Shannon's profile

889 ratings (3.99 avg)
404 reviews
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Shannon's bookshelves

read ‎(920)
currently-reading ‎(5)
to-read ‎(500)
fantasy ‎(325)
2008 ‎(176)
ya ‎(159)
romance ‎(147)
fiction ‎(146)
favourite ‎(128)
paranormal ‎(126)
vampires ‎(104)
classics ‎(104)

non-fiction ‎(96)
2007 ‎(94)
2009 ‎(94)
historical-fiction ‎(86)
urban-fantasy ‎(76)
sci-fi ‎(64)
re-read ‎(58)
history ‎(52)
historical-romance ‎(50)
mystery-suspense ‎(42)
humour ‎(41)
apocalyptic-post-apocalyptic ‎(39)

not-worth-it ‎(39)
short-stories ‎(36)
book-club ‎(35)
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shape-shifters ‎(33)
erotica ‎(31)
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cooking ‎(29)
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memoir ‎(17)
psychological-thriller ‎(16)
books-for-teaching ‎(16)

crime ‎(15)
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essays ‎(12)
comics ‎(12)
critical-theory ‎(11)
review-copy ‎(11)
autographed ‎(10)
religious ‎(10)
dystopian ‎(10)
myth ‎(9)

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Shannon is currently reading

	06/30 Shannon is currently reading: Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled--and More Miserable Than Ever Before (Paperback) by Jean M. Twenge bookshelves: currently-reading, non-fiction	my rating:
	2 comments
	03/24 Shannon is currently reading: How to be Single (Paperback) by Liz Tuccillo bookshelves: chick-lit, currently-reading	my rating:
	recommended to Shannon by: Simon & Schuster UK add a comment
	01/02 Shannon is currently reading: The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century (Paperback) by Thomas L. Friedman bookshelves: currently-reading, history, non-fiction, political-science	my rating:
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Shannon's recent updates (rss)

July 05

Shannon made a comment in the group Fantasy Book Club—The Griffin Rises Again! topic:

Shannon wrote: "I LOVE the new covers, they're gorgeous! Great news Leslie, I'm so glad they're getting a new print ...more "

Shannon read and liked Boof's review of The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox:

"I completely fell in love with this book in the one sitting it took me to read it (because I just couldn't put it down).

This is the story 2 young girls, Kitty and Esme, growing up in the 20's and 30's in first colonial India and then in ...more "

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Shannon marked as to-read:
Blue Moon (The Immortals, Book 2)
by Alyson Noel (Goodreads author)
bookshelves: to-read

my rating:

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Shannon made a comment on Shannon's review of Twilight (Twilight, #1)

Shannon wrote: "I read the book first and thought the movie was pretty corny, to be honest. Fun, but corny. I haven'...more "

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Shannonvoted on the poll:Which book would you like to read for our August group discussion?

July 04

Shannon gave

to:
In Ashes Lie (The Onyx Court Book 2)
by Marie Brennan
bookshelves: 2009, fantasy, historical-fiction, review-copy

my rating:

read in July, 2009

Shannon said: "It is 1636, the reign of Charles I and a time of upheaval in the English Parliament. With pressure from the Puritans, pressure against Charles Stuart's spendthrift ways and his requests for more money to fund his war in Scotland, the Commons is being...more It is 1636, the reign of Charles I and a time of upheaval in the English Parliament. With pressure from the Puritans, pressure against Charles Stuart's spendthrift ways and his requests for more money to fund his war in Scotland, the Commons is being manipulated by a few to put Charles on trial.

Sir Antony Ware, an alderman with a seat in the Commons, toes a fine line between Royalists and Puritans, trying to keep his seat long enough to do some good. For it's not just the mortals of London who are affected, but the fae of the Onyx Hall beneath the city feel the pain and upheaval of the world above.

Antony is the Faerie Queen's consort, the "Prince of the Stone", a mortal co-ruler of the Onyx Court. The Queen, Lune, once loved a mortal man, Michael Deven, and understands as no one else does the ties between the Onyx Hall and London City. The fae of the Hall's close relations with the mortal world brings censure and scorn from other faerie kingdoms, in particular the Scottish Gyre-Carling, Nicneven, who schemes to bring them down in retaliation for the death of Mary, Queen of Scots.

In 1666, the Great London Fire is started by an errant spark from a baker's oven and goes on to completely destroy the old city as well as more beyond its walls. In the Onyx Hall, the Winter Hag breathes the cold wind of death through the palace at the behest of Nicneven. As a great Fire Dragon is born of the ever-increasing flames, so the threat from all sides increases and Lune is put in the untenable position of having to consider the sacrifice of her home, or her throne.

Anyone who knows their British history knows that Charles I was tried and executed by his own parliament, something that had no precedent and has never happened since. It was a corrupted parliament with no authority, but it served its purpose and a brief Commonwealth and military rule led by Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector, followed. (Despite what the book's blurb says, the political upheaval etc. didn't occur in 1666.)

The Fire of 1666, the year after the Black Plague devastated the population of London, is another big event in the country's history. As historical fiction, In Ashes Lie is a detailed, vigourous read. I haven't studied this century since first year uni and frankly, I'd forgotten all the details, so it was refreshing to revisit it all in a fictional context.

In contrast, the fantasy side of the novel is sadly lacking. The old city of London, with the Tower and London Bridge, St Paul's Cathedral and the Exchange, Cheapside and Gracechurch Street (recognisable by any Pride and Prejudice fan), is a place of mystery, darkness, squalor and myth. Less squalor these days I'm sure, but the whole of England is inseparable from its folklore. There's an atmosphere of promise, a hint of something Other, something fae, hidden unless you know where to look for it.

The trouble is, I never got a chance to see beyond a surface picture. Few of the faeries were fleshed out - Lune, yes, but the sprite Irrith, the knight Cerendel, the giant Prigurd, the brownies Gertrude and Rosamunde and a bare few others were lightly touched upon, their personalities hinted at. I might have been able to appreciate this mysteriousness but the atmosphere was missing. The novel revolves entirely on plot and a forward momentum through the decades, from 1636 to 1666, and selfishly hoards its characters' more intimate natures, feelings and motivations.

The structure worked well most of the time, alternating between short visits to the fire in 1666, where time moves more slowly as they battle the flames, the Dragon, the Hag and Nicneven, and the lead-up to the fire, jumping over near decades in the interim. There're always some elements of the future that you know of, and others that haven't yet been revealed, which maintains some suspense and tension. Yet the anticipation is not always there, and as bogged down in worldly politics as it can get, it didn't always hold my interest. I also sometimes became disorientated, struggling to remember whether something happened in the now or in the future.

In a way, I was disappointed that Brennan didn't interweave the fae with the mortals more closely - history happened regardless of the fae, rather than truly influenced or affected by it, leaving you wondering what the point is. On the one hand, I like that it wasn't contrived in that way, but on the other I kept thinking it would be made more exciting if it were. Needless to say, I fluctuated in my response a great many times while reading this.
(less) "

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Shannon made a comment in the group Goodreads Feedback—A New Spammer topic:

Shannon wrote: "I came to post about "milooe" too Kathrynn - it seems to be an advertising spammer for basketball sh...more "

July 03

Shannon made a comment on Shannon's review of The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

Shannon wrote: "I'll hopefully be able to start on it soon - I've promised myself July will be a month for some seri...more "

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Shannon made a comment on Shannon's review of Schott's Original Miscellany

Shannon wrote: "No! It's taken me years to find this!! But you can get it used from Amazon for 1 cent apparently!! "

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Shannon read and liked Kiwiria's review of Dead Famous:

"I was completely fascinated by this book from the very first page. A murder committed in a "Big Brother"-type environment would have seemed impossible to achieve - and certainly very easy to solve - so how could it make for an interesting b...more "

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More of Shannon's books…

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Shannon's favorite authors

Isobelle Carmody
author of
Obernewtyn

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author of
A Hunger ...

Michael Chabon
author of
The Amazi...

Kelley Armstrong
author of
Bitten

Roald Dahl
author of
Matilda

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author of
King's Dr...

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Shannon's favorite quotes

"She is too fond of books, and it has turned her brain."
— Louisa May Alcott (Work: A Story of Experience)

tags: books

709 people liked it

"God is a comedian playing to an audience that is too afraid to laugh."
— Voltaire

57 people liked it

"A room without books is like a body without a soul."
— Marcus Tullius Cicero

tags: books, soul

8,089 people liked it

"I write this sitting in the kitchen sink."
— Dodie Smith (I Capture the Castle)

tags: first-sentence

33 people liked it

"I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book."
— Groucho Marx

tags: books, humor, reading, television

2,073 people liked it

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Shannon's groups (recent posts)

SciFi and Fantasy Book Club — 1947 members — last activity 11 minutes ago
Welcome to the SciFi and Fantasy Book Club!

SciFi Czar: Brad
Fantasy Czar: Brooke

Are you a GoodReads Author of SciFi or Fa...more

Paranormal Romance — 1672 members — last activity 4 hours, 3 min ago
Welcome to Paranormal Romance! This group is for the discussion and recommendation of paranormal romances and paranormal romantica, along with simila...more

Think [the box] ing — 157 members — last activity 4 hours, 30 min ago
For all those who appreciate thinking, discussing and debating using reason, logic and wit.

Philosophy, politics, theology, economics, psyc...more

Bookworms Inc. — 54 members — last activity 04/17/2009 06:26AM
The purpose of this community is two-fold.

First of all, it is a place for people to discuss a predetermined 'Book of the month' - similar ...more

True North — 252 members — last activity 8 hours, 27 min ago
True North -- the direction for civil discourse on important issues, book-related and not; the things that matter most to us, the things that get us u...more

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