#ReadHarder20

End of Year Reading Stats - because it's fun to track this minutiae!

Terrie

Jan 4, 2021

End of Year Reading Stats - because it's fun to track this minutiae!

This year was a very good year of reading for me. I ambitiously signed up for a record five (count 'em FIVE!) reading challenges and surprised myself at how much I accomplished. I didn't completely finish all of them, but that's okay - #readingisnotacompetition. I accomplished my goal of reading more widely, finding new authors, and discovering how much I enjoy fantasy books. You can see the complete list of each challenge and the books I read for them in the "Challenges" tab

Terrie

Oct 29, 2020

October Mini Reviews

Here are a few books I've read this month that just get quick reviews - constrained by time, interest, or nothing special to say. I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver, A Darker Shade of Magic #1 by V.E. Schwab, Native Tongue #1 by Suzette Hayden Elgin, Ghostland by Duncan Ralston, Into the Jungle by Erica Ferencik, and Don't Tell a Soul by David Rosenfelt. I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver Genre: YA, General Fiction Published 2019, 328 pages On one hand this is sort

Meeting Faith: The Forest Journals of a Black Buddhist Nun is a memorable memoir

Terrie

Oct 21, 2020

Meeting Faith: The Forest Journals of a Black Buddhist Nun is a memorable memoir

Meeting Faith: The Forest Journals of a Black Buddhist Nun by Faith Adiele Genre: Memoir Published 2004, 280 pages "... I've misunderstood Buddhism, thinking that it focused on the development of the individual and discouraged emotional connection to others. But in fact the goal is to love both -- oneself and others -- without being wounded by that love." ADIELE'S BACKGROUND What an interesting journey, both a physical and internal one. A mixed race girl raised by a strong, i

Notes From a Young Black Chef is one of our Buddy Reads for October

Terrie

Oct 15, 2020

Notes From a Young Black Chef is one of our Buddy Reads for October

Notes From a Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi Genre: Memoir Published 2019, 288 pages DONNA'S THOUGHTS I didn’t know who Kwame was, but in our Buddy Reads we try and choose books that we normally wouldn’t read, plus I watch a lot of cooking shows on TV, so it held some interest for me. This memoir covers his upbringing, facing racism, his roots in Nigeria, doing drugs, paying his dues at culinary schools and working in world-acclaimed restaurants, to his rise as a fine-dini

Terrie

Sep 30, 2020

9 Mini Reviews for August / September

This month's mini book reviews cover a little bit of everything - it's been a busy, eclectic reading month. Full reviews are published on some of the other books I finished this month. Rebecca was one of the few classics I've been able to get through and sort of enjoy. Other books in this edition of mini reviews are: Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel, A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park, All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, A Time of Miracles by Anne-Laure Bo

My new favorite fantasy: Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

Terrie

Sep 29, 2020

My new favorite fantasy: Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

The Fifth Season #1 by N.K. Jemisin Genre: Fantasy Award: Hugo Award + others Published 2015, 468 pages This book has been on my shelves for years. I'd read a little about it and somehow talked myself out of it. Then this year I bit off the whole "join-five-reading-challenges" thing and this book fit several categories.....it was time! I'm SO sorry for the delay - this book is amazing. I tried to explain the plot and what I liked about it to my husband, and found it really d

The Tilted World is a historical novel about the 1927 flooding of the Mississippi River

Terrie

Aug 31, 2020

The Tilted World is a historical novel about the 1927 flooding of the Mississippi River

The Tilted World by Tom Franklin and Beth Anne Finnelly Genre: Historical Fiction Published 2013, 300 pages The #ReadHarder challenge of a book about a natural disaster didn't sound interesting to me. But, I found this book about the 1927 disastrous flooding of the Mississippi River which would fit the bill. Still not particularly interested. BUT - this book was surprisingly readable and much better than I expected. Probably because it wasn't all about the flood, though that

Mycroft Holmes by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is about the older brother of Sherlock

Terrie

Aug 24, 2020

Mycroft Holmes by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is about the older brother of Sherlock

Mycroft Holmes #1 by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse Genre: Historical Fiction Published 2015, 323 pages When I came across this book last year on a list somewhere, it intrigued because of the author. Basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar! Could he write? Come to find out he's an avid Holmesian and this series is his contribution to the myth, the genius of Sherlock Holmes. Kind of surprisingly, it was actually quite good. MYCROFT'S BACKGROUND Mycroft is the older broth

Mini Reviews for June & July - mysteries galore!

Terrie

Jul 31, 2020

Mini Reviews for June & July - mysteries galore!

The Finders (#1 Reid) by Jeffrey Burton Genre: Mystery ARC from #NetGalley Publish date 6/30/2020, 288 pages My first book by this author, and I really liked it. Though the plot wasn't terribly original in terms of a mystery, I really liked Mace Reid and his relationship with his dogs. That's a highlight and the strength of this story. Burton treats the dogs as characters and gives them great personalities. For those with animal sensitivities, dogs do get seriously injured bu

Terrie

Apr 30, 2020

April Mini Reviews

Each month I share a few short and sweet reviews of books I've read that might help you determine the next book you'd like to read. This month I'm adding: Planet of the Blind by Stephen Kuusisto, One Good Deed by David Baldacci, Missing Daughter by Rick Mofina, Beartown by Fredrik Backman, and The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones. Planet of the Blind by Stephen Kuusisto Genre: Memoir Published 1999, 189 pages Terrie's read This book wasn't for me. Though the story i

YA novel to read in a day but remember far longer

Terrie

Apr 22, 2020

YA novel to read in a day but remember far longer

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie Genre: YA, General Fiction Award: National Book Award for Young People Published 2007, 230 pages This book has been on my bookshelf for years. I don't know why I've kept avoiding it - especially since I didn't even know what it was about; I barely remember buying it. So finally, in these days of staying at home AND because I'm trying to read more books that I already own to satisfy reading challenge categories,

Doomsday Book: A sci-fi novel by Connie Willis

Terrie

Apr 13, 2020

Doomsday Book: A sci-fi novel by Connie Willis

Doomsday Book by Connie Willis Genre: Sci-Fi Nebula & Hugo awards Published 1992, 550 pages I am not a sci-fi aficionado - I don't have a ton of sci-fi book experience to compare this one to. Therefore, I can only judge it on my enjoyment and I found it very engaging, entertaining, and interesting. PLOT BASICS As described in the blurb and every review, the basis of the story is time travel. A young female student travels back in time to the medieval era (1300s) but unexpecte

A remote monastery, murder, and music combine for The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny

Terrie

Apr 6, 2020

A remote monastery, murder, and music combine for The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny

The Beautiful Mystery (#8 Gamache) by Louise Penny Genre: Mystery Awards: Agatha, Anthony and Audie awards Published 2012, 390 pages I've read books from this series in a very haphazard way - as I've come across them, rather than in order. This book can be read as a stand alone because it's not set in the town of Three Pines where most of the action usually takes place and only has a few of the main characters. There were ongoing references to an earlier disastrous police inc

A Murderous Relation is a Victorian novel at its best

Terrie

Feb 12, 2020

A Murderous Relation is a Victorian novel at its best

A Murderous Relation #5, Deanna Raybourn Genre: Historical Fiction Published March 2019, 320 pages Thanks to #NetGalley and #StMartinsPress for the ARC of this delightful book. I received it for free and the opinion expressed is entirely my own. I read the first installment, A Curious Beginning, last year and no others since then. I'm pleased to say that these can be read as stand alone books. I enjoy reading a series but really appreciate one that can also mostly stand alone

Binti - a sci-fi trilogy about a teen who leaves her world to go to university

Terrie

Feb 10, 2020

Binti - a sci-fi trilogy about a teen who leaves her world to go to university

Binti, Binti: Home, Binti: The Night Masquerade; Nnedi Okorafor Genre: Sci-Fi, YA Award: Hugo and Nebula awards Published 2015, 356 pages The first installment of this trilogy is the award winning novella (95 pages), Binti. This library book had all three novellas to be read together and I much preferred the continuity of reading the series that way. This book has action, danger, introspection and character growth, foreign creatures on foreign worlds - it has it all! THE PL

A graphic memoir about the Japanese internment camps, They Called Us Enemy is by actor George Takei

Terrie

Jan 28, 2020

A graphic memoir about the Japanese internment camps, They Called Us Enemy is by actor George Takei

They Called Us Enemy, George Takei Genre: Memoir Published 2019, 208 pages Another first in my reading experience - my first 'graphic' anything. They Called Us Enemy is actually a graphic memoir. It's an autobiography, a history lesson, a heartbreaking story of a despicable time in American history, and yet it's a story of kids being kids and thinking they were on an adventure. It is George Takei's (rhymes with okay) story about his family's internment in the US Japanese cam

My first reads of 2020 - and they are doozies!

Terrie

Jan 3, 2020

My first reads of 2020 - and they are doozies!

#NotYourPrincess: Voices of Native American Women edited by Lisa Charleyboy Genre: Nonfiction, YA Published 2017, 103 pages What a remarkable, profound, eye-opening, thoughtful, heartbreaking book. Poetry, essays, and art are all used to explain, to show, to describe the Indigenous Woman experience from a variety of authors and artists. And it's done beautifully and intensely. All the content describes a life that is so far removed from my own that I find it hard to wrap my

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