Fantasy with an epic feel to it. The Traveller's are sort of like Earth's gypsies except that within them are those Ordered born who have special powers that are to be used to help the others from The Shadowed who was imprisoned but not destroyed. Unfortunately, the darkness is spreading and there is a group that is now collecting The Ordered and stealing their power to use for their own means. When Seraph, an Ordered Raven, is told that her husband, an Ordered Owl, is dead she embarks on a quest with her Ordered children to find out what has really happened to him.
I really, really love the rich worlds and characters that Ms. Briggs brings to her stories. I also love the way she reveals the history of the world throughout the story without doing a big core dump in the beginning but rather starting you off meeting the characters through their actions and/or thoughts. A fabulous story teller!
Page count: 334p/14,041p ytd
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
110:44 Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare
I always have a hard time writing reviews of classics like this because anything I can say about has already been said a billion times and so much better than I could ever express. So I will sum up in one word....enchanting.
Page count: 135p/13,707p ytd
Page count: 135p/13,707p ytd
Saturday, April 7, 2012
110:43 Hungry Hearts by Gary McMahon
One of the Tomes of the Dead that Chris wanted me to read. Great, the guy managed to write a zombie story without ever once using the word zombie and he takes pride in that. I call shenanigans since all he did was substitute the phrase "walking dead" instead. Same diff guy. But really can I just say EWWWWWW!!!!! I mean the serial killer who was finally able to realize his fantasy with the world going crazy was a big whatever. The guy who snapped and decided to keep his wife "alive" after the serial killer was done killing her and she was a ZOMBIE was crazy but at least sort of understandable. But when it develoved towards necrophilia that was just past the ew factor for me. The story was definitely all about the gross out factor and in that it succeeded wonderfully and I'll admit the guy wrote creepy psychopaths well but I definitely won't be running out to find more of his books to read. I will however be heading to the store to find some brain bleach.
Page count: 311p/13,572p ytd
Page count: 311p/13,572p ytd
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
110:42 The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
This is one that was recommended to me by my bookpusher, erm, local bookstore owner. I had looked at it, picked it up, put it back, and walked away. But something about it stayed with me and I ended up getting it for my kindle because I couldn't stop really thinking about it.
The book is simply like that. It inserts itself into your brain, imprints itself there in it's folds, and just sits. There are no loud bangs with this book. No huge revelations, no explosions of action. It simply is. I can't tell you that I ever cared deeply about the main characters, except that's not the case. I cared deeply about the circus itself. It was it's own character and while it never spoke in words and was merely the venue, it was the most alive part of the book. There were secondary characters that I cared about.
It's a quiet book but one that I found it easy to get lost inside of. I would start reading and look up to find that my kids were done with their activity and it was an hour later and it seemed like mere moments. And I would find myself trying to find more moments where I could read it because I wanted to escape into that quiet, beautiful, fascinating world. I found the world itself rich and the language beautifully descriptive, hauntingly riveting.
Page count: 401p/13,261p ytd
The book is simply like that. It inserts itself into your brain, imprints itself there in it's folds, and just sits. There are no loud bangs with this book. No huge revelations, no explosions of action. It simply is. I can't tell you that I ever cared deeply about the main characters, except that's not the case. I cared deeply about the circus itself. It was it's own character and while it never spoke in words and was merely the venue, it was the most alive part of the book. There were secondary characters that I cared about.
It's a quiet book but one that I found it easy to get lost inside of. I would start reading and look up to find that my kids were done with their activity and it was an hour later and it seemed like mere moments. And I would find myself trying to find more moments where I could read it because I wanted to escape into that quiet, beautiful, fascinating world. I found the world itself rich and the language beautifully descriptive, hauntingly riveting.
Page count: 401p/13,261p ytd
110:41 Timeless by Gail Carriger
The 5th (and last) of the Parasol Protectorate series. Alexia has been invited to bring Prudence to Egypt to meet the oldest living vampire queen in existence. Of course, Alexia can do nothing simply so she ends up bringing not only her family but Ivy, Tunstell, their twins and nanny, and their acting troupe to perform for the queen as well. Of course tho, nothing is ever simple.
The good ~ I liked how some of the secondary characters roles were finally fully flushed out and we got the answers to most of the questions that have been brought up during the series. And yes, there is a HEA in here.
The bad ~ I felt the last half of the book was a bit rushed. Too much going on trying to wrap everything up nicely and a bit hectically. Not awfully done, but just lacked the wit and subtlety of the rest of the series trying to get everything in.
In all, I really enjoyed the book and the entire series. As my first foray into steampunk of any kind, it definitely made a wonderful impression on me and I look forward to dabbling in it further. I've also heard that there will be more books set in this world in which these characters will contribute but that they will not be the main characters. Rumor has it that they will be more about Prudence instead. I can only hope rumors are true in this case as I would love to read such stories.
Page count: 402p/12,860p
The good ~ I liked how some of the secondary characters roles were finally fully flushed out and we got the answers to most of the questions that have been brought up during the series. And yes, there is a HEA in here.
The bad ~ I felt the last half of the book was a bit rushed. Too much going on trying to wrap everything up nicely and a bit hectically. Not awfully done, but just lacked the wit and subtlety of the rest of the series trying to get everything in.
In all, I really enjoyed the book and the entire series. As my first foray into steampunk of any kind, it definitely made a wonderful impression on me and I look forward to dabbling in it further. I've also heard that there will be more books set in this world in which these characters will contribute but that they will not be the main characters. Rumor has it that they will be more about Prudence instead. I can only hope rumors are true in this case as I would love to read such stories.
Page count: 402p/12,860p
Monday, April 2, 2012
110:40 Making Thirteen Colonies by Joy Hakim
The 2nd book in the History of US series (5th-8th US History text). Well, Jon likes them as much as he likes history at all (which is to say not much) but I will say that I think I was spoiled by the Oxford Ancient Times series. This one just hasn't gripped me, the writing is repetitive in it's simplistic language, and I'm basically just ungripped. I'm sure there are better books out there but the small chapters and easy reading is exactly what Jon needs so I think I'm stuck with it. *sigh* Only 8 more volumes left.
Page count: 185p/12,458p ytd
Page count: 185p/12,458p ytd
10:39 Heartless by Gail Carriger
The 4th book in the Parasol Protectorate. The infant-inconvenience as Alexia refers to the babe has had the unfortunate side-effect of causing all the vampires to try to kill her. Her only recourse is to allow the babe to be adopted by Lord Akeldama. However, in doing so it means that she must move back into London to be able to still be part of the child's life once s/he is born and that means a whole host of other problems. Add in the ghosts that keep coming around who are close to disanimation but giving her bits and pieces of dire warnings about the queen being danger and there goes Lady Maccoon all over London while 8mos pregnant trying to solve everything on her own.
Another delightful romp in this world. Each book has gotten better than the last and I'm sorry that the next one is the last in the series. I can only be happy that I only just discovered the series so I get to read the whole thing at once and not have to wait for each one to come out.
Page count: 385p/12,273p ytd
Another delightful romp in this world. Each book has gotten better than the last and I'm sorry that the next one is the last in the series. I can only be happy that I only just discovered the series so I get to read the whole thing at once and not have to wait for each one to come out.
Page count: 385p/12,273p ytd
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)