Welcome 2013

Welcome 2013! I guess I will continue this blog. Hopefully with more consistency than how I ended 2012, although I am fairly proud of myself for writing 8 out of the 12 months. That is 2/3 of the year, or over 66%. I'm pretty happy with that. (How do you like those math skills?)

I think I'll start by stating my top picks from 2012 and then create a to-read list for 2013. I did notice that I read some of what was on my to-read list from last year. That's encouraging. 

My #5 pick is a non-fiction book called Parenting Without Power Struggles. I felt the suggestions were not only applicable to the parent/child relationship to others. Very common sense and doable and I have been able to immediately practice some of the ideas and see benefits. I think it's one that I will leave by the bedside, as I'm sure a second or third read over the years will only reinforce positive ideas.

#4 is Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. Great suspenseful storyline. A little disturbing in some ways. And a surprise ending. Which if you read my earlier post, I did NOT like. But overall, an interesting read.

#3 is The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivy. Based on a Russian fairy tale, set in Alaska, lots of character development. Loved the ending.

#2 is The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. A story that has haunted me since I've read it. I won't forget this story for a long time. An autobiography (if I remember correctly) and I think a testament to the fact that anyone can rise above their life circumstances and not be stuck in a cycle of poverty. Might be reading another by this author in the upcoming year.

#1 is the series that I spent the most time on the year, The Song of Ice and Fire by G. R. R. Martin. Absolutely sucked me in. I think I spent at least 3 months, if not more, reading the five books, as well as watching the first season on dvd from Netflix. I only hope that number six comes out soon while I still remember characters and the like.

Most disappointed by the follow-up to The Discovery of Witches. The second book did not charm me nearly as much as the first one did. And One-thousand White Women was not as good as I thought it would be given the testimonials I heard from people.

Some series and authors I read in '12 that I hope to read more of in '13 are:  Jim Butcher with the Dresden series, Michael Scott and the Nicolas Flamel series, Brad Thor and Brad Meltzer were both authors I liked for quick, suspense filled thrillers.  Kate Atkinson and Jo Nesbo are two others I hope to read more of this upcoming year. 

Based on the Coffee and a Book Chick's review, I have put Wool Omnibus at the top of my list to read. Another goal of mine would be to find out how I can download audio books onto my iPod from the library. Now, will I read more than the 39 books I read this year? I'm going to guess yes, unless I stumble across another series like SOIAF that run five to eight hundred pages per book. I read 18,258 pages in 2012, which may be a more accurate tool to use as a basis for comparison.

For those of you who actually did read this - I think there are a couple of you - thanks for taking the time to do so. I hope my grammar wasn't too offensive and that you got a book idea or two from your visits. Please feel free to share and comment on what you are reading!

Happy reading in 2013!!

My how time flies

Geez, is it December already? And I haven't done much posting since school started. This is basically because I haven't been reading as much, but I have a guilty confession as to the real reason. My daughter had a bad fever the first week of school and I had her sleep in my bed, which she had never really done before. Well, she got used to it. And actually so did I. Now she doesn't sleep with me EVERY night, but probably more often than not. And it really cuts into my reading time. On the good side, I've been going to sleep a lot earlier and getting more sleep and staying healthier because of it! So to get past my questionable parenting skills and on to the real reason for my post: books!

I am currently reading The Alchemyst by Michael Scott and very much enjoying it. I will finish it before the end of the year as I'm already 63% done. I don't want to make any comments about the story as yet, but will say that I am reading this one on the Kindle app on my iPad instead of on my Kobo. One thing I like about this, is that I can read in the dark because of the backlighting. Which is nice when a little one is in bed with me. Another is the ability to turn the page with just a small movement of my finger on any part of the screen. It's really nice having multiple options for reading - my Kobo, my iPad and a real book.

The last book I finished I just loved. It's called The Snow Child. I picked it up at Target and it was just delightful. I loved the fact that it was set in Alaska. I love the fact that it is a spin off an old fairy tale - one that I was not familiar with. I loved the characters. I loved the ending. Read it, read it!!!

And while I ordinarily don't talk about movies on here, I watched a documentary that I believe every American should watch called The One Percent, made by Johnson and Johnson's son Jamie Johnson. Very eye-opening and I think until the majority of the country understands and questions how things work, the gap is just going to continue to grow. Watch it, watch it!!

Broken Harbor

I just love Tana French. I read the first three of her books right in a row after I discovered them. Then I sucked it up and read other stuff for a couple of years. And finally, her next book! I was not disappointed. I love her characters. I love the Irish brogue. I love how she chooses a main character from a previous book's supporting character. I love the twists and turns. I will admit - I figured this one out but I certainly don't hold that against her. It didn't take anything away from the story because there is so much more to it than just a whodunit. This story has depth people! You feel like you know these players and can identify with them as someone you know. That takes talent. And Tana's got it. Love her. 10 out of 10.

Shadow of Night/Gone Girl

Well I can see that I've gotten a little behind on my blog entries. I've read two books since I finished the Song of Ice and Fire series. Both were pretty good. But I must admit that I do miss the land of Westeros. No, I won't go on again about all that, but I will reiterate that it made a lasting impression.

So, I think I'll start with Shadow of Night. This was the much-awaited for sequel to A Discovery of Witches. Which I recommended to just about every single person I know who has ever picked up a book. I will admit that I wasn't very impressed with the beginning. In fact I was downright worried and kinda ready to put it down. But I hung in there, and I'm glad I did. Diana and Matthew had some adventures back in Elizabethan England/Europe. It was not nearly as good as the first. And not nearly as good as I had hoped. Having said that, I still love the characters. I won't boot them from my friends list on Facebook or anything. And I'll read the third book when it comes out for sure. But I won't be as eagerly anticipating it as I was this book. I might not buy the autographed copy from Books-A-Million when it comes out. Like I did for this book. I think I'll give it 7 stars.

The next book I read was Gone Girl. It is being read by a lot of reading bloggers, and I'm seeing it get more popular. And everyone seems to have the same type of initial impression... kind of a "holy shit" thing. I would definitely agree with that. It isn't like anything I have ever read. These characters are very.... dysfunctional? warped? Let's just say the author does a splendid job of letting you really get to know them. If I had any criticisms of her portrayal of them, it would be a small one. That she needs to do something about Nick's good looks. I think it plays a big part of the book, but she could have used that better along the way. Not sure if that makes sense, but I kind of kept forgetting that about him until the later part of the book. The other criticism I have, and this is a BIG one, is about the ending. It SUCKED!!! I absolutely hated it! And I am usually very diplomatic when it comes to opinions and looking for any sort of reason to give both sides credence. No, it really sucked. I did not like it one little bit. I don't know if Flynn intended to end it that way, or if she got so caught up in the story that she just couldn't do anything else. But for me, it just did not work at all. I can't say much more without giving the story away. So, I'll give this a 9 star rating. It definitely was suspenseful and unique. Actually just the kind of read that I was itching for.... except for... you know... the ending.

A Dance with Dragons

Finally, finally, finally, I am done with this series. I have decided I have a love/hate relationship with A Song of Ice and Fire (ASOIAF) by George R.R. Martin. I have been reading this series since May 19th. No I'm not a slow reader really, but these books are just REALLY long folks!! And I am no closer to knowing what is going to happen to the characters I fell in love with in the first book. Oh, that's not entirely true, many of them are dead. I will say one thing that constantly surprises me about it - no matter how frustrated or irritated I get with the lack of forward progress, I feel that this world has me in its grip. I think in terms of phrases like "break my fast", "making water", and "dark wings, dark words". I can honestly say that I am transported, no doubt about that. But once I'm there I feel like I'm on the slow train through town.

There are several story lines that I am very intrigued by and am so curious to see how he's going to wrap up:  Arya and her Many Faces of God, the Dondarrion gang, Bran and the heart tree, and that complete bastard Ramsey - ooohhh I HATE him!! Someone needs to stick a quarrel or two up his arse! I have no idea what to think about Jon Snow.... and Cersei. Not what I wanted to see happen at all with those two.

So, from what I understand since I'm rather late to this party is that this Martin dude takes a long time to write his sequels. I do hope his next one comes out this year. But if not that's ok too. I might actually enjoy a bit of a breather to read some other books.


I'm not sure how I would rate this book. Probably a 7.5 or 8 on a scale of 10. Pretty slow like I said, but  he sure got me hooked. Right now all I can say is "ahhhhh" I have earned a breather!

A Feast for Crows

A part of me is seriously starting to feel like I live in Westeros and that I personally know Arya, Sansa, Tyrion, Jaime, Cersei and the rest of the crew. A Feast for Crows is the fourth very long book in the series by George R. R. Martin. I still like Book #1 the best. I still like Book #2 the least. I thought 3 was  a tad better than 4 because I got to read about ALL the characters and I felt like shit got done. This one drug things out a bit. It almost seemed like a whole new back story was beginning as he starts the book with a bunch of new characters that you don't hear about again until the very end.

So what happened here George? Did you change your mind on how this story was supposed to go and it just took on a life of its own or what? I swear every time I start to feel like the apex is approaching, I turn the corner and see another bigger mountain to climb. And I will admit that I was quite p.o.'d when Tyrion did not even make an appearance. George explained why at the end, but I spent a lot of time while reading building up some serious resentment.

I'm getting a little irritated by this series just for the fact that it's taking a long time to tell a very good story. And I really don't think it needed to be quite as wordy as he does it, but hey, he's the novelist not me. I will start book #5 next. I will finish it. I will probably like the twists and turns which he does a nice job of doling out. But I'm pretty sure that I'm going to be left feeling a little aggravated when the last book does not finish the story. I've already heard that there is going to probably be another book or two.

Good grief!

Bottom line: I wouldn't start this series unless you are a serious reader. They are good. They are addicting. They are long. I hope the HBO series continues for several more seasons as I am very much enjoying watching it!

Storm of Swords

Well, George sucked me back in with his third book A Storm of Swords. It was much better paced than book #2 and had a lot of plot thickenings going on. It also had some big surprises in the last fourth of the book. I started A Feast for Crows a few days ago and hadn't gotten a chance to write my post until now, so of course all the things I was thinking about the book have slipped my mind!

As anyone reading my blog has certainly noticed by now, my thoughts and comments regarding the books I read are in no way meant to be any sort of professional review. I have discovered a plethora of websites that do a very good job of that and I know my limitations! One thing I have learned from reading all those reviews is that of the *spoiler alert*... so there are several things I would love to mention about this book, but won't because if you do decide to read it you will definitely not expect them!

The only other comment I can remember, now that I am halfway through, is I'm seriously wondering how in the world the author is going to wrap this series up.... I mean it really seems like a medieval/fantasy soap opera in some ways (a little foreshadowing there for you Stefano fans) and I have a sneaky suspicion that the ending won't be very satisfying.

So there you have it. I give this book an 8 out of 10. Very long, but he keeps you wanting to read more!

One more little thing that I really dig about how he organizes his books - he titles each chapter (at least in the first 3 books) with the name of a character. This really helped me follow all the different plot strands he created. When I would see the next chapter start with a favorite characters name, I knew I wouldn't be putting it down right away.