Siddhartha

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. I wasn't really sure what to expect, being nearly 100 years old and translated to English (as well as nearly every other language in the world), but the narration was wonderful and sucked me right in. Siddhartha tells the story of a young Indian man who has decided to reject his comfortable lifestyle to seek enlightenment. At first this journey begins with self denial to find higher fulfillment, but as Siddhartha ages so do his opinions and worldviews. His journey takes him through luxury, love, hatred, desire, denial, and acceptance. Told with wonderful prose, many consider this novel to be the finest moral allegory ever written. Only by failure, does Siddhartha find what he is looking for. Readers will find some aspect of Siddhartha's journey to relate to. “Wisdom cannot be imparted. Wisdom that a wise man attempts to impart always sounds like foolishness to someone else ... Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it, do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it.”

His Majesty's Dragon

Impossible to put down, this historical fantasy is inventive and entertaining from the beginning. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, aerial combat adds another dimension to battle. Dragons are bred and coveted by countries to add to their military's defenses and attacks. Britain isn't known for having the best or most exotic dragon breeds but they make do with what they have. When a British ship captures a French vessel they find a beautiful dragon egg inside Little does the British naval captain know how much his life is about to change. Overnight Captain Will Laurence will go from being a respected Navy Captain to a "lowly" Aerial Combatant. Little does he realize how much he will grow to love his new job and his dragon, Temeraire, a unique and spellbinding beauty. A wonderful book, I'm not big on dragon novels but this one is a cut above and I LOVED the main characters. I can't wait to read the rest in the series!

Along Came a Spider

UGH, time of my life I'll never get back! I'll admit this book started out promising but quickly got stale. At a certain point I didn't care who lived or died and I never felt any real affinity towards the "hero" of the story, Alex Cross. A kidnapping case quickly spirals out of control as the body count rises and the "madman" they're after seems to have some serious mental health issues (or does he?!). Alex Cross soon finds himself obsessing over the case; when he's not thinking about the case he's boning a co-worker and neglecting his two children that he leaves at home with his grandma. Reading this book did not make me ever want to read another book in the Alex Cross series. Not only was it meh, it was just a little too over the top at times or to on the nose. Pass....

Fables: War and Pieces

This installment could very well end the series with the final all out battle taking place. Rather than ending though, it's simply the ending of a chapter and the beginning of a new one. Major sacrifices were made on both sides and the losses were high, but the build up of confrontation finally comes to a head and this installment was impossible to put down. The battle plans were amazing, and Fabletown really came together with creativity and ingenuity. Wonderful! I can only imagine where the series will go from here!

Fables: The Good Prince

I adored this one! Flycatcher has always been one of my favorite Fable characters and I've been dying to get more of his back story. Flycatcher has been wallowing in misery unsure of how to go about living not knowing whether his family is alive or dead in the homelands. Deep in his heart, he knows it's not good. When Bufkin accidentally breaks the Forsworn Knight his spirit is set free and starts to guide Flycatcher. Together they sneak into the Homelands and created the strongest, purest little kingdom that is fast becoming a huge thorn in the adversary's side. Go Flycatcher go!

Bridget Jones's Baby

I liked this one much more then book three. It was funny and over the top, much the same way that the first two were. Even though this is the fourth book in the series, it's technically between books two and three. Bridget Jones had been engaged the wonderful Mr. Darcy, but after a misunderstanding it was called off and Darcy remarried. It's been five years since she last saw her ex-fiance but a baby christening throws them together. Shortly after their "encounter" Bridget has a nightly visit at her ol' pal Daniels house. When she discovers she's pregnant a few weeks later she knows she is in trouble. Who on earth is the father? Filled with hilarity, this is a laugh out loud read. Now I need to see the movie!

Fables: Sons of Empire

Another amazing installment. After Bigby's blow to the Adversary, things go momentarily quiet. But really it's just the calm before the storm. Will this be all out war? Fabletown has been playing it smart but was Bigby's attack going too far? I also enjoyed the little side story about Snow White, Bigby, and the kids going back to the homelands to visit Bigby's estranged father as well as the short vignette's about reader's questions. Great fun!