In which She writes about a Succubus

For as long as I can remember I've wanted to be a writer and by golly, that's what I'll be...eventuaaallllyyyyyy. I spend more time reading about writing and just reading in general than I do writing. I know what genre I'm going to write: fantasy. But wait, there's more where that came from! The main character of my novel is a succubus; it's my way of merging the two types of stories I like to write,] erotica and fantasy. I've been writing erotica since I was about 12 and now it's gotten even better, the more years I've gained (not dead yet, go me!), the more experience I've had and the more adult books I've read.

Believe you me, this is not going to be a Fifty Shades of Grey novel. I'm not saying I'm a brilliant author who is close to being a New York Times Bestselling author right now but I'm not bad either; and I sure as hell don't royally suck ass at writing/researching. The thing with Fifty Shades is that it sucked butt and most people could write better than E. L. James, and come up with much better story lines that don't involved screwed-up lookalikes of BDSM (though she did do a ver good job depicting non-consenting sex and violence against women).

So, dear readers, be on the lookout for a fantasy/erotica/adult-themed book from me in the future! I've never written a whole book of the many I've started so here's to hoping I stick to this one.

I want to give you a book!

Dear readers,

I want to give you a book. I know exactly how exciting it is to get a brand-new book, especially one we can choose for ourselves, so I'd like to do that and make you as happy as I get when I get a book (is there a better feeling?).

The book I want you guys to FIGHT FOR DEATH for is Trapped by Michael Northrop. You'll see in a moment from the description on Goodreads can be summed up like this: realistic, non-fantasy/scifi dystopia. I'm not a fan of realistic fiction but I love, love, love dystopian novels that are the latter. But, I know that there are plenty of you readers that do like realistic fiction and I've only ever given out fantasy/scifi so I want to give everyone a little something they could enjoy.

Without further ado, I give you the blurb from Goodreads:

The day the blizzard started, no one knew that it was going to keep snowing for a week. That for those in its path, it would become not just a matter of keeping warm, but of staying alive. . . .

Scotty and his friends Pete and Jason are among the last seven kids at their high school waiting to get picked up that day, and they soon realize that no one is coming for them. Still, it doesn't seem so bad to spend the night at school, especially when distractingly hot Krista and Julie are sleeping just down the hall. But then the power goes out, then the heat. The pipes freeze, and the roof shudders. As the days add up, the snow piles higher, and the empty halls grow colder and darker, the mounting pressure forces a devastating decision. . . .

If you like the sound of this, and I very much hope you do, go ahead and enter for a chance to win this book. You can enter daily for some options so, in order to give yourself more options, I highly recommend you keep entering every day.

Trapped by Micael Northrop

Best,

Angie

The book I couldn't finish, the one I can't put down and moar memes

WWW Wednesday is a weekly event where you share (1) What you’re currently reading, (2) What you recently finished reading, and (3) What you think you’ll read next.

1) I was reading Ensnared by A. G. Howard but then I couldn't get through it. I don't do well marathoning series. I get burnt out. I like remembering what just happened but it's like watching a week-long movie which just wears me out. I can't focus that long and I don't particularly want to; it's nice to have a little break. So, although I was reading it, I stopped and moved on to Lean in for Graduates.

Grammy got me that book when she was first diagnosed with the cancer that killed her last August. She wanted to help me have the best future possible, especially when she knew that she would be gone soon. I graduated last Saturday so it's about time that I read the book--and read it fast! I need to get myself out there, I need a full time job and a new life. I hope this book teaches me how to get those (with only a little help from The Secret).

2) I recently finished Unhinged by A. G. Howard. Loved the book so much that I figured it'd be an awesome idea to read the whole series at one. Wrong. So wrong.

3) I'm already reading what I'm reading next. Slayers by C. J. Hill. So far, so good. I started it llast night as soon as I got it in the mail from Book Outlet and I'm loving it so far. So far. As in, 20 pages into the book and I can say that only as far as I've gone I've liked.

Now that that's over, let's look at a book on my wish list: (Wednesday meme) Talon and Rogue. Whelp, that was easy.

 I know very little about them other than the cover looks like a dragon and I fucking love that. (Which is why I'm currently reading Slayer).

Happy reading, my fellow book addicts!

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What, you don’t carry a book around with you in your house?

It's time for another meme! This one: Booking through Thursday. Tell me in the comments if you do the same; or what you do differently.

Do you carry a book around with you? Inside the house? Whenever you go out? Always, everywhere, it’s practically glued to your fingers?

Of course I do! Who knows when a moment will arise during my day that I can open a book and read as long as the break lasts. Better safe than sorry, right? I carry at least two books around, so I have options. I usually read two books at a time, either one non-fiction and one fiction or both fiction. Occasionally I have two nonfiction books at one time but my brain can only process so many books I cannot easily get into at once so I’ve found that none to one nonfiction books are best; especially considering my attention span and how easy I find it to get lost in fiction.

Inside the house I carry my phone and a book pretty much wherever I go. If I’m watching TV? There are commercials that I could be reading through. While I cook dinner? That’s at least ten minutes of semi-interupted reading I could be doing. Besides, I, quite frankly, feel naked and confused without a book by my side or my phone on top of it.

I choose my purses based on how many books I can fit in it and a notebook for my writing (NYT Bestselling future author here--just watch!). It kills me that I can’t read my book while I drive. I’ve only had one wonderful experience where traffic wasn’t moving at all for about an hour so I read instead of driving, occasionally drifting forward when necessary (don’t judge me--I wouldn’t do it in traffic that was moving at least 10 mph faster than that. [winkey face]).

The book I bought that falls flat

Wishlist Wednesday!

Zomg, you guys! It's almost Thursday, which is almost Friday and Friday is the mother-flippin' weekend, bro. Next to Top Ten Tuesday's, this meme is my favorite. It's the meme that gets me excited about the books I super-duper want but don't yet have that I must--MUST have on my bookshelf. It'll take some time before I add these puppies to my rainbow--that's right, I said rainbow--bookshelves.

For this installment of Wish List Wednesday I'm going to introduce you to a book I just got that I've read several times then lost; I held off as long as possible but I just couldn't wait any longer. I first saw it on Oprah, it was a documentary about the Law of Attraction, the idea that thoughts create your reality, something that is not a secret, though by titling the book The Secret, Rhonda Byrne created a world-wide Law of Attraction-fuck-fest and took credit for this not-at-all secret.

Regardless, it's a cool book, one that I need to read to remind myself that I create my reality. Good premise, bad book, but I keep reading it. Here's what you should know before you pick yourself up a copy: some of this is bullshit. Like, for instance, the whole blame-the-victim-for-rape thing. Not cool. You have to pick and choose carefully what you want to believe.


Happy reading, my little book worms! And choose carefully, if you plan on reading this book, what you want to apply to your life and what bits you can tell to kiss your ass.

 

The Authors I Super-Duper Want to Meet

This is easy. So. Easy. No question about it. Some of these are new authors I've discovered in the past year or two (Maas, Takir, Bardugo, Carriger) and  and then others that I've been reading since I was young (J K Rowling, 'cause she's super-duper awesome, Garth Nix and Wrede). The list is in no particular order, I've love to meet every single one of them.

1.  Sara J. Maas: Throne of Glass series is one of the most recent series I've read. I follow dat woman on Twitter (@angie_on_Books if you want to follow me) and she's super awesome. Her writing is superb and, for a while, it was my favorite series until I read a few others I loved along with Throne of Glass. The day A Court of Thorns and Roses came out I snatched myself a copy. Of course, I promptly lost it, but now I have a pretty dust jacket to look at while I eagerly await the finding (it's somewhere in my car or house!) of it so I can read my butt off.


2. Saaba Tahir: The author of my most recently favorite book, An Ember in the Ashes. I've already raved about her book and the review will be live very soon. Anticipate it, folks! You're going to love the review (because I wrote it, of course you will!) and the book as well. I would love to meet that talented woman to have her sign my second copy and the dust jacket of my first copy that was totes stolen because, hey, it's a great book. I hope they enjoy it as much as I did!


3. A. G. Howard: I didn't discover her until about a month ago, when I saw the cover to her series, Splintered. My broke ass took a giant leap of faith and asked Abrahms books for a review copy of the first book, and later with the last two. I was bouncing-up-and-down-my-work-chair-why-are-people-looking-at-me-like-that thrilled that they sent me the review copies. I gobbled the first two up and am slowly working my way through the third, Ensnared. Sometimes when I binge on a series that isn't Harry Potter I get overwhelmed by the world, I usually take a break. I'm thinking a break from this series would have been best but I'm halfway there and there's no looking back now!


4. J K Rowling: This should go without saying. Seriously, why would I even have to mention her all all? You all should know how amazing she is and want desperately to meet her and read her books.  All the books I've read and for the ones I haven't. Harry Potter is a series I read every year. And I'm even more excited than ever because I just got the whole Harry Potter series in hardback and oh-em-gee that makes me so happy and it even more exciting to re-read!


5. Tamora Pierce: Along with The Enchanted Forest Chronicles and Garth Nix's books (Shade's Children and Abhorsen Trilogy--which has now grown to four books) was one of the authors I remember reading in middle school through high school, that got me hooked on the fantasy genre.


6. Patricia C. Wrede: Another authors of one of my favorite series as a middle schooler and still true today. A wonderful friend of mine got me the series that I first remember reading as a (very) young adult. I can never read it too much. The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Calling on Dragons


7. Gail carriger: My first introduction into the world of Steampunk, a world I will always be a part of, especially when I have monies, you know, so I can attend fun thingies, buy more Steampunk books and invest in some Steampunk styled clothing. It's something to look forward to one day; I eagerly await the time when I can be a part of that culture to the fullest. Her first book I read with The Finishing School series, Etiquette and Espionage-- a YA series and then, not too long later, I read the first book in the Parasol Proctorate, Soulless. I enjoyed the second series much more than the first but that didn't stop me from continuing the YA series (have read the first two, have yet to read Waistcoats and Weaponry.


8. Garth Nix: Sabriel, the first book in the Abhorsen trilogy was another memorable middle/high school series that I loved and have read at least twice. I have the last two books and will eventually get the first and then eat my heart out, reliving the series again.


9. Veronica Roth: I've read Divergent and Insurgent and am putting off reading Allegiant. Honestly, I don't love this series but I own all her books, and I'd love to get them signed. The second book was boring, the first was full of surprises that kept me wanting to read all the more. This is a series I will finish but I'm in no hurry to do so. Regardless, Roth is a talented author, one as I hope to be one day, and she has a very creative mind (you kind of have to when I comes to fantasy/scifi, of course). My mother loved the books, as many other people have, as well as the movies so I say, more power to her! I want to meet that wonderful author and, one day, at my leisure, finish her Divergent series.


10. Leigh Bardugo: This is the author that made my top three series of (so far) 2015. I will never forget this series and will re-read it in a few years, if not sooner. I'm still super-flippin'-bummed that there won't be any more coming along (at least that's my understanding). That woman. Dat woman I must meet and have her sign all mah books!

There you go: the easiest TTT I've ever written. Great times reading all of these author's books, I can only hope to meet them someday. Happy reading, my little book hounds!

 

The Gift of Reading

I want to tell you a story, a heartbreaking story of a book that went missing and was never found. Prepare yourself: get a box of tissues and some chocolate to sooth the soul. When I lost An Ember in the Ashes last week I had about 40 pages left. I was quite literally wrought with grief. There was no way I could afford to get another copy and I very much wanted to have it in my collection. It's one of those books that I want to keep for-fucking-ever.  I’m drowning in doctor bills, now more than ever since I broke a rib coughing because I had bronchitis. I was feeling super down because I, quite simply, should NOT be buying books. (Isn't that a horrifying thought?)

After I bought my first copy of An Ember in the Ashes I devoured that thing like I hadn’t read in days (I had, btw) so when I lost it (no one turned it in so is it fair to say it was stolen?) that sucked. Like, it sucked major ass. I only had $30 left on my Barnes and Noble gift card and that, quite frankly, is how I’m going to get books the rest of the year. I lamented my bad fortune on Twitter, like a true reader, incredibly upset.

But then, the next day, I woke up to a “Congratulations” message from Barnes and Noble presenting a gift card for $20 from a “Friend of Sabaa Tahir”. It was amazing, I was so touched, that someone cared deeply enough about books that they gave me enough money to buy another copy with a note, instructing me to get the book and finish that darn thing! So, I threw on some clothes and broke every speed limit ‘till I got to Barnes and Noble. I literally ran inside and grabbed another copy of the book and raced down the stairs and purchased it. I went back upstairs (my favorite part of BN because the YA fiction is up there) and I read the 40 pages I had left until I finished it and started the first stage of grief,  as I am prone to get after I finish a good book. Browsing the YA section cheered me up a bit and took my thoughts off the sad fact that I'm going to have to wait a very, very long time for the sequel to come out.

To be surrounded by books, new books, that I will one day own, and to read the gifted book in that store, with the new books to keep me company, was a wonderful feeling. I am so thankful to “Friend of Sabaa”, I hope they realize how special that was and have great it made me feel.

And I owe another thanks to a friend and a follower who gifted me The Enchanted Chronicles series, one of the first series I remember reading as a young girl; it helped me through some really shitty times in my life and to own it myself, to be able to take that nice, new book off my shelf and read it--without facing all of those fines I end up racking up at the library with every single book I check out--as many times as my heart desires, is a wonderful feeling.

Getting the gift of a book gives me a thrill like nothing else I’ve experienced in my 24 years of life. When it’s a good book, I not only have content for my blog, I also have gone through a whole ‘nother world and I will always have that experience; when it’s not the best book, then I have some content for my blog, too, and I learn a bit more about myself as a reader. Regardless, I want the opportunity to own the worlds that I get to live in so I can do it over and over and over again.

I’ll write another post about why I like to own books, but, very briefly: Owning a book makes me feel connected to it, in a way I don’t experience with library books. I get so very excited waiting for one in the mail or going to a bookstore and picking one or two out, knowing that it’s mine, all mine and that I can read it, love it, then put it on my bookshelf surrounded by other books I love; books that I can keep forever. I tried explaining this to my mother and sister--that me getting books is like them getting clothing frequently. It’s "my thing", just like clothing is "their thing." I’m sure makes a lot more sense to my readers than it does to my sister and my mom ;)

Again, a million thanks to Friend of Sabaa and Steven who gave me the gift of two worlds and many lives. I look forward to (re)visiting them many, many times. A review of these two books/series (in the case of the Enchanted Forest Chronicles) will be coming up. Stay tuned and happy reading!

-Angie

 

Can just own this book already?

Happy hump day, know what that means? We're nearly to the weekend! To celebrate this lovely day of the week I'm going to bring you two memes that I just discovered(ish): "Wish lists Wednesday" and "What are you reading Wednesday?"

Figuring out my "Wish list Wednesday" was easy as pie. I just came from Barnes and Noble where I drooled over Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard. It's been on my radar since it came out but I've had to pick and choose what books to buy very carefully because my Barnes and Noble gift card is almost gone *cue the depressing violin*. I went into BN with the intention of buying it and I left with Endgame and An Ember in the Ashes. I devoured An Ember in the Ashes like I hadn't read in weeks (something that would never happy to me) but I'm holding off on Endgame in order to read A Court of Thorns and Roses.

Honestly, I bought Endgame over Red Queen because I had a 20% off coupon and I wanted to use it on the most expensive book I wanted. Because I spent my coupons I wasn't ready to also buy Red Queen, even though it's incredibly cheap. HOW WILL I SURVIVE WITHOUT NEW BOOKS? I'm going to have to restrain myself from binging on books, something that unfortunately makes me very happy (can we get that violin again, please?). (I can get about 2 new books with what's left.) There's something wonderful about owning a brand-new book that gives me such pleasure; it's something I want to do All. The. Time. But, eh, life.

On a happier notes, this is what Goodreads says about Red Queen:

The poverty stricken Reds are commoners, living under the rule of the Silvers, elite warriors with god-like powers.

To Mare Barrow, a 17-year-old Red girl from The Stilts, it looks like nothing will ever change.

Mare finds herself working in the Silver Palace, at the centre of
those she hates the most. She quickly discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy Silver control.

But power is a dangerous game. And in this world divided by blood, who will win?

And now, I'd like to introduce a new meme I've discovered: "What are you reading Wednesday?" where I answer a series of bookish questions.

1. What’s the name of your current read?

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sara Maas.

2. Go to page 34 in your book or 34% in your eBook and share one complete sentence.

I hurled my hunting knife. Fast--so fast I could barely see it--he slashed out with a paw, sending it skittering away as he snapped for my face with his teeth. (p. 34)

3. Would you like to live in the world that exists within your book? Why or why not?

Sounds incredibly dangerous. Honestly, I haven't even started the book yet but I've looked at the inside cover of the book and there's a faery land! Who doesn't like the fae? Maas built her other world so well--Throne of Glass--that I don't doubt that I'll love this one, especially if I can successfully throw a hunting knife...well, any knife and I'd have more chance of defeating a scary monster than I do now.

 

 

Ten books I will probably not waste my precious reading time on

This one isn't too hard. Some of the books I'll list are the following  books in a series I've already read or books that are just so terrible, I wouldn't touch them with a ten-foot pole. I've determined the terribleness from ratings and reviews I've seen online and some of them are books I know that are super, duper stupid.

To start the list:

1. The Host by Stephanie Meyer. It's written by Stephanie Meyer, that alone says enough. Twilight was so awful that I thought she couldn't make another books as awful as the first ones she wrote. WRONG.

2. Dreadnaught by Cherie Priest. I didn't love the first book, Boneshaker, but I was able to tolerate it so I requested Fiddlehead, the fifth book in The Clockwork Century series when I saw it in the bookstore. At first I thought it was the second book, so when I got it I put it last in the list of books to review. Then I looked into it and Tor told me that I could, in fact, read the series in whatever order I wished. And O-M-G that book took forever to read because it was so incredibly, painfully boring. I won't be reading any others in the series; at least, I'll look into it more carefully.

3. 2nd and 3rd books of Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James, the author that totally messed up Dom/sub relationships and promoted the abuse and rape of women. BDSM is a power play but it's neither of the two above that I just mentioned. In Fifty Shades, though, this is not true.

I don't know the titles of the books and they're not worth what little effort it'd take to Google the series to find them. So. Not. Worth. It.

4-10. Anything that's classic like: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn or anything not from the last two centuries. They bore the fuck out of me, all of the, especially The Great Gatsby. I realize that that makes me a horrible English major but it's true, I won't deny it: I hate the classics.

Included in books 4-10 would also be anything by Shakespeare. I'm so over that guy.

I'm cheating. I need to study for my final tomorrow but I couldn't resist doing this meme. So, the last few book are included in "the classics". Do you get that those bore me? I think I made that clear. As an English major I was forced to read these books over and over and over again. To begin with, I didn't like that, but when three classes made me read The Great Gatsby I nearly pulled my hair out.

So this probably won't happen again anytime soon

It’s pay day Monday! You know what that means: books! Books! SO MANY BOOKS!

Just kidding, after being sick for so long and my usual amount of astronomical medical bills, I won’t be getting books for a long, long while. Fortunately, I am blessed with the remainder of a $30 gift card and my impending graduation. And when those two run out, I'll probably become a stripper or move to Las Vegas and try out being a call girl (I read The Secret Diary of a London Call Girl--I've so got this!).

Gifts from a friend for graduation--It’s only been, you know, seven years since I started college--a job well done, I'd say!

The Mortal Instruments series

(currently on City of Bones)

City of Ashes

City of Glass

City of Fallen Angels

City of Lost Souls

City of Heavenly Fire (has been ordered, waiting for it)

Unhinged

Ensnared

With my gift card(s):

An Ember in the Ashes x2

Endgame: The Calling

A Court of Thorns and Roses (in the mail, it comes out tomorrow!)

Empire of Night

With my last gift card, when  win the Book Outlet contest or, when win the lottery:

Red Queen

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Talon

The Winner’s Curse

The Girl from the Well

William Shakespeare’s The Phantom of Menace by Ian Doescher

When Quirk Books offered me the opportunity to review the first installment of William Shakespeare's Star Wars I turned down the offer. I'd reviewed the first and the second and I was not a fan. After having been in a semester-long Shakespeare class that felt like I'd been in it for years, I was not happy having Shakespeare in my life again unless it was for school. However, after thinking about it for a bit I realized that I knew just the person who should review it for my blog: a fellow English major and blogger for Nerd Underground.

Ladies and gentlemen, Angie presents to you: A review by Alex, her friend with the English degree!

“The Phantom Menace” has been regarded as the worst “Star Wars” movie of the big six. Having watched it as a young padawan, I have nothing but good memories of the forsaken film. But how does Ian Doescher’s, the author responsible for “William Shakespeare’s Star Wars” series, dramatization of “The Phantom Menace” hold up?

THE GOOD:

Fans of Shakespeare and the “Star Wars” series will have a fun time reading this play. Doescher's Shakespearean text is far easier to read and to understand than any of Shakespeare's original works. This makes it more accessible to those who are more fans of “Star Wars” than Shakespeare.

The setup for “The Phantom Menace” works well for the plot of a Shakespearean play. Two ambassadors go to negotiate with an evil federation taking advantage of a young queen. The heroes flee to the "wilderness" (aka Tatooine), they comeback to take what is theirs and the play’s drama is resolved by good conquering evil and people dying.

Doescher’s “The Phantom of Menace” further develops the original characters by fleshing them out with soliloquies. Characters are provided with more agency than what they had in the film. Padmé Amidala is a young queen, judged by the older council she’s surrounded by. Obi-Wan is a Jedi who’s grown weary of his position as apprentice to Qui-Gon. The most notable change Doescher does with “The Phantom Menace” is with Jar-Jar Binks.

It would have been easy to make Jar-Jar the fool character, as seen in many of Shakespeare’s plays. Doescher puts a spin on the most disliked character in all of “Star Wars.” Instead of being the fool providing the comic relief of the play, Jar-Jar is the trickster character. Jar-Jar is clever and plays the fool out of necessity to forward his plans of uniting the Gungans and the Naboo. His actions are no longer intended for comedic effect, but are sly moves to carry the story along. On Tatooine, he steals Sebulba's food, so they may meet with Anakin again, as opposed to just being a foolish move of a simpleton. Even the pivotal decision of returning to Naboo for the final two Acts is manufactured Jar-Jar.

Doescher also likes to make vague references to other movies, books, etc. From Dr. Seuss, to Liam Neeson films, even from The Bard himself. They may be tricky to find, but some are unmistakable. In Doescher’s afterword, he says that each line of Mace Windu’s has “a little something special thrown in for the Samuel L. Jackson fans.”

THE BAD:

The play is very long. The entire story of "The Phantom Menace" is re-created, scene for scene from the movie with Doescher only going off-script at least twice. The constant cutting back and forth from scene to scene to accommodate for a few lines of dialogue causes the story to drag.

What adds to the play’s reading time is the narration of action scenes. Often what happens in stage plays is action is only portrayed in stage directions. In many plays, pivotal conversations and events even happen off-stage. Doescher chooses to expand on these scenes from the film as opposed to glossing over them. This can cause moments to become long and drawn out, especially during action scenes when there was very little to no spoken dialogue in the film.

The story also lacks true depth. With Shakespeare’s original works, readers can analyze and interpret the text in different ways. Dialogues and monologues carry far greater weight and deeper messages than just reciting the occurring events.

Doescher’s writing is more the latter, just a narration of events written in iambic-pentameter, a feat not to be downplayed.

RATING

“William Shakespeare’s The Phantom of Menace” is a fun read for those who are both Shakespeare fans and Star Wars fans. It is easy to pick up and read if one is only the latter. Doescher adds much to the film’s dramatization in terms of character development and giving them agencies. However, in terms of length, Doescher’s additions can be too much.

Top Ten Books Which Feature Characters Who Kick Ass

Top Ten Books Which Feature Characters Who Kick Ass

1. Hermione Granger--Harry Potter: Uh, Hermione...duh. She not only takes care of Harry and Ron and repeatedly saves them from death, she’s also the smartest which in like, all time.


2. Ginny Weasley--Harry Potter: You know, only saves the world with Harry, Ron, and Hermione; even if her part wasn’t displayed as prominently


3. Selaena--Throne of Glass: One of the better books I’ve read that features a woman who doesn’t need a man to save her. Of course, the men do occasionally save her, but we know that she is perfectly capable of saving her own fine self.


4. Alyssa Gardner--Splintered: Incredibly courageous, even if she doesn’t fight like the other women I’ve named so far. She goes through hell and back--well, Wonderland and back--to save one of the people who means the most to her, her mother.


5. Sophronias--Etiquette and Espionage: Another young woman who is brave beyond measure but mostly just gets herself into trouble and then, you know, out of trouble (as best she can). She’s sneaky, can fight, and can outthink even the smartest prof.


6. Alina--Shadow and Bone: Words cannot describe how amazing Alina is. She saves the world pretty much all by herself. She orchestrates plans when the kingdom falls to attack and finds a way to raise her abilities to the max, making her the most powerful Sun-Summoner of all flippin’ time.  


7. Cia Vale--The Testing: Cia is chosen for the most difficult, life endangering honor and has to fight to save her life and the life of the man she loves; and she hardly breaks a sweat doing it.


8. Thomas--The Maze Runner: Quite frankly, I’m including Thomas because I feel like I should add some men in here but most
   of the books I’ve read feature strong women anyway, so this was a difficult choice to make. He’s in this list because he is a strong leader. There you go, man #1.


9. Debrah--Darkly Dreaming Dexter: Police Lieutenant  and adopted sister of the serial killer Dexter. She can fight, saves lives, and curses unlike a true lady, and I fucking love her for that.


10. Joel--The Rithmatist: Dat boy makes the most out of his “disability” and disappointment. I’ve read the first  book and truly don’t know what it’s going to go from here.


11. And # 11, because I’m a rebel. Neville--Ha
    rry Potter (all books): Oh I soooo wish I could give away how awesome he is and how important he is to this series but I can’t, I just can’t ruin the end of the series for you like that.

 

 

 

Review: Splintered by A. G. Howard

Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.

When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own

I loved this book! I think. It wasn't an extraordinary book like Shadow and Bone but it wasn't as terrible as Alice through the Zombie Glass (quite frankly, most books are better than that one). Splintered is a unique book, a retelling of Alice in Wonderland, with a lovely love triangle.

The Good: The original Alice in Wonderland never appealed to me.  I avoid classics like the plague; I find them tedious and boring and they are never able to catch my interest and keep it like a good book should. But Splintered? That book had me reading it during class (shhh, don't tell my profs!), at lunch, while I should have been doing homework, and late at night. It was an easy read, I read it in two nights and I loved every minute of it.

In Alyssa's family, the women were crazy, to the point of institutionalism. From the blurb on the back, I think it's safe to say that it's no spoiler to say that Alyssa finds out, during the course of this book, that the women in her family weren't crazy--far from it--they were adventurous and brave. Not only was Alyssa gutsy but impulsive, she was the hero of the story, something I very much appreciated. I suppose the author really wouldn't have had much of a book if Alyssa didn't embark on a quest to, you know, save the world but they could have done it badly, and they didn't.

The story resembles a screwed up version of Alice in Wonderland, a story so similar to the original but yet so different and disturbing that I was legit creeped out through a good part of the book. Have I mentioned that I like creepy? This wasn't a boring remake at all. In fact, I prefer this book to the Alice movies I've watched (assuming they kept to the story line).

Have I mentioned that I adore love triangles? This one between Alyssa, Jeb (her longtime friend) and Morpheus (the childhood friend who is manipulative but beautiful and caring) was especially interesting, considering Alyssa had to choose between a human and a mythical creature (for lack of a better word). Each man had something different to offer her (see spoiler section for my opinion of the final verdict).

I want to address something I don't usually: the aesthetics of the book. Not only is the cover beautiful and colorful, the font is purple, something I've never come across before. It was beautiful, though at night my eyes were so tired that the purple morphed into black font. Not the end of the world. I've found that books that have a model's face on them often makes me put down the book. After all, this is my reading experience. I don't want someone else telling me how my characters look. Their face is for me to come up with, not the publishers. Fortunately, this didn't deter me; that could be because I received this from the publisher and felt obligated to read it but I was also drawn to the colors on the cover and the font color so even if I didn't get it for review, I would have read it anyway.

The Bad: The way Jeb treats Alyssa is eerily similar to how Edward in the God-awful Twilight series treats Bella. He ends up being the hero, though Alyssa wasn't incapable of taking care of herself but she was pestered way to many times by Jeb about staying safe. That doesn't mean she's a strong female lead--she very much was. She was brave, intelligent, and cunning but she took too much of what the men said to her to heart.

The Final Verdict: Well worth your time. Now, for the fun part:

Be ye warned, spoilers ahead!

Oh my gosh. Jeb. Jeb went through the whole book with her and was the supporting character to Alyssa's story but...but... then he's gone. He's not dead, mind you, but he may as well as died in Wonderland. When Alyssa wished that he had never come with her, she saved his soul, but she also severed a special connection she had with no one else and would never have with anyone other than her mother. But, a mother-daughter relationship is very different from the romantic one she developed with Jeb and therefor did not make up for the lost time and romance she had with him during their adventure.

I'm glad her mom got out of the asylum. I was wondering how they'd make her seem sane again and I thought being stocked up with meds were a great way to make her no longer bat-shit crazy.

As for Morpheus, well, I can hardly feel bad for him. For one thing, there's no reason to feel bad for him. Although he only kinda-sorta got what he wanted, he got to live--outside of the box, no less--and he could still flit in and out of Alyssa's world. Whether that was to spy on her or watch out for her, that's TBD.

Wasteland by Susan Kim and Laurence Klavan

Welcome to the Wasteland. Where all the adults are long gone, and now no one lives past the age of nineteen...Everyone is forced to live under the looming threat of rampant disease and brutal attacks by the Variants-- hermaphroditic outcasts that live onthe outskirts of Prin. Esther thinks there's more to life than toiling at harvesting, gleaning, and excavating, day after day under the relentless sun, just hoping to make it to the next day. But then Caleb, a mysterious stranger, arrives in town, and Esther begins to question who she can trust. As shady pasts unravel into the present and new romances develop, Caleb and Esther realize that they must team together to fight for their lives and for the freedom of Prin. --Goodreads

First impression: I'm torn about this book. While the premise was great, and the writing was strong, it didn't leave me wanting more as soon as the book ended (unlike Taken or Throne of Glass). This isn't a book I feel compelled to rave about but I would still recommend it.

As you can tell just by looking at the cover and title, this book is set in a post apocalyptic world where only the children survive and anyone over the age of nineteen dies a terrible death. In other words, my kind of story.

The cover is ominous which immediately made me curious as to how depressing this book has the potential to be. It wasn't clear when I started reading, and it took a good fourth of the book before I figured that out.

The Good: The writing, as I mentioned above, is strong. You can't tell that the book has two authors because it flows smoothly (unlike the stories I wrote when I was in middle school with a girl friend). The world the children/young adults live in is terrible and appears to be hopeless. However, they've worked out a system.

At fifteen, they marry. At seventeen, they reproduce, and at nineteen, they die. 

I love that the children/young adults found a way to thrive without adults. Stories about strong young people fill me with hope. Too often adults do not take children seriously. This book portrayed tough young people, people that can take care of themselves. As a Teen Library Assistant, this gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling inside, knowing that there's another book out there that young people can aspire to be like the characters.

The book is split into three parts. I absolutely love it when books are arranged that way. It helps me put the story into perspective and keeps the timeline in focus. Skar is a variant who has a part in this story, a somewhat substantial to the story though she was hardly the focus. I was very happy with this, none too often do the misunderstood "other" characters have a considerable part in the novel. While she didn't have her own chapters, she was, as the "other," seen and represented.


The Bad: It just didn't grab me, or make me want to keep reading. The only reason I finished this book was because I was trying to see how many books I could read in two weeks. (Don't judge me, any reason to read is a legit reason.) Of course I wanted to see Esther be successful but halfway through I just didn't care. I could have lived with out finishing it and been quite all right, thank you very much.

While this wasn't the longest book I've read, 328 pages is still pretty substantial. However, with each new chapter the authors (or publishers, who decides how to organize the book?) left 2/3 of the page blank, which makes me wonder if they were trying to make the book longer and were too lazy to write a few more pages.

The character of Esther and Caleb were very well developed, which meant that the ending was of no surprise whatsoever. I like twists to my reading and there were none.

Final Verdict: I wasn't a huge fan of this book. Although my review has more "The Good" than "The Bad" I think the weight of the two tips the scale in favor of "The Bad." This won't be a story I read again, however, I did also get the second book in the series, Wanderers, so I will continue to read this series. (I'm not going to let any book from my Book Outlet Haul go to waste.)

I'm giving Wasteland two stars because it wasn't a book that will forever hold a dear place in my heart but it was decent and there are many people who would certainly enjoy reading this. If you decide you want to give this book a spin you can click on the image and I'd get a very small portion of the affiliate sale, FYizzle.

Review: Taken by Erin Bowman and The Trope of Mystical Pregnancy in Literature

Gray Weathersby has grown up expecting to disappear at midnight on his eighteenth birthday. They call it the Heist--and it happens to every boy in Claysoot. His only chance at escape is to climb the wall that surrounds Claysoot. A climb no one has ever survived... --Goodreads

First Impression: I read this book right after reading Wasteland so my expectations for Taken were high, but then again, most books would be better than Wasteland. The cover is a beautiful combination of colors and that's truly what drew me to it. As we now know, the boys of Taken are, well, taken at eighteen, so I thought it was clever that the "k" in the titles was floating upward. I too often deem the value of a book by it's cover, don't judge me, I know you've done it, too.

Oh, did I mention that this is a YA dystopia novel? Totes my cup of tea.

The Good: Most of it was good, I'm happy to report. The premise of the book is very, very similar to Wasteland. After their late teens the boys are taken, just like the the late teenagers of Wasteland died. In Taken, before the young men are abducted, they have to reproduce with the women of the city. They have this system, that I found absurd in a cool kind of way, where they cycle through the young women, trying to get as many pregnant as possible. With every partner they have the opportunity to mate with them for life (until age eighteen) but for many young people knowing that their mate is going to leave in a few years made them hesitant to form any sort of emotional attachment. That was Gray's issue with the system. It was all about reproduction.

I love the idea of a society surrounded by walls. The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau or Delirium by Lauren Oliver are two books that I loved that had an encaged society. In both books we know that the wall is there for protection against beings or humans that wished to do the society harm. However, the walls weren't always a good thing, they were hiding a part of the world that was either too dangerous or was empowered enough to fight the people in their. They were prisoners, but they didn't know it. Likewise in Taken. 


As much as I enjoyed this book, one of "The Bad" was just too overwhelming. Allow me and Anita Sarkeesia to explain why this was so disturbing.

The Bad: The feminist in me had a problem with something.  As citizens of Claysoot, the women bodies were being used to make babies, they were a vessel with one purpose, something I found seriously messed up. Women are being reduced to their core function; they were baby-making machines and very little else. Anita Sarkeesia from the YouTube channel Feminist Frequency addresses, what she calls, the Mystical Pregnancy, where women are reduced to their biological functions (though the pregnancies in this book are not mystical, it's still relevant information):

So, yes, this qualifies as a negative. Unfortunately, this means that the young women had no choice but to get pregnant, it was their role in life. It took a lot of focus to try to get over this trope of the mystical pregnancy. 

Final Verdict: It's up to you to decide if you're comfortable supporting this book. Honestly, I was, because it was a catching story with an awesome dystopian world that kept my attention. It's just important to keep in mind what is going on with the societies in YA fiction that forces impregnation of young women. 

Magical Plants and Friend Recomendations

Magical plants is the topic of the meme from Tough Travels. While I don't have an extensive collection, I can give you some of the magical plants from the Harry Potter series.

The one that first came to mind was Gillyweed, from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. This is the first book in the series that really started to get dark, the fifth book was when shit hit the fan, which makes this book very special to me. Gillyweed was a magical plant that gave Harry, as the name suggests, gills for an hour so he could complete a challenge in the tournament that Hogwarts was hosting. Basically, this is one of the many plants in the series though this is one of the two plants that I remember being used for good. Mandrake roots also helped de-petrify the people/creatures, that were petrified in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

That's it for the magical plants meme, I don't doubt that I've read more books with magical plants but my brain is friend so that's it for now.

There's another meme I want to address from Booking Through Thursday which asks the following:

Do you read books recommended by friends? Or do you prefer to find your own books to read.

I definitely prefer finding books on my own. My friend David, is one of the few friends whose suggestions I actually act on (the last two recommendations were Redshirts and Leviathan Wakes). He and I have read many of the same books and like the same subject material. His sister is another friend who, in our youth, suggested that I read Emma and Calling on Dragons, the latter ended up being one of my favorite middle school-high school books that I've ever read, Tamora Pierce's series, The Lioness Quartet, being my other favorite.

When it comes to non-fiction one of my Mom's friends who ended up being my friend, has given me some suggestions I plan on acting on while my other friend, Jose, does share similar interests. I haven't read any books recommended by him but we have read many of the same books and I know for a fact that, because of this, he has good taste ;)

 

Review: The Crystal Bible by Judy Hall

The book's directory format and beautiful, full-color photos ensure that the crystals are easily identifiable. Descriptions, which accompany each of the crystals, provide all the information on their appearance, worldwide distribution, attributes, actions and healing properties. All the major and less known stones currently available are contained inside, including those only recently discovered. A comprehensive index cross-referencing crystals to applications, aliments and conditions make this book a vital reference for all crystal users.
--Goodreads

I am so happy I finally got this book! I've had bronchitis for the past month and I very much needed something beyond meds to make me feel more powerful than my respiratory problem. Not only are crystals beautiful, they also vibrate positive energy that can treat pretty much any ailment that is humanly possible to have--and some for animals, too.

The Good: What I love about this book is that it's not only a reference guide but an instruction manual. Though the content is limited, the majority of the book is dedicated to information on the individual crystals. I was a bit disappointed that she only covers a bit over 200 crystals. I also read her book on healing crystals that went more into depth. In that book, she offers twelve fundamental stones for Chakra clearing/healing and not all of them are covered in the Crystal Bible. What a bummer, considering I have so many stones but not all the ones I absolutely need for a full spread.

The beginning of The Crystal Bible starts with the "Background of Crystals" which covers the creation of the crystals in the Earth and explains that crystals "emit energy, especially on the electromagnetic waveband." The chapter (or, rather, the section with the big heading) on crystal healing was what I was especially interested in. One of the few downsides with this book is that it made me realize how many additional crystals I need to get in my collection. I can't afford that, man. Fortunately, the back of the book, the index, covers all the properties of each crystals, so for different ailments there are often several crystals that can treat the "dis-ease" of the body.

Also covered is the care and keeping of crystals and crystal selection. Then begins the reference part of the bible. Each crystal has an extensive wealth of knowledge offered, including the color and appearance; attributes; healing; position; and covers specific colors if there are several for each stone.

And then comes the back of the book: a long description (separated into little sub-catagories) of all the possible crystal shapes and how they can be used for healing. Under "Quick Reference" the Chakras and corresponding stones (with several options for each) are addressed with more variety than her other book (more about that later). The association of "Crystals and the Aura" are addressed as are various body parts and crystals.

The Bad: Although this book is 400 pages there just aren't enough crystals covered. I would imagine that the size of the smallish, thick book can't be much longer than it already is, but I still need more. However, this book covers the basics. I just don't know what else I'm missing! There is not enough information in this book for one to cleanse/purify, discharge, charge, and set an intention to the crystal, so another book is necessary to educate oneself on those matters. But, that's not something I expected in a crystal reference book. I was led one in the beginning, however, and expected such information.

There wasn't enough pictures of the various rocks for my liking. Some pictures would cover the raw crystal, while others just showed a tumbled stone. Not all variations of a single crystal were shown and that made it difficult for me to

The Verdict: There are several sections, like making gem elixirs, that don't apply to me. There is no way you'll find me drinking water that a crystal has been in, just because I'm not confident that I can assure that I truly cleansed them; however, that could easily apply to the person next to me. There are not detailed instructions in this book on how to purify crystals, but I'll shortly be reviewing another book that does.

Review: The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson

Initial Thoughts: The cover looks like a children's book. That was my first thought when I saw it in the library. Upon further investigation I suppose it doesn't. It looks very steampunk-y. You're going to notice that I really like Steampunk, both as a genre and as a style.

What made me think it was a children's book was the fact that it is yellow (the color of old paper) with a fair amount of red in it... And it had a horse on it that looks like a toy but if you look more carefully you'll see that it's actually a springpunk horse that is used instead of (or in addition to) car-like transportation.

Yeah, I totally misjudged the book from the title. Fortunately, I had enough sense to request this book from the publisher, even though it looked like a children's book and I am very happy I did. If I hadn't, I may never have gotten around to reading it and that would have been a crying shame. Which brings me to:

The Good!

Sanderson created an entire world, religion, and way of life. It was quite impressive, really, that he came up with so much. It may not be as thorough as a book like Game of Thrones but it was incredibly well thought out and detailed. For instance, the book takes place in the "Isles of America" where there are 60 states that are all independent island, which meant that for me, as an American, it was relatively easy to picture in my head where everything was. But, even if you're not familiar with America, there is an easy fix! Open to the cover of the book and you'll find a map of the America's Isles and the location of eight other (presumably) Rithmatist Academies. Sanderson never touched on the other schools, though, so I'm assuming that that will be addressed in his further books (can it please be 2017 yet?).

 He invented his own kind of genre--Springpunk--which is pretty much like Steampunk except with, you know, springs as the mechanism that moves their technology as opposed to the main form of power being steam. There are pieces of Steampunk involved with this book. There's an emphasis on clocks and gears, which may actually be more than what they seem.

I loved the degree of separation between the Rithmatists and the "normal" folk. It was like high school all over again and perfectly believable. Had everyone gotten along I would have been disappointed. This arrangement made it all the more plausible

The Bad:

The fact that there wasn't as much action as I would have liked. The ending is amazing, I kept tossing and turning as I read in my bed because it was giving me so much energy with all the action. But, unfortunately, there is not enough action throughout the book. For the topic to be about magical warriors there wasn't enough fighting. I really wish we had gotten to see the liveliness of Nebrask.
But, quite frankly, that's the only negative thing I could think of.

Be ye warned, spoilers ahead!

Omg, dude. Why isn't he a Rithmatist? Even with all the buildup, which, of course, made me believe that by the end of the book he would certainly become one. Whelp, that boy didn't. He's still not a Rithmatist. I suppose that could be a good thing, though, in an inspirational way. Like, you don't have to be one of the privileged (if you can call them that) to make a difference

I would have said in the first half of this book that he was certainly going to become one because he had the makings of a true Rithmatist and his fascination with them. Perhaps he would be like me, at twenty-four I still haven't gotten my letter of admission to Hogwarts but I know it'll happen someday.

I'm betting that that boy is going to get the powers of a Rithmatist and totes own the stage. But then why, at the end, did his lines not move? Sanderson is killing me, man. I need Joel to be a Rithmatist!

I absolutely love the connection that forms between Joel and Melody. It has the potential to become romantic but it wasn't even the slightest; they were just good friends who shared fun/dangerous times together. Ultimately I do think it's going to turn romantic, but we won't find out until about 2017. Ugh.

0

Why the Fudge Do I Keep Picking This Meme?

Every time I go to type "WWW" in the title I feel like I'm writing "World War" and then somehow my weird brain adds a "II" in there. I'm not writing about World War Anything, instead I'll be telling you the following:

(1) What I'm currently reading: Insurgent by Veronica Roth. I read Divergent over a year ago and I vaguely remember liking it so when I got a Barnes and Nobel gift card I logged onto their website and bought the boxed set. I'm only a few pages in (my plans to read last night until I got a headache and fell asleep went according to plan, unfortunately, and I ended up falling asleep after about ten minutes of reading. I'm looking on the bright side, though: this means that I'll have all the more energy to read late tonight!

(2) What I just finished reading: The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson. I had heard many great things about him so I thought I'd try him out. Tor sent him my way and a review will be coming up shortly (hint: I loved this book).

(3) What I think I'll read next: This is a terrible question to ask me. How the fudge am I supposed to know that? If I love Insurgent I'll probably move on to Allegiant; if I don't then I'll read whatever else appeals to me, probs Red Rising.


That last question always gets me, man. I try to predict what I'll read next and usually I'm very wrong; which is not the worst thing in the world, considering I'm still reading.

Review: Wonderbook by Jeff VanderMeer

I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how to flip this image.

This all-new definitive guide to writing imaginative fiction takes a completely novel approach and fully exploits the visual nature of fantasy through original drawings, maps, renderings, and exercises to create a spectacularly beautiful and inspiring object. Employing an accessible, example-rich approach, Wonderbook energizes and motivates while also providing practical, nuts-and-bolts information needed to improve as a writer. Aimed at aspiring and intermediate-level writers, Wonderbook includes helpful sidebars and essays from some of the biggest names in fantasy today, such as George R. R. Martin, Lev Grossman, Neil Gaiman, Michael Moorcock, Catherynne M. Valente, and Karen Joy Fowler, to name a few. --Goodreads

I'm going to start off by telling you that I didn't finish this book; I'm also going to ask you to read through this review because this book is so awesome, and so good at what it does, that I've had it to review for months and I'm still not done. It deserves a review, especially considering it was published somewhat recently, in 2013.

For those of you not familiar with speculative/imaginative fiction, here are some examples of genre's that all under that phrase: There's Steampunk, an alternate history type of scifi/fantasy/horror fiction like Boneshaker by Cherie Priest or Gail Carriger's Soulless series; we've got soft/hard science fiction (think: Star Wars and Arthur C. Clark, respectively); fantasy and horror. If you have any other examples, leave them in the comments below!

The Good: Pretty much everything. There are the inspiring images perfect for the speculative fiction writer; images that are educational; and they are all entertaining. From the very first page you're hit smack in the face with SO. MUCH.GOING. ON. that you can't hear a thought in your head. You're bombarded by creatures and graphs that are readable while a few aren't. But the reason this didn't deter me is because it made it fun. Like, really fun.

The author is one I'm familiar with. He's written several non-fiction/fiction-y books on Steampunk that were very fun to read. There were lots of pictures and, as you've noted up above with my CAPS on, the pictures in this book are creative and complement the book.

The craziness of the illustrations are very fitting for speculative fiction. When I read speculative fiction I expect to get carried away. I don't want to think about life, that's why I shy away from realistic fiction (I live it often enough, anyway). As much as I enjoy reading books on writing I'm often bored, or it can't keep my attention. Not so with the Wonderbook (except when I came across exercises--though that's their doing!). Reading Wonderbook was like reading science fiction, I was transported out of my world and into VanderMeer's world, where creatures had one eye, five eyes, and were the colors of the rainbow. 

This was a fun book to read. The writing exercises, craft advice, author shout-outs and the exciting way these are all delivered are reason enough to buy this book. What makes this book even better is that it can totally be of use to fiction writer's of any genre, though it caters to imaginative fiction.

I want to touch on the quality of the book. The binding is nothing special but it's sturdy. What's really cool are the pages. Each one is somewhat glossy and of a thicker material than the average $9.99 paperback book and is in full color. No, it's not $10 but the price is pretty darn good taking into consideration all the elements of the book that I just raved about. The online price for both Amazon and Barnes and Nobel is about $17. Well worth the monies, I assure you.

Why I didn't finish the book: I just haven't. I've been reading at a snail's pace. But this isn't a book that needs to be read front-to-back at all; in fact, I would recommend against it. For starters, it's incredibly detailed and includes writing exercises. Don't get caught up in reading the book, stop and actually do them, they are well thought out and tailored for the imaginative fiction writer. It was taking me three times the usual time it takes for me to read a page of a regular fiction book.

That being said, the facts are intended to make you stop and think and, most importantly, remember what was being suggested.

The Bad: If you don't like a book that is full of graphics that may be distracting, this book isn't for you. The pictures are the highlight of the book so you have to be ready for them. Unfortunately, this does mean that this will take a long, long time to read. But, as I mentioned, maybe that's not such a bad thing for you.

Quite honestly, those are the only "cons" I found with this book, and they're all subjective. To me they weren't cons but for someone else they may be.

Final Verdict: If you're an aspiring intermediate writer of (speculative) fiction, or are interested in following that path, this is the book for you. While the target audience are those who are interested in imaginative fiction--as evident from the subtitle--

The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction

 it would work just fine for the general fiction writer.

Books on My Spring TBR list

Ten? I have to just pick ten? Believe me, after my birthday book haul I have plenty to read but it's so hard to single out a few. The last two books I read I read because I got one for review and the other had a pretty cover. I seem to be in the bookish mood where I pick up pretty books.

But, this is The Broke and The Bookish's meme so I shall follow their rules and *sigh* pick ten. I'm staring at my overflowing bookshelves right now trying to pick a few. I'm just going to dive right in.

1. Scintillate by Tracy Clark--I requested the "Lux" series for review but since it's been out so long the publisher suggested that I read their new book, Deviate. I didn't realize it was book two in the Light Key trilogy so I found this one on Book Outlet.

2. Deviate--I guess I'm marathoning this series!

3. The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson--also a book for review that I've been eyeing for quite some time now. I'm actually about half way through as of today so a review should be going up very soon!

4. Red Rising by Pierce Brown--I saw BookTubers raving about this series so I had to gets me a copy. If they like it then it must book good! Right?

5. The Golden Son by Pierce Brown-- Book two in the Red Rising series, it was sent to me by the publishers along with the first Red Rising book. I'm so excited to read them!

6. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo-- I'm judging again--this book has an awesome cover! I flippin' love the font that they used which was artsy but still legible. I also have the next book in the series. I guess I'll be marathoning several series this Spring!

7. Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff--What can I say? This one also has a pretty cover. Plus it's steampunk, that makes it a "win" in my book (see what I did there?).

8. Prudence, the first book in the Custard Protocol by Gail Carriger-- She writes awesome steampunk books for both teens and adults. This is her newest book and it's coming out sometime in 2015. I'll def be reading this as soon as humanly possible.

9. I've got to get me some zombies so the next book I'll be presenting is Rise Again by Ben Tripp. It actually got pretty darn good reviews on Goodreads, which is always a positive foreshadowing.

10. And, finally, I have to end this list with Cinder by  Marissa Meyer. I'm not super  exctied about this but it got rave reviews on Goodreads and, like, everyone who is bookish has read this.

EDIT: Of course as soon as I published this I start reading a book that isn't on the list. I'm now reading Insurgent by Veronica Roth, a book I should have read years ago but I didn't. Don't ask me why.