Everything Bianca

I'm not finished with it yet, but really - read this book. Wait. I'm not supposed to say that.

This story is epic, detailed, intricate, richly detailed, and epic. 

I said epic twice. 

I adore this tale. I'm over half way through it and I anxiously await its continuation.

Rich stuff.

Okay, let me give this a serious try.

I am greatly impressed by the descriptions of fights, battles, and physical conflicts. I do not think I've ever read a fight described in such simple and vivid ways. I really saw the fight. I saw the conflict. That's no easy feat. 

I am impressed by the characters. How they grow, change, the distinct way in which they see the world and mature. 

The social and political battles. I have found myself at certain points of this book with my breath held rapt, whispering my anticipations out loud, and getting goose bumps. 

This is not the typical fantasy fare I've been exposed too. There's less magic and more ... Oh, I don't know the word. (Epic comes to mind.) 

Durham's Website

I've added some new music to my collection. Sad Wings of Destiny by Judas Priest (album). A couple songs by Steve Vai. And Framing Armageddon (Something Wicked Pt 1) by Iced Earth (also the whole album).

I've owned one song by Iced Earth previously, Damien, and played it into the ground.

After listening to this new collection for a few times I found myself singing in my head

Please God give me, the strength to lead
It's my charge to keep
Make the sorrow the fuel I need
It's my charge to keep

So I woke up and put that on first thing.  

What's amusing is that the reviews of this album is that if you like Iced Earth, you'll be disappointed by it. I only ever found one song by Iced Earth palatable to me before, and I adore this one.

When I copy this over to my mp3 player in the car. I plan to put Charge to Keep and Damien side by side. They will fit together like Fire and Ice. 

As for the other new stuff, nothing has grabbed me yet, but I've only listened through it all 3 times maybe. Quick enough for me to get obsessed to a song, not long enough for me to get a taste for it all.

I've owned Samael's Solar Soul for a long time now, and I was listening to it in the car and really started to enjoy some of it.

I read this book because my coworkers enjoyed it. The way they described this tale, it sounded intriguing.

My initial response to the book was: I hate it. I came to that decision within the first 5 pages.

I forced myself to finish the book, because I didn't like the feeling of putting down a Pulitzer because I disagreed with the author's creative license to abuse and maim English grammar. That's where I take my whole issue with the book. An occasional fragment here and there is cool. I do it often. The leaving out of punctuation didn't even phase me much (not after resolving myself to an onslaught of fragments).

I read this book about as much as I can watch a movie that's playing in the next room. If this was the author's intention (and with the plot, this would actually make sense) then that goal was achieved.

What about the story? Father and son pushing a cart of scavenged items down a desolate road. They invade empty spaces, evade other people, and drift between starvation and feasting.

Epic.

I respect the art. I truly do. I'm sure the story is fairly decent too. Me? Personally? If I never read this book again, it would be too soon.

So how did I enjoy watching a movie I had recently read?

 It was a cool movie as gorey as the book was, but oh so very compressed. I understood why so much had to be left out, and maybe even changed, but I felt like I was being zoomed through the tale.

Positives: Two things I wanted to happen in the book did (why don't you just throw the thing at them? and why doesn't anyone make a run for it?). Also! Less leaps of logic are required to watch the movie than to read the book. That's always nice.  

Unique horror movie. Although, I have to say, the book is still a great read, but it ended, and hard.

 The movie, in contrast, might actually live on.

I don't shop, as in the habit of "shopping." I don't know how. The act frustrates me.

I know I dress well. I get several compliments on my clothing. However, I have a secret - I have an ally that's a floor manager of Dillard's in Atlanta. I give her money. She gives me clothes. I wear them. I do buy things for myself, but not wisely. If my 'style' were a report card it would read, "Room for Improvement." 

I want to learn to shop for myself. I could do it, if someone would help me. 

It was in this spirit that I bought the book, "Tim Gunn: A Guide to Quality, Taste and Style." I was greatly attracted to the focus of the book. It's a guide to finding my quality, my taste, and my style. Sounded great to me.

A book that has as its purpose 'self-help' is only as good as the help it does the reader of the book. What good has this book done for me? First off, I have a tiered list of items I not only do not own, but don't think I ever have. I don't have a pair of dress flats. I don't have blazer, linen pants, or a cardigan.

I learned that when I go shopping, I am to think on the things I own, and predetermine what I need to go with those items. I learned to try out new venues, to see things on my body. I learned what items will flatter the various parts of my body, and what things I should avoid, in order to acheive whatever 'style' I want for myself. There's even a section that outlines different styles, and how they are created.

How to do you, in part.

I guess we'll see how well this book works once I've improved my wardrobe. As for working with what I already have, I even feel better about that.

Did I need a book to tell me all this?

Yes. Yes, I did. I am not a fashion disaster, but I am not dressing as well as I'd like.

There was a lot of information in this book I never knew and was never told and never read before. I felt good about the information I did know, or reading about mistakes I have not made. I, personally, suffer from having too few clothes rather than too many. 

Who would I recommend this book to? Anyone who buys and wears clothing, even (especially?!) the fashionistas. I whole heartedly encourage cerebral types that don't care about fashion to give this book a read. This is a cerebral book. It has reason. It has logic. (Oh! And it's rather humorous too!) I'm not ashamed to have read it, and I will certainly reap the benefit from listening to it.

This book was given to me by my friend, lunch buddy, and co-worker Scott. He told me it was a good read, but that he hated the ending. He said this much with great disdain in his voice. I set this book aside for a long time before I read it. When I told him I was reading it, he apologized that he even gave me the book.

Well, I finished it last night, and I loved it. Just goes to show, you can never really tell about a review. Different people like to read different things. Most people know exactly what they like. So with this review, and any others I do after it, will just tell you what 'type' of read it is. You can make your decision from there.

I know I like suspense / horror. So if you tell me to read something and say, as Scott did, "It's horror / suspense." I'm sold. Say no more. The fact that you've recommended it is often good enough. 

 The Ruins

This book has a fair  amount of tension and suspense. The characters are clear from start to finish. This is a vacation gone awry survival horror story in the spirit of "And Then There Were None." I'm telling you this so that you don't have your hopes up. Get your hopes up and you'll hate this book like my friend Scott did. I fancy my self a horror buff, and Asian horror buff, none the less. I abandon all hope. *laughs* Oh, and you might to abandon a couple points of logic. Just a couple, nothing too strenuous.

Now you know it's survival horror where the characters encounter something that picks them off as if they were a platter of hors d'oeuvres. You can pick this up and enjoy it. Because it's good like that. I enjoyed reading it.

Maybe I'll enjoy watching it, too.