A long time coming

I think that it's time I called it quits officially. I really do wish I could keep book blogging. I think about it after I finish a book and I think about the review I'd write. But the truth is that I don't have the willpower to get it done anymore. I enjoyed my time blogging and I'd like to pick it back up one day. But that day is not today and it won't be for a long time. So thanks for reading along with me and for reading this whatever followers I may still have. I like to share photos of what I'm reading on Instagram if you ever wonder what I'm up to.

But this is just a note to say that  I appreciate it all. It's been a good time.

Wild Rover No More: Being the Last Recorded Account of the Life & Times of Jacky Faber by L.A. Meyer (Bloody Jack #12)

Just when it looks like Jacky Faber and her beloved Jaimy will finally find their romance, Jacky is accused of treason and must flee Boston while her friends attempt to clear her name. Of course that means wild adventures for our fun-loving heroine, who manages to secure a job as a governess…and run away with the circus. The highly anticipated grand finale of the Bloody Jack Adventures

The saddest thing is that this is only the last book because L.A. Meyer died last year. It's a small blessing to those who loved this series that he wrote the conclusion for Jacky. It also makes the ending sadder than you'd think.

Jacky is almost reunited with Jaimy when she is set up for charges of treason by an old enemy. So instead she is on the run first as a governess and then to the circus. Jacky, of course, is excellent at both as she always seems to be. I did enjoy the part where she was the governess and had to deal with a very spoiled little boy. 

I like the ending that Jacky got. It seemed right though I would have liked to see more of her and Jaimy together but then I think this series was about Jacky, growing and seeing the world. It had less to do with Jaimy, really in the end than I think Jacky would think. I do hope she continues to see the world and have many (tamer) adventures.

Weekly Round-Up 5/18

Weekly Round-Up is my wrap-up of last week's activities and includes what I'm reading this week, reviews I've posted, books in the mail and anything else of interest plus From the Library, my weekly listing of what I've checked out from the library.

I'm reading The Shadow Cabinet by Maureen Johnson. I'm listening to The Interrupted Tale by Maryrose Wood, read by Katharine Kellgren and, with my son, Peter and Secret of Rundoon by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, read by Jim Dale.

Weekly Round-Up 5/4

Weekly Round-Up is my wrap-up of last week's activities and includes what I'm reading this week, reviews I've posted, books in the mail and anything else of interest plus From the Library, my weekly listing of what I've checked out from the library.

I'm reading The Bride Wore Size 12 by Meg Cabot, the last book, I think, in the Heather Wells series. I'm listening to The Interrupted Tale by Maryrose Wood, read by Katharine Kellgren and, with my son, Peter and the Shadow Thieves by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson.

Last week I reviewed Boston Jacky by L.A. Meyer, read by Katherine Kellgren.

Boston Jacky: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, Taking Care of Business by L.A. Meyer (Bloody Jack #11)

Jacky Faber has a habit of making waves--even when docked in her adopted city of Boston, where she is attending to the business of Faber Shipping Worldwide. With big dreams and perhaps a bit too much exuberance for the very Puritan populace, she purchases the Pig and Whistle Inn, determined to revive her old stomping grounds and establish a musical theater.
But Jacky quickly finds herself at odds with the Women's Temperance Union and a town roiling with tension over the arrival of hundreds of Irish laborers--brought in by her very own Lorelei Lee. As things heat up, both literally and figuratively, she's soon back in Judge Thwackham's courtroom facing the dozen lashes promised the last time she stood before the judge. Thwarted at every turn by her enemies, Jacky is finally forced to confront her shortcomings--and possibly lose her beloved Jaimy Fletcher in the process.

It doesn't seem right to not finish out my reviews on the Jacky Faber series. The penultimate book finds Jacky in Boston supposedly just trying to live her life right and carry out her business while waiting for Jaimy to arrive back from Rangoon. Of course Jacky being Jacky, she manages to make new enemies in a local temperance group and, through an unfortunate event, also loses Jaimy in a manner of speaking. 

I enjoy Jacky and love her adventures and as usual her past has a way of making her careless and she is careless because she doesn't seem to learn from her past. I think she has definitely grown though as a person since the first book, but she is so impetuous that it makes it difficult for her to stay out of trouble. It's funny because though I don't want anything awful to happen to her, I also like the moments when her clever schemes did not work to her advantage for a chance. I think it's a good learning opportunity for her.

I was significantly less fond of Jaimy Fletcher though. I wish he would quit being an idiot. Like a lot of conflict in books, much of the drama could have been avoided if he had just asked Jacky instead of assuming and I was disappointed with him in the end.

All in all, I am looking forward to the last book though I am sad that it is the last.

Weekly Round-Up 4/27

Weekly Round-Up is my wrap-up of last week's activities and includes what I'm reading this week, reviews I've posted, books in the mail and anything else of interest plus From the Library, my weekly listing of what I've checked out from the library.

I'm not sure what I'm reading because I keep switching between Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Steifvator and The Shadow Cabinet by Maureen Johnson. So it's one of those at any given time. Maybe one day I'll finish one of them. I'm still in a reading slump though my own weirdness and not because I can't find a good book. It's all me. Anyway. I'm listening to Wild Rover No More by L.A. Meyer, the last Jacky Faber book and, with my son, Peter and the Shadow Thieves. He immensely enjoyed Peter and the Starcatchers so we are following along with that series.

Floors and 3 Below by Patrick Carman (Floors series)

Floors
The Whippet Hotel is a strange place full of strange and mysterious people. Each floor has its own quirks and secrets. Leo should know most of them - he is the maintenance man's son, after all. But a whole lot more mystery gets thrown his way when a series of cryptic boxes are left for him . . . boxes that lead him to hidden floors, strange puzzles, and unexpected alliances. Leo had better be quick on his feet, because the fate of the building he loves is at stake . . . and so is Leo's own future!

3 Below (Floors #2)
Now that Leo has uncovered a few secrets behind the wacky Whippet Hotel, he'll have to save it!

Leo has explored the zany, wonderful Whippet Hotel from basement to top floor, with trains, flying goats, and mazes (among other things) in between. But even Leo doesn't know every secret of the Whippet - and when he discovers that there's more beneath the hotel than he'd thought, it doesn't take long for more adventures to unfold!


So I've managed to get my 8 year old hooked on audio books. Not a bad thing in my opinion. We started with Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes, then Peter and the Starcatchers, and then Floors followed by 3 Below. He likes the wacky adventures in the hotel and requested the second book when we finished Floors. I think they are cute books. I also like the wacky adventures and the humor, though it verges a lot into burp jokes in 3 Below, is still funny. The narrator, Jesse Bernstein, does a great job with the stories. I'm sure my son likes these books since the idea of a 10 year old working and running a hotel appeals to him in the same way running away to the Metropolitan Museum of Art did for me.

Weekly Round-Up 2/2

Weekly Round-Up is my wrap-up of last week's activities and includes what I'm reading this week, reviews I've posted, books in the mail and anything else of interest plus From the Library, my weekly listing of what I've checked out from the library.

Hey y'all!
Right now I'm listening (again for the 4th or 5th time) To Say Nothing of the Dog, Or How We Found the Bishop's Bird Stump At Last by Connie Willis. Some books are just worth reading over and over again. I plan on getting to The Blood of Olympus after. My son and I are getting ready to start Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstien, a recommendation by a co-worker. 

As for reading, it's hit or miss with me right now. I started Blue Lily, Lily Blue but didn't get very far. I'm trying, but reading is just not happening for me right now. So reviews are going to continue to be scattered and may become more like "micro-reviews" than anything I've written thus far.  

Happy 2015!

Happy New Year! I'm day late but I spent most of yesterday in the ER with my youngest (she's fine) and that was exhausting.

I have been getting a little reading done lately. And I've been thinking about picking up reviews again. I've been reading Mary Kay Andrews and enjoying her fun, quirky characters. I'm about to start Blue Lily, Lily Blue. I've also got my son interested in audio books and he's become a fan of the Peter and the Starcatchers series. So that's been fun!