Thursday, March 30, 2017

Thoughtful Thursday: Attack On Titan Season 2 is coming to the USA!

Good morning everyone!

I've been trying to figure out what to write about today.  I was hoping to write something philosophical, or write about my plans for upgrading the house, but I felt uninspired to write an intelligent post.

....So, I'm going to write about something my husband and I are looking forward to: Attack On Titan Season 2!



Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Book Review: Small Favor (Dresden Files #10), by Jim Butcher



Genre: Urban Fantasy
Date Published: April 2008
Publisher: Roc
# Of Pages/Listening Time: 420 pages/13 hours 47 minutes

Goodreads | Audible

Synopsis: Harry Dresden's life finally seems to be calming down -- until a shadow from the past returns. Mab, monarch of the Sidhe Winter Court, calls in an old favor from Harry -- one small favor that will trap him between a nightmarish foe and an equally deadly ally, and that will strain his skills -- and loyalties -- to their very limits.


My Rating:
 ★
.....For being good, but a little more serious

Monday, March 27, 2017

Happy Monday Folks! My Goals This Week.

It's Monday!

Granted it's pouring rain out, but that only means it's perfect weather for reading.


Today feels like it's going to be a good day.  I'm ahead of my own self-imposed reading schedule,  and while I haven't had time to post six posts last week, I still posted pretty regularly.

So what did I read last week?  Well, here's the list:


Proven Guilty (Dresden Files #8), by Jim Butcher: I'm just plowing right through this series!  Sure this is a re-read, but that doesn't diminish this book in the slightest.
















Ragtime, by E.L. Doctorow I had to rush to finish this excellent piece of literature, but I managed to finish this just in time for the family book club meeting.  For anyone who wants to read something with quality writing, this is a good book.

















White Night (The Dresden Files #9), by Jim Butcher Yet another great installment in the Dresden Files series.  I can guarantee I'll finish this series by the end of April.
















Of The Trees, by E.M. Fitch Okay, so the author's mom gave me this book to read and provide an honest review.  I don't normally read books for the sake of an honest review, and I was dreading the day I would have to tell the mom that I didn't like this book.
.....So I was really surprised that I liked the book!  Creepy, suspenseful, it's definitely worth a look.














Attack On Titan Vol. 1, by Hajime Isayama I didn't write a review for this because I couldn't think of anything to say for a graphic novel that I read because I'm re-watching the TV series.  Suffice it to say that I love the TV show, and the graphic novel it was based on is equally good.












So I started the week saying my goal was to read three books.  I ended up reading five books.  Count 'em.  Five.  So I'm feeling pretty proud of myself. :)

This week, my goal is to read another three novels.  The next book (or two) of the Dresden Files will be a part of this goal, of course, and maybe the next volume of Attack On Titan.  I have no idea what else I'll be reading, but I figure I'll read something good.  I'll just see what I'm in the mood for.

I'm also doing a long-term reading project.  I've been meaning to read this book for years, and I finally felt inspired to start it:


I'm definitely not going to finish this in a week; it's five hundred pages worth of Roman history.  So my goal is to read 100 pages a week and finish this book by the first week of May.

Well, that's it for me.  Dave and I are feeling a strong urge to get back in shape, so we're going to go to the gym.  Ta-ta y'all!

Book Review: Of The Trees, by E.M. Fitch



Genre: Young Adult paranormal horror
Date Published: February 28th 2017
Publisher: Month9Books
# Of Pages: 300 pages

Goodreads

Synopsis: Cassie and Laney fancy themselves amateur ghost hunters. When a carnival comes to town, Cassie embraces the chance to try something new.

Carnival workers watch the girls with a collective gaze that ignites in Laney a dark and dangerous fascination, leaving Cassie unnerved.

It's not just their age or the unsettling way they stare. There is something in the shifting of their skin and the way their features seem to change in the shadows.

Cassie can't shake this sickening feeling that there's more to the carnival than meets the eye.

When townspeople suddenly start dying and bloody warnings appear around town, Cassie is lured into a nightmare where trees whisper and strange, shape-shifting men haunt the backwoods she once hunted for ghosts with her best friend.

Then Laney goes missing, and only Cassie can get her back. But the creatures of the trees aren't simply going to hand Laney over to Cassie without getting something in return.


My Rating:
 ★
.....For Exceeding My Expectations

Saturday, March 25, 2017

Book Review: White Night (Dresden Files #9), by Jim Butcher



Genre: Urban Fantasy
Date Published: April 2007
Publisher: Roc
# Of Pages/Listening Time: 407 pages/14 hours, 13 minutes

Goodreads | Audible

Synopsis: In Chicago, someone has been killing practitioners of magic, those incapable of becoming full-fledged wizards. Shockingly, all the evidence points to Harry Dresden's half brother, Thomas, as the murderer. Determined to clear his sibling's name, Harry uncovers a conspiracy within the White Council of Wizards that threatens not only him, but his nearest and dearest, too.


My Rating:
 ★★ 1/2
.....For being fun as usual

Thursday, March 23, 2017

A Thoughtful Thursday: I Need To Get Organized!

Soo, I was trying to figure out what I was going to write about today, and at first I thought I should join a book blogging meme today.  But I didn't see one I was interested in trying today.

....Then it occurred to me that I haven't written a Favorite Spotlight post in years. So I sat down and went to work to write about a favorite book. I checked out my Favorites page and Goodreads shelves for inspiration....

....and now I realize that I have some work to do.  My Book Favorites pages look fine at first glance, but upon close inspection I see that they're outdated and contain bad links.  My Goodreads shelves don't look any better either.

I've gotta get organized.  No doubt about it.  It's time for a little spring cleaning



I'm sure no one really cares about how I'm going organize everything, but since I'm using this post to help organize my tired brain, you'll have to bear with me a little.

I think what I'm going to do first is organize Goodreads.  I'll get rid of duplicate copies, and make sure I have shelves that I'm going to actually use. Then I'm going to go through my blog and make sure my tags and shelves match, and then I'm going to update  my book favorites page and make sure everything is working.

Well here goes!  Wish me luck!

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Book Review: Ragtime, by E.L. Doctorow



Genre: Historical fiction, Literature
Date Published: 1974
Publisher: Random House
# Of Pages: 270

Goodreads

Synopsis: Welcome to turn-of-the-century America, where Scott Joplin's ragtime sets the beat and passionate vitality sets the tone. Harry Houdini astounds audiences with feats of magic escape while J.P. Morgan rules the world of finance like a Roman emperor. Emma Goldman preaches revolution, free love, and feminism; Henry Ford builds cars by turning men into machines. And a beautiful ex-chorus girl named Evelyn Nesbit sparks the murder of a great architect by a mad millionaire. These real-life characters mingle with a Lower East Side Jewish peddler, a black musician from Harlem, and a rebellious young middle-class WASP in the classic E.L. Doctorow novel that weaves a spellbinding story into a vibrant mosaic of a time, a place, and a people losing their innocence and giving birth to an age when anything and everything goes.


My Rating:
 ★★ 1/2
.....For being extremely well-written

Book Review: Proven Guilty (Dresden Files #8), by Jim Butcher



Genre: Urban fantasy
Date Published: 2006
Publisher: Roc
# Of Pages/Listening Time: 479 pgs/16 hours 16 minutes

Goodreads | Audible

Synopsis: There's no love lost between Harry Dresden, the only wizard in the Chicago phone book, and the White Council of Wizards, who find him brash and undisciplined. But war with the vampires has thinned their ranks, so the Council has drafted Harry as a Warden and assigned him to look into rumors of black magic in the Windy City.

As Harry adjusts to his new role, another problem arrives in the form of the tattooed and pierced daughter of an old friend, all grown-up and already in trouble. Her boyfriend is the only suspect in what looks like a supernatural assault straight out of a horror film. Malevolent entities that feed on fear are loose in Chicago, but it's all in a day's work for a wizard, his faithful dog, and a talking skull named Bob....

My Rating:
 ★★★★ 1/2
....for being entertaining as usual

My Thoughts:
This was a re-read.  I felt the urge to read this series again, especially since I haven't read the latest installments.  And, since I've already read this before, I already knew I was going to have fun with this one.
The books are full of humor and exciting scenarios, but it seems with each novel that they get progressively more serious.  This was definitely one of the more serious ones.  Especially towards the end.  However, it is still one that I found immensely entertaining.
I think my favorite character is Mouse.  He doesn't talk, but he's still such a great dog.  I later looked up his breed and, Good Lord he's gigantic!  If you've read this series before and have struggled to visualize what Mouse looks like, here he is:

...and no, this wasn't photoshopped.  The dog is literally this huge


Anyway, onward to the next book!

Monday, March 20, 2017

Sleep Deprivation Monday: My Goals and Plans For This Week


Good(?) Morning.  As I write this, I'm debating whether or not I can actually stay awake today.  Last night I went to bed at a reasonable hour, but woke up rather abruptly at 3 a.m..  And I Could.  Not. Fall. Back. To. Sleep.
I managed to doze off on the couch at around 7:30 a.m. for about 45 minutes.  Then my darling husband woke me up all excited to go to the gym (we go to the gym together).  My response? I glared at my poor innocent husband and pulled the blanket over my head.  Looking back, I feel kind of bad; he had been looking forward to going to the gym this morning and I completely crushed that idea.  Sorry, honey.

Anyway, I'm wiped.  So I'm just typing away as a means to stay awake.

It's official though, I managed to blog everyday this week! Whoohoo!  My comeback is off to a great start.  I also managed to finish two books this past week.  Double whoohoo!  Granted, Goodreads says I'm six books behind schedule with my reading goal, but at least I'm making progress!

So, what's my goal this week, reading and blogging-wise?

With blogging, my goal is to post something almost every day.  If I can make a post for six out of the seven days this week, I'll be happy.  I don't want to make blogging a burden, and forcing myself to write daily every week is definitely something that would discourage me from maintaining the habit.
My other goal is to promote my blog a little.  This isn't an online diary after all; I want to interact with people, so I plan to try a blog hop or two, and to share on Facebook so people can see what I'm writing.

With reading, I want to get rid of that "6 books behind schedule" on my Goodreads goal tracker.  I definitely can't read six extra books this week, but I definitely can get a little closer to catching up with the tracker, so this week, my plan is to finish three books.  Yes, three.

Here are the books I plan on finishing this week:




Book #8 Of The Dresden Files: I am well over halfway done with this audiobook, thanks to the fact that I was up half the night last night.  This story probably didn't help me fall asleep, but I couldn't help but keep listening to the audiobook.  I predict you will see a book review post within three days.















E.L. Doctorow's Ragtime: Since this is a BOTM read, I definitely am going to finish this book on Tuesday night.  I only have 114 pages left, so this will be an easy achievement.















Something New: This book was given to me by the author's mother, who just happens to be a dance student of mine.  I don't usually read books by authors who are looking for an honest review, but since I happen to really like this dance student (and her homemade carrot cake), I agreed to give it a try.  It'll be tricky, but I'm planning to finish this book by Saturday.











Well, that's it for now.  Off to read!

Sunday, March 19, 2017

Book Review: The Snow Child, by Eowyn Ivey



Genre: historical fiction/magical realism/fairy tale retelling
Date Published: 2012
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Number Of Pages: 390 pgs

Goodreads

Synopsis: Alaska, 1920: a brutal place to homestead and especially tough for recent arrivals Jack and Mabel. Childless, they are drifting apart--he breaking under the weight of the work of the farm, she crumbling from loneliness and despair. In a moment of levity during the season's first snowfall, they build a child out of snow. The next morning, the snow child is gone--but they glimpse a young, blonde-haired girl running through the trees.
This little girl, who calls herself Faina, seems to be a child of the woods. She hunts with a red fox at her side, skims lightly across the snow, and somehow survives alone in the Alaskan wilderness. As Jack and Mabel struggle to understand this child who could have stepped from the pages of a fairy tale, they come to love her as their own daughter. But in this beautiful, violent place things are rarely as they appear, and what they eventually learn about Faina will transform all of them.


My Rating:
★★★★★
...for being such a beautiful, sad read that made me cry.

It's official, this has become a favorite. And I found that actually reading this in print was a better experience than listening to it on audiobook. There's something about the flow of the writing that just grabs at you and won't let go. Overall, the best way to describe this story is that it's hauntingly beautiful. It's sad yet bittersweet, mournful yet elegant. It's a tale of grief, change, love, and acceptance. It's a story with strong female characters and a unforgettable writing style. This is definitely an ideal book for book clubs and anyone who loves fictional stories with a hint of magical realism. Highly recommended.

Saturday, March 18, 2017

Book Review: Dead Beat (Dresden Files #7), By Jim Butcher




Genre: Urban fantasy
Date Published: May 2005
Publisher: Roc
Number Of Pages/Listening Time: 517 pages/15 hours 7 minutes

Goodreads | Audible

Synopsis: Harry Dresden is the only professional wizard in the Chicago area phone book, and paranormal investigations are his stock-in-trade. Luckily, he's not alone. Although most people don't believe in magic, the Chicago PD has a Special Investigations department, headed by Dresden's good friend Karrin Murphy. They deal with the... stranger cases.
It's because of Karrin that Harry sneaks into Graceland Cemetery one night to meet a deadly vampire named Mavra. It seems Mavra has some incriminating evidence that would destroy Karrin's career. The vampire's demand is simple: find her the Word of Kemmler and all the power that comes with it. But first, Harry would kind like to know just what the Word of Kemmler is. Before long, he's in a race against time- and six necromancers- to get the Word. And to prevent the good people of Chicago from experiencing a Halloween night that will truly wake the dead...

My Rating:
★★★★ and a 1/2
....For being a fun and amusing reread.

Friday, March 17, 2017

It's Friday! Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!!!

Happy St. Paddy's Day everyone!


It's a day to wear green clothes, eat green food, and drink green beer!  And then we can forget about the color green until spring is officially (and finally!) here.

Tonight, coincidentally, my dance studio is hosting it's monthly dance social, so it looks like I'll need to decorate the place, maybe make some cupcakes, try to find a green outfit in my closet...man this is going to be a busy day!

Tomorrow, the celebration continues with my in-laws!  They always want to celebrate any holiday with a themed dinner.  It's a guaranteed good time, especially since there are two adorable little nephews who love to laugh and smile.

Tomorrow night, the dinner will (of course) be corned beef and boiled cabbage and potatoes!  I'm really looking forward to it, since I haven't had this sort of meal in years.  My mom used to make it all the time, and I have to say, I love corned beef and boiled cabbage!  It's simple and delicious, and if you don't like it...well, too bad!

At some point, I'm going to have to find time to read....hmmmm, maybe I'll cozy up with my books tonight with a cup of tea or something warm, provided I'm not too wiped out!

Enjoy the day folks!

Thursday, March 16, 2017

Still More Blogging.....

Goooood morning!
It's Thursday and I'm experiencing a post-migraine hangover.  I meant to read last night, I swear I did, but a migraine starting developing while I was teaching yesterday afternoon, which made it difficult to keep my eyes open and focused, so I just laid down in a dark room instead.  Today it seems like the migraine is winding down, but it's still there.  It has downgraded to me feeling a little hungover, a nice little reminder of why I never get drunk anymore.

Sooo, I have nothing new to add regarding the BOTMs I've been reading, but I am 75% done with Dresden File book I've been listening to (yay!), so it's win-some-lose-some today.

So maybe I'll just talk about my reading goals for now.

Like I said before, I'm to slowly get back into things, reading- and blogging-wise, so I don't want to start off with huge expectations.  In the past, I've always set my annual reading goal to 100 books.  This year, however, I'm starting with only 80 books.  It'll be awesome if I can make it to 100 again, but 80 seems a lot more realistic.

I also used to sign up for all sorts of reading challenges, but I've yet to finish one within the past couple of years.  So for now, I'm only going to do one challenge that I made up myself.  I call it the "Pyramid Challenge"

Here's how it works: there are 12 categories total.  First category only requires one book, second category requires two books, and so on until you reach the 12th category, which requires 12 books.  None of the books can be used in more than one category, and I'm going to try and finish this in exactly 1 year starting....now!

1 Non-fiction Read
1.

Trilogies or Series
1.
2.

Books With Characters Who Share The Same First Name As A Friend Or Family Member
1.
2.
3.


Books That Were Recommended By Someone Else
1.
2.
3.
4.


Re-reads To Determine If A Book Is A Favorite
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.


New-To-You Authors
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.


New Books By Authors You've Read Before
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.


Books That Were Written By A Female Author
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.


Books With Different Number Of Pages (100 pages, 200 pages, and so on to 900 pages)
100 pages-
200 pages- 
300 pages- 
400 pages- 
500 pages-
600 pages-
700 pages-
800 pages- 
900 pages-


10 Different Genres
1. 
2. 
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.


11 BOTMs
1. 
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.


12 Books From My TBR
1. 
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.


Okay, I'm done for now.  I think need a Tylenol or something.

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Hump Day! The Blogging Continues

Hey y'all!

I'm trying to get back into the habit by blogging everyday.  Even if I don't have a whole lot to say, I'm still going to blog about something.

Well the snow day was rather nice.  I read a little, watched the TV show Goliath on Amazon Prime with my husband, and shoveled piles of snow off our driveway.  Our neighbors (they're so nice!) came over in turns to help us clear our driveway with their snowblowers, so I baked some chocolate chip cookies to give them as a thank you.  God, I love being a homeowner with actual neighbors!

Dave and I have this tradition when there's a blizzard.  We make homemade burgers with awesome fixings and call them "Blizzard Burgers"!  Last night, we tried ground bison meat for our burgers, and topped them with caramelized onions, grilled mushrooms, and bacon.  Blizzard Bison Burgers= Snow Day Heaven!

Today is going to be a busy day.  Dave and I both have to go back to work, and I have to get some more reading done; my book club meetings are next week!  Ack!

So far:

With The Snow Child, I am exactly halfway done!  Here's a couple of sentences from the beginning of the next chapter:
"That summer was a farmer's blessing.  Even Jack could see that.  At perfect intervals the skies rained and the sun shone.  Of his own accord, Garrett planted rows of vegetables to supply the railroad, and the plants flourished in the fields."

I really love the writing in this book.  It's so beautiful and sad, perfectly matching the storyline.  I'm really looking forward to discussing this book on Tuesday.

As for Ragtime, I'm only 40% done, but it's a shorter book so I'll be able to catch up easily during my break later today.  Here's a couple sentences from the start of the next chapter:
"Of course at this time in our history the images of ancient Egypt were stamped on everyone's mind.  This was due to the discoveries being reported out of the desert by British and American archaeologists.  After the football players in their padded canvas knee pants and leather helmets, archaeologists were the glamour personages of the universities."
Yeah, I know, the writing seems a little dull, but I'm telling you, it works with this kind of storytelling.  I'm enjoying the flow of this story.  It's unusual, but interesting.  This too will make for a great book club discussion.

Well, that's it for now.  I'm going to go clean out the dust on my bookshelves on Goodreads.  Ta-ta!

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Rambling On A Tuesday: Blizzard Eugene

Snow day!!!



Yup. That about sums up my feelings for the moment.
Thanks to Blizzard Eugene, I've got a day off along with my husband.  We can't go out because of the travel ban, we won't be able to cook anything if (God forbid) the power goes out, but hey!  At least we've got the day off!

My plans for today are to watch TV, vacuum the dust bunnies with my brand new vacuum (yay!), and of course, read!

Here's my current reading list for today:

The Snow Child, by Eowyn Ivey
Reading this for a book club now that I finally have time to read for the book club.  I've read this before and I loved it. Reading it again, I'm finding that I'm enjoying it even more.
















Ragtime, by E.L. Doctorow
This was one of the few high school reads I never finished.  It stuck with me though, and I've always been meaning to read it again and finish it.  My mom and grandmother wanted to do our own book club meeting, so we decided to read this book as our BOTM.  Also turning into a very good read, although it gets rather mature at times.











Dead Beat (The Dresden Files #7), by Jim Butcher
This is just for fun.  I'm listening to it on audio while I'm doing chores and driving to work.  I love this series.  It's awesomely both exciting and funny.  And this book has one of my all-time favorite scenes in this series.  Can't wait for it to show up!














Oh hey, back to the new vacuum.  I looove my new (to me) vacuum!  I've been dealing with an upright Dyson for four years.  It was fine while I was living in a carpeted apartment, but now in a house with hardwood floors, I hated it with a passion.  Now I've got a canister vacuum and it does the job well!
...And I'm rambling about a vacuum.  Sorry!  It's surprising how the little dull house stuff becomes so exciting when you own a home.  I've only been a homeowner for two months and I'm still in the honeymoon period.
It's a wonderful feeling, owning a home.  There's a building structure that belongs to you, and you alone.  No, wait, it's bigger than that: there is a piece of the planet Earth that has our name on it.  It is ours, no one else has a claim to it, it belongs to us.  How f*&%ing cooling is that?!

...Well, maybe not so cool now that we are in charge of shoveling our own driveway. (Note to self: buy a snowblower as soon as they go on sale).

Anyhoo, I'm going to sit back and enjoy this snow day.  Happy Tuesday everyone!

Monday, March 13, 2017

Time For A Fresh Start

Yeah, I'm trying to blog again.  Woopee.
Excuse my lack of enthusiasm, but I'm pretty sure that the only person currently reading this post is me.  Hi me!

I'm such a terrible blogger.  It's really annoying how inconsistent I am.  Seriously, the last post I did was a year ago.  A year ago!

I can't help but try again though.  So here's a clean slate.  A fresh start.  A new year with new goals.

My goals?  Post book reviews, try to read 80 books this year, and just post stuff as often as I can without sticking to any weekly memes or trying to achieve high expectations that end up discouraging me from posting regularly in the first place.

So, what have I been reading so far this year?  Well, here they are:


Blood Rites
Death Masks
Summer Knight
Grave Peril
Fool Moon
Storm Front
Messenger’s Legacy
The Skull Throne
The Daylight War






I didn't post any reviews for these books, but I'll go ahead and say a little something here and now:
1. The Demon Cycle Series, by Peter Brett (includes The Daylight War, The Skull Throne, and Messenger's Legacy)
I started the series at the end of 2016, and finished it this year.  This was an amazing ride, and I loved every minute of it.  I can't wait for the final installment to come out!

2. The Dresden Files, by Jim Butcher (includes the remaining books in the list above)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm reading the series again.  So sue me.  I didn't read the lastest installment in this series, and I want to, but I can't remember most of what's happened, so I reading it all over again.  It's still a very enjoyable series, and I really needed to listen to something that I've read before, so I can putz around my new house and fix things without distractions.

Well, I'm done for now.  Getting back in slowly, with low expectations.  Let's see how this goes!