Countdown: 1 day left

The Blogoversary is tomorrow, September 27th.

Countdown: 2 days and In My Mailbox

Here's my 2nd day collage.  I'm posting from my hotel in Chicago!  Thanks to the Courtyard Marrott for having internet access.  There's even a printer in here! 

In My Mailbox

Borrowed from Friend

Borrowed from Friend

From Library

Countdown

I didn't post on Friday so here is the fourth AND third day collages.

5 days, Countdown and Sirena Review

Happy Thursday everyone.  I have a collage and a Review! for you today.

Sirena Review:

Sirena by Donna Jo Napoli

Publisher: Scholastic

Pages: 210

Genre: Romance/ Fantasy

From: Paperbackswap.com

Synopsis: In Donna Jo Napoli's beautiful prose, the tragic love story between a mermaid and a mortal comes to life for young readers. When Sirena meets Philoctetes, Hercules' friend, she falls in love. But the young warrior must return home to fight the Trojan War and leave his magical love behind.  From Goodreads.com (sorry that's all there was)

For the past few months this book has been sitting on my shelf.  I have taken it on every trip I’ve been on this summer, but never opened it until yesterday.  The only reason I even took it was because it was only two hundred pages long and would have been great for a car ride.  Now I wish I had opened it sooner because within these pages was a romantic story that really made feel for the characters.  I found myself wishing for Sirena and her lover’s happiness as they fought time, the Gods, frightening creatures, and their differences from each other.  I fell in love with their story with each new scene.

This story greatly surprised me because of the strong sense of location.  Much of the story takes place on the Greek island of Lemnos during the times of Greek Mythology and the Trojan War.  I wasn’t expecting the many Greek myths presented in this story.  I love stories of the Olympians, and when several famous Greek heroes made appearances I was thrilled.  All of this really gave the story more of a foundation, and increased the pace.  Sirena really based her character off of these stories like the way Christians follow the message of the bible.  When I first started reading Greek Myths I found it hard to believe that people really believed these things to me it was just a way to explain the changing of the seasons in ancient times.   Donna Jo Napoli made it believable; she made Sirena a very believable character.   

Sirena wasn’t like the other mermaids.  In the beginning of the novel Sirena and her sisters lead a ship of men to their deaths.  The author makes the reader sympathize with the mermaids.  Sirena never wants to knowingly kill another man even if it does give her immortality so she leaves her sisters.  When she meets Philoctetes she changes in the same way people in relationships do.  They learned from each other, made compromises, and found a way to live together when Sirena couldn’t live on land.  The author did a beautiful job with everything.  

Characters: 7

Plot: 7

Suspense: 8

POV: 7

Pace: 7

Theme: 8

Style: 8

Details: 8

Cover: 7

Overall: 7.5

Countdown

Well, six days till the big anniversary.  Does anyone like my collages?  I made them while I was watching Prom, good movie, but really really cheesey.  I like this one better because it actually fits in the post space.

Countdown! 7days

Happy Tuesday, guys here is my collage and Teaser Tuesday. 

Teaser Tuesday:

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Synopsis: Though he may not speak of them, the memories still dwell inside Jacob Jankowski's ninety-something-year-old mind. Memories of himself as a young man, tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. Memories of a world filled with freaks and clowns, with wonder and pain and anger and passion; a world with its own narrow, irrational rules, its own way of life, and its own way of death. The world of the circus: to Jacob it was both salvation and a living hell.

Jacob was there because his luck had run out - orphaned and penniless, he had no direction until he landed on this locomotive 'ship of fools'. It was the early part of the Great Depression, and everyone in this third-rate circus was lucky to have any job at all. Marlena, the star of the equestrian act, was there because she fell in love with the wrong man, a handsome circus boss with a wide mean streak. And Rosie the elephant was there because she was the great gray hope, the new act that was going to be the salvation of the circus; the only problem was, Rosie didn't have an act - in fact, she couldn't even follow instructions. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and ultimately, it was their only hope for survival. From Goodreads.com

Teaser: Pg. 113. "I find it difficult to look at him, vacillating as I do from feeling the deepest empathy for his mortification to being barely able not to laugh."  "Wagons and dressing tents fill the back end, but the people who are left mill about aimlessly or sit idly in the shade."

Countdown

It's eight days till the party!  Here's my collage. 

9 days till Blogoversary

The bottom picture is the before picture.  Nine days till the blogoversary!

Countdown!

It's the countdown to my blogoversary!  There is 10 days till the party!  I can't believe it's been a year since I started this blog!  WOW!  I've already posted my Revolution Review for today, but I'll be trying to post everyday of the countdown.  Maybe this will bring me out of my blogging slump?  Now I'm getting excited.  Time to start partying!

Revolution Review

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

Publisher: Delacorte Press October 12, 2010

Pages: 472

Genre: Historical Fiction/ Time Travel/ Romance/ Grief

From: Library

Synopsis: BROOKLYN: Andi Alpers is on the edge. She’s angry at her father for leaving, angry at her mother for not being able to cope, and heartbroken by the loss of her younger brother, Truman. Rage and grief are destroying her. And she’s about to be expelled from Brooklyn Heights’ most prestigious private school when her father intervenes. Now Andi must accompany him to Paris for winter break.

PARIS: Alexandrine Paradis lived over two centuries ago. She dreamed of making her mark on the Paris stage, but a fateful encounter with a doomed prince of France cast her in a tragic role she didn’t want—and couldn’t escape.

Two girls, two centuries apart. One never knowing the other. But when Andi finds Alexandrine’s diary, she recognizes something in her words and is moved to the point of obsession. There’s comfort and distraction for Andi in the journal’s antique pages—until, on a midnight journey through the catacombs of Paris, Alexandrine’s words transcend paper and time, and the past becomes suddenly, terrifyingly present. From Goodreads.com

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

I’ve just about given up on YA.  Every new book I open is a waste of writing.  All I’m thinking is “What self-respecting editor would let this go on the shelves?”  Often I end up abandoning the book half way through because I just can’t take it anymore.   Authors should think about books before they send them off to the publisher they should look at the characters and plot; they should think, “Is this how my characters want the reader to feel?”  The book should be a roller coaster of emotions that keep me hooked on each page, and drag me into the character’s world.  There are lots of bad books out there, but every now and then a book finds its way to you that is just- perfect.  Revolution is that book.

Every character I met was so real.  I felt like I could go and facebook friend them.  Andi herself is one of the most amazing characters, the most amazing person, I’ve met in a long time.  Her brother died last year and she blames herself for it.  Her dad is in a foreign country and her mom has lost it.  No one is there to help her so she just goes deeper into her depression.  The only thing keeping her afloat is her love for music and her talent on the guitar.  Andi is a musical genius!  I can tell she really loves music because she gives examples of music she likes.  These are real songs too.  I went on YouTube and listened to them and after hearing Andi’s opinion they became my favorite songs.  Andi even writes songs!  I love it when books use songs because that shows just how talented the author is.

 Andi’s best friend Vijay is hilarious I love how is mom is pushing him to be the best at his very prestigious school, and he’s fighting her.  This isn’t a very original Indian-American teenage plot, but it’s funny and Jennifer makes it work.  All of the characters are great; I couldn’t possibly describe them all.

From the very beginning I was hooked.  Andi drew me in and the plot grabbed hold.  There wasn’t a dull moment in this book I was always soaring to the next scene the next page to find out what happens next.  Ms. Krista Marino should be very proud of herself.  She really did a great job editing this book; I didn’t know that there could be anything this good in YA.  The intertwining of Andi and Alex’s stories was perfect and worked together well.  Towards the middle it did get a little Alex heavy, but nothing can be perfect.  There was a major twist during this part that I did not see coming, and it could have very well ruined the book, but it worked.  This is where you really see Andi changing and it was very powerful.  It was like watching someone become an adult through the years in just a few pages.  It left a punch that sent the message right to the heart, never to be forgotten. 

      

Jennifer really thought about this book a lot.  So I thought about this review a lot.  This book was a prefect ten.  It may have been historical, but Alex makes it interesting.  There was romance; Andi found a really nice guy.  The book also helps with grief.  That probably wasn’t in the synopsis, but the whole book is Andi dealing with the death of her brother.  I would recommend that everyone go out at once and buy this book from your local bookstore because I don’t often read books, but when I was done with this one my first response was to turn back to page one. 

Characters: 10

Plot: 10

Suspense: 10

POV: 10

Theme: 10

Style: 10

Details: 10

Cover: 10

Overall: 10!!!



P.S.- the switch in POV between Alex and Andi was really beautiful visually and story-wise. 

P.P.S. – Shine on You Crazy Diamond is now one of my favorite songs.