Books, Books, Books

I've dropped the ball once again. I've been so busy over the summer that I haven't had time to even consider writing anything. I have a few things lined up though. I went to the TFA educators conference 2 weeks ago and I came back with such a renewed sense of urgency for my career. I was starting to feel like I was in an educational pit of despair, but the conference, along with the people there, fed my spirit in a way that I hadn't even known I needed. But more on that later.

What I have been able to keep up with all summer is my reading!

And setting up my bookcases in a way that makes me SUPER happy! This is what I do. I'm on track with my good reads challenge.

Hahzah!!

Now on books 26 and 27 (because I can't just read one at a time apparently). But this pretty good progress!

This is my current obsession!

What are you reading right now?

A Book Lover's Interview

1: What is your favorite book?Love the Harry Potter series, but most recently I have been in love with the Irin Chronicles by Elizabeth Hunter.

2: What was the last book you read?The Singer by Elizabeth Hunter

3: What is the worst book you've ever read?This crime mystery that was chock full of rape. I couldn't even get through it. 

4: Top 7 book characters.Hermione Granger, Will Herodale, Matthew Clairmont (A discovery of witches), Jackaby, Sirius Black, Severus Snape, Sherlock Holmes

5: What is your favorite genre?Science Fiction/Fantasy<---- Anything to do with other worldly whimsical creatures. 

6: Book you cried the hardest reading?Harry Potter and the half blood prince. 

7: Book you laughed the hardest reading?Anything by JR Ward- she has some pretty good dialogue. 

8: Which book character(s) do you most relate to?I like strong female leads that don't have that stupid ass needy syndrome. I can't stand the "Please save me" women. 

9: Favorite author(s)?Rowling, Jr Ward, Elizabeth hunter, 

10: Do you judge books by their covers?Definitely. The cover makes me pick it up, the description makes me buy it. 

11: What is your favorite quote from a book?"You know my methods, Watson"- Holmes

12: Which book do you recommend to friends and family most?I always push Harry Potter on people. And Sherlock.

13: Which book is so special to you that you don't share it with others?I share all my favorites. 

14: Do you have any signed books?NO :(

15: Have you met any authors?I met the author of "The Maze Runner"

16: Buy books new, used, or go to the library?I don't ever go to libraries because I like to keep my books. I am not in the habit of giving them back! But I love used or new. As long as the book jacket looks good!

17: Where is your favorite place to read?Really, anywhere. I do like to go to the bookstore and hide in the back with a good book. 

18: Prefer books set in the past or the future?The Past! I feel like I would love to go back in time. Although I probably wouldn't have done well back then, being black and all. 

19: What 5 elements would your ideal book have?*Strong woman*Time travel*Some kind of magical influence*Love story- but not a cheesy one*Non white characters. 

20: Do you ever hope to publish your own book?I am writing a novel right now. 

21: Prefer stand alone or series?Prefer a series if its a good book. I always want more. 

22: Do you mark/highlight/dog ear your books or keep them in perfect condition?Dog ear my book and I will kick your ass. 

23: Hardbacks or paperbacks?Both.

24: Do you watch any booktubers?No

26: Do you like twist endings?Love them.

27: Do you reread books?I used to before I started getting down with this Goodreads challenge every year. Now I have to make my numbers lol.

28: E-readers or physical copies of books?Both.

29: A book that makes you feel comforted?The wizard of oz

30: Would you rather read any ending that makes you feel happy or sad?Depends on the flow of the book. 

31: Favorite villain in a book?Elphaba

32: Do you like to write reviews when you finish a book?Sometimes. It's hard for me to write a review without giving away spoilers. And honestly, it takes so much to write a book, I try not to knock authors' hustles. 

33: Do you experience "book hangovers"?Every single time. If any book is worth reading you will want to physically put yourself in those pages. And it's hard to let go. 

34: Favorite book cover(s)?The Lunar chronicles, Dorothy must die, Wicked, The paper magician. 


Feel Free to Cut, Paste, and Answer your favorite questions in the comments section! 

"Dorothy Must Die"- A Retake on my Old Favorite

Where to begin? I'll start by saying that this novel stayed in my to read shelf for about 6 months before I actually pulled the trigger. I am an AVID reader of old school rewrites so I wanted to give it a fair shake even though the reviews were pretty all over the place. I wasn't disappointed, but as someone who is a serious lover of all things Wizard of Oz related, I felt it could be better. 

What I liked: 

The concept was fabulous. Wicked Dorothy. Wicked Galinda (notice I used the "Wicked" spelling). Sounded like a match made in heaven for me. 

The whole bad is good theme was great. Loved the wicked witches being the good ones. Loved to see the lion being such a thug. 

Old characters from the other Oz novels making their way into the books. 

What I didn't like:

Amy in general. I just didn't love her. She seems to just HAVE to do the opposite of everything she was told. 

Dorothy wasn't evil enough. I expected some serious evil shit. I thought she was going to be chopping off fingers and popping out eyeballs. The novellas that went along with the story line were actually really good.  There was more violence and murdering. But I had to remind myself that this is a YA (very YA) novel. Which leads me to my second point. 

The writing was too YA for me. That's sounds so ridiculous doesn't it. This is no reflection on the author. It is clearly a book for young adults, but it's a little too basic for my tastes. I like more creative language. I like when I have to go to the dictionary to clarify. 

Imagery was lacking. There were a few times when Amy "couldn't find the words to describe" what she was seeing. That felt like a cop out to me. I wanted, yearned for, that description. It's funny because I'm reading the short novellas and they are much more vivid. I didn't feel like I had a picture of the scene because of the lack of details. 

What was the last book you read? Have you checked out this series?

Update: I've read all three of the novellas and The first two were pretty good. That last one left something to be desired. I have just downloaded "The Wicked will Rise" and I will update with my thoughts on it. 

The Night Circus Gave Me Life

"The Circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. 
It is simply there, when yesterday it was not."

The Night Circus--- 4/5 stars

Isn't that a helluva into? 

I did not expect to like this book as much as I did. Nothing against the novel itself, but its not my usual genre. Well I was definitely mistaken. I was so engulfed by the writing and the characters that I begrudgingly put the book down only when it was necessary. That is always the sign of a good book, gets in your bones. 

The gist of the story:

Two practitioners of two different kinds of magic have a continued rivalry where they subject 2 of their padawan (if you don't know what a padawan is, please fall off a cliff) learners to a challenge. From an early age, the two padawans are taught, relentlessly, in the way of their master's preferred magic and the reader is able to see how they differ and how they are the same. 

We get to meet a variety of characters, but they character descriptions are not in depth at all. Let me just say that this novel isn't about the characters. The characters are there as a way of telling a story about the circus. Period. This novel is full of imagery and beautiful language, but the characters are not the focal point, in my opinion. 

Back to the point. 

Well lo and behold, as equally matched young people tend to do, they fall in love and therein lies the rub. Can't love someone who is supposed to be your arch enemy. So they cry a lot and act like they don't want to get all up in each other's nether regions...until they do *side wink*. Annnnnnnnd I'm not going to give away the ending so I'm going to go back to talking about the experience. 

As I said above, the imagery is wonderful. You want the circus to pop up outside your town more than anything. The masters/teachers were pests who seemed to be more like adolescents than actual adults. They were the most annoying characters in the whole novel and not nearly enough detail about them, where they came from, and why they started this challenge thing. While we do get to see someone else who was in the challenge, we don't get many details from them either. So the PURPOSE of the game as background set up for the circus is a little vague and I didn't love it. But again, this wasn't written about the characters per se. However, I would love if Morgenstern would write a sequel (or prequel) going in to a little more depth about the characters. Hands down, my biggest issue is character development. 

When I was done with the book, I just held it in my hands and stared at it. I couldn't accept the fact that it as over. I wanted more of the circus. I craved it. I've been uneasy and on edge, wondering how the game would play out, and once it was over I was left in the most confusing state of what I could only call dissatisfied satisfaction. The ending definitely left something to be desired. There was so much build up and the ending wasn't where I would have like the novel to go. I would have preferred a better climax which is why I gave 4 stars. And it was real build up only to be left wanting more. Ladies, you know what I mean!  They spent so much time and put so much into the details, and they actual culmination of the challenge was super quick. Like a minute man hahahaha. With all they could accomplish, I expected a more fantastical wrap up.

But nevertheless, I thought the book was wonderfully written and I wanted to run away and join the circus as soon as I was done reading. Definitely worth it. 

Z A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald Review

While walking through the airport on my way to see my family after 2 whole years, I waded through the bookstores in the airport.  No, I didn't have a lot of extra time, I just have to do that.  When there is a book store I must go in.  MUST. SEE. BOOKS.  And while I was perusing, I stumbled across this book.

The first thing to catch my attention was the tattered pages.  Instead of the straight cut pages that most books have, this one looked as if it could have been individually torn.  LOOOOOVED IT!!!  I was like "Now you didn't have to go and tear those pages up for me" with a smirk...to absolutely no one.  Weirdo alert.  Anyway, I was impressed and it just felt so good in my hands.  What can I say, I had a good feeling about it.  I'd always had a little interest in Zelda, and once I saw "Midnight in Paris", I became even more curious.  Unfortunately I didn't find her biography too interesting, but this was different.

Yummy, my favorite, Historical Fiction.

I hadn't been planning on spending any money because I had plenty of books on the Ipad, but once I found out they had a military discount, I couldnt resist.  It came on the plane with mama and I put a pretty good dent in it.

     I enjoyed this book quite a bit more than I thought I would.  It was one of those rare airport finds that permeated through the very fabric of my soul.  It was hard for me to separate fact and fiction at times, but I'd like to think that the author did her research about times, places, and happenings.  The big fiction aspect comes from the authors details of thoughts and feelings of characters; my favorite part. 

I felt like she had a very adequate description of what women were going through during those times.  Especially women who were aspiring to rise above what their sex dictated they do or become.  I enjoyed the inner dialogue (and the back to back conversations for that matter).  My overall enjoyment of the novel was shadowed by my sadness concerning her situation.  I found myself drawn to her desire to be truly great at something.  I too am a Jacqueline of all Trades and it sometimes seems that I am a master of none.  I hope I'm not destined tobe one of those people who never really find their passion.  But I can only imagine how truly debilitating it was for women, especially intelligent women with something to offer the world other than baby production.  That almost seems to still be the case. 

Nonetheless, The story in itself is full of witty interactions and famous names that had me giddy like school girl.  I was telling my husband that writers of the day were like the real life rockstars back then.  I wish that were the case now.  Literary genius goes right over the heads of the imbeciles.  Sad but true. 

My last thoughts -I enjoyed the read and it was well worth the 12.59 that I paid at the book store.  If the Fitzgeralds and the writers from the golden age(well, one of the ages of writers that could be considered golden) tickle your fancy, you will love it.  

Do you have a favorite writer from the golden age?

My Summer Reading List

You know that I'm obsessed with reading, right? If you follow this blog, then I'm sure you have am idea.  It's going to be harder to find time for my guilty pleasure once the school year starts, so I am definitely trying to put a dent in my 50 book challenge before the summer ends.  My goodreads challenge will NOT get the best of me this year.  The following are my most pressing reads for this summer.  I have a few more on the list that I will get to if I can.

Below you will find a pretty diverse group of books.  I'm a writer deep down in the special places of my heart, so I read everything.  Faulkner said "read, read, read. Read Everything--trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it.  Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master.  Read! You'll absorb it.  Then Write.  If it's good, you'll find out.  If it's not, throw it out of the window."

So that's what I do.

The City of Heavenly Fire: The 6th and final installment in the Mortal Instruments series.  I wont bore you with the details again, as I have already done a review.  If you have read the other 5 then you already know that this came out on May 27th.  Grab your copy ASAP. I've finished it and it was a pretty decent ending.

Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald: Review on the way for this one.  I love historical fiction and this book was absolutely fabulous.  Here is a quick synopsis from Goodreads.

 "When beautiful, reckless Southern belle Zelda Sayre meets F. Scott Fitzgerald at a country club dance in 1918, she is seventeen years old and he is a young army lieutenant stationed in Alabama. Before long, the “ungettable” Zelda has fallen for him despite his unsuitability: Scott isn’t wealthy or prominent or even a Southerner, and keeps insisting, absurdly, that his writing will bring him both fortune and fame. 

What comes, here at the dawn of the Jazz Age, is unimagined attention and success and celebrity that will make Scott and Zelda legends in their own time. Everyone wants to meet the dashing young author of the scandalous novel—and his witty, perhaps even more scandalous wife.

Everything seems new and possible. Troubles, at first, seem to fade like morning mist. But not even Jay Gatsby’s parties go on forever. Who isZelda, other than the wife of a famous—sometimes infamous—husband? 

The Body Book: Of course, I have to read something for my body and health.  I always do.  Maybe this one will set in.  Maybe.

"Throughout her career, Cameron Diaz has been a role model for millions of women. By her own admission, though, this fit, athletic star wasn't always as health-conscious as she is today. Her consumption of bad foods had an effect on her skin and her body. In The Body Book, she shares the knowledge she's gained both from personal experience and from consulting with health experts.

Beginning with nutrition, Cameron explains why instead of fearing hunger, women should embrace their body's instinct for fuel and satisfy it with whole, nutrient-dense foods.

Creating a healthy, beautiful body begins with learning the facts and turning knowledge into action. In The Body Book, women will find the tools they need to build a healthier body now—so they can live joyfully in it for years to come."

The Thing on the Doorstep: The minute I saw this cover, I knew I was in love.  This serious of Gothic Horror is beautifully written by some of the greats.  And Guillermo Del Toro is gifted with a pen.

"Howard Phillips Lovecraft's unique contribution to American literature was a melding of traditional supernaturalism (derived chiefly from Edgar Allan Poe) with the genre of science fiction that emerged in the early 1920s. This new Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics edition brings together a dozen of the master's tales-from his early short stories "Under the Pyramids" (originally ghostwritten for Harry Houdini) and "The Music of Erich Zann" (which Lovecraft ranked second among his own favorites) through his more fully developed works, "The Dunwich Horror," The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, and At the Mountains of Madness.

The Thing on the Doorstep and Other Weird Stories presents the definitive corrected texts of these works, along with Lovecraft critic and biographer S. T. Joshi's illuminating introduction and notes to each story"

Cinder: All of my online reading groups have been talking about Cinder for a while, so I jumped on the bandwagon.  I am all about rewrites of my childhood favorites so maybe this will be fabulous.

"Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. 
Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future."

And finally...

The one I've been waiting on for 2 years...

The Book Of Life: It has been a long and weary journey, but finally, the last book in the All souls trilogy will be released on July 15th.  This will be one of my last summer books because new teacher orientation begins on July 17th and then comes the start of the school year stuff.  I have been waiting sooooooooo lonnnnggg and it better be worth it.  Here is my review of the other 2 books in the series.  And here is the quick description of book 3.

"After traveling through time in Shadow of Night, the second book in Deborah Harkness’s enchanting series, historian and witch Diana Bishop and vampire scientist Matthew Clairmont return to the present to face new crises and old enemies. At Matthew’s ancestral home at Sept-Tours, they reunite with the cast of characters from A Discovery of Witches—with one significant exception. But the real threat to their future has yet to be revealed, and when it is, the search for Ashmole 782 and its missing pages takes on even more urgency. In the trilogy’s final volume, Harkness deepens her themes of power and passion, family and caring, past deeds and their present consequences. In ancestral homes and university laboratories, using ancient knowledge and modern science, from the hills of the Auvergne to the palaces of Venice and beyond, the couple at last learn what the witches discovered so many centuries ago."

I am beyond...excited.  I'm just a wordgasm waiting to happen.  There are few things as exciting as the release of a book you have been waiting on.

What are you reading this summer?

All Souls Trilogy Book Review

You know that I am partial to Science Fiction - Historical Science Fiction, Erotic Science Fiction, Futuristic...- I could go on and on about Scyfy.  This series has truly brought me so much joy over the past 2 years, and while I am VERY -OVER- THE -TOP -KILL- EVERYONE -IF -HARKNESS- DOESN'T- HURRY- UP -AND PUBLISH- IT ready for book 3, I am already mourning the end of the series.

I saw this book after searching my Goodreads feed for magic and history wrapped up in a nice neat package.  Don't get me wrong, I love my Vampire erotica as much as the next geek, but there is something so enticing about fictional magic stories based in fact.  Maybe because I am more apt to believe when there are so many connections to the past.  Like "Wow ! That could have really happened".  I'm pretty sure I spend my days wishing for the things I read in books to be real.  The life of a geek.  And not just once in a while. On no!  I completely go head first into a novel and it takes days after I'm done for me to poke my head out again.

All Souls Trilogy 1&2- 9 so far

• Two  Books in the series with one on the way
• A discovery of Witches
• Shadow of Night
• The book of Life (July 15)

      Let me start by saying that I love books that cause me to look beyond things that I am familiar with, and A discovery of witches definitely does that. I found myself researching things that she wrote and connecting fact and fiction .The fact that the author is actually a historian (and has written two history books) makes the book that much more appealing to me. 

The story---
The story was amazing and I have very few complaints. Let’s start with the positives:

1- The love story is just what every girl loves and the vampire is hot. Nothing like an overly protective Vamp pawing all over you! Oh how I wish
2- The facts were wonderful
3- The characters were well developed and easy to identify with
4- The book is a “can’t put this down” kind of book
5- I am in love with LONGGGGGGG books
6- The historical aspect put such a spin on writers and poets of old.  Along with alchemy and magic, there were so many things to keep your interest.  I particularly liked the introduction of Shakespeare in the 2nd novel.  

Ok so there are several more specific things I could discuss, but I shan't ruin the plot for you.
As far as the negatives go, there are only a few:

1- For such an intelligent woman she sure did have plenty of times where I wanted to slap her. She has moments where she is extremely naïve and childish and you think to yourself “Really?? You are a grown ass woman, get it together”
2- There are a few parts that are a bit wordy. Just a few. Lots and lots of details. I liked MOST of it, but sometimes it was just a bit unnecessary. But what can you expect from a historian
3- Lastly, they fell in love too damn quick for me. How realistic is a THAT. Give me a little more time so it seems more apt to happen in real life. 


Let's hope book 3 is just as good as the other 2.  

   Last Words: There have been a few books that I've read in the past 5 years that I could say have literally changed the way I think about fiction, and have also made me reflect on my own writing abilities, and The All Souls Trilogy definitely has done that.  Combining all the things I love, witches, vampires, and history, there are few other things I could even to say to make them better.  A definite read in 2014.  

Have you checked out this series yet?