Sandra

What can I say that probably isn't always said about Brandon Sanderson?

The magic system is, as usual, amazing. Slowly revealing the magic system's in the way he does is a treat, watching the pieces unravel before you feels decadent at times. The Emperor's Soul was a simple book, comparatively speaking to a lot of other Sanderson books - not too many overly complicated politics, or mysteries are revealed. Instead we follow the life of a magic user who has been jailed in a world where the magic is all but outlawed. She gets given a second chance (of sorts) to save the Empire. I loved the main character and the way her evolution was shown and how her thinking was laid out so you could read and watch her transition.

The descriptions of the forging and the complexity of the magic will stay with me, as well as the weight of the book. For something so simple, the religious discussions, the discussions on belief and reality, and the idea of the self were fantastic and weighty.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10790290-theft-of-swords#

This book takes us on a journey through the life, successes, failures, learning and loves of a main character who isn't special in any way, isn't magical, or super intelligent, she just is. And what she is turns out to be someone with many flaws and mistakes, very human, very real, and very painful and beautiful to read in many different places. This isn't a book about scifi, or about the future, it isn't even really a romance, though it certainly has that as a central part of the story. I think it's more about seeing this character grow and develop, and suffer and break, and then come through the suffering put together in a new and different way. It's jarring, not because it's a lie or it's written badly, but because it's truth. And in that truth, I find hope.

This is one of those books that will stay with me for the rest of my life and I truly hadn't expected that.

I don't like writing reviews with spoilers (although I reserve the right to change my mind later on), but what I will say is that after I read this book I stared out through my spring filled window, and breathed, perhaps for the first time in a long time. I watched the journey of the main character, I saw her shatter and break, and then finally attain a sort of freedom... from herself. It was glorious, and heartbreaking, and it made me think about all my mistakes, and whether or not they will lead me to an eventual freedom.

This book made me feel, cliche, I know, but it pierced its way into my soul with its deftly written prose, its languorous descriptions that were just right and a tone that felt like wading through molasses at the speed of light (I may have taken some liberties with this metaphor, but I'm going to leave it there because it feels right).

I'll be over here drinking my cup of coffee, thinking about the book for the next few hours, while you should go out and get a copy and read it, because I said so.

This is the second book in the Ladies of Summerhill series by Cara Lynn James.

I received a copy of this book on the Goodreads giveaways and I am under no requirement to write a positive review but I'd like to offer my honest opinions!

First of all, Love on Assignment is a stand-alone book. The characters exist in both book #1 and #2 but you don't need any of the information from the first book to follow or enjoy book 2.

This is the story of newspaper journalist, Charlotte Hale, at a time when female journalists were rare. She then goes undercover to take a job as a governess and to spy on him to find out anything incriminating for her job!

The story is well written and enjoyable, it's a very feel-good book with some good values and sweet themes. It isn't my typical book, but I actually did enjoy it. It lets you see into the mind of the main character and the tough decisions she has to make, and overall I think it does a good job of showing how people in tough situations can still make good decisions.

“What kind of legacy do I want to leave behind?”

That's the kind of question that this book will ask you; but more importantly will help you answer. Many self help books tell a lot of stories, and perspectives but give you very little tools to put what you learn or read into action.

“Dreams to action - Trailblazers guide” literally does what its title says - it helps set your dreams into actions so that you can work toward your goals.

This is a difficult book to review without giving too much away about its contents. So I'm going to use a metaphor. Let's say you wanted to bake a cake. You might look at recipe books to work out which cake you want to bake, and then follow the step by step instructions to get to the exact same cake (or at least somewhere close) as that in the picture. This book doesn't tell you what cake to bake, nor does it give you step by step instructions on how to bake a particular cake. Instead it teaches you the fundamental basics of cooking itself, so you can imagine whatever cake you desire, and create your own steps for baking the cake of your dreams.

I truly like this book because instead of wasting a lot of time telling us how we should be, or what our goals should be, or how being a goal oriented person and following your dreams will make your life better (many of us fundamentally know that already), the book instead takes you straight into the nuts and bolts of setting goals, translating those goals into actions, planning and following through on your goals and even finding time to follow the goals to end up in the place you want to be.

There's sections to fill out with clear guided instructions, there's thought provoking questions to get you thinking about the tough questions we have to ask ourselves and there's great examples, even Julie's calendar as an example to help you compare with your own. Within page 4 of the book you are already answering questions and filling out your thoughts; the book literally refuses to get much further without YOUR input and YOUR thoughts and YOUR actions. In fact, it's not a book, it's more of a journey.

Julie clearly has a lot of experience in this area and a lot of great examples of tools to help people and she's put those into the book. The book is also very inspiring as it is a representation of the author following their own dreams to publish, and it's a strong reminder in your hands to drive you forward as well.

(Full disclosure: I received a copy in exchange for an honest review, but the review is well deserved and receiving the book in no way influenced my review!)