The Tales of Beedle the Bard

Apparently J.K. Rowling has released another Wizarding World book!

In "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" there was mention of a fairy tale book that all wizard born children (like Ron Weasley) have heard. "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" helped Harry and the others to...well, that is another story.

Anyway, she hand wrote seven copies. Six of them she gave to various lucky peeps who helped with the series. The seventh, though, is what is causing the commotion...

She auctioned it off. It was bought for $4 million! I have heard rumors that Amazon.com bought it. All of the mney will be donated to a charity that, "campaigns for children's rights across Europe, especially in Eastern Europe, where many children and teenagers grow up in institutions." Hmmm...

I think that these stories should be published SOMEWHERE for the world to see!!!

2 HOURS LATER: Hurrah!!! Check out Amazon.com!!!

Thanks to Anankas Diary for the extraordinary news!

Hello? Anyone there?

I know that ya are, so listen up. Theatre, and Andori Isilee are going to submit a book in the beginning of January for the Freaky Book Award (perfect name?). I even was bored so I was drawing seals for the cover of the book. (Like the Caldicott and Newberry ones) Ananka sadly can't do it, so who wants to? If nobody does, I will.
Y'all need to tell me what your book choice is!!! Happy Chanukka!

Coolness!!!

As you can see, our poll is closed. If anyone has any heartfelt objections, speak up now. Meanwhile, we will start compiling a list of our favorite books. I know we are all avid readers here, (no, duh!) but please limit yourself to two or three favorite books. (That is the choice that won.) I have chosen:

Coraline
Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City
Death On the Nile

Yay! Also, that is an awesome header, Theatre! Feel free to put it up. It is really cool and it matches. (Ooo...matches....I am not a pyromaniac!!!)

Any ideas for a book award name? What about "Freaks Choice" or something?
If we do an award, we would all have to read EVERY book submitted, to vote. Eight books a month? I don't think so. How about Andori-Isilee, Theatre, and Ananka (totally random) start us off, if they want to submit a book. My head hurts.

We are all sad to say goodbye to Edge, who has left us due to the pressure of college. Goodbye and good luck! *sniff, sniff*

New Header?

It's all swished but it's bigger and beautiful hope y'all like it :)

What do YOU think?

I don't know about you, but I was getting a little bit sick of our old green color. Tell me if you disagree with the blue, and tell me what you would prefer. (I will listen!)
Also we were talking about stuff to stick on the sidebar. (taken from "blog classification and a query")


5 comments:

International Mastermind said...
I think that each of us should do a seperate kiki strike review. It would be cool to hear each other's opinions!

October 7, 2007 1:33 PM
theatre said...
i totally agree

we should compile a list of all of our favorite books and stick it on the sidebar or something

October 7, 2007 7:51 PM
CosimaCat said...
And maybe do a list of books we´d each like to read

October 8, 2007 8:09 AM
bloody awful poetry said...
or maybe a list of all the authors we've reviewed so far,with links to their official pages,and stick that on the sidebar?

October 9, 2007 12:53 AM
CosimaCat said...
Or all of the above?

October 9, 2007 4:32 PM


So, I ask if you would rather have a list of: favorite reads, books that we want someone to review, links to cool author sites, or favorite authors.

Try to choose. Any more ideas? tell me. But please don't.

Hey, I was also thinking, (there is a first!) what if we did a book award on here? You know, we nominate a few books, and vote on the best one. Then we could give it an award, like the "Freakiest Book of the Month" or something less crappy than that. We would have to then all read the winner. Maybe we could put the list of winners on the sidebar, with links.

I have probably overloaded your brain, but just tell me what you think of everything.

Dr. Franklin's Island

For my first review, I'll be using a book that is VERY dear to my heart. I first picked it up last year and still find myself pining for it. I eventually had to buy it because there were times when I just couldn't feel at home without looking at the wonderful cover. I still love this book. In fact, this is my second favorite book. Being second only to 'Hannibal'. But I do not wish to review that for this blog mainly because of it's content.


Dr. Franklin's Island.


Dr. Franklin's Island starts with a young teenage girl named Semi at the airport. We discover that she has won a special contest and will be flying off to some random place near Madagascar to study animals. The plane ride goes just fine for Semi, the girl next to her (named Miranda) and the other teens.
Until something goes wrong, and Semi finds herself suddenly having to swim to stay alive. She eventually finds herself on an island with two other survivors. Miranda and a redheaded boy named Artie. No one, to Semi's knowlege, is on the island. Except, of course, the sharks and octopi. Semi and her two new friends find comfort in each other and in their nightly Tree cutting ceromony.
Until Artie disappears and Semi finds his machete behind the waterfall. One thing leads to another and Semi and Miranda find themselves in the grasp of a completely psycho named Dr. Franklin (Hence the title.). Who is a specialist in Genetic engnieering.

This book asks the limits of survival, the ethics of screwing with DNA, Human Vitality, and the willingness to stay truely human. My review does no true justice to the novel. In fact, I am brain dead, so mine isn't very good at all.

Thank you.

Sorry, Theatre

I do not like to steal ideas, but I have to post Robert liparulo's review of his own book, Germ.

If you breathe...It will find you.

The list of 10,000 names was created for maximum devastation. Business leaders, housewives, politicians, celebrities, janitors, children. None of them is aware of what is about to happen--but all will be part of the most frightening brand of warfare the world has ever known.

The germ--an advanced form of the Ebola virus--has been genetically engineered to infect only those people whose DNA matches the codes embedded within it. Those whose DNA is not a match simply catch a cold. But those who are a match experience a far worse fate. Within days, their internal organs liquify.

Death is the only escape.

The release of the virus will usher in a new era of power where countries are left without defense. Where a single person--or millions--could be killed with perfect accuracy and zero collateral damage. Where your own DNA works against you.

The time isn't coming. It is now. Pray the assassins get you first.
Amazing, huh? I have it memorized by heart. Wow.

If you like

blood, horror, and freaky Viking assassins with monster wolf-dog hybrids, then I highly recommend Comes a Horseman, by Robert Liparulo. His other freaky book that I have not read but plan to Germ, looks just as thrilling. Alright so back to Horseman the hook, line and sinker, on the back of the book and inside plan reveals to us that the main characters are on a mission to investigate and pursue death itself to reveal societies and horrible cover-ups thru-out history, no this isn't a time travel murder investigation, no this book is so much more then a sci-fi sketch deal or your regular mystery (if there is such a thing) it takes you deep into the darker side of life and death challenging your beliefs and stirring emotions for those lost and gone forever. "What really comes next?" isn't the plot line and isn't even a main idea, but it does have those teasers that will really make you feel hollow inside if you live with out salvation. And the plot itself! Wow, simply amazing, Mr. Liparulo takes you on such a journey and expedition for the truth, it's just amazing when you get to see all the little pieces fall into place! You will love this book, and I have three other family members and a couple acquaintances who will swear by it. You just have to read it for yourself.

Does anyone have any good suggestions on biographies of Cleopatra? I'm doing a project (we have a LOT of those apparently at this new school, and this ones for English, in History we're writing an essay on comedy and using the Simpson's as a research tool *gag*)

Other books I read this week (or I guess last) that I meant to read in OctOber (my spelling's getting better) but totally was swamped with end of the quarter exams and other random assignments all the teachers were dumping on us:

Thank You For Smoking, by Christopher Buckley (YES IT WAS A BOOK BEFORE not a dumb book..." IT WAS A MOVIE !!!! I can't tell you how many times I was asked if the book itself was based after the movie, I had to restrain from smacking some of them, "Hey Thank You for Smoking is a moovie, not some dumb book..." grrr, our culture is a sad sad representation of all our higher learning here in America--there is seriously a reason why Korea and Japan and practically every other world power has higher test scores in English and Mathematics then us...sorry for rambling I'm sick and haven't had enough coffee)

Little Green Men, also by Christopher Buckley (sooo funny! it was really good and the setting was my hometown so I was all smiles every time he'd put someone in a certain location or had then drive across a bridge that routinely see or cross or whatever-yes and Mr. Buckley has an knack for coming up with awkward romances, and given it's an adult comedy some scenes are down right hysterical)

and I'm still trying to finish The Man in The Brown Suit, by Agatha Christie who I am totally in love with, and have a dozen other books by her on my bookshelf. So yeah I've given you alot today and before I depart I am going to give my bedside (and by "Bedside" I mean not coming with me anywhere beyond the limits of my house) reader for the month: The Art of Seduction, by Robert Greene. Yes it is exactly as it's title suggests and I stole it off my dads shelf (he read it a couple months ago I think, but most of his reading along with my mom's have been reverted to presidential biographies and a bunch of great political reading for the up coming election, which of course when they are done with I'll steal as well) but yeah the book is actually very interesting, all about deception and pshycologly behind the great seductors-resses of our time and from history, giving you insight on various aspects of seduction as an art in it's self.

yes that was definatly longer then I intended, but still.
Adieu.

Because I Have So Much Time On My Hands

It's been a while ey? Exams,people. Exams which will dictate my future and the rest of my life and which I have to do well in or risk bringing eternal shame and dishonour upon my family.

But I can always make a little time for blogging.


Anyway, it was my birthday some weeks ago, and I was utterly delighted to receive books from most people who actually remembered it was my birthday! And in addition to that I splurged around two hundred buckaroos at MPH bookstores,so what I have now is a proper treasure trove of the freakiest most brilliant books around!

(By the way,forgive my rather poor writing-or blogging- standards this time around. It's hard to be all intelligent and witty and verbose and captivating when you've spent the last four days having your brained mashed into a pulp by History and Math and stuff in a big silent classroom and with another week of the same joy awaiting you.)

In any case, the only book I had time to read before the massive paper chase started was Neil Gaiman's latest offering(or I think it's his latest. I'm not very up-to-date at the mo').




One of the first books to be talked about on this glorious website was,of course, Mr.Gaiman's Coraline,where people had buttons for eyes.
How....cute.
But we all love Neil Gaiman. He da man! The epitome of freakishness! And this book is ah-may-zing for the simple fact that,even though not all the stories in it are brilliant,it's simply unputdownable.
As the title suggests,and the blurb on the back says, "..all are fragile things made out of just 26 letters arranged and rearranged to form tales and imaginings..".
When it comes to fantasy fiction nobody does it quite like Neil Gaiman. His good friends Diana Wynne Jones and Susanna Clarke (I have reviewed both ladies' work in previous entries so go have a look-see) are geniuses as well, but Neil somehow manages to interweave the fantastic and the nonsensical and the weird with the real world in a way that seems so natural and haunting at the same time.
There are wolves,aliens, devils,demons, God in a suit and pince-nez glasses, ships made out of the fingernails of dead men, sun birds, cannibals and even some pointers on how to talk to girls at parties.
I won't give away too much about the plot of each short story, but the Monarch Of The Glen,which is really a weeny bit too long, is really just Beowulf in Scotland without Angelina Jolie.
Or something like that....
I had actually mistaken Monarch Of The Glen for the BBC series of the same name and I wondered when Neil Gaiman had suddenly got into a TV drama set in the Scottish Highlands.
In any case, if I haven't said it already, Fragile Things is a wunnerful piece of work and a brilliant way for new readers to get familiar with the man's style.

You can check out his other work here and his scandalously Scandinavian new movie Beowulf,which has a rather cool soundtrack I must say. Although we all know who the boys will be drooling over.

And aren't you guys just bloody awful glad to have me back?

And have you noticed that "I won't give away too much of the plot." is fast becoming a catchphrase of mine?
Bad..gotta stop saying that.

The Hollow Kingdom by Clare B. Dunkle

I'm not really sure what I think about this book.

Kate and her younger sister Emily come to Hallow Hill after their father dies. But the two orphans can find no peace in the country of England, for Hallow Hill lies right in the middle of the goblin kingdom, and the goblin king is determined to have Kate as his bride. Duh duh duh.

This story kind of seems like two separate stories in one. You have Marak (the goblin king) trying to successfully kidnap Kate (who of course puts up quite a fight), and then you have the story about what happens after. So in way, it seems like nothing much happened, or that nothing very detailed happened, which isn't true at all. The book isn't boring. It's just weird to describe.

The writing was beautiful, but the narration...was not. Clare B. Dunkle used the omniscient third person to tell her story, and though at times I enjoyed the insights such a narrator allowed, I thought the story would have been much better had it been told in the limited third person from Kate's point of view or the first person from Kate's point of view. But I loved the characters. (Okay. I admit it, I have a slight crush on Marak, though my heart will always belong to Finn from Books of Bayern.) I loved the settings. I loved just about everything about this book other than the narrative.

Definitely it's a very worthwhile book to read, though I shall always prefer The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope, if only because Elizabeth Tudor is a minor character. ;)

The Hollow Kingdom is the first in The Hollow Kingdom Trilogy followed by Close Kin and In the Coils of the Snake which I do plan on reading.

River Secrets

by Shannon Hale

Okay. I know, I know, I finished this book a while ago - but since I did an Enna Burning review, it seemed quite right to do this one too (it does have some creepy stuff in it, I admit, such as weird murders and such like that).

Characters: Razo, Enna, Finn, Dasha

Settings: Mostly in the country of Tira

"Romantic Couples": Razo and Dasha, Enna and Finn

So... Razo starts out as one who isn't the most tall or athletic type of guy - but hey, he's great with a sling! And he's also good with his eyes, which helped him to accompany Talone and the rest of the *chosen ones* to Tira, where they would accompany Geric's cousin who was an ambassador for Bayern (getting a little ahead of myself).

Okay, slowing down a bit: There are still bad feelings toward Bayern from Tira's side, resulting of the blood-red war explained in Enna Burning. The two countries have come toward an agreement, though: they'd send an ambassador to the other country, and see what happens there. Well, the "what" could determine whether or not there would be another war - no pressure, of course.

But when unexpected burned bodies show up, things start to heat up. Razo acts as a spy to look out for unusual actions of any sort, just in case something might slip by the others. Alas, Razo cannot help falling head-over-heals for the Tiran ambassador's daughter, Dasha, while he's spying and working for Bayern. It's a tough time - for you really don't know who to trust anymore.

Okay, I think I may have said too much, but erase everything in your minds right now and go read River Secrets!! It is sooo worth it...

*If any information I have provided is inaccurate, please comment about it, thanks : )

Other books you should read by Shannon Hale:
"Bayern Books"
~ The Goose Girl
~ Enna Burning
More Fantasy
~ Princess Academy
~ Book of A Thousand Days (I have yet to read this! ~but I have a feeling it's gonna be great : )
Other - But Pretty Awesome!
~ Austenland

Since ya beggin'

REFUGEES, by Catherine Stine, is amazing. It has really tugged at my emotions.

"Yes, I did hate her."

"I am scared, Dawn."

Dawn is a 16 year old foster girl, currently living at Louise and Victors. She is hot tempered, because of all the years, first living at Epiphany group home, then at a home where she was beaten, then returned to Epiphany, and sent off, and re-returned. Now all that she allows herself to care about is her flute music and her best friend, Jude. But when Louise goes to the afghanis aid, she and Jude run away, to NYC. Refugees.

Johar is a 15 year old orphan who lived at his aunt Maryams with his brother Daq, and baby cousin, Bija. (In Afghanistan.) The taliban and Al Queda terrorize his people, capturing his aunt, then his brother. He carries Bija to Camp Suryast, in search of refuge.

Suddenly, in NYC, the World Trade Center is attacked by terrorists. Dawn is launched into the devastation, and is soon left alone by Jude. When she calls Louise at last, in Afghanistan, Johar picks up the phone. Soon the two refugees are closer friends then ever. Through email, Johar and Dawn share thier true feelings. Fear, mostly. But also their hobbies, Dawns music and Johars poetry.

"It will be okay, Johar"

"Thank you, Dawn"

People!

All right, the day of doom is here. Reckoning time has arrived.

In other words, it's been over a week since anyone posted. Come on, my fellow bloggers! There are nine of us! Surely we can do a couple posts a week.

Thanksgiving break should be a great time to write. Right? :-) I'm out of books and don't know what to get. Tell me!

Storm Thief by Chris Wooding

I picked up Storm Thief at the library on a hunch - the cover. The artist should be given a hefty raise. It screams 'intrigue and mystery'.

Rail and Moa are teenage thieves for Anya-Jacana, a thief mistress in the land of Orokos. This country is unique in that it is built on a massive plane of rock - in the middle of an ocean. Years ago, the builders of the city set up machines in the water to shred any outgoing escapee boats. Probability storms - storms in which children can turn to glass, eye color can change, and streets can be rearranged - ravage the city, creating a constantly changing environment. During one of these storms, Rail's lungs stopped working. Anya-Jacana saved him by giving him a respirator. (see picture)

Their story begins during a theft Anya-Jacana told Rail and Moa to commit. While eluding half-human creatures called Mosgaz, Rail finds an artifact like a ring from the time of the Fade, hundreds of years ago when human technology was at its peak and bogglingly complex. He hides the artifact from the thief mistress. Knowing Rail was not giving her the whole spoil, she sends another thief to collect the artifact. Rail escapes when Moa puts on the artifact and discovers its power: it opens temporary holes in walls, floors, and anything else.

As they flee Anya-Jacana, they encounter a golem, a half-human, half-mechanical creature that someone made.

After enduring a series of trials, Rail, Moa, and the golem reach an underground city at the edge of Orokos. Moa's acquaintance in charge of the community, Kittiwake, tells them of a plan to evade the skimmers (machines that shred boats). The odds are not with them, but at least one-third of them would be able to escape. Rail does not want Moa to risk suicide. Moa does not want to stay in Orokos any longer.

Then the golem disappears, and Rail and Moa discover he was made by the Protectorate, the only ruling party of Orokos.

Overall, Storm Thief is a top pick. Rail and Moa are rich characters, and although it's clear they are close to each other, there is little emphasis on romance. Wooding's writing is rich. In the case of his spatial descriptions, sometimes a little too rich. A few times, when he was describing buildings or cities, I'd have to close my eyes and squint to picture the place correctly. Besides that and a few slow parts, Storm Thief is one of those books you wish you could sneak into class to finish reading.

Don't make any assumptions about that last sentence. I would never sneak a book into class.

Welcome!

Hi, International Mastermind here.
If you are a Kiki Strike fan that would like to join, just give me your email adress, and I will invite you. (For more info check out the first post!) Wahoo!

Creepy

I know Theatre already posted about Ted Dekker, but I'm reading Skin right now, and I must comment on it: it's so cool. Creepy, too. Creepy crawly, up your spine sort of creepiness. Yes. This is actually the first book I've read by Dekker, and it's pretty good - except that I must admit: it sort of drags on and on in the middle. Overall, though: enjoyable.

Comment on the cover: if you stare at it long enough (stare at the face in the sand), then it sorta creeps you out. Creepy crawly, blah blah. Or maybe it just seems more fake. I dunno. This was totally random : )

Other books by Dekker (which I haven't read - and can't wait to read):

"Circle Trilogy"

Black

Red

White

~~~

Chosen

Obsessed

Saint

Thr3e

House

Showdown

~~~

"Martyr's Song Series"

The Martyr's Song

When Heaven Weeps

Heaven's Wager

Thunder of Heaven

~~~

Note: the order of the series and trilogy may be incorrect

The Book of Lies

I have got to say, there are good and bad aspects of this book. James Moloney's book has a great, twisty, gotta have a sequel plot. But in my opinion, he was being a too, um, detailed writer. He was using a lot of complex words and complex phrases-just bein too good of an author.

Writers (and readers!) know that a book can either have an amazing plot, or very good writing technique. Both, as I have just experienced, is suffocating.

On to the reviewing. This book is about a boy who is dropped off at Ms. Timmins Home for Orphans and Foundlings in a very, strange fashion. He wakes up the next morning, knowing nothing about the past 12 years of his life. A small girl who hides in the shadows tells him one thing: "your name is Marcel."

Once I was two thirds into the book, I realized that I had no idea who Marcel could trust, or what his past was. Because when you forget that, your left pretty helpless and gullible. Actually, I'm still not so sure about who he should trust. But I will wait for the sequel

READ THIS. enough said.

Platinum by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

So this book isn't necessarily "freaky", but since the main character has the supernatural power of the Sight and is worried that if anyone finds out she'll be branded a freak...


Lilah Covington. She's more than Golden: she's Platinum, the uncontested ruler of Emory High. But at the moment, Lilah's world is falling about. Her second-in-command might just be plotting to steal Lilah's place and her boyfriend. If that's not enough, Lilah's worried she's a freak: she's having these weird visions of the past as well as being followed by a mysterious ghost that only she can see (and she might actually be in love with said ghost). Something supernatural and freaky is going on, and it's Lilah's job to find out what exactly it is.


I loved Platinum. Jennifer Lynn Barnes is one of my favorite authors simply because her narrators are always so wonderfully realistic, and Lilah's my favorite. Lilah is the girl you'd hate in real life, but knowing her--her thoughts and feelings and everything that makes Lilah Lilah--makes you like her because you see exactly where she's coming from. This book is lots of fun, a quick read, with good characters and decently written. I'd recommend reading Golden first, but Platinum stands well enough on its own.

A Goody-Two-Shoes Freak

Hey, so glad I could join : ) Anyway, this blog is for freakish types of books (mostly)... and for "plain good" books too! I think I lean more on the "good books" category, but of course: if I ever do come across a freakishy good/good freakish book, I will be sure to post ASAP...

I guess this is more of a post about me: a bookworm, a maniac bookworm, a fanatical bookish type bookworm, a freakish bookworm, if you know what I mean : ) Visit my other to blogs (if you want): Personal Prattle and A Day's Worth - found in my profile.

I guess I should share a really good book, since I'm posting anyway:

Enna Burning by Shannon Hale

(*Of course, this includes spoilers -both subtle and very irritating - so I apologize for this*)

Characters: Enna, Finn, Razo, Isi, Geric, Sileph, Talone (the most major characters)

Settings: The countries ~ Bayern, Tira, (mention of Kildenree); a Tiran campsite, out in the wilderness (major settings)

"Romantic Couple(s)": Enna and Finn, Isi and Geric, Enna and Sileph (doesn't turn out well)

I really love this book, obviously, since I love basically almost every book ever made! It's about a girl who finds a new talent, and tries to control it, but has to tackle challenging obstacles. But Enna also has to find out what her life holds for her, what she's meant to do. She has to follow her heart, listening to her conscience ~ the best conscience of all: good, trustworthy friends.

She's loyal to her country, but a smooth talking Tiran soldier tries to convince her to betray her home. Of course, her good friend Isi helps Enna in subtle ways, help saving yet again another war from doing any more damage.

Once you get into this book, you can't get out. I rate this: 8.5 out of ten. Pretty good, eh?

*If any information I have provided is inaccurate, please comment about it, thanks : )

Other books you should read by Shannon Hale:

"Bayern Books"

~ The Goose Girl

~ River Secrets

More Fantasy

~ Princess Academy

~ Book of A Thousand Days (I have yet to read this! ~but I have a feeling it's gonna be great : )

Other - But Pretty Awesome!

~ Austenland

Must Visit Links: Squeetus ~Enna Burning

Ehem???

Does no one want to join me in my Save the Greyhounds mission???
Go to my post farther down!!! One spy cannot accomplish this alone! Please help!

Imogen Heap, Headlock

so this isn't anything having to do with books but I think the song/video are sweet and freaky in general

recomendations for Octuber reading (or reading that I plan on finishing):

Hallowe'en Party, Agatha Christie
Comes a Horseman, Robert Liparulo
Evil: an investigation, Lance Morrow

Blog classification and a query

Well this is an utterly inefficient way of sending a message to my fellow blog-peoples but here goes:

• I am planning on publishing the semi-weekly book reviews I do for school. Why the semi-weekly book reviews? Because I go to school in a mexican public school and they teach *very* basic English, which is utterly useless to me, but I struck a deal with the teacher.
• However, my first one was on Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City, and it seems like something rather idiotic to publish on a blog where the author / main character depending on your mindset posts.
• But people might not've read it...
• Also, I'm debating whether the books I read normally are freaky enough. I suppose at least most of them are... And the Uglies trillogy is, to someone not used to it, plain weird. After all, the image-oriented culture that much...
  

If public opinion is against publishing the Kiki Stirke review (I should probably rewrite it anyway, it's my first book review, ever, so it's pretty bad, but the teacher doesn't speak English that well) my first review will be of Peeps... perhaps if the whole world reads it (eventually, says probability, everyone who reads english, has a computer and is bored, will end up reading this, I think... this may take a trillion billion [insert prefix]llion years though...) people will get the nuclear peanut butter joke. (page 136 of the paperback with the canon-inaccurately eyes). I can hope.

Okay, I stop babbling now.

Save the Greyhounds!!!

Yes, I know this has absolutely nothing to do with books, but I know this is a more viewed blog. Today at a county fair I observed the largest pumpkin in the world, a freakishly warped bunny, an elephant, and many organization stands. One of which was a save the greyhounds petition. Greyhounds are used to race in tracks all over the world. They provide great entertainment, but have you any idea what a horrible life they live?

They are kept in cages just big enough for one of them, but to small to stand up or turn around in, for more than 20 hours a day. The other few hours are devoted to racing while thousands of humans gawk at you.

Many of these dogs are injured, (skull injuries, paralysis, broken bones,) during racing. When they are, they are usually killed, or sent to a pound, where they are killed if no one wants them. (Would you want a paralized, or injured dog, when there are cute little beagle puppies in the next cage?)

This is a completely unfair and tragic life. At the fair, I saw some ladies asking people to sign a petition to stop greyhound racing. I wanted to, but couldn't, because I am not a registered US voter. My newest international mastermind mission is to mysteriously inform registered voters of the greyhound petition. You are all invited to join me in this mission. I will deliver info via mailboxes, bulletin board notices, and mouth.

Info to include on forms: website: www.petitiononline.com/bgr/petition.html , the terrible conditions of the dogs (mentioned above,) and the fact that you have to be a registered voter.

Free the Greyhounds!!!

Are we aloud to add urban myths??

I am anyway, since this ones freaky enough to spook my English teacher, who smiled the entire time she told us about "The Hook"--I already knew that one but her smiling was just weird--and then she told us about the dude who got hung in the woods above his girlfriends car when they where hooking-up and he went to look for help, but he doesn't come back, and all the chick knows is theres this scrapping on the hood of the car; which in the morning the police find is the boyfriend's toes scraping against the metal--I'd heard a similar story different version though. Anyway, I don't know what this ones called only that I heard it and forgot where, and that it creeped out my English teacher (who wheres a skull ring and silver bangles pretty much religiously) so here we go:

One dark and cold night a couple decided they wanted to go out to diner and called the babysitter to come over and watch the kids. When she arrives she finds the kids already tucked into bed and a note on the refrigerator saying "we'll be back before midnight, call if you need anything" so finding herself alone with sleeping children she goes and checks to make sure everythings were it should be upstairs with the children. As she climbs the stairs she can hear the blowing wind and rain crashing and see it illuminated by eerie lightning. The children are safe, and warm asleep in bed, but our baby sitter is feeling uneasy and scared so she goes to the parents bedroom and calls the parents asking them if they could come home early. They answered by telling her of course and just to wait in their room. The baby sitter feeling relieved, but still oddly uneasy asks if she can put a blanket over their clown statue in the corner. They don't reply for a minute..."We don't have a clown statue..."

In the morning the police find the baby sitter dead clutching the phone and the parents in the garage.

Take The Ending How You Will

Look at that cover.
Just look at it.
An eye. A passage from an ancient book about Royal Sacrifices. A sprig of hemlock. Two vases which jointly from the words "Nowhere".
A cello.

Oh goodness gracious! Not a cello!

Doesn't it scream, I mean scah-reeeam the very essence of freakishness for which this glorious blog,and and all it's freaky-as-hell contributors stand for?
And we are freaky,let me tell you that. I do not claim to know any of my fellow bloggers personally,but one of them thinks she's a cat....

Anyway. Fire & Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones.
I adore Diana Wynne Jones so watch out for more!

Most of this story is in flashback mode. 19-year old Polly,who is packing to leave for Uni, is suddenly struck by memories she never knew existed. For some reason she is reminded of a fellow named Tom.
Tom,who was her best childhood friend,memories of the games they played and the stories they made up,and memories that these games and tales had a most uncanny,sometimes terrifying habit,of coming true at some point. But nobody seems to remember Tom. It's almost as if he's been erased from existence entirely,and Polly has a nasty feeling that she might have had something to do with it...
It's a modern retelling of the ballad of Tam Lin,or Thomas the Rhymer,made chilling and freaky and utterly original.
I won't give away too much of the plot. Most of the joy and frustration of reading a Diana W. Jones book is the way the plot builds,thickens, layers itself,twists,turns,U-turns,goes inside out,loop-de-loops,ties itself in ribbons,meshes itself and finally presents itself in a glorious and sometimes not entirely satisfactory mess.
The thing about Jones is that she rarely,if ever, ties up all the loose ends and presents all the answers in a nice package with a bow-on-top. It's up to the poor reader to figure out everything on their own really. Ms.Jones certainly expects her readers to be most intelligent folk.
The ending of this one is particularly confusing and very open to interpretation. After 6 re-reads I am still unable to fathom what the shallow graves and shimmering music is supposed to mean.
I hope it doesn't mean I'm stupid.

Ted Decker

Okay so these are just a taste of his writing (my male hero Ted Deckker--second to Jesus, and Cary Grant) and it is just so beast I can't begin to tell about the heart stoppage and page-turning-ness. Small towns in the middle of nowhere under attack from the next best thing to Hell, a trained and deadly killer, a mind bending reality flip, and many other details flourish in pages of honor and splendor, all presented for you between two neat little covers, just waiting to be rifled through in the dead of night with your flash light under the covers...

The Saviours Of English Magick

For my very first post on By Freaks For Freaks (yay! Thank yooo International Mastermind!) is quite possibly the freakiest book ever written.
Set in historical times, when a certain Napoleon dude was trying to make as much trouble as he possibly could,two unlikely heroes turn up to resurrect the past glory and fabulousness-ness of English Magick.
It's quite impossible to give away the entire plot, due to the very size and scope of this novel(it's over a thousand pages long). Let's just say it is full of insane kings, mirrors that lead to other lands,houses that never look the same way twice, lovely ladies being resurrected from the dead,a certain woman's pinky finger, eternal ballroom dancers, creepy bells,Scottish boglands, Belgium turning up in Boston,lots and lots of books, the essence of madness,and old woman and her cats, even some traces of werewolf-ery, and the Duke of Wellington. Add such romantic and hoplessly chilling names like End-Of-All-Hope House and the Tower Of The Plucked Eye and you get 1000 pages of the most stunningly freaky piece of literature you're ever likely to read.
The prose style is rather 19th century and might not appeal to most,but persevere and thou shall be rewarded-eth.

You can buy a copy of the book and read other reviews here
http://www.amazon.com/Jonathan-Strange-Mr-Norrell-Novel/dp/0765356155/ref=pd_bbs_2/102-2940480-2576144?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1191228501&sr=1-2

Oh. And loads and loads of ravens.
Many many many many ravens.

Coraline (by Neil Gaiman)

Coraline is a book I read about two years ago, and it's still one of my favorites. (I read so many books that being a "favorite" is a very big thing.)

Coraline is about a girl who finds a door in her home, a door that leads to an alternate world, where the mother and father have buttons instead of eyes. They seem friendly, until they want to sew buttons over her eyes and call her thier daughter...

All of my friends agree, Coraline is a good book...and very creepy.

A Great, Creepy Book

Very cool. I get to contribute! Anyway, here's my first recommendation for the freaky book club. I just finished Laura Schlitz's book, A Drowned Maiden's Hair. It's about an orphan who's adopted by three very odd old ladies and then finds herself being introduced to their family "business." (I'll let you guess the nature of that business. Let's just say that they aren't exactly upstanding citizens.)

I'm not the sort of reviewer who likes to give a lot away, so I'll just add that I loved this book!

JOIN NOW!

This blog is open and if you would like to join the Freaky Book Club tell me in your comment, and I will add you to be able to post here. (If you have a blog) And if I approve. I'll tell you if you "qualify"! Enjoy!