Joelene Pynnonen shares her 5 Top reads for 2013

1. Catching Fire – Suzanne Collins

 A wonderful second book in the Hunger Games trilogy.
 
2. Purple Threads – Jeanine Leane
 
Both amusing and profound, this collection of interlocking stories is about a family of Indigenous Australian women that you will never forget.
 
3. One Small Step – ed. Tehani Wessely
 
Most of the books that hit my top five were a surprise this year. This one possibly more than the others. I’m not a fan of short stories but this collection of speculative fiction is amazing.
 
4. Etiquette and Espionage – Gail Carriger
 
A steampunk Finishing School for female spies and assassins. Everything about this story is made of win; but the narrative voice is what I loved the most.
 
5. A Wicked Kind of Dark – Jonathan K. Benton
 
A great debut novel. Part epic fantasy, part urban fantasy; this novel blends genres to create something new and exciting.
 

Most Anticipated Books of 2014 

 1. Coldest Girl in Coldtown – Holly Black

 This book is based on a short story of the same name. I know nothing about it except that the short story is breath-takingly wonderful.
 
2. Mockingjay – Suzanne Collins
 
Still have not finished this amazing series. I’m anticipating and dreading it in equal parts. Where will I go after this?

3. Academy 7 – Anne Osterlund
 
Outsider, Aerin Renning, is stunned to find that she’s been accepted into the exclusive Academy 7, but finds that she has to contend with the affluent Dane Madousin.
Divergent – Veronica Roth
 
A society divided into five factions, each one based on a virtue. I’ve tried to stay away from the reviews for this so that I can go into it without expectations, but it sounds like my sort of a book.
 
4. Ice Breaker – Lian Tanner
 
I loved the Museum of Thieves series and am looking forward to Tanner’s latest novel.

Life is like a box… of chocolates… maybe.

I actually sent one of these to a dear friend, right after hurricane Sandy. She LOVED it.

The only bugger of this one is the limit on where you can send the boxes isn’t really that big and they don’t ship to Australia as far as I know. But it’d be a great idea for someone who lives stateside.

Conscious Box is a small company with massive ideas, and the main one is being eco friendly, natural and sustainable. So every month (or how ever often you subscribe a box for your friend) they receive a box of between 10-20 sustainable, natural, and the option of gluten free or vegan, products.

It’s a great way for them to try new things and possibly get hooked on something they wouldn’t have otherwise tried.

 Here’s an unboxing video by Jillys Corner httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivISP5LnmUY

For more information on subscribing or giving a Conscious box head to

http://www.consciousbox.com/

Conscious box is affiliated with 1% for the planet http://onepercentfortheplanet.org/ 

Chris Kneipp shares his Top 5 movies for 2013

1: Silver Linings Playbook (Australian release February 2013)

This movie not only made me laugh but showed me what great actors Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper are. Also who could go passed Jackie Weaver as the long suffering wife of Robert DeNiro. Deniro’s best movie in ages.

2: Now You See Me

I love a movie that keeps you guessing. Sterling performances from all the actors and a story that makes you want to go back and pick up all the clues along the way.

3: Catching Fire

My most recent viewing, carry’s the story well towards the final conclusion, when Mockingjay comes out.

4: Thor

The Dark World. This movie balanced humour and action well, but it was Tom Hiddleston’s  Loki that made it worth watching again.

5: Iron Man 3

Ben Kingsley’s character was a work of genius, and played well off a plot which could have descended into an overly serious cliché without him. Also no one plays Robert Downey Jr like Tony Stark. (Or the other way round, it’s hard to tell with him) LOL

Can you see what I see?

Fred Hollows had a vision and you can help keep it alive this Christmas.

How crazy is it that 4 out of 5 people who are blind in the developing world don’t need to be!

Routine treatment costing as little as $25 can restore sight and hope.

Virtual cards can be given at any stage up until Christmas, but you could also use the cards for birthdays, weddings or anything really.

For more information about Giving the gift of Sight Cards…

http://www.hollows.org.au/gift-sight-cards

For information on the Fred Hollows Foundation and it’s achievements…

http://www.hollows.org.au/about-us/achievements

For information on Fred Hollows himself

http://www.hollows.org.au/Fred-Hollows

I had never heard of the term “comic fantasy” until I was asked to review this book. I can now see exactly what the reference means and feel that this novel did an amazing job of portraying the comic affect in a novel form.

Ink Black Magic is the third and final book in The Mocklore Chronicles and the first book I have read in the trilogy. As a result, I went in not knowing any prior information about the characters yet was still able to enjoy the story as a stand alone novel.

My initial thoughts of the book was how Epic it was. The narrative was much like that of an Epic Fantasy, focusing on magic and especially the negativity of using black magic. As I have not read the previous books, I thought that Egg was really going to be the main character but  I soon found that Kassa Daggersharp is the protagonist (and the heroine from previous novels). Egg caught my attention immediately and I liked him off the bat, but Kassa had to grow on me. However, she turned out to be one of the strongest and boldest characters I have read of late.

Kassa lectures first year students on the dangers of magic at the Polyhedrotechnical in Cluft. And Egg is the student who, through his stories and inner warlock talent, is unknowingly creating the city of Drak. Drak appears outside their doors suddenly one day and all people of Cluft soon get caught in it’s magical existence. It is a dark city, always lit by a full moon and an atmosphere of  dangerous extravagance.

Early on in the story, Egg and Kassa figure out that the evil city is the creation of Egg’s imagination. Along with the city’s monsters and villains, it’s draw is causing a magical haze which makes them question what is reality and what is not. Cluft itself is a place full of wonders and magic that had me pausing to re-read passages.

When Drak is introduced and the whole world becomes a circus of sorts, the real “comic” comes out in this epic fantasy. There is some romance in the air between Kassa and the long lost Aragon and special attention is paid to details (clothing, accessories as well and building and room designs). There are also a lot of battles and lessons to be learned. It’s a story you can read several times, each time finding something new.

I found Ink Black Magic to be very unique and it opened my mind to a new sort of story-telling. I look forward to reading more speculative fiction of this type, starting with the previous books written by this author. 

Paperback, 374 pages

Published October 2013 by FableCroft Publishing