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.