The books of February 2014

Once again, I've fallen behind. In my defense, I've been busy. And snowed in. Very snowed in. A lot. So much so that I only made it out for one movie.

Movie:
I went to see Pompeii. It wasn't awesome. It was trying very hard to be Gladiator...but it wasn't. The kid from Game of Thrones did his best, but he shouldn't be carrying an entire film by himself at this point. Keifer was a good bad guy, but his little lisp affectation didn't work for me. Nor did the sheriff from Grimm being bad again. I got used to him being good on the show. What was really cool was how they did the special effects to destroy the entire city. The lava, the fireballs, the waves flooding the city, and the ash. Wow. Something to watch when it hits Netflix while you fold laundry and stuff.

Books:
This month I read The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan, The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan, London Travel Guide 2014: Essential Tourist Information, Maps, and Photos by Caroline Booth, Kingmaking: Book One of the Pendragon's Banner by Helen Hollick, Waking Kate by Sarah Addison Allen (prequel to her new book, Lost Lake), The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan, After Visiting Friends: A Son's Story by Michael Hainey, and The House of Hades by Rick Riordan.

The London Travel Guide 2014 was a short citing of some of the main sites people visit when they go to London. It was on my Kindle, so the pictures were black and white and the maps were small, but I was able to use the urls to check out things that I liked. I got it the day the 2014 version went on sale, so it was free. I call that excellent timing.

Kingmaking was pretty good. It's been a while since I read an Arthur book. It starts with all the major players as children. Arthur, with Uther, visits Gwenevere's family. It follows them, on and off, through teens, a first marriage for Arthur, and up through her second pregnancy. I believe there is a sequel...possibly two sequels. I liked it, but I don't know if I'll read more. It was pretty different from the regular telling. I'm still thinking about it.

Waking Kate is a short story about a woman who is sitting at home, waiting for her husband on the first night of summer. Their daughter is staying with a friend, so she makes a nice dinner and sits down to watch some TV while waiting. She sees a familiar face on TV and later, watching people get off the bus, she realizes that man was her neighbor. She walks over to say hello and ends up chatting with him for a long time. They chat about his life and it's implied that her own choices may not have been the best, but not stated out loud. The short story came with a few pages of the new book, Lost Lake. I won't give anything away, but as always, Addison Allen writes a story with someone you can relate to in the lead and you want to know more. As soon as the price drops on the new one, I'm getting it.

After Visiting Friends is the story of a reporter who pieces together what really happened when his dad died. Hainey was 6 years old, his brother 8, when their father died in his mid-30s. Raised by their mom, no one ever discussed it. As Hainey aged, he found pieces of a puzzle that didn't add up, so once he was grown, he started researching what had really happened. This is a good book. It wasn't a grisly true crime thing (which I was kind of expecting)...the outcome was that a normal family had normal problems and things happen. It wasn't terribly exciting, but it was a good read.

The Rick Riordan books were awesome! This series (there's one more coming out this October) starts with new recruits for Camp Half-Blood...the safe space for Greek demi-gods. But Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon and the camp's recent hero, is missing. His girlfriend, Annabeth, the daughter of Athena is becoming frantic. But this first book focuses on the three new recruits, and their quest. In the next book we find Percy and the plan for the series becomes clearer. Percy's lost his memory (just as Jason has in book one) and is working with the kids at his camp...a Roman Camp...to finish their quest. The third book, The Mark of Athena, brings all the characters together and it is an epic fail. Except for the chosen seven who must go on a dangerous quest, taking them back through Greece and Rome without the Gods to help them. The next one, The House of Hades, continues the quest of the seven demi-gods. And, as the title suggests, much of the story takes place in the underworld. It's very intense. Having to wait until October to finish this up is not going to be fun.

OK. That's it for February. I've already finished one this month and am mid-way through my second. Should be more interesting for you all. Laters!