Book Review: In Real Life by Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang

I love reading. Books are amazing. They are a form of escapism, yes, but they are also inspiration, joy, and... well. Goodness. I think in some ways I have used my appetite for reading to define parts of my personality, so it made sense for me to review some of what I read! Here we go...

goodreads

Title: In Real Life
Authors: Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang
Publication Date: October 14th 2014

Synopsis: "Anda loves Coarsegold Online, the massively multiplayer role-playing game where she spends most of her free time. It's a place where she can meet people from all over the world and make friends.
But things become a lot more complicated when Anda befriends a gold farmer - a poor Chinese kid whose avatar in the game illegally collects valuable objects and then sells them to a players from developed countries with money to burn. This behaviour is strictly against the rules in Coarsegold, but Anda soon comes to realize that questions of right and wrong are a lot less straightforward when a real person's real livelihood is at stake."

My thoughts: The artwork in this book is just beautiful. I love how colourful it is, I love that there's all different body shapes in the book - how the main character is a little plump, a little shy. I love that this book came into my possession just as I was getting back into gaming (on Guild Wars 2) with friends.

This book takes a serious subject and then works it into an intriguing story. And things don't go completely smoothly, either. I love that the story isn't just some beautiful fantasy where the main character comes along and fixes everything - because it doesn't always work that way.

I do think that the book took some liberties with the subject matter - making the in-game characters a lot more life-like and including some distinctly human moments within the RPG - but I think they had to so that they could make the story work. Anda and her in-game character are awesome, and while I think this story would have benefited from a slightly closer look at female gamers (it is touched on briefly, but not much), I was really drawn to her story.


I received a review copy of this book from First Second Books.

You would like this book if: you like gamer girls; you love beautiful artwork.

Rating:  9/10

If you'd like to keep up to date with what I'm reading, follow me on Goodreads here!

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To-Do Listing~

I recently read a blog post by a dear human being (who goes by the name Transcendancing) with her to-do list. Within the post, she mentioned how much she loved seeing other people's to-do lists and leaving motivational comments and such. And I realised that I totally agree! I love seeing lists of many kinds on people's blogs - often because it makes me feel more organised by extension (or osmosis?).
I am having one of my not-so-well days (not as good as my really well days, and not nearly as bad as my euch no-outside-bed days), so I thought I would list a few things here, to make me feel more organised. By all means, comment below with your thoughts and suggestions (I can't promise I will take suggestions on board, but I like hearing from you!), or let me know what's on your list!

(Side-note: 'To-Do List' doesn't sound very good to me... perhaps I will come up with a new name for them sometime, like 'Active Items' or 'Sparkle Points to be Gained'!)

LIFE To Do:

• get back into the FODMAP diet - more recipes and more cooking will lead to more joy and commitment
• go swimming! I miss it...
• collect the piece of pottery I painted over three weeks ago...
• get back to writing! (I took a few days off from it and haven't gone back yet.) find the joy in it again!
• start learning about book proposals and such~

UNI To Do:

• Unit Outline #2 - read and mark assessments in diary
• get readings and start for next week~

WISHLIST (current):

• AKMU Album - Play
• G-Dragon Album - Heartbreaker
• SHINee mini-albums that I don't have....

Onwards~~

4 comments sparkle points, thoughts, Wishlist

Harry Potter Reading Challenge

It could be a very silly idea (in fact, it probably is), but for my final week of holidays before I go back to University for second semester, I have dared myself to read all seven Harry Potter books in seven days.
Xin thinks I will get through five at most - he may be right. I started yesterday and managed to get through book one, and have started book two today. I worry.

Now, a few provisos to the challenge - I am not to put my health in danger at any point for this. That means, I sleep if I'm tired. I stop if my eyes start to hurt. I do other things like get exercise and spend time with other human beings. I eat. You know, the usual.

Xin has agreed that, if I manage to complete the challenge by midnight on Friday (first of August), then he will buy me the seventh book - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - in the children's UK edition, to match my set. I foolishly have the adult edition, which just looks bizarre, but I have never bothered to remedy the situation.

image source

Anyway! That's what I will be up to this week! Have you ever done any reading challenges? How do you think I will go with mine? Also, if you have the time or the inclination, feel free to read some Harry Potter with me! Just let me know what you're reading and how you're going with it :D

Love to all who read~

2 comments books, reading

Spoonie Diaries #1: Brain Fog

This week I want to talk about brain fog - and I might not make a huge amount of sense while I do it, as I actually am experiencing some pretty heavy brain fog right now due to a virus I seem to have caught. (Honestly, I am having to bribe myself to push through this with chocolate and booktube videos, because blergghhh.)

Here's a general definition (that I found here) just for your reference: "Brain fog may be described as feelings of mental confusion or lack of mental clarity." Basically, to me, brain fog feels like standing on a cliff of some kind (bear with me here) and looking out over a beautiful ocean filled with my thoughts, but I can't really quite access my thoughts because there is just fog and cloud everywhere kind of blocking it.

Yes, it's frustrating as heck sometimes. No, I haven't found anything that genuinely lifts it once it descends. Aside from rest, but that's something that helps only occasionally... it's not terribly reliable. I will say that I have found paracetamol helps sometimes, but not always (again), and also it depends how I'm going in general, because if I've been taking a lot of paracetamol for something else, then I kind of become desensitised to it's assistance... Fun!

Now, to those that haven't had brain fog, it may sound relatively okay. To be honest, it's not the worst thing ever - it's just freaking frustrating. The thing you need to remember is that brain fog often turns up with other symptoms - like a headache, or body aches, or something like that. It feels a lot like having a really bad head cold and then trying to work through all that mucus and ick.

For someone who not only adores writing and reading, but also kind of relies on them for her (hopeful) future career, brain fog is just rage-inducing. Imagine you are sitting down to write something - say, an essay for work or university, or a blog post, and then you realise that all your thoughts are flitting about and really hard to grasp. You feel a general ache in your head, and find yourself furrowing your brow and trying to remember how to spell simple words like 'blast' or 'blue'. You may laugh at yourself a few times when this happens, until it starts to get a bit more frustrating. You sat down over an hour ago to write a page long assignment, for goodness sake.

Yes. Having brain fog is a practice in patience - with yourself. Brain fog consistently brings me back to myself and reminds me how lucky I am to be able to read and write normally, and also reminds me to slow down and just recognise that rest is one of the most important things in my life.

When brain fog appears, slow down. Drink more water, take your time to do things, stretch your body a bit. Get some fresh air. All of these things help, even if they don't relieve it. If it keeps getting worse, you may need to lie down for a while and get out a comfort tv series or youtuber (no, don't trap your favourite youtuber for your own benefit, you strange person, I mean get on to their channel and watch some old videos. like I do.) and just take some time for yourself. If brain fog happens while you're out - at work, or school, or whatever else normal human beans get up to - just do what you can to support yourself. That will probably end up being the main message of this series of blog posts - look after yourselffff.

Do you get brain fog sometimes? How do you cope with it? See you next week for the next Spoonie Diary entry! :3

2 comments health, spoonie diaries, thoughts

Book Review: Kalona's Fall by P.C. and Kristen Cast

I love reading. Books are amazing. They are a form of escapism, yes, but they are also inspiration, joy, and... well. Goodness. I think in some ways I have used my appetite for reading to define parts of my personality, so it made sense for me to review some of what I read! Here we go...

goodreads

Title: Kalona's Fall
Authors: P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast
Series: Part of the House of Night Novellas series (Book Four), which I believe are stories that come from the original House of Night series.
Publication Date: Due to be released by Hachette in August, but the Kindle edition will be available July 29th I believe.

Synopsis: "From warrior and lover to enemy and betrayer, the terrible secrets of Kalona's past are revealed...He was laughing with her as he spread his wings and lifted her from the ground, twirling her around. Nyx gasped and clutched his neck. Kalona tightened his arms around her.
'Trust me, Goddess. I would never let you fall.'
From the Sun and from the Moon, two winged brothers are born: golden Erebus, playmate and friend, and mysterious Kalona, warrior and lover, companions of the Goddess Nyx.
From the first, Nyx loves them both deeply, but differently. With Erebus, she can talk and laugh and dance, and take joy in the games he plays amount the humans of the Earth. With Kalona, the fire in her body burns bright, and she can rest in the solace of his strength and protection. But for Kalona, Nyx's nights are not enough. Every second he is not with her he is filled with doubt and longing, and every time he fails to please her, he cannot forgive himself. Ruled by anger and jealousy of his brother, and consumed by his love for his Goddess, Kalona seeks the power to prove his worth, and to claim once and for all that Nyx eternally belongs to him."

My thoughts: Let me just state that I haven't read any other books by P.C. and Kristen Cast, so I have very little experience with the House of Night books, and as this is a novella that stems off from that series, I am rather inexperienced and confused as to how this story fits in to everything else. Having said that, though, I think it still makes sense as a standalone novella, even if I'm probably missing some glaring points.

I'm afraid I did not like this book at all. It clocks in at 150 pages - novella size - but I still felt it a bit of a struggle to get through. The premise was very interesting, particularly the Casts' creation of the world and the departure of the Gods and Goddesses - I found all of that fascinating. Unfortunately that part ended quite swiftly and then I found myself saddled with the character of Kalona, who I found extremely one-dimensional. He survives on his obsession with Nyx, and his jealousy of not just his brother Erebus, but of anything that comes into contact with Nyx.
The writing I found to be a little stilted at times, and boring at others. I didn't really care about what happened to Kalona, because he hadn't proven to me that he was a decent individual in the first place. He was born and then BAM he was jealous of everything. I am sure if I knew how this story fit into the rest of the series I would appreciate what was happening a little more, but during my reading of this book I just felt frustrated and bored.


I received and unsolicited copy of this book from Hachette.

You would like this book if: you like the House of Night books, I think.

Rating:  4/10

If you'd like to keep up to date with what I'm reading, follow me on Goodreads here!

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Book Review: Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

I love reading. Books are amazing. They are a form of escapism, yes, but they are also inspiration, joy, and... well. Goodness. I think in some ways I have used my appetite for reading to define parts of my personality, so it made sense for me to review some of what I read! Here we go...

goodreads

Title: Eleanor and Park
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Publication Date: Already out - has been for a little while. Should be available at your library or book shop!

Synopsis: "Eleanor is the new girl in town, and with her chaotic family life, her mismatched clothes and unruly red hair, she couldn't stick out more if she tried.
Park is the boy at the back of the bus. Black T-shirts, headphones, head in a book - he thinks he's made himself invisible. But not to Eleanor...never to Eleanor.
Slowly, steadily, through late-night conversations and an ever-growing stack of mix tapes, Eleanor and Park fall for each other. They fall in love the way you do the first time, when you're young, and you feel as if you have nothing and everything to lose."

My thoughts: I'm just going to take a moment here and talk about the covers for this book - the one you see above is the one on the paperback edition I received from Hachette. There's also another one for the hardback edition, which is equally as gorgeous. I love the simplicity of these covers! Just beautiful.

Onto the book. I read this in one sitting. Sitting still for that long took a little effort, but reading this didn't. Rainbow Rowell just has this amazing ability to make you fall in love with her characters as they fall in love with each other - yes, they are cute, but they also deal with some real issues. In this book (and I will try not to give too much away) the question of remaining in an abusive relationship is raised, and what to do when that happens. I know a lot of people would say 'no question - get out of there', and that's all well and good to say that, but I really believe that you don't know how you'll act until (god forbid) you're IN the situation in question. I think Rowell addresses this issue in a real way, if in a way that is a little lighter than you'd expect.

I have to admit that I think I related to this book so much because the two main characters are an Asian guy and a Caucasian girl, and they both bond of nerdy things. It reminded me somewhat of myself and Xin, and so I must admit to being a little biased towards this book for that reason. But I maintain that Rowell just creates characters that are so wonderful to read, and the story is such a wonderful accompaniment, that I find it really hard to put her books down when I start reading them. Heck, I just picked up this book to read a few passages to refresh my memory, and I got sucked in quite instantly. I've read her other book, Fangirl, twice already and want to read it a third time. I have been trying desperately to hold myself back from reading Landline, her most recent book, for a while now so I can finish other books. I know that once I pick it up, I will be lost.

Eleanor and Park is just a gorgeous story that will leave you wanting more of Rowell's work. I hope that, if you choose to give it a go, you enjoy it as much as I did.


I received a review copy of this book from Hachette.

You would like this book if: you like cute romances with a bit of serious stuff thrown in; you feel like a comforting read.

Rating:  10/10

If you'd like to keep up to date with what I'm reading, follow me on Goodreads here!

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Book Review: The Stratford Zoo Midnight Revue Presents MACBETH

I love reading. Books are amazing. They are a form of escapism, yes, but they are also inspiration, joy, and... well. Goodness. I think in some ways I have used my appetite for reading to define parts of my personality, so it made sense for me to review some of what I read! Here we go...

goodreads

Title: The Stratford Zoo Midnight Revue Presents MacBeth
Author: Ian Lendler and Zack Giallongo
Series: A series of a kind - I believe the next one is Romeo and Juliet.
Publication Date: September 30th 2014 by First Second Books

Synopsis: "The Stratford Zoo is like any other zoo...until closing time!
That's when the animals come out of their cages to perform Shakespeare's greatest works. They might not be the best actors, but they've got heart. (Also fangs, feathers, scales, and tails.)
Ian Lendler's hilarious tale of after-hours animal theater is perfectly paired with the vivid, adorable artwork of Zack Giallongo. So take your seats and prepare for Shakespeare's greatest tragedy as you've never seen it - funny! And with tacos!"

My thoughts: This book was a really fun read. It's around 70 pages, so it's quite quick, and the illustrations are amazing. There's so much colour and it features quite a few characteristics of the actual animals, which I find awesome.

The story, however, has been quite watered down as I think this is created for children - and those who have read Macbeth the play will know that it is quite bloody and filled with huge blocks of text about blood. Not really kid-friendly. I applaud the way the author has approached this and tried to make it more accessible to kids, but I'm not entirely sure it works - and that isn't a statement on the author's ability, just on the scope for a Shakespeare play to be effectively modified. There is a lot of grit to Macbeth, and I think quite a few things get lost in translation to this book.

If I were to read this without thinking of it's relation to Shakespeare, I think I would really enjoy it. I am interested in seeing how they go with the next book, Romeo and Juliet, but I think I will leave my sceptical hat on for now.


I received a review copy of this book from First Second Books.

You would like this book if: you like colourful animal characters, you like jokes involving ketchup-as-blood.

Rating:  6.5/10

If you'd like to keep up to date with what I'm reading, follow me on Goodreads here!

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Thoughts on: Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

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After I finished Americanah, I wanted to write about it. But I didn't think my usual book review outlook was what I wanted to do for this book - after all, it is something I read just because I felt like it, and I feel that I would be a little lost as to how to approach it in my usual way.

Instead of reviewing the book and giving you an overall score (you can check my goodreads profile if you really want to know) and trying to break the book down into my thoughts on plot, character design, and overall impression, I just wanted to talk a little about what this book made me think about.

First of all, there is no doubt that Adichie is an excellent writer - she has had the recognition of an Orange Prize (now known as a Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction) for her book 'Half of a Yellow Sun', and the writing within Americanah is hard to describe. Somehow it manages to draw me in and keep me reading when I start, but if I am not currently reading the book, I can't help but think of her writing as intense and multi-layered. To try to explain myself a little further - when I was reading this book, I didn't want to put it down. When I wasn't reading this book, I sometimes had trouble convincing myself to pick it up. If you haven't had this experience with a book, perhaps ignore my ramblings until you do.

The main theme that runs through this book is that of race - how it is noticed, perpetuated, whether it exists in places like Nigeria, and why it exists in America. What it means to the individual, and to specific groups. Adichie manages to take on this subject with quiet determination - she draws attention to it and discusses it through her characters, but it never felt absolutely confronting for me. It did get me thinking about the implications of race in Australia and how I am vastly privileged as a white female. I thought about it, and I had some rather intense discussions about it with people I know because of this book, but I almost felt like Adichie was in the room, mediating and facilitating the discussion.

I hesitate to recommend this book to everyone as, while I enjoyed it and want to read more of Adichie's work, I am not sure that others would have the same experience that I did. Regardless, I think it is worth a look - food for thought.

2 comments books, thoughts

Spoonie Diaries

I had a bit of a realisation today. I have been coping with various illnesses and such for about 13 years now, and I write about those things occasionally. I try to be open and talk about things with others whenever they have questions. But I have never really actively looked into my health on my blog with the effort to help others feel a little less alone.

I want to show others that sometimes everything can seem really truly awful, and like it will never get better, but that there is always a glimmer of hope. It might not be a big one, but it could be that you still enjoy reading, or even the fact that it didn't rain while you had to be out. It might be that it did rain, but you needed a drink and couldn't afford a bottle of water at the time. It can be something ridiculous like the determined little snail working it's way across the floor nearby, or the beautiful leaf that somehow got stuck in your hair. But that glimmer of hope is there - you just have to learn to look for it.

Much of my issues with my health culminate into a general feeling of being in limbo. I was never quite sick enough to be in hospital or have a team looking for a solution for me, and yet I wasn't well enough to leave my house more than once a week. I'm doing better now, but in my darkest months I remember little outside of sleeping most of the day, watching a lot of Friends reruns on my DVD player, and reading when I could. Making myself food was ridiculously hard - I once updated my status on Facebook saying something like 'you know you're unwell when you have to sit down just after starting to make a batch of cookies'. I made jokes out of things, but the truth was that I was really struggling.

I'm hoping to start a new series of blog posts, in a similar vein to the ones I wrote for Tune In Not Out (find the first one here), but with a much more personal view of what I've been through, and how I learnt to cope with it. I don't want to make it seem like I'm being presumptuous about other people's lives and their own circumstances - to be clear, this is my experience. I am not a medical professional, nor have I done rigorous scientific studies based on my own experimentation with life. That aside, I do hope that what I write will be able to help some people, regardless of whether they are going through something similar to what I've been through or not.

The thing is, one of the biggest problems I had when I started to get sick was that I was surrounded by people who were, for the most part, perfectly healthy. As I got worse, I came across a couple of people with relatively similar experiences, but either we weren't that close, or I found them reluctant to talk about their experiences (which I respect). Really, I just wanted someone that I could talk to, or learn from, so that I knew I wasn't alone. So that's what this is about for me. I want people to know that they're not alone, regardless of what they're going through.

I will post the first official entry for this series next week. I hope you'll read.

4 comments health, spoonie diaries, thoughts

Book Review: The Young World by Chris Weitz

I love reading. Books are amazing. They are a form of escapism, yes, but they are also inspiration, joy, and... well. Goodness. I think in some ways I have used my appetite for reading to define parts of my personality, so it made sense for me to review some of what I read! Here we go...

goodreads

Title: The Young World
Author: Chris Weitz
Series: Book One of The Young World Trilogy
Publication Date:

Synopsis: "Welcome to New York, a city ruled by teens.
After a mysterious Sickness wipes out the rest of the population, the young survivors assemble into tightly run tribes. Jefferson, the reluctant leader of the Washington Square tribe, and Donna, the girls he's secretly in love with, have carved out a precarious existence among the chaos. But when another tribe member discovers a clue that may hold the cure to the Sickness, five teens set out on a life-altering road trip to save humankind.
The tribe exchanges gunfire with enemy gangs, escapes cults and militias, braves the wilds of the subway and Central Park...and discovers truths they could never have imagined."

My thoughts: Again with spoilers in the synopsis... euch. ANYWAY. I will be the first to tell you that I'm not a huge fan of dystopians - particularly YA dystopians. It doesn't stop me from reading them very often, but I went into this one with a large dose of expectation. Expectation that I wouldn't like it, that is.

You know what's coming. This book actually really surprised me. The character of Jefferson, in particular, was really interesting. You could see how he didn't want to be a leader, but he still kept pushing himself to do it. He tried to keep people together despite being in such an awful (and sometimes darn awkward) situation. Donna's character seemed more similar to the typical teenager just trying to deal with the aftermath of the Sickness - she occasionally irritated me with her speech (I honestly didn't know what she was saying sometimes) and her attitude to some things (super obvious avoidance of spoilers here).

The story kept me interested, and I am still thinking about it a few days after I've finished it - which is a good sign to me that I will probably pick up the second book when it comes out. However, I did think some parts of the storyline were a little too convenient, and I dislike that this book mentions the romance side of things in the blurb when I didn't really find that to be a main focus - it was there, yes, and I'm sure others would argue with me that it takes over more of the story than I think, but I just didn't think it was big enough to warrant a mention in the blurb.

The Young World was much more enjoyable than I thought, and I am interested to see what other people will think of this new dystopian YA.


I received an unsolicited proof copy of this book from Hachette.

You would like this book if: you like dystopian YA books, you're interested in certain stereotypes getting turned on their head.

Rating:  7.5/10

If you'd like to keep up to date with what I'm reading, follow me on Goodreads here!

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Random Things: Music videos I adore right now.

Hello lovely people!

Today I am feeling like sharing some music videos I seem to have on repeat lately. Because, music and yay. Be warned though: all of it is Kpop or Jpop. Yay!

I am in love with Akdong Musician, or AKMU. They are a sweet little brother-sister duo, with awesome voices and adorable lyrics and I want their album, Play. I might buy it soon. eee!

This wouldn't be a list created by me without some SHINee on it, because they are love forever. This song, Breaking News, is one that I fell in love with on YouTube, rather than through the albums of theirs I now own. I still don't own this one on CD, but I love watching them pronounce 'Breaking News', and I find the dance in this to be most awesome. Plus, Key just looks amazing in this which made me love him more than I did previously, even though Jonghyun remains my bias~

Because G-dragon is the bomb, and you get to see him with crazy David Bowie-esque make-up, doing little dances, and did I mention a crazy white scarf womb thing that he wanders around in? (Okay, it probably isn't a womb, but seriously.)

Despite the overwhelming ego of this song, certain parts of the dance are ridiculously adorable/amazing, and these guys are freaking hawt. I forgive them for the ego.

That's it for now! What are your thoughts on these videos? Do they make you smile or feel a little confused? What music videos are you loving?

Love to all who read!

Leave a Comment links, love, video, warm fuzzies

Notes on Writing

This month I have been - ever-so-quietly - taking part in Camp NaNoWriMo. Camp NaNoWriMo is basically a smaller version of NaNoWriMo in a way (National Novel Writing Month, which takes place in November and involves people trying to writing a 50,000 word book in one month), but during this one, you get to choose how many words you're aiming for.
I've been wanting to get back into writing for some time now, and it is still one of my biggest dreams to one day be a published author. Camp NaNoWriMo appeared and I was excited to try, given that July signifies a month off for me between semesters, and I also wanted to explore the idea of hibernation during Winter.
So, as all good bears must (that's right, I can be a bear, too) I took up my pen and paper (and by 'pen and paper' I mean 'Macbook') and began my story. Here are some things I have noticed about writing...

~ If you set yourself a regular time to write, it can makes things easier. For quite a while I was blocking out around 4pm to 5pm simply to sit down and write. Then I would get up and start dinner. I liked the sense of order that this gave things.
~ Sometimes I write more effectively when there's background noise, but most often that idea goes out the window. Background noise is distracting, regardless of what it is. To a lesser extent, you know what else is a distraction? Needing to go to the bathroom. Just go do it before you sit down, please. More often than not I would be halfway through my word count and I would need to save quickly and rush out of the room. Distracting!
~ Liquids are important. Before I start writing, I always make sure I have a bottle of water and a cup of tea nearby. This not only keeps my brain hydrated and ticking over, but it actually provides a welcome break every now and then. If my words are running a little thin, I just apply water and then things start to flow a bit better! In other words, if I'm trying to figure out what is happening in my book, the ritual of opening my water bottle or taking a sip of tea gives me a moment or two to ponder and gather my thoughts, and then I can continue on.
~ Yes, it is harder on some days. For the first week or so of the month, words were flowing through me so quickly that I was overjoyed. It made me feel so capable and joyous! Yes, I am a writer! Yes, I can write! And then you get to a day where writing is the last thing you can even think of doing. (Usually these days coincide with when I am feeling particularly unwell, like yesterday when I had a migraine, or today when I was recovering from said migraine.) But sitting down and opening up the Macbook helps. Every little bit helps.
~ Often I would feel better while writing... Honestly! Even just now when I sat down to do my daily words, I was still feeling pretty awful from last night's migraine and sleep deprivation. But while I was writing, I began to feel much better - energised, happy, and like I was doing something that I loved (which is true). Sometimes I need a break, yes, but other times my passions in life are just what I need.


That's about it for now! I might update again later in the month to tell you how I'm going, and I might not! It depends how I'm feeling about my writing ^_~
Love to all who read!

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Book Review: The Seventh Miss Hatfield by Anna Caltabiano

I love reading. Books are amazing. They are a form of escapism, yes, but they are also inspiration, joy, and... well. Goodness. I think in some ways I have used my appetite for reading to define parts of my personality, so it made sense for me to review some of what I read! Here we go...

goodreads

Title: The Seventh Miss Hatfield
Author: Anna Caltabiano
Publication Date: Goodreads states July 17th, Hachette states August. Keep an eye out if you want to read! :)

Synopsis: "Who is Miss Hatfield? Elderly neighbour or girl next door...
There's always been something odd about Cynthia's next door neighbour, Miss Hatfield. Something beyond the strangely familiar miniature photographs and ramshackle house. And when Miss Hatfield tricks Cynthia into drinking a drop of the Fountain of Youth, she finds herself immortal.
She is the new Miss Hatfield and the next in line to the curse and blessing that is her legacy.
But immortality has a price. Becoming the new Miss Hatfield means letting go of who she was.
Tasked by her predecessor with recovering a mysterious painting, Cynthia finds herself in turn of the century New York. But someone else has followed her..."

My thoughts: Firstly, the synopsis is a little frustrating. It states something that I think is a bit of a spoiler, and then sets you up for a different story than what you get. This is kind of why I don't really read blurbs that much anymore.

Anyway, on with my other thoughts. This book was actually quite a pleasant surprise as I actually didn't expect to find myself enjoying it. At 270 pages long, I thought it would just be a quick read-and-review so that I could move onto other things. But then I started really liking some of the characters, and loving the way the main character interacts with them.

One of the things that is being used to market this book (in a way) is the fact that the author is 17 years old. I think this is wonderful, and the fact that Miss Caltabiano is being published gives me hope for my own writing. However I did feel that this showed through quite strongly early on in the book. I don't mean that it showed she was young, but I do believe I sensed a certain hesitant attitude towards the writing, and there were a huge amount of info dumps in the first few chapters. I felt quite overwhelmed with trying to take in the Fountain of Youth thing, and the seven Miss Hatfield's element, and all of the history backing it up. The main character (I will call her Rebecca) seems to get over her frustration with the former Miss Hatfield relatively quickly which, while it helps the story move along at a fast pace, seemed a little hard to believe for me.

Once I was past those first few chapters, though, and Rebecca was on her mission, I really began to warm to the story. Caltabiano has a lovely writing style when she isn't pushing background information into your brain, and I felt myself easing in to the narrative really gently. However, I did find that occasionally things were just a little too convenient to the plot, and I felt a little underwhelmed with the ending, so I found it hard to give this a high rating.

While this book had some slow and frustrating moments, I still really enjoyed the writing style and the character design overall. I think I will look out for future books by this young author.


I received an unsolicited proof copy of this book from Hachette.

You would like this book if: you like books that involve a small amount of time travel, and a little romance, too.

Rating:  6.5/10

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July: Month of Hibernation

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I was just reading a blog post by one of my favourite bloggers, Havi (find her blog here) and she has recently taken herself off to one of her favourite relaxing locations to restore her energy and remember how to function without stress, and I got to thinking about how I was feeling lately, and what I want and need right now.

The short version is this: I am doing better with my health lately, but I have just started a week with a pretty crazy amount of period pain. I have a lot of reading I want to catch up on before the Aurealis Awards nominations start coming in, and then I will have more to read when that happens. The weather is crazy, and I won't be back at uni until the beginning of August. I want to write more, and I want to keep going well with Camp NaNoWriMo this month. I have just embarked on six weeks of the low FODMAP diet.

Basically, I am not feeling overwhelmed, but I can see it on the horizon. I can see it coming, and I don't really want to go down that path.

So, in the spirit of looking after myself, I am declaring July to be my month of hibernation. I am going to focus on lovely things like writing, reading, soft nests, warmth. Watching the rain fall outside my window. Tea and other hot drinks next to the fire. Naps and long baths with delicious bath salts and bubbles. Cuddles with Xin and Bronte. And, you know what? The occasional gift for myself. I have bought myself a few books, and I am eyeing off a new bag. I want to start sketching a bit more and enjoy it. Maybe even do some watercolours!

Whatever I do, I want it to be gentle and slow. I want to remember to rest and treat myself the way I need to be treated right now.

If you need a bit of hibernation and bear-like (or any other lovely hibernating creature) activities, why not take a rain-check on that outing you're dreading and stay home for a bubble bath and a good book? Treat yourself to some rest during the middle of winter.

Love to all who read.

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Eyebrows and other tales of hair~

When I was about thirteen or fourteen years old, I was over at a friend's house hanging out with her and another friend. The former friend, let's call her S, had only been my friend for a couple of months since she arrived at my high school. The other friend I had known since I was 4, I will call her M. (Please don't try to figure out the initials or anything, they don't represent names at all, they are randomly chosen~)

Either way, we were just hanging out and talking. I think somehow the topic got onto makeup - something I had very little experience with (situation remains about the same), but the others were beginning to explore. Or, in the case of S, experiment with on a daily basis. Anyway, chatting led to S getting out her collection of beauty tools and such. Then without knowing what was happening, I had been pinned to the floor, S sitting on top of me, and my eyebrows were being plucked for the first time in my life.

Yes, it was weird. No, I didn't stop her - I was at a stage in my life that I was fairly indifferent to a lot of things. Plus I wanted to learn what was entailed in a beauty routine, since mine basically amounted to general hygiene and the occasional bit of eyeliner. I was curious about how I had apparently been missing an entire part of my life somehow. (According to S, she had wanted to pluck my eyebrows since the day she met me. M had no such issues, but she didn't intervene either - I'm not sure she knew what to do!)

Since that day I engaged in most hair removal that I thought was expected of me. I shaved, I plucked, sometimes I waxed. But then, in the last couple of years, I began to question that. I barely had energy anyway due to my health, so why should I keep wasting energy on something that I wasn't sure I cared about anyway?

Over the past few months I have let my hair grow out. Not just on my head, but everywhere. I apologise if this grosses you out, but you can stop reading now if you like, as this is something I feel the need to write about. I wanted to see whether I felt like I needed to remove hair simply for other people's benefit, or for some other reason.

As weeks passed and I watched my reactions (and my hair), I realised that I enjoyed not having to do such a huge amount of work in my beauty routine. I was a little uncomfortable with the idea of people maybe seeing the dark hairs around my ankles or how bushy my eyebrows seemed to be getting, but I acknowledged that discomfort in myself, and moved on.

Then, a couple of days ago, I decided to pluck my eyebrows. It was a little energy consuming, but I was pleased with the result. It didn't feel like a chore, more like a treat to myself. I liked doing it. I don't want to do it all the time, hell no. I feel fine about just addressing hair issues when I have the energy and the inclination, but I've realised that I like having smooth legs and underarms. And I like having shaped eyebrows - because, you know what? I have damn nice eyebrows.

But I'm really not that into waxing. I don't think I will go there again, tbh.

What are your thoughts on hair removal? Do you feel like you're being forced into removing hair because of public expectation or fear of embarrassment? Or do you enjoy having it as a part of your beauty routine?

Love to all who read. (P.s. thanks for reading this rather unusual post!)

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{2014} June Reading

Books bought:
~ The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken (e-book)

Books received:
~ as stars fall by Christie Nieman (review copy)
~ I am Juliet by Jackie French (review copy)
~ Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld (gift)
~ Nanberry by Jackie French, 
~ Reboot by Amy Tintera,
~ The Passage by Justin Cronin,
~ When We Wake by Karen Healey,
~ Phantom Thief Jeanne by Arina Tanemura (all gifts from a dear friend)
~ Shield of Winter by Nalini Singh (gift/review copy)

Books read:
~ American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
~ The Caller by Juliet Marillier
~ as stars fall by Christie Nieman
~ Lirael by Garth Nix
~ I am Juliet by Jackie French
~ Prickle Moon by Juliet Marillier
~ The Infernal Devices: Clockwork Angel Manga by Cassandra Clare, illustrated by HyeKyung Baek
~ A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle, illustrated by Hope Larson
~ Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld
~ Abhorsen by Garth Nix

I read a little less than I usually would this month, and that was mostly because I just wasn't sure what to read for a while - I seemed to keep jumping around. I did manage to get a few reviews done, though, which was great because they were all books I ended up enjoying.
I also finally managed to finish off the short stories in Prickle Moon - and I absolutely adored every one for different reasons. I feel so familiar with Marillier's style of writing now, but these short stories really threw me at times. She showed an ability to change characters, write in different genres, and throw in some fascinating humour, too. Plus the cover is just gorgeous - I would happily hang it on my wall. (Psst! Cover artist is here!)

I picked up a couple of graphic novels in the interim that I found at the library - I had always wanted to check out the Infernal Devices manga so when I saw it sitting there I grabbed it straight away. It was really good, and an accurate representation of the story, and the artwork was just gorgeous, but I just didn't feel the same way I did when I read the books. There's so much going on in Tessa's head in these books and I'm just not sure that's reflected well in manga form. I think I will read the next one, though, if I can get my hands on it.

Afterworlds was a real stand-out for me this month, which was surprising as I haven't had much luck with his other books. I have tried to read Leviathan a few times with no success, and the basic premise of the Uglies books just doesn't seem to appeal to me that much. So when I saw quite a few booktubers come away from Book Expo America with ARCs of Afterworlds, I wasn't that interested to begin with. Then a friend sent me an eARC and I decided to give it a go, and wow. I am so glad I did. It was fantastic. I'm not going to go into what's it about (you can find that out here if you like), but just know that I will definitely be preordering the shiny hardback copy for my collection.

Finally, the Old Kingdom reading that Katharine and I have been doing is getting close to finishing - with the first three books under our belts now, we only have the collection Across the Wall left before we attempt the wait for Clariel. I am really loving these books and reading them is reminding me how much I love Nix's writing. He writes strong, yet complex, female characters, too, which I adore.

That's it for June! I've had a good start to July so far with finished The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath yesterday, and I have many plans for the rest of the month. What are you reading right now? Is there anything I read this month that appeals to you, or that you've read before? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

Love to all who read.

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