Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Butcher and Pierce

This would be filed under notes that may not be of any interest to anyone other than me, where I'm just jotting things down. I got to thinking about similarities between Tamora Pierce and Jim Butcher, bearing in mind that I've only read Butcher's Dresden Files.

Obviously, they both write fantasy. They both take characters who are figuring things out, still learning (at least, at first...but then, they never really stop learning) and follow their stories.

(Of course, Pierce follows different characters over various quartets, whereas Butcher has Harry plus a few side characters who we see grow over a longer period of time, but same sort of thing.)

Both of their characters get knocked down a few times, but that's just part of growing. They face bullies and outright enemies, and sometimes lose a few fights. Or at the very least, they go up against someone who would have killed them if help hadn't arrived in the (ta da!) nick of time. But they learn from these experiences, and ultimately wind up strong enough to win a fight with those who had just knocked them down. Which means, of course, that a bigger badder bad guy will come along.

Butcher and Pierce both write characters who are funny and likable, who the reader can really care about. The main characters tend to be idealists in an imperfect world, trying to be the white knights to set things right when that isn't really possible. And they might know that they can't set everything right, but they'll still try their best, even when others point out the harsh realities of the world to them.

Last, one thing that Pierce's Beka Cooper books have in common with Dresden Files in particular is that they're mysteries solved by magical people. They even both have a cat, though Pierce's Pounce is a bit more vocal and involved than Butcher's Mister.

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Book Signing: Jim Butcher

The latest Dresden Files book by Jim Butcher was released last week. Much to my delight he did a book signing in my very own Portland Oregon, so I got to meet him. And of course, he signed my copy of the new Skin Game.

The signed book! :)

No, I haven't finished it yet, despite having had it for about a week. Why not? Because I've had a migraine for about a month, which reading aggravates, and since this is finals week at school I sort of have to decide where to spend my energy. *frustrated sigh* Strangely enough the computer screen currently doesn't bother me as much as books do, hence this blog post.

I did learn one very interesting thing during the Q and A at the signing. It turns out that Butcher actually doesn't like torturing his characters. Or, so he claims. Apparently what he really enjoys is tormenting his readers, and his books are the best way to do that without him winding up in jail. All I can say is that after reading chapter fourteen of Skin Games I've got to agree that yes, he loves to torment us.

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

The Summer Prince: Questions

Even before I finished reading The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson I realized that I had some questions, or points that I wanted to study. I hope to explore a few of them during my next reading of the book (whenever that will be) so I wanted to put them down here.

If you're sensitive to spoilers and haven't read the book, you might want to skip this post. There are a few questions that are definitely spoilers, including one that will spoil the ending.

1) What's the symbolism of the tree(s)? (Tree of life?)

2) Matriarchy vs. patriarchy. Both are shown as being problematic. What are the differences (if any) between the two? Are either shown as having any actual good points in the novel?

3) Patriotism. What is it?

4) What makes a traitor?

5) What is art?

6) Compare to Gilgamesh.
a. How does June fit into the picture?
b. Enkidu is a wild man to be tamed. Enki is wild, but remains untamed. Why?
c. Gil doesn't seem to be a king of any sort. What's up with that?
d. Themes of death/immortality in epic vs. novel.
e. Or is there really anything to compare here? It's easier to list differences than similarities. I may have just gotten focused on this since it's what first got my attention about the book.

7) What changes June's relationship with her mother (and step-mother)? What is the turning point of that?

8) Why does Enki want to be king? I'm not sure if that was never said, or if I just missed it when I was busy blinking in surprise at how much is packed into this novel.

9) Why is the step-mother different from the other Aunties? Or is she?

10) Exile theme -- Enki, his mother.

11) Why do the aunties start calling Enki prince? Why does that fail to diminish his power? And why is the novel titled The Summer Prince instead of The Summer King?

12) Was it Enki's plan from the beginning to choose a different queen? If not, when/why did he come up with that idea?

I'm sort of wanting to compare this book to The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin, and I can't quite put my finger on why. Some of the questions are the same, such as questions about patriotism, what makes a traitor, and exile. And yes they're both science fiction, but they're also very different books. Why am I wanting to say they're somehow similar?

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

The Summer Prince

I just finished reading a book that will do double duty for both LGBT Month and The Artful Readers Club. It wasn't actually on my list for the latter, but I took so long reading it that I didn't touch anything on that list last month. So the list is about to get altered.

The novel in question is The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson. I was expecting it to be a light read, and I guess I got bogged down when I realized that it wasn't quite so simple. There are so many layers to the book. I wasn't expecting that.

On the surface it's about a matriarchal country where a king is sacrificed in the choosing of the queen, and it's the story of one of those kings. But it's also more than that.

It's about the nature of art. Love. Family. Betrayal. Forgiveness. Death. Life. Matriarchy versus patriarchy. Politics. Friendship. Loss. Sacrifice. Technology. Reconciling the old and the new. I don't really know how to say more without saying too much.

Part of what caught my attention about the novel was that someone compared it loosely to the Epic of Gilgamesh. When I got excited about "OMG Gilgamesh!!!" I was told that it was a very loose comparison. I acknowledged what I was told, but said I'd have to write about the similarities and differences between the epic and this.

And I'm here to say, this book needs a second reading before I can say anything intelligent on the matter. I suspect it's possible to write a comparison, and two of the names (Enki and Gil) certainly indicate that the author had Gilgamesh in mind, but I'm puzzled. I'm only bothering to mention this because if the person who recommended it sees this post, she'll probably wonder "Yes...but how do you think it compares to Gilgamesh? You said you'd write about that." I still want to, but that'll have to be at another time.

Of course, since this book is part of LGBT Month, I should discuss the LGBT side of things. At least three, maybe four, of the characters are bisexual. They're very open about who they love, and the novel shows different kinds of relationships. One person is married to someone who she is in a committed and closed relationship with, and I'm basing my assumption of her bisexuality on the gender of her previous spouse who she had also been in love with. Two others are in a very open relationship and are definitely into more than one gender. The fourth, whose sexual orientation I'm just guessing at, only has one lover during the book. I've got to say, I like that it shows different possibilities in terms of relationships. That is, some prefer multiple partners, while others are happy with just one person.

One thing I have to address: Any bisexual will notice when reading this book is that the B word is never actually used. That is, no one is ever called bisexual. This is something that is sometimes done with bi characters because of uncertainty how to approach the subject, or because the writer doesn't want to put words into the character's mouth. It's something that irks a lot of us, since refusal to use the B word can be a way of pretending we don't exist. Since any bisexual will be noticing the absences of that word, I want to suggest a different reason for why it isn't used.

This book takes place in the far future (I didn't mention that, did I?) in an imaginary city whose culture is so different from anything I know that I may have stared at the book in shock. I suppose it's possible that the author just didn't want to use the word bisexual, but I prefer to think that in her imaginary world any sexual orientation is considered unremarkable. Possibly even something that they don't have labels for. It's certainly something that's never mentioned.


This is the first art for The Artful Readers Club that I'm actually properly pleased with. It seemed appropriate to rethink how I draw trees for this book.

Sunday, March 30, 2014

LGBT Month: Books

Fighting DreamerI had a bit of a debate with myself about whether to join LGBT Month. On one hand, I've been neglecting my blogs. On the other hand maybe I just need a good prompt, which this will give me.

And, yeah, I'll be busy with school starting tomorrow. Then again, one of my classes is queer studies, so I don't think I can complain that I'll be too busy to read LGBT related stuff. It's not like I won't be reading and writing about it already for school anyways.

So I signed up for LGBT Month. :)

It's being run by two bloggers I'd been unfamiliar with before yesterday, and I discovered LGBT Month via a link to the post about it at Fighting Dreamer. You can click the link to read about it, but the only rule seems to be to talk about anything LGBT book (or movie adaptation) related.

I'd like to note that all these posts will make an appearance both on my book blog, and on my personal blog. This is because I made the decision back in October to put all LGBT posts on my personal blog since it's a subject that's personal to me, even though book related LGBT posts also belong on my book blog. So if you happen to follow both blogs, you'll see the the posts both places.

And, for anyone who doesn't know:

Sarita's Book Blog URL: http://saritaslibrary.blogspot.com/
Dancing With Fey URL: http://dancingwithfey.blogspot.com/

Random tidbit: My spell check wants to change LGBT to LG. Um....???

Friday, February 28, 2014

The Artful Readers Club: Will Grayson, Will Grayson

My book this month for The Artful Reader's Club was Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan.

At first I wasn't sure what to think of the novel. And then I loved it. and then i wasn't sure any more. And then I decided to like it after all...and then I wound up devouring it in less than twenty-four hours.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson is about a few different things. Friendship, gay teens, hope, depression, love...give me more time and I could probably list more things it's about that don't immediately come to mind. Oh yeah, like music. How could I forget that one?

The novel follows the stories of two teens, both named Will Grayson. One of them is a straight dude who, while he doesn't have it particularly great in life, doesn't have it really bad either. the other will grayson's only joy in life, though, is an online friend who he has never met in person...and i'll leave it at that since i don't want to spoil anything.

(and yes, there's a reason i'm typing in all lowercase in some places: because it's how half of the story is written.)

I really enjoyed this book, and definitely recommend it to those who enjoy young adult novels...particularly if you're also looking for LGBT stories.

... ... ...

I wrote most of the above maybe a month ago, then kept putting off doing the artwork side of this. Since I don't really know what to do. Eventually I wound up doing a collage of clip art I found here.


A rainbow surrounded by hearts and music notes seemed pretty appropriated.

I'll try to do something a little more creative next month.

Thursday, February 27, 2014

What? Again...

I'm not sure whether I should shake my head at myself or laugh.

I just finished rereading the nine Bone graphic novels by Jeff Smith. (Not Rose yet though... apparently I put that one in storage when I moved back in with my parents. No. Idea. WHY.) While reading it I was puzzling over some questions that I was going to write here...but looking back at my older posts I realized that I already wrote about my puzzlement. Like, two years ago.

So, to document the fact that I'm still puzzled, here's a copy and paste of what I wrote then. With an edit from me.

SPOILERS for Rose by Jeff Smith and Charles Vess, and the Bone books 1 through 9 by Jeff Smith

In the Bone books it takes everyone, including Grandma Ben, by surprise that Briar's dreaming eye was open and that she was big buddies with the Lord of the Locusts. But, that's something that Grandma Ben finds out about in Rose, which precedes the other Bone books.

Inconsistency? Or did something happen to make Grandma Ben forget about it?

Also, Briar is an old woman at the end of Rose, and yet it seemed to me that somewhere in the Bone books there is a picture of her looking young(ish) on the night that Thorn's parents died. Though I could be completely mistaken on that.

[Edit on 2/27/14: No, I wasn't mistaken. At the end of Rose the sister was turned into an old woman, but during the flash backs in Bone books she definitely looks younger.]

It's just something that I've puzzled over.

Sunday, February 2, 2014

The Artful Readers Club: Mockingjay

This is my first review for The Artful Readers Club. Yes, it's a little late. I'm going to blame that on being slightly intimidated by the art side of things since I'm not used to drawing these days. In the end I made something pretty simple

Anyways...

Review:

My first book was The Hunger Games: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. It was a very fun book to read, I enjoyed seeing how Katniss handled things. It's in this novel that the revolution finally takes off, and to my surprise the way the rebels put their Mockinjay on display reminded me a lot of how the children taking part in the Hunger Games had been treated. As Katniss quietly observed to Gale early on, "Welcome to the Capitol." I suppose it might be a caution to not become your enemy.

I guess I'm fascinated by Katniss' character, and how she changes through the book. And by her contradictory traits. On one hand she's fragile, as we see by how she retreats into herself and hides from the world at certain times. But when she decides to do something, she's strong enough to do it, never mind how difficult it is. Despite the fact that these different qualities seem like they should belong to separate people, she is still believable.

This review (is it properly a review?) has focused on the character, and not the plot, I suppose. That's probably because it's been a week since I read the book, and this is what has stayed with me most as I've read other books since then.

It is an excellent novel, and I certainly recommend the trilogy.


A broken heart surrounded by purple and yellow primroses, and what might either be flower petals or blood. I'd wanted to put a forest in the background, but couldn't quite pull that off.

Monday, January 27, 2014

2013 Reading Challenges

Since I posted about the reading challenge I'm participating in for 2014, I figured it was about time I make a post about how well I did for my 2013 challenges.

2013 Goodreads Challenge

First of all, the Goodreads challenge to read 55 books. I met this challenge, and then exceeded it by one novel.

2013 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge
Witchy reading challenge

 Next, I said I would read between 16-20 witchy books. I bested this one also.

1) The Dresden Files: Storm Front by Jim Butcher
2) A Modern Witch by Debora Geary
3) The Dresden Files: Fool Moon by Jim Butcher
4) The Dresden Files: Grave Peril by Jim Butcher
5) The Dresden Files: Summer Knight by Jim Butcher
6) The Dresden Files: Death Masks by Jim Butcher
7) The Dresden Files: Blood Rites by Jim Butcher
8) The Dresden Files: Dead Beat by Jim Butcher
9) The Dresden Files: Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher
10) The Dresden Files: White Night by Jim Butcher
11) The Dresden Files: Small Favor by Jim Butcher
12) The Dresden Files: Turn Coat by Jim Butcher
13) The Dresden Files: Changes by Jim Butcher
14) The Dresden Files: Ghost Story by Jim Butcher
15) The Dresden Files: Cold Days by Jim Butcher
16) The Dresden Files: Storm Front, Volume 1: The Gathering Storm by Jim Butcher
17) The Dresden Files: Storm Front, Volume 2: Maelstrom by Jim Butcher
18) The Dresden Files: Fool Moon, Volume 1 by Jim Butcher
19) The Dresden Files: Fool Moon, Volume 2 by Jim Butcher
20) Jim Butcher's Dresden Files: Ghoul Goblin by Jim Butcher

Extra!

21) The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle by Jim Butcher
22) AlmaMia Cienfuegos and Other Stories by Magaly Guerrero
23) Thorn in Red by Magaly Guerrero
24) The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis
25) The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
26) The Chronicles of Narnia: The Horse and His Boy  by C.S. Lewis
27) First Born: Volume 1 by Ron Marz
28) Abhorsen: Sabriel by Garth Nix
29) Beka Cooper: Terrier by Tamora Pierce
30) Beka Cooper: Bloodhound by Tamora Pierce
31) Beka cooper: Mastiff by Tamora Pierce

Woman Reading A Book by Petr Kratochvil

What I didn't do so well on were my own reading lists for the year, though I'd known they were a bit ambitious. I did read one book by John Green though, and did get a start on Narnia...which counts for something, right? Also, a certain Tamora Pierce book won't actually come out until next year, whereas I'd thought it would come out last year. So...yeah. *sigh*

Sorry, am I making excuses? I'll stop now. Here are the unfinished reading lists.

Must read

1-7) Narnia series by C.S Lewis
8-22) Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
23) Raven Flight by Juliet Marillier
24) Pickle Moon by Juliet Marillier
25-26) Two books by John Green

Should try to read

1-7) Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
8-10) Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
11-14) Inheritance cycle by Christopher Paolini
15)The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. le Guin
16) The Tortall Companion Guide by Tamora Pierce

Friday, January 17, 2014

The Artful Readers Club

I hadn't planned to do any reading challenges this year (especially since I haven't followed up on last year's challenges, though I did complete them) (well, sort of), but when I discovered the one going on at Art and Sole I knew I just had to join in. Yeah, I'm half a month late, but oh well. Better late than never, right?

It's called The Artful Readers Club, and you can read the full rules here. Basically, I have to choose twelve books new to me to read this year, and at the end of each month I have to do some sort of art work relating to the book and write a little bit about it on here.

The books I choose to read, not necessarily in this order, are:

1) Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green

2) Screaming Science Fiction by Brian Lumley

3) Discworld: Small Gods by Terry Pratchett

4) The Hunger Games: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

5) Sexual Fluidity: Understanding Women's Desire by Lisa Diamond

6) Dresden Files: Skin Game by Jim Butcher (release date: 5/27/14)

7) Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

8) The Eagle's Quest by Fred Alan Wolf

9) Exile by Tamora Pierce (release date: September 2014)

10) Codex Alera: Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher

11) Macbeth by William Shakespeare

12) Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Books read in 2013

Last year I made a list of what I read in 2012, so I decided to do the same for 2013. Because, why not?

Butcher, Jim -- The Dresden Files: Storm Front
Butcher, Jim -- The Dresden Files: Fool Moon
Butcher, Jim -- The Dresden Files: Grave Peril
Butcher, Jim -- The Dresden Files: Summer Knight
Butcher, Jim -- The Dresden Files: Death Masks
Butcher, Jim -- The Dresden Files: Blood Rites
Butcher, Jim -- The Dresden Files: Dead Beat
Butcher, Jim -- The Dresden Files: Proven Guilty
Butcher, Jim -- The Dresden Files: White Night
Butcher, Jim -- The Dresden Files: Small Favor Butcher, Jim -- The Dresden Files: Turn Coat
Butcher, Jim -- The Dresden Files: Changes
Butcher, Jim -- The Dresden Files: Ghost Story
Butcher, Jim -- The Dresden Files: Cold Days 
Butcher, Jim -- The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle*
Butcher, Jim -- The Dresden Files: Storm Front, Volume 1: The Gathering Storm
Butcher, Jim -- The Dresden Files: Storm Front, Volume 2: Maelstrom
Butcher, Jim -- The Dresden Files: Fool Moon, Volume 1
Butcher, Jim -- The Dresden Files: Fool Moon, Volume 2
Butcher, Jim -- Jim Butcher's Dresden Files: Ghoul Goblin
Campbell, Jeff -- Terminator 2 Judgment Day
Card, Orson Scott -- Ender's Game 
Card, Orson Scott -- Ender's Shadow #1 
Colfer, Eoin -- Artemis Fowl
Colfer, Eoin -- Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident*
Collins, Suzanne -- The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Doescher, Ian -- William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, a New Hope
Eisner, Shiri -- Bi: Notes for a Bisexual Revolution
Ennis, Garth -- Preacher: Ancient History
Farrow, Harrie -- Love, Sex, and Understanding the Universe
Frakes, Randall -- The Terminator
Frakes, Randall -- Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Furman, Simon -- Terminator: Revolution
Geary, Debora -- A Modern Witch
Green, John -- The Fault in Our Stars*
Guerrero, Magaly -- AlmaMia Cienfuegos and Other Stories*
Guerrero, Magaly -- Thorn in Red
Hutson, Shaun -- The Terminator
King, Stephen -- 'Salem's Lot: Illustrated Edition
Le Guin, Ursula K. -- The Left Hand of Darkness*
Lewis, C.S. -- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician's Nephew*
Lewis, C.S. -- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Lewis, C.S. -- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Horse and His Boy
Marz, Ron -- First Born: Volume 1
Naraghi, Dara -- Terminator Salvation Official Movie Prequel
Nix, Garth -- Abhorsen: Sabriel
Ochs, Robyn -- Getting Bi: Voices of Bisexuals Around the World
Pierce, Tamora -- Beka Cooper: Terrier*
Pierce, Tamora -- Beka Cooper: Bloodhound*
Pierce, Tamora -- Beka cooper: Mastiff*
Pollack, Rachel -- The Journey Out: A Guide for and About Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Teens*
Richardson, Mike -- Crimson Empire, Volume 1 
Robinson, James -- The Terminator: Secondary Objectives
Smiley, Jim -- Girls' Night In*
Tofield, Simon -- Simon's Cat in Kitten Chaos
Whedon, Zack -- Terminator: 2029 to 1984

*books I'd read before

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