The Best and Worst of January 2014

January was a record-breaking month for me.  Not only did I welcome 64 new followers (about two per day) my total views for one month record was shattered.  My previous record was 6,927 views in September 2012.  Now January 2014 is the record to beat with 8,228 views, including 5,133 unique views.  It may be a while before I break my record again but I’m very happy that my traffic has been consistently high this month.  So which articles brought people to my blog?

1.  Why Girls Hate Game of Thrones—A Rebuttal

2.  An Apology to Self-Published Writers

3.  The Hunger Games and Ancient Rome

4.  The Mad Reviewer Reading and Reviewing Challenge 2014 Sign Up

5.  How to Read 100 Pages in an Hour

We have a new article on the top 5!  Thanks to more than a little bit of help with Twitter promotion from Mark Lee of The Masquerade Crew my article ‘An Apology to Self-Published Writers’ went from getting two views in the entire month of December to climbing to the #2 slot this month with 834 views.  That, my friends, is the power of promotion.  Even with help it couldn’t beat out my Game of Thrones article but I was very pleased with the results of the Twitter promotion.  It also helped that people like you, my readers, spread the word about my reading challenge so I got 45 people to sign up this year.  That’s double the number that signed up last year.

So which articles were my worst this month?

1.  Discussion: Posting Schedules

2.  Switched by Amanda Hocking

3.  Cleopatra Confesses by Carolyn Meyer

4.  A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

5.  Your Shameless Blogging Self-Promotion Thread

I’m not really too worried or annoyed at any of these appearing on my list of least popular articles.  They’re either outdated articles like the self-promotion thread and the discussion or they’re older books that aren’t really popular much anymore.  It’s not the end of the world because none of these have appeared on the bottom 5 list before and likely won’t for a while yet.

In January I had record-breaking stats, read some great new books and re-read several of my old favourites.  All in all, it was a pretty good month.  How was your January?

The Month in Re-Reads (#1)

In addition to reading 14 new books this month, I had quite a bit of time to re-read some old favourites.  It’s rare that I have enough time to actually read books more than once so I took advantage of it and re-read 10 awesome books, 1 short story and a novella.  Here are the ones I read again here in January:

Prophecy of the Most Beautiful by Diantha Jones1.  Prophecy of the Most Beautiful by Diantha Jones

I loved the first three books of the Oracle of Delphi series so much that I made a concerted effort to re-read all three.  The first time around Prophecy of the Most Beautiful was awesome, but it’s even better as a re-read because I saw all the little hints Diantha Jones planted in the story for the later books.  With Prophecy of the Betrayed Heir coming out in September I needed to re-read the series anyway to remind myself who everyone is.

 

Prophecy of the Setting Sunrise by Diantha Jones2.  Prophecy of the Setting Sunrise by Diantha Jones

This is another book that was even better the second time around.  The end had been just a little confusing the first time around because I read the first book and this one so far apart.  But after refreshing my memory I really appreciated all the plot twists of this novel as well as some of the foreshadowing for the third book.

 

 

Prophecy of Solstice's End by Diantha Jones3.  Prophecy of Solstice’s End by Diantha Jones

Reading the third book just makes me even more eager for book four!  I stayed up late to finish this one even though I’ve obviously read it once before.  The best books are even better the second time around and Prophecy of Solstice’s End is one such book.  One of my favourite parts of the book was the portrayal of all the Greek gods, particularly Zeus.

 

 

59452-solar-defeatedebook4.  Solar, Defeated by Diantha Jones

After finishing the first three books in the series I still had a craving for more of Diantha Jones’ fantastic world.  Enter Solar, Defeated, which is the Oracle of Delphi #2.5.  It fills in a lot of the gaps in Strafford’s story and makes his awful behaviour in the beginning seem a little more logical.

 

 

The Devil's Concubine by Jill Braden5.  The Devil’s Concubine by Jill Braden

Remember how I absolutely gushed about this book?  Well, I’m back to gushing again after re-reading it!  This time around I really appreciated all the subtle hints Jill Braden gave about the Ravidians’ plot as well as about QuiTai’s past.  The plot was just as suspenseful as it was the first time around and I think this will be a book I’ll re-read at least once a year from now on.  It’s that good.

 

 

The_Iron_King_Cover6.  The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

The Iron Fey series is sort of my guilty pleasure now.  I actually like the love triangle in this one and Julie Kagawa’s world of faeries is fantastic.  I’ll admit that her book is not the most original but it’s still good and it’s one that I like to re-read from time to time since this was actually the first book I’d read featuring faeries.  It brings back good memories.

 

 

The Iron Daughter7.  The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa

Every once in a while I like to indulge my usually deeply buried romantic side and The Iron Fey series always hits the spot.  Forbidden love, attractive men and a heroine who actually learns how to kick butt at a natural pace all make this one of my favourite re-reads.

 

 

The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa8.  The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa

This is probably my favourite one in the Iron Fey series that features Meghan.  She really grows as a person in this one and Ash does as well.  They start to overcome their differences and finally admit just how much they really love one another.  And it has such a cliffhanger that you can’t help but read The Iron Knight as well.

 

 

Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence9.  Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence

Who can resist the snarky, ruthless and occasionally sadistic main character of Mark Lawrence’s debut novel?  Jorg is at the top of my list of all-time favourite characters, even if he really is a horrible, broken human being.  I finished the last book in his trilogy not too long ago so it was nice to go back now and see how much he really had changed by the end.

 

 

The Return Man by V. M. Zito10.  The Return Man by V. M. Zito

I read this book pretty much exactly a year ago so it was nice to re-read it for the first time and enjoy my favourite characters again.  I had forgotten how much I loved Wu and Marco and their gory adventures through the zombie-infested Evacuated States.  The Return Man is one of my favourite books of all time and I was glad I had time to read it again this month.

 

 

Kiya; Hope of the Pharaoh by Katie Hamstead11.  Kiya: Hope of the Pharaoh by Katie Hamstead

After reading Kiya: Mother of a King and still being anxious for the third book I decided to go back and read the first book.  I liked it just as much as I did the first time around, but for different reasons.  The hints that Katie Hamstead dropped for the rest of the series and the characterization were all good enough for me to overlook some minor historical inaccuracies.

 

 

Feyland; The First Adventure by Anthea Sharp12.  Short Story: Feyland: The First Adventure by Anthea Sharp

I had to re-read this prequel to the Feyland series again because I didn’t review it the first time I read it.  I didn’t want to rely so much on my memory from a few months ago, but I didn’t need to worry.  It’s just as good the second time around as it was the first.

Crewel by Gennifer Albin

Crewel by Gennifer Albin(Cover picture courtesy of Xpresso Reads.)

Incapable. Awkward. Artless.
That’s what the other girls whisper behind her back. But sixteen-year-old Adelice Lewys has a secret: She wants to fail.

Gifted with the ability to weave time with matter, she’s exactly what the Guild is looking for, and in the world of Arras, being chosen to work the looms is everything a girl could want. It means privilege, eternal beauty, and being something other than a secretary. It also means the power to manipulate the very fabric of reality. But if controlling what people eat, where they live, and how many children they have is the price of having it all, Adelice isn’t interested.

Not that her feelings matter, because she slipped and used her hidden talent for a moment. Now she has one hour to eat her mom’s overcooked pot roast. One hour to listen to her sister’s academy gossip and laugh at her dad’s jokes. One hour to pretend everything’s okay. And one hour to escape.

Because tonight, they’ll come for her.

This time I can honestly say it was not the cover of this book that caught my attention.  Rather, it was the title.  Crewel.  What’s a crewel?  Is it a dystopian city, a deliberate misspelling of cruel for some sort of theme in the book or something else?  It was my curiosity that made me read the blurb and I soon learned it was a weaving term.  A teenage girl in a dystopian world where time itself is woven?  That’s pretty unique.  So of course I bought the book.

Gennifer Albin’s book is one of the very few dystopian novels I’ve read that has such an amazing, unique premise.  If the rest of the book were trash, you could read it for her world-building alone.  Good thing the rest of the book wasn’t trash, though.  She doesn’t dump too much info on you at once and just when you think you know all about Arras, you learn something completely different that throws the conventions for a loop.  And you know what?  All the shocking behind-the-scenes things that ordinary citizens in Arras don’t know about make sense considering the kind of beautiful yet horrible world they live in.

Adelice was an interesting protagonist.  She was defiant but she also learned when to fight and when to keep her mouth shut as she began her apprenticeship as a Spinster.  Yes, she made some pretty big mistakes because of her naivete but she learned from them and became a better person.  Adelice saw through all of the glitz and glamour and actually tried to find a way to hide her talents so she could escape.  Finally, a smart YA protagonist!  And when she falls for a guy that’s obviously not a good choice for her, she learns to smother her feelings and move on.  What a novel concept!

The plot starts off pretty fast in the beginning but then it slows down a little to allow you to catch your breath in this crazy new world.  As Adelice learns about the world around her, so do we and it’s a more natural pace than a lot of books.  Crewel focuses heavily on character development but it’s never at the expense of the plot.  There’s always this feeling of suspense and dread just lurking in the background, ready to materialize and wreak havoc on Adelice’s plans.  Especially toward the end of the novel when Cormac’s true intentions are made painfully clear as he goes from run-of-the-mill pervert to something a little more dangerous.

This is Gennifer Albin’s debut novel so I think we can expect great things from her in the future.  I can’t wait to read the rest of the Crewel World trilogy!

I give this book 5/5 stars.

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Get Your Nominations in for BlogHer 2014!

BlogHer is celebrating its tenth anniversary and you have from now until February 28th to get your submissions in the Voices of the Year and/or Photos of the Year.  I’d heard of BlogHer before this year but never really gave serious thought to nominating anyone.  But in the past year I’ve read some pretty awesome posts and I want to nominate a few of my favourite bloggers for the chance to have their work featured on the site.

Although the name is BlogHer anyone can be nominated, regardless of gender.  There are a couple different categories to nominate people in as well.  Under the Voices of the Year (articles) you can nominate people in the Op-Ed, Humor, Heart or Exploration categories.  For Photos of the year there’s also four categories: Slice of LIfe, Faces/Friends/Family, Nature and Selfies.  For more information, head on over to BlogHer’s information page here.  You need to be logged into BlogHer to nominate someone, but you can use your WordPress account to log in as well.  Any post published in 2013 is eligible.

So go on and have fun nominating!  If you want to view the posts submitted thus far, the page is here and you can vote for your favourite pieces as long as you’re logged in.  There’s a People’s Choice category but the rest of the up to 100 pieces chosen are chosen by the committee so it’s not a popularity contest.

Daughters of the Nile by Stephanie Dray

Daughters of the Nile by Stephanie Dray(Cover picture courtesy of Historically Obsessed.)

Based on the true story of Cleopatra’s daughter…

After years of abuse as the emperor’s captive in Rome, Cleopatra Selene has found a safe harbor. No longer the pitiful orphaned daughter of the despised Egyptian Whore, the twenty year old is now the most powerful queen in the empire, ruling over the kingdom of Mauretania—an exotic land of enchanting possibility where she intends to revive her dynasty.

With her husband, King Juba II and the magic of Isis that is her birthright, Selene brings prosperity and peace to a kingdom thirsty for both. But when Augustus Caesar jealously demands that Selene’s children be given over to him to be fostered in Rome, she’s drawn back into the web of imperial plots and intrigues that she vowed to leave behind.

Determined and resourceful, Selene must shield her loved ones from the emperor’s wrath, all while vying with ruthless rivals like King Herod. Can she find a way to overcome the threat to her marriage, her kingdom, her family, and her faith? Or will she be the last of her line?

The main strength of the Cleopatra’s Daughter trilogy is the characters.  The characters are so real that when they get hurt, you feel the hurt right along with them.  Believe me, Selene gets hurt a lot.

In the first book you have Selene as a frightened child, a captive in Rome.  In Song of the Nile you have her as an emotionally stunted teenager suffering from a violent rape and being repudiated by a husband who refuses to listen to her side of the story.  Now, finally, in Daughters of the Nile Selene is approaching a state of contentment.  She’s made her peace with Juba and begins to love him.  She’s ruling Mauretania by his side and doing it extremely well.  And, most importantly of all, she’s finally happy.  Selene knows what she wants out of life and after a little bit of soul-searching in Rome, is prepared to give up her mother’s throne for a chance at happiness.  I knew what the ending was going to be, but I felt the tears come out just the same.  It’s hard to lose a character you’ve grown to love yet Stephanie Dray brought her trilogy to an amazingly satisfying end.  Very few authors can do that.

The plot slows down a little more in the beginning than in the previous books as we get a bigger picture of Selene’s domestic life.  When she’s called back to Rome things heat up quite a bit and even I was in doubt about her final decision when it came to Augustus.  Even though the ending takes place in Mauretania it’s far from boring as Selene comes into conflict with her teenage daughter Isidora who doesn’t want to be queen like her mother.  But really, even if the plot was totally boring in this book it wouldn’t matter.  The characters are that compelling.

One of the things that I really enjoy about Stephanie Dray’s writing is that it has very vivid imagery.  I can feel the hot air in Mauretania, the stench of the dye factories, the more cool interior of the palace, etc.  In Rome I can hear the sounds of thousands of voices on a market day, smell the Tiber in summer and walk through Augustus’ villa to see the beautiful mosaics.  Stephanie Dray transports her reader back to a different time and makes them feel at home there which was why when the novel ended it took a few seconds for me to remember where I was.  Yes, her writing is just that good.

If you haven’t read Stephanie Dray’s Cleopatra’s Daughter trilogy you need to.  It’s by far one of the best books about Cleopatra Selene’s life and it’s extremely well-written.  You can’t go wrong with it and I’m very anxious to see what Stephanie Dray chooses to write about next.

I give this book 5/5 stars.

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