Camp NaNoWriMo begins!

April 1 marks the beginning of first round of Camp NaNoWriMo for 2015. I wrote my first NaNoWriMo winner in November and I’m eager to get back into the kind of dedicated writing NaNo fosters.

This session, I am working on a fantasy novel (shocking, I know). In Camp NaNoWriMo, you are able to specify your word count – I’m aiming for 30,000 words rather than the traditional 50k. It’s entirely possible I will go beyond 30k, though. We shall see.

My novel is currently titled Lordling & Assassin, which might give you some ideas about the plot. Thora Roshani is a mercenary and assassin in her early twenties. She meets up with Callan, the second son of a lord, in the aftermath of a battle and agrees to lead him home for a sizable reward. It sounds like an easy job – but Thora and Callan soon find themselves fleeing Callan’s family home to save their lives. They must learn to work together to survive – and to free Callan’s home from the tyrannical Fior. I’m intentionally trying to mess with fantasy tropes a bit, or at least create more diverse characters. Thora is a powerful, but flawed woman of color. There’s a crotchety old lesbian couple who are active in the mercenary community.

Kingsman: The Secret Service by Mark Millar, Dave Gibbons & Matthew Vaughn

I love spy things. I grew up watching James Bond and adore the TV show Archer. I only heard about Kingsman: The Secret Service when the film with Colin Firth came out recently. I put the graphic novel on hold, fully intending to read it and compare it to the movie.

Haven’t seen the movie yet. And now I’m not sure I want to.

Based on the trailers, the Kingsman movie appears to deviate significantly from the source material. That, obviously, is very common in movie adaptations (I’m looking at you, Peter Jackson’s Hobbit movies…). But I really enjoyed this graphic novel, which was written by the creator of Kick-Ass and illustrated by one of the creators of Watchmen. I’m concerned that the movie will lose the important themes of the graphic novel.

The Secret Service follows the adventures of Gary. He’s grown up on a London estate (low income housing, for my fellow Americans who haven’t watched a lot of British television) and his life is basically going nowhere. He, his younger brother and his mom live with her drunk, abusive boyfriend and Gary spends his nights stealing cars and wreaking havoc with his friends. That is, until his uncle (and renowned secret agent) Jack London shows up. Taken under Jack’s wing, Gary is trained to be a spy. The story of his espionage education is woven into a larger mystery concerning disappearing celebrities (including Mark Hamill, David Beckham, etc.).

Because of Gary’s background, class distinctions are discussed throughout Kingman. Environmental concerns prove to be a driving force behind the plot. The media and the culture it creates are critiqued as well. These topics are not necessary fleshed out to the degree I would like, but the story is contained in only one volume, so space is limited. Gary’s mom is a pretty realistic depiction of a woman trapped in an abusive relationship, but any other female characters are few and far between.

Overall, this graphic novel somehow combines a fun spy coming-of-age story with themes of class struggle, environmentalism and media culture. 4 cups of tea.
4 Cup

The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett

This was actually a re-read. I read this last year during my last semester of college as an ebook and I didn’t remember it most of it. When Terry Pratchett met Death earlier this month, I was motivated to pick it and begin reading the Discworld series in earnest.

The best way to describe The Color of Magic is one word. Fun. Terry Pratchett’s writing and world-building are both hilarious and absurd, filled with puns and irony and just good old fun. The Color of Magic is almost a buddy comedy between a naive tourist and a failed wizard. There are very loyal trunks with legs and dragons and all sorts of shenanigans.

I enjoyed this book a lot. It was a fun, short read. I’m interested in continuing on in the Discworld, but I think this will be a more casual reading than my frenzied flight through other (much shorter) series. There are 40 books to get through! 4 cups of tea.

4 Cup

Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes


If you watch Lainey (gingerreadslainey) on BookTube, you’ve no doubt heard of the Falling Kingdoms series. I listened to the first book, Falling Kingdoms, on audiobook from Hoopla, which is a streaming media service through my library (shameless library service plug). I’ve always enjoyed listening to audiobooks on roadtrips, especially the Jim Dale-narrated Harry Potter ones. Falling Kingdoms was well-narrated, though the voice the narrator used for Magnus reminded me a lot of Kit Harington’s Jon Snow in Game of Thrones. (Not really a bad thing.) What I didn’t like was that the description of the book revealed as semi-twist concerning Lucia.

The plot centers around the continent of Mytica, which is divided into three countries: cold, pious Limeros in the north, sunny, properous Auranos in the south and the dying nation of Paelsia in between. The four main characters are divided among these three nations: Cleo is the Princess of Auranos, Jonas is a poor Paelsian wine merchant’s son and Magnus and Lucia belong to the Limerian royal family. Their stories are woven together gradually, finally colliding at the end of the book. This is clearly a set-up book and I’ve heard good things about the sequels (there will be six books in the finished series).

Falling Kingdoms has been described as the YA version of A Song of Ice and Fire; it is full of political intrigue and death. But – perhaps because I’m familiar with fantasy tropes and the plot twists – I found Falling Kingdoms very predictable. I was able to predict all but maybe one or two plot ‘twists’. I was also sometimes able to predict the next sentence or word before the narrator said it.

This predictability is not necessarily a bad thing – I definitely enjoyed the book. The characters are interesting. I feel this series would be an excellent starting point for someone looking to get into fantasy. The writing is approachable (if a bit repetitive and using modern phrase), without any of the specialized jargon that often comes with fantasy. There’s plenty of twists and action to entertain a more seasoned fantasy veteran as well. I liked all the characters and wanted to find out what happened to them next, but didn’t have a particular favorite.

Overall, I give Falling Kingdoms 4 cups of tea. It’s a fun, fast-paced YA fantasy that is approachable for non-fantasy readers. I’m interested in continuing the series, but don’t feel the strong desire to dive into the next book like Mistborn or the Winner’s Trilogy. Maybe someday.

 

Friday Reads: March 27, 2015

After the heartbreak of The Winner’s Crime and a month-straight binge on fantasy, I’m ready to read something a little bit different. Don’t worry – I’ll be back to fantasy in no time. I plan to start some or all of the following this weekend:

  • The Last Flight of Poxl West by Daniel Torday
    • A Jewish young man learns that his Uncle Poxl’s past during WWII might be far different – and darker – than his memoir states.
  • March: Book One and March: Book Two by Rep. John Lewis
    • An autobiographical graphic novel of Rep. John Lewis’ life, focusing on his participation in the Civil Rights movement.
  • Kingsman: The Secret Service by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons
    • Gary, an English kid who’s gotten into his fair share of trouble, is taken under his uncle Jack London’s wing and learns to be a spy.

Three very different books (I’m counting the two volumes of March as one), but all things I enjoy. Poxl West examines WWII history and the complexity of memory – two subjects I enjoyed exploring in college. I’m excited to read March after seeing Selma. My Civil Rights history isn’t the greatest and I definitely want to learn more about this important (and often disturbing) period in American history. And finally, I haven’t seen the Kingsman movie, but I love spy things. I grew up watching James Bond and I love the TV show Archer. I’m interested in comparing the graphic novel to the film when I finally get around to seeing it.

My reading will be somewhat limited this weekend due to basketball. The NCAA Tournament is going on and I’m going to the Elite Eight game held in Cleveland, which is Kentucky vs. Notre Dame. I’ve been following the Tourney my entire life, but have never seen a Tournament game live, so I’m ridiculously excited!

Happy Friday!

The Winner’s Crime by Marie Rutkoski

I enjoyed the first book in the Winner’s Trilogy, The Winner’s Curse, and gave it 4 stars (or cups, using my new blog rating scale). Maybe 4.5. The writing was absolutely beautiful and I loved the characters, but I wanted more world-building. I didn’t feel like I could completely ‘see’ Herran and Valorian society.

Well, I definitely got my wish in The Winner’s Crime. There’s a map, which everyone knows is vital to a good fantasy novel. If possible, the writing is even more beautiful. The characters continue to be amazing and the world has been wonderfully fleshed out. Also – can we take a moment to appreciate that women in Marie Rutkoski’s world are not just princesses and maids? They are engineers and bookies and skilled dressmakers and soldiers.

This book made my heart hurt. So much of the conflict in The Winner’s Crime is internal and Marie Rutkoski’s beautiful prose only makes the character’s doubts and inner turmoil all the more poignant and heart-wrenching. This series is dark. The romance is important to the story, but it is just as complex as the plot with all its betrayal and war and torture.

I adore Kestrel as a character. She is strong, but not in the traditional female warrior way. She is smart and clever, but she’s still naïve. She makes mistakes, she gets caught, she harms the people she loves both accidentally and intentionally. She is complex and real in a way that more YA protagonists should be.

I also love Arin, who is just as complex as Kestral. He faces similar challenges, but their goals and methods don’t always align and that causes great turmoil for this couple. Their love is a slow burn, with the potential for great destruction – for themselves and their nations. It’s glorious and heart-breaking to read.

To sum The Winner’s Crime up: I loved it, I loved it, I loved it. If you haven’t checked out this fantastic YA fantasy series, please do. It’s dark and beautiful. Not sure how I’m going to survive until next year, when the final book comes out. 5 Cups of Tea.

Yarn Discovery Tour 2014 & Christmas Knitting

My mom and I participated in the Northeast Ohio Yarn Discovery Tour, which is held September 5 – 20. We visited all 17 yarn stores on the tour and bought waaaaay too much yarn. (See my Yarn Discovery Stash tag on Rav here.) My mom also won the 10 shop prize basket. We’re probably past SABLE (Stash Aquisition Beyond Life Expectancy) at this point.

The past few days having been very productive for Christmas knitting. I planned out all the presents I’m making and finished four projects (for my stepsister, my dad, my stepmom and my mom – pictures forthcoming). I still have a bunch of stuffed animals to make for my cousins’ kids – aaaand I just realized I have nothing queued for my other cousin. Will work on that. I’m obviously not doing colorwork, as I had planned. It was just a little bit too daunting and was preventing me from actually going ahead with my Christmas knitting. All of my Christmas knitting projects are going to be made from stash yarn. I’m now rewarding myself with a little selfish knitting using some of my Yarn Discovery Tour yarn.

It’s that time of year again…

The time to think about Christmas knitting. Everything from last year was finished on time – except for my mom’s cardigan, which is still sitting at the bottom of my knitting bag unfinished. Oops.

This year, my goal is to use up my stash. I’m hoping not to buy any additional yarn for Christmas presents this year. Problem is, I’m pretty selfish about my yarn. I’m not exactly willing to use my good wool and sock yarn for other people – I want it all to myself. That leaves me with lots (and I mean LOTS) of bits of acrylic left over from the early days of my stash.

And what do you do with a bunch of leftovers?

A lot of stranded colorwork.

So I’ve been systematically going through Ravelry, looking for interesting stranded patterns. Problem is, a fair portion of my family lives in California and Virginia (although, with the winter Virginia had last year, warm things might be welcomed eagerly). There are also a lot of kids in the California crew (5!), so small stuffed toys are also on the list.

I’m going to say I’ll be better about updating this blog, especially since I’ve graduated and am only working part-time. We’ll see if that actually happens…

And we’re back…

Today was the first day of my final semester of undergrad (yikes!) and the first day of Library Internship 2.0. Well, technically it’s a fellowship, just like Heights was an apprenticeship. But anyway…

First off, I’m not alone in this experience – I working with a fellow senior I’ll refer to as C. We started with a tour of the library and meeting all the staff we’ll be working with. Despite being here for 3+ years, there were corners of the library that I had never seen before. I definitely scoped out a few new places to work on finishing my German thesis. Afterwards we discussed more of the details of the fellowship. Our semester-long project is tied to the use of space in a library. A fair amount of the library’s print journal collection is being cancelled and a large portion of the print reference collection could be removed as well. These changes will leave a lot of open floor space on the main floor of huge library. C and I are going to try and figure out what to do with it.

The rest of this week is devoted to researching the planning of library spaces. We have our first article discussion on Friday. And next week we start in the archives!

A Christmas Knitting Update

So, you know how I was so pumped that I’d started my Christmas knitting in August and had sooooooooo much time to finish it?

Being a senior double-major messes with plans, folks.

I have 16 days before Christmas and the following to knit:

  • 1 golf club cozy for my dad
  • 1 fingerless glove for my stepsister
  • 1 cardigan for my mom

Actually, that’s better than I thought it was. Cardigan has been delivered to my cousin. Stepmom’s headband is finished. I wove my grandmother’s present instead of knitting it. Definitely not as bad as I thought.

Although I should probably get something together for the BF’s families…