Random Musings on Blogoversaries, Nora Roberts and ‘Agricola’

It was my first blogoversary on Saturday and I forgot all about it! My first year of blogging has been great fun for the most part and I can see myself continuing for at least another year or so.

One advantage to blogging has been discovering so many fabulous new-to-me blogs and getting excellent book recommendations. My TBR pile has never been higher, and the quality of the books I read has never been better. As I don’t have access to a library with a large collection of books in English, I buy almost all the books I read, which makes me particularly fussy about the ones I choose. Therefore, I’m very grateful to the readers who take the time to write reviews, and to all the others who chime in on comment threads.

One disadvantage to blogging has been negative interaction with a couple of my fellow bloggers, one of whom I had previously had a lot of respect for. I guess the blogosphere is a microcosm of real life. I don’t like everyone and not everyone is going to like me. C’est la vie. Plus I’ve reached the conclusion that the vast majority of the online kerfuffles are a load of crap, and I couldn’t be arsed involving myself in most of them.

When I started Monkey Bear Reviews, I initially concentrated on romance novels and the romance reading experience. I’ve since broadened my scope and I’ve reviewed more mysteries and thrillers, as well as a few YA and fantasy novels. I’ve also written a few posts on board games, another hobby of mine, and I will continue to write about them from time to time.

I’m convinced that what truly makes a blog is its visitors, particularly those who comment regularly. Thank you to all of you for the book recommendations and the interesting discussions.

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After reading Magdalen’s post on Nora Robert’s new Bride Quartet, I was intrigued. Despite not being a huge fan of Nora Robert’s books in general, I’ve enjoyed a few of her romantic suspenses, especially Northern Lights and Angel’s Falls. It’s hard to find contemporary romances these days which don’t include some paranormal or suspense element. Therefore, The Bride Quartet sounded like the sort of mindless fluff I’m in the mood for at the moment.

When my copies of Vision in White and Bed of Roses arrived, I had to conclude that I’m shallow. I just love the covers for the US editions! They have French flap covers and deckle edges. They are fussy and elaborate, and remind me of formal wedding invitations. They fit the premise of the series perfectly, and made me not care about forking out extra for trade paperbacks.

The Bride Quartet centres around four friends who run a wedding business together. Mac is the photographer; Emma is the florist; Laurel is the cake maker; and Parker is the wedding planner extraordinaire. Mac and Emma’s books were released in 2009, and Laurel and Parker’s stories will be out this year.

I’m only a few chapters into Vision in White, so I’ll have to reserve my verdict for my review. So far, though, I’m really enjoying it. It’s delivering exactly what the beautiful cover promises: a sweet romance, and a nice story of lifelong friendship. I find the details about American weddings both fascinating and horrifying. An elaborate, choreographed wedding is my idea of hell.

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We have yet another board game to rave about. We’ve only played Agricola a few times – and at the most basic level – but I’m already ranking it as my favourite game.

As the Latin title suggests, it’s a game about farming in the 17th Century. Each player starts out living in a basic wooden dwelling with a small supply of food. The aim of the game is to expand the farmhouse by adding more rooms, replacing wood with clay, and, later on, stone. Fields have to be planted; animals acquired and looked after. The winner is the player who has the wealthiest farm at the end of the game.

I’ve given an extremely basic explanation for what is quite a complex game. Agricola is not suited for casual gamers as the rules are complicated and take some time to learn. It’s far more strategy-based than many games on the market, and was the recipient of a special prize for “Complex Game” from the jury of the prestigious Spiel des Jahres awards in 2008. However, it’s worth the effort in my opinion as it’s a game which both requires you to think and which is a lot of fun to play.

Once I’ve played it a few more times, also at the regular level, I’ll write up a more in-depth analysis.

What are you reading at the moment? Have you read any of Nora Roberts’ Bride Quartet books? Has anyone played Agricola?

Tagged as: Blogging, Blogoversary, Board Games, Bride Quartet, Contemporary Romance, Nora Roberts