Picture Maker by Penina Spinka

2015 Reading Challenge

2. A book with more than 500 pages: Picture Maker by Penina Spinka 

I took this picture, I want to redo it but I've finished my hot chocolate now and don't want another. Does the chocolate on the cup annoy anyone else or is that just me being nitpicky? Hah

 Picture Maker is the first book in Penina Spinka's Norse/Mohawk trilogy. I initially bought this book at a second-hand book store and mistakenly thought it was a Jean Auel book. I have been meaning to read her books for awhile. However, this book was from another author entirely, which I stupidly didn't realise from looking at the cover... I know, I know, don't judge. I was interested by the blurb on the back so after making sure it was the first book in the series I bought it and started another book journey. AKA it sat on my shelf for a couple of months, I then started reading it halfway through last year, read it haphazardly until this year when I focussed all my attention on it. You know, that kind of journey.

Spinka's Picture Maker documents the journey Gahrahstah or Picture Maker (Actually she has dozens of names throughout the story. She's given a new one at every new culture she meets.) takes after she is kidnapped by the Algonquin tribe, an enemy to her Ganeogaono tribe. Gahrahstah is the daughter of a powerful warrior and was given the name 'Picture Maker' because of her ability to foretell the future in her drawings. Gahrahstah's journey is a grand epic that shows her amazing ability to survive and adapt to new cultures but still holding onto her own tribal values. Picture Maker is set in North America and Greenland in roughly the 1300s, the dates aren't specific but Spinka's Author's Note suggests that date.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book but it did take a bit of effort to read. This book had great description of each culture you meet along the journey with Gahrahstah. Each culture was obviously thoroughly researched and I assume accurate. However, I am not the best judge of this as I have never studied North American history other than the Black Civil Rights movement. Spinka mention the research she undertook, so I'm assuming, if not a bit ignorantly; that it is accurate. That being said, I loved learning about each culture and Spinka did an excellent job of keeping the reader interested in each culture and the description. I have a terrible tendency to skim read long descriptive passages which is why I'm really struggling with Lord of the Rings but I didn't skim the descriptive passages in Picture Maker, I found it fascinating. I also enjoyed learning the differences between the different Native American tribes, I think there's this rather pervasive stereotype of Native Americans but in fact all the tribes were quite unique in their own way. Spinka illustrated this really well.

The plot of the story is really good, it rises and falls throughout, helping to depict a realistic journey. Various upsetting and happy things happy to Gahrahstah throughout her journey but she shows herself to be a strong protagonist but most importantly a survivor. She struggles so much on her journey but she keeps on moving forward and picking herself up. It's quite inspirational. This story is more plot based than character based. We learn a lot about Gahrahstah and a bit about the other characters but for the most part it is about the events and the journey. Usually I'm more of a fan of character based work but I really enjoyed this.

There's a part in the book I really want to discuss because I loved it but I can't because I would be ruining parts of the plot so I'm just going to leave it... *Sigh. Picture Maker was a fascinating book that had a great plot and depicted the cultures really well. However, I did struggle in keeping motivated to read it, that was probably down to my mood because it is quite an intense read and it was quite long. However, that is my main reason I am giving it a 4 out of 5 stars rather than 5. The book has to be crazy good to get a 5 out of me. I'm looking forward to reading Dream Weaver which is the second installment in the trilogy but I think I'll have a wee break first and save my pennies too.

Thanks for reading, I hope you are still enjoying my wee book rambles.

Jenny

Iron Pendulum by Megan Curd

2015 Reading Challenge

1. A book set in the future: Iron Pendulum by Megan Curd (Periodic, #2)

Iron Pendulum is the second book in Megan Curd's The Periodic Series. I initially started reading this series as I obtained the first book, Steel Lily free on my Kobo. I will admit that I didn't love Steel Lily but I was pleasantly surprised that for a free book it was pretty good. Some of the free books on Kobo are awful but then have good Goodreads reviews and I'm just moaning "WHY??" at the computer. But I digress, I can discuss other people's taste in books at another time, I'm attempting to review Iron Pendulum here. If I'm honest, I'm not completely sure I would have continued with the next book but it was only $4NZ and I was in the mood for an alright dystopian young adult book. With that bleak beginning let the review begin! (F.Y.I.To properly review Iron Pendulum I may need to discuss Steel Lily and divulge some spoilers but I will attempt to do that as little as possible... )

Steel Lily and Iron Pendulum are both set in a post-WWIII apocalyptic United States. The population has dramatically decreased due to a nuclear war between the Alliance and the Resistance. The war has caused a rapid increase in carbon dioxide making the outside world uninhabitable. What is left of the population of the world live in dome like structures that cover entire cities. The nuclear radiation has caused mutation in a few which has made these people "Elementals" as they can manipulate the elements. Our protagonist, a young 14 year old by the name of Avery Pike is one of these "Elementals" and the most powerful. Classic young adult fiction.

 In Steel Lily, we are initially led to believe that there is only one dome left, Dome Four. Avery provides steam through her abilities to power Dome Four. However, she is rather rebellious with a big heart and cannot stand the corruption of Dome Four especially within the Polatzi (the police force) and the huge class divide between the Traditionals and the residents of Wutherford Tower. This part of the story ends when Avery and her best friend, Alice are all but kidnapped by a dashing teenager with dreads by the name of Jaxon (#LoveInterest) to Dome Seven to attend an academy for Elementals. It becomes clear that Dome Seven is just as corrupt as Dome Four and lots of events and twists happen and a group that we have come to know, led by Avery, ends up in the Alliance's Headquarters. The group had thought to have been destroyed by the war . This is where Steel Lily finishes and Iron Pendulum begins. 

Iron Pendulum begins with Avery dealing with events that happened in the first book and enjoying her newfound relationship with the ever charming, wise-cracking Jaxon. The Alliance wants to infiltrate Dome Four, discover the corruption within and potentially make an alliance with the Dome. So who do you think is best for the job? Why a bunch of teenages of course! (#YACliche) Avery and her friends are given the job to infiltrate Dome Four. She will "resume" her old life as steam provider while attempting to unearth the corruption, help the people of Dome Four and help the Alliance. 

I would say I enjoyed Iron Pendulum more than Steel Lily. I think Curd's writing improved, the storyline felt a lot smoother and less jumpy. In Steel Lily, there was a lot of jumping from one drama to another whereas in Iron Pendulum there was a lot more tension building. I also think the steampunk theme that runs throughout the series was a bit jarring initially in Steel Lily only because it was so obvious and because I'm not a huge fan of steampunk.  

I adore Avery and Jaxon's relationship. They are both wise-crackers, always at the edge of being rude. They have this amazing rapport, Curd did an excellent job on their dialogue, it is quite funny. I also loved that although Avery and Jaxon seemed to have an instant connection, the old love at first sight archetype, Avery was still in control of herself. I get very frustrated with heroines losing their ability to control themselves over the love interest even against their better judgment. However, Avery could see this attraction for Jaxon but she initially fought it and remained wary of Jaxon until she could trust him. This all occurred in Steel Lily, in Iron Pendulum we see the growth in their relationship and the dependence they have for each other. They feel the jealousy and overcome it because the trust each other. That was incredibly refreshing. I hate love triangles so I was glad the outside characters were there to test relationship's strength not break or alter it.

The main storyline was quite fast paced but with room to build tension. It saw Avery dealing with the backlash of her impulsive actions, more responsibility and more emotion. Iron Pendulum had just as many twists as Steel Lily. However, they were more easy to guess, whereas in Steel Lily, the main twist came as a huge shock. Overall, it was a fairly enjoyable read, there were a few inconsistency that bothered me but that is mainly brought down to the fact that I'm a tad pedantic. The characterisations were great, they had flaws so they acted like real people. The storyline was good, it flowed nicely. Curd sets the scenes really well, the descriptive language was quite beautiful and I'm sure if you love steampunk you'd really enjoy it. 

Although this is a fairly positive review, I still didn't hugely love the book or series but I can't quite put my finger on why that is. I've struggled with young adult books in the past because I found them too shallow but in this one the characters are more realistic and they deal with emotion in a normal way so I'm unsure. I even looked through other Goodreads reviews of it, not to plagiarize I swear... I was hoping someone else had pinpointed what I could not but alas, that had not happened. So if you have read it and know what I'm talking about I'd love for you to explain it to me!  Therefore, I'm going to give a 3.5 out 5 stars for a mark. I do plan on reading the next book when it comes out, it ended on a bit of a cliffhanger and I have to know how it is resolved! I would recommend this book to anyone who loves young adult dystopian books and especially to anyone who loves steampunk.

Thank you and see you next time for another installment of Jenny Read A Book And Will Write About It For Your Entertainment (hopefully). Oh God, I'm still cheesy... Sorry, you guys will just have to deal with the brie or maybe feta. Whatever, I feel like. I'm hungry. Byeeee 

3.5/5 stars

Jenny

And So It Begins...

Hello, Kia Ora, Bonjour, Guten Tag, Aloha, Ciao, Ni Hao and Kon-nichiwa Everyone

I have been wanting to start a blog for a very long time but I either didn't have time, motivation or I didn't think I would be "good enough" at writing to do it. However, here I am, attempting to write a blog post. It seems to be going fairly well, a bit unsure if the hello is too cheesy but I do like cheese especially brie, so we'll leave it. Though, I doubt people who speak all those languages will really read this. Oops, I have to stop that self-deprecating nonsense, this blog should be a positive place full of sunshine, rainbows and all that crap.

I have had a rather difficult last year and among my other New Year's goals and resolutions I decided to do a fun one. I decided to do a 2015 Reading Challenge, I found the PopSugar list floating around my tumblr dashboard and thought it would fit the bill. I read a lot already but this challenge will give me the motivation to broaden my reading horizons. Initially, I was going to do a little review on tumblr but I thought a blog would be more appropriate and it would give me the perfect excuse to start one. My Mum is doing the challenge too, but she will be doing it a bit more privately. If you would like to do this book challenge too, feel free to join me on this journey!

The name idea for "The Travelling Donkey" came from my name, Jenny. A jenny is a female donkey (a male donkey is a jack if you're curious). The idea first came to mind when I was thinking of doing a blog when I start travelling. Unfortunately, travelling doesn't seem to be happening anytime soon but I still like the name. "The Travelling Donkey" sounds like a name given to a quaint inn or pub similar to "The Prancing Pony" from Lord of the Rings. I decided that despite the fact that I currently am not travelling and that this blog will be primarily a book blog (at least in the beginning), I still like the name so I'm going use it.

Do you guys want some background information? I don't really care because I'm going to do it anyway... Sorry. I have lived in New Zealand all my life. I went to the University of Otago and completed a Bachelor of Arts in Archaeology and History. In 2013 I began an Honours year in Archaeology, which was pretty exciting because we finally got to do field work! Unfortunately, I had to pull out near the end of the year because I was overwhelmed and had other personal/familial problems going on at the time. Last year was a recovery of the Honours drama so I have decided to make this year moving forward year! That's the plan anyway.

I hope you will enjoy the future updates and thank you for reading.

Goodbye (i'm not going to be cheesy with the goodbye...)

Jenny