My Life n’ Stuff
So…. I finally got an appointment with a liver specialist. The earliest is not til the end of August. :/ I feel like all I want to do is sleep lately. And I do sleep. A lot. Too bad I don’t feel rested, no matter how much sleep I get.
I’m very thankful I can lose myself in reading, when I get to hurting bad. It takes less energy for me to read than it does to write, but I miss writing sooo much. Writing my reviews doesn’t count. I have bits of my story floating in my head all the time. And so many other stories. Ugh.
I got my recap done on time this week though! Happy dance It’s the small victories.
Bigger happy dance. Game of Thrones is back! I love seeing how the books and show diverge. It’s like, we get to see what Martin’s other storythreads were. Now… if he’d just release another book!!
Books read, reviewed, and posted/scheduled this past week:
Reflections of Queen Snow White by David Meredith, 4*
Stillwell by Michael Phillip Cash, 5*
Draw 50 sea Creatures by Lee J Ames & Erin Harvey, 5*
Rivers, Seas, and Oceans by Max van Gageldonk, 4*
Tune Up: Secret of Mylin by Joe Klingler, 5*
Favourite read of the week:
Tune Up: Secret of Mylin by Joe Klingler
“On their second case, Qigiq and Kandy are loaned to the Traffic Division to investigate an early morning accident. Hit and run. By a motorcycle. The victim is an elderly Asian woman. A young witness in a nearby dry cleaner and a truck driver suggest all “accidents” aren’t created equal. Then the Captain drops a new assignment on their desk: an affluent Bay Area lawyer is missing. The man’s wife stomps into their office screaming about a contract she found hidden in the backups of their home computer. A contract with a seven-figure payout, and an incriminating Exhibit A.
Following the trail of both the motorcycle rider and the lawyer with Kandy complaining, “We’re homicide detectives, there should be a body,” leads to a vintage motorcycle club called the Ton Up where lips are sealed, a yacht harbor on the coast where riddles run deep, and a midnight roadside confrontation that ends with a splash. As the trails twist they soon find that these people and places have one thing in common:
A violist named Mylin. Who plays in an all-female orchestra called The Girls of the Orient. And, unbeknownst to her, is the subject of a fine-art photographer’s latest collection.
From San Francisco to Mexico, the treacherous cliffs of the Pacific coast to the desolation of Nevada’s high desert, Tune Up moves like Kandy’s turbocharged Mini through a foggy landscape of false identities, fake romance, and frenzied chases, as Qigiq realizes one picture really can reveal more than 1,000 words.”
Current Read:
Lucia Zarate by Cecelia Velastegui
“Lucia Zárate is based on the poignant, real-life odyssey of the world’s smallest woman. Pretty and gregarious, Lucia Zárate was just twenty inches tall. A celebrity after her ‘display’ at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial International Exhibition, Lucia’s extraordinary, heartbreaking story is one of exploitation by greedy sideshow hucksters and a fishbowl existence on the road, from New York to Victorian London. We follow the adventures of diminutive Lucia Zárate and her devoted governess as they grapple with life and death, finding joy and adventure in their bumpy sideshow journey of more than fourteen years. This is an artfully balanced novel that is a mesmerizing tale of survival, resilience, and the uplifting force of friendship.”
Next Up
The Way it Hurts by Patricia Blount due Aug 3, NG/ Sourcebooks- Fire
The Ice Queen by Rebecca Bauer Aug 5
Crash Land on Kurai by SJ Pajonas due Aug 7, Lola’s
Misadventures of Lady Ophelia by Christina McKnight Aug. 9, Barclay
Banged Up Heart by Shirley Melis Aug 10. CBR
Women Within by Anne Leigh Parrish. Aug 10. CBR
The Wardrobe Mistress by Meghan Masterson, release Aug 15, St Martin’s
Mr Prescott by Carlos Dash Aug 16 XP
The Funeral Flower by Michelle Jester Aug 17 XP
Northwood Magick by Desiree LaFawn Aug 20, Xpresso
Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller, release Aug 29, Sourcebooks/Fire
The Brightest Fell by Seannan McGuire, Sept 1 or 6, Berkeley
Temptation Trials by B Truly. Sept 7, XPresso
Gears of Fate by Wilbur Stanton, due Sept 20, Xpresso
Henry and the Hidden Treasure by BCR Fegan Independent
Remember, Remember by Anne Elliot (Sherlock) NG
Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus: Legends by Lydia Sherrer ASAP
Your Crossroads, Your Choice by EP Apicello. ASAP
Sun Born by Kathleen O’Neal and W Michael Gear CBR
Skeleton God by Elliot Patton. CBR
Mad or Bad by David Vaughn CBR
How to Be a Stoic by Massimo Pigliucci CBR NG
Spymaster by Margaret Weis. CBR
Age of Swords by Michael J Sullivan. CBR NG
The Cottingley Secret by Hazel Gaynor CBR
The English Slave by David Eugene Andrews. CBR
Education of a Coroner by John Bateson. CBR. NG
Besieged by Kevin Hearne CBR
Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton. CBR
Hail to the Chin by Bruce Campbell CBR
Hamilton and Philosophy edited by Aaron Rabinowitz. CBR
Spoonbenders by Daryl Gregory NG
The Highwayman by RA Salvatore £££
13 reasons by Jay Asher ?
Juniper by Kelly and Thomas French (A to Z) NG £££
Firefly Summer by Nan Rossiter (A to Z) NG £££
79 Squares by Malcolm Bosse NG
Lord of Pleasure by Erica Ridley. NG £££
The Threat Level Remains Severe by Rowena McDonald. NG £££
Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero EdW
Luca by Sarah Castillo NG £££
The List by Patricia Forde, release Aug, NG/Sourcebooks- Jabberwocky
Book Haul:
I received a few hardcopies is the mail. A new wordcrafting book, two Sherlock books, and a wee Snape! Crazy House I snagged from work, where it had been left behind.
Several egalleys, as always. Ones I’m most looking forward to are:
A Pocketful of Crows by Joanne M Harris/ release Oct 2017
“I am as brown as brown can be,
And my eyes as black as sloe;
I am as brisk as brisk can be,
And wild as forest doe.
(The Child Ballads, 295)
So begins a beautiful tale of love, loss and revenge. Following the seasons, A Pocketful of Crows balances youth and age, wisdom and passion, and draws on nature and folklore to weave a stunning modern mythology around a nameless wild girl.
Only love could draw her into the world of named, tamed things. And it seems only revenge will be powerful enough to let her escape.
This is a stunning and original modern fairy tale.”
#NotYourPrincess by Lisa Charleyboy and Mary Beth Leatherdale/ release Sept 2017
“Whether looking back to a troubled past or welcoming a hopeful future, the powerful voices of Indigenous women across North America resound in this book. In the same style as the best-selling Dreaming in Indian, #NotYourPrincess presents an eclectic collection of poems, essays, interviews, and art that combine to express the experience of being a Native woman. Stories of abuse, humiliation, and stereotyping are countered by the voices of passionate women making themselves heard and demanding change. Sometimes angry, often reflective, but always strong, the women in this book will give teen readers insight into the lives of women who, for so long, have been virtually invisible.”
Red Clocks by Leni Zumas/ release Jan 2018
“Five women. One question. What is a woman for?
In this ferociously imaginative novel, abortion is once again illegal in America, in-vitro fertilization is banned, and the Personhood Amendment grants rights of life, liberty, and property to every embryo. In a small Oregon fishing town, five very different women navigate these new barriers alongside age-old questions surrounding motherhood, identity, and freedom.
Ro, a single high-school teacher, is trying to have a baby on her own, while also writing a biography of Eivør, a little-known 19th-century female polar explorer. Susan is a frustrated mother of two, trapped in a crumbling marriage. Mattie is the adopted daughter of doting parents and one of Ro’s best students, who finds herself pregnant with nowhere to turn. And Gin is the gifted, forest-dwelling homeopath, or “mender,” who brings all their fates together when she’s arrested and put on trial in a frenzied modern-day witch hunt.
Red Clocks is at once a riveting drama, whose mysteries unfold with magnetic energy, and a shattering novel of ideas. In the vein of Margaret Atwood and Eileen Myles, Leni Zumas fearlessly explores the contours of female experience, evoking The Handmaid’s Tale for a new millennium. This is a story of resilience, transformation, and hope in tumultuous-even frightening-times.”
New events added!
Book Blitz: Northwoods Magic by Desiree LaFawn July 24_28
Blog Tour: Summer on Firefly Lake by Jen Gilroy July 24-Aug 4
Book Blitz: Elemental Magic by Elle Middaugh July 24_28
Book Blitz: The Hunting Grounds by Katee Roberts. July 24-28
Book Tour: Fate of the Stars by Arwen Paris Sept 4_9
