Get Lost in Literature

 Leaving today to go read on a beach and pretend that adulting is not a thing I have to do. I'll be back in July with new reviews and recommendations. See you soon!

 Happy Sunday! I hope everyone’s having a good weekend! The Sunday Post is a news meme created by CaffeinatedReviewer . I'm also linking up with Sunday Salon at ReaderBuzz . I will be posting on the first Sunday of each month and I hope you'll join me. The weather in May was as weird as the weather in April. Hot then cold, dry then rainy. Sometimes all of the above on the same day. I couldn’t figure out if I should wear long sleeves or short. My butterfly/hummingbird garden has started to grow and I planted some annuals for filler; I think we’re well past the point of frost at the very least. It’s probably warm enough for me to store away my long-underwear too. I’m super excited that I’ve had so much time this year to read some great stories. Last year I struggled, but this year I’m finding little pockets of time here and there. My GoodReads Challenge was to read at least 15 and so far, I’ve read 8. I’m more than halfway through! My goal for the Speccy Fiction Challenge was to ...

  “A story,” said Rain, “is like a room. You enter it through a door like ‘Once upon a time’ or ‘Once there was a little girl’…” Rain, Cossy, and Iskinaary have escaped prison with the help of Flying Monkeys and are fleeing the city that’s come under naval attack. Lucickles has gone into hiding with his family at his mother-in-law’s farm, where they are besieged by refugees, eventually including the green-skinned teenager that ruined the world as he knew it. I love that this story (both books so far) wants to ask existential questions. The difference of life and death is a curiosity to be studied, more so by Cossy than Rain. They are both transfixed be the question of ‘who am I?’ as Rain tries to discover her lost memories and Cossy tries to discover herself with the loss of the brides and the only home she’s ever known. There’s also the subject of destiny… If you believe in that sort of thing, which Rain does not but some of the characters around her do. They believe it is her des...

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. “Sidestep the hangman’s noose, don’t show up for your own execution, and where has it got you?” The Oracle of Maracoor by Gregory Maguire For those of you new to my blog, I love love love Gregory Maguire. I'm maybe a little biased when I read his books because I am a fan. This trilogy follows Elphaba's granddaughter Rain and I'm two books in and am enjoying it so far. Book Blogger Hop Q: What do you think about rising prices for hardcovers, paperbacks, and eBooks? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee-Addicted Writer) A: Quite frankly, it pisses me off… and it makes me feel old. I remember when: When $5 could get me a paperback, the price of eBooks was $2, and hardbacks somewhere between $15-20. Now I’ve spent as much as $20 on paperbacks, ...

 What is the difference between a mystery and a thriller? Some of you may already know this, especially if you are mystery or thriller readers, but I only learned the difference recently. I always assumed a thriller was a mystery with a lot of action in it. After all, action is thrilling. I was always perplexed when a book classified as a thriller, had no action in it at all and read like a mystery. Apparently, there can be a bit of crossover between the two. A thriller can be mysterious and a mystery can be action packed, so maybe I’m not the only one who has been confused. The biggest defining characteristic of a mystery is that it should revolve around crimes that take place in the past . It’s usually intellectually driven, slow burn, and filled with clues that dribble out over time. The antagonist is kept a secret, usually not revealed until the end, or the climax at the earliest. The biggest defining characteristic of a thriller? The opposite of a mystery, it revolve...

“Shadows in the corridor loomed, only to scurry away. They seemed taller in the witching hour, dawn mere hours away.” In this sequel to One Dark Window , Nightmare has finally taken over Elspeth’s mind, leaving her imprisoned in the dark. Ravyn, who is desperate to save her and break the curse on Blunder, must find the last Providence card before time runs out. With Hauth on his deathbed, Elm finds himself becoming an unwilling heir to the throne. I loved the plot of this a little bit better than the first. I think maybe the first book was simply introducing the world… The second book is more of a quest as the future of Blunder hangs in the balance. There was no waffling about either, nothing extraneous included. RG knew where she wanted her characters to go and she sent them there. The romantasy elements were really fun. The story is passionate without being super smutty. Ravyn’s determined to save Elspeth even if it means allying himself with the monster that lives in her head, even ...