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Hi all,

Hope everyone is hanging in there ok. It's nice that we're finally getting a bit of warm up here in Michigan. I see grass again! Tuesday was actually warm enough i went for a walk in a leather jacket instead of a winter one, and it was sunny.

This week I finished:

A Letter to the Luminous Deep - I had bought this mostly based on a gorgeous cover and an interesting blurb and I thought maybe the girl living at the bottom of the sea was a mermaid. She wasn't, but it was still a really interesting story. I hadn't really known what to expect, but it wasn't what I got. Really fantastical, i enjoyed it quite a lot. The benefit to not getting around to it for a while is now the next book is due out in May so I only have a couple months to wait instead of nearly a year.

Currently reading:

Assistant to the Villain - I accidentally bought Apprentice to the Villain, so got this from the library to read first. I like it so far.

QOTW:

How late into a book do you realize it will be one that you will recommend others to read as well?

Generally as soon as I decide I'm enjoying a book I might tentatively decide on who I think might enjoy it. But I generally wait until a book is fully finished before I will wholesale recommend it to anyone, just in case the ending is a letdown. So even if I'm talking to someone about the book, i might say something like "oh yeah it seems like the kind of book you might like, but i'm not finished with it yet. I'll let you know my full opinion when I'm done". not necessarily saying "No don't read it" but just making it clear that I cannot vouch for the whole thing. I take book recommendations seriously. I try to tailor them to the people i am recommending to. I don't want people being put off by me recommending books they ended up hating because I'm recommending sci fi books to pure romance readers etc.

Happy Thursday!

Had a nice long weekend for my birthday and now I am moderately busy (but not crazy) at work, which is the best kind of busy, IMO.

Finished:
This Ends in Embers by Kamilah Cole - 4 stars - I wound up using this for Popsugar's book set in or around a body of water, since it mostly takes place on islands. A nice close to the duology, but I think I still enjoyed the first book more.

The Apothecary Diaries: Volume 12 by Natsu Hyuuga - 4 stars - not for a prompt. I always love spending more time with Maomao. I think I'm almost caught up to the English releases, though!

Comics & manga:
Cinderella Closet Vol. 8
Honey Lemon Soda, Vol. 1
Natsume's Book of Friends, Vol. 30
Don't Call it Mystery (Omnibus) Vol. 11-12
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, Vol. 12
Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc., Vol. 6
Akane-banashi, Vol. 10

Currently reading:
A Letter to the Luminous Deep by Sylvie Cathrall for Popsugar's book with two or more books on the cover. Just starting this, so no real opinion yet.

Upcoming/Planned:
We'll see what the library brings me next. I'm also due to reread the first two books in the Little Thieves trilogy since book three comes out in April. I'll probably start that if nothing more urgent pops up.

QOTW:
It depends entirely on the recipient and why I'm thinking of recommending it. If it's because of the characterization, it might be pretty early. If it's because of the plot, it's probably later in the book after the payoff happens.

Usually if I'm tentatively recommending a book, I'll say, I haven't finished it but I think you'll like this character, or the writing, or whatever.

This is a quick check-in for me. I have no finishes this week. My daughter and SIL arrive from the opposite coast in a couple hours for their baby shower that is this weekend. Lots of extended family coming into town tomorrow and I now only have 8 working days left. So lots of wrapping up type stuff at work. Then all of a sudden I'm going to have a lot of time.

I can say I am NOT currently reading A Letter to the Luminous Deep! But given that both of Sheri and Jen read it this week, I will have to look into it and add it to my TBR list perhaps.

QOTW:
I would say I think I know my recommendation somewhere in the first half. I frequent the "suggestmeabook" subreddit and I have even suggested books I very much disliked if they meet the OP's criteria. I do say that I didn't like it too. But I don't know those people!

Recommendations for a friend or family member, I usually wait until I am probably three quarters through. I feel more invested recommending to people I know and I'd feel more guilty if they didn't like it. Or I add qualifiers about things I didn't like but overall it was okay.

It's supposed to be nice here tomorrow, which is good because I think I need to go touch grass as they say.

The Spamalot Diaries - These are Eric Idle's notes from the first table read of the musical through to its opening on Broadway. Mostly what I learned is that I remember nothing from having seen the show. He would be talking about needing to make changes to the mud song, and I was like, oh, sure, they'd have had a song about the peasants digging mud or whatever, but then it turned out that the mud song was cut. It really created a sense of suspense that I don't think was intended. Will he find a way to incorporate the Castle Anthrax scene? I certainly don't remember! He's obviously a funny writer and I should probably read his memoir.

A Quiet Teacher - This is a mystery involving a teacher who - I don't think it is a spoiler to say, since it's pretty obvious immediately - was formerly involved with some sort of Russian-related espionage situation. It was OK. I'm not super into spy stuff, although I kind of liked the cartoonish Bond-esque villain, who was horrible in an entertaining way. The mystery plot was...fine. I figured it out.

QOTW: I would only recommend something I hadn't finished under pretty specific circumstances with a lot of caveats. A bad ending can really change my opinion of a book.