Talk Star Wars To Me: Brand New 52

Reading is my therapy. There is nothing I like better that crawling into a good book and getting away from the everyday life. I get really cranky when I don't read enough or if the book I'm reading sucks, I've even gotten better at putting down books that I can't get through or make make me surly. That was City of Bones for me these last few months until I decided that I'd had enough of it.

But here are the good books that made me happy this month:

The King's Bastard (King Rolen's Kin #1)

by Rowena Cory Daniells

640 Pages

The Kingdom of Rolencia sleeps as rumours of new Affinity Seeps, places where the untamed power wells up. By royal decree all those afflicted with Affinity must serve the Abbey or face death. Sent to the Abbey, the King's youngest son, Fyn, trains to become a warrior monk. Elsewhere others are tainted with Affinity and must fight to survive. Political intrigue and magic combine in this explosive first book in an exciting new fantasy trilogy.

I really loved her other series and I've wanted to read to read this ever since. I was not disappointed. This series focuses on a Royal Family which seems to have it all and rules their Kingdom justly... that is, until everything starts to fall apart. As always, I love all her characters. She gives them all great depth and drive. I can't wait to read the next one.

Frankenstein

by Mary Shelley

273 Pages

Mary Shelley began writing Frankenstein when she was only eighteen. At once a Gothic thriller, a passionate romance, and a cautionary tale about the dangers of science, Frankenstein tells the story of committed science student Victor Frankenstein. Obsessed with discovering the cause of generation and life and bestowing animation upon lifeless matter, Frankenstein assembles a human being from stolen body parts but; upon bringing it to life, he recoils in horror at the creature's hideousness. Tormented by isolation and loneliness, the once-innocent creature turns to evil and unleashes a campaign of murderous revenge against his creator, Frankenstein.

Frankenstein, an instant bestseller and an important ancestor of both the horror and science fiction genres, not only tells a terrifying story, but also raises profound, disturbing questions about the very nature of life and the place of humankind within the cosmos: What does it mean to be human? What responsibilities do we have to each other? How far can we go in tampering with Nature?

This was the second book I picked up in Serial Reader. It was quite unlike anything I had been led to believe about it. I was expecting a mad scientist and his hunch-backed assistant. But any adaptation that I've seen of this has not held true to the original. And I understand why. Frankenstein spends most of the book morosely regretting his decision to make life and wonders the wilds while the monster, having given up on humanity accepting him, asks him to make him a mate so that they can go off and never bother anyone ever again, but he refuses and instead kills everyone that Frankenstein loves. Seriously though, don't go on Netflix after reading this and try to watch any of the movies, they are terrible.

The Forgotten Garden

by Kate Morton

552 Pages

A tiny girl is abandoned on a ship headed for Australia in 1913. She arrives completely alone with nothing but a small suitcase containing a few clothes and a single book; a beautiful volume of fairy tales. She is taken in by the dockmaster and his wife and raised as their own. On her twenty-first birthday, they tell her the truth, and with her sense of self shattered and very little to go on, "Nell" sets out to trace her real identity. Her quest leads her to Blackhurst Manor on the Cornish coast and the secrets of the doomed Mountrachet family. But it is not until her granddaughter, Cassandra, takes up the search after Nell's death that all the pieces of the puzzle are assembled. A spellbinding tale of mystery and self-discovery, The Forgotten Garden will take hold of your imagination and never let go.

This book was my TBR for the month. As with all my TBR's, I never really expect to like them, but usually find that I quite enjoy them. Although I understand that this book has a mystery that has to be put together, and that it wouldn't be revealed until the end, the story felt a bit choppy. It jumps between 3 generations of women and while you are involved in the actual story, jumping to the later generations always felt like a bit of a let down. I can't really figure out any other way for it to work though. It was really good.

A Memory of Light (The Wheel of Time #14)

by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson

909 Pages (41:55 Hours)

Since 1990, when Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time® burst on the world with its first book, The Eye of the World, readers have been anticipating the final scenes of this extraordinary saga, which has sold over forty million copies in over thirty languages.

When Robert Jordan died in 2007, all feared that these concluding scenes would never be written. But working from notes and partials left by Jordan, established fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson stepped in to complete the masterwork. With The Gathering Storm (Book 12) and Towers of Midnight (Book 13) behind him, both of which were # 1 New York Times hardcover bestsellers, Sanderson now re-creates the vision that Robert Jordan left behind.

Edited by Jordan's widow, who edited all of Jordan's books, A Memory of Light will delight, enthrall, and deeply satisfy all of Jordan's legions of readers.

The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass.

What was, what will be, and what is,

may yet fall under the Shadow.

Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time.

I've finally done it. I've read (or listened) to all of Wheel of Time from front to back! It was really nice not having to wait years in between books. It's also sad that it's over again. I know there were people who didn't like how the book ended, but I wasn't one of them. I LOVED IT! If you haven't read this series yet, I once again recommend that you go out and buy it. You can thank me later.

The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents (Discworld #28)
by Terry Pratchett

288 Pages

It's not a game any more . . .
Every town on Discworld knows the stories about rats and pipers, and Maurice - a streetwise tomcat - leads a band of educated ratty friends (and a stupid kid) on a nice little earner. Piper plus rats equals lots and lots of money.
Until they run across someone playing a different tune.
Now he and his rats must learn a new concept: evil . . .

I wasn't swept away by the first Terry Pratchett book that I read, so I was leery about picking up another one. But Adam recommended it and since it was so short, I figured I'd give him another chance, and I was blown away! For a YA novel, it was filled with serious questions about what it means to be alive and intelligent. I often found myself pondering right along with the Educated Rodents. I didn't like Maurice much, but he seemed more of a secondary character to me anyway. I will definitely read more of these books in the future.

Dead Reign (Marla Mason #3)
by T.A. Pratt

336 Pages (9:47 Hours)

Death has come calling, and one woman
has what he wants most of all...
As chief sorcerer of Felport, Marla Mason thought she’d faced every kind of evil the magical world had to offer. But she’s never faced a killer like this. He’s dark, glib, handsome as the devil—and exactly who he says he is. Death—in the flesh. He’s arrived in Felport with a posse composed of a half-insane necromancer and the reanimated corpse of John Wilkes Booth, and he isn’t leaving until he gets what he came for. Only Marla is crazy enough to tell Death to go back to Hell.
With the Founders’ Ball just around the bend, drawing together the brightest, meanest, and most dangerous of Felport’s magical elite, the last thing Marla needs is all-out war with the King of the Underworld, but that’s exactly what she’s got. As the battle lines are drawn, she can count on her hedonistic, body-hopping partner Rondeau…but how many of her old allies will stand by her side when facing the ultimate adversary? To save her city, Marla will have to find a way to cheat Death…literally.

I love me some Marla.
Since WOT is done, I now need to find more audio books to listen to. I figured that The Marla Mason series was all in audio (and not totally in paper) that it was a good choice for what to listen to next. And I was right. This book is even better in audio than on paper, which is saying something because I looooved it on paper. There's something in the reading that just gives it that extra edge.
This is the perfect example of how to do a flashback book. When Marla travels to Hell, she must face her past and the people that she has sent there. Everyone is different, every emotion raw and real. nothing is handled like you think it would be. So good, so good....

Books that I am currently reading