Salt Lake Comic Con 2015

This past weekend was Salt Lake Comic Con. For the most part I had fun.

My friend, Kim, and I stayed downtown at the Little America hotel. It was a room. They need to sound proof their street side rooms more. We both woke up during the nights we were there.

I spent way too much money but it was worth it.

I bought all nine of RaShelle Workman's Blood and Snow series. She was so happy. She signed all nine.

I bought my first comic book. I like the tv show so I bought a Green Arrow book.

He is so buff.

I waited in line and had Felicia Day sign my copy of her book. She is so pretty and kind.

I bought Dean and Cas.

Now Sam has his friends.

I got an Impala "Baby" poster. This was my favorite.

I got an Impala "Baby" poster. This one is good too.

I bought a Jared Padalecki photo. This shot is one of my favorite ones.

See. Pretty. Yes. I paid to get a photo with Felicia Day. I asked her for a hug. It was so much fun meeting her.

This was not planned but Kim and I both got autographs from James and Oliver Phelps. They are so gorgeous in person.

I got these tiny, cute glass blown dragon earrings from Cute Glass.

This Blog Lost Momentum

I haven't been over here for a long time.

I think using some other social media took away my thoughts to write a blog post.

Well I'm back. So let's keep you updated.

...

Instagram. I'm still taking photos for a daily prompted photo challenge. Sometimes I'm better then other times but I'm getting good at seeing things differently. This month I started a second challenge with book related prompts. It's been a lot of fun.

I've bought a few more quilt patterns. I'm excited to make them all eventually. I bought a new binder to keep all of my patterns in. I have a lot of patterns now. I made a table of contents for the front.

I'm still slowly working on my Aviatrix Medallion quilt. I have one main border and two small neutral borders to complete. Also I still have to figure out how I want to do the center block. But the borders I have made, the blocks are so pretty. I'm really excited to see the quilt all put together. I should start looking at backing fabric.

Work is work. The football season is winding down. We have two more games. We have had a pretty good season. Right now we are 6-3. Basketball is starting. Next week we are hosting high school football. Those are always busy days.

Reading. My goal for this year was to read 40 books. I got busy and didn't read for a few weeks. So as of right now I've only read 20. According to Goodreads I'm 14 books behind schedule. lol. But I went to the library the other day and checked out eight novels. A few of those are the first in a series. But I couldn't decide what to read right then so I got them all.

2014 ... The William Shakespeare year ... For real this time

2014 ... The year I read the complete works of William Shakespeare. ... For real this time.

... Each book (ie. play) is commented about on my blog. Here they will be permalinked so just click on the title to go to that blog post. ...

The Plays

1. Two Gentlemen of Verona
2. Taming of the Shrew
3. Henry VI, part 2
4. Henry VI, part 3
5. Henry VI, part 1
6. Titus Andronicus
7. Richard III
8. The Comedy of Errors
9. Love's Labours Lost
10. Richard II
11. Romeo and Juliet
12. A Midsummer Night's Dream
13. King John
14. The Merchant of Venice
15. Henry IV, part 1
16. The Merry Wives of Windsor
17. Henry IV, part 2
18. Much Ado About Nothing
19. Henry V
20. Julius Caesar
21. As You Like It
22. Hamlet
23. Twelfth Night
24. Troilus and Cressida
25. Measure for Measure
26. Othello
27. All's Well That Ends Well
28. Timon of Athens
29. King Lear
30. Macbeth
31. Antony and Cleopatra
32. Pericles, Prince of Tyre
33. Coriolanus
34. A Winter's Tale
35. Cymbeline
36. The Tempest
37. Henry VIII

The Red Badge Of Courage

The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

I really liked this book. A lot. Surprisingly. I’m not too big on war novels but this book, which takes place during the Civil War, was written very well. I liked how Crane never really gave the characters names. Only when directly spoken to by another character would you learn their name. They were described. The main character that the novel follows is called the youth. He has two other friends that are in the book called the tall soldier and loud soldier. We also meet Generals and Lieutenants among other soldiers of the regiment. I really liked that no one had names. It was easier to put myself in the role of the youth and get a sense of what the character went through.

The book takes place over a few days as far as I can tell. It takes place over a couple of battles. It’s the youths first few battles. We follow the youth and learn about his struggles and victories of war.

I really like what it says on the back of my book. It really captures what I’m trying to say well.

War is many things. It is waiting and boredom and rumor, as well as shot and shell and the Flag flying in a brave charge. It is men against the many minor enemies of sodden discomfort, fatigue, fear, and uncertainty, as well as the human enemy with a gun. 

Men have made war – and written about it – since before the dawn of history. It would hardly seem there is anything new to say. Yet when Stephen Crane wrote The Red Badge of Courage in 1895, it met immediate wide popularity. Others had written of gallantry, of glory, and grand strategy; but what Crane’s readers found was the simple human tale of a young recruit, bewildered by the mad pattern of battle, often weary and frequently afraid. It was in effect a truth about war – and about men – which old soldiers might tell, but which was seldom set down in books. 

Stephen Crane was born in Newark, NJ, in 1871, and died in 1900. He was 25 when he wrote The Red Badge of Courage, and the war he told about had been over before his birth. But veterans praised his book’s accuracy – because he had listened to their talk and understood their feelings.

I do recommend this book. It’s well written and makes you think. I really enjoyed reading it.

Great Expectations

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.

First off a couple of quotes I liked while reading the book.

"If you can't get to be oncommon through going straight, you'll never get to do it through going crooked. So don't tell no more [lies], and live well and die happy." -Joe (Page 71) ... That's some good advice right there. If you can't be uncommon without lying then it's not worth it.

"Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts." (Page 145) ... I love this quote. It's so visual and true.


And my review. It's long and has spoilers. Sorry.

Great Expectations was a difficult book to get into. Charles Dickens uses every sentence to describe something so if you skip a line you have already missed something. I thought it would get easier to read once I got the cadence of the storytelling down, but it didn’t. I got more used to it but it never got easy. The other thing about the story was that I had a difficult time judging the ages of the characters and how time passed for them. It wasn’t until the end of the book that realized that Pip was about seven in the beginning of the book. The third thing I have to complain about is the story plot itself. It was complicated and made more complicated by the super-descriptive sentence and the lack of time explanations.

That being said I thought the story had the potential to be a great story. I know Dickens is a great writer because I read A Tale of Two Cities and I loved it. But this book, Great Expectations, was a cynical commentary on how life can treat a person. This book was long and complicated, sometimes like life.

"Which I meantersay, Pip..." by John McLenan. 1860. See it Here.

*spoilers beyond this point*

Pip is a young boy/man who doesn’t like his lot in life. Especially after he meets Estella. She is a well-to-do young girl/woman who was adopted by a bitter woman. Pip, unknowingly, falls in the good graces of a convict who makes a fortune in America. The convict makes arrangements for Pip to become a gentleman, thus “adopting” Pip and raising his lot in life. So follow me here… There is Pip who is adopted by a rich “Uncle Provis”, a man who makes Pip into something he can never be. And then there is Estella, the adopted daughter of Miss Havisham, a woman who was in love with a conman but never knew it. Her lover left her on the day of their wedding leaving her heartbroken and bitter toward men. She is a woman who dislikes men and thinks they are all the same. Miss Havisham raises Estella to use men like puppets. These are the four plot point characters. But there are other plot driving characters. We have Pip’s caretakers, first of all. His sister was is 20 years his senior and we never learn her first name. And her husband and Pip’s friend, Joe Gargery, the blacksmith. Then there is Herbert Pocket, Pip’s London friend, and Herbert’s girlfriend, Clara. There is Mr. Pumblechook in Pip’s childhood whom everyone believes made Pip a gentleman. We also have another convict who is tied to the background stories of Provis, who pops up in the story whenever it seemed conveniently needed. Let’s see who else was in the story… Oh! Biddy. Biddy helped Pip when he was in a child to learn how to read and write. We also have the lawyer, Mr. Jaggers, and his assistant, John Wemmick, whom conveniently are connected to Miss Havisham, Provis, and Pip. They are the ones that keep the story going. Sometimes they are even the people that hold it back.

So Pip meets Provis, whose real name is Magwich, when he is seven years old. A few years later he meets Miss Havisham and Estella. He starts his apprenticeship with Joe. Pip is dissatisfied with life. He gets a mysterious rich benefactor who doesn’t tell him who he is until he is 22. Shorty after coming into the money, pip meets Herbert. They become best of friends and remain friends for the rest of their lives. Pip and Herbert live together in London and have a grand time spending money and being young gentleman. Meanwhile Pip is in love with Estella. And I feel like if left to her own ways Estella could, and does, love him too. But with Miss Havisham’s teachings Estella never gets that chance. By the way, Pip thinks that Miss Estella is meant for him. Okay, so throughout the years Pip is learning how to be gentleman and he has dealings with the lawyer, Mr. Jaggers. Pip comes of age and fully expects to meet his benefactor on, of shortly after, his 21st birthday. But that doesn’t happen for another year or so. A man comes to Pip in the middle of the night and reveals that hi is both his mysterious benefactor and the convict that Pip met when he was seven. Oh and the great thing is that Provis is pretty much banned from England on penalty of death if he comes back. So Provis is risking his life by being there. Pip and Herbert hide Provis the best they can. At first they are appalled to think that the money Pip has been receiving is from an escaped convict. But they come to love him and trust him. Who knows how much time passes while Provis is in London? I got the feeling it’s just been a year or so. The time finally comes when they try and sneak Provis out of the country. But of course they get caught. Provis is put to death a month later. Herbert just goes on his merry way, marrying Clara and moving to India to be a partner in the shipping business he had been a part of. Pip becomes ill and thought it would have been an acceptable ending if he had died from his illness. But Pip gets nursed back to health by Joe and goes to live in India with Herbert and Clara. Shortly after Pip’s illness he finds out that Joe and Biddy are married. Meanwhile we also find out that Estella marries a rival of Pip’s becomes widowed a few years after that. Miss Havisham dies shortly before Provis is put to death. So I thought that with Estella benefactress and her husband gone she would have been able to be happy but she never was. No one was happy in the end of the book, save for Joe and Biddy and Herbert and Clara.

*end of spoilers*

If I didn’t really like the book in general, I really disliked the ending of the book. Plots get loosely tied up and then the book just ends.

I don’t really recommend this book after my first reading of it. Maybe my opinion will change after I read the book a second time.

Current Reads

I finished reading The Series Of Unfortunate Events the other day. I thought the series was great. It was entertaining and made me laugh.

Monday I started reading Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. I'm only about 50 pages into it. It takes some getting used to after the easy reads I've had. I need to get used to the way the characters speak and how Dickens writes.

That's Unfortunate

Last week I was bored and so I pulled a book off the bookshelf and started reading it. I started reading "The Series of Unfortunate Events" on May 28th. There are 13 books total. As of today I'm halfway through book 9. These books are very funny and I love them. The first couple of books got somewhat monotonous with their plot. But when it got to book 5 the plot started changing which is nice. I am really into these books. They are really quick reads for me. The first few books I was able to read in a day. These last ones are taking me two, maybe three, days to read because they are longer. I love that the author, Lemony Snicket (real name: Daniel Handler), goes on tangents and says random things. At one point he was talking about Déjà Vu at the very beginning of the chapter. And you turn the page and it has the exact same thing on the next page except for the very last line. But same heading and picture and everything. It made me laugh out loud!

It's Friday!

Let's celebrate with some random things I like.

Josh Groban.

Josh Groban and his AWESOME leather jacket.

Porsche. These are Cayman S.

Lime Green.

"Dance Me To The End Of Love" painted by Jack Vettriano

Dark Chocolate.

Roger Federer and tennis.

Doctor Who

NCIS

Calla Lilies.

"Black" tulips. I love them so much. ... But I just like any tulip.

Books.

And currently right now I am in love with this guy in this role...

Benedict Cumberbatch as the Baddie/Awesome Guy in Star Trek: Into Darkness.

Seriously... If you have not seen the new Star Trek. GO! Now! The whole movie is fantastic!

The Book Thief

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

The summary in the front of the book is pretty good without giving to much away...

Trying to make sense of horrors of World War II, Death relates the story of Liesel -- a young German girl whose book-stealing and story-telling talents help sustain her family and the Jewish man they are hiding, as well as their neighbors.

Or even the summary at the back of the book right before the discussion questions...

Liesel Meminger is only nine years old when she is taken to live with the Hubermanns, a foster family, on Himmel Street in Molching, Germany, in the late 1930s. She arrives with few possessions, but among them is The Grave Digger's Handbook, a book she stole from her brother's burial place. During the years that Liesel lives with the Hubermanns, Hitler becomes more powerful, life on Himmel Street becomes more fearful, and Liesel becomes a full-fledged book thief. She rescues book from Nazi book-burnings and steals from the library of the mayor. Liesel is illiterate when she steals her first book, but Hans Hubermann uses her prized books to teach her to read. This is a story of courage, friendship, love, survival, death, and grief. This is Liesel's life on Himmel Street, told from Death's point of view.

I really liked this book. As said in the little snippets, Death is the narrator of this story. The author, Markus Zusak, is a great story-teller himself. And I found myself compelled to read as much as I could in one sitting. Death was funny at times but mostly he just told what needed to be told. I could envision the story as it was told to me. I saw a little girl being adopted by her foster parents. I saw Liesel's dreams and nightmares. I saw the carnage that the War brought upon their country. I saw the colors and the words.

I almost cried at times. Having Death narrate World War II was heartbreaking. The ending wasn't one I was expecting but it fit so perfectly. Liesel's story needed to end the way it did. And in the end I respect the story so much more. It's real and heartbreaking. In the end I did shed a tear or two.

I highly recommend this book. I loved every page of it. It made me cry. It made me smile. It made me think. I like a book that makes me think.

"Death and Liesel" by FluorineSpark via DeviantArt

Heidi

Heidi by Johanna Spyri


I really enjoyed reading Heidi. This book was fun and lighthearted but had sad and serious moments as well. Most everyone has seen the Disney version which does follow the book quite well. I like the movie but I did enjoy the book so much more. My version of the book also had cute illustrations to go along with the story.

If anyone has a handful of time I highly recommend this book. It was wonderful.

"Girl and Sheep"  here

Untamed Dreams trilogy

Untamed Dreams trilogy by Christy Frazier

These books were really good. I didn’t want to put them down. (I did because I had to sleep and work. lol.) I thought all three were well written and the plot had twists I was not expecting.

This book is the story of a young woman named Kayli. When her family moves to a different state she stays behind so she can finish her last year of high school with her friends. In staying behind Kayli agrees to stay with her aunt in her big and creepy house. Kayli has always been nervous about the house but for no particular reason. It is an old house that has creaks and quirks like any other centuries old abode. What Kayli doesn’t know is that her aunt has another tenant living in the apartment above the garage. Colton is mysterious man. He is a tall, dark, and handsome, gorgeous and mysterious man. Nonetheless Kayli and Colton find themselves drawn to each other. Their destinies seem to be intertwined and there is nothing they can do to stop the adventure that they seem to find themselves on.

*Spoilers beyond this point*

Starting this trilogy I never thought that it would be about pirates and parallel worlds. Colton is a man trapped in a curse from another world. And he isn’t a pirate per say but his father was which is what got him and his ship’s crew into this predicament in the first place. Colton’s father stole a sword from a witch’s family. The witch found Colton and told him he and his crew would be cursed to never die until the sword and the jewels that go in the hilt were returned to its proper place. Using clues, Colton and his crew find the three jewels and search for the last resting place for the sword. Kayli and Colton fall in love while their destinies intertwine.


I really liked the the Untamed Dreams trilogy. It was cute and had some plot twists I wasn’t expecting. I enjoyed them.

The Riddle-Master of Hed (Trilogy)

The Riddle-Master Trilogy by Patricia A. McKillip

Consists of:
The Riddle-Master of Hed
Heir of Sea and Fire
Harpist in the Wind


I decided that I was going to review this trilogy as one books because that's what it should have been the whole time. Not three book. Not even two books. One. One book. Do you know why it should be one book? It was SO confusing that the only way of making a little sense out of it all was to read one book right after another. No breaks. Like a real book.

I started out thinking good things about this book. Several of my friends thought this book was good and I even had strangers tell me it's good. And then I started this book. I read the first three chapters three times because I could not understand what was going on. Even after finishing this book I am confused about several things in this book. I thought that this book had moments of brilliance but overall I did not care for the writing style or even the plot. Really? A harp player who is a farmer prince travels across the lands, loses his memory, is kidnapped/betrayed, tortured, and then gains all this power over the lands that he doesn't know what to do with. Meanwhile his fiancé, who refuses to actually marry him, gains a power over fire and sea. (Really. Okay?) So she is figuring all that out while wraiths are popping up all over her home kingdom. And there are wizards and some stone-children which I still don't understand. And there are some evil undead that I feel like nothing happens to them. And they are never really explained they just are but they never get figured out. I am pretty sure that these wraiths and undead and wizards coming out of hidding are from a war between the creators (also known as really powerful wizards). The was was sort of put on hold for thousands of years while they searched for the Star-Bearer, who is our hero of the story, who apparently was the key to winning the war for both sides.

Overall I found the story absurd and I didn't care for it. I caught myself several times while reading this thinking that I want to read Lord Of The Rings or even Pride and Predjudice or something with a plot that is worth spending two weeks reading.

A Harpist by Adele Lorienne

Edenbrooke

Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson.

I could not put this book down. I was mesmerized by the wit and humor and the romance in this novel. I loved everything about it. I also liked the fact that it's about a young woman coming from town (Bath) who goes to the countryside. Not a woman who comes from the country and goes to town (Bath, London, Brighton, etc). (Think of Jane Austen novels. Country to town.) It puts a different perspective on things. The writing in this novel was brilliant. I could very much imagine what was happening. It was delightful. The writing gave me just enough details to let my mind draw a picture of what was happening but not too much that I was bogged down by details. The story was the focus not the setting. I liked the writing style a lot.

I think that the book jacket does a very good job of describing Edenbrooke.

Marianne Daventry will do anything to escape the boredom of Bath and the amorous attentions of an unwanted suitor. So when an invitation arrives from her twin sister, Cecily, to join her at a sprawling country estate, she jumps at the chance. Thinking she'll be able to relax and enjoy her beloved English countryside while her sister snags the handsome heir of Edenbrooke, Marianne finds that even the best laid plans can go awry. From a terrifying run-in with a highwayman to a seemingly harmless flirtation, Marianne finds herself embroiled in an unexpected adventure filled with enough romance and intrigue to keep her mind racing. Will Marianne be able to rein in her traitorous heart, or will a mysterious stranger sweep her off her feet? Fate had something other than a relaxing summer in mind when it sent Marianne to Edenbrooke.

My own summary of the book gives away lots of spoilers so read on at your own discretion.

The novel is about a young woman named Marianne. After her mother died she was sent to live with her grandmother in Bath. Her twin sister, Cecily, went to live in London with their aunt. And their grieving father went to France to forget about his beloved wife. Marianne disliked Bath. Her aunt and grandmother never go out in society. And Marianne missed her father and her twin sister. She felt abandoned by everyone. So when Marianne was invited to the countryside estate of Edenbrooke to visit her late mother's friend she jumps at the chance. Along the journey to Edenbrooke her carriage is stopped by a highway man. Marianne and her maid, Betsy, are unharmed but emotionally upset. They stay at an inn overnight. There they meet an interesting gentleman. It is not until they arrive at the estate that they learn that the man is Phillip, the middle son who lives at the estate. Marianne is very embarrassed to learn his identity because she was not very ladylike at the inn or when she met Phillip at the estate before realizing he lives there. One of the conditions that Marianne's grandmother gave her when allowing her to go to Edenbrooke was that she become more ladylike. Marianne decided that in order to earn her grandmother's inheritance and greater approval she had best start acting like a lady. No more twirling. Learn to sing a song for company. Learn to flirt with gentlemen. Follow the example of other young ladies. Marianne's twin sister, Cecily, was also invited to stay at Edenbrooke. She was delayed in London to attend a ball. During that week Marianne was at Edenbrooke without her sister she became good friends with Phillip. They would spend hours in each others company exploring the estate or just conversing in the library. Marianne knows that Cecily has her heart set on marrying Phillip. So she tries not to fall in love with him. But of course that doesn't work. Marianne denies her feelings because in her mind Phillip belongs to Cecily. And Cecily always gets what she wants. Marianne feels like she cannot compete with her prettier, more accomplished, ladylike sister. So she doesn't try. Marianne doesn't see that Phillip loves her too until it is pointed out to her. Marianne needed help seeing past the miscommunication that occurred between herself and others. She got that help when the "highwayman" comes back and kidnaps her. He is a man she knows from Bath who knows about her large inheritance and intends to forcefully marry her so that he can lay claim to her fortune. Phillip, who meanwhile went to France to fetch Marianne's father, is infuriated with this man so much that he plans on dueling him. Marianne stops him because she doesn't want anyone to die when that man didn't really hurt her. Instead Marianne asks that the man be hurt a little and that he be sent away from England. Knowing her sister's feelings, Cecily gives Phillip up to Marianne. Phillip and Marianne finally declare their love for each other. And it is great because they love each other for who they are and not for their money. Because of course Phillip is the heir to the Edenbrooke estate. The eldest brother, Charles, and their father are not alive. (It was quite convenient for the characters that Phillip was the heir but I didn't see it coming so I liked it.)

Like I said before this novel is a lovely regency romance novel. The mystery of it all and the romantic tension between Phillip and Marianne was written so well. I felt like I could put myself in Marianne's place. I got butterflies when she got butterflies. In fact when I finished the book at 3am after reading it straight through I was so giddy that I couldn't sleep or even just lay in my bed for the next half hour. (That's when I ran outside and got the mail from the mailbox and had a piece of toast.)

I highly recommend Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson to anyone who wants to read a brilliantly written regency romance novel. I loved this book a lot.

The Scorpio Races

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

I liked this book. It was different. I think it was based on an Irish myth.

The novel is about a dangerous horse race. But the horses meant for this race are capaill uisce horses, water horses. They are unpredictable, wild horses that come from the sea. The sea makes them dangerous because the horses are always being called to it. And if there is a rider on their back they could bring that person to their watery grave if they aren’t controlled right. Oh and these capaill uisces eat meat and blood. It’s an added phenomenon that makes them very difficult to ride. The race itself is simple; Go from one side of the beach to the other before all the others. Only you’re racing on horses that you only train for three weeks that want your blood or are being called toward the sea.

"Before the Races" by Tronnie on DeviantArt

Sean Kendrick is a four-time winner of the Scorpio Races. His red capaill uisce horse, Corr, has been in his family since he was a little boy. Corr is fast and, like other capaill uisces, bigger then a normal horse. Sean and his father caught the horse when he was a boy. Sean’s father died in a race when Sean was a young man. Sean’s mother couldn’t understand the fascination about the races. They were poor, like most of the islanders, and she didn’t want that life. So she moved away to the mainland. Sean works for a horse rancher as their horse wrangler. More importantly he knows who to break, train, and care for capaill uisce horses. Most people are scared of these powerful horses so Sean does most of the caring for the capaill uisces by himself. Corr belongs to the owner of this stable.

Kate Connely, aka Puck, rides her regular chestnut-colored island horse, Dove, in a race made for water horses. She causes strife by entering in a race meant for only men and water horses. It is an unspoken rule so there isn’t too much they can do to stop her but intimidate her into quitting. Puck has courage and a purpose. She is racing for her two brothers and money to keep their house. Her parents died in the sea one October long ago when the capaill uisces were rising. It’s a dangerous time to be out on the sea in a boat. But the Connely parents didn’t believe in the magic of capaill uisce horses. It was just a fanciful story to them.

The novel follows Sean and Puck as they enter in the race and the training of their horses. They end up training together on the cliffs by the sea. It’s too dangerous for Puck and Dove to train on the beach with everyone else. And Sean and Corr never train down there. And of course since they are spending so much time together there is an attraction between our two protagonists. The very end of the book is the race and the aftermath of the effects.

This story is an interesting idea. Having a race with dangerous water horses and two lovers caught in the middle of it all. It is slow in the beginning of the book and can be confusing because the book is written from both Sean's and Puck's perspective. At times their "voices" are also very similar.

Overall, I liked the book. But it was slow until about halfway through. That was annoying. I do recommend this book though. I enjoyed the idea a lot.

Abhorsen

Abhorsen by Garth Nix.

This story was good but I think I prefer Sabriel over these last two books.

Abhorsen was the completion of the story that started in Lirael. You don’t really meet anyone new and I found myself predicting all too well what was going to happen. Also I feel like the characters that die just die so conveniently. The story switches between Lirael and Sameth’s journey and Nicholas at the Lightning Pit. In the very beginning we even have the story from Sabriel and Touchstone’s point of view.

Overall the book tells of Lirael and Sam’s continued journey to rescue Nick. As they get closer you find out about the Spirit that posses Nick. We also learn who exactly Mogget and the Disreputable Dog are near the very end of the book. We learn more about Death in Abhorsen. Lirael walks in Death all the way to the last gate, The Ninth Gate, to look into the past. That part I found interesting because I liked how Lirael described the different Gates and the Precincts of Death.

It’s hard to write this review without telling too much about everything that happens. Let’s just say that overall I enjoyed the book. But I didn’t enjoy it as much as Sabriel. All three of these books were very easy to read. Once I started reading one I would finish it within a few days. This last one I started on Friday and ended on Tuesday.

Lirael

Lirael by Garth Nix.

*Spoilers to follow. Read at your own risk.*

This book is a sequel to Sabriel but it's more of a huge run-up to Abhorsen, the third book in the trilogy. Lirael builds the main conflict but never resolves until, I'm guessing, the third book. That being said I did enjoy the journey that the two main characters, Lirael and Sameth, go on and it did have some twists I was not expecting.

Lirael and her Disreputable Dog

Lirael is a young woman who desperately wants Sight. She is the daughter of a Clayr woman and lives with the Clayr. The Clayr are a group made up nearly entirely of women, who live in a snowy mountain called the Clayr's Glacier, located in the northern part of the Old Kingdom. The Clayr are all Charter mages in possession of the Sight, the ability to see glimpses of possible futures. They combine their powers occasionally in order to have a better view of the future, something that is called the Nine Day Watch. The Glacier is also home to the Great Library of the Clayr, which is a library filled with many lost treasures and horrors. It is in this library that the first part of the book takes place. In order to give her a purpose, Lirael has permission to work in the library as a librarian. Here she learns many things from getting into trouble with monsters and reading many of the forbidden and hard to find books.

Using Charter Magic and Free Magic Lirael creates a companion for herself, the Disreputable Dog. This dog becomes Lirael's greatest friend and constant companion. She acts just like a real dog but at the same time is entirely impossible. At one point in the story Dog makes an evil spirit walk back into Death by barking, using her bark like the Abhorsen bells to bind the spirit. So we know she has power beyond what Dog shows us here in Lirael. But we never learn what she is entirely. Dog says she was there at the beginning of magic and even explains some of the finer points of magic, both Free and Charter. Thus Dog complicates her story by being a mysterious Magic creature that is trustworthy and protective of her mistress, Lirael.

Sameth is the younger child of Sabriel and Touchstone. He is the Abhorsen-in-Waiting. But there is just one problem. After going into Death to confront this book's overall evil one, a necromancer named Hedge, Sam is so afraid of Death he refuses to set foot there again until it is his own time to die. Sam prefers to make things, gadgets and toys, using Charter magic. Lirael is very surprised to find that Sam is a very powerful Charter mage. For one so young he seems to be very in control of at least that aspect of his life.

Lirael and Sam meet because he ran away from his duties as Abhorsen-in-Waiting to go rescue his school friend, Nick. Sam quickly realizes that he is way out of his league when it comes to dealing with the Dead. Lirael leaves the safety of the Glacier because the Nine Day Watch Saw her with Nick on a boat. The only possible future. So Lirael sets off to find Nick too. Along the way she finds Sameth and Mogget, who has once again left the Abhorsen's House to help the Abhorsen, in this case the Abhorsen-in-Waiting. Since it is the fastest way to travel and running water repels the Dead, Lirael leaves the glacier taking a boat. It is on this river that Lirael meets Sameth for the first time. Sameth was on the river to escape the Dead that were chasing him. In the boat, Lirael and Sam and their companions, Dog and Mogget, float down the river toward the Red Lake that is their destination.

The bad guy in Lirael is a a necromancer named Hedge. We don't know much about him. He has been putting this plan of his together for years. Nick, Sam's friend, is in league with Hedge but not of his accord. Nick is possessed by a very evil Spirit whom we learn is trying to come back into Life by any means possible. Nick is a unknowing host to this unnamed Spirit. We know that Hedge serves this creature. All of his mischief is created for the unfortunate benefit of Sabriel and Touchstone and those that oppose the Greater Spirits. To keep them out of his way he creates scenarios to draw them to far off places. Hedge and his followers keep them busy. Sabriel and her family start to suspect that something beyond their power is falling into place and they try and do all they can to stop it. Having an Abhorsen-in-Waiting is really helpful to everyone but Sam is afraid of his duties.

*Super spoiler coming up.*

Lirael has always wondered about her lineage. She knows who her mother was but didn't spend very much time with her. Her mother left the Glacier when Lirael was five years old and died that same year. Lirael never knew anything about her father. While exploring in the Library Lirael finds a path that is meant for her, created by a Clayr long ago. She takes the path and in turn finds a room with three things inside. A book, panpipes, and a mirror. The book is called Book of Remembrance and Forgetting, which is similar to the Abhorsens' Book of the Dead. It teaches her about the art of a Remembrancer. With the accompanying Dark Mirror and pipes she comes to the realization that she might never be destined for the Sight but for seeing the Past. Lirael uses the Dark Mirror and her knowledge to look into the Past to find out who her father really was. She doesn't know her father at first but when Sameth and herself reach the Abhorsens' house she recognizes the main dining hall. It is then that Mogget reveals that she is the true Abhorsen-in-Waiting. Lirael is indeed the Daughter of a Clayr (her mother) and the Daughter of an Abhorsen (her father). As an Abhorsen she can bind and banish the Dead. And as the first Remembrancer in a hundred years she can look into the Past. The twist I was not expecting is that Lirael's father is in fact Sabriel's father making the two of them half-sisters. Thus also making her in Aunt to Sameth and his older sister Ellimere. I believe that as Free Magic creatures both Mogget and the Disreputable Dog knew about her heritage long before Lirael ever did.

Lirael ends with that thrilling twist but overall the plot in this book was very mild. They have minor, separate adventures which lead to them joining forces when they meet on the river. The float down to the Abhorsens' house. Lirael finds out who she really is. Then the book ends with the reader finding out Nick is possessed with the Spirit of Hedge's master. This book did a lot of setting up for the third book in the series. But I still really enjoyed the journey.

Sabriel

Sabriel by Garth Nix.

It is a very interesting story. It has adventure and a hint of romance. The characters walk among Death and live in Life.

The story follows a young women named Sabriel on her adventure to rescue her father. But she is not just a normal girl. She is a Necromancer who uses bells to control the Dead. Sabriel is part of a long line of Abhorsens. She banishes the evil Spirits to their Final Death. She is able to walk in Death.

Sabriel: A drawing by numendil via deviantART.

Sabriel travels with two companions. The first is a trapped Spirit who serves the Abhorsens. For Sabriel he is in the form of a talking cat and calls himself Mogget. He is bound by the red collar that he wears around his neck. When the collar comes off, Mogget turns to his Dead form of fire and malice. But with a ring that Sabriel wears she is able to bind him again.

Mogget: A drawing by Liz Stifel.

Sabriel's second companion is a man called Touchstone. He was trapped in Death for two hundred years but was rescued by Sabriel. He serves her and helps her fights the Dead that come to prey on the living.

Touchstone: A drawing by Bryce Homick.

While on their dangerous adventure to rescue Sabriel's father they find out that one of The Greater Dead, possibly the Great, has finally crawled up from the Ninth Gate of Death to reach Life. Kerrigor wants to destroy all of the Great Charter Stones so that the Dead can walk in Life forever. He has been trying to do so for two hundred years. And many Abhorsens have tried to banish him to Final Death. With the help of her friends, Sabriel must do what many others were unable to do. Even her own father could not banish this Evil. Killing his body makes Kerrigor weak enough that she can banish him to his Final Death. But they have to find her father and Kerrigor's body before any banishing can be done.

Kerrigor: A drawing by Bryce Homick.

I enjoyed this book a lot. It was so different then anything I would have read otherwise. I thought Garth Nix does a good job at balancing Life and Death. The way he imagines them interacting is brilliant.

I'm looking forward to reading book two and three of this trilogy.

Christmas Presents 2012

Our stocking gifts are actually bags. So I got nail polish (see next paragraph), an Aston Martin hot wheels car, a Million Dollar chocolate bar, popcorn, licorice, fruit snack, socks, head light, flashlight, a puzzle, toothbrush and paste, mouthwash, cool hair spin pins, nail clippers, and a bunch of candy.

Three nail polishes from the O.P.I. James Bond Collection. A gorgeous red ('Skyfall'), a royal blue ('Tomorrow Never Dies'), and awesome orange ('Die Another Day'). One of them was hiding in my plethora of candy so I didn't find it until Mom wondered why I was just favoring the two colors. lol. It was funny. I LOVE the 'Skyfall' color. It is even prettier in person.

I asked for solid long-sleeve shirts so I got several of those. I got two dresses. One summery lace dress and the other a sweater dress. (Those two dresses I think might be returned. They're short.)

Mom and Dad gave everyone a car emergency kit to put in their car. It's really cool. The bag has velcro on it so it sticks to the carpet in the trunk. It's genius I tell you. It comes with 79 different things. And the bag has a nifty pocket that comes out so I'm going to stick a blanket and some water bottles there. I'll probably use my brown fleece blanket for now because it's small and comes with a strap to keep it rolled up.

This year we drew names for our sibling gifts. Steven had me. He gave me not one tv series that I asked for but two! I got Numb3rs season 6 and Doctor Who season 6. It's awesome. DW is a used copy so the box is a little battered. But the disks look brand new. And when it's inside of it's outer case you can't tell at all that anything is wrong with it. I will be attempting to fix the case in the next few days. Maybe I can seal the cracks or something.

Grandparent's Hall (Mom's parents) give us money every year so with that money I'll be renewing my 'Friends Of Josh Groban' membership and buying 'All That Echoes'. I think with the left over money I'll buy some fabric.

I got myself a quilt book. Modern Minimal: 20 Bold and Graphic Quilts by Alissa Haight Carlton. I love this book. The quilts are so gorgeous. There are about half a dozen that I will make most definitely. I also got myself a Zig-Zag quilt pattern by Empty Bobbin Sewing Studios. I really like this quilt. It is so cute.

What I Read

What I Read

... Battlefield Earth: The Saga of the Year 3000. I'm almost done with it.

Family Week

My family and I are on our way to spend the week at Flaming Gorge. It'll be fun but I'm sad that I'll be missing the second (and always best) week of the US Open. Hopefully we have a good internet signal because if we do Dad said I could watch tennis. I'm mostly just worried about the weekend when the semifinals and finals are being played. I finished all but one book that I borrowed from Colton. Well, two books but Green Rider I'll borrow from the library because it's part of a trilogy and I have read them before. And I think there is another series I want to read first. The book I brought this week is a 1050-page science fiction novel. It'll be nice to get out of the "real world" books that I have been reading and read a really long and completely different book. The book is by L. Ron Hubbard and it is called Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000. From the reviews in the book and the introduction that I read this morning apparently this book is Star Wars meets Indiana Jones or something like that. lol. I think it'll be interesting to read.