Long Over Due Book Reviews

In an effort to do so review catching up, I thought I would do a few posts with some multiple reviews. Also, some of the books I don't have much memory of, so this way my reviews don't have to be much more than a line or two. I'm going to do 3 books per post.

Goodreads Summary: The House of Night series is set in a world very much like our own, except in 16-year-old Zoey Redbird's world, vampyres have always existed.  In this first book in the series, Zoey enters the House of Night, a school where, after having undergone the Change, she will train to become an adult vampire -- that is, if she makes it through the Change.  Not all of those who are chosen do.  It's tough to begin a new life, away from her parents and friends, and on top of that, Zoey finds she is no average fledgling.  She has been Marked as special by the vampyre Goddess, Nyx.  But she is not the only fledgling at the House of Night with special powers.  When she discovers that the leader of the Dark Daughters, the school's most elite club, is misusing her Goddess-given gifts, Zoey must look deep within herself for the courage to embrace her destiny--with a little help from her new vampyre friends.

Why I Read This Book: I put this book on my challenge list for the 2013 Paranormal Reading Challenge because it had been on my TBR list for so long.

Review: I have still only read the first book of this series, but I think it may be one of my favorite vampire books so far. I like teen vamp books, but this one had all the good stuff without being really lame at times too. I read this book about 6 months ago, and honestly can't remember much except that I really enjoyed it. It was a bit confusing at first, but I look forward to getting to the rest of the series.

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Goodreads Summary: Time is out of joint. The summer of peace and plenty, ten years long, is drawing to a close, and the harsh, chill winter approaches like an angry beast. Two great leaders—Lord Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon—who held sway over and age of enforced peace are dead...victims of royal treachery. Now, from the ancient citadel of Dragonstone to the forbidding shores of Winterfell, chaos reigns, as pretenders to the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms prepare to stake their claims through tempest, turmoil, and war. 

As a prophecy of doom cuts across the sky—a comet the color of blood and flame—six factions struggle for control of a divided land. Eddard’s son Robb has declared himself King in the North. In the south, Joffrey, the heir apparent, rules in name only, victim of the scheming courtiers who teem over King’s Landing. Robert’s two brothers each seek their own dominion, while a disfavored house turns once more to conquest. And a continent away, an exiled queen, the Mother of Dragons, risks everything to lead her precious brood across a hard hot desert to win back the crown that is rightfully hers. 

A Clash of Kings transports us into a magnificent, forgotten land of revelry and revenge, wizardry and wartime. It is a tale in which maidens cavort with madmen, brother plots against brother, and the dead rise to walk in the night. Here a princess masquerades as an orphan boy; a knight of the mind prepares a poison for a treacherous sorceress; and wild men descend from the Mountains of the Moon to ravage the countryside. 

Against a backdrop of incest and fratricide, alchemy and murder, the price of glory may be measured in blood. And the spoils of victory may just go to the men and women possessed of the coldest steel...and the coldest hearts. For when rulers clash, all of the land feels the tremors. 

Audacious, inventive, brilliantly imagined, A Clash of Kings is a novel of dazzling beauty and boundless enchantment—a tale of pure excitement you will never forget.
Why I Read This Book: I started this series last year because Game of Thrones was on my 2012 TBR Challenge list, and I loved it. I knew that I would have to continue this series. I am actually reading Book 3 right now.

Review: This book is full of complex charaters and plots, and sub plots, and sub sub plots, and there is a whole lot going on! It can be a bit confusing at times when non-main characters come out so infrequently, but it is a fantastic series. I loved this book and love this series. I recommend it all the time. The TV show as certainly helped in its popularity, however I haven't started watching (yet).

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Goodreads Summary: Though he may not speak of them, the memories still dwell inside Jacob Jankowski's ninety-something-year-old mind. Memories of himself as a young man, tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. Memories of a world filled with freaks and clowns, with wonder and pain and anger and passion; a world with its own narrow, irrational rules, its own way of life, and its own way of death. The world of the circus: to Jacob it was both salvation and a living hell.

Jacob was there because his luck had run out—orphaned and penniless, he had no direction until he landed on this locomotive "ship of fools." It was the early part of the Great Depression, and everyone in this third-rate circus was lucky to have any job at all. Marlena, the star of the equestrian act, was there because she fell in love with the wrong man, a handsome circus boss with a wide mean streak. And Rosie the elephant was there because she was the great gray hope, the new act that was going to be the salvation of the circus; the only problem was, Rosie didn't have an act—in fact, she couldn't even follow instructions. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and ultimately, it was their only hope for survival. 

Surprising, poignant, and funny, Water for Elephants is that rare novel with a story so engrossing, one is reluctant to put it down; with characters so engaging, they continue to live long after the last page has been turned; with a world built of wonder, a world so real, one starts to breathe its air.
Why I Read This Book: This book was on my 2012 TBR Challenge Reading list, but I had put it off so much that it actually ended up on my 2013 TBR Reading Challenge list as well! Someone from work heard I wanted to read it, and brought me in their copy to borrow, and that was how it got moved up the list.

Review: I really loved this book. I remember when the movie came out and I wanted to see it, but knew I should read the book first. I'm so glad I waited, I read the book and watched the movie a few days after. And the book was SO SO SO much better. I actually did a post about this book comparing it to the movie awhile back (you can see that post here). I loved the story of Jacob it was incredibly engaging and this was a great book.

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A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

Goodreads Summary: Long ago, in a time forgotten, a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance. In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister and supernatural forces are massing beyond the kingdom's protective Wall. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the land they were born to. Sweeping from a land of brutal cold to a distant summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, here is a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens. 
Here an enigmatic band of warriors bear swords of no human metal; a tribe of fierce wildlings carry men off into madness; a cruel young dragon prince barters his sister to win back his throne; and a determined woman undertakes the most treacherous of journeys. Amid plots and counterplots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, the fate of the Starks, their allies, and their enemies hangs perilously in the balance, as each endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.

Why I Read This Book: Initially, I had marked this book as 'To-read' without thinking too much about it. I knew it was popular, and it sounded good, so fine. Then I decided to make it a 2012 TBR Reading Challenge book on the list I officially made for that. I owned the first book, and that was what I had based making that list on. I put it off and put in off in favor of shorter books. Then, I had some friends start raving about the TV show, and I wanted to watch too. But, I said no Jessica, read the books first. So I am. I always figured I would like the book but for some reason I was not overly excited to read it (old-timey fantasy is not one of my 'normal' genres).

Review: Wow, this book was fantastic. It was extremely detailed, and have several different sub plots which helped you get to know the characters better. I am not normally drawn to fantasy books, but I have read a few and liked them all (with the exception of when I tried to read The Hobbit, but I think I was too young for it when I started that). Often I prefer to watch fantasy things that read them. I loved Harry Potter, Narnia, Fablehaven as books and movies, but they were written for a younger audience. I often find with fantasy books for adults that they are SO detailed that I lose interest and find them a bit boring. I did not find this with A Game of Thrones at all, it was exciting pretty much right from the beginning. I think it helped that you didn't really need to keep TOO many characters straight, as is often the case with massive world building novels. Since there was about 8 different POV's the book was told in, you got an indepth look at the 5-6 characters that were closest to them, and I was able to keep most everyone straight.

I don't want to say much about this book, because I don't want to give anyone spoilers, but even if you think this isn't "your kind" of book, I would still give it a try because it is seriously a great read. It's pretty long thought, just under 900 pages, and its only the first of a long series! It goes without saying (but I will say it, because that's kind of how a blog works) I really look forward to A Clash of Kings! (book 2)

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