Debbie's Spurts

Where I will be:

https://www.librarything.com/profile/Spurts 

http://spurtsblog.wordpress.com  

http://spurts.libib.com 

https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6282458   (not reviewing)
My username on eidelweiss is "donealrice" (no clue how to connect to)

Not book related but I am also on pinterest at: https://www.pinterest.com/donealrice/boards/

I never in my wildest dreams thought I would DNF a Heinlein.  But I just could not get into this one.  Maybe there was a reason he didn't publish it?  Change of or lack of editor?  My age?

For whatever reason, it just seemed kind of phoned into me.  No actual tension, couldn't catch a good thread of story, actively disliked some characters and found others cardboard.

Maybe I didn't read far enough or give it enough of a chance -- but this is Heinlein and should catch me up right away.  Maybe he really hadn't finished enough of it for this to be published? 

That will teach me to get so excited I preorder something hardcover sight unseen.

This is my BINGO card for the upcoming (April 25) Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon.  Create yours at https://bingobaker.com/play/3089916 

I started this anthology for the Mercy Thompson story of course, but I am enjoying the others as well.

It had come from a pay phone. There weren’t many of those left, now that cell phones had made it less profitable for the phone companies to keep repairing the damage of vandals.

I couldn’t talk to Jane about this. She tended to do jazz hands when she did her little “I told you so” dance.

 

No one deserved smug jazz hands.

 

Of all the weapons in a vampire’s arsenal, they were the most demoralizing.

Hell hath no fury like a ten-year-old with headless dolls.

I might be running low on bottled semen, but the truth was, you could always get more of that.

So I got hooked on these when TOR had first book free -- bitching the whole way at the cost of the other novellas in the series but still hooked enough to preorder the things.

Now during this pandemic and before the May release of the 5th novella, TOR is making all four free, one each day (I wasn't online to post before now).  They are very serious about cutoff times (they don't spam the email you give them).

I am so ready to be back in Murderbot's head when the new book arrives.

Download here.   Publisher site for more info on the series is here.  

Happening April 25, 2020

Download before 11:59 PM ET, April 1st, 2020 from here.

There's also a booklikes bookclub to read these freebies at TOR Monthly free ebook book club.

Publisher page for more info on the book is here.

MARCH 2020 UPDATE:

I know that I previously said that I wasn't going to do any games aside from Halloween Bingo in 2020, but that was Pre-COVID-19. Here we all are, stuck in our houses and reading like mad.

So, why wouldn't we play a game?

I decided to just repurpose Snakes & Ladders for this one! It's an easy, fun game and I don't have to do any work at all to get it ready.

RULES OF THE GAME:

Everyone starts on 1. There are two alternative ways to move forward.

1. Read a book that fits the description on the space number as listed below and you can roll two dice to move forward more quickly.

2. However, if you can't find a book to fit the square, don't worry about it. You can read any book, and roll one dice on random.org.  This is to ensure that if a reader cannot find a book to fill the square, no one gets bogged down and can't move on.

All books must be at least 200 pages long. Short stories count, so long as you read enough of them from a collection to equal 200 pages. 

You do not need to hit space 100 with an exact roll. In order to win, you must complete space 100 as written.

Spaces:

1. Author is a woman

2. Genre: mystery

3. Set in the twentieth century

4. Published in 2019

5. Published in 2018

6. Title has a color word in it

7. Author's last name begins with the letters A, B, C, or D.

8. Author's last name begins with the letters E, F, G, or H.

9. Author's last name begins with the letters H, I, J, or K

10. Author's last name begins with the letters L, M, N or O

11. Author's last name begins with the letters P, Q, R, or S

12. Author's last name begins with the letters T, U, V, W, X, Y, or Z

13. Author is a man

14. Author is dead

15. Genre: romance

16. Genre: fantasy

17. Genre: horror

18. Set in a school

19. Set in the UK

20. Set in a country that is not your country of residence

21. Set in Europe

22. Set in Asia

23. Set in Australia/Oceania

24. Set in Africa

25. Snake - go back to 5

26. Part of a series that is more than 5 books long

27. Set during WWI or WWII

28. Written between 1900 and 1999

29. Someone travels by plane

30. Someone travels by train

31. Road trip

32. Genre: thriller

33. Set in North America

34. Snake - go back to 1

35. Has been adapted as a movie

36. Set in Central or South America

37. Has won an award

38. Newest release by a favorite author

39. A reread

40. Characters involved in the entertainment industry

41. Characters involved in politics

42. Characters involved in sports/sports industry

43. Characters involved in the law

44. Characters involved in cooking/baking

43. Characters involved in medicine

44. Characters involved in science/technology

45. A book that has been on your tbr for more than one year

46. A book that has been on your tbr for more than two years

47. Snake - go back to 19

48. A book you acquired in February, 2019.

49. Recommended by a friend

50. Has a domestic animal on the cover

51. Has a wild animal on the cover

52. Has a tree or flower on the cover

53. Has something that can be used as a weapon on the cover

54. Is more than 400 pages long

55. Is more than 500 pages long

56. Was published more than 100 years ago

57. Was published more than 50 years ago

58. Was published more than 25 years ago

59. Was published more than 10 years ago

60. Was published last year

61. Cover is more than 50% red

62. Cover is more than 50% green

63. Cover is more than 50% blue

64. Cover is more than 50% yellow

65. Snake - go back to 52

66. Part of a series that is more than 10 books long

67. Set in a city with a population of greater than 5 million people (link)

68. Something related to weddings on the cover

69. Something related to travel on the cover

70. Something related to fall/autumn on the cover

71. Involves the beach/ocean/lake 

72. Involves the mountains/forests 

73. Categorized as YA

74. Categorized as Middle Grade

75. Set in a fantasy world

76. Set in a world with magic

77. Has a "food" word in the title

78. Set in a small town (fictional or real)

79. Main character is a woman

80. Main character is a man

81. Ghost story

82. Genre: urban fantasy

83. Genre: cozy mystery

84. Genre: police procedural

85. Written by an author who has published more than 10 books

86. Author's debut book

87. Snake - go back to 57

88. Comic/graphic novel

89. Published between 2000 and 2017

90. A new-to-you author

91. Snake - go back to 61

92. Reread of a childhood favorite

93. Author's first/last initial same as yours (real or BL handle)

94. Non-fiction

95. Memoir

96. From your favorite genre

97. Title starts with any of the letters in SNAKE

98. Title starts with any of the letters in LADDERS

99. Snake - go back to 69

100. Let BL pick it for you: post 4 choices and read the one that gets the most votes!

ADDITIONS TO THE RULES

See comments to the post for further explanations or to ask questions

When you start on square 1, you need to read a book before you can roll. If your book fills the square, you get to roll two dice. If your book doesn't not fit the square, roll one dice only.

With respect to the ladder squares: You must read a book in order to climb the ladder. Once you finish the book for the ladder square, climb the ladder to the ending square. If you read a book that fits the ending square, roll two dice to move on, otherwise, roll one dice.

For audiobook substitutions, either check the print book to determine if it is more than 200 pages long, or any audiobook that is a minimum of 5 hours & 30 minutes qualifies.

Reading Smoke Bitten - Patricia Briggs  way too fast made me go looking for more stories set in Mercy's world.  

So far, I love all these stories.  I think I've found a few new series to try and some new to me authors.

I haven't been in a reading slump, exactly.  Just not necessarily wanting to think too hard or concentrate on some of my TBR.  And I have a few new releases I'm hesitant to start because then they will be finished.

I've also been more on cell phone and mobile devices than sitting at a computer.  I'm a homebody and a bookworm, but sick of just sitting.  Otherwise this would have been a great time to catch up on reviews, organizing the shelves, etc.

Oh well, things will either return to normal or none of it will matter.  I was cheered up that grocery stores around here were getting restocked with things like toilet paper, ground beef, microwave popcorn ... I was ready to mouth off at anyone complaining there were limits or that were rude to employees but today everyone seemed nice.

AAAAAAAAAaaaarrrrggghhhhhHHHH!  Cliffhanger ending.  *No review for you.

The TBR pile is just … useless.

I have a few books I don’t want to start where the previous books in series have absolutely wow’ed me. But I keep putting off starting because then they will be over. There’s a point in this pandemic where I think I might need them.

In the meantime, I did wolf through Smoke Bitten by Patricia Briggs. 

Then I tried a few lighter fare, Kindle Unlimited freebies and assorted friend recommendations that I couldn’t finish. Some were awful and some I think I just wasn’t in the mood.

One of my huge roadblocks is that I really miss FictFact.com. That’s where I really kept track of the TBR. Could see series at a glance. Had a new release calendar to alert me when new in my series came out.

Another friend just finishing a series asked for recommendations for new series; that made me mentally go through some I remembered.

Somehow I missed two new releases in Abby Cooper Psychic Eye. Probably because not my usual fair as the paranormal or psychic elements don’t play that huge a part. More chick lit and cozy mystery.

I think the two new to me Abby books might suit. Abby gives a shit about people, always tries to help. Has actual relationships with more than the lust interest. Often “help” looks more like something Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz would do — but that’s part of the fun.

Huh?

No way can this be a series end.  Okay, not exactly a cliffhanger ending.  But absolutely the start of a whole new plot twist.

This one resolved nothing and did not move story along at all.  Okay, Kincaid learned a bit of a new twist to her powers.  New characters introduced (including a potential love interest assuming she really has moved on from last beau).  Change of scenery.

This is almost like a filler episode or a bit of travel before returning to "meanwhile back at the ranch."

This series tweaked my interest because was not same-old-same-old and seemed to be building nicely.  Now it detoured and seems to have put her back in same place as end of book 2 with that head police dude even madder at her.  The end?