Took last night off to watch The Amazing Spiderman on Netflix. This wasn’t from my list, but of all the superhero blockbusters I’ve seen, the Spiderman ones are my second favorite, after Hellboy. They usually have enough banter amidst all the action to keep me interested, unlike the boring Batman franchise.
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Currently Reading
The Fragile Threads of Power by V. E. Schwab
From #1 New York Times bestselling author V. E. Schwab comes a new adventure set in a beloved world—where old friends and foes alike are faced with a dangerous new threat.
The Fragile Threads of Power by V.E. Schwab is a review copy I didn’t finish before the book was published at the end of September. I haven’t started anything else, trying to finish this one!
It’s over 650 pages long, but if it’s like her other trilogy openers, it’s going to end on a cliffhanger. Set in the same world of the dark fantasy trilogy starting with A Darker Shade of Magic, it has multiple storylines (threads, get it?) intertwining with each other.
If you like dark fantasy about magic, with a long-running story, character development, clever dialogue with English accents, and high stakes – here, the fate of not just one world, but three – you should love the Darker Shade of Magic books.
Recently Read
The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante
Finally finished the final book in the marvelous Neapolitan Novels quartet! Reading the first, My Brilliant Friend, was mentioned by one of the authors at the Boston Book Festival yesterday as a pivotal moment in her life as a writer, back when “everyone” was reading it and trying to guess the identity of Elena Ferrante. (He also revealed the truth about who the anonymous author turned out to be, which I hadn’t yet looked up, myself.)
I can’t remember how long ago I read My Brilliant Friend, which came out in 2012, but I entered it in LibraryThing almost exactly eight years ago, in 2015, so that’s probably when I read the first book. The saga never sagged for me, even over the course of four books and a long break between the second and third. That’s a long time for an author to sustain a story about two women’s lives, with all the multitude of other characters coming in and out, but always essentially on the periphery to their intense connection to each other.
I know I received the whole Neapolitan Quartet set as a Christmas gift one year, so that was probably 2014. And here my husband says I never read the books he gives me! 😉
Recently Listened To
A Footnote to Plato by Tina Lee Forsee
“In this captivating novel, Tina Lee Forsee skewers academic politics, takes us from Vermont to Greece and back, and makes Plato relevant (again) in reckoning with our purpose in life. The winning Alexandra, with her jumpy mind, the perseverating professor, brilliant but troubled Zeb, and a ghostly college president take us on a very lively trip into the cave.” – Meg Files, author of Writing What You Know
I received a review copy of A Footnote to Plato by Tina Lee Forsee from the author through LibraryThing Early Reviewers program. Full review soon!
The Living Blood by Tananarive Due
This sequel to My Soul to Keep, from best-selling author and two-time Bram Stoker Award finalist Tananarive Due, is a breathtaking supernatural thriller. After the disappearance of her immortal husband David, Jessica Jacobs-Wolde must come to terms with the healing blood David gave to her and their daughter Fana. – Publisher
The Living Blood by Tananarive Due was a lot longer than I realized when I downloaded it from the library – over 25 hours, and it’s still only #2 in a trilogy! – so I ran out of time and had to let the next person borrow it. This is for the October RIP (“Readers in Peril”) challenge, which looks like it doesn’t have a centralized hosting site this year.
This post is linked to “It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?” hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. Check out the link-up party there for more book lists!
V.E. Schwab is on my list of writers to try, so I appreciate your comments about the latest book. Happy reading!
So many interesting books! I hope you enjoy the ones you are reading now. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
You have a nice mix. Living Blood and the Ferante book both sound nice (I like that cover of Ferrante’s book- it makes me think of looking across the Mediterranean at an island) :):)
I think taking time out to watch a movie sounds wonderful. I’m glad you liked it!
It looks like you have had a fascinating reading week. I read the first two in the Ferrante series, but wasn’t interested in reading more.
That’s where I stopped originally, too! Maybe the long break between 2nd and 3rd was good!
I’ve just finished Empty, a memoir about a woman with an eating disorder. Very weirdly at arm’s length; not very emotive or informative at all.