Bookish Thoughts

I can't remember the last time I was this conflicted about a book. I'm currently re-watching the second season of The Witcher. When it first came out, I assumed it was based on Blood of Elves, so I read that book. I then learned it was based on both that book and this book. So I decided to read this book with the rewatch to see what I missed. It started off great. I recognized an early scene in the book from the TV show, and I was so excited to spend more time with those characters. But then the book delved into politics with so many characters I had trouble keeping them straight. It turned into a a bit of a slog - though at least part of that was because my life got so busy I had a hard time finding time to read the book. By the end, I actively disliked the book and was kicking myself for having already bought the next one in the series. I should have waited. Then that night I watched the next episode, and a lot of backstory from the book clicked into place. I'm more excit...

I really love the way these stories play with fairy tales. Inverting them and subverting them. The characters are incredibly genre-savvy, and there are so many winks at the audience. It's the best part about this collection of stores, the hook that brings you in and keeps you interested while the world slowly comes into focus around the fairy tales. This collection spends more time with characters other than Geralt. We get more of Dandelion/Jaskier. More Yennefer. And we finally meet Ciri. The background for the main story is established, as the war is started and Geralt and Ciri finally unite. We also get the surprising and tantalizing knowledge that Geralt's mom was a sorceress. If she was able to have a child, there might just be hope for Yennefer. And maybe Geralt will be the key in her finally achieving her heart's desire. The structure of this series has been interesting. The short story collections allow the author to introduce everyone and everything before th...

There was a time in my life (before kids) when I actually did a decent job of keeping up with popular culture. I know, from looking at other adults around me, that this time will probably come again. But at the moment, I feel like I'm missing out on a lot because I can never seem to put together 45 minutes to watch a TV show (and forget about doing it 10 or 13 or 22 times to watch an entire season of something). The good news is that I can always find time to read - during my commute, for 15 minutes before bed, those rare times when I manage to get all three kids to sleep at once. Reading is easier, because I can dip into books 5 minutes at a time and easily pause them when life intrudes again. But I miss feeling like a part of something when these popular TV shows arrive and it feels like everyone is watching them except me. My brother got me The Last Wish for my birthday over the summer, because he was excited about the upcoming series on Netflix. I hadn't even heard of ...