Get Lost in Literature

Birdie is a flighty, free spirited single mother who drinks too much and despite her love for her daughter, harbors a secret desire for freedom from responsibility. One morning she meets Arthur, a recluse who lives in the mountains. He's a bit odd, talking only in present tense and the townspeople mostly eschew his company with the exception of his father Warren, Birdie and her daughter, Emaleen. As their relationship deepens, Arthur invites Birdie and Emaleen to come live with him in his derelict cabin... But Arthur harbors a dark secret that he keeps from his new family. The setting of the book takes place in rural Alaska and the descriptions of the scenery, flora, and fauna are positively decadent. I've never been to Alaska (although I'd love to visit) but Eowyn Ivey's writing makes me feel right at home there. The characters are flawed in a kind of sad way, and beautiful in their own right. There's Birdie whose desire for freedom makes her somewhat selfish, goin...

"Dimly, distantly, I realize three things: the wind has come up so strongly that the small Meade tent that J.C. and I have been crouching in is flapping and banging like wash hung out to dry in a hurricane (I'd thought the noise was only in my throbbing skull)..." -Dan Simmons, The Abominable Jacob Perry is embarking on the adventure of a lifetime. After four mountain climbers go missing, he and his friends contact the mother of one of the missing men and promise to bring her son home, alive or dead. Their true goal: be the first climbers to reach the summit of Mt. Everest.  Let's start with what I liked about it.  The book was very very detailed. Everything you didn't know you wanted to know about mountain climbing is in this book... and probably some things you didn't care to know. Dan Simmons wrote this adventure in such a way that you'll feel like you are hanging off the face of a mountain, trekking waist deep in snow, and struggling for breath in the ...

  I'm not sure how a theme reveal blog post should go, I feel like it can be summed up into one sentence: For the 2025 A-Z Challenge , I'll be posting A-Z Book Reviews . But if you're looking for a little more info, I pride myself on reading a variety of genres, and not just committing every moment of my reading life to one. So tune in everyday for a mix of sci-fi, fantasy, non-fiction, contemporary, mystery and horror. Although I think this year, I only feature one contemporary novel so that might not be the best example. As always, thank you for stopping by, and feel free to leave me a link in the comments section to your theme reveal!

  Happy Sunday! I hope you're all having a wonderful weekend! The Sunday Post is a news meme created by Caffeinated Reviewer . I will be posting on the first Sunday of each month and I hope you'll join me. It's March! In February we got a small snowstorm followed by a bitter, howling wind that froze the snow solid, turning the yard into skating rink. But it's March and that's almost in the past now, as Spring approaches and the yard starts to thaw. Does anyone else think the day of Spring Forward should be a National Holiday? I posted two reviews in the last month: American Pharoah by Joe Drape Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros I feel pretty good about being 5 books into my yearly reading goal of 12. I haven't posted all of the reviews for them because some of them are going to count towards my A-Z Blogging Challenge in April. I'm reading the book for Q now, Quiet Dell by Jayne Anne Phillips , and am using the 'sample' feature on Amazon to audition book...

Hello all! I'm just giving an update on what's happening at this blog. You may have noticed my Monday Book Reviews have lessened, making my blog a little slow and desolate. Just letting you know it's not forever. This year I'll be participating in  April Blogging from A to Z Challenge  again, which is a blogging challenge where bloggers pick a theme and 26 alphabet based topics to go with it, all to be posted in the month of April. This year, I'll be participating with another set of A-Z Book Reviews (some old and some new) but I was missing books for the letters H, Q, X, and Z. I've been spending much of my time tracking down books for the missing letters and trying to read and review those books in time for April. So basically what I'm telling you is you're going to go from too few reviews to too many. I'm hoping to have it all under control by mid-March. Those four missing books will be read, the reviews will be pre-scheduled to post on their own,...

  American Pharoah: The Untold Story of the Triple Crown Winner's Legendary Rise   by Joe Drape "The three hardest things to predict the outcome of are a ballgame, a love affair, and a horse race." In 1978, a horse named Affirmed managed to win the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes, capturing the Triple Crown of horse racing. It would be a 37-years before the next horse was capable of accomplishing the same feat: American Pharoah in 2015. This isn't a particularly long book, but it took me forever to read. It's not a particularly emotional book (I don't think, anyways) but it kept making me emotional. I've been a horse lover all of my life, even making the financially irresponsible decision to buy one of my own, and a longtime fan of horse racing. I wasn't even born in 1978 when Affirmed won the Triple Crown... and while I'd seen video of Secretariat moving 'like a tremendous machine' it wasn't the same as ex...