Old Reads, (Fairly) New Reviews, Part III

Okay, watch out, blogger friends! I'm going to warn you - you are about to see what happens when Amelia reads a book she did not like!

It might not be a pretty picture...you'll just have to love me anyway.

Ehh...it was okay. As a former ballerina, I absolutely loved how ballet was incorporated into the story; it wasnt just used as a way to describe the characters, but it had its own place in the story.

But past this general positive, my feelings about the book get a little more confused. This is the only Eva Ibbotson I've read (and you know, while it wasnt an awful read, I certainly dont feel the impulse to go out and read more of her stuff) and her writing style is descriptive and at times even elegant but her characters are very vacillated and her story pacing is really, REALLY weird.

This is first and foremost a romance story (there's little to no actual "HISTORY" here) and so therefore the romantic aspect should be the most important and the one that carries the weight of the story. Well, the whole thing just left me feeling rather confused: the relationship is way, way too rushed at the expense of a moderately-paced blossoming love story in which the reader gets to know the characters well and really see their relationship grow. What could have been sweet and "romantic" gets questionable and downright tawdry. And I consider myself one of the last true Romantics running around today. I love "happily-ever-afters." I love "true love" and all that jazz. But this is just weird.

Now granted, there were some good dialogue segments here and there, but not evenly or properly spaced throughout the story. And this is just a personal pet peeve of mine, but I don't understand why authors feel the need to include "previous encounters" of the love interest... THIS IS NOT A CARFAX HISTORY REPORT! I dont want to know all the other people who have driven your car!!! And I am certainly not a progressive, but I found it just a bit weird that this seemingly good-natured, innocent but grounded character would be so quick to tramp herself up. When the main character (who is at the ripe old age of 18 i might add) communicates a willingness to live as a "kept woman," that's trampy. How is that romantic? Like I said before, the characters' profiles just seem to constantly contradict each other. The ballerina in me was satisfied, and there were SOME parts of the Harriett-Rom romance that i thought was sweet (i like it when guys "rescue" girls--not because girls cant do anything for themselves, but because guys need to get off their butts and be productive! Not because we're weak, because WE'RE WORTH IT!) but overall, not one of my favorites.

Rating: 2/5.

A Company of Swans - Eva Ibbotson

- September 6, 2007 by Puffin (first published 1985)

- Paperback, 384 pages

- GR Reviews: 32% (5 stars), 36% (4 stars), 22% (3 stars), 7% (2 stars), 1% (1 star)

Teaser Tuesday!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should be Reading.

Here's how it works:- Grab the current book you're reading- Open up to a random page- share 2 "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page - just don't include spoilers!!!
**Note: I personally will probably fudge on the numbers and do more than just 2 sentences...!

I predict this will be my 2nd-to-last Wardstone Teaser Tuesday...there's only one more book in the series that I have left on my shelf. The end is near! :(((

So here is my teaser from Book 5 of the Wardstone Chronicles - The Spook's Mistake

"I stood up, clutching my staff. After a few moments I knew for sure that I was watching the approach of a water witch. It was something about the way she walked, a strange rolling of the body, perhaps caused by the talons and webbed toes..."
- The Spook's Mistake, pg. 243

Old Reads, (Fairly) New Reviews, II

When I read a book now, I post reviews both here and at Goodreads, which may in actuality be incredibly redundant, but it's the system I've got for now :)

But the books that I read before getting on GR are in a bit of a weird situation...because they have no reviews. Oh dear. And the books I read after GR but before my blog are in a similar predicament. Oh dear. So this will be my beginning effort at reorganizing.

Now yes, I there's something about YA (particularly Intermediate/Middle Grade YA) that I find fascinating. Every once in awhile, however, I venture out into the world of Bona Fide Grown Up Fiction...see what all the bona fide adults are reading!

And here's one of my favorite recent finds. Anyone up for a little absurdist fiction?

I don't usually read "absurdist fiction" (which apparently is the genre of this book) so I really didnt know what to expect. I was surprised to find that besides being uproariously funny, this story actually had a pretty good plot. Yes, it takes the plot from Shakespeare's KING LEAR, but his adaptation is quite original. Yes, this is a "grown up book," one of the few that I can actually stand. I don't mind bawdy and crude (and this is a very, VERY bawdy/crude book!) if it's in the confines of humor and if I as a reader don't have to take it seriously. Think SNL or Monty Python and then take it up a notch, you'll have a fair idea of the type of humor here.

I will dock a star because there were a couple times toward the very end where I thought the plot stretched perhaps a bit too far, or maybe I just personally didnt care for the particular twist. Overall, a funny book with way more depth than I had expected. Recommended :)

Rating: 3.5/5. That may not seem very high, but for what it is, it was enjoyable.

Fool - Christopher Moore

- Published February 1, 2009 by William Morrow

- Hardcover, 311 pages

- GR ratings: 28% (5 stars), 41% (4 stars), 21% (3 stars), 6% (2 stars), 1% (1 star)

Old Reads, (Fairly) New Reviews

When I read a book now, I post reviews both here and at Goodreads, which may in actuality be incredibly redundant, but it's the system I've got for now :)

But the books that I read before getting on GR are in a bit of a weird situation...because they have no reviews. Oh dear. And the books I read after GR but before my blog are in a similar predicament. Oh dear. So this will be my beginning effort at reorganizing.

The first review I think I should post is from a relatively popular title... maybe you all have heard of it - some of you might have even read it :)

It occurred to me that I've never written a review of Twilight. But then I stumbled on this, and it's pretty much word-for-word exactly how I feel about the book...pretty much, at least. :D

So here's a review of Twilight from someone who knows a thing or two about writing. Guess who it is:

Twilight, Stephenie Meyer. I'm a sucker for a good vampire story, so I wanted to see what all the buzz was about. The story was a page-turner: regular teenage girl falls in love with a guy who turns out to be a vampire. I thought the writing needed some editing. If the girl's heart skipped a beat one more time or the vampire smiled his "perfect crooked smile" I was going to fling the book across the room. But hey, I kept reading to see what would happen next. I'm sure the book will be popular. It would make a good movie.
- 2005 entry from his blog. That's right, folks. This review was written by the one, the only:


























RICK RIORDAN !

In My Mailbox

1st IMM

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme where I post the books that I either bought or ordered from the previous week. This was started by The Story Siren.

This week I bought all my books! I've been trying really hard to keep away from Amazon and the ever-more notorious Amazon UK!

- Shadows on the Stars (Great Tree of Avalon, #2)

- The Eternal Flame (Great Tree of Avalon, #3)

- The Wizard Heir (Heir Trilogy, #2)

- The Sugar Queen

Quote of the Week!

Here's my Quote of the Week :D

This quote seemed what I needed to hear and remember as I get ready for yet another week of school...boo... so I just wanted to share it with everyone.

I forgot to post this last week, but if you want to use any of my quote-posters on your sites, that would be just peachy! Just link the thing back to me 8D. I design the posters myself and really try to get pictures that match the quote - hmmm so if there's ever a picture/quote combo that seems a little on the random side, you'll know where the madness comes from!

Have a good week everybody!

A Conundrum!

The weekends are usually the busiest time for my fun-reading, so it was even more puzzling yesterday that I opted out of reading at all. The reason: I have no idea what book to read next?
Has that ever happened to any of you? Do those “In My Mailbox” or “Mailbox Mondays” ever get out-of-hand? My bookshelf is on the verge of a mutiny – they’re all screaming “Read me next!” and I don’t know which to choose!

My ongoing series at present is the Wardstone Chronicles by Joseph Delaney. I have 2 more books to go before I’ll be finished with them (for the time being) but I kind of want something a little different… Do you guys read all your series-books together or do you space them out? Take Harry Potter for example: did you blaze through them all at once, or did you read other books in between?

If anybody has any reading suggestions I’m all ears! Maybe I need a schedule or something…
For now, I’ve narrowed my options down to these two:

The Spook's Mistake (Wardstone, #5) / Child of the Dark Prophecy (Great Tree of Avalon, #1)

The Avalon series has a funny discovery history - or at least, I think so. A couple weeks ago I was at Borders picking up a couple books I have to read for class and this trilogy just caught my attention. They're pretty big hardbacks, so they were hard to miss. And I'm a sucker for pretty cover designs - I'll admit it! So it's managed to climb to the top of my TBR list even though I've only had it for a couple weeks...and what did I do the other day but go back for the other two! I've got a problem...I can't stop buying books!

I haven't heard much about them at all and I guess that adds to the allure :P Yes, I find books "alluring"! Oh dear!

So that, friendly bloggers, is my current conundrum - what to read next! Hints?! Suggestions?!