Ramblings of a Bibliophile

Aaah, the sweet comfort of laziness on a Thursday afternoon. Being that it is my day off and I have nothing to do (well, nothing I WANT to do), I decided to do a little book meme. I have no idea where this originated. I was tagged for it on Livejournal awhile back and I thought I'd do it here too.

01. What author do you own the most books by?
J.K. Rowling, Sarah Dessen, and J.R.R. Tolkien

02. What book do you own the most copies of?
I own 2 copies of Eragon because I lent mine out and wanted to re-read it at the time.

03. Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?
Not really, no.

04. What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
Oh quite a few, I'll admit. Mr Henry De Tamble from The Time Traveler's Wife is definitely one of them. More recently I added Gale from The Hunger Games, Briggan from Fire, and Po from Graceling. (I sense a theme here, hmm)

05. What book have you read the most times in your life?
Probably Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (4 or 5 times)

06. What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?
The Nancy Drew books spring to mind.

07. What is the worst book you've read in the past year?
In 2008, Fangland by John Marks.

08. What is the best book you've read in the past year?
Well, including this year? The Book Thief, followed closely by The Hunger Games.

09. If you could force everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be?
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. The book is genius, in my opinion.

10. Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for Literature?
I...have no idea.

11. What book would you most like to see made into a movie?
Either The Book of Lost Things, Graceling, or Shiver. I think they'd all make great movies if they were done right.

12. What book would you least like to see made into a movie?
Nothing comes to mind at the moment.

13. Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character.
After I finished with the Percy Jackson and The Olympian series, I remember dreaming that I was off on an adventure with Percy trying to find my Olympian parent, hahah.

14. What is the most lowbrow book you've read as an adult?
I plead the 5th.

15. What is the most difficult book you've ever read?
Hmm. I'd say The Enchantress of Florence. I couldn't finish it.

16. What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you've seen?
I've never seen a Shakespeare play. Does watching a movie count?

17. Do you prefer the French or the Russians?
Viva la France!

18. Roth or Updike?
I haven't read either.

19. David Sedaris or Dave Eggers?
David Sedaris is on my to-read-list, so I'm going to choose him.

20. Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer?
Shakespeare. Because out of the 3, I've actually read a lot of his work.

21. Austen or Eliot?
Hm. Jane Austen.

22. What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?
Huh? As in what's the longest I've gone without reading? I don't know. The last few years I went months without reading anything. This year I've been a reading fiend.

23. What is your favorite novel?
Crap, don't make me choose!!

24. Play?
I'm going to go with Romeo & Juliet.

25. Poem?
Everything Beckons To Us
by Rainer Maria Rilke

Everything beckons to us to perceive it,
murmurs at every turn 'Remember Me!'
A day we passed, too busy to perceive it,
will yet unlock us all to its treasury.

Who shall compute our harvest? Who shall bar
us from the former years, the long-departed?
What have we learnt from living since we started,
except to find in others what we are?

Except to re-enkindle commonplace?
O house, O sloping field, O setting sun!
Your features form a face, you run,
you cling to us, returning your embrace!

One space spreads through all creatures equally -
inner-world-space. Birds quietly flying go
flying through us. Oh, I that want to grow,
the tree I look outside at grows in me!

Honorable Mentions: "The Road Not Taken" By Robert Frost & "To Music" by Rainer Maria Rilke

26. Essay?
I don't have one.

27. Short story?
Honestly, none really come to mind. I remember liking "The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe when I read it in middle school.

28. Work of nonfiction?
Letters To A Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke

29. Who is your favorite writer?
It is impossible for me to narrow it down to just one. Therefore, I will give you my top 10. J.K. Rowling, J.R.R. Tolkien, Markus Zusak, Christopher Moore, Chuck Palahniuk, Sarah Dessen, Suzanne Collins, Maggie Stiefvater, Audrey Niffenegger, and Rainer Maria Rilke.

30. Who is the most overrated writer alive today?
Stephenie Meyer. Sorry folks.

31. What is your desert island book?
OH MAN. I'm going to cheat and do a top 5: Lord of the Rings (shut up, I count them as one!), Fight Club, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, The Hunger Games, The Book Thief.

32. And... what are you reading right now?
I'm currently burying my nose in Fluke by Christopher Moore. The man can do no wrong.

Feel free to steal. It's not mine so I can hold no claim on it. In other news, I'm working on my review for Fire so expect that in the next few days. I'm also thinking of posting some of my reviews from the beginning of the year to fill the lulls between books. What do you think, good idea or no?

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



Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Published: April, 2010 by Little Brown and Company

In less than a day I had been harassed, enchanted, shouted at, cried on, and clawed. I’d been cold, scared, dirty, exhausted, hungry, and miserable. And up until now, I’d been mildly impressed with my ability to cope.

At her boarding school in New Zealand, Ellie Spencer is like any ordinary teen: she hangs out with her best friend, Kevin; obsesses over her crush on a mysterious boy; and her biggest worry is her paper deadline. Then everything changes: In the foggy woods near the school, something ancient and deadly is waiting.

Oooh, this sounds good. I can't wait!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"The whale was into a section of the song they called the "green" themes, a long series of whoops that sounded like an ambulance driving through pudding. A less trained listener might have thought that the whale was rejoicing, celebrating, shouting howdy to the world to let everyone and everything know that he was alive and feeling good, but Nate was a trained listener, perhaps the most trained listener in the world, and to his expert ears the whale was saying - Well, he had no idea what in the hell the whale was saying, did he?"

Feel free to leave a comment with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or share your 2 ‘teasers’ in a comment here!

This is a weekly book meme hosted by J. Kaye over at J. Kaye's Book Blog.

A good week of reading, if I do say so myself. It's been awhile since I've had such a solid line-up. Quite enjoyable. As it stands, I've decided to hold off on getting more library books so I can focus on the haul I recently purchased a week or so ago. So much reading, so little time!



Completed this past week:

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
Max by James Patterson
Impossible by Nancy Werlin

Currently reading:

Fire by Kristin Cashore

Up Next:

Fluke: Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings by Christopher Moore
Looking For Alaska by John Green
Geek High by Piper Banks
Evermore by Alyson Noel

(May change depending on my mood or how quickly I read/finish them)

What are YOU reading? Link me!

Reviews:

★ Shiver
★ Max
★ Impossible
★ The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma

Posts:

★ Friday Finds (Oct. 23)
★ Booking Through Thursday (Oct. 29)
★ Teaser Tuesday
★ In My Mailbox
★ It's Monday! What are you reading?

Upcoming:

★ Reading: Fire by Kristin Cashore

Sites/Links to check out!:

★ Flashlight Worthy Books - A new find! Quickly becoming a favorite. Recommending books so good, they'll keep you up past your bedtime.
★ YA Connection (Oct 24-31) @ The Story Siren - Links and news from around the YA blogosphere.

Misc:

★ Thank to The Neverending Shelf, I just added a new button for my blog on my sidebar. Feel free to put it up and link back to me if you'd like. I'll be happy do the same for you!

If you got a link you'd like me to add to this, please leave a comment! I'll gladly stick it up there. :)

I can't believe it's November already! Where has the year gone?!

Genre: Fiction, Romance/Paranormal Romance, Young Adult
Edition: Hardcover; Library
Page Count: 392
Pub. Date: August 1, 2009
Series: Book 1 in the "Wolves of Mercy Falls" series

My Rating: 5 Stars
Amazon.com: 4 stars
Goodreads: 4.16 (Average)

Recommended For: Older teens, Paranormal-Romance fans, Romantics

My Summary:

We begin the story with Grace. A seventeen year old who is fascinated with the wolves in the backyard of her home in Mercy Falls, Minnesota. Every winter she is struck by the familiarity of only one - the wolf with the yellow eyes - her wolf.

Then in comes Sam. A boy who spends his life in two forms - a wolf during the frigid months of winter, and human when spring and summer descends upon the town. But his ability to change to his human form lessens with age, until one day, he will forever remain a beast of the winter.

My Review:

(First Impression: "Love, LOVE the cover")
(Initial reaction after I finished: "Oh, my heart be still!")

What can I say about this novel that hasn't already been said? Terrific? Stupendous? Captivating? All of those aptly apply. I was basically glued from the beginning. Whether it's because I'm a romantic at heart, or just a sucker for a good love story, I couldn't put this down.

Maggie Stiefvater's writing is in one word: amazing. It's lyrical, poetic, descriptive, and just flat out enjoyable. I loved being able to read the story from both Sam and Grace's perspectives. The transitions between them are easily distinguishable, I never had to look at the chapter titles to see who was speaking. The separation gives the reader a better understanding of each character, their feelings, and their flaws. And the two compliment each other so well. I found myself immersed in their lives and growing emotionally attached with every turn of the page.

I'll be honest, I didn't really begin this novel with very many expectations. I stayed away from reviews and only peeked at a couple ratings just to see what I was getting myself into. My reason being is that I seem to be at odds with quite a few books in this particular genre (paranormal romance) and I didn't want to set myself up for disappointment. But this book surpassed my expectations and it was a pleasant surprise. I was impressed with Maggie's ability to weave the werewolves so seamlessly into the story to make them seem believable. A tad cheesy at times, but still a wonderful read.

Just a few excerpts that I love (without giving anything away) :

"That night I lay in bed and stared at the window, my blinds pulled up so I could see the night sky. One thousand brilliant stars punched holes in my consciousness, pricking me with longing."

"I was a ghost in the woods, silent, still, cold. I was winter embodied, the frigid wind given physical form."

This is the first book in the "Wolves of Mercy Falls" series and the first I read by Maggie Stiefvater. And I can guarantee that it won't be the last. Linger, book 2, is slated to be released in summer 2010. I can't wait!

What did you think about Shiver? Did it live up to your expectations?