Welcome to Buffy’s Corner, where I take a look at what’s coming up this week on the blog! I’m linking up with The Sunday Post over at Kimberly’s blog, The Caffeinated Reviewer:-D
First of all, I want to give a shout out to anyone who lives in Texas right now. I’ve been hearing about all the power outages and people living in terrible conditions without heat, water and even food, but honestly I haven’t paid much attention to it. The other day I watched a YouTube video from Thomas at SFF180, one of the booktubers I follow, and he explained that Texas is cut off from the rest of the country’s nationally regulated power grid, which is one reason they are having so much trouble. I won’t go into the political reasons behind this, but I’m shocked and saddened that this is happening. So if you live in Texas, I hope you are OK. It’s easy to sit here in California and moan about our “low” temps and wind, but if you’ve never experienced that level of cold—which I haven’t—it’s hard to imagine. Stay safe, everyone!
Moving onto books, last week I had a fantastic reading week, which was helped with an extra day off work. I’ve finished almost three books and I hope to review all of them this coming week, as we’re in the LAST WEEK OF FEBRUARY, can you believe it?? On the heals of that, however, I finally started watching Bridgerton and as many of you can understand, I was HOOKED and binge watched the entire season (and didn’t get much reading in after that because of it!)
Upcoming reviews:
Tomorrow I’ll be posting my review of Dragonfly Girl by Marti Leimbach. I really enjoyed this YA international thriller! Let’s just say it was not at all what I was expecting, but it was hard to put down, and I read it in a day and a half. After that, I picked up Sun-Daughters, Sea-Daughters by Aimee Ogden, a very short Tor.com novella, and I absolutely loved it! So much emotion packed into a tiny little book. Look for my review on Tuesday. And finally, I’m just about finished with The Russian Cage by Charlaine Harris, the third book in her Gunnie Rose series. It’s pretty good, but for me it still isn’t as good as the first book in the series, An Easy Death. I’ll probably post this review on Thursday.
Upcoming reads:
Sort of a mish-mash of reading this week, as I try to squeeze in a couple more February books and get started on March. I’m determined to finish The Best of R.A. Lafferty, which got off to a rocky start with me. After that, I’m tackling The Package by Sebastian Fitzek, and then I’m diving into Dead Space by Kali Wallace. I have so many March books I’m excited to read, but I’m trying to read them in release order as best I can.
The usual memes…
This week I have three new books/covers to share on Future Fiction, and The Friday Face-Off is “Magic in the title,” which should be fun.
Watching:
I know, late to the party as always:-) Anyway, I absolutely loved Bridgerton like many of my fellow bloggers, and I can hardly wait for the next season! Anyone not interested can skip this section, but I do want to bring up some thoughts I have. I went into this not knowing anything about it, other than it was a Pride & Prejudice-like story (and it mostly was). But it was very different for a couple of reasons. It’s set in an alternate Regency England where people of color are integrated into English society, with titles as well. In fact, the Queen of this story is a Black woman. Now I have heard complaints about the way people of color are represented in Bridgerton, but I personally enjoyed this ethnic mix in a historical period that is typically represented by white people.
I was surprised by a couple of other things as well: first, the sex! I did not expect this to be so R-rated. In a society bound by rules, especially rules relating to women’s behavior (the men get off scot free and are encouraged to “sow their wild oats” and get it out of their system before marrying – ugh), there was a surprising amount of sex. Lots of taboo subjects are discussed between both male and female characters, including masturbation, pregnancy, the mechanics of sex and becoming pregnant, menstruation and more. I was fascinated by the way the maids are required to keep track of the daughters’ cycles and check their sheets for blood, confirmation that they are still pure (!!)
I also wasn’t expecting this to be so dark. Simon, the male lead, was shunned by his father and grew up hating him. The story also tackles subjects like death from childbirth, prostitution, gambling, and many other scandalous things. The drawn out romance is wonderful, but a lot happens after the romance and wow, let’s just say this is Regency England’s version of a juicy soap opera!
I absolutely loved the side characters of Eloise Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington, but truthfully I loved all the characters.
In case you missed…
Here are my posts from last week:
Over-Booked [133] – A Book Haul Post
The Friday Face-Off: Serpentine
Cover Reveal – Usher House Rising by Donn Roff
A History of What Comes Next by Sylvain Neuvel – Review 3.5/5 stars
Top Ten Tuesday – Books with Green, Gold & Purple Covers
The Minders by John Marrs – Review 3/5 stars
I’ve just reviewed Dead Space, and it’s an awesome addition to the sci-fi genre – plus it has a heart and a social conscience! I bet you’ll enjoy it .
Roberta R. recently posted…Kali Wallace: “Dead Space” (ARC Review)
I just started Dead Space and I’m loving it so far! I’ll have to check out your review:-)
Oh my, I was oblivious to what is happening in Texas but I really hope that they would resolve it soon!!!
And, as always, I am looking forward to your reviews!
Thanks Susy!
Bridgerton is such fun to watch, I don’t care at all about its historical accuracy.
An interesting selection of books as always.
Wishing you a great reading week
Thanks Shelleyrae, you too:-)
I have been holding off on Bridgerton as it doesn’t look that appealing to me (though I love historical romances) but I want to try the book first and see what I think of it. Have you not ever read a historical romance? Lots of sex in them books…lol. 🙂
Have a great week and happy reading!
Stormi
Ha ha I know there is sex in historical romance, but for some reason I was picturing Pride and Prejudice, which is very proper, lol.
Bridgerton proved to be very addictive, indeed, and I have to say that the differences from the actual historical period chosen for the story enhanced the narrative rather than prove distracting, and I enjoyed the overall result very much. I hope we will not have to wait too long for the next season… 🙂
And back to books, I’m looking forward to your review of Dead Space: it it’s anything like the other Wallace books, it will prove a very engrossing story!
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…FIREFLY: THE MAGNFICENT NINE (Firefly #2), by James Lovegrove
Yes, I loved that it had a “fantasy” element to it, with all the colorful clothing, etc.
Like you, I was flabberghasted when I saw what was happening in Texas – I hope the flora and fauna aren’t too devastated, as well as the poor shivering population… I like the sound of Bridgerton – which I haven’t yet properly checked out. I hope the coming week is a good one for you, Tammy:)
Thanks Sarah, I hope you have a wonderful week as well:-)
I haven’t been following the news much lately so it’s unfortunate to hear about Texas. Hopefully after this is over there’s enough memory of it to spur whatever positive change is possible.
I’m sure this will change the way Texas secures their power. It must be so sad to be cut off from the rest of the country like that.
I’ve had a friend tell me that she tried to watch Bridgerton with her parents, without knowing about the content, and well…. it turned out to be an interesting experience. Also, I’m very excited for Dead Space!!
Kathy @ Pages Below the Vaulted Sky recently posted…Come On In Anthology – Thoughts and Doodles
OMG so funny! It’s quite risque!
I finished Dead Space last night and it is amazing. I loved it. I enjoyed her Salvation Day but not quite as much. Have a great week Tammy and happy reading!
Anne – Books of My Heart recently posted…Read-along & Giveaway: Caressed by Ice by Nalini Singh
I decided to start Dead Space because I wasn’t enjoying my current read, and I’m hooked!
Bridgerton is on my watchlist, I will definitely give a try this year! 😀
I’m excited to read Sun Daughters, Sea Daughters and I’m glad you liked it so much!!
Maryam recently posted…BSFA Awards Shortlist: Thoughts, Predictions & Reading Plans
It was really good! My review will be up soon:-)
I haven’t started watching Bridgerton yet but really want to. I was debating whether or not I should read the books first and now I’m thinking, no, just watch the series. That’s too many books to get through, lol.
I hear the books are quite different. I know the TV show did a lot of different things with the world building, like incorporate people of color into high society. I’m glad I watched the TV show first, but now I’m curious to go back and read the books too.
Regarding Bridgerton, I liked that people of color are included in the high society as well, but I do critique it because most of the actors with speaking parts are light-skinned and those with darker skin are either older (like Lady Danbury), is a bad person (like Simon’s dad), or is on the poorer end of society (like Simon’s boxer friend). I mean, could just be that they are the best actors for the role they played, but (considering colorism in TV shows and movies) it stood out to me. Still, this was the first season, so I hope the diversity in the cast will broaden. And I do hope actors from other minority groups also get such prominent roles too.
I was also confused a bit by the world because there is a moment where Lady Danbury mentioned that people like them weren’t included in high society (something like that) until the king chose the current queen. I was wondering if Danbury was talking about race (I think it was race) or something else. It was mentioned once and wasn’t explored after, so it came across as a weak bit of worldbuilding there. Personally, when it started I was hoping for a story with a very diverse cast and no need to explain why that is.
But I enjoyed it and am looking forward to the next season and hoping it will be even better.
I noticed that too, and I’ve heard other people talk about how the light and dark skinned actors are cast. And I think Danbury was talking about race, I do remember that line, it was sort of a throwaway line and hard to miss. I think it would have been better to just leave it out too.
I look forward to your review of Russian Cage! But I’m pretty sure I did the right thing by skipping this one. If you didn’t like it as much as #1, I probably wouldn’t’ve liked it at all, which would be a disappointment.
I’ve tried to avoid the news this last year (as it was pretty depressing), so I haven’t heard much about Texas. Apparently they got hit by the same arctic cold we did, and nearly as low temperatures to boot! Only that’s expected in Montana, but not so much 1,000 miles south. I’ve heard they’re supposed to get some relief this week and hope that the year’s looking up from here on!
I kind of wish I’d skipped The Russian Cage, but I feel invested in the series so…
I’m sad that the Harris series hasn’t picked up. I still want to read the sequels but I just can’t bring myself to right now when I have so many other books to read. Glad you enjoyed Brigerton! I thought that was fun. Have a great week, Tammy!
I’ve found this with her Sookie Stackhouse series too. It starts off with a bang and then slowly goes downhill. Not sure why, but it makes it tough to want to continue.
The weather was very unusual here in Texas this past week. It’s warming up now, though, thank goodness.
I hope you’re OK!
Not watching Bridgerton and not interested in it, but somehow not surprised at the sex at all, given the genre and author behind the source material 😛 Julia Quinn is known for some pretty steamy stuff, I bet they even toned it down for TV, lol.
And I’ve seen some of the pics of what’s happening in Texas, it’s insane. Icicles hanging from ceilings, feet of snow on the highways, fish tanks frozen solid, etc. I lived most of my life in Canada so I’m no stranger to freezing temperatures, but people dunking on Texas infrastructure have gotta realize they weren’t prepared for something like this, a literal storm of the century. It would be if like Toronto was hit with a Cat 5 hurricane, and f4 tornado, or a 7.0 earthquake. It just goes to show how important it is to take personal safety and preparedness into your own hands, and with bad weather still sweeping across the country I’ll never miss an opportunity to say this because it saves lives: keep emergency stores, have a plan in place – my heart goes out to everyone affected, please please please take care and stay safe!
Great points, I think it’s so easy to forget to prepare for the worst, because most people don’t think about things like that when everything is good. I hope their issues are resolved soon, though, it’s heartbreaking, and unfortunately, winter isn’t over yet.
I’m obviously the last to the party because I haven’t watched Bridgerton – maybe I should give it a try.
I only read the first Gunnie Rose but I did plan on continuing with the series at some point, although reviews for the following books in the series haven’t been encouraging.
Lynn 😀
You should watch Bridgerton! Especially if you’re a Pride and Prejudice fan and love period dramas, it’s fun:-)
I feel badly for everyone in Texas as well. What a mess. The weather gods are definitely mad at people this year right? I have been busy watching The Flight Attendant which is a hot mess of a series but so fun to watch, and keeping current on Riverdale. I have to admit, they’ve gone and done it, I am no longer enamored with Jughead. The shame! Why writers why????
The wind has been playing havoc in my part of the state recently. One of my coworkers had a tree fall on her car. And I was noticing other fallen trees and debris while out driving around today. High winds raise the fire threat, and I am sure we are all hoping that won’t become an issue too.
I’m glad you enjoyed Bridgerton. It is quite addicting. 🙂 I’ll have to check out your review of Russian Cage. I’m behind on my blog visits. 🙁 I really liked it, more I think than An Easy Death even. But it’s a close call.
I hope you have a great weekend!