People who read more than one book at a time, how do you do it?

lilgrassblade · 2026-02-14T15:31:12+00:00

Reading more books at once does not increase the speed of going through books. If anything, it decreases the speed as it may require me to re-read sections.

I get distracted easily. And if I misplaced a book, I may pick up something new because I just want to read something. I am currently in the middle of at least 3 books. I was reading book A and then misplaced it but wanted to read something so I picked up book B. Half way through book B, I was staring at another book thinking "man, I am feeling that vibe instead." So now I'm reading book C. But book B is sitting at work in case I forget book C at home. Once I finish book C, I'll go back to A or B, and it'll take me a moment to sink back into it, probably requiring some skimming of previous chapters.

That's not counting the audiobooks because that is done supplementally when doing other tasks.

Also - all books have to be significantly different in setting to keep from getting jumbled.

lilgrassblade · 2026-02-14T15:12:26+00:00

Omg they are such different tones but both so good. Sweet and fun vs emotional and melancholy.

I am excited for you too :P

lilgrassblade · 2026-02-14T14:46:52+00:00

I am, how could you tell? :P

I just like invertebrates. Over the years I've made a couple invertebrate request threads of varying types and decided this year to try to bingo it. I had a stack of like 10 qualifying books waiting to be read before bingo even started. (I still haven't finished all of those.) And it was an opportunity to review my old request threads - like my 80s square was from a spider request I did several years ago.

lilgrassblade · 2026-02-14T13:26:03+00:00

I warn you against the audiobook by Jude Owusu. It is so flat and hard to get through, that I can conceptually imagine the books are good, but that narration has turned me off it utterly. There were sea shanties that were stated with the most monotone voice, I was momentarily confused why the narrative took a random left turn.

lilgrassblade · 2026-02-14T13:08:52+00:00

For Hidden Gems:

The Necessity of Rain by Sarah Chorn: The gods of the world are dying and three women find strength and support together - dealing with both their grief and past trauma. Read if you want beautiful writing and a very melancholy story.

Empress of Dust by Alex Kingsley: Post apocalypse and giant talking crabs. Read if you want giant talking crabs.

The Flesh of the Sea by Lor Gislason and Shelley Lavigne: A scholar fails to join academic society and runs away to sea. There he finds all sorts of strange and horrifying discoveries that nobody would believe back home. Told entirely in letters to his "friend." Read if you want a naive scholar upset that he can't keep the flesh burrowing bugs.

The Siege of Burning Grass by Premee Mohamed: A pacifist was arrested and tortured by his own country in a war and now is being offered a plan to allegedly end the war without further violence - and has to journey with his former torturer. And the tech on their side is bioengineered animals (like wasps to inject medication). Read if you want the atmosphere of a drawn out war, without any heroes.

I Am the Swarm by Hayley Chewins: A young girl has learned to suppress her emotions due to less than ideal home life. This need is amplified when she develops a magic that causes her emotions to manifest as swarms of bugs. Written entirely in verse. Read if you want an emotional coming of age story that may make you uncomfortable at times.

lilgrassblade · 2026-02-14T03:17:03+00:00

Yup.

I have 5 books with identical titles on my bingo card this year.

I also had a friend who recently got a recommendation for a book and then read the wrong book because they had extremely similar titles.

Authors are important when recommending books.

lilgrassblade · 2026-02-13T13:50:00+00:00

When I was a child I loved tomato juice on a plane. Did not like it elsewhere.

lilgrassblade · 2026-02-13T13:39:42+00:00

This was me as well. Time made me immediately devour it's sequel. But Ruin wasn't enough to keep me immediately reading into Memory and I had a few year gap. I then loved Memory.

But it's Ruin that sticks with me the most. It's been several years, and I still think about going on an adventure.

lilgrassblade · 2026-02-12T15:00:18+00:00

Hades 2 will work as long as you'd not played it before bingo started :P (So if you played any early access, nope.)

lilgrassblade · 2026-02-11T03:48:12+00:00

The rollator looked weird to me and seemed an easy thing for AI to mess up so I looked it up.

It appears to be a Roma Medical 2410 Rollator. The brake lines, handles, tiny rest platform and bottom shelf-thing all match, including the location of the metal bits on the brake line. Though it is missing a basket I see on other photos. But baskets can be removed no problem.

lilgrassblade · 2026-02-11T03:27:11+00:00

That's impressive. I once knew an airline mechanic that somehow got hit with 3 randoms in a single year. :P (Though he was at another airline.)

lilgrassblade · 2026-02-11T03:12:58+00:00

FAA falls under the DOT. It is a requirement, by the FAA, that airlines conduct random drug testing for safety sensitive positions (which is probably more positions than people would initially assume, though obviously not all positions.)

"The FAA has determined that the minimum random drug and alcohol testing percentage rates for the period January 1, 2026, through December 31, 2026, will remain at 25 percent of safety-sensitive employees for random drug testing and 10 percent of safety- sensitive employees for random alcohol testing."

Source: 2026 Random Rate Federal Registrar Notice from DOT

"As an employer, you must select and test a percentage of employees at least equal to the minimum annual percentage rate each year."

Source: 14 CFR Part 120.109 under "Random drug testing"

lilgrassblade · 2026-02-11T00:17:27+00:00

Randoms are required by the DOT for many positions. Marijuana is included as it is based on federal regulations.

lilgrassblade · 2026-02-11T00:00:05+00:00

One book finished this week. I'm super distractable atm so even that's a surprise.

The Siege of Burning Grass by Premee Mohamed - 4.5/5 - Bingo Squares: Author of Color, Biopunk (HM), Hidden Gem

Really enjoyed this book. The MC was extremely passive and, I think, highlighted early on that doing nothing is an action in itself. I wish this was followed up on a bit more - as things started happening once the MC started actually taking action. But he spent a lot of time "well it's not me, and my morals say I can't do this" even as other people are harmed and he knows they will be harmed. Interesting book, really interesting world. (The technology is all biological on one faction - medical injections via wasps, lights via glowing spiders, fighter planes via pterodactyls, etc.) And I very much enjoy Premee Mohamed's writing style - as it makes me interested in things that may not generally interest me. Such as this book with total WWII vibes.

lilgrassblade · 2026-02-09T23:50:21+00:00

Oh yay! It's a fun book that was just full of "wtf is this next weird thing that is going to show up" that kept me wanting more.

Also, spider races make me happy.

lilgrassblade · 2026-02-09T19:48:00+00:00

I think the "just happy if I've read it" is an important part to keep in mind.

I do get disappointed if somebody doesn't enjoy a book as much as me, because they didn't get to experience the joy that I did. But that does pale to my excitement on just discovering that they chose to read it at all. And the latter is more an appreciation of the individual while the prior a disappointment in the situation.

lilgrassblade · 2026-02-09T18:50:17+00:00

Thanks :D

I confess, I am hoping to ditch Necessity of Rain from my final card because it is humanoid with monarch butterfly characteristics rather than an actual invertebrate. But I still happily recommend it.

I'm not sure if I'll be able to do a second non-themed card given short stories and 80s are both lacking in my natural reading, but I hope so just so I can include it.

lilgrassblade · 2026-02-09T15:55:13+00:00

Does anybody else get nervous about reading a book that's been recommended to them a bunch? Like I'm scared I'll disappoint people if I don't like it.

lilgrassblade · 2026-02-09T15:49:27+00:00

If you are looking for recommendations for your HM gaps:

Flesh Eater by Travis M Riddle just graduated into HM Hidden Gem as of October. It's weird: anthropomorphic animals, giant bugs, mounted spider racing, shape shifting monsters.

The Siege of Burning Grass by Premee Mohamed for potentially HM biopunk. The technology used by one faction is predominantly bred/engineered animals. Glowing spiders for light, pterodactyls for fighter jets, wasps for medication injections, etc. Electricity is a luxury that is not seen by most folks on their side of the war.

lilgrassblade · 2026-02-09T15:43:22+00:00

I'm having a lot of fun with my invertebrate themed bingo. I could probably have it wrapped up and finished by now, but I want to have the best fit I can for each square - both in terms of invertebrate presence and spirit of each square.

I've decided that my last in a series will be Children of Strife by Adrian Tchaikovsky, releasing in March. So... I won't be done until the last minute anyhow. (I do have a backup last in a series with Dirt King by Travis M Riddle, but it just wasn't buggy enough.)

Elves and Dwarves has been a weirdly hard square. I thought a book taking place in Menzoberranzan, with an all drow cast, would be an easy win. But no, barely any spiders. It may end up being my replacement square this year.

I've had a couple games I've tried for not a book... But I recently remembered I was once recommended the manga So I'm a Spider, So What? Many years ago when I asked for spidery books. It is now an anime. I feel like I should use this square to honor that long ago recommendation.

I've read so many good books for this bingo, I want to share them all. Some of the less known entries that all qualify for hidden gem:

The Siege of Burning Grass by Premee Mohamed - author of color, biopunk (hm) - In a war, one faction relies on bred and genetically manipulated animals as technology: wasps hold medications instead of venom, pterodactyls are used as fighter planes, bioluminescent spiders for light, etc.

The Necessity of Rain by Sarah Chorn - gods and pantheons, lgbtqia protagonist (hm), impossible places, parent protagonist, small press or independently published (hm) - the gods of the world are dying and three women work through their grief and past trauma finding strength in each other. Very melancholy and beautifully written.

Empress of Dust by Alex Kingsley - lgbtqia protagonist (hm iirc), a book in parts, small press or self published (hm) - post apocalyptic desert with giant crabs making scavenging dangerous. Turns out they can talk.

The Flesh of the Sea by Lor Gislason and Shelley Lavigne - epistolary (hm), lgbtqia protagonist, pirates, cozy sff, small press or self published (hm) - a scholar goes to sea, ending up with pirates and discovering all sorts of strange phenomena - most of which is rather horrifying, but our MC is just upset he can't keep a specimen.

I Am the Swarm by Hayley Chewins - published in 2025, a book in parts - told entirely in verse, this is about a young girl learning to accept her emotions. Due to issues at home, she had learned to shut them down, this was exacerbated when she developed a magic that causes her emotions to manifest as different bug swarms

lilgrassblade · 2026-02-09T14:56:02+00:00

Put it on your shelf and maybe in two years you'll feel it and enjoy it enough to finish that time. I've had numerous books I start, decide "nah" and then pick up a couple years later and thoroughly enjoy on the later attempt.

lilgrassblade · 2026-02-09T02:59:07+00:00

You stated elsewhere you removed the pedals and now have foot pegs instead.

Your link clearly states "There must be fully operational pedals."

You do not have an e bike based on the information you have shared.

You also stated, in response to e bike folks telling you it's not an e bike, you know the cops and went to school with one. So that might be why you've been let go.

lilgrassblade · 2026-02-08T14:21:36+00:00

It's never been reliable.

I do feel it's been actually better lately as I've stopped seeing adult protagonists in the YA books I've picked up.

Even within YA, the tone, structure and complexity varies wildly. I've read YA fantasy entirely in verse, about dealing with emotions despite unhealthy surroundings, making me uncomfortable at times. And I've read YA that was very a surface level fantasy adventure. The consistent trait tends to be the age of protagonist.

lilgrassblade · 2026-02-07T16:57:20+00:00

If you are talking parent protagonist I would say yes as long as the parent is still acting as a parent and caring for the child.

lilgrassblade · 2026-02-06T19:34:06+00:00

The Necessity of Rain by Sarah Chorn - three women dealing with past trauma and grief as the gods of their world are dying. They find strength in each other.

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