Snowflakes and Spider Silk

There's no shame in loving genre fiction When I first meet people and we start talking about things we like to do, I always mention my love of sci-fi TV shows and fantasy books. There's always one of two reactions: 1) OMG I LOVE THEM TOO or 2) Aaaaaaaah I see (accompanied by eyes glazing over and a slightly vacant nod). I once had a friend tell me, "Oh, I don't read genre fiction anymore, it's too childish for me." It crushed me because I felt like I was being judged for enjoying what I did, and if I didn't have a taste for the more "refined" or "literary" works, did that make me a second-class reader? Is loving the emotional journey and entertainment value of a story somehow less valid than loving the intricacies of prose and metaphor? To be completely honest, one reason I love genre fiction is that it's all about transporting you to another world, whether it's in the past or future or on a magical world we'v...

Grad school is frying my brain, so I've been reading a lot of graphic novels lately. It's so much more fun to stare at the gorgeous art and flipping through a graphic novel just requires less concentration than sitting down and reading a book. My OTSP Secret sister, Kelley, said Monstress was one of her favorite graphic novels, so I had  to give this a shot. My other OTSP Secret sister, Angie, was kind enough to send the first two volumes to me, so THANK YOU BOTH FOR ENABLING ME TO DISCOVER ONE OF THE LOVES OF MY LIFE. (Shameless plug, if you haven't heard about #otspsecretsister, you're missing out!! It's a lovely community of book-loving, kind people who just want to spread cheer and happiness, and I've made great friends through it). I'm going to try out a slightly different review format for graphic novels than books, so let's see how this goes. The Art Let's just start off by saying that the art in Monstress is absolutely stun...

Title:  The Tiger's Daughter Author:  K. Arsenault Rivera Genre: Fantasy My rating: 5 of 5 stars Goodreads Summary: Even gods can be slain…. The Hokkaran empire has conquered every land within their bold reach―but failed to notice a lurking darkness festering within the people. Now, their border walls begin to crumble, and villages fall to demons swarming out of the forests. Away on the silver steppes, the remaining tribes of nomadic Qorin retreat and protect their own, having bartered a treaty with the empire, exchanging inheritance through the dynasties. It is up to two young warriors, raised together across borders since their prophesied birth, to save the world from the encroaching demons. This is the story of an infamous Qorin warrior, Barsalayaa Shefali, a spoiled divine warrior empress, O-Shizuka, and a power that can reach through time and space to save a land from a truly insidious evil. This was such a beautiful book! (It's been 6 months since I read th...

Title: Tess of the Road Author:  Rachel Hartman Genre: Fantasy My rating: 4 of 5 stars Goodreads Summary: In the medieval kingdom of Goredd, women are expected to be ladies, men are their protectors, and dragons get to be whomever they want. Tess, stubbornly, is a troublemaker. You can't make a scene at your sister's wedding and break a relative's nose with one punch (no matter how pompous he is) and not suffer the consequences. As her family plans to send her to a nunnery, Tess yanks on her boots and sets out on a journey across the Southlands, alone and pretending to be a boy. Where Tess is headed is a mystery, even to her. So when she runs into an old friend, it's a stroke of luck. This friend is a quigutl--a subspecies of dragon--who gives her both a purpose and protection on the road. But Tess is guarding a troubling secret. Her tumultuous past is a heavy burden to carry, and the memories she's tried to forget threaten to expose her to th...