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Billboard’s Top 5000 Songs of the Rock Era (1)

By Brookelorren on August 31, 2021August 31, 2021Leave a Comment

Sorry to have kinda dropped off the face of the earth. It’s been difficult for me to do book reviews lately, maybe due to the pandemic. Today I start a project that will probably take me some time to complete.

My dh started a new job earlier this year, working for a Christian radio station. He does the same thing he did before (human resources). It’s pretty awesome. I like the music, and I was into music for the longest time, so it’s kind of cool to get some behind-the-scenes info on how things work.

Anyway, our health insurance pays us to walk. Or do other exercise, as measured by our Fitbit. One of the tasks they pay me to do is to walk 500 steps, 6 times a day. But–my Fitbit will also count dancing as “steps.” In many cases, it uses a lot more energy than walking too.

For fun, I decided to dance to the Top 5000 Songs of the Rock Era, as listed in Billboard’s Hottest Hot 100 Hits. Although the link is to the 4th edition, I have the first edition.

These songs range from the years 1955 to 1994. Many of these songs I’ve heard before, but some will be new to me. Some of these songs I haven’t heard for years. So as I go through these 5000 songs, I’m going to blog my experience, 10 songs at a time. Maybe it will be interesting, maybe not. I’m starting with the top 10 songs and moving down. They’ll get less well-known as I go along.

#1 – Whoomp! (There It Is) – Tag Team

I’ve had this book for a very long time, and when I first got this book, it was a little surprising that Tag Team’s “Whoomp! (There It Is)” was the #1 song. It’s a fun song, but it still surprised me. It spent 45 weeks on Billboard’s Hot 100 charts though.

I have memories of driving down the road with my friends blasting this song. So it was fun to hear again.

#2 – The Twist – Chubby Checker

This one isn’t really a surprise. I think most people know this song, from my grandparents (when they were still alive) to my kids. Not only was this song popular in 1960, the year it came out, it also saw a resurgence of popularity in 1988, when the Fat Boys made a remake of the song with Chubby Checker. It was fun to get my 500 steps to this song.

#3 – The Sign – Ace of Base

I loved “The Sign” by Ace of Base when it first came out. The lovely high notes tickle my ears, and I fell in love with this song immediately. However, years later, this song has a whole different connotation to it (even though it still is catchy). Is it about a neo-Nazi? Eeew. I can’t think about this group the same way after I read about one of the band member’s skinhead ties. The singer in question, Ulf Ekberg, says that he regrets some of his earlier attitudes, and that he didn’t record some of the racist songs on a demo tape that were attributed to his former band, Commit Suicide (and as someone with depressed family members, that’s a horrid band name). As a Christian, I suppose I need to extend forgiveness, but it does put a taint on their music.

#4 – I Will Always Love You – Whitney Houston

Whitney was such a talent. It’s very sad that she’s no longer around anymore. Anyway, it was nice to hear this song again, but it didn’t give me many steps. So I danced to the next song as well.

#5 – End of the Road – Boyz II Men

Another fairly slow song, but it was enough to get me my 500 steps, when combined with the Whitney song. I had forgotten this song was from the 1992 movie Boomerang. Good song.

#6 – Don’t Be Cruel/Hound Dog – Elvis Presley

For #6, we get two songs for the price of 1. At some points during the Billboard Hot 100’s history, the A and B sides of a single were lumped together, which is why they rank together here. These are short songs, so it took dancing to both of them to get to my 500 steps. Most people are familiar to these old songs.

#7 – I Swear – All-4-One

It’s been a long time since I’ve heard this song, but it’s still good. Listening to it years later, after I’ve found the love of my life and we’ve been together for years, it takes on a whole new meaning.

It didn’t get me my 500 steps, so I also listened to the next song:

#8 – Breathe Again – Toni Braxton

Another slow song. Not much of a workout here. This was from 1994. Toni Braxton had so many great songs out in the early 1990s. I’m sure I’ll hear from her more in this series of songs.

#9 – (We’re Gonna) Rock Around the Clock – Bill Haley & His Comets

“Rock Around the Clock” is considered to be the song that ushered in the Rock & Roll era. It’s a song I’ve heard many times. I found the video here fairly interesting. I couldn’t really imagine people dressing like that for a concert these days.

Like many songs from that era, this song is very short, so it didn’t give me 500 steps.

#10 – Autumn Leaves – Roger Williams

This was not what I was expecting. When I was very young, I remember my parents listening to a song which I’m guessing was called “Autumn Leaves,” but it was not this one. This is an instrumental. The other one, I’m guessing, is probably from the 1960s. This one is from 1955. It’s likely that I’ve heard this song before, but I didn’t remember it. I bet my grandparents listened to this song back when they were in their 20s. This song definitely takes you do a different era. It was a #1 Billboard single in October of 1955. Even though that was after Bill Haley & His Comets changed music history with “(We’re Gonna) Rock Around the Clock,” the Billboard charts of 1955 still saw a lot of music that my grandparents would have enjoyed more than my parents.

So that’s the top 10 songs on this list. I’m not sure why the top 10 songs on this list were all from the years 1955-60 and 1992-1994, but that’s how the list turned out (as do the next 9 songs). I wonder if the 4th edition does this as well.

Books With Nature on the Cover

By Brookelorren on May 11, 2021May 10, 20219 Comments

Hello! I hope everything is going well with you. Today I went for a walk… in the snow. Sigh. At least the heating/air conditioning people are coming Wednesday.

But today is Tuesday, and this week, Top Ten Tuesday is talking about Books with Nature on the Cover! Looking through my Goodreads list, I’m surprised at how few covers do have a lot of nature on the cover. But there are at least 10, and it gives me the opportunity to highlight some new books, or books I haven’t talked about for a while.

Golden Poppies – Laila Ibrahim. This book has some beautiful flowers on the cover. It’s the third book in a series, but you can read it without reading the other two books (I haven’t).

Starfish – Akemi Dawn Bowman. Starfish doesn’t have actual starfish on the cover, but it does have marine life. It’s very pretty, IMO.

Song of the Crimson Flower – Julie C. Dao. This is another cover with flowers on it, but it’s also got a dragonfly on the cover. A dragonfly that looks oddly like a flute (an important part of the story).

The Unhoneymooners – Christina Lauren. This is a book that’s been patiently waiting for me even though I bought it on sale more than a year ago. Good thing books don’t have an expiration date. I love the flowers and the bird on the cover.

Switchback – Danika Stone. I don’t know about you, but I love going camping. But I wouldn’t want to go camping without being at least a little prepared. Once I did go camping at the ocean and had to cook with a stick, but that was nothing compared to these teens. Love the mountainside on the cover.

Disappearing Earth – Julia Phillips. More mountains. I’m guessing this is supposed to be the Kamchatka Peninsula (located in Eastern Russia right across from Alaska). Brrr.

Twisted Roots – Shelly Goodman Wright. This book was written by a friend of mine. The book takes place in the Okefenokee Swamp, and I’m assuming that’s what’s on the cover.

Into the Hollow – Lynn Vroman. I loved this book. I’d love to reread this again someday. It takes place in the Appalachian Mountains, and it’s got trees on the cover.

A Thousand Perfect Notes – C.G. Drews. This has such a beautiful butterfly on the cover. The paperback is even more awesome, although I have it on Kindle.

Unbroken – Laura Hillenbrand. This is the story of Louis Zamperini, who graduated from the same college that I did. Zamperini was a runner who had the opportunity to be in the Olympics, but sadly, World War II cancelled his Olympic dreams. His Olympic dreams were partially realized when he got to carry the Olympic torch during the Olympic torch relay leading up to the 1998 Nagano games. This cover has the ocean and clouds on the cover.

So those are ten books with nature on the covers, going all the way back to books I added to Goodreads in 2015! What books did you highlight today? Next week we’re going to talk about book titles that are complete sentences. I don’t know if I’ll be able to do that? We’ll see. If not, I’ll try to do something similar.

My Ten Most Recent Reads

By Brookelorren on May 4, 2021May 3, 202116 Comments

Hello! It’s Tuesday again, which means it’s time for another Top Ten Tuesday! Today we’re talking about the most recent books we’ve read.

:: Looks at most recent books I’ve read. Six of them are from the same author/series::

So… rather than bore you with six books from the same author, I’ll be condensing that particular entry into one. Let’s go!

The Ones We’re Meant to Find – Joan He. I just finished this one on Monday and it was so good! There’s quite a few twists to this book, so I can’t really describe it too in-depth. It’s set in a dystopian world where everybody either lived in an eco-city or takes their chances on land where there’s disasters and pollution all over the place.

Malice – Pintip Dunn. If you could save millions of lives by killing one person, would you do it? This twisty story explores that question. It has time travel, people who aren’t who they appear to be, and great characters.

Babel: Around the World in Twenty Languages – Gaston Dorren. As an aspiring polyglot, I think languages are fascinating. Babel explores the world’s 20 most commonly spoken languages to give us a peek into what makes other languages different–and the same–to ours.

Red Tigress – Amelie Wen Zhao. Ana is trying to save her kingdom. In the meantime, she discovers that not all is well for the affinites. While I liked this book, I did get a little lost with all the names and peoples referred to in the book. Before I read the finale, I think I’ll need to read the first two books again.

Shadowhunters Books – Cassandra Clare (most recently read first)

City of Heavenly Fire
City of Lost Souls
City of Fallen Angels
City of Glass
City of Ashes
City of Bones
“Jocelyn’s Story”
“After the Bridge”
Chain of Iron
Chain of Gold

With the exception of Chain of Iron, the books on this list were rereads for me (third time reading them) and the two short stories were new to me.

The Four Winds – Kristin Hannah. This is a story about the dust bowl in the 1930s. I loved the main character and how it brought to life the struggles of farmers living in that time. This book doesn’t exactly have a happy ever after though.

Three Dark Crowns – Kendare Blake. This book had been on my TBR for a very long time and I finally got around to reading it. Now I just have to read the rest of the books.

Cinder – Marissa Meyer. The Lunar Chronicles have been on my TBR for about as long as Three Dark Crowns has. It’s a good thing that there have been fewer must read books coming out lately, because my TBR is a mile long and I need to catch up. I liked this one and am looking forward to drawing the next book out of my ever-growing TBR lottery.

The Promised Neverland Volume 3. Emma looks quite fierce on the cover of this manga. This is a good series where the characters look really cute… but the story’s pretty dark.

Midnight Sun – Stephanie Meyer. I read the original Twilight series for the first time last year, because I was planning on reading Midnight Sun when it came out. It was interesting to hear (because I listened to it on audiobook) Edward’s take on the whole situation.

So there’s the books I’ve read since mid-February. What have you been reading? It’s always interesting to see the books we’ve most recently read, because they’re not always the books we always talk about.

Next week we’re going to talk about books with nature on the cover. Looking through Goodreads, this might be difficult. I’m sure I’ll be able to come up with something though.

Animals From Books

By Brookelorren on April 27, 2021April 26, 202112 Comments

Hello! Last week it was snowy, today it’s hot in my broken-air-conditioner house, and tomorrow it’s supposed to snow again! But it’s Tuesday, so it’s time for another list! Today we’re talking about Animals from Books. I thought this one would be a challenge, but I managed to come up with 10! These involve animals of all types: magical animals, regular animals, shapeshifters, and mythical animals.

Church – Cat from the Shadowhunter’s Universe. Church was the first animal that came to my mind when I thought about animals in books. Jem rescued him in Clockwork Angel, and he’s appeared in all the major Shadowhunter series ever since (Church is immortal). After Jem became a Silent Brother, he went to live with Magnus for a while, and then went to live in the New York Institute, and now he lives in California, often with Jem, but he tends to do his own thing.

When Elephants Fly – Nancy Richardson Fischer. I bet you can guess that the animal featured in When Elephants Fly is–an elephant. T. Lily Decker is an intern at the local newspaper and watches an elephant almost kill her calf. She goes on a road trip to try to save the elephant–all while she harbors fears of becoming schizophrenic like her mother.

Jack – Little House on the Prairie. Jack (you can see him on the cover following the wagon) was Laura’s faithful bulldog, who followed Laura all the way from the big woods of Wisconsin to “Indian Territory” on the prairies to the south. Since this series of books follows Laura from a little girl (age 5, I think) to a young lady, we see Jack age. Losing Jack in the books is almost as sad as losing my own pets.

Wicked Fox – Kat Cho. Gu Miyoung is a Kitsune–they have the ability to shapeshift into humans. I don’t like calling her an animal, because she has such human characteristics, but we’re embracing animals, animal-like creatures, and human-like beings who can turn into animals this week.

Dragons of Autumn Twilight – Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. The Dragonlance books are the classic fantasy with dragons books. We don’t see the dragons until well into the first book, but there will be plenty throughout the series.

My Side of the Mountain – Jean Craighead George. I thought this week would be difficult, but I’m finding a lot of stories I haven’t talked about for a while! This is a story of a boy who runs off into the mountains and lives in the woods by himself. His only companion becomes a falcon.

The Crow Rider – Kalyn Josephson. In The Crow Rider, people once rode crows through the sky like one might ride a horse. Unfortunately, something happens to many of the crows.

The Scorpio Races – Maggie Stiefvater. From riding crows to riding murderous horses. If your TBR isn’t booked for November 1st, might I suggest The Scorpio Races? That is, if murderous horses are your thing. I loved this book.

The Black Stallion – Walter Farley. This world needs more horse books. The Black Stallion turns 80 this year. I haven’t read this since I was a kid, but Stiefvater’s murderous horses reminded me of this wonderful book and how much I loved horses in elementary school.

Dragonslayer – Duncan M. Hamilton. This is the story about an older guy who thinks his fighting days are behind him, who is suddenly thrust into the position of having to go fight a dragon. It was different than many other dragon books I’ve read.

Thats 10! I thought it would be difficult to find ten books with animals in them, but surprisingly, there were more books than I thought there’d be. Even better, I got to talk about books I haven’t mentioned in a while.

What did you come up with this week? Next week we’re going to talk about the 10 most recent books we’ve read. Easy peasy! Although I’m going to cheat a bit, because out of the last 10 books I’ve read, 7 of them were by the same author in the same universe. So I’m going to lump all of those together.

Colorful Book Covers

By Brookelorren on April 20, 2021April 19, 202120 Comments

Hello! I thought about using the snowy logo today because it snowed today (again) but it’s probably not snowing where you are. It’s Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) and I hope all is well for you today. Today we’re talking about colorful book covers. I decided to go through “My Books” in Goodreads to find them. These will be both books I have read and books I want to read.

We Jace You a Clary Xmas – Cassandra Clare. I don’t have a link to this one, but if you join her newsletter you’ll be able to get a copy. I haven’t read this one yet (I just found out about this story after Christmas) but it has a colorful “cover.” I’m not sure if it counts as a cover because it doesn’t have the title on it and it’s not an official book (although it is on Goodreads) but I’m going for it anyway.

Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry – Joya Goffney. This cover has some great covers. I love the yellow of her dress contrasted with the turquoise of the background. It’s so pretty.

The Promised Neverland Volume 1 – Kaiu Shirai (Author), Posuka Demizu (Illustrator). Seeing this colorful cover reminds me that I need to read the rest of this manga series. These kids look so happy–although they’re about to discover a dark and horrible secret.

Three Sides of a Heart – Various. Three Sides of a Heart is a book of short stories about love triangles. It has some great authors in it, including Veronica Roth and Sabaa Tahir. And it’s got a gorgeous colorful cover.

The Best Laid Plans – Cameron Lund. This is a sweet story about best friends who fall in love. It also has a bright yellow cover, contrasted with blue and pink.

Tweet Cute – Emma Lord. Tweet Cute is another cute story with a colorful cover. I love the blues and pinks with the bright white speech bubbles in the center.

The Unhoneymooners – Christina Lauren. So far, all the books I’ve highlighted with colorful covers have been YA books. This one is colorful but written for an adult audience. I got it on sale a little over a year ago, but haven’t had the chance to read it yet. But I’d like to.

Start Here – Trish Doller. I love this cover. It’s so fun and colorful! And the book is lovely too. I think I need to make sure I put Doller’s new book, Float Plan, on my summer TBR. Alas, considering it snowed today, summer still seems so far away.

A Very Large Expanse of Sea – Tahereh Mafi. Although this is a fairly simple cover, each word in the title is in a different color, so I think that fits the definition of colorful.

As Kismet Would Have It – Sandhya Menon. Why have I not read this book yet? I loved When Dimple Met Rishi, and this novella tells us what happened to them after that book ended. And it has a gorgeous, colorful cover.

So there are ten colorful book covers. What books did you pick this week? Next week, we’re going to talk about animals in books. This one might be difficult for me. I can think of two animals from the same series, but that’s about it.

Books in My TBR with Colors in the Titles

By Brookelorren on April 13, 2021April 12, 202114 Comments

Hello! Welcome to another edition of Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl)! Today we’re talking about colors. The official topic is “Book Titles That Sound Like They Could Be Crayola Crayon Colors,” but that’s a topic better suited to my daughter, who’s an artist. So I decided to switch it up a bit and talk about those books in my TBR with colors already in the title. I did a Top Ten Tuesday before about Books with Colors in the Title, but those were books I had already read. These are books on my TBR. I’m looking to see the colors you’ve chosen though.

I don’t know if it’s just me, but I found it very interesting to go through my TBR. There are some books I’ve forgotten about. I figure as long as my TBR is shorter than the “Books Read” list, I’m good. Anyway, here are my colorful choices this week.

Lost Book of the White – Cassandra Clare. While I’ve been dying to read Chain of Thorns since I finished Chain of Iron, this series of Shadowhunter books is not one I’m rushing out to read. I’m sure I’ll get to this at some point, but for now, this one remains on my TBR.

Scarlet – Marissa Meyer. I bought the entire Lunar Chronicles set on sale several years ago for Black Friday, but It wasn’t until recently that I finally got around to reading Cinder, the first book in the series. Next up: Scarlet, which is another colorful title.

A Court of Silver Flames – Sarah J. Maas. I still haven’t read A Court of Frost and Starlight yet, but the last book in the series, A Court of Silver Flames, fits today’s colorful theme. Seeing all these books makes me wish I could read faster! Alas, I seem to be reading slower at the moment. I’m trying not to sweat it. Especially because summer is just around the corner and I’ll have more time to read. But seeing all these books on my TBR makes me want to read them!

Crimson Reign – Amelie Wen Zhao. I recently finished reading Red Tigress (another colorful title). This will be the final book in the series. I think I’ll have to read the other two books before I read this one though. The series is a little complex.

Black Tudors: The Untold Story – Miranda Kaufmann. Hundreds of years ago, people didn’t look at race the same as they do now. Black Tudors tells the story of black people during the Tudor era. I’ve forgotten about this book, which has been lingering on my TBR for a while, but it sounds really interesting.

Onyx – Jennifer L. Armentrout. This is the second book in the Lux series. I read the first book and really liked it, but I haven’t had the chance to continue the series.

African Samurai: The True Story of Yasuke, a Legendary Black Warrior in Feudal Japan – Thomas Lockley and Geoffrey Girard. This sounds like an interesting story about a black guy who ended up in Japan and became a samurai. And it has the color black in the title.

Elissa Blue – T.K. Perry. I’m not sure how this ended up on my TBR, but I found it as I was going through my TBR and it looked interesting. And it has a colorful title.

Black Death at the Golden Gate – David K. Randall. In 1900, the Bubonic Plague entered the United States. This could have ended badly, but fortunately, it didn’t. This looks like an interesting book though.

Splinters of Scarlet – Emily Bain Murphy. This is another book that I didn’t remember putting on my TBR, but it would fit with my Read Around the World Challenge for Denmark. Historical Denmark, at least. Plus it has the color scarlet in the title.

So there’s Ten Books from my TBR with colors in the title. It was nice getting the opportunity to showcase some books that I don’t talk about repeatedly.

Were you able to come up with books that sound like Crayola crayon colors? I’d like to see what you came up with. Next week is another colorful week, as we look at books with colorful covers. That one I should be able to do without tweaking.

Books in The Ocean

By Brookelorren on April 6, 2021April 5, 202110 Comments

Hello! It’s time for another Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl)! Today’s topic is supposed to be “Books I’d Gladly Throw into the Ocean.” This is a tough topic for me because there’s only a part of a book I’d consider throwing into the ocean. Plus, I just hate being so negative about books. So I’m going to talk about the seven chapters of a book I’d throw into the ocean and then other books that have the ocean in them.

Seven Chapters I’d Throw Into the Ocean: Allegiant Chapters 50-56. I’d gladly throw Allegiant chapters 50-56 into the ocean. Sorry, I love you, Veronica Roth, but I do not love the end to this book. And “We Can Be Mended” didn’t mend me. But fanfiction did. The canonical end to this story is not my truth. I guess this is the one good thing that came out of this story’s end. I realized in fiction, you can change the ending in your head if you want to. And I can also say that Allegiant also got me into writing again.

Books With the Ocean in Them

So now that we’re done with all that negativity, let’s talk about books with the ocean in them. To be clear, I like these books and don’t want to throw them in the ocean. Although I’d like to sit by the ocean and read them.

Alex, Approximately – Jenn Bennett. As the weather begins to warm up around here, I begin to feel the urge to read this book again more and more. This book takes place along the ocean, and the male MC is a surfer. I get so many beach vibes reading this lovely book.

Start Here – Trish Doller. I know I featured the last two books two weeks in a row; I guess I’m in the mood for beaches and sun at the moment. And there’s only 7 1/2 weeks of school left, so I’m looking forward to a lightening of my workload for 104 days (yes, since I homeschool, I give my boy exactly 104 days of summer vacation). In this book, they go sailing. I need to add her latest book, Float Plan, to the TBR lottery. Ms. Doller said that her new book covers some of the same themes, so I’m on it.

Twilight – Stephanie Meyer. When I was a kid, my parents used to take us almost every year to a beach near where the ocean scenes in Twilight took place. I took my kids camping there when my youngest was 1 1/2 and my oldest was 5 (yep, just me and the kids), and I hope to go again next year. So I’m very familiar with this beach, and it’s nothing like the beaches of California or the Caribbean. But it is a very nice beach to visit on one of the relatively rare sunny summer days they get in the area.

The Vanishing Deep – Astrid Scholte. This book is all about the ocean. While it never says specifically, The Vanishing Deep seems to be set far into the future where the world is covered with water. Not exactly the inviting beaches of the previous three books, but an ocean nonetheless.

10 Things I Hate About Pinky – Sandhya Menon. This book takes place on Cape Cod, which I think qualifies as the ocean. If not, I haven’t had the chance to feature this book much, so I’ll include it here.

The Scorpio Races – Maggie Stiefvater. This books take place on an island, so they’re surrounded by ocean. I’m not sure this is the type of ocean I’d like to visit, however. There are murderous horses in the water! If you haven’t read this book yet and are inclined to read it, I recommend you start reading this book on November 1st some year.

Call of the Raven – Wilbur Smith. Every villain is the hero of their own story. While I haven’t read any of the other books in this series, evidently the main character of this story becomes a villain. Even though there’s a picture of a burning building on the cover of this book, a lot of this story takes place at sea.

Crown of Coral and Pearl – Mara Rutherford. It’s been a while since I’ve read this book, but most of the people in this world live at sea. Even though I love the ocean, this isn’t the kind of sea world I’d enjoy. I most definitely wouldn’t want to live here.

Across a Broken Shore – Amy Trueblood. I saw on Facebook yesterday that they put a net under the Golden Gate Bridge when they were building it in order to save lives. Did I know that? Why yes, yes I did, because I read Across a Broken Shore. It takes place in San Francisco while they’re building the Golden Gate Bridge. Which makes this the 9th book today to take place near the ocean.

So how about you? What’s your favorite book to take place near the ocean? Are there any books you’d like to throw in the ocean?

Next week we’re going to talk about books that could be Crayola crayon colors. I think I can come up with some ideas for this.

March 2021 Wrap-Up

By Brookelorren on April 1, 2021April 1, 20212 Comments

Hi! March is over, which means that it’s time for another monthly wrap-up! I didn’t do one for the last two months. I thought I did one for January, but evidently not! Anyway, time to do one today.

Books Read:

I thought I didn’t do so well, and although I didn’t do great, I did manage to read 10 “books”. Two were audiobook courses (which I’m counting this year), two were short stories, and four were rereads:

Chain of Iron – Cassandra Clare
Analysis and Critique: How to Engage and Write About Anything – Dorsey Armstrong (audiobook course)
The Four Winds – Kristin Hannah
“After the Bridge” – Cassandra Clare
“Jocelyn’s Story” – Cassandra Clare
City of Bones – Cassandra Clare (reread)
City of Ashes – Cassandra Clare (reread)
City of Glass – Cassandra Clare (reread)
Great Heroes and Discoveries of Astronomy – Emily Levesque (audiobook course)
City of Fallen Angels – Cassandra Clare (reread)

After reading Chain of Iron, I guess I just kept going with the Shadowhunter’s books. I was planning on rereading them this year, but I was planning on reading them later in the year.

Writing:

Writing is not going so badly right now. After reading Chain of Iron, I just had to write something to heal my heart while waiting for Chain of Thorns (I know Ms. Clare will take care of it in book 3, but I don’t want to wait with the characters in distress like that for a year–and no, I’m not going to spoil what’s going on here). I wrote the short story “Shah Mat” in response. That does contain spoilers so don’t read it if you haven’t had the chance to read Chain of Iron yet.

I decided to enter RevPit this year (again) and so I’m rewriting The Brightness of Shadow (again). After RevPit I’ll start submitting to agents again. I’m doing Camp NaNoWriMo this year. For the first part of the month I’m revising The Brightness of Shadow, and for the second half I’ll work on Saving Adelinetta.

Life:

It’s so weird not having updated since the end of last year. So much has gone on.

The job that dh started in December… didn’t really work out. They lied about the benefits they offered, and he couldn’t afford to work there. So he’s working at a nonprofit radio station now, and the benefits are amazing. Plus he got a pay raise. The other people wanted him to stay, and he agreed to work part time. He feels like he’s out of his element at his new job. If you’re the praying type, please pray that God equips him to do the job.

I started trading cryptocurrency again. I used to do it several years ago, but didn’t keep at it. Maybe because I was only doing these little trades and making a few cents. Anyway, a long time ago I had mined some DOGE, a meme coin. It was worthless at the time, but a couple months ago, it shot up in value to $.08. I had tens of thousands of them. So I sold most of them bought a new laptop, and had a couple thousand left over to trade with. As of yesterday (it’s gone up in value a little since then), I’ve pretty much doubled the money I had two months ago. It’s a lot more fun when you’re watching your profits go up by $50 or so a day. If I continue to do well at this, I might finally be able to buy the DSLR camera I’ve been wanting for over a decade. And maybe pay off the car at some point.

I’m pretty excited because tomorrow we’re going to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science! I haven’t been in quite a while. Both my daughter and my son wanted to go. Going to museums is so different than it used to be, because you have to buy your tickets in advance for admission at a certain time.

So that was March! How did it go for you? How has your reading been? Hope you have a great April!

Places In Books I’d Love to Visit

By Brookelorren on March 30, 2021March 29, 202117 Comments

Hello! It’s Tuesday, which means it’s time for Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl)! It’s spring break! And my husband started a new job! Today’s topic is supposed to be “Places in Books I’d Love to Live,” but… I hate moving. I’ve lived overseas before. Do I really want to live anywhere else? Not really. So today I’m doing “Places in Books I’d Love to Visit” instead. Because there are a ton of places I’d love to visit, but not live.

Tokyo – Warcross. Tokyo would be a wonderful city to visit, and the Tokyo of Warcross’s time would be even more amazing. It seems like such a modern city.

London, 1903 – Chain of Gold. London in 1903 would be a completely different experience than it is today. There’d be horses and gas lamps and everybody would be dressed so differently. However, I wouldn’t want to stay there. There was so much poverty at the time. And pollution.

Kamchatka Peninsula – Disappearing Earth. The Kamchatka Peninsula is that little thumb of land in Russia that’s fairly close to Alaska. When a lot of westerners think of Russia, I imagine they think of Saint Petersburg or Moscow. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to visit those places too, I just don’t have a book about it. The Kamchatka Peninsula would be a completely different experience. It’s located in Asian Russia, which is a lot different than European Russia. It’s way less populated, for one.

Yosemite – Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour. Amy & Roger visit a lot of places on their epic detour, including Colorado Springs, where I live. The first place they visit is Yosemite. I’ve never been, but I think it would be pretty cool to go someday.

China – The Heavenly Man. China has such a long and amazing history. I’d love to get the chance to see the Great Wall or the Forbidden City, or just experience what it’s like there. I wouldn’t want to stay, but I’d definitely love to go here at some point in my life.

Paris – Spectacle. In Spectacle, the characters are in Paris during the time when the Eiffel Tower was being built, but Paris would be a lovely place to visit in many time periods (I think I’d pass on visiting Paris during The Terror though).

California Beach – Alex, Approximately. It’s supposed to snow later today (again) and I’m looking forward to the summer weather. Alex, Approximately takes place on a warm California beach and the surrounding town. I’d love to visit this warm place, especially when it’s cold outside where I live.

Alicante – City of Glass. Alicante is described as a beautiful city. It seems like it would have the charm of an old city. As a bonus, it’s surrounded by forest and countryside.

1963 – 11/22/63. It’s said that visiting the past is like visiting a foreign country, and I can imagine that, even from the viewpoint of my own life. The way Stephen King describes 1963 makes me want to visit there for a while. I wouldn’t want to stay, because there were some obvious problems, but getting to experience it for a few days or a week would be kinda cool.

Atlantic Ocean – Start Here. There’s something calming about being out at sea in the middle of the night, with nothing around you but water. Willa and Taylor, the protagonists of this story, stuck close to the coast in this story, but even a few miles off the coast, the world can seem very remote. I’ve been thinking lately that after this pandemic is over, I’d love to go on another cruise. I think a lot of us would like to go somewhere when this is all over. Anyway, this story makes me want to be out at sea again (although not working).

What about you? I found this week a little difficult, because so many places in books are places I wouldn’t want to go. Are there a lot of places in books you’d like to visit, or even live?

Next week, we’re going to talk about books we’d gladly throw into the ocean. Wow, that’s a little harsh. Maybe throw parts of books into the ocean? ‘Cause I can think of one. I’m not sure if I know of 10 books I dislike that much, so I might tweak it a little.

Spring 2021 TBR

By Brookelorren on March 16, 202123 Comments

Hello! As I write this, there’s snow outside up past the tops of my shoes (and up to about a foot in places) so back to the snow logo for Top Ten Tuesday (that’s today!). Even though spring starts next week. Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

I haven’t been doing a lot of reading lately. QuizUp ends forever on Sunday, and I’m kinda sad about it, but I’m trying to play as much as I can before it goes away forever. I spent a lot of time playing Divergent Trivia, but there are so many other great categories.

Anyway, spring is almost here and it’s time for a new TBR! I love seasonal TBR week. It’s a great time to plan ahead, and also look back. How did I do on my Winter TBR? 100%!

Chain of Iron – Cassandra Clare
1920: The Year of Six Presidents – David Pietrusza
An Affair of Poisons – Addie Thorley
Switchback – Danika Stone
Cinder – Marissa Meyer
The Language of Thorns – Leigh Bardugo
Everything that Burns – Gita Trelease
The Four Winds – Kristin Hannah
The Boy and His Ribbon – Pepper Winters
Three Dark Crowns – Kendare Blake

This quarter, I’m not pre-ordering any books, which means I can clear out some of the books that have been on my TBR lottery for a while. These are the books that got chosen:

The Seekers: The Story of Man’s Continuing Quest to Understand His World – Daniel J. Boorstin. I’ve read a few of Boorstin’s books (I read The Discoverers twice and I plan on reading it again someday) and this is the only book in the Knowledge Trilogy that I haven’t read. Boorstin has a way of making subjects accessible and understandable, even if you don’t have a background in that subject. My library doesn’t have a copy, but I may end up reading this more than once, so I ordered a used copy in good condition off Amazon to read.

Babel: Around the World in Twenty Languages – Gaston Dorren. After I drew this as my second book from my TBR lottery, I wondered whether I was going to draw all nonfiction books this season. These were the only nonfiction books I drew, as it turns out. As someone who loves languages and history, I think this will be an exciting book.

Malice – Pintip Dunn. If you could save millions of lives by killing one person, would you do it? This book explores that dilemma, and looks pretty exciting. I got this from Scribbler and haven’t had the chance to read it yet.

The Night Circus – Erin Morgenstern. I heard lots of good things about this book, so when I saw it on Amazon for $1.99, I had to pick it up. But then it sat on my TBR for quite some time. Finally I drew its number and it’s time to read it!

Here Be Dragons – Sharon Kay Penman. I’ve been learning Welsh off and on for a couple years now. This story is set in medieval Wales, and is a story involving royalty. My library has it, but it’s currently checked out. I wonder if it’s a really popular book, or if I just checked on a day someone else is interested? I heard about this book from someone at Top Ten Tuesday.

Sorcery of Thorns – Margaret Rogerson. This book features sorcerers and libraries? Count me in! I got this book for Christmas a while ago, but I haven’t had the chance to read it yet.

A Splendid Ruin – Megan Chance. This book takes place in San Francisco shortly after the big earthquake. I’m looking forward to diving into the world as it was over 100 years ago. I got this book for free from Amazon as part of their First Reads program, which allows Prime members to get a free new book every month.

Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 – Richard Paul Evans. This book has been on my TBR for a very long time. It’s got bad guys, a teen with magical electrical powers, and a group of teens that work together. Looking forward to reading this.

Kingdom Cold – Brittni Chenelle. This book has such a beautiful cover! It’s got a princess, a bad guy, murder… it looks interesting. Even better, I got this book on sale. I’ll probably want to read this book early in the spring, because it looks like a book I might want to read on a cold day.

The Tuscan Child – Rhys Bowen. One of the things that got me interested in The Tuscan Child was that I lived in Italy for three years. I lived in Naples, so I was much farther south, but I’m looking forward to traveling there virtually. In my opinion, Italy is a great place to visit, but I’m glad I don’t live there anymore.

So those are the books I hope to read this spring! Hopefully it will not be snowing when I write my summer TBR! I’m looking to warm summer days and walks to the park where I don’t have to wear boots!

What’s on your TBR this week? Is your TBR a to-do list, or merely a suggestion?