Books of April

It has been a long time for m to get myself to update the blog. The wedding preparations are finished, the only thing missing is the 16th is only five days away.


1. The Crystal Shard (By R.A. Salvatore): "The crystal shard" is the first forgotten realm novel featuring Drizzt Do'Urden. It tells the story of an exotic artifact called Crenshinibon that twists the mind of a failure would-be wizard into subduing the wild tribes of the region and enslaving the people of Ten Towns, the community of the last frontier on the Spine of the World. It is funny to notice that the hero of the story was going to be the barbarian Wulfgar, but due to the popularity of Drizzt, he was made the hero for the next series (the Dark Elf Trilogy, read in January and February)

With Drizzt, Salvatore creates the ideal roleplay party that can guarantee hours of fun and discovery. The plot of the book is great and the resolution so calculated that leaves you breathless. It sets the stage for the next book of the series.


2. Streams of Silver (By R.A. Salvatore): After the succesful defense of Ten Towns, Bruenor Battlehammer convinces Drizzt to accompany him in the search of his home of old, Mithral Hall. Wulfgar, the barbarian agrees to accompany them in hopes of finding adventure.

The sudden arrival at Ten Towns of Artemis Entreri drives Regis to join the party to form the Company of the Hall. With the challenges of the south, Drizzt's dark heritage and Wulfgar's new conceptions of the new world, along with Regis mysterious appearance, the party does not know that danger lurks not only ahead, but from behind, were the assasin lurks.

Salvatore adds more emotional depth to its characters in search of Mithral Hall. The tale is full of exciting challenges and great storyline.


3. The Halfling's Gem (By R.A. Salvatore): The Icewind Dale trilogy ends in big fashion. Artemis Entreri succeds in capturing Regis the Halfling, but he is so intrigued by the moral code of his equal Drizzt Do'Urden that he decides to lure him to Calimport for a final showdown. Not only Enteri have Regis, but Drizzt's magical companion Gwenwhyvar, and leaves Drizzt and his group trapped in the deep tunnels of Mithrall Hall.

I thought that Salvatore did great on this book, but it seemed that the storyline was forced. The showdown between Drizzt and Entreri was epic, it was just excellent.



4. Daughter of the Drow (By Elaine Cunningham): This was more an experiment. I wanted to know more about the Drow and I liked Elaine Cunningham's work in Elfshadow and Elfsong. It was not as interesting as the two books mentioned but it was not as bad. I thought I would not like the barbarian Fyodor at all but he turned out to be a very interesting and misunderstood character. It was nice to be attached to the character at the same time Liriel Baenre becomes attached to the character, and to discover the human world as a fantastic place as Liriel does so.

The story is about the daughter of powerful archmage Gromph Baenre and the curiosity of Liriel Baenre, his daughter in escaping Menzoberranzan and retaining his abilities in the new world with the help of a curious artifact called Windwalker. At the same time, under pain of death, Fyodor of Rashemen must find the Windwalker and bring redemption to his life.


5. Silverfall: Stories of the Seven Sisters (By Ed Greenwood): I will not comment to much on this book. It was more a gamble and it was not very good. It was filled with too much description, too many antagonists and too powerful spellcasters that you could predict the results on the end. There were moments that were brilliant, but too few on too many pages.

6. Murder on the Orient Express (By Agatha Christie): Once more we have to but bow in the presence of Dame Agatha Christie. The mystery of the Orient Express, already fascinating in film is even more impressive while being read. There is the possibility of playing the game in order to find out the murderer, it is fun. The deductive mind of Hercule Poirot is just brilliant.

Books of March

With three months already on our backs I am glad to inform that I have read so far 20 books this year and I think that before the wedding I will have surpassed my goal of 25 books on the year.

I read 7 this month, and it is a little cheap because two were read in a day (mere entertainment and information, good reading, though)


1. Elfsong (By Elaine Cunningham): I did not have as many high expectations about this one, but I have to say that it is in my top five of books read so far this year. A sequel of Elfshadow (see February entry) follows the adventures of Danilo Thann and his quest in breaking a spell that changes the memory and the lyrics of all bards located in the city of Waterdeep and his uneasy alliance with the rogue elf Elaith "The Serpent" Craulnobber. As I mentioned, I had a great time with this one since it was always so surprising but held a considerable degree of amusement that is hard to find in fantays novels.

2. The Elements of Style (By Williams Strunk, Jr.): I think that this is the masterpiece of masterpieces, the bible to all those that wish to try their hand, and their intellect, in writting coherent ideas, sound literate, and avoid all those annoying mistakes that we always encounter when writing term or final papers. The book is a condensed guide on how to improve someone's style of writing and feel content about. Although it may seem harsh, even rude sometimes, it is one of those books that you read in order to increase your knowledge and not as common entertainment.
3. The Ways of the Samurai (By Carol Gaskin & Vince Hawkins): This books was very entertaining. Although I thought I would find a lot of useful information about the traditions of samurai, the books explains that and much more; even tells of many important battles and dynasties in samurai lore and the ascendance of the samurai class. I talks about Masamune and Musashi and the powerful Shoguns that ruled Japan for more than 500 years.



4. The House of the Lord (By Elder James E. Talmage): My Christmas gift from my wonderful Mom and Dad (Michelle's parents) was a personal goal to read before the wedding. I was glad that I took the time to find such enjoyable reading. It is a great compendium (as all of Elder Talmage's works) of the Salt Lake Temple, offering details about ancient sanctuaries and of the holy character of the House of the Lord in modern times. A not so well known story is that certain photographer obtained pictures of the inside of the Salt Lake Temple and tried to exthorsion the church for money. Elder Talmage was assigned by the President Joseph F. Smith to write the volume, including pictures of the inside of the temple for everyone to see.


5. The Tales of Beedle the Bard (by J.K. Rowling): A very friendly book by at one time the most famous writer in the world, tales of beedle the bard is a nice set of bedtimes stories for wizards and witches. It reflects several aspects of the wizarding word that helps forge the principles for which Harry, Ron and Hermione abode during their seven year saga in the Harry Potter series. I am not going into too much detail since everyone got this book (and that is a FACT!)

My favorite story is "the fountaon of fair fortune" because it illustrates how we can overcome all challenges without the help of any magical or superior power. The story of the magic pot was cute, the tale of babbitty rabbittry was just tedious at times but with sparks of truths around our human nature, as well as the wizarding world and the "warlock's hairy heart" was grotesque and cruel.


I was expecting more from "The tale of the three brothers" but its purpose was already fullfilled in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows"


6. June 6, 1944: The Voices of D-Day (By Gerald Astor): few things can inspire me more than to hear about struggles of war and freedom, particularly the struggles from the American Civil War (1861-1865) and World War II (1938-1945) among other very significant events. I of course am a history maniac so this comes less than a surprise but more as a challenge. Of all those events perhaps the day the tide of the war was completely change was June 6, 1944, the day set for Operation Overlord. On June 6, 1944, the allies stormed the sea to begin the liberation of France and the subsequent march towards Berlin, but not without the sacrifices at Omaha, Utah, Sword, Juno and Gold Beach. 120,000 army troops took part in the greatest amphibious operation in the history of our world, and the good grace of our Heavenly Father allowed them to be victorious for the sake of mankind's freedom.

This book tells stories from those that served in the frontlines that day. This book was a particular challenge since it is the first non-fiction book I have read in a long time, and it was great.



7. Broken Things to Mend (By Elder Jeffrey R. Holland): This book compiles a series of discourse by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. I borrowed this from my dad and it was an excellent reading. Some of the discourses I could remember since they were shared during General Conference in recent years but some I have not heard and it was very interesting how Elder Holland can create empathy with people of all ages by establishing parallels with our world and common beliefs of people.

So far I have read 20 books, I will be posting shortly my new goal for the year, since 25 books since so close in the horizon...

Books of February

This month I found myself reading more varied stuff than last month. I was really enjoying reading to mystery one day, then reading about adventure the next day and then some myth and legend. So far I have read 9 books on the year with a possibility of being 10 by the end of the week.

1. Sojourn (By R.A. Salvatore): After Drizzt Do'Urden finds himself alone in the surface, he discovers he has no knowledge of the terrain, the language and the traditions of humans. He also discovers that the sunlight is affecting him and discovers some of the abilities of the dark elves don't work on the surface. When a family of farmers is slaughter, the hunt for Drizzt begins and he has to do whatever he cans be accepted by humans and other surface races, or if possible, to escape.

2. Poirot's Early Cases (By Agatha Christie): I remember giving this book to my sister for Christmas many years ago, but I never had time to read it myself. It was nice to find out about some great stories about the Great Belgian Detective such as The affair at the Victory Ball, The Chocolate Clue or the Double Clue. I must confess that I wanted to see if I could solve the case before Poirot gave the solution and Christie's imagination still amazes me.

3. Journey to the West (By Wu Ch'eng-en): Probably the most famous chinese fairy tale story of all time, Journey to the West, or Monkey, as it has been known to people in the United States tells the story of how the Monkey King achieved inmortality and after breaking havoc in the court of the Jade Emperor, was imprisoned in the Mountain of the Five Elements. 5000 years later, when Tripitaka, a Buddhist priest volunteered to fetch scriptures from China, releases him, Monkey becomes his disciple and both, with the help of a pig spirit and a water pixie journey to India to deliver scriptures.


4. Elfshadow (By Elaine Cunningham): Arylin Moonblade, a half-elven child, received the moonblade, a magical sword that is transferred from generation to generation, after her mother was murdered. Kymil Nimesil, a gold elf, discovers the potential Arylin posseses and agrees to train her. Many years later, being employed by the secret organization of the Harpers, mysterious members of the group are being murdered close to where her assignments are located. With the help of Danilo Tham, a would-be-bard from the city of Waterdeep, Arylin tries to clear her name and discover who is the mysterious assasin before it kills her.

Books of January

January brought me to the University of Utah and also to get to school on TRAX every day, which means I can read a lot more since I have at least two hours everyday. This are the books I read in January:

1. Spellfire (By Ed Greenwood): Since I love books based on the Forgotten Realms, I decided to read one from the creator of the world and the campaign to feel how the beginning took place. The books tells the first part of the story of Shandril and Narm's and how, after Shandril obtains the rare magic power of spellfire, all the world wants to get a hold of that power. It was great to see organizations such as the Zhentarim and the Cult of the Dragon and some of their characters. The book was very entertaining but it was rather long and repetitve in some portions, specially since Greenwood tried to include as many characters as he could.


2. Fablehaven (By Brandon Mull): I really liked this book, it was a good introductory book to a series that gets better and better. It tells the story of Kendra and Seth as they are dropped off by their parents to stay for seventeen days with their grandparents. Things are not what they seem and Kendra and Seth discover a wonderful secret about the world Fablehaven, to which their grandfather is the caretaker.




3. Exile (By R.A. Salvatore): Exile continues the story of Drizzt Do'Urden ten years after he leaves Menzoberranzan up until he escapes to the surface. In this book Drizzt is running away from his evil family yet he finally find friends and learns how to live a pecaful life as he encounters Belwar Dissengulp, a deep gnome. They are also running away from Zaknafein's wraith, risen by Drizzt's evil mother to hunt him down.



4. Fablehaven: Rise of the Evening Star (By Brandon Mull): The second book of the Fablehaven series begins a week before summer break as Kendra and Seth find a great threat in Kendra's school. Led to steal an artifact from a mortuary, they have to escape to Fablehaven to protect themselves from another threat by the Society of the Evening Star, which is looking for five artifcats that will break open the prison containing many demons to unleash and rule the world.


5. Fablehaven : Grip of the Shadow Plague (By Brandon Mull): This one os even better than the last one. Strange things are happening in Fablehaven, where creatures of light are been transformed into creatures of darkness. Not only that, but Kendra and Warren have to go to another secret preserve to recover another artifact. Also, the true identity of their greatest foe may be revealed at the end of the book.

Valentine's Day

I had the best valentine's day weekend. The first great thing of the weekend was when Michelle came for our Spanish Branch Valentine celebration. We had a great meal and a funny contest and we took some great pictures. It was fun to see how some couple participated in this "Know your wife" contest and how the wives reacted when the husbands did not get an answer right.

The food was really good, with meat and some potatoes that were really good.

My parents also had a great time participating in that competition and taking pictures. It started snowing after 9 o'clock so we were scared that the weather would not be as great for Saturday.

When Saturday came, it was snowing and it snowed really hard around 10:30 and 11:30 but things started to get better around the time I left for Ogden.

The day was magical. Michelle was looking so beautiful I was speechless when I saw her. We went to Olive Garden, where Michelle had her Chicken Alfredo and I had Chicken Parmigiana, which was really good. We didn't wait that long and were fully satisfied when we left. Mom and Dad gave us an Olive Garden Gift card on Friday so it was great to use it the very next day.

Then we wanted to go to the movies but there was too many people so we ended up watching "The Witches" and it was as usual pretty funny. It is about this kid that stumbles upon a witches convention and they turned him into a mouse. It is pretty neat.

On Monday we realize that we only have less than three months for the wedding, and that is really exciting. I hope may comes soon.

Today was a real busy day. This entire week has been really busy but everything has been great.

It all started on the weekend with Michelle, shopping, mom and dad and more stuff. On monday I was at Michelle's place and we had a great time, really great by the way.

Today we had our little trip from SLC to Atlanta. Of course, since it was Southwest, we had plenty of room for our legs and there was no assigned seats, so it was great. Although I have to admit I was a little claustrophobic from time to time, and I was really tired.

Since we had never been in Albuquerque, New Mexico, mom and I decided to inspect the airport. We have a couple of pictures.

Later, when we arrived at Birminghan, we drove for about two and a half hours to Atlanta with Louis, who came to pick us up at the airport. We found a much bigger, brighter and cuter Sophia, although she took sometime in opening to us.

In the end, we are happy for the trip.

Meditations of Thanksgiving Weekend

Thanksgiving came and went as fast as we expected it to be, yet it was a weekend filled with many great memories and moments.

It all started after I left work on Wednesday. I was so eager to leave and it was nice that when the clock hit 3:30pm I was free. The day went by with all preparations for Thanksgiving dinner, which included buying some stuff for my mom to take a salad and a quesillo, then setting up some garland in the kitchen and finally watching some movie or TV show. I did not watched anything but played a little bit with my PS2. I did really well playing football and that was really fun.

Thursday was really nice. We went to Aunt July's house to celebrate Thanksgiving with Michelle's family. We had so much stuff, including a peanut butter stuffing, some orange rolls that were delicious, mashed potatoes, ham and the traditional turkey. I was so full and yet I ate less of what I expected to have. I was still full though.

On Thursday night my parents and I visited with Michelle's family and we had a great time. We had peanut butter brownies, chocolate cake (which Michelle made) and the quesillo mom made. It was all so good and I was really full after we ate some. Greg, Michelle's brother was so funny speaking in spanish, we had a blast.

Friday was nice since we put our little Christmas tree up and went to get some shopping done. I got some gifts but most of the day we were up with the tree. While watching the tree, I watched LSU and Arkansas game. My sister and her husband were watching it in Baton Rouge and were really disappointed, as well as the rest of the family when LSU lost by 1. Too bad.


Saturday I had the chance to visit with the other side of Michelle's family. We went to Temple Square to watch the lights later that day but went first to the Lion House to have some lunch, which was really good and then went to see the play "Savior of the World" whcih tells about Christ's birth and then of his resurrection. That was very nice and we could feel the spirit strongly as the play developed. I felt grateful that we could spend some time together and enjoy it while we were there. Later we saw the lights and took some pictures, which was fun.

Today me and Michelle went to her church in Ogden then we came to y parents to have some dinner and then we went to see the Oquirr Mountain Temple, and of course, took some pictures.



In general, I did enjoy this weekend very much.