Doctor Who: 365 Days of Memorable Moments and Impossible Things (Richards)

Doctor Who: 365 Days of Memorable Moments and Impossible Things by Justin Richards (2016)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

A lot of Doctor Who trivia, much of it repetitive, organized into little bites by date, to fit the theme of a calendar. Smartly, it's not a calendar, as that would kill the book by the end of the year.

The book iteself says that it isn't something that should be read straight through. After trying that, I have to agree. The selection of dates of things is a little haphazard, and some things are just listed on days for no particular reason at all.

While it isn't a narrative, the book doesn't work as a reference, either. Nothing is crossed-referenced (I guess because of the calendar-ish nature), so when some episodes are topics are mentioned again, a lot of backstory has to be repeated.

Each entry ends with a list of things for that date, usually the year that an episode was first broadcast, when a particular actor or historical figure was born or died, when a character's birthday might've been if it was ever referenced. Some shows set in the past or future took place on specific dates, and those get referenced as well.

There were a bunch of references to the old shows that I didn't know, and some to shows that I either remember from long ago or have seen in recent years.

An interesting book, and also a library loan, which I had to take out twice because I needed to put it down a few times and read something else.

Principles of Zen Philosophy

Principles of Zen Philosophy by ... ( )

[NO IMAGE WILL BE POSTED]

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

I started to think of this book as being about "Zen-feld", because it was a book about nothing. Really, everything was nothing, and it seemed an advertisement for one branch of Zen or something. I got 20% or so through it and thought, "Why am I reading this?" It wasn't inspiring me. There was no helping of my self in any way.

I didn't want to start 2021 on a loss, so I waited until I posted a book I'd finished first to mention this one. It's only in the blog for completeness. It will have no tags.

Troll Hunter: Witch for Hire (Mason)

Troll Hunter: Witch for Hire
(Gretchen's (Mis)Adventures - Season One #0·5) by P. A. Mason (2020)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

I'm a little wary of books with many subtitles, but this is becoming the norm in these days of quick ebook publishing. I'm also not fond of the use of "Season" to describe entries in a series, unless it's actually about the seasons of the year or seasons of a TV show or similar.

I assumed the 0.5 meant this was some kind of prequel, or setup for the rest of the available books. In any case, there was a story here to be told. It might not have been the best-written, but it did it's job. I gave it 3 stars on Good Reads because I didn't think it was a two-star book. Some of the things I gave two stars to weren't very good.

It also contained Chapter 1 of the first book, which is a marketing gimmick, so I can't complain about that.

The story revolves around a witch named Gretchen, who makes potions. She has feline familiar named Mulligan, and a broom that doesn't always fly right. Plus, there's a weird spell book. She spends a lot of time down at the pub, owned by a sick, dying dwarf, where the riff raff hang out.

She gets hired by the town to get rid of a troll under the bridge, which is feeding on people's livestock. No one else wants the job. She manages to make a potion, with the help of the spell book, but by accident, the troll becomes "enchanted". I'm not sure if that's the correct term, but that's the one used. The troll becomes self-aware, developing a more of human intelligence instead of operating on a more animalistic level. Basically, it became a player character race.

Enchanted creatures have rights, so they can't chase him off any more. But Jurgen becomes Gretchen's responsibility. The troll isn't welcome at home any more, nor does he like that way of living. But he's still a troll, and people don't like him. He gets a temporary job with the silversmith, doing heavy lifting in the back, but after an allergic reaction, he winds up working at the pub.

Gretchen starts working at the pub, the Salt and Bog, because the dwarf needs help. And when the roof of cabin falls in (due to excessive water damage), she moves into the pub as well.

There's another witch, Nora, and a girl who wants a love potion so that the silversmith will fall in love with her. He's such a catch that every mother would want him for their daughters, and yet he turns them all down. Gee, wonder why (that's not really a mystery at all). And everything works out in the end, including Gretchen getting her house fixed.

I don't see myself getting the boxed set of the next "seasons". Also, this was one of the books I downloaded while looking for books with gnomes. I don't remember the gnomes. They might've been there, but if so, nothing about them stuck out in my mind that I remember them a day after finishing the book.

A Very Beechwood Christmas (Garrett)

A Very Beechwood Christmas:
Four Festive Magic Mini Mysteries from Beechwood Harbor by Danielle Garrett (2019)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

I downloaded this around Christmastime and started it in 2020, but I had to put it aside becasuse I had library books to finish. Of all things, I found it because I was searching for books with gnomes. I was thinking of writing something, and I wanted to see how other people handled them.

Well, there are gnomes here, but they aren't really the focus of the book.

Beechwood Harbor, and Beechwood Manor, are home to witches, "shifters", ghosts, and other supernatural individuals, as well as regular people who don't know that they are there. It's a haven, of sorts (not to be confused with Haven from the show, but that could be a comparison). There is a series of more than a dozen of these mysteries. I wouldn't be adverse to revisiting some of them. The downside is that I didn't always feel like I knew the characters, like maybe there was stuff I should've know. Like when you tune into a random new TV show midseason.

For once, i downloaded something free that wasn't painful to read. I liked the writing style, even if some things didn't afree with what an editor or two has told me.

The main character is Holly Boldt, although I forgot that early on, becuase her name is rarely mentioned in the first story. Keep in mind, I primarily read at bedtime, so it's a little bit from night to night, usually. The stories are connected, but they get told from different points of view. After two parts of Holly, it switches to Nick, a private detective. After that, there's the tale of a ghost cat. And someone else, a ghost whisperer (I'll edit this later). And back to Holly for what's basically an epilogue.

The story starts with learning that Santa is real, and that he's coming to Beechwood Harbor this year to soak up Christmas magic to power the sleigh and operations for the holiday trip and for the coming year. It's an annual tour of different havens around the globe. Folks in the supernatural community are excited and rolling out the welcome wagon.To regular folk, he's just another mall Santa with some rented reindeer.

Unfortunately, some rabid gnomes get loose and start messing up the town. The gnomes, it turns out, were having a bad reaction to some sweets. This leads into the next story where it seems that someone is trying to ruin Christmas, or at least prevent Santa from gathering the needed magic. This is foiled, but were our heroes too late?

And so it goes from one narrator to the next, and back to Holly. The first four would be the mysteries. The fifth and sixth are just for fun to close out the story. You can't lead all the way up to Christmas Eve with Santa and then just drop it. You need to know what happens next? How was the ride? And what will Christmas morning bring?

It was a fun book for the holiday. If I were the type to reread books, I might do that in December.