It's Good, But Why is this Book So LONG- A Court of Mist and Fury

 

After listening to A Court of Thorns and Roses,  I was in no hurry to continue the series because I didn't like Feyre and Tamlin as a couple. I didn't like Tamlin and Feyre was so boring with him.  She goes from being a warrior to a princess flouncing around in gowns and painting. 

But a podcast I listen to sang the praises of this book, so I said, fine I'll give this a shot.  And yes, much better. HOWEVER, the book is ridiculously long and too repetitive, and so I rated it a 3.  It's good but if it was 200 pages shorter, it would have been fantastic. Why are the books in this series so long, I'm listening at 2x speed and it's still taking forever--and the ending isn't the ending it's the end til the next book starts, so shorten it up! 

Have you read this series?  Did you think this book could have been edited down? 

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We are still enjoying amazing September weather in Chicagoland, temps are in the 70s (low 20s Celcius) during the day and 50s (mid teens celsius) at night. Just the best. For my birthday I got myself a Stich Fix and it included two cute sweaters and it hasn't been cool enough to wear them, but I figure we only have a couple of weeks --at the most before it will truly be sweater weather. 

Peace Talks Book 16 in the Harry Dresden Files

 

"When the Supernatural nations of the world meet up to negotiate an end to ongoing hostilities, Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard, joins the White Council's security team to make sure the talks stay civil. But can he succeed, when dark political manipulations threaten the very existence of Chicago--and all he holds dear?" (from Goodreads) 

You wanna see magic in our mundane world? Look no further than the wizard that is Jim Butcher. Sixteen books into the series and I'm still excited to see what happens next. I'm still worried about all my fictional friends making it through the night. This book doesn't resolve some big problems happening in Harry's world, but it does give me the emotional growth I've been waiting for out of Harry. 

This book is chockful of the supernatural, but it takes place in Chicago and all my favorite characters are included which I really prefer over the books that have been centered in Faerie. One of the reasons I so enjoy this series is because humans are right in the thick of it the stories and that we see wizards, vampires, werewolves, etc. are injured and even die. There are consequences even in the midst of magical powers. 

If I had read this when it came out, I'd be so bummed that when I finished it I needed to  wait for Battle Ground  to be published--but lucky for me, and for you if you are reading the series now we can read it right away! 

5 Stars

Harry Dresden My Favorite Chicago Wizard!

It's handy that electronic equipment fizzles around Harry Dresden that way electronics are less a part of the story and you don't have as many obsolete electronic/internet references.  I read 6, 7, and 8 in the series one after the other, so I had to double-check what happened in what book. I was able to read and listen to this book switching from audio to kindle throughout.

As always I do enjoy the audio version of these books, and when I read them I hear the audio reader in my head. I found Blood Rites one of the books in the series that I *had* to keep reading--I mean we all know Harry is going to survive the latest evils in Chicago, but still!  I worry. 

In this installment, Kincaid is back, Harry hires him to help with Mavra an evil vampire from the Black Court.  I enjoy Kincaid and was glad he was back in a book. However, there is an attraction between Kincaid and Murphy and I somewhat ship Murphy and Harry so, I don't know how I feel about that.  Of course Harry is not a good relationship prospect for anyone. 

Speaking of relationships, in this book Thomas the super hot white court vampire moves up from an occasional guest appearance to being a supporting character. I was very pleased with this development. I like the flawed Thomas and I loved what happens in this story in relation to Harry and Thomas. AND Harry gets a dog. Mouse, Harry doesn't realize it, but we readers know Mouse will grow to become an excellent bodyguard for Harry and is certainly no mere dog.

This book brings the reader a more detailed understanding of the white court. Harry learns more about his mother and Kincaid sort of gets the girl.

Overall 4 stars.  

Avoid E. Coli! Eat More Cookies!

There is a recall on cauliflower!  Oldest sons favorite vegetable is not safe?  Ack! More cookies are needed!

When I was very small I remember having a chocolate crinkle cookie and breaking a tooth.  I think what really happened was that I had a crinkle cookie and I had a loose baby tooth, memories can be misleading. In any case, this all happened decades ago and yet, I have harbored a grudge toward  chocolate crinkle cookies.

Until now! These are a great cookie to make. You can make the balls and then refrigerate or freeze them until you are ready to bake. When ready to bake just roll in powder sugar and bake in the oven.  If you want to shortcut the heck out of the cookie making, start with this cake mix. Then you only need to add one stick of butter and an egg. Or use this recipe from all recipes to make the cookies from scratch.

This weekend I got a chance to see Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse with the boys. Pro Tip: if you go to the earliest showing at an AMC theater, the cost is just over $5 per ticket. This movie was fantastic, an engaging story, fun one-liners, and visually stunning.  It is an incredible looking movie. The movie has lots of action and chase scenes, but I did not get motion sick, so that was an added bonus.  Really, go see the movie at the theater it's wonderful.  The rating is PG so you can take younger kids and the bad guys shouldn't be too scary.

Let's have a refresher on the Rules of the Road Shall We? And also a recipe for pie.

Summertime means that I run on the mean streets of the Chicagoland area almost everyday.  In the course of that running, I am annoyed and occasionally in fear for my life.  Why? Disrespectful Drivers!  In the words of Dustin Hoffman in Midnight Cowboy "I'm walking (or in my case running) here!"


All because some drivers insist on turning in front or behind me when I'm in the crosswalk with the right of way!  You, driver, are not supposed to be turning right or left while I'm in the roadway.

Me trying to live. You, driver, not paying attention or looking both ways before making a right turn.  Look both ways ! Lucky for me, I didn't get hit by a car recently; because I assume if I don't make eye contact with the driver turning right, then it's not safe for me to cross.

Also while I am ranting into the wind here, if you have a dog, put it on a leash.  Dogs like to chase me. I run slow and that makes me very catchable.

And now a recipe for pie...

Pie actually seems fairly complicated to make in my opinion, so I googled easiest pie to make and this post was at the top of the list. If you are game, here are some super easy pies you can make!

Easy Pie Recipes

you can also find easy pie recipes at foodnetwork.com

On the writing front: Not much to report, still working on Chapter 14 and I'm not sure yet how this date should end.  A promise of a future date or nah.  I need to write more and see what happens. Next week I'm participating in an online challenge to write 1000 words a day for the remainder of June, so that *hopefully* gets me writing more! 

How many activities can I squeeze this Summer? Chicago offers and embarrasment of riches.

Summer is here! Kids are out, the sun is high, and the humidity is rising. June is my favorite month. We get lots of sun, I'm on a summer schedule, and the days are still getting longer.  June is like the Friday of summer. Everyone, for the most part, is in a good mood knowing we still have Saturday (July) and Sunday (August) ahead of us.

I aim to enjoy this summer to the fullest; and that is easy to do with the multitude of  outdoor concerts, festivals, and community events  taking place in Chicago. To kick things off, me and the family, are going to go to the Printers Row Lit Fest and Blues Fest this weekend. I'm looking forward to picking up some new books, meeting authors, and then enjoy fabulous music against the gorgeous background of Chicago's skyline.

Writing wise, here's what I'm up to this week.  First of all, I skipped writing for a couple days but I am definitely increasing how often I am writing and it helps to keep that momentum going. I continue to struggle with when is the best time for me to write, and I am still very easily distracted.  I think that as I continue to build up my writing stamina this will get better? I hope.  My philosophy is writing is like running, don't think about it just do it. I mean, Nike said it best, right?

Have a great Monday!
xoxo