BW48: Best of for 2022

 


It's book week 48 in our 52 books quest and It's that time of year when all the best of the best 2022 book lists are popping up.   According to the Chinese zodiac 2023 is going to be the Year of the Rabbit, which is great for me since we all know how much I get lost following rabbit trails and jumping down rabbit holes on the internet.  

I'm resisting the urge to buy at the moment, adding books that sound interesting or intriguing to my wish list, and will revisit them later, rather than impulse buy.  My kindle is full of books that I look at and wonder what was I thinking.  But then again, I have a broad assortment to choose from, whatever my mood. I'll read them in the end, eventually. 

You'd think I'd be tired of reading about Kate Shugak and Alaska by now, but I'm not and currently on #19 Restless in the Grave.  I have the last three books in my virtual stacks to finish by the end of the year and  #23 Not the Dead ones will be released April 13, 2023.  

#19 Alaska aviation entrepreneur Finn Grant died in the fiery crash of his Piper Super Cub. Someone sabotaged his engine, and virtually everyone in southwestern Alaska has a motive, including his betrayed wife, his bullied children, and Liam's wife, bush pilot Wyanet Chouinard. With few places to turn, Liam asks his former mentor Niniltna post commander Sergeant Jim Chopin, for help, and Jim quickly brings Kate onto the case.

Working undercover as—of all things—a waitress at Bill's Bar and Grill, Kate learns over beer and burgers that Grant's business had expanded meteorically over the last two years. After buying the closed Air Force base south of town from the federal government at a bargain-basement price, he became a fixed-base operator running his fishing, hunting, and flight-seeing business, servicing planes flying through the area, and most interestingly and lucratively, getting into the air freight business. But what kind of freight was he moving, and where?

The answers involve Kate in her most challenging case to date, one that starts with murder and quickly sprawls into a much larger conspiracy ranging from the darkest family secrets to treason and beyond."

Nora Robert's The Choice, #3 in her dragon heart series has arrived and is waiting in the wings. 

We watched Hidden Figures: the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race tonight which was excellent, heart wrenching, and inspirational at the same time.  Looking forward to reading the book. 

Birthday Jolabokaflod


On today’s agenda is clean the oven. A dirty job but someone’s got to do it. Hee hee!


Jolabokaflod came early as my family gifted me with lots of books for my birthday yesterday!  James was excited Hidden Figures is also a movie so that’s what we’ll be watching this weekend for movie night.



We had a wonderful prime rib dinner and a delicious private label wine made and gifted to us by one of our customers. I’m a wine snob and usually stick to French wines because California wines cause headaches, hot flashes, stuffiness, and runny eyes. However, we decided to give this one a try and it was delicious. No hangover, no after affects. They did something right and it was very similar to a St. Emilion from the Bordeaux region. We’ll have to send him a thank you note. Sexy label.

BW47: Happy Thanksgiving

 


Happy Sunday! Did you know today is absurdity day, - do something silly. The 21st is World Hello day, - go out and say hello to people. The 22nd is Go for a Ride day, - take some time to explore.  The 23rd is National Espresso day - fix yourself a fabulous cup. The 24th is Thanksgiving so eat lots of turkey. The 25th is either Black Friday or Buy nothing day -  do or don’t, it’s up to you. Whispers – go buy lots of things.  *wink* 

On to #15 A Deeper Sleep in the Kate Shugak series. 

"Kate, a private investigator, has been working on a case for the Anchorage District Attorney involving the murder of a young woman by her husband, a man named Louis Deem. Deem has been the subject of investigations before, and he's never been convicted of a crime. But Kate and state trooper Jim Chopin, who arrested Deem, are convinced that this time it's different, and he'll finally be punished for his actions.

When the jury returns a verdict of not guilty, Kate and Jim are devastated, and like the rest of the citizens of Niniltna, Alaska, certain that a man has gotten away with murder. They can't help but think that it's only a matter of time before he's in the frame for another killing. Sure enough, a few weeks later a shooting leaves two dead in an apparent robbery. But this time Kate and Jim have a witness, and they're not going to let Louis Deem get away again. Or will he?"


Looking forward to # 3 in Nora Robert's Dragon Heart Legacy series, The Choice: The Dragon Heart coming out on Tuesday.

James M's review of IDW Sonic issue 54

 








Sorry I took a long time, fellow fans, but here is my review of issue 54 of IDW Sonic.

The story?

Oh boy, it is intense AF, especially when Kit finds that Surge is alive and rejoins her while Sonic is fighting the latter before the former arrives. And on top of that, Surge is dealing with hallucinations of the recently deceased Doctor Starline near the end of the story before Kit comforts her. 

Wow, ok, here are my thoughts in this relatively short review.

The issue wasn't half-bad, the writing is so way past cool to the limit, the game characters and the comic originals interact so nicely and there is so much action to enjoy. While Archie Sonic produced some engaging stories over the two decades of its existance, IDW Sonic has produced some amazing stories within four years of its run that could blow the Archie stuff out of the water. 

This year, we have seen some amazing content from SEGA and their crew. Sonic couldn't be more blessed and we fans can't get enough Sonic, the hedgehog is the king and the franchise is here to stay for a long time to come. Lets hope Surge and Kit eventually make their way into the games down the line, love to see them be playable alongside Doctor Starline and Belle just as Tangle and Whisper got lucky.

Now, its scoring time. This new comic issue, well, its getting a 9.5. Bravo, IDW! I salute you!

-James M

BW46: A little Bit of This, a Little Bit of That

 


Happy Sunday! I'm leaping down rabbit holes today on the internet, exploring this, that, and the other.  Kind of like my sleep lately.  Ever since the time change, I've been waking up around 4, unable to get back to sleep for a while. Ideas bounce through my head for the story I'm working on as well as book ideas and book bingo, too tired to write them down and hope I'll remember them in the morning.  Some ideas remain when I wake, others are still floating around in my mind, on the tip of my tongue but not quite there. Oh well. What was I saying. Oh yes. *grin*  I've been exploring, letting my fingers do the walking through the web.   A sample of today's finds. Enjoy! 

In Search of Marcel Proust

Where to Start with Nora Ephron

Entangled Publishing Launches Red Tower Books, Focused on Romantic SFF

On writing a New Take on the Thin Man, set in Space

Hungarian Speculative Fiction: Forceful, Vicious, Viscous

Murder in the Moors: Crime Fiction Books Set in the English Moors

True Life: I was a Dragon Book Kid

Antarctica Reading List.

25 Best Steampunk Books (2022)

 

So many books on the wish list with an ice theme as well as dragons and on the shelves including Proust's volume two in his Search for Lost Times Books -- In the Shadow of Young Girls.  I read Swann's Way a couple years ago and once I got used to his writing, got a lot out of it.  I'll be trying to get back into it come 2023. 


It’s all kindle unlimited fault. They sucked me in to Kate Shugak’s story through book 9 and I just couldn’t stop. It’s like an addiction now.  That happened and then this happened and oh my gosh,  what will she do, and I have to know what happens next.  And the only reason I’m buying the rest of the series is because I know down the line, I’ll read them again.  Currently on #13 A Grave Denied.


BW45: Cemetery of Lost Books by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

 




It's Book Week 45 in our 52 Books bingo quest and it's all about different cultures. 


I finished Carlos Ruiz Zafon's Angel's Game, #2 in the Cemetery of Lost Books in which Daniel slowly loses his mind as people he loves and those surrounding a long ago mysterious disappearance are never what they seem to be.

"In this powerful, labyrinthian thriller, David Martín is a pulp fiction writer struggling to stay afloat. Holed up in a haunting abandoned mansion in the heart of Barcelona, he furiously taps out story after story, becoming increasingly desperate and frustrated. Thus, when he is approached by a mysterious publisher offering a book deal that seems almost too good to be real, David leaps at the chance. But as he begins the work, and after a visit to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, he realizes that there is a connection between his book and the shadows that surround his dilapidated home and that the publisher may be hiding a few troubling secrets of his own. Once again, Ruiz Zafón takes us into a dark, gothic Barcelona and creates a breathtaking tale of intrigue, romance, and tragedy."




Next up #3 in the Cemetery of Lost books - The Prisoner of Heaven.

"Barcelona, 1957. It is Christmas, and Daniel Sempere and his wife, Bea, have much to celebrate. They have a beautiful new baby son named Julián, and their close friend Fermín Romero de Torres is about to be wed. But their joy is eclipsed when a mysterious stranger visits the Sempere bookshop and threatens to divulge a terrible secret that has been buried for two decades in the city's dark past.

His appearance plunges Fermín and Daniel into a dangerous adventure that will take them back to the 1940s and the early days of Franco's dictatorship. The terrifying events of that time launch them on a search for the truth that will put into peril everything they love, and will ultimately transform their lives."