Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts

Sunday, December 31, 2017

Newfangled 52 - December Edition



Christmas has come and gone and this year is finally winding down. This year has had it's ups and downs in life as well as in books. Some were really great and others not so much. But in the end, I managed to read 96 books this year,


Not quite as many as last year, but still pretty good.
Anyhoo, here are the last books I read this year:


by Kiera Cass


64 Pages

While America Singer's heart was torn between Aspen and Prince Maxon, her friend Marlee knew exactly what she wanted—and paid the price.
Revisit the captivating world of Kiera Cass's #1 New York Times bestselling Selection series in this digital original novella. Told from Marlee's point of view, this all-new 64-page story returns to the fateful Halloween when Marlee and Carter were discovered, and reveals how that night—and Prince Maxon—changed their lives forever.

The great thing about having an online library card is that I can finally read all those short stories that all my favorite authors write. That includes all of The Selection short stories (that all somehow seem to be exactly 64 pages). This one was probably my favorite, because who doesn't love Marlee? I'm still glad she managed to find her happily ever after.



by Jay Kristoff


125 Pages

Your blood-red skies are filled with smoke. Your bleach-white histories with lies. You walk sleeping. Wake senseless. Breathing deep of toxic blooms and forgetting all that has gone before.
But I remember.
I remember when two brothers waged bloody war over the right to sit in their father’s empty chair. I remember when orphaned twins faced each other across a field of crimson and steel, the fate of the Shima Shōgunate hanging in the poisoned sky between them.
I remember when a blind boy stood before a court of storms and talons, armed only with a thin sword and a muttered prophecy and a desperate dream of saving the world.
I remember when the skies above Shima were not red, but blue. Filled with thundeabler tigers.
I remember when they left you.
And I remember why.
Let me tell you, monkey-child.

This short story takes place before the Lotus Wars series and I wasn't sure I was going to like it. But the more I read of it, the more I enjoyed it. The character's are not as lovable as the original series, but then again I didn't have 3 books to fall in love with them either. It is interesting to see how the world ended up as it did, due to choices that these characters made eons before the books.



by Kiera Cass


64 Pages

Before America Singer met Prince Maxon . . . 
Before she entered the Selection . . . 
She was in love with a boy named Aspen Leger.
Don't miss this digital original novella set in the captivating world of Kiera Cass's #1 New York Times bestselling Selection trilogy. This brand new 64-page story begins just after the group of Selected girls is narrowed down to the Elite and is told from Aspen's point of view.

This story was okay. I never really liked Aspen all that much, so I didn't feel like I got much out of it. It's pretty much just a retelling of the story but from an observers perspective. Not nearly as interesting, but an okay story none the less.



by Kiera Cass


64 Pages

Before thirty-five girls were chosen to compete in the Selection...
Before Aspen broke America's heart...
There was another girl in Prince Maxon's life...
Don't miss this thrilling 64-page original novella set in the world of the New York Times bestselling novel The Selection.

This tiny blurb about this story makes it seem like this other girl is a big plot point in the story, but she's really not. She's pretty much just a friend that they try and force on him as a love interest, but he's just not interested. Mostly it's a story about him getting ready for the Selection to start and not knowing how to feel about that. I actually liked this story quite a bit.



by Glen Cook


318 Pages

She is the last hope of good in the war against the evil sorceress known as the Lady. From a secret base on the Plains of Fear, where even the Lady hesitates to go, the Black Company, once in service to the Lady, now fights to bring victory to the White Rose. But now an even greater evil threatens the world. All the great battles that have gone before will seem a skirmishes when the Dominator rises from the grave.

This was my RBA for the month. It wasn't nearly as good as the second book was and it took me forever to read. There was a lot of boring parts, but the few interesting parts made up for it. I really like Croaker's relationship with The Lady and could read about it all day. She totally made the book for me. I like to read more about her. 


by Brandon Sanderson


59 Pages

A fascinating new novella in Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere, the universe shared by his Mistborn series and the #1 New York Times bestselling Stormlight Archive. 
Sixth of the Dusk, set in a never-before-seen world, showcases a society on the brink of technological change. On the deadly island of Patji, where birds grant people magical talents and predators can sense the thoughts of their prey, a solitary trapper discovers that the island is not the only thing out to kill him. When he begins to see his own corpse at every turn, does this spell danger for his entire culture?

This was another interesting short story by Brandon Sanderson. I have absolutely no idea how all his books fit into one big Universe, but I will gladly keep reading until I find out. This was a neat concept about times changing, especially with technology, and how it is beginning to upset the balance of the World. Quite neat indeed.


by J.C. Nelson


97 Pages

As the right hand woman at the Fairy Godfather’s Grimm Agency, Marissa Locks has a grip on all things magical. If only she could get control of her own not-so-charmed life…
For most people, waking up after a night of partying next to a dragon, sporting a tattoo with a mind of its own, would be a new low. For Marissa, only the tattoo is new—and, unfortunately, it’s not the weirdest part of her day. The Agency has been called in to stop a string of messy murders, a problem that’s turning into a disaster of biblical proportions, and Marissa’s been assigned to the case.
One of the archangels from Paradisia is attempting to switch teams, and he’s willing to use as many souls as it takes to pay his way. With Grimm contractually bound to clean up the chaos, Marissa must find a way to keep the former cherub from completing his rampage. But between fighting an angel gone bad and battling the magical compulsions of her new Fae tattoo, Marissa’s definitely facing the worst hangover in history…

I loved these books, so I was super hyped to find out that there was another one, even if it was a short story that takes place in between books. I would gladly keep reading stories about Marissa and her friends. They have the perfect about of humor, action and sass that I like in an urban fiction story. 



Alright, so now that we've covered this month, how about we take a quick look back at my year in books



Not too shabby if I do say so myself. And I didn't do too badly with my RBA (Recommended By Adam) 






6. Deathless (Leningrad Diptych #1) - Catherynne M. Valente 





11. Equal Rites (Discworld #3) - Terry Pratchett



I didn't finish The Kingdom of Gods yet, but I did read a whole extra book for this, so I'm going to call it even.


Books that I am currently reading

by Rohinton Mistry
65 of 603 Pages

by Sally Armstrong
122 of 320 Pages

by N.K. Jemisin
109 of 613

by Brandon Sanderson
1243 Pages (52:27 of 55:02 Hours)

by Katherine Arden
96 of 333 Pages

I almost managed to finish Oathbringer before the end of the year, but there just wasn't enough time. Ascent of Women is going slow, since it's super depressing, although quite interesting at the same time. A Fine Balance is on a hiatus until I can get my e-reader to work again. But there are always more books to read, and I'm going to do just that.

See you next year
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Thursday, August 31, 2017

Newfangled 52 - August Edition


Art by Simini Blocker
August was a blur, wasn't it? I blinked and it was over. Somehow I managed to actually get a few books read while it all rushed by. Here are the books that I read this month:



by Sarah J. Maas


704 Pages (25:23 Hours)

The long path to the throne has only just begun for Aelin Galathynius. Loyalties have been broken and bought, friends have been lost and gained, and those who possess magic find themselves at odds with those don't.
As the kingdoms of Erilea fracture around her, enemies must become allies if Aelin is to keep those she loves from falling to the dark forces poised to claim her world. With war looming on all horizons, the only chance for salvation lies in a desperate quest that may mark the end of everything Aelin holds dear.
Aelin's journey from assassin to queen has entranced millions across the globe, and this fifth installment will leave fans breathless. Will Aelin succeed in keeping her world from splintering, or will it all come crashing down?

I went into this book thinking that it was the last one in the series. Boy was I surprised when it left off on a bit of a cliff hanger. I then discovered that there will be at least 2 more books in this series with the next one coming out in a few more days! Woohoo! I really like this series and I want to know what's going to happen next.




by Brent Weeks


661 Pages

Guile is the Prism, the most powerful man in the world. He is high priest and emperor, a man whose power, wit, and charm are all that preserves a tenuous peace. Yet Prisms never last, and Guile knows exactly how long he has left to live.
When Guile discovers he has a son, born in a far kingdom after the war that put him in power, he must decide how much he's willing to pay to protect a secret that could tear his world apart.

This was my RBA book of the month and I really enjoyed it. It was really refreshing to have a cast made up almost entirely of POC characters. I wish more writers would do this. I also really enjoy the style of magic, which is based on colours. I think colour magic might be my favorite type of magic (other than baking magic, of course). I really enjoyed the characters and the plots of this book and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series.






by Margaret Atwood


331 Pages (11:00 Hours)

The Handmaid's Tale is not only a radical and brilliant departure for Margaret Atwood, it is a novel of such power that the reader will be unable to forget its images and its forecast. Set in the near future, it describes life in what was once the United States, now called the Republic of Gilead, a monotheocracy that has reacted to social unrest and a sharply declining birthrate by reverting to, and going beyond, the repressive intolerance of the original Puritans. The regime takes the Book of Genesis absolutely at its word, with bizarre consequences for the women and men of its population.
The story is told through the eyes of Offred, one of the unfortunate Handmaids under the new social order. In condensed but eloquent prose, by turns cool-eyed, tender, despairing, passionate, and wry, she reveals to us the dark corners behind the establishment's calm facade, as certain tendencies now in existence are carried to their logical conclusions. The Handmaid's Tale is funny, unexpected, horrifying, and altogether convincing. It is at once scathing satire, dire warning, and tour de force. It is Margaret Atwood at her best.

Everyone is abuzz with  The Handmaid's Tale TV series, and I'll admit I was intrigued by all the talk. I don't have cable, so I can't watch the show, so I decided to listen to it instead. That and I like to have the book under my belt before seeing a recreation of it. 
The story, although simplistic on the surface, has a deep undercurrent as you delve into what happened through Ofglen's memories. Even though this was written in the '80s, it still feels very current, as if this could happen at any time. Sometimes the best dystopian novels are the simplest ones. I'll let you know if the book was better.


Thistle & Thorne
by Ann Aguirre


103 Pages (3:08 Hours)

After a catastrophic spill turns the country into a vast chemical wasteland, those who could afford it retreated to fortresses - self-contained communities run by powerful corporations. But for Mari Thistle, life on the outside - in the Red Zone - is a constant struggle. To protect her family, Mari teams up with the mysterious Thorne Goodman. Together, they'll face an evil plot in both the underworld of the Red Zone and the society inside the fortresses that could destroy those on the outside...for good.

Speaking of dystopian novels, this story falls more into the fantastical side of it. It wasn't chilling or thought provoking like The Handmaid's Tale was, but it was a hell of a lot of fun. Ann Aguirre never dissapoints and I always enjoy picking up her stories. In 3 hours, she can still give you in-depth characters to love and a underdog fight to cheer for.






by Jennie Melamed


341 Pages (10:09 Hours)

NEVER LET ME GO meets THE GIVER in this haunting debut about a cult on an isolated island, where nothing is as it seems.Years ago, just before the country was incinerated to wasteland, ten men and their families colonized an island off the coast. They built a radical society of ancestor worship, controlled breeding, and the strict rationing of knowledge and history. Only the Wanderers--chosen male descendants of the original ten--are allowed to cross to the wastelands, where they scavenge for detritus among the still-smoldering fires.The daughters of these men are wives-in-training. At the first sign of puberty, they face their Summer of Fruition, a ritualistic season that drags them from adolescence to matrimony. They have children, who have children, and when they are no longer useful, they take their final draught and die. But in the summer, the younger children reign supreme. With the adults indoors and the pubescent in Fruition, the children live wildly--they fight over food and shelter, free of their fathers' hands and their mothers' despair. And it is at the end of one summer that little Caitlin Jacob sees something so horrifying, so contradictory to the laws of the island, that she must share it with the others.Born leader Janey Solomon steps up to seek the truth. At seventeen years old, Janey is so unwilling to become a woman, she is slowly starving herself to death. Trying urgently now to unravel the mysteries of the island and what lies beyond, before her own demise, she attempts to lead an uprising of the girls that may be their undoing.GATHER THE DAUGHTERS is a smoldering debut; dark and energetic, compulsively readable, Melamed's novel announces her as an unforgettable new voice in fiction.

I guess I really wanted dystopian audiobooks this month. This book straddles the line between not real and too real. It was thoroughly disturbing while also being whimsical and innocent, which I think might make it more disturbing. The terrible things that happen are never spoken aloud or even put into words, so it took me a little while to understand what they were referring to. There were many parts that made me want to cry or to stop listening, but the story of these girls begs to be listened to and acknowledged. 






by Evie Manieri


435 Pages

Evie Manieri's Blood's Pride is the first book of The Shattered Kingdoms, an engaging, action-packed, and "highly imaginative" (Kirkus Reviews) series of fantasy novels with epic scope and "the perfect mix of romance, family ties, betrayals, and agonizing dilemmas" (RT Book Reviews).
Rising from their sea-torn ships like vengeful, pale phantoms, the Norlanders laid waste to the Shadar under cover of darkness. They forced the once-peaceful fisher folk into slavery and forged an alliance with their former trading partners, the desert-dwelling Nomas tribe, cutting off any hope of salvation.
Now, two decades after the invasion, a rebellion gathers strength in the dark corridors of the city. A small faction of Shadari have hired the Mongrel, an infamous mercenary, to aid their fledgling uprising—but with her own shadowy ties to the region, she is a frighteningly volatile ally. Has she really come to lead a revolution, or for a more sinister purpose all her own?

I really wanted this book to be good. I mean, just look at that cover! It's not often that you see a badassed chick covered in that many scars. I wanted to know her story....
I still want to know her story....
This book had so many plots that it was hard to get into any of them. I feel like this one book could've been stretched into at least 3 books and I would've read them all. There was major character development, but you knew so little about the characters that it didn't really make any difference to how I felt about them. In fact, I didn't care about any of them at all. Too bad. It makes me not want to read any more of the series. 



Books that I am currently reading

by Anthony Ryan
425 of 602 Pages (17:03 of 24:39 Hours)

by Rohinton Mistry
65 of 603 Pages

Ascent of Women
by Sally Armstrong
70 of 320 Pages

The Wind in the Willows
by Kenneth Grahame
102 of 228 Pages

by Elizabeth Haydon
197 of 656 Pages (9:46 of 30:08 Hours)

by Jon Ronson
20 of 200 Pages (0:26 of 3:27 Hours)

by Seanan McGuire 
78 of 353 Pages
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Sunday, January 3, 2016

A Brand New 52 Book Challenge



Another new year and another 52 books to try and read. 
I've enjoyed this challenge so much, that I'm planning on doing it again this year.
Last year I read a whopping 76 books! Oh man! I'm not sure I'll make it that far this year, but I'm sure as hell going to try to at least beat 52. 
If you're interested in joining the challenge yourself, you can sign up here.
Or if you're more interested in just following what I read, I will continue to update every month on what I've read and you can look to the bottom right of my blog (you may have to scroll down) where I will be keeping a list of what books I've finished, links to Goodreads and a bar of my challenge progress.

Also, since I enjoyed most of the books in my TBR pile last year, I'm going to do it again. And as always, I will come back to this list and cross them off as I go. If any are replaced, they will be crossed out and red and have the new one underneath.


4. The Forgotten Garden - Kate Morton

5. The Wives of Bath - Wendy Holden

6. My Way to Hell (Hell #2) - Dakota Cassidy



9. Dawn's Early Light (Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences #3) - Pip Ballantine & Tee Morris

9(a). Monster - A. Lee Martinez

10. A Time of Exile (Deverry #5) - Katharine Kerr

10(a). The Sorcerer's House - Gene Wolfe





Added Challenge:

The Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson


No, I didn't quite finish Wheel of Time last year, although I did manage to knock out 9 of the 14 books, so that leaves only 5 more to go.
Read in 2015









9. Winter's Heart


To Read in 2016 







Get those arm muscles working, we've got a lot of books to support this year!




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Monday, March 17, 2014

An Evening With Sue Monk Kidd

Every once in awhile a book comes along that changes your life.  
You read it over and over again as the words absorb into your skin, becoming a part of you.
Such was my experience when I read The Secret Life Of Bees.
 
 
 
Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily's fierce-hearted black "stand-in mother," Rosaleen, insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily decides to spring them both free. They escape to Tiburon, South Carolina--a town that holds the secret to her mother's past. Taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters, Lily is introduced to their mesmerizing world of bees and honey, and the Black Madonna. This is a remarkable novel about divine female power, a story women will share and pass on to their daughters for years to come.
 
Before this I had never read a story about Women. Sure, I'd read silly fantasy/sci-fi stuff where women are sexy sidekicks or big, tough, ass-kickers, but I'd never read anything about Women, real Women, Women coming together in their own right, in their own way. It was breathtaking.
I was drawn in by these amazing Women, held captive by the Black Madonna and swept away by the enchantment of bees. (The bees, being one of my main loves in life, made the book so much better)
 
For years, one sentence has stuck in my mind and refused to let go.
"Lily Melissa Owens, your jar is open."
It's near the beginning, after she takes the lid off the jar where she has been keeping a bee. At first, the bee doesn't realize that it has been freed. It climbs around the inside of the jar as if it's still trapped. Once it realizes, it flies away. Lily hears a voice in her head telling her that she is also free, that she doesn't have to stay within the confines of the life that she knows and thus her adventure begins.
It was then that I realized that the same was true for myself. I didn't have to stay stuck in the rut that I had found myself in. I realized that I could do anything that I wanted with my life. It was a very liberating moment for me.
 
As the next few years past, I started to find myself and figured out who I was as a person and who I wanted to be. At the time, I was struggling with my masculine and feminine self and trying to figure out what that meant. I was still under the impression of media that told me that being a Woman would never be enough. That I would never be as good as a man, that as a Woman I would spend my life proving myself over and over again to like the things that I liked and to do the things that I wanted to do. I was secretly ashamed of being a Woman. Wouldn't it have been better, easier, to had been born a man?
 
I was back home visiting my parents and had just finished reading The Secret Life Of Bees for the second time (my pick for a short lived book club) and I was talking to my Mom about it (who has also read it many times) and she recommended that I read another book by Sue Monk Kidd, which she promptly leant me; The Dance Of The Dissident Daughter
 
 
The acclaimed spiritual memoir from the author of The Secret Life of Bees
I was amazed to find that I had no idea how to unfold my spiritual life in a feminine way. I was surprised and, in fact, a little terrified when I found myself in the middle of a feminist spiritual reawakening.
Sue Monk was a "conventionally religious, churchgoing woman, a traditional wife and mother" with a thriving career as a Christian writer until she began to question her role as a woman in her culture, her family, and her church. From a jarring encounter with sexism in a suburban drugstore to monastery retreats and rituals in the caves of Crete, Kidd takes readers through the fear, anger, healing, and transformation of her awakening. Retaining a meaningful connection "with the deep song of Christianity," she opens the door for traditional Christian women to discover a spirituality that speaks directly to them and provides inspiring wisdom for all who struggle to embrace their full humanity.
 
If The Secret Life Of Bees had opened me up, Dance Of The Dissident Daughter helped set me free.
 
I don't often do this, but here is a facebook note (my early form of blogging, more about my life than about geeky stuff) that I wrote during this time to try and express what I was feeling.
 
The Sacred Feminine
 
January 14, 2009
 
I’ve been feeling strange again lately. Feeling as if nothing has any meaning anymore. I feel very lost and quite confused. But I’ve been doing my very best to ignore it.
Well, tonight it seems that I can ignore it no longer.

I had an old friend visit me tonight, and when he left I felt awkward and almost dirty spiritually. There was no cause for this except for something in the back of my mind was triggered by part of a conversation that made me second guess some of my actions from earlier in the year. I felt like I was trapped in a dream that was trying to tell me something, but that I desperately didn't want to listen to. I didn’t know what to do with myself, so I poured myself a bubble bath and climbed into the hot bubbly water. I reached for the book that I was about to start and somehow stopped myself. I put the book down and reached for a different one that I had just recently picked up again after getting away from it for a few months. “The Dance of the Dissident Daughter” is a Woman’s journey from Christian Tradition to the Sacred Feminine by Sue Monk Kidd. I started reading when I came across a passage that she had found in another book that had helped to change her life. It read:“Whether we have taken the path of the fathers, educated ourselves in their institutions, learning their language, seeking their goals, energizing ourselves with success in their endeavors, or supported the fathers in their path, creating their homes, birthing and rearing their children, encouraging their dreams, healing their wounds, we have most often made beauty out of our work. We rejoice in our careers and in our children. We are proud of our spouses’ achievements and our belief that helped those achievements happen… Then one day everything is dry. Dust, Crumbled and blowing away on stale wind. Being vice-president of the company no longer matters. Being a competent wife feels meaningless… The time has come, not to reclaim what had been lost, but to descend. To find the ground of our own being we must descend.”

I cried. Right then and there in the tub. Tears burst from my eyes and I let them flow. I understood. That was exactly how I felt. Dry, dust, as if nothing mattered anymore. I realized that I had been so frantically trying to hold on to something normal, something I so badly wanted to make sense that I had lost what I had been searching for. Myself. I had struggled for a very long time trying to balance my femininity and my masculinity. My femininity had been screaming to get out and I thought I had unleashed it. And I had for a while, but sometimes the world gets the better of me and I start to conform again. I start looking for love and acceptance from the men in my life despite not truly feeling it myself. I want them to see me, to love me. I want them to control me and bring purpose to my life. When I realized this, I wanted to be sick. Being controlled? That is my wish? No, it can’t be true. I’m stronger than that. I want more from life than that. I will not submit myself to being lower. I will not allow myself to come second in my own life any longer.
I feel as if the old me is made of clay and the new me is still trapped inside. All I can do is begin to break down those old walls, to strip away that clay armor that I always thought was reality. From now on I will make my own reality. But first I must descend, to the earth, naked in my new body and embrace mother earth and my own Sacred Feminine with open arms.  
 
And you know what? I did break free. It took time and a lot of effort, but I became the Woman I wanted to be and I started to see all the other wonderful Women in my life for what they really were.
It's something that I'm grateful for everyday.
 
Thanks Sue Monk Kidd
 
 
I always wished that there was a way that I could express to Sue Monk Kidd what her writing meant to me.
Last week, I was given the opportunity. The Indigo near where I worked held a book signing for Sue Monk Kidd for her new book The Invention Of Wings
 
 
 
Hetty "Handful” Grimke, an urban slave in early nineteenth century Charleston, yearns for life beyond the suffocating walls that enclose her within the wealthy Grimke household. The Grimke’s daughter, Sarah, has known from an early age she is meant to do something large in the world, but she is hemmed in by the limits imposed on women.

Kidd’s sweeping novel is set in motion on Sarah’s eleventh birthday, when she is given ownership of ten year old Handful, who is to be her handmaid.We follow their remarkable journeys over the next thirty-five years, as both strive for a life of their own, dramatically shaping each other’s destinies and forming a complex relationship marked by guilt, defiance, estrangement and the uneasy ways of love.
As the stories build to a riveting climax, Handful will endure loss and sorrow, finding courage and a sense of self in the process. Sarah will experience crushed hopes, betrayal, unrequited love, and ostracism before leaving Charleston to find her place alongside her fearless younger sister, Angelina, as one of the early pioneers in the abolition and women’s rights movements.

Inspired by the historical figure of Sarah Grimke, Kidd goes beyond the record to flesh out the rich interior lives of all of her characters, both real and invented, including Handful’s cunning mother, Charlotte, who courts danger in her search for something better.

This exquisitely written novel is a triumph of storytelling that looks with unswerving eyes at a devastating wound in American history, through women whose struggles for liberation, empowerment, and expression will leave no reader unmoved
 
Although I haven't read her new book yet (curse you hardcovers for being so heavy, bulky and expensive!) I decided that I wanted to go anyway, just to hear her speak.
I waited with a crowd of women that kept growing, along with our anticipation.
I started chatting with the woman next to me and soon I had a seat buddy, which is always nice.
 
Eventually the moment arrived and Sue Monk Kidd made her appearance.
 And I was star struck!
 


 
I find it funny how star struck I was. I've met all sorts of geeky celebrities and I was just as star struck meeting Sue Monk Kidd as I was when I met Carrie Fisher or Jeremy Bulloch.
She was amazing. She talked about her new book and the meaning that it had to her.
It's so rare to hear about the journey that the author took, but you could really feel it as she read passages from the book that gave us a glimpse of the hearts of her characters, and thus, her own heart.
It was beautiful.
 


After she finished speaking, they let us go up row by row to get her autograph. As I waiting, I started talking with a few of the women around me. The woman in front of me was feeling nervous about meeting Sue Monk Kidd, so I asked her what it was she wanted to her and it allowed her to figure it out before she got up there. Then she asked me the same question, so I told her my story and how much it meant to me that we were all coming together as women for this event.
Finally, it was my turn.
I went up, hands shaking and handed her my books; The Secret Life Of Bees for me and Dance of the Dissident Daughter for my Mom.
And I told her, with tears shining in my eyes, how much her books had changed my life and I was amazed at how her own eyes filled with tears.
I told her about how her one line about an open jar had stuck with me all this time.
She smiled at me and said, "You're jar is open... but you already knew that."
 


 
Wow! Just wow!
How does one take in something like that?
 
I am very grateful for the opportunity to meet Sue Monk Kidd, to share my experience with her and to let her know that her writing could effect someone so profoundly.
 
My jar is open....

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Monday, July 19, 2010

Marla Mason Books - A Review


I love to read. I always try and read a bit every day, from the bus to and from work, in a nice hot bath, cuddling with my sweetie on the couch or tucked in bed before I go to sleep.
Because I'm such an avid reader, I have a tendency to run out of books by the authors that I like. I wait patiently for the next installment to come out, and unless it's Wheel of Time, for it to come out in paperback. So in the mean time, I'm constantly looking for new authors to fill the void with.
Some times, nay, most times I end up very disappointed when picking up new books, but every once and awhile, I come across a reading gem and discover a new author that captivates me completely.

This was the case with T.A. Pratt.

I first was introduced to him, via one of my favorite websites Geek Orthodox. He was doing a review on the latest book and I was immediately captured by the cover image.
A few weeks later when I was at The Worlds Biggest Bookstore with my best friend Eric, I saw the cover again and immediately picked it up, only to discover that it was the forth book in the series.
I've been weary about series as of late, due to forcing myself to read a few crappy ones, but after reading the back of Blood Engines (book 1), I found myself intrigued.

Meet Marla Mason-smart, saucy, slightly wicked witch of the East Coast.…
Sorcerer Marla Mason, small-time guardian of the city of Felport, has a big problem. A rival is preparing a powerful spell that could end Marla's life-and, even worse, wreck her city. Marla's only chance of survival is to boost her powers with the Cornerstone, a magical artifact hidden somewhere in San Francisco. But when she arrives there, Marla finds that the quest isn't going to be quite as cut-and-dried as she expected…and that some of the people she needs to talk to are dead. It seems that San Francisco's top sorcerers are having troubles of their own-a mysterious assailant has the city's magical community in a panic, and the local talent is being (gruesomely) picked off one by one.
With her partner-in-crime, Rondeau, Marla is soon racing against time through San Francisco's alien streets, dodging poisonous frogs, murderous hummingbirds, cannibals, and a nasty vibe from the local witchery, who suspect that Marla herself may be behind the recent murders. And if Marla doesn't figure out who is killing the city's finest in time, she'll be in danger of becoming a magical statistic herself.…

Hello Marla, nice to meet you. Wow, you get yourself into some pretty crazy situation!

This series follows the adventures of Marla Mason, an ass-kicking sorcerer who doesn’t wear a leather catsuit, doesn’t suffer from low self-esteem, doesn’t wallow in angst, and is almost always absolutely certain she’s right… even when she’s dead wrong.
It’s got monsters. It’s got sarcasm. It’s got death, destruction, sex parties, ancient gods, wisecracks, artifacts, oracles, dark alleys, and magical daggers. Come and see. - T.A. Pratt

Once I picked it up I couldn't put it down. The suspense and intrigue, the crazy characters, things I just would've never thought of, are all portrayed so well you just want to keep reading.
I read it in 3 days! I then had to scrounge up some money so I could go and buy Poison Sleep (book 2)!


The bad girl of the magical underworld is back and badder than ever.
Someone wants Marla Mason dead. Usually that's not news. As chief sorcerer of Felport, someone always wants her dead. But this time she's the target of a renegade assassin who specializes in killing his victims over days, months, or even years. Not to mention a mysterious knife-wielding killer in black who pops up in the most unexpected places. To make matters worse, an inmate has broken out of the Blackwing Institute for criminally insane sorcerers-a troubled psychic who can literally reweave the fabric of reality to match her own traumatic past.
With her wisecracking partner Rondeau reluctantly in tow, Marla teams up with a "love-talker" whose dangerous erotic spells not even she can resist. Together they're searching the rapidly transforming streets of Felport for a woman who's become the Typhoid Mary of nightmares, infecting everything-and everyone-she touches with a chaos worse than death itself.
 
I was so excited that this book was even better than the first one. I actually think that this is my favorite out of all of them. The concepts in it are just flooring. The melding of the real world, magical world and dream world are flawlessly done. Good guys are bad guys, bad guys are good guys, sometimes the characters are so in depth that you can really feel where they're coming from. People that were only briefly mentioned in the first book actually turn into real characters. I love when books do that.
I read this book in 2 days!!
Now this time I was prepared. I went out the next day and bought the next 2 books.
As soon as I got home I picked up Dead Reign (book 3) and started reading away.
 

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.

Also a great book. I mean how many books can you think of where the main character actually has to travel to Hell, confront her own demons, and find a way to take back what is rightfully hers. This book gives a lot of depth to Marla, as you finally find out more about her mysterious past that has been hinted about through the last two books. Also, the discovery of what is really hidden inside her magical cloak and the mystery behind her Dagger of Office. Also, there are lots of appearances from old friends and enemies who have been waiting to get back in touch with Marla Mason.

I think this one took me about a week to read. But as soon as it was finished, I couldn't wait to pick up the final book.
I had been waiting to read Spell Games (book 4) since the beginning. Would it be up to my now high expectations?


Brain-eating fungi, wannabe sorcerers, long-lost relations-does even a hard-core witch stand a chance?

Mad sorcerers, psychic vampires, an army of vengeful demons, Marla Mason would rather face them all than a flesh-and-blood ghost from her dysfunctional family past: her con artist brother, Jason. As Felport's chief sorcerer, Marla would ordinarily consider it her duty to protect her town from such an unscrupulous ne'er-do-well. As his sister, things are a lot…trickier. Now, as Marla attempts to train an apprentice oracle whose magical wires have gotten crossed, Jason is setting up an elaborate sting and drawing her ever-so-corruptible partner Rondeau into the ruse.
Their patsy is a filthy-rich wannabe mage and their bait is something so valuable, so dangerous, so sought after, it probably doesn't exist. But now word's gotten out that the Borrichius spores do exist and instead of a sucker Jason and Rondeau have a much bigger-and much deadlier-fish on their line: a reclusive sorcerer whose devotion to the mushroom god and command of vegetal magic could bring a fungal apocalypse to Felport. It'll be the mother of all bad trips unless Marla can pull off the ultimate magical switcheroo…and somehow live to tell about it.

I hate to say that I was a little disappointed in this book. I guess it's only to be expected after loving the other ones so much and my expectations being so high. On it's own, I'm sure I would've enjoyed it more, but compared to the others, it barley holds a candle to them. The characters are still good, but the story is missing something vital. I was glad to have Bradley back, but he was greatly overshadowed by Marla's brother Jason, who I really could've cared less about. The villains were kinda lame and the side characters weren't any better. Also, this book left off on an unresolved note, which had there been another book for me to go out and buy, wouldn't have bothered me so much.
So hurry up T.A. Pratt and write me more books*

Overall rating: 5 out of 5 stars

* I look forward to more books, but please take your time. As a writer, I know what it's liked to feel rushed and I don't wish that on you.
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