Spontaneous Musings

Nonsenical Book Meme

2026-05-17T00:48:52Z

Meme stolen from coffeeandink - who actually told us all to steal it, so it doesn't count.

Take five books off your bookshelf.

[with the exception of the first, they are all TBR, with the hopes I'll get around to reading them.]

Book #1 -- first sentence: "Rain drenched the city, cold and relentless."

Book #2 -- last sentence on page fifty: "Unlike my horses, a Spider would never get cold or hot or tired."

[unexpected challenge do I pick the last sentence or the last complete one? I picked the last complete one.]

Book #3 -- second sentence on page one hundred: "People say that after this event, the rich man's family slipped into a decline, and in the end, went entirely to ruin."

(Unexpected challenge: do I pick the second sentence or the second complete sentence? - weirdly I had the same unexpected challenge as coffeeandink.)

Book #4 -- next to the last sentence on page one hundred fifty: "Within an hour, his strength had so depleted that he could no longer handle the weight in his pack, although he refused to let us remove anything, forcing us to fish out the heaviest items, such as his water bottles and his cameras, when he wasn't looking."

Book #5 -- final sentence of the book: The local sheriff met us in the street and eyed us suspiciously.
"Runaways?" he asked.
"We are," I said.
"Any of you named Nigger Jim?"
I pointed to each of us. "sadie, Lizzie, Morris, Buck."
"And who are you?"
"I am James."
"James what?"
"Just James."

(Yes, I am treating one paragraph of dialog as a single sentence for the purposes of the meme. Fight me!)

Make the five sentences into a paragraph:
Rain drenched the city, cold and relentless. Unlike my horses, a Spider would never get cold or hot or tired. People say that after this event, the rich man's family slipped into a decline, and in the end, went entirely to ruin. Within an hour, his strength had so depleted that he could no longer handle the weight in his pack, although he refused to let us remove anything, forcing us to fish out the heaviest items, such as his water bottles and his cameras, when he wasn't looking." The local sheriff met us in the street and eyed us suspiciously.
"Runaways?" he asked.
"We are," I said.
"Any of you named Nigger Jim?"
I pointed to each of us. "sadie, Lizzie, Morris, Buck."
"And who are you?"
"I am James."
"James what?"
"Just James."

I promise it wouldn't make any more sense if I chose another option for step 5.

Book #1: This Kingdom Will Not Me by Illona Andrews
Book #2: Antidote by Karen Russell
Book #3: Strange Tales from Japan - 99 Chilling Stories of Yokai, Ghosts, Demons and the Supernatural - collected and retold by Keisuke Nishimoto, Translated by William Scott Wilson.
Book #4: A Walk in the Park: the true story of a spectacular misadventure in the Grand Canyon by Kevin Fedarku
Book #5:James by Percival Everett

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The Rainy Saturday Info Dump....

2026-05-09T22:38:01Z

Wasted time watching two movies today. One took way longer than it should have and ate up all of the afternoon.

* Remarkably Bright Creatures (Netflix) - adapted and directed by Olivia Wilde, and starring Sally Field, Lewis Pullman (who looks a lot like Bill Pullman), Colm Meany, and Kathy Baker along with Alfred Molina as the voice of the octopus. It's adapted from Shelby Van Pelt's novel of the same name. I remember enough of the novel - to see where they veered away from it (they excised a lot of the dead weight and fixed the pacing, also it ends on a happier note in some respects, the novel was more realistic and slower). [So, yes, I was completely spoiled - since the plot was more or less the same, just tighter. The book meanders all over the place, to the point that I had issues following it at times - because it unlike the movie, felt the need to be in every character's point of view. The movie is just in Tova's (Sally Field) and the Octopus's point of view for the most part.]

It's okay. It's a nice little sentimental film, with the oomph removed from it. The novel wasn't great? But it had a bit more going on?

Some books don't adapt well? Although I'm not sure I'd made it through a series. The interesting thing about Sally Field - is you can see her grow up and grow old on screen - if you watch enough of her films.

That said, the movie has a good line - said by the Octopus:

"With all their good points, humans have abysmal communication skills."

God, yes. We're all horrible communicators. Which is kind of ironic if you think about it? Only one species can manage to come up with a way to complicate language to such an extent that they can't understand what the majority of their species is actually saying.

* Marty Supreme (HBO MAX) starring Timothy Chalamet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa Azion, Fran Dreschler...and directed by Josh Safdie, has the distinction of not having any likable characters. It's loosely based on the story of Marty Reiseman who wanted to become the best pin pong player in the world. ( vague spoilers )

***

Okay, I'm done with hyper-realism, I'm off to watch Daredevil and From next.

Meryl Streep stated that modern movies are marvelizing all the villains and making them one dimensional, and Miranda in Devil Wears Prada has more layers?

I'm guessing she's not actually seen any of the Marvel films? Because Killmonger in Black Panther, Thanos in the Avengers, not to mention King Pin, Magneto, Loki, Ultron, Scarlet Witch, and Agatha Harkness were far more developed than Miranda was in Devil Wears Prada. Miranda, I'm sorry, wasn't that developed and kind of two-dimensional. Devil Wears Prada is a fun flick, I enjoyed it for what it was, memorable cinema, it's not. Darth Vader had more layers.

I wish people wouldn't dis something they've not actually watched? This is a huge pet peeve of mine. It makes people look like nitwits? Film watching like all things is a subjective experience. It's okay to dislike something? But dissing a whole genre - which granted isn't to your taste and making the assumption films have been ruined by that genre? Is just stupid troll logic. Also, Meryl? You made both Mama Mia films? Great Cinema, it's not. Give your ego a rest.

Also on social media:

* Poster: The MET is just a Fashion Museum for Rich People
* New Yorkers on Threads: Eh, actually the MET is free for the most part, and pay what you can afford. It also is not a fashion museum. The Fashion exhibit is seasonal, lasts maybe two months, and is actually rather small. Blink and you miss it? You'd know this if you googled it on your phone. It's not hard to do. Just google - the Met.

[If you don't currently live in NYC, it's probably wise not to comment on NYC? Visiting it repeatedly as a tourist, doesn't count.]

Apparently the MAGA nitwits want to cancel Mark Hamill for supporting Obama. Folks say they missed the point of Star Wars. Not exactly, they interpreted it differently? Keep in mind that the villain doesn't see themselves as the villain - they see themselves as the hero. We're all villains and heroes depending on one's perspective. It's all a matter of perspective. [That said, cancelling Mark Hamil is akin to trying to cancel Big Bird or Santa Clause, people like him, I like him - he's not being cancelled. Any more than Obama is.]

**

Union had a rally out on Long Island. My spy (Babs) texted me about it.
And showed a photo. It was near the railroad tracks out in Massapequa on a rainy dreary Saturday. I'm not sure if it has actually rained all day? But it's definitely threatened to. Eh, it's doing it now.

Everyone in the photo was male, mostly white, appeared to be over the age of 40, and wore caps and red and black shirts. It wasn't a bad turn out? But it wasn't that many people either.
( Read more... )

***

Book Instagram doesn't appear to like "This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Illona Andrews". (which is a best seller, so no worries there - and damn the writers are selling the bejesus out of it? They have pictures you can buy, stuffed animals, t-shirts, book marks, tea bags...when did writing a book become a massive marketing and cross-product merchandizing event? Also some of the merchandise spoils the book. So if you pick up a book now to read, you have to jump off of social media and not follow the writer at all until you are done reading it. And some people read at the speed of light, and then insist on spoiling everyone else.) As a result of this - I kind of figured out the plot twist early on.

I can understand why people are having issues with the book. ( Read more... )

***

May Question a Day Meme

Catching up on the May Question a Day Meme - prior to making dinner, now that it is finally raining after spending most of the day pondering it. Honestly? The sky looked constipated. It's looking a bit better now.

4. Today is a holiday in many countries, either to celebrate Labour Day or May Day. If you have a day off today, what are your plans?

Well in the US it was May the Fourth Be With You - or Star Wars Day. Labor Day is the first Monday in September. Memorial Day is May 25, I think or the last Monday in May. We don't celebrate May Day - mainly because the US has issues with the Harvest Calendar, except of course for Halloween.

5. Do you like rhubarb?

Depends on how it is fixed? I like rhubarb pie. Ages ago, when I was kid, on one of our first trips to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, we discovered this out of the way little restaurant which had a to die for strawberry rhubarb pie. It was the best pie we ever had. We couldn't find the restaurant again and spent years trying to recreate experience. Had a similar thing happen with Key Lime Pie (discovered in the Keys) albeit better luck recreating it. Turns out, it's easier to make.

6. Have you ever completed a cryptic crossword, or do you stick to the easy ones?

I don't know what it is? Probably not. I suck at crosswords. My brain doesn't understand them - it's probably a dyslexic thing? My father hated them, yet he worked in cryptology or code breaking while in the army.

7. Do you take your phone everywhere, or sometimes leave it at home and not worry about it?

I take it everywhere now. Why? I wear a diabetic sensor and the damn thing is linked into my phone. I miss the days, I could leave it at home.

8. Henry Dunant was born today in 1828 – he was the co-founder of the Red Cross. Have you ever learned first aid? Could you resuscitate someone?

Yes. Ages ago. No, I can't resuscitate anyone. I learned first aid over thirty years ago. I've forgotten most of it.

9. In 1896, the first horseless carriage show in London featured ten models. Do you own a car? What kind of car is it?

No.

***

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Sigh, I acquire more books...now that reading slump is gone

2026-03-27T02:01:53Z

Dang-nabbit, internet, is persuading me to buy books again. (I really do not need to buy any more books. Although at least they are e-books - which is either a lease to read it on the Kindle, so not really buying ...I don't know, the whole thing confuses me to no end. And I can't afford a Kindle and a Kobo. Plus buying books on Kindle is easy and cheap, so there's that and I get points. )

1. I bought Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Safron - about a boy in late 1940s Barcelona or post WWII Barcelona who is charged with protecting a book, long out of print, and rare - from the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. The Book in question is also entitled "Shadow of the Wind". Thank you Sarah Michelle Gellar for perking my curiosity enough for me to purchase this book. Much appreciated. (She said in an interview broadcast on Instagram that her two favorite books were Donna Tartt's Secret History (which I loved and devoured in the 1990s) and Shadow of the Wind (so I got curious about Shadow of the Wind - which Stephen King also adored). The book is difficult to describe with a convoluted plot - I apparently like to read and write these types of books, which makes my life more difficult but far less dull.

Then grabbed, "Locked-In by John Scalzi" - which I'd flirted with previously, as when he first published it ages ago, but got persuaded when he posted that a bunch of people in Texas (it's always one of the Southern States - must be all those hot days? Bakes the brain?) had chosen to ban it. He was upset about it. (I'd have been too.) Apparently it's never happened to him before. (which is interesting - he's certainly liberal and political enough). So, I got curious - and decided to get it for $6.99.
Which is admittedly more than usual, but there you go. It's a sci-fi/mystery hybrid with a convoluted plot. Has a Black Mirror vibe to it. I've read a couple of his "stand alone" books: Red Shirts, Starter Villain, Kaijiu Preservation Society...the last two were read by Will Wheaton. Scalzi is a nerdy sci-fi writer, and usually has nerdy protagonists. He's kind of similar to Andy Weir? Except I like Weir's books slightly better.

As an aside? I'm fundamentally against censorship. Are there books that I despise? Yes. Do I think they should be censored? No. The challenge of "free speech" is folks you don't agree with have to have it too - in order for it to work. There were librarians commenting on Scalzi's post stating they sent out books they despised all the time.
( thoughts on book censorship )
And finally a Dark London Mystery/Romance Series novel entitled Winterblaze by Kristen Callihan which was $1.99,
and a second chance romance between an estranged married couple, in a paranormal verse. "Poppy Lane is keeping secrets. Her powerful gift has earned her membership in the Society for the Suppression of Supernaturals, but she must keep both her ability and her alliance with the Society from her husband, Winston. Yet when Winston is brutally attacked by a werewolf, Poppy’s secrets are revealed, leaving Winston’s trust in her as broken as his body. Now Poppy will do anything to win back his affections." The second chance ex-lover trope is a huge kink of mine. (I prefer older romances to young ones...for the most part.)

I love books. Books are my friends. They've seen me through some tough times.

Coworker: Are you one of those people who always has a book in your hand or with you?
ME: Definitely

If I had to choose between books, television and movies - I'd probably pick books - easier to carry around and less noisy.

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Wed Book Meme...

2026-03-26T01:19:11Z

I've a bunch of doves, sparrows, cardinals, and robins, also pigeons, tweeting in the backyards behind my building. My living room windows look out on a bunch of tree tops - so I see the birds, along with an occasional squirrel in them. I've debated buying a bird feeder - but I've no idea how I'd attach it to the back of a window without killing myself in the process. And it's not really necessary? They perch on my wide window sill all on their own.

***

I finished, Illona Andrews' The Inheritance (Breach-World Series #1) - which is a survival/adventure story not a romance, and if you are at all familiar with the writer - is most likely within the Innkeeper and Bayou world-building, it has similar characters and a similar tone/writing style to those two series, albeit without the romantic elements.

The book is hard to describe? There's a lot of world-building. And it has a convoluted plot. But I'll take a crack at it? ( description of book I just read, without any major spoilers ) So this is definitely not a romance novel - it's a science-fiction survival story and what the heck happened investigation, which is a huge story kink of mine. I love stuff like this. Mystery/Survival/Sci-Fi Hybrids are my favorite. (Also reminds me a little bit of a video game.)

It's the first book - I sped through in a while. So fingers crossed that the reading slump from hell has ended? Not wishing to tempt fate, I'm trying an earlier series by the writers - The Kinsman Series - which has two novellas, a short story, and a book length book involved in it. I don't know - but it appears to be more along the lines of romance fantasy or romance sci-fi, which isn't really my thing? But it might work. Who knows? At least the writers write strong female characters for the most part. Also the books are dirt cheap. The first ebook was $4.99, and the other was free on Kindle Unlimited.

***

Flirting with the television series Succession - which I'm told gets really good after the third or fourth episode, and takes off in the sixth episode. This is unfortunately true of a lot of television series? Particularly HBO series that fall under the category of hyper-realism.
Also flirting with the c-drama, Pursuit of Jade - of which there are 40 episodes on Netflix, it's in Mandarin with subtitles, and is...very pretty on the eyes? Honestly the cinematography is amazing for a television series. It's a historical action/adventure romance. I may continue - it's pretty and kind of relaxing to watch? Considering I have subtitles or closed captioning on half the time anyhow...not sure it matters? I have more issues with it for animated series. Mainly because it's hard to see the close captioning through the animation - they have a tendency to put it in white.

***

Catching up on March Question a Day Meme:

23. When was the last time you ate some chocolate?

About an hour and fifteen minutes ago. It's my main vice. And I'm not giving it up.

24. Harry Houdini was born today in 1874. Are you a fan of magic shows? Have you ever seen someone perform close-up magic?

Depends on the magic show? For the most part I enjoy them? But I also know some of the tricks?

Yes, more than once. I was even pulled into the act once on a girl scout retreat with my father when I was roughly speaking 10 years of age?( Read more... )

25. How often do you wash your hair? Do you style it, or just let it dry naturally?

Just did. But typically every other day, and sometimes every two days, depending on what I'm doing and usually at night.( Read more... )

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Australian Radio Top 100 Book Meme

2025-11-22T20:44:44Z

Radio Australia Top 100 Book Meme aka The Book Club/Books Adapted into Television Series and/or Films Meme

Rules:

1.Did you read it (bold or state for the HTML Adverse), (audio books count)
2. DNF (Did not Finish) or Italicize
3. Saw the film or television adaptation series - state that (or underline)
4. loved it put a *
( if you want to write anything about it - do.)

1.Boy Swallows Universe - Trent Dalton (it's a boy's coming of age story in Australia, about a boy who lives with a criminal family, and struggles to get by, as far as I could tell - it's airing on Netflix, and I saw one or two episodes before giving up on it.)

2. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

3. >A Gentleman in Moscow - Amor Towles (was on Showtime, one season. I enjoyed the audio book. The author writes poetic prose. I did have problems following the plot though. It's about an aristocrat who is held prisoner by the Soviets in a Hotel in Moscow during and post Russian Revolution, and his friendship with a little girl over the years, who is staying at the Hotel with her family.)

4. All The Light We Cannot See - Anthony Doerr - tried to watch on Netflix but only made it through two episodes. (WWII yarn about a blind French girl/spy and a German boy, notable for the cast).

5 Lessons in Chemistry - Bonnie Garmus (watched on Apple + - good miniseries about a female chemist who starts a cooking show after her husband's death).

6 Burial Rites - Hannah Kent
7 The Dictionary of Lost Words - Pip Williams
8 Demon Copperhead - Barbara Kingsolver
9 A Little Life - Hanya Yanagihara

10 Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel* (Television Mini-Series on PBS) - I've tried to listen to this as an audio book (among the first I ever did, it doesn't work well as an audio book), tried to read it, and tried to watch it - and I either don't have the mental energy for it? Or I don't like historical fiction enough? It's about the Tudor period, Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell. So it's possible it's a period of history that I overstudied and grown tired of? (Note to self - get PBS Passport.)

( The rest beneath the cut )

Whew, I read or saw more of those than I thought.

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The Latest Book Meme..

2025-11-15T22:18:58Z

I grabbed it from dirtygreatknife.

The rules: bold the ones you've read, italicize the ones you tried but couldn't finish, and underline the ones you loved. (I changed it from intend to read to couldn't finish, because intent changes on a daily basis).
( 100 Books )

I've read a lot of them, can't remember half of them. And many I was assigned to read in school.

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Still sleep deprived Wednesday sinks into Buffy S4 & memage

2025-09-18T01:17:47Z

Fair warning? Still sleep deprived, so irritable, tired and slightly depressed due to well lack of sleep. (I'm waking up in the middle of the night in pain and can't get back to sleep.) (I'm only revealing it - because I'm snappish at the moment, and not necessarily my best self.)

1. Having completed Buffy S3 in my rewatch. Am now finally in Buffy S4 and watched the Freshman, which has a couple of interesting guest stars, Pedro Pascal is in it. (Noticed something I hadn't previously? Spike is the front credits in various sections - previewing he's returning.) He's not going by Pascal, this is before he changed his name, also he's about twenty-five years younger. He plays the first victim and Buffy's friend in the episode.

I'm reminded of why I preferred the later seasons? I like the characters better? All of them. Willow's wardrobe is better and Willow becomes less of a damsel and more interesting. Also Xander is no longer a jerk, he's actually interesting and better developed. I actually like Xander. (Although he was more or less likable post the Zeppo. Xander's main problem was Angel - once Angel leaves, Xander kind of calms down.) Also his jokes are more self-deprecating and less nasty. (After the Zeppo, Xander becomes a touch more likable and gets over his skanky self - I finally figured out where I got the phrase "get over your skanky self" from? Buffy.) Giles and Joyce on the other hand - I wanted to smack - which feels like a continuation of S3, I wanted to smack them in S3 at various points, too. OZ remains as comforting and cool as ever.

Also the writing is a touch better - mainly because the writers are no longer attempting to write about their high school experiences which were about fifteen to twenty years ago? ( Read more... )

2. I finished reading The Perfect Rake - which didn't work for me? The writer was clearly trying to go for a Georgette Heyer style, and I found it tiresome. Also her prose was touch more purple than required. So you have bad Georgette Heyer with Purple Prose. I skimmed most of it. Otherwise I wouldn't have finished it? It's very skimmable - a lot of repetition. I don't know why I keep trying romance novels - I've clearly burned out on the genre? It's annoying at the moment.

Anyhow - I moved on to Spinning Silver by Naomi Novick rec'd by selenak. And so far? It's rather good. It's a retelling of the Miller's Daughter tale or Rumplestilskin. The second retelling that I've tackled.
The first was "The Croning" - a "cosmic" horror novel along the lines of HP Lovecraft that really disturbed me and I can't quite shake from my head. ( Read more... )

Also, stand a lone, like Uprooted was. I rather loved Uprooted and it stuck with me. So this is working for me for the same reasons it did.

I don't like "series" - I prefer stand-a-lone in novels. ( Read more... )

I do love fairy tales - or novels/stories that do twists on fairy tales, which is why I read The Croning. I find them interesting.

3. Greatest Comic Book Superhero of All Time - Prove ME Wrong via Screenrant
( excerpt )
While I do agree with the selection, I don't like using the word "greatest" - and wish I could remove it from the current lexicon? After reading the comments - I also think this depends on how you view superheros? And what you are looking for in a character and that's subjective and personal? ( Read more... )

********

Question a Day - Memage

11. Do you like the taste of fresh basil? What other fresh herbs do you like or dislike?

I love basil, rosemary, dill, chives, sage, thyme. I hate fennel or anise, licorice and I don't get along.

12. Have you ever kept a paper journal? What about a bullet journal?

Yes. I don't know what a bullet journal is? Looks it up. Bullet Journal - and uh, that would be a no.

13. Did you have a baby doll when you were growing up? How about a Barbie (or equivalent fashion doll)?

Not a baby doll. A Barbie doll - yes, and Madame Alexander Dolls. My mother loved dolls and bought them for me. (I wasn't really that into them outside of using them to tell stories.)

14. When was the last time you had to dress up for a special occasion? What did you wear?

My father's funeral. Black skirt, red silk top.

15. Do you enjoy driving a car, or is it just a way to get from one place to another?

Just a means of getting from one place to another. Also I can't drive. And rarely use a car to get anywhere. I use subways and trains. The only time I'm in a car is if I'm going to the airport, or visiting and someone else is driving. And no, I don't enjoy driving, or riding in cars.

16. Do you have pierced ears? If not, do you still wear earrings?

Yes. I have pierced ears. I rarely wear earrings - because I wear head-phones to work and at work all day long.

17. Do you own a smart speaker (Amazon Echo, Google Nest, Apple HomePod). If so, what do you use it for?

No. I do have a speaker, that you can use Alexa with - but I can't get it to work properly. I'm not techie. Nor really into gadgets. Also the whole idea of a smart speaker creeps me out.

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How to review and not to review a film...also book meme

2025-07-17T01:15:24Z

1. Dueling Superman Reviews - which unintentionally depict how to write a film review and how not to write a film review.

Professional film/music/book critic and science fiction novelist John Scalzi and his daughter, an inspiring blogger (who to date has primarily written blog posts in her father's blog) post dual reviews of the new film - Superman (directed by James Gunn).

Go HERE (Warning, Athena Scalzi's review is filled with spoilers, although I got confused halfway through, jumped to the end and gave up on her review, her father, John Scalzi's review has relatively few - actually no spoilers outside of what you might see in the trailers.)

The dueling reviews - which are quite different takes on the film - unintentionally show the dos and don'ts of writing reviews, and glaringly show the difference between a professional film critic's review and a amateur film reviewer who saw a flick.

Snippets for examples of the difference:

Beginning of AS's review: ( Read more... )

Beginning of JS's review: ( Read more... )

And..

Ending of AS's review: ( Read more... )

Ending of JS's review: ( Read more... )

The trick in reviewing anything - is to give the reader just enough information for them to determine privately if they want to see, read, or listen to the item being reviewed themselves. Is it worth their time? Their taste more likely than not will differ greatly from the reviewer's - so the trick is to give them enough information, without spoiling them, to know whether to check it out for themselves. And at the same time - entertaining them, giving them interesting information, and not boring or confusing them in the process. This is not easy to do. Most amateur reviewers haven't a clue how to do it, as you can see from AS's review.

I figured out from John Scalzi's whether it made sense to see the film in a big theater, and whether I'd like it. And that was without being insanely spoiled on it. Besides giving me a headache, Athena's review confused me and spoiled me about various bits, I'd prefer not to be spoiled on. Also, AS's review only works for those who have already seen the film and not as a review - whose audience is those who haven't seen the film yet. You can't make sense of AS's review without having seen the film. I also couldn't tell if I'd like the film or not. But I knew without a doubt whether I would reading her father's review. (I won't and will wait for it to come on television. It's like Gunn's other films - too busy. And movie theaters aren't comfortable any longer? And have too many distractions? I'd rather watch at home.)

( cut for length )

2. Books

I think I've landed on The Rook -

Per Good Reads: Myfanwy Thomas awakens in a London park surrounded by dead bodies. With her memory gone, she must trust the instructions left by her former in order to survive. She quickly learns that she is a Rook, a high-level operative in a secret agency that protects the world from supernatural threats. But there is a mole inside the organization, and this person wants her dead. Battling to save herself, Myfanwy will encounter a person with four bodies, a woman who can enter her dreams, children transformed into deadly fighters, and terrifyingly vast conspiracy. Suspenseful and hilarious, The Rook is an outrageously imaginative thriller for readers who like their espionage with a dollop of purple slime.

"Utterly convincing and engrossing -- -totally thought-through and frequently hilarious....Even this aging, jaded, attention-deficit-disordered critic was blown away."-Lev Grossman, Time

About the author: Dan O'Malley graduated from Michigan State University and earned a Master's Degree in medieval history from Ohio State University. He then returned to his childhood home, Australia. He now works for the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, writing press releases for government investigations of plane crashes and runaway boats.

This may work for me - it fits my sense of humor, and I'm also a jaded, attention-deficit-disordered critic at the moment.

Plus it's on Kindle so not hard to lug around.

Finished Remarkably Bright Creatures - my difficulty with it was all the characters were frustratingly dense. The writer contrived ways to keep them apart which irritated me. I deal with dense people daily, I can't handle reading about them? Also the writing style didn't work for me, for some reason?

Re-listening to all of the Kate Daniels Graphic Audio Dramatizations - there's ten in all. Plus several single audio books, which aren't. Maybe by the time I finish there will be more? The Kate Daniels series scratches whatever itch I need scratched at the moment. Also they are kind of comfort reads.

And still making my way through the thick paperback of Fair Folk.

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Monday is tired and trudging along...

2025-07-07T22:53:29Z

Somewhat sleep deprived - got about four hours, and was up half the night, partly due to high blood sugar, and partly due to the inability to shut my mind and body off? But, considering the previous four days - I had seven and forty-five minutes worth of sleep per day, not too bad. I've discovered that I feel better - mind body - when I sleep.

Question a Day Meme for July:

6. Ivy climbing over a wall can act as an impressive natural air conditioner, absorbing heat from the sun and cooling internal temperatures by as much as 7.5C/45.5F. Do you like ivy plants?

Yes? But I don't have a green thumb, and tend to kill plants. So I refrain. There's plenty outside though.

7. Today, on the seventh day of the seventh month, the Japanese celebrate the Star Festival (or Tanabata). For one day only, wishes, hopes, poetry and dreams are written onto colourful streamers and tied to trees. What would you write on a streamer today?

Let there be rainbows?

8. Artemesia Gentileschi was born today in 1593 – an incredibly famous artist in her time, she is only now becoming better known. Have you ever seen any of her works?

I think so? I had to look her up, but her paintings are familiar. Particularly the one featured in the New Yorker. (I've been to a lot of art galleries and museums in my lifetime, but I can't always remember the names of the artists. I live in NY, and in the 1980s, I spent a summer in London, during which time - I hand wrote a lot of papers in art museums (they were cool and quiet and not that far from where we were staying) - my favorites were the National Gallery and the Victorian & Albert. This was before computers and lap-tops, all we had was an electronic typewriter, white out, and pens.

The Guardian article on her - shows some of her paintings

****

Today was in the mid 80s(20sC), but felt like the 90s (30sC) with the humidity, which was around 80-90%. It was akin to walking through a sauna.
Occasionally it would rain. The air hung heavy, and I found it hard to breath? So I didn't take any long walks today.

Debating taking Friday off - but honestly, it's supposed to be a nice day, and I'm more likely to take a long walk at work than at home?

I need to schedule a dental appointment, a mammogram, and alas a hair cut.
(I'm procrastinating for various reasons not worth going into.) It requires scheduling around work - although work does provide four hours for cancer screening.(Just need to provide proof of it).

The towels and pillow I ordered from Brooklynlinen arrived. I got two waffle bath towels, and two waffle hand towels in blue. They are very soft, and light weight. Different from what I'm used to. And a Marlow Pillow - which is adjustable, and suppose to be cooling and provide more support for better sleep. I'm hoping it helps with the insomina - and neck issues.

Hopefully the pre-assembled book shelf that I bought on sale at Wayfair, and is allegedly being delivered on Tuesday will arrive without incident, and without me - having to be home to receive it. (They called today - thinking I was a business, uhm no, I ordered it for my home. Not for business purposes at all. (I wonder if this is a New York thing? People keep thinking I'm a business, I am not a business.) I don't buy furniture for my workplace, construction/design/and engineering services change orders - yes, furniture, no.)

For dinner - I picked up some sushi. I'm doing it with a light salad, I think. I don't feel much like cooking.

***

Working my way through Remarkable Bright Creatures and wondering what all the hoopla is about it? It came recommended by folks on a book site on FB as a comforting read (it's not), and it's highly rec'd on Smart Bitches. Also been highly rated elsewhere. I've found it to be plodding, and I'm struggling to get through it. Been doing a lot of skimming. And the characters - are beginning to annoy me, the writer does all sorts of things to keep the characters from connecting and finding out stuff. It's beginning to feel rather contrived, and frustrating. I can feel the writer struggling to bring them together - and not quite knowing how.

Also it meanders and rambles a lot. There's a lot of repetition and navel gazing, and internal whining. I don't find it comforting at all. Yet, alas, I can't give up on it? I want to see how the writer resolves it? Also I keep trying to figure out why folks recommended it as a comfort read/happy book?

I'm in a bad reading slump folks. I need a book with good witty/quippy dialogue, and suspense, a page turner. And I'm not finding it? (Well except for the Graphic Audio Dramatizations of Illona Andrews Kate Daniels books (9 and 10), which I'd forgotten the plots of - for the most part.)

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Wednesday feels like doing a reading meme for the heck of it...

2025-06-12T01:54:50Z

Somewhat sleep deprived, but hanging in there?

I'm still in a reading slump. It may be somewhat affected by the amount of technical information I have to read at work daily on a computer screen. Very dry technical and legal information. Things like how many cubic yards of Permeable low-density cellular concrete (PLDCC) is required for a job, and what a credit should be in cost savings for not installing that many cubic yards. Add to that contractual information, which is a lot less interesting than the technical data, not to mention editing financial documentation and legal documentation.

Yeah, that may have an effect. And it probably explains why I am doing lots of fantasy audio books. Finished Crooked Kingdom - the sequel to "Six of Crows", which was a long, but ultimately satisfying conclusion to Six of Crows. I kind of fell for Kaz Brekker and Inej. The others, I was ambivalent about. Similar to the television series Shadow and Bone, actually. Although I think it would have been better if it had just focused on the Crows. The audio book works because it has different narrators for each characters perspective in the books, of which there are eight, two villains. Some are better than others - the Inej narrator is by far the best, and I kind of wish they were reading Kaz's pov instead of the guy reading Kaz's.

Struggled to find something to follow it with. Tried Peter Watts Blindside, a sci-fi novel about a group of oddities who are sent into space to confront an alien presence. Part philosophy, part morality, part hard sci-fi. It was dirt cheap, but also hard to listen to. The Narrator is good, but it's not holding my attention. Nor did Susannah Clark's follow up her popular novel, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel (which I also tried to read, gave up on, and watched the mini-series instead), Piransi. What is it about? I have no idea, I gave up after two chapters. Here's what I found on Google: ( Read more... ) Which I guess explains why I gave up on it? My brain has no room for it.

Finally decided on Graphic Audio Dramatization of another of the Kate Daniels novels, which basically have an entire cast - it's like listening to a radio play of your favorite books. And I've forgotten most of the story by now, so...

These are rather cheap - just cost me $9.99 a month. Because I have a subscription and with that you get a credit each month, and I had about five credits. So, I have about fifty books to listen to, plus free podcasts, etc.

Am plodding my way through Remarkable Creatures - I don't get why people recommended it as delightful and funny, and a happy book? Right now, it's very depressing, no one is happy, all the characters are trapped, frustrated, angry and lonely, and it just keeps jumping points of view. I thought it would just be two points of view? But noooo, it's about four to date. It may be more. Each time I think it's done with character pov, it adds another one. (Reminds me of Eternity Station in that respect, also GRR Martin). And outside of Tova and the octopus, I'm not really interested in them, and want to go back to Tova and the octopus. I've decided that maybe Cameron is Tova's missing son, but that doesn't quite work, so maybe not.
Look, I don't need to read a book - to get frustrated, trapped, angry and lonely...or mundane. Escapism it's not. We'll see how long I stick with this.

I'd read the Faire Folk book - but it's bigger, and not an e-book, so not conducive to reading on subways.

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Wednesday Book Meme...

2025-02-06T02:09:47Z

Finished Reading

Rules of Redemption (Firebird #1) by T.A. White - this was rec'd to me by the Illona Andrews fandom. And it's the last time I get recs from that board. It's a science fiction romance. The main character is a touch on the whiny side and a Mary Sue (in that she is almost too special?) The world-building is non-existent. And the romance doesn't quite work - much much older man and younger woman trope.

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan - a lovely little novella about how the little things chip away at one's conscience, and what one might do about it. It's a book that haunts you long after you've read it. Billy Furlong, a coal delivery man, on one of his holiday runs around Christmas time, sees something that he can't unsee. Now, what is he to do about it?

X-men #10 (2024-) by Jed Mckay and Ryan Stegman - one of the better issues of the series. Shows how good dialogue can further plot, action and character along with decent art. The leader of the X-men meets with the Government Agency that wants him and his kind dead. During the meeting - he basically explains and shows the government agent why killing him or threatening him is a really bad idea, and it's much better to keep him alive. There's subtle political satire in there as well.

Iron and Magic by Illona Andrews - audio book. I read the book version, was unimpressed, but the audio book is fun. Steve West is an excellent narrator (and it's all about the narrator). One of the better narrators. Can do multiple voices, and has a sexy velvet voice for the lead. It's a dark urban fantasy romance, where the writer works hard to redeem a nasty villain from the Kate Daniels series - and kind of accomplishes it, and kind of doesn't? Of course it's only the first book in a two book series. (Independently published, not through a publishing company).

Reading Now

Station Eternity Midsolar Murders Book 1 by Muir Lafferty - this is the first in a series apparently. It's a science fiction mystery novel that takes place in 2033 on an alien space station. Mallory Viridian has escaped to an alien space station to avoid humanity. Why? People have an annoying tendency to drop dead around her - and she keeps solving their murders much to the chagrin of actual detectives and police enforcement, who have even investigated her for the crimes because she's always coincidentally in the vicinity. So she's retreated to an alien station that only has three humans on board - Mallory, Adrian (the ambassador),and Xan(ex-military). The world-building is excellent, and aliens are innovative. One of them is a wasp hive mind, another are rocks. The writing is clean - and compelling. So far so good. And while there's a romance, it's subdued, and the obstacle is the protagonist has people die around her. Right now? She's desperately trying to find a way to keep more humans from coming on board - to protect the humans, not herself. And they are coming.

The Master and the Margarita by by Mikhail Bulgakov (Author), Christopher Conn Askew (Illustrator), Richard Pevear (Translator), Larissa Volokhonsky (Translator), Boris Fishman (Foreword) This is the 50th Anniversary Edition. I picked it up for the cover and the intent to give to Wales, then decided to read it myself. It's Russian political and metaphysical satire, and appears to - at the moment at least - be making fiendish fun of atheism. (Keep in mind that this book was written during the Soviet regime, where religion for the most part was outlawed, and everyone had to be an atheist - since they didn't want any religion to compete with the State.)
I'm hoping this translation will work for me. I am finding some of it a bit stilted in places. (I really wish I knew Russian, make life easier with the super and my next door neighbors, not to mention half the building, but alas, no.) It is well-written.

Fourth Wing (Empyrean Book 1) by Rebecca Yarros - this is on audio, and I got it with a credit. I am most likely not the demographic for this. It's readable, just annoying. And I'm listening to it on audio - so I can ignore a lot of the annoying bits. (I fast-forwarded through the kissing scene. I was listening to it during lunch time at work - and got tired of rolling my eyes.) It's not a turn on for me to listen to two twenty year olds kissing. Also, the lead talks about how much she misses sex - and I'm thinking, "you are what 20???" Also, hello, masturbation. It's a whole late safer and easier. The writing is kind of...juvenile. But, I want to know what her power is - so I'm hanging in there. Also on it's audio - so much easier to click through. Another thing? There's bits in here that feel lifted out of Dragon-Riders of Pern? The whole bonding with the dragons and if the dragons are mated, the riders become mated too bit - is directly from McCaffrey. I've not seen it in any other Dragon book, just McCaffrey. And it was problematic in McCaffrey's books. Although it does kind of make me want to re-read the McCaffrey novels, mainly because they had better world-building and were much better written.

Upcoming

I never really know? I'm moody. I have this month's The New Yorker to read.
(In print form! Also being the New Yorker - the print is actually large enough that I can read it.)

Let's see...I may do "Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Mass" on audiobook.

Also, flirting with The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff which my brother gave me for Christmas one year.

And possibly...whatever I can find in my kindle. I have a lot of books in my kindle, not helped by the digital copies of comic books that also end up in it.

Oh, almost forgot? Capital & Ideology: A Graphic Novel Adaptation by Thomas Piketty, Claire Alet and Benjamin Adam -Author and illustrator Claire Alet and Benjamin Adam adapt renowned economist Thomas Piketty’s Capital and Ideology in an accessible and richly illustrated graphic novel formatMore than just a faithful graphic novel adaptation of Thomas Piketty’s Capital and Ideology, Claire Alet and Benjamin Adam make the original work’s ideas more accessible through the addition of a family saga.

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Twenty to ahem Forty Books That Stayed With Me or Influenced Me..

2025-01-25T03:49:57Z

Choose books that have stayed with you or influenced you. (It was 20, but I couldn't choose just 20...sigh. Just put the covers, no explanation. It's probably a good idea to remember I was an English Lit Major, and studied Drama in college.)

It's supposed to be thumbnail pictures, but I can't figure out how to do that.

( too big and long - so beneath the cut )

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Wednesday Book Meme...among other things..

2024-10-03T01:41:17Z

I found this title on DW which I like..."The Book on the Edge of Forever", it's apparently the title of a book about an anthology of stories by Harlan Ellison that were never published. They've been talking about it all over social media, regardless of the platform.

1.) Book Meme

* Still reading Experimental Film by Gemma Files
( Read more... )
* Audio Books

- Completed On the Edge by Illona Andrews as read by Rene Raudman

The narrator is excellent. Among the better narrators. I actually think it's a full cast? She can do up to thirty distinctive voices.

It's hard to describe. ( Read more... )

Main quibble? There's far too much ruminating over the romance. Or navel gazing over it. The writers hadn't quite mastered their banter yet.

- Still working my way through: Bayou Moon by Ilona Andrews as read by Renee Raudman - it's much better than On the Edge.
( Read more... )
* Digital Comic Books

Finished
( Read more... )
Still reading:
( Read more... )
So far?( Read more... )

Up next?
( Read more... )
***

2. Donated Blood at work today. The NY Blood Drive was taking blood donations at my workplace, so I went ahead and did it on my lunch break. Once again I wore a long sleeve button down blouse. So had to roll up the sleeve. I've been wearing short sleeve shirts all year long, and on the days I have to donate blood and get a flu shot - I wear long sleeve button down shirts?

It's a process donating blood. Reminded me of why I've not done it in a while. ( Read more... )
I donated because I wasn't that busy, and I learned it could save three people's lives. And I was annoyed with people today, so...I figured I'd help a bunch of strangers.

I think I may try to give blood once or twice a year now. Do what I can to help people even if they drive me crazy.

3. Mother: You sounded tired when you called earlier, now you sound better, more upbeat and more energetic.
Me: That's because I've been alone in my apartment and away from people for about an hour, maybe two?
Mother explodes with laughter.

People are exhausting.

Frigging city is constantly under construction. They are putting in a couple of traffic lights at the intersection that leads to the train station. ( a new obstacle on my commute )

4. Crazy Workplace

Well, the "pendant" attorney, who is also a frustrated copy-editor and grammatical pendant, is leaving the organization. I only know this - because the head honcho sent me an invite to his going away party. We got the "farewell party" notice via email today. They are throwing a farewell party for him next week at a local pub in Manhattan around 5pm.
( Read more... )
5. Television

I attempted Doctor Odyssey. It reminds me of 9-1-1 and 9-1-1 Lone Star, a kind of comforting medical/rescue procedural, with various relationship dynamics. With likable actors, and likable characters. In short, it's very plain vanilla. I expect a bit more from Ryan Murphy, sheesh.

( Read more... )
Right now, David E Kelly's Lincoln Lawyer is the winner of the procedurals. It's better written. Mainly because Kelly at least knows something about his subject matter, and has good source material.

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This that and the other thingamig

2024-06-30T03:05:17Z

1. While on Threads this week - I discovered...that apparently someone went after and attacked David Tennant.

Who would go after David Tennant? He's a sweetheart. Be like attacking a puppy dog? Seems insane.

So...I looked it up. David Tennant vs. well UK Conservative Transphobes

Sigh.

Tennant has a non-binary child. He's an actor who has a right to his opinion. He's not a politician making policy for others. And he's advocating for the rights of his child and others. I applaud him for that.
( Read more... )
2. Speaking of flawed humans specifically writers with huge fan followings, and unfortunately toxic behavior patterns, I did an online survey on Whedon's shows today via the Association of Buffy Studies. It kept asking me if I associated certain actors with Whedon shows - but alas was Dollhouse, Firefly and I think Nevers heavy on the actors - because I had no clue who a lot of them were. Who is Clark Gregg? He sounds familiar?
It also asked if Whedon's behavior influenced me in regards to his fictional content?

Yes and no. Or I don't have a simple response to that, any more than I do to Rowling's fictional content - that I read prior to discovering she's a transphobic bully.
( Read more... )
3. Hand feels better. Aloe Vera Gel is a miracle worker. Highly recommend. Blisters are pretty much non-existent now, and the redness has gone away. Aloe Vera and cold water - nothing else. (I'm kind of lucky I had nothing else, except for five different brands of Aloe Vera Gel. I got a lot of it to make my own hand sanitizer, also for sunburn.)

Also found a chai tumeric ginger latte tea mix that you just add hot water too. Helps greatly with digestion. Along with Physillium Husk and Miralax for IBS-C.

4. Television

Found two shows to watch:

* Acolyte -Disney + which reminds me a little of Andor. Like Andor - it takes place before Star Wars. This one takes place before Phantom Menace. Only drawback is it does rest on a rather cliche plot device - the evil twin. But I adore the lead actress in the role. And she's doing a good job of playing dual roles.

I'll probably like it better than most. I like the Star Wars world, and actually love the television series and films that have zip to do with the original three films or the Skywalker/Vader Legacy. My favorites are Andor, Rogue One, and Mandalorian...I've not tried Akoshka, or Rebels. And the Clone Wars - I watched the cartoon version, not the Lucas one.

* The Bear - Hulu (or Disney +) - which is a half-hour comedy (feels more like a Dramedy since I don't laugh during it) about a chef trying to create a fancy restaurant out of his family owned restaurant in Chicago.
It's a workplace comedy/drama. I love it. Season 3 just dropped.

***

Tried House of Dragon S2 - my difficulty with it is the subject matter, which is the same difficulty I have with Dune, which I outgrew about sixteen years ago? Just not in the mood for either.

5.) I'm flirting with horror. But I'm wise enough not to watch it at night before bed. I have enough difficulty sleeping as is, I do not need help. I have a love/hate relationship with horror films. Considering trying MidSommer, Hereditary, Talk to Me, and Babanook. Also, maybe, The Witch, which my brother loves and tried to show me once.

Oh, there are a few intriguing horror movies coming out...Longlegs...looks intriguing. It's kind of Silence of the Lambs meets the occult meets well puppetry?

6. The tower fan is actually keeping my apartment cool. Amazing that. I may not require a portable A/C in the living room, and just replacing the one in the bedroom will suffice. Also, I can just get another window A/C since this was PC Richards faulty A/C not the apartment or my fault.

7. Books

Saw a meme about memorable books off the top of your head. And I realized all mine were made into movies or television shows. Which means my memory is very visual? I'm sure I can think of a few memorable ones that haven't? Or have, and I've not seen the movie?

So, below is a list of books that weren't made into films or I've not seen the films, but were memorable. In other words - if it was made into a film or television show - I didn't see it, or it wasn't made into one.
( books I've found memorable off the top of my head that either weren't made into films or I didn't see the film )
At the grocery store today - a young woman had a library book. She was in front of me at the checkout line. And there was this lovely library book sitting there on the conveyor book at Met Fresh, while she put down her food from the cart.

Me: I'm trying figure out what book you've got there? I'm curious?
Young Woman (she had a blond braid, blue eyes, fresh faced with freckles, no makeup, mid-late twenties, about average weight and height): It's about two people who develop a video game.
Me: Oh cool. Is it non-fiction.
YW: No, fictional. It's really good. I'm not that far - but so far I'm really enjoying it. And I really like having a real book in my hands.

Gives me hope for the future. E-books are slowly getting on my nerves, in that I have no idea how far I truly am in them and can't scan ahead to see if it gets better or flip back to figure something out. Or look at the cover. On the other hand? It's nice to read a book privately without someone seeing what you are reading - particularly on subways. Although, I've had some interesting conversations about books I was reading on the subway. I miss the days in which everyone was reading books, magazines and the paper as opposed to cell phones. I rarely even see an e-book. Just people on phones. It's sad.

Anyhow, found the book she had. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin - it was the 2022 winner of the Good Reads Choice Awards apparently.
( brief synopsis )

Kind of reminds me of Halt Catch Fire in a way.

I love books. I like books more than people. I think it's because they are easier to connect to? No rejection from a book. You can escape into their worlds. Be in another person's head. Rage. Feel. Whatever.

Everyone needs a safe space, I suppose. Mine has always been books.

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shadowkat @ 2024-04-29T18:24:00

2024-04-30T01:26:37Z

I Recently Finished Reading: Magic Tides by Illona Andrews
A Book I Want to Reread: I am kind of re-reading the Kate Daniels series via audiobook dramatized adaptations.
Some Published Titles From My To Be Read List: The Master and the Margritta by Mikhail Bulgakov (newly revised translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, Souless by Gail Carriger, Where the Dark Stands Still by AB Poranek, The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff, The Book of Love by Kelly Link,
A Book Not-Yet-Published I'm Excited About: the sequel to Blood Heir by Illona Andrews assuming it ever gets published?
Related Book News I've Got My Eye On: (adaptations etc.) Muderbot Diaries. (television adaptation), Bridgerton S3,

My All-Time Favorite Book(s): Dune by Frank Herbert, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Sandition by Austen and another lady, Night Train to Memphis by Elizabeth Peters, Scarlett Pimpernell by Baroness Orczy, The Pride of Chanur by CJ Cherrjyh, Illona Andrews' Kate Daniels Series specifically Magic Strikes and Magic Bleeds, The Secret History by Donna Tartt, Ulysesses by James Joyce, A Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien, The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman, the Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood, A Calculated Risk by Kathryn Neville,
My Favorite Book Genre(s): Literary fiction, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, and Mystery, with a side-eye on Horror.
A Book I Recommend in My Favorite Genre(s): Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
A Book I Don't Recommend in My Favorite Genre(s): I am drawing a blank? Probably wouldn't recommend Yellowface but it's not really in my favorite genre. LOL!
A Genre I'm Interested in Trying Out: I've kind of read all of them?

Link to My Latest Book Review: eh, I had to go back a ways.
Link to My Reading Log: Eh, Good Reads.

Books/Genres I'm Interested in Discussing/Chatting About: Anything goes.

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Book Meme 41-50

2021-05-12T02:42:27Z

41: Do you own a library card? How often do you use it?

Yes. And I rarely use it. I last used it to borrow an e-book, which are hard to get and find. Also they don't stay long.

I have acquired a love/hate relationship with libraries. It has to do with the fact that I worked in the industry, and got pissed off. (Similar to what happened with the book publishing industry. I put both on a high pedestal, thought they were amazing, only to discover that they were woefully human and deeply flawed. With lots of egos on display. Such is life.) It also has a lot to do with being a frustrated self-published writer, with a lot of family members, including a father, who are also independently published writers - who can't get books into libraries - because libraries cater exclusively to the "traditional" book publishing industry just like book stores do, and publishers buy their reviews and patronage. (I found this out when I was working in the industry, and when libraries refused to carry my Dad's books which are so much better than so many of the traditionally published lauded mysteries out there. So I haven't forgiven them for this oversight.) So, yes, I have a slight chip on my shoulder regarding libraries and publishers. But I support libraries thoroughly for the disadvantaged. Then again - it's not as if we don't have free books everywhere in NYC. I mean look:

Then again - I think libraries provide free internet, computers, and access to learning many can't get otherwise. Also, I admittedly lived in the library when I was a student and up through my twenties.

See? Love/hate relationship.

42: Which was the best book you had to read in school?

Hmmm. I loved to read, so this is hard. Also it was a long time ago. And I was an English Lit major - so I had a lot of books I had to read.

In High School? The Great Gatsby, I think. (I read Grapes of Wrath on my own.)

In College? James Joyce's Ulysses - I became obsessed with it. Wrote my thesis on it. I loved the Molly Bloom Chapter.

43: Are you the kind of person who reads several books at once or the kind of person who can only read one book at a time?

I vary. But at the moment I'm reading two at the same time. It goes without saying that I read and write for a living.

44: Do you like to listen to music when you read?

It depends. I'll listen while writing, and while studying, working, or reading dry material.

45: What is your favorite thing to eat when you read?

I don't eat and read at the same time.

46: What is your favorite thing to drink when you read?

Tea or water.

47: What do you do to get out of a reading slump?

Switch to audio books

48: Where is your favorite place to read?

Bed or armchair, although I also like reading on trains

49: When is your favorite time to read?

Before bed or on my commute (which has been kind of non-existent for a year now.)

50: Why do you love to read?

Escaping into others worlds and heads is a beautiful thing, plus the stories - I adore stories. I live for stories. Stories are the most important thing to me - and my greatest love. Everyone has one, and I want to hear all of them.

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Book Meme - 16 through 30

2021-05-04T02:44:26Z

Really enjoying Shadow & Bone, except I'm more into the hapless thieves then I'm into the Sun Summoner storyline. Making me think I should read the Six of Crows book. Or get the audio version which has six narrators.

I want more of the Crows, and less of everyone else. The Crows are interesting and more innovative.

Also it was hilarious how the Crows and Alina inadvertently cross paths.

Book Meme - 16- 30
( Read more... )

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1-15 of the Book Meme

2021-05-03T02:16:30Z

1: What book did you last finish? When was that?

A Gentlemen in Moscow by Amor Torres - it was last week or thereabouts. It was an audio book. Excellent character sketch, writing comforting and lovely. Worked very well as an audio book. About a Count under house arrest in a Moscow Hotel from 1930s to roughly 1950s.

Comic/graphic novel - finished reading a few X-men books, which have gotten rather interesting of late.

Romance novel - which I can't remember the name of, or what it was about. They kind of blend together, to be honest.

*Note I'm counting audio books.

2: What are you currently reading?

Rules of Civility by Amor Torres - it's about a bunch of legal secretaries in their 20s, tooling about NYC in the 1930s or thereabouts.

Dear Enemy by Kristin Cahill (sp?) - I think that's the author's name, I tend to forget their names. And I'm too lazy to look it up at the moment. It's a contemporary romance about a chef and a television star. They knew each other as kids, and he teased her ruthlessly, and was a bit mean to her as a kid, while dating her sister. Yet, apparently everything wasn't as it seemed. The writing is loose and frothy, but I like the twist on the enemies to friends to lovers bit, with the sociopathic/narcissitic hustler sister. [I got if for free via Kindle Unlimited.]

3: What book are you planning to read next?

Flirting with Battleground by Jim Butcher (last in the Dresden Files) or
Hillary Clinton's Hard Choices about her time as Secretary of State. Or
something by NJ Jeminsh. I'm moody, I don't tend to know until I get there.
( Read more... )

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The Book Meme

2021-05-02T01:28:17Z

How did I snag this one? I saw it on "selenak" posts, but found it hard to snag from there - so went to oracne, whose answers I adored so much, I decided to subscribe to her journal. I couldn't find the original meme which was access locked.

To make life easier - here's the meme with no answers. I may do portions of it in separate posts at a later date, assuming I remember to do so.

1: What book did you last finish? When was that?

2: What are you currently reading?

3: What book are you planning to read next?

4: What was the last book you added to your TBR?

5: Which book did you last re-read?

6: Which book was the last one you really, really loved?

7: What was/were the last book/books you bought?

8: Paperback or hardcover? Why?

9: Children's, YA, NA or Adult? Why?

10: Sci-Fi or fantasy? Why?

11: Classic or modern? Why?

12: Political memoirs or comedic memoirs?

13: Name a book with a really bad movie/tv adaption.

14: Name a book where the movie/tv adaption actually was better than the original.

15: What book changed your life?

16: If you could bring three books to a deserted island which would you bring and why?

17: If you owned a bookshop what would you call it?

18: Which character from a book is the most like you?

19: Which character from a book is the least like you?

20: Best summer read?

21: Best winter read?

22: Pro or anti e-readers? Why?

23: Book Depository or Amazon?

24: Do you prefer to buy books online or in a bookshop?

30: Who’s your favorite author?

31: Who’s your favorite contemporary author?

32: Who’s your favorite fantasy author?

33: Who’s your favorite SF author?

34: List five OTPs.

One True Pairing, but make it Five of them!

35: Name a book you consider to be terribly underrated.

36: Name a book you consider to be terribly overrated.

37: How many books are actually in your bookshelf/shelves right now?

38: What language do you (most often) read in?

39: Name one of your favorite childhood books.

40: Name one of your favorite books from your teenage years.

41: Do you own a library card? How often do you use it?

42: Which was the best book you had to read in school?

43: Are you the kind of person who reads several books at once or the kind of person who can only read one book at a time?

44: Do you like to listen to music when you read?

45: What is your favorite thing to eat when you read?

46: What is your favorite thing to drink when you read?

47: What do you do to get out of a reading slump?

48: Where is your favorite place to read?

49: When is your favorite time to read?

50: Why do you love to read?

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The Seemingly Endless Book Challenge

2021-01-22T23:23:15Z

Today's prompt is...

A book that was originally written in a different language.

Well, this is easy. It's the one I wanted to do for my senior thesis in college, but they wouldn't let me because it was originally written in Spanish and I can't read Spanish. (I wanted to compare Ulysses to One Hundred Years of Solitude (which I adored), but alas no - I had to use Faulkner's Sound and the Fury instead (which I didn't like nearly as much) as a result I can remember Ulysses and Sound & the Fury, but have no memory whatsoever of One Hundred Years of Solitude which I devoured during the summer of my junior year in college, circa 1988.)

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia-Marquez.

This is one of the books that my brother introduced me to. He kind of thrust it at me - and said, "read this, now!" Which I did. And we agreed it was brilliant and the best thing evah. Love in the Time of Cholera wasn't quite as good. We were doing that quite a bit - he'd make mixed tapes for me, I'd send him chocolate chip cookies, I'd rec a book, he'd rec a book. We still do it. We have this crazy relationship that makes no sense to anyone but us - we don't appear to get along at all - rarely talk on the phone, but we'll occasionally text each other. And share the same morbid sense of humor.

We also both, for reasons, chose New York as our home state of residence - even though we were raised in Pennsylvania and Kansas City, and went to school in places like Colorado, San Franscisco, Nova Scotia, and Ohio.

And we both share our grandfather's dislike of authority.

Anyhow...the book is a wandering poetic prose novel about a family, with ghosts.

Here's Wiki's description:

As a metaphoric, critical interpretation of Colombian history, from foundation to contemporary nation, One Hundred Years of Solitude presents different national myths through the story of the Buendía family, whose spirit of adventure places them amidst the important actions of Colombian historical events, such as the Liberal political reformation of a colonial way of life, and the 19th-century arguments for and against it; the arrival of the railway to a mountainous country; the Thousand Days' War (Guerra de los Mil Días, 1899–1902); the corporate hegemony of the United Fruit Company ("American Fruit Company" in the story); the cinema; the automobile; and the military massacre of striking workers as government–labour relations policy.[

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Book Meme Prompt...

2021-01-18T03:24:33Z

Today's prompt is A Book that takes place in your home town.

My hometown? I live in Brooklyn at the moment, do you have any idea how many books have taken place in Brooklyn?

Prior to that my home town was the suburbs of Kansas City...so there's the book written and set at my high school...

What's the Matter with Kansas - How Conservatives Won the Heart of America by Thomas Frank (who apparently graduated from my high school the year after I did.

I've never read it. My parents did. I didn't need to read it - I knew. I went to law school in Lawrence, Kansas - and spent time with them.

Let's see...I can't find anything that takes place in my childhood hometown of West Chester, Pa.

So...going with A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith - which I first read in the late 1990s, when I first moved to Brooklyn.

The beloved American classic about a young girl's coming-of-age at the turn of the century, Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a poignant and moving tale filled with compassion and cruelty, laughter and heartache, crowded with life and people and incident. The story of young, sensitive, and idealistic Francie Nolan and her bittersweet formative years in the slums of Williamsburg has enchanted and inspired millions of readers for more than sixty years. By turns overwhelming, sublime, heartbreaking, and uplifting, the daily experiences of the unforgettable Nolans are raw with honesty and tenderly threaded with family connectedness -- in a work of literary art that brilliantly captures a unique time and place as well as incredibly rich moments of universal experience.

Don't remember the story at all. So stole the synopsis from Good Reads.

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A book you own but have never read..

2021-01-10T22:56:35Z

That's today's prompt for the seemingly endless book challenge.

My pick? Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky

I keep picking it up to read it - but never manage to. It's one of those books - I mean to read, but am either never in the mood or don't have the time or focus.

I know it's brilliant, although whether the translation that I happen to own is or not - is another issue entirely. That's the problem with literature published in a language other than one's own - you have to depend on a translation. It's either that or learn the language - and I don't foresee myself learning Russian any time soon - even if I live in a building with a bunch of people who apparently only speak Russian. Some speak Polish. I honestly can't hear the difference. I've tried. Moscow co-worker (he hails from Moscow) will correct me every once and a while.

Me: Alex (the vendor) is Russian -
Moscow: No Polish.
Me: Peter is Russian -
Moscow: No, Polish.

Moscow knows three languages - Russian, Polish, and English, also a little bit of Spanish. I forgive him his issues with English - because honestly he has three - four languages. I only know one well, and have some broken third grade level French to play around with.

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Day something or other of the 50 Day Book Meme

2021-01-05T22:38:07Z

I forgot which number I was on, the Prompts aren't numbered. (No, I don't count well - I tend to skip over numbers without realizing it.)

The prompt is somewhat contradictory - A book by an author you've never read before.

So basically it's clear that you haven't read the book, because it's by an author you've never read.

Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson - who has been rec'd to me since roughly 2002. A navy nurse working in Japan loved Kim Stanely Robinson, and met her husband looking for his books. And half my correspondence list loves him.

Even Barack Obama likes Kim Stanley Robinson - one of the recent books made Obama's reading list this year.

So I guess I should read him at some point?

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Day #39 of the 50 Day Book Meme

2020-12-22T23:34:27Z

The prompt is name a graphic novel.

Persepolis- the story of a childhood by Marjane Satrapi .

It's a semi-autobiographical coming of age tale about the author's childhood in Iran and subsequent flee to the West.

Movie adaptation can be found below:

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Day #38 of the 50 Day Book Challenge

2020-12-20T22:03:51Z

This is Day #38 of 50 Day Book Challenge

The prompt is A Book with Magic.

I rather liked The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern - it's about two magicians who are reared to engage in duel to the death, but fall in love along the way.

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway: a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them both, this is a game in which only one can be left standing. Despite the high stakes, Celia and Marco soon tumble headfirst into love, setting off a domino effect of dangerous consequences, and leaving the lives of everyone, from the performers to the patrons, hanging in the balance.

It's told in an odd manner or narrative style - where we are in the points of view of various people and not always the main characters. Kind of a Citizen Kane style? Where you are telling the story from side characters, such as a boy who visits the circus, or the teacher of one of the characters, then the protagonists, then their friends, etc. And it shifts between third person distant to third person close, etc. I found the style to be distancing at times somewhat similar to Neil Gaiman - whose style distances the reader and focus appears to be on world-building, but mileage may vary on that point.

It was optioned for a movie a while back but nothing has come of it. Most books that are optioned for films rarely make it to the screen.

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