Happy New Year!!

It's 2025. Time to make (and probably break) resolutions, and to see what the future holds. Many people are anxious, which I completely understand, but we can't let that anxiety stop us from being us.

My last year was a rough one. I got in a pretty bad accident in the summer, which resulted in a week long hospital stay, 5 procedures, and ongoing physical therapy on my hand and arm. But I'm ready for some normalcy. So back to the book cave. ^.^

While I have tried to post occasionally on Facebook or Instagram - mostly stories, quite a bit of time has passed since my last post on here (plus a lot has changed since this blog started in 2011), so I'm going to do a bit of a re-introduction for anyone just recently finding their way here, due to things like Threads or Bluesky.

"Who is PaperbackGoddess?" you may be wondering. I am just a normal, book loving nerd. My kids are mostly grown now, with the youngest being 16. I still enjoy sewing and crafting. I make silly things that I sell on my Etsy store. I still love anime, but now it shares screen time with assorted Asian dramas (mostly Taiwanese). I haven't gotten to do nearly as much cosplay since the move to upstate NY in 2022, but I am hoping to change that this year, because I miss it. I also miss planning and organizing events, but it's probably for the best that I stepped back from most of those due to the physical strain that caused. I am still an ordained Priestess, and I hope to start booking weddings again when I no longer look like I got punched in the face with a truck. As I have always said, there is no greater feeling than being able to unite two people who are deeply in love. 

In what spare time I have - which has been a lot lately since I have been unable to work - I read. I love reading. Reading a book is an escape, an exploration, a trip that you don't have to leave home for. I have so many books - mostly in boxes since I don't have enough shelves. I am active on PaperbackSwap and have a giant wish list. If you join there, add me as a referral and it will add you to my friends list! I am also active on Goodreads and TheStoryGraph, where I am currently hosting a Buddy Read and participating in about 11 reading challenges. You can see the challenges I am participating in on my profile. Join in with me!

My favorite genres to read are historical fiction, fantasy, and regency romance, but I read all kinds of things - from mysteries and ChickLit to new age and metaphysics books.

My reviews cover many different types of books. So if you have been looking for a new read, hopefully I can suggest something that suits your tastes. I promise to do my best to avoid spoilers.

As always, I am excited for the opportunity to share my literary experiences with others and to hear other people's opinions and have great discussions on the books that we read. So stop in any time and please feel free to interact!

Best Laid Plans

Sometimes you make plans and sometimes those plans don't work out how you intend. Take my weekend for example. This weekend I went out and did Antique Alley - a 3 day bazaar / trade show and my first vendor event in like 18 months. It didn't go as well as I would have hoped. But more notably, it really threw a wrench in my posting schedule.

I typically pre-set my posts. I will make a "shell" post, with graphics and book details and then go in and add the meaty bits (typically labelled as the "My Thoughts" segments) after I am done reading the book, but before the post goes live. But this past weekend that didn't happen, and I had two posts go up missing a significant part of the post. One post was only an image.

Oops.

When I got to the market location on Thursday night, I discovered that I had no internet signal where I was, so I was unable to upload the information I had for Friday's review of The Lawrence Browne Affair. Later, when I got somewhere with wi-fi and dug out my laptop to do so, a surge from the power strip I plugged it into fried something. So I am now down a laptop. One that also had my Monday review of Once Upon Stilettos on it. Which meant that the post for that went up blank as well.

I got back home late Monday and had to re-write both of those entries. So the good news is that they are now corrected. The bad news is that I am still down a laptop that I probably can't afford to fix any time soon, and that there were other pending reviews on it that I now have to re-write.

R.I.P Laptop by TheEditorMLP on DeviantArt

Which is why there was no review today. I shuffled my last few scheduled posts for the month so that I have time to correct them. So review posting should resume as normal on Friday.

If you visited hoping to read my Friday or Monday post, please check them again. They are now properly posted. I would love to discuss these books and hear your opinions in the comments!

What's this? A post! Also, check out this show!

I know, I haven't posted in like a million years. Or, more specifically, 8 years. When I started blogging, I absolutely loved it. But I was dealing with other outside factors and, after a while, trying to keep the deadlines felt like a chore. So I slowed down. At first I felt bad about it. But then I read a post from a fellow blogger that I followed who was experiencing the same thing, and it helped remind me that my mental health was the most important thing and that it was okay to step away. So I did, in a big way. A while back I created a Facebook page and I have been posting tidbits there occasionally. I am hoping to slowly come back to posting media reviews here, once I am comfortably in the headspace to be reading more. But for now, I had something that I really wanted to share:

Today I had the opportunity to pre-screen the first episode of Netflix's newest superhero themed offering - a show called Jupiter's Legacy. I grew up on superhero shows and comics, so I went into it with an objective stance, expecting to be critical of it but still having high hopes. Honestly, it did not disappoint.

Jupiter's Legacy is a true modern superhero show, with plenty of pop culture references, social commentary, and just enough humor to not make it overly dramatic. The show centers on your typical dysfunctional family - but if they were supers. The parents are the standard good guy, slightly overbearing parents, and look really good for their 120-ish year age (though the "silver hair means old while having the skin of a 40-something" thing is always meh). The kids carry some of the common millennial/gen z tropes, but not enough to be annoying yet. The cast is diverse, the costumes are colorful, and the sets are impressive.

Seriously, the costuming is on point. Super suits and
"flashback scene" fashion alike.

This show is definitely not for the younger kids. There is quite a bit of "bad language", mentions of drug usage, and LOTS of violence. The action scenes are a little more graphically violent (some gore) than I usually like, but not to the degree to put me off. Some people may be a little more squeamish at a few scenes. Aside from the action, the rest of the story is detailed and intriguing. It's not too difficult to follow, even with the regular shifting between the past and the current. They are a bit light on exposition, but since it is a series I suppose that is forthcoming. Overall, I look forward to watching and seeing how it progresses.

You can catch #JupitersLegacy on Netflix starting on May 7, 2021.

Further Notes:
There is a warning at the beginning of the episode about strobing lights. I watched on my phone in a well lit room and, having only minor photosensitivity, it wasn't bad. However, if you have photosensitivity, be cautious watching it on a large screen in the dark, as there are several scenes with strobing or flashing lights, like above.

CW // Suicide

Yale University Press Sale!

There is a sale on Yale University Press books right now over at One Kings Lane, so be sure to check it out! The sale ends some time Saturday - or whenever they sell out (which they often do) - so check it out soon.

One Kings Lane offers $15 off $30 purchase when you join thru 

THIS LINK.

I have been following sales on One Kings Lane for a while now. Most frequently, they offer closeouts of designer brand housewares and furnishings at a percentage of the original cost. They also have a clearance section with some really great steals, though it is on hiatus for the holiday shopping season and has been replaced with the Gifts sales:

If you are looking for a classy gift for someone, the section of gifts under $50 has some really pretty serving ware and candles for a good price. This sale ends some time Friday, and shipping is guaranteed by Christmas.