Finished: A Dance With Dragons (Martin) Well, now I've reread the last of the Game of Thrones books and I must wait, what...another year for the next? At least now as I watch the TV show I will know more clearly how they are splintering off from the books. As this book ends we leave Jon Snow betrayed and stabbed four times by his fellow Night Watchmen; Daenerys and her dragon, Drogon, surrounded by Kahl Jhaqo and his dothraki; Sir Barristan Selmy serving as the hand of the queen in Meereen and about to be faced with war with the Yunkai'i; Hizdahr zo Loraq, Dany's husband, imprisoned by Sir Selmy for possible treason; Daario Naharis, Dany's lover, imprisoned by the Yunkai'i; young Prince Quentyn of Dorne dead from his burns from the other two dragons, who he was trying to free and ride; Cersei seemingly contrite and awaiting her fornication trial after being shaved and taking her walk of shame through King's Landing; young King Tommen sitting on the iron throne; Margery, his queen, also awaiting a fornication and treason trial; Tyrion across the sea, being made a Second Son, along with Sir Jorah Mormont, and hoping to turn the Second Son's loyalties in favor of Daenerys; Roose Bolton's army encamped at Winterfell and claiming it as Bolton's; Stannis' army seemingly frozen and squashed by Bolton, according to Ramsay Bolton's message to Jon Snow; Jaime Lannister off with Brienne who, unbeknownst to him, has agreed to slay him for Lady Stoneheart; Asha Greyjoy's captivity called into question when Stannis overtakes those holding her captive; Asha's brother, Theon, and Jeyne (fake Arya, recently wed to and tortured by Ramsay Bolton) both saved and delivered literally at the feet of Asha after escaping the Bolton's captivity at Winterfell; Arya becoming a "no one" and an assassin with the black and white; Prince Doran Martell, the brother of Oberin the Viper, sending one of the Viper's daughters, Nym, to accompany the scarred Myrcella home to King's Landing and sit on the king's counsel; the introduction of Sir Robert Strong, a new knight seemingly built from the dead body of the Mountain by Qyburn, ala Frankenstein; Bran finally with the one-eyed crow, who is really a guy who has grown into a tree and expects Bran to be his successor; Victarian (Asha's uncle) making his way toward Daenerys by ship to claim her as his queen and take her home?; the believed dead son of Rhaegar Targaryen, young Prince Aegon, hidden and raised for years by his father's best friend Jon Connington, arrived in Westeros and taking Storm's End by storm; and Varys, ever loyal to the Targaryens, ending the lives of Qyburn and Kevan Lannister so that he might cause chaos in King's Landing and make the way smoother for the arrival of the rightful heir to the throne, Prince Aegon. Whew...well that's alot! Keep writing George R. R. Martin and don't you DARE kill Jon Snow!

Finished: A Feast For Crows (Martin) My first re-read of my three-plus year reading project. Watching Game of Thrones on television, I decided I need to go back and re-read the last two books of the series to see for myself how the tv series is differing from the books. :-) It is very interesting to see how the stories are going to change just based on watching the first two shows of this season! Now I've got to tackle A Dance With Dragons all over again and then wait, like everyone else, for GRRM to finish the next book!!

Finished: The One and Only (Giffin) A book about a fictitious college football team in a fictitious college town in the very real state of Texas....Texas college football...that about sums it up. :-) Oh, and there were also some relationships between the football coach, the ex-football stars, the socialite coach's daughter, and her best friend, the girl who loved and knew football inside and out; their relationships to each other, and the hold that little Texas college town had on them all. At first I was picturing College Station, Texas as I read...but then the fictional team actually played the Aggies, so I couldn't picture that anymore. Besides...the stadium they described didn't compare atall to Kyle Field at A&M. I intended to listen to this book on my phone while I walked all week, but I couldn't turn it off, so ended up listening to it in the house as well. There was something very poignant about listening to the lilting Texas accent of the narrator who read this book. A lot of great memories came flooding back! :-)

Finished: Love's Labour's Lost (Shakespeare) Eh, not my favorite of Shakespeare's, and I love Shakespeare! He just spent so much time one-upping himself and double-entendre'ing with practically every phrase that the play, with its humorous premise, could have flowed effortlessly, but instead was very confusing to me at times...but maybe I'm just too dense, lol. King Ferdinand of Navarre has proclaimed in his kingdom that all men shall remain celibate for a year in order to further themselves with intellectual studies. His three lords, Berowne, Longaville and Dumaine all lament this decree but sign the oath with their king. Meanwhile, the Princess of France arrives as a spokesperson for her father to handle business with the king. With her are her three ladies, Rosaline, Maria and Katharine. King Ferdinand tells the princess that she must encamp outside the walls of his palace due to his recent decree....yet he unwittingly falls head over heals with the princess. And, each of his three lords falls head over heals in love with one of the maids. Secret, lovelorn sonnets are written by the men, and then the three lords AND the king all find out about each other's longings. I couldn't really understand how the king got around his decree, except that the king and the three lords dressed up as Muscovites and went to woo the princess and the ladies. The princess and the ladies, however, saw through their disguises. As they were all making merriment about their feelings, the princess got a message that her own father had just died. The princess hurriedly packs up to leave, while the king proclaims his love and begs her to stay. The princess tells the king that if he will truly stay celibate for a one year mourning period, that she will hold his love in her heart and marry him then. The three ladies all tell the three lords the same thing, and they all agree, though begrudgingly. Of course, as in most of the comedies of Shakespeare, there are some characters meant to infuse slap-stickish humor into the story, and this one is no exception. Costard, Moth and Don Armado just seemed more out of place in this one. Anyway....I think this was my first true disappointment in the Shakespeare works. I'll keep reading him though. :-)

Finished: Antony and Cleopatra (Shakespeare) Triple-turn'd whore! Out of all the lovely passages that Shakespeare poured into the work, I think that simple line by Antony explains the play pretty succinctly, hee hee. Seriously, though, what did Antony think was going to happen when he fell for the Egyptian ruler who had already had a son by Julius Caesar (by this time deceased)? Antony was so smitten with Cleopatra that he let his heart literally rule his head, causing him to basically hand over his third of the conquered Roman world to the other two members of the ruling triumvirate, Octavius Caesar and Lepidus. Rather perturbed with Antony for running off to play in Egypt while they defended their hold on the world, Octavius and Lepidus call Antony back to Rome to help them in the battle that Sextus Pompey has just declared on them. To appease Octavius and further cement their bond, Antony marries Octavius' sister....wait for it...Octavia. When the triumvirate rides off to meet with Sextus Pompey, they actually come to terms and avoid a battle. However, the minute that Antony heads back to Egypt and Cleopatra, Octavius and Lepidus go back on their word and have a war with Sextus Pompey. Furious, Antony doesn't want anything to do with the war...but he does expect the spoils to be divided into the rightful thirds. Octavius agrees to this, but refuses to release Lepidus, who he had imprisoned during the battle. This prompts Octavius and Antony to finally go to war with each other. Antony, whose prowess is fighting on land, stupidly agrees to a sea battle when Octavius tweaks his pride and implies he is afraid of a sea battle. When Cleopatra promises her ships to back him, Antony heads off to his sea battle with more confidence. When Cleopatra commands her ships to turn tail and run as the battle proves too difficult, Antony hits the lowest point of his life for the great, renowned warrior...he turns tail and follows Cleopatra home, leaving his own ships to fend for themselves. Frankly, I don't think Antony ever recovers from this shame, and Shakespeare's way of describing Antony at this point is heart wrenching. (Not that I felt sorry for him.) Antony eventually pulls up his boot straps and vows to fight Octavius again, this time on land...but when it starts to become clear that he's going to lose the battle, he begins to feel that Cleopatra has betrayed him (triple-turn'd whore!) and is casting her from his life when she gets word of this and has her maidens go and tell Antony that she has killed herself. She hopes this will bring Antony around to her where she can say...just kidding...and they will fall into each other's arms. Instead, the despondent Antony, after failing to get his loyal servant to run him through with a sword, runs himself through. When he gets word that Cleopatra isn't really dead, he has himself taken to her where she moans and laments as Antony dies. Knowing that Octavius will take Egypt from her and drag her through the streets of Rome as a triumph of his war (even though he swears he won't), Cleopatra gets her hands on the poisonous asps and kills herself. Dang it, says Octavius, because he HAD fully intended to drag her through the streets. Instead, he orders Antony and Cleopatra buried side by side in magnificent tombs. Then, apparently in real life he DID drag their young children in chains through the streets of Rome and according to some history books, gave them to his sister Octavia to raise. Also, Octavius went on to become the first Emporer of the Roman Empire aka Augustus. As usual, a fascinating piece of work by Wm. Shakespeare. :-) Glad I finally read this one!