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? Same old, same old. March was pretty uneventful, which isn’t as good a thing as it sounds, because neither my husband’s leg nor my eye is making progress. I'm bored and tired. I got a few ARCs, but I'm struggling with reviews. I'm perpetually behind with comments. The house is a dumpster fire and I can't muster the energy to care. (Sorry for the negativity).
📚 A GOOD THING GOING. I read 4 books and finished a 5th in March, including 2 ARCs from Edelweiss.
I finished an ARC of Myriad by Joshua David Bellin (adult, sci-fi - novel) and I loved it! (I mentioned that in my latest OO post too, because it went live on March 3rd, and I had finished the book on March 1st). Review already scheduled, but to be posted closer to pub date (in May). Writing it was a nightmare, though. Part of the problem was that it's a time-travel story with lots of spoiler potential, so the review was basically a minefield. BUT I won't lie - I was having problems of my own...I mean, it wasn't my first rodeo with a book that posed such a problem, except this time words were deserting me...the harder I tried, the more I came up with nothing. I ended up incorporating my difficulties into the review itself, which was probably a smart move, but it's not like I can play the same trick twice...
I read an ARC of The Infinite Miles by Hannah Fergesen (adult, sci-fi - novel), yet another time-travel story that incidentally pays homage to Doctor Who (!!!) and David Bowie (if more obliquely). And this is yet another review that I can't seem to write, though I did enjoy the story a lot. The book is slated for June, so I have time, but I also have reviewer's block...does reviewer's block exist? 😖 Maybe I should reread the thing prior to writing my post, like I used to do in my old days...
Lastly, I read That Ain't Witchcraft, Imaginary Numbers and Calculated Risks by Seanan McGuire (adult, urban fantasy - novels), Book 8, 9 and 10 in the InCryptid series. Which is still going strong and has become comfort reading for me (except I'm rapidly running out of installments LOL. Only 2 left for now...😥). Mini reviews on Goodreads (except for Calculated Risks - coming soon!).
Also, I was approved for three novels this month: The Girls from Hush Cabin by Marie Hoy-Kenny (YA, thriller), the aforementioned The Infinite Miles, and A Second Chance for Yesterday by R.A. Sinn (adult, sci-fi...to be precise, time-travel centered...can you see a pattern here? It looks like all the cool time-travel stories are coming out at the same moment, and I CRAVE time travel. Maybe I should rename my blog Offbeat TT...). A Second Chance for Yesterday even came as a free epub that I can keep, as opposed to your usual temporary acms file! Also, fun fact: I requested The Girls from Hush Cabin both on NG and EW. On the same day, barely half an hour apart, I got a rejection from NG and an approval from EW...
Lastly, I downloaded a Read Now novel from NG - The Never-Ending End of the World by Ann Christy (YA/adult, sci-fi I guess? That title was irresistible LOL). Fun fact N°2...this one isn't on Goodreads yet...so I linked to its Amazon page.
Here is my review plan for the month:
- Chaos Choreography, Magic for Nothing, Tricks for Free and That Ain't Witchcraft by Seanan McGuire (in a mini-review round on Mon. 10th);
- This Is the Way the World Ends by Jen Wilde (ARC review...and DNF review 😱), Bone Gap by Laura Ruby and What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher (in a mini-review round on Sat. 29th).
Reviews aside, I'll participate in Tell Me Something Tuesday on the 4th (question: What are some of your favourite indie/small pub authors/books?), on the 18th (What were your expectations when you started blogging?) and on the 25th (If you could go back and change one thing about your life, what would it be?). All prompts that I submitted, by the way 😊.
😐 STATIC MAYHEM*. As I mentioned above, nothing new to report this month in my personal life. My husband's ulcer hasn't particularly improved, though the people at the difficult wounds office have done a laser cleaning this time. I can't believe it's taking so long...As for me, my left eye vision is still funky - I see a mix of blurriness and a halo around words if I close the right one. Then again, it might be because my retina is still healing, or due to cataract formation - it's not like the doctor that treated me for the retina hole is very forthcoming about that...he focuses on the retina's progress, which is OK, but I have other questions. I have my next check-up in June...and I'll demand explanations 🤨.
*Note: I borrowed a book title for this section...here's the link to my review.
🎈HAPPY BIRTHDAY DOCTOR! A funny coincidence happened on the 26th...I randomly started a Doctor Who rewatch with the first episode of the revived series, Rose; afterwards I opened Twitter and realised that the same day marked Rose's first broadcast in the UK, back in 2005! The celebrations for the 18th anniversary of "New Who" were in full swing. I swear I had never taken note of the date, so my choice to start DW again on that day was totally arbitrary...
PUBLISHING NEWS/TIPS
None this month.
THINK-PIECES, DISCUSSIONS, ORIGINAL FICTION
- Briana wonders if book bloggers have been “deinfluencers” all along.
- Cee Arr brings back to light an old short story of hers called A Broken Princess.
REVIEWS/RECOMMENDATIONS
- Karen reviews Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune.
- Jen recommends The Red Queen by Juan Gómez-Jurado.
- Kit participates in The Fae Book Tag.
- The Orangutan Librarian has a list of must-read underrated books.
OTHER
- Lissa celebrates her 200th post (or, well, she did a few weeks ago) with a new piece of art.
- Claire shares her interview with debut author Gina Chung.
That's it for now. My next post will be up on April 4th, and it will be a new installment in the Tell Me Something Tuesday series, as I told you above.
So, what were your highs/lows in the past month?
Looking forward to your review of Myriad eve if it was a b*tch to write. I do find it harder to write reviews now. I kinda like McGuire's punny take on her titles too. Some Dire straits references there?
ReplyDeleteI love all the time travel stuff coming out, but I miss most of it! good thing you're covering them!
Thank you for the b-day wishes! And that book sounds AWESOME. Because, I mean, a spider named Greg?
"Some Dire Straits references there?"
DeleteHaha, I do think so!
Follow me for your daily dose of time travel 😂. (Well, more like monthly maybe, but still...).
A GIANT SPIDER FROM ANOTHER DIMENSION called Greg. That makes all the difference 😉.
Sorry about the lack of health progress. Comments? What are those? I've just retreated into games lately and tried to forget everything else. Reviews where everything is a spoiler are so hard to write. But ha, that was perfect timing with the Doctor Who rewatch, like it was meant to be!
ReplyDeleteThank you! And actually...you're quite good at commenting timely LOL.
DeleteI know games are your happy place right now...even if they tend to revolve around zombies 😂.
I want to read both Myriad and The Infinite Miles, so I'm glad to hear you liked both of them. And I'm so impressed you've read the ARCs already. I wish I could get ahead like that😁
ReplyDeleteAh, but I only request a small number of them, and I never receive unsolicited book mail/book mail from publishers whose books I've liked in the past/book mail, period 😂. So it's an easy win!
DeleteHey, if time travel books work for you, read all the time travel books. You can become a subject matter expert. I hope things improve for you and the husband.
ReplyDeleteHaha, I think I will! And thank you. I hope you find a solution for the nonce /comment thing.
Delete'I'm perpetually behind with comments.' - I'm in this post, and I don't like it ;)
ReplyDeleteThank you sooo much for linking my story! :) <3
"I'm in this post, and I don't like it ;)"
Delete😂
It was a pleasure!
I've never watched DR. Who. Maybe one day. So sorry to hear that your husband's foot ulcer is still not healed. Hopefully soon it will be. I worry about that kind of thing myself being diabetic.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Sometimes it's a matter of asking for medical help before things get out of hand. He stubbornly refused to admit it was the case for a long while before he realised his problem wasn't going to solve itself - on the contrary, it was getting worse - and we finally discovered it was due to a circulatory issue. I hope it never happens to you!
DeleteI hope April is a better month for you, Roberta. Sorry about everything going on in your life, I have been behind in responding to comments (which I got a better habit of responding too, last year, only for stuff to happen in my life to cause me to be behind in it), so you don't need to feel sorry about that I understand where you're coming from.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I look forward to reading your reviews this month. :)
-Quinley
Thank you! I remember you talking on your blog about personal stuff that impacted your blogging and commenting. Sometimes it's just hard to make the time and energy...I have to say, though, that you never seem to miss one of my posts, so thank you for that too! and I hope things will be better on your end as well 💚.
DeleteMaybe your blog WAS called Offbeat TT, but at some point in the future, you time traveled and changed the name to Offbeat YA... hmmm...
ReplyDeleteThe eye doc told me at my last visit that I've started developing cataracts, but nothing even close to impacting my vision. The other day, I was reading and though - wow everything is so cloudy... already?? Then I realized my glasses were just really dirty!
Haha, who knows? This time travel stuff is so confusing 😅.
Delete😂 Don't you love old age though? always bracing for the next blow? 😬
I guess uneventful months are better than chaotic months. I had a super busy March, hence why I was not very productive in posting. Summer can't come soon enough!
ReplyDeleteThey are...but something good is supposed to happen sooner or later - right? 🤞
DeleteLooking forward to hearing about your March activities!
I see nothing wrong with leaving the housework for a bit. Sometimes you have to use your energy for other things like a nap or reading.
ReplyDeleteI'm not not into time travel books but I do like the ones that doesn't solve problems with going back in time as that would make whatever happened becomes meaningless.
I hope things work out for you and your husband.
Have a lovely day.
Well, "a bit" is an understatement...the house is a whole mess 😬. But the situation is what it is. There's only so much that one person can handle.
DeleteThe best TT books are those when one thinks they can mend the past, but end up creating a different set of problems in the process...
Thank you!
Ahhh! I'm so behind on my blog reading that I didn't even see that you'd read The Infinite Miles before I requested it. I just saw a post for it on Tumblr and thought it looked cool. (I'm so relieved you liked it. 😅 That gives me hope.) It's in my NG queue now, so I'll look forward to talking about it with you!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I thought that indie/small pub TMST question sounded like you. 😉 One of my favorites to answer!
Well, I love sci-fi, and I love time travel...I mean, there's a lot more than that to the story, but it's a bit different than your usual style. I'm looking forward to your thoughts about it! (I'm still struggling with writing the review, for some reason, so I'm rereading it to see if it helps!).
DeleteHaha, thanks! I wanted to mention more authors/books, but since Deadgirl was coming to an end, I thought I'd do a piece about the series.