Hunting for a Good Read? Pun Intended...

I literally just finished book two in The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan (mentioned in a previous blog) and I want to share my thoughts on it.  The book is called The Great Hunt and picks up where book one left off, so no interruption in the storyline and trying to figure out what happened in between- always a positive.  I think I read this book in half the time that I read the first one, which I contribute not to a lesser page count, but to a familiarity with the characters and intense desire to know what was going to happen to them.  There have been a few late night reading sessions where I struggled with knowledge that my body needed sleep to function, and to read I had to function; therefore, I needed to put down my Kindle (named Buffy the Bookholder) and sleep in order to read.  Any die-hard reader will understand the struggle, I'm sure :)
I digress...

The book itself was wonderfully written and everything I expected from the plotline, and more.  Jordan gave plenty of "screentime" to each character, and on the whole, I didn't feel confused by where the book ended and what each character was up to.  I don't want to get too specific, just in case you are planning on reading the book. I am not about reviews that spoil the book for a potential reader!  One thing I do want to talk about regarding the book (or more accurately, rant about) are the reviews about the book.  As one reviewer aptly pointed out, the reviews seem to go one of two ways: extreme epic fantasy fan who sees no flaws in the book, or someone who continually harps on the fact that every epic fantasy writer after Tolkien is just imitating his works to a much lesser degree and contain no originality whatsoever.  May I just say, at this point in the history of humankind and storytelling, there is so little room for true originality that pretty much anything written will remind you of something else or favor another work to some degree.  In fact, there are certain skeletal-type plotlines that almost any book is going to follow, depending on genre.  I think it may be impossible to have your work avoid one of those plotlines in some form or fashion.  I don't understand why people feel the need to completely bash someone else's creative work? It takes a great deal of courage to put your writing out in the world to be judged, and that alone deserves our respect.

A Little Love and Sympathy

I remember (before I became a mom) staring at screaming children in the grocery store and wondering why in the world did their parents bring them along? Was it just to share the misery and force everyone else to listen to their screaming children, too?  Looking back, I shake my head and realize how insensitive I used to be.  I realize now that sometimes, you simply have no choice but to tow along your little one and just hope for the best.  I appreciate the sympathetic looks from other women and ignore the others who throw me dirty looks. Really, it's not like I'm taking her along to my spa day and she's ripping off everyone's cucumber slices and tickling toes!  I can honestly say I know longer throw dirty looks to other women in grocery stores or restaurants....because we all need a little sympathy now and then.

On a happy  note, my husband got the new job we've been waiting to hear about! We are absolutely thrilled and very much looking forward to him having a set schedule again.  I know Elena is going to be happy to have her Daddy home more often and putting her to bed every night.  A girl definitely needs as many good night kisses as she can get!

Last weekend my mother came to visit and bestowed upon Elena her very own cleaning kit, including broom, mop, swiffer, and rags.  Needless to say, Elena has been diligently cleaning the floors and chasing our cats around the house after her five minutes of diligent cleaning.  I don't know if there is anything quite as adorable as an 18 month old pushing around a miniature, pink mop. I also have secret hopes that she will be a neat freak and save me from a future of picking up her room...and the living room...and the kitchen! (That's not considered child labor, right? In my day, they called them chores!)

I hope everyone reading this had a pleasant week.  I am relieved it's Friday and hope to have a smooth weekend with my girl while Buster works his last rotation on his old job.  There will be a lot of pajama wearing and tv watching!

Musing of the day: If I could have one superpower, it would be to transport myself into whatever book I wanted, for any length of the book that I wanted, and as any character that I wanted. I don't think I could want any superpower more! (If you'd like this superpower, feel free to comment on what book you'd currently like to find yourself in! At the moment, I'd like to be in The Eye of the World)

This Post is just EPIC

As you know, my hobby of choice is reading.  Usually, my tastes in literature are pretty eclectic, so I tend to jump from genre to genre often.  I would say the past two years have been a bit different.  There are a lot of exciting things happening in the young adult world, as well as the urban fantasy department, that have kept me shopping in that one corner of Barnes and Noble.  That's not to say there aren't exciting new authors and books elsewhere, but the talent and stories in YA and UF right now are just phenomenal! 

With that being said, I don't think we should forget some of the older works that have really laid the groundwork for these genres.  I recently checked out from the library The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan.  If you haven't read anything by Jordan, know this: he is an absolute master in the world of epic fantasy.  This may be me being biased, but the worlds he created and the characters he introduced have such depth and imagination, it's almost unreal.  I've heard a lot of people say that they can't "get into" epic fantasies because there's too much going on in the book, i.e. too many characters, made up worlds, magic, etc.  Jordan grabs you from the beginning and gives you characters that are courageous and stubborn, yet flawed and all together human.  I can't rave enough about his writing. Honestly.

Another wonderful writer of epic fantasy would be Margaret Weis, as well as Tracy Hickman.  You may recognize those names from the Dragonlance Chronicles.  Another set of incredible worlds and characters.  If you want a quick read, none of the aforementioned authors are for you.  However, if you want to lose yourself in fantastic worlds where magic bubbles up from the ground (sometimes literally) and heroes are the not just the stuff of legend, you should try out an epic fantasy.

 

This is Real Life

Hello, my name is Tara....you may have forgotten me in the past year that I have been away from blogging.

Infinite apologies to anyone who was actually reading my blog!  My only excuse is that working full time and trying to be the world's best mom to my now-toddler has taken up more time than I ever could have anticipated.  I guess it's time to play catch up and fill you in on what has been happening in my so called life!

I remember thinking when Elena (my daughter) was a few months old that parenting was so hard and I coudn't imagine it being any harder. Boy oh boy, was I wrong! I now have a walking/running, hands-into-everything, talking little girl who absolutely demands my attention every minute that we are together at home.  I literally can't even go to the bathroom by myself, as crazy as that sounds.  I feel like I say the word "no" at least a hundred times a day, and it's no wonder that "no" is Elena's favorite word (alongside "mine").  There is no down time when you are a parent, unless you are one of those lucky people who live close to relatives and can drop your kid off when you need a break.  Alas! I am not one of those lucky people.  To make things harder, both my husband and I work full time, on alternating shifts.  Parenting is HARD.  Okay, okay, I feel like I may be whining a bit, so let's move on.  As I mentioned, I am working full time, so Elena goes to daycare five days a week while I trudge away at work, nine hours a day.  Work is work, and that's all I'll say on that subject matter.  Buster has a job at factory in a nearby town.  The pay is good, but the hours aren't that great.  We don't see each other that often.  We are hoping that will change soon, as he is trying to get a job in a different department at that company, with same pay but better hours for our schedules.  He should find out today about the job, so cross your fingers and send up a prayer for us!

You may be wondering, based on my blog description, if I have made any progress with my writing.  A few months ago I had an idea for a book I felt like I just needed to write.  So for a few weeks, I devoted my lunch break to working on this book, carefully writing out character descriptions and a tentative plot line.  After I had satisfied my need for organization, I began writing on my fledgling novel.  I was doing very well, writing a few pages every day.  I'm really not sure what happened and why I stopped, because it was all flowing from pen to paper so easily, and it sounded good.  I keep telling myself to pick it back up, but excuses seem to appear so suddenly and I push it aside.  Maybe now that I'm blogging again, I'll start working on my book again.  I can just hear my characters crying because their stories are unfinished and I've seemingly abandoned them! I am so cruel...

Anyway, this is my life as of now- busy, loud, TIRING, and all together bonkers.  In between all that, though, is an incredible beauty that is sometimes indescribable (although, I'll do my best to describe it to you), laughter, silliness, and sometimes sadness.  If you want to be a part of all that, then I invite you to come back each day and read about my journey.  I'd be happy to share it with y'all :)