My Newest Favorite Book #OpenBook Blog Hop

Sept 11, 2023

It’s been a long time since we’ve done this – what is your favorite book (not your own.) Has it changed in the last few years?

You would think, being retired, that I would have more time for reading. That’s what I thought. I was wrong.

Oh, I have the time. But not the habit. Shoot, I haven’t visited the library in the past few months. There’s always something to do in the yard, or the house, or for my WIP. I feel guilty about it.

My next project is painting my front steps (purple) . I bought the paint, but then found out I need to scrape off all the old stuff. But we’re in the middle of a rainy spell, so that has to wait.

And then there’s the project to divert some of the ground and rainwater water flow to different parts of my yard, and eliminate the soggy places. I need to go buy more gravel.

I have accomplished a few things. I dug out all the mulch and gravel from the spot in my yard where there used to be a swing set. I don’t know if I’ll put in a firepit or a flower garden there. And we planted an apple tree and a lilac. I couldn’t get my hands on a mountain laurel, so I’ll settle for a rhododendron to be put in this fall.

But back to reading. I have read a few books in the last year, but none of them were memorable. Certainly, no new favorite. I have failed miserably in my goal to read at least one book from each author in this hop. (Maybe this winter!) And I don’t remember what I mentioned as my favorite the last time we talked about this, so this will be fresh to me.

My old favorites are the Anne McCaffrey Dragonrider books, specifically the Harper Hall series. If I had to pick one, it would be the first, Dragonsong. I love the twist that book brought to the ongoing Pern series. I think I’ve read all of McCaffrey’s books, although I stopped reading the Pern books when her son started writing them.

A more contemporary book I fell in love with is The Devil’s Caress by Angela Pryce. I love the way the story deals with fudging the lines between good and evil. But there are lots of authors I admire even if their books don’t rise to my personal favorite. I won’t list them here, because I’d leave someone out and it would make me (and them) sad.

I’ll bet when I read the favorite books of the other authors on this hop, I’ll be adding to my ‘To Be Read’ list. Find out by following the links below.

Until next time, please stay safe.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Sept 11, 2023

It’s been a long time since we’ve done this – what is your favorite book (not your own.) Has it changed in the last few years?

Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.


Going on a Binge #OpenBook Blog Hop

Dec 5, 2022

What TV show/or Movie, or book do you binge/return to/ re-watch the most?

If you’ve hung out here for any amount of time, you already know I don’t watch TV. Oh, I might stop and watch a few minutes of the news or whatever my husband is watching, but I rarely plan time to watch any show. Last time I did was over five years ago. 

Books are a different story. In the past few years, I’ve moved my go-to gift item from jewelry to books. (And since I retired, I rarely wear jewelry.) 

But I’m allowed to make exceptions, right? I stumbled across the now-ended series ‘Lucifer’. It seemed like fun. Best part was, I didn’t have to wait week after week for the next episode or the next season. It was all neatly wrapped up and waiting on Netflix. (I have to remember to close that account now!) So, I watched it. Sometimes three of four episodes in a day. It was my reward to me for making it through all the hard work and stress that came with moving halfway across the country. 

I haven’t picked up any new shows to watch. I got it out of my system.

I haven’t gotten binging on books out of my system. Hopefully, I never will. My latest binge was a dozen books in the Stephanie Plum series (and a few offshoots.) That put me up to book twenty-two of the series. Now, I’m taking a break, spending spare time on holiday preparations. (And binging on editing The Redemption of Jake Hennessey. I’ve never had the luxury of focusing on editing on of my books before because my day job required most of my attention.) 

What book/ series do I return to the most? At the moment, none. My taste in authors is changing. Or maybe it’s because so many authors have allowed their series to stretch out too long and the books come off as rehashing the same story. I’m more interested in discovering new (to me, at least) authors. (That goes for me, too. It’s time to start writing a new series of books.)

And I keep promising myself that I will read at least one book from each of the authors who contribute on regularly to this hop. I’m trying to develop new habits and make better use of my abundance of free time. The internet is a wonderful and terrible way to waste that time.

Do you have any suggestions that I should add to my to-be-read list? Leave them in the comments, please. 

Don’t forget to check out what the other authors on this hop are watching/reading by following the links below.

And, as always, until next time, please stay safe.

Dec 5, 2022

What TV show/or Movie, or book do you binge/return to/ re-watch the most?

Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

 


That Don’t Impress Me Much #OpenBook Blog Hop

 

Feb 22, 2021

What does it take to impress you when you are reading someone else’s book?

First, thanks to Shania Twain and Robert John Lange for the title.

I’ve written here before about the mistakes that make me put down a book. Lots of misspelled words, grammatical errors, a boring storyline. So, what does it take to impress me?

Let’s start with the story. Please give me something fresh. Unlike many readers, I don’t want to know what the end will be before I finish the first chapter. I want to be strung along. Make me guess the ending. Give me an unexpected hero. How about an old lady who saves the day?

While we’re talking about the ending – please don’t disappoint me. If you’ve spent the entire book building up the female MC, having her learn self-defense and how to shoot a gun, let her rescue herself. Don’t have her lover rush in at the end to save her.

I love stumbling across a well-done book in a new (to me) sub-genre. Let’s say a modern interpretation of Greek mythology written as a love story, for example. Maybe a historical thriller, or a time-travel story that isn’t a romance.  The first steampunk novel I read blew me away.

The problem with this is I can easily burn out the genre in no time flat. So, I might miss a really well-done book because I’ve read several mediocre ones in the same category, and they all start to blend together. Heck, once I attempted to read all the James Bond books and even that got tiresome.

I’m not against reading classics, either, although I don’t have the same thirst to read them as I used to. I find the style that many of them are written in no longer suits my preference in reading.

Back to the original question – what does it take to impress me? It’s a fresh approach, a new way of looking at a story. One an author has put effort into to make it feel polished without losing touch with the reader. The book needs to be crafted, not just thrown together. It’s hit or miss. I can love one book from an author and only be mildly pleased by another.

How about you? What does it take for a book to impress you? Let’s talk about it in the comments.

Don’t forget to check out the other authors on this hop and see what it takes to impress them. Just follow the links below,

And, until next time, please stay safe.

Feb 22, 2021

What does it take to impress you when you are reading someone else’s book?

Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter