Lets review, I was reading Wicked by Gregory Macguire for the personal pick. I was also reading Outlander by Diana Gabaldon for Amy's suggestion. I am still reading them & they are good, but my focus was kind of on the other two categories this past month. The two I finished were Travels With Casey by Benoit Denizet-Lewis for my Book club selection & The Curse of the Thrax by Mark Murphy for my Goodreads win choice. And I loved both of them tremendously. So much so I had difficultly putting them down, hence the other 2 books not being close to done. Let me share with you my thoughts on these books and then I will share my fifth pick at the end.
Travels With Casey
by: Benoit Denizet-Lewis
For anyone who doesn't know about this book yet or those who haven't read my other write up on Travels With Casey, let me try & sum it up. The author, an assistant professor of writing & writer for The New York Times Magazine has also written a few books, including his latest Travels With Casey. His latest book was an idea that came to him when he not only wished to understand Americas obsession with their dogs, but also wanted to strengthen his relationship with his dog, Casey. Benoit, as silly as it may sound, always feared his dog didn't love him as much as he wanted &, if given the choice, would rather live with someone else. So, to remedy this problem & study our cultures obsession with dogs, he packed Casey & himself up in an RV & hit the road for four months. During this four month journey he traveled the US & spoke to every type of dog person you could imagine. He explored shelters, Indian reservations, people who've made the news with their dogs, new things like Doga (yoga for dogs), & he even visited Cesar Milan. It doesn't stop there though, he visited ranchers, conventions & wolf/ dogs. I can't possibly list everything, it would take too much time, but this is only the tip of the doggy iceberg that Benoit explores. Check out my review, which can also be found on Goodreads.
Review of Travels With Casey
by The Ranting Bookworm
This
book was fantastic. Benoit Denizet-Lewis went the whole 9 yards &
more when it cam to fulfilling his goal of traveling around the U.S. in a
motor home with his dog meeting the dog-lovers of our country. I felt
like I was a part of his journey & I didn't want it to end. Benoit
has a way of writing that makes you feel like a close friend, like the
two of you are siting down to a drink & a chat. There were times
that almost brought me to tears, but more often then not I laughed. Much
of the authors writing was done with an appropriate sense of humor
which I believe was needed for the long trip & many heart wrenching
situations he had to deal with & came across in his journey. Benoit
also peppered the book with all sorts of great dog facts & quotes I
never knew existed until I read his book. I don't have a dog, but I love
all animals & I loved this book. Dog-lovers & animal-lovers
alike will enjoy this book. Even people who think they know all there is
to know about dogs can find enjoyment & learn something from this
book. I read a lot of books about dogs & dog training & anything
related to the subject of dogs & with all that knowledge I still
had fun reading this book & learned a lot when I thought I couldn't
possibly learn anything new. I would happily read anything else this
author writes & I hope he decides to write more dog related
literature in the future, perhaps he can update us on Rezzy, a new dog he found during his journey, & his
relationship with Casey. If you love animals and or if you love dogs,
then I suggest you find a copy of Travels With Casey & read it.
The Cure of The Thrax
by: Mark Murphy
This was my selection for books to read that I won on Goodreads & I'm glad I won it, because as I've pointed out, I probably wouldn't have picked it up initially based on the cover. I know this is a horrible thing for someone as well read as I am to say, since we should "never judge a book by its cover". Still, I believe,
I'm not the only one to fall victim to falsely judging a book by its cover, I believe it can happen to the best of us. Thankfully I won it, it may have taken me a while to get to the point where I wanted to read it, but when I did I fell immediately in love with it. Anyway, I got lucky enough to get the author to stop by & do an interview with me & also give us a preview on the next book in his Bloodsword Trilogy, which this book is a part of. All of that can be seen an read in my last post titled: Interview With Author Mark Murphy. Also feel free to check out Author Mark Murphy's Web Page where you can check out what else he's written & what he's up to. For those of you who've already read my last post with Mr. Murphy & or those who want to wait to read it, I'll just post my review below. This review can also be found on Goodreads, Amazon , Barnes & Noble, & Librarything.com.
Review of The Curse of the Thrax
If I had to describe this book in one sentence I might say this, " The Curse of the Thrax is an original, smartly paced, YA Dystopian Fantasy & I want more". Thankfully, I have more than enough room here to go into more detail than that.
Mark Murphy has created a fun new world that I will bravely say is in the same league as Hogwarts. The genre it's written in is a fascinating combination of Fantasy & Dystopian, something I've never seen before. Perhaps I'm a bit naive when it comes to the whole dystopian genre, but I've never seen it combined with dragons, mythical creatures of all sorts, & "magic" that's actually more of a combination of science & mystery than what is commonly thought of as real magic. I personally would label it as Dystopian-Fantasy, perhaps it sounds a bit contradictory to some, but my label slowly reveals itself as you work your way past the first chapter or two. I don't want to giveaway any spoilers, but I will try & paint a quick picture as to why you should read Mr. Murphy's first novel in what is called The Bloodsword Trilogy. It is what I would call a YA novel, but just like Ms. Rowling's books, I feel it can appeal to a much wider & older audience than just YA community.
The first chapter is a bit slow, but only so Mr. Murphy can ease you into the world he's created & introduce you to our young heroes, Jaykriss (14yrs) & Marda (16yrs). No worries though, after the introductions & everything else has been introduced to the reader the story takes flight & your feet barely touch the ground until the last page is read. I was hypnotized by the world the author created & enjoyed slowly understanding the mysteries of a world that was surprisingly familiar, and I stress the word FAMILIAR, once some of its secrets are revealed. Jayykriss & Marda live in a rough Medieval type world where the young aren't as young as the young of our world & must help provide for their family in ways that children aren't expected to in a society like ours. Not far into the book the two main characters find themselves thrust into a hero's quest or an odyssey of sorts. While the story yo-yo's from young men having troubles with school work & girls to battling dragons & looking for lost cities & weapons, I feel nothing happens without good reason & it's all done rather smoothly.
The book is rather large, 317 pages, but I think it's about time authors write good meaty stories for people under the age of 21. Still, as a 36 year old, I fell in love with the characters & the world the author created. Somehow Mark Murphy found a way for me to feel for the character in way that not many authors are always able to do. I felt myself wanting what the character wanted & simply put, sympathizing with the character in every way. There wasn't anything Jaykriss did that I felt was out of character. Now that the story is done, all I can feel is anticipation for the next book in the trilogy. I know this is a trilogy I will read over & over & weep for when the last page of the last book is written, it's certainly a world I don't want to see the end of.
Still don't take my word for it, please read it yourself see how awesome Mark Murphy's The Curse of the Thrax is.
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So, what have I replace these two books with?
For my book club choice I've picked War of The Whales by Joshua Horwitz. So far it's a wonderfully written book that not only teaches us about the whales of our ocean, but tells the story of the whale researchers & an environmental attorney who discover & not only have to prove that the navy is doing dangerous sonar tests that are beaching many endangered whales & dolphins, but must also try to stop the tests all together. The story is beautifully narrated, taking us from the first time scientist Kevin Balcomb noticed there was a serious problem, to him asking for help in understanding what was causing the animals to act against their natural instincts. Currently, this is as far as I've read the book. One of the things I really liked was the prologue, which explains how humans have slowly endangered the whales & their habitats throughout history, I thought was lovely. The prologue is written rather poetically & sets the stage for the rest of the story. Another thing I'm enjoying is how each chapter begins with a fine hand-drawn picture of a different whales & their corresponding names. The story is a little known problem that needs the publicity that the book is giving it. Actually, anyone who has seen the Mermaid hoax that was shown on Animal Planet may have already heard about the navy doing sonar testing. Though the mermaids & the the scientists in the show were made up , whoever created the show must have heard about the naval sonar issue & used it in their story. I say this because, if you subtract the mermaids, it's almost exactly what is going on in the book. I'm only 28 pages in so far, but the author has me feeling like I'm there, experiencing the events, fighting to keep the whales alive, & searching for answers. Anyone who likes animals or simply understands the importance of protecting the whales & sea creatures, needs to read War of the Whales.
For my Goodreads win, I chose to read Scott Shepard's Descending Son. This was a book I won quite a while back, but it took so long for me to get, due to the book being shipped to the wrong place, that I lost interest in even picking it up once it got here. In an attempt to clear out some of the older books I won I picked it up again & am currently on my way to finishing it. Originally I thought this might be a good read because part of the storyline is supernatural & it eventually leads us to the Mexican jungle. With my ancestry being part Mexican, I always find anything about Mexico fascinating. So, the two things, Mexico & the supernatural, really had my interest. The author is also a producer & among his many credits are shows like "Miami Vice" & "Quantum Leap", but the ones that really have me excited are "Haven" & "Dead Zone". Haven & Dead Zone are based on Stephen King novels & are two of my absolute favorite shows, so, I think, I figured that I couldn't go wrong with someone who helped produce & write for two of, what I consider, the best shows on television. The book does starts out kind of slow & though I'm 100 pages in I have yet to see anything supernatural or the Mexican jungle. Obviously that doesn't mean it's not in there, the book is 466 pages long & I'm only on page 112. Perhaps the things I've been anxiously waiting to read will show up in the next 100 pages. Two things I do like about the book so far are the authors familiarity with the area he's writing & how he's telling the story. The book starts out in California, Los Angeles to be exact, and not long after the story starts, we're taken to Palm Springs where the character grew up. I use to live in southern California, San Diego & Los Angeles, and I can tell the author has not only lived there as well, but fully understands, & I kind of get the feeling that he kind of loves, the area he's writing about. He gives so much detail to what the city & desert are like, that even if you haven't lived there before, you should finish reading the story feeling like you've been there, even if you've never stepped foot outside your house. The second thing I like is the way he wrote the book. It definitely feels like someone who deals with & writes a lot of television scripts. The layout of the book kind comes across like a TV or movie script, but I don't think it hurts the book, I just feel like I'm watching a show rather than reading. I also feel like the action is just barely getting ready to show it's self. I say this because the first 112 pages has mainly been about getting to know the characters & some of their back-story. The main character is only just now starting a fact finding mission to understand what he believes to be the mysterious death of his father & one of his fathers former employees. I'm really hoping that the story will start to pick up speed soon, but that remains to be seen. I'll let you know how that all goes once I'm finished with it & write another one of these posts. So, until then, I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that it lives up to the standards of some of the shows the author works on.
Finally, I promised to tell you what book I planned to read in my eReader category. Well, I browsed through & though I've many eBooks & hated to pick just one, I made a decision. Save My Soul (book 1) by K.S. Haigwood, & though I hate to admit it, part of my decision was made due to the fact that the author was giving away a free copy of her book & said she would do an interview with me once I finished reading it. I have yet to start it, but it does have a nice cover & it has a fabulous combination of death, angels, soul-mates. So, hopefully in the near future, I'll not only have a review of it for the next What I'm Reading post, but I'll also have another author Interview with K.S. Haigwood.
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So, that's it for tonight. I hope I introduced you to some new & interesting books. Just so you know, aside from a possible future interview with K.S. Haigwood, I'll probably have an interview with Goodreads All About Animal founder & author Barb A. Foley before Ms. Haigwood's interview. If anyone has any topic ideas I'm open to suggestions. So until my next post, I would like to encourage everyone to take a risk a read one book you might normally pass by. I pose this challenge in honor of Mark Murphy's fabulous new book The Curse of the Thrax. And may you be able to share your love for books with both friends & family . TTFN!
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