Reading

September Books

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? This summer is never-ending. I like the heat, but even I’m tired of triple digits. Plus, I feel anxious for no real reason, so there’s this sense of impending doom lingering over me. That’s how I am! So, instead of rambling about anything remotely personal, I thought I’d share my book list for September. It’s not much, but I like it.

1. Murder in an Italian Village by Michael Falco. This is my September review book, so you’ll get to hear my thoughts on it on the 27th. I’ll say this, it’s extremely dense. So many words and factoids. I have thoughts already. Not sure if that’s good or bad.

2. Carrie by Stephen King. Danielle and I have started a kind of informal book club thing, so we decided to rotate through craft books, masters of their craft (originally started as just Stephen King because she hasn’t read much by him, but we thought it might get boring so we decided to include authors who are most well known in their genres, like Agatha Christie, Anne Rice, etc.), and randomness (just whatever we want to read). Last month she chose a craft book, this month I chose Carrie, next month she’ll choose a random book, then I’ll choose a craft book, and so on. I figured we should start at the beginning with King and it’s been a long time since I read this one, so yeah.

3. The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, book 4) by Rick Riordan. A new book in the series is coming out, so I decided to reread the first five. That’s all. I’ll probably start book 5, but won’t finish it until October.

4. Alicia Alonso: Prima Ballerina by Carmen T. Bernier-Grand. I do those stupid Kindle Challenges where you collect virtual bookmarks as you complete reading challenges and one of the challenges this season is to read something from their Hispanic and Latino Voices section. The challenge is over on the 30th, so I chose one of the short books to squeeze in. If they’d have revealed this particular challenge earlier, I would’ve read Mexican Gothic.

What are you planning to read this month? As always, feel free to leave your thoughts and comments and questions here or on my social media pages!

Thoughts on THE SUNSET YEARS OF AGNES SHARP

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing on this lovely Wednesday? It’s the last Wednesday of August, so you know what that means. Book review time! This month, I opted for a cozyish mystery. The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp by Leonie Swann was released on the 29th by Soho Press. As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s do the thing.

The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp follows Agnes (duh) and her housemates as they try to solve a series of murders while keeping the police from looking too closely at the death of their friend. Sunset Hall is a place where elderly people go to have companionship without pity in their declining years. Their eclectic backgrounds make for an interesting group of sleuths. Throw a newbie and a grandson into the mix and things can get dramatic. Can Agnes and her friends solve the murders? Iffy memories and stiff joints don’t help, but they’re determined.

The plot started off strong. It’s pretty standard stuff: multiple murders, inept police, nosy people. There are even two sets of twins to confuse things. It’s also fairly predictable, which is fine. But as the story progresses, it becomes choppy and jarring. I understand the why, but it doesn’t make it any easier to read. The beginning flows nice and is pretty linear, but the end jumps around and timelines overlap and it’s just not cleanly done, so it gets confusing. It all comes together in the end. I just feel like the ride could’ve been smoother.

The POV changed a lot without warning. I’m sure usually a fan of jumping characters mid-chapter, but it was handled pretty well in this book. There were a couple of times where I knew the POV had changed, but I wasn’t sure whose it was until a paragraph or so in. That was annoying. But I enjoyed getting closer to the characters (including Hettie the tortoise), so a little confusion here and there was okay.

I loved the characters. Most of them have backgrounds like police detective (Agnes) or military (Marshall) or some kind of spy (Edwina) or possible gangster (Bernadette) or whatever. They may be old, but if you’re a criminal, they aren’t the right senior citizens to mess with. They’re well written and mostly fleshed out. And they have very distinct personalities, so they’re fun to read about. The only one I was hoping for more out of was the baddie. It’s really hard to flesh out a character like that without spoiling things, though.

The writing was nice. It was a pretty quick read that I had no trouble picking back up after I put it down for the day. I had no trouble putting it down either. Take from that what you will.

Ultimately, I thought The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp was fun. It’s probably not something I’ll remember a year from now, but I enjoyed it while reading it.

starstarstarstar outlinestar outline

Overall, I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. If you’re into murder mysteries and like older characters, check it out. If not, give it a miss.

Thoughts on THE WITCH HITCH

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this last Wednesday of July? Things here are mostly okay. But it’s book review time, so let’s get to that! This month, in a panic since the other book I’d chosen moved up a week, I decided on something that seemed relatively quick and cute. The Witch Hitch by Elizabeth Bass was released on the 25th by Kensington Books. I didn’t realize it was the second in a series until I was halfway through, so remember that I’m coming at it without having read the first book. Anyway, as usual, I must thank Kensington Books and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s do it!

The Witch Hitch follows Bailey Tomlin as she prepares for her upcoming wedding. All she has to do is pick a dress. Easy, right? Not so much. And the wedding preparations are only complicated even more when her birth mother shows up. What a witch! Throw in a blast from the past (1930 to be exact), a pompous parrot, and a wicked witch of the aether and the wedding jitters just explode.

Like I said, I went into this not knowing it was a sequel. It reads just fine on its own. The only reason I discovered it was a sequel was because I glanced at the “also by…” section. I’m not even sure if the events of the first book come up here or if it’s one of those series that are only connected by the setting. The whole wicked witch in the aether thing could’ve come from book one, but it’s explained in a way so it doesn’t really matter if you’ve read book one or not.

As far as the plot goes, it was convoluted. There’s a wedding. The groom’s ex is still in the picture and she’s insane. The bride’s birth mother shows up and informs the bride that that entire side of the family are witches. A new love interest is pulled from 1930. An evil witch with no body is causing mayhem. And that’s just part of the drama. There’s too much going on and nothing really has room to breathe in this book. It’s very clunky. The romance part feels forced and unnatural. All of the relationships feel that way, actually. With everything going on, there isn’t time for feelings to build naturally in the story, so instead of a growing attraction to Seton (or warming to Esme and the cousins, or gradual detachment from Wes, etc.), we get random bounces of emotion that make no sense.

The characters are all cute, if somewhat flat. None of them do anything surprising or out of the box. They’re all very much the cookie cutter stereotypes they’re meant. There’s nothing wrong with that. It makes for a quick and cute read, but it also means that I’m not particularly invested in what happens to them. I couldn’t even remember most of their names while I was writing this if I’m being honest. But all the expected roles were there, so it wasn’t a bad story.

There wasn’t anything noteworthy about the writing. It was cute and quick despite the plot being clunky. Not a bad little read in the end.

Ultimately, I enjoyed The Witch Hitch for what it was, but have zero desire to search for other books in the series. It’s just not my cup of tea.

starstarstarstar outlinestar outline

Overall, I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. If you like cheesy romances and don’t mind a cluttered plot, check it out. But you’re not missing much if you skip it.

Thoughts on SAVE THE CAT! WRITES A YOUNG ADULT NOVEL

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this lovely, toasty day? I ended up with two books to review this month because this one decided to release a week early, so it’s impromptu book review time! It’s a craft book. I don’t know why I chose a craft book, but I did. Mostly because it’s been a while since I read one, I guess. Anyway, Save the Cat! Writes a Young Adult Novel by Jessica Brody was released on July 18th (Dad’s birthday! Happy belated birthday, old man!) from Ten Speed Press. As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s do the thing.

Save the Cat! Writes a Young Adult Novel expands on Blake Snyder’s screenwriting guide (Save the Cat!) and tweaks it to make it more easily applicable to YA novels. Along with the expected beat sheets, the author also includes guides to what she calls the ten Save the Cat! story genres. There’s also a chapter dedicated to writing a series and one about creating loglines and synopses when you’re preparing for publication/the agent hunt/whatever you decide to use them for.

The original Save the Cat! is pretty much the only craft book that I remember with fondness. Most I’m either meh about or hate with a passion. This particular craft book is better than most of the ones I’ve read, but I couldn’t get into it when the genres came up (and they’re most of the book). First, the good. I liked the beat sheet. It explains where events usually go and how plotlines merge and diverge and how to make your own beat sheet either before writing, during it, or between drafts. Plus, you can tweak it as needed if your story feels off. It’s a great tool. I also liked that the author discusses how to apply everything to a series and a synopsis. That was all actually very helpful.

My biggest problem with this book was the breakdown of genres. Instead of using traditional genres (fantasy, sci-fi, etc.), the author tries to categorize stories by their essence (rites of passage, buddy love, etc.). That’s cool. I like the idea. But there’s far too much overlap for these genres to be distinct from each other. How do I know? Because a lot of the same books are used as examples in multiple genres. It’s confusing. The author says that’s okay and that many people will disagree as to what books go into which genre, like it’s not a big deal. It’s fine for debates. But she also says each genre needs to include certain things. If my book crosses multiple genres, how do I know what to include? It’s confusing. Especially for newbie writers who might think a craft book is writing law and don’t realize they can break the rules. It’s just too messy for my liking.

The other problem I have with the book is definitely a me thing. I don’t like it when writers use their own work as examples in craft books. It just feels like they’re trying to get me to buy their stuff and they never delve as deeply into their own stuff, like they don’t want to give away spoilers. Meanwhile, they’ve just spoiled every other book they used as examples. This author does it sparingly until the chapter on series which is all about one of her series in the example. It’s annoying to me, but I know most readers don’t care.

As far as the writing goes, it’s a craft book. Starts out a little preachy, but that fades away pretty quickly. Otherwise, it’s long and very repetitive as most craft books are.

Ultimately, I found some useful things in Save the Cat! Writes a Young Adult Novel. It was one of the better craft books I’ve read. Apparently there’s also one about writing novels in general, so I might look that one up.

starstarstarstar outlinestar outline

Overall, I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. Craft books are either pretty good (4), meh(2), or bad (0) to me. This one leaned toward pretty good. If you’re writing a YA novel and you’re stuck, it’s worth having around.

More Book Talk

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? I’m sure it’s lovely somewhere. Here, it’s hot and humid and generally blah. But the cicadas are doing their screeching thing, so that’s nice. Anyway, today I’m here to ramble about the last “Ask me about…” thingie. Unless someone picks another number before July 4th (feel free). So far, we’ve covered 13 (you can find the prompt list there), 31, 41, and 54. Today, we’re doing number 7: Ask me about my favorite book.

I think you all know my reading tastes by now. Anything Stephen King or Neil Gaiman. I’ve loved everything I’ve read by Rainbow Rowell. The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. Rick Riordan. Stuff about gods and demons. I’m not picky about genre, though I do lean towards fantasy or horror or cozy mysteries. Adult, YA, MG. I don’t particularly care about the target age range. As long as I enjoy it, that’s all that matters. But if you’ve been reading my blog, you know this, so I think I’ll approach this question in a different way and tell you a little about my favorite book that I’ve written so far.

None of my novels have been published (not for a lack of trying), but I do have a couple that are query ready, one that’s ready for revisions, and a handful of others that are at least partially written. Out of all of those, I’m particularly attached to one tentatively titled A Taste of Cyn: A Dreamscapes Novel. It’s a darker version of a cozy mystery with paranormal elements (vampires). And it has been rejected… a LOT, but I keep sending it out. Any personal rejections it’s received boil down to “We love the characters and idea, but have no idea how to market it.” I’m gathering that’s code for “it crosses some weird ass genres and we don’t know what to sell it as.” Which I thought might be a problem when I started writing it. Then again, it might just suck and no one wants to say that (I wish they would). But I still love it.

Here’s the blurb I’ve been using when querying:

Love bites and stalkers suck.

Lucynda “Cyn” Moseman wants nothing more than a quiet life running Dreamscapes, the first and only host club in Dallas. Unfortunately, Cyn’s life is anything but normal.

When she was eighteen, Cyn used college as an excuse to flee from Marfa, an awkward relationship, and her dysfunctional family. It’s been twelve years since she left, and she rarely looks back.

Three years ago, Cyn opened Dreamscapes, and now, the cozy nest she’s built around herself is being torn apart. Someone is picking off her customers and draining them of blood. With a staff consisting primarily of vampires, Cyn fears the worst.

Dragged into the middle of a murder investigation despite wanting nothing to do with it, Cyn’s life is spiraling out of control. Throw in a detective she may or may not have feelings for, the unexpected arrival of her clingy ex, and a box of hair appearing on her doorstep, and Cyn tells herself things can’t get worse.

She’s wrong.

I like it. I guess that’s what really matters. The second book in the series is actually plotted and partially written. It has more beasties than just vampires. I like it too, but stopped working on it after so many rejections. Maybe I’ll get back to it. Or maybe I’ll start working on the slightly more traditional cozy mystery that’s been banging around my head. It has ghosts, but I don’t think that’s too far out of the genre to make it unsellable. I mean, they have ones with talking dogs and others with witches now, so why not ghosts?

Anyway, that’s my current favorite book that I’ve written. I’m sure that’ll change. As always, feel free to leave your thoughts and questions here or on my social media pages!

March Is Here

~ shawnaborman ~ 13 Comments

Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Things here are okay. There’s some old lady neighbor drama going on, but things will eventually work out. Other than that, there’s not much going on. It’s late as I’m writing this because I procrastinated, so it’ll probably be a short post again. I haven’t made a goals post in a while, so I think I’m going to do that. These are just March goals. I’m not planning too far ahead because I’ve been really bad about keeping goals anyway, so what’s the point? Fingers crossed I can at least keep up with this stuff.

1. Write 4,000 words a week. Since the beginning of the year, I’ve met this goal five weeks out of eight. I need to buckle down and stick with it, but I’m lazy and haven’t really found the desire to keep up with it. It’s a me thing. I know. I’m enjoying the story and know where it’s going. When I do force myself to write, it’s not particularly hard and the distractions are minimal. So, it’s not that I need to switch projects. I just need to focus and find the reason I write again.

2. Read at least two books. I’ve already read seven this year, so I don’t foresee any problems meeting this goal. And only one of those was a book of poetry, so no… I’m not reading super short things and counting them. Though I do have a couple of novellas lined up for this year. But I also have a couple of 500+ page novels on my shelf. My reading varies. A lot.

3. Submit DS1 to another publisher. It’s been a couple of months since my last kindly worded rejection, so I should probably get it back out there. I still have a couple of places I want to try before I decide whether or not to trunk this one too.

4. Keep up with my miscellaneous stuff. Write blog posts. Post on my author profiles. Order groceries as needed. Try not to forget little things that pop up. Text people. The usual stuff that I do between mindless games and crossword puzzles.

That’s all, really. I was going to include socializing more, but I honestly just don’t want to. I’d rather listen to loud music. Don’t get me wrong. I love my peoples. But I prefer hermitting right now. Anyway, what are your goals for March? As always, feel free to share your comments and questions here or on my social media pages!

Thoughts on NOCTURNE

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? I faltered a little with my writing last week, but it’s just because I’m lazy. Otherwise, things are good here. It’s the last Wednesday of February already, so you know what that means. Book review time! This month, I felt like reading something in the fantasy vein, so after some searching, I decided to try out Nocturne by Alyssa Wees. It was released by Del Rey Books yesterday (February 21st). As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for granting me access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s get to it!

Gorgeous cover.

Nocturne follows Grace Dragotta as she rises to the challenges of becoming prima ballerina at a small Chicago company during the Great Depression. It’s been her dream since she was little, her escape from a hard life, but when she finds herself practically sold to a mysterious patron, she realizes the world is much bigger than she ever dared to dream. But is it a dream or just another nightmare that she’s entered?

The plot. It’s basically a Beauty and the Beast retelling, but with throwbacks as far as Hades and Persephone. Grace is sold to the Beast (Master) who whisks her off to the land of the dead in a bizarre attempt to woo her. Things go wrong when Sleep starts meddling for his own foolish and selfish reasons. It gets a little complicated, but that’s okay. My biggest complaint with the plot is how easily Grace is persuaded to do what she does to Death. The whole time, she’s cautious and wary and does her best not to fall for any bullshit, but a two second conversation with a dude she knows is sus makes her act like an idiot. I found that a little annoying.

Characters. They were all a little flat. Not even Grace grew or changed very much. Death and Sleep didn’t have enough page time to really be explored. The bestie and the Mistress were static as well, but interesting in their own ways. But, if I’m being honest, I didn’t really expect much from them from the very beginning. Have you ever started a book and just known the characters weren’t going to learn anything? This is one of those books.

I usually save the writing for last, but it’s really the whole reason I picked up this book. The description and cover make it seem like it’s going to be poetic and lyrical and pretty. It is after a while, but it takes a few chapters to get into a groove. It’s not exactly what I was hoping for, but there are some nice phrases and musical bits. I admit that I looked at other reviews before I wrote this and one of the big complaints people have is that the prose is too purple. It’s overwritten. Well, it’s supposed to be. And for the most part, it’s lovely.

Last, the pacing is off. The beginning is super slow and a bit too firmly rooted in the real world, so when the fantasy elements enter into things, it’s jarring. But once I got past the real world and settled into the fantasy, I found that my desire to keep reading finally kicked in. From then on, I found it to be enjoyable despite the things it was lacking.

Ultimately, I enjoyed Nocturne for what it was. I was compelled to keep reading after things got interesting. But it’s not something I will ever read or think about again and that’s okay. Some books are just like that.

starstarstarstar outlinestar outline

Overall, I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. My initial rating was 4, but the more I thought about it, the more issues I had with it. It’s an okay book and if you’re into fairytales, it’s worth checking out. I don’t recommend it with zeal, but I don’t think it’s something to avoid either.

BooHoo

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this chilly first of February? I’m okay. I broke my writing streak on the 30th because who wants to write when it’s freezing and gloomy and you could be watching TV instead? I don’t even want to be writing this, but I am. But I proved to myself I could stick to a writing schedule if I wanted, so I’ll probably go back to my usual schedule next week (4 days of 1,000+ words, the blog day, and two days off a week). I haven’t decided about the rest of this week yet. But we’re here to finish off the number thing. This week’s prompt was chosen by Scotty, who sometimes stalks the blog. We’ve covered 13 (you can find the prompt list there), 7, 2, 8, 3, 10, 6, 14, and 11. And today, the prompt is “Tell me which book has made you cry more than any other book has.” This is a weirdly hard question.

I don’t remember being super emotional about books (or anything) when I was younger, mostly because I didn’t like explaining why I was crying if I got caught and would usually piss off whoever caught me because I would be like “it’s nothing” and apparently that was the worst possible answer. It was weird. I was weird. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve become a sympathetic crier, especially if it’s a dude. TV, books, movies, whatever. If a character cries, I get misty. If a character I really like cries, I flat out cry too. I hate it. It was much more preferable when nothing affected me. I’m basically growing up to be a girl and nobody wants that (yes, I know that joke was sexist and I’m all for healthy emotional responses in both men and women, just not myself). Anyway, all this is to say that it was probably a book I read in the last ten years, but I’ll be damned if I can remember which one.

I’ve spent far too much time thinking about this one since it was chosen and I’m still coming up blank. Even with manga. The closest I can come to an answer is a Facebook post from August 13, 2017: “Might’ve spent three hours finishing reading a book today. There were probably tears. Strong, manly tears. Definitely not an ugly cry. Okay, maybe a little ugly.” It was about The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. I don’t even remember why it made me ugly cry. But apparently it did. That’s probably why it still ranks among my favorites. So, since it was Facebook worthy, I’m just going to make believe this is the answer.

And this is going to be a short post because I can’t think of any other books to ramble about. Anime, though. Definitely Fullmetal Alchemist. There are two particularly traumatic scenes that get me every time. If you’ve seen it, you know what they are. Anyway, what books made you cry? As always, feel free to leave your comments or questions here or on my social media pages!

Bonus pic of our icy backyard:

Thoughts on AGAINST THE CURRANT

~ shawnaborman ~ 2 Comments

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing? Things are normal here. I’m still writing every day. Huzzah! But we’re not here to talk about that. We’re here because it’s the last Wednesday of the month. You know what that means! It’s book review time. For the beginning of the year, I decided to go for something comfortable. A cozy mystery. Against the Currant is the first in Olivia Matthews’s new Spice Isle Bakery mysteries. It was released yesterday (the 24th) by St. Martin’s Press. As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s get to it.

Against the Currant follows Lyndsay Murray as she and her family open a bakery in Little Caribbean (Brooklyn, NY). As if opening a business isn’t stressful enough, throw in a rival bakery owner who threatens to shut them down them gets himself murdered the very next day. Lynds is now the main suspect of a murder! Luckily, she and her meddlesome family are on the case despite her protests that she’s just trying to find more likely suspects, not the actual murderer. There’s a hot detective for a potential love interest as well. What could go wrong?

The plot is standard, but a little on the weak side. One mild argument does not a murderer make, especially when there are a plethora of other suspects with much better motives. The detectives in this book are the stupidest people ever. They only focus on Lyndsay and they don’t listen when far better leads are given to them. I mean, I’m okay with nosy people solving cases (it’s why I read cozies), but I hate it when the cops are this dumb. There were plenty of red herrings they could’ve followed that would’ve been fine, but they stuck with the flimsiest one. That was annoying. And I really hope the detective doesn’t end up being the love interest. He’s a dick. Just don’t. Also, there was a character who showed up twice pretty early on for absolutely no reason. All he did was start stuff, which any established character could have done, then he completely disappeared. What was that about?

I liked the characters, though there were a lot of them. While I understand the desire to introduce all of the family (and extended family) at once, all of the names were overwhelming and I couldn’t keep them straight. On top of them, there were two detectives, five or six suspects, and three or four extras. It was a lot for one book. But I liked the ones I could remember. Lyndsay, Dev, Reena, the grandma, and parents. All great with a lot of potential. The murderer was pretty easy to pick out, but a couple of the red herring characters were great and would’ve been just as plausible. Mostly, I think the characters are good and have the potential for growth if the series continues.

As far as the writing goes, it’s a bit repetitive, especially early on. Like, I heard you the first three times. Move on. And there were some tics that kept showing up in multiple characters. If it’s one character doing it, I write it off as a character tic, but if multiple characters do it, it’s probably the author’s go-to reaction when they don’t know what else to use (mine is shrugging or nodding). Lots of kissing teeth, which took me far too long to figure out since I didn’t Google it, but I learned a new phrase, so that was cool. Stuff like that. But it was a quick read nonetheless.

Ultimately, I was kind of meh about Against the Currant. If I catch the next book in the series, I’ll check it out to see if anything changes, but if I miss it, no big deal.

starstarstarstar outlinestar outline

Overall, I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great. If you’re into cozy mysteries set in bakeries, go ahead and try it. There are some recipes included if you’re into that kind of thing too.

A Book For Bed

~ shawnaborman ~ 1 Comment

Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this fine Wednesday? Things are going okay here. I recently crossed the 10,000 words mark on the current novel attempt. I’m still writing at least a little every day. Meeting my goals. Fingers crossed I can keep it up. But anyway! Today, we’re doing another number thing. The lovely Melinda chose number 11. I’ve done 13 (you can find the prompt list there), 7, 2, 8, 3, 10, 6, and 14. Only have number 1 left for February first unless someone wants to pick one of the remaining prompts. Feel free. This week’s prompt is “Tell me which book is the best to read while curled up in bed.” Uh, wait…

I was going to say that I don’t read in bed, but that’s not entirely true. There are times when I can’t sleep that I get Alexa to read to me. I’m too cheap to buy audiobooks, mostly because I prefer to actually read things (I just don’t retain things as well when I only hear them). But most Kindle books have an accessibility feature that lets Alexa devices read them aloud. It’s not perfect and she can’t read words different ways based on context (for example, tear is always pronounced like a rip even though it should be an eye raindrop), but it works well enough for the amount I use it.

Like I said, I can’t retain details well by just hearing them. I’m very much a visual learner. Show me something once and I’ve got it. Write the instructions down and I can figure it out. Tell me how to do it without the thing right in front of me and expect me to do it later… nah. I get distracted too easily without something to focus my eyes on. So, the only times I really listen to books in bed is when I’m close to some kind of action and super into it so I know I’ll focus OR when I’m annoyed/bored with a book and don’t want to waste time reading it but also don’t want to give it up. It’s usually the latter.

The latest book I read in bed was Lord of Silver Ashes by Kellen Graves. I bought the first book of the series without realizing it was self-published (not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I usually do a quality check before I buy self-published things). The story was fun and I liked the characters, but the editing was absolute shit (and yes, they claimed they had an editor). So many continuity errors and typos and the em dashes… just stop. But I decided to give the second book a shot because I liked the premise. I shouldn’t have. It was even worse with glaring continuity errors that made the big reveals absolutely useless. Like… we knew that in the last book so why are you freaking out now? Anyway, I gave up half through and had Alexa read it to me. It helped make it more enjoyable not having to see all the errors, so I might try book three when it comes out. I’m invested and kind of a masochist, I guess. Blargh.

I also vaguely remember A Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke. It wasn’t bad, but there were so many words. It was dense and slow and I was only reading it for one of those stupid Kindle reading challenges, so I gave up a few chapters in and let Alexa read the rest a couple of chapters at a time when I couldn’t sleep. I admit it’s a good way to get sleepy. Listening to boring books.

So, I guess I do read in bed, but it’s usually because I’m not enjoying something about a book. Is that weird? What do you read in bed? As always, feel free to leave your thoughts or questions here or on my social media pages!