We all know it and love it – its WWW Wednesday! This meme is hosted, as always, by the lovely Sam at Taking on a World of Words. I am so happy to hear she is on vacation and I hope she’s having as wonderful a time as I did on mine. I just returned from almost two weeks in Canada where I soaked up the beautiful scenery, learned to say exactly three things in French and ate because, damn… Canada has great food. I read a lot of books and I still don’t know how to properly pronounce Quebec. Let’s do this!
What Did I Just Finish?
I had a fantastic time reading the past few weeks. The books I finished came in three categories: physical books off my TBR shelf, audiobooks and kindle downloads. First, the physical books I read on vacation.
I was determined to finish The Fellowship of the Ring while away and I did! I had difficulties paying attention to the story so I just broke it down into a daily amount. Twenty pages a day (sometimes more if the mood struck me) and it became my wonderful quiet time with Hobbits everyday. I tried to pair my journey through the first book with a nice cup of tea at elevensies. Loved it!
I have had a copy of Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills sitting on my shelf for far too long and so I took it with me for the trip. In the story, Claudia accidentally overhears the epic breakup of Paige and Iris and is thrown into various intense friendships, possible romances and situations outside of her comfort zone. I don’t normally enjoy books written about high school but this one was fantastic. Review coming soon!
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertini is a book I knew I would enjoy and frankly, I was saving it. But, with Leah On the Offbeat out I felt it was safe to use up my lone remaining Albertini. Also, I want to watch the movie. Simon was, as expected, a great story. Review also coming soon.
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang has become a highly recommended book for those who enjoy contemporary romance. In the book Stella Lane has Asperger’s and a perchance for algorithms. When an associate accuses her of being bad at sex she is determined to rectify that in the only way she knows how to – through lessons. So, she hires Michael Phan to teach her. This gender swap of Pretty Woman was very enjoyable and I consumed it along with the two cups of tea I had to drink to avoid taking a poutine-induced nap.
I also read Caraval by Stephanie Garber. Perhaps it was my vacation fatigue but this one did not hit the spot. I know many people enjoy this book but it was not for me.
Now, onto kindle books.
I vastly under-estimated the time I would have to read and found myself running low on physical books quickly. And, I had two nights of insomnia due to a bed that was apparently filled with sawdust. So, I turned to my trusty kindle.
Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor was the first kindle book I finished. This science fiction / time traveling / historical fiction book is amazing and I have already purchased the second in the series. I actually started the second book one late night when I couldn’t sleep but her encounter with Jack the Ripper terrified me. So, I did what I always do and turned to the inexpensive romance books. So soothing…. Review (you guessed it) coming soon!
Wish by Deborah Bladon and Arrogant Devil by R.S. Grey kept me company on separate nights when I couldn’t sleep. They are sweet books. 69 Million Things I Hate About You is by Kira Archer and has, undeniably, the worst cover ever. However, the story of a much abused secretary winning the lottery and torturing her boss was, at times, hilarious. Cute book.
And then, the audiobooks.
Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer is the only audiobook I finished while on my trip. I downloaded and completed Mike Myers’ Canada after I returned home but finished it yesterday. Both are wonderful books that I loved listening to and will be reviewing just as soon as I finish all the stuff that piled up while I was gone.
What am I Currently Reading
I am currently burning through Circe by Madeline Miller. I continue my journey to Mordor with The Two Towers and my twenty pages (or so) a day continues to keep me going. On my kindle I have Kill the Farm Boy which I have anxiously awaited all summer and is proving to be fine enough but I am hopeful that it will swing into awesome soon. And, finally, I am listening to Stuff Matters as an audiobook.
What I Plan to Read Next
I have so many books currently going the only one I know for sure I want to start next is Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. It is another on my physical TBR that I hope to clear by the end of the year.
Tell me, please!
How was your reading these past few weeks? Post your link or list below!
Also, how do you pronounce Quebec?
I read 69 Million Things to Hate About You. It was pretty funny.
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It was wasn’t it?! But that cover *shudder.* At one point I laughed so hard I woke my travel mates up!
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I agree about the cover. Could have been better. I cried I was laughing so hard.
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So many tempting books! I might have to check out Foolish Hearts. Enjoy your week, and here’s
MY WWW POST
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I always wish that WWW was in a physical set up so we could all trade books around. Thanks for stopping by!
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I have to say, I agree with you about Caraval – felt like I was reading a different book to the one that everyone raved about?? Also really want to read Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda – looks like a good one!
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Simon was adorable. I wanted to reach into Caraval and shake Scarlet and Tella. I’m so glad that there is at least one other person out there that agrees with me!
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Yes, they were such frustrating characters 😂
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Oh my goodness, what a great few weeks you’ve had. I also LOVED Simon and I really need to check out Leah on the Offbeat from my library next time I visit 🙂 I can’t wait to see what you think about Ready Player One, I’ve heard so many different opinions!
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Thanks! I really loved the Leah character in Simon so I am excited to visit again with her.
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You have a lot of fun books! I want to read The Kiss Quotient! I’ve been seeing it around lately.
I need to try your idea about reading for 20 minutes a day with the Game of Thrones series. I’m on the fourth book, A Feast for Crows, but haven’t started it yet because I know, at times, it can be difficult to keep my attention.
Here’s my post: http://candy-m.blogspot.com/2018/07/what-are-you-reading-july-25-2018.html
Have a great week!
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GOT was so hard for me! I read book one slowly and painfully and then got to the end and I was like, “ooooohooo, amazing…dragons.” I hope my little trick helps. It often takes the pressure off me and then I end up reading a ton. Good luck!
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I’m so envious of how many books you’ve finished! Happy to see you got through The Fellowship of the Ring with a good routine. Wish I’d thought of that. Circe is so good too!
https://musewithmeblog.wordpress.com/2018/07/25/www-wednesday-2018-07-25/
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I wouldn’t have started the trilogy at all if you hadn’t read it first!
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I’m glad I could be a motivating force 🙂 Also I love hearing how much you enjoyed your time in my home and native land of Canada!
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I should have know you were from Canada! Can you tell me how to properly pronounce Quebec? 🙂 Any Canadian authors you can recommend?
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I’m from Southern Ontario, so take that for what you will, but we pronounce it “kwa-beck” (I hope this is comprehensible, sorry if not). I believe in Quebec they say “keh-beck” (both short E’s).
In terms of authors I’d recommend Robert J. Sawyer. It’s not his better known stuff, but I particularly loved his Quintaglio Ascension series. The first book, Far-Seer, is one of my absolute favourite books.
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Thank you so much! I am going to go with the Southern Ontario accent as I feel I could really mess up that double short e.
And I’m putting Far-Seer directly on my TBR. Thanks again!
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Awesome, I hope you enjoy it 🙂 Fun fact, you can see the spine for it along with the sequels in the header image of my blog.
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Ooooh, I hope you’re enjoying Circe. I adored that book! 🙂
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Loving it! Her writing is always so gorgeous.
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Wow!! You had an amazing week!! Simon is a great book! I have a few Emma Mills books that have been sitting on my shelf. I should get to one soon! Haha. Circe is up on deck for me! 🙂
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Don’t be too impressed – this was more like two and a half weeks of reading because I was away on a trip.
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Haha! Hey still pretty good for 2 weeks!
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Looks like an excellent reading week! Enjoy the rest of Circe!
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Oh, I read Simon vs. a couple of months ago and adored it also! And ahhh, I hoping to read The Kiss Quotient soon! I’ve heard so many great things about it!
Glad to hear you had a great vacation!
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Now I can’t wait for Leah! Thanks for visiting!
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What a great list. I tried to read Ready Player One, but gave up. Will try again in the future. Happy Reading,
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Thanks! I need to clear my currently reading list up a bit more before I really launch into it – I’ll let you know how it goes!
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I have a bunch of these on my own TBR. I tried reading Simon… a while back but I wasn’t in the right mood for it and it wasn’t working for me, so i need to go back to that at some point. I’m hearing such good things about the Kiss Quotient. I hadn’t heard of One Damned Thing After Another but I am intrigued now.
I was… definitely not a fan of Ready Player One but my review is full of spoilers so I’ll link you to it after you’ve read it. 😉
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I am about halfway through Ready Player One and my prevailing thought is, “why are people so obsessed with the 80’s?”
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And every single person loves every single thing! People argue about pop culture preferences so the time. I feel like even if you’re memorizing this stuff for a competition like the characters are, you’re still not going to love it all.
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I completely agree! There has to be something Wade hated about the 80s…… I know there are a whole lot of things I did!
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Mike Myers has a book? Is that what he’s been doing lately?
I still can’t decide whether to read Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda. I know it’s a huge book for LGBT lit lately but I’m very hit and miss when it comes to YA.
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Regarding Simon – it depends on why YA is hit or miss with you. I really enjoy YA so it was bound to be something I would love. Also, I really enjoy Becky Albertini.
Mike Myers now has three small children so we know that has taken some time. This book was published in 2016. Also, I heard that he has a part in the new Queen movie which has me so excited!
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