Announcement: Book Review Bulletin Link-up Coming Soon!

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Coming Soon! 

Awhile ago a fellow book blogger made the observation that we visit and comment on all kinds of other bookish posts―our current reading lists, teasers, giveaways, summaries, and the like―but it seems like it's not nearly as common to comment on the actual reviews. So I don't know how much difference it will make in the grand scheme of things, but I decided to do my part and offer a monthly link-up just for review posts. Watch for the first link-up during the last week of June, a couple days ahead of the first of the month, and I will plan on a new one to open on the first of each month after that. Share posts of book reviews that you'd like to highlight . . . visit, leave comments, and share the other reviews.

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 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Friday Fun - The Friday 56 and First Lines for June 9, 2023

This post contains affiliate links - using affiliate links from Just A Second helps supply books and coffee. 

I've been looking forward to this book for a long time and I can finally get started on it! 

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Transylvania, 1890

Books are joy. And blight. Day and night. A bane, a strain, the rain that washes a soul caked with mud.

~From the beginning of Man of Shadow and Mist by Michelle Griep

"The world seems full of good men―even if there are monsters in it."

—Bram Stoker, Dracula

England, 1890

Vampires are alive and well in North Yorkshire, leastwise in the minds of the uneducated. Librarian Rosa Edwards intends to drive a stake through the heart of such superstiations. But gossip flies when the mysterious Sir James Morgan returns to his shadowy manor. The townsfolk say he is cursed.

James hates everything about England. The weather. The rumours. The scorn. Yet he must stay. His mother is dying of a disease for which he's desperately trying to find a cure—an illness that will eventually take his own life.

When Rosa sets out to prove the dark gossip about James is wrong, she discovers more questions than answers. How can she accept what she can't explain—especially the strong allure of the enigmatic man? James must battle a town steeped in fear as well as the unsettling attraction he feels for the no-nonsense librarian.

Can love prevail in a town filled with fear and doubt?

Book Beginnings on Fridays is hosted by Rose City Reader.

*It's Book Beginnings on Fridays! Time to gather with our fellow book lovers and share the opening sentence (or so) of the books we are reading this week. Or share from a book that is on your mind right now -- whatever catches your fancy.

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First Line Fridays is hosted at Reading is My SuperPower

*Share the first line or two of the book closest to you, then visit other FLF participants.

*Please keep posts family friendly or clean reads.

*Link back to Reading is My SuperPower within your post or grab a button.

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He stood at the counter, the ledger open in front of him. "Why was Mrs. Godalming leaving with a basket of books when I do not see her name or her payment registered?"

~from page 56 of Man of Shadow and Mist by Michelle Griep

The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice

*Grab a book, any book.

*Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your e-reader.

*Find a snippet, short and sweet.

*Post it, and share in the Linky.

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And here is the weekly bookish question in the Book Blogger Hop, hosted by Billy at Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer.  

This Week's Question:  Do you still enjoy reading children's books?

My Answer: Yes, I do, although I don't do it often. I love reading stories to little ones, especially if the little ones are my grandchildren. I also still like to read the occasional chapter book or novel for a younger audience, and pick up YA novels from time to time.

Book Blogger Hop

©2008-2023 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Down the TBR Hole #9

This post contains affiliate links - using affiliate links from Just A Second helps supply books and coffee. 

Welcome to my latest edition of Down The TBR Hole! Jody at the blog I'm Into Books has offered this solution to help remind us of all those books we added to our Goodreads list in the distant past and hopefully start managing the list. The idea is to start cleaning up our Goodreads TBR lists of all the books that have piled up over time, and share our progress in the link-up every Thursday. Here's how Jody explains it:

Most of you probably know this feeling, your Goodreads TBR pile keeps growing and growing and it seems like there is no light at the end of the tunnel. You keep adding, but you add more than you actually read. And then when you're scrolling through your list, you realize that you have no idea what half the books are about and why you added them. 

So here's what we'll do: On the Goodreads to-read shelf, order all your books ascending by date added. Look at the first four (or more) books on the list, read the synopses and decide whether the books should stay or go. Post in the link-up and share using the hashtag #DTTBRH and tagging @Jodyblogs.

Not sure how long I'll keep up with the DTTBRH posts, because it doesn't appear there's anyone else continuing with it at present, but I do need to keep purging the unnecessary and duplicates and all of that from my Goodreads list.

Here's what I found on Week Nine:

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand - This novel presents an astounding panorama of human life ― from the productive genius who becomes a worthless playboy ― to the great steel industrialist who does not know that he is working for his own destruction ― to the philosopher who becomes a pirate ― to the composer who gives up his career on the night of his trumph ― to the woman who runs a transcontinental railroad ― to the lowest track worker in her Terminal tunnels . . . It is a philosophical revolution, told in the form of an action thriller of violent events, a ruthlessly brilliant plot structure and irrestistable suspense.

It's a classic and I'm ashamed to say I haven't read it, so obviously it stays here until I do.

Sphinx's Princess by Esther M. Friesner - Nefertiti may the the dutiful daughter of a commoner, but her inquisitive mind often gets her into situations that are far from ordinary, like receiving seret lessons from a scribe. And she's the kind of girl who acts first, and apologizes later whenever she witnesses injustice or cruelty. But she is also extraordinarily beautiful. And news of her striking beauty and impulsive behavior attracts the attention of her aunt, the manipulative Queen Tiye, who sees Nefertiti as an ideal pawn in her desire for power.

Sounds interesting, but so does every other book about ancient Egypt. I just can't keep them all and this is one I won't.

Poison by Sara Poole - Determined to avenge the killing of her father, Francesca Giordanao, defying all convention becomes the official poisoner of the head of the most notorious and dangerous family in Italy, Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia, the confidante of Lucrezia and the lover of Cesare while pursuing her father's murderer.

Another one that does sound interesting, but I don't have any memory of putting it on my TBR list or where I saw it recommended. The blurb (which I copied exactly) is confusing which makes me wonder whether the quality of the book is the same. Guess I'll never know, because I removed it.

The Scarlet Lion by Elizabeth Chadwick - William Marshal's prowess and loyalty have been rewarded by the hand in marriage of Isabelle de Clare, heiress to great estates in England, Normandy and Ireland. All the stability William and Isabelle have enjoyed . . . comes crashing down as Richard dies and his brother John becomes King. Rebellion is stirring . . . and although John has created William Earl of Pembroke, the friction between the two men leads William and Isabelle to distance themselves from Ireland. The situation escalates with John holding their sons as hostages and seizing their English lands. The conflict threatens to tear apart William and Isabelle's marriage and their family.

This is the third in the William Marshal series which I started long, long ago, and I think I'd like to finish it, so for now, this one will stay. 

The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century by Ian Mortimer - Imagine you could get into a time machine and travel back to the 14th century. This text sets out to explain what life was like in the most immediate way, through taking the reader to the Middle Ages, and showing everything from the horrors of leprosy and war to the ridiculous excesses of roasted larks and haute couture.

Pretty sure I added this intending to use it as a supplement when I was homeschooling. In other words, I don't need it on my list at this time.

This post will be linked at Down The TBR Hole hosted by Jody at I'm Into Books.

#DTTBRH

©2008-2023 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Top Ten Tuesday - The Ones With Summer Vibes

This post contains affiliate links - using affiliate links from Just A Second helps supply books and coffee. 

On occasion I'll be joining in the Top Ten Tuesday posts hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl 

This week's Top Ten Tuesday Topic is: Books or Covers that feel like summer. In an attempt to not make this take longer than it should, I thought I would just pick the most recent ten mentions on my blog that had a summery vibe. I soon realized two things. First, I don't do a lot of beach reads; and second, my reads tend to have dark covers. I don't know what that says about me as a person. Anyway, it got me started, so here are some books that I associate with summery thoughts.

Beaches by Iris Rainer Dart - I mean, obviously. This was the first title that came to mind and this was the cover on the paperback I owned when I read it decades ago. Decades! 

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares - This is another book that came to mind immediately, even though I haven't read it. A summer themed story, and I think this cover looks rather summery as well.

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt - This was the first of my recent reads that caught my eye. This cover makes me think of summer mostly because I associate these colors with the beach.

A Spear of Summer Grass by Deanna Raybourn - I have the paperback, which has a slightly different, but equally summery cover. It also has summer in the title, and is a really good book.

Waiting for Summer's Return by Kim Vogel Sawyer - It seems a long time ago that I read this, but I remember it. It's a prairie summer cover, and I chose this one from among a whole lot that I've read with a similar image on the cover because it Summer is the lead character's name and is in the title.

A Pretty Deceit by Anna Lee Huber - This cover is a picture of English summer, at least how I'd picture it in the 1920s when the story takes place.

Season Of My Enemy by Naomi Musch - I couldn't scroll past this cover without including it. I think it's a cute depiction of a hot summer day on the farm, and that's exactly the setting too.

Ever Faithful by Karen Barnett - Similar idea, because the story takes place during the summer at Yellowstone National Park, and the cover says 'vintage summer vacation' to me.

Keturah (The Sugar Baron's Daughters) by Lisa T. Bergren - One of the closest to a beach cover I noticed in my archives, although I'm sure there are more.

Shadow among Sheaves by Naomi Stephens - Another very British and summery image, and it's a historical setting like a majority of my reads.

This article will be linked at Top Ten Tuesday hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

©2008-2023 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Friday Fun - First Lines for June 2, 2023

This post contains affiliate links - using affiliate links from Just A Second helps supply books and coffee. 

Only first lines in my post this week, because I'm featuring an audiobook I just started listening to, so I didn't want to mess around with jumping ahead to 56%. It's been ages since I listened to an audiobook, because I seem to have trouble following the storyline without something visual to focus on. Weirdly, I haven't noticed I have any trouble following the thread of podcasts. Anyway, this has grabbed my attention with the interesting situation of the lead character so hopefully I can track with it!

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"You remember Gearóid, your father's first cousin from Clare?"

"Do I?"

"Ye do! Two dogs and only one eye, never married - he came around the house when you were young a couple of times."

~From the beginning of A Man With One of Those Faces by Caimh McDonnell

The first time somebody tried to kill him was an accident.

The second time was deliberate.

Now Paul Mulchrone finds himself on the run with nobody to turn to except a nurse who has read one-too-many crime novels and a renegade copper with a penchant for violence. Together they must solve one of the most notorious crimes in Irish history . . . 

. . . or else they'll be history.

A Man With One of Those Faces is the first book in Caimh McDonnell's Dublin Trilogy, which melds fast-paced action with a distinctly Irish acerbic wit.

Book Beginnings on Fridays is hosted by Rose City Reader.

*It's Book Beginnings on Fridays! Time to gather with our fellow book lovers and share the opening sentence (or so) of the books we are reading this week. Or share from a book that is on your mind right now -- whatever catches your fancy.

***************

First Line Fridays is hosted at Reading is My SuperPower

*Share the first line or two of the book closest to you, then visit other FLF participants.

*Please keep posts family friendly or clean reads.

*Link back to Reading is My SuperPower within your post or grab a button.

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©2008-2023 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Recent Reads - Fair As a Star

This post contains affiliate links - using affiliate links from Just A Second helps supply books and coffee. 

Fair As A Star by Mimi Matthews - Beryl returns home to the village of Shepton Worthy after a stay in Paris, and begins preparation for her marriage to Sir Henry Rivenhall. Her abrupt departure and her stay in Paris has been the subject of gossip and speculation, but Beryl hopes that has died down and she won't have to face questions. She is warmly welcomed home by her mother and sister, and by her old friend Mark Rivenhall, Henry's younger brother. Mark is now the village curate and his friendship and understanding mean a great deal to Beryl, especially when he discovers her secret and the reason she had been whisked away to Paris.

Mark will do anything he can to support and help Beryl, but he knows the risk to his own heart. He has loved Beryl for years, but she is promised to his older brother. Yet what can he do, even when he begins to suspect that Beryl doesn't have feelings for Henry, and that Henry views the marriage as a wise business decision rather than a love match.

Beryl devotes herself to charitable work in the village and does her best to keep her own melancholy at bay, but when she begins to realize the depth of her own feelings for Mark and that her marriage to Henry will not bring her happiness, she starts to wonder whether she can change the course of her decisions.

This novel started out slowly, in my opinion, and the conflict is all based in relationship dynamics rather than physical threats and dangers to the characters. It was very interesting to get a glimpse into how "melancholy"―or what we would call depression―was viewed in Victorian England. The characters are all very likeable, even Sir Henry with his cool and detached demeanor is not a mean-spirited villain. A gentle and sweet romance develops, based on friendship and compassion, and I kept turning pages to see how it would all be resolved, hoping that Beryl would find hope and happiness without any of the characters being wounded in the process. I felt vaguely as though something was missing in the wrap-up as the story closed, and I remained puzzled about how the title related to the story, which I realize is an odd complaint. There is an author's note at the end which included an explanation of the title, but it still didn't really connect for me.

As an aside, I chose to consider this a book with a body-positive message for the reading challenge, because the underlying theme for Beryl was that she did not need to feel that she was broken or wrong because she struggled with depression. During a time when this condition was not particularly well understood, she could have been shamed or treated unkindly, but thanks to a couple of thoughtful characters who viewed her as a worthy person rather than a shameful problem, she was able to find positive ways to cope.

This is a book with a body-positive message (#22) for The 52 Book Club's 2023 Reading Challenge

#the52bookclub #the52bookclub2023

©2008-2023 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.