Xepherus Reads

Hello, Fellow Book Worms,   In 2015 St. Martins Press sent me an advanced reader copy of Kerry Wilkinson's latest novel, Renegade, for review. It was the second book in the Silver Blackthorn Trilogy, a dystopia-futuristic, young adult series set in England. Even though I did not read the first book, Wilkinson's writing was excellent enough to catch me up on the story thus far. After reading Renegade (my review can be found in my blog archives) I was left wanting more. I decided to track down the first book, and found it on Book Outlet at a very reasonable price.     Reckoning begins an exciting and often heartbreaking coming of age story of Silver Blackthorn. She is an ordinary (to herself at least) girl living a quiet life in the post-war English village of Martindale. The world has drastically changed since her parents were children. Many wars have ravaged the world, and countries have fought against one another for years. King Victor has risen, almost god-...

Hello, Fellow Book Worms,   There it is. That pile of unread books that still haunt your bookcases. They taunt you, saying that you will never read them. Are they true? Or will you change your ways, and give them their due audience?    In 2016 I plan to be a bit strict with my reading habits. This will include the following: Take seven books that I began and never finished out of my bookcase. Set them next to my bed standing up between bookends on my nightstand. Make sure I have bookmarks paced in the last section I read. If these books have audiobooks, I will download them to my phone for easy access. I will take one book and promise to read at least thirty pages a night. I will take earphones with me in case I can read them traveling or walking. After I am done with the seven books, I will begin the process again.   It is so easy to want to do something, then not do it. We may have valid reasons, or we may have BS reasons. Either way, make the ...

Welcome, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons!   If you are like me and love Star Wars, this has been an amazing year for you. I have loved reading the books released in Disney-Lucasfilm's new canon, and I have found the new streamlined canon to be fun and refreshing. New characters are being introduced and peppered throughout the latest materials. Of interest, we have seen these new characters being present at major battles that we know very well from watching the movies.  But what was the story of those men and women in the trenches? Enter Twilight Company, brave squadron and the backbone of much of Rebellion's ground strikes against the Empire.  Star Wars- Battlefront: Twilight Company by Alexander Freed (Star Wars: the Old Republic) excels at bringing to the forefront the struggles of the Rebellion's many ground troops. Set during and after Episode V, it is a war novel with a galactic twist that is a page-turner from the first chapter ...