Moonangel's Book Review 2016

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Finished, Stormbird (Wars of the Roses, #1), by Conn Iggulden.  It's a historical fiction based on King Henry VI time.  I enjoyed it.  Well written.

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Currently reading, Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, #1), by Marissa Meyer.  If anyone has already read it, let me know what you think.  I am about 15% in and was about to quit because it was becoming a bit silly but then there was a twist that got me curious about what's to happen so I'm going to keep reading.  World building is very vague.  It's set in the far future in China (city called New Beijing) but otherwise I cannot create the world they live in in my head because the author didn't clearly describe it in her writing.  There are other things I find missing that could create a better book and better characters.  When I read, I like to have the world described/shown/detailed so that I feel as if I am there.  Just something I enjoy in good books. 

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Finished, Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, #1), by Marissa Meyer.  As mentioned in previous post, it's set in a post apocalyptic city, called New Beijing.  It's a retell of Cinderella with Cinderella as a cyborg but with many twists and turns.  The style is very similar to manga and sailor moon in particular.  At first it was hard for me to like it because I wasn't familiar with the authors manga style but once I got the hang of it, I got the characters.  Overall, it wasn't a bad read.  I did take long breaks in between and almost gave up.  Started reading other books but kept coming back to this one.   

The story falls in the YA category but I'd say more so in the very young YA like maybe between 8 and 16.

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Finished, The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls.  My daughter recommended it to me (she hasn't read it yet).  It's a memoir about a girl and her life around her parents.  It was very good.  Wonderful prose full of humor and sadness and all kinds of emotions.  I laughed until I cried and then there were moments when I cried until my eyes turned red and my nose clogged up.

Sometimes you go through life thinking you are the only one and then you read someone's life, written out beautifully, portraying pain you can relate to, even though you've never experienced their life.  But because you've had your own hardship, you know how it hurts. Sometimes you wonder: how on earth did they live through that?

I hope to do a thorough review on the book when I have more time.

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Finishes, Queen Rising (Stealing Snow, #0.2) by Danielle Paige.  It's a pre-story to the Stealing Snow series about a girl named Margot who eventually crosses paths with Snow. It's written fairy-tale style so it was fun to read.

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Finished, The Widow, by Fiona Barton.  It's a modern day mystery thriller.  Was pretty good.

Update:  Just wanted to add that because this book was about a kidnapping, when I was almost done reading, I had a nightmare that both my girls wore stolen when the family went to six flags.  It was the saddest dream ever.  When I woke up and realized it was just a nightmare, tears burned my eyes.  Scariest thing ever.  I'm so glad it was just a dream.

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Finished, Bird Box, by Josh Malerman.  It gave me goosebumps.  At first I was reading during bedtime but I got so scared I started reading it only in the day time.  The story is about a post-apocalyptic situation where some evil spirits came into being whom can't be seen but causes humans to commit suicide.  The story surrounds a group of people but mostly is seen through the eyes of a female pregnant protagonist.

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Finished, The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak.  This book is a historical fiction that takes place during WWII in Germany and is about a girl who stole books to read during a very unstable time but that was just a very small part of the big picture.  It was mostly about the people whom she loved.  It was an excellent read. I liked the idea of Death's POV. It was a heartfelt story that makes you wonder about war and the stupidity of it. I too loved Rudy. Was wondering when he'd get that kiss and couldn't stop crying when he finally did.

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good book, i agree. how do people live through that? i think it a lot of it just comes down to luck.

I believe in luck and sometimes luck alone, especially in this author's case.  Although, her parents were in a way, teaching her the ways of life, just not following it themselves, which I think may have been the "luck."

started this book but set it down somewhere and never found it again. ha. anyways, so many WWII novels, winning awards ("all the light we cannot see", awesome title, started that one too, can't say i was captivated). someone needs to start writing vietnam war novels.

If you get the chance, finish it, as well as: All The Light We Cannot See.  That one was also well done.  The great thing about novels like these is that they are written from a different perspective.  It isn't from a Jew's POV because there so many of those.  This new way of writing from either a Nazi's POV or someone who is neither, yet is stuck in the war, is somewhat fascinating.  The Book Thief was made exceptionally interesting (in my opinion) because it was written from Death's POV (aka the Grim Reaper).  I enjoyed that because it made the story a little less painful to bear.  It gave an after existence to those who passed so that it didn't just feel like their death was completely final.  It's hard to explain.  I think that's what's so great about these books.  You just have to read them to understand.

btw, The Nightingale was also a great WWII book about the Nazis.  This one took place in France when Hitler took France.

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yea, so far book thief is a little more interesting. i wasn't expecting death's pov, so that came as a pleasant surprise and kept me reading. i'll find it one of these days. i'm sure all the light is good as well, just haven't gotten far into it yet. plus, i'm waiting for paperback. i think they're milking the hardcover edition.

The paperback has been out for a year now.  Usually new releases come out on hardcover and remain for a year before paper back comes out.  I have a Kindle so I read both books on it.  If I buy every book I read, I'd be so broke.  But I do buy too, usually from Goodwill or with my B&N membership when they have sales to get the extra deal.  And, the newest release from of The Light Bringer series, The Blood Mirror, by Brent Weeks just came out.  I pre-ordered mine a couple of months ago and got it today.  So, sometimes I do that.

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Today feels like a Saturday.  The whole family was home so maybe that's why.

Anyway, started on this book last night:



I just love it already.

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"The Blood Mirror" is part of a series.  Did you read the other ones before starting on this one?

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"The Blood Mirror" is part of a series.  Did you read the other ones before starting on this one?

Yeah.  You kind of have to otherwise nothing will make sense.

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Finished, "The Blood Mirror," by Brent Weeks.  Enjoyed it.  Found quite a few grammatical errors though.  This is the 4th book of a 5 book series.  Some series you can read out of order but this one must be read in order otherwise you would be completely lost.  I like how the author did that.

The book continues from where Kip was about to leave the Chromeria with his with newlywed wife, Tisis, that his grandfather pushed upon him (btw, the mystery was revealed about the relationship between Kip and his grandfather).  This book didn't have as much action as the last two but it provided a ton of insights.  The White King (Karris White Oak's brother - Karris is married to the Prism: Gavin Guile, whom in this book is locked in the cell he created for his "brother" and locked by his own father) is lying low in this book.  He looks different as well.  Paryl (spectrum between I believe sub-red or superviolet?) is used more in this book.  In the other books, it was mostly a mystery thing.  SPOILER: we learn that Kip can also do paryl and chi.  Which means,  I think he will be the next Prism.  Either that or the Blinding Knife will take that all away from him.  Kip is known to be the Lightbringer but it's not stated 100% clearly.  Things can always change.  I'd like Teia to have a more significant roll like kill a demon or something.  I fear she'll go to the dark side but there's also Liv Danavis who currently works for the White King but I have a feeling she is just a spy for her own self.  I think she's a superviolet drafter.  She's really intelligent and smart so it's a bit scary if she really does follow the White King.  Her father was a captain or commander for Gavin Guile's army during the False Prism's War just before the White King gained power.

I'll be awaiting the 5th book.

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Finished, "Gone Girl," by Gillian Flynn.  This was one crazy psycho story, but I loved it!  At first it was hard to get into because I was simply annoyed by both protagonists who are also antagonists.  But, I didn't give up 'cause each chapter got more and more intriguing. This book was so creatively well written that I couldn't put it down.  It literally drove me nuts and I had to keep reading 'cause I needed to know what would happen next each time a chapter ended.

The story is about two people who meet and fall in love and get married.  Their true selves are revealed and they take the reader on a mystery thriller ride.