"The Black Magician" trilogy by Trudi Canavan

This trilogy was lent to me by a very good friend of mine. She'd actually lent me the first book a few years ago and I really liked it, but then exams happened and typical school drama, and so I got distracted and didn't get to read the sequels.

Then recently I went over to her place and I found them so I asked to borrow the trilogy and read the whole thing this time. Obviously she agreed.

I love magic, I live books on magic, I love fairy tales, and all that sort of stuff. If you're like me then you will enjoy this  trilogy cause it's got all the necessary  ingredients for a good fantasy novel. Also it's a light enough read and so it's actually quite relaxing.

The main character is a girl named Sonea who lives in the slum part of her city, Imardin. In Imardin there is a famous and well known magicians guild that only accepts novices from noble born families, and so when Sonea proves that she's extremely powerful they are pretty much forced to take her in and teach her to control her magic.

So throughout the book there isn't not just a mindless "magic fixes all" energy going on, there's also some class conflict, and a certain amount of social commentary which is interesting.

There's also some political conflict which eventually leads to war, and forces a lot of people to change the way that they see things.

It's a good story, and Sonea is a likable character, she's able, and strong-minded, and flexible, and kind. She's a good person that does her best to help as many people as she can with the means offered to her.

So if you're into fantasy and magic I would recommend this trilogy. 

"Pyramids" by Terry Pratchett

This is one of the more stand alone books in the Discworld series. Mind you, you can read almost all of them without having read the others, and in any order too. But in this case there is only one Discworld novel with these particular characters and it is this one.

It's not my favourite Discworld novel, but it's still brilliantly hilarious, as all Discworld novels are. In my opinion, and I'm not alone, Terry Pratchett is a genius. Truly.

This story is about a boy named Teppic who is the prince of a small country that is basically meant to parody ancient Egypt. He's sent off to the city to be educated by the guild of assassins (who apparently offer a wonderful curriculum), and graduates before having to return home a little early cause his dad is dead and so he's the new God of Djelibeybi. That's when his trouble begins.

See because Teppic has been educated he's not entirely sure he likes what he's supposed to be, i.e an aloof God who doesn't actually do anything important cause everything is run by the priests, who are obviously all completely bonkers and fanatical. The Gods they represent are even worse.

Anyway Teppic tries to change that and everything goes absolutely haywire, and it's the most absolute fun to read, so please do. In fact read everything by Terry Pratchett. That's the best advice I could give anyone really.

"Angels and Insects" by A.S Byatt

This is a book that I got for free in exchange for some work (with it I also received about fourteen other books gratos. That was an awesome day). The former owner of this book had actually met A.S Byatt, and she had signed his copy, which is now mine.

I took this book cause I thought that the name was cool, and there was nothing written at the back of the book so the title really was all I had to go on. Meaning I was either going to be utterly disappointed or very pleased.

I ended up pretty pleased.

I didn't realise at first when I started reading that it was actually two novellas, but I caught on quick enough. The first novella is insects themed, and the second is angel themed.

In the first novella the main character is a man named William in the 19th century. He studies bugs, he loves them. He went to the amazon for ten years just to observe and learn about them. The novella is about how he comes back to England, falls in love, gets married and becomes quite unhappy because he is no longer able to follow his dreams. He feels trapped until he discovers a disturbing secret which sets him free again.

The second novella has many different characters and many different plots that are all connected to angels, that is to say the dead. All of the characters regularly meet up for a seance to try to speak to their departed loved ones. The novella is all about how the go about that, why they do it, and how they live and experience their grief.

Personally I preferred the second novella, I found it more interesting, whereas I though that the first one, while still good, was a little too slow, a little too long. It almost became boring at some points.

However they were both very interesting and I really would advise you to read them both.

"The Walking Dead" series by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore & Charlie Adlard

I've read the Walking Dead comic book series up to episode fourteen. I'm waiting for my stepdad to order episode fifteen and sixteen (he always orders them in twos). Naturally he should be the one to introduce me to this series.

I don't regret it though. It's pretty awesome. Depressing though.

Seriously guys, don't read this if don't want to feel sad, or grossed out, or just generally upset. It's not a happy story. Basically it's a Zombie Apocalypse, and we follow a small group of survivors as they, well, survive.

And you get to see how they grieve for their lost companions, and how they adapt to the new world, and how they develop. People who start out as pretty moral human beings, begin to get crueler and harsher because it's a kill or be killed world now.

For a story about zombies I've got to say it does a pretty good job on the social commentary.

It can get pretty intense at times, and by that I mean it's actually kind of realistic, as long as you can accept the fact that dead people are walking around eating people. Like there is no guaranty that you're going to survive because you're a kid, or a pregnant woman, or pretty, or even tough. Anyone can die anytime, and that's what makes it so realistic. The zombie killing machines make no concessions just like war killing machines.

One of the main plots of the story, apart from trying to not get eaten by zombies, is the fact that this group of survivors is desperately trying to find a home, a place where they can sleep at night without fear. A hard job I must say. And even when they do find a place that seems safe, you're never sure that they actually are.

It's a good series. It's really depressing, but it's good. The TV show isn't too bad either.

"Sophie's Choice" by William Styron

Well this certainly was a long and hard read. It took me ages to get through it really did, and usually I'm quite a fast reader.

I'm not entirely sure where to start. The narrator, and I suppose the main character of this book, is a young twenty two year old man named Stingo. How to describe Stingo... In three words I would say that Stingo is self obsessed, horny and madly in love with Sophie.

I didn't like Stingo very much, which was fairly annoying seeing as he was the one telling the whole story, the story being the one of the relationship between Sophie and her boyfriend Nathan in the year 1947, just after the war. And they don't exactly have a stable and easygoing relationship that's for certain.

He also tells us of Sophie's life in Auschwitz during the war.

Stingo meets Sophie and Nathan when he takes lodgings in a home in Brooklyn. Nathan is an American Jew and Sophie is a Polish Catholic who survived imprisonment in Auschwitz.

Throughout the entire book you follow Stingo slowly unravelling the secrets of Sophie's past. At first it seems like there is not much to discover, she only says that she survived. But more Stingo gets to know Sophie, and the closer he gets to her the more he, and through him we, realise just how much she went through, and what terrible thinks she's rather no one ever knew. You have to go through all of her lies and half truths before you finally get to the truth.

All that plus the actual present relationship of Nathan and Sophie as I said before. Nathan is quite deranged and Sophie is completely devoted and infatuated with him. So you can see how that might not exactly be a healthy relationship.

I don't know. It's a good book, the story is sad but well written. My only actual problem is that I really disliked Stingo. Other than that I have no real complaints.

"Making Money" by Terry Pratchett

The Discworld series is one of my all time most favourite book series, and it has been for a while. I've been reading Terry Pratchett books since I was nine years old, and they just keep getting better and better every time I reread them.

I'm not sure how many times I've read "Making Money". I've read it more than once that's for sure. It's one of my favourite Discworld novels.

"Making Money" is the sequel to "Going Postal" (also brilliant by the way), but you don't need to have read the first book to understand or enjoy it.

The main characters name is Moist Von Lipwig (not joking, that's his actual name), and he is a criminal turned respectable gentleman. In "Making Money" he is given the job if restoring the city's bank to it's former glory, so that the city's leader, that is to say tyrant, can borrow some money to modernise the city.

Thus begins a hilarious chain of events.

There's also a few very well developed side plots, that are eventually very important for the development of the main plot.

Really though it is a wonderful story. The plot is great, the humour is fantastic, and the pacing is spot on. Terry Pratchett is one of my very favourite actors and so far he has completely failed to disappoint me, for which I am eternally grateful.

So please read this. Please do. It's wonderful it really is.

"The Seeker" by Sudhir Kakar

This is a novel that works like a type of biography. The plot follows the story of the friendship between Mahatma Gandhi and an English woman named Madeleine Slade (also known by her nickname Mira, and who was a real person who actually existed).

It was quite good because it told the story from the point of view of a man who loved Gandhi telling the story of a woman who loved Gandhi, and from their point of views you get to see and observe Gandhi himself. You see?

In fact this woman, Mira/Madeleine Slade, loved Gandhi so much that in 1925 she left England, her family and her entire lifestyle and culture behind to go join him in his Ashram in Sabarmati. She gave up meat and alcohol and sleeping in a bed, all for him.

She made a a vow and promised to remain celibate for the rest of her days, and she promised to serve him faithfully in his mission to free India from the British in a completely non violent way.

Throughout the book you see just how devoted to Gandhi Mira was. She believed in him to such an extent that in her mind he became a sort of God. What's funny about this is that not only was Mira English, but her father was a British admiral. She pretty much swapped sides and gave up everything to follow her new God.

But what I found particularly interesting about "The Seeker" are the glances into Gandhi's personal life and how he really was. Mira became a great friend of his you see, and she was one of his closest disciples. And he was harsh with her sometimes, just like he was harsh with all his closest friends and family members.

He could be quite demanding and if you made what he considered a mistake he would get angry.

I love Gandhi because of his views on non violence and all that, just like a lot of people. The fact that he was flawed and could get angry doesn't make me like him any less, it actually just makes him seem far more human.

In any case this was a very interesting read, and it told the story of Gandhi's mission towards building a non violent freedom fighter army in a fairly clear and direct way.