And I’m back with another Game of Thrones Book Tag. This one was created by Neko Neha, who blogs over on the Biblionyan. She created this tag in anticipation of the new season of Game of Thrones on HBO.
The Song of the Lioness quartet by Tamora Pierce
After reading Trang’s review of The Wicked + the Divine, I was convinced to give the comic another try. It was one of the first comics I read when I decided to give the medium a try about two years ago. I was attracted to the title and the minimalist cover design of its first volume. When I opened the book to quickly flip through it, I was hooked. I loved the illustrations. The sellers at the comic book shop then told me it’s about mythological gods incarnated as superstars and that one even looks like Rihanna — I was sold. Anything fantasy that deals with gods and how they affect people’s lives is catnip for me.
Genre:
Fantasy; contemporary
Quick summary:
The Wicked + The Divine is a fantasy comic book series set in present day U.K. about mythological gods who are incarnated as humans every ninety years but die after two years. This time, the gods appear as pop superstars. Everyone loves them and hates them and wants to be them. The story follows Laura, a teenager who yearns to be part of the Pantheon (the group of gods), as she gets tangled in the gods’ affairs.
Continue reading “Comics Roundup #15: The Wicked and the Divine, Vols. 1-4”
I was surprised that I enjoyed this one.
Goodreads summary:
A dazzling debut novel—at once a charming romance and a moving coming-of-age story—about what happens when a fourteen-year old boy pretends to seduce a girl to steal a copy of Playboy but then discovers she is his computer-loving soulmate.
Billy Marvin’s first love was a computer. Then he met Mary Zelinsky.
Do you remember your first love?
The Impossible Fortress begins with a magazine…The year is 1987 and Playboy has just published scandalous photographs of Vanna White, from the popular TV game show Wheel of Fortune. For three teenage boys—Billy, Alf, and Clark—who are desperately uneducated in the ways of women, the magazine is somewhat of a Holy Grail: priceless beyond measure and impossible to attain. So, they hatch a plan to steal it. (Goodreads)
Continue reading ““The Impossible Fortress” by Jason Rekulak”
It’s been a while since the celebration of my birthday and many of these were bought way before it came; but, since no one got me any books, I’ll count all these as my presents. 🙂
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic:
Books that can be read in one sitting, or in a day, or when you’re short on time
Since this meme kicked off my blogging spree last week, I’ve decided to continue with it for a time. The following consists of 10 books and comics I’ve read that I’ve either completed in a day or could have been completed in a day if life’s chores hadn’t interrupted me.
I’ve been on a roll, posting something almost everyday since last week. I feel so proud of myself! **Pats self on back.** Maybe I’m getting back that sweet blogging groove I had last year.
I’m kicking off the week with the Rainbow Book Tag, which I found on Rachel’s blog, Life of a Female Bibliophile. The rules are:
And again we have another fun way to recommend books to folks. I’ll use the colors Rachel included in her post and will start with my favorite color —
Turquoise is such a cool, calm color. I love it because it reminds me of the sea. The ocean is often variations of blue, but the tranquil beaches I enjoy visiting back home have turquoise waters. If this is also your favorite color, check out Anita’s post on teal.
The Someday Birds by Sally J. Pla
Weekend Reads is a weekly post in which I discuss a variety of topics and mention the books I plan to read on the weekend.
This weekend’s post is inspired by a Weekly Writer Wisdom post I saw on Sara Letourneau’s blog that asks:
What stories (novels, myths, legends, etc.) have taken up residence in your soul? How or why do you think they moved you to this degree? Has a story ever inspired you to do something new or different, change your worldview, etc.? Is this something you hope to accomplish with your own work?
Instead of focusing on several books/stories that have resonated with me, I’ll instead discuss one that has stuck with me since the first time I read it as a child, Cinderella.
We’re all familiar with this fairy tale about a girl who’s abused by her evil step-mother, attends a ball with the help of her fairy god mother, and is later rescued from her horrible life by a charming prince. I can’t recall having the story read to me, but I do recall reading it over and over again as a kid.
Wishes for My TBR Pile is a monthly post where I list and sometimes discuss the books I’ve discovered and would like to get and read.
These lists come in handy when I’m at the bookstore and can’t decide on what to purchase (though I really don’t need to buy any more books). I often get one or two of the books after featuring them in these lists because discussing them here helps to refresh my memory and interest in them.
And since my last post, I bought Klaus by Grant Morrison, illus. by Dan Mora. Actually, I placed an order for it soon after completing that post. Klaus is a comic book that reimagines the tale of Santa Clause. The art looks pretty cool and I love the book’s overall presentation: It’s a hardback with gold-leaf edges. It’s so beautiful. I hope to read it sometime this year.
Here are some more books I’ve discovered:
Continue reading “Wishes for My TBR Pile #20: More New Discoveries”
I’ve often heard of Lois McMaster Bujold, but have never been tempted to pick up one of her books until I read Jonathan’s review of the Curse of Chalion.
I’m immediately drawn to fantasy novels in which religion factors greatly. It’s not something I often see in the fantasy novels I read. Often, religion is a slight thing in the society and not a major part of the world building. It certainly doesn’t often affect magic, unless it is to denounce the use of magic. However, in the Curse of Chalion, magic is greatly influenced by religion and the gods.
Side note:
I really enjoyed this book and it’s now one of my favorites, which means I went overboard with this reflection piece. It’s long ass fuck. Skip to the Overall section and read some of the quotes for a quickie.
The Curse of Chalion is a high fantasy novel told using a limited third-person narrator from the perspective of our protagonist, Lupe dy Cazaril, a former soldier and courtier who returns home to the provincar of Baocia (basically a dukedom) mentally and physically scarred after his serving aboard a Roknari slave galley. Roknar is a country to the north of Chalion.
Continue reading ““The Curse of Chalion” by Lois McMaster Bujold”
Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme created by GingerReadsLainey and now managed by Sam from Thoughts on Tomes. For more information on this meme, visit the Goodreads group.
Like the Top Ten Tuesday meme, I haven’t done one of these in a long time. I’ve decided to return to it for now because they are helpful in providing blogging topics when one is in a blogging slump, which is how I feel at the moment. It’s hard to find the time and energy to think and write.
I don’t plan to do all the topics I missed because that would take forever. Instead, I’ll start with last week’s topic. I enjoyed reading and watching people’s response to it. In honor of the Booktube SFF Awards, last week’s topic was:
Favorite science fiction & fantasy books
Of course, it’s hard to minimize my favorites to just 5 books; so instead, I’ll mention 5 great fantasy books that immediately came to mind when I saw the topic. I won’t include the Harry Potter books because we all already know how awesome they are.
Zezee with Books 