Book Review of Clive Cussler's The Bootlegger

My husband and I had a 16 hour road trip to northeast Maine, and we spent it listening to all 9 audio CD's of The Bootlegger. It's not exactly literature for the ages, but that was never the point. The Bootlegger is a good time and a fun escape. The story started out a bit slow to start, but after awhile I was fully engrossed in the story and hardly noticed the interstate whizzing by (don't worry I was in the passenger seat).

The Bootlegger is the 7th book in Cussler's Isaac Bell series.  It's the first Isaac Bell story I've read, and I was worried I'd be lost since I was entering pretty late into the series.  The beginning was a bit slow for me since I didn't have the background on the Van Dorne Detective Agency, but overall it wasn't a problem.  The book did a pretty good job bringing newcomers along for the ride.

Premise of the Story
 Isaac Bell is a hero investigator for the Van Dorn Detective Agency.  The Van Dorn Detective Agency is like a weird hybrid between the Pinkerton's and the CIA.  The CIA didn't exist at the book was set, but I mention the CIA similarity because the Van Dorn Detective agency has intelligence gathering across the globe and far more financial resources than the Pinkerton's.

The story is set in the 1920’s in the United States. Prohibition is in full swing so is the black market of bootlegging. Isaac Bell's boss and friend at the Van Dorn detective agency (Joseph Van Dorn) is shot and severely wounded while busting who they thought were run of the mill bootlegger gangs. Bell and the rest of the Van Dorn team take it very personally that Joseph Van Dorn was shot.  Isaac Bell swears to hunt down the perpetrators and bring them to justice, but it turns out that's not as easy as it seems. A potential witness to the shooting is executed in the hospital under police guard in the manner of the Russian secret police.  After digging a bit more, Bell realizes the rum-running team are far from run of the mill bootleggers. They are a network of Bolsheviks who are running rum as a way to finance their plan to upturn the U.S. government. Vast in scope and network, Isaac Bell and the rest of the Van Dorn detectives uncover gang alliances and secret connections from New York to Detroit, to Florida and the Caribbean.

Reasons to Read It 

1. Do you have a long drive? Pick up the audiobook!  I really liked the reading. My only wish is that they'd had a full recording cast or had a female read the female voice parts. 
2. Does reading about speedboat chases, gun fights and conniving Bolshevik assassins sound like it's up your alley? Yes? Then this book is up your alley, 
3. I liked that Cussler gave close third person point of view chapters to a wide array of characters.  Marat Zolner was a great villain, and I especially enjoyed the chapter where he deals with the new overseer sent from Moscow to replace Yuri.  I also enjoyed the Asa Summers chapter where we to see Pauline from Asa's perspective. These changes in point of view made the whole world seem more fleshed out. 
4. I also appreciated the complexity of the antagonists.  I liked the struggle with communist ideals vs the allure of wealth and power that came with being a top bootlegger. I also liked the internal struggle that was shown with the heiress's character. She was weak, but she was interesting, and she showed courage at the end.  I'm still a little confused if her story line ending was relatively innocent or a bit more insidious. 
5. An overall good job with solid female characters, too.  I thought Bell's wife was a pushover until the very end when she arranged for Asa Summers to be Pauline's apprentice in Berlin.  Then I realized that she was actually quite sharp and not to be underestimated. Pauline was a badass. 
6. I also felt like I truly met a whole slew of seedy New York gang members by the end of the story.  I thought Cussler's written dialogue for the gang members was particularly well done, especially the tough, calculated answers they provided when under duress.  

Reasons to Skip It 

1. This book is LONG, and if you're only looking for an action packed book then The Bootlegger might actually disappoint you. There's quite a bit of buildup and plot to uncover. I'll be honest, there were times when my attention faded in and out, mostly during the first third of the book.
2. There are elements of the story that are a bit cliche, and there were a few times I rolled my eyes. 
1. For example, every woman in the story who meets Isaac Bell, falls in love with Isaac Bell (eye-roll). 
2. I also never felt like Isaac Bell was in any real danger no matter how dire the situation.  He was built up to seem too infallible, too much like a wonder boy.  For example, Bell catches a detonated grenade out of the air, instantaneously recognizes the make and model of the grenade and perfectly calculates how long he needs to hold the grenade before successfully throwing it back to his nemesis and blowing them up (another eye-roll).  
3. Even at the end, Bell winds up sustaining fairly significant injuries and just seems to walks them off which was a bit puzzling.  
4. Cussler overuses cliched phrases like "The real McCoy". 
3. Where does all the Van Dorn money come from?? I know Bell is supposed to be independently wealthy and the Van Dorne Agency makes money through all sorts of security gigs and a coveted Coast Guard contract, but Bell seemed to have an utterly unlimited budget when it came to avenging Joseph Van Dorne. It all seemed a bit silly. 

Some final thoughts

I found myself wishing that Cussler would have gone full-fantasy with Isaac Bell and Marat Zolner.  When I say fantasy, I don't mean he should have had orcs show up with a wizard or something.  I liked the largely realistic setting and plot within 1920's North America. But I found myself getting a little too annoyed at Isaac Bell and Marat Zolner's seemingly superhuman abilities (especially in the final boat chase sequence in the hurricane).  Don't get me wrong, I found the ending really enjoyable. But I think the ending and the entire book could have been even better if I could more readily suspend disbelief in the hero and lead villain's super abilities.  If the reader was operating under the assumption that Bell and Zolner were both augmented somehow- think more like Captain America's super serum and less like Magneto-  I would have more easily embraced the action.  

Overall, a fun read with enjoyable characters. 

Alice Through the Looking Glass: Top 10 Changes from the Book to the Movie

Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016 Film)

versus

Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There (1871 Book)

Hi book-lovers and cinephiles,

I wanted to mention the entire audiobook for Through the Looking Glass available on my Youtube channel here. Each chapter is a separate video in the playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwfXGniOxBs&list=PLsZjD2a28wVa63pe8MrBvTXaTE5WnJpoD&index=1

Through the Looking Glass is public domain, and the complete text is also available online.  If you’re interested, I read Through The Looking Glass on the Gutenberg Project’s website, here http://www.gutenberg.org/files/12/12-h/12-h.htm  Also, a reminder that this is not a book review, nor is it a movie review.  It’s a dive into the differences and similarities of the book and the 2016 film. We’ll discuss the setting, a few Easter Eggs the movie included, some major character changes, and overall themes and symbols in both the movie and the book. Finally, you can check out the video edition of this post, here https://youtu.be/5ol4qTVnjVs

Without further ado, let’s jump down the rabbit hole-

1. Looking Glass World versus Wonderland

In the movie, Alice returns to Wonderland. I completely get why the movie did this. For the sake of simplicity and the returning characters, it’s an obvious decision. However, in Lewis Carroll’s books, Wonderland and Looking-Glass World are not the same place. Looking Glass word is divided into squares by a series of little brooks with hedges growing perpendicular to them, to resemble a massive chessboard.  Wonderland has a lot of card playing imagery and Looking-Glass World has chess imagery. Wonderland uses frequent changes in size as a plot device.  Looking glass world uses frequent changes in time and spatial directions. Other than Alice and Dinah (Alice’s cat) none of the characters from Alice in Wonderland carry over to Through the Looking Glass, though some the characters have “mirror-image” counterparts, such as The Mad Hatter and Hatta, Haigher and the March Hare, the Red Queen and The Queen of Hearts.  

2. Looking Glass Room

There’s an iconic illustration of the moment Alice steps through the looking glass and into a  room that is a bizarre reflection of the room she just left. John Tenniel’s original book illustration includes a clock with a face on it. In the book there’s also a chess board with the pieces come alive.  I love that the film included these little Easter eggs from the book. A literal egg they included is Humtpy Dumpty.  He’s a main character in the book. The movie didn’t do that, but I appreciated that they at least did a quick hat tip to him in the film. Tweedledum and Tweedledee are also major characters in the book that have a reduced part in the movie, but one detail about Tweedledum and Tweedledum that the movie kept is that they fight each other with umbrellas after one of their toys gets ruined. And of course, Tweedledee still says “Contrariwise” to everything.

3. Alice

First, let’s talk about Alice’s age, because it’s really different. In the book, Alice is 7 and half. In the movie, it’s not clear exactly how old Alice is, but Mia Wasikowska, the actress who plays Alice, is 26.  I think it’s safe to assume the movie’s version of Alice is at least in her mid-twenties, and she already has a mounting career as a ship captain. A major theme in the book is growing up and the concept of leaving childhood and growing into an adult. The loose plot in the book is centered around a game of chess, in which it’s Alice’s destiny to become a queen. Becoming a queen is kind of a metaphor for growing up or becoming a woman. Despite the age difference between the movie and the book, the overall theme of growing up is still left largely intact.  In the movie, Alice struggles with figuring out what it means to be her own person and how to make tough decisions as an adult. The idea is still there, but I actually think the movie built more context around it.  In the book, very little is mentioned about Alice’s life outside Looking Glass World, but the movie uses Alice’s adventure to save the Hatter as a catalyst for her to face hard choices in her “real” life.

4. Hatter

The movie centers around The Hatter, and everything Alice does is essentially for the goal of reuniting Hatter with his family to make him well again.  A character called Hatta is in the book as a sort of mirror-image of The Mad Hatter from Wonderland.  Hatta is barely in the book at all.  He makes a small appearance in chapter 7, The Lion and Unicorn, where he appears as one of the White King’s messengers. The King says he must have two messengers “to come and go. One to come, and one to go.” As per usual, Hatta is drinking tea in the book. John Tenniel illustrates Hatta as the same character he illustrated for The Mad Hatter in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

5. The Red Queen
In the film, the main villain is the Red Queen.  Based on the movie trailers, I thought  Time was going to be the villain of the movie.. That was a bit of a bait and switch. To be honest, I didn’t love the Red Queen in this movie. All the  events that led to the Red Queen becoming bent on revenge were shown, but despite showing us her motivations, it still seemed poorly explained and insufficient. I also didn’t buy her sudden change of heart after the White Queen’s apology at the very end. It’s like, you burned down a village, stole human beings and forced them to live as ants for years but now all of a sudden you’re cool? I don’t buy it.  In the books, The Red Queen isn’t really a villain, but she is something of an antagonist.  She’s like a caricature of a Victorian nanny.  She is overbearing and often makes trite assertions like “Speak when you’re spoken to!” She’s mostly silly and full of nonsense.

6. Time

I was happy to see the movie center their plot so much around time, because the concept of time is a significant theme in book.  Looking-Glass world plays around quite a bit with time and space.  For example, when Alice meets the White Queen, she boasts of (and demonstrates) her ability to remember future events before they happen. For example, she yells in pain before getting a cut on her finger, because she knows it’s going to happen.

However, there is definitely no time travel in the books.  The movie made time travel possible and made time a character. Sacha Baron Cohen’s Time was one of my favorite things about the movie. I thought he had some of the best lines. In the book, time does not move backward toward a final point of origin (like when the movie’s Alice when back to see what happened to the Queen and the Hatter’s family)  Instead, characters move forward while the order of events moves backward. The White Queen illustrates this principle by explaining that the King’s Messenger will first be put in jail, and then have a trial, and then commit a crime. All of the characters, the White Queen included, “remember” both the past and the future. They have knowledge of events before they happen

7. Fate

The concept of fate was very similar in both the book and the movie, and to be honest I was happy the movie didn’t change this, or else I think the time travel plot would have been far too convoluted. Sacah Baron Cohen’s character Time expresses fatalism when he insists that Alice cannot change the past.  Alice of course doesn’t listen, but realizes Time is right when she saves the young Red Queen from hitting her head on the clock, only to watch the Red Queen slip the next second and hit her head on a stone. It’s essentially the belief that what is meant to be will find a way to happen.

In the book, because characters have knowledge of events before they happen, which reinforces this fatalism. Alice is destined to become a queen as she goes along the chess game. The concept of free will is pretty tenuous in Looking Glass World.  For example, just before Alice starts the chess game sher gets distracted by elephants that look like bees.  She wants to go look at them but realizes she can’t because she needs to get on the train to start the game of chess.

8. Time period (Steampunks and Trains)

I love that the movie  kept the same time period as the book. The book was originally published in 1871, and I think the year the movie showed on the screen once Alice arrived back in London was 1875.  The book uses trains as a symbol for the unstoppable, forward movement of events. Even though time is mixed up in the book, the characters continue to move forward in the chess game  as a metaphor for Alice’s eventual passage into adulthood.  Alice rides a train to begin the game of chess  and Tweedledum and Tweedledee show Alice the Red King, who is asleep and  snoring like a train engine. Tweedledee tells Alice that the Red King is dreaming about her, and if he stops dreaming, she will vanish. The Red King is a little bit like Time is in the movie.  It’s presumed that rather than Alice dreaming up this world, the world actually the Red King’s dream and Alice is just part of his dream (This upsets Alice quite a bit.) The Red King is forced to wake up at the end when Alice grabs the Red Queen, thereby putting the Red King, and releasing Alice from his dream.   Anyway, the reason the Red King sounds like a train is because the events in his dream are unstoppable, like a moving train.  I loved that the movie kept a steampunk kind of vibe for Time himself and his castle. In the movie, Time was even using a railroad handcar to get around the past to find Alice, which I thought was nice touch.

9. Plot

One difference I wanted to mention is that the movie actually had a more concise plotline than the book did.  The overall plot in a nutshell is Alice is trying to save Hatter who seems to be dying, and she tries to do that by using the chronosphere to go back in time and save his family. The book is much more nebulous.  There’s the game of chess that Alice is playing on a giant chessboard, but the story as a whole is more like a series of different episodes that are loosely connected.  Alice meets different characters who come in and out of the story, and she’s trying to become a queen, but that goal often falls to the way in the conversations and encounters she has with a slew of different characters.

10. Poetry

Through the Looking Glass has poetry interspersed throughout the book.  Jabberwocky is the most famous poem, it’s filled with nonsense words that sound like realistic speech patterns, and actually the word chortle, which is a real word in the dictionary that means to laugh or chuckle in glee, originates from the Jabberwocky. It became so widely used. Anyway, in the book the different characters Alice meets in the episodic way mentioned earlier, where she’s walking along and meets this character, and then that one, and so on and so on, the characters often recite poetry to her, and she doesn’t necessarily enjoy the poetry.  Her attitude is kind of like, okay, nice poem. Can you show me the way out of here? I loved that they played off of this in the movie.  Time recites a brief poem to Alice, which I actually thought made Time rather endearing.  I think it was the moment when he recited that poem that I was like, wait, ARE you supposed to the a villain in this movie?  

Those are my top ten changes from the book to the movie. Let me know down below if you've read the book or plan to see the movie!

Comic Book v. Movie - Captain America Civil War

Hey Everyone!
It's finally here! Captain America Civil War is out in theaters.  The movie is based off of a series of comics entitled Civil War (not Captain America Civil War) that came out from 2006 - 2007 as a 7 volume series. Both the comics and the movie are about tension caused by  government-led superhero regulations. Two factions emerge, one headed by Captain America (anti-regulation) and the other headed by Iron Man (pro-regulation).  Keep reading for my TOP 10 changes between the book and the movie.


You can also check out my video on the same topic here:

Careful for spoilers if you don't want to know what happens in the movie or the comics. 

1. Why the Public Demands Regulation in the First Place

It’s the same reason in both the comics and the movie. Civilians are done being collateral damage in superhero wars. The incident that causes the boiling point just happens differently.

In the comics, there’s a group of young superheroes called the New Warriors (essentially teenage wanna-be Avengers). New Warriors:Avengers::X-Force:X-Men Anyway (Do you remember these things from English class? Anyway...)The New Warriors have a reality TV show, and in an attempt to boost their ratings they film themselves going after a group of recently escaped supervillains.  The New Warriors get in way over their heads and things blow up, literally.  

The New Warriors make the newbie mistake of being unaware of their surroundings and where they are taking their fight. One of New Warriors fights Nitro near a park where a lot of children are playing.  The villain Nitro (unfortunately for the new warriors) has the superpower of being a human bomb, and he blows up. Over 600 civilians die, including a lot of children.  On the comics this is the incident (known as the Stamford incident) that causes public anger towards superhumans to boil over.    

In the movie, it’s new Avenger Scarlet Witch who accidentally kills a large number of civilians. She, along with other Avengers, is trying to stop Crossbones from stealing a biological weapon from a lab in Nigeria. Crossbones commits suicide with a bomb; Wanda tries to displace the blast into the sky but it devastates a nearby building, killing a large number of Nigerian humanitarian workers.

2. Overall Cast Reduction

In the movie, there are 16 superheros/supervillains. In the comics, there are 278 across all 7 volumes.  This isn't a complaint about the movie. The comic series was meant to be a mash up of tons of MCU comic characters, which for a movie just isn’t reasonable.  The movie did introduce some new characters, like Black Panther, Spiderman, arguable Thunderblot, but the movie obviously can’t introduce over 200 new characters. I appreciated the movie taking the time to do character development, it was already a little full.

3. Thor

Thor is a character that plays a fairly important role in the comics but is cut out of the movie. The movie could have included Thor easily enough since he is an established character. In the comics, Thor fights on Ironman's side. At this point in the comic story, Thor was presumed dead, so everyone was surprised to see him show up. Thor isn't really operating of his own volition. He seems to be controlled by SHIELD. It's unclear how much insight or consciousness Thor possessed at the time. Possibly none. SHIELD brings out Thor during the first major battle in the Civil War, and he makes the first kill. He kills Goliath. Goliath's dead is a turning point for some of the superhumans. They begin to question the war and if they want to continue to support the side they chose.

4. The Fantastic Four
The Fantastic Four is another example of characters who were left out of the movie but could have been included easily enough, because the Fantastic Four standalone film just came out in 2015. The Fantastic Four are notable in the comics, because the split up.  Originally the whole team is on Team Ironman, but Johnny and Susan leave to try and find Captain America.

5. Spiderman

This is the first example of a character arc where I thought the movie and the comic would somewhat align, but they didn't.  In the comics, Spiderman initially sides with Iron Man, but once Spider man learns that all superhumans who do not agree to register are imprisoned indefinitely, Spiderman quits the pro-registration side and joins Captain America's underground movement.

In the movie, Spiderman is on team Iron Man the whole time.  I was actually expecting him to switch over to team Cap.  He's also younger in the movie, a little more impressionable like he's still trying to master his superpowers.

6. Regulation v. Registration

AKA regulating versus unmasking....  In both the comics and the movie, the superhumans are going to be regulated.The Registration Act of the comics (which forces heroes and villains to unmask and surrender to the government) is renamed as The Sokovia Accords in the movie. Remember the city of Sokovia, the one Ultron ripped the city off the ground and into into the sky  to duplicate the effect of a meteor? Yeah, that Sokovia.

In the comics, unmasking heroes and revealing their true identity is a big deal. Especially to Perter Parker, who'd worked hard to conceal his identity. So it's a big deal in the comics when Iron Man convinces Spider Man to reveal his identity as Peter Parker.  Rather than focusing on unmasking heroes, the Sokovia Accords wants to regulate the Avengers so they can't operate unilaterally, basically the Avengers would become accountable to the public. The Sokovia Accords is focused on the Avengers while The Registration Act is for all superhumans (this goes back #2, the overall scope of the civil war)

5. Tony Stark / Iron Man
I thought both the movie and the comics did a good job of presenting Iron Man's perspective.  I went into reading Civil War (and watching civil war) thinking I would be Team cap all the way.   At the end of the comics, I was still team cap, but I respected Tony Stark and understood the guilt he felt for all the destruction that happened from initiatives he had funded.

At the end of the movie, I was no longer team cap (we'll get into that a little later) but my allegiance shifted to Team Ironman). Some things the movie added to Iron Man's story line that I really like was his concern for War Machine and funding his prosthetic. I thought including that friendship added depth to his character. And including the back story with the death of his parents. I also thought Robert Downey Jr's acting was incredible, he really sold the emotion he character was going through.

In the comics, Ironman comes off as more of a jerk. In the battle where Thor killed Goliath, that battle starts because Tony Stark has one of his own plants blown up to lure Captain America's team into attempting a rescue effort. Sure enough, Cap's team falls for the bait, but by the time they realize there aren't any civilians around the plant and this must be a trap, it's too late. At this point, Goliath is killed and it seems like Tony Stark is in over his head. The war snowballed beyond his control.

8. Bucky Barenes the Winter Soldier
Bucky is not in the comics. In a surprising turn of events, I ended up liking Bucky! So as expected, Bucky goes on some rampages. He bombs Vienna where the Sokovia accords are being signed into law, which kills King T'Chaka, Black Panther's Father. Security footage implicated Bucky, which tips Cap to go hunting for him. Cap learns that Helmut Zemo is actually responsible for the for the bombing, because he has brainwashed Bucky and can control him. Bucky's brain control is activated by certain Russian words.

At the end of the movie Bucky volunteers to go back into hypersleep for basically the benefit of society until a cure can be found to reverse his brainwashing, I thought that was really noble of him to volunteer.  It's kind of like, gee Cap, why couldn't you have just done that in the first place, gotten your friend into hypersleep for his own stafey/the safey of the entire world? Anyway, I was impressed that Bucky had some insight to his own condition.

9. Captain America's motivation for heading up the resistance.

In both the comics and the movie, part of Cap's motivation is that he's intrinsically opposed to the Registration Act/Sokovia Accords.  He believes superhumans should not be told when they can and cannot intervene, and in the comics he is also too put off by the idea of having to arrest other superhumans simply because they don't want to register.

In the movies, much like Iron Man, I think Captain America is also motivated by feelings of guilt.  Tony Stark feels guilt over the damage his technologies have caused, while Captain America feels intense guilt over what happened to Bucky Barnes.  Bucky, of  course, used to be Captain America's best friend and crime-fighting partner until one fateful day when they went up against Zemo, who kidnapped and brainwashed Bucky.  I think Captain America's guilt over not being able to protect Bucky is so extreme that seems to be his unwavering motivation throughout the movie.

In the comics, there is none of the Bucky business.  Cap is more forced into his position because of violence used against him. Commander Hill has SHIELD attack Captain America as soon as he doesn't agree to spearhead efforts for the registration. Cap is attacked and nearly imprisoned the second he showed any dissent, which effectively forced him to go underground.
When Tony Stark setup the trap where he exploded one of his own plants to try to lure Captian America's team into a rescue effort, Captain America is further estranged from Iron Man and the pro-registration efforts, forcing him further into opposition.

#10 Captain America's overall character arc

This whole post has been sploiler-y so far, but this takes spoilers to a new level. If there's anyone still around who hasn't seen the movie and would like some surprises, this is your final warning to click away...


Still here? Great! ERRMGERD WOW, that was really different, and not what I was expecting. In addition to spiderman's character arc, I also thought the movie would take Captain America's character to a similar place, but they did NOT.

Cap abdicated in the movie because he didn't want anything to do with Stark. He didn't want to fight him anymore. In both the movie ant hte comic there's a final spic fight between Cap and Ironman, and Cap effectively wins in both.  BUT in the comic, Cap beat Tony Stark to almost within an inch of his life, is tackled by rescue workers, and at this point Cap has a moment of realization.  He looks around him and sees how much destruction the war has caused, in terms of civilian and superhuman causalities and injuries.  The city is wrecked. At this point, Cap kind of comes to see Tony's point, superhumans can crush those beneath them, and one another.  Cap is devastated by the destruction the war (which he had a large part of) has caused.  He unmasks and turns himself in.

Cap does get his stiff broken in the comic.  So on both accounts he's without a shield.

In the follow-up comic to Civil War, entitled "The Death of Captain America." Brig shocker, Captain America dies. He's assassinated while being taken to his arraignment at the federal courthouse. I actually thought the movie might do something similar. I thought it was possible that Cap might die at the end of the movie. I didn't think he'd die forever, just in a comic-booky way where he's back in a few episodes. But I did for sure think the movie would still have that epiphany or character growth moment where Captain America fully realizes the harm the Civil War has caused for both civillians and superhumans and the emotional weight of that overwhelms him. That never happened.

 Infinity War is coming up, and how Tony Stark will ever work with Steve Rogers ever again I have no idea.  I don't even know how Stark and Rogers could stand to be in the same room. We'll See.

So those were my top change changes from Captain America Civil War and the original source material.
Thanks for reading! 

Game of Thrones Season 6 TOP TEN PREDICTIONS

Hey everybody!

AHHH!!!! GOT Season 6 premier is this weekend! Here are my top 10 predictions about major moments this season. These are not spoilers, just my guesses about what will happen.

1. JON SNOW RETURNS. Okay, just a few weeks ago I would have said that Melisandre is going to resurrect John Snow. I would have thought it was the most certain thing to happen this season. However, now that I've seen the season trailer I'm really worried about this one... I still think John Snow is coming back, but I don't think Melisandre is going to do it, or maybe it takes her a few tries? The season trailer basically shows Melisandre trying trying to resurrect Jon Snow. There's no way HBO would tease that unless is was a fake out. Maybe I'm being too conspiratorial, but I'm convinced there will be a different route to John Snow's resurrection. Actually, I really dislike Melisandre, especially after she sacrificed Princess Shireen. It would be satisfying to see Melisandre fall flat on her smug face.
2. R+L=J!!  Confirmation that John Snow is a Targaryen. There is a long-standing fan theory that Jon Snow is actually the son of Ned's sister Lyanna Stark and Prince Rhaegar Targaryen. (Remember Littlefinger's conversation with Sansa in the crypts about her aunt Lyanna?) This would make Jon Snow a full blood prince of quite some standing. I think the show will confirm R+L=J this season. My guess is that it will be confirmed through one of Bran's visions. I'm not sure how else the show could reveal it, because everyone who would have been alive and known about Jon Snow's parentage is dead by now... Rest in peace Ned Stark.
3. THE DOWNFALL OF CERSEI. YAAASSS!!!! A quick word about Jamie - I predict Jamie and Cersei are done-zo, over, kaput. Mycrella's death is going to completely rip them apart. I doubt Jamie will stay in King's Landing. With no one left who can curb Cersei's epic hatred and terrible decision making, King's Landing is going down in flames. I don't think Cersei will actually die this season. The Sept and the High Sparrow are no match for Cersei by themselves. However, considering the Lannister's alliance with the Tyrells in ruins AND there's an imminent war with Dorne, Cersei's power is slipping. However, she's not going down without a spectacular fight. Side note - Tommen is not long for this world.
4. Daenerys unites the Dothraki to fight for her. When we last saw Daenerys she was picked up by Khal Jhaqo and it looks like she is back at the bottom of the pecking order for awhile. It seems like she's back to square one before she had her dragons, except she DOES still have her dragons. I don't think she'll marry the Khal. My guess is Drogon will eventually kill Daenerys's Dothraki enemies and thus Daenerys will rise to power. Remember, Dothraki value physical strength in their leaders moreso than anything else. Daenerys does not need a marriage alliance to be the strongest once Drogon is back in action. My guess is that Daenerys will try to use the support of the Dothraki to fight for the Iron Throne, but instead of ever fighting for the Iron Throne she'll end up fighting for team Humans against Ice Zombies.
5. Tyrion rides a dragon. (!!!) In the books Tyrion has a lot of dragon dreams and is really into dragon lore. Pleeeaaasse let this happen, HBO! 
6. SANSA- Girl rising (FINALLY!). I have waited so long for this, but Sansa is completely done shoveling other people's crap. I predict that as Cersei falls, Sansa will rise. I think Sansa and Theon will escape whatever hunting party the Boltons send after them with the help of Brienne and Pod. I really hope Brienne finds that candle still burning in the window and goes to help them. (Poor Brienne, all the Stark children turn down her help). Sansa has learned how to manipulate from the very best. Littlefinger and Cersei were her unlikely mentors. I think she will unite the north (and possibly the riverlands, where her mother was from) to knock the Boltons out of power. I also think the show might give Sansa some of the Lady Stoneheart revenge plot from the books.
7. DEATH OF RAMSEY BOLTON. This is Ramsey Bolton’s last season. I can feel it. He is not long for this world. I’d say he deserves to be filleted, but I absolutely do not want to see another filleted human ever, even Ramsey Flipping Bolton. I would LOVE to see Sansa kill him off, but I don't think that will happen, at least not directly. I do think Sansa will be involved in Ramsey's demise, but I don't think we'll be lucky enough to see her personally off him. Theon killing Ramsey would also be incredibly satisfying.
8. The Tyrells - Things are looking rough this season for team Tyrell. I don't think Margaery or Loras will die this season, though it's certainly on the table. The show always mentions how people go mad in the dungeon. My prediction is that Margaery and Loras will go mad. I think Lady Olenna will send an army to try to get the Tyrell heirs out of jail and back to Highgarden.
9. Aarya - I predict Aarya stays in Braavos and becomes the world’s greatest blind assassin. I'm not thrilled about this. I would love to see Aarya's storyline collide with another major character. Ideally she'd go back to Westeros but I'd be cool with her going east to Danaerys. Unfortunately I don't think she'll break free from the House of Black and White this season. In the books there are a few clues that Aarya can warg. I would LOVE to see Aarya warg through her direwolf Nymeria. Actually, I'd love to see Aarya warg out of the House of Black and White into a different storyline. Those people with their hall of faces are CREEPY. But alas, I think Aarya will spend the season trying to get back into the good graces of the Many Faced God.
10. Bran - Bran will be crucial in fighting the White Walkers. I think he'll start to be able to communicate to other people via weirwoods. I also think the white walkers will try to attack his/Bloodraven's tree. Bran will come out on top.

Other things I wish would happen, but I don’t think will happen (at least not yet):

• Sansa is the death of the Littlefinger.
• Aarya kills everyone on her list.
• The sand snakes would disappear (snooze fest)
• Jamie repeats his Kingslayer moment with Aerys (The Mad King) via killing a mad Cersei Lannister ... I'm holding out for this to happen Season 8 
• The Wall comes tumbling down in an magnificent explosion. White Walkers are EVERYWHERE. It's even snowing in Dorne.

Book Review of The Jungle Book

Did you know the Jungle Book is not one story? It's 7 stories! (And poems) AND half the stories have nothing to do with Mowgli or any other characters in Disney movies.

The Jungle Book has 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads right now and 1600 reviews, so obviously a lot of people have read and enjoyed the stories. I was looking at some of the reviews on Goodreads, and there were a few people who were really upset when they realized that over half the stories have nothing to do with Mowlgi.  I mean, it is what it is.  The book was around for over 70 years before the first animated film version came around

The book is at a 6th grade reading level, so even though it's a "children's book" The Jungle Book isn’t really for grade school children.  Middle school, probably around 12 and up would be a good age for it.

Here's where the Mowlgi stories take place in Seoni, India:

The first three stories in the book are the stories with Mowgli in them.  They are in order of appearance:  Mowgli's Brothers, Caa’s Hunting, and Tiger! Tiger! 

Mowgli's Brothers

If you only read one story from The Jungle Book, the first story, Mowgli's Brothers is probably the one for you. The story has the feeling like it’s always existed, like a fable or a myth. It’s the story of how Mowlgi came to be raised by wolves and grow up it the jungle.  The plot flows nicey, and Kipling does a great job of creating a Jungle that feels like a completely fleshed out world filled with living characters and a community. One symbol to keep in mind while reading this story is the potentially bad side of democracy.  The Seonee Wold Pack are pointedly called “The Free People”.

Kaa’s Hunting 

...is the second story, but it actually goes back in time from when the first story ended.  Caa’s Hunting takes place during Mowgli’s jungle education training from Baloo and Bagheera. I really enjoyed Caa’s character in the books, he is very different in the book than in the movies.  In the book Baloo and Bagheera actually go to Caa for help after Mowlgi is kidnapped by the monkeys and look to Caa to help them rescue Mowlgi. Bagheera and Caa also have a humorous rivalry in this story that I enjoyed reading. 

Tiger, Tiger!

The third story, “Tiger, Tiger!” is personally my favorite Mowlgi story in the Jungle Book.  In Tiger Tiger Mowlgi goes to the man village to try to live there. I really enjoyed seeing how Mowlgi’s interactions with other people turned out.  Mowlgi doesn’t really grasp or respect the hierarchies in the culture. In the books Mowlgi is called “Mowlgi the Frog” by his wolf family.  I think he’s called a frog because frogs live in two worlds, water and land.  And Mowlig lives in two worlds, human society and the jungle. I really liked how Mowlgi’s relationship with his human mother and his wolf family both progress in this story.
Tiger Tiger is also the story where Mowlgi faces his arch nemesis Shere Khan. I won’t tell you how it ends. 

The White Seal

This story is underrated.  This is the first non-Mowlgi story in the Jungle Book.  I was actually super confused once I got to this story because I thought all the stories in the Jungle Book took place in India.  This story actually takes place primarily on an island off the coast of Alaska.  There’s nothing Jungle-y about it. That aside, I enjoyed this story.  
The white seal, Kotic, is an anomaly meant to lead his people. I love the fable/myth vibes from this story as well. I also really liked Kotic’s humorous interactions with the sea cows.  I thought that was really funny.
Humans are definitely not portrayed in a positive light in this story. One of the humans becomes convinced that Kotic is the reincarnated ghost of a seal who’s come back to haunt him, which was pretty funny too.  

Rikki-Tiki-Tavi

Okay, this is my favorite story in the whole series. I would also recommend this story for young readers moreso than any of the other stories in the Jungle Book Collection. The story is about a mongoose named Rikki-Tikki-Tavi who is washed away from his family in a flood. A British family living in India find Rikki in a ditch and decide to revive him. Rikki likes the plush bungalow life and decides to stick around. In the family's garden Rikki meets his arch nemeses Nag and Nagiana (black cobras). Bouts of mortal combat ensure. 

Toomai of the Elephants

This story is markedly different from the others, because it’s the only story where the animals don’t talk. Actually it’s really inconsistent from story to story whether the people can talk to animals or not, but this is the only story where the animals don’t talk at all .
This is a story about a boy named Little Toomai, whose father is the driver,of the elephant Kala Nag, which means black snake. Kipling describes Kala Nag as “the best-loved and the best-looked-after elephant in the service of the Government of India.”
I appreciated the strain on the relationship between Little Toomai and his father, Big Toomai.  Little Toomai was respectful and obedient, but he had different goals for his life than what his father had planned for him, and I give Little Toomai props for being courageous enough to pursue them.  
I also appreciated the bravery and courage that little Toomai shows through this story.  I love when children's authors create heroic children. Toomai was really endearing, as was his relationship the with his elephant Kala Nag. Here's an original 1894 version illustration of Toomai and the Elephants. I think Rudyard Kipling's father drew it:

Her Majesty's Servants

TBT I did not personally enjoy this story.  It’s really low on plot.  80% of the story is one long conversation between pack animals at a government camp in India. The conversation is being overheard by an unnamed human narrator. The narrator is a very minor character in the story, like a fly on the wall. The world of the pack-animals, with the human narrator hearing everything, lacks the allure of the jungle. The story is memorable only for the finale, which bring the story’s theme of obedience and government to a head. The jist is that without obedience you can’t have an empire. If you were not fan of the British Empire, you won’t appreciate the ending of this story.

Bonus Material

I wanted to touch on the culture and historical period The Jungle Book was written in.  It was written during the British Raj, which refers to the period of British rule in India from 1858 and 1947. It lasted until 1947, when British India was split into two sovereign states: India and Pakistan.  There is one point in the story Toomai of the Elephants, where Toomai, a young Indian boy, is amazed that a white man took notice of him.  I do think it would be good to talk especially to younger readers, about how Toomai's perception of white men relates to colonialism and the society Toomai would have grown up in.

A final thought about the author, Rudyard Kipling. He was born in India to British parents, and he was sent to boarding school in England at the age of 6. While he was in England, he lived with foster parents who were abusive. Kipling ran away to London (as a 7 year old) to try to escape his foster family and find relatives. His mother learned about the situation and came all the way from India to make sure he was placed in a better situation. I bring this up because in The Jungle Book, Baloo beats Mowlgi when he can't remember what he's been taught. The abuse only comes up in "Caa's Hunting," but is as follows:

"Is there anything in the jungle too little to be killed? No. That is why I teach him these things, and that is why I hit him, very softly, when he forgets." [said Balloo]
"Softly! What dost thou know of softness, old Iron-feet?" Bagheera grunted. "His face is all bruised today by thy-- softness. Ugh."

"Better he should be bruised from head to foot by me who love him than that he should come to harm through ignorance," Baloo answered very earnestly. "I am now teaching him the Master Words of the Jungle that shall protect him with the birds and the Snake People, and all that hunt on four feet, except his own pack. He can now claim protection, if he will only remember the words, from all in the jungle. Is not that worth a little beating?"

Being hit by adults was part of Rudyard Kipling's childhood, and he included it stories for children.  Impress upon younger readers that being hit as a child was the author's experience, but that doesn't mean it is normal or okay.  What Baloo described as "bruised from head to foot" does not sound like an occasional spanking. 

Sorry to end on such a downer... I know GOOD NEWS, The Jungle Book is public domain.  You can read it FOR FREE here: http://www.literatureproject.com/jungle-book/