Archive for January, 2015
Oh January, you were not as cold as I wanted you to be.
This month has been okay? Nothing big happened; only a few things worth noting.
- My obsession with comic books went on overload. I was shoving The Wicked + The Divine into people’s face, so there’s that.
- And because of my obsession with comic books, I got into quite of a major reading slump. I still am in this slump, which totally sucks because I want to read! Booo.
- I did get a physical copy of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, which I’m frickin’ excited about! Gotta get some oreos before I start reading it! Yeeeeee.
- I finally read Vicious, and it is as awesome as everybody says it is. SO IN LOVE. THE FOUND FAMILY, JUST, MY FAVEEEE.
- I got a ticket to see Leighton Meester perform in March! YESSSSSSSSS. I’m gonna be swaying and singing along in her presence. ;)
Legion: Skin Deep by Brandon Sanderson
November 30, 2014
Subterranean Press
Website | Twitter | Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo
Stephen Leeds, AKA “Legion,” is a man whose unique mental condition allows him to generate a multitude of personae: hallucinatory entities with a wide variety of personal characteristics and a vast array of highly specialized skills. As the new story begins, Leeds and his “aspects” are hired by I3 (Innovative Information Incorporated) to recover a corpse stolen from the local morgue. But there’s a catch. The corpse is that of a pioneer in the field of experimental biotechnology, a man whose work concerned the use of the human body as a massive storage device. He may have embedded something in the cells of his now dead body. And that something might be dangerous…
What follows is a visionary thriller about the potential uses of technology, the mysteries of the human personality, and the ancient human need to believe that death is not the end. Legion: Skin Deep is speculative fiction at it most highly developed. It reaffirms Sanderson’s place as one of contemporary fiction’s most intelligent—and unpredictable—voices.
First sentence: “What’s her angle?” Ivy asked, walking around the table with her arms folded.
They are backkkkkk. And boy, oh boy. Legion: Skin Deep continues to be as awesome as ever!
For those who have not read the first novella, which you should read, the Legion novellas follow Stephen Leeds, a detective of sorts who sees hallucinations (or aspects, as he calls them) that have specialized skills and help him in investigating unique problems. In Legion: Skin Deep, Leeds and his aspects are hired to recover a missing corpse that contains secrets embedded in the body’s cells. They use their expertise to track down the corpse before it gets into the wrong hands. Along the way, danger comes around, like it usually does when Leeds is involved.
Now, the job that Leeds is hired to do is quite interesting. The company that hires Leeds had been working on a way to store information in the human body’s cells and was trying to figure out a way to extract it, and of course, the person who was leading this turns up dead. This was resolved in a way that I hadn’t expected, but it was welcomed. It’s always the thing that you’d least expect that surprises you.
However, what makes this novella so awesome are the characters, the humor, and the world. All the characters have such an interesting dynamic with each other. I love seeing Stephen’s struggle to control his aspects and the difficulty of have to imagine things for them, and his aspects struggling to accept that they are hallucinations. Despite hiccups that Stephen has to deal with, he and his aspects work.
And the humor, guys! Oh the humor! It’s so wonderful. The characters bickering, J.C. calling himself an Interdimensional Time Ranger, just everything. I’m continued to be blown away by it.
It’s just such a fascinating world; I can’t help but want more! Go read the first novella and then this one! WORTH YOUR TIME!
My question is: when’s the next one out?
Dear Kelly Loy Gilbert and Conviction,
Oh boy, oh boy. Fractured family + a murder trial + baseball? Are you kidding me? Total Cee book!
But Braden got it wrong: his older brother, Trey, has been estranged from the family for almost as long, and his father, the only parent Braden has ever known, has been accused of murder. The arrest of Braden’s father, a well-known Christian radio host has sparked national media attention. His lies in his son’s hands; Braden is the key witness in his father’s upcoming trial.
Braden has always measured himself through baseball. He is the star pitcher in his small town of Ornette, and his ninety-four mile per hour pitch already has minor league scouts buzzing in his junior year. Now the rules of the sport that has always been Braden’s saving grace are blurred in ways he never realized, and the prospect of playing against Alex Reyes, the nephew of the police officer his father is accused of killing, is haunting his every pitch.
Braden faces an impossible choice, one that will define him for the rest of his life, in this brutally honest debut novel about family, faith, and the ultimate test of conviction.Goodreads
I love fonts. You can say I’m obsessed with collecting them all. It’s no secret to those who know me. You’re Just My Type is a new feature where I showcase the fonts I absolutely adore and use. And hopefully, you will love the fonts I pick. Add all of them to your font collection! Let it grow!
Surprise, surprise! It’s one of these posts—You’re Just My Type! It feels like it’s been a while, hasn’t it?
I unintentionally took a break because I was lacking inspiration. I just felt stuck, and I didn’t feel like I was contributing at all by recycling free fonts you can find on Pinterest. I wanted to step away from that and be more of a help. I felt my font sleuth title slipping away from me! But no more!
In this post, Font Sleuth Cee is on the case for book titles’s fonts! What do I mean? Well, have you ever seen the title of books and wonder what font the designer used? Well, this post is for you! I’ve identified the fonts for four book titles—Fairest, Love Lucy, A Darker Shade of Magic, and Soulprint! Trust me, they are all completely accurate.
Inspired by What She Reads, Pure Imagination Blog, and Stacked.
I admit I’m a book cover snob. Who isn’t though?
Book covers are the first thing that attracts readers to a book. A good cover can draw someone is, just as a bad cover can easily draw someone away. It can essentially make or break a book. Holy, Mother Cover! is where I showcase the book covers that stand out (or make me cringe), and discuss cover changes.
(A big special thanks to Georgie at What She Reads for bestowing me this fabulous name and to Charlotte at The Simple Tales for creating the beautiful feature banner you see before you.)
COVER CHANGE: Dissonance by Erica O’Rourke
Three things I love about this cover: 1. the colors! The shades or blue and purple work really well here, and I think a large part of that has to do with the grainy quality of the photo. It gives it an extra something—an umpf; 2. the overlay effect. I really love how it looks, especially with the model in motion; and 3. the double dissonance. Do you see how there’s a faded, yet bigger “dissonance” over the title? I really like that!
However, the one thing that really bugs me is the weird “S O N” in big lettering on the top. Does it say “Dissonance” or something else? It’s just so weird that you can’t see it in its entirety.
Would I buy this book based on the cover? Sure.
It’s such a bland cover. Origami star-flower? I’m not sure what significance it is, but it just seems really odd. And it’s against a white background? Like what? I really don’t understand why the hardcover needed a redesign. The paperback hardly catches my attention; it’s a big fat yawn.
Though, I do like that the color scheme stays pretty much the same for this cover and the way that the colors of the title turns from white to the blue-purple shade.
Would I buy this book based on the cover? Hahaha, nope.
Final Verdict: I guess the hardcover.
Which cover design do you prefer? Would you buy the hardcover or paperback cover?
I love comics and graphic novels, so what do I do with that love? Well, I turn it into a new feature!
From Panel to Panel is a new feature where I talk about the awesome (and perhaps not-so awesome) comic books and graphic novels I’ve read. Basically, this will be me pushing them onto your laps. You’re welcome.
The Wicked + The Divine
Holy, fucking shit.
Excuse the language, but holy fuck, The Wicked + The Divine is fucking amazing. For those who have not taken a look at this awesome series, The Wicked + The Divine is a comic created by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie (both of Phonogram and Young Avengers fame), and published by Image Comics. It follows twelve gods incarnated as humans, who appear every ninety years, being loved and hated by the public like they are popstars, and when two years pass, they die. You have to “remember: just because you’re immortal, doesn’t mean you’re going to live forever.” Eeeeeek.
Are you intrigued? I know I was.This is just the first story arc called the Faust Act (which means there are and will be more comic issues), introducing you to the characters and the world and everything. I was ready for this ride that The Wicked + The Divine was going to take me on, and when I got in, oh boy, this comic has the most gorgeous art and coloring and just awesome characters and storyline. I became sooo obssessed.
