Sunday Slacking
I think I spent all day last Sunday reading as well. It's nice. Maybe this will be my new thing.
46. Summer at Mulberry Cottage by Victoria Connelly
Casual and relaxing account of writer Victoria Connelly's summer months.
Connelly lives in a 200-year-old cottage in Suffolk County, England. Here, she describes her rather idyllic summer, mostly discussing the commercial hens she re-homes and her roses, interspersed with anecdotes about medieval church graffiti and the village horticultural fair. This reads like a bunch of well-written journal entries (in fact, it sort of inspired me to be more descriptive in my own journal) or the sort of thing that she would provide for free on her website. I'm surprised she sells this, but then again I guess that's how she writes 3 books a year.
2/5 stars
Goodreads Challenge 16 - with a building in the title
Goodreads Summer Challenge July 1b - book divided into multiple parts (instead of and/or in addition to chapters)
Popsugar Challenge 07 - main character has your dream job
LJ Book Bingo Summer 02 - with "summer" in the title
106 pages
47. One Dark and Stormy Knight by Hermione Moon
A witch who imbues her baking with spells gets caught up in a local murder just as the suit of armour in her café starts to come to life.
Gwen comes from a long line of witches. She owns a café in Glastonbury, the rumored site of Avalon and the final resting place of King Arthur. When Gwen discovers a former school rival has been murdered, she gets caught up in attempting to solve the crime while also dealing with the realization that there is a person trapped with the suit of armour that decorates her café… a person claiming to be Arthur himself.
Overall, this fit nicely into the cozy mystery category. I liked Gwen and found her world believable, although her casualness in chatting with the suddenly-alive suit of armour seemed maybe a little too nonchalant, even for a witch. The writing was clear and fast-paced, but I had to remove a star from my rating because (mild spoiler) there is a scene in which a character who is clearly harassing Gwen kisses her against her will and won't let her go, and it's only her magic that frees her. Although there's a brief mention of charging him, that's never mentioned again and the whole thing is just blown over. In this day and age, in my opinion, brushing off sexual assault like this is simply unacceptable, especially in a book that otherwise features a strong, independent woman.
3/5 stars
Goodreads Challenge 27 - character found in deck of cards
Popsugar Challenge 21 - magical realism
163 pages
Books Read: 47/60
Goodreads Challenge: 45/52
Popsugar Challenge: 25/50
Goodreads Summer Challenge: 11/12
LJ Book Bingo June 20-August 31: 4/9
LJ Book Bingo Jan-March: 12/12
LJ Book Bingo April-June 20: 9/9
Total Page Count: 13950 pages
.
46. Summer at Mulberry Cottage by Victoria Connelly
Casual and relaxing account of writer Victoria Connelly's summer months.
Connelly lives in a 200-year-old cottage in Suffolk County, England. Here, she describes her rather idyllic summer, mostly discussing the commercial hens she re-homes and her roses, interspersed with anecdotes about medieval church graffiti and the village horticultural fair. This reads like a bunch of well-written journal entries (in fact, it sort of inspired me to be more descriptive in my own journal) or the sort of thing that she would provide for free on her website. I'm surprised she sells this, but then again I guess that's how she writes 3 books a year.
2/5 stars
Goodreads Challenge 16 - with a building in the title
Goodreads Summer Challenge July 1b - book divided into multiple parts (instead of and/or in addition to chapters)
Popsugar Challenge 07 - main character has your dream job
LJ Book Bingo Summer 02 - with "summer" in the title
106 pages
47. One Dark and Stormy Knight by Hermione Moon
A witch who imbues her baking with spells gets caught up in a local murder just as the suit of armour in her café starts to come to life.
Gwen comes from a long line of witches. She owns a café in Glastonbury, the rumored site of Avalon and the final resting place of King Arthur. When Gwen discovers a former school rival has been murdered, she gets caught up in attempting to solve the crime while also dealing with the realization that there is a person trapped with the suit of armour that decorates her café… a person claiming to be Arthur himself.
Overall, this fit nicely into the cozy mystery category. I liked Gwen and found her world believable, although her casualness in chatting with the suddenly-alive suit of armour seemed maybe a little too nonchalant, even for a witch. The writing was clear and fast-paced, but I had to remove a star from my rating because (mild spoiler) there is a scene in which a character who is clearly harassing Gwen kisses her against her will and won't let her go, and it's only her magic that frees her. Although there's a brief mention of charging him, that's never mentioned again and the whole thing is just blown over. In this day and age, in my opinion, brushing off sexual assault like this is simply unacceptable, especially in a book that otherwise features a strong, independent woman.
3/5 stars
Goodreads Challenge 27 - character found in deck of cards
Popsugar Challenge 21 - magical realism
163 pages
Books Read: 47/60
Goodreads Challenge: 45/52
Popsugar Challenge: 25/50
Goodreads Summer Challenge: 11/12
LJ Book Bingo June 20-August 31: 4/9
LJ Book Bingo Jan-March: 12/12
LJ Book Bingo April-June 20: 9/9
Total Page Count: 13950 pages
.