The Kingdom of Little Wounds by Susann Cokal | Book Review

The Kingdom of Little Wounds by Susann Cokal

(Wow! What a cover!)

My Thoughts

I want to give this book twenty five of five stars!  Five of five just doesn't do justice.

Setting the stage:  It's 1572 in Scandinavia in the royal courts of King Christian V on the eve of his eldest daughter's wedding.  (Aren't you already excited?  It's a fairy tale with princesses.)  However, poor Princess Sophia is unwell.  You see, her mother has The Italian Fire and has had it since before Sophia's birth, so Sophia also suffers from it, and perishes on the night she is to be wed.  Here in the courts of King Christian V, nothing is as it seems on the surface.  The long-suffering princesses and prince?  What's really afflicting the royal family?  The king is unwell also.  And one of the newest courtiers is scheming... This is a tale of a royal family in decline, the schemings of the royal court; the "magic" that always seems to take place in the presence of the court's single black slave; the hopes and aspirations of a simple peasant girl-turned-court seamstress.  And the madness of a Queen inflicted with syphilis.

Susann Cokal skillfully weaves the tale through multiple perspectives, never losing the reader, never losing the trail of the story.  The scenes are set so well you'll feel the chill of Scandinavia, the tensity in the presence of the ever-maddening Queen, smell the sickness in the nursery, hear the cries of anguish during a murder.

Yes, murder.  Folks, this may be a "YA" book but it's not for the faint at heart.  There's plenty of action in the bedclothes and plenty of discussion of the illnesses royals can contract from carelessness thereof.  There's intrigue... and murder.  There might also be a childbirth (I don't want to give anything away...)  The final part of the book is rife with illness and bodily fluids.  It's the 1570s.  The "physicians" are still "treating" people with leeches.  So it's all very real and pertinent to the story, I promise.  No *gratuitous* sex & violence.

And oh, how you will cheer for one of the main characters, Ava!  Ava, who had a very poor upbringing and who has already experienced such hardship and heartache before the book even begins!  You will cheer her on as she just tries to survive day to day in the palace.  Again, I don't want to give anything away, but just know that it's ok to keep cheering for Ava.

The author herself describes the book as a "syphilitic fairy tale" but it's so much more.  It's gorgeous and full of actual history facts (the author even includes an afterword explaining the history) and full of princesses and redemption.  And WOW--is it a rollercoaster of emotions!

Asunder by Jodi Meadows | Book Review

Asunder by Jodi Meadows

(Isn't that a gorgeous cover?)

My Thoughts

I absolutely loved Incarnate and now I absolutely loved Asunder!  A trilogy that keeps getting better and better.  Exciting!

**Stop reading right here if you haven't read Incarnate and you don't want me to ruin it for you.  No spoilers for Asunder, but naturally there'll be be spoilers for the preceding book.  You've been warned!**

The book opens nearly exactly where Incarnate left off.  Hardly any time has passed; only enough that the residents of Heart are starting to rebuild and return to their everyday routines after Templedark.  Nearly everyone is, naturally, rather suspicious of Ana after the part she played in Templedark.  And imagine:  they're suspicious not even knowing the truth about Meuric!  So Ana is, understandably, quite anxious to get out of town for a little while.  The book opens with her and Sam heading back out to Purple Rose Cottage and to Menehem's lab for some investigatory work.  How did Menehem make Templedark happen?  Can it (will it) happen again?  How can Ana and Sam stop it from happening?  Or should they actively try to make it happen again?  SO MANY QUESTIONS.  (Or at least I had questions.  Maybe you won't.  Maybe I'm slow on the uptake.  But I loved letting the story carry itself, and me, along at it's own pace.  Jodi Meadows is most excellent at world-building.)

Of course that's only the beginning of this book.  Along the way there's more conflict.  Sam and Ana must decide whether to share their newfound knowledge from Menehem's lab with the Council or with the other residents of Heart.  They'll also start seeing births of other Newsouls like Ana, and everyone in Heart has to refigure their thinking on that subject.  Or not.  Finally, there's another foray into the Temple, and this time Ana's not alone....

I think this book was even more enjoyable than the first because I already had the Range in my head.  I could concentrate a lot more on the characters and their interactions without having to think so hard about wrapping my mind around this entire other world with sylphs and dragons and Temples oh my.  Also, it didn't feel like Jodi Meadows was making any kind of declaration at all about Christianity or any organized religion or creation or Creationism AT ALL this time.  It just felt like a really good fantasy adventure.  Maybe I went in with a different mindset?  I only read them months apart.  Oh, and this is important, ya'll:  ANA IS MUCH NICER.  I guess she's relaxing a little and finally accepting that Sam and Stef and Armande really do like her, so she's a lot less defensive and a lot more awesome.  I can't wait to see where she and Sam end up.  And Li died during Templedark so that's a big load off her mind.

I still totally love the relationship between her and Sam.  It's so sweet!  You know no one but Li talked to her until she was 18, and you know Li didn't tell her about the "behind the bedroom door" stuff, so she's super naive about where their relationship goes next.  She's just so excited to kiss Sam occasionally and play a lot of music in between kisses.  Awww.  And she has friends, too, in this book.  Her life's getting pretty swell.  If only the Council would get off her back...

So I'm really looking forward to reading Infinite.  I wonder if there'll be a big jump in time between the two books.  At the end of Asunder, the first "replacement" Newsouls are just being born; it'd be neat if we got a glimpse of what their lives are like in Heart and what their little personalities turn out like.  I like Ana SO MUCH:  I just want a happy ending for her and Sam!  Please!

The Duck Commander Devotional | Book Review

The Duck Commander Devotional by The Robertson Family

My Thoughts

This is totally not an un-biased review. This is probably my fifth or sixth Robertson book and I've loved them all.  I'm also a huge Duck Dynasty fan.  So I pretty much knew I'd like the devotional before I even started it.  :)

The Duck Commander Devotional lived up to and surpassed my already high expectations.  I just love that this whole family is willing to live their faith out loud, and yet they never feel "preachy."  The Robertsons just continually point to God in every action.  They are definitely a family to aspire to be like.

In the Devotional, each day starts with a Bible verse, is followed by a family member's thoughts on that verse and it's application to their life, and ends with a heartfelt prayer for God to move in their/your life.  The family members take it in turn to write the devotional for each day, so you get some written by Phil, some by Alan, some by Willie, etc.  The Robertson ladies contribute too.  And here's where I got a little surprise:  some of the older Robertson kids contributed too!  What a great example that is for young folk.  They're just as well-spoken as their parents.  I recommended this book to a relative who has a 10 year old Duck Dynasty fan.  I also went out and bought the book for N.  It's a good recommendation when I go out and buy a book when I've already read the library's copy!

Adventures in Yarn Farming by Barbara Parry | Book Review

Adventures in Yarn Farming by Barbara Parry

My Thoughts

Let's just start this review with one of the book's chapters: "Lambies in Jammies." Let that sink in. And there's photographs! There's actual pictures of actual baby lambs in actual lamb pajamas! If that doesn't make your heart smile... well, you might be a robot. Because that's darn-tootin' cute, y'all.

So let's start there, with the photographs. This book is chock full of breathtakingly beautiful photographs of Barbara Parry's Massachusetts farm. WOW. I want to live there! I do not have the words for the sheer beauty of this book: you'll just have to go read it yourself. Totally 100% look-worthy. And the animals! Who knew livestock could hold such emotion in their eyes? Who knew sheep were so matronly & loving? Rams so handsome? Or llamas so stately? Seriously: the photographs make LLAMAS look STATELY (and majestic).

(N, my lovely curmudgeonly hubby, did NOT enjoy my squeals of delight at every new photograph of sheep/lambs/llamas/goats but what does he know?)

I also read this book. Admission: I didn't expect to read this book. I thought I'd look at cute pictures of lambs and then return it to the library from whence it came. But I got totally sucked in! Ms. Parry has a way with words. I loved the way the book was arranged by season, to take the reader through a full year on a yarn farm. And who knew it took so much work! You can't just buy a couple sheep & raise them in your backyard. You need rams and llamas (sheep guardians) and hay and multiple pastures. It's a LOT of work. I really appreciate my yarn more deeply now. The book never gets bogged down in too many details but yet is chock full of information.

Go get this book. At least look at the pictures. You should probably read the words too, because it's a great book. Now I'm off to convince N that we should be fiber farmers....

(Lambies in Jammies.  You're welcome.)

Y'all! Let Me Tell You!

Y'all! Tonight we had BACON WRAPPED MEATLOAF for dinner and it was so amazing. I got the recipe from Jessica Seinfeld's newest cookbook The Can't Cook Book. I just had to jump online real quick and spread the good word. 

(The best part is that I made the meatloaf this morning before work & left a note for N to put it in the oven an hour before I got off work. I could SMELL the awesomeness before I even got in the door!)

Allegiant by Veronica Roth | Book Review

Allegiant by Veronica Roth:  My Thoughts

(Isn't this a GORGEOUS cover?!)

This was a GREAT conclusion to the Divergent trilogy!  I've read quite a few YA trilogies and this might be the most "stable" one out there.  By that I mean that I was hooked from the beginning of Divergent and remained really excited through Insurgent and was 100% emotionally invested still at the end of Allegiant.  I feel like sometimes the authors of trilogies would be better off just stopping after Book 1.  I will definitely recommend this trilogy!

Allegiant picks up right from the end of Insurgent, so Veronica Roth doesn't waste any pages explaining what has happened between books:  the action starts right away.  And it's EXCITING.

It's really hard to know how much I can talk about in a review of a third book in a series/trilogy and avoid spoilers!  So stop reading right here if you haven't read Divergent and Insurgent and want to keep them a surprise.

At the end of Insurgent the reader is left with a completely chaotic Chicago.  Utter anarchy and madness, now that all the factions have been disbanded.  Tris and Four are together "officially" now, but the rest of their world is in shambles.  Plenty of people are willing to try to make this whole new factionless society work, but there's another group forming, calling themselves Allegiant, who wants to re-instate the factions.  Then there's Tris, Four, and few others who want to follow Esther's directive to leave the city to go to the aid of the people outside of society.  What they find beyond the city is a complete shock, and they must make a lot of decisions quickly.  What is truly best for society?  And who has the right to make those hard decisions?

THE ENDING.  OH. MY. GOD. THE ENDING!!!!  It is horrible and wonderful and perfect and so not what I wanted but yet such a brilliant way for Ms. Roth to wrap up the trilogy.  Please please please comment and let me know how you felt about Tris at the end of the book!  I finished this book 5 days ago and I'm still emotionally reeling.  Wow.

This trilogy ended up being so great in all ways: it had a great story, fantastic character development, extraordinary world-building, an exceptional ending, and beautiful language.  I got all three books from the library, but have added them to my wish list to own someday.

Toy Time by Christopher Byrne | Book Review

Toy Time by Christopher Byrne: My Thoughts

My only complaint with this book is that it isn't longer!  Christopher Byrne covers dozens of toys in his book, and there were only a very few that I didn't remember playing with myself as a kid.  The book is so well laid out that I ended up reading it cover to cover.  You know, with some non fiction titles similar to this one you would just flip through and read about a couple of your favorite toys then put it down, but I couldn't do that.  The chapters were arranged brilliantly, covering inside toys, outside toys, traditionally boy toys, traditionally girl toys, board games, fads, and classics. The book has lots of pictures of the toys themselves and sometimes shots of the original ads; every page is full-color.  Each toy got 1-3 pages and the author never drowned me in descriptions.  Such fun!  I want to go play now...