Tales of the Kingdom

First Lines Fridays: June 15, 2018

LeeLeave a comment

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
  • Finally… reveal the book!

First Lines:

The Volkking struggled, but his sickness attacked him both day and night, a war band giving the enemy no respite of sleep. From the longest day until harvesttime, the Volkking sickened, and as it was with the King, so was it with his land.

Did the quote pique your interest? View this book on Goodreads!

 

First Lines Fridays: June 8, 2018

LeeLeave a comment

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
  • Finally… reveal the book!

First Lines:

He knew from the first that this man would know how to hurt him. He had to keep the fear secret, and he couldn’t cry no matter how much he wanted to.

Interested? Scroll down for the cover and summary!

The Wings of a Falcon by Cynthia Voigt
(Tales of the Kingdom, book 3)

The prospect of freedom is weighted with danger in this tale of high adventure, the third book in the Tales of the Kingdom series from Newbery Medalist Cynthia Voigt.

Oriel has always stood out as someone who would not bend. No matter how much he has had to endure, the Damall’s cruelty cannot corrupt him. Griff, a boy who has watched and admired Oriel, is the opposite. He has learned to keep out of sight, to bow in the face of force. Yet the two became friends, and together they escaped from the terrors of the island and take with them the Damall’s most prized relic—the beryl, a green gemstone engraved with a falcon, its wings unfolding. But as they seek a new life, it’s not as easy as they’d hoped, for ahead lie raiding Wolfers, rival armies, and unspeakable dangers…

First Lines Fridays: June 1, 2018

LeeLeave a comment

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
  • Finally… reveal the book!

First Lines:

What she saw first was a moving shadow. In the trees that bordered the meadow, among their dark trunks, something moved.

Interested? Scroll down for the cover and summary!

On Fortunes Wheel by Cynthia Voigt
(Tales of the Kingdom, book 2)

There are some who say that the Lady Fortune has a wheel, and all men are fixed upon it. The wheel turns, and the men rise, or fall, with the turning of the wheel.

Birle has agreed to be wed to the huntsman Muir as an escape from the drudgery of life at her father’s inn — but the moment she looks into the bellflower blue eyes of the man she comes upon stealing one of her father’s boats, Birle knows she cannot marry Muir. Even after she discovers the mysterious stranger is Orien, a Lord and as unreachable to an innkeeper’s daughter as a star, Birle is determined to travel with him as far as he will allow.

Their travels take Birle to a world far from home, a world where Lords may become slaves, where Princes rule by fear, and where Fortune’s Wheel turns more swiftly and dangerously than Birle could have imagined.

Newbery Medalist Cynthia Voigt’s second novel of the Kingdom, set two generations later than Jackaroo, is a memorable combination of thrilling adventure and heart-stopping romance.

First Lines Fridays: May 25, 2018

LeeLeave a comment

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
  • Finally… reveal the book!

First Lines:

Gwyn stood crowded in among the women. She held the hood of her cloak close around her head, covering her hair, shadowing her face.

Interested? Scroll down for the cover and summary!

Jackaroo by Cynthia Voigt
(Tales of the Kingdom, book 1)

In a fantastical kingdom ravaged by famine and poverty, the prospect of hope lies with a mythical masked hero in this, the first book in the Tales of the Kingdom series from Newbery Medalist Cynthia Voigt.

In a distant time, a kingdom is starving. With winter upon them, there is little hope, except for the legend of Jackaroo: a masked outlaw who comes at night to aid the destitute and helpless. But Gwyn, the innkeeper’s daughter, is too practical for false hopes. She believes Jackaroo is nothing more than a fairy tale told to keep children hopeful till the next sunrise.

Then Gwyn is forced to seek refuge in an abandoned house, and while scavenging for supplies, she comes across…a mask? A sword? A cloak? Could these belong to the fabled Jackaroo? As Gwyn searches for answers, she discovers that the heart of a hero goes far beyond a mask.

February 2018 Reading Wrap-Up

LeeLeave a comment

Elske by Cynthia Voigt
(Tales of the Kingdom, book 4)
Rating:  ★★★★★
Review:  Yes
Reading Dates:  January 30 – Feb 5
Read Count:  4
Favorite Thing:  Elske just defying everyone’s expectations over and over.
Least Favorite Thing:  Beriel’s friendship skills need work.

So now that I’ve finished rereading the Tales of the Kingdom is it too early to start rereading them all over again?

Note:  Also published as The Tale of Elske, which is the version I read since I don’t have access to my own copy right now.

My Posts About Elske

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
(Throne of Glass, book 1)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  February 6 – 11
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  When Celaena won the sparring match without even drawing a weapon!
Least Favorite Thing:  Only one named black character (and the only unnamed ones were that character’s body guards that get mentioned in passing a few times…).

I decided to reread Throne of Glass so I can read the parts of the series I hadn’t gotten to yet.

My Posts About Throne of Glass

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
(Throne of Glass, book 2)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  February 14 – 21
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  Celaena rescuing Chaol and fucking up a whole room full of dudes.
Least Favorite Thing:  Just talk to each other!!! Everyone in these books gets all offended when their friends keep secrets from them, but then they keep secrets from those same people! Just communicate!

It’s a good thing I reread this one because I didn’t remember many of the finer details.

My Posts About Crown of Midnight

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
(Throne of Glass, book 3)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  February 27 – 28
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  Abraxos!
Least Favorite Thing:  Maeve a lil bish…

Hahahaha I remembered almost nothing of Aelin’s story or anyone from Adarlan. I only remembered Manon and her witches! Good thing I reread it!

My Posts About Heir of Fire

QuoteLeeLeave a comment
Beriel shone with it, like a sun, the Queen in her Kingdom. It was as if each breath she drew increased her pleasure, breathing that air. It was as if each hoof the chestnut planted onto the earth increased her strength.

– Cynthia Voigt, Elske, page 255

Version:
Paperback, 384 pages
Published May 26th 2015 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers

QuoteLeeLeave a comment
Beriel gave this gift to Elske carelessly, as if to be trusted were the common fortune. But Elske opened her heart to take the gift into her care as if it were a babe.

– Cynthia Voigt, Elske, page 252

Version:
Paperback, 384 pages
Published May 26th 2015 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers

WWW Wednesday: February 7, 2018

LeeLeave a comment

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at Should be Reading and revived on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three W’s!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading:  Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass, book 1) by Sarah J. Maas

I have been planning, and talking about planning, to reread the Throne of Glass novels so that I could read the newer ones for I think two years now. And finally I’m getting started on it!

I’ll probably read them a bit slower than I would normally, just because I read them once before and didn’t retain the information very well. Major plot points, I still got, but everything else is just too fuzzy.

Wish me luck, y’all!

Recently Finished:  Elske (Tales of the Kingdom, book 4) by Cynthia Voigt

I hated ending this book! I tried to read it as slow as I could to make it last, but it still feels like it zipped by too fast!

I love the Tales of the Kingdom so much. In fact, I think I love them more every time I reread them, which doesn’t usually happen for me.

I know I say this a lot, probably more than anything else I blog, but seriously if you like YA Fantasy, or even just YA Fiction of all types, you should totally give these books a try. They are older so most people don’t even know about them, and they are so worth knowing!

  OR  

Reading Next:  Undiscovered Gyrl by Allison Burnett OR Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass, book 2) by Sarah J. Maas

I’m torn. I can’t decide if I should jump straight into the next Throne of Glass novel or break up my reread by reading other books inbetween, such as this book Undiscovered Gyrl.

I grabbed this book because I saw the film adaptation. (Sometimes when I’m stressed I like to watch movies that make me dissociate. How’s that for unhealthy coping mechanisms?) And I figured since I’ve been trying to read some different sorts of books, I might as well give this one a try.

I guess I’ll have to decide based on how easily I get through ToG and how I feel afterward, but I’d rather know ahead of time.

QuoteLeeLeave a comment
At Beriel’s silence she turned around — and fury crashed against her like a wave thrown by a storm against the rocky coast.

– Cynthia Voigt, Elske, page 180

Version:
Paperback, 384 pages
Published May 26th 2015 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Teaser Tuesday: February 6, 2018

LeeLeave a comment

As best she could, in her secluded position, she was considering how she might secure further choices, and what they might be — once this, her first free choice, had played itself out.

– Cynthia Voigt, Elske (Tales of the Kingdom, book 4), page 106

Version:
Paperback, 384 pages
Published May 26th 2015 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Welcome to Teaser Tuesday, hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker, the weekly Meme that wants you to add books to your TBR, or just share what you are currently reading. It is very easy to play along:

  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! Everyone loves Teaser Tuesday.