Heart Full of Ink

The ABBA Book Tag

Thank you to Alyssa Carlier at The Devil Orders Takeout for tagging me. I love book tags! I tag anyone who feels so inclined.

1. Take a chance on me (a book you unexpectedly liked)

Sun Kissed by Catherine Anderson-It was given to me as a birthday gift. It's a country western romance, which isn't something I would normally pick up off the shelf.

2. The Winner Takes All (an overhyped book)

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. I avoided reading it for the longest time because everyone was talking about it so much. Then, I finally read the book. Looking back as an adult, I'm surprised I finished reading the series. If I read Twilight now, I probably wouldn't finish the book, let alone read the rest of the series.

3. Waterloo (An amazing historical fiction book)

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. A female spy and a female pilot during WWII, need I say more? Here's a link to my full review.

4. You're Only a Child (a recently published book)

The Walled City by Ryan Graudin. It turned one year old in January. Here's my review.

5. I Have a Dream (a favorite, 'ideal' book)

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. Whenever I'm feeling nostalgic, I pick up this book and am thoroughly delighted all over again by the strong heroine in this retelling of the fairy tale Cinderella. Gail Carson Levine was one of my favorite authors growing up.

6. Dancing Queen (a book with royalty)

The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine. A story in which the princess is saved not by a charming prince, but another princess. #feminist

7. Money, Money, Money (a book you're willing to pay a lot for because it's awesome)

The newly printed Harry Potter books. Though I already own the series, I would love to get my hands on the books with the new illustrations.

8. Lay All Your Love on Me (a book that needs more attention)

The Hollow Kingdom by Clare B. Dunkle. It's one of my favorite books. If you like Beauty and the Beast, do yourself a favor and read this book!

9. Here We Go Again (a book that seemed to copy another book)

Divergent by Veronica Roth. When I read it, I thought, this is basically Harry Potter meets The Hunger Games

10. S. O. S. (a book that should get in trouble and NOT be rescued)

The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I know the lack of capitalization and punctuation are a stylistic choice to show how the world is deteriorating in this post-apocalyptic book, but oh my goodness it was so annoying.

11. Knowing Me, Knowing You (a book you know a lot about for whatever reason)

The Harry Potter series. Duh. If you're in the market for obscure Harry Potter facts, I'm your girl!



I'll leave you with a song.

Both Christmas and my birthday have passed. These are the two times a year when I use gift cards to buy books. The rest of the year, I check out books from the library and make lists of what I'll buy come next Christmas. However, there are some times in life when you feel the need to treat yourself to something nice.

Guess what? I'm actually semi-on time with my book club review! The Monster Goddess Book Club is run by Tash at The Bookie Monsters and The Book Goddess. February's theme was romance.

Summary of Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda

16 year old Simon Spier is not openly gay, though he does exchange emails with another gay boy who uses the pseudonym Blue. They haven't exchanged names, but both are beginning to fall for each other. Their anonymity is threatened when the class clown Martin intercepts one of Simon's emails to Blue and blackmails Simon. Either Simon helps Martin get a date with a girl, or Martin will tell everyone Simon and Blue are gay.

Review 

Happy International Women's Day! It's also National Women's History Month in the United States. To celebrate, I thought I'd share some of my favorite fantasy books which have strong female heroines. (There are plenty of books, like the Harry Potter series, which feature strong female characters but for this post I''m going to focus on books with a female protagonist.) My list is in no particular order.


Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. In this retelling of Cinderella, Ella is cursed with the gift of "obedience", but she doesn't let it stop her as she embarks on a quest to break the curse and save herself.

Sabriel by Garth Nix. When her father goes missing, Sabriel crosses into the Old Kingdom where Free Magic runs rampant and the dead refuse to remain dead. She must take up her father's mantel and confront an old evil.

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. Set in Victorian London, the first book of The Infernal Devices series (precursor to the City of Bones series) follows Tessa Gray as she discovers she has the ability to change her form and is caught up in the strange world of the Shadowhunters. Most of Clare's books have strong female protagonists, but I happen to like The Infernal Devices series the best.

Mystic and Rider by Sharon Shinn. When resentment towards mystics rises in the land of Gillengaria, the king sends the fire-wielding mystic Senneth out to assess the threat to the realm. On her journey, she must fight those who would erase magic forever. Sharon Shinn is one of my favorite authors because all of her books have strong female protagonists.


Trickster's Choice by Tamora Pierce. When Aly is kidnapped and sold as a slave to an exiled royal family, she relies on the spying skills her father taught her to survive political intrigue, murderous plots, and warring gods. Pretty much all of Pierce's books have strong female protagonists, but Aly is by far my favorite.

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman. When a member of the royal family is murdered, the court musician Seraphina is drawn into a dangerous investigation which could lead to war between humans and dragons. You can read my full review here.


The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. To save her sister from an almost certain death, Katniss Everdeen takes her sister's place in a televised battle to the death.

Divergent by Veronica Roth. In a society divided into five factions, Tris Prior joins the fiercest of them all and fights to keep her position. She soon discovers she is different than all the others, which very well might get her killed.

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder. Facing execution for murder, Yelena is given two options: die or become the Commander's food taster and risk assassination with every meal. She chooses to become the food taster while she plans her escape, but rebel plots and unexpected magical powers she can't control stand in the way of Yelena's freedom.

The Hollow Kingdom by Clare B. Dunkle. When Kate and her sister Emily move to Hallow Hill, where young women have gone missing for thousands of years, she is determined to protect herself and her sister as she goes up against the goblin king.

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. After unwittingly attracting the attention of the Witch of the Waste, Sophie finds herself under a spell which transforms her into an old woman. To break the spell, she badgers a wizard into helping her, strikes a bargain with a fire demon, and faces the Witch of the Waste head on. You can read my full review here.


There you have it. A list of female protagonists who are all strong in different ways but who all save themselves and the world.


Have you read any of the books on my list? What are some other fantasy books with strong female protagonists I should add?

Most of the characters in these books are white heterosexual female protagonists. I'd like to read fantasy books with more diverse strong female protagonists. Do you have any suggestions?

Summary of Tuesdays with Morrie

Review

I am teaching Contemporary Literature for the first time this year, and so I asked the previous teacher for a list of books she had used when she taught the class. Tuesdays with Morrie was on the list. I'd heard of the book before, and that it was a tear-jerker, but I'd never read it. I am so glad I decided to read this book with my students. It is full of discussions of love, forgiveness, death, pain, and what's important in life.

When I started reading the book, I knew how it was going to end. It's laid out at the beginning of the book. There is no cure to ALS; it always ends in death. I still cried anyway. In fact, I bawled for the entire second half of the book. The stories and discussions Morrie and Mitch share are so universal that it's almost impossible to read without reflecting upon your own life. Morrie's optimism in the face of death is heartwarming and makes me want to live a better life.

If you only ever read one nonfiction book in your life, make sure you read Tuesdays With Morrie

I've never participated in a book club before, but I have decided it's about time I did. Hence, I joined the Monster Goddess Book Club run by Tash at The Bookie Monsters and The Book Goddess. January's book was Red Rising by Pierce Brown (yes, I know I am super late in posting my review, but better late than never, right?).

Summary of Red Rising

In a color-coded society on Mars, Darrow is a Red doomed to be the lowest of the low for the rest of his life. At sixteen, he works all day believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations. One day Darrow learns the shocking truth: humanity reached the surface generations ago, and Darrow and the other Reds are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class. Desperate for revenge, Darrow plans to bring down the elite Golds by pretending to be one of them. He infiltrates the Institute where the next generation of humanity's rulers fight for dominance.

Review

Characters, in my opinion, can make or break a story. If the reader doesn't care about the main character, they won't want to finish the story. If I wasn't reading Red Rising for a book club, I would've stopped reading a quarter of the way through the book because I didn't like or care about what happened to the main character Darrow. I was much more interested in secondary characters. I'm glad I stuck with the story because the writing is engaging, the world building is great, and the plot is face paced. All told, author Pierce Brown has everything needed for a bestseller.

In fact, Red Rising reminded me of The Hunger Games, Divergent, The Percy Jackson series, and the Game of Thrones series. Children are pitted against each other in deadly combat, there are Houses based off of the Roman Gods (which were pretty much the same as the Greek gods), and alliances and betrayals are used to struggle for dominance. In The Hunger Games, Katniss is disgusted at the extravagance and waste of the Capitol is the same way Darrow is sickened when he sees the surface of Mars and the decadent life of the Golds. He even gets a makeover like Katniss (though Darrow's makeover is way more intense).

As I mentioned before, I liked secondary characters more than I liked Darrow. I would've much preferred if the story followed Eo or Mustang. Much like when I read A Song of Fire and Ice, I found myself wishing I could skip over the parts that didn't include my favorite characters. Eo is a bright, optimistic girl, but Pierce blows past her before the reader truly gets to know her. Mustang is smart, loyal, and a conscientious leader. I cared about what happened to Mustang. Give me a book with Mustang as the main character, and I will happily gobble it up.

Will I read the second book in the series? Maybe. I have a lot of books on my TBR list.