Graceling

So when (a month or so ago) I had a bit of time to myself, I finally got to pick up one of my sister's books that she is letting me borrow called Graceling written by Kristin Cashore.

This book is simply brilliant. The main character, Katsa, is a strong female lead who can take care of herself and doesn't need anyone to help her. She was born with a 'grace'. 

People who are born with a Grace in this book are considered as outsiders that people do not want to be around except for in one part of this world Cashore made up.

A Grace is a power only select people are born with. For instance, Katsa's grace is killing people easily. For that reason, most people find her as a threat and want nothing to do with her. The king, on the other hand, basically owns her and uses her for his own purposes.

This is a tale of a woman who starts off friendless and all alone, but one day encounters another that also has a 'fighting' grace, Po. This is a tale of their journey to save his grandfather and to uncover conspiracies in the kingdoms of this world.

Graceling is not a female only book. While it does have romance in it, it is mostly full of adventure and fighting. Men and women alike fall in love with this world full of Graces.

The next book in the series is called Fire, and takes place before this world had happened. As soon as I finish it, I will do a review on that as well =)

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter

I had to read this for a History class and I thought at first... omg... this is going to be so boring. Only because I'm not a big fan of History, but this was a pretty good book! Also, It's very promoted at my school because the writer of this book is one of the Professors here.

This is a book written by Tom Franklin. I have never read any of his other books, but am tempted to after having read this great read.

Here is what is written on the back of the novel :

"In the 1970s, Larry Ott and Silas "32" Jones were boyhood pals in a small town in rural Mississippi. Their worlds were as different as night and day: Larry was the child of lower-middle class white parents, and Silas, the son of a poor, black single mother. But then Larry took a girl to a drive-in movie and she was never seen or heard from again. He never confessed ... and he was never charged.

More than twenty years have passed . Larry lives a solitary, shunned existence, never able to rise above the whispers of suspicion.  Silas has become the town constable. And now another girl has disappeared  forcing two men who once called each other "friend" to confront a past they've buried for decades."

I thought that was the best way tell you about this novel without giving much away! This novel is full of twists and turns and you never really figure out everything until the last minute, which keeps you intrigued and you just want to keep reading more and more.

I fell in love with both of these characters and their stories and each of them had their hard times with their families and other people.

It's a tale of two people who wanted to just be left alone and be able to be friends no matter what their color, but society still hasn't quite accepted that it's okay to be friends with whoever you want.

This is a more serious book than what I usually read, and I'm glad I got to read this book. It truly is a must read.

This author does not have his own website, but he does have a website within the Harper Collins Publisher website. Click here to view it.

Brother Odd

Hello once again! I hope everyone is having a wonder morning/afternoon/night. (It's night over here; I'm tired Dx)

I decided to write a review on Dean Koontz's book called 'Brother Odd'.

For those of you who don't know, this is part of the 'Odd' series. The first one is Odd Tomas and the second one is called 'Forever Odd'. This is the third in the series. The fourth one is called 'Odd Hours' and he also has a manga that was supposed to be placed before the novel series called 'In Odd We Trust.'

Dean Koontz's website for these books.

If you get really caught up in these books and LOVE them, you should check out the 'webisodes.' He posted them on his site. Its just short films about Odd Tomas. They are pretty interesting.

Anyway, back to the review.

I decided to write a review about the third book because I just finished it. lol. So it's fresh and in my head. I really really liked the first one the best though, so I really recommend that one at least.

You can start with any of these books. Koontz (or Odd) recaps most things that happens in the other books. But I don't really recommend starting in the middle because he might not recap everything, which might leave you confused later on.

In short, Odd is a character that can see ghosts. Okay, I know what you're thinking 'LAME'. But it's really not!!! I'm not into aliens and ghosty stuff, but this book is AWESOME!

In this book, Odd is at a convent because of things that happened in the other books. He wanted to get away from his past for a little while and thought that going to a convent would be a quiet place for him to think. But of course, that's not the case.

Although he did get a while of rest, that was only for a short period of time. At this convent, there was also a place where orphans and kids with disorders and mental problems would stay and the nuns would take care of them. Well, this is were Odd saw 'bodachs.'

What is a bodach? A bodach is a creature that shows up when disaster is supposed to happen. Well, if you read the last books, you KNOW this isn't a good sign.

Anyway, Odd's stories all have plenty of adventure in it, and he is the most witty, sarcastic, sweet character you will ever meet.

I would hate to say much more in fear I would give something away, so I will put up what Koontz himself said about this book.

"Through two New York Times bestselling novels Odd Thomas has established himself as one of the most beloved and unique fictional heroes of our time. Now, wielding all the power and magic of a master storyteller at the pinnacle of his craft, Dean Koontz follows Odd into a singular new world where he hopes to make a fresh beginning-but where he will meet an adversary as old and inexorable as time itself.

St. Bartholomew's Abbey sits in majestic solitude amid the wild peaks of California's high Sierra, a haven for children otherwise abandoned, and a sanctuary for those seeking insight. Odd Thomas has come here to learn to live fully again, and among the eccentric monks, their other guests, and the nuns and young students of the attached convent school, he has begun to find his way. The silent spirits of the dead who visited him in his earlier life are mercifully absent, save for the bell-ringing Brother Constantine and Odd's steady companion, the King of Rock 'n' Roll.

But trouble has a way of finding Odd Thomas, and it slinks back onto his path in the form of the sinister bodachs he has met previously, the black shades who herald death and disaster, and who come late one December night to hover above the abbey's most precious charges. For Odd is about to face an enemy who eclipses any he has yet encountered, as he embarks on a journey of mystery, wonder, and sheer suspense that surpasses all that has come before. "