Bye

I am going to be out of town for the next few days and therefore, will not be posting. I will be too busy hiking, eating delicious food and seeing awesome things! So hopefully everyone has a nice weekend!

If you haven't heard, suicides (especially teen suicides) in the LGBT have been on the rise. That is not cool. There have been so many sad stories in the news lately about young people killing themselves because they are afraid to come out or are harassed when they do. I think this is shocking. They are people just like everyone else. I wanted to share the link to IT GETS BETTER.
This is a great idea to help the LGBT community. I also think it's just a good message to anyone having a hard time in life, because it is so completely true. It gets better. It really does.

Room

Up next is Room by Emma Donoghue. It is told by a five year old boy who lives in a small room with his mom. Other than that I'm not sure what it is about. I think it sounds really intriguing. I love novels written from odd perspectives. I also love the cover for this.


This whole week my allergies have been insane and I haven't been feeling the best. Now I know that sick me=less blogs and shorter entries. What can you do?

Still Missing: Wrap Up!

Whoa! What an amazing book. I read the last 50 pages last night and was left totally stunned by the greatness of Still Missing. Everything was right about it. I don't want to elaborate too much on what happens, because giving anything away would might make it less special. A lot of times when you read a novel one half is better than the other... slow start, great end or great beginning, horrid end. That is absolutely not the case here. It is consistent all the way through. The ending, along with the beginning and middle, are excellent, thrilling and captivating.


I can do nothing but praise Chevy Stevens for this amazing novel. I just checked out her website and found out she has a new novel coming out in the summer of 2011. It is called Never Knowing and the plot sounds very interesting. I cannot wait!

Rating: 10/10

Sick

I got a cold. Or maybe it's just allergies. Either way, it halted my reading for a couple days. I'm feeling somewhat better so hopefully I will finish Still Missing today! I need to know what happens :)

Here is some hilarity.

Exciting Stuff!

A list of books I recommend was posted on the fabulous website www.flashlightworthybooks.com

That might not seem like a huge deal, but it is very exciting stuff :) Yay!!!

Here is my list:
Best-Modern-Japanese-Fiction-Book-List

Hurray!!!

Half Way Point

I am half done with Still Missing. It is an excellent novel so far! It is gut wrenching and awful, but so good. Chevy Stevens is a great writer. She is able to make this fictional story absolutely real. It is hard to believe that these events didn't actually happen. She must have really done her research :)
So much has already happened, I just cannot imagine what is going to happen in the last 175 pages. Probably some very messed up stuff.

Still Missing is unputdownable. My alarm was set for 7am, but I woke up at 6am just so I could read for an hour. I seriously hope the ending isn't a let down. Maybe I will finish it today.

Still Missing

Up next, like I said in a previous post, is Still Missing by Chevy Stevens. It is the story of a woman who was kidnapped and held for a year. The story is told by her talking to a therapist. It is not a true story, but it reads like one. I know that because I started reading it yesterday :)

So far I think this book is everything I wanted with the exception of one teeny tiny thing. When Annie (the kidnapped lady) is talking to the therapist -not telling her story- she is too sassy. I
think it's mildly annoying. Good thing she is mostly telling her creepy story.

On another note, Minnesota just got the first frost of the year over night. Good stuff. I love this weather!!! When I went outside at 6am it was so pretty out. There is a big fountain across the street from us and steam was rising from it. It looked awesome. My dogs also love this weather. They would love to just stay outside and play in it.

My boyfriend and I decided to pick each others next books. I haven't picked his yet because he wants something really epic, so I need to think. For me he chose Gone with the Wind. Which he just read and loved. It is on that Radcliffe's Rival list, so I have to read it eventually anyways, I am just not too enthused about it. I am kind of weird when it comes to people picking what I read. It's the same feeling I had when I was in school and I had to read what the teachers wanted the class to read. And it's a weird thing, because with the exception of The Golden Compass, I have enjoyed everything he has picked for me. Oh well. Today I'm going to do a little browsing and pick him out something good for his next novel. I have to say though... I might not read Gone with the Wind next. I will for sure read it soon. Just maybe not next. I suck at letting people pick my books :) Plain and simple.

For my New Years Resolution I am definitely happy I added writing a book to the list. I just realized how incredibly easy reading 50 books in a year is. I will probably read more than that this year and I didn't even try. Not to mention I was in the hospital for a week and didn't read just cause for probably two weeks. So I've changed it a bit by adding: writing the novel, reading more classics (which are generally a little slower and sometimes longer) and I am going to up the number of books to 55. That will make it more interesting I think :)

The Andromeda Strain: Wrap Up!

I finished The Andromeda Strain yesterday morning. I was really surprised by the fact that about 3/4 of the novel takes place in a lab. Didn't see that one coming!!! This was one of the books where I thought I actually knew the plot summary ahead of time. I was wrong. I did like Andromeda. It held my attention and moved at a fast pace. You can tell this is an early Crichton book because of how the characters take a backseat to the science of what is going on. In his later writing, while still full of science, he focuses much more on characters. I was not super thrilled by Andromeda, I just liked it. It was a nice, fast and interesting read.

Rating: 6/10

Sooo Far

So far not a whole lot has happened in Andromeda Strain. I am over half done. It is really interesting and definitely holds my attention, I just assumed more action would be happening. Oh well. I might finish it tonight if a million other things don't distract me :)

I decided a couple nights ago that my other New Years Resolution is to write a novel. It doesn't need to be a long one or anything super epic. Just a novel. I have always wanted to be a writer of some sort. It is literally the only thing I have always wanted to be, since I can remember. That is part of why I started this blog, too. To sort of practice writing and to get back in the habit of making myself write. It seems like life just happens and I get so busy with things that writing never takes a front seat in the priority bus. I think it was J.D. Salinger who said that great writers write for at least 20 minutes every day no matter what. That doesn't sound hard, but for some reason it is.

I'm not too concerned about actually writing the novel, but coming up with awesome ideas and editing...damn. That will be hard. And time consuming.

Yay!

I finally got Still Missing by Chevy Stevens in ebook format! I am so excited :)
This book has been on my wish list for a super long time. It was recently released and I am just thrilled. I will definitely (or more than likely...) be reading it next! This is the Amazon page.
Some other books I got today are: Linger by Maggie Stiefvader (still haven't read Shiver), Room by Emma Donoghue, Skippy Dies by Paul Murray, Neighborhood Watch by Cammie McGovern and C by Tom McCarthy.
I'm not sure what most of those are about, but they all had good covers and titles. Usually I don't like knowing everything novels are about before I read them. Have I mentioned how amazing it is to have a Nook? It makes getting books so fricken easy. And saves so much space!!! And money.

Last night I started Andromeda Strain. So far, so good! I am about 40 pages in and it is just kind of setting up the story. It's really captivating and exciting thus far. The thing that is so great about Crichton is that most of his novels are things that could actually happen. And he uses interesting facts to make the events even more plausible. And unlike Chuck Palahniuk (who I think is terribly overrated), Michael Crichton's thrown in facts serve a purpose.

Today I went for a walk and there were tons of grasshoppers all over the paths that were not moving. I don't think they were dead, but maybe they were too cold to move... I'm not sure. It was gross. I do not like grasshoppers. It's officially fall today and I am loving it. Fall is amazing. Tonight and tomorrow it's suppose to be nonstop rain too. So that's fun :)

Ooooh! I almost forgot! King Tut is coming to Minnesota!

Birds Stealing Ice Cream :)

Click here
Super funny Oddee.com page :)

The Andromeda Strain

I had a super hard time deciding what to read next. I was debating between the following: Rebecca, This Side of Paradise, One Flow Over the Cuckoos Nest and Nightmare At 20,000 Feet. Somehow I ended up picking The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton (RIP).

Because of the lame book I just finished (Divine Misfortune), I really needed something great as a follow up. Generally, Michael Crichton is great. I have read most of his stuff and he is definitely one of my favorite authors. Other than Airframe, everything I have read by him is excellent. Jurassic Park? The Lost World? Congo? Prey? Timeline? All Classics!

The Andromeda Strain was published in 1969 and is about a team of scientists investigating a deadly microorganism that makes people go crazy, kill themselves and kill other people. Like most other Crichton novels, he was ahead of his time.

I have never seen the movies made after the novel. I will probably check them out after I read this.

Divine Misfortune: Wrap Up!

What a horrible novel. I just finished Divine Misfortune by A. Lee Martinez. It was painful. Think of a poorly written and very forced cross between Christopher Moore and Neil Gaiman's novel American Gods. It was bad. None of the characters ever developed and the plot clipped along at a rather slow pace. I am shocked that this was recommended to me. I don't know who would like this book. The humor is so cheesy and fake. Ugh. I just couldn't stand it!!!

Rating: 2/10

Beautiful Morning

I just got back from a super fun walk around my neighborhood. It was dark when I left and sunny by the time I got back home. When I walked through the front door my dogs were waiting for me. I love that :) If they didn't have such short legs I would take them with me. But short legs are not made for speedy and long walks. It's probably about 50 degrees out. That is also known as 'perfect' in my book.

Last night I read quite a bit of Divine Misfortune. I think I can sum of most of my thoughts about it in just a couple sentences. Here goes: A. Lee Martinez's writing is similar to Christopher Moore, only Mr. Moore is a great writer. If you have read everything by Christopher Moore and are desperate for something kind of like his novels, pick up Divine Misfortune.
That might sound harsh and I suppose it probably is a little, but what can I say? I definitely am enjoying this novel, just not as much as I would enjoy most Moore novels. And to be honest, I am comparing A. Lee Martinez to Christopher Moore because a lot of people say how similar they are. It's really hard for me to not be biased about something in my reviews. I read so much that it is really hard to not draw comparisons or have certain expectations.

I am about 80 pages into Divine Misfortune. It is 214 pages long I believe. Oh, and it is not about two guys... it is a husband and wife. For some reason I always think the name Teri is a mans name. So that is why I assumed it was two guys. Oh well :)

Here is a precious puppy:

Divine Misfortune

Up next is Divine Misfortune by A. Lee Martinez. He was recommended to me because I love Christopher Moore so much. His writing is supposed to be really dark and funny. That sounds great right about now :)

Divine Misfortune is about two guys looking for a god, because they need some good fortune in their lives. Hilarity is supposed to ensue. Hopefully it does!

The Moon Is Down: Wrap Up!

I finished The Moon Is Down about an hour ago. I thought it was pretty good. I definitely prefer Steinbeck's more classic novels and novellas. While I enjoyed this one, it wasn't anything to rave about. I'm not really sure what else to say about it, so... I guess I'm done talking about it now.

Rating: 5/10

The weather is finally turning to fall weather and I love it so much! My boyfriend and I just got back from a nice walk around our neighborhood and then I went and got a Mexican mocha from the local coffee shop. It is delicious :)

Rain

Today is super rainy and kind of gross. It makes me really tired! I think the rest of this week is supposed to be rainy.

This is a list I like. I was very pleased with how I was able to answer most of those questions. How about you?

Last night I started reading The Moon Is Down. So far, so good. Just a typical story so far. Nothing special or anything. I might finish it tonight if I don't fall asleep first :)

The Moon Is Down

Next up is The Moon Is Down by John Steinbeck. It is one of his novellas and it is about the military occupation of a little town in Northern Europe. The occupying military is from an unnamed country at war with England and Russia. This novella was written to motivate resistance movements of occupied countries during WWII and most agree the 'unnamed country' is Germany and the occupying military force are Nazis. This should be a great book!!!

I really like John Steinbeck. I think he was a brilliant writer and I have never disliked any of his stuff. The thing with Steinbeck though, is that you need to be in the right mood to read it. If you don't feel like reading his stuff, you will be bored to death. But on the other hand, if you want to read it, you will eat it up. At this particular point in time I really am in the mood for his lengthy descriptions and relatable writing.

When I think Steinbeck I think America. It is absolutely amazing how he captures real America in his writing. Even though his books are so old they are still perfectly relevant to what is going on today. That is part of why I was interested in The Moon Is Down...because it is not about America at all. It will be interesting to see what feelings are captured in this book. I'm sure they are still relevant. That's why he is a classic writer :)

Salem's Lot- Wrap Up!

So I finished Salem's Lot last night. I definitely have to say that is was not one of my favorite Stephen King novels. The last time I had blogged about it I was about 320 pages in, out of 480 pages. This last handful of pages was not scary or creepy or anything I was expecting. It was more characters just doing what they needed to do. This isn't to say the last bit wasn't good. It was definitely good. It just was not what I like out of a novel I read to get scared :)

What I enjoyed most about Salem's Lot was how easy it was to picture everything. There was a sense or realism about it that was intriguing. If you have read King's novel The Long Walk, it is kind of a realism like that. It's a unique thing only Stephen King can pull off.

Rating: 8/10
Great novel, but I let my high hopes for it get the best of me :)

Some Pictures

These are what I think of when I think about Salem's Lot.




Basically, it's all pretty eerie stuff. But none of that seems very scary out of context I guess. Oh yeah, there is this though:

YUCK!!!
That is actually from the Salem's Lot miniseries from the 70's. It is also one the the books scariest parts so far. It's the part that is still creeping me out at night :)

So. Very. Tired.

I had a very tiring day at work. I despise working weekends.
I read some more and it keeps getting better.

The reason for this post is mainly to share Radcliffe's Rival 100 Best Novels List. It has been my goal for about 2 years now to read every book on the list. I have read about half of them now. Most are really depressing, so I take my time with them. This is the most well rounded list I have found of 'Best Books'.

Oh, and everyone should check out Oddee.com if you haven't heard of it already. It has fun stuff.

Eeeep!

Late last night I read in bed for a bit while my boyfriend was downstairs playing video games. I got really freaked out and basically made him come upstairs! I was that scared.
Now, this is exactly what I was looking for in Salem's Lot. I wanted a novel to creep me out super bad to get me ready for Halloween :) I am about a third of the way through it. Definitely a great book so far!
The vampires in this novel are not your Twilight vampires, which is about the extent of my vampire knowledge. So if you are in the same boat as me, check out the Wikipedia for vampires. It makes them a lot more frightening... as opposed to glittering.

Yeah... just a little more frightening...

Relaxing...

Shit has started hitting the fan in Salem's Lot.
Meanwhile, my dogs are relaxing in the sun :)

My Day Off!!!

Last night I read quite a bit more of Salem's Lot and it is starting to get good and creepy. Just how I wanted it to be :) Unfortunately my Nook's battery died and I had to stop reading for the night.
So far I am still in the 'set up' portion of the Novel. Not much has happened, but all the characters are building, the towns history is being told and two really wacky events have happened. Within the next 25 pages I bet scary stuff is going to start! I can't wait!
The good thing is that I don't have work today and I have no plans other than to read and hang around my house. So expect some updates later.

Also, you should probably watch 20/20 tonight on ABC. It's about Progeria, which I think is one of the most horrible diseases ever. I feel really strongly about helping and donating to the Progeria Research Foundation. I first learned about this disease in 2006 and it literally breaks my heart. This disease needs to be cured and because it is so rare I just want people to know about it! So check out 20/20 tonight :)

Have a great morning everyone!

Salem's Lot

Last night I started Salem's Lot by Stephen King. There is really nothing better than some King to get you ready for fall. I know this is one of his most classic novels. It was his second published novel and it is about vampires.
I'm not sure why I decided to read it. To be totally honest, I have always shied away from Salem's Lot because I think vampires are stupid.
So far I am 50 pages in and am enjoying it. Nothing special so far, but definitely interesting. It's almost 500 pages long... One of those books that makes me glad I have a Nook.
I am very excited to see where it's going. The characters so far are unique but relatable. I expect a lot out of this one :)

Books in 2010

1.Twilight-Stephenie Meyer-Surprising & fun
2.New Moon-Stephenie Meyer-Silly & fun
3.Eclipse-Stephenie Meyer-Exciting & weird
4.Breaking Dawn-Stephenie Meyer-Gross & Renesemee?!
5.A Dirty Job-Christopher Moore-Unique & funny
6.Bloodsucking Fiends-Christopher Moore-Hilarious & Memorable
7.Ring-Koji Suzuki-Strange & eerie
8.World War Z-Max Brooks-Different & gripping
9.Norwegian Wood-Haruki Murakami-Dreamy & retro
10.Molokai-Alan Brennert-Boring & sad
11.The Dolphin People-Torsten Krol-Disgusting & horrible
12.Mathilda Savitch-Victor Lotado-Wantstohaveapoint & doesn't
13.Beatrice and Virgil-Yann Martel-Imaginative & moving
14.Shutter Island-Dennis Lehane-Awesome & thrilling
15.The Boy with the Cuckoo Clock Heart-Mathias Malzieu- Wannabe & artsy
16.Blaze-Stephen King-Touching & suspense
17.Notes on a Scandal-Zoe Heller-Delicious & unrepeatable
18.Insomnia-Stephen King- Mediocre & long
19.The Killer Inside Me-Jim Thompson- Overrated & Slow
20.Veronica-Nicholas Christopher-Don't & bother
21.1984-George Orwell-Scary & realistic
22.Island of the Sequined Love Nun-Christopher Moore-Hilarious & goofy
23.The Wind in the Willows-Kenneth Grahame-Tedious & awful
24.Asleep-Banana Yoshimoto-Relaxing & easy
25.A Stir of Echoes-Richard Matheson-Scary & luring
26.What Dreams May Come-Richard Matheson-Life & changing
27.The Most Dangerous Game-Richard Connell-Fast & fun
28.You Suck: a love story-Christopher Moore-Excellent & unputdownable
29.Bite Me: a love story-Christopher Moore-bestofthe & series
30.The Stupidest Angel-Christopher Moore-Great & zombies
31.Committed-Elizabeth Gilbert-Informative & easy
32.The Princess Bride-William Goldman-Adventure & classic
33.The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo-Stieg Larsson-Boring & ick
34.Fluke-Christopher Moore-Slow & uninteresting
35.Coraline-Neil Gaiman-Scary & fun
36.Thirteen Reasons Why-Jay Asher-Sad & teen
37.Kafka on the Shore-Haruki Murakami-Strange & brilliant
38.Bad Things Happen-Harry Dolan-Murder & Hammet

Hi!

I read a lot. After finishing a book I always write a review for it, but I never know what to say exactly... So the point of this blog is to review while reading. I will also be tracking my reading goals and stuff like that. So far in 2010 I have read 38 novels and am working on the 39th. I would like to read 46 books by the end of the year. I'm not sure how doable that is. I didn't set a goal at the beginning of 2010 for how many books to read, but for 2011 I definitely would like to read 50.

I don't want to go back and review everything I have already read this year. That would be a waste and would defeat the point of this blog...which again, is reviewing while reading. But I will post what I have read and give a two word description. And I will start reviewing what I'm reading now. Waiting for a new year to start this seems too far away!!!

It probably would be a good idea to give a little background info on myself. I live in Minnesota and have all my life. I think it's a great place for the most part. I live with my boyfriend in a townhouse we got this past spring. We have two Dachshunds and a cat. I love going for walks and being with my family. I am very low key. I like a relaxed and cozy lifestyle.

My favorite books are: Stardust by Neil Gaiman, Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, What Dreams May Come by Richard Matheson, Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller, The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, The Stranger by Albert Camus, Life of Pi by Yann Martel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger and finally, Watership Down by Richard Adams.

Yeah... a very long list to just rattle off. I think it's important for people to know my favorites though. Favorite novels say a lot about a person. I should add that three of my favorite authors ever are Stephen King, Christopher Moore and Haruki Murakami, even though they don't have any novels I would call 'favorites'.

I'm not sure what else to say. So I will end this and post up the novels I have read in 2010 so far!