July 27, 2019
Hey, hey, kiddos, and what a week it’s been! Weather armageddon continues throughout the world, manifesting in varied and extreme ways, and I got to experience my own scare during the start of the week, when everyone’s phones exploded with emergency alerts about my hometown in a level-4 evacuation emergency for floods and mudslides. Remember how I complained about tsuyu…
July 24, 2019
A Curse so Dark and Lonely (2019) Written By: Brigid Kemmerer Genre: Young Adult Fantasy Pages: 489 pages (Kindle) Series: The Cursebreaker Series (Book 1) Publisher: Bloomsbury YA Why I Chose It: I decided to explore some of the bestsellers in my own genre, and this one sat near the top of the list for a while. Also fairytale heroes…
June 29, 2019
Hats off to all you magical people out there! I mentioned in last week’s roundup about us not getting rain in my corner of Japan, then wished for your help in securing said rain through whimsical, unscientific means, and voilà! It rained! Not all week, but in long-enough spurts to actually mean something to the poor, dried-out land around here.…
June 26, 2019
Ladycastle (2017) Written By: Delilah S. Dawson Illustrated By: Ashley A. Woods and Rebecca Farrow Genre: Fantasy Graphic Novel Pages: 112 pages Paperback Publisher: BOOM! Studios Why I Chose It: I heard it mentioned on the Writing Excuses podcast. A castle full of women saving the day their own way? Heck, yes. Sign me up. The premise: When the King…
May 25, 2019
This week marked a milestone: the end of HBO’s Game of Thrones! The finale ended Sunday in America and Wednesday for me in Japan. It was impossible to avoid the discussions online about how things went down, so I ended up knowing things before I got to sit down with the episode, but it didn’t really diminish the finale for…
May 22, 2019
Outland (2019) Written By: Dennis E. Taylor Narrated By: Ray Porter Genre: Science Fiction Length: 10 hrs 30 mins Publisher: Audible Original Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. Why I Chose It: I’ve really enjoyed the Bobiverse books and when Shara asked if I wanted to try something new from the same…
April 27, 2019
Hello once again! I’m writing to you from lovely Kumamoto as the Heisei era winds down to its final days, and the new emperor Naruhito will ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne. That sounds so majestic as I write it! And I think it’s exciting to be able to say I’m living through my third Japanese era (Showa to Heisei and now…
April 24, 2019
The Princess in Black (2015) Written By: Shannon Hale and Dean Hale Genre: Children’s Chapter Book Pages: 96 pages (Hardcover) Series: Princess in Black (Book 1) Publisher: Candlewick Why I Chose It: My three-year-old was doing a reading challenge through school and I was looking for something a little longer to read to her besides her normal picture books. I’ve…
March 27, 2019
Crown Duel (2002) Written By: Sherwood Smith Genre: Fantasy Pages: 471 pages (Mass Market Paperback) Series: Originally published as two books: Crown Duel (1997) and Court Duel (1998) Publisher: Firebird Fantasy Why I Chose It: This was one of my favorite Sherwood Smith novels when I was a teenager, and I wanted to see if it held up. Psst, spoiler…
February 27, 2019
To Honor You Call Us (2014) Written By: H. Paul Honsinger Genre: Military Science-Fiction Length: 13 hours and 3 minutes (Audiobook) Series: Man of War series (Book 1) Publisher: 47North Why I Chose It: This was described as “Master and Commander in space.” I grew up on Master and Commander and Horatio Hornblower courtesy of my dad, and I loved…