I have a lot of books. Well, compared to some bloggers I see I don’t have tons, but I think I have a lot. Of the books that I have at home, I haven’t read most of them. I’m sure I’m not alone in that either. So I’ve decided to give myself a challenge for 2020 to read more of these books.
I thought about this for a while. I didn’t want to make a list or set a number or anything that would make me rebel. I’m the ultimate mood reader after all. In the end I decided to add a section to my monthly wrap up post to highlight I book I already owned that I read. That way I hopefully would get at least one a month to put in that section. I started to think about how to define a book that would count – I couldn’t have bought it immediately prior to reading it, etc. – but decided in the end that I would know in my heart if a book counted for this or not.
It is the perfect plan for me. Low expectations and no rules. Feel free to steal the idea if you like it.
What do you do to read all the books that you have sitting around?
Everybody is putting out these end of the decade review so I have to join in. (Can we just take a moment to acknowledge though that it isn’t really then end of the decade just like 2000 wasn’t the beginning of a new millenium? Yeah, yeah, I lost that argument too.)
Anyway, I was thinking about the changes in how I read and select books over the last 10 years.
In 2009/2010 I was living in a small city in the middle of pretty much nowhere. It had a decent library though. I’d go all the time and browse. I’d always check out the new books and then have a wander through the rest of the stacks. It was small enough to do that. I’d decide what to get based on what I saw.
In 2012 we moved to a bigger city with an exponentially larger library with branches. I’m fairly close to the main library and started browsing there. I’d still scan the new releases for ideas mostly. This library was 3 stories. I couldn’t wander efficiently through all the stacks.
I’m not sure when that all started to change. It had to be after I started making a TBR on Goodreads. Maybe it was book twitter. (Today is my 6 year twitter anniversary. I only know that because it so helpfully told me this morning.) Now I never go and just have a wander around. I request books I want and pick them up at the most convenient branch. In and out in minimal time.
The only time I do any browsing is on the library ebook/audiobook app. I browse especially for audiobooks. I just tell it to show me what came out recently and I make a list of what sounds good.
I also try to get as much as I can in ebook now. That way I don’t even need to go to the library. It is instant gratification.
Is it just me or has everyone changed their browsing habits too?
Week 4: (Nov. 18 to 22) – Nonfiction Favorites (Leann of Shelf Aware): We’ve talked about how you pick nonfiction books in previous years, but this week I’m excited to talk about what makes a book you’ve read one of your favorites. Is the topic pretty much all that matters? Are there particular ways a story can be told or particular writing styles that you love? Do you look for a light, humorous approach or do you prefer a more serious tone? Let us know what qualities make you add a nonfiction book to your list of favorites.
I’ll read nonfiction about any topic. Sometimes I think that the topic is the least important part for me. If the book is well done, I’ll be interested in a topic that I never considered interesting before. So what does make a nonfiction book a winner for me?
Bring the author along for the ride
I love books that chronicle the way the author learned about the topic. I don’t just want to read a treatise on the history of honey when I can get a story about a woman driving around the country learning about honey.
Make truth stranger than fiction
I love books that make me sit up and say, “What now?” I still count almost swerving off the road at a key point in the audiobook version of Devil in the Grove as one of my favorite reading moments. If I’m compelled to tell the next person I see all about what I just learned, you have a hit book.
Tell me something I don’t know about what I do know
I feel like I’m pretty well educated on the high points of history but there is so much that slips through the cracks. I like hearing “the rest of the story.” (Yep, showing my age there.)
I’ve been reading and doing stuff. Honestly. What I haven’t been doing is writing. Since I don’t seem to have enough info for a full post about anything in particular here is a list of random stuff that’s been going on around here.
I’ve been reading a huge amount of Julia Quinn’s backlist. I’ve finished a few of her series but I haven’t even started her big series that has about 18 books in it. Maybe that’s why I’m not writing reviews. “Yep, that there was another Julia Quinn book….. stay tuned for the next one….”
I have fancy finger nails. I always have pedicures but don’t do my fingers because nail polish doesn’t survive in vet clinics. There is way too much hand washing. My sister-in-law started selling ColorStreet. They are sort of like nail polish made into a sticker. (I’m sure that’s not the official explanation.) They stay on for a least a week on me. It is a miracle.
I have watermelon right now but I think my favorites are the glittery ones. Here’s a link to her page if you want some.
My mom and I are starting a run of musical watching. I bought her some tickets to touring companies for Christmas. We just went to see Dear Evan Hansen. (Note my glitter nails. We were going to the theater after all.)
Next up is Come From Away, about the town in Canada that hosted all the people whose planes were grounded on 9/11. I have a book about that. I should read that before I go see the play. Those two were her Christmas presents. We just added in tickets to The Book of Mormon in September.
I’m going on vacation! Not any time soon though. We booked another Viking river cruise for next fall. We’ll be starting in Germany and cruising the Danube to Budapest. We may add on a few days in Prague before the start of the cruise.
My poor garden is floundering. It has rained everyday here for weeks. Everything is stunted and sad. I pulled off the mulch to try to get the soil to dry out. Now we’ve had a few days of no rain and my tomato plants are trying to grow. They are sad little things with about 6 leaves and 2 tomatoes on them. I may pull the tomatoes that are starting to try to save the plants’ energy to put towards growth.
I’m playing the Wizards Unite game. My friend code is 9673 0870 8286 if you are playing too.
I’m making two baby quilts. One is bigfoot and one is flamingos. I’ve been wanting to make the flamingo quilt and I’m using my neighbors having a baby as an excuse. They have plastic flamingos in the yard. I’ve never met these people but my husband talks to them a lot. I need to get moving though. I just had this idea and the baby is due in a few weeks. The background fabric just showed up so I can get started.
I think that’s about it for now. What are you all up to?
I recently went to a book discussion at my local art museum. They had chosen Nnedi Okorafor’s Binti to read to complement a traveling exhibition called Dig by Jeff Donaldson.
He was an African-American artist in the 1960s who did multimedia work. He did collages and paintings. His work tied together African art from the past by using motifs from several African countries in addition to modern images. I loved the whole exhibit.
By far my favorite piece was one called One 4 Bearden.
Obviously the first thing I saw was the image of a harpist partially made up by quilt blocks. Perfect for me. Seriously, this wants to come and live at my house. I was so sad that there were no available reproductions available to buy. The museum gift shop didn’t have anything about this exhibit. I was there with my money out ready to buy.
Anyway, look at the top corners and you see the Egyptian harpists in the background. The more you look the more you see. The whole exhibit was like this.
The discussion was ok. I’m a Nnedi Okorafor nerd. I’ve read all her books and I follow her on Twitter. So people would reference stuff in the biography in Binti and it took all my self control not to be like, “That’s a few years out of date. She’s moved on from there because….” Don’t go all super fangirl on the nice people. You’ll scare the muggles who are talking about never really reading sci-fi much. They liked the book and are talking about reading more of her books. Let that stand as is.
I loved the idea of picking a book to complement the traveling exhibits. They only do it a few times a year but I’ll definitely see what they chose next even if it means going out in public and talking to strangers.
“When LSD was first discovered in the 1940s, it seemed to researchers, scientists and doctors as if the world might be on the cusp of psychological revolution. It promised to shed light on the deep mysteries of consciousness, as well as offer relief to addicts and the mentally ill. But in the 1960s, with the vicious backlash against the counter-culture, all further research was banned. In recent years, however, work has quietly begun again on the amazing potential of LSD, psilocybin and DMT. Could these drugs in fact improve the lives of many people? Diving deep into this extraordinary world and putting himself forward as a guinea-pig, Michael Pollan has written a remarkable history of psychedelics and a compelling portrait of the new generation of scientists fascinated by the implications of these drugs. How to Change Your Mind is a report from what could very well be the future of human consciousness.“
I’m a huge fan of Michael Pollan’s food writing. I’m not sure where he is going with this one but I’ll give it a try.
What Am I Listening To
“Nashville, August 1920. Thirty-five states have ratified the Nineteenth Amendment, twelve have rejected or refused to vote, and one last state is needed. It all comes down to Tennessee, the moment of truth for the suffragists, after a seven-decade crusade. The opposing forces include politicians with careers at stake, liquor companies, railroad magnates, and a lot of racists who don’t want black women voting. And then there are the ‘Antis’–women who oppose their own enfranchisement, fearing suffrage will bring about the moral collapse of the nation. They all converge in a boiling hot summer for a vicious face-off replete with dirty tricks, betrayals and bribes, bigotry, Jack Daniel’s, and the Bible.“
I’m still listening to this one. It is slow going because I have to keep stopping to cuss people out.
“Centuries after the last humans left Earth, the Exodus Fleet is a living relic, a place many are from but few outsiders have seen. Humanity has finally been accepted into the galactic community, but while this has opened doors for many, those who have not yet left for alien cities fear that their carefully cultivated way of life is under threat.
Tessa chose to stay home when her brother Ashby left for the stars, but has to question that decision when her position in the Fleet is threatened.
Kip, a reluctant young apprentice, itches for change but doesn’t know where to find it.
Sawyer, a lost and lonely newcomer, is just looking for a place to belong.
When a disaster rocks this already fragile community, those Exodans who still call the Fleet their home can no longer avoid the inescapable question:
What is the purpose of a ship that has reached its destination?”
What Am I Listening To
“Nashville, August 1920. Thirty-five states have ratified the Nineteenth Amendment, twelve have rejected or refused to vote, and one last state is needed. It all comes down to Tennessee, the moment of truth for the suffragists, after a seven-decade crusade. The opposing forces include politicians with careers at stake, liquor companies, railroad magnates, and a lot of racists who don’t want black women voting. And then there are the ‘Antis’–women who oppose their own enfranchisement, fearing suffrage will bring about the moral collapse of the nation. They all converge in a boiling hot summer for a vicious face-off replete with dirty tricks, betrayals and bribes, bigotry, Jack Daniel’s, and the Bible.“
After a rolicking reading week last time, I was back to just finishing one book.
I have an excuse this time though. On Saturday, we had my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary party. It turned out to be a big shindig. I didn’t get a final turnout but we were expecting about 75 people. People came in from all over the U.S. They all kept congratulating me on being able to pull off a party of that size and getting all those people there. This confused me. I literally sent one group message to any relatives I’ve friended on Facebook and followed that with a mailed invitation. That was the extent of my involvement in who showed up. It was all of them to decided to book plane tickets and come.
I spent the day monitoring the food and explaining who people were. Since it was both my mom’s and dad’s side of the family, people would sidle up and try to figure out if other people were distant relatives they didn’t remember or if they weren’t related to these people at all. My dad’s family was made up of 9 kids with over 30 years between the oldest and youngest. So many nieces and nephews are younger than uncles, etc. To outsiders it looks like generational chaos, so I was fielding all the “Now, which ones are your dad’s brothers?” questions.
“Adèle has only one goal: catch the purple-haired thief who broke into her home and stole her exocore, thus proving herself to her new police team. Little does she know, her thief is also the local baker.
Claire owns the Croissant-toi, but while her days are filled with pastries and customers, her nights are dedicated to stealing exocores. These new red gems are heralded as the energy of the future, but she knows the truth: they are made of witches’ souls.
When her twin—a powerful witch and prime exocore material—disappears, Claire redoubles in her efforts to investigate. She keeps running into Adèle, however, and whether or not she can save her sister might depend on their conflicted, unstable, but deepening relationship.”
What Am I Listening To
“Whales are among the largest, most intelligent, deepest diving species to have ever lived on our planet. They evolved from land-roaming, dog-like creatures into animals that move like fish, breathe like us, can grow to 300,000 pounds, live 200 years and roam entire ocean basins. Whales fill us with terror, awe, and affection–yet we know hardly anything about them, and they only enter our awareness when they die, struck by a ship or stranded in the surf. Why did it take whales over 50 million years to evolve to such big sizes, and how do they eat enough to stay that big? How did their ancestors return from land to the sea? Why do they beach themselves? What do their lives tell us about our oceans, and evolution as a whole? Importantly, in the sweepstakes of human-driven habitat and climate change, will whales survive?
Nick Pyenson’s research has given us the answers to some of our biggest questions about whales. Nick’s rich storytelling takes us to the cool halls deep inside the Smithsonian’s priceless fossil collection, to the frigid fishing decks on Antarctic whaling stations, and to the blazing hot desert of Chile where scientists race against time to document the largest fossil whalebone site on earth. Spying on Whales is science writing at its best: an author who is an incredible, passionate writer, at the forefront of his field, on a topic that invokes deep fascination.”
This is the first week in a long time where I’ve felt like myself in terms of reading. I had a run of good books that kept me engaged instead of letting me drift off to something else without ever settling in. Now I have lots of reviews to write.
What Am I Reading?
I saw this mentioned on Twitter and had to try it since the ebook was free.
“When Thomas Khatt awakens to the magical world following the sudden, violent death of his elderly Archmagus neighbor, he doesn’t get the standard package of awesome power combined with a hero destiny. Nope, he trades his thumbs in for a tail, tawny fur and four feet with a very low co-efficient of friction on linoleum. His destiny as one of three talking mountain lions in the magical world? To be sold at auction and bonded to some pimply faced apprentice for life.
Thomas would rather eat dirty kitty litter.
Armed only with an impressive set of chompers and buckets of snark, Thomas faces off against a lightning-bolt throwing granny and a sexy union recruiter as he desperately tries hold the threads of his old life together. To stay off the leash he’ll have to take advantage of the chaos caused by the Archmagus’ death and help the local Inquisition solve his murder. A pyromanic squirrel, religious werewolves, and cat-hating cops all add to the chaos as Thomas attempts to become the first Freelance Familiar.”
What I DNFed
This was about a quilt and the family that made it including the enslaved people who they owned. It was supposed to be about northern slave society. I was supposed to learn stuff. I started getting annoyed by the author’s daydreaming instead of research. She’d go on and on imagining what a person’s life was like. Literally, each sentence would start with “Imagine”. Imagine her going to the market. Imagine her trading her vegetables. Imagine her talking to her friends. Imagine me starting to bang my head against the steering wheel. But I shut it off in disgust when she was talking about the death of a toddler. He had multiple head injuries. His father was a doctor and tried some blisters before he died. She went off imagining how if the child had lived he would have always associated pain with relief and blah, blah, blah. Also she said that women are sometimes referred to as “hoes” because of the farm tools instead of the real story where it is short for “whore.” All credibility gone.
What Am I Listening To
“Not long after Rhoda Janzen turned forty, her world turned upside down. It was bad enough that her brilliant husband of fifteen years left her for Bob, a guy he met on Gay.com, but that same week a car accident left her with serious injuries. What was a gal to do? Rhoda packed her bags and went home. This wasn’t just any home, though. This was a Mennonite home. While Rhoda had long ventured out on her own spiritual path, the conservative community welcomed her back with open arms and offbeat advice. (Rhoda’s good-natured mother suggested she date her first cousin—he owned a tractor, see.) It is in this safe place that Rhoda can come to terms with her failed marriage; her desire, as a young woman, to leave her sheltered world behind; and the choices that both freed and entrapped her.“
“Magic marked Miles Singer for suffering the day he was born, doomed either to be enslaved to his family’s interest or to be committed to a witches’ asylum. He went to war to escape his destiny and came home a different man, but he couldn’t leave his past behind. The war between Aeland and Laneer leaves men changed, strangers to their friends and family, but even after faking his own death and reinventing himself as a doctor at a cash-strapped veterans’ hospital, Miles can’t hide what he truly is.
When a fatally poisoned patient exposes Miles’ healing gift and his witchmark, he must put his anonymity and freedom at risk to investigate his patient’s murder. To find the truth he’ll need to rely on the family he despises, and on the kindness of the most gorgeous man he’s ever seen.“
What Am I Listening To
“When we think of slavery, most of us think of the American South. We think of chattel slavery, of back-breaking fieldwork, and of cruel and inhumane treatment on plantations. We don’t think of slavery in the North, nor do we think of the grueling labor of urban and domestic/house slaves. Rachel May’s remarkable book explores the far reach of slavery, from New England to the Caribbean, the role it played in the growth of mercantile America, and the unbreakable bonds between the agrarian south and the industrial north in the antebellum era—all through the discovery of a remarkable quilt.”
“Indelbed is a lonely kid living in a crumbling mansion in the super dense, super chaotic third world capital of Bangladesh. When he learns that his dead mother was a djinn — more commonly known as a genie — and that his drunken loutish father is a sitting emissary to the djinns (e.g. a magician), his whole world is turned inside out. Suddenly, and for reasons that totally escape him, his father is found in a supernatural coma, and Indelbed is kidnapped by the djinn and delivered to a subterranean prison. Back in the city, his cousin Rais and his family struggle to make sense of it all, as an impending catastrophe threatens to destroy everything they know. Needless to say, everything is resting on Indelbed’s next move — and he’s got a new partner to help him: the world’s most evil djinn.“
I’m in a race with this one. I have this from interlibrary loan. I didn’t start it for a long time. It is due next week. I was just going to blow off reading it because I was slumpy but I always feel bad about that after putting people to the trouble of interlibrary loan. So a few days ago I picked it up just to see if it would hold it my attention at all. On the first page I was like, “#$#@%@, it’s good.” It is smart and sarcastic and absurd and everything I like. Now I have to get it done before the loan is up. It’s long and it is a detailed read but I’m on a mission now.
What Am I Listening To
“In this unique history of 1776, Claudio Saunt looks beyond the familiar story of the thirteen colonies to explore the many other revolutions roiling the turbulent American continent. In that fateful year, the Spanish landed in San Francisco, the Russians pushed into Alaska to hunt valuable sea otters, and the Sioux discovered the Black Hills.”
I’m interested in getting to the part about the Sioux because how did they not know that the Black Hills were there? This book has a lot of good information but I’m struggling with the narrator. It is a very monotone reading of a book that is very fact and date and name-heavy.
“As a child, Coriel Halsing spent many glorious summers at Castle Auburn with her half-sister-and fell in love with a handsome prince who could never be hers. But now that she is a young woman, she begins to see the dark side of this magical place…”
I love a later series by this author so I want to try this one even though it is very different.
“It’s not easy being an undercover restaurant critic—especially when you’re only twelve years old!
After successfully completing her first restaurant review for the New York Standard newspaper, Gladys Gatsby is looking forward to a quiet summer of cooking and eating. But her plans quickly go awry when her friend Charissa Bentley delivers Gladys’s birthday gift: a free summer at Camp Bentley.
As Gladys feared, camp life is not easy; she struggles to pass her swim test, can’t keep the other campers happy while planning lunches, and cannot seem to get away from the annoying new “celebrity” camper. The worst part is she’s not able to find a moment to sneak away for her latest reviewing assignment: finding the best hot dog in New York City. But when Gladys learns that her hot dog assignment might actually be a dirty trick made up by a jealous fellow critic, she fears her reviewing career could be over forever.“
“When the Imagine Network commissioned a documentary on mermaids, to be filmed from the cruise ship Atargatis, they expected what they had always received before: an assortment of eyewitness reports that proved nothing, some footage that proved even less, and the kind of ratings that only came from peddling imaginary creatures to the masses.
They didn’t expect actual mermaids. They certainly didn’t expect those mermaids to have teeth.
This is the story of the Atargatis, lost at sea with all hands. Some have called it a hoax; others have called it a maritime tragedy. Whatever the truth may be, it will only be found below the bathypelagic zone in the Mariana Trench…and the depths are very good at keeping secrets.”
“Indelbed is a lonely kid living in a crumbling mansion in the super dense, super chaotic third world capital of Bangladesh. When he learns that his dead mother was a djinn — more commonly known as a genie — and that his drunken loutish father is a sitting emissary to the djinns (e.g. a magician), his whole world is turned inside out. Suddenly, and for reasons that totally escape him, his father is found in a supernatural coma, and Indelbed is kidnapped by the djinn and delivered to a subterranean prison. Back in the city, his cousin Rais and his family struggle to make sense of it all, as an impending catastrophe threatens to destroy everything they know. Needless to say, everything is resting on Indelbed’s next move — and he’s got a new partner to help him: the world’s most evil djinn.“
I also read a short story included with Tricks for Free called:
The Recitation of the Most Holy and Harrowing Pilgrimage of Mindy and Also Mork
What Am I Reading?
I’m halfway through this one. I have a wild guess as to what happened.
“Marianne is stuck in a loveless, unhappy marriage. After forty-one years, she has reached her limit, and one evening in Paris she decides to take action. Following a dramatic moment on the banks of the Seine, Marianne leaves her life behind and sets out for the coast of Brittany, also known as the end of the world.
Here she meets a cast of colorful and unforgettable locals who surprise her with their warm welcome, and the natural ease they all seem to have, taking pleasure in life s small moments. And, as the parts of herself she had long forgotten return to her in this new world, Marianne learns it s never too late to begin the search for what life should have been all along. “
“For centuries the Koh-i-Noor diamond has set man against man and king against king. Now part of the British Crown Jewels, the priceless gem is a prize that many have killed to possess. So when the Crown Jewels go on display in Mumbai, security is everyone’s principal concern. And yet, on the very day Inspector Chopra visits the exhibition, the diamond is stolen from under his nose. The heist was daring and seemingly impossible. The hunt is on for the culprits. But it soon becomes clear that only one man – and his elephant – can possibly crack this case…“
More baby elephant mysteries!How could I resist?
“Some people would call Lowryland the amusement park. It’s one of the largest in Florida, the keystone of the Lowry entertainment empire…but for Annie, it’s a place to hide. She’s just trying to keep her head down long enough to come up with a plan that will get her home without getting anyone killed. No small order when she’s rooming with gorgons and sylphs, trying to placate frustrated ghosts, and rushing to get to work on time.
Then the accidents begin. The discovery of a dead man brings Annie to the attention of the secret cabal of magic users running Lowryland from behind the scenes. They want the fire that sleeps in her fingers. They want her on their side. They want to help her—although their help, like everything else, comes with a price.”
After being on an absolute tear last week and finishing six books, I only finished one this week.
What Am I Reading?
I’m still working through After the Wedding. It has some mistaken identity themes which isn’t a trope I like. I think that’s what’s slowing me down since I normally inhale Courtney Milan’s books in a day.
I picked up this book from the library to add to my AsianLitBingo reading.
“On the day he retires, Inspector Ashwin Chopra inherits two unexpected mysteries.
The first is the case of a drowned boy, whose suspicious death no one seems to want solved. And the second is a baby elephant. As his search for clues takes him across the teeming city of Mumbai, from its grand high rises to its sprawling slums and deep into its murky underworld, Chopra begins to suspect that there may be a great deal more to both his last case and his new ward than he thought. And he soon learns that when the going gets tough, a determined elephant may be exactly what an honest man needs…”
A baby elephant helps solve mysteries! I’m not a mystery fan but that was before baby elephants were helping.
Ramadan Readathon starts this week and lasts for a month. All the details are here. I don’t have a full TBR for this but I’ll finish up A World of Three Zeros once I find where I put it. I was quite enjoying it. I put it down. It disappeared into the abyss.
“Peri, a married, wealthy, beautiful Turkish woman, is on her way to a dinner party at a seaside mansion in Istanbul when a beggar snatches her handbag. As she wrestles to get it back, a photograph falls to the ground — an old polaroid of three young women and their university professor. A relic from a past — and a love — Peri had tried desperately to forget.
Three Daughters of Eve is set over an evening in contemporary Istanbul, as Peri arrives at the party and navigates the tensions that simmer in this crossroads country between East and West, religious and secular, rich and poor. Over the course of the dinner, and amidst an opulence that is surely ill-begotten, terrorist attacks occur across the city. Competing in Peri’s mind however are the memories invoked by her almost-lost polaroid, of the time years earlier when she was sent abroad for the first time, to attend Oxford University. As a young woman there, she had become friends with the charming, adventurous Shirin, a fully assimilated Iranian girl, and Mona, a devout Egyptian-American. Their arguments about Islam and feminism find focus in the charismatic but controversial Professor Azur, who teaches divinity, but in unorthodox ways. As the terrorist attacks come ever closer, Peri is moved to recall the scandal that tore them all apart.”
“Indelbed is a lonely kid living in a crumbling mansion in the super dense, super chaotic third world capital of Bangladesh. When he learns that his dead mother was a djinn — more commonly known as a genie — and that his drunken loutish father is a sitting emissary to the djinns (e.g. a magician), his whole world is turned inside out. Suddenly, and for reasons that totally escape him, his father is found in a supernatural coma, and Indelbed is kidnapped by the djinn and delivered to a subterranean prison. Back in the city, his cousin Rais and his family struggle to make sense of it all, as an impending catastrophe threatens to destroy everything they know. Needless to say, everything is resting on Indelbed’s next move — and he’s got a new partner to help him: the world’s most evil djinn.”
I’m about halfway through Dread Nation. It doesn’t fit the theme but it is a library book that needs to go back soon.
“Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg and Chancellorsville—derailing the War Between the States and changing America forever. In this new nation, safety for all depends on the work of a few, and laws like the Native and Negro Reeducation Act require certain children attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead. But there are also opportunities—and Jane is studying to become an Attendant, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do. It’s a chance for a better life for Negro girls like Jane. After all, not even being the daughter of a wealthy white Southern woman could save her from society’s expectations.
But that’s not a life Jane wants. Almost finished with her education at Miss Preston’s School of Combat in Baltimore, Jane is set on returning to her Kentucky home and doesn’t pay much mind to the politics of the eastern cities, with their talk of returning America to the glory of its days before the dead rose. But when families around Baltimore County begin to go missing, Jane is caught in the middle of a conspiracy, one that finds her in a desperate fight for her life against some powerful enemies.”
“Adrian Hunter has concealed his identity and posed as a servant to assist his powerful uncle. He’s on the verge of obtaining the information he needs when circumstances spiral out of his control. He’s caught alone with a woman he scarcely knows. When they’re discovered in this compromising circumstance, he’s forced to marry her at gunpoint. Luckily, his uncle should be able to obtain an annulment. All Adrian has to do is complete his mission…and not consummate the marriage, no matter how enticing the bride may be.
Lady Camilla Worth has never expected much out of life—not since her father was convicted of treason and she was passed from family to family. A marriage, no matter how unfortunate the circumstances under which it was contracted, should mean stability. It’s unfortunate that her groom doesn’t agree. But Camilla has made the best of worse circumstances. She is determined to make her marriage work. All she has to do is seduce her reluctant husband.“
“All leaders are constrained by geography. Their choices are limited by mountains, rivers, seas and concrete. Yes, to follow world events you need to understand people, ideas and movements – but if you don’t know geography, you’ll never have the full picture.“
I am just not feeling my reading lately. I need something that is going to suck me into its world.
What Am I Reading?
Space Opera
“IN SPACE EVERYONE CAN HEAR YOU SING
A century ago, the Sentience Wars tore the galaxy apart and nearly ended the entire concept of intelligent space-faring life. In the aftermath, a curious tradition was invented-something to cheer up everyone who was left and bring the shattered worlds together in the spirit of peace, unity, and understanding.
Once every cycle, the civilizations gather for the Metagalactic Grand Prix – part gladiatorial contest, part beauty pageant, part concert extravaganza, and part continuation of the wars of the past. Instead of competing in orbital combat, the powerful species that survived face off in a competition of song, dance, or whatever can be physically performed in an intergalactic talent show. The stakes are high for this new game, and everyone is forced to compete.
This year, though, humankind has discovered the enormous universe. And while they expected to discover a grand drama of diplomacy, gunships, wormholes, and stoic councils of aliens, they have instead found glitter, lipstick and electric guitars. Mankind will not get to fight for its destiny – they must sing.
A one-hit-wonder band of human musicians, dancers and roadies from London – Decibel Jones and the Absolute Zeroes – have been chosen to represent Earth on the greatest stage in the galaxy. And the fate of their species lies in their ability to rock.”
One Hundred and Four Horses
“‘A letter is handed to you. In broken English, it tells you that you must now vacate your farm; that this is no longer your home, for it now belongs to the crowd on your doorstep. Then the drums begin to beat.’
As the land invasions gather pace, the Retzlaffs begin an epic journey across Zimbabwe, facing eviction after eviction, trying to save the group of animals with whom they feel a deep and enduring bond – the horses.
When their neighbours flee to New Zealand, the Retzlaffs promise to look after their horses, and making similar promises to other farmers along their journey, not knowing whether they will be able to feed or save them, they amass an astonishing herd of over 300 animals. But the final journey to freedom will be arduous, and they can take only 104 horses.”
Yeah, I did that. Everyone loves this book! Why did I quit?
It was well written. It was imaginative. But I got halfway through and realized that I just didn’t care to find out what was going to happen. That’s an issue with a lot of YA fantasy I read. I end up not caring at all about the resolution.
For this book at least, I feel confident saying that wasn’t the book, it was me.
What Am I Reading?
I have so many books out from the library right now. I’m ignoring most of them. I’m drawn mostly towards comfort reads right now and what I have from the library is most definitely not that.
I want to read all these books. When it is reading time I look at them, shrug, and download another romance book.
What Am I Listening To?
Nothing.
Seriously, no audiobook. I downloaded a few but nothing is sticking right now. What is sticking is the West Wing Weekly podcast. Sometimes I feel bad listening to podcasts in the car because I feel like it is wasting audiobook time. But, I’m shoving that to the side and comfort listening to this and rewatching The West Wing.
It is fun to watch even a pretend President say smart things.
I’ve started both of these but I keep getting distracted.
What Am I Listening To?
I’m almost done with this. It is very different from other books in the series. It doesn’t seem to have much of a plot but is much more character driven.
