A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin

Just in case you can't tell by the length of time it took me to read A Clash of Kings, this book is quite an epic! It's the second book in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series and picks up where A Game of Thrones left off. I read A Game of Thrones last year and believe it or not, I actually got through this one faster. That's by no means attributed to it being a dull read, it's not a dull read in the least bit...but it's mighty involved.

This series is certainly considered high fantasy, but as I said in my review of A Game of Thrones, it broke the barriers of what I thought high fantasy to be. I've always seen high fantasy as focusing mainly on the quest or the war and not so much on the characters. Martin balances these aspects of the stories perfectly and creates an amazing cast of characters that are all intricately carved. He's created some of my favorite characters in modern fantasy, Daenerys, mother of dragons, Bran, a young heir to a king who is disabled and unable to walk, Jon Snow, a bastard child of a king removed from his siblings and serving with others who have been stripped from their families, and Arya, the daughter of a king who defies gender boundaries and seeks to make a name for herself. For those who have read this, can you tell I like the Starks?

A Clash of Kings picks up as a war between four kings is beginning. The war will decide who is the one true ruler of the Seven kingdoms. There are tensions between the many families involved and even tighter tensions within some of the families involved. There is treachery, betrayal, sorcery, jealousy. It really is a thrilling ride. Each family is willing to stop at nothing to claim what they think is their right to the throne and no family is willing to form a truce or share a throne. Whatever chance there was a peace is slowing being destroyed by the atrocities committed out of spite and anger for past crimes.

Each chapter begins with a characters name and the chapter focuses on that characters story line, though other characters' storylines' interweave within the chapters. I love this way of telling the story and it works perfectly for this series. His characters are created so well that there really wasn't a single character whose chapters I didn't look forward to. Though there were some that I would be more excited about than others.

I also loved the scenery, the battle scenes, the cultures, the history, the castles, the food, the palaces...all of this stuff that he created. He put so much detail, description and effort into this series. Really an excellent job.

Martin's writing just amazes me. As I read this book I just remained amazed by the enormous task of putting something of this scale together. He's a genius writer and this is really becoming one of my favorite series out there. And there's dragons in it now :) If you're a fan of fantasy books and haven't read these books, I highly recommend that you pick these up. I'd consider them a must read even if you don't think you like high fantasy...I certainly didn't think I would. I'll be reading book 3, A Storm of Swords soon, though not right away. I need a break from these massive books.

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

Some of you may be familiar with David Sedaris. He's frequently heard on NPR's This American Life and he's written quite a few books of essays on life and culture. This is the second book of his that I've read (for the Seconds challenge nonetheless!) and I loved it!

Sedaris' writing can be enjoyed by just about anyone. His stories are personal and are reflective on his life, but in talking about his own life and his own experiences he reflects on the world and society as a whole. And he writes in a way that you'll find yourself literally laughing out loud in embarassing places. I finished this book at the car dealership today while I was getting my oil changed and couldn't help but laugh as David talked about his father hoarding food until it was rotten and not buying meat unless it was priced so low that it had a sticker on it that said "to be consumed immediately" which he would justify by saying that meat was supposed to be gray, the stores just dyed it red to make it look pretty.

Me Talk Pretty One Day is divided into two parts. The first half of the book focuses on David's life in the U.S., stories from his childhood and stories from his experiences living in New York. The second half of the book focuses on his life in France as an American. Trust me, there's lots of great commentary here, and while you'll find yourself laughing out loud, there's a bit of sad truth to so much of what he talks about. Some of my favorite parts of the book are his experiences with the French language which include a French language class taught by a French woman who's goal it was to belittle all of her students and his chapter on trying to figure out the gender of french words.

I highly recommend that if you have never read any of Sedaris' books, you pick one of them up. I'm sure that they're all equally as good. I've read Dress Your Family Up In Corduroy and Denim as well and that one was great too. I'm not usually a fan of non-fiction or of essays in general, but these do the trick!

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

I love the feeling of picking up a book, getting lost in its pages, and actually being transported into it's world; smelling it's smells, feeling the weather, seeing the sights, feeling the goosebumps. I felt like a child again when I was reading Something Wicked This Way Comes. Remember the creepiness of October as a child? Can you recall the strange attraction to a house of mirrors? There aren't many freak shows around these days, but as a child the unknown and the bizarre was always a little scary because it was new...We still weren't convinced that monsters didn't exist. And while we grow out of that as we grow older, we remember those feelings which allows for the pleasure of October and allows for a little bit of fear to become fun as an adult. Something Wicked This Way Comes was fun!

This is Ray Bradbury's telling of the tale of two young boys who are the best of friends, Jim and Will. Jim and Will have always done everything together and have shared a wonderful friendship. They are next door neighbors and are known to sneak out together to go on adventures. Will's father is another character that we get to know throughout the book. Will's father is a janitor at the local library and fathered Will at an older age and is bothered by that now that he is an older parent.

One night in October, Jim, Will, and Will's father hear carnival music playing. Carnivals usually come in the summer and it's odd that one should be coming now. But there are pieces of paper that are found that advertise that a carnival is in fact arriving. Jim and Will sneak out to investigate and discover one of the oddest and creepiest carnivals they have seen and it's proprietor is a man called Mr. Dark aka The Illustrated Man, who is covered in tattoos. Jim and Will first witness something strange in the carnival when one of their teachers goes through a bizarre hall of mirrors and comes out of it in a different state. Things really take a turn for the worst when they witness the calliope in the center of the carnival...the source of the strange music that beckoned them to the carnival. What they witness is a horrific scene that catapults them into a game of cat and mouse against the sinister Mr. Dark and his band of carnival freaks.

This was a perfect October read, perfect for the RIP challenge, and my first read for the Seconds Challenge! My first Bradbury was Fahrenheit 451, which I loved, but this one was so much better! There will definitely be a third Bradbury reading for me...thinking about Dandelion Wine as I've heard great things about that one. Bradbury's writing was just beautiful in this book. I thought to myself, you could just turn to any page in this book and find a perfect passage, so I did just that...flipped to a random page and found the first sentence. Here it is: "The night was sweet with the dust of autumn leaves that smelled as if the fine sands of ancient Egypt were drifting to dunes beyond the town." Now come on...how many books can you open to a random page and find a quote like that!

Seconds Challenge

In an effort to get the TBR bookcase less cluttered (yes, I no longer have a TBR pile, I have a full 3 shelf book case), I've decided to join Joy's Seconds Challenge. I really wish I would've discovered Joy's blog earlier. She's a wonderful blogger who is also hosting the Nonfiction challenge that so many of you are participating in. I only found 3 books on my shelf that are seconds offerings of authors I've read. They are:

1. Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury - I bought this book about 5 years ago and I've never read it! I've always loved the title...that's the reason I bought it. I read Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 for the Banned Books Challenge and loved it, so I'm looking forward to this one. It will fit in nicely with the R.I.P. challenge as well.

2. A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin - This is the second book in the Song of Ice and Fire series. I read A Game of Thrones for the Once Upon a Time Challenge and it was one of my favorite reads so far this year. I've heard that this one is a little slow, but that the series picks up again after this one. I just don't know if I can wait til October to start this one! But I have plenty to keep me occupied until then.

3. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris - You may know David Sedaris if you ever listen to This American Life on NPR. I read his book, Dress Me Up in Corduroy and Denim last year and laughed throughout the whole thing. His writing is hilarious, touching, and very meaningful. He captures moments in his life perfectly and I'm looking forward to reading this one.

The challenge runs from October through December.