pluiebrûlante

New Location!

2008-10-11T11:07:00.004-05:00

Blog has moved >>> literarylivewire.wordpress.com

I wish I didn't have to move it but there is no way to change the blog name/domain, and 'pleut' just doesn't cut it. I'm still seeing if I like the WordPress format, but it did allow me to transfer everything (posts, tags, comments, everything) with the click of a button.

So, sorry for the inconvience, but all new posts can be found there at the new site.

Happy reading!

The Battle of the Labyrinth

2008-08-23T16:34:00.004-05:00

The Battle of the Labyrinth
by Rick Riordan

Awesome! More rip-roaring fun from author Rick Riordan in this 4th book of the series. Here's an author who really shines in the gradual culmination of a larger plot; his individual books shine on their own yet move smoothly toward the final goal. I love all the mythological facts and quirks he includes in the story, plus the trip through America's greatest places.

lol, found this snippet of conversation on Book Dweeb's blog:
___________________________
kawzmikgirl Says:
Apr 8, 2008 at 11:04 pm

Is this series REALLY worth my time? LOL No, but really. Is it good?

Team Edward!
---------

Book Dweeb Says:
Apr 8, 2008 at 11:41 pm

You HAVE to check out this series if:

a. you like mythology at all
b. you like funny things
c. you are breathing

So, yeah, it is REALLY worth your time.

Oh, and…Team Jacob!
_____________________________

That was back in May when the book came out. I think it's so funny how the Twilight series unites readers everywhere...
I love Book Dweeb's blog, his/her critiques are informative yet succinct, telling me what I want to know. For instance, the next book I check out will be "Dragon Slippers" by Jessica Day George, a recent post. :)

Summary of Battle of the Labyrinth: “Even Camp Half-Blood isn’t safe, as Kronos’s army prepares to invade its once impenetrable borders. To stop them, Percy and his friends must set out on a quest through the Labyrinth — a sprawling underground world with surprises and danger at every turn. Along the way Percy will confront powerful enemies, find out the truth about the lost god Pan, and face the Titan lord Kronos’s most terrible secret. The final war begins . . . with the Battle of the Labyrinth.”

NEA's Big Read: Top 100

2008-08-16T08:26:00.003-05:00

This was originally posted by Ginny over at http://bookiesandmilk.blogspot.com/. She has a really cool blog, you should check it out.
_____________________________________

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has an initiative you may have heard of called the Big Read. According to the Web site, its purpose is to "restore reading to the center of American culture." They estimate that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they've printed.

For fun, let's see how many of the top 100 books we've actually read. My list is below. How well did you do? Have you read more than 6?

Here's what you do:

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you own but haven't yet read.
3) Put a star by those you intend to read someday but don't own.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte*
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell*
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens*
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott*
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien (now why is this one separate from the other Tolkien series?)
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams*
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck*
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy*
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden*
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown*
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood worst. book. ever.
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan*
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley*
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon*
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck*
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte's Web - EB White*
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom*
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle*
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

So I've read 22. Need to get on that...

Book release party: Breaking Dawn

2008-08-02T10:00:00.004-05:00

It's here! The fourth book in the series by Stephenie Meyer, completing the story of Bella and Edward.

I went to the Borders Release Party last night, it was very fun. Borders is always a rockin' place, but packed with 100 Twilight fans? Heck ya! There was a book discussion forum, a style show, and they showed previews of the upcoming Twilight movie. The costumes weren't nearly as showy as the Harry Potter crowd, but some of the t-shirts were top notch and one group dressed up as the Volturi (nice one).

It started at 9:30. At midnight came the actual book release. Everyone that pre-ordered got a wristband with a number, and people stood in line in groups of 50s. The Borders staff really handled it well and shockingly had the first 200 copies out in about 20 minutes!

So if you've never been to a release party before, grab some friends and go! They are a blast.

A Mango-Shaped Space

2008-07-21T11:15:00.006-05:00

A Mango-Shaped Space
by Wendy Mass

A children's book about the struggles of a girl with synesthesia. Here is an interesting conversation about the book and the condition in general (notice that the author Wendy Mass piped in to the discussion):
http://science-professor.blogspot.com/2007/07/synesthetics.html

In any case, this book is a good read for an insider's view of synesthesia and what it would be like to have it. The author did extensive research to provide a good picture to the reader.

Wendy Mass' website on the book: http://www.wendymass.com/mass-mango.htm

Crispin: At the Edge of the World

2008-07-21T10:45:00.002-05:00

Crispin: At the Edge of the World
by Avi

Oh my goodness. Could this book be any more unfortunate? So depressing! How did the decision get made to kill off Bear, Crispin's one link to reality on earth? And this book felt like one giant segue; they talk about going to the 'edge of the world' and then in the very last few paragraphs, "Well, I guess we're going to the edge of the world." Like that wasn't already determined... can we get to some substance to match the title already?

What this book does have are good glimpses of life in the olden days of England. That part was very interesting, talking about the different regions, how people move around, the conflicts with France.

Maybe the last book will wrap everything up and actually make sense.

SAT Book List

2008-06-17T13:48:00.003-05:00

SAT Book List

I'm a college-bound almost-senior, so my next and final SAT on October 4th is weighing heavily on my mind. For all you other 2400 hopefuls out there, here is a list of good books to read in preparation. Of course as I read them they will appear on this blog with a review and a yay/nay for enjoyment/helpfulness. In the meantime, enjoy.

Analyses
A Brief History of Time -- Stephen Hawking
QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter -- Richard P. Feynman
The Mismeasure of Man -- Stephen Jay Gould
The Lives of a Cell -- Lewis Thomas
The Republic -- Plato
Democracy in America -- Alexis DeTocqueville
Civilization and Its Discontents -- Sigmond Freud
The Language Instinct -- Steven Pinker
How the Mind Works -- Steven Pinker
(Seen in a review from Amazon.com: "If How the Mind Works were a rock show, tickets would be scalped for $100.")
A People's History of the US -- Howard Zinn
Freakonomics -- Stephen Levitt & Steven Dubner

Narratives
Crime and Punishment -- Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Metamorphosis & Other Stories -- Franz Kafka
Narratives of the Life of Frederick Douglas
Life of Pi -- Yann Martel
The Color Purple -- Alice Walker
Atlas Shrugged -- Ayn Rand
Frankenstein -- Mary Shelley
Pride and Prejudice -- Jane Austen
Baby, It's Cold Inside -- S. J. Perelman
Best American Short Stories of the Century -- John Updike
Growing Up -- Russell Baker
The Wall -- John Hersey
Candide -- Voltaire
Macbeth -- William Shakespeare
The Painted Bird -- Jerzy Kosinski
One Hundred Years of Solitude -- Gabriel García Márquez

Arguments
The Chomsky Reader -- Chomsky
The World is Flat -- Friedman
Drift and Mastery -- Lippmann
The Best American Essays -- Atwan
Walden -- Thoreau
Lanterns & Lances -- Thurber
> plus other media:
The Op-Ed pages of the New York Times
The Nation
Scientific American
Essays in Harper's, Atlantic Monthly, and the New Yorker
Sunday Magazine

More ways to prepare:
Talk to smart adults and friends with good vocabularies
Read college-level books
Watch documentaries
Listen to National Public Radio
~ try out new words on your own
~ get a dictionary with pronunciation and etymology

And lastly, don't forget to practice writing essays. You only have 25 minutes to 'present and support a point of view on a specific issue' as well as you can.

Go to the College Board site for even more info:
http://www.collegeboard.com/

Sabriel

2008-06-17T13:47:00.009-05:00

Sabriel • Lirael
by Garth Nix

Wow, quite a series. I love this style so much better than Garth Nix's other series, Keys of the Kingdom.

One day I sat down at the library with his Across the Wall - a collection of short stories that he has jotted down over the years. It was a neat read, almost like meeting the author in person. The 'interactive narrative' was a blast, I was cracking up the whole way and it brought me back to Paris with scenes of the Seine and Three Musketeer-ness. One of my favorite stories was the one about the gardner and the king who kept taking his roses. Interesting how such a powerful feeling can be produced in such a short passage.

Can't wait to read the next one!

Gregor the Overlandor

2008-06-17T13:47:00.008-05:00

Gregor the Overlander and Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane
by Suzanne Collins

Worth reading. It is for a little bit younger audience but I still enjoyed it very much. The author describes it as her New York version of Alice in Wonderland. She has created a fascinating world full of danger but also hope.

The Host

2008-06-02T18:21:00.003-05:00

The Host
by Stephenie Meyer

Eeep! Just finished it; the ending is like being hurled from a giant catapult, a crazily spinning carousel with the colors brightening each moment. Awesome.

My only, tiny, inconsequential, and petty qualms: First, I liked Melanie's body better. Sorry, I can't help it. I don't think Meyer was totally enthused about it either; she pointed out quite a bit of difficulties. But it wasn't what I imagined in my head for the wonderful Wanderer. Still, I find that character description intriguing. A small, very small 17 year old with a silverish palor to her skin, golden specks or freckles, and long golden hair? and I quote Meyer (should be doing this more often) page 603: "The skin on the face had the same silver undertone -- silver like moonlight -- as the hand did, with another handful of the golden freckles across the bridge of the nose. Wide gray eyes, the silver of the soul shimmering faintly behind the soft color, framed by tangled golden lashes. Pale behind them. A dimple in the chin. And everywhere, everywhere, golden, waving hair that stood away from my face in a bright halo and fell below where the mirror showed." also page 603, "this half-child with her moonlight face and sunlight hair."

The Pocket Book of O. Henry Stories

2008-05-23T22:05:00.002-05:00

O. Henry Stories
by (real name) William Sidney Porter

I have a warm place in my heart for O. Henry Stories

This Lullaby

2008-05-23T21:59:00.004-05:00

This Lullaby
by Sarah Dessen

Great! I heard that Dessen is a really good author, and I'll have to agree. I'll definitely be reading the rest of her books. The ending isn't quite my style but it works.

I love the main character's name, Remy. So cool. Maybe not to be named after an alcoholic beverage (namely rum), but cool sounding and distinctive.

My all time favorite part: when Dexter finds the silverware in Remy's car. That is the best.

This lullaby is only a few words,
A simple run of chords
Quiet here in this spare room
But you can hear it, hear it
Wherever you may go
Even if I let you down
This lullaby plays on . . .

Son of the Mob

2008-05-17T18:08:00.009-05:00

Son of the Mob
+ Hollywood Hustle
by Gordon Korman

Loved it. I accidentally read the second one before the first, but it turned out okay, maybe even better for this series.

I was so proud of myself when I guessed almost immediately that Ray was the 'inside man'. And it was nice how for a change the main character got it, not so much beating around the bush. The resolution was cool, I was freaking out when he pulled the gun on Vince, but then his good character pulled through.

That really stinks how Vince's problem was so bad that he had to quit the football team.

My favorite parts of this book: when Vince tells his dad at the end that he's going out with Agent Bite-Me's daughter, how Kendra and Vince are so perfect for each other, and at the end of the year when Vince knows he'll get an A in the class, he tells Mr. Mullinicks, "That's your problem."

Recommended Summer Book List

2008-05-13T16:08:00.005-05:00

Recommended Summer Book List
by Mrs. in den Bosch and Mr. Kip Hepfinger

Here are the books recommended for students enterring AP English/British Literature next year. The starred ones are the ones I want to read.

The Namesake -- Jhumpa Lahiri
Angela's Ashes -- Frank McCourt
Disgrace -- J.M. Coetzee
* Girl with a Pearl Earring -- Tracy Chevalier
The Good Earth -- Pearl S. Buck
* Atonement -- Ian McEwan
* Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close -- Jonathan Safron Foer
* Namako: Sea Cucumber -- Linda Watanabe McFerrin
* Dreaming in Cuban -- Cristina Garcia
* Snow Falling on Cedars -- David Guterson
* Peace Like a River -- Leif Enger
The Jungle -- Upton Sinclair
* All the Pretty Horses -- Cormac McCarthy
Night -- Elie Weisel
Been Trees -- Barbara Kingsolver
Animal Dreams -- Barbara Kingsolver
* In the Lake of the Woods -- Tim O'Brien
* Bel Canto -- Ann Patchett
My Sister's Keeper -- Jodi Picoult
The Lovely Bones -- Alice Sebold
The Kite Runner -- Khaled Hosseini
The Curious Incident of the Dog in Nighttime -- Mark Haddon
Nectar in a Sieve -- Kamala Markandaya
* The Tortilla Curtain -- T. Coraghessan Boyle

Catcher in the Rye

2008-05-06T20:31:00.005-05:00

Catcher in the Rye
by J.D. Salinger

The classic 'required English 11' reading, controversy included. I don't quite get the ending yet, he says he wishes he wouldn't have told the story because now he misses people? What? Oh well. I'm glad he finally got help and will hopefully return to school the next semester with a better outlook.

Catch

2008-05-03T16:45:00.006-05:00

Catch
by Will Leitch

Well, I liked it. Can't say I loved it, it's too much like real life. I think it is a very good examination of the whole college conveyer belt (to quote Rori Gilmore). Tim is just going to college. It's just a fact. But then he really starts to look at it, from the college visit to his plan with Helena to thinking that he might not go, it's important to look something over like that from all angles before jumping in.

It almost killed me when Helena said she never cared about Tim. I'm glad she got a happy ending too. And that Doug will get better. That would be so hard to deal with, the disappointment, the loss, the frustration.

About that 'small' Illinois town Mattoon, I've never even seen that much beer in my life. P.S. to the author, Will Leitch, 10,000 people is moderately small, but barely. I live near a town of 100, a town of 300, a town of 3000, and another of 8000. Ten thousand seems pretty big to me. But totally kudos for writing about your homotown. That would take a lot of guts. I wonder what they thought, how they responded. I remember reading about the response James Herriot got from his books, his boss didn't like how he was portrayed am I think it ruined their relationship.

Peaches

2008-03-22T16:50:00.003-05:00

Peaches

Jodi Lynn Anderson

I almost didn't finish this one. I started reading it then actually got so sick of it I had to forget it for a week or two before I could stomach picking it up again. But then it got really good. Maybe it was me, maybe the beginning just has to be gotten through. A little part of the problem was that I was very confused, with the rapid flahsbacks and no prior knowledge to support it, and then the descriptions of people without a background or a setting, my mind just didn't know where to place the people and events, it really doesn't like things floating around in ether. (And maybe it was just my speed reading getting away from me. Oftentimes it takes the reins and I fly through about 3 chapters in a beautiful whirlwind that leaves gaping holes in detail.)

After that though things were awesome. I loved the scenery, the comraderie, the melodie. The peach orchard was beautiful, the hot days relished by me reading this in a foot of snow, the coming together (however slowly) of the friends fulfilling.

But one other thing, the whole Rex issue, I never got it. How he meets Murphy and looks at her funny, his face moving weirdly like he can't put his finger on it, what is that about? Murphy might've felt something stirring too, but it wasn't mentioned in the text, so it was very confusing. Or maybe she was surpressing her feelings for her friend. And then at the end of the book he comes and talks to her, it is all 'let me be your worshipper I'm blinded by love' kind of. Eck. I don't know.

I don't know if I want to read the sequel or not. Who knows, maybe it will be even better.

Alex Rider Series

2008-03-15T20:25:00.006-05:00

Stormbreaker • Point Blanc

by Anthony Horowitz

These books were recommended to me by a friend. I liked them okay, it was a quick read. My problem was they seemed to have a total lack of emotion for the reader. I would read a really exciting part and hardly know what was going on because I wasn't totally in the story like I can with most books. But, maybe it's just me.

The author does really know his stuff in some of the technical areas and the plots and settings are interesting. One thing I didn't like was the ending of Point Blanc where his clone lured him to the school (of all places) and wants to kill him. Ok what ever.

Jinx

2008-03-03T21:26:00.010-06:00

Jinx

by Meg Cabot

It's lovely how Jinx gets a chance to live with her Aunt and Uncle and start over fresh in their fairy tale New York world.

If I hadn't read the Mediator series before picking up this book by Meg Cabot, I would have thought a whole different person was also writing under that name. It is in a way like Princess Diaries and in a way like the Mediators (the witch aspect especially).

I didn't like how Jinx was shunning her witch side and how at the beginning there was only shoddy mention of the real reason (probably meant to keep the reader guessing) and the subject was turbid throughout the rest of the book.

I was glad of Zach's response after the disaster at the Winter formal, and the jumping over the rose covered wall was so marvelous.

Her cousin Torrance was scary, kind of over done/fake, same with her friends. The talk of Iowa and her other home and family greatly irked me. I think Meg Cabot needs to visit the state a little more.

Overall I very much liked the details, scenery, and characters, but the thought of the main character, dialogue, and especially development was lacking.

Boy Proof

2008-03-02T18:06:00.009-06:00

Boy Proof
by Cecil Castellucci

Very interesting. Il a beaucoup des idées interessantes.

Some of the concepts mentioned by Max and Victoria are amazingly poignant.

I loved how it was set in Hollywood. That would be a whole different world, all those things going on, all those different people. I loved how her hero Zach/Uno was good at Trig. I can't believe some of those people though, her guidance counselor asking her mom for an autograph? Eugh. I was really glad for her mom though when she got back into acting and had all those great positions and stuff.

That would have been really horrible to have everyone ignore you like that, and I can't believe they carried it out as long as they did. Like two months I think! But, on the other hand, she was just that horrible to them, and it might have taken something that drastic to knock some sense into her.

Another person that needed some sense knocked into them was Egg's dad. What a jerk! One should be able to contain one's anger once in a while. Oh, I'm going to explode at you because you talked to me. So there! I hate how Egg thinks it's perfectly okay. I understand personal space, and not disturbing people, but that is way extreme.

And I can't believe she let the Valedictorian slip away from her like that. I guess it's a good thing, she was an over-achiever and needed to realize that there is more to life.

I don't know that 'Boy Proof' is a good title. It is not a novel solely about how Victoria is boy proof, it is more of a story about how she doesn't need anyone else. I would have called it 'Hailing from Planet Egg' or something like that that ties in the science fiction aspect.

The Mediator Series

2008-02-26T16:38:00.004-06:00

The Mediator
by Meg Cabot

Shadowland • Ninth Key • Reunion • Darkest Hour • Haunted • Twilight

Loved it. Book one was amazing, with the descriptions, her coming and settling in to California (it is the middle of winter and believe me I really wished I was on that beach with her! 70° there right now) That area, Carmel, sounds amazing. (And they have a really nice website.) On two of our family vacations to CA we came in to San Jose airport, it was like déja vu.

I loved Jesse. How amazing would that be, to have a totally hot guy with a Spanish accent as a friend and confidant? Oh my gosh and the ending! I'm so, so SO glad that he lived and they can go on together and she didn't have to lose her true love like poor Father Dominic! That was neat the part about Susannah saying maybe it wasn't his time to die, as is willing to give him up, but really it meant that he was meant for another time, to be with her! Kudos to Meg Cabot, I was panicking, I couldn't see any good way for that to end up as I was reading it. That was an amazing solution.

My favorite book of the series was probably Twilight or Darkest Hour.

I didn't like how frustratingly immature Suze was sometimes. Also, some parts of it were actually really scary! Like when she was supposedly 'kicking ghost butt' but really getting the crap beat out of her (especially books 1 and 3) and the parts with Paul and going up into the hallway, plus the nightmares afterwards.

One thing I still don't get, how does the thing where Suze can 'call' people work? Because if it happened every time she thought of someone, i.e. Jesse, they would be around a lot more. Maybe Meg Cabot will resolve this in another book, I saw on her diary blog that she might not be done writing this series, but says that she and Suze need a break. Yay!!

Clean up

2008-02-26T16:28:00.005-06:00

Mmkay, found my password, now I can post again!

I just realized in retrospect how little French I have included. Alors, ce ne vas pas continuer. Il y aura du français de temps en temps!
And I'll chuck in a FreeRice word once in a while. fallacious = illogical (maybe two!) albedo = whiteness

I am going to be a lot more flexible with what I include and get a new blog skin already, ay caramba this one is annoying!

*Note to self: host my own images from now on. . . eugh so much more work. . . but so worth it and actually the right thing to do. ;)

Forgot some...

2007-12-05T18:07:00.005-06:00

The Dragon series
by Donita K. Paul

I'm on the fourth and final one. I don't know what to think of the huge leap between #3 and #4, (in three years Bardon and Kale got married and have been living in the Bogs) but otherwise I'm excited for this last book.

In general Donita K. Paul has very good, fresh ideas but I cannot relate to the characters at all, they have no individuality. Also sometimes the rhythm isn't quite on, like the scene will completely change with out my noticing it. But still, very good books.

I was a Non-Blonde Cheerleader - Loved it! So light and warm-hearted, I like how the characters sortof/mostly come together in the end. I also love Daniel, he's so cool.

The Stone Light and many others

2007-12-02T21:48:00.001-06:00

I'm back! Finally figured out my password and login and such. I've read some super books in the mean time. Some of my favorites (at least the ones I can remember):
The Water Mirror -- really good, love the ideas, wish I could read it in the original German though. Cant wait to finish the series.
Cast Two Shadows -- very good, liked it even better than the author's A Girl in Blue, did a book report on it
Deadline -- by Chris Crutcher. Life changing book. Unbelievably good.
Dairy Queen -- Catherine Murdock. Also amazing, and also about football. And there's a sequel! 'Off Season' I think.
Stormbreaker -- very nice action book, but I was looking for more emotion
Eclipse -- great 3rd book, almost died at the end because I thought there weren't going to be any sequels. The part about Jacob is very controversial, I didn't want Bella to like him at all, but I see what Meyers/Edward said about her healing and a part of her heart belonging to him. It's like in life, we go on and experience new things, there's no way it won't affect us.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- what can I say! Rowling said the epilogue was the only thing that kept her going sometimes, and I know what she means. It was wonderful, except for the 'Albus Severus' part. I agree that that is a lousy name (although well intentioned). The 7th book felt like it was a whole different style/voice, but I guess things are bound to be different without our beloved hoggy Hogwarts. I still don't understand some parts of it, and am not satisfied in some respects, but it was very good.
In the Belly of the Bloodhound -- good, also different; not as much of the high seas-salty-air-ness that is so fun. But what a cliffhanger ending! I wanted to read the next book so badly.

Well there are tonnes and tonnes more but I also have a paper to write. Tally ho!

Total Lack of Determination and Effort

2007-07-17T10:48:00.000-05:00

Yes, as you would notice, I'm experiencing a total lack of determination and effort. The past 8 book reviews were posted without a summary, any thought process whatsoever, and half the time, not even the correct picture. I guess you could credit this to burnout (or boredom) but maybe it's just plain laziness. And you know what the sad thing is? I don't think anyone ever reads this anyway, so it makes no difference whatsoever. In that respect I think it can be considered a colossal feat worthy of praise that I even manage to put up corresponding (if not correct) pictures for each and every book. And also, I can't even remember the books I read this month, last week, or even yesterday. But you will never know if I don't write about them anyway.

So there.

The Seven Songs of Merlin

2007-07-17T10:46:00.002-05:00

The Seven Songs of Merlin
by: T.A. Barron

This is the second book in a 5 part series and follows "The Lost Years of Merlin."
A plot summary courtesy of Wikipedia:

"The story starts off at the remains of the shrouded castle. Creatures of almost every race appear at the meeting. They decide to do with the Treasures of Fincayra. Since the Dark Hills are still in the Blight, they decide who should heal them using the Flowering Harp. After many try, Merlin tries. At first it appears as if nothing happened, but soon grass appears on his boots. After this, he is chosen to use the Flowering Harp on the Dark Hills, before the goblins and wraiths can come out.

The story continues with Merlin still in the Dark Hills. As soon as that happens, he tries to make a beech bend, so he can go to the top. Rhia though stops him. While they stop to eat, Merlin gets an idea. He goes to the west to see Garlatha and T´eilan in hopes of impressing them with the harp. Rhia starts to follow him, telling him that he still needs a guide. When he gets there he tries to show them the harp but they are more interested in Rhia than Merlin. Upset he storms off.

He sleeps by a river, upset about everything. When he falls asleep, he sees his mother, but then his teeth start growing and they stab his eyes. When he wakes up, he hears crying. He finds that the sobbing is coming from inside the river. He finds a flask. When he opens it, he feels a warm air. Then he hears a voice. The voice tells him her name is Aylah and that she is a wind sister. When he tries to play the harp, instead of everything growing, everything dies. After some probing from Aylah, Merlin realizes that he misses his mother. After he finds a way to bring her to Fincayra, she becomes terribly ill."

Drums, Girls, & Dangerous Pie

2007-07-17T10:44:00.000-05:00

Drums, Girls, & Dangerous Pie
by: Jordan Sonnenblick

Milkweed

2007-07-15T11:11:00.000-05:00

Milkweed
by: Jerry Spinelli

Pretty good, liked it a lot better than Eggs. The whole time I wanted to slap Misha and say, "Rewire your brain, you idiot! You don't think like a normal human being! Snap out of it!" but I guess that isn't really possible. >_<

And also, I love milkweed plants. I have this obsession, everyone thinks of them as weeds (for some odd reason, even though they are sold in fancy garden stores) but I got wild seeds and plant them all over (i.e. my mom's flower beds). It made me a little upset that this book wasn't actually about milkweeds at all, but about some little alien's experience in the ghetto. Whatever.

The City of Ember

2007-06-28T11:00:00.001-05:00

The City of Ember
by: Jeanne DuPrau

The Lightning Thief

2007-06-28T10:34:00.000-05:00

Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1
The Lightning Thief
by: Rick Riordan

Can't wait to read the sequel, The Sea of Monsters. Very good book, read it in a snap. Couldn't believe how long it took me to figure out that Percy was short for Perseus...

I have so many posts saved as drafts right now... I am definately procrastinating. I have the feeling quite a lot of them will be put up with just a picture.

Henry V

2007-06-27T10:10:00.000-05:00

Henry V
by: William Shakespeare

Straw into Gold

2007-06-27T08:58:00.000-05:00

Straw into Gold
by: Gary D. Schmidt

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

2007-06-27T08:57:00.000-05:00

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
by: Robert Louis Stevenson

Ptolemy's Gate

2007-06-27T08:56:00.000-05:00

Ptolemy's Gate
by: Jonathan Stroud

Eggs

2007-06-27T08:55:00.000-05:00

Eggs
by: Jerry Spinelli

Not really about eggs, even though the cover art is quite cool. I liked this book okay, but I'm not one for Spinelli's wishy-washy style.

Gossamer

2007-06-13T17:34:00.000-05:00

Gossamer
by: Lois Lowry

Amazing. This is the 2nd fastest I've ever read a book, which means it is pretty darn good. It is so much better than the preview summary makes it out to be.

Stephenie Meyer said that there are two ways of writing, about Extraordinary characters in Ordinary circumstances or Ordinary characters in Extraordinary circumstances. That is like this book, the characters are so very extraordinary and the circumstances are so very common.
Another way one could look at this book is to say it is superb writing paired with a not-so-fantastical event, whileas I've read books with huge, fantastical events combined with poor writing.

Anyway, I'm trying to say that the writing was superb. The whole book felt like a dream. Littlest One was vividly described, and she was also the most dynamic character in the book.

The word 'gossamer' intrigued me and I decided to look up more about it. This according to Curious Word Origins:
gossamer - the slender cobweb-like threads floating in the air in calm weather, produced by small spiders
This comes directly from 'goose-summer' (gossomer, in Middle English), an unusually warm period or Indian summer occurring in mid-November. This is the time of year when spiders are wont to spread their delicate webs across lawns and bushes and when St Martin's Day is traditionally celebrated with a goose dinner.
By the beginning of the 14th century gossamer came to be applied to filmy spiders webs and similar material, such as fine gauze. The rationale for the transference of meaning is unclear. Most probably it was simply that the webs were most often seen during goose- summer, but an association with the fuzzy down plucked from geese and the delicate webs drifting through the autumn air may also have played a part.

But, as with (seemingly) all books, the end came too soon, and I wished the book went on forever.

Also, while searching for a picture of the Gossamer book cover, I stumbled upon this cover, which strikingly reminds me of the other book.
The Faeries of Gossamer Glen

Among the Hidden Series

2007-06-11T18:10:00.000-05:00

Among the Hidden - Among the Impostors - Among the Betrayed - Among the Barons - Among the Brave
by: Margaret Peterson Haddix

The Old Man and the Sea

2007-06-11T18:03:00.002-05:00

The Old Man and the Sea
by: Ernest Hemingway

Thwonk!

2007-06-11T18:03:00.001-05:00

Thwonk
by: Joan Bauer

The Chocolate War

2007-06-11T18:01:00.000-05:00

The Chocolate War
by: Robert Cormier

Small Steps

2007-05-25T09:25:00.000-05:00

Small Steps
by: Louis Sachar

Very, very, very different than the book it comes after, Holes. It follows the life of two kids from Camp Green Lake, Armpit and X-Ray. I liked it a lot.

It is a very different tone than Holes, none of the magical-tale feeling, more down-to-earth.

One thing I didn't like was the ending. It was way too practical for my liking. I was looking forward to something romantic, such as Armpit rushing off to makeup with Keira. Also, Ginny had a large role early on in the book, but was then cast off like she had served her purpose.

The Hero and the Crown

2007-05-23T16:26:00.000-05:00

The Hero and the Crown
by: Robin McKinley

Love it love it love it! This was a precursor to The Blue Sword, also a very good book. What surprised me the most was how different they were. I like parts of this one better, but there are parts of the other book I wouldn't give up either. I don't like the beginning of The Blue Sword, I thought it was like mid-1800's, and then the whole scene and mood changes throughout the book, which I found very confusing.

In The Hero and the Crown I hate how inevitable everything seems to be. She just had to fight the dragon by herself, she just couldn't recover, she had to go up the staircase for centuries, she had to come back at the very last minute. Also, why did king Arlbeth have to die?

I do like how the author handled Aerin's mortal and not-quite-mortal sides, and the fact that Aerin could live a full life and still go back to love Luthe. I was really dreading her final decision.

It would be interesting to read a story continueing this one, where we get to see how strong Aerin's magic really is. Now that I've read this book I want to go back and read The Blue Sword, a lot of things will make more sense. But I still advise that you read the Blue Sword first, then The Hero and the Crown.

The Divide

2007-05-22T17:29:00.000-05:00

The Divide
by: Elizabeth Kay

Le Corbeau et le Renard

2007-05-19T10:54:00.001-05:00

Le Corbeau et le renard

Maître corbeau, sur un arbre perché,
Tenait en son bec un fromage.
Maître renard, par l'odeur alléché,
Lui tint à peu près ce langage :
« Hé ! bonjour Monsieur du Corbeau.
Que vous êtes joli ! que vous me semblez beau !
Sans mentir, si votre ramage
Se rapporte à votre plumage,
Vous êtes le phénix des hôtes de ces bois. »
A ces mots, le corbeau ne se sent pas de joie ;
Et pour montrer sa belle voix,
Il ouvre un large bec, laisse tomber sa proie.
Le renard s'en saisit, et dit : « Mon bon monsieur,
Apprenez que tout flatteur
Vit aux dépens de celui qui l'écoute.
Cette leçon vaut bien un fromage sans doute. »
Le corbeau honteux et confus,
Jura, mais un peu tard , qu'on ne l'y prendrait plus.

Jean de LA FONTAINE
Fables, livre I (1668)

Cliquez ici pour l'écouter:
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Silas Marner

2007-05-19T09:23:00.001-05:00

Silas Marner

The Weaver of Raveloe
by: George Elliot

My sister gave me this book for Christmas, and I had seen 2 TV versions before I read this. Wishbone, which was very good (I always love Wishbone), the more modern-ish Steve Martin one. It is so nice to finally read the book and learn all of the details left out on film. For example the story of the Cass brothers and their money schemes, plus Godfrey's situation with Nancy Lammeter. But even more nice to know is Silas' background, the story of his epileptic fits and his horrible friend who kicks him out to steal his fiancée. Not as nice to know is how very sad his condition has become, and how much the villagers fear/dispise him.

There isn't much for descriptions of English scenery in this novel, surprising to me.

Sometimes I wish George Eliot (a woman btw, Mary Ann Evans) would get to the point sooner, I just know what will happen but it takes forever to get there!

According to Wikipedia, "Ultimately, Silas Marner is a tale of familial love and loyalty, reward and punishment, humble friendships."

*New layout btw. I like this one, it is more airy and spread-out. Reminds me of imagining and reading books.

A Well-Timed Enchantment

2007-05-15T21:37:00.000-05:00

A Well-Timed Enchantment
by: Vivian Vande Velde

(Amazing pen name, btw. I think I'll name my first child Vivian Vande Velde.)
I also read her book "Dragon's Bait" which was more geered towards an older audience, which I also liked.

Even though this book is meant for under 14 year olds I liked it. It has good ideas and a good ending, but the details aren't as fully developped as I would have liked. (But of course if I had my way all books would be about twice as long!) The ending comes too soon.
There are some pretty silly puns laced in and the main character doesn't grow a backbone until the end of the book.

It is very quirky and light-hearted, fast-paced, enjoyable.

Daughter of the Forest

2007-05-07T19:00:00.000-05:00

Daughter of the Forest
by: Juliet Marillier

Very good. It reminds me a lot of Marillier's book Wolfskin, which was also excellent.

At some parts I cursed the characters' stupidity, and fervently wished that they would breach the gap of hate between the Britons and Sevenwaters, such as the brothers' constant hostility (except for Finbar), and the awful rumors told by the Britons.

I can't wait to read the next book in the series, Son of the Shadows.

Esperanza Rising

2007-05-07T18:51:00.000-05:00

Esperanza Rising
by: Pam Muñoz Ryan

I had heard about this book so much that I just had to read it, even though it is meant for a younger audience. I love the cover art, her rising above her challenges, with the roses of memory. Esperanza means 'hope' in Spanish.

Some of my favorite parts:
Anza and her father listening to the earth's heart beat, then later on Anza and Miguel. Anza had to find her inner peace, and be around those she loved, to be able to hear the heart. Anza giving her doll to Isabel after she was not chosen for the Queen of May. Miguel bringing back Abuelita, a happy ending at last.

This is a true story about the author's grandmother.

A Tale of Two Cities

2007-04-27T21:24:00.000-05:00

A Tale of Two Cities
by: Charles Dickens

Review
I absolutely loved this book. I was slow to get into it, but that's to be expected since it is written in a different style than I'm used to and it was an assigned book in English.

My favorite part was at the end when Sydney Carton meets the girl Charles Darnay had befriended. She instantly recognizes that he's not Darnay, but they give each other comfort until the end, and Carton truly feels happy.

I never noticed before how many things incorporate the idea of people looking alike and using it to their advantage or causing havoc, also seen in Shakespeare's "Two Gentlemen of Verona".

Before I read A Tale of Two Cities, I had a murky conception of this book being a story about two gentlemen wanting to see what life was like in the other's city, a notion I discerned from a kid's book about two frogs. After I got the gist of the story I remembered a Wish Bone episode I had seen, and everything fit into place.

One thing that helped me to understand this book and lessen my confusion was reading "The Scarlet Pimpernel" by Baroness Emmuska Orczy. It is a much simpler book to read, and less in depth, but just as enjoyable in my opinion.

La Cigale et La Fourmi

2007-04-27T20:20:00.000-05:00

La Cigale, ayant chanté
Tout l'été,
Se trouva fort dépourvue
Quand la bise fut venue.
Pas un seul petit morceau
De mouche ou de vermisseau.
Elle alla crier famine
Chez la fourmi sa voisine,
La priant de lui prêter
Quelque grain pour subsister
Jusqu'à la saison nouvelle.
« Je vous paierai, lui dit-elle,
Avant l'oût, foi d'animal,
Intérêt et principal. »
La Fourmi n'est pas prêteuse;
C'est là son moindre défaut.
« Que faisiez-vous au temps chaud?
Dit-elle à cette emprunteuse.
--Nuit et jour à tout venant
Je chantais, ne vous déplaise.
--Vous chantiez? j'en suis fort aise.
Eh bien! dansez maintenant. »

Jean de LA FONTAINE
Fables, livre I (1668)

Cliquez ici pour écouter cet poème:
www.wheatoncollege.edu