Review: A Game of Thrones

Goodreads

Wow....... I have to admit that I am not the person who reads something just because "everyone else is reading it". I have only seen 2 or 3 episodes of the 1st season of the show. So, needless to say, I am behind the game.

This story has war, love, family, hatred, manipulation, cunning, plotting, heartache, dragons, knights, kings, queens lords and ladies. As you are alternating characters in each chapter, you think you have some things figured out, then by the end of the chapter, you are thrown a huge twist.

The characters you start off hating, they begin to grow on you, the ones you like, you begin to hate, the ones who seem weak become the strong, the strong become the weak. They are always changing and you see them in a new light and you never know who can be trusted. Some, I am still not sure about.

There are TONS of characters, so it takes a bit for it to get going and to keep them all straight. There are parts that drag a little just due to the endless descriptions. Then it takes off.......and wow, does it take off.

I have already started the second in the series, and I am determined to buy the first season on DVD.

Remember......

“When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground.”

“Winter is coming.”

What's on Your Summer Reading List?

 

As summer is upon us, I thought I'd post some books that I am hoping to read this summer.  Please chime in with what YOU want to read this summer or with recommendations for me to add or your thoughts on what I am reading!  I would love to hear from you!  The photo above is where I will be spending most of my free time reading...... what could be better????? 

1. A Game of Thrones:  I'm about 300 pages into this one and loving it!  I don't know why it took me so long to start it!

2. A Clash of Kings:  The 2nd book in the Song of Fire & Ice series.... yes, I have already bought it!

3. Outlander:  Again.... it takes me a long time to get on the "band wagon" with what everyone is reading.  I am determined to read this one.

4. Middlesex: I think this one is to start conquering the "list of books I should read".

5. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: I have seen previews to the movie and have been wanting to read this one well before it came out in theaters. 

6. Villette: This is one that has been on my list to read for EVER.... not to mention it will mark one more off the 1001 books to read before you die. 

7. American Gods:  It's Neil Gaiman!! 

Now back to the Kings & Queens & Lords and Ladies!!

So what do you do when??

So what do you do when you have a hard time coming up with post ideas for your blog?

Do you google ideas?

 Do you have an editorial calendar with ideas?

 Do you have sticky notes laying around with ideas?

 What gives you inspiration for posts? 

Lots of blogs I follow are book review blogs, as you can tell mine is as well.  With the new year, I have been trying to come up with some new ideas to share with my readers and help grow my following. So I have decided to come to YOU.  I have never really been a "follower", so I don't like to post things that "everyone else is doing".  There are a few meme's that I do, but I like to be an original and do my own thing.

What do you like to see on blogs?   Do you like more personal things, stick to just book reviews only, include more things about life in general?  What?  What keeps you reading and coming back for more to the blogs you follow on an ongoing basis??  

I would LOVE for you all to give some feedback.  Feel free to leave your ideas in the comments below or email me directly.  

Ok.... SOUND OFF!!  I'm listening!  :)

Stacking The Shelves (1)

So this is my first time participating in Stacking The Shelves.  I won't list all the books that I have gotten since the last time I shared new ones, just the ones in the past few weeks.

From Netgalley:  (All links from Goodreads)

Season of the Witch

  The Tyrants Daughter

Intervention

 Purchased:  

 Lone Survivor

Ignite 


 From Edelweiss



The Fall of Saints: A Novel







Killer


Forty Acres: A Thriller 



There you have it!  I have some reading to do!!

Review: Reflections of Queen Snow White

Published October 2nd 2013 by David Meredith

Synopsis from Goodreads: 

What happens when "happily ever after" has come and gone?

On the eve of her only daughter, Princess Raven's wedding, an aging Snow White finds it impossible to share in the joyous spirit of the occasion. The ceremony itself promises to be the most glamorous social event of the decade. Snow White’s castle has been meticulously scrubbed, polished and opulently decorated for the celebration. It is already nearly bursting with jubilant guests and merry well-wishers. Prince Edel, Raven's fiancé, is a fine man from a neighboring kingdom and Snow White's own domain is prosperous and at peace. Things could not be better, in fact, except for one thing:

The king is dead.

The queen has been in a moribund state of hopeless depression for over a year with no end in sight. It is only when, in a fit of bitter despair, she seeks solitude in the vastness of her own sprawling castle and climbs a long disused and forgotten tower stair that she comes face to face with herself in the very same magic mirror used by her stepmother of old.

It promises her respite in its shimmering depths, but can Snow White trust a device that was so precious to a woman who sought to cause her such irreparable harm? Can she confront the demons of her own difficult past to discover a better future for herself and her family? And finally, can she release her soul-crushing grief and suffocating loneliness to once again discover what "happily ever after" really means?

Only time will tell as she wrestles with her past and is forced to confront The Reflections of Queen Snow White.

Review: 

Have you ever mourned to the point of isolating yourself from everyone around you? The mourning could be loss from divorce, a relationship, or the death of a loved one.

This is a story of loss and grief in more ways than one.  We all remember the story of Snow White and Prince Charming.  As a little girl, it was one of my favorites.  The story lets us see what happens after the "happily ever after" and is a wonderful twist on the Disney version.

The story is one of reflection for Snow White, reminding herself of all she has been through and overcome.  She has the help of the "magic mirror" who shows her what is in her heart and what she already knows, but has forgotten.  She spends the afternoon reliving memories of abuse at the hands of the Evil Queen step-mother, the death of her parents, and the happiness, love and death of Prince Charming. She finally sees how strong she really is and that she has the strength to carry on and enjoy life again, even though she has lived over a year in depression and has isolated herself from everyone, including her daughter.

As I was reading the story, I was remembering losing my own parents and wondering what I would do if the love of my life passed away. How would I go on? I cried at her thoughts of the love she and Prince Charming shared, simply because I could see myself doing and thinking the same things.

The story is beautifully written; there are some vivid scenes of abuse from her childhood and sexual scenes with her husband.  However, the story evokes so many emotions.  At the end of the story, it reminded me that life does go on and we all have the memories of our past and loved ones to show us that we can all overcome certain things and we are truly never alone.

If you love fairy tale twists, then you must read this one.

 

This book was sent to me free of charge by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Classics Club Dare!

The Classics Club Dare is a new feature over at The Classics Club.  The goal of the club is to read classics.  This is the first dare.  You are "dared" to read a book, post about it and share it.  You can find out more information HERE. 

 The first book is:  

 

The Sound of the Mountain by Yasunari Kawabata 

The link above will take you to the Goodreads description. 

I'm getting started now!  Won't you come join me?? 

Reading the Classics (perpetual challenge)

Information on joining this perpetual challenge can be found here

The Classics Club is a club created to inspire people to read and blog about classic books. There’s no time limit to join and you’re most welcome, as long as you’re willing to sign up to read and write on your blog about 50+ classic books in at most five years. The perk is that, not only will you have read 50+ incredible (or at the very least thought-provoking) works in five years, you’ll get to do it along with all of these people. 

I am also using this perpetual challenge as a prompt to work on the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list.  I have to have something to help me stay on track!  I will start by listing 60 books, but will add to it as I go along and pass that 60 mark. This list has a 5 year end date, so January 12, 2019 is the goal.

My List: 

** indicates books I own

1.   Achebe, Chinua: Things Fall Apart**

2.  Allende, Isabel: The House of the Spirits

3.  Angelou, Maya: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

4.  Atwood, Margaret: A Handmaid’s Tale**

5.  Austen, Jane: Emma**

6.  Baldwin, James: Giovanni’s Room**

7.  Braddon, Mary Elizabeth: Lady Audley’s Secret**

8.  Bronte, Charlotte: Villette**

9.  Bronte, Emily: Wuthering Heights**

10.  Bulgakov, Mikhail: The Master and Margarita**

11.  Burns, Olive: Cold Sassy Tree

12.  Collins, Wilkie: The Moonstone

13.  Collins, Wilkie: The Woman in White**

14.  Conrad, Joseph: Heart of Darkness

15.  Dante: The Divine Comedy**

16.  Dickens, Charles: Bleak House**

17.  Dickens, Charles: Nicholas Nickleby**

18.  Dickens, Charles: The Mystery of Edwin Drood**

19.  Dostoevesky, Fyodor: The Brothers Karamazov**

20.  Dostoevsky, Fyodor: Crime and Punishment**

21.  Du Maurier, Daphne: Rebecca

22.  Eco, Umberto: The Name of the Rose**

23.  Eliot, George: Middlemarch**

24.  Eliot, George: Silas Marner**

25.  Faulkner, William: As I Lay Dying**

26.  Faulkner, William: The Sound and the Fury**

27  Fitzgerald, F. Scott: This Side of Paradise**

28.  Foer, Jonathan Safran: Exteremely Loud and Incredibly Close

29.  Forster, E.M.: Howard’s End**

30.  Forster, E.M.: Passage to India**

31.  Fowles, John: The French Lieutenant’s Woman**

32.  Hemingway, Ernest: A Farewell to Arms**

33.  Hemingway, Ernest: The Sun Also Rises

34.  Hurston, Zora Neale: Their Eyes Were Watching God**

35.  Ishiguro, Kazuo: Remains of the Day

36.  James, Henry: What Maisie Knew**

37.  Kipling, Rudyard: Kim**

38.  Knowles, John: A Separate Peace**

39.  Marquez, Gabriel Garcia: One Hundred Years of Solitude**

40.  Maugham, W. Somerset: Of Human Bondage**

41.  Milton, John: Paradise Lost**

42.  Mitchell, David: Cloud Atlas

43.  Morrison, Toni: Beloved**

44.  O, Brien: Tim: The Things They Carried**

45.  Pasternak, Boris: Doctor Zhivago**

46.  Proust, Marcel: Swann’s Way**

47.  Salinger, J.D.: The Catcher in the Rye

48.  Seton, Anya: Katherine

49.  Smith, Betty: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn**

50.  Steinbeck, John: East of Eden**

51.  Steinbeck, John: The Grapes of Wrath**

52.  Thackeray, William Makepeace: Vanity Fair**

53.  Tolstoy, Leo: War and Peace**

54.  Trollope, Anthony: Barchester Towers**

55.  Voltaire: Candide**

56.  Vonnegut, Kurt: Slaughterhouse Five**

57.  Wharton, Edith: Ethan Frome

58.  Wharton, Edith: The House of Mirth**

59.  Woolf, Virginia: Jacob’s Room**

60.  Wright, Richard: Native Son**

2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge

  Hosted by Bookish    Levels:   1-10 - A Firm Handshake
11-20 - A Friendly Hug
21-30 - First Kiss
31-40 - Sweet Summer Fling
41-50 - Could this be love?
50+ - Married With Children   I'm shooting for First Kiss

2014 Banned Books Challenge

photo credit: Old Books by Petr Kratochvil 

Hosted by Buckling Bookshelves

DATES: January 1, 2014 through December 31, 2014

RULES: Any book that has been banned or challenged counts for this challenge. Books can be read in any format and overlap with other challenges is allowed (encouraged!)

LEVELS: Below are the levels you can choose from. Changing your mind is OK -- you can go up or down in level at any time.

     Making Waves: 1-2 Challenged Books
     Trouble-Maker: 3-5 Challenged Books
     Rebel: 6-9 Challenged Books
     Insurgent: 10-14 Challenged Books
     Leader of a Revolution: 15+ Challenged Books

I am choosing Rebel 6-9

Life has a way.....

Hello everyone! 

Wow, what a year 2013 was!  I don't know about all of you, but I'm really glad it is over.   I am hoping that this new year is full of new beginnings and changes for the better. 

I plan on getting back on track with my reading and blogging and hoping to do it soon.  I am looking forward to it actually! 

Hope you all had wonderful holidays and will see you soon! 

Armchair BEA: Genre: Non-Fiction

Design credit: Nina of Nina Reads

Non-fiction is our genre discussion for today.  I have read more non-fiction over the past few years and there are a few that stand out to me.  I had never really liked non-fiction until I picked up these books.  I always wanted to be transported to a different place when I read. The following books changed my mind...... 

A Long Way Gone; Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah: It is an amazing story of his life as a soldier in the army during the war in Sierra Leone. The descriptions he gave of the death of people, the killings, and his escape play at all of your heart strings.














Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

In reading the prologue to this book, I was hooked.

"Their bodies, burned by the sun and stained yellow from the raft dye, had winnowed down to skeletons. Sharks glided in lazy loops around them, dragging their backs along the rafts, waiting."

You can find my review HERE 

 

Fearless: The Undaunted Courage and Ultimate Sacrifice of Navy SEAL Team SIX Operator Adam Brown by Eric Blehm:

WOW! What a story! This story follows Adam Brown from childhood through SEAL training to the Middle East. I laughed and I cried through this book.

These 3 are my top picks.  All 3 of them pull at your heart strings in more ways than one but they all leave with you with different perspectives on life.

Armchair BEA: Ethics and blogging.

Design credit: Nina of Nina Reads.

Today we are discussing Ethics and blogging.  What exactly does that mean? 

In the blogging world, there are no specifically written laws as to what we are supposed to do or not supposed to do.  Yes, there are lists of things that are recommended that we do, but there is no way to enforce it.  There is a difference between illegal and unethical.   Many professions have their own set of rules to follow when it comes to ethics.  Lawyers, physicians and nurses all are governed by a licensing board. I, as a nurse, have a set of specific rules that I must follow in order to keep my license safe, both personally and professionally.  For example, I can have my license revoked by my state for being arrested while driving under the influence, just as quickly as it could be revoked by harming a patient. 

We as bloggers don’t have a license that is in jeopardy, but we can lose credibility with our readers if we don’t follow certain guidelines. 

• ·         Always give credit where it is due.  If you use a photograph that you didn’t take, give credit to where you obtained it. If you use the words of another blogger, give them credit.
• ·         Always be truthful. If you receive compensation for your reviews, tell your readers.
• ·         Never plagiarize.  We all work hard on our blogs, don’t steal others work.  If you have to steal others work, then don’t blog.
• ·         If you make a mistake, admit it. We are all human and humans make mistakes.
• ·         Be courteous and fair.  We all have different opinions on things, just because you may not agree with someone, that’s ok. BE NICE! You can express your opinion, but BE NICE.

I have never had my content plagiarized, but I am well aware of what it is.  In graduate school, EVERY paper I wrote had to be submitted to a site that checked just for that.  If it came back to us at or above 10% we had to re-write it.  The 10% showed that at least 10% of our paper was identical to another paper.  Do you realize how hard it is to write a 50+ page paper to begin with? Much less re-write it?  Yeah, I’m very cautious. 

What are your thoughts??

Armchair BEA: What is Literary Fiction?

It took me some time to decide about this.  What books do I include? What books do I leave out?  Many of the books I thought of immediately, I have previously mentioned in our Classics discussion. So I did some searching.  

According to Wikipedia, the definition of literary fiction is that the work must be “critically acclaimed” and “serious”.   The plot is focused more on the “inner stories of the characters that drive the plot”.

So…with that definition in mind, some of my favorites are

Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon:  I absolutely LOVED this book.  For any bibliophile, who wouldn’t love a story about “the cemetery of forgotten books”.  The writing is amazingly beautiful.  I won’t go into all the details, but will give you a few quotes:  

"Few things leave a deeper mark on the reader, than the first book that finds its way to his heart."

"Books are mirrors: you only see in them what you already have inside you."

"Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens."

 “One of the pitfalls of childhood is that one doesn't have to understand something to feel it. By the time the mind is able to comprehend what has happened, the wounds of the heart are already too deep.”

 

Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill: What a story..A story of a girl that spans 60 years and who helps change history. All of the emotions that I went through with this book are, to me, a sign on a wonderful book. I cried with her, got angry with her, grieved with her and rejoiced with her. Her story was truly an adventure.

“I remember wondering, within a year or two of taking my first steps, why only men sat to drink tea and converse, and why women were always busy. I reasoned that men were weak and needed rest.” 

“But I have long loved the written word, and come to see in it the power of the sleeping lion. This is my name. This is who I am. This is how I got here. In the absence of an audience, I will write down my story so that it waits like a restful beast with lungs breathing and heart beating.” 

“Some say that I was once uncommonly beautiful, but I wouldn't wish beauty on any woman who has not her own freedom, and who chooses not the hands that claim her.” 

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini: Another story that is one of growing up in more ways than one. This story brought me through every emotion possible. Seeing things a child shouldn't see, living through things they shouldn't and being able to move forward with life is what this one is all about. 

“She said, 'I'm so afraid.' And I said, 'why?,' and she said, 'Because I'm so profoundly happy, Dr. Rasul. Happiness like this is frightening.' I asked her why and she said, 'They only let you be this happy if they're preparing to take something from you.” 

“...and every day I thank [God] that I am alive, not because I fear death, but because my wife has a husband and my son is not an orphan.” 

“He knew I'd seen everything in that alley, that I'd stood there and done nothing. He knew that I'd betrayed him and yet he was rescuing me once again, maybe for the last time. ” 

There you go.......3 of my favorites.  The story lines in the last two are not for the weak at heart, but they make you think, make you feel, and that's what a great story is all about. 

Armchair BEA: Genre Fiction

Today's genre focus is genre fiction.... What do you read? What do you stay away from at all costs?

I have to say that I read so many different genres.  I love historical fiction.  I LOVE anything to do with World War II, so many of the books I read are written during this time period.  WWII isn't the only time period I read though.  I love historical fiction in general.  I love being able to see how life was during different time periods, how people acted, how society saw things, and how over the years the world has changed in general.  I can read a book and think "in today's time, it wouldn't be like that".  Some of the stories make you think about what it would be like to live during those times, and others make you thankful that you didn't.

I also love mystery/thrillers/horror.  I love a good "scary story".  Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and Joe Hill are just a few that come to mind right off.   I love scary movies, but they don't tend to scare me the way a book can.  In a movie, you can always tell when something is about to happen...scary music, standing in front of a picture window, running to the top floor of the house, and let's not forget running to the car and it won't start.  Now a book...... ahhh....the power of imagination!!!

Apocalyptic: this genre I haven't read much of, but I am tending to appreciate it more and more.  Some of the ones I have read made me sit back and think "that might actually happen" (The Road), while others are so very far out there but make a good story.

I'm not a big fan of romance novels.... the bodice ripper types.... if I'm reading a book and it has romance in it, it's fine.... but as for the all romance stories....not so much.


I have ventured out into different types of books I read.  There are still some genres that I don't list as my favorite or read on a regular basis, but I am willing to give them a try.  I gave myself a "100 page" rule.  I will read 100 pages and then decide if I will continue with it.  I figure that gives me some time to get hooked or not.  There are too many wonderful books waiting to be discovered to continue reading one that I don't like.

What are some of your favorites?