The Hob's Bargain

by Patricia Briggs

"Her gift of sight has shown her visions of mayhem and murder. So, to save her village from ruthless raiders, Aren of Fallbrook strikes a bargain with the magical Hob, who will exact a heavy price to defend the village—a price Aren herself must pay." (-from the publisher)

I really like the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs and not finding myself interested in any of the books I have at home- I decided to try some of her other books. This book is a fantasy novel- not paranormal like the Mercy Thompson series. And I was really into it! All day while I was at work, I just wanted to finish the book. Reading it on my lunch break wasn't enough time!

When the reader meets Aren, we find her a 30-year old woman who had resigned herself to spinsterhood- but had just been married the day before to a man younger than her. So, Aren is enjoying her first day of marriage and as she goes to prepare the noon-day meal for her husband, she hears horses and men outside her house and it is not her husband. Raiders have come- so Aren takes shelter in their pantry below the house, making sure to cover the floor door with a rug as she closes it. Fearing for her life, Aren stays hidden- and her proximity to the bare earth sends her visions- of the death of her husband, father, brother-in-law, mother, sister and unborn niece. Aren is bombarded with images of their deaths, of possibly of her own if she is not careful. After the raiders leave, Aren tries to go to town to warn the villagers and meets up with a party of townsmen who had seen a bloodstained, riderless horse run into town. Aren shares with the townsmen her visions, and as they ride into town an earthquake rocks the valley. Unknown to the villagers at first, the earthquake has closed off most of the passages out of the valley and flooded a neighboring town. But the magic that once was held dormant by bloodmages, has now been re-awakened. And for Aren, who has long surpressed her magical abilities, the future of her village and humanity may lay in her hands.

I really enjoyed this book. I have always liked fantasy novels, and when I was younger it was pretty much all I read. But it has been a bit since I have read an adult fantasy novel- and everything about this book hit the right notes with me! I cannot wait for my other book requests by Patricia Briggs to come in.

Smile

by Raina Telgemeier

"Raina just wants to be a normal sixth grader. But one night after Girl Scouts she trips and falls, severely injuring her two front teeth, and what follows is a long and frustrating journey with on-again, off-again braces, surgery, embarrassing headgear, and even a retainer with fake teeth attached. And on top of all that, there's still more to deal with: a major earthquake, boy confusion, and friends who turn out to be not so friendly.

This coming-of-age true story is sure to resonate with anyone who has ever been in middle school, and especially those who have ever had a bit of their own dental drama." (-from the publisher)

I just finished this very cute, very honest graphic novel about a girl growing up in her teens, entering high school, leaving old friends behind and making new ones. I loved the graphics- they were very fresh and wholesome. And Raina's character was cute. The whole process of Raina's visits to the dentist is easy to relate too- even if most people's situation isn't as severe as knocking out your permanent two front teeth. There were a couple of key moments in the book that I really liked- I loved it when Raina's mom yelled at one of the dentists for not asking her about a course of treatment first and Raina's response of awe and pride in her mother; when Raina stood up to her old friends about their treatment of her; and when Raina made her new friends. Pretty typical rites of passage for any kid growing up- and that's why they were so great. The author didn't shy away from showing the hurt and humiliation that can go along with 'friendly' teasing or the natural progression of becoming distant with childhood friends in new environments. Definitely a good book to have for any middle school or juvenile fiction collection!

Surprise Package for Me?!

Yesterday I got home from a long day at work and the drive home was bad because it was so foggy that I could barely see the road 2-car-lengths ahead of me! And surprise! There was a package for me from Random House! I didn't know what it was- I hadn't entered any drawings lately, so when I opened it up, I was pretty pumped to see that it was a ARC of The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson. Cool, huh?

(My book doesn't actually look like this. It has a red paper cover with the title on it, and underneath that is a color photocopy of the HC cover. And it came with a little note, too!)

I have a craving

to re-read Rampant by Diana Peterfreund. So, I requested it from my library again.

And then, I was looking at the author's website yesterday and I saw that a second book featuring Astrid will be coming out in Sept. 2010!

This is what it says on the author's blog/website about Ascendant:

"Astrid Llewelyn is now a fully-trained unicorn hunter, but she’s learning she can’t solve all her problems with just a bow and arrow. Her boyfriend Giovanni has decided to leave Rome, the Cloisters is in dire financial straits, her best friend’s powers seem to be mysteriously disintegrating, and Astrid fears that school, home, and her hopes of becoming a scientist are nothing but impossible dreams.

So when she’s given the opportunity to leave the Cloisters and put her skills to use as part of a scientific quest to discover The Remedy, Astrid leaps at the chance. Finally, she can have exactly what she wants…or can she? At the Gordian Pharmaceuticals headquarters deep in the French countryside, Astrid begins to question everything she thought she believed: her love for Giovanni, her loyalty to the Cloisters, and - most of all - her duty as a hunter. Should Astrid be saving the world from killer unicorns, or saving the unicorns from the world?"

Coming in September 2010 from HarperTeen.

I'm pretty pumped about this. I didn't even know the author planned on writing a 2nd book- I had hoped for it, but didn't think it was going to happen. Moral of the story here: check authors' websites frequently, especially when you enjoy a book/series of theirs!

TBR pile

I have a number of books at home that I'm pretty excited about reading. This is my TBR pile:

Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

Numbers by Rachel Ward

Heist Society by Ally Carter

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Recently Watched...

Last week, I got sucked into Season 1 of Sons of Anarchy. I got this season because I was curious about the show, but after the first episode I was hooked. Sometimes the show made me laugh out loud, other times I cringed, and once I cried really good. I cannot wait until Season 2 comes out on DVD. I know a couple of episodes are available on the FX website, but unless I can find the first half of the season online, I'll be waiting for the DVD set.

If you don't mind some violence and like motorcycles, you'll probably like this show. I know I did, and the cast is amazing!

Russian literature

The other day I got the urge to re-read some Russian literature, so I checked out The Complete Works of Isaac Babel and Dead Souls by Nikolai Vasilevich Gogol. I actually haven't read Dead Souls by Gogol- I'm more familiar with his short stories, but I am fascinated by his work so I am really looking forward to the book.

I really like reading foreign literature and am always open to suggestions. I've read some Scandinavian pieces, so feel free to recommend other titles- Russian, Scandinavian, or anything else.

Gone

by Lisa McMann

I just finished Gone the other day and I thought it was a decent way to end the series. I still think the first book is my favorite in the trilogy, but this volume was a nice way to end things.

"Things should be great for Janie—she has graduated from high school and is spending her summer with Cabel, the guy she’s totally in love with. But deep down she’s panicking about how she’s going to survive her future when getting sucked into other people’s dreams is really starting to take its toll. Things get even more complicated when she meets her father for the very first time—and he’s in a coma. As Janie uncovers his secret past, she begins to realize that the choice thought she had has more dire consequences than she ever imagined." -(from the publisher)

I had heard that this book was mainly about Janie -and that Cabel was not going to be a large part of it- which I was worried about because I really liked their relationship. But after reading the book, I was satisfied with the amount of time spent on Janie and Cabel's relationship in the book. I liked the development of Janie's father being identified and how she learned that being a dreamcatcher may be hereditary. I don't know if I was entirely convinced by the two choices a dreamcatcher has to face- either use the gift and grow old blind and crippled or reject the gift by isolating yourself and end up like Janie's dad. But I did like how Janie finally did something about her mother- she started to accept that she had no choice about her parents, but learned that the people she surrounded herself with were just as supporting and loving as any family.

Overall, I liked the book and thought it was a good ending to the story. I would have liked it better if the writing hadn't felt as choppy to me- the breaks in time in the story distracted me and felt disjointed- it made it seem like I was reading a diary (which now that I think about it, I may have been because Janie kept those journals). But, I'm not a big fan of the diary format, so to me it felt choppy and jumbled. If you've read the other two books, I would recommend reading this book and finishing the series. If you haven't read any of the Wake trilogy yet, I would recommend reading the first book and only the first book.

Captivate

by Carrie Jones



"Zara and her friends knew they hadn't solved the pixie problem for good. Far from it. The king's needs grow deeper every day he's stuck in captivity, while his control over his people gets weaker. It's made him vulnerable. And now there's a new king in town. A turf war is imminent, since the new pixie king, Astley, is moving in quickly. Nick nearly killed him in the woods on day one, but Zara came to his rescue. Astley swears that he and Zara are destined to be together, that he's one of the good guys. Nick isn't buying it, though Zara isn't as sure — despite herself, she wants to trust the new king. But it's a lot more than her relationship with Nick that is at stake. It's her life — and his." -(from the publisher)

Ok, to start off- I really like this series. I like the setting, I like Zara (for the most part) as the main character, and I absolutely love Issie's and Devyn's characters. Oh, and I really like Gram- I think it's because she's a weretiger though! And the 2nd volume in the series did not disappoint me. In fact, I liked the direction it took because it opens up another avenue that I really did not see the author taking. I liked that Zara made a hard choice- choose to become something she was afraid of- even with knowing there may be some harsh consequences with that decision- all so she could save a life. I'm glad the author didn't rush the plotline of the book. She picked up nicely where the first book ended, and for the first half of the book, the reader sees how Nick and Zara act as a couple. The reader also finds out that while the pixie situation is kind of contained- it is not perfect and more and more pixies from other kingdoms are arriving in town. And to complicate matters more, Zara runs across a Valkyrie while trying to rescue someone and this Valkyrie is recruiting warriors to fight in an upcoming war of Valhalla. So now, Zara has to worry about Nick's safety, the pixies and a pixie war, and a Valkyrie who is taking strong male warriors to Valhalla, as well as writing letters for Amnesty International.

I'm very excited about the next book- I cannot wait to see what happens with the Nick-Zara-Astley thing. And I want to see how the whole Norse mythology subplot plays out in the next book.

It's been a while...

since I posted anything, but I had my birthday to celebrate, my sister's birthday to celebrate and work has been busy, so blogging unfortunately has been pushed back again and again. But on a plus side, I have read Captivate and Gone- so I have some reviews to share!