My Library Books - 3/30/13

This week, I returned Pride and Prejudice, The King of Attolia, Balefire, Legend, and Angelfall, and I got out:

Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

The Obsidian Blade by Pete Hautman

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan

All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Title: Pride and Prejudice

Author: Jane Austen

General Thoughts: The story of Pride and Prejudice has always held a soft spot in my heart, although I'm rather embarrassed to say that I haven't read the actual novel until now. Now that I have, I have to say that I love it just as much as I thought I would. I think the reason why I love it so much is that I can really connect with all of the characters. Austen makes them so human, with a healthy balance of admirable traits and relatable faults, that you can't help but become attached to them and invested in their story. For example, I could really understand the difference between Darcy's attitudes towards strangers versus his friends and family, because I'm like that myself. I hate talking to people I've never met or don't know very well, but with my friends I'm completely convivial and social, making jokes and completely at ease. I feel like I can connect with each of Austen's characters, either because I see a partial reflection of myself in them, or because I see a reflection of someone I know. That connection is what made the story so enjoyable to me, and probably to countless others around the world, too.

A Necklace of Water by Cate Tiernan

Title: A Necklace of Water

Author: Cate Tiernan

Quick Synopsis: (taken from Goodreads)
The Balefire coven has tried and failed to replicate the original rite that bestowed immortality upon them centuries ago. Some were hoping to finally die, others to discover new reaches of power. Twins Clio and Thais weren't sure what to expect, but now they are forced to confront a hidden enemy who still wants them dead. In addition, they're coping with the love they both feel for the same person, who has finally made his choice.

General Thoughts: And so ends the Balefire series. I have to say, this book is by far my favourite out of the four. However, there were some small, niggling little holes at the end that I was annoyed at.

My Favourite Part: The action. Things in this book felt much more fast-paced than in the previous ones, possibly because all of the events take place within the span of, like, a week. It's also the culmination of the entire series. I also loved the few unexpected twists in the plot. (But, like Legend, I guessed most of what was going to happen.)

My Least Favourite Part: I can't tell you, because it would ruin the whole plot of the book. Suffice it to say that there was one very important thing that happens, and its reason for happening is not explained at all, when it really should have been. If that makes any sense.

Scale of 1 to 10: 7.5

A New Page

I just added a new page with a list of different authors' websites, just as a neat little reference. I'll add to this list as I find other sites. If you have any that you want to put on the list, just post a comment here I'll get right on it.

Some...Unusual Words

Since I'm a huge nerd, I thought I'd share with you guys some of my favourite words (which isn't weird at all). They mostly tend to be weird, wacky words that you can't often slip into everyday conversation without sounding strange.


The List: 
Anathema - 1. something or someone that one vehemently dislikes; 2. a formal curse by a pope or a council of the Church, excommunicating a person or denouncing a doctrine; 3. a strong curse
Antepenultimate - third-to-last
Mellifluous - sweet or musical; pleasant to hear
Pulchritudinous - having great physical beauty (only used with people)
Selcouth - strange, unusual, rare; marvelous, wondrous
Soporific - tending to induce drowsiness or sleep
Verisimilitude - the appearance of truth; the quality of seeming to be true
Vicissitude - 1. a change of circumstances or fortune, typically one that is unwelcome or unpleasant; 2. alternation between opposite or contrasting things


(I might add to this list every once in a while. I'll keep a running list of these on another page of my blog for all of my fellow logophiles out there.)

A Feather of Stone by Cate Tiernan

Title: A Feather of Stone

Author: Cate Tiernan

Quick Synopsis: (taken from Goodreads)
After seventeen-year-old Thais Allard loses her widowed father in a tragic car accident, she is forced to leave the only home she's ever known to live with a total stranger in New Orleans. New Orleans greets Thais with many secrets and mysteries, but none as unbelievable as the moment she comes face to face with the impossible -- an identical twin, Clio. Thais soon learns that she and the twin she never knew come from a family of witches, that she possesses astonishing powers, and that she, along with Clio, has a key role in Balefire, the coven she was born into. Fiery Clio is less than thrilled to have to share the spotlight, but the twins must learn to combine their powers in order to complete a rite that will transform their lives and the coven forever.

General Thoughts: So much better than the first two books. I have to say, Cate Tiernan's writing has really improved throughout the course of the series.

My Favourite Part: The action. And the further weaving of backstory to aid the reader in further empathizing with the characters. (That's just fancy talk for me loving, again, the histories of her characters that Tiernan has slowly revealed to us one tantalizing piece at a time.)

My Least Favourite Part: There's a certain specific thing that I realized that kinda weirded me out for a while. (I can't tell you what it is because then I'll be spoiling the book, so you'll just have to read it for yourself to find out what I'm talking about.)

Scale of 1 to 10: 7.0

A Circle of Ashes by Cate Tiernan

Title: A Circle of Ashes

Author: Cate Tiernan

Brief Synopsis: (taken from Goodreads)
After seventeen-year-old Thais Allard loses her widowed father in a tragic car accident, she is forced to leave the only home she's ever known to live with a total stranger in New Orleans. New Orleans greets Thais with many secrets and mysteries, but none as unbelievable as the moment she comes face to face with the impossible -- an identical twin, Clio. Thais soon learns that she and the twin she never knew come from a family of witches, that she possesses astonishing powers, and that she, along with Clio, has a key role in Balefire, the coven she was born into. Fiery Clio is less than thrilled to have to share the spotlight, but the twins must learn to combine their powers in order to complete a rite that will transform their lives and the coven forever.

General Thoughts: The second book in the Balefire series is definitely better than the first. There's much more danger and tension, and the love triangle that I had been so exasperated with has developed into something much more complicated, with a few unexpected twists along the way. Also, the minor characters of the Treize that were just briefly introduced in A Chalice of Wind are more fully fleshed out in this one, and I loved learning about the members' complex and confusing pasts and trying to connect them to the present.

My Favourite Part: The Treize. More specifically, its members, and learning about their pasts, their hopes and aspirations, their resentments and regrets. Jules, Sophie, Richard, and Marcel really developed as characters in this book, and Tiernan does a good job of dropping enough hints about Richard and Marcel's pasts without giving everything away completely. It definitely makes me want to keep reading the series to find out more about them.

My Least Favourite Part: The prose, again. I've mentioned already that it's too plain for my tastes, but that has gotten better. However, I have this weird thing where if a certain noun or adjective is used in a sentence, there has to be a space of one or two sentences before it gets used again, otherwise it sounds repetitive. I do this with my own writing, too, for English essays and the like. I hate repeating words or sentence structures. There were a few moments in the book that it happened; not enough to really tick me off, but enough to annoy me a little.

Scale of 1 to 10: 7.0

My Library Books

Because I'm poor (and my library doesn't collect fines), I get most of my books out of the town public library. Here's the list of books I currently have out:

Fiction

Balefire by Cate Tiernan

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

I'm trying to finish this before the Lizzie Bennet Diaries finishes next week. I only have about 150 pages or so left, so I'm hoping I can finish it over the weekend.





Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

I'm actually reading this because of the VlogBrothers, Hank and John Green. I'm watching all of their videos in chronological order, and the one I'm on right now is a book discussion about this book. That, and I never read it in high school. Figured I might as well read it now.



The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchet

Nonfiction

We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda by Philip Gourevitch

The Violinist's Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code by Sam Kean

Flu: The Story Of The Great Influenza Pandemic Of 1918 And The Search For The Virus That Caused It by Gina Kolata

Bloodlines & The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead

Title: Bloodlines; The Golden Lily

Author: Richelle Mead

General Thoughts: So why am I doing a dual book review? Well, I read them both before I started doing this book blog again, so it'll just be a quick review. Plus, they're both from the same series, and I read them one after the other. I'm also kind of lazy.

I was really excited to read these books, since the series is a spin-off of the Vampire Academy series, which were so good. However, I was also a little apprehensive, because the story follows Sydney, an alchemist who appears in Vampire Academy but was never my favourite character. I needn't have worried. I enjoyed these two books just as much as I enjoyed VA, more so because I could relate to Sydney much more than I could Rose, the narrator of VA. Overbearing parents who have ridiculously high standards? Check. The expectation of perfection from everyone? Check. Love of learning? Double check.

Another great thing about the Bloodlines series? We get to follow the minor characters from VA, get to see them more fully fleshed out: Eddie, Jill, and Sydney. And, of course, there's Adrian. Quite possibly my favourite character out of all of them, with maybe the exception of Sydney. I can't wait to get my hands on the third one. The one bad thing about getting all of your books from the library? The endless wait list for popular books.

Scale of 1 to 10: 8.5

The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner (Re-read)

Title: The King of Attolia

Author: Megan Whalen Turner

Quick Synopsis: (taken from Goodreads)

By scheming and theft, the Thief of Eddis has become King of Attolia. Eugenides (yoo-JEN-ə-deez) wanted the queen, not the crown, but he finds himself trapped in a web of his own making.

Then he drags a naive young guard into the center of the political maelstrom. Poor Costis knows he is the victim of the king's caprice, but his contempt for Eugenides slowly turns to grudging respect. Though struggling against his fate, the newly crowned king is much more than he appears. Soon the corrupt Attolian court will learn that its subtle and dangerous intrigue is no match for Eugenides.

General Thoughts: This is the fourth time that I've read this book, which is crazy, because I almost never re-read books, much less re-read them three times. This, however, has to be my favourite book ever, hands down. It has fantastic, complex, believable characters, and the plot is so complex and unpredictable that you're kept on your toes the entire time. And the best part? Every time I re-read it, I always notice something new.

My Favourite Part: The complex plot. (And Eugenides, but that goes without saying.)

My Least Favourite Part: That it couldn't go on forever.

Scale of 1 to 10: 10

A Chalice of Wind by Cate Tiernan

Title: A Chalice of Wind

Author: Cate Tiernan

Quick Synopsis: (taken from Goodreads)
After seventeen-year-old Thais Allard loses her widowed father in a tragic car accident, she is forced to leave the only home she's ever known to live with a total stranger in New Orleans. New Orleans greets Thais with many secrets and mysteries, but none as unbelievable as the moment she comes face to face with the impossible -- an identical twin, Clio. Thais soon learns that she and the twin she never knew come from a family of witches, that she possesses astonishing powers, and that she, along with Clio, has a key role in Balefire, the coven she was born into. Fiery Clio is less than thrilled to have to share the spotlight, but the twins must learn to combine their powers in order to complete a rite that will transform their lives and the coven forever.

General Thoughts: I love the idea behind this book, especially the Treize and its story. Thais and Clio are great and very believable as characters. The prose is a little plain for my taste, but this is coming from someone who loves the ridiculous, meandering, vividly descriptive prose of the Vanity Fair (which I still need to finish).

My Favourite Part: The history of the Treize. And the incorporation of French into the witchcraft instead of the standard Latin chants. The members of the Treize fascinate me. There's clearly a muddy history and complex relationships between all of them, and so far I've only been dropped teeny tiny hints about what happened to them in the past. I'm really looking forward to learning more about each of them and deciphering their complex pasts.

My Least Favourite Part: The plain prose. And the love triangle. Honestly, what is with YA and love triangles? At least I didn't see the loves triangle coming until it was shoved into my face. (You'll know what I'm talking about if you read/have read the book.)

Scale of 1 to 10: 6.5

Just as a note, I read this book as part of an anthology, Balefire, a collection of the four books in the Balefire series. So expect more reviews for the other books relatively soon. (Like, within a month. Hopefully.)

Classics

A big goal I have for myself is to read as many of the classics as I possibly can before I die, starting with the more common ones and working my way down the list. So, I'm going to be adding to my blog a running list of the ones that I've read, just for my own reference. If you see any books on there that interest you or that you want to talk about, feel free to post a comment. That goes for any books that I've reviewed or talked about on my blog. I'm always up for a book talk.

Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

Title: Twelfth Night, or, What You Will

Playwright: William Shakespeare

General Thoughts: Absolutely hilarious. Probably my favourite comedy of his so far. Not much else to say. I loved the plethora of puns and disguises, as well as the confusion that occurred because of aforementioned disguises.

Legend by Marie Lu

Title: Legend

Author: Marie Lu

Quick Synopsis: (taken from Goodreads)
What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths—until the day June’s brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family’s survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias’s death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.

General Thoughts: Just to be clear, I love dystopian novels. They're probably my favourite types of books ever. Legend, while not particularly mind blowing in any specific way, was nonetheless a great read, and totally worth the time I put into it.

My Favourite Part: The writing. And the secret scientific surprise. There is a clear distinction between the two narrators voices, which always gets an author bonus points. Day sounds like a street-wise kid who's had to fight to survive, as he should, and June's military training really comes across. Also, the names in this book. Day, June/Junebug, Metias. I particularly love Metias's name, probably because it sounds like "Matthias", which is one of my favourite names. Also, June's last name, "Iparis", is fantastic. There's also the matter of connecting with Day and June. Both of them are very easy-to-relate to characters.

My Least Favourite Part: The predictability. There were some parts that took me by surprise, which was nice, but overall, in the general arc of things, I pretty much guessed all of the major things that would happen, which was not so nice. I'm one of those people who do not like easy-to-figure-out plots. Not knowing what comes next is part of the enjoyment of reading a book. If I wanted to know what happened next all the time, I'd go read my history textbook.

Scale of 1 to 10: 7.0

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

So, in case there are some crazy Pride & Prejudice fans out there who haven't heard in the past year, there's this new adaptation of P&P on YouTube, where Lizzie has a video blog, or vlog, that she uses to tell us about her life as a 24-year-old graduate student in California. The entire book is brought to life and modernized, with each of the main characters even having twitter accounts and interacting with fans.

Go check it out if you haven't already: My Name is Lizzie Bennet - Ep: 1

Hamlet by William Shakespeare

Title: The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

Playwright: William Shakespeare

General Thoughts: I have to say, Hamlet is one of my favourite Shakespearean plays. This was one of the books that I had to read for my Honours British Literature class this year. It's also one of the ones I was most looking forward to. That's right, you heard me, I was looking forward to reading Shakespeare. Why? Because Shakespeare is awesome, that's why. And for those of you who weren't asking why, high five fellow book nerd! *high-fives* Ahem. Anyway, suffice it to say that I really liked it, okay?

Angelfall by Susan Ee

Title: Angelfall

Author: Susan Ee

Quick Synopsis: (taken from the back of the book)
It's been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.

Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.

Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels' stronghold in San Francisco where she'll risk everything to rescue her sister and he'll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

General Thoughts: This has to be one of the best books I've read in a while. It was absolutely amazing. Penryn is a fascinating character, one of the better female characters that I've come across, and her relationship with Raffe is believable, and totally not your average YA paranormal relationship. Honestly, I was getting tired of the whole "I-love-you-but-I-can't-love-you-because-I'll-hurt-you-but-I'm-going-to-love-you-anyway" deal. It's nice to have something different for a change. The focus of the book was totally what the back of the book makes you think it is: Penryn needs to rescue her sister from the clutches of the angels.

My Favourite Part: The ending. Totally not being sarcastic here. The ending was absolutely beautiful. Also, Ee's prose really brings across Penryn's voice (the book being told in the 1st person), and you can't help but get emotionally involved. Towards the end, when the moment of truth arrives, there were so many emotions rolling around in my stomach that I almost had to stop reading, just to take a breather and settle my nerves. (Except I didn't, because it was so good I had to keep going.)

My Least Favourite Part: Penryn and Raffe's names. Don't get me wrong, Penryn is a lovely name, but I just don't think it suited her, and it was used so infrequently that I didn't have a chance to get used to it. Raffe's name itself is fine, it's how the author has us pronounce it that's a little iffy with me. Apparently, the "e" is a long "e", so that his name is pronounced "RA-fee." I just kept thinking it was "RA-fey", probably because...I have no idea, really. I just think that "RA-fey" sounds better than "RA-fee." Works better in my head, or something like that. I'm really very weird.

But that being said, these were minor things, and the fact that I can't come up with anything else to say here should tell you how much I LOVE this book. I can't wait to get my hands on the next one.

Scale of 1 to 10: 9.5

Long Time No See

Wow, it has been forever since I last posted in this blog. From now on, I'm definitely going to try to post some more. It's been years, I've read so many more wonderful books, and practically everything has changed. So, I'm going to be on more often (I hope), unless school or, you know, reading gets in the way.