One thing I like about certain authors are the connections that they cause the reader to make with the character; connections that go beyond just being able to relate with the character. The connection I am talking about is when the essence of that character makes a deeper connection of some sort. And to tie this in with the current books I am reading, this connection makes it evident upon the death of a character. There is no sugar coating it, there are plenty of extremely heroic people who die on this series; the people that Erikson chooses to die makes George R. R. Martin seem 'nice' with who he picks in general to see the chopping block.
Throughout this series there are four different occasions where I am trying to read the book to teary eyes. The death that was probably in my opinion the most tragic...and yet most necessary death in the book was Anomander Rake. I already highlighted in a previous post about him being one of my most favorite characters, so of course it was an extreme blow during his death scene putting him in Dragnipur and then through his complete and utter sacrifice. It is in that moment where you truly realize how selfless of a character he is. He did stuff that would be considered bad in a sense, but he knew that it was necessary and he chose to take the burden of doing so entirely on his shoulders alone. He also chose to step up on Mother Dark's stead when she turned away so that the Tiste Andii would continue to have someone to look to. To me, Rake really is the definition of being a true hero.
Whiskeyjack was another character I was extremely sad to see leave, and another one that I was reading the book through teary eyes. You don't really learn much about him except through his perspective; the few times that it happens, and not much about his past. However, it is the indirect knowledge you have of him that makes it almost impossible to not absolutely love his character. Essentially the reader (or at least me) falls under the same spell that literally almost every soldier of his (i.e. the Bridgeburners specifically) has fallen under. To know the kind of loyalty and camaraderie that he inspired in those serving under him (even though yes, learning from Hedge there were some bad eggs in the basket) speaks volumes about a character. He is essentially made up of the same stuff that Rake is, just in human form. This really hits home when he chose to take the burden of killing the Mothers of the Dead Seed before they had a chance to recover from Rake. He chose to take on the burden of those all around him seeing him summarily execute every one of them. He was able to do for Rake, what Rake has been doing for almost everyone for his whole life. Whiskeyjack went above and beyond being a decent human being, and so it was extremely happy to see him show up in Hood's army for one last hurrah. It was SO frustrating to see him die when he chose to try and defend the last bonecaster from Kallor, and having his knee give out (the one that he kept putting of being healed essentially throughout all the books up till then).
Trull Sengar...his death had upset me so much when I first read it that I just was angry for the rest of the day. He died after all he has been through and finally finding the love of his life, by being stabbed in the back by some stupid person who decided he wanted to kill one last Tiste Edur before leaving or dying. His character was interesting in that he consciously was realizing how his people were changing after Rhulad took over, and during the conquering of Letheras that he allowed himself to be Shorn from his people. He truly pitied his brother the pain that he was feeling from the constant revivals via the sword and the strain it was putting on his psyche. When he went back to his brother instead of escaping with Fear, he knew in a way that he probably would not be able to ask for forgiveness after walking away from Rhulad as he lay on the floor slowly dying. So essentially, it was so sad to see the character change that he underwent through his journeys so eventually die when he has what he wanted from life.
The last and final death that spoke to me in the sadness that it caused was Itkovian's death. He chose to give his life in order to redeem the T'lan Imass when the last and only blood bonecaster refused to set them free. He was a man who felt that all purpose was gone from his life, when he realized that he had one last act to perform and strode towards it without hesitation. He is essentially of the same caliber of being as Rake and Whiskeyjack (at least in my eyes). The amount of self sacrifice that was involved in this act is one that most definitely makes it one of the most touching deaths.
Essentially I felt the need to write this after I finished the Toll of Hounds, because of the emotions I was feeling at the end. And that is one thing that can definitely be said for Erikson, and why he is definitely one of my favorite authors, is the way he is able to make the endings extremely epic in one way or another.
Saturday, September 6, 2014
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Amazon Prime Free Kindle Book of the Month - Playing It Safe by Barbie Bohrman
With another month comes the opportunity for me to pick a free book for the kindle app on my phone that comes out in October. I decided to go way outside my comfort zone and choose a romance book. I partly went this way so then I could maybe find a book that I could give a negative review to. You know...to increase my credibility because most of the books I am going to be reviewing on here are books that I have already read because I am a poor, poor graduate.
I also picked this book because this is technically a sequel in a sense, it comes after another book that she published. However, the difference between the two books is that this one focuses on a good friend of the main character in the other book. Which in some cases speaks volumes because there are numerous books I have read in which I would wish there was a book dedicated to one of the side characters because they are just so interesting.
To start things off, for the kind of book that it is (a romance), I think the way it was written plays so well with the main character that it immediately had me in love with the book. The character, Julia is looking for love and lust in all the wrong places. She is an extremely sassy character who will speak her mind almost no matter what. The way that the character narrates this book plays so well with that, and it gets rid of some of the awkwardness that can ensue when the sexual encounters take place. It also did a wonderful job of getting the sexual tension down...a VERY good job. The writing for the sex scenes were definitely far from awkward and very well done. There were very energized parts, sweet parts, on the kinky side parts and for those who are like me and can find written sex scenes to generally fall short in the sense where it either just written badly or what IS written well is just way too unrealistic then you won't be disappointed.
The part that I honestly loved the best though was the ending. And not in the 'glad it was over' kind of way. She epilogue was done in the point of view of the man she ends up with (won't tell you any spoilers beyond that!). And you can definitely tell the difference, it was a complete and obvious voice change with how it was written. And it did a wonderful job of being realistic. It slides in the information that she is on birth control which explains how she is fine with having sex without a condom (however, it does show that she doesn't get to sex with everyone she has gone on a date with which gives a way of explaining from her view why she doesn't worry about sex diseases without actually saying it.).
Would I have gone out and bought this on my own? No. I see the romance section in the book store and I avoid it at all cost. I generally have a thing where porn in book form is just not my thing. I felt like this book provided a good build up to the scenes, and I will say this for the first time ever: I liked the sex scenes.
Would I go out and buy a copy of the book however? No. I do not see myself really re-reading it, however, if you are in to romance books I would definitely recommend it because of the humor and all the characters involved. It was a very nice break from what I usually read, and I was definitely pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed reading this book. If it means anything to you, I did read this from start to finish in essentially one sitting; except for a minor food break.
So if you are romance book inclined OR just want to go on an adventure away from the normal reading that you do and want something that is easy to enjoy then I would definitely recommend this book to you. If you are someone that looks for a book that you can read a lot into, you might find this too lighthearted with not enough substance. If you chose this book on Amazon Prime let me know how you like it, if you have read the previous book by this author let me know how you like it!
A shout out for all of you returning to school: Have a nice school year, and try to make time for some non-required reading :) Trust me, it helps.
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Additional Social Media
So, as I was browsing the interwebs for some potential other posting ideas that I can throw in when I am just having a slow thinking week I came across some different blogs that talk about having a social media extension to their blog. And from what I can tell I have roughly 8 or so regular-ish viewers to this site (if I am reading right there are maybe 7 of you from the US and 1 or 2 from Poland?). Anyways, that was just a little demographic for you guys :) I know, information you all wanted to know.
So the idea intrigued me. Especially because out of ALL of the different social media websites that are out there I only have my personal Facebook account. No Twitter, Pintrest, Tumblr, etc. I have maybe gone on to Pintrest once or twice in my life and the same goes with Tumblr. I have used Twitter once for an extra credit question in college that never got graded and it took me WAY longer than I care to mention to actually figure out how to tweet to the right place.
So the question I pose for you, and any other people who randomly come across this page is whether or not you want me to add an extension to this page. I would be very open to maybe making a Pintrest or Tumblr account for this page, if enough of you wanted me to I would do a Facebook page, and it would essentially take a lot of people to convince me to do a Twitter account. If there are other social media sites that you think would be kind of cool for me to get into to add variety to this then I could give them a look-see. I want to know what it is that would add a little bit more interest or make it more fun or easier for you to follow this page.
So let me know in the comments below your top two social media sites that you use, and I will figure it out from there. And a disclaimer for my wonderful readers: The only things I see myself posting on any of those places are book related things. The only non-book related item that might pop up is food. Because I am passionate about baking. And if I am going to invest time into any of those places...well...I will make my time worth it!
(The main blog that brought this to my attention was Book.Blog.Bake )
So the idea intrigued me. Especially because out of ALL of the different social media websites that are out there I only have my personal Facebook account. No Twitter, Pintrest, Tumblr, etc. I have maybe gone on to Pintrest once or twice in my life and the same goes with Tumblr. I have used Twitter once for an extra credit question in college that never got graded and it took me WAY longer than I care to mention to actually figure out how to tweet to the right place.
So the question I pose for you, and any other people who randomly come across this page is whether or not you want me to add an extension to this page. I would be very open to maybe making a Pintrest or Tumblr account for this page, if enough of you wanted me to I would do a Facebook page, and it would essentially take a lot of people to convince me to do a Twitter account. If there are other social media sites that you think would be kind of cool for me to get into to add variety to this then I could give them a look-see. I want to know what it is that would add a little bit more interest or make it more fun or easier for you to follow this page.
So let me know in the comments below your top two social media sites that you use, and I will figure it out from there. And a disclaimer for my wonderful readers: The only things I see myself posting on any of those places are book related things. The only non-book related item that might pop up is food. Because I am passionate about baking. And if I am going to invest time into any of those places...well...I will make my time worth it!
(The main blog that brought this to my attention was Book.Blog.Bake )
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Why Does a Book Stick With You?
Very rarely would I say that I find inspiration from Facebook. But I guess tonight was the night. There was a posting idea going through my newsfeed asking you to list 10 books that stick with you; for one reason or another. And for someone like me, if a book sticks with me then I am going to want to physically keep it with me (hence the hundreds of books that I own). Which got me thinking about what my top 10 books were and why they stuck with me more so than the others. For starters, I broke the rules (or at least the rules as I saw them to be) which was a list of 10 and to me it sounded like they wanted singular books. My list was 11 and most of them were series and not singular.
1) The Malazan Book of the Fallen - Steven Erikson
This series is not on here just because I am currently reading it either. The first time that I read this series I could not put the books down. I was astonished at his talent for creating such a vast world and making it seem large and small at the same time. Showing how far the story goes and how close the connections are. This series for me is truly an epic, and before I read this series I was obsessed about the Song of Fire and Ice series. Erikson for me as surpassed Martin in the creation of a story that strikes me. There are times where I have goosebumps for a whole chapter! And that is one sign when I find a book that has struck a chord, when I am all cuddled up in a warm blanket and yet something I read has given me goosebumps.
2) The Once and Future King - T.H. White
One thing that should be mentioned is that I am obsessed with the story of King Arthur. I still have not quite figured it out, but there is something about the tale that really deeply strikes a chord with me. this was not the first iteration of the story of King Arthur that I have read, and even though it was definitely a long read (think Lord of the Rings long read, for some reason it takes me longer than usual to read), it has definitely made it up there in the ones that I own. For the record I have about 4 or 5 different versions of the tale. I find it amazing the different takes on it, and for some reason this one holds a special place in my heart in the sense that it was written before all the other ones that I own so in my mind it is the original story.
3) Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
This was a book that I was made to read in my AP English class in high school, and it has been so far the only book that I absolutely loved to read. I am one of those people that I will read many things on my own, but I hate being forced to read something that does not trip my trigger. This book was a combination of a dark but wonderful imagery combined with looking at the darker side of the human nature in a way that just fascinated me. This was one of the few books in high school that I hated having to read at a certain pace because all I wanted to do was devour it.
4) The Tortall Series - Tamora Pierce
In a previous post I pretty much did a mini review on the series. Her books were one of the first books that I read that featured a strong but fallible female character that I felt that I could admire and if they were real I would without a doubt look up to them. It is one of those series where I read them so many times because the world is so alive, and becomes so much more alive with every read through. I do not often fangirl over much, but this book definitely featured guy characters that I fan girled about (*cough* Numair and George Cooper *cough*).
5) The Mists of Avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley
This was the book that started my obsession with King Arthur and Merlin. I had known about the general story before reading this, but I thought this book was like a breath of fresh air for the story because it featured Morganna Le Fey as more human and less villain as she is seen in many of the books written about King Arthur. In some ways I prefer this portrayal of the story because of its focus on her, and the story from her point of view. And it does a very interesting job of making everyone seem more human than legendary. But when it comes down to it, the reason this book has stuck with me is because of the way it has started my King Arthur collection of books that I own.
6) The Pillars of the Earth/World Without End - Ken Follet
These books return to a theme that is mentioned a lot in books that I love, the characters feel so real; their problems, their wishes, and the connections that everyone eventually has with each other. These two books that go together do a magically good job of making me feel invested in the characters, and feel the exact same way the characters do. I become outraged with them, and I feel as helpless as they do. It is also nice in a way how the books take you through what feels like might become a tragedy, but because those character pushed through and made sacrifices they managed to scrape together a happy ending of sorts. And one that makes the reader feel like they truly deserved it because of what they endured. He does as good of a job as Erikson does with drawing connections between characters but on a smaller more contained scale (as it would have to be with two books).
7) Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling
This book is the definition of magical and the reason I fell in love with the fantasy genre. I will not lie, when I was little (I was in like 3rd grade when I was reading these I believe) I always hoped that I would someday get a letter to Hogwarts. That was also one of the most disappointing wishes I had as a little kid that never came true. This was probably the first big series I got invested into when I was little, and it was also probably the reason I stuck to reading series for the most part. The whole idea of really getting to know a character through the span of numerous books was amazing to me. It also had one of the biggest impacts on me being as big of a reader as I came to be because of the wonder that it instilled in me.
8) The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien
I will not lie...I saw the movies before I read the books. However, it was because of the movies that I went and read the books. And I loved them just as much as the movies. A very good portrayal of the battles between good vs. evil, light vs. dark, old vs. new. And I think that I also became very enthralled with the books because around that time I ended up doing a report about J.R.R. Tolkien for a class, and it just made the books even more special to me. There was something so amazing about the darkness the filled the stories to end with a bittersweet ending with the elves leaving Middle Earth. It was a book that was just SO full of information and stories that it was definitely one of the first books that I read that had challenged my normal pace of reading because there was just so much to take it (similar to one's first day in a huge city you have never been to before).
9) The DragonCrown War Cycle - Michael A. Stackpole
This series consists of a trilogy and a prequel. And I had never felt so upset over how a prequel introduced you to the series as I was when I read this. It was me being so upset that caused me to get the rest and race through it hoping for some light at the end of the tunnel. For me this is similar to the Lord of the Rings where it is a dark series with a bittersweet ending. This one is different however, because it is another one of those that it struck a chord with me but I do not know why. There was something in this series that really connected with me. And pretty much will be added to my To-Read list right now despite me claiming I won't make any more changes. But that is life, it is an old gem that I have not revisited in a long time but it still speaks to me after all this time. Who knows, maybe when I read it again I will realize what it is that makes this series stand out to me among my many.
10)Study Series/Glass Series/Healer Series - Maria V. Snyder
There is another book duo she wrote, that was very good and intriguing which I couldn't add in the long title because I just don't know what the series name is actually called (Inside Out, Outside In). She is similar to Tamora Pierce in the sense that she has female main characters that are not annoying, whining women who constantly need a man to save them. There are indeed male characters that are attached to the main character over time, but they just add to the strength that the female has and not overshadow it. They are very magical worlds, and the good guy characters are indeed all loveable and I can never get enough of them.
11) The Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey/Todd McCaffrey
This series is probably the most confusing to read 'in order' because there are different orders you can read them in. Either chronologically or in the order they were published. I prefer the chronological order, which means it can sometimes be difficult when they go back in time to write another book and finding the proper place in the series. This series, and a couple other series by Anne McCaffrey were the first Sci-Fi books that I ever read, and they are by far still my favorite. That was what was great about this series, it brought me into a whole new genre of books to look into that amazed me.
So this is my list, I would love to see some other lists you guys have. And I think picking out books like this according to some sort of theme (stick with you in this case) is a nice way to reacquaint yourself with the books that you have read over the years and remembering what it was about those books that held you spellbound.
1) The Malazan Book of the Fallen - Steven Erikson
This series is not on here just because I am currently reading it either. The first time that I read this series I could not put the books down. I was astonished at his talent for creating such a vast world and making it seem large and small at the same time. Showing how far the story goes and how close the connections are. This series for me is truly an epic, and before I read this series I was obsessed about the Song of Fire and Ice series. Erikson for me as surpassed Martin in the creation of a story that strikes me. There are times where I have goosebumps for a whole chapter! And that is one sign when I find a book that has struck a chord, when I am all cuddled up in a warm blanket and yet something I read has given me goosebumps.
2) The Once and Future King - T.H. White
One thing that should be mentioned is that I am obsessed with the story of King Arthur. I still have not quite figured it out, but there is something about the tale that really deeply strikes a chord with me. this was not the first iteration of the story of King Arthur that I have read, and even though it was definitely a long read (think Lord of the Rings long read, for some reason it takes me longer than usual to read), it has definitely made it up there in the ones that I own. For the record I have about 4 or 5 different versions of the tale. I find it amazing the different takes on it, and for some reason this one holds a special place in my heart in the sense that it was written before all the other ones that I own so in my mind it is the original story.
3) Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
This was a book that I was made to read in my AP English class in high school, and it has been so far the only book that I absolutely loved to read. I am one of those people that I will read many things on my own, but I hate being forced to read something that does not trip my trigger. This book was a combination of a dark but wonderful imagery combined with looking at the darker side of the human nature in a way that just fascinated me. This was one of the few books in high school that I hated having to read at a certain pace because all I wanted to do was devour it.
4) The Tortall Series - Tamora Pierce
In a previous post I pretty much did a mini review on the series. Her books were one of the first books that I read that featured a strong but fallible female character that I felt that I could admire and if they were real I would without a doubt look up to them. It is one of those series where I read them so many times because the world is so alive, and becomes so much more alive with every read through. I do not often fangirl over much, but this book definitely featured guy characters that I fan girled about (*cough* Numair and George Cooper *cough*).
5) The Mists of Avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley
This was the book that started my obsession with King Arthur and Merlin. I had known about the general story before reading this, but I thought this book was like a breath of fresh air for the story because it featured Morganna Le Fey as more human and less villain as she is seen in many of the books written about King Arthur. In some ways I prefer this portrayal of the story because of its focus on her, and the story from her point of view. And it does a very interesting job of making everyone seem more human than legendary. But when it comes down to it, the reason this book has stuck with me is because of the way it has started my King Arthur collection of books that I own.
6) The Pillars of the Earth/World Without End - Ken Follet
These books return to a theme that is mentioned a lot in books that I love, the characters feel so real; their problems, their wishes, and the connections that everyone eventually has with each other. These two books that go together do a magically good job of making me feel invested in the characters, and feel the exact same way the characters do. I become outraged with them, and I feel as helpless as they do. It is also nice in a way how the books take you through what feels like might become a tragedy, but because those character pushed through and made sacrifices they managed to scrape together a happy ending of sorts. And one that makes the reader feel like they truly deserved it because of what they endured. He does as good of a job as Erikson does with drawing connections between characters but on a smaller more contained scale (as it would have to be with two books).
7) Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling
This book is the definition of magical and the reason I fell in love with the fantasy genre. I will not lie, when I was little (I was in like 3rd grade when I was reading these I believe) I always hoped that I would someday get a letter to Hogwarts. That was also one of the most disappointing wishes I had as a little kid that never came true. This was probably the first big series I got invested into when I was little, and it was also probably the reason I stuck to reading series for the most part. The whole idea of really getting to know a character through the span of numerous books was amazing to me. It also had one of the biggest impacts on me being as big of a reader as I came to be because of the wonder that it instilled in me.
8) The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien
I will not lie...I saw the movies before I read the books. However, it was because of the movies that I went and read the books. And I loved them just as much as the movies. A very good portrayal of the battles between good vs. evil, light vs. dark, old vs. new. And I think that I also became very enthralled with the books because around that time I ended up doing a report about J.R.R. Tolkien for a class, and it just made the books even more special to me. There was something so amazing about the darkness the filled the stories to end with a bittersweet ending with the elves leaving Middle Earth. It was a book that was just SO full of information and stories that it was definitely one of the first books that I read that had challenged my normal pace of reading because there was just so much to take it (similar to one's first day in a huge city you have never been to before).
9) The DragonCrown War Cycle - Michael A. Stackpole
This series consists of a trilogy and a prequel. And I had never felt so upset over how a prequel introduced you to the series as I was when I read this. It was me being so upset that caused me to get the rest and race through it hoping for some light at the end of the tunnel. For me this is similar to the Lord of the Rings where it is a dark series with a bittersweet ending. This one is different however, because it is another one of those that it struck a chord with me but I do not know why. There was something in this series that really connected with me. And pretty much will be added to my To-Read list right now despite me claiming I won't make any more changes. But that is life, it is an old gem that I have not revisited in a long time but it still speaks to me after all this time. Who knows, maybe when I read it again I will realize what it is that makes this series stand out to me among my many.
10)Study Series/Glass Series/Healer Series - Maria V. Snyder
There is another book duo she wrote, that was very good and intriguing which I couldn't add in the long title because I just don't know what the series name is actually called (Inside Out, Outside In). She is similar to Tamora Pierce in the sense that she has female main characters that are not annoying, whining women who constantly need a man to save them. There are indeed male characters that are attached to the main character over time, but they just add to the strength that the female has and not overshadow it. They are very magical worlds, and the good guy characters are indeed all loveable and I can never get enough of them.
11) The Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey/Todd McCaffrey
This series is probably the most confusing to read 'in order' because there are different orders you can read them in. Either chronologically or in the order they were published. I prefer the chronological order, which means it can sometimes be difficult when they go back in time to write another book and finding the proper place in the series. This series, and a couple other series by Anne McCaffrey were the first Sci-Fi books that I ever read, and they are by far still my favorite. That was what was great about this series, it brought me into a whole new genre of books to look into that amazed me.
So this is my list, I would love to see some other lists you guys have. And I think picking out books like this according to some sort of theme (stick with you in this case) is a nice way to reacquaint yourself with the books that you have read over the years and remembering what it was about those books that held you spellbound.
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