Top 5 of 2015

 Hi Book-Sniffers and Librocubicularists, 

The last day of 2015. What a weird, yet wonderful year. Many ups and downs for me. Many new friends. Many new favourite books. As before, I have narrowed down my top rated books from Goodreads to my Top 5 of the year. 

1. The Red Knight by Miles Cameron

Perhaps one of the best fantasies I’ve read in a long time. Cameron’s background in medieval history certainly solidifies his world. His characters are all sorts of grey, never good nor bad, something in betwk-Sniffers and Librocubicularists, 

2. Song in the Silence by Elizabeth Kerner

I searched high and low for a decent book about dragons. None of these kookey creatures, quirky and goofy. These are believably solid, ancient creatures with a long history. A delightful journey and a relateable main character. The romance in this story is unusual. Book 2 in 2016 for sure.

3. Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton

Elegant. Beautiful. Exquisite. The story leaves you thinking, pondering, and wondering. Magic is sprinked in so delicately that it seems plausible. A joy to read. A book that reminds you how remarkable writing can be.

Review here. 

4. Here, There be Dragons by James A. Owen

A surprise! Has you wanting to curl up next to a cozy fire or pitch a chair at the beach. All the warm fuzzies about your most favourite literary characters. Book 2 for the bookclub in 2016.

Review here.

5. The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson

One of the best future society YA novels out there. Testing the limits, combining the heart of artistic expression and the  advances of human kind’s technology. I wanted to know more about this world only hinted at.  A high recommend for those itching for a new dystopian society.

Review here. 

Honourable Mention:

Unicorn Chronicles by Bruce Coville

I reread the first two: Into the Land of the Unicorns and Song of the Wanderer. The last two of the series were new to me: Dark Whispers and The Last Hunt. Finally completing a series that got me into fantasy, into reading, and an life-long obsession with magical creatures. Why not mention this fantastic series?

Coville can create some of the most remarkable characters, all unique and lovely. I hated to see them go. What a wonderful 20 year journey.

Merry Christmas!

Hi Book-Sniffers and Librocubicularists,

What an odd end to this year. This seems a trend for my reading every year. Begin strong, peak in the summer months, and peter out into bare reading in November/December.

Now on holidays, I can start planning my potential reading for next year. I've been brainstorming some attack methods. Things that didn't work this year, things that did. My goals worked, the Popsugar 2015 Challenge was fantastic, and many MANY books were crossed off the reading list.

As the end of the year approaches I look at the stack of new books that I pushed aside because I had all of these other ones I wanted to read. This approach will change, though I'm not sure just yet how I will do it. I've been reading other people's blogs to see what they do, to be inspired potentially.

My bookclub with my best friend will continue. We've already got ten or so books lined up as priorities. Another bookclub invited me in. Thankfully, we're all understanding of our busy schedules, so the reading demand will be much less.

Right now, I'm hoping to end the year with one or two strong books - great characters, great story, and great fun. Three that I have in my queue are: Irenicon by Aidan Harte, Nod by Adrian Barnes, and Smiler's Fair by Rebecca Levene.

Between now and the first weekend of the New Year will be filled with resolutions and new lists. Very excited.

A very merry Christmas to you!

Reading Real Talk

Hi Book-Sniffers and Librocubicularists,

It's been a wonderful, busy couple of months. I'm happy working and doing the thing I love. That means more time spent doing the work rather than doing the reading.

I got to a point last month where I was becoming stressed over all the books I was feeling that I had to read. My best friend sat me down and gave me a talk. Read only what I love. Read in the moment. The list is the guide, not the rule by which to follow.

Miscellaneous updates:

Patrick Rothfuss's "Wise Man's Fear" is ridiculously long. I'm 500 pages in... it's 1000 pages. At this point, I've put it down so I can feel accomplished by reading something shorter.

Blind date: My best friend got the idea that we go to a used book store and pick out a book for each other. I added that we should wrap the cover so we can't see what it looks like. Of course, it doesn't hide the title, but it certainly hides possibly AWFUL covers. And believe me, browsing through that store, there's some pretty hilarious and cringy artwork. Makes you wonder what the actual story is about.
My book that she got me is actually quite good so far. Just past the first 30 pages and it's perfect for me! Woman on an adventure. Done. I'm sold.

NaNoWriMo: The month of writing 50,000 words of your own story... yup, participating in that this year. Why? Why not! I'm clearly just making more work for myself. December will feel like a breeze when this month is done. (famous last words?)

Thank you for stopping by. Perhaps late December I'll be able to write a few reviews.

~ Happy Winter Reading ~

October is Here!

Hi Book-Sniffers and Librocubicularists,

At this point, managing work and reading has been an ordeal. I managed to read four books in September. Two adult, one young adult, and one reread children's.

My best friend and I are reading Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events, one per month. This month is "The Wide Window". I forgot how wonderfully delightful they are. Hilarious with their side narrator tangents, ridiculous bit of information, and the terrible things that keep happening.

"Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein is ...  incredible. I shall try and form words together for a review.

The realization has dawned on me that I cannot, in no way, at this point in time, complete my reading wish list for this year. So now, is knocking off those that I can find time for. It'll be a struggle. I'll do it!

~Happy Autumn Reading~

Iron, Steam, and Monsters

The Iron Thorn
By Caitlin Kittredge

In an alternate history, where the cities are driven by Engines and the streets are protected by Proctors, there is a girl named Aoife (Ee-fay). Her mother is mad - the crazy kind - and her brother became mad on his 16th birthday. Aoife is days away from her 16th birthday and she fears this same madness will consume her. The Proctors hunt down mad people and throw them into mad houses.

Aoife wants to escape. She can escape from the city but can she escape from genetics?


Let me preface my review with this: I was so very unattached to all characters, uninterested in the story, and it pained me to finish this whole book. If my review is skewed, this is why. The story might be wonderful and I was not in the mood.

Mainly I found myself uninterested because the book felt like it still needed some serious cutting. It was 492 pages. For what really happened, that is too many. There were scenes that were superflous and much of the nattering inside Aoife's head was unneeded.

The world is cool. It's steampunk basically. Aether glows in lights much like electricity, but blue. An Engine located underneath the city constantly churns and keeps the Aether going. Typical steampunk things make appearances: goggles, dirigibles, machines with gears and cogs.

The best part of the world was not the steampunk aspect, but the insertion of Lovecraftian monsters. The monsters are THE best part of the book. There's creepy undead things, skittering humanoid creatures that lurk in the night, and faeries (were they faeries?) so dark you shiver at night thinking about the descriptions Kittredge gave.

Aoife (apart from having a ridiculously difficult name to pronounce) is a believable character. She studied engineering and machinery - yay intelligence - and, for the most part, she barrels through events without needing much of anyone's help. She is anything but helpless. Instead she needs her friends for moral support. I liked this apsect of her character. Not dependant on the boys around her.

Yes, there's boys. Of course. It's young adult. First, there's Conrad her mad brother who's disappearance takes her away from the city in the first place. Then there's Cal, her best friend. He's an incredible annoying character, with a chip off his shoulder, and he's there for her through thick and thin. And finally, Dean. With a name like that, you're sure shootin' he's the romantic interest. Oh, he's a rebel, a dark mystery about him, and he's totally into Aoife.

The story. At the core, it's a great story. A great set up for a trilogy I will not read. There was too much side stuff. Cut about 150 or 200 pages from this book and you've got a story that's action-packed and moves at a clip. Looking at the second and third book, looks like the publishers, or the author, realized  that the story needed to be more compact - the last book being 304 pages.


This book was NOT for me. Every time I sat down to read it, my mind wandered elsewhere. I found myself skimming half the time. After all that skimming, I lost nothing. I still took in the details of the world and the twists and turns of the characters' journey.

Venture into this dark, steampunk world and try not to have nightmares about the monsters. I know I am happy to have left it, never to return.


2/5 STARS

Gah, that cover is gross.