Rennie St. James's Blog: Ramblings, page 5

Book Chat 6: Throne of Glass

It’s time for our monthly Book Chat and I’ve been looking forward to this one! Our July pick was Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. This is considered fantasy romance as well as young adult epic fantasy. Think royal court intrigue with magic and assassins! The usual book stats and the blurb are below in case you aren’t familiar with this one.

Amazon: 4.6 with 15,496 ratings; Goodreads: 4.19 with 690,176 ratings

Published Aug 7, 2021; 7 book series

After serving out a year of hard lab...

(DN)F It!

Are you ready to DNF It??

Most no doubt know what ‘F it’ means and you may use it often. DNF is a reader’s term and it means ‘did not finish’. Like the martial arts lessons I love bringing ‘off the mats’, lessons learned ‘on the page’ can be applied in real life too. So, let’s chat about DNF’ing it with the same attitude we say ‘F it’!

If you’re a regular follower, you may have read my monthly Book Chats (start HERE if you’re interested in reading or writing in fantasy novels). Reading is...

Book Chat 5: Moon Called

Patricia Briggs is certainly a top name in the urban fantasy genre. If you spend any time searching for UF recommendations, I’m betting you’ve seen her name more than a few times! I’ve had this one in my TBR pile for a while for just that reason.

There are 189, 124 ratings on Goodreads with an average of 4.11. Additionally, the 3,537 Amazon ratings average 4.7 stars. The blurb is below as well as my commentary on a few points repeated in negative reviews. After the reader discussion portion, ...

Sometimes, I’m lazy.

This year, I’ve been trying to update this blog twice a month. The Book Chat feature has provided an easy option each month, but I do normally like to ramble on other subjects. I have two posts partially written, but…

Sometimes, I’m lazy.

Yes, I do take pride in being productive and meeting my adulting responsibilities, but…

Sometimes, I’m lazy.

This is one of those times.

Here’s a cute picture of two of my furbabies to enjoy while I’m being lazy. The next Book Chat focuses on Moon Called (Mercy Thom...

Book Chat 4: Six of Crows

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo is definitely another popular modern ‘classic’ – there are 8,800 Amazon reviews with the average rating at 4.6. Additionally, there are 412,000+ Goodreads ratings with an average of 4.44 as of the time I checked. While this was released in 2014, the author’s earlier trilogy is being released on Netflix so I believe her works are getting more attention. Let’s stick with this one though so the cover and blurb follow.

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international t...

10 Rules for Fashion & Writing

The Oscars are airing soon so I was inspired to try a little fashion and writing overlap.

First, I have two things to confess. I’m definitely a jeans and tee shirt kind of girl. Fashion is not my area of expertise. Second, fashion posts following an awards show are a bit of a guilty pleasure. I love seeing the stars dressed up and I love seeing the critiques of their style. I don’t pretend to understand how some things I see as utterly impractical and bizarre are lauded but I still enjoy the ...

25+ FREE Urban Fantasy Books

During times of stress and too much reality, I love escaping into books. Fantasy, in particular, brings wonder and adventure into my daily routine. Who doesn’t like spells, potions, and supernatural beings fighting for good (or evil)??! It’s exciting and fun to join those fictional realms as a break from reality. It is Urban Fantasy though that inspires me to look for magic in my own little world…and I think we all need that reminder sometimes! If you haven’t tried mixing magic with our modern w...

Book Chat 3: Chosen

Our March book was Chosen (Warrior Chronicles 1) by K.F. Breene. If you were around for the February chat then you may now know this author is one of the Fab13 leading the #PWF movement. However, this book was released in 2014 is and classified as Fantasy and Action Adventure. It has 1,732 ratings (4.4 avg) on Amazon and 15,478 ratings (3.98 avg) on Goodreads.

Let’s just jump right in with some negative review points and there are some despite the HIGH overall ratings. With this many revi...

It’s Never or Now.

Yes, I’m a Gilmore Girls fan so I appreciate “Never or Now” instead of “now or never”.

There are a lot of big issues in our world. Not that there haven’t always been – historically or more recently. However, I think awareness and new responses are adding tension. It doesn’t help that we’re still in the midst of the Covid pandemic and lack many of our usual coping mechanisms.

How do we handle such weighty topics on our own?

How do we change the world?

They say the devil is in the deta...

Book Chat 2: Making Midlife Magic

Who is ready for our next Book Chat?

Our February book was Making Midlife Magic by Heloise Hull. This book now has 90 Amazon ratings with the average being 4.4. The Goodreads average is 4.38 with 229 ratings. I have to note that when I picked this book just a few months ago there were definitely fewer ratings – either the author has great marketing or it is the PWF trend (which we’ll discuss below).

Making Midlife Magic is in the current hot/ trending genre of Paranormal Women’s Ficti...