Graceling

Graceling

By Kristin Cashore

In a world where people born with an extreme skill - called a Grace - are feared and exploited, Katsa carries the burden of the skill even she despises: the Grace of killing. She lives under the command of her uncle Randa, King of the Middluns, and is expected to execute his dirty work, punishing and torturing anyone who displeases him.

When she first meets Prince Po, who is Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change.

She never expects to become Po's friend.

She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace - or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away...a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.

So I have been meaning to read this book for a long time. It's been recommended to me several times and I've actually gotten it from the library three times. I just never have managed to get around to reading it before this fourth time.

I felt like this definitely had a first book in a series type feel. What I mean is that there a lot of aspects of this world that are unexplored. I hope that as the series goes on, some of the ideas or questions I thought of will be addressed.

I felt like the romance was a little weak, but it wasn't really the focus of the story. Katsa says from the beginning that she never wants to marry and she never wants children, and, because of her Grace there is really no one who could ever force her too. I didn't really agree with some of her reasoning, but I had to respect that she stood by what she said, even when (THIS IS NOT REALLY A SPOILER) she realizes that she has come to really care for Po. Sadly, I could not get over my mental picture of a sexy panda bear every time his name came up.
In this world, which as far as I can tell is called The Seven Kingdoms (why is it always the seven kingdoms?), the Graced are very easily spotted, they all have heterochromia. Gracelings have two different colored eyes. Sometimes their eye color doesn't settle into different colors until weeks, months, or even years after birth.

Once the Graced are identified they belong to the king and are sent to his court to be raised. If the child's Grace is useful, they remain there in the king's service. In the event that the child has a useless Grace, it is sent home with apologies, because it will be difficult for the family. There is a great deal of fear and superstition attached to Gracelings and they tend to be avoided.

Honestly, I don't know how this country keeps going without simply collapsing. Almost all of the Kings, which are really more like Warlords, are horrible rulers. They are corrupt and are constantly squabbling. I may need to read through it a few more times to get how it works, but most of the rulers of each kingdom are distantly related to each other.

Overall, I thought this was a very interesting concept and world. I thought that the storyline was weak in some spots and I predicted who the villain was, almost as soon as he was mentioned for the first time. It's attempt to be surprising backfired a little. I hope that the later books will improve though.

This definitely young adult, which shouldn't mean that I don't expect as much from it, but sadly does. I think I may just be a little to old to enjoy it as much as if I were, oh, about 14-15.

I'm trying to think of any other books I've read that really use heterochromia, but all I can think of are mangas, which have an overabundance of strange hair and eye colors. Maybe some of my readers *hint,hint* will be able to think of some titles.

Mummies, Parasols, and Cucumber Sandwiches

Crocodile On The Sandbank

By Elizabeth Peters

This is the first book in a favorite series of mine. You can't read all the books at once and the earlier books are my favorite, but the whole series is worth a read. My favorite way to read this series is actually to listen to the audio book narrated by Barbara Rosenblat.

Set in 1884, the indomitable Amelia Peabody has been left a significant sum of money by her deceased scholarly father. While she enjoys the sudden attention and popularity she never enjoyed in her youth, she finds that it quickly bores her and she has no interest in marrying any of the men who have called on her. So, armed with her faithful parasol, she decides to travel and to see the wonders of the ancient world that her father wrote about.

First stop is Rome, where Amelia rescues young Evelyn Forbes. Seduced and abandoned in a foreign country by a villainous Italian, Amelia immediately takes pity on the girl and endeavors to help her however she can.

Together they set out for Egypt with Evelyn as Amelia's new companion. They begin to sail the Nile with the intention of stopping at various archeological sites, however when they reach Amarna circumstances arise which make it difficult for them to leave.

Radcliff Emerson, a loud, irascible man, who Amelia has clashed with once before, is deathly ill and his amiable brother, Walter, is struggling to keep their archeology site from being destroyed and keeping his brother from working himself to death. Amelia immediately realizes that her helping hand is needed, whether they want it or not. 

All is not going well though, many strange things are happening, including the appearance of a murderous mummy who's target seems to be the lovely Evelyn.

The name of the book comes from an Egyptian love poem which is reproduced in the front of the book:

The love of my beloved is on yonder side
A width of water is between us
And a crocodile waiteth on the sandbank.

Lots of this book, and the series as a whole, is very tongue in cheek and parodies the novels of the times as well as making fun of the stereotypes of the day.

Amelia is well-meaning, but entirely heavy-handed with her kindnesses. A trait that gets her into trouble many times throughout the series. She always carries a parasol with a strong steel tip so that she may jab people with it, if she has the need.

I love this series so much that I'm actually having a hard time not saying too much and limiting myself to what pertains to the first book.

The book is written in a journal form which she has partially rewritten for publication by her heirs. After all, as she comments to her readers, she is sensitive to the fact that certain events may prove embarrassing for certain individuals were they published at the present time.

She often claims (after the fact) to have had 'dire premonitions', a notion that Emerson heartily scoffs at.

There is a romance but this is also mostly a mystery.

It's not necessary to begin with the first in the series to enjoy it. I began with the second book, "The Curse of the Pharaohs", which introduced two of my favorite reoccuring characters: Cyrus Vandergelt, and Kevin O'Connell.

My cats, Bastet and Horus, are named after some of the cats which appear in this series. What literary characters have you named pets/children/videogame characters/etc. after?

Cursing Cats

Apologies for the late blog post. I assumed incorrectly that I would have time to keep up with this because we weren't having many people over. Man, some people are a pain, you know who you are. Just kidding, Thanksgiving was lots of fun and I am now very sleep deprived.

The Curse Workers:

White Cat

By Holly Black

Cassel comes from a family of Curse Workers - people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they're all criminals. Many become mobsters and con artists. But not Cassel. He hasn't got magic, so he's an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail - he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.

Cassel has carefully built up a facade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his facade starts to crumble when he finds himself sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. He's noticing other disturbing things too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him. As Cassel begins to suspect he's part of a huge con game, he must unravel his past and his memories. To find out the truth, Cassel will have to out-con the conmen

I have to admit that I predicted several things that happened later in the book, but that didn't keep it from being an interesting read and there were a couple of key points that took me by surprise.

At first glance the world of White Cat doesn't seem very different from ours, but as the book went on there were all these little details that gave it a different twist. It's our world if there just happened to be magic.

One detail that I really liked was that everyone wears gloves. Because Curse Workers can do so much with their bare hands and there's no way to tell who is one just by looking, it's considered as essential to being dressed appropriately as wearing pants.

The idea of Curse Workers reminded me in some ways of the Contractors in the anime Darker Than Black. They have these incredibly powerful abilities, but they pay for it every time they work a curse in ways that they can't control. This provides a very reasonable way to keep Curse Workers in check as the more powerful the Curse the more painful the payment.

I doubt I will read the second book in the series because I had a hard time liking one of the main characters and was completely neutral about the other. I think the two things I liked the most was the mystery about what had really happened in the past (I was only half-right) and the world itself. The world fascinated me more than the characters which is not very conducive to reading more in the series.

One of the things I didn't like about this book was that all the characters in this book had a rather skewed moral compass. There were spots were I had difficulty seeing how the actions of the protagonist were any more morally correct than the villians. It was more like they were all just rivals in the mob.

Overall, I liked the book enough to finish reading it, but that's about all. I've found that I tend to only like about a third of Holly Black's books, but they always sound interesting and make me want to try them.

Picture This

  Registration is the worst time in a students life. It's worse than finals. On a happier note, I got all classes that I needed and am taking 14 credits next quarter.

  Today, I'm revisiting some childhood memories.

The Story of Ferdinand

By Munro Leaf

Illustrated by Robert Lawson

   Once upon a time in the Spanish countryside there was a gentle bull named Ferdinand. While all the other bulls fought and butted heads and all tried to be the biggest, fastest, roughest bull, Ferdinand was content to sit under the cork tree and smell the flowers. At first his Mother was concerned about him sitting all alone under the cork tree, but she soon saw that he was happy and she let him be, sitting and smelling the flowers. So he sat and smelled, and he grew bigger and bigger.

   One day three strange men came to the field looking for the biggest, meanest, fastest bull and all of the bulls tried their hardest to prove that they were the best, but not Ferdinand. He just shook his head and made his way to his cork tree. But this time he doesn't look where he's sitting down and he sits right on top of a bee.

   YEOW, it hurt so much that he immediately jumped up, kicking and howling, snorting and stomping his feet. The three men all stared in amazement and said, "This is the biggest, strongest, fastest bull we've ever seen!", and they took Ferdinand to Madrid to fight with bullfighters.

   This was one of my absolute favorite books and even now, when we got it for my five-year old sister, I really enjoyed reading it aloud to her and found it very entertaining.

  It's such a simple story but in many ways it's very timeless.



Blueberries For Sal

By Robert McCloskey



   K'plink, k'plank, k'plunk. Sal and her Mother have come to Blueberry Hill to pick blueberries so that they may can them for Winter. Sal's mother tells her not to eat all the blueberries because they need them. Three berries go into Sal's bucket and one into her mouth.

   At the same time Mama bear and her cub come to Blueberry Hill to eat blueberries for the Winter. Both parents and children get separated and begin following the wrong parent.

   This is another picture book that I remember quite vividly from my childhood. I remember the sound effects of the berries hitting the bottom of the pail being highly entertaining. Rereading it as an adult this is less amusing to hear copied over and over again by small children. It's a wonder my Mother didn't throw me out of the house more often.

   That being said, it's still a very cute story about a girl who is helping her mother and wanders off. Something that all children that age do. The illustrations are great. A good part of my enjoyment of this book came from the pictures. There were so many little details that were going on.

   Now I have a challenge for you readers: While I was writing this post I was trying to remember the name of a book I loved as a kid.

  It was about a king who refused to get out of the bath and as the story went on more and more people squeezed into the bathtub. I remember it being hilarious and the pictures were beautiful, but I can't remember the name.

  Hopefully my description rings a bell for someone and they can tell me the name of it.

Zombie (Un)Life

If you have any book recommendations or books you'd like me to review, I would be happy to hear them. I'm always looking for new books and I am trying to branch out on what genres I'm reviewing. So far it's been mostly fantasy, since that's what I read lot of the time.

You may notice that I've been giving the summary straight off the back of the book rather then writing my own. That's because sometimes it does a good job and it's kind of a pain writing my own. If I feel that the summary doesn't cut it, I will write my own.

My Life As A White Trash Zombie

By Diana Rowland



Um, this is certainly a different variation of a genre I've been reviewing. This is a romance zombie book.

'Living with her alcoholic deadbeat dad in the swamps of southern Louisiana, she's a high school dropout with a pill habit and a criminal record who's been fired from more crap jobs than she can count. Now on probation for a felony, it seems that Angel will never pull herself out of the downward spiral her life has taken.

That is, until the day she wakes up in the ER after overdosing on painkillers. Angel remembers being in an horrible car crash, but she doesn't have a mark on her. To add to the weirdness, she receives an anonymous letter telling her there's a job waiting for her at the parish morgue—and that it's an offer she doesn't dare refuse.

Before she knows it she's dealing with a huge crush on a certain hunky deputy and a brand new addiction: an overpowering craving for brains. Plus, her morgue is filling up with the victims of a serial killer who decapitates his prey—just when she's hungriest!

Angel's going to have to grow up fast if she wants to keep this job and stay in one piece. Because if she doesn't, she's dead meat. Literally.'

Before I get started talking about the actual book, I really like this book cover. I'm not sure why but I really like it and it's part of the reason I decided to read this book.

Wow, where to begin with this book. I suppose I should start with, I actually did enjoy this book a lot. This isn't the first zombie book I've read, but it is the first that: Is from the Zombie's point of view, Is a Zombie Romance, and Is about Zombie survival.

Angel is an interesting character because I wasn't really expecting to like her at all. She doesn't have a lot going for her and she has done lots of things I would never do.

At the beginning of the book she's a druggie (becoming a Zombie cures this and she never has to deal with kicking the habit) and she's on parole for having a stolen vehicle (her boyfriend knew this guy who she could buy a cheap car from).

She's been fired or quit every job she's ever had, so when she gets this job, driving a van for the morgue and picking up bodies, everyone in her life assumes that this is going to be just like every other time.

No one in her life seems to actually care about her well being very much. There's her dad, who's a drunk and semi-abusive, and there's her boyfriend, who is kind of a jerk in negligent way.

This is a romance (not as much as I was expecting) but a lot of this book is Angel turning her life around and realizing that she's not a loser just because everyone says so, she's a loser because she acts like a loser.

One review I read about this book made a connection between the Zombies in this book and the recent trend of Vampire books. I see where that connection can be made, but I felt like the book was enjoyable enough to read, that I never stopped and started mocking it, like I've done with several of the new Vamp books I've tried.  It was free of tacky Zombie puns in a way that Vampires seem unable to shake.

The Zombies in this world are not the shamblers you see in the movies, in fact, in this world they are self-aware and eating brains keeps them alive. Now, unlike with Vamps nowadays, there is no cheating this. It has to be human brains, no substituting for animal brains. It doesn't work like that.

Angel spends the first half of the book not knowing she's a Zombie, she reluctantly follows the instructions left her via mysterious note that neatly blackmails her with her deepest fear. As the book goes on and she figures out that the instructions she's following are saving her unlife and trying to teach her how to survive without overwhelming her all at once.

Now this is an adult book and adult things are mentioned, but nothing is ever explicitly described. I don't actually remember how much cussing there was. I tend to filter those things out and not even notice.

This was only a little over 300 pages so this was a fairly short read. I think I finished it in two sittings.

Oh yeah, and there's a serial killer going around and decapitating people. That always makes things interesting.

Dragons Be Here

First off, I want to say sorry for the long absence. I got caught up in a lot of homework and then it was just really hard to get started again. But I'm back now and hopefully I'll be able to keep this up for a while yet.

Seraphina

By Rachel Hartman



'Four decades of peace have done little to ease the mistrust between humans and dragons in the kingdom of Goredd. Folding themselves into human shape, dragons attend court as ambassadors, and lend their rational, mathematical minds to universities as scholars and teachers. As the treaty's anniversary draws near, however, tensions are high.'

Seraphina is one of the best dragon books I've read in a long time and I felt like I really couldn't sum it up anymore concisely then the summary on the back of the book.

 It begins with both a birth and a funeral. Prince Rufus has been found murdered in a suspiciously draconian method and this does not bode well for continued peace.

Seraphina is a very gifted musician who is the assistant to the court composer and whose father is intimately involved with making sure the treaty is kept. She gains much attention for the haunting solo she plays at this funeral and soon she is teaching Princess Glisselda harpsichord.

Of course soon she has learned things she'd rather not and Seraphina's deepest secret is threatening to be revealed.

One of the things I love most about this book is the dragons themselves. While they may look human it is very plain to anyone who meets them that they are not. They move awkwardly and stiffly, their blood is silver, and they don't understand emotions well at all. The newer the dragon the more obvious their wrongness.

Political intrigue and mystery are also elements that I really enjoy in this book. There are players on both sides that don't want the treaty to work. On the human side, we have The Sons of St. Ogdo, who believe that Dragons are all monsters that should be wiped out and not allowed to integrate their evil into society. While on the dragon side, we have old Dragon Generals who feel that they gain very little with this peace and lose much, most notably their hoards.

It is very unclear throughout the book, until the end that is, just who it is that benefits from the death of Prince Rufus.

Someone did complain that some of the names in this book were too similar and that made it confusing, but I didn't find it to be that much of a distraction.

There is some romance, but I thought that it felt more like a subplot rather then a major component of the plotline.

Overall I found this to be a very sophisticated young adult book. It's 467 pages so it's longer then some of the books I've reviewed but I don't think it's a laborious length at all.

First Guest Post

You know how I mentioned a few posts ago that there would be a guest post? And then not only was there not a guest post but a whole week elapsed without a new post of any kind?

Well, sorry about that and here is our first guest post written by Rebekah McKenzie!

Lit! A Christian Guide to Reading Books

By Tony Reinke

I reordered this book, something I never do, and spent the next couple weeks wondering if I had blown $11. The reviews were great but then they always are.

What had caught my eye was the questions the book promised to cover: Do you need help finding time to read? How do I prioritize what books to read? Is reading non christian literature a waste of time? 

The book, a mere 200 pages, opened with a funny story and a promise of short chapters and a helpful overview and I was optimistic, I started to read and was impressed. 

Tony Reinke has written this short book of advice in two main sections 1) A theology of reading books and 2) A collection of practical suggestions for reading books. 

His insightful advice is practical and will challenge even the best readers to select, read, think about and share the written word more proficiently.

This book is a great tool you should use in your endeavor to become a mature Christian who knows, loves and reflects The Word.

"Christians can read a broad array of books for our personal benefit, but only if we read with discernment. And we will only read with discernment if the biblical convictions are firmly settled in our minds and hearts. Once they are, we have a touchstone to determine what is pure gold and what is worthless."