Book 23: A Storm of Swords

This is the big book I've been working on for a few weeks now:



I affectionately call it my "big dumb fantasy novel," and while it is big (1128 pages plus appendices!), it is certainly not dumb. It is the third in a planned series of seven books by George R. R. Martin loosely based on the War of the Roses.

The books follow several characters from different families as they each try to get their own house to the throne. I'm not even going to try to recap the plot, but I will say one of the reasons I love this series is that no one is really "the bad guy," and the author apparently has no problem killing off main characters. I mean, this is the third book in this series I've read, and I was STILL surprised at which characters he chose to kill off. I'll read the rest, for sure. This is not your typical fantasy story; it's mostly political maneuvering, assassinating, backstabbing, etc, with the occasional ice zombie or dragon thrown in. Also, a great website related to the series: www.towerofthehand.com . I wasted a couple of days there, it's highly recommended for other fans of this series.

Book 22: Eats, Shoots and Leaves

See, every now and then I do read a bit of non-fiction!



I adored this book. Besides being a wonderful grammar lesson, it is funny. Some would say I should have expected that, given that the title is a joke, but I was pleasantly surprised. I have known for a long time that I apparently don't have the right sense of humor to enjoy most comic fiction. Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, William Goldman: all are lost on me. I think the problem is that I just don't really "get" situational humor; I've read so much sci-fi and fantasy that whenever I come across unusual situations, I just accept them and move on. I do much better with witty dialogue, which this book has in abundance.

I highly recommend this book, just remember that it was written for a British audience, so some terminology and even a few punctuation rules are different for us.

Book 21: Sandman, Vol. 2 - The Doll's House

Ok, I don't have a lot to say about this one - I'm still thinking on it a bit. However, I will post the cover!

Book 20: Coraline

Like I said earlier, I'm a big Neil Gaiman fan. This was on sale at the local used bookstore (shout out to McClure's!), so I picked it up.



It's a dark fairytale, rather like Alice in Wonderland. Coraline is a girl that is bored in her new house, and she feels her parents don't pay any attention to her. One day, she wanders through a locked door, into another version of her house, complete with Other Parents. The Other Mother and Other Father shower her with attention and gifts, but it starts to turn a little sinister when Coraline realizes she can't return to her real home and the Other Mother isn't as nice as she seems.

If you like dark fairy tales, give this a try. It's intended for children; I read it in about two hours in one sitting, but the illustrations (by Dave McKean, who also worked with Gaiman on Mirrormask) are pretty nice, even if they are in black and white.

Book 19: Y: The Last Man, Vol. 8 - Kimono Dragons

This series is pretty damn good. You should be reading it. Why aren't you reading it?



"Y: The Last Man" follows the story of the last man on Earth, Yorick Brown, after a mysterious plague kills all the males on the planet except for him and his pet capuchin monkey named Ampersand. This is the 8th volume in the the series, and it's almost over. In the last couple of volumes, we learned that the key to the plague might actually have been in Ampersand, and Yorick was saved by his close proximity. Now ninjas have stolen the monkey, and Yorick and his friends are trying to get him back.

This whole series is worth reading, just for the interesting plot of there being only ONE man left on Earth. It's an interesting attempt to predict how women would react. There are conspiracy theorists, politicians trying to hold it all together, lesbians!, but most are just normal women that have to figure out how to make a living for themselves in such a post-apocalyptic world. The art's not bad, either, especially the covers.

Book 18: The Hedge Knight

I am a big fan of George R. R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series. (In fact, I am reading A Storm of Swords right now!) This graphic novel is a prequel to this series, so it was a no-brainer.



I did like this one, but it didn't have the same dramatic impact that his books do. Of course, this could be due to the fact that his books are about 1100-1200 pages long EACH, and this was just a picture book. Can't quite fit in as much plot and character development, you see. However, it was still very good for a graphic novel. I'm glad I own it to complete my collection, and also for the useful appendix that contains the sigils for the multitude of houses listed in the series, but I probably won't reread it.

Book 16 & 17: The Mean Seasons and Homelands

I love this series of comic books. The basic plot is that they've taken all the characters from fables and fairy tales, and they live together in a neighborhood in New York City. The rest of the mundane folk, or "mundys," don't know they exist. They're trying to get back to the homelands, where they came from. These are the fifth and sixth collections in the series.





I really enjoyed these, and I have heard that "Homelands" is many fans' favorite so far in the series, but I think I still prefer "March of the Wooden Soldiers." In order to avoid spoilers, I will just say that in "The Mean Seasons," we learn a secret about Snow White's pups (fathered by Bigby Wolf), and in "Homelands," we finally learn the identity of the adversary, the evil entity that chased all our favorite fables out of the homelands. It's a surprise, I honestly never suspected his true identity. I'm glad it was a character that we already knew, though, and not some new unknown character. It's much more satisfying this way.

I just heard that the next volume (or perhaps two) are out, so I'll have to pick those up soon. I am dying to know where Bigby's been all this time!

Book 15: Ultimate Iron Man

The one writer that is most over-represented, above all others, is Orson Scott Card. I will read anything this man writes.



This, however, was not that spectacular. I think I've come to the realization that I just don't care for superhero comics. It was not bad, as far as they go, but the whole genre just does nothing for me. Meh.

Book 14: Stardust

I loves me some Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess, so when I saw this at the comic shop (I was shopping for the boyfriend's birthday, shut up) I couldn't NOT pick it up.



A few days after I bought it, I got very, very sick. I also realized that due to my reader's block, I hadn't read anything for this list in almost a month and a half, so I needed to read something, and quick. I made a stack of graphic novels on my bedside table that I'd been meaning to read, and polished them all off in about two days. Go me!

But back to Stardust. The story is magnificent, creative, original, enveloping. The real icing on the cake for me was Charles Vess' artwork; I already owned the paperback version of this book, and I was completely unaware there was an edition that he had illustrated. I can't even imagine reading that one first, since Vess' artwork just MADE this book for me.

The plot: A young man, filled with hopeless unrequited love, promises the object of his affections that he will retrieve a falling star for her. To accomplish this, he must leave his village and go across the border into the realm of faerie. However, the fallen star is not just a star, but a person, and he is not the only one looking for here. I won't say anymore, I don't want to ruin the plot. Trust me, though, it was very good!

Fun fact: I hear they're making it into a move, starring Claire Danes. It comes out in August, I think? We'll see if it's any good.

Book 12: The Passion of Artemisia

I picked this book (by Susan Vreeland) up from the local bookstore for a whopping $2, and I think it was worth every penny.



I was hoping it would be similar in tone and style to Girl With a Pearl Earring, but it was not. It was much juicier, although not the bodice-ripping sort of juicy. It follows the life of artist Artemisia Gentileschi, from her rape by her painting tutor, through her unhappy marriage and rocky relationship with her father, and the birth and marriage of her daughter. While this wasn't fine literature, it was a page-turner, and I finished it in about two days. Recommended as a good escape, or good if you are interested in this particular painter, as it does describe her artwork in detail.

Books 10, 11, & 13: No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

So, I said I would read the rest of the series, and I wasn't kidding! These were what my local used bookstore (McClure's, holla!) had available:





Can I remember intricate plot details from each one? No, I cannot. But they were fun to read. The lovely descriptions of Botswana are very... calming. I am currently looking for the rest of the series. When will Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni finally marry Precious Ramotswe? I must know!