Mid-year checkpoint talk, first timer

Talk50 Book Challenge

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Mid-year checkpoint talk, first timer

1jd3stacks
Jul 8, 4:22 pm

Super jazzed to find this group and i think i'm worthy of the challenge this year. How are you feeling at the halfway point? January last year was the first time I read a book for pleasure since the Magic Tree House days lol

Today I tied my total books read for 2023 at 37. And with half the year gone by I'm feeling pretty good about hitting 50.

I will add though, my number of pages is weak. The 37 books from 2023 are 13,113 pages. The 37 books I've read this year are 7,872 pages

I usually read sub 300 page books because i feel like i lose interest in things quickly but i'm gonna try to beef it up for the last 13 books of the year

2jd3stacks
Jul 8, 5:48 pm

oh yeah, for my list so far this year, i'd say it has been mostly horror-centered except for a few books in the spring.

I joined a ten book summer reading challenge at the local lib where you have to read different categories, ie. book by its cover, new to you author, rec from a librarian, etc. it's been fun

4jd3stacks
Jul 8, 5:51 pm

Looking back to the winter months i'd say i definitely chilled out on the horror. I remember back in the spring feeling really good after reading Strange Weather in Tokyo, and keeping the good vibes through two Ha Seong-Nan books.

As the horror books go, Bird Box was amazing, read that in two sittings

5jd3stacks
Jul 23, 7:39 pm

Really slow rest of July guys...

Jenny Colgan - The Bookshop on the Corner

6jd3stacks
Aug 8, 12:07 pm

First book of August down!

Nick Hornby - High Fidelity

7jd3stacks
Edited: Sep 11, 4:48 pm

guys not a great finish to August or start to September. too many activities irl and not enough energy to read after having sat most of the day for work. woe is me and all that jazz, here is what I finished August with

Your Utopia - Bora Chung
Kitchen - Banana Yoshimoto
Revenge - Yoko Ogawa

i've got a few good ones lined up to finish the month off strong. 42 is the magic number, i'm tryna finish off strong in the fall and maybe surpass the big 5-0

8jd3stacks
Sep 17, 1:35 pm

killin it this week

We Have Always Lived in the Castle - Shirley Jackson

Confessions - Kanae Minato

as Merricat said, all the omens spoke of change.

I'm totally hitting 50 this year

9jd3stacks
Oct 3, 11:39 am

off to a great start for the spooky season

Something Wicked This Way Comes - Ray Bradbury

finished this one in three sittings. perfect Halloween vibes

10jd3stacks
Oct 9, 11:32 pm

took a break from the spooky vibes and learned about birds from a very wholesome fictional retelling of the 1998 Big Year

The Big Year - Mark Obmascik

I guess you could say the real birds were the friends we made along the way

11jd3stacks
Oct 14, 5:02 pm

Latest book thanks to the LT Early Reviewers program

Beaver Plumwood - Ben L Cooke

I think about 150 people requested and only ~20 got a copy, so i'm feeling pretty special. Fun YA read about a beaver that wants to build the perfect dam and a human that wants to save his failing business

12jd3stacks
Oct 28, 2:38 pm

book #49 incoming

Penance - Kanae Minato

tragic and absolutely diabolical, loved it and good fit for the spooky season. idk if i'm gonna read anything special for book 50, i have a few on deck to choose from

13jd3stacks
Oct 30, 8:42 pm

book #50 done and dusted

Crypt of the Moon Spider - Nathan Ballingrud

short, sweet, spooky. Although I made it to the end in one sitting, I saw a footnote that it's part of a trilogy that comes out in August 2025 :|

probably gonna have to reread it when parts 2-3 come out.

glad I made it to 50 with time to spare. not like i'm gonna stop reading for the year tho

14jd3stacks
Nov 2, 2:15 am

book #51

Audition - Ryu Murakami

what the f*ck

15jd3stacks
Nov 6, 7:45 pm

book #52

Asleep - Banana Yoshimoto

really great collection of short stories. That was my second of hers, onto the third

16jd3stacks
Edited: Nov 19, 6:41 pm

book #53

really bummed, i was 90% done with another Banana Yoshimoto book but I left it at a friend's house I wont see for another month. So that one will have to wait

In it's place, a book that made me want to vom, but had me til the last word

Monika Kim - The Eyes Are the Best Part

17jd3stacks
Nov 20, 9:28 pm

book #54

Sara Gran - Come Closer

loved this one so much for its bleakness. i've only read a handful of possession books, and they've all ended with successful depossession. not this one :|

18jd3stacks
Dec 10, 7:19 pm

books #55 & #56

Banana Yoshimoto - The Lake
Ha Seong-nan - Wafers

glad to get The Lake back from my friend as i only had 20 pages left

Wafers was like a fever dream, i felt like there was a lot i didn't understand about most of those short stories. but happy to be 3/3 on Ha Seong-nan books, one of my favorite authors for her writing style

and shoutout Janet Hong for translating all her work, just picked up another book by Kwon Yeo-sun also translated by her

19jd3stacks
Dec 12, 9:15 pm

book #57

shorty but a goody Kwon Yeo-sun - Lemon

maybe the first mystery i've read where the climax is not solving the case, but healing from the aftermath of a murder. really tugged at the heart strings

20jd3stacks
Dec 17, 8:59 pm

book #58

Mona Awad - Bunny

this one was insane, and just like the last one, the ending was up for interpretation. I can't believe how many questions i have after finishing, and for some reason i'm okay with it. really fantastic

21jd3stacks
Dec 17, 9:03 pm

book #59

Tade Thompson - The Murders of Molly Southbourne

whoops, got this mixed up with #58, it was so short I almost forgot i read it. Amazing nonetheless. First of a trilogy that takes a sharp turn into sci-fi, maybe?

awesome setup for the next book, almost like a prequel for the events to come. Just got the other 2 from the library and they're next on my list

22jd3stacks
Dec 17, 10:28 pm

book #60

Tade Thompson - The Survival of Molly Southbourne

done and dusted, quick 2nd book that picks up right where book 1 left off. might even start book 3 tonight

23jd3stacks
Dec 18, 11:22 pm

book #61

Tade Thompson - The Legacy of Molly Southbourne

sooo sick. this series went from horror adjacent to straight up action and i'm here for it.

schooled me on something called the 100 man kumite, where a challenger has to go up against 100 opponents back to back