BBAW: Introducing Annabel!

Posted on February 16, 2016 by Thistle

BBAWWelcome to Day 2 of Book Blogger Appreciation Week! Today, I’m interviewing Annabel from Annabel’s House of Books. Annabel’s blog is new-to-me, so I’m going to let her do most of the talking here:

Annabel1. Tell us a little about yourself and one thing that makes you unique.
I know I’m not the only scientist that writes a book blog, but I don’t know many of us. (Materials Science by the way – a mix of chem/phys/eng applied to the properties of stuff). I’ve been a voracious reader since childhood, and could have gone the arts route, but my pragmatic and curious scientific side won out career wise. I worked for a chemical giant for years, but now work in a school as lab technician, supporting science lessons.

2. Tell us a little about your blog and one thing that makes it unique.
I hope my USP is variety – I think I read a wider variety of books than virtually anyone else I know – from Westerns to Biographies, spy thrillers to prize-winning literature. I will try reading virtually anything except schlocky romances.

3. What are you favorite things to see in books?
I’m a big fan of hardbacks, or posh paperbacks with French flaps.

4. What are some of your bookish pet peeves?
When you buy a second-hand book which is advertised as Very Good but doesn’t meet the condition guidelines. My biggest peeve is cracked spines on paperbacks and too often books are misdescribed and have cracked spines and not mentioned.

5. What’s your Harry Potter house?
When I last did the Pottermore test, I came out as Gryffindor, but they’ve changed it recently… I must have another go. [Amanda’s note: Later, Annabel informed me that the new Pottermore test put her in Ravenclaw!]

6. If you were to dress up as a fictional character, any fictional character, which would it be?
I’ve done Hermione Grainger for World Book Day at school before. I knitted a scarf in Gryffindor colours and have a black robe. More fun would be Bellatrix Lestrange with wild hair! [Amanda’s note: This is frickin’ awesome and I wish I had a picture!!!]

7. Have you ever gotten to meet up with fellow book bloggers? What would be your dream blogger meetup?
Apart from my own blog, I co-edit a quarterly literary mag called Shiny New Books – with three other book bloggers. The day we finally got together in person after Skyping was lovely – We had afternoon tea at the Wolsey (posh eatery in the West End). We’ve had a couple of larger book-blogger meet-ups before which went OK. I often meet a few blogging friends at publishers dos in London though.  It would be lovely to arrange a UK book-bloggers meet again.

8. What are some of your non-bookish interests?
Obviously my daughter comes first, then the cats. I love films, theatre and art – but don’t get to go out enough. I’m a bit of a quiz fiend – very competitive when I get the chance!

9. Name a book (or two) that you’d readily recommend.
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes – simply wonderful thought-provoking SF with a very human heart. The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey and The Girl with Glass Feet by Ali Shaw – both have fairy-tale aspects seamlessly wound into wonderful stories.

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(Annabel’s five-star books!)

10. Name a blog (or two) that you’d readily recommend.
A Life in Books,  Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings, The Age of Uncertainty, Lonesome Reader, Elle Thinks

Thanks so much for talking with me, Annabel – and it’s wonderful to meet you!

Posted in Book Talk | Tagged | 16 Comments

BBAW: Me in Five Books

Posted on February 15, 2016 by Thistle

BBAWIt’s time!! Book Blogger Appreciation Week is back, and it’s finally time to dive into the festivities!

Day 1: Introduce yourself by telling us about five books that represent you as a person or your interests/lifestyle.

First off, let me take a quick moment to say hello! I’m Amanda, and I’ve been blogging now for eight years (as of yesterday!). I’m the sort of person who takes a prompt like today’s as a challenge, and I will attempt to tell you all about me and my interests using just five books!

final-empire1. Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson: I read adult books and love fantasy, especially when it involves heavy character development, great world-building, lots of philosophy, and dynamic friendships. Additionally, I’m a writer who discovered Sanderson through National Novel Writing Month. As an author, he speaks about writing the same way I think of it, and does the same sort of cross-book referencing that I do, which I love! Furthermore, I’m interested in theology and psychology (especially related to trauma), both explored in the Mistborn series.

2. The Painted Veil by William Somerset Maugham: Classics are my first love and what drew me into bookwormhood. This one is filled with some of my favorites: travel, world cultures, self-discovery, theology, and psychology. Plus, I feel deeply connected to a very Slytherin-like character, as I am a fellow Slytherin!

ravenboys3. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater: I also love to read YA, especially when there are fantasy elements involved. I’ve always enjoyed occult-related things, and have been reading tarot since long before I discovered this series. Plus, this is a book I became obsessed with, and read many times in a row (something I’ve termed “multi-reading,” and which appeals to me greatly!).

4. All Joy and No Fun by Jennifer Senior: Only about 10% of my reading is made up of nonfiction, but I still enjoy it in moderate quantities. I especially like nonfiction I can related to on a personal level, like this psychological and sociological look at the struggles of modern parenthood. Being a mother of three and stay at home mom who couldn’t be further from the norm in either of those roles, I particularly connected with this book.

Firstborn-Lorie-Ann-Grover5. Firstborn by Lorie Ann Grover: Last but not least, I love to read books related to gender and sexuality. Being bisexual and agender myself makes both of these topics of particular interest to me, in addition to having many friends and family all along the gender/sexuality spectrum. I’ve been an LGBTQ-rights activist for most of my life, and used to run the LGBTQ reading challenge, back when reading challenges were a thing.

There you have it…and let’s just hope the rest of this week’s posts will be a bit more concise!! Ha! I’m a talker…

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Sunday Coffee – Eight Years

Posted on February 14, 2016 by Thistle

IMG_3987On February 14, 2008, in a fit of jet-lag-induced insomnia at 4:00 am, I created my first blog. The very next day, I wrote my first book review. Back then, I knew nothing of book blogs or blog communities. I’d never kept a book journal or tracked what/when I read. Words like GoodReads and Book Depository and Paperback Swap were foreign language. On that first blog, I wrote at random about many things that interested me, for an audience of under ten, all good friends and family.

Eight years later, I’ve shuffled through many blogs. I’ve changed reading habits more times than I can count. I’ve met bloggers from all over the world, and count some of them among my best friends. I’ve discovered authors and genres and things I never would have seen without the book blogging community.

Things haven’t always been easy, and I haven’t always been consistent. Tastes change, focuses change, posting frequencies change, priorities change, hell even URLs change! But eight years and over 800 reviews in, there’s one thing that stays the same: I love this place, I love all of you, and I love book blogging! And what better way to celebrate? Book Blogger Appreciation Week begins tomorrow!!!!! Yay!!!!!

Posted in Book Talk, Personal | Tagged | 8 Comments

Stars Above, by Marissa Meyer

Posted on February 12, 2016 by Thistle

stars aboveStars Above is a collection of nine short stories related to Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles. The stories are in roughly chronological order, starting with some prequels and ending with (essentially) epilogues to the series. Each is from a different point of view, giving depth and backstory to many of the characters.

Honestly, I’m always a bit leery about collections like these. They’re usually either really good, or really not good. Happily, Stars Above is on the fantastic side! I loved every single story, even those few that have been digitally released over the last couple years and were rereads for me. I feel like a broken record saying it, but reading this makes me want to go back and relive the entire Lunar Chronicles.

Funny story: When I got this book from the library, my oldest son (15 years old) made a snarky comment about milking a series for all the money it can make. I can see his point, sure, and yeah, if a book like this can sell, that’s more money for everyone involved. However, I don’t see this book – or many others like it – in a snarky way. I see this as a way for fans of beloved characters to spend more time with those characters, to learn more about them and see more of their world. I see this as a way for an author to reveal all the careful backstory and planning that they put into these people and this world before being forced, by story-necessity, to cut those story from the plot. As a writer myself, I know how many stories go into planning that don’t make it into the final book. You simply can’t tell everything! And if a collection like this can both help the writer tell those stories she was unable to tell before, and it helps the readers to enjoy more time with the characters they love, I’m all for it!!!

So yes. This is a great read for fans of the Lunar Chronicles. Definitely worth picking up. Plus, there’s a bonus: The beginning of Meyer’s next book, Heartless, is included after the nine stories!

Posted in 2016, Prose, Young Adult | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Mistborn: Secret History, by Brandon Sanderson

Posted on February 11, 2016 by Thistle

Secret-History-coverAs I said in my review of Bands of Mourning, this novella is a companion to the original Mistborn trilogy, with major spoilers for that trilogy, plus minor spoilers for Bands. The story goes deep into the depths of Sanderson’s Cosmere, basically giving more multi-world-building to those of us who geek out about that sort of thing. On its own, the story wouldn’t make a lot of sense. It references many events throughout the Mistborn series, showing a lot of behind-the-scenes moments and plotting. To say more would ruin it, and so I will say nothing more. I’ll keep this as a mini-review, only saying that I’m even more excited to reread Mistborn with all this new information absorbed!!

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Bands of Mourning, by Brandon Sanderson

Posted on February 10, 2016 by Thistle

bands of mourningIn this third installment of this particular set of books in this multi-series sequence (ha!), our hero (Wax) is attempting to rescue his sister, deal with personal loss, and find a mythological magical item that may or may not exist. That will make no sense whatsoever to those who have not read the five books that come before Bands of Mourning. Because of that, I will keep this review short, and avoid series spoilers.

Basically, I had two reactions to this book. The first is in comparison to the two previous installments of this particular set of books in this multi-series sequence. The first book, Alloy of Law, was definitely not my favorite, especially after how much I adored the first set of books (the Mistborn trilogy). While it took place in the same world as Mistborn, there has been 300 years of progress and change, and this read a lot like Mistborn-Meets-John-Wayne. I’m not a huge fan of westerns, and didn’t particularly like Wax or his sidekick, Wayne. Not having characters to really sympathize with, or a world to enjoy, didn’t help! However, I read on to the second book, Shadows of Self, which turned out to feel quite different from Alloy. I loved it, especially the ways that it harked back to the original Mistborn trilogy. Afterwards, I was quite looking forward to Bands of Mourning…which turned out to be somewhere halfway between the two, in terms of liking. Once again, this read as very Western, but it did have some interesting sections, with new information and new plot developments that I can see leading to some great places. So it was okay, but not wonderful.

My second reaction has to do with the postscript of the book. I’d thought this was the last book of the second Mistborn-world trilogy, but it turns out that it’s not. There will be a fourth Wax and Wayne book, to be released in a couple years. I meet this information with the same mixed reactions I’ve had toward the second-series in general, and hope that my experience with it will be more like that of Shadows of Self. In addition, Sanderson noted that in the meantime, a new companion novella to the original Mistborn series has been digitally released, and OH MAN that totally made my day. I had to go grab it up immediately! That, of course, will get its own little mini-review…

Posted in 2016, Adult, Prose | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Top Ten Love-Moments

Posted on February 9, 2016 by Thistle

Today is a Valentine’s-themed freebie, so I decided to focus on my favorite moments of love and compassion in friendship. Some of the following is romantic, but I included a few non-romantic love moments as well. In no particular order:

bllb1. The soft little moment in Blue Lily, Lily Blue when fingers just barely touch from across the car – to me, this was an amazing representation of longing for what can’t be.

2. Vin and Elend go to have their first dance in The Hero of Ages, and Elend pulls out a book. Ha! Not all romance has to be declarations of love. In this case, it’s the fond remembrance of personal history.

3. The entire correspondence between Randolph Henry Ash and Christabel LaMotte in Possession is one of the most beautiful slow relationship-builders I’ve ever read.

4. Cuddle-piles of Harni in Nekropolis – showing how much physical closeness, beyond sex or lust, creates intimacy.

penguinillustratedeyre5. “I sometimes have a queer feeling with regard to you — especially when you are near to me, as now: it is as if I had a string somewhere under my left ribs, tightly and inextricably knotted to a similar string situated in the corresponding quarter of your little frame. And if that boisterous Channel, and two hundred miles or so of land, come broad between us, I am afraid that cord of communion will be snapt; and then I’ve a nervous notion I should take to bleeding inwardly.” Quote from Jane Eyre, by Rochester, and is probably my favorite fiction declarations of love and attachment ever.

6. Siri teaching Susebron to read in Warbreaker – love that is kind, and patient, and forgiving of first impressions.

7. Wolf holding cans of tomatoes in the Lunar Chronicles: showing loss and attachment in relation to memory-objects.

8. Cath reading to Levi all night long to help him with his assignment in Fangirl – this is a lot like #6 above, with a willingness to help the person you care about, even when inconvenient for yourself.

thehostcover9. The way Ian loves Wanderer in The Host, even after seeing her in her true form, showing that love can overcome all obstacles. Perhaps naive in some ways, but I still adored this!

10. Lastly, one of my favorite quotes of all time, from The Unit: “And when Elsa was finally unable to control the sobs she had suppressed until now, when her cries became louder and more piercing and persistent, first one of the diners got up, then another, and a few more, and the hostess hurried over to the buffet table and put down the dish so that her hands were free. The next moment a crowd of people surrounded Elsa in a semicircle, some sitting on chairs they had dragged along with them, others standing. Those who could reach were touching her. With steady hands they held her shoulders, or stroked her arms, her back or the nape of her neck. As if they were holding her together.” Not romantic, but one of the best written descriptions of communal love I’ve ever read!

What are some of your favorite fictional love-moments?

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Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Posted in Book Talk | Tagged | 4 Comments

Sunday Coffee – Zeroed Out TBR

Posted on February 7, 2016 by Thistle

IMG_3950Well, it’s been just over a month since 2016 began, and I’m super happy to say that I now have absolutely no books on my physical TBR pile! Granted, I didn’t start with tons – I only had six unread books on my shelves on January 1st – but some of those books had been there for quite some years. I’m glad to have either read or culled all of them! (With the exception of How Sex Changed – an academic book that Adam sent me last fall. This is the sort of book that I will read over a long period of time so that I can get the most from it.)

Additionally, I either read or culled all the books from my virtual TBR pile, except of course for books not-yet-published. Same for my to-investigate list, not including those books I’ve added since the year began. Altogether, even with new books I’ve added, there are only three currently-published books on my TBR or to-investigate lists at this moment. This, my friends, feels wonderful!

People talk a lot about never being able to get to all the books they want to read. I’m not sure why I don’t feel that way. I do know, however, that it’s related to an active choice of mine not to keep extensive TBR lists. Over the years, both before blogging and in my nearly-eight years of blogging now, I’ve used many methods for the way I approached books. Sometimes, I kept no TBR at all, simply grabbing whatever caught my attention. Sometimes, I’ve had hundreds of books lined up for reading. In the end, the right balance for me ended up on the smaller-TBR side. I only keep books there that I absolutely definitely want to read, and even then, I’m willing to change my mind on that! My to-investigate list is purely a way to track titles that have potentially interested me, to remind myself to look into them. If it gets too large, I tend to just delete the titles.

For me, the stress of having a long line of books waiting for me far outweighs the fear of possibly missing something I’d love. When I have books waiting for me, I have a difficult time enjoying the ones I’m reading now. With nothing demanding my attention, I can spend as much time with a book as I want, even if that means reading it ten times in a row. And it’s not like I ever run out of things to read. The library is a wonderful place, and if I find myself without something specific in my hands, I can browse! Not to mention I have tons of beloved authors always coming out with new books, and all you lovely bloggers telling me about books I’ve yet to explore, and the San Antonio Public Library Wowbrary system, which tells me all the new books ordered every single week…

Posted in Book Talk | Tagged | 11 Comments

Callback: Warbreaker

Posted on February 5, 2016 by Thistle

warbreakerWhen I read Words of Radiance last month, I was pleasantly surprised to run across characters from Warbreaker. I’d been thinking about rereading the book for a long time, so this was the perfect lead-in!

During my first experience with Warbreaker, I noted two things: First, the book was quicker to get into than other Sanderson books, so I was hooked immediately. Second, despite this, the book felt less polished and more gimmicky. By the end, I didn’t like it as much as other Sanderson books. In the years since that read, however, Warbreaker has stayed fairly fresh in my memory. Certain scenes and characters stuck with me. Periodically, I’d find myself reliving specific moments in my imagination. So while the book was not a favorite in the beginning, I grew very fond of it over time. (Hence my desire to reread.)

On second read, I had three significant experiences:

First, I once again found the book less polished, especially after Words of Radiance. Some of the writing, pacing, and plotting felt young. Not bad, just not as polished as I’m used to from Sanderson. Given that this is one of his earlier books, and (I believe) originally published as a serial, this makes sense.

Second, knowing the crossover character stories, I began to see the intricacies of multi-book, multi-universe world-building. Then I ended up spending a lot of time on the Wiki dedicated to Sanderson’s Cosmere, reveling in all the various ways plots and characters intertwine. (Sidenote: This is how I’ve always wanted to write, with coexisting books and book-hopping characters and cross-referencing…I take particular geeky pleasure seeing other writers do this too!)

Third, this book infused my dreams. Words of Radiance was already entering my dreams on a nightly basis (and what fun little plot-twists and side-stories my sleeping brain came up with!). Warbreaker seeped right on in with it, and stayed there for longer than a week. For someone who adores dream-life, this was glorious: book by day and booktwists by night. Hee.

Warbreaker still isn’t my favorite of Sanderson’s novels, but I quite enjoyed my reread!

Posted in 2016, Adult, Prose | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Wellness Wednesday #22: Letting Go

Posted on February 3, 2016 by Thistle

buttonIn mid-2008, I spent an extended weekend at my in-laws’ house. I weighed myself the day I left, and the morning after I returned. In four days, I gained 20 lbs, for no reason whatsoever. This was back when I was extremely ill, and bizarre jumps up or down like this happened at alarming frequencies. This jump came a decade after the start of my illness, and honestly? I gave up. Succumbed to depression and bad habits. Two more jumps followed over the next year, landing me at my highest weight.

That illness is long since gone, so why bring it up? Because rapid weight gain – like rapid weight loss – plays tricks on your mind. It’s difficult to wrap your head around it, and you struggle to see yourself accurately. Unfortunately, 2015 was another depressed, resigned, giving-up kind of year, accompanied by another mass of rapid weight gain. Beyond those accompanying mind games, my brain issues have been compounded by the surreal nightmare I’ve lived in for the last two years. Everything has changed so much, and I find myself staring at myself, my body, my family, my life, without recognizing any of it.

5 wks stripesTwo years ago, I was 60 lbs lighter and feeling good about myself for the first time in years. My children were nine, eleven, and thirteen, in elementary and middle school. We’d lived in our then-house for eight years, and I had a whole network of people around me that I loved. I was healthy, happy, strong, secure, and confident. I had plans to start school the next fall and finally work toward finishing my bachelor’s degree.

I’m having a hard time letting it all go. The good and the bad. My reflection surprises me. I have to consciously remind myself to drive to my new house instead of the old. My  body can’t do any of the things it used to. My family has fractured chaotically with so many rapid changes. My oldest son has grown into a volatile high schooler with both legal and mental health troubles. I’m personally not stable enough to hold down a job, much less go back to school…hell, I can’t even write, and that’s my forever-passion!

books and catsThe reminders are constant – I can’t do what I used to, I’m not who I used to be, life is wholly changed – and still I expect to be able to run, to lift weights, to fit into certain clothes, to write, to finish to-do lists, to feel secure about the future. But I can’t. Everything is working against me. Injury. PTSD. PCOS. An extra 60 lbs of weight. Medicinal interference. Time constraints (so many doctor visits!!). Emotional baggage. Family baggage. And so on.

I want to let go. I want to forget the nightmares of the last two years, but when I start to, even my reflection reminds me. Then when I think of what I once was, once had, I remember what I’ve lost, and I cling to it as well. I don’t know who I am or how to be anymore. Letting go means losing all those things, good and bad, that make up the whole that is Manda. But holding on just makes me unable to grow into a new self. I’m tired of the catch-22.

The time to choose is getting close. I can feel it.

Posted in Wellness | Tagged , , | 14 Comments