I am back.

I have neglected my blog and book reviews for far too long. I will be posting the next review in the Wheel of Time series very soon.

The Wheel of Time: Winter's Heart and Crossroads of Twilight

A lot of important things happen in this book. Events in this book also take place at the same time as events in the next book Crossroads of Twilight, which is why I'm combining the two summaries and reviews.  Elayne continues to try and get a grip on the Lion Throne and gather her supporters in Caemlyn and it is revealed she is expecting twins, but the father is kept a secret from everyone but close friends.
Mat is trapped in Ebou Dar, which is under Seanchan control. He plans his escape and his plans are going great until he stumbles into a Seanchan Noblewoman named Tuon who is revealed to be the Daughter of the Nine Moons, the heir to the Seanchan throne. A few books before this, we learn of a prophecy that says Mat is to marry the Daughter of the Nine Moons. So instead of leaving her behind, he kidnaps her and takes her with him. He escapes Ebou Dar and continues to try and escape Seanchan-controlled territory with Tuon.
Rand is bonded by Elayne, Aviendha and Min as a warder, with a spell that is modified from the original warder spell. Rand hunts down several Asha'man traitors and then travels with Nynaeve to Shadar Logoth where they proceed to cleanse Saidin of it's taint. They are guarded by Cadsuane and a number of other Aes Sedai, Asha'man, and warders. This is a huge turning point in the books for Rand. He cleanses the taint so that men will no longer go mad, but he is frustrated that people are so hard to convince he has cleansed the taint. This adds to his distrust and frustration with everyone around him.
Perrin continues to try and rescue his wife Faile who has been taken prisoner and goes so far as to make a temporary alliance with the Seanchan to rescue Faile from the Shaido.
Egwene continues to lead  the rebel Aes Sedai against the White Tower, where she is captured and held prisoner because of a stupid mistake.
Rand rests after his ordeal with cleansing the taint and sends his advisers to make a truce with the Seanchan. The Seanchan agree, but request to see Rand in person.
These two books were very entertaining and had a lot of great surprises and turning points.

Musing Mondays

Hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading
If your book group asked you to bring two (2) suggestions for group reads to your next meeting, what two books would you suggest? Why?

I would have to suggest, The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. 
The Red Queen was a book I recently read and I absolutely loved it and thought it portrayed England and it's fight to put Tudor's on the throne really well. 
Pride and Prejudice is a classic and has always been one of my favorite books.  

The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory

This book follows the life of Margaret Beaufort as she tries to put her son Henry Tudor on the throne of England.

She is treated as your typical 15th century wife. She is there to give birth and raise children and that is all that is expected and wanted from her. Margaret is not your average woman. She longs for more than giving an heir to the House of Lancaster. At a very young age she feels she has a calling placed upon her by God. She feels she has to save England and do something great and follow in the footsteps of Joan of Arc. This calling is to put her son, Henry Tudor, on the throne of England. To do this, she must play houses against each other and overcome many hardships and wars. It takes her many years to put her son on the throne, but she does it by at last overthrowing the Yorks.

This book is very well written and I enjoyed it immensely. It gives you a great look at the struggle for the throne and what went on behind the wars. It also gives you a deep look into the wives of 15th century England, which I thought was very interesting. The way God and religion are twisted to suit people's needs and those of others was one of the driving forces behind the book for me. Margaret is constantly saying what she does is God's will, but it somehow always turns out that God's will is, amazingly, her will as well. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good historical fiction novel. It is satisfying on many levels.

The Wheel of Time: The Path of Daggers

The weather is right again and Elayne is back in Andor and claiming the Lion Throne. She still believes her mother is dead even though no body has been found.
Perrin is after the prophet in Ghealdan. He is ordered to bring him to Rand so they can stop his destructive path. But along the way, Perrin loses something very dear to his heart.
Egwene and the rebel Aes Sedai are preparing to lay siege at Tar Valon in hopes of unseating the unlawful Amyrlin and reuniting the Aes Sedai.
The Seanchan are back and Rand engages them on Altaran soil. He grows too angry and full of himself and attempts to use Callandor again. He ends up killing many people including his own. Rand also learns of turn coats within his own Asha'man army.

This book is definitely a lot more interesting than the previous one. A lot of things are revealed in this one that the previous book was leading up to. More things click into place. I think this book was out to get the men. Bad things happen to the men in this one and all the good things happen to the women. You start to see Rand's mental and emotional downfall in this book which will play a huge role in the books to come.

Thank you!

I would like to say a quick thank you to Historical Fiction Connection! I was just informed I won their giveaway of Philippa Gregory's new book The Red Queen! I can't wait to receive my copy and post my thoughts on the book. Thank you again!

The Wheel of Time: A Crown of Swords

This book was a little slow for me. Still a very good book but definitely one of the slower ones. Not much happens in this one. A couple of important things happen, but I feel like he's using this book to build up to the next one and what will happen in it. Which is fine, it's a long series and you need some filler books with a lot of information in them and that's exactly what this is. More happens with Mat, Nynaeve and Elayne than it does with Rand in this one. The ending of the book was a little disappointing... I was kinda expecting and hoping for something bigger since the rest of the book was slow with Rand. Still fits nicely in the series though.