Traveling Through Books

Title: Calamity (Reckoners Series #3) Author: Brandon Sanderson Read in: Nook ePub Publisher: Random House Children's Books Genre: YA SciFi/Fantasy, alternate reality This is the final installment to Brandon Sanderson's Reckoners Series . I really enjoy these books. The series includes: Steelheart , Mitosis (short story set in this world), Firefight , and Calamity . They are suspenseful, funny, entertaining, and character driven. They also manage to surprise me and keep me guessing about what, exactly, is going to happen. To recap, this series is set in an alternate reality where people began developing superpowers, following the appearance of Calamity, a bright red light in the sky. Those that develop powers are called Epics. For some unknown reason, Epics are selfish, power hungry, evil individuals; regardless of who they were prior to becoming an Epic. The Reckoners are an underground group of people that fight and/or kill Epics. Each book, they learn a little mo...

Title: All the Light We Cannot See Author: Anthony Doerr Publisher: Scribner Read In: Hardcover Genre: Historical Fiction This book won the Pulitzer Prize and it should have. The first book in a while that I loved. It was hauntingly beautiful and sad. Set in WWII, it follows the story of Werner Pfennig, a gifted orphan who is drafted into the Nazi army to pinpoint enemy radios in his attempt to escape the fate of his parents, who died in a coal mine. It also follows Marie-Laure LeBlanc, a blind french girl who helps her father protect a precious artifact from the Parisian nature and history museum. Then there is the German Nazi who is helping Hitler hunt down the gems, art, and valuable artifacts of the nations they invade to add to the great collection Hitler believes the new order will need. There are hundreds, millions of books that are about and take place in WWII. The atrocities and complexities of the event can never be explored thoroughly enough. But the amount of inf...

Books 51 and 52: The Dwarves and The War of the Dwarves by Markus Heitz Verdict: Good, but not a must read As you can probably tell by the titles, this two part* (as far as I know) series is a fantasy series about Dwarves. This is really what drew me in to reading them. Dwarves, if you read fantasy, are always side characters, loveable friends, or the misunderstood race. This book features Dwarves as the heros and the protagonist is, of course, a Dwarf. Other than the main characters being Dwarves and a deeper peek than I've ever had into Dwarven culture, these books are your basic epic fantasy. The Hero has to save the day.   So, overall, the books are interesting and well-written. They are even original in their characters. However the plot line was not as original an idea as I hoped the Dwarven theme would take on. Read or don't read. They are enjoyable and I liked them, but I don't think you would be missing a classic if you didn't read them. ...

Book 50: "Fables: Legends in Exile" by Bill Willingham Verdict: Definite Read for any Graphic Novel Lover "Fables" Is a graphic novel series that takes fable, fairy tale, and legendary characters and puts them in exile in New York City, with their own underground society. They take a Noir form (gritty with a mystery to solve) and are fantastic. I loved it, they hit on everything you realize is weird as an adult. For instance; why does every princess marry Price Charming? Well in "Fables", Price Charming is one very sleazy man. Really, it is highly amusing. I suggest you read it. If you have not read a graphic novel before, however, I don't suggest that this be your first one- there are others that are better for people who are unaccustomed to this style of storytelling. **Present Day note** There are now 22 volumes of this graphic novel series. Volume 22 is the final volume, so now is a great time to start because you KNOW that yo...

Book 49: "Three Cups of Tea" By Greg Mortenson and Davis Oliver Relin "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin Verdict: Read for a new view on the Middle East and a much better solution to the war on terror "Three Cups of Tea" is a non-fiction story that follows Greg Mortenson's life as he strives to bring schools to children of the Middle East. What struck me most was not what Mortenson manages to accomplish, but what he sacrifices to do so. For much of the journey he lives in his car to save money for his cause. The caption of the book call's Greg Mortenson an "ordinary man" but I really have to disagree, not only because he has personally accomplished so much but mostly because nothing about his life has been ordinary. Mortenson was raised in Africa with missonary parents, a father who builds the first teaching hospital in the area that is actually run by African citizens. He then becomes an avid clim...

Books 45, 46, 47, and 48: Peter and the Starcatchers , Peter and the Shadow Thieves , Peter and the Secret of Rundoon , and Peter and the Sword of Mercy Verdict: Fun, Easy Adventure Books! Peter and the Starcatchers , Peter and the Shadow Thieves , Peter and the Secret of Rundoon , and Peter and the Sword of Mercy are a 4 book series that tells the story of how Peter Pan becomes Peter Pan. They are written by co-authors Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. The books are funny, easy, fun adventures. They are written for the Independent Reader or Grade 3rd through 6th, but with Dave Barry humor, anyone will enjoy them. Book 1, "Peter and the Starcatchers" is the story of how Peter Pan goes from orphan to flying boy. The Starcatchers are an ancient secret society whose job it is to find and return Starstuff to wherever it comes from. Starstuff is a magical substance that gives humans many different powers; most notably, the ability to fly and be ageless. Peter befrien...

Title: Green Island Author:  Shawna Yang Ryan Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group Read In: ePub Genre: Historical Fiction Green Island is a novel that begins with the February 28 Incident of Taiwan. (I didn't know about this event, so if you don't know either, here's the Wikipedia link : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_28_Incident) The story is told primarily from the point of view of the youngest daughter born during the February 28 Incident into the family of Dr. Tsai. It tells the story of her father's internment, her family's escape from Taipei, and follows her as she grows to adulthood and through her emigration to the United States. This book is well written. I like that it provides insight into a piece of  history which, due to American politics of the time, is often overlooked by history classes. I honestly know very little about Taiwan's history; this book made me want to learn more. While many of parts of this book were i...