Challenges Update

My sidebar is getting rather cluttered and I have actually finished a lot of challenges, but have just been keeping them there anyway. I am going to do a bit of a progress report now so I can clean the sidebar off a bit, but if books still apply I will probably continue to keep track... Just not on my sidebar.

The Series Challenge Season 3
December 1, 2008 - November 30, 2009

Read Four Books that Finish an On-going series:
1. Mercy Thompson Series - Book 4 - Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs
2. Grave Goods: A Mistress of the Art of Death Novel by Ariana Franklin
3. Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry (The Giver Trilogy, Book 2)
4. Messenger by Lois Lowry (The Giver Trilogy, Book 3)
5. The Guests of War Trilogy - Book 3 - The Lights Go On Again by Kit Pearson (need to review)

Challenge Status: COMPLETED!

Dewey's Books Reading Challenge
January 1, 2008 - December 31, 2009

Read 5 Books that Dewey Reviewed:
1. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
2. The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier
3. The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
4. Looking for Alaska by John Green
5. American Born Chinese by Gene Luch Yang
6. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
7. Paper Towns by John Green
8. The Tale of One Bad Rat by Bryan Talbot
9. The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
10. So Many Books, So Little Time by Sara Nelson
11. Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters: The Frightening New Normalcy of Hating Your Body by Courtney E. Martin
12. The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci & Jim Rugg
13. The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby
14. Gossamer by Lois Lowry
15. Nation by Terry Pratchett
16. Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
17. One Piece, Volume 1 by Eiichiro Oda


Challenge Status: COMPLETED!

Women's History Month Challenge
Month of March

Read 5 books by any women:
1. The Lost Journals of Ven Polypheme - Book Two - The Thief Queen's Daughter by Elizabeth Haydon
2. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel
3. Messenger by Lois Lowry (The Giver Trilogy, Book 3)
4. The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
5. Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon Hale
6. Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi - Still Need to Review

Challenge Status: COMPLETED!

New Author Challenge 2009
January 1, 2009 - December 31, 2009

Read Ten New Authors:
1.Hiro Mashima
2.Barbara Randall Kesel
3.Bill Willingham
4. Art Spiegelman
5. David Wolman
6. Jon & Kate Gosselin
7. Katherine Barber
8. John Green
9. Gene Luch Yang
10. David Michaelis
11. James Bow
12. Scott Westerfeld
13. Ellen Hopkins
14. Carrie Vaughn
15. Edith Pattou
16. Queenie Chan
17. Trenton Lee Stewart
18. Christine Fletcher
19. Melissa Marr
20. Linda Medley
21. Jo Graham
22. Jessica Abel
23. Nick Abadzis
24. Kaoru Mori
25. J.H. Sweet
26. Bryan Talbot
27. Jeff Smith
28. Alison Bechdel
29. Natsuki Takaya
30. Clamp
31. Mary E. Pearson
32. David B.
33. Colleen Doran
34. Derek Landy
35. Charles Burns
36. Eizabeth Wein
37. Ingrid Law
38. April Lurie
39. John Scalzi
40. P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
41. Francesca Lia Block
42. Eiichiro Oda
43. Sara Nelson
44. Courtney E. Martin
45. Cecil Castellucci & Jim Rugg
46. K.L. Going
47. Nick Hornby
48. Ysabeau S. Wilce
49. Sonya Sones
50. Erich Von Daniken
51. Megan Whalen Turner
52. Claudia Gray
53. Mark Crilley
54. Carolyn Turgeon
55. Susan Beth Pfeffer
56. Ted Naifeh
57. Christopher Barzak
58. Carrie Ryan
59. Marc Eliot
60. Raymond Briggs
61. Sharon Creech
62. Ali Smith
63. Erica Kirov
64. Kristin Cashore
65. Suzanne Collins
66. Bryan Lee O'Malley
67. David Almond
68. Anne Fadiman
69. Melina Marchetta
70. Lesley Livingston
71. Pierre Bayard
72. Andi Watson
73. Ellen Potter
74. Rachel Neumeier
75. Philippa Pearce
76. Alessandro Baricco
77. Jay Asher
78. Philip Reeve
79. Holly Lisle
80. Per Petterson
81. Jennifer Holm
82. Kelly Link
83. Margaret Peterson Haddix
84. Janet Taylor Lisle
85. Chris Wooding
86. Martin Wilson
87. M.T. Anderson



Challenge Status: COMPLETED!

Rhinoa's Manga Challenge
January 1, 2009 - December 31, 2009

Read Six Mangas:
1. Fairy Tail - Volume 1
2. Fairy Tail - Volume 2
3. Legends of the Dark Crystal - Volume 1
4. The Dreaming Vol 1
5. The Dreaming Vol 2
6. The Dreaming Vol 3
7. Emma - Volume 1
8. Emma - Volume 2
9. Emma - Volume 3
10. Emma - Volume 4
11. Emma - Volume 5
12. Emma - Volume 6
13. Emma - Volume 7
14. Chobits Vol. 1
15. Fruits Basket Vol 1
16. Fruits Basket Vol 2
17. Chobits Vol. 2
18. Chobits Vol. 3
19. Fruits Basket Vol 3
20. Fruits Baskey Vol 4
21. X/1999: Prelude by Clamp (Volume 1)
22. X/1999: Overture by Clamp (Volume 2)
23. Chobits Vol. 4
24. One Piece: Romance Dawn by Eiichiro Oda (Volume 1)
25. One Piece: Buggy the Clown by Eiichiro Oda (Volume 2)
26. One Piece: Don't Get Fooled Again by Eiichiro Oda (Volume 3)
27. Emma - Volume 8 by Kaoru Mori
28. Miki Falls - Book 1: Spring by Mark Crilley
29. Miki Falls - Book 2: Summer by Mark Crilley
30. Manga Shakespeare: A Midsummer's Night Dream
31. Scott Pilgrim: Precious Little Life - Volume 1 by Bryan Lee O'Malley
32. Manga Shakespeare: Romeo & Juliet
33. Manga Shakespeare: Hamlet
34. Manga Shakespeare: The Tempest


Challenge Status: COMPLETED!

Graphic Novels Challenge
January 1, 2009 - December 31, 2009

Read Six Graphic Novels:
1. Fables Volume 1: Legends in Exile
2. Fables Volume 2: Animal Farm
3. The Book of Ballads
4. Maus - Volume 1: My Father Bleeds History
5. Maus - Volume 2: And Here My Troubles Began
6. Fables - Volume 3: Storybook Love
7. Fables - Volume 4: March of the Wooden Soldiers
8. Fables - Volume 5: The Mean Seasons
9. Fables -Volume 6: Homelands
10. Fables: Volume 7: Arabian Nights (And Days)
11. American Born Chinese
12. Fables - Volume 8: Wolves
13. Fables - Volume 9: Sons of Empire
14. Castle Waiting
15. Life Sucks
16. Laika
17. Alice in Sunderland: An Entertainment
18. Rose
19. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
20.Epileptic by David B.
21. Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon and Dean Hale
22. A Distant Soil - Volume 1 - The Gathering by Colleen Doran
23. A Distant Soil - Volume 2 - The Ascendant by Colleen Doran
24.Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi
25. The Tale of One Bad Rat by Bryan Talbot
26. Black Holes by Charles Burns
27. The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci & Jim Rugg
28. Robot Dreams by Sara Varon
29. The Good Neighbors: Kin: Book One by Holly Black & Ted Naifeh
30. Ethel and Ernest by Raymond Briggs
31. Clubbing by Andi Watson
32. Babymouse: Our Hero by Jennifer Holm
33. Lost at Sea by Bryan Lee O'Malley


Challenge Status: COMPLETED!

2nd Canadian Book Challenge, Eh!
July 1, 2008 - July 1, 2009

Read 13 Canadian Books:

1.Traveling Music by Neil Peart
2. Eleanor Rigby by Douglas Coupland
3. Don't Lets Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller
4. The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Toews
5. Lord Beaverbrook by David Adams Richards
6. Coventry by Helen Humphreys
7. Jolted by Arthur Slade
8. The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
9. Conceit by Mary Novik
10. What They Wanted by Donna Morrissey
11. Barnacle Love by Anthony De Sa
12. Personal Demon by Kelley Armstrong
13. The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
14. I Was a Child of Holocaust Survivors by Bernice Eisenstein
15. Santa Claus: A Biography by Gerry Bowler
16. Cats I Have Known and Loved by Pierre Berton
17. Louis Riel: A Comic Book Biography by Chester Brown
18.Turtle Valley by Gail Anderson-Dargatz
19. one good story, this one by Thomas King
20. Men of the Otherword by Kelley Armstrong
21. Only in Canada, You Say: A Treasury of Canadian Language by Katherine Barber
22. The Unwritten Girl by James Bow
23. Dust by Arthur Slade
24. JPod by Douglas Coupland
25. The Golden Phoenix and Other Fairy Tales from Quebec Edited by Marius Barbeau & Michael Hornyansky
26. Scott Pilgrim: Precious Little Life - Volume 1 by Bryan Lee O'Malley
27. Lost at Sea by Bryan Lee O'Malley
28. The Guests of War Trilogy - Book 3 - The Lights Go On Again by Kit Pearson
29. Wonderous Strange by Lesley Livingston


Challenge Status: COMPLETED!

Bad Bloggers - Take Nine

In which I attempt to further put off going to the grocery store...

Red River by Lalita Tademy - I really like Cane River and it is about time I read this!

Saturn's Children by Charles Stross - Curiousity... It is nominated for awards

Here, There Be Dragons by James A. Owen - Deslily!

X/1999 Prelude by Clamp - Chris.

100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson - Not really sure. Seen several reviews of it!

In other news... the charming comedian actually has a doctors note saying he can't do the dishes! Not like he ever does them anyway (haha), but still! So, not only is he sick and complaining, but I have to do all the dishes! This stems from the amount of dishes I had to wash last night. I was not a happy camper. He has been forgiven, though, I guess... And, I mean, he does have a valid reason. He has been watching me on Twitter. He says my nickname should've been 'freakishnerd'. Sometimes I wonder why I have the 'charming' part in his name! His nicknames for himself (should he ever join) were x-rated and actually pretty funny...

Mailbox Monday - Take Two

Godmother: The Secret Cinderella Story by Carolyn Turgeon - Received from Random House Canada.

Lil is an old woman who spends her days shelving rare books in a tiny Manhattan bookstore and lonely nights at home in her apartment. But Lil has an intriguing secret. Tucked and bound behind her back are white feathery wings–the only key to who she once was: the fairy godmother responsible for getting Cinderella to the ball to unite with her Prince Charming.

But on that fateful night, something went terribly and beautifully wrong. Lil allowed herself the unthinkable: to feel the emotions of human beings and fall in love with the prince herself, going to the ball in place of Cinderella in her exquisitely gorgeous human guise. For her unforgivable mistake, she was banished to live among humans, far from her fairy sisters and their magical underwater world. But then one day she meets Veronica–a young, fair-skinned, flame-haired East Village beauty with a love of all things vintage and a penchant for falling in love with the wrong men–and suddenly it becomes clear to Lil that she’s been given a chance at redemption. If she can find a soul mate for Veronica, she may right her wrong and return to the fairy world she so deeply longs for. . . .

Angels of Destruction by Keith Donohue - Received from Random House Canada.

Keith Donohue’s first novel, The Stolen Child, was a national bestseller hailed as “captivating” (USA Today), “luminous and thrilling” (Washington Post), and “wonderful...So spare and unsentimental that it’s impossible not to be moved (Newsweek. His new novel, Angels of Destruction, opens on a winter’s night, when a young girl appears at the home of Mrs. Margaret Quinn, a widow who lives alone. A decade earlier, she had lost her only child, Erica, who fled with her high school sweetheart to join a radical student group known as the Angels of Destruction. Before Margaret answers the knock in the dark hours, she whispers a prayer and then makes her visitor welcome at the door.

The girl, who claims to be nine years old and an orphan with no place to go, beguiles Margaret, offering some solace, some compensation, for the woman’s loss. Together, they hatch a plan to pass her off as her newly found granddaughter, Norah Quinn, and enlist Sean Fallon, a classmate and heartbroken boy, to guide her into the school and town.

Their conspiracy is vulnerable not only to those children and neighbors intrigued by Norah’s mysterious and magical qualities but by a lone figure shadowing the girl who threatens to reveal the child’s true identity and her purpose in Margaret’s life. Who are these strangers really? And what is their connection to the past, the Angels, and the long-missing daughter?

Angels of Destruction is an unforgettable story of hope and fear, heartache and redemption. The saga of the Quinn family unfolds against an America wracked by change. As it delicately dances on the line between the real and the imagined, this mesmerizing new novel confirms Keith Donohue’s standing as one of our most inspiring and inventive novelists.

Rides a Dread Legion by Raymond Feist - Book One in The Demonwar Saga - Received from Harper Collins Canada.

The last remnants of an ancient advanced race, the Clan of the Seven Stars, are returning at long last to their lost homeworld, Midkemia—not as friends, but as would-be conquerors. Led by the conjurer Laromendis, they are fleeing the relentless demon hordes that are sweeping through their galaxy and destroying the elves' vast empire planet by planet. Only by escaping to Midkemia and brutally overtaking the war-weary world can the last remnants of a mighty civilization hope to survive . . . if the Dread Legion does not pursue them through the rift.

The magician Pug, Midkemia's brave and constant defender, is all too familiar with the Demon King Maarg and his minions and their foul capacity for savagery and horror, and he recognizes the even graver threat that is following on the heels of the elven invasion. The onslaught to come will dwarf every dire catastrophe his imperiled world has previously withstood, and there is no magical champion in all of Midkemia powerful enough to prevent it. Only one path remains for Pug and Midkemia's clandestine protectors, the Conclave of Shadows: forging an alliance of formidable magical talents, from the demon-dealing warlock Amirantha, brother of Pug's hated foe, and the demon-taming cleric Sandreena, to the elven Queen Miranda, to the warrior Tomas. However, uniting enemies and bitter, vengeful former lovers will be no easy task, and even together they may ultimately be unable to turn the death tide. But a failure to do so will most certainly ensure Midkemia's doom.

The Lost Journals of Ven Polypheme - Book Two - The Thief Queen's Daughter by Elizabeth Haydon

Books Completed: 76
Completion Date:
Pages: 319
Publication Date: June, 2008

Reason for Reading: Next Book in the Series.

Long ago, in the Second Age of history, a young Nain explorer by the name of Ven Polypheme traveled much of the known and unknown world, recording his adventures. Recently discovered by archaeologists, a few fragments of his original journals are reproduced in this book. Great care has been taken to reconstruct the parts of the journal that did not survive, so that a whole story can be told…

On his first day on the job as Royal Reporter of the land of Serendair, King Vandemere sends young Charles Magnus Ven Polypheme—known as Ven—on a secret mission within the walls of the Gated City. His quest? To discover the origin of a mysterious artifact given to the king’s father. The king warns Ven to take care—because once you enter the Gated City, you might never be allowed to leave.

Within its walls, all sorts of exotic merchandise not found anywhere else in the world can be bought or sold. But not only merchandise. Dreams, wishes, memories…even childhood…can be sold—or stolen. The Gated City is ruled by the powerful Raven’s Guild, and the guild is ruled by the Queen of Thieves.

Ven and his friends enter the Gated City ready for adventure. But when one friend is kidnapped and it is revealed that they are traveling in the company of the runaway daughter of the Queen of Thieves herself, their adventure turns deadly. For the ruthless Thief Queen will stop at nothing to get her daughter back….

I have to say, I am really enjoying this series so far! I knew that Elizabeth Haydon could write because I have read one of her adult novels, but that was a couple years ago now. It was nice to reenter one of her worlds and remember just how fun her books are! When we left Ven in the previous novel, he had just finished up some amazing adventures. He had a whole new life to begin exploring. Ven is a very curious soul. He is interested in everything new that he experiences and sees. As his very first assignment as the King's Royal Reporter he is sent to the Gated City. The Gated City used to be where they sent those that had committed crimes. Now, it is an enclosed part of the city that still is treated like everyone inside is criminals. In many ways, though, they are! Ven is warned to be careful once he walks in the gates because he is on his own then, and not even the king can save him.

The Gated City is full of wonders. Ven is accompanied by all the friends that he had made in the previous novel. He has a specific mission, but he is also to experience new things for the King. The King loved to travel around and see things when he was a prince, but now that he has taken the throne he is restricted to the castle. I really enjoy the character of the King, though. He is like a boy caught in a man's world at times, but then we are reminded just how capable he is. He loves puzzles and it is wonderful to watch him piece together a mystery. I think this series would be almost as enjoyable if he was the main character. Ven can be the only one, though! Sometimes Ven can be annoying, but it fits his age. Generally he narrates his story well and is always up to wonderful new adventures. He is also very loyal to his friends, which is shown over and over again during the course of the book.

It really is a good series! I think it is a bit overshadowed, too, which is a shame! It is a bit of a different-type of young adult fantasy and I think it can be enjoyed by readers of all ages! I have the third book out from the library right now and I cannot wait to see what happens next! I have discovered a lot of good young adult series this year!

My New... Toy...

Okay, I have no idea what I am doing, but I finally joined Twitter! I swore I would never, but I HATE the new facebook and am hardly using it, so I guess I need a new toy... I remember when I first started using the name Kailana, it was not around at all... Now, I can't seem to be the first person on these sites with it. So, needless to say, that's not my name!

Anyway, if you want to follow me or whatever, I am bookishnerd

Herding Cats II and The Non-Fiction Five Reading Challenges

I decided to join two new challenges... I am trying not to overload, but I am mostly done what I am already signed up for and these are challenges that I wanted to join last year and didn't because I was hardly reading! So, the challenges are Herding Cats II and the Non-Fiction Five.

Here are the guidelines to Herding Cats II:

1. Make a list of five books you love. Directions:

• Five. I'm as serious as a beached whale.
• All titles must be books you've read in 2007, 2008 or 2009.
• Please don't list a series; just the first book. If you really want to list a book in the middle of a series, you can, but it has to be that specific book.
• Feel free to share why you're putting the book on your list, because I am nosy.

2. Post your list:

• in your own journal, in the comments here, whatever is fine. Share the link to the list here.
• Lists should be public (no locked entries, no logging in to view).

3. Browse the new book list. Stay a while. Read a few (eta: if you want; not even reading is required this time around if you don't have time to commit to a new challenge but still want to share your favorites).

4. If you review your books, you can share the reviews. You know, if you want. No pressure. Definitely not.

I am allowed to pick five books for the Herding Cats Challenge. Do you have ANY idea how hard five books are to choose? So, I decided to go with two from 2007, two from 2008, and then one from 2009. Considering I have almost read as many books in 2009 in three months as I read in the entire year of 2008, that might not be the fairest!

In 2007, I posted twenty books that were my favourite reads.

I am going to choose the following two:

28: Stories of AIDs in Africa by Stephanie Nolen - AIDs is a serious problem in the global community. People all over the world suffer from the disease. We may call it the 'gay man's disease' or the 'third-world country disesase', but what we actually have is a disease that can affect any race, gender, or financial bracket. It has affected millions of people and it continues to be a serious problem. I think in some ways it gets sweeped under the carpet because diseases like cancer have such a strong position in our society, but AIDs is not a problem that is going to easily go away. This book is a collection of stories from REAL people affected with a life-changing disease. Not all of them actually have the disease themselves, I might add, but they have all been touched by it. It's been two years since I read this book and I still have these people's stories running around in my head...

Wolf of the Plains by Conn Iggulden - Let me set the stage. This book is a chunkster. I bought it mostly on impulse. I didn't really even know what I was getting myself into, but I loved it! I read it in like a day or two. I know because I bought it on the third and my review is dated for the fifth... So, it was a very readable book! It is the story of Genghis Khan, who is a very famous conquerer from history. The novels may not be entirely accurate, but we have to remember that they are historical FICTION and not historical NON-FICTION. So, yes, he does take some liberties with the story. It is still excellent, though! I have also read the second book, but I haven't read the third yet... I hate to see trilogies end...

Moving on to 2008... I had a bad reading year and my Best of Post is a bit disorganized!

My two choices:

Ghost Rider by Neil Peart - It still surprises me when I think that the charming comedian is the reason I read this book! He loves the band Rush and he has me listening to them a lot more than I used to. When he mentioned Peart's books, though, and suggested I read them there was no contest! I read three of them in 2008 alone and absolutely loved them! I actually reviewed them, too, which is an accomplishment in itself! (I am ALWAYS behind on reviews!) Even if you are not a fan of the band, you can appreciate this book. It really is a book about healing and survival. For a bit of background for those not familiar, Peart lost both his daughter (car accident) and wife within about a ten month period of each other. His heart was breaking and he really didn't know how to cope, so he rode his motorcycle. This book was written afterwards about his struggles and coping with a situation that could easily break anyone. It is a very good book... And, well, not at the same time!

The Serpent Bride by Sara Douglass - Okay, so I have to include fantasy. I haven't yet, which is baffling for me! Anyway, this is my pick because, well, it's Sara Douglass and I love this trilogy! And, Sara Douglass has cancer, so the third book in the trilogy has been put on hold while she heals... See, she needs support, so people should read her books! For those that read my blog regularly, here is my reasoning for this book: This year I am doing a lot better, but we know how I am notoriously bad at reading series right away or reading books by the same author one right after the other... Well, she was one of my exceptions from last year! The best thing about Douglass is she can also write a really good second book in her trilogies. And, well, Douglass is not an author that I see a lot around the blogosphere, which makes me sad!

And, now, for this year... One book out of 93. This is going to be interesting...

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy (Skulduggery Series, Book 1) - I just recently read this book and I LOVED it! What a fun book! What fun characters! And, well, the rest of my choices are adult books, but this is a young adult read. So, anyway, read this book! You will NOT be disappointed! I haven't had a chance to review it yet, but believe me, it's great! It is the story of a young girl who finds herself caught up in very unusual circumstances. Skulduggery Pleasant (isn't that a great name?) circumstances. You see, Skulduggery is a walking and talking skeleton, and that is just the beginning of the great characters! It was just fun. I have the second book out from the library right now and the third book is either just recently out or coming out soon. I strongly recommend a read!

Okay, so coming up with five books was REALLY hard!

My List of Possible Reads:
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury (Want to wait for the R.I.P. Challenge, though)
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke (I REALLY need to get around to reading this book!)
The Bone Doll's Twin by Lynn Flewelling (I own it...)
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart (Have out from the library)
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch (Own it)
Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta (Have on request from the library)
One Piece, Volume 1 by Eiichiro Oda (Requested from the library)
Four and Twenty Blackbirds by Cherie Priest (Requested from the library! Finally!)
The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud (Own it)
Nation by Terry Pratchett (Out from the library)
Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson (On Request from the library.)
Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan (Out from the library)


Then, we have the Non-Fiction Five challenge.

The Rules (unchanged from previous years)

1. Read 5 non-fiction books during the months of May - September, 2009 (please link your reviews on Mister Linky each month; Mister Linky can be found each month on this blog)

2. Read at least one non-fiction book that is different from your other choices (i.e.: 4 memoirs and 1 self-help)

3. If interested, please sign up below with the link to your NFF Challenge post (all choices do not need to be posted and may change at any time)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

I really have no idea what I want to read at the moment... I own a LOT of non-fiction books... I will have to think!

Peeps by Scott Westerfeld (Peeps Series, Book 1)

Books Completed: 71
Completion Date: March, 2009
Pages: 312
Publication Date: September 2006

Reason for Reading: Really like Scott Westerfeld so far!

A year ago, Cal Thompson was a college freshman more interested in meeting girls and partying than in attending biology class. Now, after a fateful encounter with a mysterious woman named Morgan, biology has become, literally, Cal's life.

Cal was infected by a parasite that has a truly horrifying effect on its host. Cal himself is a carrier, unchanged by the parasite, but he's infected the girlfriends he's had since Morgan. All three have turned into the ravening ghouls Cal calls Peeps. The rest of us know them as vampires. It's Cal's job to hunt them down before they can create more of their kind. . . .

Bursting with the sharp intelligence and sly humor that are fast becoming his trademark, Scott Westerfeld's novel is an utterly original take on an archetype of horror.

After completing Westerfeld's Uglies series, I decided I was going to have to find another book to read by him. I really enjoyed that series as a whole, and Westerfeld is quickly becoming one of my favourite young adult authors. Nymeth read Peeps, and seemed to really enjoy it. Since I generally like the same books as her, I decided that this was the logical book to read next. The difference in our reading experiences is that I read the Uglies series first, while Peeps was Nymeth's first Westerfeld.

Peeps is a very original take on the vampire story. I mean, Westerfeld has becoming a vampire as a sexually transmitted disease! Considering the general story is something that involves sharp teeth and bitting, I was intrigued by the idea from the very beginning! Vampire stories try to be original, but if you keep a lot of the 'main' ideas the same, it is hard to write a fresh novel about vampires. Westerfeld obviously figured this out and just decided to entirely change everything 'normal' about vampire stories. It resulted in a really good story. I will say that I liked Uglies better, but that is mainly because I really like Tally. Cal Thompson is a good character, don't get me wrong, but we didn't hit it off as well as I did with Tally. Cal contracts the disease soon after he moves from Texas to New York. One of those small town boy moves to large city type of stories.

Even though Westerfeld writes an original take on the vampire story, he actually has a more believable one. Cal is lucky. He has a very strong immune system, so while he gets some of the symptoms of vampirism, he is still mostly in control. He joins an organization whose job is to hunt down the 'Peeps' that were not as lucky to have his immune system. It may seem a little unbelievable, but Westerfeld also includes chapters that look at real parasites. It is real science and it makes it seem like while you are reading a science-fiction novel, it could easily be a plausible story. The science really backs it up. Like I said, it makes for an original look at a vampire story.

There is a lot more going on, of course, but if I tell you everything than you won't want to read the book yourself! I will just conclude by saying this was another positive effort from Westerfeld. I can't wait to read another book by him and see what he comes up with next! Oh, I do have one problem: I hate the cover of this book! There are better versions, but this is the one that I read!

Bad Blogger Take Eight - Part Two

Books picked up at the library today:

Mister Monday by Garth Nix - Marg really likes this series, so I figured I would give it a go.

Pay the Piper by Jane Yolen - Rhinoa. Although, someone else mentioned it more recently and reminded me of it, I just can't remember where I saw it! Really must start making notes...

The Latent Powers of Dylan Fontaine by April Lurie - Chris mentioned this in an email and now has read and reviewed it! Considers it one of his top reads so far this year.

Quiet week at the library. Might actually get a bit caught up this weekend!

You know. I was talking to the charming comedian on the phone as I was headed to the library (it was nice out, so I decided to walk) and he called me a nerd because, well, I was walking to the library! Anyway, it struck me as funny. He calls me a nerd all the time and it just sort of dawned on me that it doesn't really bother me... Now, if this was about ten years ago he could have wound up in the intensive care unit for a comment like that. I HATE being labeled, so it is still not the best thing he could call me in the world, but I guess I have loosened up a bit over the years!

Which reminds me of the other day when he noticed I was reading the Conan books by Robert Howard. He was all excited because he has seen the movies (we watched them together last year, actually). So, I was showing him the books on Amazon and I came to, I think, the second one in the series and he said 'I want to see that!'. Well, I, of course, pointed out to him that it was a book not a movie. His response was that he meant they should make it into a movie. We sort of have things in common...

Rose by Jeff Smith

Books Completed: 70
Completion Date: March, 2009
Pages: 160
Publication Date: March 15, 2002

Reason for Reading: New Author Challenge, Graphic Novel Challenge

The hit comic book mini-series "Rose" now comes to you in a single handsome package with a brand-new cover! Released over a yearlong period to rave reviews (and an Eisner nomination for best painter), the "Bone" prequel by Jeff Smith and Charles Vess can now be read as it was originally intended - as one massive epic. In the old days, when "BONE'S" Gran'ma Ben was a teenager, a terrifying dragon laid siege to the small towns of the Northern Valley. Unknown to Princess Rose (young Gran'ma Ben), the strange dragon is actually the minion of the Ancient Enemy called the Lord of the Locust. Unable to defeat the monster, Rose seeks the advice of her advisor, who tells the young princess how to destroy the dragon - but at a terrible cost.

There were a lot of steps along the path that lead to me reading this book. First, Debi reviewed it and brought it to my attention, then I read about it in Alice in Sunderland, and then I decided I really need to try Jeff Smith and found that I would be number twenty in the waiting list for Bones. I think I will probably end up buying Bones, but this book I could check-out right away. It is actually a prequel to the hit series. Rose in this series goes on to be Gran'ma Ben in the hit series. I am sure that means something, but since I haven't read the 'hit' series yet, I have no idea who she is!

I enjoyed this book. Rose was a very engaging heroine. She is a little bit of a wild child, but she has amazing powers. Most importantly she has the ability to see things in her dreams, which is what foreshadows the adventures that she is about to have. In the book, Rose has to kill a dragon, but at a terrible cost. I have to admit that I rather hated the ending... Not that it wasn't good; just that I didn't want it to end that way! I suppose it is the mark of a good book, though, when you are so engaged in the characters that you don't want to see terrible things happen to them. Also in the story are Rose's two dogs. Rose has the ability to talk with them, which adds to the story. Her advisor is a dragon, which I thought was cool considering she is on a mission to kill another dragon. Then, there is her sister, who is very jealous and not at all what she appears to be. Sibling rivalry makes a good story element, I guess!

Couple the story with the fact that Charles Vess does the artwork and you have a great read ahead of you!

Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters by Courtney E. Martin

"Why does every one of my friends have an eating disorder, or, at the very least, a screwed-up approach to food and fitness?" writes journalist Courtney E. Martin. The new world culture of eating disorders and food and body issues affects virtually all -- not just a rare few -- of today's young women. They are your sisters, friends, and colleagues -- a generation told that they could "be anything," who instead heard that they had to "be everything." Driven by a relentless quest for perfection, they are on the verge of a breakdown, exhausted from overexercising, binging, purging, and depriving themselves to attain an unhealthy ideal.

An emerging new talent, Courtney E. Martin is the voice of a young generation so obsessed with being thin that their consciousness is always focused inward, to the detriment of their careers and relationships. Health and wellness, joy and love have come to seem ancillary compared to the desire for a perfect body. Even though eating disorders first became generally known about twenty-five years ago, they have burgeoned, worsened, become more difficult to treat and more fatal (50 percent of anorexics who do not respond to treatment die within ten years). Consider these statistics:

• Ten million Americans suffer from eating disorders.
• Seventy million people worldwide suffer from eating disorders.
• More than half of American women between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five would pre fer to be run over by a truck or die young than be fat.
• More than two-thirds would rather be mean or stupid.
• Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any psychological disease.

In Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters, Martin offers original research from the front lines of the eating disorders battlefield. Drawn from more than a hundred interviews with sufferers, psychologists, nutritionists, sociocultural experts, and others, her exposé reveals a new generation of "perfect girls" who are obsessive-compulsive, overachieving, and self-sacrificing in multiple -- and often dangerous -- new ways. Young women are "told over and over again," Martin notes, "that we can be anything. But in those affirmations, assurances, and assertions was a concealed pressure, an unintended message: You are special. You are worth something. But you need to be perfect to live up to that specialness."

With its vivid and often heartbreaking personal stories, Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters has the power both to shock and to educate. It is a true call to action and cannot be missed.

When Dewey read this book she broke it up into chapters for her reviews. I think I am going to try and do about the same, but will probably read about three chapters per review. She has all the quotes and things in her reviews, so it doesn't make much sense for me to repeat them.

Introduction:

To read all the notes that Dewey took on this chapter, click here.

I was hooked on this book from the very first paragraph. The facts that she was presenting were actually really interesting to me. Dewey talks about how she has a healthy relationship with both food and exercise. I am not sure what I have. I am not in the extreme group, but I don't have the best eating habits in the world. The book says that the average woman spends 100 minutes a day (at least) worrying about their weight and other contributing factors. I don't think I do that. I do have my moments, but for the most part my size doesn't dictate my life.

The thing that totally blew my mind in just this first section was when it said:

Women 18 to 25: 50% would rather be run over by a truck than overweight.
2/3 would rather be mean or stupid than overweight.

I actually had to pause at this part of the book because, well, I honestly cannot believe that people think like that! I do have my moments where I have had a terrible day and am feeling overwhelmed, but I have never wanted to be hit by a truck because of my weight. That's crazy! As to the mean and stupid, while I would never want to be either of those things, I can understand where the ideas coming from. Society is way more concerned with looks than it is with brains and being a nice person. That's a sad fact!

Dewey said:

I’m mostly reading this book to stay professionally informed (I work with teenage girls), but I also have a personal interest because I strongly believe that our culture is toxic, and I’m particularly interested in the ways it’s unhealthy for women.

As to why I am reading this book, it is a lot about curiousity. I agree with Dewey in that our culture is toxic, so I will be interested to see how this is addressed in the rest of the book.

Chapter 1 - "Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters"

To read all the notes that Dewey took on this chapter, click here.

Dewey said:

I admire Martin’s writing. This is one of the rare non-fiction books that, if I had more time, I could just read straight through, gobbling it up. She also has a chatty, informal tone: she calls the DSM-IV “the big book that psychologists use to label what kind of crazy everyone is.”

I totally agree with this! I really enjoy how this book is written. It is not tying me down with loads of information, but I am learning. I also like how she is informal. She is getting the information across, but in a more conversational method than some non-fiction books use.

I am liking that the book is not just about eating disorders. It is also about a female's need to be a perfectionist. I can totally see that in my own life in so many ways, so it is something I can relate to. I don't have a great relationship with food, but it is also not something that I stress about all the time. There are many other things that bother me.

“We are tired of trying so hard all the time. We feel like giving up. We feel hopeless. We want love, acceptance, happy endings, and rest.”

This sentence, especially, sounds a lot like how I live my life at times. Maybe not everything the same, but I can relate to this ideal of perfection. I was raised in a single-mother household for a large chunk of my life, so I watched my mother accomplish a million things at once and always make it look so easy! Me... I lost my job, I set smoke detectors off at three in the morning, I set the oven mitts on fire... I really don't make things look easy! If anything I just make myself laugh at myself, but at the same time I wish that I could make things look just as easy as my mother always made it look. I know that in reality it wasn't easy, but parents put on a very good show!

Chapter 2 - “From Good to Perfect: Feminism’s Unintended Legacy”

To read all the notes that Dewey took on this chapter, click here.

Dewey said:

The Gilligan quote really hit home with me, as I did choose to retain my “authentic voice” and I can confirm that this does lead to a lot of judgment and even lost relationships, as a shocking number of people have trouble accepting women who don’t choose the “good girl” route. And it’s not like I’ve done bad things like drunk driving, either. I’ve just had a pattern throughout life of paying a lot of dues for insisting on being myself in spite of the disapproval of others.

I read this quote of Dewey's and this is so totally me! I could have wrote the exact same paragraph. I was going to say basically the same thing to begin with, but in different wording.

I really don't want to stand on a platform and get into the whole idea of feminism and all that. I will just say that I consider myself a feminist. I guess I would be included in the 'third-wave' generation that the author is talking about, but I don't really look at it that way. I just live a life where if a guy can do it, I can do it. That being said, I am comfortable enough with me (though, not always) to ask for help. I hate being considered 'weak', but I also know that I cannot do everything. I need to work on it in some ways, though, which people like the charming comedian and my friends have pointed out to me over the years.

Chapter 3 - 'The Male Mirror: Her Father's Eyes'

To read all the notes that Dewey took on this chapter, click here.

This chapter was interesting. It looked at the influence that father's have on their daughters, which I found informative. It was things that I have never thought about before because my mother mostly raised me and my father was off in the sidelines. I would almost recommend that fathers' read this chapter because they are probably not aware of the influence they have on their daughters. Martin argues that it is their silence that is worse than anything they have to say.

Dewey talked about another aspect of this chapter:

I’ve noticed myself that many teenage girls consider developing breasts and hips to be “getting fat.” So many girls and young women I’ve talked to seem convinced that the ideal for a woman is to retain a pre-pubescent straight-up-and-down body. They seem to find it horrifying to gain weight, even when that weight gain goes along with increased height. This determination to retain a childlike stick figure body seems to go along with a horror with body hair. When I was in high school and college, it was considered “gross” to retain any armpit or leg hair, but now more and more I hear from girls and women that age that it seems “gross” to retain pubic hair, too. It concerns me that female secondary sex characteristics are considered so repulsive. It’s sickening to think that without realizing it, women attempt to please men by appearing as much as possible like little girls.

Very interesting way that the world is changing.

---------------------------------------------
That's it for this week, more look at the chapters next week!

Bad Bloggers - Take Eight

Quiet library day. Probably a good thing!

I got four books:

Dingo by Charles de Lint - Really need to read more de Lint.

My Swordhand is Singing by Marcus Segwick - Point for Rhinoa.

Playing With Fire: A Skulduggery Pleasant Novel by Derek Landy - Read the first book a few days ago and really liked it!

Curse of the Narrow by Laura M. MacDonald - Wanted to read this book for a while!

Short Story Sunday on Monday - The Once Upon a Time Edition

I have had this book for two years! I have picked it up to read several times, but just never got around to it. Then, last year I just hardly read at all, so lots of books stayed on my TBR pile untouched. Since I received this book from Carl, I figured it was fitting to try and read it for this years Once Upon a Time Challenge. Reading fantasy is not a challenge for me. I love fantasy and I read it all the time (as most of you know). Reading short stories, though, is a challenge. I am more likely to pick up a novel than a short-story collection. That is just how I am. So, this is my challenge.

“Between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities . . . there was an Age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars. . . . Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand . . . to tread
the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandalled feet.”

Conan is one of the greatest fictional heroes ever created–a swordsman who cuts a swath across the lands of the Hyborian Age, facing powerful sorcerers, deadly creatures, and ruthless armies of thieves and reavers.

In a meteoric career that spanned a mere twelve years before his tragic suicide, Robert E. Howard single-handedly invented the genre that came to be called sword and sorcery. Collected in this volume, profusely illustrated by artist Mark Schultz, are Howard’s first thirteen Conan stories, appearing in their original versions–in some cases for the first time in more than seventy years–and in the order Howard wrote them. Along with classics of dark fantasy like “The Tower of the Elephant” and swashbuckling adventure like “Queen of the Black Coast,” The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian contains a wealth of material never before published in the United States, including the first submitted draft of Conan’s debut, “Phoenix on the Sword,” Howard’s synopses for “The Scarlet Citadel” and “Black Colossus,” and a map of Conan’s world drawn by the author himself.

Here are timeless tales featuring Conan the raw and dangerous youth, Conan the daring thief, Conan the swashbucklingpirate, and Conan the commander of armies. Here, too, is an unparalleled glimpse into the mind of a genius whose bold storytelling style has been imitated by many, yet equaled by none.

"The Pheonix on the Sword"

This story introduces us to Conan of Cimmerian. He has battled hard and won the kingship for himself. He doesn't like being king, though. He prefers battle and laments the days when he was able to simply ride a horse. He is special. The gods favour him, as he learns when his enemies decide that he has been king for long enough. They want the kingdom for themselves, even if it is going to take a lot of killing to do so. I love sword and sorcery stories. I really haven't read enough of them in the last few years, so I can see me really loving this collection. Already I want to know more about Conan and his adventures and I have only read one story!

"The Frost-Giant's Daughter"

This was a fun story. Well, in a way. I really liked the Frost-Giants Daughter, but on the other hand I didn't. Conan is the sole survivor of a horrific battle when a woman dressed only in a cloth of glossamer comes to him. She leads him on a chase that could end in Conan's death. For a minute it seems like Conan is going to take advantage of her, but Howard has this female have more brains and power at her disposal than originally thought. I really like Howard's writing style, too. It flows really well and is very descriptive.

"The God in the Bowl"

This story further shows that Conan is better with his sword than he is with communicating with people. Caught up in a murder, Conan witnesses the 'justice' of the town he is in. Finding someone to blame is more important than being innocent or guilty. Conan can get himself out of a jam, though. There is more going on that just the murder, though. They might just have to figure out who the real murderer is because he might have more deaths in mind... It was a page-turning story and had a really creepy feel to it.

---------------------------------------------
That's it for this week! More, hopefully, next weekend. Later today there will be Bad Bloggers and then tomorrow will be Non-fiction Tuesday where I am going to post chapter overviews from two non-fiction books I have on the go. It will include the Introductions and three chapters this week. One is for Dewey's Reading Challenge and the other is for The Once Upon a Time Challenge. If it becomes a regular feature it will probably be just one book a week, but this is because of library due dates.

Mailbox Monday

I am really good with the Bad Bloggers, but I rarely post about the mail. These are the books that I have received in the mail the last couple weeks:

A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick - Received from Harper Collins Canada

Set in a small Wisconsin farming and manufacturing town still crumbling a decade after the depression of the 1890s, A Reliable Wife tells the story of Ralph Truitt, a wealthy businessman who advertises for “a reliable wife” in newspapers across America. The woman he chooses, Catherine Land, describes herself as “a simple, honest woman,” but in truth she is both complex and devious— not the missionary’s daughter she claims to be in her letter to Truitt but a courtesan of great beauty, kept by men and haunted by a terrible past. Catherine’s plan in accepting the marriage offer is simple: she will win this man’s devotion, and then, ever so slowly, she will poison him and leave Wisconsin a wealthy widow. What she has not counted on, though, is the passion she finds in this seemingly solid, forthright man—a man who also harbours secrets and whose own past is far from pure.

Filled with remarkable characters and drenched with colour and atmosphere, A Reliable Wife is a story of love and madness, longing and murder, played out in a world that seems to have gone temporarily off its axis.

Hand of Isis by Jo Graham - Received from Hachette Book Groups

Following her acclaimed debut, Jo Graham returns to the ancient world with a novel that will captivate lovers of fantasy, history and romance.

Set in Ancient Egypt, Hand of Isis is the story of Charmian, a handmaiden, and her two sisters. It is a novel of lovers who transcend death, of gods who meddle in mortal affairs, and of women who guide empires.

Automatic World by Struan Sinclair - Received from Random House Canada

A stunning and fearless first novel from the Canadian author of the critically acclaimed Everything Breathed.

In this exhilarating debut novel, four strands spanning several generations are woven together through the fragmented consciousness of a patient in rehabilitation from an accident that leaves him stuck in present tense. Unable to recall who he is, where he is from, or who he knows, and determined to access his history, the patient harvests and assembles the narratives of his friends, family, and other witnesses. Out of this miscellany emerge surprising stories: Merrick, an inventor who dreams of a clockwork universe; Dory, a girl who commits a mercy-killing at a local hospice; Merle, whose repeated suicide attempts function to forge a relationship with his estranged son, and, finally, the narrator’s own elusive past. Between these threads is the story of a train crash and of three minutes lost - three minutes that will prove a turning point in the lives of all the characters caught in this complicated clockwork.

Serendipity Market by Penny Blubaugh - Received from Harper Collins Canada.

When Toby breathes on Mama Inez's bird-shaped invitations, giving them the power to fly, plans for the Serendipity Market begin. Soon, eleven honored guests travel from afar and make their way to the storytellers' tent to share their stories. Each tale proves what Mama Inez knows—that magic is everywhere. Sometimes it shows itself subtly—a ray of sun glinting on a gold coin, or a girl picking a rose without getting pricked by the thorn—and sometimes it makes itself known with trumpets and fireworks. But when real magic is combined with the magic of storytelling, it can change the world.

This is a breathtaking debut novel written with elegance and grace.

Jo-Jo And the Fiendish Lot by Andrew Auseon - Received from Harper Collins Canada.

There is a life after death, but only for the terminally cool. . . .

Jo-Jo Dyas doesn't believe he has any reason to live, but then he finds the surprisingly lively dead girl in the culvert and she convinces him otherwise. She and her punk band, the Fiendish Lot, come from the Afterlife, a strange, colorless place where souls sometimes pause on the journey between this world and the next. When Jo-Jo follows her there, he gets a chance to make right all the things that have gone wrong in his life . . . but only if he can figure out how before he fades away into nothing. Maybe the answer lies in Jo-Jo's late-breaking realization: Being alive is kind of cool.

Rude, raw, and blisteringly funny, Andrew Auseon's new novel is like one of those insanely catchy songs that you can't forget and won't want to. So pay attention: The afterlife you save may be your own.

Then, I actually bought books! It's pretty rare that I do that anymore... I got:

The Snow Queen by Mercedes Lackey - Book Four in The Five Hundred Kingdoms series
Lords of Misrule by Rachel Caine - Book Five in The Morganville Vampires Series
As Shadows Fade by Colleen Gleason - Book Five in The Gardella Vampire Chronicles

Alice in Sunderland: An Entertainment by Bryan Talbot

Books Completed: 69
Completion Date: March, 2009
Pages: 328
Publication Date: April, 2007

Reason for Reading: New Author Challenge, Graphic Novel Challenge

Sunderland! Thirteen hundred years ago it was the greatest center of learning in the whole of Christendom and the very cradle of English consciousness. In the time of Lewis Carroll it was the greatest shipbuilding port in the world. To this city that gave the world the electric light bulb, the stars and stripes, the millennium, the Liberty Ships and the greatest British dragon legend came Carroll in the years preceding his most famous book, Alice in Wonderland, and here are buried the roots of his surreal masterpiece. Enter the famous Edwardian palace of varieties, The Sunderland Empire, for a unique experience: an entertaining and epic meditation on myth, history and storytelling and decide for yourself - does Sunderland really exist?

I found this book very over-whelming! There was so much going on in it that I know I could read it five or six more times and find things that I missed the first time around! It was a mistake to take it out of the library. I strongly recommend buying this one if you plan to read it because it is a book you are going to want to keep flipping back through. I think it is also a book that needs to be explored a couple times just to be appreciated to its full extent because between the writing and the pictures there is a lot of stuff happening on each page! It was an over-whelming experience, but one that I really enjoyed!

I have to say... I did not really enjoy Lewis Carroll's novels. I know, I am off in the minority here, but I was never a huge fan. I am talking his two famous ones: Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. They sound like books I would love, but while I did like them, I am just not a huge fan. That being said, I find Lewis Carroll fascinating. I have read a lot about him as a person and I like hearing all the different theories on just who he was and what inspired him to write these books. It seems to me, no one really knows him. He is as big an enigma as some of the characters in his books. I wouldn't be surprised if Carroll wanted to be a mystery. It's unfortunate that he has gathered such a terrible reputation. In our society, he is a pedophile, but leading up to his society it was common-place for older men to marry way younger women. Really, who are we to judge? Anyway, Talbot takes a stab at his own theories on who Carroll was.

He also tackles history. He tackles a LOT of history! I found it really fascinating all the connections he made. He included famous figures and famous locations. It was a very visual armchair travel, but you also learned about the history at the same time. He ties this in with Carroll and how he was a visitor to the area and could have easily been influenced by it when he wrote his famous books. Talbot also talks about Alice. The real Alice. I have often wondered about her when Carroll or his books are mentioned. Carroll spent a lot of time with Alice when she was a child, sent her copies of all the different versions of the book, but hardly had an contact with her in her adulthood. That always struck me as odd; especially since she held on to all of the books he sent her throughout the years. It makes me wonder why they stopped talking, but all people can really do is hypothesize. The two people that know the truth are deceased.

Alice in Sunderland was a very worthwhile read. It might have just a bit too much going on to really get a grasp of everything, but I found it fun and interesting. I enjoyed the method that Talbot employed to tell his story and it is such a beautiful book! I can easily see me acquiring a copy of it somewhere down the road.

Highly recommended!

The Fairy Chronicles by J.H. Sweet - Book 1 & 2

Marigold and the Feather of Hope, the Journey BeginsBooks Completed: 68
Completion Date: March, 2009
Pages: 128
Publication Date: May, 2007

Reason for Reading: New Author Challenge.

Illustrations By: Tara Larsen Chang

Inside you is the power to do anything

Meet Beth, who's just discovered something incredible... she is a fairy, a marigold fairy, to be exact.

But Beth must learn to be a fairy during an emergency! The Feather of Hope has been lost and Beth must enlist the aid of her dog, Peanut, in a daring mission to rescue it from a house occupied by dangerous gremlins. And if Beth, her new fairy friends and Peanut can't get the Feather back, all hope will be lost...forever.

What if you discovered you had magical fairy powers? Meet the girls of The Fairy Chronicles, otherwise normal girls like you who are blessed by Mother Nature with special gifts. Their extraordinary adventures will change the world!

This all comes down to curiousity. When I was looking up a graphic novel on the computer, the first book in this series also came up as one of the results. I suppose I really didn't know all that much about it, but the library had the first two books and I decided to take a chance and give it a read. This book was just cute. There really is not much more I can say about it. Even the artwork in it is cute. I liked Beth. She was a sweet kid. She had always dreaded spending time with her aunt, but on this visit she learns that she is not who she thought she was! She's a fairy and this is about her first adventure after her discovery of her special gift. Sweet has found a way to take many different kinds of paranormal creatures and put them together into one book. We also meet gremlins (sort of), brownies, and gnomes. Marigold is Beth's Fairy name. Concluding thought is back to where I started, it was a cute book!

Dragonfly and the Web of Dreams

Books Completed: 75
Completion Date: March, 2009
Pages: 128
Publication Date: May, 2007

Reason for Reading: Continue on with the Series.

Illustrations By: Tara Larsen Chang

Inside you is the power to do anything

The Web of Dreams has been destroyed and every night more and more nightmares are slipping into people's dreams!

Jennifer, or Dragonfly to her fairy friends, is chosen to lead a fairy team to discover what happened to the Web and rebuild it immediately. To do so, they must make a dangerous journey, hunt down the Dream Spider and convince him to weave away the bad dreams.

But the Dream Spider is far away, and danger might be much closer than they think ...

What if you discovered you had magical fairy powers? Meet the girls of The Fairy Chronicles, otherwise normal girls like you who are blessed by Mother Nature with special gifts. Their extraordinary adventures will change the world!

The second book in the series takes place a couple months after the first book. The summer is drawing to an end. This is the story of Jennifer. She is one of Beth's friends. They met at a Fairy Circle when Beth first found out that she was a fairy and have been friends ever since. The girls are spending a Saturday afternoon together when an emergency strikes and a special Fairy Circle is called. Jennifer, Beth, and two other girls find themselves travelling to collect the Dream Spider because the Dream Web has been destroyed and the most horrible dreams are allowed to get through. This means that the girls have had terrible nightmares almost every night. Another cute book. Jennifer is a little fireball. She would be an interesting character to watch grow up!

While I find this series fun, these are the only two books the library has in the series, so I will have to decide in the future if I want to carry on. They are not the sort of books I feel a grand desire to buy, but I would like to read more about their adventures.

Emma by Kaoru Mori - Volumes 1-7

Completion Date: March, 2009

Reason for Reading: Manga Challenge, New Author Challenge.

In Victorian-era England, a young girl, Emma, who is rescued from a life of destitution and raised to become a proper British maid, falls in love with William, the eldest son of a wealthy family, but the strict rules of their society force them to keep their romance a secret.

It seems like forever ago that I read this series! When you hear the title, I am sure that most people automatically think of Jane Austen's Emma, but that is not the case at all! The series is a romance-type manga set in Victorian England. I have read manga off and on throughout the years, and I do enjoy it, but this was actually more my type of read than some of my other attempts with the genre. I was not entirely sure about the romance angle of the story, but the history side of it worked really well at catching my attention. I have to say that I am very glad that I gave the series a try because it was a good story, it had accurate history (complete with historical notes), and the artwork was fantastic!

I really liked the characters in this story. We have Emma, the title character, who has a rather difficult life. By a stroke of good fortune, though, she finds herself in the employ of Lady Kelly. Lady Kelly is a widow who sees something in Emma that she can use, so she takes her on from a young age as her maid. Lady Kelly has been basically alone since she was 20 and her husband died. She made her living as a governess. Even though she is retired, the young people from her past still come to visit her. It is one such visit that is the basis of the romance story in this series.

Enter William. William is the heir to a substantial fortune. He comes from a very good family who wants him to marry a woman from an equal, or better, family. He has spent some time with Emma, though, and he has found that he is in love with her. Emma has had offers from many men, but turned them down. William is different. The problem is that he is from a good family while she is just a maid. His family will never allow it. This means that they have to keep everything a secret, which leads to a bit of drama down the road. For manga, though, this was very quiet. Usually the female characters in this series are loud and vibrant. Emma is very quiet, and even though her relationship with William is scandalous for the times, it is a rather quiet series as a whole.

One thing about manga series are they are so long! Many look really good, but it gets costly if you have to buy them all. This series has seven books right now, but will be completed when there are ten. For a manga series that is a very manageble number. This is also a good series for people that like Jane Austen, romance novels, Victorian England, etc. It is a chance to try the manga world without going too far out of your comfort zone. The characters come alive on the page. Emma may be a bit of a quiet character, but we really get to know her as the series progresses. I really enjoyed learning about all of the characters in the book and look forward to further character development when the last three books are released.

Nymeth has also reviewed the seven volumes. Her review was soon after she read them all, too, so it is a lot better review! She also has tanabata reading them, so you can read her review of the first one here. It really is a great series! I hope other people will take a chance on them.

Proximidade Award & The Sisterhood Award

"This blog invests and believes in the PROXIMITY-nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this clever-written text into the body of their award."

Leya from Wandeca Reads presented me with this award. Thanks Leya!

1. Put the logo on your blog or on a post.
2. Nominate up to 10 other bloggers which show great attitude and or gratitude.
3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Remember to link to the person from whom you received your award.

C.J. from My Years of Reading Seriously presented me with this award.

She says:

her reviews are amazing and the girl's read 89 books already this year! I mean, talk about spirit!

Yeah, I have read a lot of books... Too bad most of them are from the library and not from my own TBR pile, though!

She then goes on to say:

I want to sincerely thank all of those that I nominated for this award. You've all made me feel like we could sit down and discuss books, or anything else, within minutes of meeting each other face-to-face, with none of that awkwardness you get when trying to get to know someone.

I totally agree with what she says! I think that is why even though I can be a very sporadic blogger, I am glad that people still have stuck around and are reading my blog!

So, because tagging 18 people would take forever, I am going to give 9 people both awards. At least I am awarding, okay?

Vasilly from 1330v - She actually amazes me! When she had her old blog I believe her profile said she was a single mother attending university. I have to say, when I was in university I had a hard time finding time to read around my schoolwork and my job, so I am amazed by all that Vasilly accomplishes! Besides, her new blog needs a couple awards to get it started.

Rachel from A Fair Substitute for Heaven - While not an active blogger at the moment, Rachel is really good on the book recommendation front. I have been known to randomly ask her for book recommendations and she always comes through. We also have conversations about other random things. (By the way, Rachel, I just finished Skulduggery Pleasant and I really liked it! I have the sequel on my hold list.)

JenClair from A Garden Carried in the Pocket - Reads and writes great reviews! I enjoy that when I leave a comment on her blog I almost always get a reply. Sometimes the replies turn into a couple emails back and forth.

Julia from A Piece of my Mind - Julia always has so much going on over at her blog. I enjoy reading all of her posts! I see she just added Twitter to her blog. Am I the only one that doesn't have Twitter...

Nicola from Back to Books - Nicola has given up the computer for Lent. I actually might have to try that one year. Just imagine how much spare time I would have! I don't know if I could do it, but I applaud that she accomplished it! She also reads a lot of great books and writes great reviews about them.

Aarti from Booklust - Aarti was a bit quiet for a while there, but I think she has read more books in three months than she did the entire year last year! (Actually, I could almost say same here!) Aarti is such a nice person. She has turned me onto lots of great fantasy novels in the time that I have known her. Yes, that's all it takes folks... Good fantasy. ha ha!

Clare from Confessions of a Book Addict - On the same line as above. I remember when I hardly knew Clare. I am not even sure if she had a blog yet. She gave me a HUGE list of fantasy books to read. She turned me on to paranormal fantasy, which was something I had largely avoided in the past. A very approachable person! Not to mention, if I hadn't started reading paranormal fantasy when I did I might not have discovered great authors like Patricia Briggs.

Court from Once Upon a Bookshelf - In the idea of sisterhood, Court noticed I was having a rough few days a month ago or so and sent me an email to see how I was making out! I thought that was really nice of her! I think of her and Rachel together because when one of them doesn't add a book to my wish list, the other one does! And yet I still like you... :)

Susan from You Can Never Have Too Many Books - A relatively new-to-me blog. The more I read it, though, the more I am amazed by how much Susan and me have in common! Did I mention all it takes is some good fantasy already? ha ha! Anyway, even with the Once Upon a Time challenge we are largely in agreement. I have yet to see her read a book that I couldn't easily see myself reading! So, yes, I am starting to think that Susan is one (of many) of my sisters in the blogging community.

Okay, so there could be so many more people to give awards to! I have been blogging for 3 years now, so I have met a lot of people over the blogging years. Some still blog, while others have moved on to bigger and better things! (For those of you wondering about the 3 years... yes, I forgot my only blog anniversary... Let's not go there!) Thanks to all of you that comment, blog, email, blabber, etc. This really is a great community!

Also, a special thank you to Marg from Reading Adventures because she is the reason I started blogging in the first place!