Review | The Wise Man's Fear (The Kingkiller Chronicle #2) by Patrick Rothfuss

Author: Patrick Rothfuss
Published: March 2011
Publisher: DAW
Pages: 1088
Format: ebook
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Romance, Supernatural
Rating: ★★★★★

[Show Synopsis]
Synopsis
In "The Wise Man's Fear," Kvothe searches for answers, attempting to uncover the truth about the mysterious Amyr, the Chandrian, and the death of his parents. Along the way, Kvothe is put on trial by the legendary Adem mercenaries, forced to reclaim the honor of his family, and travels into the Fae realm. There he meets Felurian, the faerie woman no man can resist, and who no man has ever survived...until Kvothe. Now, Kvothe takes his first steps on the path of the hero and learns how difficult life can be when a man becomes a legend in his own time.

Review
This book seemed to be on par with the level of adventure and excitement that was in the first book. If it wasn't for the fact that life got too busy for me to continually read, I would have read this just as fast as the first one instead of it taking the week that it did. The story line is finally starting to progress more and become more interesting. Kvothe finally starts to see more of the world rather than just the academy. At the same time, there are some things that are just becoming more and more annoying.

Review | The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle #1) by Patrick Rothfuss

Author: Patrick Rothfuss
Published: April 2008 (2007)
Publisher: DAW
Pages: 722
Format: Paperback
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Romance, Supernatural
Rating: ★★★★★

[Show Synopsis]
Synopsis
Told in Kvothe's own voice, this is the tale of the magically gifted young man who grows to be the most notorious wizard his world has ever seen. The intimate narrative of his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, his years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-ridden city, his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a legendary school of magic, and his life as a fugitive after the murder of a king form a gripping coming-of-age story unrivaled in recent literature. A high-action story written with a poet's hand, The Name of the Wind is a masterpiece that will transport readers into the body and mind of a wizard.

Review
I couldn't believe how good this book was! It is the best book I've read since the beginning of the year. I couldn't put it down and ended up reading the whole thing in less than 2 days.

I really liked the opening and was hoping the story was starting from there, so I was a little disappointed when the story actually did start, but it didn't take me long to get into the new storyline. The plot kind of reminds me of Harry Potter meets Game of Thrones. The bulk of the story takes place in a magic school and has some of the intricacy of Game of Thrones along with the adventure and enemies.

Review | Devil in the White City

Author: Erik Larson
Published: October 17, 2002
Publisher: Crown Publishers
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 447
Genres: Mystery, Non-Fiction
Rating: ★★★★★
Reading Guide from LitLovers

Synopsis
Burnham had a vision. A vision of Chicago being the center of attention of the whole world. And he got his wish, in more ways than one.

In the late 19th century, Chicago was voted to become the home of the Columbian Exposition World's Fair. There was a lot of work to be done before the fair could open. It was one of the grandest times in US history, filled with wondrous inventions, architecture, and art, but while Chicago was experiencing one of it's greatest moments in history, it was also experiencing one of it's darkest.

Just a few blocks from the fair, Dr. H.H. Holmes built his castle. A castle of death and deception. Women went in and were never heard from or seen again. But no one suspected the charming, young doctor. And the longer he remained undetected, the more confident he grew, and the more fun he had.

Review
This was a wonderfully well written book. It's obvious that a lot of time and research went into the making of it. It was a bit frustrating to read since it's such a long book. It seemed to take even longer since there is so much information that you can easily go into information overload, but having all that information is what made this book good. It brought it to life. Larkson had a very descriptive writing style that made everything easy to imagine. All the missing commas were rather annoying though.

Twice Tempted (Night Prince #2)

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Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Supernatural, Vampires
Rating: ★★★★★

Just (almost) as good as the first book! Where the first one kind of reminded me of A Discovery of Witches, this one didn't. Leila goes home and is kidnapped by some vampires trying to get at Vlad. Lots of action; lots of relationship issues.

I liked how disconnected Vlad was with human relationship expectations. One because he's lived so long, and I imagine that screws with your ideas and perceptions, and two because of the type of live had had/has that is so much different from the modern human expectations. It mad it more believable that he wasn't exactly human and that he came from another time and place.

The author also tried to show his possessiveness of Leila and wanting her to act like he perceived a woman should, but I don't think she did this that well. Back in Vlad's time, woman didn't count for much. They followed their husbands, did what they were told, and believed what their husband believed. Vlad was almost too modern in his thinking toward woman. He accepted her independence too easily and readily.

Once Burned (Night Prince #1)

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Genres/Themes: Fantasy, Romance, Supernatural, Vampires
Rating: ★★★★★

This book was so much better than I expected it to be. At first, I was a little put off since the main vampire was Vlad "Dracula" and the main female character and her friend vampire were both carnies, but it all turned out ok. Truly.

This book in many ways reminded me of A Discovery of Witches. The main character is kind of kidnapped by the traditional vampire (Yay for traditional vampires. Modern lit is kind of getting away from that. Prime example: Twilight--ew.) The romantic relationship takes time to develop and isn't all like, "Oh my God, you're a vampire? Let me jump your bones!" They end up in the old country in a castle, and the main character has powers but not obnoxiously so. The book just seemed to get better as I continued to read, and I ended up reading it from start to finish without putting it down.

The only thing that was a little weird was when her family came into the picture. It needed to happen, and I liked that it happened, but not much happened. I feel like the father needed to protest more or something. It just all went too smoothly.

The only other thing that I questioned was her sudden disappearance from Florida. At one point in the book, Vlad offers to let her call home on a secure line so that her family doesn't report her missing. She doesn't because she isn't close to her family. Ok, but what about the other carnies? Her and Marty both just kind of disappear. Are none of the other carnies going to become suspicious?

Easy

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Genres/Themes: Romance, Women's Fiction
My Rating: ★★★★★

The romantic story mentioned in the book description is what drew me to this story, but this book ended up turning into something a whole lot more.

This is a story of romantic, emotional, and confidence growth. Many women do not realize how vulnerable they are, thinking nothing bad will happen to them. Guys don't realize how traumatizing situations can be for women, especially sexual harassment and assault. Easy gives a message that women can become empowered no matter how vulnerable they are or feel.

I wish I could accurately convey what I want to say about this book. Re-reading this, it sounds very cheesy. Read the book; it's good. Learn from it and survive.

I would recommend this for anyone mature enough for the content, especially college women.

The Fault in Our Stars

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Genres/Themes: Romance
My Rating: ★★★★★

This was a beautiful tear-jerker of a book. Why do I always seem to pick these types of books when I'm just about to start my period? I've had this on my to read list for a while now because it didn't seem like the type of book that I'd like. I eventually decided to read it because of how many people keep bringing it up. Once I started reading, I couldn't stop. I probably would have read it in one day if it wasn't for the fact that I was so tired that I fell asleep mid-sentence half way through the book.

I loved the in-your-face honestly writing style. It made very serious topics hilariously funny. Especially the exchanges between Hazel and Augustus.

Hazel was an amazing character. Her parents viewed her as being depressed because of the disease or prospect of dying and sent her to a support group. I liked Hazel's reasons for her behavior. “I’m like a grenade, Mom. I’m a grenade and at some point I’m going to blow up and I would like to minimize the casualties, okay?...I’m a grenade. I just want to stay away from people and read books and think and be with you guys because there’s nothing I can do about hurting you; you’re too invested, so just please let me do that, okay? I’m not depressed. I don’t need to get out more. And I can’t be a regular teenager, because I’m a grenade.”

Augustus was my favorite character. The author gave him the wonderful ability of being able to get others to see the good. Like maybe a grenade isn't necessarily a bad thing or that being blind isn't the end: "You are going to live a good and long life filled with great and terrible moments that you cannot even imagine yet!"

A Discovery of Witches (All Souls #1)

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Genre/Themes: Fantasy, Romance
My Rating: ★★★★★

This was an amazing book! I couldn't put it down. It only took me about a day to read.

This book is like 3 books in one. The first story is the building romance between Matthew and Diana, the second is the introduction to his family, and the third is the consequence of everything that's happened.

It was refreshing to read a paranormal romance that wasn't shoving magic and vampire behavior down your throat. It was there but well built into the story. The writing style was captivating and made the story addictive. Harkness has a great sense of word flow. In many books, I'll skip the descriptors between quotes or will only read the first line or two of each paragraph for a couple pages because there is so much fluff that isn't relevant. I read every single word of this book. There was very little fluff and every word added to the imagination. The descriptors were descriptive enough to produce an image, but not so confining that it was hard to imagine the image just so.

I love how they first meet in the library. Though this is one time where Harkness' descriptive writing failed for me. I had a hard time picturing Diana's emotions. She was scared of him but was she trembling scared or putting on a confident face? The picture I was getting kept swinging back and forth making me very confused. Later though, there was some clarification into the matter, but not enough to satisfy me. This was the only instance that I found that jilted the flow of the book for me.

A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire #3)

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Genres/Themes: Adventure, Fantasy

My Rating: ★★★★★

The best book of the series so far, and the best book I've read so far this year!!

So much has happened it hard to remember it all. There is lots of action, weddings, and betrayals. Many of the character meet there ends throughout the book. Definitely not as long winded as book 2 was.

My favorite characters changed in this book. In book 2, everyone was planning and moving around while Arya and Bran horded much of the action. In this book, all the plans came to fruit or failed while Bran and Arya for the most part moved around. My favorite characters this time around were Sansa and Jon and to a lesser degree Jamie and Tyrion.

The story at the wall builds and breaks during this book. I love how Jon's story finished in this book. I can't wait to see how it's going to turn out in the next one!

So much was going on and so many secrets were reveled that it was hard to put the book down! I can't wait to read the next book, but I'm forcing myself to hold off. With book 6 not due to be published until 2015 and book 7 not until 2019, I really need to pace myself if I want to drag out the enjoyment of this series. I don't see myself holding back for more than a month though. :)

Anne of Green Gables (Anne of Green Gables #1)

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Genres/Themes: Classics, Historical Fiction, Romance
Rating: ★★★★★

I've seen the movie for this book, but until now hadn't read it. I loved the movie very much and hopped the book would be half as good. It was much much better.

Anne is a very lovable and cute character. You just can't help wanting to read on to find out what kind of trouble she's going to end up in next.

It was very interesting to see how Anne learned from her mistakes and matured. By the end of the book, she was a young lady. Almost sad really. She was no longer the clumsy trouble making girl she was at the beginning to of the story.

It was also interesting to see how Matthew and Merila changed and evolved throughout the story. Merila was much different from the seemingly hard woman at the beginning who wanted to adopt a boy. And although still shy of women and quiet, it was interesting to see how Matthew opened to Anne and to see the little things he did for her at the objection of Merila.

Altogether, it was a fun read. I can't wait to read the next book.

Beauty and the Beast

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Genres/Themes: Children's, Classics, Fantasy, Romance
My Rating: ★★★★☆

Not sure why it's rated so low. This is a typical small children's short story. It's a very quick version of the fairy-tale, great for a short bedtime story. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful. If you want a full novel version, then I recommend Beauty.

Under a Vampire Moon (Argeneau #16)

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Genres/Themes: Fantasy, Romance
My Rating: ★★★★★

I thought this book was really good in comparison to the last few. Maybe it just because I took a break from the series, but I thought the last couple books were pretty repetitive. Same story; somewhat different people. This one I wish hadn't ended. In fact, it really did seem to end too soon.
 
[Show Spoiler] It ended right as he was going to explain Atlantis, which was nice, because just how many times does the reader really need to hear that story? But it ended right as he was going to explain Atlantis. How does she react to the rest of the family knowing what she does? In all the other books, you get to see that, and it's somewhat fun to read of the newly initiated's bewilderment. I wish there had been at least 5 more pages.

The Winter Sea

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Genres/Themes: Fantasy, Romance
My Rating: ★★★★★

Thanks to my book club, this is yet another book I never would have picked up on my own that I absolutely fell in love with!

I love that the historical stuff is as historically accurate as possible with the exception of Sophia, and 2 other characters. It was a different/cool way to write the book from the point of an author writing the book instead of just writing the book "herself". It definitely made it more interesting and fun to see the two stories parallel each other.

I even read the afterward, which tells you a brief history and the accuracy of the novel. I rarely read those! The writing style of the author was just amazing.

If you love romance (even just slightly) and history (especially Scottish/English), I think you'll love this book. I also think anyone who liked Pride and Prejudice will also like this book.


From Book Club Discussion (spoilers):

Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire #1)

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Genres/Themes: Adventure, Fantasy
My Rating: ★★★★★

I'd never heard of this series until the TV show started. Once I got about 50 pages in, I was completely drawn in and couldn't put it down. It did kind of slow off toward the end though, and I just wanted it to end in the last 100 pages so that I could move on to the next book. So far, my favorite character is Arya. I wish they would show her more. Arya and Nymeria are also my favorite names in the book, so it makes it even more fun for me to read. I love the creativity in the name and place choices.

I also recommend readers to watch the TV show if you haven't yet. Although not as good as the book, it is very well done. Also visa versa, I would recommend watchers of the show to read the books. There are quite a few things that were done in the show that are explained in the books. Some of them, you don't even realize they need explaining until you read about it in the books.

I found it funny that they casted Northern Inuits as wolves in the show. It was one of the breeds I was looking at to adopt 5 years ago before I adopted my husky. But you can't seem to find them in the States.

Peter Pan

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Genres/Themes: Adventure, Classics, Fantasy
My Rating: ★★★★★

I'm glad I finally read this book. I didn't think it would be as good as it was. I was surprised at how much adult content was in the book. Fairy orgy!? I was sad about the ending, but I already new how the story ended. I think the way the book was written though made it sadder.

Howl's Moving Castle (Howl's Moving Castle #1)

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Genres/Themes: Adventure, Fantasy
My Rating: ★★★★★

I was kind of worried about reading this since I'd already seen the movie. I didn't even realize there was a book until I just happened upon it, and then I had to laugh when I saw it was written by Diana Wynne Jones. I've found more of her books because I happened across them, read them, liked them, and then put two and two together.

Anyways, even though I've seen the movie, I really enjoyed the book. It was just different enough and had enough extra details that weren't in the movie to keep me reading. It was fun to see what details were used and how they were used in the book versus the movie. Often I find that the writing style of books-turned-into-movies isn't as gripping as the movie. Not so here! Now I can't wait to read Castle in the Air and compare it to Castle in the Sky!

All-in-all, I thought this was the best book-turned-movie that I'd read after seeing the movie first. I'm glad I did it that way. I don't think I'd have enjoyed the movie as much as I do if I had read the book first.

Kafka's Metamorphosis

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Genres/Themes: Classic Literature, Fantasy
My Rating: ★★★★★

This was a required read for one of my college English courses. At first I didn't much care for it, but the more we discussed the story, the more it grew on me.

There is a lot of symbolism written into it. My favorite is the apple which causes the wound to fester like Eve's apple which caused Adam and Eve to be tossed out of the Garden of Eden resulting in pain and labor instead of peaceful days. I love all the connections this story makes to Faust.

In the end, I ended up liking the story so much that I submitted a paper to a literary contest comparing and contrasting filial piety in modern Western culture (using Metamorphosis and the Bible) to pre-modern Eastern culture (using Hong Gil Dong and the Analects of Confucius).

I highly recommend finding a discussion group or detailed discussion guide when reading this. There are a lot of deep and hidden meanings in this story that are sometimes hard to find or impossible to understand if you haven't read the associated literature.

When My Name Was Keoko & Young Deputy Smith

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Genres/Themes: Historical Fiction, World War II
My Rating: ★★★★★

I read this a couple of years ago and really loved it. I often heard about Japan's occupation of Korea, but never really heard too many stories about it. This is one of the best books that I've ever read.

During Japan's occupation, Korean's were forced to learn Japanese. This had to discard their heritage and customs. All Rose of Sharrons (Korea's national flower) were removed and replaced by Japanese cherry trees. To survive, Koreans had to follow the Japanese as Keoko and her family did, but in following the Japanese, they were shunned by their own people and treated as traitors of Korea.

I highly recommend this book to people interested in history, especially pertaining to East Asia and World War II. If you're interested in this theme, check out the kdrama Bridal Mask (Gaksital) on viki.

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Find Young Deputy Smith on Goodreads
Genres/Themes: Adventure, Western
My Rating: ★★★★★

This has been one of my favorite books since I was in junior high. Although it seems unrealistic now, it was fun to read about the young boy who ran way from home and made it big.

I would recommend this book to people interested in Western Fiction, especially if you like Wyatt Earp. If you like John Wayne movies, you'll probably enjoy this book.