The Golden City by J. Kathleen Cheney

Title: The Golden City 
Author: J. Kathleen Cheney 
Type: Novel 
Genre: Fantasy 
Series: Yes. The Golden City #1 
Pages: 373 
Copyright: 2013 
Publisher: Roc 
Rating: 3.5 out of 5


Summary: from good reads
For two years, Oriana Paredes has been a spy among the social elite of the Golden City, reporting back to her people, the sereia, sea folk banned from the city’s shores....

When her employer and only confidante decides to elope, Oriana agrees to accompany her to Paris. But before they can depart, the two women are abducted and left to drown. Trapped beneath the waves, Oriana’s heritage allows her to survive while she is forced to watch her only friend die.

Vowing vengeance, Oriana crosses paths with Duilio Ferreira—a police consultant who has been investigating the disappearance of a string of servants from the city’s wealthiest homes. Duilio also has a secret: He is a seer and his gifts have led him to Oriana.

Bound by their secrets, not trusting each other completely yet having no choice but to work together, Oriana and Duilio must expose a twisted plot of magic so dark that it could cause the very fabric of history to come undone....

Feelings:I found this book when I was browsing the new books at my library. I have noticed recently that their new books aren't really all that new anymore and they are often over a year old. That being said I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked out this book. I was looking for fantasy so I picked out two and this was one. I had seen the book before but was a little put off by the cover. I didn't like the angle of the head in the picture. Picky, I know.

I enjoyed the book although I should warn that the author leads you on to think there is going to be romance between Oriana and Duilio and well there isn't in this book which was just a little bit frustrating. What I didn't know was the book is a series. Knowing that changed how I felt about the story. The ending didn't seem like an ending ending to me so I was upset but then there are two more books in the series. It made a lot more since then.

Oriana and Duilio are both interesting characters. Oriana is a sereia, like a mermaid but with human features and now tail. Duilio is part silkie. I love the myths of creatures part human and part animal. This book was a good mix for me of fantasy and mythical creatures. It helps that the characters, while occasionally contradictory, are engaging and interesting. I recommend this book.

Fruits Basket Volume 7 by Natsuki Takaya

Title: Fruits Basket, Volume 7 
Author: Natsuki Takaya 
Type: Manga 
Genre: Shoujo 
Series: Yes, Vol. 7 of 23 
Pages: 198 
Copyright: 2005 
Publisher: TOKYOPOP Inc. 
Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary: from Good Reads
Tohru and company have been having a lot more fun ever since Kisa came to visit. Now it's time for Tohru to meet another member of the Zodiac - the skillfully sarcastic grade-school student, Hiro! One way or another, this tyke will have to deal with his resentment of Tohru and his affection for Kisa. Where will he find the answers? In the fabulous 7th volume of the super-popular Fruits Basket, of course!

Feelings:
I enjoyed this volume of Fruits Baskets. The artist was injured and took a break between this volume 6 and this one. She was unable to draw during that time. I didn't think I saw that much of a difference in her art but she does say she thinks her handwriting got worse. We don't really see that so it isn't a big deal. 

Hatori Sohma is on the cover of this volume however, he really only shows up in a flashback. I understand that each character is getting a chance to be on the cover but it seems like an odd choice for this volume.

In the last volume we found out something about Kyo that he finds devastating, this volume doesn't deal with that at all. We have moved on to a new member of the Sohma family and a younger member who has some real issues.  

While I am still enjoying the story this volume was largely about back story for Tohru's mother and that helped us get to know Arisa Uotani better. I would still recommend the series.

The Chronicles of Secret Riven by Ronlyn Domingue

Title: The Chronicles of Secret Riven

Author: Ronlyn Domingue

Type: Novel
Genre: Fantasy

Series: Yes, book 2 of The Keeper of the Tales

Pages: 400
Copyright: 2014
Publisher: Atria Books
Rating: 4.5 out of 5


Summary: from good reads
An uncanny child born to brilliant parents, befriended by a prince, mentored by a wise woman, pursued by a powerful man, Secret Riven has no idea what destiny will demand of her or the courage she must have to confront it in the breathtakingly epic, genre-spanning sequel to The Mapmaker’s War.

One thousand years after a great conflict known as The Mapmaker’s War, a daughter is born to an ambitious historian and a gifted translator. Secret Riven doesn’t speak until her seventh year but can mysteriously communicate with plants and animals. Unsettled by visions and dreams since childhood, she tries to hide her strangeness, especially from her mercurial father and cold mother. Yet gentle, watchful Secret finds acceptance from Prince Nikolas, her best friend, and Old Woman, who lives in the distant woods.

When Secret is twelve, her mother receives an arcane manuscript to translate from an anonymous owner. Zavet suffers from nightmares and withdraws into herself. Secret sickens with a fever and awakens able to speak an ancient language, one her mother knows as well. Suddenly, Zavet dies. The manuscript is missing, but a cipher has been left for Secret to find.

Years later, Secret becomes a translator’s apprentice for Fewmany, an influential magnate, who has taken an interest in her for reasons she cannot discern. Before Secret learns why, Old Woman confronts Secret with the truth of her destiny—a choice she must make that is tied to an ancient past.

Overflowing with spellbinding storytelling, vivid characters, and set in a fascinating world, The Chronicle of Secret Riven explores the tension between love and hate, trust and betrayal, fate and free will.


Feelings: 
This book takes place many years after The Mapmaker's War finishes. The characters were very different and while The Mapmaker's War was in second person, very unique as not many books are written in second person, this story was told in third person. I stilled enjoyed the story immensely and was a little disappointed when it didn't have an ending that was an end for he character. I'm hoping that the third book stays with the same characters rather than having us start over with new characters. 

Secret and Nikolas were very enjoyable to spend time with as children. Secret doesn't speak for much of the story and she has a secret that she keeps from most. Nikolas the prince of the kingdom is the first to call Secret, Secret rather than Eve and she takes the name as her own. It is a fitting name for her.

I highly recommend this series. The elements of fantasy add nicely to the story but they are still believable. While the characters are children in the story they grow and mature while we get to know them. This is not a book for young adults or children even though the central characters are young. I am looking forward to the next in the series. 

China Road by Rob Gifford

Title: China Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power 
Author: Rob Gifford 
Type: Audiobook
Narrator: Simon Vance
Genre: Non-Fiction 
Series: No 
Copyright: 2007
Publisher: Blackstone Audio Inc
Rating: 3.5 out of 5


Summary: from good reads

Route 312 is the Chinese Route 66. It flows three thousand miles from east to west, passing through the factory towns of the coastal areas, through the rural heart of China, then up into the Gobi Desert, where it merges with the Old Silk Road. The highway witnesses every part of the social and economic revolution that is turning China upside down.

In this utterly surprising and deeply personal book, acclaimed National Public Radio reporter Rob Gifford, a fluent Mandarin speaker, takes the dramatic journey along Route 312 from its start in the boomtown of Shanghai to its end on the border with Kazakhstan. Gifford reveals the rich mosaic of modern Chinese life in all its contradictions, as he poses the crucial questions that all of us are asking about China: Will it really be the next global superpower? Is it as solid and as powerful as it looks from the outside? And who are the ordinary Chinese people, to whom the twenty-first century is supposed to belong?

Gifford is not alone on his journey. The largest migration in human history is taking place along highways such as Route 312, as tens of millions of people leave their homes in search of work. He sees signs of the booming urban economy everywhere, but he also uncovers many of the country’s frailties, and some of the deep-seated problems that could derail China’s rise.

The whole compelling adventure is told through the cast of colorful characters Gifford meets: garrulous talk-show hosts and ambitious yuppies, impoverished peasants and tragic prostitutes, cell-phone salesmen, AIDS patients, and Tibetan monks. He rides with members of a Shanghai jeep club, hitchhikes across the Gobi desert, and sings karaoke with migrant workers at truck stops along the way.

As he recounts his travels along Route 312, Rob Gifford gives a face to what has historically, for Westerners, been a faceless country and breathes life into a nation that is so often reduced to economic statistics. Finally, he sounds a warning that all is not well in the Chinese heartlands, that serious problems lie ahead, and that the future of the West has become inextricably linked with the fate of 1.3 billion Chinese people.

“Informative, delightful, and powerfully moving . . . Rob Gifford’s acute powers of observation, his sense of humor and adventure, and his determination to explore the wrenching dilemmas of China’s explosive development open readers’ eyes and reward their minds.”
–Robert A. Kapp, president, U.S.-China Business Council, 1994-2004

Feelings: 
I enjoyed listening to this audiobook. There were many interesting incites about China and the culture, people, and government throughout the story. Since I listened to the audiobook rather than reading the book I don't remember the interesting bits as much as I might if I had read the book. I do like to listen to non-fiction when I'm driving though.

While this is an older book when it comes to a country that is changing as fast as China is I think there is still a lot of truth that can be gleaned from the book. Having traveled in China myself, however not the locations the author was in, I found the book fascinating. I recommend it to anyone looking to learn more about China's history and it's potential. 

Fruits Basket Volume 6 by Natsuki Takaya

Title: Fruits Basket, Volume 6 
Author: Natsuki Takaya 
Type: Manga 
Genre: Shoujo 
Series: Yes, Vol. 6 of 23 
Pages: 196 
Copyright: 2004 
Publisher: TOKYOPOP Inc. 
Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary: from Good Reads
Delving into the recesses of Kyo's past, we find the Sohma trio returning home on a rainy day. There, a mysterious man who has known Kyo for a long time meets them. Trust, loyalty and the bonds of family and friendship are tested, as Tohru must help Kyo deal with the "monsters" that he's been trying to avoid.

Feelings:
This volume advances the story more than the last volume did. I was very grateful for that because I was actually starting to feel a little bore just meeting the new members of the Sohma family.

Kyo has to deal with trying to accept part of himself he would rather not have to acknowledge exists. Yuki tries to connect with his brother and to stretch himself to be a better person. This does not mean that Kyo and Yuki have stopped fighting. However, Kyo does seem to be making an effort on that front. A rather funny one. Tohru is there to help the characters as always and support them when they need it.

I am still waiting to see some growth from her but in many ways she isn't the one that needs to grow or change so it is alright for her to stay relatively unchanged.

I still recommend the series and think it is a fun read.

Can't and Won't by Lydia Davis

Title: Can't and Won't 
Author: Lydia Davis 
Type: Short Stories 
Genre: Fiction 
Series: No 
Pages: 289 
Copyright: 2014 
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux 
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Summary: From Goodreads
A new collection of short stories from the writer Rick Moody has called “the best prose stylist in America”
Her stories may be literal one-liners: the entirety of “Bloomington” reads, “Now that I have been here for a little while, I can say with confidence that I have never been here before.” Or they may be lengthier investigations of the havoc wreaked by the most mundane disruptions to routine: in “A Small Story About a Small Box of Chocolates,” a professor receives a gift of thirty-two small chocolates and is paralyzed by the multitude of options she imagines for their consumption. The stories may appear in the form of letters of complaint; they may be extracted from Flaubert’s correspondence; or they may be inspired by the author’s own dreams, or the dreams of friends.
     What does not vary throughout Can’t and Won’t, Lydia Davis’s fifth collection of stories, is the power of her finely honed prose. Davis is sharply observant; she is wry or witty or poignant. Above all, she is refreshing. Davis writes with bracing candor and sly humor about the quotidian, revealing the mysterious, the foreign, the alienating, and the pleasurable within the predictable patterns of daily life.

Feelings:
This collection of stories varied greatly. Most of the stories were under a page long. There were a few longer stories. Most of the stories feel very normal. One of my favorite stories was about cows and how they looked in different weather and seasons. I found it fascinating and I'm not sure why because very little happened in the story. The cow story was one of the longer stories in the collection.

One of the first stories in the collection was about a dog that is gone and how the owner keeps expecting to see the dog. This story was powerful because anyone that has a pet they have lost can relate.

Over all I enjoyed the collection of stories. Some of them I liked a lot more than others but that is the case with many collections of stories.

The Scorch Trails by James Dashner

Title: The Scorch Trails 
Author: James Dashner 
Type: Young-Adult Novel 
Genre: Dystopian Fantasy 
Series: Yes, sequel to The Maze Runner 
Pages: 360 
Copyright: 2010 
Publisher: Delacorte Press 
Rating: 3 out of 5


Summary: From Goodreads

Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end.

Thomas was sure that escape from the Maze would mean freedom for him and the Gladers. But WICKED isn’t done yet. Phase Two has just begun. The Scorch.

There are no rules. There is no help. You either make it or you die.

The Gladers have two weeks to cross through the Scorch—the most burned-out section of the world. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them.

Friendships will be tested. Loyalties will be broken. All bets are off.

There are others now. Their survival depends on the Gladers’ destruction—and they’re determined to survive. 

Feelings: 
There were many twists in this book that made scene when looking back on the first book. For instances we find out that there is a second group that spent time in the Maze. This time not a group of boys but a group of girls that get a boy. There were differences between the groups but I thought it was interesting to see the way WICKED treated the two groups. The girls group came out better in the Maze but it seemed that on the Scorch they had it a lot easier than the Gladers.

Once we see the outside world, and the Scorch, which is probably the worst damage of anyplace, we realize quickly that there are many problems. The Flair, a virus, has caused chaos and likely is something man created. As we get to know two individuals who have the Flair but haven't gone crazy yet we get a feeling for the state of the world.

I enjoyed this book. I will keep reading this series, and hope that it is able to maintain itself.