January 2012
21 posts
4 tags
Weekend Cooking with The Baker's Daughter by Sarah...
I was going write up my review with this post but I only finished late last night and this book was so, so good that I need a couple of days to ponder before reviewing. So instead, you guys get some weekend yumminess!
As one would expect in a book with ‘baker’ in the title, baking plays a central role in this book. It’s what brings characters together and, after much teasing,...
Adventures In Letters: The Tigers Wife (Book Club...
“In a Balkan country mending from war, Natalia, a young doctor, is compelled to unravel the mysterious circumstances surrounding her beloved grandfather’s recent death. Searching for clues, she turns to his worn copy of The Jungle Book and the stories he told her of his encounters over the years with “the deathless man.” But most extraordinary of all is the story her grandfather never told...
The Fallback Plan: Leigh Stein
The Fallback Plan was a weird, but enjoyable, novel. I could even say it was weirdly enjoyable but then you might look at me funny.
I spent a great part of this book under the impression that it was autobiographical, which seemed odd because the protagonist and authors names were different and I, personally, would not being sharing all this stuff with the world. I guess it’s because the...
2 tags
A Game of Thrones: Update Three
SPOILERS AHEAD!
The crap has finally hit the fan; Cersei has sealed her place in the villainous hall of fame, Joffrey becomes king after Robert’s death, and Ned’s honor has gotten a bunch of people killed and himself relegated to the dungeons (it didn’t help that Sansa ran crying to the queen).
Tyrion proves himself once again to be a cunning little fellow, with the gift of...
Anansi Boys: Neil Gaiman
“IT BEGINS, AS MOST THINGS BEGIN, WITH A SONG.”
Krick…Krack…two simple words that open up a doorway, allowing the listener/reader to step into another realm full of possibilities. These two seemingly innocuous words have preceded every Anansi story I’ve ever heard… except this one. Gaiman begins this tale with a song. At least, he begins it by discussing the importance of songs.
Fat...
TSS: Being A Busy Bee
It’s been a couple of weeks since my last TSS update. What’s been happening? A lot. My life in bullet points for your reading convenience:
- I’m working full time now (yay!) and we are looking for somewhere to move too soon (and may have found a place!).
- My *final semester* of ungraduateness starts on Monday so I’ll be working away at my thesis again, like I was...
Everneath: Brodi Ashton
Six months ago, Nikki disappeared. A hundred years later, she returns. But she only has 6 months to spend with her boyfriend, Jack, and her family before she will either be dragged into the tunnels by some seriously creepy creepers or forced to spend the rest of her life with Cole, the Everliving that got her into this mess in the first place.
Everneath is one of those books that starts in the...
Bossypants: Tina Fey
The one word summary: Hilarious.
While I kind of want to just leave this review at that… I don’t think I can get away with it.
Bossypants is a wonderful collection of… essays I guess is the best term. Essays which come off almost as one person mini skit things. Tina Fey shares stories from her random and amazing (but somehow totally normal) life.
I enjoyed following her rise of badassness from...
Game of Thrones Readalong: Update Two
**************SPOILER WARNING************
This post is part of an ongoing readalong and contains spoilers for A Game of Thrones. Stop reading now if you don’t want to know what happens!
**************SPOILER WARNING************
So that last section had a whole bunch of crazy stuff going on. Having finally accepted that his predecessor must have been murdered, Ned is playing detective...
The Sandman: Preludes & Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman
I was first introduced to the works of Neil Gaiman when a fellow bibliophile gave me a copy of Anansi Boys for Christmas some years ago. At the time, I think it was too weird for me. However, since then I have become a Gaiman fan. So far I have read Neverwhere, American Gods, The Graveyard Book, a couple of stories from Fragile Things, and my favorite, Good Omens (which he co-authored with Terry...
2 tags
Game of Thrones Readalong: Update One
It’s Sunday and that means that it’s time for our first Game of Thrones readalong update! This event is hosted alongside Jenn from Booksessed and if you have no idea what we’re talking about, you can check out the sign up post.
So far you should have read to page 189. Pat yourself on the back for getting a quarter way through this behemoth of a book!
Lisa: I haven’t...
TSS & Weekend Cooking Mashup: Traveling and Food
2012 is off to a great start! We’re currently in Trinidad, which I LOVE. Seriously, best island ever. This means that I haven’t finished a book for the year yet and I’m actually OK with this relaxed reading pace. I’m halfway through two books and neither of them were for review. 2012, you are my friend.
So, what’s been happening this week:
We’ve started a...
Forgotten Souls: Tiffany King
Forgotten Souls is the second book in The Saving Angels series. This review may contain minor spoilers from the first book, Meant to Be (my review of Meant to Be).
I’ve had a lot of trouble figuring out what to say in this review. Sometimes it’s like that, a book is just so right that it becomes almost impossible to pinpoint what I liked and loved and what didn’t work. I think in this case,...
All I Want Is You: Sherrill Bodine
Vintage boutique owner Venus Smith is stunned to realize her newest acquisition comes with a larcenous legend. Stolen years ago, the antique mermaid brooch belongs to the Clayworth family. The right thing to do would be to return it, but that means facing Connor Clayworth O’Flynn, the sexy department store heir Venus has had an unrequited crush on since childhood-and the man who helped ruin...
Busting the Newbie Blues: All Grown Up
I’m so happy to see this event popping up in my feed again! I participated in Busting the Newbie Blues last December when then blog was only a month old. A year later, I’m really happy with how far we’ve gotten and looking forward to what’s next! This time around, I’ll be filling out the ‘established bloggers’ questionnaire.
If you’d like, you...
5 tags
Our January YA Speculative Fiction Recommendation...
Every month we post one or two books that we feel are so good, everyone should try them as part of the 2012 Speculative Fiction Challenge.
I feel like you guys should have seen this coming. I LOVED Cinder.
“Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one...
And the winner is....
The winner of a copy of the Cinder audiobook, written by Marissa Meyer and donated by the publisher (Macmillian Audio) is….
Cialina over at Muggle-Born.net
Congratulations Cialina! You have 48 hours to respond to my email before we choose a new winner.
1 tag
Announcing the Adventures In Letters Book Club
This is something we’ve wanted to do for a reallllllly long time. Almost since the very beginning of the blog a year and an oomph ago. So here we are, finally, announcing the creation of the Adventures In Letters Book Club.
Here’s the dealio. I’ve made a facebook group where we will be posting polls to help choose upcoming books. You can link up and chat there if you’d...
May B: Caroline Starr Rose
If I had to choose one word to summarise May B it would be brave. The character, her actions and even the chosen writing style: all brave and bold and perfect. I loved the lyrical rhythm of the verse and how it contrasted so perfectly with May’s own problems with reading. I loved how vividly the author managed to create the barren and harsh landscape with so few words. Barely anything was...
TSS: Looking Back and Ahead
It’s officially 2012. I’m typing this while waiting for the sun to rise (it’s taking it’s gosh darned time too!) and listening to the roosters freak out. 2011 was an interesting year but it’s over now and I can finally share my ‘best of’ list! I was going to choose 11 because it sounds good but I’ve ended up with 16 books on my list.
...
The Speculative Fiction Challenge: January Link Up
This is where you can link up your reviews, discussions and other Speculative Fiction type links. You must have already signed up as a participant in the 2012 Speculative Fiction Challenge to add your links and have your books counted towards your challenge goal. You can sign up until November 31st.
Each month we will select one or two books to be highlighted as our challenge recommendations to...
