Leni Zumas's writing crackles. Her books are sharp, bleak, funny, and possibly dangerous. When her collection of short stories, Farewell Navigator,...
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I had despaired that fantasy was becoming too formulaic until I read this trilogy and had my mind blown. Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy is a lovingly crafted piece of world-building, the magic system is comprehensive and well-developed, the characters believable and flawed.
For someone yearning for something that lingers long after you've turned the last page and set the book down, Mistborn delivers. Reading it was like rediscovering fantasy anew and being reminded with a gratifying certainty that the hours spent poring over Tolkien, Jordan, and Hobb were well-spent and original, mesmerizing fantasy stories can still be written.
I finished this book within a day or two and I can't really explain how it left me feeling. It kind of reminds me of when I was in history class with the lights off back in high school and you can hear the voice-over of someone talking about war over footage and inside there's just kind of a hush, like everything is holding its breath.
This book is one of the reasons I love reading; there is no other way a story like this could be told and still have the same impact.
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"I'll admit my interest was first piqued by the 2009 depiction of Holmes and Watson by Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, but wow, these stories are entertaining. I love Holmes; for me there has rarely been a character I have found so beloved or identified with so readily (though it was more for his odd habits than his insightful observations). Each story in this volume follows a pretty standard formula of getting the case, investigating, and then solving (most of the time) but for some reason, it rarely got old. Each story seemed exciting and drew me in time and again, despite any minute similarities to others.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle may have seen this as some of his lowliest writing, but I for one, am glad he brought oddball Sherlock Holmes into the world so people like me could follow along with his cases just as Watson did.
I loved this book because of the imagery it evoked with each food Rose tasted, starting with the fateful lemon cake on the eve of her birthday. Richly developed characters each with their own quirks, a story that is at times both heart-wrenchingly familiar and yet magically foreign, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake had me holding my breath to see what would happen next until the haunting last line of the book which resonated with me long afterwards.
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This story is moving not only because of the mission it concerns, but the heartfelt honesty with which it is recounted. The children in this novel are resilient and as Conor would say "amazing", withstanding the hardship of civil war, being uprooted from their families, and deceitfully displaced until amazing people like Sandra, Farid, and Conor came to rescue them. I could hardly put the book down as he reunited the children with their families, feeling in some way, as if I was right there with the "little princes".
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childoftheblood has commented on (6) products.
Mistborn (Mistborn Trilogy) by Brandon Sanderson
childoftheblood, July 21, 2011
I had despaired that fantasy was becoming too formulaic until I read this trilogy and had my mind blown. Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy is a lovingly crafted piece of world-building, the magic system is comprehensive and well-developed, the characters believable and flawed.For someone yearning for something that lingers long after you've turned the last page and set the book down, Mistborn delivers. Reading it was like rediscovering fantasy anew and being reminded with a gratifying certainty that the hours spent poring over Tolkien, Jordan, and Hobb were well-spent and original, mesmerizing fantasy stories can still be written.
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
childoftheblood, April 29, 2011
I finished this book within a day or two and I can't really explain how it left me feeling. It kind of reminds me of when I was in history class with the lights off back in high school and you can hear the voice-over of someone talking about war over footage and inside there's just kind of a hush, like everything is holding its breath.This book is one of the reasons I love reading; there is no other way a story like this could be told and still have the same impact.
(1 of 1 readers found this comment helpful)
Sherlock Holmes the Complete Novels Volume 1 by Arthur Conan Doyle
childoftheblood, February 17, 2011
"I'll admit my interest was first piqued by the 2009 depiction of Holmes and Watson by Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, but wow, these stories are entertaining. I love Holmes; for me there has rarely been a character I have found so beloved or identified with so readily (though it was more for his odd habits than his insightful observations). Each story in this volume follows a pretty standard formula of getting the case, investigating, and then solving (most of the time) but for some reason, it rarely got old. Each story seemed exciting and drew me in time and again, despite any minute similarities to others.Sir Arthur Conan Doyle may have seen this as some of his lowliest writing, but I for one, am glad he brought oddball Sherlock Holmes into the world so people like me could follow along with his cases just as Watson did.
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender
childoftheblood, February 15, 2011
I loved this book because of the imagery it evoked with each food Rose tasted, starting with the fateful lemon cake on the eve of her birthday. Richly developed characters each with their own quirks, a story that is at times both heart-wrenchingly familiar and yet magically foreign, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake had me holding my breath to see what would happen next until the haunting last line of the book which resonated with me long afterwards.(1 of 1 readers found this comment helpful)
Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal by Conor Grennan
childoftheblood, February 12, 2011
This story is moving not only because of the mission it concerns, but the heartfelt honesty with which it is recounted. The children in this novel are resilient and as Conor would say "amazing", withstanding the hardship of civil war, being uprooted from their families, and deceitfully displaced until amazing people like Sandra, Farid, and Conor came to rescue them. I could hardly put the book down as he reunited the children with their families, feeling in some way, as if I was right there with the "little princes".Amazing story.
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