Top Ten Tuesday (3): Authors I'm Thankful For

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created and hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

For more information and a list of past and future topics, go here.

Top Ten (or more) Authors I'm Thankful For:
(in no particular order)

1. Jane Austen
for creating amazing heroines and beautiful love stories

2. C.S. Lewis
for being inspired by God and an imagination

3. Cassandra Clare & Stephenie Meyer
for reigniting my love for reading as an adult

4. J.K. Rowling
for creating a world for all ages

5. Rick Riordan
for being the author that inspired my eldest son to read big books

    

     

6. Christopher Paolini
for being homeschooled and writing amazing books

7. L.M. Montgomery
for capturing my heart as a young girl

8. Lewis Carroll
for my love of all things Alice in Wonderland

9. Suzanne Collins
for writing hard truths for children and adults (Gregor & Katniss)

10. John Green
for writing The Fault in Our Stars

11. Dr. Seuss
for loving and teaching children through literature

     

     

Teaser Tuesday (5): Days of Blood & Starlight

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

 

This week's teaser comes from Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor, the sequel to her  incredible book Daughter of Smoke & Bone, which I loved (see my review here).

 

From Chicago to New York, London to Beijing, from the museums' wildlife dioramas, from the frozen, snarling mouths of lions and wild dogs, the jaws of Komodo dragon specimens and ball pythons and stuffed Arctic wolves, the girl, the phantom...she was stealing teeth.

(from page 40)

Goodreads Summary:

Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a world free of bloodshed and war.

This is not that world.

Art student and monster's apprentice Karou finally has the answers she has always sought. She knows who she is—and what she is. But with this knowledge comes another truth she would give anything to undo: She loved the enemy and he betrayed her, and a world suffered for it.

In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Karou must decide how far she'll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, secrets and impossible choices, Days of Blood & Starlight finds Karou and Akiva on opposing sides as an age-old war stirs back to life.

While Karou and her allies build a monstrous army in a land of dust and starlight, Akiva wages a different sort of battle: a battle for redemption. For hope.

But can any hope be salvaged from the ashes of their broken dream?

Book Review: Daughter of Smoke & Bone

Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor
September 27, 2011
Little, Brown & Company
417 pages
Source: Personal Purchase

Goodreads Summary:

Around the world, black hand prints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.  

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grows dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages—not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers—beautiful, haunted Akiva—fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

My Review:

I waited a while to read this book. I don't know why except I wasn't sure if I would like it, so I kept procrastinating. Well, it's good I finally read it. I thoroughly enjoyed this amazing world Laini Taylor created and the unique story of Karou and her discovery of who she is. Wow!

First, I'll say that I love Laini Taylor's writing style. The way she puts words and sentences and phrases together allowed me to completely envision what Karou and Akiva saw as well as feel all the emotions they were feeling. I felt like I was right there with them. And how unique and interesting Karou and Akiva are! I won't give details because that would spoil the journey of the book, that is exploring and discovering who they are. But what a journey it is. And how special are they!

Second, this book is so many things wrapped up in one: a teenage girl's discovery of who she is, her understanding of the "monsters" who raised her and the unique family she belongs to, a man dealing with the pain of his past and the consequences of decisions he made that he regrets, the exploring of a world beyond our world, the battle of prejudice and hatred, a heartbreaking love story a la Capulet and Montague, the exploration of loneliness and family and personal fulfillment, and so very much more.

The ending left me anticipating the next book and what will happen next for Karou, Akiva, Brimstone, Zuzana, and so many other characters. This is truly a magnificent journey!

5 STARS

In My Mailbox & Stacking the Shelves (5)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme created by Kristi of The Story Siren, where bloggers share the contents of their mailbox - books bought, borrowed, received - and get to know other blogs.

Stacking The Shelves, hosted by Tynga's Reviews, is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

My book scores this week have come from a variety of sources, but all much appreciated just the same. I stalk local used bookstores and my Amazon wish list, looking for deals, and this week I found a few gems. I didn't spend much money this week, which is great because I can use what I saved for more books in the future :)

From NetGalley: 

The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa (see review here) 

 

For Review: 

Embers in a Dark Frost by Kelly Keaton

Won:


Becoming a Superhero by Oliver Galang

Used Book Find:


Fire by Kristin Cashore

For My Kindle:
     

      

  

The Crush by C.A. Williams
The Fall of Billy Hitchings by Kirkus MacGowan
The Perfect Game by J. Sterling
Insanity by Lauren Hammond
Mistletoe Mischief by Stacey Joy Netzel
Lumberjack in Love by Penny Watson
The Devil's Metal by Karina Hale
Dead Perfect by P.G. Shriver

Audiobook Review: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel (Books #1-3)

     

 

The Alchemyst (Book #1) by Michael Scott

May 22, 2007

Delacorte Press

375 pages

 

The Magician (Book #2) by Michael Scott

June 24, 2008

464 pages

 

The Sorceress (Book #3) by Michael Scott

May 26, 2009

488 pages

 

Source: Audiobooks on my Kindle via Audible

Goodreads Summary for The Alchemyst:

He holds the secret that can end the world.

The truth: Nicholas Flamel was born in Paris on September 28, 1330. Nearly 700 years later, he is acknowledged as the greatest Alchemyst of his day. It is said that he discovered the secret of eternal life.

The records show that he died in 1418.

But his tomb is empty.

The legend: Nicholas Flamel lives. But only because he has been making the elixir of life for centuries. The secret of eternal life is hidden within the book he protects—the Book of Abraham the Mage. It's the most powerful book that has ever existed. In the wrong hands, it will destroy the world. That's exactly what Dr. John Dee plans to do when he steals it. Humankind won't know what's happening until it's too late. And if the prophecy is right, Sophie and Josh Newman are the only ones with the power to save the world as we know it.

Sometimes legends are true.

And Sophie and Josh Newman are about to find themselves in the middle of the greatest legend of all time.
 

My Review for Books #1-3:
Note: There are six books in this series.

My kids and I love to listen to audiobooks in the car while we travel, go on field trips, or are just filling time in the car. This is particularly helpful for reading books that are longer in nature, or a series, and I don't necessarily feel like reading out loud at home. Our most recent series has been Michael Scott's The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series. My boys and I actually attended Michael Scott's book signing this summer and have all our books signed, which was a real treat. Avoiding letting the books get ruined while they read them and pass them around is yet another reason we are listening to the audiobooks and saving the book bindings.

I'm only going to review the first half of the series in general, and avoid spoilers. First, I want to say that the person narrating the books does a nice job. Each character has their own voice, and although it is a man narrating, he still does a reasonably good job with the female voices. I think there was a slight change in voice with a couple of characters between the first and second books, but it is easy to adjust to.

Second, I'll say this is a great multi-generational series. My children are enjoying the story, especially my 12 year old. But I am enjoying it as well (I'm just a little older than 12 *wink*). The characters in the book are such a wide variety, from teenage twins Josh and Sophie, to immortal characters like Nicholas and Perenelle, to all the interwoven historical characters they encounter. I think anyone could enjoy this series.

I will say that at least these first few books take place in less than a week's period of time. So you can imagine, not only is there a lot of action taking place with the characters, there is also a lot of backstory, including the secondary and historical characters. I mean, many of these people are "immortal" so they have a lot of personal history that they draw from and bring to the plot. So be warned that it can feel like a lot to take in at times, but Mr. Scott certainly works hard to answer any questions you may have about the characters' past, present, and thoughts, as well as things you probably never thought to ask.

So overall, my sons and I are enjoying listening to this series in the car. We are not only well entertained, but we are also learning bits and pieces of history and geography along the way. Sounds like a win-win situation to me.

4 STARS

Book Signing: Laini Taylor

My eldest son and I had a great time at Laini Taylor's book signing last night. Laini is a great speaker and is super friendly. We also enjoyed hearing about her writing process and how she comes up with her ideas. It inspired not only appreciation for what she has accomplished with her books, but also motivation for personal writing. My son and I had a nice talk about it afterward.

 

I'm almost finished with Daughter of Smoke & Bone right now, and I'm loving not only Laini's writing style, but her amazing characters and unique story as well. I'm looking forward to finishing so I can start Days of Blood & Starlight. My reviews on both these books will be coming soon.

Feature & Follow (3): Movies to Books

Feature & Follow Friday is hosted by both Alison Can Read & Parakunkee’s View. This is a great way to gain blog followers for book bloggers, follow other blogs, and get to know each other. Each week a different question is posted by our hosts and we get to answer. You can find more info about this meme here.

 

Q: Books are turned into movies all the time! Turn it around. What movie would make a great book?

This is actually a hard question, because there are so many books that turn into movies. I kept trying to think of movies I've liked and then they turned out to be books first. The opposite is that there are some great movies out there, but I can't see them translating into a good book I'd want to read. But then I thought through some of my favorite go-to movies, and came up with a couple that I absolutely love watching and would probably be just as awesome to read:

  

Grosse Pointe Blank               &                  Hot Fuzz

Seriously, these movies make me laugh out loud, have great action, multi-dimentional characters, quality one-liners galore, and make me want to wear down my DVDs watching them over and over. I translate that into very good book material.