Bookburners: Badge, Book, and Candle by Max Gladstone

by Carol2 Comments
"Badge, Book, and Candle" is the first episode in the Bookburners serial. I picked it up mostly because I enjoyed The Witch who Came in from the Cold and wanted to try another. We've got a basic urban fantasy set up - demons trying to break into our world, a main character who just learned magic exists. It's quick-paced, mostly action and little character building but it is the intro to the series. We get right into the action,but I'm sure we'll learn more about the characters as the story continues. Sal is a great character. She's intelligent and loves her brother, faults and all - and that's what draws her into this world. You have to give her credit though, she's tough. I like the serial set up. It's a short read, it kind of wraps up but leaves you wanting to see what happens in the next one. I will say that the descriptions and analogies are well done. It's an enjoyable read. I don't know...
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Thursday’s Tale: The Foxes’ Wedding

by Carol1 Comment
A few weeks ago when we were at Origins Game Fair, Amber and I did a brief demo of Kitsune, a card game based on the kitsune, Japanese fox -spirits. I finally decided to look for one of the fox tales and found "The Foxes' Wedding." It's actually just a nice story where nothing goes wrong and everyone lives happily ever after. The story appears in Tales of Old Japan by Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford. The illustration above is available thanks Project Gutenberg. Once upon a time there was a young white fox, whose name was Fukuyémon. When he was old enough, he shaved off his forelock and began to think of taking to himself a beautiful bride. The old fox, his father, resolved to give the son his inheritance early and retired into private life; so the young fox, grateful, worked hard to increase the fortune. The you white fox was determined to marry a certain lady-fox, who had such lovely fur that the fame...
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The Pursuit by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg

by Carol2 Comments
Is The Pursuit good? Probably not - but it's entertaining and action-packed and funny. It's got sex (off-screen) and explosions and life-threatening situations. You know the good guys, presuming you consider Nick Fox a good guy, and the bad guys are going to lose. It's a perfect quick summer read. The Pursuit is the 5th in the series and I've read them in order, which I honestly think is best. Yes, they probably work as stand-alones, but this one picks up right where #4 left off and you get to see how Nick and Kate's relationship develops. Also, most of the secondary good guy characters appear in each of them, and I do love Kate's dad. He is awesome. If you read the blurb you have a bit of an idea on the plot and it's so short I don't want to give away any spoilers. A few things I did enjoy - underground Paris, the melodramatic patriotism, and the lack of high...
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Reader’s Workouts – 7/12

by Carol3 Comments
Here are my steps for the week. I didn't make my goal of 9,000 steps a day.   I am totally blowing this summer. My current plan is to do cardio on Tuesday (60 mins), upper body on Wednesday, cardio on Thursday (60 mins), a total body workout on Friday, cardio on Saturday (60+ mins), and a core workout on Monday. I'm also trying to do a 10 minute-ish Pilates workout each day. I'm failing miserably at my plan though. Tuesday - Walk with the dog. 20 push-ups. 10 minutes Pilates plank series. Wednesday - 20 tricep dips, 30 sec plank Thursday - 30 sec plank, 20 push-ups, 45 mins Pilates. Saturday - 10 min abs. So , my daughter's playing Pokemon Go, so I'm hoping she'll want to go on a few more walks with me than usual. This week our church is having Vacation Bible School, so between that and work, I'm not going to have time for much else. I usually listen to a book while I'm walking,...
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The Sudden Appearance of Hope by Claire North

by Carol2 Comments
I discovered Claire North earlier this year with her Gameshouse trilogy and loved her style, so I had to pick up The Sudden Appearance of Hope. I was not disappointed. I like how North writes, her ways of describing things, of conveying her characters' thoughts. She takes an idea, bases her story around it, and makes them amazing. Hope can't be remembered - that's the idea in this one, the bit that the rest of the story revolves around. You could meet her, have dinner with her, and once she's left your sight, your hearing for a minute or two, you forget and your mind fills in that blank with whatever's most reasonable - you dined alone. Hope is many things - chief among them a thief. An interesting point - since she can't have relationships, she isn't a lover, a friend, an employee, she is free (cursed?) to define herself. Her ethnic backyard, dark skin and hair, have helped form her...
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