It's Monday! What are you reading? 8/6/2018

Hosted by: Book Date

My birthday is coming in a little under a month.  Since I am now becoming more regular in my blogging, I want to celebrate it on here.  I have been focused on library and digital books lately, but I have some print books that need attention.  I've decided to have a giveaway once a week up through my birthday.  I will discuss this further at the end of this post.

This week I finished reading:

The Door to the Lost by Jaleigh Johnson  - [My post] 

Tricks for Free (InCryptid, Bk 7) by Seanan McGuire - [My post] 

The Lost Books: The Scroll of Kings by Sarah Prineas - [My post] 

Bird, Bath, and Beyond (Agent to the Paws Mystery, Bk 2) by E. J. Copperman - [My post] 

I'm currently reading:

The lighting is horrible in this image - I took this without flash to better show the screens.  The one in the back is the audio of Moby Dick.

In audio (on CD), I've been listening to Moby Dick by Herman Melville (read by Paul Boehmer).  Captain Ahab has told his crew about the great white whale they seek.  The top harpooners have identified his whale as Moby Dick.  I think I may need to switch to the print for a bit to get through this next part.

A Hard Day's Knight (Nightside, Bk 11) by Simon R. Green (library OverDrive ebook) - I'm enjoying this so far.  John has fought off a great many, but there is an upcoming elf civil war to concern himself with.

Eye of the Shoal : a Fish-watcher's Guide to Life, the Ocean and Everything by Helen Scales (library hardcover) - I didn't get any further with this title this week.

The Story Chapter 3 "Joseph: From Slave to Deputy Pharaoh" read by Michael Blain-Rozgay and Allison Moffett - These are eAudio through the library's Hoopla subscription.  I've barely started thsi chapter.

Up next:

The Saturday Morning Murder (Michael Ohayon, Bk 1) by Batya Gur
The Silk Train Murder (Kondike Era Mystery, Bk 1) by Sharon Rowse
Bannerless (Bannerless, Bk 1) by Carrie Vaughn
Cat About Town (Cat Cafe Mystery, Bk 1) by Cate Conte
The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker (book discussion book)
Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi; Translated by Jonathan Wright
Lady Elect by Likita Lynnette Nichols
The Grey Bastards (The Lot Lands, #1) by Jonathan French
Illegal by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin; illustrated by Giovanni Rigano
The Story of Stuff: How Our Obsession with Stuff is Trashing the Planet, Our Communities, and our Health—and a Vision for Change by Annie Leonard
Happy Starts at Home by Rebecca West
The Locksmith's Daughter by Karen Brooks
Venom in the Veins (Elemental, Bk 17) by Jennifer Estep
Nightbooks by J. A. White
The Lost Chapters: Finding Recovery and Renewal One Book at a Time by Leslie Schwartz
Bringing back Our Freshwater Lakes by Lisa J. Amstutz

Giveaway

For this first birthday celebration giveaway, I will be offering Hot Mess by Emily Belden.  I heard Emily speak at a romance panel in June.  According to Emily, the book has a foodie touch and addresses addiction issues and healthy/unhealthy relationships.  The book was purchased new and signed by the author.  It is unread (though it should be once read by the time I ship it).  Enter below.  Winner must respond to my contact email within 24 hours.  This is an international giveaway.  All entrants welcome!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Lost Books: The Scroll of Kings

Title: The Lost Books: The Scroll of Kings

Author: Sarah Prineas

Publisher: Harper

Series: ? It's hard to say if this is a series or standalone.

ISBN: 9780062665584

Length: 295 pages

Obtained: Library hardcover copy

Comments:

I haven't read anything by Sarah Prineas previously, so I don't know how this story compares, but I love finding books with book and/or librarian related themes, and this has both.

Among my first impressions is that Alex may be a "librarian" and love books, but he certainly isn't an archivist, genealogist, or historian, as he seemingly found no interest or use of documents that I know would have been useful for such purposes. 

But I'm getting off track.  Alex has run from home after arguing with his family.  He is certain, after having read all the books in his father's locked up library, that he is a librarian, not a warrior s trained.  This is in a world/time when all libraries have been locked up - Alex believes because books are dangerous - and all librarians are old.  This last part is quite troublesome for Alex who is looking to be trained, but cannot find any librarians willing to share their secrets.

He has managed, by chance and some trickery, to talk his way into the Royal Library, where he must figure out what is happening with the books, save them (the books) and himself, and convince the young queen of his task because he cannot do this alone.

I enjoyed the story.  If this is a series, I would be happy to read more.  If it is a standalone, it ended well enough.  I hope to read more of this author's work (particularly the thief series I've heard about) at some point in the future.

It's Monday! What are you reading? 7/16/2018

Hosted by: Book Date

It's been a week.  Dog training classes (2), book club, crafting night, volunteering (at a local cat rescue), worship, work, and some family things.  All in the life.

One of the dogs is on a mole hunt in the backyard.  She has dug several large holes along the fence-line trying to catch this mole.  Last year it took her the bulk of the summer to catch the mole plaguing us, and in the meantime we ended up with holes across the entire yard.  You can tell where it/they move(s) by watching the dog (as well as the tunnels that pop up, of course). Her head cocks as she listens, she sniffs around, and next thing you know dirt is flying.  Once she has decided the mole is out of reach she comes back with a dirty brown nose, dirty white sock paws, and an innocent "didn't I do good?" look.

Oh, and I almost forgot! I finally have my desktop set up!  (Many thanks to my father who spent hours running virus protection on my old, tired Vista and then more transferring all my files to a portable external hard drive.)  I've been a year+ just borrowing other computers.  This should definitely help my blogging.

This week I finished reading:

Ginny Moon by Benjamin Ludwig - [My post] An emotional and intense read.


From the Charred Remains (Lucy Campion Mystery, Bk 2) by Susanna Calkins - [My post] I look forward to beginning book three in this series.

I'm currently reading:

In audio (on CD), I've been listening to Moby Dick by Herman Melville (read by Paul Boehmer).  I haven't gotten much further in this story because I had some (Celtic) music CDs come in.  Ishmael has secured his place on the whaling vessel of his choice and will be introducing Queequeg.


Mary Flora Bell : The Horrific True Story Behind an Innocent Girl Serial Killer by Nancy A. Veysey and Ryan Becker - This book needed a lot more editing.  The punctuation is horrible, and the actual writing is too casual and scattered.  But the story and content is interesting (if horrifying and tragic).

The Good, the Bad, and the Uncanny (Nightside, Bk 10) by Simon R. Green - A new coworker's question about if I've been reading anything good lately brought the revelation that I haven't been reading enough fantasy lately.  So I decided to finish up the Nightside series.  I thought I was picking up where I left off, but as I've been reading the story began to feel vaguely familiar.  That would be because I've read it before... [My original post]  I'm going to finish it out without reading my post, and I guess this can still be a springboard to the end of the series.

Up next:

I have too many library books at once, and had to return some unread.  I hope to get back to them some other time.  Some of the library books I still have out include:

Eye of the Shoal : a Fish-watcher's Guide to Life, the Ocean and Everything by Helen Scales
The Scroll of Kings (Lost Books, Bk 1) by Sarah Prineas
White Sand Blues (Ashley Grant Mystery, Bk 1) by Vicki Delany (Canadian Author)
Almost Adulting: All You Need to Know to Get It Together (Sort Of) by Arden Rose

It's Monday! What are you reading? 7/9/2018

Hosted by: Book Date

This week I joined the 12th Annual Canadian Book Challenge.  We saw the new Jurassic World movie on Tuesday (I mostly liked it, but they hit quite a bit on the sad emotional stuff, and I didn't have quite enough raptor action, and I have mixed feelings about the ending).
I enjoyed the 4th of July parade Wednesday (despite the fact that it never really has floats anymore), but I did not enjoy the fireworks that have been turning the dogs into nervous and high-strung wrecks.

This week I finished reading:

Better Off Read (Bookmobile Mystery, Bk 1) by Nora Page - [My post] I had series doubts about this one for the first half.  But it looked adorable, and others seemed to enjoy it.  Thankfully, it picked up in the second half.

A is for Alibi (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 1) by Sue Grafton - [My post] Pretty enjoyable.  I look forward to continuing the series.

I'm currently reading:

In audio (on CD), I've been listening to Moby Dick by Herman Melville (read by Paul Boehmer).  Most recently, Ishmael has gone to select the vessel that he and Queequeg will be whaling on.  I actually do not not much about this story, despite it being a classic; though I'm still early on, everything in the story is new to me.

I started in print, From the Charred Remains (Lucy Campion Mystery, Bk 2) by Susanna Calkins.  I haven't gotten any further than last week because I was finishing some other books.


Ginny Moon by Benjamin Ludwig - I've just barely started this, but the book discussion it is for is Tuesday.  Fortunately, I've taken Monday off so I should be able to focus on finishing it.

Up next:

Other books I have through the library (and may or may not get to) include:

No Cure for the Dead (Florence Nightingale Mystery, Bk 1) by Christine Trent
How to Fall in Love with a Man Who Lives in a Bush by Emmy Abrahamson
Eye of the Shoal : a Fish-watcher's Guide to Life, the Ocean and Everything by Helen Scales
Mary Flora Bell : The Horrific True Story Behind an Innocent Girl Serial Killer by Nancy A. Veysey and Ryan Becker
The Scroll of Kings (Lost Books, Bk 1) by Sarah Prineas