The Crisis of X and the Curse of Netflix

Hello Internet,

As you may know I am participating in the #LitsyAtoZ book challenge in 2017, (to learn more about it check out some other posts like this one or this one.) The gist is 26 books, with the titles corresponding with a letter of the alphabet, and our English alphabet has some pretty weird letters; namely the letter X. X is weird and random and sounds like an E or a Z depending on how you say it or how something is spelled. However! I proved successful in my endeavor to find a book beginning with X, the lucky winner was/is Xanadu by John Mann. I was able to find a high quality copy for only a few bucks off of Thrift Books (which is amazeballs) and waited to receive my holy grail. First I got a Spanish edition of "Prisoner of Heaven" by Carlos Zafron, a truly fantastic novel I already own in English. After they corrected their error I did in fact get the book I'd ordered. With one very small exception, the title had changed. When ordered it was a lovely gold cover that bore the name XANADU by John Mann, and this is not what I got.

Turns out that Xanadu became the source material for the show on Netflix about Marco Polo and his adventures. Yay for the author, but it has left me in a pickle. Can I continue using this book because it can be found under the right letter? Do I find a new X book because the new title doesn't match? Silly as it seems I'm quite flustered by this. I feel like I could get away with it, in the manner that Starbucks gets away with having you pay for $5 worth of coffee, but giving you a cup that wasn't quite full because of "foam" or "whipped cream". Technically it was what you asked for and wanted, but you somehow still wound up gypped.

Thankfully I have time before I'll read my Marco Polo book, and maybe I'll replace it with a different X book, maybe this one will fit in somewhere else in the midst of all these challenges. Maybe I'll let it stay where X marked its spot in the first place.

Who really knows? The Shadow?

-BrainyHeroine

The Insta List

Morning All,

Today is the last Wednesday of the ridiculous year of 2016; and last night I found a book challenge list on Instagram that blends in beautifully with all the other #LitGoals for 2017 and will be simple enough to incorporate. This is listed as the 2017 Reading Challenge: Reading for Fun: Put the oomph back in your reading life! (Do people lose the oomph? Is that a thing? Should I worry about that?) 

The challenges are as follows: 

• A book you chose for the cover
• A book with a reputation for being un-put-down-able
• A book set somewhere you've never been but would like to visit
• A book you've already read
• A juicy memoir
• A book about books or reading
• A book in a genre you usually avoid
• A book you don't want to admit you're dying to read
• A book in the backlist of a new favorite author 
• A book recommended by someone with great taste
• A book you were excited to buy or borrow but haven't read yet
• A book about a topic or subject you already love

Hmm... On second thought this may be tougher than I imagined, how do I pick ONE book I'm excited to read or borrow and haven't read? 

Can't wait to see how this one turns out! 

#TTYL

-BrainyHeroine

Book Riot's 2017 Read Harder Challenge!

I'm crazy excited for this one! When I saw the categories for this years challenge I knew that it would actually be difficult for me to do. I love my "book ruts", I read what I like and I know I tend to like a limited scope of books. The beauty of this challenge though is that in order to complete it I have no choice but to expand my horizons, bookishly speaking.

The list is as follows:

• Read a book about sports
• Read a debut novel
• Read a book about books
• Read a book set in Central or South America written by a Central or South American author
• Read a book by an immigrant or with a central immigration narrative
• Read an all-ages comic
• Read a book published between 1900 and 1950
• Read a travel memoir
• Read a book you've read before
• Read a book that is set within 100 miles of your location
• Read a book that is set more than 5000 miles from your location
• Read a fantasy novel
• Read a nonfiction book about technology
• Read a book about war
• Read a YA or middle grade novel by an author who identifies as LGBTQ+
• Read a book that has been banned or frequently challenged in your country
• Read a classic by an author of color
• Read a superhero comic with a female lead
• Read a book in which a character of color goes on a spiritual journey.
• Read an LGBTQ+ romance novel. 
• Read a book published by a micropress
• Read a collection of stories by a woman
• Read a collection of poetry in translation on a theme other than love
• Read a book wherein all point-of-view characters are people of color

See what I mean? 

-BrainyHeroine