Xepherus Reads

Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons!   The thing about blogging is that it should be a fun time for the individual (or individuals if you wish to share your spotlight).  It should come to the writer naturally: you have an opinion or wish to tell people about something that you have tried or done. Blogs come in many different formats. I chose the written word, because I tend to have little time to make videos. As the years began to go forward my free time tended to be shortened due to work and life in general.    My second anniversary blogging will arrive on November 24 of this year. In 2016 (November and December) I blogged 18 times, testing the waters and my writing abilities. In 2016 I was working less hours and I began to devote my time to online business ventures, and I had a great deal of time to read and review what I had read. My blog posts swelled to 145 for that year. But once again my career in medicine has shifted, and I was ...

Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons !   Tuesday Talks is an wonderful group on Goodreads that is a weekly discussion forum created by BookTubers Janie Johnson and her pal, Janelle. It is a fun and active group to be a part of.    This week's question is: Does too much description kill a story?   My answer to this is yes and no. There are ways that a story can be ruined by an overly descriptive sy nopsis on the book's cover or dust jacket. And if a book's narrative is too descriptive, the story can also be ruined. I find that many authors overly describe scenes to the point where the story grinds to a halt. I do not need to know every color of green a blade of grass is that a character is walking on.    But I have also read books that breeze by description to the point where  you need to use your imagination in order to figure out a character's appearance, or a location's geography. These can be story killers , as well. It may b...

Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons !   Why do we hold ourselves to New Year's Resolutions? Is it because we feel that if we say it, we will achieve them?  Whatever the reason may be, sometimes resolutions actually do work.   With that being said, let's see how I have been doing in 2017 thus fa r. On January 3 of this year the Goodreads group, Tuesday Talks, had a question: "What are your bookish resolutions?" Here are my answers with their updates: 2017 Bookish Resolutions      Read no more than 3 books at a time- I actually have only managed this if two of the books are comic books. My month-long reading slump did not help this at all. But I have been lately motivated to read, which makes me excited. Get more books and book markers- This has not been difficult, since publishers have flooded the market with amazing books. I have snapped up many new hardcovers. As for bookmarks, the collection is growing and is now housed in a ...

Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons !   Tuesday Talks is an wonderful group on Goodreads that is a weekly discussion forum created by BookTubers Janie Johnson and her pal, Janelle. It is a fun and active group to be a part of.    This week's question is: What were your favorite books of 2016? My Favorite Book of the Year:   Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson My Favorite Re-Read: The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty The Book I Laughed the Most Through:   Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich  The Book I Read in One Sitting and Loved: The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker My Favorite Vacation Read: Curious Minds by Janet Evanovich and Phoef Sitton My Favorite Audiobook That I Listened To: Alien: Out of the Shadows Full Cast Production   Best Film Novelization That I Read: Star Wars the Force Awakens by Alan Dean Foster Best Memoir That I Read: This Time Together by Carol Burnett Have fun reading this week. Let me ...

Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons !   Top 5 Wednesday is a Goodreads Book Club that meets weekly to answer questions presented.  Our moderators are YouTubers, Lainey (GingerReadsLainey) and Samantha (ThoughtsOnTomes). I enjoy how every week this group brings the book community together. Great fun!   This week's question asks: What are your Top 5 Fictional Char acters that you would invite to a New Year's Eve Party? Ellen Ripley from Alien: Into the Shadows- Inviting Ripley to your party would be a wise move. She would b e a wesome sec urity. Rubeus Hagrid from Harry Potter- Lovable Hagrid would be fun to have around for New Year's. Just have enough food.  Lucky Santagelo from the Chances Series- Keep an eye on your man with Lucky around. She may be happily married, but some men do not care about that fact. Besides, Lucky would be a blast to have ring in the new year!  Tony Stark from Iron Man- Self-absorbed , yes. R ich, definite...

Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons !   Tuesday Talks is an wonderful group on Goodreads that is a weekly discussion forum created by BookTubers Janie Johnson and her pal, Janelle. It is a fun and active group to be a part of.    This week's question is:  What are the last books that you are reading for this year?   I have a few books on m y TBR list t hat I would love to get to that will round out my 2016. The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher- This memoir contains journal entries from when Fisher was starring as Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy. I cannot wait to r ead this. Like a River Glorious by Rae Carson- This is the second book in the Go ld seer Trilogy. It continues t he journey of Leah Westfall from Walk on Earth a Stranger. This historical fiction series was a great read with book one. Book two can only get better. Take down Twenty by Janet Evanovich- I love t he Stephanie Plum novels, and I want to read ...

Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons !   What happens in a reading year? There are infinite possibilities, and we never know what will transpire for us. This year I vowed to read fifty books, and I achieved that goal before the end of December. It was a path that had setbacks, reading slumps, and insane moments of adulting. But all in all it was a fun reading year. Here are some of my reading year highlights.... Number of Books Read: 50 Number of P ages R ead :   12, 047   Shortest Book Read: 9 Pages- Fashion on a Budget by April Salee Longest Book Read:   1232 Pages- He -Man and the Masters of the Universe Mini Comics Collection The Most Popular Book I Read: Harry Potter and t he Sorcerer's Stone with over 4 Million re views on Goodreads My Favorite Book of the Year:   Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson My Least Favorite Book: Dimiter by William Peter Blatty The Book I Laughed the Most Through :   Notorious Nineteen by Janet ...

Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons !   I hope that everyone had an amazing holiday. I am not even close to being sick of tur k ey and I even have more to eat from the freezer. And Black Friday shopping yielded amazing deals in pop culture for me, which helped my comic book collection. Now it is time to venture back in to reading and writing for this blog.   Have a great December, and check back here for some more bookish post s. Have fun reading this week. Let me know in the com ments below what you are reading.      Also please follow me on my social media platforms, and enjoy shopping with me at eBay and the Book Depository. I am also looking for contributions to open my business. Please visit my G oFundMe page if you wish to help me out .     Because there is always time to read,    Xepherus3  At Book Depository : http://www.bookdepository.com/?a_aid=Xepherus3  At eBay :  ...

Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons !   Tuesday Talks is an wonderful group on Goodreads that is a weekly discussion forum created by BookTubers Janie Johnson and her pal, Janelle. It is a fun and active group to be a part of.    This week's question is: What are the most infuriating characters that you have read? Uncle Hiram from Walk the Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson- this devious relative of heroine, Leah Westfall, murdered and cheated his way to the California Gold Rush of the late 1800s. His tactics were under-handed and deplorable. To read his narrative in this book made my skin crawl. King Victor from the Silver Blackthorn series by Kerry Wilkinson- this despotic tyrant lied to the people to become their leader. Then he systematically employed and murdered their children for his own pleasure. Heroine, Silver Blackthorn's rebellion against his tyranny made for one epic trilogy! Evari Chalis from Star Wars: Battlefront- Twilight Company ...