Tag: Patricia Briggs

Top 10 Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday

A Morrow

Top 10 Tuesday was created by The Broke and The Bookish in June 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

This week’s topic asks us to list our “Book Characters that I’d love to be besties with!”

Haha this was an interesting question! After all, not every character I would love to be friends with would be open to being friends with me too. I might get stabbed! (I do love stabby characters.) Instead, I tried to pick characters that might mesh well with my personality or vice versa, characters that I could “realistically” see getting along with. This was so much fun.

Harry Dresden

From Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files, and my favorite series, it makes me happy to think that we actually have a lot in common. We’re both introverts who prefer paperbacks over parties, we both love our animals and treat them like members of the family, and we both value our friends above all else, loyal to a fault. I don’t know how much help I’d be with all of the crazy things he gets himself into, but I’d definitely be there to commiserate and buy him a beer at Mac’s.

Rhysand and The Inner Circle

From A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas, I loved the vibe of this misfit group of friends. I would love to be a part of it. The intense loyalty and love they have for each other, the diversity in backgrounds and experiences, the lack of judgement, the acceptance of all oddities, these are only some of the wonderful things I feel this friend group offers. They may all be misfits, they may all be a little bit broken, but- hey, so are we all, right? I feel like I would fit right in.

Hermione Granger

I feel like my girl Hermione is going to make a lot of lists this week! From Harry Potter by JK Rowling, I had to include her. We have too much in common. Love to read, love homework, compulsively takes too many classes, loves her friends fiercely- we’d have a lot to bond over. I feel like she could also use a few more gal pals to balance out the boys too.

Ginny Weasely

I almost included Ginny and Hermione on the same point, since they’re from the same book, but I didn’t. I would also love to be friends with Ginny, but I feel like we would have a very different relationship. Ginny is bolder, says what she wants and means, feels loudly and isn’t afraid to confront a problem. I feel like she could teach me a lot and challenge me in ways that friends are supposed to challenge each other. Plus, I could go watch all of her Quidditch games!

Ian & Jenny Fraser

Hahaha this one would be so interesting. From the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, Ian and Jenny have been book “friends” of mine for a long time and definitely made this list easy. Though I do have to say that I think it would be much easier to befriend Ian than Jenny, but hopefully if I start there he’ll put in a good word for me. I would love to visit Lallybroch and see their family and way of life, be taken care of in the firm, matter-of-fact way that Jenny does. Their relationship dynamic is somehow so soothing to me and I can imagine a lot of happy moments in their home as a friend.

Warren Smith & Kyle Brooks

From one of my favorite series of books, The Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs, Warren and Kyle are #relationshipgoals. They are one of my favorite couples to ship and I would love to go hang out with the two of them. Warren is warm and calming, while Kyle is provocative and sarcastic, and I love them both. Every time I read that scene in Blood Bound where they’re watching Queen of the Damned with Stefan and Mercy, I just want to hop into the scene and join them. Weekly movie nights at Warren and Kyle’s house!

Anna Cornick

Another character from Patricia Briggs, this time from the companion series to Mercy Thompson, the Alpha and Omega series. Anna is musical, creative, kind, introverted, and works hard to soothe, comfort, and support her friends. I think we have a lot in common and I would love to have a friend like her.

Leah Burke

From Leah On the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli, I feel like we would have a lot to talk about. She’s a grumpy, overweight, bisexual teen and my HS self would have had so much to talk about with Leah. AND she could bring her adorable girlfriend, Abby (who I totally ship), to hang out with us. We have a lot of common and a lot that is different but that might work in our favor. As a bonus, I feel like I could give Leah some social tips that might help her come off less…prickly. She gets so withdrawn and surly when she’s upset and I’ve been there, I feel like we could help each other and have a lot of fun along the way.

Stella Lane

From The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang. Stella probably has better things to do than hang out with me, her fancy job, sexy boyfriend, and meticulous routine, but we also have so much in common. I would love to hang out with her late at night with a bottle of wine, talking about our struggles and victories with dating and relationships and sensory issues. I feel like she could also help me organize my closet. Where are you, Stella??

Theodora Sanderson/Crain

From The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, Theodora is a sarcastic, takes-no-shit, badass and I could definitely use a friend like her. She isn’t afraid of haunted houses or ghosts, she says what she means, and she enjoys an adventure. I think she would be a good influence on me haha. I will say, I love the book and the show, and either Theo would be a fantastic friend. In my mind they’ve just merged into one amazing multi-Theo.

This was a hard one!

Who are some characters you’d like to be friends with?? Any on the list here?

If you participated in TTT this week too, drop a link in the comments below!

Top 10 Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday

A Morrow

Top 10 Tuesday was created by The Broke and The Bookish in June 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

This week’s topic asks us to list our “Top 10 Unique Character Names.”

Well, I chose more than 10, cause I LOVE NAMES!! I usually have a list of names I love from media, but I had to write this list while I was out of town, so these are just off the top of my head! Haha and yes, there are fourteen of them. Some of these are old favorites and some are new discoveries, but I love finding new and unique names within literature. Hope you have as much fun reading as I did making this list!

Arya & Sansa

A Game of Thrones series by George R.R. Martin

Scout

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Hermione

Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

Mercy, Adam, & Bran

Mercy Thompson and Alpha & Omega series by Patricia Briggs

Niklas

Gemina, The Illuminae Files by Amie Kauffman and Jay Kristoff

Sekani

The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas

Kaz, Jesper, & Inej

Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo

Elias

An Ember in the Ashes series by Sabaa Tahir

Theo (Theodora)

The Haunting of Hill House (Book & TV Series) by Shirley Jackson

Jamie, Marsali, Phaedre & Jem

The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon

Rhysand (Rhys)

A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J Maas

Briar

The Circle of Magic series by Tamora Pierce

What are some of your favorite literary names?? Tell me in the comments!

Top 10 Tuesday

Top 10 Tuesday

A Morrow

Top 10 Tuesday was created by The Broke and The Bookish in June 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

I am so excited to participate in Top 10 Tuesday for the first time! I love books and making lists, so this ought to be fun.

This week’s topic is “Top 10 Books From My Favorite Genre.”

I wanted to pick so many different genres that I love, but ultimately I chose Fantasy. I’ve been reading Fantasy since I was a kid and it’s probably what I listen to and seek out most consistently. There’s something about faraway worlds and astounding powers and magical adventures that has always called to me.

For starters, I could not choose favorite books within most of these series, so I just put the series on the list. Some of these are listed because I’ve read them recently and they were amazing and some are old childhood favorites, full of sentimental love. All of them have made me laugh, cry, and want to throw things. I’d recommend any single one of them.

So here are ten of my favorites, in no particular order:

Tell me your favorites! If you had to pick a genre, which would be your top choice?

Reviews

Storm Cursed

A Morrow

“This is our territory,” I said, giving him the words he needed. “We don’t allow black magic in our territory.” 

When Mercy Thompson declared the tri-cities protected territory of the Columbia Basin pack last year, she didn’t expect that duty to come calling so soon. Again. Only this time the threat might be closer to home.

Someone is working black magic in the tri-cities and they’re leaving quite a few bodies behind them while they do it. Mercy, Adam, and the rest of their family must find out who it is, and fast, before this violence breaks the fragile peace in their city, and the country too.

–

The eleventh addition to the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs dropped at the beginning of this month and it was a whirlwind. Literally.

Between the witches and goblins and miniature zombie goats, yes you read that correctly, there’s enough magic and chaos to go around in Storm Cursed.

I’ve been reading this series, and its companion series Alpha & Omega which shares a timeline, for years. Briggs has been amping up the stakes and the drama for many novels now and this one seemed to do the same. The big clash between the Fae and the United States has finally come to a lull and tense negotiations are about to begin when the trouble goes down for Mercy and friends. I would have loved for the book to have spent more time with that plot line, as I am still eager to know a lot more than we got to see this time, but the main plot is a terrifying group of witches trying to stop these talks. Overall, the story was pure and gripping fun to read.

One thing I’ve always loved about Briggs is the way she writes characters and that is where this book also shines. Her main characters are complex, tough, layered, and beyond relatable while also being a coyote shapeshifter and a werewolf. That’s a feat. I love spending time with Mercy and Adam and that they grow and change along with every story. Their relationship continues to be one of my favorite to follow throuought all of its various developments.

They’re joined by some of my favorite supporting characters and the books are well-known for the bedrock that they create in this world. I find it so fun and interesting that Briggs cycles carefully through her side characters when she assigns who will have a larger role in each book, because it creates something pretty wonderful. I never know who I’m going to get the privilege to hang out with in the next book until I get to read it and she always brings a new layer to a beloved character when they take the spotlight.

I loved seeing more of Stefan after the last few books and it was great to have Tad take a larger role in this one too. As always Zee was there to support his own, and Paul had a powerful moment as well that left me quite heartbroken. I can’t wait to find out more about Sherwood! Knowing Briggs, I’ll have to wait a few books to piece all of the connections of his fascinating backstory together, but that’s honestly half the fun.

I even loved spending time with the villains in this book. Specifically Wulfe, though he doesn’t play the central villain in this particular story. His unique brand of psychotic politeness and violence was a hilarious backdrop to some of the moments in this book. And yet again, Briggs has me wondering about all new questions to a character I thought that I’d known well for many books. I can’t wait to know more. The central villains themselves are the things of nightmares. Briggs has an unnatural ability to write visceral and disturbing moments that stay with you for a long time.

In addition, Storm Cursed is another great example of Briggs ability to tie in plot threads across her series. She’s a master at making the smallest connections between ideas that seem forgotten and then end up being important pieces of story.

My only complaint about Storm Cursed is that it was too short. In some ways, that’s just me complaining and I need to get over it. Patricia Briggs had a couple of very tough years personally and yet she still put out a great book and I loved it, I can’t say otherwise. At times though, I felt that the length also held moments back from what I thought they could have been at other times in her writing. It was as if the story rushed by me like a train, too fast to see all the wonderful, beautiful details that I know she spent time and effort crafting. If anything this complaint is a high compliment because this book could have been twice as long and still as good, but I would love to see her books grow a little longer as the series goes on.

Storm Cursed, despite my desire for more of it, was yet another solid addition to the Mercy Thompson series. I highly recommend it and will definitely be reading it again when I revisit this wonderful series.

“Coyote’s Daughter,” he said. “We shall sing them to the great death.”

WWW

It’s “What are you reading?” Wednesday!

A Morrow

I’ve seen a lot of bookish memes and list ideas here on the book-blogging circuit, and I wish I could do all of them! One of my favorites has been a trend of bloggers posting their current reads on Wednesdays!

This week I’ll be taking inspiration from Taking On a World of Words, and trying out their “WWW Wednesday!”

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

What I’m reading now:

Right now I’m reading two books that were recommended to me by friends who love them!

I’ve only just started Half Bad, but I’m already really enjoying it. The main characters nameless almost wordless first hand experiences are gritty and compelling. The lack of information so far, only circumstances and clues, makes me want to know exactly how he got into this mess and what this world and his captors are like. I can’t wait to read more!

And I Darken has been so good, and I am almost finished with it. I have loved reading a royal court story of intrigue that is set in the Ottoman Empire! I’ve never read anything quite like that, and I feel like it gives it such a unique twist, and all sorts of fresh pockets to explore. The MC is harsh and difficult but also determined and strong, and the complex relationship with her brother is fascinating to me. I look forward to letting you guys know what I think when I finish!

I know these two came out a few years ago, what did you think of them?

What I’ve recently finished:

A lot! Or at least it feels like a lot! May has been a great reading month so far.

I most recently finished On the Come Up by Angie Thomas and I was in love. Look for the review of this book appearing on my blog soon. I loved the MC Bri and watching her fight for her dreams, as well as struggle to know what to do with them when she found herself on that very road. I loved her songs, I loved her passion, I loved that she was difficult and unapologetic. Angie Thomas definitely has done it again with this wonder.

Truly Devious was so much fun to read! I buddy-read this one with fellow blogger and friend Elizabeth from This is Lit (check our their podcast! It’s great), and we had an excellent time. She’s already tweeted about her love for this book, but look forward to a review on my blog shortly! What a fun mystery, a great and competent MC, and an all-around good time. Can’t wait to read the sequel soon!

I waited so long for Storm Cursed by Patricia Briggs! I’ve been reading her series (both set in the Mercy Thompson world) for almost ten years now. Briggs is one of those authors that I don’t even read the synopsis before buying, and I wasn’t disappointed. Her books have gotten a little shorter but no less entertaining over the years, and I’ll always love going back to visit Mercy and Adam and all of their pack. Will continue reading this series until I die, probably.

What I plan to read next:

I am SO EXCITED to read Kingsbane!

Claire Legrand dropped this sequel to Furyborn only a few days ago and my pre-order arrived this morning. I’ll be starting on this probably sometime tonight or tomorrow and I can’t wait to find out what’s in store next for Rielle, Eliana, and their colorful crew. Especially after that reveal near the end of Furyborn! Very much looking forward to enjoying and reviewing this book.

What are you reading this week? What are you excited about? Tell me in the comments and have a great reading week!