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Reader Report: August, 2019

Posted: September 13, 2019

Here we are again, this is what I have read, played, seen, and experienced in August that stuck with me. (Yeah, I don’t mention everything, only things I finished that I thought were great.)

Subsurface Circular is a very short game. Took me about 2 hours to play. It is a mystery game where you are stuck in one place (a subway car), and you talk to the people who get on. And try to solve a mystery.

Short and charming. I enjoyed my time with it. Although it doesn’t really have replay value from what I could research (I haven’t replayed it myself), it is possible to just replay certain sections.

I read a great historical romanced called Someone to Love by Mary Balogh. It was a little confusing in the beginning for me. I haven’t read a Regency romance in a while, so I needed to get used to that time period, but beyond that there were a few too many characters to keep straight for the first couple of chapters. (More name dropping than characters showing up, but still.)

However, I figured I’d get it straightened out eventually, and I did. (Plus there is a family tree at the start of the book, at least the ebook.) And even with that confusion I couldn’t stop reading because it was so much fun.

I throughtly enjoyed the whole book. And the premise is handled really well, in my opinion.

I’ll most likely pick up the rest of the series eventually. (This was the first book.)

Charming Blue by Kristine Grayson (aka Kristine Kathryn Rusch) is on this list because I really enjoyed it, but it was a bit slow to start for me. Still not so slow that it let me go. Charming Blue is part of a world of stories from Kris, all of them very good (I can only speak for the ones I’ve read, but still). Some more fluffy than others, some really good young adult stories. If you like charming (yes, charming) contemporary romance with fairy tale and/or greek mythology magic, then this series is for you.

I particularly like it when I need some light reading in my life. Although it can get serious too.

To finish of this month’s reader report I want to point to two different YouTube channels I enjoy a lot. One of them I only recently discovered, and the other I discovered a few months ago, but I’ve been binging both although I have not seen every video on either channel because there are a LOT of videos.

WeezyWaiter, aka Craig Benzine. I’m not even sure how to describe this channel. Whatever it is, it is usually funny, has great video editing, and also sprinkles in some wisdom. Recent videos are mostly about different monthly challenges Craig Benzine (and sometimes his wife Chyna) have tried and how they went. Pretty hilarious.

The channel has been around for a long time so it has changed in content over time, so there is a lot to see. And a lot of laughs to have.

I actually found WeezyWaiter from watching older videos of Vlogbrothers. The Vlogbrothers are John and Hank Green. (John Green wrote the rather famous book: The Fault in Our Stars, which I haven’t read.) That channel started because the two brothers apparently wanted to do an experiment by only communicating through video for a whole year (or that is how I understand it begun).

And then it went on and on and many things have come from it like these YouTube channels: 100 Days (John and his best friend have a very fit mid-life crisis)—I really enjoyed watching this a couple of years ago—and Crash Course—I have watched several of the courses.

In fact, I think the first Vlogbrothers related YouTube content I consumed was The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, which is a hilarious modern remake of Pride and Prejudice. Lizzie Bennet have a vlog. I can very much recommend this!

(Actually, now that I think about it. I probably watched something from Crash Course first. But still a good segue to talk about The Lizzie Bennet Diaries.)

And that will be all for this month. Just the YouTube content would keep you entertained for way more than a month, especially if you get into all the Vlogbrother things. My top recommendation is the historical romance Someone to Love by Mary Balogh though. Enjoyed that one a whole lot.

Picture of the Month: A Year in Japan #1

Posted: September 1, 2019

Cherry blossoms in Ueno Park — Ueno Park (Tokyo) shows off beautifully in spring.

A few years ago when I talked to my dad about potentially living in another country than Sweden, mentioning a few examples, he replied that he would miss the shifting seasons if he lived in a country that didn’t have four distinct ones like Sweden (and many other places).

Back then I didn’t know if I agreed or not.

Then a couple of years later, I became a digital nomad for a while. My work was—and is—completely mobile. All I need is a laptop and some internet.

Reading up on other digital nomads, I came to realize that they always seemed to chase the summer, and so did most travel companies that created work-vacation trips specifically for that crowd.

I was bored in no time.

Warm and hot (ugh!), warm and hot, warm and hot. That was the weather. Always, because when autumn came, flee to the equator, when winter comes to the northern hemisphere, flee to the south one.

It wasn’t that the weather alone bored me. But my skin missed feeling a chill. I missed seeing spring green and new plants; and autumn-colored trees and kicking through dry leaves.

I missed wearing sweaters and not being hot every time I walked outside.

Turns out my dad was very much right.

It made me realize I wanted to experience all seasons, regularly in my life. And since I’d loved Japan as a tourist a couple of times, I really wanted to experience a whole year there. Their beautiful Japanese maples in full autumn colors. Winter when temperatures in many cities (I wanted to be in) would be slightly chilly but not cold (in my opinion). And spring.

Wonderful, beautiful spring with its cherry blossoms.

The only thing I didn’t look forward to (and I was correct!) was Japanese summer. Hot, hot, hot, and humid, humid, humid.

Anyway, I got a student visa to study Japanese for a year, and off I went in April 2019. And these are a couple of pictures from my first couple of days in Tokyo, before I got to Kyoto where I would live for most of this year in Japan.

Cat figurines at Imado Shrine, Tokyo — This is the Imado shrine in the Asakusa area in Tokyo. One of the purported birthplaces for the lucky cat figure (maneki-neko).

A Story About a Book in a Book

Posted: August 24, 2019

The Book of Time records the God and Goddess’ moves on the eternal Game of Time, deciding the fate of humans and their world.

Every day, the God and Goddess play and the Book of Time records. It is only a matter of time until someone makes a mistake and the magic of the Gods goes haywire.

The Game of Time, a fantasy story about gods and their book, is finally out stand alone.

You can buy it here as an ebook. I hope you enjoy this book in a book in a book in a book. ^_~

If you are wondering if this story is any good, Tangent Online reviewed it as a part of the anthology Fiction River: No Humans Allowed, and this is what they said about my story:

“The story is interesting and well written…”
—Tangent Online

That was all about this month’s release. This summer have been full of them.

Coming up is the first picture from my first month in Japan during this one year+ stay. I also hope you like the changes to my monthly entertainment review posts.

There are so much great content to experience, both on screens, on paper (books), and out there in the quote/unquote real world.

I hope my additions to it (books and recommendations) brightens your day.

Reader Report: July, 2019

Posted: August 13, 2019

Since this is my first reader report, let me explain what it is. This is a non-exhaustive list of stuff I read, saw, played, and experienced in the past month. A bit like my Great Entertainment posts. But instead of writing up reviews of each item separately, this is a list of highlights from the past month.

Right on, let’s start with books I read.

Top of my mind is Storm Cursed by Patricia Briggs, book 11 of the Mercy Thompson series. This book was sooo good, but not a good starting point for the series/world.

Read my post on the Mercy Thompson/Alpha & Omega books to find a good starting point.

I recommend every book and story set in this world. Obviously some are more to my taste than others, but if you fall in love of the world, I have still liked all stories I’ve read.

Japanese fairy tales. If you enjoy fairy tales, I can definitely recommend Japanese ones if you haven’t read those. I do not know if the ones I’ve reading are sanitized (like Disney did with the Grimm fairy tales), but I’m enjoying them nonetheless.

I am reading them in Japanese though, in simplified versions written for Japanese learners, so no reason to link them here. (Any Japanese learners out there can contact me through the contact page if interested in them.)

My suspicion is that my versions are sanitized because all fairy tales I’ve read in original form tends to be more gory, but maybe that is just a European thing and I need to read more fairy tales from more cultures.

If you have any good recommendations of books with fairy tales from other cultures, or even from European ones that aren’t Grimm or Hans Christian Andersen. I’m interested in reading them. (I do know of Arabian nights and Aesop too.)

Lastly I’ve been rereading the In Death series by J.D. Robb (pen name of Nora Roberts). I’m almost back to the latest book. The characters, the mysteries, and the relationships are all soooooo good. I really love this series and it will hit 50 books next year. Just wow!

The characters grow/change, but still remain true to themselves; their changing however does shift the feel of the series a bit. Just like happens in many long series.

Rereading the whole series is a huge reading commitment, so maybe it is obvious just how much I love it. (I also wrote a Great Entertainment post on it, read it here.)

And while I wrote about the books above, I remembered another new-to-me book I read this month. Blue Smoke by Nora Roberts. Romance, with a bit of detecting in it (aka romantic suspense). Modern day for when it was written. *Goes to look it up* Published in 2005. Which made me realize it did have cellphones towards the end of the book. (It spans quite a bit of time.)

I enjoyed reading this. While I am a bigger fan of Nora Robert’s J.D. Robb books, aka the series I mentioned above, I certainly tend to enjoy the NR books too. And this was no exception.

Now on to other things!

I visited Nijo castle (二条城) in Kyoto. You can walk around the inside of some of it, and that was amazing. Unfortunately you can’t take photos, so I can’t share any. It showed a lot of the old woodwork details, painted ceilings and wall paintings. Some amazingly beautiful rooms.

Then there was the garden around it. It is a huge complex. There is even a very small Japanese garden right by a tea house were you can get tea and sweets, and some food.

I had some matcha with traditional Japanese sweets. So very good.

I played a Switch game that was recently released. Cadence of Hyrule is a rhythm and rogue-lite game. A Zelda themed version of Crypt of the Necrodancer. I never played the original game, but I really enjoyed Cadence of Hyrule. In fact, I finished my first play through after only a couple of weeks of owning the game. (That is unusually fast for me.)

That is it for July. What did you read/consume in July? Something old (but new to you)? Something new? An old favorite?

Picture of the Month — August 2019

Posted: August 1, 2019

Atlanta Aquarium 1 (Georgia USA)-2016 — It was alright to touch/pet these (I’m fairly sure, or there were similar small tanks where you could touch them). I only dared touch a few. Because well… I was afraid it would be icky!

I visited Georgia Aquarium when I went to Georgia, USA, in 2016. A very nice aquarium overall.

I’ve shared three pictures this time. I previously shared another picture in the February PotM earlier this year.

Atlanta Aquarium 2 (Georgia USA)-2016 — Spot the fish? It isn’t that hard. Something with this picture makes me really like it.

Atlanta Aquarium 3 (Georgia USA)-2016 — Rocks and fish. What more can you want?

New Options for Reading My Stories AND a New One

Posted: July 24, 2019

I have a lot to tell you all about today, so I won’t be including all the descriptions because that would make it loooong. But I’ll be linking to the book pages on here so you can get the full info, easy peasy.

Let’s start with the new:

Angel’s Demise, a dark urban fantasy short story is now available as ebook that you can buy here.

Tamari Shadow-Wing, guardian angel, watches over and guides Nick Corn. His life took a turn for the worse and he leaned into it.

She tries desperately to convince him to stop his downward spiral, but he isn’t listening.

Can she make him listen or will he become another lost soul?

And from here, I’ll go to Magic and Sacrifice which is finally available as a stand alone short story instead of only in the anthologies Fiction River: Last Stand that I co-edited with Dean Wesley Smith (to find out more about his fiction, go here instead) and Fiction River Presents: Writers Without Borders.

I especially recommend Fiction River: Last Stand—it is full of great short stories—but I’m also glad my short story is out by itself for anyone just interested in that story. On that note, here is the description for it:

Two countries at war. Only a magical barrier between them keeps the fighting to one day a year.

Maora and her husband fights on that one day, fighting for the country that creates the barrier every year.

Bloodied and hurt, they barely keep the tide at bay.

Will they fail and doom their country? Is there a way to end the war?

But there is more! Two new bundles came out this spring and I haven’t had a chance to mention them here on the blog.

Cat Tales Issue #3 included my short story When She Gained Her Soul. As you can probably guess, all stories in this bundle have cats in them. My story happen to be science fiction, but the other stories cover other genres.

So if you are a huge fan of cats (and haven’t picked up my story yet), you can find more info and a buy link here.

Last but not least is the other bundle called Eclectica. It has stories covering a lot of different genres. My story in it is Dear Brother. A mainstream short story about grief.

The best part of this bundle was all the promotion done around it and you can find me showing up in interviews at several places, plus at a virtual potluck put together by Jackie Keswick.

Barbara G. Tarn interviewed me for her author blog. You might recognize her name since she edited the anthology Nightly Bites which I was in.

Then read the interview Sherry D. Ramsey did with me, she had really good questions.

Lastly, the curator of this bundle A. L. Butcher interviewed me for their site Library of Erana.

Full details about Eclectica along with a buy link can be found here.

Before I bid adieu, I’d like to once again thank everyone who voted in the poll about what you enjoy reading on my blog. It really does help me shape what I do here.

I hope you have a lot of nice weather for the rest of your summer (or winter)!