Good Morning Readers!!
It is officially September which means it is officially time for a new TBR!!
To begin with....
My Book of the Month Subscription Box picks:
The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker (WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE)
Cross Her Heart by Sarah Pinborough
The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock
(I super love my BOTM Subscription and highly suggest y'all try it too! Click HERE for my referral link and we'll both get great things!)
More TBR's for September include...
To Kill a Kingdom
Jane Doe: A Novel
Always Watching
In My Own Words
The Watergate
Fruit of the Drunken Tree
Vox
Three Dark Crowns
One Dark Throne
Two Dark Reigns
The Thousandth Floor
The Dazzling Heights
The Towering Sky
And probably so many others!!!
XoXo
Until Next Time,
BrainyHeroine
Showing posts with label Book Monster. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Book Monster. Show all posts
Saturday, September 1, 2018
Friday, August 31, 2018
August Book Round Up!!
Good Morning Readers!
August has FINALLY reached it's end, which means it's time for a book round up and then, later, a September TBR!!
So what did August look like bookishly? Like this...a whole lot of insomnia + lots of time off + lots of simultaneous reading + audiobooks
The Wildling Sisters
Still Lives
Social Creature
Black Rabbit Hall
Heart of Thorns
The Essex Serpent
The Dinner List
Ghosted
Sweet Little Lies
Dance of Thieves
Kiss of Deception
Heart of Betrayal
Beauty of Darkness
Every Single Secret
Under the Banner of Heaven
The Ghosts of the Orphanage
And I Darken
Now I Rise
Bright We Burn
Lies
The Death of Mrs. Westaway
Believe Me
With You Always
I Will Never Leave You
Ginsburg Rules: A Collection of Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Supreme Court Decisions
The Lullaby Girl
The Girl in the Moss
Conan Doyle for the Defense: The True Story of a Sensational British Murder, a Quest for Justice, and The World's Most Famous Detective Writer
August has FINALLY reached it's end, which means it's time for a book round up and then, later, a September TBR!!
So what did August look like bookishly? Like this...a whole lot of insomnia + lots of time off + lots of simultaneous reading + audiobooks
The Wildling Sisters
Still Lives
Social Creature
Black Rabbit Hall
Heart of Thorns
The Essex Serpent
The Dinner List
Ghosted
Sweet Little Lies
Dance of Thieves
Kiss of Deception
Heart of Betrayal
Beauty of Darkness
Every Single Secret
Under the Banner of Heaven
The Ghosts of the Orphanage
And I Darken
Now I Rise
Bright We Burn
Lies
The Death of Mrs. Westaway
Believe Me
With You Always
I Will Never Leave You
Ginsburg Rules: A Collection of Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Supreme Court Decisions
The Lullaby Girl
The Girl in the Moss
Conan Doyle for the Defense: The True Story of a Sensational British Murder, a Quest for Justice, and The World's Most Famous Detective Writer
Tuesday, August 22, 2017
BOB 20: The Rewrite
Good Morning Readers!
Today is the second day of Bout of Books 20 and you still have today to sign up! I'm working on keeping a list of what I get through this week, along with what I start but don't finish. Plus it's fun to categorize books and make lists.
The prompt or challenge for today is to rewrite a book synopsis from another character's point of view. They gave an example from Harry Potter, with Hermoine's view, and I am attempting to tackle this challenge with Stephanie Garber's Caraval.
My sister Scarlett and I have never left home before; our abusive and monstrous father keeps us locked here as though we were saints for purchase and Scarlett's price has just been paid. Sure, she's been getting letters from her bethrothed, but I know they're my father's lies. I have to escape, Scar has to escape, and their is only one person who can help us do just that. For years my sister has been pining to go to the Caraval, a mysterious game that consumes its players. Whatever happens inside the game happens in a perceived reality, but remember dear sister, it is only a game. I am getting off this island, and if Legend keeps his promise, my sister will leave too. I've bargained my life away betting on my sister; I hope I wasn't wrong.
Okay, I hope that wasn't terrible. It's acutally hard to rewrite a synposis without giving anything away!! There's a reason that one POV usually dominates them.
Until Next Time,
XoXo
BrainyHeroine
Today is the second day of Bout of Books 20 and you still have today to sign up! I'm working on keeping a list of what I get through this week, along with what I start but don't finish. Plus it's fun to categorize books and make lists.
The prompt or challenge for today is to rewrite a book synopsis from another character's point of view. They gave an example from Harry Potter, with Hermoine's view, and I am attempting to tackle this challenge with Stephanie Garber's Caraval.
My sister Scarlett and I have never left home before; our abusive and monstrous father keeps us locked here as though we were saints for purchase and Scarlett's price has just been paid. Sure, she's been getting letters from her bethrothed, but I know they're my father's lies. I have to escape, Scar has to escape, and their is only one person who can help us do just that. For years my sister has been pining to go to the Caraval, a mysterious game that consumes its players. Whatever happens inside the game happens in a perceived reality, but remember dear sister, it is only a game. I am getting off this island, and if Legend keeps his promise, my sister will leave too. I've bargained my life away betting on my sister; I hope I wasn't wrong.
Okay, I hope that wasn't terrible. It's acutally hard to rewrite a synposis without giving anything away!! There's a reason that one POV usually dominates them.
Until Next Time,
XoXo
BrainyHeroine
Tuesday, August 8, 2017
The List by Patricia Forde
Goooooood Morning Readers!!!
Day Two of my Birthday Week is all about The List by Patricia Forde, which happens to publish TODAY!!! While it is a middle grade book, yes I am a grown woman reading middle grade books, the concept of language and its importance in society is so profound, abstract, and intense, that The List does a great job of getting younger readers into that critical thinking space; hopefully it starts a discussion that never ends.
A quick synopsis...
In the city of Ark, speech is constrained to five hundred sanctioned words. Speak outside the approved lexicon and face banishment. The exceptions are the Wordsmith and his apprentice Letta, the keepers and archivists of all language in their post-apocalyptic, neo-medieval world. On the death of her master, Letta is suddenly promoted to Wordsmith, charged with collecting and saving words. But when she uncovers a sinister plan to suppress language and rob Ark's citizens of their power of speech, she realizes that it's up to her to save not only words, but culture itself. (Thanks Goodreads!)
Let that sink in for a moment. THIS GIRL IS RESPONSIBLE FOR SAVING LANGUAGE! Throughout history the right to speech, the access to speech, the very nature of speech, has been the stuff of wars! Cultures have lived and thrived based on their means of communication. And we have ALL been that person using primitive sign language and interpretive dance to find out where the bathroom is.
As I was reading The List I found myself having to wonder why the importance of language has never really been brought up in my circle. We're avid readers, intellectuals, and most of my friends are artists of some form, heck I'm married to a poet who proposed via poem. When I wrote my wedding vows, even when I write these blogs I subconsciously pick and choose the vernacular I use, the dialect and tone, even the syntax of a sentence to best convey the message I have.
Forde does a great job of blending some time periods and genres, this book is futuristic and medieval at the same time, and she does a good job giving us characters to root for. There are some plot issues, and one or two holes you can skirt around, but I think the biggest asset to this novel is Letta. The maturity she exhibits, as well as the urgency of her position aren't to be taken lightly. However there is the good risk that a lot of this book is going to be glanced over, or not even considered. "Everything is a risk. Life is a risk. We have to be what we are. Our souls are not like the soul of a fox. Hour hearts are not like the heart of a sparrow." - Marlo pg 86
The relationships in this book are bitter sweet, and the undying allegiance can be frightening to an over thinking adult like myself, but read The List, and ask yourself why language matters. I asked some of my friends, and their answers surprised me.
"Let's eat kids! Let's eat, kids! Punctuation saves lives." -B. Scott (Can you tell he's a teacher?)
"The written word lets you say what cannot be spoken." E. Savageau
"Language allows sharing and fosters relationships and (I hope) cooperation. It is how ideas spread." - L. Meyers
"The way we speak effects, and is effected by the way we think. It is expression but it is also neural programming." A. Estes
"We are all here because we believe in the power of communication based on love and trust." B. McBroom quoting the #WhyISign campaign.
"Language is important because it has the potential to open doors and close them. It can mean the difference between access or restriction in a modern, global, and competitive market." S. Bilquist
(Seriously, I know some great teachers!)
"Language conventions provide the order and scaffold that allows for common understanding." S. Carpenter (See... GREAT teachers!)
Personally, I find that language is what finds us loved, freed, understood, and what gives us hope. If I can express to you my ambition, excitement, joy and love, language is what lets you understand me. I could go on forever about cultures and their languages, how some cultures don't have the same words for the same things, how some have words for emotions that can't be described any other way, but for now I'll leave you with this, language matters.
Until next time....
XoXo
BrainyHeroine
Day Two of my Birthday Week is all about The List by Patricia Forde, which happens to publish TODAY!!! While it is a middle grade book, yes I am a grown woman reading middle grade books, the concept of language and its importance in society is so profound, abstract, and intense, that The List does a great job of getting younger readers into that critical thinking space; hopefully it starts a discussion that never ends.
A quick synopsis...
In the city of Ark, speech is constrained to five hundred sanctioned words. Speak outside the approved lexicon and face banishment. The exceptions are the Wordsmith and his apprentice Letta, the keepers and archivists of all language in their post-apocalyptic, neo-medieval world. On the death of her master, Letta is suddenly promoted to Wordsmith, charged with collecting and saving words. But when she uncovers a sinister plan to suppress language and rob Ark's citizens of their power of speech, she realizes that it's up to her to save not only words, but culture itself. (Thanks Goodreads!)
Let that sink in for a moment. THIS GIRL IS RESPONSIBLE FOR SAVING LANGUAGE! Throughout history the right to speech, the access to speech, the very nature of speech, has been the stuff of wars! Cultures have lived and thrived based on their means of communication. And we have ALL been that person using primitive sign language and interpretive dance to find out where the bathroom is.
As I was reading The List I found myself having to wonder why the importance of language has never really been brought up in my circle. We're avid readers, intellectuals, and most of my friends are artists of some form, heck I'm married to a poet who proposed via poem. When I wrote my wedding vows, even when I write these blogs I subconsciously pick and choose the vernacular I use, the dialect and tone, even the syntax of a sentence to best convey the message I have.
Forde does a great job of blending some time periods and genres, this book is futuristic and medieval at the same time, and she does a good job giving us characters to root for. There are some plot issues, and one or two holes you can skirt around, but I think the biggest asset to this novel is Letta. The maturity she exhibits, as well as the urgency of her position aren't to be taken lightly. However there is the good risk that a lot of this book is going to be glanced over, or not even considered. "Everything is a risk. Life is a risk. We have to be what we are. Our souls are not like the soul of a fox. Hour hearts are not like the heart of a sparrow." - Marlo pg 86
The relationships in this book are bitter sweet, and the undying allegiance can be frightening to an over thinking adult like myself, but read The List, and ask yourself why language matters. I asked some of my friends, and their answers surprised me.
"Let's eat kids! Let's eat, kids! Punctuation saves lives." -B. Scott (Can you tell he's a teacher?)
"The written word lets you say what cannot be spoken." E. Savageau
"Language allows sharing and fosters relationships and (I hope) cooperation. It is how ideas spread." - L. Meyers
"The way we speak effects, and is effected by the way we think. It is expression but it is also neural programming." A. Estes
"We are all here because we believe in the power of communication based on love and trust." B. McBroom quoting the #WhyISign campaign.
"Language is important because it has the potential to open doors and close them. It can mean the difference between access or restriction in a modern, global, and competitive market." S. Bilquist
(Seriously, I know some great teachers!)
"Language conventions provide the order and scaffold that allows for common understanding." S. Carpenter (See... GREAT teachers!)
Personally, I find that language is what finds us loved, freed, understood, and what gives us hope. If I can express to you my ambition, excitement, joy and love, language is what lets you understand me. I could go on forever about cultures and their languages, how some cultures don't have the same words for the same things, how some have words for emotions that can't be described any other way, but for now I'll leave you with this, language matters.
Until next time....
XoXo
BrainyHeroine
Tuesday, May 9, 2017
Listening to Trees
Morning All,
Ready for my second #BoutOfBooks Day 2 challenge? This prompt was fun and a smidge challenging. We were challenged to share a book cover wiere the illustrations are part of the typography of the title. (i.e. The Water Knife or Mamita). When looking at the book cover, you just instantly know that the letters cannot be recreated by downloading a font.
I chose....drumroll please.......
Something cool....
Something different...
A book my husband would love...
Listening to Trees by A.K. Hellium!
The title and author name are in a sense carved into the tree rings that make up the cover image. While you can get close to the font, there would be no way to recreate it without doing the whole thing.
If you want to know more about the book, Click Here!
Until Tomorrow!
XoXo
BrainyHeroine
Ready for my second #BoutOfBooks Day 2 challenge? This prompt was fun and a smidge challenging. We were challenged to share a book cover wiere the illustrations are part of the typography of the title. (i.e. The Water Knife or Mamita). When looking at the book cover, you just instantly know that the letters cannot be recreated by downloading a font.
I chose....drumroll please.......
Something cool....
Something different...
A book my husband would love...
Listening to Trees by A.K. Hellium!
The title and author name are in a sense carved into the tree rings that make up the cover image. While you can get close to the font, there would be no way to recreate it without doing the whole thing.
If you want to know more about the book, Click Here!
Until Tomorrow!
XoXo
BrainyHeroine
Monday, May 8, 2017
Bout of Books: The Readers Readathon
Morning All,
The time has come for Bout of Books 19!! (You still have time to sign up! Just click HERE!!)
While all readathons are for readers this one is low key, designed for you to simply read as much as you can in a week with no torturous goals in mind. Unless you set them for yourself. Do you boo.
I love using readathons as an excuse to tidy up my TBR, to actually start a book or get off the shelf, and to maybe tackle a different genre. After working all day it's nice to just go home and lose my brain to whatever I'm reading, like every other reader. Yet the motivation of readathons is great. I've been derailed as a reader for the past couple months so trying to get back to that place I'd been in for the first bit of this year is going to be hard won.
Bout of Books also has daily challenges. Today's was to introduce ourselves in six words, nothing more, nothing less. My introduction is simple. "Reading and Grieving and Living and..." I tweeted this and immediately felt like a moron, but it's true. At the moment this is me. Who are you? What would you read this week?
Until next time! (Which happens to be later today!)
XoXo
BrainyHeroine
The time has come for Bout of Books 19!! (You still have time to sign up! Just click HERE!!)
While all readathons are for readers this one is low key, designed for you to simply read as much as you can in a week with no torturous goals in mind. Unless you set them for yourself. Do you boo.
I love using readathons as an excuse to tidy up my TBR, to actually start a book or get off the shelf, and to maybe tackle a different genre. After working all day it's nice to just go home and lose my brain to whatever I'm reading, like every other reader. Yet the motivation of readathons is great. I've been derailed as a reader for the past couple months so trying to get back to that place I'd been in for the first bit of this year is going to be hard won.
Bout of Books also has daily challenges. Today's was to introduce ourselves in six words, nothing more, nothing less. My introduction is simple. "Reading and Grieving and Living and..." I tweeted this and immediately felt like a moron, but it's true. At the moment this is me. Who are you? What would you read this week?
Until next time! (Which happens to be later today!)
XoXo
BrainyHeroine
Friday, April 14, 2017
Fairy Tales and Escape Plans
Hello All,
Yep. You get two today. Tomorrow is Saturday, a day for reading and grieving, and believing that books will get you through it. At least for me that's the truth.
Lately I've been on a fairy tale retelling kick. Something in me is craving their perfect endings and apocolyptic prose. As I'm in the middle of reading the Remnant Chronicles right now, which is a series everyone should read, I'm posting a list of my favorite retellings! Don't worry, they're hyperlinked to their Goodreads pages so you can get some more detail that I am to distracted to provide for you at the current moment.
Drumroll please........
Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge
Gilded Ashes by Rosamund Hodge
Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge
Bright Smoke, Cold Fire by Rosamund Hodge
Hunted by Megan Spooner
Wintersong by S. Jae Jones
Spindle Fire by Lexa Hillyer
The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine
The Wish Granter by C.J. Redwine
Egg & Spoon by Gregory Maguire
Ensared by Rita Stradling
Vassa In the Night by Sarah Porter
I guess when I'm not reading psychological thrillers or murder mysteries I'm reading fantasty and fairy tales.
Oh! And the Remnant Chronciles: The Kiss of Deception, The Heart of Betrayal, The Beauty of Darkness. All by Mary E. Pearson. Read them!
Until next time,
XoXo
BrainyHeroine
Yep. You get two today. Tomorrow is Saturday, a day for reading and grieving, and believing that books will get you through it. At least for me that's the truth.
Lately I've been on a fairy tale retelling kick. Something in me is craving their perfect endings and apocolyptic prose. As I'm in the middle of reading the Remnant Chronicles right now, which is a series everyone should read, I'm posting a list of my favorite retellings! Don't worry, they're hyperlinked to their Goodreads pages so you can get some more detail that I am to distracted to provide for you at the current moment.
Drumroll please........
Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge
Gilded Ashes by Rosamund Hodge
Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge
Bright Smoke, Cold Fire by Rosamund Hodge
Hunted by Megan Spooner
Wintersong by S. Jae Jones
Spindle Fire by Lexa Hillyer
The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine
The Wish Granter by C.J. Redwine
Egg & Spoon by Gregory Maguire
Ensared by Rita Stradling
Vassa In the Night by Sarah Porter
I guess when I'm not reading psychological thrillers or murder mysteries I'm reading fantasty and fairy tales.
Oh! And the Remnant Chronciles: The Kiss of Deception, The Heart of Betrayal, The Beauty of Darkness. All by Mary E. Pearson. Read them!
Until next time,
XoXo
BrainyHeroine
Read This
Hello All,
Sorry for the month of nothingness. My father died last month and to be honest I haven't processed that yet. It's slowly hitting in stages and at awkward times, which means the mourning and grief of his loss are an ever constant presence; just like he was.
I've been trying to keep up with my reading challenges but right now that feels impossible. Maybe I'll come back to them, maybe I'll try again next year. Right now I really just need to get back into reading.
After he died I the first line of America's First Daughter came to my mind. "Sons of a revolution fight for liberty. They give blood, flesh, limbs, their very lives. But daughters... we sacrifice our eternal souls. This I am sure of, as I stand in the quiet emptiness of my father's private chambers. I'm here now because my father is dead and buried. And I'm left to make sense of it all." And well, that's what I'm trying to do.
As a reader selecting the books to read while grieving is harder than you'd think. Not every book fits and most of the ones for women who lost their fathers don't apply to my life or my relationship with him. Below is the list I've begun to cultivate to read my way through this; and I'm still looking to add to it.
Dune by Frank Herbert
The Once and Future King by T.H. White
H is for Hawk by Helen MacDonald
Smoke Gets in your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty
Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone
Lincoln in the Bardo by Geroge Saunders
The Nix by Nathan Hill
Until next time,
XoXo
BrainyHeroine
Sorry for the month of nothingness. My father died last month and to be honest I haven't processed that yet. It's slowly hitting in stages and at awkward times, which means the mourning and grief of his loss are an ever constant presence; just like he was.
I've been trying to keep up with my reading challenges but right now that feels impossible. Maybe I'll come back to them, maybe I'll try again next year. Right now I really just need to get back into reading.
After he died I the first line of America's First Daughter came to my mind. "Sons of a revolution fight for liberty. They give blood, flesh, limbs, their very lives. But daughters... we sacrifice our eternal souls. This I am sure of, as I stand in the quiet emptiness of my father's private chambers. I'm here now because my father is dead and buried. And I'm left to make sense of it all." And well, that's what I'm trying to do.
As a reader selecting the books to read while grieving is harder than you'd think. Not every book fits and most of the ones for women who lost their fathers don't apply to my life or my relationship with him. Below is the list I've begun to cultivate to read my way through this; and I'm still looking to add to it.
Dune by Frank Herbert
The Once and Future King by T.H. White
H is for Hawk by Helen MacDonald
Smoke Gets in your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty
Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone
Lincoln in the Bardo by Geroge Saunders
The Nix by Nathan Hill
Until next time,
XoXo
BrainyHeroine
Saturday, February 4, 2017
A Bookworm's Dilemma
Morning Everybody!
And a very happy Saturday to you all.
This morning I'm in a bit if a moral and ethical dilemma. Yes, that can happen to a bookworm, and yes it involves books. Well, it involves the Simon and Schuster publishing house.
Recently they gave a book deal to someone I equate to being an infuriating pile of literal trash. The kind you happily toss into the dumpster and then set the dumpster on fire.
Now I will happily defend the protected right of free speech, even when I don't agree with a word you are saying. Where my personal line comes in is when your speech turns hateful and incites violence.
S&S also recently said that they would not publish this persons hate speech, but would move forward in publishing the book. They have received a TON of opposition and I haven't seen much support of their decision. (Okay any, I haven't seen any support.)
As a publishing house I believe they need to be held to a standard and on one hand they meet those standards. They are publishing material provoking thought and discussion. On the other hand they have lost authors because of the flaming dumpster they agreed to publish.
This morning I went to purchase a $2 Kindle book that sounded like an amusing and easy read. I saw the publisher. I haven't purchased it, I may end up buying it, I may pass on it and hope I find it at a used book store. I love books. I love that S&S isn't afraid to push the limits of society over a cliff. I just don't know if I can support it.
Till next time,
Xoxo
BrainyHeroine
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