Monday 30 April 2012

Monday "not so" Moaning from Vienna

Like Garfield I hate Monday and I love lasagna. But since I have my vacation this week the title of my post is slightly changed. I'm sure many more Mondays will come along to hate.

Each Monday I want to give an overview of what I reviewed in the past week and what I'll be reading in the upcoming one. I usually read a lot of books at the same time. Clicking on the title will bring you to the book page in Goodreads where you can read more about it. The pictures match the covers I own.

 Reviews

On saturday I posted my first review on the blog. The book is one of my all time favorites called Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta and you can check it out here.

Currently reading:





-Room by Emma Donoghue. I started this on the plane and I was absorbed. I hope to finish it today.


-Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin. First book in the epic fantasy series named "A song in Fire & Ice", I'm addicted to the tv series on HBO and the book is also great but very long. I will finish it this week though.


-Tomorrow I'm starting The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson. I was ecstatic when I found this in a second hand shop and I can't wait to start. It doesn't seem like your ordinary YA book.

-Continue Persuasion. My second Austen book after Pride and Prejudice which I think is great. So far the story has been set-up mostly and I can't wait for Anne Elliot (the protagonist) to talk to Wentworth (her love interest from 10 years ago which she dumped under pressure of her family because he was poor, now he is rich and a naval hero). Jane Austen has such a lovely way with words and she's very funny.

-Bought Treachery in Death by J.D. Robb at the airport and I'm reading that too.


-Later this week I'll start Delirium by Lauren Oliver, already bought the second one in the series. 

Note: not my own photo from Vienna. Found it on Google images but can't find the photographer.

Saturday 28 April 2012

Sunday Stuff

I've now been blogging for the whole of  4(!) days and I've discovered many new things.

First I want to mention how hard it is and I really respect all those bloggers out there who keep creating wonderful content. But it's actually an aspect I really like because because when something finally works I stand up and do a little yes-I-did-it dance and that's very rewarding. I've found many more exciting blogs which gave me a slight inferiority complex.

The Blogger 101 tips from parajunkee.com came in very handy. For all the upstarting bloggers out there, take a look.

But all in all I think it's been a good week. My vacation has started and I'm going to Vienna in a couple of hours. Never been there and can't wait to find the bookstores over there ;)

Saw the Avengers movie on Friday and it was awesome. Pefectly cast and very funny, Josh Whedon doesn't disappoint. I also found out today that Josh Whedon is currently filming Much Ado About Nothing which is my favorite Shakespeare play with another favourite, Nathan Fillion. Can't wait!
Also I have a crush on Hawkeye aka Jeremy Renner ;)


Links I've Loved:

How popular hits by Katy Perry and Rihanna get made. Very intersting process and not at all what I expected.  Stargate and Ester Dean, Making Music Hits : The New Yorker

The original muppet pitch by Jim Henson. The Muppet Show is one of my favorite television shows ever and I still watch "A Muppet Christmas Carol" every year. Jim Henson's Original Pitch for The Muppet Show Is a Thing of Beauty

Interesting article by StackedBooks.org about cover trends in the YA world and what message it's sending to girls. Stacked: Cover Trends & The Female Body

Kat Kennedy from the Cuddlebuggery gives a good assessment on how to move on after the plagiarising scandal at the Story Siren. I didn't read her site before and I certainly won't now. Book Bloggers Plagiarising | Cuddlebuggery Book Blog

And saving the best for last. This awesome video made it on the web a few weeks back and I adore it!

That was it for this week. Check back often for new reviews and other bookish stuff.



Credit:
Avengers photo - http://blog.zap2it.com/pop2it/2012/02/the-avengers-pics-hawkeye-captain-america-and-black-widow-walk-hard.html

Review of Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta



This is one of those books you keep returning to like an old friend. I've re-read Saving Francesca countless times and I hope this review won't turn into an all round Melina Marchetta adoration fest (I'll save that for later when you've been properly seduced by my tragic English).

What it's about: 
Saving Francesca is about a 16-year old girl who fights all the time with her mom, Mia. Her mom is a communications lecturer at the university and challenges her family daily, much to Francesca's annoyance. She wishes that her mother would just let her be and not constantly tell her who she is. She hates the co-ed school, St. Sebastian, her mother picked out and describes it as follows.

"St. Sebastian's pretends it's co-ed by giving us our own toilet. The rest of the place is all male and I know what you're thinking if you're a girl. What a dream come true, right? Seven hundred and fifty boys and thirty girls? But the reality is that it's either like living in a fishbowl or like you don't exist."


Since going to the new school she hasn't made any new friends and misses her old ones. One of the girls, Tara Finke, who is an ultra feminist and activist tries to make a change and forces Francesca to make the girls' case to the House leader, William Trombal. Will is a smug strait-laced A-student with big ambitions who happens to look really interesting.

But then her mother doesn't come out of her bed one morning. Francesca doesn't know what to do and her father pretends there's nothing wrong. She doesn't know what to do and feels lost. Will Francesca be able to save herself?

Review:

What I love about this book are the characters. They feel so as if though they really exist. Even the secondary ones are well drawn and Marchetta never resorts to stereo types. They all have their own problems and are far from perfect but that's what makes them real. The central theme is family and the importance of having people who care about you. Mia is essential and without her the entire family is in crisis. While Francesca and her mother fight a lot you also feel how much they love each other and how close their bond is. In the course of the book she slowly starts opening up to the people around her and starts making friends with the people she previously put in a box and made fun of. They seem like real friends who are even there during the good and the bad times. They are relatable and fun. Did I mention that? This book is very funny. Francesca's sarcastic and makes really funny observations of the people around her. Her love interest isn't perfect either and while he makes bad choices, you really feel for him (although sometimes you want to smack him for being slightly clueless). In the end this book just feels exactly right and I hope you'll love her too. I think Marchetta puts the bar for Young-Adult writers very high and Saving Francesca is a prime example of that.


Short:
You should read this book because it's honest, funny, sometimes painful. In the end it's all about love and the family that binds us together.

5 stars!

Favourite quotes:

 "I think we're made up of all these different pieces and every time someone goes, you're left with less of yourself.” 


“Comfort zones are overrated. They make you lazy.” 

“Memory is a funny thing. It tricks you into believing that you've forgotten important moments, and then when you're raking your brain for a bit of information that might make sens of something else, it taps you on the head an says, "Remember when you told me to put that memory in the green rubbish bin? Well, I didn't, I put it in the black recycling tub, and it's coming your way again.” 




Friday 27 April 2012

This made my week


After blackmailing my mother, she let me borrow her credit card to buy a book (or two ;).
Hours of consideration later I finally decided on these two.
image
Sloppy Firsts is one of my favorite books of all time. It’s like McCafferty can read my mind. Highest possible recommendation!
And this just came out. I’ve never read any of her books but Hannah Moskowitz’s blogposts are great. 
A lot of awesome reviewers at Goodreads recommended this. So I can’t wait!
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I love the cover. “Sometimes you have a great tag line. Sometimes you don’t”
Blurb on goodreads:
It’s a year after 9/11. Sniper shootings throughout the D.C. area have everyone on edge and trying to make sense of these random acts of violence. Meanwhile, Craig and Lio are just trying to make sense of their lives. Craig’s crushing on quiet, distant Lio, and preoccupied with what it meant when Lio kissed him…and if he’ll do it again…and if kissing Lio will help him finally get over his ex-boyfriend, Cody.Lio feels most alive when he’s with Craig. He forgets about his broken family, his dead brother, and the messed up world. But being with Craig means being vulnerable…and Lio will have to decide whether love is worth the risk.

If everything goes alright they’ll be delivered next week ^^

Wednesday 25 April 2012

Welcome Stranger

The firsts posts will be up soon.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Reading!