It's a devotional, not a Bible Study....my bad

Worth the read.  I have to say, though, that considering the fact that I love to read, I would have liked for the daily entries to be a bit longer.  I understand wanting to keep them short and quick, but if I'm using something for a Bible Study, which was my plan/goal for CHOOSING JOY:  A 52-WEEK DEVOTIONAL FOR DISCOVERING TRUE HAPPINESS, I want a little more meat to each entry.  Of course, it does say right in the title that it is a devotional, not a Bible Study, so obviously I need to be sure I am choosing my Bible Studies accordingly!  :)

Stormy Sword Characters

What in the world should I say about the third book in the GAME OF THRONES series that hasn't already been said, more than likely?  Talk about E.P.I.C....!!!  Wow.  I have to admit that even though there are parts of the story that I find a bit TOOOOOOOOOOOOOO........., overall, I am very caught up in the lives of these characters.  There are certain ones I love and others not so much.  Not in the conventional way a reader tends to get wrapped up in stories.  There are too many characters to get too caught up with too many characters or to care too terribly much when certain characters die.  I don't like that so many die, but they have to be weeded out.  It's to be expected.  I will say that I do have my favorites--

1.  Catelyn.  I like her a lot.  She is a strong woman who has seen her share of horrors yet keeps finding a way to fight on regardless.  She is incredible.  I loved her husband, but she is more of a powerhouse than he was.  It seems that because she's a woman, her husband outshone her.  Just as Cercei's did.  But now that Ned Stark is dead, Lady Catelyn's true character gets to come out in subtle, yet awesome ways.  I love that this book ends with her.

2.  Danerys.  I love Dani.  I love, love, love her.  She is incredible.  And she's only 14 years old!  What a powerhouse.  She is incredible.  To wield the power the that she does....W.O.W.  She has been through her share of trials yet she continues to overcome and come out more powerful and awesome than before.

3.  Arya.  Who doesn't love the younger daughter of Ned and Catelyn Stark?!  She's a lady.  She's a warrior.  She's a little girl of nine years old.  She's a boy of nine.  She's a fighter.  She's a mouse.  She has more names than anyone else in the series.  She's murdered.  She loves hard and fierce.  Best of all, she's a wolf.  I can't wait until her wolf comes back into the story.  It's going to be A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

4.  Sandor Clegane.  I know I'm not supposed to like him, but I do.  I love how he took care of Sansa--without taking care of Sansa.  And then he did the same for Arya.  He's supposed to be at death's door by the end of book 3, but I can't wait until he shows up again!  I know he's going to have to meet his brother and I'm expecting the meeting to be something worthy of this series.

5.  Jon.  I love, love, love, love, love Jon.  I did not like Yigrette, but I liked that Jon found some tenderness in all the crap he's had to deal with.  Jon is lovable, likable, and just awesome.  I don't like the fact that his bastardy is thrown in our faces at every turn, but at the same time, in order for us to GET his rise, we have to understand from how low he has come.  I can not wait to see what happens to Jon in the next couple of books!

6.  Tyrion.  He is so unappreciated for all the good he has done for both his family and the people of the land.  He is a dwarf who is taller than the tallest of men simply because of his character.  He can't catch a break, though.  At every turn he is accused of wrong-doing.  He is a great scape-goat.  I am tired of his being blamed for everything as he is.  I am so glad he does what he does at the end of this book.  I am so proud of him for taking such a stand.  Now if he'll just do the same to his sister......I'll say this:  I want him to end up with Sansa.  I want her to see the good in him and to love him for who he is, not for what he looks like.

7.  Jaime.  He is becoming a different man.  The loss of his hand has done something to him that was completely unexpected.  Sure he's still attracted to his sister and that's disgusting, but he is becoming more than his sister's pawnish lover and again, I can't wait to see what happens with him.

8.  Brienne.  A man in a woman's body.  Too ugly to be a woman.  Too manly to be a woman.  Yet utterly lovable.  I admit that I am romantic enough that I want her and Jaime to get together....

I won't go into the characters I can't stand--this has already gotten longer than I anticipated.  I am not only looking forward to reading the next books in the series, but I am also looking forward to watching the HBO series!

Not worth the read....Sorry, Sharon Lathan

I picked up MISS DARCY FALLS IN LOVE by Sharon Lathan because it is on the list of books for World Book Night 2014.  I'd heard of authors writing novels in the style of Jane Austen and I've always been curious and intrigued by them; I just haven't had a chance to read one until now.  Sadly, I was VERY disappointed.  This novel is slow, taking forever to get to the point of any scene or detail.  It drags worse than a snow plow full of snow.  I trudged through it, but I was bored and couldn't wait to get to the end.  It's predictable to the nth degree.  Sometimes predictability is ok in a novel, but this novel just takes it over the top.  The euphoria of the young lovers once they declare their love for one another is sickening rather than sweet.  Their eyes shine.  They both glow with love.  Their passion is so powerful, it's overwhelming.  He's so perfect because he checks his passion because he wants her first time to be special and perfect....blah, blah, blah.  Yuck.  Yuck.  Yuck.  Needless to say, we will NOT be asking for a copy of MISS DARCY FALLS IN LOVE for our give-away for World Book Night on April 23, 2014!!!!

Similes, Images, and Metaphors, Oh My!

I started reading THE WEIRD SISTERS by Eleanor Brown because it was chosen as part of the book for list for World Book Night for 2014.  I want to try to read a number of the books so we have a better idea of which books to choose if we're chosen as givers.  (By "we" I mean CVCC.)

The book is good.  I wasn't as impressed as it seems others have been with the novel, but I didn't dislike it by any means.  What stood out the most to me throughout the novel is not the fact that everyone, especially the dad, speaks quite often using Shakespearean quotes.  Nor is it the fact that this family reads rather than watches television.  Nor is it the wonder of fighting cancer or even the struggles each sister goes through.

All are great parts of the story, but what struck me the most throughout my reading of the novel were all the similes, images, and metaphors.  Hundreds of them.  Some of them were a bit overwhelming in their comparison.  I have to wonder how much Eleanor Brown was conscious of them as she wrote them.  Did they just happen in the course of her writing and they're a happy accident or was she very aware of what she was doing with them from start to finish....?

Just a few to spark your interest--

"floating like a dandelion seed" (7)
"felt as though she were folding in on herself like an origami crane" (71)
"the way the false stars of the light strings twinkled below the real stars, giving the impression that she could have reached up and held the light of a thousand years in her hands" (151)

Martin's Predictability

I honestly don't know what to say about the third book in George R. R. Martin's GAME OF THRONES series, CLASH OF KINGS.

A few short criticisms I have of the book (and series) are. . .
1.  even though Martin is doing his utmost to avoid predictability, I am finding myself knowing what is going to happen to next a lot of the time--not every time, mind you, but quite often.  For example, when the last chapter began with Bran, I knew the book was going to end with a powerful image of the ruined but not completely destroyed Winterfell.  It's the best way to end this particular book and it's an incredibly powerful image.
2.  There are too many characters.  I am finding it more and more difficult to keep the different characters separate.
3.  Every once in a while, Martin begins telling the story through the eyes of a whole new character--someone we haven't met at all.  It is very disconcerting and adds to the confusing of #2.

(I said I'd keep my criticisms short....)

A few of the positive points of Martin's book (and series) are...
1.  The story is really very good.  It is virtually impossible to quit reading--listening (remember that I'm listening to the story on CD in my car) to the story.  I've had several times when I've gotten where I'm going, but I don't want to get out of my car because I'm at a good part!
2.  I find myself caring about characters who are not all that lovable.  Tyrian is the best example of that.  I haven't decided yet what to think of him, but at the same time, I can't help but notice how he SEEMS to care even when he's trying very hard not to.
3.  I also care about many of the characters in the story.  I was devastated in book 1 when--well, in case you haven't read it, I don't want to ruin it for you.  Dani is my all-time favorite in the whole series so far.  She's awesome--and she's barely even 15 years old!!!

If you want to fall asleep quickly....

Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse:  What can I say about Virginia Woolf except:  be sure when you read anything by her that you're well rested and ready to focus and/or have your caffeine!

Letting me figure "it" out for myself....

MRS. WARREN'S PROFESSION by George Bernard Shaw is a new one for me.  The online class I'm taking this fall hasn't been the most productive idea that I've ever had (we're down to two of us left in the class and the other person isn't posting to the discussion board until the last minute for each lesson), but yet the class is, at least, giving me the opportunity to read a few pieces of British Literature that I've never read.  Shaw's play is one example of that.  The play as a whole does not have much action or much to make it interesting enough to be a play that modern readers would enjoy as much as others.  But I have to say that I enjoyed it simply because the whole play is about how Mrs. Warren is a prostitute, but not once in the whole play is the word (or any word that means the same thing) actually used.  Shaw brilliantly uses the words of his characters as well as their reactions to those words to reveal the truth of her profession.  It's genius.  I love it when I read something and the author lets me figure out what's going on without feeling a desperate need to tell me what to think, feel, or take away from the story.  It's what makes writers like Edgar Allan Poe so genius, and it's certainly what makes MRS. WARREN'S PROFESSION by George Bernard Shaw worth reading.