What are you reading currently?
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I agree - the quality/quantity of books available for badges is definitely lacking. I don't worry about the badges on GoodReads unless there is something already trapped on Mt. TBR. I just focus on getting my total goal number of books read.
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That is a good attitude. Better than mine 😉.
The last badge I have to complete is a Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee book between Dec 4 and 31. I have already read several but they of course don't count. I have a couple marked and can probably finish the challenge.
I just finished Looking For Smoke by K. A. Cobell and it was only mediocre. I rated it 3* but it was less entertaining than a 3* Pendergast novel by Preston and Child. I snagged the final 4 of those (that are currently written, #19, 20, 21, and 22) from Kindle Unlimited and plan to start on Crooked River (#19) soon.
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Crooked River was a better Special Agent Pendergast novel by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. They spun off the series with some recurring characters, so besides this one, Pendergast appears in the Nora Kelly series which started about book 18 of Pendergast. So I alternate to keep them in publication order.
Taking a short (11 hour) break and reading a dime western, Remington 1894 is about a double barrel shotgun and a western story that involves it. It's written by William W. Johnstone (who is deceased, so it is really written by his niece JA Johnstone).
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Wow, the siege of Vicksburg was not anything like portrayed in the movie Cold Mountain. I read the authentically accurate historical fiction book by Jeff Shaara concerning the topic, A Chain of Thunder. I didn't have an accurate picture in my mind of where that took place exactly, now I do. Books = learn things! 5 stars, all the way.
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So glad to hear that, Doug! I'll try to move the volume up in the queue. He's a great author!
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The Smoke at Dawn (Civil War: 1861-1865, Western Theater, #3) by Jeff Shaara was solid, as usual for him.
I need a break from the history though so I am postponing book 4, which I already purchased, and starting Sisters in the Wind by Angeline Boulley, who writes about the Native Americans (current day) from Michigan. They speak a native language called Anishinaabemowen, they are the Anishinaabe people, and the language is actually taught (eclectically I know) at Michigan State University. I live in Michigan so I am interested in the Native Americans who were living here, which include the Ojibwe (also called Chippewa), Odawa (Ottawa), and Potawatomi people.
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Finished The Amalfi Curse - Sarah Penner - 5 Stars. Life has been stressful and it was just the Italian vacation I needed.
Next up - When the Moon Hits Your Eye - John Scalzi.
@Catfish_Fan - Sisters in the Wind sounds interesting - I'll be interested to hear what you think of it.
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I really liked Sisters in the Wind, especially since it had locations in it where I have been and even lived in the past, and is about native people from my home state. It was a YA mystery type book. I finished it in time to vote for it in the Goodreads Awards category but it didn't move on to the next round.
I'm currently reading The Hod King (The Books of Babel #3) by Josiah Bancroft. It's pretty good for a steampunk type fantasy series, but wouldn't be for everyone, this book is 20 hours long on audio and the final book is 24. If I weren't into the series I wouldn't put that much time toward finishing it.
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Having trouble keeping up with work right now... By the evening I've only got a few minutes before my eyes close. But I'm hoping for some down time very soon!
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@Catfish_Fan - Sisters in the Wind sounds interesting. I'll have to keep an eye out for it. I feel I may need to add it Mt TBR.
@FitMary202 - I feel you things at work have been busy here as well. I come home and close my eyes the moment I sit down some nights.
That said I was having trouble caring about When the Moon Hits Your Eye - John Scalzi - I think it was the lack of main characters. I am still interested in the premise and may pick it up again later when life is more settled. Right now I need something that is going to take my mind out of all the current drama in my life. So I have started The Sun Down Motel - Simone St. James. Nothing like a gothic ghost story to distract you.
Happy Thanksgiving to you both - hope you have a great day.
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❤️❤️❤️ the pie! Hope all are well.
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Happy to report I made the right choice. The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James was a very engrossing ghost story. 5 Stars.
Next up We Fell Apart by e. Lockhart. Takes place in the We Were Liars world, but is a stand alone book.
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Dreamer's Pool (Blackthorn and Grim book 1) by Juliet Mariller was a very good fantasy read. This book starts a trilogy, because for some reason I can never finish series I am reading but I am always starting new ones.
There are so many books that I want to read that it is hard to keep track of the plots between different series that I am reading. I like the plot recap (with spoilers) feature in the newer kindles' update. If you have several books in the same series, which are grouped together, you can click a synopsis to get you caught up on the previous book's plot with spoilers you wouldn't want to read before reading the book.
I don't know what is next, I have several books in mind. I want to finish the Jeff Shaara Civil War Western front series with book 4, but I also want to free some slots up in my Kindle Unlimited membership and tackle some of the books I have checked out from there already. NYT bestsellers find there way into that membership that are regularly rotated out and no longer included in KU, so I don't return them until I have read them. I have 20 books checked out which is the maximum; my father shares my kindle library (on a separate kindle I own) and I like to leave a few slots open for his Johnstone westerns and such like that…
Finishing some series would be a sense of accomplishment too.
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Such impressive reading, @Catfish_Fan !!
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You could say I have no "shelf control"?
I am still getting rid of physical books by the boxload, as they slowly sell on FB Marketplace, and my "shelves" are digital now and mostly housed at public libraries. I am a bit concerned about that supply of books drying up on me as I am losing my paid access to Houston Public Library at the end of the year due to Federal Level budget eliminations (DOGE doesn't care about libraries or reading, or would rather readers buy their own books outright like all of those rich people do). My local cooperative seems to be drastically paring down the offerings, like all of the older books are disappearing from the selection in favor of new releases that increasingly have 6 months+ waiting lists.
I have replaced a couple of bookshelves in my library room, and repurposed one for storage of other things. Maybe that is premature given the political climate? I may be looking for cheap used physical books once again (I dread moving all of them though). A Federal Court recently ruled against the elimination of the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) which is a win for library funding but I am certain the current administration will appeal. I live in a rural area with a very small town library, so physical library access is limited to me as it is a decent distance to any city with a respectable library.
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Praying you can keep getting all you need online, @Catfish_Fan! So foolish to cut people's lifeline to books…
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I read Star-Spangled Jesus: Leaving Christian Nationalism and Finding a True Faith by April Ajoy in about one day because it was very good and only ran around 8 hours on audio. I picked the book up the other day in a Kindle sale for Black/Cyber whatever and got the audio from the library. Much of my family consists of Christian Nationalists (aka American Nazi-type Republicans) and I personally find it sickening; the topic at the Thanksgiving gathering this year turned to politics and I followed some good advice I had recently read, "When your peace leaves the room, follow it out." I sat in a different room by myself and waited out the 90 minute argument, then later got after the participants for doing that on everybody's Thanksgiving. EVERYONE in the WORLD knows you don't have a political argument on a Thanksgiving holiday, so there was no excuse for the behavior. We have been over that ground before about bringing politics into family gatherings. I might excuse myself from any Xmas celebration with those people unless I can get a firm commitment that it won't ever happen again. It would be a shame to spend Xmas alone but my mental peace is not up for negotiation.
I'm currently finishing up The Listener by Robert McCammon. It is a sort of historical fiction/horror/fantasy book (that is in Kindle Unlimited currently) and it's decent. His best book that I have read was Boy's Life, I have read a couple of others and I'm interested enough in the author to try more of his novels.
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Sounds like a very wise approach, @Catfish_Fan! I recently had lunch with some relatives and learned by chance that they had also been tactfully avoiding the arguments they despised. So, your wise approach may eventually find other backers, even if no one jumps on board overtly! Well played.
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I am finishing (or rather 1/3 the way through) the fourth volume of Jeff Shaara's Civil War series from the Western Front, The Fateful Lightning, it is 24 hours on audiobook (with e-book companion, it would be a shame to miss out on the maps). I was waiting until today to start We Fell Apart, the book @Btrflydog is reading, it counts for my final Goodreads badge I think but it had to be completed between the 4th and the end of the year? I got my e-book copy after a library hold and was holding it to start until today.
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