Welcome to the Week 3 CBR 14 Bingo Check-in! You can see the card and the rules on the kick-off post. This week’s mood: Fire! I set tortillas on fire, Kansas set Justice Alito’s dreams on fire, and a bunch of you are cooking with fire. Please check your tags and make sure you are using cbr14bingo. Ale – 4 reviews anana – 1 review andtheIToldYouSos – 1 review ardaigle – 1 review BlackRaven – Blackout booktrovert – 8 reviews Classic – 7 reviews CoffeeShopReader – 6 reviews […]
A Potted History
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling
It seems ridiculous to pen a review of the first Harry Potter novel. This is a world-wide smash hit, everyone has read it (some numerous times – myself included). Everyone knows the story of The Boy Who Lived, and his tumultuous first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. So why am I reviewing this book? Because my family, including my husband, five year old son, and two corgis drove 3,550km across Australia to play in the snow at the Snowy Mountains. We chunked […]
Fantasy Matters
Elantris by Brandon Sanderson
Elantris is a (blessedly) stand alone fantasy novel, centering around the mystery of the fall of Elantris and three main characters, Prince Raoden, Princess Sarene and Gyorn Hrathen. Elantris itself is a walled city, once grand in scale and filled with people who travelled from neighbouring lands after having undergone a seemingly random mythical transformation to become Elantrians. Elantrians were white haired and silver skinned god-like beings who could do magic based on mystical runes. Ten years ago; however, all Elantrians (and the city itself) […]
“No loss is felt more keenly than the loss of what might have been. No nostalgia hurts as much as nostalgia for things that never existed.”
An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine
In one word: Hopeful Cannonball Read Bingo Square: Cozy For a few consecutive months, I challenged my work book club to pick its book based on the heritage month (she says, realizing how smug she sounds) and thus, I read this book in April for Arab American Heritage Month. I was wholly unfamiliar with the author but excited to give something international a try. After selecting it for the club, I realized that my public library didn’t have a copy so I put one on […]
And so the mythos of Gaiman’s Sandman begins – CBR14 Bingo: Adapt
The Sandman, volume 1: Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman, Mike Dringenberg (illustrator), Sam Keith (illustrator), Malcolm Jones III (illustrator), Robbie Busch (colorer), Todd Klein (letterer)
CBR14 Bingo: “Adapt” – The Sandman has recently been adapted into a television series. I discovered The Sandman graphic novels in 2000 and instantly became a fan (with collectibles to show for it!). I’m a sucker for beautiful book editions and when the “Absolute Sandman” editions were released I couldn’t resist. What makes them ‘Absolute’? To quote the Amazon blurb, “The Absolute Sandman Vol. 1 collects issues #1-20 of The Sandman and features completely new coloring, approved by the author on the first 18 issues, as well […]
Kasper growing up
Salamandre by I. N. J. Culbard
Kasper Salamandre is a young man who has recently lost his hero, his father, to a terrible accident. Moping about and acting out, his mother thinks it best if he were to live with his grandfather for a bit. However, it is on the other side of the border, where only The Emperor is praised. Art, music, even beauty like seeds and flowers can be contraband. I. N. J. Culbard’s Salamandre is the story of one family and what they do to do a little […]