Quarantine Watch List

We're not only big readers - we all enjoy narratives through television and movie as well! Here are some of the things we've been watching recently.

Rebecca T: I just finished a grand rewatch of all 4 of the Hunger Games movies. I reread the book and then rewatched the movie and I was really blown away by how faithful the movies are to the books - there are whole sections of dialogue lifted straight from the books! Obviously, there are a lot of things missing. That's just what happens with movie adaptations. But these are some of my favorite and, in my opinion, some of the best done book to screen adaptations. Now I'm ready to read The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes!

rachelyons: I discovered Chopped was on Hulu so I’ve been watching approximately 20 hours of it per day.

Jenn N: I have been watching a DVD box set of Cagney & Lacey gifted to me by my boyfriend. When I was a kid my mom was on a bowling league on Monday nights. For some reason I always wanted to stay up and watch Cagney & Lacey which came on at 10pm. My dad only allowed me to watch the opening credits before going to bed. The show holds a special fondness in my heart of a simpler time. I caught a rerun on an obscure cable channel a few weeks ago. It was awesome. Extremely well written, engaging and still relevant and relatable despite the passage of time. My boyfriend then surprised me by sending me the box set of the complete series to subdue the quarantine blues.
 
Melanie:
I'm watching Ugly Betty for the first time.
 
Alan:
In the last week, I've completely caught up on
Better Call Saul
The Good Place
Forged in Fire
Brockmire
I'm halfway through book 5 of 5 in Chris Fox's Void Wraith series. That's about 40 hours on Audible.

Now I'm sifting through Naked and Afraid, looking for unwatched episodes, while my wife and I are waiting for the new season of Dead to Me.

Albert:
Upload on Amazon, Also, I am catching up on Ru Paul's Drag Race.

NaomiRuth:
I just finished watching Bryan Fuller's Wonderfalls. I am planning on re-watching the first season of American Gods next.

Go-To Comfort Reads

We're back with another group post! A lot of us are returning to books that we enjoy or that give us a comforting feeling right now. Here are a few of ours:

Jenn N: " I always return to childhood favorites such as The Baby-Sitters Club where I can practically recite the whole book from memory and there’s always a happy ending."

Rachelyons: Anne of Green Gables "just makes me feel so cozy inside! It’s been a favorite since childhood so it’s just a great comfort read."

Rebecca T: "Mine is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. It makes me laugh and cry both sad and happy years and has so many sweet love stories, both romantic and platonic."

NaomiRuth: "Probably Pantheon by Hamish Steele. Mythology in comic form that's slightly inappropes." 


What are your go-to comfort reads? Share with us in the comments! 

Social Distance Reads

Hello! We hope everyone is safe and well. Since we're all in the north east, we've had to spend a lot more time at home, as many people have had to across the country. What better thing to get you through all the social distancing than a good book! We can get as close to fictional characters as we want, after all. Check out what we're reading now and feel free to share your current reads in the comments!

Jenn N. - I just read an Elin Hilderbrand book - What Happens in Paradise. Most of her books are set in Nantucket and I thought a virtual vacation was just what I needed. This book was set in the US Virgin Islands and provided a great escape to a beautiful beach destination that I needed.

Alan - I just started Out of the Dark, by David Weber, on Audible.

Eileen - I'm a little over halfway thru Brothers, by Yu Hua. It's a sad book but I'm learning a lot about a place and time period I didn't know before.

Rachelyons - I’m almost done with Legendary by Stephanie Garber! Then onto Finale!

Rebecca T - I'm listening to Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi - working my way through the series again in preparation for Imagine Me coming out next week! Even though it's a dystopia, it's such a fascinating world to return to, and it's the first time I've read all the way through the series since the 3rd book came out.

NaomiRuth - I am reading The Broken Kingdoms by NK Jemisin, the second in The Inheritance Trilogy. I am over halfway through and cannot wait to see what happens next. I love her world-building!

H is for Hidden Gem Book

We’re working our way through the alphabet with the A to Z Bookish Survey as created by “The Perpetual Pageturner.”  This week’s prompt is: H for Hidden Gem Book. 

Rachel:  Gossamer by Lois Lowry. I picked it up in the children’s department when I worked at B&N because it had a sparkly cover and ended up hiding behind the desk during my shift to read it 🙊 it was a quick little delightful read and I still think about it every time I wake up from a dream.

Rebecca:  The Ordinary Princess by M.M. Kaye - I honestly have no idea where or how I found this book, but it's an adorable fairy tale and I have to reread it regularly, and each time I follow a little more in love with it!

NaomiRuth: Ooh, I find so many hidden gems. I think I'd go with The Expedition to the Baobab Tree by Wilma Stockenström because I just ordered another copy for myself, since I gave my last one away. The Songs of the Russian People by W.R.S. Ralston is also another good one.

Jenn: I stumbled upon this adorable picture book, The Baby Blue Cat Who Said No, by Ainsley Pryor many years ago on vacation. The adorable illustrations and sweet story about a spoiled kitty made for a lifelong favorite. 

What about you? What’s your favorite “hidden gem” book? Share with us!

Group Post: Glad You Gave This Book a Chance

We’re working our way through the alphabet with the A to Z Bookish Survey as created by “The Perpetual Pageturner.”  This week’s question is: G for Glad You Gave This Book a Chance

Rebecca:  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows - It was one of the "make" books at Borders that we were supposed to talk up to customers, so I figured if I read it, it would be easier to sell. Probably wouldn't have picked it up otherwise and it is one of my favorite books of all time!

Rachel:  The Magicians by Lev Grossman! I borrowed it from Borders but only read a few pages before putting it down. Russ picked it up, read it in a night, and demanded I read it. I’m glad he did because I loved the series, especially the last book.

NaomiRuth: Caraval by Stephanie Garber. I almost didn't read it because of how often I don't like over-hyped books, but I kept seeing it in instagram everywhere so I decided to read the first few pages and I was hooked and fell in love with her world ❤

Like NaomiRuth, if a book has too much hype surrounding it, I’m weary of it but a few years ago I read Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and I loved it. It’s definitely the best of the “unreliable narrator” domestic thriller genre that’s permeated the market lately.  

What about you? What book or books are you glad you gave a chance to? Share with us in the comments below. 

Group Post E-Reader or Physical Book

We’re working our way through the alphabet with the A to Z Bookish Survey as created by “The Perpetual Pageturner.”  This week’s question is: E for E-Reader or Physical Book. 

Rebecca: Both! Ereader is fantastic for travel or on the go (or at night to read without a light on), but I still want physical copies of many books (and they're easier to get signed by authors :D)

Alan: Still prefer flipping pages, but I drive so much for work that I'm hooked on Audible now.

Jess P: Book, I still like flipping pages.

Rachel: Also both! I love reading graphic novels on an e-reader.

Eileen:  Both 🙂 I read a lot on my kindle app at work. And home is mostly paper or audio.

Jenn: I prefer a physical book. Like Jess, I enjoy flipping pages but I love the concevience my e-reader provides me by letting me access library books and NetGalley ARCs without leaving my house. 

NaomiRuth:  I definitely prefer the physical book. I am a kinesthetic learner so being able to touch the pages makes a big difference. Especially with non-fiction, as I tend to highlight/under-line/notate as I go. Usually the only ebooks I can get through are short or easy fiction reads.

What about you? What’s your preference? Share with us in the comments below. 

Group Post: Drink of Choice When Reading

Awhile back, we were working on completing "The A to Z Bookish Survey" that was originally created by Blogger "The Perpetual Pageturner."  For some reason, we didn't follow through after letter “C.” Now, we're back and continuing on with "D" for Drink of Choice When Reading.

Melanie and Jess P. chose coffee.

Naomi loves tea as does Rachel who takes hers with a little cream and sugar.  Eileen also favors tea or flavored seltzers if it's hot out.

Alan:  Okay, coffee's great. Tea's great. Whiskey's great. But those are all limited to one planet. If you're going to talk about drinks of choice, then there is no reason to go any further, anywhere in the galaxy, whether you're reading, writing, queueing up, or stealing a spaceship, than a GIN AND TONIC. It is a phonetic anomaly that transcends both space and time. As Douglas Adams explains in "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe;"

"It is a curious fact, and one to which no-one knows quite how much importance to attach, that something like 85 percent of all known worlds in the Galaxy, be they primitive or highly advanced, have invented a drink called jynnan tonyx, or gee-N'N-T'N-ix, or jinond-o-nicks, or any one of a thousand variations on this phonetic theme.
The drinks themselves are not the same, and vary between the Sivolvian ‘chinanto/mnigs’ which is ordinary water served just above room temperature, and the Gagrakackan 'tzjin-anthony-ks’ which kills cows at a hundred paces; and in fact the only one common factor between all of them, beyond the fact that their names sound the same, is that they were all invented and named BEFORE THE WORLDS CONCERNED MADE CONTACT WITH ANY OTHER WORLDS."

Rebecca doesn't like tea or coffee and joked that she fails as a librarian as a result.  She prefers a flavored seltzer.

As for me (Jenn) I don't have on particular drink I gravitate towards when I'm reading.  It depends on my mood if I'll choose coffee or a glass of wine. I do love to try every beer mentioned by Harry Bosch of Michael Connelly's best-selling series.  The Anchor Steam he mentioned is terrific.

What about you?  What do you like to drink when reading?  Share with us in the comments below!

Meme Crush Monday

Forget about “Man Crush Monday’s,” here #MCM means Meme Crush Monday! For those who don’t have access or don’t wish to use Instagram, I’ll share a bookish meme right here weekly on the blog.







This Week’s #MCM Meme Crush Monday:

 
Rebecca and Naomi took home some impressive book hauls that they shared on Instagram this weekend. 

Tell us about your recent book hauls in the comments below! 

What We're Currently Reading

Hey everybody, we're back like Backstreet, LOL!! Here is the first of what we hope to be many blog posts as we endeavor to relaunch our blog.



I thought we'd keep it simple by checking in to see what everyone has been reading lately.


I have been on an Greek Tragedy kick, so I'm reading through The Complete Greek Tragedies Volume III: Euripides. The collection includes different translators, some of whom I like and some of whom I do not. (I'm not a huge fan of Richard Lattimore, for whatever reason. I did enjoy William Arrowsmith's "Heracles.") I am currently reading "Helen." I love reading the plays that connect with the House of Atreus and all of the drama and angst that invariably happens. All the drama. All of it.

Strange Weather by Joe Hill. I’ve been in a bit of  a reading funk lately, and his books have never failed to suck me right in. This one is no exception. It’s a book of 4 novellas, and one of the stories was so deliciously horrible that it ruined my entire day.

The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie. I am also in a bit of a reading rut and her books always help me get back into it.










The Centurion's Wife by Davis Bunn & Janette Oke. I've been working my way alphabetically through the books on my Nook and this one was up next! It's about a slave in Pilate's house who is betrothed to a Centurion who has been tasked to track down the truth around Jesus' death. 

My daughter and I are reading Nancy Clancy: Super Sleuth by Jane O'Connor.  It's an early reader book featuring an older Nancy from the Fancy Nancy picture books. 

Basic Economics: 5th Edition, by Thomas Sowell.

Why? Self education. 










Danielle C. is reading Real Men Howl by Celia Kyle and Marina Maddix. It's pretty good so far has some elements that I haven't seen before which is nice.

Albert is reading The Vegetarian by Han Kang.  It had great reviews.

Stacey is reading Into the Water by Paula Hawkins. I was shopping at Barnes & Noble, and then went to grab a coffee at the cafe and relax a bit with a book, and it caught my eye so I added it to my "to be read" list on my phone. My sweet boyfriend went back and grabbed it for me.

I’m currently reading When Life Gives You Lululemons by Lauren Weisberger. It's the second sequel to The Devil Wears Prada. It’s focused on Emily who is now in PR and she’s hilarious. 








What about you?  What are you reading?  Share with us!