Thursday Interpretation #21

Thursday Interpretations is a weekly post where I post a motivational quote (and/or a book quote) and tell you my feelings about it. You are more than welcome to post a comment telling how you feel about the quote.

*Remember that these are only my opinions. They are not influenced by anyone else.*

This week's motivational quote:

"Courage is the power to let go of the familiar." ~Raymond Lingquist

My Thoughts: All I have to say is that I'm borderline courageous :)

Happy Reading!

Teaser Tuesday #42

This meme is hosted by MizB @ Should Be Reading.

*Grab your current read.
*Open to a random page.
*Share two teaser sentences from that page.
*Be careful not to include spoilers!
*Share the title and author.
*Leave a link to your teaser in the comment section at MizB's Blog.

From: Eragon by Christopher Paolini (Paperback)
Page: 317
Links: GoodReads, Amazon

"He and Murtagh made a small dinner. It was difficult for them to fight off the urge to sleep. When they had eaten, Murtagh said, 'We can't keep up this pace; we aren't gaining any ground on the soldiers. Another day or two of this and they'll be sure to overtake us.' "

Comments: This book (and the movie) are absolutely great! It's only a reread for me, but I still love it. And I'm remembering all the benefits of having page numbers on the side, too lol! :)

Happy Reading!

Music Monday #28

Music Monday is a "meme"* that I will try to post every week or biweekly. In these posts, I will provide you with what song, artist, CD, etc. I am currently into the most. This week it's:


1) Confetti Falls by Jessica Jarrell. I was first "exposed" to this song when Diggy Simmons, who I will try to feature next week, tweeted about the song. I fell in love with it instantly! I still can't tell if it's about a great relationship or a breakup, but it's good all the same!!!! :D

Song Rating: 4 Wings
Music Video:



Happy Listening!

Always a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough

Always a Witch (Witch, #2)

By Carolyn MacCullough

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011

288 pages, Kindle Edition (eARC)

Date Finished: 10/10/2011

Genres: Young Adult, Some Action, Fantasy, Romance, Coming of Age

Tamsin Greene has been haunted by her grandmother's prophecy that she will soon be forced to make a crucial decision—one so terrible that it could harm her family forever. When she discovers that her enemy, Alistair Knight, went back in time to Victorian-era New York in order to destroy her family, Tamsin is forced to follow him into the past. Stranded all alone in the nineteenth century, Tamsin soon finds herself disguised as a lady's maid in the terrifying mansion of the evil Knight family, avoiding the watchful eye of the vicious matron, La Spider, and fending off the advances of Liam Knight. As time runs out, both families square off in a thrilling display of magic. And to her horror, Tamsin finally understands the nature of her fateful choice.
~from goodreads.com~

~First Line: "I was born on the night of Samhain."
~Last Line: "Looking back at her, I smile, close my eye in her trademark wink, and say, 'ah.' "

Review: The second installment in the Witch series was absolutely amazing! I definitely think it was better than Once a Witch, which baffles me because I loved the series debut as well! If you stull haven't read this series, I encourage you to! They're fun reads, and, once you get sucked into the plot, the pages will fly by quickly. :)

The main character, Tamsin, did a little time-traveling in Once a Witch, but in Always she goes all out. Gabriel wasn't too happy that he was purposely left out of the loop, but I haven't figured out if it would be for the better or worse that he showed up. A little of both I suppose.

Anyway, I loved this plot. The first few pages pulled me right in, and I was reluctant to do anything besides read this book. Tamsin was always in the middle of something, as if going back in time before her family was in Hedgerow wasn't enough trouble already. But I must say, the things she got herself into were very interesting!

The characters were even better as well. I'm not sure who was better, Gabriel or Tamsin. They're probably tied. Tamsin wants to handle things on her own, but Gabriel is the caring boyfriend that won't let her. Rowena was still a selfish bleep but would you expect?

Overall, this book was ahmazing. The last chapter or so was really great. Tamsin finally made that giant decision that her grandmother foretold. I'm astonished at the choice she made, but proud of her for it. I hope Carolyn MacCullough delivers another book in this series soon! :D

Plot Rating: 5
Character Rating: 4.5
Cover Rating: 4
GoodReads Rating: 5

Overall rating:
and five-eighths :)

ATTENTION All Book Bloggers!!!!!

The Story Siren: Ten Things I Dislike About Your Blog is a post that I think you all should read if you haven't already!!! It's opinionated, but I think that all of us could still pull something from it. I know I did. In a way, it's a checklist -- again, an opinionated one -- but I like it. :) Thanks to Kristi for posting it!

The Week Ahead... (November 14-20)

Every Sunday, I will let you all know what to look forward to in the upcoming week: reviews, guest posts, memes, whatever I think/know I will be putting up for your viewing. The things I post will not always be followed out, but I'll try. Vice versa, I might end up posting something that isn't mentioned in this post.

For the week of November 14th - 20th...

Monday:
~ Music Monday

Tuesday:
~ Teaser Tuesday
~ Review of The Nine Lives of Chloe King

Wednesday:
~ Guest Review?

Thursday:
~ Thursday Interpretation
~ Review of Dael and the Painted People

Friday:
~ Not sure! Maybe a review of Double Helix?

Saturday:
~ What's your status?

Sunday:
~ In My Mailbox
~ Review of Crossed

Have a great week everybody!!! :D

In My Mailbox #38

In My Mailbox is a meme hosted every week by The Story Siren. To find out how to participate and the "official" details, check out the IMM page.

Anyone can participate in IMM and you are not limited to sharing books that arrive via your mailbox. You can also share books that you've bought or books that you've gotten at the library.

-----------------------------------------------------

Borrowed from school library:
~~Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin


Happy Reading! Leave a link to your IMM in the comments, and I'll be sure to stop by!

What's your status? (12/11/2011)

<a href="http://walkingbutterflyfeet.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">img src="http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/k506/madsteampunkery/books_stacked-1-1.jpg" border="Steampunkery & Book Reviews" /></a><br /> <br />

This post was inspired by, well, my previous Reading Status posts. I wanted to make it something that everyone could particpate in. Every Saturday (and sometimes Sunday), I will post what I've finished in the past week, what I'm currently reading and where I am in the book/s, what I plan to read next, and possibly what I want to buy/get. I will be trying to do this every week, so be sure to check back every weekend! Be sure to leave your links to your WYS posts in the comments.

This next portion of the post is an idea that I saw on the wonderful blog Small Review. She posts what reviews and memes she has posted and participated in that last week. Remember, however, that it is not mandatory for you to do this part of the post.

**No Vlog This Week. Sorry. Will try to have one for next week.**

Things You Don't Wanna Miss:
~Readathon results!

Reviews this week:
~Midnight Alley, by Rachel Caine
~The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson
~A Living Nightmare, by Darren Shan

Memes this week:
~In My Mailbox
~Music Monday
~Teaser Tuesday
~Thursday Interpretation
~Friday Spotlite

Finished This Week:
1. Dael and the Painted People (Zan-Gah, #3) by Allan Richard Shickan. Finished on 6/11/2011.

2. Double Helix by Nancy Werlin. Finished on 6/11/2011.

3. Crossed (Matched, #2) by Ally Condie. Finished on 8/11/2011.

Currently Reading:
1. Eragon by Christopher Paolini. On page 45.

2. Emma by Jane Austen. On chapter 9.

Next On My TBR (To Be Read) Pile:
1. Stolen by Lucy Christopher. Purpose: library book.
2. Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin. Purpose: library book.

What I Would Like To Buy Next:
~NOTHING.

Don't forget to leave the link to your WYS post in the comments!

Friday Spotlite #2

Every two weeks, I will spotlight a blog that I think is awesome! It won't necessarily be only book blogs. I'm open to all nominations if you have any. You can leave them in a comment or email me.

This week's Spotlite is on . . . .

THE PHANTOM PARAGRAPHER

I think this blog is awesome because, for one, within two years she has 1336 posts. I looked at one day that she posted: 5 reviews in ONE day! That is what I call dedication. Another thing that I think is really neat is that she has different pictures that she posts for different genres, or topics. I wouldn't have the patience to do all that; I definitely applaud her!!!

Until the 25th,

Happy Reading!

A Living Nightmare by Darren Shan

A Living Nightmare (Cirque Du Freak, #1)

By Darren Shan

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, 2000

257 pages, Library book (hardcover)

Date Finished: 3/10/2011

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Coming of Age

In the tradition of Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot,' Cirque Du Freak is the frightening saga of a young boy whose visit to a mysterious freak show leads him on a journey into a dark world of vampires. Filled with grotesque creatures, murderous vampires, and a petrifying ending, Cirque Du Freak will chill, thrill, and leave readers begging for more.
~from goodreads.com~

~First Line: "I've always been fascinated by spiders."
~Last Line: "Then, side by side, the vampire and his assistant, we began walking . . . . . . into the night."

Review: My brother breezed through all 12 books of this series quite rapidly, but he loved them. My bestie AnnaBelle also said that they were great so I checked this one out at my school's library. To say the least, it wasn't a waste of time!

The main character, Darren, is your average kid with three best friends, one of which is his bestbest friend (Steve). They all have a good relationship with each other. Then a circus comes to town, the Cirque Du Freak. All the boys want to go, but they could only snag two tickets. It ended up being Steve and Darren going to the show.

To spare you another spoiler review, let's just say that Darren likes spiders, will do anything to get one, and goes through the realms of H-E-double-hockey-sticks to fix his mistakes. Although I'm probably overexaggerating a lot. But even so, the plot was set up nicely. However, I think it could still use a bit of work. Everything flowed well, but I just needed something more. I'm sure either book 2 or 3 will solve that, though.

The characters in Cirque Du Freak were good and interesting, but were predictable throughout a lot of the book. This element was missing more for me as well. But I think Mr. Crepsley was my favorite character out of them all. He was mysterious to me, something that the others really weren't.

Overall, this book could've used a little work, but it was still enjoyable. I should be reading The Vampire's Assistant soon.

Plot Rating: 4.25
Character Rating: 4
Cover Rating: 4
GoodReads Rating: 4

Overall rating:
and one-sixteenth :)