Danielle Thamasa's Blog, page 17

Weekend Writer: January Prompt Share

Hey all, Sam here.

Wow, what a month it has been. I had fully planned on making a grand return to blogging to start my 2024 off on the right foot…but, of course, January loves to throw curveballs at me.

We had a few extra cold and snowy days in the early part of the year, leading to us actually being stuck at work for almost three whole days—-thankfully, our workplace is a decently sized complex attached to a hotel, and our employers actually comped us some “snow rooms” so we didn’t have to risk the roads. However, we got home to discover that some of the internal workings of our water heater had burst and it was leaking water in our basement…and our heater was basically dying, leaving our house at a very chilly 38 degrees.

The heat got fixed fairly quickly, thankfully. However, plumbers have continued to dodge our calls and texts, and at the point of me typing this up (Jan 23), we are at a week and a half of having working water only in one room of the house, and it’s only cold water. So we haven’t been able to shower, do laundry, or wash dishes, which has been annoying and problematic.

But, I do still intend to get the blog going again. I’ve read 16 books already at the time of typing this, and I need to review all of them, so I have plenty of posts I can prep up. Hopefully February will be better for that.

Anyway, today’s post is to share a snippet of writing I’ve managed this month based on the January prompts I shared a few weeks ago. If you have written something inspired by these prompts this month, or if you want to write something up after this, I would love to read what you’ve written, so please tag me in your post about it.

Prompt: How Does the Party Meet? Option 1 (14)–The characters are old school friends, and meet again at a school reunion OR Option 2 (20)–An anonymous invitation to a masquerade ball led them all to an old manor house.

–I have decided to take on Option 2: An anonymous invitation to a masquerade ball led them all to an old manor house.

Lord Havendash surveyed the lower level of the ballroom from his place on the balcony. Soon the room would be filling, not with the current staff bustling around to place the finishing touches, but with folks from across the realm, and he hoped that at least a few of them would be open to hearing his proposals.

There was too much at stake for this evening to end in failure. For the past few weeks he had paid far too many for gossip and whispers and stories, trying to draw in those he believed would be willing to listen, and more than that, who would be more likely to accept a potentially risky and dangerous task. Even a mere handful of years, he would have found a way to tackle the job himself, but now there were too many eyes following his steps.

There was a shifting in the shadows and a figure stepped out from the back corner of the balcony. “What game are you playing, Havendash? The Guard knows you are up to something.”

“Considering you all trail my movements and monitor all of my meetings and correspondence, Cadrogan, you would know if that were the case. I am merely holding a lavish event that can also facilitate bonds between wealthy benefactors and up and coming adventurers and heroes. It’s nothing more than that.”

Cadrogan said nothing in response, but Lord Havendash knew he was being studied. It was likely that Cadrogan was debating on slaying him now, and the only thing staying the assassin’s hand was the order of those he worked for.

“I know what fate holds for me if I act against the Guard, and I have no desire to end my life just yet. You can slink back to the shadows. I have final party details to manage.” While no words followed his statement, Lord Havendash could feel an openness in the air, a freedom that would not happen if one of the Guard’s assassins or shadows were still nearby.

Letting out a deep sigh, Lord Havendash turned and headed for the stairs. This was all a great risk, but he needed to tread carefully in leading heroes to helping save the city from the clutches of the Guard. And while he hoped he would survive it all, he was prepared to die if it meant saving the city he loved.

Obviously, this is just a small snippet share, but it does make me curious what is going on in this city, and at some point I may write more of this, planning out the details of the masquerade and figuring out more about the Guard, but for now I have other projects to work on.

—

I’ll be completely honest, I found myself drawn to a few of the options from this month’s prompts, and I think I’ll eventually end up writing a short story/novella off the prompt I created from the Deck of Worlds, because that just seemed really cool to me…but I also thought about combining it with the second prompt from the Sidequest Decks, because they sort of synergized together rather nicely.

Deck of Worlds Prompt: On a mountain that is only safely traversable once a year lies the Spa of Hibernation, known to be linked to the legend of a frost creature. Something has appeared on the summit of the mountain overnight (your choice if it is a building, a creature, a sculpture, etc).

Sidequest Decks Prompt 2: The Blizzard — The mountains are a dangerous place to live, made worse by a blizzard. A band of ice elves has decided to wipe out the village, who they consider interlopers in their domain.

I’m hoping it doesn’t end up leading to a full-length novel, but if I can manage a novella out of it then who knows? I might decide it’s worthwhile to release it.

Anyway, that’s all from me for today. I’ll be back next Friday for the release of the February Prompts for Weekend Writer…although I might be able to get some of my book reviews up before then. We’ll see.

Top Twenty Reads of 2023

Hey all, Sam here.

It feels like I’m a little behind schedule with this post, but I promise that I’m not. Usually in the last week or two of a year, I see so many posts and videos and reels where bookternet folks are posting their top ten reads of the year…and sure, there’s nothing wrong with that…but I read all the way through the last day of a calendar year. So, to me, if I do my top reads post with a week or two left, then I might be leaving out a last minute read that I’m amazed by. I always wait until the new year has started and then I can look back at the entirety of my reading year.

And, okay, fine, this was supposed to be a Top Ten list, but as I started listing all of my top rated/favorite reads of the year, I realized that I would be better off just showing off all of my favorite reads…which is twenty in total (although I stretched that a tiny bit, which you will see when we get further into the post.

These books are not in order of least favorite to most favorite or anything like that because I hate trying to rank a bunch of awesome reads. I simply put them in the order that I read them in 2023. Also, if I have a review written for the books then I will include a link to that post.

Let’s get into it.

The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves: The Druid’s Call by E.K. Johnston, Ravensong by Cayla Fay, The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Shakraborty

These first books were ones that I read–I believe–in like January and February, and I honestly flew through all of them. There’s a couple I’m probably going to reread soon so I can prep for the sequels coming out this year, but overall, I definitely enjoyed these…and yes, any of the D&D: Honor Among Thieves books could have been on this list because I enjoyed both novels and the graphic novel, but I feel like The Druid’s Call was probably my favorite of the three…and if you haven’t seen the movie yet, I definitely recommend it as well.

Animorphs: The Invasion, The Visitor, The Encounter, and The Message by K.A. Applegate and Chris Grine

Here’s where the “Top Twenty” gets stretched a little bit…I counted all four of these as a single spot on the list….because I didn’t want to narrow it down and say which of them was my favorite. I adore the Animorphs series, and considering it came out in the 1990s, it still holds up rather well. I’m so happy for these adaptations, and I sincerely hope they are able to adapt the entire series.

This was my original fandom obsession. Yes, I enjoyed Boxcar Children and Nancy Drew and Babysitters Club and other series like that. They were wonderful, but I was legitimately obsessed with Animorphs. I still own my entire series from childhood. They are treasured additions to my personal library. So, when I learned of the graphic novel adaptation, I had to try them out, and they are still wonderful reads.

I Am Ace: Advice on Living Your Best Asexual Life by Cody Daigle-Orians, Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross, The Grimoire of Grave Fates edited by Hanna Alkaf and Margaret Owen, The Study of Poisons by Maria V Snyder

In 2023 I tried to read a few more books on being asexual, and I have to tell you, it helped me understand myself a lot better, and I am grateful for that. I also definitely tried to focus a little more on diversifying up my reads, with a focus on stories with queer characters…although I also just picked up anything that sounded good….like Maria V Snyder releasing a companion to her Study series by finally giving us the story from Valek’s POV…and apparently she’ll be doing the same with at least the other two books of the original trilogy, so that is very exciting.

Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody, Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne, Dark Water Daughter by H.M. Long, Role Playing by Cathy Yardley

I also definitely tried to read a few more writing craft books, and I found Save the Cat! Writes a Novel to be chock full of useful information. I’ve picked up the recently released YA focused version as well, just to see what insights it has to offer. And I read a number of cozy fantasy reads, as you’ll see from a few books on this list, because I’m finding that while I enjoy epic fantasy and dark romantasy, I also genuinely love cozy reads.

Bonesmith by Nicki Pau Preto, The First Binding by R.R. Virdi, Godkiller by Hannah Kaner, Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree

All I can say for these books is that they were all absolutely incredible. The First Binding is a huge chonk of a book but I flew through it as if it was half that size. And they all had such interesting characters and magic systems and worlds…and I loved them.

Forged by Magic by Jenna Wolfhart, Lady of Darkness, Lady of Shadows, and Lady of Ashes by Melissa K Roehrich, Gentle Writing Advice: How to be a Writer Without Destroying Yourself by Chuck Wendig

Here’s the other place where the “Top Twenty” gets stretched…I put the three books of the Lady of Darkness series that I read in 2023 as one entry…although if I had to pick a favorite of the three…it’s difficult, but I think the second book–Lady of Shadows might just barely beat out Lady of Ashes.

And obviously you can see that this set is one where I don’t have reviews up…yet. I am planning on writing up review posts. These are books I read in November and December, and obviously I wasn’t really blogging much at the time. So, hopefully it doesn’t take me too long to get them written and scheduled. We’ll see what happens though.

All right. Well, that’s my top/favorite reads of 2023. What were some of your favorite reads of last year? Let me know in the comments!

That is all from me for today. Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.

Weekend Writer: January Prompts

Hey all, Sam here.

Weekend Writer is back! As I mentioned in a previous post, I am making some changes to how this blog series works, mostly because I was spending so much time prepping and writing these weekly posts and it left me so drained. I absolutely loved writing all the writing posts and doing the writing craft book deep dives, but I have to start thinking of my mental health and clearing the path for me to have more time to actually work on my creative writing.

So the first weekend of the month, I will have this prompt post up, and the final weekend of the month, I will share some of my writing: sometimes based on these prompts, sometimes based on whatever novel I’m writing, and sometimes both.

For the other weekends of the month, I will be talking about the writing craft, whether that is sharing writing craft books I’ve read and giving a general review for them, or having a writing related topic to discuss. I’m not strictly planning any of these other weekends. Some of them might even end up being extra prompt shares. So who knows what will happen…I’m just trying to figure out my new process and enjoy myself as I do it.

All right…I currently have six different creativity generator tools in my collection/arsenal. Some of them are technically aimed at TTRPGs, BUT I’ve found that for the most part they work for creative writing just fine as well, which is why I include them all. With each prompt, I take a photo of the prompt randomization (whether that is dice rolls, card draws, or whatever), type up the prompt below the photo, and then I include a paragraph where I give you information about the generator tool I used.

If you know of any other useful tools like these, please let me know. I’d love to keep expanding my collection. It’s cool to see what sorts of ideas can be generated when you use a randomization method for creation.

Story Engine Deck

Prompt: An Explorer Wants to Gain Fame With an Invisible Map But the Last Time They Tried, It Ended in Humiliation

This prompt comes from this storytelling deck from The Story Engine, which is a prompt and idea generating tool that I adore for both creative writing and for TTRPG plotting.

Tarot/Oracle Deck

Prompt: Gifts, Mimicry, Play

Once again, I used my Urban Crow Oracle Deck by MJ Cullinane for this prompt. I really like using this oracle deck, because the card names are different from a tarot deck. I do have a few different tarot decks as well, and I might use those at some point for future draws, but for now I’m really enjoying my crow deck. What can I say? I just like crows.

Roll & Play

Prompt: How Does the Party Meet? Option 1 (14)–The characters are old school friends, and meet again at a school reunion OR Option 2 (20)–An anonymous invitation to a masquerade ball led them all to an old manor house.

This month I decided to roll the dice on the First Meetings pages (TWICE) in the Roll & Play book. You can use either of the dice I rolled, or if you have your own dice, you can roll on the chart yourself. Or heck, if you want to then you can just choose whichever option sparks your interest. 

Sidequest Decks

Prompt 1: Stranded! — When a journey goes wrong, the survivors are left stranded, with little by way of supplies. Soon the way will clear, but until it does, someone must take charge to ensure the group’s survival.

Prompt 2: The Blizzard — The mountains are a dangerous place to live, made worse by a blizzard. A band of ice elves has decided to wipe out the village, who they consider interlopers in their domain.

The Sidequest Decks from Inkwell Ideas are another wonderful accessory designed for TTRPGs, but can easily be used for writers as well. This time around I went back to the Wilderness & Frontier Fantasy deck, and again, I went with two options as prompt inspiration. You can use either option, and you can either use the basic concept at the top of the card, or you can use the various encounters at the bottom of the card to expand upon the adventure/story further.

The Oracle Story Generator

Prompt: A Scholar Will Hire You to Steal From a Fey To Unlock Magic But the Fey is Protected by Magic

Next, we have The Oracle Story Generator by Nord Games. They have a Character Generator as well, but that one won’t be shipped out for another couple months. I’ve enjoyed playing around with these cards the past couple months, and look forward to doing even more with them in future. With this prompt, you can make it even more specific by either rolling a four-sided die for each card, or by simply choosing which option you like best.

Deck of Worlds

Prompt: On a mountain that is only safely traversable once a year lies the Spa of Hibernation, known to be linked to the legend of a frost creature. Something has appeared on the summit of the mountain overnight (your choice if it is a building, a creature, a sculpture, etc).

The newest addition to the prompt generation is the Deck of Worlds by The Story Engine, and it works in a very similar way to the story deck, but it helps you think about and build either micro settings or small words or huge words with numerous countries throughout. It’s pretty cool.

Since I’m still new to using the Deck of Worlds for prompt generation I chose not to use the full deck. Instead I only used the Worlds of Frost & Fable arctic expansion deck. But, one upcoming month I will do a full setting instead of a micro setting, and give us a larger world that we can explore for a few months of writing.

I have no idea which of these prompts I’ll be using for some bonus writing in January, but I’m looking forward to getting my writing going again, and I hope some of you will join me in this journey.

That’s all from me for today. Thank you for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.

Goals for 2024

Hey all, Sam here.

Usually when it comes time for a new year, a lot of people start making New Year’s Resolutions…and some even manage to stick to them. Overall though, I tend to see so many of those resolutions get dropped early on in the year…which is why I prefer to set goals for myself for the year.

But my author friend Bree also starts her year off by giving herself a word of the year (and this year she has picked “expand,” because she is expanding her family, and expanding her finished and published books, and a number of other awesome things). I like that idea, but considering how tough 2023 was for me, I didn’t want to sit and agonize over possible words to choose for the year….so I’m purely going with “self-care.”

I want to take better care of myself, especially mentally and emotionally. 2023 broke me down, chewed me up, and then spat me out…or so it felt. So in 2024, I want to be kinder and gentler on myself, while also moving forward with being productive.

So…yeah…let’s go over the general goals I have set for myself when it comes to the year 2024.

Reading

I completed 145 books in 2023, which is much better than the previous two years, but nowhere near the awesome reading progress I had the two years before that. However, I am also trying to remember to set realistic goals as well…so for now my Goodreads Reading Challenge sits at a goal of 100 books, which should be easy enough to do.

I also have to be careful with my book buying, and want to be a little more mindful of what I’m spending my money on, because the simple fact is that David and I do not make the kind of money we did when we lived in Ohio. We’re managing, and we can cover our bills with a little bit extra for some fun, but we have had to pare down on some things. I’m even considering looking at bookish subscription boxes and seeing if there is a better priced option for me, because my YA/Adult combo from FairyLoot seems to keep getting price adjustments to it (some of which is supposedly because of living in Iowa, I guess).

Anyway, I of course still have NetGalley to contend with, and a good way to curb my book buying while still having plenty to read and talk about is by focusing on my NetGalley shelf a little more. I have so many upcoming and also backlist titles I need to read and review.

So, yeah, I want to read at least 100 books this year, although I fully expect to be adjusting this goal later in the year.

Blogging

To go along with my word of the year goal of self-care, I know I need to make adjustments to the blogging schedule. Trying to generate daily content, even with David’s help, just leads to a lot of pressure and stress, and it made it difficult to do some days.

I’ll probably still keep Manga Monday as a mostly regular thing. I do read a decent number of manga, and would like to keep reviewing them. Some Manga Monday posts might even turn into Manga/Anime discussions instead of just single volume reviews.

Tabletop Tuesday posts will happen when David and I have something to discuss about tabletop gaming…whether that is a tabletop accessory, or a game, or a supplement to a game…but I’m not going to push for this to be an every week thing, because we only get one day off work together because our work schedules suck, so we’d both rather spend our time doing cool geek things together and relaxing.

WIP Wednesday will probably stick around, but I need to talk about David about that and see if he still wants to chime in each week or not. Some weeks it was difficult for us to sit down together or separately to write up posts or sections of a post…so stay tuned for more information about this coming later.

And finally, Weekend Writer posts. Yes, they are sticking around, but I genuinely have to change how I do these. They take so much time to write, generally an hour or two PER POST, and sadly, I just do not get the engagement to make the time suck worthwhile. So, the first weekend of the month, I’ll still do my creativity prompts, and the last weekend of the month, I’ll still share a little bit of what I’ve been working on, whether that’s just sharing what I wrote from the prompts, or from a different writing project. Other than that, I’ll be doing semi-regular reviews of writing craft books or newsletters or blogs or social media accounts, but I won’t be doing the huge chapter-by-chapter or section-by-section deep dive breakdowns that I was doing.

Sadly, though it was rewarding for me to think so deeply on books about writing, it was just way too stressful for me and took up quite a bit of time.

Writing

The other big goal for 2024, is that I really want to finish Roll for Romance. I want to have the rough draft complete and then do at least one full editing/revision pass on it this year. I think this is an achievable goal.

Thanks to NaNo, I built up a pretty nice little writing community, and as I said, my author friend Bree is around too (she lives basically the next town over), so we plan to hold some coffee shop writing and editing sessions through the year—–obviously depending on how she’s doing with the new baby, who is coming sometime in the next few weeks.

So, yeah, I have been doing a lot of plotting and world building and background work for Roll for Romance, and the plan is to get the book drafted. I’ve actually already commissioned some character art to help keep me motivated and it is so cute! I can’t wait to share it with everyone, do some character reveals and such….but I’m not allowing myself to share that with you until I’ve finished the rough draft of the book.

I’ve been trying to write this book in some form or another since 2017, and I’ve just kept doubting myself and my abilities, and putting so much pressure on myself that I could never get the words on the page. But I want this story to be told, and that means I need to write it. I know I’m a decent writer. I’ve re-read some of my older writing, and it’s still pretty good. I know I can do this. I just need to ACTUALLY do it.

So, cheer me on and wish me luck.

Conventions/Trips

Last year, we helped my friend Signy Cullen out with a couple conventions: FanExpo Cleveland, and Cincinnati Comic Expo. We also attended Gen Con.

This year, Cincinnati Comic Expo is going to be significantly smaller, because their usual convention center is undergoing some renovations and such for the next two years, so they are going to a nearby convention center that is smaller…so Signy decided to not even try to be a part of the Artists Alley until they are back to their normal convention center. Hopefully by that time I’ll definitely have a book or two out in the world so I can actually provide something more than my presence at the booth.

But, we will hopefully be able to save up enough money to get ourselves to Gen Con again this year, so that is the beginning of August, and it should be more awesome tabletop fun.

Okay, that is it for me today. I have a couple 2023 wrap-up posts to get up soon (like my final 2023 Book Haul post, and my Top Ten Reads of 2023 post), and the first Weekend Writer post of the new year will be coming this weekend. And I should hopefully have some book review posts coming very soon.

Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.

#JolabokaflodReadathon 2023 TBR

Hey all, Sam here.

I’m posting this a few days later than I had originally planned, and that is mostly because my schedule got changed up a little bit. On any normal work week, I am off on Sundays, Mondays, and Tuesdays, which is why I was so excited because it meant I would be completely free to bring this little reading event back to this blog and my life. And then my boss put up the schedule for Christmas thru New Year’s Day…and in order to give everyone either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day off work, my schedule got shifted around.

I completely understand the reason behind the schedule change, but it means that while #JolabokaflodReadathon is scheduled as normal to start at 6pm on December 24th and go until 6am on December 25th…I will actually be doing my readathon the next day. Because I will be at work from 6pm on the 24th until around 3am on the 25th.

But, I will still share my reading plans with all of you.

One last time (for this year anyway), here are the details for this little reading event:

What: #JolabokaflodReadathon

When: starts at 6:00 PM on Christmas Eve, 24th of December (in your local time zone) and ends at 6:00 AM on Christmas Day, 25th of December (again, in your local time zone)

How to participate: Get comfy, read some books, and indulge in some nice snacks and some delightful hot beverages…whatever you choose…coffee, tea, hot cocoa. Put on a crackling fireplace video (or actually light a fire if you have one), light a candle, play some nice music in the background…basically just have a cozy and enjoyable reading time. Oh, and if you post about it on social media (TikTok, Instagram, X, etc), use the tag #JolabokaflodReadathon to help me find your posts…you could also directly tag me (I’m @SamRushingBooks).

That’s it.

Okay, so now it’s time for my TBR…

First up, my physical TBR…

Obviously I’m doubling down on the vibes of the season and picking some books set in frozen wintery locales…so I have The Witch and the Tsar by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore, Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon, and The Book Club Hotel by Sarah Morgan.

Then, there’s my NetGalley ARC options.

Most of these are January and February releases, so whether I get around to them for this readathon or not, I will be reading them pretty darn soon, and then hopefully getting reviews up for them. So, on the list are: A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen, The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden, A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft, Dark Star Burning, Ash Falls White by Amelie Wen Zhao, Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire, and A Flame in the North by Lilith Saintcrow.

Finally, I might toss in some manga because they are quick reads. I have Volumes 2-5 of The Dragon Knight’s Beloved, Volumes 4-6 of Magus of the Library, Volume 2 of My Repair Skill Became a Versatile Cheat, So I Think I’ll Open a Weapon Shop, and Volumes 4-8 of My Isekai Life. Again, these are all books that I’m hoping to read soon anyway, hopefully by the end of the year.

My original reading goal was 100 books and I surpassed that, but my current stretch goal is 150 books, which means reading another 18 books before the year is over…something I could do fairly easily if I read all 13 volumes of manga on this list….so we’ll see what happens.

All right, that is all from me for today. I have to head to work in just a little bit, so we’ll see how that goes. It’s predicted to be a busy week or so as we get all the holiday visitors and such. I’m not looking forward to being overwhelmingly busy. Honestly I hope there’s some dead slump periods so I can get a little bit of a de-stress break…which for me means a little bit of reading time.

Thank you so much for stopping by, and I hope you’ll consider joining me for #JolabokaflodReadathon 2023!

2023 Book Haul May-August

Hey all, Sam here.

I did one of these posts a few months ago, a 2023 Book Haul Jan-April that was just a photo dump. There was no detailing what books were in the photos or anything else. I feel bad about that, because I should have done more than just drop photos into a post and publish it.

So I’m doing better with today’s post. While I used to do monthly book hauls, I unfortunately have had to slow down on my book purchasing this year, so doing these posts where I do a four-month book haul makes a lot more sense. And yes, I had planned to have this post up a couple months ago, but I basically went into a blogging slump and then had to deal with a certain writing challenge of 50,000 words in 30 days in November. But, on the other hand, the September-December book haul will be up in just a few weeks, so that’s exciting.

Let’s get into it.

May

Court of the Undying Seasons by A.M. Strickland, The Sun and the Star by Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro, The Lost War by Justin Lee Anderson, and Painted Devils by Margaret Owen. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros and Silver in the Bone by Alexandra Bracken. And my FairyLoot books for the month: Divine Rivals by Rebeca Ross and The Curse of Saints by Kate Dramis.

Wow, I’ve only read two of the books from this haul. Oops, I should probably read more of my book purchases. I’ve read Court of the Undying Seasons and Divine Rivals. But I still am excited about the rest of them….well, mostly. I’ve been on the fence about picking up Fourth Wing for a while now, but I didn’t want to pass up picking up a sprayed edge copy when I saw it in the store, just in case.

June

My FairyLoot books for the month: Shanghai Immortal by A.Y. Chao and Sing Me to Sleep by Gabi Burton.

Wow, my June purchases were very small. Of course, this was the month where I was really struggling financially, and was trying to get caught up on things after starting my new job, so book buying was definitely put on the back burner. And yep, you guessed it, I haven’t read either of these yet. But they look gorgeous and they do sound interesting, so maybe I can get around to them soon.

July

Just My Type by Falon Ballard, Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman, The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston, and My Friend Anne Frank by Hannah Pick-Goslar. Star Bringer by Tracy Wolff and Nina Croft, and Imogen Obviously by Becky Albertalli. The Griffon’s Saddlebag Book One and The Griffon’s Saddlebag Book Two by Hit Point Press. Dark Water Daughter by H.M. Long, The Surviving Sky by Kritika H. Rao, Goblin Mode: How to Get Cozy, Embrace Imperfection, and Thrive in the Muck by McKayla Coyle and illustrated by Marian Churchland, One for My Enemy by Olivie Blake, Lore Olympus Volume 4 by Rachel Smythe, The Book That Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence, and Yellowface by R.F. Kuang. And my FairyLoot books for the month were: Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong and Threads That Bind by Kika Hatzopoulou.

Okay, so I’ve read The Seven Year Slip, Dark Water Daughter, Goblin Mode, and Lore Olympus Vol 4. I also skimmed through most of both of The Griffon’s Saddlebag books, but didn’t want to read them too much until I would need to for a D&D campaign. Still, you can tell that I was somewhat making up for lost time by buying a bunch more books in July. I needed the retail therapy. When I’m feeling stressed or sad or upset, buying books helps me feel better…even if it’ll be months and months before I actually read the books.

August

Obviously the first big chunk of these photos are books picked up during Gen Con. So we have Shadowrun: Crimson by Kevin R. Czarnecki, and Daughter of Redwinter by Ed McDonald. The Fantasy AGE Core Rulebook 2nd Edition, and The Expanse Roleplaying Game and Game Master Kit. The My Little Pony Roleplaying Game Rulebook and My Little Pony Roleplaying Game: In a Jam. The Power Rangers RPG Rulebook and The Power Rangers RPG: A Glutton for Punishment. Shadowrun: Dark Resonance by Phaedra Whelton, Shadowrun: Hell on Water by Jason M. Hardy, and You Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo.

I already owned Empire of Exiles by Erin M. Evans, but I got it signed, which was awesome, and while I was there I picked up a copy of the graphic novel Santa Claus: Private Eye by Bearnstein and Dorman. The Kobold Guide to Dungeons by Kobold Press (As a side note, I love the Kobold Guide series. It has such great little essays that are wonderful for game masters and creative writers).

Shadowrun: Elfin Black by Jennifer Brozek, Shadowrun: Undershadows by Jason M. Hardy, Battletech: Iron Dawn Jennifer Brozek, and Wild Massive by Scotto Moore. The Power Rangers RPG: Across the Stars and the Power Rangers RPG: A Jump Through Time. The Tales of the Valiant Alpha Release by Kobold Press and The Kobold Guide to Board Game Design by Kobold Press.

The God of Endings by Jacqueline Holland, Never a Hero by Vanessa Len, Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott, and The Weaver and the Witch Queen by Genevieve Gornichec, The Dragon Knight’s Beloved Volumes 2-5, and I Got Caught Up in a Hero Summons But the Other World Was at Peace Volume 2. The Midnight Kingdom by Tara Sim and The Witch is Back by Sophie H. Morgan. One Piece Omnibus Volumes 10-12 by Eiichiro Oda, My Isekai Life Volumes 6-8, The Savior’s Book Cafe Story in Another World Volume 5, My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero’s Volume 4, The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent Volume 7, and The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent: The Other Saint Volume 2.

My FairyLoot books for the month were: Bonesmith by Nicki Pau Preto and Forged by Blood by Ehigbor Okosun.

Whew…that was a whole bunch of books.

Well, that’s all from me for now. Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.

2024 Anticipated Reads (So Far)

Hey all, Sam here.

Hello everyone…can I just say that 2024 is already looking like an incredible reading year? I’m very excited about it. Not only are there a lot of exciting upcoming releases, but I also still have this awesome backlog of books to work my way through as well.

Okay, so basically I went through all the upcoming releases in my favorite categories on NetGalley…although now that I’m typing this I realize that I did not look at manga/comics/graphic novels. Oh well, this list is long enough already–56 books! I’ll do a separate post with those soon. Anyway, I went through my favorite categories and noted down books that I’m excited for. They’re pretty much all fantasy, but there are a couple that are general YA or veer slightly into sub-genres I don’t read typically (like there’s a couple that have horror/thriller vibes to them).

For a good number of the books on this list, I actually have been approved for digital ARCs through NetGalley, and those titles will be in bolded text. If all goes well with my reading, then I will have reviews for those before/around the publication date. I hope. I’d love to make some real progress on my NetGalley review percentage. Most years I’m lucky to gain one or two percent.

And because this list is pretty long, all I’m giving you is the title, the author, and the release date as listed on NetGalley. I think I might try to do a month by month NetGalley Reads post as a pseudo-TBR in 2024, and I can talk a little more about the books in those posts.

So I guess I shouldn’t spend any more time making this post even longer. Let’s get started.

January

A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft (Jan 2), Dark Star Burning, Ash Falls White by Amelie Wen Zhao (Jan 2), Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire (Jan 9), Dungeons and Drama by Kristy Boyce (Jan 9)

Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett (Jan 16), Most Ardently by Gabe Cole Novoa (Jan 16), The Parliament by Aimee Pokwatka (Jan 16), Pillar of Ash by H.M. Long (Jan 16)

A Drop of Venom by Sajni Patel (Jan 16), Escaping Mr Rochester by L.L. McKinney (Jan 16), Gothikana by RuNyx (Jan 23)

February

The Absinthe Underground by Jamie Pacton (Feb 6), The Cursed Rose by Leslie Vedder (Feb 6), Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart by GennaRose Nethercott (Feb 6), Who We Are in Real Life by Victoria Koops (Feb 6)

Clarion Call by Cayla Fay (Feb 6), The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden (Feb 13), A Flame in the North by Lilith Saintcrow (Feb 13), An Education in Malice by S.T. Gibson (Feb 13)

The Eternal Ones by Namina Forna (Feb 13), To Cage a God by Elizabeth May (Feb 20), A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal (Feb 20), Disciples of Chaos by M.K. Lobb (Feb 20)

The Book of Ile-Rien by Martha Wells (Feb 27), A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L Jensen (Feb 27), Daughter of the Bone Forest by Jasmine Skye (Feb 27)

March

That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Human by Kimberly Lemming (March 5), What Monstrous Gods by Rosamund Hodge (March 5), The Poisons We Drink by Bethany Baptiste (March 5)

Sunbringer by Hannah Kaner (March 12), The Hedgewitch of Foxhall by Anna Bright (March 12), The Last Bloodcarver by Vanessa Le (March 19)

April

Court of Wanderers by Rin Chupeco (April 2), Darker by Four by June CL Tan (April 2), A Short Walk Through a Wide World by Douglas Westerbeke (April 9), The Smoke That Thunders by Erhu Kome (April 9)

The Book That Broke the World by Mark Lawrence (April 9)—there is no cover for this yet, To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods by Molly X Chang (April 16), Sheine Lende by Darcie Little Badger and illustrated by Rovina Cai (April 16), Calling of Light by Lori M. Lee (April 16)

Dear Wendy by Ann Zhao (April 16), Song of the Six Realms by Judy I. Lin (April 23), Sound the Gong by Joan He (April 30)

May

Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne (May 7), The Honey Witch by Sydney J Shields (May 14), It Waits in the Forest by Sarah Dass (May 14)

When Among Crows by Veronica Roth (May 14), Queen of None by Natania Barron (May 21), Attached at the Hip by Christine Riccio (May 21)

June/July/August

In the Hour of Crows by Dana Elmendorf (June 4), Twelfth Knight by Alexene Farol Follmuth (June 18), First Test: The Graphic Novel by Tamora Pierce (July 2), The Gilded Crown by Marianne Gordon (July 2)

The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman (July 16), The Haunting of Hecate Cavendish by Paula Brackston (July 23), Castle of the Cursed by Romina Garber (July 30), The Girl With No Reflection by Keshe Chow (Aug 6)

Is this a complete list? Why, no, of course not. I’m sure I’ll be adding even more to this list as I hear about more books or read about more books or as more books get announced. Obviously I’m excited about SO MANY books already, and I already know that it is probably more than I’ll actually end up reading for the year.

All right, that is all from me for today. Tell me what books you’re excited about in 2024…because I just might need to add them to my list.

Thanks for stopping by and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.

Manga Review: Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, M. Chandler, and Linus Liu

Hey all, Sam here.

All right…it has been a while since I’ve done this. Let’s see how it goes. I think I still have a halfway decent backlog of manga volumes to review, so I might be able to really get Manga Monday going again soon enough. As even more of a bonus, at least for me, today’s Manga Monday review post is also a book I was given access to on NetGalley, and it remains a goal to increase my NetGalley review percentage.

That’s actually one of my big goals for 2024, and I’m sure I’ll talk about all my plans and goals in a separate blog post soon enough, probably as we get a little nearer the new year.

Until then, I guess I should spend a little time prepping up some more reviews, because I have something like a half-dozen NetGalley books ready for review, and then a good number of other books that I’ve read somewhat recently that I still haven’t reviewed…so lots to look forward to.

Let’s get started…

Obsessed with natural philosophy, the young Victor Frankenstein succeeds in creating life from its basic elements — and abandons the newborn monstrosity in terror when he cannot bear to look at it. The rejected creature vanishes, and Victor attempts to forget what he has done… But the monster survives. It learns. Deprived of everything, fated to forever be alone, it has nothing left but revenge. Manga Classics® presents a frightening new manga adaptation of Mary Shelly’s famous tale of creation and destruction!

My Thoughts

Rating: 4 stars

So, I have a degree in English, and as one might expect from somebody who has a B.A. in English with a specialization in Literature, as well as a Master’s in Library and Information Science, I have spent a lot of time reading books, specifically classic literature. For a few years after graduation I didn’t actually want to pick up many classics, because I had spent so much time reading and dissecting the text.

But then I learned about these Manga Classics, which take a piece of classic literature and adapt it into manga, which makes them a bit easier and more fun to digest. There’s something about having the classics in a different format that helps my mind to just enjoy them instead of trying to parse out meaning and symbolism and all the trappings of a standard literature course.

I have a few other Manga Classics reviews here on the blog, some are for classics I’ve read before and others are ones that I never read the original but have watched adaptations for. Interestingly enough, Frankenstein is one of those classics that I haven’t read before…or if I have it was when I was a kid and I don’t really remember reading it.

Like with any manga, I read this fairly quickly. But I can also see where this would be a somewhat dense read, and I can also see where some of the terror and destruction and decline into paranoia is reduced because of the manner of adaptation. Overall I feel like it was done really well.

Every Manga Classic I’ve read has been a pretty faithful adaptation, and I feel like they make the classics a little more accessible. I would love to see more adaptations like this available in more bookstores, libraries, and classrooms.

This was full of terror and despair and paranoia and darkness and cruelty, but there were moments of passion and creativity and longing and kindness and compassion and companionship.

The way that Frankenstein and the monster’s lives kept encircling each other. Frankenstein’s creation and abandonment of the monster forged this bond between the two of them, one neither of them could escape.

I read this very quickly, something that probably wouldn’t have happened if I was reading the original novel. But I’m glad that I read this. It was a really interesting experience, and I enjoyed it, even if the story was just this drawn out downward spiral of Frankenstein after the decisions he himself made and the consequences that come from that.

I look forward to reading the next Manga Classic that I manage to get my hands on.

All right, well that is all from me for today, but I guarantee that there are more book reviews and other posts coming…mostly book reviews and wrap-up style posts, but the other regular slate of posts will be coming in the new year.

Thanks for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.

#JolabokaflodReadathon 2023

Hey all, Sam here.

I am going to work on having more posts up soon enough. I’ve been reading some pretty good books that I’m looking forward to reviewing, and I want to get back to my Weekend Writer posts. So Weekend Writer will probably make a comeback in January, so I have a chance to build up a bit of a bank of posts ahead of time. Book reviews will come back a little sooner, because I can get those prepped much faster than my writing posts. And Tabletop Tuesdays and WIP Wednesdays will probably resume in January as well.

Anyway, onto the main topic for today…

Back in 2019 I created a last minute readathon, and in 2020 I was joined by a couple different people. In 2021 I was in a major slump and didn’t do anything, and then last year I brought this event back again. Well, we’re nearing that time again, so I guess I should talk about this little event I’ve come up with.

So, I love the idea of the Christmas Book Flood: spending my Christmas Eve cuddled up on the couch, drinking hot cocoa, and reading books. Then I thought that maybe other people might want to join me, so #JolabokaflodReadathon was born.

When? 6pm on December 24th through 6am on December 25th to coincide with the Christmas Eve exchange and reading evening.

Do you have to read the whole time? No, of course not. Even just sitting down to read for an hour or so is perfectly fine. But if you want to stay up all night reading then that’s great too.

If you post about this on Instagram, Threads, or TikTok, use the hashtag #JolabokaflodReadathon so I can follow along.

This isn’t a readathon that’s particularly strict on rules. So read some books, drink some nice hot beverages, and just enjoy a relaxing time cuddled up with yourself, your pets, your friends, or your family.

I’ll be back with my readathon TBR next week. I just need to narrow down my options, and of course, see what books I do manage to finish this week.

Thank you so much for stopping by, and I will be back soon with more geeky content.

Winter TBR

Hey all, Sam here.

Why hello there everyone. It has been a little while. Things have been a bit hectic in our home the past couple of months…which partially explains the disappearance from the blog again.

I was participating in a certain annual writing challenge in November where the goal is to write 50,000 words in 30 days. And I didn’t cross that finish line, but I wrote nearly 20,000 words, plotted out some cool scenes to write going forward, created the characters of the story in Hero Forge as miniatures, and even made most of the world’s map in Inkarnate. But, most importantly, I started to uncover that creative urge that has been buried and hiding for most of this year.

Of course, now that November is over, I do still want to keep writing, but I’m also feeling like it is time to dive back into reading because I mostly ignored that last month.

And to add to all of my other creative projects, I’m also wanting to jump back into editing one of my other books.

So there’s lots to do.

But, back to reading, this is not a TBR limited to one month, but more a goal for December, January, and February. Some of the books on this list are already released ones, but there are also quite a few that will be releasing in January and February, and I’m really hoping that 2024 will be the year that I make significant progress in catching up on my NetGalley reads and reviews.

Anyway, let’s go ahead and go over the books that I’m really hoping to read over the next couple of months.

Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves by Meg Long

In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren

The Bright & The Pale by Jessica Rubinkowski

The Witch and the Tsar by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore

Obviously, here we start off with four books that I own already. Most of them have been out for basically a year or two. And you’ll notice that they all have winter or holiday vibes to them. Most of the books I have on this TBR will follow a similar theme, because why not harness the feeling of winter while staying curled up in a blanket fort at home with a nice mug of cocoa or tea or coffee with me.

Oh, speaking of being cozy at home, we just moved a new couch into our living room and it fulfills a goal I’ve had for a number of years…to have a couch with a chaise lounge attached, so now I can stretch out on the couch and read or type on my laptop or whatever while David hangs out on the couch and plays video games or whatever. It’s going to be great.

The Book Club Hotel by Sarah Morgan

Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon

A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L Jensen (27 Feb, 2024)

A Flame in the North by Lilith Saintcrow (13 Feb 2024)

Okay, here is where we move from owned books into digital ARCs. I do own The Book Club Hotel because it sounded like a cute and cozy winter read, and I also own a copy of Ice Planet Barbarians, which seems like a chilly atmosphere but a steamy read. But after that we’re moving into some upcoming releases with Norse themes going on.

The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden (13 Feb 2024)

A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft (2 Jan 2024)

Dark Star Burning, Ash Falls White by Amelie Wen Zhao (2 Jan 2024)

Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire (9 Jan 2024)

It’s about time that I have a new Katherine Arden book to enjoy, and much like her previous trilogy, this one also feels like it will have some fantastically chilly wintery vibes to it. And then there’s a few of my very anticipated releases for the beginning of 2024…which means that obviously I’m going to try and read these in December so I can get their reviews up before release day…Hopefully I’ll be able to keep to my reading goals to wrap up my year.

Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett (16 Jan 2024)

Pillar of Ash by H.M. Long (16 Jan 2024)

Daughter of the Bone Forest by Jasmine Skye (27 Feb 2024)

The Absinthe Underground by Jamie Pacton (6 Feb 2024)

I feel like there are so many books I’m looking forward to in the early part of 2024, and that’s very exciting…even if my wallet definitely doesn’t think so. Oh well, here we have faeries and the conclusion of a fantastic Norse inspired but wholly original fantasy mythology series, as well as a couple new releases from authors I’ve enjoyed in the past.

An Education in Malice by S.T. Gibson (13 Feb 2024)

Gothikana by RuNyx (23 Jan 2024)

Dungeons and Drama by Kristy Boyce (9 Jan 2024)

Salt & Broom by Sharon Lynn Fisher (1 Dec 2023)

I am definitely ready to jump onto the S.T. Gibson hype train. I have owned A Dowry in Blood for a little while, I have a beautiful foiled physical ARC of Evocation (AND I AM SO EXCITED TO READ IT), and now I have a digital ARC for An Education in Malice. Bring on the awesomeness. But then also bring on this cool gothic dark romance, this hopefully cute D&D YA story, and this magical Jane Eyre reimagining. I am very excited for all of these reads.

And this isn’t even everything that I’m hoping to read over the next few months. There’s so much more to look forward to! I should have a post about my Jolabokaflod Readathon coming soon…but go ahead and mark your calendars if you’re interested…it is 24 December, yes, Christmas Eve.

I’ve read like 125 books so far this year, and I think it would be great to hit 150 (which is lower than normal, but fantastic after being kinda slumpy the last year or so. And even if I don’t hit 150, my goal for this year was 100, so I’m still a winner…but hopefully this TBR will help me finish off 2023 epically and then get a strong start to 2024.

Are there any books you’re hoping to read this chilly winter season (although I guess for you Southern Hemisphere folks, it’s more like hot summer season)? Let me know in the comments!

Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.