Norway & Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman Ornament The ornament came from the Disney Cruise that took me to Norway from Dover, England. I have already written blogs about Norway and London so I won’t do that again. Norway blog: carlasbooks.weebly.com/carlas-candor/unplugged-ii-travel-blog-142587827 London blog: carlasbooks.weebly.com/carlas-candor/im-similar-to-london-travel-blog-15 Book This book has a mixture of short stories from Norse mythology. I listened to it on Audible with Neil Gaiman as the narrator. Since the book I’m currently writing is set in Norway, this book was research for me. It made complicated mythologies easier to grasp than other research I have done. Some have complained it was like a children’s book, and though Mr. Gaiman made the stories sound that way, I wouldn’t want to read the mythologies to a child.
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Rothenburg, Germany & the Leviathan trilogy by Scott Westerfeld Ornament The fragile hand-painted glass sphere came from an idyllic town in Rothenburg, Germany. The Christmas store I got it from was like its own holiday village. I wrote a blog about this town that is found on the Romantic Road. It still is one of my favorites from my trips to Europe. Books Leviathan, Behemoth, and Goliath I listened to on Audible in December. The narrator is awesome with accents, which helps me get lost in the story. It takes place in Germany and other countries around the time of World War I. Although parts of the books are historical, my imagination had to kick into high gear to picture the machines that were created from other species and metal. Whenever I imagine the metal machinery I automatically go to the walkers in Star Wars. This is my first real exposure to the steam punk genre and I really like it. I recommend these books to people who like history mixed with their fantasy, but be prepared to use your imagination. Blog about Rothenburg: carlasbooks.weebly.com/carlas-candor/december-20th-2015 Maine & Delirium by Lauren Oliver Ornament: Came from Boothbay Harbor, Maine. I love sail boats, so it was a great ornament for me to buy. Main is gorgeous in the fall and my husband took me there for my birthday. That was the same trip he took me to New York City for the first time. In Maine I got to stay in a light saving station that was turned into a bed and breakfast inn. It was similar to an actual lighthouse, which is my dream house. I found another book on that trip that listed many lighthouses that you can stay in that have been transformed into hotels or B&Bs. Book: Delirium is set in Maine. I read this book a while ago so I'm a little foggy on it. I gave it four stars because I liked the genre and characters, but it didn’t leave a lasting impression. There are a lot of books with a dystopian theme. In this one you have to imagine the United States in a future where the government treats people for the disease they call love. They are not allowed to fall in love or have relationships. In most of these genres a disaster or disease of some kind kills a massive amount of people so the government takes over and uses extreme measures to “fix” the problem. In our current world all the solutions seem to be unrealistic in these stories, but every day I see things that make me believe that some of these dystopian fantasy books could become non-fiction. After all Hunger Games was based off the Roman gladiator games. Since I read mostly for entertainment, I don’t like the depressing predictions of our future world. The books keep my attention, because I enjoy the characters and their relationships. I get caught up in how they overcome the government’s solutions. As long as the person I’m rooting for wins in the end, I can enjoy many books. Delirium is part of a series and the characters kept me wanting to read all the books. Hawaii & The Girl From Everywhere series by Heidi Heilig Each blog in this series I will share an ornament I bought as a souvenir from one of the many places I’ve been blessed to visit. I will also talk about the books where the characters were in the same setting. You may not be able to visit the wonderful places I’ve been to, but there is always a book to take you there in your mind.
Ornament: The sparkly sea shell angel came from Kona, Hawaii, which is on the Big Island. It has many black volcanic hills and in some ways it’s not the stereotypical image that gets portrayed on postcards and calendars. I love the Big Island, but I’ve been able to visit Oahu and Maui too and Maui is my favorite. Each island has a peaceful calm. You can do the stereotypical tourist things or just soak up the scenery and do nothing, but you never feel like you have to hurry and cram in a full day’s worth of activities to truly enjoy the islands. I wrote a blog about this before so I won't spend too much time on it. Check out my archived blogs: carlasbooks.weebly.com/carlas-candor/hawaii-a-place-to-chillax-travel-blog-9 carlasbooks.weebly.com/hobbes-happenings/cat-log-travel-place-hawaii Books: Ocean, time travel, and paradise! How can you go wrong with that formula? I say you can’t. If you read The Girl From Everywhere and its sequel, The Ship Beyond Time, you’ll get to visit Hawaii and time travel. Nix, the main character gets to sail the ocean with her father while dealing with the loss of her mother. It isn’t an ordinary ship because with the correct map, they can reach a destination real or imagined in any time period. Nix’s father is in constant pursuit of the perfect map to reach the time before her mother died and save her, but in doing that he could risk Nix’s life. There is great adventure while they look for the special map, and in the end I felt it had imagination and creativity. I listen to all my books on Audible these days and the narrator portrayed the accents or gender of each characters superbly. I gave the book four stars, because it was good, but I reserve five stars for books that stick in my heart or mind in ways I never knew a book could. This book was entertaining, but it wasn’t one of my all time favorites. Settlers, I’m familiar with because I wrote it (hee, hee). Before I even knew The Girl From Everywhere existed, my mermaid and time traveler, Triana was being formed on paper. She had a different mission than Nix had, but she ends up in Hawaii on the day Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese on December 7, 1941 in Travelers. In Settlers, she begins in 2012 Oahu surfing. Did I mention she has to share bodies with humans in every place that she travels? That's why she ends up in a surfer girl’s body at the beginning of Settlers. I threw in historical characters and fictional characters for Triana to meet throughout her journey, but I keep you guessing until the end so you will want to continue reading. |
Ramblings on life, travels, & books
Carla Reighard Archives
December 2023
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