Wyrd & Wonder 2020

On By reenchantmentoftheworldIn books, meta, Ola, Piotrek

ww2020

We decided to join the Wyrd & Wonder this year, to celebrate the fantastic along with so many of our friends 🙂 Thank you to Imyril, Lisa, and Jorie for organizing this wonderful bookish event. The annual fantasy blogstravaganza looks quite promising this year, so we’re looking forward to it!

Celebrating all things fantastic for us means mostly reading and reviewing fantasy books, but among our plans is also a tag or two – for example, the Fantasy Bucket List Book tag looks quite promising :). So, without further ado, our TBR for the coming month – not surprisingly, filled with fantasy books (though I do mean to smuggle Yoon Ha Lee’s Revenant Gun on it as well! :D)

Ola: My list is rather short, reflecting more my reading capabilities in May than wishes, but if I manage to add a title or two to it, I’ll be very happy. I’m definitely planning to review Adrian Tchaikovsky’s recent small novel/novella, Made Things, and Seanan McGuire’s third book in October Daye sequence, An Artificial Night. Thanks to the indomitable efforts of Maddalena at Space and Sorcery I decided to give McGuire another chance 😉

Made Things

An Artificial Night

Moreover, as I recently decided to register on Netgalley, I’m executing my newly acquired privileges with willful abandon :D. As a result, I can put Marie Brennan’s new novel Driftwood on my TBR secure in my knowledge that I already have it on my Kindle. Who knows, maybe I’ll be even able to fit Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic on the list as well!

Driftwood

Mexican Gothic

Also, I plan to venture into the grim world of Warhammer 40k, hopefully with Dave at Wordaholicanonymous, and embark on a grisly mission with Dan Abnett’s Ibram Gaunt and his Ghosts.

Gaunt's Ghosts

Piotrek: I’m not sure what exactly I shall write about during these exciting weeks, but I’m currently reading Gaiman’s View from the Cheap Seats, which is itself a wonderful celebration of the fantastic, and The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley, a little gem of fantasy lit well worth celebrating.

The View from Cheap Seats

Hero-and-the-Crown

I also finished cataloguing my library in LibraryThing. I put 2037 titles in there, missing a hundred or two that are in the cellar right now, or well hidden on the furtest shelves. That means I got rid of around 300 since I started my fight to regain some space. Huh. Now it’s only what I really need, but I also need to buy many more 😉

LibraryThing proves to be working really well, but I need some time to explore all the cool features.

But the best thing is my new ex libris I got from my family recently:

ex libris

I absolutely love it 🙂 My old stamp was cool, and given to me by my grandparents thirty years ago, but it needed to be retired.

Then I stamped all the books bought since November 2019, it took some time for my hints I need this to work 😉

So, things are looking good, and now I can celebrate!

 

Wyrd & Wonder banner: Flaming phoenix by Sujono Sujono, on 123RF.com

48 thoughts on “Wyrd & Wonder 2020”

    1. Oh, am I really so scary?? 😅

      Sadly, no torch or pitchfork at hand, but I will take a good look at the available emoticons 😉
      Besides, I would never hold you responsible for Seanan McGuire’s faults, so even if I find them and feel inclined to use, you will be safe! 😀

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      1. LOL No, not scary at all! Let’s just say that I like to take precautions – like taking my reinforced armor out of mothballs… 😀 😀
        Jokes aside, I hope you enjoy the series: if you sense a change for the better from book 3, it will be a good sign, because the consensus is that it’s the one where story and characterization take flight. Happy reading!!!! 🙂

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  3. Ola: Gaunt’s Ghosts! I hope you like it 🙂 I’ve been having a great time with them.

    Pio: You stamp your books? Even if you keep them for your whole life, what about the people who might own them after you’ve died? See, it is short sighted people like you who are going to destroy our planet and make the sun go out! 😉

    Both: Have fun with W&W. Maybe having something focused will get Pio to write just a wee bit more?

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    1. I actually like them very much – just finished the first book today! 😀 I also started Brother Cadfael mysteries, and I’m hooked 😉 There is something very serene to read about mysterious murders in 12th century England… 😀
      Thanks! It’s such a nice event, and hopefully it will help us keep our reading and reviews flow! You never felt inclined to try? I know you don’t need the motivation, having plenty of your own, and an iron will to boot, but W&W definitely looks like fun 🙂

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      1. Excellent. If you like the first book, I think the series will hold up just fine.

        Best of luck with cadfael. I think my average read for the series was 3 stars? By the end of the series I was definitely fatigued though. I think that some extra “spacing” would have helped 😀

        I just don’t understand the appeal of doing some made up event online. I see people doing this type of thing all the time and it really seems to get them going but I look at it and go “why?” I know part of it is that I shy away from group things, even virtually. Another thing would probably be my automatic reaction of “nobody tells me what or how to read!” It might also just be that I’m cantankerous enough 😀

        Honestly though, I think the biggest part is that things like this would interfere with my own reading. I’d feel pressured to make books fit into categories and stuff. Or that it might interfere with my reading order. This rotation thing has worked for 3+ years for me (I haven’t had a real reading slump this entire time) and I can’t believe how great it is working. I don’t want to mess it up in any way 😀

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        1. I enjoyed the first Cadfael novel, the second, which I’m reading now, I enjoy a tad less already – I love the subtle sarcasm but I feel there is a very discernible and repetitive plot pattern in the series – and I was never a fan of that! 😉

          As for W&W, I get what you’re saying. But apart from the fact that it’s nice to play with others from time to time I think W&W has a certain motivating factor for us (hopefully for Piotrek! 😂)

          I’m so glad your reading plan is working so well! I understand why you wouldn’t want to change it. 😄

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          1. Ahhh, if a plot pattern disagrees with you, you might want to space out your readings a bit more then.

            What is the motivating factor for you? I’m always interested in hearing what gets people to do these kinds of things. Because even while I don’t understand, I like to be empathetic and I can’t if I have zero idea of the why’s and whatnots.

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            1. Good advice! That’s why I finished Gaunt in the meantime! Makes for a significant variety in my recent reading 😂

              Hmm for me it’s mostly the fact that I read much more than I review – I review maybe 1 book in 8 that I read. And the ones that I omit are usually the medium ones that didn’t make too much impression either way; pleasant but not awe-inspiring and not without faults. So this is a chance for me to actually try to write reviews of whatever comes my way, in the order I actually read it. I’m curious how it will turn out – especially that most of my recent reviews covered SF and not fantasy 😉

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              1. Variety in reading is an absolute must! Even within genre, having a variety is so important.

                Thanks for explaining. I knew you didn’t review every book, but i had no idea it was such a big ratio. Is that because of time or because you like to have reviews that take up a megapost?

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                1. Yes, totally.

                  A bit of both, I think. Mostly the time, and given the choice between reading and writing I will always choose reading 😉 but I also find that I’m more happy writing reviews of books that stay with me for a while after I read them. So, fast-food books that are quickly consumed and equally quickly gone usually don’t merit an in-depth review, and in-depth, megapost reviews are the kind that I enjoy writing the most 😀

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                    2. Just watch out for doing multiple reviews in one post. It makes finding them in a couple of years rather hard :-/
                      I know this from sad experience, hence why I’m putting every single “review” into it’s own post…

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                    3. Good advice – thanks! 🙂

                      You’re like this grumpy old master of blog-fu sitting somewhere on a windswept mountain peak and judiciously bestowing nuggets of wisdom on his wide-eyed apprentices – or flinging your empty bowl at them if they do something stupid 😀

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                    4. Hahahahahaha! You flatter me 😀
                      And Mrs B laughs and said she loved your comment. High praise indeed.

                      Most of these “nuggets” are what I have found out the hard way. If you had mentioned some of these things to me even 10 years ago (forget 20), I wouldn’t have thought it was necessary or think that I’d ever use it. Just goes to show that wisdom does indeed go with age.

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                    5. 😄
                      You deserve that praise! And I’m really grateful for your support, ongoing and unwavering and fiercely caring for all your purposefully gruffy demeanor 😉

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    2. piotrek

      Thanks!

      My Ex Libris will make them appreciate the book even more 🙂 It’s beautiful & a proof it belonged to a distinguished individual 🙂

      I’ll… try to write more, but it’s difficult for me to find time lately… there will definitely be a two-shot, I’ll try to do sth else also…

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      1. YES! Now that’s the kind of ego I can appreciate!!! 😀

        No pressure to write more, I just wanted to know if I should adjust my expectations upwards. I guess I’ll just have no Great Expectations 😉

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  4. SO glad that y’all are joining in the fun! 😀
    I love Robin McKinley’s The Hero and the Crown. It’s one of my favorite books and I absolutely love McKinley’s writing.

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    1. Our literary tastes seem more and more aligned 😉 I would love to read your review of The Name of the Wind (though it was actually one of the few books I DNF’d, it was so bad for me, so I don’t wish that experience on you! 😂)

      McKinley’s The Hero and the Crown is an absolute delight, and actually the review of it is one of the first I put on our blog 😊

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      1. Lol! It does seem that way 😀 That’s good. Then I’ll get some great book recs from you 🙂
        I’ll see how Name of the Wind goes. My curiosity about it is high.

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        1. And vice versa! 😀
          Yes, mine too! 😉 I’ll be eagerly looking forward to reading your review of The Name of the Wind. I wonder if you’ll have more forgiveness for Kvothe than I did 😂

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        1. I’ll definitely check your post!
          Heh, it’s usually this way. I learned some time ago to curb my enthusiasm a bit and try to find compromise between my reading wishes and reality 😉 but I still find myself with a much too long TBR 😅

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        1. This is so beautiful!
          I’m sure you have to be selective when you need to glue every Ex Libris in, but I think it’s a great idea that you mark this way the books that are precious to you in some way.
          Out of curiosity, did Astrid Lindgren or Tove Jansson books get some of your Ex Libris plates? 🙂

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            1. Thank you for the link, I just visited your post and slobbered all over your books 😉
              Between Piotrek and you I started thinking of my own book collection and ways I think about my books 🙂

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              1. I have spent way too much time thinking about my books in the last few years 🙂 A few international moves (back and forth between Norway and Sweden) led me to reconsider which books I needed. I no longer want a library that is a random collection of all the books I have ever owned but want only the books I reread, use or have some fond memories of (that is, lots of them but not all). And of course a few shelves of books from genres such as classic crime, where I love the genre but rarely have a strong memory of a specific title, just making sure that I keep a nice selection of them if I want to reread…

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  7. I’m still laughing at the discrete attempts to get Piotrek to post more hahahah I do hope we’ll get to see more of your posts though. I miss those historically-heavy, military-full reviews you used to do. 😉

    Glad to see you two participating in this one. It’s definitely nice to celebrate fantasy in this way just for the heck of it. It’ll also give me more books to add to my evergrowing TBR. 😉

    Looking forward to that Adrian Tchaikovsky novella review. I feel like he’s definitely an author that I just need to try out ASAP. Same for that Gaiman book. I’ve heard good things about that one in particular for the insights he shares on writing.

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    1. Yeah, very subtle, huh? 🤣

      Thanks! We do pin some small hopes on it as a motivation factor, but mostly it’s just fun! And the long lists of as-yet-unread books 😀

      Tchaikovsky’s novella review will be up on the blog on the 13th May. You see? I already reached a milestone and planned stuff on the blog two weeks in advance! 😂😂😂

      Yes, I’m pretty interested in what Piotrek will say about that Gaiman book myself!

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        1. Yeah, even before it was written! 😜
          I’ll have you know, though, that there are some reviews waiting to be written on books I’ve read over two years ago 😂😂😂

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