If all goes according to plan, I’ll be sitting by a lake, book on my lap, and a cool beverage in hand when this posts.
Enjoy your Sunday, where ever you happen to be this day.
The Sunday Salon
The Sunday Salon – An Addiction to Series Book
I spent a good portion of this Sunday eating pancakes and sitting on my couch reading Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I haven’t read this book since I was a child and it’s refreshing to know I still remember much of it. My opinion of some of the characters has changed but it’s a relaxing and comforting re-read and the book I needed today.
It got me thinking about the rest of the books in the series, and while I’m pretty sure I won’t be re-reading the other books this time around, I was glad to know they would be there when I needed another dose of the Prairie. And then I started to think about series books and how often I get myself mixed up with a series and can’t back away until I’ve read every book available to me. Looking over my list, I’ve read a lot of series books this year and started a few last year that I need to get back to.
Here’s what I’m following now:
The Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger — I’ve read all five books this year and am sad there will be no more but the series was so good I’ll be reading them again so I’m not all that sad. For the curious, the books are: Soulless, Changeless, Blameless, Heartless, and Timeless.
Gentleman Bastards series by Scott Lynch — I started this series as part of a read along because the first book, The Lies of Locke Lamora, was on my list. Can I tell you how awesome these books are?! No really, they are that good. I finished the second book, Red Seas Under Red Skies, and can’t wait for the next book which I think comes out this fall.
The Dark Tower series by Stephen King — A co-worker gave me five books in the series and I made it through the first one, The Gunslinger, which sadly was a bit slow for me. I think I was expecting something very different and I’m not sure about the series but since I have the books I’ll probably continue. I’ve been told they do get better.
The King Killer Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss — I finished The Name of the Wind and can’t wait to get A Wise Man’s Fear. If you like fantasy, you should be reading these books. All I’m going to say.
The Taker Trilogy by Alma Katsu — I finished the second book in the series, The Reckoning, a month or so ago and it was good. I’m looking forward to the third book. I was a little apprehensive at first because I wasn’t sure where the series would go after the first book, The Taker, but I’m happy to say I’m enjoying it.
All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness — A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night were fun reads and now I’m waiting to see how it’s going to end. It might be a long wait for book three.
A Song of Ice and Fire by George RR Martin — Book five, A Dance with Dragons, is waiting patiently but I haven’t started it yet. Not one of the 1,100 pages has been read yet but I will find time for this one soon.
The Saxon Stories by Bernard Cornwell — I started this series last year and read the first two books, The Last Kingdom and The Pale Horseman, but sort of fell off and I need to pick it back up. I love the blood and gore of these books and I don’t think anyone delivers quite like Cornwell.
The Magicians & Mrs. Quent series by Galen Beckett — I actually finished this series last month. It took me a while to finish the last book and while I wasn’t completely wowed, I was satisfied. The books in the series are: The Magicians and Mrs. Quent, The House on Durrow Street, and The Master of Heathcrest Hall.
The Merlin Series by Mary Stewart — I started this series two years ago and then never went any further than The Crystal Cave. No real reason, I even have the books in my house; I just need to read them. I will admit to overdosing on Arthurian legend a while back though and needed some time off. This year may be the year.
There are more but I’m going to stop there. Really, looking at the list it’s sort of crazy I started all these. I need some help me thinks.
Do you have a favorite series? Let me know. There’s a good chance I’ll be adding it to the list. I can’t help myself.
Happy Sunday.
The Sunday Salon – thoughts on writing and respect
Lately, I’ve been slow on the blogging. A writing slump is mostly to blame but there are a few other things bothering me; bloggy things that have in their own little way kept me from writing.
First, and I’ve said this before but to be clear, the books I review are books I purchase, borrow from the library, and a few are ARC copies that I’ve either asked publishers to send or have been offered and accepted. I do reviews for another online site called The Book Reporter, which I started doing reviews for before I decided to get into the whole blogging thing. I don’t get paid to write review for The Book Reporter although they do send me the books for review. So the reason for the previous sentence is to point out that I’m not doing this for money or for free books. I don’t get many free books and turn down more than I ever thought I would have the opportunity to turn down. I do this because I want to read and talk about my books — the books I buy, the books I borrow from the library, and the books I have discovered on my shelves. I want to be able to read whatever I want and say whatever I want about that book. I don’t love or even like very book I read but I try hard to be honest and fair. I don’t see how anyone can do this any other way.
There was a little kerfuffle about bloggers getting paid this week and, while I don’t care about what other people do or how they make their money be it on their blog or by any other means, it was slightly annoying to read that people think this is a normal practice. I’m a book blogger, yes. I read and write about books, and yes, some of those books are given to me for free, but I’m not getting paid in any way. I don’t talk about anything other than my opinion about the book. I like helping readers discover new authors and books. That’s why I do this. I’m not getting rich off it. In fact, I’ve never made a cent. Not a single one. There are many others like me in that category. Making money is not a bad thing but I don’t do this to make money.
I guess maybe where I’m going with this rather inconsistent post is that I think the book blogging world is changing and I’m not sure what to think of it now. While I still feel it’s a very vibrant community, and there are many people I talk to and share books and thoughts with, it just feels different in a way that’s causing me to be a little sad about it. Everyone these days is so quick to point out things they feel are wrong and what ends up is a mess of hashtags ridiculing people. I can’t get with that. It’s wrong. All I’m saying. People aren’t always right but they deserve a chance to explain and we all need to move on with other more important things. Life is more than books. Really it is. I can attest to that.
There are many things going on in my life right now and the time I would normally spend blogging seems to be getting slowly chipped away at. I need to find a way to mesh blogging with everything else that’s going on. You see, I want to continue writing about books and I will but I also think I needed to get these thoughts on paper so I don’t feel so weird about the blogging thing. I’m not sure that’s really helped other than forcing me to write which may have been part of the big plan anyway in getting over the slump.
Sorry for the ramble today but it was nice to get words down. Sometimes we just need to write for the sake of writing. Maybe that’s what I need to do more of. I’ll call it Zen writing from now on and if you happen to see posts like this from me every once in a while, please bear with me until regularly scheduling programming returns.
Thanks for reading and listening. It’s appreciated.
Happy Sunday. I’m off to go hiking.
The Sunday Salon – Good Books
I’ve had a run of good books lately. I’m not sure if I’m coming out of a reading slump or if I’ve been picking the right books for me lately but the last few books I’ve read have all been satisfying reads.
Starting with Among Others by Jo Walton, I quickly finished up Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness, moved on to Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne du Maurier and now find myself sucked into Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton.
Another slump I can admit to though — a writing slump. Sitting next to the laptop on the desk is a notebook. It contains: one short story that needs to be typed and edited, the beginnings of an essay, an opening paragraph which has been abandoned, an opening line, and five book reviews and various notes and thoughts on books that need to be typed. Looking at the notebook, it makes me happy that I have at least taken notes on the books I’ve been reading and seeing that I’m getting back into the habit of writing thoughts down is also exciting but I need to sit down and do something with all these words.
Alas, today will not be the day. My husband is home after a short trip and spending the day with him is a priority today. I also plan to spend a chunk of my day reading Tooth and Claw. This book is addicting! What my day of relaxing and reading means is that there will be some very early mornings in my future this week and a plan to get some writing done. But I will think of that tomorrow.
Happy Sunday. Happy reading.
The Sunday Salon – Lazy
I’ve been pretty lazy the last few weeks, months even, about writing. The blog’s been relatively quiet — our vacation which was highly beneficial in other areas of life, wrecked havoc on blogging — and my personal writing has become almost non-existent. Butt in chair has been a tough thing to overcome now that summer is here and there are millions of fun exhibits opening at museums, art events to attend, jazz to listen to in the park, friends to catch up with. You get the point; I’m easily distracted.
While updating my list of read books yesterday, I took a look at my challenges page and found I’m sadly behind on almost every challenge I joined. This doesn’t surprise me at all since I’ve been picking books at random and reading what feels like the right book at the right time the last few months instead of following any sort of list or schedule. It’s made me happy. I’ve read some good books, some really fun books, and some great books and enjoyed reading like I haven’t in a while. I’ve also been reading much slower than usual and that’s mostly been due to my crazy schedule the last two months but I’m starting to feel like I’m appreciating my limited reading time more.
I usually don’t join challenges at random; I look for ones that fit my reading style and feature books or the type of books, I want to read. I think of the challenges as a sort of reading map. This year, that map is now coffee stained, ripped beyond repair, shoved between the seats, and forgotten. So, done with challenges? No, not really. I’m still interested in some of the challenges but what I’ve done is take a look at the books I have listed, picked out what I really want to read and ditched the rest. While it would be nice to complete every one, I know it’s not going to happen and I don’t want to do it to the detriment of my reading. Why mess up something that makes me happy? I don’t like looking at reading as a chore so I’m not going to.
So, what have I been reading that’s been so good?
I finished the Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger this week and this is a series I’m really sad to see end. The books are short, funny, entertaining, and great reads when I need a little something fun. I plan to read these again. I reviewed the first two here and here but I haven’t posted my review of the third yet and haven’t even written reviews for the last two. I’m planning on writing those reviews, or not, this week.
I’ve discovered Patrick Rothfuss’s The Name of the Wind and am planning to get the second book in this series very soon. I wasn’t sure I was going to like this at first but then it sucked me in and I didn’t want to put it down. It’s a world to get lost in. This is another review I need to get to also.
China Mieville is on my short list of favorite authors and his newest book, Railsea, is another great read. He creates an amazing world, fills it with wonderful characters, and takes you on a journey. And for this one, I do have a review.
What am I reading now? The Master of Heathcrest Hall by Galen Beckett. It’s the third book in The Mrs. Quent trilogy and while it’s moving a little slow for me, I do like the world building so I plan to see it to the end. I also found The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley on my shelf yesterday. I think this is my next book. I loved this book when I read it so many years ago and it’s a book listed in a challenge and a book I want to re-read. It also feels like it should be my next book.
With that, I wish you all a happy Sunday and some happy reading to go with it. Enjoy.
The Sunday Salon
Last week turned out to be a very bad week, reading and otherwise. The otherwise part I’m going to skip because I don’t feel the need to complain about it today. The reading part was pretty much nonexistent which is what made the week very bad.
Stress, in my life anyway, can be forgotten or at least mitigated when I have a book to read. This week didn’t offer many opportunities for reading so the stress just built. By the time everything was over, all I wanted to do was sleep and that’s what I did.
One book did get finished yesterday, Blameless by Gail Carriger. It’s the third book in the Parasol Protectorate series and was a perfect choice for a lazy afternoon on the couch. I have two books left in the series and plan to save them for a rainy day, or a day on a plane, I haven’t decided which yet.
I’m catching up on the Red Seas Under Skies read along too. I wasn’t able to write up my post because I hadn’t read the section yet so it may appear later in the week.
I also hope to get to some of those reviews I wrote up last week posted and maybe finish up the one I started and never finished. Or I may take another nap and recover. It’s up in the air right now.
Finally, Happy Mother’s Day Mom! It’s been great. 🙂
Happy Sunday.
The Sunday Salon – Everything
Yesterday, for reasons my husband was unable to explain adequately, our wi-fi stopped working. It was highly annoying as I couldn’t read twitter or check silly facts online. Today, it’s back!
With no wi-fi yesterday, I parked myself on the couch with a book — Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson. I would say the book is funny but that’s such a bad description. Yes, it’s funny but funny in that way that makes you laugh out loud and people in the room (husband) start looking at you all strange so you decide that you’ll just laugh to yourself instead of out loud. For me, that means I giggle. When I giggle I start crying because I’m trying not to laugh. So, almost all of yesterday I spent curled up on the couch alternately laughing out loud, giggling, and looking as though I was watching something on TV that was so very sad. In fact, the hockey playoffs were on TV so that wasn’t case at all. It was the book. I don’t want to ruin it so I’ll save it all for the review.
And speaking of reviews, um, I need to write some. I have a stack of books sitting on my desk right now that are basically a daily reminder that I’m a bad book blogger. I haven’t written a review in a minute (read minute as days and days please). Wait! The reviewathon is coming up and I’m saving them all for next Saturday. Yep, that’s it. What I’m saying is, you might see some reviews soon.
Since the wi-fi was being unhelpful yesterday I didn’t get to visit all the people participating in the Red Seas Under Red Skies read along. I will do this today!
Now, I’m going to convince my husband that we must take a walk so I can buy some coffee. This is day two of writing without coffee or editing and while it’s been fun, I want me some coffee. I’d make it at home but I make the worst coffee on the planet. Seriously, I do.
Happy Sunday!
The Sunday Salon – And, what shall I call you?
I know this happens to you so don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about. 🙂 When I’m reading and I come across an oddly spelled name, or even a location, and I don’t know how to pronounce it, I make up a pronunciation in my head and that becomes the character’s name or the location. Usually for eternity because I don’t go around asking strangers how they pronounce fictional names and places. I guess that held true until I started this blog…
Why bring this up? I was participating in The Lies of Locke Lamora Read Along and one of the characters’ names was particularly odd. It was Nazca. During the Q&A time of the read along, a few fellow readers ruminated over the correct pronunciation of her name. It got me thinking about other fictional names and places I have surely pronounced wrong.
One of the books where I’m sure I’m the biggest offender of proper pronunciation is The Lord of the Rings. From a young age, I’d made up pronunciations for the characters and locations for almost everything in the books. And then the movies came out and I realized I was wrong on pretty much every name and place and everything in the movie sounded utterly wrong to me.
What do you do in situations like this? Do you make something up or research it? I don’t like to break from reading when I’m lost in a story so I go the make up a name route and keep going. If you research it, I’d be curious as to your sources.
It looks like a nice day is about to erupt here and I’m hoping for some outdoor reading time with The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley. Happy Sunday all.
Just Book Reading 