Sunday Reviews

Alanna: The First Adventure (1) (Song of the Lioness) by Tamora Pierce

A girl disguises herself as a boy to train as a knight in this first book in Tamora Pierce’s Margaret A. Edwards Award–winning young adult series—now with a new look!

From now on, I’m Alan of Trebond, the younger twin. I’ll be a knight.

In a time when girls are forbidden to be warriors, Alanna of Trebond wants nothing more than to be a knight of the realm of Tortall. So she finds a way to switch places with her twin brother, Thom, and, disguised as a boy, begins her training as a page at the palace of King Roald. But the road to knighthood, as she discovers, is not an easy one. Alanna must master weapons, combat, and magic, as well as polite behavior, her temper, and even her own heart.

So begin Alanna’s adventures—filled with swords and sorcery, adventure and intrigue, good and evil—that will lead to the fulfillment of her dreams and make her a legend in the land.

My thoughts:

This young adult novel was far ahead of its time. A comfortable exploration of feeling trapped by social expectations for gender roles in a brilliantly told story. Strong characters (of both genders), realistic bullying in what would be seen as a school/work situation and actual consequences for the main character when she breaks the rules. Nothing is straight up handed to her to make her better, she earns it. There are layers of magic written into the world and the main character has a natural talent that scares her. Her twin has the same and rejoices about it. He was a scholar in the time when boys were expected to be knights. She is a warrior and a noble. Noble girls are expected to be worried about securing a good marriage and having babies. Her choice was unconventional and the start of an amazing saga.

TL:DR fun story with good characters

Artsy Fartsy Thursday

Artist:Serenity Rose

I shared the one with my son’s comment because I found it amusing. He is my Goat after all.

Wednesday Whispers

The Death’s Hand

by Serena Mossgraves

     The old house had many shadows. Some still moved, others had forgotten even how to do that. The child looked confused, and as she did at least once per day, asked the same question. ” Tell me again Grandma, how did we die?” The grandmother sighed. She knew that the child could no longer help her memory escaping, but it was beginning to be difficult even for her. The fog in her memory made the daily story change slightly.
    Still, it seemed to calm the child. So she sat down and motioned for the child to join. Then she began. “We moved into this house before you were born. Back then it was your mother, your father, and me. The house had so much extra space and it was so cheap that it felt like a dream. We were here when your mom discovered she was pregnant. We were so excited that you would join us.”
   As always the child interrupted. “Where is mommy? And Daddy? Did they not love us anymore?”
Indulgently, the grandmother continued as she had every night before. “They still live child. They love us and grieve for us every day. We have died and we are staying together here. Do not fret child. We have each other.”
Hugging the child close, and being grateful again that ghosts could touch each other, the grandmother continued. “This house had dark things living in the dark spaces. Things that we did not know about when we moved in. You were such a bright light when you were born that we nearly could ignore that darkness. We lived here with you for two years. Then the darkness got worse. We started to react to it.”
The child shivered in her arms, afraid of the darkness that they knew was dangerous. Grandma hesitated, as always afraid that the child may be to innocent to understand the story told. Though she had been telling the story for nearly fifty years, the child was only three when they died. It seemed cruel to her that they remained. She found herself wondering why the hand of death otherwise known as the reaper had not shown themselves to lead the shades to the afterlife. It worried her.
Still, to comfort the child she continued with the story.
The grandma never questioned how she was able to speak. The only thing she cared about was that she could give the child comfort.
“The darkness was something that we didn’t understand. I died first. I died in my sleep. The family was sick with grief, and I was unable to communicate with them. I remained like that for a whole year before you joined me. I did not expect to see you so soon. You were following a shadow from your room and fell down the stairs. Your parents were lost in their grief and left the house. Too much evil hqd happened here. Now we await Death’s Hand to lead us to the afterlife.”
The child looked at grandma confused.”When will they come ? Will we be able to see mommy and daddy again ?”
Grandma smiled softly “They will join us when it is their time..I believe that Death’s Hand will come to lead us home when we four are joined again.”
With the child calmed down and the story done, Grandma settled in with the child and pretended she was not worried about the time they had been there. The house was something outside of time. She was afraid as she didn’t know how to end the eternity of the darkness that they have existed in.

Tuesday Tunes

Lyrics –

I can feel the darkness around me
Hottie drives a little white Audi
I don’t know how, but she found me
Yeah, she got my cell and my address
And she’s the reaper in a black dress
Got myself in another mess
Blame it on the whiskey
She don’t even miss me
She comin’ in hot, she a bad bitch
Cuttin’ my heart like a savage
Trade in my soul, she can have it
Let me introduce you to my new bad habit
I got a disease, yeah, I got an addiction
I’m down on my knees, truth is stranger than fiction
If the drugs don’t kill me, then the loneliness will
I wanna breathe you in (breathe you in)
I wanna be your fool (be your fool)
I wanna be your drug
And I wanna lick your wounds
She comin’ in hot, she a bad bitch
Cuttin’ my heart like a savage
Trade in my soul, she can have it
Let me introduce you to my new bad habit

My 2 cents –

I was recently introduced to this one. it has a few interesting lines.

Misatribution

picture just for fun. I noticed that I attributed my poem today to the wrong volume. it is in kissed by Verse not poetry kisses. Apologies.

Monday Poetry

Sunday Reviews

Master storyteller Stephen King presents this classic, terrifying #1 New York Times bestseller. When a game of seduction between a husband and wife ends in death, the nightmare has only begun…

A Netflix film directed by Mike Flanagan (Oculus, Hush) and starring Carla Gugino and Bruce Greenwood

“And now the voice which spoke belonged to no one but herself. Oh my God, it said. Oh my God, I am all alone out here. I am all alone.”

Once again, Jessie Burlingame has been talked into submitting to her husband Gerald’s kinky sex games—something that she’s frankly had enough of, and they never held much charm for her to begin with. So much for a “romantic getaway” at their secluded summer home. After Jessie is handcuffed to the bedposts—and Gerald crosses a line with his wife—the day ends with deadly consequences. Now Jessie is utterly trapped in an isolated lakeside house that has become her prison—and comes face-to-face with her deepest, darkest fears and memories. Her only company is that of the various voices filling her mind…as well as the shadows of nightfall that may conceal an imagined or very real threat right there with her…

Okay I said I would review the Steven King Novel I hated the most. This book has no real plot. It has sappy weak characters and to be honest I barely got through it. Which is more than I can say for other books. I would not recommend this one.

Exhausted

so I have been busy as can be with doctor appointments and work. so I am not able to handle Saturday’s post this week. I will be putting the book review up tomorrow. thanks for your patience