January Reading Wrap Up

 

Woohoo! January was a great reading month and I stuck to reading only physical books from my shelves. I read 8 books for a total of 3450 pages not including my in progress sip read. 

1. Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome: #1 of the 12 book series. The story brought back memories of my three older sisters and I putting on plays in our carport when we were about the same age as the Walker kids, for our parents and neighbors.  And days spent playing and romping through the neighborhood with all the kids on our block, until dusk and dinner. ****

2. The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin:  I'm not particularly fond of Le Guin's writing, and I don't know what it is about it but it always turns me off.  However, reading one chapter at a time before bed, helped me get through it. All I can say about it is that a perfect society is hard to find. No matter how hard one tries, not everyone will agree.  ***

3.  The Emperor's Tomb by Steve Berry: #8 in the Cotton Malone series.   Little did I know when started reading the story that we would get a history lesson on the birth of China, what happened to Mao's body, whether oil was biotic or abiotic, and more. It was fascinating, although there were a lot deaths.  ****

4.   The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty:  #2 in the Daevabad trilogy. Politics, racism, oppression, infighting, back stabbing, assassination attempts, and magical entities all make for an riveting and thought provoking tale.  By the end of this book I wasn't too terribly fond of Dara. I wonder if he'll redeem himself in the 3rd and final book. Good riddance to Ghassan. My gosh, he was horrible. ****

5. At the Coffee Shop of Curiosities by Heather Webber.  While Driftwood is a charming, magical, little town, set by the ocean, and the place is full of love, and helps draw Ava out of her comfort zone, all the characters go through the wringer, ironing out their issues and relationship, until they find their happily ever after.   ****

6.  Icerigger by Alan Dean Foster: #1 in the Icerigger series. Aliens, ice beasts, pirates, nutty monks. Lots and lots of ice. Always cold. Battles, beasts, crazy sail boats, even a volcano. Our characters are tested against the elements as well as against the pirates, and ice beasts. Fast, fun, furious, ferocious, crazy story.  ****

7:  The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami: My disappointment knows no bounds. Thankfully I can go back and read his other stories which I enjoyed more.  **

8. Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros:  #3 in the Empyrean series. Long story short, without giving away any spoilers, the tale is full of battles. The dark wielders Venin, politically, with authority, in attempts to win over other islands leaders to fight with Navarre, as well as her battle to keep hidden Xaden's infection by the venin.   In the process of trying to find Andarna's kin, we learn more about Violet's history with her dad. Plus throw in the life of a cadet as she trains and bonds more with Tairn and Andarna, and her fellow classmates, and it makes for one hell of a story.  *****

My rating system is a mishmash of Goodreads and others.  

5 star - The writing was compelling, the world building was outstanding and the story flowed. Couldn't put it down. Evoked an emotional response and made me feel my feelings. Unique.   As a series opener, would make me want to read the whole series.  As a new to me author, would make me want to read more of their stories. Would reread again in the future. 

4 star - The writing, world building, and characters were excellent. Enjoyed the story. Would read this series or author again. Willing to give it a second read.

3 star - It was good, but...

2 star - I read the whole thing or may have skipped to the end to see what happened. May have had morally grey characters without any redeeming qualities, or something about the story turned me off, or it failed to live up to my expectations.   

1 star - Did not get page 50 or 100 depending on length of the book as it wasn't my cup of tea.  

Reading Log as of January 25th

 

I finished two books and gave up on one this week. 

My breakfast read in which Heather Webber’s magical realism tale – At the Coffee Shop of Curiosities –  was charming and sweet, with both eccentric and quirky characters, human and animal, in which everyone finds their happily ever after, but not without going through rough times, finding ways to communicate, and accepting past and present. ****

My bedtime read was Alan Dean Foster’s science fiction tale – Iceriggers:  Oh my gosh, I’ll never be warm again. An action filled story from beginning to end in which our characters are stranded on an icy planet and placed in jeopardy every step of the way, with the most unlikely of heroes. Fun read! ****

I'm sad to say I gave up on Haruki Murakami's The City and It's Uncertain Walls.  What the heck was I reading? I hoped it would get better, that there would be some rhyme or reason to it.  What am I  missing?  I read it out loud to my hubby and it sounded pedantic and silly, unlike Murakami's usual writing. I reach the end of the first section,  to find we were in a place similar to the other place and a somewhat similar situation. After more repetitive nonsense, I jumped to the back and found an afterward. That explains it. It would have been much better as a novella and come to find out it once was.   Fine, I'll read the last chapter - we're back to the same situation.  **

"I have no hesitation. Perhaps." Ugg!

I gave up. 

Maybe me and my shadow were not the target audience. 

Maybe, I don't know, try that again, explain it again, tell me again. Maybe I'll change my mind again. Maybe, perhaps, I don't know.  Jiminy Christmas.  My disappointment knows no bounds. Thankfully I can go back and read his other stories which I enjoyed more. 

James has me reading All Star Superman graphic novel which is a combo of 12 issues which are supposed to the background for the new superman movie.  Graphic novels and comics aren’t really my thing but what the hey.  Silly so far.  When I’m done with this one, he wants me to read the Star Wars novel: Dark Plagueis.

Rebecca Yarros's Onyx Storm has arrived so diving in. 

At the Coffee Shop of Curiosities by Heather Webber

 

First Line:  The letter had been sent by a dead man. 

The adventure for Ava began when an envelope fell at her feet containing  a mysterious message from her dead boyfriend, Alexander, sending her to Driftwood Alabama to interview as a caretake for a stubborn old man.  

The town turns out to be full of charming and nutty and friendly folks all with stories to tell:  

Maggie, who runs Magpie Cafe and matches people up with curios from her cabinet of curiosities when she feels a vibe. 

Estrella, who always wears black and a veil and knows things. If one doesn't listen to her advice, they break out in hives. 

Dez, Maggie's father, who is keeping secrets, seems forgetful, and is weeding out all his old possessions.  Maggie wants to know why.

Sam, friendly yet sad, with his little dog normal, who according to Ava 'quabarks', a cross between a quack and bark only she can hear.  Sam is keeping secrets as well. 

Rose and Titus, who do the coffee dance, him asking for a special coffee, and she giving him black coffee instead.

Characters fall in love and try to deny it, or hold on to the past as long as they can. Some hide the truth, while searching for the one who will help them the most.  

Ava is accepted into the fold, and tries to help, at the same time looking for something different, than her ordinary life, all while hiding her medical issues. 

While Driftwood is a charming, magical, little town, set by the ocean, and the place is full of love, and help draw Ava out of her comfort zone, all the characters go through the wringer, ironing out their issues and relationship, until they find their happily ever after. 

One of my favorite quotes:

"It was a gray morning, the sky filled with low hanging clouds. Leftover rain droplets from a storm that had rolled through in the wee hours of the morning sat fat and sparkly on the edges of my bug splattered windshield as I glanced at the dashboard clock: 8:38."

I love how Webber crammed all the detail about the weather, the car, the time in one sentence so beautifully. 

320 Pages

Forge Books 2023

Magical Realism 

Reading Log as of January 18th

 

I woke up to the enticing scent of fresh roasted coffee beans which Hubby hadn't done for some time now.   He generally likes to do a dark roast so he choose to roast some Guatemala Xinabajul which is an earthy combination of dark chocolate, sugar, and caramel. At Christmas time, we also received some homemade Kahlua made by one of my employees which was wonderful.  Normally, I don't drink coffee but hubby made the best cup of espresso this morning because when I took a sip, it was actually good.  And now I’m craving an Espresso Martini. Which is why coffee is on my mind and either subliminally or not so subliminally, I started reading At the Coffee Shop of Curiosities by Heather Webber this morning.

"When Ava Harrison receives a letter containing an unusual job listing one month after the sudden death of her ex-boyfriend, she thinks she’s being haunted. The listing—a job as a live-in caretaker for a peculiar old man and his cranky cat in Driftwood, Alabama—is the perfect chance to start a new life. A normal life. Ava has always been too fearful to even travel, so no one’s more surprised than she is when she throws caution to the wind and drives to the distant beachside town.

On the surface, Maggie Mae Brightwell is a bundle of energy as she runs Magpie’s, Driftwood’s coffee and curiosity shop, where there’s magic to be found in pairing the old with the new. But lurking under her cheerful exterior is a painful truth—keeping busy is the best way to distract herself from the lingering loss of her mama and her worries about her aging father. No one knows better than she does that you can’t pour from an empty cup, but holding on to the past is the only thing keeping the hope alive that her mama will return home one day.

Ava and Maggie soon find they’re kindred spirits, as they’re both haunted—not by spirits, but by regret. Both must learn to let go of the past to move on—because sometimes the waves of change bring you to the place where you most belong."

Also knee deep in Haruki Murakami’s The City and Its Uncertain Walls which is certainly interesting in which I still don’t know the names of our two protagonists – Just I and You in which each chapter bounces back and forth from when they meet to the present living within the walls of the imaginary town.

Dipped my toes into Frozen River by Ariel Lawhorn and really want to dive in sooner than later. 

With Les Miserables, made it through “The Fall” which in the TOC is Book One of Fantine.  I've been documenting as I read, summarizing each chapter, and looking up real life events as well as definitions for some of the words. Hubby found his mom’s  much older Two Volume set and thinks I should be reading it instead of my version. Except I can’t write in it so not touching it because I’ll be tempted to.  It's also a different translation so it may be interesting to interchange between the two, but that means I’d be reading everything twice or thrice depending on how you look at it.

Bedtime read is slow going as I’ve had insomnia lately and so tired when bedtime comes,  falling asleep as soon as get into bed so reading of IceRiggers is slow going.  But wide awake come the witching hours so taking advantage of the sleepless times to write posts or in journals until get sleepy again around 6 a.m. At least I don’t have to be up until 9:00  which is good.

Have bookmarks in several non fiction books so snatching a few minutes reading which ever one suits my mood.