This is part of the weekly meme over at the Caffeinated Reviewer, where book bloggers can share the books and blogs they have written.
Again, I’m really sorry… I STILL haven’t caught up with comments and blog visits after my walk in the wilderness, when I was cast adrift from the internet for nearly a fortnight. It’s been a rather busy week…
On Monday, it was my last teaching session of the year with Tim – and yet we couldn’t take it easy as he had his Functional Skills Level 2 Writing exam on Thursday. It’s been a momentous year in every sense of the word, having successfully filmed his musical comedy adventure film with a cast of 23, in nine different locations. He has also succeeded in passing his CoPE project, as well as the Composition and Performance strands of his GCSE Music exam – we’re just waiting to hear if he has managed to pass the Theory element. Even more importantly, he is also a delightful, articulate young man, who is a joy to teach and is increasingly confident in branching out in his learning.
I was teaching Creative Writing on Monday and Tuesday evenings, then on Wednesday we had the Northbrook Information Evening, which I always look forward to as a chance to meet up with my fellow tutors. I was lucky enough to be invited for tea with Sarah and her family, before we had our fortnightly writing group – a treat as she is a fantastic cook. On Thursday, I drove Tim and his mother to school for his exam, which has now become something of a ritual – he came out happy that he answered both questions to the best of his ability, which is all we can ask for. I was supposed to go out to West Sussex Writers’ talk on Thursday evening, but fell asleep and when I woke up – the meeting was half over. So I slummocked on the sofa, instead, watching the final of Britain’s Best Home Cook.
On Friday, I had lunch with my sister at the Look and Sea café and we spent the rest of the afternoon chatting and catching up with each other’s lives – it is such a joy having her so close! Then yesterday, my writing buddy came over for the day and we discussed all things writing and dived into the whirlpool that is Marketing. Today is my stepfather’s birthday party designed to coincide with Father’s Day, so there is a great gathering of the clan at my sister’s house at Arlesford. It was a lovely party hosted by my lovely sister and brother in law, who were marvellous hosts and it was great fun catching up with family members I don’t see very often.
This week I have read:
Crossways – Book 2of the Psi-Tech series by Jacey Bedford
Ben Benjamin, psi-tech Navigator, and Cara Carlinni, Telepath, can never go home again. To the Trust and Alphacorp alike, they are wanted criminals. Murder, terrorism, armed insurrection, hijacking, grand theft, and kidnapping are just the top of a long list of charges they’ll face if they’re caught. So they better not get caught…
I picked up this one at Forbidden Planet back in February – and I’m so glad I did – I’m also glad that I have the final book in this trilogy, Nimbus which I’m really looking forward to tucking into.
All Systems Red – Book 1 of the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells
In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety. But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.
On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid — a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is. But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it’s up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.
This novella is a fabulous colony-based adventure with the android as the protagonist – I loved this one and can see why there’s so much hype about it.
Nolander – Book 1 of the Emanations series by Becca Mills
Beth Ryder knows she’s different. In a tiny rural town, being an orphaned and perpetually single amateur photographer crippled by panic disorder is pretty much guaranteed to make you stick out like a sore thumb. But Beth doesn’t understand just how different she really is.
One day, strange things start cropping up in her photos. Things that don’t look human. Impossible things. Monstrosities. Beth thinks her hateful sister-in-law, Justine, has tampered with her pictures to play a cruel joke, but rather than admitting or denying it, Justine up and vanishes, leaving the family in disarray. Beth’s search for Justine plunges her into a world she never knew existed, one filled with ancient and terrifying creatures.
I thoroughly enjoyed this unusual urban fantasy offering, featuring a protagonist suffering from constant panic attacks – to the extent that she cannot escape the small town she grew up in and attend college. This one immediately drew me in – I will be reviewing it in due course.
My posts during the last week:
Review of Gwithyas: Door to the Void by Isha Crowe
Teaser Tuesday featuring Crossways – Book 2 of the Psi-Tech series by Jacey Bedford
*NEW RELEASE SPECIAL* Review of Child I by Steve Tasane
Review of Remnants of Trust – Book 2 of the Central Corps series by Elizabeth Bonesteel
Friday Face-off featuring Green Rider – Book 1 of the Green Rider series by Kristen Britain
Review of Netgalley arc novella Time Was by Ian McDonald
Interesting/outstanding blogs and articles that have caught my attention during the last week, in no particular order:
New DIY MFA Post on Revenge as a Literary Theme (Plus, Looking for Your Help with this Year’s Blogoversary https://saraletourneauwriter.com/2018/06/13/diy-mfa-revenge-theme-blogoversary/ Sara discusses how the theme of revenge has been used – and asks for suggestions on how she could best celebrate her 10th anniversary of blogging…
Mark your calendars for the Indian Lit Readathon! https://thisislitblog.com/2018/06/16/mark-your-calendars-for-the-indian-lit-readathon/ Shruti is very excited about this one – quite right too. So dust off your books written by Indian authors and join in…
Rocks and Light: Natural Art https://writersite.org/2018/06/11/rocks-and-light-on-canvas/ This article is not only interesting and well written – but includes the most fabulous photos…
#lessons learned from @HollyBlack: Start the #storytelling with #writing the departure from the #characters normal https://jeanleesworld.com/2018/06/07/lessons-learned-from-hollyblack-start-the-storytelling-with-writing-the-departure-from-the-characters-normal/ Another cracking and highly readable article giving readers and writers alike insights in the craft of writing…
The Skincare Bible by Dr Anjali Mahto https://onereadersthoughts.com/2018/06/11/the-skincare-bible-by-dr-anjali-mahto/ I don’t normally include reviews – but this delightful book sounds like an ideal present (HINT – my birthday is coming up VERY soon…) for myself and other family members!
Thank you very much for taking the time and trouble to visit, like and comment on my site – and I promise to get back to you as soon as I can!
Brainfluff 
Congrats on all you’ve achieved, and welcome back to the Land of the Internet.
Nolander looks like an intriguing story. Thanks for sharing…and for visiting my blog. Have a great week.
Thank you, Laurel – I’ll be glad when life slows down a tad and I can take a breath… And Nolander was very interesting:) I hope you, too, have a wonderful week.
Catching up after a few days absence is so difficult! I normally end up getting frustrated and giving up. Lost and Sea Café is perhaps the cutest name for a real place I’ve ever seen. Is it as good as it sounds? We are watching a British Cooking show but it has whole families cooking together and I’m enjoying it. I love how varied the food is. Have a great week!
It’s the Look and Sea cafe… Yes – it’s situated right on the River Arun by the lifeboat station with lovely views along the river and out to sea… And the food is tasty, too:) Yes – we’ve watched the cooking show with families, but this is a different one – great fun! I’m on the verge of giving up trying to catch up, too. Thank you for swinging by Katherine and have a lovely week.
What a great “community” post! Thank you so much for including my post about the Lower Antelope Canyon and Lake Powell!
That’s great you got to have lunch with your sister and chat with your writing buddy! The Father’s Day/birthday party sounds fun! Have a great week 🙂
Yes – it was a really sociable week and I’m very blessed to have such lovely folks living within easy distance so we can regularly catch up. I hope you’re having a great week, Kristen.
Awww, thank you for sharing the “Revenge” link! 🙂 And it sounds like you had a busy but good week. Though no wonder you ended up napping on Thursday. Maybe your body wanted the extra rest!
Mmmmmm, afternoon teas. Or even a “cream tea,” with just scones and jam or clotted cream. They’re all delightful. When I was up in Salem, MA for the poetry festival, the local tea shop had a special “Anais Tea” that weekend (named after the poet Anais Nin). A pot of any tea the store sold, plus a lemon scone and a honey lavender macaron. Nothing short of blissful. What did your friend serve during the tea she hosted?
Ah… I meant it in the sense of a cooked evening meal:). She served a pasta meal with salad, which was absolutely delicious.
Wow, it sounds like you’ve been busy. I could use some time away from the Internet. Twitter has been stressing me out lately. Have a great week!
I know the feeling:)).
I’m glad you get to spend time with your sister. I love having my sister so close. I will be sad when she moves in a few years to live closer to her kids.
I’m looking closely at some of the sci fi/fantasy books on the Great American Reads list. One of them is Swan Song. I’ve only read one other book by this author but it was amazing. I think I’ll look for it.
Have a great week!
I’ll have to check out Swan Song – I haven’t read it, either. Yes… it’s lovely living so close to my sister – all our adult lives we’ve lived apart and having her just up the road is such a real bonus. We were very close as children and teenagers and now I love spending time with her.
YAY! Love it when I make it this list! Thanks for makin’ my day. And that Nolander sounds pretty interesting. Added it to the Goodreads list. 😉
Actually I was thinking of you – the early part of the book certainly reminded me – a little – of the opening of your novel:)
Aw, shucks. 🙂
It took me a couple of weeks to really catch up once I got my internet back, Sarah. I know what you mean. Sounds like you’ve had some fun and got the creative mojo going too. Enjoy the birthday and Father’s Day gathering:)
I know! I’m still not yet fully caught up! Hopefully, another week should see it, once I’ve fully broken up for the summer holidays… Thank you – the party was lovely:)).
Nolander sounds chilling! And glad you liked All systems Red! I jsut read the second novella and thought it was as good as the first. Loving that series. And CRossways sound like the kind of space opera/ futuristic SF that I’d like- I’ll have to make note of that one. I like far tech societies with telepaths and psi powers and all that… always gets my attention. 🙂
Your family gathering sounds wonderful, glad you had a good time w/ family! Have a wonderful week!
Nolander is a really quirky, unusual fantasy series – I’m glad we’ve got the next book in the series as I’m keen to read the rest. And ditto the Psi-Tech series by Jacey Bedford – it’s always a pleasure to read well-written space opera as it’s really my favourite genre (surprise, surprise!).
The day out with your sister sounds like a great day. Congrats to Tim with all of his success for the school year, he really does sound like such a joy to teach. Have a great week and thank you for stopping by my blog yesterday. 🙂
Thank you! Yes – you’re right – Tim is a joy to teach:). I hope that you, too, have a lovely week!
Sorry you’re still behind after you lost the internet. First, love the word “fortnight” and we don’t use it enough here in the US. My husband uses it, but ironically. Lol. And then slummocked is another good one. I love all of these British words! 🙂
Thank you! It’s always great when a fellow writers approves of my word choice:)). I hope you have a great week, and many thanks for swinging by, SJ.
My goodness; if your week gets any fuller, you will pop!
I know! Fortunately, this week has been a lot less hectic – thankfully…
A great week It’s so good that you and your sister have such a good friendship – it sounds like you have such good times together.
Lynn 😀
We do! We were very close as girls and now we’re heading well into middle age, we still have great laughs together – it’s lovely being able to spend time with her, again after all this time apart.
Ahoy there matey! Thanks so much for the rocks and light link. I had never heard of it but now it is on the list of places to go. So cool.
x The Captain
I know! Aren’t those rock formations absolutely stunning? It’s now on my bucket list, too… I hope you’re having a great week, Capx
I vaguely (because it feels like ages ago) remember the first post where you mentioned starting to teach Tim. It’s so great to see the leaps and bounds he’s made with your help. I can only imagine the sense of accomplishment it must be giving you as a teacher, and I hope you’ll continue helping him to grow – and enjoying it. 🙂
Yes – I’m still teaching Tim, though I think this is going to be my last year as he is now 16 and I am helping him prepare for his Functional Skills English Level 2 Reading exam. He is now attending a music course at Chichester College 3 days a week and doing very well.
Sounds great! 🙂 I remember you being slightly worried of how it would go because of meeting his specific needs – and it seems that you’ve done brilliantly in that regard. 🙂
Thank you – it’s lovely being part of such a dedicated team:)