This week I have been reading not for fun. My husband and I were recently given the date for our Canadian citizenship exam, so I have been working my way through Discover Canada – The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship. This is required reading for the exam, and the Government of Canada very helpfully offers it in hard copy, electronic format and as an audiobook. My husband, being a traditionalist, is working from our hard copy while I am following along on my Kindle Fire. I’ll be perfectly honest. It’s been a while since I’ve had to study for an exam – probably at least 20 years or so now – and it’s hard. While it’s interesting reading about my adopted homeland, it’s tough wondering what we will be asked and what I’ll need to remember. It’s also been a while since I’ve had to actually retain information. In the jobs I’ve had we’ve not been expected to know everything, but to be able to access resources to do our jobs. Any tips from those who’ve been through the process would be most welcome. I took at look at the UK citizenship test – I would have failed that one!…
Good morning, and welcome to another reading roundup. Here are a few of the books I’ve read over the holiday season. I was recently given a copy of The Re-Awakening by the author free of charge to review. This is the second book in Vance’s Second Coming series and continues the story of Lazarus Christos, the reborn Christ who has come to battle evil in the end of days. Like its predecessor, The Return (see my review) it is a mystery thriller in the vein of say Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code. Being the second in a series, The Re-Awakening is more setup and less action packed than the first book. One of the characters described the conflict as a chess match – this book is where the players are putting their pieces into place and are preparing for the final battle. That is an excellent analysis of the book. I continued to find the characters and concept interesting and will probably read the next book to see what happens next. I gave The Re-Awakening three and a half stars out of five Hobbit Lessons: A Map for Life’s Unexpected Journeys by Devin BrownGenres: General LiteratureFormat: ARC Pages: 356 pages Buy from…
Good morning, and welcome to another reading roundup. Here are a few of the books I’ve read over the holiday season. I was recently given a copy of The Re-Awakening by the author free of charge to review. This is the second book in Vance’s Second Coming series and continues the story of Lazarus Christos, the reborn Christ who has come to battle evil in the end of days. Like its predecessor, The Return (see my review) it is a mystery thriller in the vein of say Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code. Being the second in a series, The Re-Awakening is more setup and less action packed than the first book. One of the characters described the conflict as a chess match – this book is where the players are putting their pieces into place and are preparing for the final battle. That is an excellent analysis of the book. I continued to find the characters and concept interesting and will probably read the next book to see what happens next. I gave The Re-Awakening three and a half stars out of five Hobbit Lessons: A Map for Life’s Unexpected Journeys by Devin BrownGenres: General LiteratureFormat: ARC Pages: 356 pages Buy from…
There are several books I’m really excited about for 2014. In no particular order, here are the ones I’m most excited about. Independent Study by Joelle Charbonneau This is the sequel to Charbonneau’s YA dystopian novel The Testing, in which protagonist Cia must survive a Hunger Games-like Testing in order to win a coveted place at her society’s university. Charbonneau left Cia at a very interesting point and I am anxious to read how her tale continues. Independent Study will be released on the 7th of January 2014, and I have preordered it from Amazon. The final book in the trilogy, Graduation Day, will be released on the 3rd of June 2014 and is also available for preorder from Amazon. Cress by Marissa Meyer This is the third in Meyer’s set of four YA fairytale/sci-fi blend, The Lunar Chronicles. This one is based on the tale of Rapunzel, who in Meyer’s reimagining becomes a young hacker isolated on a remote satellite. She teams up with Cinder, Scarlet, Wolf and Thorne from the preceding novels in order to bring down Queen Levana of Luna. I adored the first two books and look forward to the continuation. Cress will be released on…
There are several books I’m really excited about for 2014. In no particular order, here are the ones I’m most excited about. Independent Study by Joelle Charbonneau This is the sequel to Charbonneau’s YA dystopian novel The Testing, in which protagonist Cia must survive a Hunger Games-like Testing in order to win a coveted place at her society’s university. Charbonneau left Cia at a very interesting point and I am anxious to read how her tale continues. Independent Study will be released on the 7th of January 2014, and I have preordered it from Amazon. The final book in the trilogy, Graduation Day, will be released on the 3rd of June 2014 and is also available for preorder from Amazon. Cress by Marissa Meyer This is the third in Meyer’s set of four YA fairytale/sci-fi blend, The Lunar Chronicles. This one is based on the tale of Rapunzel, who in Meyer’s reimagining becomes a young hacker isolated on a remote satellite. She teams up with Cinder, Scarlet, Wolf and Thorne from the preceding novels in order to bring down Queen Levana of Luna. I adored the first two books and look forward to the continuation. Cress will be released on…
As it’s now near the end of 2013, I feel it’s about time I did my review of the top books I read this year. First of all, some statistics. According to GoodReads, I have read an incredible 115 books this year! I am certain that this is partly due to Audible and my being able to listen to books during my nightshifts. As I am moving onto day shifts soon, I suspect my total will drop for next year. As an item of interest, the longest book I read was A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson at a total of 909 pages. So without much further ado, onto the retrospective. Here, in no particular order, are my favourite books of 2013. [book-info title=”A Memory of Light” author=brandon-sanderson-2] A Memory of Light is, of course, the final book in Robert Jordan’s magnum opus The Wheel of Time, completed by Brandon Sanderson after Jordan’s death. There was a lot of pressure and expectation on this book; the series has been ongoing for nearly 25 years and had a cast of thousands as well as hundreds of narrative plot threads. Sanderson was faced with a real challenge…
As it’s now near the end of 2013, I feel it’s about time I did my review of the top books I read this year. First of all, some statistics. According to GoodReads, I have read an incredible 115 books this year! I am certain that this is partly due to Audible and my being able to listen to books during my nightshifts. As I am moving onto day shifts soon, I suspect my total will drop for next year. As an item of interest, the longest book I read was A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson at a total of 909 pages. So without much further ado, onto the retrospective. Here, in no particular order, are my favourite books of 2013. [book-info title=”A Memory of Light” author=brandon-sanderson-2] A Memory of Light is, of course, the final book in Robert Jordan’s magnum opus The Wheel of Time, completed by Brandon Sanderson after Jordan’s death. There was a lot of pressure and expectation on this book; the series has been ongoing for nearly 25 years and had a cast of thousands as well as hundreds of narrative plot threads. Sanderson was faced with a real challenge…
As I may have mentioned before, my job requires me to work regular nightshifts. Now, it’s a very reactive job, so some of the time you are waiting around for something to go wrong. That is the point at which I rely on my audiobooks to get me through the nights. I need to keep my eye on the computer screen at all times to watch for alerts, so I can’t really focus on a Kindle or other reading matter. However, in those circumstances, audiobooks are a real lifesaver. I can keep my eye on the screen while still enjoying my story. Having my mind on the book also helps me stay awake. As well as nightshifts, I also enjoy listening to a few chapters of a book before going to bed. With Whispersync for Voice it’s even awesomer. During my breaks I can pick up the Kindle book for a bit of variety and it keeps my place. I’m certain I wouldn’t get through as many books as I do if it weren’t for these nightshifts. From January I’m moving to regular dayshifts so I fear my book consumption may drop, unfortunately. One production I listened to during…
As I may have mentioned before, my job requires me to work regular nightshifts. Now, it’s a very reactive job, so some of the time you are waiting around for something to go wrong. That is the point at which I rely on my audiobooks to get me through the nights. I need to keep my eye on the computer screen at all times to watch for alerts, so I can’t really focus on a Kindle or other reading matter. However, in those circumstances, audiobooks are a real lifesaver. I can keep my eye on the screen while still enjoying my story. Having my mind on the book also helps me stay awake. As well as nightshifts, I also enjoy listening to a few chapters of a book before going to bed. With Whispersync for Voice it’s even awesomer. During my breaks I can pick up the Kindle book for a bit of variety and it keeps my place. I’m certain I wouldn’t get through as many books as I do if it weren’t for these nightshifts. From January I’m moving to regular dayshifts so I fear my book consumption may drop, unfortunately. One production I listened to during…
One book I added to my library recently was The Lost Child of Philomena Lee by Martin Sixsmith. This is the book on which the movie Philomena is based; it’s the story of a middle aged Irish woman who is looking for her son having been forced to give him up for adoption as a teenager. The film stars Judi Dench and Steve Coogan and is excellent. Indeed, Dench has been nominated for both a Golden Globe and a Screen Actor’s Guild award for her role as the titular Philomena. For me though, the real surprise was Coogan – who not only starred in the movie as but co-wrote the screenplay. In Philomena, Coogan plays Sixsmith, the journalist who helps Philomena trace what happened to her son. In general, I’m not a fan of Coogan in comic mode, but he played excellently against Judi Dench and their growing friendship was one of the real highlights of the movie. Although I’ve not read the book, the first few chapters I have read were very interesting and well written. That is hardly surprising as Sixsmith is a former BBC journalist. As I’m starting three weeks of nightshifts next week I have been…