Sunday Status Update: January 10, 2021

Kat: I re-read the first two books in Brandon Mull’s FIVE KINGDOMS series for kids (Sky Raiders and The Rogue Knight). I read them years ago but I’m ready to read and review the final three books (which have been sitting on my phone for a long time), so I needed to give them a re-read in preparation. I’m now on book three, Crystal Keepers. I got some reviews done this week, too, so look for those soon.

Bill: This week I watched and read a lot of news. In between, I finished Cathedral of Bones by A.J. Steiger, a very good Lovecraftian YA novel, and First Light by Emma Chapman, an excellent non-fiction exploration of the earliest time periods in our universe’s existence.

Kelly: I didn’t get much reading done earlier in the week, but my copy of Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon by James Hibberd just arrived. Call it my birthday gift to myself. I can’t wait to dig into this behind-the-scenes history of Game of Thrones.

Marion: This wasn’t a great reading week either for several reasons. I re-read my own first draft of the third book in the Copper Road series. It isn’t terrible, but I see the need for lots of revision. I also plunged into Beasts of Tabat by Cat Rambo, which is book one of the TABAT QUARTET. I love the worldbuilding and the complex relationships in this series! On Wednesday a failed coup attempt distracted me and I couldn’t concentrate to read, and it’s been hard to get back into it after that.

Sandy: Moi? If you will look back at all the books that I have written about here over the last three years, whether they be in the fields of sci-fi, fantasy or horror, you will see that they all have one thing in common: They were all written during the period 1900 – 1950; a little reading assignment that I call Project Pulp. Well, I suppose that this early 20th century fun is destined to continue for a while, because the current book that I am reading is a new release from Armchair Fiction’s LOST WORLD/LOST RACE series, Eden Phillpotts’ The Golden Fetich (1903). This one has really sucked me right in and I do look forward to reporting back to you on it soon….

Terry: I had hoped to get a lot more reading done during my staycation this week, but politics captured my attention almost completely. Also, sleep! But I still managed to finish Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, who is now on my list of authors whose books I will buy even if I know nothing about the books. I really enjoyed The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly, one of his MICKY HALLER mysteries. And I unexpectedly fell into A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston, a retelling of the frame story from The Arabian Nights.