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Book a Week 2021 - BW49: Fictional Librarian - Sarah Dove

Robin M

By Robin M,
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Robin M

Robin M

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Happy Sunday, my dears! We're weighing anchor and taking a short flight to Dove Pond, North Carolina to join our fictional librarian of the month, Sarah Dove, created by Karen Hawkins.  Books have talked to Sarah for as long as she can remember. For the residents of Dove Pond, they are mystified when Sarah always gives them a book which turns out to be just what they needed to read to solve a problem. The Dove family has 7 daughters and the first two books in the series, The Book Charmer and A Cup of Silver Linings are both great reads.  I'm looking forward to the next book in the series, The Lost Book of Cakes which will be out sometime in 2022.   Karen Hawkins booklist also includes several historical romance series. 

Read a book with one or more of the following (but not limited to) and have fun exploring:

  • Spell out the first and/or last name of the character's name - one book per letter from the title on the cover.
  • Spell out the first and/or last name of the author - one book per letter.
  • Read one or more books in the series or any book in the author's booklist.
  • Follow in a character's footsteps and read a book set in the country or time period of the story.
  • Follow in the author's footsteps and read a book set in their place or time of birth.
  • Read a book with the first or last name of the character or author in the title.

Have fun as there are a variety of ways to complete this challenge with plenty of rabbit trails.

 

Link to week 48

Visit  52 Books in 52 Weeks where you can find all the information on the annual, mini and perpetual challenges.  

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Robin M

Robin M

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I’ve just started another space opera, The Last Watch by J.S. Dewes:

 “The Divide.      It’s the edge of the universe. Now it’s collapsing—and taking everyone and everything with it.  The only ones who can stop it are the Sentinels—the recruits, exiles, and court-martialed dregs of the military.

At the Divide, Adequin Rake commands the Argus. She has no resources, no comms—nothing, except for the soldiers that no one wanted. Her ace in the hole could be Cavalon Mercer--genius, asshole, and exiled prince who nuked his grandfather's genetic facility for “reasons.”

She knows they’re humanity's last chance.”

We watched National Treasure: Book of Secrets Saturday night which was excellent.  

 

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mumto2

mumto2

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Thank you Robin!

This week I have been hanging out with Joe Pickett on audio.  The author’s last name (CJ Box) was my connection point in one of my book chains and I didn’t want to connect off of Winterkill which meant I listened to Trophy Hunt too. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/983545.Trophy_Hunt  I could easily continue to binge on this series.  The bingeworthyness of these books is sort of odd because they are such imperfect characters.  I think the fact that they are so human is what makes them so appealing.  Anyway on to Lorraine Heath’s new release The Duchess Hunt for a 21 book long Book Chain!

Late last night I finished The Scholars of the Nights by John M. Ford https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56179362-the-scholars-of-night.  It’s a book that is making lists which always makes me curious.  It’s also a book Cold War thriller from 1988 that has been republished that I did not remember.  Back in 1988 I read a lot spy type books but missed this one, I suspect I would have loved this book when it was first released but found it simply meh today.  One thing that was fun is the sleeper spy’s were gamers…..ran big groups of intellectuals playing Diplomacy and whatever the original name was of War of the Roses.

I have the new Hayley Mills autobiography in progress and only have two more days before overdrive takes it away!   I love Hayley Mills and hope I still do when I finish the book. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56625088-forever-young?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=sogEscoChx&rank=1

My next audiobook is The Dark Vineyard, the second in Martin Walker’s Bruno, the chief of police series. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6665040-the-dark-vineyard

 

 

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Kareni

Kareni

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Some bookish posts ~

From the Word Wenches: What We've Read in November

https://wordwenches.typepad.com/word_wenches/2021/11/wwrwhat-weve-read-in-november.html#comment-6a00d8341c84c753ef0282e1347354200b

A Year in Books Not Yet Read by Molly Templeton

https://www.tor.com/2021/12/02/mark-as-read-a-year-in-books-not-yet-read/

Non-Fiction Recommendations From Katherine Addison

https://www.tor.com/2021/11/12/non-fiction-recommendations-from-katherine-addison/

Regards,

Kareni

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melmichigan

melmichigan

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I just finished  The Exiled Fleet.  According to the author page there will be a book 3 in The Divide Series. 

This last week I finished up the Creek Canyon series by Catherine Bybee with Everything Changes.  Honestly it was a disappointment, I usually really enjoy her work but could see where this was going and it was just too much like the prior book.  

Since I updated last I've finished Fated Blades, book 3 in the Kinsman series by Ilona Andrews, it's right between a novella and a novel.  I really enjoy the Kinsmen world.  I finished up my Kate Daniels reread right before Thanksgiving so now I'm up to date with all their books.

No idea where I'm heading next, I've been putting off Archangel's Light by Nalini Singh, and realized I didn't read Kingdom of Light and Shadow by Karen Marie Moning either. 🤷‍♀️ I don't want to be disappointed with either series so they may wait a bit more. It'll be an audiobook.  I cleared out my inbox after getting locked out this weekend, and my eyes won't focus after 200,000 emails. 🤣

 

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Robin M

Robin M

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3 hours ago, Kareni said:

A Year in Books Not Yet Read by Molly Templeton

https://www.tor.com/2021/12/02/mark-as-read-a-year-in-books-not-yet-read/

Love this article. I'm pretty much the same way. I peruse my shelves of unread books, , go down memory lane, think about why I chose it. 

 "There’s a story like these behind every unread book, just like there’s a different kind of story about every book you’ve finished, whether that story—the story of your experience of the book—is about how it made you angry, made you cry, made you think about how writing works, made you want to read more fiction or more history or more stories unlike no stories you’d ever read before. We don’t just read stories; we create our own stories around them. Even, I think, when we haven’t read them. Yet."

Makes me want to return to being a monogamous reader, paying sole attention to the story I'm reading, instead of splitting my time between several.  After all, the book may have been waiting in the stacks for a long time and deserves it's moment in the limelight.  😁

2 hours ago, melmichigan said:

I just finished  The Exiled Fleet.  According to the author page there will be a book 3 in The Divide Series.

Good to know. I just started Last Watch and enjoying the world building, learning about the characters, wondering what's going to happen. 

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Robin M

Robin M

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11 hours ago, mumto2 said:

This week I have been hanging out with Joe Pickett on audio.  The author’s last name (CJ Box) was my connection point in one of my book chains and I didn’t want to connect off of Winterkill which meant I listened to Trophy Hunt

I forgot I have Open Season in my virtual stacks. Will have to move it up in the stacks for next year read.

 

17 hours ago, Negin said:

 

The 10 Big Lies About America: Combating Destructive Distortions About Our Nation's Past and Present - 4 Stars

Sounds like a book my hubby would enjoy reading.  

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Kareni

Kareni

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I just finished Redhead by the Side of the Road: A novel by Anne Tyler. It was a quick pleasant read (which is not always the case for book group books), but I'm left wondering 'what was the point?'

"Micah Mortimer is a creature of habit. A self-employed tech expert, superintendent of his Baltimore apartment building, cautious to a fault behind the steering wheel, he seems content leading a steady, circumscribed life.

But one day his routines are blown apart when his woman friend (he refuses to call anyone in her late thirties a "girlfriend") tells him she's facing eviction, and a teenager shows up at Micah's door claiming to be his son. These surprises, and the ways they throw Micah's meticulously organized life off-kilter, risk changing him forever."

Regards,

Kareni

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bookbard

bookbard

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I've been rereading lots of middle grade/ young adult novels from my childhood bookshelves, seeing if they're any good for my kids. The old format is definitely less inviting than colourful modern books, so we will see if any of them get taken up. Both my kids are avid readers, but they're picky. 

Finally read Becky Chamber's new book A Psalm for the Wild-Built, and really enjoyed it. I wish it was a novel rather than a novella though! Looks like part two will come out next year. 

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Kareni

Kareni

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Last night I finished a fun book with a title that's rather reminiscent of an old Harlequin romance ~ The Tyrant Alpha's Rejected Mate by Cate C. Wells. I'll be rereading this, and I look forward to the next in the series. (Adult content)

"He rejected me, and then he realized I’m the center of his world. Bummer.


Una
I keep my head down. In this backwards pack, females rank low, and my bad leg makes me damaged goods. It doesn’t help that I’ve never shifted. I don’t mind the late twenties single life, though. No one’s paying any attention as I build an illicit farmer’s market empire.

My roomies and I are doing it for ourselves, and if life under Killian Kelly is stifling, at least it’s predictable. We can deal.

But when biology finally kicks in, I lose my mind. I claim our alpha as my mate. And he rejects me in front of the whole pack.
It’s all good. It only hurts when I breathe. I’ll survive. That’s what I do.

Who wants an arrogant jerk for a mate, anyway? I’ve got a business to run.

Killian
To lead this pack out of the dark ages, I’ve had to be hard. Merciless. I don’t flinch, and I don’t make mistakes.

Una Hayes isn’t my mate.

My wolf might have some kind of strange infatuation, but if she were mine, I’d know it. And I can walk away, can’t I?
And if I keep coming back? If she starts living in my head?

I’m the strongest male in five generations. My pack scrambles to do my bidding. I can bring one quiet female back in line. No one can possibly be as stubborn as I am.

There’s no way I’ve ruined the best thing that’s ever happened to me.

I’m the Quarry pack alpha. I don’t lose."

Regards,

Kareni

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Kareni

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This afternoon I finished the contemporary romance Good Time Bad Boy by Sonya Clark. I definitely enjoyed this and could envision rereading it. (Adult content)

"Wade Sheppard was the king of country for nearly ten years. Now he can’t get Nashville on the phone, much less another record deal. When yet another drunken night onstage gets him fired from a casino gig, Wade is pulled off the road by his manager and sent home. Being back in the small town where he was born and raised, his every screw-up fodder for gossip, isn’t helping any. His family knows him too well, and the pretty, sharp-tongued waitress who catches his eye doesn’t want to know him at all. Daisy McNeil has more baggage than most her age but she’s finally pulling her life together. College classes will be her ticket out of poverty and instability. She doesn’t mind waiting tables for the time being, but she could do without the rowdy rednecks who sometimes get handsy. When one of them crosses the line, she snaps and gives him and his stupid ten gallon hat the telling off he deserves, but causing a scene gets her fired.Wade didn’t mean to cost Daisy her job. Chastened, he decides he doesn’t want his train wreck of a life to crash into anybody else. He offers the bar owner a summer of free shows if Daisy can have her job back. Now they’re spending nights together trading barbs and fighting a growing attraction. With a sexy smile and a powerful voice that can make any song his, Wade’s determined to show Daisy that he’s more than just a good time bad boy."

Regards,

Kareni

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Laurel-in-CA

Laurel-in-CA

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On 12/5/2021 at 7:37 PM, bookbard said:

I've been rereading lots of middle grade/ young adult novels from my childhood bookshelves, seeing if they're any good for my kids. The old format is definitely less inviting than colourful modern books, so we will see if any of them get taken up. Both my kids are avid readers, but they're picky. 

Finally read Becky Chamber's new book A Psalm for the Wild-Built, and really enjoyed it. I wish it was a novel rather than a novella though! Looks like part two will come out next year. 

I just finished reading Psalm -- and I think tea monk is a wonderful profession!! I love the creative robot ideas, particularly the choice of how to name themselves and why they chose to not be immortal. I definitely could have read more, but it seems so different from the breakneck pace of Chambers' other novels!

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Robin M

Robin M

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On 12/5/2021 at 4:06 PM, melmichigan said:

I just finished  The Exiled Fleet.  According to the author page there will be a book 3 in The Divide Series. 

I think I have you to thank for mentioning the Last Watch, Mel.  Once I read the excerpt on Amazon, had to buy it.  Once I started reading it,  couldn't put it down. I just finished and immediately ordered The Exiled Fleet.  Dewes did a marvelous job of creating a story  with military misfits exiled in an outer space station on the edge of the galaxy. A cast of characters you wanted to root for, descriptive writing which as a whole, mind and gut wrenching events which made for a great story.  

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Kareni

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Currently FREE for Kindle readers ~

Regards,

Kareni

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Kareni

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Yesterday I finished the contemporary romance Managed (VIP Book 2) by Kristen Callihan; I enjoyed this. (Adult content)

"It started off as a battle of wits. Me: the ordinary girl with a big mouth against Him: the sexy bastard with a big...ego. I thought I’d hit the jackpot when I was upgraded to first class on my flight to London. That is until HE sat next to me. Gabriel Scott: handsome as sin, cold as ice. Nothing and no one gets to him. Ever. He’s a legend in his own right, the manager of the biggest rock band in the world, and an arrogant ass who looks down his nose at me. I thought I’d give him hell for one, long flight. I didn’t expect to like him. I didn’t expect to want him. But the biggest surprise? He wants me too. Only in a way I didn’t see coming. If I accept his proposal, I leave myself open to falling for the one man I can’t manage. But I’m tempted to say yes. Because the real man beneath those perfect suits and that cool façade just might be the best thing that’s ever happened to me. And I just might be the only one who can melt the ice around his heart. Let the battle begin…"

Regards,

Kareni

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tuesdayschild

tuesdayschild

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It's always interesting to see what you're all reading,  and  to have links to hop to (🙂).

Life is at a clipping pace, so I'm thankful for some busy-hands-freer-headspace to get some audio listening in.

I’m still relistening through Miss Silver Mysteries as my late-night listens.  Currently listing to two library loans: Gilead ~ Marilynne Robinson (lovely writing), and, The Mysterious Mr. Quin ~ Agatha Christie elsewhere.  And am going to try the audio version of a book @Kareni linked as a free ebook years back: The Weaver Takes a Wife ~ Sherri Cobb South

Completed:

The Wind off the Small Isles ~ Mary Stewart, narrated by Susie Riddell (1h 57m) (180pgs)   This was a nice palate cleanse – a sweet, short and simple listen - after completing a pretty full month of reading/listening to non-fiction.

What Child Is This?: Ellie Kent Bk2 ~ Alice K. Boatwright, narrated by Saskia Maarleveld (3+) (6h 45m)  The way the author got rid of the perpetrator was a little too pat; and, some of the details about babies is a little off …….. yet, as it’s a fiction story that’s allowed, I guess.   Though the mystery was interesting, this is not a title I’d recommend to some of my IRL reading friends.  I haven’t read the first book in the series, and the author includes enough backstory in this one so that I wasn’t left wondering ‘what was that all about?’             Themes:  person in authority grooms teenaged girls, kidnapping, LBGT.

Greenshaw's Folly - a Miss Marple Short Story ~ Agatha Christie  (audiobook, really well narrated)  As this is a short story, it feels like there is more dialogue about the case than actual story.

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Kareni

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I read a fantasy novella last night that was rather fairytale-like and quite enjoyed it. The story is appropriate for all ages.

On Winter's Eve by C.D. Alexander

I recommend it.

"Winters in Bern are long and cold and deep.

On winter nights, when the snow is falling, Pippa goes to sleep knowing she’ll wake up to tracks in front of her farmhouse. The tracks are small, and they come from the woods—those same woods that her mother says are full of witches and elves and trolls, and her father says are full of wolves and bears and demons. But these tracks are the Tompte’s, and he is a friendly creature. Or at least that’s what Pippa hopes. . .
The Tompte borrows and mends things, he takes and he sometimes leaves things, and such is life on a farm at the edge of the realm. Her mother calls it tradition. Her father calls it a curse. And when things start going missing and trouble comes their way, Pippa’s not sure what to believe. Soon enough, she'll have no choice but to go into the woods to find out. . .

Winter comes and north wind blows,
And with it comes the winter snow.
Through the pines, he leaves his track,
Over hill and here and back.

The Tompte he looks after land,
With quiet feet and silent hand.
He comes from woods, alone and weary,
On winter nights, dark and dreary.

Through the farm, he peeks about,
Checking in, and on and out.
Taking gifts and leaving tokens,
Mending bits that have been broken.

His beard is long, his feet are small,
He’s like a child, about as tall,
But Tompte is old and wise as well,
And deep in forest is his dell.

So, on winter nights when you’re asleep,
Along comes Tompte in silence deep,
On quiet feet, with food to share
With quiet hands, and traded fare.

Winters come and Autumns go,
And with it comes the Tompte through snow.
Always watching, never seen
Leaving tracks of where he’s been."

Regards,

Kareni

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Kareni

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I also recently finished My Past, Your Future (Deerbourne Inn) by Gabbi Grey which was a pleasant read. This novella is set in the present and features two men, one of whom was a freed slave who fought and died in the Civil war. (Adult content)

"Callum MacLaren, a professor from Scotland, visits Willow Springs, Vermont during the Winter Solstice to study and explore the rich history of St. Joseph's Cemetery. His encounter with a sexy soldier in a tattered Civil War uniform is a captivating puzzle, and the more he learns, the deeper his attraction.

A hundred and fifty years ago, Elijah Freeman was killed during the Second Battle of Fort Wagner and woke up in Willow Springs, the only home he'd known. Alone, he roams the town, unable to leave or interact with a single soul until an intriguing Scot addresses him. Even stranger, the man can see him, hear him, and touch him--a sizzling caress that leaves Elijah aching for more.

But will Elijah return to his ghostly form when the magic of the solstice fades, or is Callum's love enough to keep him in the land of the living?"

Regards,

Kareni

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Robin M

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On my dinner break at work and perusing the internet. Decided to share the wealth tonight with more book lists.  So much temptation.  I discovered shopping early for Christmas in order to make sure things get here on time has lead to spending a whole heck of a lot more money, because I keep seeing one more thing, then one more thing. My guys are going to be spoiled this year.  

Have you seen Red Notice yet? Fun movie. Red Notice and the Art of the Heist books about heists. 

The Center for Fiction confabs to determine the 200 Books that Shaped 200 Years of Literature.

A list from France - 100 books of 2021 (thank goodness for google translator)

Now I'm meandering slowly (is that redundant?) through Tor's list of 100 Speculative Fiction Titles to Add to Your Reading List

😘

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