Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Shiver was an AMAZING book! It was absolutly beautiful, inside and out! Firstly, the cover is absolutly lovely! It captured the feeling of the book perfectly, and its just so beautiful. I want to hang it on my wall. The dull, light blue, against the white, with the bright splash of red in the center is so eye catching and captures the books...starkness? Contrast? Rawness? I can't find the right word, I don't think either of those are quite right.

As for the book within the covers, once I got used to the pace and the POV switches I couldn't put it down. The writing, plot, characters, and mood were wonderful and I am running out of adjectives to describe it. The book make my smile, and cry, and being a hopeless romantic completley tugged at my heart strings. I didn't find it to be just a simple romance either, there was more to it than that. I am terrible at reveiwing books I like - I end up gushing. So I shant call this a review. This is me, gushing. I loved this book. I loved the cover, the blue ink, the fact that I felt chilly throughout, and how it made me feel after I was done reading. It was quite the read. :)

I also have to comment on the playlist the author posted on her blog that she used to right the book, I think the music fits it perfectly. I am going to be downloading these songs. :)

"I have operations which be humours of revenge!" *

I just finished reading The Count of Monte Cristo. It was my summer reading project and I am so glad it did not take me all summer! It was a very good book, although very different from the movie. At first I thought it was a bad thing, because it made it longer, more complicated and drawn out, but once I reached the exciting revengy ending all the suspense and slow build up was worth it. It made the revelations and revenges so much more meaningful and earned. I really felt for the characters, and the end was really very engaging which made up for the slowish middle. I have to say I loved this book. I don't think I shall be reading it again, just because of how long it is, but I think it shall remain a favourite.

Now on to the other books in my TBR pile who have been waiting patiently. I hear them calling...Adieu!**

Edit: Ahhh, I completly forgot to mention the quote I wanted to share. I even sticky note tabbed it for easy reference! Well I shall share it now.

Thus at length, by one of those unexpected strokes of fortune which sometimes
occur to those on whom an evil destiny has for a long time vented its spleen...
(190, Ch 3)

OR in other words..."Thus at length, by one of those unexpected strokes of fortune which sometime happens to those who have been often been farted upon by evil..."

Ahhaha....it made me laugh out loud :)

Interesting to note is that when I tried to find that quote at online-literature.com it was DIFFERENT :O and much less humourus.

Thus, at length, by one of the unexpected strokes of fortunewhich sometimes
befall those who have for a long time beenthe victims of an evil destiny...

Thats not very funny.

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* from Merry Wives of Windor, spoken by the character Pistol in act 1 scene 3 i think?

** Influence from the Merry Wives of Windsor actually, and not Count of Monte Cristo. Tho the phrase "ma foi" is stuck in my head due to both MWW and Count of Monte Cristo as at least one character in both use that phrase and I was/am imersed in both at the same time and yeah.

And Done!

I finished the 48 Hour Book Challenge this morning at 11 o'clock. Sadly I did not finish the book I was reading, though I was very close. I was reading Dragonhaven by Robin Mckinley, a book I had been looking forward to reading ever since I heard it was coming out because I am a big Robin Mckinley fan. I was waiting to buy the paperback but this weekend I broke down and just took it out from the library. I figured it was a much cheaper option considering how much of my nearly non-existent money I had spent on books lately. So far however it is really good and it is just too tempting to add it to my Mckinley collection so when I find it in paperback I may just buy it anyways.

Since I havn't finished the book I cannot give a very good reveiw, but so far I think it is living up to her previous books that I have adored. The way its written and how the story is told as if the main character was writing it down after everything had happened is very effective. I can't wait to finish it!

Hours: 10 Hrs, 10 Mins + 7 Hrs = 17 Hrs, 10 Mins

Total Books Read = 3 (and 3/4)

Total Pages Read=327(WS) + 325(L) + 376(RN) + 256(D) = 1284

Funny how the least amount of pages read took the most time. I guess the pages were a little bigger, but I was also probably getting a little tired.

All in all I really enjoyed taking (most) of this weekend off to read, and I would love to do it again next year, but hopefully with my full health and less busy weekend. :D

48 Hour Book Challange - The Red Necklace

I never thought I would make it through the three books I most wanted to read this weekend, but I have!

The Red Necklace - Sally Gardner

A historical work of fiction set during the French revolution. With a little twist on reality, many of the charcters in the novel can work magic, read minds, tell the future, or move objects with their minds. Not in a huge obvious Harry Potter kind of way but a quite secret way that makes you believe as if that kind of magic is possible. The main focus of the book is not however the magic - it is the characters and their struggle to survive during the revolution. My university mind clicked in and began noticing a theme, that of the "sheep". Many times through out the novel people are described as sheep, blindly following the herd even though the herd is headed towards slaughter. I thought this was a very well written book, one that I believe could be studied in school to educational benifit and to the students enjoyment.

Hours: 5 hrs, 30 Mins + 4 Hrs, 40 Mins = 10 Hrs, 10 Mins

Edit: I forgot to add; so far all three of my books have mentioned Shakespeare. Wondrous Strange used Midsummer Nights Dream heavily in its plot, A Midsummer Nights Dream was briefly mentioned in Lament, and in The Red Necklace an acter quoted Shakespeare. It is tempting to continue the Shakespeare trend but the only other Shakespeare related book in my TBR pile is "Othello" and I don't feel quite like tackeling that at the moment...

48 Hour Challange - Lament

My second read of the 48 Hour book challenge (first whole book) was Maggie Stiefvater's "Lament". This has been on my TBR pile for some time, and half of me is kicking myself for waiting so long to read it, the other half is quite happy that I do not have to wait as long for the sequal. It's release date is still to far away (a WHOLE summer!!) but it will be worth it.

I really enjoyed this book. I thought I might be faeried out after Wondrous Strange, but this book did a original take on fearies I thought. They were still faeries, but it felt different somehow. Ms. Stiefvater's writing style was very fun to read, the voice of Deirdre felt real and unique. And Luke. Such a cutie. It was a suspensful and entertaining read and I would recommend it to fans of faeries or romance, or just YA.

Hours: 1 Hr, 50 Min + 3 Hrs, 40 Min = 5 Hr, 30 Min

48 Hour Challange - Wondrous Strange

I started this book before the challange, but did not get a chance to finish it before and I couldn't just abandon it sooo my first book completed is really only half a book.

Wondrous Strange - Lesley Livington

I have wanted to read this one since it first came out in hardcover, but I waited to buy it untill it came out cheaper in paperback. Wasn't happy to learn the paperback was 20 dollars anyways, but I still went ahead and bought it. What drew me to it was its beautiful cover and the use of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream (a play that holds a special place in my heart). The fact that the main character was an actress was also very cool.

The story itself was pretty good, but besides the Shakespeare element it didn't strike me as too memoriable. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in faeries, or in Shakespeare's plays (At least MSND)

Total hours so far: 1 Hr, 50 Min

And... Go!

This morning decided to bless me with the beginings of a cold. Joy. But this shall not stop me from attempting MotherReaders Fourth Annual 48 Hour Book Challange. I believe it may actually be an asset... for instance

Mother: Come do the dishes!
Me: Can't *coughcough* I'm sick! *continues to read*

All though I was not able to completly clear my schedual (work, a play to attend, staff party... come to think of it this is one of my more social weekends... >.>) I shall do my best! If any thing this will give me a good excuse to maybe finish even one or two books from my TBR pile.

Edit:

I guess I should state what my 48 hours will be. I started at 11:00 Friday morning and will finish 11:00 Sunday.

City of Glass - Cassandra Clare

Today after work I decided I was going to sit down and finish reading City of Glass (not to say that I had to force myself to read this one - quite the opposite). I took my book outside, enjoyed the sunshine, and enjoyed the last quater of this very good book.

It begins days after the the last one ended, and shoots you right back into the plot of the series, with the usual bits of narative to remind you of things, but done in a way that didn't feel like it was being shoved down your throat for the third time.

It had action, suspense, mystery, angst, death, love, and a happy ending. **Spoiler** The first time I read books one and two I was not happy with the idea of Jace and Clary. I wanted Clary and Simon together, period. Second time reading it, I knew what to expect and that made me more open to the Jace/Clary pairing. So I am actually very glad that Clary and Jace weren't siblings afterall. **End Spoiler**

This book was better than the second, and on par with the first. Overall it is a very good series for anyone who likes action/supernatural type stories with plently of drama and magic.

I think I just may have falling back into my reading niche. Yay for City of Glass for pushing me back in! To Be Read pile here I come!

To Reread, or not to Reread!

I would take the time to review a book right now, but the last book was a book I had read for the third time. I did this so I could read the third in its series. I contemplated just reading the second one, but I couldn't get into it without having read the previous ones.

I do this for pretty many series' that I am reading. When a new one comes out, if I hadn't read the previous one for maybe a year, I reread the previous books: Harry Potter and Artemis Fowl are two examples. And I can't continue reading the Pendragon series precisly because there are too many books I would have to reread - I have just fallen to far behind.

I love to reread books. Back in the days when my book collection fit along the top of my dresser I would have to reread my books because I didn't have the money to buy new ones, nor could i hope in my car to go to the library. Yes my parents would take me to the library, or buy me a new book, but at the rate I read books I had to find something to read in the mean time. I recall fondly those days where I had the leisure to pick which book I wanted to read again. Now I have a stack of unread books by bed all yelling at me, "READ ME! I have been sitting here for a YEAR now!" And all I can do is answer meekly back, "I'm trying! I'm sorry!"

Of course I love buying new books, and I'm not complaining about having to many books. So what am I trying to say here? That I guess...rereading is both a wonderful, lovely thing that I enjoy immensly when I am revisting a favourite, and a chore when one feels they must reread in order to enjoy a new book. City of Bones, for the third time, was alright. But its not the kind of book that one enjoys reading for a third time. The story is still good, but I know what happens and the writing isn't particularly special enough to make me enjoy the third reading.*

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* Some books, in case your were wondering, that I found I can reread again and again? Ella Enchanted, Jane Eyre, Howl's Moving Castle, Artemis Fowl (though i think I sprained my Artemis Fowl enjoyment in my last Fowl-a-thon), Harry Potter, and Beauty by Robin Mckinley. I would make lists to Amazon for all of these to support these wonderful books but if my one reader is interested in them she can ask me about them :)

Money Makes the World Go Round *

aaaand a new post! Wow!!

My friend over at ibotherthee manages a new post a week, where I am averaging one a month maybe?

I should be ashamed. But I am too tired right now.

I spent a busy busy afternoon watching my pretties that just came in the mail.

Yes I gave in to temptation and purchased the Angel Special Edition Box Set. In my defense, it was on sale one day only and I had to make a fast decision.

So far enjoying the pretty box, and the wonderfull fullscreen, beautifully clear and unpixally video.

It looks so nice sitting beside its sister...

(I took this photo with my new Blackberry and sent it to my computer. Yay technology!)

MAN have I spent alot of money latley.

No time to think of a witty ending for this post - if any of my endings have been witty, I don't know, probably not. Off to rehearsal for Earnest! (the last one *tear*)

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* Song that popped into my head as I pondered how much money I have been spending. Video -->http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkRIbUT6u7Q so entertaining :)

"Horrid, horrid [finals]!"*

A few months ago I auditioned for The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, a play being put on in my community, and won the role of Cecily.

I have to say, I adore this play! I am sure it has been said many times by many people but Oscar Wilde was a great writer. Everything said in the play either advances the plot or is finely crafted wit and satire. Having wikipedia-ed Oscar Wilde upon joining the cast there is one line that sticks out in particular to me.

And certainly once a man begins to neglect his domestic duties he becomes
painfully effeminate, does he not? And I don't like that. It makes men so very
attractive. (Gwendolen, Act 2, The Importance of Being Earnest)

Besides being a satircal comment on men and women in victorian times, it relates directly to Wilde himself. He was a very effiminant man, and I can't believe that this quote is a coincidance; it amuses me. :)

There are so many other very funny and clever lines, it is just a really amazing play and I can't wait to perform it. The cast definitly has a hand with the deliverance though, I feel so lucky to be on stage with such talented people.
And actually, I won't have to wait that long, we perform in two weeks. Not so lucky is that we are performing in two weeks. :O But I have confidance in us, and we shall work hard these next two weeks and it will all be worth it!

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* Actual quote, "Horrid politcal economy! horrid geography! horrid, horrid german!" (Cecily, Act 2, IoBE)

Restless

I have had some pretty epic dreams lately. There was the one were me and my friend Anna were escaping this evil house, and had to evade a religous cult who wanted to drug us to keep us quiet, avoid a pen of cheetahs, climb through this crazy mountainous valley (oxymoron yes, but In my dream it totally worked) and ended up being award a cure for a friend who was stil suffering in the evil house by these god-like people (think "the powers that be" from Angel).

Last nights dream was very Buffy-esque. There was this snake/lizard dragon thing that was trying to kill me (it had already succeded in killing someone before me) and so I was running aorund my neighbourhood trying to figure out how to defeat it and I met up with some guy who I beleive represented Xander (but i can't remember who it was, or if it was an imaginary person) then my Taekwondo instructer, who I think represented Giles (the training aspect) and my friend Anna was Willow because when we decided to just gather up the people from my DoJang to attack the dragon with swords I needed to call Anna to find out how to kill it (beheading, go for the eyes, ect). Sadly the morning mayhem woke me up before the conclusion to my dream.

I would love to know what these dreams mean (besides that I am maybe a little too obsessed with Buffy the Vampire Slayer... but Spike wasn't in this dream, so thats new! Progress maybe?) but these are way to complicated to look up in any dream dictionary.

I shall have to search deep within myself to discover their true and deeper meaning.
...
...
...
Ok, thats enough of that, I'll just let myself enjoy these dreams at face value.

"Is Everyone In This Room Very Stoned?"

I just finished watching the last episode of Season 5 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Oh. My. God.

I definitly balled my eyes out. A-MAZING ending, but oh so terrible...

Gotta love Spike tho.

I'm posting now cus I don't want to go to bed so soon after such a such episode, and I don't have much really to say other than...

Curse you Joss Whedon for your amazingly addictive genius-cruelty inspired writing! And those actors, with there amazing acting skills, there no help...making the words come alive, and creating attachements to the fictional characters that are either gonna die, do something to make you mad/frusterated, or your gonna love'em and be tortured cus there just fictional.

Dang thats a good show.

It has been a while since I have last posted, has it not? Well after finishing Candide I read Something Rotten by Alan Gratz. It was alright - It was a mystery and I am not a huge mystery fan. It was Shakespeare themed though, so that was cool; it was what made me pick it up in the first place. So that took my a while to get through, and then I didn't/don't really have anything to say about it, so no blog. Then I read American God's by Neil Gaiman, and it was a fairly long book, though it was pretty good, so that took a while.

The book I read after that is the book that I will review today- My Fair Godmother by Janette Rallison. After Savannah's older sister steals her boyfriend, Savannah is given three wishes by her "fair" godmother (Chrissy, the godmother, hadn't done well enough in school to be consider a "fairy" godmother, just a "fair" one). Chrissy misinterpets Savannah's wishes and sends her back into medival times as Cinderella, and Snow White, and it is not as nice as the fairy tales make it sound. A boy from Savannah's school gets sent back to the medieval age by Chrissy and Savannah as to help him so they can both get home. It was a very cute book, with a very easy to get into kind of style of story telling. I liked the characters, and how you got to see the boyfriend stealing from the perspective of both sisters which gave the characters a more rounded feeling. The story had good pacing, and a interesting plot. I liked it very much, and will look for other books by Janette Rallison. Oh! And I discovered this book from the blog of one of my favorite authors, Shannon Hale! Here is a link to the interview she did with Janette Rallison!

Now I think I am going to go indulge in my current obsession, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I bought the Chosen collection over ebay a few weeks ago, and I am already into season 5. Spike is my favorite =). And I will just leave it at that or I will be drooling all over the keyboard...

Candide

So I have finished reading Candide for history last night. Strange book. One of the characters, Pangloss, says that"Everthing is for the best in this best of all possible worlds" meaning basically that whatever bad stuff happens to you it is always for a good reason. So the death of millions is actually a good thing because those people were put there to die...or some-such idea. The premise of the book is that Voltaire is satirizing this theory, which was created by a guy named Leibniz. In the book Voltaire puts his protagonist Candide through terrible hardships, and has the philosipher Pangloss always reason, "It is for the best". Murder, theft, rape, torture, earthquakes, partial cannibalism...many terrible things happen to the characters in this book. Pangloss sticks to his guns about it being for the best because that is what was meant to happen...I think....but Candide luckily smartens up a bit. Although a more satisfying ending would have had Candide punch Pangloss in the face.

I don't quite get the book yet... I have to read the essays in the back and try to think of soemthing intelligant to put in my 2000 words essay.

Oh Gosh...

Prehaps I should be doing that now instead of later...
Research here I come!

So we had to read this book for Anthropology last semester called A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews, and besides its depressive-ness, it was a really good book. So I was excited when I saw that she had a new book out called The Flying Troutmans.
I was even more excited when my sister got the book for christmas! So while taking a break from reading Candide I snuck into my sister room and borrowed it.


So the really cliche summary is that its about a family and how they cope with there struggles and heartbreaks. Hattie's sister is having another mental breakdown, and so Hattie takes her neice, a hyper-active, arts and crafts doing, purpled haired 11 year old named Thebes, and Logan, her trouble-making angsty, basketball playing, sweety-at-heart nephew on a road trip to find their father. It deals with some tough stuff but does it in such a light hearted tone, it makes the book hard to put down. I found it really easy to get into, and the characters were really fun to get to know.
I also readlly like the cover. The colour scheme and general design matches with that of A Complicated Kindness. And looking at the cover now, I get why there is a bird eating a fish on the cover and having read the story its full of symbolism and stuff. Its like the bird symbolises how life seems to be "eating up" the Troutmans (thats the family...and the bird in my symbolism:P) but ALSO once you read the book you see that the seagull could also represnt Min (the sister with the breakdown) because in one point of the book the reader is told a story about how Min pretends to be a seagull in order to befriend one, and she gets Hattie to pretend to be a dead fish in order to aid her impersonation. And what with Min's constant breakdown's and odd behaviour she could be the seagull that is eating up her families life.
Hmmm.
Deep.

Ambivalence

I have a love/hate relationship with my belt. You see, I love it because it has owls on it, and I adore owls. I hate it because it's buckle is cheap metal and my skin doesn't like cheap metal. I love it because it keep my jeans up 'stead of round my ankles, which is nice.

(here is a picture of the belt in question)

As well, I am a procrastinator. I leave everything till the last minute. I even procrastinate to pee.*(I am not alone in this, check out the facebook group) Sooo, when it can no longer be put off, your belt becomes your worst enemy, as mere seconds can be crucial to your future happiness.

This brings to mind what I learned about Voltaire** on Tuesday in History class, about how he was a very ambivalent person, and had many love/hate relationships with people. His father, his (girlfriend? lover? friend?) Madame Du Chatalet, even when he was imprisoned, he was in jail, but he dined with the Warden often. Why do those two thoughts coincide in my mind?
Leave it to stressful, looming essays to do weird things to your brain.



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*I just realised there is a button to put in hyperlink in the blog writing program thing! I figured this out AFTER going to all the trouble of figuring out how to do it manually. :( *sigh* at least i am a tad bit smarter now :).
**Talking about Voltaire and peeing in the same post?! Outrageous! But actually Voltaire loved to shock and offend, so I think he would be proud to be referenced in this post. :P

Hello World of Blogging!

So this is my blog! It's not much yet, but this is how it shall look until we have gotten to HTML in Comp Sci class because it has been a while and I don't want to mess anything up. :)

I am going to try and post about books I've read, maybe movies or anime that I have watched, and I guess whatever I feel about writing (if I ever do - oh dear, it shall be interesting to see how this works out.)

To start off I will review the book i just finished reading last night, "Bliss" by Lauren Myracle.


Bliss is about a girl (named Bliss) who was raised by her hippie parents, until her parents decided to escape to Canada in order to avoid the draft. Bliss goes to live with her strict Grandmother and is enrolled in Crestveiw Academy.
However it may sound so far, it is not your typical YA "coming-to-terms-with-your-differences" "everybody-is-friends-in-the-end" kinda novel.
No.
When Bliss gets to the school she hears the voice of a girl who had thrown herself out of one of the windows, back when the school was still a home to nuns.
The between every few chapters the reader is treated to a mysterious journal entry that fills you in on the darker happenings of the novel as Bliss just tries to get through her first year of high school.
The book is spooky, and suspenseful, and very well written. It captured my attention till the very end. The only problem I had with it was there, at the end. The book doesn't feel finished, and I don't want to spoil anything, but I can not believe that it can end like that. I am hoping for a sequel.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes magic, or the supernatural.

(Untill I figure how to make pictures links, I got the jacket photo of Bliss from here ->http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Bliss-Lauren-Myracle/9780810970717-item.html?ref=Search+Books%3a+%2527lauren+myracle%2527 . Ugly, I know, but I will get it figured out soon!)