Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young

Everyone says to avoid the second book....but like...I don't listen.
ok but vikings and rival clans and fjkds
Fiske is cool. we stan.
352 Pages

February Books

 

After having just graduated with a degree in shoe design, and trying to get her feet on the ground, Cindy is working for her stepmother, who happens to be the executive producer of America's favorite reality show, Before Midnight. When a spot on the show needs filling ASAP, Cindy volunteers, hoping it might help jump-start her fashion career, or at least give her something to do while her peers land jobs in the world of high fashion.

Turns out being the only plus size woman on a reality dating competition makes a splash, and soon Cindy becomes a body positivity icon for women everywhere. What she doesn't expect? That she may just find inspiration-and love-in the process. Ultimately, Cindy learns that if the shoe doesn't fit, maybe it's time to design your own.

Pages: 304

Laughing Shall I Die explores the Viking fascination with scenes of heroic death. The literature of the Vikings is dominated by famous last stands, famous last words, death songs, and defiant gestures, all presented with grim humor. Much of this mindset is markedly alien to modern sentiment, and academics have accordingly shunned it. And yet, it is this same worldview that has always powered the popular public image of the Vikings—with their berserkers, valkyries, and cults of Valhalla and Ragnarok—and has also been surprisingly corroborated by archaeological discoveries such as the Ridgeway massacre site in Dorset.

Was it this mindset that powered the sudden eruption of the Vikings onto the European scene? Was it a belief in heroic death that made them so lastingly successful against so many bellicose opponents? Weighing the evidence of sagas and poems against the accounts of the Vikings’ victims, Tom Shippey considers these questions as he plumbs the complexities of Viking psychology. Along the way, he recounts many of the great bravura scenes of Old Norse literature, including the Fall of the House of the Skjoldungs, the clash between the two great longships Ironbeard and Long Serpent, and the death of Thormod the skald. One of the most exciting books on Vikings for a generation, Laughing Shall I Die presents Vikings for what they were: not peaceful explorers and traders, but warriors, marauders, and storytellers.

Pages: 368

Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young

Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This. Is so much. Everything. I can’t. I just. I want to find the right words to explain why, or even how this grabbed me by the throat and squeezed until I forgot how to even breathe and no longer even cared that I couldn’t. But I can’t. I’ll try, but I already know I’m going to fail to do it justice.

This YA fantasy, reminiscent of a Viking culture, is one of my favorite reads of 2018 so far, and I’m already 171 books deep and have read some pretty amazing stuff. I currently can’t name any of those other titles, because I only have eyes for Sky in the Deep right now, and as a result, everything else has suddenly paled in comparison.

This is absolutely brutal and stark, but with so much texture and depth and richness of the world that I want to throw away my flip-flops and messy bun for battle armor and braids. The MC is pure wrath and solid conviction, and I love that her level of ferocity and concept of honor is paired with so much raw emotion.

On a worse note, this novel is so incredible that it has completely crippled me with self-doubt, and I’m now floundering with my current writing project. So I both love that it could destroy me like this, and I hate that I allow myself to be made small in comparison. Probably, in a few days, after I pick myself back up off the floor and stop reeling, I’ll try to resolve this crisis of writing faith. For now, I mostly just want to pick this story back up and bury myself deep inside the world again. And then again and again.

As an aside, if you can’t handle blood, gore, battle, and violence, then you will struggle with this book, but I suggest you find a way to handle those things, if at all possible, as there is so much heart you’ll be missing out on if you pass this one up.

Book 171 read in 2018

Pages: 352

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a pretty solid read on Norse mythology, which just happens to be a topic I've been studying. There's still something about Gaiman's writing that doesn't quite click with me (yes, I know, I'm the only human alive who feels this disconnect), so I struggled at first.

In the end, I stuck with it, because I wanted a good overview of Norse mythology and knew this was going to provide it. Somewhere around 1/3 of the way in, I started to get comfortable with the style and began to really enjoy this from a storytelling perspective and not just as research. There's definitely some good stuff here.

Book 162 read in 2018

Pages: 304

MORE VIKINGS: SORRY, PEOPLE

Vikings by Valerie Bodden
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The content is minimal but okay. Basic and simple, which is probably to be expected at this level.

However, the format isn't great. Text running different directions is annoying, and I found reading the spiral to be especially aggravating, though perhaps a child more patient than I would do so.

I also don't love the pastels, and very few of the pictures have captions, which I found to be frustrating. Don't show me something and then fail to tell me what it is. Argh!

Overall, not bad for a starter book on vikings. Could be better. Could be worse.

Book 146 read in 2018

Pages: 32

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Viking Raiders by Anne Civardi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Okay, this is by far one of my favorite Viking reference books (out of the 12-ish that I've read so far), even though it's written for kids (probably because of that). It provides so much straightforward information about the Vikings in a format that is very easy to peruse and consume. It's both informative and fun to look at.

This text has a bit of a graphic novel feel about it, because it uses pictures and explanations to help explain Viking life, with big sprawling two page scenes full of descriptions for what's going on in the pictures. It did a great job of helping me better understand what a Viking village might have looked like, what the inside of a Viking longhouse might have looked liked, and all the different parts of ships and ship building.

I really love this one so much that I may see if it's possible to buy a copy.

Pages: 36

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Vikings by Kenneth W. Harl
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is an interesting course, with 36 different lectures on the Vikings. I found it to be engaging, and while some of the lectures were more interesting to me and my research than others, this was overall an excellent series.

The professor really knows his information, and if you are looking on a reliable and more in-depth resource on Vikings that is still captivating, then this may be for you.

For the lectures that were really of interest to me, I was all in and hanging on every word. If there are lectures that are less interesting to you, then you may be able to skip some of them. However, you never know when information might tie across from one lecture to the next, so I went through all 36. I just took a bit more out of some than others, depending on the topic, my interest, and how relevant it was to the specific research I was doing.

Since I enjoyed this so much, I may check out courses on other topics the next time a research bug hits me. Also, I suspect once I complete my research, I may go back and listen to specific lectures from this series that really bring a topic full circle, to make sure I got the whole picture correct.

Pages: 421

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Vikings: A Guide to the Terrifying Conquerors by Sean McCollum
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a great, basic resource. I really liked the format and the way the information was divided up. It was easy to consume, and it had a good combination of pictures to text for the targeted age range. While it would be a great resource for kids, it's also handy for adults. It covered some information about basic Viking life that I have wanted but didn't find in other longer resources. I'm a fan of this straightforward and easy to read approach.

Book 158 read in 3028

Pages: 48

Viking Research: Starter Collection

All About: Venturesome Vikings by P.S. Quick
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm planning to dive into a bit of research on Vikings, so while I wait for heftier texts to arrive, I checked out a few available resources on audiobook. I wanted to develop a better basic understanding of Vikings, so that it makes it easier to approach potentially heavier and denser texts.

This book would be great for that 8-12 age range, but it's also handy for adults. It gave me a good basic overview of some things I should be aware of and potentially investigate further, in regards to Vikings. If I had just needed to learn a few basics, this book would have covered it. It was also engaging, and I'm happy that I read it.

Book 139 read in 2018

Pages: 93

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The Norsemen: Understanding Vikings and Their Culture by Michael D.C. Drout
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a highly engaging, well-researched collection of lectures on the Norsemen, including Viking history, culture, mythology, and religion. I love it, because it reminds me of a favorite college professor who really broke things down and explained what parts of beliefs are true and what parts of those beliefs are missing which would help further explain the full truth of a culture, people, or incident.

Anyway, I’m preparing to do a bit of heavy Viking research, for. . . reasons. So I tackled this as a warm-up to get me interested in the topic and start developing a base layer of knowledge and understanding. This was excellent for that, and I may go back and listen to it again after I finish my research, as there are some really interesting thoughts and ideas here that I’d probably like to consider/reconsider after I do a bit more research.

Book 140 read in 2018

Pages: (See note in chart)

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Asgard Stories: Tales from Norse Mythology by Mary H. Foster
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

These stories are okay, and it helped me gain a somewhat better understanding of the Gods of Norse religions, though I question if personal biases were in play here that make this a less than valid source. However, I didn’t read this for specifics, so much as just to get a baseline for some of the Norse mythology before doing further and more in-depth research into the matter. For that purpose, this was somewhat useful.

The presentation isn’t as engaging as it could be, as although the information is shared in a story format, it’s a bit flowery (lots of adjectives that are often redundant and aren’t helping the stories along). Seriously, it feels like almost every noun has an adjective to describe it, which just makes me think they should have used better verbs and nouns, so that so many adjectives wouldn’t be necessary.

Anyway, why that is annoying is because there tends to be too much telling, with a lot of passive sentences in some sections, and we all know that when it comes to engaging stories, active sentences and showing are almost always preferred over passive and telling.

Basically, this crosses the weird divide in the land of nonfiction, as it’s not presented in a textbook/ report/ essay/ lecture based nonfiction format, but it also doesn’t read easily like fiction does. In the end, it’s less engaging than fiction, which means I might have actually preferred a more clinical approach in this instance.

Book 141 read in 2018

Pages: 99 pages

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Tales from the Norse Legends by Edward Ferrie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I definitely do not recommend the audio version of this book, as it is very poorly recorded and cued. It’s almost impossible to hear the story at even the loudest volume. To make it worse, they added in really loud background music, which makes it even more difficult to actually hear the story.

I supposed they did that for dramatic effect, but the reader is good and could have pulled it off much better without background noise. When I can barely hear a story, and it’s interrupted again and again by loud music that completely covers the reader, that makes it even more difficult to connect to the work.

Honestly, this isn’t bad. It’s better than the last book I read on stories of Norse mythology. It is probably even better in print, but I doubt I will revisit it in another format, as I suspect I can find better collections. Something more in-depth would probably suit me better at this point, but if you want a quick glimpse, this might work for you.

Book 142 read in 2018

Pages: 67

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The Vikings by Frank R. Donovan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've been doing some research on Vikings, and as a result, I've been reading different resources related to the topic. I really liked this one. It's easy to read and comprehend, and it hits you with straightforward information, without feeling boring or dry. I used this list to help make a list of ideas and topics that I want to research further.

This focused a lot on the travels, conquering, and spreading of the Vikings and elements of their culture across continents and time. That was great for me, because I've already read two books on Norse mythology and stories of Asgard, as well as a couple of other really brief and general books about the Vikings.

I listened to the audiobook, which was good and engaging.

Book 143 read in 2018

Pages: 109

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The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings by Lars Brownworth
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

There's some really great information here, and at first, I was really enjoying this one. I previously had read some very flowery renditions of Norse mythology that hadn't sat quite as well with me, so the straightforward, no nonsense approach of this text really appealed to me.

Then it all became a bit textbook heavy and dense, and I started to lose focus. It would probably be best not to attempt to get through this in one sitting, but that's what I did. Now my brain is exhausted, but not in a pleasant way. I have to confess that the longer I read, the less I truly absorbed the information.

I listened to this on audio, which I think helped me stay focused and on track, but there's so much to take in that I sometimes wished I could just see the text. It's definitely more of a research resource, which is actually why I read this. I'm getting ready to dive into some Viking research and thought this would help get my brain in the right mode. I'm hoping I absorbed some useful information so that when my heftier texts arrive, it will be easier for me to read those.

Book 144 read in 2018

Pages: 302

View all my reviews

The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell

This is the first book in the The Saxon Stories, which tell the tale of Alfred the Great and his descendants through the eyes of Uhtred, an English boy born into the aristocracy of ninth-century Northumbria, captured by the Danes and taught the Viking ways. The story begins with the Danes invading Uhtred's north England home, killing his father in battle, and his capture. His captor takes a liking to him, and teaches him to be a warrior. As he matures, he fights for the Danes, but plot twists lead him back to the English side, to serve King Alfred. This book concludes with Uhtred, now a man and married with an infant son, winning a decisive battle against the invading Danes. Cornwell plays up the contrast between the English Catholics and their priests, who heavily influence King Alfred, and the pagan Danes with their lusty warrior ways. A great start to the series. 329 p.