A Tag and Books

Hi everyone.
I want to start today's post with a tag for the Christmas  challenge at Tag Tuesday

My holiday stamps are packed away in a box in my attic, not to see the light of day until probably October. But when I cleaned my happy place I found a shoebox with some ancient foam stamps. So I stamped some red dots and with a tree stamp I stamped some green trees. I then outlined the trees and added some gold and silver dots just to make them look like the holiday. And luckily I had a booklet of TH stickers out, so I added Mr. Claus and the quotes.

It is also that time to post my monthly book post for those of you who like book posts. It may not seem like I read and listened to a lot of books during July, but I was into big books. Three of these books were over 500 pages.

Also these books are not in any particular order, but I must say I enjoyed every book this month.

This is the last book I finished.

Thanks to Alison for mentioning it.  I like historical mysteries, and I have heard of the Cathars of Southern France but did not know much about them. There is also suspense, mysterious rings and books, the Holy Grail,  characters in both 2005 and in the 1200s in this novel. It very slightly reminded me of a Dan Brown book, but only very slightly. It definitely has its own fantastic style.  I really enjoyed this fast paced story that connects the present (well 2005 when it was written) with the time of the Cathers. I will be reading book 2 in this trilogy.

I sort of wish I hadn't read this book, Jaws,  again in the summer (even though it was a good, if not slightly dated story). There was recently a fatal White Shark death off the coast of Maine, and seeing we go boating on the ocean, hmm. It makes you think twice about jumping in to cool off. I read this book decades ago. And I watch the movie every summer since it is a favorite of mine. But this year I had the urge to reread it. 

What I didn't remember is the differences between the book and movie. And the book definitely is dated but does it make you think about the US politics  with sharks in this book and the Federal Government's policy with the Corona virus now.

And I recently finished listening to this book, The Mists of Avalon.  It was really long-51 hours. The book is broken down into 4 smaller books, and I had listened to the first 2 awhile ago, so in July,  I actually only listened to the 24 hours of the last 2 books. This is a really well written story, and I am glad I listened to it. The characters are really well developed with a lot of depth. Morgaine, Genevieve, King Arthur, the Romans, the Druids, the Christians are all there, (as well as many others), and it is a peak into what it could have been like during this time period when the Romans left and Christianity was coming into its own place in Wales, Cornwall and England.  One critique I read said this book makes you feel like you were there at this time period, and that is so true. This is the King Arthur story from the female perspective.
I haven't read a lot of books that are considered fantasy, but this is one I had heard about over the years and decided to give it a try.
I have to say I will add it to one of my best books based on the writing and the depth of the story.

Now my shortest book this month was this fun also fantasy style story. I think it could be considered a teen book, but it was highly enjoyable. There are 3 high school friends, one who considered herself Cleopatra reincarnated. When she is murdered her other 2 friends get to go on an archeological dig in Egypt trying to discover some ancient Egyptian magic and help solve her murder. 

And my final book was one I listened to by Anne Rice. It is book 2 of the Mayfair Witches story. Last summer I read (for the third time) the Witching Hour, which is book one. The Witching Hour is a great mostly gothic style tale about the Mayfair family of New Orleans and the spectre who haunts them. The Witching Hour introduces the characters which are in book 2, although book 2 does introduce some new characters. But by book 2, the spectre has become a living thing.

I had never read the rest of trilogy, and decided it was time to read/listen to  book 2. This story is not as Gothic and perhaps a lot more horrifying, with even some gory parts. But I have to say it hooked me, and I had a hard time putting it down. I think it is because I became invested in the characters from book 1. I must say some parts could have been shorter, and instead of 28 hours long it could have told the story as successfully if it was 22 hours long.  I had to stop when I only had 12 minutes left in the book for some reason, but I knew that those 12 minutes were probably some of the most important in the book. And they were. Setting up of course the final book in the trilogy.

I'm not really a fan of a lot of horror stories but this one, although having some bloody parts, was more scary because of the fact that a spectral creature  became a living human. 

And now I am craving some mysteries and who knows what else might be read during August. 

Thanks for visiting!