Sunday Post – 2/19/2017

February 19, 2017 Sunday Post 14

The Sunday Post is hosted by the wonderful Kimba, the Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news, recap the past week, take a look ahead, and showcase our new treasures — I mean books!

My Week

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine’s Day, whether you were with your sweetheart or simply cuddled up with your favorite book boyfriend. Mr. Bookwyrm and I had a quiet date night at home, which was perfect for two tired introverts. I made bacon-and-smoked-gouda quiche for dinner, and handmade chocolate-covered strawberries for dessert. And we watched Star Trek: The Voyage Home, which admittedly isn’t a romantic movie but always makes me both laugh a lot and (in the last scene, when the lights come up on the NCC-1707-A) cry a little.

But that week off I was going to take? Yeah, it didn’t quite work out that way. Oh, I didn’t have any indexing to do, other than sending out an invoice and scheduling two new projects. But I spent a lot of the week working on music: choosing and then ordering the music for my choruses for this season’s concert, then starting the labor-intensive process of putting the new pieces into Finale so I can give the kids practice tracks to learn their parts. (With only 8 weeks of rehearsals, they need to practice at home, too.) I enjoyed doing it, so it didn’t feel like work, but, well, I didn’t get nearly as much blogging done as I’d hoped.

Mr. Bookwyrm and I are going to see Allegiance this afternoon — the musical by George Takei and Jay Kuo. It was filmed during the Broadway production, and is being rebroadcast to movie theaters across the country. I wanted to see it on stage, but didn’t get the opportunity. While it doesn’t exhibit the genius of Hamilton, what I’ve seen and heard of Allegiance in video clips has been good, and I’m really looking forward to seeing it.

 

Last Week on the Blog

 

Upcoming on the Blog

  • Someone to Hold (Mary Balogh) – review
  • His Cowboy Heart (Jennifer Ryan) – review
  • News & Notes – 2/25/2017
  • Sunday Post – 2/26/2017

 

Challenges

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The Backlist Reader Challenge 2017: 0/24

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The Backlist Reader Challenge runs all year (and is hosted here on The Bookwyrm’s Hoard.) It’s a chance to focus on those older titles you’ve been wanting to read. You can check out all the rules by clicking on the image above.

I’ve read 9 books so far this year that qualify for The Backlist Reader Challenge. (They won’t show up in the progress bar until I’ve reviewed them.) That puts me ahead of my goal of 24 books for the year.

  1. Spin to Knit by Shannon Okey
  2. The Hexed by Heather Graham (Krewe of Hunters #13; I’m not reading them in order.)
  3. The Next Always by Nora Roberts (Inn BoonsBoro #1)
  4. The Last Boyfriend by Nora Roberts (InnBoonsboro #2)
  5. The Perfect Hope by Nora Roberts (InnBoonsboro #3)
  6. Can’t Wait by Jennifer Ryan (Montana Men #0.5; novella)
  7. Dance Upon the Air by Nora Roberts (Three Sisters Island #1)
  8. Heaven and Earth by Nora Roberts (Three Sisters Island #2)
  9. Face the Fire by Nora Roberts (Three Sisters Island #3)
  10. Rock Point by Carla Neggers (Sharpe & Donovan #0.5; novella)

 


COYER Blackout (2016-17): 0/12

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COYER Blackout began December 17 and runs through Mar. 3. It’s hosted by Berls of Fantasy is More Fun, Michelle of Because Reading, and Stormi of Books, Movies, Reviews, Oh My!  The rules are strict: only ebooks you owned or had requested prior to Dec. 17, that cost $0.99 or less.  My goal is 12 books.  Since the challenge started, I’ve read 10 books that count toward COYER. (They won’t show up in the progress bar until I’ve reviewed them.) Title links take you to my review; if there’s no link; I haven’t posted it yet.

  1. A Circle of Quiet by Madeleine L’Engle (ARC)
  2. Sacred Evil by Heather Graham ($0.99)
  3. A Perilous Undertaking by Deanna Raybourn (ARC)
  4. Death and the Gravedigger’s Angel by Loretta Ross (ARC)
  5. Somebody Like You by Donna Alward (ARC)
  6. Someone to Hold by Mary Balogh (ARC)
  7. Breathless by Beverly Jenkins (ARC)
  8. His Cowboy Heart by Jennifer Ryan (ARC)
  9. Someone to Love by Donna Alward (ARC)
  10. Somebody’s Baby by Donna Alward (ARC)
  11. Can’t Wait by Jennifer Ryan (novella; $0.99)
  12. Rock Point by Carla Neggers (Sharpe & Donovan #0.5; novella)

 

What I’m Reading/Watching

Reading: I finished Nora Roberts’ Face the Fire and decided to reread the Guardians trilogy on a whim — I’ve finished Stars of Fortune and Bay of Sighs. I also read a novella, Rock Point by Carla Neggers, and started Ghost Talkers, which I got for Christmas. When I finish that, I’ll go back to reading The Crooked Sixpence (Jennifer Bell, ARC.)

Listening to: Podcasts: Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me. 

Watching: We’ve watched two more episodes of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes with Jeremy Brett: “The Solitary Cyclist” and “The Crooked Man.” I already mentioned Star Trek: The Voyage Home. We also watched The American President, which is one of my favorite romantic comedies because it’s both smart and funny (and Annette Benning is charming in it.)

 

New Additions to the Hoard

Cover links take you to Goodreads.

For Review or Review Consideration

Many thanks to Harlequin MIRA and Kensington!

Purchased for Kindle

I’ve read the two Deanna Raybourns as ARCs, but wanted to own them so I can re-read if necessary before the third comes out. And the Sarah J. Maas book was on sale, so I picked it up for whenever I get around to that series (and for Robin, who shares our Kindle account.) I’ve now got #1 and #3 in that series.

 

Have a wonderful week, and happy reading!

14 Responses to “Sunday Post – 2/19/2017”

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      I like going out sometimes, but I’d been working so hard over the previous weeks, the idea of going out when the restaurants and movies would be packed was just too much. A quiet evening suited us much better… and we got to go out today. The weather was so nice that after the movie/musical, we took an impromptu stroll through the “Old Town” section of our town, where the antique stores, boutiques, and small restaurants are concentrated. Just enjoying the weather, watching the many cute dogs being walked, and seeing which new stores have opened up.

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      Both Valentine’s and today were really nice. And it’s good to be able to take some time just to enjoy being with my honey. 🙂 Allegiance was really good.

  1. La La in the Library

    I love the cover of The Uncommoners. I bought the TOG novellas compilation, and the first two (hmm… maybe three) books for my Kindle and then found out afterwards that they were assassin fantasy, not a fan, ha ha. I keep wanting to join that Kindle lending group, and I am hoping some people might want to trade lends for them.

    I never feel left out on Valentine’s day because I grew up celebrating with everyone: siblings, friends, aunties, cousins, and neighborhood kids, so I have never dwelled on whether I have a significant other or not. Every time I hear someone moaning on Facebook I tell them to take their mother or aunties out to dinner, or by them flowers. Ha ha.

    My son use to do children’s musical theater and I was always impressed with how much the kids accomplished within an eight week rehearsal schedule. And kudos to you for directing a program. Music is so important for kids. Have a wonderful week. 🙂

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      There’s a Kindle lending group? Cool! And I agree with you about Valentine’s Day. It doesn’t have to be just about romance. If you’ve got family or friends, there’s love to celebrate there, too.

      Can’t wait to get started with rehearsals!

  2. Laura @ Library of Clean Reads

    I’ve been eyeing Raybourn’s books for a while now. I’ve read great reviews and now want to read them. I started participating in a few challenges again this year. Hope you get the complete your challenges.

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      The musical was pretty good — powerful story, really good acting and singing, but the music was just kind of there. I loved it anyway, though.

      I look forward to reading your review of the Raybourn book — after I write mine!

  3. Charlie

    Sorry you didn’t get that week off! But it sounds like you were very productive! We had a fairly quiet Valentine’s celebration yesterday. I hope you get to a few of your blogging projects this week.