Book a Week 2021 - BW26: Halfway There

[Robin M]

Since the majority of our readers live in areas several hours ahead of me and I’m late to bed, late to rise on Sunday, I will be posting Saturday night before I go to bed.  

**************************

We're halfway through the year and July is almost upon us.  Where have your reading journeys taken you so far this year?  My year has turned into 'what are you in the mood for' which means lots of romance and dragons, librarians, and villains.  Can you just hear lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Just me? Oh well! I'm also enjoying rereading Nora Roberts back list which has been comforting as well as feeding my muse and inspiring me to be creative.  What inspires you to create a story, a song, a recipe, a new crafts project? Share some of your creations.   

This week's mini quest is to read something with half in the title. And since we're about to go through another heat wave, better yet, read something cozy.  Perhaps take a literary trip to the Antarctic or maybe while a few hours away in a tropical climate while drinking a fruit cocktail with one of those cheerful little umbrellas 

~Cheers!  

 

Nothing Gold Can Stay

 by

Robert Frost

Nature’s first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf’s a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.

 

 

***************

Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 61. How a Gardener May Get Rid of the Dormice

Chapter 62. Ghosts

Chapter 63. The Dinner

 ******************

 Link to week 25

 Visit  52 Books in 52 Weeks where you can find all the information on the annual, mini and perpetual challenges, as well as share your book reviews with other readers around the globe.

 

[Robin M]

Still reading Patricia Brigg's Wild Sign.

Going to dive back into Night Huntress series by Jeanine Frost with Halfway to the Grave for our halfway challenge.

 

[mumto2]

9 hours ago, Robin M said:

Still reading Patricia Brigg's Wild Sign.

Going to dive back into Night Huntress series by Jeanine Frost with Halfway to the Grave for our halfway challenge.

 

Thanks for the thread Robin.  I really enjoyed Wild Sign!  I need to check where I am in the Jeanine Frost series......I haven’t read one in years and it might be fun to see if I still enjoy them.

 

My plan for today is to work on my quilt and start listening to Katherine Addison’s The Witness for the Dead which is from the world of the Goblin Emporer.  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41302953-the-witness-for-the-dead?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=VrIn8lj8Zo&rank=1

[Ali in OR]

I finished The House in the Cerulean Sea and enjoyed it. I am currently reading The Ten Thousand Doors of January--the last of the May avalanche of books from my library hold list. Great summer read--I'm enjoying this one too. Then it will be on to paperbacks already in the house--next will be book 2 of the Bridgerton books. I can see my middle dd diving into these when she is home in August, so I will try to get through books 2 and 3 before then (I only own books 1-3 right now). I don't think I have much on my library hold list that will come up soon. I'm sure they'll all come at once when I'm starting up school again! Our library just finally opened up for "browse and go". You can go find books in the stacks but they don't want you staying to read or use the computers. Haven't been yet. I'm rather addicted to book delivery which I think they're going to keep.

[Kareni]

Some bookish posts ~

10 GREAT 2020 COZY MYSTERIES TO CATCH UP ON

https://bookriot.com/10-great-2020-cozy-mysteries-to-catch-up-on/amp/

BOOKISH GOODS FOR PLANT LOVERS

https://bookriot.com/bookish-goods-for-plant-lovers/amp/

18 of Our Favorite Books on Writing

https://www.tor.com/2021/05/12/18-of-our-favorite-books-on-writing/

Regards,

Kareni

[Robin M]

2 hours ago, mumto2 said:

My plan for today is to work on my quilt and start listening to Katherine Addison’s The Witness for the Dead which is from the world of the Goblin Emporer.  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41302953-the-witness-for-the-dead?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=VrIn8lj8Zo&rank=1

I finally added The Goblin Emperor to my stacks. Look forward to reading it. 

2 hours ago, Ali in OR said:

I finished The House in the Cerulean Sea and enjoyed it. I am currently reading The Ten Thousand Doors of January

I really enjoyed both these books. They were unique and well told. Enjoy!

52 minutes ago, Kareni said:

18 of Our Favorite Books on Writing

https://www.tor.com/2021/05/12/18-of-our-favorite-books-on-writing/

Thank you. I have so many writing books I have enjoyed like Wonderbook and King's On Writing, Bradbury's Zen which is my favorite.  I also have a few  I've yet to read like Saunders A Swim in a Pond in the Rain which I'm looking forward too.  I'm almost afraid to add more to my wishlist or my stacks until I've had time to read these ones, but they all look so tempting. 

[Robin M]

I'm sitting here watching hubby mixing chemicals and paint together to try and screen print for the very first time, the back of his amplifier. Saving money don't you know. He's been watching videos, but is asking me how and the why and what. As usual a 30 minute project has turned into a several hour one, with honey, I need....  🙃

[Kareni]

I've read several books over the past few days ~

 His Majesty's Dragon: Book One of the Temeraire by Naomi Novik

I read this a dozen years ago and remembered only the basics of the story; now you know why I'm a frequent rereader! I enjoyed this a lot.

"Aerial combat brings a thrilling new dimension to the Napoleonic Wars as valiant warriors rise to Britain’s defense by taking to the skies . . . not aboard aircraft but atop the mighty backs of fighting dragons.

When HMS Reliant captures a French frigate and seizes its precious cargo, an unhatched dragon egg, fate sweeps Capt. Will Laurence from his seafaring life into an uncertain future–and an unexpected kinship with a most extraordinary creature. Thrust into the rarified world of the Aerial Corps as master of the dragon Temeraire, he will face a crash course in the daring tactics of airborne battle. For as France’s own dragon-borne forces rally to breach British soil in Bonaparte’s boldest gambit, Laurence and Temeraire must soar into their own baptism of fire."

Also The Vacuum of Space: A Funny Sci Fi Mystery (Space Janitor Book 1) by Julia Huni; this was entertaining, and I might read on.

"It's a dirty galaxy and someone has to clean it.

Avoiding the wealthy inhabitants on the upper levels of Station Kelly Kornienko is bot-programmer Triana’s number one rule. Well, number two, right after "eat all the chocolate."

But when one of her cleaning bots finds a dead body, all the rules go out the airlock.  A highly connected security agent interrupts her routine with stories of missing bodies, and Triana can’t ignore him; it’s cooperate or find a new job. A girl has to pay the rent, even on a crappy studio compartment.

Working with a shiny detective beats a shuttle dirt-side, so Triana lends her programming skills to Agent O’Neill’s investigation. Together, they find more victims and evidence of a major cover-up.

It will take all Triana’s technical talents, most of O’Neill’s connections, and some really excellent croissants to stop the murders, save her job, and ultimately, her life."

And Three Tales by Mason Thomas; this was a pleasant collection of stories; however, I preferred the author's longer work that I recently read.

"Set in the same world as LORD MOUSE and THE SHADOW MARK, these three short stories take a look at the queer happenings in and around Havenwood, a small coastal village in the kingdom of Davenia."

Regards,

Kareni

[Pen]

What Really Makes You Ill? Why everything you thought you knew about disease is wrong

by Dawn Lester and David Parker 

at 777 pages it is not light beach reading

Thought provoking. 
 

(my mind is going “but what about ___” repeatedly...   like if Black Plague related to what they say - not the usual rats explanation - why were some ships “plague ships” and others not?) 

[Kareni]

I read The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison. I enjoyed the book and will likely reread it at some point, but I don't see it becoming a comfort read like the author's The Goblin Emperor.

How goes your progress with the book, @mumto2?

"When the young half-goblin emperor Maia sought to learn who had set the bombs that killed his father and half-brothers, he turned to an obscure resident of his father’s Court, a Prelate of Ulis and a Witness for the Dead. Thara Celehar found the truth, though it did him no good to discover it. He lost his place as a retainer of his cousin the former Empress, and made far too many enemies among the many factions vying for power in the new Court. The favor of the Emperor is a dangerous coin.

Now Celehar lives in the city of Amalo, far from the Court though not exactly in exile. He has not escaped from politics, but his position gives him the ability to serve the common people of the city, which is his preference. He lives modestly, but his decency and fundamental honesty will not permit him to live quietly. As a Witness for the Dead, he can, sometimes, speak to the recently dead: see the last thing they saw, know the last thought they had, experience the last thing they felt. It is his duty use that ability to resolve disputes, to ascertain the intent of the dead, to find the killers of the murdered.

Celehar’s skills now lead him out of the quiet and into a morass of treachery, murder, and injustice. No matter his own background with the imperial house, Celehar will stand with the commoners, and possibly find a light in the darkness."

Tegards,

Kareni

[mumto2]

1 hour ago, Kareni said:

I read The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison. I enjoyed the book and will likely reread it at some point, but I don't see it becoming a comfort read like the author's The Goblin Emperor.

How goes your progress with the book, @mumto2?

 

I finished listening to it last night.  I enjoyed it and will probably do a relisten to them both in order at some point.  I will say I found it far easier to keep the character names straight in this one as the names were not super similar.

[Kareni]

33 minutes ago, mumto2 said:

I finished listening to it last night.  I enjoyed it and will probably do a relisten to them both in order at some point.  I will say I found it far easier to keep the character names straight in this one as the names were not super similar.

I'm glad to know that you also enjoyed it. I hear you on the names having greater variety in this book. I fear that if you ask me to tell you any character names tomorrow, I might end up drawing a complete blank. (That would likely be the case with most books even if the main characters have names like Bob and Sue!)

Regards,

Kareni

[mumto2]

11 hours ago, Kareni said:

I'm glad to know that you also enjoyed it. I hear you on the names having greater variety in this book. I fear that if you ask me to tell you any character names tomorrow, I might end up drawing a complete blank. (That would likely be the case with most books even if the main characters have names like Bob and Sue!)

Regards,

Kareni

😂I don’t remember the names either unless it happens to be interesting to me.  

I just finished another Arcane Society book by Amanda Quick and have to say I really enjoy the ones set in the past far mare than the present day ones in this series.  It’s so strange that the series order has me going back and forth.
 

 

[Robin M]

2 hours ago, mumto2 said:

I just finished another Arcane Society book by Amanda Quick and have to say I really enjoy the ones set in the past far mare than the present day ones in this series.  It’s so strange that the series order has me going back and forth.

Yes, I know. I never quite understood why she did that.  

[Kareni]

Currently FREE for Kindle readers ~

The Lost Legends: Tales of Myth and Magic by Adam D. Jones, Rachel Neumeier, Kristen Bickerstaff, Michael Hustead, A. E. McAuley, E. S. Murillo, Abigail Pickle, and Ryan Swindoll

My Journey to the Ocean (All Colors of the Rainbow Book 1) by Lena Mikado

Lockdown (Ryan Lock Book 1) by Sean Black

 

Buried Heroes (Age of Azuria Book 1) by Beth Ball

 

Snowblind (Pler Series Book 1) by Anna Velfman 

LGBT: Ingenious by Barrie Farris

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

My library's summer reading program challenged me to read a book of poetry, so I reread The Apple That Astonished Paris: Poems by Billy Collins.  I enjoyed it once more.

"Using simple, understandable language, Collins captures ordinary life--its pleasure, its discontents, its moments of sadness and joy."--USA Today "Billy Collins writes lovely poems. . . . Limpid, gently and consistently startling, more serious that they seem, they describe worlds that are and were and some others as well."--John Updike

Regards,

Kareni

[AnneGG]

I finished The Rose Code by Kate Quinn last week. Great read. I fell down so many rabbit holes afterward. I’ll admit that it does have a “written for the screen” vibe but it’s still sensational.

I inhaled a Misty Beller book on Sunday. Hopes Highest Mountain or something. 😂 I like her fast paced style and her formula is predictable and comfortable. Great “distract me” read. 
 

Just finished Gap Creek by Robert Morgan. Nope. I liked the characters  and POV but the all the graphic details were not to my taste. 
 

Time to break my historical fiction streak. 

[Pen]

On 6/27/2021 at 12:10 AM, Robin M said:

Since the majority of our readers live in areas several hours ahead of me and I’m late to bed, late to rise on Sunday, I will be posting Saturday night before I go to bed.  

**************************

We're halfway through the year and July is almost upon us.  Where have your reading journeys taken you so far this year?  My year has turned into 'what are you in the mood for' which means lots of romance and dragons, librarians, and villains.  Can you just hear lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Just me? Oh well! I'm also enjoying rereading Nora Roberts back list which has been comforting as well as feeding my muse and inspiring me to be creative.  What inspires you to create a story, a song, a recipe, a new crafts project? Share some of your creations.   

This week's mini quest is to read something with half in the title. And since we're about to go through another heat wave, better yet, read something cozy.  Perhaps take a literary trip to the Antarctic or maybe while a few hours away in a tropical climate while drinking a fruit cocktail with one of those cheerful little umbrellas 

~Cheers!  

 

Nothing Gold Can Stay

 by

Robert Frost

Nature’s first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf’s a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.

 

 

***************

Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 61. How a Gardener May Get Rid of the Dormice

Chapter 62. Ghosts

Chapter 63. The Dinner

 ******************

 Link to week 25

 Visit  52 Books in 52 Weeks where you can find all the information on the annual, mini and perpetual challenges, as well as share your book reviews with other readers around the globe.

 

did you choose book with half in it?

 

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle https://www.amazon.com/dp/149267012X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_7ZCBW6EKF5PV2HSRY298

[Robin M]

2 hours ago, Pen said:

did you choose book with half in it?

Yep, I'm reading Jeanine Frost's Halfway to the Grave. Took me a while to get into it, but halfway (ha ha) through the book it got better.  

Edited June 30, 2021 by Robin M

[Kareni]

Also currently FREE for Kindle readers ~

Eleanor Roosevelt's Book of Common Sense Etiquette by Eleanor Roosevelt

First EIGHT books in K.F. Breene’s Demon Days, Vampire Nights World (10 book series)

 The Revelation of Light and Dark (Chronicles of the Stone Veil Book 1) by Sawyer Bennett 

Regards,

Kareni

[LaughingCat]

"The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle"

Have this one in my TBR pile -- maybe it will have to jump up to the top 😄 

[Kareni]

My library's summer reading program challenged me to read a biography; I chose the illustrated memoir, The Best We Could Do: An Illustrated Memoir by Thi Bui.

It was a moving family history, and I learned a fair bit about Vietnam.

"This beautifully illustrated and emotional story is an evocative memoir about the search for a better future and a longing for the past. Exploring the anguish of immigration and the lasting effects that displacement has on a child and her family, Bui documents the story of her family’s daring escape after the fall of South Vietnam in the 1970s, and the difficulties they faced building new lives for themselves.
 
At the heart of Bui’s story is a universal struggle: While adjusting to life as a first-time mother, she ultimately discovers what it means to be a parent—the endless sacrifices, the unnoticed gestures, and the depths of unspoken love. Despite how impossible it seems to take on the simultaneous roles of both parent and child, Bui pushes through. With haunting, poetic writing and breathtaking art, she examines the strength of family, the importance of identity, and the meaning of home."

Regards,

Kareni

[melmichigan]

I finished Consumed (Deep in Your Veins #5) by Suzanne Wright so I'm skipping over to the other series set in the same world with the new release of Fallen (The Dark in You Series #7).  It's a holiday weekend and I'm going for fun quick choices before I dive into Million Dollar Demon (The Hollows #15) by Kim Harrison.  I'm still sitting on Kingdom of Shadow and Light (Fever #11) by Karen Marie Morning.

[mumto2]

1 hour ago, melmichigan said:

I finished Consumed (Deep in Your Veins #5) by Suzanne Wright so I'm skipping over to the other series set in the same world with the new release of Fallen (The Dark in You Series #7).  It's a holiday weekend and I'm going for fun quick choices before I dive into Million Dollar Demon (The Hollows #15) by Kim Harrison.  I'm still sitting on Kingdom of Shadow and Light (Fever #11) by Karen Marie Morning.

I just started listening to Million Dollar Demon today!

[Pen]

5 hours ago, Kareni said:

My library's summer reading program challenged me to read a biography; I chose the illustrated memoir, The Best We Could Do: An Illustrated Memoir by Thi Bui.

It was a moving family history, and I learned a fair bit about Vietnam.

"This beautifully illustrated and emotional story is an evocative memoir about the search for a better future and a longing for the past. Exploring the anguish of immigration and the lasting effects that displacement has on a child and her family, Bui documents the story of her family’s daring escape after the fall of South Vietnam in the 1970s, and the difficulties they faced building new lives for themselves.
 
At the heart of Bui’s story is a universal struggle: While adjusting to life as a first-time mother, she ultimately discovers what it means to be a parent—the endless sacrifices, the unnoticed gestures, and the depths of unspoken love. Despite how impossible it seems to take on the simultaneous roles of both parent and child, Bui pushes through. With haunting, poetic writing and breathtaking art, she examines the strength of family, the importance of identity, and the meaning of home."

Regards,

Kareni

My son had that assigned in an English class in 9th or 10th and I read it too . I don’t remember much about it, but that I was glad he had it assigned because it was unfamiliar to me and worthwhile reading. 

[Kareni]

4 minutes ago, Pen said:

My son had that assigned in an English class in 9th or 10th and I read it too . I don’t remember much about it, but that I was glad he had it assigned because it was unfamiliar to me and worthwhile reading. 

I don't think much of it will stay with me either, Pen, but I agree that it was a worthwhile read.

I was curious to see what else the author has published. I see that she has illustrated a few children's books and also has made contributions to some anthologies. Interesting.

Regards,

Kareni

[melmichigan]

12 hours ago, mumto2 said:

I just started listening to Million Dollar Demon today!

You'll have to let me know what you think. 🙂

[Shawneinfl]

I just did a search and ended up reading threads from 2013. Some of us have been here a LONG TIME.

[Robin M]

58 minutes ago, Shawneinfl said:

I just did a search and ended up reading threads from 2013. Some of us have been here a LONG TIME.

Yes, we have. I think I've been running the halls of WTM since 2007.  

[Robin M]

I just finished Matt Haig's Midnight Library.  At first I thought it was going to be terribly depressing but turned out not to be. Nora's given up on life due to a series of disasters and ends up in the Midnight Library. Kind of a philosophical limbo in which she can choose from millions of books, filled with different scenarios to see what her life would have been like it she had made a different choice.  She takes a multi universe trip, stepping into her alternate selves, trying on different lives.  

"Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices . . . Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?

Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?

In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig’s enchanting new novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place."

[Kareni]

2 hours ago, Shawneinfl said:

I just did a search and ended up reading threads from 2013. Some of us have been here a LONG TIME.

Very true! (I remember the hullabaloo on the WTM boards prior to Y2K.)

Regards,

Kareni

[Robin M]

Link to week 27