Three Bookish Things Tag

September 4, 2018 ~ Gina Briganti ~ 5 Comments

Callum McLaughlin has shared another fun book tag. If you’d like to participate, jump right on in and consider yourself tagged.

Warning: book tags are addictive.

THREE READ ONCE AND LOVED AUTHORS:

Mitch Albom. A name most will recognize. Tuesdays With Morrie was brilliant, life affirming, and touched me deeply. Remembering the book has me questioning why I haven’t been back to read more by Albom.

David A. Phllips. A lesser known name. Phillips’ The Complete Book of Numerology is on my keeper shelf as one of my favorite books on one of my favorite subjects.

Ed Peterson. Another numerologist. His debut book, simply titled Numerology, is my number one choice when I want to look up a number’s meaning.

THREE TITLES I’VE WATCHED BUT HAVEN’T READ:

These should be on my TBR, now that I think about it. I stole one of these from Callum, hope he doesn’t mind.

THREE CHARACTERS YOU LOVE:

Can I say one name three times? I do have a serious love for Eve Dallas from J.D. Robb’s In Death book series. In the spirit of the tag, I will also say that I love Roarke, from the same series. Another character who always makes me feel like I’ve come home after a long vacation is Kate Daniels, from her own series by Ilona Andrews. When I hear these character’s voices in my head I settle in for a guaranteed good time.

THREE SERIES YOU BINGED:

See above, ha ha ha. I’ve binged on the In Death series, the Kate Daniels series, and am currently binging on The Turning Stone Chronicles by C.D. Hersh.

THREE UNPOPULAR BOOKISH OPINIONS:

I apologize, but I just can’t get into Shakespeare. Each time I’ve tried I fall asleep.
I not interested in reading Fifty Shades or the sequels. The subject doesn’t draw me in.
Team Jacob! Enough said?

THREE CURRENT FAVOURITE BOOK COVERS:

I’m glad it asks for current, because these change all the time!

I spent a lot of time reading to my children, and baking with them. I think it shows. I threw in a crystal book because I’ve always loved the energy of Judy Hall’s book.

THREE BOOKISH GOALS FOR THE YEAR:

This looks like my TBR, but I suppose that’s okay. I plan to read Magic Triumphs, the (sniffle) final book in the Kate Daniels series.

I’m meeting this author at Buns & Roses next month in Richardson, Texas and so looking forward to it. One of my bookish goals has been to go to more author events. Check! This one is a fundraiser for the Richardson Adult Literacy Center.

Bookish goal number three for this year is to read Allison B. Collins before Readers and Ritas in Allen, Texas this November. I havent read a western romance since early this year and I’m due.

As always, thank you for the time we spend together!

Gina

Have you Read the Shiva XIV Series by Lyra Shanti?

July 30, 2018July 31, 2018 ~ Gina Briganti ~ 5 Comments

Lucky me, I have read most of the books in this series! Shanti a talented sci-fi/fantasy author, which is always a pleasure for a hungry reader like me. Check out the covers! Mama mia, there are some good ones.

The links on these book covers connect to my Amazon associate ID, which helps support this site without adding any cost to you.

Book 1 (2014) showed Shanti’s elegant writing style and a unique writing voice, which are great accomplishments for a debut novel. The world she built for this series is accessible, while being totally foreign to the world we live in.

The hero, Ayn, has serious tasks laid on his fourteen-year-old shoulders, like saving his people from extinction. That’s not a spoiler, there’s plenty I won’t tell you. This book is rich in originality, plot, characters, and adventure. If you can predict what happens in this book you should play lottery numbers because you are gifted.

At the end of Shiva XIV I was anxious to read the book 2, Shiva XIV: The Veil of Truth (2015). I knew there was a lot more story to tell, and I was invested in the characters.

The second book continues immediately where the first book ended. There are interesting new characters in The Veil of Truth, like Srah, who has lovely wings. I love characters with wings. There are a few of them in the series.

Shanti’s creativity spiked to the top of the charts with this book, showing us more parts of the world she built and more characters with interesting motives and twisty plots. Some of them are twisted, too.

I was so engrossed in The Veil of Truth that I didn’t realize I was close to the end and then, bam, it was over. I love to be swept away by a series like that!

Shiva XIV: The Riddle of the Gods (2016) is book 3 in the series. This book brought satisfying answers to questions I had about books one and two. There is a villain in this series, Yol Notama, who conflicted me more than any villain I can remember reading. If you’ve read the series I want to know if you went down the same topsy-turvy emotional path I did with him.

There are relationships between these characters that most authors can’t pull off, including an open-minded, naturally occurring non-traditional relationship forming that I find exciting.

Surprising love between two other characters is about to spawn a new race of beings. I didn’t say who, or what, so that’s not a spoiler, right?

I recommend reading the books as a series. They can stand on their own but there is so much more reward if you read all of them.

There are more books in the series for me to read, Yippee! These are on my TBR: