Wednesday, March 17, 2010

WWW Wednsdays (March 17)

Sorry I missed out on the Monday and Tuesday memes this week. I was having a bad few days there...

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

* What are you currently reading?
* What did you recently finish reading?
* What do you think you’ll read next?

What are you currently reading?

I am half way through To Kill a Mocking bird by Harper Lee. I've been wanting to read it for a looong time, and finally got around to it. I was worried then, that I wouldn't like it, but so far it's pretty enjoyable!


What did you recently finish reading?

I recently finished the Second Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares. It was quite different from the first book in the series, but it was better too.




What will you read next?

I'm still not fully sure what I will read next, but I'm thinking it will be Anna Karenina this time.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

The Second Summer of the Sisterhood

This is a great sequel to The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares. This book focuses more on the girls' characters developing than on the pants. The pants are still in there, but they aren't as important in this installment, which I think is good. It would have gotten a little old after the first few chapters.
All of the girls learn valuable lessons, and it helps make them into better people and more interesting, three-dimensional characters. You feel really bad for them throughout the novel, they all had pretty sad problems this time. By the end though, everyone's pretty much feeling better and happy again, except Lena. She had a really sad story this time, I felt so bad for her. But all of it turned out for the better, even if it was sad.
I recommend this book to anyone who read the first one and enjoyed it, and to people who love a good chick-lit or YA book.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

It's Decided

I thought and thought about my dilemma for the whole day, and finally, I just flipped a (virtual) coin. It looks like I'm putting Pride and Prejudice on hold for a while. Maybe a month or two. I think it's for the best right now, it's not really the type of book I want to read right now.
So, I'm not sure what I'm going to read now. I may start Anna Karenina, but I'm not certain.

Booking Through Thursday (March 11)




How do you feel about illustrations in your books? Graphs? Photos? Sketches?

I usually prefer to have no illustrations in my novels, it kind of makes me feel like a kid again. Though sometimes I don't mind them, like in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Maybe because it was a children's book, I didn't mind it? I'm not completely sure.
Though, if it's an art book, or a biography, or a book that's a behind-the-scenes type thing for a movie, I like to have pictures.


Completely off-topic: I could still use some help, if you wouldn't mind leaving your opinion here.

I need an opinion.

So, as you may know, I have been reading Pride and Prejudice. As you may also know, I've been reading it for about 4 weeks, and am only on page 147. Which is really bad. I read Great Expectations faster!
I have been considering for the past two days just putting the book on hold, and coming back to read it some other time. I'm not enjoying it a whole lot, I mean, I think I like the writing, I just am bored and tired with the storyline. Which really sucks, because I was so looking forward to reading it! But I believe that it is this book that has been putting me off reading. Seriously. I've had trouble just picking up a book, and it started shortly after I began reading Pride and Prejudice.
I'm also considering just sucking it up and finishing the book. I absolutely hate the idea of not finishing it, or any book! I will (and already do) feel defeated. But I can always come back to it later, right? And I am trying to read 100 books, or more, this year, so if I only read say, two books this month, that will really set me back!

So, I feel the need for some help. Do you guys think I should put the book on hold and come back to it later on, or should I just suck it up and finish it?

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

WWW Wednsdays (March 10)


  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

What are you currently reading?


My main book that I'm reading is Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. It's not bad, but I'm not enjoying it near as much as Great Expectations. It's just a little boring to me...





What did you recently finish reading?


I recently finished Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. I read this for my English
class, but I didn't like it much. It seemed just really silly to me.





What do you think you'll read next?

I will most likely be reading Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy next. I've been looking forward to finally reading it, and it's one of March's books for my book club, Classics Book Club.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Teaser Tuesdays (March 9)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
My teaser:

"Mr Darcy was eyeing him with unrestrained wonder, and when at last Mr Collins allowed him time to speak, replied with an air of distant civility. Mr Collins, however, was not discouraged from speaking again, and Mr Darcy's contempt seemed abundantly increasing with the length of his second speech, and at the end of it he only made him a slight bow, and moved another way."

- page 93 of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

About February...

February turned out to be a pretty bad reading month for me, especially towards the end. I only finished... what, 3 or 4 books? I'm hoping March will be better, but it hasn't been great so far. I'm hoping to finish at least 2 books this week, so I should have a new review up by the end of this week or early next week.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Musing Mondays

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about dust jackets.

Do you prefer books with a dust jacket? What do you do with your dust jacket while reading? Leave it on or take it off? (Question courtesy of Kim from Page after Page)


I find dust covers tend to be annoying, slipping up and down while I'm trying to read, but I kind of hate taking them off too. I love the way they look, so I try to keep them on while I'm reading, but if I find them to be annoying me too much, I take them off.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

What's on Your Desk Wednsday?

I found this on Alternative-Read.com, and thought it sounded like fun, so here we go!

What's on your desk Wednesday? is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Sassy Brit of Alternative-Read.com . Check my blog out each Wednesday for the post titled What's on your desk Wednesday?

You can do one of two things or both!
  1. Grab a camera and take a photo of your desk! Or anywhere you stack your books/TBR pile. And no tidying! Add this photo to your blog.Tag at least 5 people! Come back here and leave a link back to your photo in the Mr. Linky.
  2. List at least 5 BOOKISH things on your desk (I'm thinking your TBR pile or books you haven't shelved...) List at least 5 NON BOOK things. (I'm thinking some of some of the more unusual items on your desk/table?) Tag at least 5 people to do the same. Come back here and leave your link, so we can come and visit your blog. Or add your answers in the comments if you don't have a blog.
My book stack:

It's not huge, the top two are what I'm reading now, and the bottom one is the next book I'm reading. It would be a much bigger pile, but I keep all of my to-be-read books on my shelves.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Ten Random Books Meme

I decided to do this because it's been a while since my last post, and I haven't done much reading lately. Very unfortunately.


1.) Go to your bookshelves…
2.) Close your eyes. If you’re feeling really committed, blindfold yourself.
3.) Select ten books at random. Use more than one bookcase, if you have them, or piles by the bed, or… basically, wherever you keep books.
4.) Use these books to tell us about yourself – where and when you got them, who got them for you, what the book says about you, etc. etc…..
5.) Have fun! Be imaginative. Doesn’t matter if you’ve read them or not – be creative. It might not seem easy to start off with, and the links might be a little tenuous, but I think this is a fun way to do this sort of meme.
6.) Feel free to cheat a bit, if you need to…
I went back and forth between my two too small bookshelves... It made it a bit more challenging... Also, I don't remember the order in which I pulled them out... So I'll just work my way across the shelves. So, let's go!

1. The Second Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares - Well, I suppose this one is special because I bought it with the last of the money I made from my second job - the first one I didn't hate. I haven't actually read it yet, but I went out and bought it right after I finished the first book because I enjoyed it so much. It'll be one of the next books I read, I think.

2. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - I got this book while I was staying with my dad for a week, in order to look after him while he was recovering from surgery. He had wanted to get out of the house, so we went to the bookstore. He is the only member of my family that I can go to a bookstore with and stay for pretty well as long as I want. He likes to browse through books too, usually in all the sections I don't look in, but still, it's really fun. I also have yet to read this book...

3. The Princess Diaries: Volume I by Meg Cabot - I remember checking this book out of the school library when I was in... Grade 6, I believe. My friend Melissa had recommended it to me, so I tried it out. It is now one of my favorite YA Novels. I suppose because I can really relate to Mia on several things. And it is quite humourous.

4. Forever Princess (Princess Diaries: Volume X) by Meg Cabot: I got this book while I was with my dad and little brother for the weekend. I finally was able to but it and read it, I had been anxious to finally do so. I really enjoyed this volume too, it had more twists than the previous ones.

5. Privileged by Zoey Dean - Another book from weekends with dad. I picked it up because I enjoyed the TV series based off of it, and had been curious what the book was like. It was pretty good, much better than the show (though I liked the episode that had Pete Wentz in it... I love Fall Out Boy, don't hold that against me!).

6. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens - Ah! Definitely one that means something to me! I bought it while in Calgary with my mom, grandma, and two of my aunts. The bookstore had some of the classics on sale, but 2, get the 3rd free, and I really wanted to start reading the classics. I thought it was perfect! I wanted to start reading all of them, and a bunch of them are on sale! I pick this one in specific...well, to be honest, I saw an episode of South Park that spoofed it. I was like " hey, you know, that book could be interesting!" So luckily, the Random Reading challenge I'm in randomly picked it as my next book to read, and I was excited! My first classic! And I really enjoyed it, and wound up buying three other Dickens' books, with more to come.

7. Warriors: Bluestar's Prophecy by Erin Hunter - Bluestar was always one of my favorite characters in this series- until she went crazy, that is. I had wondered why that had happened, and wanted to know more about her. This book helped a lot. And I really identified with her, I found her to be very similar to me. I finished this book in one night, even though it was so big. It is definitely my favorite in the Warriors series.

8. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - I have been wanting to read this book for so long, and never got around to it. I was excited while I was still going to a public highschool because I found out that the kids in my grade that had English first semester were reading it, and I hoped I would get too as well in second semester. Then I went back to homeschooling after first semester ended. I was bummed. So I finally bought a copy, but haven't yet read it. I'm working my way there, though!

9. ttyl by Lauren Myracle - I bought this back when I was 12. I read the back, and thought it was a cool idea to write a book in IM format. When I first read it, there were a couple of things I didn't understand, but hey, I was 12. I have read it about 3 times since then, and I really enjoy it now. It all is understood now. And it's a great book, I read Myracle's "Rhymes with Witches", as well as the other two books in the series because of it.

10. Halo: The Flood by William C. Dietz - I bought this, and the first and third books in the series, last summer while I was addicted to Halo. I still love the game, I just don't play it as much anymore. But I liked the game so much, I wanted to read the books when I found them. I found the story very interesting, even though I don't usually enjoy war-type things. I suppose because it's a fantasy series with aliens and bio-enhanced people. I was told not to bother reading this book, the second in the series, because it's pointless and poorly written, as well as an exact copy of the Halo 2 campaign. But I thought, "Eh, I'll try it out anyways." I still haven't read it. I have to finish the first one, plus all the other books on my To-Read list...