Space Station Mir

This week's Top Ten Tuesday topic is books having to do with water. I guess that makes sense for a time of year (in the States, anyway) when we really appreciate the value of water, for ourselves and for our gardens. I went with books that center around water or a body of water, and those are usually included in the title, the cover, or both. Happy Top Ten Tuesday! Books About Water The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris--The titular water is actually about a fountain, and it's certainly central to the book.  Life of Pi by Yann Martell--I'd say a book about a boy and a tiger on the ocean fits here, and the classic cover has plenty of sea blue. Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield--Set around a river (the Thames) just like the title suggests, both literally and figuratively. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain--I always associate this classic tale with the Mississippi River, and the covers of most editions I've seen show Huck and Jim in the boat--or just ...

 What a creative idea! I love this topic but it does take some extra thinking. I'll be interested to see what everyone else comes up with. Happy Top Ten Tuesday! Characters from Different Books Who Should Team Up (Or date, be friends with, etc.) Addie LaRue/Nimona--I think these two would have a lot to relate to each other about, two beings who were once people but have become something else. I imagine Nimona accepting a deal from the devil so people see her as the person they most want to see--which means she'll see through Addie's invisibility like David in the book.  Elizabeth Bennet/Temeraire--Similarly, I think these two would have a lot of rebellious 19th century England ideas in common and would make a great team.  Hava from Seasparrow/Miss Benson from Miss Benson's Beetle--They're both weird and relate to animals more than people--and also enjoy travelling. I think they would get along. Ronan from The Raven Boys/Jesper from Six of Crows--I could see them get...

 July was a pretty great reading month, but I got overexcited and have a bunch of new reviews to do, so I'm skipping back and forth between 3-4 books at any given time, which I haven't done for years, but it's fine. Anyway, I finished three. Happy Women in Translation (WIT) month--don't know if I'll get any WIT reads in, but wanted to mention it! Books Read This Month Horse by Geraldine Brooks--bones, art, and horse racing. lot of historical research especially the history of enslaved African American jockeys, grooms, and traders, many of whom were pushed aside after the Civil War. A Gift of Stars by Renée Gendron-fantasy romance set in a complex world heavily influenced by constellations and divine pantheons but the book is centered on one construction site and a couple in an arranged marriage with some baffling stipulations. There's some awkward language and I got a bit frustrated about the long-drawn-out explanation over what was being built and what an unnec...

I frankly don't read a lot of backlist titles anymore (comes with not browsing much anymore heh) and everyone's backlist is someone else's obvious list, but I tried to pick books that aren't currently trending on Booktok or Bookstagram (that I know of), and are a little older or a little less mentioned, at least comparatively to other books in their genres or authors' oeuvres.  Happy Top Ten Tuesday! Forgotten Backlist Titles   The Bondwoman's Narrative by Hannah Carpenter A Traveler in Time by Alison Uttley Your Perfect Year by Charlotte Lucas Miller's Valley by Anna Quindlen Stoned: Jewelry, Obsession, and How Desire Shapes the World by Aja Raden The Stars Are Legion by Kameron Hurley A Woman Soldier's Own Story: The Autobiography by Xie Bingying The Speed of Clouds by Miriam Seidel Fledgling by Octavia Butler The Scar by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko

 I feel like I've been DNFing a fair amount lately, mostly with review books. I feel obligated to read review books longer than I would if they were books I just picked up on my own. That said, I have a caveat in my Book Review Policy  that if I feel I am not the right audience for the book, I won't post a review. I try to avoid that by only picking books I genuinely think I will enjoy, but of course I can't always predict that before I read. Also, while book clubs have been a great way to get exposed to books I wouldn't normally read, tastes will differ and every once in a while, I find a book I'm just not willing to finish. I also want to say no shade to the authors or anyone who enjoyed these books--they just weren't for me. Happy Top Ten Tuesday! Most Recent Books I Did Not Finish 1. Caribbean Competitors by Poppy Minnix--LibraryThing review--This one sounded great and has a beautiful cover, but while the island setting was compelling, I just couldn't ge...

This is the feminist Arthurian retelling I didn't know I could have. I've read and watched Arthuriana from kids' books and TV shows, The Sword in the Stone to Camelot , Excalibur to King Arthur , the Bernard Cornwell books, the Rosalind Miles books, Le Morte d'Arthur , the Merlin TV movie to the Merlin TV show, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Spamalot, Cursed , and more. So I want you to understand what I'm saying when I say: this is my favorite. I've never seen anyone (other than Tennyson) take Elaine as the central point-of-view character, and it's (literally) a revelation. Sebastian brings a distinctly contemporary sensibility and diction to the narrative, which may put off some fans of older Arthurian legends, but in my opinion makes this all the more the right Arthurian retelling for this day and age, and Elaine, a character who sees different versions of the future, the right narrator.  We live in a world with many possibilities, and too often, we sh...

Today is a Top Ten Tuesday freebie, so I took a look at topics I missed earlier this year, and found this one. There definitely are certain tropes and subject matters that can immediately steer me off reading a book--and others that are just annoyances or preferences.  Happy Top Ten Tuesday! My Top Ten  Nine Book Turnoffs Enemies to lovers--From Darcy and Elizabeth to Kylo and Rey, I am not about it. In a lot of cases, I don't find it believable or desirable. There are often genuine reasons to hate these bad guys (i.e., they are jerks or ACTUAL KILLERS), and them being nice to the Special Protagonist Girl is not enough to redeem them. Then, how many of you ended up dating a person you really didn't like in the first place? I never have, anyway, although, sure, I will acknowledge that you can misjudge someone and get to know them better, but I think Much Ado really takes the cake on that--and that's more lovers to enemies to lovers again, which I find more believable! May/De...

It was a good month for reading! I kept going with the Bean series, read books for two book clubs, and threw a little nonfiction into the mix (and enjoyed it). I also started reading Horse  by Geraldine Brooks, a chunker I have to finish for yet another book club this weekend. Hope my fellow Americans had a good Fourth, Canadians had a good Canada Day, and everyone else a happy July. Books Read This Month  Shadow of the Giant by Orson Scott Card--This (sadly) finishes up Petra and Peter's arc and all the Battle School military/political fallout on Earth, setting up for what I'd consider more "hard" science fiction. The Cost of Living and Other Mysteries by Saul Golubcow--Local author wrote a Jewish detective novel, it's set in the '70s but published in 2021 so it has more modern sensibilities. I saw this on a local book club meetup, so I had to try it. Not my usual book club and don't know if I'll keep up with it, but very glad I joined this session wh...