I just finished mowing the lawn. For the last time....this year. I hope. It was finally sunny. I ought to have gone out and mowed it...last weekend. Buuuuuuutttttttttt, I didn't. I stayed in and read. Which I've done. Daily. For. The last...month? I'm lame.
Books I've read in the past month:
The Circle of Magic (Sandry's, Deja's, Tris's, and Briar's book. There are four books and I read at least two of them (Sandry's and Tris's) when I was 14. The summer before I started high school, I think. I might have read Deja's book, I don't remember. I never read Brair's book. Anyways, I re-read or read them all finally, as they appeared one day on my Kindle search for Tamora Pierce. I was like WHOOOO. They are brilliant as usual. I fell in love with Brair. I didn't like him too well the first time I read the books, Tris being my favorite character, but this round, I found Brair fascinating.)
The Circle Opens(Another four books that have titles. But I am lazy. I don't feel like looking them up. I just mowed the lawn and feel like death. Anyways, I read them in order. I think. I started out with Sandry, who was the only one who remained in the town where they'd all been brought together in the first place. In the series, each new Mage gets a student. And none of them really want a student. Sandry and Deja kind of suck as teachers and are the ones who are least inclined with their students. Briar isn't inclined, but he winds up being the best teacher. And it is not because I am bias that I say this. He's the one who quickly accepts his role and embraces it. However, I can tell from reading about 14 year old Brair, he's going to be trouble as he gets older. And enjoys it. Tris's book, though, was my all time favorite out of the four. I liked her student quite a bit and I liked witnessing the changes in Tris.)
The Will of the Empress. (Totally a GREAT book to wrap up the whole Circle series. I know there's another one, but it doesn't feature Sandry, Deja, Tris or most importantly Brair, so I've not read it yet. Anyways, this book starts after the four have been apart for years upon years and have grown apart. They've cut themselves off from one another and then travel into hostile territory. Throughout the book, they finally manage to open themselves up to one another though, so it ends well. Well, for some of them. And I was right about Brair. That is proven in this book. And while it is perfectly understandable, it kind of annoys me. But I KNOW THERE IS A REASON, so I know it shouldn't annoy me. Not everyone can be as I WANT THEM.)
Faking It. (And ADULT BOOK. And by that I mean, it's aimed at Adult like people who want a romantic, introspective book to look at. Or read. It was pretty good...I was slightly frustrated after making one care so much about the two main character they never "got together." Oops, spoiler.)
Getting Caught. (This was okay. I liked that it was mostly about two former friends, who due to lack of communication started pranking one another. And hated one another for basically teh same reason, even though neither had done what the other hated the other for. Typical teenager. Cute. Not the best Mandy Hubbard, but she did write it with another person. So far, RIPPLE is the BEST Mandy Hubbard book. It was even better than But I Love Him.)
Beautiful Disaster. (I had low hopes for this book, after skimming the reviews. I was mostly interested it because it was about COLLEGE people. College Freshman. I haven't seen many books about college aged people, so I leaped. It was kind of long and it was kind of...stupid. But it was like crack. Or a soap opera. Like Passions. I miss Passions sometimes. It was like a train wreck and you just could not stop looking. That was this dumb book. It was like horrible accident that you just had to keep reading about. It was horrible. The relationship was...horrible. And then...the ending sucked. It was like Twilight all over again. Only with...sex.)
The Ghost and the Goth. (OMG. I read this twice in two days. It is...fluffy. But SO DAMN GOOD. I saw this in the bookstore when I went to get R her present for her July Birthday, which is still sitting on my dinning room table for no good reason other than....I am the laziest person known to man. Anyways, I saw it in the book store and I knew I was a gonner for two reasons: the uber popular girl and the outsider. I'm a total sucker for these things. I'm sorry. I knew it. Then add in teh ghost aspect and I was like, SQUEEEEEE. And it lived up to all my expections. Only, the publisher failed, as it's not on Kindle yet for Book 2. BAH. It's the last book in the Immortals series all over again.)
Between the Lines. (Yet another book after reading the first two lines of the description I bought without reading any more, as it was about...Hollywood. Acting. Movies. Add in a wee bit of Romance. I love these topics as well. My all time favorite books as a kid always dealt with actresses and TV or movies. So, I got this right away and read it twice in two days. I love that it's told from two perspectives, the guy and girl. I also like how it ends, which I always surprising. Endings are the worst for me. I can't write them, I hate reading them. Then, I found out there's another book in the series and I was dancing around the room.)
Epic Fail. (Another I got when I saw Hollywood in the description. The book was kind of an epic fail though...it was a retelling of Pride and Prejudice from what I could tell. Which must be some book, as several of the books I've read over the past year are basically re-tellings of that story. Elizabeth Bennett is a big deal and I have no clue why. Why? Because I've read four pages of PP and thought my mind was going to explode. I only know what it's about because I watched Lost in Austen after Claire told me to. But, while the other stories I didn't SEE the story line playing out for me, I did in this story. Even the character's names were close to the original names used. It distracted me throughout. Also, while I loved how we FINALLY got to know the main dude near the end, I was rather unhappy it just ENDED rather randomly.)
Anna and the French Kiss. (This has popped up in the recommends since I got my Kindle. Whose name is Kendi. I don't know if I told you that. Anyways, I've always looked at it, heard wonderful things about it, but something prevented me from hitting the BUY button. I have no clue what, but it did. Finally, though, yesterday, I hit the buy button. And the book ate me alive. I am serious. It ate me alive. It has EVERYTHING going for it. A great main character voice, a wonderful boy to fall in love with, and great supporting character and....Paris. I'm not a HUGE Paris fan. I've never had this undying NEED to go to Paris. Or learn French. Or know anything about French. Except the French Revolution because it MAKES LITTLE SENSE to me. Like Communism. Or Economics. Things that make no sense to me, I always want to know more about. In a sense, I want things to fit into neat little boxes. But, that's not the point. Paris is not London. Paris is not Glasgow. Paris is not British in other words. So, I don't care about it. In the title, on the cover, you can tell Paris/French/France will play a role. It does. It is an important role. But, I wish that hadn't prevented me from buying the book. Because...this book is AWESOME. I can't even put it into words. I think I might be able to read this book a million times. Like Harry Potter. Or Summer Story (which I wrote, and I've read a total of five times. And I still love it.))
Falling in Love With English Boys. (Duh, I got this book after seeing the title. It was kind of hard to get into, mostly because it is written as a blog written by a 16 year old in today's world, using today's slang, today's spelling and she write as I do. How she speaks. So thing are spelled wrong. I think if I read it out loud, it'd make more sense, but this was still pretty good. It was woven in with a diary of an 18 year old in 1815. Who knows a NICK. WHO ACTS LIKE A NICK. After this point...I kind of liked it more, so I read it too fast and missed a lot. I will read it again....after I read Anna and the French Kiss again. After I kill my barking dog. (Just kidding. I'm just going to wrap her up in a blanket and tell her she's not allowed to bark at the neighbor. She will look pathedic, I will go, "awwwww" and kiss her and hug her and she will cuddle up next to me and we'll forget she just scared the living shit out of me and more than likely who ever she was barking at out the front window.) Anyways, I love two viewpoints, and multiple story lines that weave together in the end, so duh, I liked this book. Plus LONDON. Tragically, it never out right told us who the 1815 chick ended up with, though it did tell us who she did not. Which was good, because I could sit there and be a dork.)
And that's it. Unless I add in there the stories I've written that I've read. (Mostly Summer Story. It's the only "complete" one. The others all need re-writes. Like RAB. RAB needs help I've decided. I have never been bored reading it till the last time I looked at it. I still loved the characters, but god, I was like, WFT was I thinking?)
Do people really say, in every day conversations, "BRB." Like say the freaking letters instead of "Be right back?" I had a friend in high school who said, "TTYL" And I always blinked at her. As my head doesn't work fast enough to figure it out. I've just noticed in the last few YA books, that in the actual conversations people have they are speaking in texting lingo. LOL, BRB. GTG. I am like, HUH? I AM OLD.
Oh, so I mowed the lawn. And I ignored the neighbors and people outside. Enjoying the fall day with my broken earphones, which one was stuffed into my shirt thumping and making horrible noises. Pilot Boy ran off with all earphones or lost them. We had three sets of BRAND NEW APPLE earphone, THREE sets of fancy ones and now the only ones I have find are the broken OLD APPLE EARPHONES that came with MY FIRST iSHUFFLE. SERIOUSLY?
I'm going to go die now. Or watch Doctor Who.
Showing posts with label Book Reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Book Reviews. Show all posts
17 September 2011
15 May 2011
Agreeing with 13 Year Old Me
When I was 13 I read a book. Well, I read more than one book, but this book was so important, I wrote about it in my journal. The journal I was actually writing for my future daughter, an idea I got from another book I read when I was 13. Okay, so I read a lot of books when I was 13, but THIS ONE I REMEMBER THE TITLE OF.
Well, kinda.
I remembered the author.
Kinda.
Because when I decided I wanted to buy the book on my Kindle, it took me a few searches to get the named spelled right.
It was Tamora Pierce. Not Tamara Price. Not Tamora Price. Nor was it Tamaro Priece. (Spelling was never a strong suit in the first place.)
When I was 13, for reasons I do not remember, I decided to check out a book called Alanna: The First Adventure. I also checked out the book next to it called In the Hands of the Goddess. No clue why I did this, as if I am honest with you, I was not into these sort of books as a kid. At 13, I was searching for books about romance. Or boys. Or romances with boys. Or hair. Popularity. Stuff like that. So, no idea how the 13 year old me came across these books.
Actually, I know how I came across them...because after I'd do searches on the computers for books and not find anything, I'd go to the stacks, pick a spot and begin to look for interesting titles or books with bright colors.
Which this book did not have. So I still do not know why 13 year old me picked it up, but I did.
And they made a huge impression on me, to the point I began to consume books by Tamora Pierce. I read EVERY single book the local library had by her. FOR YEARS I would go to the spot in the library where her books lived and religiously checked for new books.
I had a favorite author and her name was Tamora Pierce and I always called her Tamara Price. (Because I was that lame.)
I believe the last time I checked the area her books lived in the library was when I was 22. It was right before we went on vacation and I needed books to read during our time in the middle of nowhere. I had learned the previous year books would save me. Tragically, I had all ready read the newest Harry Potter book, so I was at the library trying to find something to amuse myself with. I do not know what possessed me to walk over to the YA section, an area I had not visited since I graduated from high school, but I went over there. To only the section where the Pierce books lived. I don't remember what was there, or why I went, but I noticed there were two very new looking books sitting on the shelf. I picked them both up and discovered they were part of the series I had first fell in love with (well, kinda).
I checked them out.
I read them in a day.
A piece.
I fell in love with the characters from the original series all over again. I vowed I was going to start at the beginning and re-read all the Tortall books again (Tortall is the "land" where the books take place.)
I never did this.
I don't remember what happened to prevent me from doing this, as I honestly had no life that summer. I had no job and the only thing I did was re-write The Novel. First major overhaul, which oddly was inspired by reading the Trickster books.
Flash forward to today. I am not 13. I have very little in common with my 13 year old self. For one, I hate scrunchies. I am embarrassed I ever had so many. I also don't like to wear oversize t-shirts and don't wear pants that are two sizes too big for me and drag on the ground. I also will never wear clogs in the winter and think it is cool. I do not wear big old glasses nor do I have a mouth full of metal. (though, ironically, I do have braces at the moment...) I have boobs and hips. And I do not wear my hair in a ponytail on a daily basis, even though I paid over 20 dollars for a fancy haircut no one ever saw. (I pay for fancy haircuts still, but I wear them out and about these days because I know how to use a hair dryer.) I do not write in a journal any more and I have no clue where the volumes of journals are that I wrote for my future daughter. I bet my mom put them somewhere where I will never find them...like the trash can... or the box labeled IRELAND'S JUNK in the basement...
I am 27 years old (even though I keep thinking I am 28). But I still am in love with the books I read at 13. However, I have learned that even though I thought these books were the BEST BOOKS in the whole wide world, I totally did not READ them, as at 27, I had no clue WHAT THEY WERE ABOUT. If you had asked me last week, what these books were about, I would have told you something way out in left field.
Alanna is about a girl who decides she wants to be a knight instead of a lady, so she goes off to be a knight. That much 13 year old me understood. What 13 year old me failed to remember about the book was that a major plot point in the book took place. 27 year old me did not see that one coming. It was out of left field. (The other left field, not the one 13 year old me was standing in.)
In the Hand of the Goddess also was filled with many surprises. And things I never understood at 13, because I read fast and I only read the books once. (At 27 I know I ALWAYS must read books at least twice before I make any decision on them, as the first read through is always too fast. And I miss major plot points.)
Things in my 13 year old head were very jumbled up compared to how they actually occurred in the books. As I continued to read the Lioness series (the Alanna books), I realized I FAILED AT LIFE when I read them the first time. I did not understand or comprehend a lot of what was going on. I remember being pissed off at Alanna for not being queen. I had no clue who George was or why he was important. I honestly thought that in the books Alanna battled her twin brother, and sorcerer, Thom. Not the guy she actually battled, who when he appeared in my 27 year old read through, I was like WHO THE HELL IS THIS? I was making up my OWN STORIES about the books when I read them at 13. I did the same with The Immortals series, the next series I read by Pierce. That one I totally jumped ship as I had no clue when I read them at 27 what they were about other than I knew in the end the main character got together with the tall dude I called NICK through out the book in my head. His name was not Nick in the least by the way. I don't know WHY I even called him that. (Okay, I do. But I am NOT going to tell you.)
I spent the past week re-reading the Lioness and Immortal series. They are wonderful books, seriously, they are. I love the rich world Pierce creates. I love the characters for who they are and at 27, when I slowly read through them, I picked up on things that I did not see at 13 because I read through them too quickly. At 13, I got hung up on the various romances that Alanna had. (And totally missed one...go figure). At 27, I realized George was very important. On many levels. More important than Jonathan even (who at 13, I was madly in love with). I also noticed the sub-theme of how Alanna struggled to figure out her identity, which was something I totally flew passed at 13. I was mad at her throughout the last two books because she seemed to just whine about being a girl or something. I know I read the last two books, but until two days ago, I could not for the life of me actually tell you what they were about in the least. I just knew that in the end, Alanna got married. The end.
Anyways, one thing my 13 year old self got out of these books were they are GOOD. I am serious, they are good. So good, I went through a total of 8 books in a week. (A book and half a day. Or more.) I finished yesterday and was SO SAD that I was done with the first two series. (There is another four book series that takes place in Tortall and then the two Trickers books, but I am saving those for a later date. Or and then one that takes place before Alanna's time about a ancestor of George, but those are for a later date as well.) I am glad I bought them (even if I had to buy the last Immortal book through B&N and thus can only read it on my iPhone or computer...but I'll bitch about that later. Or not.)
If you are looking for a new series to get into (or get back into) check out the Song of the Lioness Series and The Immortals series by Tamora Pierce. Well worth a read or two.
Well, kinda.
I remembered the author.
Kinda.
Because when I decided I wanted to buy the book on my Kindle, it took me a few searches to get the named spelled right.
It was Tamora Pierce. Not Tamara Price. Not Tamora Price. Nor was it Tamaro Priece. (Spelling was never a strong suit in the first place.)
When I was 13, for reasons I do not remember, I decided to check out a book called Alanna: The First Adventure. I also checked out the book next to it called In the Hands of the Goddess. No clue why I did this, as if I am honest with you, I was not into these sort of books as a kid. At 13, I was searching for books about romance. Or boys. Or romances with boys. Or hair. Popularity. Stuff like that. So, no idea how the 13 year old me came across these books.
Actually, I know how I came across them...because after I'd do searches on the computers for books and not find anything, I'd go to the stacks, pick a spot and begin to look for interesting titles or books with bright colors.
Which this book did not have. So I still do not know why 13 year old me picked it up, but I did.
And they made a huge impression on me, to the point I began to consume books by Tamora Pierce. I read EVERY single book the local library had by her. FOR YEARS I would go to the spot in the library where her books lived and religiously checked for new books.
I had a favorite author and her name was Tamora Pierce and I always called her Tamara Price. (Because I was that lame.)
I believe the last time I checked the area her books lived in the library was when I was 22. It was right before we went on vacation and I needed books to read during our time in the middle of nowhere. I had learned the previous year books would save me. Tragically, I had all ready read the newest Harry Potter book, so I was at the library trying to find something to amuse myself with. I do not know what possessed me to walk over to the YA section, an area I had not visited since I graduated from high school, but I went over there. To only the section where the Pierce books lived. I don't remember what was there, or why I went, but I noticed there were two very new looking books sitting on the shelf. I picked them both up and discovered they were part of the series I had first fell in love with (well, kinda).
I checked them out.
I read them in a day.
A piece.
I fell in love with the characters from the original series all over again. I vowed I was going to start at the beginning and re-read all the Tortall books again (Tortall is the "land" where the books take place.)
I never did this.
I don't remember what happened to prevent me from doing this, as I honestly had no life that summer. I had no job and the only thing I did was re-write The Novel. First major overhaul, which oddly was inspired by reading the Trickster books.
Flash forward to today. I am not 13. I have very little in common with my 13 year old self. For one, I hate scrunchies. I am embarrassed I ever had so many. I also don't like to wear oversize t-shirts and don't wear pants that are two sizes too big for me and drag on the ground. I also will never wear clogs in the winter and think it is cool. I do not wear big old glasses nor do I have a mouth full of metal. (though, ironically, I do have braces at the moment...) I have boobs and hips. And I do not wear my hair in a ponytail on a daily basis, even though I paid over 20 dollars for a fancy haircut no one ever saw. (I pay for fancy haircuts still, but I wear them out and about these days because I know how to use a hair dryer.) I do not write in a journal any more and I have no clue where the volumes of journals are that I wrote for my future daughter. I bet my mom put them somewhere where I will never find them...like the trash can... or the box labeled IRELAND'S JUNK in the basement...
I am 27 years old (even though I keep thinking I am 28). But I still am in love with the books I read at 13. However, I have learned that even though I thought these books were the BEST BOOKS in the whole wide world, I totally did not READ them, as at 27, I had no clue WHAT THEY WERE ABOUT. If you had asked me last week, what these books were about, I would have told you something way out in left field.
Alanna is about a girl who decides she wants to be a knight instead of a lady, so she goes off to be a knight. That much 13 year old me understood. What 13 year old me failed to remember about the book was that a major plot point in the book took place. 27 year old me did not see that one coming. It was out of left field. (The other left field, not the one 13 year old me was standing in.)
In the Hand of the Goddess also was filled with many surprises. And things I never understood at 13, because I read fast and I only read the books once. (At 27 I know I ALWAYS must read books at least twice before I make any decision on them, as the first read through is always too fast. And I miss major plot points.)
Things in my 13 year old head were very jumbled up compared to how they actually occurred in the books. As I continued to read the Lioness series (the Alanna books), I realized I FAILED AT LIFE when I read them the first time. I did not understand or comprehend a lot of what was going on. I remember being pissed off at Alanna for not being queen. I had no clue who George was or why he was important. I honestly thought that in the books Alanna battled her twin brother, and sorcerer, Thom. Not the guy she actually battled, who when he appeared in my 27 year old read through, I was like WHO THE HELL IS THIS? I was making up my OWN STORIES about the books when I read them at 13. I did the same with The Immortals series, the next series I read by Pierce. That one I totally jumped ship as I had no clue when I read them at 27 what they were about other than I knew in the end the main character got together with the tall dude I called NICK through out the book in my head. His name was not Nick in the least by the way. I don't know WHY I even called him that. (Okay, I do. But I am NOT going to tell you.)
I spent the past week re-reading the Lioness and Immortal series. They are wonderful books, seriously, they are. I love the rich world Pierce creates. I love the characters for who they are and at 27, when I slowly read through them, I picked up on things that I did not see at 13 because I read through them too quickly. At 13, I got hung up on the various romances that Alanna had. (And totally missed one...go figure). At 27, I realized George was very important. On many levels. More important than Jonathan even (who at 13, I was madly in love with). I also noticed the sub-theme of how Alanna struggled to figure out her identity, which was something I totally flew passed at 13. I was mad at her throughout the last two books because she seemed to just whine about being a girl or something. I know I read the last two books, but until two days ago, I could not for the life of me actually tell you what they were about in the least. I just knew that in the end, Alanna got married. The end.
Anyways, one thing my 13 year old self got out of these books were they are GOOD. I am serious, they are good. So good, I went through a total of 8 books in a week. (A book and half a day. Or more.) I finished yesterday and was SO SAD that I was done with the first two series. (There is another four book series that takes place in Tortall and then the two Trickers books, but I am saving those for a later date. Or and then one that takes place before Alanna's time about a ancestor of George, but those are for a later date as well.) I am glad I bought them (even if I had to buy the last Immortal book through B&N and thus can only read it on my iPhone or computer...but I'll bitch about that later. Or not.)
If you are looking for a new series to get into (or get back into) check out the Song of the Lioness Series and The Immortals series by Tamora Pierce. Well worth a read or two.
27 April 2011
Adventures in the Kitchen
Well, I tried to make biscotti. I was going to do a whole post on it and how wonderful it was. I took pictures and everything.
Then it tasted like shit. So I threw it out.
I then made skinny red velvet cupcakes.
They also taste like crap, but not as much.
I think the culprit is the whole wheat flour, which is not white whole wheat flour. The whole wheat flour is way to strong for the recommended dosage each recipe calls for. Except for the Whole Wheat Pancakes. Those always turn out right.
Maybe next time I make those, I'll do a picture post.
*deletes all the biscotti pictures*
In other news, Maureen Johnson's Last Little Blue Envelope came out yesterday and I read it. Yesterday. I started re-reading it two hours later. Because I read it too fast to really enjoy it because I HAD TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. But it is VERY GOOD and you SHOULD READ IT NOW. (But I am a sucker for books that feature British people with Americans as well as traveling stories.)
In other news, you should buy it.
Then it tasted like shit. So I threw it out.
I then made skinny red velvet cupcakes.
They also taste like crap, but not as much.
I think the culprit is the whole wheat flour, which is not white whole wheat flour. The whole wheat flour is way to strong for the recommended dosage each recipe calls for. Except for the Whole Wheat Pancakes. Those always turn out right.
Maybe next time I make those, I'll do a picture post.
*deletes all the biscotti pictures*
In other news, Maureen Johnson's Last Little Blue Envelope came out yesterday and I read it. Yesterday. I started re-reading it two hours later. Because I read it too fast to really enjoy it because I HAD TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. But it is VERY GOOD and you SHOULD READ IT NOW. (But I am a sucker for books that feature British people with Americans as well as traveling stories.)
In other news, you should buy it.
06 April 2010
Spring is here! It snowed!
It snowed last night. And this morning. It is still actually snowing. So I wore a sweater today. I was actually getting rather suspicious of the lack of crazy weather.
I got out the sewing machine, bought material and made something yesterday. It was a minor fail, though I think I have saved it. It turned out too short for the window I was making it for. Oops. Also, I concluded I wanted to see something else on that window. So, today, I'll start again. After I run some errands. In the snow.
I am reading a booked called "Man Walks Into a Room" by Nicole Krauss. It is pretty good so far. Rather interesting concept as well, as the main character has lost all his memories for the past 24 years due to a brain tumor and seemingly has no desire to get them back. Then he seems to go a little nuts after he meets this odd ball doctor.
Well, time to get ready to run those errans and figure out why I can't see with my new contacts in.
I got out the sewing machine, bought material and made something yesterday. It was a minor fail, though I think I have saved it. It turned out too short for the window I was making it for. Oops. Also, I concluded I wanted to see something else on that window. So, today, I'll start again. After I run some errands. In the snow.
I am reading a booked called "Man Walks Into a Room" by Nicole Krauss. It is pretty good so far. Rather interesting concept as well, as the main character has lost all his memories for the past 24 years due to a brain tumor and seemingly has no desire to get them back. Then he seems to go a little nuts after he meets this odd ball doctor.
Well, time to get ready to run those errans and figure out why I can't see with my new contacts in.
09 October 2009
Books in Ten Sentances or Less
1. The Other Boyln Girl, by Phillipa Gregory - This book was awesome. I enjoyed the characters and how Mary evolved throughout the book. I liked how the book hinted at scandal and for the first time a book I liked ended when I felt it should end. I always had a mixed perception of who Ann Boyln was and I felt this book gave her a portrayal that was believable.
2. The Boyln Inheritance, by Phillipa Gregory - This book did not hold my attention as The Other Boyln Girl, but it was interesting nonetheless. I did find the take on the two queens, Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard interesting. However, the character that was truly interesting was Jane Boyln, as what she did for the "family" and her own hide were what really drove the book. It angering the rate at which the Howard and Boyln families were willing to sacrifice its women in their quest to be related to a king.
3. The Virgin Queen, by Phillipa Gregory - I went on a Gregory kick. This book was good for it investigated and fictionalized the events between Lady Dudley and Lord Dudley. I liked how the twists in the book happened and that poor Amy was the only one never plotting and all she wanted was a simple life, yet even when she was resigned to have one, she could not for the situation she found herself in did not allow it because she was a women. Also, it is always nice to see the loser guy screwed over in the end by a woman.
4. Kane and Able by Jeffery Archer - AWESOME BOOK! It is a huge book, but totally awesome. The book follows two very boys and their journeys to become life enemies. One boy leads a very tragic life, but comes out stronger for it, while the other lives a privileged life, but it is still stained with tragedy. The book follows them as their paths cross and spite leads one to charge the other with the death of his friend, leading to a life long grudge fest that only ends when one dies, then the other finds out how he really helped him out and become the rich man he became. It is a really great book, especially if you like books told from two points of view and over long periods of time.
5. Twenties Girl by Sophia Kinsella - While I adore Kinsella for all she is and writes, this book did not hold my interest like her other books. I am not sure if I simply wasn't in the right mind set or wasn't in for the predictable nature of chick lit, but something wasn't right. The premise of the story, ghoast haunts down on her luck girl, seemed great when I read the jacket cover, but I just did not fall in love with the book as I have done with all Kinsella's other book. I will read it again, as maybe I am just all read out a the moment?
6. Baby Proof by Emily Griffin - Pretty good book. Was an interesting concept, as the fact the lead female character doesnt' want a child leads to a divorce from her husband. The book deals with self discovery through the fact everyone around her wants kids, but she knows she doesn't want one in the least. Even as she explores the reasons she doesn't' want a child of her own, she comes to realize that her love for her ex-husband trumps the fact she is afraid to have a child of her own. Good book and good topic to explore in a chick lit book I thought.
2. The Boyln Inheritance, by Phillipa Gregory - This book did not hold my attention as The Other Boyln Girl, but it was interesting nonetheless. I did find the take on the two queens, Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard interesting. However, the character that was truly interesting was Jane Boyln, as what she did for the "family" and her own hide were what really drove the book. It angering the rate at which the Howard and Boyln families were willing to sacrifice its women in their quest to be related to a king.
3. The Virgin Queen, by Phillipa Gregory - I went on a Gregory kick. This book was good for it investigated and fictionalized the events between Lady Dudley and Lord Dudley. I liked how the twists in the book happened and that poor Amy was the only one never plotting and all she wanted was a simple life, yet even when she was resigned to have one, she could not for the situation she found herself in did not allow it because she was a women. Also, it is always nice to see the loser guy screwed over in the end by a woman.
4. Kane and Able by Jeffery Archer - AWESOME BOOK! It is a huge book, but totally awesome. The book follows two very boys and their journeys to become life enemies. One boy leads a very tragic life, but comes out stronger for it, while the other lives a privileged life, but it is still stained with tragedy. The book follows them as their paths cross and spite leads one to charge the other with the death of his friend, leading to a life long grudge fest that only ends when one dies, then the other finds out how he really helped him out and become the rich man he became. It is a really great book, especially if you like books told from two points of view and over long periods of time.
5. Twenties Girl by Sophia Kinsella - While I adore Kinsella for all she is and writes, this book did not hold my interest like her other books. I am not sure if I simply wasn't in the right mind set or wasn't in for the predictable nature of chick lit, but something wasn't right. The premise of the story, ghoast haunts down on her luck girl, seemed great when I read the jacket cover, but I just did not fall in love with the book as I have done with all Kinsella's other book. I will read it again, as maybe I am just all read out a the moment?
6. Baby Proof by Emily Griffin - Pretty good book. Was an interesting concept, as the fact the lead female character doesnt' want a child leads to a divorce from her husband. The book deals with self discovery through the fact everyone around her wants kids, but she knows she doesn't want one in the least. Even as she explores the reasons she doesn't' want a child of her own, she comes to realize that her love for her ex-husband trumps the fact she is afraid to have a child of her own. Good book and good topic to explore in a chick lit book I thought.
01 September 2008
Complete, Oh the Joy!
1. I actually totally finished sewing something! And I adverted disaster by changing up the design and getting rid of a zipper and now it functions as a shirt...it was supposed to be a dress, but let us not dwell on that...
2. After running around in circles and getting nowhere for eight years, my father finally figured out the issue with our cell phone carrier: they think he works for corporate. Like he is a huge big wig. Alas, this is not true.
3. After getting totally leaked on the internet and Stephanie Meyer deciding to just pick up and quit, I decided not to read Midnight Sun and just read this. It was highly enjoyable, just like all the other Twilight recaps she's done. In the future, when I have a huge craving to get into Stalker Edward's head, I might settle down and read the whole thing on Meyer's website. However, currently I'm all emo-ed out.
4. I finished reading My Antonia. I thought I would hate the book, as it was a classic and I have a hard time reading classics on my own. I do not believe I have read one that was not an assigned book in my whole life in all honesty. But I read this one, and I have to day, I liked it. I'm a sucker for historical fiction to begin with, so it was easy for me to get lost in the Nebraska outback. The only thing I thought the book lacked was a tie up at the end. The title character marries some guy, pops out a load of children and cries a lot. I figured when I began the book she died. Tragically, she did not die. I believe only one guy died in the whole book. For some odd reason, I was looking for death, after being sorely disappointed at the lack of death in Breaking Dawn.
5. I totally spent four hours out in the sun and DID NOT GET SUN BURNED! I have totally conquered the sun.
6. I did watch the Democratic Convention. I do not have a lot to say about anything. It was pretty much what I expected. I did like the Cobert Report and the Daily Show's take on the whole thing. I think I have become one of those totally apathetic people in life. We'll see if the Republican Convention does anything to upset me. If it fails to do so, then I know there is something wrong with me and I must go jump off a cliff or something. This did amuse me: Assessing the Political Impact of Bristol Palin's Pregnancy. Maybe she's having issues because her name is Bristol? And what possessed the woman to name her other kid Trig? Does she have the same complex I have with having a common name? I mean, I got a lot of crap when I went through the stage I liked Cincinnati as a name...for a story character.
2. After running around in circles and getting nowhere for eight years, my father finally figured out the issue with our cell phone carrier: they think he works for corporate. Like he is a huge big wig. Alas, this is not true.
3. After getting totally leaked on the internet and Stephanie Meyer deciding to just pick up and quit, I decided not to read Midnight Sun and just read this. It was highly enjoyable, just like all the other Twilight recaps she's done. In the future, when I have a huge craving to get into Stalker Edward's head, I might settle down and read the whole thing on Meyer's website. However, currently I'm all emo-ed out.
4. I finished reading My Antonia. I thought I would hate the book, as it was a classic and I have a hard time reading classics on my own. I do not believe I have read one that was not an assigned book in my whole life in all honesty. But I read this one, and I have to day, I liked it. I'm a sucker for historical fiction to begin with, so it was easy for me to get lost in the Nebraska outback. The only thing I thought the book lacked was a tie up at the end. The title character marries some guy, pops out a load of children and cries a lot. I figured when I began the book she died. Tragically, she did not die. I believe only one guy died in the whole book. For some odd reason, I was looking for death, after being sorely disappointed at the lack of death in Breaking Dawn.
5. I totally spent four hours out in the sun and DID NOT GET SUN BURNED! I have totally conquered the sun.
6. I did watch the Democratic Convention. I do not have a lot to say about anything. It was pretty much what I expected. I did like the Cobert Report and the Daily Show's take on the whole thing. I think I have become one of those totally apathetic people in life. We'll see if the Republican Convention does anything to upset me. If it fails to do so, then I know there is something wrong with me and I must go jump off a cliff or something. This did amuse me: Assessing the Political Impact of Bristol Palin's Pregnancy. Maybe she's having issues because her name is Bristol? And what possessed the woman to name her other kid Trig? Does she have the same complex I have with having a common name? I mean, I got a lot of crap when I went through the stage I liked Cincinnati as a name...for a story character.
31 August 2008
Laughing is good
Another book review! Finally!
I'm a huge fan of Sophie Kinsella. I can say I own every book with that name as the author. And I have read each one a few times. I like the way she rights. It flows nicely and keeps you entertained like you are listening to some inner monologue that just keeps getting more ridiculous.
Her latest book, Remember Me, is about a woman who looses the last three years of her life. She crashes her flashy car and BAM! The last three years are earased and she goes back to the days when she wore cheap clothes and had girlfriends who went clubbing. However, that is not who she is at all at the current point in time. She is uber bitch boss. The journey the main character takes is intresting and funny. The subject matter is not heavy, but it is a good escape from reality.
I read this book right after I had finished my first (and only so far) read through of Breaking Dawn. The two books are VERY different. One: the main characters. Bella annoys me to no end and I have no reason to like her. Lexi (main character in Remember Me) is likeable right away. She is just like you or me. She has redeemable qualities. You can RELATE TO HER! I do not know about you, but I enjoy reading books that I can RELATE to the main character, or at least understand why they are how they are. Kinsella is pretty darn good at creating characters people can relate to (even by the title of her books, my mom shouted once "When will this woman stop writing books about you?") It has been awhile since I had read a Kinsella book, but after reading Remember Me I remembered why I enjoyed her books so much: they are amusing.
On a side note, I wrote a short story a long while back titled Remember Me! It has no relation to the book at all, as the character has not lost her memory and must remember herself. She is hoping rather hoplessly that someone will remember she exists and will call her while listening to Eminem scream loudly REMEMBER ME! I currently do not remember which song that Eminem screams that a few times over and over, but he did. He seemed to really want us to remember him (like anyone could forget...), just like the character telling her story wanted to be remembered. She was not remembered and remained where she was curled up in bed.
I am very happy that the book Remember Me did not end that way as if it had, it would not have been a very good book
I'm a huge fan of Sophie Kinsella. I can say I own every book with that name as the author. And I have read each one a few times. I like the way she rights. It flows nicely and keeps you entertained like you are listening to some inner monologue that just keeps getting more ridiculous.
Her latest book, Remember Me, is about a woman who looses the last three years of her life. She crashes her flashy car and BAM! The last three years are earased and she goes back to the days when she wore cheap clothes and had girlfriends who went clubbing. However, that is not who she is at all at the current point in time. She is uber bitch boss. The journey the main character takes is intresting and funny. The subject matter is not heavy, but it is a good escape from reality.
I read this book right after I had finished my first (and only so far) read through of Breaking Dawn. The two books are VERY different. One: the main characters. Bella annoys me to no end and I have no reason to like her. Lexi (main character in Remember Me) is likeable right away. She is just like you or me. She has redeemable qualities. You can RELATE TO HER! I do not know about you, but I enjoy reading books that I can RELATE to the main character, or at least understand why they are how they are. Kinsella is pretty darn good at creating characters people can relate to (even by the title of her books, my mom shouted once "When will this woman stop writing books about you?") It has been awhile since I had read a Kinsella book, but after reading Remember Me I remembered why I enjoyed her books so much: they are amusing.
On a side note, I wrote a short story a long while back titled Remember Me! It has no relation to the book at all, as the character has not lost her memory and must remember herself. She is hoping rather hoplessly that someone will remember she exists and will call her while listening to Eminem scream loudly REMEMBER ME! I currently do not remember which song that Eminem screams that a few times over and over, but he did. He seemed to really want us to remember him (like anyone could forget...), just like the character telling her story wanted to be remembered. She was not remembered and remained where she was curled up in bed.
I am very happy that the book Remember Me did not end that way as if it had, it would not have been a very good book
11 August 2008
a rant, a review? what it is, I am not sure
If you have never bothered to read the Twilight series and want to either catch up or just get another view point of it, try this site. I read the books and found this HIGHLY amusing. I only read the Breaking Dawn summery and I do not think I ever laughed so much by reading something. It does aid to have read the books, but its still funny if you have not. Anyways, I will digress into my own review of the whole thing.
I was really excited when I got the first book, Twilight. I had read various things on the book and read the author's website, www.stephaniemeyer.com and I liked what I saw. The preview chapters were great and made me go out and buy three books within one week. I read the first three books all within two days of getting them, plowed through them in a week before I came to the dirt hole. Anyways, it was not until I got to the third book, Eclipse that I got to be annoyed. By the end of Breaking Dawn I was plum tired.
For one, Bella annoys me to no end. She does not seem to have any purpose in life other than to obsess about Edward. Edward, meanwhile, had nothing better to do than to be an overbearing, overprotective boyfriend who did odd things. However, because neither of them was truly interested in life without the other one glued to his or her side, the books lost a lot of the magic they gained through a first reading. Bella whined, Edward was just too perfect for words and had now flaws, and poor Jacob was a brat. I am a Jacob fan. I fell in love with the guy in New Moon. I felt sorry for him in New Moon as Bella was just simply evil throughout the book. And what made it worst was the fact she knew she was evil. In Breaking Dawn Jacob rocked, till he imprinted and lost his angst.
What drew me into Twilight in the first place was the relationship between the vampire and the human. How would this end up well? Well, the majority of the book is this: First Edward seemingly has a huge issue with Bella and refuses to speak to her, let a lone look at her, then one day POOF he starts talking to her again. Then he goes on to ask a BILLION questions and take her to a meadow and POOF they are madly in love with one another. Then, just when everything seems okay, POOF bad guy show up and start hunting Bella. BAM! Let's go one the run and BAM Bella almost dies, but guess who saves the helpless idiot? Edward. The end.
When you read a book at lightening speed and get swept up into it, then it was AWESOME! This is why I went out the next day and bought New Moon. However, if you read it ever so slowly and all ready know it, you pick up on all the things that are annoying. Like, there is no falling in love it JUST HAPPENS. POOF. BAM!
In New Moon Edward has the bright idea he should LEAVE BELLA. I know, bright idea when you are addicted to one another. In the first book, Edward told Bella that she was his brand of herion. So, one would think that he wouldn't so willingly give up a fix like that. And if he did, he would, well if he could, die. But nonetheless, he left. And Bella, who was always convinced he would grow bored with her because she wasn't as beautiful as him, etc, figured this was why he left and just let him leave. And then she did that whole wallowing thing for MONTHS. It was almost like the fifth Harry Potter book all over again with angst teenage Harry, but this was worst because it was addict Bella going through withdrawal that never ENDED. On and on it went, and then she heard his voice in her head when she did something stupid! OH MY GOD! I'm crazy, but this is sooo good, let's do something stupid loads of times just to hear his voice. She gets the bright idea to buy motorcycles and has Jacob fix them up, as in the first book she learned he was good with fixing cars and the such. She bankrolls the project and discovers that Jacob makes her feel half human again. He is her sunshine, her only sunshine. And thus, the easily addicted Bella becomes a Jacob addict. Lovely, right?
Nope. Because Bella is a wee bit more addicted to that voice in her head. So, what does she do? Well, she leaps off a cliff, but I'll get to that. Shortly before her cliff diving experience, she finds out Jacob is...a werewolf! Yeah, she just can't find anyone normal (not that it would be hard. Everyone is in love with Bella. I forgot to mention that in the first book, they all love her when she first arrives in the tiny town of Forks, WA. They fight over her, constantly ask her out on dates and she turns them all down). So, Jacob is a werewolf and there is...guess what? A vampire after Bella. Again! Evidently, in killing the vampire that almost killed Bella before, pissed this other vampire off. So, this vampire decided to come back and hunt Bella, which caused more werewolf's to pop up! So, there are all these werewolves running around and after a stupid hike into the forest to find the meadow there BAM she fell in love, Bella has a near death experience. Nothing new to her, but all the same she finds out the vampire is after her. After finally putting all the pieces together, she tells her werewolf friend about this, and she spends a lot of time around his place being "protected." However, she likes the voice more than Jacob, so she leaps off a cliff and almost dies. In various ways, as the vampire who is after her is swimming around and she almost drowns.
Side note: Edward has a family. They are not related, but most were created by the "father" Carlise. Carlise created Edward, Esme, Rosalie, and Emmett. Rosalie and Emmett are mates, and Carlise and Esme are mates. Jasper and Alice joined the family on their own. So, this family is special in some ways as they do not eat people for one and two, three of them have gifts. Edward can hear people's thoughts, Alice can see the future, and Jasper can, uh, play with people's emotions. Like calm you down if you get too worked up (he does this to Bella A LOT.) I forgot to mention this in the first place. The future Alice sees also changes depending on decisions made by others. She also cannot see beings she has not experienced being. Basically she can only see humans and vampires. All right, back to what I was babbling about before.
Well, due to the fact Bella made the decision to JUMP off a CLIFF, Alice sees Bella dying. She does not see Bella rescued because she's saved by Jacob, the werewolf. Anyways, so things go to almost back to normal and Bella begins to think she might be able to start something more with Jacob, but just as she's getting to that point, guess who shows up?
Did you guess Edward? You are wrong. If you guessed Alice then you are right. Jacob freaks out and Bella tosses herself at Alice. Bella is OVER JOYED to the point that its sad that Alice is there. Jacob is rather grumpy that Alice is back. During one of the many, many fights between Bella and Jacob the phone rings. And guess what? Guess who called?
If you guess Edward this time, then you are right. Edward heard from Rosalie (whose super power is just overly beautiful and bitchy because she never got to have a baby and an ever loving loving husband) that Bella was dead. However, this is wrong information, but he calls Bella's house pretending to be Carlise and asks for Bella's father. However, Bella's father is at a funeral (for his friend Harry who died of a heart attack the same day Bella tried cliff diving) and Jacob tells this to the caller, leaving out whose funeral it was. The caller takes this as Bella is dead. And he decides to die as well. However, how does a vampire die?
Not too easily. Vampires can't really kill themselves too well. The whole stake thing doesn't work, or sunshine busting. One must be set on fire after being broken up into little bits to die. So, Edward has to have some help. So he goes to see the Royal Vampire Family in Italy! Yeah, the vamps have a royal family. They are not as cool as the British ones, but eh. How much can you ask for?
Anyways, Alice sees this and she and Bella run to save Edward from himself. Along the way, the human Bella must turn into a vampire at some point because she just knows too much about vamps to be good for her fragile, accident prone self.
Edward and Bella re-addict to one another, leaving only on issue: Bella's also an Jacob addict. Uh no! But let's not think too much about that now, we'll figure that out later.
The next book Eclipse is pretty bad when you read it even really fast. I spent most of it hating Bella because she's a whiny, self absorbed, Edward addicted, no talent drama queen. Yeah. She is. She hates causing anyone pain, but that is all she does. She attempts to be friends with Jacob, but Edward doesn't want her hanging out with baby werewolves because they are DANGEROUS. Yeah, and the vampires are good for her. Sure. (Well, to his credit, Edward would much rather Bella not hang out with the vamps, but Bella has no self preservation, so she hangs out with dangerous things.) Most of the book is a slow progression towards the attack of Victoria, who was the vamp stalking Bella in New Moon. There are some interesting bits, like when we find out more about vampire culture and newborns. Vampires have wars. And if they get too out of hand, the Royal Family of the Vampires shows up to clean house, keeping order and protecting the vampires from their food sources knowledge. A lot of the book seems to deal with Bella's preparation and desperation to be a vampire. Bella fears aging, like any 18 year old would fear it. However, instead of using plastic surgery later in life, Bella decides it would be wise to be a strong, cold hard vampire. She has no interest in human things at all. Even after Rosalie talks to her about having babies and stuff, Bella still wants to toss it all away to be a vamp. Okay, fine. To each her own. Just stop whining about it and make up your mind.
What really bugged me about New Moon was how she pulled Jacobs strings. Also, how much Jacob was a total jerk at times, yet he really did have a right to be a total jerk, as Bella was simply being evil. She seemed to think she had to have everything she was addicted to, even when two of those addictions hated one another.
However, in the end she agrees to marry Edward (which she did not want to because she was too young to get married. Uh, you're too young to get married but not too young to decide you want to toss away your human life for a vampire life? being married is a different level of commitment than being a vampire...at least if you're married you can get a divorce. You are stuck a vampire for ever more...I did not understand her aversion to marriage at all when she wanted to be vampire. She was mostly worried what other people thought. OH, now worry about what other people thing, I see...) and agrees to hold off on the becoming a vamp until Edward has sex with her while she's human. Edward will only have sex if she is married, so okay, let's let Alice through an over the top wedding!
Jacob gets pissed and runs away.
Breaking Dawn starts off with Bella driving around in a tank of a car and trying to appease her father with this stupid wedding coming up. One can clearly tell Bella isn't into the whole getting married thing. She seems to be doing it for everyone else, not herself. But she knows she will have sex with Edward in the end as a human and get that human experience, which is the only one she wants.
So, la la la, complain complain, get married. Lovely wedding, everything is perfect, no one cares she is fresh out of high school and married. La la la la! Whoo hooO! Oh, wait, Jacob comes home and almost explodes into a furry being when he hears Bella is going to have sex with the super rock hard, super strong vampire she just married.
And did he think she wouldn't? Oh, wait, he thought she'd wait till she was a vamp? NO way dude.
The whole sex thing never bothered me. I don't really like reading about teenagers having sex, I don't mind hearing the run up to, but whatever afterwards. However, in the book, they do have sex. It is rough sex, bruises, broken pillows and feathers. However, while Edward would rather not ever do that again, Bella becomes a sex fiend. And so she will stay.
So, on the honeymoon, they have sex a total of two times I believe. And guess what? Bella's pregnant! And the baby is growing really fast! DEMON BABY! I think I laughed when I read that. I was like, only Bella would get pregnant right off the bat.
Anyways, so they go home and la la la, now its, wait, Jacob's turn to tell the story? Jacob, if I can say so, is a way better story teller and narrator than Bella. I like him. I like him more after reading his chapters. He is not over dramatic in the least. He rocks hard core.
Jacobs chapters tell his side of the story, which picks up around the time Bella returns and he finds her REALLY FREAKING PREGGERS. He tells his pack and they freak out and want to murder everyone in the house with Bella. Jacob will not hear of this, goes a bit freaking and somehow manages to break off from the pack. His little buddy Seth follows (as Seth is best friends with Edward now after the huge fight against Victoria in the last book...) and they start their own pack and later are joined by Leah, Seth's sister who is a bitter little lady. The only female wolf ever. Anyways, the three decide to protect the house withe Bella in it. Then, after one hell of a blood birth scene, the baby is born and BAM, Jacob is in love with it due to this freaky thing that werewolves do called imprinting. The baby demon is his soul mate. His soul mate is named Renesmee. Yeah, you see that right. Jacob prefers to call her Nessie. Most people call her this, except Bella who TOTALLY FREAKS OUT, but in the end still calls the kid Nessie by the end.
So, due to this horrific birth, Bella almost dies, but is saved by vampire venom and becomes a vamp. And, I almost hate to say this, vampire Bella is almost cool. Vampire Bella still is totally over dramatic, but at least now she isn't totally defenseless. She is addicted to sex more than blood, oddly enough. She also has a lot of control over herself and her emotions, something that with vamps comes with age. However, she gave birth to a half vamp-half human baby. The Royal Family shows up to kill them all, but this fails to happen because of Bella's super shield and a lot of talking.
In the end there is no blood shed and no one dies except for Bella. For as long as the book is, nothing really happens that wasn't expected. There is a lot of yapping and almost no action. I only finished the book to be done with it. I was really hoping that vampire Bella wouldn't be as whiny and over dramatic as human Bella, but alas, she is. The only difference is that vamp Bella knows she's beautiful and stunning and vampire Bella is actually good at things, like jumping over rivers and protecting her brain from things. Bella gets everything she wants as well, which is sort of sad. She gets Edward, Jacob becomes part of her family and she did get a baby (a child that grows super fast and is like a little adult by the age of three months and will be full grown in six years). Oh, a happy ending.
Another thing, with reading the books through a second time, I did not see much foreshadowing...not much connecting through out the books like the Harry Potter series had. The only thing that was really explained was why no one could get in Bella's head: she had a shield. I am a huge fan of Harry Potter. I have lost track of the time I've read those books and found something new that connected in a different book. These books, not so much. They are still wroth a read if you have the time and do not tend to think very much about what you are reading. Or you don't mind reading a book with a drama queen for the main character (she is not a negative drama queen, she's just a little over dramatic for her own good, but she is 18 in most of the books.) I enjoyed them even though I disliked the main character. But that is just me.
I was really excited when I got the first book, Twilight. I had read various things on the book and read the author's website, www.stephaniemeyer.com and I liked what I saw. The preview chapters were great and made me go out and buy three books within one week. I read the first three books all within two days of getting them, plowed through them in a week before I came to the dirt hole. Anyways, it was not until I got to the third book, Eclipse that I got to be annoyed. By the end of Breaking Dawn I was plum tired.
For one, Bella annoys me to no end. She does not seem to have any purpose in life other than to obsess about Edward. Edward, meanwhile, had nothing better to do than to be an overbearing, overprotective boyfriend who did odd things. However, because neither of them was truly interested in life without the other one glued to his or her side, the books lost a lot of the magic they gained through a first reading. Bella whined, Edward was just too perfect for words and had now flaws, and poor Jacob was a brat. I am a Jacob fan. I fell in love with the guy in New Moon. I felt sorry for him in New Moon as Bella was just simply evil throughout the book. And what made it worst was the fact she knew she was evil. In Breaking Dawn Jacob rocked, till he imprinted and lost his angst.
What drew me into Twilight in the first place was the relationship between the vampire and the human. How would this end up well? Well, the majority of the book is this: First Edward seemingly has a huge issue with Bella and refuses to speak to her, let a lone look at her, then one day POOF he starts talking to her again. Then he goes on to ask a BILLION questions and take her to a meadow and POOF they are madly in love with one another. Then, just when everything seems okay, POOF bad guy show up and start hunting Bella. BAM! Let's go one the run and BAM Bella almost dies, but guess who saves the helpless idiot? Edward. The end.
When you read a book at lightening speed and get swept up into it, then it was AWESOME! This is why I went out the next day and bought New Moon. However, if you read it ever so slowly and all ready know it, you pick up on all the things that are annoying. Like, there is no falling in love it JUST HAPPENS. POOF. BAM!
In New Moon Edward has the bright idea he should LEAVE BELLA. I know, bright idea when you are addicted to one another. In the first book, Edward told Bella that she was his brand of herion. So, one would think that he wouldn't so willingly give up a fix like that. And if he did, he would, well if he could, die. But nonetheless, he left. And Bella, who was always convinced he would grow bored with her because she wasn't as beautiful as him, etc, figured this was why he left and just let him leave. And then she did that whole wallowing thing for MONTHS. It was almost like the fifth Harry Potter book all over again with angst teenage Harry, but this was worst because it was addict Bella going through withdrawal that never ENDED. On and on it went, and then she heard his voice in her head when she did something stupid! OH MY GOD! I'm crazy, but this is sooo good, let's do something stupid loads of times just to hear his voice. She gets the bright idea to buy motorcycles and has Jacob fix them up, as in the first book she learned he was good with fixing cars and the such. She bankrolls the project and discovers that Jacob makes her feel half human again. He is her sunshine, her only sunshine. And thus, the easily addicted Bella becomes a Jacob addict. Lovely, right?
Nope. Because Bella is a wee bit more addicted to that voice in her head. So, what does she do? Well, she leaps off a cliff, but I'll get to that. Shortly before her cliff diving experience, she finds out Jacob is...a werewolf! Yeah, she just can't find anyone normal (not that it would be hard. Everyone is in love with Bella. I forgot to mention that in the first book, they all love her when she first arrives in the tiny town of Forks, WA. They fight over her, constantly ask her out on dates and she turns them all down). So, Jacob is a werewolf and there is...guess what? A vampire after Bella. Again! Evidently, in killing the vampire that almost killed Bella before, pissed this other vampire off. So, this vampire decided to come back and hunt Bella, which caused more werewolf's to pop up! So, there are all these werewolves running around and after a stupid hike into the forest to find the meadow there BAM she fell in love, Bella has a near death experience. Nothing new to her, but all the same she finds out the vampire is after her. After finally putting all the pieces together, she tells her werewolf friend about this, and she spends a lot of time around his place being "protected." However, she likes the voice more than Jacob, so she leaps off a cliff and almost dies. In various ways, as the vampire who is after her is swimming around and she almost drowns.
Side note: Edward has a family. They are not related, but most were created by the "father" Carlise. Carlise created Edward, Esme, Rosalie, and Emmett. Rosalie and Emmett are mates, and Carlise and Esme are mates. Jasper and Alice joined the family on their own. So, this family is special in some ways as they do not eat people for one and two, three of them have gifts. Edward can hear people's thoughts, Alice can see the future, and Jasper can, uh, play with people's emotions. Like calm you down if you get too worked up (he does this to Bella A LOT.) I forgot to mention this in the first place. The future Alice sees also changes depending on decisions made by others. She also cannot see beings she has not experienced being. Basically she can only see humans and vampires. All right, back to what I was babbling about before.
Well, due to the fact Bella made the decision to JUMP off a CLIFF, Alice sees Bella dying. She does not see Bella rescued because she's saved by Jacob, the werewolf. Anyways, so things go to almost back to normal and Bella begins to think she might be able to start something more with Jacob, but just as she's getting to that point, guess who shows up?
Did you guess Edward? You are wrong. If you guessed Alice then you are right. Jacob freaks out and Bella tosses herself at Alice. Bella is OVER JOYED to the point that its sad that Alice is there. Jacob is rather grumpy that Alice is back. During one of the many, many fights between Bella and Jacob the phone rings. And guess what? Guess who called?
If you guess Edward this time, then you are right. Edward heard from Rosalie (whose super power is just overly beautiful and bitchy because she never got to have a baby and an ever loving loving husband) that Bella was dead. However, this is wrong information, but he calls Bella's house pretending to be Carlise and asks for Bella's father. However, Bella's father is at a funeral (for his friend Harry who died of a heart attack the same day Bella tried cliff diving) and Jacob tells this to the caller, leaving out whose funeral it was. The caller takes this as Bella is dead. And he decides to die as well. However, how does a vampire die?
Not too easily. Vampires can't really kill themselves too well. The whole stake thing doesn't work, or sunshine busting. One must be set on fire after being broken up into little bits to die. So, Edward has to have some help. So he goes to see the Royal Vampire Family in Italy! Yeah, the vamps have a royal family. They are not as cool as the British ones, but eh. How much can you ask for?
Anyways, Alice sees this and she and Bella run to save Edward from himself. Along the way, the human Bella must turn into a vampire at some point because she just knows too much about vamps to be good for her fragile, accident prone self.
Edward and Bella re-addict to one another, leaving only on issue: Bella's also an Jacob addict. Uh no! But let's not think too much about that now, we'll figure that out later.
The next book Eclipse is pretty bad when you read it even really fast. I spent most of it hating Bella because she's a whiny, self absorbed, Edward addicted, no talent drama queen. Yeah. She is. She hates causing anyone pain, but that is all she does. She attempts to be friends with Jacob, but Edward doesn't want her hanging out with baby werewolves because they are DANGEROUS. Yeah, and the vampires are good for her. Sure. (Well, to his credit, Edward would much rather Bella not hang out with the vamps, but Bella has no self preservation, so she hangs out with dangerous things.) Most of the book is a slow progression towards the attack of Victoria, who was the vamp stalking Bella in New Moon. There are some interesting bits, like when we find out more about vampire culture and newborns. Vampires have wars. And if they get too out of hand, the Royal Family of the Vampires shows up to clean house, keeping order and protecting the vampires from their food sources knowledge. A lot of the book seems to deal with Bella's preparation and desperation to be a vampire. Bella fears aging, like any 18 year old would fear it. However, instead of using plastic surgery later in life, Bella decides it would be wise to be a strong, cold hard vampire. She has no interest in human things at all. Even after Rosalie talks to her about having babies and stuff, Bella still wants to toss it all away to be a vamp. Okay, fine. To each her own. Just stop whining about it and make up your mind.
What really bugged me about New Moon was how she pulled Jacobs strings. Also, how much Jacob was a total jerk at times, yet he really did have a right to be a total jerk, as Bella was simply being evil. She seemed to think she had to have everything she was addicted to, even when two of those addictions hated one another.
However, in the end she agrees to marry Edward (which she did not want to because she was too young to get married. Uh, you're too young to get married but not too young to decide you want to toss away your human life for a vampire life? being married is a different level of commitment than being a vampire...at least if you're married you can get a divorce. You are stuck a vampire for ever more...I did not understand her aversion to marriage at all when she wanted to be vampire. She was mostly worried what other people thought. OH, now worry about what other people thing, I see...) and agrees to hold off on the becoming a vamp until Edward has sex with her while she's human. Edward will only have sex if she is married, so okay, let's let Alice through an over the top wedding!
Jacob gets pissed and runs away.
Breaking Dawn starts off with Bella driving around in a tank of a car and trying to appease her father with this stupid wedding coming up. One can clearly tell Bella isn't into the whole getting married thing. She seems to be doing it for everyone else, not herself. But she knows she will have sex with Edward in the end as a human and get that human experience, which is the only one she wants.
So, la la la, complain complain, get married. Lovely wedding, everything is perfect, no one cares she is fresh out of high school and married. La la la la! Whoo hooO! Oh, wait, Jacob comes home and almost explodes into a furry being when he hears Bella is going to have sex with the super rock hard, super strong vampire she just married.
And did he think she wouldn't? Oh, wait, he thought she'd wait till she was a vamp? NO way dude.
The whole sex thing never bothered me. I don't really like reading about teenagers having sex, I don't mind hearing the run up to, but whatever afterwards. However, in the book, they do have sex. It is rough sex, bruises, broken pillows and feathers. However, while Edward would rather not ever do that again, Bella becomes a sex fiend. And so she will stay.
So, on the honeymoon, they have sex a total of two times I believe. And guess what? Bella's pregnant! And the baby is growing really fast! DEMON BABY! I think I laughed when I read that. I was like, only Bella would get pregnant right off the bat.
Anyways, so they go home and la la la, now its, wait, Jacob's turn to tell the story? Jacob, if I can say so, is a way better story teller and narrator than Bella. I like him. I like him more after reading his chapters. He is not over dramatic in the least. He rocks hard core.
Jacobs chapters tell his side of the story, which picks up around the time Bella returns and he finds her REALLY FREAKING PREGGERS. He tells his pack and they freak out and want to murder everyone in the house with Bella. Jacob will not hear of this, goes a bit freaking and somehow manages to break off from the pack. His little buddy Seth follows (as Seth is best friends with Edward now after the huge fight against Victoria in the last book...) and they start their own pack and later are joined by Leah, Seth's sister who is a bitter little lady. The only female wolf ever. Anyways, the three decide to protect the house withe Bella in it. Then, after one hell of a blood birth scene, the baby is born and BAM, Jacob is in love with it due to this freaky thing that werewolves do called imprinting. The baby demon is his soul mate. His soul mate is named Renesmee. Yeah, you see that right. Jacob prefers to call her Nessie. Most people call her this, except Bella who TOTALLY FREAKS OUT, but in the end still calls the kid Nessie by the end.
So, due to this horrific birth, Bella almost dies, but is saved by vampire venom and becomes a vamp. And, I almost hate to say this, vampire Bella is almost cool. Vampire Bella still is totally over dramatic, but at least now she isn't totally defenseless. She is addicted to sex more than blood, oddly enough. She also has a lot of control over herself and her emotions, something that with vamps comes with age. However, she gave birth to a half vamp-half human baby. The Royal Family shows up to kill them all, but this fails to happen because of Bella's super shield and a lot of talking.
In the end there is no blood shed and no one dies except for Bella. For as long as the book is, nothing really happens that wasn't expected. There is a lot of yapping and almost no action. I only finished the book to be done with it. I was really hoping that vampire Bella wouldn't be as whiny and over dramatic as human Bella, but alas, she is. The only difference is that vamp Bella knows she's beautiful and stunning and vampire Bella is actually good at things, like jumping over rivers and protecting her brain from things. Bella gets everything she wants as well, which is sort of sad. She gets Edward, Jacob becomes part of her family and she did get a baby (a child that grows super fast and is like a little adult by the age of three months and will be full grown in six years). Oh, a happy ending.
Another thing, with reading the books through a second time, I did not see much foreshadowing...not much connecting through out the books like the Harry Potter series had. The only thing that was really explained was why no one could get in Bella's head: she had a shield. I am a huge fan of Harry Potter. I have lost track of the time I've read those books and found something new that connected in a different book. These books, not so much. They are still wroth a read if you have the time and do not tend to think very much about what you are reading. Or you don't mind reading a book with a drama queen for the main character (she is not a negative drama queen, she's just a little over dramatic for her own good, but she is 18 in most of the books.) I enjoyed them even though I disliked the main character. But that is just me.
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