The Name of the Wind

Told in the protagonist's own voice, this is the tale of the magically gifted young man who grows to be the most notorious wizard his world has ever seen.  The intimate narrative of his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, his years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-ridden city, his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a legendary school of magic, and his life as a fugitive after the murder of a king form a gripping coming-of-age story unrivaled in recent literature.  


Basically, its Harry Potter for grown ups.  LOVEIT.    I kid you not, its at the top of my list.  The second book, The Wise Man's Fear comes out March 1, 2011...so...far... Dang I want to read this again, but I left my copy at home.

Pride and Prejudice

I've been pretty much in love with the pair, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth from Pride and Prejudice lately...like obsessively.  I watched the movie two times in a row, and I never do that!  So I picked up the novel yesterday with a Borders coupon and it ended up being like 3 dollars.

Im in love with Mr Darcy, but his character wouldnt be at all complete with out Elizabeth...corny sshmoosy what evs..its the truth.  Here are decidedly two of the most romantic characters in literature.

The first time I watched it, I thought it was ok...a bit dull...just what evers.  But then I started reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and watched the movie one more time and I friggin LOVED it...but I decided half way through this book that I ought to read the original first, so I put it down.

So I have no idea what kind of advice to give you...watch the movie first?  Read half of the zombie version first? Read the classic?  I gotta say though, I'm really enjoying the classic because I'm really familiar with the characters from extensive movie watching...so I dont know what to tell you.

Dead in the Family

This is one of my favorite collection of books--The Southern Vampire Series--which has recently been made into a TV series.  I've checked it out, and it catches interest, but I'd much rather read the books, so I haven't really watched anymore than two episodes.

I first picked up one of these books because of the cover art.  It was unique and not embarrassing to hold onto in public (like those other vampire series that I've read...aka Vampire Academy, House of Night, Blue Blood and of course Twilight ...ok the Twilight series had good cover art...it was just the adolescent stigma attached to the whole vampire fad going on).  Trust me, its embarrassing to be in college and running to the youth sci-fi section at Borders (secretly really really excited to find out what happens next).

Charlaine Harris has opted to turn this into a 13 book series, a bit stretched out if you ask me, but you gotta juice it when its good, right?  This particular novel didn't have as much going on as the other ones, but it was much better than the last two shes written.  The previous seven books were great though.  Heres the series below.  Cute and unique, right?  I hate it when they change the cover art to a contemporary motion pictures screen shot...they should always keep the original.

The Wrong Mother

Just finished reading The Wrong Mother by Sophie Hannah.  It felt good to go back to my detective story reading years.  When I was younger, I distinctly remember reading all the Alfred Hitchcock books in the elementary school library...or at least I think it was Hitchcock...I also loved the Box Cart Children series.  I really tried to get into the Babysitters Club because all of my girlfriends read them, and even tried a hand at Nancy Drew, but I was a bit of a tom boy at that age and anything with pink repelled me.  Therefore, Alfred it was.  This book was pretty good, but there was a lot of unfinished business that I would have liked resolved.  The romance between two of the characters was enjoyably left hanging, but the more serious issues concerning the protagonist, Sally Thorning, were muted and left to be forgotten.  I would have chosen a different title also...

A quick set up--About a year before the setting, Sally Thorning had an affair with a man named Mark Bretherick for a week at a hotel resort.  Now, sitting in her living room she watches the news report of a different man named Mark Bretherick coping with his grievances of the loss of his daughter Lucy and wife Geraldine, both of which the Mark from the hotel had mentioned.  And it didn't help that the late Geraldine was the spitting image of Sally.  Dun dun dun...

Its a fun quick read if you're bored.  You can borrow my copy if yah likes.

Oscar Wilde

Ok so I'm back onto Oscar Wilde.  Every sentence seems like such a profound thought filled piece of work....I wonder how long it took him to write this...and I'm only pg 17.

Ender's Shadow

Ender's Game is my favorite book, which is why I need to read this book, Ender's Shadow.  Let me quote a part of his forward:

"This book is, strictly speaking not a sequel, because it begins about where Ender's Game begins, and also ends, very nearly, at the same place.  In fact, it is another telling of the same tale, with many of the same characters and settings, only from he perspective of another character.  It's hard to know what to call it.  A companion novel?  A parallel novel?  Perhaps  "parallax,' if I can move that scientific term into literature."

Ive only heard great things about this novel and considering my love for Ender's Game, I've put aside my Picture of Dorian Gray and The Looking Glass Wars.

[Update] Just finished this novel.  It was really nostalgic being back in this setting and revisiting the story with a different assessment--Bean's perspective.  But I still think that Ender's Game will remain my favorite.  I noticed that I enjoyed it more when Ender came back into the picture.  The beginning was an interesting read, discovering Bean and his background (an amazing character), but after Ender showed up as one of the main characters again, I read the rest (about half of the book I'd say) in less than a day.

Harry Potter fans

LOL...so I came upon this Harry Potter follow up from a website...thought you'd be interested.  Rowling revealed the fates of the secondary characters of the Harry Potter series.  Some are really random and..yeah hahah take a look.

1. Harry becomes an Auror for the Ministry of Magic, & is later appointed head of the department. He keeps Sirius’s motorcycle, which Arthur Weasley repaired for him, but he can no longer speak Parseltongue after the destruction of Voldemort’s soul fragment within him.

2. Ginny Weasley plays for the Holyhead Harpies Quidditch team for a time, leaves to establish a family with Harry & later becomes the lead Quidditch correspondent for the Daily Prophet.

3. Ron Weasley works at George’s store for a time, Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes, then joins Harry as an Auror.

4. Hermione finds her parents in Australia & removes the memory modification charm she had put on them for safety. She initially works for the Ministry of Magic in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, greatly improving life for house elves & their ilk. She later moves to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement & assists in eradicating oppressive, pro-pureblood laws. She was also the only member of the trio to go back & complete her seventh year at Hogwarts.

5. Dumbledore’s relationship with Gellert Grindelwald extended beyond mere friendship; indeed, Rowling has revealed that “Dumbledore is gay, actually”, & harboured romantic feelings for Grindelwald.

6. After his death, Voldemort is forced to exist in the stunted form Harry witnessed in the King’s Cross limbo; his crimes were too severe for him to become a ghost.

    Rowling also explained the fates of several secondary characters:

1. George Weasley continues his successful joke shop. George married Angelina Johnson & has two children: a son named Fred, in memory of his late twin brother, & a daughter, Roxanne.

2. Luna Lovegood searches the world for odd & unique creatures. She eventually marries Rolf, a grandson of the famed naturalist Newt Scamander. They have twins called Lorcan & Lysander. Her father’s publication, The Quibbler, has returned to its usual condition of “advanced lunacy” & is appreciated for its unintentional humour.

3. Percy Weasley married a woman named Audrey & had two daughters, named Molly & Lucy.

4. Firenze is welcomed back into his herd, who finally acknowledge the virtue of his pro-human leanings.

5. Dolores Umbridge is arrested, interrogated, & imprisoned for crimes against Muggle-borns.

6. Cho Chang went on to marry a Muggle.

7. Neville Longbottom becomes professor of Herbology at Hogwarts & marries Hannah Abbott.

8. Besides Victoire Weasley, Bill & Fleur Weasley have a younger son & a younger daughter, named Dominique & Louis.

9. On her website, Rowling posted a Weasley family tree, showing that Harry’s children’s full names are James Sirius Potter, Albus Severus Potter, & Lily Luna Potter.

    There have been transformations in the wider wizarding world:

1. Kingsley Shacklebolt is the permanent Minister for Magic, with Percy Weasley working under him as a high official. Among the reforms introduced by Shacklebolt, Azkaban no longer uses Dementors. Consequently, the world is now a “much sunnier place”. Harry, Ron, & Hermione have also been instrumental in reforming the Ministry.

2. At Hogwarts, Slytherin House has become more diluted & is no longer the pure-blood bastion it once was, although its dark reputation lingers.

3. Voldemort’s jinx on the Defence Against the Dark Arts position is broken with his death. There is now a permanent Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Harry comes to the Defence Against the Dark Arts class to lecture several times a year.

4. A portrait of Snape, who briefly served as Hogwarts Headmaster, does not appear in the headmaster’s office as he abandoned his post. Harry ensures the addition of Snape’s portrait, and publicly reveals Snape’s steadfastness.

The Looking Glass Wars

BOOK TO READ

This is based on Alice in Wonderland with a different twist and I was recomended to read it before I watch the highly anticipated movie with JOHNNY DEPP!  Incredibly excited to go buy this book.  I dont really have much info on this, not having read it yet, but all I know is that its a trilogy based on Alice in Wonderland with a sci-fi twist?!!! I am ssooo there!!

Crime and Punishment

Continuing high school reads that I loved--Crime and Punishment.  Great piece of work.

Crime and Punishment --Fyodor Dostoevsky
This novel explores the human conscience and the sub-conscience that deals with moral dilemmas of the protagonist Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov after murder.  His punishment stems from his guilt and the subsequent effects on his soul and person to find in the end that justice of physical imprisonment initiates his relief through atonement.

While I read this book, there was one part that really gave me the nervous butterflies.  It wasn't the descriptive anxiety of the murder that gave me the chills, but the description of Raskolnikov stealing the axe and gripping it under the inside of his jacket, walking with unsure intent to perform his deed--this got me.  It gave me the uneasy tingle of fluttering interest to keep reading on, so sure of what would happen but with disbelief.  Great novel.  Its really dense on the descriptions and the names take a while to get used to, so just make sure you have someone to discuss this with after you finish.  Or post discussions on here if you'd like. =D

Ender's Game

As you all know, I love to read.  But only novels of my choice, which effectively exclude school reads for the most part.  But I suppose we could start there...school reads that I actually liked.


Ender's Game-Orson Scott Card

This was a summer read in 10th grade.  I absolutely love this book.  The setting is an Earth in total unity under the threat of alien invasion.  70 years ago, the buggers brutally attacked the humans, but retreated after a decisive battle, never to be heard from again.  Ender'sGame is about an interwar period with mobilization and preparation for the threat of a future attack.



Ok..I know, sounds super sci-fi, but I would say its along the same line as District Nine (which I loved. GREAT MOVIE.) in that there's a different twist in the old alien invasion story that all of us know to be cliche and dull.  You delve into the mind of a brilliant 6 year old, monitored by the government in a new environment called Battle School in space--a school with selective children, trained to become potential military leaders.  Its a really fast read and honestly, I'm a sucker for novels with children that trump odds and show up adults.  I don't know.  It always make me feel good to read about people who more than exceed the expectations of others, especially when it seems like the whole world is against them.  This is one of my very very favorites.