The Sunday Salon: Happy Fall Back Day!

Outside my window: Dark on this Saturday night... and very cold! Yes, winter arrived this week. Some places nearby had snow, but we didn't quite get any here.... yet.

I am listening to: Merlin is on as I type this. I think it's an episode I saw already last year on the actual TV at it's actual normal time.

Song of the week: So my son keeps showing me new and interesting songs. This week, this one has been quite stuck in my head, and it's quite appropriate given what's coming up for me this week! :) Anyway, it's quite different and I'd love to know what you think. It's called Growing Old is Getting Old by Silversun Pickups



TV Talk: I must say Survivor and Ozzy's big play followed by Cochran's big play was all quite fascinating. I would say I'm quite firmly with Cochran now. I hope he can figure out how to deal with it all!

I am reading: The Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan, and The Death Cure by James Dashner
Books I've Finished: I finished nothing this week.
Books I want to start: I better get going on A Tree Grows in Brooklyn soon if I want to have it refreshed in my mind for book club.

I am thinking: that falling back is good but getting darker earlier is not so good.

I am grateful for: cultural experiences such as plays, and concerts and such. I really love going to these things and this past week, I was able to enjoy several different outings.

What I learned this week:  It's time to sign up for the Book Blogger Holiday Swap! Go here to sign up! It's really fun. The deadline for signing up is this Friday, so don't miss it!





Recipe of the Week: Twice this week I made these Pumpkin Snickerdoodles found on Pinterest. So easy and so very good. It's a very soft cookie if that's the sort of thing you enjoy:

Source: annies-eats.net via Suey on Pinterest

Favorite things of the week: Getting another tweet in the middle of the night from Markus Zusak! Yes, I mentioned him again on Twitter, said nice things of course, so he said thanks back. It amazes me how good he is to respond.

Family matters: One college kid quit his job and is now home a lot more, trying to figure out what to do with himself next semester both school and job-wise. The other college kid comes home to watch Vampire Diaries with me! And asks me how to make donuts and lasagna. Kid #3 has become zombie happy thanks to some video game. And finally, the 7th grader came home from school the other day with three awards in hand! Way to go!

Things discussed around the house: We seem to be suddenly talking politics at our house this week. That's because on Tuesday there's an election for new city council members. When have I ever been very concerned about city council members? Well, this time things are different around here. The library hopes to add a really nice and much needed auditorium addition, and the current city council has approved it and things are going forward. But of course there's some people who think this is a bad idea, but they have such wrong information, it's scary. There's one city council member candidate who is very "in your face" spreading the wrong information and stirring up all sorts of negative things about this library addition. It's making us crazy!

Things I hope to accomplish: This next week I hope to spend most of my Saturday at the Teen Book Festival at the library where I'll be listening to Ally Condie, Robison Wells, Kristen Landon and Elana Johnson. I also hope to start thinking about Christmas, whether I want to or not.

The Blog Report: Lots happened on the blog this week. I wrapped RIP VI, I discussed vampires,  I have a giveaway going on (ends this Friday, be sure to enter!) I reviewed a bunch of stuff, I listed books... just to name a few things.

The Iron Knight Blog Tour and Giveaway

Today I welcome Julie Kagawa, author of the Iron Fey series, to my blog!  I so wish I could have found time to catch up with the series so I could review this fourth book, The Iron Knight, as part of the blog tour. But alas, that will have to come later! Just know that I totally enjoyed the first book, and have plans get them all read in the very near future and I'll be sure to let you know what I think.

Meanwhile, here are a couple of questions Julie is answering as part of this whirlwind blog tour:

1. Considering his often-mentioned icy demeanor, was it hard for you to switch from Meghan’s perspective to Ash’s in writing The Iron Knight?


It was different. I know Meghan; I know her voice, her personality, her character. It was harder writing Ash, because if you know the Winter prince at all, you know he isn’t very chatty. Some days I’d be sitting at my keyboard, yelling “Will you TALK already!” at him. So I’d say it was different, and a little more difficult, but I finally got him to open up in the end.

My response: Cool. I really look forward to a book from Ash's view. I love books from the guy's point view anyway. They usually think some pretty interesting things!

2. You’ve written a few novellas in the series. Which do you find harder to write, the short stories or the full novels and why?

They’re both challenging for different reasons. The full novels, by virtue of their length, take a lot of time to plan out, plot, and write. But strangely, it’s the lack of length in a short story that makes it harder to write; you don’t have a lot of time to get what you need done. I don’t really have a favorite of the two, though the novellas are a little less work overall.

My response: I'd forgotten about these novellas. I will have to add them to the pile!

3. You are an admitted gamer. If approached, would you prefer a movie version or a gaming version of your Iron Fey series?

As much as I love gaming, I would have to say movie. (Because if the movie is a success they’ll make a game anyway, right?)

My response: Ah a movie! We love movies! I hope it happens. Now... I wonder who'll play Ash? Hmmm.....

GIVEAWAY!

Hey everyone! I don't do giveaways much, but today I am! The publishers are giving me one copy of The Iron Knight to give away to one of my lucky readers (from the US or Canada.) To enter, simply fill out the form below with name and email address. I will draw a random winner and announce it next Friday, Nov. 11. 

Comments are not necessary to enter, but I'd love to know... have you read this series and what do you think? Team Ash or Puck? So do say hi and let me know where you stand! :)

Review: Variant by Robison Wells

Book: Variant by Robison Wells
Genre: YA Dystopian
Rating: A
For: Support Local Authors!
From: Bought from Amazon

I first heard about this author and his upcoming book back in February at a local science fiction and fantasy conference that we like to call LTUE. My interest was peaked right away, and then it didn't hurt matters at all when I realized he's the brother of Dan Wells, author of my favorite I Am Not a Serial Killer series.

So this book came out last month and I got to it as fast as I could. Once picking it up though, bam, it goes fast and it's nearly impossible to put down!

This is the sad tale of Benson, one of those unlucky foster kids who gets lost in the system. He takes matters into his own hands and enrolls himself into what looks like a wonderful posh boarding school in New Mexico. Once he gets there, however, he quickly finds out it's exactly like Hotel California... you can check in anytime you like, but you can never leave!

Well, he is having none of that, and starts investigating and questioning things right away. This does not sit well with the rest of the kids. The school is run by three different gangs, and he ends up in the Vs (for Variants) because they seem to be the only group that wants to figure out how to get out. Well, sort of anyway. They are all nervous and scared too. Because if you break the rules, you get sent to detention, and no one ever comes back from detention.

Meanwhile, Benson tries to fit in and lives the life of this school, which on the surface isn't bad. He has friends for the first time in his life, after all. But we all know that sinister things are happening, and as Benson discovers these things, oh boy, stuff gets crazy.

And that's about all I will tell you because after that, it's full of twists and turns that leave you wondering what the heck is going on! Especially that last one. Beware the sentence "end of book one" because it will make you scream with frustration!

But buy/check out the book anyway! Read it, and then come and let me know what you think.

Bottom line: I loved it.

Other reviews:

The Allure of Books
The Reading Fever
Debbie's World of Books
He Followed Me Home... Can I Keep Him?

Review: The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima

Book: The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima
Genre: YA Fantasy
Rating: A
For: the readathon!
From: author's signing at the library

So a few weeks ago I found myself at the library listening to and meeting this author, Cinda Williams Chima. Sadly, I hadn't read any of her books! But when I got to the event, all my enabling book bloggin' buddies said to me, "You will LOVE this books! They are SO SO good! You HAVE to read them!"

So, of course I bought some (the first book of both series) and got them signed and anxiously awaited the moment when I could find out for myself what the big deal is. That moment came during the readathon when I decided this book would win for my choice of the day. I read it all day long (didn't quite finish, but almost!) and yes, you were all right of course, I loved it!

This is the first book in the Seven Realms series, the third of which just came out (The Gray Wolf Throne.) In this book we meet the players of this story which include Han, a street thief who has recently sworn off his wild ways. He lives in the village with his mom and sister, who he fiercely wants to provide for and protect. He has a really good friend named Dancer who lives up in the mountains with The Clan whose past and  circumstances seem very vague and mysterious. Bird, th girl he loves, is from The Clan too and she is on the edge of choosing her life's path and he's not sure how he'll figure into that.

We switch back and forth from his point of view to Raisa's, the princess living in the castle down in town. She is feeling stress because she is now of marriageable age and she is concerned about who her mother (who seems a bit off)  will be choosing for her. At the moment she really likes the son of the high wizard, but that was before Amon, her childhood friend, comes back from cadet school.

When the book opens, Han (also known as Cuffs because of a pair of silver bracelets that he's had all his life and can't take off) and Dancer stumble upon some wizards in the hunting grounds, and after that tense meeting, Han ends up with a magic amulet. From there, everything goes wrong in his life and all he wants to do is get rid of the thing, which he blames for it all!

But it's too late, a whole set of crazy events has been set into motion.

Of course the paths of these two characters cross, under some pretty interesting circumstances and this makes all the other stories we've been following even more intense.

Oh my word, I don't even know how else to describe this one! The story is awesome and so perfectly complicated and fantasy-ish. The characters are real and wonderful and evil and mixed up and clueless. The writing is beautiful and rich. I'm hooked. I want more.

Bottom line: I loved it.

Other Reviews:

Fantasy Cafe
I Just Wanna Sit Here and Read
One Librarian's Book Reviews
This Purple Crayon

The Vampire Wars

I happened upon this article on Yahoo's news page today. Yes, it sort of stuck out to me having recently read Interview with the Vampire. While reading this book,  I did find myself "comparing" vampires in my head just a little so it was interesting to read that Rice commented on her Facebook page about her vampires versus the Twilight vampires. Click on over here to see it for yourself. You can see everyone is having a blast commenting! And taking their vampires so very seriously! I love it! (It's quite obvious to me this comment was said to be funny, but I'm not sure everyone took it that way!)

So of course, now I want to know, from you my favorite readers, which vampires are your favorite? And I'm not talking just Lestat and Louis vs. Edward and Jasper (or whoever). We're talking ALL the vampires you are familiar with.

Such as, Bram Stoker's Dracula and those found in The Historian. Then there's Stefan and Damon of The Vampire Diaries of course. The Passage has vampire-ish sort of things. The fun TV show Moonlight had some pretty cool vampires.

Some I'm aware of but not familiar with are the True Blood guys (and I think they are the same as Sookie Stackhouse, yes?) And there's the Vampire Academy, and the vampires in the House of Night series (I've just read the first one.) Scott Westerfeld has Peeps.

Oh my there's TONS more of course! There's no way I can think of them all. These are just the few that come to mind first.

So, guys, I must know. Who is your most favorite?

Other questions I'm pondering:

Are you bugged that vampires have been so "messed" with over the years? Is there a right way and a wrong way to portray them? Is the original Dracula still the best?

Are you of the camp that they are all fine... except Twilight?

Do you think vampires need to look a certain way and have certain characteristics (or shall we say NOT have certain characteristics) to be deserving of the name?

Hey wait! Are vampires real? Do they exist? (If you've read The Historian, it does make you wonder!) Or do you think, why even a discussion on fake mythological creatures?

Do you even enjoy this vampire thing? Maybe they disgust you and you never understood the craze? Maybe you did once, but are sick of it now? Maybe you will love them always?

Let the vampire wars begin! :)

RIP Wrap!

So here's how it shook down for me regarding my RIP reads this year.

What I said I'd do:

Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz
Supernaturally by Kiersten White
Under the Dome by Stephen King
Kiss Me Kill Me by Lauren Henderson
An Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice

And then I also said I'd watch something, hopefully a Vincent Price movie
And I also said I'd do a group read.


What I actually did:

Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz... loved.
Kiss Me Kill Me by Lauren Henderson... did not like much.
Under the Dome by Stephen King...quite enjoyed.
Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice... quite enjoyed.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson... loved.

I didn't watch a Vincent Price movie, but I watched lots of Dr. Who and Supernatural, both of which are very spooky and creepy and perfectly wonderful.

And I DID accomplish a group read of Under the Dome AND a buddy read of Interview. Both very fun! Thanks guys!

So.... not bad for actually finishing a challenge, eh? RIP... you gotta love it. Thanks Carl!

Next year, I'm adding Neil Gaiman to the list. If I can handle King, I can handle Gaiman!

Top Ten Tuesday: My Strong Reaction Books

Okay, I here's what I'm thinking... I love doing these lists, but so many of them end up having the same books on  them! Have you noticed that? The books I've had a strong emotional reaction to often end up being all time favorites, or books I want to re-read, or books I recommend to people, etc. etc. So, hopefully you all don't get too bored seeing the same books listed over and over and over again! Here's the link to The Broke and the Bookish for more lists.

Books I Had a Strong Emotional Reaction To

1. The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck... one of the first books that I remember really making me weepy at the end.

2. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak... all sorts of emotions in this one, but sadness is also a big one.

3. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card... one of the first books that made my jaw drop at the end and I remember thinking ... what the heck did I just read?

4. Virgil and Beatrice by Yann Martel... I wanted to throw this one across the room it made me so crazy.

5. Life of Pi by Yann Martel... another one where the ending made me go "wait, what?" in a big big way.

6. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck...this book makes me more frustrated than nearly any other book I've read.

7. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.... this one makes me weepy too. Also frustrated.

8. The Wimpy Kid books by Jeff Kinney... these books never fail to make me laugh out loud, and I rarely laugh out loud at a book.

9. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness... I don't even know what emotion to pin down on this one. All of them really! Well, except laughing because there is nothing funny about these books.

10. The Nanny Diaries by a couple of girls... so I threw one in that I really quite hated just so you know there ARE those kinds and this one I was disgusted over... both because of the story itself and the writing and just the whole thing. CRINGE.

What books have you reacted strongly to?