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Hello Everyone,

Getting this out on time this week. I leave tomorrow for a trip to Ireland. I have never been and am pretty excited to see it! So I won't be able to do a check in next week but will be back to do one in two weeks. Feel free to start one next week or wait.

I don't have any finishes this week. I have made some progress listening to Remarkably Bright Creatures. It has been very enjoyable so far. I'm about 60% through.

I have read two of the four segments of The Last Empty Places: A Journey Through Blank Spots on the American Map. I completed the segments on northern Maine and SE Oregon. For Maine, he was in the really remote wilderness part. I've only skirted the edges of that part of the state but I love Maine and enjoyed reading about it. For SE Oregon, he was in the exact location, same tiny hotel and places I just visited in July. It was a lot of fun to read about his time there as everything matches what we did (because there are no other choices). I find the history portions of his writing less interesting than the modern-day pieces.

I'm slowing reading Sisters One, Two, Three on my kindle. We'll see if I continue. It is a longer book than I'd like given how much I've read and how much more there is to go. This was a free Amazon prime book. I get a free one once a month and they've been meh so far. I am more likely to DNF them when my choices were limited.

QOTW:
What's your favorite season?

There is definitely a feeling of fall in the air here now. I love early-mid fall when the days are still warm enough but there's a crispness. And I do truly love the New England colors. (And my birthday is in October.) It is less enjoyable come November when it is much colder, the days are shorter and the outdoors is kind of just brown.

Happy Thursday!

I have just one more week of work before our vacation. We're doing our annual mini writing retreat to the Oregon coast. I am so looking forward to having some time off to relax.

Finished:
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan - 3.5 stars - for Popsugar's book that was turned into a musical and Robot Librarian's book that has been adapted into a TV show or streaming series. I enjoyed it and definitely plan to continue the series.

The Apothecary Diaries (Light Novel): Volume 7 by Natsu Hyuuga - 4 stars - no prompt. I love Maomao. I will keep reading these like candy until I'm caught up.

Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca - 3.5 stars - no prompt. A paranormal romance with ghosts. I liked both leads, although I guessed what was going on with the ghosts pretty early, I still enjoyed the ride.

Comics & manga:
Tamon's B-Side, Vol. 4

Currently reading:
Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan - no prompt. This gives me isekai vibes. A modern girl wakes up in the body of a minor villainess from her and her sister's favorite fantasy novel series. Enjoying it so far.

(For those unfamiliar, isekai is a Japanese term, kind of an offshoot of the typical portal fantasy in which people from the real world wind up inhabiting or becoming a character in a fantasy or video game world, usually while retaining their knowledge from their previous life.)

Upcoming/Planned:
Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross - no prompt.

Celestial Monsters by Aiden Thomas - no prompt. Really looking forward to this one.

The Apothecary Diaries (Light Novel): Volume 8 by Natsu Hyuuga - no prompt. More Maomao.

QOTW:
Definitely fall. I love it when the weather cools off in October.

I'm going to a production of The Drowsy Chaperone tomorrow, so I've been on a bit of a 1920s kick, which has extended to this week's reading.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes - This was quick and funny. It's written as the diary of a stereotypical blonde who insists she's intent on improving her mind but uses idiosyncratic spelling and is out to take what she can get from men. The iconic pull quote is, "kissing your hand may make you feel very very good but a diamond and safire [sic] bracelet lasts forever." (I haven't seen the film, so I can't compare with that.)

Enough Rope - I had technically read these as part of Not So Deep As A Well: Collected Poems, but given the sarcastic friend Dorothy in the previous book, I had to revisit Dorothy Parker.

QOTW: I like fall, but I also like spring, and I'm not sure I could pick between them. (There are some good points about summer and winter, but the temperature extremes are not idea.)