EPBOT Readers discussion

Hello Everyone,

We just returned from a fun weekend in NY's Hudson Valley. Our (adult) children got my husband and I a bi-plane ride for our milestone birthdays this year. We added on an easy hike, a bike ride and a trip to Harney and Sons tea shop.

I am still reading Veridian Sterling Fakes It. Not really making progress as I'm trying to finish the physical library books I have before they're due.

I finished How to Win Friends and Influence Fungi: Collected Quirks of Science, Tech, Engineering, and Math from Nerd Nite. This was a fun book. Some essays were better than others. Some were of more interest to me than others. But overall it was light and enjoyable.

I am now reading the other library book Unbecoming a Lady: The Forgotten Sluts and Shrews Who Shaped America. Similar to Kate Moore's books it is interesting to read about women who helped pave the way and bucked society's deep expectations a long time ago.

I've been listening to the "Good Intentions" collection of short stories on Audible which are about motherhood. I finished Mother Country and A Planned Occasion and have just started The Days Before Us. Quick short story audiobooks are great for walking.

QOTW:
What’s the most awkward situation you were put in because you were reading?

My most vivid answer is from my son, my oldest, not me. Since kindergarten up until 4th grade every parent-teacher conference would be the same-old-same-old "during other lessons he reads under the desk. But when I call on him he's able to give the answer and speak about what we're talking about. But please talk with him about this..."

Then in 4th grade, the teacher (an older woman with not much personality, and a neighbor even pulled her kid out and put her into private school because she was assigned this teacher...) made a deal with my son. That if he didn't read under the desk during some lessons, then she'd allow him to go to the library on his own during other times. And we never heard once from her about how his reading was a problem. She was such a great fit as a teacher for him.

I survived the longest school year ever (literally) and I'm finally free! I've finished three books in the last three days :)

They are:
Head On, which was just as much fun as the first book. I also really appreciate how thoughtful Scalzi is about the implications, politics, and societal perceptions of disability throughout the story.

Sociopath by Patric Gagne, which might just be the most fascinating memoir I've ever read. I sort of knew the "dictionary" definition of a sociopath, but this glimpse into what it's really like to BE a sociopath in a world where there's no established support for this particular species of neurodiversity really opened my mind.

The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton: I absolutely loved Evelyn Hardcastle so I immediately downloaded this one when I saw it was available at the library. It was wildly entertaining, but I had a really difficult time with suspension of disbelief at some of the plot twists and I didn't like the ending. Still worth reading though, and I still intend to read his latest one!

QotW: Hmm. I honestly can't think of one. I'll come back if I do!

We're still under a heat advisory, but it's supposed to rain later today.

Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect - So last year I read Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone and said, "I really couldn't imagine myself reading another one." I changed my mind for two reasons: I saw a review that said the sequel was better than the first book, and it is set on a train. Indeed, I found this one much better than the first; it's still cheekily meta but it's not trying so hard. Unfortunately, while I think you could read this one without reading the first, it works better if you are already familiar with the narrator and his schtick.

Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex - This was interesting, but the author struggled to define the "sexual attraction" that ace people do not experience, as opposed to "sexual desire" and "aesthetic attraction" and other things that they may experience, so at times I felt that she could have been describing me, and I have never felt called to identify as ace. She does eventually mention the problem of phenomenology, where it's hard to know what someone else is experiencing. Anyway, still some good stuff about how sex is viewed in society, consent, and other things.

QOTW: The only thing I can think of right now is in elementary school when the teacher would have kids read aloud from the textbook, and it would be so slow that I would just read it to myself. Once I got called on to read and didn't know where we were, but it wasn't because I was doing something else or daydreaming: I was actively engaged in the lesson, just a few paragraphs or so further on.

Finished:
Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse - 4 stars - not for a prompt. I enjoyed it. I still think the first book was the best of this trilogy, though I do like where most of the characters wound up at the end.

Role Playing by Cathy Yardley - 4 stars - for Popsugar's book that centers on video games and Robot Librarian's romance involving characters over 30 years old. Loved the gaming and the surprise queer rep in this. As someone in her forties who also loves to play video games (and is a bit IRL antisocial), I got on well with the FMC, and had so much empathy for the MMC and his struggles. CW: (view spoiler)[homophobia, biphobia, outing, & emotional abuse (hide spoiler)]

Comics and manga:
Cinderella Closet Vol. 4
Cinderella Closet Vol. 5
Queen's Quality, Vol. 19
Skip and Loafer Vol. 9

Currently reading:
Children of Anguish and Anarchy by Tomi Adeyemi - not currently for a prompt. The library surprised me with another new release trilogy-ender.

Upcoming/Planned:
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty - for a book about pirates.

QOTW:
One time we were on an off-site event for work, and I was reading a book during some downtime in the event, and the big boss of our office asked me what I was reading. That's always awkward for me, especially explaining SFF, and add the boss on top of that...