November 2023: What are you reading?

[Kareni]

There's an Indie SFF sale that starts on Friday. The books are either 99¢ or free.

tabdalla.com/blackfridaysale/

Regards,
Kareni

[ScoutTN]

A middle grade book:

Pay Attention, Carter Jones by Gary Schmidt. Very good. Funny with a redemptive ending. Prereading for a tutoring student. 

[Kareni]

Last night I finished LIGHT of the MAGOS: The Spark Within by T.A.C. Wilson. I won this book and felt compelled to finish it even though it was a bit of a slog; it's a young adult fantasy novel featuring teens with magic whose families have been feuding for generations.

"Gifted vs. Intellect. Jenkins vs. Custers. Decades of feuding come to a head in this contemporary Irish-inspired fantasy as two teen Magos unravel a complex mystery spanning countries and centuries.

When Colby Custer starts his first year at the International School for the Intellect and Gifted, the talented young Magos is excited to learn more about his magical powers. But studying magic has never been more dangerous, thanks to the ongoing conflict between the Gifted and the Intellect.

On one side, the Custer family supports the study and sharing of magic with those they call Gifted. On the other, the Jenkins family perpetuates the hereditary lines of Magos called the Intellect. The feud between the two families is alive and well, but it's about to get more complicated as a shared threat emerges.

What would happen if the Custer and Jenkins families team up?

For Faith Jenkins, Colby represents a future her father can't accept. As she researches the mysteries of her family's ancient lineage, Faith navigates the difficulties of love, social expectations, and the family feud. Romancing a Custer is out of the question, right?

Faith and Colby's adventures at school are just the beginning. While the two teens come into their powers and tackle the threat to Faith's life, their family feud becomes complicated by other mysteries: a clandestine spy op, a shady corporation, and an eerie creature.

Join Colby and Faith, Wayne and Lonnie, on a rollicking adventure of spies, feuds, magic, and mystery. And remember...

Ní conquers olc riamh. Evil never conquers."
(FIC 103, RR 59, NF 14, NS 28, GN 2, PIC 2///)

Regards,

Kareni

[Ottakee]

I just finished this one…. a nice light read about a 50 year old lady returning to her hometown of Traverse City MI (a town I visit often so that was an extra pull)

 

 

[Lecka]

I just finished Book 2 of The Cinder Spires series by Jim Butcher.  
 

Now I will be reading Book 4 of The Wheel of Time.  

[Hyacinth]

Started The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion last night. I’ve never read anything by her and, so far, I’m liking her style (though the subject is sad). 

[4kidlets4me]

I DNF 2 books recently.

Crying in H Mart, this one is for book club. I was listening to it on Spotify and today I realized I'm not even remotely interested in hearing the rest. 

Silver Nitrate- this is was billed as a horror, suspense etc. I read 120 pages of the 320 pages and not one suspenseful thing has happened. Oh wait, one character saw a ghost, the whole scene was 2 sentences. The rest of it is just boring dialogue between the 2 main characters and I don't really care about either one of them. 

 

[Kassia]

3 hours ago, 4kidlets4me said:

I DNF 2 books recently.

Crying in H Mart, this one is for book club. I was listening to it on Spotify and today I realized I'm not even remotely interested in hearing the rest. 

 

 

I really liked this one.  🙂 

I'm reading What Makes a Marriage Last: 40 Celebrated Couples Share with Us the Secrets to a Happy Life by Phil Donahue and Marlo Thomas.  It's...okay.  I like reading the history of the couples - especially the ones who have been married a very long time, but I'm bored at times and with it wasn't written so much as dialogue.  

I just finished 

The Many Lives of Mama Love: A Memoir of Lying, Stealing, Writing, and Healing by Lara Love Hardin.  Had mixed feelings about this one, but am glad I read it. 

 

[Kareni]

Some bookish posts from the Word Wenches site ~

What We’re Reading (WWR) – November Edition

Five Books I’d like to read again for the first time

Regards,

Kareni

[Pawz4me]

I've finished:

North Woods (meh)

The Secret Lives of Introverts (also meh), and

Prequel (loved it--so much history I was unaware of)

And am currently working on:

The Diamond Eye (very good so far)

Spiritual Science (too soon to render an opinion) 

[Kareni]

I recently read two disparate books.

I enjoyed the historical romance The Sinful Ways of Jamie Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley. I imagine that this is marketed as a standalone story; however, the hero's parents and his aunts and uncles (who starred in their own romances earlier in the series) all feature in this story. While I enjoyed this, I don't think it's a book I'll be likely to reread. (Adult content)

"When in trouble, seek a Highlander ...

Even if you pushed him into a river ten years ago ...

When Evie McKnight slams into Jamie Mackenzie on a quay on Southampton, she flashes back to the day she accidentally knocked him into the river Cam. When she fished him out again, he shocked her with a searing, bold kiss before walking away in dripping wet shirt and kilt.

Evie has no business reveling in memories of the forbidden Jamie then and the nearness of him now—she is betrothed to a respectable man from a respectable and wealthy family. But Jamie appears everywhere in London, assisting Evie and her sisters, becoming friends with her fiancé, and agreeing to be drawn into the heist Evie has planned in order to save her best friend’s father from ruin.

The son and heir of Ian Mackenzie, Jamie has roamed the world encountering adventure after adventure, and now he’s back home to settle down as he promised his family. But Jamie is restless, searching for something he can’t seem to find, trying to live up to his potential as the son of a genius.

When he sees Evie again, he knows what he’s been striving for, and he is not going to let the trivial matter of her betrothal to a dull stick and the fact that she wants to break into the British Museum put him off. Jamie is Ian Mackenzie’s son all right—he’ll use all the Mackenzie determination and adroitness to prove that she is for him, and he for her."

**

Yesterday, I started reading the science fiction romance Calamity (Uncharted Hearts Book 1) by Constance Fay while on the bus running errands. While I didn't care overmuch for the first chapter, I was soon enjoying the story and missed my stop...oops! While I don't foresee rereading this book, I would happily read the next book when it releases next year. (Adult content)

"The captain of a ragtag mercenary ship is given an offer she can't refuse by the ruthless head of an intergalactic noble family. The only catch? She'll have to team up with his son--an upsettingly competent hardbody with his own agenda--to get her reward.

She’s got a ramshackle spaceship, a misfit crew, and a big problem with its sexy newest member…

Temperance Reed, banished from the wealthy and dangerous Fifteen Families, just wants to keep her crew together after their feckless captain ran off with the intern. But she’s drowning in debt and revolutionary new engine technology is about to make her beloved ship obsolete.

Enter Arcadio Escajeda. Second child of the terrifying Escajeda Family, he’s the thorn in Temper’s side as they’re sent off on a scouting mission on the backwater desert planet of Herschel 2. They throw sparks every time they meet but Temper’s suspicions of his ulterior motives only serve to fuel the flames between them.

Despite volcanic eruptions, secret cultists, and deadly galactic fighters, the greatest threat on this mission may be to Temper’s heart."

(FIC 105, RR 59, NF 14, NS 28, GN 2, PIC 2///)

Regards,

Kareni

[Vintage81]

New thread…