 Puritanical New England and divorce is hard to obtain. Despite this Mary tries and as was often the case at the time with strong, opinionated women, she is accused of being a witch.

Book 57
Look Again by Lisa Scottoline
What would you do if the kid on the Missing Child flyer was yours?
Ellen adopted Will when he was 18 mths and in the hospital due to a heart condition. His mother gave him up because she couldn't deal with his illness. At 3, Will is happy and healthy. But one day a Missing Child flyer comes in the mail and Ellen can't help but notice how much that child looks like her own. She could just drop the flyer in the recycle bin and move on but it nags at her and she has to discover the truth.

This novel was ok... I feel like it was kind of disjointed and some of the plot points were convoluted.

Book 58
Girl A by Abigail Dean

A dark novel about children kept captive by their father and it's effect on their lives.

Girl A, Alexandra Gracie, is the girl that escaped the "House of Horrors". She got out and ended her and her siblings captivity. After years of therapy she's become a successful New York lawyer, but her mother's death in prison and the subsequent inheritance brings her back in contact with her siblings and brings back the memories of that time.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book set in multiple countries

Book 59.
Little Black Dress by James Patterson with Emily Raymond

Jane works late then spends her nights watching Netflix and eating cookies. She buys a slinky black dress that gives her confidence and it changes her outlook on sexual encounters.
Save yourself some time and leave this one on the shelf.

Book 60.
The Heroin Diaries: a Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star by Nikki Sixx

We're recording a radio spot on music memoirs so I picked this one up.

Sixx's diary from 1987 shows a life of excess and addiction. It's interspersed with remembrances of those who were there with him.

Book 61.
No and Me by Delphine de Vigan

Thirteen-year-old Lou Bertignac interviews an eighteen-year-old homeless girl for a school project. Lou is a smart child, having skipped two grades, but doesn't relate well with her classmates. Her mom is suffering from severe depression due to the loss of her little sister.
No is 18 and homeless, her life has been difficult. Lou invites her home to live with her damaged family.
But you can solve everyone's problems.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book set somewhere you’d like to visit in 2021

Book 62.
Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel
(Themis Files, #2)
Picking up 10 years after Sleeping Giants left off, we catch up with the characters from the first book.
The story unfolds through interview transcripts, newspaper articles, emails and journal entries (like in the first novel).
I don't want to say too much about it because it will ruin the first book. Just go read it.

Book 63
Bring Me Back by B.A. Paris
An okay suspense novel about a missing woman and the man she's left behind.
Finn and Layla are deeply in love and on the way back from weekend getaway when Layla disappears. Ten years later Finn is engaged to Layla's older sister Ellen but has Layla reappeared?
I guessed the twist fairly early into the book and most of the characters have no redeeming qualities.

Book 64
Cash: An American Man by Bill Miller
Less a music memoir and more an ode to the author's hero. Miller first heard Johnny Cash's music when he was 9 years old and became a life long fan. He also collected Cash memorabilia and in this book he showcases just a few of the items in his collection.

Book 65
Down the River Unto the Sea by Walter Mosley
Joe Oliver was a police detective until he was framed for rape. He spent a chunk of time in Rikers and after being assaulted there was put into solitary.
Now, more than a decade later, Joe is a private investigator looking into a case that may also lead to the people who framed him.

Book 66
Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh
Before the books there was a blog (http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/) which I loved reading. Bosch has one of those rare talents to write about the mundane, absurd and the distressing aspects of life and make it all entertaining. She writes about her social anxiety, her dog that is a bit challenged (he doesn't know how to use stairs), her childhood games, the loss of her sister.
I hesitate to call this book funny as she talks about the death of her sister and her own medical struggles - but it certainly kept me enthralled.

Book 67
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt

The Sisters brothers, Charlie and Eli, have been tasked with killing Hermann Warm by their employer The Commodore. The Commodore claims that Warm has stolen something from him.
The brothers travel through the west to gold-rush San Francisco seeking their prey. In their travels they meet lots of people (and kill a fair few) and drink too much.
Told from Eli's point of view, we see a man who is desperate to find love and who no longer wants to be a killer for hire, but who is bound to his brother by loyalty.

Book 68
Foregone by Russell Banks
Leonard Fife is a famous documentary film maker in the late stages of cancer. He agrees to film an interview with a former film student of his - but his plan is to make this final film a confession to his wife about everything she does not know about his life.

Book 69
Later by Stephen King

Jamie sees dead people - just like that kid in the Sixth Sense. His mother tells him to never let anyone else know because she fears for him but then something terrible happens and she needs his special skill.

Book 70
The Midnight Bargain by C.L. Polk
A 2021 Canada Reads contender, this historical fantasy uses elements of Regency romance to explore themes of feminism, magic, and love.

Beatrice doesn't want to get married because she knows when she does she'll collared and prevented from practicing magic. She wants to be a Mage but that isn't open to women, especially upper class women who are expected to make a good match in Bargaining Season.
Then she meets Ianthe. Will she give up magic and all she desires to be with this man? Will she disappoint and ruin her family to keep her magic? Whatever choice she makes she will lose.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: The book on your TBR list with the ugliest cover

Just catching up to say hello, Dee as I feel the need just now to reach out to all my pals.

>86 PaulCranswick:
Hi Paul, hope all is going well.

>87 Deedledee: We have had much better times, Dee, but I have always been a glass-half-full-kinda-Guy.

Book 71
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
Zauner writes about her relationship with her mother and how it changes during her mother's illness and then death. This is also an exploration of her Korean heritage.

Book 72.
Lock Every Door by Riley Sager
Jules lucks into an awesome job as an apartment sitter in a prestigious building in Manhattan. The pay is phenomenal but something seems off. Why is she getting so much money just to stay in an apartment? Why are the rules so stringent? And most importantly, what happened to the apartment sitter that lived on the floor below?

Book 73.
Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots
Anna just wants a steady job and maybe even some benefits. She's been getting work through a temp agency, mostly database work, the catch is that she's working for villains. When a temp job morphs into something a little more permanent for the Electric Eel she thinks things are looking up. But being a henchperson is a dangerous job and Anna gets badly injured by a superhero. Then she starts looking at all the damage done by the supposed good guys - and it's a lot. Anna starts a mission to prove that the superheroes aren't always so super.

Book 74.
The Apocalypse Suite (The Umbrella Academy #1) by Gerard Way, Gabriel Bá, and Dave Stewart
I wanted to read this because it was written by Gerard Way but it took me a long time to get around to it.
Seven children born during an inexplicable worldwide event become the Umbrella Academy. They are adopted by Hargreeves, a millionaire who is a terrible father to them. This dysfunctional family of superheroes need to save the world but their family relationship gets in the way.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: The shortest book (by pages) on your TBR list

>92 Deedledee: That sounds an interesting premise, Dee.

Have a great weekend and I look forward to seeing what your 75th book will be.

Book 75.
A Friend of the Family by Lisa Jewell

The London brothers have a lot going on in their lives. Tony's still dealing with the aftermath of his divorce, novelist Sean is up against a serious case of writer's block and a shock announcement from his new girlfriend, and Ned has just returned from Australia running away from a dysfunctional relationship. Unable to sort their lives out on their own it is up to their parent's new lodger, Gervase, to set them straight.

>94 Deedledee: Congratulations on reaching 75, Dee!

Congrats!

Book 76.
My Favorite Thing is Monsters, book 1 by Emil Ferris

No! I just finished vol. 1 of My Favorite Thing is Monsters only to find out I can't get my hands on vol. 2. It was supposed to be published in February 2020.

In 1968 Chicago, 10 year old Karen Reyes is obsessed with monster movies and magazines. She also uses art to express herself and illustrates a notebook that functions as a diary. She lives with her sick mother and older brother in a basement apartment. And doesn't fit in with the kids at her school.
When an upstairs neighbour dies, the police say it's suicide, Karen starts to investigate. And that brings her even more mysteries about the people around her.

Not even trying to catch up, Dee, just hoping to do a better job keeping up for the rest of the year. Congratulations on hitting 75! Happy Sunday!

Book 77.
Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien

War has devastated the world and 16 year old Ann is now all alone. Her family went to check things out and never came back. Now Mr. Loomis has appeared and Ann is excited to see another person after more than a year. But Mr. Loomis is not what he seems - Ann soon realizes there may be worse things than being the last person on Earth.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book whose title starts with “Q,” “X,” or “Z”

Well done for passing 75 already, Dee!

>99 Deedledee: I get to dodge that BB as I have already read that one!

Book 78
The Guest List by Lucy Foley
Jules and Will are throwing a fancy wedding on an isolated island off the coast of Ireland. An ocean storm means that the guests are trapped on the island for the night but there's plenty of booze and festivities to keep everyone entertained, until a body is found.
Told from the point of view of the best man, the bridesmaid, the bride, the wedding planner, and the plus one, we get a glimpse into the possible motivations for murder.
My only problem was all the coincidences at the end that made multiple people want to murder the victim.

>102 Deedledee: I just finished that one this past week. There was a bit too much to-ing and fro-ing for my liking. I completely agree about all the coincidences at the end.

Have a wonderful weekend, Dee!

Book 79
The Anthropocene Reviewed: essays on a human-centered planet by John Green

I have been working on this book for a long time - a really long time. Sorry to the person who has a hold on it at the library and is waiting for me to get it back.

A series of essays based on a podcast in which Green reviews aspects of life on a 5 star scale. I've never listened to the podcast but I loved many of these essays. Green has a way of discussing life in a way that is very vulnerable, even when talking about his love of Dr. Pepper.

I give this book 4 and a half stars.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book from your TBR list you associate with a favorite person, place, or thing

Book 80.
Stuff You Should Know: an incomplete compendium of mostly interesting things by Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant

Funny that I've finished two books based on podcasts in a row. Unlike John Green's book this really felt like an ad for the podcast.

Clark and Bryant cover a wide range of topics from facial hair to euthanasia. I do love these little tidbits of facts. A fun read.

Book 81.
Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss
It's the early 90s and Silvie and her family are with an Experiential Anthropology course living like Iron Age Britons.
Silvie (short for Sulevia, the Northumbrian goddess of springs and pools) is 17 and watching the university students and their independence with envy. Her father, Bill, is a bus driver obsessed with the Iron Age. He's also a brutal and controlling man. He metes out punishment to his wife and daughter for anything he sees as an infraction.
As they become more ensconced in the Iron Age life they start re-creating some of their rituals, and that spells trouble for Silvie.

Book 82.
The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner
While this is a work of fiction, there is a real Jane Austen Society and Jane Austen Memorial Trust that works to promote and preserve Jane Austen's works.
This is a lovely story about a group of disparate people trying to preserve the legacy of Jane Austen in Chawton just after World War II.

In the 1930's, beautiful Mimi Harrison visits the tiny village of Chawton to see where Austen lived and created some of her famous works. Upon getting lost she meets a young farmer who shows her the way. In him she plants the seeds of love for Austen's novels.

Over 10 years later, with England still trying to get back on their feet after the war Adam, the farm labourer, comes up with a plan to preserve the cottage Austen lived in for the last 8 years of her life. He approaches the local doctor for help and the Jane Austen Society is born. They recruit a young widow, a servant, a lawyer, and one of Austen's heirs to help.

This motley crew of individuals forms a strong friendship and all of their lives change.

Book 83.
Lore Olympus, vo1. 1 by Rachel Smythe
A episodes 1-25 (plus a bonus) of a popular webtoon gathered into a book.
The person who recommended this to me just loves this series. Reads it religiously every Sunday night when the new episode is released. I just don't feel that way about it. Maybe if I had a better handle on Greek mythology.

Synopsis: Greek gods in the contemporary world behaving badly.

Popsugar Reading Challenge: The book on your TBR list with the prettiest cover

Book 84.
Woman in Red by Eileen Goudge

Alice Kessler has just been release from prison after 9 years. She was convicted of trying to murder the man who killed her son. Returning to her small town on Gray's Island, she's trying to repair the relationship with her other son and the rest of her family.
Colin McGinty has inherited his grandfather's house on Gray's Island. He spent his summers there as a child and is hoping that being there will heal him. He's struggling with alcoholism, not helped by losing his wife on 9/11.
Weaving together the past and the present, we find that Colin's grandfather, William McGinty, had a relationship with Alice's grandmother, Eleanor Styles. In fact, she was the subject of his most famous painting "the Woman in Red".

Parts of the plot were a little to convenient and unbelievable but overall a good read.

Book 85
Christmas Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

Becky is back in a new slapstick adventure. This time she's hosting Christmas at her place and apparently that entails extravagant purchases, including owning the must have Christmas decoration of the year.

I read the first book in this series several years ago and I thought that it had a bit of redemption at the end as she started to look at her spending habits. Apparently the whole series has gone on with her doing foolish things and spending money like water. With little to no consequences to her life.

Book 86.
Grumpy Unicorn Saves the World by Joey Spiotto
A super cute graphic novel for elementary school kids.
Grumpy Unicorn doesn't want to clean his house (I gotcha, Grumpy) so buys a robot to do it for him. When Robi receives a lightning strike he turns evil and destructive. It's up to Grumpy to figure out how to stop Robi from making all robots evil. Sort of Maximum Overdrive for kids.

Book 87.
The Children of Red Peak by Craig DiLouie
Fifteen years ago, an apocalyptic cult killed themselves at Red Peak. The only survivors were 5 children. Now one of them has committed suicide and the other 4 have come together to figure out what really happened on that final night.
In their adult lives these survivors are all trying to find their way in the aftermath of death. David became a cult exit councilor, helping others escape the trauma, but hasn't even told his wife what he went through. Beth is a psychologist but can't face her own past. Deacon is a rock star who screams his pain. And Angela is a hardened police detective in Las Vegas.
There is a bit of a mystery as you try to figure out what really happened to the Family of the Living Spirit but mostly it is a glimpse into how people fall into cults.

Book 88.
Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Pérez
It took me a long time to read this book because I needed to put it down every few pages due to the boiling anger.
Most studies don't include women. This gap in the data means that half of the population is not taken account for all kinds of everyday things like testing for seatbelts, testing for medications, or even the design of smartphones.
Do not read this if your blood pressure is high, especially if you're a woman because the medication isn't formulated for you and may do you more harm.

Book 89.
The Most Dangerous Thing by Laura Lippman
When they were children Gwen, Mickey, Sean, Tim, and Gordon spent all their time together exploring the woods. Then something shocking and terrible happened and their friendship crumbled.
In present day Gordon has committed suicide and his group have to come together to determine if the sins of the past are the reason why.

Have a lovely holiday, Dee.

Merry Christmas!

Here's my 2022 thread:
https://www.librarything.com/topic/337757#n7691590

Forget your stresses and strains
As the old year wanes;
All that now remains
Is to bring you good cheer
With wine, liquor or beer
And wish you a special new year.

Happy New Year, Dee.

Happy New Year!

In 2021...
I read a total of 89 books.
73% were fiction
27% were non-fiction
44% of the books were in actual paper form. 14% were ebooks and 42% were audiobooks.
92% were adult books.
98% were borrowed from the library.