Random Book Reviews

Just a blog of random book reviews and other bookish content

[recreationalbookworm]

When your libby ebook timeline just says several months 😞

[recreationalbookworm]

So... I just finished The Seeress of Kell. Overall, I found this to be the most boring book in the series, and I did not like the Mallorean so much either. The Belgariad was a much quicker and more enjoyable read.

One qualm I had with the ending of this book and series was Geran. He's described as having a sunny disposition. I could be wrong as I don't have much of a background in psychology or trauma, but it just didn't feel right. This kid spent like a year or something? being treated as a necessary but unloved object by a cruel woman. He most likely got no love or affection from anyone. If he did it would have been fleeting. Maybe his parents getting him back at two was enough to heal the damage, but I feel like him having some issues would be more realistic.

I did find Vella's ending interesting. The eddings spent two series basically saying Nadrak slavery was okay. Yet, Vella's true happiness came from freedom. Not just freedom from slavery as Beldin burned her papers and threw her knives away (with her approval), but also freedom from human restrictions on women in her world. She no longer had to perform her role as a woman. She no longer had to keep her knives sharp to protect herself from unwanted advances. She gets to spend her days soaring above, and apart from, all that. I wonder if the eddings realized the commentary they were giving on the treatment of women, or on the strain objectifying women has on the women in that kind of culture.

The series wrapped up pretty standard. Proper het matches for everyone, or, in Sadi's case, a reunion with his queen. Happiness and sunny days and all that.

[godzilla-reads]

If you have an opinion on dragon books, what would be a “classic” for them?

[recreationalbookworm]

Yk, I don't think I've ever read a book about dragons specifically. I've read books with dragons in them like The Hobbit and The Priory of the Orange Tree. Much preferred the former to the latter, but Priory wasn't bad.

[macrolit]

Missed his exit. Ten-year detour.

Six Word Book Review of Homer's The Odyssey

[recreationalbookworm]

[starberry-cupcake]

the phantom of the opera by gaston leroux reads like an intense true crime podcast with a host super into this specific story, frankenstein by mary shelley reads like the most intense AITA reddit post you've ever seen and dracula by bram stoker reads like an unhinged discord server dedicated to calling out one creepy sus dude

this is why they're classics and they still slap, context can vary but good stories are forever

[arghzombies]

This is so very accurate.

And, yes, Victor, you are 💯% the asshole.

[just0nemorepage]

JOMP Book Photo Challenge hosted by  Just One More Page 📚 📷

Month: August; Tags: #justonemorepage • #jompbpc

August is nearly here (already) and so here (already) is the month's BPC prompt! Stay cool and stay safe, everybody.

Click here for the FAQ, and as always, please feel free to ask me if you have any questions. ❤️ Enjoy!

[just0nemorepage]

August is coming up here shortly, so here you be! The prompt for the month.

Hope you enjoy!

[katelynthebooklover]

10.

Okay so I don't know if this counts but the entire Magic Tree House series I'm not sure I exactly had a favorite one of those books. If I really did have to pick it would probably be the third one but specifically because of the cat I just love cats and I love how they put that cat specifically into the story. But honestly I think that everyone should read The Magic Tree House series even if you are an older person. It is so amazing and I feel like we should continue that through the generations like I'm literally going to show that series to my kids because it is such a big part of how I grew up. 

Do you have the same as me or is it a different book?

[recreationalbookworm]

Favourite: Piranesi Susanna Clarke (currently); Least favourite: Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell (I know it is well liked by many but I personally found it dreadfully boring)

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

The Stand by Stephen King

I guess My Lady's Choosing by Kitty Curran and Larissa Zageris; though, I'm not really embarrassed by anything I read

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I re-read it or listen to it every December. This was a tradition from my childhood when the local radio station read it every christmas morning for years

Discworld by Terry Pratchett; it's eclectic and fun, and I love the way the books bounce around different themes and characters

Pride and Prejudice for now, but I am planning to read more classics this year and next

At home- either walking around my house to stay awake after a long shift, or relaxing on my sofa

I don't really have an answer for this one. I like most book covers, but can't think of any that stand out that much

Yertle the turtle by Dr. Seuss

JRR Tolkien or Agatha Christie. It depends on which way the person I'm talking to leans

I don't really read published books by trope, but in fanfiction my favorite trope is coffeeshop au. My least favourite is fake relationships.

The Ents

I mostly prefer physical books, but audiobooks are good for crocheting or boring work and ebooks are my go to for library books

Silence

Yes, but it was already signed when I bought it at a yard sale. It is Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses

None? People don't like irl me, so let's not do that to a good author

🗿🗽🎣🦴😊

3rd person

Probably between 100 and 150. I may or may not have a book buying problem :) I do eventually get around to reading them, though. And I put ones I didn't like or liked but don't plan to re-read into the free little library near my place

Monstrous Regiment, The Canterbury Tales and War and Peace. That should get me through at least a week

[recreationalbookworm]

I'm sorry. But you can't tell me that this man with a kitty cat he treats like the most precious person in the world and would gleefully murder anyone who even thinks of hurting them is a villian. I don't buy it.

[recreationalbookworm]

‘I’ll have to admit that he’s a very competent scholar.’

‘Isn’t he just a librarian?’ Garion asked, ‘somebody who looks after books?’

‘That’s where all the rest of scholarship starts, Garion. All the books in the world won’t help you if they’re just piled up in a heap.’

-Belgarath, King of the Murgos

[recreationalbookworm]

Finished the belgariad and first book of the Mallorean. Onward to King of the Murgos!

As much as I might complain about the bad elements in these books, I am still enjoying the re-read

[recreationalbookworm]

I just started the mallorean, and I have one minor pet peeve with both series. Most of the men enjoy drinking a lot. Some drink to excess, some drink less. The women as far as I've seen so far all constantly complain about men drinking, and for the most part imbibe lightly. It's kind of irritating given that many women in the world also drink, and I doubt every wife and female relative on the planet is constantly bitching about their men's drinking regimen

[recreationalbookworm]

[just0nemorepage]

JOMP Book Photo Challenge hosted by Just One More Page 📚 📷

Month: July ; Tags: #justonemorepage • #jompbpc

Summer is very much here, and I'll be damned if it doesn't feel like it's trying to broil us all. 🥵🥵🥵 Stay cool, stay safe, and here's something to do indoors for the month!

Click here for the FAQ, and as always, please feel free to ask me if you have any questions. ❤️  Enjoy!

[just0nemorepage]

Julyyyyy July July - we're already in July - 🎶

[bookwormingparty]

[certifiedlibraryposts]

Certified Library Post

[recreationalbookworm]

I decided to do a re-read of the belgariad, and I'm currently 2/3 through the first book. I was probably 13 or 14 when I read this series, and I remembered loving it at the time. However, I am not so in love this time. I still like the story overall, but, as an adult with children, my views have changed somewhat.

The first thing I noticed is how much the characters are caricatures of what a fantasy character would be. The powerful woman is beautiful, terrifying and imposing. The sorcerer is irreverent and curmodgeony. The thief is weaselly. The tough northern warrior is big and burly and fairly straightforward. And so on.

What bothers me most, though, is Polgara. I am actually a little disappointed about this one. She was my favorite character, but now I see her as not great when it comes to Garion. She discourages curiosity, keeps Garion in the dark to an almost cartoonish degree and treats him far younger than he is. Having kids, I think, makes me see her parenting style of "because I said so" as being pretty harsh.

But it also bothers me that she hasn't prepared him at all for what's coming. She knows who he is and who he is supposed to become. Yet, he hasn't been taught to read and write, taught politics, allowed to make any decisions, taught fighting, leadership or any other valuable skill that he will absolutely need.

Another thing I didn't love this time is the way they all talk of Barak's wife. Granted she is being petty and mean to him, but she was trapped in that marriage as much as he was. And not wanting him around his daughters may well have more to do with not wanting them to be sold off into a bad marriage the way she was. She could just be mean, but we don't get enough yet to know. Current me just sees a bitter, angry woman forced to live out a bad situation in a country where she has basically no rights.

I'm not saying the characters or story are bad, it's just that I am seeing them drastically differently as an adult. This is also only the first book. My opinion may change as I go.

[recreationalbookworm]

Slight update on book one now that I finished it. I still don't like Polgara, and I'm definitely on Merel's side. Mentions of spousal sa were there. Polgara was cryptically snarky with Merel, and was horribly cruel to Martje. Honestly wanted to slap Polgara for that.

[vifetoile]

"Do not expect too much from your child and she will grow in your love... But if you push her too much, you will push her away. A child is not yours to own but to raise. She may not be what you will have her to be, but she will be what she has to be. Remember what they say, that 'Wood may remain twenty years in the water, but it is still not a fish.”

Jane Yolen, 1939-2026, Sister Light, Sister Dark