dk_phoenix Takes Flight in 2019

Please enjoy this lovely photo from Uxmal (Yucatan, Mexico) of my brother attempting to turn me into a human sacrifice by pushing me off this platform. Taken March 2018. :P

Hey there, friends! ^_^

It's been a while... after a decade+ in this group, I vanished during 2018 due to excessive life & career commitments... but LT and this group kept popping to the forefront of my brain almost every day, which tells me I miss it and need to be here, even if my participation is minimal or I have dry spells. I didn't read much in 2018 thanks to my mental health (wheeee) & it was the first year I didn't track my reading, and I regret it. Never again! Tracking always!

These days, I've gotten my brain mostly under control and in 2019 am aiming to make more changes for the better. I'm going to try writing morning pages & starting a (minimalist) bullet journal to be dumping grounds for thoughts & tracking habits/where my time goes, and one habit I'll be tracking is checking in with online communities like LT.

And if we've never met, hello! Thank you for clicking on my thread! I'm Faith, a full-time writer & semi-professional dance artist. I have a parrot. I'm obsessed with K-Pop. I play a lot of video games & I drink too much coffee. Walt Disney World is my happy place. I've been married 10 years to possibly the most patient, understanding man on the planet. I post too much on Instagram.

...I think those are the basics?

And now, the books!

***

January

1. A Series of Unfortunate Events #10: The Slippery Slope -- Lemony Snicket
2. A Series of Unfortunate Events #11: The Grim Grotto -- Lemony Snicket
3. A Series of Unfortunate Events #12: The Penultimate Peril -- Lemony Snicket
4. A Series of Unfortunate Events #13: The End -- Lemony Snicket
5. Truly Devious -- Maureen Johnson
6. Etiquette and Espionage - Gail Carriger
6.5 The Curious Case of the Werewolf That Wasn't -- Gail Carriger

February

7. Playing Doctor -- Cathy Yardley
8. The Diamond Throne (The Elenium, Book #1) -- David Eddings

March

9. The Ruby Knight (The Elenium, Book #2) -- David Eddings
10. The Fallen -- David Baldacci
11. The Sapphire Rose (The Elenium, Book #3) -- David Eddings

April

12. Cats, Chaos & Condo Board Wars -- Nikki LeClair
13. The Darkdeep -- Ally Condie & Brendan Reichs
14. Reflection: A Twisted Tale -- Elizabeth Lim
15. Stand on the Sky -- Erin Bow
16. The Monster of Florence -- Douglas Preston
17. The Serpent's Secret (Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond #1) -- Sayantani Dasgupta

May
18. Contagion -- Erin Bowman

June
19. The Naturals -- Jennifer Lynn Barnes
20. Curtsies and Conspiracies (Finishing School #2) -- Gail Carriger
21. Moriarty: A Novel -- Anthony Horowitz
22. Leah On the Offbeat -- Becky Albertalli
23. Let's Talk About Love -- Claire Kann
24. Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse #1) -- J.S.A. Corey
25. Waistcoats and Weaponry (Finishing School #3) -- Gail Carriger
26. Transforming: The Bible & the Lives of Transgender Christians -- Austen Hartke
27. Outside the Lines: How Embracing Queerness Will Transform Your Faith -- Mihee Kim-Kort
28. Predator's Gold (Mortal Engines #2) -- Philip Reeve

The Rest of the Year, in No Particular Order (and I've Probably Forgotten Some)

29. Nevernight -- Jay Kristoff
30. Godsgrave -- Jay Kristoff
31. Christmas Shopaholic -- Sophie Kinsella
32. Honor Among Thieves -- Rachel Caine & Ann Aguire
33. Sawkill Girls -- Claire Legrand
34. A Curse So Dark and Lonely -- Brigid Kemmerer
35. Ace of Shades -- Amanda Foody
36. King of Fools -- Amanda Foody
37. The Afterward -- E.K. Johnson
38. Girls of Paper and Fire -- Natasha Ngan
39. Ship of Fools -- Cathy Yardley
40. The Border Keeper -- Kerstin Hall
41. Immunity -- Erin Bowman
42. Lifelike -- Jay Kristoff
43. The Golden Compass -- Philip Pullman

Welcome back, Faith!

Hi Faith!!!

Glad to see you back, Faith!

Dropping off a star!

Dropping off a star, welcome back.

Welcome back!

Happy New Thread & New Year, Faith!

Thank you, Chelle, Nora, Stasia, Mary, Jeff, Jim & Rhian! It's nice to be back. I'll pop into each of your threads and drop off stars ASAP if I haven't already! ^_^

One of my intentions for 2019 is "Purposeful Engagement" when it comes to online communities, so here's hoping that will help me stay a little more connected here in the months ahead.

This morning, I started reading Year One by Nora Roberts -- her first venture onto apocalyptic/sci-fi storytelling, I guess -- and it's actually quite engaging so far. The only other Nora Roberts book I've read is one title from her J.D. Robb "In Death" series, which I loved and hope to read more of -- but I was out of the house without a book this morning (the horror!) and needed something, and it was the best option off the rack at the drugstore.

On my iPad, I'm in the midst of Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson, a YA mystery (I think? I'm not sure what genre it's supposed to be yet as it's been bouncing back and forth between the 1930s and present-day, but it's excellent so far). My current non-fiction read is The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson. It's very common sense and I keep finding myself wanting to hand it to certain friends who really, really, REALLY need to hear the message... but I'm not sure how that would be received once they started reading and realized why I'd handed it to them. :/ Sigh.

Welcome back and Happy New Year, Faith!

Happy New Year Faith!

Happy reading in 2019, Faith!

Thank you Lori, Rachel & Anita! Right back at'cha! ^_^

I set up my bullet journal last night... it's pretty rough (not a surprise, since I'm a first-timer), and I'm quite sure I've organized it sub-optimally, but at least it's ready to go. Fingers crossed I can stick with it for more than a month or so. I've only ever managed to stick an entire year with one kind of planner/tracker before, and it was about as minimalist as you can get, soooo... /shrug

Happy New Year, friends! Hope you have a relaxing evening, whether you're partying until the wee hours or settling in for a cozy night of introverting! :)

Yayyy, I'm glad you're back!

Can you tell us more about your bullet journal organization? I'm sort of obsessed with planners. I have a fairly minimal bullet journal—the only pages I use consistently are a monthly habit tracker, monthly to-do list, and monthly accomplishments list—but I also have separate planners for different timescales (daily and weekly/yearly). I keep meaning to use the bullet journal to track various other things, like all the museum exhibitions I visit in a year, but I haven't managed to do that reliably over the long term.

So happy to see you back, Faith! I'll definitely be a regular visitor here. :)

Happy New Year and happy new thread, Faith! Ooh, I really liked Truly Devious, and am looking forward to reading the sequel soon.

Dropping off my star, Faith!

Happy New Year Faith! And happy new thread!



Wishing you and your family the best for 2019.

Happy New Year, Faith.

Happy 2019
A year full of books
A year full of friends
A year full of all your wishes realised

I look forward to keeping up with you, Faith, this year.

Hi Faith! Happy New Year! I'm another one that vanishes from around here for long spells, but this place is definitely a good place to be in terms of positive interactions and friendship and support, not to mention all the book bullets! Let's both of us try to stick around here more!

>14 _Zoe_: Thanks, Zoe! Honestly, right now my bujo is super minimal. I have a future log in the front, then space for monthly pages for the whole year, then I'm trying out weekly two-page spreads for January. The weekly spreads have space for a small weekly habit tracker of 12 specific habits. At the end of January I have a page for books read and a gratitude page. The last page in my journal is a year-long mood tracker. I haven't started my collections pages yet, but that's the thing I'm most looking forward to as a brain-dump space. I'll likely include pages like a purchase wishlist (to make sure I think about purchases before making them), movies to watch, songs I want to dance to, etc. We'll see how it goes!

>15 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky! I need to find your thread too, I remember getting hit by a lot of book bullets from you over the years...

>16 foggidawn: Thank you, and that's good to hear! I'm reading it at night so it's slow going, and I didn't even realize there's a sequel, but it's so entertaining thus far. I love Maureen Johnson's books -- I don't think I've ever disliked a single novel of hers I've picked up.

>17 ronincats: >18 humouress: >19 BLBera: Thank you, friends! I'll make my way over to your threads as soon as I can! Hope the first days of the new year have been positive ones.

>20 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul! It's nice to see you're still here along with so many other familiar names! Hope things are well on your side of the world.

>21 HanGerg: I'll take that challenge! *fist bump of support* It's funny how even when I'm not here, this group is constantly on my mind. With so many distractions in the world and so many other things fighting for our time and attention, that's definitely a sign of the deep impact the 75s has had over the years via exactly what you mentioned -- friendship, support, and being possibly the most positive place to interact with others on the internet even when folks disagree with each other. It's truly remarkable.

Well, I *was* reading those other books I mentioned in a previous post above... and then I realized that the next season of A Series of Unfortunate Events dropped on Netflix last night, and I'd intended to finish reading the series before watching the show. For some reason (probably just series fatigue), I stopped reading the books at Book 10 (this was well over a decade ago, because I was buying and reading them as they were released), but have always intended to go back and finish. Guess this is the push I needed! I just went and grabbed book 10 from the shelf downstairs and am going to go make a coffee now and spend a little while reading before getting back to work. I have a lesson to place for the dance class I teach tomorrow night, but yoga this morning kicked my butt and I'm still exhausted. Fingers crossed my (third of the day, heh) coffee does the trick... and that I don't end up falling asleep instead... o_O

>22 dk_phoenix: That's waaaaay more elaborate than my bullet journal! I just have monthly calendars and daily to-do lists and random other lists and notes interspersed. This Christmas I was able to look back at last year's journal to see what I got my family members for Christmas last year, which was super helpful!

>23 dk_phoenix: I'm so excited for season 3 of aSoUE! Despite having only read the first book.

I hope the new year is off to a good start for you, Faith! I'm looking forward to seeing what you read!

Hi Faith, I'm also one who drops off for long periods of time and am also trying harder to stay online this year. It does get tricky when you are away for a few days then when you come back all the threads you follow have blown up, becomes to daunting to read all the threads.

Looking forward to some BB's from your thread this year.

>24 norabelle414: Hah! Well, it certainly doesn't seem elaborate to me, but it's also possible that I won't stick with it and may need to take it down a notch to just bullet point to-do lists. Putting in gift information is very clever, I might have to borrow that! RE: ASoUE - The books are 100% worth reading, but a 13-book series, even if they're children's books, is definitely a commitment. I still recommend it if you love the show!

>25 Dejah_Thoris: Thank you! I just finished my first book and ate a bag of potato chips for dinner. Part of me says "yes, this DOES mean the year is off to a good start!" while another part says "that's a terrible life choice, what's wrong with you" and honestly I think both are correct. Oh well! :P

>26 fairywings: That's what gets me, the sense of being overwhelmed when it comes time to catch up on threads, then worrying that people are going to be offended if I get to some threads and not others... though logically I know that's not the case, no one here would think that or has even thought that way. But... brains, you know? They whisper things. Very annoying.

1) A Series of Unfortunate Events #10: The Slippery Slope -- Lemony Snicket

This wasn't the book I'd intended to finish first this year, but with Season 3 of the series adaptation having dropped on Netflix on January 1st, it became immediately clear that after 13 years (hold up WHAT ARE THE CHANCES) of intending to get back to the books and finish reading them, it was time. My husband has agreed that we can hold off watching until I finish, so... three more to go!

Book 10 was, as expected, as entertaining and clever as ever, and I slipped back into the narrative as if I'd never left the story world at all.

>28 dk_phoenix: You remind me that I need to get back to listening to that series. I think I've only read the first couple though, so I have lots to read to catch up!

>29 ChelleBearss: It's worth it! Super fun!

2) A Series of Unfortunate Events #11: The Grim Grotto -- Lemony Snicket

One more down, two more to go! This one had some very clever moments but wasn't quite as satisfying a tale as some of the previous installments... or maybe it's just because almost the entirety of the story takes place underwater and I have fairly severe thalassophobia sooooooo... *shrug*

Hi Faith!

I enjoyed the First season of ASoUE and need to catch up. I also have the box set that I stalled out a few years ago. This may be a good project for this year.

>32 jayde1599: They're really quick reads, great for popping in between other books as you go along (and to avoid getting fatigued). It'd be a fun project for sure!

3) A Series of Unfortunate Events #12: The Penultimate Peril -- Lemony Snicket

Felt like this one raised more questions than half the other books combined... I'm eager to see how this gets wrapped up! And very intrigued by where this particular installment ended.

(Don't worry, I won't post spoilers when I finish book 13, more of a general sense of whether I'm satisfied with the way the series ends or not.)

>28 dk_phoenix: Darn; BB'd. And the show, too.

Hi Faith! Happy New Year and it's great to see you back for 2019. I know the feeling of dropping off for a few months and then feeling guilty, making it harder to get back, but I'm trying not to let that hold me back. This community is lovely and I've read some amazing books from recs here.

Hello! So good to see you! I totally understand 2018 being a difficult year and not being attentive to LT as a result. Right there with you. I am hoping that last year was my nadir, and I'll be climbing back out of the hole this year. Actually, I already have with more posts on my 2019 thread than for all of 2018! So maybe I'll be leaping out of the Pit. And I'll wish the same for you.

Your bullet journal sounds awesome and very ambitious. I like the concept of them, and my workout buddy really loves hers, but they sound like way too much work for me to maintain, so I haven't even tried. Hell, in 2017, I tried tracking the books acquired and books that I let go of in addition to the books read, and that became too much of a hurdle. I am impressed with all the LTers who compile all sorts of stats because it is simply beyond my ability to cope. I still rely heavily on my sturdy 12-month planner (with weekly and monthly layouts, plus some extra pages for notes, etc). I usually opt for pretty--last year it was filled with photos of Chihuly art glass. But this year, I was tickled by the planner titled "Feminist Agenda" and monthly quotes from leading feminists. I supplement it with a 6" x 4" pre-printed "to do" post-it divided into quarters (tasks, errands, correspondence, notes) that I stick to the inside cover every week or two, depending on how much progress I make on such items. It's been working pretty good for me. Good luck with your organizational efforts this year.

I read the first 3 books or so of the Unfortunate Events series back when they first came out, and I enjoyed them, but I didn't have the stamina, or perhaps the patience or investment in the characters, to stick it out and look for later releases. Now that it's all done, maybe I'll follow your lead in catching up with the whole print series.

>9 dk_phoenix: Oh hey, forgot to mention. Your friends might not take kindly to you pointedly gifting them with the book as you suspect. OTOH, if you talk it up and gush about your experience reading it, they might ask to borrow it...? Would subtlety work?

Back soon, friends! I haven't vanished so quickly, I'm just in Florida on a holiday. Will respond to you & update this thread when I return (since it's a bit tedious to manage LT on mobile... I really wish they'd get with the current decade and optimize the site... :/ ). Talk soon!

Hi! Found you, have a *.

Welcome back Faith (and enjoy your holiday)!

>35 humouress: Sorry not sorry...? Haha. It's worth it, I promise.

>36 archerygirl: Yes, exactly! I think this group has expanded my reading interests more than any other group or individual. I'm so deeply grateful for that!

>37 justchris: Thanks so much! Here's to the both of us. I hope your organizational efforts prove functional for you! Mine got interrupted by going on vacation so it's been a rough start (on that note: I don't recommend taking a holiday right after Christmas/New Year's... very disruptive to getting back to normalcy!). RE: ASoUE, the good news is that the books are very fast reads, a few hours at maximum, but I know the words "13 book series" can be daunting! If you found the first few entertaining, I'd recommend staggering them one per month, maybe, so you don't get burned out on them! If you're not sure about the books, the Netflix series is really quite phenomenal... possibly even more entertaining than the books, to a degree! >38 justchris: This actually isn't a half bad idea... I might be able to manage that the next time they attend monthly board game night at my place. The challenge will be in stopping other people from asking to borrow it first! Maybe I can covertly warn the others ahead of time... heh.

>40 BBGirl55: Aww, thank you! Can't wait to follow along your thread & reads this year!

>41 souloftherose: Thanks! I'm back now... it was lovely, but I came home with a delightful souvenir: a terrible head cold. Of course! Go figure. *eyeroll*

4) A Series of Unfortunate Events #13: The End -- Lemony Snicket

Well, I wasn't mad at it! It wasn't a happy ending or a terrible ending, but then again, it's a) called "a series of unfortunate events" (lol) and b) it's a children's series. So it couldn't have swung too far either way. The Netflix series made minor alterations for better comprehension and I think it worked quite well... in the end, I'm very glad I went back to the books and finished reading them.



5) Truly Devious -- Maureen Johnson

I loved this book! Except... ahhhhh the ending! Massive cliffhanger! More questions than answers! On the plus side, the second book comes out this Tuesday. On the negative side, the third book will be another year of waiting (I assume) so I'm not sure whether I should just read the second one right away or wait a while to space out the story and keep it fresher in my memory. Ahh! Decisions! I loved how the story was both a present-day murder mystery and a historical murder mystery at the same time, which made for considerable intrigue. Fans of boarding-school stories will find a lot to enjoy here as well.

Have a lovely weekend, Faith.

>43 dk_phoenix: I’m planning on reading the second book soon, so I’ll let you know if it also ends on such a terrible cliffhanger.

>43 dk_phoenix: Adding Truly Devious to the BlackHole. Thanks for the recommendation, Faith!

>44 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul! Mine was... well, I'll post an update below. Hope yours was better (and warmer) than mine!

>45 foggidawn: Oooh, okay. Maybe I'll wait for your notes on it, then! If it's a significant cliffhanger I might do better to space them out. :/

>46 alcottacre: You're quite welcome! I hope you enjoy it! Maureen Johnson's books never let me down. :D

Well, that was a weekend. o_O

Our furnace broke on Saturday during a cold snap (temps of -18C) and we have a parrot... and I was away all day. Fortunately, my husband caught the issue but the repairman wasn't able to make it in until Sunday afternoon, so he spent a frantic Saturday searching for a bird-safe space heater, plugging all the window/door drafts, monitoring the bird while burning off that "new appliance" smell to make sure the burn-in period wouldn't harm Mango... meanwhile I had a show to perform in that night and I was trying to not bawl my eyes out constantly in fear that my parrot would freeze to death or be asphyxiated by toxic fumes.

Mercifully, the bird-safe heater he found was exactly that (thank you, strangers on parrot forums), and the temperature kept steady in the house without dropping *too* far until I got home, so I was able to perform without having my concentration divided. Husband and I then spent a mostly sleepless night on an air mattress in the living room, waking up every hour to check the temperature inside the house, bump up the space heater temperature, make sure the bird was still alive, etc. If the temperature dropped overmuch, we would have needed to pack everyone up in travel cages and leave -- a very kind friend offered a place to stay at any time of the night if we needed it, but the place was in the next city, so I didn't want to go until it became absolutely critical. Thank God, it didn't get too cold despite the frigid outdoors, and once morning came, we heated up our bathroom with the heater, I filled the tub with the hottest water possible and wrapped myself in many layers plus a giant blanket, and took Mango into the now-steamy bathroom where he blissfully ate breakfast and played, delighted with all the extra attention (toddlers, am I right?). The furnace repairman came at a decent time, was able to fix the problem within minutes (when he first arrived he told us it might take 3-4 days to fix if it was the motor, and I almost collapsed). But everything turned out all right, the parrot is fine, we're warm again, and my performances went off without a hitch.

That said, if anyone cares to watch, here's the video link for my solo performance Saturday night: "Tempo" Faith Solo (Glitter Jan. 19)

>47 dk_phoenix: Oh, whoa, what a weekend! I'm glad everything turned out okay and I hope you get caught up on sleep!

And WOW, what a great performance! Well done, you! Do you create your own choreography? I'm so impressed!!

>47 dk_phoenix: Phew! I'm glad Mango is alright and you all survived the weekend.

Nice fusion of dance styles.

>47 dk_phoenix: Glad everyone came through the weekend intact, Faith. Wishing you a much less intense week after all of that.

de-lurking to say I'm so glad everyone is okay! I am bird-sitting for my parents cockatiel, Mango (!!) and I've been a bit paranoid about the heat going out since it's been so very cold. Hopefully this week is less stressful for you!

Just found your thread - welcome back!!

Faith! I was so happy to find your thread and see you back here - I am late to the party, but thrilled to finally make it over here. The kids and I had a lot of fun with that Series of Unfortunate Events - we read them together as they came out. I have a great memory of the last book in particular because I volunteered in the upper elementary school library (grades 3-5) on Fridays at the time, and all of the kids were eagerly awaiting that last book in the series. I had pre-ordered copies of the book for every classroom and one for the library and arranged with the book store to pick them up first thing on the morning they came out. Then Rae and I took them into the school and donated them, and it a was a huge hit. The teachers ended up having classroom drawings to see who got to borrow the books first - so full of fabulous.

>43 dk_phoenix: You hit me with Truly Devious - adding that one to The List.

So glad you made it through the furnace fiasco - YIKES! Now I'm off to watch that performance!

>47 dk_phoenix: I just finished The Vanishing Stair, and while it does have something of a cliffhanger at the end, you may want to go ahead and read it now, while the first one is fresh in your mind. Full review over on my thread.

Glad to see that your parrot wasn't as the bird in the Monty Python sketch.

Looking forward to your updates, Faith, if you are keeping warm enough!

Glad to hear the heater emergency was resolved with no fatalities and you were able to give a marvelous performance, Faith!

>48 scaifea: Thank you so much! Yes, I do. I have fun with it! ^_^

>49 humouress: Thank you! ^_^

>50 MickyFine: Thanks -- things have been intense in every other area, but such is life, LOL. I'll be happy when winter is over, but I'm glad nothing else around the house has broken. Yet. Knock on wood?

>51 jennyifer24: Ooh, I hope you got through bird-sitting without incident! Glad it's not quite as cold lately but there's been a ton of snow here.

>52 DFED: Thanks! Glad to be back! :D

>53 Crazymamie: What a great story, thanks for sharing! Have you watched the Netflix series? It really is worth it, I think anyone who enjoyed the books will be thrilled with the adaptation (which is a rare thing, I know!).

>54 foggidawn: Ahhh! Thanks for the heads up! This is good to know. I'm notorious for forgetting things between books... and I really don't want to wait... so... conflicted... *runs to your thread to help decide*

>55 PaulCranswick: Hah, thanks Paul! Warm, yes. Sick of snow, also yes. I shouldn't complain about winter, it's Canada, this is normal. I was born in the wrong climate... sigh.

>56 ronincats: Thanks so much! Steady on, as they say! ^_^

Touchstones not working tonight... bother.



6)Etiquette and Espionage - Gail Carriger

This was so fun! I'm sad I waited so long to read it. I loved being back in the Parasol-verse, and I found the writing as clever as I remembered from Carriger. I don't think I enjoyed it any more or less than the original Parasol Protectorate series, which is to say I'm looking forward to reading the rest of this YA series... once I get the other volumes. I thought I might join the read-along of Carriger's works, but I'm terribly behind now since I don't own the rest of these books and am missing a few others. Oh well!



6.5) The Curious Case of the Werewolf That Wasn't -- Gail Carriger

I read this because I thought I might join the readalong, as mentioned above, plus it was short and I needed something to read at night to put me to sleep. That's maybe not the best endorsement of this short story, but that's all I've got. I found it left me a bit wanting, which was maybe the point, but I didn't love the characters -- wondering if maybe I'll connect to it better once I've read/re-read more of the Parasol-verse.



7) Playing Doctor -- Cathy Yardley

This is the final(?) book in the Fandom Hearts series. Each book centers around one woman from a group of sisters & friends, and this last book told the story of the youngest sister who is agoraphobic. It was a very clever (and wise) move to give this character the last story, since it allowed readers to see her progression and growth through the series up to the point where she could actually leave the house (to a degree)... and thus enjoy her own adventure. These books are basically geek romances (the "doctor" in the title actually refers to Doctor Who and not a sex thing, LOL, very clever Ms. Yardley), which is pretty great. They're quick reads, perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon (like today) and pleasant enough that I actually purchased each one the day of release or pre-ordered them.

***

And now I'm off to continue my re-read of David Eddings' The Elenium, and prepare two book proposals for novel pitches that got selected by editors during a pitch event on Twitter last week. I pitched three books... and two got selected. Uhhhh... that was not how I expected things to go. I mean, it's good. No complaints here. But it also means double the work, and I have only three weeks to get two full proposal packages together, which is... going to be a challenge. Ahhhh!!!

>57 dk_phoenix: I have not watched it yet, but I have it in my queue.

Happy Valentine's Day!! ❤️💚💗💙

>58 dk_phoenix: Congratulations on your books being selected!

Good luck with the two selected books, Faith and I do hope that fame and hard work don't keep you from us too long.

Have a great Sunday.

>59 Crazymamie: Hope you love it when the opportunity presents itself to enjoy ^_^

>60 ChelleBearss: I'm clearly *very* late on the draw here but thank you!

>61 humouress: Thanks!

>62 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul -- you're very funny! And generous, because if I had any fame to speak of, you'd better believe I'd be retreating here more often as an escape. Hard work isn't the culprit either, as my only current hard work is going into my dance artistry. It's more like... high-functioning depression is keeping me away. From this and many other things. Plus my mother-in-law got diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the end of February (in a rather extreme, terrifying way that sent the entire family into a panic thanks to a misdiagnosis of stage 4 from a CLEARLY INCOMPETENT doctor), and I spent much of the past month trying to be the strong support for my husband. Fun! *insert heavy sigh here* Hope your weekend went well, though! We had one day of sunshine and went for a long walk yesterday, which was really nice and sorely needed.

**

Well, quick update as I'm currently sick with a cold, plus my laptop is kaput (so I can't work or answer emails), and my motivation to do anything else is even more non-existent than usual. BUT! I got those proposals in (yay!) and so far have heard back about one of them: they want to see the full book. So, I now have a choice. Do I actually want to write the entire book? I'm not sure. I thought I did when I subbed the pitch & proposal but of course I'm still questioning everything. I have no idea what's going on with me. Maybe I should come back when I'm not in quite as grim a mood from being sick... :/

Sorry, friends. I know this thread isn't as much a ray of sunshine as it used to be a few years back, but here we are. Life ebbs and flows.

Sending hugs and get well wishes to you, Faith.

(This isn't the version I read, I have all 3 books in large hardcover format with the original artwork... but figured this would be easier to post :P )

8. The Diamond Throne (The Elenium, Book #1) -- David Eddings
9. The Ruby Knight (The Elenium, Book #2) -- David Eddings
11. The Sapphire Rose (The Elenium, Book #3) -- David Eddings

What can I say? This trilogy is a masterpiece. It's some of the best epic fantasy ever written -- full of humor, wit, heartache, struggles big and small, complete character arcs, social commentary, insanely detailed economic & military conflicts -- and it makes me want to go back through all of Eddings' work from start to finish. Just pure joy to read. The third book took me a little longer to get through as the action slows down, but I have no complaints.



10. The Fallen -- David Baldacci

I read this during the long waits at the hospital... I didn't bring a book the first time we had to be there all day, and finished my work, so I walked to the nearest pharmacy and picked this up off the shelf. It was the best of the lot, but Baldacci books are my "guilty pleasure" reads (pffft let's be real, I feel no guilt, his books are fantastic) so I didn't mind. I hadn't read any other titles featuring these characters, but it doesn't matter. Baldacci is a master at dropping you into the story and making you care before moving along. I don't feel I missed anything by reading out of order, and I look forward to enjoying the rest of the series.



12. Cats, Chaos & Condo Board Wars -- Nikki LeClair

My friend wrote this, so I'm going to be biased -- that said, it was a ton of fun, a very light-hearted, fast read. Her work has gotten better and better with each book, and I'm really proud of how far she's come with her writing since we first met. I'd recommend her books to anyone who enjoys rom-coms or classic "chick lit" (I know, the term is outdated at this point, but you know what I mean when I say it). My one critique of this book is that I honestly expected more cats...



13. The Darkdeep -- Ally Condie & Brendan Reichs

This was more or less a Stranger Things-esque middle grade supernatural suspense story. Very creepy, very high-energy in terms of ramping up the danger quickly and only letting it wane ever so slightly before pulling you back in again... would be great for kids who enjoy dark adventure stories with a paranormal-type twist. There's more to come afterward, though, so heads up. Not sure if it'll be a series or just have a sequel/trilogy, but the second book releases this October.


14. Reflection: A Twisted Tale -- Elizabeth Lim

A highly readable, intriguing twist on Disney's Mulan. In this version, Mulan has to travel through the underworld as Ping in order to save Li Shang's spirit and bring him back to the world of the living. It was really interesting and a fascinating take on underworld mythos -- presumably there's a deep cultural element to it, which I would love to read more about. I really enjoy learning about different cultural views on death and the "underworld" (or whatever it ends up being called), so I found this story of particular interest. Also, it was an entertaining read & it was fun to visit with familiar characters again. Ultimately, it made me want to re-watch Mulan, so I guess I have my Friday night plans all set...

I started a long term re-read of David Eddings books this year. Finished the Belgariad series and have the Mallorean series on my "getting to it" pile. It's been ages since I read the Elenium series, I do remember loving it though.

The other books sound pretty good too, Mulan is my favourite Disney Princess, Reflection sounds like an interesting twist to the story. I love the cover of your friends book, it's so cute.

Congrats on the book proposal and good luck sorting out your decision. I for one selfishly want you to do it because I so enjoyed your Cinderella!

And Eddings! A long-time favorite. I love him tons. A re-read sounds like a great idea...

So sorry to hear about your mother-in-law; I hope she's on the road to recovery.

Congratulations on the good result on one of your proposals. Do it! Do it! :0)

>65 dk_phoenix: Hmm, really? I loved the Belgariad and I like the Mallorean, too, although it repeated the first series a little. I did read The Diamond Throne at some point, but I think I was thrown by the difference from the other books. Maybe I should give it another go ...

I haven't hosted a series or an author for a while. I'd like to do so this summer, during a month when the most interested folk have the time to do at least the targeted book, which is only 200 pp. long. I'd like to expose as many people as possible to the works of James H. Schmitz, a science fiction author who wrote from the late '40s through the 1970s. He is best known for The Witches of Karres, but imho has written much better works. Here is my bookshelf.


Many of his works, especially his shorter ones, were very hard to find for quite a while, but in 2000 and 2001, Baen published almost all of his oeuvre in a collection of 6 books, seen to the right of the shelf above. The book I would like to feature is Demon Breed, also found in the Baen collection The Hub: Dangerous Territory. Schmitz is known for his kick-ass female protagonists long before they became the current ubiquitous status quo in his stories about Telzey Amberdon, Trigger Argee, and the hero of Demon Breed, Nile Etland.

See my thread for more info if interested!

Missing you around these parts, Faith. xx

Happy Thanksgiving, Faith

*waving hello!*

Hope all is well, Faith and that you'll come and update us soon.

Hope you have a wonderful Christmas!

Or in other words, Happy Christmas! And have a great New Year as well.

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Solstice, some other tradition or none at all, this is what I wish for you!

Thank you for keeping me company in 2019.......onward to 2020.

Hi Faith. I haven’t spotted you in the 2020 75ers group. Hope everything is well with you.