Get Lost in Literature

"The Prophet showed me a hooded figure with a shadow," Morette Yew's voice called above the clamor, stern and sure. "The shadow remained even when the light faded." A mist has settled over Blunder, a curse by a vengeful deity, it confuses and consumes. Meet Elspeth Spindle: resident of Blunder and survivor of an infection that grants its sufferers magic abilities. In a world where magic is punishable by death, Elspeth counts herself lucky that she can pass for normal. That no one knows she's infected. That no one knows that a monster, The Nightmare, lives inside her head. For eleven years she's kept these secrets but one fateful night and one chance meeting changes everything. Suddenly she's thrown into a conspiracy against the King, to break the curse, and to free herself. I normally start with my positive observations first and then my negative, but for whatever reason I'm doing my review in reverse today. I noticed some problems in the beginni...

' "Just trust me, Nina." "I wouldn't trust you to tie my shoes without stealing the laces, Kaz." ' This gritty fantasy opens with the introduction of six quirky characters. Kaz Brekker, only seventeen years old, is a hardened career criminal in a street gang known as the Dreggs. Jesper is an ex-farmboy turned sharpshooter with a gambling addiction. Inej, aka The Wraith, is indentured to the Dreggs but finds she has a talent for criminality; she's dangerous, fearless. She's the thief of secrets. Wylan was born to privilege and ran from it; he went from being a wealthy merchant's son, to being a demolitions expert for Kaz's gang. Matthias, Kaz's opposite; run by what he considers to be a moral high ground, is a soldier trained to hunt down witches and was convicted on false charges. And then there's Nina, a witch, or Grisha, who put Matthias in prison and is desperate to correct that wrong. These six teenagers hardened by their own ...

Happy Sunday! I hope you are all having a great weekend! The Sunday Post is a weekly news meme hosted by The Caffeinated Reviewer. I'll be posting on the first Sunday of each month and I hope you'll join me. We had thirteen rainy weekends in a row, but the weather gods must have been looking out for me because it all cleared up in time for my vacation. We had a perfect weekend followed by a heatwave, which was fine with me because we were at a scenic coastal town, enjoying the breeze off the ocean. (This last photo isn't just a pretty view, it's an accurate depiction of the whale watch I went on.) I'm not usually much for heatwaves, but I can't say I hated my lazy days at the beach; reading and swimming and reading some more. And even though there were no whales on my whale watch, it was a pretty nice boat ride. And what was I reading? Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo . It will be my first review of July, so be sure to drop by tomorrow if you want to know more ab...

Book Beginnings on Fridays by Rose City Reader - Share the opening sentence (or so) of the book you are reading this week. You can also share from a book that caught your fancy, even if you are not reading it right now. "The only impartial witness was the sun." The Wager by David Grann It's summer and the mere mention of the word 'sun' sent me overboard (pun intended). I could picture clearly in my eye, the sun shining in a flawless sky. Now the sky in this book is rarely flawless but I didn't know that at the time I read the first sentence...and so I kept on reading. Book Blogger Hop Q:   Has your perspective on reading changed as you've grown older? If so, has it affected how you write your reviews?  ( submitted by Billy @  Coffee Addicted Writer ) Yes, my perspective has changed a little. I have always read for fun and will continue to do so, so don't get me wrong, but when I was in college, I took a ton of literature courses,...

Today's Top Ten Tuesday  (hosted by ThatArtsyReaderGirl ) was listed as Top Ten Freebie/Throwback , where you get to pick your own subject. Today I'm covering the Top Ten Author's I've Read: First Book, Last Book, and Favorite Book. This is a prompt I saw on (and stole with permission) Louise @ Foxes and Fairytales blog, who borrowed it from A Book Fiend Named Mel who was inspired by ChelseaZhao . The concept of this list is to pick authors you've read multiple books by, and say what was the first book you read, the last one you read, and your favorite by that author. 1. John Ajivde Lindqvist      First: Let the Right One In      Last: I Am Behind You      Favorite: Let the Right One In 2. JK Rowling      First: Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone      Last: The Running Grave      Favorite: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 3. Edgar Allan Poe      First: The Cask of Am...