Weekend Tidbits {#10} So Much Stuff

Today, I have so much stuff to go over, hence the title of the post. It seemed only fitting since most of what I’m going to mention today is not specifically book related, and wouldn’t be a fit for Musing Monday.

Recently there has been a handful of trailer releases that have gotten me really excited for the sequels I’ve been waiting years for, which got me thinking about some of the other movies I’m waiting for.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2: Let me just start this off by saying: Baby Groot!!! Obviously, I’m really looking forward to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. It’s been a couple of years since Guardians of the Galaxy came out, and it’s still my favorite Marvel movie. After the end of the first movie, I really want to see where the story goes.

Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Men Tell No Tale: It has been six years—SIX YEARS—since the last Pirates of the Caribbean movie. That’s a long time to wait, but from the look of the trailer, all that time seems to be worth it. This also appears to be the return of Will Turner and the Flying Dutchman, which is a decision I can totally get behind. I’m beyond excited for Dead Men Tell No Tales. I'm not going to lie, when I saw the “final adventure” part from the trailer, I was worried that this was going to be the last movie in the franchise. Thankfully, it isn’t. P.S. I still miss Tia Dalma. She will forever be my favorite character from Pirates of the Caribbean.

Wonder Woman & Justice League: I’m kind of curious to see how these movies turn out. Marvel is great, but I also like some of the stuff from DC too. My hopes are really high for Wonder Woman. Just from the trailers, it looks like it’s going to put some context to the picture of Wonder Woman from Batman V Superman. Then there’s Justice League, which is going to have The Flash, Cyborg, and Aquaman! I’m really looking forward to seeing those three characters as more than just cameo appearances.

Recently, I picked up two of the new Beauty and the Beast Funko Pops. I got Cogsworth and Mrs. Pots with Chip. I have to admit that these are probably three of my favorite funkos mainly because of the design of the characters. The colors are incredibly nice, and Cogswoth’s whole design is just awesome.

And last, but certainly not least, I have a recipe I want to share. This is one of my favorites. I’ve made it multiple ways, and can confirm that it turns out great each and every time. Do you need a recipe for flaky biscuits, you know, the ones with all those layers? I have found my go-to recipe:

Dessert Now Dinner Later Foolproof Flaky Biscuits 

I use this one whenever I make biscuits, and I’ve made it a number of ways. I’ve used regular milk, almond milk, wheat flour, or a combination of wheat & unbleached, or wheat & all-purpose. It just works great. The ones pictured below were made with half whole wheat & half all-purpose flour, and buttermilk.

Our Thoughts Precisely Is Now 4 Years Old

Gosh, I feel like I never have anything planned for this day, but this year, I actually did forget that March 15th is the anniversary of when Andrea and I started Our Thoughts Precisely. This blog is officially 4 years old. 4 years old. Guys, that’s a pretty long time, and it seems like it was just yesterday when we were only posting stuff to goodreads. Since then, Adri has joined us, which reminds me that I need to go around to all the little corners of the blog and update some of the pages. I will probably do that sometime soon. Maybe next year I will finally remember to do something more on March 15th, but I digress. I won’t repeat the entire history of the blog because that would just be needlessly repetitive. However, I just wanted to quickly drop this post here to acknowledge the day, and say a very big thank you to everyone who has stopped by the blog, followed us, left comments, or just read any of our posts. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you so much for sticking around!

Review: Ghostly Echoes by William Ritter

Title: Ghostly Echoes
Author: William Ritter
Source/Format: Won; Hardcover
More Details: Young Adult; Historical; Fantasy
Publisher/Publication Date: Algonquin Young Readers; August 23, 2016

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

Jenny Cavanaugh, the ghostly lady of 926 Augur Lane, has enlisted the investigative services of her fellow residents to solve a decade-old murder—her own. Abigail Rook and her eccentric employer, Detective R. F. Jackaby, dive into the cold case, starting with a search for Jenny’s fiancé, who went missing the night she died. But when a new, gruesome murder closely mirrors the events of ten years prior, Abigail and Jackaby realize that Jenny’s case isn’t so cold after all, and her killer may be far more dangerous than they suspected.

Fantasy and folklore mix with mad science as Abigail’s race to unravel the mystery leads her across the cold cobblestones of nineteenth-century New England, down to the mythical underworld, and deep into her colleagues’ grim histories to battle the most deadly foe she has ever faced...

This is another one of those books that I really had to stop and think about what I’d read before trying to write out the review. Except, this time it took me a lot longer than usual to finally get back to Ghostly Echoes. I read Ghostly Echoes back in early February, and I've just now gotten around to talking about it on the blog. I don't normally start with the third book in a series. However, I already had this book on my shelf, and I wanted to see if this was a series I would be interested in continuing before getting the other books. Honestly, there were some things about the story that I have some mixed feelings about, but the mystery and paranormal elements were actually pretty interesting.

Going into this book, I didn’t know much about the series or Ghostly Echoes. But, the idea of a ghost playing a part in trying to solve her own cold case murder was enough of an incentive to get me to read this book. This sounded like the kind of mystery I would actually enjoy reading. If I think about Ghostly Echoes as a whole, it wasn’t bad at all. And that mystery I was so interested in was the focus of the story. While the mystery was one of the more important aspects of the book, there were also others scenes that illustrated the relationship dynamics between the characters. I particularly liked those more personal scenes.

Since I got such a late start in the series I didn’t know much about the history of the characters. However, there was enough dialogue and bits and pieces of experiences recounted by the characters that I didn’t have any trouble getting into the story. The characters were okay. Jackaby was fine, but I don’t have much to say about him other than the fact that he had a very interesting ability. Abigail’s role in the story was, just like Jackaby’s, fine. I didn’t mind reading from her perspective.

Now, there is one more thing I want to make mention of before I end this review, and that’s the villains. You can’t have a good mystery without good villains to be in that antagonistic role. And Ghostly Echoes had villains that were cunning, ruthless, and coldhearted—which is what made the mystery so good.

So, Ghostly Echoes was a pretty good book. Now that I’ve read it, I would be interested in eventually going back and reading the rest of the series.

Review: Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi

Title: Furthermore
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Source/Format: Borrowed from the Library;Hardcover
More Details: Middle Grade; Fantasy
Publisher/Publication Date: Dutton Books For Young Readers; August 30, 2016
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Synopsis from Goodreads...

A captivating and colorful adventure that reads like a modern day fairy tale, from the bestselling author of the Shatter Me series...

Inspired by her childhood love of books like The Secret Garden and The Chronicles of Narnia, bestselling author Tahereh Mafi crafts a spellbinding new world where color is currency, adventure is inevitable, and friendship is found in the most unexpected places...

There are only three things that matter to twelve-year-old Alice Alexis Queensmeadow: Mother, who wouldn’t miss her; magic and color, which seem to elude her; and Father, who always loved her. The day Father disappears from Ferenwood he takes nothing but a ruler with him. But it’s been almost three years since then, and Alice is determined to find him. She loves her father even more than she loves adventure, and she’s about to embark on one to find the other. But bringing Father home is no small matter. In order to find him she’ll have to travel through the mythical, dangerous land of Furthermore, where down can be up, paper is alive, and left can be both right and very, very wrong. It will take all of Alice's wits (and every limb she's got) to find Father and return home to Ferenwood in one piece. On her quest to find Father, Alice must first find herself—and hold fast to the magic of love in the face of loss...

So, a couple of years ago I read Shatter Me and didn’t enjoy it. I didn’t think I would ever pick up another book by Tahereh Mafi after that, but obviously that has changed. I recently read Furthermore and was surprised by how much I actually enjoyed the book. It was fun, the writing was very descriptive, the setting was magical and colorful, and the story gave me some serious Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland vibes.

The synopsis states that this is a story about a girl trying to find her father, and the adventure she goes on to do just that. I can agree with that since that’s basically what happens. My only complaint was that it took a while for anything to really happen. However, I can overlook that because I thought it was nice to see what Alice’s life was like before she had her grand adventure. It also set up the ground rules of how the magic worked.

As for the characters, I did like the majority of them, and there was no one that I really considered to be an antagonist. Alice Alexis Queensmeadow was pretty interesting. Unlike the rest of her town, she had no color except for in her eyes and sometimes her cheeks. Part of why I picked up this book was that I wanted to see how her colorless condition was going to work with the rest of the story, and what her ability would be. Alice felt sorry for herself in the beginning, so, it was nice to see her grow as the book progressed. Oliver, like Alice at the beginning of the book, was just alright but his character did eventually grow on me.

Now, the setting and magic were two of the more interesting parts of the book, and there were clear differences between Furthermore and Ferenwood. Ferenwood was a place that thrived on color, because color was a sign of magic. While there were some minor inconsistencies, I thought that it was an interesting idea that turned out to be pretty cool. Furthermore was just as interesting of a place as Ferenwood. It was also kind of dangerous and ruled by something that was undeniably random, which is why it kind of reminded me of Wonderland.

Overall, I really liked Furthermore. It turned out to be an interesting story. Now that I have read this book, I’m curious about how the Shatter Me trilogy actually ended. So, it’s highly likely that sometime in the near future, I’ll go back and read those books.

The Friday 56 (97) & Book Beginnings: The Wrath & The Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

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...

One Life to One Dawn...

In a land ruled by a murderous boy-king, each dawn brings heartache to a new family. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, is a monster. Each night he takes a new bride only to have a silk cord wrapped around her throat come morning. When sixteen-year-old Shahrzad's dearest friend falls victim to Khalid, Shahrzad vows vengeance and volunteers to be his next bride. Shahrzad is determined not only to stay alive, but to end the caliph's reign of terror once and for all. Night after night, Shahrzad beguiles Khalid, weaving stories that enchant, ensuring her survival, though she knows each dawn could be her last.

But something she never expected begins to happen: Khalid is nothing like what she'd imagined him to be. This monster is a boy with a tormented heart. Incredibly, Shahrzad finds herself falling in love. How is this possible? It's an unforgivable betrayal. Still, Shahrzad has come to understand all is not as it seems in this palace of marble and stone. She resolves to uncover whatever secrets lurk and, despite her love, be ready to take Khalid's life as retribution for the many lives he's stolen. Can their love survive this world of stories and secrets?

Inspired by A Thousand and One Nights, The Wrath and the Dawn is a sumptuous and enthralling read from beginning to end...

Beginning: "It would not be a welcome dawn."

56: "She ignored his meaningful tone as she reached back for another arrow. After she fitted it into position on the sinewed bowstring, her eyes darted to his face.

Comments: I've been looking forward to The Wrath & The Dawn by Renee Ahdieh for a long time. I can't really say much about this book yet since I'm still reading it. So far, the story is pretty good.

What series have you recently started?