Get Lost in Literature

I did not have time to post on Friday so welcome to Friday Book Beginnings and Book Blogger Hop on Saturday. These should have been posted yesterday morning, but I was otherwise occupied. 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. "Conscription Day is always the deadliest. Maybe that's why the sunrise was especially beautiful this morning - because I know it might be my last." The Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros This book pulled me in from line one... What the hell is Conscription Day? Okay, so I knew this book was about an elite school of dragon riders so I could make a little assumption about the day in question, but I had no idea why it was deadly or who was the character wondering whether or not he or she was seeing their last sunrise. Book Blogger Hop Q: How many "bo...

"...instead we entered battle with an enemy I'd thought were only folklore last week, and now we're... well, we're here..." Violet Sorrengail returns to Basgiath War College after surviving a war game that turned real and cost her friend his life. Her and the other survivors must pretend like everything is normal to protect themselves and the rebellion and she's miserable lying to her friends. Xaden has graduated and is at the warfront, still smuggling weapons in his spare time, while Violet tries to survive her second year of school without him. I actually thought this book was better than the first. Rebecca Yarros just assumes no character intros are needed if you made it to book two, and with introductions out of the way the adventure intensifies. Like the first book, this story included a few plot twists but these ones I didn't see coming. I enjoy it so much more when a story is unpredictable, it's easier to sink into it.  When not worried about sc...

Hi all! I hope you are having a fabulous weekend! The Sunday Post is a weekly news meme hosted by TheCaffeinatedReviewer . I will be posting on the first Sunday of each month and I hope you will join me. The weather in October was completely October weather. It was chill enough to suggest long sleeves and sweatshirts were a necessity, but just warm enough that people unwilling to admit summer was over (by people I mean me) could still wear t-shirts and pretend like they weren't getting cold. My reading successes were unambitious, only having the time to get through two books: Kiss the Girls by James Patterson Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros But I didn't have time to post a review for Iron Flame  so that will be posted tomorrow morning. I will say I loved it so much, I've already purchased book 3 of the Empyrean series, Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros . The Empyrean series is not my first romantasy, but the plot isn't obsessively fixated on the romance... Which is kind of re...

Today’s Top Ten Tuesday  list was Halloween Freebie , and I struggled to pick a bookish theme other than Top Ten Horror Novels which is what I did last year.  So this year, I decided to deviate from bookish lists to go with My Top Ten Halloween Movies , which is completely biased because I’ve probably only seen ten horror movies to begin with. While horror movies are not my forte, when October rolls around (which it has, so much so it's almost over) and I'm in the mood to set the mood, these are my go-to movies. 1. The Exorcist (1973) . Probably not the scariest possession story by today’s standards, but Linda Blair put on a convincing performance. 2. The Omen (1976) . Yeah… I would not have let that nanny within a mile of my child… She was creepy from the moment she introduced herself. 3. The ‘Burbs (1989) . There’s an argument to be made that this is not horror it’s just a comedy. But I was too young the first time I saw it, and it gave me nightmares. Now I quite l...

Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic was listed as Cozy/Atmospheric Reads. I couldn't really think of anything cozy, and only a few popped into my mind as atmospheric. Instead, I will be sharing my Top Ten for the list posted on September 9th, which was  Villains (favorite, best, worst, lovable, creepiest, most evil, etc) and I'm super excited about it. Who doesn't love a good villain? They can make or break a plot. 1. Spitz from Call of the Wild by Jack London . I won't call him evil because he was a product of his environment, but he was definitely villainous. 2. Voldemort from Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling . Without Voldemort there'd be no story. 3. Victor from Vicious by V.E. Schwab . Victor is great because he knows he's a villain...and he likes it. 4. The Crooked Man from The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly . A creepy little man, reminiscent of Rumpelstiltskin, luring the main character to doom. 5. Richard Strickland from The Shape of Water by Gui...

"He knew that I was here in Durham. He knew who I was." Alex Cross's niece, Naomi, has gone missing from North Carolina. She hasn't been heard from in four days. His family makes it his responsibility to find her, and since he helped raise her in childhood, he is more than willing to join the search. But his quest to find his missing niece introduces him to a serial killer that hunts in the area, and the fear that Naomi may be another victim. My first impression of this book was that it has a lot of graphic violence, mostly against women, including rape, beatings, and murder. If you are sensitive to any of these things, this is definitely not the book for you.  The further I read, the more disenchanted I became with the book... I mean, it's James Patterson, right? Extremely popular murder-mystery writer. And Kiss the Girls is one of his most hyped-up novels. So statistics implied I was going to really enjoy this book. But honestly, I like a lot of suspense in my ...

From October 5th to the 11th, settle in with a banned or otherwise challenged book. It's that time of year to read something that someone else doesn't want you to read. It's time to celebrate your freedom to choose your own books and to honor those 1st Amendment Rights. Right now, in this country it isn't legal to truly ban books from public consumption, but it is possible to have them pulled from libraries, schools, and certain bookstores, making them harder to access. However there are people who are actively fighting for that to change, that is for books that they find offensive to be pulled from shelves everywhere.  Which to me is ludicrous. You can't currently and shouldn't ever be allowed to tell other people what they can and cannot do because you won't do it yourself. I, for example, don't eat onions, but I'm not refusing to let other people eat onions nor am I advocating that farmers be forbidden from growing onions. If you're wondering ...

Happy Sunday! I hope you all are enjoying your weekend! The Sunday Post is a weekly news meme hosted by the CaffeinatedReviewer. I will be posting on the first Sunday of each month and I hope you'll join me. The weather in September was perfect. Not too much rain, plenty of sunshine. The days were warm enough to be jacket free but not so hot that sweat dripped down the small of your back and into your... Well, it wasn't hot. We even had a few nights warm enough to sleep with a window open. In September, life went back to normal, and I was finally able to complete The Book of Night by Holly Black . It was a pretty good read, and it's just received a sequel... I probably won't pick up book number two until it's released in paperback (maybe next year?) but I look forward to it. September was a good reading month for me having completed 3 books: The Book of Night by Holly Black The Hallmarked Man by Robert Galbraith Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury But I have been woeful...

"We are living in a time when flowers are trying to live on flowers, instead of growing on good rain and black loam." This story takes place in a futuristic world where books are banned and burned. Guy Montag, whose job it is to burn the books, is about to become an enemy of the state. I'm having a hard time thinking critically about this book. It wasn't a difficult read, it was scary in certain places, and I found it deeply enjoyable (sometimes classic lit can drag on), and relevant to today's societal and political problems. Yet the review doesn't come easy. Guy Montag lives a life of normalcy. He gets up and goes to work everyday, lucky enough to have a job he enjoys. He comes home to his wife, Mildred who spends her days watching tv. Watching television has become a favorite hobby of the people of this dystopian society, their house installed with three wall-tvs, and Mildred begging for a fourth. She's the epitome of this 'perfect' society. She...

  This is the First Amendment in the United States Constitution. I assume most of you already know this, but if you're from a country other than the U.S.A maybe you don't know. What it means is this: With regards to religion, you have the right to practice or not practice whatever the hell you want without the Government cramming a specific theology down your throat. You also have the freedom to say whatever you want and may do so at any time even if a cop is informing you of your right to remain silent. Media like newspapers, tv, magazines and books are allowed to express opinions and distribute information unhindered by the Government whether They like it or not. If you feel a cause coming on, you may join a nonviolent protest in private or in public, and you may hold the Government accountable for wrongdoing because it is supposed to work for the People by the People and not for itself. This Amendment has long been interpreted as "the freedom of expression" because...

"It is the great misfortune of the coward that he sees danger everywhere, and of the snob that he perpetually underestimates those he considers his inferiors." ( Disclaimer : I try not to let the political views of authors dictate what I read. I do not agree with JK Rowlings views, but I still like her ability to tell a story. I absolutely understand why so many won't read her work anymore and don't need a lecture. ) Robin and Strike are back, with new mysteries and scandals. This time they've been hired to prove that the identity of a body found murdered and mutilated in a vault is that of their client's missing boyfriend. In the meantime, both detectives are dealing with increasingly complicated personal lives. Robin has just had a miscarriage and is suffering from PTSD due to her stay at Chapman Farm, and Strike is ready to admit he's in love with Robin even as he's reconciling how he feels about Charlotte's suicide. The mystery takes a darker t...

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. "Any child can be chased by their shadow. All they need to do is run straight toward the sun on a lazy afternoon." The Book of Night by Holly Black I can totally see a young child playing with their shadow in the sun on a summer afternoon. But what I didn't know in the first few sentences what was the significance. Holly Black didn't leave me hanging for long. Book Blogger Hop Q: Are there any books that are considered terrible, but you love? (submitted by Snapdragon @ Snapdragon Alcove) A: Two and they're both by the same author... The Twilight Saga and The Host by Stephenie Meyers. That's right... I liked Twilight . The writing wasn't that good, the characters weren't that complex, the plot was about a girl and her u...

"Revenge on everybody . That would fill her time. That would keep her busy." This is not going to be the greatest review of all time, seeing as I had some personal problems that required me to put the book down for a month and I was too preoccupied to take notes. This is the second book I read this year that involves a criminal main character in a dark fantasy novel. It's also my third dark fantasy this year (I think I read them in a straight row) and I'm not sure what called me to them when I was at the bookstore at the start of the summer. The main character, Charlie Hall was deeply likeable even though she claims she isn't. She's a criminal and conflicted about it. She's trying to go straight, but if it were that easy there'd be no story. When a friend asks her for a favor and her past starts to catch up to her, she has nothing but her talents as a thief and con-artist to rely on. I like that the setting takes place in the 'real world'. You ...

 I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend! The Sunday Post is a weekly news meme hosted by TheCaffienatedReviewer . I'll be posting on the first Sunday of each month and I hope you'll join me. The weather in August was delightful. It was sunny and hot but not too hot. The nights were getting cooler signaling the end of summer, even though I'm not ready for it to end. And as much as I like October weather, I'm hoping September brings a few more hot days before we have to break out the windbreakers. I'm sorry to say this is probably my most boring Sunday Post ever. I've had a lot to be preoccupied by in the month of August and have not had time to post a darn thing. My blog was inactive for a whole month, and the number of books I finished is 0. In July I started The Book of Night by Holly Black and it's wound up paused at the halfway point for the month of August. I did just finish it though, I sped through it in the first week of September. I'm ho...

Happy Sunday! The Sunday Post is a weekly news meme, hosted by The Caffeinated Reviewer . I'll be posting the first Sunday of each month and I hope you'll join me. The weather in July was beautiful, perfect for outdoor activities. The occasional thunderstorm rolled through mostly at night, a couple times while I was at work, and never on the weekends, so that was a highlight of the month. I've been reading Book of Night by Holly Black  but I'm a bit distracted. I found out that the barn where I board my horse will be sold, and I'm a bit too panicked over that to concentrate on my book. Who will it sell to? I've been downgraded to a pleasure rider due to my horse's age and health problems so we'd probably be evicted from a show barn were one to move in. And if the property ever sold to a developer we'd absolutely be told to get out. So I've been looking at alternative housing options, but the reality is I don't want to leave... I just might ha...

"The Prophet showed me a hooded figure with a shadow," Morette Yew's voice called above the clamor, stern and sure. "The shadow remained even when the light faded." A mist has settled over Blunder, a curse by a vengeful deity, it confuses and consumes. Meet Elspeth Spindle: resident of Blunder and survivor of an infection that grants its sufferers magic abilities. In a world where magic is punishable by death, Elspeth counts herself lucky that she can pass for normal. That no one knows she's infected. That no one knows that a monster, The Nightmare, lives inside her head. For eleven years she's kept these secrets but one fateful night and one chance meeting changes everything. Suddenly she's thrown into a conspiracy against the King, to break the curse, and to free herself. I normally start with my positive observations first and then my negative, but for whatever reason I'm doing my review in reverse today. I noticed some problems in the beginni...

' "Just trust me, Nina." "I wouldn't trust you to tie my shoes without stealing the laces, Kaz." ' This gritty fantasy opens with the introduction of six quirky characters. Kaz Brekker, only seventeen years old, is a hardened career criminal in a street gang known as the Dreggs. Jesper is an ex-farmboy turned sharpshooter with a gambling addiction. Inej, aka The Wraith, is indentured to the Dreggs but finds she has a talent for criminality; she's dangerous, fearless. She's the thief of secrets. Wylan was born to privilege and ran from it; he went from being a wealthy merchant's son, to being a demolitions expert for Kaz's gang. Matthias, Kaz's opposite; run by what he considers to be a moral high ground, is a soldier trained to hunt down witches and was convicted on false charges. And then there's Nina, a witch, or Grisha, who put Matthias in prison and is desperate to correct that wrong. These six teenagers hardened by their own ...

Happy Sunday! I hope you are 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. We had thirteen rainy weekends in a row, but the weather gods must have been looking out for me because it all cleared up in time for my vacation. We had a perfect weekend followed by a heatwave, which was fine with me because we were at a scenic coastal town, enjoying the breeze off the ocean. (This last photo isn't just a pretty view, it's an accurate depiction of the whale watch I went on.) I'm not usually much for heatwaves, but I can't say I hated my lazy days at the beach; reading and swimming and reading some more. And even though there were no whales on my whale watch, it was a pretty nice boat ride. And what was I reading? Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo . It will be my first review of July, so be sure to drop by tomorrow if you want to know more ab...

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. "The only impartial witness was the sun." The Wager by David Grann It's summer and the mere mention of the word 'sun' sent me overboard (pun intended). I could picture clearly in my eye, the sun shining in a flawless sky. Now the sky in this book is rarely flawless but I didn't know that at the time I read the first sentence...and so I kept on reading. Book Blogger Hop Q:   Has your perspective on reading changed as you've grown older? If so, has it affected how you write your reviews?  ( submitted by Billy @  Coffee Addicted Writer ) Yes, my perspective has changed a little. I have always read for fun and will continue to do so, so don't get me wrong, but when I was in college, I took a ton of literature courses,...

Today's Top Ten Tuesday  (hosted by ThatArtsyReaderGirl ) was listed as Top Ten Freebie/Throwback , where you get to pick your own subject. Today I'm covering the Top Ten Author's I've Read: First Book, Last Book, and Favorite Book. This is a prompt I saw on (and stole with permission) Louise @ Foxes and Fairytales blog, who borrowed it from A Book Fiend Named Mel who was inspired by ChelseaZhao . The concept of this list is to pick authors you've read multiple books by, and say what was the first book you read, the last one you read, and your favorite by that author. 1. John Ajivde Lindqvist      First: Let the Right One In      Last: I Am Behind You      Favorite: Let the Right One In 2. JK Rowling      First: Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone      Last: The Running Grave      Favorite: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 3. Edgar Allan Poe      First: The Cask of Am...

I won't be posting anything, or responding to comments, the 22nd-29th. I will be on vacation and hope to be lounging on a beach. I hope you all have a great week and I'll see you soon. glitter-graphics.com

  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...