Hello, friends! As you read this, I have made it through my first two weeks of full-time work! But this post is not about that! Instead, is about something much more relaxing: winter anytime reads! This is the sequel to Summer Anytime Reads (which I did a few years ago) and Autumnal Anytime Reads (which I did three months ago), and it was much easier to write than either of them. There are a lot of books out there with a wintery vibe, even when you eliminate the Christmas ones. (And there's going to be quite a few more once the next few Arista Challenges happen!) ANYWAY. These books range from stories perfect for curling up with by a nice fire to books that reflect and redeem the darkness and coldness of these months, and they actually include some of my favorite books in the world . . . though, on a moment's reflection, that could be said for both of the previous posts in the series too. Apparently, the books I love best span all seasons. So, without further ado, let's go!

 

Winter Anytime Reads

1. Sabriel by Garth Nix. I mean, it takes place largely in winter, and the major magic used in the book has a tendency to produce frost. So there's that. But, as a book very concerned with death and a season of dying and trying not to die, it's a thematically wintery book too. And it has the sense of rising a challenge and triumphing over death that you really need in this season. Also, it has a cat and one of the better father-daughter relationships in fiction (even if a lot of that relationship is shown in the way Sabriel thinks of and acts towards her father and how he acts towards her), both of which are much appreciated in this very dreary time of year.
   
2. If you liked Sabriel, try: The rest of the Abhorsen series (for more of everything you loved in Sabriel — the series as a whole sits on the border between winter and spring reads) or Hexwood (for fantasy with an . . . unusual take on usual tropes, we'll say).
3. Jackaby by William Ritter. You can interpret this as either the whole series or just the first book and it'll be true. It starts in winter, and it might be winter again by the time the series ends — I don't recall for sure — but while Jackaby is an excellent read any time of year, it's especially delicious in this particular season. It starts off with a murder mystery (excellent for reading under blankets and by fires), and it's quick and enthralling and will make you forget how cold it is.
   If you liked Jackaby, try: The Invisible Library (for fantasy mystery featuring lots of influence of legends and fantastic lore, among other stories) or Seraphina (also for more fantasy mystery, albeit with more dragons and fewer other fantasy beings).
4. Illusionarium by Heather Dixon. All of Heather Dixon's books are actually excellent winter reads, but Illusionarium is the only one I don't associate with Christmas more than winter in general. Actually, I'd call Illusionarium a February sort of book. Steampunk is often a little dark, and the worlds in which this particular story takes place have been dark and cold and dying for a very long time, and it's ripe for renewal and rebirth. And the ending of the story is full of exactly the kind of hopefulness and warmth-despite-chill that you need during the coldest month of the year.
   If you liked Illusionarium, try: Entwined and The Enchanted Sonata (for more of Heather Dixon's delightful storytelling style and happy, hopeful endings), or Halayda (for steampunk stories of renewal).
5. Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo. Arguably the darkest book or series on this list, I don't think this should be much of a surprise. Again, the first book is wintery in setting, but both books are winter-appropriate in the darkness and intensity of the stories they tell. Also, I feel like the mixture of humor and darkness and snarky levity is very fitting for these months.
   If you liked Six of Crows, try: Mistborn (for fantasy heists and non-standard fantasy settings) or the Shadow and Bone trilogy (for more of Bardugo's writing and world — this is arguably more wintery than Six of Crows, but I like Crows better).
6. Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George. It wouldn't be a winter reads list without a retelling of "East of the Sun, West of the Moon." Jessica Day George's take on the tale is my favorite — it's short and sweet and satisfying, and I very much love the Lass's relationship with Hans Peter, her oldest brother. I also love the why the author gave for the whole situation, arguably the most important part of any fairytale retelling.
   If you liked Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, try: East by Edith Pattou (for another great retelling of "East of the Sun, West of the Moon") or Beauty by Robin McKinley (for a wintery Beauty and the Beast retelling).

What are your favorite wintery reads? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!

My Favorite Twelve Dancing Princesses Retelling (One Week Until THE MIDNIGHT SHOW!)

Hello, everyone! There's just a week and a day left before The Midnight Show releases into the world, and only a few days before the Tattered Slippers tour starts! Who else is excited besides me? On that topic, I have a bonus announcement that I think is really cool. Do you like signed books? Do you like signed books that don't cost extra money and don't require you to drive hours to crowded places in order to meet the author? If so, you'll be happy to know that if you buy a physical copy of The Midnight Show on release weekend (the 29th through the 31st) and send me some kind of proof of purchase, I'll mail you a signed bookplate to go in the book. Boom! You now have a signed book. (Please note — I'm still figuring out if I can do this outside the US or not, mostly because I'm getting mixed messages about whether or not I can actually send mail to people outside the US yet, because COVID. If you live outside the US and know the answer to "Can someone in the United States send mail to your country and have it arrive before 2025," feel free to let me know!)

Anyway. Moving on to the actual post. As y'all probably are aware at this point, the Twelve Dancing Princesses is one of my favorite fairytales ever, both to retell myself and to read retellings of. And, to celebrate the upcoming release tour (and my new book), I thought I'd spotlight some of my favorite currently-published retellings in today's post. Some of these you may be pretty familiar with already — I talk about them a lot — but others are more low-key.

Favorite Twelve Dancing Princesses Retellings!

1. Entwined by Heather Dixon. This should surprise absolutely no one who's been following me for a while; Entwined is both my favorite 12DP retelling and one of my favorite fairy tale retellings in general. A focus on familial relationships, multiple sweet romances, a gorgeous hidden underworld, a dark tale woven through with light humor, a deliciously creepy villain with indisputable style — I've said this all before; it's everything I could want in a Twelve Dancing Princesses story. One thing I particularly like is that, despite the fact that this has probably the most romance out of any of the books on this list, it's one of the two in which it's most evident that it's familial love, not romantic love, that saves the day.
2. A Branch of Silver, a Branch of Gold by Anne Elisabeth Stengl. This is a pretty loose retelling, but it's still wonderful and gorgeous. It's one of the darker books in this list, but at the same time, there's such a marvelous light to it (just as there is in all of the Goldstone Wood books). Again, the emphasis, in the end, comes out to sisterly love and loyalty — in fact, this is almost a nomance, there's so little actual romantic stuff in it. And the curse and its breaking are so dark and magnificent and mysterious — it's amazing. (Also: if you haven't read Goldstone Wood, you can still read this book! It's not part of the series, just the same world. There are things you'll recognize if you've read the stories, but none of the recognizances is essential to the story.)
3. The City Beyond the Glass by Suzannah Rowntree. I actually featured this book on another list very recently: my favorite historical fantasy books. Technically, in terms of how much I like them, this and the next book on the list are about equal . . . but I'm putting this one higher for allegorical significance and writing quality. The City Beyond the Glass takes the two themes most often hit on by 12DP retellings — desire for freedom and love of family — and spins them out to explore them to their fullest extent. The result is an excellent story with a main character willing to do anything for her sisters (whether or not they want her to do it) and a subtle (or possibly not-so-subtle, depending) allegory. Props also go to the Glass Doge, the story's villain, for being pretty dang creepy, even if he doesn't have the style of some of the other 12DP villains.
4. Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George. This is the classic 12DP retelling in my mind, mostly because it's the first one I read. The story may not have the dark beauty or pack the emotional or spiritual punch as some of the others do, but it and its sequels are still pretty high up on my favorite fairy tale retellings list. Again, we have the sisterly loyalty and protectiveness, and we also have Galen, who I still think is pretty cool. I also appreciate the fact that it's something pretty unassuming that is instrumental in saving the day in this story. (Also, it's one of the only 12DP retellings I've found that really capitalizes on the potential of the meeting between the male lead and the old woman on the road! So that's cool.)
5. Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Mariller. First of all: kudos to the author of this book for not going the route of pretty much everyone else and making the dancing pavilion either secretly or overtly horrible. I love the creepiness potential in the pavilion and the different ways people approach that creepiness, but it's nice to see something different, y'know? To have it be somewhere that the sisters want to go and choose to go and that isn't trying to trap and/or kill them. While there are definitely some things that I think could be better (by which I mean that Tatiana is kind of an idiot at times and Jenica has her turn holding the idiot ball as well), there's still a lot to enjoy in this story.

What's your favorite Twelve Dancing Princesses retelling? Are you excited about the Tattered Slippers release tour? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!

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)

Random Friday: Valentine's Day Book Covers

http://bookworm716.blogspot.com

Hey'a, everyone! Happy Valentine's Day! This week's theme is Book Covers Featuring Love or the Color Red, which I obviously paraphrased into 'Valentine's Day Book Covers' for the title of this post. This could be a bit of a tricky post, considering my usual taste in books, but I'll certainly try my best.

We'll start with the obvious: the Lunar Chronicles.

I just read Cress fairly recently, and loved it! It's definitely the best yet in the series, and Cress, Cinder, and Thorne are officially my favorite characters. Of course, I might be slightly biased, since Cress is somewhat similar to me in personality. Anyway, getting back to the book covers, I think Cress is also my favorite cover, though Scarlet is a close second.

Moving on . . .

I love this cover; it's probably my favorite of the Twelve Dancing Princesses trilogy. I also love Petunia's cloak. It's so pretty!

Look! I actually found a cover with a couple on it! I like how Dasha is looking all serious and regal, while Razo's just looking at her. It definitely shows their personalities!

And I'm out of covers that really fit the category. (Yes, I could possibly include Eldest because it's red, but 1)that book drives me crazy, and 2)I don't think it fits in a Valentine's Day post.) Oh well. Can you think of any covers I missed? What's your favorite of the covers I chose?

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.  

Knitting and NaNoWriMo

Hello, everyone! Happy Day-After-St.Patrick's Day! It's nice to think about spring coming soon- though I'll admit I was none too pleased when I woke up this morning to see snow on the ground! Hopefully the weather will start getting more springy very, very soon, because I want to be able to read and write outside in the sun, go biking, and wear short sleeves.

Most of my free time lately has been spent in knitting and reading. In addition to the projects I've already told you about, I've made a second pair of wristers, which I'm wearing now, and a pair of yoga socks. Yoga socks, if you didn't know, are socks that don't have heels or toes, so they're basically the equivalent of fingerless gloves for your feet, except that I typically wear them over normal socks. Go figure. Right now I'm working on a shawl for my sister. It's going well, and I'm almost a fifth of the way done. There's one row in the pattern that drives me nuts until I start making strange noises of aggravation, but otherwise, it's quite easy.

Book-wise, I've recently been reading the rest of Jessica Day George's books. For those of you who didn't know, Jessica Day George is the author of several remade fairy tales, including Princess of the Midnight Ball, one of my three favorite books by her, and one of the books that inspired my Camp NaNoWriMo novel last year. I also read The Fairest Beauty, the latest book by Melanie Dickerson. I very much enjoyed it, though The Merchant's Daughter is still my favorite Dickerson book.

Speaking of Camp NaNoWriMo (we were talking about it, briefly at least), this year it's in two months: April and July. I plan to do it with the official site this year, which is exciting. I'm thinking that I'll go for my usual goal of 50,000 words in April, and that I'll write the sequel to last year's Camp NaNoWriMo novel (which I've named Danger in the Tower). This year's novel will be called Monster in the Castle, and it's going to be a remake of "Beauty and the Beast" combined with "East of the Sun; West of the Moon". Here's the summary I wrote for the Camp NaNoWriMo site (WARNING: contains spoilers for Danger in the Tower):

King du Karel is dead. The once-missing girls have been returned to their families, except for Poppy, who travels with Ivy and Jacob Serlend in search of Ivy's family. All should be well, especially for Pansy (last name undecided). After all, not only has she been reunited with her father, but she's also learned to control the voices she hears. But Pansy's sisters resent her, and her father is in deep debt because of the money he spent searching for her. When a beast offers Pansy's father riches if one of his daughters will come live in a castle with him (the beast), Pansy feels that she has no choice but to volunteer. But she will discover that all is not as it seems at the beast's grand castle, and the beast himself might not be a villain, but a victim of the same beings that once held her captive.

Sounds cool, no? I'm very much looking forward to writing it, especially since Pansy is one of my favorite characters from Danger in the Tower. I can hardly wait to write a book that's (almost) all about her!

As for the July session, I'm not sure if I'll do it or not. If I do, it'll be with a lower wordcount goal, since I have several other plans for July as well. These include the possibility of a summer writing class and helping a friend with something. (Details to come later.) Possibilities for July's novel include a rewrite of My Father's Daughter, which I started almost a year ago and have yet to finish, or another novel which I haven't named yet, but which will involve aliens, people stabbing bad guys with knitting needles (and actually accomplishing something other than making the bad guy mad), and possibly superheros. I will confess that this novel might've possibly come from my desire to write something in which someone gets stabbed with a knitting needle. (And that desire came mostly from Jessica Day George. Thank you very much, Mrs. George.)

I haven't been doing much current writing, however. I have written one or two short stories, and I wrote a poem yesterday, but that's about all. Procrastination, unfortunately, seems to have mostly beaten me when it comes to writing. I'll have to make sure to send him packing in time for NaNoWriMo, though.

Well, that's about all. Thanks for stopping by!
Calo anor na ven!*
- Sarah

*May the sun shine upon your road!

Finally, a Post!

Wow. I haven't blogged for a long time. Sorry, everyone. I wish I could say I was busy, and sometimes I was, but mostly I was just a procrastinator. Sorry again. And anyone who still reads this, thank you very, very much.

I had a lot of fun over Christmas break. Grandpa came down to visit for the holiday, and Mommy made ladylocks. (Ladylocks are pastry tubes filled with cream and with powdered sugar on top. They're absolutely incredible.) Some of my favorite presents included the Legends of Karac Tor series, a Skillet cd, and a Middle Earth map poster. Shortly after Christmas, my friend and I went to see The Hobbit a second time. I almost think I liked it better the second time, since I could anticipate what was happening better. New Year's Eve was spent at our friends' house and was also a lot of fun.

New Year's Day was mostly spent in two activities: taking down the Christmas tree and matting and framing my Hobbit posters. In addition to the full-size poster I got for Christmas, I got four free posters the first time I went to see The Hobbit. They all look fairly similar in design to this:

That's actually one of the posters, which obviously shows Bilbo. The other three have Gandalf, Thorin, and Gollum on them. All four, plus my map poster, are now framed, matted, and hanging on the wall across from my bed. This meant I had to rearrange the items already hanging on that wall, but I definitely think I like my room better this way.

School is going fairly well. I'm not overly crazy about my history, and a few semi-recent tests have resulted in me uttering the phrase "I'm dead" more than once. Thankfully, the last two tests have gone somewhat better, and none of my other subjects cause me quite as much pain.

In other news, I've decided to start knitting. This is mostly because I wanted something to do while I listened to By Darkness Hid and To Darkness Fled, audiobooks written and recorded by Jill Williamson. They were originally recorded as podcasts, but you can get all of both books free on her site. I'm very much enjoying both the books and the knitting. So far I've made five pairs of wristers, and I'm working on a cowl. I have another cowl design that I want to try after I finish this one, so that will probably keep me busy for a while.

I haven't been writing much, though I have been doing plenty of editing. I've finished editing my NaNo Novel, and I'm finally done with the first round of edits in my Camp NaNo Novel. I'm planning to try to write more for the next week or two before I start the second round of editing on my Camp NaNo Novel (which is probably going to be edited more times than any novel or story I've written since I wrote Rosa). I have been reading quite a bit. One of my favorite books I've read recently is Princess of the Silver Woods. It's the third book in a trilogy by Jessica Day George, and the first book in the trilogy, Princess of the Midnight Ball, helped inspire my Camp NaNo Novel. I thoroughly recommend the trilogy, though I haven't read any of her other books yet. I'm also looking forward to reading The Fairest Beauty, the latest book by Melanie Dickerson, another author I'd definitely recommend if you like remade fairy tales.

Well, that's about all. Thank you very much for reading, despite my long absences. I hope that I'll do a better job of fighting off Procrastination in future. Thank you again!

Nai haryuvalyë melwa rë.*

- Sarah


*"May you have a lovely day."