Thank you Spring!

We are having some really nice weather after a terribly long, cold winter. It's not been warm of enough for me to actually start seedlings, but it's been warm enough for me to start planning spring plantings and thinking off all things that need to be done in preparation for Spring and Summer.

I might even be able to sit outside and read later today!

On the topic of reads, I enjoyed Unnatural Fire by Fidelis Morgan but it wasn't nearly as good as it's sequel The Rival Queens. I read them in the wrong order, finding the first disappointing in comparison to the second book. The situations in the first weren't nearly as memorable and the characters were not nearly as engaging as both were in the second piece. I'm glad I read the second one first or I might not have gotten to the second, better one.

The characters were not realistically foolish. I know that sounds like an oxymoron, but the story was too much like the common comedy of manners. The characters were just too dense. Furthermore, with the exception of a character named Betty I had no connection with the characters. In other words, when they inevitably die their deaths result in nothing more than a dull thud. The apparent villains are not attractive and are gravely flawed. The place and voice of the story were lacking the same delicious quality that the second book had. It wasn't easy to laugh with the story, nor were the descriptions of period London as well wrought. I'm only tempted to keep it because I'm rather fond of the author's second book.