Month: July 2014

I own the most books from these authors…

toptentuesday2Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme which I take part in occasionally. It’s a great meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish blog. Every week a new topic is presented. It’s not only fun to think about my list, but to read what other people come up with!

This week we write about the ten authors I own the most books from. I have broken the authors down by e-books, audio books and paper books.

When I look at my list several things occur to me:

  • Of course, one of the reasons I have so many books by certain authors is that they’ve written a lot of books.
  • I used to read a lot of romances so the authors from whom I have the largest number of books are romances. I’ve kept the paper books by my favorite authors.
  • I used to get a lot of my books from the library, but now I read my books as digital editions now and the library has fewer digital editions.
  • The library tended to have more mystery and more science fiction/fantasy than romance.
  • Over the years I gave away or sold my books to used bookstores–in the past I read lots of sci-fi, fantasy and mysteries so I don’t have as many books from long-time favorite authors such as Dick Francis and Tony Hillerman and Anne McCaffrey.

Top Ten Authors

1. Jayne Ann Krentz — ever since I discovered her she’s been a favorite (obviously!) and a comfort read author–especially her older books which I spent a lot of time in used bookstores to find!

  • e-books – 4
  • audiobooks – 0
  • paper books – 53

–aka Amanda Quick — I love these historical romances…especially the older ones.

  • e-books – 0
  • audiobooks – 1
  • paper books – 17

–aka Jayne Castle — Jayne Ann Krentz uses this pseudonym for her futuristic romances. I haven’t liked these books as well.

  • e-books – 0
  • audiobooks – 0
  • paper books – 7

–Total — 82

2. Nora Roberts — I haven’t read any Nora Roberts books for a while, but I do like a number of her books.

  • e-books – 3
  • audiobooks – 2
  • paper books – 38

–aka J. D. Robb — I especially enjoy the In Death series though I haven’t read any for a couple years.

  • e-books – 9
  • audiobooks – 1
  • paper books -28

Total — 81

3. Mary Balogh — I still buy and read Mary Balogh’s books. I love the way she writes. I’ve searched for her out-of-print Signet regencies through the years and found them in used bookstores and even on Ebay!

  • e-books – 12
  • audiobooks – 1
  • paper books – 58

Total — 71

4. Jo Beverley – Another favorite historical romance author. Her older books are easier to find and I think I have almost all of them.

  • e-books – 7
  • audiobooks – 0
  • paper books – 34

Total — 41

5. Linda Howard — Another author whom I love to read and re-read especially her older books.

  • e-books – 3
  • audiobooks – 0
  • paper books – 40

Total — 43

6. Lois McMaster Bujold — I love the Miles Vorkosigan series though I haven’t read one for a while. I need to read some. I have some of her other books and need to read them, too.

  • e-books – 5
  • audiobooks – 2
  • paper books -27

Total — 34

7. Patricia Briggs — I’ve bought and read all of Ms. Briggs’ older books from before she started her Mercy Thompson series.

  • e-books – 4
  • audiobooks – 0
  • paper books – 16

Total — 20

8. Robert Heinlein — I used to own a lot more of Heinlein’s books, but I gave a few of them to my kids.

  • e-books – 1
  • audiobooks – 0
  • paper books – 17

Total — 18

9. Ilona Andrews — I love Ilona Andrews writing.

  • e-books – 12
  • audiobooks – 0
  • paper books – 5

Total — 17

10.  Dana Stabenow — I used to read all of Ms. Stabenow’s books until one book stopped me reading any for quite a while. I’ve bought a number of her digital releases and hope to start reading her newer books again.

  • e-books – 10
  • audiobooks – 1
  • paper books – 5

Total — 16

Honorable Mention

Archangel
Sharon Shinn–Archangel

Sharon Shinn – I love her writing, but her digital editions have tended to stay expensive plus some of her older books weren’t digitized. When I looked at her books this week I saw more books of her books digitzed and some of the books I’ve searched for are now available as e-books at lower prices. Yay!

  • e-books – 1
  • audiobooks – 0
  • paper books – 12

Total — 13

What about you? Which authors do you own the most number of books?

Review: Fireborn by Keri Arthur

Fireborn
Fireborn

 

Fireborn
by Keri Arthur
Series: Souls of Fire, Book 1
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Published by Signet, 2014
E-book, Purchased
400 pages
Grade: B-
Synopsis: …a brand new series featuring heroine Emberly Pearson—a phoenix capable of taking on human form, and cursed with the ability to foresee death…

Emberly has spent a good number of her many lives trying to save humans. So when her prophetic dreams reveal the death of Sam, a man she once loved, she does everything in her power to prevent that from happening. But in saving his life, she gets more than she bargained for.

Sam is working undercover for the Paranormal Investigations Team, and those who are trying to murder him are actually humans infected by a plague-like virus, the Crimson Death—a by-product of a failed government experiment that attempted to identify the enzymes that make vampires immortal. Now, all those infected must be eliminated.

But when Emberly’s boss is murdered and his irreplaceable research stolen, she needs to find the guilty party before she goes down in flames…

It was said that at the very beginning of time, a phoenix spurned the affections of a witch after taking her virginity. In her anger and shame, she cursed us with the inability to love one another, forcing us to forever seek–but never find–emotional completion outside our own race, thus ensuring that we would forever be left with little more than love’s bitter ashes…

Cheers

  • Setting in Australia is nice.
  • A great cover!
  • I like the idea of the phoenix. Phoenixes can take three different forms–flesh, fire and bird. That’s interesting and is well done in this book.
  • I like Emberly’s life partner Rory. I like his sense of humor, loyalty and bravery. He’s always there for her. I want to read more about him.
  • I thought what she has with Rory seems pretty similar to love–friendship, complete trust, loyalty, sexual desire.

Jeers

  • I got tired of hearing how a phoenix can never find true love with a human and is never in love with her life partner–in Emberly’s case, another phoenix named Rory.
  • Emberly seems to feel she won’t ever be truly happy so she’s a little depressing to read about. All the angst and hand wringing gets old.
  • And Emberly spends a lot of time mooning about her lost love which turned me off. I want her to get over Sam and move on.

And a few thoughts . . .

  • I didn’t love this first book, but depending on how the second book sounds I would read the next book. I like the idea of the phoenixes.

Have you read this book? How did you like it?

Christmas in July Read-a-Thon

Christmas-in-july-readathon

I need to plan these activities better. Of course, it didn’t help I thought there was another weekend in July so the read-a-thon was totally supposed to be next weekend!

When I figured out it was this weekend I started a novella by Courtney Milan–This Wicked Gift. However, it’s Sunday night and I’m not even done with a novella! So . . . that’s the story of Christmas in July for me!

Next time I’ll try to plan better.

 

Sunday Post: July 27

rp_sundaypostmeme13.jpg

The Sunday Post is a meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

I like this meme because it gives me an opportunity to take a look back at last week and forward to next week in both my personal life and my blog and book life! I also like to see what other people are doing and what books everyone is reading. This is a great meme to take part in every week and I thank Kimba for hosting it!

 

Cascade-Mt-fromplane02
Washington Cascade Mt. seen from airplane

Last Week

 

Home & blog

We flew home from Seattle on Monday. It seems like there’s always lots to do after we’ve been gone and this week was no exception.

 Blog posts

Books

What I’m reading

Break In by Dick Francis (audiobook)

Coming Home for Christmas by Carla Kelly

Unhinged by A. G. Howard (audiobook)

What I read this week

Nice Dragons Finish Last by Rachel Aaron

River Road by Jayne Ann Krentz

The Escape by Mary Balogh

E-books & Audiobooks bought (or free)

The Seat of Magic by J. Kathleen Cheney

Omens by Kelley Armstrong

Audiobooks

Dr. Who by Stephen Cole (link from Audible)

Endurance by Alfred Lansing

Around the internet

  • Sync downloads

Sync is a site for young adult audiobooks. In the summer (beginning May 15 to August 20) they offer two free audiobooks each week.

July 24 – July 30

HEADSTRONG by Patrick Link, Performed by Deidrie Henry, Ernie Hudson, Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine and Scott Wolf (L.A. Theatre Works)
THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE by Robert Louis Stevenson, Narrated by Scott Brick (Tantor Audio)

July 31 – August 6
DIVIDED WE FALL by Trent Reedy, Narrated by Andrew Eiden (Scholastic Audio)
THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE by Stephen Crane, Narrated by Frank Muller (Recorded Books)

Check out the entire Sync schedule.

Next Week

Home & blog

Both my husband and I are leaving again this week. This has been a busy summer so far. We’ve done a lot of traveling not all of it planned at the same time! I’m off to Iowa to spend time helping my daughter. She’s getting a puppy toward the middle of August and since she works I’m going to help get the puppy off to a good start. But first, she and I are off to northern Wisconsin to meet up with relatives for a family gathering the first weekend in August. My son and both daughters are coming, but my husband is off to Oklahoma on business since he has to work. 😦

Posts

  • Top Ten Tuesday
  • Review: Fireborn by Keri Arthur
  • August books on my radar . . .
  • Sunday Post

What books did you collect last week? What are you planning next week?

Review: The Golden City by J. Kathleen Cheney

The Golden City
The Golden City

 

The Golden City
by J. Kathleen Cheney
Series: The Golden City, Book 1
Genre: Historic Fantasy
Published by Roc Trade, 2013
E-book, Purchased
384 pages
Grade: B+
Synopsis: For two years, Oriana Paredes has been a spy among the social elite of the Golden City, reporting back to her people, the sereia, sea folk banned from the city’s shores….

When her employer and only confidante decides to elope, Oriana agrees to accompany her to Paris. But before they can depart, the two women are abducted and left to drown. Trapped beneath the waves, Oriana’s heritage allows her to survive while she is forced to watch her only friend die.

Vowing vengeance, Oriana crosses paths with Duilio Ferreira—a police consultant who has been investigating the disappearance of a string of servants from the city’s wealthiest homes. Duilio also has a secret: He is a seer and his gifts have led him to Oriana.

Bound by their secrets, not trusting each other completely yet having no choice but to work together, Oriana and Duilio must expose a twisted plot of magic so dark that it could cause the very fabric of history to come undone….

She paused at the landing, her stomach churning. Was that what she was doing? Hunting a necromancer?

If so, she had wandered into a shiver of sharks.

and

He was a well-made man, athletic and lean. Oriana found herself staring at his back, weighing whether the lack of a dorsal stripe detracted from its attractiveness. No it doesn’t. There was something fascinating about that span of monochromatic skin.

Cheers

  • The setting is in a fantasy, historic (1902) Portugal. So nice to have such a different setting.
  • I like how seamlessly the magic is sewn into Portugal.  It is part of life as much as electricity would be.
  • The selkies and sereia (sirens) are depicted so well. They are very different from each other even though they both live in the water some of the time.
  • I like the intrigue and mystery in this book.
  • This is not a light-hearted fantasy. People die, are threatened and must fight for their lives.
  • What we find out about the culture of the sirens is very interesting. Dorsal stripes are important!
  • For that matter, the selkies are really interesting, too.
  • There’s attraction between Oriana and Duilio, but that’s as far as it goes. I like that…especially in the first book of a fantasy series. I’m not averse to a relationship between characters, but I don’t like it overpowering the story.
  • I like Oriana. She’s spying on the Portuguese and has secrets. She discovers spying is sometimes a sordid and corrupt occupation. She has to decide how she feels about that.
  • Duilio is also very interesting. He has had to come home to Portugal after his father and brother die within a few months of each other. He lives with his mother, is a noble Portuguese and has a number of secrets, but he is also honorable and brave.
  • Duilio’s half-brother Erdano and his cousin Joaquim are both very compelling characters as is Duilio’s mother.

Jeers

  • I tried to think of things I didn’t like or that didn’t work for me, but really I have none!

And a few thoughts

  • I loved this book. The setting, characters and plot all work very well for me.
  • The second book–The Seat of Magic–came out the first of July so I’m hoping to read it soon!
  • Mogsy from The Bibiliosanctum has a guest post from author J. Kathleen Cheney after the second book was published. I love getting some background info.
  • Another guest post from Ms. Cheney at Tabitha’s Not Yet Read blog. About selkies, sirens and more…LOL You don’t want to miss either of these blog posts!

Have you read this book? How did you like it?

Review: Splintered by A. G. Howard

Splintered
Splintered

 

Splintered
by A. G. Howard
Narrated by Rebecca Gibel
Series: Splintered, Book 1
Genre: YA Fantasy
Published by Amulet Books, 2013
E-book & Audiobook, Purchased
371 pages
12 hours, 39 minutes
Grade: B+
Narrator Grade: B+
Synopsis: This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence. Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.

When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

He drops his forehead to the steering wheel. “Ugh. I forgot about the dance. I still have to pick up my tux.” He glances at the clock on my dash. “Jen said some guy asked you but you didn’t want to go. Why not?”

I shrug. “I have this character flaw? Called dignity?”

He snorts….

and

He’s a contradiction: taut magic coiled to strike, gentleness at war with severity, a tongue as sharp as a whip’s edge, yet skin so soft he could be swathed in clouds.

Cheers

  • I got to the end and I thought, “Wow!”
  • Very creative take on the Alice in Wonderland classic.
  • The way Wonderland is similar to the Lewis Carroll story, but very different keeps the book interesting.
  • The narrator did a good job with all the different voices. Morpheus, Jeb and Alyssa are especially good. Some of the smaller creatures in Wonderland sound very similar, but there are so many different characters it would be hard to be completely original with each character.
  • The book is not predictable. I like the twists and turns.
  • Alyssa is a multifaceted girl–grown up in many ways, but still trying to figure out her life. Once she’s in Wonderland she realizes that things she thought she knew about herself aren’t entirely true.
  • Jeb is a stubborn, strong and loyal friend
  • Morpheus is a perfect mystery to the end. Every time I think I’ve figured him out he does something so opposite I’m as off-balance as Alyssa is.

Jeers

  • I can’t decide if there’s supposed to be a love triangle between Morpheus, Jeb and Alyssa. I don’t really see Morpheus as a love interest.

And a few thoughts . . .

  • This is such a good book. I love the narration of the audiobook…so very good! Lark from the Bookwyrm’s Hoard brought this book to my attention in January when the second book in the series came out. I’m so glad she did. A very fun book to read.
  • I know a lot of kids are scared of the movie of Alice in Wonderland, but I wasn’t scared of it…other movies and books, but not this.
  • I can’t remember when I saw the movie, but perhaps my mom learned from my older brother and his friends who all had to leave the movie after Alice falls down the rabbit hole…LOL.
  • Mom had the books–Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass–and I liked them a lot when I read them.

Have you read this book? How did you like it?

I’m participating in the following reading challenges for this book:

  • The 2014 New Author Reading Challenge hosted at the Literary Escapism blog.
  • The Book Bingo Challenge.
  • 2014 Audiobook Challenge hosted by Hot Listens and The Book Nympho blogs.

Review: Nice Dragons Finish Last by Rachel Aaron

Nice Dragons Finish Last
Nice Dragons Finish Last

 

Nice Dragons Finish Last
by Rachel Aaron
Series: Heartstrikers #1
Genre: Fantasy
Published by self-published, 2014
E-book, Purchased
315 pages
Grade: A-
Synopsis: As the smallest dragon in the Heartstriker clan, Julius survives by a simple code: keep quiet, don’t cause trouble, and stay out of the way of bigger dragons. But this meek behavior doesn’t fly in a family of ambitious magical predators, and his mother, Bethesda the Heartstriker, has finally reached the end of her patience.

Now, sealed in human form and banished to the DFZ–a vertical metropolis built on the ruins of Old Detroit–Julius has one month to prove that he can be a ruthless dragon or kiss his true shape goodbye forever. But in a city of modern mages and vengeful spirits where dragons are considered monsters to be exterminated, he’s going to need some serious help to survive this test.

He only hopes humans are more trustworthy than dragons…

“Come on, you didn’t really think I belonged in a place like that, did you? I mean, look at me.”

He waved his hand at his ratty T-shirt and jeans, and Marci began to sputter. “I thought you were wearing that ironically!” she cried. “You know, one of those ‘I’m wearing comfortable clothes because I’m too cool to care how rich I am’ guys.”

and

“I can’t believe it. I finally meet a dragon, and he’s a year younger than I am. I have the worst luck ever.”

  • Rachel Aaron self-published this book and did a good job.
  • There’s a mix of irreverent humor, problem-solving and action in this book! It’s a lot of fun to read. As my husband would say–this is a page turner!
  • I love the way Ms. Aaron creates this world. The way magic comes back into the world. I’m looking forward to learning more in the next book.
  • The DFZ–Detroit Free Zone–is so interesting. A new city built on top of the old city, but the old city is still teeming with people trying to survive.
  • The dragons are fierce and scary at times, but so interesting. The dragons see humans mostly as pawns for their use.
  • Julius reminds me a little of Fortitude Scott in the Generation V series. They’re both considered weak by their families. They have to learn how to live in their worlds with their family and the reality of their lives. Once Julius realizes he has to stop trying to hide he shows how clever he really is.
  • The way Julius’ mother–Bethesda–names each of her Heartstriker children from her 10 clutches of eggs. “A” names for the first to the “J” names for her last group of children. This helps her remember her children!
  • Marci Novalli is a mage who was getting her doctorate in Thaumaturgical theory before she had to leave her home. She flees to the DFZ where she meets Julius. She needs work so she agrees to help Julius get into a party. She has no idea what she’s getting into, but she’s very confident about her magical abilities!
  • I love the characters in this book especially the Heartstriker dragons we meet and learn a little about: ambitious Ian; enforcer Chelsie, self-absorbed Jessica, brash and arrogant Justin, seer Bob. I hope we meet more of the Heartstriker dragons in future books.
  • I especially enjoy Bob who’s a seer. Seers tend to be a little crazy and sometimes give obscure predictions. Bob seems to delight in that.
  • The end of the book sets up lots of possibilities for the future of all the dragons…and future books!

Jeers

  • I like this book a lot. One of my favorites of the year so far–so no jeers!

And a few thoughts

  • I can’t wait for the next book in this series–One Good Dragon Deserves Another should be out this Fall!
  • Rachel Bach and Rachel Aaron are the same writer. Ms. Bach wrote the science fiction Paradox trilogy about the mercenary Devi Morris which I ended up loving. I read that Ms. Bach may write some more books set in the Paradox world! Yay!
  • Ms. Aaron previously wrote The Legend of Eli Monpress fantasy series (which I haven’t read yet–it’s always nice to have more books to look forward to).

Have you read this book? How did you like it?

The characters I would want on a deserted island …

toptentuesday2Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme which I take part in occasionally. It’s a great meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish blog. Every week a new topic is presented. It’s not only fun to think about my list, but to read what other people come up with!

The topic this week is the characters I would want with me on a deserted island. At first I was thinking “desert” island and so I thought of characters who live in deserts! My first thought was of the book Dune by Frank Herbert which I read many years ago, but which sticks with me. Then I realized it was a deserted island so I had to rethink things!

By the time all these characters are on my deserted island it wouldn’t be deserted any longer!

1. Cassandra (Cass) from the Touchstone trilogy by Andrea K. Höst. Cass is transported to a deserted planet (except for animals) and manages to survive. She would be very useful!

2. Devi Morris from from the Paradox trilogy by Rachel Bach. Devi is very resourceful as well as irreverent. She would keep up our spirits as well as have anyNice Dragons Finish Last weapons necessary to protect us!

3. Julius from Nice Dragons Finish Last by Rachel Aaron. I just finished this book and it’s great! Julius is a dragon–very useful to have around–and since he’s a pretty nice dragon he wouldn’t eat us!

4. Jarra from the Earth Girl series by Janet Edwards. Jarra is brave, resourceful, knows a lot about history so she might be able to help us figure out where we are and how to get back home!

5. Ensign Andrew Dahl from Redshirts by John Scalzi. He would know not to volunteer to go on an away mission and remind us of the same thing!

6. Graham Keith in The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley. So I could listen to his Scots accent!

7. Suzume from the Generation V series by M. L. Brennan. I wouldn’t pick Fortitude Scott, because he’s becoming a better vampire…not what you need on a deserted island! Suzume, on the other hand, is a kitsune…a very resourceful fox.

8. Shai from The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson. She is a forger–able to copy and recreate anything by rewriting its history with magic. That would be a magic-slaysgreat skill to have to help us get off the island.

9. & 10. Curran and Kate from the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews. We would need a very good leader and both these characters are great leaders. They’re very resourceful both with magic and when there is no magic.

Sorry I’m late getting this posted…by the time we got home last night I was too tired to finish this and get it read for today…and same problem this morning!

I chose all books I read this year. Not really intentional–they are all characters who would be great on a deserted island! What about you? What characters would you choose?

 

Sunday Post: July 20

rp_sundaypostmeme13.jpgThe Sunday Post is a meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

I like this meme because it gives me an opportunity to take a look back at last week and forward to next week in both my personal life and my blog and book life! I also like to see what other people are doing and what books everyone is reading. This is a great meme to take part in every week and I thank Kimba for hosting it!

 

chihulyglass-sculpture01
Chihuly Glasshouse Sculpture 27 x 100 x23′

Last Week

 

Home & blog

Seattle has been so much fun. We went to a movie, ate lots of seafood, had wonderful whole wheat cinnamon rolls for breakfast several days and saw Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado. Seattle has a Gilbert and Sullivan Society which is 60 years old this year! They produce a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta every July. My husband and I really enjoy G&S so we try to come to Seattle to visit in July when we can!

Chihuly ball reflecting Seattle Space Needle
Chihuly glass ball reflecting Seattle Space Needle

We also went to the Space Needle in Seattle (built for the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair). We hadn’t visited for several years and planned to go up to its revolving restaurant. A lot of other people had that plan and there were no seats available so instead we ate at a restaurant at the base. Very good food and we had fun. Next door to the restaurant is the Chihuly Garden and Glass which we went to after lunch. It features the glasswork of Dale Chihuly. There are glass sculptures both inside and outside (mixed in with a garden). It is all fantastic!

Mille Fiori by Dale Chihuly (reminds me of glass garden in Stolen Songbird) 10 x 58 x12'
Mille Fiori by Dale Chihuly (reminds me of glass garden in Stolen Songbird) 10 x 58 x 12′

Some of the glass pieces even reminded me of the glass garden in the book Stolen Songbird!

I managed quite a few posts this week which was great. I’m whittling away on my review backlog. Also I got another Saturday Shorts posted!

 Blog posts

Books

What I’m reading

Break In by Dick Francis (audiobook)

Nice Dragons Finish Last by Rachel Aaron

Unhinged by A. G. Howard (audiobook)

What I read this week

Seduced by a Pirate by Eloisa James

The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson

E-books & Audiobooks bought (or free)

Nice Dragons Finish Last by Rachel Aaron

The Suffragette Scandal by Courtney Milan

Hard Spell by Justin Gustainis

And the Miss Ran Away with the Rake by Elizabeth Boyle

Audiobooks

The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline by Nancy Springer

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

Around the internet

  • Sync downloads

Sync is a site for young adult audiobooks. In the summer (beginning May 15 to August 20) they offer two free audiobooks each week.

July 17 – July 23

THE CASE OF THE CRYPTIC CRINOLINE by Nancy Springer, Narrated by Katherine Kellgren (Recorded Books)
THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES II by Arthur Conan Doyle, Narrated by David Timson (Naxos AudioBooks)

July 24 – July 30
HEADSTRONG by Patrick Link, Performed by Deidrie Henry, Ernie Hudson, Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine and Scott Wolf (L.A. Theatre Works)
THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE by Robert Louis Stevenson, Narrated by Scott Brick (Tantor Audio)

Check out the entire Sync schedule.

  • Amazon’s new Kindle program–Kindleunlimited

Jane @Dear Author wrote about this new program this week and gives a good synopsis. I’m very tempted! What do you think?

I wish it was going to be part of Amazon Prime since that has increased in price. It will cost $9.99 a month. It doesn’t have any of the big publishers’ books so I’m going to have to get an idea how many books I would be interested in.

Next Week

Home & blog

We’re on our way home on Monday. We had a great time in Seattle. I have another trip coming up at the end of the month so lots to do when I get home. I don’t usually travel this much. Some of the trips were last minute and some planned several months ago.

Posts

  • Top Ten Tuesday
  • Review: The Golden City by Danielle L. Jensen
  • Review: Splintered by A. G. Howard
  • Sunday Post

What books did you collect last week? What are you planning next week?

Saturday Shorts: Seattle & Snowpiercer

saturday-shorts

My husband and I are in Seattle visiting his sister and her family. The weather is beautiful. We’ve seen Mt. Rainier everyday and we explore Seattle while everyone else has to work! We had lunch in a little neighborhood with about three blocks of shops, cafes and an old movie theater.

My husband noticed a movie was showing he’d read about–Snowpiercer. I hadn’t read or heard anything about it, but it sounded interesting when he talked about it…a train which has traveled around the world for 18 years with what is left of humanity. The poor people are at the back of the train trying to survive and the rich are at the front of the train living in luxury.

Snowpiercer02

 

Synopsis from IMDb:

Set in a future where a failed climate-change experiment kills all life on the planet except for a lucky few who boarded the Snowpiercer, a train that travels around the globe, where a class system emerges.

Director: Joon-ho Bong

Starring: Chris Evans, Jamie Bell, Tilda Swinton, Kang-ho Song

Chris Evans (The Avengers, Captain America) plays Curtis who leads the rebellion; Tilda Swinton is very good as a “minister” in charge of keeping order on the train, i.e., “everyone in their place.”

We don’t see movies in the theater very often so this was a treat. It was a weekday afternoon and we were two of the five people in the theater!

The movie is a post-apocalyptic class war on board a train! It has a bit of violence, but that didn’t bother me too much. I guess I didn’t feel too invested in the characters. I felt removed from them…as the first class passengers at the front of the train obviously felt. I enjoyed the movie. It ends rather ambiguously as a lot of science fiction does, but thought-provoking and entertaining.

In the movie we see the inside of only about 20 train cars, but the graphic novel has many more.

Adapted from a French graphic novel that took 30 years to translate into English.

Snow2

 

snowpiercer-vol-1

 

The first volume Snowpiercer, Vol 1: The Escape was published in January 2014 by Titan Comics.

I love the retro look of these images.