Month: December 2014

A Month of Favorites: 5 Fave Fantasy Books

Published on by Rachelle
Throughout December, Estella’s Revenge, Girlxoxo, and Traveling with T will be sharing their fave bookish (and sometimes not-so-bookish) experiences from the year and they’ve invited their readers to join in on the fun! The schedule and details are posted at Estella’s Revenge.
Today is all about choosing 5 faves by a theme, and since Fantasy is my favorite genre, I decided to tell you about my 5 fave Fantasy books that I read this year.  I didn’t include any re-reads.  The links are to my reviews or Goodreads.
  1. The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg – I immediately added The Glass Magician to my wishlist when I finished reading this, even though it’s not at all necessary to continue to the next book.  I JUST NEED TO KNOW, OK?!  These characters own me now.
  2. Chimera: Books 1 – 3 by Phil Gomm – this is really a tie with The Paper Magician, but I put them in 2nd place because you have to read all three.
  3. The Stranger by Max Frei – The Stranger’s Woes is also excellent.
  4. Of Bone and Thunder by Chris Evans – I almost didn’t request this on Netgalley because I wasn’t sure if I would like it.  I’m glad I gave it a chance!
  5. Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier – I read this for my book club.  I often skip several months at a time because either I refuse to pay for the book and can’t find it at the library, or I simply can’t find it anywhere for a reasonable price.  I was lucky enough to find this one at Half Price Books.  It ripped my heart into little shreds and then somehow put it all back together again.  What more could I ask from a fairy tale retelling?

What are your favorite Fantasy books that you’ve read this year?

Review: Scrapplings

Published on by Rachelle

Scrapplings

  • Author: Amelia Smith
  • ISBN: 9781941334065
  • Publisher: Split Rock Books

I received this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Darna is a servant who can see dragons and has dreams of going to Anamat.  When she finds out something that could ruin her plans, she runs away from Tiadun keep.  She befriends other “scrapplings” along the way and they discover that to survive in Anamat, they’ll have to beg, scavenge, and steal their way into enough beads to buy an apprenticeship.  Despite this rude awakening to a rough life involving street gangs and the risk of being thrown in jail, they all agree that it’s still better than where they came from.

The problem with this story is that nothing really happens.  At first it comes off as a sort of quest narrative, but after Darna and her new friends reach Anamat, the story meanders around seemingly with no point.  It eventually goes somewhere, but I began to get irritated with its lack of progress towards any kind of a climax or resolution at about the halfway mark.  It didn’t help that I absolutely despised one of the characters, Iola.  That would have been fine if she were one of the unsavory characters, but that wasn’t why I couldn’t stand her.  She wasn’t someone I loved to hate.  She was just so ridiculously naive and clueless about everything, and on top of that, her fanatical religious beliefs caused her to betray her friends.

One of the few elements that I enjoyed about this book is that the story is set in a very sexist world that also seems to treat its children as easily cast aside.  Unlike a couple other books I’ve read this year, though, the main character is a young girl who chooses to go against societal pressures to make her own way in the world and not just accept her “fate”.  The girls in this story have backgrounds and character traits and physical descriptions.  They’re not just decoration or plot points along the way.

Overall, I didn’t really like Scrapplings.  However, I didn’t hate it either.  I think it deserves a chance if you truly love Fantasy, especially Fantasy involving dragons, or if you’re tired of reading male-centric trope filled quest narratives.  This isn’t for you if you prefer fast(er) paced books, and I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone who is new to the Fantasy genre.

2014-2015 COYER Challenge

Published on by Rachelle

Winter 2014-2015 COYER Sign Ups

 

I’m so excited to join in for Winter 2014-2015 COYER, hosted by Berls @ Fantasy is More Fun and Michelle @ Because Reading. It runs from December 20th 2014 – March 6th 2015 and you can sign up here until January 25th! Go check out the details, and if you do sign up, be sure to indicate that I sent you on the linky, where it says “Who referred you?” so I can win $5 to Amazon!

My Goals

I have no idea what I will read that far ahead. However, since I’m limited to E-Books and Audiobooks that are FREE or NEARLY FREE, I’m going to first concentrate on my Review books. I also have a ton of FREE Kindle and Nook books I’ve picked up that I’m going to try and read. Here are my goals:

  • Read and review at least 10 books.
  • Visit and comment on at least 1 review from the linky a week.
  • Participate in 3 of the read-a-thons.
  • Participate in at least 1 mini-challenge.
  • Participate in at least 1 social media activity a week in the Facebook group.

This is my first time doing COYER so these are my starting goals.  They may change, so I’ll do updates if necessary.

So, what do you say? Will you join me? Don’t forget to list me when you sign up!

What I’m Reading Monday #14

Published on by Rachelle

Currently Reading: Cold Hillside by Nancy Baker, a review book, Villette by Charlotte Brontë, what I’m reading for The Classics Club, The Hobbit and Philosophy, what I’m reading for fun, and Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott, for the read-along.

Cold  Villette1.52.qxd

Hobbit Philosophy   Ivanhoe

Total pages read for the week: 117

Total number of books for the year: 57.  Ivanhoe brought me out of my reading slump, but I wasn’t able to get much reading done due to the two Thanksgiving dinners I attended with the boyfriend’s family and also the head cold that hit me like an anvil as if I were Wile E. Coyote.  There are much worse illnesses to have, but I hate head colds the most because they make my brain slow and all I want to do is sleep, drink tea with honey, and eat soup.  I’m considerably better now, after I got back home and slept the rest of the weekend away, so I’m hoping to get a lot more reading done this week.

What are you reading?