A quick update

Between work and personal life drama, I've been offline and insanely busy (and quite sad -- we might have to euthanize a pet, and I'm not coping well!). I'm reading a lot, but behind (so very behind) on reviews. My apologies to blog tour folks and authors, as well as blog friends I've ignored. I hope things settle down soon. I anticipate doing some catch up this weekend -- winners, and owed reviews -- and I hope to be back on schedule by Monday.

Comments

  1. AnnaApril 6, 2012 at 12:50 PM

    So sorry you're going through a rough patch. Don't worry about the blog stuff...we'll be here when you get back. ((HUGS))

    ReplyDelete
  2. rhapsodyinbooksApril 6, 2012 at 12:57 PM

    So sorry to hear about your pet! Many sympathies and hugs!

    ReplyDelete
  3. bermudaonionApril 6, 2012 at 1:07 PM

    I am so so sorry! Our 16 year old dog was diagnosed with dementia last week and I cried and cried so I understand what you're going through.

    ReplyDelete
  4. MegApril 6, 2012 at 1:36 PM

    Big hugs to you and your family -- losing a pet is so incredibly difficult. :( Hang in there -- we're all thinking about you.

    ReplyDelete
  5. SerenaApril 6, 2012 at 2:00 PM

    Audra, I hope that things are getting better, and I know how hard it can be to lose a pet, especially euthanasia. Charlee's mind was still hear and living well, but his body was failing him. I was wondering what happened to your National Poetry Month blog tour yesterday, but now I see. No worries, just post it whenever you can get to it.

    I am sending you virtual hugs....and big squeezes.

    ReplyDelete
  6. ZibileeApril 6, 2012 at 3:46 PM

    I am sorry that you are having a rough time over there. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Natalie~Coffee and a Book ChickApril 6, 2012 at 4:56 PM

    Audra, I am so sad and am sending my love and hugs to you all right now. I also know how difficult it can be when the time comes to part with family (which is exactly how I feel it is when one of my pets has passed on). Please reach out at any time if you need anything from your extended online family.

    ReplyDelete
  8. BlodeueddApril 6, 2012 at 5:07 PM

    Oh no! So sorry :/

    ReplyDelete
  9. Michelle (Red Headed Book Child)April 6, 2012 at 5:21 PM

    So sorry about your pet friend. :(

    ReplyDelete
  10. heatherApril 7, 2012 at 10:19 AM

    Thinking about you audra. We will all be here when you get back. Take as much time as you need. Xo

    ReplyDelete
  11. JessieApril 7, 2012 at 10:26 AM

    I'm so sorry to hear about your pet! You're still in my thoughts - I know how hard it can be to say goodbye to a loved animal. Lots and lots of chocolate, my girl. At least, that's how I know to cope. I'll be sending internet hugs to you mentally
    :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. DarleneApril 7, 2012 at 12:01 PM

    Audra, I am so sorry about your pet. When I had to put down Buddy it was so difficult. I know how hard it is for you. Many hugs coming your way.

    ReplyDelete
  13. JennApril 7, 2012 at 2:05 PM

    I'm so sorry about your pet. We had to put our dog down last weekend. It was so hard. I hope you feel better soon.

    ReplyDelete
  14. AmyApril 8, 2012 at 11:04 AM

    Audra, I'm sorry to read how busy and stressed you've been. I'm even sorrier and extremely empathetic about your beloved fur-child. The decisions we have to make about their health and sometimes the end of their life are heart-breaking, painful and filled with angst. This past year I had to have one of my cats put to sleep so I understand what you're going through. It was an awful decision to have to make but it was the only humane thing to do. I tried to keep thinking how my kitty wouldn't suffer anymore. Try to focus on that, that your helping your pet, ending its suffering. It's not much consolation, I know. {{{{{Audra}}}}}}

    The light is always on and I amd so many others are hear for you. Take care of what you need to and lots of deep breaths.

    ReplyDelete
  15. nomadreaderApril 9, 2012 at 1:08 PM

    Thinking of you! I hope you find peace and the energy to be back to normal in due time!

    ReplyDelete
  16. avisannschildApril 9, 2012 at 2:16 PM

    So sorry to hear about your pet. We had a scare with my kitty recently (she's 16), though it seems like she's going to be around for a little while longer. Plus I totally understand life taking precedence over blogging... Hope you feel better soon.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin

Image
Title:The Orchardist
Author: Amanda Coplin

Genre: Fiction (Historical / early 20th Century / Pacific Northwest / Oregon / Horticulture / Teenage Pregnancy)
Publisher/Publication Date: Harper Perennial (3/5/2013)
Source:TLC Book Tours

Rating: Liked, possibly loved. This one will grow on me, I suspect, as time goes on.
Did I finish?: Oh yes.
One-sentence summary: Set in early 20th century Oregon, a orchardist helps two pregnant girls on the run and the experience has explosive results for all.
Reading Challenges:Historical Fiction

Do I like the cover?: I'm of two minds: a little bit I like it for the colors, and the bucolic setting; but up close, the image is sort of rendered like one those paint programs that makes photos look like canvases. It's odd.

I'm reminded of...: Alice Hoffman, Doris Lessing

First line: His face was as pitted as the moon.

Buy, Borrow, or Avoid?: Ohemgee, borrow or buy, especially if you like narratives set in the American West.

Why did I get this book?: I re…
Read more

Kris Waldherr's The Lost History of Dreams

Image
...he had the sense of viewing a man's life reduced to words. Black ink on white paper. Sentence after sentence. The grey minutia of daily routine flashed with occasional color...

This Gothic historical novel was a nearly perfect read: it held a snaky plot and thorny characters nestled in compelling narrative and deeply resonant themes. All love stories are ghost stories, we'll read more than once in this book, but this novel is more than a love story, more than a ghost story.

The Lost History of Dreams by Kris Waldherr
Touchstone, 2019
Review copy provided by publisher
Historical Fiction challenge

At the center of the novel is an imagining of the life of a Byron-like literary genius (and in those parts, I was reminded of Possession) touched with the unabashed, insistent naming of the woman behind such a figure. But surrounding that outward story is tortured emotions stretched taut to the point of madness (I was reminded of Sarah Waters and the way she writes about grief, ghosts…
Read more

Alyssa Cole's A Prince on Paper

Image
Love was for brave fools and Johan was entirely too clever and too cowardly to succumb to it.

Take one international playboy and one wallflower determined to change the story people tell of her and you get this wickedly charming romance.

A Prince on Paper by Alyssa Cole
Avon, 2019
Digital ARC provided by publisher

This was my second Cole book, but the first contemporary romance of hers I've read. As with the first book of hers I read, An Extraordinary Union, I was immediately smitten.

This is technically the third book in her Reluctant Royals series so I was a tiiiiiiny bit lost at the start when the characters from the earlier books were crowding for reader reunion time. But enough backstory is provided that I wasn't lost when it came to Nya and Johan, and their super cute, super sexy romance won me over immediately.

I loved this modern take on the romancing royalty trope -- I haven't read any modern royal romances, actually so I didn't know what to expect -- and now C…
Read more

Caitlin Starling's The Luminous Dead

Image
Words flashed up on her cracked screen.

DON'T SPEAK

Gyre choked down the faint, nascent sound that threatened to leak from her throat.

The words on her screen disappeared, and were replaced with:

IT HEARD THE SINGING. IT DOESN'T LIKE HUMAN VOICES

I won this book via GoodReads' First Reads and I really had no idea what it was about; but I loved the title and the cover so dove right in. What I landed in was a creepy, claustrophobic thriller pitting/partnering two damaged people in a place determined to kill them.

The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling
Harper Voyager, 2019
Review copy from publisher

Starling doesn't waste time plunging us (literally) into her world, an alien place where mining dominates but some kind of alien known as Tunnelers make it dangerous. Cavers identify lodes -- if they survive the Tunnelers -- and a good caver can make lucrative money surviving one or two expeditions. Surviving being the operative word.

Gyre is desperate to leave her home planet…
Read more