Tell Me Something Tuesday: Has a Book by Your Favourite Author Ever Disappointed You Badly?

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly meme created by Heidi at Rainy Day Ramblings in order to discuss a wide range of topics from books to blogging (and some slightly more personal matters throw in for good measure). After Heidi stopped blogging (apparently for good), five of us took over as hosts while providing new questions. The current team is composed of Berls at Because Reading Is Better Than Real Life, Jen at That's What I'm Talking About, Karen at For What It's Worth, Linda at Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell and Roberta at Offbeat YA. This week's question is...

HAS A BOOK BY YOUR FAVOURITE AUTHOR EVER DISAPPOINTED YOU BADLY?

You all know I'm a huge Christopher Pike fan, don't you? I even dedicated a whole section of my blog to the man...Well, that doesn't prevent me from being super-critical of some books he wrote. There are a number of them I rated two stars...and even one!!! The fact is, I love his wild imagination, but sometimes the execution is poor, or a potentially cool concept becomes a mess when translated into a novel...or simply, the book hasn't aged well. I realised years ago that Pike's writing can be all over the place, so the thing doesn't faze me that much - especially now that I've read all the books he's published so far (except for one). At least he's never boring 😉.

BUT! I've had an unexpected sad experience lately. After loving the Dark Passages duology by Ilsa J. Bick, and really enjoying her standalone novel Draw the Dark (both YA, but mind you, of the mature variety), I was prepared to love her popular Ashes trilogy (again, dark YA) to bits...and here I had to throw the towel 3/4 into Book 2 😢. Here's an excerpt from my mini review that explains why:

Ashes has got all the Bick trademarks that made me fall in love with Dark Passages or that I didn't mind for it to have [...] except in this case the recipe ultimately didn't work for me. It may be that the series employs a few tropes that I dislike [...]. It may be that there are TOO MANY CHARACTERS [...]. It may be that the plot is convoluted in places, or does some wild jumps. Whatever, reading became a chore, and I decided to call it a day.

Contrary to the Pike situation above, I didn't expect this at all, especially since the first installment in the trilogy was pretty decent. Well, at least I'm in good company...lots of people on Goodreads seem to have had the same experience as me with this series. Sorry Ilsa, you're an awesome human being and an equally awesome writer, but...this one didn't work for me.

Taste the Books: Review Morsels #29 The Seanan McGuire by Any Other Name Edition (Part 2)

Intro

Hello beauties!

Welcome again to my own brand of mini reviews! I never thought I'd do minis, until I recapped a few of my long reviews in some digest post in 2014, and then guest-posted some shorties for a blogging event in 2015. And Karen from For What It's Worth started praising my short recs/recaps 😊. Just to be clear,  I'm NOT taking a break from writing long reviews - no such luck LOL (though for anthologies, shorter books or books that I didn't enjoy/I don't have enough to say about, I decided to stick to minis). But while I'm making up my mind about a new book I've read, I might as well give you the short version 😉. Just be warned - this feature will be VERY random!

Note: all the mini blurbs (in italics) are of my own creation.

So, it's Seanan McGuire time again, because I just love her and I buy plenty of her stuff...Only one of these books was published under her real name though - the other two are, respectively, part of her A. Deborah Baker and Mira Grant productions. The only one I plan on reviewing in full later is Where the Drowned Girls Go, because even if it's a novella, it's part of a series I was already writing long reviews for before I decided a mini would have to suffice for shorter books and anthologies...so, you know, consistency 🤷‍♀️. Here goes...

Tell Me Something Tuesday: What’s the Chore You Resent Having to Do the Most?

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly meme created by Heidi at Rainy Day Ramblings in order to discuss a wide range of topics from books to blogging (and some slightly more personal matters throw in for good measure). While Heidi is on an extended hiatus, there are five of us who are hosting it and providing the questions. The current team is composed of Berls at Because Reading Is Better Than Real Life, Jen at That's What I'm Talking About, Karen at For What It's Worth, Linda at Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell and Roberta at Offbeat YA. This week's question is...

WHAT’S THE CHORE YOU RESENT HAVING TO DO THE MOST?

If we're talking in general, the thing I hate the most is washing my hair. It's SOOOOO boring, especially the part where I have to blow-dry it (that's why I usually leave it half-wet and let it do the rest on its own accord. It's not like I wash my hair before I leave the house, after all). You're there, with the darned hair-dryer in your hand and the darned noise in your ears, and you can't do ANYTHING to entertain yourself (not even listen to music...or to an audiobook, if you like them), or speed the process.

If we're talking about housekeeping though, nothing beats ironing for me. Another super-boring task (though in that case, you CAN listen to music/audiobooks while performing it at least)...and the worst thing is, I hate creases, so I'm stuck with it 😖.

Offbeat Offline: January 2022 (And Why I Disappeared)

Welcome to Offbeat Offline, where I bring you up-to-date with what went on in my life during the month just gone, give you a sneak peek of my next shenanigans, and share my favourite posts of late!

What happened last month to yours truly? Medical examinations, family emergencies...and news of upcoming unemployment. Remember my 2021? Some of you could, in good conscience, say that I didn't exceed my quota of bad luck last year? And yet. Gosh, I cannot afford not to work. This is an utter and complete nightmare. Give me back my 2021 medical odyssey, please 🥺 😭.

Also, I've pretty much disappeared on everybody lately, blog-hopping included. Alas, having to add job-networking and job-hunting to my already full agenda (not to mention, the family emergency I mentioned above - more of it in a minute) left me with little to no time to visit your blogs and reciprocate your comments. The posts you're seeing lately/will see this month (minus this one) have been scheduled in advance, or in one case, are very low-pressure. As for comments, normally I would add your posts to a list and read/comment when time permits, but at the moment, the best I can do is write a comment here and there on the spot if I happen to read a post in a quiet moment. I hope to be able to talk to you again soon, but in the meantime, I hope you'll understand my plight.