A "Serie"ous Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

      

    

This review covers the main series as I have not read any of the prequel materials.  Normally, I would review each of the individual books, then the series as a whole.  In this case, to prevent spoilers, I will be reviewing the entire series.  When Celaena is rescued from the slave mines in order to take part of a competition, by the crown prince Dorian, she is thankful.  All of her opponents are men - thieves, assassins, brutes.  However, something dark is lurking in the castle and killing off the fighters one by one.  She must kill in order to survive, while also avoiding what is killing her competitors.  In the final fight of the competition, it brands her and sets her on the path to her destiny.   

I loved this series!  I would finish one, then try to get the next one as quickly as possibly.  They are very fast paced and difficult to put down.  I spent more than a few nights staying up on my Kobo reading in the dark, much to the frustration of my husband.  The author is a master of the cliffhanger, so you just HAVE to read the next book in order to see what happens next.  Celaena is a very independent woman who knows what she wants and she'll do what she must in order to get it.  On the path to her destiny, she makes a number of unusual friends and allies who will assist her in the ultimate and final confrontation.  LGBTQ+ friendly.

Similar Books:
Graceling Realm Series by Kristin Cashore

    

The main character from Graceling reminds me of Celaena.

The Ascendance Trilogy by Jennifer A. Nielson

    

Although the main character is male, the cutthroat competition is very similar to Throne of Glass.

Rule Series by Ellen Goodlett

 

The politics of the kingdom remind me of the politics that occur in the Throne of Glass series.  Bonus points for LGBTQ+ normalization of relationships.

Tech Tips and Tricks: Android Collections

I have a migraine today, so I decided to do a super quick post today rather than a review with which I really want to take my time.

On my phone, Google gives me an option to save pages in a different section than bookmarks called Collections.  I was hoping to integrate all of these pages into my regular bookmarks, especially the recipes.  I was having a devil of a time figuring out how to do this until I stumbled across the fact that Collections used to be called Saved Pages.  The way to get to all of these pages, which I have sorted into different categories, is to go to the old Saved Pages website.  Although you can share these collections with different people, there doesn't seem to be a way to export all of the links so that it can be integrated with your current bookmarks.  Looks like I'll have to do it the old fashioned way where I open all the pages and add them to my bookmarks.  Don't forget to export your bookmarks when you're done otherwise you could lose all your hard work!

A "Serie"-ous Review: Song of the Lioness by Tamora Pierce

Tortall:  The Song of the Lioness by Tamora Pierce

A coworker at the library suggested this book for my Adult Summer Reading Club Bingo.  She said she didn't like Harry Potter because she read this series first.  To me, this is still fantasy, but it is a different sort of fantasy than Harry Potter.  I would put this more in a "classic" fantasy where it is set in a completely different world.

I'd review each book individually, but this is better off reviewed as a whole.  The basic plot is that Alanna is far better suited to be a knight than her twin brother Thom, who wants to be a sorcerer.  Alanna and Thom switch spots with Thom being trained in magic and Alanna being trained as Alan of Trebond as a knight.

The series follows Alanna as she learns to control her magic and use it for good.  She must learn who to trust, including herself, as she goes on many wild adventures and grows from Alan of Trebond into Alanna, the Lioness Rampant.  She faces and defeats many foes until she is ready for the penultimate confrontation.

She is a strong, confidant girl who grows into an amazing woman.  Although she hides and denies her femininity at first as part of her disguise, she learns to embrace it.  Her growth in this area reminds me of this part from Avatar:  The Last Airbender:  

I would definitely suggest this to older teens and adults as there is some sensitive topics (puberty, birth control, implied sex) who are more emotionally capable to handle these implications.

Similar Series (Strong Independent Woman Protagonist)

The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede (Ages 8+)

Princess Pulverizer by Nancy E. Krulik (Ages 5+)

The Princess in Black by Shannon Hale (Ages 5+)

The Belgariad by David Eddings (Ages 13+)

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas (Ages 18+)

Wonder Woman (All Ages)

Book Review: Every Tool's A Hammer by Adam Savage

Oh wow!  This was so amazing!  As a cosplayer, I found this book so inspirational and helpful.  It was so great that I found that we share some of the same traits.  I will also pause the movie and make screenshots and try to figure out the dimensions from surroundings.  I always thought that made me obsessive and annoying, but apparently this is a great trait to have if you are a cosplayer.  After all, the attention is in the details!

He also talks about his history, how he and Jamie met and how Mythbusters was created.  I really enjoyed his discussion of workshop layout and how it is a very personal thing.  This is also a philosophy book which talks about different maker mindsets and how different opportunities can take you places you didn't expect, but needed to go.

Every maker, no matter what stage, should read this book!