Books I've read and am currently reading: November and December 2014

from top to bottom:

• Will O' the Wisp : An Aurora Grimeon Story - Tom Hammock, illustrations by Megan Hutchison

 I've been trying to get my hands on as many graphic novels as I can lately, and when I stumbled across this one at the library, it just had my name written all over it ;)
It's an interesting and mysterious story written by Tom Hammock,  inspired by the tales and folklore that he grew up with involving a certain type of "magic" known as Hoodoo. (Similar to Voodoo!)

Aurora Grimeon is a young girl who is sent to live with her estranged grandfather on a swampy island in Louisiana after her parents die. Weird things begin to happen and she starts to wonder if she is cursed, and the overly superstitious people that live in the tiny island village don't exactly help matters. She learns some Hoodoo spells and rituals from the local witch/priestess and investigates the strange occurrences that seem to get worse and worse each time. I really admire this character's bravery and knowledge, and there is also the CUTEST pet raccoon friend that she has named Missy. (I totally need a pet raccoon in my life).  And don't even get me started on the fantastic artwork. I recently discovered Megan Hutchison's work, and it's so amazing. The wardrobe she gave Aurora is right up my alley in terms of style, and I want to own every outfit she wears. I truly hope my own artwork can be as good as Megan's one day! (Check out her awesome Etsy shop here).
 

• Prince Lestat - Anne Rice

I only just got my hands on this book, so I haven't really cracked it yet. I've read through the handy "Blood Genesis" and "Blood Argot" intros to refresh my memory on the whole Vampire Chronicles series and the major events that are leading up to this book. It would seem that the world of vamps is being threatened by a "voice" that they hear, and they're all destroying each other and the world. I wonder what Lestat's role in this is...

• The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt

I've also only just started this, but I'm a couple of chapters in. When I first read the synopsis of this novel, it sounded intriguing, so I finally decided to give it a chance. It's a story about a young man who never really got over losing his mother as a teen, and a deepening mystery surrounding a painting that he more or less stole from a museum because it was her favorite. Overall, Donna Tartt is a brilliant writer that weaves words together beautifully, but certain sentences do tend to get a bit wordy and repetitive. Like I said, I'm only at the beginning, but it's sort of starting to drag on. The story at this point is very touching and sad. You really feel for (the character) Theo and want to comfort him after losing his mom so tragically. I'm kind of a deeply sensitive person, so it's actually been kind of hard to put myself in his lonely shoes. This is a dramatic novel, for sure. I'm looking forward to see what's going to happen.

• Alice in the Country of Hearts : The Mad Hatter's Late Night Tea Party - QuinRose, art by Riko Sakura

and

• Alice in the Country of Clover : Knight's Knowledge - QuinRose, art by Sai Asai

More graphic novels! (Technically these are mangas?). I haven't even touched these yet! They both looked interesting and I happen to  love anything 'Alice in Wonderland' related, so I wanted to see what this manga series is like. I'm not sure which one is supposed to come first, as I think they're both the first volume in two different series, but we'll see. As usual, the main thing that bothers me with these printed mangas is that the cover will be so colorful and eye catching, and then the inside is all grey scale and blah. Especially with a world like "Wonderland", I would expect all colors all the time! ;)  But that's just a personal gripe. I guess it's just the way these are printed.. saves time/money in the end, eh?


*NOT PICTURED, but also read:

• Hopeless, Maine: Personal Demons - Tom and Nimue Brown

 Similar to Will O' the Wisp (above), this was a cool and dark little graphic novel that I absolutely fell in love with. The artwork was also gorgeous, and the overall story was so imaginative and spooky and fun. It was about a little girl (and natural born witch, it seems) named Salamandra who ends up at a boarding school in a very remote and always dark and foggy village in Maine. She is an outsider who is haunted by a demonic spirit disguised as another little girl. Salamandra has to find a way to trap and defeat her, before she hurts somebody!




Until next time,

G.

Books I'm currently reading: October 2014

(from left to right)

• A Storm of Swords: Game of Thrones #3 - George R. R. Martin

Ok. I took a break from attempting to read the G.o.T. books after book #2. I can't really remember how that one ended, but nevertheless here I am trying it again! I swear each book in this series gets thicker and thicker. This one is no exception.. it took me about 30 minutes just to get through the prologue. (JEEZ!)
I'm not 100% sure I'm going to be able to finish this, and to be honest, I'm not really feeling it right now. So maybe this isn't a good choice to be reading for the month, haha. I don't know. I'm weird like that - I have to be in the mood for reading something to actually enjoy it, but we'll see. Honestly, my favorite part of G.o.T. is the Others/Whitewalkers, so hopefully there will be some of those here.

• Eat Pray Love - Elizabeth Gilbert

I had come across a quote from this author the other day that really resonated with me, and so I was curious to read her book. It's a real life memoir about the (literal) journeys she took to find herself during a low point in her life. After looking it up on Goodreads, I noticed that the reviews are less than positive, but I always try to keep an open mind and come to my own conclusions after trying out books, and most of the negative reviews seem to be personal jabs at the author's story that she is telling, about how she's so "self indulgent" or something. Honestly I just find that so mean. You really shouldn't judge somebody else's life like that, because there is no way for you to truly know what that person is going through and how they are feeling. So that's why I'm going to try to read this book through and judge for myself how it makes me feel. Currently, I find myself at a low point in life too, and while the details of my personal struggles may not be similar to Elizabeth's, that doesn't mean I can't find inspiration from her story. We all come from different walks of life, but that doesn't mean we don't all suffer every now and again. But anyways... I haven't gotten that far into the book, but it's not badly written/worded at all. The only gripe I will say that I have is how she structured it. She says she tried to separate it out like the 108 beads found in a Hindu japa mala, (which is kind of like a rosary), but truly, I kind of just wish she'd stuck to normal chapters and separation, because it kind of doesn't make sense right now. But then again, maybe it will!

Books I've read and am currently reading: July, August, September 2014

From top left to right:

• Wolverine and Jubilee: Curse of the Mutants - Kathryn Immonen

I read this sometime in July or August. One of two comics I decided to try out, (since I'm not an avid comic-reader). I am a fan of X-men in general, and I think I've mentioned in the past that Jubilee was my favorite childhood X-men character, so this seemed like an interesting story. Well, I kind of ended up with mixed feelings about it. The story goes that Jubilee somehow or another gets turned into a vampire, (enter mixed reaction #1: "WTF? She's a MUTANT! Vampires don't even exist in this world!"), and she's really having a hard time with it, and so her mentor Wolverine steps in to try to help her out. I don't remember exactly, but I think he also gets turned into a vampire..?  Sorry, I just thought it was lame. They're mutants. They're already societal outcasts, but with super powers. Why turn them into dumb blood sucking creatures? Meh.

• Catwoman: When in Rome - Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale

Comic number two that I read this summer. I actually ended up liking this one.. I didn't LOVE it, but I didn't hate it. I liked the artwork, for the most part. And the story line was sort of touching, I guess. Catwoman went to Italy to try to find out the truth about who her true parents were. And she finds out that she can't escape being the Catwoman or being in danger and having to kick some behind, no matter how far away from Gotham she journeys.

• Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Laini Taylor

 This is one of those books that I've had in my "to read" list for a long time. I finally decided to give it a chance, although I was kind of worried it was going to be a cheesy Twilight-ish teenage love story, (blech). It started out both instantly hooking me thanks to Laini's gorgeous and descriptive writing, but also turning me off a bit because the story itself started off a bit disjointed and felt kind of all-over the place, to the point where I *almost* stopped reading it.  But I am SO glad I stuck to it because eventually it all started to make sense, and the writing style just gets better and better, somehow. I was also pleasantly grateful that it is indeed NOT an overly sappy romantic plot line, and it's actually full of real darkness and tragic circumstances. The main female character feels so real, and honest, and she's strong, intelligent, and oh so very mysterious. Basically, I want to BE her. She has turquoise hair, she goes to art school in Prague, and she has access to real life magic thanks to her 'demonic' family. I can't even describe the overall novel. It's just so imaginative and fresh and whimsical as hell. And like I said, Taylor's writing is beautiful. It's worth it to pick up this book for that fact alone.

• Hollow City (Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children #2) - Ransom Riggs

 If you'll remember, I read the first book of this series back in June, and I loved it so much that I was thrilled to find out that the second one was just released, and so of course I had to snatch it up. I'm in the process of reading it right now, and am only about halfway through. Admittedly, it's not quite as good as the first one, but then again, I still have a ways to go with it. So maybe it'll get more interesting. Some new characters have been introduced, and Ransom once again uses a bunch of vintage photographs to help the tale along, but I feel like it's missing a bit of the mysterious magic that the first book had. We'll see!

• Days of Blood and Starlight (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #2) - Laini Taylor

September has officially turned into the month of Sequels! In case my above description of the first book in this series wasn't enough of a clue to let you know how much I enjoyed it, well, here's further proof! I'm reading the sequel! I feel like I can't describe it too much without spoiling the story to those who haven't read it, but basically it picks up exactly where the first one left off. Same characters, same dark and dramatic plot, but completely different setting altogether. And now, there is high tension between the two main characters who loved each other (to death), once upon a time. Resurrection, Revenge, and Redemption are the magic words. I'm also about halfway through this book. I have no idea what will happen but I'm anxious to find out.

Books I'm Currently Reading: June 2014

• Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs

It's very rare for me to find a book that grabs me with it's very first sentence, but such was the case with this mystery novel.  I've had it on my 'to read' list for a while, and for the second time ever: it was a case of a book presenting itself to me out of the blue one day, signaling to me that "I need to read this now".  Okay, maybe that sounds a little strange, but I honestly believe that the 'book gods' or whoever sometimes send me signs with books at a time when the story might be something that I need in that moment. Even if only for inspiration... This is categorized as a "mystery" at my library, but it could also fall under "fantasy".  It's the story of a sixteen year old boy who is trying to find out the truth about his late grandfather's childhood, (this was one of the interesting things I found with this book, seeing as how I just recently lost my own grandfather, so YES, THE BOOK GODS TOLD ME I NEEDED THIS IN MY LIFE AT THIS MOMENT), and if it really truly was as he always said it was: growing up in a special orphanage for children with strange abilities, (i.e. "peculiar children"). The writing itself is very nicely done, and every turn of events is keeping me guessing and on the edge of my seat. I haven't been able to put this book down, and I look forward to devouring the rest as soon as possible.  OH, and also: there's a small Doctor Who reference in this book! It was truly meant to be!

• Curtsies and Conspiracies (book two of the Finishing School series) - Gail Carriger

If you'll remember, I read the first book in Gail Carriger's YA series late last year, titled Etiquette and Espionage. Here is the sequel, continuing Sophronia's adventures in her supernatural-Victorian era charm/spy school. Let the steampunk-y-ness continue! I actually only JUST started this, (since I haven't been able to put down "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children"!), so I can't say too much about it yet, but I'm sure it's going to be equally as fun as the first book was. And according to Miss Carriger's blog, the third book in this series is almost out! (exciting!) While I'm on the subject of this series, though, I have to give major props to whoever the artist is that is creating the covers for these books. I'm so in love with them.. I wish they existed in poster form, because I would definitely put these up on my walls!


Until next time, and remember to TRUST THE BOOK GODS.

-G.

Books I'm Currently Reading: April 2014

• The Sandman Vol.1: Preludes and Nocturnes - Neil Gaiman

I know I've mentioned in the past that Neil Gaiman is a favorite author of mine, but if you can believe it, I haven't yet read EVERYTHING that he's written. (But I've read plenty enough to call him my favorite! And that's saying a lot!)  His Sandman graphic novel/comic is actually what he became famous for. I've never been an avid reader of comics, (hence why I hadn't looked at the Sandman until now), but I'm trying to change that. There's just too many good sounding ones out there, so I figured I'd give them a chance.  Preludes and Nocturnes is designated as Volume 1 or Part 1 of the Sandman. It's very interesting so far. Highly imaginative and I'm loving the character of Morpheus, (i.e. the Sandman). He's on the hunt for precious items of his that were stolen...

• The Search for WondLa - Tony DiTerlizzi

I came across this novel by accident at the library (don't I always?!), and it just looked SO interesting that I had to check it out. I adore fantasy stories, and this one is just so crazy sounding that it was calling my name! It's about a young human girl who has grown up on a strange planet with only the company of a robot called "Muthr". She's never even set foot on the world outside her enclosed 'sanctuary', but one day she's forced to venture out by herself when her home is attacked. Turns out the planet or whatever she lives on is inhabited by weird alien creatures who speak strange languages. Yeah, I have no idea where this story will end up, but I shall have to wait and see!

Books I'm currently reading: March 2014

I'm still not certain if mangas count as "books", but this is literally all I read in March, so yeah... (in case you haven't read my last post, life got in the way and I haven't had time for reading, or anything else. But anyways...)

• X-Men Misfits - Raina Telgemeier and Dave Roman - artwork by Anzu

I'll admit it. It was another case of a cover capturing my attention. Not only that, though, I'm actually a big fan of X-Men, in general.  I used to love the 90's cartoon when I was a kid, (LOVED it), and my brother had some of the comics, so I used to read those too. The concept of an anime take on X-men seemed interesting and I just had to check it out. It was a cute story, I guess. Typical manga "cute girl meets cute boy and shenanigans ensue" kind of plot, but it wasn't all that bad. The main character Kitty Pryde had an interesting super power, and I kind of wanted to see it develop more, but maybe that comes later in the series. I loved the artwork, though. If only the pages within the book were in color...  Overall, if you're even somewhat of an X-Men fan, you'd probably enjoy this story.  I might check out the rest of the series, if I can find it.

Do you have a favorite X-men character?  Mine was always Jubilee, (from the cartoon).  I loved her big pink glasses ;)

Books I'm Currently Reading: January 2014

• "Soulless" - Gail Carriger

If you remember back in November, I read another of Miss Carriger's books called "Etiquette and Espionage" (read that post here). I absolutely loved the steampunk world she created in that novel, so I decided to give her earlier works a read.  This is the first book in her series named the "Parasol Protectorate" about a young woman named Alexia who apparently has no soul! She's not 'supernatural', but rather, 'preternatural', and she has an awesome sounding parasol that she uses to fight off evil vampires.  Jolly good fun!

• "Ruby Red" - Kerstin Gier

As if my constant blabbing about Doctor Who wasn't a big enough clue as to my fondness for the idea of time travel, let me tell you about this book about time travel! A teenage girl finds out she carries a special time traveling gene that runs in her family and has huge adventures and discovers secrets.  This is the first in the "Precious Stone" trilogy, and I'm looking forward to devouring every last page!

Until next time!

Books I am currently reading: December, PLUS: a recap of my 2013

What a busy couple of weeks I've had! No time to sit and write any well thought out blog posts.  But I've been reading others' end of year posts and I felt inspired.

So let's get started: Because of being so busy, I only had time to dive into one book this month, (and it's not even a novel!).

• "Young Miss Holmes: Casebook 1-2" - Kaoru Shintani

I'm not actually a big reader of Japanese mangas, (although I love the artwork!), but I've been more and more curious about them lately.  I was so intrigued by the cover of this one that I just had to check it out, and I love it so far.  I'm a fan of Sherlock Holmes, (even the Robert Downey/Jude Law movies, and I've started watching season 1 of the Sherlock BBC show).  This little story revolves around Sherlock's (made-up) niece, Christy.  She's apparently inherited her uncle's super-sleuth genius-genes and talents and helps him solve mysteries. In fact, she's even better at it than he is! I've only gotten about a 1/4 of the way through, as it's actually kind of a thick volume/collection, by most manga standards, but I'm enjoying it a lot!  I hope to find the rest of the series.

• OTHER BOOKS I READ IN 2013:

• "Good Omens" - Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

I started this in December of 2012 and finished it January 2013. It was a very appropriate book to read at that time, since that whole "Apocalypse of 2012" nuttyness was in full swing at that time.  This book was a hilarious story about that, and it became one of my favorite books.  It revolved around an angel and a demon living in London U.K. during 2012 and this whole ordeal involving a book of prophecies written by a witch named Agnes Nutter.  I honestly can't even describe it in full detail, you just have to read it for yourself ;)

• "The Night Circus" - Erin Morgenstern

I wrote a lengthier review/blog post about this one on my old blog here.  I loved this book so much it's not even funny.

• "Looking for Alaska" - John Green

This is the first (and so far, only), novel by John Green that I've read.  (His books are pretty popular!).  I actually read it very early on in 2013 so it's not fresh in my mind, but it was a pretty dramatic coming-of-age type story, and I can see why John Green's writing has so many people captivated.

• "Game of Thrones: Book one. A Song of Ice and Fire" - George R. R. Martin

Yikes. Okay, so I may or may not have 100% finished this one, as it was way too long and the library got angry at me for keeping it longer than I should have, haha.  It was my first introduction into Martin's Game of Thrones world and it was good and all, but just oh so very long.  I mentioned the second book in the series on my Books I am currently reading: November post, if you want to know more.

• "Doctor Who: Forever Autumn" - Mark Morris

If you've read ANY of my previous blog posts, you should know by now that I am a huge Doctor Who geekazoid.  (Did I really just type that?)  This year I found out there are actually entire novels/books about the Doctor!  This one literally fell into my lap in August of 2013 and I immediately devoured it because 1) it involves my favorite Doctor (#10), 2) it has a Halloween jack'o lantern, (I LOVE HALLOWEEN), and 3) I was so anxious for Fall and the title is "Forever Autumn" so yeah.  The writing itself was pretty amateur and parts of the story line were kind of dumb, but I still enjoyed the notion of the Doctor and Martha solving a mystery of pumpkin-headed aliens in a New England town on Halloween.  Could have been a good episode ;)

• "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" - Neil Gaiman

2013 was the year of Neil Gaiman.  He released so many books this year, and they're all so wonderful. I waited so long and so patiently for this one, and it was oh so worth it.  It's a super short novella that you can probably finish in one sitting.  And oh so magical!  I can't even describe it.  But it's the kind of story that makes you wonder if it could actually be true...  read it.  Trust me.

As for some other stuff...

2013 certainly came and went so quickly.

Some of the cool things that happened this year were:

• January: I finally met and got to start an internship with a fashion designer that I had admired for years.  She and her husband have actually turned out to become very good friends and I visited with them tons this year.  They also taught me so much about corset-making and I was able to hone some skills during my internship with them.  I'm thankful that I worked up the courage to contact them in January! Also in January: I finally launched my official website. Something that took years in the making!  I was very proud of myself for it!

• February/March/April: honestly, those months were kind of a blur. Nothing too significant occurred until May, when I finally graduated with an Associate's degree in Fashion Design ;)

• June/July: I finally found a new day job after having been unemployed for a year and I'm still there now and love it :) 

• August/September: another blur.  Don't think anything major occurred. But I might just be forgetting? haha.

• October: this is lame but, the tenth month of the year was also the Tenth Doctor month.  And he's my favorite.  In case you haven't gathered that by now.  The end of October was also when I FINALLY got to go to the Texas Renaissance Festival for the first time.  I loved it so much and I truly hope I get to go again next year!

Me at the Ren Fest! 

• November: THE 50th ANNIVERSARY OF DOCTOR WHO!!!!!!!!!!!  It was all I was looking forward to the entire year! And it was great! I even made a 10th Doctor inspired costume, remember??  (Click here).  Oh yeah, and I also launched this here shiny new blog of mine ;)

• And finally, we're here in December.  Overall, 2013 was pretty good to me. A definite improvement over the low points of 2012.  This year I felt like I have finally been getting closer to finding who I truly am, and feeling more confident in myself.  It's been a year of acceptance, in a way.  And I hope 2014 is a continuation of all that.  I don't really make new year's resolutions, but I do hope to continue to grow as a person this coming year, and also I hope to grow and improve this blog!

If you read all of this, I thank you.  And please share with me the highlights of YOUR 2013 ;)

Books I am currently reading: November

• "Who Could that be at this Hour?" - Lemony Snicket

This is actually my first time reading an entire Lemony Snicket book, but I am a huge fan of the guy's dark yet humorous aesthetic, (It's very 'Whimsy and Noir'..) I own the movie version of "A Series of Unfortunate Events" with Jim Carey, and it's one of my favorite things to watch.  I picked this book up during some down time at the library and started reading it, just for fun, but I soon realized I didn't want to put it down. And yes, I realize it is a CHILDREN'S book, but who cares? I'm totally still a child at heart, so I'm happy.  And whenever a story manages to transport me to another reality for a good amount of time, I'm all for it.  This particular story is the first in a series called "All the Wrong Questions", and it's a made up 'autobiography' of Snicket's internship as a secret investigator when he was a teenager.  I'm only about a quarter of the way into it, but it has me intrigued to discover all the mysteries surrounding stolen statues and a hidden town built on the sea.

• "Etiquette and Espionage" - Gail Carriger

There are several books by this author that are on my "to read" list, but I decided to start with this one because the cover was SO eye catching! (Yes, I sometimes judge books by their covers. Isn't that the whole point of cover art?!)  Turns out this novel is meant to be a 'prequel' to all of the other ones on my list so I guess it's nice that I'm going in order.  I'm way into Victorian/Neo Victorian/Steampunk fashion/culture/aesthetics, but this is the first "steampunk" novel I've decided to read.  It's very interesting so far! Robot butlers, vampires, and a feisty heroine who gets sent to a secretive school to learn fighting skills.  Yep.  I feel like I'm in for a fun ride.

• "Fortunately, the Milk" - Neil Gaiman

Another children's book, but Neil Gaiman happens to be my favorite author, so of course I'm reading this!  In fact, I almost finished the entire thing in one sitting, as it's not very long.  But I saved the last third or so, just because.  It's a cute, ongoing story told by a father. Something he is seemingly making up as he goes along, to explain what took him so long to get back home when he ventured out to buy milk for the kids.  Highly imaginative and creative.  And I couldn't help but think of Doctor Who when I encountered the talking dinosaur with a time machine ;)  (Neil Gaiman has written a couple of episodes for Doctor Who, in case ya didn't know).

• "Clash of Kings" - George R.R. Martin

I almost didn't include this since I've actually been attempting to finish it since SEPTEMBER, but I'm still... not done with it.  I don't know that I ever will be.  Martin's Game of Thrones series goes on and on, and on... and on.  It's good, don't get me wrong.  (Not GREAT, but something to read, I guess).  To be completely honest, I'm kind of over it.  I think this is the last book in this series that I'll read, at least for a while.  (And it's only the second one, yikes).  Since I've never seen the show, I decided to try the books.  I think I'm mostly caught up on major developments so far, at least. But I think these books are best left to the obsessive die hard Game of Thrones fanatics.

How about you? Can you share what you're currently reading? :)