Kerian's Thoughts

Jana Oliver: The Demon Trapper's Daughter

2011-02-05T20:04:00.000-08:00

I love good books that take place in the future so I was happy to receive this one from LibraryThing's Early Reviewer's program. I was not disappointed.

The Demon Trapper's Daughter takes place in 2018, and as far as our histories go, this one lies separate. Demons have always been haunting Earth, and it's Riley's dad's job to trap them. As much as some people oppose it, Riley really wants to be a demon trapper, too. Can she be one and at just seventeen, though? After her dad is murdered, Riley works hard toward the dream she has always dreamed: To be a demon trapper.

This book lived up to my expectations. I could connect to the main character and was glued to the book both fairly quickly. Oliver's The Demon Trapper's Daughter was real enough in it's demons-on-Earth kind of way that I shed tears reading it. There's some sadness in this book, but strength must overcome sadness, and Riley must live up to challenges faced to be what she wants to be. This is going to be an interesting series. I would like to recommend this book to readers who are sixteen and older.

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On another note, at this time I would like to say that I'm going to participate in the 2011 Debut Author Challenge. It's something I was linked to when exploring Jana Oliver's website. The 2011 Debut Author Challenge is run by The Story Siren. I look forward to discovering more interesting books by authors I've never read books by.

Kristin Cashore: Graceling

2010-09-04T22:45:00.000-07:00

Anyone who knows me may slightly drop their jaw as they read this in wonder that I had not read this book long ago. Do not be fooled. I read it recently as a reread. This is why, of course, that I had to blog about it. Who cannot love the beauty of Graceling?

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In the world in which Graceling takes place, there are those people who are graced. The graced are a select few who possess great skill and strength with a particular talent. Sometimes this may be a very useful talent and sometimes not. In either case the graced are marked, one eye one color, the other eye, another. In the non-fiction world, I deem this as beautiful, but in Graceling's created world of fiction? People may shrink away from such a sight. These eyes are not lovely but feared.

Main character Katsa is both graced and a princess of the Middluns of the Seven Kingdoms. Though Katsa's a princess, her uncle, the king of Middluns, sees better purpose for his niece because of her grace: to be his "lady killer." More simply put, Katsa's job is the role of a killer who happens to be a woman. Her skill for causing death is widely known. This is how it is that the traveling and graced Prince Po of another kingdom has already heard of her reputation. Like Katsa, Prince Po possesses strong and impressive fighting skills. After befriending one another, Prince Po teaches Katsa more about herself in this tale of an incredible journey.

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On first looking up this book and seeing what it was about, I worried that it might just be one of those books with a pretty cover. Sometimes that happens. We're sad when it does, but that's what we get for picking up a book based on the book's cover. Not that this was the case for my choosing to read Graceling! Some friends had really enjoyed it. How glad I was that such thoughts about pretty book covers were horribly incorrect involving this book. I later happily read it's prequel Fire, published after Graceling, with an equally beautiful cover and story.

Some of these characters are kind of incredible. Since I'm against spoilers, let's stick with Katsa. She's quite evidently very strong, quick, and smart. Sometimes because that her grace made her have to grow up too fast, she's almost inhuman, out of touch with how things like friendships work. This can be played out two ways. It gives her strength of course by her not trusting too easily, but it also is one of those things that can make her seem less dominant. Despite this, Katsa's the perfect gender-equality kind of character. Men don't have to be in charge of her world, which I think makes her a superb character.

Graceling has a lot of other great characters, too, and I am quite eagerly anticipating the release of the sequel to it and to perhaps seeing some familiar characters in it. I feel doubtless to having any objections whatsoever to whatever Kristin Cashore may have in store next. Bitterblue, Cashore's next book, is currently undergoing editing. The release date is unknown.

About Fire

It will probably be a while before I blog about Fire because I'm saving a reread of it for one of those 'rainy days.' I would rather blog about a favorite book closer to the time that I reread it. I will say that it's a beautiful story, one that I immediately loved from the first few pages, and I love it more than Graceling.

YA Fantasy Showdown

As some people may well be aware and others sadly not, there was a two-week long Young Adult Fantasy Showdown going on last month created by this blogger. I found it to be incredible and very exciting, enough that I could not stop myself from a Graceling reread. I missed the opportunity to vote for a couple of the rounds from being busy, but it was always in the back of my mind at the very least. The YA Fantasy Showdown introduced me to a lot of characters I had never heard of and I really look forward to reading their stories. I recommend that you check the battles out despite the battles being over. I intend to blog about a couple of those characters whom I read about for the showdown next. Though I still haven't read about all the characters, I picked up books for a decent amount of them and will likely blog about those ones at some point, too.

Juliet Marillier: Heart's Blood

2010-08-26T15:00:00.000-07:00

I've mentioned this book title already and yet had failed to give this book it's very own post. I wanted to make sure I got Marillier's Bridei Chronicle series blogged in order. I'm sorry for the delay. This, of the eight books I've read by Marillier, is the one that I love best. It's a standalone, too, so it's a perfect way to sample her work.

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Heart's Blood is a tale that holds a connection to the well known story of Beauty and the Beast. It follows the point of view of Caitrin, a young woman with a mysterious past who has clearly suffered something terrible. Whatever has happened and for whatever reason, Caitrin cannot return home. With hardly any money to her name at all, she is in luck that at least she is a woman gifted with the ability to read and write. This allows her to be a scribe, and a scribe is exactly what is needed at Whistling Tor.

Whistling Tor has its secrets, too, and the people nearby will not go there. One reason is for the curse that is on them and the family of the chieftain, Anuluan, who lives at Whistling Thor. The other reason is because the people say Anuluan's horrible. Bearing this in mind, Caitrin sets out for Whistling Tor anyways, determined to find work and a place to stay for a while.

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I enjoy many different types of books be they historical fiction, classic literature, books about well-loved classics that can make me smile or laugh, fantasy, young adult, and the occasional nonfiction book. Sometimes readers might crave a particular type of book at any given time. As a reader I've begun to realize it doesn't seem to matter much which kind of book I'm most desiring to read, that if given an extraordinary fantasy, I'm quite happy.

With outstanding books as these, it's not just a fantasy I'm reading. Everything about the book just seems to glow. The language is beautifully written so that the words jump off the page. The setting is strong with powerful-seeming places where scenes take place. Characters are amazingly developed into deep, 3-D beings. This isn't to say they're 'real people' as you and I, just that their traits, personalities, and such are quite known. You can think, What would (fill in the blank with a character name here) do? and know the answer.

A great fantasy can lock you in within the first few pages and make it near impossible for you to abandon. There are things you should be doing that, because you're reading a great book, you procrastinate. You read it at work, or, if you ordinarily bring books there anyway like me, you read so quickly that you never have the chance to carry the book around long enough to read it anywhere but in one place. When it comes to be time that you should be sleeping, you're heavily lost in the book's pages and don't notice the time passing by. Hours can pass by after this while you are still reading. You may just read all night, or, if you're a graveyard worker, all day.

That was this book for me.

Now that I've said how much I love Heart's Blood, I just want to say how beautiful that cover is. Just look at all those books! I adore my edition. (Please note, I most certainly did not choose this book for its cover!)

Juliet Marillier: The Well of Shades

2010-08-19T00:05:00.000-07:00

This is the final book in the Bridei Chronicles. I was really excited when I learned that it strongly focuses on the Gaelic spy Faolan once more, continuing his story from where Blade of Fortriu left off. This book left me without any disappointments and was a welcome ending to the series. As with the last book, it still keeps in touch with main characters from earlier in the series and shares their point of views.

Someone is needed to go north and explore to see how people are living on the land in a region once reigned by those outside of Fortriu. Who better to send than Faolan, native those lands, a spymaster, and, when he has to be, a killer? He is ready and eager for the mission with a couple of personal missions of his own to complete before he returns. On one mission he meets Eile, a young woman with an unfortunate and terrible story. Another mission takes him back to his past to his family whom he deemed would never forgive nor love him for a terrible deed forced upon him long ago. The third mission is business. With each step for these missions Faolan is changed. Life holds much in store for him and Fortriu.

As I mentioned with Blade of Fortrui, I had not been happy with how it ended. This book went above and beyond, completely making up for it and more. I debate now which book in the Bridei Chronicles is my favorite. It would have to be The Dark Mirror or The Well of Shades, though they were all good. I may safely say that this is the book in the series which has touched me most. If I never reread the series as a whole, which I very much doubt, I would at least reread this book.

Juliet Marillier: "Blade of Fortriu"

2010-08-17T02:05:00.000-07:00

This book is book two in the Bridei Chronicles. It takes place five years after The Dark Mirror. While dealing with some of the same characters, it more so focuses on the story of other characters. Its main focus is on princess Ana of the Light Isles and on Bridei's best spy, Faolan.

A war is being planned, but before it can begin, a few loose strings need to be tied. Princess Ana of the Light Isles, who for eight years has been a comfortable hostage at Fortriu's court, has to be married off to form an alliance. Fifteen people in all will take the journey to where her new home will be, lead by Bridei's friend and spy, Faolan. Trouble meets the group along the way and two people who find each other utterly disagreeable form a friendship. Upon reaching their destination, the chieftain that Ana is to marry is found to be horrible. Both Ana and Faolan sniff out the mysterious secrets lurking about while Ana prepares herself to live a life of unhappiness.

Before reading Blade of Fortriu I saw some reviews written by people who were unhappy with this book. Their distaste was based on the book only loosely following staring characters from the series such as Bridei and Tuala. I must say that I personally found this book as well as Ana and Faolan's stories enjoyable. The story didn't end in the way that I wished it to, however it was solid and a good tale. It was good enough that getting to enjoy the point of views of characters whose stories were focused on more so in The Dark Mirror were more like a bonus.

Juliet Marillier: "The Dark Mirror"

2010-08-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

Having really enjoyed everything else I've read by Juliet Marillier, I decided to give another series a try. The Dark Mirror is the first book in the Bridei Chronicles which consists of three books.

In this book a very young boy, Bridei, is taken from his family of noble blood to be raised by a foster parent, a powerful druid known as Broichan. Never revealing just what he has in store for Bridei's future, Broichan raises Bridei in a way that prepares him for a very meaningful future. Bridei is given the best of educations from Broichan and others in their community. While Bridei is still young a baby is left at their door. From that time on Bridei sets himself to protect and care for her, a girl deemed by others to be of the untrusted Fair Folk. Bridei and the girl, Tuala, become very close friends. Once Bridei is nearly an adult he begins to live the life planned for him and the two friends are deliberately separated in fear that Tuala will cause the ruin of Bridei's greater purpose in life.

Some parts of this book were sad indeed. Bridei is a child of merely four years old when taken away to where he must be tough and learn to be wise. Taula had her own sadness, outcasted at different times and in want of her only true friend. Despite hardships and pain this book works into a beautiful story. I knew when I was still in the middle of the book that I wanted to continue reading the rest of the series. This is why I'm still in the midst of the series as I type this.

My favorite of Marillier's books remains Heart's Blood after having read that, the current four books in the Sevenwaters series, and two out of three books in the Bridei Chronicles. I'm really looking forward to reading the final book to this series.

Rebecca Maizel: Infinite Days

2010-08-07T18:30:00.000-07:00

I've read a lot of vampire books, so when I got this one to review I wasn't sure how much I'd like it. One eventually begins to wonder if each new vampire book will seem much the same as some other novel previously read. For this book, that's definitely not the case. The gripping story posses a strong female main character not at all like other vampires from literature. She wants to be human!

Rebecca Maizel's Infinite Days tells the story of a vampire queen who cannot stand to live in the world of the dead any longer. Lenah wishes for freedom of the living and all that she missed from having died at the young age of sixteen. There is but one way to gain such a gift. Luckily for her, a dear friend, Rhode, loves Lenah enough to be able to give her such a gift, though at a terrible cost to himself. Lenah becomes a human teenager once more and attends a private high school where she must be careful to keep hidden from those who will seek for their unknowingly-turned human queen. Falling in love with both life and a human, it's only unpreventable that her past may catch up to her.

This book sucked me in right away, a choice of wording that I now have the pleasure of knowing would cause the main character to either smile or laugh. I couldn't stop reading until I'd finished. At times I wondered if some characters could be more in depth. However, it was never usually long after such thoughts that I would read something new and then snicker for a connection I'd find between myself and a character as their personalities, opinions and such came into better view.

I laughed, but I did not cry. I think I should have been able to do that. One possible explanation is that it may be that this story could benefit from a deeper connection between readers and the main character, along with the different types of relationships she has within this book. I strongly feel though that I may have simply been stubborn believing Lenah to be meant to be in love with someone else. Oh, well. This being book one in what I've read is to be a series, I can't wait to get my hands on the next book.

Jacqueline Lepore: Descent into Dust

2010-08-02T13:00:00.000-07:00

I received my copy of this book from LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program. Jacqueline Lepore's Descent into Dust is Victorian with a vampire twist to it. It's written as a gothic novel with all the mystery needed to make it a bit spooky. I loved it.

Main character and widow Emma Andrews is on a trip to visit family. She quickly arrives at Dulwich Manor. There seems to be a plague going on in the neighborhood, and while people are reassured that all is well, it isn't so. Emma begins to see and hear things, causing others to think she's inherited her mother's maddness. Another guest, Valerian Fox, helps Emma discover truth to mysteries lying about, including one about herself: Emma is destined to be a vampire hunter. Something of a vampire hunter himself, they work together to hunt an ancient vampire, Marius.

When I first began reading this book, I was a little nervous. I'd never read anything quite like it. Lepore showed me that sure enough, vampires can be written into a Victorian and gothic novel. It was done very well, I might add. My nervousness had slowed my reading pace toward the beginning of the book, but when I got further along I couldn't set the book down. It's a book that I want to reread, as I will be just before it's sequel is released. Originally titled The Cyprian Queen, just this week Lepore has shared that she wishes to title it Immortal with a Kiss.

I'm very greatful to be chosen to receive this book so thank you, Avon, for donating it to the program, and thank you, Jacqueline Lepore, for writing it. It was enjoyed very much.

Blogging Again

2010-08-02T11:58:00.000-07:00

Well-assumed from this blog post title, I am blogging again after a long period of not doing so. I've missed blogging very much during the time that I haven't been. I hope to be blogging regularly once more. I'm truthfully not sure how often that will be. We will just see.

There are certainly a lot of books I could talk about here that I've read during the last year. I'm not going to blog about every book I've read during that time, however I will about some of my favorites. Books aren't going to be posted in order that I've read them in, either. However, I am going to try to have a sense of organization, posting things that seem to go together, posted near each other. (Example: Pride and Prejudice and Zombie books, books that belong in a series, etc.) There are some wonderful books that I want to reread this year that I read while not blogging for which I'll be waiting to blog about until after my reread of each of them in turn.

Fairly notable I'm sure, I've changed my blog layout once more. The other had too many odd things about it that I didn't know how to solve. I think it also goes without saying - but I will say anyway - just how much more I love this one. I think it's absolutely perfect and very fitting.

Rick Riordan: The Titan's Curse

2009-05-23T00:01:00.000-07:00

I had been avoiding reading this one but with good intentions. It wasn't that I thought it would be a bad book. Contraire to that, I expected quite the reverse. I knew the arrival of book five was around the corner, and was fully aware that upon reading one book a reader wants to sweep up the rest of this series to read right away. I should know that especially well since I had already read books one and two. (Follow this link to read what I had to say about the previous book in this series, The Sea of Monsters.)

My waiting was all due to wanting to keep my books in the same edition, paperback. I was shopping one day, and not in a bookstore, when I was shocked to see book four. I had thought it wasn't published yet. I bought it. I still didn't read it, however, nor this book. Book five was released at last, and though in hardcover, a bunch of my friends were talking about the series as they read it and I had a moment of weakness. I bought it. I'd like to think that I was already reading The Titan's Curse by then but I can't be sure.

This book was action packed and had me laughing out loud. I haven't heard of anyone who doesn't enjoy this series and found myself to be the most critical of book one, The Lighting Thief. I know the true reason for it had just been that I hadn't had the time to really read so I became uninterested as I spent too long on the book. Now I really wish I had gone back and reread the beginning of the series, not for the matter of missing anything, but for the enjoyment.

The true audience age is for people younger than myself and so I wonder about people out there who might think it silly or an unenlightening read. Being completely honest, knowing the myths already is very entertaining and enjoyable in itself. There are still surprises and everything else a good book has. It just lets you be in on some little things the intended readers may not know about even after finishing the books, which are things that had me laughing myself as I said before.

Charlaine Harris: Dead Until Dark

2009-05-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

I was in the midst of my previous read book when one of my sisters made me pinkie swear to read Dead Until Dark next. She has not discovered LibraryThing yet and the incredible feeling of finding a great amount of people who enjoy the very same books as you. This has made her eager to make fans of the series out friends and family. I remember those dreadful days hoping someone even liked the same genre as me, or read books at all. My sister has been quite happy since I picked up this book. I was halfway through it when she became happier, though.

She won. My sister did the happy dance. I am a new fan to this series, or at least for now the first book. I enjoyed it enough that I had to go out and buy the second one, Living Dead in Dallas, when I was just halfway into Dead Until Dark. I had been having trouble reading lately but put everything on hold to read this book. I have been exhausted and low on sleep even but I read until long past dark and closer to the morning hours one night until the very last page was read. Do not ask me what was said on the very last page. I was far too sleepy to be able to remember. I simply remember feeling this was a very good book and that I was glad to have a copy of book two on my shelves already.

I watch very little television, do not have cable, direct TV, or a sort of box for my tv set. This means I have not seen the "True Blood" tv series, either. One of my sister's and my summer plans is to watch it on dvd.

I had a discussion earlier in the week with yet another family member reading this book about what genre it belongs in. Because of the vampires one might want to place it in fantasy. The person I was discussing this with felt the genre well-suited for this book but as someone whose read fantasy and enjoys it, I disagreed. My reasoning was that it just didn't feel like fantasy. I explained to the person that I certainly wouldn't tag it as that on LibraryThing. I tagged it as fiction because it had more of a fiction ring to it. It was more mainstream. The best genre I could use to describe this book is mystery, an actual sub-division, but the best none the less. Opinions?

Joanne Harris: Chocolat

2009-05-21T00:01:00.000-07:00

This book came with the recommendation of friends. Unfortunately I managed to get a hold of the dvd before the book. I watched the movie in February and read the book in May. Though there will always be differences between books and movies based on them, each was enjoyable.

I was busy when reading the book and so spent over a week reading it, not a good thing for me. I don't care to spend more than a week on a single book. Sometimes that sort of thing takes my attention and so partially my interest from even good books. However, upon finishing it I really wanted to read the book which follows Chocolat, titled Girl with No Shadow. Never mind that I had been busy, Chocolat (the book, not the sweet) held on and demanded to be read (ah, I told you it was the book). Now picture having the free time to read without end. I could see myself reading this book front to cover without stopping but for short reading breaks.

I oddly felt at times that I wished the book would follow the movie, strange of one addicted to books, but at other times wished the movie had followed the book. I did as predicted however, come to enjoy the book more.

As for those chocolate rumors, I think it's far easier to read this book without chocolate than to watch the movie without chocolate. Just don't read it on an empty stomach - nothing will satisfy your sweet tooth.

TBR Tuesday

2009-05-19T12:30:00.000-07:00

I have not one but two books I would like to talk about in this post today. First, however, I must talk about another, or more like a series from an author not of either book.

My mother worked in a medical clinic through my late teens. Many books went by in that clinic but one stood out to her from the rest. It was Charles de Lint's The Onion Girl, and with an unforgettable cover like that, who could have blamed her. Such a vast amount of patients had the book and all had very good things to say about it. With me at the time whining that there weren't any good books to read since I didn't read books beyond my five top authors in those days, my mother decided she had a new author for me: Charles de Lint.

We were poor and not a single copy of The Onion Girl could be found in the only bookstore we could afford, a used bookstore. She had me look at other books from the author, we discovered many of them were in a series, and learned the order of the books. I grudgingly began reading the books in the best order a used book store could provide, planning to get to The Onion Girl when a copy could be found.

I found myself addicted to the Newford series and still have fond memories for the books. Years passed by while I still held in my head a quote from one of the first books which recommended two books, one of which I never could find, and the other title which went forgotten.

2009. Seven years later. I went book shopping with some friends in a different used book store and found a copy of the remembered title, John Crowley's Little, Big. I couldn't speak at first. I half thought I would never find a copy. I always wondered how good it must be that it's so hard to get a copy, or how poor was the book that enough requests weren't in for a new publication of it. I guess I'll find out! However, I'm thrilled to be able to read it.

With this blog post I had to drag out a copy of my book with that seven-year remembered quote recommending two fantasy books. (This book is called Dreams Underfoot, should anyone wonder.) I almost dropped the book when I saw the other title, then scrambled to another bookshelf to remove a book: Mark Helprin's Winter's Tale. I was with one of those very same friends the day I bought it, a recommendation by her. Of course, Little, Big has been strongly recommended by her as well. I know who my fantasy person is whenever I look for something new to read in the genre. Many thanks to her for helping me acquire copies of these two books!

Now for that quote taken from the back cover of Dreams Underfoot.

"Like Mark Helprin's A Winter's Tale and John Crowley's Little, Big, Dreams Underfoot is a must-read book not only for fans of urban myth but for all who seek magic in everyday life." (Source not provided.)

Daniel Klein: The History of Now

2009-05-12T14:42:00.000-07:00

Without reading the inside jacket of this book I can see that one might wonder if this is a piece of fiction or nonfiction. Or at least, I had wondered. If we were book shopping when we first see it, that would immediately give it away because it would most likely be shelved by genre. However, for me it was not. I chose this book based on a friend's review and as a group read, and ordered it online.

I received the book a while before I got to it but avoided the inside jacket to not give a single detail away. Admittedly as I first began reading I was surprised how the past was gone through. With a cleverly crafted title such as A History Now there is difficulty in predicting where the story might settle. The author went on to give further interesting names of things but I dare not give them away.

As Klein twisted the past with the present as well as the lives of different people together I eagerly waited for it all to tie in. I found myself unwilling to set the book down but to read through the entire day. It had me glued to it's pages and I must say that I really enjoyed it.

Guillermo del Toro & Chuck Hogan: The Strain

2009-05-12T00:01:00.000-07:00

I have never seen Pan's Labyrinth so it is my thought that I could not fully appreciate receiving an advanced readers copy of a book co-written by Guillermo del Toro as well as others may. It's a movie which often caught my curiosity but has greatly more since my reading of this book.

The Strain is the first book in a trilogy which starts out as being set in New York. I loved this. Reading about a place I have been was amazing and though del Toro and Hogan describe the setting to a 'T' the story was further exciting to me throughout the book because of this. I knew all about, for example, those rats, which I could only nod along to as I read. Do not misjudge me and think I feel the subject of rats exciting. They terrify me. Perhaps having been to New York and seen the rats saved me from going over the edge in my reading of this book. The Strain was quite the frightening story.

It all began with a grandmother's rather chilling tale to her grandson. I could not believe what I was reading. I was impressed. I was also worried. The Strain could only after all become scarier. Scarier it much became and I found myself thinking of what had before my reading of this book been the scariest book I had ever read.

Stephen King's A Bag of Bones may not be that scary to some but it had been enough that aside from reading Different Seasons I had put a black pen to the author's name in a mental note to myself to never read his books again. The Strain went past that but unlike A Bag of Bones, I was glued and the book had me unable to stop reading. I was unable, even, to not wish I had not so very long to wait for the book that would follow this.

The Strain terrified me so that I could not sit in a lit room without an open door. I could not read without my cats jumping onto my lap or poking their heads up from where their bodies were hidden below making me scream. I could not sleep for fear of monsters. I finished reading this book feeling it was the ultimate scary book. Never have I read a vampire book as half as frightening as this one.

Bravo, del Toro and Hogan! I cannot wait for the next one. I passed along my copy of The Strain to a friend who enjoys scary books and movies like none other I know. I await their call and hearing of their trouble sleeping at night.

Stephenie Meyer: Breaking Dawn

2009-05-11T00:01:00.000-07:00

This was my first reread of this book. Be warned for spoilers below! I encourage no more reading beyond this point if you have not read Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse. Below is the review I wrote for Breaking Dawn on LibraryThing.com:

Cinderella’s godmother was certainly very busy on the night of August 1st. There wasn’t a ball, but there were many parties and prom dresses. Even immortal creatures were in attendance. Some required chaperones and some did not. The strike of midnight meant something only a book lover could scream about. It wasn’t for the possibly hungry vampires on the loose, and there wasn’t a single angry young werewolf in sight. It was for the release of a new book.

I picked up the first book only a year ago as a gift from one of my friends. She crossed her fingers and I began to read. Hour after hour slipped by and there was no sleep. The book was a success, a brilliant suggestion which gave me the full dose of what causes the Twilight series addiction. Once infected, you can only keep reading the books to quench your thirst, each time wanting more. You quickly reach the point of which you are left with nothing but rereads of the series. There is always the option of searching for other books related to these, but the end result is always to have them turn out to be far less satisfying. It’s a cruel world, I know. We must thank Stephenie Meyer for not only having provided us with this dazzling and stunning series but for filling our thirsts again.

It all started with Twilight, a human girl and a vampire. We followed Bella Swan from Phoenix, AZ, to Forks, WA, trips of two sorts always occurring, always to return home to Forks again (where she still manages to have trips without even leaving her home). There are always forks. They diverge our veins just as they diverge our roads and paths. The new paths are set for whichever trails will be taken, though no others have been there before. At least, not this time.

The joyful sound of wedding bells had been in the works to be rung where we last left off. Edward had held a question, to bite or not to bite, and the answer came with a promise between him and Bella. They would become husband and wife. Bella would become a member of the Cullen family in not just the one way but in two. She would become a vampire.

Change is in the air. New things are thrown into the mixes that are thought never to have been an issue in the past. Meyer will surprise you as she did me with shocking and astonishing discoveries to be made. Many were the very last things I was expecting. Bella’s typical human forewarning dreams and Alice’s premonitions give warning to the future that comes but even they can’t quite tell you everything. There is a rearrangement of allies and friendships. New love lurks nearer, but also danger and stronger than ever before. A whole new level of it approaches with the arrival of something different and strange. Some will find it positively terrifying while others fear greater by what the arrival of it will bring forth. This is all caused by something that threatens each and every one of those who are dear to Bella, including herself. Do love and immortality last forever?

Catherine Hardwicke: Twilight Director's Notebook

2009-05-10T00:01:00.000-07:00

The full title of this book is Twilight Director's Notebook: The Story of How We Made the Movie Based on the Novel by Stephenie Meyer. This is a book I had walked by those days or even weeks before the Twilight dvd release without much thought of getting it. What really sparked my interest in it was hearing about The Twilight Director's Notebook from, yes, a thirteen-year-old Twilight fan. I listened to them rave about their copy of this book and thought about the extra possibly two week wait I would face to receive my copy of the Borders exclusive Twilight dvd. I decided this would be how I would keep sane the night of the midnight dvd release: I would read this book in my empty house while stores everywhere would be flooded with teens and some not-really-teens-but-fans-all-the-same of the ever popular Twilight series. My very sister was one of those people, and 101 Things to Do in WalMart sheet in her hands, I bidded her well and secretly hoped she would be up to not much trouble.

A first thought on opening this book was of the battered shape the Twilight movie director's paperback copy of Twilight was in. I spent a while thinking about how her copy, which seemed to have even fallen apart in places, wasn't in bad or horrible shape at all. It was well digested. It had to have been read more times in places than any Twilight fan could claim to have read themselves, for the author of this book (and director of the Twilight movie) needed to have gone over many parts thinking of exactly how she would interpret scenes for the movie. Originally horrified, I admired the condition of Hardwicke's copy of Twilight before turning past the page she had a photo of her copy on.

I enjoyed reading the layout page titled "What's in her bag?" I also admired the paintings featured that were done by Hardwicke's sister. There was many a story board in this book and I really loved getting to see them. The artists as well as Hardwicke did amazing jobs. Best of all was of course learning those behind-the-scenes kind of thing that we couldn't really learn about until at least watching that part of the Twilight dvd. In fact, there was even much which this book taught me that sitting through all the special features and such did not teach me. Reading this book made the Twilight movie new to me in the sense that I was looking for all the things I hadn't known before that I had missed seeing the movie the one time I went to see it in theaters. It shows readers just how much went into the movie and leaves them further impressed.

The Disappearance of Books

2009-05-09T19:37:00.000-07:00

I have missed a great many book posts, or so a part of me wishes it had been. The truth is that for the last - month in a half? - that I have not posted here, I have read a mere seven books. Sometimes life gets in the way and not simply from blogging but from reading as well. Hopefully that will be the only time this year. I neglected this blog longer than I would have liked to, but my neglection for my books felt to be far worse.

The good news is I have purchased very few books up until six days ago. I went on a book shopping trip with some friends and purchased two books for myself as well as one as a gift to one of my sisters. It seems to have made the book buying habit begin to go out of control once more. For example I have only read the first two books in the Percy Jackson and the Olympian series but bought book five at thirty percent off this week. Why did I buy book five if I have not read beyond book two? Because I already own copies of books three and four, and there was the sale, naturally. There was a good intention in mind, however, to speed through the series and give my copy of book five over to the first of my friends to request it. I prefer to keep the copies of my books in the same edition, and with this series in paperback, so my only intention in reading book five in hardcover was to not be out of the loop.

From where I left off on blogging last, these are my....

March reads:
Patricia Mccormick: Cut
Catherine Hardwicke: Twilight Director's Notebook: The Story of How We Made the Movie Based on the Novel.

April reads:
Stephenie Meyer: Breaking Dawn*
Guillermo del Toro & Chuck Hogan: The Strain**
Daniel Klein: The History of Now

May reads:
Joanne Harris: Chocolat
Charlaine Harris: Dead Until Dark

(* = reread)
(** = Advanced Reader's Copy)

To many more books, and many more posts! I will post about each book through the week which I've missed posting about here.

Anonymous: Go Ask Alice

2009-03-18T00:01:00.000-07:00

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

The little research I did about this book before reading it left me unable to tell if it was fictional or nonfiction. I can say this for it, however. The editors have left a note instead. This book is based on a real diary kept by a teenage girl. If you're unfamiliar with the book it is about a teenage girl's struggle as a drug user. The last sentence on the back cover of my copy is very true. Alice is unforgettable.

There are few words that come to mind to describe how I feel about Go Ask Alice after reading it. Utterly stunned, perhaps. This story was unbelievable, not in the sense of my not seeing truth to it but for it being so very intense. I've never read anything like it. I can see that it would be a very good book to read for some people and why it's so well recommended.

There is a peaceful activity some teachers have their students volunteer to take part in. I don't have a name for it but what they say is something like this.

"Whoever (fill-in-the-blank), cross the line and step across the room. Look around you. Forgive yourself and all the others around you. Feel the peace and forgiveness you have for yourself and for each other. Cross the line once more."

I remember a couple of my teachers saying something to that effect when I was in eight and eleventh grade. I won't bother to go into the details of the second time. As an eight grader when my teacher said to do this for who knew where to find drugs on campus, I was the only student who did not cross the room. I was the only one who did not know. I've stayed in that bubble and net of safety all my life, too.

What is my point? As someone who has been from the complete other end of the rope, this book truly shocked me. As an afterthought I have thankfulness for being in my own naive world which protected me from what Alice went through. There isn't an Alice in real life to hug but for every person who relates to Alice, I wish to offer a hug. Go Ask Alice is two diaries worth of sorrow for her.

TBR Tuesday

2009-03-17T13:10:00.000-07:00

I've recently explored other blogs quite a bit more than usual and have come across the title "TBR Tuesday." I hope no one will be upset if I use this, too. It just means they had a clever idea. I would like to twist it a bit to define what my own TBR Tuesday will be but am still in the thinking process. This is what I am thinking:

Select a book from my TBR pile.

Select the page number for which also represents the current number of books in my TBR pile.

Share a quote from it.

Share the book's summary.

It is my hope that this will be a way of rediscovering my To-Be-Read books because when you have so very many it is tough to keep them on in your head when many of them sound so very good.

This week I picked up a book I chose for TBR Tuesday and found page 174 to be blank! This wasn't the best start. It seems Darcy's Story by Janet Aylmer wasn't the book for this week. With that, I selected a second book.

Frank Beddor: The Looking Glass Wars

Quote from the Book
"Dodgson jumped up, spilling tea onto the rug and dropping his fountain pen, which dripped ink onto the pages of his journal." (Beddor 174)

Summary from the Book
"When she is cast out of Wonderland by her evil aunt Redd, young Alyss Heart struggles to keep memories of her queendom intact until she can return and claim her rightful throne."

Website of Interest
http://www.lookingglasswars.com/

Why I Chose This Book
I ended 2008 and began 2009 reading a two-in-one book of Lewis Carrol's, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. The Looking Glass Wars then seemed the perfect book today since I had been saving this book to read for more than a year before reading those two stories of Lewis Carrol's.

Alice Hoffman: Green Angel

2009-03-16T00:01:00.000-07:00

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

This book quite fooled me. There wasn't anyone who had recommended nor mentioned it to me at all. Rather, after signing into PaperBackSwap one day I was taken by it's interesting cover. Please refrain from throwing your shoe at me for judging a book by it's cover. I opened another tab and headed to LibraryThing where I researched the book.

It's published by Scholastic. So is Harry Potter, I told myself. It was as I guessed, a Young Adult fantasy. I saw some teens I know have the book but moved on to see more about the book. It was what sounded like a touching book about healing. Okay. I requested it.

I received it in the mail. What is this? I was confused and couldn't determine what book it may possibly be as I went in search of a pair of scissors. It was rather thin. I opened the package and there was Green Angel. All one-hundred and sixteen pages of it. Now I had truly expected something much thicker. No where had I seen this book was quite thin. A little disappointed, I set it aside on a bookshelf, not among my newly acquired books.

I remembered this book which I only received last week and picked it up on Friday. It was a short book, but I had time to kill and was feeling too down for a deep and thick book that required a lot of thinking. Immediately upon opening it I found it had been stamped by it's previous owner with a little monster from the book Where the Wild Things Are. Turning the pages twice, I came across this enchanting looking layout:

I began to read and found not much of any conversation in the book but the writing was smooth and it kept my interest. It told the story of a fifteen-year-old girl named Green who loved and had a knack for growing things in her family garden. It told about her love for her family and most strongly for her younger sister, much the opposite of Green but a good sister nonetheless. It went on to tell how, as the back cover will tell you, embers flew from the sky one day and took her family away.

Nothing is green anymore. The ground is dead with ashes. Green is, figuratively speaking, dead to some things as well. This short little story had a lot in it, though. There is a lot about finding strength, learning to live without those you've lost and how to move on, as well as finding a new life. Perhaps we should say rather than to simply not judge a book by it's cover to not judge a book by it's size.

February's Bookpile

2009-03-14T22:24:00.000-07:00

I had meant to post these at the end of February. Instead I was rather late in posting about books I read and so I procrastinated about posting the bookpile for the month of T0-Be-Read books as well. Here they are at last!

Where they're from:

PaperBackSwap: A Certain Slant of Light, Chocolat, The Devious Book for Cats Ella Minnow Pea, Green Angel, and Ophelia
Borders: A Dirty Job, The Graveyard Book, and Persuasion
BookMooch: Confessions of a Shopaholic and Cut
Early Reviewers: Never Tell a Lie
Gift: Hunted

Award Ceremony

I almost feel like I should have a little ceremony on these posts sometimes. The stage is set, the seats are filled in the audience, and the lights have been dimmed as I call attention to those who are seated.

"The award for recommending the following book which I brought home in the month of February goes to..."

A name is called and everyone claps and cheers. Though I am unsure what this award should be, perhaps it would look something like a bookshopping receipt or one of those slips of paper informing you of a transaction done from shopping online. The person is, I am sure, most happy for this award.

I am being humorous. Forgive me if I am poor at it. I see some things funny to which others may simply wonder, 'What?'

Why is BookMooch sinking?

This is a question some fellow booklovers have asked themselves. As I look at my list of books acquired last month and where they each came from, I see quite a bit more from PaperBackSwap than from BookMooch. It seems the answer is this: I don't check my e-mail as often these days. When a book on my wishlist becomes available another person snatches it first. However, the biggest problem is having books on BookMooch which are reserved. It seems everything is reserved these days. I can hardly find books at all.

Sometimes I've simply given points away because I wonder when I may find books I want. I did this just last week to someone who mooched from me. They mooched two books and were given two points back. I just want a home for the books I have listed. Goodness knows I never wanted some of them to begin with but am giving them away on PBS and BM because the other option was my sister throwing her books in the trash, something that was actually her preference. I know those reading this post must be cringing now.

PaperBackSwap seemed the easier way of getting books. However, it's most alarmingly more expensive. I was given two points for joining PaperBackSwap and sent six books so far in all. That is enough for eight books. I have requested and received thirty-six books from them. This means I've paid them an estimated $100. By having the option of buying your points instead of earning them, a book for a book, PaperBackSwap is gaining on BookMooch.

I would personally choose BookMooch over PaperBackSwap if a book were available on both sites. It's cheaper, and there is the bonus of both communication as well as those lovely book condition notes. The whole experience is more personal. Someone requests a book and says, "Thank you!" The sender sends the book and says "I hope they enjoy this book." The receiver receives the book and says, "Thanks again!" It's such a happy place! PaperBackSwap has 'communication,' too. You can send a letter to people thanking them after you receive a book. This is something I do but am unsure just how many others do. I rarely receive a "You're welcome" back. Maybe it's like a chain of never ending e-mails, but it's polite, and if someone sent me a "Thank you," you can bet I will send a "You're very welcome! I hope you enjoy reading it." On to new subjects...

The Bookpile

I am so happy because by posting these books later than usual I can smile and laugh at my TBR pile for having read some of these books already. Conquering four out of thirteen isn't a whole lot, but it's something. You can read about the books I have already read here: Hunted, Ophelia, Never Tell a Lie, Green Angel

First off, I would like to give a squee for this lovely page. I am of course revealing Kerian is not my real life name, but this was too exciting. Thanks again to my wonderful friend foggidawn for this signed ARC!

I will start at the top of the bookpile and work my way down which starts us off with Cut. This isn't a book I picked out for myself at all. Rather, it was recommended as a book I could pass on to a few teens. Cutting is terrible. I'm not talking about cutting classes but think you know that.

I would like to share that through my teen years I went to a friend's house after school every day for a year, the main purpose to not just hang out with a friend, but to keep her company when she felt alone and to hide all the sharp object I could without hiding the kitchen knives and her father's razors. By the next day in math class, she'd only say this: "I found them."

I wish I could have done something better for her. I feel a little better knowing I can accidentally leave this book sitting out for a group of girls I know of who are either cutting as an 'art' or cutting as some sort of relief. (For anyone who knows I have a teenage sister, she is not doing this so know she is fine.)

On bad days I gather my cell phone, coat, and shoes to head out the door. I walk not knowing where I will go. One day it took me to a grocery store. There isn't much in this part of my city except those, hotels, gas stations, fast food chains, and hair salons. I went looking for a book to cheer me up. Instead I found a measly selection of books but found the dvds. They had a measly selection of those as well. However, they did have Jane Austen's Persuasion. I bought it and had an Austen marathon that weekend. The following week I excitedly purchased the book. I have only read three of Austen's books as of yet but consider myself a big fan. This is one of the books I was recently reading during the week but am momentarily paused on pending if anyone wanted to read it at the same time as me.

I hadn't been that interested in Confessions of a Shopaholic when I went to see it in theaters. I blame that on having gone to actually see Coraline that day with it so happening that they were sold out. I suppose I could have enjoyed Confessions of a Shopaholic better were it not for that though I have never been that girly, into chick lit, nor shopaholic save for bookshopping myself. On hearing the book actually takes place in England I thought perhaps I would read it and so got the book. This isn't one I would necessarily read soon.

A Certain Slant of Light. Hum. One of those long ago recommended books by a friend. I can't recall a detail about it save for the main character is a ghost. No one sees her until one day, perhaps a hundred years later even, when a boy can see her.

I can't pin point Chocolate to any one individual for the book recommendation. I can say that yet again I have seen the movie, though only after this recommendation was made. Thank you to a vast crowd of LibraryThingers! This is one I want to read very soon! I would have started it sooner if I didn't have that Austen inspiration. I wanted to take advantage of feeling up to something less modern. I look forward to reading this book and not so much for any weight gain from the consumption of chocolate while reading this book.

I had been very eager to read humorous Christopher Moore's A Dirty Job ever since I finished reading You Suck. Though it's not part of that book much nor Bloodsucking Fiends, it does have a slight connection. There is a scene when the main female character from those books drops into the shop of the main character of A Dirty Job. She has a very interesting conversation with him in the way of something other worldly or undead. This book's cover has an old fashioned stroller being pushed by a man with a hand covered in skin. The baby girl inside has a skeletal head and there is an ax in her buggy. (I have remembered the word, alas.) No other spoilers here!

Ella Minnow Pea is the name of a girl in it's book. The country has some stunning and most shocking terrible times or removing certain letters from the alphabet, or perhaps simply banning them. I'm told it's very funny and have two friends I can think of from the top of my head who have read it. My mother and I both look forward to reading it.

I hunted week after week for The Graveyard Book before finding it in stores. One would imagine I would have then jumped right into it, right? I have just been caught up in so many books. It was driving me insane that so many people I know have read it and I could not discuss it with them. I can't wait till I will be in on the book's secrets, but to add to that, I also can't wait to enjoy another of Neil Gaiman's books.

It seems a woman who stands in my kitchen now was ever excited the day I showed her my newest addition to my TBR pile. A Devious Book for Cats had arrived, and excited as I was for this humorous book, I was showing it off to people here. (We have four cats, so do call us crazy.) I figured I would finish the book I deemed myself at the time to be stuck in (since I wanted to read this) and slid the book into their waiting hands to read before me. Weeks later, and I find it hidden away unfinished when I ask to 'borrow' it for a 'photo shoot.' (How nice! I am the proud owner of a famous book.) Oh well. It wasn't the book for her but I will be happy to read it.

* This post will be edited and a link will be added for Green Angel on Monday. It's going to be on the entry after this one.

Elizabeth Aston: Mr. Darcy's Daughters

2009-03-14T00:01:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, the last few entries were all still for February. I was neglecting my blog. However, with this post I am all caught up. This is a true March read. Now to only post that ever late book pile after this! Well, onto the book...

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

One of the first things I have to say about this book is that I can't believe I let it sit in my TBR pile so long. I first read Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, for which Aston's Mr. Darcy's Daughters is based on, in a women's literature class in the spring of 2003. I was an immediate fan of it and went on to reread it perhaps four times since then. It was during that same literature class that I discovered another of my favorites, Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre as well. Not a person who was on the internet much at all in those days, it was only with Jasper Fforde's hit Thursday Next series that I discovered those lovely books about other books. I soon became a fan of books about classic literature that wasn't actually classic literature itself. This book is one that stands to impress and does not fail to keep me excited about the rest of the series.

Mr. Darcy's Daughters was an absolutely wonderful and most enjoyable book. I can't say that enough. A part of me before reading it wondered what the damage would be to the memory of characters from Austen's work. However, there wasn't a reason for such worries. Elizabeth Aston did not ruin Elizabeth nor Mr. Darcy for me one single bit. It's not that I've really come across characters destroyed for me with books about classic literature, but rather some books just do not capture those classic characters well. With this book, there was rarely such chance. We in fact do not see Mr. or Mrs. Darcy at all. I was a little sad over that matter to begin with, but there are a great many books taking over where Pride and Prejudice leaves off and I know I have a great deal of books in my very TBR pile that do so.

How does a book about Pride and Prejudice survive without it's star characters? It provides new ones, of course, who I assure to you are just as interesting as the very Bennet family itself had been. The daughters of the Darcy's, every one of them, are in London. I can hear Lady Catherine to Lizzy now. "What, and all at court?!" Well, that I will not answer! Second born to the Darcy's, Camilla is the heroine of Mr. Darcy's Daughters, a young woman much like her mother. If this is beginning to sound like a repeat of Pride and Prejudice with simply new characters do not fear. I will insist it has it's differences.

This outstanding book which brings you back to Pride and Prejudice, reintroduces you to some familiar characters, and has a story in a slightly similar fashion as it's model, is yet a story of it's own. I liked the characters and understand perhaps not every future book in the series will take place from Camilla's point of view. However I am greatly looking forward to reading the rest of the series. I'm so happy I read this book and am no longer missing it from never having read it. I gave it 4.5 stars, withholding from five stars because they could have used a smidgen more creativity. Happily enough I received book two in the mail since finishing Mr. Darcy's Daughters last Sunday and will start to read it soon. If only I could read every book I want to read 'soon' soon. "So many books, so little time." (Unknown source.)

Kate DiCamillo: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

2009-03-13T00:01:00.000-07:00

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

As someone who adored both rabbits and dolls as a child I found this children's book to be quite cute. Edward Tulane was not necessarily the idea toy. For one, he was partially porcelain. For another, he was without a heart. No love for the little girl who loved him terribly, someone knew Edward's unspoken secret. One day everything in Edward's world changes. There were times when I felt very sorry for Edward. Heartbreaking as parts were, it was all for the better. This darling book is one I would definitely read to children if I knew any.

Lisa Klein: Ophelia

2009-03-12T15:00:00.000-07:00

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

It's funny how you can go from fearing Shakespeare's works rather very much, then grow to understand it well enough that suddenly you ace every essay you write on his works and later in life find yourself wanting to read books about his works. Lisa Klein's Ophelia is a book not about Shakespeare's Ophelia as I thought when I first heard mention of it but about Hamlet. Luckily for me I have read Hamlet whereas I have not yet read Ophelia.

Before I began reading I anticipated that I would greatly enjoy this book and was most right. It has been a good seven years and many, many books since I read Hamlet. However, I followed Klein's Ophelia well and would not say Shakespeare's play need be fresh in mind prior to reading this book to enjoy it. I would for certain though consider the experience of reading Ophelia further enjoyed if Hamlet is taken up after reading Ophelia. I can't imagine anyone who would not wish to do so after reading Klein's retelling and yet at the same time unique story.

The twist to Ophelia is that this is Ophelia's story to tell and it is very much not the story you have heard from Hamlet. Klein opens a new door for us to see Hamlet from Ophelia's point of view. On top of that it goes on further to tell a story of it's own beyond what Shakespeare had to offer in the way of revealing more to Ophelia's life. What if . . . What if things weren't quite the same? What if . . . I dare not say in my attempts to not reveal spoilers. The point is, it is much different however fantastic literature.

I truly feel had I more patience and were I just a little religious I would have enjoyed this book further. As is I love it, and yet the ending just wasn't for me. Perhaps it would have revealed a little more understanding on my part were I religious. I am an open minded person myself but think others who are religious may enjoy this book a little more than I have. That isn't saying a great deal of course because I rather enjoyed this book quite a lot.

Ophelia has made me starved for more books like it and I eagerly await for Lisa Klein's book in progress, another book having to do with one of Shakespeare's works. She has told a little about it on her website where you may learn more about her and her newly published book, Two Girls of Gettysburg as well. Reading Ophelia has sent me in a great mood for books about classic literature and so I am buried in Austen while taking advantage of this reading craving to tackle my Austen book challenge.

Other than Hamlet the other plays I've read by Shakespeare are Romeo & Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, and Twelfth Night. Besides a reread of Hamlet I hope to soon pick up King Lear for Christopher Moore's newest book, Fool, a book which I suspect though have not yet heard if it will require a little more knowledge from the reader prior to reading.

My Rating System

2009-03-04T20:32:00.000-08:00

I would like to provide an explanation of how I generally rate books.

5 stars: This was a truly outstanding book!

4.5 stars: Not the absolute best but an incredible read.

4 stars: This was a marvelous and very good book. Four stars and above are for favorites. They are books which I would consider rereading.

3.5 stars: This was better than the average book.

3 stars: This was a good book.

2.5 stars: I didn't enjoy this book so much.

2 stars: I wasn't too fond of this book.

1.5 stars: I probably only liked part of this book. It would probably be a book that is a collection of short stories in which I only read or liked a few of the stories and either didn't get to or didn't so much enjoy the rest of the stories.

1 star: I really didn't like this book.

0.5 stars: I couldn't stand this book at all.

Markus Zusak: The Book Thief

2009-03-03T13:44:00.000-08:00

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

I found this book to be absolutely incredible. It was very powerful and touched me greatly. I can remember the very day I bought it (New Year's Eve 2007) and the exact book I bought at the same time as this one (The Lightning Thief). For some reason it took me a great amount of time to pick up The Book Thief and read it. It probably would have taken longer had someone not suggested it as a book to read for last month. Writing this now I realize I meant to write that person a thank you but have forgotten. I hope to be doing that shortly.

Right away as I sat in a public place reading this book I thought it would be a deeper book than what I had been reading more of lately. It wouldn't be a book that could easily be read where people may be loud nor would be considered anywhere on the same end of a rope as a light, fluffy read which requires little thought. Death seemed the perfect narrator and I put down my book with haste eager to read more of the life he had to tell of Liesel Meminger, the girl he knew best as the book thief.

Early on in the reading of this book readers will know much of what is to come later on. When Death begins the story of the book thief I didn't at first believe he would tell her story so well as he does. My thoughts had been Death would surely only see glimpses of her and every other person's life, toward each of their life's end. He surprised me, as did Markus Zusak, with a beautifully written novel that made me love the characters and which produced tears.

I'm partially German on both sides of my family. This book made me feel a little better about it. Everything that happened around the time of WWII was most incredibly the worst of horrible things. It had made me have a dislike toward being part German. Zusak shows us that there are good Germans as well as bad Germans, however. This book will tell you the story of a very good German.

I highly recommend this book for many reasons. It is mere fiction, unlike The Diary of a Young Girl, however it has much to tell in it's strong and moving tale. You would be at a real loss and missing out on one of the most precious books without ever reading The Book Thief.

This was the first book I read by Markus Zusak. I'm very curious about his other books now such as I Am the Messenger. I would greatly enjoy reading more of any of his books and will be excited about any future books he may write. I feel he has produced one incredibly special book with The Book Thief and do not doubt other books of his to be the same in their own way.

Hallie Ephron: Never Tell a Lie

2009-03-02T15:30:00.000-08:00

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

This book was one of my EarlyReviewer books. A date on the spine says it was to be published in January of this year though I received my uncorrected proof in February. I happened to come across it in a bookstore on Saturday. It sat in it's hardcover edition on a twenty percent off sale for new hardcover fiction and a part of me was very excited to have already read it.

Never Tell a Lie is a book of mystery. A happy couple expecting their first child decide to have a garage sale to clear their attic of the belongings of their beautiful Victorian home's previous owner. They've been together since the days that they were in high school and early that morning one of their first visitors is someone they had gone to school with.

Neither of them had seen Melinda, expecting her own first child, in years. Ivy was never close to Melinda and is eager to be free of the visiting woman who feels they were actually very close. Ivy is relieved when her husband, David, distracts Melinda by taking her on a tour of their grand house. She is tired and feeling every month of her pregnancy. Ivy does not notice that she never sees Melinda leaving their home.

In a matter of days David and Ivy are contacted by the police. Melinda is missing. The last place she was known to be was at David and Ivy's home for their garage sale. The single question of where Melinda is leads to a great deal of more mysteries.

I don't ordinarily read mystery books anymore though once read a great deal of it so it was nice to enjoy a mystery once more. I found it to be a good book and this book has interested me in reading more books in it's genre once more. I would read another of Ephron's books when she has more to offer readers.

P.C. and Kristen Cast: Hunted

2009-02-26T16:40:00.000-08:00

4.5 out of 5 stars

Hunted is the newest and fifth installment in P.C. Cast's and Kristin Cast's co-written vampyre series called House of Night. The House of Night is a high school for vampyre fledglings, or vampyres in the making.

I was surprised with a signed copy of the advanced reader's edition of Hunted from a very kind friend. I want to say again thank you very much. This book is not due to be released until March 6th so I will try to keep this as spoiler-free as possible. However, I will expect readers of this entry to have already read the previous books in this series. For my entries on those books you may select them from the links below.

Book one: Marked
Book two: Betrayed
Book three: Chosen
Book four: Untamed
Book five: Hunted

My apologies if you click on the last one but you really should know better.

When Untamed left off the House of Night was on the brink of a new time. If you're a Harry Potter fan just imagine Half-Blood Prince. Something bad wasn't coming. Something bad was there and Zoey Redbird and her friends had taken their cats, dog, and scrambled away for cover underground. It's strange to imagine that where the dark Kalona came from is now the sound place. Zoey finds parts of the tunnels a little spooky, too. Time for that later, though. From start to finish events in this book keep mostly everyone on their toes.

In this book you will learn more about and get to know the Red Fledglings. Zoey and other House of Night fledglings cautiously bunk with them while they are without their home and beds at the House of Night. How could they simply stay underground, though? Someone has to stand up against Kalona and the betrayer, Neferet. There would always be the risk that Kalona's Raven Mockers would find them. Then there is also the peace between humans and vampyres that had existed for years. With Kalona free from where he was once trapped underground, no one, not even vampyres, are safe. Who would protect the humans?

P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast keep to their usual writing style with times you may smirk, laugh out loud, or say to yourself, "That Zoey!" This book is another in the House of Night series that is entertaining and a fun read. I look forward to next book with anticipation.

It's my understanding that this series, while previously being published immediately as paperbacks, is taking on hardcover copies. That will be the format for which Hunted will first be released in. My sources say book six is due to be published in October.

J.K. Rowling: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

2009-02-10T15:54:00.000-08:00

5 out of 5 stars

Should you be one of those people who have not yet read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for some reason that will seem as bizarre to the Harry Potter fan that I am, please do not continue reading any further. I can refer you to an earlier blog entry with my book review but warn that it comes with spoilers.

This was my first time actually rereading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. What a difference!

I was one of those fans who went stir-crazy online discussing exactly what might happen in the final Harry Potter book. One of my constant thoughts had been dread because I read that Rowling wanted to end her series in a way that no one would ever try to pick it up again and publish something from it on their own. I had interpreted this as her killing off Harry.

When it came to reading the final book that would tell the finished story of Harry Potter, I did everything I could think of including petting the cats before beginning to read because of my anxiety. I could say I was sniffly or teary during my reading but that wouldn't be quite true. I openly wept at parts. Every hour or so someone would be there to check on me, bringing me food or asking "Is he dead?" I shook my head and put aside the food I couldn't bring myself to eat. Such confidence I had in Rowling, I am thinking now as I look back on my previous and first reading of this book.

I became teary and even cried at all the right places during my second time around of reading this book last week, but I am glad I let enough time go by that I could really enjoy it when I did decide to reread it. While some much-loved characters may be gone and dead by the end of this series, we can always look back on the series as a whole and see them happy as they once were.

I have as of yet to reread the complete series since the release of book seven and am not planning it during this year since I don't want to reread this book twice in a single year. Perhaps in 2010, though. The Harry Potter books remain my favorite series and I doubt I could tire of them, but I would like to space out the times that I read them to enjoy them better.

The Bookpile, Part 2

2009-02-06T22:00:00.001-08:00

With my last blog entry I had said I would post the rest of the books tomorrow. That was on Sunday. Tomorrow can so easily turn into the next day and the day after that. For the most part I was caught up in reading. More on that "tomorrow," though.

These are the last of the books that joined my TBR pile last month. I got them all in one stop at Half-Priced Books. I can teasingly say I put the blame to the person I went book shopping with. My intentions had been to buy merely one book for a friend from a bookstore that sells new books where I knew the book would more likely be in stock.

I enjoyed Christopher Moore's books enough that I want to read more of them. While Fluke was not the book I had in mind to read by him next, the day's book shopping buddy wanted to read it so I got it for both of us. Fluke's subtitle is I Know Why the Caged Whale Sings. It's hard for me to imagine the reference to Toni Morrison's book to be missed, but just in case, she has one called I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. This originally made me wonder if there is a great connection between the two books or if Fluke even makes fun or laughs at the other. All I can say without yet having read it is that it's about marine behavioral biologist studying humpback whales. One day he finds the words "Bite me" carved on one of the poor creature's tails and from there a great question is asked of how it came to be there.

As though I don't have enough vampire books and haven't been reading enough of them lately, La Vida Vampire made it's way to my home. I had never heard of it before coming across it that day. This book is about a two-hundred-plus year old vampire who gives ghost tour guides after being unburied during a Victorian house renovation. She has a lot of problems between being taught about the world so very long ago, that she is blamed for the death of someone from her tour guide, and that someone is looking for her.

I was so excited to find another book by Neil Gaiman. One of my friends I've gone book shopping with had really recommended this one the first time we went book shopping almost a year ago. If anyone has any other book suggestions by this author I would love to hear them. I've previously read Stardust and Coraline by him, both books I loved. Neverwhere is about a man who stops to help an injured girl and ends up being taken to another world, both good and very bad. He seeks to return to London as he knew it.

I have a lot of sisters so when I find books about sisters I sometimes pick them up. I don't usually get them, though I did buy Whistling in the Dark. There are three sisters left alone after their mother is hospitalized and their step-father leaves them. The oldest sister, distracted by her boyfriend, doesn't pay attention to her younger sisters. The next thing you know someone has been molested and someone else murdered. One of the three sisters tries to care for another of them as she worries that the murderer is after her next and wonders who will believe their story.

I've never read anything by Kate DiCamillo and had previously not planned to read any particular books of hers, but The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane seemed like a cute little story. Before I was a cat person and before I had thought I was a dog person, it was rabbits that held my interest. I love the soft, little creatures and have owned two. This book is about a rabbit named Edward who was happy because he was owned by a very nice girl and then one day becomes lost. I wonder if it will be sad and stay away from it for a bit just in case.

I am really confused what the title is for the next book. I think it's a series called Wicked, but that it contains two books inside, Witch and Curse. The pages stop at 361 and begin again to reach 291. There are also two authors but they seem to have written the books together. I basically only bought this two-in-one because I come across it so many times. If I don't like them I can always rip the book in two and put them up on BookMooch. (Kidding!)

San Francisco native and teenager Holly is sent to relatives in Seattle after her parents die in a car accident. She finds things there very strange, though. The sentence that got me to make this purchase most was this: "...Any wish she whispers to her cat seems to come true." A cat person, perhaps. There is something sometimes creepy how one might swear cats actually hear you.

Lastly, after years of silently insisting I would absolutely not read this book, I bought the first Artemis Fowl book. At least after reading it I can actually say if I don't like it or not. Too many people I know have read it for me to not read it and see more of what it's about.

Another Book Pile

2009-02-01T21:19:00.000-08:00

My last book pile was on January 10th. Like January one year ago, I did far too much book shopping last month. I think it's caused from trying to avoid getting books when I have birthday and Christmas shopping to do. I put off posting another book pile till as late as possible. By then I had enough books for not one but two piles. I'm tired and want to go to bed early so I'm only going to post one of the book piles tonight.

Where they came from:

PaperBackSwap: Sunshine, Coraline, The Duchess
BookMooch: Go Ask Alice, Dead Until Dark, Careers for Bookworms & Other Literary Types
Borders Marketplace: The Tree Shepherd's Daughter, The Thirteenth Tale, Mistress Bradstreet: The Untold Life of America's First Poet
Gift: The Giver, My Sweet Audrina
Target: Harry, A History

I've already read The Giver and My Sweet Audrina so they're not actually part of my TBR at all. One of my sisters gave me a huge pile of books she either had multiple copies of or that she no longer wanted. I took these two aside and placed the rest on BookMooch and PaperBackSwap.

I've only read The Giver once about six years ago. The details have become fuzzy so I would like to read it again. It's about a twelve year old boy named Jonas who receives training from a man known as The Giver, someone who is the only one who can see everything for what it is, to my understanding. There's a lot more to it but I don't want to give away what details I can remember.

My Sweet Audrina is the only standalone by a ghost writer I used to read a lot of books by but stopped reading more than five years ago. Audrina lives in a strange world competing with her dead older sister, the first Audrina. Through this book she grows up and many mysteries and secrets are revealed, some most very shocking.

My sister who received perhaps seven books in Charlaine Harris's Sookie series from us for Christmas gobbled the books up and has been excitedly telling me how good the books are. I knew about them before she did, but I only managed to get a copy of a single book last month. Many are already aware of the series and recognize it as being what the television show "Trueblood" is based from. It's a vampire series beginning with Dead Until Dark. My sister and I have never seen the show so neither of us will be able to compare them.

Robin McKinley's Sunshine was a book I kept running into on LibraryThing. It's yet another book about vampires. I would look at the book description, close the tab, and some time later another LTer would mention it causing me to look over it once again. Well, I finally gave in. Someone has already asked me what I think of it because they want to know about it to read themselves. My plan is to try to read this one soon to let them know.

I used to work with someone whose other job was for a publisher. She always came into work with advanced reader copies whose covers I would stare at in hopes of being permitted to read the back cover. She sometimes sat her book down directly in front of me and walked away. I was good and didn't touch the books. If they were face up I would just look at it and wonder what kind of story it was. She would then come back and ask why I didn't flip it over to read the back cover yet. One of those many ARCs she had was Stephenie Meyer's The Host which she teasingly asked me if I would like to touch one afternoon. Another was The Tree Shepherd's Daughter. This book is one with a very interesting book cover about a teen who moves from California to Colorado to live with her dad after her mom dies. It's the first in a series of books with fairies in it.

I like some historical fiction and was curious about The Duchess when I saw previews to the movie. However, I never saw it. I got the book thinking that I may read that and then see the movie later on once it's out on DVD.

As a Harry Potter fan I am eager to read Harry, A History, a book I first heard about on LibraryThing. Many people will recognize its title from a book within J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series called Hogwarts, A History. While that's a book I strongly hope will one day be an actual book muggles can read, Harry, A History in the meantime tells the history of Harry as the series built up an alarmingly impressive amount of fans all over the world. These fans, or many of us rather, got to experience the waiting periods and everything that came with them between each of Rowling's book releases. It's a lucky experience many of us have had that introduced us to new people who we connected and became friends with. Goodness, it's something that introduced me to some of the best people I have ever known and come to love.

I took a book quiz last month that told me I was a slight bit of a book snob when it comes to books that are popular and might fall under mainstream fiction. I don't want to read a book because everyone else is reading it. I want to read it because others who enjoy the same books as me or people that I actually know versus strangers enjoyed it. Since I've heard a convincing amount of good feedbacks from it, I decided to get The Thirteenth Tale.

One of my absolute favorite poets is Anne Bradstreet. I did a presentation on her in a college Women's literature class but would still like to learn more about her. I was happy when I came across a book about her online, Mistress Bradstreet though it took me a while to get it. I have a hard time with some nonfiction books but I have an interest in the time period Bradstreet lived in as well. Perhaps after reading this when family members talk about family history I can tell them a little more about the Puritans then they can tell me.

I apologize for the sloppy and incomplete blog entry. I've been very tired lately and hope to get to sleep soon.

Neil Gaiman: Coraline

2009-01-30T23:02:00.000-08:00

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

As many people know the movie Coraline is coming to theaters next week with an opening night on Friday, February 6th. What I find funny is that some people have missed that this movie is based on a book.

"The movie's a book?" some kids might ask. Such were the words spoken by my youngest sister, age thirteen, when we discussed this two weeks ago.
"Well, the book's a movie, actu-"
"I want to read it!"

Excellent! You see, it is worth mentioning. This is especially true if said youngster or teen isn't fond of reading to begin with. (Haha, dear sister. I love you.)

I must admit the quieter approach may be better with some of them. It might be best to withhold the information until after they've enjoyed it and then sneak it in. While you might not know when you can afford to take your kids (and possibly their friends) to see it again, they can check the book out from a library to read as many times as they would like.

Try to break this news as excitedly as you can. Picture a surprise birthday party. Hold that thought. It would make the book sound 'uncool.' I am here to tell you there is no doubt that this book is not. It's fantastic! This book is not your child's average bedtime story, however.

Gaiman chills us with his dark children's story about a girl named Coraline who is just trying to find something to do while playing all alone in a world with only grown-ups. That's when she discovers a door leading to a world exactly like her own and yet terribly different. Coraline is a very mature girl and a character that can easily be admired. Her story is incredible however short. My movie tie-in edition is 163 pages with impressive and chilling illustrations. It will find itself in my sister's hands tomorrow.

Like all movies based on a book, and yes, for the young uns, I will say with a smile 'book based on a movie,' there are differences between the two. The movie is rated PG. I think kids of many ages will enjoy it. I've been clued in that the book is the more scary of the two. My thoughts are that if younger children are going to read this you might want to consider reading it with them if you're worried. I would steer away from reading it as their nighttime story before bed.

This is the official trailer provided on YouTube from "Coraline, the Movie."

Favorite Book That Begins with . . .

2009-01-26T20:17:00.000-08:00

I have a sleeping cat on my lap and while she is there I dare not disturb her. A comic strip by Brian Crane called "Pickles" introduced me to the term COL, which stands for 'cat on lap.' COL may be used as an excuse for just about anything. "I need you to go make dinner." "Could you go finish the laundry?" "I have a few errands for you to run." Just about anything goes with COL. It can even be for something that works against you. I wish I could get up right now because this nearing eight-year-old baby who has the most photogenic skills is beginning to make me uncomfortable, but because I have COL I may not get up. While I am bound to the computer chair I am finding something to do to pass the time by blogging this entry. Oh, dear. I sneezed. She has just left me. I am free, and yet now compelled to type. Well, here it is....

These are my favorite books that I have read for each letter of the alphabet:
The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
The Big Over Easy: A Nursery Crime by Jasper Fforde
The Crimes of Charlotte Bronte: The Secrets of a Mysterious Family by James Tully
Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
Fly By Night by Frances Hardinge
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
Harry Potter series. I can't decide which is my favorite.
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
The Knight of the Sacred Lake by Rosalind Miles
The Little Country by Charles de Lint
Memory and Dream by Charles de Lint
New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
The Onion Girl by Charles de Lint
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Quicksilver & Shadow by Charles de Lint
Remember Me by Carol Higgins Clark
Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde
You Suck by Christopher Moore

Runner Ups:
Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver
The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire
The Deep End of the Ocean by Jacquelyn Mitchard
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde
Guenevere, Queen of the Summer Country by Rosalind Miles
Hurt Go Happy by Ginny Rorby
Isolde, Queen of the Western Isle by Rosalind Miles
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Most Wanted by Jacquelyn Mitchard
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Stardust by Neil Gaiman
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Untamed by P.C. and Kristen Cast
Widdershins by Charles de Lint

More From the Hardest Letters to Choose From:
B: The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver
D: The Dark Hills Divide by Patrick Carman and The Dragon Heir by Cinda Williams Chima
F: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and Forests of the Heart by Charles de Lint H: The Host by Stephenie Meyer, Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson, and Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
L: The Lady of the Sea by Rosalind Miles, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, and Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde
M: The Maid of the White Hands by Rosalind Miles, Me & Emma by Elizabeth Flock, and My Sweet Audrina by V.C. Andrews
O: Od Magic by Patricia A. McKillip and The Odyssey by Homer
S: A Shortcut in Time by Charles Dickinson, The Subtle Knife by Phillip Pullman, and Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire
T: A Theory of Relativity by Jacquelyn Mitchard and Tunneling by Beth Bosworth
W: Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, The Wood Wife by Terri Windling, and A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks

On an ending note, I was quite worrisome my four-legged friend would return. She made several trips back to see me. More seriously now, I wonder if there are any good books that begin with a 'V' an 'X,' or a 'Z.' Also if there are any writers reading this, why so very many 'W's? I am overwhelmed for this letter more than any other by far. They are magnificent stories, though.

Why I Choose LibraryThing

2009-01-24T00:05:00.000-08:00

I recently voted on something to do with social networking sites for readers. I didn't spend more than a few minutes typing it up but this is what I left as my comment.

I don’t like LibraryThing. I love LibraryThing.

I’ve been a member of LibraryThing for two years now. The day I stumbled on it became a milestone in my life. My lifetime membership status isn’t just because a friend paid for me to have more than a year of unlimited book cataloging. I love how well I can keep track of my books there. The site has terrific features that feed all of my addictions for organizing and much more. I turn to LT for anything book related before all else. LibraryThing has complete reins of which books I purchase and which books I don’t purchase. It can tell me what order a book series is in, which books I may like based on what I have already, and I haven’t even gotten started on the communication parts of it. It introduced me to some of the best people I’ve ever ‘met’ and I am very grateful for the friendships it has given me. Talking to a group of people about books you have in common is wonderful. Talking to a group a people who you know well and share many of the same book interests as is even better. I am eternally grateful to those who work hard to keep LibraryThing the outstanding place that it is.

If you're a reader and haven't discovered the amazingness that is LibraryThing yet, I suggest you go check it out.

Christopher Moore: You Suck

2009-01-23T00:05:00.001-08:00

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

I hadn't been sure that I would read this book next but did after all. The eventful weekend didn't leave room for much reading as I spent it trying to cheer up my newly become jobless sister. It took longer to read the book than I thought it would because of this but not for a lack of interest in reading it. I set it down with regret each time I had to lie the book aside.

Often a series might grow on me as I think was the case for this one, though its two companion books rather than a series from what I can tell. The characters grow on you and I love nothing more than books that follow another because you can stay with the characters who you have already begun to know and understand. In some ways this story was different because a new point of view was introduced but it never failed to make me laugh. I think I can say the story only got better.

This book takes place immediately following where its companion novel, Bloodsucking Fiends, leaves off. Vampires Jody and Tommy are still in San Francisco and with a few problems:

They need to find food, a priority to newly made vampire Tommy who is experiencing the hunger for the first time.

They need a new minion, or onion, if you ask Jody.

They need to find a new apartment to please the San Francisco police.

They need to go Christmas shopping for their parents because in all that had been going on, they've forgotten it's only about two days away.

Learning how to be a vampire and pushing a great huge statue down the street can be hard work but then again so can hiding on top of a pipe that heats up during the day. Being a statue for a living is the easy job, or so it is for one statue in particular. I won't reveal any more when it comes to that but its quite funny.

Through their adventures they find the strangest ways of acquiring food, searching for a way that their bodies can accept the coffee that satisfied them as humans. That comes in handy later on but I won't reveal why. Jody and Tommy get themselves a regular blood donor with little cost to them. A shaved cat in a red sweater is probably the one who pays the most.

Tommy's love for literature plays a role in checking 'minion' off their to-do list. Strange, amusing, Gothic, street-smart, and very much a teenager are some of best words of choice in describing Abby Normal who prefers to not use her day slave name. Abby more than happily becomes the loyal servant of her very old vampires, Flood and the Countess. Her only hope is to become one of them.

A woman named Blue comes into the story while spending time with the Animals, a nickname given to those who work Safeway's night shift. Tommy's old friends reveal to her that Tommy is a newly made vampire and from then on she has one goal: "'You want to be orange?' 'Not orange, you nitwit, a vampire!'" (Moore 162).

Only one of these girls becomes a vampire. Which one will it be? I will not say so you will have to find out yourself. This book is filled with just as much humor as the last book and I enjoyed it a bit more. Moore does a brilliant job capturing the point of view of the sixteen-year-old that is Abby Normal. I don't feel he could have done any better on that. I kind of missed a few things that couldn't be in this book that had been a part of the one previous but the author more than makes up for it. Hysterical!

I've loaned both books out to someone who is reading them as quickly as the murdering vampire of San Francisco seemed to be draining bodies of their blood in the first of these two books. She is ecstatic and loving the series, the first vampire books she has ever read. The amount of humor in these books just has her so drug into these books. I see books grab at her attention on a regular basis, but these two are not books the nonfiction reader I know her to be would pick up to read on her own. I think that says something more for these two books.

Which Bennet Sister Are You?

2009-01-21T23:02:00.001-08:00

I've fallen behind on reviewing what I've read but am working on some posts. In the meantime here is a fun quiz. Have you read Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice"? It's one of my favorites! Take this quiz to discover which of the five Bennet sisters is most like you.

I took this quiz twice with the same result both times. However, I needed a tie breaker on the second attempt.

You Scored as Elizabeth

Elizabeth Bennet is intelligent witty. She sometimes judges people before she knows them but changes her opinion when she knows she was wrong about someone. She is considered somewhat of a tomboy but usually doesn't care what people think. She may have a hard shell but is extremely loving to those she cares for.

My first attempt at this quiz provided me with the following information, though the second time left it out entirely for odd some reason. (It probably has to do with the tie.)

Elizabeth . . . 81%
Jane Bennet . . . 72%
Kitty Bennet . . . 56%
Mary Bennet . . . 44%
Lydia Bennet . . . 16%

Christopher Moore: Bloodsucking Fiends

2009-01-14T21:33:00.000-08:00

I think I heard this book mentioned a good year or more before it made it's way to my wishlist. My TBR pile was great already. With the Twilight series over though, I've been branching out to other vampire series, something I never dreamed would happen. It's not that I think books about vampires are bad, because I don't think that. I had just thought them all juvenile after spending much of my teen years buried in them. I had read L.J Smith's complete works. I had also read Christopher Pike's The Last Vampire series, a collection of six books. (The Remember Me books had been ones I reread over and over again as well.)

After buried in so many Young Adult books as a teen I had thought growing up meant no longer reading YAs, and definitely putting vampire books behind me while moving on to those great and wonderful classic stories. I think I needed a little reminder of everything on that list of classic books because I know now there is at the very least one vampire book on that list. It wasn't until more recent years and seeing how many adults read YAs that I began to pick them up again myself.

Christopher Moore: Bloodsucking Fiends
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

The book I'm going to talk about in this blog entry today is not a YA at all, but it is a vampire love story. Vampire books as ordinary fiction books - who knew? I had never read any perhaps until now. And yet, this book was not simply ordinary. It was a rather humorous one. Jokes were far apart at times, but other times they were left and right. Sometimes they were buried without characters even taking note of them when the jokes were right in front of them. This is a good thing though, because innocent and unnoticed jokes by the characters are always jokes very much enjoyed.

I was very confused about the setting when I first started reading. An Emperor was mentioned and my thoughts were, 'Egypt?' The next thing I knew it was mentioning Oakland, and this might just be because I am from California, but when I think Oakland, I think CA. It's a pretty scary place at times. The violence and gangs keep me away from it. It's not a place for someone my size to be alone. It soon became apparent that it was indeed the San Francisco Bay Area where this book takes place, and the Emperor was in fact Emperor of Chinatown. I obviously haven't been there often enough.

When we first meet one of our main characters, Jody, she is walking to a bus stop at night on her way home after work. 'This is the last time,' she thinks of being out that late as she aims to go past passersby. Have I ever known that feeling! The details of events for the next few days will go unspoiled by me with warning and you may use your imagination. Otherwise... (SPOILER) Jody thinks herself at some point left for dead. Until she wakes up. Was she left for dead, though? This is where the story really begins. (END spoiler.)

Tommy Flood finds his way into San Francisco immediately seeking a roof over his head and a job. His only real desire is to write and he creates a name for himself. His roommates and apartment tenant are quite the characters. So is his strange crew of co-workers who are up to all sorts of things that really make you wonder just what exactly goes on in grocery stores at night. They really had me laughing. What does Tommy have to do with Jody? I said this was a love story.

It took me a while to really get into this book but once I did, I was very glad for my mistake of buying book two by accident when shopping for book one. It allows me to jump right into the next book if I so chose. I haven't read a book that has made me laugh as much as this in a while. I really recommend it. In some places I was looking for something more and it's not a book I love such as those I rate at four to five stars. It was however a good book, and I can't wait till I have a person to talk to about it instead of just trying to avoid giving spoilers here.

John Connolly: The Book of Lost Things

2009-01-12T12:08:00.000-08:00

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

This book was a tricky one to read but not so tricky as I've heard it's been for others. I had wanted to read it months ago when I bought it in October but the book had about a one month disappearance until I was too busy to read it. Some might only joke that this book becomes lost but after a while you begin to worry about it missing from one of your bookshelves just because it's that book. In any case, I managed to read it without loosing it once during my reading this weekend. I looked up where my copy is from exactly (England) and am now wondering just how many journeys my own copy has had as it may have become lost multiple times in it's life.

I wasn't really sure what kind of book this would be before I started reading. I knew it had some sort of fair tales within and that some people don't recommend it to children. I also knew it was a favorite to some enough that they read it more than once a year. Since I know some people that might read this and haven't read or finished the book yet I'm going to try to stick to things mentioned on my book's jacket when it comes to spoilers. Again, my copy isn't from the U.S so I hope all will be okay due to any differences our covers may possess in story details and giveaways.

The main character of The Book of Lost Things is a twelve-year-old boy I reached out to immediately as he mourns the loss of his mother. Books had meant a great deal to his mother, particularly a book of myths, legends and fair tales he would read from to her. She felt so strongly about books that she would tell her son stories come alive in reading them out loud, after which they can transform you. This message held her spirit inside this book to me and seemingly to David as well, who always kept the book close after her death.

With his mother's passing books are no longer the same as they once were to David. They move without anyone touching them. He can understand books, too. They whisper things. (Bonus points to the first person who can name where I grabbed parts of the last three sentences from. I thought it would be funny to use here.) David keeps this to himself. Best not to be locked away.

The real and unreal seem to merge as David has night and then day dreams about a crooked man in a land where he has only been to in stories. Soon enough they collide, and David is in a new land away from the ongoing war that coincides in his own land. The Crooked Man is there, too, along with some familiar and yet unfamiliar characters as well. Nothing is as we knew them to be in the fairy tales we grew up to. These ones are all new. Connolly has created ones for which it won't matter where you grew up or what culture you're part of. You will have never read these. David hasn't, either, and is embarking on a journey said to be one of these tales as well.

I thought David made very significant character development in this book. Though a child to begin with, this is a story that changes and transforms him into someone much more grown up. I'm impressed with the author's ability to keep the book in a twelve-year-old's mind and yet fit for the older audience. I imagine most books in which the main character is such an age they are coined as children and young adult novels, something I've been told this is not.

Connolly's stories are very interesting and unique. I feel he could go on to write books which tie-in to this one if he wanted to. However, they would not be as strong and his messages have already been delivered. This book makes an excellent story on it's own as a standalone. Nothing is missing from it. I am sorry that I can't reveal why I gave it a barely imperfect rating without spoiling. If anyone is curious, ask in a comment and I will write about it there.

The First Bookpile of '09

2009-01-10T21:11:00.000-08:00

Some of these books I actually got last year but I felt there weren't enough of them to post in a photo until two arrived in the mail these last two days. Here is the newest contribution to my TBR pile.

Where they came from:
PaperBackSwap: Shadowland, Bloodsucking Fiends, The Boleyn Inheritance, and The Alchemyst
Bought new: Revelations and The Secret of Lost Things
Gift: Eats, Shoots and Leaves
From 2008: Shadowland, The Boleyn Inheritance, and Eats, Shoots and Leaves

As I try to write a little about each of these books I am finding that I can't really remember why I had any interest in reading Shadowland which is always a bad sign. I am sure whatever the reason was that it had to do with something someone said about the book, though, so Mediator series fan, I hope this book is good! It seems to be about a teenage girl who sees ghosts and is trying a new life after recently moving to my home state of California.

Eats, Shoots and Leaves is subtitled "The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation." Unlike the other books in this pile, it's not in my TBR pile, though I am planning to read it soon and this copy is new to my home. One of my aunts gave it to me happy she could recommend a really good book that she thought I would like. She was right. I love this book! It's hilarious and perfect for anyone either wanting to know a little more about punctuation or who has an issue with all the wrong punctuation they see in the world. That is precisely why the earlier editions actually came with brilliant punctuation marks for the reader to add anywhere they see use for them. I think the previous time I read this book the only flaw I found was that punctuation, I learned, is sometimes different for different countries. This book was originally published in the United Kingdom so I couldn't learn so much about punctuation for the U.S. as the author isn't American, but it's still a very funny book and good read.

I have been sitting anxiously waiting all week for Bloodsucking Fiends to arrive. I've heard friends mention and discuss the vampire series but didn't really get interested in it until I went book shopping with one of them in October. My mistake was in not buying this book that day. I went to another bookstore some time later and accidentally bought book two, You Suck, so I am thrilled to have book one at last. These books are supposed to be very funny. This may be one of the next two books I read.

I was silently laughing when I came across The Secret of Lost Things last weekend. I'd never heard of the book before but the title made me think of The Book of Lost Things and a joke about it's copies always disappearing. I thought perhaps it will reveal the secret as to why or how it happens! Obviously not, but it was a funny thought at the time. I had to pick this book up and learn a little about the story. It's about an eighteen-year-old bibliophile who leaves home for New York bringing only her books with her. She quickly makes herself at home working in a used bookstore. This book is said to be a literary adventure as well as an adventure for this girl trying to make a new home in the world.

I really shouldn't have gotten The Boleyn Inheritance just yet since it's part of a series so I'm hitting myself over the head. It's book three in the chronological order for Philippa Gregory's Tudor series. Many have heard of book two which I think was the author's first published work, The Other Boleyn Girl. I've already read that one but missed book one. The Constant Princess sits in my TBR pile. I'm hoping I will enjoy this series, though. Book two was very good. I enjoyed it much more than The Queen of Subtleties by a different author.

I spent a lot of time just ignoring The Alchemyst but began to hear enough about it and positive feedback that I decided to try the first book in this series out. A lot of people have already heard a little bit about Nicholas Flamel and so may recognize the name. The biggest reason why I recognize it is because of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone which had originally made me so against reading a different book from another series that included him. For those who aren't sure what Flamel is known for, it is for creating the elixir of life, the drink to make one immortal, in a sense. Reading the back of this book's cover, the story is that Nicholas Flamel, born in 1330, did not die in the 1400s as the record shows. They go on the say there isn't a body buried in his grave at all and that he lives still by drinking the elixir of life. While I once snubbed this book, it sounds like it will be very interesting. It's good for booksnobs to consider those ill-seeming books sometimes!

Melissa de la Cruz: Revelations

2009-01-08T19:27:00.000-08:00

It was a very exciting day two months ago when I discovered that Melissa de la Cruz's newest book in her Blueblood series was to be published that very day. Rather than going to buy a copy, though, I waited for my birthday and Christmas to pass up. I honestly can't say how many times I walked up to this book, took it off a shelf, and set it down again before walking away. When no one bought it for me I went bookshopping for it this past weekend. I may have discovered it the day of it's release but the wait was definitely long enough.

Revelations is part three in the Blueblood YA vampire series following Blue Bloods and Masquerade with more books to be expected. It picks up within a matter of days or weeks where the second book leaves off. Main character Schuyler Van Alen is still attending the Duchesne School in New York, still being taunted by the ever popular Mimi Force, and still dreamy-eyed over Mimi's twin and 'soulmate,' Jack. Another thing that hasn't changed are the feelings Schuyler's childhood human friend Oliver has for her. There are bigger problems for the Blue and Red Bloods, though.*

Whatever danger was lurking and attacking young non-fully formed vampires in book two is still out there.** Everyone has their suspicions as to who the Silver Blood that is causing the killings is but no one really knows who it is for sure. More lives will be taken, putting an end to yet more vampires being able to go through their cycle of rebirth to life again. A trip abroad will lead to more answers and yet more questions. De la Cruz keeps readers waiting for more but leaves us only with a title of what book will come next. Look for Melissa de la Cruz's The Van Alen Legacy in what I expect to be ten to fourteen months from now, based on her previous Blueblood publications.

I had really looked forward to more in this series when I had left off with the book previous but felt this book could have offered a little more. (SPOILERS) Schuyler is too wrapped up in her interest for someone to pay attention to other and more important things. I was disappointed that she doesn't go to visit her comatose mother even once during this book. She also could have been paying more attention to what was going on with the Bluebloods and doing her studies for it as she was instructed. Instead she leaves Oliver to do the homework and know everything for her. I'm also puzzled by her weak-seeming state of friendship with her close friend Bliss, who continues to have a strong role and is having a lot of things going on in her life. (END spoilers.)

There were two slight problems with my copy of Revelations so I would like those who are interested in the book to be aware of it. Pages 197 and 200 were both missing text from one side of their pages. Be careful not to end up with pages such as this in your own copy of the book.

* Blue bloods are vampires while red bloods are humans.
** Vampires reach maturity at twenty-one or twenty-two years of age.

Lewis Carrol: Through the Looking Glass

2009-01-07T20:45:00.000-08:00

The last book I finished reading in 2008 was Alice in Wonderland and I have now finished reading part two of the story, Through the Looking Glass. I was at first puzzled by the board game inside my copy of the book. The first page notes which characters (players) are which color (red or white) for a game of chess. It made me think of how we see font such as was in this book in works of Shakespeare right before the start of the plays. I began reading wondering if the story would appear in a similar fashion. It began with a poem and then an introduction about the pages showing the chess game information to make it more clear. The story itself was just like the last story in the way of the style it was written in.

I immediately ooed and awed over the black and white kittens, Kitty and Snowdrop. I had only known of Alice's cat, Dina, existing. As I read I had to stop toward the beginning because it hadn't been clear to me right away that Alice, rather than dreaming such as in Alice in Wonderland, was this time daydreaming and using her imagination.

Imagination is a perfect thing for children to have, and very good for a child who seems to not have any other children around to play with. Alice occupies her time playing with cats and inventing things that are make believe. She starts off with the mirror in the very room she is playing in by going through it and seeing how everything she already knew from her own world in another way, how it is on the other and unknown side of the looking glass.

On the other side of the looking glass, the chess pieces in the room have life. Alice begins this story by playing the part of one of the pawns. She comes across a few characters (i.e., players in this story) who she already met before and meets a few new faces as well. There is a great deal of playing with words. The characters put focus on some words versus others, and change the form of some sentences entirely to have a new meaning or to ask a new question.

I had to fold one of the pages because the poem on it reminded me of another. This is what was inside my book:

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things :
Of shoes -- and ships -- and sealing wax --
Of cabbages -- and kings --
And why the sea is boiling hot --
And whether pigs have wings"
--(Carrol, 153)

I think there were actually a few poems this reminded me of but at present I can't name a single one. I think some others who read poetry might be able to tell me what other poem I might possibly have been thinking of.

Of course, I was very likely to recall these words from Disney's movie as well, which I did. I pictured it and was not happy for those dear little clams. I think I would have lacked as much sympathy for them without it because they were just too young and cute in the film. How dare that Carpenter and Walrus! I also pitied the kitty who Alice shook when the Red Queen turned into Kitty. Yes, it's only a story. Yes also that Alice must love them, though not quite enough to understand what their meows mean. Silly Alice.

Book Quizes

2009-01-05T23:19:00.000-08:00

I just took a book quiz on a friend's site and remembered about the one I have linked on my side column here. The Blue Pyramid produces many book quizzes but the only one I've taken is their book quiz. It doesn't seem to matter what sort of mood I'm in or how much time passes between each time that I take it. My results are always the same.

You're Watership Down!

by Richard Adams

Though many think of you as a bit young, even childish, you're
actually incredibly deep and complex. You show people the need to rethink their
assumptions, and confront them on everything from how they think to where they
build their houses. You might be one of the greatest people of all time. You'd
be recognized as such if you weren't always talking about talking rabbits.

Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

I like rabbits and have had them as pets so I thought this book seemed like it might be kind of cute. I had to add it to my wishlist after a few times of taking this quiz. I got it from BookMooch and it's one of the great many books that is my TBR pile. I'm curious how one of my sisters who is so different from me is this book, too. She is, though, the only person who I've had take this quiz that is the same book as me.

2009 Book Challenges

2009-01-04T14:03:00.000-08:00

You might already have noticed this new addition to the side column, but I've made a few challenges for this year from the 50 Book Challenge on LibraryThing. Typically an LTer will take any amount of books they wish to read and try to read them within a year. A few choose to have a few more challenges as well. This is where my reading challenge for 2008 came from. It was the first year I made a challenge to read a given number of books within a year. I had chosen fifty-two books based on the one book per week ratio.

Since I passed my challenge last year while also having hardly read any books during three months of the year, I increased my book challenge to seventy-five books for this year. I'm not planning on any deaths, major illnesses in the family, or any type of catastrophe to interrupt it. I know that's always a possibility and at least one is likely, but I choose to plan for the positive. Some might argue that having a number of books desired to be read in a year's span is taking the fun out of reading, but when you enjoy reading as much as I do as I think is more than likely for most who visit this blog, then it doesn't really matter because it's still very much enjoyable.

This is one of the challenges I made with thoughts of one of my sisters in mind: To try to balance out my To-Be-Read pile so it remains the same number as it is or shrinks down. How do you read and not have this always happen? Books will always find a way into your home. Do not question it. My TBR pile consists of one-hundred and fifty-two books at present moment. Already I have read one, bought three on PaperBackSwap, and purchased two in a bookstore. Rather than beat myself over my head for those purchases I will try to get a lot of reading done while I have the free time this week. There will be times that I won't be able to keep this up and I know it. That's why my main goal is to have it ideally be balanced out by the end of this year. Let's see how possible or ridiculous this challenge may be, shall we? Perhaps it will cause a great mockery.

In the days before I blogged or discovered any of the book sites I am on now I would challenge myself to read at least one classic per month. As I've majorly decreased the amount of time I spend reading from being online on book sites I dropped this challenge. Now I would like to resume it with an alteration: To read twelve or more classics any time during the year rather than one per month. I'd rather read books when I am in the mood for them, not simply for reading a particular genre. Still, every time I've read a book knowing there is some reference or another to a classic or another book, I've always been the one to desire being in on it versus being on the outside and just not getting it. I might take the opportunity to read Charlotte Bronte's Shirley this year, a book which at some point discusses some marvelous stained glass windows I fell in love with years ago. (If you would like to visit these windows, they are at the Red House Museum.) Two other classics I would like to read this year are Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights and Shakespeare's Othello, both books I seemed to have not been assigned to read during any of the literature classes I've taken.

My genre challenge does not end there. I would also like to increase how many nonfiction books I read each year and challenge myself to twelve or more. There are plenty all throughout my house some of which I've wanted to read for years so I'm not worried over finding many good books to read. One of the nonfiction books I've wanted to read for years has been The Man Who Tasted Shapes, the copy of which has been MIA. I guess this means I will be organizing and sorting through my fellow book lover's books at home, which she certainly won't mind. Another nonfiction book I plan to read this year is Eats, Shoots, and Leaves. It will be a reread for me, but someone gave it to me as a gift not knowing I've already read it and I'm not going to be the one to say so. A good book may be read more than once and this one is funny. I'm happy it's made it's way to my collection of books the way it has because I'm bad at buying books I've already read.

Two other challenges that tie into classics are a Jane Austen and Banned Book challenge. I've thought over having an Austen challenge in the past because there are so many books in my TBR pile having to do with her works. Some of these are books related to Pride and Prejudice or all of her complete works and some of these are works by Miss Austen herself which I have not yet read. Mansfield Park, Persuasion, and Emma are the books I've yet to read by her. I can't quite say how many times I've read and enjoyed Pride and Prejudice. It's one of my favorites.

My Banned Book challenge may be something I might try to attempt for the month of September during which Banned Book week falls in. I am still deciding but leaning more toward that as I think about it. I laugh at people who try to ban books. Do they not know it only makes me want to read a book I may not have glanced at before? This isn't just the case for me but my family as well. Someday I would like to own a copy of every book that has ever been banned. I fear this might not be something that can be accomplished if every copy of any book is or has been destroyed. What monstrous creatures who either try to or succeed in banning books. The same for those monsters from somewhere dark who burn books. That's not protecting children. It's increasing nightmares and throwing debris in their clean air. Don't get me started.

Another type of book which is exceedingly high in my TBR pile are collections of short stories. I would like to read and complete three of these at some point during the year. I have a lot of these that are fantasy and mythology-related. Some are twisted and retold fairy tales, something I used to read a lot of. Others are books such as The Coyote Road, a thick collection of short stories about Tricksters. I bought this one after taking my second mythology class which discusses myths from a major range of cultures and regions. The Trickster was one of the things we covered.

Lastly, I have created challenges based on reviewing books. I try to write a blog entry for each book I read here and write something for the 50 Book Challenge in it's proper place as well, but I would like to get to entering my reviews into LT's actual place for book reviews. So far I am on track with one book read and reviewed in all three places to review in. My other reviewing challenge is to be a better Early Reviewer member. I would like to read and review every Early Reviewer book received within a one month span of receiving them. I've been very busy the last couple of months, too busy to do this. The year has hardly begun and I've yet to receive any for this year as of yet, but should I get more, this is a challenge I've made for it.

Cheers to another year of great books!

Ellen Wittlinger: Love & Lies

2009-01-02T19:00:00.000-08:00

Wittlinger's YA novel Love & Lies is a companion to her earlier story, Hard Love, following sideline character Marisol Guzman who stars in her very own story with this book. Taking place after Hard Love, I consider it a sequel just for the sake of chronological order. John Galardi ("Gio") makes an appearance in this story, though don't assume because of the title that it means something that couldn't be in his own story. Marisol is a lesbian. I wouldn't give that away except for the matter that it's necessary.

Earlier on during Hard Love Marisol had been a zine writer and high school student. Now she has graduated and is taking a year off before going to Stanford to accomplish two things: to write a novel and to fall in love. How hard could the first one of those be? Marisol is a very confident girl and moves out of her parent's, gets a job, and enrolls in an adult class called "How to Write Your First Novel."

It isn't long before Marisol realizes that her old friend Gio is also enrolled in the class, that she's absolutely crazy over their beautiful female instructor, and that the girl who's been hanging around her work and befriended her is very much attracted to her. In Love & Lies Marisol gains the creative juices needed to produce her novel and learns what happens when love is built on lies.

This is a two-hundred and forty-five page book that goes pretty fast. It was interesting to read about some of the writing exercises the class had for assignments. I liked that the author included bits of Marisol's writing in the book. The back page includes sixteen quotes about writing by well-known and successful writers. Here are two of the quotes I liked best:

"The suspense of a novel is not only in the reader, but in the novelist, who is intensely curious about what will happen to the hero."-- Mary McCarthy

"The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being there, written in invisible ink and clamoring to become visible."-- Vladimir Nabokov

A Summary of 2008 in Books

2009-01-01T19:29:00.000-08:00

2008 has ended and with it, my book challenge for this past year. I read fifty-nine books in 2008, surpassing my book challenge goal by seven books. I came up with a new challenge once I beat that one later on but knew there was a possibility that too much would be going on for me to complete it. (My new reading challenge was to read a total of seventy books.) Here is a list of what I read in 2008:

1. Holly Black: Modern Faery's Tale, book 3: Ironside
2. Caprice Crane: Forget About It
3. Patrick Carman: The Land of Elyon, book 1: The Dark Hills Divide
4. Melissa de la Cruz: Bluebloods, book 1: Blue Bloods
5. Patrick Carman: The Land of Elyon, book 2: Beyond the Valley of Thorns
6. Louise Rennison: Georgia Nicholson, book 1: Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging
7. Louise Rennison: Georgia Nicholson, book 2: On the Bright Side, I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God
8. Melissa de la Cruz: Bluebloods, book 2: Masquerade
9. Rick Riordan: Percy Jackson & the Olympians, book 1: The Lightning Thief
10. Louise Rennison: Georgia Nicholson, book 3: Knocked Out by My Nugga-Nuggas
11. Frances Hodgson Burnett: A Little Princess
12. Cornelia Funke: Inkworld, book 1: Inkheart
13. Louise Rennison: Georgia Nicholson, book 4: Dancing in My Nuddy Pants
14. Phillipa Gregory: Tudor, book 2: The Other Boleyn Girl
15. Helen Fielding: Bridget Jones, book 1: Bridget Jones's Diary
16. Philip Pullman: His Dark Materials, book 4: Lyra's Oxford
17. Frances Hodgson Burnett: The Secret Garden
18. Scott Westerfeld: Uglies, book 1: Uglies
19. Rachel Caine: Morganville Vampires, book 1: Glass Houses
20. Rachel Caine: Morganville Vampires, book 2: The Dead Girls' Dance
21. Stephenie Meyer: Twilight, book 1: Twilight
22. Stephenie Meyer: The Host
23. C.S. Lewis: Chronicles of Narnia, (chronologically) book 4: Prince Caspian
24. Scott Westerfeld: Uglies, book 2: Pretties
25. Scott Westerfeld: Uglies, book 3: Specials
26: Michael Middleditch: The New York Mapguide (5th edition)
27: Rachel Caine: Morganville Vampires, book 3: Midnight Alley
28: Ginny Rorby: Hurt Go Happy
29. Melissa Marr: Wicked Lovely, book 1: Wicked Lovely
30. Diana Wynne Jones: Howl's Castle, book 1: Howl's Moving Castle
31. Stephenie Meyer: Twilight, book 1: Twilight
32. Stephenie Meyer: Twilight, book 2: New Moon
33. Stephenie Meyer: Twilight, book 3: Eclipse
34. Stephenie Meyer: Twilight, book 4: Breaking Dawn
35. Ellen Wittlinger: Marisol, book 1: Hard Love
36: Sean Stewart: Cathy's Book, book 1: Cathy's Book
37: Ann Rinaldi: A Break with Charity
38. Jane Elliot: The Little Prisoner
39. PC and Kristen Cast: House of Night, book 1: Marked
40: Patrick Carman: Land of Elyon, book 3: The Tenth City
41: Cinda Williams Chima: The Heir, book 1: The Warrior Heir
42. PC and Kristen Cast: House of Night, book 2: Betrayed
43. Christopher Paolini: Inheritance, book 1: Eragon
44. Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black: Spiderwick Chronicles, book 1: The Field Guide
45. Cinda Williams Chima: The Heir, book 2: The Wizard Heir
46. PC and Kristen Cast: House of Night, book 3: Chosen
47. Christopher Paolini: Inheritance, book 2: Eldest
48. PC and Kristen Cast: House of Night: Untamed
49. Wendy Mass: A Mango-Shaped Space
50. Cinda Williams Chima: The Heir, book 3: The Dragon Heir
51. Ibi Kaslik: Skinny
52. Gabrielle Zeven: Elsewhere
53. Rick Riordan: Percy Jackson and the Olympians, book 2: The Sea of Monsters
54. Libba Bray: Gemma Doyle, book 1: A Great and Terrible Beauty
55. Sarah Waters: Fingersmith
56. Renee Baron and Elizabeth Wagele: The Enneagram Made Easy
57. J.K. Rowling: (Harry Potter companion): The Tales of Beedle the Bard
58. Vicki Myron: Dewey
59. Lewis Carrol: Alice's Adventures, book 1: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

I've tried to keep a list of which books were my favorite that I read by the month on the side of my blog which I'll list the content of here:

Jan. ~ Caprice Crane: "Forget About It"
Feb. ~ Phillipa Gregory: "The Other Boleyn Girl"
Mar. ~ Frances Hodgson Burnett: "The Secret Garden"
Apr. ~ Scott Westerfeld: "Uglies"
May ~ Stephenie Meyer: "The Host"
Jun. ~ Ginny Rorby: "Hurt Go Happy"
Jul. ~ Diana Wynne Jones: "Howl's Moving Castle"
Aug. ~ Stephenie Meyer: "Breaking Dawn"
Sep. ~ Cinda Williams Chima: "The Warrior Heir"
Oct. ~ Sarah Waters: "Fingersmith"
(Nov. ~ only read one book)
Dec. ~ Vicki Myron: "Dewey"

My mother is likewise a reader and since we both had the day off work wanted to discuss the books we read last year. This is her third year in a row of beating me with eighty-some books read. One of the things she insisted was hearing which one book was my favorite. One book. I couldn't do it. She knows I love to read series and told me I could count complete series as individual books and to come up with a couple. I looked over the books I read, made a short list, and scrambled to my bookshelves. This is what I brought to her:

Cinda Williams Chima's The Warrior Heir was chosen to represent The Heir series for being the first and also possibly my favorite of the series. It has the fantasy thing going on and I am very thankful to all my LibraryThing friends who spoke so wonderfully of it. I loved this series. I've already written about the differences between the Heir and Harry Potter so I won't repeat that but post a link.

Another book I chose to represent a series was PC and Kristen Cast's Marked. The House of Night series is published quickly making it fun to follow not to mention how funny I've found the series. I would for certain call this the lightest vampire series I have read. The dark and scary aren't really all that dark or scary.

Here we get to the books I chose as stand-alones. Two of these I do not own. They are Ginny Rorby's Hurt Go Happy and Vicki Myron's Dewey, both books that I couldn't put down. There were a good amount of books like that for me this year, but only these two succeeded in making me completely sappy. I adore them both, each having an alarmingly touching story of their own.

Rorby's book was close to home to me during a time that I was very far from home - across the country, in fact, and feeling homesick. It includes a great deal of sign language, the silent language I'm constantly unconsciously using, and also partially takes place right in the area that I live in. I was able to connect with the main character as well for her family life at home and the relationship between her and an animal that she loves dearly.

Myron's book is one that is the second to last blog entry before this so I need not go into detail, but it was of course very close to me as well. My mother was surprised by me naming it as one of my favorite books for the year, but why ever would I want to erase everything about my Loofy and pretend as though he never was? His ashes are a way of holding on, but some special books such as this and Rorby's help keep everything there. I never want to forget.

Another book I chose was Scott Westerfeld's Uglies. There are four books to this series and I have only read three of them, however, as a series, I feel that it stinks. I really don't like those books. The first one, on the other hand, as a stand-alone book delivers some very good messages, one of them being to take better care of our planet. I feel teens with eating disorders would also benefit from reading this book. It teaches so much about real and inner beauty!

Patrick Carman's The Dark Hills Divide is a very cute book. As a cat and book lover, I enjoyed it's cozy and adventurous library where even the two library cats held clues to mysteries to be solved. Again, I liked this book better than the rest of the series.

Cornelia Funke's Inkheart is not very fresh in mind at all now but I did very much adore this book. It seems everyone either loves or hates it. My opinion is stated. I don't know why I never got to book two and haven't purchased book three yet. This is one I am planning a re-read of for this new year right after I go to see the movie which should hit theaters this month. Who couldn't love a book in which books are brought to life? I love Meggie's red wooden box of books.

I didn't read many books that weren't YA this year. Two that were adult fiction were Sarah Waters' Fingersmith and Stephenie Meyer's The Host. Both, though one more than the other, are love stories. Waters' book is like Jane Eyre, mystery, and so much more tied into one book. It was the book that never failed to surprise me. Meyer's provided something new other than the series she is well-known for producing and turned out to be a very strong story on it's own. It took me a bit to get into but once I was, I was buried, just as the characters.

Lewis Carrol: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

2008-12-31T19:00:00.000-08:00

There are many books I missed as a child that others generally read enough times to sometimes even memorize. It wasn't that my mother never read to me because I remember reading in the rocking chair with her many times. It was my favorite thing because it was when I had alone time with her in a single parent family of four people in those days. I just for some reason never got to some of them. I was a poor reader until my teens. Before anyone misjudges and thinks it was a call for attention, I had a partial learning disability that I didn't overcome until I was older. Two of the stories absent from my childhood were Lewis Carrol's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass.

I spent the first half of my childhood with four other kids in the house, all of them younger. Our favorite things to do involved watching movies again and again before playing and acting them out in the backyard. We'd have them memorized. This is one way I came to know a good deal of the Alice stories without ever having read them until I read the first of the two this month. It was from the movie that I came to recognise and fall in love with the Cat Formerly Known as Cheshire in Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series, a much-loved and favorite series of mine.

I first heard about Fforde's books while in high school but never got around to reading them until college. This was about six months after I first read Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre in a women's literature class, a book which strongly ties to the first in the Thursday Next series, The Eyre Affair. About that time was when I really and truly began to fall in love with books, and after getting further along in the Thursday Next series the thing I thought most amazing would be to have a stuffed Cheshire Cat toy. I wanted to keep one amongst my own small pile of books to mimic the Great Library in Jasper Fforde's created Book World. As of Christmas last week I now have one, and quite a good deal more books since then that it can actually be considered a small library for him to sit amongst. I was very excited and happy for the gift.

The Thursday Next series pretty much taught me all that I didn't learn from Disney's created Alice film up until now. It's usual for one to watch a book made into a movie and say, "What did they do with this or that scene?" For some reason I had it in my head that there was a good deal more in Disney's film than what I've read in Carrol's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I dare say I need to re-watch the film I once knew by heart. Speaking of hearts, the deck of cards is hilarious. Alice is a peculiar sort of girl in a time not quite our own any longer. I'm happy to be reading it at last. My book is a two-in-one and I plan to begin the second story very soon. After that I may at long last read the much curious Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor.

Vicki Myron: Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World

2008-12-30T16:04:00.000-08:00

I first saw Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World when LibrayThing announced the Early Reviewer books that were available a few months ago. It immediately appealed to me and I requested it but was chosen for a different book instead. I saw it in stores while shopping with my mother before I'd known I wouldn't be receiving it and had to tell her about it right away. Cat lover that she is as well, she took it home that day.

Those of you who've seen the cover know Dewey is an orange tabby and so it sat for a while before either of us would read it. We lost our own sweet blond tabby, Aloof, in March and so each of us had a desire for reading and yet not reading this book. We knew it would come with heart ache.

My mother wasn't half way through reading Dewey when she announced that she wasn't going to allow me to read it because she said it would hurt me too much. She said Dewey shared many of the same characteristics as Loofy. This is a woman who seven months ago held her tears for him away and cried alone to keep me from her pain because she knew mine was great with him being extraordinarily special to me as well. She didn't tell me much from the book at all as she read but eventually announced (SPOILER) that Dewey would die and that it was the biggest reason for her keeping it from me. (END spoiler.)

I waited but as the holidays drew nearer and this was to be the first Christmas without Loofy, I asked for the book one night. I didn't begin reading it until the morning during a free half hour before work. All I got through was one chapter before turning up at work blurry-eyed after clearing away tears.

Dewey remained a very touchy and emotional book for me but many of the tears weren't just for my sadness but for reminders of happy memories of my own sweet tabby. I cried for the little kitten who was abandoned early on (Dewey and Loofy), the cat who had to have the Dewey-Carry (Dewey and Loofy), and the cat who had to be right there in the middle of everything (Dewey and Loofy). Part of my avoiding writing about this book (yes, I avoided it) was as one might guess because of Loofy. I want to read this book again some day and yet it is one of those books that need only be read once because of how it touched me.

(SPOILER.) Like Vicki Myron, I knew my baby's time was limited as the life of all things must be. She knew Dewey's day would come and prepared for it while I was never able to. I could not see a life without Loofy. It seemed the clock should have stopped with his failing heart. I was almost hit by a car the morning after he died on the way to work feeling at the time that I didn't care if it would or not. (END spoiler.) While our dear furry friends are our pets, sometimes they are a great deal more than any non-animal lover could imagine. They are our companions, our children, and our greatest friends. (SPOILER.) I am sorry Dewey's last day was reached but am happy he lived his long and full, something my sweetie did not.

(SPOILER continued.) I can understand why this book was written. It was to share Dewey's story to those who knew part or all of Dewey's life already. It was also to share it with those who never had the pleasure and opportunity of meeting or knowing about him. Further still, it was so Dewey would always have a place on a bookshelf as he did before, not in one but now in many libraries. It also placed him as always before in the lap of a reading human, where he so often slept in the small town library of Spencer, Iowa. (END spoiler.)

I recommend this book not simply to cat lovers, but those of small towns, those fond of books and libraries, and those who are perhaps looking for the beauty of a very special connection between not two beings but between many. Dewey is a book to be cherished not simply about the love for an amazing cat by a small community but for the love of the world at large for him and his own great love for the world.

From the last few photo shots of Loofy taken in February of 2008 while we were on LibraryThing. "Get off the computer and pay more attention to me!"

More Books

2008-12-14T20:07:00.000-08:00

It's been over two months since I posted a bookpile, so here is the latest pile of books that have made their home among my bookshelves.

Bought new: Cancer Vixen, Rebel Angels, Love & Lies, You Suck, The Journal of Curious Letters
Bought used: The Book of Lost Things
BookMooch: Firefly
PaperBackSwap: Dreams Underfoot, Blood and Chocolate, Orxy and Crake, Then He Ate my Boy Entrancers, Beauty
Gifts: Shade, The Tales of Beedle the Bard
Early Reviewers: Mistress of Mellyn

It'll take me a while to get to all of these so I will say a little about some of them now. I've just realized I didn't include the two books I got copies of but have already read. These are Dreams Underfoot and Blood and Chocolate.

The first of these two remains the first book of one of my favorite series, Newford, by Charles de Lint. It's not a novel, however it's full of many short stories and is therefore great at introducing people to Newford, a fantasy series. The author insists there isn't any particular order for this series and says to jump in anywhere. One of my favorites was The Onion Girl, which I strongly recommend to anyone who was sexually abused. It's a book about healing and conquering your fears, or in this book's case, your torturer. Widdershins is likewise great, though should not be read before the previously named book. Another great novel and favorite of mine in the series is Memory and Dream, a book about an artist whose paintings come to life.

Blood and Chocolate is something I haven't read in ages but which was made into a movie not all that long ago. The movie is terrible and a completely different story than the book.

Cancer Vixen is a comic book of a true story about one woman's battle with breast cancer. There was actually a line of nice-smelling beauty products selling alongside this book by the brand C.O. Bigelow beginning in October, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

I'm hesitant to say anything about Rebel Angels since I'm currently reading it. However, I've been reading it since the start of November, so this will tell you it does not hold my interest. Book one in the series was far better. Book two took one idea from book one and went off on it, wandering away from my mind's interest.

Love & Lies is a follow up of a character I read about in another book which she'd been a side character in. It's about a girl with a passion for writing and a goal to write a novel within a one year time span.

I wasn't doing my homework when I picked up You Suck. The series came highly recommended to me by friends and so I checked all through it in search of some type of book order. Finding none, I bought this one...and then found out in the car on the way home that it's actually book two. (Book one hadn't been in stock, or else I would have known upon seeing it's title. I had forgotten what it was.)

The Journal of Curious Letters is another book that came as highly recommended to me. Some say it's a great book to read for those that are fans of the Harry Potter series and are in search of something to read. I'm eager to read it but think it will have to wait till after the holidays.

Beware should you find yourself wanting to read The Book of Lost Things. It may only be found among the lost things. I lost it the very day I purchased it and found it a month later. Others have very similar stories, so I dare say it comes with a curse for those who get their copy from a library. It does sound like a very good book, however. My best advise is not check it out and, if you are going to borrow it, only borrow it from a very good friend. Also, read it quickly so as it will not do a disappearing act during your reading.

I've only read the first four books from the Georgia Nicholson series but purchased book six despite not yet reading book five. I did this for my thirteen-year-old sister who has taken a great interest in the series. She loves humor and so this is perfect for her. I likewise find them humorous, love the English phrases, and they are perfect quick reads to finish in a couple of hours. She has learned what the phrase 'boy entrancers' mean from me since I was quick to make sure she didn't get any ill ideas from it, and one day I heard our mother shouting, "You played with my fake eyelashes?!" I knocked on my sister's door and discreetly told her she was wanted for messing with someone else's boy entrancers. I found the whole thing very amusing.

I've heard some great things about some of Robin McKinley's books. Sadly, my first experience with one of her books was a bad one. I think it was Spindle's End that I had purchased and opened the book to the first page to begin reading when I found every other sentence to contain parenthesis around it. I couldn't read like that. I tried anyways, scanned some pages in advance, and soon gave up. All the pages were the same. Hopefully Beauty will be much different. I believe it's one of two books I've heard to be the author's best. I'm going to try to give her works another shot. Beauty is the retelling of the fairytale Beauty and the Beast.

Shade does not sound like any other other vampire story I have ever read. It's an adult fiction (versus young adult fiction) mystery book. I'm very curious how it will turn out.

Mistress of Mellyn is part romance, part mystery, part gothic, and part fiction. It's said to be good for those who really enjoyed books such as Jane Eyre and Rebecca, the first of which I've read a few times and is one of my favorites. I've as of yet to read or purchase the other.

My TBR pile is currently 151 books, though one of these is a book I am currently reading and borrowing from someone else.

J.K. Rowling: The Tales of Beedle the Bard

2008-12-11T00:05:00.000-08:00

It was one year ago this month that the miniature and extreme limited edition of perhaps six copies of The Tales of Beedle the Bard was auctioned off online. It dazzled us after we spent our summer reading the last installment of the Harry Potter series, but what were the chances of getting a copy. Handled by white gloves in such an extremely tiny print and high price (to an excellent cause, of course), I had given up on ever being able to read this book as I think others did, too.

One day many of us grew excited that the secretive stories within this book would actually become available to not a select few but to the general public for all to read. The release day came a week ago today and I have deliberately waited for the time to pass before writing about it here. As a Harry Potter fan and bibliophile, I know the pains of reading spoilers and will give not a detail away.

That said, all there is left to say is that this was a wonderful book. I really enjoyed reading the fairy tales, stories read within the original series which as readers outside the story, we do not see until our eyes may rest on it themselves with this book. With the reading of this story, I want to reread the final book, something I used to do with the most recently published Harry Potter book every December. It's left me sad because the series itself is complete and there isn't any more to come. The Tales of Beedle the Bard is a book I plan on rereading. It will make a wonderful addition to my Harry Potter books and reference books. I'm very grateful Rowling has allowed us all to read it, happy about the charity it's purchase goes toward, and hope she will write again soon.

Twilight: The Movie

2008-11-21T21:11:00.000-08:00

The local paper we have delivered always provides major spoilers and harshly criticises and bashes the movies I read about. I only read them because I am interested in seeing them, so it's kind of an upsetting situation. I know to ignore my newspaper. Can we ignore the internet in this day, though? It's tough to ignore the information that you know is a mouse click away. It's harder yet to ignore the bold print article headlines that come on your e-mail provider's homepage provided for you. I value those places that are free of spoilers and that do not slam down movies I am interested it, and because one of the books I really love was made into a movie and just released in theaters today, I am going to write about it here. It is my goal to provide as little in the way of spoilers as possible.

This is the poster we see everywhere. It's on bookcovers, calenders, t-shirts, and desktops. It's on bookmarks, buttons, and, until last night, countdowns. It's in the hall of the movie theaters where some of us passed it staring in excitment hardly able to believe another book we really enjoyed has been made into a movie.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN 17?

tWILIGHT KIDS

BELLA & EDWARD IN FRONT OF BAY

BookMooch 101

2008-11-20T11:59:00.000-08:00

Since I'm having trouble reading lately, I decided I would write a little about how the book swapping sites I use work starting with BookMooch. I'm very fond of these sites. I think I may have looked at both sites before first choosing BookMooch. I've been a member since March of 2007. The site is free save for paying to send books away, which you only pay as you send them out.

Starting Your Account: Adding Books

Something that automatically got my vote on this site were the cute little book bugs on their homepage. Once you create your account, you can begin entering books into your inventory that you are willing to give away to people who want them. I like entering books by ISBN number because that way you ensure that it is the same copy of the book in your account as the one you have. Having the correct book edition is sometimes very important so whoever requests a book from you knows exactly what they're getting. It also avoids most issues later on if it turns out a person who requests a book wanted a different or specific edition. It's a good idea to start out with ten books since entering each book gives you 1/10th of a point, just enough to request one book from another member in your country. It's okay to start by entering fewer books, though.

Condition Notes

After you've entered each book, you are given 1/10th of a point. It will show you if the book is on anyone's wishlist. Also after you add each book, you have the option to record condition notes. This is a wonderful feature that not all book swapping sites have. Here is where you may say your book is never read, new, like new, good, okay, fine, or perhaps a poor copy simply needing a good home. You can also say if the book has any stains, creases, tears, and odors. Some people are very bad at entering condition notes while others are very detailed. As a BookMoocher I would like to say that some of us really appreciate these condition notes. I try to leave one of these notes for every book I enter. I typically examine the spine of a book since I am very perturbed about how they look. I take note of the front and back side of the cover, go through the pages once or twice to see if there's any writing or highlighting inside, and make sure to include a note for if the book smells particularly like smoke. You can do a lot with the space for condition notes. It's a great place to say if the cover of your book looks different than the one featured. I like to go a step beyond that by providing a link to the actual cover of my own book. Book covers are very easy to find just by using google images or Amazon.

Wishlist

By clicking on the 'browse' tab, you may enter the title, author, or ISBN of a book you would like to request. After clicking the search button, you will be lead to a page that either lists books as available, unavailable, or perhaps says something that indicates the book has not yet been in the system. (In most cases, simply check your spelling. It's rare for a book to not have been on the site.) Sometimes you will see a book title multiple times on the search results page. Each of these is a different edition. Click each title to be linked to each copy's page where you may view where the type of book (see 'binding'), the publisher, year of publication, size of the book, and other information. It will also tell you where this copy / these copies reside if there are any available. Click 'Wishlist add' to add the book to your wishlist. If you think you are interested in a book but are not sure, you can also use the 'Save for Later' feature. Your BookMooch wishlist is easily accessible by selecting the 'wishlist' tab on the top of the screen. From that page you may select the 'Save for Later' button to view a list of those book.

Requesting Books

After adding ten books to your inventory (books you are willing to give away), you will have a full point. This enables you to request (aka mooch) a book from another BookMooch member so long as the book is from your country. Never fear if the copy of a book you want is owned by someone outside your own country: you may still request it so long as the owner is willing to send books outside their country. However, keep in mind that books from outside your own country cost two full points. I myself have sent and received books from outside my country and love the unique packaging I sometimes receive from those outside my country. To request a book, go to the book's page for any edition (but specifically the edition you desire) and click the button on the top of the page and to the right that says 'Mooch this Book.' You will find that BookMooch always uses the word mooch so it's good to remember what it means. After clicking the button, you are lead to a new page but have not mooched the book just yet. You will need to enter the security name at the top of the screen as well as select who you would like to receive the book from as well as perhaps leave an additional comment. Most people on BookMooch leave a thank you comment. They also might include a reply to anything included in the BookMooch member's status or condition notes. All that is left to do after this is to click the button 'Mooch Book Now.'

Pending Books: Books Requested by You

On the Pending Books tab, you will be able to view books you mooched from others and books mooched from you. Each are placed in a category such as 'Books Accepted to Send,' 'Books Delayed,' and 'Books Sent.' Once you have mooched a book and it arrives to your address, the next step is to go to your Pending Books page and mark the book as received. Sometimes but rarely there are problems with receiving books. This is typically the case for books that have been lost or damaged along the way. If a book has arrived damaged, I might consider contacting BookMooch staff and asking how to go about the situation. It is likely that you will get your point(s) for the book back. For lost books, there is a standard of perhaps six weeks to be sure the book is indeed lost. Once this time passes, you may mark it as lost and receive your point(s) back. If there is not a problem with the book you have received, you should leave a feedback score and optional comment. I have never been in the receiving end of this, but some people will cruelly mark the feedback as 0 or -1 when the book they received did not have any problems. Please be a kind and do the right thing. No one likes rude people. You will receive 1/10th of a point as a bonus for leaving a feedback score.

Pending Books: Books Requested by Others

When a person mooches a book from you, the first thing you do is click on any of the options beside the book and to the right. These options are 'Accept,' 'Delay,' and 'Reject.' There is also a button to view how much postage might cost to send the book. The typical response to a book request is 'accept' or 'delay.' A reason to request a book might be if the BookMooch member has been abusing the site (more below). Another reason might be if the book they requested costs more money than you are willing to spend to send the book to them, however, only if they live outside your country. Rejecting to members of your own country based on price of sending a book is not an acceptable reason to reject a mooch. After selecting 'Accept' for a book mooched by you, you will have the option of selecting how long till you send the book as well as a message. Most people send books within a matter of days to two weeks. The automatic message is "Thank you for mooching from me! I will send the book soon," unless you choose to edit it. It's good to be up front about how much time will pass before you send a book. If you are new to BookMooch and are accepting mooches for delay keep in mind it doesn't look good on your part if you are using the points you earn from the delayed books to mooch some yourself before sending those books. It's a good way to accidentally fall in the hole if anyone cancels their mooches before you send them. For every book requested by someone in your country, you will receive one full point. For every book requested by someone outside your country, you will receive three full points.

Sending Books

Once you have sent mooched books out, return to your Pending page to select each book as 'Sent.' When it comes to books within your country, many Americans send by media mail. Sometimes First Class is cheaper if the book is light weight. When it comes sending books outside the U.S. to another country, Americans usually spend $7 - $25. The book is sent quickly and should arrive soon. This fee might seem high, but it is good considering you earn three full points from every book mooched from someone outside your country. One of the three points you're given comes from BookMooch itself to help pay for the cost of sending books outside your country and possibly overseas. I am someone who is usually happy to send books outside my own country because of the bonus of an extra two points. I am unhappy that other countries sometimes take a very long time because they may send books 'the slow way' if they please whereas Americans do not have that option. Still, I try to be a good person.

BookMooch Abuse

Every so often you may make a book transaction with a person who you may have trouble with. The person may request lots of books, including one or multiple books from you, and then disappear from the site without giving any away themselves nor marking books as received. This is the kind of person who needs to be reported when you are in one a situation like that. Another form of BookMooch abuse is only sending books that are 'lost.' It most cases, it means that the person did not actually send books at all, but marked them as sent. They are looking for a way of getting books for free. You can always view a member's history on their profile page if you want to be sure you are requesting a book from a good person to request from. Always keep in mind that BookMooch staff is there to help you. Be watchful of your BookMooch ratio on your BookMooch homepage. A ration of 5:1 is the highest you may have, I think. This interprets as five books received for one book sent. Many BookMoochers send just as many books as they give away, which is a good way to go about it. I have a score of 1.05:1. This translates as receiving one point five books for every book I have sent.

Have Fun!

I enjoy keeping track of where I send books to and where I receive them from. This is every state in the US I have sent or received books to as well as by country:

visited 38 states (76%)
Create your own visited map of The United States or try another Douwe Osinga project

visited 11 states (4.88%)
Create your own visited map of The World or try another Douwe Osinga project

The Enneagram Made Easy: Discover the 9 Types of People

2008-11-11T15:38:00.000-08:00

A few months ago while online, I stumbled on something that divides people into nine different types of people. It has a few questions and then proceeds to tell you a little about yourself. Some of the things were obvious, but some were interesting things that we may not know about ourselves. What I found more interesting however was the matter of applying it to others to learn more about them. I had been going through a few arguments and lots of times of being misunderstood so I thought it would be a good way to learn to communicate better with others. It mentioned a link to the book this was based from, and I requested it once it was available on PaperBackSwap.

Renee Baron and Elizabeth Wagele's The Enneagram Made Easy starts out by explaining basic information about the enneagram and goes on to talk about each type of person with a full chapter for each type. There are twenty questions at the start of each chapter describing the different types of people. It explains many things for each type:

How to get along better with them,

their strengths and weaknesses,

how they are as children, in relationships, and as parents,

about careers they're most successful at as well as how they spend their free time,

compliments people usually give them,

each types' negative and positive side as they move around the enneagram and about the types they draw from as their wings,

and has positive suggestions and exercises for each type.

You could answer the one hundred and eighty questions to search for the type that best describes you or someone else, but it's useful to remember that the nine types have three categories: heart, head, and gut instinct. Most enneagram tests I viewed online did not discuss these. The heart is made up of types 2, 3, and 4; the head of types 5, 6, and 7; and gut instincts of types 1, 8, and 9. These are the types of people, taking in consideration some of the different titles some references give the types of people:

1 The Perfectionist/Reformer

2 The Helper/Giver

3 The Achiever/Motivator

4 The Romantic/Individualist/Artist

5 The Observer/Investigator/Thinker

6 The Questioner/Loyalist/Skeptic

7 The Adventurer/Enthusiast/Generalist

8 The Asserter/Challenger/Leader

9 The Peacemaker

When answering the questions, my book says it's best to answer as you would when you were under twenty-five years old. I'm one week shy of reaching my twenty-fifth birthday so I answered as I would currently, trying to answer for the past as well. However, I suspect some of my answers to the questions would have been very different even one or two years ago. It was really hard to determine some of my types because a few of my results were so close together. Also, our results will vary by what mood we are in. This is how to better get along with my top two types:

Heart: Type 2
"Take your share of the responsibility so I don't end up with all the work. Acknowledge my achievements. I'm hard on myself - reassure me that I'm fine the way I am. Tell me that you value my advice. Be fair and considerate, as I am. Apologize if you have been unthoughtful - It will help me to forgive you. Gently encourage me to lighten up and to laugh at myself when I get uptight, but hear my worries first."

Head: Type 6
"Be direct and clear. Listen to me carefully. Don't judge me for my anxiety. Work things through with me. Reassure me that everything is okay between us. Laugh and make jokes with me. Gently push me toward new experiences. Try not to overreact to my overreacting."

The link above is to the best enneagram test I can find that matches with questions from my book. If you would like to take it and feel open about sharing your results, feel free to leave a comment.

56 / 70 books. 80% done!

Sarah Waters: Fingersmith

2008-11-03T13:57:00.000-08:00

It was such a busy weekend I missed posting about a book. I finished this one still in October. This is not a Young Adult book, but an adult novel. I read Young Adult books pretty frequently as anyone can see but reading something more mature and of better vocabulary has made me see how I miss books written for the general or adult audience. With a partial learning disability I always notice how what I read effects the words I use when I speak and write. I was happily buried in beautiful words not so commonly used in modern time for a few days.

With the last book I finished reading, I was still in the mood for Victorian books. A friend from LibraryThing recently reminded me that I had one still unread, Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. You always intend to read books and especially when you first purchase or receive them, but it can take a while when you have so very many books. I bought this one in April the day I met another LibraryThinger for the first time. We got in two bookstores, which left me about $80 shorter and buried under about five more books in my TBR pile.

Right away while reading this book, I noticed like last time how very different the main character was to what I was used to reading. The main character, Susan Trinder, is an orphan girl living and growing up amongst thieves. Still, when something stumbles along that changes her future, she isn't at complete ease for the reason that her journey is set out for: to help a friend make his fortune by tricking a girl, Maud Lilly, who is inherit a great sum of money upon her marriage, into marrying him. The plan after this is for Gentleman, also known as Mr. Rivers, to then dump his wife in a mad house, Susan then awarded a small portion of the funds. She is eager to make the woman she considers to be her mother proud and to provide her with a fortune.

Susan learns new life skills such as how to be more of a lady as she prepares to leave home for a place where she will be known as Susan Smith. She is to be a maid for Ms. Lilly with a complete and false history as the maid of Mr. River's aunt. Susan has weeks for Ms. Lilly to adjust to Susan, to gain her trust and even befriend her before Mr. Rivers returns to the Lilly's. She prepares Ms. Lilly for each day, dressing her and attending to her needs, accompanying her and spending time with her whenever Ms. Lilly is not with her uncle to read in the library or in the dining room for meals. When Mr. Rivers appears and begins to make his moves on Ms. Lilly, Ms. Lilly is slow to give her confidence to Susan, but shyly does so.

The story goes on and I wish to not give it away. It is extraordinarily plot twisting and always surprising. It is typical to guess what will come in books as you read and to make correct predictions but this simply seems impossible in this book. As the tale goes on, it only gets better and there were most certainly parts that made me cry. Everything I thought as I read for what would come to be was wrong. I would read this book again. Thank you to my friends from LibraryThing for a wonderful book suggestion!

55 / 70 books. 79% done!

Libba Bray: A Great and Terrible Beauty

2008-10-28T15:17:00.000-07:00

I wasn't sure what to expect when I began reading Libba Bray's A Great and Terrible Beauty. I knew it was a Young Adult Victorian and Gothic novel. Reading another book that I am now, I ashamingly wonder and feel that I should already know if Victorian and Gothic tales go hand in hand. I would most definitely like to learn more about different times in literature and now want to explore them more.

We first met Gemma Doyle when she has the sort of characteristics one would not want others to see in them. She is a sixteen-year-old girl who is rude and sometimes obnoxious. It is something no one wants to admit to being themselves so because Bray begins the first book in this series with such characteristics for Gemma I was surprised but soon saw where the change would come.

When Gemma is sent to a finishing school for reasons I will not give away, visions of experiences such as within The Little Princess appeared to my mind. Perhaps it was because like the main character in that book, Gemma is also from India. Both girls have lost a parent and there is a touch of seeing what others do not as well as something magical to both their stories. Both characters do not have a completely shared experience in their different books and schools, however. While similarities exist they are also very different stories.

Ever since an event at the start of the book, Gemma has been seeing visions that change the course of her life at Spence, the finishing school in England she is taken to. She forms what would have been an impossible small group of friends. Gemma learns there is a secret hiding about the fire that burned a wing of the school down which connects to there not being a class photograph for the class of 1871. As she enters her visions and leads others in them as well, Gemma learns there is a great connection between her visions, a forgotten diary the visions lead her to, and the fire that killed at least one student from the class of 1871.

There are many more secrets to this book but I wish to not give them away. I really enjoyed this book and am very eager to read book two, Rebel Angels. There are three books in this series to date with none expected after the third. The paperback for book three is not due out until May 12, 2009. Random House has a very nice site for the Gemma Doyle trilogy but beware - spoilers lurk everywhere.

54 / 70 books. 77% done!

Books and More Books

2008-10-21T15:59:00.000-07:00

I have books coming out of my ears, or I would, but they're a bit large for my ears. I could walk with a pile of them on my head but I suppose they would all fall down rather quickly. What I mean to say is that I simply have too many. They are everywhere and cover so much of my space, and yet I love them so much and can't part with many of them. My TBR pile has grown to 137 books as of today. I realized it had been a while since I posted a picture of recent books I've received or bought and found there was a big list of them. These are books that are newly in my possession as of September 25th.

I think it would be wise to decrease the amount of these that I purchase new. Lucky enough two had a coupon, one was thirty percent off, and another was completely purchased with Borders Bucks, a system I don't quite understand.

Where They Came From
Early Reviewers: A Friend at Midnight
Book Mooch: Elsewhere, Castle in the Air, and One for Sorrow, Two for Joy.
Paper Back Swap: Outside Beauty, East, Queen of Camelot, and Od Magic.
Bought used: Tantalize
Bought new: Untamed, The Neverending Story, plus four from a book shopping trip with a friend from LibraryThing: Winter's Tale, The Name of the Wind, The Titan's Curse, and Brisingr.

I hope it will be soon that I will have my new bookshelf. Not only would each book at last have a home but I could finally organize them once more at last, something that has been driving me mad with so little book space available at the moment.

Rick Riordan: The Sea of Monsters

2008-10-20T10:50:00.000-07:00

It was eight months ago that I read the first book of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. I had spent too much time on it from being busy and so had grown tired of it while reading The Lightning Thief. I had felt the book was very funny but that, at a time when I was trying to not buy any books because of my summer trip, that I wouldn't read any other books in the series for quite a while. Seven months later, I found a copy of book two available on PaperBack Swap, and a month later than that I read it.

The Sea of Monsters suggests a journey in the ocean, a place which seems natural for hero and Half-Blood Percy Jackson who should feel right at home and find more strength in the ocean since he is the son of sea god Poseidon. His first journey of course is meeting up with those tied to the mythological world in the first place after Percy has spent the school year away from Half Blood camp while living with his lovable blue-pancake-making mom.

It's the last day of the school year and Percy has been having some strange dreams about his four-hoofed satyr friend, Grover. His mom seems to know something that she is holding back but promises to tell all at the end of the day. Percy meets a friend and heads to school. . . Trouble surrounds those Percy knows from Camp Half Blood and despite warnings his intention is to do the best he can to help. Two friends accompany Percy as he goes off on a quest in the sea of monsters.

I find myself regretting that though I took two mythology classes in college that I've forgotten some stories over the years. Thankfully this book does well to hint and explain them. Like the first book this one is very funny and I laughed out loud a few times wishing there was someone right there beside me that I could discuss it with. I can't wait to find out what happens next.

The end of this book had such a huge surprise that I want to jump into book three right away, a book I bought early before reading this one. I had decided against it because I would then want to read book four while I really wanted all my books to be a matching paperback set. A search online didn't have good news for me in the way of a release date for the paperback. It did, however, tell me something else. The release of book five of this series whose title suggests it may be the last is to be released on May 5th, 2009. Whether I give into hardcover or not is still a question at large.

53 / 70 books. 76% done!

Gabrielle Zevin: Elsewhere

2008-10-18T19:27:00.000-07:00

I knew right from the beginning that this book was a Young Adult book about a girl who begins her tale after becoming newly dead. I began reading it perhaps expecting something a little different from what I got, so while Elsewhere had a story unique to itself perhaps I was very frustrated with it. There were a few times I closed the book thinking I wouldn't continue reading it and that I would trade it away.

I think my biggest problem with Elsewhere had been Zevin's capture of an almost sixteen-year-old teenager. I felt Liz seemed much less mature than she should be at her age and even that Zevin was writing to capture an audience range of adults reading to children, to kids reading the book on their own only up to thirteen years old. At the same time it was definitely funny and she was often trying to be humorous, but some of the jokes just fell flat to me. A parrot making jokes about being "dead, dead, dead" just didn't seem like what I wanted to be reading.

I kept reading and luckily it was actually good that I did because things began to change. Main character Liz had been mopping about because of her death and not making anything out of her death. She had opportunities to go have hobbies, do things with friends, and spend time getting to know her never-before-met dead grandmother, Betty, but Liz had bored me to tears instead.

Liz finally decides to start living as someone dead rather than just being dead, and that's when the story picked up for me. At that point I decided to just finish it hoping the book might improve more. Surely Liz had important lessons to learn about death and would see something that would change everything to her much more at some point. Something does.

Liz makes much more out of her death and things happen for her that she had been sad about because some were things she had never gotten to experience during her life while some where things involving getting to reconnect with some lives that she misses. I would not reread this book but rather would recommend it to teens up to fifteen years old.

52 / 52 books. 100% done!

Ibi Kaslik: Skinny

2008-10-16T22:10:00.001-07:00

I recently finished reading Ibi Kaslik's Skinny, a book not just about the relationship between two sisters but also about how one's struggle with eating disorders affects each of them differently.

The two main characters of Skinny are college-age Giselle and fourteen-year-old Holly. One sister is a medical student, naturally bright who buries herself in studying, the practices of anorexia and bulimia, and trying to learn more about her family's past. The other sister is strong and lives for sports while struggling through junior high, having her own problems connected to being partially deaf and having a slight learning disability. Both sisters mourn for their father who was lost some years ago. They hold onto each other and their mother, trying to get by and keeping their small family knit together through their own traumas.

Giselle wants to be skinny like her baby sister who has everything she wants, which when it comes down to everything, is the love of their dead father. In his absence as she tries to make sense of the past, something leads her on a chase with many questions. Holly wants her looked-up-to big sister's life to be turned around and saved, never knowing the reasons why her sister struggles with her eating disorders. In her sister's absence she runs for something she can never reach: a healthy world for her sister.

Tomorrow marks one year since I finished reading Marya Hornbacher's Wasted (blog entry here) and I wonder if I made a very big mistake by wondering out loud to someone if they should skip reading that book or not, causing them to not read what I worried would give them tips rather than help them in a positive manner. After reading Skinny I had hopes it might by chance find the hands of the person I know who struggles with this so they will see they are not alone, that it is something serious, that people they don't even realize do love them much, and that they will stop themselves from the very horrible end that was this book. I am very sad to say that while the person has read it, they thought the whole thing was a joke, that it was funny.

I am not laughing. I have cried for them so many times. I hide it because what else is there to do. I will never forget the time I broke and couldn't lie. "Why are you crying?" "Because you didn't eat anything yesterday or today, and you don't want to tomorrow or the day after that, either." Because you want to starve. To die. There is so much more to life than being thin. It's one of the ugliest words I know. It is a word I have only hate for because of how it affects them. Skinny is a word likewise just as bad. "Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels." I see this quote on my own grandmother's mirror. Maybe it's famous, maybe it's not. But I don't believe in it. How many people out there can't taste? My own step sister cannot because of a car accident after being hit by a drunk driver. She's eighteen and has been naturally thin all her life but would give the world to be able to taste again.

Ending note: 'skinny' sucks. Skinny was a good book but also very sad. Maybe there is another person out there who it will help, just not the person I'm thinking of. I suggest kleenex.

51 / 52 books. 98% done!

Cinda Williams Chima: The Dragon Heir

2008-10-14T16:33:00.000-07:00

I was incredibly eager to get into the third of Cinda Williams Chima's The Heir series that I wouldn't even read the jacket for fear of any sort of spoilers, worrying that it was the last in the series. It turns out that I was worried with good reason. The series ends here with The Dragon Heir, the last in a Young Adult fantasy trilogy some might describe as Harry Potterish but not really quite at all.

Everyone has their different class in The Heir trilogy from the bottom, warriors, to the top, wizards. Throughout the series those who are from different classes struggle and work together against those feeling they are justly dominate for much wanted and deserved peace and equality. In that aspect it's not fantasy at all. Bringing in the predicted magical battle following the events in The Wizard Heir is, however. The territory once deemed safe of dominance and injury now serves as the major setting and place of the final show down.

Just as the other books in this series this one switches points of view, the most interesting two being from Jason Haley's and Madison Moss's points of view. We learn a little more about each of these two characters between Madison's past and future as well as Jason's secret missions. We also learn more of the history to do with the Weir people (non-Anaweir, or for another word, non-Muggles). I didn't have a favorite point of view in this series unlike some other books I've read but ended a point of view to be just as satisfied to read the other's when the time would come.

I was not dissatisfied at all in my reading but remained eager to discover how it would end. I often wondered why the presence of Linda Downey and Hastings were away for so much as they were but see now that it wasn't their story. This tale would have been much different were they not away. I cried for someone as they reached their end, something that came as a surprise to me. There were a few other surprises as well.

SPOILER WARNING: Please do not read the section below about this book unless you have read J.K. Rowling's complete Harry Potter series. Thank you.

I met one of my friends from LibraryThing over the weekend and when we discussed this series which they had not yet read, they asked me if it was like Harry Potter. There are Anaweir similar to Rowling's Muggles. Like Rowling's created world, there are not just magical folk on the magical side (wizards, sorcerers, etc) but those with merely connections to what is magical (warriors, etc). There is a magical school, however, you can compare it not to Hogwarts but to Durmstrang or something worse like Hogwarts taken over by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. There isn't a set individual as the bad guy but a few magical people hoping to lead the world for the worst. These bad seeds will fight to the death but they are not nearly as horrible as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, an ultimate bad guy. There is not one set main character but many and though this series is merely three books and not seven, you become attached to normally-seen-as side characters. Chima didn't have to work that up over seven books time, or however many you read of the Harry Potter books before the first time you were crushed and sad by the turn of events in the books. I got teary and cried a little, but nothing has ever made me as much as the Harry Potter books, real tear-jerkers, the seventh and final of which had my eyes not simply leaking lightly but bawling for most of the time I read and times when I was couldn't read. The Heir is a very good series and I enjoyed it very much, more than many of the books I've read this year. I don't see it as another Harry Potter series. In my mind nothing can take it's place. It was more intense and further connected to some of our hearts.

50 / 52 books. 96% done!

Wendy Moss: A Mango-Shaped Space

2008-10-05T22:31:00.000-07:00

I took a short break from the series I've been shuffling around lately to read Wendy Mass's A Mango-Shaped Space this weekend.

I've been interested in reading The Man Who Tasted Shapes for years. I got very excited when I clicked the link of A Mango-Shaped Space from another LibraryThingers recently added books to read what this book is about to learn it deals with synesthesia as well.

Through my reading I focused on Mia's sense of colors having to do with letters, numbers, words, names, and sounds. A brief excerpt at the top of the backside to the book will tell you this:
"Everyone thinks I named my cat Mango because of his orange eyes, but that's not the case. I named him Mango because the sounds of his purrs and his wheezes and his meows are all various shades of yellow-orange..."

Mia was eight years old when, in a third grade classroom trying to solve a math problem on the chalkboard, she learned that no one else in her class saw numbers in colors as she did. Ever since then Mia has kept it a secret to herself, not even telling her parents or best friend for fear of the reactions she will get from others who called her a freak for the math incident in third grade. People will find out sometime, right? Mia struggles in school and the day comes that her secret becomes known.

I really enjoyed reading about things taking on colors that are ordinary, or for another word, plain, to many of us. Though this is a work of fiction, it still strongly held my interest. There is so much more to this story than merely colors. My heart reached out to Mia particularly toward the end when, as the back cover of the book will tell you, she looses something very special to her. It's a precious story that left me rather sniffly.

I'm passing my book along to someone else who wants to read it. I want to warn her about things that are to come because it will have a similar affect on her as it did me but I am trying not to.

Mango for the book challenge counter.

49 / 52 books. 94% done!

P.C. and Kristen Cast: Untamed

2008-10-02T23:17:00.000-07:00

The latest and fourth book in PC and Kristen Cast's House of Night series was enjoyable though not quite what I'd expected. Leaving off with a new powerful enemy, hungry young fledgings, and some angry characters, I imagined Untamed to have more conflicts as well as, well, untamed fledgings.

A fledging is a vampire in the making. In this version of vampire stories, it takes years to become a full fledged vampyre. This makes our main character, Zoey Redbird, a fledging, though she is not like any other. Zoey has been marked as a fledging for merely two months. However, the goddess, Nyx, has given Zoey some extremely unique gifts and talents.

The title of this book seemed very suitable to me before I even began to read. Sure enough, some fledgings were untamed, though not to the point I'd thought they would be. A character was very impressive in working on that. It also made me think about other untamed characters. Zoey, who seems to have problems falling for too many guys at the same time. Aphrodite, who was deemed a 'skank' and selfish - um, something - from book one. And so many others!

School is on break when this book begins, but it isn't for much time. Things are changing around the House of Night, and people are changing, too. There are new things to be discovered. An evil lurks by ever often and fiercely tries to strike, failing, failing, hitting it's target. Read the book and you'll see I've played on words. I like to do that when I write about them. I end with my spoiler free bit with a brief comment to establish that I hate crows and ravens. They're simply terrifying. Oh, and one last thing!

If anyone wants to know if these books are good, you not only have my word for it, but a stranger approached me today while I was reading with the words, "That's the other vampire series!" Talking to him, I learned this was the series many Twilight fans have turned to and are passing around to read. It seems to be vampire series #2. How's that for a recommendation? Book five is on release in March of 2009.

Spoilers below!

As I read this book during scenes such as when a fledging-newly-made-human teen drew on a fake Mark on her forehead, and times that she smeared it off, I couldn't help but think...Even though she is friends with Zoey, how easy would it be for a character to put on their fledging make-up they ordinarily wear over their marks around humans on their Mark, pretend the clear forehead was natural to a select few in the vampyre community, and then draw a fake Mark to 'fool' the rest of the community? Silly thought, I know, as I think this character is trusting. Still, this thought entered my mind. If one is sneaky one way, . . . Since this is still about spoilers, my complaint is this: Why did Zoey's grandmother have to get dragged in? I see now that she had to be in order to be protected later on, though.

48 / 52 books. 92% done!

Christopher Paolini: Eldest

2008-09-30T22:24:00.001-07:00

I was eager to discover just what would happen next in Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Trilogy from where I'd left off with Eragon. Though I had very little time when I dove into the book, I did much reading today and have finished it. Before my reading today, I had found the book a bit unsatisfying. This very well could be because of my little reading time I had before today with this book, because it did pick up today, though with finishing over the second half, it was to be expected...or rejected. (Thank goodness scenario number two wasn't the case!)

This book does not have merely one point of view but that of three. It switches off every few chapters. Just to make it more exciting, I'm keeping the names of the other two characters quiet. They were very good choices. It felt that this book had not one journey but more. I must shush myself from saying more about that. I will add one more thing, however: Just when you think you have the point of views figured out is when the third one hits. It was a pleasant addition.

Things begin a little odd in this book, with some surprises as well as suspicions for which I didn't learn that I was right about until the very end, though with some shocks as well. Eragon has traveling to do in order to study with the elves as planned as well as to meet the mysterious one who spoke to his conscious in book one, which he does and whom he meets. The journey is not nearly as rough or terrible as those in the past. I feel this has to do with Eragon's and Saphira's new strengths with having gone through new experiences besides the obvious of having made wonderful allies.

I won't spoil anything to do with elves (or anything else, if I can help it) but will say that the dreaded approaching time to meeting Galbortax draws nearer. Before that time though, Eragon and Saphira are taught a great amount and both mature. Lessons begin where Brom left off, and Eragon learns more about the man who, at least I felt, was at one time like a father to him.

On the subject of fathers, a riddle is told to Eragon about his father, though he pays it little attention. Eragon does not master riddles well and clever Saphira would never have figured it out if she had heard it, but Eragon will learn more of his parentage in this book just as Saphira does, however more difficult to learn.

As to be expected, there is more yet of many familiar faces to Eragon. The werecat's witch, Linda, will be precisely right in her foretelling of Eragon's future. New and interesting characters are added to the mix, some of which I look forward to reading more about just as much as Eragon and others he previously met. I am eager to read the next book.

On a note related to this book, I had been greatly worried when I made a trip to a bookstore two weeks ago and discovered a toy three-headed dragon that was red. I worried it was spoiling Eldest for me since the dragon on the cover of this book bears red skin as well. I can now say for anyone stressing the same that there is no need to worry or connect this to book 2 at all. Now, however, this can only mean one thing. I say nada and since you cannot see me, add that I am shaking my head.

47 / 52 books. 90% done!

P.C. and Kristen Cast: Chosen

2008-09-24T13:16:00.000-07:00

I read the third book in PC and Kristen Cast's House of Night series over the weekend which provided to be a comfort book during that crazy time. The series had left off with much that was dark lurking near as well as secrets Zoey would have to keep to herself. In Chosen, Zoey has many choices of her own to make as Nyx chooses to embrace her with new markings once more. I would consider that a tiny spoiler, but I think by now readers understand that new tattoos throughout the series are to be expected. For those who haven't read this series, each set of tattoos is a gift from the goddess Nyx who the vampyres worship.

Zoey may be a teenager and not always feel she makes the right choices - who does? - but Nyx keeps her faith in Zoey nonetheless. A birthday close to a holiday might seem like Zoey's biggest problem, but as she tells her cat, Nala, there is much, much more. I was really shocked with a few things in this book I never saw coming and am eager to read more.

The fourth book in this series, Untamed was released yesterday with the fifth due out in the spring. Now that I'm caught up with the publishers, I am very glad the series is being published so quickly. I simply wonder how many books there will be in all. It's a nice series and I would say my second favorite vampire series. (I don't really need to say which my favorite is, do I?)

46 / 52 books. 88% done!

Bookshopping

2008-09-23T00:06:00.001-07:00

I haven't really mooched or paperbackswapped much lately. Nothing from my wishlist is turning up. I have things I would add to my inventory to give away except I'd rather not add them since both sites are providing to be fruitless, if I've worded that correctly. A Great and Terrible Beauty is from BookMooch, however.

I bought the book and kit on writing the weekend before this last. My weekend plans had been ruined and I went out of the house several hours before work on a spur of the moment. I took a bus to an area near the closest bookstore just as I used to do regularly where I spent a lot of time simply walking around. Neighbors always get upset at me for not accepting a car drive from them, but I greatly enjoy walking and it clears my mind. I spent a good deal of time exploring the changes made in the bookstore before making a book selection for something to help me with WritoNano when I found the kit. I want to try it out before I write about it. After the bookstore, I walked some more before taking another bus near where I work, where I read stuck my nose in a book while sitting on a quiet bench for a few hours.

I last went to a bookstore yesterday intending to only purchase one book, The Dragon Heir. I'm getting angrier and angrier at my nearest bookstore, a Borders. They removed a book I put on hold a mere half a day after I had placed it on hold. Did I want to wait while they searched their stock room for a copy? Certainly not! I was on my way to work.

For yet another book, I thought I requested one two weeks ago. A bookseller helped me and printed out a paper for me, telling me it would probably be in within the week and to expect their call. I thought it funny since their other location near me considers it a requirement to have a requested book in within the week or the book is free. However, I thanked him and left. Not a word from them. I have wondered if the book was merely reserved. Either way, I found the book in the Barnes and Noble bookstore across the street only minutes after I'd 'requested' it at the first bookstore, so I was fast impatient. I gave up on them and purchased the book somewhere else yesterday. I'm rather unhappy since the bookstore I have so much trouble with is the one I planned to apply to where I could hopefully work over the holidays.

The book I purchased alongside The Dragon Heir was the tenth anniversary edition of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I hadn't expected to see it in stores. It was both supposedly not yet released as well as sold out in nearly every location near me according to Borders' website. It was a bit pricey but I put my coupon toward it. I'd thought nothing would be special about it save for the cover, but when I opened it I discovered the secret amazing wonder that was kept secret: Mary GrandePre had also made a full page illustration on one of the first pages inside the book of Hagrid taking the first years across the lake to Hogwarts. There's also an illustration by Rowling of Snape with a quote opposite. She says she drew it in 1992 or '93 and that it is how she always envisioned Snape to look like, though he looks a bit like Count Dracula because of his cloak. I would like to post photos of these illustrations, but the recent events surrounding Stephenie Meyer's unpublished and early internet-exposed book makes me feel more cautious about doing so.

These are the bookplates I pruchased yesterday. If for some odd reason you are unfamiliar with the title of painting from van Gogh's work on this bookplate, it is called Starry Night. This is one of the paintings I studied in the last art class I took two years ago.

Cinda Williams Chima: The Wizard Heir

2008-09-22T10:20:00.000-07:00

I was a little unhappy to see Cinda Williams Chima's second book in The Heir series begin with a new main character, however, I quickly found that I liked Seph McCauley and the setting of this book. The Wizard Heir was wonderful and very tough to put down when I had to work.

Seph McCauley knows people always seem to befriend him and treat him well. What he doesn't realize is what this is connected to, or better put, why. Always finding trouble, Seph quickly lands in a new school unlike any other he's been to before and where all is not as it seems. Trouble cannot escape him. Characters from the previous book in The Heir series make a return in this book - some of them are good; some of them are bad.

I can't say which of the first two books I like more. I greatly enjoyed both. Trying to not spoil, I will say there were surprises as well as times that I thought to myself, I knew it! I'm still feeling eager to discuss this book with others. I cannot wait to read the next book, The Dragon Heir. I hope the author has more for us. I would definitely read more of her books whether the series ends with the third book or not.

45 / 52 books. 87% done!

Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black: The Field Guide

2008-09-17T20:57:00.000-07:00

Out of curiosity and due to there being a movie based on this series, I read Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black's first book of the Spiderwick Chronicles, The Field Guide. It's rather short as can be expected and therefore an extraordinarily fast read. Semi interesting, I may not read any others in this series and add it to my BookMooch inventory after my youngest sister gets a chance to read it.

Christopher Paolini: Eragon

2008-09-15T13:25:00.000-07:00

It's unusual for me to view a movie for a book before reading the book it's based on, but that is exactly how it was for the book I finished reading this morning. While Christopher Paolini's first and second book in the Inheritance series have remained in my TBR pile for over a year now, I at last picked up the first of the two books to read last week.

I greatly enjoyed reading Eragon. Having watched the movie though more than a year ago, I had hints here and there of what was to happen, but luckily there are many differences at times between books and the movies based on them. Also, I forgot some details prior to my reading.

I wasn't reading long before it became so that I grudgingly closed my book when I had no choice but to do so. My progress was slow despite the few times I had to simply read for hours on end, time spent that was greatly enjoyed. I finished it quite eager for the second book and am grateful to my neighbor for passing the second book on to me so I have it at my hands already to read. I can't wait to find out what happens next.

In the past I have thought how amazing it was for Paolini to become an author so young. Now that I've read the first of his works, that hasn't changed a bit. I am impressed by his writing skills at so young an age as he was when he wrote this book. With his writing skills as well as family connections to the publishing industry, I expect we'll see a great many more books by this author in time.

On an ending note, I adored the map at the start of the book. It reminded me of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, though perhaps because I am also rereading The Fellowship of the Ring alongside my other reading at the moment. Paolini's work won't be nearly as great, but who can compare to the writing master Tolkien?

P.C. and Kristen Cast: Betrayed

2008-09-06T17:53:00.000-07:00

I got a copy of PC and Kristen Cast's second book in the House of Night series, Betrayed last week and began reading it once I finished The Warrior Heir. As with the last book I read, I only managed to get in fifteen minutes of reading here and there. I deeply despised that matter since I knew this book could be read in one sitting if I were given a full day to simply read.

From before I'd even begun the book, I felt sure the main character, Zoey Redbird, would learn more about a mysterious presence lingering around the House of Night. I was right. I felt early on that I knew precisely how Zoey would find out about this presence and wish that time that I had been wrong. Sadly, I was not. I could feel the sadness leaking from the pages of my book and moistening my own eyes. I grabbed an earthy color for my book counting meter on my Fifty Book Challenge thread on LibraryThing this time.*

I felt a few parts of this book were making a big deal of a small matter, but over all it was a good book. Though I'd like to keep reading the series straight away, I'm shuffling around a few series so I will be reading a book or two from other series first.

* The Fifty Book Challenge is a group on LibraryThing. Each member sets a goal of how many books they would like to read within one year. Members typically chose fifty, though I've chosen fifty-two books for an average of one book per week. This is my minimum reading goal for the year 2008. You can see from my previous post that I have a major book buying habbit and I can only support it by cutting off my wallet (nope) or an intense amount of reading. Off to my current book!

More Bookshopping

2008-09-06T17:36:00.001-07:00

For the second time this week, I left a bookstore with a small pile of books last night. I also left with one preordered book from the store and received one in the mail today from PaperBackSwap. I greatly enjoyed being able to simply explore the bookstore at my own pace verses being rushed to quickly grab specific books I'd come for before leaving. Also, I was pleased to see the bookstore removed their YA books from the children's section to extend the genres further. That was a major bonus. The store looks beautiful and the store associates were very kind.

To Be Read pile: 129 books

Cinda Williams Chima: The Warrior Heir

2008-09-04T19:55:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I took so long to get to this next one. I bought The Warrior Heir along with five other books in April when I met and went bookshopping with an LTer for very the first time. The book came as strongly recommended by friends on LibraryThing.

I absolutely loved The Warrior Heir! I had trouble reading because of work, only getting fifteen minutes of reading here and there. However, unlike a lot of other similar reading experiences, this did not affect my taste for the book. I was really glued to this book and remained so. There were things I wondered about happening, and when I was right, that just sucked me into the book further. (I'm trying to not spoil. It's a very good book, though.) I'm really happy that I already own the second book in the series and can't wait to read it!

Current, Past, and Upcoming Reads

2008-09-04T13:07:00.000-07:00

I finally manage to have a day off from work and instead of reading, what am I doing? I'm online catching up on LibraryThing, except the site is temporarily down. While that's happening, I thought I might write about the pile of books I'm currently making my way through.

First off, I have some books to write about that I'm rather late on. I've read an advanced reader's copy (ARC) of Jane Elliott's The Little Prisoner. Weeks have gone by and still I have nothing written about it here. I'm going to go ahead and say that like the author of that book, I lived an abused life as well, (though luckily my experience was rather different in some ways,) so it's a little hard to write about. I'm going to try to pull myself through writing something nice up for it soon. I would simply write a complete free write save for the fact that it is an ARC, and I'm expected to provide a review for it.

Another book I've read that I still need to post about here is Cinda Williams Chima's The Warrior Heir. I will have that submited either today or tomorrow. I finished reading it last week but have been working a lot lately. If it weren't for public transportation, I probably wouldn't be able to sqeeze any reading in for five days of each week.

Current read: P.C. and Kristen Cast's Betrayed, book two in the House of Night series. I'm halfway through and hope to finish today. I'm going to pick up another book today, J.R.R. Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring but it will be a slow read for a book discussion.

I have a pile of books I'm working my way through right now for some new book releases this fall. I'm not reading nearly as fast as I'd like to be so I'm behind schedule, but so long as I get to them, I'm happy. I'm someone who really enjoys series. When I have my own books, that's what I'd like them to be. There are some series that I own multiple books from despite the fact that I have and had as of yet to read the first book in the series to. Because of that and the new book releases (always very exciting), I'm tackling these now. These series are Cinda Williams Chima's The Heir, P.C. and daughter Kristen Cast's House of Night, Cornelia Funke's Inkworld, Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle, and Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus trilogy.

I'm going on a bookshopping trip for the second time this week tomorrow, but my plan is to read Eragon next. Sadly, I'm going to be starting the book having seen the movie first, but with luck it won't do too much damage since it's been some time since I've seen it now, and because of course the book will be much better!

My last bookshopping trip was on Saturday. Half Price Books had a twenty percent off sale. The location nearest me is rather small, so I left with merely six books.

Patrick Carman: The Tenth City

2008-09-03T12:37:00.000-07:00

The Land of Elyon series is something I first picked up this past January after I'd seen the first book, The Dark Hills Divide at a used book store. The cover to the first book is what originally drew my interest to the book. After I picked it up to read the back cover, my eyes held to the words "cozy library and maze of passages and rooms." It was a small YA book, but interesting nonetheless. I really loved all the mystery and (SPOILER WARNING) the two cats with their secret messages hidden on their tags. (END spoiler warning) I finished reading it eager to read book two. I found with Beyond the Valley of the Thorns that I missed the setting from the first book very much. Because it was a series about adventure, I knew before I began reading the third book a little more of what to expect.

Over the summer a very kind friend gave me a copy of the third book to this series, The Tenth City. I started reading it as soon as I put down the book I'd currently been reading. I found that I liked this book much more than book two, though still not as much as book one. It's the story of a continuing adventure and ends with new adventures still to come.

The author, Patrick Carman, still has one other book released in this series that I have yet to read, though it deals with different characters and takes place in the past. Though it's in a way separated from the main Land of Elyon series itself, I think I'll plan to read that before reading the fifth book in the series which is released later on this month.

40/52

P.C. and Kristen Cast: Marked

2008-08-18T12:28:00.000-07:00

I've been really busy these last five days and haven't had the time to write about my Early Reviewer book just yet. Luckily I have two days off work now so I may do just that, besides getting in some decent reading time. I did manage to finish a book as I read a few minutes here and there over the last few days.

I'd seen someone reading PC and Kristen Cast's 'House of Night' series over the summer. I was curious about it and mooched the first book from BookMooch later when I got home from my trip. Happily in doing so, I discovered a really nice series.

There was something really different about the main character in Marked than in a lot of books I've read. Zoey Redbird didn't come across as the typical teenager, nor the mature young adult who seems to already be grown up. There is no doubt as to this being a teen's story - there are the typical teenage things thrown in with the mixed theme of vampyres - but Zoey's personality really made this book something more amazing. It isn't that she has humor, but that her own is very unique to any I'd read before. She's a charming character with excellent moral values and a kind nature.

Intro and potenial spoiler.
Zoey may have a friend who K-babbles away while only slightly playing the part of a good friend, but Zoey was still nice to her and never hurt her feelings. Her boyfriend might have been far from the brightest crayon in the box and not an altogether good person, but Zoey was still rather kind. Her mother may have picked an awful "step-loser" to parent alongside her to raise her three children, but her middle child still adored and loved her mother very much. Her grandmother whom she likewise loves so much may be human, but Zoey is close enough to her that their relationship stays strong through this new life change that's taken over Zoey.
End spoiler.

She's admirable for these things and proves to be for more, in the House of Night. Marked is only where the story begins. You can feel there is much more to come and that much is on the brink of rising. Never have I picked up the rest of the books in a series on one bookshopping trip*, but that is what I am going to do with this series. I can't wait to read the other books and am excited about the newest release coming up next month. I found this series just in time to enjoy the excitement of a newly published book.

Ann Rinaldi: A Break with Charity

2008-08-15T11:18:00.000-07:00

This story is a Young Adult novel about the Salem Witch trials. Someone recommended it to me last year after I read a short nonfiction book on the subject and had said I'd like to read more about it. This was a really wonderful recommendation and I'm sorry it took me so long to read it.

This is a great book and provides the reader with an idea as to what could have happened during those terrible times using Susanna English as the main character of the story. The author sets you straight on what was fact from what was fiction in the Author's Note after the end of the story.

I had already studied this subject lightly in a college U.S. Women's History class but this book opened my eyes and let me see a new perspective about some of the people I had learned about in my class, such as Tituba. This book also gave me a closer perspective of what life may have been like not only during the life of one of my favorite poets, but also for her as well as she was also a Puritan. This poet is Anne Bradstreet, the first American poet.

Sean Stewart: Cathy's Book: If Found Call 650-266-8233

2008-08-14T10:37:00.001-07:00

You can really tell right away that a lot of effort and hard work went into this small book before you even begin reading. The front cover provides a phone number. Curious? Call it! It's a real number, (though long distance, so make sure you're covered for that) with an actual message on it from the main character herself. You can find two other phone numbers in this book as well. If you flip the front cover of the hardback edition, there are all kinds of little things in a plastic envelope, clues left by Cathy for Emma.

Unfortunately, these things and the phone numbers were the best feature. I'll say this. Cathy needs a hobby . . . and maybe to work on a few more things. I think I'll give it 2.5 stars, 3 to be nice. The adventures continue. I'm not going to pick up the second book, but that's simply me. Others may certainly enjoy this book better. One of my sisters is putting it to the test right now.

Ellen Wittlinger: Hard Love

2008-08-13T22:00:00.000-07:00

This one needed kleenex. John doesn't have much of anyone in his life before he discovers and becomes friends with Marisol. I can truely see how, with so little having much meaning to him in his life, Marisol came to mean so very much to him. When there is no one else and nothing else to look forward to, one may race with glee to communicate with merely one person because their world is so empty. It puts a big smile on their face and everything is good, or in John's case, at least for the moment. Sadly, these people come to mean just too much sometimes. This is hard love. Good read.

Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Series

2008-08-12T14:56:00.000-07:00

Yes, I read the series yet again. I did this in order to be better prepared for the release of the fourth and advertised last book in the series, Breaking Dawn. It also probably helped me that while I became more anxious to read the new book during the final week before it's release that I was buried in this series. Second thought, maybe it made it worse. No matter. I was ready for it.

For those who've never read the series, I'll soon advise you to stop in your tracks. First however, I'll link you to my first blog entry on the series. If you'd like, you may scroll down on this next link to read my review of the first book, Twilight. Be weary of the newest review and scroll down quickly so you may avoid my review for the latest book in the series.

In case the non-Twilight readers haven't disappeared yet...Movie poster!

Honestly, I will keep this spoiler free.

Twilight was a little hard to get into after having read it so many times in one year (four times!), but I still really enjoyed it. The movie is due in theaters December 12th of this year, though I will not be rereading it a third time for the year 2008. I will simply have to rely on memory. I think I'm set. Anyhow, this will allow me to enjoy the movie better since there's bound to be differences. I try to always judge books and their movies separately and can then enjoy them much better this way.

I was actually rereading New Moon when I left on my trip in May, but was forced to leave it at home. After coming back from a six week trip and so close to August, I knew I would just let it sit to read once more from the start of it as I did.
This book had always been my least favorite of this series. Rereading it this time, I found I liked it loads better. It always helps to be in a different place in your life when you read a book over again if you didn't agree with it so much the first (or even second) time around. I truly loved it!

Eclipse was amazing as always. I had seriously worried if I would finish in time and actually hadn't before I left for my midnight release party. However, as I showed up five hours before the clock would strike twelve, I sat down with a store copy and began to read from where I'd left off. The book was completed with lots of time to spare!

And now for the book so many people were dying to read, Breaking Dawn! Since it's still early since the release of this book, I'll again not spoil here. I will, however, refer you to my Breaking Dawn book review, which is also mostly spoiler free.

It would be interesting if Meyer chooses to branch off parts of this series into series of their own. Otherwise, it seems all there is left of it is simply her book in progress, Midnight Sun, Twilight from Edward's point of view. If it's the last of the series or not, it was still immensely enjoyed and loved by many. The story is now complete.

My TBR pile

2008-08-07T21:16:00.001-07:00

My to be read pile increased by another two books today and this is why one of my sisters says I can't buy any more books. (I told her I get some for free. Heehee.)

Dianne Wynne Jones: Howl's Moving Castle

2008-08-06T22:38:00.001-07:00

I wasn't really sure what to expect when I bought this book. A lot of friends had been praising it and I became curious about it. While I was otherwise occupied reading other books, it sat on my shelf along with my many other TBR books (standing at 117 right now) where I soon forgot it. When I was visiting friends on my trip, a couple of them talked to me about this book. It soon got so I was very eager to read it once I got back. I felt tortured by all the time that had to pass before I would be able to get to it. Happily, I began reading it the day I got home, nevermind the huge events of that weekend.

I loved this book! It went with me everywhere. I was teased for carrying a book in my purse and had to remind people this is what I always do. I was so busy that I'd take it out for hardly a minute before I would have to put it aside, but soon enough I could read for long amounts of time and that's when I could really enjoy it.

There were a few things in this book I thought I saw coming though it also held surprises. From page one, it's let on to the reader as though the first born child in a family never stands a chance and that the chance at happiness and a successful life come strongest to the child who is the last born. I wasn't quite sure if this was simply Sophie's belief, or a general opinion where the book takes place. Either way, I was upset for Sophie, the first born of three daughters, for not seeing that she could have more. She seemed happy enough with her small life, however, and probably would have kept living that way. Except! I won't give spoilers, but clearly a book has to change. Joseph Campbell says there is always the call to adventure, be it forced or otherwise. I was very happy with the ending and would read this book again. I want to continue the series and am going to just as soon as I can manage to get copies of the other books. I can't wait to read them!

(No counter because I have six more books to write about that I've read since this one. I'm getting one entry done a day, though the next four will be grouped in one entry.)

Reading on Vacation

2008-08-05T20:06:00.000-07:00

As I kept in mind how much I would have to catch up on here, I avoided coming here despite how long it's been since I came back home. The plan had been to enter all the books I read during my trip in one post, which I am doing now.

First up, C.S. Lewis's Prince Caspian. Can you guess what movie I went to go see while away from home? One guess is all you'll get.

I dug myself into Scott Westerfield's Uglies series while I had the chance while a couple of the books were available to me. These were the second and third books in the series, Pretties and Specials. I did not find these books all that special. Rather, I liked the first one a great amount more. There's still another in the series I've as of yet to read. Having gone this far in the series, I suppose I'll read it. The books have lost the meaning and messages that I had at first thought mean to much, however. I expect not much pleasure in whatever books come to follow.

Next, a map in the form of a book. I'm serious about this, though. If you're ever wandering around Manhattan, NY as a visitor or tourist, Michael Middleditch's The New York Mapguide, 5th edition really helped me out! I'd have been lost without it, and I really was.

More of Rachel Caine's vampire series. I read book three, Midnight Alley and hoped to pick up the latest, Feast of Fools, but never got the chance to read that one. Another time.

Kleenex time! This next book wasn't like the others. It was very deep and touching. Ginny Rorby's Hurt Go Happy was truely amazing and well written. It brought back some very painful memories to me but it takes a really good book to have someone cry as much as I did when I read it. I'm afraid I can't say much as to the tears without spoiling. I'm definitely going to pick up my own copy someday.

Sort of last but not quite least, Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely. I then jumped into her sequel, Ink Exchange, but time ran out on me. Rather than spending the last day of my trip on a book, I closed it for when I will read it over and finish it someday.

That's it for six weeks of vacation time.

A Knack for Titles

2008-05-20T23:40:00.000-07:00

What do I do when feeling bored when I should actually be reading? (By now, I should be sleeping.)

I know someone with a marvelous gift to link the name of an actor to another using only the names of five other actors or actresses. Actually, I probably know a few people who can do this rather well. My point is, while some people have a knack for movies and famous people, this is how I pass time . . .

Before the glorious days of LT, I would sit down and think of as many titles of books that I own as I possibly could whose titles link them to one another. I took to writing them down, but those lists have long ago been thrown out: why do this when I have my addiction to LT to fill my time? Or when I have a TBR pile that should have fallen on me a long time ago?

The answer is, because LibraryThing goes down! (Also, my TBR pile isn't stacked, or else it would fall on me.)

Below is a basic example. I will not provide authors to any of the books I will mention below, as it's late enough as it is. (Remember, I said I should be sleeping.)

Fitcher's Brides -> The Princess Bride -> The Constant Princess

See how I went from linking the word 'bride' to linking the word 'princess'?

I really enjoy doing this and would very much enjoy sharing every link of book titles I came up with tonight, but must not get carried away. I'll stick with the ones with the most books if I can manage it.

Sixteen Book Titles:
Where Are the Children? -> Where the Heart Is -> Black Heart, Ivory Bones -> Black Thorn, White Rose -> Blood is the New Black -> Blue Bloods -> The Blue Girl -> The Onion Girl -> The Other Boleyn Girl -> Little (Grrl) Lost -> Lost in Austen -> Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict -> Lost -> Lost in a Good Book -> The Book Thief -> The Lightening Thief

Fourteen Book Titles:
The Bean Trees -> The Summer Tree -> Tapping the Dream Tree -> A Midsummer Nights’ Dream -> Animal Dreams -> The Dreaming Place -> Dreams Underfoot -> Memory and Dream -> The Memory of Running -> The Memory Keeper’s Daughter -> Daughter of the Forest -> Forests of the Heart -> Inkheart -> Inkspell

Twelve Book Titles:
Where Are the Children? -> Where the Heart Is -> Black Heart, Ivory Bones -> Black Thorn, White Rose -> Blood is the New Black -> Blue Bloods -> Snow White, Blood Red -> The Maid of the White Hands -> White as Snow -> Light on Snow -> Snow Falling on Cedars -> Falling Angels

Eleven Book Titles:
Where Are the Children? -> Where the Heart Is -> Black Heart, Ivory Bones -> Black Thorn, White Rose -> Blood is the New Black -> Blue Bloods -> The Blue Girl -> Blue is for Nightmares -> Fly by Night -> Twelfth Night -> Silent Night

Ten Book Titles:
Where Are the Children? -> Where the Heart Is -> Black Heart, Ivory Bones -> Black Thorn, White Rose -> Blood is the New Black -> Blue Bloods -> The Blue Girl -> Blue is for Nightmares -> The Bluest Eye -> The Golem's Eye

I really should italicise all of those books...but I'm way to sleepy.

I think this would be really fun to play on LT, now that I think about it. I'll have to start a thread after work tomorrow. There, the possibilities will be endless.

Stephenie Meyer: The Host

2008-05-18T13:06:00.001-07:00

At long last this eagerly awaited for book was released. It's not part of the Twilight series but something new that's not a YA book.

I had a really tough time getting into it because of only having five or ten minutes to read here and there due to a busy work week. Once I had more time to read the book in one sitting, I enjoyed it immensely. It was hard to put down though I had little choice. I ended up staying up very late into two nights reading, the only time there was in my busy schedule to read.

From the beginning it is obvious that there is not merely one main character but two lives that are very much a part of this book. One is Wanderer, a soul and alien. The other is Melanie Stryder, a human whose body is used as a host. Through Melanie's memories, two other characters are drawn in and become of importance to both souls within Melanie's body.

You can feel Wanderer and Melanie's relationship as well as their anger, pain, and sorrow. Swept in their thoughts and emotions, you, too, both smile hugely in a grin and are brought to tears.

There's so much more I'd like to say about it, but I could ramble on forever and cause some major spoiling. All in all, an excellent book!

Stephenie Meyer: Twilight

2008-05-18T12:58:00.000-07:00

I'm a little slow posting a couple of books I recently read but here they are at last.

I had not meant to reread this series till July right before the release of Breaking Dawn. However, others were talking about it so much and having ever so much fun referring to it as the book that I couldn't resist reading it again as well.

I tried to read it more critically and to try to see the view as I read the book as others I knew who were reading it for the first time may view the story, however it was difficult to not be simply delighted to read this book again. There are differences of opinion revolving around this series but such is to be expected woth any book.

Having reread this one, I want to complete a reread of the entire series. I'm planning on digging into the second book, New Moon soon.

Top 106 unread books on LibraryThing

2008-05-01T02:09:00.000-07:00

No one zapped me or said 'you're it' for this but after reading about it on the LibraryThing blog, I'm doing this on my own anyway. Here are LibraryThing's top 106 unread books. Please note they're going by 'unread' and not 'TBR.' I guess some people refer to their TBR pile for what others such as myself refer to as their wishlist. This is a real shame because while I'm an obsessive LT tagger, I tag by 'TBR,' not by 'unread.' This leaves me a little unhappy. I may just do a post for top 106 unread TBR books as well to compare the differences. That will have to be done later though, because it's already 2am and I'd rather be sleeping.

Here are the rules everyone is following:
bold = what you've read,
italics = books you started but couldn't finish
crossed out = books you hated
* = you've read more than once
_ = books on your TBR list (hmm, I'll have to think that over when I'm more awake)

1. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell ^^
2. Anna Karenina
3. One hundred years of solitude
4. Crime and punishment
5. Wuthering Heights
6. Catch-22 a novel
7. The Silmarillion
8. Don Quixote
9. The Odyssey
10. The brothers Karamazov
11. Ulysses
12. Madame Bovary
13. War and peace
14. Jane Eyre
15. A tale of two cities ^^
16. The name of the rose
17. Moby Dick
18. The Iliad
19. Emma ^^
20. Vanity fair
21. Love in the Time of Cholera
22. The Blind Assassin
23. The Canterbury tales
24. Pride and prejudice *
25. The historian : a novel
26. Great Expectations ^^
27. The kite runner
28. The time traveler's wife *
29. Life of Pi : a novel
30. Guns, Germs, and Steel: the fates of human societies
31. Atlas shrugged
32. Foucault's pendulum
33. Dracula
34. The grapes of wrath ^^
35. A heartbreaking work of staggering genius
36. Frankenstein
37. Mrs. Dalloway ^^
38. Reading Lolita in Tehran : a memoir in books
39. Middlemarch
40. Sense and sensibility
41. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas42. Memoirs of a Geisha
43. The sound and the fury
44. Brave New World ^^
45. Quicksilver (The Baroque Cycle I)
46. American gods : a novel ^^
47. Middlesex
48. The poisonwood Bible : a novel
49. Wicked : the life and times of the wicked witch of the West *
50. A portrait of the artist as a young man
51. The picture of Dorian Gray
52. Dune
53. The satanic verses
54. Gulliver's travels ^^
55. Mansfield Park
56. The three musketeers
57. The corrections
58. The inferno
59. Oliver Twist
60. The Fountainhead
61. To the lighthouse
62. A clockwork orange
63. Tess of the D'Urbervilles
64. The amazing adventures of Kavalier and Clay : a novel
65. Persuasion ^^
66. One flew over the cuckoo's nest
67. The scarlet letter
68. Robinson Crusoe
69. Anansi boys : a novel
70. The once and future king
71. Atonement: A Novel
72. The god of small things
73. A short history of nearly everything
74. Oryx and Crake : a novel
75. Dubliners
76. Cryptonomicon
77. Angela's ashes : a memoir
78. Beloved : a novel
79. Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed
80. The hunchback of Notre Dame
81. In cold blood : a true account of a multiple murder and its…
82. Lady Chatterley's lover
83. A confederacy of dunces
84. Les misérables
85. Watership Down
86. The prince
87. The amber spyglass *
88. Beowulf : a new verse translation ^^
89. A farewell to arms
90. Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance : an inquiry into…
91. The Aeneid ^^
92. Treasure Island
93. Sons and lovers
94. The personal history of David Copperfield
95. The road
96. Possession : a romance
97. The history of Tom Jones, a foundling
98. The book thief
99. Gravity's rainbow
100. The War of the Worlds
101. Tender is the night
102. Candide, or, Optimism
103. Never let me go
104. The plague
105. Jude the obscure
106. Cold mountain

As you can see, I've hardly touched any of them, and I added to the rules as I went along. ^^ = books I know that I definitely want to read one day that I don't own.

Now it's ten till 3am and I am saying goodnight!

Rachel Caine: The Dead Girls' Dance

2008-04-26T12:08:00.000-07:00

I'm a little baffled why the book was given the title it was. The Dead Girls' Dance is indeed an event in this book...however it's so very brief and hardly a part of the book at all! That said, this book is in need of a different title.

This was another quick read that I would have finished yesterday had I not been LTing all day. With reading this second book, the characters are finally starting to have some decent character development. The story goes very fast and it seems as though the whole time the main characters are on one mission or another, always busy, always watching out for what might lurk in the dark. I'd keep reading the series, but I'm unfortunately out of Morganville books. I would definitely love to find out what happens next.

Rachel Caine: Glass Houses

2008-04-24T11:15:00.000-07:00

In search of other vampire books after reading Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, I had at one point mooched the first two books in the Morganville Vampire series by Rachel Caine on BookMooch. The first book is called Glass Houses which I finished reading last night.

This book is a very quick read - I read it in hardly more than one day. It's definitely not the same as all that dazzles us in the Twilight series - the characters aren't as well developed and after reading it one gets the idea that it's only meant to be a small story, never a favorite book - still, it's a story that holds it's own. I don't think we should enter books while holding onto another to compare them to necessarily, and I did not do that with this book but simply read. It has it's strong points and some chilling as well as touching moments. Spooky.

Unhappy though I was with the ending, I'm going to continue the series and begin book two.

Scott Westerfeld: Uglies

2008-04-22T20:21:00.000-07:00

After a month in a half of not really reading and trying to pick up a few different books, I managed to jump into one this week and keep reading. I just finished it earlier today.

After hearing Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series being brought up time and again at work and on LibraryThing, I give it a try. My biggest disappointment is that I didn't buy any of the other books in the series.

Right away I could tell this book takes place somewhere different than our world because of the technology, and in a way, it does. It takes place in the future. We are known as what they refer to as Rusties. There are no more people in the simple way we see it as now. Instead there are Littlies, Uglies, Pretties...

They have some interesting terms (SpagBlo) and devices of technology (crash bracelets), but at the same time it's funny hearing them talk about things from our day (roller coasters) that characters are just as mystified over.

In future, people looking different is done away with. They are all made to look the same, equally pretty, upon their sixteenth birthday. All of one's life, children are brought up to believe they are hideous and ugly, to become beautiful only with the surgery that will change their lives for the better.

I think if anyone had a problem with this book (which I doubt, but if it happened), they should at least consider this: this book can do wonders for young teenage girls. If anything it will teach them there is more to the world than being pretty, and that beauty comes from within. It's about being an individual, a good friend, and doing what is right.

The ending of this book definitely holds on to you and makes you want to know what happens next. With luck I'll find out soon...but I'm not wanting to buy any books at all except for Stephenie Meyer's The Host before I go on my trip this summer. I'm eager to read the excerpt for the next book, Pretties, that's in the back of this one, but because I know it won't be till when I can borrow it from a friend in June that I can read it, I'm not going to.

My book challenge is so shot this year. I still have hope, though.

"Read in order to live."

2008-04-07T00:27:00.000-07:00

Nearly a month has gone by and I have hardly touched a single book. I've read a few chapters of Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix, but that is all. I am feeling the toll that what not reading takes on me. I haven't not read in so long that I had forgotten this happens. Whenever I stop reading for a while, there are a few things I do not like that slowly begin to happen. They rather depress me and I had not realized until just very recently that this is what has been going on.

One of the things that happens is that I am more likely to slip when talking. I have more tongue-twists when I have not spoken any words that would typically create them. Another thing that happens is I begin to lose words from my vocabulary in not just speech but in writing as well. I will feel as I type that fewer words are inhibiting my word bank. I may typically view the difference in my quality of writing through graded essays as well when I read less, but I am no longer enrolled in classes so this one is not affecting me this time around.

It must surely sound crazy to some people that by stopping reading I will notice such things as I do and so quickly, but I am well-tuned and throughout my life have always noticed the difference reading makes. It improves one's speech, writing, and settles one's mind as they can remember what word it is they are trying to think of. My learning disability, I was told, is a partial one, that I am neither here nor there with either those who are ordinary and those with full-blown learning disabilties. I was not given the help I needed and spend many years struggling not knowing I could cure myself with merely the reading of books. It's sad that I didn't discover this till college, but reading does so much for me, and to read regularly is something I coin as taking a dose of medicine. I know what it is I must do to receive a dose of words and I think it is time I pluck a book from one of my shelves, turn back the cover, and begin to read. I think I will do this very soon.

2008 Challenges

2008-03-24T02:12:00.000-07:00

At first I thought this would be silly but eh, if I don't complete it, so what. I guess that's not the right attitude to be entering these, but it is very late and I am short on words. These are simply main goals.

Jane Austen Challenge:
Goal: To read the following books so I may at last enjoy Emma Campbell Webster's Lost in Austen. It will be well-worth the award.
Mansfield Park
Persuasion
Emma

YA Series Starters:
The following are books I own that are in a series. For some of them, I already own the second book(!) so I really need to get these read.
Frank Beddor: The Looking Glass Wars
Rachel Caine: Glass Houses
Christopher Paolini: Eragon
Angie Sage: Magyk
Jonathan Stroud: The Amulet of Samarkand

Short Story Collections:
I own many of these in fantasy. I wish to complete reading one of them this year.

A Splinched Life

2008-03-24T01:25:00.000-07:00

Daemon torn away, I haven't much had the desire to read these last two weeks. I also haven't been able to rid my head of the boy in Lyra's world of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials who held onto a dead fish for dear life. So suddenly I lost such a dear one to me as my greatest companion, who was fit as could possibly be. He was everything to me. I was left feeling I could do nothing that I did before. Life moves, though, and all of me was forced to as well but for reading without him beside me.

I cannot imagine reading without his blondish-orange fur in arms reach where I can pet and stroke him as I read. Or the fact that his nose will never again rub my wrists while he tried to steer my attention away from whatever book I would be reading. No more purrs or smiles of satisfaction as I breaked from reading and rubbed his ears. No more walking with him over my shoulder through the house, or of him turning up from no where to sit on my lap when I had been feeling sad.

He will not test any new bookshelves nor jump around in them with his sister who is so lonely without him. Always they had been a set to mind, like ying and yang perhaps. There could never be one without the other. No Aloft without Aloof. They were a pair, and how could one be complete without the other? The balance would not exist. Aloft is feeling the splinching of her other half.

Half of me is also missing these last couple weeks and I won't get it back. Nothing can change it, though, so I either have to read and probably sob doing so for the first few attempts or not read at all. I miss books, I really do. Nothing like I miss him, of course.

I couldn't make sense of it but I see there are differnces, though why I had to loose him for those differences are so very nastily cruel. I am not a religious person, but I feel the need to scream and kick and shout and beat the damn freaking you-know-what out of someone. I want my baby back. He is gone, forever. Why did this have to happen?!

Still struggling to care enough to turn the front cover of a book and read.

Frances Hodgson Burnett: The Secret Garden

2008-03-07T12:06:00.001-08:00

I wanted to read this book as soon as I finished reading The Little Princess. It took a while to get a copy because I got it from BookMooch, but I finally received it and just finished reading it last night.

As a kid I adored The Secret Garden movie. From the start of the book, I had it in mind and was able to notice some of the differences. I liked that the book began while Mary was still in her home in India. (I truthfully can't remember where the film began.) I felt it emphasized just how alone she was and had always been, something crucial to show the dramatic change she has during the course of the book because by the end she is quite happy and has friends. It's funny to compare the child that was at her uncle's the first morning who stiffly stood waiting for Martha to dress her versus the girl who wakes early, dresses herself, and runs out the door without anyone noticing her so she can slip into the garden.

I loved Martha's character and thought of the movie version even more so every time she was in a scene. Dickon was everything I thought he'd be based on the movie. It has been several years since I've seen the movie but one of the differences was in the character Mrs. Medlock. I just remembered her as being more of an unkind woman. I thought I remembered there being more disagreement to Colin's going outdoors. Perhaps that was Dr. Craven.

What is this book about? The title says it's about the garden, but that's if you take it without another meaning. What else could the garden be? Based on the reading, it felt like the story was changing from being about Mary to more so the garden, and then about Colin as well. By the end of the book, I noticed how less Mary seemed to be in the story and how more dominate Mr. Craven and his son were.

I was puzzled over the ending of the book because, from my having watched the movie so many times as a child, one of the parts I remembered most was Mary crying and running off upon Mr. Craven's return, and Mr. Craven and Colin joining her and they all sort of danced in a circle. I remember thinking it was because Mary had felt she was in trouble about the garden but once they joined her that it was not only okay, but that she no longer felt she wasn't part of a family but that she had her uncle and cousin for a family. This happy ending is not there in this book, but there is another that takes place in both the book and movie. I won't give away the ending so you'll just have to read it yourself.

LibraryThing

2008-03-05T10:26:00.000-08:00

This blog entry is all wrong for this blog (a few entries probably are) but as I've yet to create a blog less about books and because there may be a chance that certain people may read this, I'm going to post this here.

LibraryThing has been my favorite website ever since I discovered it. I love it very much and have made many friends on the site particularly in one group. When LT is down for those rare longer amounts of time such as now, I wish we'd had a website created allowing us to still chat up a storm as per usual.

I googled 'Hogwarts Express' and stared at the many trains that showed up as a result while ideas began to come to me. (On another tab right now is this one.) Because I'm all for sharing ideas and discussion before starting such a site, none can be used without contacting others in the group. *waves* Miss you guys!

The first thing I thought of is the obvious of providing a link to our group chatroom. The site should have a place where people can post so we can communite without the chatroom as well. This is with keeping in mind the average LTer cannot enter chatrooms while at work, where most LTers are when they go on LT. (Click here if your boss is coming. ;) Something I thought would be neat would be to have a list of blogs by our group members but only by those who are willing to share them.

Just checked the site again, and LT's homepage is loading and has a status message. Since it looks like it will work soon, I'm going to go ahead and end this entry to discuss in the right place.

ARC of The Host

2008-03-05T08:36:00.000-08:00

While working last night I had the opportunity to see my co-worker who works for a publisher once more. There in her bag that she brought with her was an ARC of Stephenie Meyer's The Host. Lucky girl! She saw me looking at it and pulled it out of her bag, held it in front of me and asked if I wanted to touch it. I carefully reached out my right hand and lightly stroked the front cover before moving my hand away. I was so close to the book. I cannot wait till May 6th! The rest of my shift we discussed Meyer's Twilight series while getting our work done.

TBR Pile Soaring

2008-03-05T08:07:00.000-08:00

On Sunday morning a small book sealed in plastic was handed to me after appearently being passed around the breakfast table. It had entered the house within a box of cereal. I was baffled over that. I thought it was supposed to be a joke that my family wanted me to have it, but they were serious. I became the owner of Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black's The Spiderwick Chronicles Great Escape, special edition of The Seeing Stone, Volume 3.

On Tuesday around noon the mail arrived. I immediately brought it into the house and sorted it. Not a moment after I sat down again, there was the sound of the mailbox opening again. Through the window I could see packages being placed in the mailbox, so I went out to fetch them. One of the three packages was addressed to me. I opened it to find the first two books in Rachel Craine's Morganville Vampires series, Glass Houses and The Dead Girl's Dance. My mooched books had arrived.

Tuesday evening found me wandering around a mall while waiting to be taken home because it seems no one wants me to walk outside at night. With a half hour to stall, I remembered that I hadn't bought the one book I would allow myself to buy after not buying any during February. From my game of walking through the book aisles in Target knowing I couldn't pick any books out, I knew exactly where to find the books I wanted. I went straight to them and picked three up continplating which to chose. In the end everything weighed down so that I picked Cornelia Funke's Inkheart. It was the cheapest, had the most pages, and the last book in the trilogy comes out later this spring.

My TBR pile now consists of 94 books. Better get reading.

Cannot Read, Urgh

2008-03-04T11:21:00.000-08:00

I think my current book is being thought of rather poorly without it being it's fault. The beginning was great - I kept picturing scenes from the film version I saw as a child - but I've been having trouble reading it for the last several days. I hate how being down gets me behind on reading. I just can't seem to read more than a page or two lately. This book will sadly not get the good opinion it probably deserves. I feel bad for that, but I just can't read right now.

The Book Plan, or There and Back Again (I Hope Not!)

2008-03-03T10:08:00.000-08:00

It's always difficult to have a book plan and follow through, but since late January I've been keeping to my plan: I've not bought any books.(1A)

Every week without fail I receive a book coupon through e-mail from Borders. (2A) I click the link to see the coupon and stare at it a bit. (2B) I then close it and get rid of the e-mail. (2C) Sometimes I give a friend the link so someone will be using the coupon, and it makes it a little easier for me to not use it. At the same time a guilt comes with that knowing it's like making this someone else's problem, and I decide to not link the coupon knowing their book spending habits are sometimes worse than mine had been. (2D)

Sometimes I get coupons from Barnes & Nobles and think, If I don't use this coupon, they won't send me anymore, so I have to use it. It's more difficult to get rid of these ones, and I click the link, read the two week away use-by date, and print it. Ugh. I usually misplace the coupon somewhere on my other desk after this, and since I hardly look there, I'm likely to forget it. Other times it stays in my mind saying use me! and I silently scream No, you can't make me! Sometimes I link these coupons to a friend, too. (3A)

I haven't been counting the cost of sending books out from BookMooch to others though I get books in exchange for it. It's very little to pay, people don't mooch from me much, and it's not that often that a book from my wishlist turns up in the system. (4A) I have limited my mooching from others to only from my country in order to save points, however. (I will always send out of country mooches - the extra points pays for the extra cost of first class air mail, in my opinion. (4B))

I walk through Target all the time. Sometimes I'm too early to work and browse there to waste time. I head to the stationary and office supply section, I go to the purse section, ... I (5A) go to the book section. I rush past the YA books (5B) then quickly walk down another book aisle (5C) before fleeing from the book section.

Sometimes I get bored or feel like something's missing and then I take a moment to think Oh yeah, it used to be normal for me to go in bookstores all the time. I think I should go to one so I can feel more restful and happy. Then I remember: my plan doesn't allow for books - I wouldn't get to buy any. (6A)

From the start I thought it would be an impossible book plan and thought I should reward myself every month. I have been good and if I keep being good I should still get to read, right? So I thought, What if I buy just one book a month? Well, I knew there would be the problem of what if I bought a book, and then gave in and ruined my plan with another! I decided this wouldn't do. I considered getting one book after each month that I stick to the plan. As I thought about it, I thought the price of one book if a hardcover is more steep than what I wanted to consider, but one measley used book? I changed my mind to $10 at a used bookstore after every month of non-book spending. (7A)

February is up, and I haven't gone to a bookstore yet. Turns out, my wallet can't afford it. Oh, well. In the meantime, I am continuing to not buy any books. (8A)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1A. I warn you if you read any further and are not a devoted book person, you're likely to think I am either crazy or that this is incredibly funny. Read on or no.

2A. Do the others matter? I think not!

2B. Which really means I keep it on the screen for up to two-in-a-half hours while using another tab. Every so often I open the tab with the coupon briefly, then go back to my other open tab.

2C. When I saw get rid of it, I mean put it in a file in my e-mail account. I put the coupon safely away in it's file before exiting the coupon tab. Who would ever delete a book coupon when it's still good? Keep this in mind because the term 'get rid of it' (re: book coupon) will come up again.

2D. January was bad. Bad, bad.

3A. I'm so sorry!

4A. The thought of even considering not getting books from BookMooch was too much to bear. I couldn't - no, I wouldn't not use it.

4B. This is bad. I should not send them out of country right now, right? But only three people have mooched from out of my country. / I would love the points! / Who'd mooch from me if I listed 'only to my country'? That's just mean. (No, I didn't mean that! I just feel more friendly by accepting mooches no matter where the moocher is from.)

5A. Darn it!

5B. Stop and glance at every book carefully checking for any I want, then rush away as quickly as possible.

5C. Though slow enough that I can see which books they have that I want ... and a week or two ago nearly fell because I picked up some books, read their backcovers, look at their prices, held them and debated, and almost fell by nearly getting a book or two by Phillipa Gregory.

6A. I'm not even going to begin thinking that I could just go and not get any. Who would stand a chance of not buying any books then? I would be setting myself up.

7A. Has this begun to sound defeating of the purpse to you yet?

8A. My BookMooch points have gotten awfully low - only one point left! ... I really, really want to read - urgh, *makes self not type any longer*.

Fantasy Genre, Take Your Pick

2008-02-29T09:51:00.000-08:00

Some of my TBRs just seem to sit and while I'd bought each of them because they somehow appealed to me at one time, I guess I'm looking for inspiration to read them by someone saying "Read this, I loved it!" Take your pick. Which of these books did you love and why?

Richard Adams: Watership Down

Jacqueline Carey: Kushiel's Dart

Charles de Lint: Jack of Kinrowan or Into the Green

Gregory Frost: Fitcher's Brides

Guy Gavriel Kay: The Summer Tree

Tanith Lee: White as Snow

Juliet Marillier: Daughter of the Forest

Patricia A. McKillip: The Riddle-Master

Terry Pratchett: Equal Rites

Thanks for your time! I'd like to add that I'll always take comments, so no reason to be shy.

Philip Pullman: Lyra's Oxford

2008-02-27T20:15:00.000-08:00

I got this book as a birthday present while rereading His Dark Materials. It's a fairly short book, but I'd been curious about it for years. I was very happy to receive it!

Lyra has grown two years older in the time between when we left off with her in The Amber Spyglass and this book. In some ways her new maturity is fairly obvious - no longer a child quite as distrusting a before, nor the girl who always spoke in her usual ways. She is more of a little lady, though you'll still find her on rooftops, never fear.

The story comes with a few other things such as a map, some to do with this book, and others not. From the beginning there is the promise of more stories to come. Once Upon a Time in the North is due out later this spring, with another book or two similiar to this one on the horizon as well.

Helen Fielding: Bridget Jones's Diary

2008-02-27T08:31:00.000-08:00

It seems like this book took forever. I was slow in beginning it last week because I was chatting on LT on my days off, and had very little time to read during the weekend. As a result, I didn't complete a book in a week's time for the second time this year, breaking my goal once more.

I saw part of the movie years ago, but remember very little of it so it wasn't damaging to my reading experience. Also, I did see connections to Pride and Prejudice as people have said there would be.

There were a few things I asked others about as I read this book and thus learned there are fourteen pounds to a stone. I never bothered to calculate how much Bridget's weight in pounds was. I'm still wondering what exactly 'instant' is - I gather it has something to do with lottery tickets. If anyone knows and would like to share, I would be happy to learn the full meaning.

Think really need to read book with proper sentences next so writing won't be damaged. ;)