Do I think it’s pretty, yes. Am I sick of it? Well, yes and no. Ten minutes after Spring/Summer begins it’s hot, dusty or smokey. So I’ve decided to enjoy the moment. I took these yesterday and last night. But it was still snowing this morning. But it is n toearly melted away this evening.
So let’s embrace the moment. It’s still pretty.
Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a fun series so far. Each book is a quick read and not too deep, so great as a bedtime book. Orlagh Cassidy (Narrator) gave a bit of authenticity to the writing that simple text-to-speech could not. The British text-to-speech voice reads these stories well, but a human voice is better when it comes to different dialects. Granted, I don’t know one dialect from another, but Ms. Cassidy’s switching from formal to cockney or other voices helped keep the characters separated.
This mystery had me going. I couldn’t figure out who did it or why. But the author, Jacqueline Winspear, told the tale with intrigue. She builds the world to help readers feel they are in post-war English towns. The feathers were a curious touch. Why? Was it important? Eventually, it will all be solved by our Maisie Dobbs, who is graceful and respectful of her fellow humans and their psychological intricacies.
I was happy to find this audiobook on Libby. I think the series is quite enjoyable. I think you’ll like it, too.
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “crackle.” Use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!
So, yeah. That snap, crackle, and pop and trio of groans are from my son, my brother, and I after rearranging Dar’s Dabbling Den. It was a LOT of work. But worth it.
Part of this is for the exciting thing I don’t want to jinx by speaking it.
Also, I wanted my keyboard to work on improv and composition for this year’s goal.
I’m going to be happy with this new room. My body is going to hate me. I’m so blessed to have David and Dana here to help out.
Can you hear the crackle of my bones?
The poor basket weave hat hasn’t progressed at all so, no pics. When it can show off on its own, it’ll share the limelight.
While Sammie is happy, we got a phone call from my son with good news for us. And I hope for Sammie. I’d tell but I don’t want to jinx it
Today I went back to Phantom of the Opera. I used to play and sing these. Thirty years ago. Not for an audience, just for fun. My friends and I gathered at the grand piano on stage after voice class and sang our hearts out with these. I was surprised at how much my fingers remember, though there was a lot of sight reading. I can’t sing at the same time, yet. Soon. I am doing daily vocal warmups now.
Anyone out there go through this? I find a saturation level on pieces and put them aside for other songs. Those seem to draw my passions and energy.
Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
My friend Kay recommended this series. She’s right. These are fun and engaging.
This first installment came from Libby and was in Kindle form. That meant that I could listen to it with text-to-speech. Since I have my Fire set to a British female voice (think Mary Poppins), it fits quite nicely with this story.
War is a horrid thing. This particular war in England and Europe was one of the worst. Yet, for women, it became a way to escape the housewife, childbearer, whore classification most women were forced into. With the men fighting, the jobs were open for women to learn and show their abilities. Sadly, when the men came home, most of the women lost that step up to being wholly human.
Some women did find careers to move on. Maisie Dobbs is one of the ones it worked for.
This first book lays the groundwork for Maisie’s history and sets up the world she’s in. She’s a woman of spirit that can solve mysteries and make friends with all classes of people.
I have already started book two. I am in for the ride!
“A happy heart is better than a full purse.” An Italian proverb found by my friend, dragonscrivener on Dragon Scrawls in a Farmers Almanac planner.
Elven Doom by Lindsay Buroker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was another fun addition to the Death Before Dragons series.
Who doesn’t love a dragon that can transform into a handsome man who is out to save your life while you try to save his?
But in this book, our monster-slayer moves on to another mission even though her dragon-man isn’t around to help.
This book might be the most exciting and scary of this series.
I want to listen to these books on audiobooks because I got lost with the text-to-speech. And I often felt such irritation about how the word ‘finger’ is pronounced ‘fin jer’ or how one of the support characters, whose name is Nin, was repeatedly called Nine Inch Nails. That takes me right out of the story. So before I find the next books in the series, I will try to see if I can find the audiobooks.
Something Lost, Something Gained: Reflections on Life, Love, and Liberty by Hillary Rodham Clinton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I’m glad I got to read/listen to this as a Libby audiobook. Libby makes sure those of us with meager salaries can still afford to read currently popular books. Unless there is a hold. I didn’t know this had a timeline. Sadly, many like me will read it after the fact. Not that it would have changed my mind. And I doubt those who think differently than me would have changed their minds. Tribes seem set with their own.
I rarely give five stars to autobiographies. Mainly because it feels like I am being judgmental about the author’s life. It was what they lived and what they remembered; what was important in the moment.
What I liked about this book was it felt like we were having a conversation and she was relating her thoughts. And as with anyone you might have a cup of coffee or tea, you feel close. There are times you laugh. And there are times that are deep and honest. And the strong emotions that can crop up. Forgiveable with anyone.
If you have the curiosity, you may enjoy, even if you don’t politically agree, her work with women, here and abroad. Give her and her chat a chance.
The Dragon Blood Collection, Books 1-3 by Lindsay Buroker
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
My last few nights I read this three-book collection from Kindle Unlimited. It was a nice bedtime book. But, honestly, I didn’t even remember reading (listening to text-to-speech) the book. There were fun times while getting to know dragons who could become human-shaped. And there was a person who reminded me of the supplier of spy gadgets (M?) in the 007 movies. But once I was finished I nearly forgot I read it. Until I found I had ordered the next in the series. Which I will read soon before I forget the rest of what I read.
There was nothing wrong with the books. I think others might enjoy them a lot. Hey, here’s the blurb from GoodReads, to help you decide.
“A thousand years have passed since a dragon has been seen in the world. Science and technology have replaced magic, which has dwindled until it has become little more than an element of myth and legend. There are those who still have dragon blood flowing through their veins, distant descendants of the mighty creatures of old. These rare humans have the power to cast magic, the power to heal, and the power to craft alchemical weapons capable of starting wars… or ending them. But they are feared for those powers, and in recent centuries, they have been hunted nearly to extinction. The few remaining survivors must find a way to change how humanity perceives them or be lost to the world forever. The Dragon Blood Collection includes three full-length novels of action, magic, and Balanced on the Blade’s Edge Deathmaker Blood Charged.”
Give them a try!
So I have a couple books teaching Japanese on one side and my ‘How to Play Piano Despite Years of Lessons,’ on the other side. Thinking about the possibility between Hiragana or Kanji characters or some incredibly boring music theory term, what else could I use?
I immediately looked down at my cell and closed my eyes and pointed. But my fat finger seemed to straddle two lines of Linda’s prompt page. The top word was ‘incredibly’ and the word below was ‘else.’
But my thoughts took me to the incredible difficulties of learning the pentatonic scale in the penultimate measure of Going Home with the added timing complication of duplets versus triplets. What else can I do but grumble and practice some more.
And the YouTube lesson trying to teach me:
What else can you do? It seems simple but it is incredibly hard for me. Time for a nice cup of tea.
Congrats! You have completed your goal of reading 100 books for the 2013 Reading Challenge! 115 of 100 (115%)
Congrats! You have completed your goal of reading 225 books for the 2012 Reading Challenge! 225 of 225 (100%)
Congrats! You have completed your goal of reading 200 books for the 2011 Reading Challenge! 204 of 200 (102%)
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