Book Review: Go Tell the Bees that I am Gone by Diana Gabaldon

 

Goodreads Summary: The past may seem the safest place to be . . . but it is the most dangerous time to be alive. . . .
Jamie Fraser and Claire Randall were torn apart by the Jacobite Rising in 1743, and it took them twenty years to find each other again. Now the American Revolution threatens to do the same.

It is 1779, and Claire and Jamie are reunited with their daughter, Brianna, her husband, Roger, and their children on Fraser's Ridge. Having the family together is a dream the Frasers had thought impossible.

Yet even in the North Carolina backcountry, the effects of war are being felt. Tensions in the Colonies are great and local feelings run hot enough to boil Hell's tea kettle. Jamie knows loyalties among his tenants are split, and it won't be long until the war is on his doorstep.

Brianna and Roger have their own worry: that the dangers that provoked their escape from the twentieth century might catch up to them. Sometimes they question whether risking the perils of the 1700s—among them disease, starvation, and impending war—was indeed the safer choice for their family.

Not so far away, young William Ransom is still coming to terms with the discovery of his true father's identity—and thus his own—and Lord John Grey has reconciliations to make, and dangers to meet . . . on his son's behalf, and his own.

Meanwhile, the Revolutionary War creeps ever closer to Fraser's Ridge. And with the family finally, together, Jamie and Claire have more at stake than ever before.

Goodreads Ratings: 4.56 stars with over 8,000 ratings

Genre Listing: Historical Fiction, Romance, Time Travel, Fantasy, Historical Romance

Reviews on the Series: Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, Voyager, Drums of Autumn, The Fiery Cross, A Breath of Snow and Ashes, An Echo in the Bone, Written in My Own Heart's Blood

Goodreads Challenge: 44/50

2021 Reading Challenge: #49 Read a book with an interesting cover font (Find the entire challenge  here) 

Book Review:

Hello, Readers! I hope everyone is doing well and getting to spend time with loved ones through the holiday season. This will probably be a shorter blog post as I need to work on my final two projects for Grad School (Yay!) and get ready to visit family for Christmas. I'm hoping that I'll get back to doing more thorough reviews on books once I graduate. We shall see what 2022 brings, however.

I picked up Go Tell the Bees That I am Gone by Diana Gabaldon the day it launched because, of course, I did. I wasn't really planning on reading it right away, though. My intention was that I'd pick a bunch of short books to try and get to 50 books. I think I'll be happy to get two more books in to round out the year at this point. Also, if you weren't aware, Tress and I launched the 2022 Reading Challenge. You can find it here. This is the 5th year for the challenge, so we did some special things with the categories to celebrate. 

So as for 'Bees,' as I've been calling it in my head. I was really excited to jump back into the Outlander world. And because I binged the last of the series last year, I felt like I got my bearings pretty quickly. Also, Diana Gabaldon always does a great job of recapping, making it easier to remember. 

I tend to forget how long Claire and Jamie's journey has been through the 9 books. So it's always a little odd for me to read about their ages in these later books. This book is the first one that really dawned on me that they are getting older, making me sad. 

There were a lot of life-changing events that happened (trying to keep it spoiler-free) that I thought were interesting. Unfortunately, I felt like a lot of it was really predictable. I feel like it was essentially day-to-day Fraser Ridge shenanigans that were building up to some more significant thing, and when that happened, I wasn't really all that surprised. It felt a little anti-climactic, and I was left asking, "that was it?" I was also talking to a friend who had listened to the audiobook and felt the wording seemed choppy. I don't know if I would have noticed that if she hadn't pointed it out, but now that I think about it, I wholeheartedly agree. It felt less poetic and rushed. It was like there were so many characters to catch up on that none of them could really get the full attention that they would have otherwise done. 

I still loved and enjoyed the book. I assume there will be a 10th book, and I'm eager to read it. Bees was still an enjoyable book. However, it felt like it was just a transitionary story to something bigger. A large part of the action is the last 25% of the story, which were events previous books built up to. How that something actually happened didn't seem nearly as monumental as I expected it to. I think there was a lot of foreshadowing earlier in the book that gave it away. There's honestly a lot more I actually want to say on this book, but because it's so new. I'll leave it at, giving it 3 moons, because while I loved it, I also feel that I got overly excited and was a little let down by some of the foreshadowings and rushed content. It made it feel like instead of telling the story to its full potential, the focus was just getting through it and on to the next one from a writing standpoint. 

2022 Reading Challenge

 

It's here, readers! The 2022 Reading Challenge is here! Tress and I both had an evening to sit down together and get the challenge finalized. We typically try and get this out around Thanksgiving, but my life is chaos right now. Sorry for the delay. If you are curious about how these challenges come to be, check out my post on creating this annual challenge here.

This is a very special challenge for Tress and me. This is our fifth year creating a challenge for our respective reading blogs! As a result, we tried to include a lot of special nods to our anniversary. Most of these involve incorporating the number 5. Two prompts use our blogs as a challenge. We also recycled some categories from earlier challenges as a throwback. You can find all of the challenges here: 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021. You can find Tress's blog here. Depending on how much time I can dedicate to it, I'll do a final update for the 2021 challenge either at the end of the month or in January.

As always, Tress created a fancy PDF which can be found here.

I just wanted to say thank you to all of my readers. It has been a good kind of overwhelming to see how many people have joined us in these challenges. I love seeing everyone's blogs and progress when they update me in various social media forms. Connecting with you all on this has been very humbling and amazing. If you want to follow me on Social Media, I created a new section on the side of the blog. It links Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, and The Storygraph, which I just signed up for this week. As always, I love to hear from you in the comments. Let me know your thoughts or how you plan on tackling the challenge. If you post about the challenge on your own blog, feel free to link them in the comments. I try to answer everyone as I can. We designed this so that it is somewhat customizable. You can read it in order or pick and choose what you want to complete. Tress usually is very organized about it and plans it out. I go at it like I do everything - chaos. Complete as much as you want. Any format of reading is acceptable - physical, kindle, audio, etc.

 Challenge

Level 1: Book of the Month Club

1 Read a book under $5

2 Read a book that is under 350 pages

3 Read a book that was recommended to you

4 Read a newly published book (within a year)

5 Read a book that has a type of plant or flower in the title

6 Read a book because of the cover

7 Read a book about a mythical creature.

8 Read a book that takes place in the future

9 Read a book by an author that's new to you

10 Read a book from NPR's top 50 Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books of the past decade: https://www.npr.org/2021/08/18/1027159166/best-books-science-fiction-fantasy-past-decade

11 A book by an author whose first or last name has 5 letters

12 Free Space! (Pick any book)

Level 2: Casual Reader Club

13 Read a book published 5 years ago

14 Read a Speculative Fiction

15 Read the first book in a duology

16 Read the second book in a duology

17 A book that was published when you were 5 years old

18 Read a book by an author named Alex, Alexander, Alexandra (or variant)

19 Read a book about Zombies

20 Read a book with a black cover

21 Read a book from AbeBooks.com's list of 100 (fiction) books to read in a lifetime: https://www.abebooks.com/books/100-book-to-read-in-lifetime/

22 Read a book with the word City in the title

23 Read a book about a musician (non-fiction or fiction)

24 Free Space! (Pick any book)

Level 3: Dedicated Reader Club

25 A book with a title that has 5 letters

26 Read a book published by Macmillan (or subsidiary)

27 Read a book with a title that doesn't start with an article (A, An, The)

28 Read a book you recently acquired

29 Read a book that's been on your TBR for over a year

30 Read a Revenge Story

31 Read a book by Philippa Gregory

32 Read a book that takes place on an island

33 Read a book that does not have a person (or people) on the cover

34 A book that you intended to read on last year's challenge

35 Read a Psychological Thriller

36 Free Space! (Pick any book)

Level 4: Speed Reader Club

37 Read a book over 500 pages

38 Read a book that starts with the letter Z (or has Z in the title)

39 Read a book that takes place around your favorite holiday

40 A book with 5 objects on the cover

41 Read a book with the word Wisdom in the title

42 Read a Dystopian

43 Read a book by an author with the same name as one of your parents (Biological, Step, Adopted)

44 Read a book that a movie/show you've watched is based on but have yet to read (example: Watched The Hobbit, but never read the Hobbit)

45 Read a book about a Saint (non-Fiction or Fiction)

46 Read any book from the Men's Health most popular book list https://www.menshealth.com/entertainment/g37473997/most-popular-book-by-year/?utm_source=facebook_arb&utm_medium=cpm&utm_campaign=arb_fb_mnh_m_i_g37473997&fbclid=IwAR22Eb95uWUC2FVY_Bdn0CtG3KV8-6-IxwnfABCIZ25fMHLM0Tw4Mee2M2U

47 Read a book published in a year that was important to you

48 Free Space! (Pick any book)

Level 5: Overachiever Club

49 Read the 5th book in a series or an author's 5th novel

50 Read a True Crime book

51 Read a book by Georges Simenon (or one of his Pen Names)

52 A book with the number 5 in the title

53 Read a book that takes place in Russia

54 Read a book by an author using initials as part of their name

55 Read a book that has a title in the form of a question

56 Read a banned book from this banned book list https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/decade2019

57 A book with at least 5 prominent characters

58 Read a book that Linz read previously http://linzthebookworm.blogspot.com/p/reviews-z.html

59 Read a book that Tress read previously https://songstress7.wordpress.com/category/reading/

60 Free Space! (Pick any book)

Book Review: The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George

 

Goodreads Summary: Told in Cleopatra's own voice, The Memoirs of Cleopatra is a mesmerizing tale of ambition, passion, and betrayal in the ancient Egyptian world, which begins when the twenty-year-old queen seeks out the most powerful man in the world, Julius Caesar, and does not end until, having survived the assassination of Caesar and the defeat of the second man she loves, Marc Antony, she plots her own death rather than be paraded in triumph through the streets of Rome.

Goodreads Rating: 4.15 stars with over 20,000 ratings

Genre Listing: Historical Fiction, Romance,  Fiction, mythology

Goodreads Challenge: 43/50

2021 Reading Challenge: #46 Read a book (Fiction or Nonfiction) about a lady on this list: https://www.historyextra.com/100-women/100-women-results/ (Find the entire challenge here)

Book Review:

Hello, Readers! I hope everyone is having a lovely start to December. Here in Minnesnowta, we are getting a Blizzard warning tomorrow. I suspect that the fireplace in my new house will be getting a whole lot of use this winter. I'll do a post showing off my bookshelf one of these days. I'm debating if I want to do it for Kindle and physical books. Let me know in the comments if you want to see either of these.

So, I must say that I am glad to be done with this book. I got it a year or two ago on Paperbackswap, and it ended up fitting perfectly for #46. I enjoyed the book, but good lord, is it long. It was 900-some pages, and it felt like it was 2,000. I'm not going to lie; I'm pretty ignorant of my Cleopatra history. I don't feel like it was discussed much where I went to school. Before reading the book, I knew that she was an Egyptian Queen, married Marc Antony, and was known for her beauty based on pop culture references. That's really about it. 

The Memoirs of Cleopatra covers basically her entire life from age five until her death. There are also a few chapters after she dies written in the voice of her trusted physician to tie up the story. The story is told from Cleopatra's point of view as if she were writing a memoir of her life in a letter to her Goddess of choice, Isis. I thought it was interesting, but it was really drawn out and detailed every thought in the character's head. There were many days I could only read about 25 pages because it was just drawn out. I'm currently reading Go Tell the Bees That I'm Gone by Diana Gabaldon to give you an idea. I started it a few days ago, and it's about the same number of pages as Memoirs of Cleopatra. I'm at around 40% done with it in Go Tell the Bees. It took me exactly two months to finish Memoirs of Cleopatra. For the first time ever while reading this, I read three books at once. 

I was really intrigued by the mythology. I have typically read Greek mythology, so it was interesting to see how Egyptians and Romans elevated someone to God/Goddess status or how they thought rulers were deity incarnates. Because I was so ignorant of Cleopatra's life, I feel like I learned quite a bit by reading this book. I'm sure a lot of it was exaggerated to some extent, but based on the author's notes, it doesn't seem like Margaret George took many liberties with the historical facts. I thought the way Margaret George wrote Cleopatra made her (Cleopatra) seem fierce and a constant prisoner of Roman Politics. 

Overall, I really enjoyed the book. If you are a Historical Fiction fan and don't find the 900+ pages daunting, give it a shot. My biggest knock was how long it was and that it just drug on forever. By the time Cleopatra and Antony finally got married, I was just ready for it to end.

Book Review: The Alchemyst by Michael Scott

 

Goodreads Summary: He holds the secret that can end the world.
The truth: Nicholas Flamel was born in Paris on September 28, 1330. Nearly 700 years later, he is acknowledged as the greatest Alchemyst of his day. It is said that he discovered the secret of eternal life.

The records show that he died in 1418.

But his tomb is empty.

The legend: Nicholas Flamel lives. But only because he has been making the elixir of life for centuries. The secret of eternal life is hidden within the book he protects—the Book of Abraham the Mage. It's the most powerful book that has ever existed. In the wrong hands, it will destroy the world. That's exactly what Dr. John Dee plans to do when he steals it. Humankind won't know what's happening until it's too late. And if the prophecy is right, Sophie and Josh Newman are the only ones with the power to save the world as we know it.

Sometimes legends are true.

And Sophie and Josh Newman are about to find themselves in the middle of the greatest legend of all time.

Goodreads Ratings: 3.84 stars with over 155,000 ratings

Genre Listing: Fantasy, Young Adult, Magic, Mythology, Urban Fantasy, Middle Grade

Goodreads Challenge: 42/50 books (Ahh, I'm so close!)

2021 Reading Challenge: #9 Read a book by an author Mike/Michael/Michelle or variant (Find the entire challenge here)

Book Review:

Hello, Readers! We are fast approaching the end of 2021, which means Tress and I will be launching the 2022 challenge later this month! Stay tuned. I hope you all will join us again. I'm so close to hitting my goal of 50 books for 2021. I don't think I'll get eight more books in this month, but I'm going to try. I'll be pretty happy if I get 45 books. 

I've been reading the Memoirs of Cleopatra since what feels like she walked the Earth, so I decided to try and supplement my reading with a book on Kindle since that one is a physical book. I wanted something light and fun that would be easy to get through. The Alchemyst by Michael Scott definitely fits that requirement.

I really enjoyed the story. I thought it was a lot of fun, and I wanted to keep reading it. I really liked the fantasy aspect, and the world was created. I thought having the gods of various mythologies as an elder race of humans was interesting. I felt that Michael Scott did a great job including all five senses in the story. I feel like smell tends to get forgotten about sometimes, so I really liked that all of the magic had its own unique scent. Having the magic have a color attached with the auras also helped bring in the visual effects. 

The characters were likable. I liked the dynamic between John Dee and Nicholas Flamel and how it pits their motives against one another. The twins were alright. I didn't really have any overwhelming positives or negatives for them. I did appreciate that there wasn't any romance in this book or swooning over crushes. I feel like many YA fantasy tends to focus on some teenage love triangle, and this didn't (Yay).  I liked Scatty and her Grandmother quite a bit. As usual, Sassy Grandma stole the show. 

I think my biggest issue with this book is that it moved really fast in a way that came across as "I've got this thing to tell you, but I'll tell you later." The background story ends up getting told after a bunch of other stuff happens, so I kind of forgot why it was pertinent information. It just didn't really feel like a natural story flow to me. When it came to the actual Alchemy, I thought it was more tell than show. We got told Nicholas was an Alchemyst, but I didn't really feel like it was ever shown, or if it was, it blended in with the other magic in the story. 

Overall, I enjoyed it. I'll probably get around to reading others in the series, but I probably won't make some significant effort to do so. I think it'd be a fun read for younger teenagers who like fantasy. It's listed as a YA, and the twins are 15; however, I feel like it'd be incredibly appropriate for younger like 10 or 11. I'm not a parent, though, so take that recommendation with a grain of salt. 

Book Review: Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman

 

Goodreads Summary: The winner of Britain's prestigious Whitbread Prize and a bestseller there for months, this wonderfully readable biography offers a rich, rollicking picture of late-eighteenth-century British aristocracy and the intimate story of a woman who for a time was its undisputed leader.
Lady Georgiana Spencer was the great-great-great-great-aunt of Diana, Princess of Wales, and was nearly as famous in her day. In 1774, at the age of seventeen, Georgiana achieved immediate celebrity by marrying one of England's richest and most influential aristocrats, the Duke of Devonshire. Launched into a world of wealth and power, she quickly became the queen of fashionable society, adored by the Prince of Wales, a dear friend of Marie-Antoinette, and leader of the most important salon of her time. Not content with the role of society hostess, she used her connections to enter politics, eventually becoming more influential than most of the men who held office.

Her good works and social exploits made her loved by the multitudes, but Georgiana's public success, like Diana's, concealed a personal life that was fraught with suffering. The Duke of Devonshire was unimpressed by his wife's legendary charms, preferring instead those of her closest friend, a woman with whom Georgiana herself was rumored to be on intimate terms. For over twenty years, the three lived together in a jealous and uneasy ménage à trois, during which time both women bore the Duke's children—as well as those of other men.

Foreman's descriptions of Georgiana's uncontrollable gambling, all-night drinking, drug-taking, and love affairs with the leading politicians of the day give us fascinating insight into the lives of the British aristocracy in the era of the madness of King George III, the American and French revolutions, and the defeat of Napoleon.

A gifted young historian whom critics are already likening to Antonia Fraser, Amanda Foreman draws on a wealth of fresh research and writes colorfully and penetratingly about the fascinating Georgiana, whose struggle against her own weaknesses, whose great beauty and flamboyance, and whose determination to play a part in the affairs of the world make her a vibrant, astonishingly contemporary figure.

Goodreads Rating: 3.72 stars with over 21,000 ratings

Genre Listing: History, Nonfiction, Biography

Goodreads Challenge: 41/50 I'm so close to my goal!

2021 Reading Challenge: #53 Read a book that was published when you were eleven (Find the entire challenge here)

Book Review:

Happy Thanksgiving Eve, readers! If you celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you have a happy holiday. I am a pretty big fan of Holidays that give me the day off and are dedicated to eating copious amounts of food.  We're not doing anything significant this year, so I'm just making a roast in a crockpot. There is going to be lots of paper writing in my household. On the bright side, 40 days and I will be done with grad school. I am so excited. I'm going to tell myself I will read so many books and work on the books I'm writing. In reality, I'll probably be sitting on my couch trying to catch Pokemon.

Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman is one of the three books I've been reading for a while. This is the first biography I've read in years, possibly ever. I like history, but I'd prefer to read about it as a novel. It's much more entertaining that way (usually.) Anyway, I had to do a search for books that were published when I was eleven. This book was initially published in 1998, and since The Duchess is one of my favorite movies, I thought I'd give it a shot.

I'm genuinely not sure how to rate this book. I typically rate books on my level of enjoyment. I can't really say I was entertained by this. I was informed and learned a lot, but entertained? Not really. I can't even really talk about the character development or the plot. So I'm at a loss here. It was informative and well written, so I guess I'll just discuss things I learned.

1.) I had no idea that Georgiana was distantly related to Princess Diana. The maiden name of Spencer definitely didn't tip me off, and given that the biography focuses on Georgiana's life, it's not brought up.

2.) Everyone in the rich/royal circle in the 1700s had affairs with everyone else. I lost track of who was having an affair with who. A couple of women seemed like they were everyone's mistress at some point, Bess included. 

3.) The London social circles were actually called "The Ton," and this was not just some random thing made up in the Bridgerton series.  

4.) The Duchess of Devonshire was way advanced for her time. I don't know that the movie really did her political career justice. She was a lot more prominent and influential than I thought.

5.) I think that there's a case to be made that The Duke, The Duchess, and Bess might have been Polyamorous to some extent. It's not really stated as such, and many pieces of correspondence either didn't survive or were censored. This is a total assumption on my part; it would just kind of make sense the way they conversed with one another and their living situation. If that is the case, I think it's interesting because it's a domestic situation that's not widely discussed, especially for the timeframe. I also thought it was interesting that all of their children blended into a family (sort of) after the death of all three parents. 

6.) Bess seems like she was an awful person. Like I never could tell if she genuinely cared about either The Duke or The Duchess or if she was just pulling a long con to advance her place in society/secure her future. I have to assume after that long of being at their side, she did care, but the actions displayed in the correspondence didn't necessarily show that. 

I got sidetracked by looking at the available dogs to adopt in local shelters. There's probably more I learned, but I'm drawing a blank. All I've been telling my husband that I want is a dog or to be let loose in a bookstore for the holidays. Maybe some coffee. I have simple tastes. 

As I said earlier, I don't really know how to rate this, so I'm giving it a 3. I didn't hate it. I thought it was well written, and I learned from it. But it's a biography, and my entertainment scale doesn't really work for this. Do I want to know more about Georgiana? Yes. Do I want to do it by reading another Biography? Gods no. 

TV Series Review- Wheel of Time Episodes 1-3

 

Hi Readers,

I'm going to do something that I've never done before! I'm going to give my thoughts on a TV show. I did a watch party with Tress last night and got the first three episodes of Wheel of Time in. I've been obsessed with the book series for a few years now and have been absolutely geeked beyond all belief that it was getting a TV show adaptation. If you want to see my reviews on the books I've read so far: Eye of the World, The Great Hunt, The Dragon Reborn, The Shadow Rising.

I wanted to give my thoughts on it because some die-hard Wheel of Time fans are absolutely pissed about the show.  Currently, the ratings on amazon sit at a little over 50% for five stars, 30% for 1 star, and some ratings scattered in between, averaging 3.5 stars. 

I actually really enjoyed the first three episodes. I knew going in, there were going to be some changes to the story. I typically try to keep up with the going on's of shows I'm interested in. I didn't know what the changes would be exactly, but I never go into a book to screen adaptation thinking it would be a direct copy of the books. Truthfully I don't actually want that. I want to see film and tv makers' take on books. If I wanted word-for-word adaptation, I'd just reread the books. Which I may do once I finish the series.

I really enjoyed the changes that made their way into the first three episodes. I thought the changes made it a more polished story. I won't go into great details about the exact changes, but I felt that the differences in Perrin and Mat's stories actually made them better characters and have more depth. In the books, Mat annoys the ever-loving hell out of me. He's whiny and seems worthless. In the show, I actually really enjoyed him as a character. Perrin's change was the most shocking to me, and it actually made a lot of sense. I think it gave a rhyme and a reason for the way he carries himself in the books. I don't really feel like that was present in the books because they're so heavily focused on Rand. The show takes that focus away a bit to get to know all of the characters, and I really appreciated that. 

With book-to-tv adaptations, there is a lot in books that can be written out and explained to readers versus being shown on film. With TV and movies, it has to be a lot more visual and can't just be left up to the imagination.  I love the visualization the show creators gave to the one power. It's so internalized in the book that it was nice to be able to picture it. I thought there was a lot of symbolism instead of explained, certain things in water or in the scenery. Even some costume choices, I believe, symbolized some details of the books. 

I really felt like Rosamund Pike, and Daniel Henney embodied the Aes Sedai/ Warder relationship. I adore Zoe Robins as Nynaeve. I thought she was so fierce and badass. Kate Fleetwood's portrayal of Liandrin looks a lot like what I expected. Overall, I'm impressed with the cast as a whole. There was not one casting in the first three episodes that I thought didn't work. I thought each of the actors really brought their characters to life. The Trolloc costuming and make-up was A+.

Overall, while there are some changes, I think that the cast and crew did an excellent job sticking with the story's essence. If you are a fan of the books, you will need to separate the screen from what you've read. Otherwise, you're just going to be bitter and angry about the changes. It's for entertainment; allow yourself to be entertained. Trust me, I get how frustrating it is when a screen adaptation just fails to meet expectations. However,  with this particular version, I think the cast and crew did an outstanding job keeping to the heart of the story. The changes made appear to give more depth and make the show be able to last for a lot of seasons. I've definitely encountered a lot of book-to-screen versions of different stories where the book was, at best, a loose guideline. I don't think this is one of them. I still felt like I was getting the story, just in a different way. I think a lot of the complaining about the show is because people can't separate one medium from the other. 

Book Review: Burn This City to the Ground by N. Daniel

 

Goodreads Summary: As Daniel recovers from a psychotic episode and months-long mental health civil commitment, he befriends a youthful quadriplegic named Samantha, who is dealing with life-threatening health problems. When cohabitation becomes necessary for Sam, caregiver, and client both move to downtown Minneapolis to begin a new life together. Before they can get settled in, Daniel is diagnosed with stage 3 cancer and must undergo multiple surgeries. The two navigate the American healthcare system and work towards Samantha's eventual independence, however, their relationship becomes toxic when a global pandemic shakes the nation, and George Floyd is murdered by Minneapolis police officers.

Based on the author's life, this endearing platonic love story is the gooey center of a turbulent world set aflame. Through the laughter and the tears, Samantha and Daniel play off each other like a tragic comedy duo that's hell-bent on finding humor within the most savage aspects of their everyday lives.

Goodreads Rating: 4.75 stars with 4 ratings

Genre: unsure how to label this one.

Goodreads Challenge: 40/50

2021 Reading Challenge: #58 Read a book (fiction or non-fiction) involving mental illness

Book Review:

Disclaimer: I was given an ARC e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

N. Daniel reached out to me recently and asked if I would review his book. I was really hesitant to agree to read this book at first. I have really scaled down on the number of reviews I do at an author's request. I try to put a bit more thought into them than the rest of my reviews, so when I have a lot going on, it's a big task for me to give as constructive feedback as I'd like. However, since this was a local author and the book discussed current events, I thought I'd take a chance.

When N. Daniels sent me the Arc Copy, he let me know that it was not the final version, so everything I'm going to discuss could be moot. This book is primarily based on actual events and follows Daniel while trying to get his life back together after some troubles with mental health and addiction. Daniel ends up taking a job as a caregiver, Sam, who is a quadriplegic.

I'm not going to get much into the characters since they are based on real people and their experiences. I don't feel that it would be fitting to get into character development when it's basically a memoir. I did continually think that Sam was older than she was. I kept thinking she was in her 50s or 60s. I appreciated Sam playing relevant music on Alexa to match whatever conversation she and Daniel were having. Their relationship was incredibly toxic, and I imagine it was hard to deal with. However, because some of the toxicity seemed to be in jest, certain scenes didn't seem as intense as they were probably intended. 

There is a lot of medical jargon and descriptions in the book, which to some extent, makes sense. However, I feel like some of it was over-detailed, and some weren't detailed enough. I felt like the day-to-day details about the cleaning and care were almost over-detailed. However, the aspects of Sam's disability felt a little glazed over and made it confusing. For example, it talked about how Sam was a quadriplegic and how her hands were limp. But then it would discuss how she washed her hair or at food. There seem to be a lot of apparatuses that helped her that the typical person who doesn't deal with these things wouldn't understand.

Similarly, at one point, there was a man in the hospital while Sam was there. He's described as "a man with Parkinson's." A non-medical person isn't just going to make that connection. Without the context, it makes it seem kind of like a judgemental and derogatory description. 

In a couple of chapters where Daniel talks with Janet, it feels like pieces of the conversation are lost. Janet and Same are having a conversation about music that Daniel is listening to, and how it plays out, I felt like I was walking in on a discussion about an inside joke I wasn't part of. 

I think that Burn This City to the Ground addresses an important topic and brings to light we should probably discuss more. This book details how draining caregiving can be and its toll on someone's mental health. It takes a lot of strength and courage to deal with it, let alone write about it. 

A lot of the book, for me as a reader, was telling instead of showing. However, that may be because it's mostly a memoir. It definitely wasn't bad. I thought that the story was interesting, and I cared about what happened to the characters. I think it just needs some of the finer details polished up. However, as I said before, this is an arc copy, so things may change before the launch date. 

Book Review: Sold on a Monday by Kristina McMorris

 

Goodreads Summary; 2 CHILDREN FOR SALE
The scrawled sign, peddling young siblings on a farmhouse porch, captures the desperation sweeping the country in 1931. It's an era of breadlines, bank runs, and impossible choices.

For struggling reporter Ellis Reed, the gut-wrenching scene evokes memories of his family's dark past. He snaps a photograph of the children, not meant for publication. But when the image leads to his big break, the consequences are devastating in ways he never imagined.

Haunted by secrets of her own, secretary Lillian Palmer sees more in the picture than a good story and is soon drawn into the fray. Together, the two set out to right a wrongdoing and mend a fractured family, at the risk of everything they value.

Inspired by an actual newspaper photo that stunned readers across the nation, this touching novel explores the tale within the frame and behind the lens—a journey of ambition, love, and the far-reaching effects of our actions.
Goodreads Rating: 3.88 stars with 55,000 ratings

Genre Listing: Historical Fiction, Book Club, Romance, Mystery

Goodreads Challenge: 39/50

2021 Reading Challenge: #55 Read a book (fiction or Nonfiction) about a topic that's always interested you, but you haven't read about it yet (Find the entire challenge here) 

Book Review:

Happy Halloween, Readers! I hope everyone had a safe and fun holiday.  I apologize in advance. I'm going to phone this review in a bit. I finished the book a couple days ago, but have not been feeling well since Thursday. I kind of feel like if I don't put a review out tonight, I won't because I'll lose my thoughts on what I read. Mostly, right now, I just want to go to bed.

I put Sold on a Monday by Kristin McMorris at #55 for the challenge because, to the best of my knowledge, I have never read a fiction story about the Great Depression. Obviously, I learned about it in school, but I feel like that doesn't count. I've always been curious about the Great Depression. My maternal grandparents were born during the Great Depression, and my Grandpa would always tell me about growing up back then. I've always been really grateful that he passed on that information to me. I feel it gave me a greater appreciation for the world we live in now. So when I saw Sold on a Monday, I knew I had to read it. 

I thought the story was interesting. I knew that the book was inspired by an actual picture where children of the era were being sold. I felt like it evolved beyond the photo and was a story about taking responsibility and the consequences of one's actions. There were a variety of things that happened because of the decisions the two main characters made. The main focus was what those decisions spiraled into and how the characters had to deal with the repercussion.

I don't really feel like the characters themselves were that noteworthy. They more felt like placeholders and really lacked a lot of personalities. The chapters rotated between Ellis and Lillian, but it wasn't obvious who's point of view was presented most of the time. The same goes for the romance in the story. It seemed like it was just there to fill more pages. The main reason the kids were sold felt like a plot on Law and Order SVU.

Overall, I liked the premise but am indifferent to the characters. It was a quick read that entertained me for a couple of days, so I can't really complain too much. I'd put this firmly in the "it was ok" bucket.

2021 Reading Challenge Update July- October

 Hi, Readers! I hope everyone is doing well. Since it's nearing the end of October, I figured it's probably long past due for a challenge update. I'm skipping around a lot on the challenge. We'll see if I actually finish a full tier. Some of the books I read below seem like a lifetime ago. I think I added 9-10 books to the list since my last update in July.  I don't expect to make it to my 50 books read this year, but I do think I'll get pretty close. 

I"m currently torturing myself by reading three books at the same time. It's awful and I don't understand why I'm doing this. I do not recommend it. 

The books I'm currently working through are Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George for #46. I'm also working through Sold on a Monday by Kristina McMorris. I think this would be a good one for #55. I'm also working through an author submission that I'm not quite sure where I'm going to put it. We shall see when I get done with it. I'm trying to save my last two free spaces for something I really want to read but don't have a space for. 

Level 1: Book of the Month Club:

1.) Read a book obtained from Kindle Unlimited, Audible, Amazon First Reads, Paperback Swap, or the Library Spellbreaker by Charlie N. Holmberg

2.) Read a book under 400 pages, The Palace of Lost Memories by C.J. Archer

3.) Reread a book that makes you happy Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers (Link to original review, did not do a secondary review on it)

4.) Read a stand-alone novel (not in a series), The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

5.) Read a book that starts with the letter D Dear Mrs. Bird by A.J. Pearce

6.) Read a book that was recommended to you, The Passage by Justin Cronin

7.) Read a book with the color white on the cover, A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon

8.) Read a book where the main character is a High School or College Student, A Dream so Dark by L.L. McKinney

9.) Read a book by an author named Michael/Mike/Michelle or variant

10.) Read a book that's been turned into a TV series or a Movie, The Duke and I by Julia Quinn

11.) Read a book with exactly two words in the title Blood Rites by Jim Butcher

12.) Free Space! Pick any book! Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn (Combined review with An Offer from a Gentleman)

Level 2: Casual Reader Club:

13.) A book from https://www.whatshouldireadnext.com

14.) Read a Murder Mystery,  Murder in Ratcliffe by Emily Organ

15.) Read the first book in a series you've wanted to start, Everlost by Neal Schusterman

16.) Read a book that has a person on the cover Everwild by Neal Shusterman (Review combined with the review for Everfound)

17.) Read a book where the main character's occupation is a chef or baker

18.) Read a book by an author born in the 20th Century (1901-2000), An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon

19.) Read a book with a form of royalty in the title (Queen, King, Prince, Princess, etc.) The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

20.) Read a book you meant to read on last year's challenge, The Fever Code by James Dashner

21.) Read a book by Barbara Cartland
 
22.) Read a book that takes place in Spring  Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers (Link to original review in 2015. Did not update)

23.) Read a book with the word Human/Person/People in the title, The Legacy Human by Susan Kaye Quinn

24.) Free space! Pick any book! The Deep by Alma Katsu

Level 3: Dedicated Reader Club:

25.) Read a book by a Self Published author Haunting Charlie by Wendy Wang

26.) Read a book for under $5, Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas 

27. Read a book from https://time.com/collection/100-best-fantasy-books/

28.) Read a book published in the 2010s The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness

29.) Read a book from your favorite genre Written in My Own Heart's Blood by Diana Gabaldon

30.) Read a book that has had at least three different covers, The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn

31.) Read a book that takes place in Europe, An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn (Combined review with Romancing Mister Bridgerton)

32.) Read a book by an author with the same first name as one of your grandparents, When We Believed in Mermaids by Barbara O'Neal

33.) Read a book where the main character is a magic-user The Black Prism by Brent Weeks

34.) Read a book with a time of day in the title (Morning, Noon, Evening, Dusk, Dawn, etc.)

35.) Read a book by an author of a different ethnicity than you, Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

36.) Free Space! Pick any book! The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa

Level 4: Speed Reader Club:

37.) Read the next book in a series you've started, Everfound by Neal Shusterman (Combined review with Everwild)

38.) Read a book with an orange cover Circe by Madeline Miller

39.) Read a book over 600 pages, The Blinding Knife by Brent Weeks

40.) Read a book that uses the "Chosen One" trope, The Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan

41.) Read a book where the main character is elderly, The Haunting of Leigh Harker by Darcy Coates

42.) Read a book with the letter V in the title or author's name Mortal Heart by Robin LaFevers

43.) Read a Science Fiction

44.) Read a book that starts with the letter P

45.) Read a book with a bird on the cover

46.) Read a book (fiction or nonfiction) about a lady on this list: https://www.historyextra.com/100-women/100-women-results/

47.) Read a book with the main character of a different ethnicity than you, The Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

48.) Free space! Pick any book!

Level 5: Overachiever Club:

49.) Read a book with an interesting cover font

50.) Read a book about orphans

51.) Read a book with the word "wind" in the title

52.) Read a book by John Irving

53.) Read a book that was published with you were eleven

54.) Read a book that takes place in the 1960s

55.) Read a book (fiction or nonfiction) about a topic that's always interested you but you haven't read about it yet

56.) Read a nonfiction book that teaches you a new skill

57.) Read a book without a picture on the cover

58.) Read a book (fiction or nonfiction) involving mental illness

59.) Read a book that has had unfavorable reviews, but you're still curious about  Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Jack Thorne

60.) Free space! Pick any book!

That's all I got for right now. The countdown to the end of Grad School is 64 days. I'm hoping after graduation I'll have more time to read and also write. 

Oh, if you want to see the original post for the challenge you can find it here

Book Review: The Legacy Human by Susan Kaye Quinn

 

Goodreads Summary: What would you give to live forever?
Seventeen-year-old Elijah Brighton wants to become an ascender--a post-Singularity human/machine hybrid--after all, they're smarter, more enlightened, more compassionate, and above all, achingly beautiful. But Eli is a legacy human, preserved and cherished for his unaltered genetic code, just like the rainforest he paints. When a fugue state possesses him and creates great art, Eli miraculously lands a sponsor for the creative Olympics. If he could just master the fugue, he could take the gold and win the right to ascend, bringing everything he's yearned for within reach... including his beautiful ascender patron. But once Eli arrives at the Games, he finds the ascenders are playing games of their own. Everything he knows about the ascenders and the legacies they keep starts to unravel... until he's running for his life and wondering who he truly is.

The Legacy Human is the first in Susan Kaye Quinn's new young adult science fiction series that explores the intersection of mind, body, and soul in a post-Singularity world... and how technology will challenge us to remember what it means to be human.

Goodreads Ratings: 3.93 stars with over 1,000 ratings

Genre Listing: Science Fiction, Young Adult, Dystopian, Fantasy, Apocalyptic

Goodreads Challenge: 38/50   

2021 Reading Challenge:  #23 Read a book with Human, People, or Person in the title (Find the entire challenge here)

Book Review:

Hi Readers! I hope everyone is doing well. I can't believe it's already October. I feel like this year has flown by. That means the 2022 challenge will be launching in just a few months! The lovely  Co-conspirator, Tress, and I already have a list started with goodies for next year. 

I initially put The Legacy Human on the Science Fiction prompt, but I realized that we had #23 for Human. It also dawned on me that I probably intended to read this book for that one initially. I expected this to be a lot shorter of a read than it actually was. I'm not sure if it was just a glitch in the matrix, but the book made it seem like page 408 was the last page; however, that was at around 80%.  There ended up being quite a bit of story left. There is not really a point to me mentioning this.

I'm still trying to piece my thoughts on The Legacy Human together. The more I over-analyze it, the less I'm going to like the book. For most of the story, I thought the concept was interesting. Humans figured out how to combine AI technology with Genetics and live forever. The Ascenders, as they're called, run the world and basically control how the Legacy Humans (non-AI population) live. I was entertained while reading it, but there were a lot of issues I had with it. I'm making no promises about keeping spoilers out of this review. Sorry.

For the vast majority of reading this book, I felt like I was reading a weird Hunger Games or Divergent knock-off. In Legacy Human, the ordinary people are all mainly creative people like artists or writers. Every year there's the Creative Olympics, which have replaced the regular Olympics. Teenagers can compete in their chosen art, and the winners of each group get to ascend. This is the only way to Ascend. There's this whole political aspect behind the games where Sponsors are getting to use their Legacy as a bragging right and maybe some nefarious activities to tip the scales. There's also a group of the resistance trying to fight the AI overlords and some big reveal about Elijah's lineage. The big secret made zero sense to me. I understood what was being said, even expected it. However, I just felt like the Science made little to no sense. 

I never really felt like any of the book's Science was actually explained. I felt like I was just supposed to know and understand it without an explanation. For example, Elijah kept referencing being in a "Fugue State." This is supposed to be a YA Science Fiction, so I would expect the Science wouldn't be highly complicated. I'd expect it to at least be summarized enough to where the average teenager or young college student can understand. Most days, I consider myself to be reasonably intelligent and have a vast understanding of things. I had no idea what a fugue state was. The whole time I thought it was some word the author made up that was slang for the story. I googled it after I finished reading the book. Per Britannica, "Dissociative fugue (psychogenic fugue, or fugue state) presents as sudden, unexpected travel away from one's home with an inability to recall some or all of one's past. Onset is sudden, usually following severe psychosocial stressors." Now that I know what it is, it makes sense, but I don't feel like the context was there for the average reader. This is just one example where I think the vocabulary needed to be better tailored to the audience. 

I felt like the most developed character was Cyrus. Everyone else fell a little flat and started to blend together. I didn't really feel like anyone had their own individual voice. I had to scroll back up to the summary to even remember Elijah's name. Everyone else has kind of escaped me. I think this is a case of an interesting concept and not great execution. I didn't hate the book (despite how this review probably seems), but I didn't really love it either. At best, I can describe it as ok but fell flat in a lot of aspects. I sort of enjoyed it while I was reading it, but I think I've talked myself down from 3 stars to 2 stars after writing this review. 

Book Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas

 

Goodreads Summary: Meet Celaena Sardothien.Beautiful. Deadly. Destined for greatness.
In the dark, filthy salt mines of Endovier, an eighteen-year-old girl is serving a life sentence. She is a trained assassin, the best of her kind, but she made a fatal mistake: she got caught.
Young Captain Westfall offers her a deal: her freedom in return for one huge sacrifice. Celaena must represent the prince in a to-the-death tournament—fighting the most gifted thieves and assassins in the land. Live or die, Celaena will be free. Win or lose, she is about to discover her true destiny. But will her assassin's heart be melted?

Goodreads Ratings: 4.18 stars with over 700,000 ratings

Genre Listing: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, Fiction, Magic, New Adult, Adventure

Goodreads Challenge: 37/50

2021 Reading Challenge: Read a book for under $5 (find the complete challenge here) 

Book Review:

Happy Saturday, Readers! I finished Throne of Glass late last night and thought I'd go ahead and get this post out of the way before I have to be productive. Apparently, I've had this book on my kindle since 2019. I got it on sale at the time, so it felt like a good fit for the Under $5 prompt.

Part of me was a little hesitant to read this. I recently joined a book recommendation group on Facebook, and Sarah J Maas's books are getting major hype. More so her other series, but this one as well. I went in this preparing to be let down because of all the attention her work was getting. I must say, I'm glad I didn't let the popularity sway me. 

First, let's get the things I didn't like out of the way. It's a YA Fantasy/Romance, so of course, there's a love triangle and swooning where it just seems ridiculous. There's also a lot of needless mention of how attractive someone is, including Celaena. Everyone in a YA Fantasy must be a model; it's an unwritten rule. No one wants to read about ordinary people that you can't even see. I thought the plot was pretty predictable, but it made sense. I didn't feel like any big plot twists just blew my mind. All that being said, I really did enjoy Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas.

The story kept me entertained. At first, Celaena came across as extremely arrogant, but I think the trials put her in her place a bit and made her grow. By the end, she seemed more like just an eighteen-year-old girl who has had to do terrible things to survive. I do feel that there was more telling that she was an assassin than showing, however. What I mean by this is because we meet Celaena after she's arrested and been enslaved. We just get told she's an assassin. It's reinforced by the number of times she's just referred to as "The Assassin." Sure, she can fight and threatens death a lot, but that's about all that gets shown. 

The love triangle wasn't anything to write home about, but I feel like most love triangles in books. It's not that I'm against romance in books. I feel like I read a ton of it. I just want it to make sense and not be there for the sake of being there. I feel like the only purpose it served was to create a little drama and break down some of Celaena's walls. This could have been just as easily accomplished with friendships, as seen with her relationship with the Princess (the likelihood I'm going to pell her name right is slim.) Anyways, I was neutral towards the slight romance, but it went just about how I expected it to go.

I'm inquisitive to see more of Celaena's backstory and how the banned magic will come into play more in future books. I think there was just enough of it in this first book to get me curious and wanting more. It will be interesting to see how the story progresses. Overall, I enjoyed the story. I wasn't obsessed with it, but it was entertaining. I needed something light and uncomplicated to cleanse my mind from how confused I was from my last book, so Throne of Glass fit that need pretty well. I'll probably read the other books eventually, but it's not anything I'm making a point to do right away.

Book Review: The Passage by Justin Cronin

Goodreads Summary: "It happened fast. Thirty-two minutes for one world to die, another to be born."
An epic and gripping tale of catastrophe and survival, The Passage is the story of Amy—abandoned by her mother at the age of six, pursued and then imprisoned by the shadowy figures behind a government experiment of apocalyptic proportions. But Special Agent Brad Wolgast, the lawman sent to track her down, is disarmed by the curiously quiet girl and risks everything to save her. As the experiment goes nightmarishly wrong, Wolgast secures her escape—but he can't stop society's collapse. And as Amy walks alone, across miles and decades, into a future dark with violence and despair, she is filled with the mysterious and terrifying knowledge that only she has the power to save the ruined world.

Goodreads Rating: 4.02 stars with over 204000 ratings

Genre Listing: Horror, Fiction, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Post Apocalyptic, Vampires, Paranormal, Dystopia, Thriller

Goodreads Challenge: 36/50

2021 Reading Challenge: #6 Read a book that was recommended to you (Find the entire challenge here)

Book Review:

Hi Readers. I hope everyone is doing well. I finally finished a book. I'm so proud of myself. The Passage took me nearly a month to complete. Readers. Let me offer you some advice that you didn't ask for. If you and your spouse both work full time and are in Grad School full time, a 700-page book may not be a quick read. Had I been an intelligent human and looked at the number of pages before I selected this, I would have waited to read The Passage. This was recommended to me by one of my co-workers, who is also a huge bookworm. The sales pitch for it was, "Hey, you like vampires, right?" It doesn't take much for me to want to read a book, honestly. 

I'm not really sure where to go with the review for this one, which is part of why it's taken me four days to get around to writing. I liked The Passage by Justin Cronin. I thought it was an interesting concept. However, I felt like the book was really disjointed. I don't know if it was actually the book or my state of mind right now. Just as soon as I got into a character's story, the Point of View switched. There were so many different views that I just couldn't keep track of all the characters. Once I finally started getting into the story, the timeframe shifted, and it was 100 years in the future. Because of this change, there was a whole new set of characters that I had to get used to. It made it really hard to stay in the moment of whatever was going on.  I felt like I was reading two separate books. 

One big piece of the puzzle that I still feel like I'm missing is the why. That part never really felt clear to me. There was a group of scientists initially, and I don't really understand why they took the actions they did. I don't know if it was to find a cure or some other reason. I never really had a good grasp of why they brought Amy into it. 

All of the confusion aside, I did enjoy the story, as I said earlier. I was more entertained by the dystopian aspect of the story just because things had started to make a little sense by then. I felt more interested in Peter, Theo, Lish, Sarah, and the others in their group than the other characters earlier on. They felt more well-developed to me. Auntie was probably my favorite character in the book, and I wish she would have gotten a little more time in the story. I'm really hoping that her journals at least play a more significant part in the later books. 

I'm keeping this review short today. Overall, I really wish I liked this book more than I did. I don't know if I would have liked it more if I had read it at a different time. I'm not writing off the rest of the series; it just may be a bit before I get into the rest of the books.