Five Bits of Bookish Randonness on Friday

1. My library doesn't seem interested in the e-book of Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs, so I checked it out in paper. I haven't read a paper book in at least 2 years, maybe 3. And as I write this, Fire Touched still sits unread because it's just. so. awkward.

2. Instead, I keep reading Harry Potter. I finally convinced Tristan that it really was better than the movies and he can't stop reading. I foolishly agreed to read it along with him, and to be honest, I'm WAY behind.  He keeps saying things like "I'm at the Quidditch game where xyz happens!" and I'm all... uhhhh why is that funny or significant? I can't remember!

3. Noah is still reading furiously. I picked up some library books for our trip to Alabama, and a week before we left (as you read this we should be in the car!), he'd already read two of them. "Put your book down and eat!" "Put your book down and get out of my car!" "Put your book down to pee!" I really am turning into my mother.

4. All day at work I think about books (and running) and then I get home and scroll Instagram. Since the last IG update, however, it keeps crashing on me. I decided this was a sign that I should be reading.

5. Mike and I used to compete to see who would read more in a year. In the last few years, he's drifted into only reading articles on his phone and not actual books. He still reads, but it kills me that it's not a book, in paper OR e-form. However, he recently went to a conference and didn't have WiFi on the plane so he opened the Kindle app on his phone and found Walkable City by Jeff Speck on it. I bought it months ago at Janssen's recommendation and haven't gotten to it. He couldn't stop talking about how great it was. Guess I should read it now!

Centaurs, Readalongs, Books, Books, Books.

• In addition to not liking school, the Pirate is still struggling to find a book that he enjoys reading. The things he has interest in (Harry Potter, Percy Jackson) are just a bit too hard. He still scorns The Magic Treehouse and other books of the appropriate level. The one thing he is very into is an online game called Wizard 101. In Wizard 101 there are all these references to other characters from famous stories and myths. He is actually interested in reading Greek myths, but only the ones with fantastic creatures- centaurs, gorgons, satyrs. Last night I ordered a book of called What a Beast!: A Look-it-Up Guide to the Monsters and Mutants of Mythology (Mythlopedia). I hope it becomes something for him to pore over, and sparks his interest in more of the myths. It looks a little hard for him, but my fingers are crossed.
• This was a crazy busy week here. Mike was gone a couple of nights. I went to the History Book Club meeting. On Wednesday I had a job interview- it went well, but no decision for a while. It's not my dream job, but I could (and would) do it well.  I am still hoping to get into a position that is a bit more academic in nature- history, or books, or library related- but you don't turn down a job interview.
• I continue to be surprised when schools in the South cancel for bad weather 12 hours in advance of the weather happening. I understand that it's hard for them to drive on ice and snow, but at least wait for the ice and snow to start!
• I am considering the idea of a Laura Ingalls Wilder Readalong. There are Nine books in the series though, and I'm not sure if I'd want to do all of them. So a couple of questions- pick a few of the better known ones and just do those or make it more of a reading challenge to span the year and do all nine? Just pick one? The Long Winter ? Input?
• I am ahead of schedule on hexes! But I'm running out of paper pieces. I just discovered that Creative Memories made a paper punch the right size and I'm stalking them on Ebay. Sadly, they do not go for cheap, so unless I can snag one for under $20, it's not happening. 
• I made a list of due dates for non-renewable library books. I made a list of release dates for NetGalley books (once I figured out I could download them a second time when the first 55 days were up it changed the pressure.) I stopped putting library holds on books for myself. I got my library checkouts down to a mere 23 (for me, don't ask how many total we have. Let's just say that my family keeps circulation numbers up.) And then I went to that book club meeting, and had to request Free Land by Rose Wilder Lane, and then Gone Girl came in. (Tho after reading Andi's review, I'm thinking maybe I can put it off a bit longer?)  This seems doable. (I can hear you laughing!)

What I Read This Week:

• The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Of course I started it. You should see my thrift store copy, it is WELL loved. (I do have my own copies of the series, but they are, as you might guess, in storage.)
• Too Wicked to Wed by Cara Elliot. I like this one very much, but reading time has been scarce and I'm a bit bummed that the library's new Inter Library Loan policy means I might as well just buy the rest of the series.
• The Sea of Tranquility: A Novel by Katja Millay. This was on a lot of Best Of lists last year. I've barely started it and when I realized it didn't release for a few months yet I moved it on down the list to wait a while. It starts off well though!
• The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson. I follow @maurenjohnson on twitter, and absolutely had to read this one. She's a terrific example of how to market your own book. I have this in both e-book form and hard copy (both from the library). The e-book expires soon, so I swapped over to it. I have high hopes for this one. I'd LOVE to continue my streak of excellent books so far in 2013. (Wouldn't everyone?)

Enough with the Top Ten Books of 2012 Lists!

I have gone on a book requesting binge after reading so many "Best Of" lists. It's entirely possible that I have way more books than I can handle coming in from the library and from NetGalley.  I had finally worked my library stack down to a reasonable number (under a dozen!) and now? Oh man. I have no idea how I'm gonna manage this. All but three of the books on this list have a mile long waiting list, or are Inter-Library Loans, or are from NetGalley.

And really, I could return those three and then only have 13 books to deal with (which I still wouldn't get done!), except this isn't all of them. I have more hold requests. I have more NetGalley requests that are pending. I have at least a dozen OTHER books that looked interesting so I checked them out.  I may have downloaded Les Miserables to my Nook. While it's completely true that my reading eyes are bigger than my reading time, this time, I blame YOU.

End of Year wrap up, Part 2: My favorites and stats

2012 was a much better reading year in terms of quantity than 2011. I'm not sure why I had more time to read, or what changed, but I read almost twice as many books. Sadly, I didn't keep more than a basic list and I'm too lazy to go back and look up publication dates and page counts. Believe me, that won't happen again! I also didn't read much outside of my comfort zone and didn't have a ton of WOW books. I did have a very satisfying year though, with few books that were a struggle, so I'm counting it as a win.

The first thing I did was sit down and make my Best of 2012 List.  Despite reading the list several times, only 8 books really stick out for me. Part of the problem is that I read quite a few trilogies or series that have overlapping characters and they kind of all blend together into one long book for me.
Here are the top 8, in order read:

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (my mini review)
Split by Swati Avashti (my review)
Head over Heels by Jill Shalvis (my review)
Dinner: A Love Story by Jenny Rosenstrach (my review)
The Half Life of Planets by Emily Franklin and Brendon Halpin (my review)
The Sleeping Night by Barbara Samuel (my review)
Running Away to Home by Jennifer Wilson
A Most Scandalous Proposal by Ashlyn Macnamara (review to come)

I read 68 books this year.
Of those:
15 were Young Adult fiction
30 were Romance
9 were Paranormal/ Urban Fantasy/ Futuristic (but not Dystopian)
10 were Non-fiction
4 were none of the above

I read a lot of romance novels this year, many of them trilogies of books set in the same town or family. These are the authors I read more than one title from:
10 by Nora Roberts
7 by Jill Shalvis
5 by Lisa Kleypas
4 by JD Robb
3 by JR Ward
2 by Robyn Carr

I read 23 New-to- Me authors:
Patrick Ness
JA Konrath
Swati Avashti
Eleanor Brown
Jeffrey Zaslow
Donald Miller
Michelle Ray
Jennifer Reese
Lish McBride
Robyn Carr
JR Ward
Laura Dave
Alison Arngrim
Barbara Hanney
Jennifer Rosenstrach
RJ Palacio
Emily Franklin & Brandon Halpin
Victoria Dahl
Sherman Alexie
Jennifer Wilson
Ursula Poznanski
Ashlyn Macnamara
Randy O Frost & Gail Steketee

I also finally sat down this week and typed in the full lists of all the years I've been keeping track. Some of these were already done, but now you can read them all. Be warned, there are a lot of embarrassing romance titles on there!

1993   1994   1995   1996   1997   1998   1999   2000   2001   2002
2003   2004   2005   2006   2007   2008   2009   2010   2011   2012
(Or you can just click on one year and then use the sidebar over there to navigate between years.)

I've also been keeping up with the titles that Mike has read for the last three years:
2010   2011   2012

I haven't sat down to make any reading goals for next year yet. I'm hoping I can convince myself to abandon anything too ambitious and continue to read what I enjoy as it comes.

How did you do with your  reading goals this year? Did you get to everything you wanted to read? Did you surprise yourself? What was your favorite book of the year?

End of year wrap up, part 1: The Survey.

This year for my end of year wrap up, I decided to participate in Jamie's 3rd annual end of year survey. I typically make up my own categories, but this year I'm feeling particularly lazy and her questions are just so great!

1. Best book you read in 2012? (You can break it down by genre if you want.)
 Romance: A Most Scandalous Proposal by Ashlyn Macnamara
Young Adult: Split by Swati Avashi or The Half-Life of Planets by Emily Franklin and Brandon Halpin
Non-fiction: Dinner: A Love Story by Jenny Rosenstrach

2. Book you were excited about and thought you were going to love more, but didn't?
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie - SO many people love this book. I found it mildly annoying.
The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson- I wanted to love this, it's exactly my type of history, but I did not enjoy her writing at all.

3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book in 2012?
Split by Swati Avashi- it's about abuse, but I ended up liking it a lot.

4. Book you recommended to people most in 2012?
Probably Divergent by Veronica Roth, which I read last year.

5. Best series you discovered in 2012?
The Lucky Harbor series by Jill Shalvis

6. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2012?
Jill Shalvis, J. R. Ward, Ashley Macnamara

7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or in a new genre for you in 2012?
I don't read a lot outside of my comfort zone, and even when I resolve to do so, I often fail. That said, I reread The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood this year and it was pretty uncomfortable. I didn't remember much from when I read it at 17.

8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2012?
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

9. Book you read in 2012 that you are most likely to reread again next year?
In the Midnight Rain by Ruth Wind- this is my ultimate comfort read. I don't reread much, but I've read this one half a dozen times now.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2012?

I'm more influenced by bad covers than by good ones, but I really like this one. The most awful cover of 2012? I will never be able to read this one because that cover is such a turn off to me.

11. Most memorable character in 2012?
Karou from Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor.

12. Most beautifully written book in 2012?
I can't even answer this. I am rarely struck by how beautiful something is written. I'm much more likely to just sink in and enjoy it and not notice the actual words.

13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2012?
Running Away to Home by Jennifer Wilson was great for teaching me what I don't need. Split by Avashi was fairly emotional as well.

14. Book you can't believe you waited until 2012 to finally read?
Death Masks by Jim Butcher. I stalled out about halfway back in 2010 and it took me until this fall to pick it back up.

15. Favorite passage/ quote from a book you read in 2012?
I don't mark passages, so gonna have to skip this one.

16. Shortest and Longest book you read in 2012?
For the first time in 20 years I didn't track a page count. I KNOW! But looking at my list I'd bet A Monster calls by Patrick Ness is the shortest and Death Masks by Jim Butcher is the longest. I did not go look either of those up, so I could be wrong.

17. Book that had a scene in it that had you reeling and dying to talk to someone about it? Be careful of spoilers.
Nothing really. I didn't even get to whatever the WTF moment is in Gone Girl before it poofed off my e-reader. I'm back on the list for it.

18. Favorite relationship from a book you read in 2012? (friendship, romance, etc.)
Angel and Isaiah from The Sleeping Night by Barbara Samuel or Sophia and Rufus from A Most Scandalous Proposal. I also really liked the brothers relationship in the Inn Boonsboro trilogy by Nora Roberts.

19. Favorite book you read in 2012 from an author you had read previously?
The Sleeping Night by Barbara Samuel aka Ruth Wind. See question 9.

20. Best book you read based solely on a recommendation from someone else?
I read quite a few from Janssen's best of 2011 list. The best one was Split by Swati Avashi.

Back soon with Part 2: My top ten and stats!

Triangle: The Fire that Changed America by David Von Drehle

On March 25, 1911 a fire broke out in a factory on the 8th floor of the Asch building in New York City. The 8th, 9th, and 10th floors of the building were occupied by the Triangle shirtwaist company and 146 workers died, most of them young women. This would be the worst workplace disaster in NYC until September 11th. Unsafe conditions, including a possibly (probably) locked door, literally tons of highly flammable materials, and rickety fire escapes contributed to the tragedy and the owners of the shirtwaist company were put on trial and found... not guilty.

The Triangle fire is something that I knew a tiny bit about- approximately that paragraph's worth- prior to reading von Drehle's book (Triangle: The Fire That Changed America). I had this vague idea that it was something that I was interested in, and an online friend of mine is fairly obsessed with it, so when I saw the book at the library I picked it up. This book was fascinating, completely enthralling and compelling. It opens up with several chapters about labor unions and strikes and I was pretty sure I wasn't going to enjoy it- while I was a history major, unions and the attached politics were never my thing. However, social history WAS and this book is chock full of social history.  The immigrant experience is fascinating and I'm sad to say that I've never really read up on it. I'm now inspired to find more non-fiction about just that portion of American history. (This is where you all speak up with your suggestions of other books I can read on immigrant life.)

The part about the fire is very well researched and makes a compelling case for the owners of the company being at fault. The trial is detailed as well, with the lawyer for the defense being the appropriately shady, but flashy, person. (Think Johnny Cochran .) The book goes on to make a case that despite the "innocence" of the owners, factory reforms started from that point until the entire experience of the working class changed, along with much of politics (at least in NYC.) There's a detailed political history lesson throughout the book, about Tammany Hall and buying votes and socialism and all that. I admit this isn't the part that interests me most, so I'm not sure if he really made his case or not, but I did learn a good deal about it. Even with this political turn, the book is really fascinating, and a great starting point for exploring more of our history. I'd highly recommend it to any history buff.

Next up on my non-fiction list this year is The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration, which is also about immigration, in a way. What books do you recommend about the immigrant experience? What about poor working class life in a big city? Got any suggestions for life in turn of the century New York? 

Reading for the rest of the year

You may recall that at the beginning of the year I set a handful of reading challenges for myself. I had two friends pick a list of books for me to read, and then I committed to reading all of Janssen's favorites from last year. Well it suddenly occurred to me that we're looking at about 10 weeks til the end of the year and I have quite a few books left on those lists!

Here's where I am on the personal challenge-
From Shawna's list:

• A Return to Love by Marianne Williamson- I own a copy, but have not read it.
• Ishmael by Daniel Quinn- gonna have to ILL this one
• The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum- I have read this
• 19 Minutes by Jodi Picoult- I've checked this out several times, but haven't opened it.
• The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood- I currently have the book and the ebook but am only a couple chapters in.

From Lisa's list:

• The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
• Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
• Agnes and the Hitman by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer- I have read part of this, and it is really really not my style. I'll try again.
• Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer by John Grisham
• Whiskey Sour by J.A. Konrath- I've read this one.

And from Janssen's Top 12 (I'm doing much better on this list!)-

• Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
• Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt - Read and reviewed, bits of this one keep coming back to me
• What Alice Forgot by Liana Moriarty- Read for BlogHer
• Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor- Read and reviewed
• Falling For Hamlet by Michelle Ray- read and reviewed
• Make the Bread, Buy the Butter by Jennifer Reese- read and reviewed (kinda)
• The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson - downloaded to my Nook
• Room by Emma Donoghue- this one still scares me
• Split by Swati Avasthi- read and reviewed, can't stop thinking about this one
• After Ever After by Jordan Sonnenblick
• Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vandenpool
• The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

Ok, so that's only 14 books to finish up, I can do that if I try, right?

Oh, but wait. There's a few books on my Nook from Net Galley. I should read those before they expire too.

• Just a Wish Away by Barbara Freethy
• Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
• Erebos by Ursula Poznanski 

And I promised to write a review for The Midwife of Hope River by Patricia Harman. (I started it, I swear, but the very first page is a stillbirth and I didn't get past that.)

And I hate to leave a book unfinished over the new year, so I should finish the ones I have half read too.

• Death Masks by Jim Butcher
• Sullivan's Woman by Nora Roberts
• Married by Mistake by Abby Gaines 
• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie - Finished this up last night

That's only 22  21 books. I have 10 weeks. That's two books a week. If I up my pace just a tiny bit I should make it, right? Plus, those last four are almost done (if you define almost as "has already started") and half of Janssen's list are young adult (of course, those are the ones I've already read, but who's counting?) (oh, wait, I'm counting.) Still. I can do this. (If I don't do anything else, maybe. Anything else like sew. Or cook. Or clean or eat or breathe.)

What's that? I can't hear you. You'll have to speak up. Oh. That. Yeah. That one might push me over the edge. And speaking of chunksters, there's this one too. So 23 books total. Once I read them all I"ll have read about twice the number of books I read last year.  I don't see any reason why this won't happen.

Nah, I got all the time in the world to sit around and read.


PS. At the time of writing this post I had 21 library books checked out. Books that do not appear anywhere on this list.  I carefully wrote them all down and returned them. Oh, well, except for one or two. And I can't very well not read the two ILL books I just requested last week, I can't renew those.

If you need me, I'll be over there with my nose in a book.

Top Ten Tuesday: Series I really should finish

There are a lot of really great series of books out there, and like many of you, plenty of series I've started but never made it to the end. I thought that I'd join up with The Broke and the Bookish this week and list a few for you.  In no particular order...

1. The Black Dagger Brotherhoodby J. R. Ward. A local friend even loaned me her copies and I never made it to the end! They were really good though, and I really want to get back to them.
2. The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. I was flying through these until we moved, and then I seem to have lost the one I was in the middle of and never bothered checking the library for it.
3. The Hollows by Kim Harrison. I love these while I'm reading them, but as soon as I put them down I forget about them.
4. Weather Wardens by Rachel Caine. Are we seeing an urban fantasy theme here? Mike loved these.
5. In Death by J.D. Robb. I'm making real headway on this series. I think I'm somewhere around book 36 with only a handful left. I don't read the novellas.
6. Kitty Norville series by Carrie Vaughn . I have no explanation for all these urban fantasy series, except there are just SO MANY of them!
7. Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter by Laurel Hamilton. And honestly, I won't finish this one, too many characters and too much going on to reacquaint myself with.
8. I gave up on the Stephanie Plum Novels by Janet Evanovich. The one good thing about them was the humor, but even that was getting stale and repetitive.
9. Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. Ok. I never finished the first one. BUT I WILL. (I'm looking at you, Andi.)
10. The The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. No, I never read 2 and 3, and I want to! Somehow they are never the most compelling books on my shelves.

What about you? What series are you stalled on? Is it because it's boring or outdated or because there just isn't enough time? Should I be jumping back into one of these?

All links go to the first title in the series.

Picturing Pierre: Prairie Pages (Where in the World are you Reading?)

This week is my turn to post my local bookstore in the Where in the World are you Reading? meme hosted by Trish, Kailana, and myself. I live in a very small town in the middle-of-nowhere, Pierre, SD. (Yes, it's the state capital, but it's very small and no where near an interstate or big city.) In Pierre, we have one bookstore- Prairie Pages.



Prairie Pages is located in Historic Downtown Pierre, in a small, narrow space. Their front windows are papered with posters for local events and new books, and in the back room they have local authors and items.

As you enter the store there is a small table with new releases and best sellers, and there are small nooks for non-fiction like cookbooks and travel.


After you pass the service counter you reach the fiction section, which is roughly 6 sections of shelving wide- this is it, plus two more angled sections.


Then you're on to the kids sections, with picture books.



and baby books and gifts.


You walk up a couple little steps into a comfy living room style room for teen and young adults. I love the little beaded curtain that sets it off from the rest. I think the kids and young adult sections are the best parts of this little store.


Turning around on the step up to YA, this is the entire store (minus YA), from back to front. I admit, I don't spend a lot of money there, but it's more because I don't buy books than because of the quality of the bookstore. It's a charming little store, full of gifts and nice books.

What is your local bookstore like? Have you linked up with us yet? (Go here to do so!)

The Books Lists Life Personal Reading Challege

I don't usually do very well at reading challenges. I'm not sure I've actually ever completed one successfully. I get a little jealous of all the fun lists everyone else is making, but I'm realistic and I know I won't complete a challenge anyway. Despite this, I decided that I wanted to do a little personal challenge with a couple of friends. I thought that maybe I would slowly work my way through my reading friends, and maybe stir up a little conversation with them.

The idea is that we'd each make a list of 5 or 6 books and then the other person would read 4 or 5 of them. We are allowed an out, in case the other person picked something horrible, like poetry or a play. There is no time limit on the challenge and no pressure.

The first person I asked my my good friend Shawna. Shawna lives in Rapid City so we don't see each other often, and we don't read all the same books, but we both share a love of books and libraries (like many of you.) Shawna's favorite books are ones that make you cry. They rip your heart out and stomp on them, and make you ache for the characters. She likes serious books and women's fiction, with a big dose of non-fiction and memoirs to round it out. The more drama the better.  We both read and loved The Time Traveler's Wife, Me & Emma, and A Thousand Splendid Suns.

For Shawna, I chose:

• Heartbreak Hotel by Anne Rivers Siddons. This one is set in a fictional Auburn during integration. I've read it at least 6 times and love it.
• Divergent by Veronica Roth. I loved this one last year and want to make everyone else read it.
• The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. It's possible I don't love it as much as I once did, but it made a big impact on me in college, so here it is.
• Girl Meets God: On the Path to a Spiritual Life by Lauren Winner. For an unreligious person (I prefer to think of myself as spiritual. Hork.), I seem to read a lot of religious memoirs.
• Moon Called (Mercy Thompson) by Patricia Briggs. This is the first book in what is, hands down, my favorite series.

I did NOT give her any traditional romances. I was tempted, but I did not.

For me, Shawna picked:

• A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of "A Course in Miracles" by Marianne Williamson.
• Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit by Daniel Quinn.
• Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
• The Wizard of Oz (Puffin Classics) by L Frank Baum
• The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (I've actually read this, but it was in high school and I don't remember much of it at all.)

The second person I asked was another Lisa, who (used to, ahem) blog at Git Down Kitty. Lisa is a quilt and craft blogger, not a books blogger, but as we've chatted extensively online it's come to light that we both do a good bit of reading. She reads more in the chick lit and mystery genres, with the occasional young adult thrown in for good measure. She's one of the many people encouraging me to read Outlander .

For Lisa, I chose:

• Heartbreak Hotel by Anne Rivers Siddons.
• Divergent by Veronica Roth.
• Moon Called by Patricia Briggs.
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
• Me & Emma by Elizabeth Flock. If you haven't read this, please do, so I can ask you a Question!

For me, Lisa chose:

• The Prince of Tides: A Novel by Pat Conroy (unrelated note, my ex-sister-in-law's two cats were Conroy and Austen.)
• Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
• Agnes and the Hitman by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer
• Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer by John Grisham
• Whiskey Sour (Jack Daniels Mysteries) by J. A. Konrath

My original list for Lisa was much longer, but I managed to narrow it down. For now.

If you were to pick a list of books for another blogger, would it be the same list for everyone, or would you prefer to match it to the other blogger? I had a hard time with this decision, I think my ultimate list would have ended up differently if I wasn't able to swap up a couple books. I wanted to formalize this as a challenge for myself, because someone when people say "Oh you HAVE to read this!" I don't ever DO it. This is a way to push myself to read books that other people truly loved.

How about you? Do you tend to push those recommendations to the side? Do you read them immediately? Especially for books that aren't new releases? Would you do a challenge of this type with a friend?