Sunday Reviews

Sunday Reviews


Following the events of Return of the Jedi: Star Wars: Episode VI, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia find themselves once again at the center of rebellion.
 
Five years after the Death Star was destroyed and Darth Vader and the Emperor were defeated, the galaxy is struggling to heal the wounds of war, Leia and Han are married and expecting twins, and Luke has become the first in a long-awaited line of new Jedi Knights.
 
But thousands of light-years away, the last of the Emperor’s warlords—the brilliant and deadly Grand Admiral Thrawn—has taken command of the shattered Imperial fleet, readied it for war, and pointed it at the fragile heart of the New Republic.
 
Meanwhile, Han and Lando Calrissian race against time to find proof of treason inside the highest Republic Council—only to discover instead a ghostly fleet of warships that could bring doom to their friends and victory to their enemies.
 
Yet most dangerous of all is a new Dark Jedi, risen from the ashes of a shrouded past, consumed by bitterness, and scheming to corrupt Luke to the dark side.

I read this series for the first time in middle/high school. This felt like a natural continuation of the story. Admittedly I dislike the third trilogy of movies because it strayed too far from what I felt was the original story. I have reread this trilogy multiple times over the years and enjoy it every time. I usually grab the original covers but for the review it was easier to grab the set version. I am not always into Sci-Fi books but these felt like visiting family. For me the Sci-fi must make sense. These books do.

I have a eclectic taste in books as well as music. The reviews are likely to be for everything from Spicy romance to scary Horror. Young adult and so much more. So, the warning is here – I will be reviewing books that you might want to use caution in reading, and those appropriate for all. Use discretion when reading what I do. 😉

Friday Share

Friday Share

So you found a new book?

Or maybe you just published one?

Did you find a new webcomic that you like?

Or a song you think everyone should hear?

No need for explanation…Just Share it.

You find a good deal that you think we should all see? Just share!

Or hey even a joke you think too fun not to share, Just share it.

Post links in the comments.

Occasionally I will too.

Sunday Reviews

Sunday Reviews

The land of Terre d’Ange is a place of unsurpassing beauty and grace. It is said that angels found the land and saw it was good…and the ensuing race that rose from the seed of angels and men live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt.

Phèdre nó Delaunay is a young woman who was born with a scarlet mote in her left eye. Sold into indentured servitude as a child, her bond is purchased by Anafiel Delaunay, a nobleman with very a special mission…and the first one to recognize who and what she is: one pricked by Kushiel’s Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one. Phèdre is trained equally in the courtly arts and the talents of the bedchamber but, above all, the ability to observe, remember, and analyze. Almost as talented a spy as she is courtesan, Phèdre stumbles upon a plot that threatens the very foundations of her homeland. Treachery sets her on her path; love and honor goad her further. And in the doing, it will take her to the edge of despair…and beyond.

Hateful friend, loving enemy, beloved assassin; they can all wear the same glittering mask in this world, and Phèdre will get but one chance to save all that she holds dear. Set in a world of cunning poets, deadly courtiers, heroic traitors, and a truly Machiavellian villainess, this is a novel of grandeur, luxuriance, sacrifice, betrayal, and deeply laid conspiracies. Not since Dune has there been an epic on the scale of Kushiel’s Dart – a massive tale about the violent death of an old age and the birth of a new.

Yeah I just copied the blurb. I probably am going to continue to do that as it is easier for me to just give my thoughts on a book and not have to explain what the book is about.

This is the first of a nine book set. ALL are worth the read. There is a wee bit of spice in them, but it is well done. This series is in my often reread group. A friend introduced me to it and I have read it more than a dozen times since. It has themes of BDSM, Religion, and survival. The series has strong characters and good world building. The first three books are focused on Phedre and her adventures. The next three are focused on her adopted son. The last three are focused on Moirin…a half deity from the land of Alba. Though you probably could read each trilogy separate and be fine…I wouldn’t. They are richly connected and bring a world together worthy of diving into.

I have a eclectic taste in books as well as music. The reviews are likely to be for everything from Spicy romance to scary Horror. Young adult and so much more. So, the warning is here – I will be reviewing books that you might want to use caution in reading, and those appropriate for all. Use discretion when reading what I do. 😉

Friday Share

Friday Share

So you found a new book?

Or maybe you just published one?

Did you find a new webcomic that you like?

Or a song you think everyone should hear?

No need for explanation…Just Share it.

You find a good deal that you think we should all see? Just share!

Or hey even a joke you think too fun not to share, Just share it.

Post links in the comments.

Occasionally I will too.

Sunday Reviews

Sunday Reviews

Only Alexander knows why the barn is haunted—-and by what
 
When Alexander notices an eerie light coming out of the barn,. He thinks his friend Blossom Culp is trying to spook him. But strange things really are happening there. Slimy footprints appear out of nowhere, and whimpering sounds float down from the hayloft. And when he ventures into the barn in the dark of night, his breath catches in his throat. Suddenly Blossom’s words come back to him: “You can make contact with the Unseen….” Now there’s a girl ghost standing right in front of him, telling him of great danger ahead. But is there time for Alexander to act on her warning? 

Yeah I just copied the blurb. I looked through my blog at the reviews I have done…and realized last week was a duplicate. I need to do a standard to make this easier. There is too many books I can put here. So I guess I should start with books that I end up reading over and over again for the comfort. This is one of those. I have to have this as an e-book because I have worn out several copies of the paperback. The writing is good, but that is not what draws me in. I honestly saw myself in Blossom. The bumbling, not quite socially proper young girl who seems to make the story worth reading. There is more to her story. You can find other volumes if you look.

I have a eclectic taste in books as well as music. The reviews are likely to be for everything from Spicy romance to scary Horror. Young adult and so much more. So, the warning is here – I will be reviewing books that you might want to use caution in reading, and those appropriate for all. Use discretion when reading what I do. 😉

Friday Share

Friday Share

So you found a new book?

Or maybe you just published one?

Did you find a new webcomic that you like?

Or a song you think everyone should hear?

No need for explanation…Just Share it.

You find a good deal that you think we should all see? Just share!

Or hey even a joke you think too fun not to share, Just share it.

Post links in the comments.

Occasionally I will too.

Sunday Reviews

Sunday Reviews

This one was recommended to me, and I am so happy to have listened. It’s a fantastic read. The world has progressed to see powers develop… But just like now the powerful don’t always have the right world views. And for a dude going into high school this is a fairly difficult amount of pressure. I love the complex characters and the way the story unfolds.

The lead male character is able to control undead. He developed a dangerous ability and is now scared of what the government will do with him. His family and friends circle around him as he learns to control his abilities.

This is the first of eight, I am at around five in the series. The books have a lot of good characters and a lot of work in the world building. it is not hard to see the world we are currently living in going this direction.

I recommend you pick up the first book and see if you get as pulled in as I did .

Friday Share

Friday Share

So you found a new book?

Or maybe you just published one?

Did you find a new webcomic that you like?

Or a song you think everyone should hear?

No need for explanation…Just Share it.

You find a good deal that you think we should all see? Just share!

Or hey even a joke you think too fun not to share, Just share it.

Post links in the comments.

Occasionally I will too.

Friday Share

Friday Share

So you found a new book?

Or maybe you just published one?

Did you find a new webcomic that you like?

Or a song you think everyone should hear?

No need for explanation…Just Share it.

You find a good deal that you think we should all see? Just share!

Or hey even a joke you think too fun not to share, Just share it.

Post links in the comments.

Occasionally I will too.

The Fourth of July

Let America Be America Again
By Langston Hughes

Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.

(America never was America to me.)

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed—
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.

(It never was America to me.)

O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.

(There’s never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this “homeland of the free.”)

Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?

I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery’s scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek—
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.

I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
Tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay!
Of owning everything for one’s own greed!

I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
I am the worker sold to the machine.
I am the Negro, servant to you all.
I am the people, humble, hungry, mean—
Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today—O, Pioneers!
I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.

Yet I’m the one who dreamt our basic dream
In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
That even yet its mighty daring sings
In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
That’s made America the land it has become.
O, I’m the man who sailed those early seas
In search of what I meant to be my home—
For I’m the one who left dark Ireland’s shore,
And Poland’s plain, and England’s grassy lea,
And torn from Black Africa’s strand I came
To build a “homeland of the free.”

The free?

Who said the free? Not me?
Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike?
The millions who have nothing for our pay?
For all the dreams we’ve dreamed
And all the songs we’ve sung
And all the hopes we’ve held
And all the flags we’ve hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay—
Except the dream that’s almost dead today.

O, let America be America again—
The land that never has been yet—
And yet must be—the land whereeveryman is free.
The land that’s mine—the poor man’s, Indian’s, Negro’s, ME—
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.

Sure, call me any ugly name you choose—
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people’s lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!

O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath—
America will be!

Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain—
All, all the stretch of these great green states—
And make America again!


Today this feels like the statement that needs to be made.  we are looking at An America taking steps backward instead of growing. I am descent from the men and women who walked this land before the USA existed….and I am ashamed of what it has become.