Home
rhinoa's Friends
 
 [Most Recent Entries] [Calendar View] [Friends View]

Below are the most recent 25 friends' journal entries.

    [ << Previous 25 ]
    Friday, January 8th, 2010
    50bookchallenge
    [ breebers ]
         		10:26a
    Book 2 - Ghost Story
     Book 2 - Ghost Story by Peter Straub

    "Otto, why did you say it was an American sort of story?"
    "Because, my good friend, everyone in your story is haunted. Even the credit card was haunted."

    That line epitomizes what I really liked about Ghost Story. Reading some of the flashbacks and stories told reminded me of being back in school in my American Lit classes where the two things that stuck with me were: if you know how to read them, every novel is gothic, and every novel is a captivity narrative. Especially American novels.
    This is my first time reading Straub, after over a decade of reading and loving Stephen King. After reading this I can see why they have co-authored stories together, however King is the better writer and storyteller. Still, Ghost Story was an intriguing take on the American convention of telling ghost stories, the past returning to haunt the present and the destruction people can bring on by hiding. I enjoyed most of the main characters, especially Ricky and Sears, and their relationships with each other. It wasn't as 'creepy' as I thought it would be, or as gory, but it still reached inside and found fear within me (don't even ask about my dreams last night...).
    I did really enjoy the book, but I can't say it excited me to read more of Straub's solo work. I am, however, now more interested in reading both The Talisman and Black House, which he co-authored with King.

    Currently Reading:
    Ghostwalk - Rebecca Stott

    Upcoming:
    ????? (If anyone is on Goodreads and wants to offer me suggestions, this is the list of books I own yet sit on my shelves waiting to be read: http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/248003-bree?shelf=owned-but-unread)

    Current Music: Loreena McKennitt - La Serenissima
    50bookchallenge
    [ mediamongul ]
         		10:05a
    November and December Reads...I got behind...
     80. - 85.)  The Mediator Series by Meg Cabot...I absolutely adored these books...I couldn't put them down and I wish there were more of them.  I mean where else can you find romance, mystery, people who talk to ghost and a whole bunch of other random stuff like that.  What an amazing series.  Loved it beyond belief.

    86.)  Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine...I am not sure I liked the book as well as the movie but it was still an amazing read...This is an awesome author and I can't wait to read more by her.

    87.)  Last Summer (of you and me) by Ann Brashares...Didn't really like this one...It moved a bit slow for my taste...May give it another go eventually though.

    89.)  Book of Nightmares by Bruce Coville...Some of the stories in this book were interesting but not the greatest in my book.

    90.)  I'm Sorry, Almira Ann by Jane Kurtz...The story of two friends on the Oregon Trail...Touching and sad...Really enjoyed reading it more than  I can say.

    91.)  American Sisters:  West Along the Wagon Road 1852 by Laurie Lawlor...Didn't like this book at all...Moved way too slow and well I just didn't like it.

    92.)  Cirque Du Freak #1 A Living Nightmare by Darren Shan...I loved it until a spider tried to bite me when you get to the part about the friend and the spider...I got freaked out and had to stop reading...I do plan on finishing it eventually when I move out of the place I am currently in that is swarming with spiders...lol...great read though.

    93.)  The Van Alan Legacy by Melissa de la Cruz...Not the best in the series...I got really confused with all the back and forth in this book...Not sure why...Would love to read more though.

    94.)  Jinx by Meg Cabot...LOVED this book...I loved it so much I asked for it for Christmas...A must read for Cabot fans.

    95. -96.)  Goose Girl and Enna Burning by Shannon Hale...This series is amazing.  The author is amazing.  I started the third book but didn't get to finish it last year so in a few days it will be up here too...Must read series.

    97.)  Here Lies Arthur by Phillip Reeves...Not a good adaptation of the reign of King Arthur but still a good book.


    So last year I read 97 books...this year I am going to try for 100...almost done with 2 already and lots more to come. 

    Current Mood: cheerful
    50bookchallenge
    [ literative ]
         		12:16p
    Thursday, January 7th, 2010
    50bookchallenge
    [ warmradiostatic ]
         		9:23p
    My 2010 Reads
     So far this year I have knocked out three books, I usually read more than fifty a year. I do keep track of the number of books, but since I read books on my Kindle and from the library, I don't do page counts. I am not sure that these three books could be any more different from each other, but here are my thoughts!

    1. Under the Dome - Stephen King
    Genre: Fiction?
    My thoughts: I have no idea how to classify what this book is really about. I am not sure if it is about survival after a apocalyptic event, a study on small town life, or some sort of science fiction story. It was a book I read on my kindle simply because I didn't want to cart around the massive hardcover book. The book was long and I did feel there were a few spots that slowed the book down, but overall the book was able to keep the action level up despite the length. I think this would be a great movie/mini-series. I really liked the book until the last 15% or so. Without giving anything away, basically I would have preferred a different ending. I am sure many people would disagree with me on that.

    2. Push - Sapphire
    Genre: Fiction
    My thoughts: I have wanted to read this for awhile. However, I think I was the victim of knowing too much about it before I read it. Previews for the movie make it clear that the things Precious goes through is mind-boggling. I can't deny that it is a powerful book, but I think knowing about the story forced me to read it with more detachment than normal. I felt it ended abruptly, but upon further reflection it really fits. This story is not able to be wrapped up in a pretty little bow. It just isn't possible. I would recommend this book but only if you are comfortable enough to deal with the intense subject matter. Some of it is very graphic and painful to read. I kept feeling like this was written about a real individual and I had to remind myself that of the fact that the book is a conglomeration of real experiences people have faced. It was a hard book to read. I don't know if I could read it again.

    3. Labor Day - Joyce Maynard
    Genre: Fiction
    My thoughts: I thought this book was great and I would recommend it as a light and fast read. The story lets you go along for the ride but doesn't require as much emotional effort as the other two books. Click on the Amazon link for more info.
    50bookchallenge
    [ chai_balloons ]
         		8:09p
    First Book of 2010
    Title: Last Night at the Lobster
    Author: Stewart O'Nan
    Genre: Drama
    Grade: 5/5

    Overview (taken from amazon.com):

    The Red Lobster perched in the far corner of a run-down New England mall hasn’t been making its numbers and headquarters has pulled the plug. But manager Manny DeLeon still needs to navigate a tricky last shift with a near-mutinous staff. All the while, he’s wondering how to handle the waitress he’s still in love with, what to do about his pregnant girlfriend, and where to find the present that will make everything better.


    Review: ( Read more... )

     

    ( Read more... )

     


    If you've previously read this book, or do decide to read it, and enjoy it, you might also want to read Snow Angels, also by Mr. O'Nan, it's just as good.
    50bookchallenge
    [ e_t_a ]
         		10:24p
    bookchallenge, round 2
     If I'd remembered to keep track, I probably would have reached the goal number the last time around. Oh well. Time for a restart. :)

    Let's see now. New time period: from the last week of December 2009 to the last week of December 2010, since I'm including books read in the last month. Goal: 50 books. Children's books will count as 1/2 a book, rereads as a full book unless I change my mind.

    1. Ten Little Indians by Sherman Alexie: These are stories about love, loss, sacrifice, and what shapes us, whether it's basketball, the love for the written word, or infidelity. Mostly happening in and around Seattle, the main characters are Indian, primarily from the Spokane tribe - which makes sense, since Alexie himself is Spokane. I really enjoyed this short story collection; the characters are varied and thoroughly fleshed-out. 5 out of 5.

    2. The Summoner by Gail Z. Martin: First in a fantasy trilogy called Chronicles of the Necromancer, the story introduces a nicely built fantasy world of magic, goddesses, and ghosts. While 'a prince on the run and a ragtag group he finds along the way must stop an evil power from taking over their world' is not anything new, the characters are interesting, gender-varied and believable, and I like the system of magic and politics between the various countries. 4 and 1/2 out of 5.

    3. The Blood King by Gail Z. Martin: Second in the trilogy. The drama and anticipation built up nicely, but I thought the conclusion itself was kind of abrupt. We'll see if the third book picks up speed or meanders... Even with the pacing, I enjoyed the story and new plot entanglements. 4 out of 5.

    4. Witch & Wizard by James Patterson (and in small print Gabrielle Charbonnet): This was a christmas gift from a friend, sweet but misguided. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone else. It seems to be trying to appeal to YA and fantasy readers, but the language and style isn't really coherent. There are randomly invented slang words, abrupt violence mixed with childish language, and no real depth to the story or characters. It feels deliberately dumbed down to create a (false) sense of mystery: if I had to describe it with one phrase, I'd say it was ham-handed. Honestly, there's a distinct difference between a story for young adults and a story that hasn't been written well. 2 out of 5.
    50bookchallenge
    [ ardaigle ]
         		10:09p
    Books 42 - 44...so close, but yet so far.
     I'm officially concluding my first attempt at 50 books in a year...not a solid win, but certainly I read a lot more than I did last year, and isn't that the point? These are the last two entries before I start over again. I'll give it my all this year and see what transpires...

    Title: Green Angel
    Author: Alice Hoffman
    Themes/Topics: Nature, Triumph over Tragedy

    This is a little outside of my realm as it is young adult literature, but as it is Hoffman I enjoyed it. She has the ability to paint such a clear portrait of the main character and her transformation from youth through tragedy and loss to an awareness of self. I would define this as a coming-of-age story about the ability of the human spirit to recover from great loss.

    Title: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornest Nest
    Author: Stieg Larsson
    Themes/Topics: Mystery, Conspiracy, Violence, Infringement of Rights

    I don't want to say much to fans that have read the first two of this trilogy but this just as imaginative and addictive as the rest. It took me a little longer to get hooked into this book but it was very compelling and a satisfying read. My only disappointment is that Larsson died in 2004 and will not be able to share any more of his creativity and talent with the world.

    Title: The Well of Eternity (WarCraft: War of the Ancients Trilogy, Book 1)
    Author: Richard Knaak
    Themes/Topics: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, War, Evil

    As a person who has never played WarCraft, it was interesting for me to read this book. My boyfriend plays and I read it to learn a little more about this game that I find so pecular. It was tough for me to get into this at first, probably because I'm not really into sci-fi. Once I got the hang of the jargon, I found it to be an interesting story and I wanted to see how it would end, which is the most I can ask from any book. I'm sure I'll continue with the Trilogy, but I still am adamant that I will not play the game, just not my style.
    50bookchallenge
    [ maribou ]
         		9:01p
    Last Morning
     The Last Place on Earth, by Mike "Nick" Nichols
    An incredibly stunning collection of photographs of wild places in Africa, published in a very large format (about 16" X 11.5") and with graceful framing text by the likes of David Quammen (who told me to seek out megatransect stuff in the first place) and Mike Fay (the originator of the Megatransect - the guy who Nichols and Quammen were following through the bush - more about him later because I'll be reading excerpts from his journals shortly). Amaaaaaaaaaazing. If you can ogle this you should. As an aside, I do not know what it says about me that I generally find myself most moved by photos of reptiles and amphibians... but this book has some keen shots of those, in addition to the equally gorgeous pictures of chimps, gorillas, leopards, bongos, elephants (LOTS of elephants), etc.
    (7/200)

    First Darling of the Morning, by Thrity Umrigar
    Short, easy-to-read-but-literary memoir (a series of short essays, really) about growing up in Bombay. Powerful and endearing. Recommended but with the caveat that none of the stuff on the cover of this book led me to believe that some of the family stuff (only a few essays, but) would be as dark as it was. May be triggery for those who had a physically or emotionally abusive parent. (I don't usually bring this stuff up, but like I said - there was NO warning of this in what I'd read about the book or saw on the cover before reading it - kind of a shock to read such things when you are expecting more or less "light and happy" and sitting in a public place.... most of the book is quite delicate & cheerful in tone, and it's not that the sad parts don't fit, they totally do, I just wasn't mentally prepared for them. The Booklist review on the amazon page I linked to *does* give a good idea of this content so you may want to read it if you are concerned.)
    (8/200)

    Current Mood: possibly improving?
    Current Music: I just listened to an entire Leonard Cohen concert DVD
    50bookchallenge
    [ cornerofmadness ]
         		10:34p
    Books 1-3
     Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve
    ( Tom )

    Dogs: Blood and Carnage#2 by Shirow Miwa
    ( dogs )

    Il Gatto Sul G. III#3 by Tooko Miyagi
    ( violins )

    Current Mood: busy
    Current Music: NCIS
    50bookchallenge
    [ bookworm84 ]
         		9:52p
    No. 2 for 2010
     Title: Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief
    Author: Rick Riordan
    Rating: 5/5
    Book: 2/50 (4% completed)
    Book in personal challenge with [info]niun: 3/50 Fantasy, 3/50 Mystery and 0/25 Classics
    Pages: 375 pgs
    Total Pages 829/15,000 pages (5.53% completed)
    Next up: The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening & The Struggle by L.J. Smith

    I picked this book up because I want to see the movie and when I realized that they were books, I knew I had to read the book before I saw the movie. It's just the way I am. I like to develop my own ideas of the characters and events, etc.

    This book was hard to put down. Each page leaves you wanting to find out if Percy and his friends will make it through their adventure. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series!

    xposted to [info]50bookchallenge, [info]15000pages and [info]bookworm84

    ( Book Description from book jacket or back of the book: )
    50bookchallenge
    [ slimequeen ]
         		7:03p
    #2: The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart
     This first book of Stewart's acclaimed Arthurian Saga examines the childhood and maturation of Merlin. From his birth, Myriddin Emrys is set apart from other children, and not merely because he was born a bastard to a Welsh princess. He is strange and precocious, using his intellect even when his burgeoning magical powers didn't serve him. After his grandfather the king is killed, Merlin flees from the household. God leads him on a strange path northward into foreign lands, but Merlin doesn't fear. He has seen his own death, and he knows that in the intervening years Britain will change and he will be an instrument of many kings.

    Honestly, I avoided reading this book for years because I think King Arthur has been done to death. I thoroughly enjoyed the first 3/4 of the book since I wasn't familiar with Merlin's mythology and thought the plot came together beautifully. However, as Uther became a central figure, I liked the story less. This is completely my own bias. Mary Stewart is an excellent writer, and it's easy to see why this series has remained a consistent seller for decades. However, I won't be continuing with the next volume.

    Current Mood: thoughtful
    50bookchallenge
    [ harmonatrix ]
         		7:55p
    Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom
     Book# 2 of 50; 616 of 15,000 Pgs by December 2010; 2nd Read
    Title: Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom
    Author: Julie Kenner
    Genre: SciFi / Fantasy
    Add'l Info: Paperback; 307 pages; Kate Connor, Demon Hunter Series (1 of 5 (so far)).
    Synopsis:( From The Book )

    My Thoughts: Rating: 8 out of 10
    Since I now own two more books in the series, I've decided to read the first 3 again. This is my second time reading this book, and I enjoyed it just as much as I did the first time. Kate's sarcastic wit, love of family, and (rusty) butt kicking abilities, are an odd but fun mix! Admittedly, some of the plot points are predictable, and I found the final scene in the book a bit lacking, but over all, Carpe Demon is a great introduction to Kate and the cast of characters that make up her life in San Diablo, California.

    In Depth: I'm actually not going to do this part this time, as I don't think I can do so without possibly spoiling book 2 in the process. That's the drawback with knowing some of what's ahead.

    Up Next: California Demon: The Secret Life of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom


    X-Posted @:
    As well as: [info]15000pages & [info]harmonatrix
    May also be x-posted @ [info]books & [info]readplease


    Current Mood: good
    50bookchallenge
    [ lemaster_69 ]
         		5:46p
    A good start
     I skipped the challenge last year but decided to start up again this year.

    1. An Unchanging Faith in a Changing World by Robert Bowman and Stephen Boa. Nonfiction book about cultural challenges to traditional Christianity.


    2. Reclaiming Virtue, by John Bradshaw. A philosopher looks at prudence and how we can develop what's described as moral intelligence.

    Current Mood: content
    Current Music: none
    news
    [ theljstaff ]
         		1:10p
    State of the Goat 2009

    It's been a momentous 12 months here at LiveJournal. We crossed a capital T at Ten years young. And, like most precocious pubescents, we celebrated turning double digits by publishing our first book! Needless to say, we've experienced some major changes, both inside and out. Before we recap, we'd like to thank you for bearing with us as we've struggled through ungainly growth spurts, identity pangs, and, yes, the occasional blemish. We hope you'll continue to stand by us: We're gaining wisdom with maturity.

    Stuff you liked

    • Back in February, we placed a call for entries for our ten-year anniversary anthology in [info]lj_turns10. In December (less than a year later!), we officially announced the publication of Live Journal: The First Decade. Featuring an inspired collection of writing, photographs, and artwork from the pages of LiveJournal history, the book has been selected by Blurb.com as a top staff pick! We are proud to have played host to so much talent over the years, and we thank our contributors for sharing their extraordinary work.
    • We all love quirky surprises, but not when it comes to managing our account settings. This year we streamlined settings into one central account management area. No more sifting through FAQs to figure out how to control privacy settings, modify notifications, adjust mobile settings, or update contact information!
    • Being users ourselves, we realize our own mothers couldn't find us on LiveJournal based on our usernames and userpics alone (*heaves heavy sigh of relief*). But since there are times when we actually want to be found, we created a search tool--Find Your Friends--to help locate people by email address (it's in the Friends drop-down menu).
    • Spam counter-attack: The war against vicious malware and spambots reigns eternal, but we've been making serious inroads to ensure your online security. We've established new protocols, such as requiring email address validations. We've grown more savvy about ferreting out suspicious behavior. We've added features, like whitelisting, to help you protect your communities. Our valiant (i.e., overworked) spam avengers (a/k/a the LiveJournal ops team) are standing on red alert so you can sleep safely at night.
    • After an intensive beta, we launched My Guests at the end of the year, which lets you see who's been hanging around your journal. A number of you have even discovered secret admirers (not all of whom are creepy)!
    • Last, but by no means least, we want to thank our volunteers for providing invaluable support and feedback. Their Herculean efforts enable us to answer your questions more efficiently, identify spammers, reduce abuse, and deliver better features (through tireless testing). On behalf of the staff and the larger LiveJournal community, we are truly grateful for their diligence, intelligence, loyalty, and passion.

    You got your fix

    • We recently debugged a number of the oustanding issues with the rich text editor so your entries look great regardless of whether you know html. You can read more about text editors here.
    • In response to user demand, we brought back international voice posting. Please note that this still needs more tweaking, and we are working on the one-minute cut-off issue. For more info on voice posting, read here.
    • At long last, we revived TxtLJ with Verizon. For more info on TxtLJ, check out the FAQ.

    Paid features you enjoyed

    • In December, we introduced My Stats, which provides detailed data on who's been viewing your entries as well as statistics on commenting, RSS requests, friending history, and more. Despite a few early glitches, the response has been extremely favorable.
    • This year, we launched and improved Notes (i.e., the feature formerly known as Alias), which lets you add private comments on friends and commenters (it's in the Profile drop-down menu). This way you won't be caught red-faced when you strain to remember details about that wonderful LiveJournal friend who sent you a birthday vGift. For more info, read the FAQ.
    • When we first announced View friends pages by date, we thought it would be a quiet, minor enhancement. The rave reaction floored us, which made us all very happy. We gave it a fine tuning in February of 2009, so it's even better!
    • How embarrassing! It appears pingbacks have gone back to the shop for service. We’ll keep you posted. We didn't know just much you liked pingbacks until it went in for service. It's back and, judging by your irritation when it wasn't available, this is good news. FYI, pingbacks send instant notifications (via screened comments) whenever someone links to one of your entries on LiveJournal. For more info, read this entry in [info]paidmembers or check out the FAQ.

    Mixed reviews

    • The search is still on. Some of you have reported getting more comprehensive results for keyword searches using the new Yandex search engine and like the ability to search within content categories (like entries or comments). Others have not been satisfied with the relevancy of search results. Please be patient. We're still tweaking this product.
    • This past December, we wanted to try out a new holiday promotion. Given the crap economy, we decided to offer our Paid/Permanent users a stack of $10 coupons to send to Basic/Plus users for paid account upgrades. We hoped you would like it. And some of you did, but many were disappointed that we didn't offer Give More as well. We want to thank you so much for letting us know. Your input will help us plan better in the future. Just FYI, Paid/Permanent users can continue to send out coupons through January 15th. Coupons can be redeemed through January 31, 2010.
    • We were pretty excited about Your Journal Your Money, which allows Paid/Permanent users to earn extra cash by displaying Google ads to Basic/Plus and logged out users. A number of you tried it. Some of you really like it. Others, not so much. (Just FYI, Paid/Permanent users who do not participate in this program will not view ads on journals. Participants will see ads on their own journal, but won't see them on other journals unless they specifically opt in.) For additional details, visit here.
    • We relaunched m.livejournal.com, our mobile app. While it offers a nicer UI and enhanced functionality, some of you think we can do better on load times. Like most of us, it's a work in progress. You can customize your mobile settings here. For more info, please read the FAQ.

    Missing Inaction

    • We shudder to bring up the neon purple elephant squatting on our heads, but, yes, we didn't give you those a la carte userpics. We've been making radical improvements to our backend in order to support them. But no excuses. We know you want them. We cringe every time you mention them. We're sorry we dropped the ball on this, and we promise to do our best to get them to you in 2010.

    Stumbling points

    • Back in early August, we experienced outages related to a series of DDoS attacks. We are proud to report that we were down a total of one hour over the course of a few days. We thank our heroic ops guys for getting us up sooner and more consistently than any of our less fortunate social networking friends. We apologize for leaving you temporarily stranded.
    • A couple of months back, we offered a free, unrestricted vGift, which induced a snowflake cookie avalanche. This resulted in backed up/delayed notifications, which, in turn, led us to reboot systems, rendering scrapbooks unavailable. It took a while to shovel free. Apologies for the inconvenience. We learned a valuable lesson that should keep us calamity-free in the future (fingers crossed while knocking on wood).
    • That darn Best Buy ad. First off, we're sorry about the audio auto-play (we got it turned off as quickly as possible). While it's true that we'll continue to show this type of ad to accounts that normally see them (never to Paid/Permanent accounts), we'll make sure the sound defaults to off moving forward. We promise to do our very best to keep ads to a minimum on LiveJournal, while keeping a roof over Frank's head.

    Full steam ahead!

    As we plunge headfirst into the next decade, we want to take a moment to look back and thank all of our employees, both past and present, who have worked so hard to create our unique and magical universe. We couldn't have made it this far without you: Your contributions brighten our path everyday. We also want to extend our heartfelt appreciation to each and every one of you. Whether you've been around for ten days or ten years, your humor, intelligence, talent, and creativity are what makes this the most vibrant global community on the Internet (the best place on the Web, in our humble opinion). Here's hoping that 2010 will be the greatest year yet! We thank you for joining us as we embark upon another glorious decade of LiveJournal history!

    50bookchallenge
    [ make_meabird ]
         		2:44p
    Book 1: Stones from the River
     Photobucket
    Stones from the River
    Ursula Hegi
    Historical fiction
    525 pages
    Photobucket
    Returning to Burgdorf, the small German community she memorably depicted in Floating in My Mother's Palm, Hegi captures the events and atmosphere in the country prior, during and after WW II. Again she has produced a powerful novel whose chilling candor and resonant moral vision serve a dramatic story. With a sure hand, Hegi evokes the patterns of small-town life, individualized here in dozens of ordinary people who display the German passion for order, obedience and conformity, enforced for centuries by rigid class differences and the strictures of the Catholic church. The protagonist is Trudi Montag, the Zwerg (dwarf) who becomes the town's librarian; (she and most of the other characters figured in the earlier book). A perennial outsider because of her deformity, Trudi exploits her gift for eliciting peoples' secrets--and often maliciously reveals them in suspenseful gossip. But when Hitler ascends to power, she protects those who have been kind to her, including two Jewish families who, despite the efforts of Trudi, her father and a few others, are fated to perish in the Holocaust. Trudi is a complex character, as damaged by her mother's madness and early death as she is by the later circumstances of her life, and she is sometimes cruel, vindictive and vengeful. It is fascinating to watch her mature, as she experiences love and loss and finds wisdom, eventually learning to live with the vast amnesia that grips formerly ardent Nazis after the war. One hopes that Hegi will continue to depict the residents of Burgdorf--Germany in microcosm--thus deepening our understanding of a time and place.

    I am so glad that we picked this one for our first book club read of the new year! The only reason that I did not give this book five stars is because it seemed to drag and lag on at the beginning and end of the book. There were times that I found Trudi to be annoying, honestly. However, I do not know how it is to grow up in that time period and to be like her, so I cannot say if her reactions to people/things is wrong, but I don't think she had a heathly outlook on things all of the time. If you are into pre-WWII and holocaust survival stories, then I highly recommend this book. I am now reading another book by Hegi, Floating in My Mother's Palm, in which Trudi plays a minor role.
    50bookchallenge
    [ gwynraven ]
         		11:28a
    Book #2 -- Clifford Chase, Winkie, 240 pages.

    Er . . . I don't know what to say about this one. It's one of the most bizarre novels I've read in a long time. Best description I can think of is The Velveteen Rabbit meets Kafka's The Trial. Despite the sheer absurdity of it, it does have its moments of brilliance.

    Progress toward goals: 1.9%

    Books: 2/100 = 2.0%

    Pages: 601/30000 = 2.0%

    2009 Book List

    cross-posted to [info]15000pages, [info]50bookchallenge, and [info]gwynraven
    50bookchallenge
    [ judeaslinksta ]
         		10:15a
    Books 23 - 25
     Halfway mark!

    Book 23: The Select by F. Paul Wilson. 394 pages.
    Genre: Psychological action thriller, perhaps. Medical thriller, anyhow.
    Plot: From the back of the book: "Quinn Cleary is smart, idealistic and poor. She's been accepted at The Ingraham, a prestigious medical school, where a select few receive the finest education free of charge. But something is terribly wrong at The Ingraham. Quinn notices subtle changes in the bright, hand-picked students. Then she stumbles upon the silent, staring patients in locked Ward C."
    Good, but predictable as heck. Quinn fits into the perfect stereotype of women protagonists in this sort of fiction. She's tall, stunning (but doesn't know it) and smarter than everyone else. I enjoyed the character of Dr Emerson, as well as Tim. The twist with Ward C was a little surpising, but that was the only thing about the book that I wasn't able to predict after the first chapter.
    Rating: 5 of 10.

    Book 24: Cover Her Face by PD James. 206 pages.
    Genre: Mystery.
    Plot: From fantasticfiction: "Headstrong and beautiful, the young housemaid Sally Jupp is put rudely in her place, strangled in her bed behind a bolted door. Coolly brilliant policeman Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard must find her killer among a houseful of suspects, most of whom had very good reason to wish her ill." The debut novel for PD James, I figured it was a good place to start, as I'd never read any of her stuff. It follows a very classic British mystery plotline with all of the suspects gathered in the room at the end waiting to find out whodunnit. The action is all very passive, you don't really realize how quick it's going. I like that, but it's hard to get used to after reading something a lot more modern where everything is happening at once. It was enjoyable though, and I'll be keeping an eye out for more of her books.
    Rating: 7 of 10.

    Book 25: We Bought a Zoo by Benjamin Mee. 261 pages.
    Genre: Memoir.
    Plot: Benjamin Mee and his wife, his mother and his brother buy a failing zoo in Dartmoor. Told from Mee's perspective, the story covers mainly the before and during aspects of buying and setting up the zoo, which is at risk of being shut down permanently. Even though I knew going into it what the outcome was, I still felt a sense of relief at the end when they successfully managed to open to the public. Mee has a habit of jumping back and forth in time when telling the story, which is a bit confusing. The animal anecdotes were fun, moreso than his occasional ego trips in which he talked about his DIY prowess. I've put a visit to the actual zoo, the Darmoor Zoological Park, on my to-do list.
    Rating: 6 or 7 of 10.


    25 / 50 books. 50% done!


    7094 / 15000 pages. 47% done!
    silkyraven
         		12:26p
    Exams
     I made it to Nottingham in one piece yesterday. There was very little snow up there, far more in London. The bus journey and then walk from Kings Cross to my house was a bit hair-raising at nearly midnight but I was all tucked up in bed not long after that.

    The exam went ok...it's hard to tell but there were two questions I could answer and I spent the whole time writing. I'd be surprised if I failed. I really couldn't have written another thing by the end of the exam though and my hand is quite painful today. Writing for two hours does not suit my hypermobile joints! That was the last exam I have to take though. Two more taught modules (both coursework assessment) and one dissertation and I'll be done!

    Current Mood: calm
    Wednesday, January 6th, 2010
    50bookchallenge
    [ deadpoet83 ]
         		10:48p
    My first books of 2010
     I decided to do the 50 book challenge again in 2010. Mostly because my reading has been tapering off, due to theatre, video games, knitting, and various other pursuits, and I am trying to motivate myself to read more.

    1. Black Swan Green by David Mitchell

    This is quite different from the other two books of his I've read (Cloud Atlas and Ghost Written), but I still loved it. It's basically a coming of age story, but it's done really well. It appears to be semi-autobiographical, and Mitchell really captures adolescence and the ways people hide themselves to fit in better, without sinking into being maudlin.

    2. Survivor by Octavia Butler

    This is part of her "Patternist" series, which is not my favorite thing she's ever written, but is still intriguing. Butler also says that this is her least favorite novel she ever wrote. Overall, I liked it well enough, but I do think it lacked the depth and freshness of some of her other works.

    Current Mood: thoughtful
    Current Music: Fallout 3
    50bookchallenge
    [ spockollama ]
         		6:26p
    Books 1-3! Woo!
     I am a total bookworm, although some people would argue that I don't count because I don't read classics. What can I say? Moderns fantasy is just so much more intersting:)
    I saw this community and thought it was a great idea. I've been neglecting my reading for the internet a little this past year, and now I can combine the two. Hurrah! So without further ado, my first 3 books of the year.

    ( No spoilers. Cut because it's a bit long. )

    So far, I'm doing well-three books in one week. But that's probably not going to continue, because most of the books I read aren't part of a series I started reading four years ago, and take longer to finish than two days. My next book is Homeland by R.A. Salvatore,  which will probably take closer to a week.
    Thursday, January 7th, 2010
    50bookchallenge
    [ kymellin ]
         		12:27a
    New Year, New Challenge
     1. Jeff Lindsay, Dexter by Design, 285 pages, Thriller, Hardback, 2009.

    The 4th book in this series about the loveable serial killer/blood splatter specialist who only kills bad guys finds Dexter returning from his honeymoon with Rita and settling into domestic life, including teaching his new step-children the Harry Path, the code of conduct his adoptive father taught him. At work, he finds Miami has a new criminal who likes to leave dead bodies as art – and who puts Dexter in the cross-hairs after he makes a snap judgment with deadly consequences. But now Dexter has a family to worry about, a fact this adversary has no problem exploiting.

    I enjoyed the book – no more supernatural musings on the nature of the Dark Passenger, for one thing. I like the way the books have developed Rita’s children, very different from the Showtime adaptation of the series. But Dexter seems to be less a killer than a confused loner this time around. And it seems he isn’t likely to find a balance in his life any time soon. I look forward to the next book, due out sometime in the next year.
    Wednesday, January 6th, 2010
    50bookchallenge
    [ crimsonstar86 ]
         		11:09p
    Book 37


    Title: Darkfever (fever series 1)
    Author: Karen Marie Moning
    Pages: 309
    Genre: fantasy, romantic suspense

    MacKayla Lane’s life is good. She has great friends, a decent job, and a car that breaks down only every other week or so. In other words, she’s your perfectly ordinary twenty-first-century woman.

    Or so she thinks…until something extraordinary happens.

    When her sister is murdered, leaving a single clue to her death–a cryptic message on Mac’s cell phone–Mac journeys to Ireland in search of answers. The quest to find her sister’s killer draws her into a shadowy realm where nothing is as it seems, where good and evil wear the same treacherously seductive mask. She is soon faced with an even greater challenge: staying alive long enough to learn how to handle a power she had no idea she possessed–a gift that allows her to see beyond the world of man, into the dangerous realm of the Fae….

    As Mac delves deeper into the mystery of her sister’s death, her every move is shadowed by the dark, mysterious Jericho, a man with no past and only mockery for a future. As she begins to close in on the truth, the ruthless Vlane–an alpha Fae who makes sex an addiction for human women–closes in on her. And as the boundary between worlds begins to crumble, Mac’s true mission becomes clear: find the elusive Sinsar Dubh before someone else claims the all-powerful Dark Book–because whoever gets to it first holds nothing less than complete control of the very fabric of both worlds in their hands….

    My thoughts:     I thought this book was good. The story kept me interested until the end of the book.

    I am pretty sure I will reach 50 books by May which is my deadline for my book challenge.

    Books read: 37 books
    Pages read: 15,819 pages
    50bookchallenge
    [ ydnimyd ]
         		10:15p
    Book #2 - The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder
     Book #2: The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder - Rebecca Wells (2009, 395 pages)

    Rebecca Wells strays from her famous YaYas in her 2009 novel The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder, and while it is often hard for authors to pick up a new set of characters, Wells does it wonderfully.

    As a young child growing up in La Luna, Louisiana, Calla Lilly Ponder realizes that she has a unique gift, that she's only ever seen before in the hands of her mother. Not only can she produce beautiful hair, but she can help soothe the souls of those who come utilize her beautician services.

    The book follows Calla Lily throughout  the first thirty-some-odd years of her life, stopping at all of the major points such as her first love, the death of her mother, going to beauty school in New Orleans and marrying. Throughout her life, she is watched from above by the Moon Lady, a spiritual guide Calla Lily's mother taught her about as a young child.

    Wells tells Calla Lily's tale beautiful, giving the readers a wonderful narrative that is often hard to put down. The only part of the novel that I struggled with was the ending, which seemed a bit too easy, especially considering what Calla Lily had experienced. But that little niggle aside, this is a wonderful story, which is why I give it a strong four out of five moonlit skies.

    Total Books Read: 2 / 50 (4 percent)
    Total Pages Read: 718 / 15,000 (5 percent)

    Current Mood: satisfied
    50bookchallenge
    [ maribou ]
         		8:39p
    Magical Snowflake
     The Magical Christmas Cat, by Nalini Singh, Erin McCarthy, Linda Winstead Jones and Lora Leigh
    Okay, so I vaguely knew these were romance authors and the picture on the cover is all sweet and fluffy - a white cat with a snowglobe. So I thought this would be light romance novellas with a dash of fantasy and a Christmas theme. Something cheerful and fluffy for the holidays. No, no, no, no. Paranormal romances, mostly VERY hot and heavy, featuring changelings, demon cats, etc. (yes, each one is vaguely Christmas-related - that's the only thing I got right from the cover/title.) Goodness gracious!! I could not have read it on public transit without feeling uncomfortable (I guess maybe that is why the cover was so innocuous). That said, I do think I will read some more Nalini Singh one of these days (good characters, fun fluff) and the others were quite competent. Not sure I would've enjoyed all of them if I was healthy enough to notice the plot holes and clunky writing - but the one that felt clunkiest was also the one with the hottest sex... *fans self, changes subject*.
    (5/200)

    The Art of the Snowflake, by Kenneth Libbrecht
    Very beautiful pictures of snowflakes. With just enough text that I didn't completely zone out staring at all the pretty pretties.
    (6/200)

    Current Mood: still tired of being sick
    Current Music: things are dying noisily in my husband's video game
    50bookchallenge
    [ rons_pigwidgeon ]
         		8:26p
    Books 1 - 3 of 2010
     1] Isis - Douglas Clegg
    Summary: A novella about a girl named Iris and the lengths she would go to to be with her brother, Harvey.
    Thoughts: Though it was short, and I read it as a last-ditch effort to complete my challenge from last year (I only made it to 49), I loved this little book. The story was a haunting, beautifully written tale of love, loneliness, and loss. The illustrations were gorgeous, and they seemed to add so much to the story. This is truly a jewel of a novella and I think everyone should read it.
    Rating: 9/10

    2] Beastly - Alex Finn
    Summary: A modern re-telling of Beauty and the Beast from Beast's perspective, set in New York City.
    Thoughts: I liked this book. It took me a while. At first, the obnoxious superficiality of Kyle (Beast) in the way that he saw the world made me disgusted, but as the novel progressed and he grew as a character, the writing became much better and in the end was a delight to read. The love story between Kyle/Adrian/Beast and his Beauty was very sweet and made me smile on several occasions. I enjoyed both the characters of Kendra and of the tutor, whose name escapes me. When I looked up this book on Amazon, I was surprised to find that it has been made into a movie that will be coming out in July. Do not judge the book by the trailer. The Beast in the book has fur and claws and teeth and looks like the Disney version. In the trailer, he has weird spidery veins and no hair anywhere. Don't know why they would want to do that, but oh well. That's Hollywood for you.
    Rating: 8/10

    3] The God Box - Alex Sanchez
    Summary: High school senior Paul has dated Angie since middle school, and they're good together. They have a lot of the same interests, like singing in their church choir and being active in Bible club. But when Manuel transfers to their school, Paul has to rethink his life. Manuel is the first openly gay teen anyone in their small town has ever met, and yet he says he's also a committed Christian. Talking to Manuel makes Paul reconsider thoughts he has kept hidden, and listening to Manuel's interpretation of Biblical passages on homosexuality causes Paul to reevaluate everything he believed. Manuel's outspokenness triggers dramatic consequences at school, culminating in a terrifying situation that leads Paul to take a stand.
    Thoughts: I was engrossed in this book from page two. Being a non-practicing Catholic who has mild skepticism for "Bible Thumpers", I didn't think I was going to be able to handle all the scripture that goes into this novel, but I really enjoyed it. It sort of made me want to pick up my own Bible just to read further into the passages Sanchez talks about. The struggle inside Paul was compelling and made me ache to give him a hug and tell him that everything would be all right and that it was perfectly fine and natural to be a homosexual. Overall, I really enjoyed the novel and I think it will be a great help/comfort to teenagers who are both deeply religious and also struggling with their own sexuality.
    Rating: 10/10

    I'm feeling really good about my chances of not only completing the challenge this year, but possibly exceeding it. I've finished three books within the first week of the year, and am 75% finished with two audiobooks. WooHoo!

     
    3 / 50 words. 6% done!

     
    601 / 15000 words. 4% done!
    [ << Previous 25 ]
Magick Me   About LiveJournal.com

Advertisement