City of Dragons (Volume 3 of the Rain Wild Chronicles) by Robin Hobb

My Rating: 4.6

A small group of weak, half-formed and unwanted dragons and their displaced human companions as they search for a legendary sanctuary, Kelsingra. Now, as the misfit band approaches its final destination, dragons and keepers alike face a challenge so insurmountable that it threatens to render their long, difficult odyssey utterly meaningless.

This series is building as are the characters - both humans and dragons alike. The ending had Sedric, Reyn and Malta back again and I can't wait for the next and final book in this Rain Wild series.

Dragon Haven (Volume 2 of the Rain Wild Chronicles) by Robin Hobb

My Rating: 4.5

As the fledgling dragons and their keepers forge a passage through the uncharted waters of the Rain Wild River, they are supported by the liveship Tarman, its captain, Leftrin, and Alise Finbok, who has escaped her cruel marriage in Bingtown. 

A vial of dragon blood can earn a man enough gold to last a lifetime: there may be some in the party who see the dragons as more valuable as body parts than whole and alive. But it is the Rain Wilds themselves – mysterious, unstable and ever perilous – that may provide the deadliest danger as they make their way towards the mythical haven of Kelsingra. The hazards of that journey will push them all to the very brink of survival.

Hobb has excellent character development but it can still be a slow slog. The Rain Wild Chronicles is my least favorite of the series so far but, still well worth my time. 

Mount Vernon The Love Story by Mary Higgins Clark

My Rating: 4.5

Published in 1969, the book was more recently discovered by a Washington family descendant and reissued as Mount Vernon Love Story. Dispelling the widespread belief that although George Washington married Martha Dandridge Custis, he reserved his true love for Sally Carey Fairfax, his best friend's wife, Mary Higgins Clark describes the Washington marriage as one full of tenderness and passion, as a bond between two people who shared their lives—even the bitter hardship of a winter in Valley Forge—in every way. In this author's skilled hands, the history, the love, and the man come fully and dramatically alive.

This was about George Washington, the man. There is no doubt that he loved Sally but, I also believe that George and Martha (Patsy) had a very deep loving relationship. This captured their marriage, the hardship of the children and their shared love for Mount Vernon. The only complaint I had with this book was that it felt disjointed with bouncing around in the timeline.

Dragon Keeper (Volume 1 of the Rain Wild Chronicles) by Robin Hobb

My Rating: 4.5

Too much time has passed since the powerful dragon Tintaglia helped the people of the Trader cities stave off an invasion of their enemies. The Traders have forgotten their promises, weary of the labor and expense of tending earthbound dragons who were hatched weak and deformed by a river turned toxic. If neglected, the creatures will rampage--or die--so it is decreed that they must move farther upriver toward Kelsingra, the mythical homeland whose location is locked deep within the dragons' uncertain ancestral memories. 

 Thymara, an unschooled forest girl, and Alise, wife of an unloving and wealthy Trader, are among the disparate group entrusted with escorting the dragons to their new home. And on an extraordinary odyssey with no promise of return, many lessons will be learned--as dragons and tenders alike experience hardships, betrayals . . . and joys beyond their wildest imaginings.

Unlike other books in this series, this one took me a while to get in to. Completely different characters and a new scene would be difficult enough but, after Fitz and the Fool well, that is an impossible act to follow. Once I got in to the book, I quite enjoyed the story of the dragons and the people who wanted to help them.

The Secret Sky: A Novel Of Forbidden Love In Afghanistan by Atia Abawi

 My Rating: 4.5

Fatima is a Hazara girl, raised to be obedient and dutiful. Samiullah is a Pashtun boy raised to defend the traditions of his tribe. They were not meant to fall in love. But they do. And the story that follows shows both the beauty and the violence in current-day Afghanistan as Fatima and Samiullah fight their families, their cultures and the Taliban to stay together. 

This book is based on the people the author met and the events she covered during her nearly five years in Afghanistan. I thought that she did an excellent job of making the reader reaize the conditions in Afghanistan today. Definitely worth a read.

Fool's Fate: The Tawny Man Trilogy Book 3 by Robin Hobb

My Rating: 4.9

Fitz, Chade, the Prince and many others set out from Buckkeep to Aslevjal to fulfill the Narcheska's challenge to lay the head of the dragon Icefyre on her hearth. Having abandoned the Fool in Buckkeep, Fitz is guilt-stricken; but determined to keep the fate of his beloved friend at bay, since prophecy foretells the Fool's death if he ever sets foot on the isle of the black dragon. But as their ship draws in towards Aslevjal a lone figure awaits them...

Despite my claim that "I don't like the fantasy genre", I continue to absolutely LOVE this series. Hobb has an incredible ability to make her writing seem simple and readable and yet she captures so much. The icy cold world of Aslevjal had me grabbing a blanket. This book had several VERY gruesome scenes (think Silence of the Lambs, torture, disturbing types of scenes) but it also brought me to tears. Hobb has such amazing ability to make you fall in love with characters and cheer for them that you are shattered and broken with how she treats your beloved friends so ruthlessly and yet seemingly so cavalierly. I do not want this series to end and yet will be immediately jumping in to the Rain Wild Trilogy. 

Amity & Prosperity by Eliza Griswold

 My Rating: 3.6

Stacey Haney, a lifelong resident of Amity, Pennsylvania, is struggling to support her children when the fracking boom comes to town. Like most of her neighbors, she sees the energy companies' payments as a windfall. Soon trucks are rumbling down her unpaved road and a fenced-off fracking site rises on adjacent land. But her annoyance gives way to concern and then to fear as domestic animals and pets begin dying and mysterious illnesses strike her family--despite the companies' insistence that nothing is wrong.

Similar to the Erin Brockovitch story, this brings to light all of the horrific impact that fracking has on the people. I am not a big non-fiction fan but this was well told and felt fair and impartial. As others have pointed out, there are some scientific inaccuracies which calls her work in to question. There is a LOT of details - both about the individuals (trying to build up sentiment) and the science (trying to back her case) that I felt the book could have done without. It was an important story but I am surprised that this was a Pulitzer Prize winner. 

Golden Fool The Tawny Man Trilogy Book 2 by Robin Hobb

My Rating: 4.9

Prince Dutiful has been rescued from his Piebald kidnappers and the court has resumed its normal rhythms. But for FitzChivalry Farseer, a return to isolation is impossible. Posing as Tom Badgerlock, bodyguard to Lord Golden, FitzChivalry becomes the eyes and ears behind the walls. And with his old mentor failing visibly, Fitz is forced to take on more burdens as he attempts to guide a kingdom straying closer to civil strife each day.

The problems are legion. Prince Dutiful’s betrothal to the Narcheska Elliania of the Out Islands is fraught with tension, and the Narcheska herself appears to be hiding an array of secrets. Then, amid Piebald threats and the increasing persecution of the Witted, FitzChivalry must ensure that no one betrays the Prince’s secret—a secret that could topple the Farseer throne: that he, like Fitz, possesses the dread “beast magic.”

Meanwhile, FitzChivalry must impart to the Prince his limited knowledge of the Skill: the hereditary and addictive magic of the Farseers. In the process, they discover within Buckkeep one who has a wild and powerful talent for it, and whose enmity for Fitz may have disastrous consequences for all.

Only Fitz’s enduring friendship with the Fool brings him any solace. But even that is shattered when unexpected visitors from Bingtown reveal devastating secrets from the Fool’s past. Now, bereft of support and adrift in intrigue, Fitz’s biggest challenge may be simply to survive the inescapable and violent path that fate has laid out for him.

I loved that no time had passed at all (maybe one day?) since the last book. It could have just been the same book and I was immediately immersed in the story. I loved the scenes of Fitz teaching Dutiful the Skill. I continue to feel swept away by these books as Hobb's is such a powerful story teller. I am jumping right in to the next one in the series and don't want it to ever end!