Photo from here

If you did not know already I will enlighten you on a fact: I really like John Flanagan's writing and have read all his Rangers Apprentice and Brotherband series... He is the only author our family buys new books from as soon as they come out... or before.... If you have not read any of them, well you should.

I have been watching goodreads and other places for months. Finally we got the synopsis for the next Ranger's Apprentice book, a Prequel to the others! Here is said synopsis;

"When Halt and Crowley discover that the ambitious Morgarath has been infiltrating the Rangers in order to corrupt the corps, the young Rangers travel north to Gorlan, seeking a royal warrant to stop Morgarath before it is too late. By weakening the Rangers, the most powerful force in support of the king, Morgarath plans to steal the throne. Yet when Halt and Crowley arrive in Gorlan, they discover just how close Morgarath's scheme is to taking root. Prince Duncan has already been taken prisoner and an imposter installed in his place. All the while, Morgarath has been earning trust and admiration from the Council of Barons while he secretly assembles a powerful force of his own. If the young Rangers are to prevent the coup from succeeding, they will need to prove their mettle in battles the like of which neither has ever faced."

This is a rather random post of some things that made me smile recently. Some are happenings, others are thoughts or whatnot.....

~ My birthday is Tomorrow!
~ All my five roosters are gone... to the auction
~ Comments on my blog
~ Being introduced to someone; "And this is Clare." "Oh the photographer Clare?" Me mentally OH YESS MEE THE PHOTOGRAPHER. To explain....well I guess I like being known for being a photographer.... I don't know but it was great.
~ BRIGHT Light's nights.... or more after they have gone well and are finished I generally grin then
~ Bible study 
~ Going to the movies with my mum and sisters to see Cinderella.... wow that was a beautiful movie in every way, I highly recommend it. 
~ Getting to be a Betta Reader, that was so fun (google it if you want to know what it is) and then having to correspond with the author a bit too.... they are real people...
~ lying on the grass listening to beautiful birdcalls
~ Taking that perfect photo
~ Things tied up with string and of course the contents of string tied stuff
~ Words.... especially written and written to me with a pen on paper or card... 
~ Chocolate... yes it had to be on here somewhere
~ Winning this book in a giveaway! The edition is just so beautiful and the cover is so soft. Most importantly though it contains a really good story. 

~ Receiving letters in the mail
~ Parcels for me at the post office
~ Touching a wallaby..... A wild one..or more not so wild
~ Being an influence reader for "Draven's light"
~ Racing around outside in a long voluminous, purple cape.
~ Anticipating my ladies afternoon tea....
~ My birthday cake.... it is a book with "in a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit" written on it. Oh and even better it is Dauntless cake. And if you don't know what that is you shall have to read the Divergent series to find out, and it tastes really good.
~ Looking back through old photos

And most other things I have blogged about recently.

This is the first book that I have read by Anne Elizabeth Stengl so I did not know what to expect. I really enjoyed what I got though.  It is one of those books that kept me wanting to know what happens next so badly that I start skipping bits and then having to force myself to read through it properly.  Draven’s Light is a tale within a tale, words mix together and weave an intricate story. It is like a folktale and is dark in places, but the darkness contrasts wonderfully to the light. 


Lovely foreboding hinted through the book came out in the end just as terrifying as I guessed. The story drew me in completely, what with the vivid imagery and epic tale. I really liked how the story frame connects in with the story and even more so by the end, so that the two parts merged seamlessly into one.

The tension is high and the pacing fast but not so fast the reader gets left behind. I like how the red aster flowers pop up throughout the book binding it together in another way (making them a leitmotif.) The characters emotion came across as real, and I felt for them. The ending was sad, but it felt complete like an ending should.

I liked the characters a lot. Draven the coward had such courage though he spent the story believing the name given him. In the end he did realize though. He almost fits the description of an epic character, even making a journey into the underworld. Ita was a well written female character, strong of heart and mind, if not body.  I could empathise in her going on despite pain, though a few times she did some things that seemed a bit out of character, but I liked her. 

My favourite thing about the book would be the contrast of the darkness with the light and the moment when Draven is contemplating snuffing out the light so he can’t see the shadows.  Light shines brighter in the darkness. True courage is going on despite fear.


You should read this book when it comes out. So how have I read an unpublished book you may ask. Well it is because I follow this authors blog and one day I saw the picture below. I was not yet a fan of her books because I hadn't read any, but I thought this would be a great chance especially since I could fill most of the criterias of being an influence reader. And I really enjoy reviewing books. So I requested to be one, a review book  influence reader, stating where I could post reviews and I waited. I was told that If I were chosen to be one I would receive an email on the 23rd..... so I waited then I realized that the date was the american dater and I would actually have to wait until the 24th to find out! 

Obviously for me to have posted this I would have had to receive a copy though! You know you should not judge a book by its cover.... but it is a rather cool cover and even better than that it is a scene from the book. Again I must say I so liked the contrast of light and dark, evil was clearly evil and in the conquered by the light. I like those sort of books. I plan on reading more books of Anne Elizabeth Stengl's soon. 

This book is also apparently book 7.5 in a series but I think they can mostly be read as standalones.  Draven’s Light could definitely be read as a standalone. It finished like a single book should and there is no stuff you should/need to know beforehand.

I know in book reviews you are meant to say things you did not like about the book but I really can't think of anything I didn't like. Just be aware there is that darkness. I would often start complaining about some romance in a book if there was nothing else, but there isn't even any romance in this book that I can protest about. There is love, but nearly all of that is between a brother and sister which is so refreshing. There is also some stuff that could be called romance but it is not exactly "romance' as such and I had no problem at all with that at all. 

Drum roll............. and it is giveaway time. Turns out the Rafflecopter does work.... it also tells me lies and tries to confuse me though. Like telling me that my giveaway has started when it has not and having the dates all the wrong way around. But it seems to be working. So these three books will be the ones the winner... who so ever that may be.... will be able to chose out of. I went with Start Here because it is a similar book to the other two that were voted in... Before You Meet Prince Charming and Making Brothers and Sisters Best friends. Hopefully Rafflecopter continues to work so enter away!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Entry is open to International readers too because I will buy the book and get it posted straight to you; after you chose which one and tell me your address... which for obvious reasons if you are the winner, will be necessary. Unless I already know where you live...

Note (for those who have never used Rafflecopter: with Rafflecopter you need to put in your email then completer however many of the tasks (like commenting on or following my blog) you want. each task gets you one or two entries, the more entries you have the more chance of winning. At the end Rafflecopter will pick a random winner. And once I verify their entries, they have won and so on.

Last night my sisters and I listed to half of a podcast by Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin, titled 'It's Not About Staying at Home'. The first part of it explained exactly what I do believe about women/young ladies working. I would really recommend listening to it. 

The above picture is linked to the place we downloaded it from. I'm sharing it because it is just so good and I totally agree with it. So check it out at least. If for some reason you don't like clicking on pictures.... (tell me why not) you could alternatively click on this {link} which goes to exactly the same place....

This must be about the shortest post I have done... hmm well if I counted you listening to the almost hour long podcast it wouldn't be :D