Hello! Are you ready for another book club discussion. As the new year approaches. I like to look and reflect on everything I read. Within the past coming year. I have provided my Fall reading list. In October. And this is the discussion. Let’s begin!

  1. The Snow Queen By: Joan D. Vinge

Reading this book was very enlightening. It’s full of adventure to other worlds. And sets place on a different world. Called Tiamat. The kingdom of Carbuncle is ruled by the Snow Queen, named Aerienrhod. She has ruled for 10 years in Carbuncle. And is very beautiful. She had many lover’s called Starbuck. Which is the queen’s escort.

Moon and Sparky are lover’s, that shared a binding ritual that pledged them together forever. But when Moon turned into a sibyl. Sparky dumps her and leaves her. But Moon refuses to believe that they were over. Sparky runs away to Carbuncle. And Moon after her training was done to become a sibyl. She was determined to find Sparky and rekindle their love. But she gets side tracked and ended up with aliens. And they kidnap her. And escape into space. Where she is taken to another planet. They teach her what it really means to be a sibyl. To bring the old world back, and to do the greater good. She is very smart with technology. And helps the ship get through the Black Gate. To go to their world.

As the story goes. Once she arrived in Khairemoughi. She told them they can’t stay there. Even how beautiful it is. And was offered to be Queen. She said she needs Sparky. To go back to Tiamat. So they take her back. And finds out Sparky was the Snow Queen’s Starbuck. ( Sparky challenged the old Starbuck. And won, so he is now the queen’s lover).

Later Moon finds that she is identical to the queen. And when she confronts the queen. Moon, finds out she is the queen’s clone. That she cloned her through her mother. And offered her, her place with her to rule together. But Moon refused. And was sent away.

So when the last Harvest of the Snow Queen’s ruling.  Moon takes the challenge to become the Summer Queen.

Now there are other characters in the story. The police officer’s try to arrest Moon for being a Outworlder. But through the help from one of the police officers. Who later reveals he is an alien too. And loves her. Helps her get through the palace. And compete in the Harvest. And Moon wins becoming Summer Queen. And steals Sparky back from the Snow Queen. And now the Snow Queen was cast to the Sea Mother, and drowns in the sea.

2. The Stand By: Stephen King

Where to begin? This book is very suspenseful. There are a lot of characters. But the main one’s are Stu Freedman, Larry Underwood, Glen Heartsfield, Franni Goldsmith, Nick Androse, Tom Cullen, Ralph Tiabolt, and Lucy Cunningham. What takes place in the story. Is America is plagued with the Superflu. Everyone dies. Only a few survive the disaster. People died on the road. Trying to escape. But some remain still alive. Everyone is connected by a dream. They dream of an old lady named Mother Abigale. She sits on the porch, singing and playing her guitar. Everyone has this dream. They also dream about the Dark Man. He is the evil spirit. They think he was the one who developed the disease in a lab in Texas. And the germ spread across America. Killing thousands of people. Some animals were gone too.

Everyone remaining go to see Mother Abigale in Nebraska. There everyone meets. And see that the dream was real. She says that the Dark Man is real to. And they must find a way to stop him. So they form a community. And talk about what to do. They have these conference meetings. And decide to put the electric back on. And bury the dead bodies.

As the story goes. The Dark Man calls himself Randall Flagg. And has an army going. He takes all the criminals, thieves, and outcasts, Like Lyoid Henderson. They are stationed in Las Vegas.

So much happens in this story. The turning point is when Mother Abigale goes missing. And they all panick. They called their territory the Freezone. And when Mother Abigale returns.  They have these meetings. When the story goes into a twist. Harold and Nadine Cross, plan to kill them all. And join the Dark Mans side. They end up blowing up Glens house as they held the meetings. Nick dies, but appears in Tom Cullen’s dreams After that. Mother Abigale returns. And says they must journey to Las Vegas. And face the Dark Man. Stu, Larry, Ralph, and Glen, hike to La Vegas. Only to find Stu breaking his leg. And Larry, Ralph, and Glen, walk into Las Vegas. And faces the Dark Man. When they were blown up from an A-Bomb. Including the Dark Man. They all died. Completing the sacrifice. So the story unravels, Stu, Tom, and Kojack the dog, returning back to Boulder Nebraska. And see Franni, she gave birth to her baby. And reveals that Fran wants to go back to Maine. And Stu agreed to go with her. So the story ends with them continuing to put America back.

3. Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland: Through The Looking Glass By: Lewis Carrol

This book is actually 2 different stories. The main character is Alice. In both stories. The book is so different than the movies. But an enjoyable read. Of poetry, songs, and illustrations.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Starts with Alice’s sister reading to her. When she gets side tracked by a white rabbit. She notice’s that the white rabbit is talking. Saying ‘I’m late, I’m late, for a very important date.” So Alice follows the rabbit. Down a hole. Taking her down to a room with a small door. The rabbit goes through. Alice finds a bottle with something to drink.  She drinks it. And then she shrinks, to be able to fit through the door.  Then she is taken to a land. Full of adventures, and characters. Like, the caterpillar, cheshire cat, the hare, and mad hatter. She talks to these characters as they sing, give riddles, and tell her stories. Near the end she plays croquette with the Queen. And finds herself in trouble. They sentence her and the Queen says off with her head! Then she wakes up by her sister. Waking her from a dream.

Through the Looking Glass. Is filled with poetry. Here Alice is playing with two kittens. And she finds her way through the mirror. She finds that there is a whole different place, in the mirror. So she walks to the garden. And meets many characters. Like the talking flowers, Tweedle Dee, and Tweedle Dum. She meets Humpty Dumpty, The Red Queen, the White Queen. She finds that this world is a big chess board. So she plays with these characters. They sing, and tell her stories. By the end she wakes up. And the two kittens were still with her. And she is happy that they stayed with her in her dream.

4.The Last Days of Jesus By: Bill O’ Reilly

Bill O’ Reilly is right on point with this story. It is a story of Jesus’ life. From birth to death, and resurrection. It takes you back in times of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem. And talks about Jesus is the King of the Jews. This got King Harod angry. As it is a threat to the Roman empire. He sent his soldiers to kill every baby born in Jerusalem. Jesus was born in a manger. And was visited by three kings. That praised him. And gave him gifts. Of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. So Jesus lives with Mary and Joseph. And talks about his younger years. He learned to be a carpenter like his father Joseph. Mary cooking, and feeding chickens. The story tells of Jesus wandering off in Jerusalem. Mary and Joseph left him behind. Only to be found in the temple. Where he was talking about God and his teachings.

The story tells about John the Baptist. And how he baptizes Jesus. in the sea of Galilee. John see’s a white dove fly down from the sky. And he states the Jesus is the Messiah. That the dove was the Holy Spirit. And identifies Jesus as the true Messiah.

The story then talks about Jesus’ final days. Before he was crucified. He talks about the disciples. As they learn of his teachings. Healing people, making blind see. And bringing Zachariah back from the dead. It talks about John the Baptists Beheading. Under the orders from the Emperors wife. As an act of revenge.

Then it talks about Jesus being betrayed by Judas. Judas was offered money to reveal the true identity of Jesus. So at the last supper. Judas kissed Jesus. And the Roman soldiers arrest Jesus. And was persecuted for saying he is the Son of God. And the true King. Jesus was brutally tortured. And witnessed the most painful death. He was proclaimed as dead. And Mary Magdeline and Martha. Take his body to the tomb. Where he was laid to rest. Jesus dies on a Friday, and rose on a Sunday. His tomb was pronounced as empty. The Bible says that Jesus visited the Apostles. And returned to Heaven. It is said that Mary. Jesus’ mother was raised up with him.

This was a brilliant book. It makes you feel that you are there. It has many illustrations of temples, and other artifacts. I give Bill O’ Reilly my thumbs up on this one.

5. Escaping From Houdini By: Kerri Maniscalco

This book was like a murder mystery party. It takes place on a ship called the Riviera. This ship is like a circus on the ship. And they do magic shows, and stunts. Houdini is one of the suspects of murder. Because he was clever in his acts.  But he becomes the good guy. Audrey Rose is the main character. And she is the detective, and a scientist that examines dead bodies. She is determined to crack the case and find out who the murderer is. She is very clever and is romantically involved with Daniel, and fellow scientist and detective. Although she is partnered with the Ring Master of the show. Named Metostopheles. He teaches her how to read tarot cards, and helps her crack the case of the murderer. They are pretending to be romantically involved. To determine who is the murderer. Read it and you will be surprised to find out who the murderer is. I wont spoil it read it or yourself.

6.Queen of Air and Darkness By: Cassandra Clare (Book 3. of the Dark Artifices) (Comes out December 3rd.)

This was a really engaging story full of adventure. I don’t know where to begin. If you read the first two books. Lady Midnight, and The Lord of Shadows. You would start by remembering Livvy dies at the end. The story picks up. With Julien holding Livvy’s dead body in his hands. Trying to revive her. But she was long dead. They have a funeral in her honor. Everyone was sad. Annabel killed Livvy, with the Mortal Sword. But Cortana (Emma’s Sword), breaks the Mortal Sword into pieces.

Horace Dearborn takes Cortana from Emma, saying that it does not belong to her. That it destroyed the Mortal Sword.  And must hand it over. Emma was heartbroken. Everyone watches Livvy’s body be burned. Feeling rejected and laughed at. Emma and all the Blackthorne family was now a joke. To Zara, and her friends.

Horace, then calls Julien and Emma to go on a quest to go to Fairie Lands. And get the Black Volume back. From Annabel. She was being held prisoner from the Unseelie King. If they bring back the Black Volume, Emma could have Cortana back. And the Blackthorne’s would regain the reputation.

So Emma And Julien go on this mission. Only they find out it was a suicide mission to kill them. Horace sent someone to kill them. So they would not return. He really does not like the Blackthorne’s.

Cristina, Mark, and Kieran, go to help them. They reach the kingdom. With help from other fairies. Aedion, Kierans brother, helps them get to the palace. Pretending that they were prisoners.

Emma and Julien were captured and find themselves with Jace and Clary. They also find Annabel, and Ash, ( who was the first heir) From the Unseelie King.  When they go into a battle. The unseelie King opens a portal. And Annabel and Ash jump through it. Emma And Julien also go through it.

Emma and Julien find themselves in a parallel universe. And a world that mirrored their world. They find Livvy alive. But it was not the same Livvy.  Their reality was different. In their world Ty was dead. They find Emma And Julien were a couple in this world. So long story short. Julien and Emma kill Sebastian Morgenstern, and Annabel Blackthorne, to come back to their world. They do make it back.

Also, Ty and Kit, are planning to bring Livvy back from the dead. From a copied version of the Black Volume. Ty got it in his phone who traced it to Julien’s phone. So Ty had a copy of the Black Volume. And was scheming throughout the whole story.

When Julien and Emma wake up.  They find that Cristina, Mark, and Kieran have a love triangle. They hear that  Diego, Jia, and Jaime were arrested without a fair trial. And that Zara had Cortana.

Now I wont spoil the story. The ending is a big surprise. It’s hard to write about it. So I will let you read it for yourself. It was very shocking. And had a plot twist in it. Will the Blackthorne’s win this war? Will Emma get Cortana back? Will Emma and Julien  be able to love each other, and still be together? Read it. I wont spoil it. You have to find out for yourselves. .

7. Whiskey in a Teacup By: Reese Witherspoon

Reese Witherspoon is a delight. She embraces you as a friend throughout the book. She shares her stories about growing up in the South. She was very close to her grandmother Dorthea. Here she shares family recipes. And shares her experiences with people like Dolly Parton. She talks like you are invited to a dinner party. She plans her parties and house guests with hospitality. She is so delightful, and cheerful. She talks about acting in movies like Walk the Line. I read this book in one day. I couldn’t put it down. I give it a good recommendation. This book is a treasure. And I will definitely try her recipes throughout her book.