What a fun topic! This week we had to pick authors that should pair up and write a book together. This was a fun one to scour my shelves for. The only problem is that now I really, really want these books to exist. Which is kind of difficult, since half of the authors I picked are dead. . .​

Sarah Addison Allen & Georgette Heyer
Heyer's Regency England setting would be a very interesting combination with Allen's magical realism.

Another beautiful fall weekend here in Michigan! And I'm gearing up for a busy week ahead, mostly because I have to make sure to stay on top of everything. Saturday is Dewey's 24-hour Read-a-thon, and I need a clear schedule! This is one of my favorite days of the year!

Top Ten Tuesday - Bookish Things I Want to Quit
​Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer (Oh my goodness, I would love to have Sophy as a friend!)

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner (Stone me if you must, but WHY is this book considered a classic??)

The Real Boy by Anne Ursu (Loved Breadcrumbs, looking forward extremely to this next book of hers!)

I usually wait a few days before writing a review of a book. I like to let the dust settle, allow my initial reactions to form themselves into coherent thoughts. But I couldn’t wait that long with this book. It’s been no more than half an hour since I finished reading, but I had to get my feelings out somehow! So the following thoughts may be slightly less than coherent.

Ruin and Rising is the third book of a YA trilogy. I’m not a huge reader of YA novels, mostly because of the angst and drama they usually include. Also because I am sick of the whole dystopian thing. It’s been done. And if you don’t have anything new to add to it, then let’s just leave it alone for awhile. But Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha series isn’t really dystopian. It stands apart from a lot of YA out there, mostly because of its Russian-flavored setting. It’s refreshing and different, and gives you a whole new realm of culture and history to explore.

The plot is full of twists I never saw coming. I love it when I think a book is predictable, and then it makes all of my expectations crumble into dust. There are quite a few characters to keep track of, but they are all unique and full of personality. Bardugo includes just the right amount of comic relief, usually in the dialogue between her characters. And the comic relief seems to come naturally from the characters and their interactions, instead of feeling forced into the story. Since this is the third book in a trilogy, a lot is expected of it. And Bardugo most certainly delivers.
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When I read the last page of Ruin and Rising, my overwhelming feeling was a desire to start back at book one and read the entire series through again. I reread books I like fairly often, but there are very few series I can think of that have produced such a desire in me. Harry Potter, of course. The Chronicles of Narnia. The Anne of Green Gables books. All of the series, in other words, that I would classify as some of my favorite reads of all time. Now I’m not sure I’m quite willing to add the Grisha series to that category. But I can say with certainty that I will be rereading this series in the future. Maybe even more than once.

Find it on:​ Goodreads  |  Amazon  |  Better World Books

Tough topic, this one. I love reading. What could I possibly want to quit about it? Something tells me I may be surprised. . . Let's give it a try. I want to quit:​

- Buying books I will never read.
- Letting books I want to read languish on my shelves while I read library books.
- Feeling guilty about not finishing a series (or five).
​- Setting a daily page goal for myself - and feeling bad when I don't reach it.
- Choosing to play games on my phone instead of reading.
- Stressing myself out over finishing all of the reading challenges I over-committed myself to.
​- Over-committing myself to reading challenges.
- Keeping books on my shelves that I've already read and know that I will never reread.
- Buying only from the bargain shelves at Barnes & Noble, instead of springing for the full-priced book I really want.
- Stalling on starting a Little Free Library. I've got two bags of books ready to go. Let's do this!

So, basically my list boils down to the fact that I want to quit feeling guilty about reading. Who knew I had so much that I could feel guilty about? So I'm done feeling guilty. I'm ready to take back the enjoyment!

Fall is here! Our 80 degree days have been replaced by 50 degree ones. Much too quickly. That's just what happens in Michigan! :​) Now the trees are started to turn colorful. I love this season!

Top Ten Tuesday - Books to Read If You Like Zany Authors
​Third Quarter Wrap-Up
Modernizing Emma (My thoughts on the Austen Project's version of Emma)

The Monopolists: Obsession, Fury, and the Scandal Behind the World's Favorite Board Game by Mary Pilon (Who knew Monopoly had such a background? Very interesting!)

The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer (Have I mentioned before that I love Georgette Heyer? It's still true!!)

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner (Time to start making some progress on my Classics Club list again!)

Jane Austen has been one of my all-time favorite authors since I discovered her in high school. I have read and reread her books so many times that I've lost count. I can't say that Emma is my favorite book of hers, but I always enjoy Austen's customary wit and the vivacity of Emma's character.

My adoration of Austen has kept me away for the most part from spin-offs and "sequels" and retellings. I'd rather let the original stand on its own. But the Austen Project's concept of modern retellings intrigued me. If any of Austen's books would work in a modern version, it would be Emma.

So this summer, I reread Austen's Emma for the umpteenth time and also tried Alexander McCall Smith's modern version. I loved the original as much as ever. Unsurprisingly, I can't quite say the same about Smith's version. Here are some of my thoughts:​

- It has to be extremely difficult and pressure-packed to retell such a beloved book by such a beloved author. Props to Smith for attempting it in the first place. And honestly, he did a pretty good job.
- Almost the entire first half of novel was devoted to background - things that happened before the narration of Austen's Emma even starts. Smith gave plausible backstories for all of the characters that made sense with Austen's original characterizations, but also worked in the 21st century.
- Spending the first half of the book on background resulted in the second half (the events actually from Austen's Emma) being really rushed and not as fully developed as they could have been.
- I rather disagree with his characterization of Miss Taylor. She seemed to be a very different person in Smith's book than in Austen's.
​- I loved Emma. Even though she was just as meddlesome, her vivacity was contagious. I would have loved to have been friends with her (if she would keep her nose out of my business, that is).
- I'm not sure the whole Knightley-Emma romance makes sense in the 21st century. Maybe it would if more time had been given to developing their relationship, but it just seemed very unlikely to happen in modern times.
- No spoilers here, but Smith changed the ending just a little bit. That was pretty bold, in my opinion.
- I may have enjoyed Smith's version more if I hadn't just read Austen's original. Every detail was too fresh in my brain, and I was able to be hyper-critical of the little things. And while the little changes didn't bother me too much, I probably wouldn't even have noticed them if I hadn't just finished Austen's. Just something to keep in mind if you choose to read this version.

Overall, I was glad I read Alexander McCall Smith's version of Emma. Considering what a task this is, it was well done. There were a few choices I didn't like, but nothing that made me want to throw the book against the wall. And from an Austen purist like me, that's quite a compliment!

And here we are in fall already! Library season is finally over for me. I returned my last library book from the summer earlier this week. I made it through a lot of books this summer! But now I'm excited to start reading from my own shelves again.

​Books read: 48
Pages read: 13,810
Fiction: 81%
Nonfiction: 19%
Male authors: 44%
Female authors: 56%
Audiobooks: 4%

Favorite book this quarter:​ I have to pick two again. For fiction, The Royal We by Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan. For nonfiction, Because I Said So!​ by Ken Jennings. But honestly, this list could be about 10 books long.

​Reading Challenge Progress
Mount TBR: 31/36       86%
I Love Library Books: 61/36       169%
Birthday Month: 7/12       58%
Hard Core Re-Reading: 16/10       160%
What's In a Name?: 6/6       100%
Color Coded: 7/9       78%
Victorian Bingo: 3/5       60%
Reading England: 8/6       133%
Around the World in 12 Books: 9/12       75%
European: 6/5       120%
Chunkster: 8/5       160%
Alphabet Soup: 24/26       92%
Authors A to Z: 19/26       73%
Nonfiction: 20/16       125%
Newbery: 34/30 points       113%

Hmm. Well. I seem to have gone a little overboard with some of these challenges. But at least it makes finishing the rest of them seem manageable! In fact, I explored my shelves thoroughly yesterday, searching for the books I needed to finish up the rest of my challenges. I think I found everything I need except for a book with "white" in the title. Anyone have any suggestions?