Yumi and the Nightmare Painter

 Another Cosmere novel by Brandon Sanderson and another one of his "Secret Projects." 

"Yumi comes from a land of gardens, meditation, and spirits, while Painter lives in a world of darkness, technology, and nightmares. When their lives suddenly become intertwined in strange ways, can they put aside their differences and work together to uncover the mysteries of their situation and save each other’s communities from certain disaster?"

General Thoughts: I really enjoyed this one. It is right there under Tress of the Emerald Sea in favorites of Brandon Sanderson's books, well, books in general. The world is amazingly different, Hoid is the narrator again though he makes less actual appearances than before, and this is a love story. I almost always enjoy a good romance. 

<<Spoilers Ahead>>

Plot: I think the jumping between bodies is really intriguing. I loved watching Your Name (which I highly recommend) and it very  much had a bit of that in there. Yumi's magic is very different, who would ever think that stacking stones was a form of magic? Brandon I guess. And Painters' ability to fight nightmares through art is cool too. I particularly liked the ending when they figure out what is going on and how they both fight for what they want. I think the nightmares, and what the nightmares actually are is simplistic but it works in the creepy area well. I do wish Yumi's fight at the end was longer, but it ended well. 

Setting: OH! The crazy contrast between their worlds is amazing. I think the descriptions, which were needed to be blunt, they were well done and gave us the differences between where they come from and how Yumi and Painter actually work in their societies. So strikingly different, especially the dramatic Night and Days, light and darks. I like the neon lights that fill Painters world. It's all just so different. I also love the fact that when Yumi discovers what TV is she is hooked by the moving pictures. 

Characters: Yumi and Painter are so fun. I just love each of the characters presented here. Design particularly. I can't wait to read more about her and Hoid (#FMoash, the stupid jerk.) There is just too much to say about these characters, that I don't know what to say. They really pull through in this story, like many of Brandon's other books. 

Spice: 2/5 Spicy Chilis. It is a light romance where most of it is emotional. When they switch bodies, they don't see themselves as the other person, but themselves standing an as that person. So it's not perverted, which is nice. One or the other is almost always a ghost so it's not like they could even kiss or anything. 

Writing Style: I love the way Brandon writes in general and this is no exception. The fact that Hoid is our narrator, and the fanciful storyteller he is, just makes this so much better. I would love to have more books on this world, just to look at the magic system, but I doubt that will happen. Brandon has too much left on his plate. I am probably bias at this point, but I love the way he writes. It makes it easy to enjoy the story he is telling. 

Overall: I very much enjoy this book. It is one that I will most definitely be reading again and again. 

Herding Cats

Herding Cats is a from the "Sarah's Scribbles" collection, a comic series online that I find very funny. Her other books Adulthood is a Myth and Big Mushy Happy Lump and their reviews can be found here. I enjoyed them very much.

Much like her other books, these are full of one page comics about life. Sarah Andersen, I would assume, is an introvert and draws comics about her life as a human being. To me, many of her comics are relatible, not wanting to go outside, introverted-ness, artsy/creative-ish, a love of animals, slightly afraid of other people's children, etc. They are humorous and shed light on topics that are every day for her/us that others might just not get. I find them very accurate.

The particular thing I like about her books though is the writing at the end. In this book, she talks about drawing on the internet and how the internet has changed since she first started her career. She gives advice for young artists, but not only those who use paints or pen tablets. All artists, writers, and creators of any sort who are trying their craft will probably go through the things she discussing, I know I have. Your old stuff is probably crap and that's okay, knowing when to take it to heart and when to throw it in the trash, remember your human and feel things while taking criticism can be hard, you can get away from the interwebs and go outside to hear yourself think instead of getting bombarded by others opinions (that is probably healthy for everyone), and as always "Never give up. Never surrender" (from Galaxy Quest, not Sarah's Scribbles. Check it out anyway; it's a great movie.) keep going, you are doing great and always getting better. Sarah Anderson says more things, but these, I feel, are important.

I just really like her comics and hope she continues drawing.

Heist Society

The Heist Society by Ally Carter is a suspenseful YA novel thievery, art, history, and awesome characters. I greatly enjoyed this book is all of it's awesome-ness.

I began to read this book a few years ago, but the audio CD I was listening to it on was skipping and I had to return it to my library (Support your local library! Free books, I mean, come on. Best thing ever.). And all of the copies they had were out. So I had to wait and I was finally able to get back to it. I'm so glad I did.

Heist Society is about Kat, on the fence of whether she should remain a thief like she's been since she was three or go to high school and find a very different life that could lead to more places. But when she is abruptly expelled from the Ivy League school and told her father is in trouble, she has to get back in the game.

I really enjoyed the characters, all of them. They were all different and made for a great team. I can't wait to see how they develop in the next few books.

Ally Carter made good suspense throughout the story. Stopping at just the right moment for us to say "OH NO, what is going to happen next." She gave us just enough information to have our suspicions but there were surprises that I didn't see.

I also really enjoyed the cliffhanger at the end when this mystery man, the true man (or women, we don't really know) behind these crimes, leaves his calling card. It leaves it open for a great series that I am very interested in continuing.