This Week’s Blog Posts:
I finished up the main trilogy of Anne Rice’s vampire chronicles, delivering a review of Lestat’s sensual story that covers a wide swath of vampire history in the second book. Presented as his autobiography, I truly enjoyed The Vampire Lestat.
Jackie @ Death by Tsundoku and I chit chatted about a fantasy novel for #ReadingValdmear that breathed some fresh air in the series. Thus, we decided to compare how the novels are different when a Herald from Valdemar isn’t the main protagonist in our Conversation Post: Storm Warning.
Sliding in sideways, I was able to publish my review of Queen of the Damned on Friday. It was a mistake for Rice to continue with metafiction — almost all of my issues would have been solved if she’d stuck with third-person omniscient — but I was glad to conclude that cliffhanger at the end of The Vampire Lestat.
Next Week’s Blog Posts:
Because I was racing to finish my summer reading bingo challenge, I didn’t get a chance to create and publish my start-of-the-month post on August 1st. I still want you to know what’s coming at Grab the Lapels, though, so come back Tuesday to find out!
On Friday I’ll give you the result of my summer reading bingo challenge, hosted by my employer. I found out my name wasn’t chosen from the raffle tickets, but it’s been an intense summer — even more so than the years I participated in Cathy’s 20 Books of Summer challenge! The intense reading schedule I set for myself perhaps wore on me more than I realized, and I’ll talk about that more in my post.
Book I Own by a Male Author:
Currently not reading any books I own by a male author.
Book I’m Reading Aloud to My Spouse:
David Copperfield’s life has gotten a bit meandering, and I’m trying to remember all the characters. We’re returning to Mr. Peggoty’s houseboat, this time with Steerforth in tow — and what will Little Em’ly be like now that the characters are seventeen?
Books Added to the TBR Pile:
Thanks to Ami and Cathy for their recommendations!
Grab the Lapels 
It must be a relief to finish the challenge and be free to pick up whatever you want again.
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Honestly, I didn’t realize how fast I was forcing myself to read. I got worn out and now I haven’t read more than a couple of paragraphs in three days. I think my brain got tired.
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We’ve all been there! I’m sure the break will do you good and you’ll hit your usual stride again soon 😊
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Every now and then the books we have read cross over. Glad to see Kate Chopin in the TBR. I’ll be very interested to see what you make of her views on race.
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Interesting! I didn’t know The Awakening had anything to say about race, but I’m looking forward to the story.
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Circe and The Awakening are both wonderful reads though of course very very different.
Have you heard that there is another film version of David Copperfield to be released in October https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jul/16/armando-iannuccis-david-copperfield-film-to-open-london-film-festival
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I just told my husband, who doesn’t sound terribly excited. He said he’s tired, though, ha. I’d like to see a film version that really captures the whole plot in the way the BBC mini series of Pride & Prejudice does.
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Yay Circe! 🙂 I hope you enjoy it! And I saw something on Twitter just this week that HBO has announced they are doing a Circe miniseries for HBO Max. I think they are giving it 8 episodes. Should be interesting!
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I hope the main character is played by Naomie Harris. She’s fantastic and brings a lot of emotion to a script. Most people will know her as the latest Miss Moneypenny or as the mom from Moonlight, but I really enjoyed her in 28 Days Later.
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Ooh – she’d be great! I haven’t seen the movies you’ve mentioned, but I enjoyed her in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. I think the success of that miniseries will hinge on the actress they cast. They need someone who can be both vulnerable and strong. I hope they don’t mess it up with lots of changes.
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Thanks! Look forward to hearing your thoughts on The Awakening x
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I LOVED CIRCE. I listened to the audiobook and it blew me away. It won a ton of awards and Perdita Weeks crushes the narration. She nails my own perception of what a woman who is trapped in a world of immortals but connects more to mortals would be like, personality-wise. … … sorry to get all Hype, but seriously. Read it.
How *are* you keeping track of all the characters in David Copperfield? How do you suppose people kept up when this was published originally? Imagine trying to remember it all week by week or month by month or whatever the publication cadence was!
I have so much to catch up on! Most of my questions have more to do with why you decided to read what you’re reading, but I bet your book reviews will tell me!
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If I forget a character in David Copperfield, I just ask Nick to remind me. That man has the craziest memory; it blows my mind.
In my list of what I’m reading for August, I state why I’m reading a book. At the bottom of my Sunday Lowdown posts I only share a picture to keep the post from getting too long. A lot of times these are books I see pop up at the library while I’m working, things people recommend on their blogs (which I then thank them for), or folks on Goodreads whom I follow recommend the book.
I’m definitely leaning toward Circe the audio book, as my commute is 30 minutes. I know you have that longer commute now. I bet you get in lots of audio books now, too.
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