My Two Blessings

Wow. It's week 52 in our 52 books quest and it seems like this year just flew by.  My reading year was a mixture of new reads and reread s. I had a plan at the beginning of the year and was pretty good with writing some reviews until about mid year, then meandered completely off the path.  My goal at the beginning of the year was to read and whittle down my physical stack.  I read a total of 160 of which 42 were physical books and 10 were over 500 pages.  I finished updating goodreads but their numbers and mine don't agree and I'm not quite sure what's up with that.  I was good and read only from my physical and virtual stacks, and stuck to my buying ban until June. Then I went off the rails, especially by the end of the year. 2023 buying ban is now officially in force.   Category breakdown's, (Not including entire series): Fantasy (17), Books about books (14), Science Fiction (11), Romance (11), Mystery (9), historical fiction (8), Thrillers (7),...

 

  Happy Sunday! it's week 51 in our 52 books quest and Wintertime is upon us with the December Solstice.  Whilst we're preparing for Christmas and enjoying hot toddies by the fire, it's Summer in the Southern Hemisphere (those lucky dawgs), and folks are enjoying fruity rum drinks on the beach.  For some reason, I've been in a winter mood all year long, indulging in reads set in frigid cold settings, characters braving the elements, all the while falling in love, finding killers, solving mysteries, or simply exploring.   I discovered a new to me series this year in Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak series which is 22 books long but well worth reading.  Once I started reading, couldn't stop.    I finally dove into Katherine Addison's the Goblin Emperor and enjoying the heck out of it. Feel sorry for Maia but he's trying.  I think my winter read will be Vinge's Snow Queen. Another dusty books that I'm finally ready to dive into.  Dad gave m...

  It's book week 50 in our 52 Books quest and our  last 52 Books Bingo Category for the year is  Creativity , my favorite subject. It's time to  unleash your inner Creativity .  Creativity takes all shapes and forms from the physical to the intellectual, from the deliberate to the spontaneous.  Whether you have a creative mind or creative hands, there are a wide  variety of ways to be creative  and things  highly creative people do differently .   What is the  difference between Artistic and Creative ability ?   And then there is  Creative Leadership Lessons from Star Trek .    What do you think?  15 Books About Creativity to Get You Out of a Creative Rut .  One book I revisit over and over is The Artist Way by Julia Cameron which unlocked my imagination.  Creativity books added to my shelves to read through out next year: Another Julia Cameron - Write for Life: Creative Tools for Ev...

Welcome back, Sonic squad. We have two Sonic comics, the second issue of Scrapnik Island and the Tails' 30th Anniversary Special, the latter of which is quite interesting to see at a time when it appears that Classic and Modern Sonic are merging back into one at last. Yes, Ian Flynn confirmed that SEGA has eliminated the Classic-Modern split just like with the two worlds canon nonsense. Y'know what this might mean? MIGHTY AND RAY WILL BE REUNITED WITH VECTOR, CHARMY AND ESPIO AND CO-EXIST WITH MODERN SONIC AND CREW VERY SOON! WOOOO!!!! In fact, Scrapnik Island's the perfect start to the reunification of Classic and Modern, especially since Classic Badniks like Mecha Sonic appear to serve as the villain. Issue two continues the story that started in the first with Sonic and Tails getting to know the Scrapniks and they eventually encounter Mecha Knuckles from the Advance games, who eventually attacks Sonic. Mecha Sonic fights him and, while he ends up beating him, his origina...

  Thought that would get your attention!  LOL!  The third and final book in Darynda Jones Sunshine Vicram series came out called A Hard Day for a Hangover which has some laugh out loud funny moments.  “Some people greet the day with open arms. Sheriff Sunshine Vicram would rather give it a hearty shove and get back into bed, because there’s just too much going on right now. There’s a series of women going missing, and Sunny feels powerless to stop it. There’s her persistent and awesomely-rebellious daughter Auri, who’s out to singlehandedly become Del Sol’s youngest and fiercest investigator. And then there’s drama with Levi Ravinder—the guy she’s loved and lusted after for years. The guy who might just be her one and only. The guy who comes from a family of disingenuous vipers looking to oust him—and Sunshine—for good.  Like we said, the new day can take a hike.” Now that I've finished  Hard Day for a Hangover,  I want to go back and reread the trilo...

  It's cold and rainy and we're tucked up, nice and cozy with books and family. The best place to be, whether it be physically or virtually.  Thanks to Sandy and Amy we've had a grand year, going on a crime spree.  It's week 49 in our 52 Books Quest and we talking December's Crime Spree recommendations.  I’ve got my eyes are bigger than my stomach syndrome because I want to read all Sandy and Amy’s recommendations.  Think I’ll start with Water like a Stone, now in my virtual stacks and look forward to reading it this month. Currently reading Nora Robert’s The Choice and love the characters and the storyline. Makes me want to live in Ireland and maybe by chance find a portal to the other side. 😊 Waiting on the nightstand is the newest Armand Gamache story, A World of Curiosities . I’m going to check out the first episode of Three Pines on Amazon Prime, think of it as a mystery series separated from the books,  and see how I like it.  Saturday nig...

  Hello December! We are on week 49 in our 52 Books quest and it's time to wrap up our Crime Spree with an assortment of recommendations.  I’ve got my eyes are bigger than my stomach syndrome because I want to read all Sandy and Amy’s recommendations.  Think I’ll start with Water like a Stone, now in my virtual stacks and look forward to reading it this month. I've also decided it's time to hang up my hosting shoes, retired 52 books on WTM and let someone else take the helm. Especially since I've taken over Life and Liturgy and it's so much more work than expected.  The ladies actually expect me to talk more than I have been. LOL!  The internet somehow let's my introverted self be more extroverted online.   Currently reading Nora Robert’s The Choice and love the characters and the storyline. Makes me want to live in Ireland and maybe by chance find a portal to the other side. 😊 Waiting on the nightstand is the newest Armand Gamache story, A World of C...

  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 rele...

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.

  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 ...

  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...

  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. ...

  It's book week 44 in our 52 Books Quest and this month's theme is an international crime spree. I finished Nalini Singh’s Archangel’s Resurrection about Zanaya and Alexander, two Archangels whose love affair lasted eons so it covered vast periods of time. Many, but not all of the other characters made appearances. It was different with a lot more telling than showing and angst over the relationship.  Not one I’d be eager to reread over and over again,  but good nonetheless. I love reading translated books and Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s Cemetery of Forgotten Books are on my ebook nightstand.   Already read Shadow of the Wind so next up is The Angel’s Game. It’s now 12:30 p.m. and its the first time I had to sit down all evening. Movie night was called on account of a plumbing emergency.   Hubby decided to use Liquid Plumber, even though a plumber told him in the past never to use.  He used it on the slow draining kitchen sink and snaked the outside drai...

  It's book week 43 in our 52 book quest and continuing our October Spooktacular.  I've been thoroughly enjoying M.L. Buchman's Miranda Chase series about an autistic NTSB agent and her cohorts.  I caught up with the series just in the time for book #11 Skibird which is being released tuesday. "Those who work there call Antarctica “The Ice.” A secret Russian cargo jet crashes into a crevasse near an Australian Station. The Aussies call in the top air-crash investigators on the planet. The best of them all, Miranda Chase, must face the Russians, Chinese, and use her own autistic abilities to keep her team alive. As the battle spreads across The Ice, are even her incredible skills enough? Or will they all be buried in the frozen wasteland?" And excited for the new release of Nalini Singh's 15th book in the Guild Hunter series "Archangel's Resurrection on the 25th as well.  Tonight our family movie choice was Replicas with Keenu Reeves. It was quite inte...

  Sorry about this, IDW Sonic fans, been a while since we last did a review of IDW Sonic comics. I'm back now, with a review of issue 1 of the new Scrapnik Island horror miniseries. So, what's the story? Scrapnik Island is a horror anthology miniseries about Sonic and Tails fighting to survive on an island filled with old Badniks from their past and they must battle an old enemy: Mecha Knuckles, who was last seen in the GBA game Sonic Advance. The story is written by Daniel Barnes, who previously wrote a story about Omega and Gemerl battling it out in a story of the IDW Sonic 2022 annual.  Issue one showcases the duo making an emergency landing on the island and discovering the ruins of the Death Egg, they're surrounded by Badniks and then run into an E series robot whom fans initially mistook for Gamma. But this is not Gamma, this robot is E-117 Sigma (who was previously mentioned in Archie Sonic somewhere, making him the latest Archie Sonic-made character to finally be ut...

  T oday is Noah Webster's birthday, the father of the American Dictionary. October 16 is named Dictionary Day in honor of Webster.  We have the second edition unabridged Webster's dictionary which is humongous at 3194 pages, and a slightly smaller fifth edition collegiate edition at 1274.  It's interesting to compare them to the modern 2022 edition of the Merriam Webster dictionary, a mere 960 pages.  I prefer the older versions which are much more fun to peruse. But I’d also like to get my hands on an Oxford English Dictionary one of these days.  When I'm writing, I always have Dictionary.com or Thesaurus.com tabs open in my computer and explored different words. I prefer the online versions over the current Merriam Webster edition which has definitely been dumbed down.   Noah Webster's Story Noah Webster and the Dream of a Common Language  Noah Webster’s Impact on Education An Inconvenient Alphabet: Ben Franklin & Noah Webster’s Spelli...

  Vampires, Werewolves, and Ghosts!  Oh My! Our spooktacular reading month continues and it isn't all about horror.  Oh no! Especially since I'm not into blood and guts violence.  I like the type of books that get your adrenaline going, keeps you guessing, finger nail biting, keep you up all night reading suspense.  There are a number of ways to go with psychological thrillers, gothic, paranormal reads that run the gamut from the supernatural to urban fantasies. Books full of bad guys, ghosts, and scary as well as delicious vampires, and werewolves.   Clearing my palate with a fluffy romance before I dive back into James Rollin's thriller Kingdom of Bones.  Also on the nightstand is the suspense novel The Last Second by Catherine Coulter and J.T. Ellison.  I like one author's writing and the other's not so much and I can tell the difference in their writing so expect I'll like only half of the book. LOL!  "Galactus, France’s answer to Sp...

 ******************* I wasn't ready to leave the world of Keri Arthur's Lizzie Grace series plus it is spooktacular so read the whole series again, delightfully finding there were one or two books I hadn't read in the mix.  We watched Marvel's Werewolf by Night last night. A one hour special on Disney +.  I'd seen the previews and decided it was too scary for me. James insisted we watch it and held my hand. Turned out not to be so bad. It was scary mixed with humor. Enjoyed it. 

October Spooktacular and the Unreliable Narrator It's book week 40 in our 52 Books Quest and this month October's spooktacular is all about the unreliable narrator.  This month is full of chills and thrills, spine tingling adventure stories, and unexpected, jump out and surprise you, don't turn the lights off reads. If you are anything like me, gruesome horror isn't your thing. However, psychological, mind bending, Hitchcock type thrillers full of suspense are my favorite type of reads, along with paranormal, ghosts, vampires, were wolves and the weird. If you haven't read the classics, now would be a good time to read Frankenstein or Dracula, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, The Picture of Dorian Grey or Something Wicked This Way Comes to name a few. Put away your expectations because you may be surprised when they don't turn out how you suspect they will.  And this month's crime spree category fits the bill with the Unreliable Narrator. The first rule of reading boo...

  It's book week 39 in our 52 books quest and time for a bit of bookish news: 2022 Hugo award’s winner for best novel is A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine Hilary Mantel, celebrated author of Wolf Hall, dies aged 70 Romance author Nora Roberts helps save Michigan library defunded over LGBTQ books Chances Are, Your Favorite Book Is On This List Of Books That Have Been Banned For Absolutely Absurd Reasons How independent bookstores help in the fight against book banning and why it matters 100 Years of Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha   And in anticipation of our October Spooktacular, check out Goodread’s picks for  Space Horror , and  psychological thrillers . 75 Facts about Stephen King who just turned 75 last week . Currently reading #9 in Keri Arthur's Lizzie Grace series -- Sorrow's Song.   "Lizzie Grace is trying to get on with her life now that she and Aiden have gone their separate ways, but it’s a difficult thing to do when just about everything re...

Once I got up to date with the Devon Monk's Ordinary Magic series, dove into Ilona Andrews Hidden Legacy series with Sapphire Flame, Emerald Blaze, and Ruby Fever in which Catalina and Alessandro are tested time and time again.  Exhausted just reading their exploits. LOL!  Jumping back into Keri Arthur's Lizzie Grace series with book 6 Deadly Vows.  " Evil comes in all forms … and sometimes it wears a human mask. When the body of a newlywed is discovered on the reservation, Lizzie Grace throws herself into the investigation, needing a distraction from what she fears is coming not only for her but also Belle—her best friend and witch familiar. But as the body count grows and a desperate race begins to track down a supernatural entity capable of powerful magic, it becomes evident another deadly game has begun—one they may not win. Because the past—and the man—they ran from thirteen years ago has finally caught up with them. And he’s out for revenge…"

It's the  changing of the seasons with Fall in the Northern Hemisphere and Spring in the Southern Hemisphere. Colorful seasons in which the palette for both  fall  and  spring  fall on the warm side.  Imagine my surprise years ago when I had my colors done and found out I was a spring.  Opened up my world to all kinds of color.   I haven't picked out my fall read yet as I'm reading the Ordinary Magic series and currently on book 9 Brute of All Evil in which Delaney and Ryder finally get married... maybe. I think there may be a war coming but not sure yet. 🙂 "In two weeks, Delaney Reed will marry the man of her dreams. Everything is perfect. So why are the gods following her around like she suddenly needs a bodyguard? It might be because her fiancé is forced to serve an outsider god who hates Delaney and the town she protects. It might be because the local Valkyrie hired a social media star who is determined to expose Ordinary’s secrets. Or m...

  Final Heir by Faith Hunter is the 15th and final installment of the Jane Yellowrock series.  It was so, so, so good.  I did my usual read it once, fast, fast, fast on the ipad, then turned around and read it again, slow, slow, slow on paperback. It's not a story that's meant to be read fast because you'll miss a lot and it is so complex and action packed. It's the last book of the series, yet it was a great finale and answered so much. There are so many moments. Moments that made me sad, moments that were so powerful. Moments that were amusing or scary. I don't want to give too much away for those who haven't read yet, so... Jane and Beast, the I/We. Jane taking charge and also learning to let go and let others handle things. Leo and how he found a way to let Jane know what needed to be known. Angie, such a little girl but so powerful. Jane's relationship with the witches. The big bad who is trying to take over and how everyone teams up to fight him. I...

  I finished Desperation in Death and it has all the feels. Tough subject about sex trafficking especially with the viewpoint of the young girls. Of course brings back memories from the past, not only for Eve but Mavis as well. Totally captured my attention and couldn't put it down once I started.  Bouncing between Final Heir and delving back into Devon Monk's Ordinary Series and currently on Rocks, Papers, Scissors

It's book week 37 in our 52 Books Quest.    Did you know September is Self Improvement month, National Piano Month, Classical Music Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, National Sewing Month, Fall Hat Month, and Happy Cat Month. Lots to read and learn about. Today we remember 9/11 and all those who died, and everyone who came together to help. And take a moment to think about or pray for peace and strength for the family of Queen Elizabeth as they mourn the death of their mother.  It's been a while since we've had a Judge a Book by the Cover or Pick a Random Book mini challenge and I'm in the mood for a book store adventure.   Judge a book based on its cover :  The hardest part will be not reading the synopsis on the back or the inside flap. Yeah, I know. It’s really hard.    When you see the cover, keep in mind what captured your attention and tell us about it. What you thought the book was going to be about? When you read it, let us know if...