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The Friday 56 (With Book Beginnings): The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley + 50/50 Friday


Welcome to The Friday 56, a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice.

These are the rules:
1. Grab a book, any book.
2. Turn to page 56, or 56% on your eReader.
3. Find any sentence (or a few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you.
4. Post it.
5. Add the URL to your post in the link on Freda's most recent Friday 56 post.


I'm also taking part in Book Beginnings, a weekly meme hosted by Rose City Reader.  The rules are pretty simple - you share the first sentence or so and your initial thoughts, impressions, or whatever else it inspires.  Don't forget to link up your post's url with Rose City Reader.


This week I'm spotlighting one of my current reads, The Mists of Avalon (Avalon #1) by Marion Zimmer Bradley.  I've been told I need to read this classic Arthurian fantasy novel for ages and now that I'm taking part in Book Riot's 2017 Read Harder Challenge I've finally decided to tackle this huge epic novel.  Appropriately enough it's fulfilling the twelfth task which is to read a fantasy novel.  I'm only on chapter two so far, but I think I'm already hooked.

Beginning:

Prologue

Morgaine speaks...

In my time I have been called many things: sister, lover, priestess, wise-woman, queen.  Now in truth I have come to be wise-woman, and a time may come when these things may need to be known.  

56:

She said resentfully, "Why should we be punished beyond this life for what we were bidden to do?  Did the priests think it right that we should suffer for obeying them?"




This week I'm also taking part in a linkup called 50/50 Friday, which is hosted by Carrie @ The Butterfly Reader and Laura @ Blue Eye Books.  Every week they'll have a new topic featuring two sides of the same coin - this week the topic is Favorite/ Least Favorite Book Of The First Half Of The Year.

Favorite:







I've actually had 31 five star reads this year (out of 99 books), so it's hard to narrow it down to just one.  However, the three that really stood out to me are Dark Matter by Blake Crouch, The Girl With Ghost Eyes by M.H. Borson, and The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas.

Least Favorite:



Empress of a Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza - This is actually one of two books I've DNF'd so far this year, unfortunately, and I'd had such high hopes for it, too.


Have you read any of the books I talked about above?  If so, how did you like them?  As always, thanks for visiting my blog and perhaps even commenting down below.  

Comments

  1. I'm always fascinated by the DNFs - most look like books I wouldn't finish either! Thanks for the books - I may try one or even two! Have a super weekend.

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    1. No problem - happy reading if that's the case! :D

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  2. The Mists of Avalon looks like an interesting story. Thanks for mentioning it.

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    1. I love Arthurian stuff and so far it's excellent. :)

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  3. The Mists of Avalon sounds great! Just from those two snippets, I know I want to read it!

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    1. Woot! I hope you love it if you decide to pick it up!

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  4. I have read a bunch of books by Bradley but haven't read her Arthurian ones. I have a historical mystery with ghosts from my TBR mountain this week - Delia's Shadow by Jaime Lynn Moyer. Happy reading!

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    1. I've been told I need to pick up pretty much all of her books, so I thought this was a good enough place to start! Thanks for sharing, Kathy!

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  5. I LOVED the Mists of Avalon! Also, I've read two of your favorite reads of the year, Dark Matter and The Girl with Ghost Eyes, and they were both 5 star reads for me too :-)

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    1. Good to know! It's been a good reading year hasn't it. :)

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  6. I love the title "The Mists of Avalon." Great excerpts, too. Thanks for sharing, and here's mine: “YOU’LL NEVER KNOW, DEAR”

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  7. I love that beginning! Sounds like a book I should read! Happy weekend!

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  8. This has been on my radar for years but it's so massive I've been intimidated. Good for you for tackling it and I'm glad to see that in chapter 2 you're already feeling hooked. Maybe I need to give this a try after all!

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    1. Same here! It's so heavy and the font size is pretty small at that, but so far it's worth it. :) I'd love to know what you think if you do try it!

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  9. I LOVED this book! It was my Friday post last week! (great minds, right?)
    Here's my Friday Post for this week Inspiration Pie
    Jo-Ann

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  10. Now I want to read that book. Bummer that Empress of a Thousand Skies wasn't as good as you hoped. I think I have that on my TBR as well, I might reconsider, or just definitely get it from the Library.
    My Friday Marie @ Pages to Explore

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    1. Maybe you'll end up liking it more than me... I just couldn't get into it though.

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  11. Oh that sucks that you DNFd Empress of a Thousand Skies. I was excited for this one but haven't picked it up yet. I suppose I shall go in wary now.

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    1. I tried it on audiobook and I just couldn't get into it. Maybe you'll like it, though. I'd love to know what you think of it. :)

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  12. Mists of Avalon was one of my favorite books--it will always hold a special place in my heart. I hope you enjoy it!

    I really need to read The Hate U Give. It's on my immediate TBR pile, at least. :-)

    I hope you have a great weekend. Thank you for sharing!

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    1. Yay! Good to know. :)

      The Hate U Give is excellent on audiobook, by the way.

      Thanks for coming over! :)

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  13. Mmm, Arthurian fantasy, sounds good to me!

    Aww man, I'm sorry you DNF'd Empress! I did not totally enjoy the book, though it did get better as it went on. Still, it was disappointing for me as well, and I finished the book. Oh well!

    Have a wonderful weekend, Lauren. =)

    Alyssa @ The Eater of Books!

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    1. I know right! :)

      I'm glad to hear that it did get better for you. Oh well.

      Thanks, Alyssa!

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  14. I absolutely loved The Mists Of Avalon. Read it enough times that my copy is lovingly worn and a bit battered!

    My Friday 56 from The Nutting Girl

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    1. My copy is already like that! The previous owner must have really enjoyed it. :)

      Thanks for sharing, Laura!

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  15. You've read 99 books so far???? wow! That's really impressive

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  16. Everyone loves The Hate U Give! I have yet to see a bad review for that book!

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  17. Loved Mists of Avalon. Now I want to read it again. Enjoy!

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  18. I haven't read Mists of Avalon but your teasers make me want to.

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  19. Great teasers for Mists of Avalon. I love a srong female protagonist.
    sherry @ fundinmental Friday Memes

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  20. I really need to get to reading Girl with the Ghost Eyes! I keep meaning to but I've been in a pretty big reading and blogging slump for the past 4 weeks (as you could probably tell by the complete lack of posts... oops?). Hopefully the rereads I'm reading right now will jump start me back. Thanks for linking up, Lauren!

    Laura @BlueEyeBooks

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    1. I think The Girl with Ghost Eyes could definitely bring you out of that slump, Laura! Thanks for coming over!

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