Top Ten Tuesday June 18: Books on My Summer 2024 To-Read List

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.

Updates are now at That Artsy Reader Girl

June 18: Books on My Summer 2024 To-Read List *subject to change based on my mood*

1) The Glories of Mary by Alfonso María de Liguori

2) Knight Errant (the novel) by John Jackson Miller

and 

3) Star Wars: Knight Errant, Vol. 1: Aflame (the graphic novel) by John Jackson Miller, Artists Ivan Rodriguez, Belardino Brabo, Marcio Loezer , Michael Atiyeh

Ever since I listened to (and DNF) Don Quixote I have thought about finally reading these because “Knight Errant” is mentioned a million times in Don Quixote.

4) Yes Please by Amy Poehler 

5) The Black Bird Oracle by Deborah Harkness.

The long awaited 5th book.

6) Christmas at Glitter Peak Lodge by Kjersti Herland Johnsen, Olivia Lasky (Translator)

My current read from Net Galley.

7) Unknown New York: An Artist Uncovers the City’s Hidden Treasures by Jesse Richards

Jesse is a friend of mine and this is very exciting. I’ve attended his Sketch Meet Up group for years and he’s taken some his sketches and published a NYC guide book.

8) Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties
by Tom O’Neill

Candace Owen recommend this book and so I put it on hold at the library. There are three people ahead of me.

Audiobooks:

9) Helter Skelter
The True Story of the Manson Murders
By: Vincent Bugliosi, Curt Gentry
Narrated by: Scott Brick
Length: 26 hrs and 29 mins

Before I read Chaos I’ll listen to this, which my sister highly recommended. Then I’ll compare the two.

The Love of My Afterlife by Kirsty Greenwood

A recently deceased woman meets “the one” in the afterlife waiting room, scoring a second chance at life (and love!) if she can find him on earth before ten days are up…

If she wasn’t dead already, Delphie would be dying of embarrassment. Not only did she just die by choking on a microwaveable burger, but now she’s standing in her ‘shine like a star’ nightie in front of the hottest man she’s ever seen. And he’s smiling at her.

As they start to chat, everything else becomes background noise. That is until someone comes running out of a door, yelling something about a huge mistake, and sends the dreamy stranger back down to earth. And here Delphie was thinking her luck might be different in the afterlife.

When Delphie is offered a deal in which she can return to earth and reconnect with the mysterious stranger, she jumps at the opportunity to find her possible soulmate and a fresh start at life. But in a city of millions, Delphie is going to have to listen to her heart, learn to ask for help, and perhaps even see the magic in the life she’s leaving behind…

My sister won this from a Goodreads giveaway. She liked it and gave it to me to read. Thank you Goodreads and Berkley Romance/Penguin Random House. It’s an ARC and is scheduled to be released July 2, 2024.

3 out of 5 Sketch Books

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Top Ten Tuesday June 4: Books I Had VERY Strong Emotions AboutTop Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.

Updates are now at That Artsy Reader Girl

June 4: Books I Had VERY Strong Emotions About (Any emotion! Did a book make you super happy or sad? Angry? Terrified? Surprised?)

1) Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy.

For what Alec did to Tess I wanted him to suffer a more painful and drawn out, excruciating death. He got off too easy. 

Angel really angered me. His absence and unwillingness to forgive Tess (not that she needed forgiveness for that “sin”, maybe just for not being honest with him) caused her to think even less of herself and lose hope till she was forced, as a last resort, to accept Alec’s help.

Tess’ mother is no better. Mrs. Oh-I-should-have-checked-to-see-if-this-man-was-honorable-before-I-sent-my-daughter-off-with-him. Stupid selfish woman. 

2) We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver.

Without revealing anything, I had a book hangover when I finished it. There was so much to think about and consider. 

3) The Shining by Stephen King. 

So suspenseful I jumped in my seat on the bus when the passenger next to me adjusted his position in his seat.

4) Golden Son by Pierce Brown.

After that end I had to wait a while for Morning Star.

The Art of Destiny (War Arts Book 2) by Wesley Chu

Once there was a prophecy that a chosen one would rise to defeat the Eternal Khan, an immortal god-king.

But the prophecy was wrong.

Now Jian, the former chosen hero, is just an ordinary young man trying to find his own way. But he may yet have an extraordinary destiny, because he joins forces with Taishi, his grumpy grandmaster, who instructs him in the ways of her family’s powerful war art. Jian still has a long way to go before he can become her heir, so she recruits a band of elderly grandmasters who come out of retirement to whip him into shape and help with this one last job.

And there are others who are also seeking their own destiny, like Qisami, an assassin on a secret mission to protect a powerful noblewoman from her enemies. But as Qisami goes undercover to complete her mission, she takes on a new identity that gives her something she never had before: friendship, found family, and new purpose.

Sali also thought her fate was laid before her. She was supposed to be looking for the next Eternal Khan and now finds her clan exiled from everything she’s ever known. As she leads the survivors in search of a new home, Sali discovers that she’s something she never thought she could be: a leader and a revolutionary.

Because sometimes destiny is grander than any prophecy can foresee. And the greatest destiny of all is the one you choose for yourself.

After reading The Art of Prophecy I borrowed The Art of Destiny from the library.

It builds from the previous book with rich world building and finding answers to big questions. 

There are many new characters so the dramatis personae was big help. I loved how their different personalities worked together. There were many funny moments and some serious ones.

The pacing did slow down in the middle and then it really picks up at the end. Yet, it also makes sense because one of the “reveals” (which I totally suspected all along) was a long con. 

The three separate points of views did feel like three separate books and a set up for book three. I’m looking forward to having the three character arcs converge again. 

3.5 out of 5 Bicker of My Quarrels!

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