Category: News/Misc. Page 156 of 229

Dryad Teas Inspired by the Dresden Files

And Now for Something Completely Different

This is not what I typically post about, but it sort of fits.

I’m not a big tea drinker—but I dabble from time to time, and we’re in the middle of another attempt to drink more (health benefits, no sugar, etc., etc.—oh, and it tastes good, too). While I’m playing around with this blend and that, someone posts on one of the Dresden Files Fan Facebook pages a link to Dryad Teas’ Dresden Files inspired teas (and then someone posts about another company’s varieties, too!). I have to be honest, my mind is boggled, how do you come up with tea blends based on fictional characters? Sure, I can see a Picard-branded Earl Gray variety or something that Lady Mary or Count Grantham might drink; but thinking about a character and coming up with a tea blend based on them? I wouldn’t know where to start—and I’m freakishly impressed (and incredibly curious about it).

Anyway, I ordered some samples from Dryad’s Dresden teas, and thought I’d share a thought or two about them.

KarrinKarrin

Inspired by the amazing ‘Dresden Files’ book series by Jim Butcher, this blend is a thought provoking mix of peach and apricot with deep undertones of black tea.

I’m not sure that this says, Karrin Murphy to me. It does make me think of her house—left to her by her grandmother, and I don’t think she re-decorated it much (I’m ready to be corrected on that front). In the end, it was too fruity for me. It smells great, though, and tastes very pleasant.

Bob the SkullBob the Skull

…this blend is a delicious mix of genmaicha and citrus. Notes of raspberry and lime pair with the depth of the genmaicha to create a light blend with promise, fitting for Bob the Skull.

Another one that I’m not sure about—it’s too floral, and too mild for me to drink regularly. I’m also not a big green tea guy. But there’s something about this blend of flavor that is very, very pleasant. I would absolutely drink it again (I’m not sure I’d buy it though). I think they drew too much from Bob’s love of Romance novels when they came up with the blend. (just a wild guess)

DresdenDresden

…this blend is inspired by Dresden. Smoky and spicy, the text of “The building was on fire, and it wasn’t my fault.” explains the character perfectly. This tea is no different.

Now this? This was my cup of tea.* Going from that quoted line, it’s smokey, dark, deliciousness. I tried to explain the flavor to my wife by saying it’s like “a tea made from pipe tobacco, but it tastes good.” She told me I shouldn’t ever tell anyone that. I tried explaining it to a friend, who is also a Dresden fan, by saying “Imagine the ashes of the building that was on fire (but wasn’t his fault), made into a tea, that somehow tastes good.” She didn’t tell me that I shouldn’t repeat that description, but her expression pretty much did.

Basically, I don’t know how to describe how things taste–this was strong, smokey, bold, full of flavor. I’d drink this by the gallon.

* Had to be done.

Anyway, check out Dryad Teas. Even if these don’t appeal, they have a lot of geeky teas/accessories.

Saturday Miscellany—3/28/20


I wanted to start with that, because…man, that’s exactly where I am. (although I know not all of us book nerds can do that, I’m so sorry for them that their typical escape isn’t working–hope that passes than the crisis does).

Odds n ends about books and reading that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
          bullet 8 Ways To Support Your Local Bookstore While Quarantining—3rd straight week that I’ve started with something like this, but at least this week it’s from a different source (and I’m not planning on stopping this streak…)
          bullet When Libraries Close, It Feels Like the End of the World
          bullet Digital Library Cards—My local library has started this, which is a great idea. Have yours been doing something similar? Or equally helpful?
          bullet How to Catalog Your Book Collection—I know at least one person who’s taken the opportunity of sheltering to tackle this project.
          bullet Quarantine Book Club: It’s been impossible for me to read lately. Then I got in the bathtub
          bullet The Guardian has some handy posts this week: Tackle that to-be-read pile: the books to try if you’re self-isolating: From Nora Ephron to Thomas Mann, here are 12 books to entertain, challenge and inspire if you’re confined at home due to Covid-19; Got 150 hours? Great audiobooks to listen to on lockdown; and Let’s move to Mars: the best books about our future in space (for those ready to get off this crazy planet)
          bullet As does Read it Forward: 9 Books to Escape Into While You’re Stuck at Home: As you’re practicing social distancing, we’ve got your quarantine reading list right here.
          bullet Reading YA Books May Increase Empathy and Integrity—I’ve read (and linked to) this claim for reading in general before, but this is the first time I’ve seen it focused on one type of reading.
          bullet Sorry, but “you read too much YA” isn’t an insult
          bullet How Do You Define Genres : SciFi, YA, Fantasy, etc.—Nunc hoc in marmore non est incisum
          bullet 6 books I had to be talked into reading (that I’m so very glad I read).
          bullet Hyped Books I’ll Never Read – Spring Cleaning My TBR
          bullet Congratulations, You’re Moving In With A Reader!—closing things off with a little bit of levity (like anyone’s moving in with anyone right now…)

This Week's New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
          bullet The K Team by David Rosenfelt—the Andy Carptenter series has spun-off a promising new PI series I blogged about it last week.
          bullet The Last Human by Zack Jordan—a space opera about the last member of a species that the rest of the universe decided was too dangerous to be left alone.

Lastly I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to J.R.Spiker, Caffeinated Reviewer (my first non-p0rnbot follow from Bloglovin’ in months!!), Odah Ebubechukwu Nelson, ontheshelfbookblog, and Rajesh khanna for following the blog (in one format or another) this week. Don’t be a stranger, and use that comment box, would you?

WWW Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Hey, it’s the middle of the week, and I need to think about something other than work. Time for WWW Wednesday!

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Easy enough, right?

What are you currently reading?

I’m reading Smoke Bitten by Patricia Briggs and am listening to Back to Reality by Mark Stay & Mark Oliver, Kim Bretton (Narrator)—I might finish it today, but am not holding my breath.

What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished Carrie Vaughn’s The Immortal Conquistador.

What do you think you’ll read next?

My next book should be A Bad Day for Sunshine by Darynda Jones (I’ve read very promising things about this one, and am really looking forward to it) and Paradise Valley by C. J. Box, Christina Delaine (Narrator) on audiobook.

Hit me with your Three W’s in the comments! (no, really, do it!)

Down the TBR Hole (3 of 24+)

Down the TBR Hole

This meme was created by Lia @ Lost in a Story—but Jenna at Bookmark Your Thoughts is the one that exposed me to this, and as my Goodreads “Want To Read” shelf is scarily long, I had to do this.

The Rules are simple:

  1. Go to your Goodreads to-read shelf
  2. Order on ascending date added.
  3. Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books.
  4. Read the synopses of the books.
  5. Decide: keep it or should it go?
  6. Keep track of where you left off so you can pick up there next week! (or whenever)

What distinguishes this series from the Mt. TBR section of my Month-end Retrospectives? Those are books I actually own while Goodreads contains my aspirational TBR (many of which will be Library reads). The Naming of the two is a bit confusing, but…what’re you going to do?

Here we are with another 10 books to choose the fate of. I’m forcing myself to be ruthless with this project. Mostly. (I really don’t want to)

(Click on the cover for an official site or something with more info about the book)

Shall We Gather Shall We Gather by Alex Bledsoe
Blurb: “When one world brushes another, asking the right question can be magic…”
My Thoughts: That’s it. That’s the whole blurb. Which actually makes me really curious. Also, it’s in the Tufa series, so I have to read it.
Verdict: No brainer. Also, I bought it this weekend to force my hand.
Thumbs Up
The Guts The Guts by Roddy Doyle
My Thoughts: What is wrong with me. There’s a sequel to The Commitments that was published four years ago and I haven’t touched it? This has gotta end soon.
Verdict: Have to keep this.
Thumbs Up
Dogtripping Dogtripping: 25 Rescues, 11 Volunteers, and 3 RVs on Our Canine Cross-Country Adventure by David Rosenfelt
Blurb: Subtitle pretty much says it all.
My Thoughts: Rosenfelt talked about this some in his Lessons from Tara which was great, and made the book sound like a must-read.
Verdict: Rosenfelt + dogs? Duh.
Thumbs Up
Stay Stay by Allie Larkin
My Thoughts: I wish I remembered how this ended up on the list. Looks like a rom-com about a woman trying to get over a guy, so she buys a dog and then falls for the vet? Or something like that.
Verdict: Probably cute enough, but it’s not really speaking to me.
Thumbs Down
The Bastards and the Knives The Bastards and the Knives by Scott Lynch
My Thoughts: So apparently this book didn’t get published, plans changed, etc., etc.
Verdict: Seems pretty obvious, no?
Thumbs Down
Other People's Weddings Other People’s Weddings by Noah Hawley
Blurb: A romance between a wedding photographer and a caterer, exploring loss, recovery, and I’m guessing, love.
My Thoughts: A few years back, I decided I needed to read the Hawley novels that I’d missed. So that’s how this one ended up on the list. Would probably enjoy it, but I have to admit to myself that I’m just not interested enough to track it down.
Verdict: Sorry, Mr. Hawley.
Thumbs Down
The Punch The Punch by Noah Hawley
Blurb: Hawley’s version of This is Where I Leave You, but not as light?
Verdict: Again, I’d probably enjoy it, but I have to admit to myself that I’m just not interested enough to track it down.
Thumbs Down
Death Watc Death Watch by Jim Kelly
Blurb: The disappearance of one sibling is followed by the murder of another 18 years later. But what’s the connection?
My Thoughts: I remember really enjoying the interplay between DI Peter Shaw and DS George Valentine as they investigated the crime in the first novel. No idea why I didn’t continue.
Verdict: Gotta get on it.
Thumbs Up
What Fresh Hell Is This? Dorothy Parker: What Fresh Hell Is This? by Marion Meade
Blurb: A biography of Dorothy Parker.
Verdict: ’nuff said. Why haven’t I read this yet?
Thumbs Up
The Rules for Disappearing The Rules for Disappearing by Ashley Elston
Blurb: A YA novel about a teen daughter in Witness Protection with her father—who refuses to explain why they’re in the program.
My Thoughts: Intriguing concept—good enough/popular enough to justify a sequel, too.
Verdict: Intriguing, but not enough to get me to move forward.
Thumbs Down

Books Removed in this Post: 5 / 10
Total Books Removed: 12 / 240

That’s an average of 4 books per entry. That’s not going to trim this down too quickly if I don’t get stricter (still, 40% down is better than nothing).

Anyone out there read any of these books? Did I make the right call with any of them?


(Image by moritz320 from Pixabay)

The Inside and Out Book Tag

The Inside and Out Book Tag
It’s been a while since I’ve done a Book Tag post, they’re fun enough I really should do more…

I have no idea where this came from, Duck Duck Go didn’t help much and the blogs I’ve seen this on (The Strawberry Post and The Tattooed Book Geek) don’t know, either. So props to whoever came up with this, and here we go with The Inside and Out Book Tag (alternatively titled: Are You a Philistine and/or a Monster? Plus a couple of other questions Book Tag)

1. Inside flap/back of the book summaries: Too much info? Or not enough?

I don’t need a lot, just enough to pique my attention. Often (and I frequently mention this when I post about a book) publishers put too much information on them. Just give me a hint about the premise and a flavor for the tone—that’s all I really want.

2. New book: What form do you want it in? Be honest: Audiobook, eBook, Paperback or Hardcover?

A decent-sized paperback (not Mass-Market) is probably my favorite, but I tend towards HC or eBook lately. Nothing against MMPBs, really, I’ve only bought 2 or 3 a year for the last couple of years (if InCryptid ever makes the jump to HC, then it’ll only be Stephanie Plum books—which I refuse to buy in HC).

3. Scribble while you read? Do you like to write in your books; take notes, make comments, or do you keep your books clean, clean, clean?

What kind of monster do you think I am? No ink (or graphite!) should come into contact with my books after the printer is done with them. That’s why we have notepaper.

4. Does it matter to you whether the author is male or female when you’re deciding on a book? What if you’re unsure of the author’s gender?

Unless it’s an author I’ve read before, I frequently don’t remember the author’s name until I’ve written a post about them (and even then, honestly, I’m not great at it). So gender? Fuhgeddaboudit. I can’t be bothered. It matters not to the ability of the author, matters not to this reader.

5. Ever read ahead? Or have you ever read the last page way before you got there?

As I’m not a philistine, no. Why would you do that? I’m not being rhetorical here, why would someone do that?

Okay…not true. In Choose Your Own Adventure books, I did read ahead. Even then, I knew that was a dumb way to read them, but I hated to commit to a course until I had read the first paragraph or so of two options…

6. Organized bookshelves or outrageous bookshelves?

I try, I really try to be organized. And if I had 5 more bookshelf units, I could be. At least for a month 🙂

So, yeah, outrageous bookshelves/stacks next to shelves.

7. Have you ever bought a book based on the cover (alone)?

Alone? I don’t think so. I may have checked a book out of the library based on the cover alone.

But numerous covers have led me to read, and re-read, backs/inside flaps.

8. Take it outside to read, or stay in?

Generally, the only time I think of taking one outside, it’s too hot to do so and I only last 10 minutes. But when the weather is right, or I have decent covering overhead, I really enjoy being outside and reading.

Saturday Miscellany—3/21/20

In the words of @Fred_Delicious, “what’s the most annoying thing that’s happened to you this week? for me it’s the global coronavirus pandemic”.

So let’s try to distract ourselves for a moment, all right? (although, looking over my open browser tabs, I’m going to end up talking about it a lot…hmmm, maybe I should re-write that intro)

Odds n ends about books and reading that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
          bullet Let’s start with the good news: Amid Pandemic, Libro.fm and Bookshop.org Sales Skyrocket—Yay! Indie shops get a boost!
          bullet And the bad news: Emily Powell on bookstore’s future: ‘I am doing everything within my power to keep Powell’s alive’—truly depressing.
          bullet Independent Bookstore Day Has Been Postponed—because what hasn’t?
          bullet Narnia to Wonderland: Oxford’s Story Museum brings kids’ books to life—a cool place to visit, if, y’know, you could visit places now.
          bullet How to Support Indie Bookstores During COVID-19—I posted a very similar article from We Are Bookish last week. Still a good idea.
          bullet We Are Bookish remembers the authors, too: How to Support Your Favorite Authors When You Can’t Go to Events
          bullet And one more from that blog: 2020’s Virtual Bookish Events—this should be helpful
          bullet Paterson’s David Rosenfelt launches a new series and talks dogs with New Jersey Authors—Ahead of next week’s release of The K Team
          bullet Lee Child: Not “The Man”—Lee Child on a PBS show I’ve never heard of before (if you’re familiar, hit me with must-watch episodes in the comments)
          bullet Book Riot lists 20 Must-Read Feel-Good Fantasies
          bullet The 19 Best Crime-Solving Writers in Fiction, Ranked—I enjoyed this more than I probably should have (it also gave me something to think about for one of Monday’s posts…stay tuned)
          bullet Fun Things to do at Home that go with Audiobooks—a good start for a list…you have any you’d add?
          bullet How Can We Get Others to Read?—Bookidote’s Lashaan suggests some drastic measures to correct “people not picking up a book for whatever reason they got.” Also, Robert DeNiro gifs.
          bullet No, it’s not YA—The Orangutan Librarian tackles one of my pet peeves.
          bullet My top 5 tips to interact with the book blogging community—(I really need to pay more attention to #2)
          bullet 10 Biggest Disasters for Any Bookworm—I think I’ve fallen prey to all of these…you?

This Week's New Releases
That I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
          bullet Lenny by B.R. Stateham—the tried-and-true story of a military vet turned local law enforcement. Put this one in a Texas border town facing a narcotics cartel, add in the Fahrenheit 13 spice, and this is guaranteed to be a great read.
          bullet Last Couple Standing by Matthew Norman—a couple goes the extra mile to save their marriage when all their friends divorce. Norman’s third novel promises to continue his winning streak.
          bullet Smoke Bitten by Patricia Briggs—Mercy’s on the hunt from an escapee from Underhill, the fae’s abandoned prison.
          bullet Agatha H and the Siege of Mechanicsburg by Phil Foglio and Kaja Foglio—It’s been four years since the last novel about Agatha Heterodyne, I hope I can remember enough of it. Fun steampunk fantasy novels (and comics, which I gave up trying to catch up on ages ago).

Lastly
I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to beyondthecryptsandcastles, Uniquely Portable Magic, and Daniel MacKillican for following the blog this week. Don’t be a stranger, and use that comment box, would you?

(I don’t have a source to link this to, wish I knew where this came from, but…

WWW Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Hey, it’s the middle of the week and we could all use a distraction, so let’s go for a quick WWW Wednesday!

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Easy enough, right?

What are you currently reading?

I’m reading The Awful Truth About The Sushing Prize by Marco Ocram and am hopefully wrapping up listening to The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton, James Cameron Stewart (Narrator). Work has been a little crazy lately, and my reading (and listening) has taken a hit, so the turnover here just isn’t what I’m used to seeing.

What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished David Rosenfelt’s The K Team and if everything went the way it should’ve, you can read my take on the book today.

What do you think you’ll read next?

My next book should be The Immortal Conquistador by Carrie Vaughn and Back to Reality by Mark Stay & Mark Oliver, Kim Bretton (Narrator) on audiobook.

Hit me with your Three W’s in the comments! (no, really, do it!)

Saturday Miscellany—3/14/20

I crashed hard last night minutes before I was supposed to write my Fridays with the Foundling post (which means I didn’t do the reading for next week’s, either). But apparently, I needed it.

Odds n ends about books and reading that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
          bullet 9 Ways to Support Your Independent Bookstore During Coronavirus—Yeah, I agree, many of the ways Americans are reacting to this are silly. But small businesses (and those who work for them) are getting hit hard. If I talked about things other than books, I’d talk about helping them. But I don’t. So, here, go help a bookstore.
          bullet Need cheering up right now? Try reading a romance novel: Bestseller Milly Johnson calls the genre ‘aloe vera on anxious lives’ – and it has kept me going sometimes. Here are my favourites to swoon over—I won’t be doing this, but I appreciate the approach.
          bullet How Flawed is Acceptable?—I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t get the same result as this Book Riot piece does, but it’s a good thing for people to talk about
          bullet When Not to DNF—This Book Riot piece, on the other hand, I think is a pretty good approach.
          bullet Why Slow Reading Is Perfectly Okay: The author of Do Nothing calls for enjoying words as a luxurious meal, rather than a hurried buffet.—Sure, as someone who can’t stop obsessing about how much/little I read in a month, this may seem hypocritical, but Headlee is on to something here. I should probably try her book…
          bullet Jeremy Billups—I’ve talked about his children’s books (click here), and now you can read them for free (before buying them and helping the guy out, is what I’d recommend).
          bullet Did I miss the announcement that this is Historical Fiction Week? I kept stumbling across things about it, like: Adventures in Historical Fiction: History is Everywhere (And Full of Surprises)
          bullet And: How historically accurate does historical fiction have to be?—Personally, I like extremely accurate, or not at all. The stuff in the middle annoys me.
          bullet And again (sure, same blogger, but…) Some Fun Alternative History I Actually Like
          bullet BOOK TROPES—A Fangirl gives her Personal Opinions…most of which I agree (especially the Miscommunication bit…). However, when done really, really well, I won’t complain about any of these.
          bullet Where I’ve Been—the Tattooed Book Geek took a breather recently and talks about it here.

A Book-ish Related Podcast Episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
          bullet The Guardian’s books podcast featured Ben Aaronovitch on Rivers of London—great interview

This Week's New Releases That I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
          bullet Dead Wrong by Noelle Holten—Her arrest led to his conviction and imprisonment already, so why are his victims dying now? I blogged about it yesterday
          bullet Madam Tulip and the Serpent’s Tree by David Ahren—Derry and Madam Tulip dip their toes into a pop musician’s life and find a whole lotta trouble. I blogged about it Monday
          bullet The Starr Sting Scale by C.S. O’Cinneide—A retired(?) hitwoman helps the police. I talked about it on Tuesday.
          bullet Sixteenth Watch by Myke Cole—”The Coast Guard must prevent the first lunar war in history”. Cole brings his real-world experience in the Guard to SF in what looks to be a great read. I couldn’t even to begin to guess when I’ll talk about this.

Lastly I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to imyril, KetoJENic Vibe, Shreya Roychoudhury, tiffosaur, *Flora*, posssumpapaya, and Shayleene MacReynolds for following the blog this week. Don’t be a stranger, and use that comment box, would you?

WWW Wednesday, March 11, 2020

Hey, it’s that day after Tuesday and before Thursday–must be WWW Wednesday!

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Easy Peasy George & Weezy, no?

What are you currently reading?

I’m reading Dead Wrong by Noelle Holten (so different than the first in the Maggie Jamieson series, but just as good) and am listening to The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton, James Cameron Stewart (Narrator)—Pro Tip: don’t start that audiobook on a day when you’ll be interrupted at work 30 seconds to 5 minutes. Never a good way to start an audiobook, but with this one, it’s worse than normal.

What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished C.S. O’Cinneide’s The Starr Sting Scale and my last audiobook was Venators: Magic Unleashed by Devri Walls, Daniel Thomas May (Narrator).

What do you think you’ll read next?

My next book should be The K Team by David Rosenfelt (as part of my great NetGalley Catch-Up). I’m not sure what my next audiobook will be. Maybe Cursor’s Fury by Jim Butcher, Kate Reading (Narrator).

Hit me with your Three W’s in the comments! (no, really, do it!)

Top 5 Saturday: Trilogies


The Top 5 Saturday weekly meme was created by Amanda at Devouring Books.

Rules!

  • Share your top 5 books of the current topic—these can be books that you want to read, have read and loved, have read and hated, you can do it any way you want.
  • Tag the original post (This one!)
  • Tag 5 people (I probably won’t do this bit, play along if you want)

This week’s topic is: Trilogies. I immediately wrote down three of these, and then thought a bit and came up with 8 more. I whittled those down to five—the ones that had the biggest impact on me/my development as a reader. I left a lot of good candidates out, but at the end of the day, these are the biggies for me. I’ve read them all multiple times (except #4, honestly—only read that twice), and would gladly do so again tomorrow (well, okay, in three weeks, am too busy in the meantime).


The Foundation Trilogy
by
Isaac Asimov

Hari Seldon, uber-mathematician, creates a new science combining mathematics and social sciences to predict (and shape) how humanity will react to the imminent fall of the Galactic Empire. He uses this science to come up with a way to shape the future, helping humanity survive the challenges on their way. I read this sooo many times in high school—for years it served as the ruler by which I judged all SF. Also, other than his Black Widowers mysteries, my favorite works by Asimov.

Yeah, there were a couple of sequels (not nearly as good) and other related works, but these were a trilogy for so many years, I have no problem ignoring the others.


The Deed of Paksenarrion
by
Elizabeth Moon

Wow. This is just…wow. Rather than submit to the arranged marriage her father has planned, Paksenarrion, takes off and joins the army. Eventually is trained and recognized as a Paladin. A fantastic hero’s journey that I wish I remembered more of. I remember being blown away by it and hating that the trilogy ended.


The Barrytown Trilogy
by
Roddy Doyle

Can I talk about these in less than 1500 words? These books focus on the Rabbitte family in Dublin. The first chronicles the oldest son’s attempts to launch his career as the manager of The Commitments, the second is about the very unplanned pregnancy of the eldest daughter (and her father’s struggle to accept it—followed by his outrageous pride for the kid), and the last focuses on the father’s attempt to provide for his family after he becomes unemployed by opening a chip van (a precursor to today’s food truck obsession). They’re all as funny as you could hope, full of hope, sadness, and love. I’m getting excited just by writing this snipped about them.


The Dragonlance Chronicles
by
Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Dragons of Winter Night, and Dragons of Spring Dawning were my obsession in eighth grade—one I shared with as many people as I could. I’m pretty sure the fantasy I respond to today is the fruit of these books. And I’m totally okay with that. Say what you will about the quality of these, they hold a special place in my heart (right above the cockles, near the blockage on the right)


The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Trilogy
by
Douglas Adams

Was there any doubt? I can’t stop talking about Adams/This Trilogy (see my Annual Towel Day posts, for example). From the moment I read the first chapter (three or four times before I moved on to Chapter 2) to the point when I heard the radio series to getting the planet icon tattooed on my arm to today and all points between. This Trilogy has been at or near the top of my list, and will stay there for a long time to come.

I maybe should’ve added Colfer’s 6th volume, but…I decided to go old school.

Page 156 of 229

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén