assume crash positions

Sometime, there is nothing you can do but assume your crash position and wait it out. 

southern vampire series - dead to the world

Poor Sookie. I don't think any more can be said beyond that.

It's a New Year and Sookie is going to stay out of trouble this year. At least that is what she thinks, but of course it comes walking down the road. Literally, Eric has been cursed and has no clue who he is.

So, once again Sookie finds herself right in the middle of vampire business, again.Once she gets Eric to her house she calls Pam. Before Pam shows up Jason, Sookie's brother shows up. Sookie sends him for some True Blood and cloths for Eric. Not long after Pam shows up and explains what has happened. Durring the explanation Jason shows up. The consensus is that Eric is safer at Sookies house then anywhere the vampires could keep him. Jason brings up the idea that Sookie should be paid for her "babysitting" of Eric. A number is settled on and everyone goes their separate ways leaving Eric with Sookie.

As if having a vampire hidden under her roof Jason disappears the next day without a trace. Worried about her brother and the cursed vampire sleeping in her house Sookie heads to Shrieveport. She is off to do some research on the witches.

Fangtasia is a mess when she gets there. The witches were there in an attempt to find Eric. They left one human worker seriously injured and another dead. After calling the police and slipping out before they got there, Sookie went to find Alcide and together they go to inform the packmaster of the problems. This turns out to be a lucky alliance in the end.

Sookie is concerned about Eric being left for too long at her house. She is also concerned about her missing brother, hoping there is no connection between the witches and his disappearance. In all of this worry Sookie is drawn to Eric.Without his memories Eric is a much different person and Sookie gives into her desires and the desires that Eric has had since they meet are fulfilled. However, in the end he remembers nothing that happens durring his time of amnesia.

The Shrieveport Were Pack join with a good Wiccan group and the Fangtasia vampires to take down the evil witches. Bubba and Bill show up just in time to lend a hand. The unlikely group come out successful and relatively unscathed. The witch who cast the spell on Eric is kept alive in order to reverse the spell.

Through all of this Jason has remained missing, adding to the pain and frustration of Sookie. With the help of Sam, Sookie puts the pieces together and the two of them go off to save Jason. Jason had been captured out of jealousy and tortured by a were panther. Once Sam and Sookie got Jason back to Sookies' they find a check had been left for Sookie in payment for keeping Eric safe.

After Jason sleeps they come up with a plan of explaining his disappearance. But Jason has bigger worries, his torture at that hands of the were panther might have left him a supernatural.

What more can happen to this unlikely group of vampires, weres of various kinds and Sookie?
Six more books in-counting to find out!

southern vampire series - club dead

I couldn't believe how short this book was. By far the shortest of the first three Southern Vampire Series. But I think it was also my favorite so far.

Once again, trouble finds Sookie. Honestly, at this point, what would you expect. This time Bill got involved in a secret project that took him deeper into trouble then he could have ever expected, and, of course it it up to Sookie to get him out of trouble. 

With the help of Alcede, a werewolf that is in debt to Eric, Sookie goes to Mississippi to find Bill. As usual nothing goes as planed and everything falls apart leaving Sookie in trouble. Luckily Eric, who is obsessed with Sookie, is there to lend a hand. 

On Alcede and Sookies second outing to the local "supernatural" bar things go from bad to worse. Since it is a full moon Alcede transforms when the stress gets too much. Once again Sookie saves vampires from Steve Newlin and the Anti-vampire Church, but not before Sookie is injured. Eric and Sookie find themselves in the King of Missisippi's mansion after Sookie was injured. While there Sookie is healed, but things get a little seamy with Eric. 

From information that Sookie had been able to gather before she was injured she knew that Bill was being tortured and held captive at the mansion. Bubba, a vampire with interesting origans that has been sent by either Bill or Eric to protect Sookie from time to time, helped to find where Bill was being held. Eric left a car for her as close to the garage he was being held as he was able to, but the rest was left up to her. Sookie has also been healed by Erics ancient blood, which gave her extra strength and abilities. 

After a bit of a struggle, Sookie saves Bill, but her troubles are long from over. Although everyone is saved, no one is really safe, or the same after the experiences. Alcede is in trouble with the local pack along with falling for Sookie. Bill is in more trouble then he could realize with Sookie. Eric knows that he is falling for Sookie more and more. Sookie is angry at Bill, confused about Eric and falling for Alcede. Everything is one big tangled mess. 

Eric ends up taking Sookie home leaving Bill to fend for himself. On the way they run into some trouble with guys sent from the pack, but nothing that they can't handle. Sookie finally breaks down and spills a lot of her frustrations about Bill and her relationship to Eric. 

In the end Sookie resends the invitation to her house from both Eric and Bill. The ironic part of this is that the secret project that got Bill into all this trouble was still in her house. A project that both Bill and Eric want and neither can get. 

What more can happen to Sookie? The poor girl.

On to the next to find out!

25 on the 25th

Today is the only day ever that this will happen, so I might as well enjoy it. I have turned 25 on the 25th. I don't know why that means something, I don't think it really does, but it seems cool. So I'll go with it.

I've never been much for celebrating my birthday. In high school it was torturous, every morning they would announce the birthdays of the day for the day. Then I would walk around for the rest of the day having people that rarely spoke to me say Happy Birthday as if they were my best friend. Needless to say, I hated it.

College and post college birthdays have been a little better. I've had a few good friends along the way that have made them special. From Ice skating to an adventure in New York City and this year a wonderful girls night.

On the day I was born the Giants won the Super Bowl. My dad, being, well, my dad went out and bought commemorative shirts and sweat shirts from the Super Bowl. Usually I wear my "birthday shirts" on my birthday, I know, it's a little cheesy and silly. But it is what it is. I love this shirt. It's so perfectly worn and soft. Someday I'm so scared it will fall apart. It will be such a sad day, but for now it is my birthday shirt. 

Other things that happened on this day in History.
1533 - Henry VIII marries Anne Boleyn.
1787 - Small farmers in Springfield, Massachusetts led by Daniel Shays, revolt against tax laws. Federal troops break up the protesters of what becomes known as Shay's Rebellion.
1846 - The dreaded Corn Laws, which taxed imported oats, wheat and barley, are repealed by the British Parliament.
1904 - Two-hundred coal miners are trapped in their Pennsylvania mine after an explosion.
1915 - Alexander Graham Bell in New York and Thomas Watson in San Francisco make a record telephone transmission.
1918 - Austria and Germany reject U.S. peace proposals.
1919 - The League of Nations plan is adopted by the Allies.
1929 - Members of the New York Stock Exchange ask for an additional 275 seats.
1930 - New York police rout a Communist rally at the Town Hall.
1943 - The last German airfield in Stalingrad is captured by the Red Army.
1949 - Axis Sally, who broadcasted Nazi propaganda to U.S. troops in Europe, stands trial in the United States for war crimes.
1951 - The U.S. Eighth Army in Korea launches Operation Thunderbolt, a counter attack to push the Chinese Army north of the Han River.
1955 - Columbia University scientists develop an atomic clock that is accurate to within one second in 300 years.
1956 - Khrushchev says that he believes that Eisenhower is sincere in his efforts to abolish war.
1959 - American Airlines begins its first coast-to-coast flight service on a Boeing 707.
1972 - Shirley Chisholm, the first African American woman elected to U.S. Congress, announces candidacy for president.
1972 - Nixon airs the eight-point peace plan for Vietnam, asking for POW release in return for  withdrawal.
1984 - President Reagan endorses the development of the first U.S. permanently-manned space station.
1987 - Super Bowl XXI (at Pasadena): New York Giants 39, Denver Broncos 20

Born on January 25
1759 - Robert Burns, Scottish poet ("Auld Lang Syne," "Comin' Thru the Rye.")
1882 - Virginia Woolf, English author (Mrs. Dalloway and Orlando).
1933 - Corazon Aquino, president of the Philippines.

happy birthday

Happy Birthday to me. 

Really, I'm not much of a birthday person. But I figure maybe this year will be worth remembering, so I might as well start it out right. So as I close my eyes,  blow out my candles and make a wish it is all done with hope of a good year.

But I won't tell what my wish is. If I did, it wouldn't come true.

girls night - b-day addition

 Yeah to having a great friend.

 On Monday, Sara and I had a girls night. Yes, it was a typical girls night that consisted of talking about boys, books, movies, a bit of fashion and everything in between (not necessarily in that order). It was a much needed day on my end. But it was also a very special girls night, it was our own little celebration of my birthday! I even got presents!

Brennan as always was very excited to see me. He's so cute, and he's got so much energy for such a little puppy. 

Sara made home made pancakes, which were delicious! So very nice and fluffy. YUM. 

I did help flip a few pancakes, but Sara was the real master behind this lovely meal. And of course, the conversations about boys, books, movies, and a bit of fashion and everything in between (not necessarily in that order), continued. 

While we ate we watched a little Christy and debated (and didn't agree) on which man was better, Dr. McNeil or David. 

Personally, I like Dr. McNeil, the kind of man that'll protect you and be there no matter what. He will also not always agree with you and will bicker with you a bit, knowing that it's all in good fun, even if you end up getting a little riled up and mad at him, he knows it's all fleeting and in two seconds you'll be in his arms again. Yet very suave and handsome (and in his case the accent doesn't hurt).

Sara, on the other hand, is more into David. Tall, dark and handsome, yes, but he's also steady and wants nothing more then for you to be happy and will do anything to protect you. But he likes peace and not big on the riled up side, and any bickering he takes personally and holds on to it. 

Eh, They both have their merits, but Sara can have David. I'll keep Dr. McNeil.

southern vampire series - living dead in dallas

Of course Sookie couldn't stay out of trouble for too long. Then again, it seems like trouble finds her. Within the first chapter Sookie already finds a dead body. Then is seriously injured by a maenade, but is saved by the Fangtasia vampires and a dawf doctor that Eric calls.

Eric loans Sookie to the Dallas vampires, but what she walked into was deeper then she could have imagined. Bill accompanied her as a body guard, but not even he could save her from everything.

The Dallas coven owned a bar and one of the vampires disappeared without a trace. Sookie uses her ability to help find the culprit behind the disappearance. But it could never be as simple as reading a few minds and giving them a simple answer. There was a trader in the mist of the coven.

Sookie and one of the covens' humans went undercover to a anti-vampire Church in Dallas to find the missing vampire. Bill,  of course wasn't overly fond of this idea, but there was nothing else they could do. After a series of unfortunate events at the Church Sookie discovers herself being saved some unlikely sources.  First Godrick a very ancient vampire, then a group of shape shifters come to her rescue.

Everyone ends up safe, maybe a little battered and brused, but safe. The lost vampire is returned home, and durring a celebration of his return the Church goes on the offensive and shoots into the house. Sookie shouts a warning saving the vampires at the party. Eric who had been there to observe the situation ends up protecting and saving Sookie. He also tricks Sookie into drinking a few drops of his blood, little did she know the repercussions that this will later have.

Once back in Bon Tons Sookie is determined to solve the murder of her friend that happend before she left. In order to do this she enlists the help of Eric, much to Bills distress when he finds out. The murder is solved but Sookie is learning that there are more supernatural beings in her world then she would have liked.

southern vampire series - dead until dark

Dead Until Dark is the first of Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire Series. The first of eleven and counting. I'm not sure what I got myself into when I started this series. Eleven books and the twelfth coming out in May.

I read a good portion of this book in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I spent all of Saturday afternoon wondering from room to room and sitting down and reading when I found a nice quiet room with a bench. It was a wonderful day.

This book is full of a little bit of everything. Vampires, love, loss, friendship, jealousy, and everything in between. Bonton is a small town in Renard Perish, but it has it's fair share of drama and death. A murderer has come to Bonton. Not just any murderer, this person is killing vampire supporters. But who could it be?

Sookie Stackhouse is, well, not normal, but throughout the book she finds out that neither are most of her friends. She falls in love with Vampire Bill and her life takes a path she could have never imagined. Sookie has lost more then most. Her parents were killed when she was a child and her Grandmother, who raised her, was murdered. She is left with her brother, Jason, as her only living relative.

Jason is not always the most supportive of brothers, But somehow he always manages to come through in the end. By definition Jason is a womanizer, sleeping with most of Bonton and the surrounding perishes. He is one of the main suspects when it comes to the series of murders, but Sookie never gave up.

There are many vampires in the book. Ranging from Bill, the first vampire in Renard Perish, to Eric and Pam who owned the vampire bar called Fangtasia. At times, the vampires were a little harsh, but since Bill claimed Sookie as his, some unfortunate situations were avoided. But only some, Eric learned of Sookie's particular gift and makes use of it, much to Sookie and Bills dismay.

With many ups and downs the story weaves a tanged web, but, in the end, the murder is caught, and it is someone no one could have guessed.

I look forward to seeing what more joys and pearls lie in Sookie's future as the series continues.

a vintage affair

This is the first book for my little book club. I think it was a good choice. The perfect chick book, full of romance and a little mystery centered on cloths. What more could you want?

I enjoyed this book very much. Isabelle Wolff did a great job creating parallel stories that made sense together, and heightened the emotions. 

As the titled suggests it is centered on vintage. Phoebe Swift, defiantly got more then she bargained for when she opened up her vintage clothing store, called Village Vintage. The story opened with her store Grand Opening. Fortunately it did not end with it closing. It did, however, end with a conclusion of a very long held secret. 

Throughout the story you lean not only about past struggles, but also about many problems that crop up in Phoebes' life as the story continues. Like so much of life, everything seems to intertwine. I feel that this is why vintage is the perfect theme for this story to be centered around. Vintage has many lives. It has had a previous owner, there are memories sewn into the fabric, but there are always more strands waiting for memories to become apart of the garment. Such a romantic idea. 

Phoebe has romance throughout the months that are covered in the book. And if it isn't her romance causing problems it is her mother or the people who come into the shop. Even if the past doesn't go as far back in time as the cloths it's self, vintage has a way of bringing up the past as well as desires that go deeper then could have been imagined. Vintage has a way to make things happen, as is proven time and time again.

When it came to Phoebe's romance, I was rooting for one guy, Dan. Guy was the romance love that occurred before the beginning of the book. He was a reoccurring theme, but was only really seen once in the book. Miles romance with Phoebe was also shown in the duration of the book. In some ways he is the unlikely lover. There were times that I rooted for him, but Dan keept my admiration over all. Dan just seemed so sweet, you know, the type of guy that you wish you could have type deal. Dan also had a love of vintage, but his draw was movies. But just like any good romance there is always another guy, and sometimes things don't turn out as the reader would like. 

The Village Vintage was an escape for Phoebe. She was running away from a great trama and loss of a dear friend Emma. This loss shaped the relationships and friendships shown in the book. It is a tragedy that anyone would see as life changing. In some ways she maybe took it a little too far, but then I think we are all guilty of that in our lives. The loss of Emma brought Phoebe to a relationship with an elderly woman, Mrs. Bell that would change her life forever.

The main side stories has to do with the friendship with the unlikely Mrs. Bell, is well, not a romantic one. This is the story that comes to a conclusion with the ending of the book. It is a sad story, and one that I would rather not give anything away about. It is, however, connected to a vintage garment, but it is beyond anything you could imagine.

the hunger games

These books were, beyond everything, I couldn't put them down. I see them as a must read for anyone who loves to get involved in a book, and attached to the charters. But it is not a book for the faint of heart. There was a lot of intensity. Katniss, Gale and Peeta had me so entranced, i was envisioning their world, the struggles, pain and love.

There were many times that I forgot how young Katniss is throughout the entire trilogy. Collins portrays her in some ways as a Joan of Ark. Standing against all odds, with her only fear being the loss of her family and friends who are always for front in her mind. She was the burning savior of the people. 

As I read along I couldn't help but relate many ideas with 1984. There was the body of government taking control with no regard to the people. The people were just pawns for them to play with. They used them as free labor, gave them nothing and punished anyone who they saw as a threat.

----

I'm not going to lie. When I started reading I was board, the first chapter didn't catch me right off the bat. I stand by the rule that you should always give a book a few chapters to get into it. So I did. Boy do I not regret that! 

The world that is created by Suzanne Collins is beyond spectacular. The intricacies, and how fast you become apart of that would is a credit to her mind. After getting through the first chapter I became Katniss. I felt her pain and confusion. She was willing sacrificed everything for the people she loved. 

The theory of the Hunger Games that Katniss and Peeta are forced to become a part of is terrifying. The idea is morbid, it's almost as if the Capital sees everyone as toys, dolls that they can play with. Play with and watch as they tear each other apart. 

It's strange that the part of the book that sticks with me the most, is possibly the shortest part of the book. There is so much build up until finally just when you think the actual games won't start until the next book. You are there, in the middle of the arena, terrified, running for you life. 

Although Gale is not a big part of the action shown in this book, you feel for him as a reader. You have to. Everything that happens, all of the build up, suspense, romance that accrues durring the Hunger Games, everything is shown to Gale and everyone else daily in broadcast. So many times I couldn't help it but feel my heart breaking for him as well as all the other families and friends of the competitors. 

I refuse to give away any more, but I will say this is not a fairy tale happily ever after.

I started right in on the second book after I finished the first in the trilogy. The suspense was killing me and I had to know what more could possibly happen to Katniss after the horrors she faced in the first book.

Of course the worst thing I could thing of was exactly what happened. The parallels in the structure of the first two books was so striking to me. The story was entirely different, but it followed such a similar path, and of corse ended in the Hunger Games, not quite as I expected, but then it's nice to have the unexpected happen sometimes. 

I knew something was going to be different about the Hunger Games that were portrayed in this book. I feel that it shows the arrogance of the Capital. For them to put together a game like that and not expect something to happen, is insane. Once again I feel that Collins showed her true genius in story telling. 

Unlike the first book, I feel that you have more empathy for the competitors in this books Hunger Games. I think the reader has a better idea of the awfulness that is about to commence in the pages. The build up is less necessary, the explanation has already been made, and the reader is already mad at the Capital. 

The twists are great. It is impossible to not keep your hopes up for something to happen. Something to stop the Hunger Games. From the moment that President Snow announces how the games will be run this year to the moment before everything changes you are held on tenter hooks with anticipation. 

The third book held the most, maybe frustration is a good way to put it. I had a much harder time being drawn into the story. To become a part of the world. 

In a way, maybe this is how I was supposed to feel, or at least I can see the advantage of this feeling. Katniss didn't feel that she was apart of the world she was living in. She was confused, frustrated and in more pain then I think anyone could realize. And I felt this with her. Eventually, Katniss found a way to cope. With Gale at her side and Peeta as a goal and friends and family supporting her she became the mockingjay. But the revolution sure got more then they were asking for when it came to putting her in such a position.

Romance still played a roll, but the intensity took a back seat. Katniss was left in total confusion coming from so many directions. She felt betrayed, had problems trusting anyone and had no clue which direction her heart was trying to lead her. In a way she was cornered and felt that there was no way out. 

The "games" in this book were almost of a nature greater cruelty then the ones in the previous books. The build up was intense from the beginning, what was endured mentally by all the charters that the reader grew to love in the previous books was more drawn and cut deeper then almost any before. 

Once again, this is not a happily ever after, but it is a much happily ever after then the second book. At the end, after I turned the last page I hurt. In a way I had become Katniss, and now her story is told and all the pain she had felt all the pain she would endure for the rest of her life came to me.

----

The movie that covers the first book comes out in March of 2012.

I am waiting in great anticipation to see how they do at creating the atmosphere and having the charters come to life. Although the actors are not exactly how I envisioned them while reading the books, I was very happy with the choices they made. I hadn't looked at the cast before I read them so I would have no image in my head of how they should look. I think that is the worst part of books they turn into movies. The actor that portraits the charter becomes who you see when you read the books. 

From the trailer, I think they will do a pretty good job, but time will tell.

movies gave me false hope

Don't you hate it when you watch a movie and the girl wakes up and her hair is just perfectly messy. Then the next morning you wake up and look in the mirror and expect to see that perfectly cute and fun morning hair and what you actually get is, well, a mess. Really, it's not fair. I want movie morning hair.

the nine lives of chloe king

Last year I fell in love with "The Nine Lives of Chloe King" on ABC Family. What can I say. Total guilty pleasure show.

But anyway, I was very upset when they didn't schedule a second season. There were so many questions left unanswered. But then I found out that there were books. I was so excited! I'm not going to lie when I saw it was a trilogy I did get a little overwhelmed. Sometimes, I'm not the best with reading series, but these books I just couldn't put down!

Liz Braswell did such a great job creating the characters. I immediately fell in love with the story. There were a lot of differences, as I expected from the TV show. But, as usual, the changes created a deeper more intricate story then could ever be shown on the silver screen.

Although there were three books, they didn't read like three separate books. I think it would have driven me crazy to not have read all of the books at onces. And by at once I mean I basically sat down and read from one pm till about one am. I couldn't put them down.

The Fallen
Is the first of the trilogy. Braswell does a great job of building the characters and creating the atmosphere. At the end of this book there were so many more questions then answers. And by so many I mean it was a book of questions. Questions about what Chloe was and about the relationships between everyone. It was a great start to the series.

The Stolen
The second book was CRAZY. There was so much action, so much excitement, yet it was still building the story. Through the entire series there was a constant building of the relationship, but in this second book I think there was the most inter-relationship building. The web that Braswell built is so intricate.

The Chosen
The third and final book was, I think, the fast read of any of them. A lot of questions were answered, but at the end I was still left with so much un-answered. In a way I can't decide if it was the fact that I still had questions, or if I was so attached to the characters that I didn't want the trilogy to end.

There is so much that happens through the three books, All I can say is that they are such a fun, easy read. A great guilty pleasure read. I wish Liz Braswell would continue the series. I feel that there is still so much that she could do with the story. But for all my looking, I saw no glimpse of more books to come. Very sad.

get lost in a book

Today was just one of those "get lost in a book days"

Sometimes it's important to loose yourself in a world that is not your own. To find yourself in a different time or dimension. I think sometimes as we grow up we forget how magical it can be to just get lost. After a while we get so used to reading text books and reviews that we forget about far off places like Never Never Land, Middle Earth, far off cultures and outer space adventures. 

the foundation

I think this was my third time reading through the The Foundation. I know, it's a rather odd book to have read multiple times. I think the reason for the multiple reads is two fold. One being I have a slight obsession with remembering as much of something as possible. That means I re-watch and re-read pretty much everything I enjoy. I know, strange obsession. The second reason is that it is the first science fiction book I'd ever read and enjoyed. Trust me, I read it kicking and screaming, but I did and fell in love with Asimov. Since I have read The Foundation Trilogy and many of his short stories. I'm hoping that maybe this year I will read another Asimov book or two. 

So, what are some of the things I love about this book. Oddly, it's fun that it reads a bit like a history book. But it's as if you are reading an historical account of an alien world, which, I guess you kind of are. 

I'll be entirely honest. There are some parts of this book that I don't understand. Maybe it's more I loose my attention span a bit, or it just gets too technical or something. But I understand the gist of the story and enjoy it. 

I think of The Foundation Trilogy this first book is my least favorite, but I think it's important to review what had happened, before reading the next two books. If I remember correctly, the next book in the Trilogy, The Second Foundation, is my favorite. I can't wait to re-read that one in a bit, but first for a new book or two.

tell-tale heart

Life is a funny thing.

It loves to throw curve balls at you. Always keeping you on your toes.

These curve balls are not always bad. In time everything evens out, I know that. But at the moment it all feels empty. After a while, I expect the wound to heal. The pain to fade. The the strange thing is that it's not the pain I fear. It's the empty, the blank spot. The fear that maybe this hole will never be filled.

But then, that's a silly idea. The hole will be filled, in time. Just as the Tin Man found he had a heart all along, so will I in time find that there really is something there, something in this heart of mine. 

pride and prejudice and zombies

As I've said in my Death Comes to Pemberley review, I love Jane Austen. I've heard so many great things about Seth Grahame-Smiths reinterpretation of the classic Pride and Prejudice that I was excited to read it. 

I'm going to be honest and say that excitement only lasted a handful of chapters. I'm not sure what keept me from loving this book. It was well written, captivatingly adapted, but there was something about it that didn't keep me wanting to turn the page. 

I read it in spouts. Like I said before, the first few chapters I had high hopes for the book. I was enjoying the witty additions of zombie slays. As the book went on I just got lost. 

Part of the problem may be that I have read Pride and Prejudice a few times, so I know it maybe a little too well. Another part of my dislike is that it I think the book was written for guys. Which does not always mean that I wouldn't enjoy it, but this time it did. 

I think one of my draws to Austen is the way she writes. The flow of her words are so beautiful. In Pride and Prejudice and Zombies this beautiful flow of words was mixed in with a different style sometimes the book felt disjointed. 

It was a good book, and if someone were to ask me about it I would tell them to give it a try, but man did I have trouble getting through it. 

Maybe when it comes to Austen, I'm a bit purist. But I'm ok with that.

the steampunk chronicles

Although the The Steampunk Chronicles is targeted at teens, I thought they would be a great way to introduce myself to the world of Steampunk.

Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s. Steampunk involves a setting where steam power is still widely used—usually Victorian era Britain or "Wild West"-era United States—that incorporates elements of either science fiction or fantasy. (deification via wickapedia)

After reading Kady Crosses first two books in The Steampunk Chronicles I think it is a genre I could really get into. Not sure where this Steampunk adventure will take me, but I'm sure it will be an adventure to remember.

The Strange Case of Finley Jayne is The Steampunk Chronicles .5. It's background on Finley Jayne the main character of The Steampunk Chronicles.

In this book short nine chapter book,  you fall in love with Finley as you watch her grow and develop into the character that she becomes in The Girl in the Steel Corset. She starts to come into her own finding her strength and protecting those she cares about.

The Girl in the Steel Corset is the first book in The Steampunk Chronicles. And what a book it is. The story picks up not long after the end of The Strange Case of Finley Jayne, but there are twists and turns that you could never expect. In an unexpected turn of events Finley finds herself among an unlikely group that turn into her friends.

Griffin, Emily, Sam, Jasper and Finley embark on an adventure none of them could have imagined. Along the way Finley learns about her mysterious strength. Not to mention throwing in a some fights and a little romance. 

The Girl in the Clockwork Collar comes out in May of 2012. I'm pretty pumped to see what new adventures lie in America for the Steampunk Chronicles gang!

death comes to pemberley

I am a huge Jane Austen fan. When I read Pride and Prejudice I wished I could be Elizabeth Bennet.  I fell in love with John Knightley just as Emma did. I longed to be loved by Edward Ferrars just as Elinor Dashwood did. When I read Jane Austen the pages come to life and I am in Jane Austens' England and all the magic she places there.

The thing about Austen is that it always ends with a "happily ever after", which I am totally game for. I'm all about a happily ever after, in fact I'm waiting for mine. After finishing a book that ends like a fairy tale I always wonder and day dream about what happens to the characters. Is it really happely ever. Are their lives really swept up in perfection. What does their future hold, or is there no future for them.

Did Jane Austen ever think about Mr. Darcy as an old man? What stuggles do Edward Ferrars and Elinor Dashwood encounter in their life together? Did Emma really stop attempting her match making? Was it all truly a happily ever after.

P. D. James has come up with a possible solution to Pride and Prejudice six years after Jane Austen ended her classic novel. James really did a great job of emulating Austen's writing style. I had no problem imagining myself in the story, jumping right into the England that Jane Austen creates.

It was an interesting take on the after story. Yes Mr Darcy and Elizabeth, Mr. Bingley and Jane were all still happy. They were living the fairy tale, just as you always wished they would. Raising their children and having dinner parties. Well... I won't spoil any more for you. 


I think the long and the short of it is I enjoyed the book, being the the world that Austen and James created. And just like always, it ended happily ever after.