Fun with Stripes

Last summer I bought two balls of Bernat's baby blanket yarn in little petunia and thought it would make a gorgeous blanket. The yarn was so soft and thick I was in love with it, until I started working with it. The color is one of those color changing yarns from pink, to taupe, to gray and back again and the more I worked with it, the more I thought it looked like I was making an army camo blanket. I hated it, I hated the way the pattern looked, I hated everything about it, so I ditched the project.

Fast forward to this past summer and back at Michael's again looking at more yarn. This time I discovered Bernat Maker Home Decor yarn in woodberry and clay. Again, I was in love with the yarn. This yarn is soft like cotton and a little bit stretchy, I thought it would be perfect for a new pattern I had found, so I bought my yarn and gave it another try.

The pattern I settled on was the Comfy Squares Textured Blanket pattern from Little Monkey's Crochet. It looked easy enough to pull off for a beginner and I had 317 yards of each color so I thought I would have plenty for a simple baby blanket. I used an 8.00 mm hook and the suggested 101 stitches to start my blanket just like in the pattern. Because I only had 2 colors to work with and the pattern shows 5 color blocks using 4 colors I thought i'd switch things up a little and make my blocks of color uneven for some added contrast. I settled on 15 rows of woodberry followed by 20 rows of clay for what was supposed to be a total of 5 rows; 3 small stripes of woodberry and 2 fatter stripes of clay. 

I was in love with the way the blanket was coming out. It was soft and a little bit stretchy just like the yarn, and had a lovely looking texture to it. The pattern was so easy to follow, a perfect pattern that requires little though once you get into the swing of things, so great for working on while watching TV. 

I had a little trouble in the beginning as you can probably tell by the lack of smoothness on the bottom block of woodberry, but that worked itself out the more I worked on the blanket. One thing I chose not to do was the "finishing row" between each color block. The pattern suggests a special row between each block of color to make the transition look neater, but I don't have any problem with the way my transition from one color to the next looks. 

As you may have noticed from the pictures, my blanket does not have 5 stripes. Sadly this is because I ran out of yarn, and because I currently live on an island yarn is hard to come by so my blanket will remain in it's semi-finished state for another 8 months or so. I was so close to finishing my fat stripes, only 2 rows short with the clay, it was a real nail biter working on the end of that second stripe seeing if i'd have enough or not. 

Eventually, after I finish this blanket i'd like to make another one using the same pattern and same yarn, only a cream and purple as the colors. I'm also really intrigued by the corner to corner approach for stripes, so maybe i'll make an attempt at that but still using the comfy squares stitch. 

Quinn and Descension by B.C. Burgess

Quin Kavanagh has it all – extraordinary looks, powerful magic, and an endless sea of beautiful witches to choose from, but the one witch he wants, he’s never met. The mysterious angel influences his every move, confounding his friends and complicating his sex life, yet he refuses to forsake his dream girl for those in his reality.

Fans of the Mystic Series will love getting a deeper look at its magical characters through this series of scenes chronicling Quin's younger years. Explore this hero with heart at ages sixteen and twenty then follow him into the most breathtaking moment of his life – the moment he finally meets the woman of his dreams.

This is book one in a three book series.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few years ago I read a couple of books from the Mystic Series by B.C. Burgess and I remembered them being pretty good. Recently, I saw the short story Quinn which is from Quinn's point of view was free so I figured i'd pick it up and give it a try. In my opinion it was terrible. It started off like I was just reading an erotica story and not a romance and just seemed to have no plot. Finally, about half way through it got to a part that intersects with the first novel and there were some familiar things and it got a little bit better. But overall I would not recommend reading this. If you have never read anything from the Mystic Series then don't even bother picking it up, you'll be confused and won't have any clue what is going. If you have read books in the series then pick it up at your own risk. Maybe you'll love it or maybe you'll hate it like me. After reading this I actually went back and read Descension the first book in the series because I couldn't believe this story was so bad when I remembered the books being enjoyable reads.

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A Magical Journey of Epic Romance 

Layla
After three years caring for her dying mother, Layla Callaway learns she was adopted under unusual circumstances. Following a cryptic message to seek her birth family in Oregon, Layla uproots her life to find out the truth about her past. And herself.

Quin
Quin’s natural charisma is attractive to plenty of women, but he longs for the one he’s been dreaming of his entire life. When that day arrives, not only is he breathless, he’s confronted with the challenge of a lifetime – an innate need to keep her safe and forever by his side.

The Enemy
Through manipulation and dark magic, Agro uses the powers of others to elevate his supremacy and wealth. When he discovers Layla didn’t die at birth, he sets out to find and possess her.

Stretching from coast to coast and teeming with loathed villains and beloved heroes, The Mystic Series is rich with emotion, magic and intrigue. Whether the reader is laughing, crying or falling in love, they'll find themselves invested in Layla's fate through the rich dialogue and emotionally driven characters that weave the web of this fiery tale.

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This was my second time reading Descension and it was still a really great book. I don't generally read romance but I thought the plot, the romance and the fantasy elements in this book were all very well crafted. Even with sort of knowing what was going to happen I still couldn't put it down, and it is almost like reading two books at the same time. You have one book where Layla the main character finds out she is adopted and a witch and the growing romance between her and Quinn, and then you have the entire story behind her parents meeting and what led to her adoption. At first, when I got to the point where it switches over from Layla and Quinn to being her parents story I wanted to speed things along and get back to Layla and Quinn. It's not that I was bored with the other story I was just so invested in their story that I wanted to read more about them. But soon, I became just as invested in Aedan and Rhosewen's story and it's a real tearjerker even knowing before you read it that the parents are dead. I would say the book is almost a 50/50 split between the two stories, but of course then it comes full circle back to present day and back to Quinn and Layla.

Night Study by Maria V Snyder

Ever since being kidnapped from the Illiais Jungle as a child, Yelena Zaltana's life has been fraught with peril. But the recent loss of her Soulfinding abilities has endangered her more than ever before. As she desperately searches for a way to reclaim her magic, her enemies are closing in, and neither Ixia nor Sitia is safe for her anymore. Especially since the growing discord between the two countries and the possibility of a war threatens everything Yelena holds dear.  

Valek is determined to protect Yelena, but he's quickly running out of options. The Commander suspects that his loyalties are divided, and he's been keeping secrets from Valek…secrets that put him, Yelena and all their friends in terrible danger. As they uncover the various layers of the Commander's mysterious plans, they realize it's far more sinister than they could have ever imagined.

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I almost didn't read this book because Shadow Study left me disgruntled with the change in writing style and the plot left me confused and bored for the beginning half of the book. But after getting over the switch of having the story told through only Yelena's eyes in the first 3 books to switching between multiple POVs in Shadow Study I  am glad I decided to read Night Study. This book was fast paced from the very beginning and the plot kept me on my toes. I had to keep reading to find out more, there was so much subterfuge I wasn't really sure who was telling the truth and who was still loyal to who.

This book was full of surprises for both Yelena and Valek, and I take back my complaints about having to read so much of Valek's back story in the previous book because it was pretty much all a set up for events that take place in this book. I don't want to give anything away so i'll just say this book is packed full of action with ambushes, prison breaks, magic and more. If you can manage to make it through book 4 I highly recommend continuing on to book 5 and I don't think you will be disappointed.

Rating: 5 ink pots

The really unfortunate thing is the next book is not out yet and I thought it was, so that's a huge let down that I can't delve in to the next one and find out how things end for Yelena and Valek, but i'm hoping they get their happy ending. The author does kill people, but so far no main characters have been killed so I'm holding out hope she'll continue with that theme.

If you think you'll enjoy this series, I would recommend getting the books as a bundle since it will save you money. This is assuming you're reading the books as e-books of course.

Shadow Study by Maria V Snyder

Once, only her own life hung in the balance… 

Oddly enough, when Yelena was a poison taster, her life was simpler. But she'd survived to become a vital part of the balance of power between rival countries Ixia and Sitia. Now she uses her magic to keep the peace in both lands—and protect her relationship with Valek. 

Suddenly, though, they are beset on all sides by those vying for power through politics and intrigue. Valek's job and his life are in danger. As Yelena tries to uncover the scope of these plots, she faces a new challenge: her magic is blocked. She must keep that a secret—or her enemies will discover just how vulnerable she really is—while searching for who or what is responsible for neutralizing her powers. 

Yes, the days of tasting poisons were much simpler. And certainly not as dangerous…
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For this review I need to begin at the end of the book with the author's acknowledgements. The author states that Fire Study, book 3 in the series was indeed supposed to be the final installment, but she later changed her mind after fans pestered her to continue the series. I can understand why fans wanted the series continued, it was a very good series with an intricate world and enjoyable characters. I enjoyed all 3 books with very few complaints, so I delved in to book 4 assuming I would enjoy more of Ixia and Sitia along with Yelena, Valek and of course magic.

From the very beginning I could tell this book was different. It was written in a different style, instead of everything being from Yelena's viewpoint the chapters skipped around from Yelena, to Valek, to Janco and back again. Other books have managed to pull switching character viewpoints off just fine and for the plot of this book it was a necessity, however the author does a terrible job with it as far as the timeline goes. It was impossible to tell where in time each of the characters was in relation to the other, with no way to distinguish between events of one character and another happening concurrently or days apart. This is my first complaint about this book.

Second, I was very bored with this book in the beginning for the first probably 1/3 to 1/2 the book it was just sort of ok, not bad enough to put down and call it quits and not good enough to be unable to put the book down, but still good enough to trudge onward. Also, the beginning was very confusing. There were characters that were new to the series, yet not new to the series. Apparently Yelena and Valek make an appearance in another series set in this world and those characters were brought in, as this book is set 8 years after Fire Study. In books 2 and 3 there was a character named Moon Man and then in this book there are characters named Ben Moon and Owen Moon. My first thought was the author messed up the names, but it turns out that is not the case. So if you don't read the other series which I'm guessing is the Storm Glass Series since Opal Cowan is the star of that and she seems linked to the other 2 characters then you feel very out of the loop and confused about some of the events and characters in this book.

I don't know how else to explain some of my annoyances with this book with giving some spoilers so ***WARNING - SPOILERS AHEAD*** but I will try not give away too much.

To start the book, Yelena is ambushed by an assassin and shot with an arrow. She fears she was poisoned but used her magic to eject the poison. Several days later she thinks she is fine and Valek leaves her to go back to Ixia. After his departure she has a day of "seizures" with intense hot flashes followed by freezing and when the seizures stop her magic is gone. My first thought after this was "OMG she's pregnant!" but she doesn't pick up on this, she assumes it was the poison from the arrow and she didn't expel it all. So she spends the rest of the book trying to figure out what the poison was and how she can counter it to get her magic back. Each time she encountered someone new to explain her predicament I expected them to respond with, "you're pregnant!" but that never came. There is one scene where she is with the healer Master Hayes and he gives her moon potion to take after her next cycle so she won't get pregnant. Then at the very end of the book she finds the moon potion, realizes she didn't take it and that she is pregnant. My guess, is her baby is blocking her magic but we don't get to find that out in this book.

My next gripe about this book were all of Valek's flashbacks. When you were reading a chapter through his eyes he would have recollections about how he came to be an assassin and kill the King. I found these flashbacks to be somewhat annoying and a detraction from the plot. But in the grand scheme of things the background does give you some key information relevant to the current plot. The flashbacks could have been a bit shorter and less long winded and still gotten the same point across though.

Overall, I rate this book with 3 stars and think that it is by far the worst in the series. You can 100% tell that the series was meant to end after book 3. That being said, once I got about half way through it did get better. There was a lot of misdirection and intrigue in the plot and by the end I wanted to know the truth behind Yelena's missing powers (which unfortunately we don't get to find out) and everything else that had transpired though out the book. So now the biggest question I have is, to read the next book and see if my questions are answered or to just abandon the rest of the series? I'll probably have to read the next one to find out if i'm correct about the baby being the cause of her missing powers and who knows maybe the next one will be better.

Poison Study, Magic Study and Fire Study by Maria V Snyder

I picked up the first in the series (Poison Study) based on my husband's suggestion while at a book sale. He said people rave about the books in this series and after walking around the sale this was not a book on my radar. The cover just didn't seem appealing but I went back and read the book jacket after his suggestion and it sounded worthwhile. Now less than a month later i've finished the first 3 books; Poison Study, Magic Study and Fire Study.

These books follow a girl named Yelena who is given a choice between being executed for her crime of murder or becoming the new food taster. Obviously she chose to become the food taster, which is a position fraught with danger from people who might want to poison the commander. Yelena is hated by a lot of people due to the person she murdered so she has quite a rough time of things and she needs to learn to defend herself. The first book is full of poisonings, intentional as part of her training and from attempts on the commanders life. It is also full of attempts by Yelena's enemies to take her life. And what good book wouldn't also be full of magic and romance right? Well Poison Study  has it all and it has been artfully woven into a book you won't want to put down.

Magic Study follows Yelena's new life in a new country and her attempts at learning to control her magic and see what her abilities are. Of course danger follows her everywhere and she still manages to make many enemies since her new country thinks she is a spy. Now Yelena must prove that she is not a spy and help stop a cult that kidnaps children and uses blood magic to help increase their powers. Only this time she does not have all of her friends from Ixia that she made in the first book. This book, just like the first, is full of danger and excitement, along with romance and even more magic than the first. I think my favorite part of this book is that Yelena learns that with her magic she can talk to horses and the conversations between her and her horse Kiki add a level of humor to the book.

Fire Study continues to follow Yelena and her quest to stop the cult from taking over. She learns more about her magic and what it means to be a soulfinder. In the previous books she has acted rashly and with disregard. In this book she just acts pigheaded and stubborn. She feels her actions will protect those she cares for but really if she would just stop to think about things and take advice from others her predicament would get better much faster. I think Yelena learns a big lesson in this book about working with others and sharing ideas instead of running off and doing what she thinks is the best without consulting anyone else. This book was a real nail biter at times because you didn't know who was a mole, the author did a great job of misdirecting you and making you think you really knew what was going on when in fact you didn't have a clue.

Overall, these 3 books make for the beginnings of a great series. I would have to say Poison study was my favorite of the three but the second two do not disappoint either. My biggest complaint would have to be the price. For the past few years i've mainly been reading self-published things or things I can read for free from kindle unlimited, this is the first real traditionally published book i've paid for in a while, but the author deserves their cut and they sucked me in to this new world so I guess I gotta pay up.

I Bring the Fire Series by C. Gockel

Earlier this summer I devoured the entire I Bring the Fire Series by C. Gockel. This series contains 6 novels, 2 short stories and 1 novella and I could not put them down.

If you're a fan of norse mythology or just enjoy a good series full of magic, mythical creatures, actions and fighting then this series will not disappoint you. This is one of the most intricately written series I have read with the exception of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. Everything that happens in these books happens for a reason down to the smallest detail. Also, there are flashbacks that occur which are relevant to the current plot and needed to get the characters out of tight spaces. I have never read such a uniquely written book before.

Overall, I give this series 5 stars. However it could use a second edit as mistakes can be found throughout the book. The mistakes aren't enough to detract from the overall reading experience. Also, because it is a self-published book you can try out the first book for free on kindle and then the second for only 99 cents which means you don't need to put out a whole lot of cash to check it out, which is even better if you get sucked into the series like I did.

I also highly recommend not skipping the short stories and novella. You can still follow along in the novels just fine without reading them but they do give you added knowledge towards the plot, and The Slip is also really unique because it is written from Sleipner's point of view and Sleipner is a horse. This makes it both different and a bit fun.


 

Started a book, but just couldn't go through with it

It is an extremely rare occurrence that I will start a book and decide not to continue on, but that is just what happened the other day. I had been wanting to read Interview with a Jewish vampire  by Erica Manfred for a while because it sounded like it had potential to be rather funny, and it might be... But I stopped after just a few pages because the book was just too overbearing. Between its too strong an attempt to identify as Jewish and its ridiculous romantic scenes - I want to say love scenes but I stopped reading because it was just so bad.

The story had promise and I really wanted to trek on and see how the actual plot played out but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Perhaps in the future i'll make another attempt but for now, it's a book started and not to be finished.