Weekly Wrap-Up (56)

Hey all, Dani here.

Things are still going at their usual pace for me, even with the state of the world. My workplace has taken out half the seating in the cafeterias, and has opened up conference rooms and such for additional seating, so we can all maintain a healthy distance. And they are researching how they can continue to make their products without having the employees shoulder-to-shoulder on the line. Actually, they are apparently trialing the idea to do a temperature reading on every employee before they can enter the building. So I guess I’m grateful that they are trying to take precautions and to find ways to keep us all from being temporarily unemployed, but it’s still just nerve-wracking to get up every day and wonder if I’m going to get that phone call saying that the factory is shutting down.

I’m still keeping up a pretty good pace on what I’m reading and watching and all that, though, so let’s talk about those things, since that is what today’s post is all about. I haven’t actually done a whole lot since I’ve been trying to be a hermit as much as possible. Actually I haven’t really been picking up my video games much recently either. I’ve just been watching shows and movies and reading books. Which is fine. I love those hobbies.

We finally finished our watch of “The Flash” season 5, and Damian and I went to see “Onward” this past weekend–it was a great movie and we definitely recommend it…and now all our movie theaters are closed, so I don’t predict many movie dates happening for the next couple months, anyway. Let’s see, I also finally watched “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones,” which was a pretty good movie and followed the book better than the series, but I definitely questioned the casting of half of the cast. Did anyone else feel that way? Why did they make Jace, Alec, and Izzy British? Why did Alec and Izzy look like they were mid-20s when they’re supposed to be teenagers? Why did they think the reddish highlights on Lily Collins would be enough to make her an appropriate Clary? Overall though, I did like the movie and can understand why people were frustrated that the movie series didn’t continue. And, just because, I have started a re-watch of “Shadowhunters,” and I’m hoping to finish the first season in the next few days.

Oh, and since I finished reading Voyager, I started watching season three of “Outlander,” and I’m about halfway through that already. It’s really getting good, and I’m finding myself feeling the urge to grab the next book now and keep reading, but I’m trying to pace myself a bit. Drums in Autumn is the last book in the series that I own, so I need to get the rest, as well as the Lord John Grey stories, because I think as long as this mood continues, I’m going to want to keep reading. But I’m also very much in a mood to support the not-so-big-named-authors, and I’m going to have to be careful with my spending right now, just in case work shuts down. So, I think I’ll just put a digital library hold on the next books. I’ve been thinking about how I would rank this series from favorite to least right now, and at the moment my ranking is: Voyager, Outlander, and then Dragonfly in Amber, but they’ve all been really good. I’m actually really excited to find out what’s going to happen to all the characters next.

As for what I’ve finished reading in the past week, that would be Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer, The Adventurers Guild: Night of Dangers by Zack Loran Clark and Nick Eliopulos, The Fire Never Goes Out: A Memoir in Pictures by Noelle Stevenson, and Sky Without Stars by Jessica Brody & Joanne Rendell. So two middle grade reads, a graphic novel/memoir, and a chonky re-read. It’s been some pretty good reading though, and I have two of the reviews already posted and the other two are coming very soon.

My current reads include House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J Maas, Wicked as You Wish by Rin Chupeco, and The Queen of Raiders by Sarah Kozloff. I technically am 300 pages into the new SJM book but have temporarily set it aside to focus on other new releases and upcoming releases that need a bit more of a signal boost. No offense to SJM because her books are good, but everyone is talking about them so I’d rather use my voice to help authors and creators who don’t have such a massive and vocal fan base. I’m about halfway through the new Rin Chupeco novel, and will probably finish it tonight, but I am loving it so much. The world/magic/set-up is really entertaining, but it also definitely deals with some racial and immigration issues that are prevalent in the world today.

Then there’s what I’m hoping to read next, which is focused on Between Burning Worlds by Jessica Brody and Joanne Rendell, Night of the Dragon by Julie Kagawa, and Seven Endless Forests by April Genevieve Tucholke. But since all of those are e-galleys I’ve received through NetGalley, I may need to pick up a physical book to read, which is why I’m tossing in the possibility of a couple more middle grade reads. And I’m adding All the Stars and Teeth by Adalyn Grace as a reading option as well, since it is a new release that I’d like to signal boost a bit more. But we’ll see what happens. I’m on the blog tour for Night of the Dragon, so expect my review to be up March 31st.

So it looks like I’m set for some pretty good reading, though there’s always the chance that my reading mood will mean me picking up something else.

Anyway, I think I’m going to go make myself a nice mug of apple cider and get back to reading.

That’s all from me for today. What are you currently reading? I’d love to know, and I’ll be back soon with more bookish content.