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shadowkat1. My only New Year's Resolution this year is:
To remember Life is not a competition, it is not a race, but a journey of discovery. And not to compare myself to others who are on their own separate journeys unique to them. Hopefully we'll cross paths from time to time and teach each other, hug each other, and support each other along the way.
I'm posting this as a reminder to myself.
2. Watching the last hour of the "Great American Holiday Baking Show" in the background. Saw the first half in Hilton Head. Had the whole thing recorded at home, so I can watch second half here.
For the Brits and the people out there who have no clue what a snickerdoodle cookie is? It's a cinnamin and sugar cookie. Basically a sugar cookie with cinnamon and cream of tartar. I don't miss them.
3.What I'm Reading? Because it is Wed, apparently...
* Saga by Brian K Vaughn, on Vol#3. Amazon Fire Tablets are great for reading graphic novels electronically. Actually it's better than reading them in paper format -- because you can read it frame by frame. And the books don't take up shelf space, nor does anyone know you are reading them.
By the way the art in the Saga series is not only consistent, it's VERY good. Among the best out there. I'm impressed.
* Finished X-men: Red - "The Hate You Give" byTom Fraction Tom Taylor (I think) [ETA - thanks to berric].. It's okay. Jean Grey leads the team, and in a way it's interesting to watch -- because her leadership style is very similar to her late husband's. As is her desire to do something and change things. It's also cool, because for a change women are running the teams and the teams are female heavy -- although one of the reasons I always adored the X-men was that it had powerful female characters. One of the few superhero teams that had multiple female characters. In this one, we have a female wolverine, Storm, Jean, Gambit, Nightcrawler, Honeybadger, a female character who can mess with technology, and an African from Wakenda, who is super-strong. The team is more diverse than it was in past decades and has more female characters. The story is interesting as well -- in how they handle the villain. They don't kill her -- because it hasn't worked in the past --- instead, Jean gives her empathy or the ability to connect to others (the X-men equivalent of a soul.)
* Finished X-men Exterminated -- or four out of the five issues released to date. Surprised by how good this was. Well written. Tight. Emotional. And character driven. Providing some juicy character moments. It really delivered on the long-term story arc. If you are a fan of the series or a long-time reader -- this one delivered the goods. Plus the art was good.
* Finished Ms. Marvel Vol #1 and Vol #2 -- see previous posts on this. Great art, among the best. Actually SAGA and MS Marvel, and X-Men Exterminated have the best art. But Ms. Marvel was a step above most -- particularly Vol #1. Vol #2...isn't as good. Ms. Marvel is interesting in that it has a Pakistani-American teenage girl as the superhero and it does a good job, for the most part, with the ethnicity.
* Reading Dream Hunter by Laura Kinsale -- which is a romance novel that takes place in the 1800s. After his father interferes with his dream of joining one of two National Geographic Explorations to the Artic (one was on the Terror, and the father didn't want to lose his son -- considering what happened to the Terror, I don't blame him), our hero, Lord Winter, journeys to Persia (Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq -- but in the 1800s), to steal a rare Arabian Horse from an Egyptian. Along the way he runs into Zenia - the daughter of Hester Standhope aka the Queen of the Desert, who has recently died, leaving Zenia to fend for herself. He has no idea Zenia is Hester's daughter, let alone that Hester had a daughter, even though he was friends with Hester. No one knows -- Hester hid it. The daughter was raised in the desert with the Beduoins, as a boy, and served her mother as a boy servant -- taught to shoot, and dressed in Bedouin boy garb. Also taught to speak fluent Arabic and English. So when he meets her -- he sees a 15 year old pretty Bedouin boy, not a 25 year old English woman. And she's pretty much skin and bones -- not a lot of fat on her. He calls her little wolf and the name she gives him is Selim. He talks her into helping him cross the desert and stealing the horse, in exchange for free passage to England. All Zenia wants to do is get to England, find her father, and live in peace. Bloody tired of the desert.
Kinsale is a better writer than most -- and has a better grasp on historical detail. The Arabs are portrayed realistically, and fairly. As are the Brits. She doesn't white-wash the historical narrative. Also the women are tough, but still women of their time. While, as is true of all historical romances, she's a touch flowery in the descriptions, she's not overtly so. And Zenia makes for a likable heroine as does Arden Winter, who is a bored and somewhat spoiled Englishman looking for his soul and at least a purpose...other than that in which he's been presented. Their by-play is rather interesting -- since Zenia as the boy Selim, doesn't understand Lord Winter much at all -- and is somewhat annoyed by how attracted s/he is to him, and how much s/he has grown to care for this frustratingly incomprehensible man.
Sort of Lawrence of Arabia meets...Queen of the Desert by way of the 1800s...?
What I'm reading next?
I don't know. I'm flirting with book one of the Broken Earth Saga by N.K.Jemisin -- which I bought a while back. That's in my queue, along with Where Did You Go, Bernadette? and various other books. I have too many books on my Kindle. I've lost track of what I've read and what I haven't read. Not to mention all the books in my apartment that I need to read.
You see? I have this bad or somewhat odd habit of collecting and hoarding books...but not necessarily getting around to reading them or finishing them. I know, I should borrow them from the library -- because apparently you can do that electronically and even with audio books -- but have I? No. Why?
Because that would be the logical and reasonable not to mention affordable thing to do. But no, I appear to have this need to OWN the frigging book that I'm reading, even if it disappears into the cloud, the basement of my building, or my coffee table (which is falling apart -- I need to get a new one, again, and am procrastinating, because if requires a decision...and figuring out how to get rid of the old one and I don't want to do either, dang it. Adulthood comes with far too many decisions.)
The other reason I collect books -- is no impulse control. I see something rec'd on Smart Bitches, on DW, or elsewhere...go find it on Amazon and voila...it's suddenly on my Kindle. I've no clue how that happened. After a while -- they sort of pile up. It would make more sense if I'd wait until I've finished the book I'm currently reading to get the next one -- that way, I'd be sure to read it, as opposed to forgetting about it entirely or wondering why the heck did I purchase that? I have no interest in reading it now. But -- I have this fear if I don't get it immediately -- it will either disappear (which makes no sense -- it's electronic), I'll forget about it (which I do anyway...so what the hell?), or it will go up in price (that actually does make sense -- a lot of these are Kindle Daily Deals -- but hello, library!!!).
I think the evil library company (aka HW Wilson Company which is now defunct) forever ruined me for libraries. I need to get over that.
To remember Life is not a competition, it is not a race, but a journey of discovery. And not to compare myself to others who are on their own separate journeys unique to them. Hopefully we'll cross paths from time to time and teach each other, hug each other, and support each other along the way.
I'm posting this as a reminder to myself.
2. Watching the last hour of the "Great American Holiday Baking Show" in the background. Saw the first half in Hilton Head. Had the whole thing recorded at home, so I can watch second half here.
For the Brits and the people out there who have no clue what a snickerdoodle cookie is? It's a cinnamin and sugar cookie. Basically a sugar cookie with cinnamon and cream of tartar. I don't miss them.
3.What I'm Reading? Because it is Wed, apparently...
* Saga by Brian K Vaughn, on Vol#3. Amazon Fire Tablets are great for reading graphic novels electronically. Actually it's better than reading them in paper format -- because you can read it frame by frame. And the books don't take up shelf space, nor does anyone know you are reading them.
By the way the art in the Saga series is not only consistent, it's VERY good. Among the best out there. I'm impressed.
* Finished X-men: Red - "The Hate You Give" by
* Finished X-men Exterminated -- or four out of the five issues released to date. Surprised by how good this was. Well written. Tight. Emotional. And character driven. Providing some juicy character moments. It really delivered on the long-term story arc. If you are a fan of the series or a long-time reader -- this one delivered the goods. Plus the art was good.
* Finished Ms. Marvel Vol #1 and Vol #2 -- see previous posts on this. Great art, among the best. Actually SAGA and MS Marvel, and X-Men Exterminated have the best art. But Ms. Marvel was a step above most -- particularly Vol #1. Vol #2...isn't as good. Ms. Marvel is interesting in that it has a Pakistani-American teenage girl as the superhero and it does a good job, for the most part, with the ethnicity.
* Reading Dream Hunter by Laura Kinsale -- which is a romance novel that takes place in the 1800s. After his father interferes with his dream of joining one of two National Geographic Explorations to the Artic (one was on the Terror, and the father didn't want to lose his son -- considering what happened to the Terror, I don't blame him), our hero, Lord Winter, journeys to Persia (Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq -- but in the 1800s), to steal a rare Arabian Horse from an Egyptian. Along the way he runs into Zenia - the daughter of Hester Standhope aka the Queen of the Desert, who has recently died, leaving Zenia to fend for herself. He has no idea Zenia is Hester's daughter, let alone that Hester had a daughter, even though he was friends with Hester. No one knows -- Hester hid it. The daughter was raised in the desert with the Beduoins, as a boy, and served her mother as a boy servant -- taught to shoot, and dressed in Bedouin boy garb. Also taught to speak fluent Arabic and English. So when he meets her -- he sees a 15 year old pretty Bedouin boy, not a 25 year old English woman. And she's pretty much skin and bones -- not a lot of fat on her. He calls her little wolf and the name she gives him is Selim. He talks her into helping him cross the desert and stealing the horse, in exchange for free passage to England. All Zenia wants to do is get to England, find her father, and live in peace. Bloody tired of the desert.
Kinsale is a better writer than most -- and has a better grasp on historical detail. The Arabs are portrayed realistically, and fairly. As are the Brits. She doesn't white-wash the historical narrative. Also the women are tough, but still women of their time. While, as is true of all historical romances, she's a touch flowery in the descriptions, she's not overtly so. And Zenia makes for a likable heroine as does Arden Winter, who is a bored and somewhat spoiled Englishman looking for his soul and at least a purpose...other than that in which he's been presented. Their by-play is rather interesting -- since Zenia as the boy Selim, doesn't understand Lord Winter much at all -- and is somewhat annoyed by how attracted s/he is to him, and how much s/he has grown to care for this frustratingly incomprehensible man.
Sort of Lawrence of Arabia meets...Queen of the Desert by way of the 1800s...?
What I'm reading next?
I don't know. I'm flirting with book one of the Broken Earth Saga by N.K.Jemisin -- which I bought a while back. That's in my queue, along with Where Did You Go, Bernadette? and various other books. I have too many books on my Kindle. I've lost track of what I've read and what I haven't read. Not to mention all the books in my apartment that I need to read.
You see? I have this bad or somewhat odd habit of collecting and hoarding books...but not necessarily getting around to reading them or finishing them. I know, I should borrow them from the library -- because apparently you can do that electronically and even with audio books -- but have I? No. Why?
Because that would be the logical and reasonable not to mention affordable thing to do. But no, I appear to have this need to OWN the frigging book that I'm reading, even if it disappears into the cloud, the basement of my building, or my coffee table (which is falling apart -- I need to get a new one, again, and am procrastinating, because if requires a decision...and figuring out how to get rid of the old one and I don't want to do either, dang it. Adulthood comes with far too many decisions.)
The other reason I collect books -- is no impulse control. I see something rec'd on Smart Bitches, on DW, or elsewhere...go find it on Amazon and voila...it's suddenly on my Kindle. I've no clue how that happened. After a while -- they sort of pile up. It would make more sense if I'd wait until I've finished the book I'm currently reading to get the next one -- that way, I'd be sure to read it, as opposed to forgetting about it entirely or wondering why the heck did I purchase that? I have no interest in reading it now. But -- I have this fear if I don't get it immediately -- it will either disappear (which makes no sense -- it's electronic), I'll forget about it (which I do anyway...so what the hell?), or it will go up in price (that actually does make sense -- a lot of these are Kindle Daily Deals -- but hello, library!!!).
I think the evil library company (aka HW Wilson Company which is now defunct) forever ruined me for libraries. I need to get over that.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-05 02:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-01-05 02:38 am (UTC)Don't know why I thought it was Tom Fraction. (shrugs).