BW26: Half way through the year!

It's book week 26 in our 52 Books Quest and we are half way through the year. We're half way through the year and Summertime has arrived in our neck of the world, and Wintertime for those on the other side of the world. And I've got nothing. Well, not really. I've got a song crashing through my mind, an unfortunate earworm that I can't identify which will drive me loopy until I figure it out. In the meantime, let's dip into a bit of half time randomness.

Once a year I watch Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi's The Danger of a Single Story and get something different out of it every time. I love her books.

I just finished reading The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections by Eva Jurczyk so the Ted Talk about The World's Most Mysterious Book fascinated me. While the story was interesting and full of an odd collections of characters,  I really didn’t like the lead character until she managed to redeem herself in the end.

And while wondering through Ideas.Ted.Com came across 70 books to make you feel hopeful: A special reading list. You're welcome!

While falling down some rabbit hole about 25 Beautiful Literary Maps, it lead me to Kenocartographobia. No, I didn't know what it was either. The fear of Maps. And wouldn't you know it, Goodreads has a list.

I just discovered the newest book by A.J. Jacobs, The Puzzler, which I of course, had to get instantly. If you haven't read any of his books, start with The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible) and also check out Jacob's favorite recent reads.

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I’m in the midst of several books. Don’t know why I do that to myself. Brandon Sanderson’s 3rd book in the Stormlight Archive Oathbringer as well as rereading Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s first book in Cemetery of Forgotten books with Shadow of the Wind. Puzzler’s also on the virtual nightstand and I’ll be getting back into Middlemarch soon.

And no I haven’t figured out the name of the song yet!

A little cheese with my wine!

 I'm having a little cheese with my whine....  LOL!!!   4 1/2 weeks after fracturing rib and it's one step forward, two steps back every few days. My back muscles are so stressed, I'm sitting with heating pad most of the time while I'm at home so reading a lot.   I was having a crappy day the other day at work and totally lost my temper with one of my technicians. But it was deserved as I caught him in a lie and now he's going to have to work to gain my trust again. 

I finished Hidden Salem which was good except they spent too much time on the build up and just a few pages on the climatic part.  Also finished two paranormal romances by Jayne Castle and her alter ego Jayne Ann Krentz with Illusion Town (#14 Harmony) and The Vanishing (#1 Fogg Lake) .

Started a military romantic suspense drama -  DeathWatch by Dana Morton, #1 in her Broslin series, about a woman running and trying to stay one step ahead of an assassin. 

Picked up the 2nd book in Empire Drowning series - Bone Shard Emperor by Andrea Stewart, and another library mystery, Department of Rare Books & Special Collections by Eva Jurczyk the other day.  Looking forward to reading both sooner, rather than later. 

BW25: Happy Father's Day

 

It's week 25 in our 52 Books Quest and this week, we are celebrating our dads. From the serious to the silly, from thoughtful to chatty, from gregarious to introverted. We honor those who we miss and hold close to our hearts.

Finished Nightwork and really enjoyed it.  Currently reading Hidden Salem which is #19 in the Bishop/Special Crimes paranormal series by Kay Hooper. 

 “Nellie Cavendish has very good reasons to seek out her roots, and not only because she has no memory of her mother and hardly knew the father who left her upbringing to paid caregivers. In the eight years since her twenty-first birthday, very odd things have begun to happen. Crows gather near her wherever she goes, electronics short out when she touches them, and when she’s upset, really upset, it storms. At first, she chalked up the unusual happenings to coincidence, but that explanation doesn't begin to cover the vivid nightmares that torment her. She can no longer pretend to ignore them. She has to find out the truth. And the only starting point she has is a mysterious letter from her father delivered ten years after his death, insisting she go to a town called Salem and risk her life to stop some unnamed evil. Before her thirtieth birthday.

As a longtime member of the FBI's Special Crimes Unit, Grayson Sheridan has learned not to be surprised by the unusual and the macabre--but Salem is different. Evidence of Satanic activities and the disappearance of three strangers to the town are what brought Salem to the attention of the SCU, and when Gray arrives to find his undercover partner vanished, he knows that whatever’s hiding in the seemingly peaceful little town is deadly.  But what actually hides in the shadows and secrets of Salem is unlike anything the agents have ever encountered.”

Middlemarch is still slowly in process.

BW24: Music and Magic

It's week 24 in our 52 Books quest and our 52 Books Bingo category Clef Notes is all about music. Music comes in all shapes and forms so read books about music, learning to read music, musicians and singers, Tibetan monks and singing bowls, Gregorian chants in a church, or just go with the flow and see where your mind takes you.

I have a book hangover. I finished #2 in Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive - Words of Radiance - a chunkster of a book at 1328 pages. Really good and so full of twists and turns, didn’t know how it was going to end. The third book Oathbringer is waiting in the wings.

In between I read Julia Spencer Flemings first book in the Clare Ferguson/Russ Van Alstyne mystery series – In the Bleak Midwinter. I really enjoyed, although Clare struck me as a bit of a twit, err, um, rash, no... impulsive and passionate with jumping in to try and help the police chief.

Middlemarch is still slowly in process.

For our clef notes read, we have several books about music including Paul McCartney’s Lyrics which is a huge two volume coffee table book with 154 songs and his personal notes about each one. It will be a perpetual read. Also have David Grohl: The Storyteller which I’m looking forward to reading.


Started Nora Robert's Nightwork and enjoying the heck out of it.

BW23: June Crime Spree

 It's week 23 in our 52 Books Quest and this month's Crime Spree is all about Religious Characters. 

I’m still in between with Brandon Sanderson’s Words of Radiance in his Stormlight archive series, and George Eliot’s Middlemarch.

My buying ban is officially over since I added Ellis Peter’s Cadfael #2 One Corpse Too Many, Peter Tremayne’s Absolution by Murder, and Julia Spencer Flemings In The Bleak Midwinter to my ebook stacks for our June crime spree read.  

BW22: Happy Memorial Day!

It's book week 22 in our 52 Books Quest and honoring Memorial Day. I’m in between as well.  Reading Brandon Sanderson’s Words of Radiance in his Stormlight archive series, and George Eliot’s Middlemarch. 

Inbetween reading, I’m still binging on Korean Drama’s. This week, it’s Her Private Life.

 We’re right at that in between stage between May and June, so instead of starting something new, here’s a poem in honor of Memorial Day.

We Honor You Today

By

Susan R. Smith

To all of our veterans

Far and near.

We thank you for your service

For all those years.

You sacrificed your time,

And some gave your life.

You preserved our freedom

By willingly paying the price.

Many of you

Were sent overseas.

You were wounded in battle,

With scars and disease.

But courageous and brave,

You weathered the storm.

You faced every battle

With faith and beyond.

We honor you with joy

For all that you've done.

You stood strong for our country,

For our daughters and sons.

 So no one stands alone,

We walk hand in hand.

Remember, we are with you.

Together we shall stand.

 We salute you today.

Hear what we say.

Let our words speak eloquently

In this special way.

On this day,

Let us express our love and thanks

For the sacrifice you paid.

You served in honor

For many years and days,

And we will never forget

How you were strong and brave.

 

BW21: From K-Dramas to Middlemarch to Brandon Sanderson

 Happy Sunday! I'm in a mood. Can't tell you which one, but a mood. So today, you get a bit of this, a bit of that.  A bit of this from my wild mind as well as a bit of that from the world wide web. 

One of the dusty books in my virtual shelves is A.S. Byatt's The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye. It's one of those one day I'll get round to it. Saw George Miller Presents His “Anti-Mad Max” in Three Thousand Years of Longing Trailer on Tor which is based on Byatt's book and is quite intriguing.  Especially since Idris Elba is in it. Yum.  I'll be diving into The Djinn soon. 

I recently got sucked into a Korean drama on Netflix, Romance is a Bonus Book which is set in a publishing company.  It was quite fascinating and wondered if any of the books mentioned were real. Quite pleased to discover they are!  Discovered there are a few K drama's that are based on books. 

Stumbled across Lessons Learned from a Year Listening to the Fictional Octopus in My Head by Shelby Van Pelt. Reminded me of my very literal minded son when he was young and how I had to rethink each sentence and learn how to talk to him without slang or metaphor. Will definitely be reading Remarkably Bright Creatures this year. 

As we all know, Nora Roberts is one of my favorite authors. Her assistant Laura recently posted her latest Notes from a Cranky Publicist in which she mentioned books she read while recovering from hip surgery.  Besides Nora of course, she listed several great books including other authors I love such as Nalini Singh and Sarah Addison Allen. She talked about some new to me authors and Beach Read by Emily Henry and Every Summer After by Carley Fortune immediately went on my wish list.  My ever growing wish list because my buying ban is still in force.  Maybe I'll break down in June. 

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I finished my reread of S.K.Dunstall’s Stars Uncharted and started the 2nd book in the series, Stars Beyond. (ebook)

Finished Jodi Taylor’s 4th book in her Chronicles of St. Mary’s series with A Trail through Time.  

And thanks to my son for buying me Brandon Sanderson’s Words of Radiance in his Stormlight archive series, which will take me a while since it’s quite chunky.

I think my sip read of George Eliot’s Middlemarch is probably going to take me the rest of the year.

I did a stupid thing on Thursday. Forgot I’m not as flexible as I used to be.  I attempted to shave my legs by resting my foot up on the bathroom counter. I lost my balance and landed flat on my back. Ouch! Ever felt like you were falling in slow motion? Weird. But nothing broken fortunately.  Heating pad whenever I’m sitting; Tylenol, and Salonpas patches have kept me mobile.  Oy!

Watched the remainder of Romance is a Book, Sandra Bullock’s Lost City which was hilarious, as well as Jennifer Hudson’s Respect which wasn’t so hilarious. Plus got sucked into the Dep/Heard thing for a bit.