The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer. It's a chance to recap posts from the past week and tease upcoming content, as well as share new books, reading challenge progress, and anything else you've come across in the last seven days.
Another quiet week, thank goodness! Because several of you asked: Sunken Garden was amazing! It incorporated video screens, synthesized, and pop music throughout the one-act opera; about halfway through, you put on 3-D glasses for a projection of the "garden" that took up the entire backdrop. Walking out, I heard a lot of traditional opera patrons put off by how modern it was, which I can understand. Personally, I love seeing composers take these kinds of risks in such an established art form. The story could have done with a little polishing, but overall I was delighted to see the American premiere of something new and genre-busting!
I did get to see both of my older brothers yesterday; even though we all live in the same metropolitan area, it's hard to coordinate all of our personal commitments and responsibilities on a regular basis. It was nice to get out of the house and catch up for a few hours. This coming Thursday is my birthday which is both exciting (yay cake!) and a little tedious. I prefer a simple night in, rather than a raucous celebration at some bar, which I have to remind my friends of every year. They mean well wanting to go out and party, but I always feel a little guilty that my preferences don't match up to their expectations. The cake part is well worth it though!
READING CHALLENGES
There were some ups and downs in my reading this week, but the good news is I'm now more than halfway through my Goodreads goal...and it isn't even the end of March! I don't plan on adjusting the final number any; I always read less at the end of the year thanks to the holidays, so there's no need to invite stress when 50 books is already a great number.
First up I read a Goodreads giveaway win: The Gold-Son by Carrie Anne Noble. I really wanted to love this book: it's got leprechauns and other fae creatures, plus the author's writing is truly gorgeous. It really foundered after a big time jump in the middle of the story, though, and I couldn't get back into it. I'll have more details in my review come mid-April!
I had much better luck with Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody. I'm quite miserly when it comes to giving out 5 star ratings, but this was a solid 4 or 4.5 star book for me. Enne is a stellar main character who I identified with in a lot of ways and I'm already tapping my toes waiting for the next book in the Shadow Game series! (Side note: between To Kill a Kingdom, Children of Blood and Bone, and Ace of Shades—plus all the others I haven't even read yet—YA authors are killing it with complex, dynamic female leads this year!)
My next read, Warcross by Marie Lu, was just as satisfying. This was my first novel by Lu, who I know is a popular author in the book blogging community, and I felt both relieved and excited that she lived up to the hype. This one had yet another great female protagonist and I much preferred Lu's exploration of virtual reality to my less-than-stellar experience reading RPO.
Last up was Brightly Burning by Alex Donne, aka "Jane Eyre in space". The comparison is pretty apt: Brightly Burning followed all of the story beats pretty closely, with only minor changes to account for the futuristic setting. Compared to a couple of the big hits I read this week it wasn't quite a favorite, but I think Brontë fans and romance fans in general will really love this one.
LAST WEEK ON THE BLOG
Book Review: Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
Down the TBR Hole #11
Book Review: Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T.E. Lawrence
Film Review: Love, Simon
COMING UP ON THE BLOG
Book Review: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Down the TBR Hole #12
Between Daemons: Lions & Lambs
Book Review: The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison
BOOK HAULS
Honestly, I can't even decide which book I'm most excited about this week! A friend in publishing got a copy of Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik, which is probably one of the most anticipated books coming out this summer—and he doesn't read much fantasy! I transformed from Smeagol to Gollum before he could finish asking if I'd like to have it instead. And a shout-out to #arcsfortrade on Twitter, where I finally got my hands on a copy of Furyborn! Mirage and All the Ever Afters are both eARCs I didn't have high expectations of getting access to: Mirage because it's so popular and All the Ever Afters because it's on Edelweiss+. That's right, I actually had a request granted on Edelweiss! I need to go buy a lottery ticket before this luck rubs off...
AROUND THE BLOGOSPHERE
- On AvalinahsBooks, Evelina details some little-known heroes in Lithuania's history: book smugglers!
- Ashley lists out some great responses when someone asks why you like to read over on Thrifty Bibliophile.
- Readathons have their pros and cons and Chloe breaks them down on BookDragons247.
- Nicole breaks down the similarities and differences between A Wrinkle in Time and its latest film adaptation on FeedYourFictionAddiction!
- On Metaphors and Moonlight, Kristen gives some of her thoughts on the Harry Potter series.
- Sim of FlippingThroughThePages lists the top ten books with social messages that impacted her.
- Marta of TheCursedBooks is starting The Cursed Book Club! Find more information in her blog post and visit her Twitter (@thecursedbooks) to recommend the first month's title.
- Fellow participants in Adam's TBR Pile Challenge on RoofBeamReader can link up their latest titles in his March check-in.
- Danielle of BooksVertigoAndTea shares some of her favorite teas in this week's Friday Favorites—yum!
Did you get to read much this week? Can you also sit in the same room as your siblings without WWIII erupting ? :'D
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