In Progress: A Game of Thrones (Continued)

Bantam

I'm not very far into A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, but I've already witnessed incest, attempted murder, murder, extreme gratuitous violence, violent sexual and emotional abuse, along with a litany of other horrible things that have happened in the last two hundred pages.  I'm still hooked, but I had to take a break and read something with a little less gore.  (I checked into one of Susan Mallery's books, reading part of her Fool's Gold series, which includes Just One Kiss.)

Otherwise, I am still enjoying Martin's novel.  I'm slowly beginning to understand the connections between friends and families and foes, and I'm gradually making connections.  I recognize house names now:  Stark, Lannister, Baratheon, Targarygen, among others.  And I'm starting to like characters, like Tyrion Lannister, Arya Stark, Jon Snow, and hating a few others equally (Joffrey Baratheon and Cersei Lannister, just to name a couple).

But my biggest accomplishment has become learning to read the maps Martin put into his book.  Locations are finally taking shape.  I'm starting to recognize the big landmarks and territories, like the Wall and Winterfell, Riverrunn and the Eyrie, King's Landing and the Narrow Sea, and the lands across the sea that are patrolled by the fearsome Dothraki.

I like the details of A Game of Thrones.  There's an intricacy to it that's staggering, because Martin gives each family a history, gives each myth and legend room to grow and thrive.  It's a living, breathing creature that seems to take a shape all its own.  Never static, never stagnating, but always dynamic, always changing and growing with each detail added and story told.

I'm constantly wondering if I'm ever going to catch up to the series.  Thus far, I understand three things:  the Lannisters are terrible conniving people; the Starks are honorable to a fault; Robert Baratheon hates the Targarygens with a fiery passion that (I fear) may lead to his destruction.  I'm curious about all of it, but I'm equally nervous about the entire endeavor.

You see, the only bad thing about reading A Game of Thrones this late in the game is that I've had the opportunity to watch a few episodes of Game of Thrones on HBO.  Moreover, I've had ample opportunity for major plot points to be ruined by commercials, rumors, internet articles, and coworkers.

Yes, I kind of know what's going to happen.  It's a little disheartening when you're sure of the major plot points, but I am glad to have some story to fill in the gaps and explain a little better who's who in Westeros.

I Work at a Public Library

Adams Media

I Work at a Public Library
Gina Sheridan
2014

The Summary
"From a patron's missing wetsuit to the scent of crab cakes wafting through the stacks, I Work at a Public Library showcases the oddities that have come across Gina Sheridan's circulation desk.  Throughout these pages, she catalogs her encounters with local eccentrics as well as the questions that plague her, such as 'What is the standard length of eyebrow hairs?'  Whether she's helping someone scan his face onto an online dating site or explaining why the library doesn't have any dragon autobiographies, Sheridan's bizarre tales prove that she's truly seen it all.

"Stacked high with hundreds of strange-but-true, and sometimes heartwarming, stories, I Work at a Public Library celebrates librarians and the unforgettable patrons who roam the stacks every day."

The Good
Sheridan's book is informative and insightful:  it shows the good and the bad that librarians face every single day.  Now, since I'm working at a library of my own, I can relate to each and every story I encounter in I Work at a Public Library.  It's my work week in a nutshell, I've realized; however, it's also an opportunity to commiserate over and laugh about all the wild and crazy things that happen at the library every day.

Accessible and humorous, I Work at a Public Library was full of little details and anecdotes that make it an absolute gem.  I loved that Sheridan classified and alphabetized each story she recounted, as one would in a library.  Each story feels like it's listed in and pulled from a card catalog, and I was so thrilled when I realized what Sheridan had done with her book.  I got a kick out of it.

And then there's Cuckoo Carol.

She was my absolute favorite "character."  Her chapter was the best for the simple reason that I have a Cuckoo Carol in my life.  (Actually, I have two or three who, like Carol, test the limits of human patience and make my job a little more interesting each week.)  She was cheeky, she was sarcastic and brutally honest, but she was virtually harmless, if a little infuriating, and she was absolutely hilarious.  This book would not have been the same without Cuckoo Carol.

The Bad
Honestly, it was too short.  I would have loved to have heard more about Cuckoo Carol and the other patrons that Sheridan (and other librarians) has worked with throughout the years.

The Ugly
It's very, very true.  No, seriously, these stories are one hundred percent true.  They happen every day at libraries around the world.

And, sometimes, it's even worse in person.

Hyperbole and a Half

Touchstone Books

Hyperbole and a Half
Allie Brosh
2013

The Summary
Taken from the award-winning blog of the same name, Hyperbole and a Half chronicles the musings (and misadventures) of Allie Brosh.  Simultaneously enlightening and hilarious, Brosh's graphic memoir is chock full of amusing anecdotes, enjoable asides, humorous stories (see:  "The Goose Story"), and psychological introspection that's sure to hit you right in the heart and, more importantly, cause uproarious laughter.

The Good
I absolutely adored Hyperbole and a Half.  I think I laughed the entire time I was reading.  With it's crude illustrations, blunt sense of humor, foul-mouthed narrator, and heart-breaking honesty, Brosh's novel is an absolute gem.  Granted, I liked some stories more than others (again, see "The Goose Story"), but I enjoyed the entire book and devoured it in a single night.

Brosh was honest and funny and, truthfully, entirely relatable as she recounted her experiences and shared her most intimate memories.  Her flaws - which I can say I share a number of them - are what make her real, make her so intensely accessible as an illustrator and a narrator.  She's an absolute joy to read, and she knows how to tell a story, which makes Hyperbole and a Half well worth reading.

The Bad
Truthfully, after I read about Allie's encounter with a rogue goose, nothing else could quite compare.

The Ugly
Allie Brosh is brutally honesty about her experiences.  She shows her readers that life isn't all about sunshine and rainbows.  Sometimes, its just rain clouds - and corn (which doesn't make sense now, but it will.  Trust me.)

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For more on Hyperbole and a Half, check out Allie Brosh's blog:  http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/

Bonus: Just One Kiss

Harlequin

Just One Kiss
Susan Mallery
2013

The Summary
"He won't hesitate to put his life on the line...but will he ever risk his heart?

"Falling for Justice Garrett was a high point in Patience McGraw's otherwise awkward adolescence.  Even after he disappeared, Patience never forgot the boy who captured her heart.  Now, he's back in Fool's Gold, California, and her passion for him is as strong.

"When bodyguard Justice Garrett was a young man, witness protection brought him to this idyllic town and he never forgot its warmth, or the sweet beauty of his childhood friend.  He's returned to open a defense academy, and the Patience he once knew is all grown up.  He can't resist her smile, or her curves.  But Justice's past doesn't make him husband, or father, material.

"Patience and Justice think they'll succumb to just one kiss...then one more...Okay, just one night together.  But they might learn that falling in love is beyond anyone's control."

The Good
I've read other books in the Fool's Gold series starting with the second book and bouncing around to different books at different times, not really realizing it all fell into place in one tiny town in California.  Like Almost Perfect and Chasing Perfect and Finding Perfect (and approximately 20 other novels), Just One Kiss is a sweet little romance with nicely depicted characters - who are perfectly imperfect, like most in the Fool's Gold series - and adequate amounts of suspense.

I liked falling back into Fool's Gold.  It's a quirky little town with a cast of characters that runs a mile long, but I imagine it's not a bad place to live.  I liked Justice and Patience, because they seemed like genuinely nice people, and I liked their story.  It wasn't the best romance I've ever read, but it was an enjoyable trip into their world.

It wasn't bad; it wasn't great.  It falls somewhere in between, becoming a quick escape into a mostly perfect world - and, honestly, it's nice to see good things happen for a change.  (Unlike in A Game of Thrones.)

The Bad
Like most romance novels, Just One Kiss follows a familiar plot:  boy and girl meet, boy and girl fall in love, boy and/or girl believe they can't remain in love, boy or girl leaves but then realizes their mistake and quickly returns.  Granted, circumstances and names and plot points will change - Justice Garrett, for instance, was in witness protection; his dad was the reason he couldn't stay; and Patience is a single mom - but, at it's core, Mallery's novel has a similar plot.

However, I enjoyed Just One Kiss regardless.  It's familiarity was comforting, it's story was interesting enough to hold my attention, and it was easy to finish in a matter of hours.  Maybe it fell into the same rut as many romance novels, but I still enjoyed it.

The Ugly
Families aren't perfect:  sometimes, parents make mistakes - and, sometimes, Dad is a criminal who plots his revenge against the child who testified against him in court.

Unfinished III

I love books.  I love books to the point of being obsessive, in fact, and I have a funny habit of wanting to complete each and every book I open.  Sometimes, that's not practical, I know; sometimes, I don't have time or I don't have the inclination to read (shocking) or I simply lose interest - and, sometimes, a book is just plain bad.

Here are a few of those books that I just couldn't seem to finish.

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Barron's Educational Series

I picked up Twisted Fairy Tales by Maura McHugh on a whim one day.  I mistakenly thought it would give me a glimpse at my favorite fairy tales as they were originally told - they're twisted enough as it is, and they need no tweaking in order to perturb or frighten readers - but I discovered that McHugh hadn't simply gathered up my favorite fairy tales, she'd rewritten and revised them to reflect altogether different stories.

While I was intrigued by the retelling of "Snow White," in which delicate little Snow White became a fierce and merciless warrior, I just couldn't seem to stay with the story for very long.  I simply had no interest in seeing my favorite tales remade.

I mean, I grew up on Disney movies, so I've seen every fathomable reincarnation of fairy tales possible; however, I've also perused the original stories, seeing them as they were intended to be read.  And I expected to have a glimpse of some of the most sinister, most frightening, most gruesome fairy tales imaginable, as the Hans Christen Anderson and the Brothers Grimm intended.

I was a bit disappointed, and I quickly lost interest.

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Pantheon

Emma:  A Modern Retelling by Alexander McCall Smith is, of course, a remake of the classic Emma by Jane Austen.  Although it borrows heavily from the original work, Emma:  A Modern Retelling is an entirely unique piece of work that gives a delightfully modern twist to Austen's most beloved characters.

McCall Smith has an interesting way of reincarnating Jane Austen's characters, her prose, her wit, her intelligence, without compromising his own sense of style and his own sense of humor.  And I think he does a fine job of bringing Emma into the twenty-first century.

However, I didn't find Emma endearing in the slightest.  As a character, she had a narrow field of vision and she had a selfishness that just didn't agree with me.  Granted, I enjoyed McCall Smith's writing and I liked the overall tone of the novel - and I'm quite sure that Smith stays close to Austen's original characters - but I just couldn't seem to enjoy Emma.

I disliked her on a personal level, especially when she continued to exert her influence on Harriet.  I just didn't like her and, with her being the main character of the novel, I struggled to stay with it, until, finally, I just gave up and put it aside.

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Harry N. Abrams Publishers

I was enchanted by the cover of The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier.  I absolutely loved the way it looked, the blues and greens and blacks that combined to form a chilling and intriguing cover.  It invited me in, enchanted me unexpectedly, and I could not wait to read the book.

And then I read the book.

I liked The Night Gardener.  I was intrigued by the premise, I admired the characters and character descriptions, and I even enjoyed the level of detail which Auxier provided.  He fashioned a tale that was both spooky and suspenseful without growing macabre or gruesome.  It seemed to have such promise - and I really had high hopes - but I just couldn't dig into the story.

I don't know what happened.  I put it down, and then I finally put it aside without bothering to get farther than the fourth or fifth chapter.

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Pyr

Ghosts of Manhattan by George Mann appealed to my interest in science-fiction and history, creating a fascinating world that opens in the midst of the Prohibition - when Britain still claims an empire, Queen Victoria has only recently been buried, and biplanes and coal-powered cars are a favored form of transportation - and fashions an intriguing antihero in The Ghost.

Unfortunately, The Ghost simply felt like a cruder reincarnation of Batman, living a double life (which reminisced of Fitzgerald's Gatsby) and fighting his own personal demons as he fights crime, and I wasn't impressed by the writing.  It read like a noir film feels:  dramatic, drab, and gray - and I just didn't care for it.

Not to mention I wasn't too fond of the unmitigated gore.  It just didn't suit me.

Maybe, I'll try it again in the future and, maybe then, I'll appreciate it; however, for the time being, I'll stick with other books.