Title: The Way of KingsAuthor: Brandon Sanderson
Page Count: 1001
Keywords: Magic, War, Kingdoms
Genre: Fantasy
Younger Readers: This is adult fantasy but there does not appear to be any language or sexual content yet.
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Speak again the ancient oaths,
Life before death.
Strength before weakness.
Journey before Destination.
and return to men the Shards they once bore.
The Knights Radiant must stand again.
Roshar is a world of stone swept by tempests that shape ecology and civilization. Animals and plants retract; cities are built in shelter. In centuries since ten orders of Knights fell, their Shardblade swords and Shardplate armor still transform men into near-invincible warriors. Wars are fought for them, and won by them.
In one such war on ruined Shattered Plains, slave Kaladin struggles to save his men and fathom leaders who deem them expendable, in senseless wars where ten armies fight separately against one foe.
Brightlord Dalinar Kholin commands one of those other armies. Fascinated by ancient text The Way of Kings, troubled by visions of ancient times, he doubts his sanity.
Across the ocean, Shallan trains under eminent scholar and notorious heretic, Dalinar’s niece Jasnah. Though Shallan genuinely loves learning, she plans a daring theft. Her research hints at secrets of the Knights Radiant and the true cause of the war.
Title: Queen of ShadowsAuthor: Sarah J. Maas
Page Count: 645
Keywords: Fae, War, Family, Love
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Younger Readers: Not appropriate for young children. Some sexual content and language.
Synopsis from Goodreads:
The queen has returned.
Everyone Celaena Sardothien loves has been taken from her. But she’s at last returned to the empire—for vengeance, to rescue her once-glorious kingdom, and to confront the shadows of her past…
She has embraced her identity as Aelin Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen. But before she can reclaim her throne, she must fight.
She will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die for her. She will fight for her friend, a young man trapped in an unspeakable prison. And she will fight for her people, enslaved to a brutal king and awaiting their lost queen’s triumphant return.
The fourth volume in the New York Times bestselling series continues Celaena’s epic journey and builds to a passionate, agonizing crescendo that might just shatter her world.
Title: The Walking Dead, Compendium 1Author: Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, Tony Moore, Cliff Rathburn
Page Count: 1088
Keywords: Zombies, Survival, Family, Friendship, Death
Genre: Comic
Younger Readers: Sexual content and language present.
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Introducing the first eight volumes of the fan-favorite, New York Times Best Seller series collected into one massive paperback collection.
In a world ruled by the dead, we are forced to finally start living. With The Walking Dead #1-48, this compendium features more than one thousand pages chronicling the start of Robert Kirkman's Eisner Award-winning story of zombie horror, from Rick Grimes waking up alone in a hospital, his band of survivors seeking refuge on an isolated farm and the controversial introduction of Woodbury despot, The Governor.
Title: The Almost Nearly Perfect People: Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian UtopiaAuthor: Michael Booth
Page Count: 372
Keywords: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Anthropology, Culture, History
Genre: Non-Fiction
Younger Readers: Might be difficult for children to understand but not overly inappropriate.
Synopsis from Goodreads:
The whole world wants to learn the secrets of Nordic exceptionalism: why are the Danes the happiest people in the world, despite having the highest taxes? If the Finns really have the best education system, how come they still think all Swedish men are gay? Are the Icelanders really feral? How are the Norwegians spending their fantastical oil wealth? And why do all of them hate the Swedes?
Michael Booth has lived among the Scandinavians, on and off, for over ten years, perplexed by their many strange paradoxes and character traits and equally bemused by the unquestioning enthusiasm for all things Nordic that has engulfed the rest of the world, whether it be for their food, television, social systems or chunky knitwear.
In this timely book he leaves his adopted home of Denmark and embarks on a journey through all five of the Nordic countries to discover who these curious tribes are, the secrets of their success and, most intriguing of all, what they think of each other. Along the way a more nuanced, often darker picture emerges of a region plagued by taboos, characterized by suffocating parochialism and populated by extremists of various shades.
They may very well be almost nearly perfect, but it isn't easy being Scandinavian.
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