Starry Says – Episode #119 – International Tour SRC – Northern Asia 🌏

Badge for International Tour Stellar Reading Challenge (SRC) Region #5 – Northern Asia | © Starry Night Elf

Manuscript Word Count (MWC) – 74,963

2024 Reading Goal to Date 28/100

It’s 3^rd Friday, Gnomies! Following Book Girls’ Guide lead, I share the nations Gnomies might read in the month to come in the International Tour Stellar Reading Challenge (SRC).

In June, we anticipate reading books set in Region #5 – Northern Asia.

Check out the Book Girls’ Guide by clicking here!

Learn more about the International Tour SRC by clicking here, Gnomies!

Northern Asia: 

• Armenia
• Azerbaijan
• China (including its autonomous areas like Tibet)
• Georgia
• Hong Kong
• Japan
• Kazakstan
• Kyrgyzstan
• Mongolia
• North Korea
• South Korea
• Taiwan
• Tajikistan
• Turkmenistan
• Uzbekistan

Read a book set predominantly in one these Northern Asian countries to earn the badge included in this post. If the book is translated from another language into your preferred reading language, then you can count that as a book read for the In Translation Journey SRC.

Click here to learn more about In Translation Journey SRC.

Participants can select books for other International Tour regions but June will focus on Region #5 — Northern Asia.

Do you have any Northern Asia books to suggest, Gnomies?

Also, for those taking on the Read the U.S.A. (RTUSA) Tour SRC, June will look at Group 5 – Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, & Missouri.

Learn more about that SRC by clicking here.

I wish you a stellar weekend!

Starry Says – Episode #107 — RUSA ’23 Redux

© Starry Night Elf

Manuscript Word Count (MWC) – 74,963

2024 Reading Goal to Date 5/100

As we began the 2024 Stellar Reading Challenges (SRC), I wanted to take a moment to recognize all the places I visited while participating in the Regional U.S.A. (RUSA) SRC. Click here to read about this SRC from the previous year.

Map of where I read last year followed by a listing of regions and titles:

Starry Night Elf’s Regional U.S.A. Stellar Reading Challenge Spots Read

Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com

Region #1 – West

• Celine by Peter Heller (Wyoming)
• Crying in H Mart: A Memoir by Michelle Zauner (Oregon)

Region #2 – Southwest

• The Donut Legion by Joe R. Lansdale (Texas)
• Half Broke Horses: A True Life Novel by Jeannette Walls (Arizona)

Region #3 – Midwest

• Class Mom by Laurie Gelman (Kansas)
• The Sentence by Louise Erdrich (Minnesota)

Region #4 – Southeast

• Triptych (Will Trent #1) by Karin Slaughter (Georgia)
• The Vapors: A Southern Family, the New York Mob, and the Rise and Fall of Hot Springs, America’s Forgotten Capital of Vice by David Hill (Arkansas)

Region #5 – Northeast

• A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline (Maine)
• A Study in Charlotte (Charlotte Holmes #1) by Brittany Cavallaro (Connecticut)

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I’m aiming to read different places in the Read the U.S.A. (RTUSA) SRC this year which is dividing into chunks determined by alphabetical order. Check out the details on the RTUSA by clicking here.

So far, I’m reading in Alabama, a place I’ve not visited via literature since 2021. How about you, Gnomies? Where are you reading?

Have a stellar weekend!

Starlight Book Review – Karin Slaughter’s Triptych – 🇺🇸

Cover of Triptych (Will Trent #1) by Karin Slaughter on a light green background |
Image Source: Goodreads

RUSA SRC – Region #4 Southeast – Georgia

4/5 I admit that I watched ABC’s Will Trent before I cracked the spine on an any of the books by Karin Slaughter which inspired the show. I enjoyed becoming acquainted with Will, Angie, Amanda, and, of course, Betty the Chihuahua. Still and all, I thought Triptych might be just the ticket for literary travel to Atlanta, Georgia in the Regional U.S.A. (RUSA) Tour Stellar Reading Challenge (SRC).

Click here to learn about the RUSA Tour SRC.

Trigger Warnings (TW): Triptych contains the following which may require TW for readers — Trigger warnings: murder, rape, mutilation, kidnapping, sexual relationships between teenagers and adult men, drug abuse, child abuse, mentions of self harm, death of a parent, slut shaming, misogyny, wrongful conviction, wrongful imprisonment.

“In the city of Atlanta, women are dying—at the hands of a killer who signs his work with a single, chilling act of mutilation. Leaving behind enough evidence to fuel a frenzied police hunt, this cunning madman is bringing together dozens of lives, crossing the boundaries of wealth and race. And the people who are chasing him must cross those boundaries too. Among them is Michael Ormewood, a veteran detective whose marriage is hanging by a thread—and whose arrogance and explosive temper are threatening his career. And Angie Polaski, a beautiful vice cop who was once Michael’s lover before she became his enemy… But another player has entered the game: a loser ex-con who has stumbled upon the killer’s trail in the most coincidental of ways—someone who may be the key to breaking the case wide open…”

Slaughter surprised me from the beginning of Triptych with her first point of view – third person omniscient for Michael Ormewood. Maybe the fault of this falls to watching the show before reading any of the books. Yet, as I considered the title of this very book — Triptych — I realized the need for three separate points of view. While definitely gritty, rough, and even brutal (much of John Shelley’s experience made me squint, poor guy!), I liked the sweet gems offered throughout Triptych. Will’s interactions with Betty stand out the most in this regard. Also, I enjoyed reading a little about Georgia – Agnes Scott College, Stone Mountain, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. I might read another in this series when I’m in the mood for something darker because I found Will Trent in particular rather intriguing.

Check out an article about Will Trent the TV Show and its adaptation to screen by clicking here.

Quotes come from book flaps/cover and are featured on color blocks.

RUSA Tour SRC Region 4 & Stop #11 – Southeast/ Georgia 🇺🇸

Badge for RUSA Stellar Reading Challenge (SRC) Region 4 & Stop #11- Southeast/Georgia
| © Starry Night Elf

Gnomies, our liteary journey through Region 4 in the Regional U.S.A. (RUSA) Tour Stellar Reading Challenge (SRC) – the Southeast continues.

Click here to read more about RUSA Tour SRC.

We travel to the state of Georgia. Georgia goes by the nickname of “The Peach State” in honor of its bountiful fruit crop. Learn more about this and other Georgia nicknames by clicking here.

Read a book set in the Peach State to earn the badge seen in this post. If you selected a place in Georgia as your spot in the Local Tour SRC, that book can count towards both challenges.

Learn more about the Local Tour SRC by clicking here.

You only need to read two (2) books per RUSA Region but feel free to read more.

Please feel free to read any RUSA Region but posts in August and September will look at states in Region #4 – Southeast.

Gnomies, can you name some books set in the Peach State?

Starlight Book Review – Mary Kay Andrews’ Savannah Blues (Weezie and Bebe Mysteries #1)

Across the USA Stellar Reading Challenge — Spot #27 — Georgia

4/5 As I sought a book set in Georgia for the Across the USA Stellar Reading Challenge (SRC), Mary Kay Andrews’ Savannah Blues stood out among the others. While I considered other books, I ultimately decided on reading Andrews’ book for this SRC.

“Meet Weezie (aka Eloise) Foley, a feisty antiques “picker,” banished by her spiteful ex-husband from the house she herself restored in Savannah’s historic district, who must come to terms with a life that has suddenly changed…and not, it seems, for the better. In Mary Kay Andrews’s delectable New York Times bestseller, Savannah Blues, readers will feel the sultry Georgia breezes and taste sea salt in the air, as they lose themselves in a wonderful, witty tale brimming with sass and peopled by a richly endearing cast of delightfully eccentric characters. Revenge is sweeter than sweet in Mary Kay’s capable hands, and readers of Fannie Flagg, Adriana Trigiani, Emily Giffin, Rebecca Wells, and Jill Conner Browne will definitely want to spend some quality time in Savannah.”

I felt Andrews truly showcased Savannah; the parts told in first person by Weezie practically served as a guided tour through socioeconomic life in this historic Georgia town. Narrator Susan Ericksen read the book, particularly the phone calls, with outstanding realism which I truly appreciated. I liked Weezie and her uncle James. Some of the characters came across as rather “stock” or cliché but that didn’t detract much from my enjoyment of the book. Honestly, this made for a light read — not a deep, intense mystery. Also, I must warn some of my more sensitive readers — a number of amorous scenes take place and, at times, characters use rather salty language.

Quotes come from book flaps/cover and are featured on color blocks.