Where to start in Urban Fantasy!

Urban fantasy is a type of fantasy that we are seeing more and more books categorized as. They are books that have magical or supernatural elements most of the time they take place in a contemporary setting. A great example of this would be the Dresden series by Jim Bucher. The series revolves around Harry Dresden. He advertises in the yellow pages as a Wizard and has an office. He is a private eye type character. Butcher set his series in Chicago and it is a fantastic place to set these stories. The series takes place in modern times and deals with magic, vampires, fairies, etc. It is my favorite type of fantasy and I am constantly on the lookout for new ones. If you are interested in diving into this genre here are some suggestions on where to start.

1. The Dresden series

As I mentioned above, I love the Dresden series by Jim Butcher. They are funny and fast paces and as the series goes on the books get so good. I would definitely recommend this series to anyone. Especially if you love the Harry Potter books this may be up your alley. If you are big into audio books or even looking to try them this is an awesome series to do in audio. This is actually how I started listening to audio books and all but one are narrated by James Marsden. He does such a fantastic job.

2. Written in Red

Written in Red is the first book in The Others series by Anne Bishop. The world building is amazing in this book. This book takes place in an alternate reality. The characters are well done and I like how she progresses through each book. The third book in the series was just released in March.

3. The Diabolical Miss Hyde

This book by Viola Carr is on my TBR. This book is about Dr. Jekyll's  daughter and how she is a crime scene investigator. I have seen this on a couple lists for Urban fantasy but it also could be under the steam punk genre. I cannot wait to see how this author takes my understanding of the original classic and makes it something new.

4. Tales from the Nightside

This is a very interesting idea by Simon R. Green. I really enjoyed the first book and the series is now complete. This series is about John Taylor who is a private investigator and can find missing things. He also can go between his home in our world and the Nightside. This is a pretty fun read.

5. Monster Hunter International

Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia is an adventure in a group of special agents trained to hunt the monsters of the world. This is another one that is good in audio book. There are several books in the series and are a lot of fun. 

Matilda by Roald Dahl

As a child I didn't read any of Roald Dahl books. I had seen some of the movies that were based on the books and they were a bit dark for me. This is the third Roald Dahl that I have read. I enjoyed this book very much. I thought it thoughtful and really got down to looking at the importance of people in our lives. It also looks at how important it is to believe in yourself and go after what you think is important. I love how Dahl looks at the world in his books and how he empowers kids. It is why I think his books stand the test of time. Kids still love them and are reading them. They are stories that are relatable no matter how old you are. 

Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer

           

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I really enjoyed this book. It is written as a journal entry and I think it was very different. It is a very strong opening to this trilogy and I am very interested to see where it goes. I also do like that the books were released so close together. While I am not reading them as they are coming out, if I had known about the series then I definitely would have been more inclined to read it. I usually wait for a chunk of books in a series to be out since I hate waiting a year in between books.

            This book really makes you think and how the narrator sees the world and comments on it is very interesting and well done. Vandermeer also was able to write very strong and compelling characters. I loved the use of memory as a way to learn more about our narrator and the connection we feel towards her. In this type of book it did not bother me that none of the characters had names, but where referred to by their role in the group. I think that added to the mystery and danger of the mission and was an interesting psychological feature to the book.

             Another thing I really enjoyed was his writing style. It was very easy to read and was fast paced. I never felt like this book lagged or was slow. It was a fast paced book and he unraveled just enough mystery that you really wanted to keep going so you could find out more.

             I would highly recommend this book if you are looking for something new. It was a delightful read. It also is pretty short which is great for the first book in a series. I know the other two are different and I actually look forward to see the other side of the world and exploring more of Vandermeer's work.

Review of Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz

Review of Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz

                When I started this book I actually didn’t know much about it. All I had really heard about it was that people really enjoyed it. The story starts in 1987, which was actually delightful. The author successful weaves an engaging and relevant story. I loved his characters and was very interested in what would happen to them. This book really makes you think and contemplate who you are and why you are who you are. What can you control and what things can’t you control. I loved his writing style as well. I actually went online and ordered another one of his books once I had finished this one because I need to read another one of his books. The topics Saenz deals with some very relevant topics that readers today can relate with. I think this is a very important book for  young adults to read. I think male and female readers would get a lot of out this book. If you are have a student in middle school I would recommend reading it first and see if your student is mature enough for this book, but every high school student should read this book.

As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes

Now I am biased. The Princess Bride is one of my favorite movies and I have read the book. On Twitter the first line in my bio is The Dread Pirate of Twitter. My Tumblr is actually titled The Dread Pirate of Tumblr. So I am already in love with the book and the movie. I actually preordered this book once I found out about it because I was so excited about it. Generally I struggle with non-fiction and thought when I read this it would take me a little while to get through it. I read this book in two days. It is not a very long book, about 245 pages, which I actually appreciated. This book was beautifully written. I loved the writing style and I how he told stories. What I also loved about this book was that throughout the whole book there are boxes with interviews from the actors, writer, director, ect. The blurbs relate to what he is discussing in the book. At first I wasn't sure how I felt about them, but I actually really liked the different perspectives and stories throughout. If you are a fan of the movie you have to read this book. It is full of heartfelt stories and perspectives of the movie

The Boy at the End of the World Review

The Boy at the End of the World by Greg van Eekhout This is not usually a book I would pick up on my own to read. I had to think about this book after I finished it because I wasn't really sure how I felt about the book. This book really stuck with me and I am still thinking about it after a week. It is a mix of The Matrix, Terminator, and The Wizard of Oz and that may seem like a really weird combination the book does have elements of those movies. It takes place after humans are no longer on Earth. Humans got to a point where they could not reproduce and survive in the world they had altered. So what they do is create several Arcs. In these arcs they have frozen people, animals, and plants that will be woken up when the Earth is habitable again. Something attacks the Arc Fisher is in and as the only survivor the robot in charge of the Arc selects a personality profile and awakens him. This book is about Fisher's journey to discover if he is the last human on the Earth or if there are others out there. This was a very fast paced book and kept a pretty steady momentum through the story. I also enjoyed the characters. As Fisher travels he meets different animals and the author paints a world in which nature has taken back the Earth. It was a very interesting look at what could happen if humans are not more concerned with the choices they are making. I think books like this are good for kids to read. It allows them to think about their actions big and small and how they do effect people.

How has social media changed my perspective on my reading?

I was thinking about this question earlier this week. As a kid my reading life was a very solitary hobby. I selected my books by going into the book store and seeing what caught my attention. I remember wandering around the Books-A-Million or the smaller Walden bookstore that were in the shopping plaza down the street. My mother would take us to the bookstore frequently and we would pick out books or just wander around and read a variety of books. I would select books from the kids section and when I got older I moved into classics. The fiction section was a bit too daunting for me and I loved reading classics so that is what I read. My book selection was looking at classics or buying books that were on sale. I had one friend that we would talk about books occasionally, but it was not a regular occurrence. I loved talking about books and stories in my English classes. Hearing other peoples thoughts and perspectives on the stories and how it affected people differently. I wanted to hear what people thought and how we saw it differently. So my reading before social media was very solitary. In the last few years my reading has become a more social activity. Once I started getting more into Goodreads, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram it allowed me to share my passion for books and follow others who are just as passionate. I can get book recommendations and reviews from people around the world. I can have discussion with people online all over the world about books we are reading or want to read. This has opened up the opportunity to stretch myself as a reader. I can explore different types of books and get ideas on where to start with new genres I want to try. Once there it was an obvious move to branch out to Book Tube videos. I am now on You Tube all the time watching a variety of Book Tubers who are reviewing and discussing books. This has made me even more aware of different books out there and what I might be interesting to check out. It also allows me to anticipate when books will come out. I am also more aware of new releases and what to pick up that people are talking about. Some Book Tubers also have groups on Goodreads that then discuss a specific book and you can be a part of an online book club. While I still struggle with finding people to meet with in person, I can find discussion and suggestions on different social media sites. I can get involved in live web chats and watch videos that allow me discover new authors and genres that I would otherwise not have known about. It also makes me more culturally aware of what and who I am reading. I think social media has made me a more active reader because I like to share my thoughts and see what other people are saying about specifics books and the book world in general. Podcasts are another great way to learn about books and interact with others on your thoughts and questions. I have discovered so many interesting books and book news from the wide variety of podcasts available to me. I also think that all of these avenues of exploration all us to feel more connected to each other as readers. Reading is becoming a more social hobby in which we can share our thoughts and feelings with each other. I am excited to see how our communities as readers changes and grows.

Reading Challenge

I have been spending a lot of time watching book tube videos. One of the topics that has come up a few times is the idea of doing reading challenges. I did not realize what a hot topic this was. I feel like approaching this topic negatively from either side is not a great approach. I was actually surprised how passionately people where for or against them. I have done the Goodreads reading challenge for a couple years now. In 2012 I didn't reach my goal of 50 books, I got to 28 books, but that did not bother me. In 2013 I challenged myself to read 50 books and I surpassed my goal and read 53 books. This year I challenged myself to read 52 books in the year. As of today (10/3/14) I have read 63 books. Over the last couple for years I have made reading more of a priority. I also know my number is higher for me because of the types of books I enjoy reading. I also have been reading more because I am a middle school Language Arts teacher. I need to be able to recommend books to my students and model that I am a reader. I use the 40 book challenge in my classroom that Donaylnn Miller writes about in her book The Book Whisperer. I think this is the book that really had me making time to read. I challenged my students to read 40 book in a school and I felt I had to model this and participate as well. Now there are a lot a of rules I use to help students achieve this. They don't have a page minimum, any book over 350 pages counts as two books, and they may read graphic novels. Also middle grades books tend to be shorter reads. So this is not an unobtainable goal for them. But we also celebrate the success they have. If they read 20 books that year I make them feel great about that because that is usually a lot more books then they typically read. This also started me on reading a variety of genres. Since I need to have book recommendations in a variety of genres this means I have to read widely. I do read a lot young adult and am working on including more genres to my TBR. I also do the challenge instead of giving them book lists. I have tried that in the past and students hate selecting a book off a list. This gives them the freedom to explore and discover what they like. Now while that has also broadened my own reading horizons, I also find I like the reading challenges throughout the year. This year for example I have a few challenges going on. I have my Goodreads challenge of 52 books, I do the 40 book challenge between August to June, and I have a 25 categories challenge. The last one I chose to do because I wanted to stretch myself as a reader. I don't find it stressful or feel under the gun to read a certain number of books. My average is about four books a month. I do average one a week. Sometimes it takes me two weeks to get through a book and sometimes I fly through a couple in a weekend. I also read graphic novels which don't take as long to read. So it does depend on what I want to read. It also depends on how much time I have during the week. Having the challenges are like goals for me. But it helps me stay focused on my reading as opposed to freaking myself out. Now I also do not make a goal of a number that I don't think is obtainable. So I don't see a problem if people want to participate in a reading challenge. I was starting to feel a bit bad and having some self doubts as I watched the growing number of Book Tubers telling me how stupid it is. But you know what if the challenges make me a more focused and motivated reader then so be it. I don't have a problem if you find them stressful and choose not to do them, that is what is right for you. But I am not going to feel bad or like less of a reader because I do enjoy them.

Book photo challenge day 3

So day 3 is our reading spot. I picked two places because it depends if I'm reading inside or outside! 

Book photo challenge day 2

Book photo challenge day 2:

Summer read. I have been looking forward to Skin Game by Jim Butcher for months! Since I am still reading it I am going to use it!! 

Shield of Winter

I just finished Nalini Singh's Shield of Winter. I had gotten an advance copy from firsttoread.com. I highly recommend this site if you want to try for early release books!  I really enjoyed this book. I did have some trouble understanding certain  elements of the story, but this is the first book i have read in the series. This is the 13th book and I can see the author uses reoccurring characters and has extensively built the world in which it takes place. I loved the characters and the struggles that they faced. This book takes place right after the fall of the Counsel and problems with the PsyNet. I really enjoyed Vasic and Ivy and their interactions together. I am very interested in going back and reading the other books in this series. I was concerned about jumping in this late in the series, but she does a good job with keeping new readers in the loop. I recommend this book for fans of Urban Fantasy!