My Two Blessings

  I thoroughly enjoyed the 2nd installment of Nora Robert's The Becoming in her Dragon Heart Legacy series. It picks up where the first book ended with Marco latching onto Breen's hand as she jumped through the gate in Ireland. His fascination with Talamha and Breen's world of magic and dragons enlivens the story and love the give and take between them. Watching the relationship between Breen and Keagan build as she learns to embrace her magic, her strengths and weaknesses before they have to battle the big bad.

  It's week 48 in our 52 books quest. As the year winds down, the best books of the year lists rise up with many books in common.  Some I may have missed and others I may have deliberately missed on purpose. Some may not have been stories that enticed me into reading more...  Yet.  Some weren't my style, which can change from year to year. Different phases, different places, different mind set, or just not in the mood. But when I am in the mood, watch out. My TBR stack gets taller, while some books grow older and wait patiently, knowing that in time, I'll get to them. If you are like me, your book shelves may be filled to the brim with books double and triple parked.  Every so often, I'll rearrange them, pulling stories and authors forward to sit front and center, pushing others to the back until it's their time to shine again.  I really don't need to buy more books, but you know, you can never have enough.  While the sleepy, dusty tome, bides its time...

  Song of Thanksgiving (To the air - Portuguese Hymn) Poems for Young Americans By Will Carleton  We thank thee, O Father, for all that is bright-- the gleam of the day and the stars of the night; The flowers of our youth, and the fruits of our prime, And blessings e'er marching the pathway of time. We thank thee, O Father, for all this is drear-- The sob of the tempest -- the flow of the tear; For never in blindness, and never in vain, Thy mercy permitted a sorrow or pain. We thank thee, O Father, for song and for feast-- The harvest that glowed, and the wealth that increased; For never a blessing encompassed thy child, But thou in thy mercy looked downward and smiled. We thank thee, O Father for all! for the power Of aiding each other in life's darkest hour; The generous heart, and the bountiful hand, And all the soul-help that sad souls understand. We thank thee, O Father--for days yet to be -- For hopes that our future will call us to thee: That all our eternity form, thro...

  Because life is to short to read books that just don’t hold my interest, I’m giving up on Wise Woman. Too depressing. I’m in more of a fluff mode at the moment. Finished Darynda Jones second book in her Sunshine Vicram series with A Good Day for Chardonnay. Why oh why though is it going to take a full year for the next installment to release? Oh well. Happy Dance…. Nora Roberts newest just came in – Becoming, #2 in her Dragon Heart Legacy series. Gasp! What? No books.  My guys got creative this year for my birthday and went to the local antique dealer down the street.  Hubby cooked an awesome roast with yorkshire pudding.  Had long chats with my dad and one of my sisters.  Great day! 

  Its week 47 in our 52 Books quest and I finally updated my books completed list and discovered my reading has fallen largely into three categories:  romance, crime, and fantasy.  However, I did split dragons/fantasy/Science Fiction into three different categories when it should have all been one.  And a lot of the romance category included paranormal and urban fantasy. So, there’s been a lot of blending. I think my 10 x 10 was a failure this year.  Think I’ll skip making 10 x 10 for 2022 and see what themes extemporaneously develop in the process.    In progress: Hardback -- Wise Woman by Philippa Gregory,  Audiobook –- Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern  Ebook  -- #2 in Sunshine Vicram trilogy by Darynda Jones A Good Day for Chardonnay We watched Red Notice tonight on Netflix with Dwayne 'rock' Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, and Gal Gadot which was very entertaining. 

  My friends have talked about the Expanse series so much I finally had to check it out.   Added Leviathan Wakes to my virtual stacks along with several other books in including Jo Walton's Among Others, Ann Perry's Face of a Stranger, and Willo Davis Roberts Girl with the Silver Eyes .  A bunch more dragon and bookshop books. I see some themes evolving.  I think I'm done buying books for the time being and will wait to see what my guys get me for my birthday and Christmas.   The poor dears had to force themselves to go the store today because they missed the time window for Amazon to get here by Sunday, even though I gave them plenty of warning.  It'll be a total surprise since neither one has any idea what to get and hubby always looks for the fattest book possible.   😁 Finished  When Sorrow Comes  and happy that October and Tybalt finally managed to get married.  Gave up on 42nd Street Library for the moment, ju...

  Salutations Sonic fans. Well, its finally happened. The crew of Archie Sonic Online has released Archie Sonic Underground Online #50 featuring the long-awaited, the awesome SONIC UNDERGROUND EPILOGUE! Remember that 40-episode Sonic cartoon from back in 1999, made by DIC, and was about Sonic with siblings and had musicals. Guess what? After years of waiting, we finally have just gotten a proper conclusion to the show in comic form, made by fans anyway. Having just read the whole thing, what do I think of it? That story WAS AWESOME! The crew did a great job, they wrapped up the story without an issue. Sonic and his family were characterized sweetly and the story was a treat to read, it had some action moments and a heartwarming reunion with the queen. At one point, after I read the story, I almost teared up before I posted this review. But either way, we got what we wanted, even if it wasn't delivered by the generous people at SEGA. Robotnik's defeat was very well written, I wa...

  Imposter Syndrome is here and we got new characters: Surge and Kit. Who's Surge and Kit? They're new characters, sort of. Surge is basically the spiritual successor to lost Archie Sonic character Scourge the Hedgehog, but unlike Scourge, Surge is made by Ian Flynn and is owned by SEGA (hopefully). What's the issue about? Doctor Starline preparing for Project Remaster, a plan that involves getting rid of Eggman (like thats ever gonna happen) and paving the way for something new. To prepare, he tests Surge the Tenrec and Kit the Fennec, who are kinda stubborn and rebellious at times. Another good and harmlessly fun IDW Sonic comic issue, very good read. Ian Flynn's writing just got more impressive with another story penned by him, he did a good job without being held back. In fact, you may as well say SEGA's doing a good job with the storytelling too. Looking forward to the rest of the miniseries and the epic IDW Sonic issue 50 assuming it is epic in anyway. My scor...

  It's week 46 in our 52 Books Quest.  We're in the midst of planning our 2022 bookish adventures and having loads of fun with the bingo categories and coming up with new challenges. Meanwhile getting side tracked and adding to my TBR pile.  So many good books.  I went a little bit link happy while writing this week's post and figured out I need to have a better plan for actually reading all the books I've been acquiring. Which lead me to The Art of Manliness, which is actually a wonderful site to explore.  I came across  Why you need a Reading Plan  detailing the importance of having a plan and sticking with it.  I ditched my non fiction reading plan somewhere in the middle of the year and need to revise for 2022. I have a whole slew of nonfiction books on my shelves from memoirs like Trevor Noah's  Born a Crime  to Adam Savage's  Every Tool's a Hammer  to multiple writing books such as  Mastermind: How to Think Like Sher...

  Lately with every book I’ve read, the thought has crept in, yep this one would be canceled or not allowed or would have caused an uproar and not allowed to be published because it would be offensive to someone.   So in essence, all the books of the past would have be canceled.  In the future, books will have to come with a warning label to read with an open mind or sense of humor.  Or for historical context, refer to back to year XXXX.  Grumble, grumble, going back into my hidey hole.

  Reading a new to me author – Natasha Lester’s  The Riviera House   which is set in two time frames and is about wwII and the French resistance.  Combines history and art which are two things I love to read about.  Enjoying it so far. “Paris, 1939: The Nazis think Éliane can’t understand German. They’re wrong. They think she’s merely cataloging art in the Louvre and unaware they’re stealing national treasures for their private collections. They have no idea she’s carefully decoding their notes and smuggling information to the Resistance. But Éliane is playing a dangerous game. Does she dare trust the man she once loved with her secrets, or will he only betray her once again? She has no way to know for certain . . . until a trip to a stunning home on the French Riviera brings a whole new level of peril. Present Day: Wanting to forget the tragedy that has left her life in shambles, Remy Lang heads to a home she’s mysteriously inherited on the Riviera. While worki...

  It's book week 45 in our 52 books quest and highlighting the fictional librarian of the month. I'm in a bit of a flounder with books right now and need to sit and contemplate my shelves and figure out what I'm really in the mood for, besides rereading Nora.      In my ongoing Nora Robert’s Reread,  currently on The Calhouns two book saga of sisters trying to save their ancestral home in Bar Harbor, Maine which coincidently is where my mother was raised.    Murder at the 42nd Street Library is waiting in the wings.  Reading Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet and loving it so far.  Love this bit of advice - don’t look out side for validation, look for it inside yourself. We saw Free Guy which was a fun movie to watch and put both James and I in the mood to watch Detective Pikachu again.  Watched the new Dune Trailer. I read Dune years and years ago and will probably read again with James at some point.   I liked the mov...

  Procrastinating web wonderings this morning: Ursula Le Guin has jumped into the awards game with  Prize for a single work of Imaginative Fiction.     I love doorstoppers:    Rhythm of War & Other Best Fantasy Doorstoppers .  Now that I've finished Wheel of Time, dipping into the Stormlight Archive with Way of the Kings. Off the Shelf's ebook roundup:  November eBook Deals: 10 Magnificent Reads for Your Digital Library 2022 is Harry Potter's 25th anniversary. James has a reread and movie rewatch in store for us.  Bloomsbury unveils big plans for 25th anniversary of first Harry Potter book Tom Hanks likes manual typewriters and wrote a book:   Uncommon Type:  Some Stories   and  hails Edinburgh bookshop owner as his hero .   Brings back memories of learning to type on my dad's old manual.  😘