Answers to the First Lines Challenge: [link]

As an FYI, when I sat down to finalize selections a month or so ago, I realized my reading selections made this next to impossible this year so I purposely started to read stuff I thought might be guessable. This included The Mirror & the Light, Rosemary's Baby, Women Talking, and The Woman in White, which were indeed among the seven guessed.

I can pretty much count on not being able to actually recognize any, even if I happen to have read them recently, but I can at least nod to myself and say "oh, right" when I see the answers. And be reminded that I bought The Mirror & the Light almost 2 years ago and haven't read it yet, so I should get on that. Which is to say, always a fun read, megan!

And be reminded that I bought The Mirror & the Light almost 2 years ago and haven't read it yet, so I should get on that. Which is to say, always a fun read, megan!

I started it years ago and knew it had a good first line, but that is one I've only just started again. (I loved The Woman in White but it took up most of the month!)

After reading At the Feet of the Sun (pink sparkly hearts, by the way) I decided I needed to reread a bunch of the oeuvre and am currently towards the beginning of Till Human Voices Wake Us and Raphael is Damian's son!?!? (And Pharia's, but I barely know who she is and what I do know may be wrong) And Fitzroy/His Radiance/etc seems to only know him as that nice young Lord of Ysthar. (I think I read everything in an order such that that fact didn't mean much of anything to me the first time I read it). I have so many questions!

Whoever suggested the ology books for kids a whole back, thank you! ltc has been reading Dragonology all morning, and now she is teaching her stuffed dragon the dragon language in the book.

The Ology books kick ASS! I love Pirateology.

I got in a mood to read some dark academia-themed stuff, so I recently read The World Cannot Give and Catherine House (I know I'm a little behind with Catherine House, but I'm behind with everything).

The World Cannot Give is basically "what if The Secret History, but with a boarding school choir?" I'm far from the only one to compare it to The Secret History, but it's a really fucking apt comparison. Even though it's really derivative, I liked it quite a bit.

I wanted to like Catherine House. Based on the description, it is right up my alley. I just think the world-building fell really really REALLY short, and the characterization was pretty flat, too. As a modern take on Bluebeard's castle, I get what it was doing, but it needed so much more heavy lifting in terms of the world-building and the characters.

Honestly, I think I just need to grab the OG dark academia book and re-read The Secret History (where everyone is a shithead but they're so fascinating anyway).

If you're feeling the Dark Academia jones, I'll note that Leigh Bardugo's sequel to Ninth House, which is titled Hell Bent, is now out.

And if you haven't read Ninth House I highly recommend it.

And if you haven't read Ninth House I highly recommend it.

I put it on hold at the library just the other day!

I put it on hold at the library just the other day!

Reading Ninth House I really appreciated Bardugo's honed storytelling expertise.

It's sort of like Suzanne Collins when she did Hunger Games, she had learned in the trenches how to tell a story that really moves.

Bardugo's long experience in YA paid off in her pacing and structure. It's not rushed and it does give plenty of room for the characters to breath and their dynamics grow. But as she shifts gears in the second half she drives the story hard and it pays off again and again. Just really well crafted.