Snowflakes and Spider Silk

Hello lovely blog readers, I'll be out of the country for about two weeks, visiting the grandparents in the land of no internet. Well, it's more "the land of very sporadic and supremely slow internet" but either way I won't be posting anything for a while except scheduled reviews. So if I'm not replying to your comments or prowling your blogs, it's because I'm gone, not because I don't love you all! See you on the other side!

This is a meme hosted by  Rinn Reads  where anyone can join in and talk about anything Fantasy! As I continue my quest of reading every Sanderson book ever, it's hitting me that a lot of fantasy novels (and series) are ridiculously long. I've weathered the Harry Potter series (7 books), five A Song of Ice and Fire books (7-8 books), the Mistborn trilogy and a bit of the Stormlight Archive (10 books), The Name of the Wind (3 books), three Gentleman Bastards books (8 books), and quite a few others. The common theme? If the books themselves aren't huge, the series are. This infographic gives you the word counts of the books in ASoIaF: For reference, a novel  is classified as a book that has approximately 50,000-110,000 words , while an epic novel  is anything more than 110,000 words. By that classification, all of the ASoIaF books are epic novels. Epic   novels . So each novel is in itself an epic, and there are an as-yet undetermined numb...

Title:  The Secret Place Author: Tana French Genre: Mystery, psychological thriller My rating: 4 of 5 stars Goodreads Summary : The photo on the card shows a boy who was found murdered, a year ago, on the grounds of a girls’ boarding school in the leafy suburbs of Dublin. The caption says, I KNOW WHO KILLED HIM. Detective Stephen Moran has been waiting for his chance to get a foot in the door of Dublin’s Murder Squad—and one morning, sixteen-year-old Holly Mackey brings him this photo. The Secret Place, a board where the girls at St. Kilda’s School can pin up their secrets anonymously, is normally a mishmash of gossip and covert cruelty, but today someone has used it to reignite the stalled investigation into the murder of handsome, popular Chris Harper. Stephen joins forces with the abrasive Detective Antoinette Conway to find out who and why. But everything they discover leads them back to Holly’s close-knit group of friends and their fierce enemies, a rival clique—a...

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by  The Broke and the Bookish . This week's theme:  Top Ten Books I Really Want To Read But Don't Own Yet This is a strange theme for me because I read almost all of my books from the library, and only buy my favorites. So I'm going to amend this to Books I really want to read but don't have in my possession.  1. Elantris  by Brandon Sanderson As I mentioned last week, I'm on a mission to read every Sanderson book ever . He's one of my favorite authors, and if I'm going to tackle the mysteries of the cosmere, it's obvious that I'm going to have to read all the books set in it. 2. The Blade Itself  by Joe Abercrombie I really enjoyed Half a King by the same author, and I've heard on all accounts that this trilogy is even better! I will be reading it as soon as I can get my hands on it . Which is hopefully soon. 3. Rose Under Fire  by Elizabeth Wein I loved ...

Title:  Fool's Assassin Author:  Robin Hobb Genre: Fantasy My rating: 3 of 5 stars Goodreads Summary : Nearly twenty years ago, Robin Hobb burst upon the fantasy scene with the first of her acclaimed Farseer novels, Assassin’s Apprentice, which introduced the characters of FitzChivalry Farseer and his uncanny friend the Fool. A watershed moment in modern fantasy, this novel—and those that followed—broke exciting new ground in a beloved genre. Together with George R. R. Martin, Robin Hobb helped pave the way for such talented new voices as Scott Lynch, Brandon Sanderson, and Naomi Novik. Over the years, Hobb’s imagination has soared throughout the mythic lands of the Six Duchies in such bestselling series as the Liveship Traders Trilogy and the Rain Wilds Chronicles. But no matter how far she roamed, her heart always remained with Fitz. And now, at last, she has come home, with an astonishing new novel that opens a dark and gripping chapter in the Farseer saga. Fit...

DiverSFFy is a new (sporadic) feature hosted by yours truly! The goal is to get the word out about books in science fiction and fantasy that do a good job of portraying people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives - be it race, sexual orientation, gender, socioeconomic levels, etc. I'd love it if you joined in - just link me to your posts in the comments or on twitter (@spidersilksnow)! This week's pick: Partials by Dan Wells The Rundown Title: Partials Author: Dan Wells Genre: Science fiction, dystopian, young adult Full synopsis and my review here ! So what's so diverse about this book? This is a look at Long Island after most of  the rest of the world has been destroyed by biological weapons, radiation, and nuclear fallout. New York today is a melting pot of different cultures and communities; New York of the future is even more so.  There are characters from almost every race and ethnicity, many of mixed heritage. There are peopl...

Title:  Jackaby Author:  William Ritter Genre: Historical fantasy, mystery, young adult My rating: 3 of 5 stars Goodreads Summary: “Miss Rook, I am not an occultist,” Jackaby said. “I have a gift that allows me to see truth where others see the illusion--and there are many illusions. All the world’s a stage, as they say, and I seem to have the only seat in the house with a view behind the curtain.” Newly arrived in New Fiddleham, New England, 1892, and in need of a job, Abigail Rook meets R. F. Jackaby, an investigator of the unexplained with a keen eye for the extraordinary--including the ability to see supernatural beings. Abigail has a gift for noticing ordinary but important details, which makes her perfect for the position of Jackaby’s assistant. On her first day, Abigail finds herself in the midst of a thrilling case: A serial killer is on the loose. The police are convinced it’s an ordinary villain, but Jackaby is certain it’s a nonhuman creature, whose exis...

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by  The Broke and the Bookish . This week's theme: Top Ten Books People Have Been Telling You That You MUST Read 1. Every Sanderson book ever. Brandon Sanderson is one of my favorite authors, and I've now read the entire Mistborn trilogy and the first two books of the Stormlight Archive. But of course, as I've been told a thousand times, I have to read the rest of them as well. The Cosmere calls! 2. Angelfall series Angelfall was on my list last week about books I wasn't too sure about, and I got unanimous recommendations to go read it. So I will! 3. Wool  I've seen this book around a lot, and everyone I know has loved it. I'm pretty sure I'll read this, but I'm just confused about whether I'll have to read the other two omnibuses or if this one can stand alone. The whole serial story thing is throwing me off! 4. Of Metal and Wishes Nikki from TWBI ...

Title:  The Art Forger Author:  B.A. Shapiro Genre: Contemporary, mystery My rating: 4 of 5 stars Goodreads Summary: Almost twenty-five years after the infamous art heist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum—still the largest unsolved art theft in history—one of the stolen Degas paintings is delivered to the Boston studio of a young artist. Claire Roth has entered into a Faustian bargain with a powerful gallery owner by agreeing to forge the Degas in exchange for a one-woman show in his renowned gallery. But as she begins her work, she starts to suspect that this long-missing masterpiece—the very one that had been hanging at the Gardner for one hundred years—may itself be a forgery. The Art Forger is a thrilling novel about seeing—and not seeing—the secrets that lie beneath the canvas. I have to admit that the main reason I decided to read this book was because it sounded so similar to one of my favorites shows: White Collar. Art forgery and running cons? C...