Book Gala

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 didn&#

   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 history

   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 into that culture.

   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.  Regardless it's still a once in a lifetime find; I can only imagin

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 KKK after preventing them from hanging a black man. So th

   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!  Devil in the White City is a very good book