We’re currently in the middle of the second mini-heatwave of summer, which feels like it should be some sort of record for London. I’m also in a post-Olympics slump, and trying to remind myself what I did before there was cycling/diving/pentathlon on TV every evening…
The Olympics has meant I’ve done very little reading during August. I did finish Kate Elliott’s brand-new release POISONED BLADE though, which I count as a win!
It’s the sequel to her YA debut COURT OF FIVES and even better than the first, IMO. I felt COURT OF FIVES was more straightforward adventure; in POISONED BLADE, she brought the layers of complexity I expect from an Elliott book, while continuing to build on the relationships established in the first book. The slight threads of romance (or attraction?) worked better for me as well, perhaps because more ambiguity and growth (on all sides) was introduced. At times though, there was so much arguing between Jessamy and other characters that it frustrated me. But maybe that’s what I’m meant to feel – anger is tiring, and the conversations made sense in the larger context of the story. TL;DR: Good installment and I look forward to the next book!
Links of interest:
- How the Hugo nominations would have looked like without the RP slates: I haven’t paid much attention to the Hugos this year (or any other awards, come to think of it), but I found the revised shortlists interesting.
- Jo Beverley passed away in May: I never mentioned this here at that time, but news of her death came as a real shock to me. She was one of my favourite historical romance authors when I was growing up, and I have so many of her books on my shelves.
- Lois McMaster Bujold talks about self-publishing: I feel like I’ve linked this before, but can’t find it. Really interesting read and she mentions Fictionwise – remember it? I probably spent a fortune on their sales.
Me and My Books 
Ugh, I hate the post-Olympics slump as well.
It’s a real thing! The Paralympics start soon though, I need to check the TV schedules…
I have to admit that I wasn’t following the Olympics this year. I only caught snippets of it while at bars or some of the drama that was going on through friends/co-workers. I did enjoy the little closing ceremony where the host torch was passed to Tokyo. I thought the whole Mario angle was pretty cute.
I haven’t been following any awards either this year. 😛 I should probably pay a little more attention to those but “meh”.
I didn’t think I would get into the Olympics with the time difference, but the afternoon sessions turned out to be prime-time viewing here. I missed the closing ceremony as it started at midnight though, but I saw the Mario clip online – Tokyo 2020 looks promising.
Good to know I’m not the only one out of the loop award-wise!
Post-Olympics slump has hit hard 😦 I keep trying to find something to put on for at least background noise LOL. And Tokyo 2020 sure looks promising!! 🙂
I’m glad you enjoyed Poisoned Blade. I might give it a go thanks to your post 🙂 Well I would start with Court of Fives though…
Yes, definitely start with COURT OF FIVES! If you’re after YA fantasy, I’m also enjoying Rachel Caine’s The Great Library series – the second book came out recently.
Between, there was actually Tracks and Field on TV this week-end. There were a few Diamond League events… and wow, talk about busy schedule!!
The US Open just started! That will entertain me for a couple of weeks, though I don’t really get to see the night matches because of the time difference.
I watched a lot of Olympics, too. The Mario segment in the closing ceremonies was so fun. I have to admit I was ready for the Olympics to be done. We Tivoed a lot of the Olympics so we watched a lot of sports–swimming and gymnastics, of course, but also synchronized swimming, something that looked like color guard with ribbons and my favorite–equestrian competitions.
I didn’t comment on Jo Beverley’s death at the time either, Li. I was so sad. I like so many of her books a lot. And have kept her books when I was donating lots of books last year.
It was such a shock, especially as I didn’t realise she had been ill. I recently did a shelf clearout, and had so many good memories when I came across her books.
The dressage competition was on during the UK day, IIRC – ended up watching a lot at my desk! Safe to say there was a limited amount of work getting done…