Hey, guys!!
Before I start this review, I would just like to mention that I am making good progress with Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick. I'm looking forward to writing that review. But let's not jump the gun. So, I thought I would write a review for a classic.
As a kid, I was a very ambitious reader. By this, I mean that I would buy a whole bunch of books and to this day there are still a bunch that I have not read yet. There are others that I have read when I was around twelve years old. What I lacked was the attention span. So, I would get through the whole book, but I wouldn't remember anything that I had just read. But, as I get older, I try my best to read (or reread) as many of them as I can.
The Call of the Wild by Jack London was one of those books that I had read as a child and then didn't retain. But I reread it back in high school and found that it was pretty good (no, I didn't have to read it for a class . . . it was summer reading).
This is how I would summarize The Call of the Wild: it's basically Black Beauty but with a dog. If you have never read Black Beauty, don't worry, that's not the end of this review. And if you would like one for Black Beauty, I can do that.
Okay, so the dog's name is Buck and he is taken from his owner (by the gardener, I think . . . it's been a while) and sold to cruel people. This is actually what happens throughout the book: Buck is sold over and over again. He finds some cruel owners, some stupid owners, and some kind owners. Each exchange changes his views of humans.
And with each owner, he must establish his dominance over the other dogs or submit to them until he can fight his way to the top. And, during his time as a sled dog, he is surrounded by nature and feels his primitive instincts return to him.
I think that part of the reason that this book didn't really "stick" with me the first time I read it was because a) the language requires an attentive reader, b) I was a kid, and c) even on my best days, my attention span is iffy. If I'm bored with something, all bets off. But that is not a comment on the plot, because the book is pretty good. It's more a comment on my difficulty with digesting flowery language. But like I said, as long as you pay attention, you'll get it.
This book was the only Jack London book I've read, but if you have ever read any of his other books, this would be a good book for you. It's pretty short and it could be a quick read. And for that reason, this might also be a good book for you if you would like to read Jack London or just a classic in general. I can also write a review for Black Beauty since the two books are pretty similar.
Hope you guys enjoyed this blog post. Leave a comment if you would like me to read a certain book (leave the title and the author please) and I will see what I can do.
Happy reading!!
Friday, May 30, 2014
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Hiking Adventure!
Hey, guys!
I promised that I would regale you about my little adventure from the other day, so that's what this post is about. And by the way, writing about a recent trip is actually a pretty good writing exercise. Whether you traveled to a different country or a different state or if you just go for a hike, it's good practice to write down what happened. Even a local event like a carnival or an art festival is a good setting for a short story or a scene in a larger work.
So here's my little adventure:
My boyfriend told me that his roommate was planning a small picnic for Memorial Day and asked if I wanted to go. Since he had gone with me to a family picnic the day before, I agreed. So it was going to be me, my boyfriend, his two roommates, and their friend. For a picnic.
So I run to the store for some fruit and then I head over to my boyfriend's place to find out that we were going to get lunch at Subway to take with us and that we were going to go for a hike before stopping to have our picnic. What my boyfriend and I assumed was that we were going to drive someplace, take a leisurely walk through the woods to a spot where we could eat and hang out.
That's what we assumed.
We all got into our cars (my boyfriend and I in my car so that we could follow his two roommates and their friend). We get on the highway and I start to get confused about the distance we were going. That was when it had occurred to me to ask my boyfriend where we were going.
"I don't know," he said, "Something Hill."
I guessed where we were going and I guessed right. I was no stranger to the location; I had gone hiking there as a kid with my dad and my brother. But we still followed his roommate because she had the route on her phone and, although I knew where the hiking trail was, I didn't know how to get there offhand.
So guess what happened? We hit a detour and had to pull over in a gas station to figure out our plan. I discovered that my GPS had a detour button for exactly our situation, so I plugged it in, entered in the name of the road that the trail was on, and my boyfriend's roommates followed us.
I got us to the right road, no problem. Then we went back to following my boyfriend's roommate since I didn't know exactly where the trail was. Turns out that we just had to keep going straight on that road until we saw the parking area that led to the trail.
By some miracle, my boyfriend found some bug repellent in my car. Remember, I didn't know that we were going to hike up a hill. Even when I found out about hiking, I thought we were taking a short walk through the woods. So I wasn't prepared.
Then we started hiking.
Keep in mind that the last time I went hiking was when I was probably ten years old and we had to take plenty of breaks because we were with my dad. Turns out that my boyfriend's roommate doesn't like breaks. Never mind that I was totally out of shape for a hike. I swear to God, after walking about fifty feet uphill, my legs were burning and I was already panting.
I'll have to admit that it was kind of fun to antagonize my boyfriend's roommate about that. And I wasn't the only one. Their other roommate started teasing her about wild hybrid dogs. So, in retrospect, saying, "If I had known we would go hiking!" over and over wasn't really the worst thing said to her.
Although I am unaccustomed to hiking and bug bites and climbing rocks and, well, exercise in general after that long winter, the view was really worth it.
When we got to the top, my boyfriend's roommates and their friend went right to the edge to take in the view and snap some pictures. My boyfriend and I were more comfortable a good ten feet from the edge. But we could still appreciate the view. The sky was cloudy but blue and beneath us was a sea of green. If you've ever been so high up that the trees are far away and beneath you, then you know what it is like to feel big and on top of the world and incredibly small all at the same time.
I sat with my boyfriend on a rock with my head on his shoulder and admired the view beneath us and beyond us.
We were sweaty and gross and tired after the hike, but I would've done it again.
And I highly recommend that you guys get outside sometime this summer. Just make sure that when your friend says "picnic" she really means picnic.
Happy reading (or hiking)!
I promised that I would regale you about my little adventure from the other day, so that's what this post is about. And by the way, writing about a recent trip is actually a pretty good writing exercise. Whether you traveled to a different country or a different state or if you just go for a hike, it's good practice to write down what happened. Even a local event like a carnival or an art festival is a good setting for a short story or a scene in a larger work.
So here's my little adventure:
My boyfriend told me that his roommate was planning a small picnic for Memorial Day and asked if I wanted to go. Since he had gone with me to a family picnic the day before, I agreed. So it was going to be me, my boyfriend, his two roommates, and their friend. For a picnic.
So I run to the store for some fruit and then I head over to my boyfriend's place to find out that we were going to get lunch at Subway to take with us and that we were going to go for a hike before stopping to have our picnic. What my boyfriend and I assumed was that we were going to drive someplace, take a leisurely walk through the woods to a spot where we could eat and hang out.
That's what we assumed.
We all got into our cars (my boyfriend and I in my car so that we could follow his two roommates and their friend). We get on the highway and I start to get confused about the distance we were going. That was when it had occurred to me to ask my boyfriend where we were going.
"I don't know," he said, "Something Hill."
I guessed where we were going and I guessed right. I was no stranger to the location; I had gone hiking there as a kid with my dad and my brother. But we still followed his roommate because she had the route on her phone and, although I knew where the hiking trail was, I didn't know how to get there offhand.
So guess what happened? We hit a detour and had to pull over in a gas station to figure out our plan. I discovered that my GPS had a detour button for exactly our situation, so I plugged it in, entered in the name of the road that the trail was on, and my boyfriend's roommates followed us.
I got us to the right road, no problem. Then we went back to following my boyfriend's roommate since I didn't know exactly where the trail was. Turns out that we just had to keep going straight on that road until we saw the parking area that led to the trail.
By some miracle, my boyfriend found some bug repellent in my car. Remember, I didn't know that we were going to hike up a hill. Even when I found out about hiking, I thought we were taking a short walk through the woods. So I wasn't prepared.
Then we started hiking.
Keep in mind that the last time I went hiking was when I was probably ten years old and we had to take plenty of breaks because we were with my dad. Turns out that my boyfriend's roommate doesn't like breaks. Never mind that I was totally out of shape for a hike. I swear to God, after walking about fifty feet uphill, my legs were burning and I was already panting.
I'll have to admit that it was kind of fun to antagonize my boyfriend's roommate about that. And I wasn't the only one. Their other roommate started teasing her about wild hybrid dogs. So, in retrospect, saying, "If I had known we would go hiking!" over and over wasn't really the worst thing said to her.
Although I am unaccustomed to hiking and bug bites and climbing rocks and, well, exercise in general after that long winter, the view was really worth it.
When we got to the top, my boyfriend's roommates and their friend went right to the edge to take in the view and snap some pictures. My boyfriend and I were more comfortable a good ten feet from the edge. But we could still appreciate the view. The sky was cloudy but blue and beneath us was a sea of green. If you've ever been so high up that the trees are far away and beneath you, then you know what it is like to feel big and on top of the world and incredibly small all at the same time.
I sat with my boyfriend on a rock with my head on his shoulder and admired the view beneath us and beyond us.
We were sweaty and gross and tired after the hike, but I would've done it again.
And I highly recommend that you guys get outside sometime this summer. Just make sure that when your friend says "picnic" she really means picnic.
Happy reading (or hiking)!
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
More of The Raven Cycle
Hey, guys!!
As promised, I will now post a review for The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater, the second installment of The Raven Cycle. I will also make a different post either later tonight or tomorrow about my hiking adventures with my friends.
Okay, so the second book in the series has the same cast as the first, with a few additions. I'll get to the new characters in a bit. For now, let's focus on one old friend in particular.
Remember Ronan? Tough guy? Well, the sequel is about Ronan for the most part. Turns out that Ronan has a few secrets. One of them being that he can take objects from his dreams. What I mean is that he can dream of an object and take it with him. Anything from a pencil to a car. And the abilities that those objects had in his dreams exist in reality as well.
You can imagine that a lot of people would give Ronan trouble if they ever knew his secret. Like the Gray Man who is sent by his employer to search for the Greywaren, an artifact that allows the user to take objects from dreams. Like every other treasure hunter who may have caught a whiff of magic in the small town of Henrietta, Virginia.
Did I mention that his father had this same ability before he died? Did I also mention that I made a mistake in my review about the first book? Hehe, whoops. My mistake was that I said that Ronan's father had committed suicide. He was actually found murdered, bludgeoned with a tire iron. And according to his father's will, Ronan and his two brothers will inherit the family fortune on the condition that neither of them goes home again. If they so much as set foot on the property, they would be breaking the law.
There's also a lot of subplots to keep a reader entertained. Like Kavinsky, local druggie who likes to street race and blow stuff up. He's been giving Ronan some trouble. And then there's Adam. After what happened at the end of Book 1 (no spoilers, I promise!) he's been going through a lot of changes that are quite interesting (and he thought puberty was bad).
And then there's Gansey and his search for Glendower. But how can he do that when the ley lines are out of whack and Cabeswater (a place of magic that resided directly on one of the ley lines) has disappeared?
And what about Blue? wouldn't you imagine that she's getting kind of tired of having to keep her lips to herself? Remember, every psychic she knows tells her the same thing: her kiss will cause the death of her true love. And as a precaution, she never kisses anybody. When you think about it, it's one thing to not have anybody to kiss, but something else altogether to have someone right in front of you and not be able to even kiss him/her. That would be enough to drive me mad.
Suffice it to say that this book is making me crazy for the third book, and crazy to know if the third book is the final book in the series. Unfortunately, Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater does not come out until October 21, 2014. But have no fear, I will keep my eye out for it. Until then, if you have read The Raven Boys or like what you read about the series, I strongly suggest giving the series a try.
As always, I hope you enjoyed this review. Leave a comment if there is a specific book you would like me to read or review. I have gotten several suggestions already for more Stephen King and one for a James Patterson book. I've never read James Patterson before, but I'm willing to give it a go. I've also got the other library book I told you about, and I was halfway through another book on my Kindle before stopping because something had distracted me. So, no worries, plenty of reviews to come :)
Happy reading!!!
As promised, I will now post a review for The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater, the second installment of The Raven Cycle. I will also make a different post either later tonight or tomorrow about my hiking adventures with my friends.
Okay, so the second book in the series has the same cast as the first, with a few additions. I'll get to the new characters in a bit. For now, let's focus on one old friend in particular.
Remember Ronan? Tough guy? Well, the sequel is about Ronan for the most part. Turns out that Ronan has a few secrets. One of them being that he can take objects from his dreams. What I mean is that he can dream of an object and take it with him. Anything from a pencil to a car. And the abilities that those objects had in his dreams exist in reality as well.
You can imagine that a lot of people would give Ronan trouble if they ever knew his secret. Like the Gray Man who is sent by his employer to search for the Greywaren, an artifact that allows the user to take objects from dreams. Like every other treasure hunter who may have caught a whiff of magic in the small town of Henrietta, Virginia.
Did I mention that his father had this same ability before he died? Did I also mention that I made a mistake in my review about the first book? Hehe, whoops. My mistake was that I said that Ronan's father had committed suicide. He was actually found murdered, bludgeoned with a tire iron. And according to his father's will, Ronan and his two brothers will inherit the family fortune on the condition that neither of them goes home again. If they so much as set foot on the property, they would be breaking the law.
There's also a lot of subplots to keep a reader entertained. Like Kavinsky, local druggie who likes to street race and blow stuff up. He's been giving Ronan some trouble. And then there's Adam. After what happened at the end of Book 1 (no spoilers, I promise!) he's been going through a lot of changes that are quite interesting (and he thought puberty was bad).
And then there's Gansey and his search for Glendower. But how can he do that when the ley lines are out of whack and Cabeswater (a place of magic that resided directly on one of the ley lines) has disappeared?
And what about Blue? wouldn't you imagine that she's getting kind of tired of having to keep her lips to herself? Remember, every psychic she knows tells her the same thing: her kiss will cause the death of her true love. And as a precaution, she never kisses anybody. When you think about it, it's one thing to not have anybody to kiss, but something else altogether to have someone right in front of you and not be able to even kiss him/her. That would be enough to drive me mad.
Suffice it to say that this book is making me crazy for the third book, and crazy to know if the third book is the final book in the series. Unfortunately, Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater does not come out until October 21, 2014. But have no fear, I will keep my eye out for it. Until then, if you have read The Raven Boys or like what you read about the series, I strongly suggest giving the series a try.
As always, I hope you enjoyed this review. Leave a comment if there is a specific book you would like me to read or review. I have gotten several suggestions already for more Stephen King and one for a James Patterson book. I've never read James Patterson before, but I'm willing to give it a go. I've also got the other library book I told you about, and I was halfway through another book on my Kindle before stopping because something had distracted me. So, no worries, plenty of reviews to come :)
Happy reading!!!
Monday, May 26, 2014
Another Update
Hey, guys!
I know that it's been a few days since my last post, but it's been a pretty long holiday weekend. But have no fear! I bring good news: I have finished The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater.
Although I know I owe you guys a review pronto, I am beat. Seriously, though. I went on a two-hour hike in the woods with my boyfriend and his roommates plus a friend. And I am so not in shape. I swear to God, we hadn't even walked fifty feet uphill and my legs were already burning. I may have also been panting. Kind of fuzzy on precisely when my endurance gave up on me.
Anyway, tomorrow I will regale you guys with the details of today's adventure as well as that review that I have been promising.
After that, I will start reading the other library book I checked out: Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick. My boyfriend read it and said it was good. It also got praise from James Dashner (he's one of my favorite authors - remember?). I should also start reading some of the books I have bought and have yet to read. They're starting to give me funny looks.
Like I said, be sure to check in tomorrow for a new post.
Happy reading!!
I know that it's been a few days since my last post, but it's been a pretty long holiday weekend. But have no fear! I bring good news: I have finished The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater.
Although I know I owe you guys a review pronto, I am beat. Seriously, though. I went on a two-hour hike in the woods with my boyfriend and his roommates plus a friend. And I am so not in shape. I swear to God, we hadn't even walked fifty feet uphill and my legs were already burning. I may have also been panting. Kind of fuzzy on precisely when my endurance gave up on me.
Anyway, tomorrow I will regale you guys with the details of today's adventure as well as that review that I have been promising.
After that, I will start reading the other library book I checked out: Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick. My boyfriend read it and said it was good. It also got praise from James Dashner (he's one of my favorite authors - remember?). I should also start reading some of the books I have bought and have yet to read. They're starting to give me funny looks.
Like I said, be sure to check in tomorrow for a new post.
Happy reading!!
Thursday, May 22, 2014
More King
Hey guys!
Sorry to leave you hanging, but I was busy yesterday. As much as I love blogging, my little cousin had finished her first year of preschool and there was an adorable graduation ceremony. And there was no way I was missing that.
So, to make up for my absence yesterday, how about some more Stephen King? Specifically, Misery.
If I remember correctly, I actually saw the movie before I read the book . . . I think. Okay, I actually really don't remember. But anyway, it's a pretty simple plot and although the book and the movie are pretty different, it's still the same idea. So if you've seen the movie but haven't read the book, I say give it a whirl because it's a pretty good read. And - I said this in my review of Cujo, but I'll say it again: if you've never read King before, Misery is a pretty good way to get started. It is longer than Cujo, but it still has a lot of King trademarks.
Okay, so the basic story is that a writer named Paul Sheldon gets into a car accident in a rural area during a snowstorm after writing his latest book. He went off-road and is in life-threatening condition and is pulled from the car and saved by his number one fan, Annie Wilkes.
Annie, a former nurse, abandons his car in the snow and brings him back to her farm, splinting his broken legs and giving him regular doses of pain medication. She nurses him back to health, and in return he allows her to read his manuscript.
Although she has read everything he has written, Annie is a huge fan of his Misery series, a poorly-written romance saga starring a young woman named Misery. What she doesn't know is that in the last Misery book, Paul Sheldon has killed her off and his new manuscript is an attempt to remove himself from Misery's world and start taking his own writing more seriously.
Once she has read the final installment of Misery, Annie cannot accept that her beloved fictional character is gone. So she keeps Paul Sheldon in her home, letting the world believe he is dead, and forces him to write Misery's Return.
Realizing that Annie Wilkes suffers from extreme depression and a violent temper, Paul Sheldon knows that he must play by her rules if he is ever able to escape. But with his two broken legs, Annie's constant presence and her uncanny attention to detail, how can Paul Sheldon ever get away?
Read the cockadoodie book to find out how he can pull this off.
I'll admit that this post is a bit shorter than usual, but never fear. I am about halfway through The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater, and it will be up and coming in a future blog post. Anyway, if you enjoyed reading my blog, leave a comment and follow my blog if you're a regular reader.
Happy reading!!
Sorry to leave you hanging, but I was busy yesterday. As much as I love blogging, my little cousin had finished her first year of preschool and there was an adorable graduation ceremony. And there was no way I was missing that.
So, to make up for my absence yesterday, how about some more Stephen King? Specifically, Misery.
If I remember correctly, I actually saw the movie before I read the book . . . I think. Okay, I actually really don't remember. But anyway, it's a pretty simple plot and although the book and the movie are pretty different, it's still the same idea. So if you've seen the movie but haven't read the book, I say give it a whirl because it's a pretty good read. And - I said this in my review of Cujo, but I'll say it again: if you've never read King before, Misery is a pretty good way to get started. It is longer than Cujo, but it still has a lot of King trademarks.
Okay, so the basic story is that a writer named Paul Sheldon gets into a car accident in a rural area during a snowstorm after writing his latest book. He went off-road and is in life-threatening condition and is pulled from the car and saved by his number one fan, Annie Wilkes.
Annie, a former nurse, abandons his car in the snow and brings him back to her farm, splinting his broken legs and giving him regular doses of pain medication. She nurses him back to health, and in return he allows her to read his manuscript.
Although she has read everything he has written, Annie is a huge fan of his Misery series, a poorly-written romance saga starring a young woman named Misery. What she doesn't know is that in the last Misery book, Paul Sheldon has killed her off and his new manuscript is an attempt to remove himself from Misery's world and start taking his own writing more seriously.
Once she has read the final installment of Misery, Annie cannot accept that her beloved fictional character is gone. So she keeps Paul Sheldon in her home, letting the world believe he is dead, and forces him to write Misery's Return.
Realizing that Annie Wilkes suffers from extreme depression and a violent temper, Paul Sheldon knows that he must play by her rules if he is ever able to escape. But with his two broken legs, Annie's constant presence and her uncanny attention to detail, how can Paul Sheldon ever get away?
Read the cockadoodie book to find out how he can pull this off.
I'll admit that this post is a bit shorter than usual, but never fear. I am about halfway through The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater, and it will be up and coming in a future blog post. Anyway, if you enjoyed reading my blog, leave a comment and follow my blog if you're a regular reader.
Happy reading!!
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
I'm in a Stiefvater kind of mood
Hey guys!
Just a quick update about the second installment of The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater: I am currently about a third of the way through the book, and I think it's gonna get good soon. Just letting you guys know that I am making progress.
While I dutifully devour that book, how about a review on the first book I ever read by Stiefvater? And, of course, I am talking about Shiver.
I have read the whole Shiver Trilogy, and I absolutely love it. But I have to say that my favorite is still the first installment. Something about the story of how the two main characters fell in love just smacks of innocence to me. The book alternates between the perspectives of these two main characters: Sam and Grace.
Sam is a boy who was bitten by wolves as a kid, and because of this he now turns into a wolf every winter. His parents, realizing what he was, shunned him and Sam was taken in by the pack of wolves who changed his life forever. Their leader, Beck, becomes like a father to Sam.
Grace is a girl who was also attacked by wolves as a child, and she was definitely bitten. She should have died, but she was miraculously saved. And for some reason, she never changed into a wolf. Instead she lives out her life with her two absent-minded parents. And she watches the wolves behind her house, not understanding why she feels such longing.
This longing probably stems from watching one wolf in particular. Her wolf is what she calls him. And guess who this wolf is? If you guessed Sam, you are correct. If you guessed otherwise, I'm not sure that you're really paying attention. When Sam's a wolf, he recognizes Grace. When he's human, he wants to talk to her, but is too shy to.
The problem is that as the wolves change between wolf and human, they get less and less time as humans as the years go by. Eventually, they just remain wolves. And when Sam turns human in the spring, he knows that it is most likely his last time as a human.
But when he does turn into a wolf early than usual (around autumn), something happens that forces him back into his human state. And that is how he meets Grace when they are both human. And that is how they fall in love. And that is how they begin searching for a cure.
Their only clue is that Grace was bitten and didn't turn into a wolf. And with the weather getting colder and colder as winter approaches, Sam is holding onto his humanity like a drowning man to a life preserver and Grace is desperate to keep him with her.
Will they find a cure? Will Sam stay human? If these questions are torturing you right now, do yourself a favor and read the book. And when you do, keep an eye out for my favorite scene when Sam and Grace visit a candy shop. It's so sweet! . . . Get it?
Anyway, I recommend this book for all you hopeless romantics out there. It's a good read.
Okay, so keep an eye out for another review tomorrow and (eventually) a review for Stiefvater's The Dream Thieves.
Happy reading!!!
Just a quick update about the second installment of The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater: I am currently about a third of the way through the book, and I think it's gonna get good soon. Just letting you guys know that I am making progress.
While I dutifully devour that book, how about a review on the first book I ever read by Stiefvater? And, of course, I am talking about Shiver.
I have read the whole Shiver Trilogy, and I absolutely love it. But I have to say that my favorite is still the first installment. Something about the story of how the two main characters fell in love just smacks of innocence to me. The book alternates between the perspectives of these two main characters: Sam and Grace.
Sam is a boy who was bitten by wolves as a kid, and because of this he now turns into a wolf every winter. His parents, realizing what he was, shunned him and Sam was taken in by the pack of wolves who changed his life forever. Their leader, Beck, becomes like a father to Sam.
Grace is a girl who was also attacked by wolves as a child, and she was definitely bitten. She should have died, but she was miraculously saved. And for some reason, she never changed into a wolf. Instead she lives out her life with her two absent-minded parents. And she watches the wolves behind her house, not understanding why she feels such longing.
This longing probably stems from watching one wolf in particular. Her wolf is what she calls him. And guess who this wolf is? If you guessed Sam, you are correct. If you guessed otherwise, I'm not sure that you're really paying attention. When Sam's a wolf, he recognizes Grace. When he's human, he wants to talk to her, but is too shy to.
The problem is that as the wolves change between wolf and human, they get less and less time as humans as the years go by. Eventually, they just remain wolves. And when Sam turns human in the spring, he knows that it is most likely his last time as a human.
But when he does turn into a wolf early than usual (around autumn), something happens that forces him back into his human state. And that is how he meets Grace when they are both human. And that is how they fall in love. And that is how they begin searching for a cure.
Their only clue is that Grace was bitten and didn't turn into a wolf. And with the weather getting colder and colder as winter approaches, Sam is holding onto his humanity like a drowning man to a life preserver and Grace is desperate to keep him with her.
Will they find a cure? Will Sam stay human? If these questions are torturing you right now, do yourself a favor and read the book. And when you do, keep an eye out for my favorite scene when Sam and Grace visit a candy shop. It's so sweet! . . . Get it?
Anyway, I recommend this book for all you hopeless romantics out there. It's a good read.
Okay, so keep an eye out for another review tomorrow and (eventually) a review for Stiefvater's The Dream Thieves.
Happy reading!!!
Monday, May 19, 2014
The King of Creeps
Hey guys!
I went to the library the day before, and it turns out that they did have the sequel to The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater. So I took it out and I started reading it yesterday. I'm going to get some reading done today as well, so you can look forward to a review for The Dream Thieves sometime soon.
In the meantime, I thought I should post a new review. Since the last one was about a book that had given me the creeps, I figured why not review a book by the King of Creeps? Stephen King. Get it? Well, I thought it was clever.
Anyway, back on topic. I've only read a total of three novels and two novellas by Stephen King. The last book that I happened to read was Cujo, so I think I'll review that one for now.
I'll say right now that I wasn't expecting this book to turn out the way it did. And not just the ending (because I really wasn't expecting that ending) but also the general plot. As many of you probably already know, Cujo is the name of a dog that goes on a killing spree. In all honesty, I was expecting Cujo to be a werewolf. I don't know why I did. But as it turns out, Cujo is merely a Saint Bernard that gets rabies. Don't get me wrong, it's still a good book. I was just expecting a werewolf for some reason.
Anyways, onto the plot. As always, King manages to construct a really creepy and compelling main plot that is supplemented by a series of interesting sub-plots that up the ante. Sub-plots include, but are not limited to failing marriages and broken down cars and really hot weather. It'll make sense in a second.
Cujo's owners are a family of three: Joe (the mean and abusive drunk), Charity (the wife who doesn't have the sense to divorce Joe), and their son, Brett (whom Charity fears is turning into his father). Joe is a mechanic; remember that. It's important.
There is another family of three who hire Joe as their mechanic. Their names are Vic (who works for a floundering advertisement business), Donna (the wife with the mid-life crisis who is having an affair), and their son, Tad (who has nightmares about monsters and is only four years old).
Okay, so now you know the characters. Now here's the series of coincidences that lead to the premise of the main plot. Vic goes out of town to save his advertisement business. Charity and Brett also go out of town to visit her sister (to get away from Joe). Donna's Pinto is a piece of crap. Really, it's amazing that the thing is still running. Cujo gets rabies from chasing a rabbit out into the woods and getting bitten by an infected animal. Donna decides to go to Joe to get the Pinto fixed and she brings Tad along since he didn't want to be left alone with a babysitter.
I won't give too much away, but the Pinto breaks down in Joe's driveway. Seems like a stroke of good luck, right? Wrong. Donna and Tad are trapped in the car because Cujo is outside ready to attack them should they be stupid enough to emerge from the stiflingly hot Pinto. It's summer, remember? It creates a greenhouse effect so that Donna and Tad are basically getting cooked alive.
Scary, right? It's not a very long book with a very compelling plot line, so I managed to finish it in a few days. The ending is a bit sad and unexpected, but it's still a good read. If you've read King before or you haven't and want to give it a try, this is the book for you. Give it a shot.
All right, guys. I'm going to go read some more of The Dream Thieves. I'll let you know how it is.
Happy Reading!!
I went to the library the day before, and it turns out that they did have the sequel to The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater. So I took it out and I started reading it yesterday. I'm going to get some reading done today as well, so you can look forward to a review for The Dream Thieves sometime soon.
In the meantime, I thought I should post a new review. Since the last one was about a book that had given me the creeps, I figured why not review a book by the King of Creeps? Stephen King. Get it? Well, I thought it was clever.
Anyway, back on topic. I've only read a total of three novels and two novellas by Stephen King. The last book that I happened to read was Cujo, so I think I'll review that one for now.
I'll say right now that I wasn't expecting this book to turn out the way it did. And not just the ending (because I really wasn't expecting that ending) but also the general plot. As many of you probably already know, Cujo is the name of a dog that goes on a killing spree. In all honesty, I was expecting Cujo to be a werewolf. I don't know why I did. But as it turns out, Cujo is merely a Saint Bernard that gets rabies. Don't get me wrong, it's still a good book. I was just expecting a werewolf for some reason.
Anyways, onto the plot. As always, King manages to construct a really creepy and compelling main plot that is supplemented by a series of interesting sub-plots that up the ante. Sub-plots include, but are not limited to failing marriages and broken down cars and really hot weather. It'll make sense in a second.
Cujo's owners are a family of three: Joe (the mean and abusive drunk), Charity (the wife who doesn't have the sense to divorce Joe), and their son, Brett (whom Charity fears is turning into his father). Joe is a mechanic; remember that. It's important.
There is another family of three who hire Joe as their mechanic. Their names are Vic (who works for a floundering advertisement business), Donna (the wife with the mid-life crisis who is having an affair), and their son, Tad (who has nightmares about monsters and is only four years old).
Okay, so now you know the characters. Now here's the series of coincidences that lead to the premise of the main plot. Vic goes out of town to save his advertisement business. Charity and Brett also go out of town to visit her sister (to get away from Joe). Donna's Pinto is a piece of crap. Really, it's amazing that the thing is still running. Cujo gets rabies from chasing a rabbit out into the woods and getting bitten by an infected animal. Donna decides to go to Joe to get the Pinto fixed and she brings Tad along since he didn't want to be left alone with a babysitter.
I won't give too much away, but the Pinto breaks down in Joe's driveway. Seems like a stroke of good luck, right? Wrong. Donna and Tad are trapped in the car because Cujo is outside ready to attack them should they be stupid enough to emerge from the stiflingly hot Pinto. It's summer, remember? It creates a greenhouse effect so that Donna and Tad are basically getting cooked alive.
Scary, right? It's not a very long book with a very compelling plot line, so I managed to finish it in a few days. The ending is a bit sad and unexpected, but it's still a good read. If you've read King before or you haven't and want to give it a try, this is the book for you. Give it a shot.
All right, guys. I'm going to go read some more of The Dream Thieves. I'll let you know how it is.
Happy Reading!!
Saturday, May 17, 2014
Creepy series . . . love it!!
Hey guys!
Remember the last post about how it would be a while before I wrote a review for The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater? Yeah, well, I kind of surprised myself. The day before it was due, I thought that I would be busy hanging out with people, which is why I wasn't expecting any miracles on the book front.
It turns out that my schedule cleared up and I had time to read. And I got really into Stiefvater's book. I've read a lot of Stiefvater's work before, such as the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, so I was already a fan going in.
Needless to say, by the end of the day, I only had 50 pages left of the book, so I figured I may as well keep it and just pay the overdue fines. I mean, come on, what's 50 cents?
So, like many of Maggie Stiefvater's books, The Raven Boys has a very interesting cast of characters.
Blue is a girl who is very good at standing out. But that also means that she kind of stands apart. She comes from a family of psychics (chiefly her mother and her aunts), but she herself is not a psychic. Her presence just makes psychic energies more pronounced for psychics. Coming from a family of psychics, she has been told, for as long as she can remember, that her kiss will cause the death of her true love. Regardless to say, she's never really believed that she could fall in love.
She also has a deep-rooted hatred for the privileged boys from Aglionby Academy, also known as the raven boys. So, on St. Mark's Eve, when she is at an abandoned ruin of a church with her half-aunt, Neeve, to take down the names of the future dead who walk by on the corpse road, Blue can see one of them. He is a boy wearing an Aglionby sweater. When Blue asks her aunt why she could see him and none of the others when she couldn't before, her aunt replies that Blue is either his true love, or she will be the one to kill him within a year.
Gansey (also known as Richard Gansey III) is a typical, rich Aglionby boy on the surface. Coming from an affluent family and with his unintentional condescension, it is assumed that he is spoiled rotten and will one day run for Congress. But, while it is true that he is careless with money, he has an unusual passion and it's not for politics. He is in a mad hunt for Glendower, an old Wales King. Research shows that Glendower could be buried right in Henrietta, Virginia, which is why Gansey attends Aglionby. Legend says that the Wales King isn't truly dead, but in a deep sleep, and whoever wakes him will be granted a favor. Which is why Gansen employs the help of his three friends in his frantic search: Adam, Ronan, and Noah.
Adam is the scholarship student attending Aglionby by working three jobs to pay for the rest of his tuition. Why doesn't Adam just go to a public school? Because it's his ticket out of his double wide and he wants to be able to prove that he is independent. It's not that Adam is ashamed of his background (although he does often begrudge Gansey and Ronan their money), but his primary objective is to get away from his father.
Ronan is the tough guy with a tattoo who skips classes, doesn't get along with his jerk of a brother, and whose father committed suicide. He's also really aggressive. But don't take Ronan at face-value. He cares about his friends (even if he doesn't show it) and he reserves some special tenderness for the baby raven he found one night and took as a pet.
Now Noah . . . Noah is a very complicated character. I can't reveal too much about Noah. It would be too much of a spoiler. So let me just say that Noah is very intuitive. And kind of adorable when he's with Blue. She has weird, spiky hair and he likes to pet it. It might sound creepy, but it's actually really cute.
I highly recommend this book for anybody. It's not chick-lit, and it's really well-written. It's also got a pretty spooky atmosphere, which I absolutely love. Hunting for ghosts, psychics, a strange wood that is really trippy when you take a walk through it. . . . How much spookier could you get?
And guess what? The Raven Boys is the first in a series called The Raven Cycle. So, the next time I go to the library, I will check to see if they have the second installment which is called The Dream Thieves. I'm hooked, so if I don't find it at the library, I'm totally going to get it on my Kindle. Oh yeah, and I'm definitely going to write a review for it.
Hope you enjoyed this review, and I hope you will give The Raven Cycle a try. It's a really good read, trust me.
Happy reading!!
Remember the last post about how it would be a while before I wrote a review for The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater? Yeah, well, I kind of surprised myself. The day before it was due, I thought that I would be busy hanging out with people, which is why I wasn't expecting any miracles on the book front.
It turns out that my schedule cleared up and I had time to read. And I got really into Stiefvater's book. I've read a lot of Stiefvater's work before, such as the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, so I was already a fan going in.
Needless to say, by the end of the day, I only had 50 pages left of the book, so I figured I may as well keep it and just pay the overdue fines. I mean, come on, what's 50 cents?
So, like many of Maggie Stiefvater's books, The Raven Boys has a very interesting cast of characters.
Blue is a girl who is very good at standing out. But that also means that she kind of stands apart. She comes from a family of psychics (chiefly her mother and her aunts), but she herself is not a psychic. Her presence just makes psychic energies more pronounced for psychics. Coming from a family of psychics, she has been told, for as long as she can remember, that her kiss will cause the death of her true love. Regardless to say, she's never really believed that she could fall in love.
She also has a deep-rooted hatred for the privileged boys from Aglionby Academy, also known as the raven boys. So, on St. Mark's Eve, when she is at an abandoned ruin of a church with her half-aunt, Neeve, to take down the names of the future dead who walk by on the corpse road, Blue can see one of them. He is a boy wearing an Aglionby sweater. When Blue asks her aunt why she could see him and none of the others when she couldn't before, her aunt replies that Blue is either his true love, or she will be the one to kill him within a year.
Gansey (also known as Richard Gansey III) is a typical, rich Aglionby boy on the surface. Coming from an affluent family and with his unintentional condescension, it is assumed that he is spoiled rotten and will one day run for Congress. But, while it is true that he is careless with money, he has an unusual passion and it's not for politics. He is in a mad hunt for Glendower, an old Wales King. Research shows that Glendower could be buried right in Henrietta, Virginia, which is why Gansey attends Aglionby. Legend says that the Wales King isn't truly dead, but in a deep sleep, and whoever wakes him will be granted a favor. Which is why Gansen employs the help of his three friends in his frantic search: Adam, Ronan, and Noah.
Adam is the scholarship student attending Aglionby by working three jobs to pay for the rest of his tuition. Why doesn't Adam just go to a public school? Because it's his ticket out of his double wide and he wants to be able to prove that he is independent. It's not that Adam is ashamed of his background (although he does often begrudge Gansey and Ronan their money), but his primary objective is to get away from his father.
Ronan is the tough guy with a tattoo who skips classes, doesn't get along with his jerk of a brother, and whose father committed suicide. He's also really aggressive. But don't take Ronan at face-value. He cares about his friends (even if he doesn't show it) and he reserves some special tenderness for the baby raven he found one night and took as a pet.
Now Noah . . . Noah is a very complicated character. I can't reveal too much about Noah. It would be too much of a spoiler. So let me just say that Noah is very intuitive. And kind of adorable when he's with Blue. She has weird, spiky hair and he likes to pet it. It might sound creepy, but it's actually really cute.
I highly recommend this book for anybody. It's not chick-lit, and it's really well-written. It's also got a pretty spooky atmosphere, which I absolutely love. Hunting for ghosts, psychics, a strange wood that is really trippy when you take a walk through it. . . . How much spookier could you get?
And guess what? The Raven Boys is the first in a series called The Raven Cycle. So, the next time I go to the library, I will check to see if they have the second installment which is called The Dream Thieves. I'm hooked, so if I don't find it at the library, I'm totally going to get it on my Kindle. Oh yeah, and I'm definitely going to write a review for it.
Hope you enjoyed this review, and I hope you will give The Raven Cycle a try. It's a really good read, trust me.
Happy reading!!
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Quick Update
Hey guys!
Even though I don't really have a review for you today, I'd like to inform you guys of some bad news. Okay, here it is: I found out that I can only renew my library books once.
I know it doesn't sound like a big deal, but the thing is that the rest of my library books (The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater and The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath) are due in two days. Obviously that means that I won't be able to finish those two books in time for their due date and I won't be able to write reviews for them any time soon since I would have to wait 24 hours after returning them to borrow them again. It seems like a simple solution, but you don't understand. I would have to return the books my boyfriend took out using my card.
That means that we're probably going to have another library date sometime soon. I mean, if we have to bring some books back, we might as well take a look around. Which will of course lead to us borrowing more books. But this time I'm limiting us to a maximum of three books each. I've learned my lesson about taking out too many books at once. It won't be easy but I will be unwavering in that condition.
So don't worry. I've only gotten a few chapters into Stiefvater's book, but it was enough to get me hooked. And I've heard some good things about Sylvia Plath, so I will be checking them out again in the future.
In the meantime, I still have my library card, I have my Kindle, and I have books I haven't even touched yet. I also have a bunch of books I have already read and could write reviews for while I'm reading. I'm sorry for promising to read those two specific books and having to delay them, but the nice library lady said I can only renew books once and I don't want to pay any overdue fines. I may not get to those books soon, but I promise, I will read and review them at some point.
In the meantime, keep reading. :)
Even though I don't really have a review for you today, I'd like to inform you guys of some bad news. Okay, here it is: I found out that I can only renew my library books once.
I know it doesn't sound like a big deal, but the thing is that the rest of my library books (The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater and The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath) are due in two days. Obviously that means that I won't be able to finish those two books in time for their due date and I won't be able to write reviews for them any time soon since I would have to wait 24 hours after returning them to borrow them again. It seems like a simple solution, but you don't understand. I would have to return the books my boyfriend took out using my card.
That means that we're probably going to have another library date sometime soon. I mean, if we have to bring some books back, we might as well take a look around. Which will of course lead to us borrowing more books. But this time I'm limiting us to a maximum of three books each. I've learned my lesson about taking out too many books at once. It won't be easy but I will be unwavering in that condition.
So don't worry. I've only gotten a few chapters into Stiefvater's book, but it was enough to get me hooked. And I've heard some good things about Sylvia Plath, so I will be checking them out again in the future.
In the meantime, I still have my library card, I have my Kindle, and I have books I haven't even touched yet. I also have a bunch of books I have already read and could write reviews for while I'm reading. I'm sorry for promising to read those two specific books and having to delay them, but the nice library lady said I can only renew books once and I don't want to pay any overdue fines. I may not get to those books soon, but I promise, I will read and review them at some point.
In the meantime, keep reading. :)
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
A surprising Faerie story
Hey guys!
I just finished reading Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr, and I have to say, I liked it a lot better than I thought I would.
This book, as many of you may already know, is about faeries. Not the faith, trust, and pixie dust kind, but the mischievous and invisible to the eye kind of faerie. Invisible to all except Aislinn and her family, that is. Aislinn was born with the Sight that her mother and grandmother were born with. Aislinn's mother is dead for undisclosed reasons, her father is out of the picture, and Aislinn lives with her overprotective grandmother who is constantly warning Aislinn not to attract the attention of faeries. Well, guess what happens.
Aislinn attracts the attention of not just any faerie, but of Keenan, the Summer King! He notices Aislinn, and he knows with the fiber of his being that she is the one who was always destined to become his Summer Queen.
Before I go any further, let me explain a little about the faerie monarchs. There are four courts: Summer, Winter, Dark, and High. This book in the series focuses on just the Summer and Winter courts. Before Keenan was born, the Summer Court was ruled by his father, and the Winter Court by his mother, Beira. That is until Beira murders the Summer King and binds Keenan's powers so that she holds sway over him until he finds his Summer Queen.
And how does he know when he's found his Summer Queen? Well, first he courts a mortal. From that point on, she cannot back out of the game. Whichever scenario plays out, she will become a faerie. After the initial courting she is given a choice: to become a Summer Girl or to take up the Winter Queen's staff. The former means that the girl does not love Keenan enough to risk everything and instead wants no power, no responsibilities, and endless fun. A Summer Girl is basically synonymous with an Emperor's concubine. The latter is the test to determine if the mortal being courted is the destined Summer Queen. To take up the Winter Queen's staff means risking the Winter Queen's cold out of her love for Keenan. If she passes the test, she becomes the Summer Queen and rules with Keenan, whose powers will be unbound. If she fails, she becomes the Winter Girl, tormented by the perpetual cold until another mortal girl takes up the Winter Queen's staff. Donia was the last girl who loved Keenan enough to take up the staff, and she became the Winter Girl. Now it's Aislinn's turn.
But Aislinn is not as willing as past mortal girls. She was raised to distrust and despise faeries and wants no part of what Keenan has done to her. She knows what sort of seductive tricks the faeries can play on mortal girls and she wants nothing to do with him. That's because she's in love with her best friend, Seth. Sexy and no stranger to girls, Aislinn is reluctant to break out of the friend-zone with him because she does not want to wreck their friendship by having what he may view as a casual fling.
Will Aislinn see that immortality is inevitable for her? Will she fall for Keenan? Will she risk a relationship with Seth? Will she take up the Winter Queen's staff? Is she the Summer Queen? Thus, the plot thickens.
When I first picked up the book, I thought it would be just like every other popular book written about supernatural beings: girl meets totally hot but kind of strange boy, girl learns that boy is immortal, girl suddenly wants boy, girl dates boy, girl becomes immortal. Same story every time. And then there's also the "other boy" who has either friend-zoned or is friend-zoned by the girl and who never gets the girl. You all know who I'm talking about.
But the further I got into this book, the more I began to realize how different it is. Okay, this book is basically set up the same way: girl meets weird but hot boy, girl has an equally hot best friend who could be more, supernatural boy pursues girl, yadda yadda yadda. But the ending is so different and infinitely better than the cliched ending of every single popular novel ever written about supernatural beings.
The ending is so different because it is every single shade of gray you could imagine. It is not all black and white. And you know what I mean about black and white: mortality vs. immortality, vampire vs. werewolf, Team This Guy vs. Team Other Guy. You get it. But this story has none of that. I'll try not to give away the ending, but Aislinn learns that there is a way to be immortal while maintaining her mortal life, that there is a way to accept her destiny and still be with the one she loves. And how does she do that? By asserting herself. Power to the female. I just adore Aislinn as a character because she is so different from the ditsy heroine that we, as a culture, have come to know and love.
Anyway, in case you haven't already figured it out, I highly recommend this book, especially if you're sick of the typical popular heroine figure.
Okay, so definitely check out this book. Leave a comment if you enjoyed this review or if there's a book out there that you'd like me to read and review. Follow my blog if you'd like to be the first to read more. And even if you don't feel like posting it, try out the writing exercise I posted the other day on your own. I f you'd like me to keep posting those, leave a comment and I'll be sure to keep those up. I just started reading The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, so I will be posting a review for that and while I'm reading that book, I will be posting reviews for other books I've already read.
Happy reading!
I just finished reading Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr, and I have to say, I liked it a lot better than I thought I would.
This book, as many of you may already know, is about faeries. Not the faith, trust, and pixie dust kind, but the mischievous and invisible to the eye kind of faerie. Invisible to all except Aislinn and her family, that is. Aislinn was born with the Sight that her mother and grandmother were born with. Aislinn's mother is dead for undisclosed reasons, her father is out of the picture, and Aislinn lives with her overprotective grandmother who is constantly warning Aislinn not to attract the attention of faeries. Well, guess what happens.
Aislinn attracts the attention of not just any faerie, but of Keenan, the Summer King! He notices Aislinn, and he knows with the fiber of his being that she is the one who was always destined to become his Summer Queen.
Before I go any further, let me explain a little about the faerie monarchs. There are four courts: Summer, Winter, Dark, and High. This book in the series focuses on just the Summer and Winter courts. Before Keenan was born, the Summer Court was ruled by his father, and the Winter Court by his mother, Beira. That is until Beira murders the Summer King and binds Keenan's powers so that she holds sway over him until he finds his Summer Queen.
And how does he know when he's found his Summer Queen? Well, first he courts a mortal. From that point on, she cannot back out of the game. Whichever scenario plays out, she will become a faerie. After the initial courting she is given a choice: to become a Summer Girl or to take up the Winter Queen's staff. The former means that the girl does not love Keenan enough to risk everything and instead wants no power, no responsibilities, and endless fun. A Summer Girl is basically synonymous with an Emperor's concubine. The latter is the test to determine if the mortal being courted is the destined Summer Queen. To take up the Winter Queen's staff means risking the Winter Queen's cold out of her love for Keenan. If she passes the test, she becomes the Summer Queen and rules with Keenan, whose powers will be unbound. If she fails, she becomes the Winter Girl, tormented by the perpetual cold until another mortal girl takes up the Winter Queen's staff. Donia was the last girl who loved Keenan enough to take up the staff, and she became the Winter Girl. Now it's Aislinn's turn.
But Aislinn is not as willing as past mortal girls. She was raised to distrust and despise faeries and wants no part of what Keenan has done to her. She knows what sort of seductive tricks the faeries can play on mortal girls and she wants nothing to do with him. That's because she's in love with her best friend, Seth. Sexy and no stranger to girls, Aislinn is reluctant to break out of the friend-zone with him because she does not want to wreck their friendship by having what he may view as a casual fling.
Will Aislinn see that immortality is inevitable for her? Will she fall for Keenan? Will she risk a relationship with Seth? Will she take up the Winter Queen's staff? Is she the Summer Queen? Thus, the plot thickens.
When I first picked up the book, I thought it would be just like every other popular book written about supernatural beings: girl meets totally hot but kind of strange boy, girl learns that boy is immortal, girl suddenly wants boy, girl dates boy, girl becomes immortal. Same story every time. And then there's also the "other boy" who has either friend-zoned or is friend-zoned by the girl and who never gets the girl. You all know who I'm talking about.
But the further I got into this book, the more I began to realize how different it is. Okay, this book is basically set up the same way: girl meets weird but hot boy, girl has an equally hot best friend who could be more, supernatural boy pursues girl, yadda yadda yadda. But the ending is so different and infinitely better than the cliched ending of every single popular novel ever written about supernatural beings.
The ending is so different because it is every single shade of gray you could imagine. It is not all black and white. And you know what I mean about black and white: mortality vs. immortality, vampire vs. werewolf, Team This Guy vs. Team Other Guy. You get it. But this story has none of that. I'll try not to give away the ending, but Aislinn learns that there is a way to be immortal while maintaining her mortal life, that there is a way to accept her destiny and still be with the one she loves. And how does she do that? By asserting herself. Power to the female. I just adore Aislinn as a character because she is so different from the ditsy heroine that we, as a culture, have come to know and love.
Anyway, in case you haven't already figured it out, I highly recommend this book, especially if you're sick of the typical popular heroine figure.
Okay, so definitely check out this book. Leave a comment if you enjoyed this review or if there's a book out there that you'd like me to read and review. Follow my blog if you'd like to be the first to read more. And even if you don't feel like posting it, try out the writing exercise I posted the other day on your own. I f you'd like me to keep posting those, leave a comment and I'll be sure to keep those up. I just started reading The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, so I will be posting a review for that and while I'm reading that book, I will be posting reviews for other books I've already read.
Happy reading!
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Writing Exercise
Hey guys!
Finals week has been over for me since Thursday and my vacation has finally started. So the good news is that I will have more time to read awesome books and write more blog posts. I am pleased to report that I am past the halfway mark in Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr and I am enjoying it so far.
Until I finish the book, however, how about the first ever writing exercise?
Keep in mind, you guys are free to try out the writing exercise for yourself and post what you come up with in the comments, and come tomorrow I will post my result in a new blog tomorrow.
Are you ready for it? Because here it is.
Write: Listen to a song. It could be a song you love, a song you hate, or a song you have mixed feelings about. It could be an oldies, a new top 40s, dupstep, classical, square-dancing, whatever. Anyway, pick one song, listen to it a few times, and write about what that song makes you think of. You may write a narrative from your childhood that that song reminds you of, a poem, a short story featuring the conflict from the song or a character based off of the mood of that song, anything your dear little heart desires.
I've actually used this writing exercise before. The first time was when I was taking the creative writing course back in high school and we had an assignment to come up with a writing exercise and lead the class through the exercise. This is the writing exercise I had created for the class, and it was a lot of fun.
I also had quite a few listening assignments for the music appreciation course I took this past semester where we had to listen to a specific song, excerpt, or collection of songs and describe what we listened to. Oftentimes for these assignments, I wrote a little narrative that I heard in the song.
I really hope you guys try this writing exercise, that you enjoy it, and that you will post your results in the comments. Don't be shy. Just be sure to post the title of the song you used and the name of the artist when you post your results and please be respectful of each other when you do post comments. Check in tomorrow and I will have my results of this writing exercise posted. Also, continue checking my blog later in the week for my new review for Wicked Lovely because I am going to be close to finishing it soon.
Happy reading! Oops, I mean, happy writing!
Finals week has been over for me since Thursday and my vacation has finally started. So the good news is that I will have more time to read awesome books and write more blog posts. I am pleased to report that I am past the halfway mark in Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr and I am enjoying it so far.
Until I finish the book, however, how about the first ever writing exercise?
Keep in mind, you guys are free to try out the writing exercise for yourself and post what you come up with in the comments, and come tomorrow I will post my result in a new blog tomorrow.
Are you ready for it? Because here it is.
Write: Listen to a song. It could be a song you love, a song you hate, or a song you have mixed feelings about. It could be an oldies, a new top 40s, dupstep, classical, square-dancing, whatever. Anyway, pick one song, listen to it a few times, and write about what that song makes you think of. You may write a narrative from your childhood that that song reminds you of, a poem, a short story featuring the conflict from the song or a character based off of the mood of that song, anything your dear little heart desires.
I've actually used this writing exercise before. The first time was when I was taking the creative writing course back in high school and we had an assignment to come up with a writing exercise and lead the class through the exercise. This is the writing exercise I had created for the class, and it was a lot of fun.
I also had quite a few listening assignments for the music appreciation course I took this past semester where we had to listen to a specific song, excerpt, or collection of songs and describe what we listened to. Oftentimes for these assignments, I wrote a little narrative that I heard in the song.
I really hope you guys try this writing exercise, that you enjoy it, and that you will post your results in the comments. Don't be shy. Just be sure to post the title of the song you used and the name of the artist when you post your results and please be respectful of each other when you do post comments. Check in tomorrow and I will have my results of this writing exercise posted. Also, continue checking my blog later in the week for my new review for Wicked Lovely because I am going to be close to finishing it soon.
Happy reading! Oops, I mean, happy writing!
Sunday, May 4, 2014
Middle School Throwback
Hey guys!
Right now, I'm reading Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr and, honestly, I'm only a few chapters into the book. I know, that's kind of sad, but I've really only been reading a chapter or two at night before bed, so I kind of have an excuse. Especially since finals are this week (I don't have any exams tomorrow, though, so I'll be studying). That's my official reason, but if I'm being completely honest, I'm not that into it yet. I don't know what it is, but every time I pick up a book about faeries I can't wait to start reading, but once I actually start reading the book it just doesn't do it for me. I promise, though, I will finish the book.
In the meantime, I thought I would make a quick post about one of my favorite books that I read back in middle school. You know, back when the class actually took trips to the school's library and had SSR. I gotta say sometimes I miss those days. So this book, Goose Chase by Patrice Kindl, is a really cute and fun princess story, and this is coming from a girl who isn't big on reading about princesses.
It's funny because I actually walked into a local independent book store about a year ago or so and found this book on the shelves in the pre-teen section. The cover art was different, but the title rang a bell. Wait a minute, I thought, is that the same book that I'm thinking of? So I read part of the first chapter and as soon as I read "the King has got a heart like a lump of coal: black and stony" on the second page, I knew it was the same book. That was one of the few lines that had stuck out at me as a fifth grader. So, of course I had to get the book. How could I not? And what's awesome is that I loved it just as much as an adult as I did as a kid. So yeah, I would definitely recommend it to someone in elementary or middle school, but if you're in high school or college - even if you are well into your thirties or forties - why not get in touch with your inner child?
And the great thing about this book is that it's got pretty much everything: princes and princesses, ogres and towers, benevolent spells that result in burdens and magic hair. And, yes, geese.
The main character doesn't properly introduce herself until Chapter Two as Alexandria Aurora Fortunato, an orphan girl in a tower with only her geese for company and her two suitors. Bachelor #1 is King Claudio the Cruel, a man only interested in taking Alexandria as his wife so that he may get rich from her golden dandruff and diamond tears. Bachelor #2 is Prince Edmund of Dorloo, an apparent buffoon who talks too much. Seems like a nice guy, but Alexandria doesn't have much interest in marrying him. Besides, if she did marry the prince, the king would probably just kill him. Quite the conundrum.
Both men are getting tired of waiting for an answer from her, and the only reason she's been able to procrastinate accepting either man's hand is by saying that she must sew her own golden wedding garments. Imagine how often she's made mistakes in her embroidery and had to start over. Wouldn't you?
But regardless of how many "mistakes" she makes, she can't procrastinate forever, so it's accept or escape. And escape she does - with the help of her geese - and sets off on a fantastic adventure with her twelve geese. I won't say anymore because I don't want to spoil anything for those of you who plan on reading this awesome book. It's a fun adventure and it is told in the hilarious voice of Alexandria Aurora Fortunato. I also can't get enough of Prince Edmund. He's kind of an idiot, but he's a lovable idiot and he's too funny. I was just reading a quick excerpt and had to stop myself from laughing out loud (it's late and people are sleeping).
Anyway, definitely check it out if you're looking for a good laugh. Thanks for reading my blog, comment if you want a review on a specific book or author, and follow if you'd like to see more. A review on Wicked Lovely is coming soon, and so are those writing exercises I mentioned before. Stay awesome, guys.
Happy reading!
Right now, I'm reading Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr and, honestly, I'm only a few chapters into the book. I know, that's kind of sad, but I've really only been reading a chapter or two at night before bed, so I kind of have an excuse. Especially since finals are this week (I don't have any exams tomorrow, though, so I'll be studying). That's my official reason, but if I'm being completely honest, I'm not that into it yet. I don't know what it is, but every time I pick up a book about faeries I can't wait to start reading, but once I actually start reading the book it just doesn't do it for me. I promise, though, I will finish the book.
In the meantime, I thought I would make a quick post about one of my favorite books that I read back in middle school. You know, back when the class actually took trips to the school's library and had SSR. I gotta say sometimes I miss those days. So this book, Goose Chase by Patrice Kindl, is a really cute and fun princess story, and this is coming from a girl who isn't big on reading about princesses.
It's funny because I actually walked into a local independent book store about a year ago or so and found this book on the shelves in the pre-teen section. The cover art was different, but the title rang a bell. Wait a minute, I thought, is that the same book that I'm thinking of? So I read part of the first chapter and as soon as I read "the King has got a heart like a lump of coal: black and stony" on the second page, I knew it was the same book. That was one of the few lines that had stuck out at me as a fifth grader. So, of course I had to get the book. How could I not? And what's awesome is that I loved it just as much as an adult as I did as a kid. So yeah, I would definitely recommend it to someone in elementary or middle school, but if you're in high school or college - even if you are well into your thirties or forties - why not get in touch with your inner child?
And the great thing about this book is that it's got pretty much everything: princes and princesses, ogres and towers, benevolent spells that result in burdens and magic hair. And, yes, geese.
The main character doesn't properly introduce herself until Chapter Two as Alexandria Aurora Fortunato, an orphan girl in a tower with only her geese for company and her two suitors. Bachelor #1 is King Claudio the Cruel, a man only interested in taking Alexandria as his wife so that he may get rich from her golden dandruff and diamond tears. Bachelor #2 is Prince Edmund of Dorloo, an apparent buffoon who talks too much. Seems like a nice guy, but Alexandria doesn't have much interest in marrying him. Besides, if she did marry the prince, the king would probably just kill him. Quite the conundrum.
Both men are getting tired of waiting for an answer from her, and the only reason she's been able to procrastinate accepting either man's hand is by saying that she must sew her own golden wedding garments. Imagine how often she's made mistakes in her embroidery and had to start over. Wouldn't you?
But regardless of how many "mistakes" she makes, she can't procrastinate forever, so it's accept or escape. And escape she does - with the help of her geese - and sets off on a fantastic adventure with her twelve geese. I won't say anymore because I don't want to spoil anything for those of you who plan on reading this awesome book. It's a fun adventure and it is told in the hilarious voice of Alexandria Aurora Fortunato. I also can't get enough of Prince Edmund. He's kind of an idiot, but he's a lovable idiot and he's too funny. I was just reading a quick excerpt and had to stop myself from laughing out loud (it's late and people are sleeping).
Anyway, definitely check it out if you're looking for a good laugh. Thanks for reading my blog, comment if you want a review on a specific book or author, and follow if you'd like to see more. A review on Wicked Lovely is coming soon, and so are those writing exercises I mentioned before. Stay awesome, guys.
Happy reading!
Friday, May 2, 2014
"Tale as old as time"
Hey, guys!
So, next week is finals week, which means that I haven't had much homework lately, which means that I actually had free time. I swear to God, I broke out into song a couple of times. So of course I started reading for fun again. Not that I didn't like the books I read this semester, but it's such a relief to read something that isn't detective/crime fiction.
"What did I read?" you may ask. Well, I just finished reading Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay. One thing you should know about me right off the bat is that I am a sucker for any variation of the classic tale Beauty and the Beast, since that particular Disney movie was one of my favorites growing up. And for the record, I still watch a ton of Disney movies. I'm a child at heart.
This book is actually one of the five that I borrowed for myself when I went on that library date with my boyfriend. That means that I have three more library books to finish reading, so you can count on three new posts sometime in the near future. While I'm reading those three, though, I will make posts about books I have already read and absolutely love. But for now, Of Beast and Beauty.
This particular version of the tale as old as time could actually be read as a science fiction, since it takes place on a different planet and involves mutations of the human race in order to adapt to the harsher desert environment. But for some reason, it totally reads as a fantasy to me. So if you're a fan of either of those genres, you might be interested in this book.
So, yeah, on a planet with a harsher sun during the day and colder nights (because the planet is mostly desert), the planet used its magic to help the humans adapt to the environment by giving them scales to protect them from the sun, bigger teeth, and claws. But as half of the population started to change, the rest of the human race saw their fellow humans as monstrous beasts and enclosed themselves in glass domes to protect themselves from the horrifying mutations. In exchange for abundant life under the domes, the un-mutated humans offered a sacrifice to the planet by spilling the blood of the queen who gave her life for her people. Where the queen's blood fell to the dirt, a bed of roses bloomed.
That sounds heroic, but deals made in blood are actually a form of dark magic that further divided the planet into a Dark Heart and a Pure Heart. Because life under the domes became so abundant, it stole its vitality from the desert, forcing the Monstrous who were locked outside of the city into a constant battle to fill their bellies. The humans grew to hate the Monstrous for their appearances and the Monstrous hated the humans for their cruel behavior.
As punishment for their prejudice and hatred, the planet (the Pure Heart, specifically) used the last of its remaining magic to place a curse on both races. As a result of the curse, some of the humans would be born unwhole (missing limbs, deaf or mute) and the Monstrous would be unable to produce tears to release their sadness. The only way to break the curse is if one human and one Monstrous could find a way to love the other more than life itself.
That is only the beginning. The rest of the story alternates between the perspectives of Isra, Bo, and Gem. Isra is the blind queen of the domed city Yuan. Because of her blindness, she is treated as a child who is good for no more than as the next blood sacrifice to preserve the city. She also must marry before her death in order to continue the line of royalty so that more queens may be sacrificed after her. Bo is her intended and the future king of Yuan. Gem is a Monstrous man whose mission is to sneak into the domed city to steal the roses to save his starving tribe. However, Gem is captured as Queen Isra's prisoner. Will Isra grow to care for Gem? Will the queen ever be taken seriously? Will she have to marry Bo and be sacrificed? Will Gem save his tribe? Read the book and all will be answered.
As you can probably guess, I really enjoyed this book. The author constructed a very compelling plot with politics that were easy to follow along with and the tension that just built and built before the climax was done with excellent craft. I also loved the alternating perspective so that you get to see Isra's and Gem's and Bo's side of the story. Also, if you're not big on romances and worried that this book is strictly chick-lit, have no fear. Yes, it is mostly romance but it is also very political (at least with regards to Isra's kingdom and the whole power struggle between her and her intended's father). My only qualms with the book are the descriptions of emotions such as love or pain. They got a little heavy-handed but I think that's a personal preference since I have a short attention span at times. Otherwise, I definitely recommend this book.
So, that's all I have for today. I'll start on a new book when I'm not studying for finals, and when I have a chance, I'll make a new post about a lovely book that I've already read. I won't make any promises about what that new post will be about, it just depends on what book I feel like writing about.
As always, leave a comment if you liked reading my blog or if there's a certain book out there that you'd like me to read and write a review about. Also, be sure to follow my blog if you enjoy reading it :)
Happy reading!
So, next week is finals week, which means that I haven't had much homework lately, which means that I actually had free time. I swear to God, I broke out into song a couple of times. So of course I started reading for fun again. Not that I didn't like the books I read this semester, but it's such a relief to read something that isn't detective/crime fiction.
"What did I read?" you may ask. Well, I just finished reading Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay. One thing you should know about me right off the bat is that I am a sucker for any variation of the classic tale Beauty and the Beast, since that particular Disney movie was one of my favorites growing up. And for the record, I still watch a ton of Disney movies. I'm a child at heart.
This book is actually one of the five that I borrowed for myself when I went on that library date with my boyfriend. That means that I have three more library books to finish reading, so you can count on three new posts sometime in the near future. While I'm reading those three, though, I will make posts about books I have already read and absolutely love. But for now, Of Beast and Beauty.
This particular version of the tale as old as time could actually be read as a science fiction, since it takes place on a different planet and involves mutations of the human race in order to adapt to the harsher desert environment. But for some reason, it totally reads as a fantasy to me. So if you're a fan of either of those genres, you might be interested in this book.
So, yeah, on a planet with a harsher sun during the day and colder nights (because the planet is mostly desert), the planet used its magic to help the humans adapt to the environment by giving them scales to protect them from the sun, bigger teeth, and claws. But as half of the population started to change, the rest of the human race saw their fellow humans as monstrous beasts and enclosed themselves in glass domes to protect themselves from the horrifying mutations. In exchange for abundant life under the domes, the un-mutated humans offered a sacrifice to the planet by spilling the blood of the queen who gave her life for her people. Where the queen's blood fell to the dirt, a bed of roses bloomed.
That sounds heroic, but deals made in blood are actually a form of dark magic that further divided the planet into a Dark Heart and a Pure Heart. Because life under the domes became so abundant, it stole its vitality from the desert, forcing the Monstrous who were locked outside of the city into a constant battle to fill their bellies. The humans grew to hate the Monstrous for their appearances and the Monstrous hated the humans for their cruel behavior.
As punishment for their prejudice and hatred, the planet (the Pure Heart, specifically) used the last of its remaining magic to place a curse on both races. As a result of the curse, some of the humans would be born unwhole (missing limbs, deaf or mute) and the Monstrous would be unable to produce tears to release their sadness. The only way to break the curse is if one human and one Monstrous could find a way to love the other more than life itself.
That is only the beginning. The rest of the story alternates between the perspectives of Isra, Bo, and Gem. Isra is the blind queen of the domed city Yuan. Because of her blindness, she is treated as a child who is good for no more than as the next blood sacrifice to preserve the city. She also must marry before her death in order to continue the line of royalty so that more queens may be sacrificed after her. Bo is her intended and the future king of Yuan. Gem is a Monstrous man whose mission is to sneak into the domed city to steal the roses to save his starving tribe. However, Gem is captured as Queen Isra's prisoner. Will Isra grow to care for Gem? Will the queen ever be taken seriously? Will she have to marry Bo and be sacrificed? Will Gem save his tribe? Read the book and all will be answered.
As you can probably guess, I really enjoyed this book. The author constructed a very compelling plot with politics that were easy to follow along with and the tension that just built and built before the climax was done with excellent craft. I also loved the alternating perspective so that you get to see Isra's and Gem's and Bo's side of the story. Also, if you're not big on romances and worried that this book is strictly chick-lit, have no fear. Yes, it is mostly romance but it is also very political (at least with regards to Isra's kingdom and the whole power struggle between her and her intended's father). My only qualms with the book are the descriptions of emotions such as love or pain. They got a little heavy-handed but I think that's a personal preference since I have a short attention span at times. Otherwise, I definitely recommend this book.
So, that's all I have for today. I'll start on a new book when I'm not studying for finals, and when I have a chance, I'll make a new post about a lovely book that I've already read. I won't make any promises about what that new post will be about, it just depends on what book I feel like writing about.
As always, leave a comment if you liked reading my blog or if there's a certain book out there that you'd like me to read and write a review about. Also, be sure to follow my blog if you enjoy reading it :)
Happy reading!
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