Book Bingo Challenge -- Update #1

 

A good start to the book challenge...although that doesn't surprise me.  In the summer, during field seasons, I always read more than in winter.  It's just something I do every night before going to bed. When I'm waiting for an animal to get up and feed, I always have a book or kindle tucked into the waistband at the back of my pants.  When I'm sitting with babies getting them used to my presence (which okay, is the coolest job ever if they are healthy!), I have a book or knitting with me.  At home, in winter, there are too many distractions...deadlines...internet...netflix...and so on.  I lose the habit of reading before bed.  So for me, the book challenge will become more of an active challenge in the fall.  However, when we actually take 'bou into the woods in a couple weeks, expect things to slow down a bit until fall (in the fall it's dark 12 hours a day which limits my working time -- thus I read a ton at that time!).

I've filled in 4 squares already (and am partway through a fifth) while reading books I want to read but also just happened to meet the challenge (and some fit many squares...I could have put The Goldfinch in either greater than 500 pages or something that 'everybody' has read...in the end, I don't start but not finish many books that I'm willing to actually pick up again...there is a reason I put them down...this was one that I've put down twice but knew I wanted to eventually finish it...so seemed fitting for that square).  As I go through this process, you'll be able to see the types of books I read in the field.  I am bone tired most of the time so they can't be 'deep' books.  I generally go for thrillers/mysteries or anything that just reaches out, grabs me, and pulls me in immediately. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to find certain squares remaining empty until winter while other squares, I'll end up reading 3 or 4 that fall into that category.  I've listed what I've read so far below, with my star rating (realizing of course that my rating is just that...mine...and you should take that with a grain of salt...and it seems like lately I am having trouble rating books).  I do full reviews on goodreads for most books and if you click on the title of the book below the photo of the jacket, you'll go straight to my review.  If you aren't on goodreads and thus can't access those pages, my question to you as a book-lover is 'why not?'!

An interesting aside and an unexpected gift from starting this challenge.  I chose to include the square 'something from a used book store' assuming this would be during the winter and come from our local used shop.  That said, I don't go to the shop much because the prices seem too high...$9-$12 for obviously used paperbacks that new cost $14-15...$4-5 for ones that normally cost $6-7.  In my mind, used bookstores should be bargains (a few bucks)...not offering books at prices I can get new on amazon.  But it's good to support local bookstores and so I included that square.  Instead, I remembered upon arriving up here in the far north, that Fort St John had a used bookstore that I've not visited yet.  It conveniently is located across the street from the laundromat so last time I washed clothes, I walked over.  It's like something out of a novel...the front room is full of books stacked everywhere and apparently grouped by 'what the store-owner thinks the subject is.  Which, when you haven't read the book you are asking about makes it quite hard to figure out which stack to even begin looking!  The back part of the store is filled with bongs, CD's and a bunch of other odds and ends.  The owner is German (I think) and is quite eccentric (Kristie, do you know the store I'm referring to - was it here when you lived here?).  I went in with the intention of looking for Franny and Zooey (which they didn't have) but when I found out that every book sold for $3, I started happily digging through the stacks and came back with 5 books -- which I felt was restrained given the circumstances. 2 I had heard of, 3 just seemed like good finds (this is what I love about used bookstores).  But $3/book??  It's like crazy expensive up here...you can expect things to cost about 1 to 2 times more than what they would in the states.  So a bookstore with an eccentric German owner selling books for $3...imagine my giddiness!  I'll be going in periodically over the summer because it seems that there is great turnover with new stuff coming in all the time.  I just hope I have enough room in my truck to carry them all back at the end of the summer (of if I get them read, I can trade them back in)! ;)

My Salinger Year by Joanna Rakoff -- 4 stars 

The Farm by Tom Rob Smith -- 3.5 or 4 stars

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt -- 3.5 stars

The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin -- 3 stars

Okay -- that's me.  How about you?  For those of you joining in on the challenge, let me know what squares you've filled with what books...and if you are enjoying the challenge or finding it too restrictive.  For those of you not joining the challenge...tell me what you've been reading lately anyway!  I'm always up for good suggestions!
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Now playing:  If I Had A Boat by Lyle Lovett


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