October 29, 2015

Bookish {and Not So Bookish} Thoughts :: Edition Four


This is a weekly meme hosted by Bookishly Boisterous where we write about stuff. I happened to see this via Birdie at Lady of the Manor and thought I'd join in.

1. Why hello there, my lovelies! October has been busy, busy for me, what with a vacation smack dab in the middle of it and lots of catch up to do after I was home again. So I've been scarce about these parts, but no worries! I hope to be back to my regular sporadic schedule now. :) And for the record? Vacations.......are THE BEST. Especially when they involve really good friends, bookshops, old buildings, glorious architecture, new cities to fall in love with, BEACH time, amazingly perfect weather, tea, and oh yeah, time with friends! It was wonderful, to say the least. And I did not want to come home again. *sadface* Alas, vacations can only last but for a moment and then they are a wistful memory from the past. Reminiscing about the fabulousness with my friends once home again does help though! Also, if you ever get the chance to visit Savannah, GA, I highly recommend it. :)

Beach reading is my favorite! :D

2. The other cool thing about vacations is that when they involve roadtrips, one tends to end up with hours and hours with which to be swept away in an audio version of a story! And guess which book I finally had the chance to listen to?! (There are some in the audience who will be thrilled with this info I am sure. :) The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien. Yes! I did indeed listen to the entire thing and really enjoyed it! I think I mentioned last year, when I finished The Hobbit, that I wanted to listen to the trilogy sometime. I found the audiobooks at the library and now book one is done (getting ready to start book two, The Two Towers, in the next couple days I hope)!  And let me just say this about that....Sam. Is. AWESOME. I love Sam. I really, really do! Since I've watched all the movies and loved Sam already, I knew that book-Sam would probably make me love him more. And he did! There really aren't enough words to talk about how awesome book-Sam is. When I finally get around to writing my review, I am positive I will have more to say. Until then, just know that Sam is one amazing little Hobbit who is deserving of all the bestest things Middle Earth can offer! :D
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3. One thing I quickly figured out about Mr. Tolkien though? He likes his details. He loves his details, actually. And I've decided that for my first read-through of the series (because I'm pretty sure I'll want to read them again :) going the audiobook route is definitely the best for me. I think I'd have a tendency to want to skim over some of the many details that go on for pages and pages. (I'm assuming.) (I acknowledge, as someone who hasn't really skimmed through the actual books yet, that I could be wrong.) (But I'm pretty sure I'm right.) (Maybe.) But listening to all those details hasn't bothered me yet, so there you go. Audiobook it is!


4. I apologize in advance, but this news needs to be shouted. MY FRIEND AMBER HAS A NEW STORY PUBLISHED!!! YAY!!! :D She has a novelette out called While You're Awake, and it is delightful! I say this as someone totally not biased at all. ;) But truly, it is a sweet and fun story. For those not in the know, a novelette is like a mini short story, so it's not a long read. But it's just long enough to make you smile and make your heart happy dance! So you should definitely click over to Amazon (right here) and check it out. My review should be up soon! (Amber has a Pinterest board with fun little tidbits about the story, check it out here.)



5. As always, I so far behind on my reviews. *big sigh* But am determined to get them caught up! Soonish.....I hope. But until that happens, here's a few stories that should be on your radar. The Bronte Plot by Katherine Reay (releasing next week!!!), Tiffany Girl by Deeanne Gist, and Spinning Starlight by R.C. Lewis (I mentioned Stitching Snow in a previous post and it is equally as wonderful as this second novel by Ms. Lewis, just fyi. :) Also The Gifting series by K.E. Ganshert is quite lovely as well!

132069006. And the bestest news of all?! Winter is coming!!!!! Only two weeks left, y'all! I AM SO EXCITED. (As if you can't tell, right? ;) This waiting for the final book has been torture. Pure torture, I tell you! I am beyond ready to find out what happens next to Cinder and the gang. I am most certainly ready for Queen Levana to get her comuppance! Two years is way too long to make us poor readers wait for this book. Nov. 10th cannot get here fast enough!


7. Since that torture is almost over, I will now happily end this exclamation-point-filled post. I hope y'all have been doing well! Read anything amazing recently? Do let me know, I am always up for adding to my towering TBR. :)



16 comments:

  1. Vacations are awesome! Especially ones that involve the beach.

    Sam is awesome, isn't he? Even better in the books than movies.

    Don't worry, you'll catch up with reviews soon. I'm working on catching up too.

    Can't wait for Winter! I hope it all ends well.

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    1. Jenny: Agreed! Beach vacations are the best. :)

      Now that I'm nearing the end of The Two Towers, I love Sam even more! Seriously, book-Sam is amazing.

      As you now see, I have been playing catch up aplenty! Now that my reviews are getting there, I need to click over to my friends blogs and catch up with y'all. :)

      Winter is AMAZING!! I don't know if you've read it yet? But I loved it. LOVED IT! It is deserving of all caps in my opinion! :D

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  2. Winter is coming! I love it! And Sam? One of my all time favorite characters ever ever ever!

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    1. Suey: Yes! I was counting down the days until it arrived and I LOVED it! Have you read it yet?

      Sam is amazing, isn't he? He is definitely climbing the ranks of my favorite characters. And I still have The Return of the King to listen to! Who knows how full he'll make my heart in that one. :)

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  3. What joy! This made me grin. Great to hear how lovely your vacation was. You've got me wanting to visit Savannah, too. (And those beautiful Instagram pics certainly helped ;-) Also, I must read Lord of the Rings one day - so nice that you enjoyed it. And yay for Amber!

    Love the happiness in this post. xx

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    1. Ganise: Aw, thank you, my friend! My vacation was so wonderful. I'm glad you enjoyed my pictures! I hoped I wasn't annoying everyone with them. :)

      I would definitely recommend the Lord of the Rings. Tolkien is an amazing writer.

      Double yay for Amber! :D

      Thank you for the sweet words and encouragement! You made my day when I first read your comment. :) So grateful to know you, Ganise!

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  4. Love all the updates and you know I'm jumping up and down for the Tolkien radness :)

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    1. I just knew you'd appreciate that news, Jamie! :D

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    1. Well thank you, Anna Elizabeth! That's so nice to hear. :)

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  6. Sam IS the best, and you are going to keep right on loving him :-) So exciting that you're making your first journey through LOTR!

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    1. I couldn't wait for you to find out, Hamlette! And I can't wait to share all my thoughts on these books, because goodness do I have a lot of them! :) Sam is even more awesome in The Two Towers. Let's see how he woos me in RotK! :D

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    2. Sam gets better and better as you go along. Or rather, Sam continues being perfectly wonderful, and we get to understand and appreciate him more and more as we go along :-)

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    3. Haven't caught up with him yet in ROTK, but I can well believe that I'll love him just as much if not more. :) In fact, at about a quarter of the way through this final book, I continue to be amazed at all the hobbits! The elves are awesome, the men are pretty cool, but the hobbits? They are INCREDIBLE. Their courage, their loyalty, their determination, their friendships, I love them all! :)

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  7. Great to hear that you've been reading and enjoying LOTR! I've just recently discovered audiobooks, but I totally believe they just work better for some books, maybe for classics in particular, as in our busy lives we might not always find the time to really sit down and dig into a classic work.

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    1. Thanks, Birdie! And I think you hit the nail on the head exactly. Perhaps I should try other classics in audio form! I might would enjoy them better and actually stick with them that way. Because that was my struggle with LOTR before now. I couldn't seem to stick with them.

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