Book Gala

I went up to Panama City this weekend; it's a far drive but the beaches there have always been worth it. White sand beaches and turquoise, crystal clear water; it was like going to the Bahamas, the water was pretty much the same color and it's cheaper! Well in case anyone is planning to visit there anytime soon, as a word of warning, the beaches are no longer as pretty as they used to be. Apparently, our brilliant public officials decided to dump Lake Okeechobee, one of the most polluted lakes in Florida, into the Gulf. This actually happened last year, but the beaches haven't recovered; I have doubts they ever will. It's pretty sad that we've polluted our oceans and lakes this much. I feel bad for the people that live in Panama City; in addition to the polluted water, they have to deal with tourists dumping trash all over the beach.    I couldn't help comparing it to St. Augustine, the beach I usually go to because it's much closer. The beaches there are ...

Sorry for the delay in writing a new post, I've been a little busy the past two months! I did, however, want to share an awesome series with you guys that I've been reading. The first book is The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski.  Originally written in Polish, the books are set in an alternate reality; the world and characters are richly drawn, and his prose is simply amazing. The story focuses on a Witcher named Geralt, who is to put it simply a monster hunter. Although that is not entirely accurate, as he follows his own code and doesn't blindly swing a sword at every monster he sees. The books have a heavy emphasis on morality and shades of grey. There is no cut and dried right and wrong, and Geralt is not perfect; he makes mistakes like the rest of humanity. There are six books in the series, with a new book, Season Of Storms, coming out next year, which is actually a prequel. As it stands now Sapkowski has stated that no new books will be written in the Witcher series. ...

   I went last year to Megacon; it was fun but I had no plans to go again.  But my sister found out Richard Dean Anderson would be there, so off we went.  We grew up watching Macgyver (we loved   Macgyver) and Stargate, so it was pretty cool to get to meet him in person.  Would I do it again?  Eh probably not, personally I think celebrities are worshipped a little too much in America. He did seem like a down to earth person though; unfortunately I couldn't say the same for most of the people waiting in line to meet him. One guy was dressed in the standard uniform from Stargate; alas he was behind me in line so I missed that interaction. Honestly I felt a little (ok a lot) odd standing in line just so I could get someone's signature. Had it been any other actor, I would've bowed out of that experience quite happily. (I can't stress enough how much we loved Macgyver.)  I did take a few photos, not as many as last year, but I thought I'd post them in...

   Angel of Death takes place in Rome and revolves around a series of crimes that have a religious connotation. It was originally written in a different language, so there are a few grammar issues, but not enough to detract from the book. The book has a strong religious background; fans of Dan Brown's books will probably enjoy this one. I'm not overly religious, so someone that is will probably get a little more out of it than I did. I still enjoyed it immensely; for some reason, the book had a strong eighties movie feel to me. Perhaps I've been watching Stranger Things too much lately. But anyways, the hypothesis that the author presents in Angel of Death is certainly an interesting one, and the author has done a ton of research to back it up. The plot is well written; it doesn't move terribly fast but it's not slow either. To me it adds to the atmosphere and authenticity of the book; most police cases are solved in weeks, not days. For an indie book, this is one o...

   I got a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair review. This is the first book the author's published, so I tried to be easy on it. I imagine it's probably scary publishing your first book. Basically, the book reads like Harry Potter fan fiction; I don't know if that was intentional but the parallels are there. The main character is an orphan? Check. Magic school for wizards? Check. Getting to said wizarding school through a magical portal at a train station? Check. Making a hated enemy on the first day of school? Check. Having a professor that loathes the protagonist for some unknown reason, at first sight? Check. Luna Lovegood clone, complete with wacky outfits? Check. Made up name for non-magical humans? Check. (They're cados in this book, not muggles). Wizarding village? Yep, it has that too.  One, two, even three similarities I could overlook, but to have these many similarities is pushing it a little.    One of the biggest problem...

   Caraval was one of the most anticipated books of 2017, I believe. I've seen it everywhere, from ads on Amazon to huge displays at the local bookstore. I couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy. Unfortunately, when I did, I devoured it much too quickly and then it was over! I wish I had pre-ordered the special edition, something I almost never do; it was that good of a book. Caraval is a show, one where the audience is a member of the cast. In order to win the prize, you must play the game...    The book centers on two sisters, Scarlett and Tella, who live on a remote island with their abusive father. Scarlett is recently engaged to a count; she thinks she can save herself and her sister through her marriage. Tella takes a somewhat dim view of this, understandably, as Scarlett has never met her intended. Fearing the count will be as bad as their father, Tella kidnaps Scarlett, with the help of an enigmatic sailor, and takes her to Caraval. The islan...

 I had planned to do something outdoorsy this weekend, but the weather here is kind of blah. I just finished Caraval; now I have to decide between Traitor to the Throne or Red Seas Under Red Skies . So what's everyone reading or doing this weekend? Feel free to share! Hopefully, you guys had better luck with your weather than I did!

This week I figured instead of doing more recommendations or a review, I'd post some photos for you guys that I thought you might find interesting. These are pictures of two replica ships. The bigger ship is called El Galeón Andalucia and is a replica of a 17th-century Spanish galleon. The smaller black one is a replica of the Victoria, the first ship to successfully circumnavigate the globe in the 1500's. This type of ship was called a carrack, in case you're interested. I was fortunate enough to see them when they were docked in St. Augustine, Florida; it was an awesome experience! I hope you guys enjoy the pictures! El Galeón is 170ft long and 125ft tall; standing next to her made me feel like a midget! She weighs over 495 tons.     Pictures of the Captain's Cabin The Victoria is a little smaller; she's only 89ft long and weighs in at about 85 tons. Those sailors that traveled around the...

Lovecraft is one of my favorite authors, so when I came across a game on my tablet called Elder Sign: Omens I knew I had to download it. It's available on Google Play or the Itunes store; it's a lot of fun! If you like horror or Lovecraft at all you might want to give it a peak. It's not your normal tablet game. It's complicated, and I had to watch all of the tutorial videos (yeah it's that complex), but once I got the hang of it I did fairly well. I still haven't managed to win, but maybe one day! It's $3.99 but well worth the price, and you can play it offline. I'll be putting it to good use tomorrow when I get my oil changed!

I love "true" ghost stories, and this book sounded like it had some awesome ones to share. And it did! Some of them were truly freaky, so much so that you might have trouble believing that they actually happened. Whether they did or didn't, it's still fun to be spooked. I must be ready for Halloween because all I've wanted to read lately is spooky stuff. If you're in the same mood, this might be the book for you. It's not perfect by any means. It could use a good editor, and a couple of the stories left me scratching my head. By which I mean nothing paranormal or mind-bending seemed to happen. In one of the stories a 6 man crew was flying on a bomber, and for some reason, the pilot became convinced there was a seventh man on the plane. Why I don't know, it's never really made clear at all. Or maybe my reading comprehension is lacking! If you happen to read or have already read this book, kindly let me know what you got out of that tale. One other p...

A strange and creepy carnival comes to town by train at three in the morning, witnessed by two young boys, William Halloway and Jim Nightshade. It's a good start to a book I had high hopes for. I mainly wanted to read this book because one of my favorite books, Johannes Cabal the Necromancer , was so obviously influenced by it. Well, it was influenced by a lot of things, but this book is one of them. I found Bradbury's book enjoyable, for the most part. It was a little old-fashioned, sometimes, in its prose, but it was written in the 1950's so that's not unexpected.  It's part coming of age novel and part horror, although the horror part is a little lacking; it might have been pretty dark for the 1950's, but I don't really know. The carnival's purpose in this book is to steal people. In those days, a carnival needed freaks for its shows. Well, this carnival gets it's freaks in a somewhat unorthodox way, through changing people by using their desires ...

   So after a two-week break, I finally found time to get this going again!  What've you guys been reading these past few weeks? I haven't been reading a lot of non-fiction. I did try to read Monster of Florence again, but I just can't get into it. It's not that it's poorly written, Preston tells a good story. It just doesn't hold my interest right now; I might try again later when I'm in the right mood for it. So on to the next book! I do have a few suggestions for you guys. Hopefully, one of them will spark your interest!     The Sixth Extinction: an Unnatural History  is about how humans are affecting the planet and how we could possibly (almost certainly) be causing a sixth mass extinction. Cheerful, eh? Still, it's something we should all be aware of, and maybe we can work to fix it.     In Cold Blood  focuses on the murder of the Clutter family in 1950's Kansas. Another cheerful book! It's not an unsolved murder, as the two perpetrato...

This isn't my giveaway, but I thought you guys might want to enter it. If you haven't read Robin Hobb, she's an amazing author. The first book in her Assassin series, Assassins' Apprentice , was published in 1995.  I was only 10 years old at the time; I'm now 32, so that tells you how long I've been reading her books. I usually get bored with series if they go on too long, but this one is so good I eagerly read each new addition. Her books are epic fantasy and focus on FitzChivalry, simply known as Fitz, and his companion the Fool (So far we don't know his real name, and I doubt we ever will), as well as other characters. Fitz is a royal bastard in the kingdom of the Six Duchies, and his Grandfather the King decides to make use of him by making him into an assassin. Hobb does an incredible job building her characters and their relationships, and you will feel everything they feel. I almost never cry when reading a book; in fact, I can only remember two books...

This book centers around a house on an island off the coast of Scotland, and two women who are involved with it. Hetty, who lives in modern day London, is the last of her line and inherits the house; she plans to turn it into a hotel. Beatrice, who lives in 1910, is married to Theo Blake, Hetty's indirect relative and the owner of the house. A skeleton is discovered underneath the floor in the modern day, and the story goes from there. I found Beatrice's story much more interesting than Hetty's unfortunately. She was a woman of her age, but she tries to do the right thing for the people living on her land. Hetty seems caught between her revolting kind-of boyfriend Giles and his plans for the island, her desires, and the wants of the native people. My sympathy for her is kind of limited, as the locals make it clear they don't want a hotel on their island, and she just ignores them. She even goes so far as to ignore the wishes of her ancestor, who had given land to some...

In case you guys haven't noticed Non-Fiction Friday is going on a break this week. I know that disappoints you all greatly! 😉 I've been busy looking at RV's this week, so I haven't had time to read much or write. I spent close to eight hours driving today to look at an RV that was in pretty sad shape. Man, can they make those things look awesome in the photos. I took the precaution of calling the dealer before I left since it was so far away. I specifically asked about water damage (since the roofs of these things tend to leak like a colander if they're not maintained); the sales lady assured me there was no water damage whatsoever. When I got there I saw that the roof of the coach was so rotten it was in danger of caving in. And you could put your finger through the walls inside the coach quite easily; that's how soft they were. It's a shame because it was a nice RV at one time. Someone had gone to some trouble with it; the floors were hardwood and the bat...

   I'm going to do something a little different this week, and talk about a personal issue. I found this book the other day:  Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking . (Another long title!) If you, like me, are an introvert you might want to give this book a read. If you're an extrovert you ought to read it as well; it'll help you understand some of the issues introverts deal with.    I've struggled with being an introvert my whole life. High school and college were a nightmare; it seemed most of the people were there to socialize, not learn.  I remember one particularly horrible incident in high school.  I usually ate lunch alone and then spent the rest of the time in the library. One day the principal found me and made me sit with a group of kids I didn't know. Kids I had nothing in common with and had no desire to talk to. Needless to say, I hid from the principal from then on. I'm sure she thought she was helping, but I ...

   I picked Crow Hollow for my next non-fantasy read; it was cheap at .99, and it sounded interesting. The book centers on James Bailey, an agent of the British Crown, as he arrives in Boston in 1676 to investigate the murder of another agent, Benjamin Cotton. He has a Native American partner with him, to help him question the Nipmuc tribe, the tribe responsible for the murder of Cotton and most of Crow Hollow. His partner is killed, and he winds up teaming with a Puritan widow (the widow of Cotton, incidentally) who was once held captive by the Nipmucs; helpfully she's picked up their language. Her daughter was with her when she was captured; she was released, but her daughter is still a captive, and she wants Bailey's help getting her back.    The author seems to have done his research for the book, at least on the surface. The Nipmucs were indeed indigenous to that area and did join Metacomet's rebellion. (If you don't know what that is, I suggest reading a ...

   Having read all of the Hollows books, I was mightily disappointed when the series ended, as a lot of people were. I can understand why the series ended though; it must get tedious writing about the same characters year after year. So when The Turn was announced I was ecstatic; I generally don't enjoy prequels, but I happily bought this one. If you've read the main series you already know what happens, but The Turn fills out a lot of details, and we get to see a lot of familiar faces. Kim Harrison's writing is spot on, as usual. Trisk is a flawed but entertaining heroine, while Trent makes you want to smack him.  Repeatedly, with a two by four. It's an excellent return (and farewell, probably) to the series. I don't think I would've enjoyed it near as much if Agaliarept hadn't been in the book; he's such an excellent character and my favorite from the Hollows series. If Kim Harrison ever decided to write a series about Al, I could die a happy person!...

  I've got a few more recommendations this week. I was going to review The Monster of Florence, but sadly I never got around to reading it before my library loan expired. So now I have to wait in line again!    The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival is about the hunt for a man-eating tiger in Siberia. It sounds interesting, and I've added it to my TBR list, even though I'm sure the cat dies in the end. (I love big cats and hate to see them killed.)     The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Madness, Murder, and Obsession is written by the same author that wrote the Lost City of Z. This book is a diverse collection of strange but true stories investigated by the author.     Arabian Sands is about one man's desire to explore the deserts of Arabia and meet the people that live there. Sounds dangerous but exciting! In my opinion, Middle Eastern culture is not well understood by the average American, so this should be a fascinating insight ...

   The Making of Gabriel Davenport starts off strong; I'll give it that. It hooked me from the beginning and had all the right elements, including a genuinely creepy atmosphere and excellent writing. The first sentence is "She dreamed in grey, the colour of misery." I mean, how could a book that starts off like that be bad? I couldn't wait to read what came next. It didn't pack quite as much punch in the middle of the book, in what should have been the best part. There was an element that was entirely unexpected, and I had some trouble coming to terms with it. I could tell from reading the synopsis that Gabriel would be changed drastically in some way, I just didn't know he'd be changed in that fashion. I know that's really vague, but I don't want to spoil the book. Once I got used to the unexpected element, I enjoyed the story.     It is an excellent book, especially for a debut novel. However, I do think that the author does herself a disservic...

   I thought I'd recommend a few more of my favorite books. I'm always looking for new stuff to read (which I think I've probably mentioned too many times!). If you have this same problem, maybe you'll find something here! Let me know what you think in the comments, and please feel free to share your favorite books!    The first series I want to mention is Johannes Cabal, written by Jonathan L. Howard. The first book is Johannes Cabal the Necromancer . It's darkly funny and somewhat disturbing, at least to some people. I lent it to my Mom to read; when she gave it back a week or so later, she told me she didn't see the humor and to please never lend her such a book again. However, if you like Neil Gaiman, their humor is a lot alike. Howard is also a much better writer than Gaiman, in my opinion. To me, Gaiman tends to beat you over the head with his humor in some of his books, to the point where I couldn't even finish them. Howard doesn't do that; his h...

   I finished Pirate Hunters: Treasure, Obsession, and the Search for a Legendary Pirate Ship , one of the books I recommended last week. It made my pirate-y little soul very happy. To the casual reader, a book about finding a pirate ship is probably not a big deal; they find old shipwrecks all the time, right?  Well yes, they do, and some of them have millions of dollars worth of treasure that the finder probably won't get to keep.  BUT (strong emphasis on the but) finding a pirate shipwreck is much rarer. The only one that's ever been found is the Whydah in 1984, with a nice haul of treasure to go with it. The Golden Fleece, which is the subject of Pirate Hunters, makes the second.  (Yes, they think they've found Blackbeard's ship off of North Carolina; unfortunately, they can't prove it yet.)  Sadly for the treasure hunters, the Golden Fleece did not have a huge stash of treasure in its hold.  Regard...

I had an idea to do a giveaway tied in with some kind of book reading goal. I got the idea from Goodreads, which lets you set a goal of how many books you want to read for the year. But there's no way to set up that kind of contest, not without relying on people's honesty, which is not the best way to have a contest. So I'll decide on another option; probably through Amazon as it's the easiest way. I also have to decide what the prize will be, so if you guys have any suggestions let me know! I just finished reading Pirate Hunters, the book about finding the pirate shipwreck in the Caribbean. Which gave me the idea of giving away an authentic piece of eight from a Caribbean shipwreck; however, I didn't realize they were quite so expensive.  Sorry guys, but I can't quite afford that prize!  Stay tuned for more giveaway info!

    Historical fiction is probably my favorite genre after fantasy, so I thought I'd share a few that I've really enjoyed. These are older books, so don't expect to see any recent bestsellers on here.    The Amelia Peabody series is set mostly in the late 1800's/early 1900's Egypt. Written by Elizabeth Peters, who was an Egyptologist in real life, it blends mystery, humor, and a small dose of the supernatural. (Very small dose.) I've read seven so far and enjoyed them immensely. There are nineteen books in the series, with another one due out this July. I'm assuming this is the last one as sadly Peters passed away in 2013. If you'd like to read them the first book in the series is Crocodile on the Sandbank .    A Journey to Matecumbe starts out in Kentucky after the Civil War has ended. The main character is Davie Burney and he tells the tale of how he and his uncle got on the wrong side of the ...

   If you read last week's Non-Fiction Friday post, I recommended the book Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident.  I finished reading it myself this week; it wasn't terribly long.  The author did a lot of research and debunks many of the myths surrounding the case.  The book also gives you a good idea of what the hikers were like in real life without fictionalizing them.  It lent a sorrowful air to the book to know that these nine young and vibrant people are about to have their lives cut short.  The explanation he proposes for what happened to the hikers is plausible, well thought out and well-researched.  Is it what really happened?  Eh it's possible, but we'll probably never know for certain.  (Unless one wants to build a time machine.  Somebody get on that.)  If you enjoy a real life mystery give it a try, I don't think you'll be disappointed.    Now for some new book recommendations!...

   I've been wanting a tablet for awhile and, not having a ton of extra money, I can't afford a very expensive new gadget.  So I picked up the Kindle Fire 7 inch for $50.   It's a little small but if you want the 10 inch it'll cost you another $190, so that was not an option for me.  Now, on to the good stuff!  It runs games very smoothly and loads them quickly, which is nice.  As far as streaming goes, I cannot get the Youtube app to work, as it always tells me I need to enable Java.  Which is an easy fix but I don't feel like messing with it so I just go to the Youtube website.  The videos run great, no lag there either.  The Netflix app runs fine as well, but like I mentioned before it is a little small to watch TV on.  Yes I'm spoiled; if I'm going to watch TV I like to do it on a big screen.    For the speakers, they're not bad.  If you're going to watch TV or listen to music a...

   I know it's been less than a month but I finished The Swan Thieves early.  Once I got into it, I was hooked.  I couldn't help but compare it to Kostova's first novel, The Historian, as I was reading.  In my opinion The Swan Thieves is the better written book.  It centers on a psychiatrist, Dr. Marlowe, and his new patient, Robert Oliver, who attacked a painting and thereby ends up in Dr. Marlowe's care.  (Yes you read that right, he's the attempted murderer of a painting).  Anyways, the book follows Marlow's journey as he tries to unravel why Oliver attacked the painting, and why he keeps painting the same woman over and over again.     As with the Historian, much of The Swan Thieves is told in letters written between the characters.  This may sound boring or even confusing, but it's not.  It adds a nice flow to the story.  There really is no mystery, unless y...