The Marci Rating System

*53 posts tagged as fic rec! That seems like a nice achievement for the year, even though time is meaningless and numbers don't matter.

*Lots of Star Wars and batfam on the fic list this year -- two fandoms for which I have consumed almost zero canon, which I think makes them way more fun. (There's just so much canon out there for those two things! Who has the time when there's fic to read instead???)

*I read a nonfiction book that I really liked this year! Notable in that it rarely happens! (Women Rowing North, by Mary Pipher)

*Shoutout to the SUMMER READING ADVENTURE at the local library, which re-introduced me to libby and got me to sign up for hoopla, both of which provide free books and audiobooks (and more!). The WINTER READING ADVENTURE begins on January 2nd, and I'm so excited!

*2024, year of audiobooks! It turns out that CROCHET is the answer to 'what can I do while I listen to an audiobook that provides JUST the right amount of additional engagement so that both activities are enhanced?'

The local library's SUMMER READING ADVENTURE officially ends on August 9th, so we have just one week left to collect stickers. I have THREE states left:

*IOWA: Read a book with birds on the cover, written by an indigenous author, or set in Iowa.

(I actually found a book via Libby that had one (1) bird on the cover, and it seemed fun -- witches and romance! But it was too scary for me, so I stopped reading. I'm sure there are many amazing fanfics with cover art that includes birds, but alas, this does not seem to be something searchable on AO3.)

*MONTANA: Read a book that has multiple POVs, part of a trilogy, or set in Montana.

(This should be relatively easy, since multiple POVs are very common in fanfic. Mostly I've been leaving this one till the end on purpose, but also because I feel a little stressed about picking the 'right' thing for this one.)

*OKLAHOMA: Read a Librarian's recommendation, featuring cowboys, or set in Oklahoma.

(Oh, Oklahoma. Why are you so challenging?)

Okay, so starandrea and I are doing the summer reading challenge at the local library, which is AWESOME and has STICKERS. And the challenge is themed around the 50 US states -- we got a little packet that lists each state with some fun facts, and then each state says something like this (actual challenge for Wisconsin):

Read a book with a white cover, featuring cheese, or set in Wisconsin.

(Crucially, there is also a place to put the sticker, once you win it.)

Since I mostly read fanfic and romance novels, I immediately ID'd Wisconsin as A Problem. White covers, cheese, and Wisconsin don't tend to feature heavily in either of those categories.

BUT! Each Sunday I get a BookBub email with book offers, and it usually includes some free ones for kindle download, so this week I grabbed up 'Wedding of the Century' by Patricia McLinn, because it had a lake on the cover (Indiana: read a book set at the lake) and it sounded like a small town (Illinois: read a book set in a neighborhood).

And then I started reading it, and LO AND BEHOLD!!! The lake and neighborhood are IN WISCONSIN! I've never been so excited about Wisconsin. The Indiana and Illinois challenges will have to wait; WISCONSIN IS CALLING!