My son and I read this book and very much enjoyed it.
Characters were many and sometimes hard to differentiate between, but they were still fun and enjoyable. Setting made me need a drink of water all the time. But what I most enjoyed was the plot and flashbacks that were present to help enlighten the reader as to what was actually going on. Miss Katherine and Sam were my favorite and I really felt for them. And you feel sorry for Stanley and Zero and all the other boys.
Complete strangers board a train, mingle for a few hours or days, and then go their separate ways. But then a murder happens and those who have nothing to do with each other are then all suspected to have murdered a horrendous man. So many clues. Too many clues. It was one of them, but which one?
Murder on the Orient Express has been made into many movies and so the story wasn't new to me. It was one that I wanted to read to say that I'd done it. I am a major fan of Kenneth Branagh as he is a fantastic actor and brings so much more to each character he portrays (whether it is Hercule, Professor Lockhart, or King Henry IV), so to hear him give this presentation for all the many nationalities here was a treat.
I enjoyed all the characters that were present here. There were many and at times could have been hard to keep track of, but Agatha Christie was able to keep them all fairly well clear. And while there were many clues and twists and turns throughout the story, she gave them to us in ways the kept it concise clear though we had to use our "little gray cells" to get the other ending like Poirot did--if people are that awesome to be able to actually do that anyway.
I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the games and movies that came out of this series. Well done Agatha. Well done.
Charmain Baker is a baker's daughter who is good at nothing but reading. Her mother doesn't let her do anything that is remotely unladylike, so mostly she reads. But then she is tasked with taking care of Great Uncle William's house while he is going away to see the Elves to heal him. Great Uncle William is a wizard and his house his magical. Outside it is a simple cottage with two rooms, but the large wooden door that leads to the kitchen can also lead to "many ways" other than the kitchen. Not only does she come to a house that is piled high with laundry and dishes which she doesn't know how to do, but the kobolds are also complaining and a boy barges in looking to be Great Uncle William's apprentice AND she gets a reply from the King to come and help him with his library. So much is going on for a girl who doesn't know how to do anything.
This was my sons favorite out of the three stories. Charmain was cute and it was just a super fun book. I liked the appearance of Howl and Sophie, though Howl's lisp was hard to voice over, jus saying. I also enjoyed the history of he old country and how some problems last generations before they become resolved.
It was a cute book, that I would defiantly read again, and probably will if my son has more say in what I pick for our breakfast book club.
Lea, Princess of Morrighan, finds herself in enemy territory. After being kidnapped by the Assassin and carted across country to Venda, she must find a way out of this inescapable city. The Prince has lies and says he's an emissary of the Prince wanting to make a treaty with Venda. With her precarious position, lies and secrets deep in the Sanctum, and her world view shifting from seeing everyone here as barbarians to survivors, Lea has quite a path ahead of her. Their plans for escaping seem ludicrous with four, not four thousand or even four hundred, soldiers to help. How do they get out? How is this woman that Lea keeps seeing that seems invisible to everyone else?
This was a very well written book. Had me sucked in the whole time and I can't wait to get into the third book. SUCH A CLIFFHANGER!!!
Lea, I think, grows quite a bit in this book as her understanding of the people she once saw as her enemy are now seen through new eyes. I wish Kaden and Rafe had more growth, though Kaden by the end of the story does take a big step forward we only hope he isn't dead because of it.
I also really like the world that this is in. Venda, where we spend most of the book, is a city built upon ruins. Ruins with libraries beneath it. Libraries of knowledge that only very few people can read. I liked how we got to see a bit of the ruins as she was toured around the city. It would make for a great graphic novel, that I would love to read.
I think it was also fun how we know there is a prophecy and she's "the chosen one" kinda thing, but that so many people don't know about it or don't believe it is real. But that there are many people who know the old stories and give shifty eyed glances to one another because "they know" more than what the bad guys do. It made the little things they did that much more precious and important.
The ending was very well done and I can't wait to get into book 3.
Lea is a princess and is forced into an arranged marriage to a prince she doesn't know. She doesn't like the idea of being tied down to a old man for the sake of diplomacy, so she runs away with her ladies maid. Leaving false leads and trails, the two girls flee to another nearby country to disappear all together. But leaving behind her past is far harder than she thought. Her marriage cavah (henna tattoo) on her back which was supposed to fade after a few baths, seems to becoming more vibrant and colorful. And the Gift she was supposed to have but never able to tap into starts to bloom in her. Becoming a tavern waitress and starting a fresh and anew, Lea finds that her past is still very close at hand. Unknowingly, the Prince she was supposed to marry and an Assassin sent to kill her follow her trails and board at the tavern she works in. And slowly, she finds that she is falling in love with these two men and whom they portray. But then when news from home spurs her to head back and turn herself in as a traitor for running away, she finds herself kidnapped by this Assassin who can't quite bring himself to kill her so instead takes her back to his home country, across desserts and plains, through ruins of the ancient and canyons; all the while the Prince is hot on their trail to find her and kill him before they are out of reach.
I'm not much one for love triangles, but this one isn't so bad. I think the thing that makes this love triangle okay is that the characters are their own. They are full, deep, and lively characters that push the story on more than just pining over "my love for you" and whatnot. A good part of the second half is the knowing that the Assassin lied to her and he keeps lying to her because he's loyal to his country and yet still doesn't want to kill her, he's saved her--yet obviously this is a bad thing because he's still kidnapped her. Their relationship is very twisted and dependent on one another even if she doesn't want it to be.
I also liked at the beginning we don't actually know who is the Assassin and who is the Prince. There is enough ambiguity between the two men that the reader is constantly guessing who is who and if this guy is going to kill her by throwing her off a cliff or dagger in the night or other instances.
The character development for Lea is great and you can see the turmoil that happens for the boys (though I wish there was more of them in the story--specifically Rafe).
I also really like the Ancients and the ruins and the stories/remembrances that are threaded importantly throughout the story. Lea is "The Chosen One" and has a prophecy about her that we find out more about as she does. I want there to be ghosts in the ruins. I want there to be more that others understand about the prophecy as they nod knowingly. I want more information about these ancient civilizations, specifically the truths behind why and how they collapsed more than just "The Gods did it." And what's fun (because I started listening to book two already), we do.
I've really enjoyed this series.
This story follows Abdullah, a humble carpet merchant from Zanzib. One day, a traveler comes and sells him a flying carpet. Seeing that it does fly, he buys it but then can't seem to make it work. To make sure it doesn't fly away, he falls asleep on it only to wake up in a garden that could only be from a dream. Abdullah also sees a beautiful woman who's name is Flower-In-The-Night, who happens to be the princess. On his second miraculous visit the next night, she is kidnapped by a djinn and he can do nothing to stop it. After getting thrown in the palace dungeon by her father the Sultan, with help from the carpet he finds himself in the dessert in the hands of bandits with a genie at hand. With a wish to help him find Flower-In-The-Night, he finds himself in the northern non-dessert country of Ingery and at he disposal of a vagabond soldier who is supposed to help him find the most beautiful, smart, and kind woman he's ever seen.
It was a jolly read that I very much enjoyed.
At first I was a bit perturbed that this sequel didn't star Howl, Sophie, and Calcipher, but I found that I enjoyed Abdullah, the genie, the cats, the soldier, and the others. I liked Flower-In-The-Night, though I would have liked it more if she had gotten a bit more screen time. But she was a powerful woman who didn't take any flack from anyone, even a djinn. The other princesses we meet were pretty awesome, too.
I also liked the expansion of the world in Howl's Moving Castle. There is much in the world that I wanted more of and happily got it through a different narrator.
I don't think I have anything negative to say about this one. It was very much a joy to read. My son really liked it too and got into the story.
Zane is a kid who constantly got picked on because one of his legs was shorter than the other meaning he had a very dominate limp and was forced to walk with a cane. With his back yard in New Mexico being home to a volcano and walking around and on top of it all the time with his dog, he became pretty good at keeping his balance on uneven terrain. It was just about time to start at another school when things start to go loco. A girl that can shapeshift into a hawk appears and demons flying airplanes fly into the volcano. He finds out that practically all the people around him are keeping secrets from him and that they aren't who they appear. He isn't even who he thinks he is. Zane discovers more about himself as he dives deeper into the mythology of his ancestors. Dealing with the God of Death and Darkness is no picnic either.
This book felt very much like Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Full of snarky humor of a teenage boy, it was fun to get into Zane's head and discover more about Mayan culture as we understand it presently. There is so much that I didn't know about and it was fun to learn. The book was written well enough that it wasn't confusing for me an "unknowledgeable" person when it comes to this sphere.
I enjoyed the characters. Zane's uncle was funny and wasn't "useless" like some characters have been in this type of series. Brooks was alright though not my favorite. There was so much "mystery" about her and it took her forever to explain so many things--she was needed to inform us as the reader and Zane as to what is up with the Mayan world. His Seer neighbor almost seemed unneeded, though I can potentially see her being potentially bad guy worthy later but probably not. I also found it nice that Zane's mom didn't just sit back and do nothing while Zane was off adventuring. She tried to help in as many ways as she limitedly could.
It was good, though I think the concept of "not knowing who you can trust" when you find out that you can trust most everyone was kind of obnoxious. Unless it's foreshadowing for more books, I found it kind of unnecessary. I did like the fact that The Twins that Zane has to ask for help from turned out the way they did--trying hard for no spoilers here. I also liked the lady who took over Shibalb; she has the potential to become a very fun character and I hope we get more of her as the series goes on.
Over all I enjoyed it. For those who get upset about "the dog dies" books, take a breath and keep reading. Much of the book aside from facing the God of Death is Zane trying to get his dog back. And as you can see from the next cover, he does. So it's okay, it just take a while for him to accomplish it. It's okay, don't stop reading.
Ever Barnes' father was murdered four years ago and now hides out at an old theater turned town switchboard in order to protect his family secret. Hannah is an adventurous young girl, who's curious and seeks Ever out. When members of a secret society realize that Ever is still alive, Ever finds his life and his family secret and the whole city in jeopardy.
This was a very fun and simple story that I honestly can't wait for the next one at the library. The artwork is well done, though when it comes to the clockwork mechanisms being a little clearer would be nice.
Both Hannah and Ever were good characters with their own little character developments (as a good story needs). Learning to trust the right people and be your own person is always important.
The ending with Hannah's parents and Ever was very simplified and odd--but for the "happy ending" was "needed," I guess. I liked the "secret" that was hidden in the safe. It was cool, though not at all what I expected to be this cities big, hidden secret. It helped the city at the end, but most defiantly not what I expected.
In order to help her sister escape away from an arranged marriage to save the family financially and to marry a man she loved, stuttering, nineteen year old Horatia Winwood steps forward and asks the thirty-five year old Earl of Rule to marry her instead. Intrigued, the Earl agrees and changes his proposal to Horatia and marries her. But not all is well in the house. An early agreement in their marriage was that they wouldn't bother one another about mistresses or affairs, but go on with blind eyes. With her blind eyes Horatia has found gambling and to spend as much money as she feels at the time. She's become lavish and in debt and incapsulated by the notorious gambler Lord Lethbridge who has very wide eyes toward Horatia.
Georgette Heyer's book was very different from what I was expecting. Shorter than I expected. And it didn't have the "love story" feel to it as I was expecting as well.
It had a heavy back drop of a simple "marriage of convenience," which is obviously fitting, and the unscrupulous side of "high society." Almost like the "gothic novels" that Jane Austen critics in Northanger Abbey. Gambling, duels, kidnappings, and not-so-secret affairs are most definitely things that aren't in the regency books I've read so far (though it was published in 1934, so very much written in a more modern style than what I'm used to as well). So it was strange. Not in a bad way, but not necessarily something I'd enjoy reading again. I'm interested to read some her other books and see what happens in them.
The reader, though, was Richard Armitage which was very surprising. Not only from North and South and the Hobbit movies, but an audiobook reader as well! He did all of the voices well, even the Horatia who has a very prominent stutter throughout the whole of the book. Well done. He made it more enjoyable to listen to.
While traveling through the market, Briar spots a girl shining stones and embowing them with magic. When he asks her about it, she runs. He tries to find her over the next few days while familiarizing himself with the local gangs. Being once part of a gang, he gets rolled into their problems. Between finding Evvy, finding her a teacher, teaching her the basics of stone magic and how to meditate, and the gang wars that surround him, he has his hands full.
I really enjoyed this book. The differences and difficulties of walking into different cultures is an interesting path Briar leads.
I enjoyed the simplicity of the text while having a set of complicated characters. The stone mage, Evvy, reminded me a lot of Toph Beifong from Avatar: the Last Air Bender. Both "stone mages" that are hard, firm, and determined. The characters all throughout the series were great, though there seemed to be a lot of them that only got mentioned a very few times, yet still important, but then were quickly gone after a little while (for very good reasons, mind). Many flowed in and out of the story--sometimes making it hard to remember who they were exactly.
I've gotten to really love Briar and his companions (new ones included) and I think that is a signature of Tamora Pierce. She puts so much life and vigor into her characters that they come alive and I want more and more of them.
This book was also an audiobook that I listened to and it was very well done. I had now qualms with any of them and enjoyed their performances immensely.
I'll have to get to the 3rd book later because it isn't available at my library currently, but I will get to reading it sooner rather than later.
The four children, now middling teenagers, have now gone their separate ways with their teachers. Tris and Niko, Daja and Frostpine, Briar and Rosethorn have all left Winding Circle temple to go see the world and learn more about their magics leaving Sandry and Lark at home. Sandry goes to look after her uncle who had a heart attack and doesn't know the meaning of rest. After a bit of recovery and a small horse ride, they spy a boy performing magic by dancing. Pasco has a family of Herriers, the city guards, and his family thinks his dancing is a useless waste of time because none of them knew it was magic. Now that Sandry has found this boy who needs to be taught and none of the teachers at Winding Circle know Dance Magic, she has now become Pasco's teacher. To compound her troubles, there has been murder in the city by invisible hands that are using an almost unheard of type of magic-- Unmagic. Magic the devours magic like a whirlpool sinking boats.
This was well written and had a very good plot to it. It was well plotted out and was easy to follow along without getting to tangled with new evidences and procedures that were given to us.
Pasco irked me at the beginning for being a lazy teenage boy with all the excuses and trying intentionally to make things hard for Sandry--though this has my own heavy biases and is probably actually okay. Sandry's arch in becoming a teacher though unwanted at the beginning was well done and made for an interesting background alongside the murders in the city. The mystery of the murders and Unmagic was engaging as well and kept me wanting to come back for more.
The audiobook was also read by Tammy and a whole cast of voice actors who did a pretty good job for the most part. There was one actor, though, who was very obnoxious because he sounded robotic--thankfully he only had a few lines though.
I enjoyed this book. It reminded me very much of Daja's Book in that the plot and characters were gold. It was, again, very well done.
I can't wait to get onto the next one.
Briar was once a street rat before he became a mage. But now that he has a handle on his magic, he helps his teacher Rosethorn with making medicine and delivering it to the nearby cities. Once he gets into town he goes to see the other street rats and a bit of his old life. But when he gets into town this time he is led to his friend Flick who has all these blue welts all over her body. He calls down Rosethorn who informs him they have a pandemic on their hands. They are quarantined along with Flick and as the days go on more and more people show up at the hospitals with these blue pox. People are dying with fevers so high that they start hallucinating. Riots happen in the streets while they are inside. Mages and healers are working on finding a cure, but the dead are mounting.
This book is different than the others. Whereas in the other books, the kids really work together with their magics interwoven, here they are still working together, but still separately. Briar spends so much time away from the girls and works a lot more with Rosethorn (which isn't bad, I really enjoyed their relationship growth). But their communication and conversation is so little and they all seem so busy with other things, there is just a different feel of it. And I'm not so sure I like it.
I liked how Tamora uses modern medicine in a magical way. Gloves and masks alongside magic and enchantments. Though even with all there magics there are causalities. Which is sad.
I do feel like so much of the other characters were there doing things because "they have to do something" like Daja making boxes, Tris writing for Crane, and Sandry magicing gloves and masks... As if Tamora was grasping at straws for something for them to do. Almost half thought out or something. I wanted more and for them all to work together again more than just what they did at the end. The ending was supposed to be grand, but I think it fell flat.
I still really like the idea and potential the next series. But for this own series, I feel let down. So I would need to go on to the next series. So on we go.
Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire get the tragic news that their parents have died in a fire that destroyed their mansion home. A family friend, Mr. Poe, is executer of the parents estate and must find a home for the three orphans to live at. He chooses to send them to the "closest" relative (as in physically closest who lives across town but the kids have never met) who is a nasty piece of work. Count Olaf is... a nasty piece of work. He makes the kids do ridiculous chores and is an abusive acholic who is scheming to get the Baudelaire fortune. And the saddest thing is that Mr. Poe doesn't believe them because they are kids.
This series is one of unfortunate events. These kids have a horrific life. And it only gets worse as it goes on. It has been a very long time since I've read this series though, so it's interesting to read it again, with adult eyes to pick up on the things I missed the first time. I find it really interesting too to see the different movie adaptations that have come about as well. This book is very basic where the kids don't understand that their parents were part of a secret organization--which the series gets into in the second book a bit--but the movies bring those moments up fairly quickly. Over the course of the series we get into a lot of hidden things that I know I didn't get in my first (teenage) read though. So it'll be fun to go through all 13 books (and the extras) to pick up what I missed.
This is a good book for the start of the series. It is simple and straight forward. Olaf really is a bad guy. A nasty dude. Trying to marry Violet for her money, but is also excited for the "wedding night" is just... ick. Poor girl. The way she got out of it I don't think would actually work, but, you know, we really don't want it to happen, so we'll take it. Just get her out of there. The fact that so many marriages happened like this throughout the centuries and millennia sickens me. Poor girls.
But for this book, Mr. Poe is also one of the worst! Olaf is obviously the bad guy, but come one Poe. He'll be awful and idiotic throughout the series. Sending the kids off to the worst places and not listening to them when the kids come to him with Klaus having handprint marks on his face. There was his coughing fits where "he couldn't hear them" but he also wasn't trying to hear them or any of their complaints of mistreatment. Because they are kids, their complaints don't mean anything. Very much a commentary of how children are aware of what is going on more than what adults think. If only we would listen. Adults are supposed to help kids, keep them safe, but it never happens for them. Hence, A Series of Unfortunate Events.
Daja has been living with her friends at Winding Circle Temple for about four months now. After the death of her family and company of Traders died at sea, she was found by Niko and brought to the temple to learn how to use her magic. After an earthquake and the accident that bound her and her friends' magics together, strange things have been happening. Suddenly Daja who works with fire magics in her forge suddenly has iron growing like a plant; Briar magic with plants shot lightening into sand, frying the plants he was looking after, and made glass; and strange things have been happening to Tris and Sandry's magics as well. Not only can they talk to one another, but they also find that each others powers are leaking unexpectedly into their friends. They need to straighten their magics out and gain control as well as help the mountain village they've entered that's been struggling greatly with drought and wild fires and a group of Traders are in town reminding Daja of her old life but can't be a part of it because she is a trangshi (unlucky) and therefore an outcast of the Traders and in a way doesn't exist to them anymore.
This one has been my favorite book so far. It wasn't one I read before when I tried the Circle of Magic series before, but I've found I really enjoyed it. Daja does grow more with her magic and as a character I think more so than any of there other characters throughout the series so far. Being a trangshi, an outcast, she must learn to cope with this as she still yearns to be accepted by them though the Traders refuse. I like Daja's trades with the caravan and how it makes her questions harder the traditions of her people--along with the rest of the Trader caravan's ideas on tradition too. Instead of just going along with the people, understanding why those cultural traditions are good or bad and if they need to be changed--though change doesn't happen quickly.
I also like the background plot of the wild fires as well as the mountain city's mage vs Niko and other non-acidemia mages. It was an interesting critic and view on how some feel over shadowed by the "every day magics." I find it interesting because the "every day magic" is what Tamora based all of the kids' magic on: weaving, plants, smithing, and lightening/winds/whatever Tris' is. Yurrun Firetamer tries to show off and is prideful of what he and his father before him were able to do in keeping all the fires of the surrounding villages doused for years. His rivalry with Niko and distain for the students along with his lack of availability for criticism becomes his downfall in the end which causes things to go array.
All of the books so far have a feeling of "when we have time, remind me to teach you how to do this." Frostpine even says it plainly toward the end of the book, but I think each of the teachers have said it or a variation of it in each book throughout the series. These kids are doing much larger magic than anyone thought they would and these teachers haven't had the time enough to actually be able to sit down and teach their students much it seems. They have only been there four months, and the kids have to be led or saved a lot by their teachers because they get in too deep into something, though they have ended up saving the day eventually each time.
I'm looking forward to the next book. Audiobook at the moment with Tamora Pierce actually narrating the book, which makes it rather enjoyable.
Sandry, Tris, Briar, and Daja, after surviving an earthquakes weeks ago have discovered that their magics have weaved themselves with one another. they can now talk to each other in their minds and do more powerful spells. None of them has much control to their powers, but they are slowly studying and trying to discover it. After the earthquake, some of the physical and magical barriers that kept their Temple home and the surrounding villages safe are in disrepair or in shambles all together, which makes it perfect time for pirates to try to make their way in and plunder the surrounding areas. These aren't normal pirates either. They have more mages and new technology that none of the Temple mages have seen before. These four may only be kids, but they are growing fast and their magics are growing faster.
I enjoyed this one. It was high action and adventure with those subtle moments of teaching of the kids. Like Sandry's Book it seemed to go by very quickly where it probably would have been okay to join it with the first book in the series, but there was enough of a plot and story arch to make it okay at standing on it's own as part of the series. I suppose I just want more than these, seemingly, brief snippets that we get from the pages of this book.
I've liked the growth that these characters are going through and how they are becoming their own people while still joining together to go great things. I like how they are willing to bend some of the adult rules as they try to help with these major problems that are affecting everyone.
I am also very much ready for the next book. Bring it on.
This is a story of two men in search of a girl. In 1999, US forces were in the Middle East during Desert Storm and were in the process of pulling out just as a civil war was breaking out. There were many civilian casualties. Arwood, a pee-on in the US military is supposed to be on the look out for Iraqi forces at Checkpoint Zulu, lets a war reporter named Thomas Benton walk go into the nearby city to go reporting. Non-U.S. military forces bomb the city Benton is in and he tries to run back to the demilitarized zone. On his way back, he tries to help this teenage girl in a green hijab come with him as a refugee to the save US compound. Arwood tries to help and on their way back the girl gets shot in the back. This moment changes their lives. Arwood becomes more reckless and "dishonors" himself in the military, Benton has a hard time getting over how this girl died. They never even knew her name or really heard her speak. Now, 22 years later, they see television footage of the war-torn Middle East and see this same girl who's been imprinted into their minds for over two decades as a bomb goes off right behind her. How is she alive? Is it really her? And how are they going to save this girl?
When it comes to Desert Storm and many of there African and Middle Eastern wars, I know very little. I know that there are U.S. Troops there, and that "War is Hell" but as for many other parts of it, I know very little. I was hoping for a little view into the Desert Storm world that I was only a kid living through and didn't understand the news. This book gives a great feeling toward what I was looking for. It sets you right there giving fairly fleshed out characters in this real world time and location. It was written well for the most part which I appreciated.
Arwood is a fascinating character and Benton is alright. The real situations were eye opening as well.
I was prepared for the war moments, the sad and scary times, but the vulgarity (which I gave a few more passes to because "soldiers be soldiers) got to be more than what I care for as well as the more than prevalent "boinking" going on. The "curtains closed" on many sex scenes, but I stopped when Arwood was discussing things. I hit final straws and there was enough hopping on my drawn line that I just set it down.
I didn't finish it. Some might want to, but I'm setting it down and will probably have to do my own research into what happened instead of hoping for "entertainment" to do it for me.
Anne Elliot lives is on the verge of becoming an old maid. At 27, and having been persuaded to decline two proposals in her younger years, she depressed-ly resigned herself to the fact that she will be living with her Father and older sister for the rest of her life. When family debts become so high that the family must "retrench" to Bath instead of living in their family hall, Anne is invited to visit her younger, married sister, Mary, while her father and sister move to Bath. The new tenets of her father's estate she learns is the sister and brother-in-law to her only love and the first proposal she was persuaded to decline eight and a half years ago. When Captain Fredrick Wentworth visits his sister and visits the surrounding families (which Mary is one), Anne finds that he stays but seems to have no wanting to continue any relationship they had had previously. And yet he stays around.
Anne is my favorite Austen heroine in that I find, to a degree, similarities between myself and her--or at least I hope so. For one simple point of Anne being the most quiet, and probably has the fewest lines, for any of Austen's heroines.
Anne's growth throughout the story is delicately weaves throughout the book, where she also stays diligent to her beliefs and her character is strong. I like the brief glimpses we get into Anne of her seriously having depression after she first declines Captain Wentworth's offer, where it says that "her bloom" isn't there anymore, but then by then end getting out of the depression and seeing Wentworth again and associating with him, her very vain father comments on how she has it back. While Austen never says that she has depression, she does make a point to say that her "bloom" returned.
This is a simple love story that I adore. I found out that it was probably based on a real love story, which makes my romantic and historian side of my brain love it even more (A book you can find about it is called: The Real Persuasion: Portrait of a Real Life Jane Austen Heroine). I brings the romance of the sea along with the reality of navel life.
The real love I have for the book is Wentworth's Letter he gives to Anne. It is simple, sweet, and so full of hope. Sends my heart a flutter.
If you are going to watch an adaptation, stick with 1995. Favorite actors/actresses with brilliant performances and it stays true to the story.
I hardly know what it's about besides a "swashbuckling, Three Musketeer-like" book. It was suggested to a forum I'm on and quickly decided it wasn't for me.
First few pages were all talking about sex and how one of their "commanders"(?) was having his way with at least 5 different women that evening. Then there was commentary on it.
Yeah I don't need or want this.
This one, I didn't finish.
The basic plot of this book is a young girl, Rin, who grew up with her "auntie" and "uncle" in the country of a China-esque country. In order to not be sold off into marriage she studies her heart out to take the governments exams to try to get into an academy. While she aces the exam and escapes a life of forced marriage and hiding the drugs her "relatives" are dealing, she finds herself way out of her league. She's studied for two years, but the rest of the students at this war academy have had their whole lives to train in marital arts, the classics, and other areas that she has no training in whatsoever. With pompous arrogance on ever side of the students and teachers who hate the country trash, she must prove herself not only to them, but to herself as well. And then she discovers she has shaman magic.
With a difference in country and cultures, this book reminds me very much of Tamora Pierce's Song of the Lioness series and her Protector of the Small series. Only girl in a group of boys at school and she must show that she can stick with the boys and beat them or get "kicked out of school." There is even the "I'm starting my period" moment toward the beginning reminding her that she is very much a girl amongst the arrogance of men. For those coming into a new generation, sure enjoy it (for as far as I read anyway).
It is highly based on the politics and wars of 20th Century China which there isn't much of on bookshelves. Her country goes from Imperial "China" and fighting wars to defend their borders, to stopping a civil war and joining rebels to build a republic, and fighting enemies with more modern technologies. Being a history buff, I enjoy the other culture interpretations of history (in a fantasy sense too) and so I was really excited about it. Though I just read a brief article with the title of "What if Mao was a teenage girl?" And that was kind of off putting. He is not a world leader I like in any which way, so comparing Rin to Mao... makes me a bit wary.
But I had to put it down because there was too much swearing. Not as much as others (comparatively, it could be considered "light") but there to many F-bombs dropped for me. Some of the other swear words I can deal with, but when it comes to the heavier language... I prefer to not. There are too many other books I'd like to get to.
It was well written from 15% I got through. For those who don't mind/care, go for it. If you enjoy diving into cultures and enjoyed the Song of the Lioness or Protector of the Small, I think you'd enjoy this one too. History buffs, have fun.
Narnia is in trouble. King Tirian has come across an Ape who says he has Aslan in a Stable and that Aslan will now be telling everyone what to do through his new voice the Ape. For many of the Talking Animals, things seem off, but what are they supposed to do? Aslan says so, right? King Tirian is captured by the speaker for Aslan and the Calormenes that are working with the Ape--while many of the Talking Animals are beings sent to work as beasts of burden. As he's tied to a tree, suddenly Jill and Eustace are in Narnia again. Jill and Eustace were meeting with the Pevensie's, Professor Digory, and Mrs. Polly, at Professor Digory's house when they saw the King calling for their aid. Jill and Eustace help him escape and sneak toward the Stable where "Aslan" is housed. Only to find that "Aslan," or "Tashlan" as the confusion really sets in, is actually a Donkey named Puzzle who was pushed into pretending to be Aslan for the Apes gain. But now how do the children and the King inform everyone that it was fake. Talking Beasts and other Narnians don't believe what they're being told, because they've already been deceived once. "We are for ourselves," they say. How are they going to fix this?
This was a very interesting book. At times it made me sad that there was such confusion, which is very similar to today. People get deceived by some form of false prophet who are only in it for their own greedy ambitions. It also goes to show how different people face the same religious confusions. Some get swayed, some keep their faith and question what's being given to them because it doesn't make sense, others leave entirely and refuse to believe anything. It's not just the talking beasts who get swayed or the dwarves who give up or all the Calormere's who are trying to deceive them, but there are people in each group that are in each belief system too. I also like how Tash, when he is present, listens to Aslan instantly and when he's told to leave "with his prey" and practically vanished. It was a small thing, but I appreciated it.
I also enjoyed that all the characters from previous books made appearances, though most of that wasn't until the end. It made my son very happy. The fact that one of the Pevensie's wasn't there at the end makes you think too.
This book is probably my favorite book in the series, which is saying something because there are some really good books in this series. (There are some that aren't so great, but still makes the series good.)
Happy Reading!
During WWII Death was busy carrying souls to "the great conveyor belt in the sky." For Liesel , she was adopted by a German husband and wife in a small German town. Death visits her only a few times throughout her life to take the people around her and finds her own story and curiosity gets the better of him. Liesel is not only dealing with the death of her brother and the abandonment of her mother, not being able to read, and simply growing up, but her new family agrees to hide a Jew in their basement and the air raids start.
As I said before, Death is an interesting narrator. He gives us a different kind of impending doom and anticipation throughout the story because he already knows his schedule of dates with everyone. He tells us on occasion that this person is going to die, or s/he doesn't live very long after this or that. The narration is exceptional at humanizing the world in the story and making me cry. (PSA: Don't try running while listening to the ending of the book, you won't be able to breathe, which is needed when being on a treadmill.
Characterization is on point and we easily love most/if not all of the characters in the story. Upon reflection, I do wish Liesel herself had a little bit more going for her besides liking books, stealing, and being against Hitler. Just a quirk or two. Everyone else seemed to be so well thought out (not that she wasn't, I just suddenly want more from Liesel).
WWI/I stories are always hard. Maybe because it's so "fresh," we know so much about it, and there is more of a human element because photographs and videos and documentation are so easy to come by. And if people are "lucky," they still have soldiers and family members who were witnesses so are still alive--though the number of living WWII vets is dwindling as the years go on. There are monuments, there are museums, there are very prevalent stories of people who were there. That being said, I become very picky about the WWI/I stories that I read because I know I will cry my eyes out and that is an emotional rollercoaster that is simply exhausting. This is one of the few books about that time period that I'd willing read over again. The characterization and the love I have for them, hits well and hard.
I saw a review for this saying that Death is ridiculous and his narration style is obnoxious. He has a very flowery use of metaphors and similes, it is true. I happen to enjoy his descriptions. They are different, but Death is different from everyone else. So I give it to him.
I very much enjoy this book, but can only read it occasionally (this time it was an audiobook and that was fantastically read!). The movie is pretty good, but they take Death out of it all together, which made me sad and turned it into "just another WWII story."
I had read Sandry's Book a long time ago and actually didn't get very far into the Circle of Magic series. So I figured I'd give the short audiobook read BY TAMORA PIERCE along with a full cast of other readers for the different characters. I figured this would be pretty awesome.
The story is about these four very different, social reject kids. A street rat, a traitor, a dejected noble, and a magnet for trouble. With the help and foresight of a Mage named Niko finds them and brings these strange children to a place of learning called the Winding Circle Temple. They find out that they have their own varied types of magic that can cause trouble as well as help, if they can learn to control it.
It is a very short story. As it is seen through the eyes of four young teens it can take a while for the story to actually progress. The plot is very, very simple and but sets it up for later books in the series. This is a heavily character driven book. Most of it was their backstories and finding out that they are mages then super basics of control.
One of the big things that is different from other fantasy series (though this is an one of the first YA fantasy books as far as I know) is the variety and cultural differences. The characters are all from different cultures and have different magics and then then them learning to help each other.
I think this would have been better if she had compiled the books into a longer one with different "parts" separating these books. But I feel the same way about her Song of the Lioness series. They are almost too short to get into deeply without binging through all four books at one time. But they are "older" books when the YA market was "young" so I guess we let it slide.
I'll be listening to the rest of the books eventually and hopefully enjoying them. I did really enjoy Tamora Pierce actually reading the narrator bits throughout the story. I didn't actually think it was her though because she sounded so young, but it really is here--probably done year ago too.
So I'll read on, and hopefully there will be more a story and deeper plot than this present one.
Emma considers herself quite the matchmaker. With not wanting to marry at all and being the second daughter to the wealthiest man in the town, she has found it a fun game to meddle in the love lives (with the best of intentions) of the people around her. She was able to get her sister and their wealthy neighbor to marry as well as her governess and an older gentlemen in their neighborhood to marry as well. Now that they are married and she's realized she's lonely, she finds a new friend in Harriet Smith, a young girl with not much known about her background. Emma has her eyes on Mr. Elton, the towns clergyman, for Harriet, not the farmer Mr. Martin. Emma enjoys influencing people and can make a mess of things, which her ever present neighbor Mr. Knightly is more than willing to let her know.
I took a Jane Austen class in college and, upon seeing the length of Emma and the fact that I didn't much care for the main character, I moved on to the next book on the list that I needed to read so then I might actually complete one of the assigned books that semester. (It didn't happen, fyi.) I watched the movie with Gwyneth Paltrow to get the basics and moved on.
Now that time restraints and pressures to read it were off, it finally got back to it and still struggled. I tried it but was daunted by the text and characters. So I decided to listen to the audio book and I DID IT!!
I knew the story of Emma from the movies and multiple variations that are out there. They all have their pros and cons, but the 2009 mini-series and the 2020 are my favorite. Clueless was pretty awesome too. Knowing the story I think helped with the actual text, but even listening was somewhat hard to digest at times. As opposed to Pride and Prejudice where there was a lot of conversation and dialog, this book seemed to get bogged down by exposition and describing what was happening instead of letting us be there. And when there was dialog between characters, the lack of discourse between characters and major monologues (such as that of Mrs. Bates, which does fit her character, obviously) would have got me stuck if reading it off the pages. This problem is one that early novels have or what makes them dramatically different from the novels of today. The writing is just such a struggle.
In the end, though, I did enjoy the book. I enjoyed the communication (or lack there of which causes a bunch of conflicts) between the characters. Specifically between Mr. Knightly and Emma. I also liked how kind and compassionate they all were towards each other. Mr. Woodhouse is wealthy, yes, and full of peculiarities, but all the characters are sensitive to his oddities and willing to help him and avert his anxieties. Between the 2020 and 2009 variations of Mr. Woodhouse, I enjoyed them both--probably my favorite character in the 2020 version.
The people in Emma were real. I think think this is an applicable statement for pretty much all of Jane Austen's stories. There is a realness about them, if not their circumstance, then their attitudes and actions. That is, what I believe, Jane's truest strength in her writings is.
Read on, Jane-ites. Read on!
In the neighborhood, children and their pets are going to have a pet parade. Andy normally goes with Simon his cat and Simon hates it. This year, Baxter (or Beast) is going to go with Andy, but Simon is kind of nosy and wants to know what Baxter and Andy are going to be dressing up as for the parade. Only Baxter won't tell and it's driving Simon nuts.
It is a cute little chapter book, good for 2nd or 3rd graders. It was engaging enough for my son not be scream and throw a tantrum about reading with pictures to not be too intimidating for young readers--I know this was a thing for me when I was little and why I didn't read many books in the younger grades unless I was forced to. It's also written in letters from and to Simon which is different and fun altogether.
I enjoyed the characters enough that (and the fact that the letters were delivered by a snail mailman, very punny--or how a crow's name was Edgar Allan Crow) that I would be interested to read (or have my son read) the rest of these books.
One thing that kind of bothers me is that some of the characters (mainly Baxter) doesn't spell things accurately, which can throw young readers off a little in a similar way Junie B. Jones does--though they are different. I found that I need to tell him what some of the words meant, like "cuz," because he didn't know what it was. Most of the characters write accurately in their letters.
Over all though, the story was cute and gave me a reason to explain things that had gone over my sons head. Like SnailMail, Edgar Allen Poe, and who Sherlock Holmes is, which got him a little more interested in what what/who those things/people were.
This story is about how a librarian named Abdel Kader Haidara who worked all throughout the 80's and 90's to gather as many ancient documents and manuscripts from around Mali and its surrounding countries and gathered many of them in Timbuktu and his own collections. He preserved and restored many of them. They were gorgeous pieces of literature, Qurans embossed in gold, mercantile documents, and so much more. Though as the political scene in Africa during the late 90's and early 00's got more and more violent with Al-Qaida becoming more prevalent, foreigners getting kidnapped and murdered, and religious/historical everything getting destroyed, Haidara and others like him worked to get the many thousands of manuscripts out of Timbuktu to safe places where these historical documents from the 15th Century .
I was really excited to learn about these librarians who worked so hard to save these documents of such historical significant that showed how Africa isn't just a bunch of desert and bush, but that they had thriving communities of intellectual and tolerance. The beginning and Haidara's story was engaging. But after a while that story telling became very dry. Names were thrown all over the place and I didn't know who they were even through the are of modern historical significance. I, personally, wasn't around for the 80's and was only a little kid in the 90's so many of the names were vaguely familiar, but I didn't know what they had done. I became very bogged down. If I had more basic information about what Al-Qaida was doing I might have been able to understand it more.
I, sadly, didn't finish it. It was an audiobook, so it made it really hard to skim through the parts to get to the other parts I was more engaged in, and then had to return it. I tried. Four or five extra chapters. But I felt like I was just more lost. The reader could have been better too.
I still want to know more about it and thankfully there is actually a TedTalk by the author Joshua Hammer talking about it and what Haidara did which I will be diving into. Here is a link to the TedTalk as well as (1 a five minute clip, (2 A BBC documentary, (3 an Extra History presentation on the Empire of Mali links for documentaries about it. It is very fascinating and learning more in a different format is probably what will be best for me.
Read on. Find out more.
Lisa Wingate wrote a book called Before We Were Yours based on real life stories of children who survived the Tennessee Children's Home Society and a woman called Georgia Tann who stole and sold children back in the 30's, 40's, and 50's as orphans. When the stories of these children came to light, though after Tann died, it caused many adoption policies and legalities to change in the United States. But the heartache happened and all of the survivors will never get those years with their biological parents and siblings back. But back in the 90's the adoption records were unsealed and many of these adoptees were able to find their own records and their biological families--if not their parents, then cousins, full and half siblings.
Lisa was bombarded by adoptees after Before We Were Yours came out and her book tours were flooded by survivors as well. They shared so many stories of hard or happy lives, abandonment issues, and the potential of finding or not finding their biological families. She was offered the idea of doing a reunion of these children--now grandparents. So a reunion was initiated and many people went and shared their stories back in 2017. Their stories permeated the area and is now being shared all over by these books.
This was a great, but sad read. I, obviously, had no idea that Georgia Tann even existed, let alone what she did to these kids and families. Getting parents, often single mothers who "made a mistake" and would be shunned from their communities and families, to sign away their babies or poor families from the rural south doing the same because they couldn't afford to take care of them. There were even stories of, because of corrupt hospital workers and politicians, babies being stolen from their families while their mothers were still recuperating in the hospital after just having given birth. My heart ached for all the people. Tann kidnapped (in one way or another) these children and sold them as if their were hats or boots and she became a very, very wealthy woman. It's disgusting. This is two such ads where she would sell the "pretty" children:
The worst part for me though--because many of the children were able to be placed in good, happy homes--was that at the end of the book when at the reunion they went to the memorial that was erected for the 19 known deaths of babies who were under Tann's care at the Tennessee Children's Home Society. But the horrendous moment for me was when it was reveled that there were actually more than 500 children/babies who died under that roof if the child wasn't "pretty" or already sick. One of the people who's story we were given very easily could have been one of those babies who died. It breaks my heart.
The compilation of all of these stories was very well put together. This is one that I think many should read and all should be aware of so then things like this doesn't happen again. Hopefully things have changed, though kidnappings and child slaves have gone more underground, but it all needs to stop.
I hope that these once children are able to find peace and the answer they are looking for. Because of Ancestry and other DNA places, many of these survivors have been able to find biological families, but there are still so many questions that have gone unanswered and as time passes, may never be fully answered.
I am very interested in hearing the story Before We Were Yours for the sheer fact that it changed so many lives.
This marker reads:
May you rest in peace.
Jill gets instructions from Aslan to help find Prince Rilian. But Jill and Eustace don't follow the instructions at times very well and are forced go about things in round about ways. They travel on owls backs, brave the cold, run from giants, and find themselves in the deep, dark hollows of the earth with the help of a new friend.
It is an interesting story about how important it is to follow the instructions we are give. Aslan gave them specific instructions that they needed to remember--though sometimes forgot--and although they didn't often go down the path Aslan originally intended for them, other ways were provided to get their objectives accomplished. Just like God does for us.
It isn't particularly my favorite book in the series, but it is a good read that expands the Narnian world with a good moral.
Anne is an orphan who is sent to live with Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert. Anne is known for her imagination, which throws the Cuthbert siblings for a loop. Always talking and getting lost in thought. Learning to live with this adventurous, airheaded, proud, red head has become they have ever had.
It is a very simple and straightforward book. Not some grand adventure but the adventure of everyday life for a very imaginative girl. Dealing with school, friends, constant misunderstandings, and bitter rivals with boys are the plot of the book.
The book is mostly about characters. Becoming friends with Diana, rivals with Gilbert, Matthew and Marilla. They are the moments she has with the people around her.
This books a light and full of character. I very much love it.
The "Anne of Green Gables" movie with Meagan Fallows is the best. They are the most accurate to the book. Meagan is a fantastic Anne who makes her endearing as well as accurate to the book. "Anne with an 'E'" is no such representation. I very much dislike that one and could only watch a few episodes before I very willingly put it down.
Edmund and Lucy are now living with their aunt, uncle, and cousin and not liking it at all. Eustace, their cousin, is an annoying know-it-all who believes science is everything and any form of imagination proves you are an idiot. So when they the three of them find themselves in Narnia on Prince Caspian X's ship, The Dawn Treader, Eustace's world is thrown to a loop. Talking mice are completely nonsensical. Caspian is on a mission to find seven lost Lords who were friends of his fathers who sailed passed the known islands and haven't been seen or heard from in many, many years. They have adventures with slavers, dragons, golden lakes, invisible people, islands covered in darkness, and a pursuit to the farthest reaches of the world.
I think it is my favorite because I've liked all these characters best. Peter and Susan are alright, but Edmund, Lucy, and Caspian have been my favorites, bring in Eustace's change of character throughout the adventure and they have a good, fun set of people to read about while the strangest things happen around them.
I also really enjoyed the adventures of the different islands in the book too. Great imagination was brought to all of these islands and the adventures found on them. I liked that it also didn't feel rushed or have this great need for a "mighty battle" at the end. It wasn't about the battles (which the movie did add) it was about the Journey and the things that you learn on your way.
I didn't like the things they did in the movie to change it. Adding green mist, finding swords, the ever present "my kingship was better than your kingship" is SO annoying. It's been present in the last two movie adaptations and I hate it. I'm okay with them being friends and not having this need to one up another when they are all kings and queens and that's okay. In the books, the children realized that they wouldn't be staying and Caspian would be the one in charge, and it was okay. Narnia isn't their world even though they ruled it for some time, but their turn has passed. In the movies, none of that is the case. I understand needing a turmoil for characters to "grow out of" or what not, but to have the same thing over and over again gets annoying. Edmund didn't feel he needed to "take Peter's place" in the book because he was a King himself. He didn't need to encroach on his brother's anything because he had his own. He was King of Narnia like Caspian is King of Narnia. That bickering is just stupid and the fact they pulled up up again made it more annoying.
The book, however, was fantastic. As I said, my favorite so far.
Winston is living in what was once England in approximately the year 1984, but then again there is no real way to tell which year precisely. Oceania (in the past known as North and South America, the southern half of Africa, southern tip of India, and Australia with the surrounding islands) is ruled by Big Brother. The government that rules everything with a hard fist. He sees everything, hears everything, and is working on even knowing your thoughts. Oceania (much like Euroasia and Eastasia, the only other countries and governments in the world) is productive in resources but it's population is destitute, there aren't enough of anything to go around. War is constant. History is what the government says it was. Winston is one of those people who help change things in all media so then the things that Big Brother doesn't want you to see, remember, or think, you won't. No amount of research into people, places, events, or things exist unless Big Brother says it's okay. And any thought of rebellion against Big Brother can lead you to "thoughtcrimes" where you will be tortured while interrogated and then confessing to anything and every thing. You don't want to get caught in your rebelliousness or you will be interrogated and will eventually confess and then normally die.
This was a very deep story. One I'm okay with only reading once. It was well written and got the horrible world where Winston lived. It was very well thought out and soooo depressing. It is not a light read in any sense of the word. Torture and heavy mental business was a lot.
It was eye opening to how a potential could happen. While it might not be as bad, the knowledge that it was so well thought out and could at one point be done or has been done is rather scary. The idea that Big Brother is watching and listening to everything is rather real with so many computers, phones, and other gadgets with cameras, GPS, and mics, let alone the social media getting out thoughts down. Big Brother is here. Government officials not having our best interests at heart and only want power for power's sake is something I know many people worry about. And I know many who feel they can't believe news media in general let alone history books given to kids today. I even remember thinking back in high school how we never got to the present in history classes. We spent so much time studying the Romans and Greeks, the Revolutionary Wars (USA and others), the WW's, and they we would pretty much stop. We never got really into the Cold War and most definitely anything after. I understand the feeling of missing out on history. It raises the question of how much Big Brother is here already.
It also reminded me very much of We by Yevgeny Zamyatin. A very similar book though that one was a little harder to read in that the narrator is an unreliable one. Though a book still interesting to compare the two books.
I think it is a good idea for everyone to read though or listen too. Not for the story itself (though it was well written and informative) but for the thoughts about it.
