New Spring - Robert Jordan

As always, after coming up for air from a Robert Jordan novel, I find myself at a loss for words.  Not only did he write beautifully, I always find myself quickly attached to all of his characters all over again.  However, in this case, the focus stayed on three main characters and was very short in comparison to every other book in the Wheel of Time series. 

Oh, the insight!  I cannot think of any other writer I like that builds such thorough and culturally rich worlds to visit.  And the fount of knowledge Jordan possessed is apparent in every single word.  I know, I know.  I am definitely indulging in a bit of hero worship.  I will warn you: if you think George. R.R. Martin has a large cast of characters and that annoys you, I do not suggest picking up this series.  If that doesn't bother you in the least.... PROCEED!  I am nowhere near done with this series, I need to pick up book 10, but burnt myself out (see what I did there?) reading the first nine back to back.

Anyway, if you love lush descriptions, infinitely intricate plots, high fantasy... Well, the whole series (thus far) is beyond fantastic.  If you've never heard of it, or heard of it but never looked into it, don't freak out when you find out Robert Jordan passed away in 2007.  His wife pegged Brandon Sanderson to finish the series based on Jordan's extensive notes and plot details that were shared with family.  I've read a little of Sanderson's work and think he should fit the bill nicely.  I mean, Jordan's wife (and editor) chose him, so that should say quite a bit.  The cast of characters is vast and most of them are important at one point or another.  The plot lines twist more than... Well, honestly, I can't think of anything twistier than a plot line written by Robert Jordan.  I think it would be safe to begin with New Spring, though I am unsure if that is actually wise.  It gives insight to things I missed or did not pick up on that definitely make me reconsider a thing or two, plus it puts several characters in a light that I wasn't ready to see them in, as far into the series as I am.  I almost feel like I have to start completely over... But that it much too daunting a task.

Inkheart - Cornelia Funke

I am quite pleased by the first book of 2014.  I know it isn't new, but is definitely new to me.  I spent most of my childhood reading fantasy novels that were not really meant for my age group, so I missed a large number of the very good books I would have read then and possibly would have still read while in college.  I was too busy wading through Wheel of Time and basically any other sword & sorcery book I could get my hands on.

Once I was an adult, the concept of reading young adult novels seemed ridiculous.  Thankfully, Eragon and Harry Potter cured me of the notion.  I'm still selective in what I choose to read that is YA, since Twilight irritated me and anything similar (read: simpering, whiny "heroines" with a penchant for unhealthy relationships) does not appeal to me. 

Inkheart is magical and whimsical without being silly.  I love Mo and Meggie's relationship, mostly because it was similar to my mother and I and our love for books.  All of the characters have depth and experience quite a bit of development, with the exception of Mo.  I don't particularly feel like he needs anymore development, as he felt more like a tool to service the plot.  And I think Funke used him exceptionally well.  I especially enjoyed Elinor as well, with her attempts to stay stuffy and distant with Meggie.  Losing her library humanized her ad brought out the best in her, since she lost the one thing in the world she had to hide behind. 

It did drag a bit towards the middle, but I feel like it was part of setting up for the rest of the series.  On the whole, I really did like it. 

2013 In Review

2013 had a lot of new (to me) things in the realm of television/Netflix.  Plus, I changed jobs, so that led me a lack of discounted used books from Hastings and on to getting to explore my two favorite Half Price Books on a regular basis. 

I joined the ever growing trove of Whovians, so in a matter of three months I met Nine and Rose, met Ten, lost Rose and then met Eleven and Amy.  I also met Sherlock and John Watson and am now even more in love with Martin Freeman.  I have yet to begin The Walking Dead, but am excited to start Breaking Bad at some point soon.  Battlestar Gallactica is also a new favorite.

Most Memorable Current Series Episodes:
1. New Girl - Table 34: Jess and Nick kiss, and she does my favorite/most relatable Jess speech.  It was the moment I had been waiting for since I watched the first season on Netflix and then struggled to catch up for the third season.  They are by far, my favorite television couple.  Also, the whole moonwalking away thing--hilarious.











2. Sleepy Hollow - The Golem: Man, if you aren't watching this, you need to get caught the fuck up.  It's got a slow build, but it packs a punch.  This was the last episode of 2013.  Frankly, the week they skipped due to the World Series, I was screaming at Fox because I absolutely could not wait to see the next episode.  It really does start off slow, the pilot starts with a lot of actual action, but the plot unfolds perfectly through The Golem.  I have to say, that when I found out Ichabod had a kid, I was quite surprised, and I had a brief moment of, Awww. 

3. Doctor Who - The Rings of Akhaten: It was hard to pick this one, as I'm just not sold on Clara yet and I was honestly still reeling from losing Amy and Rory.  In fact, this episode and Angels Take Manhattan were shown back to back (I think, I might have dozed off) on Christmas day, which made it even more difficult to like Clara.  Mind you, I do like her.  I'm just not sold on her.  Yet.  Anyway, I did love the part where Eleven offers up the sum of all his experience as a Time Lord, it just wrenches the heart.


Movies!
Man, I am behind on movies.  I have to be taken, and that doesn't happen often.  Anyway, my list:

1. Iron Man 3 - Love, love, loved it!  Though, I did (willingly) sit between two comic book nerds who argued the nuances of the movie versus the comic book.  Thankfully, they didn't do it during the movie, else they'd of been broken in half.  I've never read the comic books, but I loved the movie itself.  They just keep piling depth onto Tony Stark and RDJ just does it brilliantly!

2. Superman  - Several people I spoke to afterwards had issue with this particular Superman, but I liked it.  I guess I don't have that issue with continuity or sticking to a story I already know, as I grew up knowing about Superman, watching Lois & Clark, and the animated cartoons.  So, I am not bothered when things change.

3. Star Trek: Into Darkness - This was bloody good.  I mean, seriously fantastic.  Benedict Cumberbatch as Khan was amazing.  And of course, there was Simon Pegg who makes a perfect Scotty.  I know a lot of Trekkies got their knickers in a knot over the whole continuity issue.  But, for me, I consider it cannon.  It isn't that difficult to believe that Spock changed things.  And I totally get the fact that Abrams made it into a huge, action packed THING, but it was still amazing.  I loved it.  I'm one of those people that don't get overly bothered by things that are and aren't cannon.  I just have a hard time dealing with movies versus books.

I know I missed a lot of great movies, but I just don't make it to the movies that often.

Books!

My number of books for 2013 was quite low.  Again, Netflix.  I've no intention of giving it up, but I do intend to devote more time to reading.  I mean, it's not like I'll catch up on Supernatural in time for it coming back on shortly.  And BSG isn't going anywhere...

Best book of the year... Had to be Ready Player One.  I've never gone too deeply into science fiction, but this one really just hits you with the immense amount of nerdiness AND a pretty heavy dose of sci-fi.  Granted, I still roll my eyes as the unnecessary amount of stress placed on the Art3mis-Wade/Parzival relationship.  I guess it was pretty spot on, love and teenagers often don't make for the best recipe, even in the real world.  I should just shut up and be glad that Wade recovered enough from their temporary break up to save the world.  But, I still can't get over his Lloyd Dobler behavior.

My best discovery of the year, that would be the Dark Tower graphic novels.  I love getting more back story on Roland and what happened to his original ka-tet.  I' nowhere near finished, as I'm trying to get them all in hard cover without paying full price at B&N.

2013 Books

 This year's list is shamefully short.  I blame Doctor Who, HIMYM and my stint of watching Grey's Anatomy (which I have thankfully given up).  I'm not going to vow any sort of nonsense about doing better.  Year 30 is all about doing whatever my little gypsy soul feels like doing.  And if it feels like reading more than twenty-two books this year, that's up to it.

I'll also be doing a year in review early next week (which will include my favourite movies and episodes of the year).  I will also be working on my list of things I am excited to see/read in 2014!

Here's to hoping I do a better job of blogging next year.....

1. Prophecy - Elizabeth Haydon
2. Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
3. The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell
4. Ender's Shadow - Orson Scott Card
5. Dark Tower: Gunslinger Born - Stephen King
6. Sin City: The Hard Goodbye - Frank Miller 
7. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For - Frank Miller 
8. This Side of Paradise - F. Scott Fitzgerald 
9. Serenity: Those Left Behind, Vol 1 -  Joss Whedon, Brett Matthews & Will Conrad
10. Aiding & Abetting - Muriel Spark 
11. What Dreams May Come - Richard Matheson 
12. Dark Tower: The Long Road Home - Stephen King
13. Choke - Chuck Palahniuk 
14. Sin City: The Big Fat Kill - Frank Miller
15. Anansi Boys - Neil Gaiman
16. The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien
17. Watership Down, Richard Adams
18. Swan Song - Robert R. McCammon
19. Ready Player One - Ernest Cline 
20. Of Love and Other Demons - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
21. Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman
22. Wolf Gift - Anne Rice

The Wolf Gift - Anne Rice

I struggled through The Wolf Gift.  Mind you, I should state here and now that the only books of Rice's that I have read were the first five vampire novels and then (and I am embarrassed to admit it) the first book of her Beauty series.  Ick.

I walked into Wolf Gift, expecting the same wonderful prose that made me fall in love with the romance of her vampires.  However, the prose was more of the oh God, gag me type.  My initial thought was: Did I download the right ebook?  After double checking that I had, I decided to plow through in the hopes that perhaps it was just the character.  Reuben is continually referred to by nicknames that make him seem bright and sweet.  And as a character, he is.  My problem with Reuben is that he is more of a reflector than a character that absorbs and grows.  Yes, he does grow physically, but it seems like Rice takes advantage of his intelligence, education and the fact that he knows a little about everything due to his being essentially a trust fund baby.  There's no real struggle with the gift, he accepts it and then starts tearing evil doers to pieces.  Huzzah!

Wait! Now he's in love with this long haired lady he found in the woods! I mean, seriously.  Come on.  Laura served absolutely no purpose.  She was not a moral compass and was completely unnecessary to the story.  She appears as this frail woman child.  Oh, and plus we have to mix the bestiality in there.  P.S. He had a girlfriend who is conveniently now in love with his (ex?) best friend.  Everything just comes across as so trite.  What should have taken me a week to get though took several months, as I continually put down my Kindle in favour of other books.  I went back for a brief read of the beginning of Interview With the Vampire.  The language and descriptions are smooth and have a lovely flow.  Wolf Gift was not choppy, but the descriptions were over done and too flowery.  It detracted from the plot, rather than adding to it. 

I like a book with a bit of moral struggle, moral ambiguity.  Wolf Gift drowns you with how right everything is about violently killing criminals and those who are evil.  Don't get me wrong, I am all for violence.  But, Reuben's "struggle" with whether or not his actions are right and justified seemed less of a struggle and more of a shallow justification used to pad the story.  The rest of the characters are really equally as trite--from his mother Grace, who is also his doctor; his brother, the priest, to whom Reuben confesses all the way to the other werewolves.  Rice's tale of how the Vampires began was richer and more believable than the half told tale given to us by Margon the Godless. 

I am still having a hard time believing this is THE Anne Rice I'm reviewing and I have absolutely nothing good to say.  I am disappointed to say the least.  All in all, it's a definite miss and I don't suggest reading it at all.  If you choose to, don't go in with the expectation of the old Anne Rice. 

Ready Player One - Ernest Cline

Bollocks, this had to be one of the most amazing books I've ever read.  It goes far beyond being just a science fiction novel, or a collection of all the geekiest and most awesome things imaginable.  If you're a fan of science fiction as a genre, read it.  Also, if you dig the eighties.  Or video games.  Or technology.  Or just a good story.  It has ALL OF THE THINGS!!

In all seriousness, Cline writes superbly.  Though, I will say he touches on all the touchy things--race, gender, sexual orientation.  He blends so many separate, yet also relevant elements into a whole picture that paints itself.  One thing that really stood out to me was how OASIS (Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory Immersive Simulation) was a combination of every game, every show, every fictional universe that has ever been.  Firefly, Star Wars, all of it.  The sheer volume of imagination accessible within OASIS is mind boggling to someone that has spent a large portion of her life wrapped up in a book or video game.  And the mere thought of actually getting to live Firefly or any of my other favorite fictional universes...  It makes my little heart race.

I loved the story, the world, the accurate commentary on everything from capitalism to race and gender.  The beginning is definitely the best part--the characters are witty.  But, there did come a point where I began to roll my eyes at the Art3mis-Wade/Parzival dynamic.  I can't quite pin down what I don't like about their relationship.  Don't get me wrong, I love a good romantic interest.  And I even like when my genres cross (shhhh).  But, something about them in this particular bit of science fiction just didn't quite satisfy. 

Ready Player One definitely merits a re-read.  It was certainly engrossing, as I stayed up well past a decent hour to try and finish.

Corona Lime Cupcakes

Weekend before last, I made some delicious Corona Lime Cupcakes with Lime Whipped Cream Frosting.  I found the recipe on Pinterest (of course) and was led to the following link

http://lovelifeandcreativethings.wordpress.com/2012/07/07/59/

Since I was taking them to work, I decided not to brush the Corona on top of the finished cupcakes before cooling.  And in lieu of cream cheese frosting, I did good ol' whipped cream frosting with a lime squeezed in.  Turned out pretty freaking amazing.  Just the right amount of sweet and the cake part was absolutely fantastic.  They disappeared at work pretty quickly.  What is pictured below is prettier than what my finished product was... So, that's what you get.  These were amazingly easy to do and I will definitely be doing these again--especially since I have 5/6 Coronas left in the fridge.  They either turn into cupcakes or get drank by someone other then myself!