Link to week 43

Happy Sunday! We are continuing our October Spooktacular with the next 52 books category - Myths, Monsters, and Imagination. Monsters in Entertainment: Obsession or Projection? Eight creepiest mythical creatures from around the world Terrifying monsters in literature Samhain Reading List: 13 Frightening Works of Fiction for Celebrating Halloween’s Celtic Roots Caspar Henderson: rereading The Book of Imaginary Beings by Jorge Luis Borges "The Book of Imaginary Beings tosses stone after stone into the subterranean caverns of the reader's mind. It takes us along passageways and turns corners to reveal strange shapes and images, some of which may precede and outlast anything conceived by man. If we are attentive, the reverberations can help us trace the dimensions of those spaces. We glimpse chinks of light and are then engulfed in sudden dazzling floods of it." Casper Henderson, The Guardian. Getty's An Introduction to the Bestiary, Book of Beasts in the Medieval World Let's not forget my son's favorite - Godzilla and all the monsters he's fought over the years from Mothra to King Kong. Toho's Kingdom of the Monsterverse and all things Godzilla. And our A to Z and Back Again letter and word of the week are J and Juggernaut. Link to Book Week 42 Visit 52 Books in 52 Weeks where you can find all the information on the annual, mini, and perpetual challenges.

We watched the whole series and I missed the whole point. Felt like by the end I'd lost intelligence points. Andor, (Star wars series) on the other hand, enjoying the hell out of it so makes up for She-Hulk.

The bird may have a nest in the bush. Blue jays make their nests in our backyard laurel bushes and dive bomb our cats to keep them away until the babes are able to fly away. Our cats have grown used to it over the years.

I'm currently reading Ghostrider, # 4 in M.L. Buchman's Miranda Chase Political Technothriller. "When sabotage threatens the US Air Force’s newest gunship, there’s only one woman to call. An AC-130J “Ghostrider”—the latest variant of America’s most lethal aerial gunship—goes down hard in the Colorado Rockies. Except the flight data doesn’t match the airframe. Air-crash genius, and high-functioning autistic, Miranda Chase leads her NTSB team of sleuths in to investigate. But what they uncover reveals a far greater threat—sabotage. If she can’t solve the crash in time, a new type of war will erupt. One far too close to home which threatens to shatter her team."

Link to week 42

Happy Sunday! Today 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 Spelling Revolution Project Gutenberg's A Collection of Essays and Fugitiv Writings, by Noah Webster This week's A to Z and back again letter and word of the week are K and Kin. Link to Book Week 41 Visit 52 Books in 52 Weeks where you can find all the information on the annual, mini, and perpetual challenges.

I've fallen in like with M.L. Buchman's political technothriller Miranda Chase series. It's interesting how she relates to the people around her and how they relate to her and how she navigates through the world of a corrupt CIA and cranky military generals. 11 books in the series. Currently on book three. #1 Drone. "The lead NTSB air-crash investigator—trapped between a stealth drone and a hard crash. A US Air Force C-130 transport plane, bearing top-secret cargo, lies shattered in the Nevada desert at Area 51’s Groom Lake. China’s prototype fifth-generation jet fighter goes missing. Far above, a stealth drone flies a very lethal, and very covert Black Op. The CIA, the US military command, and the secretive National Reconnaissance Office are all locked in a political battle for control of the nation’s future. Miranda Chase, the NTSB’s autistic air-crash genius investigator, lands in the center of the gathering maelstrom. Burdened with a new team and a unique personality, she must connect the pieces to stay alive. And she must do it before the wreckage of her past crashes down upon her and destroys US-China relations forever."

Welp! Prime video has ruined Louise Penny's Armand Gamache series. Doesn't look anything like the books.

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 SpaceX, has just launched a communications satellite into orbit, but the payload actually harbors a frightening weapon: a nuclear-triggered electromagnetic pulse. When the satellite is in position, Galactus’s second-in-command, Dr. Nevaeh Patel, will have the power to lay waste to the world with an EMP. A former astronaut, Patel believes she is following the directions of the Numen, aliens who saved her life when she space-walked outside the International Space Station. She is convinced that with the Holy Grail, just discovered by the owner of Galactus—eccentric treasure hunter Jean-Pierre Broussard—she can be reunited with the Numen, change the world’s destiny, and become immortal with them. The countdown has begun when Special Agents Nicholas Drummond and Michaela Caine are thrown into the pending disaster. They must stop the EMP that would wreak havoc on communication and electronic systems on Earth, resulting in chaos and anarchy.

Link to week 41

Happy Sunday! 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. Authors whose books I've enjoyed: Stephen King's World of the Dark Tower or his psychological thriller Duma Key. Dean Koontz's series: version of Frankenstein or take a trip with Odd Thomas who communicates with the dead. Christian writers that will scare the pants off you: Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker. I've read all their books which are chilling and thrilling. Take a tour through stories about haunted houses. Psychological thrillers that will play with your head. The Best Gothic Horror Books Of All-Time. 30 Best Vampire Romances to sink your teeth into. 17 Werewolf Romance Books That Will Have You Howling for More. Need something a little lighter? Check out Cozy Mystery's Halloween Mystery Book list This week's A to Z and back again letter and word of the week are L and Looming. Link to Book Week 40 Visit 52 Books in 52 Weeks where you can find all the information on the annual, mini, and perpetual challenges.

@Laurel-in-CA Glad you are feeling better. Have fun on your trip! @mumto2 Glad you all came through IAN okay. How cool. Glad he was faithful to the location. @Kareni I enjoyed Thank you for Listening too!

Howdy! Waving hello. I wasn't ready to leave the world of Lizzie Grace 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.

Currently reading James Rollins thriller Kingdom of Bones in his Sigma force series. "It begins in Africa . . . A United Nations relief team in a small village in the Congo makes an alarming discovery. An unknown force is leveling the evolutionary playing field. Men, women, and children have been reduced to a dull, catatonic state. The environment surrounding them—plants and animals—has grown more cunning and predatory, evolving at an exponential pace. The insidious phenomenon is spreading from a cursed site in the jungle — known to locals as the Kingdom of Bones —and sweeping across Africa, threatening the rest of the world. What has made the biosphere run amok? Is it a natural event? Or more terrifyingly, did someone engineer it? Commander Gray Pierce and Sigma Force are prepared for the extraordinary and have kept the world safe, vigilance for which they have paid a tragic personal price. Yet, even these brilliant and seasoned scientific warriors do not understand what is behind this frightening development—or know how to stop it. As they race to find answers, the members of Sigma quickly realize they have become the prey. To head off global catastrophe, Sigma Force must risk their lives to uncover the shattering secret at the heart of the African continent—a truth that will illuminate who we are as a species and where we may be headed . . . sooner than we know. Mother Nature—red in tooth and claw—is turning against humankind, propelling the entire world into the Kingdom of Bones."

Link to week 40

Happy Sunday and welcome to our Spooktacular October reading month 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 your chance with 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 books by an Unreliable Narrator is to not read anything more about it than a brief description. All the charm in this genre is surprise so you must be diligent in avoiding spoilers. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte Malice Aforethought by Francis Iles We Were Liars by E. Lochart Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson Before I Go to Sleep by SJ Watson Challenge: Who can you trust? Really? Watch your back and pick up a book by an Unreliable Narrator. And our A to Z and Back Again letter and word of the week are M and Mayhem. Cheers to a spooktacular reading month. Link to Book Week 39 Visit 52 Books in 52 Weeks where you can find all the information on the annual, mini, and perpetual challenges.

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 reminds her of the damn man. The situation is made worse when a body is found, and her job as Deputy Reservation Witch means she has no choice but to interact with him. At first, the death seems to be nothing more than an accidental drowning in a remote location, but it’s soon evident a supernatural entity is involved. As they race to uncover what is going on, it becomes clear that this evil is not only targeting werewolves, but one particular pack—the O’Connor’s. And the reason might well be the song of sorrow. A song that Lizzie’s grief might have given birth to…" Gearing up for October Spooktacular. Have Dean Koontz on the shelves calling my name. Will have to decide which one want to read.

Link to week 39

Happy Sunday dear hearts! It’s time for another round of bookish news and author birthdays. 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. Author Birthdays this week (excuse my laziness for not looking up the links this time. Movie Time!!!) 9/24: Horace Wadpole, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and John Brunner. 9/25: William Faulkner, Bell Hooks, and Carlos Ruiz Zafon. 9/26: Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar, T.S. Eliot, and Jane Smiley. 9/27: Grazia Deledda, Louis Auchincloss, Josef Skvorecky, and Mark Vinz. 9/28: Kate Douglas Wiggin, Francis Turner Palgrave, James Edwin Campbell, and Elmer Rice. 9/29: Miguel de Cervantes, William Beckford, Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. 9/30: Michael Innes, Truman Capote, and Shamsur Rahman Faruqi. And our A to Z and Back Again Letter and Word of the week are N and nouveau Link to book week 38 Visit 52 Books in 52 Weeks where you can find all the information on the annual, mini, and perpetual challenges.

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…"

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 maybe it’s because the king of hell wants to take over the world and Ordinary is standing in his way. Whichever disaster has the gods on edge, Delaney isn’t going to let anything get in the way of walking down that aisle. But when an attempted murder and kidnapping hit with a one-two punch, Delaney must take on the pain-in-the neck gods, the nosy streamer, and all the demons in the Underworld before her chance to say “I do” is lost forever."

Link to week 38

Happy Sunday dear hearts! The changing of the seasons is upon us 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. Which brings us to this season's challenge. Read a book with Fall, Autumn, Spring, or with seasons, weather, a body of water in the title or with colors, leaves, flowers, or trees on the cover. Or curl up with a good book from: The Uncorked Librarians with 33 Vibrant Books with Colors in the Title, Epic Reads 23 Exquisite Palettes Inspired By Our Favorite YA Book Covers, Goodreads Book Covers That Give You A Fall Vibe, or with Bodies of Water in the Titles. Every Girl's Most Anticipated New Books of Fall 2022. Keep Inspiring Me's Books to Read in Spring. Or challenge yourself to spell out Equinox, Autumn, Fall, or Spring, using one book for each letter from the title. Our A to Z and Back Again Letter and Word of the week are O and Observant. ~Cheers! Link to book week 37 Visit 52 Books in 52 Weeks where you can find all the information on the annual, mini, and perpetual challenges.

I finished Faith Hunter's Final Heir. I did my usual read it once, fast, fast, fast on the ipad, then turn around and read it again, slow, slow, slow on paperback. It's not a story that's meant to be read fast because 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'm sad to see it end, but happy I can read the series over and over.