The Bard's Books

Wow. I'm way behind on updating my book blog. However, that doesn't mean that I haven't been reading. On the contrary, my birthday was last week, and that brought with it a slew of new books. One of which was Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel (a gift from my husband). I do love the Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer. I find the dialogue witty, the characters fun and the plots to be little rollicking adventures that are quick and easy to read. And, I've come to enjoy graphic novels, after six years of my husband's influence. It is because I enjoy both elements of this adaptation that I enjoyed the book. The original Artemis story is inside the graphic novel. However, it has been shortened and some details have changed (eye and hair colors, mostly). Sometimes, the edits from the story work well, and sometimes they just leave you wishing you had a bit more. The coloring of the graphic novel was quite well done. The drawings, however, left something to be desired. I w...

A few years ago I happened upon the Alana the Lioness series by Tamora Pierce. With a strong female heroine who overcomes prejudice to become the King's Champion and greatest knight in her realm, I was instantly drawn in. Since discovering that series, I've devoured all of Pierce's books set in Tortall including the Copper Isles, Protector of the Small and Wildmage series. I was very excited to learn that she was writing a new series based on the life of an ancestor of George Cooper ( Tortall's spymaster and husband to Alana the Lioness). I recently downloaded the unabridged audio book for the latest in this series, called Beka Cooper: Bloodhound, from audible.com and listened to it on my long commute into work. Once again, Tamora Pierce manages to pull me into Tortall and the cities of Corus and Port Caynn . Beka is a young dog (police officer) who works the roughest part of the capital city of Corus , Lower City. When a large number of false coin is discovere...