"There is something haunting in the light of the moon; it has all the dispassionateness of a disembodied soul, and something of its inconceivable mystery." - Joseph Conrad
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Magical Quotes #2
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Literary Characters I Want to Dress Up As for Halloween!
What a wordy title...goodness.
- I don't know why, but I want to dress up as Gandalf the Grey. Maybe just so I can go up to people and yell "You shall not pass!" (I do that anyways, but at least my outfit would give it some context)
- To continue with Tolkien, I'd love to dress up as Arwen, too. I just want to be an elf!
- Luna Lovegood
- Effie Trinket. That costume would be so much fun!
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Top Ten Tuesday #2: Reasons Why I Love to Read
Let's get sappy!
10. You get to meet people and bond with people over favorite books and authors. It's something you have in common, and you can't really be fake about liking books. You know what I mean? If you bond with someone over a book, you know it's for real!
9. You can take a book with you anywhere. You can sit down (or just lean against a wall) for a couple of minutes and just calm down with a good book.
8. It's so relaxing (well...unless you're reading some sort of murder mystery - that could be kind of stressful).
7. It makes you feel smart (is that just me who feels this way?).
6. You learn so much about so many different things.
5. You get to live vicariously through characters.
4. You get taken to worlds you could never go to otherwise.
3. You learn that you're not the only one who thinks certain ways or acts certain ways.
2. You get taken out of your own head for a long while.
1. You get lost, and you get found.
10. You get to meet people and bond with people over favorite books and authors. It's something you have in common, and you can't really be fake about liking books. You know what I mean? If you bond with someone over a book, you know it's for real!
9. You can take a book with you anywhere. You can sit down (or just lean against a wall) for a couple of minutes and just calm down with a good book.
8. It's so relaxing (well...unless you're reading some sort of murder mystery - that could be kind of stressful).
7. It makes you feel smart (is that just me who feels this way?).
6. You learn so much about so many different things.
5. You get to live vicariously through characters.
4. You get taken to worlds you could never go to otherwise.
3. You learn that you're not the only one who thinks certain ways or acts certain ways.
2. You get taken out of your own head for a long while.
1. You get lost, and you get found.
Monday, October 28, 2013
Moose Monday #2
Happy Monday, everyone!
This Moose Monday will be a lot shorter than last week's, I promise. So, last time I mentioned that I began reading Loki by Mike Vasich, but I decided to put it down. Well, I picked it back up again and finished it within a couple of days. The reason I put it down was because I had read similar stories before, and it got boring. But then I got to a point where I hadn't read similar stories, and I got hooked somewhere halfway through. Because I mentioned a lot about the book last week, I won't go into much detail again!
With that finished, I picked up A Lion Among Men by Gregory McGuire, which I mentioned last week, too. I was so confused for the first hundred pages, mainly because I read the first two books in the Wicked series about two or three years ago. I was lost. Because I'm at school, I don't have Wicked and Son of a Witch with me, so I'm going to read them over the summer or Christmas break and then pick this book up again.
I haven't decided what I'm going to read next, but I think it's going to be The White Queen by Phillipa Gregory. I watched the show on BBC and absolutely loved it!
Well, until tomorrow, see you later!
This Moose Monday will be a lot shorter than last week's, I promise. So, last time I mentioned that I began reading Loki by Mike Vasich, but I decided to put it down. Well, I picked it back up again and finished it within a couple of days. The reason I put it down was because I had read similar stories before, and it got boring. But then I got to a point where I hadn't read similar stories, and I got hooked somewhere halfway through. Because I mentioned a lot about the book last week, I won't go into much detail again!
With that finished, I picked up A Lion Among Men by Gregory McGuire, which I mentioned last week, too. I was so confused for the first hundred pages, mainly because I read the first two books in the Wicked series about two or three years ago. I was lost. Because I'm at school, I don't have Wicked and Son of a Witch with me, so I'm going to read them over the summer or Christmas break and then pick this book up again.
I haven't decided what I'm going to read next, but I think it's going to be The White Queen by Phillipa Gregory. I watched the show on BBC and absolutely loved it!
Well, until tomorrow, see you later!
Friday, October 25, 2013
Author Factoids #1: Ellen Hopkins
- Born in Long Beach, CA
- Adopted, but found her birthmother, who wrote poetry her entire life
- Knew she wanted to be a writer at age 9, when her first poem was published
- Has 3 biological children and one adopted one (whose background inspired Crank)
- Grew up living next to movie stars!
- Was in a physically abusive relationship for three years
- Wrote children's books before moving into the YA genre
- Gives amazing tips on writing and publishing for all the aspiring authors out there!
What I find absolutely amazing: She writes about teenagers, but was born in 1955. YET she truly understands and still can write from their point of view flawlessly.
Check out her website!
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Magical Quotes #1
The road goes ever on and on / Down from the door where it began. / Now far ahead the Road has gone, / And I must follow, if I can, / Pursuing it with eager feet, / Until it joins some larger way / Where many paths and errands meet. / And whither then? I cannot say.
The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R Tolkien
The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R Tolkien
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Top Ten Tuesday #1: Books for Halloween
Hello and welcome to my Top Ten Tuesday series! With Halloween quickly approaching, I thought I'd do my favorite books to get you in the mood.
10. The Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe: creepy, eccentric short stories. Read a few, read 'em all!
9. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling: okay, I know this isn't a scary book, but what's the most common Halloween costume for a girl? A witch. What's the most popular book involving witches? The Harry Potter books. Bing, bang, boom, connection made.
8. Marked by P.C. and Kristen Cast: the first book of one of my favorite vampire series, the House of Night series. You'll be addicted within the first five pages!
7. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson: short and weird. Psychologically frustrating and just plain confusing. But that's the fun of it!
6. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving: come on, you HAVE to read this before Halloween, especially with the new show Sleepy Hollow on the air! It's short and classic. Great to read right before you watch the movie with Johnny Depp as Ichabod Crane.
5. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz: I used to read these books in middle school and I was always, always, always freaked out. I'll probably still be freaked out if I read them again. Truly scary and just plain creepy.
4. Macbeth by William Shakespeare: Double, double, toil, and trouble. Need I say more?
3. The Shining by Stephen King: a creepy psychological tease
2. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley: one of my favorite books that I was required to read for school. It turned around so many of my preconceived thoughts about the monster. Creepy, but also full of social commentary on science going too far.
1. Dracula by Bram Stoker: the ultimate classic to read during the Halloween season. This is one of my favorite books of all time. If you're tired of reading vampire books, I encourage you to try this last one. It is as far from Twilight as you could possibly get. Then go watch the movie: absolutely amazing! If you're going to read one book in October, this should be it.
So in conclusion, read Dracula, read Dracula, read Dracula. Read it. Do it now. You don't even have to buy it. If you have any kind of tablet, you can get it for free, because it's a classic. Yay for free things!
10. The Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe: creepy, eccentric short stories. Read a few, read 'em all!
9. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling: okay, I know this isn't a scary book, but what's the most common Halloween costume for a girl? A witch. What's the most popular book involving witches? The Harry Potter books. Bing, bang, boom, connection made.
8. Marked by P.C. and Kristen Cast: the first book of one of my favorite vampire series, the House of Night series. You'll be addicted within the first five pages!
7. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson: short and weird. Psychologically frustrating and just plain confusing. But that's the fun of it!
6. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving: come on, you HAVE to read this before Halloween, especially with the new show Sleepy Hollow on the air! It's short and classic. Great to read right before you watch the movie with Johnny Depp as Ichabod Crane.
5. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz: I used to read these books in middle school and I was always, always, always freaked out. I'll probably still be freaked out if I read them again. Truly scary and just plain creepy.
4. Macbeth by William Shakespeare: Double, double, toil, and trouble. Need I say more?
3. The Shining by Stephen King: a creepy psychological tease
2. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley: one of my favorite books that I was required to read for school. It turned around so many of my preconceived thoughts about the monster. Creepy, but also full of social commentary on science going too far.
1. Dracula by Bram Stoker: the ultimate classic to read during the Halloween season. This is one of my favorite books of all time. If you're tired of reading vampire books, I encourage you to try this last one. It is as far from Twilight as you could possibly get. Then go watch the movie: absolutely amazing! If you're going to read one book in October, this should be it.
So in conclusion, read Dracula, read Dracula, read Dracula. Read it. Do it now. You don't even have to buy it. If you have any kind of tablet, you can get it for free, because it's a classic. Yay for free things!
Monday, October 21, 2013
Moose Monday #1
Hey guys! I'm starting a new series called Moose Monday. On Moose Mondays, I'll update you on what I'm reading and how it's going! I thought it would be perfect to start this series on this particular week, because last week was the week of reading, reading, reading! So, without further ado...
Last week, I started to read Life of Pi by Yann Martel. I never saw the movie (because I have a thing about reading a book before I see the movie), but both the book and the movie are so popular that I decided that it was long overdue for me to read it. Now, prepare yourselves. After 50 pages, I decided to save it for another time. It just didn't grip me like I thought it would. Maybe in a year I'll pick it up again, read the entire thing, and go back in time to beat up my younger self for putting this book down. Who knows? But I can tell you...that book is sitting in a box underneath my bed now.
But then I hit the jackpot. A few years ago, I read Burned by Ellen Hopkins. My family will back me up on this: when I finished it, I literally threw the book out the window and onto our lawn. The ending just made me so ANGRY. But that's part of what made me love the book so much. Besides Ellen's book Identical, I can say Burned is my favorite of all her books. When I saw that she had (quite unexpectedly) released a sequel, I had to have it. I read it in a night, having no idea where she would take us. This gave us insight not only into Pattyn, but also her sister Jackie, who is going through her own problems (to say the least). I don't want to spoil anything, but I will tell you that I cried at the end. Now, was it happy crying or sad crying? You'll have to read it to find out! Or maybe just wait for my full-blown review? But I highly, highly recommend this book if you like Burned, as well as just Ellen Hopkins in general. Hmmmmm...I may do an author bio or something about her, because I think her story is really interesting. Note to self!
Then, in celebration of Thor 2 coming out next month, I decided to read the Loki book that has been sitting on my shelves for the past four months. Even before Thor came out, I've been into Norse mythology, but I haven't read a book strictly about Loki. Because his character interested me so much, I looked further into The Sly One and bought the book simply entitled Loki by Mike Vasich. I really love the way that it's written. Most mythological books are written from a very informational point of view, but Vasich writes in a semi-fictional way, adding dialogue and internal thoughts. That said, I recently read a Norse mythology book, which had a lot of Loki myths in it, so after I read the first 60 pages of this book, I felt like I was reading that old Norse mythology book again. I knew what was going to happen all the time, which got me bored easily. I think I'll pick it up and read it again once it's closer to the release of Thor 2.
And now, for what I'm reading currently: A Lion Among Men by Gregory McGuire. I can say that Wicked is one of my favorite books, but I never read this last book of the series (the second being Son of a Witch). As you can imagine, it's all about the Cowardly Lion. I only read the introduction and the first few pages, but I know that I'm going to like it.
Alright folks. This will probably be the longest Moose Monday post that I'll ever write, because there probably won't be another week where I go through 4 books! Stay tuned for my next post tomorrow!
Last week, I started to read Life of Pi by Yann Martel. I never saw the movie (because I have a thing about reading a book before I see the movie), but both the book and the movie are so popular that I decided that it was long overdue for me to read it. Now, prepare yourselves. After 50 pages, I decided to save it for another time. It just didn't grip me like I thought it would. Maybe in a year I'll pick it up again, read the entire thing, and go back in time to beat up my younger self for putting this book down. Who knows? But I can tell you...that book is sitting in a box underneath my bed now.
But then I hit the jackpot. A few years ago, I read Burned by Ellen Hopkins. My family will back me up on this: when I finished it, I literally threw the book out the window and onto our lawn. The ending just made me so ANGRY. But that's part of what made me love the book so much. Besides Ellen's book Identical, I can say Burned is my favorite of all her books. When I saw that she had (quite unexpectedly) released a sequel, I had to have it. I read it in a night, having no idea where she would take us. This gave us insight not only into Pattyn, but also her sister Jackie, who is going through her own problems (to say the least). I don't want to spoil anything, but I will tell you that I cried at the end. Now, was it happy crying or sad crying? You'll have to read it to find out! Or maybe just wait for my full-blown review? But I highly, highly recommend this book if you like Burned, as well as just Ellen Hopkins in general. Hmmmmm...I may do an author bio or something about her, because I think her story is really interesting. Note to self!
Then, in celebration of Thor 2 coming out next month, I decided to read the Loki book that has been sitting on my shelves for the past four months. Even before Thor came out, I've been into Norse mythology, but I haven't read a book strictly about Loki. Because his character interested me so much, I looked further into The Sly One and bought the book simply entitled Loki by Mike Vasich. I really love the way that it's written. Most mythological books are written from a very informational point of view, but Vasich writes in a semi-fictional way, adding dialogue and internal thoughts. That said, I recently read a Norse mythology book, which had a lot of Loki myths in it, so after I read the first 60 pages of this book, I felt like I was reading that old Norse mythology book again. I knew what was going to happen all the time, which got me bored easily. I think I'll pick it up and read it again once it's closer to the release of Thor 2.
And now, for what I'm reading currently: A Lion Among Men by Gregory McGuire. I can say that Wicked is one of my favorite books, but I never read this last book of the series (the second being Son of a Witch). As you can imagine, it's all about the Cowardly Lion. I only read the introduction and the first few pages, but I know that I'm going to like it.
Alright folks. This will probably be the longest Moose Monday post that I'll ever write, because there probably won't be another week where I go through 4 books! Stay tuned for my next post tomorrow!
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Ellen Hopkins' Smoke: A Review
Spoilers for both Burned and Smoke. You've been warned.
Burned is one of my favorite books by Ellen Hopkins, coming in second only to Identical. I read through Burned so quickly, and I thought the conclusion was good. We got closure. That's why I was so surprised to hear that Hopkins was coming out with a sequel! I know that some people weren't too happy with this, saying that Pattyn's story couldn't get any worse, and that they expect this entire sequel to be about her complaining about her problems. Well, if they really knew Pattyn, they knew she would do nothing of the sort. Yes, she was grieving over the loss of her love and unborn child, but this was all about her journey of moving on.
Not only did we hear from Pattyn, but we got to read in Jackie's point of view as well. Because I was so focused on Pattyn in Burned, I didn't realize how instrumental Jackie was to her story until I read this book. Jackie is the only person who knew what really happened the night her father died, and it's only returning to her memory in drips and drabs.
My favorite two parts of the book involved both sisters. I loved the relationship between Pattyn and Shoshone, and I couldn't have been prouder when Jackie finally stood up in church and told the truth out loud for the very first time.
The one thing I got so angry with, though, was the mother Janice. I wish I could jump through those pages and set her straight. I think she just wanted to be numb and unfeeling, but watching Jackie struggle so badly while her mother stood idly by just killed me.
Although I think that the relationship with Angel was a bit forced and rushed, I'm happy with the ending. The letters to Ethan were slightly reminiscent of PS I Love You, except the living was writing to the dead, instead of the other way around.
If you want to get the full experience of this book, I recommend reading Burned again. I read it so long ago, that I honestly forgot about 90% of the things that happened. All I remembered was that Ethan had died. I didn't even remember that Pattyn was pregnant! That's quite a thing to forget...but anyways, I give this 4.5 out of 5 stars. I was riveted the entire time, and I'm so excited to get into another Ellen Hopkins book. I have Fallout waiting on my bookshelves. It's calling my name!
Burned is one of my favorite books by Ellen Hopkins, coming in second only to Identical. I read through Burned so quickly, and I thought the conclusion was good. We got closure. That's why I was so surprised to hear that Hopkins was coming out with a sequel! I know that some people weren't too happy with this, saying that Pattyn's story couldn't get any worse, and that they expect this entire sequel to be about her complaining about her problems. Well, if they really knew Pattyn, they knew she would do nothing of the sort. Yes, she was grieving over the loss of her love and unborn child, but this was all about her journey of moving on.
Not only did we hear from Pattyn, but we got to read in Jackie's point of view as well. Because I was so focused on Pattyn in Burned, I didn't realize how instrumental Jackie was to her story until I read this book. Jackie is the only person who knew what really happened the night her father died, and it's only returning to her memory in drips and drabs.
My favorite two parts of the book involved both sisters. I loved the relationship between Pattyn and Shoshone, and I couldn't have been prouder when Jackie finally stood up in church and told the truth out loud for the very first time.
The one thing I got so angry with, though, was the mother Janice. I wish I could jump through those pages and set her straight. I think she just wanted to be numb and unfeeling, but watching Jackie struggle so badly while her mother stood idly by just killed me.
Although I think that the relationship with Angel was a bit forced and rushed, I'm happy with the ending. The letters to Ethan were slightly reminiscent of PS I Love You, except the living was writing to the dead, instead of the other way around.
If you want to get the full experience of this book, I recommend reading Burned again. I read it so long ago, that I honestly forgot about 90% of the things that happened. All I remembered was that Ethan had died. I didn't even remember that Pattyn was pregnant! That's quite a thing to forget...but anyways, I give this 4.5 out of 5 stars. I was riveted the entire time, and I'm so excited to get into another Ellen Hopkins book. I have Fallout waiting on my bookshelves. It's calling my name!
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