I think this week I'm doing a digital detox. Which will be a mystifying experience as I work online...but I'm staying off other than strictly work. I've told all my friends but I doubt it will last beyond a few days because of the election and other stuff. I'm going to give it a go though.
Go vote if you haven't already! If you're in the USA. Or can vote. You know. On to the book! I feel this isn't quite fair because I adore Terry Pratchett so I'm really only going to say positive things here. It's not my favorite Pratchett book (that's Wyrd Sisters). I think there's several ways to read Terry Pratchett's discworld books, by publication or characters or themes. Here are two websites that give multiple options: Discworld Emporium and Terry Pratchett Books. I would suggest thematically but to be honest, I'm just picking a book up by random and reading it. Some of Pratchett's books have been turned into movies. I've only seen one (and thought it was fun) but Going Postal has been turned into a movie so it's on my list!
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Oh man, I think my office became noticeable gloomier overnight. It's just so overcast today and it's doom and gloom in the office. It could be because I was listening to the EAR/ONS/GSK case episodes on Casefile (and before that the Moors Murders). Just gloomy.
I also somehow didn't photograph this book. I don't know how that happened to be honest. I don't think I have it anymore either, perhaps I sent it off in a book/spa pick-up package to a friend. Somehow this is a mess. I need to get it together. I picked this up because Kat Martin is one of the author's listed in the results if you search for "author's like..." I had put in Anne Stuart (since she was in between publications) and I had stopped reading Janet Evanovich (that's another story, but basically the books were getting ridiculous. Well, more ridiculous than I could handle. It was the giraffe running loose in Trenton that finally did me in). I've been looking for new authors to add. So Martin came up in the search, and this is the first book in her series. This is the second book that I've bought double copies of. I rely on book covers far too much but in this instance, it's because the title has been changed. It's okay though. I don't really adore either covers as I've become quite fond of the super art deco covers with gilded flourishes.
No matter what cover, the editions are the exact same inside. This is not quite a romantic story, which Heyer is famous for. It is part of her "country house mysteries," which are slightly cozy but more so a comedy of errors. I've really enjoyed the ones I've picked up in this genre (although her romances are fun little romps too). I received this book in a Muse Monthly book subscription, which ended a few years ago. Yes, it sat on my TBR pile that long. Not because I'm slow but because it kept getting moved around the pile depending when I rearranged it. The way I have now is much more visual as some are spine out on the bookshelf while others are stuck in piles below.
None of that was interesting, I mean, who cares how I have my TBR pile set up. I'm not sure what the lady who created the box is doing--well, I do, 'cause I'm a little nosy. They work in the publishing industry. Anyways. The box was great because it caused me to branch out with genres.
Something is a little wonky with my scheduling aspect of the website. I'm not sure if it's me (and something I can fix) or something that someone with more technical experience and back-end knowledge only can fix. So...this is supposed to show up on Wednesday...but we'll see how that goes.
I received this book in a Muse Monthly box, which no longer exists. It was a fun box because I received books (and tea!) from authors that I wouldn't normally gravitate towards. I wouldn't say I enjoyed all of them but I think the box editor's taste was pretty good. It also helped me gather more of a taste of tea flavors. I thought I was going to prefer lighter tea, floral teas,etc...nope. Black tea. STRONG tea. Light me up because I need my tea to be vicious. I woke up late today. I just slept through my alarm clock. Never have I been more glad to be working at home because of the pandemic because my little slip up went by unnoticed. Silver linings I guess. I'm currently filing papers in my office. I guess I went through a stage where I wouldn't toss anything just in case but it's time for some of this stuff to go. I've reorganized my office trying to find a system that works and I think I did find one. It's working out so far, but it's mostly a weekly to-do list and I get to it as I get to it. It's slightly unstructured but it's so when I have a good day I can work a little longer and when I have a bad day I can take off. Then my work won't suffer. I read this book back in August. I picked it up at the bookstore because it was a mystery set in a new-to-me time period for mysteries. The majority of my murder-mystery books are modern ones, I'm dipping my toe into the more historical settings. This book is also set in England and America. I've got to get a better way of clean/dirty mask in/out system in place. I bought a bunch of masks (general to outright fun ones) but I guess the system I have now isn't great since everyone is using them (a good thing!) but there's no set way to determine if they're clean or dirty when they get thrown back into the same pile. I'll figure it out. Maybe.
I read this one a few weeks ago. I like Sandra Brown's books because (other than just one of them) they all settle at a 3* (like) to 4ish* (really liked). So I have a regular author that I can know will be good. The cover for this one is just beautiful isn't it? I love a nice cover. Uh, just remember that my personal rating system is harsher than I am on Goodreads. I have this one much higher on Goodreads or if I recommend it. Does that make sense? Like if I rated this a 3.5 star, I'd rate it 4 stars on Goodreads but 3 stars on my personal system. I have these four books on my kindle tablet. It's a four book series that follows a family, The Morgans, as they solve four different crimes. It's pure romantic suspense, with each of the four members of the Morgan family getting their own book and their own romance. I found these to be solid mysteries, solid romances and my ratings ranges from 3* to 4*. Sometimes I found the men to be extra grumpy and I didn't like the lady lead (which kinda makes a hard start). Burton's female leads tend to be harder as characters and her male leads tend to be closer to the "alpha" stereotype. There's nothing wrong with this of course, it's just not my favorite so I do struggle with that. My favorite book of the four was I'll Never Let You Go, which did have a mystery but was done differently than the other three.
These were written between 2014-2016. I love a good romantic suspense (heavy on the mystery more than romance) book where there's a capture of a serial killer or deranged killer. The themes in these book deal with possibly wrong convictions, stalking, abuse, and forensics to solve old cases. I understand there are some real bad apples (or, in some cases, departments) that are wrecking the ideal of policing in real life. I haven't really resolved my favorite trope with real life as of yet. It's a worthy discussion though. I finally managed to get all my TBR all in one area. They're in one of those tall bookcases that was left over from university days (via Target/Walmart) and then...stacked in front on the floor. I'm not too sure how many there are left because I didn't count them but maybe around 400-500.
Which is a lot. Not going to make any qualms about that. It's not even counting my e-books. I'm quite determined to make a dent this year though. I read over 200 last year so I think it's doable. I realize these numbers are insane though. I'm actually reading a different Anne Stuart (a historical) but I'm going to talk about her second book in the fire series today. Isn't that a nice cover? I really like it. I know there's drama in another sphere when it spills over into my fairly dull Twitter feed. I mean, I like my Twitter feed but it's pretty much news, politics, world news, world politics and science. So if literary or make-up or video game stuff gets big enough and spills onto my feed it's because it's gotten much larger.
The latest "thing" is Shane Dawson and Jeffrey Star being...themselves? Which, having seen enough of them both, is a seemingly racist, misogynist, nasty personality set. I guess Dawson was pretty nasty about children, including Jada Pinkett Smith's child (who was very much a child at the time, not sure how old she is now). Jada is not happy about it (perfectly normal) and responded on Twitter. Star always seems to be involved in drama (sometimes seemingly inserting himself). I don't have the time to even follow along with this one, but I'm team anyone who isn't team-Star. On to the book! This book also has a movie, but I haven't seen it. I like Anna Kendrick (one of the main characters), Blake Lively is okay but not exactly my cup of tea, and Henry Golding is hella hot. Which uh...I mean, he's more than that of course. I do believe the movie has a different ending than the book. I thought the book was alright. It wasn't my absolute favorite mystery but some aspects really stood out to me as exceptional. I have this a solid good book. Decent writing and nicely plotted structure. I figured out parts of the "mystery" whilst reading, which is always a bit of a bummer. I'm still sloooooowly cleaning my office up. There's just a lot of stuff packed in here at the moment. I think some of my problem is that I only go through the hoard when I'm feeling like tossing things. Otherwise I'll just convince myself to keep it. I think I'm a secret pack rat at heart. I've moved half my "to-be-read" books off my massive pile (group of piles) and into a tall bookshelf.
I've also managed to read three books this weekend, but that's because my sleep schedule is still wacked from the migraine and there's not much else to do at 3 AM. I am technically 17 books ahead of schedule (according to Goodreads). I've set my goal for 230 and I've read 125 books. This is the first book in a companion series to the Ice Series. It begins with the creation of the American Committee- sister to the branch set in London-- but far more independent and not under the sway of the Committee's Board of Governors. Granted, under this Board the English Committee worked in a gray area most of the time so the thought is the American Committee would be free to be...better. It probably wouldn't work like that in real life, I mean, my last police chief couldn't keep in ding-a-ling out of the company ink so I doubt a rogue mercenary group would work out...but in fiction- It's gold!
I'm not sure how else to describe the financial backing the group gets. Maybe if the Bilderberg Meeting had a secret Illuminati sub-sect that hired and controlled a group of mercenaries and sent this to fix the world's ills. I'm sure a conspiracy theory wack job would claim that this would totally happen but come on. The paperwork for the finances on that would be insane. Once, when I was vacationing near where the Bilderberg meeting was taking place my cousin (who has not talked to me in years...like twenty would be generous) wrote me a long, rambling facebook message about how I needed to stay away from them but also infiltrate and protest them. He was in his basement. In Arkansas. He also was not happy when I told him that I would one hundred percent join the meeting if invited. I bet they have great food there. So don't be my cousin the moron. I'm always down to join a secret group. Are we going to have good food? Topple the government? Will there be deviled eggs? Let me in! I'm thinking about getting a high frequency face device. Why? I'm vain. That's it. Plus I like skin gadgets. I might not get it. I'm on the fence. Leaning towards yes.
My friend is trying to talk me into trying banana flavored rum (for pina coladas). I don't like the texture or taste of bananas. Is that odd? This is the last book in the Ice Series (but the series sorta continues with the Fire Series that is set in America). It might be one of my favorite books in the series. I really like all the characters, the settings, the adventure and the story. Well, I had a migraine on Sunday night. I think it was a combo of weather and being dehydrated (I kept playing with my new espresso machine for drinks so that's on me). So I'm a bit later than I meant to be.
I've been taking the CGRP medication for at least a year. It's radically changed my migraines. I'm in less pain -- I even have days where there's no pain! -- but they wear off after 25 days, so I'm taking them every 27 days instead of 31. I still get the other side effects at the same level. So the pain is less (like,it'll go away with OTC pills) but the other stuff is at the same high level. So sometimes when it hits like a freight truck, I just gotta chill on the couch so I don't walk into a wall. Depth perception going wacky is a side effect for me. Guess how many times I've broken a toe? About ten. This book, I first read on my Kindle. I liked it enough to buy a physical copy and at the time (I'm still not sure if Stuart has republished this beyond the e-book availability) the copy below was available. Aren't I so lucky to get a random sticker that won't come off in the middle of the cover? Who does that? Do you see the puppets? This was kinda when I fell in love with Anne Stuart. She took a puppet backstory and made me enthralled. I've been in a few little book slumps. They'll last for a day or so.
Which probably seems ridiculous but I pretty much read every day. Yesterday during my bubble bath I just got on housewives forums to read. I don't even watch Real Housewives of Beverly Hills...but I can name the cast members now. My guilty pleasure is the New Jersey one (not sure why to be honest...) and Potomac. Potomac's great. This past weekend I've been sorting my clothes. My house has a tiiiiiiiny closet and no storage space. I've decided it's time to KonMari it again and give myself a work uniform. Also, I'm finally going to figure out how to store this all and do a closet makeover. My taste runs a bit closer to a gothic Versailles (I know) so I'm looking for inspiration on decoration that's more stated but still bold and fun. I stumbled on Signed, Blake's website where she details how she uses removable wallpaper. Which, somehow (even when buying it) I've missed that it was a thing. I loved her bedroom (it's a moody lux that I can get behind). Granted, my comforter set that I just got is...not moody. I'll figure it out. I was super inspired by the closet design/remodel she did because that's kinda what I'm thinking about doing with mine. Pretty wallpaper, nice system and super organized. It'll be a goal. Except my closet is more like...a tiny box. You can take one or two steps into it. I'll figure it out. Hopefully. Right, on to Ruth. I have bought four of Ruth's book (well, three and one came in a subscription box). I have liked one (this one), thought one was super dry and DNFed it and....not read the other two yet. So we're 50/50. That probably doesn't seem like high praise. I don't really love suspense/thriller books (usually I need a rampaging serial killer/hot FBI tie in, romance, mystery etc. to keep me going) as I find them really aggravating. I don't like being anxious while reading! So the fact that I liked this one I think means that Ruth Ware is quite a good author. I just don't like thrillers or suspense-thrillers. Yet...we beat on. I sat down and read this in a few hours over the weekend. I've been able to read some again. I had to stop watching the news for the most part (like, the 24/7 news cycle) because it just makes me anxious. I've been working on cleaning out my house. I still have tons of stuff that I just inherited and stuff from previous moves. The goal is a house clean out since no one can see my getting rid of all the junk they gave me since we're all supposed to be in quarantine! So this past week I took out all my books to be read and re-read and moved them into one large pile.
So I can officially say that I have a book hoarding problem. I have managed to read fifteen books since the quarantine officially started. I've made a tiny dent! I've also quit the Junior League. I just couldn't suffer through another year. I think if you meet people through it where you become friends that it's probably so much fun. I met a lot of people who were okay but I didn't connect with them. The people I did connect with...quit earlier. I think I'll probably just volunteer with other places and work on finding people to jam with through other ways. I just couldn't pay for another year and then go sustainer (and pay for that). I don't have enough energy with work, migraine and the house for a group where I wasn't meshing. I picked this book up from my local indie because I thought it seemed fun, had a lovely cover and dealt with a more lighthearted plot. There's no murder in this (like my normal type of book) and it's more familial issues with a contemporary love story. I thought it was okay but had a few issues with the plot and characters. I usually don't love hyped books (this one was fits that category in my opinion) and sometimes it's hard to figure out if the book is actually good when it has the marketing push behind it. This was better than the last hyped book I read, but it was a solid three star for me (3* = okay). Well, it's still a mess out there. I'm starting my quarantine over (I had to go to the grocery store yesterday) to be on the safe side...so day one! It's still not widespread in my area but to be fair...there aren't many tests (and it takes a long time to get results back) so I suppose the information I'm receiving is from two or so weeks ago. I'm focusing on work (which has mostly collapsed) and cleaning my house. I haven't been able to sit still to watch new TV shows, although my friend has been pushing me to watch Tiger King on Netflix. Also, I still haven't seen Miss Fisher's new movie. I think I need to stop reading so much of the news, it's all anxiety-inducing for me. Reading has also been much slower, mostly because of the inability to sit still and relax. I'm in the process of reading three books, Emma (the annotated version) by Jane Austin, The Highwayman by Kerrigan Byrne (the first chapter isn't doing much for me but I have hope) and The Impersonator by Mary Miley. Maybe I can swing through those soon. I just finished Ayoade on Top by Richard Ayoade. I enjoy Ayoade's humor and he was promoting this on Graham Norton's show so I ordered it (from the UK) and it's adorable. Adorkable? Mostly, it's intelligently sarcastic, witty and has a grammatically correct triple apostrophe. Be still my heart. If you're trying to determine where you've seen Ayoade, he's been in several TV shows, directed some movies, written a few books, appeared on panel shows, is currently hosting a game show in the UK AND played Moss on the IT Crowd. I think because my anxiety is so high I haven't really sat down to make this week's posts. I'm all over the place on it. So, instead, I thought I would show some of the YA books I enjoyed (but passed on to teachers). I wouldn't normally go into a longer post about them but hey, maybe I should do shorter posts anyways.
I got a phone call today that three people I knew had gone to be tested for the Covid-19 virus. They've been sick for a week (more or less) but there's also a regular cold going around town as well, so hopefully it's that and not Covid-19. Some of my friends have been laid off of work as well, which sucks. It's all just super crappy. I'm taking a small break from the news. I'm normally an avid news reader but until Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx tell me it's safe, my butt is staying home. Also, I think I hurt my head from rolling my eyes so hard when Trump would talk during the pressers. Like, he adds nothing to these things and I don't know why he's there. Which is a sad thing to say about the President of the country but...truth. I've read quite a few books this year. I think I'm almost to one hundred, if not over. Annoyingly, I haven't gotten all the photos or even prepped my thoughts to write about them. I have cleared out some of my home office since I'm working here. I also installed my bidet, so that's been *refreshing*. Luckily, I've read this book a few times (Stuart is my go-to chill out author). I have the e-book, the audio book and a paperback. The audio book is narrated by Xe Sands. Sands does a lovely job and I have to note that her voice is very calming. Jilly (one of the characters) has a 'voice' in a higher range than Sands own voice but it's not unpleasant. Sands has narrated a few of Stuart's books (including the one after this).
Well...I'm working from home at the moment. I'm trying to be optimistic about this whole new lifestyle I'm committed to. It's all kinda scary to be honest. I've been checking in with my friends who live in Europe and Asia (and who have been dealing with this longer than me) so I started prepping much earlier figuring that either I'd need it or I would just fill up my hurricane box. I also ordered a bidet...because why not? Then of course, for some reason, everyone went insane and began buying toilet paper in bulk.
I think the bidet might have been the smartest thing I ever did. Amazingly, a few days after I ordered it--the company ran out of stock. Yup, America (ok, a segment of) is getting on that bidet lifestyle. I bought mine from Tushy...but I'd be careful when looking them up on social media because there's a porn company with the same name. Which I discovered when checking on shipping times. So uh...the bidet people are @lovetushy and not at tushy. As a warning. Or you know...a new interest if that's how you swing. |
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