Leaving On A Jet Plane

Hi Everybody!  (Hi Dr. Nick...sorry I may have been watching waaaaay to much Simpsons while unpacking...)  Anyways just a quick post to let you all know I am head out to the great state of Texas for my Hubbins family reunion.  I have never really been to Texas but I hear it's hot and everything is bigger out there.  On that note me and my books will be out for the week so no posting for the next 7 days or so.

I did however just get back from three different book stores to stock up on books for the trip so I promise some good ramblings when I get back, including my whole experience with Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which I have exerted great amounts of self control to save until vacation time.  Hope you all have a book filled week.  Happy Reading Everybody!

Around The Fictional Worlds

My baby sis and her husband have set off on their world tour.  To say that I am extremely jealous is a massive understatement...and I may send her pics of me crying piteously every time another one of their fabulous posts gets published.   Lucky for me, while not quit as awesome as actual traveling, I do still have my books.  My books can take me to worlds beyond what any human can travel to.  Here are some places I would love to explore in person.

Narnia

This will always be the epitome of the magical land I want to travel to.  Ever since I could pick up a book I have been looking for a way to get to this world and explore it from top to bottom!

Middle Earth

I can't decide if I want to visit Rivendale, the mines of Moria or Rohan first...or maybe I'll take tea in the Shire...no climb the trees of Lothlorian...no wait...sigh so much to do.

Neverland

Flying, pirates, faires, mermaids, adventure, what is not to love about this place, I think it would be the perfect summer vacation spot.

Oz

There is so much to see in Oz, and with it constantly changing I have a feeling one would never run out of places to see in this land of color and magic. 

Earthsea

This place holds an amazing amount of diversity packed into a fairly small space.  The idea of sailing from island to island to enjoy all the various cultures is exciting.

Pern

I don't so much want to visit Pern as I want to live there, work there, ride dragons there, study there, pretty much do anything and everything all the time there.

Earth

As much as I love and adore my make believe worlds, the one we live on right now holds so many wonders and much magic just waiting to be discovered, so it too goes on  my list.

So there it is, my short list of any of the thousands of places I want to explore.  The best part about being a book lover is the ability to, at least in my head, travel to every place imaginable.  The other cool part is that people are constantly inventing new places, new worlds, new stories and new adventures for me to go on so I will never run out of places to travel.  Happy Reading Everybody!

Song Of The Really Expensive Crystal

Grabbed this book literally on my way out the door for my trip last week.  I had a bunch of new books I was very excited about reading, but grabbed this one just because.  I'm glad I did 'cause as I was chilling at the airport awaiting my flight, eating a big girl lunch I had the urge to read this exact book!  Thanks to the literary fates, I had it with me YAY!  The book is Crystal Singer by Anne McCaffrey the first of the Crystal series.  Was this the perfect book for the moment?  Find out, but first as always SPOILERS AHEAD!

Killashandra Ree has just found out that she will never realize her dream of becoming a star concert singer on her home world of Fuerte.  She has spent the last ten years training, only to be told that she has an unbearable burr in a specific range that pretty much will never be fixed.  Understandably upset Killashandra takes off to find adventure when she runs into a man who takes her on a whirlwind tour of her own planet, flashing credit (this books version of money) and status where ever he goes.  Turns out that he is a Crystal Singer, a rare individual with perfect pitch and total recall.  After an accident render's her companion essentially a vegetable, Killashandra decides to become a Crystal Singer herself.  Despite (or maybe because of) numerous warnings against it, Killashandra travels to Ballybran, the headquarters of the Heptite Guild, for which the Crystal Singers are trained and work.  During her research Killashandra finds the planet is under an isolation edict, with no one being allowed to set foot on the planet until full disclosure has happened.  Still undeterred Killa and several others start the process.  We follow the potential recruits as we learn about the Crystal industry.  We learn that as humans expand into the universe, communication has become an issue, as the distances create a time lag.  The discovery of the unique crystal of Ballybran has solved that problem and provided many other uses as well.  This has led the Heptite Guild and it's members to be able to become quite well off and also amass prestige.  Of course with all good things there is a downside and that is why the planet is isolated.  It is revealed that any human who lands on the planet is instantly exposed to a spore.  If a person fully adjusts to the spore, they are rewarded with sharper senses and a long life...sounds great right?  Well there are two HUGE downsides, the first is even if you make a full adaption, a person has to constantly return to Ballybran to recharge the spore, apx every 400 days at a maximum, this means you can never go more then 200 days away from the planet.  If a person fails to return, the ageing process proceeds very rapidly and you can age hundreds of years in seconds.  The other danger is that you will not make a full adaption and will never be able to leave the planet again.  There is no real way to determine 100% who will  make the adaption and who will only partially adapt so there is a real risk.   After this has all been revealed, Killa and her fellow hopefuls go ahead and land on the planet.  While they wait for the spore to adapt they learn all about Crystal, the cutting, the tools, the value, the types, all kinds of stuff.  They also learn about the devastating storms called mach storms that can seriously hurt or kill a Singer.  Killa makes a full transition and turns out to have an affinity for the super rare, super valuable black crystal.  She also catches the eye of Lanzecki, the Guild Master in both a professional and personal capacity.  Killa finishes her training and gets out on the ranges, finding and Singing black crystal on her first trip out.  To get her off planet during the devastating Passover storms, she is sent to install her crystals, finding herself desperate to get back to Ballybran, Killa completes her full cycle as a Crystal Singer.

This book was perfect for when I was reading it, it had a lot of travel, a lot of discovery and a lot of awesome, and reading it at O'Hare Airport with it's big open windows and gray skies was the perfect setting for it.  I have to say, I am sometimes hard pressed to explain why I reread this book so often as it really does not have a plot.  It has a beginning, middle and end, but it is much more about a world and industry then it is anything else.  Ms. McCaffrey in case you have forgotten is one of my absolute favorite authors and this book highlights one of her strengths and that is world building.  This book has top notch world building and gives you a glimpse of an almost unlimited universe, all while detailing what amounts to mining and industry.  This book should not be as interesting as it is, as it is full of technical details and procedures...but I don't know...I still find it fascinating.  As much as this book is about world building, there are some very strong characters in here as well.  This author is great at giving everybody, even minor characters a believable and distinct personality, and she does it by showing, not telling so that you don't feel bogged down by descriptions of people.  Killashandra is of course the most fully developed and I identify with her very closely.  She comes from a theatre arts background and see's things in those terms, which with my background works perfectly.  She also likes to know things, and be the best at what she does.  She get's frustrated when people keep things from her, and she gets fed up with theory very quickly...yet she is a personal research fiend, all things I relate to.  Killa herself acknowledges her tendency to get conceited and tries to make a conscious effort to reign it in, but quickly gets frustrated with petty people.  I love a lot of the support characters who teach Killa and her fellow recruits their jobs, they all are long lived and have their own little quirks and talents.  I did find the relationship between Lanzecki and Killa a bit forced and convenient, since Killa is so good at everything she does, this relationship just made her journey a tad to easy for my taste.  Near the end when Killa heads out to install the black crystal there is a bunch of political type references made that kind of come out of no where and to me just muddy it a bit, but I think she was trying to set up the whole universe so eh, I know that Ms. McCaffrey use some of her own experiences as a singer and theatre person to inspire this book, and I feel that really comes through.  Killashandra and her story feel very personal and I really enjoyed that.  Overall I would recommend this book for any McCaffrey fans, science fiction fan, or world building fan.  I give it 7 out of 10 dodecahedrons.

What aspect of a book is most important to you?  What industry can you read a lot about?  How into random stuff do I get?

On Solid Ground Again

I made it home finally!  I have a 102 degree temp, an ear infection, and I miss my boys like crazy, but I am home!  I had a great trip filled with laughing, playing, and reading.  Here are some of the highlights of my Chicago trip.

Lil G is reading now!!!!  I am a super super proud aunt.  I got to snuggle with him while he read to me from his level 5 book.  He could also read some of the basic words from the aquarium signs, which showed him an actual application of his reading skills, which made him very excited and me want to cry with proud happiness.

Blackbeard

L Bub is also very into books, any time a grown up sits down for any reason he runs to his book shelf, grabs a book and sits on your lap all expectant.  He can point out pictures knows characters.  It's really cool to see a kid so young, so into books.

Curious George

The biggest part was our trip to one of my favorite places in the world, the Shedd Aquarium!  I was trying to temper my expectations of a 2 and 6 year old's reactions.  I figured the older one would have fun for a while, and the younger one would not understand what was going on, but I was pleasantly surprised when both boys were over the moon excited the whole time.  Lil G (6) was able to read and learn about the fish and animals and would gently lead his little brother around by the hand.  L Bub is apparently a fan of fish and would sit on the floor and wouldn't leave until he had poinred out EVERY fish in EVERY tank :-)  We hit the gift shop in the end for some toys and books, which made me the favorite, but the whole experience was just awesome.

National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of the Ocean

My last day with the boys was marked by reading, playing, egg dying and the aquisition of even more books from Nana (my Mamma).  It was a lot of fun to spoil the boys, and being a bit spoiled by Mamma myself was very cool.

Shedd Aquarium

I love visiting with my family, I love traveling, I love watching the little boys grow up and explore their world, I love reading with them to expand their horizons and I can't wait to do it all again.  Happy Reading Everybody! (All the books I put in the blog are ones we got on this trip)

Land Of Imagination

I love books, I love books about books, I love books about authors, I love books that have adventure and spirit and heart, I love books that combine all of these, ergo I love Here, There Be Dragons by James Owen, the first book in the Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica Series.  I picked this book up because it promised all of the above and for the most part it delivered in spades.  But first as always SPOILERS AHEAD!

Three Oxford scholars, Charles, John and Jack are all in some way summoned to a Professor Sigurdsson's residence, where it turns out he has been murdered.  The trio are soon met by a strange man called Bert who helps them escape a group of Wendigo's who are after them for some reason.  The group makes good on their escape through the use of a special ship named Indigo Dragon.  After the chaos has calmed the trio are told that they are to be the Caretakers of an extremely special book called the Imaginarium Geographica, which principally holds maps and information on a world known as the Archipelago of Dreams, a place where all the mythical and fictional worlds exist.  John is to be the principal Caretaker with Jack and Charles assisting.  The group starts their adventure on the island of Avalon, where they pick up a stowaway by the name of Bug.  The group which now also includes Bert's daughter Aven, who is the captain of the Indigo Dragon.  The group is told that the

Silver Throne has been empty for 20 years after the last king went bad and killed his whole family, leaving the Archipelago without a ruler. This has left an opening for the Winter King to try and take over.  To this end he has been using Pandora's Box to steal people's souls and turn them into Shadow-Born.  He has also been conquering the various islands by cloaking them in Shadow.  They land on Paralon and meet Tummler, a talking badger who not only knows the secret of steam power, but is a budding cookbook author as well.  After a major upset in Parliament, where the current island king and queens turn out to be clockwork all chaos breaks lose.  The group goes to visit the last remaining dragon Saramanth (the other dragons left when the old king went bad) who gives them some advice, including the key to translating the Imaginarium Geographica.  He also gives them the High King's ring, which he had taken from the last King when he went bad.  The group leaves and is soon attacked by the Winter King, who steals what he thinks is the Geographica and tries to recruit Jack.  The Indigo Dragon is destroyed and the group, along with the sniveling traitor Magwich are marooned on an island.  Lucky for them the island belongs to Ordo Maas who supplies them with a new boat the White Dragon and sends them to the Cartographer.  On to another island they climb the Keep of Time, which continues to grow as time goes on.  They learn more stuff and head to the island at the end of the world.  The group joins with their allies, the dwarves, the elves, and the other mythological creatures (centaurs and such).  They face down the enemy army the Winter King has assembled which consists of trolls, goblins, Shadowborn, wendigo's and the Winter King himself.  Bug is revealed to be the last remaining heir to the throne and summons the dragons which help them win the battle.  Jack, who's cockiness cost the life of their good friend Nemo, redeems himself by figuring out how to return the Shadowed lands to their natural state.  Once everything starts to settle the trio of Caretakers head back to London, but not before they sign their names to the Geographica.  It is here we learn that Charles is Charles William, John is J.R.R.Tolkien, Jack is C.S. Lewis, and Bert is H.G. Wells.  We learn that most of the Caretakers were either author's or artists or people with big imaginations.  The men return to London and await their next adventure.

Whew that was a super, huge, long synopsis that does not even remotely begin to capture to coolness of this book.  This book has a good plot and great characters, but it's biggest strength for me is the treasure trove of literary awesomeness this book is.  I do wonder however if a non-book fanatic would enjoy this book as much as I did.  It was a bit of a crazy ride, going to a myriad places, meeting a ton of people and all the while maintaining a plot and character development.  It is a bit hard to keep track of on occasion, trying to figure out exactly what a Caretaker does, or how the process of passing the Geographica down is handled, or exactly what the Geographica is was all a bit of a blur.  All of the confusion aside, I kept turning the page waiting to see what tidbit would pop up next.  Like I said before, my favorite part was all of the literary nuggets that were put in.  You could see the bits and pieces that supposedly "inspired" the great authors to write their masterpieces.  It was a bit surreal, knowing that it is all fiction, but it was still fun pretending that the authors were inspired by a real alternate world.  So I realize I am doing a horrible job trying to talk about this book.  It's one of those books that you just have to read and you will either love it or not.  Go read it, find the gems, laugh, love, lose, cry and sail with your beloved authors an see what you think.  I give this book 9 out of 10 Dragonships.
What author should be the next Caretaker?  What fictional world would you like to see?  How horrible job did I do on this rambling?

New York, New York!

Hello all, I got the chance to spend an amazing weekend in New York City with a good chunk of my family and let me tell you it was AWESOME!  Seriously I am so moving there...now who wants to pay me $3500 a month to read...anybody?  There were a zillion amazing things about this city that never sleeps, but of course most of my favorite parts involved literary awesomeness.  We started that day with a little Starbucks and meandering through lower Manhattan.  I knew it was gonna be a good day when I spotted a massive Barnes and Nobles.  We started with the WTC memorial

I have to admit now that I am part of the fire and rescue community this takes on even more meaning then it did before.  I am fortunate that I did not lose anybody, but being there really brings it home.
After that a little Tribeca film and food fest action

How creepy cool are those human puppets?  It was fun to watch them interact with the crowd, they creeped out the adults, but the kids loved them.
The next day we started off at Bryant Park, it was absolutely beautiful, and the best part was on the other side was the New York Public Library!!!!!!!!!!!

This place is the one place I really wanted to go while we were here, and it was so awesome.  I named the lions Author and Chester (supposedly they are called Patience and Fortitude, but I like my names better).  I did not get to go inside, but that just means I'll have to go back :-)
Times Square, Carnegie Hall, and another Starbucks run got us to Central Park.

 After the Library, Central Park was the other must see on my list, mostly because of all the literary awesomeness that can be found inside.

Here we have a statue of the great bard William Shakespeare

The famous Alice in Wonderland Statue

The Tempest statue from the Shakespeare Garden

And last but not least, Belvedere Castle...but I call it Rapunzel Tower.
It was a fast and furious two days, but I got to see a lot and hit most of the places I wanted to see.  Soon enough I will do a post on all of the books I love that are set in New York and be little miss know it all on the spots I've been too.  Hopefully you have enjoyed my frantic rush through New York and will share some of your own literary destinations.  Happy Reading Everybody!

Traveling With My Books

I just got back from gallivanting all over the country side...in the middle of a snow storm no less and had a great time.  I have decided that one of the most valuable things a person can have with them is a really great book bag.  Now book bags are tricky because you have to take several things into consideration.  First of all they have to be big enough to hold a wide selection of books, because who knows what I will be in the mood for.  Second they have to be comfortable, because my Hubbin say's if I can't carry it myself it stays home.  You have to be able to access it easily and be able to see you selections.  Also I have found a couple extra pockets for chargers, book lights and monocles is very helpful (note to self get a monocle).  Here are a couple of bags that fit the bill.

She is too fond of books

This is one of my favorite literary quotes, plus it has a flat bottom so all your books don't spill out

Messenger Bag

This type of bag always reminds me of traveling by horse.

Writing Butterfly Bag

A backpack style bag is perfect for when you need your hands free...to read

I Ransack Libraries Bag

This would make the perfect library bag

Tree Book Bag

This one just screams for all my fantasy books to be toted around

What is your favorite book bag?  Does it surprise anybody that I have multiple bags for different occasions? What is the most books you have ever brought with you on a trip?

Road Reading

This is what I spent last night doing :-)

Bookfession

Have a great day everybody