Update: Life and Books (11/4/18)

 
 

Another month gone by! Did everyone have a good Halloween? I dressed up as a person sitting at home reading and blogging. Because I was a person sitting at home reading and blogging ๐Ÿ˜›

Unfortunately my dental situation is still a mess. No dentist/specialist seems to know anything, I might need implants now (if I’m even a candidate for that), and I can’t even find a doctor in my area who a) offers what I need b) has the skills to help now that the situation is so complicated, and c) is someone I trust and who will listen to me. I don’t know what to do, and all of this is continuing to take a toll on me both physically and mentally, which is why I haven’t been doing much bloghopping lately beyond returning visits to anyone who leaves a comment here.

Anyway, I’m sure everyone is sick of hearing about this, so let’s get to the happy stuff: books!


Blog/Bookish Updates:

I feel like my Kingdom of Copper joke went unappreciated, so I’m sharing it here ๐Ÿ˜›

I also got bookmail from Pyr!

The Nine & The Fall by Tracy Townsend

 

I’m also making some small changes on the blog. You may have seen my announcement that I’ve added a gaming category.

I think I’m also going to remove the sex, violence, language, and a couple other tags from my book review posts since I don’t know if anyone uses them, they’re super subjective/unclear, and it’s just more work for me. If you really use those, let me know, and I might reconsider.

Quick question for my fellow reviewers who use Edelweiss, have you ever gotten the error “w_adept_core_expired” when trying to download a graphic novel to Adobe Digital Editions? And did any of you perchance also try to download Songs for the Dead Vol. 1? I don’t know if the problem is on my end or EW’s end since I’ve never had this happen with other comics I’ve downloaded.

 

Books I Received for Review:

The Burning Magus by Don Allmon
Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty
Day Killer by Clara Coulson
The Nine by Tracy Townsend
The Fall by Tracy Townsend
Wolves by Nicholas Sansbury Smith
Dark Arts and a Daiquiri by Annette Marie
 

All these covers are so bright and glowy! I love it!

10/14/18: The Burning Magus is from NetGalley. Kingdom of Copper is from Edelweiss.

10/21/18: Day Killer is from the author. The Nine and The Fall are from Pyr.

10/28/18: Hell Divers IV: Wolves is from NetGalley.

11/4/18: Dark Arts and a Daiquiri is from the author.

 

Books I Finished:

Waypoint by Deborah Adams & Kimberley Perkins
Black City Dragon by Richard A. Knaak
Creatures: The Legacy of Frankenstein by Various Authors
The Burning Magus by Don Allmon
Undercurrent by M.N. Arzu
Hot Pterodactyl Boyfriend by Alan Cumyn
Day Killer by Clara Coulson
Chaos Cocktail: 13 Fantasy Bar Brawls by Various Authors
Lint Boy by Aileen Leijten
Wolves by Nicholas Sansbury Smith
Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse
Underground by M.N. Arzu
 

10/14/18: Waypoint was a little outside my norm since it was kind of SFF light, but I enjoyed it! Black City Dragon was another great Prohibition Era UF book in the Black City Saint series. Creatures was not bad, but it didn’t impress me either.

10/21/18: The Burning Magus was a satisfying ending to a unique UF/cyberpunk trilogy. Undercurrent was another great merfolk book in the Under series. I have mixed feelings about Hot Pterodactyl Boyfriend. Day Killer was another great book in the City of Crows series.

10/28/18: Chaos Cocktail was a mixed bag. Lint Boy was a visual delight! Wolves was another great, intense Hell Divers book.

11/4/18: Trail of Lightning didn’t really grip me, but it had some aspects I liked. Underground was fantastic; I’m loving this merfolk series!

 

What I’m Loving:

This week, what I’m loving is…

Ben & Jerry’s Non-Dairy Frozen Treats

I get headaches from ice cream and haven’t been able to eat it for years, and I recently found out that Ben & Jerry’s makes some of their flavors in non-dairy! Including one of my favorites that I haven’t been able to find a non-dairy version of (cherry chocolate chip)! Even though, right now, eating just makes me think of my teeth which stresses me out :-/

 

In Case You Missed It:

10/14/18:
– I shared mini reviews for three paranormal/urban fantasy books – The Well of Tears, Fangs of Freelance, and Straight Outta Fangton.
– I discussed human vs. inhuman portrayals of vampires and asked which you like.
– I reviewed Steal the Sun by Lexi Blake, another great book in a touching, emotional, hilarious, supernatural-filled series.

10/21/18:
– I recommended 10 lesser-known M/M vampire books.
– I reviewed (more like sobbed about) Saga Vol. 9 by Brian K. Vaughan, a brutal volume in the Saga series.
– I reviewed This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel, an ominous Frankenstein-inspired story.

10/28/18:
– I added a gaming category to my blog and talked about what types of game posts I’ll be doing.
– I reviewed Creatures: The Legacy of Frankenstein, a diverse Frankenstein-inspired anthology.
– I shared November/December 2018 game releases to get excited about.
– I reviewed Day Killer by Clara Coulson, another great book in an amazing UF series.

11/4/18:
– I shared November/December 2018 book releases to get excited about.
– I reviewed Chaos Cocktail: 13 Fantasy Bar Brawls, a fun but somewhat frustrating anthology.
– I reviewed Hell Divers IV: Wolves by Nicholas Sansbury Smith, another intense post-apocalyptic story.

 

The Sunday Post Link-Up:

Once again, I’m linking up to The Sunday Post at Caffeinated Book Reviewer ๐Ÿ™‚

 
 
 
 

Talk to me!

Found any good books lately?
How was your Halloween?
Do you have any funny Netflix recs? (I haven't been able to find anything good lately.)

 
 
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Your Thoughts

 

46 thoughts on “Update: Life and Books (11/4/18)

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  1. Greg

    Halloween was pretty good here, it got warm(er) so that at least wasn’t all bad. Sorry to hear about the dental situation- teeth are a pain if you ask me. Hope a solution presents itself soon- hang in there!

    Okay so some of your new stuff looks pretty awesome. Namely Dark Arts and a Daiquiri, which I still need to read the first one, but I love the sound of that series. Undercurrent has me really curious, naturally, because merfolk. And Trail of Lightning I was thinking of reading, but just… haven’t yet.

  2. tonyalee

    With tags, I find them very subjective. I still have one for anything that I read that is not YA but still. I also have thoughts on trigger warning tags. anyway.

    Sorry to hear your dental situation! that sounds terrible. ๐Ÿ™

  3. Angela

    For Halloween, I was alone in my office, so I dressed up as “weekend me,” in jeans and sneakers! It was a quiet, comfortable day!

  4. Suz

    I’m not a great lover of Hallowe’en (don’t hate me) so I think yours sounds perfect. Apart from the dental troubles. Hope you solve them soon.
    I very rarely use tags so removing them would not bother me at all.
    And don’t bother hopping over to my blog – here’s another month with no posts. *laughs hysterically* Must try harder

    1. Kristen Burns

      I’ve never been that big on Halloween either, always more of a Christmas person myself ๐Ÿ˜› Thank you <3 Aww, hopefully you'll get some motivation to blog soon!

  5. Erica Robyn

    I’m so sorry to hear you’re having difficulties with your teeth! I totally feel your pain there. I hope you’re able to find a doc that’s a good fit soon!

  6. S. J. Pajonas

    Sending hugs to you! I hope you get a solution to your dental problems soon.

    Also, Hot Pterodactyl Boyfriend had me in stitches. I’m not sure if I’m supposed to laugh, but I couldn’t help it.

  7. Lola

    Sorry to hear your dental situation i still going on. It sounds like such a stress to be dealing with that for so long. I hope you can find a way to resolve it soon.

    Yay for new books. I also got Dark Art and a Daiquiri :). I haven’t had that error on Adobe Digital editions, but that program can be a pain for me something. Sometimes it won’t add books to my e-reader and I get weird errors, but when I try the next day it works and some never work. Maybe it’s a problem with the file you got from Edelweiss, I am assuming it’s one of those annoying acsm files that you can’t open anywhere else. Maybe you can contact the publisher about it?

    I tried one of Ben & jerry’s non diary ice creams, but I didn’t like it as it was too sweet for my taste and I still find it weird saying that as I normally like sweet food, so I just stick with their diary flavors. They have a great brand here that makes ice cream with coconut milk that I like.

    if you like sci-fi shows, The Orville is pretty funny and I think it’s on Netflix. So i would recommend that one. And we recently watched the movie Jumanji welcome to the Jungle which is great fun too. I hope you have a good week!

    1. Kristen Burns

      Thanks <3

      I'll have to try downloading the file again and see what happens. I emailed the publisher last week but still haven't heard back :-/

      Funny enough, I also thought the cherry one was a bit too sweet lol. There is a brand here that sells good coconut and almond milk ice creams, but they don't have the same flavors.

      I'll have to look into those! Thanks!

  8. Roberta R.

    Quote: “I dressed up as a person sitting at home reading and blogging.”
    ๐Ÿ˜‚
    Same as me! Who copied who now? ๐Ÿคจ ๐Ÿ˜‰
    Seriously – I hear you. Not for Halloween in particular, but that’s what I do most of the time too, though for different reasons. Books and blogging are life savers.

    I’m so sorry about the dental saga! I can’t believe no one knows what to do or is willing to try anything. There MUST be someone who knows their trade, for goodness’ sake. Sending good vibes – may the nightmare end soon!

    I’m glad your site has come back to life – let’s hope it was a temporary problem, but still…one self-hosts, and things are worse than with free hosting? ๐Ÿ™„

    Have a great week – teeth notwithstanding!

    1. Kristen Burns

      I celebrate all holidays by dressing up as a person sitting at home reading and blogging lol. But honestly, I agree. Idk what I’d do w/o books and blogging.

      Thanks, I need all the good vibes I can get <3

      Yes, I'm so happy it's working again, and hopefully that outage will never happen again!

      Thanks, you too ๐Ÿ™‚

  9. Suzanne @ The Bookish Libra

    Halloween was fun here, although like you, I was dressed up as a person reading and blogging (and handing out candy), lol.

    I’m so sorry to hear that your dental issues are no closer to being resolved. I really hope that you can find some definitive answers and solutions soon.

  10. Tanya @ Girl Plus Books

    Love your Halloween costume. Coincidentally I had the same costume!
    Thatโ€™s horrible about the continued dental issues. Are you in a small town? Without many provider options? Iโ€™m so sorry youโ€™re dealing with this. ๐Ÿ™ The cover of Lint Boy is making me laugh. A lot. ๐Ÿ™‚

    1. Kristen Burns

      Twinsies! ๐Ÿ˜›

      Thanks. And no, I actually live in a big city. There are some options, they just all suck. And also my insurance doesn’t have many options that it covers.

      Lint Boy is so cute lol.

  11. Barb (boxermommyreads)

    I hope you get your dental stuff cleared up. That has to be miserable. I was actually in a car accident yesterday- totally the other woman’s fault, and now am trying to sort that stuff out. She murdered my truck! I am not too sure there wasn’t a cell phone involved. Looks like you are reading tons! I’m so envious. I think your Halloween costume was the greatest!

  12. ShootingStarsMag

    I’m sorry to hear about your teeth! That sounds awful, and I understand having weird things go on with your body that makes it even MORE difficult to get fixed. I hope you can find someone to trust that will be able to help you, or relieve some of the pain or discomfort.

    I didn’t do much on actual Halloween as I didn’t feel well, which was a bummer. The weekend before though, I went to a Halloween themed wedding shower as a witch and had a good time.

    -Lauren

    1. Kristen Burns

      Thanks <3 It definitely makes it harder to figure out what's going on when your body isn't following the norm.

      Aww sorry you weren't feeling well. The wedding shower sounds so fun though!

  13. Stephanie Jane (Literary Flits)

    Oh no! We had exactly the same Halloween outfits – how embarrassing ๐Ÿ˜‰

    I do hope you find a competent dentist soon. Your teeth situation sounds intolerable and the stress must be affecting your health too. ((hugs))

  14. Di @ Book Reviews by Di

    I’m finally here!!!!!!!! But wait, did I miss something? I can’t find Shadow of the Fox?

    Kristen – what is going on with the dental stuff. I’m so sorry chic – that’s AWFUL! I didn’t realise it was still an ongoing thing. Gah. I just continue to send positive vibes and I hope that something comes right.

    As for me I have been SOO damn shocking at blogging lately and I’m light years behind, so I’ve decided to just draw a line in the sand, stop TRYING to catch up and just start afresh. So here’s me hoping to do better – although we all know what the festive season can look like on a blog. ๐Ÿ™ˆ

  15. Becky @ A Fool's Ingenuity

    It sucks that every time I get to reading your update posts I see you’re still struggling with this whole dental situation. I’m forever hoping you get this all sorted and finally find someone who can help you without stressing you out and causing you way more problems.

    I’m so jealous you got approved for Kingdom of Copper after a long wait I eventually got declined and all I could think was rude. I will have to suffer the long wait for it to be published like everyone else (which reminds me, I need to make sure my preorder is in). And you’ve read Trail of Lightning? I’ve heard great things and I really want to buy.

    1. Kristen Burns

      It does suck. Thank you <3

      Oh no! I'm sorry you didn't get approved for Kingdom of Copper. I just kind of assumed you got approved to. Yeah, my library finally got the e-book of Trail of Lightning! I didn't *love* it, but it was good!

  16. Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

    Hope this new dentist that you found helps solve your problem. Dental issues are such a pain. I got a filling over six months ago and my tooth is still super sensitive. Makes me wish I’d just left the cavity—I wasn’t in any pain until AFTER the filling.

  17. Cee Arr

    *hugs* Hope your teeths are bettererer soon! (I’m talking cute cos there’s literally nothing I can do to help you so I figured I’d try to amuse you instead! Is it working?!?!? (Also, sometimes I just talk like that… don’t tell anyone!))

    I’m clearly more tired than I thought b/c not only did that previous paragraph make v. little sense, I also completely forgot you were in the US, and was like ‘why is she posting an update from the 11th of April?’ Lol.

    1. Kristen Burns

      Thank you <3 You get an A+ for effort ๐Ÿ˜›

      I feel like you always worry that your comments aren't making sense, but they always make sense to me LOL.

      1. Cee Arr

        I always think that I’m not making sense… mainly because people tend to look at me like I’m not making sense! I also have a tendency to babble, especially when I’m tired, so I tend to be self-conscious of that!

  18. Olivia Roach

    You read so many books! But before we go there, that sounds much like my Halloween was spent. I don’t celebrate that holiday anyway, and also my grandfather passed away three years ago on the day so I’m never in a celebratory mood anyway. I am so sorry to hear abuot these dentistry struggles especially as it seems like no one can really help you :/ Hoping it all gets resolved soon and isn’t too stressful for you <3

    1. Kristen Burns

      Yeah but this was all the books I read over four whole weeks LOL.

      I’m sorry about your grandfather ๐Ÿ™ I can definitely see why that would make the holiday one you don’t enjoy. Thank you <3

  19. Dani Eide

    Hope you get your teeth problems taken care of Kristen, it sure is draining to have problems in that area of the body. Blog hopping sure is hard this time of year… not sure if itโ€™s the weather or what but I hear you. ๐Ÿ˜‰