drachenbraut23 (Bianca) off to another round of fun :)

Welcome, welcome everyone and please make yourself comfortable :) All visitors are welcome, whether you like to lurk, comment, discuss or well, maybe you just want to have a little bit of fun. *smile*



I thought I start my new thread with another one of my fave Alex pic's - Thank you mamie for giving me this wonderful idea :)

My ticker for 2013




My ticker for the 13 Category Challenge




And here are my categories for the 13 category challenge 2013

#01 Let's be creative and broaden our horizon This can be anything Non-Fiction such as Science, History, Biography or whatever fetches my interest.
#02 Why don't you like me? Books from various banned book lists eg ALA.
#03 Misfits Anything which doesn't fit a particular category
#04 Let's see if we can make it Dystopian, Post-Apocalyptic, Horror
#05 Don't break my Heart Well, some romance for chilling out is necessary as well.
#06 I think I am special! Anything long- or shortlisted for various Booker prizes, Nobel, 1001 Books etc.
#07 I love to play Children or YA literature
#08 Who is trying to sneak into my home? Mysteries and Thrillers
#09 Across Time Historical Fiction
#10 Return to the classics I am planning to reread some of my classics, but also to read some classics I haven't tried before :)
#11 Once upon a time.... Fantasy
#12 Is this the Future? Science Fiction
#13 Newfangled? What's that? Contemporary Fiction

And this is where you can find my 13 category challenge thread

January

#01 Warbreaker - Brandon Sanderson - 672 pages review
#02 Low Town - Daniel Polansky - 384 pages review
#03 ♬ Der Wunschpunsch - Michael Ende - 240 pages review
#04 The Walking Dead Vol.4 - The Heart's Desire - Robert Kirkman - 136 pages review
#05 We Sinners - Hanna Pylväinen - 189 pages review
#06 Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood - 436 pages
#07 Warm Bodies - Isaac Marion - 256 pages
#08 The Alchemist of Souls - Anne Lyle - 480 pages
#09 ♬ The Knife of Never Letting Go - Patrick Ness - 496 pages
#10 The Year of the Flood - Margaret Atwood - 528 pages

Currently Reading

Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoi

♬ The Snow Queen - Joan D. Vinge

Kindle Book Haul

Well, a lot of them were kindle deals or for free *smile*

#01 How to Destroy the Universe - Paul Parsons
#02 Seraphina - Rachel Hartman
#03 Naomi's Room - Jonathan Aycliffe
#04 Angelfall - Susan Ee
#05 Touch of Power - Maria V. Snyder
#06 The Hundred Year Old Man who climbed out of the Window and dissapeared - Jonas Jonasson
#07 Magic Dreams Ilona Andrews
#08 Lady of Devices - Shelley Adina
#09 Lost Christmas - David Logan
#10 Swimming Home - Deborah Levy
#11 Candle in the Mirror - Erin Altriama
#12 The Alchemist of Souls - Anne Lyle
#13 Domain of the Dead - Iain McKinnon
#14 The Woodcutter - Kate Danley
#15 Little Women - Louisa Mary Alcott
#16 A Job From Hell - Jayde Scott
#17 Raven - Suzy Turner
#18 Island of Wings - Karin Altenberg
#19 Old Filth - Jane Gardam

and one audiobook ♬ The Dog Stars - Peter Heller

Well, and that's even so I didn't want to get any new books this month. Hm, maybe I will do better next month :)

Just stopping by to say I'm glad Alex is on the mend. Sounds like you had a very stressful week.

You mentioned on my thread that you are planning to read A Tale of Two Cities this year. I found that a difficult read. I had a hard time understanding what was going on until I was almost at the end of it. I am sure I missed many things in that book! I hope you have better luck with it.

I love that picture, Bianca! How sweet! Congrats on the new thread!

Your Alex is a cutie, Bianca, although I imagine he's quite a bit bigger than that bear now!

Congratulations on the new thread!

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

I think my papaw-meter blew something with the cuteness of that!

Your picture put a smile on my face, Bianca. I remember when my grandchildren were that size, seems like only yesterday but they are now 13 and 8! They grow up so quickly.

I recently was part of the group read of A Tale of Two Cities and I loved the book. I went with the audio version and at the time was ill with the flu, I spent many hours on the couch listening to the book and was totally captivated. Dickens does take some adjustments as he is very, shall we say long-winded, but his stories are hard to beat.

I'm happy to hear that Alex is on the mend!

Very cute picture. Has he still got the bear?

Hi Bianca, so Alex is feeling better? These are definitely some good news! :) Very cute picture by the way. Have a nice week!

Busy new thread, Bianca. I'm also happy Alex is feeling better.

Love the pic, Bianca. His bear's on the lookout, and all's well with the world.

Still following along. Happy reading!

Hello Heidi thank you. Yes, it was quite stressful, most stressful of all was the lack of sleep. Thanks for the tip with the Dickens. I will remember that when reading that book :) I know he can be a bit longwinded at times, which make his works slow reading.

Thank you very much mamie and you are welcome!

Dejah thank you - ahem, he is quite a bit bigger now. Since he discovered a passion for food a few years back and doesn't like sports he kind of turned into a tiny Moby Dick - however, the girls don't seem to mind that much :)

Haha thank you Richard he definately can blow the cutiemeter in that pic :)

*sigh* yes Judy they grow far to quickly. I still can't believe that he is already 13 going on to 14 this year.
I remember the group read in December. Actually, I wanted to take part and I had the book in London with me, but then I got so caught up with my work that I didn't read it. I have read Dickens before, so I know that he can be a bit long-winded in his writing which can make the reading a bit slow.

rosalita thank you very much. I am quite happy as well, I have to admit that I was really worried that he had to be admitted to hospital. Alex hates hospitals, so I am glad that they gave him another chance at home.

Hi Jenny yes we still have got the bear, it is actually my moms bear. We used the bear quite often as a pillow for him, because it was so comfy. :)

Hi Kathy yes,yes and yes. He is still unwell, but he is definately going in the right direction now and we have been able to avert the hospital admission. :) Wish you a lovely week as well.

Thank you Roni :) I am very happy as well.

Excactly Joe very nicely observed :).

Thank you Melissa, the same to you! Reading anything good at present?

Hi! Just pulling up a chair on the new thread.

Re: our living at high altitude - it's not just us, it's everyone. If you get a respiratory illness at altitude, you just have a higher chance of it getting worse than it would at lower elevations. Hence the nebulizer. Most of us have one around somewhere. I have definitely noticed that coughs go away faster when we use it, even with just a saline solution. Right now flu (B) is going around and we are avoiding human contact when possible. LOL

Hi, Bianca. Thanks for delurking on my thread. :) Do you still have that beautiful dog that's on your profile page? I love the category: "Why don't you like me?" for the banned books.

Hi Bianca- Congrats on the new thread! And I'm very glad to hear Alex is doing better. Poor little fella!

I'm having to skim loads because of the sheer number of threads I'm behind... is Alex all better now? Oh, and area you taking care of yourself?

Hey there, Bianca! :)

I hope mister whiny guts is in fine form today and getting well and truly fed up of being ill!

*fighting a losing battle with LT addiction*

>1 drachenbraut23: : so cute
>4 Cobscook: : have you tried tutored reads?

Such a sweet Alex picture:)

Hope he is feeling better and that you are managing to get some rest yourself.

Beautiful picture! What a cutie patootie!

Such a cute picture!

Hi, Bianca! I'm glad to hear that Alex is doing better. BTW, out of curiosity, which antibiotic(s) is he on?

My word Bianca you and Diana are flying the European flag high this year with both of you ensconced in the top ten threads. Congratulatins on the latest and I am so pleased that Alex is improving.

What a lovely photo of Alex!

Great photo of Alex! I love that the bear is bigger than he is!

I participated in the group/tutored read of AToTC with Judy this past year. It really helped. Also, Sparknotes and Cliff Notes both have free online notes for AToTC. Book one was a chore to get through for me but once you make it to Book Two it really picks up.

So glad Alex is better!

Hi Bianca - stopping by to stake out a space on your new thread. Very happy to learn that Alex is on the mend!

Just went through the old thread to check for Alex news, and I am so relieved he is finally doing better. Keeping my fingers pressed for a quick recovery.
I finished Der Wunschpunsch, and while it isn't my favorite Michael Ende Book, it was just lovely!

Have a nice week!

That is such a cute picture, Bianca :-) Glad to hear Alex is getting better.

#23 No, I have not tried tutored reads but I could have used one for AToTC. I did lurk on the Persuasion tutored read and enjoyed it immensely.

#31 I never thought of looking for Sparknotes or Cliff notes online...will have to keep that in mind for future tough classic reads.

Happy to hear that Alex is feeling better, Bianca! Has the snow stuck around?

I use SparkNotes wherever possible when I'm reading a classic. It helps a lot.

Hey Bianca - Just dropping by to see how you and Alex are both doing. Take care of yourself, too!

LOL back Jenn well, so you avoid human contact during peak times of outbrakes and the good thing is that the nebulizer help. I wonder whether everyone living in high altitudes is more prone to chest infections. Something I have to look into. Glad you made yourself comfortable :)

Hello Jadebird yes we still do have that fine specimen of a dog on my profile picture, he is called Ayke and our family darling. Noisy, protective, scares all visitors away and the biggest cuddler in the world. :)

Hi Mark thank you :) Yes, I am glad that he is doing better as well and I am actually quite hopeful that he will be able to go back to school next week.

Haha Tina yes Alex is still improving and I am taking care of myself with lots of coffee AND reading. Although, for the past two days I have been busy with snow shoveling :)

Hey there Stephen :)

LOL Mr whiny guts is definately on the mend Jenny and getting fed up of being in bed :) He got really cross with me yesterday, when I had to go shopping in a nearby town and he couldn't go. So, he threw a little hissing fit declaring "If I can't go - you can't go, that's not fair" LOL

Nina are you still fighting this terrible LT addiction? I lost this battle already month ago. *grin* - glad to hear it so.

Thank you calm we are getting there :) Alex will be so pleased to hear that everyone says he was a cute toddler :)

Amber thank you, our babies are always the love of our lifes :)

Thank you Diana :)

Darryl he was initially on the usual fare of Amoxcicillin and because he deteriorated on that, they changed him on Sat on max dose of Erythromycin and restarted regular Salbutamol inhalers. However, he started to improve now also he still is very tired, but at least hist temperature has come down to normal over the past 24 hours. :)

He Paul you are kidding me - ME in the top ten? You must have got your stats wrong. Have to see that with my own eyes 8).

Thank you Linda :)

Hehe Chelle not anymore and we still do have the bear, nowadays used as a big comfy pillow :)

Roberta, Heidi and Morphy I do use sparknotes and cliffnotes as well and what I found very useful as well are the annotated editions you can get.

Hello Lori hope you found a nice and comfy corner, where you can put your legs up and chill out and thank you for your wishes for Alex.

Hi Nathalie thank you to you as well and I am glad you enjoyed Der Wunschpunsch. This one and Momo are my faves, also I loved The Neverending Story as well.

Thank you Susan. I have heard this morning the terrible news about the helicopter in Vauxhall, I was really shocked and glad that it didn't turn out even more catastrophic, considering the area it happened.

Dejah thank you! Yep, taking care of myself as well and I finished with The Alchemist of Souls which I really enjoyed :)

Alex is doing much better now and didn't have any fever since last night *so glad*, also he still has got this awful persisten cough. He is still somewhat tired and exhausted, no surprise there, but we are definately going now in the right direction of recovery.
Here a pic from Alex last night with my brothers mad little dog Paula *smile*. Paula asleep in her prefered position and Alex quite content.



and here just for fun - Paula relaxing with some music *grin*

Great to see that Alex is on the mend

I love both those pictures!!! Paula looks like she has quite the life of luxury! :)

#06 Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood

Genre: Dystopian - 436 pages
Rating: 4.5/5

“The male frog in mating season," said Crake, "makes as much noise as it can. The females are attracted to the male frog with the biggest, deepest voice because it suggests a more powerful frog, one with superior genes. Small male frogs—it's been documented—discover if they position themselves in empty drainpipes, the pipe acts as a voice amplifier and the small frog appears much larger than it really is."
So?"
So that's what art is for the artist, an empty drainpipe. An amplifier. A stab at getting laid.”

“Immortality,' said Crake, ' is a concept. If you take 'mortality' as being, not death, but the foreknowledge of it and the fear of it, then 'immortality' is the absence of such fear. Babies are immortal. Edit out the fear, and you'll be...”

“Jimmy, look at it realistically. You can't couple a minimum access to food with an expanding population indefinitely. Homo sapiens doesn't seem to be able to cut himself off at the supply end. He's one of the few species that doesn't limit reproduction in the face of dwindling resources. In other words - and up to a point, of course - the less we eat, the more we fuck."

"How to do you account for that?" said Jimmy

"Imagination," said Crake. "Men can imagine their own deaths...human beings hope they can stick their souls into someone else...and live on forever.”

Woah, this was such a terrific read, a powerful rollercoaster ride, scary, dark, but also funny and ironic. It is a book filled with coarse language but sucks you in anyway. The questions raised in this story, nothing new there, but presented in a truly compelling way. Where should we draw the line in regards to gen technological manipulations of humans, animals and nature? Do we deserve to live, with all the power we have to destroy our planet and ourselves? What are the repercussions of what we are creating in regards to our children?

Somewhere, not too far in the future we meet Snowman, who appears to be the only human survivor of a global biological and ecological disaster. Trying to survive in this new situation with genetically altered animals, plants and a new type of hybrid people – not quite human, but not animal either – he slowly faces starvation. Whilst Snowman forages for supplies his story unfolds and we meet the boy and then the man, Snowman has been before the catastrophe hit. We hear the story of the boy Jimmy, who grows into a relatively naive and shallow young man and together we hurtle towards the end of the world. We meet Crake his childhood friend, a genius and mad scientist, and Oryx, whom they both loved.

What I loved about the story was Atwood’s incredible imagination. She presents us with pigoons, unique modified pigs used for organ harvesting, rakunks, wolvogs, well then we get ChickyNobbs, happycuppa and the likes, as hardly anything natural is available anymore. Aside from internet porn, games and executions she also presents us with an assisted suicide site called nitee-nite.com, if that’s nothing? This was such a marvelous read, and I am certainly looking forward to the sequel.

Hello Rhian and Tina, *wave* thank you :) Yes, Paula is quite a princess, she is my brothers dog and only stays with us when he is working abroad - such as now - and he spoiled her rotten. She kind of believes that she is - well, she certainly doesn't think of herself being a dog *grin*

Fantastic review -- thumbs up!! :)

Miss Paula pooch would love it at my house. The dogs rule here!

Hi Bianca, love your review. Must add this book to my growing WL.

Lovely pic of Alex, i'm glad to hear/read that he's doing much better.
Good luck with the Dr :)

I love your review of Oryx and Crake. I wish I could write like that.

I'm so glad that Alex is clearly on the mend now. I hate sickness and pain, especially in kids.

In fact, I just got back from the doctor too. I'm a baby when it comes to pain (here I am on the kids angle again). I have something he called "my grain." Maybe he figures I need a gluten free diet like my wife, Cheryl. I hope not. He recommended an anti-inflammatory agent, and I suggested aspirin. He said that's a good one, but prescribed something called Prednisone instead. That, I think, is a steroid, so I guess I can't take part in any professional sports for a while. He also prescribed Vicodin. I don't know why he wants me to take two things. I do know that Vicodin makes me a little dopey, so I'm probably not making much sense right now. Anyway, Vicodin works, but Prednisone tastes worse than @#$%. Anyway, his concern is that I had an episode of "my grain" last month and if I have another or if this episode lasts a week he wants me to come back for a CAT scan. I guess he thinks I'm allergic to Rachel's cats.

'Nuff complaining about myself. I certainly hope Alex continues to improve.

I haven't quite finished Through the Alimentary Canal with Gun and Camera yet. It's been a little hard to read the last four days. I like to sit in a darkened room and stay quiet.

I've never read anything by Atwood but that book sounds very good. I might just have to pick it up :) Thanks

Oh, so glad that you liked the Atwood - can't wait to see when you think of the next one!

Great that Alex is better! :)

And I'm glad you liked Oryx and Crake. I haven't read it yet.

Hi again, Bianca! *smooch*

Cute picture of Alex and pooch. Glad your little guy is feeling better.

Excellent review of Oryx and Crake. I have only read the one Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale.

Bianca- I only glanced at your review of Oryx and Crake because I hope to read it this year. It sounds terrific. I am seriously thinking about doing a Atwood April. There are so many titles I would love to and NEED to get to.

Great review of Oryx and Crake - I need to get around to that one this year and I haven't really got an excuse as I have three categories it could go in:dystopian fiction; or books from my bookshelf; or books in a series.

Bianca, I managed a few chapters of The Year of the Flood last night. Not as much as I'd hoped since Julia (17yo) had a stomach bug. Nothing like what you and Alex have been dealing with, but she needed mommy time.

Hey Bianca! I hope Alex continues improve and that you are staying well. I'm glad that you enjoyed The Alchemist of Souls - I'm never certain if other people will share my taste in books, although based on your reading from last year, we have a lot of authors in common.

Oryx and Crake has been on my TBR list for a while. Your review was excellent, so maybe sooner rather than later....

Bianca, I skimmed to catch up-- I'm glad Alex is on the mend now, I love the pictures!! Especially where's he's with the dog. So cute.

Thank you Tina :)

Haha Roberta glad to hear that your dogs are the king in the castle as well. Although, I have to say that Paula is seriously funny, especially when she bosses our big chunk around.

Thank you Adrienne I hope you will enjoy Oryx and Crake once you get to it. The visit to the doc today was okay, she was happy with his improvement, but didn't think that he will be ready to go back to school next week. *sigh*, he is that well again that he is back at his whiney, moaning and groaning stage and where he feels that I am his slave, because he is "still soooo ill" :)

Patito I wish I could write like that. I bet you wish :) Especially with the zillions of grammar mistakes (mainly syntax I assume), spelling errors and my slightly stilted writing style - which is usually a result of my waffeling and my THEN unsuccesful effort to shorten that waffel. LOL. However, thank you *smile*

Very interesting tale on your current situation with your "My grain", although I doubt that you will need to go on a gluten free diet, you may want to try a lactose free diet instead. However, you may want to put Rachel's cats on a "hairfree diet" to see if that helps to get ridd of your allergies. :P

I hope your bout of migraine will be over soon. *hugs* I hope you aren't having these flashes of pink roses again *shudder*.

Hi Melissa I am sure that Atwood would be someone you would enjoy as well. :)

Huhu Amber I know that you have read already Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood and quite enjoyed them. I have noticed that some of the people complained in their reviews about the crude language she used. I actually thought that it did fit the environment and the story quite well.

Rachel thank you :) I am sure that you probably would enjoy Oryx and Crake quite a bit. Love your new bunny thread btw. *grin*

Hello Richard *smooch* to you as well.

Heidi I still have got The Handmaids Tale on my TBR for this year. Glad you liked my review :)

Hi Mark Atwood April sounds fab to me, I still have got quite a few titles by her which are shouting READ ME! at me :) So, if you would organize something like that I would be in.

LOL Rhian no you don't have any excuse NOT to read her, especially with all those categories you can fit her in. I actually fitted her into my Prize category as the book was shortlisted in 2003 for the Giller Prize - Thank's to Paul I know that now.

Oh Laura I have been on your thread and saw that your Julia, despite stomach bug went back to school today "hat off" - one tough gall *big smile*. I am 1/2 way through now and absolutely enjoy the story so far. :)

Dejah that's so true - you never know if someone feels the same way about a book then we do - but that's just what I enjoy soo much, all the different opinions which gives you so much more perspective. However, I very much enjoyed The Alchemist of Souls, also it was a bit slow going to begin with. I loved the setting, was very taken with the Skraylings - which made me think most of the time at the native North American Indians - ahem, I hope it doesn't sound too weird. :) Review will come shortly.

Oh, hei Kathy *smile* welcome to my thread. I hope you made yourself comfortable :), unfortunately no wonderful music in my little corner, but I still hope you like it here.

Bianca, I read your hot review of Oryx & Crake and couldn't help adding my hot thumb to the others. And now you are halfway through The Year of the Flood. That will be my next book. I have to get ready for a birthday party here on Saturday so may not get much reading time until Sunday. Something to look forward to.

Alex and his friend are so cute together. Glad he is on the mend.

Glad you loved Oryx and Crake - I liked the second one even more. I'll be interested to see what you think.

So glad that Alex is recovering. Sweet photo at the top of this thread.

Love the photos of Paula.

As a cat person, I loved your comment about the Hair Free Diet....lol.

I'm glad that Alex is doing better. High dose amoxicillin (80-90 mg/kg/day) is first line treatment for pneumonia in children in the US, but we rarely use erythromycin here. If amoxicillin fails we generally use Augmentin, which is amoxicillin + clavulanic acid, or one of the cephalosporins, such as cefuroxime (Ceftin), cefprozil (Cefzil), cefixime (Suprax) or cefdinir (Omnicef). Staphylococcal infections are becoming a more common cause of complicated pneumonias in the US, so we'll use clindamycin or vancomycin for sick kids with high fevers, high WBC counts or CRPs, or extensive pneumonias with sizable parapneumonic effusions or empyema. For walking pneumonia, azithromycin (Zithromax) is first line, although I'll rarely write a prescription for erythromycin for uninsured kids or ones whose insurance is pending, as the generic version of that antibiotic costs $5 or less in major stores such as WalMart and Target.

I once knew a lady who owned a cat named "Hairball" that died. She had been discussing for a couple of weeks on her internet thread what to name the new cat. Harry Potter was popular then, and she was suggesting names out of that book. Then we got into a discussion about trichotillomania (compulsive hair pulling). She asked if many kids eat the hair they pull out. In jest, I answered "Sure; that's why they get trichobezoars." (Remember Snape asking where you'd look for a bezoar?) That did it. She named the new cat Trichobezoar. But she just called her Trixie for short.

Bianca, after five miserable days, I just can't believe that migraine suddenly clicked off at 3:30 P.M. today. Hope Alex is doing as well as I am now. :)

Here is my review of Oryx and Crake as you asked for it.

Oryx and Crake has enjoyed numerous great reviews in LT, and I concur with many of them. I gave it four stars rather than five because of the amount of coarse language. Coarse language is necessary, however to tell this story properly. I do feel constrained to say something different about the book than what is already said in so many of these reviews.

The novel is the first book of the MaddAddam trilogy. It is a dystopian novel covering a period of about 25 years in an unspecified future. While several references to current events are called “ancient,” the technology for the most part is not that far-fetched for the near future. In fact, I don’t think it in any way a spoiler to mention that a casual reference in the second book of the trilogy to Sojourner Truth who “lived two centuries ago” would put the whole of the book in the mid-21st century.

Wikipedia defines The garrison mentality as “a common theme in Canadian literature and Canadian cinema, in both English Canada and French Canada. In texts with the garrison mentality, characters are always looking outwards and building metaphorical walls against the outside world. This mentality is assumed to come from part of the Canadian identity that fears the emptiness of the Canadian landscape and fears the oppressiveness of other nations (especially the United States). The term was first coined by literary critic Northrop Frye and further explored by author Margaret Atwood, who discussed Canada's preoccupation with the theme of survival in her book Survival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature.

The definition is apt and applies to this novel because the protagonist Jimmy/Snowman and the title characters are Corp men living inside corporate compounds with limited access to the outer world, the so-called “pleeblands.” It is a violent world of corporate espionage, which is the rationale for the limited access of the Corp men to the pleeblands. Access is closely watched by the corporate security corps, the aptly named CorpSeCorps. They do produce corpses! The “metaphorical walls” in the definition are not so metaphorical. In this volume of the trilogy, the action mostly takes place as a series of flashbacks by Snowman who is living outside the corporate world in a tree after a world-wide catastrophe implied, but not yet specified. In his present state he is alone but for a group of gene-spliced men designed by Crake. Appropriately they are called Crakers.

The social issues touched upon in this novel are primarily violence, runaway technology, resource depletion, and global warming. Violence is casual; it occurs, though in different ways, both inside the corporate compounds and in the pleeblands. It is often sexual; Oryx starts out in an indefinite Asian Country as a child sex-slave imported to America where she ends up with Crake. Jimmy and Glenn/Crake started together in high school as friends until they go their separate ways in College. (They will come together again, but I don’t want spoilers here.) They play computer games together (Crake is a genius at it) including watching pornography and real time executions here. Jimmy is promiscuous; one almost wonders at times if Crake knows what that thing is for. This is the area where the course language, of course, becomes almost gratuitous.

Runaway technology is represented by gene splicing. It is here that the speculative fiction gets perhaps a little far-fetched. If the story is set in mid-21st century as I suggested, then we’ve a little ways to go to get go gene-splicing rakunks (cute raccoon skunks) or pigoons. The latter neologism refers to pig+balloon because of their size/shape. They are built to contain human organs to be transplanted to their owners in case of later need. When escaped into the wild, they are dangerous because of their size and because they have parts of human forebrains, giving them an uncanny intelligence even for a pig. And, of course, like pigs they are omnivorous and eat like pigs. Another danger is the creation of perfectly designed humans, the Crakers. Ethical issues here are suggested, but are mostly left in the background.

Resource waste and depletion is rife. Real meat and real veggies are rare. Artificial, manufactured, and gene-splice foods are the regular fare. Happicuppa ® coffee is made from gene-spliced beans. I won’t say where the Secret Burger comes from. And so on. Global warming has come to this twenty-first century world, and executives winter on the Hudson Bay to enjoy the cooler weather. Weather is extreme with severe storms every day and frequent tornados.

The book can be read as a stand-alone; it tells the story of Oryx and Crake and of Jimmy, but it leaves threads hanging. The minor characters are picked up in the second book. I can only guess at what Margaret Atwood will do with the third, but I do feel presently that I am left two legs of a tripod. My metaphor for a trilogy like Lord of the Rings would be three sections of an extension ladder.

4 stars.

My review of The Year of the Flood is much shorter because it would have been so repetitive.

The Year of the Flood is the second book of Margaret Atwood's MaddAddam trilogy, and I eagerly await the release of the third. The first book leaves us hanging with the appearance of new characters (or perhaps not so new). Norman Frye proposed that Canadian literature and cinema often show a "garrison mentality" in which characters are always looking outwards and building metaphorical walls against the outside world. In Oryx and Crake those walls are not so metaphorical, but are the walls of the corporate compounds. In the year of the flood, the action takes place outside those walls, in the "pleeblands" looking in, so to speak. But, yes, there is a wall between the outsiders, who are now insiders, and the other part of society. It is still a "garrison" mentality.

The structure of the book in integral to the POV. It consists of sections, each beginning with a sermon by Adam One, the spiritual leader of God's Gardners, a vegetarian religious cult who protest the artificiality of the corporate world. Alternately the sections are narrated by Ren (Brenda) or by a third person observer from Toby's POV. Each section consists of three to five short chapters. They are often flashbacks so that the story in not chronological, but chaotic. But then this dystopian society is chaotic. The social issues are a continuation of the list I put in my review of Oryx and Crake and I will not repeat them here.

In The Year of Flood, the major characters are the minor characters of Oryx and Crake, but we see them from a new perspective. We learn many new startling facts about these characters, and some about the old principal characters. Hooray! The story takes place over the same twenty-five year period as the first, but we understand more about the catastrophe, the waterless flood in a Biblical metaphor, the manmade Blyss Plus plague of O&C. I am reminded of Iain Pears' Instance of the Fingerpost in which the same tale is thrice told, but each time from a different POV. I appreciate that knowing the perspectives of each actor whether in a novel or in real life. :)

Again, the book ends leaving us hanging, yet the story of the characters for the 25 year period is now told.

Oh, Bianca, how did I miss your whole new thread!? I like the pictures of Alex and Paula and I am glad, that Alex is better now.

And I like your revien of Atwood's book.

It is snowing over here, so it will be a more quiet weekend, I hope. Maybe daughter and her husband will show, would be nice.

I wish a quiet weekend, too

Hi Donna thank you very much :) Yeah, for a party tomorrow. I hope you are going to have a lot of fun :)

Lucy so far I am 1/2 way through the second book and actually I do enjoy it even more. I had to stop myself from rushing through the pages, so that I don't miss anything. Yes, Paula is cool ..... my brother came back earlier and Alex was really upset that she is back with her "daddy" for the weekend. However, she is coming back on Monday already as my brother has to go off to Romania.

Hi Dejah I am a dog person, but I do love cats as well.

Darryl I pmed you as you know already :)

Paul I wish you a wonderful and quiet weekend as well!

patito LOL love that story with the hairball.

I am glad to hear that your bout of migraine is over. It's so awful to have it and 5 days of severe migraine is definately enough.

THAT'S what I call wonderful reviews *sigh* *no, I am not envious*.

So you marked her down for her course language, even so that you agree that it was befitting for the characters and the story she pictured ?
Very interesting information on the "Garrison Mentality". Although, for me the compounds made perfect sense considering the environment Atwood portrait. The privileged were able to afford a better living within protected walls and the rest of society could see how they got on, and on top of that they were used as guinea pigs by the companies.
I was very intruiged by her vivid imagination in regards to gene-splicing, considering that GM is already widely used to produce ?better? food (well I don't eat anything GM) and to a lesser extent in animals for research purposes. I think because my imagination carried me away, I found excactly that quite scary at times. All in all I felt the same about the book as you, but you have described it much better than I did.
Although, the violence portrait was very casual, looking at our world as it is I didn't feel that she was too far fetched there. Spontanously coming to mind in regards to the horrible internet stuff Jimmy and Crake watched, well a lot of people nowadays seem to enjoy this so called "snuff" movies.

I am 1/2 way through The Year of the Flood and I enjoy this book even more. However, when I consider that we have to wait until August for the conclusion to come out :(

Yesterday and today were very busy days at our house as we started redecorating. I only say "SO MUCH MESS" - meh. I know the reward will be that we are going to have a wonderful brand new kitchen and front room. Yesterday they ripped out our kitchen units, the wall tiles, wallpaper and already part of the floor, which means for us now that we can't cook for the next two weeks *sniffel*. Obviously, Alex is absolutely delighted by the prospect of fast food for two weeks, whereas myself *shudder violently* - I HATE FAST FOOD, can't stand it, yack, meh, bah, aargh. I probably have to starve the next two weeks, or maybe I just start an early fasting time.

That's what our kitchen looks like now.



Alex is getting better every day now and actually starts to be a real cheeky monkey again. :) Hopefully, I can send him back to school again next week.

>71 drachenbraut23:: Bianca, we did a kitchen remodel several years ago and I know just what you mean! At the time I was all ready to attempt cooking meals using just the microwave. And on Day 1, our microwave died! So we had a lot of fast food and takeout, too. Good luck!

I'm enjoying YotF too!

Oh yeah, I actually forgot that we own a microwave - well you just mentioned something Laura :) Some of these meals aren't that bad.

Glad to hear that you enjoy YotF as well. :)

Glad Alex is better! Good luck with the remodel. I hate fast food too, but sometimes they have nice salads. :)

I dislike fast food too. But I take my grandson Johnny out for it from time to time. We do like to go to a buffet about once a week. We started Johnny out early on pizza (which I do like).



On the other hand, sometimes we just used Johnny for the fast food. ;)

By the way, both photos were photoshopped. Johnny was 3 months then.

Just keep thinking of the lovely kitchen you will have when this is all over!

Bianca- I just snagged the audio of Oryx and Crake. It would fit in perfect for FF but I might still wait until April. We will see. Have a great weekend.

Creepy baby pics!

Love your review of Oryx and Crake! I also loved it and the Year of the Flood as well!

Good luck with your take out! We had to get takeout for a bit when we first moved her, thankfully there is a sub shop nearby!

The baby pics made me laugh. :D
Happy weekend, Bianca!

>75 patito-de-hule: Well that's one way to bring down a fever I suppose, freezer looks pretty full though you may have had a problem getting the door shut!

Bianca I am so pleased to see that Alex is on the mend and that his pooch is such an avid follower of musical trends.

Have a lovely weekend.

So happy to hear that Alex is getting better!
Good luck with the remodel - exciting but frustrating, too, I suspect.

I'm another who enjoyed the Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood and am impatiently awaiting the last installment.

It must be hard having Alex sick and no kitchen at the same time. Hang in there! We'll definitely want photos of your lovely new space.

Bianca, I sympathise about the kitchen. I had my bathroom replaced about four years ago, and I couldn't understand the dust on *vertical* surfaces throughout the flat. I'm sure you'll love the new kitchen when it's finished, but it is a pain having such a mess in the house for two weeks.

Bianca - I'm so far behind that I've only just caught up with your first thread and this one - quickly sprinting through to catch up! I'm sorry to hear Alex has been unwell but glad that he is on the mend. That kitchen looks like a lot of hard work - but I'm sure it will be worth it in the end. How about making sure you go out for a nice proper meal once or twice to make up for all the fast food?

I found Oryx and Crake very powerful when I read it, not long after it came out. I'm not sure why I haven't yet got round to The Year of the Flood, except that it has been published since I've been active on LT and therefore I have no lack of other books to read, whereas before I read fewer authors and kept up with them better!

I've got a whole collection of Margaret Atwood books long sitting on my TBR shelf. Except I can't find Robber Bride. I may have to wrestle Rachel for hers. Maybe I'll get around to one of them soon. Her style is so ... so ... so interesting. (Atwood, I mean. Certainly not Rachel.)

Lovely pics of Alex and Paula! And great to read that Alex is so much better now.

New kitchen sounds great, fast food not so much, although I occasionally make an exception for a pizza since I moved to Italy and try not to think about the calories involved...

There was an interesting article in "Der Spiegel" yesterday about the some extremely high-caloric food offered by restaurant chains in the US, not only (but also) fast food. While German wurst or Bavarian roast pork and dumplings are no light & healthy fare either, I found the idea to throw a piece of apple pie into a blender to make it drinkable (and therefore easier to consume) quite shocking.

Great review for Oryx and Crake! I won't start a new series now, but I put it on my watchlist.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Good luck with your renovations and all the fast food... hopefully you'll be able to get creative with the microwave. I have a pile of Atwoods and only read The Handmaid's Tale, I'll have to join in on the Atwood April.

Hello Jenn thank you very much. Yes, you are right sometimes they do nice salads as well. Yesterday, I had a small Italien pizza with spinach, broken egg and lots of garlic, which was actually really nice.

LOL patito I remember the photos from last year. You did kind of fool me with the first photo, but when I saw later the second photo LOL. You are pretty good at photoshopping. :) Glad to hear that I am not the only one who dispises fast food. Although, I do like the odd Italien pizza :).

Tina yes, yes,yes since back in Germany I moved back with my parents, because they look after Alex when I am working in England. However, my mom choose an absolutely stunning and beautiful kitchen and I am very much looking forward to see the results.

Great news with the audiobook Mark. Who is the narrator? You may should keep the Atwood April in mind, as I noticed that you probably would find quite a few people being interested.
Haha that's true. Very, creepy baby pics :)

Hi Chelle so you loved the books as well :), good to hear. Are you planning to read the third installment as well then? In regards to sub - none where I live. I live in a very small town. However, we have got several nice restaurants which will find me as a frequent visitor for the next two weeks and after that I will be broke LOL.

Kathy happy weekend to you as well. Yes, the baby pics are a cracker.

A very lovely weekend to you as well Paul :) Yep, the pooch is fab. She is spending the weekend with her daddy and will be back with us on Monday, as my brother has to go to Romania for a few weeks.

You suspect right Amber the remodel is exciting, but frustrating at the same time, especially if you are such a picky eater as myself.

Janet I finished The Year of the Flood yesterday and almost burst out into tears, when I thought about the fact that I have to wait to August now to find out what's happening. :(

LOL Susanyep, and I couldn't understand the dust on *vertical* surfaces throughout the flat. that's how my mom and I feel at present. It's amazing how far dust can travel. We had the dust in places where we didn't expect it.

Hi genny thank you for your kind wishes and thoughts :) . I you liked Oryx and Crake you definately want to read The Year of the Flood and the third installment once it comes out in August. The Year of the Flood was even better than the first book and I just had to read and read.

patito I am sure that you also enjoy Rachel's interesting style of writing *grin*. I still have got a whole collection of Atwoods on my shelves, including the Robber Bride - which is one of the books I find especially intriguing as it is an adaptation of one of the German fairy tales, if I am not mistaken. I definately going to vote for an Atwood April, as I do believe there is enough interest here on LT.

Hallo Nathalie wünsche Dir auch ein wunderschönes Wochenende! *smile* pizza, was what I had last night, but as you said it has a lot of calories but also is a carbohydrate bomb. However, the one I had was quite tasty :)

Interesting article you mention. I agree with you that our German food is definately no light fare either, but just the thought of an apple pie drink *shudder*. When I moved back to Germany it took me ages to get used to my moms cooking, especially as she makes meat ever single day. Although, I opt out the meat most of the time, the food is still kind of heavy since my diet was mainly vegetarian and "raw" before. I experienced lots of gastric problems the first few month back in Germany. Unfortunately, my dad doesn't like my cooking and to just cook for myself in a household with 5 people, well ........*shrug*.

I hope you will get eventually round to reading the Atwood's they are absolutely fab.

Kerry I have The Handmaid's Tale on my TBR and I wouldn't mind an Atwood April either.

I just wanted to write that it stopped snowing for the past two days and has been very cold instead. We had -6 degrees for the past two days during the daytime and even more during the nighttime. However, it just started to snow that heavy that you almost can't see anything, which means for me snow shoveling later on.
Our work in the kitchen progresses nicely, but today I am not allowed to help and I am exiled into my room *shrug*. My parents can be quite fussy, in regards to me doing heavy duty work, because of my back problem. I have lost the arguments this morning and my parents got really cross with me *sigh*. Well, that means for me a leisure day spend with reading and drinking coffee :)

Alex carries on doing better, but he is still weak like a kitten. I took him out for a walk yesterday, but he tired very quickly and fell asleep shortly after we came home. I have to see the doctor again tomorrow, but I doubt that he will be ready for school until end of the week.

I have finished The Year of the Flood yesterday and loved it even more than Oryx and Crake and felt absolutely distraught that I have to wait to August now for the next installment *cry in desperation*. I also finished listening to The Knife of Never letting Go, another excellent book. I just noticed how lucky I have been so far this year in the choice of my books.

I started the English edition of Anna Karenina last night, because of all the fascinating reviews I have read on your threads. I have read AK the last time when I was in my early twenties and kind of have - ahem - very romantic memories of the story. So, definately worth a re-read. I am only in book one chapter five, but what I noticed so far - which I haven't noticed in my younger years - is how much humor there is. I have also started to listen to The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge a Science Fiction novel.

Well, I am trying to update the rest of my reviews today, as I am not required to help.

Congratulations on finishing The Year of the Flood, Bianca. I'm moving along smartly but still have a ways to go. As I write this, my bookmark sits at the start of Chapter 45 (about midway through The Feast of Serpent Wisdom). It's an intriguing book for sure. I wish I'd read it back-to-back with O&C as some of the connections would have jumped out at me more quickly.

Hi Laura, ha I know where you are :) *big smile* I am glad that you enjoy it as well and I can see what you mean in regards to the connections. Oddly, even so far fetched there were quite a lot of things in regards to the philosophy of the Gardeners which I seriously could relate. The language in this book wasn't as course either, but I think it was necessary in the other book to portrait the character of Jimmy. I am very much looking forward to when you finished it.
I hope Julia is feeling better again and that her stomach bug has passed by now. :)

Bianca - As requested I went into your TBR to look at the thrillers. Wow you like your sci-fi and fantasy!
I cam up with four from your thriller list:

The Secret History by Donna Tartt - read it years ago. Much more than a thriller.
Pompeii by Robert Harris - Have this on the shelves and recommend on the strength of his other stuff which I like.
The Hanging Shed by Gordon Ferris. Also still on the shelves but reviews are great.
Season for the Dead by David Hewson. First in the Nic Costa series and not at all bad.

Hi Paul, thank you very much. That are the ones I will read first then. I used to read much more thrillers, but for some reason I came off it some years ago. So, thank you for choosing something for my category :)

Bianca- Congrats on starting A.K.! I liked the book and gave it 4 stars but I am glad it's in my rear-view! Yes, Atwood April looks like a MUST. I have only read the Handmaid's Tale, which I gave 5 stars, but that was nearly 2 years ago, so I need to get back to this amazing Canadian writer.
I am not sure who narrates "Oryx", I'll have to check.

Bianca -

A day reading books and drinking coffee doesn't sounds so very bad - well, actually, the coffee part does sounds awful to me, but with a suitable substitution your day sounds pretty great!

Your comment about the Atwood trilogy made me smile - I think I'll try to time my reading of the first two so I don't have a long wait for the third.

BTW, I am a big fan of The Snow Queen - it's excellent, although in many ways I am not as fond of the two books that follow, although they are still good and bring the story to a strong conclusion. I have to say, though, I can't imagine listening to it! I'm not a big fan of audio books and listening to something that long just seems...painful. I'm looking forward to learning how you like it!

Enjoying all the Atwood discussions - I'm reading her essays on Sf at the moment..... very slowly I might add, as I'm in the mood just to READ sf, not read about it.

Oh, we'll be doing our kitchen this summer I hope...... but we're lucky we can just do a lot of barbie (not sure how to spell that! - Australian for barbecue) and salad and washing up outside.

#07 Warm Bodies - Isaac Marion

Genre: YA, Romance, Dystopian - 256 pages
Rating: 3.5/5

"My friend 'M' says thie irony of being a zombie is that everything is funny, but you can't smile, because your lips have rotted off. "

“It does make me sad that we've forgotten our names. Out of everything, this seems to me the most tragic. I miss my own and I mourn for everyone else's, because I'd like to love them, but I don't know who they are"

This was a beautiful, fluffy and highly enjoyable read. I had this book already on my TBR pile for quite some time and only read it now because the movie is coming out in February.
Usually, our perception of zombies is as such that, well, they are dead, ugly, scary, obviously can’t think and that they are driven by a basic need to feed on other humans. Okay, that’s what we usually believe when picking up a zombie novel. However, this didn’t happen in this one. Here, we meet R a zombie who lives with others of his kind at an abandoned disused airport. R lives in one of the aero planes and collects music, he loves to ride the escalator and muses about his existence, and he feeds on other humans but doesn’t enjoy it. He just seems to be a different kind of zombie.

None of us are particularly attractive, but death has been kinder to me than some. I’m still in the early stages of decay. Just the grey skin, the unpleasant smell, the dark circles under my eyes. I could almost pass for a Living man in need of a vacation.



“Now I’m just standing here on the conveyor. Along for the ride. I reach the end, turn around, and go back the other way. The world has been distilled. Being dead is easy. After a few hours of this, I notice a female on the opposite conveyor. She doesn’t lurch or groan like most of us. Her head just lolls from side to side. I like that about her. That she doesn’t lurch or groan. I catch her eye and stare at her.”

On one of their feeding raids, he meets Julie, rescues her and that subsequent changes his existence, ahem, I honestly don’t want to use the term life here as he is a zombie.

“Eating is not a pleasant business. I chew off a man's arm, and I hate it.
Of course if I don't eat all of him, if I spare his brain, he'll rise up and follow me back to the airport, and that might make me feel better. I'll introduce him to everyone, and maybe we'll stand around and groan for a while.”

This book was quite a surprise as I didn’t know what to expect from a zombie romance, but with all its puns the story undeniably delivered a considerable amount of entertainment. However, as it is such a small book it is also read fairly comfortable in one night session.

“I erupt from the dark, crushing tunnel into a flash of light and noise. A new kind of air surrounds me, dry and cold, as they wipe the last smears of home off my skin. I feel a sharp pain as they snip something, and suddenly I am less. I am no one but myself, tiny and feeble and utterly alone. I am lifted and swungthrough great heights across yawning distances, and given to Her. She wraps around me, so much bigger and softer than I ever imagined from inside,and I strain my eyes open. I see Her. She is immense, cosmic. She is the world. The world smiles down on me, and when She speaks it’s the voice of God, vast and resonant with meaning, but words unknowable, ringing gibberish in my blank white mind.

OOps, quite a few visitor whilst I was drafting my review :) Still two more to come.

Thank you Mark so far I am enjoying AK, but this time round the story feels different to when I read it in my younger years. Glad to hear that Atwood April is going to be a MUST, so are you going to be the organizer for that month? Great :)! Just found the FF thread and will add myself once I finished all my reviews.

LOL Dejah so you must be a tea person then, I only drink tea when I should have a sore throat, feel a bit off or when I have a cold.
I strongly agree with you, you definately should wait until - just before the last book comes out. Thinking about all the time I have to wait now, makes my head hurt. *shudder*
I love listening ESPECIALLY to long books, but I always loved audiobooks anyway. I listen very often to them when I do knitting, gardening or other stuff around the house. However, great to know that The Snow Queen is a fantastic read. I got the book a few month back with some of these audible deals they do from time to time and it sounded pretty interesting.

Lucy very wise decision to do your kitchen during the summer, much better idea, especially in regards to the barbecue. That's what we wanted to do as well, but our contractor was off sick for several month after he had some surgery, so everything got delayed "again".
Hm, I have been eying the book with her essays on sf in one of the shops in London. Aside from making you want to read the stories, rather than read about it, could you recommend the book?

I see you finished The Knife of Never Letting Go... I absolutely loved it, did you? Hard to get started but worth it I thought. But that's yet another series I have waiting for me to finish.

I've been recommending to people who like Warm Bodies, to read Breathers by SG Browne. I liked it a little better, but it's a bit more gory and adult in some ways.

What an unusual-sounding book 'Warm Bodies' is, Bianca! Your review was great for explaining just how it's different than a regular old zombie book.

Hi, Bianca. Good to know Alex is feeling better. Has he finished the whiney stage, yet, or is he still milking it for all it's worth?

Re the kitchen remodel : looking forward to seeing the finished version. I'm trying to a) work out a new kitchen for our house, and b) convince my husband we need a new kitchen. :0) You could let Alex know that, since you can't cook for two weeks, instead of fast food, you'll all have to eat salads. I'm sure that would go down well with a teenage boy. ;0)

Nice reviews, though dystopia and zombies are not my cup of tea; but I'll keep them in mind, in case I come across them at the library.

Hi Bianca, Good luck with the remodeling of the kitchen and two weeks of fast food. That would get old quickly. I am getting ready to start The Year of the Flood. I will be joining you in anticipation of Atwood's completion of the trilogy. I need to work on my patience so that will be good practice!

Haha, I might have to read Warm Bodies. Goodness, I don't know how many books I've said that about here already but it's more than a few. :) Thanks for the great recommendations. Happy Reading!

That's -6 degrees C (21 degrees F) and not -6 degrees F, right? That would be pretty normal for the upper Midwest in the US in late January. Tomorrow the high temperature in Madison, Wisconsin, where my best friends live, will be 3 degrees F (-16 C), and the low temperature will be -7 F (-22 C).

Thanks for the thoughtful words about Julia, Bianca. She is completely well -- fortunately it was a short stomach bug and nothing worse.

-6 C would be nice. Right now it's -14 C in Minneapolis -- about the high temp for today. The Beargrease dogsled race has been postponed again this year for lack of snow.

*waving* at Bianca

Love the pics on your thread. Glad to hear that Alex is feeling better. I hope he is completely recovered soon!

#08 The Alchemist of Souls - Anne Lyle

Genre: Fantasy - 480 pages
Rating: 3.5/5

What an intriguing book this was a combination of alternate history with a splash of fantasy. Although, the book started off a bit slow, it never was so that I wanted to give up on it. In the latter part of the book the story certainly picked up and I found myself thoroughly engrossed in it.

What I quite enjoyed about the story was that it was set in Elizabethan England, but not as we know it with her being the “Virgin Queen”. No, the story opens with Elizabeth mourning the recent death of her husband Robert Dudley and we don’t stop there. They also had children and her oldest son; also Robert is appointed Regent and Prince of Wales.

The Elizabethan London undoubtedly came to life throughout the story in all its ugly, dirty, filthy and smelly glory. The description of the different sites and places in London were remarkably well done, and I immediately felt comfortable within these surroundings. At that period of time England still felt the effects of the Reformation and the author managed to weave that nicely into the story. Catholics had to stay in hiding to avoid being prosecuted. It’s also the time where the world is being explored, and new Continents are discovered.

Skraylings are the ones who arrived from this new world, they are a short reptile like species, covered in tattoo’s, competent in the arts of healing, in harmony with nature, magic users and they are also intelligent and shrewd traders. Although, they are barely tolerated within the Christian world as they refuse to accept Christ as their savior. Accordingly people believe they are demons which need to be hunted. I seriously felt that the author used the Native American’s whilst creating these species.

The story was centered around Maliverny Catlyn a gorgeous rogue, with aristocratic background who is down on his luck. When offered a commission as bodyguard to the Skrayling Ambassador he is seriously surprised and rather reluctant at the same time. However, he needs the money to pay some debts and to keep his twin brother in – for that time – decent accommodation at the Bethlem hospital for the insane. This new job quickly lands him deep into political intrigues, but he finds allies in his friend Ned and Hendricks, with his own secrets, a boy from one of the acting companies, in his quest to protect the Ambassador. The more time Mal spends with the Ambassador, the fonder he grows of this gentle man, and he has to work extremely hard in order to keep his commitment to the crown, to the Skrayling and to protect his own secrets and interests.

This was certainly a truly engrossing read, and I will continue on with the series to see what happens to the characters. The character of Malverny was exceptionally well developed; whereas the other characters lacked at times.

#110: I just put that book in the BlackHole not too long ago. I need my local library to get a copy!

I never read a Zombie book so far, but I saw the movie trailer for Warm Bodies some days ago and noticed the Italian version of the book in my bookshop yesterday and found it strangely appealing. I almost bought it. Your quotes make it even more tempting... might get it on the next occasion.

Edit: just got the Italian Kindle version which for some reason cost only 2 USD.

Enjoy your day of reading and coffee! That's pretty much what mine will be too, but also some packing and dog entertaining as well :)

Glad to see you enjoyed Year of the Flood! I didn't realized that the next one comes out in August! I'll have to grab that when it comes out!

Hello Kathy yes, I loved The Knife of Never letting Go as well. I actually listened to the unabridged audiobook version narrated by Nick Podehl, which was immensly creepy. I gave the audiobook to Alex first, but he got so scared that he refused to listen to it, so I was intruiged *smile*
And thank you for the recommendation I will check Breathers out.

Hello rosalita and have I been able to tempt you enough to give it a shot?

LOL Nina whiney stage is kind of over now, but we reached now the "my mom is my slave" stage where he feels I have to jump at each single one of his demands.

Yep, I will post pictures ones the kitchen is finished. Well, hopefully it won't take you 15 years, that's how long it took my mom, to convince your DH that you seriously need a new kitchen.

Hm, maybe not the dystopian and the zombie book, but maybe one of the other two books, where I still have to post the reviews. I am currently lagging behind in writing them.

Donna believe me I also need to work on my patience, at least where the books are concerned.

Hi Melissa great that I was able to tempt you yet, with another book :) Happens to me all the time as well, whilst visiting all the other threads. LOL
As I mentioned already many times before, my TBR pile never used to have more than 50/60 books at a time. Since I joined LT my TBR pile has grown to 450+. Scary, isn't it?

Darryl okay,okay,okay I certainly stop moaning straight away. Yes, I was talking about -6 degree C *shudder* already far too cold for me. I usually, don't leave the house very much when the temperatures are like that and this is still fairly mild for this time of the year. No, I don't want to come and visit this horrible too cold places you are mentioning.

Laura I am so glad to hear that Julia has fully recovered and that it was only a very short lived stomach bug. However, I think it doesn't matter how old your kiddies are, as a parent you are always worried. *smile*

patito *shudder* no, these temperatures are not for me. BTW what is a "Beargrease dogsled race" ? Never heard that before.

Hello Stasia *wave back*, glad you found a book to retrieve from the blackhole *grin*. I hope you will enjoy it, but don't forget it has a very slow start, and with slow I mean slow.

Two more reviews *sigh*

Woah, I am impressed now Nathalie I wouldn't have thought that I could tempt you with a zombie novel *grin*. However, I don't think you will be dissapointed it is really funny, but please bear in mind that the book is aimed at YA audience.

Oh yes, I forgot the dog entertainment Chelle that was part of my agenda as well. Our biggie is so upset about the upheaval in the house that he vomited twice today. He was really confused, because his bowls have moved to a place he doesn't like, his bed is gonne. *poor baby* had a lot of consoling to do today.

The better known dog sled race is the Iditarod in Alaska. Beargrease is in Duluth, Minnesota.



ETA: Mush!

Thank you patito, what type of dogs are that? They don't quite look like Huskies, but maybe they are? Anyway, they look absolutely beautiful.

Bianca, I'm not sure you've quite tempted me to put it on the wishlist, but I've got it in the 'someday' corner of my mind. :-)

117> Malamutes

Aaaw, they look absolutely adorable! Thank you very much patito.

Hi Bianca. I'm so glad that Alex is doing better. What a darling kid. I love the pooch too.
I have that book you reviewed The Alchemist of Souls, but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet. I suppose that I could move it up in the stack a bit. Carefully though so no one will notice. I'll skip the Warm Bodies as I'm really not a fan of zombie books.

Puppies!!

Bianca, I can't imagine how the audio version would sound, with so much of the dialog being overheard mentally, and all the "noise". Now I'm intrigued to want to hear it, if it was so creepy!

Ok Bianca you got me with Warm Bodies! A funny zombie book...it's gotta be good!

Glad Alex continues to improve.

I'm going to have to add Warm Bodies to my wish list if it isn't there already! Heading off to go thumbs up your excellent review!

Hi Bianca, I'm always up for a good zombie read, so Warm Bodies is going on the list!

>116 patito-de-hule: What wonderfully picturesque placenames - "Beargrease"! The sled racing looks harder work for the driver than the dogs.

Bianca, that's a very empty kitchen ;)
I hope you'll new kitchen will be ready as soon as possible.

>110 drachenbraut23:: I think you got me, with The Alchemist of Souls.

>114 drachenbraut23:: we reached now the "my mom is my slave" stage - is often the stage my eldest is at (especially if the TV is on), so Alex must be almost back to normal?

Bianca, I finished The Year of the Flood about 10 minutes ago!!

Yours is the second tempting review of The Alchemist of Souls this month. I already put it on the wishlist after the first one, though.

We had our kitchen completely torn out in 1996--but it was in the middle of summer and we cooked out on the grill a lot with the microwave as assistant. Hope the job goes smoothly.

I think it's time for Alex to start regaining some muscle tone!

Bianca, I can't wait to see the progress on your new kitchen. Hopefully it's going well for you! Is Alex up and running yet?

Hi Bianca...wow I got hit by three book bullets today reading your thread...The Alchemist of Souls, Warm Bodies and Breathers now to see if I can get kindle editions : )

Hey Bianca! Dropping in to catch up and say hello. :)

Hi Bianca, I'm glad Alex is feeling better and I love that pic at the top. I need to get caught up with Atwood. I've read a couple of hers but nothing much recently. Your terrific review of Year of the Flood has enticed me to get to Oryx and Crake.

Having lived through quite a few remodels myself, I can sympathize with you. A kitchen remodel is particularly tricky. Pizza will be a mainstay.

Hey Bianca - I haven't visited your thread for a few days, but I'm hoping that Alex is much, much better!

Have you gotten very far with The Snow Queen yet?

Waving hello!

Me too!

Me three!

Hi, Bianca - I hope this long silence means you're getting a lot of reading done?

Hey Bianca --

I just noticed that you put The Alchemist of Souls in TIOLI Challenge #2 while I put it in #3. Do you have a preference?

I hope you're headed into a wonderful weekend - take care!

Hi Bianca, I came by to wish you a nice weekend. Hope all is well with you.

Bianca, wish you a pleasant weekend

Me, too, Bianca.

Schönes Wochenende, Bianca! I guess you're on duty again?

Thank you Judy, Paul, Joe, Dejah and Nathalie for the lovely weekend wishes.
Well, our household has been very unlucky healthwise for the past week, but we are kind of all slowly on the mend again.
On Sunday night my dad came down with a high fever, on Monday afternoon my mom and finally Monday night I also succumbed. I had such high fever with chills and coughing that I couldn't get out of bed for 3 days. Last night the fever finally broke, also I still cough like a trooper and I still feel week like a kitten. My mom got really frustrated, because we all were knocked out the work in our kitchen came to a stand still for a few days, but we are back on track since yesterday. We all were quite worried about Alex, because his coughing started to get worse from Wednesday again as well and he also spiked another fever for a couple of days. *sigh* not a good start into the new year, but IMO it only can get better from now on.
Obviously, I haven't done much reading this week, also at the beginning of the week I finished book 1 of Anna Karenina, The Domain of the Dead and the Remains of the Dead and I started on Tuesday The Taker by Alma Katsu. From Tuesday afternoon onwards I only managed to listen to The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge I am done 1/3 now.

Hello Velma will be curious to see what you think about The Alchemist of Souls, definately a solid Fantasy novel. :)

Kathy if you should get the audiobook get the one narrated by Nick Podehl. As I said I only listened to it because Alex said he was scared - Ha - you know a 13 year old watching and reading The Walking Dead is scared of a kiddie book? Obviously, that intruiged me. They have done that really cool with all the "noise" and it was indeed a bit creepy, also I can't see how that works in the book itself.

Hello Heidi so I could intrigue you with Warm Bodies *smile* glad to hear that.

Thank you Tina and I hope you will not be dissapointed by the book.

Judy I hope you will enjoy Warm Bodies also you will find it's not your usual zombie fare :). I finished The Domain of the Dead and Remains of the Dead and fully agree with your assessment on the first one. However, after reading the second one now, I feel that it should have been one book as the author repeated the first chapter in the second book. We still don't know by the end of the second book what is going to happen to the ones in the boat and the second book has got an even worse cliffhanger than the first. :(

Hehe Paul agree with you on that one. However, even so that I can't cope well with the cold, I would love to see one of those races one day. It must be absolutely exciting and stunning.

Thank you Diana I hope so as well.

Hi Nina yes, Alex is almost back to normal now and will go back to school on Monday. However, after his cough got worse again this week and he spiked a fever again for a couple of days this week - probably the reaction to what the rest of the family has - I was initially a bit worried, but he is definately improving and despite his ongoing cough ready to go back to school. :) I am very much looking forward to our group read next month. I am still waiting on my copy of Jhereg which hasn't arrived yet.

Laura yeah, you finished as well, have to come and visit your thread to see what you thought about the book. I hope you liked it as much as I did.

*giggle* Roni I very much agree with you that Alex needs to regain some muscle tone. However, he also needs to start loosing some more weight as well, my little "Moby Dick".

Kathy Alex is definately better after a small set back this week and will go back to school on Monday. :)
Our new kitchen will come on the 31. of this month, so everything has to be ready by then and I will post pics of our beautiful new kitchen then. :)

Hello apachecat welcome and I am glad to see that I could hit you with some book bullets. :) I hope you will enjoy them.

HI Bonny sorry, I can't take credit for that terrific review on The Year of the Flood that was patito's doing. He was so kind to use my thread to publish his two wonderful reviews of the Atwood books :)
And Btw PIZZA - hm, kind of has been it for us as well. So far I had Pizza with spinach, garlic and broken egg, Pizza with mushrooms and bell peppers, Turkish Pizza with salad and goat cheese, only to name a few :)

Dejah I am 1/3 through lisening to The Snow Queen now and absolutely enjoy it. However, quite a few aspects of the story remind me very strongly of the Dune series by Frank Herbert. Even so that you said the other two in the trilogy aren't that good, I think I will give them a go as well.

*waving back with a huge smile* at Jenn, Stasia and Tina :)

Nope Nina didn't get much reading done. Was too ill, at one point I felt like someone has crushed me, because of the limb pain (and sciatica pain) due to my chills and fever :(.
Don't worry so, I feel already much better today and I am sure that I will pick up where I left.

Dejah in regards to the TIOLI, I don't have any preference and I can move myself to challenge 3 :) It just didn't seem to fit anywhere else at that time and I am the same as you, I always try to fit all my reading into the challenges. :)

OK, I hope I didn't forget anyone. If so, I will rectify it.

Hej, Bianca, great to have you active again and catching up.

Hi Bianca! I hope your health (and that of your family) only improves from here. :)

Bianca - I was worried when you were gone for a few days that you'd come down with something, but I'm particularly dismayed to hear that your Father did, too - and poor Alex! How miserable it must have been for you all.

It's good to hear you're all on the mend - please take care of yourself. I'm looking forward to finding out what wonderful books you'll be reading for Fantasy February!

Keep enjoying The Snow Queen - I wonder what you'll think of three books....

Bianca, your family has certainly drawn the short straw in the health sweepstakes these past few weeks! I'm so sorry you were ill but glad that you are all on the mend again. It's nice to have you back!

I'm so sorry you've all been so sick.

My goodness, yes, it can only get better from here, no? Sorry to hear that you were all ill, but very glad to hear that you're all on the mend now, including Alex!

Bianca, I'm glad to hear everyone is getting better now, after that miserable week!

Keep feeling better Bianca, and maybe have Alex wait on you for a change. ;)
Happy Weekend!

I'm sorry to learn that all of you have become ill, particularly Alex. I hope that everyone gets better soon!

Do you think that you might have influenza? It's still quite rampant in the US.

Sorry to hear about the illness sweeping through the family! I hope everyone is now on the mend. It's nice to see you back here again.

Sorry to hear about the rough week, Bianca. Hopefully it is behind you now and everyone is feeling better.

I suspected Remains of the Dead might end with a huge cliffhanger as well. Even though I have it, I may hold off reading it until the next volume comes out.

I hope you all are feeling better soon, Bianca!

So that stupid pan-European bug got you as well in the end... But I am glad you're all on the mend again. Wish you a relaxing weekend!

So much to catch up with: So in brief: Good luck with the kitchen! Margaret Atwood for my 2013-reads! Need to buy Warm Bodies! AND GET WELL SOON!!

Have a calm Sunday!

Hope you and your family are feeling better. It must be awful when there is no one in the house well.

Hi Bianca- I am sorry to hear about the sick household. That can never be pleasant. Hope everyone is on the mend and you can get back to normal.

Bianca I am catching up slowly with everyone. I am so happy Alex is better. The kitchen remodel I am sure will be wonderful but I have anxiety thinking of not having a working kitchen.

Great review of The Alchemist of Souls and sorry to see your report of the fever and related ailments you and your family have been hit with. I hope everyone is on the mend!

drachenbraut,

I absolutely love Margaret Atwood, and I loved Oryx and Crake. I didn't see your review right away, so I silly-ly asked your thoughts originally, but now I totally see them. I think your review is great. Do you plan to read The Year of the Flood too?

-esquiress/ kcrisell

PS: I was directed here by someone who told me you recently read Ready Player One as well. I absolutely loved it - it was one of my January reads! My meager thread is here.

PS2: I'm seeing so much praise for The Alchemist of Souls that I'm definitely going to have to check it out some time!

Hi, Bianca. Hope everyone is still on the mend. I hope you can at least make soup, with your kitchen out of commission.

Did Alex make it to school today? I'm a bit disoriented, because today is a bank holiday for Australia Day (which was on Saturday), and schools only start on Wednesday for us.

I'll have to check the library for Jhereg tomorrow. I've just started The Last Unicorn for the group read. I've only got to Chapter 3, but I'm worried for her.

Boy Bianca, you & yours have really been hit hard with this bug :(
Can't imagine how hard that must've been with all of you sick at once! Keep taking care of yourselves.

Hopefully all the aches and pains will be done and dusted during this opening month of the year. Roll on February!

Oh Bianca I skimmed and failed to see you all were sick! Sending healing vibes your way my dear.

Bianca, hoping that all your family is still on the mend. You've really had a rough time of it last few weeks.

Bianca, I hope your silence doesn't indicate a relapse to your recent illness. It's rough when a household shares it's germs! Hope that you are all still on the path to better health.

You've made me really hungry for pizza! You've had some interesting combinations that sound delicious. Hope you can get back to more reading soon.

Thank you very much Paul, Rachel, Dejah, Rosalita, Lucy, Amber, Roni, Kathy, Darryl, Laura, Judy, Stasia, Nathalie, Kathy, Morphy, Mark, Roberta, Lori, Nina, Tina, Paul, Rhian and Donna for your kind wishes and enquiries. Our household appears to be slowly on the mend, also we must be the noisiest house in our road. My mum said, if it ever should happen again that we all get ill at the same time, she will book herself into hospital. She can't stand the coughing orchestra anymore and claims she will be traumatised the rest of her life :). The last time I had a flu is about 15 years ago and I completely forgot how weak you feel for quite some time. Baaaaaah. I still can't read properly, but I am listening to my audiobooks.

I have finished listening to The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge which was a great and solid Sf story. I started on The Dog Stars by Peter Heller, but gave up on it after almost an hour - I just couldn't get into it. I will try the book definately later. However, I started The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness, instead.

Hello kcrissel welcome to my thread. Sorry, I have to dissapoint you, but I have not yet read Ready Player One, but I know that quite a few people have read the book. I have read The Year of the Flood as well and absolutely loved it, I even liked it somewhat more than the first one.
If you are interested in reading some more Atwood, there are plans of an Atwood April, which will be organised by msf59 (Mark), he is also the one who is organising the Fantasy February :).

Nina nope, Alex did not go back to school today. He deteriorated last week, probably caught the germs of us, had again a fever for a couple of days and his cough is so bad again, that our doctor was distraught and worried today, his chest doesn't sound that good. He has missed 3 weeks in school already, but she said there is no point to send him like that. We have to go back to the hospital tomorrow to get a CXR (chest xray) done. She wants to have some bloods as well, but I have no idea how, because Alex has got a severe needle phobia :(.
My Jhereg book arrived today and I noticed it contains actually the first 3 Volumes :).

Haha Donna so far, the Pizza's have been fine. However, I like to try to get even there a little variety.

It's good to hear that your family is on the mend. I confess I kept thinking about your mother with everyone else in the house sick and the kitchen torn up!

I'm glad you liked The Snow Queen and I'll be interested in hearing what you think of the next two, particularly the odd, but short, World's End. World's End can be tricky to get a hold of, but if necessary you can skip it and go straight to The Summer Queen.

I hope all is well with Alex and the CXR tomorrow is clear - of whatever the best result is!

Take care, Bianca.

Oh dear, I am sorry to hear that everyone was so sick in your house and now poor Alex has had a relapse. Sending good thoughts and healing vibes your way!

>172 drachenbraut23:.

I am so in for Atwood April. I cannot wait! I got a couple of her novels I didn't already have through PBS and as gifts, so I'll be stocked up and ready to go come April!

She's my favorite author.

-Esquiress/ kcrisell

Glad everyone is feeling better. We had a bug last week too, hit me like a truck, and I was in bed for 2 days. The rest of the family just kind of felt lousy for a day or so, but didn't seem to slow down. Judging from the mess. :)

>172 drachenbraut23:: Oh dear. Hoping Alex improves soon. I'm not fond of needles myself (when we used to have to get vaccinated as a child, I would start howling before we got in the car to go to the clinic), and my son has inherited that. The doctor wanted a blood test done last year sometime - that was a process! Actually, he wanted a follow up, but we gave up on that; they're not really vital.

>175 Esquiress:: Oops, sorry, Esquiress; I know I saw several reviews of Ready Player One around in the last couple of months, and I thought Bianca's was one of them.

Blood tests and kids, hmmm, never a great combination.

I have 12 yr old twins and two years ago they had to have blood tests to check for allergies, poor babies, the first one got stuck with the needle and cried and cried, when it was the other ones turn he wouldn't let them near him and started screaming just use his, we're twins, we've got the same DNA, lol.

Good luck with Alex's tests, I hope he's on the mend soon.

>178 fairywings: Okay, that's funny. I mean, I'm sure it wasn't at the time. But now - just makes me chuckle. USE HIS! Hee hee.

I hated needles as a kid (well, ok, as an adult, too) - I wish my mother had provided my with the handy needle shield of a twin! LOL!

So sorry to hear you've all been ill and that Alex seems to have got worse again :-( Really hope he can get clear of this infection soon.

Hi Bianca, I know that myself: I'm not very often ill, but when I am - than fully. At least you have the energy to liste to some audiobooks. I really hope that you're all going to feel better soon!! Oh - and Warm Bodies is ordered, but I'll have to wait for about two weeks, because it was not immediately available. Ich freu mich schon drauf! And my next buy will be Elantris. :D
Have a nice week - despite the circumstances.

I'm sorry to hear about Alex' feeling worse again. I wish you a better rest of the week

Bianca I finally finished Stiff and I think you will enjoy it. Mary Roach is so irreverent. She has all these little side comments and footnotes that are too much! She should have been a critical care or emergency room nurse. She does not mind squeamish at all. Ha!

Hi, Bianca; checking in. Hope all of you are better, the kitchen is back on track, you're all eating well, and your mum's hearing is back to normal ;0)

Hi Bianca, I hope everyone keeps being on the mend and the coughing concert has stopped. Schönes Wochenende!

I am so very behind on the threads. There are many posts since I last visited. It looks like you are reading some great books!

I love post #42 with Alex and his lovely dog. Here is a photo I took, similar to yours regarding a boy and a dog...mine is a girl and a dog. Kayla took her evening bath and was so tired she fell fast asleep, with Lilly at her side.



Happy Saturday to you! I second what Natalie said above, let's hope there is good health in your abode.

I wish you a quiet weekend

Hey there, Bianca. I think I lost you for awhile there, sorry! I hope you are feeling better.

You've disappeared again. Hope everything is well with you.

Hope you are your family are regaining your health.

Hope you and your family are still on the mend.

Bianca, I hope you and your family are well. Take care!

Also hoping everyone is getting well over there!

I'm glad you are on the mend.... oh the coughing chorus is awful......

Will be eagerly awaiting your response to the Ness - I have it on my wallflower shelves......

Just stopping by to say I hope you had a good weekend and are all feeling better Bianca.

It's been several days since you checked in... I'm hoping that doesn't mean you're still sick! :O

Hallo Bianca! I hope that everything's alright! Have a nice week!

Thinking of you; hoping everything is okay...

Hi, Bianca. Everything OK? Hope everyone is back to full health by now.

BIANCA! We're getting worried around here. Hope all is well.

Hey Bianca! I hope all is well out there. We haven't heard from you in so long! Sending positive vibes your way.

Hi Bianca, I hope you and your family are all on the mend.

Hi Bianca, swooping through on my broom leaving a cloud of *smooches*

Hej Bianca, wie geht es bei euch? I just came by to look for something new, have a good day

Just saying hello - hope eveything's OK.

Just passing through, Bianca. I hope everything is alright with you and your family.

Hi Bianca. Hope everyone is doing ok at your house!

Another *wave* at Bianca. (And a Yoohoo, everyone okay in there?)

Hope everyone is feeling better now.

Wish you a quiet and relaxing weekend

Thank you very much Everyone for your kind enquiries over the past two weeks. As some of you assumed rightly, I actually deteriorated even so that I didn't have a fever for a few days. However, four days after my "first" week of fever broke, I started again - not quite as high as the first time round, but more persistent and I felt much worse - ended up with pneumonia myself and was very ill for over a week. I started to feel better over the past few days, also I am still easily tired - can you imagine, since my fever broke the second time I seriously slept between 18 and 20 hours a day, definately a record for me. It will take me a little while to catch up with everyone, but I will get there. I was unable to read/listen to anything for sometime and only started to listen to audiobooks again three days ago. Today, is my first day back into reading :) Well, I assume from now on it can only get better. Alex improved drastically and has been back to school for over a week now, in the end he didn't need the cxr, nor the blood tests.

> 173 Dejah I found very affordable second hand copies on amazon.de, they are shipped from the US and should arrive by the end of February. Once I finished the other two, I will let you know what I thought about them.

> 178 Adrienne LOL - love that story. I am sure Alex would do that if he would have a twin. Very clever :)

> 182 I hope you will enjoy Warm Bodies and Elantris once you get to them Kathy :)

> 185 Thank you Roberta so that will be the book to read this year :) Now, I only need to find it in my TBR pile *grin*

> 187 Linda thank you soo much. That photo is lovely :) !

...............................................................................................................

I have finished listening to The Ask and The Answer and Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness and I am currently listening to The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. Today, I also started to read Jhereg by Steven Brust for the February group read.

Whew! I'm sorry to hear about your illness, Bianca, but I'm very glad to hear that you're doing better and that Alex is back up to speed.

So relieved to see you posting again! And I'm sorry you were so ill! Good to see you're doing better and that Alex is finally back to school. I hope you'll have some more time off work to recover completely?

This year's flu virus seems very 'heimtückisch', extremely persistent and either lingers forever before breaking out or comes back after a short improvement. I can't remember a year where so many adult people I know have been hit by the flu, developped pneunomia or something very close to it.

Darryl thank you :). The flu season seems to be particular bad at the moment, even so that people have been vaccinated.

Thank you Nathalie Yep, I am soo glad to finally feel a bit better. I don't think I have been that ill in over a decade. I agree with you about your flu assessment, that's what our doc said as well. Apparently, there are quite a lot of people out there who started off with a flu - didn't have a fever for a few days, still carried on to feel worse - some like myself got a fever again and developed pneumonia. Our doctor said, she hasn't seen as many cases of such bad pneumonia in several years. She said, I was lucky that I could be looked after at home, because soo many other people needed hospital admission.

Glad to see you back and recovering. We were starting to worry a little!

Take care of yourself, Bianca!

Bianca, so glad that you are on the road to recovery. Nasty stuff going around. I'm glad that germs aren't transmitted by the Internet. You know you're sick when you can't read, right? Audiobooks seem like a good transition back to turning those heavy pages! Please stay well. We missed you.

January reads

#01 Warbreaker - Brandon Sanderson - 672 pages review
#02 Low Town - Daniel Polansky - 384 pages review
#03 ♬ Der Wunschpunsch - Michael Ende - 240 pages review
#04 The Walking Dead Vol.4 - The Heart's Desire - Robert Kirkman - 136 pages review
#05 We Sinners - Hanna Pylväinen - 189 pages review
#06 Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood - 436 pages
#07 Warm Bodies - Isaac Marion - 256 pages
#08 The Alchemist of Souls - Anne Lyle - 480 pages
#09 ♬ The Knife of Never Letting Go - Patrick Ness - 496 pages
#10 The Year of the Flood - Margaret Atwood - 528 pages
#11 Domain of the Dead - Ian McKinnon - 252 pages
#12 Remains of the Dead - Ian McKinnon - 234 pages
#13 ♬ The Snow Queen - Joan D. Vinge - 469 pages
#14 The Taker - Alma Katsu - 450 pages
#15 The Reckoning - Alma Katsu - 352 pages

February

#16 ♬ The Ask and the Answer - Patrick Ness - 528 pages
#17 ♬ Monsters of Men - Patrick Ness - 624 pages
#18 Jhereg - Steven Brust

Currently Reading

Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoi - slowly, just finished book 01
Purple Hibiscus - Chimamanda Ngozi

♬ The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern

I'm so glad you're back! I'm sure you have a ways to go to feel fully recovered, but it's good to be on the mend and back into reading again.

Wave at Morphy, Stasia and Donna :) Thank you very much for your kind wishes :). Yeah, will still take a little time to get me back to normal. 3 weeks of being ill, with 2 weeks of fever and bedrest definately knocks you out. However, I agree with you Donna audiobooks are a very good transition when reading is difficult - well, at least for me *smile*.

Thank you Laura *smile*, looks like we cross-posted. Yep, still will take a little while, but I will get there :)

Bianca- Wow! I was wondering what was going on. I'm so sorry you've been ill. I hope the worst is behind you. I'm glad you are getting back into the reading groove, as well. Take care and stay in touch.

Oh, Bianca, I'm so glad to see you! You had me worried...I'm so glad you are starting to feel better. *Hugs*

So glad to hear you're starting to feel better - as you can tell we were a little worried :-) Don't worry about catching up, just rest and recuperate. Glad Alex is also better.

So happy to see you back and feeling better, Bianca. You were certainly missed around here! I hope you continue to feel better and better with no more relapses.

Hej Bianca, I am very glad about your positive news.

Good to have you back Bianca! I'm glad you're starting to feel better. :)

Glad to see that you're on the mend and that Alex is back at school.

So glad you're back! I'm sorry that you were so very ill.

Glad you're feeling a better!

What a relief to have you back! I'm so glad you are feeling better and Alex is well.

Hi, Bianca. I'm sorry to hear you fell ill again, but I'm glad you're on the mend. It's good to know Alex is well enough to go back to school again, too. Nice to have you back - take it easy.

Hi Bianca! Swooping through trailing smooches!

Hi Bianca, so glad your back and starting to feel better. Good to hear Alex improved and didn't relapse aswell. It's been on the news over here about how bad the flu is in Europe and the States, even after vaccination. Are your parents well again too?

The Night Circus was one of my favourite reads last year, hope your enjoying it :)

Hi Bianca!! Glad you're feeling better now! It's good to see you back here. :)

Glad to see you back and feeling better! I was worried about you. xx

So glad you're finally on the road to recovery Bianca. We were all so worried.

Hearing from you is quite a relief. I'm also glad Alex was spared any further testing and is back in school.

Bianca you are back! I'm thrilled that you are better. I was really starting to get worried. I missed your presence here and on many other threads.

Glad you're doing better!

Hi Bianca

I'm sorry you are still struggling with health issues. What ever is going around, is strong.

Working at the university, I'm exposed to coughing, sneezing, sore throat students. This year in particular, so many are ill and, as you know, it returns just when you think it finished.

Hi Bianca! I'm adding my good wishes & relief that you are finally starting to feel better! Did you have flu first then develop pneumonia? This season has really been terrible :(

So glad to hear Alex is still holding his own.

Glad you're doing better, Bianca!

Great to see you back posting again, Bianca. My husband has come down with the flu over the weekend and I am keeping my fingers crossed that he is able to shake it off and that I don't pick it up as well. I think we all need a dose of sunshine to warm our bones and give us a shot of vitamin C!

So glad to see you back Bianca. Hope you continue to improve!

Bianca, I'm simply checking in to see if you are feeling better. I love the opening photo of Alex. My, but where does the time fly.

Abba did an excellent song called Slipping Through My Fingers. It is very special

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNaNVuWes_U

Thank you Mark, Stephen, Heather, Rosalita, Paul, Rachel, Rhian, Esquiress, Melissa, Roni, Nina, Richard, Adrienne, Kathy, Jenn, Bonnie, ffortsa, Roberta, Jim, Linda, Diana, Tina, Judy and Heidi again for your kind wishes.

Yesterday, I have been out for the first time after two weeks, which I really enjoyed, also I tired very fast and had quite a long sleep afterwards hehe. However, I feel how I get gradually better and I even can read again - most important *nod head enthusiastically*.

Adrienne yes, my parents recovered quite quickly. It was just Alex and myself who didn't :(. In regards to The Night Circus - I absolutely love the book and I can not understand that I did wait that long to get to it. I am listening to the unabridged audiobook narrated by Jim Dale, which is narrated absolutely brilliantly.

Tina I had the flu first and then developed pneumonia. Although, I had the same as Alex, so there could be the chance that I had his bugs already beforehand.

I read and finished Jhereg yesterday and I have to say that it was quite an entertaining read. :)

#18 Jhereg - Steven Brust

Genre: Fantasy - 239 pages
Rating: 3.5/5

I read this as part of the group read this month and I have to say it was a real fun read. Yes, an uneven story as roni mentioned, but nevertheless fun :). Steven Brust refers lots of times to events which happened a long time ago, which made it a bit hard at times, because that made me yearn to know more about the events hinted at.

We meet Vlad Taltos an established assassin and "human" member of the Jhereg. The Jhereg are part of the Dragearan society who live on a world shared by these Dragearan's and humans which are referred to as "Easterners". However, Vlad is hired by the big boss of the Jhereg Council to kill another member who took of with the gold of the Jhereg. This Council member has to be killed quickly, before the news of the crime gets out to the community. However, the villain manages to find sanctuary in Castle Black which belongs to a Dragonlord - another group of the Dragaeran society. If Vlad should kill him there, that could trigger a major war between the houses of the Jhereg and the Dragon with has to be avoided at all cost. Vlad is facing a serious dilemma and will need all his strength and help of his friends to figure out how to get on top of all the ensuing complications. As I mentioned already earlier also the story is a bit uneven, it was a real fun read and contained a lot of humor. I also enjoyed the fact that the women in the story seemed to be very strong and resourceful.

Great to see you back posting, Bianca and happy to learn that you are getting better!

Oh, Bianca! I'm so glad to see you are improving finally! I think we've all been pretty worried about your absence! I hope you continue to improve every day. Take it slowly; this bug is knocking folks out for weeks at a time so just do what you can.

((hugs))

Hello Lori and Tina *big smile and a wave* to both of you. Thank you soo much, for all your kind wishes. I definately will take things slowly and I still can see that I tire very fast and I still have got problems with my breathing :(. However, my doctor said that it still can take a few weeks until I am back to normal. Well, at least I am back on the ball with my reading again.

Just watched episode 9 of "The Walking Dead" with Alex and even here it starts to become clear that Rick starts to loose the plot - meh. I was really cross that my fave character Darryl took off with his idiot brother Merryl - just because it's his brother, even so that he is so ruthless. I hope we are not going to loose him as yet.

I also finished listening to The Night Circus and I just loved the story. I just can't believe that I did wait until now to read the book. Review will come later, but this could definately become one of my fave reads this year.

So now I started to listen to Genesis by Bernard Beckett, so far so good. Another book I had on my TBR for some time.

Hej Bianca, very pleased to hear that you feel better now and that are able to take up reading again. I hope and pray that you can recover fully.

So glad you are back and feeling better. What a terrible winter you've had. Very interested to read about the Ness and the Brust - I have many of those books.

I love The Walking Dead. I've been watching it since the first episode and haven't lost interest yet. ^_^

So sorry to hear about the pneumonia. Good to have you back, hope you get plenty of rest and feel 100% as soon as possible.

Thank you Paul :) of course I will recover fully, but it still will take a while. However, finally after three weeks my voice starts to come back, also I did get the feeling my family quite enjoyed the loss of my voice *scratch head*.

Lucy thank you to you as well, I very much can recommend the Ness trilogy, also I am not too sure if the story would have worked as well for me, if I would have read it. If you should get the audiobooks make sure you get the versions narrated by Nick Podehl, they are much, much better than the UK narrated version. Brust, well I think he is someone you probably would appreciate even so that it is a very uneven read.

Stephen I am so glad to hear that someone else loves The Walking Dead series. Alex got me into it last year and I got hooked. That's when I started to explore more of the zombie territory anyway. However, I thought season 2 was lacking a bit inbetween, but picked up towards the end.
I sort of was really p***ed off with the events in episode 9 last night.

I am 1/2 way through listening to Genesis by Bernard Beckett and actually wanted to read a bit this morning in it as well. I got the kindle version last year. However, I found I was unable to read it, this interview style drove me absolutely nuts and I just could not get into it. This book definately works better as audiobook for me.

Do you guys experience that from time to time that a book may works better for you as an audiobook version instead of the written form or the other way round?
Ahem, the other thing I found very odd *blush*, the day I got a fever the second time round I started to read Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi in the morning. Well, I picked it up yesterday again - AND I can't carry on reading it, everytime I try to read it I start to feel sick and get almost straight away a headache. I never had a reaction like that before and I have to admit I am seriously puzzled by it.

Hello calm *exited wave* soooooo nice to see you posting again as well. Don't worry, I will be fine again in a few weeks time :), back to my old cheery self. I hope everything is okay in calm land as well. *smile*

I did get the feeling my family quite enjoyed the loss of my voice *grin*

Oh sorry to see you've been so sick! Hopefully full health is on it's way to you!

Bianca, The Night Circus was one of my top two reads last year, so I'm glad you enjoyed it. However, the format of the book and the illustrations added so much to the book that I'm not sure how the audio version could measure up!

And of course I'm glad you enjoyed Jhereg. There are 3 Vlad books that fill in his prior history, and FIVE books that fill in general Dragaeran history before that! So if Jhereg has whetted your appetite for that world, you've got plenty to satisfy it.

Finally, after almost 5 weeks without a kitchen. Today they started to build in the new kitchen, apparently it will take two days, which means we actually can cook again from tomorrow night. I can't start to say how HAPPY I am to be able to cook again. Well, when I was ill I didn't eat anything anyway, but inbetween I just started to absolutely HATE eating junk food, microwaved food etc. - Meh. Once the kitchen is finished I will post some photos, I have to say my parents choose a wonderful, beautiful and very functional kitchen. Although, my dad was really funny last night, because he said he has got a feeling that I am to short to reach the microwave. Well, I hardly ever use one so I am not really bothered. However, he felt it was awful and decided that he is going to get a little step ladder for me to make it easier for me to work in our new kitchen.
I am just the gnom in my family, both my parents are very tall, even Alex has overtaken me in the past few weeks and he seriously started to call me "shorty".

Paul I know LOL.

Thank you Chelle *smile*

Roni yes, Jhereg intrigued me (despite the uneven writing style) enough to go for the other books as well. I was pondering, whether I should change reading the chronological order, but decided I just carry on with the publication order now.
Glad to hear that you also loved The Night Circus, to be honest it worked absolutely brilliant as audiobook, but I ordered the book now as well for my collection. However, I am sure that will be one of the books I will read again.

Yes, Happy Dance for the new kitchen!

Wow, Bianca, I forgot you were without a kitchen all this time, I thought it was going to go a lot faster than that. I'm glad you get to cook again, and I bet your family will appreciate it too! :)

Thanky you Diana - yes, Happy Dance, indeed!