Favorite Long Books

Hello, friends! For this week, I decided to borrow a topic from Top Ten Tuesdays and talk about my favorite long books. (I almost did a "Thoughts on Miraculous Ladybug" post, but I've only finished Season One, so I'm going to wait on that until I hit the end of the released episodes.) So, long books it is! As a qualification, I'm only featuring one book or series per author — so, if I want to mention all the books in a particular series as one unit, I'll do that, but I won't mention multiple single books by one author.

That said, I realized something while picking out books for this post: I my perception of what books are long or short is sometimes kinda weird. There were several books that I looked up thinking that they were super long . . . only to realize that they were a mere 300-odd pages. (For example: The Night Circus.) And then other books, I don't remember as being long at all, but they're definitely hefty enough that other people have called them intimidating. (For example: Before She Ascends.) It's weird. I'm weird. But we all knew that, right?

Favorite Long Books

1. All the Stormlight Archive books by Brandon Sanderson (1007, 1087, and 1248 pages). We all know I love these books. I actually get excited about how long they are because I think they're so awesome. Is anyone surprised by this? No. Honestly, Brandon Sanderson could release a book three times as long as one of these and I'd still devour it. His books are just that awesome — which is why they're so long, because anything shorter would explode.

2. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (1216 pages). I feel mildly guilty because I haven't managed to reread this yet, even though I meant to at the beginning of the year . . . The problem is, this is a long book with long chapters, and it's not at all suited to reading in bits and snippets between classes and before bed, which is when I do most of my school-year reading. So, yeah. I still love LOTR, even with how long it is, but just because I love long books doesn't mean they aren't still sometimes daunting even to me.

3. A Branch of Silver, A Branch of Gold by Anne Elisabeth Stengl (606 pages). Here's a book and author I haven't raved about in far too long! (Mostly because I also haven't read them in far too long.) Picking between this and Golden Daughter was tough — I love A Branch of Silver, A Branch of Gold; it's a wonderful take on one of my favorite fairy tales, and it features some delightful creepiness in certain parts. However, Golden Daughter is one of my favorite of Stengl's books. That said, Golden Daughter doesn't feel long. A Branch of Silver does, though not in a bad way. So, A Branch of Silver takes the top spot on this list!

4. All the Illuminae Files books by Amie Kaufman (602, 659, and 615 pages). These fall in the category of "Long books that don't feel long," mostly because of their unusual format. They're written as a compilation of bite-sized transcripts, chat logs, emails, files, and occasional word-art-y AIDAN internal logs. Multiple times, I was surprised by how much of these books I'd read at once (especially late at night . . . oops). I mean, you know they're long when you're reading them because so much happens . . . but it's a very different experience from reading lengthy chapters one after another.

5. The Warden and the Wolf King by Andrew Peterson (519 pages). Here's another book that I don't talk about enough and need to reread (especially because of some info that I found out a few weeks ago and still periodically get excited over). I think Warden feels a little longer than it actually is simply because of the depth of the emotion in it. That's not to say that it doesn't have exciting parts, but it isn't an Illuminae book that you can devour fifty or a hundred pages of in a relatively short time. Warden requires more time and processing, much like Lord of the Rings does — though it's certainly worth that extra effort.

6. Plenilune by Jennifer Freitag (668 pages). Ah, Plenilune. This is a magnificent book, full of intrigue, excitement, drama, action, heroics, emotion, mystery, and marvels. It's also a pretty long book full of names and places, only a quarter of which I actually remembered or could connect to the people they belonged to. Honestly, I think the volume of names I needed to remember was 90% of what makes this book seem as long as it is. The other 10% is that it is actually a long book that involves a great many things happening in a very richly described world. So, yeah. Excellent read, but when I reread it, I may have to take notes on who's who and where's what.

7. Winter by Marissa Meyer (827 pages). We'll end with a book that, like the Illuminae Files, doesn't actually feel as long as it is. This is probably because it features near-constant action of some kind and doesn't involve a great deal of emotional downtime (that I remember) or three thousand names to keep track of. (That's not to say that emotional downtime or large character counts are bad things, just that they make books feel their length.) I know a lot of people weren't crazy about Winter but I honestly enjoyed it — and not just because I love the titular character and her stoicly snarky guard-love-interest. The book as a whole is fun and exciting and, I think, a good conclusion to the series.

So, there you have it: my favorite long reads. What about you? Do you enjoy long books? If so, what are your favorites? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade) 

May 2017 Doings!

Hey'a, everyone! It's the end of another month- but not a crazy one, thankfully. Actually, this was the most relaxing month I've had in a while . . . but just because it was relaxing doesn't mean there's nothing to report here!

Writing!

• On the whole, this was a pretty good writing month, possibly because I spent a lot of time in the car (it's an excellent place to write because there's no internet to distract me and I'm too scared of wasting my battery to play Solitaire or Candy Crush) and possibly because I had no schoolwork, nice weather, and a few days with good motivation.
• In terms of actual writing, I completed two and a half flashfics (I'll post the two eventually, after I've edited them a bit) and a new scene in Destinies and Decisions. Editing was slightly less productive, but most of the work I did was on Destinies and Decisions, which I've been neglecting for a while now. (That was partially because of Camp NaNoWriMo and partially because I was procrastinating on rewriting another subplot.)
• In addition worked on random bits of worldbuilding (dragon Riders don't get concussions! but they do have problems with cancer), part of which I actually wrote down and part of which is still in my head. I've decided to finally create a file on Evernote for all my worldbuilding info instead of just keeping it in a standard notebook, so that (A)there's less chance of losing it and (B)I can access it at any time. I still have to copy all the stuff I've done before into the file, but . . . oh well. It's a start.
• Also, in case you missed it, I started posting Fight Song! So far, the prologue, and first two chapters are up. You don't have to read them, obviously, but if you haven't yet and you're interested . . .

Reading!

• As I already said, May was a pretty good writing month . . . but it was an even better reading month, with a lovely blend of rereads and new books, many of which people have been recommending to me for a while.
• In that latter category fits Plenilune, which came out . . . I want to say around the time the first Ilyon Chronicles was released? So it's been a few years, and it was before I really bought new books that I hadn't read yet. I'm honestly glad I didn't read it then; I don't think I would've appreciated it as much as I did reading it now. It is an amazing book, though dark enough in places that I'd recommend it more for mature readers.
• Also in that category goes The Firethorn Crown, which was a pretty cool 12 Dancing Princesses retelling that Deborah O'Carroll heartily recommended to me. I enjoyed it; there's dragons (including tiny butterfly dragons!), a reasonably creepy villain, and sisters being awesome and having each other's backs. It's not my favorite 12 Dancing Princesses retelling, but it's still good (and free on Kindle, if you're interested)! I didn't enjoy the sequel, The Midsummer Captives, quite as much, maybe because I didn't connect as much with the characters and maybe because I didn't realize until after the fact that it was a retelling of A Midsummer Night's Dream. It was still a good book, though, and had more dragons in it.
• The final book in the category of heartily-recommended-to-me-reads is The Lies of Locke Lamora- and, yes, when I say "recommended" here, I mostly mean "Cait Grace yelled about it on her blog so much that I got curious." I was rather less impressed by this one than by Plenilune or the Firethorn Crown books. Don't get me wrong, the story is great, the characters likeable (mostly), and the heists and intrigue as exciting as you might want. It honestly felt the same way I think a Mistborn prequel novel about Kelsier's old crew would feel. However, there was a lot of very strong language and not-entirely-appropriate references- so much that I almost put the book down only a tenth of the way in, and enough that I can't wholeheartily recommend the book myself.
• On the retelling side, we have the first three James Herriot biographies. I'm not sure these totally qualify as rereads, since I didn't read them myself; rather, my dad read them to me when I was younger. The whole matter started because I found the first book, All Creatures Great and Small, for 25 cents at a curriculum sale and decided to get it. I expected to be a few days getting through it (it's a relatively thick book, and I assume biographies are slow), but then I read it in roughly 24 hours and found myself in desperate need of the next one, All Things Bright and Beautiful. Thankfully, we owned that one already, and I got through it almost as quickly. The last two we had to get at the library, and I'm currently working on book three, All Things Wise and Wonderful, though not as quickly because I've been doing other things besides reading.
• A few other books that don't fit into the heartily-recommended-to-me or rereads categories: Wires and Nerve Volume 1 is the new Lunar Chronicles graphic novel; I enjoyed it, but felt like it should've been longer. Graphic novels are tricky that way. Long May She Reign was fantasy-mystery with a scientist protagonist: something different, definitely enjoyable, and surprisingly clean, though not as amazing as I hoped. And Carve the Mark is Veronica Roth's new book: sci-fi, on the darker side, not really what I expected but not bad.

Watching!

• So many things!
  
• Obviously, I finished watching Merlin and I was actually fairly satisfied with the ending? I mean, yes, I'm sad and now I want more than ever to write my modern-day continuation fanfic since BBC seems unwilling to give us a modern-day reboot. But I wasn't as upset as I expected to be.
  
  
• Then I came home and tackled all the movies I need to catch up on. I started with the Back to the Future trilogy, specifically the second and third movie. I almost think the second might be my favorite, which is weird since usually the second is the worst in any trilogy. And, yeah, I absolutely hated the first thirty minutes of the the movie. But I actually enjoyed the rest of it quite a bit. The third one was fun as well, since it was sort of a western but also not and I didn't have to deal with everyone dying in the end, which is what usually seems to happen in westerns.
  
  
• And then I moved on to what I was really looking forward to: the rest of the Marvel movies! All I had left was Guardians and the second two Captain America movies, plus I wanted to rewatch the first Captain America, just to refresh my memory. Guardians was fabulous- not my very favorite Marvel movie, but it's probably up there. Hopefully I'll be able to watch the second one more or less as soon as it comes out on DVD (or arrives on Netflix, if I can convince my roommate to watch it with me, since I don't think it'll be out until September).
• Then came the Captain America movies. Rewatching the first one was actually super refreshing for two reasons. For one thing, I knew everything that happened already, which prevented the panic moments ("He has to survive! There's another movie! Right?". For another, it's one of the few Marvel movies where I never feel the need to yell at the characters for being idiots/unreasonable/etc.
• Of course, The Winter Soldier and Civil War were considerably less relaxing . . . though TWS wasn't nearly as emotionally draining as I expected it to be. The fact that I knew most of the major twists already helped a lot. Civil War was another story- but I already posted my thoughts on it, so I won't repeat myself here.

Musings!

• You don't have to understand something to love it; you don't have to know everything about something to like it; you don't have to be good at something to enjoy it. So often in the fandom world (and outside it too), you feel like you don't really love something if you don't know all the trivia, if you can't quote half the movie or all the best lines from the book, if you haven't read or watched it a dozen times. Or in terms of activities, people assume that if you enjoy doing something, you must be good at it in the sense of having a natural affinity for it, because why else would you keep doing it? But it's not like that. The fact that I do not know every little piece of LOTR trivia and haven't read The Silimarillion since I was eleven does not make me less of a LOTR fan than my friend whose favorite fictional character in the world is never mentioned in the main trilogy. The fact that I don't understand a lot of science and philosophy doesn't mean that I can't be fascinated by it, that I can't enjoy learning about it, that I can't appreciate all that those things give us. I can call myself a photographer even though I still don't get ISO and probably use Photoshop techniques that would make an experienced photographer recoil in horror. I can be a writer even though I don't always know what I'm doing and I couldn't explain the snowflake method to you if you offered me a million dollars. But that's ok. Storms, I don't always understand that which I love most- God, family, friends- but that doesn't mean I love them any less. And I think that's beautiful.

Life!

• Well, there's plenty to put in here, even if it has been a fairly relaxing month. Where to start, then? I suppose at the beginning- which was also an ending. Specifically, the end of my first year of college! Finals went well; I honestly think that I stressed more about packing than I did about any of my finals. Thankfully, I ended up having no finals Thursday, the day before I was supposed to leave, so I could just pack EVERYTHING and not have to go anywhere except to eat. I still ended up stressing most of the day, trying to fit everything into roughly as many boxes and suitcases as I had with me (and kind of failing because I'd accumulated way more stuff than I had at the beginning of the year, plus I'm not an efficient packer to begin with).
• We stopped at my grandpa's house for a day on the way home, which was nice. While we were there, my dad and I went on a photo expedition to Carrie Furnace, which used to be part of an old steel works and is now abandoned.
  
  
  

  Eventually I'm going to write a whole blog post about the experience and show off the pictures I took. I would've done it sooner, but all the movie-watching that I mentioned earlier kind of distracted me.
• Then we got home, I unpacked- which was easier than packing, since I knew already where most stuff was going to go- and also went through my clothes and books to decide what to keep and what to get rid of. Going through my personal bookshelves was the hardest part. I have a lot of books that I rarely, if ever, read, but I held onto because I liked them when I was younger, or because they're classics, or because I just feel like I should keep them even though I've outgrown them. But I managed, and so there's a little more space on my shelves . . . at least for now. I'm still going to try to convince my parents that I need another bookshelf later, even if I have to buy it myself.
• That brings us to roughly the 9th of May, and you know what I've mostly done since then? Absolutely nothing. Or, sort of. I did all the reading and writing and editing and movie-watching and such that I already mentioned, so that's something, but it's a different kind of something than what I'd been doing for the last nine months, and it's lovely. There's no deadlines. No places I have to be. No reason I can't spend the morning working on a story or sit outside with a book all afternoon. Of course, there's also nothing to keep me from wasting too much time on Pinterest, but oh well . . .
  
  
• The exception to the doing-of-nothing: last weekend, my family joined our Bible Study group from back in Virginia on a retreat at White Sulphur Springs. And, ok, there was a fair bit of doing-nothing there too. Technically I was supposed to help with meal prep, but there's a lot of other people who know a lot more about what they're doing in the kitchen than I do, so basically all I did was set stuff out on tables- and I wasn't even needed for that much, really. So I mostly ended up reading books in whatever comfortable spots I could find and chatting and playing games with friends and catching up on their lives.
• Oh, and for anyone who remembers that I was supposed to do the #Walk30DaysChallenge and is wondering how that's going, well, it kind of didn't work out as well as I hoped. Finals week kept me busy enough that I didn't have much time to go walking. Then I got home and it was cold and wet and I started thinking "Y'know, maybe I'll just wait and try this again in June." And then I realized that maybe that wasn't a great idea and put some effort into getting regular physical exercise the rest of the month. Thankfully, the weather warmed up a bit, which allowed me to go walking a fair number of days. Plus, I managed to come up with an alternate aerobics routine for when it's too rainy to walk, so that's something.

June Plans!

• First off: in case you can't guess from the fact that I'm posting this early or the fact that this happens basically every year: I'm going on hiatus for the next two weeks or so, during which I will have little, if any, internet access. You probably also know why I'm going on hiatus. I really don't know why I pretend you don't at this point, but I'm going to keep doing it anyway. I'd say not to go crazy while I'm gone, but I suspect that some of you won't even notice I'm not here.
• The exception to the hiatus: I will be participating on a pretty exciting cover reveal on June 1 through the magic of prescheduled posts. I'm not going to say what cover is being revealed; you'll just have to stop by and see. (I'm giving the screen a Significant Eyebrow Wiggle here. You can't see it, so you'll just have to imagine it.)
• During and after the hiatus, I hope to do quite a lot of reading and editing/writing. Usually I'm pretty productive during the hiatus; I generally average a book every two days, and I can often block out an hour or two solid for writing purposes. Hopefully that trend continues. And even after the hiatus, I shouldn't be super busy, so maybe I can keep up the pace?
• One thing I'm super excited for: the announcement of the fairytale for the next Five Something Somethings contest! This contest, run by Anne Elisabeth Stengl and Rooglewood Press, offers the challenge to retell a fairytale in a 20K word novella. It was canceled last year, much to my disappointment, and this is going to be the last year it's going to happen. The fairytale theme and the title of the book will be released on June 1, which means that it'll be time for me to start brainstorming so I can write my novella for July's Camp NaNoWriMo.
• Outside of reading and writing, I hope to keep up with the whole regular-exercise thing. We'll see how it goes; I have rather limited options for where I can walk right now, and I'm getting bored of my main route (which also happens to be the best route for walking in the area).
• There's also some stuff going on in mid-June that will keep me rather busy and might cause another brief hiatus from blogging (though not from the internet as a whole). However, I'm not sure what I can say about it right now, so . . .. yeah. Details will come when they can come.

How was your May? Any fun plans for June? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)  

Winter 2016-2017 Reads

Hello, everyone! It's the last day of my semester . . . and also the day of my last and hardest exam in any class. (If you're reading this before noon: prayers would be very appreciated, thanks.) But we're not here to talk about that- we're here to talk about the new season of books that is coming upon us! True, winter won't come 'round for another five days- but on campus, there's snow enough for January. So, let's get to it!

Winter 2016-2017 Reads

1. Fallen Star by Anne Elisabeth Stengl (December 16).
A new release from Anne Elisabeth Stengl is always exciting, whether it's a full novel or, as in the case of Fallen Star, a novella/short story. And apparently this story focuses on Beana- though she'll likely be going by another name here, which should be fun. I'm curious whether this will be before or after Veiled Rose and Moonblood. I'm hoping before, so we'll get to learn about her past . . . but after will be interesting as well. Certain sources have also suggested that it's going to be free on Amazon today, though as of the writing of this post, I'm not 100% certain of that.

2. Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth (January 17).
Ok, so I'm not sure what my thoughts are on Veronica Roth at this point. I wasn't a fan of Allegiant, but I liked the rest of the Divergent series (well, mostly the first book, but the second wasn't terrible), and I enjoy her writing style. And the concept sounds like it has potential, so I'll give this a try if I can. 

3. Heartstone by Elle Katharine White (January 17). 
I heard about this one from Cait Grace's 2017 Reads List, and I'm not sure what to think. On one hand- Pride and Prejudice and dragons are both awesome on their own, so putting them together should be magnificently spectacular, right? On the other hand, with great potential for awesome comes equally great potential for failure, and I can think of several ways this could fall flat. We'll just have to wait and see what happens . . . 

4. King's Blood by Jill Williamson (January 31).
I finally read King's Folly last spring, and enjoyed it enough that I'm looking forward to King's Blood. If Blood follows the same tendencies as Folly, this won't be a book for under-sixteen-year-olds, but it should still be pretty epic, and will hopefully feature just as much or more of the mystery and political intrigue of the first.

5. Wires and Nerve by Marissa Meyer (January 31).
Wires and Nerve marks the second time that an author whose books I love has released a new story in graphic novel, rather than standard novel, format- good thing I'm already interested in the style, or else I might be worried. I think Wires and Nerve should be fun, even if Iko isn't my favorite of the TLC crew. (Anyone else really want more stories about Thorne and Cress and their adventures? Anyone? Just me? Ok.) I'm definitely looking forward to reading it, graphic novel or no. 

6. Long May She Reign by Rhiannon Thomas (February 21). 
Ok, can we all take a minute to appreciate the astounding amount of awesomeness that this book promises? To start off, we have a scientist protagonist (yay!). Second, it's fantasy- always awesome, and when you mix science and fantasy you quite often end up with steampunk. Third, political intrigue. Have I mentioned how much I love political intrigue? It's so exciting! Fourth and finally- it's a murder mystery, and if there's one thing that I love more than fantasy-with-political-intrigue, it's a good, solid fantasy-mystery. And if Long May She Reign can deliver all that, well- it's going to be one amazing book.

 

7. Saturdays at Sea by Jessica Day George (February 21). 
Confession time: I still haven't read Fridays With the Wizard, and my memory's a bit foggy on the contents of the first three books, which means I'll either need to reread those before I read Fridays and Saturdays, or else I'll have to get my sister to remind me of the important bits, depending how much time I have. But Saturdays sounds like it'll be fun, and it's not often that you get a high-seas fantasy adventure. And, of course, there's griffons. Griffons make everything better.

What books are you looking forward to this winter? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)

Fall 2016 Reads

Hello, everyone! Fall is upon us (well, unless you live in the southern hemisphere, in which case, pretend I said spring or something like that). And, as always, that means it's time for a new set of books . . . though, sadly, there aren't a ton of new releases this fall that I'm excited about. But, since I'm still working on the Wheel of Time series- at least in theory- as well as reading a bunch of other new-to-me books that everyone else probably read ages ago, it works out. Not a ton doesn't mean none, though, so let's take a look at the to-be-read list.

Fall 2016 Reads!

1. The Forgetting by Sharon Cameron (September 13)

I actually just discovered this book on Goodreads today, and I'm not quite sure what I think about it, but it sounds pretty cool. I'm hoping that it doesn't turn out to be another cliche dystopian-type thing, which it also sounds like it might be, but it gets good reviews, so . . . I'll give it a try, if I get the chance.

 

2. The Creeping Shadow by Jonathan Stroud (September 13).

I am slightly terrified regarding this book- I love the characters (Lockwood particularly) and I want to see more of them, but it's going to be so very tense and Lucy does act like a bit of an eejit on occasion, and yeah. Much worrying. Which means I'll probably procrastinate on this book for ages even if I can get it sooner than that. But I will read it . . . I hope.  

3. Like a River Glorious by Rae Carson (September 27).
This is the second book in Rae Carson's Gold-Rush-era historical fantasy, and I'm pretty excited for it. I love that this series is set in an era so often overlooked by fantasy writers, and while there's not a strong amount of fantasy in it, the touch is just enough to make it more than just an ordinary historical fiction novel (which, to be honest, there's a good chance I'd ignore unless someone recommended it to me). I like the characters as well (most of them, anyway), and look forward to rejoining them. (Also, you know what else is glorious besides whatever river the title refers to? This cover. So pretty.)

4. The Secret Horses of Briar Hill by Megan Shepherd (October 11).
This book sounds rather odd in some ways, but interesting as well. I've a suspicion it'll be sad, but on the other hand, one of the reviews said it's like The Chronicles of Narnia meets The Secret Garden, and I love both of those books, so . . . we'll see. In any case, it should be something out of the norm for me.

5. Heartless by Marissa Meyer (November 8).
I'm not quite sure what to expect from Heartless- on one hand, it's by Marissa Meyer, and I love The Lunar Chronicles by that author, and a Wonderland retelling should be pretty cool. On the other hand, it's a Wonderland retelling and Wonderland is weird. Don't get me wrong; I like them. I'm just not sure how Marissa will handle the weird and it could be very hit-or-miss. Oh well- I'm looking forward to finding out all the same.

What books are you looking forward to this fall? Please tell me in the comments!

Thanks for reading!

-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)

Defying SBS

We've all been there, right? We discover the first book in a trilogy or longer series, devour it, fall in love with the characters, world, and/or everything else about it, then rush to the library or bookstore to see if there's more. There is, and we grab the second book, eager for more amazingness . . . but what's this? The plot's stalling, meandering, or just isn't there? Characters spend more time angsting than anything else, make ridiculously stupid decisions, or lose half their development from book one? The requisite love triangle is played up for all it's worth? Everything just seems to be filler so the author can get to the good stuff in book three? The diagnose is obvious: the story's been hit with a serious (or series-ous . . . no? I'll stop now, sorry) case of Second Book Syndrome (SBS for short). It's terrifyingly common- so much so that it's easy to outright expect that the second book will be disappointing. A lot of very popular series (The Inheritance Cyle, The Hunger Games, Divergent, The Selection, the list goes on . . .) fall prey to it- storms, even Mistborn falls prey to it in some respects. (By which I mean that certain characters overdosed on the angst, particularly the romantic angst.)

But some books don't. Some books defy Second Book Syndrome. And those are the books I'm talking about today.

1. The Errant King by Wayne Thomas Batson. Not only does The Errant King defy SBS, but I actually like it better than The Sword of the Stars. Part of that may be because it’s less of a “direct sequel” than some books; after all, it takes place twenty years after the first in the series and focuses on an entirely new main character. That alone doesn’t leave many openings for SBS. But reappearing characters are as awesome as they were before- or, in some cases, even better- and the conflicts are very real and very immediate.

2. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer. Scarlet introduces Wolf and Thorne, two of my favorite Lunar Chronicles characters, so let’s face it: SBS never had a chance in this book. But besides that, there’s no character regress, no characters being idiots in order to move the plot along, and the scope and impact of the story grows in leaps and bounds.

3. North! Or Be Eaten! by Andrew Peterson. I almost didn’t include this one, since it is actually my least favorite in the series (even though it contains one of my all-time favorite scenes), but upon further thought, I realized that the reasons I don’t like it have nothing to do with SBS and everything to do with defying SBS. Characters make mistakes, heartbreaking ones, but it’s not because they’ve regressed from the first book. It’s because that growth is continuing and sometimes character growth hurts- just as it does in real life.

4. The King’s Scrolls by Jaye L. Knight. We’ve already established that it’s rare for a second book to be better than a first book. What’s even is for a second book to make me fall in love with a series that I previously hadn’t been crazy for- but The King’s Scrolls did exactly that. (The introduction of dragons helped- but what I enjoyed even more was the increased focus on Kyrin’s family, particularly Marcus and Liam.)

5. Words of Radiance (Brandon Sanderson). I’m not sure if this one quite counts since it's technically in a ten-book series rather than a trilogy or other shorter series . . . but I’m counting it anyway because Words of Radiance doesn’t just defy Second Book Syndrome; it assassinates SBS with a single swipe of its Shardblade and dances on the grave of its vanquished foe. Nothing here is just filler; there’s no pointless angst (angst, yes; pointless, no) or awkward maneuvering-characters-into-position. The book takes what was established in Way of Kings, builds on it, and brings it up to eleven. (And if the second book’s that good . . . what can the third hold?)

What are some of your favorite SBS-defying books? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)  

Random Fridays: Fall 2015 Releases

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Hello, everyone! I feel like it's been a long time since I've done a Random Friday- mostly because I've either been busy (moving and WSS do that to you- for anyone who's wondering, we're in our new house and I hope to make a post about it sometime in this coming week) or I've had nothing to say about the topic. This week's theme, however, reminded me that a new season is rapidly approaching- one of the best seasons of the year for new books! So, without further ado, I give you: Fall 2015 Releases!

 1. Queen of Shadows (September 1)
Ok, so, I'm not super excited for this one . . . I've never been as big a ToG fan as some people I know are. However, I do want to see what happens next, mostly for the sake of Dorian and Chaol. Oh, and Aspen. I like him too . . . and the last book ended in a kind-of-cliffhanger, so, yeah. I want to read this one.

2. The Shepherd's Crown (September 10)

The last Discworld book- I only just discovered the series this year, and I'm still sad. I am glad it's Tiffany Aching, though- I like Tiffany (though not as much as Vimes- City Watch books are the best!) and as I've already read all the previous Tiffany Aching books, I can read this one as soon as I get my hands on it. I'm a little nervous for what it'll hold, but I'm sure it'll be awesome- if only Goodreads had a little more information!  

3. Ash and Bramble (September 15)

 I'm almost always a fan of Cinderella retellings, and this one sounds pretty cool and unique. It also sounds a bit darker than most of the retellings I've tried, but that's fine. I don't think it'll be super-dark or anything. Also, it sounds like it might be set in a world that runs on story-rules, if that makes sense, and that's my niche/obsession this year. (The one thing I don't like is the cover . . . it's just no.)

 4. Walk on Earth a Stranger (September 22)

Historical fiction-fantasy! In a non-medieval setting! Seriously, I love medieval fantasy, whether it's in this world or another, but it's nice to see different time periods. This one is set during the Gold Rush, which should be pretty cool, and it's by the author of Girl of Fire and Thorns, a trilogy I really enjoyed, so I expect it to be good.

5. Beastly Bones (September 22)

JACKABY. YES. I need more Jackaby. And Abigail, of course, Charlie, and mysteries that are actually mysteries but are also fantasy. AND IT'S STILL A MONTH AWAY HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO WAIT? And I don't even know if my library will have it . . . WHAT WILL I DO IF MY LIBRARY DOESN'T HAVE IT? 

Yeah. I really want to read this book, if you can't tell. As you've probably noticed, I don't use all-caps lightly. 

6. Shadows of Self (October 6)

And another book that promises to be a proper fantasy-mystery: Shadows of Self. I can be slightly calmer about this one, though, mostly because I knew I'd have to wait for it. Also, I got sneak peeks and other Sanderson books to ease some of the waiting . . . but I still want to see what Wax, Wayne, and Marasi are up to now. I'm certain that whatever it is, it'll be epic and mind-blowing and amazing.

7. Winter (November 10)

FINALLY. After a year and a half's waiting, Winter is coming out! I read the sample chapters and they sound awesome, and I absolutely cannot wait for it to come out. Or to see more of Winter and Jacin, because they're already my favorite LC couple, and I want to see if they hold that position. And I want to see how in the world Cinder and company are ever going to defeat Levana, because at the moment, I'm not sure how that's even going to be possible. And yeah. Why can't this book come out now? (On a side note, my sister and I were speculating on how Levana is going to die, and if Marissa decides to follow the original fairytale, I will be seriously creeped out and potentially kind of disappointed in certain characters. I look forward to seeing how that works out.)

 

Anyway. There's my list! I find it interesting that all the books I'm most looking forward to are coming out later in the year . . . and also that I'm calmer about books I've been waiting longer for. My brain is strange sometimes. Either that or my excitement has grown past the squealing, all-caps, losing-my-grammar point. I think I shall go with both.

 

What new books are you looking forward to this fall? Please tell me in the comments!

Thanks for reading!

 -Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)  

Random Fridays: Top OTPS

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Hey'a, everyone! Quick update for anyone curious: I did win Camp NaNoWriMo- just in time, as my desire to read all the new books I've been getting from the library was starting to overwhelm my motivation to write- and have spent most of the time since reading, working on school and driver's ed (almost done! with both!), and attempting to get back into the flow of editing Between Two Worlds. Anyway, today is another Random Friday, this time with the theme of top ten (or however many) OTPs. For those of you who don't speak fandom, "OTP" means "One True Pairing", and it refers to a fictional who you or another fan support above all other couples involving one of the involved characters. (Conflicting OTPs can often lead to heated arguments, but that's a discussion for another day . . . hopefully, anyway!) Conveniently, my OTPs generally end up being canon, so this list is going to be more like my favorite fictional couples.

1. Aethelbald and Una (Tales of Goldstone Wood). Probably my favorite literary couple in the world, the Prince of Farthestshore and the Princess of Parumvir are absolutely wonderful together. Aethelbalds's constant, persistent, sacrificial love and Una's gradual realization of just how deep that love is lead to some of the most beautiful scenes I've ever read. (I'm tearing up just thinking about them!)
2. Faramir and Eowyn (The Lord of the Rings). Aragorn and Arwen may get all the attention in the movie, and Beren and Luthien may be Tolkien's great love story, but Faramir and Eowyn hold first place in my heart among the couples of Middle Earth. I love the way they give each other what they've each been longing for. Faramir gives Eowyn the honor and respect she's searched for, while at the same time showing her that there's more for her life than what she's imagined. And Eowyn, in turn, gives Faramir the love and acceptance he's been lacking from his family.
3. Bard Eanrin and Dame Imraldera (Tales of Goldstone Wood). What Goldstone Wood fan doesn't love Eanrin and Imraldera? I love the way they interact, teasing each other and pretending not to have feelings for one another . . . even though we all know they do! Of course, that just makes the occasional tender scene even sweeter, and it means I can look forward to the day they eventually admit that they love each other (and have it actually be a success, not an ill-timed disaster).
4. Howl Pendragon and Sophie Hatter (Howl's Moving Castle). Howl and Sophie are absolutely hilarious together. I love the way they play off each other, arguing and yet not really mad at each other. The way their relationship develops from dislike and indifference to true love is wonderful. I also love how each brings out the best in the other, making both better people. And, of course, they have one of my favorite romantic lines ever: "I think we ought to live happily ever after."
5. Achan and Vrell (Blood of Kings trilogy). I like how Achan and Vrell start off as friends before moving into romance territory, and their teasing each other makes me smile. Admittedly, I did get rather annoyed with them while waiting for them to get their respective acts together- but as I've mentioned before, that just makes it all the more sweet when they finally stop being stubborn and officially get together.
6. Elend and Vin (Mistborn trilogy). I could list a lot of things I love about these two: their willingness to sacrifice for one another, always putting the other first, their determination, the way they each drive the other to grow and become better, the way they balance each other out so well. They're each perfect for each other, fitting together like two parts of a puzzle, and working together, trusting one another even when everything seems crazy.
7. Walter and Ashley (Dragons in Our Midst and sequel series). There are other couples in these series who get much more attention than Walter and Ashley, but the jokester and the genius are and always will be my favorite. Like a lot of the couples on this list, they seemed an unlikely pair at first- but by the midpoint of Oracles of Fire (maybe sooner), there really is no doubt. Their love, courage, and faithfulness are inspiring- and their interactions are both funny and sweet.
8. Jacin and Winter (The Lunar Chronicles). Ok, so we've seen less of this couple than any other LC pair- but I know Jacin, and I read the sample chapters of Winter, and ohhhhh they're so sweet and protective and adorable and loyal and just perfect together. 

And I am going to stop the list there, even though it's not top ten, mostly because I've listed the all the couples I get the most excited about. Who are your top OTPs? Please tell me in the comments, or feel free to make a Random Fridays post of your own!
Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade) 

Top Ten Tuesdays: Books/Series I Read in 2014

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Book-wise, 2014 was a really awesome year. I discovered new series to love, branched out into a genre I usually wouldn't consider, and added Brandon Sanderson to my top three favorite authors. My reading adventures took me from the Shattered Plains to Middle Earth, from the Gallagher Academy to Adarlan, from Goldstone Wood to Newcago, and so many other places. I met new character-friends and revisited old ones. With all that, choosing my Top Ten Books- or even Top Ten Series- of 2014 will be difficult, but I'm going to try my best. (Though . . . I may go a few over just ten.)

1. Golden Daughter by Anne Elisabeth Stengl.

This book was insanely amazing. There is one Tale that I like better than it, and that one is Heartless. I stayed up until almost midnight on a school night reading it, and I never do that. Never. Except, obviously, for this book. If you want to hear me obsess over it more, you can read my review.

2. The Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson
The Mistborn trilogy was mind-blowing. I'd be reading them, and I'd be like "Ok, this is really cool" one minute, and then the next I'd be like "Oh my pumpernickel what just HAPPENED?" I saw next to nothing coming- and yet I'd think about it and realize that the clues were there; I'd just missed or misinterpreted them.

3. The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson
Like Mistborn, The Stormlight Archive is seriously mind-blowing. The worldbuilding, the twisted and tangled plots and backstories, the characters- it's all seriously incredible and definitely deserving of the title "epic". Also, Words of Radiance evoked the largest emotional reaction of any book I've ever read. I am not exaggerating. 

4. Shadow Hand by Anne Elisabeth Stengl
This wasn't my favorite of the Tales of Goldstone Wood, but it was still awesome. It's hard to say a lot without giving out spoilers, but  . . . Time is a very interesting thing. Also, I never thought I could like Foxbrush as much as I did in this book.

5. The Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner
This series isn't quite like anything I've ever read, which is part of what makes it so amazing. I love the characters, especially Eugenides. Also, the author has a way of giving you just enough information that you think you know what's going on and then springing a twist on you with that one piece of information that you didn't know. My favorite in the series was The King of Attolia, but they're all awesome.

6. Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
I've read a lot of books about dragons, but none portray these magnificent (if sadly fictional) beings in quite the same way Seraphina does. Rachel Hartman takes traditional dragonic features, gives them little- but powerful- twists, and then adds in new elements to create a very unique take on dragons, which I loved. I also liked the mystery in the story; it was very well done.

7. Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
Superheroes gone bad? Sounds awesome- but that's only the start. Add in amazing characters- Cody and David in particular- a dystopian city of steel, and Brandon Sanderson's insane plotting skills and you get this amazing book. If you like action or superhero stories (or even if you don't), you should definitely read this book.

8. Cress by Marissa Meyer
These books just keep getting better! Cress is definitely my favorite Lunar Chronicles heroine- maybe because she's so much like me. I loved just about all of this, particularly the ending- no spoilers, but it was beautiful. Except for the cliffhanger, which was . . . not so beautiful. But it was worth it. 

9. The Knight and Rogue series by Hilari Bell
A good fantasy-mystery can be hard to find, which makes the Knight and Rogue books that much better. I heard about this series several times from a friend of mine, but never tried it until this year. Oh, am I glad I finally picked it up! Really getting into the first book took a chapter or two, but once I'd picked up a few things about the characters and setting, I really enjoyed it, and the next two books are awesome.

10. The Word Changers by Ashlee Willis
Bookish girl gets stuck inside a book? It sounded like it would be right up my alley, and it was! I especially loved the idea of characters in books having lives of their own (and the explanation of why, in some books, you're always discovering details that you didn't remember before), and of what might happen if they rebelled
against their Author.


11. The Hollow Kingdom trilogy by Clare B. Dunkle
This trilogy reminds me of Howl's Moving Castle in some ways. It's lighthearted, humorous fantasy with just the right twist of unexpected romance. The characters were great, particularly Marak, and I liked the somewhat unusual take on goblins and elves and their rivalry.

12. Five Glass Slippers by Elisabeth Brown, Emma Clifton, Rachel Heffington, Stephanie Ricker, and Clare Diane Thompson
Five unique Cinderella retellings in one book? What's not to like? Each of the five stories is awesome in its own way. My favorite is "The Windy Side of Care"- I love the dialogue, the characters' plotting, and the twist of humor.

Honorable mentions go to the Girl of Fire and Thorns series and the Throne of Glass series, both of which are also awesome but have some romantic stuff that's borderline on what I'm comfortable with. (I had to skip one scene in particular in the second Throne of Glass book.) What about you? What were your favorite books of 2014? Please tell me in the comments, or feel free to make your own Top Ten Tuesdays post!

Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)  

Random Fridays: Winter 2014/2015 Reads

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NaNoWriMo is over, and that means we're back to the regular schedule of posting: Random Fridays, Top Ten Tuesdays, and whatever other posts I happen to come up with. Today's Random Fridays theme is Winter 2014/2015 Reads. Since I have a lot of books I want to read in the next few months, I'm going to stick with highlighting the new releases coming out this winter (and one that releases in late fall but I know I won't actually read until winter).

---------

1. The War of Swords by D. Barkley Briggs

It's here! Here! Already! The last book in the Legends of Karac Tor series! I guessed that it would take a lot longer for The War of Swords to come out, but it's here! And I'll finally get answers! (I'm still wondering about Cruedwyn Creed, thank you very much. And Gabe as well, but mostly Cruedwyn because I didn't read a word of him in The Ravaged Realm and I need answers.)

2. Fairest by Marissa Meyer

I want Winter. I really do. But as I have to wait for that, I will content myself with Fairest. I'm sure it'll be good- all the other Lunar Chronicles are- and it'll be interesting to read Levana's story. 

3. Firefight by Brandon Sanderson

Yes, yes, yes, yes. I need this book- now, preferably, but I can live until January when it actually comes out. Steelheart was awesome (is there such a thing as a non-awesome Sanderson book?), and the ending . . . I have to find out what happens, particularly with Megan.

4. Dearest by Alethea Kontis

I was more than a little worried for a while that Dearest wouldn't be released at all- but, yay, it's coming in February! I'm definitely excited to read it. Alethia Kontis's fairy tale retellings have been really good so far, and I've never seen a remake of "The Seven Swans" before.

Short list, I know, but this and the already-released books I want to read will be plenty to keep me busy. What are you hoping to read this winter? Please tell me in the comments, or feel free to make your own Random Fridays post! 

Thanks for reading!

-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)

Want to join in the Random Fridays fun? Feel free to make a post of your own on the week's topic! Please just be sure to use the Random Fridays banner, link back to Awkwordly Emma, and post the link to your post on the Awkwordly Emma blog so other participants can check out your post. For a list of future Random Friday topics, click here.