BW22: Sunday's Book Babble - Fictional Librarian of the month is Cheshire Cat

 


It's book week 22 in our 52 Books quest and our fictional librarian of the month is the Cheshire Cat in Jasper Fforde's world of alternative history in the Nextian Universe.  

I Finished #6 The Secret Chapter in Genevieve Cogman’s Invisible Library series in which Irene and Kai are forced into a heist with an odd group of characters and chaos reins as they have to watch their backs while trying to stay one step ahead of the mob and the police. #7 Dark Archive is up next. 

Also finished  Nora Robert’s Legacy which hit me with all the feels and had me teary eyed several times through out the book. It’s both light and dark, coming of age, life and grief, friendship and family, making something of yourself, working through the good and the bad, suspense novel with terror, humor, and romance, with a great cast of characters including two very cute dogs and one of those that once you start, you won’t want to stop reading stories. Five hanky read. Keep a box of tissues handy.  

Elbow deep into Fforde’s The Eyre Affair with Lost in a Good Book waiting in the wings. 


James talked me into watching Venom which turned out to be quite good, even though he was kind of a bad guy. Lots of humor and no gory stuff. 

Book Notes: Five Hanky Read

 


Oh lord love a duck. I'm only halfway through Nora's Legacy and it's been a five hanky read so far.  Gut wrenching beginning and doesn't stop. Enough humor thrown in to balance it out.   

Pay attention to your hunches. You just might be right.

 



Grandpa and grandmom decided to stop for a visit on their way through town. The plan - meet them at the hotel, have dinner, talk.  Howdy! Well, my gut feeling, intuition, whatever it's called was spot on.  So happy I decided we needed to get the house guest visit clean.  We arrived at the Hotel to pick them up and discovered the restaurant was indeed closed to service.   We took them over to see the new office building since they hadn't seen it since it was finished, then came back to the house and had a BBQ. Hubby took them out for breakfast the next morning before they went up to the hill to have a relaxing scenic vacation before grandmom gets a hip replacement in a couple weeks. Great visit, albeit too short and it was really nice to see them and get to hug family again.

Book wise, I dove back into the world of The Invisible Library with # 6 The Secret Chapter in which Irene and Kai are thrown from the frying pan into the fire again with chaos, deceit, blackmail, etc.  Fun read. 

Next up, Nora Robert's newest romantic suspense novel,  The Legacy,  which was released today.  Thank you UPS!  


 

BW21: Sunday's Book Babble - World Turtle Day

 


Courtesy of Troy Mayne

Today is World Turtle Day.  Did you know that all tortoises are turtles, but not all turtles are tortoises?  What's the difference?  So glad you asked. The key difference is where they live: Tortoises are exclusively land creatures, while turtles live in the water or at least spend most of the time in the water.  Physically their shells, legs, and feet are difference and turtles stay away from water unless they are drinking or bathing because they can't swim.  

I finished Elizabeth Hunter’s four book Elemental Mystery series with our Librarian of the month Beatrice De Nova. She has various spin offs with different characters including Ben and Tenzin in the Elemental Legacy series and I have Midnight Labyrinth in my stacks. Will get back to them soon.  I also finished Karen Hawkins the Book Charmer which was very charming as well as emotional story with magical realism about books, friendship, grief, and finding your way through the world.

Meanwhile I’ve gone back to book monogamy because I don’t have the brain space to split my time between more than one, while making progress with my current wip.  Sometimes it doesn’t feel like progress when I revisit the same scenes over and over again until I’m satisfied, but it is progress none the less.  Slow and steady wins the race, right!

BW20: Sunday's Book Babble - 52 Books Bingo High Adventure


 

It's book week 20 in our 52 books quest and our next 52 books bingo category is high adventure. 

I'm still emmeshed in the world of Beatrice De Nova, our librarian of the month.  Finished #1 Hidden Fire and #2 This Same Earth.  Starting # The Force of Wind. 

"Giovanni and Beatrice travel to a hidden island on the far edge of China to seek the help of an ancient immortal court. Can they weave their way through the tangled web of centuries-old alliances and ruthless vampire feuds to find what they’ve been looking for? Friends will be revealed, enemies will find them, and a dangerous secret will come to light.

How far would you go to protect the ones you love? What would you sacrifice to kill the one you hate?"


We watched Sphere with Dustin Hoffman last night.  I saw it back when it came out and and totally forgot everything about it and it totally blew James mind away. Of course, we watched it way too late and ended up not going to be until 2:00 a.m. It took James a while to get to sleep as well. Great psychological thriller.  Now I need to read the book. 

Guest Post -James M's review of IDW Sonic issue 39

 








Fellow Sonic fans and good friends of mine, THE THIRTY-NINTH ISSUE OF IDW SONIC IS HERE and we are nearing the end of TEST RUN! TRA-LA-LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Everything has gotten more juicy, Tangle and Belle have busted Orbot and Cubot and they're now about to rescue Sonic, Amy and Tails, who've just broken out of that house they ended up in during the previous issue and are now face to face with an old enemy from the Dreamcast era: THE EGG VIPER!

*Cue Militant Missionary from SA1*

"Get a load of this! Get a load of this! *Mech gets hit* No way, I can't believe this!"

Link to original boss here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0uTys0qrww

However, there's more to the new Egg Viper battle than meets the eye. This time, Sonic's not fighting one Egg Viper, HE'S FIGHTING MULTIPLE EGG VIPERS! And this time, he's got backup from Amy and Tails, both of whom were elsewhere when Sonic fought the last Egg Viper. Tails had just saved Station Square and Amy was trying to help a blue bird find its family.

Oh, and Eggman's not actually in the pilot seat of any of the Egg Vipers, he's using VR tech that apparently looks like freaking scrapped SEGA VR tech. Dang, Eggman. That's new. 

I have to salute Evan Stanley, she does a great job with this issue and the characters are on point, seeing her recreate and update the Egg Viper battle is also a welcome surprise. I wonder what other surprises that she has in store, oh yeah, there's about two cute SonAmy moments in the issue.

We have one issue left in this arc and the IDW team's going all out with nothing to stop them, even if they're working within any SEGA guidelines put in place, but thats a different story for another time. IDW Sonic the Hedgehog #39 gets a big 9.5/10, IDW Sonic's momentum is building higher and higher with each passing issue, all thanks to great writing and good teamwork between IDW and SEGA.

See you later, fans. Peace!

"I'm outta here."

-CVGWJames





BW19: Sunday's Book Babble - Happy Mother's Day

 



It's book week 19 in our 52 Books Quest and this week is dedicated to all mom's everywhere including our angel moms. She who rules the roost and goes by many names including ma, mama, mum, mother, mumsy, mamman, mutter, mathair, mor, madra, majka, maji, and the favorite one, mom.

Motherhood

by 

 Katherine L. Dykstra


Baby dolls and dinosaurs-

one that cries, one that roars

The pitter patter of little feet-

a bike race in which they want you to compete

Fruity Pebbles, pancakes, no wait! a pop-tart-

those daily moments that steal your heart

One throws tantrums, the other just pouts-

ahh, the joys of motherhood- what life is all about

Another birthday - two paychecks in all-

but, it is so worth it with smiling memories on the wall

From late night tears to early morning grumps-

through all the bruises, scrapes and bumps

The kisses and hugs, the encouraging words-

from nursery rhymes to the bees and the birds

The laughter, the memories, those looks in their eyes-

never trade it for anything - never compromise

The toys left out, the clothes on the floor-

these are the moments we mothers live for

For we are the ones who are there through it all-

to always make it better and pick them up when they fall

From kissing their boo-boos and making sure they're fed-

passing down stories while tucking them into bed

Through the weight gain, cravings, labor and more-

to that one special moment we spend 9 months waiting for

Eighteen years is what they say, but our work is never done-

a lifetime of tears, laughter, sadness and fun

Nothing in the world can even come close-

to the one special bond God made matter the most

A relationship only two certain people can share-

a mother and her child, nothing will ever compare...


******

Happy momma's day.  I'm reading Nora Roberts Blood Magick which I'm appreciating more the second time.  

We watched The Mask last night and James laughed and really enjoyed it.  Having fun rewatching all the older movies with him and rediscovering old favorites.  I finished my Virgin River binge watch and will have wait patiently for the 3rd season to come out.  

Happy to report my fur baby Melvin has gotten his appetite back, thanks to the Prednisone, and he's getting some of his old pep back.  Although it kinda reminds me of my college days and watching someone who just smoked a toke and has a case of the munchies.  ðŸ˜€ 

What a week!

 


 Dealing with ill cats this week who are all off their feed and being persnickety. Luna has ear infection and have to dose her once a day, Gracie has a broken molar and will have dental procedure at end of the month, and poor Melvin has intestinal lymphoma and we're dosing him with prednisone and lots of tlc. 

I have Wild Sign in my stacks. Sticking with comfort reads and currently on #3 Blood Magic in Nora Robert's Cousin O'Dwyer's Trilogy.

BW18: Sunday's Book Babble - 52 Books fictional librarian of the month is Beatrice De Nova


 

It's book week 18 in our 52 Books quest and the fictional librarian of the month is Beatrice De Nova in Elizabeth Hunter's Elemental Mystery series. And it's may, the month to celebrate mysteries, mothers, Memorial day, macaroons, and much much more including all things Star Wars.  May the fourth be with you!

I'm currently rereading Nora Robert's Dark Witch and Elizabeth Hunter's A Hidden Fire is waiting in the wings.   

We watched The Abyss last night and I'd forgotten how intense the movie is. Probably why I didn't get to sleep until really late. 

Bookish Notes - Arrggg! It ended in a cliff hanger

 


Arrggg! It ended in a cliff hanger. I immersed myself in Jennifer Armentrout's world in the Blood and Ash series.  Really fat books at 600 some odd pages each full of vampires, wolves, gods, deities, royalty and magic.  And of course, hot sex.  #1 From Blood and Ash, #2 A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire, and #3 The Crown of Gilded Bones which are all so very good but damn, now I have to wait until the next book comes out in a year or so probably. I really hate that. 

 But it just means I'll reread the series again when the new one is set to come out.   It's all J.R. Ward's fault since she talked up the books in her latest video and managed to distract me from reading her latest book in the Black Daggerhood Brother series.  It will be next once I've soothed my angst and book hangover with Nora Roberts and reading Dark Witch.