Get Lost in Literature

  Today's Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by ThatArtsyReaderGirl , is Books On My Summer 2025 To-Read List. I didn't have to work hard this week to find titles, I conveniently keep a list of my reading materials on my 'Upcoming Reviews' tab. Pay no attention to my 'Currently Reading' tab... It's not that accurate. Justify: 111 Days to Triple Crown Glory by Lenny Shulman Iron Flame Rebecca Yarros The Midnight Library by Matt Haig 1984 by George Orwell Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo Book of Night by Holly Black The Brides of Maracoor by Gregory Maguire Kiss the Girls by James Patterson I promised myself not to acquire any more books, new or library, until these are read. Have you heard of or read any of these? What did you think of them?

  The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder by David Grann "Storms continued to batter the ships day and night. John Byron stared in awe at the waves that broke over the Wager , bandying the 123-foot vessel about as if it were no more than a pitiful rowboat." Today's review is going to be a short one about The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann . I feel like the book really needs no long-winded synopsis written from me as the author so painstakingly put it in the title with just three words. But in case you need more information, here goes: In 1740, a small fleet of English ships set sail for a secret mission meant to foil the war plans of the Spanish. This mission takes them around the treacherous Cape Horn where disaster strikes one of the ships, the Wager . Eventually stranded on a foreign shore, Captain Cheap is desperate to fulfill his orders and rejoin the fight; his crew, focused on survival, want to turn back. I don't read a ...

"The dream itself had faded a little now, but it had been a memory as much as a nightmare. Me as a child, walking toward the doorway to the small kitchen of the house I had grown up in." After the death of his wife, Tom Kennedy and his son Jake move to the small town of Featherbank. They're looking for a fresh start, but it soon becomes clear they won't find it. The locals call their new home "the scary house" and Jake's imaginary friends are becoming increasingly disturbing. A child goes missing, and as police race to find the boy they discover the clues point to someone who is already in prison. The first thing that stood out to me was that we're given a collection of imperfect characters all trying to overcome some sort of loss. There's Tom who's coping with his grief by writing about his wife, and as much as he loved her, some of what he writes isn't always pleasant. His son Jake is inventing imaginary friends and getting in trouble a...

Happy Sunday! I hope you're all having a great weekend! The Sunday Post is a weekly news meme hosted by The Caffeinated Reviewer . I'll be posting on the first Sunday of each month and I hope you'll join me. I swear it has rained every weekend since my last Sunday Post. I couldn't hold off working on my garden any longer, so I worked outside in the wet and dreary weather when I usually spend those days in my rocking chair with a book. But it's the first day in June and June is a very busy month (and usually beautiful, so here's hoping). Father's Day is headed our way, as is mine and my brother's birthdays, and the annual family vacation. Hopefully the vacation is rain free because I don't want to be trapped in a hotel room for the better part of a week. It does look like I'm reducing my reading time to one book a month right now, having taken most of May to finish Circe by Madeline Miller , which wasn't that big a book. I've stopped work...

Book Beginnings on Fridays by Rose City Reader -  Share the opening sentence (or so) of the book you are reading this week. You can also share from a book that caught your fancy, even if you are not reading it right now. "Jake. There is so much I want to tell you, but we've always found it hard to talk to each other, haven't we?" - The Whisper Man by Alex North This is a thriller that starts with a lot of intrigue... First, a letter from a father to his son and the reader is immediately left wondering what inspired the letter. Soon after, a child goes missing and the feeling of dread creeps in because you just know something bad is about to happen.   Book Blogger Hop Q: Have you ever wondered why a passionate book blogger might suddenly stop posting or delete their blog without notice? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer) A: Yes, and then no. I imagine there are a lot of reasons why that happens, the first thing that comes to mind i...

Today's Top Ten Tuesday theme was listed as Animal Companions (These animals can be real or fantasy!) (submitted by P.S. I Love Books) . Back in August 2024 I did a Top Ten Literary Animal Friends list, which is basically the same, and I didn't think my list had changed since then. So instead of doing a repeat list, I'm doing the Top Ten Books with Horses. The horses will be both real and fictional. 1. American Pharoah: The Untold Story of the Triple Crown Champion's Legendary Rise by Joe Drape - The true story about the life of the first Triple Crown winner after a 37 year drought. 2. Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin - A fantasy about a thief named Peter Lake, seemingly immortal, who is watched over by his guardian, a pure white horse depicted as a deity, Athansor. 3. Battleship: A Daring Heiress, a Teenage Jockey, and America's Horse by Dorothy Ours - A nonfiction about Battleship, the undersized son of Man O'War, who despite his failings at flat racin...