Dark Moon Defender

by Sharon Shinn

Grade: Good
Story: Justin falls in love.

So. Now I have to write on all three books in a very interesting manner. Do you think I can? I don't.

--Justin is still my favourite character. I must admit, I'd had this hope that he might fall for Kirra. But the fascinating this about this series, I'm finding, is how unique and real the characters seem. At one point, Senneth and Kirra are talking about the unexpectedness of who Justin decided to fall in love with and how it was actually very suitable, and I realized that they were quite right. All of these characters' romances were exactly suitable to their characters, even if unexpected.

--Sometimes I wish romances were never written for the main characters. The problem is that main character is in LOVE. They're not going to be reasonable, and they're going to be all mushy and stuff. It can be delightful to see it or experience it (I presume), but I don't know if you really would want to be in someone else's head when they're experiencing it. They tend to be a little too single minded and willing to be all ... squishy.
Or it could be written for the main character, but less from their POV, because there certainly are books where the main character falls in love and I enjoy it quite a lot.

--On her website, Shinn says that originally the book had a cover where Justin looked exactly like Josh Holloway. That would have been TERRIBLE. I would have never liked Justin if I thought he looked like Josh Holloway. Nothing against Josh Holloway, though. I admit he is very handsome, and Sawyer ended up being one of my favourite characters on LOST. But--but--not in books! Books are different than movies. I can like Josh Holloway characters in movies, but not ever in books, I don't think.
Now, mind you, the present cover isn't great either. There's still a faint Josh Holloway resemblance. But it's bearable.

--There's a possibility I might want to own this series. It's not one I'd recommend to most people (although you can read it, Christina, if you're reading this). There's too much "content" for one thing. But I find that the characters stick in my brain. It would be sad to not ever see them again. I'll have to read the last book before I decide for sure.

See the first books: Mystic and Rider and The Thirteenth House, and the next books: Reader and Raelynx and Fortune and Fate.

The Thirteenth House

by Sharon Shinn

Grade: Good
Story: Kirra makes a STUPID MISTAKE. Plus there's politics and stuff.

Did I mention the STUPID MISTAKE??? Grrrrr. She drove me rather crazy in this one. But the fact that she made a good decision in the end made it all better, and I was willing to continue reading the series. Plus all the other characters are still awesome. So it's still "Good", because it's in this series. But it was rather hard to get through at times because of what Kirra was doing. (Although obviously not too hard, as I read it in a day.)

See the first book: Mystic and Rider, and the next books: Dark Moon Defender, Reader and Raelynx, and Fortune and Fate.

Mystic and Rider

by Sharon Shinn

Grade: Good
Story: Six companions are travelling about on a mission for the king. They have adventures and are generally awesome.

Well. I liked this loads better than I expected. I really think having six main characters can make all the difference to me.

Anyway. I made a bad mistake. I finished three of these books before I had time to write up on this one. I find it very difficult to write or think about previous books in a series when I've just finished reading the latest one. (Which is why I still haven't properly read the first three books in the Harry Potter series, despite considering myself a major HP fan.)

But a few remembered thoughts about this one:
--The romance wasn't my favourite kind of romance, but I could stand it very well. Probably because of the six main characters thing.
--I decided my favourite of the six was Justin (maybe because of his hair colour? And I love the sort of motherly relationship Senneth has with him. But that's mostly for the later books, except for the part where Tayse was captured (which was sweet--awwwww).). Then Cammon (who's just awesome). Then Kirra. Then Senneth (who grew on me more and more, so that by the last book I quite loved her. I didn't love her in this book.). I don't know why I didn't like Donnal very much. I SHOULD have, because he was awesome too.

... and I don't have any more remembered thoughts. Boy, am I bad at this right now. Hopefully by the time I get to the latest book in this series that I've read, I'll actually have some grasp again on how to write.

See the sequels: The Thirteenth House, Dark Moon Defender, Reader and Raelynx, and Fortune and Fate.

The Egypt Game

by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Grade: All right

I think I would have liked it if I were younger. Probably quite a lot. But it's not one of those children's books that is so wonderfully awesome that you love it when you're 21. At least, you don't if you're me.

Also, I probably shouldn't get annoyed about this--maybe it shows that I'm evil or something. But it really goes out of it's way to be PC. There is very carefully one of each of the major races for the three girls, and then one of each for the three boys too. (Caucasian, Asian, African.) Other races is GOOD. There should be MORE other races and all that. BUT... it shouldn't be so obvious. It should just happen. Anyway, enough on that.

Hex Hall

by Rachel Hawkins

Grade: Unfinished
Read: To page 20.

Because page 20 is where it says this: "I turned. Leaning against a tree, his collar unbuttoned and tie loose, was a smirking guy. His Hecate blazer was hanging limply in the crook of his elbow."

There's a reason why I don't read chick-lit stuff. I get to the sentence like that, and I simply can't get myself to read any farther, even if the book contains Lord Byron as an English teacher and a mysterious murder. (And yes, I checked the end to make sure leany-smirky guy was the love interest. I'm not stupid enough to skip a book with Lord Byron as an English teacher if there's a possibility that the love interest isn't leany and smirky and handsome and sexy and why-do-I-hate-him-so-much-?-oh-I-guess-it's-because-I'm-really-attracted-to-him-y.)

It's kind of annoying, actually. I mean the fact that I can't read any farther. Maybe I'll grow out of it, and learn to adore the amazingly cute love interests who first appear leaning and smirking. I really do hope I do, because they appear in quite a lot of books, and it really bothers me that I can't continue reading after that.

You know what? I think it's almost all about first impressions for me. In other words, if they first turn up leaning against a tree in a sexy manner, I'll hate them. If they show up more slowly, seeming like they might just be a secondary character, I might even love them despite their sexiness. Maybe. I have to think about this more.

Savvy

by Ingrid Law

Grade: To Own
Story: See back cover: "What if your grandpa moves mountains, one of your brothers causes hurricanes, another creates electricity, ... and now it's your turn?"

Perfect, Lovely, Awesome. Just the sort of book I like. It has the eccentric family, the cool powers, the minimal (but still present) romance, the completely unique characters, and the general awesomeness.

I'm going to quote the first sentence here, even though everyone else who's ever reviewed it seems to have as well. But it's awesome, you see.

"When my brother Fish turned thirteen, we moved to the deepest part of inland because of the hurricane and, of course, the fact that he'd caused it."

Speaking of which, why is Fish such an awesome name for a person? You wouldn't think it, as fish are slimy and smelly. But it is awesome all the same. And Mibs and Rocket and Samson and Gypsy.

I love how, even though Mibs is the main character, a lot of the story is about the secondary characters such as Fish and Lester and all the rest.

In fact, I love the whole thing, but I'm exhausted and stressed so I'm not going to be able to write very well on it. So I'll stop now. Bye.

The Diary of Adam and Eve

by Mark Twain

Grade: All right

At first I thought the forward guy (John Updike) was speaking rubbish when he talked on and on about "[h]is quarrel with God" and all that. But actually, it does get a bit like that in "Eve Speaks". But it's an understandable emotion, at least, even if not accurate to the meaning of Genesis.

 "Passage from Eve's Autobiography (Year of the World 920)" is very strange indeed. I don't quite see its point.
"The Diary of Adam and Eve" is my favourite, and is quick and amusing without being irreverent.
The rest are ok, but not worth writing about at this time of night.