All posts by skyebjenner

Fool Moon by Jim Butcher

October 2, 2017Book ReviewCrime, Jim Butcher, Paranormal Fantasy, The Dresden Files, Urban Fantasy, Wizardsskyebjenner

Title: Fool Moon
Author: Jim Butcher
Series: The Dresden Files #2
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Crime, Paranormal fantasy, Urban fantasy, Wizards
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Orbit
Year: 2001
5th sentence, 74th page: Both of us looking for the killer?

Harry Dresden–Wizard
Lost Items Found. Paranormal Investigations. Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates. No Love Potions, Endless Purses, or Other Entertainment.

Business has been slow. Okay, business has been dead. And not even of the undead variety. You would think Chicago would have a little more action for the only professional wizard in the phone book. But lately, Harry Dresden hasn’t been able to dredge up any kind of work–magical or mundane.

But just when it looks like he can’t afford his next meal, a murder comes along that requires his particular brand of supernatural expertise.

A brutally mutilated corpse. Strange-looking paw prints. A full moon. Take three guesses–and the first two don’t count…

You know it’s a good book when you stay up until 2am just to finish it. Alright, I might do that a little more than is healthy. But, basically, I was so desperate to see where Harry was going to find himself this time that I just couldn’t put it down. And believe me, I tried.

Following the events of Storm Front, Dresden and Murphy aren’t quite friends, Harry has no money and he is still contemplating the true depths of the darkness of his soul. And honestly, for a while, it doesn’t get any better from there. Chasing werewolves, trying to protect Murphy and dealing with a major conspiracy theory leaves poor Harry running around injured, exhausted and, to add insult to injury, making deals with demons. Although, his deal with the demon does kind of hint at some very interesting future storylines about his ancestry… certainly something that I can’t wait to delve further into.

Really, I should have clicked from the title that this novel would be about werewolves. But I didn’t, and it was a fun little surprise in the opening scenes. So was Butcher’s take on how they operate. It wasn’t the straightforward, repetitive werewolf that you see in most stories, but as with the practice of potion making and just magic in general. I love that the Dresden Files world is so well thought out with laws and natures that govern magic, as with everything else. And the unique way in which Butcher does this… yummo.

Fool Moon took me from enjoying the Dresden Files to feeling insanely compelled to keep reading the and kind of desperate to find more time and money to immerse myself in the rest of the stories.

<- Storm Front Review

B is for Bigfoot Review ->

Image source: Mobile Read

Reading, Reading, Reading

October 1, 2017BlogJumpy, Reading, Reading Challenge, Too Many Books, Unfocusedskyebjenner

The end of September and my first month of participating in reading challenges has come to a close. And it’s been a really fun experience! I have this incredibly frustrating habit of picking up one series, reading a book or two and then switching to another… by completing reading challenges, I’m able to find an excuse to read books that are part of a series that I may have put down a year ago.

I’m never quite sure whether my inability to stick to one series (or even one book at a time) is just a product of my own jumpy mentality, or whether it’s due to the hyperactivity of the internet and our current ideas. I’m the same with TV series, study, really anything. I tend to jump from one aspect to another without even blinking. Hence the fact that I have, to date, started (and not finished) sixty-nine book series. And I’m in the middle of thirty TV shows.

Needless to say, I have a little bit of a problem with jumping from fascination to fascination. Which is where the reading challenges come in. There are a lot of books and series that I want to finish, and it’s kind of hard to decide which one to read next. Sometimes I am in a really specific mood, and the decision comes easily. At others, I find it impossible to choose between one thing and another. Maybe this is my problem – there is so much that I enjoy and love, and it is impossible to decide which things to pursue.

I’m not really sure why other people like to do reading challenges. Maybe they’re like me and just have too much to read. Maybe they would like to read more and require a goal (I normally have to stop myself from reading). And maybe they just like the communities that you become part of by immersing themselves in such a community. It certainly was not my first aim when I decided to partake in reading challenges, but it was a great side-benefit.

And now that I have completed all of the September challenges that I signed up for, I am going to get started on my October ones. Certainly looking forward to it!

Image source: PrepScholar Blog

Welcome to the Jungle by Jim Butcher

September 29, 2017Book ReviewCrime, Graphic Novels, Jim Butcher, Paranormal Fantasy, The Dresden Files, Urban Fantasy, Wizardsskyebjenner

Title: Welcome to the Jungle
Author: Jim Butcher
Series: The Dresden Files #0.5
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Crime, Graphic novel, Paranormal fantasy, Urban fantasy, Wizards
Pace: Fast
Format: Graphic novel
Publisher: Ballantine books
Year: 2008
5th sentence, 74th page: Like the man said… “Smile, you son of a bitch.”

When the supernatural world spins out of control, when the police can’t handle what goes bump in the night, when monsters come screaming out of nightmares and into the mean streets, there’s just one man to call: Harry Dresden, the only professional wizard in the Chicago phone book. A police consultant and private investigator, Dresden has to walk the dangerous line between the world of night and the light of day.

Now Harry Dresden is investigating a brutal mauling at the Lincoln Park Zoo that has left a security guard dead and many questions unanswered. As an investigator of the supernatural, he senses that there’s more to this case than a simple animal attack, and as Dresden searches for clues to figure out who is really behind the crime, he finds himself next on the victim list, and being hunted by creatures that won’t leave much more than a stain if they catch him.

Written exclusively for comics by Jim Butcher, The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle is a brand-new story that’s sure to enchant readers with a blend of gripping mystery and fantastic adventure.

I love a good graphic novel. Especially when it’s one that features a much loved character from a series that I’ve quickly become obsessed with.

Graphic novels as an addition to a series of novels can be kind of risky – they are very different ways of telling a story, and sometimes it just doesn’t translate well across the two mediums. And, quite frankly, that’s what I was half expecting from Welcome to the Jungle. After all, the thing that I love most about The Dresden Files is Harry’s wit and sass. And, of course, the immensely awkward positions he gets into. And most of these are told through his voice. So, I was a little curious (not to mention tentative) about how this really distinctive voice and character would be translated into images. Pictures might tell a thousand words, but that doesn’t mean that they’re going to be a good thousand words… but I worried for no reason. This medium worked amazingly.

“Welcome to the jungle, bitch.” – possibly one of the best and sassiest lines that Dresden has delivered in our short acquaintance.

<- A Restoration of Faith Review

Storm Front Review ->

Image source: Goodreads

The Company of Wolves by Angela Carter

September 28, 2017Book ReviewAngela Carter, Classics, Dark Fantasy, The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories, Werewolvesskyebjenner

Title: The Company of Wolves
Author: Angela Carter
In: The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories (Angela Carter)
Rating Out of 5: 3 (On the fence about this one)
My Bookshelves: Classics, Dark fantasy, Werewolves
Pace: Slow
Format: Short story
Publisher: Vintage
Year: 1979
5th sentence, 74th page: He strips off his shirt.

The wolf is described as an evil thing. The first story is about a witch that turned a whole wedding ceremony into wolves. She likes them coming to her cabin and howling their misery for it soothes her. The following story is about a young lady and a man that are about to have sex on their wedding night. As they get ready, the husband says he needs to stop and relieve himself in the forest. The wife waits and he never returns. Off in the distance you can hear a wolf howling. She then figures her husband will never return and marries a new man. With her new husband she bears children. Her first husband comes back and sees his wife and the story unravels… Later we meet a girl walking in the woods. She was loved by everyone and feared nothing. She made a deal with a hunter; whoever can get to the grandmothers house first wins. If the hunter wins she owes him a kiss. She lets the hunter win because she wants to kiss him. The hunter arrives at the grandmothers house but she’s frail and sick, holding a Bible for protection. The last thing she sees is the young man at the foot of her bed…. “See! sweet and sound she sleeps in granny’s bed, between the paws of the tender wolf.”

The ultimate story of seduction over the wild beast. Kind of a spin on Little Red Riding Hood but with a far cooler ending. After all, the big teeth ultimately lead to a happily ever after… of sorts.

The story doesn’t just tell the story about the young girl with the red hood though. It displays the wolf as an evil thing – it is a creature turned by witchcraft. It is a killer and the scariest thing in the woods. No one wants to cross the wolf. Yet, the most beloved, and innocent of all the village goes into the woods and somehow manages to find a way to belong in the company of wolves.

<- The Werewolf Review

Wolf Alice Review ->

Image source: Wikipedia

The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter

September 27, 2017Book ReviewAngela Carter, Classics, Dark Fantasy, Short Story Collections, The Bloody Chamber and Other Storiesskyebjenner

Title: The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories
Author: Angela Carter
In: The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories (Angela Carter)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Classics, Dark fantasy, Short story collections
Pace: Slow
Format: Collection
Publisher: Vintage
Year: 1979
5th sentence, 74th page: No response to my tentative rap on his door.

Angela Carter was a storytelling sorceress, the literary godmother of such contemporary masters of supernatural fiction as Neil Gaiman, David Mitchell, Audrey Niffenegger, J. K. Rowling, and Kelly Link, who introduces this edition of Carter’s most celebrated book, published for the seventy-fifth anniversary of her birth. In The Bloody Chamber—which includes the story that is the basis of Neil Jordan’s 1984 movie The Company of Wolves—Carter spins subversively dark and sensual versions of familiar fairy tales and legends like “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Bluebeard,” “Puss in Boots,” and “Beauty and the Beast,” giving them exhilarating new life in a style steeped in the romantic trappings of the gothic tradition.

I started reading this book over a year ago. And after the first three stories, I felt completely overwhelmed. Honestly, they are hard going. But, after having a very long break, I decided to return to the world of Angela Carter. And I don’t know if it’s that I was in a better frame of mind for it, or maybe my reading tastes have developed, but there is something about Carter’s lyrical writing style that made it almost impossible to put this down.

There is a way about Carter’s writing that not only flows beautifully, but completely turns everything on its head. Her retake on many familiar stories leaves hauntingly familiar tales that you can’t quite put your finger on. It’s eerie and haunting, and has definitely given me a lot to think about.

<- Wolf Alice Review

The Bloody Chamber Review ->

Image source: Angela Carter

Payment Due by Frances Hardinge

September 26, 2017Book ReviewEasy Reading, Family, Fantasy, Frances Hardinge, Under My Hat, Witchesskyebjenner

Title: Payment Due
Author: Frances Hardinge
In: Under My Hat (Jonathan Strahan)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Easy reading, Fantasy, Witches
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Year: 2012
5th sentence, 74th page: I was inside.

Fifteen-year-old Caroline comes home from school one day to find that her naïve grandmother has allowed a bailiff into their home. The man has marked most of their worldly possessions as impounded and given them five days to pay their debt. When the ladies are unable to come up with the money, the bailiff returns to haul the items away. Both Caroline and her grandmother are distraught by this turn of events, especially since one of the items the man took was a picture of Caroline’s dead mother. With the help of her animal friends and a little magic, Caroline sets about taking back what’s rightfully theirs.

So many people take advantage of the elderly. I mean, I’ve seen the little dollar signs light up in people’s eyes when they see him coming. It’s horrible, but it happens. However, I have never taken it as far as this granddaughter when seeking to get revenge on how people have wronged him. It’s left me seriously admiring not only her gumption but her care for the lovely elderly lady.

As you can probably already tell, the beginning of this story was a little sad. A little old lady is taken advantage of, and all of her belongings are stolen. She tries to keep a brave face about it all, but it has obviously really upset her. But, that’s where the sadness ends. Quickly, her granddaughter hunts down the bailiff in an attempt to buy back the things that were taken. That doesn’t work, and then matters are taken into her own hands…..

<- Stray Magic Review

A Handful of Ashes Review ->

Image source: Frances Hardinge

Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares

September 25, 2017Book ReviewAnn Brashares, Chic lit, Easy Reading, Sisterhood, Strong Women, Tear jerkerskyebjenner

Title: Sisterhood Everlasting
Author: Ann Brashares
Series: Sisterhood #5
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Chic lit, Easy reading, Strong women
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Random House
Year: 2011
5th sentence, 74th page: She could hear the same kind of wetness at the bottom of Bridget’s breathing.

Buy The Book Now at The Book Depository, Free Delivery World Wide

On the cusp of turning thirty, Tibby, Lena, Carmen, and Bridget are now living separate lives, out on their own. Yet despite having jobs and men they love, each knows that something is missing: the closeness that once sustained them. Carmen is a successful actress in New York, engaged to be married, but misses her friends. Lena finds solace in her art, teaching in Rhode Island, but still thinks of Kostos and the road she didn’t take. Bridget lives with her longtime boyfriend, Eric, in San Francisco, and though a part of her wants to settle down, a bigger part can’t seem to shed her old restlessness. Then Tibby reaches out to bridge the distance, sending the others plane tickets for a reunion they all breathlessly await. And indeed, it will change their lives forever – but in ways that none of them could ever have expected.

I cried like a little bitch. And it tends to take quite a lot for me to cry. I have lots of internal tears over books, and I tend to sit up long after I’ve finished reading a really good book to reminisce and think about it. But actual tears, leaking onto the page? Yeah, that doesn’t happen often. Which is a testament to not only how brilliantly this is written, but to the potency of the emotions and the storyline.

Forever in Blue left the girls at the beginning of adulthood. Together, yet apart. It was an ending in a way, the ending of childhood, the pants and that innocence that we have the privilege of when we’re young. It was a really fitting ending to a great series about coming of age. But, that doesn’t mean that revisiting the four girls after ten years wasn’t the most exciting thing I’ve done all weekend (to be fair, I’ve been sick, so I’ve been very bored).

Explaining exactly why I cried so much throughout this book would give away too much of the storyline. But, suffice to say, Sisterhood Everlasting deals with issues of adulthood and mental health that the rest of the stories only briefly touch upon. It’s a lot more serious and heart wrenching than the other books in this series. Having said that, I finished this book last night and lay in bed, curled up next to my partner for almost two hours just smiling. Those moments when a storyline is able to swell your heart in your chest, remind you of all that there is to be grateful for in life – Sisterhood Everlasting gave me this. Now I’m feeling a little bereft and lost, trying to find the next book / series to read.

<- Forever in Blue Review

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Review ->

Image source: Pinterest

I’m Screwed

September 24, 2017BlogAssignments, Business, Confusion, Future, Intimidating, Universityskyebjenner

I had an assignment due today. And I haven’t even started it. I thought that I had started to think about it, so I had a bit of an idea about what I needed to do. But, it turns out that my case study has already been picked for me, so it is nothing like what I thought. Which means I’m screwed. It’s not getting handed in on time. I’m just hoping to get it in less than 24 hours late… but even that feels kind of unlikely. I’ve spent 2 hours staring at the screen and the template trying to figure out what I’m actually doing. Why oh why did I choose a business subject?!?!? I know nothing about business!

So basically, I’m screwed. Especially since I never hand things in late. I’m the girl who finishes major assignments (did I mention that I’m talking about a major assignment here?) a week early. Which is just freaking me out even more.

So I’m sitting here wondering what’s going on – am I struggling with this because I’ve freaked myself out by being so late? Or is it because I just generally don’t mesh well with business as a subject? Or is it just time to take a break from studying? I’ve fallen a little behind because of being sick the last few weeks, but also because I’ve been working so much. And, working and reading and writing has actually left me really enjoying life. So, I keep wondering where that leaves study?

Full disclosure, I’m doing postgrad studies and this is my seventh year out of high school and in university. My partner doesn’t understand studying – he’s a tradie. So I’m left with my own mind and decisions – when is enough enough with study? When do you say, I haven’t had any luck getting work from University, so maybe I’ll try something new? Which, since I’m not actually handing things up on time (and struggling for almost the first time ever), I am starting to question my future goals. The fact that there’s a mortgage and two fur babies just makes everything more difficult.

Alright, contrary to the title of this blog – I’m not actually screwed. I’m struggling with one assignment (and the end of a subject), but it’s not really the end of the world. It’s just a reminder that I think my world has changed. Study is no longer my first priority. And sometimes it’s a horrible thing (like today), but sometimes it’s actually kind of nice. So, maybe instead of freaking out about what I’m going to do in the future. And about whether or not I will be able to finish this damn assignment… I’m going to focus on just taking every single moment and minute that comes my way.

Image source: GuoGuiyan

Forever in Blue by Ann Brashares

September 23, 2017Book ReviewAnn Brashares, Chic lit, Easy Reading, Sisterhood, Strong Womenskyebjenner

Title: Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood
Author: Ann Brashares
Series: Sisterhood #4
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Chic lit, Easy reading, Strong women
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Ember
Year: 2007
5th sentence, 74th page: She wasn’t completely alone.

Some friends just fit together.

With unraveled embroidery and fraying hems, the Traveling Pants are back for one last, glorious summer. It’s a summer that will forever change the lives of Lena, Bridget, Tibby, and Carmen, here and now, past and future, together and apart.

This was kind of the end of the series (but not quite, since there is actually a fifth book). It felt like the end though, because Tibby, Carmen, Bee and Lena all finally join the real world of adulthood. They’ve just finished their first year at college (I still refer to it as university though), and they’re trying to find themselves as women. But, and this is the biggest difficulty, finding themselves as adults, while still staying true to each other.

It was kind of strange the stark contrast between the four girls in Girls in Pants to the four girls in Forever in Blue. It actually made me wonder if I changed that much in my first year of University. They turned into completely new characters, but still had the threads of themselves working through their new identities. For me, Carmen was the one who underwent this change most drastically. Although, that could be because so far in the series, I recognised myself in her most of all.

This entire series so far has been about coming of age and finding out who you are. Both with your friends, and apart. So, it almost comes full circle when they reconnect and finish their metamorphosis into adults. The lessons that the pants imparted on each of them have truly been learnt, and there is an acceptance of change in each other that you rarely find in friends, just the true ones.

<- Girls in Pants Review

Sisterhood Everlasting Review ->

Earth and Skye

The ramblings of a bibliophile.