A Feast For Crows by George R R Martin

A Feast For Crows

by 

George R R Martin

After a break from reading this series in order to get home made Christmas gifts ready by Thanksgiving, not to mention a dozen custom burp rags made for a great grand daughter's baby shower,  I resumed reading George R R Martin's Game Of Throne series early in December.  I finished the fourth book, A Feast For Crows, last evening.  This book is different than the other three in that it only follows half of the characters while the next book will bring the other half up to speed.  The story has become too involved to keep up with the people in one volume.  Some of my favorites were included in this book though.   Arya is getting her training with the faceless masters and managing to survive in the land of Braavos.  Sansa is navigating survival in  the Vale as she masters hiding her identity.  Sam's story is involved this novel.  He is trying to hold together a band of misfits as he leads them towards Oldtown.  Just as he touches base with two of Jon Snow's half brothers in the prior novel he brushes shoulders with  Arya in this one.  And Brianne, as usual, has a rough time of it.  She continues to navigate outlaws as she is trying to find Sansa.  In fact, the outlaws are hanging the kings soldiers in this novel and the crows are eating their remains.  Hence the title of the book.    Two other characters  whose stories are covered in the volume are Cersei and Jamie.  Quite a bit of the book is spent on details of the Greyjoys and much is written about the kingdom of Dorne. The next book is a continuation of the story and will cover the characters not covered in this one.  I am glad I am taking the time to read this series.  It is so much better than the television series was and so much more tastefully handled.  Anyone who doesn't choose to wrestle through this is missing out.  Please click on the book title and author's name above to follow the link to more information and enjoy a video that can be found HERE.  

 

A Storm Of Swords by George R R Martin

 

A Storm Of Swords

by

George R. R. Martin

George R. R. Martin's A Storm Of Swords is the third book in his series A Song Of Fire and Ice.  This book series was turned into a popular television series on HBO several years ago.  Each book so far has been in excess of one thousand pages.  I have really been enjoying escaping into the land of Westeros this election season.  The books are not difficult to read and I am enjoying them more than I did the television series.  During this novel the character's stories continue.  Jon escapes from the wildlings and returns to the wall to fight a large battle against them.  Samwell kills one of the others and rescues a wildling girl.  Ayra manages to find her way to a ship that is going to take her to the free cities.  Catelyn and Rob are lost at the famous wedding feast.  Sansa and Tyrion both escape from Kings Landing but in different directions.  Daenerys is gathering slaves for an army to retake Westeros as her dragons grow and learn commands.  The book left me wanting more.  But since I have been plowing through the thousand pages each time I checked out one of these three books in less than three weeks I am waiting a bit to check out the fourth one.  I need to catch up on some other things.  Nevertheless I will look forward to book four.  I highly recommend this series whether you have watched the television series or not.  Please click on the book title and author's name above for more information and enjoy the video that can be found by clicking HERE. 

 

A Clash Of Kings by George R R Martin

 

A Clash Of Kings

by

George R R Martin 

The second book of George R R Martin's A Song Of Fire and Ice series is A Clash of Kings.  It is the book that season two of the renown Game Of Thrones television series is based on.   During this election season in the United States reading this series is my escape.  I do keep one eye on the headlines.  But after the 2016 election sent me spiraling into a very sad place I intend to keep the state of the union in perspective.  So spending time in the land of the Westeros is doing that for me.  During this book the character's stories that were started in  book one continue.  We follow Ayra's journey to not be discovered by the Lannisters as she tries to get back to her mom and brother. Jon Snow adjusts to the wearing the black and ventures out with the rangers into the woods and mountains beyond the wall.  Sansa is stuck at the Red Keep and does her best to stay alive.  Catelyn struggles to go on with out Ned as she agonizes over her children's fates.  Bran learns what gifts he has now that he is paraplegic. Daenerys struggles to find support to return to Westeros and reclaim her family throne.  Tyrion and Theon's stories also continue.   This book is bloodier than the first because there are five kings warring for the iron throne so more than a few battles are fought.  The book is, like the first one,  over a thousand pages.  I checked it out from the library on my Kindle and  I was surprised that I did not have to renew it.  I finished it three days before it was due.  And I am looking forward to book three.  I was sucked into  the television series but I am enjoying the books even more.  The television series didn't leave much for the imagination.  I highly recommend reading the books.  Although having watched the television series makes following the books easier,  the books are making relationships, connections and details clearer to me than they were after watching the show.   They are not children's books and are adult reading, but they are excellent books.  Please click on the book title and author's name above to learn more information and follow the link below to enjoy the video.  

Click HERE.  

A Game Of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

 

Game Of Thrones

by

George R. R. Martin 

I avoided watching the Game Of Thrones Series on HBO until just before the final season came out.  Hubs and I were visiting my son and daughter in law during the Christmas holiday and they were watching it so we watched a couple episodes and we got hooked.   We returned home and binged all the episodes, of all the seasons, in time to watch the final season with the rest of the world in real time.  I was shocked that I watched it.  Not only very violent, it was pretty much pornography in some parts.   I was intrigued with the story line though and found myself wanting to read the books.  I put off starting reading them because they are long and I feared they would be difficult.  But with the current political climate in the U.S. I decided this election year I could use an escape.  So I checked out book one on my Libby app and was delightfully surprised.  The book is written in much better taste than the television series depicted.  Of course the violence and sex are there but not in the constant descriptive detail that the television series had.  It is an adult fiction story and not for children but it is not an offensive book.  I sailed through the one thousand some pages rather quickly.  I did have to renew it once but only was a few days into the renewal till I completed it.  I am looking forward to enjoying the rest of the books in the series.  It is going to be a great escape in the coming months.   Click on the book title and author's name above to follow links to more information and enjoy the video that follows.  

https://youtu.be/OG2-6Tj51FM?si=08D8GwN_QcZ33qnW

The Monsters Of Templeton by Lauren Groff

 

The Monsters 

of

Templeton

by

Lauren Groff

I don't know how this book hopped on my to read list but if I could remember who suggested it I would sure thank them.  I checked it out on my kindle app from the State Library of Ohio and had no problems getting it read before it was due.  It really sucked me into the story.  Lauren Groff has created a very different novel and I am not sure how to describe it.  It isn't a historical novel.  It isn't a science fiction or fantasy book.   It isn't a romance.  It has drama.  It has humor.  The author's character development is pure art.  The monster in the lake is a loch nest type monster but to me the true monsters of Templeton are the small minded, small town people and their terrible behavior for the past two hundred years.  Since one of my hobbies is  family history, the protagonists search for the identity of her father by digging through genealogical records was a very interesting part of the book for  me.  There was a high percentage of undocumented paternity in the fictional little town of Templeton, New York.  The author uses Cooperstown as the model for Templeton so baseball fans are wandering about throughout the story.  This book will stay with me and is a favorite.  I will read more of Lauren Groff.  Please click on the book title and author's name above to follow links to more information and enjoy the video that follows.  

Color Capital Of The World by John Kropf

 

Color Capital Of The World

by

John Kropf

Part memoir and part family history this delightful story of the crayon combines local Sandusky history with Ohio history and broadens to include United States History along with  world history.  Written by John Kropf who is a descendant of the founders of the American Crayon Company. His legacy crayon company competed with other crayon companies in the first half of the 20th century.  It absorbed most of the competition but Crayola out survived them. This short book was right up my alley and if you don't read it you are missing out.  The author is close to my age so grew up in the same era as I.  While I did not grow up in Sandusky I did grow up in the midwest.  Therefore the book had some nostalgia for me. The author recommends the following link for more information on crayon history.  Click HERE.   Also click on the authors name and book title above to follow the links to more information.  And enjoy the video that follows.  

Barkskins by Annie Proulx

 

Barkskins 

by

Annie Proulx

This evening I finished Annie Proulx's novel Barkskins.  I had checked it out from the digital library onto my kindle app.  The story begins in the late 1600s when two French indentured servants arrive in New France and follows their descendants until 2013. They are lumberjacks and it is also the story of the forests of North America and other parts of the world such as the tropical rain forests in South America and the ancient trees of New Zealand.  It graphically describes the destruction of the forests and ends with the impacts of deforestation seen today.  The book is divided into units and each unit switches back and forth between the two families.  I found the characters a little hard to remember as it switched back and forth.  There were two family trees in the back of the book.  One for the downline of each indentured servant.  These diagrams helped me keep the people in the book straight.  This is a historical fiction book that touches on environmental issues.  It would be a great choice in the classroom or in a book group.  It also depicts the mistreatment of the eastern Canadian Native Americans.  It is long but worth sticking with it. The National Geographic channel made a tv series out of the book but has only released one season.   Please click on the book title and author's name above for more information and enjoy the video that follows.