Fortnightly Update #37: In the Heat of the Summer

Last week, I attempted to make this post happen, but unfortunately it was just too sweltering upstairs (even at night) for me to write it up. I have a plain ol' desktop computer which has served me well for the past 6 years, but when it's in the 90s (F) consistently for a week, the upstairs is pretty well uninhabitable, even with fans and A/C blasting. I considered writing the post up by hand first, but most of this post involves linking to Goodreads and uploading book images, which takes a while sometimes. A while during which I could melt from the heat!

Recent Acquisitions (or the Piling of the-Piles):

the-pile Additions:

Technically not for the pile, but I think I will be rereading it in the future:

Thorn by Intisar Khanani
I read this last year, followed shortly after by Sunbolt, which isn't a standalone like Thorn is. I won one of Intisar's giveaways and I'm so grateful to have a lovely signed copy of this, as it's a beautiful book. If you like fairytale retellings, you should definitely check it out.

the-invisible-pile Additions:

Camber of Culdi (The Legends of Camber of Culdi #1) by Katherine Kurtz
I actually bought the whole trilogy for what I usually spend on one book, but this is the first book. I'm always up for fantasy, especially if it involves more than one race of beings.

The Prisoner by Omar Shahid Hamid
Normally, thrillers are the last book I'd ever buy because I've been burned by too many of them. However, given this author is writing from experience (he served with the Karachi police of Pakistan for 12 years) I was interested enough to click the buy button. And plus, I don't think I've ever read (or even have) a book set in Pakistan yet.

Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson
This is a magical realism book (or at least it sounds like it) written by an indigenous author from Kitamaat, British Columbia. From the reviews on Goodreads, it sounds like my kind of book.

The Mirror by Marlys Millhiser
This sounds like a delightfully female-centric time travel book (with possible Gothic influence, from the sound of it). The premise is similar to Freaky Friday, but with time travel, which makes it freakier.

Half a King (Shattered Sea #1) by Joe Abercrombie
I'm not exactly sure why I bought this hyped YA fantasy right after reading and reviewing a hyped YA fantasy that disappointed me, but I guess it must've been too cheap to pass on. It will be interesting to read, as I know Joe Abercrombie's adult fantasy books are on the darker shade of morality.

Nova by Samuel R. Delany
This one is a space opera that was more highly rated than other books by Samuel R. Delany, and also a lot shorter than some others. It's been only recently that I've realized the value of a shorter book.

Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany
There is a reason I put these two covers for this book- a lot of old sci-fi covers have women in positions that are... rather sexist? These two, though, even with the woman on the right in her space bikini, have women in positions that aren't so vulnerable. I was surprised that I liked the space bikini one, but she's actually a realistically sized woman, which is hard to find on many covers, at least now. If she'd had her hand on her hip, she would be even more my favorite. Of course, I don't think I've ever seen a vintage sci-fi cover with a man in a space bikini, but I guess maybe that wouldn't be as popular with the nerd set.

Babel-17 seems to be a sci-fi about language more than anything else- and since I do respect the power of words, I picked it up.

NetGalley:

The Rules of Magic (Practical Magic 0.5) by Alice Hoffman
Expected publication: October 10th 2017
La La and I had a bit of an adventure trying to procure the digital ARCs for this book- basically, we requested it on NetGalley, the publisher pulled the listing (which gives an auto-denial to anyone who requested) and then they re-listed it, but it was un-requestable for those who'd been "denied". La La applied for it on Edelweiss, which I don't use so I didn't apply for it, though I was entering every giveaway for the ARC that I saw. Then the publisher sent emails to those who'd requested/read Faithful on NetGalley (which included La La and I), offering one of those approval links which lets you read the book. Thus, we now both have it, which is great because I really, really want to read this one as a Hoffman fan who reads almost everything she writes.

Currently Reading:

Age of Swords (The Legends of the First Empire #2) by Michael J. Sullivan

I haven't made much progress on this, since I was doing a buddy read for Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Sower will give you nightmares about the future (fair warning). But I plan on finishing this soon so I can review it on its release day (July 25th) or sooner.

Finished These Books:

A Study in Scoundrels (Romancing the Rules #2) by Christy Carlyle

I had read another historical romance by Christy Carlyle before and I'd been disappointed by it, but this one was more interesting to me, I guess- the heroine, Sophia, is a mystery writer who gets pulled into her brother's best friend's own mystery. Despite the setup being rather far-fetched, it worked- I am rather severe in rating romance novels (4 stars are a rarity in that genre) but this had enough action and enough backstory to keep me interested and not whining about heroines who have too much angst/drama in their romance.

Parable of the Sower (Earthseed #1) by Octavia E. Butler

This is the darkest book I recall reading by Miss Butler, who takes dystopia to the max and presents a heroine (Lauren) who may have an idea to change the world, or at least some parts of it. Although Lauren is a young adult, I would say this is definitely an adult book because of its grim and (at times) graphic content. 

In My Life:

I forget the name of this area, but it was near one of my mom's garage sale haunts

U of Utah finally got back to me and said since my SSEP results were normal, they didn't know what to do with me other than send me back to my primary care doctor and suggest physical therapy. Although I have been helped by some physical therapy (I have occipital neuralgia, and my PT basically taught me how to hold my head up straight to help it from flaring), I don't have that high of confidence that it will help with my knees/ankles/hips giving out, as I have been walking lots in addition to using a stationary bike in hopes that my legs will suddenly go back to where they were about a year ago.

I had PT for fibromyalgia, and it ended up giving me more arm pain (in the left arm, which seems to be a troublemaker). I'm hopeful that someday my symptoms may lapse, but at the same time, doubtful due to my past experience. The weirdest thing about my legs is I had began to have trouble with them buckling last June, but I just stopped walking so much and traded it for using the stationary bike, since I usually took Torrie for walks.

I frankly don't know what's causing my symptoms, but I do know my syrinx, which was tiny when I was 16 (and only in my cervical spinal cord), is now a big fat worm in my spine (C3-T12-ish now) that I'd rather not have. Given that the only treatment for syrinxes seems to be shunting them surgically (shunts which may move and/or cause more damage than they prevent), I don't really even want to find a doctor willing to "treat" my syrinx, unless it starts growing again on my MRIs. I'm at a medical impasse, but I'm still able to do some of the things I like, like reading, writing, and complaining about contemporary books having endings that seem too resolved.

Meanwhile, George has been ordered to be put on diet cat food by his doctor. He apparently gained one pound over the course of a year, which is just too heavy and not "stocky" any longer. George is less than thrilled about this, but hopefully with the new food and Leia chasing him, he'll lose his extra pound.

Happy Reading!