Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

Sometimes I think fantasy books should come with someone, a fantasy expert, holding your hand and helping you make sense of the very made up jargon. That being said, I really liked this book. Loaned to me by an intelligent and pretty friend (hi Jaime!) I was still hesitant to read it. Fantasy novels just aren't my "thing".

The characters and the story line, along with all the twists, kept me going "What's next? Now what? What happens to them NOW?" Them's good story-writin'!

We're in a time where a Lord Ruler is a self-proclaimed god, the skaa are a beaten down class of slaves, and nobility feels they can do anything they want. Vin, a street urchin who is part of a thieving crew, is working to pay off her brother's debts. The crewleaders beat and abuse her but still she stays. Her brother has abandoned her and she has no where else to turn. The crewleader forces Vin to his scams because of her Luck. She's able to use some gift of hers to calm people and make them less worried. She doesn't know much about her Luck, just that it takes a lot to make it and a lot of time to store it back up.

Along comes Kelsier. He's survived the unsurvivable and makes it his goal to upset the Lord Ruler and get everyone to cause trouble. And he's really good at it. He learns of Vin and her Luck and takes her away from the crew and under his wing. What Vin has is really Allomancy, the power of a Mistborn. Vin's really special, you guys.

Allomancy is the ability to ingest metals and burn them, creating different powers from each. I'll be honest in that I got a bit confused here but the fight scenes where metal powers were every where were great and...confusing.

Move on from that and you have a plot to overthrow the Lord Ruler and get the skaa to rebel. This book is almost 650 pages and the nail-biting explosions come towards the end. Work your way through the explanations of nobility, powers, mistborns, etc and you get a (upsetting) satisfying conclusion.

Mistborn is a series and Goodreads tells me there are 7 books. Despite my hesitancy....I'm in.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

I was blown away by this book. My IRL book club picked it for our first book of 2019 and, frankly, I'm surprised at the choice. I listened to the audio book and was 100% in it with Starr. Probably through my own ignorance at what is out there, I've never read a book that was this heartbreaking and made me view things in a different light.

Starr Carter is a 16 year old African American living in Garden Heights (the hood). She's met up with her old friend Khalil at a party and, when gunshots ring out, he gets Starr out of there and into his car to take home. Khalil and Starr have know each other since they were babies. Khalil is a good kid but there are rumors that he's been selling drugs. On the way home, Khalil is pulled over by the police for a broken taillight. If you've paid a bit of attention to the news, you know what happens. I was still upset when it happened.  Due to "circumstances" (white prejudice), Khalil is shot in the back 3 times. He's unarmed, there are no weapons in the car, but a 16 year old kid is laying on the street dying from being shot repeatedly in the back by a cop. Starr has the gun turned on her as well, until the cop's backup arrives.

The journey from that night to the end, riots in Garden Heights, is Starr's story of how she has dealt and is dealing with seeing two of her best friends murdered. Natasha, her other friend, was killed in a driveby when she was 10. Now Khalil at 16 is murdered. My heart broke a thousand times over for Starr and for everyone in her neighborhood.

This is such a worthwhile read and, actually, so important to read and understand that what you read in the news or see on TV isn't the real story. People get into situations they can't get out of, but that doesn't make them bad or make them deserve to be murdered.

Starr is one of my literary heroes. She shines.

Big Damn Classic of 2019 is........

For real this time...


Between my google forms and the poll I put up in Goodreads, the winner, with 41 of the 152 votes is:

I'm really excited for this one! I have heard the radio version - we listened to it in a creative writing class - but I'm excited to read the book that has never been out of print, thanks to it's popularity. And, one of the earliest stories to even handle the extraterrestrial race.

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Thank you to all who voted!