November 30, 2010

Fictional BFFS


Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.


This weeks list spotlights the BFF. (best friends forever). Who are the characters from literature you'd most like to be bffs with?



My List:


Hermione Granger- Hermione would be an amazing friend. She's loyal, brilliant, a witch and a character from one of my most favourite series of books

Violet Ambrose -from the BodyFinder. Her abilities are a little "different" to say the least, but she goes out of her way (even puts herself in danger for others) She's brave and she's dating Jay-who I would get to spend time with too :)

Nya- from The Shifter. Nya has incredible courage, she's fiercely loyal and has the ability to protect you from pain.

Jo -from Little Women. - I related to Jo the most when I read this years ago. She was my favourite.

Anne- from Anne of Green Gables. I've always felt that Anne and I would be Kindred Spirits. I've admired her as she's high spirited, has a beautiful way with words and is a wonderful friend.


Flavia De Luce - From The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. She's quirky, hilarious, curious and often finds herself in trouble...

Mia -from If I Stay. I am very attached to this book and to Mia. I feel like I know her already.

Keladry-from the Protector of the Small Series. She's a girl who wants to be a knight during a time when girls were supposed to be seen and not heard and only help in the kitchen. She doesn't let that stop her.

Princess Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo- She's a little awkward, has a great sense of humor and is a Princess!

I struggled with the last one...Bella Swan? -she might be too involved with her vampire lifestyle now. Katniss? I don't know if she's too damaged to be a friend or even if she would still be capable of trusting anyone.

thoughts?  Who would you choose?

 On Lost in the Library tomorrow- Worthwhile Reads "Gift Edition"

November 29, 2010

....and the winners are



An amazing response to this giveaway-thanks so much to everyone who particpated!

The winners are:

Entry #74  Orchid
Entry # 129 Aik Chien
Entry # 152 Marty

I've sent you all emails. Please respond with your mailing address and your book choice- The Shifter/ Half Brother or Maze Runner.

Congrats!

November 28, 2010

How well read are you?

I saw this post on Patricias Particularity and had to share it with you.

 
The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books listed here.


Instructions:
• Copy this list.
• Bold those books you’ve read in their entirety.
• Italicise the ones you started but didn’t finish or read only an excerpt.


Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen

The Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien

Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte

Harry Potter series – JK Rowling

To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee

The King James Bible

Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte

Nineteen Eighty Four (1984) – George Orwell

His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman

Great Expectations – Charles Dickens

Little Women – Louisa M Alcott

Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy

Catch 22 – Joseph Heller

Complete Works of Shakespeare

Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier

The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien

Birdsong – Sebastian Faulk

Catcher in the Rye – JD Salinger

The Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger

Middlemarch – George Eliot

Gone With The Wind – Margaret Mitchell

The Great Gatsby- F. Scott Fitzgerald

War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams

Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh

Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck

Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll

The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame

Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy

David Copperfield – Charles Dickens

Chronicles of Narnia – CS Lewis

Emma -Jane Austen

Persuasion – Jane Austen

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe – CS Lewis

The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini

Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – Louis De Bernieres

Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden

Winnie the Pooh – A.A. Milne

Animal Farm – George Orwell

The DaVinci Code – Dan Brown

One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez

A Prayer for Owen Meaney – John Irving

The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins

Anne of Green Gables – LM Montgomery

Far From The Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy

The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood

Lord of the Flies – William Golding

Atonement – Ian McEwan

Life of Pi – Yann Martel

Dune – Frank Herbert

Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons

Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen

A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth

The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon

A Tale Of Two Cities – Charles Dickens

Brave New World – Aldous Huxley

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon

Love In The Time Of Cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck

Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov

The Secret History – Donna Tartt

The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold

Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas

On The Road – Jack Kerouac

Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy

Bridget Jones’s Diary – Helen Fielding

Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie

Moby Dick – Herman Melville

Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens

Dracula – Bram Stoker

The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett

Notes From A Small Island – Bill Bryson

Ulysses – James Joyce

The Inferno – Dante

Swallows and Amazons – Arthur Ransome

Germinal – Emile Zola

Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray

Possession – AS Byatt

A Christmas Carol- Charles Dickens

Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell

The Color Purple – Alice Walker

The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro

Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert

A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry

Charlotte's Web- E.B. White

The Five People You Meet In Heaven – Mitch Albom

Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The Faraway Tree Collection – Enid Blyton

Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad

The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint-Exupery

The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks

Watership Down – Richard Adams

A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole

A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute

The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas

Hamlet – William Shakespeare

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl

Les Miserables – Victor Hugo

My number is 36.....what's yours? Looking forward to seeing everyone's answers.

In My Mailbox

In my mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at the Story Siren. We spotlight books recieved in the week, whether they are borrowed from the library, for review or bought.

I had a few wonderful surprises in my mailbox this week.:

Huge Thank-you's to my book fairies at Simon and Schuster Canada and Random House of Canada!!

Slice of Cherry by Dia Reeves
Word Nerd by Susin Neilsen
Pluto's Ghost by Sheree Fitch
Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly
The Poison Eaters by Holly Black
Cryer's Cross by Lisa McCann
Maze Runner by James Dashner
The Education of Hailey Kendrick by Eileen Cook
The Lo-Down by Lo Bosworth

Feeling totally spoiled! What did you get in your mailbox?

November 26, 2010

Blogger Hop

It's Friday, Friday, Friday....this week took forever!



The blogger hop is hosted by Jennifer at Crazy-for-Books every Friday. It's a great opportunity to network and visit other blogs and meet new blggers.
This weeks question:
What is your favourite book cover?

I like so many! but I'd have to say: It's this one.


  I haven't even read it. But I love the colours and I have a thing for birds...and every time it crosses the library desk I pause and look at it.

Follow Friday is Hosted by Parajunkees View!



A few days left to enter the gratitude giveaway. It's open internationally (wherever the Book Despository delivers) and to new and old followers.

Have a great weekend. Love your comments and emails.

November 24, 2010

Waiting to Read

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine where we can spotlight a book that we're anxiously waiting for....

The Gathering (Darkness Rising, #1)

The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong
To be published in April 2011 by HarperCollins
400 pages

Summary from goodreads
Maya lives in a small medical-research town on Vancouver Island. How small? You can’t find it on the map. It has less than two-hundred people, and her school has only sixty-eight students—for every grade from kindergarten to twelve.

Now, strange things are happening in this claustrophobic town, and Maya's determined to get to the bottom of them. First, the captain of the swim team drowns mysteriously in the middle of a calm lake. A year later, mountain lions start appearing around Maya's home, and they won’t go away. Her best friend, Daniel, starts getting negative vibes from certain people and things. It doesn't help that the new bad boy in town, Rafe, has a dangerous secret—and he's interested in one special part of Maya's anatomy: Her paw-print birthmark.

Kelley Armstong is an talented story teller and I am looking so forward to to reading this one.....
Only a little over 5 mths to wait.(sigh)

November 23, 2010

Top Ten Tuesdays-Holiday Books

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by the wonderful Broke and the Bookish.

I look really forward to particpating every week and seeing every one elses lists.
This weeks Top Ten:  Holiday Books
This was a tough one as I don't read a lot of holiday themed books except in Story Time.


  1. The Night Before Christmas by Clement Moore. I read this out loud to my son every Christmas. He's 9 now so I don't know how much longer he'll let me do this but fingers crossed I'll get a couple more years.
  2. I usually re-read a classic this time of year....The Secret Garden, Sense and Sensibility, or Alice in Wonderland
  3. Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner
  4. Merry Christmas Big Hungry Bear by Audrey Wood
  5. Santa Duck by David Milgram
The books in red are my must reads at our Holiday Story Times. I'll be posting a review of Santa Duck later this week actually.

Movies that give me the Christmas Spirit:

The Santa Clause 1,2,3
Elf
Home Alone
The Bishop's Wife (with Carey Grant-sigh)
Love Actually
Then the classics like Rudolph, Frosty, Christmas Carol, Miracle on 34th Street, It's a Wonderful Life and we also watch Sound of Music this time of year too.

November 20, 2010

2011 Debut Author Challenge

I've decided to participate in the 2011 Debut Author Challenge hosted by The Story Siren.

•The objective of the DAC is to read at least twelve novels from Young Adult or Middle Grade Authors. While twelve is the minimum there is no maximum limit! I encourage readers who can read more than twelve to do so!


•Anyone can join. You don't have to be a blogger, and you don't have to live in the United States.

•You do not have to have an blog written in English to participate.

•You can join at anytime. The challenge runs from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2011.

For further information please visit The Story Siren's Website.

My Debut To-Read List is the following (so far)

  1. Vesper by Jeff Sampson
  2. Clarity by Kim Harrington
  3. Luminous by Dawn Metcalf
  4. Angelfire by Courtney Moulton
  5. UnEarthly by Cynthia Hand
  6. Haven by Kristi Cook
  7. Warped by Maurissa Guibord
  8. Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney
  9. Rival by Sara Whealer
  10. Wither by Lauren DeStefano
  11. Entwined by Heather Dixon
  12. Darkness Becomes Her by Kelly Keaton
  13. Posession by Elana Johnson
  14. Timeless by Alexandra Monir
I'm looking really forward to partipating in the challenge!

November 19, 2010

Blogger Hop

It's the HOP! Hosted by Jennifer at Crazy-For-Books! It's similar to the Friday Follow where we visit blogs we know and blogs we don't. I look forward to it every week!
This week's question:
In celebration of Thanksgiving, let's share what we're thankful for...

This is a great idea. Thanksgiving for me was in October (Canadian that I am) and we had most of the family over to our house for dinner. I'm lucky because the husband is a fabulous cook.
We usually have the entire family over, but my mom was unable to attend this year as she's in the middle of chemo treatments and she's really not up to doing very much. I missed her terribly at our dinner.
Things I'm Thankful for:
My husband, my incredible son and our beautiful home. My mom and our wonderful relationship. I'm thankful that her cancer is treatable and that she'll be at our thanksgiving dinner next year.
I'm thankful that I have a job that I love (most of the time), and friends to laugh, cry and share with. I'm thankful for books, and movies. For coffee and dark chocolate. I'm thankful that my 9 year old son still likes to hold my hand-even in public.I also thankful that I have so many things to be thankful for :)

What about you?

November 18, 2010

Friday Follow

It's Friday! (almost) and It's been another crazy week. I think as the holiday season approaches it's just going to get crazier and crazier.

Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkees View and it's a weekly feature/meme where we're able to visit other blogs and "network" with other bloggers.
Parajunkee's View always features a blog & blogger and this week it's Ginger at GReads. If you haven't visited her blog, you need to! Its Fabulous!



This weeks question: How long have you been blogging?

I started blogging in March 2010 on Wordpress. I decided to switch to Blogger in April and started actively posting in May. I truly love it, though I think my hubby thinks I spend a bit too much time on the computer.

Be sure to check out my gratitude giveaway. It's open to new and old followers and internationally (wherever Book depository delivers to).

Be sure to leave a comment so I can visit you. Have a great weekend.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

If I Stay by Gayle Forman
Published by Dutton (Penguin) April 2009
199 Pages
Young Adult
Reviewed from copy borrowed from the library.

Summary from GoodReads
In a single moment, everything changes. Seventeen-year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall riding along the snow-wet Oregon road with her family. Then, in a blink, she finds herself watching as her own damaged body is taken from the wreck...

A sophisticated, layered, and heartachingly beautiful story about the power of family and friends, the choices we all make—and the ultimate choice Mia commands.


When it comes to books I know that I will be reading I'm careful with reviews. I look to see if they are positive or negative and then tend to move on. I don't want to know too much, I don't want to know whats going to happen ahead of time.
This was very much the case with If I Stay. An award winning novel I knew was highly recommended, and wanted to read.
To tell the truth I didn't even fully know what it was about.

I connected with Mia right from the beginning. Perhaps it was our shared love of music, but her character was endearing and very real. Gayle Forman did a wonderful job of intertwining the past and present so that it flowed and made sense. I loved Mia's innocence and her view of the world, but the choice in front of her was just heartbreaking and at a couple of points I was sobbing. Not, just tears but those big type of belly sobs.
The story has caused me to pause and think about things in my own life. How they can change in a millisecond. I'm still thinking about Mia and her family days after reading it.
The story is also about love and hope and courage...
I borrowed it from the library but I've ordered it. It's a book I need to read over. It's a book that I want to have on my shelf.

I  loved it.

November 16, 2010

Gratitiude Giveaway

Participating in the Gratitude Giveaways is my way of saying thank you to all my followers, and to everyone who has been so very supportive of the Lost in the Library blog. I never dreamed how much writing this blog and interacting with the blogger community would mean to me. I feel very blessed.

There are a total of 185 blogs participating and you can enter Wednesday November 17-Sunday November 28th. The giveaways are book related but different on each of the blogs and you'll have to check what the requirements are for entry at each one. For more information you can find it on I am a Reader, Not a Writer.

My giveaway:

Entrants must be 13 years of age or older.
Must be a Follower.
Giveaway is open to Canada, US and International (anywhere Book Depository ships to)
There will be three winners who will have their choice of the following books. All three books, I've read this year (though not necessarily reviewed) and loved.

They are:






The Shifter by Janice Hardy










Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel











The Maze Runner by James Dashner



These are the other blogs participating:

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine.

Last night I read, If I Stay by Gayle Forman (review to be posted soon) If you haven't read it-you must. Go now to your closest library or book store and get it. Truly amazing.

Because of how much I loved it, I'm now going to have to wait for the second book. Authors do that to us. We remove one book from the 'to-read' pile, but there's always another one waiting to be added. (which is a good thing-I'm just impatient)

I am now waiting for Where She Went by Gayle Forman
and I have to wait until April 2011.
I'm reluctant to post the summary just in case you haven't read the first one and want to...I try not to put spoilers on the blog.:)

Top Ten Tuesday-Villians


Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by the fabulous bloggers at The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's list features our Top Ten Villians

I agree with what Paula said over at The Broke and the Bookish....where would our books be without the bad guys? Sometimes there are the very ones driving us to turn the pages faster and faster as they put our heroes, the ones we love through the paces.


My list in no particular order:

  1. The White Witch/Queen from Narnia. I despised her. Her twisted lies, and fierce vengeance. In the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, I was devastated when she hurt Aslan. It wasn't so much that she killed him, but it was how she humiliated him. She was pure evil.
  2. President Snow from the Hunger Games- Another guy I'm sure will make an appearance on every list.
  3. King Haggard and the Red Bull from the Last Unicorn. Their horrible quest to rid the world of Unicorns.
  4. Mrs.Coulter from Philip Pullmans Dark Materials. Her manipulation of her daughter is unforgivable.
  5. It/Man with Red Eyes from a Wrinkle in Time. Taking over our dear Charles
  6. Voldemort. I'm pretty sure everyone will have this guy on their list. He's the one who just won't seem to go away. My son is 9 and we're reading the Harry Potter Series together(his first time my...well I've lost count of how many times I've read it.) We're on book 5 together and we've had lots of "life skill' discussions about bullies etc....At this point he feels that if Voldemort (Tom Riddle) had just had a mom and dad that really loved him he wouldn't have been so "mean".....I'm not so sure.
I only came up with 6, put I'm sure just like every week I'll read other bloggers lists and see many more I could have added.

November 14, 2010

The Clockwork Three

The Clockwork Three by Matthew Kirby
Published in October 2010 by Scholastic Press
400 Pages
Reviewed from finished copy provided by publisher.
Junior Fiction

"Summary from goodreads"
Three ordinary children are brought together by extraordinary events. . . Giuseppe is an orphaned street musician from Italy, who was sold by his uncle to work as a slave for an evil padrone in the U.S. But when a mysterious green violin enters his life he begins to imagine a life of freedom.
Hannah is a soft-hearted, strong-willed girl from the tenements, who supports her family as a hotel maid when tragedy strikes and her father can no longer work. She learns about a hidden treasure, which she knows will save her family -- if she can find it.

And Frederick, the talented and intense clockmaker's apprentice, seeks to learn the truth about his mother while trying to forget the nightmares of the orphanage where she left him. He is determined to build an automaton and enter the clockmakers' guild -- if only he can create a working head.

Together, the three discover they have phenomenal power when they team up as friends, and that they can overcome even the darkest of fears.
 
I like the steam punk genre. There's something about the mechanics of clockwork that intrigue me. I think it's been around for ever, but I love that it has a name now. :)
 
The Clockwork Three is a debut novel for Matthew Kirby whose also a teacher. The book follows the lives of three children who are strangers in the beginning, and whose lives intersect at various parts within the novel. Each chapter follows one of the characters as they make their way through the hand that life has dealt them. Guiseppe was my favourite character as he had such a beautiful and loyal heart and I think his story was one of the saddest although all three had suffered terrible tragedies.
I also connected with  Hannah. Her love for her father and family and faith in all things that are good enables her to overcome incredible obstacles.
The only character I had trouble connecting with was Frederick. I'm not sure why other than a lot of the exciting parts happened when Kirby was writing about the other two children. There were times where I skimmed his chapters.
 
The three stories come together in the end and we see how we can touch other peoples lives without realizing it and how sometimes the people we meet are the people we need at that time.
 
A good book to recommend to the 9-12 age range.

November 12, 2010

TGIF

Thank goodness it's Friday.  I seriously wasn't sure whether I would make through the week.

Book Blogger Hop hosted by Crazy For Books and Friday Follow hosted by Parajunkees View are great ways to discover new blogs and connect with other bloggers. I look forward to participating every week.

Book Blogger Hop's question: If you find a book that looks interesting but it's part of a series, do you always start with the first title?

Generally, I do. But I don't think it's always necessary. I started the Harry Potter Series on book 3, A friend loaned it to me. And I was swept away. I went back and read the first two and in hindsight I think If I had started with the philosophers stone, I might not have continued reading-definitely not my favourite of the HP series.


Friday Follow question: What's your monthly book budget?  It varies but if I were to average it out over a year probably around 75.00 a month.

Thanks for stopping by, looking forward to visiting your blogs! Have a great weekend!

November 10, 2010

Remember

Thursday November 11th 2010 is Remembrance Day in Canada

It's a day where we reflect, remember and honour those who have lost their lives fighting for our country and for those still fighting for us.





Last year I found a book on our shelves about peace:

"In this moving picture book, award-winning collaborators Davide Cali and Serge Bloch present a fable for our time about two lonely soldiers facing each other across a barren battlefield. What each discovers, as the story unfolds, is that the enemy is not a faceless beast, but rather a real person with family, friends, and dreams"


I really loved this book, I brought it home for my 8 year old and we had quite an involved discussion about the book and what it means....I highly recommend this, -a great place to start a conversation about the topic.

We need to strive to keep the conversation going, the memories alive.

Worthwhile Reads-Picture Book Edition

Worthwhile Reads - Picture Book Edition

Worthwhile Reads is a weekly feature here at Lost in the Library, where we highlight books that we have loved in our past. Sometimes we can get so caught up in the new releases that we can forget to talk about the ones we've loved before.
If you'd like to particpate you can link below.
Rules are simple- Books featured should be published before 2009. Please post a cover image, summary and your thoughts on the book (you don't need to write a full review)

My selection this week is one of my absolute favourites for story time at the library-

There's an Alligator Under My Bed by Mercer Mayer
Published by Dial in 1987
32 Pages

Summary from Amazon
"tale of a little boy who is sure that there is an alligator under his bed. Getting no sympathy from his parents who ``never saw it,'' he forms a plan of attack. He leaves a trail of food from his bed through the house to the garage door. He then follows behind as the alligator gobbles up the goodies, fresh vegetables, fruit, and even ``the last piece of pie,'' making its way to the garage. The boy then locks the door. The last page shows the note he leaves for his father, telling him that there's an alligator in the garage and to wake him up ``if you need help.'

I love the text in this book. The language is rich and the illustrations are bold and  gorgeous! I never tire of reading it and the children who attend my programs know its one of my favourites.
When the parents of the little boy don't believe the alligator story, he takes matters into his own hands. He overcomes his fear. It's a great message. Worth reading and sharing.

Do you have a picture book from your childhood or even now that brings those warm fuzzy memories, or one that you just love to read aloud to your kids?

November 9, 2010

Top Ten Tuesday-Unfortunate Character Names


Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's list:

Top Ten Unfortunate Character Names from Literature



I struggled coming up with a list. I think part of the reason is that I go with whatever the author has chosen because I figure that they've given the character a particular name for a reason. However there are a few that I've cringed at:

1. Renesmee from Breaking Dawn. Hated it. Like strongly hated it. I get the naming after family thing but this one was ridiculous.

2. Sookie Stackhouse from Charlaine Harris's series. I don't get this name at all.

3. Many of people have listed Katniss on their lists but oddly it didn't bother me. I didn't care for the name Peeta though. Maybe it was a different form of Peter but I just didn't think it was a strong enough name for him.

That's it- I could only come up with three. What was on your list?

November 7, 2010

In My Mailbox

In my mailbox is a weekly feature that is hosted by Kristi at the Story Siren. We post about books we receive for review/ from the library/ purchased /won etc.
This week I visited Chapters Bookstore and it's dangerous for me to go in there!!
I limited myself to just puchase three because my too-read stack at home is too large as it is...

Beautiful Creatures

Scorch Trials

NightShade
  From the library this week:
Mocking Birds by Daisy Whitney. I actually read this one right away -you can read my review here.



What was in your mailbox? What did you get that you are most excited about?

November 5, 2010

Friday Follow



Hi Everyone, thanks for popping by, it's Friday, and that means it's time for the blogger hop and Friday Follow. It gives us an opportunity to check out new blogs and meet and connect with other bloggers.
The Blogger Hop is hosted by Jennifer at Crazy For Books
This Weeks Question: What are your feeling's on losing followers? Have you ever stopped following a blog?

I think that if I were to lose a follower I'd try not to take it personally. Unless I was told the reason (like..I suck or something:), I wouldn't assume that they stopped following because of me.-life's too short to worry about stuff like that.

I've only stopped following a blog once and that was because the blogger hadn't posted anything new in 8 months.


Friday Follow is hosted by Parajunkee's View 
The question this week is: Who are your favourite authors?

I tend to have favourite books rather than favourite authors. But if I were to list a few of the authors where I read the entire series and anything else they might have written it would be:  Tamora Pierce, Suzanne Collins, JK Rowling, Charlaine Harris, Jane Austen, Stephenie Meyer, and CS Lewis

Who are your favourites?

November 4, 2010

Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney

The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney
Published November 2nd 2010 by Little Brown
352 pages

Summary from goodreads
"Some schools have honor codes.

Others have handbooks.
Themis Academy has the Mockingbirds.

  Themis Academy is a quiet boarding school with an exceptional student body that the administration trusts to always behave the honorable way--the Themis Way. So when Alex is date raped during her junior year, she has two options: stay silent and hope someone helps her, or enlist the Mockingbirds--a secret society of students dedicated to righting the wrongs of their fellow peers. In this honest, page-turning account of a teen girl's struggle to stand up for herself, debut author Daisy Whitney reminds readers that if you love something or someone--especially yourself--you fight for it."

I just happened to unpack this from a delivery at our library yesterday and borrowed it. I brought it home and read it in one sitting. The story opens with Alex waking up disoriented in a dorm room naked next to a guy she barely recognizes. Unable to remember what happened she quickly grabs her belongings and leaves as quickly as she can.Horrified by the possibilities of what might have happened.
Over the next few days her memories come back in flashes and she and her friends come to the realization that she was raped.
Alex is faced with a difficult choice of what to do. Either way there will be consequences....

Mockingbirds was a compelling read. I loved all the references of To Kill A MockingBird, and Alex was an endearing character that I rooted for and I even felt protective of her. The passage at the back of the book written by Daisy (author) is very moving as we learn that she is writing from a place of experience on this topic.
Highly recommend.

November 3, 2010

Wednesdays Worthwhile Reads

I need to get more on the ball with this....again I'm posting late.
Worthwhile reads is a weekly feature here, that showcases some past favourites. Sometimes we get so caught up in new releases that we forget to talk about the books that we've loved in the past.

To participate, please link to your post below. Rules are simple: The book must be published before 2009. Please include a cover image, summary and your thoughts on the book (doesn't need to be a full review)

My Selection this week was inspired by Top Ten Tuesday at The Broke and the Bookish "Top Ten Books that Made you Cry"


The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
Published in 2006 by David Fickling Books
224 pages

Summary from GoodReads
Berlin 1942

When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move from their home to a new house far far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence running alongside stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people he can see in the distance.

But Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there must be more to this desolate new place than meets the eye. While exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very different to his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences.
 
  This was a powerful book. Looking at the summary you'd be able to tell that it's a book about world war two-in particular its about the Holocaust. The Holocaust is an intense subject matter in any type of book but written in the perspective of a nine year old completely oblivious to the atrocities going on around him it is unforgettable. I was -for lack of a better word "gobsmacked" when I finished and the ending haunted me for weeks. I was really shocked when they made it into a movie and I have to say that if you can -read the book first.  It's not a feel-good book, but it is a book that I think everyone should read.

Waiting on Wednesday




Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine. WoW spotlights the books that we're eagerly anticipating to be released.

My selection this week is probably on most ya book bloggers lists.



City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare. Book # 4 in the Mortal Instruments series.Not much as been released in the way of descriptions but I can't wait to read more about Jace and Clary.

November 2, 2010

A Great Birthday Gift

It's my Birthday today and I received a great gift. 100 Followers Woohoo! Thanks everyone. I love our book blogging community!

The Follower giveaway is now closed and the winner is....

Jen from I Read Banned Books!

Jen-I've sent you an email

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a fabulous weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's list:

"Top ten books that made you cry"

**Post may contain spoilers for the following books: Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows.***


  1. The Boy in Striped Pajamas by John Boyne. I really don't want to give anything away on this one...it's a book that I truly feel everyone should read. The ending was so powerful that it took me a couple of weeks to accept and process. A really brilliant book.
  2. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by Jk Rowling....Sirius Black. Harry had finally found family -only to have it taken away.
  3. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by Jk Rowling....*highlight to view-dumbledore* a father figure and friend-big sobs with this one.
  4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling...*Highlight to view- Dobby! I loved Dobby and George.....
  5. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. Many-many Happy tears were shed when at long last Elinor and Edward were united.
  6. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. I'll just say a scene close to the end had me balling. I'll be careful not to say anymore than that.
  7. Goodbye Pink Pig by CS Adler. I read this when I was 11 or so. Saying good bye to a beloved friend is never easy-look for this one to be featured on the worthwhile reads meme on my blog in the future.
  8. The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. An adult book but the story was incredible. I read this for my "adult" book club. Dina has found escape from her family and absolute true love. Her families betrayal and punishment for her abandonment was utterly devastating.
I only had eight books to list  but as I visit other blogs, I'm sure I'll remember crying to many of the books listed. I'm a big cryer...happy or sad.

November 1, 2010

close but yet so far away

Well, it's November 1st and I didn't quite make 100 followers...close, but not yet there. I'm going to extend the "giveaway" until this Friday November 5th-I can't host a 100 follower giveaway- without 100 followers.:)