First Quarter {In Books!}

Usually I write a yearly installment of what I've read, but I decided that December 2016 is too far away for all the gushing I want to do already. And if I break up my book lists by quarters, I can write even more about each book (since we all know how good I am at being concise). So here's the first quarter round-up for 2016--and it's a good one, folks. Get your pens and reading lists/Kindle one-click order buttons ready!

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The Land's Whisper | The Parting Breath Series - Monica Lee Kennedy

I'm not really sure how to do justice to The Land's Whisper with mere words, other than to say if I were Miss America I would give everyone in the world this book instead of a puppy so they could experience the pure excellence that is Monica Lee Kennedy's writing. 

But I'm still going to try and do it justice...so buckle up.

This was my first book of the new year, and it had some very big shoes to fill. But very soon it was clear that there are even bigger shoes to fill for every book following this one. The Land's Whisper is fantasy--which as a rule, I don't love, but I truly loved this book in the same way I loved all the magical elements and world building of Harry Potter and Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. The genre simply didn't matter, because the writing and the story are just that good. The plot is riveting, the character development is so well done and realistic, and--as I wrote in my Amazon review (a first for me!), the story is "intricately crafted with meticulously chosen words to create the most incredible, fantastical world. Lightness and intrigue are balanced with the heaviness of authentic emotions and the reality of goodness and evil." 

The Land's Whisper is set in a fascinating, timeless sort of world, where a man and boy find themselves unexpectedly embarking on a quest to save a life and end up getting more than they bargained for. Monica Kennedy brings into the existence of this world some incredible ideas and concepts I would never even dream of dreaming up. As such, there are some foreign-feeling references and terminology--like any good world should have. There is a glossary of terms at the end of the book, though I didn't realize it was there until I finished reading because I had the Kindle edition. But I figured the terms out pretty quickly on my own, which for me just added to the intrigue of the story. 

As I started reading, I applied my new rule of withholding judgment until at least the fourth chapter, (I've learned with any book, but especially with my favorite books, that if I pass judgment at the beginning and give up too soon I'd regret it forever). But by chapter three I was fully sucked in--hook, line, and sinker. It did skip around just a bit in the beginning, but intentionally so, and in a way that heightened the sense of mystery surrounding key themes that are visited later. 

There were some dark moments, but they definitely enhanced the story, unlike some books where I feel like such moments only serve as shock value and detract from the overall writing. And the whole book was exceptionally clean. I think I've made it pretty clear in the past that I just can't with the trashy novels, and this is so refreshingly the complete opposite end of the spectrum. There's incredible depth, and the writer in me is going to geek out again about how Monica's writing style itself is just divine. It's beautifully descriptive without being tedious, her use of language appeals to the intellect but isn't at all difficult to digest, and it just seems like every word is chosen with incredible care in a way that adds so much to the storyline without ever being superfluous. Basically, what I'm struggling in vain to say is that this is some of the purest, highest quality writing I have encountered and it makes my heart happy.

Of note: The Land's Whisper is the first book in a three-part series. Unlike other trilogies or series I've read, this story wraps up quite nicely on its own--enough to feel like a stand-alone work, but there's also more than enough foreshadowing present to have me incessantly craving the next piece (yes, still, even a whole month after finishing the book). I'm so excited that both the second and third book are being released this April, and I've been counting down the days until I'm staying up all hours with Darse and Brenol on their next adventure. It's going to be awesome. 

But enough about my quirkiness, how about a fun backstory? I originally found out about the book from my friend K in my online prayer group. K is a very well-versed reader and writer herself, so it caught my attention when she posted about a new book that one of her dear friends had written. K said she couldn't put it down and read it in in a single day--and I knew that if K The Literary Genius was recommending The Land's Whisper, it wasn't because some friend had written it (we self-proclaimed literary fiends can be unapologetically brutal if merited); so I knew it must actually be that good. Which it was, of course--not like I've made that clear or anything.

So more fun: I decided that since my friend K knew this amazing writer personally, I would go ahead and write my very first fan mail, and name drop while I was at it. As a result, I now have a real author pen pal who is as delightful "in person" as she is in her writing. Did I mentioned that she's a {lovely, faith-filled, currently ex-pat} busy mom too? Anyway. I won't belabor the point; my new author friend is the best and I'm so glad I decided to be that awkward fan girl! And you should be, too. So stop reading my jabber already and go read her book. 

The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear | The Kingkiller Chronicles - Patrick Rothfuss

This was recommended to me by a friend who likes fantasy (he's super into The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings which I could never quite get into), so I probably wouldn't have read The Name of the Wind had Monica's book not convinced me that I might actually like some types of fantasy. 

It started slow for me and also built slowly;  I actually had to give it more than the usual four chapters, but it was clearly good writing. It took a bit, but once the action started I appreciated the foundation that was laid at the start, and I was soon fully invested in the world and the story morning, noon, and night. It's the story of a former legend revealing the true story of his life, in all its messy truth, with the facts and the science behind the magic coming out. Yet there is still a boatload of magical adventure and wonderment (again, balanced with some darker realities), and the plot simply takes storytelling to a whole new level; even though it is clearly fantasy, it all feels perfectly real and believable.  

It's also a trilogy, and though I didn't feel like the loose ends were tied up as well as they were in The Land's Whisper, I was able to read straight from Rothfuss's first book into the second so it didn't matter to me much at the time. Like The Land's Whisper, the characters are exceedingly well developed and authentic. The story telling, as I said, is superb. Also like The Land's Whisper, there are some references at the beginning to terms or mysteries that are gradually revealed throughout the book, which is both slightly frustrating and appropriately intriguing.

Unlike The Land's Whisper, there is still no set release date for the third book in the series, which is absolutely tortuous. Especially since the second book ended with even more suspense than the first. I can't even talk about it, it pains me so, and the only thing that kept me going was knowing that the release date for the next book in Monica's series was coming. Still agonizingly slowly, but at least I can see the light. The one (well maybe millionth and one) other good thing about both of these series is that they're decently long, so if you don't neglect your entire life like I do while reading, they should last you a good long time. 

Only Time will Tell and The Sins of the Father | The Clifton Chronicles - Jeffrey Archer

I picked up this popular series at the recommendation of another friend. I started the first book before the New Year and couldn't get into it right away. But after I inhaled the two series above and knew how much time was left before the long-anticipated release of Monica's next book, I decided to revisit this one and give it the ole' four chapter try. That definitely did the trick, and I enjoyed the story in a lot of ways. It pulled me in nicely, and there were some fun plot twists and turns. The story follows the crossing paths of two families set in pre-World War II England, so it was good to get back to my usual literary era 'drug of choice.' It has a bit of an Olivery Twist feel with the society and class, allowing the reader to root for the underdog, which was also enjoyable.

That said, I was definitely spoiled by the impeccable writing styles of my two previous series; some of the Clifton characters felt more shallow, and the writing a little more contrived. The point of view shifted between characters, (which I'm normally fine with), but I did find it strange that with the introduction to each character came a shift from first to third person. For example, the first chapter for each character reads, "I went, I felt," etc. But all the remaining chapters following said character are written as "Harry went." I couldn't seem to find a reason behind it...just one of those quirky things annoying readers like me tend to notice. I personally think the characters would have felt more real had the whole book been written in the first person to convey more emotion and description, since that seemed to be lacking in the third person voice, and it was hard to get a read sometimes on how the characters were thinking or feeling or reacting. (That said, the second book had no voice shifting; it was all third person). I also predicted a major plot twist early on, but it didn't ruin the book for me and there were plenty more surprises as it went on. And none of these things kept me from reading just as voraciously as I normally do (i.e., holding my phone with Kindle app in one hand while unloading the dishwasher with other).

The book ended with an insane cliffhanger which worked exactly as intended--it annoyed me to no end and made me buy/start reading the next book in the series immediately. I enjoyed the second book as well, though at times the plot felt a little more tedious, less realistic, and more choppy. Once again it ended with a major cliffhanger, as I've learned is the writer's style--so I bought and started the third book. Each story line seems to get more and more independent from the first, though, like subsequent seasons of an ongoing TV show when the producers have switched out, so after a few chapters of the third I took a break. I might finish it out eventually, but in the mean time I'm ready for something a little more substantial again. Overall though, an enjoyable diversion! 

Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Thérèse of Lisieux | Thérèse de Lisieux

During Holy Week I decided I would limit myself to spiritual reading only, so I picked up the last few chapters of St. Thérèse of Lisieux's autobiography that I started so long ago. Man, this girl packs a spiritual punch. She makes me realize how far I have to go when it comes to sainthood, but simultaneously makes me want to get there. Thankfully, as my randomly assigned patron saint for 2016, she's got the rest of the year to work on me (and she totally will, too). It's fairly easy reading, but dense with meaning so it was good to take more breaks than I usually do with fiction (i.e. not read the whole book in an hour) in order to digest all the richness. Still, I finished it rather quickly so she convinced me to download St. Teresa of Avila's Interior Castle for my next iteration of spiritual reading.

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And that, my friends, wraps it up for the First Quarter in Books. Stay tuned for next quarter when I will surely be gushing about the next two books in Monica's series and telling you of all my emails begging her to write more and faster. 

In the mean time, happy reading!