Thursday, April 30, 2015

The New 52 - April Edition




April showers bring May flowers. While it's raining outside, I love to curl up with a good book. Also, while I'm lounging by the pool in Costa Rica... I did both of those things this month, which meant that I managed to get a lot of reading done.


by J.C. Nelson


312 Pages

Marissa Locks, newly appointed partner of the Grimm Agency, has a reputation for making a mess of magical matters—although causing Armageddon is a new low, even for her…
Marissa is due for a little happily ever after. After all, she did kill the evil Fairy Godmother, end a war, and snag a sweet promotion within the Fairy Godfather's magical-problem-solving Agency. But between maintaining a relationship with someone whose amorous advances can cause third-degree burns, dealing with a killer-poodle infestation, and helping her best friend, Princess Ari, learn to wield spells more powerful than curing a hangover, she’s not getting as much peace and quiet as she hoped.
When an enemy from her past appears to exact a terrible revenge, Marissa’s life goes from hectic to hell on earth. With Grimm inexplicably gone and Ari trapped by a sleeping spell, Marissa decides to fight fire with hellfire—and accidentally begins a countdown to the apocalypse.
With the end of days extremely nigh, Marissa will have to master royal politics, demonic law, and biblical plagues in a hurry—because even the end of the world can’t keep the Agency from opening for business…

Although I'm pretty sure I once accidentally sold my soul to a friend for a cherry danish (and man was it good), I've never jump started an apocalypse, so I guess I have that in my favor. These books are silly fun and this one is no exception. from dwarves mining for  crystal zirconia and finding a hell gate instead, to a brand new piper learning to control demon poodles, to a loner litch hanging out in the basement and glaring at guests, this book has all the silly antics you could want. Marissa is full of sass and shows it in everything she does. The worst thing about these books is waiting for the next to come out in papebrack.



by Elizabeth Gilbert


331 Pages

In her early thirties, Elizabeth Gilbert had everything a modern American woman was supposed to want--husband, country home, successful career--but instead of feeling happy and fulfilled, she felt consumed by panic and confusion. This wise and rapturous book is the story of how she left behind all these outward marks of success, and of what she found in their place. Following a divorce and a crushing depression, Gilbert set out to examine three different aspects of her nature, set against the backdrop of three different cultures: pleasure in Italy, devotion in India, and on the Indonesian island of Bali, a balance between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence.

My mother lent me this book last year. She had seen the movie and didn't feel interested in reading it. Hence, it's been sitting on my shelf forever and finally was added to my TBR pile for this year. I honestly didn't think that I would enjoy this book, but it's a best seller for a reason. I couldn't put it down. I read the whole thing in 3 days breaking it up into a day a word (or country visited)
She is a captivating writer and I was easily sucking into her words, which is amazing, since this really isn't my type of book. After I was finished I did watch the movie and could understand my mother's disappointment with it. It did not translate well into a movie and so much of the feel of it was lost. I did recommend to my mother that she read the book instead. I know she will enjoy it more.



by Patricia Briggs


288 Pages

Mercedes "Mercy" Thompson is a talented Volkswagen mechanic living in the Tri-Cities area of Washington. She also happens to be a walker, a magical being with the power to shift into a coyote at will. Mercy's next-door neighbor is a werewolf. Her former boss is a gremlin. And she's fixing a bus for a vampire. This is the world of Mercy Thompson, one that looks a lot like ours but is populated by those things that go bump in the night. And Mercy's connection to those things is about to get her into some serious hot water...

As much as I keep saying that I'm not into urban fantasy, it seems that my book choices keep leading me into it and I am becoming more and more ok with that, especially since there are so many authors that do it well these days. I've heard a lot about this series and it keeps getting recommended to me. Like a lot of books these days, it took me a really long time to find the first book in the series. But I'm really glad that I did.
For not wanting to be part of anyone's "pack", she sure manages to get involved with all the different ones around her (¥). I shouldn't be surprised that the men/wolves in the book can't seem to think of her as property and a prospective mate (&) ()and I'm trying not to be too pissed off about it. Gladly she holds her own against them. Sadly, not all the other females can say the same and I really don't like how they are treated. (%)
Beyond that though, I really did enjoy the story and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series.



by Anne Bishop


413 Pages

After winning the trust of the terra indigene residing in the Lakeside Courtyard, Meg Corbyn has had trouble figuring out what it means to live among them. As a human, Meg should be barely tolerated prey, but her abilities as a cassandra sangue make her something more.
The appearance of two addictive drugs has sparked violence between the humans and the Others, resulting in the murders of both species in nearby cities. So when Meg has a dream about blood and black feathers in the snow, Simon Wolfgard—Lakeside's shape-shifting leader—wonders whether their blood prophet dreamed of a past attack or of a future threat.
As the urge to speak prophecies strikes Meg more frequently, trouble finds its way inside the Courtyard. Now the Others and the handful of humans residing there must work together to stop the man bent on reclaiming their blood prophet—and stop the danger that threatens to destroy them all.

Usually I can't wait for a book to end. O love the feeling of having engulfed a story and lived in a world and usually I'm ready to move on to something else new and exciting. But not with this book. I didn't want it to end. I wanted to live in it's pages forever. I love the Courtyard and all its wonderful intricacies. I love the characters, I love watching them grow and change together. It's really amazing (&). The outside hate crimes are scary and so true to human nature, fighting against things and change that we don't understand. The world they live in is so precariously balanced on both sides and horrible atrocities are pushing everyone close to the edge (%
Why can't the next book be out in softcover?



by Naomi Novik


365 Pages

Picking up where book two left off (in China, Macau) Captain Will Laurence and his extraordinary dragon, Temeraire, are ordered to retrieve and escort a precious cargo of valuable dragon eggs from Istanbul to England. They take the Old Silk Road from China to Istanbul, crossing deserts and mountains. En route to England, they help the beleaguered Prussians battle Napoleon.

I didn't really get enveloped the first couple of books in this series, especially the last one, but I was quite glad that this one picked up the pace where the last one had left off.  I was quite happy with a few on the new characters, including a new dragon hatchling who was the only female in the entire novel to get more than a few lines of dialogue (#) I'm very much looking forward to reading about her in the future. I think one of my favorite batches of characters where the feral dragons of the mountains who like to have a bit of fun at Laurence's expense. They were pretty great and I'm glad that they became a bigger part of the plot. 



by Robert Jordan


800 Pages (29:57 hours)

The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and go, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth returns again. In the Third Age, an Age of Prophecy, the World and Time themselves hang in the balance. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.

 At the beginning of the year, I decided along side my TBR challenge I would also try and read all of (or as much of) The Wheel Of Time as possible. I started reading the first book, bust since I've already read it numerous times, I was having a really hard time getting back into it. The story is still brilliant (and I highly recommend reading them if you haven't yet), but when you know it so well, it tends to lose something exciting. I decided to make it my audio book for the month and listen to it instead. This made it much easier, although it did rankle a little bit when they pronounced names differently than what I'm use to. (That's always been a sore spot for my friends and I and we've had to make compromises over the years so that everyone is happy). I plan to continue to listen to these in the coming months.


Books that I am currently reading

by H.P. Lovecraft
Page 76 of 360

by Brandon Sanderson
Page 177 of 1258
(6:15 of 45:53 hours)

by Ann Aguirre
Page 217 of 310


Thursday Threads - Age of Ultron



With Avengers - Age of Ultron coming out tomorrow, I thought it would be the perfect time to feature all the awesome new threads that are coming out for this movie.



I am the most excited to see the reveal of this line for pre-sale! Not only do I love Her Universe and Hot Topic, I'm super excited that these are the designs from the winners of the Her Universe fashion contest that happened last year.


I am in love with these dresses! Especially the Captain America one!

Ashley herself, wore this ensemble to the premiere! 









Ashley didn't give all her fashions over to Hop Topic, she managed to keep these fun tees for her own site.







We love fine, and we love these designs!



Although I love that they use models with different body types and ethnicity, I'm not sure how I feel about them putting their measurements up. I guess it will give you an idea about how the designs might look on your own bodies. 








The Living Dead always have fun and bold prints and these are no exception.













The costume dresses are always my favorite!








Think Geek also managed to get a cute costume dress and of Cap! I was hoping that they would have more in this line, but only time will tell.


So what are you wearing to see Age of Ultron? Your fav Hulk shirt? Disney Bounding as your favorite character? Let me know!

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Thursday Threads - Her Universe Star Wars Celebration Edition



Star Wars Celebration started today and yet again I am missing it.... sigh....

Oh well, at least I can still buy the awesome new clothes being released by Her Universe, even if I'm not doing it in person.


I love this new ewok bag and the lightsaber Star Wars logo is amazing!


I'm so very glad that my favorite padawan lives! I can't wait to see the new Rebels episode where she shows up!



As much as I hate Salacious Crumb, this cupcake design is adorable!








I am in love with these new cardigans! I've always wanted something geeky that I could integrate into a more business casual setting and these are perfect! I can't decided which one I love more!






Be still my heart! Look at these dresses! So fancy, so sweet, so geeky! I love the pale colours and soft images that depict so much more than a first glance can tell!



As much as I would've love to buy these from Ashley herself, I'm still over the moon about these amazing new outfits!