The Normans: From Raiders to Kings by Lars Brownworth

Success in life flowed not from titles or position, but from a willingness to seize what one wanted

Why I read this book

I received a copy of this book through the LybraryThing Early Readers program in exchange of an honest  review.

What the book is about

This non fiction book takes us through the journey of the Normans; from their Viking origins arriving to England and France all through their journey south and their role in the crusades.

First impressions

The language in the book is easy to follow with good narrative, considering it is a history book. I don't know if it was only in the e-book version but there are a bit of editing issues such as weird spaces and typos here and there. The introductory line of main characters as well as the genealogical tree help the reader not to get lost through several generations of Normans.

Final thoughts

The book is very well researched and for a person who likes reading about history as I do this is a very source to learn about this group. It was very interesting to learn that as conquerors, the Normans would not impose their culture, but they would rather respect the one already present while imposing their political power. This made for happier citizens and hence loyal people and in my opinion it was a very smart political move. While I understand that for the time it would've been hard to find records of the women involved, it would've been nice to learn a bit more about them. 

One critic I would have is that sometimes the book felt like it kept coming back to situations already described in previous chapters, but the author referred to them as if it was the first time we heard of it and this for me was a bit annoying because it felt like there wasn't a good flow of the different stories. 

In all I thinks it was a good book. It feels to me that the chapters were treated as episodes of the author's podcast, which would explain the coming back of characters that I mentioned. This would be an advantage if you want to pick up the story at any chapter or episode. I learned a lot and I would like to read the author's other book: The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings

The Liebster Award/ Premio Dardo

Well, for the first time I've been nominated to something like this and usually I don't do this type of posts, but I got quite excited when I saw Helen's comment (from Worlds Inside Books) and so here we are.

Thank you so much Helen for both nominating me and following me :)

The Liebster award!

The rules of this are the following: thank the blog who nominated you, list 11 facts about yourself, answer the 11 questions that they asked you, ask 11 questions that your nominees have to answer and nominate 9 blogs with under 200 followers for the award that are not the one that nominated you. The questions for my nominees and the nominated blogs are at the end of the post.

11 facts about myself:

1. I am from Colombia but I've been living in Canada for the last 5 years...winter does not get easier to cope with though
2. I am fluent in 3 languages but I am working on learning another 2. 
3. I think I haven't mentioned it here before, so here it is: I got engaged this year :)
4. I follow 3 bookish podcasts namely Bookrageous, Book Riot and Sword and Laser
5. I don't really like sports let alone watch them that much but there are 3 of them that I would actually watch and enjoy: Figure Skating, Cheerleading competitions (I used to be a cheerleader) and...the Super Bowl.
6. I cannot work properly in a quite environment; I need my music in order to concentrate. Audio books won't do, because then I cannot concentrate on anything other than the book.
7. I love jigsaw puzzles
8. I hate roller coasters; last time I was in one it was the Dragon Challenge in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. My brother convinced me to sit in the front...I screamed and cried the whole ride.
9. I LOVE gummies particularly sour worms. If I am mad at you, you can help your way to forgiveness with a bag of these.
10. I enjoy making lists of everything; organization is a must for me to a point that some of my friends compare me to Monica Geller.
11. The only thing I guess I have a phobia to is rats. When I see them I start screaming incontrollably and act without thinking. I once climbed a friend, but had no recollection of how I got to his shoulders.

11 Questions/Preguntas from Helen

If you could visit any fictional worlds, which one would it be? / ¿Si pudieras visitar algún mundo ficticio, cuál sería?

     I would love to visit Fantasia from the Neverending Story

And a real place? / ¿Y un lugar real?

     If there is a place that I want to visit and that I haven't it would be England, Sweden and Iceland

What's your favourite thing to do that's not book related? / ¿Qué es lo que más te gusta hacer que no tenga que ver con libros?

     I really like cooking. Another thing that I miss is playing WoW, but lately I've been so busy at work that I had to "choose" and books won.

What made you start a book blog? / ¿Qué es lo que te llevó a empezar un blog literario?

     I wanted to keep a log of my opinions on the books I was reading. During the same time I was considering doing so I started visiting several others and finally I told myself I could try it for a bit. Turned out to be very relaxing to put my thoughts on "paper" and that's why I kept on it.

Which kind of characters do you like most? / ¿Cuál es el tipo de personaje que más te gusta?

     I like witty characters, characters that surprise you even by the end of the book, with different layers. Just as long as they are not predictable.

Which book would you like to see as a movie? / ¿Qué libro te gustaría ver convertido en película?

     That is a hard question. I think I would like to see the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy adapted, but I am afraid that a lot of the fantasy in it might be lost.

Is there any book that everybody loved but you? / ¿Hay algún libro que le gustara a todo el mundo menos a ti?

     I don't know about everyone, but I know Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson has gotten very good reviews in general. I read this book back in high school and while I liked the fact that the subject of rape was addressed I did not like the book. Another one was Jersey Angel by Beth Ann Bauman. I got this book through a giveaway by The Book Girl and I participated because of her review...I was SO disapointed.

Is there any movie that you liked more than the book? / ¿Hay alguna película que te haya gustado más que el libro?

     Yes. I don't Know how she does it by Allison Pearson. I didn't like the book character AT ALL.

What's your favourite genre? / ¿Cuál es tu género favorito?

     I lean more towards fantasy than any other genre, but I really love historical fiction too.

Is there any book that you've read over and over again? / ¿Hay algún libro que hayas leído muchas veces?

     I've only re read 2 books so far: Momo by Michael Ende and The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry . I am planing to re read Harum and the Sea of Stories.

What's your favourite book event? If you've never been to any, which one would you like to go to? / ¿Cuál es el evento literario que más te gustó? Si no has ido nunca a ninguno, ¿a cuál te gustaría ir?

     I used to go to the Book Fair in Bogotá, but it's been a looooong time since I've been, even before I left Colombia. I would like to go to Book Expo America, simply because several podcasts I follow talk about it and it seems like fun!

9 Blogs(+6)

I am nominating 9 blogs here but I am not 100% sure that they all have less than 200 followers, since in some I couldn't find the info. Regardless I really like what they are doing and I believe is worth sharing.

Helen also nominated me for the Premios Dardo (which means Dart Awards in Spanish). You award it to blogs that you like and think are good in their field. However, there are no questions and the nominees are any 15 blogs, regardless of the number of followers. Because I am not too sure on the rules for this other award I've decided to just nominate 15 blogs in total.

1. River City Reading
2. Jayne's Books
3. Writer Grrl Reads
4. Confessions of a Bookie Monster
5. Don't be afraid of the Dork
6. Jenn's bookshelves
7. Capricious Reader
8. Stacks and Shelves
9. Borough of Books
10. The Book Monsters
11. Georgia's Reads
12. Lisa's World of Books
13. Rachael Turns Pages
14. Here There be Books
15. Books on the Table

My 11 questions:

1. Do you make part of any book club? If so how did you come to join it, if not is there any that tempts you?

2. What is your least favorite genre, the one you just can't seem to like at all?

3. Do you listen to any bookish podcasts? If so which one and why?

4. What is your favorite place to read?

5. What is your stand on Audio books?

6. As a kid, what was your favorite book?

7. Do you write in books? If no, how do you manage the notes for your reviews?

8. What is the book that you haven't read but everyone keeps saying you should?

9. Have you ever lied about reading (or not) a book? Why?

10. What is the best bookish gift you have ever received?

11. Do you have a goal of books per year? How do you determine it?

Altered Carbon (Takeshi Kovacs #1) by Richard K. Morgan

When they asked how I died, I said, tell them: Still angry

Why I read this book

This was the March Laser pick from the Sword & Laser book club.

What the book is about

In the future, you can change from body fairly easily, assuming you have the money to afford it. Your consciousness, you thoughts can be uploaded to a different sleeve if you wish so, or even to clones of yourself so you can almost live forever. Takeshi Kovacs a trained Envoy has been forcibly hired to uncover the mystery of a death. The murder has been ruled out as suicide, but the victim does not trust the judgement. Kovacs will try to solve the question and in doing so will entangle himself on a very complicated web that involves the darkest circles in Bay City.

First impressions

The premise e of the book is very interesting; the author questions amongst other things, what defines who we are. At to which point who we are is determined by the body we are in and what depends solely on our minds. While doing so he touches also the idea of a soul, eternity and real death. His critic on religion is quite punch too.

Final thoughts

I quite enjoyed this book, particularly the way it questions identity in several levels. As a detective, noir novella, I believe there are more things to be worked on, but considering this is a first work I thinks it is understandable. Some things that would've helped me lean towards a full 5/5 was the conclusions Kovacs made all along the books. Sometimes I had to re read the paragraph several times and still it wouldn't be clear to me how did he come to a certain idea. While off course I know that part of a detective's job is based on intuition one think I like about crime novels is reading the train of thought of the main character. Having the palm in my forehead moment, if you know what I mean.

Do I think some of the violence and sex scenes were a bit too charged? Yes I do, however this crudeness is probably what makes this book so god in terms of action flow. Some parts of the book are so charged of things happening, actually, that you will have to be fully concentrated or you might get lost. I'm talking from experience here people!

In general a very entertaining noir novella. I've read commentaries saying that as Morgan points at identity in this book, in the rest of the trilogy he tackles some other profound subjects and is mostly curiosity about how he does so that makes me want to continue with Kovacs' story. 

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Freedom, like anything else, is relative.

Why I read this book

Last year (2013) I read my first book from Margaret Atwood, The Edible Woman, and loved it. The way she threw fiction elements while making a very impressive critique of society was amazing for me, and so I wanted to keep reading her work. The Handmaid's Tale has been mentioned several times as an iconic part of her work and when I saw it on my recommended on Audible it was a no brainer to get myself a copy.

What the book is about

The book is set in a dystopian future, taking place mostly in what used to be Massachusetts. After a "terrorist" attack, a theocratic, Christian regime has taken over. Women have lost any right they might've had and all "sinners" (homosexuals, people who committed adultery, people of other faiths) have been either killed or "re educated" (are you cringing already?) . The story is told by a woman we learn to know as Offred, this implying that she is a possession of a man with Fred on his surname. Offred has been made a Handmaid which in this new country, more than servant, implies child bearer. It is explained through the book that due to chemical contamination, radiation and other factors, procreation has been in declined in the country, and hence the government have established that officials not only have a wife, but also access to women (the handmaids) that will carry their child, sort off surrogate mothers. After delivery, the child is given to the wife to raise. Offred's destiny depends on her submission and her ability to bear children.

First impressions

Listening to this book was hard, mostly because of the way women are treated, but also because you feel that this speculative work of fiction could easily take place again (references to other theocratic regimes are easily spotted, particularly Iran). Jumps from present to past are sometimes abrupt, but it carries a good feeling of how train of thought sometimes takes place and, in my case at least, makes the connection with the protagonist even deeper. That type of writing made me feel pain, angst and helplessness as Offred was feeling them too.

Final thoughts

Is hard for me to put into words my final thoughts. See, I have a lot of feelings when I think of this book, but they are not easy to put into paper, simply because they touch so deep. But let's try.

I felt rage as a woman, at to how women were treated. I've read some other reviews saying "well this would never happen; oh our society would never let this happen to women". And yet look at all the contraception legislation in the USA, most of the definitions are being taken by male politicians, and people are going with it.

I felt afraid of this being a plausible thing, maybe not right now where I am, but somewhere in the world there is right now a totalitarian movement, feeding, slowly maybe, and growing and getting more and more powerful. There are things that seem to happen suddenly when you are far away, but is just because you weren't in site to see the tiny changes that carried a big one. And this applies to any type of changes, positive or negative, particularly since this label is so subjective. The critic about how money was not physical anymore hit a stroke in me. I never thought about how I rely on plastic more and more. Not on credit, but I use my debit card most of the time and hence my contact with physical money has been decreasing more and more.

I felt sad at the different situations Offred had to go through, leaving her past behind, having so many memories, so many loved ones that she lost, almost overnight.

I felt a bit frustrated at the end of the book, because I wanted more closure, but at the same time, the way the author rounds the whole thing up, made me "forgive" the not knowing.

I loved Claire Danes as a narrator. At first I thought her tone was a bit flat, but this was at very beginning when the character was just stating facts. As emotions surged, as different characters appeared, so did new tones, new inflictions in her voice that made me get more into the whole story.

Nobody dies of lack of sex, is lack of love we die from 

 

 

On Death and Books

 

After a while you start forgetting if you already mentioned certain subjects in here. I did a quick search and it seems I haven't but if I did, I apologize for the redundancy. I would like to talk to you about death and how books have been there for me.

If you are wondering how come I am talking about such a sad subject...well, my grandfather died this month and so this has been very present in my head. He was a wonderful man; not a reader, but a wonderful, giving man that brought up a family and was always there for us.

The first death I had to encounter was my mom's, when I was 7. Then I found refugee in my books. At school during recess I didn't felt like playing so I immersed myself deep into them and started exploring a whole new universe of possibilities that made dealing with her death a bit easier.

This time however it was not the case. It wasn't, like in my mother's case, a sudden death. He wasn't sick, but he was 91 years old, and so we all knew that any extra time we had with him was borrowed time. So when it happened we weren't surprised, we were sad as can be, but it was to be expected and luckily the last image I have from him is not of a sick, decaying person but someone warm and full of love.

But then I haven't been able to read as I used to, mostly because I've been feeling so tired. I flew back home days before he died, so I was there for his birthday and I got to spend some time with him. He passed away 3 days before I had to come back, and so the last 3 days were a rush of helping my grandma, funeral, family gatherings...and then I had to jump on a plane. Ever since then, I've been fine, until I sit down at home...invariably I fall asleep in minutes, like If I had a constant burden on my shoulders.

The books I've finished were on audio and one of them I was listening to with someone else. But I haven't managed to find that comfort I felt in books back then. I wonder if it is because reading was an activity I had with my mom and hence reading made me feel like she was still there, but since I never actually read with my grandpa, when I try to read it makes him feel farther away?

So, I realize that I haven't talked a lot about books, more like the fact that I haven't been able to get in a book since he died. I also realized I've been rambling a bit, but it has made me feel better to talk about this. Thanks for dropping bye.

Etiquette & Espionage (Finishing School #1) by Gail Carriger

It'll all end in tears and oil.

Why I read this book

This book called my attention when a while ago, while I was reading on Steampunk, so I guess it was around the time I read Boneshaker for the Sword and Laser book club. Audible was having a sale on first books of series and so I got a copy.

What the book is about

Sophronia (which I thought all along was written Sephronia, but never mind that) is a 14 year old in Victorian England that hasn't learned how to be a lady yet. Trying to "help" her with that her mother sends her away to Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality. Little did her mother know that this is also a school for spies.

First impressions

The book started a bit slowly for me...not because of what was happening, but because of the way it was happening. I can't put into words, but I am afraid that partially is because at first the distinction between voices was not very good.

Final thoughts

So...it was ok. I guess we shall start with what I liked. The descriptions of places and dresses (if you are familiar with my reviews, I am easily sold on good imagery); the concept of an spy...sorry intelligence gathering finishing school and the fact that the main character was a resourceful, smart albeit a bit annoying, girl who wasn't afraid of taking matters into her own hands.

What I didn't like. The adding of vampires AND werewolves that (to me) didn't really add much to the story. I'm not saying that it should've revolved around them, no, but I feel that the 2 characters I'm making reference to didn't gain much from their conditions. I might be proven wrong on future installments, but in all seemed a bit out of place.

The steampunk theme I believe is not for me. After reading 2...3 books of this genre, I realize that the parts that are making it steampunk itself just don't make me tingle and even gets overlooked at times. That said, I did enjoy imagining the little dog Bumbersnoot. That was cute.

I was expecting more of the school itself, I thought the classes are going to be fun!...Nope, they were rather short described , almost teaser like, but then you never get to have the whole picture and this jumps from class to "adventure" were not very seamless, didn't have a progression between them, which made me loose track often.

And something that really bother me...was referring to someone as "odd colored". Do I realize it was to keep with the Victorian tone? Yes, no need to tell me that, but it bother me nonetheless.

Moira Quirk does a good job most of the time, but unfortunately when there were a lot of girls talking I couldn't follow who was who as the voices sounded very similar. I think is just that at a certain point there is a limit of different tones you can do.

I think I would follow the series if it goes on sale again, but I wouldn't recommend it based on my experience. Then again I don't have a lot of friends with steampunk fever.

Once Upon a Time VIII

Well, in theory, spring has arrived. I say in theory because up here in Canada it snowed today, is -3 degrees outside (not accounting for the wind chill mind you) and the sky is as gray as ever. But not all is bad news. Carl from Stainless Steel Droppings is hosting a new "challenge" and yours truly is participating for the very first time :). AS you know I've already participated in the Readers Imbibing Peril challenge twice now, but I've never had the opportunity (actually I never remembered) to register for this one. The premise is simple enough: from March 21st up until June 21st you read and share your thoughts about books that fall into the broad categories of Fairy Tale, Folklore, Fantasy and Mythology (including subgenres off course). There are several "levels" of entry and this time I've decided to go with: 

Read at least 5 books that fit somewhere within the Once Upon a Time categories. They might all be fantasy, or folklore, or fairy tales, or mythology…or your five books might be a combination from the four genres.

My lineup is as follows:

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rishdie

The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There by Catherynne M Valente

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Berdugo

Now, for me they all fall in the Fantasy category, but some of them have elements of Mythology and Folklore, so I think it should be ok. I am not counting the 2 possible "Sword" books from Sword & Laser that I will (probably) read during spring, simply because I figure I would've read those anyway. I will however post my reviews about them, to keep the data base growing.

As always I will update the links to the reviews in this post as I make them available.

Are you exited? I am