Celeste, Author at A Literary Escape

SciFi Month: Space Opera

Published on November 4, 2022November 1, 2022 by Celeste4 Comments

For my first foray into the world of SciFi Month prompts (aside from my November hopefuls), today’s is about the space opera subgenre. I had not heard about this subgenre until about one or two months ago. So, in case you’re like me, here’s a great definition from Wikipedia:

Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes science fictional space warfare, with use of melodramatic, risk-taking space adventures, relationships, and chivalric romance. Set mainly or entirely in outer space, it features technological and social advancements (or lack thereof) in faster-than-light travel, futuristic weapons, and sophisticated technology, on a backdrop of galactic empires and interstellar wars with fictional aliens, often in fictional galaxies.

Some well known space operas are Star Wars and the updated Battlestar Galactica show. Today, however, I’m featuring a book marketed as a space opera. (I’ll be surprised if I’m the only one to mention this book today!) It just so happens that this will be my first jump back into a scifi book in well over a year. At the time I’m scheduling this post I haven’t technically started it yet, but I plan to very shortly!

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November 2022 Hopefuls

Published on November 2, 2022November 1, 2022 by Celeste15 Comments

Well, folks, it’s November. Yes, November. No, it’s not time for Mariah Carey Christmas songs. I said what I said. Not until after Thanksgiving, and even then I don’t want to hear it more than once per day. Though, if I’m being honest, even that’s too often.

Moving on! I read 3 out of the 5 books on my October TBR, which is great considering I traveled for 2 weeks out of the month. For November my TBR list is more like a list of “November Hopefuls.” I’m using this month to try to read all three of my BBNYA final round assignments. Anything else I’m able to finish will be a bonus.

There are quite a few November challenges going on: NetGalley November; SciFi Month, organized by Lisa at Dear Geek Place and Imyril at There’s Always Room For One More; and Norsevember (though, I’m not sure if this one is officially on this year?). Since I can’t share what my three BBNYA books are, here’s a list of my hopefuls that I picked to fall within these challenges. Though most of the books listed below fall under NetGalley November, I’m going to try to lowkey join SciFi Month since I had so much fun during its sister event, Wyrd and Wonder.

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Monthly Book Blog Wrap-Up: October 2022

Published on November 1, 2022December 1, 2022 by Celeste4 Comments

As you may (or may not) know, I took an international vacation in October for this first time since February 2020. My husband and I have a tradition of going on a big trip abroad each year. So this was our first one in a while. I felt a little rusty packing and doing all the things one does in an airport. We went to Switzerland first for a week followed by a second week in southern France.

In Switzerland we spent nearly all of our time in and around the Lauterbrunnen valley, which apparently inspired Tolkien’s Rivendell. So that was a fun fact to learn. The mountains there are gorgeous and we got super lucky that the clouds held off, for the most part, at the top of the ones we wanted to visit. In France we stayed in Orange and did various day trips from there. We tasted Rhone valley wines, took a scenic bike ride, and visited a lot of Roman ruins.

The only downer is that we paid the “travel tax” in the end. After evading THE THING for 2.5 years, we caught it despite our masking precautions and eating outdoors everywhere. However, as of writing this, what made me feel bad was actually a co-infection of strep throat. (So when you see those headlines saying people are now getting co-infections, hi, it’s me, I’m the problem, it’s me. See what I did there?) Trying to get a doctor’s appointment was interesting because even their virtual appointments were booked 5 days out. So that was a whole other thing, but in the end I got a house call and some antibiotics. So I guess that’s a new thing now?

Anyway, let’s talk book stuff…

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BBNYA 2022 Spotlight Tour: A Star Named Vega by Benjamin J. Roberts

Published on October 31, 2022October 28, 2022 by CelesteLeave a comment

This year, the Book Bloggers’ Novel of the Year Award (BBNYA) is celebrating the 50 books that made it into Round Two with a mini spotlight blitz tour for each title. BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 15 finalists and one overall winner. If you want some more information about BBNYA, check out the BBNYA Website or take a peek over on Twitter @BBNYA_Official. BBNYA is brought to you in association with the @Foliosociety (if you love beautiful books, you NEED to check out their website!) and the book blogger support group @The_WriteReads.

Today’s semifinalist spotlight tour is for A STAR NAMED VEGA by Benjamin J. Roberts.

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All About Halloween Book Tag

Published on October 30, 2022October 27, 2022 by Celeste4 Comments

I’ve never done a Halloween book tag before. (I mean, my blog has only been around for 1.5 years, so big surprise!) However, I saw this one on Books are 42‘s blog and it looked like fun. It seems like this tag was created by CatFairyBooks, but it looks like their blog no longer exists.

If you’re interested in this tag, feel free to tag yourself! Allons-y!

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