2015

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

My Monday tradition, including a look back and a look ahead — what I read last week, what new books came my way, and what books are keeping me busy right now. Plus a smattering of other stuff too.

What did I read last week?

Alex + Ada by Jonathan Luna and Sarah Vaughn: I loved this graphic novel! Just a really clever story about a lonely guy and a sentient AI android named Ada. I really can’t wait to see where this story goes next. Book #2 is next on my request list at the library!

Second Life by S. J. Watson: Finished right before the weekend. My thoughts will be posted on Wednesday, when I’m participating in the blog tour for this book.

Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf: Done! A really gorgeous book. Check out my review, here.

Elsewhere on the blog:

I thought a lot this week about the ways in which information about an author can impact how we respond to a book. I’d love to hear other opinions on the topic! My post is here.

I also finally got around to posting pictures from my Harry Potter adventures in Florida. Check ’em out, here.

Fresh Catch:

One new book this week:

Looking forward to reading the sequel to After the Golden Age!

What will I be reading during the coming week?

Currently in my hands:

I’ve read two books by Miranda Kenneally so far, and thought they were both terrific! I’m just getting started with her newest, but I have high hopes.

Now playing via audiobook:

I should be done with the audiobook of A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore this week. It’s making me laugh at the most awkward moments… and sometimes, that’s just what I need.

Ongoing reads:

One with the kiddo, two with Outlander Book Club. All three should last a good long while.

So many book, so little time…

25Jun2015

Thursday Quotables: A Dirty Job

Posted in Thursday Quotables by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Welcome back to Thursday Quotables! This weekly feature is the place to highlight a great quote, line, or passage discovered during your reading each week. Whether it’s something funny, startling, gut-wrenching, or just really beautifully written, Thursday Quotables is where my favorite lines of the week will be, and you’re invited to join in!

NEW! Thursday Quotables is now using a Linky tool! Be sure to add your link if you have a Thursday Quotables post to share.

A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore
(published 2006 )

I’m listening to the audiobook of A Dirty Job to get read for the sequel, Secondhand Souls, due out in August. I remember loving A Dirty Job the first time around — but listening brings it to an entirely new level of hilarity. Maybe it won’t be quite as funny out of context, but here’s a passage that brings on the giggles:

Charlie’s problem was that the trailing edge of his Beta Male imagination was digging at him like bamboo splinters under the fingernails. While Alpha Males are often gifted with superior physical attributes — size, strength, speed, good looks — selected by evolution over the eons by the strongest surviving and, essentially, getting all the girls, the Beta Male gene has survived not by meeting and overcoming adversity, but by anticipating and avoiding it. That is, when the Alpha Males were out charging after mastodons, the Beta Males could imagine in advance that attacking what was essentially an angry, woolly bulldozer with a pointy stick might be a losing proposition, so they hung back at camp to console the grieving widows.

Another:

Into the breech of the Castro district Charlie Asher charged, an antique sword-cane from the store on the van seat beside him, his jaw set like a bayonet, his visage a study in fearsome intensity. Half a block, half a block, half of a block onward — into the Valley of Overpriced Juice Bars and Outlandish Hair Highlights — rode the righteous Beta Male. And woe be unto the foolish ne’er-do-well who had dared to fuck with this secondhand death dealer…

And finally, rule number one from Charlie’s volume of The Great Big Book of Death, summing up more or less the main gist of the entire plot of A Dirty Job:

1. Congratulations, you have been chosen to act as Death. It’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it. It is your duty to retrieve soul vessels from the dead and dying and see them on to their next body. If you fail, Darkness will cover the world and Chaos will reign.

What lines made you laugh, cry, or gasp this week? Do tell!

If you’d like to participate in Thursday Quotables, it’s really simple:

Write a Thursday Quotables post on your blog. Try to pick something from whatever you’re reading now. And please be sure to include a link back to Bookshelf Fantasies in your post (http://www.bookshelffantasies.com), if you’d be so kind!
Click on the linky button (look for the cute froggie face) below to add your link.
After you link up, I’d love it if you’d leave a comment about my quote for this week.
Be sure to visit other linked blogs to view their Thursday Quotables, and have fun!

22Jun2015

The Monday Check-In ~ 6/22/2015

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

What did I read last week?

Paper Towns by John Green: Read the week before, but I finally managed to post a brief review this past week. Interestingly, while I wasn’t crazy about the book, two of my book group’s members who work with teens felt the book was absolutely spot-on and really meaningful, so we’ve been having some great discussions.

Blue Stars by Emily Gray Tedrowe: Powerful and moving. My review is here.

Weightless by Sarah Bannon: A YA must-read. My review is here.

Hasn’t it seemed like I’ve been reading Eragon forever? Yeah, to me too. I finally finished, and wrote a slightly weird review, here.

Off-line:

I went to see Eddie Izzard perform as part of his Force Majeure tour on Friday, and he was brilliant!

Fresh Catch:

Woo hoo! All sorts of books came my way this week, some used, some new. Look at all the pretty:

What will I be reading during the coming week?