Monday, October 22, 2012

Recent Adventures

This is a photo dumb that I'll try to make interesting. ;)

William (2, almost 3, years old)
Jacob (5 months old)

An X-Wing replica at Wings Over the Rockies

Daniel pushing William around in a peddle plane at Wings Over the Rockies.
He tried nearly every plane they had.


Me in a tiny plane named The Cricket.
We thought it would be fitting. ;)
In other news, I got my hair cut and dyed this weekend. I'm still trying to take a good self portrait so I can share it but my face just doesn't want to be photogenic today.

Thanks for reading! Happy Monday!

Friday, October 5, 2012

Book Review: Seer of Sevenwaters

Picture & Information taken from Amazon

1 STAR


Get swept away in the romantic fantasy of this national bestselling author's world of Sevenwaters

The young seer Sibeal is visiting an island of elite warriors, prior to making her final pledge as a druid. It's there she finds Felix, a survivor of a Viking shipwreck, who's lost his memory. The scholarly Felix and Sibeal form a natural bond. He could even be her soul mate, but Sibeal's vocation is her true calling, and her heart must answer.

As Felix fully regains his memory, Sibeal has a runic divination showing her that Felix must go on a perilous mission-and that she will join him. The rough waters and the sea creatures they will face are no match for Sibeal's own inner turmoil. She must choose between the two things that tug at her soul-her spirituality and a chance at love...


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It hurts me so much to give this book such a low rating, but I couldn't even force my self to finish it. I barely got 10% of the way through it. I normally love Juliet Marillier. The first three books of the Sevenwaters series is great but I realized as I was reading Heir that she was slipping.

So why did Seer get just one star? I found the main character, Sibeal, boring. Yeah she's a seer and a Druid in training but I just couldn't get my self to care about her. Nor could I care about the shipwrecked boy, Felix.

And even though I didn't finish the book I can tell you how it ends. I'd bet $100 that Sibeal will chose to be with Felix instead of becoming a Druid. I hope someone could tell me different, but I doubt it.

So 1 star for being predictable and boring. :(

Monday, October 1, 2012

Book Review: The Sandman Vol. 1

Information and Picture taken from Amazon.

5 STARS


New York Times best-selling author Neil Gaiman's transcendent series SANDMAN is often hailed as the definitive Vertigo title and one of the finest achievements in graphic storytelling. Gaiman created an unforgettable tale of the forces that exist beyond life and death by weaving ancient mythology, folklore and fairy tales with his own distinct narrative vision.

In PRELUDES & NOCTURNES, an occultist attempting to capture Death to bargain for eternal life traps her younger brother Dream instead. After his 70 year imprisonment and eventual escape, Dream, also known as Morpheus, goes on a quest for his lost objects of power. On his arduous journey Morpheus encounters Lucifer, John Constantine, and an all-powerful madman.

This book also includes the story "The Sound of Her Wings," which introduces us to the pragmatic and perky goth girl Death. Includes issues 1-8 of the original series with completely new coloring, approved by the author.


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I'd like to begin this review with a warning to my younger and/or more sensitive readers. If this book got a movie rating it would be rated R, and more like a horror movie R than an action movie R. There's some scenes and some images that might disturb you and there's a whole chapter that had me a good bit troubled, although it ended on a good note.

Anyway, I am becoming a pretty big Neil Gaiman fan. This is the 3rd book of his I've read and I really like him. He's a little dark sometimes but it works.

And I loved The Sandman. The world Gaiman created is fascinating and I didn't want to leave. I now think the Sandman is pretty much one of the coolest characters ever. The writing was great and the art was good too. I'm not sure how to judge the art, most of my graphic novel reading comes in the form of manga and that's a totally different art style.

My favorite part is the last chapter where you meet the Sandman's sister. I love the idea of Death being a goth looking girl with crazy bedhead. If that's who comes to get me in the end I'll be pleased. :)

I've now got the next couple volumes of this series on hold for me at the library. One thing I love about comics is that it's a fast read. So, yes, I'll be reviewing the rest of the series as well.