Isabel Preto Preto itibaren Germolles-sur-Grosne, Fransa
In times of trial, war, or boredom, I'm drawn to Jane Austen. I picked up Sense and Sensibility tired of feeling like the world is thisclose to falling apart, and tired of feeling like there is so little for me to do about it. I do find her writing refreshing. In a world where one's primary occupation before marriage is to snap up a good husband (or wife), and after marriage to secure and protect the wellbeing of one's family (and of course, to get all of one's nice acquaintances married well), I can temporarily forget the absolute mess we live in. And every time I read Jane Austen, though she writes primarily to entertain, I find myself astonished with the virtues of her sympathetic characters (especially when I compare them to my own lack). Yes, her world is silly, and it is intended to be so. But not all of the people living in that world are silly. In fact, I am sillier than most, if not all, of Jane's heroines, and I have benefitted as much or more from these sketches of prudence as I fancy I have from the consoling balm of a story that turns out right in the end.
Brandon Sanderson has a very interesting and enthralling (to me at least) take on magic, and how it would work in his universe. Mistborn to me was the best in this saga, drawing you in with passionate interesting characters you want to win. He also is very detailed in his world building, I love learning the history of writers worlds, and he presents it in a way that wasn't boring. The first Brandon Sanderson book I read, after I learned he would be picking up where Robert Jordan left off, I really liked the first one a lot better than the rest in this particular saga.
Another great book. I enjoy how, when she starts on the next person in the trilogy, she still manages to include the previous characters. I also really like that she shows that it is just as complicated, for an older women to committ to someone again, as it is for a younger woman.