My Top 5 Episodes of Voyager Season Six

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As my husband and I are going through our second full watch of Star Trek as a couple, I thought it would be fun to report on the highlights along the way. So I decided to copy the same format as Charlene. See her favorite episodes of Voyager season six.

5. Fair Haven

This episode is a little silly, but it’s fun to see the Voyager crew in a new environment. The main plot follows Janeway’s romance with a holodeck character whose program she alters to better fit her needs (and to delete his wife!), which is slightly alarming for Janeway, but not outside of the realm of plausibility for her either.

4. Good Shepherd

After Seven identifies the ship’s resident misfits, Janeway takes them in for an away mission, to prove to them that they add value to the crew. What is supposed to be a simple away mission turns into a potentially life-threatening situation, and they all have to rely on each other more than ever anticipated. I really kind of liked the hypochondriac character on this episode; I would have liked to have seen more of him!

3. The Haunting of Deck Twelve

Episodes that take place entirely on the ship hardly ever catch my interest, but I love the way this episode is framed. Neelix proves to be quite the storyteller as he deflects the Borg kids’ questions about what is happening on Voyager by telling them a scary story, which may in fact be the truth of what is happening.

2. Blink of an Eye

The concept behind this one is so fascinating: Voyager is trapped in a planet’s atmosphere for what feels like days for them, but for the people below, it’s centuries. If Voyager doesn’t act quickly enough, the people on the planet will soon have technology that outpaces their own.

1. Unimatrix Zero 

I barely remembered this season finale (and part two season 7 opener) from my first watch of Voyager, but it was a stand-out episode for me this time. Though I do feel like Seven relaxes some after this episode, I would have liked to have seen her relax even more. She really seemed to thrive in the world she and some other Borg had created for themselves.

What are your favorite episodes of Voyager season six?

Bookstore Tourist: Savannah, GA

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I recently got back from a lovely trip to Savannah, GA, and just had to share about the two indie bookstores I went to there.

The Book Lady

Imagine a large library collection in an old house that spills over onto the floor and into multiple rooms, and you’ll have an idea of what The Book Lady feels like. There’s a mix of used gems and new books, as well as a small (secured) section of rare and special books. When my husband saw a hardback copy of Jumanji and wondered out loud what made it special or rare, the guy at the store unlocked the case and showed us the author’s signature inside. If you’re a big fan of rummaging to find that perfect book, this is a place you’ve got to check out.

E Shaver

I enjoyed The Book Lady, but I absolutely adored E Shaver. I’m sure their bookstore kitties helped with that. 🙂 (The Book Lady does have bookstore dogs, but they were off-duty when we were there.) There were so many gorgeous covers I had never seen before for books I already own and really don’t need another copy of (#bookworm probs) and some other fun things there as well.

I hope to share more just a little more about my trip to Savannah in a future post, but just had to share the bookstore love!

Have you ever found a gem in a used bookstore? What’s your favorite indie bookstore that you’ve visited and isn’t local to you?

MY TOP 10 EPISODES OF STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE

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Several months ago, my husband and I were talking about startrek.com’s poll results of fans’ favorite top 10 episodes of all of Star Trek. I disagreed with some of the episodes and definitely the order, so my husband suggested I create a top 10 list favorite of each series, and then at the end of our current rewatch do my own top 10 of all the series. Since we finished DS9 semi-recently (I dragged my feet a little on this post), it’s time for my Top 10 of all DS9!

My honorable mention placement on this list won’t make sense if you look at my season 2 list, but I just had to go with my gut and what has stuck with me since finishing the series again. Also, my apologies to season 4, which really was fine.

In descending order…

Honorable Mention (yes I’m cheating).The Wire (Season 2)

Garak, Garak, Garak.

10. Duet (Season 1)

A great, twisty season one offering that holds up in the overall canon of DS9 too.

9. Dr. Bashir, I Presume? (Season 5)

The one where we learn Dr. Bashir’s big secret and it changes how we view him as a character.

8. Past Tense (Season 3)

It amazes me how these episodes are still so relevant 22 years after they came out.

7. Extreme Measures (Season 7)

I really enjoy seeing what “extreme measures” Julian is willing to go to in this episode to cure Odo.

6. Badda Bing Badda Bang (Season 7)

All you could really ask for in a heist episode.

5. What You Leave Behind (Season 7)

A fitting and poignant ending for the series.

4. Far Beyond the Stars (Season 6)

So incredibly powerful. Literally everyone should watch this episode.

3. It’s Only a Paper Moon (Season 7)

All the feels, guys. All the feels. I love Nog’s arc so freaking much.

2. Trials and Tribble-ations (Season 5)

The perfect homage to my favorite episode of TOS.

1. In The Pale Moonlight (Season 6)

It was hard to choose between this and the former, but my gut said Pale Moonlight. It is just 100% Deep Space Nine and brilliance and I love it and its complexity.

If you are a fan of DS9, what are your favorite episodes of the series? 

Monthly Recap: August

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Books I Read

It Started With Goodbye by Christina June

The Leveller by Julia Durango

And I am about halfway through my reread of Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix… #foreverlong

#bookstagram Images of the Month

Technology Stinks

A list of things that crapped out on me in August: my Nook, my hair dryer, and my secondary computer monitor (only a little over a year old).

So my Nook seemed to be in dire straits earlier this month, acting up quite a bit when I read It Started With Goodbye, but after not using it for a few weeks, I tried charging it again and turning it on and it seems OK. I guess time will tell. I was looking into replacing it but wasn’t happy with any of the options out there; I just really love this particular model of Nook that I have. I think I’ll try replacing the battery though and seeing if that works. So I’m holding off e-book reads for a little while.

Watched

So my husband wanted to see if a show we had seen a few episodes of years ago, Better Off Ted, was on Netflix. When we checked, only season two was available until September 1, so we spent some nights in August watching that. It was a funny show; too bad we didn’t get to see most of season one.

August Happenings

The Switchfoot/Lifehouse concert was very enjoyable and I think my husband enjoyed all his birthday festivities.

Hurricane Harvey has hit my heart very heavy, as I spent eight very formative years of my life in the Houston area and have so many friends there. From Facebook I have seen friends of mine who have lost a lot materially, but who have had their church, friends, family, strangers really come through and help them. One of these friends even went viral with a video he shared of himself playing his piano in his flooded house. Please keep thinking of Houston, guys.

 

Looking Forward To in September

VACATION VACATION VACATION. We usually go in May, but I used up all my PTO in the winter when I got sick with that awful virus, and I’ve been building it back up since then. We’re going to Savannah, GA, and it cannot come soon enough! I’ll also be attending the SCBWI Midsouth conference again so I’m looking forward to that! And then my birthday… even though it’s been a nearly year, I’ve had some trouble adjusting to the idea of being in my 30’s. HOWEVER, I do feel like I have been embracing being an adult a little more lately.

And speaking of being an adult, the last week of August I accepted an offer of promotion within my company and will start training for that this month. I’m nervous and excited… I’m going to be doing a little accounting which is something I never dreamed of doing in 1000 years, but I’ve been working in the department for a while and they think I’m capable of this… and I’m starting to believe I am too. I was ready for a change so I think it’ll be a good way to stretch myself.

Potential September TBR

My TBR kind of feels like a crapshoot at the moment, but just for the sake of saying I tried…

Finish The Order of the Phoenix (obviously)

Walking on Water by Madeline L’Engle

A Dash of Dragon by Heidi Lang and Kati Bartkowski

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Sorry for being such a blogging slacker… I’ve been busy! I hope to actually post that DS9 Top 10 post soon, but it’s been a hard list to compile! So how was your August?

It’s Been A While Since I’ve Talked About Books

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As the title suggests, it’s been a while since I’ve talked about books on this blog. It probably doesn’t help I’m blogging pretty inconsistently these days, but the point is, when I do blog I focus more on TV/movies. I’ve been reading plenty, but this has pretty much been the okayest year of reading for me so far since I got serious about my reading. Almost everything has been getting 4 stars, which I might have inadvertently been turning the new 3 star into. Technically 3 stars should be average but still enjoyable, right? I think several of the books I’ve read have genuinely rose above that into 4 star territory, but some were probably more like 3’s or 3.5’s, but I always try to focus more on my positive feelings for books than my negative ones. Besides, I read books I hope to like and intend to like. If I’m not feeling a book I DNF it, which thankfully doesn’t happen very often.

But it’s been entirely too long since I’ve read a book that I felt really got into my soul the way I want my 5 star reads to do. When I find that book, believe me, I will discuss it here. The closest I’ve gotten is Better Off Friends, which is the only book I’ve read this year I’m calling a true 5 star, but even it is a little bit of a low-end 5 star, if that makes any sense. (Please tell me I’m not the only one with such complexities and nuances within simple numeral ratings.) I thought A Wrinkle in Time might be for that book for me this year, but then I felt the ending lacked a little something to really take it all the way there for me. And then on top of all that, I just didn’t love Dunkirk (the movie) the way I really wanted to. So dang it, what’s wrong with me?

I’ve been rereading Harry Potter this year though, and reread two other books as well, and those have all still been great. My soul can still be reached, the dementors haven’t quite gotten me yet. 😉 But it can be hard to find those elusive unicorn stories that really check off all the boxes, especially since I’m reading “only” 45ish books a year (a lot compared to many people, but very few in the online bookish community). I have been trying to switch up genres a good bit, so I don’t think I’m too burnt out on anything in particular.

I’m not in a reading slump, not really, but I’m really itching to find that next great story to read. And meanwhile, writing has been hard. How much do I change my WIP of years? Do I keep editing that and try to query it again, or focus exclusively on something newer? Of course, it doesn’t help I’ve been avoiding writing a lot lately too. So I’ll just keep reading and try to keep writing too, and hope that one day something magical sticks.

How’s your reading year sizing up? Do you have any book recs for me that might help make my reading year feel a little better than OK? 

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