Everdark by Elle Jasper

Title: Everdark
Author: Elle Jasper
Type:Novel
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Yes, Dark Ink Chronicles #2
Pages: 336
Copyright: 2011
Publisher: Signet
Rating: 3 out of 5


Summary: from good reads
When Savannah tattoo artists Riley Poe is ambushed by an undead enemy, she inherits some of the traits of her attackers-and a telepathic link with a rampaging vampire. Now, she's experiencing murder after murder through the victims' eyes. And her new powers will not be enough to stop the horror-or the unending slaughter...



Feelings:
Everdark is the second in the series and there were times when I want a little more intelligence from the main character. However, since this is brain candy, yum yum, I am willing to let the silly things that don't quite add up go.

This really was brain candy. Sex, kicking ass, and a little bit of danger. Then there is the mind control and awesome powers. I want to jump roof tops that just sounds fun. This all adds up to a fun read that shut off the brain for a while. 

This book doesn't have as much of a conclusion as the first in the series did but I felt less ravenous for the third book than I had after I finished reading the first book. 

While I sometimes wanted to hit Riley for her stupidity and lack of trust. "With trust there is no love" yet she claims to love so many people and then just blatantly ignore them. That gets old. I do like how spunky she is and how she wants to maintain her independence even when it probably isn't in her best interest. It can be hard to admit we need others. Riley still hasn't realized she might need a little help or might want to share the burdens with someone else sometimes and that is what I'm waiting for her to realize. I hope the author doesn't let me down but that is one change I really want to see in Riley before the series ends. 

Here's to a great brain candy novel. I shall not be shy about the joy I have gotten from this series. It isn't for everyone but when I'm reading it I'm absorbed and loving it. 

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

Title: The Nightingale


Author: Kristin Hannah

Type: Novel
Genre: Historical Fiction

Series: No

Pages: 440
Copyright:  2015

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Rating: 4 out of 5


Cover Rating: 4 out of 5
The cover of the book that I designed was of the apple tree in Vianne's yard. She tied fabric to the tree to remember each person that the war took from her. I thought having that as the cover would be interesting because it would be from the period of the war but not as dark as a war. The actual cover is simple, which I think was good. It was from the present time and showed the Eiffel tower through a rainy window with a rose bush and a nightingale in gold laid over the top. I thought it was elegant but dark.

 
Summary: from Good Reads
In love we find out who we want to be.
In war we find out who we are.

FRANCE, 1939

In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says goodbye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn’t believe that the Nazis will invade France...but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When France is overrun, Vianne is forced to take an enemy into her house, and suddenly her every move is watched; her life and her child’s life is at constant risk. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates around her, she must make one terrible choice after another.

Vianne’s sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old girl, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets the compelling and mysterious Gäetan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love as only the young can...completely. When he betrays her, Isabelle races headlong into danger and joins the Resistance, never looking back or giving a thought to the real--and deadly--consequences.

With courage, grace and powerful insight, bestselling author Kristin Hannah takes her talented pen to the epic panorama of WWII and illuminates an intimate part of history seldom seen: the women’s war. The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France--a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the durability of women. It is a novel for everyone, a novel for a lifetime.

Feelings:
It took me a while to get into the book. It starts out in 1995 with a woman remembering the past and thinking about what we loose. She doesn't relish remembering but remembering becomes central to the story in a way that is heartbreaking. Once I got to Isabelle's point of view I found the story more engaging.

The back and forth between two time periods, 1995 (where the story is from a first person narrator) and WWII (where the story is told in third person)  gave the story an interesting feeling. I wasn't sure which sister was remember the war in 1995.

The novel was not one that I would consider uplifting but it had moments of happiness during the war even mixed in with the horrors. I would recomend this novel. Many novels I think that the cover adds something to the story but after seeing the cover on this I don't think it added anything to the story and I didn't feel like I was missing part of the story seeing it after finishing the novel.

I recommend this novel to readers who enjoy historical fiction and who like strong female characters.

Wolf Children Ame & Yuki by Mamoru Hosoda Art by Yu

Title: Wolf Children Ame & Yuki 
Author: Mamoru Hosoda 
Artist: Yu 
Original Design: Yoshiyuki Sadamoto 
Type: Manga 
Genre: Fantasy 
Series: Yes all in one volume 
Pages: 528 
Copyright: 2014 
Publisher: Yen Press 
Rating: 3 out of 5


Summary: from good reads
When Hana falls in love with a young interloper she encounters in her college class, the last thing she expects to learn is that he is part wolf. Instead of rejecting her lover upon learning his secret, she accepts him with open arms. Soon, the couple is expecting their first child, and a cozy picture of family life unfolds. But after what seems like a mere moment of bliss to Hana, the father of her children is tragically taken from her. Life as a single mother is hard in any situation, but when your children walk a fine line between man and beast, the rules of parenting all but go out the window. With no one to turn to, how will Hana survive?

Feelings:
This was a sweet manga. I enjoyed reading it. I haven't watched the anime it was adapted from but I plan on watching it. I like how the artist drew the characters to look more Asian than many mangas. Hana is a young student and she ends up falling in love with a man who can change into a wolf and having children with him. The daughter Yuki is telling the story so the beginning seemed a bit of a summary. However, the bulk of the story is about the choice the children have to make about what world they want to live in.

It was a quick read and I would recommend it. 

Watership Down by Richard Adams

Title: Watership Down
Author: Richard Adams
Type: Young Adult Novel  
Genre: Adventure Fiction
Series: No
Pages: 476
Copyright: 2005 (introduction) 1972 (first)
Publisher: Scribner
Rating: 3 out of 5


Summary: from goodreads
Set in England's Downs, a once idyllic rural landscape, this stirring tale of adventure, courage and survival follows a band of very special creatures on their flight from the intrusion of man and the certain destruction of their home. Led by a stouthearted pair of friends, they journey forth from their native Sandleford Warren through the harrowing trials posed by predators and adversaries, to a mysterious promised land and a more perfect society.

Feelings:
This is a book that is hard not to hear about. At the time it was published there wasn't really anything else like it. That being said, I did not like this as much as I thought I would. It was an interesting story and while I was reading it I enjoyed following Hazel and Fiver on their journey. However, if I took a break between chapters and put it down picking it back up was not something I felt I needed to do.

Watership Down was a good book but it was at times dry and after hearing about it since I was a teenager it did not hold up. I don't think even if I had read it as a teenager it would have been something I really enjoyed. 

While the book is about rabbits, the characters are very human in their actions and thoughts. It would be difficult to write from an animal perspective without humanizing them in some ways, however, when I was reading the story I didn't always picture the characters as rabbits which is what they were. 

I think the book was good it just didn't stand up to my expectations. 

The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland

Title: The Passion of Artemisia
Author: Susan Vreeland
Type: Audiobook
Narrator: Gigi Bermingham
Genre: Historical Fiction
Series: No
Copyright: 2002
Publisher: Highbridge Audio
Rating: 2.5 out of 5


Summary: from goodreads
Recently rediscovered by art historians, and one of the few female post-Renaissance painters to achieve fame during her own era, Artemisia Gentileschi led a remarkably "modern" life. Susan Vreeland tells Artemisia's captivating story, beginning with her public humiliation in a rape trial at the age of eighteen, and continuing through her father's betrayal, her marriage of convenience, motherhood, and growing fame as an artist. Set against the glorious backdrops of Rome, Florence, Genoa, and Naples, inhabited by historical characters such as Galileo and Cosimo de' Medici II, and filled with rich details about life as a seventeenth-century painter, Vreeland creates an inspiring story about one woman's lifelong struggle to reconcile career and family, passion and genius.

Feelings: 
I started listening to this audiobook over a year ago but never finished it. When I saw it at the library, I decided to give it another try. I enjoyed the story, however, it wasn't as good as I had hoped. I am glad that I finished it, I don't feel like it was vital that I finished it. There are some books that I feel if I don't finish them I'm missing something. This was not one of those books.

Artemisia is an interesting character who makes decisions that advance her career as an artist. As a result, she forgoes many of the pleasures of human relationships. That aspect of the story was sad. It made me wonder how much of it was fictional and how much based on history. I did enjoy the descriptions from the point of view of the painter seeing detail in the things around her and wanting to share them with her daughter and friends.

This is not a book I would recommend to many people. I enjoyed the audiobook narration. It was very well done and carried the story through to the end.

Fruits Basket Volume 23 by Natsuki Takaya

Title: Fruits Basket, Volume 23 
Author: Natsuki Takaya 
Type: Manga 
Genre: Shoujo 
Series: Yes, Vol. 23 of 23 
Pages: 196 
Copyright: 2009 
Publisher: TOKYOPOP Inc. 
Rating: 3 out of 5

Summary: from good reads
The Fruits Baskets series has transformed the publishing landscape, introducing thousands of readers to manga. This volume marks the finale of the #1 bestselling manga series.

Feelings:
So things are going to work out nicely for all of the characters. There were a few surprises at the end of the series. While I was getting a little tired of this series by the end I did really enjoy it. Maybe if I hadn't sat down and read one volume after the next I would have enjoyed the ending more. I binged a little on the series though. That's how I like my manga served 5 or more volumes at once. 




I highly recommend this series to anyone looking to see what manga is like. It was fun and a good story too. 

The Martian by Andy Weir

Title: The Martian
Author: Andy Weir
Type: Novel  
Genre: Science Fiction
Series: No
Pages: 384
Copyright: 2014
Publisher: Crown
Rating: 4.5 out of 5


Summary: from goodreads
Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him & forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded & completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—& even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to kill him first. But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—& a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

Feelings: 
I really enjoyed this book. It is one of the first science fiction books, I've read it a while, that felt like it was science fiction and not fantasy. I liked that it was based on science and the character needed all of the science he knew to survive on Mars.

Marc Watney is one of the best characters I've read recently. He is fun, self-detrimental, and self-perserving. It is the mix of traits that made The Martian such and enjoyable book to read. I don't really feel like there is much I can say about this book without giving something away and it is worth reading and discovering. I loved this book. I admit I wasn't sure I was going to but it was really really good. I highly recommend this book. However, if you are easily offended by crude language, this may not be the book for you.