Storm Siren--Book Review

Four stars

Summary: Nym is an elemental, aka a badass lightning-bolt wielding medieval version of a superhero. She runs into some trouble when she's recruited by the shady Lady something, and falls for her trainer, Eogan, who takes dark, brooding, and handsome to a whole new level. There's an evil king, a shapeshifting king, and a hot king. There's an evil princess, a magical princess, and a nice princess. And a bald guy. And lots of (literally)explosive magic and sexual tension.

Basically, within the first ten pages, you can tell that Nym kicks butt. Again, literally. Her narrative is sassy and exasperated and refreshing--I can't remember the last time I fell in love with a character so quickly. She's got the unique having white hair going for her, which apparently is indicative of her superpowers and is super rare based on the gasps from the crowd in the first chapter. Also, she makes storms. And has killed people. And has cool tattoos(that are also sad because they're for the people she killed. But still cool).

But the best part is that she has a heart. Not a whiny, annoying, cookie-cutter main character conscience, but a real, powerful need to help people and protect them from herself. There were some pretty good twists right from the get-go that established this, and I was furious and sad right along with Nym.

But then came the reason for the four stars.

I'll tell you right now, this was a 3 1/2 star book with a 5 star ending. And maybe 5 star magic. But the majority of it(the 3 1/2 star part) was lackluster and predictable--despite the constant airship raids and wolf attacks, I never really felt like any of my precious babies were ever in any danger. Even the betrayals and reveals could be seen coming from chapter one. This is clearly a rich, huge world, and it's clear that it's setting up for the rest of the trilogy, with minor cameos of clearly complex characters. Unfortunately, I was never really scared for them.

The worst part was that the fight scene at the end(War scene? Battle scene?)  that went on for a good five chapters was easily the most boring part of the book(When I say 5 star ending, I really mean the very very last page). They're supposed to be the most exciting, right? But it's okay, because the rest of the action in the book is equally as uninteresting. I wasn't expecting too much.

As far as the romance--what can I say? It's there. It exists. We all saw it coming. Even though I do appreciate the love-hate beginning to it.

But you know that something's wrong when I looked forward to the slimy villain's advances more than heartfelt moments with Eogan and Nym. (He's not really that slimy. He just does that thing when he speaks where he draws out his s's).

Conclusion: Worth a read, hence the four stars. Enjoyable, but if you think something's gonna happen, it will. If you think someone is the long-lost brother of that other important someone, he is. If you think two people are gonna kiss--they are. But at the same time--lightning! Dresses! White hair! Shapeshifters! Unapologetic deaths of main characters!

Also, the cover art? Prettyyyyy.

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Maid of Secrets--Book Review

Maid of Secrets - Jennifer McGowan

Three Stars

Summary: Meg Fellowes, a thief and actress, has been swept up into the world of spies and gossip in Queen Elizabeth's court. In her attempts to protect her Queen and country, her life and her love are at the greatest risk.

This book reminded me of running the mile in high school.

There were sprints, there was walking, there was cutting corners when the teacher wasn't looking. The fast, breathless scenes were fantastic, but unfortunately, the slow parts were sloooowww.

Writing about court intrigue is as tangled a web as the court itself. McGowan's villain has a delicious plot against the Queen of England, full of betrayal, death, and spying--and a lot of talking and passing notes. Too much, maybe, considering that the majority of Meg's training seemed to consist of books and deadly weapons--two things she doesn't use much, because she can pass them off to the archetypal scholar and thug, Anne and Jane. The ending is also as easily predicted as the outcome of Meg and her love interest, Rafe's, first meeting.

My biggest problem with this book was that the whole thing was just a teaser. There's a wonderful love triangle set up between Meg, Rafe(the charming visiting Spaniard) and Master James(the leader of Meg's old acting troupe). Key word "set up".

Everything about this book was like an intro or a pilot episode, but the worst part by far is that in the next book, we won't even get to see the rest of Meg's story, because it follows Beatrice, another member of the Queen's little spy ring. Sure, we'll probably see how things turn out for her, but it's really not the same as experiencing Rafe's sigh-inducing neck kisses and listening in on Meg's improvised couplets through her own narrative.

I enjoyed the scenes that were, quite literally, breath taking--anything to do with Rafe and shadowy castle corridors and sneaking through the castle's hidden tunnels. But the majority of this book was a lot of explaining, a lot of gasping and betrayals that I just wasn't following, and way too many letters changing hands. If this were the beginning of a series following Meg, the undeveloped romances wouldn't be quite as annoying. But since the series will most likely follow each of the five maids in different books, I have the sinking feeling that the resolution to their stories will be told through a perspective other than their own.

Conclusion: Swarthy Spaniards, deceptive maids, and cruel spymasters gave this book a ton of interesting things ideas to play with--and unfortunately, it does not use them to their full potential.

Nature Journaling for Fun and (Imaginary) Profit

 Most of these first entries are from my trip to the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, also known as the best museum ever. They have a rainforest exhibit with an airlock and everything to keep in the humidity, and then you ascend through the layers of tropical plants, surrounded by butterflies and colors.

 I love going downstairs to the aquarium. The way that the glass curves inward towards the fish lets you step forward into it, so you really feel like you're surrounded by the water. These are some of my first attempts at capturing my surroundings through drawings--I tried to stick with the simpler fishies.

Some friends and I took a trip to the Sutro baths, and while waiting for someone to walk all the way back to the bathroom(too good for the bushes) I tried to capture the patterns in the branches of the trees by the beach. It definitely looked like a fairy-tale forest. A creepy Anderson one, not a sugar-coated Grimm.

  

The first page of my journal, actually. Still trying to figure out how to use brush pens, and annoying my friends by spending more than three seconds in front of an exhibit. 

Moral of the story, take your time. Observe the things around you. Get to know them. Read the little informational blurbs at museums someone worked hard to put together for you.

Sometimes, the quotes on those little placards change the way you see things quite a bit.

Read More, Guilt Less

"Finishing two books in a day? That's crazy!"

"You've read how many this summer?"

"How do you manage? I could never do that, I'm always so busy!"

And thus goes the conversations related to my reading habits. But here, I will finally reveal my secret--I read so much because--

I like what I read.

Really, that's the secret to reading more. So many people who want to read more get tripped up in the initial stages because they pack their to-read lists full of bestsellers and classic novels. They go by what everyone else likes. And then they get a few pages in and remember something more important that they should be doing, and they set their book aside, or tell themselves that they'll read it on vacation, or when they have more time. Reading becomes a chore, an obligation--and don't even get me started on required reading in certain classes.

The problem is that when people say that they want to read more, what they really mean is that they want to read more of the good stuff. Fat, classic novels, the new popular books on amazon, the psychological thrillers everyone's talking about. They make lists of these books they feel like they should read, that they need to read, and they can't keep up because they simply aren't interested.

That's what it is. People don't have time to read because their book doesn't make time for them, it doesn't suck them in and make them stay up reading by a single wavering flashlight. It doesn't pull them into another world and make them forget about assignments and meetings and phone calls. It doesn't wrap them up in characters and sights and smells until they forget their own name.

If you want to read more, forget about having a mile-long list of classics under your belt. Don't worry about what the cute boy in the coffee shop will say when he sees the cover of what you're reading. Ignore the people telling you to read this and that and focus on what you like. Read your romance novels, your comic books, your children's stories. Stock up on poorly-written thrillers and cheap paperbacks. Consume your satires, relish in your historical fiction, get lost in teenage dramas. Maybe these aren't the books your English teachers want you to read, but if these are the books for you, read them. Love them. Fall asleep with them. Read millions of them, because if they're truly the books you love, you'll never want to stop. 

At the end of the day, if the books you want to read can't transport you to a fantastic world or show you another side of yourself, if they don't pull you in and take up all of your thoughts and make you question your beliefs, if you don't enjoy them--are they really worth reading?

Out of the Moment

Photo and nature journal entries from a recent visit to Muir Woods

It's impossible to go to any beautiful landmark of nature or architecture without seeing cameras. We can't go more than five minutes without seeing someone taking a picture, and we'll probably snap one on our phones at some point. Which is wonderful--we are recording moments of awe, trying to capture places of wonder.

And we fail.

There is perhaps nothing that alienates us from our surroundings more than a screen. TVs take up the attention of everyone in the living room, more than half the people at any given party are on their phones, and we consume our stories through movies and television instead of books. Perhaps there aren't as many problems with a technology-obsessed generation as people think, but there certainly is a problem when technology is preventing us from experiencing real life. There is a problem when we claim to be living in the moment, experiencing something beautiful, when all that we're doing is seeing it second-hand through our cameras.

We take so many pictures in historic forests, ancient temples, museums, and what exactly are we trying to capture? The pictures we take can easily be replicated with a simple Google search. Are they really so special, just because we took them ourselves?

"Preserving a memory" seems to be the main idea behind the practice of non-stop picture taking. But what memories are we really forging, if the whole time we're on an adventure we only experience it through our camera lens?

Next time we get on a plane to somewhere exotic, or buy a ticket to an exclusive art show, perhaps we should consider leaving the cameras at home. A radical notion, I know. But consider the promise of a truly fulfilling experience, seen through our own eyes, unaffected by our ideas of artistic angles or the perfect instagram posts. Maybe we can capture moments more effectively than through instant, perfect replications of a scene right in front of us.

There are certainly other ways to record our experiences. One of the Naturalists at Outdoor Ed led a lesson on nature journals, and showed us a page with a gorgeous drawing of a hawk.

"I know this bird better than anything," She said. "Because I sat there for an hour, studying every inch of it, drawing it."

That's the feeling that I always want to capture. Knowing something so completely, that you can create your own version. Maybe we can capture our moments through drawings, or journal entries, or just breathless stares full of wonder. Anyone can take a picture, but not everyone can feel exactly the way you do, and see the world through your eyes. Preserve experiences in a way that makes them yours, and takes more time and thought than a click of a button.

Unless you're a professional photographer. In which case, you have several buttons to press. And some knobs to jiggle.