Review: Wolf Speaker

Novel: Wolf-Speaker
Author: Tamora Pierce
Pages: 281
Genre: YA (Fantasy)



In this sequel to Wild Magic (1992), the pack of wolves that helped 14-year-old Daine avenge her family's death call her back from her mage training at King Jonathan's court. Humans ("two-leggers") are ruining Dunlath Valley. Daine, who speaks the language of animals and is learning to enter animals' minds and shape-change, works to help the two-leggers and the animals move beyond species prejudice to prevent an ecological disaster and the overthrow of the beneficent King Jonathan. Suspense is stronger than characterization here, but the exploration of diverse animal personalities will intrigue readers.
(From Booklist)


(I will not be posting any spoilers! Only opinion for the sake of those of us who love to have our first look at a book be untainted by foreknowledge.)
Okay, in this book you find out a bit more about Daine though not as much as you find out in Wild Magic or The Realm of the Gods. You also find out more about her old pack and the past that was hinted at in Wild Magic. You get to experience a unique perspective when it comes to Daine and the wolves. It is actually very beautiful and if you are a wolf lover you are sure to enjoy it! You also meet Kitten the dragon and even a bit about the gods of Tortall which is very interesting and you continue to learn more of in Emperor Mage which will be my next review!!! I love this book and hope you will love it too!





Would I suggest you read it:
Wolf-Spear is a moving and beautiful book that I would suggest for anyone of any age. It is also great for any wolf lovers and any fans of Sharron Shinn’s ‘Twelve Houses Series’ which features Kirra, a shape shifter.


Other covers:


Author’s website: http://www.tamora-pierce.com/

Another Award!

Thank you Book Bookie for this lovely award!!!



The Rules: Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his/her blog link. Pass the award to 5 other blogs that you newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

So the 5 blogs I'm giving this award to are:
A Sequence of Continuous Delights
Simple Life and Reading
Stop, Drop and Read
Trisha's Book Blog
Tattooed Books: A YA book reviewing, librarian-in-training


For those of you who did not win this one don't forget that yesterday everyone became a winner!!!! If you haven't checked it out yet then look at yesterdays posts and collect your Most Amazing Follower Award! Love you all!!!!

Review: Wild Magic

Novel: Wild Magic
Author: Tamora Pierce
Pages: 299
Genre: YA (Fantasy)



In this exciting fantasy that includes some characters from Pierce's "Song of the Lioness'' quartet, a young heroine named Daine, who has a special way with horses, comes to accept and perfect her own type of "wild magic'' after she is hired as an assistant to a horse-mistress of a mythical kingdom. Daine learns to channel her healing skills and to develop her power to communicate with animals, the latter of which she uses to fight vicious immortal monsters, the Stormwings. There are many gory encounters, most of them involving female fighting champions, including Alanna, the king's champion knight. Those readers who enjoy a swashbuckling imaginative adventure will enjoy this story, which is filled with all types of creatures and all sorts of magic. Some may be a bit confused by Daine's visions and by the extent of her power, which seems to allow her to revive even the dead.


(I will not be posting any spoilers! Only opinion for the sake of those of us who love to have our first look at a book be untainted by foreknowledge.)
After I finished the 'Song of the Lioness Quartet' the first time, I was anxious to read more about Tortall. At first I couldn't stop thinking 'But it isn't Alanna' for all of about a few pages before I was in love with Daine's story. She is someone who you can really relate to. She has such a sad background story that I won’t spoil but she is someone who you honestly feel with and her abilities only enhance the way that you grow to love her character. She is someone who has been through hard times and yet still sees the best in innocence. The innocence of animals. Her love for them and her ability to relate to them in ways that a normal person would not be able to shows a deep and residing love that could never be taken away from a person. Many people have these emotions buried or they are so fragmented that these emotions are destroyed or warped but her emotions stay true and the animals around her are able to bring those emotions out in the best ways possible and the worst making this story truly beautiful and moving. I love this book just as much as I did the first time I read it… and the second… and third… etc.






Would I suggest you read it:

Yes, this is a favorite! So much so that I think my library fees tallied up through my life would almost all be from this book before I had finally gotten to buy it.

Author Website:
http://www.tamorapierce.com/index.html

Other covers:

Award for all of you!

Yesterday I was thrilled to get three awards. Each of which asked me to pass the award on to some of the blogs I enjoy or some of the followers who have truly been amazing. I kept thinking that I wished I could list each and every one of you but each award had a number limit. So I decided to make a new award for all of you! For every single one of my followers. The only requirement is that you be my follower and tada! You have won!!!

Congratulation winners! Here is your award:

<a href="http://EmmaMichaels.blogspot.com/"><img alt="Emma Michaels Follower Award" src="http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t76/Secret_Sara/Blog/followeraward.jpg" /></a>


I want you all to know that I appreciate each and every one of you!!!

Sincerely,

Emma


PS- I added the text box so that you can copy and paste it to any location you would like. This is the direct link but I can also provide you with the image coding via e-mail if you would like. Love you all!

Cupecake Award!!! Amazing night!!!!

Wow another award. I will try to post this before I can hardly contain the need to jump for joy!
Thank you I’m Blogging Drowning Here! for this award.

For the Bliss (Happy 101) Award I must list ten things that make me happy:




1. God
2. My fiancé
3. My Chihuahua Hope!
4. Writing
5. Reading
6. Babies laughing
7. My bright pink laptop!
8. Chinese food
9. Sushi
10. Sweets!

Now to pass it along to some cupcake-sweet people:


1. Elana Johnson
2.Victoria S.
3. Mrs. B.
4.Lisa
5. Jami
6. My Last Read
7. Bookalicious Ramblings
8. Terra
9. Dana
10. Lenore


Thank you everyone for being so supportive and wonderful! It is amazing to have you all as followers. Wish I could give this award to all of you!!!

Another award! yeay!

Another award! What a great day!
Thank you Spilled Ink for the Superior Scribbler award.



This award is to recognize those writers who go above and beyond, so I am giving this award to:

1. I'm Blogging Drowning Here!
2.A Writer Of Wrongs
3.365 Days of Novel Writing
4."Hey, I'm Trying To Write Here"
5. All Write With Coffee

My First Award!

Wow! My first award! Yeay! Given to me by: Tuning Into YA Books!


The rules are pretty simple. Answer the following questions with Single Word answers then pass this along to 5 other bloggers. Make sure you let them know about it though.

Your Cell Phone? invisible
Your Hair? red
Your Mother? fashion
Your Father? wonderful
Your Favorite Food? Chinese
Your Dream Last Night? uhhhhhhhhhmmmm
Your Favorite Drink? Shake
Your Dream/Goal? Bestseller
What Room Are You In? dining
Your Hobby? Reading
Your Fear? Menopause
Where Do You Want To Be In Six Years? Touring
Where Were You Last Night? Home
Something That You Aren't? tan
Muffins? chocolate
Wish List Item? books
Where Did You Grow Up? America
Last Thing You Did? Comment
What Are You Wearing? Clothes
Your TV? invisible
Your Pets? Chihuahua!
Friends? great
Your Life? interesting
Your Mood? happy!
Missing Someone? always
Vehicle? invisible
Something You Aren't Wearing? crocodile
Your Favorite Store? Target
Your Favorite Color? Pink
When Was The Last Time You Laughed? now
Last Time You Cried? unno
Your Best Friend? fiance
One Place You Go To Over And Over Again? Chinese
Facebook? never!!!!!!!!!!
Favorite Place To Eat? Chinese


Yeay! for my first award!

For my five individuals who I am passing it on to I choose:

Debbie's Book Bag
Spilled Ink
Bokheim Publishing
Reading Angel
The romantic query letter and the Happy-Ever-After

Teaser Tuesday!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teaser:

Night World No.1
by L.J. Smith

"Me? You look nice. I mean - you look wonderful. That color makes your hair look just like gold."
pg. 544

(Yes, this is one of those wonderfully long books I adore so much!!! Even if in some way it is three books all wrapped up in one beautiful package.)

Review: Lioness Rampant

Novel: Lioness Rampant
Author: Tamora Pierce
Pages: 308
Genre: YA (Fantasy)



In Book Four of ``The Song of the Lioness'' sequence, the stage is set for a series of final confrontations for Alanna, the woman who rides like a man, involving love, adventure, and power. A new romance enters her life in the person of Liam Ironarm, a Shang Dragon warrior. With others Alanna and Liam travel to the Roof of the World on a quest for the Dominion Jewel. They return home in time to play their parts in a struggle between good and evil, represented by Jonathan, now king, and Alanna's enemy, Duke Roger. If the finale seems a long time coming for some readers, the climactic conflict is worth waiting for. It's handled skillfully, with all the of tension, drama, and physical action that a good fight should generate. The ending is an appropriate mixture of sorrow and joy and hope for the future. Lioness Rampant will be confusing for readers who do not know the earlier books, but Alanna's fans will be pleased to see their heroine triumphant in all the ways that matter


(I will not be posting any spoilers! Only opinion for the sake of those of us who love to have our first look at a book be untainted by foreknowledge.)
Lioness Rampant is the fourth book in the 'Song of the Lioness Quartet' and as many of you know my last three reviews have been the other three installments in this series. Whenever I reread this series I still find myself riveted until the end. This is one of my favorites of the four books and I feel that it is a great addition. Many people who have completed the novel have had different feelings about the ending which I will not reveal. I am neutral on that point. I feel that Tamora did an excellent job and her writing style is as wonderful as ever. I love the new characters we meet in this book and some of them are actually some of my favorites. Some of you may know what I mean (if you have already read this novel) when I say there is one part I am still sore over but overall I love this book and the adventure Alanna goes through to find the Dominion Jewel. This book is a wonderful close to the 'Song of the Lioness Quartet' but by no means the end of the novels of Tortall.






Would I suggest you read it:

Definite yes! This is a wonderful close to the quartet and a great read! If you have read the other three books you will love getting to go on another exciting adventure with Alanna.

Other Covers:



Author’s Website: http://www.tamora-pierce.com

Woman Who Rides Like a Man Review!

Novel: Woman Who Rides Like a Man
Author: Tamora Pierce
Pages: 228
Genre: YA (Fantasy)



The third in the "Song of the Lioness" series finds the title heroine, Alanna; her psychic cat, Faithful; and the older man-at-arms, Coram, among the desert tribes of the Bazhir. Here Alanna breaks with tradition by training three gifted youthstwo of them girlsas shamans. She also sets out to tame the evil in a substitute crystal sword that she suspects belonged to her enemy, Roger, whom she killed in Book Two. Her ambitious brother, sorcerer Thom, is experimenting with raising the deadand new trouble brews. Meanwhile, she has a misunderstanding with Prince Jonathan, her lover who has assumed their betrothal and a romantic reunion with George, King of Thieves. A coming-of-age fantasy-adventure that can be read by itself, thanks to smooth backgrounding, and one that leaves readers wanting to read further in either direction.


(I will not be posting any spoilers! Only opinion for the sake of those of us who love to have our first look at a book be untainted by foreknowledge.)
For those of you who have read my last two reviews for both Alanna: The First Adventure and In the Hands of the Goddess you know that Tamora Pierce's novels were very influential to me. This one is not my favorite. To be perfectly honest some of the time when I reread this series I skip this one. It is still worth reading and especially if you are reading this series for the first time. There are a lot of new characters introduces and you start to realize a few differences between Jonathan and George that grow to be more important later on in the series. Alanna has to confront her feeling over what happened in book two but she also has to confront her feelings about her gift. Overall it is not my very favorite read but it is a good addition to the series and one that is worth the time to read. Hope you enjoy!




4 Stars!

Would I suggest you read it:

Yes! Especially if you have read the first two books in the series.

Other covers:



Author’s Website: http://www.tamora-pierce.com/index.html

The Espressologist Review

Yes, I realize that I am not sticking to my old favorites for this review and am a little off schedule because today was supposed to be Woman Who Rides Like a Man by Tamora Pierce but I just read this book yesterday and loved it so wanted to get to share it with you all and will be back to my normal reviewing soon! Hope you all are doing well!




Novel: The Espressologist
Author: Kristina Springer
Pages: 184 (hardcover)
Genre: YA (Fantasy)



What’s your drink of choice?
Is it a small pumpkin latte? Then you’re lots of fun and a bit sassy. Or a medium Americano? You must prefer simplicity in life. Or perhaps it’s a small decaf soy-free hazelnut caffe late? Some might call you yuppie.

Seventeen-year-old barista Jane Turner has this theory that you can tell a lot about a person by their regular coffee drink. She scribbles it all down in a notebook and calls it Espressology. So it’s not a totally crazy idea when Jane starts hooking up some of her friends based on their drink orders. Like her friend, Em, a medium hot chocolate, and Cam, a toffee nut latte. But when her boss, Derek, gets wind of Jane’s Espressology, he makes it an in-store holiday promotion, promising customers their perfect matches for the price of their favorite coffee. Things are going better than Derek could ever have hoped, so why is Jane so freaked out? Does it have anything to do with Em dating Cam? She’s the one who set them up! She should be happy for them, right?

In Kristina Springer’s frothy, sweet debut, a young woman unwittingly starts a love and latte craze that readers will savor.
(From inside flap of book. Yes, I enjoyed this book enough to open the book and type it in myself.)


(I will not be posting any spoilers! Only opinion for the sake of those of us who love to have our first look at a book be untainted by foreknowledge.)
I fell in love with this book without even realizing it. I was looking for a, easy read to get my mind off of other things and I got a coffee filled adventure of romance. Normally I don’t like this type of novel. Every once in a while I will like something that gives you that warm fuzzy feeling but more often than not if it is realistic it might not be my thing, though I am open to reading anything. I ended up really enjoying this and even enjoying the pop culture references. They refer to things that most other novels wouldn’t because it isn’t what would be considered an important detail but our main character loves those details because they are what got her started with Espressology. This novel kept me laughing and loving it! I am truly impressed with Krinstina Springer’s debut!





Would I suggest you read it:

Yes! I almost never enjoy this type of book but I found myself falling in love with this novel! I would suggest it to anyone. Especially, someone looking for a frothy romance or a bit of pumpkin spice in their reading.

Book website:
http://www.espressologist.com/

Teaser Tuesday!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following:


*Grab your current read
*Open to a random page
*Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
*BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
*Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My current read:



"Okay, Darla. age and an interesting tidbit?"
"Oh, I am forty-five years young, baby doll. And bowling average is 180. That's pretty interesting, isn't it?"

The Espressologist by Kristina Springer (Pg. 123)]
I know it is a bit longer than normal but this book is just so cute!!

In the Hands of the Goddess Review!

Novel: In the Hands of the Goddess
Author: Tamora Pierce
Pages: 209 (may vary with hardcover or other regions)
Genre: YA (Fantasy)



Disguised as a boy, Alanna of Trebond becomes a squire – to none other than the prince of the realm. But Prince Jonathan is much more to Alanna; he is her ally, her best friend an one of the few who knows that she’s really a girl. Now it will take all of Alanna’s awesome skill, strength and growing magical powers to protect him from the mysterious evil sorcerer who is bent on his destruction- and hers!

Here continues the story of Alanna, a young woman bound for glory who is willing to fight against enormous odds for what she believes in.


(I will not be posting any spoilers! Only opinion for the sake of those of us who love to have our first look at a book be untainted by foreknowledge.)

If you have read Alanna: The First Adventure then you have already been introduced Alanna, Pounce, Jonathan, George, Thom and Coram. Then again we also can't forget Alanna's horse Moonlight who is always a lovable character/horse and her friends. For those of you who read book one and hate duke Roger as much as I do you will love this book! A LOT! This is the book as I mentioned in my last review that got me started reading and wanting to write. I opened the pages and through them was able to become someone else for that short amount of time. Only that short amount of time had a lasting effect on me. It made me realize that even if I wasn't Alanna there might still be things that I could do that I may not have thought of. The main one I have truly grown to want to do is write, so that I can give others those feelings and help them realize that they can do anything they truly put their heart into. This book still gives me that feeling every time I read it, just like the wonderful novel that comes before it. George will make a girl both laugh and swoon if Jonathan doesn't that is. This book is filled with humor, love, fighting and learning to a strong person in more ways than one.





Would I suggest you read it:

ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!!!! This novel had a lasting effect on me and I hope it could inspire others as well!

Other covers:



Author’s Website: http://www.tamora-pierce.com/index.html