Throne of Glass

Stacking the Shelves- My SJM ARC Collection is complete

September 12, 2015 By Kristen 10 Comments

So, I’ve not been nearly as active blogging this last week and I’m okay with that I’ve been distracted by home repairs (getting a new roof and had to replace our water heater). It’s been pretty hectic around my house (not to mention LOUD) so I’ve not been reading as much or bothering to write reviews. I will hopefully get back into posting more frequently this coming week.

As for books I had an AMAZING bookmail week. I received two 2016 releases I’m crazy eager for and I finally got an arc of Throne of Glass. I’ve been looking for one forever and now my collection is complete. I can’t tell you how happy I am.

Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga’s Reviews is a weekly meme where you show what books you’ve purchased, gotten from the library, received from giveaway, as gifts or for review.

The Books

I was so sure that all the arcs of ToG had already found their forever homes so had nearly given up hope. I can’t thank Denise from Dandelionn Wine Book Blog enough for making my dream come true.

Thank you Shannon Parker, Simon Teen, Janet Taylor and HMH for Young Readers for these books. I am THRILLED. Look how pretty. I am smitten with both books and I might have carried them around my house staring at the lovely covers for a few days.

Last Week’s Posts

Review of A Curious Tale of the In-Between by Lauren DeStefano
Review of Dreamland by Robert L. Anderson

Current Giveaways

Enter to win a finished copy of A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis

Discussion- TV Adaptations and Series You’d Love to See

March 23, 2015 By Kristen 18 Comments

I’ve recently watched the first episodes of Outlander and found myself really impressed with how well the show translated to television. I think the casting was spot on and I might prefer viewing the story over reading it. Granted, I only read the first two books and have seen about half the first book so that might change. This got me thinking of the latest book to TV adaptations- Outlander, Game of Thrones and The Vampire Diaries. Each show brought something unique to the book and each varies to how closely the story and characters have followed the original.

So far, I tend to prefer TV shows that have stuck closely to the original material but I have to admit, knowing Game of Thrones this next season is going away a bit from Martin’s books does excite me. What will they do? And how will it work?

Did you ever see Legend of The Seeker based on Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth series? The show was so much fun but veered FAR from the show. Ultimately, it didn’t last all that long.

Long story short…this got me thinking of the book series that I would love to see on television.

Penryn and the End of Days series by Susan Ee

I just read the final book, End of Days, and I think these three books would translate beautifully to screen. The rights for a film have been sold and I think that if done correctly it could work that way too. I prefer tv series though because you get so much more time with the characters. Of course this one would be need to air on HBO, Starz or the like. I won’t go into casting because I’m awful at it. I do worry that there is no possible actor that could portray Raffe correctly (for me).

Every Series by Ellie Marney

I absolutely love these books (though I’ve not read Every Move yet) and think that they would make for an excellent TV show. The chemistry and relationship between the two leads would be fabulous on screen as well as the mystery. I could see them creating all types of weekly mysteries for these two to solve. This needs to happen, please?

Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman

Okay, this one is a standalone (hoping for a companion novel!) but the western setting would be sooo good for television. I think we can all agree that TV is lacking in westerns as of late. Not sure they’d have enough material to make it a long running series so this might work better as a film but I’d love to tune in weekly to Kate’s story of revenge.

Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas

Really, what list would be complete without this series? There is so much material to pull from as well as drama, action, magic, just EVERY element screams ‘make me a TV show’ Could you imagine seeing Celaena’s character growth on TV? It would be so amazing as well as the setting…just everything. Yep, I need this. And all the ships? On TV. My heart aches thinking about it.

I’ll stop here though anything Laini Taylor and Leigh Bardugo would be wonderful. I could really go on and on. There are so many amazing books that I would love to watch as well as read.

What series would you love to see on TV?

Event Recap: Sarah J. Maas + Giveaway

August 30, 2013 By Kristen 29 Comments

Last night I had the pleasure of attending the Sarah J. Maas’ event at Blue Willow Bookshop. The lovely Kate from Ex Libris moderated and had us all laughing. We began by playing a game seeing if anyone could pronounce the names and locations from the Throne of Glass series correctly.

Sarah then talked about the origins of her character’s names. I loved her explanation for Celaena. It goes back to The Last Unicorn a classic fantasy novel by Peter S. Beagle and a 1982 film by the same title. There was a harpy named Celaeno trapped by a traveling witch in her midnight circus. The harpy was her most prized capture and the most dangerous of all the mythological creatures the witch had in her circus. Celaeno in Greek means the ‘Dark One’ so Sarah always thought it would be an excellent assassin’s name. Being a child of the 80’s that movie had a major impact on me too.

Sarah spoke about her journey to being published and her writing process now. She said she doesn’t use outlines (they crush her creative soul) but she does use music, movie scores in particular, as a backdrop and inspiration. She said without knowing it she had been outlining to some degree with her song choices. She associates certain scenes with songs and so moves them up or down her playlist according to where it falls in the story.

Kate did an amazing job moderating and Sarah J. Maas was funny, incredibly likeable and personable. It was a blast. If you follow My Friends Are Fiction you’ve seen the Lego cover we did for Crown of Midnight. I had a few printed up and had them signed. Sarah loved it and totally recognized it when I went up to get her to sign my books. Was a really awesome moment. Of course I gave her one and am keeping one for myself…but I have one for a lucky giveaway winner.

This is an international giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review of Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

July 1, 2013 By Kristen 7 Comments

Crown of Midnight
By Sarah J. Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Release Date: August 27th 2013

Thank you Stephanie from Read, Rinse, Repeat for letting me borrow this book!

My Rating:
star

This is book two of a series, it will contain possible spoilers for book one, Throne of Glass. If you’ve not read it yet check out my review here.

Summary (via Goodreads):
An assassin’s loyalties are always in doubt. But her heart never wavers.

After a year of hard labor in the Salt Mines of Endovier, eighteen-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien has won the king’s contest to become the new royal assassin. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown – a secret she hides from even her most intimate confidantes.

Keeping up the deadly charade—while pretending to do the king’s bidding—will test her in frightening new ways, especially when she’s given a task that could jeopardize everything she’s come to care for. And there are far more dangerous forces gathering on the horizon — forces that threaten to destroy her entire world, and will surely force Celaena to make a choice.

Where do the assassin’s loyalties lie, and who is she most willing to fight for?

My Take:
In good fantasy the author has successfully created a world and characters that the reader can relate to- though they are capable of fantastic feats in a world with different boundaries than our own. Great fantasy has the reader so enraptured with the author’s creation that it becomes real. In essence convincing the audience that somewhere this world inhabited by those characters exists (even if only in our imagination). Maas has created great fantasy with her latest installment of the Throne of Glass series.

Crown of Midnight starts off slowly, easing the reader back into the Celaena’s story and world. Now that she is the King’s Champion her life is different, her most pressing problem the King and his list of targets to assassinate. She has to slip under his radar yet keep her sense of self and adhere to her own morals.

Maas did an amazing job giving depth and realistic flaws to her main cast of characters. Celaena still felt the weight and stress of her role but she also felt that she was a coward and dealt with her own self doubt. Favorites from the last book, Chaol, Nehemia and Prince Dorian all play as important of a role in this latest installment. Maas developed their characters even further as we see Celaena interact with them.

About midway the pacing took off and I was totally held captive by Maas’ words as the stakes got ever higher and I truly couldn’t see how our characters would get out of the mess they found themselves. I cried, I stressed, I flip flopped between emotions while being completely glued to the story.

Final Thoughts:
I enjoyed Crown of Midnight more than Throne of Glass because I connected more with the characters and had the backstory behind their actions. I loved where Maas has taken this series and am so excited and eager for the next book.

Be sure to check back later in the week for the Crown of Midnight cover in Legos

Crown of Midnight Book Trailer:

Teaser Tuesdays #11

June 25, 2013 By Kristen 16 Comments

Teaser Tuesdays

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. 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!

I’m reading Crown of Midnight the sequel to Throne of Glass. I am loving it and it might just be even better than the first.

For a heartbeat, there was something in his eyes that reminded her of a world long-since burned–a glimmer of color and power that still stalked the edges of her nightmares. But he blinked, and it was gone. Page 147