I Learned Something About Myself

The Pouch of Douglas (be warned). I was watching Hannah Gadsby’s show, Douglas on Netflix. Now here we are. (The bit is at the end of the post.) Really, I think it's important. I learned about a part of my body that I didn't know existed. Also, it came during a part of Hannah Gadsby's show that had me feeling like, why had men named all the things? and, couldn't they come up with better names? If you have watched Douglas (and if you haven't, I recommend that you do), another part that made me laugh so hard and wonder so much, was that piece of fabric up a lady's bum in a renaissance painting. It was a choice. The artist chose to take the time to paint that!

What else did last week bring me? A re-watch of the last three episodes of Lucifer on Netflix. Because, why not?

My daughter is obsessed with Julie and the Phantoms. Have you seen it? It's cute. Great for teens and tweens, I think. The music is enjoyable and will have you singing along. It's a hidden gem. A song from episode 2 below.

I finished Maya Angelou's Complete Poetry. It's brilliant. If you haven't read her poems, I highly recommend them. Some are fun, others are heartbreaking. They're beautiful, lyrical, and take you on a journey.

With a vacancy in my reading list (not reall), I started Meg Cabot's Mediator series. The first book is Shadowland, featuring a teen protagonist who can see ghosts. She even punches one! It's also giving me some 90's feels. It was published in 2000, which means it was likely written a couple years before. The late 90's were some good years. Maybe that's one of things I like about Julie and the Phantoms. The Phantoms died in the 90's. I also just enjoy Meg Cabot's books.

I have been advised that should start a newsletter. What would I write in it? That I have a new blog post up? Bits from those posts? Link to books recs? Other bloggers? Could I include things from the WCYR? How long would it have to be? It's already giving me anxiety and I haven't even started anything yet. I'd need some kind of email signature/logo, which also has to be done.

The sky is darkening. Maybe it's time to stop thinking about things that make my tension level increase.

What I Read This Week

I needed a happy ending. That lead to Romance, which read to Meg Cabot. I enjoy Cabot's writing, her style, her characters. I knew that not only would I get a happy ending, I would get rich, interesting characters, and maybe a crazy fun plot. No Judgments did not disappoint. Even though the natural disaster the characters are going through is different that what's happening now, I found some of the isolation and attitudes of the characters similar to what we are dealing with.

I finished The Ghost King, by R.A. Salvatore. The Ghost King is the 19th book in The Legend of Drizzt series. It was a great book. Lots of action, adventure. I got to spend time with characters that I've been reading about for years (and will continue to read about as there are at least 15 more books). It's a good thing I sandwiched this fantasy between some happy endings, but this one was and emotional end for me. I yelled at my husband when I closed the book. (He's read all but the most recent of the Drizzt books.) He knew what was going to happen! Not that I'd want him to stop me from reading it, but I had to let that emotion out somewhere.

I also read Chaotic Good, by Whitney Gardner. It's a teen romance, but it's so much more. They play D&D in the book. It was so good. The title, of course, is what first got me. But it's also about growing up as a girl, and as a geek girl. What it's like to feel alienating from the things you love. How much easier things would be if you were a boy. It's also about how evil the internet is. I kept thinking, the main character is a CHILD. She hasn't even started her last year of high school! Honestly, I'm so glad they didn't have social media when I was in high school, but I worry about what it's going to be like for my children. I hope not like this.

I've been reading the Government of Canada COVID-19 website a lot too. Mostly, so I can look at the stats. I want to know how many cases are in Canada and where. My local sites. The WHO website. I have to really watch that I don't read too much of it, because then I'll just go into information overload.

I have also been spending too much time on Twitter. Also bordering on information overload. I do like the photos I saw of the Venice canals being clear though. It's strange how this lockdown / isolation is changing the world around us.

Vacation Reads - Part 1

Summer was busy. There were parties, barbecues, kid-events, family gatherings, and girls and guys nights. It was hot, too rainy, then not rainy enough. Even though summer is technically June 21 to September 23, I always feel like summer doesn't really start until the last weekend in June when school is out. Then something happens, it's like the flick of a switch and suddenly it's fall on September 1 (or August 29 this year).

Like many summers before, there were a lot of long drives, including our family vacation. We visited beautiful Prince Edward Island for the third time. I highly recommend going. PEI is amazing. The people are beyond nice. Everything about the island makes me happy. I plan on continually going. We road-tripped it to PEI from Ontario and it was the beginning of my "summer reading". That involved a lot of Romance of one kind or another. Everything I read this summer was "fun", (except for Faefever's ending and a bunch of Stephen King short stories), and they left me with a smile on my face. I guess I just wanted happy reads in between all the busy days and nights. I picked out a few of the books to share.

Faefever

The ending. Just, whoa. What is going to happen to Mac? I'm very worried about her. I was really hoping that there was going to be a last minute something, but nope. This is probably one of the most major cliffhanger endings I have ever read. It's definitely an ending that comes from a book in the middle of a series. After Mac as the main character, I was left wondering if that would change. I think it's the kind of ending that keeps readers invested in the series.

Bridal Boot Camp

A short story from Meg Cabot. Bridal Boot Camp is essentially a prequel to her upcoming release, No Judgments. It was a cute, fun story, but more than anything, I want to know what happens when the storm hits. It came up in the "Just Added" section of my library's ebooks. An author I like, a readily available short story, a good, fun read, it was an easy selection. 

The Kiss Quotient

Even though I have been reading a lot of love-centred stories, I still like finding stories that are out of the ordinary. That brought me to The Kiss Quotient. Helen Hoang's debut novel is about a single woman finding love, like so many romances. What makes it different is who Stella is. Stella Lane has high-functioning autism/Asperger's. The story follows Stella as she navigates love and life with all her unique qualities. I couldn't put it down. I was a bit surprised at the "steam" level (as I've seen  romance writers/readers call it). The cover and synopsis did not fully describe how hot the book is. Stella and her "love-interest", Michael, were full, complete, complex characters. Michael had his own issues and journey to go on and was just as interesting. I think it's the best Romance I've read this year. It might be one of the best ever.

That's just three of the books I read. Part 2 will be here in [hopefully] a couple days.

Overbite

Overbite was a race to the finish. I just had to know what was happening. I did not expect the twist with Father Henrique and his guards. It was a nice surprise in a story where my main focus was finding out who Meena was going to end up with. I just needed to know. Lucien? Alaric? The end, it was great. I would have liked a little more romance, especially at the end, especially with Insatiable as a precedent, but I still enjoyed Overbite.

I appreciated again that though Meena was in love with a vampire, she didn't get all swoony every time he was around. She valued her friends, her family and her job. She didn't want to be turned, she wanted to live. Meena wasn't desperate to be with any man. She desired one (or two), but she that wasn't the focus of her life (though it was a big part of the novel). She wanted to save people. She wanted to figure out the mystery. 

Acording to Goodreads, Meg Cabot is working on a third Insatiable book. They cite Cabot's website, but when I look, I see no mention of it. I hope it's true though. I want to read it. I want to read more of Cabot's books. Overbite, was an entertaining read and I looked forward to more fun stories.

Insatiable

I thought I did not want to read anymore vampire books. I did, however, want to read something by Meg Cabot, who I kept hearing all kinds of wonderful things about.  I see her books everywhere, but for some reason, had never read one.  Then there was that sad thing that happened to a local bookstore.  I found one of her books there and I had to have it.  I knew it was a vampire book when I bought it.  Just look at the cover, there's a stake on it. Insatiable is a vampire book that makes fun of other vampire books though. The main character, Meena, hates vampires in fiction.  She makes fun of the girls that get all swoony, but guess what happens to her? Also, Meena...Meena Harper! Has anyone read Dracula or seen the movie?  Mina Harker is the name of the leading lady in Bram Stoker's classic. Her husband is John Harker.... Insatiable also has a Jon Harper.  Meena's brother. When I realized this, I had a tiny "eww" moment.  But I got over it. Insatiable has a few of the vampire "conventions", but the book is so entertaining

Meena, oh Meena.  She's not just an ordinary girl, or even a girl.  She's a twenty-something woman with a career.  She can also predict people's deaths. Meena had me reading the book, the way that she behaved like a twenty-something, the way she accepted her gift, that she tried, but didn't want people to think she was crazy.  Meena, especially in the end, did not do what was expected.  Lucien, the prince of darkness, he was kind of typical, but when he is perceived by Meena, it makes him different.  I appreciated a lot of the characters.  Alaric did have an annoying side though.  I liked that he wasn't a talker, he was all about business, but he was also very narrow-minded. He learned something and changed. The Señor Sticky thing though, seemed a little out of place for a guy who liked the finer things.

I was hooked by Insatiable.  I love that it is the name of a soap opera series.  The vampires story-line thing was so funny.  I like that people text in this book too.  I was out all night, better text my brother and my friend.  I just haven't noticed it a lot with stories lately, the use of modern technology beyond email.

I am also hooked on Meg Cabot now.  I've already sought out the sequel to Insatiable, Overbite.  She has written so many books though, I feel like it might be my desire to read all of Stephen King's books, it'll either take forever or never happen.  I'll be keeping her in mind though, whenever I head out to a bookstore.