Book Gala

   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 lot you'll probably want a pair of headphones as they're no

   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 you're not paying attention to the story.  I figured out what happened about halfway through

   If you're going to read, you might as well take a break from Harry Potter to learn some new things!  So every Friday I'll be posting something about non-fiction; it'd be awesome if you guys would chime in with books you've read or want to discuss.  I'll start off with a few recommendations!    Probably everyone has already read this book, but it's a good one.  'The Lost City of Z' is written by David Grann and tells the story of his search for a lost city in the Amazon.  It's not dry at all and reads more like an action novel.  The man who inspired this book, British explorer Percy Fawcett, is like a real life version of Indiana Jones.  He actually disappeared (and we assume died) while searching for the city in the early 1900's and David Grann decided to recreate Fawcett's journey to see if he could find the lost city.  Does he?  Well I'll leave that for you to find out!    The next book on the list is 'The Fingerprints of the

   I have a question for anyone that would like to share their opinion.  If you've read my blog you've probably noticed the Facebook and Google+ gadgets on the left side of the screen.  Facebook is somewhat useful, I feel Google+ is a waste of time but I keep it updated anyways.  I've considered opening up a twitter account in the hopes of getting more traffic for Book Gala.  My question is, does anyone actually use twitter?  I know lots of celebrities, politicians, etc use it but I would like the opinion of a normal person.  So yay or nay?  Useful or a waste of time? 

Ok, so I have a few books I'd like to recommend!  I've mentioned that I mostly read fantasy so if you don't care for it, this post probably won't be your cup of tea.  I've recently started reading the Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost.  They're cheap if you buy them on Amazon and it's a pretty good series.  It features a half human, half vampire girl who hunts vampires.  I know, I know, it's been done before.  But it was entertaining, well written and made me laugh out loud a few times.  Thankfully I wasn't in public!  If you're interested the first book is 'Halfway to the Grave'.     Another book I'd like to recommend is The Making of Gabriel Davenport, and it's written by Beverly Lee.  I haven't read it yet but it sounds very good and it's gotten rave reviews.   It's supposed to be a mix of dark fantasy and horror, although the author does specify it's old school horror; no blood and guts involved.  Per

     Just in case anyone missed it, The Turn came out on the 9th.  If you're a fan of Kim Harrison's Hollows series the Turn is a prequel.  Which is kind of cool, because she didn't give a ton of details about what happened during the Turn in her series.  Personally, I'm hoping we'll get to see a lot of Al, but who knows.  If you haven't read the Hollows series, you should definitely give it a try.  It's got vampires, demons, and a kick-ass witch that lives in a church.  It's a cut above the usual fantasy books and one of my favorite series (in case you couldn't tell).  And she's already finished the series, so no waiting on the next book!  Let me know what you guys think!

      The goal of reading one non-fantasy book a month is going very well!  Ok so it's only the first month but I really enjoyed Black Rabbit Hall.  I didn't think I was going to at first.  There was no magic, elves, or soul eating demons.  But Eve Chase is a very good author.  The book packs an emotional punch and her use of imagery is amazing.  You feel like you're actually in Cornwall.  I understand this is her first book so I'm definitely going to be putting her on my list of authors to read.  Some of her plot devices were a little overused (evil stepmother) but I think her writing will only improve in the future.  If you enjoy a good mystery give it a try you won't be disappointed.  Just bring some tissues and let me know what you think!  Now for next month I think I'm going to read either The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova or Natchez Burning by Greg Iles.  I'm leaning towards Swan Thieves as I've read The Historian, also written by Kostova, and

   The Lazarus Gate sounds like a must read for fans of science fiction.  It's set in Victorian London and follows the adventures of Captain John Hardwick.  It takes elements from Sherlock Holmes, the multiple universe theory, and throws in a little Lovecraft for good measure.  It's an odd combination that works well, at least at first.  It starts out interesting and then drags a lot during the middle, with the result that the climax feels very rushed.  I had the thought that the author couldn't possibly wrap it up when I was almost done with the book; there were only a few pages to go and a lot left unfinished.  I assumed I'd have to read the sequel.  But I don't, as he did finish the story with a somewhat unsatisfactory ending.  The captain was likeable enough, but some of the choices he made during the ending were a little off putting.     The author set it up so that a sequel will definitely be written.  However I have two problems with that.  Number one, he ma

   I don't know if a lot of people have this problem, but I find I really have to work at not just reading one genre of book.  I love fantasy; I read it almost exclusively.  When Winds of Winter comes out I plan to turn off my phone and shut myself in for a week!     So to break myself of this habit I've decided to pick one book a month to read that isn't fantasy or sci-fi.  This has been harder to do than I thought, as nothing has really caught my interest.  Not even Goodreads has helped, despite two days of searching.  So if anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them!  I don't care if it's new, old, or the start of a series. Update:  I've decided on a book!  I chose Black Rabbit Hall by Eve Chase.  It sounds like a good mystery novel; I'll let you know how it is!

   Ok everybody probably knows about this method but I thought I'd share just in case.  I know every city is different so they might not offer this service.  One of the perks of being a Florida resident that lives near Gainesville is the library system.  They have a service called Overdrive that lets you check out Kindle or Nook books or you can simply read them on a tablet.  It's a great system and if they don't have the book you want you can suggest it to be ordered.  I'm sure Gainesville isn't the only city to offer this service so if you haven't already you might want to check out your local library.  I used to check out paperback books but after finding suspicious bodily fluids smashed between pages (multiple times, I might add) I decided that was enough for me.  And it's nice for people that travel, since you can just check out free books on the go.