Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

I’ve been reading and reading and reading some truly wonderful books over these past months and I must say my negligence in sharing them with you is weighing on me. Well, no more. I am going to be bombarding you with some book recommendations. Be warned.

The heroine in Leigh Bardugo’s Russian inspired Shadow and Bone is Alina Starkov. She, like her best friend Mal, was a war orphan from the outskirts of Ravka. Now teenagers, the two have joined the military to continue in the ongoing fight for their kingdom.

While their unit is traveling through the darkness of the magical Shadow Fold that splits their country, they are attacked by winged monsters. Mal is wounded in the exchange and Alina uses a power she didn’t know she possessed to light the darkness. Identified as one of the magic Grisha, Alina is taken from the eerie Shadow Fold to the riches of the King’s castle by the mysterious Darkling. Here she has to discover what she really is and what she holds dear.

Shadow and Bone is the first in Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha Trilogy. I read Shadow and Bone back in December and instantly became a huge Leigh Bardugo fan. Her writing draws you in and doesn’t lag into filler. The high adventure fantasy story was engaging from the start to the explosive conclusion. While the “will they or won’t they” romantic elements of the reads I choose was there, I also was hit over the head with some surprises. That was quite refreshing.

You can read more about Leigh Bardugo, her Grisha Trilogy and even find some original Ravka folktales at her website: http://www.leighbardugo.com

Being Torn

I’m torn. I’m torn about a number of things.

I’m torn about my status as a writer. I get this way from time to time.

December seems to be a throw away month for me in the area of my writing. The past two years I was treading water from my experience with NaNoWriMo and didn’t have the will or the strength to pull myself up on a lifeboat to write. In a way January has turned into a recovery from December. Just like the past two Decembers, I did not write a thing worth keeping in either January. But I wasn’t drowning. It was more like I was floating around on my back enjoying the quiet of the water around my ears and just how prune-y my fingers could get.

Now it is February and I will have a guilty conscience if I don’t put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard). February is the swift kick in the rear that flings me into the new year. January is nothing.

I’m also torn about some news.

Yesterday I heard that a sequel to To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee will be published this summer. When I first read that my heart leaped into my throat. That one book single-handedly introduced me to a world outside of my own and one, as a small town Southern female, I knew so well it was like looking in a mirror. It is THE book of all books I hold up as my favorite (yes, even above Pride & Prejudice).

For a long time I have known that the public life was not something Harper Lee enjoyed. She did not write that book to become famous or to have people like me pour over the story in an obsessive way. It was too much for her. I also remember her saying she wouldn’t publish anything else. So, the report that a new book was coming from her camp surprised me.

Now I am wondering if, as a woman in her eighties, is it really her wish to have this book put out for the world to see. A great part of me doubts it. As much as I WANT to read it, I wonder if I should.

Are you torn about anything today? How is your writing or other goals for this year going? Are YOU going to read the new Harper Lee book?

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This post is part of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group (IWSG) blog hop where writers work to support and encourage each other on the first Wednesday of each month. You can click the image or link above to find more musings from other writers.

The group was founded and is led by our captain, Alex J. Cavanaugh and his merry co-hosts. This month they are: Gwen Gardner, Dolorah, Sarah Foster, and M. Pax!