spill yourself at her feet

Happy September, all. And happy Mabon! That's technically tomorrow but we all know that entries two days in a row on this blog never happen.
Mabon: This is the second harvest festival, and celebrates the balance of light and dark. At Mabon we celebrate the abundance on our table and in our cupboards for the coming winter.
Vacation was . . . well, it was hectic. It was great to see my family and great to be out of the city, but it was a little stressful as well. I'm happy to be back in New York and settled back into my routine.
I have books to discuss!
23) The Kingdoms of Dust by Amanda Downum. This is the third in her Necromancer Chronicles, and I love this series. I love how flawed her characters are, and how vibrantly her settings come alive, and how the choices the characters have to make are never easy or black and white. Amanda, when are you going to write more books so I can devour them?? If you're a fan of fantasy, check out Amanda's work. She's a great writer.
24) Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire. This is the first book in her Incryptid series. As you all know, I ADORE her October Daye series, so I was excited to give this a shot. And I love the idea here. I love the story, and the cryptids, and the two opposing groups of the Covenant and the Price family . . . but I have to be honest, this didn't quite do it for me. I felt like the book was winking at me, a "Look how clever and funny I am!" sort of feeling. And there were a couple jokes that I felt were overused. Don't get me wrong, this is a well-written book, just like her other work. It's just not quite my cup of tea.
25) The Fault In Our Stars by John Green. People have been recommending this book to me for a couple years. Last year a friend pressed his copy on me, telling me I should read it. So I finally did. And you know what? It's a well-written book, with great characters full of depth. You know what else? It's depressing as all hell. Why didn't anyone warn me about THAT? It's cancer fiction! Which there's nothing wrong with, it's just not the type of thing I like to read. So I just powered through it. And really enjoyed a lot of the character interaction, and the sense of humor, and etc. But I knew form the beginning who was going to die, and spent the whole book tense, waiting for that. I can't enjoy books like this. It's extremely well done, and if you like books that make you sad, then check this one out. As for me . . . Well, I'll definitely read something less sad next.
I'm plugging along on editing my novel, thankfully. With the exception of the first half of chapter three, it's gone pretty well so far. We'll see if I can shift that into high gear so I can get through it and move on to the next novel(s). I also found a writing workshop that I want to attend next June; cross your fingers that I can manage it!
It's noon on a Saturday. I'm seeing a play at 3 p.m., which will be nice. I also have a list of things to get done, so I should probably get moving. Enjoy your Mabon weekend, everyone!