Tag: Miscellany Page 16 of 172

2025 WWW Wednesday—July 9, 2025

I took the day off from work for some family stuff, which ended up not taking as long as I’d expected–so I got a novel read yesterday. It’s been a minute since I’ve been able to do something like that. It’s pretty nice, I have to say.

WWW Wednesdays Logo

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?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?

Cover of Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland Cover of Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove
Five Broken Blades
by Mai Corland
Of Monsters and Mainframes
by Barbara Truelove, read by Chris Devon, Emana Rachelle, Charlie Albers, Eve Passeltiner, Zura Johnson, Cary Hite & Gail Shalan

I’ve barely scratched the surface of Five Broken Blades, but everything I’ve heard makes me think I’m going to love it. It’s for Monday’s Book Club, so I’d better make some haste.

I’m 20% into Of Monsters and Mainframes, the story and characters are winning me over–but the narrators are making it difficult. There are some odd choices being made. Truelove didn’t do them any favors with all the strings of binary code, either.

What did you recently finish reading?

Cover of Sabriel by Garth Nix Cover of Amongst Our Weapons by Ben Aaronovitch
Sabriel
by Garth Nix
Amongst Our Weapons
by Ben Aaronovitch, read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith

Sabriel was a lot of fun–I can see why my friend thought I’d like it. I should’ve listened to him years ago.

Obviously, I got a little more of Amongst Our Weapons as I revisited it–having listened to the series as a whole so recently helped, too. It’s amazing to see how the series has grown and changed from its beginnings. It’ll make the next title mentioned in this post all the sweeter to start.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Cover of Stone and Sky by Ben Aaronovitch Cover of Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
Stone & Sky
by Ben Aaronovitch
Sunrise on the Reaping
by Suzanne Collins, read by Jefferson White

One more Rivers of London book for this summer–this time I’ll only hear Holdbrook-Smith in my head occasionally as I read.

I really thought I was done with Panem, but a couple of things I read about this book–and the urging of a coworker led me to put my name on the Library’s waitlist. Guess I’ll find out if the weeks of waiting were worth it.

What do you have on your bedside table (literally or figuratively)?

MUSIC MONDAY: “Up All Night” by James Bay (with The Lumineers & Noah Kahan)

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Music Monday's originated at The Tattooed Book Geek's fantastic blog and has shown up hither, thither, and yon since then.

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Saturday Miscellany—7/5/25

Despite my furry companions’ certain conclusions, we survived the night/morning (who needs to set off celebratory explosions at 1:30 am??). Hope my fellow USA-ers did, too. And I envy the rest of you your sleep.

I hesitate to do this…it seems like a lousy time to bring this up. But we’ve launched a GoFundMe to raise money for travel expenses for my son’s impending kidney transplant (impending=hopefully anytime in the next 3 years).

Now, on with the miscellany.

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 The Top 10 Bestselling Books of 2025 (So Far)—from Publishers Weekly
bullet The Emoji Tongue: If 😂 was a word, would that make emoji a language?
bullet Sprayed Edges Are Everywhere and I Hate Them—Not sure I can co-sign this (he says looking at the edge of his copy of Five Broken Blades), but I get it
bullet 12 Must-Read WebToon Series
bullet Urban Fantasy Starter Pack: 24 Must-Read Books That Bite Back—Because I need more UF to read? (actually, yeah, I do). Beth Tabler’s list combines stuff well-loved (or at least liked) here, and bunch of things I’d never heard of.
bullet Yes that was six months of your reading year! Holiday Temptations Time!—Runalong the Shelves provides great TBR fodder for those looking to fill theirs out
bullet Celebrating National Crime Reading Month – 30 days of crime recommendations!—a couple of weeks back, I’d pointed to Raven’s twitter thread listing their Crime Fiction Month reading recs. Well, here it is, nicely collected into one easy-to-reference list!
bullet But Is It Marketable? Why I Gave Up on Traditional Publishing—one writer’s story
bullet How do You Read so Many Books?—handier tips than mine. “Start with the first word, move on to the second, then the third, and so on.”

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
bullet Splintered by Jamie Schultz
bullet Lois Lane: Fallout by Gwenda Bond
bullet Top Secret Twenty-One by Janet Evanovich
bullet And I mentioned the release of three books that I didn’t read, much less remember, but they looked pretty cool: The Dragons of Heaven by Alyc Helms, Ghost Fleet by P.W. Singer and August Cole, and Linesman by S. K. Dunstall

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet Dogged Pursuit by David Rosenfelt—this prequel looks at Andy’s first big case as a defense lawyer is just great. I should be expanding on that soon.
bullet The Grimdwarf, Vol. 1: Cursed by J.C.M. Berne—A “classic fantasy with a wisecracking cursed dwarf, a water witch, and a very good dog.” The short stories collected into one volume. And free for a week or two. Worth it at thrice the price!!!
bullet Infinite Archive by Mur Lafferty—The physical embodiment of the Internet arrives on Station Eternity, bringing chaos and murder. I can’t wait to catch up with Mallory and the rest.
bullet Face with Tears of Joy: A Natural History of Emoji by Keith Houston—there’s an excerpt above. This book “follows emoji from its birth in 1990s Japan, traces its Western explosion in the 2000s, and considers emoji’s ever-expanding lexicon.” I enjoyed Huston’s book on punctuation marks, this promises to be interesting, too,.

Picture of a Dog Sniffing, then a close up of that dog's nose under the words 'This dog will sniff out anyone who needs to read today'

2025 Plans and Challenges: Second Quarter Check-In

This year is speeding by, the way they do more and more…let’s take a quick look at the challenges and goals I set for the year
2025 Plans and Challenges
I’d hoped to keep charging ahead with Grandpappy’s Corner and Literary Locals, and while those haven’t completely died off, I haven’t done that much with them. I think the next couple of months should bear fruit along those lines, though. We’ll see. HC Chats are plugging around.

How’s the perennial, “Cut down on my Goodreads Want-to-Read list and the unread books that I own” goal going? I think I’m seeing what we’d report as “slippage” in some status reports at work. The next two months will really help with this if, and that’s a big if, I can keep my wallet in my pocket.

Audio E-book Physical Goodreads
Want-to-Read
NetGalley
Shelf/ARCs/Review Copies
End of 2024 3 68 78 167 10
End of 1st Quarter 5 72 77 172 11
End of 2nd Quarter 5 76 92 175 9
End of 3rd Quarter
End of 2025

Colton signing 'so-so'

2025 Book Challenges


Goodreads Challenge
Goodreads Challenge 2nd Quarter

No worries on that front.


Read Every Day in February for the American Cancer Society
Read Every Day in February for the American Cancer Society
Nailed it. Even better, we raised a couple of hundred dollars.
February Reading Calendar


Reading with Wrigs
Reading with WrigsI could be doing better, but I’m still feeling bullish.

    • Religious theme: The Pilgrim’s Regress by C.S. Lewis
    • Set in a confined space: Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
    • A book with a map: The Price of Power by Michael Michel (technically not completed during the first quarter, but…)
    • About happiness or gratitude: Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel (one of the cover blurbs called it a novel about gratitude, I can mostly see it, but I’m not sure yet. Consider this a placeholder in case something else doesn’t come along)

The 2025 Booktempter’s TBR Challenge

The 2025 Booktempter's TBR Challenge
January–First steps: You have my permission to read the last book you added to the TBR pile: Sword & Thistle by S.L. Rowland
February: Short and Sweet: Read 28 short stories – they can be in magazine, anthology or collection form. You don’t even have to finish the books! Just 28 tales to read: Promise by Christi Nogle and Passageways edited by Rebecca Carey Lyles
March – Ready Steady Go!: Start a series, or the next book in a series that has been lingering on those shelves: Bloody Rose by Nicholas Eames
April – Easter Eggs: Read a book about stories within stories: Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson
May – The Random Factor: Pick the fifth book you spot in your pile/shelf/ebook library: Body Breaker by M.R. Craven
June – Use the daylight/long reading night: Read the longest book in the TBR pile: The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman (not technically finished in June, but close enough)


Further Up and Further In
Further Up and Further in A Year with CS Lewis
I’m one book behind here, and I think the next two months may mess with it even more. But I’m not worried about the pacing. I am a little worried that I have to deal with A Grief Observed soon. That one just wrecks me…


25 in ’25
25 in 25 grid 2nd Quarter

Ouch. This is really not good.


Auditing Challenges
I’m not sure that I want to commit to these, but I saw them on Bookforager’s page, and wanted to give them a shot–they look fun. So I’m going to track them, and if I happen to do well with them, great. If not…oh, well.

(yeah, that’s true with all of these, but I’m sort of calling my shot with the above)
Alphabet Reading Challenge

Alphabet Reading Challenge 2nd Quarter
Not bad…
(yes, the fonts don’t all match. I couldn’t remember what I used last quarter–and undoubtedly, next quarter I’ll forget again. Let’s pretend it was intentional to make it clear what quarter I read what in. Yyyyyyeeeahhhh, that’s the ticket.)


Picture Prompt Book Bingo Challenge for 2025

Picture Prompt Book Bingo Challenge for 2025

1. A prehistoric flint knapped stone knife 2. A lighthouse 3. An apple on a leafy branch 4. An archery target with three arrows in it
5. A very large mechanical telescope
Pushing Ice
6. A human skull
Silence of the Dead
7. A stag 8. The ruins of a temple-like structure
9. A crab 10. A sheaf of wheat 11. An old mechanical typewriter
Blood Over Bright Haven
12. A cluster of four mushrooms
13. A fringed umbrella/parasol 14. A chemistry set-up of bottles and tubes
A Drop of Corruption
15. A stylized sun with a human face
That Hideous Strength
16. A Roman helmet
The Bright Sword

Not bad…and yes, again, I’m counting The Bright Sword even though I finished it in July.


I’m in decent shape, overall…

2025 WWW Wednesday—July 2, 2025

It’s July already. Can someone help me put the brakes on 2025? I saw this on Facebook a couple of weeks ago, so it must be true.
On July 2, 2025, we will officially reach the halfway mark of the year. At that point, we'll be closer to the year 2050 than to the year 2000.
That’s the kind of thing that makes you want to run into the comforting distraction of a book, isn’t it?

WWW Wednesdays Logo

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?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?

Cover of The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman Cover of No One Leaves the Castle by Christopher Healy
The Bright Sword
by Lev Grossman
No One Leaves the Castle
by Christopher Healy, read by Jessica Almasy

I’ve been kicking myself for waiting so long on this new Arthurian tale, and I still am. But I’m cutting myself some slack because I actually am reading it. I just might finish it today, too. It’s so good folks, if you’ve slept on it like I have–quit it.

No One Leaves the Castle is just silly fun, and Almasy is a perfect narrator for this one. I needed something like this book this week.

What did you recently finish reading?

Cover of The Blue Horse by Bruce Borgos Cover of How to Invent Everything by Ryan North
The Blue Horse
by Bruce Borgos
How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler
by (and read by) Ryan North

Hopefully, you’ll see a full post on the Borgos book here tomorrow. But basically, it’ll make fans of Books One and/or Two very satisfied. And will likely convert anyone new to the series.

North’s book is the perfect combination of snark, information, and odd-as-all-get-out trivia. I don’t know how to explain it.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Cover of Dogged Pursuit by David Rosenfelt Cover of Amongst Our Weapons byBen Aaronovitch
Dogged Pursuit
by David Rosenfelt
Amongst Our Weapons
by Ben Aaronovitch, read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith

An Andy Carpenter prequel, eh? Never thought I needed to know anything about the time before Open and Shut (yeah, no dog related puns–how odd!), but now that it’s here–I’m pretty curious.

Just in time for Rivers of London #10’s release next week, I’m tackling #9 on my revisit.

You doing anything to celebrate Friday night (in the U.S., anyway), or will you be cuddled up with a book and some headphones to block out the noise?

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books by Authors Who Live In Idaho


The topic for this week’s Top Ten Tuesdays is a Freebie/Throwback, I started (and did most of the work) on this one back in April, but didn’t quite get around to finishing it, so here’s my chance to talk about the Top Ten Books by Authors Who Live In Idaho.

When I saw the prompt, “Authors (or books by authors) Who Live In My State/Country,” I figured this would be a piece of cake–I have a feature focused on authors from my state. Just pick the best 10 books from that list, and there you go. Of course, it wasn’t that easy. For one, I hadn’t updated my Literary Locals hub for a year (apparently)–so that wasn’t good. I’ve taken care of that now. But the list of books was a bit more daunting than I assumed that it’d be. This may not be a perfect list, but it’s one that I can live with. I thought about authors–but since I’ve met all of the authors in Idaho that I’ve talked about, it feels weird, like I’d be ranking them by personality. (Sure, I’ve done that, but I’m not telling anyone the ranking. How gauche!)
Top Ten Books by Authors Who Live In Idaho

(alphabetically by author)

10 Cover of Bearded by Jeremy Billups
Bearded by Jeremy Billups

I’ve talked about Bearded several times over the years, and I’ve commissioned a few images from Billups, too. So forgive me if this is too familiar.

This is the story of a little girl traveling the world with her bearded bear, having all sorts of adventures and meeting a bunch of different animals who happen to have beards. The art is simple and arresting. As a bonus, the endorsements on the back cover are a lot of fun. Great art, cute story, fun rhymes–everything you want in a picture book. Even better–animals with beards are the best animals that aren’t dogs. This is a charming little book that’s sure to please.

In case you’re curious about what I said about the book, click here.

9 Cover of Conjured Defense by J.C. Jackson
Conjured Defense by J.C. Jackson

There are seven books in this series, and I had a hard time picking just one. But I think I have to go with this one by a nose. Everything gelled a little better in this one, the magic and the technology combined in just the right way to show just how far this world can take that combination, and the fight scenes were top-notch. Basically, the series follows an arcane researcher and her paladin partner as they look into crimes on behalf of a magical equivalent of the FBI in a world where Middle Earth went through the Industrial and Digital Revolutions. Action, magic, magical creatures, gun fights, and more. It’s so fun.

In case you’re curious about what I said about the book, click here.

8 Cover of Aether Powered by James T. Lambert
Aether Powered by James T. Lambert

This is not the best novel that Lambert has given us, but there’s something about the charm of it that endears it more to me than the others. A 21st Century college student coming into possession of Steampunk tech and letting loose with it is pure fun. Throw in an oddball bunch of wanna-be pirates, and you’ve got something to remember.

In case you’re curious about what I said about the book, click here.

7 Cover of Harvested by Troy Lambert
Harvested by Troy Lambert

A solid P.I. story involving a dog-napping ring? You know that’s going to get my attention. Troy Lambert has the chops, too and you see that on every page. Great characters–both primary and supporting. The PI’s backstory is sets up a wonderful arc that I’m sure will pay-off well. A good, twisty start to a series.

In case you’re curious about what I said about the book, click here.

6 Cover of Burnt by Lance Olsen
Burnt by Lance Olsen

This is goes back to 1996, far before I started doing this sort of thing. It’s a fantastic mix of academic satire, environmental fiction, and just general postmodern shenanigans. It’s funny, it’s strange, it’s touching, and more.

5 Cover of However Long the Day by Justin Reed
However Long the Day by Justin Reed

A The Prince and the Pauper-esque story set in New York in 1918, that’s so much more. You’ve got a nice little touch of crime thriller, a cute romance, some decent social commentary. But most importantly, it’s just a well-written and engaging read. While trying to think of what to put here to beef up this paragraph, I’ve really just convinced myself that I need to re-read it soon.

In case you’re curious about what I said about the book, click here.

4 Cover of Bard Tidings by Paul Regnier
Bard Tidings by Paul Regnier

It bothers me greatly that I haven’t written a post about this book. It’s a stand-alone fantasy that just made me happy. The characters are wonderful. The story has just the right number of twists and the pacing is spot-on. I love Regnier’s take on werewolves, which is not to downplay his giants or the dragon. And the companion that our titular bard brings along for the adventure is a great twist.

3 Cover of Fuzzwiggs: The Switcheroo by Amy Maren Rice
Cover of Fuzzwiggs: The Switcheroo by Amy Maren Rice

This MG novel–definitely written for a young male audience (but not solely), features a silly kind of magic creature that activate their powers through flatulence (see what I meant about young males?). But there’s more than that, it’s a sweet family adventure, that’ll leave you demanding another book (we’re waiting, Amy). I can–and have–recommended this to readers young and old.

In case you’re curious about what I said about the book, click here.

2 Cover of Big Trouble in Little Italy by Nicole Sharp
Big Trouble in Little Italy by Nicole Sharp

This is a book I will not recommend to the young (and I don’t think Sharp would mind that). This is a silly rom-com/mafia novel. It kicks off when she has to track down the “joke marriage” that came from a college weekend in Vegas, so she can get married. He reveals that he’s with the FBI and her fiancé is very involved with the mafia. Hilarity (frequently) and tension ensues. It’s fun, it’s foxy, it’s totally not my thing, but I had a blast with it.

In case you’re curious about what I said about the book, click here.

1 Cover of The Wizard's Heir by Devri Walls
The Wizard’s Heir by Devri Walls

This is Walls’ only non-YA book, and I really wish that wasn’t the case (not a complaint about her YA). This is a solid stand-alone fantasy that turned me into a fan. It’s been nine years since I read this, so my recollection on the details is pretty shot. I do remember being very engaged and entertained. There’s excitement, a dash of romance, some magic and a few good fight scenes–pretty much what you want from a fantasy

In case you’re curious about what I said about the book, click here.

MUSIC MONDAY: “Rattlesnake” by Anchor & Braille

The Irresponsible Reader's Music Monday logo

Music Monday's originated at The Tattooed Book Geek's fantastic blog and has shown up hither, thither, and yon since then.

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20 Books of Summer 2025: June Check-In

20 Books of Summer 2025 logo
A quick check-in for this Reading Challenge hosted by Emma of Words and Peace and Annabel from AnnaBookBel (you can read more about it here). I don’t typically like to do this kind of thing until the first of the next month, but since I doubt that I’ll read 500 pages today, I figured I might as well get this up since I won’t be able to finish the post I initially planned for today. So, I’ve read 1 1/6 books for this challenge (hopefully 1 1/2 by the end of the day). It’s not the most auspicious start, but I’ll take it (and I’ve had worse starts).

So here’s the list:

1. The Lords of the West End by Peter Blaisdell
✔ 2. King of Ashes by S. A. Cosby
3. Mississippi Blue 42 by Eli Cranor
4. Guard in the Garden by Z. S. Diamanti
5. Mushroom Blues by Adrian M. Gibson
6. The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman
7. Everybody Knows by Jordan Harper
8. Interstellar MegaChef by Lavanya Lakshminarayan
9. Sabriel by Garth Nix
10. Lirael by Garth Nix
11. Abhorsen by Garth Nix
12. Welcome to Pawnee: Stories of Friendship, Waffles, and Parks and Recreation by Jim O’Heir
13. Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits by Jason Pargin
14. Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett
15. A Tail of Mystery by Paul Regnier
16. Samurai! by Saburo Sakai with Martin Caiden and Fred Saito
17. The Crew by Sadir S. Samir
18. When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi
19. Remarkably Bright Creatures: Shelby Van Pelt
20. Leveled Up Love by Tao Wong & A. G. Marshall

(subject to change, as is allowed, but I’m going to resist the impulse to tweak as much as I can).

On the other hand, I’m doing pretty well with my Books on My Summer 2025 to-Read List (That Aren’t on My 20 Books Challenge)

1. Stone and Sky by Ben Aaronovitch
2. Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language by Adam Aleksic
3. Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki
✔ 4. The Blue Horse by Bruce Borgos
5. Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland
6. This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone
✔ 7. The Medusa Protocol by Rob Hart
✔ 8. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
9. Mrs. Plansky Goes Rogue by Spencer Quinn
10. Dogged Pursuit by David Rosenfelt

Okay, if you think it as a percentage, I’ve read 14% of the books I called my shot on for the summer. Again, inauspicious. July promises to be a good one for reading—I hope/expect that I’ll be looking better in 31 days.

(and no, I don’t see a conflict between this and the Orangutan Librarian’s recent post about competitive reading. This is me comparing myself with my goals, or my past self, or—worst of all—my expectations.

20 Books of Summer '25 Chart June Update

Saturday Miscellany—6/28/25

I get it…publications need to make money to pay authors, but man…too many things I had set aside for today’s list were behind them. Rats. Still, found a few things for the budget-strapped amongst us.

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 “Bookworm, Cliché, Deadline…” And Other Unexpected Etymologies
bullet Former Auburn football player turned novelist to receive top state literary award
bullet The 144 Most Read Books of the 2025 Reading Challenge (So Far)
bullet Jim Butcher WRITES WOMEN WELL?—this interview made me crack up (just the rules laid out at the beginning make this worth it)
bullet What a Five-Star Review Means to Me—this is really close to my thoughts, phew, one thing I don’t have to write
bullet Competitive reading needs to calm down—indeed
bullet Captivating Characters of June—Another tantalizing entry in this series. I have my pick for the month (like I have every month I haven’t participated), will I get something put together? Oooh, the suspense.
bullet Monthly Manga Mania Featuring Firsty Duelist: Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba—if I read enough of Firsty Duelist’s stuff, I’m hoping I can convince my kids I’m fluent in Manga.
bullet Who’s moving to Germany with me—never been more tempted to emigrate

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago Week?
bullet The Dark Horse by Craig Johnson
bullet The Rebirths of Tao by Wesley Chu
bullet And I mentioned the release of one book I read and two books I don’t ever remember hearing about (probably my loss) The Cartel by Don Winslow; Tin Men by Christopher Golden; and The Leveller by Julia Durango

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet Wraith and the Revolution by A.J. Calvin—was in my notes for last week, but I somehow overlooked it. It’s still available, believe it or not, however. This SF novel looks great.
bullet Bookish Words & Their Surprising Stories by David Crystal—this also came out last week, but I didn’t know about it until I read the excerpt linked above.
bullet The Medusa Protocol by Rob Hart—this sequel to last year’s Assassins Anonymous is just dynamite, as I’d have written convincingly if I’d found the energy this week. Just take my word for it (or nag me until it shows up on the blog)
bullet Pride and Pompousness by Katie Cook—the third volume in her Nothing Special series follows up the story from Vol. 2, where the appearance of a long-lost heir (our pal, Declan) threatens the succession of power in fairy royalty.

A book is a gift you can open again and again and again. Or never open because you keep buying new books.

2025 WWW Wednesday—June 25, 2025

Oh, hey…time for this post…

WWW Wednesdays Logo

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?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?

Cover of The Blue Horse by Bruce Borgos Cover of How to Invent Everything by Ryan North
The Blue Horse
by Bruce Borgos
How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler
by (and read by) Ryan North

Unless the next 80% of this book goes off the rails in a big way, Borgos has locked himself a spot in my TBRs for years to come with this one.

Say you’re a time traveler stuck in the past and you need to recreate civilization–but by cheating, because you don’t want to have to do the trial and error bit, North’s book is exactly what you need.

What did you recently finish reading?

Cover of Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel Cover of False Value by Ben Aaronovitch
Station Eleven
by Emily St. John Mandel
False Value
by Ben Aaronovitch, read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith

I’m stunned by Station Eleven, it seems beyond good. I’m not sure exactly what Mandel was trying to accomplish there (still working on that), but that book is a doozy.

False Value was just as fun as I remembered–but the pacing was different than I expected. It just threw me a little bit from time to time–you’re doing X already? When is Y going to happen? etc. Memory is a funny thing, eh?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Cover of The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman Cover of No One Leaves the Castle by Christopher Healy
The Bright Sword
by Lev Grossman
No One Leaves the Castle
by Christopher Healy, read by Jessica Almasy

I’ve been curious about Grossman’s take on Arthurian legend since I first heard about it–time to put the curiosity to an end. Past time, really.

It’s been a dog’s age since I spent time with Healy, this book looked like a good excuse to fix that.

How are you closing out June? Also, how is it the end of June already?

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