Wednesday 28 July 2010

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted Breaking the spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Linger (The Wolves of Mercy Falls, #2):
published: July 20th 2010 by Scholastic Press

In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. Now, in Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past...and figuring out a way to survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack. And Isabel, who already lost her brother to the wolves...and is nonetheless drawn to Cole. At turns harrowing and euphoric, Linger is a spellbinding love story that explores both sides of love--the light and the dark, the warm and the cold--in a way you will never forget.
Follow my blog with bloglovin

Tuesday 27 July 2010

On my wishlist #9

On My Wishlist is a weekly meme hosted by Book Chick City whose blog I absolutely love. Anyway, On My Wishlist is where we can post our list of books which are on the list to be read, wishing we owned....books we covet.


This On My Wishlist I'm going a little bit retro, I would love to own and re-read Peter Pan.  I loved this story as a child, the story of the boy who never grew up was like my fantasy.  I saw the prospect of being an adult as being very boring and the idea of sword fights with pirates and flying around with my own personal fairy was like heaven for me....

Goodreads blurb:  The boy who refuses to grow up teaches Wendy and her younger brothers how to fly. Then it's off to magical Neverneverland for adventures with mermaids, Indians, and wicked Captain Hook and his pirate crew.

 

Friday 23 July 2010

Follow Friday

So Follow Friday is a meme hosted by parajunkee:


To join the fun and make now book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:






1.Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Host { parajunkee.com} and any one else you want to follow on the list

2.Follow Parajunkee's Featured Bloggers - toreadornottoread-vampangel.blogspot.com/

3.Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing.

follow as many people as you can/like and remember if someone follows you it's generally polite to follow them back :)

Thursday 22 July 2010

Top Ten Picks: Favourite Male Literary Characters


Top ten picks is an original meme hosted by random bookish ramblings where she picks a topic and makes a list.  This weeks is favourite male literary characters here's her list http://randombookishramblings.blogspot.com/2010/07/top-ten-picks-favorite-male-literary.html

And my list is below:

1.  Romeo.  Yes I said it: Romeo as in Romeo and Juliet.  He was my original literary crush.  He died for his love. sigh.

2.  Mr Darcy.  Pride and Prejudice.  I don't know a lot of girls who have read Pride and Prejudice and haven't swooned for Darcy.

3.  Alexander from The Bronzehorseman.  Alexander is a strong masculine character who would do anything to protect his love while he tries to control the situations he at the same time accepts Tatiana's strong will and her own ability to be a strong character. 

4. Sam from Shiver.  Sam, as a wolf protected Grace from his own pack and later literally falls into her life again.  He is torn by the elements and the seasons, constantly battling to remain human but even as a wolf still maintains a sense of integrity and what is right and wrong.

5.  Patch from Hush, Hush.  Patch is such a bad boy, dangerous character, he's dark and mysterious, just the kind of guy I would be attracted to.  When we first met him I found him cocky and wondered what his intentions were and then it was made clear his sights had always been on Nora but his intentions were more sinister at the start until he started to fall for her.  Literally the bad boy turned good.

6.  Noah from The Notebook.  When reading The Notebook, I felt worse for Noah than I did for Allie; Noah was the one who seemed to suffer the most.  After they broke up, Allie moved on and found new love but Noah suffered for his affection.

7. Landon Carter.  A Walk to Remember.  Landon was the bad boy who was forced to work with the good, minister's daughter, a girl he and his friends picked on.  He evidently warms to her and they form a tentative relationship and he becomes determined to do whatever he can to keep her happy and safe.

8.  Alex from Perfect Chemistry.  The gang guy who has good intentions for doing what he is doing:  to protect his family.  He looks at Brittany as the blonde, cheerleader, the untouchable, until he's paired up with her in chemistry and they start to look past what they think they know about each other.  Watching Alex realise he's in love with Brittany and then trying to do whatever he can to either protect her or just be with her makes you realise he's not as tough as he seems. 

9.  Jesse in the Mediator series by Meg Cabot.  Ah, Jesse.  I remember reading the Mediator series as a teenager and swooning.  Jesse is the hot ghost in Suze's room who is gentlemanly and protective of her and who would rather stay a ghost than move on because of her.

10.  Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird is a good man through and through, singlehandedly raising his two child and trying to install in them a good sense of morals and to teach them that all isn't always as it appears.  In a time which there was still a huge racial divide he tries to teach his children that colour does not matter. 

Which authors dead or alive would you want to have dinner with?

When I was in University I was in one of my classes (I believe it was English Literature) and my tutor asked us to write an essay on which authors dead or alive we would like to sit down and have a meal with.  So, I thought it would make a really interesting blog post and here are my top ten authors.

1. Jane Austen:  I'd love to sit down with her and ask her about her England:  what the country was like, the politics, the society.  I'd like to ask her questions such as how she came up with her stories, if the characters are based on her family or circle of friends or if she immortalised any of those she disliked into fiction.  I'd also like to ask her if she ever had a Mister Darcy. 

2. Phillipa Simons:  The Bronzehorseman is one of if not my favourite book of all time.  It's from this book that my obsession with visiting Russia stemmed from.  I'd like to talk to Ms Simons about her inspiration for the book and for the character of Alexander and what life was like for her and her family first living in Russia then relocating to the states.  I'd also like to get her perspective on where the best places to visit in Russia are.

3. Roald Dahl:  Roald Dahl's books were a main staple of my literary childhood.  I think Charlie and the Chocolate factory was the first novel I read cover to cover by myself.  I remember sitting in bed with the covers pulled up to my chin and a mug of hot chocolate reading about Charlie and Grandpa Joe's adventure through the factory.  I'd love to see if Mr Dahl was as exciting and as humour filled as his writing was and where and how he dreamed up his sumptuous tales.

4. Harper Lee:  To Kill a Mockingbird was just a pure delight to read during highschool and the burning question which has always been in my mind is:  why did she only ever publish one novel?  I'd also like to ask what it was like having Truman Capote as a friend and what it was like traveling with him when he did his research for 'In Cold Blood'.

5. Shakespeare:  I just had to put him in.  There's so much mystery surrounding his life: Even in as much that there's questions as to whether or not he really did write his works. 

6. Frank McCourt:  Anyone who has read Angela's Ashes will understand why and those who haven't should definitely read it:  this man grew up in a miserable life of despair but still managed to find humour in it.

7. Jodi Picoult:  I'd love to follow her through a working day and see the writing process, she has written some of the most thought provoking literature I've read.

8. J.M.Barry:  Who wouldn't want to dine with the man who created Peter Pan?  This man come up with Peter Pan, Caption Hook, Neverland.  He must have had a childlike imagination mixed with the literary genius of an adult.

9. Nicholas Sparks:  His books are heartwrenching and delightful all at once and he always manages to make me fall for his main character - Noah in the Notebook.  His female leads are also strong characters - vulnerable but not pushovers.

10.  Finally, Lewis Carroll:  I've visited Oxford University where Carroll dreamed up Alice's adventures but it would just be magical to go on a tour with the man himself and see the locations where he came up with the ideas and hear the real stories behind the characters and situations.

I'd love to know who you all would like to sit at a table with so join in....

What I'm reading right now

So, I'm not usually one to jump on the bandwagon of books which are massively hyped up - I avoided the Davinci Code like the plague and wouldn't even consider picking up the Twilight books until I finally caved and read the back of the book in Waterstones so it's safe to say I haven't bought into the hype surrounding The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo - sure I've read the reviews in the paper and magazines but it just didn't seem like my kind of book.  Then I saw the trailer for the movie and it looks incredible.  I'm a firm believer in reading the book before seeing a movie version because books are usually that much better so when someone offered to lend me the book I said thank you. 

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo isn't my usual kind of read, I'm not really attracted to thrillers especially ones with multiple narratives but I'm going to give this one a go.  Has anyone read it?  I'd be really interested in your comments/thoughts/critisims of it....

Wednesday 21 July 2010

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at http://breakingthespine.blogspot.com/, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's can't wait for it book is:

Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick:
Published: October 19th 2010 by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

Summary on Goodreads:

The sequel to the New York Times Best selling phenomenon, Hush, Hush!



Nora should have know her life was far from perfect. Despite starting a relationship with her guardian angel, Patch (who, title aside, can be described anything but angelic), and surviving an attempt on her life, things are not looking up. Patch is starting to pull away and Nora can't figure out if it's for her best interest or if his interest has shifted to her arch-enemy Marcie Millar. Not to mention that Nora is haunted by images of her father and she becomes obsessed with finding out what really happened to him that night he left for Portland and never came home.



The farther Nora delves into the mystery of her father's death, the more she comes to question if her Nephilim blood line has something to do with it as well as why she seems to be in danger more than the average girl. Since Patch isn't answering her questions and seems to be standing in her way, she has to start finding the answers on her own. Relying too heavily on the fact that she has a guardian angel puts Nora at risk again and again. But can she really count on Patch or is he hiding secrets darker than she can even imagine?

Friday 16 July 2010

The mediator: Shadowland

Shadowland (The Mediator, #1)Shadowland by Meg Cabot


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Suze is just your average sixteen year old girl. Except she has the ability to see and interact with ghosts. When she moves across the country to live with your mother and her new stepfather she thinks it will be the end of her entanglement with the afterlife...but the house turns out to be from the eighteenth century as does the hot guy ghost invading her room...oh and her school is also older than the hills and the only reason there's space for her in school is because some girl offed herself and is now pissed off and haunting the place.



Ah...the mediator series. I read and loved these as a teenager. I had such an incredible crush on Jesse. And who wouldn't? He's a hero who is always there to help Suze out when she needs but can also step back and let her kick butt. He's also a consummate gentleman.



Meg Cabot wrote this with such intricate detail that even the most cynical reader could picture the events described in their minds eyes.



Suze is sassy and vulnerable at the same time and is portrayed as a teenage girl not as being wise beyond her years. There is seriousness mixed in with humour.
Once again as I was as a teenager, I am hooked on this series and swooning for Jesse.



View all my reviews >>

Thursday 15 July 2010

Movie vs Book: Eclipse *Contains spoilers*

Today I hauled my butt to the cinema and sat amongst swooning teenage girls to watch Eclipse the third in the Twilight Saga.  I enjoyed the book and enjoyed the movie, for me it was the best movie in the saga so far. 

Personally, while I enjoy the story I don't like the Bella characterisation and how dependent she is on the men in her life and can't quite function without a man and the attached melodrama.   But then again when I was a teenager it was all about Buffy and Charmed - women who could have their men but also saved the day and kicked arse. I also didn't really think Kristen Stewart was right for the role of Bella, in this movie I found some of her acting a little contrived and not quite natural but much better than the first two and there's no denying her chemistry with Robert Pattinson.  Ah, Robert Pattinson - while he doesn't really do it for me, he really is the best possible Edward and in this film he really came into his stride.  I loved the interaction between Edward and Jacob the tension and the mutual understanding of their feelings for Bella and their tentative truce was perfectly played though I wished the triangle between the three would have been more deeply explored in the movie. 

The fight scenes between wolf and vampire were just perfect - the effects were incredible and it played out almost exactly as it had in my head when I read the book - wolves flying through the air, vampires leaping and biting their prey.  I particularily liked the exploration of Rosalie and Jasper's pasts - Rosalie's was a heartwrenching tale of misplaced affection and then revenge and Nikki Reed pulled of the stotic yet vulnerable Rosalie without a hitch and I just love how Rosalie wants what Bella so obviously takes for granted.  Jasper's past story is intriguing, he was trained for violence but could feel everything his victims felt.  The only disappointing part of Jasper's story in the movie was that the didn't show the flashback scene of Alice waiting for him in the cafe, for me that was the cutest part and it just rounded out Jasper's story completely. 

In conclusion the movie didn't quite meet up to my expectations and I prefer the book but it was still enjoyable.

Thoughts?  Comments? 

Wednesday 14 July 2010

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted here, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

Forget You by Jennifer Echols
published: 20 July 2010
 
Goodreads summary:
 
Why can't you choose what you forget.......and what you remember?

There’s a lot Zoey would like to forget. Like how her father has knocked up his twenty-four- year old girlfriend. Like Zoey’s fear that the whole town will find out about her mom’s nervous breakdown. Like darkly handsome bad boy Doug taunting her at school. Feeling like her life is about to become a complete mess, Zoey fights back the only way she knows how, using her famous attention to detail to make sure she’s the perfect daughter, the perfect student, and the perfect girlfriend to ultra-popular football player Brandon. But then Zoey is in a car crash, and the next day there’s one thing she can’t remember at all—the entire night before. Did she go parking with Brandon, like she planned? And if so, why does it seem like Brandon is avoiding her? And why is Doug—of all people— suddenly acting as if something significant happened between the two of them? Zoey dimly remembers Doug pulling her from the wreck, but he keeps referring to what happened that night as if it was more, and it terrifies Zoey to admit how much is a blank to her. Controlled, meticulous Zoey is quickly losing her grip on the all-important details of her life—a life that seems strangely empty of Brandon, and strangely full of Doug.

Review: I Heart New York

I Heart New YorkI Heart New York by Lindsey Kelk


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Angela Clark has it all: freelance writing career, loving parents, close female best friend and highschool sweetheart/fiance. That is until she catches said fiance in the arms of another woman at best friend's wedding. And it's not a one time thing. After an impressive throwdown/tantrum she packs a bag and gets on the earliest flight to New York. Not knowing where to go or what to do she checks into the first hotel she sees where the desk clerk takes pity on her and befriends her.



Things are all shiny and new from there, she gets to see the city which never sleep with her new best friend, meets not one but two gorgeous guys - one a wall street banker, the other a slightly damaged rock singer and she lands a very sex and the city style gig writing a blog for an online New York magazine.



While this book lacks realism in terms of how often does this type of thing actually happens, it's a great piece of literary escapism. The writing is fluid and makes you forget just how unrealistic the plot is, it's heartwrench, heartwarming and has it's moments of humour added in for good measure and two hot male leads. It's a great book for what it is - guilty pleasure chick-lit.



View all my reviews >>

Wednesday 7 July 2010

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

13 to Life by Shannon Delany
published:  June 22nd 2010 by St. Martin's Griffin (first published 2010)

From Goodreads:

Something strange is stalking the small town of Junction…



When junior Jess Gillmansen gets called out of class by Guidance, she can only presume it’s for one of two reasons. Either they’ve finally figured out who wrote the scathing anti-jock editorial in the school newspaper or they’re hosting yet another intervention for her about her mom. Although far from expecting it, she’s relieved to discover Guidance just wants her to show a new student around—but he comes with issues of his own including a police escort.
The newest member of Junction High, Pietr Rusakova has secrets to hide--secrets that will bring big trouble to the small town of Junction—secrets including dramatic changes he’s undergoing that will surely end his life early.