Books I Read and Other Assorted Oddities

 I feel a little like I read this out of order a bit. I picked up The Hobbit  after I started The Lord of the Rings  trilogy because I didn't realize that it too had been recorded by Andy Serkis. I thoroughly enjoyed his reading of the novel. I had never read The Hobbit . I had only seen the Peter Jackson films. While I loved The Lord of the Rings , I found myself loving The Hobbit  films less. From the community reactions to those films when they came out, I knew that Jackson had embellished the story. I finally dug into the novel to find out how much. Bilbo Baggins is a Hobbit: respectable, normal, and non-adventerous. Gandalf is a wizard who decides to change all of that. After meeting Bilbo in the Shire one morning, Gandalf secretly invites 12 dwarves to come to Bilbo's house. Once there, they discuss plans to reclaim their ancestral home: The Lonely Mountain. The Mountain is now home to Smaug, the dragon, and they need a burgler to help them find the dragon's we...

 I finally finished The Lord of the Rings  trilogy! I listened to this one as an audiobook as well, and loved Andy Serkis as the narrator for this novel. The Return of the King  finishes the story of the One Ring. Frodo and Sam continue their perilous journey to Mordor. Gollum leads them into the lair of Shelob, the ancient, giant spider. There, Sam narrowly escapes, while Frodo is pierced by her venom. Thinking him dead, Sam vows to continue Frodo's mission on his own. He takes some of Frodo's belongings, including the Ring. He watches as Frodo is taken further into Mordor by Orcs who proclaim that he isn't dead. Sam rescues Frodo, and they proceed on through Mordor. They reach the volcano, where the ring is destroyed. Meanwhile, their other friends are defending Middle Earth from the onslaught of Mordor. Minas Tirith is attacked, and Gandalf works to protect it. He is joined by Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli with the army from Rohan. Once the Ring is destroyed and Mordor c...

This review contains massive spoilers for the original trilogy as well as The Lost Metal . Read with caution!  I love Mistborn ; it's one of my favorite Sanderson series. I bought this book as a standalone, but I think it appears in some of Brandon's novella collections as well, maybe Arcaneum Unbound (don't quote me on that). Kelsier died at the hands of the Lord Ruler in a vain attempt to assassinate the god. Or did he? Secret History  follows the story of Kelsier after he was stabbed by the Lord Ruler on that fateful day. Too stubborn to die, Kelsier instead lingers, finally convincing the shard of Perserverence that he should instead survive. The Shard binds him to Ruin's power as well, trapping Kelsier in Ruin's prison until the day that Vin released him. Can Kelsier help Vin? Can he become more than a spirit? This book was amazing. I love Kelsier's story so much, and I always thought that Brandon killed him off too early. Turns out he didn't end up dyi...

 I'd heard about the Netflix series that adapted this, and many of my coworkers have read it. I also love World War II stories (if you can't tell by my historical fiction choices, haha). This book also won a major prize, and I was curious about the story. All the Light We Cannot See  follows two characters in two timelines. It bounces from the past to the present between Marie-Laure and Werner. Marie-Laure is a young girl who lives in Paris with her father. Her father works for the Museum of Natural History in Paris. As the Germans close in on Paris at the start of World War II, Daniel (Marie-Laure's father) is entrusted with one of the museum's priceless treasures: the Sea of Flames. He and Marie-Laure flee Paris to the home of Daniel's wealthy uncle, where they stay until the city is bombed. Werner is a poor German orphan in a mining town. He is particularly gifted with mathematics and engineering, and is given the opportunity to go to a prestigious Nazi school. H...

 I've read both of the other books in this series and loved both of them. I was excited to get a story that was completely about Julie. The Pearl Thief  takes place about five or six years before the start of Code Name Verity  when Julie is just a teenager. The book starts with her arriving at her grandparent's Scottish castle for holiday sooner than anticipated. After visiting an old friend in the village near the estate, Julie is knocked unconscious by the river that runs on the estate, a river famous for its pearls. After she is discovered and taken to the hospital, Julie is determined to find out who hit her and solve the mystery of the missing pearls from the estate. I liked this book, but I didn't love it. I love Julie and her character. I loved her in Code Name Verity , and her voice is sarcastic, witty, and intelligent. All of that carries into The Pearl Thief  as well, with an added sense of aristocracy that the younger Julie obviously harbored. The plot was...