Category: Books

Used Book Haul

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So I recently spent some time perusing the shelves at a variety of used book markets, both online and off.  I might have bought a few things.

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The books just followed me home, I swear!  And the ones I bought online?  Those just wandered in the locked front door!

Several of these books are ones I need to complete a series where I already own the books on an e-reader.  Some of them are for series I want to read but haven’t started yet.  And some of them are just because.  I mean, who doesn’t want more books?

I usually get my used books from Half Priced Books, and that’s where a majority of that stack is from.  But I also use Thriftbooks.com.  Both are great.

There are a couple of downsides to using online retailers for used books though.  You don’t always know what condition you are going to get your book in.  For example, I bought a book that said it was in good condition, and the cover is all banged up.  Maybe I’m just a book snob and want my books in great condition.

The other downside is that sometimes when order hardback you may get a library copy, and they don’t always tell you it’s a library copy.  Personally, I don’t mind library copies.  It means the book jacket will survive a long, long time.

My First Book Club

Lauren1 Comment

I joined a book club.

While this may seem small to you, it’s huge to me.  I’ve never been part of a book club before.

Which is very weird because I’ve always surrounded myself with people who loved books.  Apparently we just never got our act together and formed a book club.

So very, very weird.

I mean, I suppose I could start one with my friends now, but they live in a different city and we wouldn’t be able to get together once a month to talk about books.  That would make for a lonely book club.

So yes, I joined a book club.  And the first book I got to read for it was on last year’s TBR!

The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern’s Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure by William Goldman!!!

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What a terrible picture.  This is what happens when you take a picture after you have cracked the spine!   Anyway…

I’m so excited to go to my first book club meeting!  I can’t wait to meet all the other awesome ladies and talk about my first love!  Books!

 

The Affair of the Mysterious Letter-A Book Review

Lauren3 Comments

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You know that feeling you get when you stumble across a truly great find in a bookstore?

Yeah, you know that one.

Of course, you don’t realize it’s a great find until you’ve finished with it.  Which is problematic.  Because then you want more of it.  But what if there isn’t more of it?  Then you are left with despair!

That’s how I feel right now.

Despair.

Because my book is over.  And it’s not (currently) a series.

Now, what is this book about that you so distraught, you might ask?  Well, it’s a retelling of Sherlock Holmes if Holmes was a woman…and a sorceress. Her name is Shaharazad Hass.

The plot of the story is written from the perspective of her roommate, Mr. Whyndham. He writes the story as if he is writing a serial for a paper or a magazine.  Which does mean the chapters are short.  Some of them are very short, maybe two full pages at most.

The world-building and character development are delightfully zany.   The plot is very intriguing (I mean, really, it’s great and twisty!) but it’s all the little things that drew me in.  The minor characters are just as intriguing as the major ones.

I just want more of this world.

Can I have more, please?

 

2020 TBR

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It’s that time of year.  The time when we proudly proclaim the books we are going to try and read over the course of the next year.

That’s right, it’s TBR time!

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The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon, Circe by Madeline Miller, The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang, The Inheritance Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin, The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso, The Affair of the Mysterious Letter by Alexis Hall (I am currently reading this one) and Oathblood by Mercedes Lackey.

And these are just the physical books, I have a few e-books that I have already purchased that are in the TBR as well.  And maybe an audiobook… or two.

The audiobooks are Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell and Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari.  I prefer to get my non-fiction through audiobooks, I usually can’t finish it otherwise.  Usually.

My e-books are Nevernight by Jay Kristoff, Renegades by Marissa Meyer, The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern, Everything is F*cked: A Book About Hope by Mark Manson, and The World According to Mr. Rogers: Important Things to Remember by Fred Rogers.

That’s only 14 books,  I can do that this year, right?

2019 TBR Follow Up

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Well, how did I do on my 2019 TBR?

The answer is not well.  Not well at all.

I read one book.

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman.  And that was only because the (quite frankly excellent) mini-series was coming out.

And did I read any of the new books I bought that I shared with you back in June?  Yes, but not many.   I’m actually working on reviewing the ones I have read.

So what does this mean?  It means I failed miserably.  The TBR’s have their own shelf like they are all special!

Oh well, I’ll just start a new TBR and fail at that one too!

 

I Wonder If Anyone Else Does This

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I’m curious.  Does anyone else have a physical book, an e-book, and an audiobook going at the same time?

Is it just me?

Because right now I am reading The Affair of the Mysterious Letter by Alexis Hall as my physical book.  My e-book is The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern.  Last but not least, my audiobook (I’m on hour 17 of 39) is The Eye of the World By Robert Jordan.

The physical book is for when I am at home.  The e-book is for when I’m out, such as sitting in a waiting room or standing in a line.  The audiobook is for when I am at the gym or car rides that take longer than 20 minutes.

See, I’m not crazy…am I?

The Poppy War-A Book Review

Lauren1 Comment

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

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There I was, minding my own business when a book showed up on my Amazon Recommend list.  Now I normally ignore these things as they are very often wrong because of books I have purchased for others in the past.  Or I’m just not into that author anymore Amazon.  You don’t know me!

Anyway.  The cover caught my eye. This is funny because I bought the ebook version so I can’t even look at said cover now.  I have since picked up a hard copy.

It’s a thing.

I read over the description and thought, yeah okay, it’s on sale, why not?

Thank goodness we sometimes stop and look at those lists, huh?  I loved this book from page one.

Now let’s be honest, this thoroughly amazing book does have some issues.  It’s a slower start then I would have liked, but that gives more time to some important character development. It also has some pacing issues, places where it felt the writer was just hurrying their way through, but I didn’t mind those parts which I feel is saying a lot.

There are a few trigger warnings for this book, so be prepared.  Our heroine is put through some stuff.  She also reacts very viscerally to what she sees and feels in the world around her.

All in all, I gave this book a solid 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.  Go check it out.

The Power- A Book Review

Lauren1 Comment

The Power by Naomi Alderman

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Let’s just talk about this book, shall we?

I wanted to like it.

I loved the premise.  Women around the world get a mysterious power that men don’t get?  Sign me up.

I had actually been wanting to read this book for a while.  It came out in 2016 to rave reviews.  Like, seriously rave reviews.  It showed up on bestseller list after bestseller list.

But why?

The premise is great, sure.  And some of the characters are entertaining.  But I just…I found my self putting it down more than I was picking it up. Eventually, I just stopped picking it up.

Yes, I DNF’d a book.  And mom,  DNF means did not finish.

I think my problem lies in the character development.  Three of the four main characters are interesting…ish.  And one is just flat out annoying.  In my opinion, really, really annoying.

That character is the whole reason I stopped reading.  I just got to a chapter that featured her and just stopped.  I put the book down and didn’t look back.

And now, well now I’m giving the book to a friend of mine in hopes she might actually enjoy it.  Good luck friend.

 

Just a Small Book Haul

Lauren1 Comment

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So I recently went on a book buying binge.  Just a small one.   Full disclosure, I didn’t actually buy one of them (hint, it’s the one that’s not out yet).

I got a lot of these from small indie book stores in Memphis, TN.  One is Two Rivers Bookstore, which does only sci-fi, fantasy, and horror.  They also sell vintage sci-fi covers, vintage clothes, jewelry, and other things.  The second store is a Memphis tradition, Burke’s Books.  It’s where the hubs and I had our engagement photos taken.  Seriously, both places are in the same neighborhood (Cooper-Young) so if you ever find yourself in Memphis I highly recommend checking both of these places out.  The rest of the books I got from Amazon or from Half Priced Books.

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From the bottom to the top we have 2 trade paperbacks.  Fables Vol 3: Storybook Love, and the new Witchblade Vol 2: Good Intentions.  The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon, Circe by Madeline Miller, The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang (it’s an arc* copy I got in a giveaway!), Strong Female Protagonist by Brennan Lee Mulligan and Molly Ostertag, The Power by Naomi Alderman, The Inheritance Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin (this one includes The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, The Broken Kingdoms, The Kingdom of the Gods and a novella The Awakened Kingdom), Pretender and Inheritor by C.J. Cherryh, Hyperion by Dan Simmons, and The Madness Season by C.S. Friedman.

What a nice, long, run on sentence that was.

I’ve never read any of these books before, so I’m excited to see what worlds they will take me to.

*An ARC is an Advanced Reader Copy, which is what book publishers send out to book stores to get them to sell the books.  Stores (or book reviewers) can’t sell them, so they either give them away or recycle them.

 

 

 

My TBR for 2019

Lauren6 Comments

What’s a TBR you may be asking?

TBR means “To Be Read”.  It’s a list (or pile, or shelf) of books I want to read above and beyond the random stuff that be will read as the year goes on.

I have a Goodreads goal of 30 books for the year.  I am well on my way to that, with 6 books already completed, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin and the All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness among them.

I have been collecting new (and old) books to read for a while now.  Some are the first books in a series, and if I enjoy those, I will, of course, finish the series out.  One of the books, Good Omens, is a book I have read before and have thoroughly enjoyed.  With a limited TV series set to come out on Amazon Prime this year, I figured I would re-familiarize myself with its prose.

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Some of these books I bought new, some used.  I’m going to be honest and say I probably wouldn’t have considered some of them if I had to buy them new.  One of them was even written by someone I am vaguely acquainted with!

What is on your TBR list for the year?