Clash of Kings

The Game of Thrones sucked me in but good, and I had to continue on with the second book RIGHT AWAY. But I will admit that I was a bit disappointed. First of all, I am not a huge medieval knights fantasy genre reader. I liked GoT so much because of the characters and intriguing plot. So, this book was a struggle for me because so much of it was about the war and who was rightfully heir to the throne and which lord was aligned with which house. Blech!!! I will admit I finally just skimmed over that stuff. And the characters I have come to love didn't do a whole lot in this book. Dany, Jon Snow, Arya, Bran - some critical issues but they took a LONG time coming. Tyrion on the other hand was featured a lot and he is also one of my favorite guys in the story. All in all, I'm tempted to put book 3 on hold, but I'm afraid if I do then I'll never finish the series. Another compelling reason to continue is that I started watching the HBO series via Netflix videos. I now can pronounce the names in my head (I was pretty spot on with how I was saying them unlike Hermione's name when I read Harry Potter) and have a face to go with some of these people. I think they did a very good job of casting for that show. I'm almost more excited about watching the next video than I am about reading the next book! However, I will plug away and hope that number three sucks me back in. If not, there may not be a 4 and 5 for me.

Game of Thrones

Well folks, I have found my first book of 2012 that I know will make it to the top ten list of the year. Possibly the top 5. The Game of Thrones is good. No. Great. Wow. I was so surprised by how much I loved it. This genre isn't always easy for me to read. There are a lot, and I do mean A LOT, of names to remember and they are spelled funny and I would never dare to read it aloud for fear that I cannot pronounce most of them. The story is medieval in part, magical in part, a lot of political intrigue, and has many twists and turns in the plot. There are five books in the series and I want to devour them all, but they are rather long. This one was 766 pages and very difficult to put down.  It was certainly a book where I could not predict what was going to happen. Some of my favorite characters did not make it unfortunately.

Lately I have been trying to read the first in a series and then trying another author. I don't think I'll be able to do that with this writer just yet. I have invested some time and emotion in these characters and I owe it to them to follow their story wherever it may lead. Probably to death by the sounds of how the first book left off!

The first HBO series dvd is next on my Netflix queue. I'm anxious to watch it if for no other reason than to find out how to say some of those darn names!

Delectable

They say things happen for a reason. Everything in their own time. You get what you need at the time in your life when you need it. The School of Essential Ingredients was like that for me. It was a story I needed to read just at that point in time in my life. In fact, I probably could have read it, and reread it, at many points in my life. After reading it I felt like I had more patience. A greater ability to take my time with people. A desire to just slow down and enjoy life. Ah. Comfort food for the soul.

The book is set around a cooking class that brings together a montage of characters. Each with their own story. A Past. A History. And each with their own future. It was an easy read. But not one that I wanted to read quickly. I liked to read about only one or two people at a time and let their stories fully digest.

This book is another that I think would make a great book club selection. It is definitely more of a "chick book". But I will admit that it didn't inspire me to do much in the kitchen. I'm sure others might disagree with me on that point! Overall I would give it a 7.5 to 8 out of 10. The only reason I wouldn't rate it higher is because a part of me thinks she should have gone farther with it. Told more about some of the characters. Then again sometimes the best meals aren't the ones that over serve, but the ones that only give us our daily food allowance. Just what our bodies need for sustenance instead of gluttony. Like I said -  delectable.

The Inner Circle

The Inner Circle is a pretty good mystery story. The excerpt from Goodreads:  There are stories no one knows. Hidden stories. I love those stories. And since I work in the National Archives, I find those stories for a living.

Beecher White, a young archivist, spends his days working with the most important documents of the U.S. government. He has always been the keeper of other people's stories, never a part of the story himself...

Until now.

When Clementine Kaye, Beecher's first childhood crush, shows up at the National Archives asking for his help tracking down her long-lost father, Beecher tries to impress her by showing her the secret vault where the President of the United States privately reviews classified documents. After they accidentally happen upon a priceless artifact - a 200 hundred-year-old dictionary that once belonged to George Washington, hidden underneath a desk chair, Beecher and Clementine find themselves suddenly entangled in a web of deception, conspiracy, and murder.

Soon a man is dead, and Beecher is on the run as he races to learn the truth behind this mysterious national treasure. His search will lead him to discover a coded and ingenious puzzle that conceals a disturbing secret from the founding of our nation. It is a secret, Beecher soon discovers, that some believe is worth killing for.

Gripping, fast-paced, and filled with the fascinating historical detail for which he is famous, THE INNER CIRCLE is a thrilling novel that once again proves Brad Meltzer as a brilliant author writing at the height of his craft

I best liked the information about the National Archives. I've been to Washington D.C. on two school trips and that was one building we did not tour. I found the description of what they do very interesting. The actual story was pretty good too. Suspenseful. My biggest problem, was that my e-reader kept saying that it was 900-some pages long and so I was confused when I finished the book early. The e-book had another book included as a bonus afterwords, so it was a bit of a letdown for me as I kept expecting more plot to unravel. The way he left the ending, it wouldn't surprise me if there were a sequel. All in all, I am going to investigate the author some more as I believe he has a show on the Discovery or History channel, and he seems pretty knowledgeable. I give this a 7 out of 10.

Stunning

The Glass Castle is simply stunning. I have had this on my to-read list for quite some time. You just never know how good a book is going to be until you read it I guess. And I just absolutely LOVED it! The main reason I think I loved it so much was that it was a true story. You just can't make up some of this stuff. Geez - what this girl went through. Simply unbelievable and I can't imagine what it was like for her. The other part that made me REALLY love it, was that she prevailed. She didn't fall victim to her life circumstances. She still made it, despite all the odds that were against her. I especially liked the part when they were discussing homelessness in her college class and she stated that perhaps homeless people didn't need to be homeless if they would just make different choices. I agreed with her point, and I also completely understood why she didn't pursue the line of argument with her annoyed instructor. But a little part of me wished she would have had the courage to admit that she was speaking from a personal perspective. I think many people are curious how homeless people find themselves living on the street and   maybe some even feel a tad bit guilty that they aren't helping more. Maybe all the help in the world wouldn't be enough to set some people on the "right track". Because then you would have to define right track, and obviously for the Walls' parents, they were okay with their choices. Kudos to J. Walls for finding the courage to tell her story. I hope that college professor of hers has read it!

I give this a 10 out 10 stars. Definitely a book that would meet all book club criteria - lots of things to discuss. An interesting side note, is that while looking at it on Goodreads I noticed that it contained a wide variety of reviews from readers. (see reviews) Some people absolutely loved it, and for others they didn't even want to finish it. I'm curious how one novel can elicit such varied responses from people - a similar group of people in a way as they are all "avid readers". My theory is that it is an emotional, gut response. An empathic tuner. It seems that the people who enjoyed it, were more empathic to her situation than others. But hey, I'm not a psychologist or anything. Who knows. Just more proof that this would most likely be a very easy book to discuss - or argue depending on the crowd - with others.