Fangirl

by Rainbow Rowell

Summary from GoodReads

A coming-of-age tale of fan fiction, family and first love. 

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan...

But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words... And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?

Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

Thoughts on the Book

I read this book when it first came out when blogging was still just a vague idea in my head.  After reading Carry On I wasn't done with the world of Simon Snow, so I felt compelled to reread Fangirl, which fortunately my friend had gotten me for my birthday so I had a copy on hand.

My Review

The story is about a girl, Cath, who not only has to deal with leaving home and everything comfortable and known to start college, a world of unknowns, but also has to deal with the end of the Simon Snow series, which is practically her whole world.

I love this book.  I think it got better the second time I read it.  I love how messed up Cath and Wren are and how, even though they share the exact same DNA and were brought up in the exact same circumstances they deal with everything in drastically different ways.  Cath internalizes everything and locks it down and tries to avoid bringing anyone else into her life, Wren overcompensates with having fun and putting on a good front and blocking everything from actually meaning anything to her.

I love how much both Cath and Wren grew as characters.  When the book ended they were miles from where they started and were closer than ever.    For the other characters, I love Reagan.  She's probably my favorite character from the book, she's so  unforgivingly her own person, if you don't like her, that's your problem.  So much of Cath's growth is due to her, the best thing that could have happened to Cath was Reagan taking her under her wing, showing her that it's okay to be yourself.  Levi I didn't like too much, he's kind of a jerk.  Cath forgives him too easily, but after that he gets better, but I still wouldn't trust him.  But, given Levi and Nick, I'd go with Levi everytime.

My favorite part about the book (although it could be due to just reading Carry On) were the Simon Snow snippets, and the full short story that Cath read within the book.  I love the world of Simon Snow and I love that Rowell was stuck on it too and felt the need to write a story about them.  So great!

I give this one a 10/10.  I loved it when I first read it, and I love it even more years later for a reread.

Leopard Lord

by Alanna Morland

Summary from GoodReads

Romantic fantasy at its best--from an exciting new voice in the genre! The successor to the barony of Leopard's Gard has made a wicked deal with the dark god, and now he must choose between the lives of his countrymen--and the woman he loves.

Thoughts on the Book

This book is a re-read for me.  It's been sitting on my bookshelf begging for me to pick it up again.  It's one of my favorite books, and Varian was featured in one of my Top Ten Tuesdays not that long ago.

My Review

This book is about Varian, who is a baron, a were-leopard (snow leopard to be exact), and bound to the dark god.  He makes a deal with the god to give him his wife - as a virgin - so he can free his people from the god's cruelty.

I think Varian is the reason why I love this book so much.  He's such a great person.  His father is completely awful, but Varian inherited his mother's kindness.  He really cares about his people and does all he can to make them better.  He despises slavery and keeps his word to his best friend, his body slave Corven, about freeing him within an hour of becoming baron.  Varian does the best he can for his people to make the barony prosperous, to fairly judge crimes, to make his people as safe as possible.  After an incident caused by the dark lord which killed his friend's new husband Varian snaps and makes the deal to give his future wife to the dark lord to free his people.  But true to form, Varian begins to care too deeply for his wife, Cathlin, and struggles to come to terms with sacrificing her for the good of his people.  The book ends when Varian finally comes to terms with everything he's done and decides to make the ultimate sacrifice to save his people and Cathlin both.

The one part of the book that didn't sit quite right with me was the missing girls from the village.  When they came back into the story the seemed totally unaffected by what had happened to them.  Which was completely traumatizing, there should have been PTSD like whoa.  Either the women of Leopard Gard are made of some serious stuff, or what happened to them is pretty common in the barony.  Which we were led to believe Varian has zero tolerance for...Although I suppose they all grew up with Varian's father as baron, so it was pretty standard for him.  Sorry about the vague I'm trying to not give spoilers and their fate was pretty shocking.

I give this a 9/10.  It really stands up to rereading years later.  

The Hero and the Crown

by Robin McKinley

Summary from GoodReads

Aerin could not remember a time when she had not known the story; she had grown up knowing it.
It was the story of her mother, the witchwoman who enspelled the king into marrying her, to get an heir that would rule Damar; and it was told that she turned her face to the wall and died of despair when she found she had borne a daughter instead of a son.
Aerin was that daughter.
But there was more of the story yet to be told; Aerin's destiny was greater than even she had dreamed--for she was to be the true hero who would wield the power of the Blue Sword...

Thoughts on the Book

I keep thinking of this book doing the Top Ten Tuesdays, it's one of my favorite books ever.  It might actually beat out Watership Down as my all time favorite book, it's that good.  I was sitting at my end of summer party staring at the bonfire and all I could think about was what it would be like to put the kenet on my finger and stick it into the flame.  Weird thought, right?  At that point I said alright, I'm re-reading The Hero and the Crown,  it's been too long since I last read it.

My Review

This book is about Aerin finding herself.  Aerin is the king's daughter but she is not your typical princess (or Sola as they're called in Damar), she wants nothing to do with court life and typical woman's activities.  Naturally this leads to dragons and epic battles.

The first time I read this book I was probably around 10, then I read it when I was 11, then 12, then 13, then 15, then 18, and then college and life happened so I hadn't picked it up since then.  But I'm happy to say it really really stands up.  It was my favorite book as a kid, and it's still definitely right up there.  

Aerin is probably my all time favorite female protagonist.  She's so realistic, she's this sad lonely girl who's picked on and disliked by 90% of the population.  In response she hides herself away.  She then becomes obsessed with mixing a potion which leads to her doing stupid reckless things which in the end help save the kingdom.  She's not quite the reluctant hero, but she's the hapless naive one that ends up kicking so much ass.  It isn't until the end that she really becomes comfortable in her own skin and finds her place in the world.

Tor is another great character, he's one of the few people that likes Aerin.  He is the first Sol, meaning the heir to the throne, and also Aerin's first cousin who is about 10 years older than her.  Whenever anything happens to Aerin Tor is right there to help her or comfort her.  Even if all that means is he's there to talk to her.  He cares for Aerin deeply, first as a cousin, then a friend, then more than a friend.  Everyone in the kingdom notices this and some, like the King, are happy about it, others, like practically everyone else, isn't.  The only one that doesn't have an opinion on the matter, or even notices it is Aerin.  Even so Tor remains devoted to her and always there for her.

Talat is also one of my favorite characters.  Yes, Talat, her horse.  He's so loyal and he really has a great personality.  Aerin had to earn his trust and encourage him when she was a young girl and in return Talat saved her life many times.  He's also pretty funny, in his horsey way.

Luthe was an interesting character.  He kind of comes out of nowhere and in his half-assed way saves Aerin's life.  He trains her and sends her off to fulfill a prophecy, which only he and his peers knew about, then rescues her again at the end.  I wish we could see more of her time in Luthe's hall, really see how they began to fall for one another.

As for the story itself, it spans Aerin's life from her early teens through to her mid/late twenties.  It's set up into 3 basic parts, growing up, fighting dragons, and fulfilling the prophecy.  I loved the first two parts, but I wish there was more to the last part.  More of Luthe, more of the God Who Climbs then Falls.  I felt like they spent more time with Maur's head than with the tower.  But that could have just been the speed in which I read, and how much I got interrupted while reading.

Overall I give this book a 11/10.  I love this book so much, especially since it really stands up to time and rereads.

World War Z

by Max Brooks
Narrated by: Max Brooks, Alan Alda, Mark Hamill, Henry Rollins, Eamonn Walker, Ajay Naidu, Jay o. Sanders, Dennis Boutsikaris, Becky Ann Baker, Steve Park, Frank Kamai, John McElroy, John Turturro, Rob Reiner, Carl Reiner, Jürgen Prochnow, Waleed Zuiater, Dean Edwards, Michelle Kholos, Maz Jobrani

Summary from GoodReads

“The end was near.” —Voices from the Zombie War

The Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched first-hand experiences of the survivors from those apocalyptic years, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of thirty million souls to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet. He recorded the testimony of men, women, and sometimes children who came face-to-face with the living, or at least the undead, hell of that dreadful time. World War Z is the result. Never before have we had access to a document that so powerfully conveys the depth of fear and horror, and also the ineradicable spirit of resistance, that gripped human society through the plague years.

Ranging from the now infamous village of New Dachang in the United Federation of China, where the epidemiological trail began with the twelve-year-old Patient Zero, to the unnamed northern forests where untold numbers sought a terrible and temporary refuge in the cold, to the United States of Southern Africa, where the Redeker Plan provided hope for humanity at an unspeakable price, to the west-of-the-Rockies redoubt where the North American tide finally started to turn, this invaluable chronicle reflects the full scope and duration of the Zombie War. 

Most of all, the book captures with haunting immediacy the human dimension of this epochal event. Facing the often raw and vivid nature of these personal accounts requires a degree of courage on the part of the reader, but the effort is invaluable because, as Mr. Brookssays in his introduction, “By excluding the human factor, aren’t we risking the kind of personal detachment from history that may, heaven forbid, lead us one day to repeat it? And in the end, isn’t the human factor the only true difference between us and the enemy we now refer to as ‘the living dead’?”

Note: Some of the numerical and factual material contained in this edition was previously published under the auspices of the United Nations Postwar Commission.
Eyewitness reports from the first truly global war

“I found ‘Patient Zero’ behind the locked door of an abandoned apartment across town. . . . His wrists and feet were bound with plastic packing twine. Although he’d rubbed off the skin around his bonds, there was no blood. There was also no blood on his other wounds. . . . He was writhing like an animal; a gag muffled his growls. At first the villagers tried to hold me back. They warned me not to touch him, that he was ‘cursed.’ I shrugged them off and reached for my mask and gloves. The boy’s skin was . . . cold and gray . . . I could find neither his heartbeat nor his pulse.” —Dr. Kwang Jingshu, Greater Chongqing, United Federation of China


“‘Shock and Awe’? Perfect name. . . . But what if the enemy can’t be shocked and awed? Not just won’t, but biologically can’t! That’s what happened that day outside New York City, that’s the failure that almost lost us the whole damn war. The fact that we couldn’t shock and awe Zack boomeranged right back in our faces and actually allowed Zack to shock and awe us! They’re not afraid! No matter what we do, no matter how many we kill, they will never, ever be afraid!” —Todd Wainio, former U.S. Army infantryman and veteran of the Battle of Yonkers


“Two hundred million zombies. Who can even visualize that type of number, let alone combat it? . . . For the first time in history, we faced an enemy that was actively waging total war. They had no limits of endurance. They would never negotiate, never surrender. They would fight until the very end because, unlike us, every single one of them, every second of every day, was devoted to consuming all life on Earth.” —General Travis

Thoughts on the Book

I read this book years ago and I loved it.  For my road trip I grabbed it, I figured of all books to listen to, this one would be the best.  It is, after all, an oral history on the zombie war.

My Review

This book is about World War Z, or the Zombie War.  It is a compilation of different stories about the war told by representatives of each aspect of the war.  

The audio book is sadly abridged, it cut out some of my favorite parts, like the K9 unit and how important dogs were to the war.  I also loved the astronauts section of the book.  But it was still amazing to listen to.  I loved hearing all the different voices telling the tales.  It made it so much more real.  And that's saying a lot because the way Max Brooks wrote this it sounds 100% plausible.  Well, plausible if zombies were actually scientifically possible.

I thought it was so cool that the narrator, the main narrator not the people giving the accounts, was actually Max Brooks.  It gave it that authentic feel.  Max really did interview these people for the United Nations Postwar Commission, the Zombie War was a real thing.

There's so much I love about this book that the audio did an amazing job capturing.  I feel like I'd just be sitting here listing each part of the book saying "this was awesome, I love how they did this"  So main points of the story I absolutely loved - Battle of Yonkers, Israeli Refugee camp (which they cut short- boo), Japanese atom bomb survivor, and the sweep of the United States - especially the battle they needed to be bulldozed out of.  And check out some of the narrators, they're fantastic! Mark Hamill, Rob Reiner, Alan Alda, Becky Ann Baker. So damn good!

I give this a 10/10.  Fantastic book, fantastic narration.  Max Brooks is as much of a genius as his father.