But no spoilers. I promised.
Happy Easter though! I'm having a good one, hope you all out there are too! (I got the TSO Night Castle Album, and a Queen album!)
Even if you don't celebrate Easter, I hope you're having a good Sunday: It's almost sunny out over here, and since there really aren't any books that I'd read for this holiday, (Okay there's this one, but I don't own it. Maybe one day) I'll just give you all a random non-book Sunday.
NEXT SUNDAY PREVIEW!
"It is my goal to save Disney. And by save Disney, I mean Disney Princesses. And to do that, I have read The Complete Fairy Tales Of The Brothers Grimm."
See you next week!
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
First Time For Everything
And for the first time in forever, I haven't had a chance to read much these past two weeks.
Read: At all. No new novels.
Scholarship Season.
If you're really saddened about not getting to read commentary on a different book...sorry. In related news, my friend and fellow blogger over at el Sol de la Noche did discuss Pride and Prejudice, which she just read. She called it "Pride and Prejudice and Men". She's also writing a pretty cool story on her blog, with really awesome drawings to accompany some chapters.
So, I'll take the chance to ramble a bit about 1.) Who, exactly, is on my current Author Crush list(Hint, almost all have been featured on this page) 2.) My life at the moment. 3.)Doctor Who. Sorry. Excited.
AUTHOR CRUSH LIST 4/17/2011
1.) Neil Gaiman
2.) Terry Pratchett
3.) John Green
4.) Jane Austen
5.) Charlotte Bronte
6.) William Shakespeare
They all have writing qualities that I love and want. One, their writing is amazing and brilliant. It flows, gets across a message, and is amazingly moving. Two, their characters are the sort of people you can learn to love and hate and love again in two hours. The sort of people you'd like to know; the sort of people you'd root for. Three, what they had to say in the novels was so right, so true, so perfect...you believe them.
I love reading their novels over and over and over again. And, they're the only ones that I do read fully over and over again. Every word is a gem.
ME!
You can skip this is you like. Unless you don't want to.
I wouldn't, but that's me.
My life the last two months has been way too stressful. One, school. But school I can handle and am handling very, very well. I'm good at school. Two, stories. Finding time to work on them has become a lot harder. I like having the time to do so, but stuff keeps coming up. Like number three, scholarships. I'm applying for four; and I've been turned down for two. One didn't even contact me about not getting it. I was really annoyed. I hope I'm getting the next one, but I suddenly doubt it. None of these scholarship people want to give anything to me.
Which, I'll be honest, I understand. It's not that other people deserve it more than me; it's that I put less work into them. I don't know why, I just do. I like to write and so I can(and do) write a scholarship essay in two hours.
But that's just me. My friends do more than I do. My friends are all very good people. I am glad people do not make me compare myself to my friends, because I would probably walk away feeling like the worst person in the world.
I love my friends don't get me wrong but...look, when you surround yourself with the top actors and actress of the class, the best playwright this side of the universe, and two people who's GPA I only have the first week of school...you feel like you aren't all that special.
And I'm sure I am. But still.
Okay, done with the dull boring me talk.
DOCTOR WHO!
Okay, so this is going to be how I'm spending my Saturday nights until the fourth of June. No Joke. Well, except for one, when I will be going to prom.
It looks epic and amazing. And wonderful.
And I LOVE IT! Oh so, so much.
Personally, I think one of the reasons I'm so in love with this show is the idea of the Doctor just landing somewhere and whisking someone away. So far away. And they can see amazing things and do amazing things. And somewhere inside all of us we want to go off and see something wonderful.
And that's what's so perfect about it. Because there's always the slim hope that maybe, maybe it's real, and maybe one day the Doctor will land and ask me to come with him to see the universe.
That ended with me again. But I'm sure that people will be able sympathize.
Read: At all. No new novels.
Scholarship Season.
If you're really saddened about not getting to read commentary on a different book...sorry. In related news, my friend and fellow blogger over at el Sol de la Noche did discuss Pride and Prejudice, which she just read. She called it "Pride and Prejudice and Men". She's also writing a pretty cool story on her blog, with really awesome drawings to accompany some chapters.
So, I'll take the chance to ramble a bit about 1.) Who, exactly, is on my current Author Crush list(Hint, almost all have been featured on this page) 2.) My life at the moment. 3.)Doctor Who. Sorry. Excited.
AUTHOR CRUSH LIST 4/17/2011
1.) Neil Gaiman
2.) Terry Pratchett
3.) John Green
4.) Jane Austen
5.) Charlotte Bronte
6.) William Shakespeare
They all have writing qualities that I love and want. One, their writing is amazing and brilliant. It flows, gets across a message, and is amazingly moving. Two, their characters are the sort of people you can learn to love and hate and love again in two hours. The sort of people you'd like to know; the sort of people you'd root for. Three, what they had to say in the novels was so right, so true, so perfect...you believe them.
I love reading their novels over and over and over again. And, they're the only ones that I do read fully over and over again. Every word is a gem.
ME!
You can skip this is you like. Unless you don't want to.
I wouldn't, but that's me.
My life the last two months has been way too stressful. One, school. But school I can handle and am handling very, very well. I'm good at school. Two, stories. Finding time to work on them has become a lot harder. I like having the time to do so, but stuff keeps coming up. Like number three, scholarships. I'm applying for four; and I've been turned down for two. One didn't even contact me about not getting it. I was really annoyed. I hope I'm getting the next one, but I suddenly doubt it. None of these scholarship people want to give anything to me.
Which, I'll be honest, I understand. It's not that other people deserve it more than me; it's that I put less work into them. I don't know why, I just do. I like to write and so I can(and do) write a scholarship essay in two hours.
But that's just me. My friends do more than I do. My friends are all very good people. I am glad people do not make me compare myself to my friends, because I would probably walk away feeling like the worst person in the world.
I love my friends don't get me wrong but...look, when you surround yourself with the top actors and actress of the class, the best playwright this side of the universe, and two people who's GPA I only have the first week of school...you feel like you aren't all that special.
And I'm sure I am. But still.
Okay, done with the dull boring me talk.
DOCTOR WHO!
Okay, so this is going to be how I'm spending my Saturday nights until the fourth of June. No Joke. Well, except for one, when I will be going to prom.
It looks epic and amazing. And wonderful.
And I LOVE IT! Oh so, so much.
Personally, I think one of the reasons I'm so in love with this show is the idea of the Doctor just landing somewhere and whisking someone away. So far away. And they can see amazing things and do amazing things. And somewhere inside all of us we want to go off and see something wonderful.
And that's what's so perfect about it. Because there's always the slim hope that maybe, maybe it's real, and maybe one day the Doctor will land and ask me to come with him to see the universe.
That ended with me again. But I'm sure that people will be able sympathize.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
The Graveyard Book
There are books--few and far between--that I don't read when I get them immediately.
This was one of them.
I knew that it was getting bad when, last weekend, my nephew caught me reading this book and said, "Oh, you're reading that finally?"
Needless to say, I finished it quickly.
And, here's the thing...AUTHOR CRUSH AUTHOR!
I love Neil Gaiman's books--from Good Omens to American Gods. All of his short stories.
So why did I put off reading this one?
I don't have a good answer for that. Busy, I suppose. Reading other novels.
I really liked this book(It's actually a YA/children novel). It was one of the best things I've read(fully) in a while.
I've got to want you though: The writing(especially in the first few pages) is the a bit dark and creepy.
It's about a boy who is called Nobody Owens, who's family is killed. Nobody is taken in and raised by two ghosts at a graveyard, along with Silas, his guardian. It starts out as an amazing adventure, with different sorts of ghosts and other miraculous non-human beings. Nobody experiences a series of ups and downs, he does the right thing and the wrong thing.
It's the story of a boy who grows up in a grave yard, to put it simply.
And it's amazing.
There's love won and lost, feeling hopeless and hopeful...just, all of the emotions anyone can imagine. If he wanted, I'm sure he could have me in tears. As it is, he scares me to the bone, and his stories keep me up at night.
It's also another reason as to why Neil Gaiman is at the top of my Author Crush List. He's a wonderful, descriptive writer who, unlike me, can find the perfect balance between dialogue and describing stuff.
He creates bloody amazing characters.
He tells a story in the most wonderful manner.
And he manages to do this all at the same time, over and over again.
Plus, he wrote the fourth episode of Doctor Who, Series Six...(I'll probably keep bring up Series Six until after it airs.)
((On the plus side to this obsession, there's a book series about the Doctor. I shall read one book. I'll probably have to go on a rant about published fanfiction again, if those amuse you.))
This was one of them.
I knew that it was getting bad when, last weekend, my nephew caught me reading this book and said, "Oh, you're reading that finally?"
Needless to say, I finished it quickly.
And, here's the thing...AUTHOR CRUSH AUTHOR!
I love Neil Gaiman's books--from Good Omens to American Gods. All of his short stories.
So why did I put off reading this one?
I don't have a good answer for that. Busy, I suppose. Reading other novels.
I really liked this book(It's actually a YA/children novel). It was one of the best things I've read(fully) in a while.
I've got to want you though: The writing(especially in the first few pages) is the a bit dark and creepy.
It's about a boy who is called Nobody Owens, who's family is killed. Nobody is taken in and raised by two ghosts at a graveyard, along with Silas, his guardian. It starts out as an amazing adventure, with different sorts of ghosts and other miraculous non-human beings. Nobody experiences a series of ups and downs, he does the right thing and the wrong thing.
It's the story of a boy who grows up in a grave yard, to put it simply.
And it's amazing.
There's love won and lost, feeling hopeless and hopeful...just, all of the emotions anyone can imagine. If he wanted, I'm sure he could have me in tears. As it is, he scares me to the bone, and his stories keep me up at night.
It's also another reason as to why Neil Gaiman is at the top of my Author Crush List. He's a wonderful, descriptive writer who, unlike me, can find the perfect balance between dialogue and describing stuff.
He creates bloody amazing characters.
He tells a story in the most wonderful manner.
And he manages to do this all at the same time, over and over again.
Plus, he wrote the fourth episode of Doctor Who, Series Six...(I'll probably keep bring up Series Six until after it airs.)
((On the plus side to this obsession, there's a book series about the Doctor. I shall read one book. I'll probably have to go on a rant about published fanfiction again, if those amuse you.))
Sunday, March 20, 2011
FINISHED THE MOONSTONE
And it was really an awesome ending(better than a good part of it. I was overly impressed. (Compared with the rest of the book)).
1.) I got my favorite narrator back!!!!
2.) There was an interesting new narrator! Who wasn't as awesome because he was going to die soon. And, well, he was angsty and mopey about it. But at least he was amusing. Not in an funny amusing way but...well, he wasn't dull.
3.) An almost entirely happy ending! As in, the bad guy died, the good guys found out what happened, and the guy got the girl! And with this novel there is a love triangle, so you don't know who gets the girl unless you read the novel! Yay! Not ruining any endings!
PET PEEVE! Having a random character that has no use what so ever. Thank you very much, authors who do this out there, do not make me feel like I should care about some one I see for about 10 pages. Out of a 547 page novel. That's guilt tripping.
I feel like this is really short.
INTROSPECTION TIME!
Okay, so since I'm really, really bad at introspection unless I read about 100 pages of a novel within six hours(and I obviously didn't do that here) I need to come up with some questions about the novel and life at the same time.
This, folks, is why I would not be a good English teacher.
Q1. "What does not fibbing on who stole the Moonstone say about Rachel? Would you have done the same thing as her?"
A1. It says that she is over devoted to being an honest and upright person. Which isn't a bad thing, until it causes a lot of strife in your family. And makes people in the BIGGEST CITY IN YOUR EMPIRE start rumors about you and what happened. Honor is great, don't get me wrong, but I also think there's a line in the sand that has to be draw where being honorable and being a bit of an idiot start. Also, not yelling at the person when she caught them in her room is kind of idiotic. A house full of people, you'd think saying something, or screaming or just entering the room might help. See, I would not have done the same thing, because I wouldn't put myself in that position. Problem solved.
Q2. "So, this new narrator(I'm not telling you his name), what really bothers you about him?"
A1. What bothers me about him is that he is a really good doctor, who has written a book and actually makes a couple of friends who he helps out. And yeah, he may be dying soon and is addicted to a horrible drug, but I'll be honest, he could be happy. He should be happy. I do not like people who wallow in their own misery all the time. NOTE: If you're my friend and you think you do this, you don't because otherwise I would ignore you so much you could not count yourself among my friends. So there.
Q3. THIS IS HARD WORK!
A3. Yes it is. So I'm gonna call INTROSPECTION TIME done unless one of two things happen.
Thing One! I actually start writing an essay on this in the near future. Which I will have to. I should make a note about that.
Thing Two! After all you've read on this blog, you have a question. So post it in a comment and I will reply to it on Wednesday. A post day I've been ignoring due to bad writer disease. But if there is a question, I will answer it on Wednesday. And it will remind me to post again.
1.) I got my favorite narrator back!!!!
2.) There was an interesting new narrator! Who wasn't as awesome because he was going to die soon. And, well, he was angsty and mopey about it. But at least he was amusing. Not in an funny amusing way but...well, he wasn't dull.
3.) An almost entirely happy ending! As in, the bad guy died, the good guys found out what happened, and the guy got the girl! And with this novel there is a love triangle, so you don't know who gets the girl unless you read the novel! Yay! Not ruining any endings!
PET PEEVE! Having a random character that has no use what so ever. Thank you very much, authors who do this out there, do not make me feel like I should care about some one I see for about 10 pages. Out of a 547 page novel. That's guilt tripping.
I feel like this is really short.
INTROSPECTION TIME!
Okay, so since I'm really, really bad at introspection unless I read about 100 pages of a novel within six hours(and I obviously didn't do that here) I need to come up with some questions about the novel and life at the same time.
This, folks, is why I would not be a good English teacher.
Q1. "What does not fibbing on who stole the Moonstone say about Rachel? Would you have done the same thing as her?"
A1. It says that she is over devoted to being an honest and upright person. Which isn't a bad thing, until it causes a lot of strife in your family. And makes people in the BIGGEST CITY IN YOUR EMPIRE start rumors about you and what happened. Honor is great, don't get me wrong, but I also think there's a line in the sand that has to be draw where being honorable and being a bit of an idiot start. Also, not yelling at the person when she caught them in her room is kind of idiotic. A house full of people, you'd think saying something, or screaming or just entering the room might help. See, I would not have done the same thing, because I wouldn't put myself in that position. Problem solved.
Q2. "So, this new narrator(I'm not telling you his name), what really bothers you about him?"
A1. What bothers me about him is that he is a really good doctor, who has written a book and actually makes a couple of friends who he helps out. And yeah, he may be dying soon and is addicted to a horrible drug, but I'll be honest, he could be happy. He should be happy. I do not like people who wallow in their own misery all the time. NOTE: If you're my friend and you think you do this, you don't because otherwise I would ignore you so much you could not count yourself among my friends. So there.
Q3. THIS IS HARD WORK!
A3. Yes it is. So I'm gonna call INTROSPECTION TIME done unless one of two things happen.
Thing One! I actually start writing an essay on this in the near future. Which I will have to. I should make a note about that.
Thing Two! After all you've read on this blog, you have a question. So post it in a comment and I will reply to it on Wednesday. A post day I've been ignoring due to bad writer disease. But if there is a question, I will answer it on Wednesday. And it will remind me to post again.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
The Moonstone: Parts Two and Three
Okay, so I missed Wednesday, but I don't think that was a big issue for many people. Sorry if those are posts you look forward too.
Also, I didn't keep to the schedule I promised you. But don't worry. I only skipped ahead about 100 pages. One, I wanted to find out more(plot's really picked up!) and then I wanted to get the next narrator over with.
PET PEEVE: Narrators that I can't like. Ever. That includes over religious(in this case) over callous(ooh, again in this case) and anything else that's just over the top too much. I know there are people like that, but I don't want to read them. Please and thank you.
Other than that, I really liked the story. It was basically amazing how well the plot advanced. First, the moonstone was finally stolen. Then we got to go on a search to find out who might have stolen it, introducing an interesting new character--a detective--and then one of the maids dies. We are presented with the owner of the Moonstone as the most likely thief. Stealing her own diamond...devious.
There's an underlying touch of romance here--Rachel, the owner of the diamond, is in love with the man who brought her the diamond, but her cousin is in love with her. He proposes and gets turned down. Then the Moonstone gets stolen and Rachel gets really mad at the man who brought it to her. Then she's accused of stealing the Diamond and they move to London to keep her out of the mess. Where her cousin proposes again. This time she accepts him.
Then her mom dies.
And then Rachel breaks off the engagement and goes to live with her mother's lawyer and his family.
Basically all that happened.
Good read though(once I got past the narrator)!
Also, I didn't keep to the schedule I promised you. But don't worry. I only skipped ahead about 100 pages. One, I wanted to find out more(plot's really picked up!) and then I wanted to get the next narrator over with.
PET PEEVE: Narrators that I can't like. Ever. That includes over religious(in this case) over callous(ooh, again in this case) and anything else that's just over the top too much. I know there are people like that, but I don't want to read them. Please and thank you.
Other than that, I really liked the story. It was basically amazing how well the plot advanced. First, the moonstone was finally stolen. Then we got to go on a search to find out who might have stolen it, introducing an interesting new character--a detective--and then one of the maids dies. We are presented with the owner of the Moonstone as the most likely thief. Stealing her own diamond...devious.
There's an underlying touch of romance here--Rachel, the owner of the diamond, is in love with the man who brought her the diamond, but her cousin is in love with her. He proposes and gets turned down. Then the Moonstone gets stolen and Rachel gets really mad at the man who brought it to her. Then she's accused of stealing the Diamond and they move to London to keep her out of the mess. Where her cousin proposes again. This time she accepts him.
Then her mom dies.
And then Rachel breaks off the engagement and goes to live with her mother's lawyer and his family.
Basically all that happened.
Good read though(once I got past the narrator)!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Author Crush
Okay, you heard it all a couple weeks ago. Bad Writer, didn't do anything this week. No fanfic stuff, don't worry about it.
A new story that I'm going to submit next semester, bit of a Doctor Who feel, but very much mine and based on Earth.
And I have to entirely re-write the other story that I submitted because it wasn't good enough.
Blah.
On to Spanish homework!
A new story that I'm going to submit next semester, bit of a Doctor Who feel, but very much mine and based on Earth.
And I have to entirely re-write the other story that I submitted because it wasn't good enough.
Blah.
On to Spanish homework!
Sunday, February 20, 2011
The Moonstone: Part One of Five
The Moonstone is a really long book. 557 pages, smallish font(i'd guess, 9, 10 font. In a paper back book.)
And I've been a bit busy. Really Busy. I have Calculus this semester, along with Spanish, Global Affairs, Government and the Creative Writing Prose class. Most of which are pretty good, but...lots of home work And, yeah, I've been a bit distracted this week. No excuse for it, honestly, but I've decided that for both your sanity and mine, I'll give you a review-ish thing of The Moonstone in five parts.
Your sanity because even the first 103 pages were so packed full of stuff(my brain's not working right now. Sorry) that it's hard to deal with. And think about. And understand. Also, because the writer later changes Points of View later. Which is gonna be interesting. But hard to follow.
Background information on this tale: The Moonstone is a priceless(actually, this is Victorian times, so a very expensive), very large yellow diamond. It's supposed to be mystical to Indians(from India. I'm not being insulting here, but I'm sure that there are a few people who would be confused since in America the Native Americans were called Indians for hundreds of years. Cause Chris Columbus wasn't the brightest tool in the shed.) And those who were supposed to guard it want it back. Now. So they're going to steal it from the niece of the guy who stole it. Please keep reading if that was confusing.
ON TO THE FIRST 11 CHAPTERS!
First pet peeve: Nothing. Happened. At all. Well, little bits of stuff happened. The Moonstone's discovery was told. We found out what The Moonstone was, exactly(basically a symbol of a god, I'll keep it basic.) We found out it took the Character three times to actually START the story.
There will be more Pet Peeves to come with this story, and I should make a list sometime of the bigger ones I have. But that's one of them. Nothing happening in 99 pages of STUFF. We get a lot of back story, which is nice. I like backstory. We also slowly move the plot along. It's important, but slow.
Which I'm bad at. I don't like 70 pages of back story before I get to see the diamond.
The good news is that I like this narrator. He's amusing. He's kinda funny at times which is good, because it helps hold me up for the next ten or so pages.
That's my impression so far. I'm not done so I don't have much to comment on about it, and like I said, mostly back story.
Good back story.
But back story nonetheless.
And I've been a bit busy. Really Busy. I have Calculus this semester, along with Spanish, Global Affairs, Government and the Creative Writing Prose class. Most of which are pretty good, but...lots of home work And, yeah, I've been a bit distracted this week. No excuse for it, honestly, but I've decided that for both your sanity and mine, I'll give you a review-ish thing of The Moonstone in five parts.
Your sanity because even the first 103 pages were so packed full of stuff(my brain's not working right now. Sorry) that it's hard to deal with. And think about. And understand. Also, because the writer later changes Points of View later. Which is gonna be interesting. But hard to follow.
Background information on this tale: The Moonstone is a priceless(actually, this is Victorian times, so a very expensive), very large yellow diamond. It's supposed to be mystical to Indians(from India. I'm not being insulting here, but I'm sure that there are a few people who would be confused since in America the Native Americans were called Indians for hundreds of years. Cause Chris Columbus wasn't the brightest tool in the shed.) And those who were supposed to guard it want it back. Now. So they're going to steal it from the niece of the guy who stole it. Please keep reading if that was confusing.
ON TO THE FIRST 11 CHAPTERS!
First pet peeve: Nothing. Happened. At all. Well, little bits of stuff happened. The Moonstone's discovery was told. We found out what The Moonstone was, exactly(basically a symbol of a god, I'll keep it basic.) We found out it took the Character three times to actually START the story.
There will be more Pet Peeves to come with this story, and I should make a list sometime of the bigger ones I have. But that's one of them. Nothing happening in 99 pages of STUFF. We get a lot of back story, which is nice. I like backstory. We also slowly move the plot along. It's important, but slow.
Which I'm bad at. I don't like 70 pages of back story before I get to see the diamond.
The good news is that I like this narrator. He's amusing. He's kinda funny at times which is good, because it helps hold me up for the next ten or so pages.
That's my impression so far. I'm not done so I don't have much to comment on about it, and like I said, mostly back story.
Good back story.
But back story nonetheless.
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