The Friday 56 (91) & Book Beginnings: Rivals in the City by Y.S. Lee

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. For the full rules, visit the the page HERE

Book Beginnings is a weekly meme hosted by Rose City Reader that asks you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you're reading.

Synopsis from Goodreads...

In a tale steeped in action, romance, and the gaslit intrigue of Victorian London, Mary Quinn’s detective skills are pitted against a cunning and desperate opponent...

Mary Quinn has a lot on her mind. James Easton, her longtime love interest, wants to marry her; but despite her feelings, independent-minded Mary hesitates. Meanwhile, the Agency has asked Mary to take on a dangerous case: convicted fraudster Henry Thorold is dying in prison, and Mary must watch for the return of his estranged wife, an accomplished criminal herself who has a potentially deadly grudge against James. Finally, a Chinese prizefighter has arrived in town, and Mary can’t shake a feeling that he is somehow familiar. With the stakes higher than ever, can Mary balance family secrets, conflicting loyalties, and professional expertise to bring a criminal to justice and find her own happiness?

Beginning:"It was a miserable day for a walk: sleety, frigid, dark. Nevertheless, Mary Quinn and James Easton, Private Detectives, were out for a ramble about Bloomsbury, bundled against the penetrating drizzle, straining to distinguish people from lampposts in the dense fog that swamped the streets."

56:"James refrained from rolling his eyes, and unfolded the letter. As he read, his eyes widened and he glanced up at his brother's smirking face."

Comments: I have been meaning to read Rivals in the City for a long time. While I'm a little sad that the series is over, this book was fantastic. I like the beginning of Rivals in the City, especially the descriptions about how the weather effected their walk. 

What series have you recently finished reading?

Review: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

Title: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
Author: Jules Verne
Source/Format: Purchased; Paperback
More Details: Science Fiction; Classics
Publisher/Publication Date: ; March 20, 1869

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

French naturalist Dr. Aronnax embarks on an expedition to hunt down a sea monster, only to discover instead the Nautilus, a remarkable submarine built by the enigmatic Captain Nemo. Together Nemo and Aronnax explore the underwater marvels, undergo a transcendent experience amongst the ruins of Atlantis, and plant a black flag at the South Pole. But Nemo's mission is one of revenge-and his methods coldly efficient...

Its official, I think I’ve gotten a pretty good start on my year. At least, I feel like I’m going in the right direction.

I have finally read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Jules Verne. It’s the first book I tackled this year and the first book I’ve read by Verne. There were a lot of things I enjoyed about the story, including the characters, setting, and technology.

The book was told from the perspective of Pierre Aronnax who was a relatively interesting character. His internal monologue was particularly great. It was interesting to see how the situations were viewed from his perspective and how his conflicted feelings about his new circumstances effected his thought process. The rest of the characters were just as wonderfully developed. They each had their distinctive traits and the development they underwent shed light on their histories, motivations, and personalities.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is one of those books that involves a lot of travel, but by no means was this a boring book. It’s as much about the characters as it was the setting and how the two ultimately effect one another. There were a lot of clues cleverly placed throughout the story. So, when I actually got to those pivotal moments the pieces just fit together. In some ways, this book reminded me of The Martian. Of course, they’re two very different books and aren’t very comparable—since one is set on Mars and the other takes place on or underwater. What I mean is that they’re both heavy-handed when it came to the science and terminology, which is actually one of the things I really enjoyed about 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

The writing was very descriptive and I could envision all the cool places the characters got to visit.  I loved all the details that Verne included, and at times, the underwater setting was vivid and surreal. And as cool as the setting was, my favorite part of the story was still the Nautilus. Clearly, I’m a sucker for cool technology.

So, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was a very entertaining read. I can finally cross this one off my list.

Musing Monday (66) Random Weekly Questions & Currently Reading

Rules: 

• Musing Mondays is a weekly meme hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker that asks you to muse about something book related each week. 

My musings for the week...

Today, I'm going to talk about the book I literally just started. I'm also going to get caught up on some of the random weekly questions that I missed.

Have you joined any challenges in reading for the new year? Do you have any general goals book or even not book related for 2017?

No, I haven't joined any reading challenges. Generally, I don't participate in those because I read at random (unless I have an ARC or a blog tour that requires a review by a certain date). As for some of my other goals, I pretty much covered that on my 2017 Blogging Resolutions Post. One goal I have, which isn't related to books, is refining my art skills. Improving is always a goal when it comes to art, and that's one of the things I want to work on this year.

What do you think about books being made into movies or TV shows and do you always read the book first?

I think its great as long as the source material is used wisely. If my favorite book or series happens to be adapted, I would definitely give the movie or TV show the benefit of the doubt. I don't always read the book first. Sometimes, I choose not to, and at other times I might have overlooked the fact that it was a book at first (this is especially true if I'm watching a movie/TV show just to see what all the hype is about).

How do you make time for reading when you are very busy? Or how do you find a better balance between wanting to spend time reading and other commitments?

I just kind of read whenever. There's really no trick to it or really much of a specific method of balancing reading with other commitments.

Other Musings...

This week, I’m going to read The Girl at Midnight by Melissa Grey. I’ve been hearing a lot of good things about this book since it came out back in 2015. Since I’m trying to get through all the older releases that I’ve been meaning to read, I decided to go ahead and give this one a try—plus, the copy at my local library was recently returned. 

Synopsis from Goodreads...

Magic lives in our darkest corners...

Beneath the streets of New York City live the Avicen, an ancient race of people with feathers for hair and magic running through their veins. Age-old enchantments keep them hidden from humans. All but one. Echo is a runaway pickpocket who survives by selling stolen treasures on the black market, and the Avicen are the only family she’s ever known. Echo is clever and daring, and at times she can be brash, but above all else she’s fiercely loyal. So when a centuries-old war crests on the borders of her home, she decides it’s time to act. Legend has it that there is a way to end the conflict once and for all: find the firebird, a mythical entity believed to possess power the likes of which the world has never seen. It will be no easy task, though if life as a thief has taught Echo anything, it’s how to hunt down what she wants…and how to take it. But some jobs aren’t as straightforward as they seem. And this one might just set the world on fire...

What are you reading this week?

Music Monday (12) Samsaya & Laura Mvula

   Rules:

• Music Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren Stoolfire at Always Me that asks you to share one or two songs that you've recently enjoyed. For the rules, visit the page HERE 

Last Monday, we took a bit of a detour and skipped Music Monday. But, we’re back.

Breana:

I only have one song to talk about this week: Beginning at the End by Samsaya. I first heard about Samsaya back in 2015, and while I haven’t listened to much of her music lately, Beginning at the End is the one song I know and love. The music video for it is kind of simple, but that's what I love about it.

Adri: 

For this Music Monday, I decided that I wanted to show another artist who I not only liked upon first listening, but also find really inspirational: Laura Mvula. The first song I chose is Overcome featuring Nile Rodgers. After listening to Lianne La Havas' Unstoppable for a while, I saw this in the recommendations. I adored the song and the video so much that I often have it on repeat. So now, I'm recommending it to you.

After I was able to pry myself away from the first song, I went to check out some of her other songs. Although, it looked pretty, I had to check out Phenomenal Woman because it has the same name as a Maya Angelou poem. All I can say is I'm glad I did. The song makes me want to jump out of my chair and dance around.

Are there any songs that make you want to dance?

The Friday 56 (90) & Book Beginnings: Bliss by Kathryn Littlewood

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. For the full rules, visit the the page HERE

Book Beginnings is a weekly meme hosted by Rose City Reader that asks you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you're reading.

Synopsis from Goodreads...

Kathryn Littlewood’s culinary caper blends rich emotional flavor with truly magical wit, yielding one heaping portion of hilarious family adventure...

Rosemary Bliss’s family has a secret. It’s the Bliss Cookery Booke—an ancient, leather-bound volume of enchanted recipes like Stone Sleep Snickerdoodles and Singing Gingersnaps. Rose and her siblings are supposed to keep the Cookery Booke under lock and whisk-shaped key while their parents are out of town, but then a mysterious stranger shows up. “Aunt” Lily rides a motorcycle, wears purple sequins, and whips up exotic (but delicious) dishes for dinner. Soon boring, non-magical recipes feel like life before Aunt Lily—a lot less fun. So Rose and her siblings experiment with just a couple of recipes from the forbidden Cookery Booke. A few Love Muffins and a few dozen Cookies of Truth couldn’t cause too much trouble . . . could they?

Beginning:" It was the summer Rosemary Bliss turned ten that she saw her mother fold a lightning bolt into a bowl of batter and learned--beyond the shadow of a doubt--that her parents made magic in the Bliss bakery."

56:"On her mother's side: no one."

Comments: I really love the beginning of this book. It introduces the type of magic that's found in the story as well as the character, Rosemary. Overall, it was a pretty good book.

What are you reading this week?