R.I.P. Challenge Take 2

So, it seems a lot of people are joining in on the reading challenge for autumn, to read books with a darker feel to them. I was iffy about whether or not I wanted to join, but since I didn't do the summer challenge, I am going to give this a try. The books I finally decided on are below.

From the reading pile:

The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield
The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova
Rebecca - Daphne du Marier
Heir to the Shadows - Anne Bishop
Coraline - Neil Gaiman

Bonus book: Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman (the only book I don't already own)

Chances are I will read other books this month that will count, but these are my books.

Nice Surprise!

I just went to let the dog out (my whole house is gone away) and I thought I had got the mail, but our mail slot is one of those ones that is in the door. So, I open the door and there's a little bang. More books! I already got the one I can't talk about, but I can talk about these. Back when I read The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants books, I borrowed them from a friend. Well, there is a fourth one coming out next year, and I thought in prepartion I would reread the first three. Got the first three today! With magnets! lol My mother is going to come home and wonder what is up with the weird magnets on the fridge, but since I am not a kid and don't have a locker anymore, the fridge is really the only place to put magnets! Anyways, the third one was my favourite. I hope they are good the second time around.

Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood is due out in January 2007!

(I am kidding myself, do I really look like I am cleaning?)

Mount To Be Read

The other day I remember talking about books that have sat on your to be read pile for ages and it is about time you read them. I have mine! A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. I have wanted to read this book for ages, but yet it sits. I remember putting it on my small to be read pile back when I first moved to this house, and sit there it has remained. It's won awards, people have told me to read it, and there it remains. So, I took it off the pile and moved it to the nightstand today. Hopefully by the end of the year, this will move up in the world from a book I have not read to one I have. Wish me luck!


Also while I was cleaning I found The Attack by Yasmina Khadra. I have read his other book, The Swallows of Kabul, and when I saw this one I bought it in hardcover (from Costco, but still, hardcover) and then it proceeded to fall behind my shelves! So, now I have reclaimed my anticipation for reading this book. He has other books which I have not seen yet, but this one I had to get as soon as I saw it? Why? It has a pretty cover. I would have bought it eventually anyways, but what if it got a bad cover when it came out in softcover? Now, I will read it and see if the inside matches the outside. Now, do not get me wrong, it is dark subject matter. I just meant that I hope the book is as well written as the cover is designed.

Off to continue my search for classics!

R.I.P. Challenge

Okay, so I am told that on that very long list there are five books that would fit. Anyone want to point them out for me? Maybe I am thinking too hard.

Well, since I didn't finish The Historian yet, that would count...

Yay, I have one.

And then I was thinking about reading Rebecca by the end of the year, that counts too.

So, now I have two.

Now, what are three others on my monstrous list that count? Because if I am going to read them anyways, this would be a good reason to.

In other news, I just received the prettiest covered book in the world in the mail, but since it is not published yet (technically), I can't talk about it. I was going to read Labyrinth to completion today, but I think I am going to go read this one now. I will just have to read Labyrinth tomorrow. And, I will try and get all my posts caught up tonight, but I am cleaning (blah) and if I stop for too long, I will not finish.

Oops

Because of the rather... large... post I made today, the finishing up of my reviews are not showing up on this page. So, I will post the links here as I go along. If you scroll down, you can still see Briar Rose, but I also reviewed Sean Russell's World Without End today.

That leaves left to review:

The Green Knight
Gods in Alabama
West Side Story
Persepolis II

I might have changed my mind about what I want to finish by the end of the month. I might try and finish some of the smaller books I have on the go today and tomorrow and read The Historian to completion the first week of September. We will see what I am in the mood for at work later.

Book List

What follows is a list of books that I would like to read. I am not putting a time frame on them, because new books come out all the time. Some I own, some I have yet to buy, but these are the series, trilogies, and books that are the top of my priority list for the next few years.

Garth Nix:
Sabriel
Lirael
Abhoren
The Creature in the Case
Mister Monday
Grim Tuesday
Drowned Wednesday
Sir Thursday
The Lady Friday

Kristen Britain:
Green Rider
First Rider's Call

David Gemmell:
The Ironhand's Daughter
The Hawk Eternal
Ghost King
Last Sword of Power
Lion of Macedon
Dark Prince
The Shield of Thunder

Patricia C. Wrede
Searching for Dragons
Calling on Dragons
Talking to Dragons

Elizabeth H. Boyer
The Curse of Slagfid
The Dragon's Carbuncle
The Lord of Chaos

Juliet Marillier
Daughter of the Forest
Son of the Shadows
Child of Prophecy
Wolfskin
Foxmask
The Dark Mirror
Blade of Fortriu
The Well of Shades
Wildwood Dancing

Stephanie Barron
Jane and the Unpleasentness at Scargrave Manor
Jane and the Man of the Cloth
Jane and the Genius of the Place
Jane and the Stillroom Maid
Jane and the Prisoner of Wool House
Jane and the Ghost of Netley
Jane and His Lordship's Legacy
Jane and the Barque of Frailty

Adriana Trigiani
Big Stone Gap
Big Cherry Holler
Milk Glass Moon
Return to Big Stone Gap

Sara Donati
Into the Wilderness
Lake in the Clouds
Fire Along the Sky
Queen of Swords

Jack Whyte
The Eagle's Brood
The Saxon Shore
The Fort at River's Bend
The Sorcer: Metamorphosis
Uther
The Lance Thrower (Clothar the Frank)
The Eagle
The Knights of the Black and White


Kate Forsyth
The Witches' of Eileanan
The Pool of Two Moons
The Cursed Towers
The Forbidden Land
The Skull of the World
The Fathomless Cave

Susan Dexter
The Ring of Allaire
The Sword of Calanadra
The Mountains of Channadran

Anne Bishop
Heir to the Shadows
Queen of the Darkness
The Invisible Ring
Dreams Made Flesh

George R.R. Martin
A Game of Thrones
A Clash of Kings
A Storm of Swords
A Feast for Crows
A Dance with Dragons

Elizabeth Haydon
Prophecy
Destiny
Requiem for the Sun
Elegy for a Lost Star
The Assassin King

Laurell K. Hamilton
Circus of the Damned
Lunatic Cafe

Janny Wurts
Stormwarden
Keeper of the Keys
Shadowfane

Simon R. Green
Wolf in the Fold
Guard Against Dishonor
The Bones of Haven

Mary Stewart
The Crystal Cave
The Hollow Hills
The Last Enchantment
The Wicked Day

Molly Cochran
The Broken Sword
The Third Magic

Dennis L. McKiernan
Into the Forge
Into the Fire
Once Upon an Autumn Eve
Once Upon a Spring Morn

Laurien Gardner
Lady Raised High
Plain Jane

Kim Harrison
The Good, the Bad, and the Undead
Every Which Way but Dead
A Fistful of Charms

Linda Winstead Jones
The Sun Witch
The Moon Witch
The Star Witch

Persia Woolley
Child of the Northern Spring
Queen of the Summer Stars
The Legend in Autumn

Sean Russell
The One Kingdom
The Isle of Battle

Manda Scott
Dreaming the Eagle
Dreaming the Bull
Dreaming the Hound
Dreaming the Serpent Spear

Steven Erikson
Gardens of the Moon
Deadhouse Gates
Memories of Ice
House of Chains
Midnight Tides
The Bonehunters
Reaper's Gale
Toll of Hounds

Sandra Gulland
The Many Lives and Sorrows of Josephine B.
Tales of Passion, Tales of Woe
The Last Great Dance on Earth

Patricia Kennealy
The Oak Above the Kings
The Hedge of Mist

Sharon Kay Penman
Here be Dragons
Falls the Shadows
The Reckoning

Jasper Fforde
The Well of Lost Plots
Something Rotten
The Big Over Easy
The Fourth Bear

Pauline Gedge
The Oasis
The Horus Road

Isabel Allende
City of the Beasts
Kingdom of the Golden Dragon
Forest of the Pygmies

Paullina Simons
The Bronze Horseman
Tatiana and Alexander
The Summer Garden

Rosalind Miles
Queen of the Summer Country
The Knight of the Sacred Lake
The Child of the Holy Grail

Mercedes Lackey
The Fire Rose
The Serpent's Shadow
The Gates of Sleep
Phoenix and Ashes
The Wizard of London

Marion Zimmer Bradley
Heartlight
Gravelight

Nicholas Sparks
True Believer
At First Sight

Ann Brashares
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
The Second Summer of the Sisterhood
Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood

Jacqueline Carey
Kushiel's Chosen
Kushiel's Dart

Sharon Shinn
Archangel
Jovah's Angel
Alleluia Files
Angelica
Angel-Seeker
The Safe-Keeper's Secret
Truth-Teller's Tale
Dream-Maker's Magic
Mystic and Rider
The Thirteenth House
The Shape-Changer's Wife
Wrapt in Crystal
Hearts of Gold
Summers at Castle Auburn
Jenna Starborn
Dark Moon Defender




Others

Beauty - Sheri S. Tepper
Ireland - Frank Delaney
Stonehenge - Bernard Cornwell
Tam Lin - Pamela Dean
Enchantment - Orson Scott Card
Tailchaser's Song - Tad Williams
Olympus - Dan Simmons
Deep Fathom - James Rollins
Sunshine - Robin McKinley
The Song of Troy - Colleen McCullough
Dragon Prince - Melanie Rawn
Lord of Snow and Ashes - Sarah Ash
Lion of Senet - Jennifer Fallon
Through Wolf's Eyes - Jane Lindskold
Priestess of the White - Trudi Canavan
The Dragon Queen - Alice Borchardt
The Darkness that Comes Before - Scott Bakker
The Book of Eleanor - Pamela Kaufman
Speak - Laurie Halse Anderson
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius - David Eggers
Fingersmith - Sarah Waters
Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
The Lady and the Unicorn - Tracy Chevalier
I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith
Darcy's Story - Janet Alymer
The Time in Between - David Bergen
Firebrand - Marion Zimmer Bradley
Blackbird House - Alice Hoffman
The Bonesetter's Daughter - Amy Tan
Saturday - Ian McEwan
Soul Voyage - Cameron Boyce Jess
I Wish I Had a Red Dress - Pearl Cleage
Paragon Lost - Dave Duncan
The Amulet of Samarkand - Jonathan Stroud
The Wizard's Ward - Deborah Hale
Talisin - Stephen Lawhead
Ancestors of Avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley
Butterflies Dance in the Dark - Beatrice McNeil
American Gods - Neil Gaiman
Convergence - Sharon Green
Sea Without a Shore - Sean Russell
New Leaf - Thomas Kinkade
Guardian of the Balance - Irene Radford
Black Powder War - Naomi Novik
The Innocent - Posie Graeme-Evans
The Silver Rose - Susan Carroll
Leaving Cold Sassy - Olive Ann Burns
Life Mask - Emma Donoghue
The Sultan's Harem - Colin Falconer
Deafening - Frances Itani
The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing - Melissa Banks
Isolde - Rosalind Miles
A Soldier of the Great War - Mark Helphin
Three Day Road - Joseph Boyden
Truth and Bright Water - Thomas King
Nadia's Song - Soheir Khashoggi
The Attack - Yasmina Khadra
Roots - Alex Haley
The Ill-Made Mute - Cecilia Dart-Thornton
North and South - John Jakes
Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman
Piratica - Tanith Lee
A Northern Light - Jennifer Donnelly
Troy - Adele Geras
Coraline - Neil Gaiman
Under the Eagle - Simon Scarrow


Biographies
The Heart of a Woman - Maya Angelou
My Friend Leonard - James Frey
Lucky Man - Michael J. Fox

Classics I own:
Lorna Doone - R.D. Blackmore
Villette - Charlotte Bronte
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith
The House of Mirth - Edith Wharton
Chronicles of Avonlea - L.M. Montgomery
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey
The Phantom of the Opera - Gaston Leroux
Sons and Lovers - D.H. Lawrence
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
The Best of C.S. Lewis - C.S. Lewis
The Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis
Dracula - Bram Stoker
A Tangled Web - L.M. Montgomery
1984 - George Orwell
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
Against the Odds - L.M. Montgomery
A Girl of the Limberlost - Gene Stratton Porter
Jane of Lantern Hill - L.M. Montgomery
Among the Shadows - L.M. Montgomery
Emily's Quest - L.M. Montgomery
Emily Climbs - L.M. Montgomery
Akin to Anne - L.M. Montgomery
Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
The Odyssey - Homer
Dune - Frank Herbert
Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert A. Heinlein
The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
Rebecca - Daphne du Maruier
Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen
Mansfield Park - Jane Austen
Persuasion - Jane Austen
Emma - Jane Austen
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Don Quixote - Cervantes
Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
East of Eden - John Steinbeck
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
Through the Looking Glass - Lewis Carroll
The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
Hard Times - Charles Dickens
The Woman Who Did - Grant Allen
Just So Stories - Rudyard Kipling
The Prince and the Goblin - George MacDonald
Goblin Market - Chrstina Rossett

Yay!

I am almost caught up on my reviews. Someone told me last night that they started to read fantasy because I make the books look interesting! Of course I have to catch up after words like that.

I hopefully will read a couple more books by the end of the month. I have books started and ready to go on the reviewing, just a matter of finishing the last few pages!

In a dream world, I would like to finish "The Historian", "Labyrinth", "World Without End", Robb, and Adams by the end of the month. Oh, and "Briar Rose". I am almost done all of them, it is just a matter of sticking to it. If I finish all these it will mean I can start new books next month! So, I will just stay away from the to be read pile until Friday. I can do it. I hope... Anyways, wish me luck.

I have my new computer. It is just a matter of erasing the broken computers harddrive, and taking what I want off it, and then setting up the new computer. That is going to be interesting... (see my list of annoyances, you will see technology on there. I have a thing with computers and it is not a good thing!)

Anyways, just wanted to tell people to be sure to scroll down for the next couple days as I finish up the stragglers for the month. It might look like I have not updated, but I might in fact have.

Oh, and if you look at my blog roll, I have added new sites! Yay. I think it is anything under "Paperback Reader" is either something I forgot to bookmark or new entirely. Be sure and check them out!

Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return - Marjane Satrapi [August/06]

This is the sequel to Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, which I just recently read.

From the flap:

In PERSEPOLIS, heralded by the LOS ANGELES TIMES as "one of the freshest and most original memoirs of our day," Marjane Satrapi dazzled us with her heartrending memoir-in-comic-strips about growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revloution. Here is the continuation of her fascinating story.

In 1984, Marjane flees fundamentalism and the war with Iraq to attend high school in Vienna, where she faces the trials of adolescence far from her friends and family. While she soon carves out a place for herself among a group of fellow outsiders, she continues to miss her home desperately. After graduation, Marjane returns to Iran. Her difficult homecoming forces her to confront the changes both she and her country have undergone in her absence, and her shame at what she perceives as her failure in Austria. Life begins to look brighter once Marjane finds a group of like minded friends, falls in love, and begins studying art at a university - until the repression and state-sanctioned chauvinism lead her to question whether she can have a future in Iran.

As funny and poignant as its predecessor, PERSEPOLIS 2 is another clear-eyed and searing condemnationof the human cost of fundamentalism. In its depiction of the struggles of growing up - here compounded by Marjane's status as an outsider both abroad and at home - it's raw, honest, and incredibly illuminating.

This is of course the follow up to Persepolis. In the first book we leave off at the airport as Marjane is going to live in Vienna with the hopes of having a better life than the one available in constrained Iran. She has a lot of trouble with her move, though. She doesn't feel like herself, because she feels like she is abandoning her people. While away she turns her back on her culture for quite some time before she begins to appreaciate herself again.

She attempts a return to Iran after a while because her rebellious streak in the outside world is getting to her, and she is suffering because she cannot seem to find her place. She thinks going back to where she began and being with her parents will help her. She does start to come to life when she gets there, but it takes some time. She makes some decisions, though, that she ends up regretting. She even gets married. In the end, though, Iran is not a healthy place for someone who has dreams, and so she sets off into the outside once again. This time, though, she is stronger and has a better idea what she wants to do with her life.

Equally as good and creative as the first one.

4.5/5

Troy: Lord of the Silver Bow - David Gemmell [August/06]

I bought this book when it first came out with good intentions of reading it right away, but like always, stuff kept getting in my way. So, when I finally sat down and read it, I was mad at myself for letting such a good book sit unread for so long. It is supposed to be a trilogy, but with the recent death of David Gemmell, no one knows the fate of book 3 except the powers that be. I hope it gets completed because it is a very engaging story.

From the back of the book:

Three lives will change the destiny of nations.

Helikaon, the young prince of Dardania, haunted by a scarred and traumatic childhood. The priestess Andromache, whose fiery spirit and fierce independence threatens the might of kings. And the legendary warrior Argurios, cloaked in loneliness and driven only by thoughts of revenge.

In Troy they find a city torn apart by destructive rivalries. And beyond its fabled walls blood-hungry enemies eye its riches and plot its downfall.

It is a time of bravery and betrayal.

A time of bloodshed and fear.

A time for heroes.

I don't know how many times I have said this, but Troy and Arthurian history is probably my favourite part of history. I am drawn to novels set in this time period more than any other. David Gemmell is one of those authors that I have always meant to read. He has a lot of books that sound good, but I just never got there. Then one day, back in April, this book was peeking out at me from the fantasy section. I probably would have bought it back when it was available in hardcover, it looked so good, but the bookstore here rarely gets hardcover books in. So, I bought it, and then I got busy and read other things.

I now know that I love David Gemmell's writing style. It is hard to take a well-known legend and make it your own, but Gemmell does a fabulous job with this. I was engrossed in the novel the whole way. So much so that I am getting book 2 as soon as it comes out, and I have been looking up other David Gemmell novels that I want to read. Like Jack Whyte, I find myself drawn into Gemmell's world. Gemmell has totally rewritten that Troy myth, and I think he did a very good job.

We have the main hero, Helikaon. He is the king of the seas, and a prince of Dardania. Treated horribly by his father, he is still battling the scars of his childhood. One minute he is like a god, people look up to him, but then he loses his temper and everyone that has scorned him had better watch their back. He gets his revenge in very ghastly ways. He has assasins on his back, but he always seems able to stay one step ahead of them, even if it means help from the people that become his friends. Helikaon is a great character, even when he does wrong, because he has the good of his people in his heart.

Then we have Andromache. What a character. She is the strong female sort that I am always looking for in novels. It is a male dominated world, ancient Greek and Rome, but Gemmell, like Whyte, manages to include females that are above ordinary for the time. She is her own person, and you know she is dominant when she refuses to bow for the King of Troy. She is well-respected by her peers and goes above and beyond other women in this novel. She too has a shaky past, but seems to have discovered a way to rise above it.

Argurios was not someone I expected to like at the beginning of the book. He is actually Helikaon's enemy, but he is loyal. When he is a passenger on Helikaon's ship, he defends Helikaon instead of doing the low thing and taking advantage of his passage to kill him. He falls in love in this novel, and with this love we discover the man that was underneath the hard exterior. He refuses to give into charity, but he will do anything he possibly can for the woman he loves. The enemy in love with the king's daughter, it opens the most amazing possibilites and leads to one of the saddest moments in the book.

These are just three of the characters that parade across the pages of Gemmell's novel. At the end of the book, when Troy is attacked by their enemies, it is these three that rise above the others and take command. It is them that are the heroes of the novel in many ways. They have all faced so much, but in the end they are able to rise above it in the most amazing ways. This is an action-packed novel that will leave you wishing for more.

5/5

Ceremony in Death - J.D. Robb [August/06]

I found this Robb novel harder to get into than the previous ones we have read. It is the fifth book in the series, and the beginning didn't draw me in as others had. Once again, Marg and me are doing a joint review.

Conducting a top secret investigation into the death of a fellow police officer has Lieutenant Eve Dallas treading on dangerous ground. She must put professional ethics before personal loyalties. But when a dead body is placed outside her home, Eve takes the warning personally. With her husband, Roarke, watching her every move, Eve is drawn into the most dangerous case of her career. Every step she takes makes her question her own sense of right and wrong - and brings her closer to a confrontation with humanity's most seductive form of evil...

Marg is in black, I am in my trademark blue.

Anyway, this book opens at the funeral of a fellow police office...a man who has seemingly died of natural causes in the prime of his life. When his granddaughter passes Eve a note to arrange a meeting, Eve starts to get suspicious about why. When the granddaughter ends up dead shortly after she talks to Eve and then another person is killed not long after talking to her as well, Eve is gradually drawn into a world where there are good and evil, witches and wiccans, power and sex, and ultimately danger and death for many people. It sounds like a good beginning, huh? A lot seems to happen in the opening pages, but I started this book, read the beginning and then put it aside for a while. I think Eve annoyed me in this book more than any other. I understand she is supposed to be tough and independent, but she does not back down at all in this book. Sometimes you just want to tell her it okay to believe in something. Her need to fight every thing gets a bit tiring from time to time. It hasn't been bad in others that I have read, but for some reason, she annoyed me in this book. Maybe because she breaks writing conventions and is not open-minded about what happens in this book at all.

It was obvious that there had been a lot of research done into the various practices and rituals of both the Wiccan's and the witches and I guess there were times during this novel when there was a hint of info dump, but for the most part it was well paced and interesting enough. In other words, zoning out periods.

There were a couple of stand out scenes in this book - I nearly cried my eyes out when Eve and Feeney had a falling out. I loved the fact that Eve is gradually realising that despite her terrible beginnings, it is possible for someone to build a family around them. I am not a "cry my eyes out" sort of person (no offense), but I agree that this was an interesting scene. By this point in the book I am getting over being annoyed with Eve's character and have started to once again enjoy the story. I think this is actually touching, with the argument, Eve's reaction to it, Roarke's reaction to it, and then the making up part.

The other interesting development for me in this story was the inclusion of Jamie, the younger brother of the young lady who is killed. He is an interesting character, with his ability with electronics, even being able to short circuit Roarke's security system. I wonder if he will continue to make appearance throughout the series, as there definitely would seem to be some scope for him to be included. He was an interesting character. You were never really sure what to make of him, but the kid has brains. If it wasn't for him, some very bad stuff might have not been prevented. He was determined to get the people that hurt his sister, which made for some interesting scenes. My favourite was when he broke into Roarke's yard, my there were some scenes as a result of that where you got to see other sides of Roarke.

Overall, I would say that whilst this wasn't the best of the series, it was still remarkably consistent in terms of it's quality. Not my favourite by her either, but enough that I will read more of the series. Every series has their slight faults, Robb is no exception. I must say though, was it just me, or does there seem to be even more sex scenes in this book than normal? I hope that doesn't become the norm...

Rating 4/5
Rating 3.5/5

Briar Rose - Jane Yolen [August/06]

I love fairy tale retellings, and this is a very creative way of retelling of Sleeping Beauty written for a young adult.

From the back of the book:

It is an old, old tale, the German story of BRIAR ROSE, the Sleeping Beauty. Now one of America's most celebrated writers tells it afresh, set this time in the forests patrolled by the German army during World War II. A tale of castles, of mists and thorns, of a beautiful sleeping princess, and an astonishing revelation of death and rebirth.

A tale that will leave you changed forever

The tale of BRIAR ROSE.

I saw this book at the book store the other day, and immediately had to buy it. It is part of The Fairy Tale Series, which was created by Terri Windling. Sadly, most of the books in this series are out-of-print, so I pick them up whenever I see them. I also own Tam Lin by Pamela Dean from this series, but I have not read it yet.

This is one of the most interesting fairy tale retellings I have read this year. As the front of the book states: "The Bright Tale of Sleeping Beauty, the dark tale of the Holocaust - Twined together in a story you will never forget." I was happy with this because fairy tale retellings and World War II are examples of things that I like to read about. Putting them together was a creative idea.

This is a young adult book, so it is very short, but in the 200 pages or so, a magnificant story is told. The novel is written with scenes taking place in the present, with flashback images where the grandmother of the main character, Becca, tells the story of Sleeping Beauty. Becca's grandmother, Gemma, is really the main character because this is her story. Little is known of Gemma's background before she came to the United States, all she tells her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren is the story of Briar Rose.

When Gemma dies, Becca gets a wooden box that holds clues to who her grandmother was in the past. With these clues in hand, Becca embarks on a mission to discover the identity of her grandmother and see if she really was a princess in Poland and lived a life like Sleeping Beauty. Traveling to Poland, Becca begins to put the pieces together, and as a result the reader can see where Gemma got the idea for her story and just how true it really was.

I strongly suggest this book, even if you just read it to seek the truth. Is the tale of Sleeping Beauty comparable to the story of this woman who lived in Poland at the time of the Holocaust? I warn you, I found Becca annoying at times, but in the end it is not really her story, she is just telling it.

4/5

A Great and Terrible Beauty - Libba Bray [August/06]

A young adult, soon to be, trilogy that I have wanted to read for a while, this enters the marks as one of the better books I have read this year. Young adult books are much better than they were when I was a young adult, I know that much.

From the back of the book:

Gemma Doyle isn't like other girls. Girls with impeccable manners, who speak when spoken to, who remember their station, and who will lie back and think of England when it's recquired of them.


No, sixteen-year-old Gemma is an island unto herself, sent to the Spence Academy in London after tragedy strikes her family in India. Lonely, guilt-ridden, and prone to visions of the future that have an uncomfortable habit of coming true, Gemma finds a chilly reception. But she's not completely alone... she's followed by a mysterious young man, who warns her to close her mind against her visions.

For it's at Spence that Gemma's power to attract the supernatural unfolds; there she becomes entangled with the school's most powerful girls and discovers her mother's connection to a shadowy group called the Order. It's there that her destiny waits... if only she can believe in it.

A GREAT AND TERRIBLE BEAUTY is a curl-up-under-the-covers kind of book... a vast canvs of rustling skirts and dancing shadows and things that go bump in the night. It's a vividly drawn portrait of the Victorian age, when girls were groomed for lives as rich men's wives... and the story of a girl who saw another way.

I regret that it took me so long to discover this book. I had heard of it, but it never grabbed my attention enough to buy it until recently. Now, I can't wait to read the next one and I hope it will be equally good. Young adult novels have come a long way, some of them are even better than novels marketed at adults.

This novel was attractive to me because people were saying it had fantasy elements to it. I enjoy fantasy novels, so I decided to see what these fantasy elements were. This book takes place in the later part of the 19th-century. The main character, Gemma Doyle, is dealing with being a sixteen-year-old. Teenage years are never easy, and with the last few months has brought a very difficult daughter for Gemma's mother. They used to get along, but now Gemma has it stuck in her head that she absolutely has to go to London. Her mother doesn't agree, and this causes lots of conflict between mother and daughter.

Then one day, everything changes for good. While in the marketplace, Gemma says a horrible thing to her mother and the next thing she knows, her mother is not around anymore to argue with. Gemma blames herself, and is racked with guilt for quite some time. She is her most annoying at this part of the book, while she deals with the loss of her mother. But then, she discovers she has an amazing gift that results in a whole other world for her. A young man, who you will find an interesting member of the cast of characters, follows Gemma to London where Gemma is attending Spence Academy.

When Gemma first arrives in London, she wonders why she ever really wanted to go there in the first place, but then she starts to make friends and lets her powers work, and a whole new world is open to her, a world of adventure and danger. She is in a school where girls are supposed to be learning how to be good wives, they are more interested in pleasing their men folk than doing anything for themselves. Gemma soon learns this is not the way that she wants to spend her life.

I hope I am not making this novel sound silly, it is anything but. I was glued to my seat while I was reading this, waiting to see what adventures would happen to the quartet next. As Gemma is not alone when she has her adventures, most times she has her three female friends with her. They are an interesting group, but they each have something to bring to the novel as a whole.

I can't wait to read the sequel!

4.5/5

The Singing Sword - Jack Whyte [August/06]

This is the second book in the fantastic Jack Whyte series.

From the back of the book:

It is 395 A.D., and as the Roman armies withdraw from Britain, anarchy threatens the colony that will one day be known as Camelot. Creating their own army and joining with the Celtic people of King Ullic Pendragon, the colonists emerge as a new breed of Britons, ready to forge the government that will be the Round Table and its Knights and to prepare the groundwork for the future coronation of Arthur, first Hight King of Britain.

With all the drama, passion and violence of England's most vibrant history, THE SINGING SWORD continues Jack Whyte's bestselling chronicle of the dream that gave birth to an enduring legend.

I think most people think I am crazy when I tell them I am in love with Jack Whyte. It is his writing I love of course. It is very rare that I can read a book by the same author in a row. It is taking all my will-power to wait until next month to start the next one.

Lots of people look at Jack Whyte as a male-orientated author. I will start off firstly by saying, if you are looking for a romance novel you are not going to find one here. There are a couple brief scenes where their is some action, but I don't think it is enough to attract someone that is looking for a great deal of romance. The majority of the cast of characters are men, which normally would turn me off from the book entirely, because I like to know that women are important. The woman in the novel, as well as book one, though, make it all worthwhile.

The narrator is once again Plautus. He started out with limited beginnings, but then he met Caius, the man who put this new community into action, and suddenly he was someone. I was so impressed with this book because the characters seem so real to me. When something would happen to Plautus, I could feel for the suffering of his wife, Luceiia. She was a strong character, but her husband seemed to bring trouble to himself wherever he went. Plautus, though, would do anything for the safety of this community they call home. I thought he was a wonderful narrator for both novels, but since he is getting older, I am assuming someone else will take the reins in the book 3.

There are so many things that happen in this book that I just can't talk about, because this novel lays so much framework for the story of Camelot and the young king that will one day rule it. You will notice from the blurb I posted above that the Pendragon's are already in position. In this novel, Ullic Pendragon's son marries Plautus's daughter. Then, on practically the same day, Ullic's sister marries Caius's son. So, the union has been struck, the name is in existence, soon will be the time for Arthur to be born. The groundwork has been laid in this novel, as things were explained you could see their bearing on the Arthurian stories you already know.

I think this series is very well-written. It catches my attention and holds on to it for large periods of time. I find myself drawn into this world and that is a good thing because series also end up boring me, I hope that this never happens with this one. I have my fingers crossed that I make it to the end with the same level of wow I start it with. I just can't say enough good things about this series.

4.5/5

Book Talk

Tonight is not a night to catch up on my reviews, too late at night. So, I am going to talk about books in general.

An upcoming review is for A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray. I read it last night at work, and I found it very engrossing. I am looking forward to reading the sequel, Rebel Angels, soon. It is a young adult book with a blend of history and fantasy. The sequel is marketed as historical. There are fantastic elements to it, though.

I completed the second book in Jack Whyte's Dream of Eagles series. It was wonderful. I am really enjoying this series so far. I have too many books on the go, or I would probably be reading book 3. I have heard that it slows down, but I am going to be wishful. I always start these series excited, and then they fizzle. It is like the authors get too comfortable and the writing suffers as a result. I hope this continues to attract my attention.

There are a few blogs that are planning to read more classics, they are setting themselves goals. I have a goal, but not classics. My goal is to read all of David Gemmell's novels by next year. I would say this year, but there are a lot of them and I have to track them all down first. I prefer the second hand approach. I will have the review up for the book I just read of his soon. Troy: Lord of the Silver Bow. I am a sucker for Troy and Arthur novels.

But, I will go along with the classics, too. By the end of the year, I have to read an Austen novel (considering I own all of them, they were a gift) and Rebecca by du Maurier. And, for Christmas, I am buying myself War and Peace because everyone is reading it and I have always wanted to. There, anything above that will be an added bonus. Heather made me think, though, I would also like to read Alcott. I have three of her novels, Little Women, Little Men, and The Eight Cousins. Okay, so reading one of them would be good too. I have read Little Women before. It was one of those books I read back when I was little, my first classic. I will see what happens. I read classics for university, of course, but always the obscure ones. (I am a big fan of The Scarlet Letter, though, which I read two years ago for school)

Anyways, everyone should pick one book that has been taunting them from their to read pile forever and read it by the end of the year. I did mine, I have had The Skystone by Jack Whyte forever, and now that I have finally read it, I loved it! I also have had The Historian for a while, and I am almost done that. It is such an accomplisment to have those done. I must look at my to read pile and see if there is something else that has been sitting there for too long and read it.

End of my ramblings. Will try and write a review tomorrow.

Booking Through Thursday

Booking Through Thursday

1. 
   Have you ever wanted to travel to a place described in a book? Of course, I think it works out that the better the author writes about the place, the more you want to see what they are talking about. It is like a credit to the author. It is fictional places, like the ones that are in my fantasy novels that I am normally drawn to, but other places interest me.


2. Have you ever ACTUALLY travelled to a place because of the way it was described in a book? I have been to Prince Edward Island to see where Anne of Green Gables took place. That was cool.


3. And if so, did it live up to the expectations, feelings, emotions you expected from the book? Did you feel like Anne was going to come romping around the corner of Green Gables? Was it as if Jo was upstairs at Orchard House, scribbling on a story? Or was it just a museum, or just a city street? Like Abbey Road without the Beatles? I thought it was very believable. I enjoyed the visit and would like to go back. The whole island is described so well by Montgomery, that you feel like Anne really existed and really is going to walk up to you.

20 Things that Annoy Me

I got tagged, was only going to do this tomorrow, but I am in a rather bad mood. This means that you guys are going to have to scroll down to see my 25 favourite book memes and a few book reviews as I finish them up.

1. People that say they are going to do something and don't do it. I point out my lack of computer. I was supposed to have a newish computer 3 weeks ago.
2. Men that abuse and control their women, and get away with it because the woman is too scared to take action and many have no where to turn to.
3. Technology. Computers are cool, but they often make me angry. Things that are meant for everyone should not be so complicated!
4. Hypocrites. I believe this one explains itself.
5. Girls. haha, I know that sounds weird, but the stereotypical image of girls drives me crazy. Why? Because there really are girls out there that are totally clueless! Very very annoying. Give girls a bad name, rep, whatever. Girls shouldn't be afraid to have brains.
6. Line ups. I am very impatient. Don't go to the mall near Christmas. Hate waiting in traffic. It annoys me more when the line up is because of rude customers causing trouble or employees being totally clueless about their job (this excludes newbies if it is clearly marked, they have an excuse)
7. Reality television. That's like all television is now! And, well, you know what, tv in general annoys me. I have friends that have to be home at certain times if they didn't remember to tape their show. That just annoys me.
8. Little Miss/Mister Perfect. I hate people that think they are better than everyone else. If you really are, that's fine, but do not shove it in my face.
9. The phone. More specifically, talking on it a lot. It's okay once in a while, but it tends to annoy me after a while.
10. People that interfere in other peoples affairs. Mind your own business, or offer advice, not tell the person how to live their life.
11. Book stores that do not have the book that I am looking for.
12. Finding out about a book, only to learn that it is out of print and really expensive! (it is worse when it is Canada, shipping kills)
13. Romance novels. We are talking like the characters can't get out of each others bed scenerios. Even more annoying when you buy a book and it is not marketed as a romance, but it really is.
14. Judgemental people. Do you know the looks I get, as a girl, when people find out my hobby is reading fantasy novels?
15. Sexism, racism, other isms. God, could go on and on... Equal rites, that's how I see it.
16. Violence. It is uncool when the world reaches a point where all you see anymore is violence being played out. In schools, at home, on television, etc.
17. Wars. That sort of goes with 16.
18. Lack of reading time. In other words, so many books to read, so little time!
19. Americanization. I live in Canada, I don't mean anything bad to the Americans that read my blog. Canada just needs to seperate themselves.
20. Ignorant people, and about a string of other personality types that I do not have enough space to complain about. :p

It's open game, anyone wants to do it. It's fun. :)

Twenty-five Favourite Books (so far)

Okay, I altered this and took the numbers out, because I don't want numbers to limit them. These are quite simple, books that I would read again. I also have the three main genres I read included. I also, didn't do classics. The only two that are mentioned is Anne of Green Gables and Lord of the Rings. I am going to do classics seperately, but not today.

Top twenty-five favourite books (so far)
The Time-Traveller's Wife - Audrey Nieffenegger
A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L'Engle
Phantom - Susan Kay
The Other Boelyn Girl - Philippa Gregory
The Sunne in Splendour - Sharon Penman
A Rose for the Crown - Anne Easter Smith
All Families are Psychotic - Douglas Coupland
The Mists of Avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley
Amazonia - James Rollins
Anne of Green Gables - Lucy Maud Montgomery
Green Grass, Running Water - Thomas King
The Birth House - Ami McKay
Black and Blue - Anna Quindlen
His Majesty's Dragon - Naomi Novik
Moon Called - Patricia Briggs
The Dark Queen - Susan Carroll
Crow Lake - Mary Lawson
Daughter of Fortune - Isabel Allende
The Skystone - Jack Whyte
Twilight - Stephanie Meyer
Fortune's Rocks - Anita Shreve
The Romantic - Barbara Gowdy
Embers from the Sun - Mark Cantor
Lord of the Silver Bow - David Gemmell
Downhill Chance - Donna Morrissey



Top 10 Favourite Canadian Novels (so far)
The Stone Diaries - Carol Shields
Anne of Green Gables - Lucy Maud Montgomery
Crow Lake - Mary Lawson
The Birth House - Ami McKay
The Romantic - Barbara Gowdy
Barometer Rising - Hugh MacLennan
Cabbagetown - Hugh Garner
Downhill Chance - Donna Morrissey
Mercy Among the Children - David Adams Richards
Green Grass, Running Water - Thomas King


Top 15 Favourite Fantasy Novels (so far)
Daughter of Blood - Anne Bishop
His Majesty's Dragon - Naomi Novik
A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L'Engle
The Skystone - Jack Whyte
Rhapsody - Elizabeth Haydon
Twilight - Stephanie Meyer
The Hawk's Gray Feather - Patricia Kennealy
Lord of the Silver Bow - David Gemmell
The Mists of Avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley
Good Omens - Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
Moon Called - Patricia Briggs
The Fairy Godmother - Mercedes Lackey
Fire and Hemlock - Diana Wynne Jones
Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien
Once Upon a Summer's Day - Dennis McKiernan


Top 10 Favourite Historical Fiction Novels (so far)
Dawn on a Distant Shore - Sara Donati
The Dark Queen - Susan Carroll
The Other Boelyn Girl - Philippa Gregory
A Rose for the Crown - Anne Easter Smith
The Sunne in Splendour - Sharon Penman
Daughter of Fortune - Isabel Allende
Slammerkin - Emma Donoghue
Anne of Green Gables - Lucy Maud Montgomery
The Borgia Bride - Jeanne Kalogridis
Outlander - Diana Gabaldon

I'm alive!

I have been rather quiet. The network card in my pc is fried, so I am computerless for the moment. I am borrowing computer use at the moment.

Things are interesting right now. I have a lot of reviews to catch up on. I don't really have the time right now to spend writing the reviews up, but I am trying. I put the Patricia Briggs one up today. That's an accomplishment.

A few things are going on lately. David Gemmell, a god, died back in July. That's sad in itself, but the thing that is must upsetting me is that he died with an unfinished trilogy on Troy. I am reading book one right now, Lord of the Silver Bow, and book 2 comes out in the fall. Book 3 was supposed to come out next year, but who knows if it will. I am sort of reading book 1 slowly, because I don't want to get to the next one, have it end suddenly, and then not have a conclusion. So, I am waiting for some sort of announcement. I will read them anyways, but I want to be prepared. I can't see the trilogy not being finished, and I really really am liking book one. So, hope all will be well on that front. I am still very sad that he died, my plan is to go on a Gemmell read and try and read all his books between now and next fall. Wish me luck!

Anyways, I plan to make a list of the 25 best books I have ever read. The meme has been going around. I wasn't very interested at first because most people were doing romance books, which I don't read, but then I thought I would just do non-romance. People are doing that also. I think it is going to take some major thinking, at least five of them will come from this year alone thanks to all the wonderful blogs I have been reading, I have read a lot of GREAT books.

Other than that, just wanted to give a shout out to Heather from A High and Hidden Place who is expecting, hope everything goes well on that front! Dance Chica has voting and suggesting going on for her classic book club. I never did get around to The Scarlet Pimpernal.

I will try and have some more exciting book reviews up soon!

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood - Marjane Satrapi [August/06]

I finally got this book and its sequel in the mail on Friday, so last night at work I sat down and read them because they are about life in Iran, something that me with my Canadian background is not fully aware of.

From the flap:

Wise, funny, and heartbreaking, PERSEPOLIS is Marjane Satrapi's memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. In powerful black-and-white comic strip images, Satrapi tells the story of her life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen, years that saw the overthrow of the Shah's regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastating effects of war with Iraq. The intelligent and outspoken only child of committed Marxists and the great-granddaughter of one of Iran's last emperors, Marjane bears witness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country.

PERSEPOLIS paints an unforgettable portrait of daily life in Iran and of the bewildering
contradictions between home life and public life. Marjane's child's-eye view of dethroned emperors, state-sanctioned whippings, and heroes of the revolution allows us to learn as she does the history of this fascinating country and of her own extraordinary family. Intensely personal, profoundly political, and wholly original, PERSEPOLIS is at once a story of growing up and a reminder of the himan cost of war and political repression. It shows how we carry on, with laughter and tears, in the face of absurdity. And, finally, it introduces us to an irresistible little girl with whow we cannot help but fall in love.

This was a very creative book style. I do read comics, but they are not something I normally read. A few online ones here and there, but the ones I really enjoyed are either not being written anymore or have gone down a path where I do not find them enjoyable anymore. So, I need a decent comic read. I do like Thieves and Kings which is by a local comic artist. I have to read more of him one of these days.

Anyways, this book tells the story of a young girl growing up in war torn Iran. Life is not easy for a female, for a citizen period, and she is constantly watching her parents fight for their rights. If her parents are really like what she has displayed, they are not your idea of Iranians at all. The father gives his daughter and wife lots of freedom, as long as they do not break the laws presented for Iranian women. Marjane's mother participates in protests for the rights of Iranians and Marjane's father talks to her like an equal person, not a subordinate. This is not the image that people living in other parts of the world have about Iran.

When she is still young her parents make the decision to send her to Vienna where she will have more oppurtunities to grow and prosper. The schools in Tehran, the town she was born in, are getting more oppressive and they are telling fabrications of what life is like instead of the truth. Her parents want her to have a quality eduacation and make something of herself. Life has gotten hard to live, they are presently at war with Iraq, and that is where we leave the family. With Marjane at the airport about to embark on an adventure in a new part of the world.

This is a Random House book. Very worth a read for someone that is looking for something different to read. Even if you are someone that doesn't normally read but likes comics, well worth your time.

4.5/5

World Without End - Sean Russell [August/06]

This is the first book in Russel's Moontide and Magic Rise duology. It keeps getting pushed to the side, so it took me a while to get to the end. Not because it was a bad book, just because I am easily distracted.

From the back of the book:

The Age of the Mages is over, and all the secrets of their magical arts are thought to be lost to the world. There are even those who suspect that the last of the great Mages spent their final years scrupulously eradicationg all traces of their art craft from the pages of history - insuring that their art will never practiced again. It is the daw of a new era: an age of reason, science, and exploration, and Tristam Flattery, is one of the most promising young naturalists. But when Tristam is summoned to the royal court of Farrland to try to revitalize a failing species of plant which seems to have mysterious, almost magical, medicinal properties - a plant without which, he is told, the aging king will surely die - he soon realizes that he has been drawn into the heart of a political struggle which spans generations, a conflict which threatens the very foundations of his civilation. And before long, Tristam is caught in the grip of a desting which will lead him to the ends of the known world - on a voyage of discovery that has more to do with magic than with science...

I am embarrassed to say I started this book last month and it was almost the end of August before I finished it. I am the worst at starting more books than I can possibly read, and this month was no exception. So, I started out really well with it, but I left it near completed for a couple weeks before I finally sat down and read it.

I took a fantasy course in university, and one of the things we would talk about is the level of fantasy presented in a novel marketed as one. When you really think about it, any novel can be considered a fantasy as long as it is a fabrication of the author and not a true story, but Sean Russell's book does have some fantasy present. If you had to chose, though, whether it was a high fantasy (like Lord of the Rings, for example) or a low fantasy, I would have to say it was a low fantasy. It is on a made-up world, and while there are hints of possible fantastic things that could happen, not much of them actually occur. To be honest, it reminds me of Darwin, just on a planet other than earth.

The novel follows the very naive Tristam Flattery on his adventures. Tristam is not your typical hero, he is actually a naturalist (Darwin connection) who is sent on a voyage to locate a plant called Kingsfoil, which the King of their homeland needs to survive. His supply has run out, and if the voyagers do not find some soon, it might be their fault if he dies. The book is about 600 pages, and I felt like most of the book took place on a ship, but it didn't really. I know it is a shorter book by some standards, but a lot happens in it. Flattery originally tries to aid the King at home, but when he fails to see how to grow more of the plant, desperate measures must be taken

Flattery is the... fantastic character in the novel. At first, his amazing abilites are not even apparent, but as the novel carries on you start to see that he is not like the rest of the people on the voyage. He seems to have a strong communion with nature, and that nature aids him in the most amazing ways. Since he was just beginning to understand his abilites in this novel, I would think that the second book would become even more fantastic. Tristam might in fact be a mage, a race that was thought to be destroyed.

I look forward to reading the second book in this duology soon, so as to see what further adventures Tristam embarks on and to further understand exactly what his abilities are.

3.5/5

The Hawk's Gray Feather - Patricia Kennealy [August/06]

I first came across this trilogy on the blog, Chappy's Mom. It is an out of print author, so it was hard to track down, but worth it.

From the flap:

With her bestselling Keltiad trilogy, Patricia Kennealy wove a magical tapestry of Celtic mythology, science fiction, and fantasy to create a future tale of chivalry and warfare, love and honor, among star systems far distant from earth.

Now Kennealy takes us to an earlier age in the history of the worlds and people of Keltia, a time out of legend, when Arthur himself fought to regain the throne for the royal House of Don. Arthur's enemy was the usurper Edeyrn, more than a mortal man greatest of Druids, who has sworn to detroy the House of Don. And Edeyrn has all but fulfilled his vow. After seizing power than two hundred years earlier, he sought to cut the people off from their greatest strengths-from the ancient lore and training of true warriors, bards, and druids.

Yet down through the centuries there were those who kept the secret knowledge alive, training chosen ones of each new generation in the skills they would need when the time of prophecy came upon them, the time of destiny when the House of Don would strike openly against the hated enemy.

Told by Taliesin, Arthur's beloved foster brother, and the greatest bard Keltia would ever know, THE HAWK'S GRAY FEATHER is the opening volume of a trilogy that both recaptures all the wonder and reveals as well still mor of the spellbinding tale of Patricia Kennealy's own magnificent Keltia.

I love Arthurian retellings. It has been one of my favourite type of things to read for quite some time. This one is not your typical novel about Arthur. It has many different aspects to it. Instead of taking place in the past, it takes place in the future with historical aspects. It was just amazing, I wish it would be reprinted so future generations can enjoy it. I personally had never even heard of it before, and I am very excited to not only read the othe two book sin the trilogy but to track down her other trilogy.

This trilogy takes place on Keltaid, for whatever reason the people have had to leave Earth and move on to another planet. The other trilogy also takes place on Keltaid, but doesn't have an Arthurian connection. I can not say enough good things about this book. I was very interested in the rules of the sexes in this book. It has women and men as equals, which interests me. I am always interested in novels that portray men and women equally.

Instead of the Saxons having to be overthrown, there is a race of magical men in power. One in particular who is half human, half a magical fairy-like folk. It means that the leader has special abilities, which means he is harder to overthrow. all your favourite characters are there, though, just with slightly different spellings of their names. The relationships between the characters is different as well. For example, Gwenivere and and Arthur are cousins. It is a much more fictionalized telling of the "typical" Arthurian tale.

I suggest it to anyone that enjoys Arthurian novels. It was a great first book, I hopefully will read the next one soon.

4.5/5

Moon Called - Patricia Briggs [August/06]

I have heard of Patricia Briggs before, as many people I am sure have picked up on, as I like fantasy novels. I even own a book by her in my to be read pile, I just hadn't gotten around to reading it yet. Then, Dance Chica talked about Moon Called on her blog, because the sequel is going to be released in the New Year. So, I thought I would forget about the book I have by her to read, and pick this book up if I saw it. Well, I found it yesterday and started it in the car on the way back home from the bookstore.

From the back of the book:

Werewolves can be dangerous if you get in their way, but they'll leave you alone if you are careful. They are very good at hiding their natures from the human population, but I'm not human. I know them when I meet them, and they know me, too.

Mercy Thompson's sexy next-door neighbor is a werewolf.

She's tinkering with a VW bus at her mechanic shop that happens to belong to a vampire.

But then, Mercy Thompson is not exactly normal herself...and her connection to the world of things that go bump in the night is about to get her into a whole lot of trouble.

I was very happy to be recommended this book, as it as a very worthwhile read, let me tell you. Better than Laurell K. Hamilton, I hope. Yes, there are chances that it could get bad because there are men and women involved, so sex could become a very Anita Blake type of novel. I just hope that it is tasteful, because she is a strong character like Anita Blake started out, but she is not turned away from relationships like Anita was, so it wouldn't have been as bad if it changed. I just think this series is more hopeful right now than I have been hearing Laurell Hamilton is.

It is one of those books that you can not easily put down. It starts out rather innocently, but by the end of the book the action has you glued to the pages. It is a novel of Mercy, a shape-shifter, able to take on the shape of a coyote. Her abilities are traced back to Natives and their magic, but as far as she knows and is told, all of her people have been erradicated. Her neighbour is a werewolf, and not just any werewolf, but the leader of the local pack in the town that she lives in.

Then, there is the witch that is in the werewolves pay roll to clean up what they don't want the public eye to see, and the other supernatural characters that are friends with Mercy and her friends. Some are known by the public world, while others remain in hiding as a species. Mercy is a badass, it is a novel where the women are making advancements in the world, but the werewolves are still about male dominance. Mercy refuses to do what is expected of her. She fixes cars for a living, nothing too amazing, but she is a very interesting character.

A very worthwhile novel, be sure to read it if you like supernatural or paranormal characters. Book 2 will be out in January.

4.5/5

A Very Long Engagement - Sebastien Japrisot [August/06]

I have always had a big interest in the two world wars from a historical point of view. That being said, I like to read novels that are set during either World War I or World War II.

From the back:

Set during and after the First World War, AVERY LONG ENGAGEMENT tells the story of a young woman's search for her fiance, whom she believes might still be alive despite having offically been reported as "killed in the line of duty." Unable to walk since childhood, fearless Mathilde Donnay is undeterred in her quest as she scours the country for information about five wounded French soldiers who were butually abandoned by their own troops. A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT is a mystery, a love story, and an extraordinary portrait of life in France before and after the War.

This was a very wonderful read, let me tell you. I like certain periods in history. I enjoy reading Canadian history in its entirety because that's where I live. The other things I enjoy are novels about Troy, Arthurian legends, the World Wars, and the surrounding time periods. Other things are enjoyable as well, but these things are the things that will make the books something I have to try. Other time periods I am more particular about. So, when I saw this book mentioned on a blog at one point and time, I added it to my to read list and it came up the other day when I was ordering from Amazon. I got it in the mail, sat down and read it, and I thought it was very well written.

If you haven't noticed, not a major reader of romance novels. So, I admit this was an iffy read because at its core, it is a romance novel. But it has so many other things going on that I could not help enjoying it. For starters, to think that men were executed during the war for not wanting to fight. It is rather depressing, these men shot themselves so that they would be sent home. They were considered cowards, but I don't really think they were. They shot off their arms, that is rather brave when you think about it. Can we really judge people that do not want to take lives. Look at all the lasting effects war has on people, to see all that slaughter. You really have to question whether or not war is worth it. To these men, some of them would rather not be able to write again than stay on the fields. And this really happened, too. That's the sad thing, the actual people may not be real, but the reality is.

Mathilde is an interesting character. The war has been over for several years and there she is still trying to find out what happened to her fiance. Many people try and prevent her from learning the truth, but she has the determination to learn the truth. She is not easily distracted, and actually brings hope to the other women that lost their husbands on that fateless day. Five men were let out into enemy lines to be shot by the enemy. Seems to me the method they chose to execute them was more cowardly than the actual act. It is a novel that will have you trying to solve the mystery of whether her finance died or not and at the same time, it makes you think about the consequences of war.

Has anyone seen the movie? I was wondering if it was worth watching.

4.5/5

Something Blue - Emily Griffin [August/06]

I read Something Borrowed earlier this year. This is the sequel to that novel.

From the back:

Darcy Rhone thought she had it all figured out: the more beautiful the girl, the more charmed her life. Never mind substance. Never mind playing by the rules. Never mind karma.

But Darcy's neat, perfect world truns upside down when her best friend, Rachel White, the plain-Jane "good girl" steals her fiance, while Darcy finds herself completely alone for the first time in her life.... with a baby on the way.

Darcy tries to recover, fleeing to her childhood friend living in London and resorting to her tried-and-true methods for getting what she wants. But as she attempts to re-create her glamorous life on a new continent, Darcy finds that her rules no longer apply. It is only then that she can begin her journey toward self-awarness, forgiveness, and motherhood.

SOMETHING BLUE is a novel about one woman's surprising discoveries about the true meaning of friendship, love, and happily-ever-after. It's a novel for anyone who has ever, even secretly, wondered if the last thing you want is really the one thing you need.




I just couldn't get into this bok, I admit I was probably guilty of skimming my way through it. I didn't mind Something Borrowed, maybe because the main character was not super annoying. But, Darcy annoyed me. I think someone that really likes chick-lit or romance, you might like this, but for me it was not an enjoyable read.

2/5

The Tenth Circle - Jodi Picoult [August/06]

This is the newest novel by Jodi Picoult, and of the ones I have read by her so far, my least favourite. Hopefully the next book I read by her is really good, or I am not sure if I will keep her up. She seems to be one of those authors that are hit or miss for me.

From the back:

Trixie Stone is fourteen years old and in love for the first time. She's also the light of her father's life - a straight-A student; a freshman in high school who is pretty and popular; a girl who's always looked up to Daniel Stone as a hero. Until, that is, her world is turned upside down with a single act of violence... and suddenly everything Trixie has believed about her family-and herself-seems to be a lie. Could the young boy who once made Trixie's face fill with light when he came to the door have been the one to end her childhood forever? She says that he is, and that is all it takes to make Daniel, a seemingly mild-mannered comic book artist with a history he has hidden even from his family, venture to hell and back in order to protect his daughter.

THE TENTH CIRCLE looks at that delicate moment when a child learns that her parents don't know all the answers and when being a good parent means letting go of your child. It asks whether you can reinvent yourself in the course of a lifetime, or if your mistakes are carried forever-if life is, as in any good comic book, a struggle to control good and evil, or if good and evil control you.

Alright. Since I have started this blog, I have recorded my thoughts on Jodi Picoult. I read my first book by her at about the New Year mark, and this is the 4th book I have read by her. I find I have an easier time bragging up a good book than explaining why I didn't like a bad book. I will sit here and look for every good moment and still probably give it a half decent mark for the good parts and ignore the bad. I think it is the whole, I don't want to be mean, thinking.

Anyways, I had said with Vanishing Acts that I read, I think it was last month, that I was not impressed with the novel. Vanishing Acts had good points to it, though. With The Tenth Circle, I enjoyed the first 100 pages or so. I thought we were looking at a good book, and I was curious to see how things were going to play out. Then, it just died. I started to notice that I was reading, but at the same time I was skimming. I have it now, though. The thing I don't like about Picoult is all the anti-climatic stuff. It is okay for a while, but this book was all this thinking. The father was thinking about his life in Alaska and his comic, the mother was thinking about her job and Dante's Inferno, and the daughter was a typical teenager. It's just, you would get into the story, and then there would like 5 pages of pointless rambling and then the story again. There was just too much, well, crap! I couldn't get into the story at all.

So, this was a bust. I don't recommend it. She does have a few good books, but the pointless rambling, well, okay it sort of has a point to the story, but I think there is too much of it.

For the good start, I give it a 2/5. Rather glad I didn't buy this one.

Firefly Cloak - Sheri Reynolds [August/06]

I had heard of this author before, but this is the first time I had read anything by her. My friend had bought it because she thought it sounded good, and lent it to me. From the flap:

When eight-year-old Tessa Lee and her brother, Travis, are abandoned in a campground by their desperate mother and her boyfriend of the moment, they are left with only two things: A phone number written in Magic Marker on Travis's back and their mother's favourite housecoat, which she leaves wrapped around her sleeping children. This housecoat, painted with tiny fireflies, becomes totemic for Tessa Lee, providing a connection to her past and to the beautiful mother she lost.

Seven years later, when word arrives that her mother has been spotted working at a tourist trap on a seaside boardwalk not far from where Tessa Lee lives, she sets off on a dangerous journey to try to recover what has been taken from her.

Steeped in the rich Southern atmosphere for which Sheri Reynolds has long been hailed, FIREFLY CLOAK is a vivid coming-of-age novel of family, loss, and redemption.

Firefly Cloak is one of those coming of age type novels. I was first attracted to the book because of the title. I thought it was a very original title, and was curious why it was called that. To find out that it is just named after a housecoat that looks like it has fireflies on it is disappointing, but it was still a decent read.

When I told someone about this book, I was telling them about all the rotten luck that happens in this novel and they automatically pointed out that it must be a very depressing novel. I thought for a second, and you know what, it isn't really. The Memory Keepers Daughter was depressing. It is just the mood of the novels. For some reason, although there were equally bad things happening in this book, I didn't feel depressed about it. Unlike The Memory Keepers Daughter where I felt depressed reading it. So, the book has points for that.

Now, I know, I should be writing this review, but I think the blurb covers it well. I am just thinking about the depressing qualities of novels and what makes you want to put them down. I think someone else posted about this... Mailyn maybe? I have to check my blogs, but I am more interested in the saddness factor. How sad is too sad, so sad that you have to put the novel down?

For me, I don't know if there is a certain formula. There are certain moments in books, though, that I feel sad reading them and I carry on. I think when I am in a cheerful mood, though, the last thing I want to do is reading a book that you can't help feeling for the characters. It is probably a good thing, when you can get involved in a story and feel for the characters, but sometimes, I think that happens too much.

Ah, I know how to word it better, what emotions will turn you off a book? And, is it enough to stop entirely, or do you keep reading in the quest for the happy ending? And, what happens when a book doesn't have a happy ending, do you feel like it wasn't a good conclusion?

Oh, I give Firefly Cloak a 4/5.

Dealing with Dragons - Patricia C. Wrede [August/06]

This is book one in the young adult Enchanted Forest Chronicles. I like fairy tale type novels, as I think I have made clear in previous posts. This book makes fun of fairy tales and the common expectations found in them.

From the back of the book:

Meet Princess Comorene - a princess who refuses to be proper. She is everything a princess is not supposed to be: headstrong, tomboyish, smart...

And bored.

So bored that she runs away to live with a dragon. And not just any dragon, but Kazul - one of the most powerful and dangerous dragons around. Of course, Cimorene has a way of hooking up with dangerous characters, and soon she's coping with a witch, a jinn, a death-dealing talking bird, a stone prince, and some very oily wizards.

If this princess ran away to find some excitement, it looks like she's found plenty!

I really enjoyed this first book in the series. I had planned to read the rest of the series in a row, but I am sort of scatter brain and easily distracted by other pretty covers and interesting blurbs. Anyways, this series is not supposed to be taken seriously. It is a comical look at life as a princess. It basically takes all the misconceptions associated with fairy tales, and makes fun of them. It doesn't always change them entirely, for example there are still happy endings, but it is like the badass version of fairy tale writing. Where instead of all the females being damsels in distress, some of them have brains. It is a female author showing the world that not all princesses are stupid and helpless.

For those out there that are not fond of fantasy, I think this series will still appeal to you. They are a very entertaining read, and from what I am told, just get more entertaining. It is always an experience to read novels that include dragons, witches, wizards, and other fairy tale characters. This book sort of reminds of Mercedes Lackey's The Fairy Godmother because it looks at how when you are a princess or a prince, certain things have to happen. It is like a list of possible problems that the royalty must face. Cimorene is not your typical princess, though. When she gets caught up in the need to be wed, she doesn't wait for a dragon to come and kidnap her and a prince or knight to save her, she goes and offers herself to the dragons until she finds the man that she wants to marry. Thus breaking the rules of fairy tales.

Cimorene is a delightful character. One of these days I will find the time to read the other 4 books in the box set. I know a lot of people that read my blog like young adult books, so if you haven't read these yet, I recommend them for a good laugh!

4/5