"Although having a girlfriend or wife didn't exempt some of the men from being assholes, they were usually more comfortable with me"
That's a quote from a book I'm currently reading. [Hotshot: A life on Fire]. It's a memoir written by a woman who'd worked several seasons as a wildland firefighter. (Note: they currently identify as nonbinary, but during the firefighting days, "they" was "she").
I'd originally picked up the book for tips on building trails and managing the surroundings at our boonie property, but it's interesting learning her experiences in such a physically grueling, male-dominated job. I purposely chose a book written by a female author for those latter reasons.
It's also interesting to me since we live in a state that gets its share of wildfires. In fact, our new property is in recovery mode from a 2012 fire. The book isn't just memoir, it gets into ecology and pros and cons of wildfires. I'm learning stuff.
It also marks my 26th book of the year. Recall I'd set a goal to read 26 books in 2026, and I'm ahead of the pace. Here are the books I've completed since my last update in April. Recognize any?
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For the most part, I liked all of them well enough or I wouldn't have finished them. But they're quite a mix. "Bunny" is super weird, for lack of a better term. The two books by Emily Austin deal with pretty flawed main characters and read like a series of random journal entries. Some readers don't like that, but heck, I read blogs, so that works okay for me.
Whacha readin'?
I'd only read the Clare Chambers and Liane Moriarty ones and they were ok, nothing extraordinary about them, that Fire sounds interesting so might look it up. I average about 75 books a year so often only remember the authors not the book titles.
ReplyDeleteWow, 75! Good for you.
DeleteYep I think most of these were about 3/5 stars for me. Even as I type, I'm struggling to remember the plot of the Clair Chambers book.
Oh my gosh I think I'm only on book 10 for the year. I read so slow and only read at night in bed so then I fall asleep! I just finished The Calamity Club and it was really good!
ReplyDeleteI mainly read at bedtime too, and typically fall asleep. I started reading more throughout the day - as an alternative to doom scrolling. I have a kindle and also listen to audiobooks, so those are handy.
DeleteWhat was the last book you said, nope, not gonna finish this? Or nope, not gonna read it even when already purchased?
ReplyDeleteI bought a Christmas mystery last year and ended up donating it. I cannot recall the name. Just couldn't get into it.
Ooh, good question! Yeah, often a book sounds good in the moment, but if I'm not getting into it, that's likely not going to change.
DeleteI think the last book I DNF'd was Hum by Helen Phillips. I really liked the premise - dystopian, and deals with AI and our reliance on technology. But I didn't care for the main character, and her kids were bratty and annoying. I don't need to like a character in order to like a story, but in this case, the unlikeableness (to me) wasn't necessary for the plot.
I typically get books from the library, so no cost except for my time.
I so get that too though. I'm that way with shows at times if I just don't like the characters, and I mean at all it's hard for me to want to continue watching. Now ... I do like a good villain that I'm not to like but like but don't if that makes sense.
DeleteYes, exactly! If the character is supposed to be unlikable as part of the plot, then no problem.
DeleteRight, yeah, yeah, I agree with that. For sure. Reading is so fun. I just this week finished a book I started last year. I dunno why I stopped that particular one but glad to finish it up.
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