The flood waters have begun receding, and things are largely back to normal for the people in my community. We were under mandatory water restrictions from Sunday night until Wednesday night. Businesses were to cut down on their water usage by 25%, and residences were to cut down their usage by 50%. Because I live … Continue reading Sunday Sum-Up, 03/24/2019
Book Reviews
Book Review: Wicked Saints
Wicked Saints (Something Dark and Holy #1) by Emily A. Duncan YA Fantasy 400 pages Expected publication date: April 2, 2019, by Wednesday Books Anyone who has done more than a cursory study of the life of Joan of Arc will have some understanding of her essential strangeness. Joan, an illiterate teenaged peasant … Continue reading Book Review: Wicked Saints
Sunday Sum-Up, 03/10/2019
As far as snowy and rainy birthday weeks go, this was a pretty good one. I didn't really go out and do anything special, but a bunch of us did get together for pizza and cake, and I splurged a little and bought some books. Which books, you ask? The Priory of the Orange Tree … Continue reading Sunday Sum-Up, 03/10/2019
Book Review: The Queens of Innis Lear
The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton Fantasy 575 pages Published March 27, 2018, by Tor Books An aging king calls his three daughters together to determine which of them will inherit his throne. To do so, he demands that each daughter describe how her love for him is the greatest. But when his … Continue reading Book Review: The Queens of Innis Lear
Book Review: The Bird King
The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson Fantasy 440 pages Expected Publication March 12, 2019 by Grove Press In the West, we think of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain as a pair of glorious figures riding to victory in the 1480s, but we rarely think about the people they conquered. In The … Continue reading Book Review: The Bird King
Book Review: A Dangerous Collaboration
A Dangerous Collaboration (Veronica Speedwell #4) by Deanna Raybourn Historical Mystery 336 pages Expected Publication date March 12th, 2019 by Berkely Even during the Victorian era, if two human beings were, in reality, in the throes of an extended 'will they or won't they?' conundrum of sexual tension, one or the other of them … Continue reading Book Review: A Dangerous Collaboration
Review: The Heralds of Valdemar Trilogy
The Heralds of Valdemar: Arrows of the Queen Arrow's Flight Arrow's Fall By Mercedes Lackey Fantasy Published 1987-1988 by Daw Books Arrows of the Queen introduces us to the kingdom of Valdemar, a land of relative peace, prosperity, and openness guarded by the Heralds, people from all walks of life who are chosen by sentient … Continue reading Review: The Heralds of Valdemar Trilogy
Sunday Sum-Up, 02/10/2019
I don't know where this week went. I remember it was cold and windy, and it snowed for two days straight, but otherwise? No clue. It went into the file of 'lost weeks', I suppose. And yet, for all that, I got a lot of reading and whatnot done. I did a bit of baking, … Continue reading Sunday Sum-Up, 02/10/2019
A Girl and Her Horse: The Heralds of Valdemar
I first encountered Mercedes Lackey and her world of Valdemar when I was in high school. This was in the 90s, well before YA fiction was the publishing juggernaut it is now, and I had left the children's section behind but still felt unsure about wandering the shelves in the adult section. No one cared … Continue reading A Girl and Her Horse: The Heralds of Valdemar
Reading Log: Heir of Fire
“Read, read, read. Read everything -- trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You'll absorb it. Then write. If it's good, you'll find out. If it's not, throw it out of the window.”- William Faulkner My ambivalence … Continue reading Reading Log: Heir of Fire
