Tag: Books

Shiny New 2014 Reading Challenges

On By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations8 Comments

The new year approaches and that means it’s time to look at my shelves, look at my (far too numerous) lists of books I’m meaning to read, and decide what focus I want to give my reading for 2014.  Here are my selected challenges, giving you some hints at what reviews you can expect in the next 12 months!

Fairy Tales RetoldFairy Tales Retold Challenge

So you all know I’m a bit of a fan of retold fairy tales, right?  Even though I published one this year, I don’t feel I read enough…so I’m putting it on the challenge list again.  Officially I’m aiming for Lady in Waiting, 7-9 books.  I hope to read more like 12-15, but only YA and Middle Grade officially count, and I’d rather keep some mental slots open for grown-up retellings.

TBR List Challenge

This is my own personal variation on the ToBeRead Pile Challenges that float all over the web.  You see, I don’t actually have a pile because I nearly never buy a book unread.  But I do have a list, mostly thanks to all you lovely bloggers out there, and that list has been longer than I like it to be for the last year or more.  There’s so many wonderful books on it that I want to read but haven’t got to yet!  This is a pretty loose goal, no numbers involved, but I do hope to cut this list way down–not to zero, because then what would I read?  But down.

preqseqbuttonPrequel and Sequel Challenge

You may remember that I’ve been working on my VERY LONG list of incomplete series for the past 2 years!  As a result…well, more on results when I get to the 2013 Challenges Results post!  But I will tell you that I am not planning on that challenge again next year…only I still have several “duets” that I’ve only read half of, so the Prequel and Sequel Challenge is a perfect fit for finally getting to those!

I thought I had my challenges figured out, but then I just had to go scroll through A Novel Challenge and found another…

2014-Historic-Fiction-Reading-Challenge-SweetMarie83_zps26ece3fbHistoric Fiction Reading Challenge

This is a genre I like a lot, but don’t seem to get to all that often–and it’s just about the only favorite genre NOT covered by Carl’s seasonal “experiences”!  All the same, I’m going relatively low-impact here, and just aiming for the first level, “Testing the Bonds of Time,” reading 1-5 books.

Carl’s “Experiences”

And of course there’s no question that I’ll be participating again in the various seasonal experiences over at Stainless Steel Droppings.  We’re right in the middle of the Sci Fi Experience, spring brings (my very favorite!) the Once Upon a Time Challenge, and in the fall there’s the Readers Imbibing Peril Challenge–and a good time is always had by all!

Aren’t new reading challenges fun?  I love shiny new goals, with so many books enticingly waiting in the months to come…

Voyaging Aboard the Dawn Treader

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Juvenile, Reviews1 Comment

The-Voyage-of-the-Dawn-Treader-943021I made a quick jump from Prince Caspian to The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Book 3 (or 5) in the Narnia series by C. S. Lewis.  I remembered this one fondly, and happily found my memory correct–this was absolutely excellent, from “There was a boy named Eustace Clarence Scrubb and he almost deserved it” all the way to the end.

This is the third (and last) book focused primarily on the Pevensie children, though in this case it’s only the younger ones, Edmund and Lucy.  They and their cousin Eustace are swept through a picture to find themselves on The Dawn Treader, King Caspian’s ship sailing into the far and mysterious East.  A few years have passed since their last trip to Narnia, and Caspian is ruling over a peaceful country.  He’s set out in search of seven lords who were friends of his father, and disappeared into the East years before.  Their journey takes them through a series of islands and adventures, searching for the lords–and, perhaps, Aslan’s Country.

Journey-focused stories can be engaging or aimless, and this is one of the good ones.  Interesting adventures are frequent, and though each island has little connection to each other, the ongoing quest keeps the story moving forward.  There are wonderful adventures, from Eustace’s transformation into a dragon to the hilarious Dufflepuds to the terrifying, darkness-enshrouded Island Where Dreams (nightmares) Come True.

The adventures are good and the characters are excellent.  Lucy and Edmund uphold the Pevensie banner just fine without Peter and Susan, and Caspian is splendid and noble while still able to be young at times too.  And there’s the boy named Eustace Clarence Scrubb…  For all that I like the plucky, capable Pevensies, I also enjoy a character who does not handle magical adventure well.  S/he among you who would not be upset by a lack of indoor plumbing, throw the first stone at Eustace.  And while too much of Eustace would have been, well, too much, Lewis begins his redemption process early, and so he grows throughout the book.

(A sidenote–you may recall my issues with The Magicians by Lev Grossman, mentioned in an earlier Narnia review.  Try to imagine traveling through Narnia with six Eustaces who never learn anything.  That’s kind of how The Magicians felt to me.)

Perhaps the best character of all, though?  Talking mouse Reepicheep, the bravest and noblest of them all, despite his diminutive size.  We met him in Prince Caspian, but we get much more of him here.  Reepicheep is fearless, unswervingly devoted to honor, and fierce as a lion.  Reepicheep is hugely comical even while being genuinely noble, an impressive blend.

All in all, an excellent installment in the series, and the first rival to The Magician’s Nephew for status as favorite.  Next up, The Silver Chair, which I also remember particularly fondly, so I’m looking forward to it!

Author’s Site: https://www.cslewis.com/

Other reviews:
The Bookworm Chronicles
Bookwraiths
Living on Literary Lane
Anyone else?

Buy it here: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Blog Hop: Christmas Books

On By cherylmahoneyIn Blog Hop, Ruminations5 Comments

book blogger hopThis week’s Book Blogger Hop question: What is your favorite book set around Christmastime?

Most of my holiday traditions, oddly enough, center around movies rather than books.  The Charlie Brown Christmas Special is a must-watch every year, closely followed by It’s a Wonderful Life.

As to books though…I’m a traditionalist, and I like A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.  A lovely message, with one of my favorite Christmas quotes–not Tiny Tim’s, but this rather longer one from Scrooge’s nephew, on the meaning of the season: “I have always thought of Christmas time…as a good time: a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.”

A more recent favorite Christmas book is The Mischief of the Mistletoe by Lauren Willig.  Arabella and the wonderfully-named Turnip join forces to investigate possible spies at a girls’ school during a Regency-era Christmas–with Jane Austen as a supporting character!  It’s funny and sweet and Arabella and Turnip are two of my very favorite book characters.

I could use a few more good books set at Christmas…what are your favorites?

TGKA: Star Trek: The Eugenics Wars, Volume One

On By cherylmahoneyIn Reviews, Science Fiction3 Comments

The Eugenics Wars Vol 1This year for the Sci Fi Experience, I’m off on The Great Khan Adventure, tracing the story of Khan Noonien Singh through books and movies.  After setting the stage with some viewing of Star Trek: The Original Series, I’ve moved on to the heart of my plans: the trilogy of books by Greg Cox, beginning with the ridiculously long titled Star Trek: The Eugenics Wars: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh, Volume One.

My guess is that the primary impetus for this entire trilogy of books was one line from the episode “Space Seed,” remarking that Khan controlled a quarter of the Earth during the 1990s.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t remember the 90s quite like that!  Cox’s trilogy sets out to tell us what was really going on in the later part of the 20th century, brilliantly melding “official” history with the Star Trek universe.

This first volume covers the rise of Khan, mostly serving as an origin story.  The focal point is really Gary Seven, his assistant Roberta Lincoln, and the mysterious black cat Isis (introduced in “Assignment: Earth”).  With the help of alien technology, they’re at work to keep the Cold War from igniting into World War III.  In 1974, they begin investigating rumors of genetic manipulation, and soon infiltrate the Chrysalis Project, a high-tech compound beneath the desert in India.  There they find hundreds of children with genetically-engineered DNA, including a particularly precocious child nicknamed Noon.  The book goes to 1989 and the fall of the Berlin Wall…when a young Khan is just beginning to make his influence felt on a larger stage–but mostly, that’s Volume Two.

There’s a frame story here too, about Kirk, the Enterprise, and a colony of genetically engineered humans, but that’s a small part of the book and the real focus and draw is the history portion.  Although I will say–despite how briefly Kirk’s crew is present, Cox still manages to have Spock and McCoy sniping at each other (by page 5 of the Prologue), which I consider an absolute win.  No one can claim to be portraying these characters correctly unless Spock and McCoy get to snipe at each other!

After watching “Assignment: Earth” I really wanted to see more of Seven and Roberta’s adventures.  This book gave me that–but dropped so many tantalizing hints that so much more was happening, that I now want an entire book series!  Ah well…  I thoroughly enjoyed enigmatic Seven, always so calm and in control, and of course his mysterious, never-quite-explained cat, Isis.  We got Isis’ point of view briefly, and her disdain of Roberta was particularly amusing (and so cat-like!)  I kind of want to know more about Seven’s background…but mostly I don’t!  I think this is a case where the mystery is better than any answer would be, so Cox is smart to keep Seven’s past, and his alien guardians, pretty much in shadows.

Of the group, Roberta is the comparatively normal (and relatable) one, an ordinary human who stumbled into world-saving by accident.  She doesn’t have any special abilities, but she’s clever, confident and dedicated…with the occasional snarky comment or era-appropriate pop culture reference.  She’s a kind of Girl Friday who increasingly becomes an equal partner as the story goes on.

This is definitely a book intended for fans, as it’s riddled with references to episodes and movies.  Personally, I love that kind of thing!  Cox seems to have found every possible reference in Star Trek to the 20th century, and pulled it in–like a cameo from Gillian Taylor, a reference to Guinan, an appearance by Flint, and discussions of the Ferengi who landed at Roswell in 1947.  “Assignment: Earth” and “Space Seed” are the only really essential episodes to know before reading the book; for the rest, I think it would be clear enough without background–but it’s more fun when you do know the context!

The book is fast-paced and compelling, with engaging characters and a lot of excitement.  Once in a while the writing is a little clunky (Cox is too fond of “stated” as a dialogue tag…which is nitpicking, but it bugged me) but mostly it flows well.  Oddly enough, even with all that’s really good here, I may be most impressed with the Afterword.  Cox goes through chapter by chapter, explaining how the events of the book relate to the “official” history.  Without ever breaking the illusion, it becomes very clear what’s history and what’s Star Trek.  I’m impressed by how much real history he managed to weave his story around, and I’m impressed that he laid it all out in the Afterword.  If Dan Brown had done something similar, I might feel very differently about The Da Vinci Code than I do…but that’s another story.

This story is an excellent ride through Star Trek and real history, and I am looking forward to the next volume, covering the 1990s–and how exactly Khan ruled a quarter of the Earth!

Author’s Site: http://www.gregcox-author.com/

Other reviews:
A Star Trek Literary Adventure
The M0vie Blog
Anyone else?

Buy it here: The Eugenics Wars, Vol. 1

Blog Wander: Making My Mark

On By cherylmahoneyIn Novel News2 Comments

Wanderers 8 - Small CopyToday’s Blog Wander is a guest post on the trials and tribulations of self-publishing.  I’m lifting the curtain and letting you see the crises behind my apparently-on-top-of-it blogging about the process!  Hopefully, if anyone else is looking at self-publishing, it can save them some of the same problems…

Our host today is T. B. Markinson, self-described as “a 39-year old American writer, living in England, who pledged she would publish before she was 35. Better late than never. When she isn’t writing, she’s traveling around the world, watching sports on the telly, visiting pubs in England, or taking the dog for a walk. Not necessarily in that order.”  She’s the author of A Woman Lost and maintains two blogs: Making My Mark is all about authors and publishing, while the 50 Year Project is her movies/books/travel blog.

Check out the guest post here!