Thursday 23 February 2012

The Age of MiraclesThe Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is one of those unassuming books that sneaks up on you and without realising it you've got only 4 chapters left.

After reading the premise I wasn't sure what to expect. My first thought was 'disaster movie'. The big action, bigger explosions race against time to save the world type bonanza. What I got however, was something rather different. The focus of the story it not the disaster itself. It's about the people that are living through it, one family in particular.

What really struck me was that, once the 'invisible catastrophe' had stuck, people just carried on. People went to work, kids went to school. The world didn't descend into chaos. I am an avid reader of dystopian fiction where, after some sort of devastating event, the world collapses, democracy fails, people panic, viruses spread. Yet here, there's an almost calm. Yes there's panic with each new and disturbing effect of 'the slowing', but there is still a sense of normalcy. As if, if we stopped doing all the things we usually do, that's when the world falls apart. And this is what is so brilliant about this book, what the author has done so well. Regardless of your opinions of human beings as a species, and though there is nothing out there really to compare us to, you cannot deny we have an amazing ability to adapt and to develop and to survive. That's what the author captures so well in her book. That no matter how many minutes the days are growing by, no matter how 'the slowing' is dividing a population, killing crops etc, people keep going.

In Julia, we have woman retelling her story of what it was like in those first few months when the world was beginning to change. She is going through 'the age of miracles', that time in a kids life when they start changing, start noticing things and thinking differently. So not only is she in a tumultuous time in her young life, worrying about the weird things happening to her body, her friends, boys, she has do it all with the uncertainty of whether or not she, or the rest of humanity, is going to get a future. There are a lot of dramas that unfold. Occurrences that happen in normal every day life, yet throughout Julia keeps asking herself, 'would these things be happening if the world were not changing'. How different would her life be if there wasn't this huge, looming shadow hanging over them all? You find yourself being drawn into Julia's life, captivating in it's seeming mundanity, yet as always the threat of the unknown hovering like a bad smell. The mixture of the ordinary and the extraordinary makes for an intriguing and compelling mix. It lulls you to the extent that if it wasn't for the reminders of how the world was changing, you would forget that anything momentous and potentially disastrous was happening. And that's what was so good. The author didn't make the disaster the star of the show, rather it took on a more supporting role. Though that being said, at the same time during the narrative, we would be following Julia as she drifted through another day of school, an awkward girl shy and unsure, when we would get a sudden and shocking reminder of the state of the planet. Yet it never felt messy, two different styles at war with each other. The author pulled them together beautifully, the stark reality all the more powerful when settled amongst the living of every days lives.

This truly is a marvel of a novel. It's not brash or loud. It doesn't try to shock you in ways that are over the top and flashy. What it does is show you a normal family living through unimaginable circumstances, and that all the preparation in the world can't prepare you for everything.

What is really the most remarkable thing of all though is that not only did I read it, but I thoroughly enjoyed it as usually I avoid disaster stories like the plague, as in the majority of cases they scare me shitless, because these things could actually frickin' happen people!!!!

View all my reviews

Friday 17 February 2012

The Tale of the Never Ending Epic


So, as with all (or at least most) self professed book-nerds, I am undertaking the writing of a novel, that seems increasingly likely to be an epic of perhaps three parts.  This had not been my intention at the beginning, yet as I stumble over my 121,515th word and begin my 24th chapter, I would roughly gestimate that I am perhaps a mere 20% into the story.  The main bit, where all the adventury, actiony stuff has only really just started.  This is where I ask myself, what the bleedin' heck have I been waffling on about for the last 100,000 or so words?

I have been writing the thing for about seven years, though if you count how long I've spent actually writing in those years, it probably only equates to a couple of months or so.  I would read a fabulous book, get inspired, sit at my desk to pick up where I left many moons ago, only to find that I had no idea where I was in the story, what was going on, or what needed to happen.  I would then have to read the thing from the beginning.  But of course I wouldn't just read it would I? I would have to tweak it, and add bits and remove bits, so much so, that by the time I got to the point where I could get some fresh stuff down, I'd have got bored, or distracted, usually by someone else's book.  And once again my own poor novel would sit on my computer, gathering virtual dust until the next time I should feel inclined to have another crack at it, at which point I would have to start the process all over again.  It was not an overly productive way of going about it.

It's only in the last year or so that I have decided to get serious with it.  Whether that means serious enough that upon completion (if that day ever arrives) I would try to inflict my work on an innocent and unsuspecting public, I still don't know. I wouldbe lying if I said that I hadn't at least entertained the idea of being a published author, what book lover hasn't at some point, but I think I maintain some level of reality that I don't think it's very likely...but still a girl can dream!! The aim rather, is just to get it finished. To be able to say, 'I may not have accomplished much in my life, but I was able to write an entire novel'.  Ok, yeah, it would sound better if I were able to say 'I published a frickin' book people, now worship my awesomeness', but I would settle for something with a beginning, a middle and an end. I even went so far as to try and cut back on the amount of books I read. Ha, what a fool!! Like that was going to happen.

I guess I had better start getting to the point of this post.  Basically, what all the above means is (and I wonder how I've written over 1000,000 and not really started my story!!!) that if I can't cut back on my reading, then I am going to have to sacrifice something else. I have already all but abandoned my artsy fartsy stuff, limiting anything I draw, paint or sculpt to being related to my own books. I don;t really watch that much TV, and releases of video games that I actually want to play are few and far between. So the only thing I could think of, was my Youtube reviews. Now, I am not saying I am giving up on it completely, they're just to fun to do for me to go cold turkey, but I am going to have to change the kind of reviews I do, and obviously how many I upload. As yet I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to do it.  At the moment I'm thinking of doing a haul type video every month or so, then a round up video, quickly reviewing all the books I managed to read.  I would have done this before, but I don't particularly work well with deadlines and routines.  I find that things stop being fun and I lose interest. So, yeah, uploads are going to be pretty sporadic, so I apologise for that.

But that does mean I can get my book written FINALLY. And who knows, maybe I could upload some chapters, though only once they've been tweaked, and that's only when I've completed it so...it might be a while.

I'll still be lurking about on a regular basis on twitter and I will do my upmost to make sure I keep my reviews on Goodreads up to date, and try to keep the blog going.


Wednesday 15 February 2012

Wowzers


I have just stumbled upon two absolutely STUNNING songs, both inspired and taken from The Hunger Games books. Seriously, click, then just close your eyes and imagine....





A Bookcase Tour - After/Updated


So here it be, the final instalment of my bookshelf tour trilogy. This one is a look at my bookcase as it is now.




If you are interested in any of the books shown in the above video, then please feel free to ask me by leaving a comment here on the blog, or on youtube!! I will be delighted to answer, I can assure you!! >.<


Saturday 11 February 2012

A Bookcase Tour - During 


If you've read my previous post, you'll know all about my bookcase shenanigans. So without further ado, here's the next video, A Bookshelf Tour - During


A Bookcase Tour - Before

So I decided it was high time that a rearranged my bookcase, as it was looking a bit tired and I had lots of spangly new titles to add.

I also thought it would be jolly spiffing if I should record the whole endeavour...and I have.  There are to be three videos, the Before, where I go through the old books that have been on the bookscase for ages. The During, a silly video where I strip everything off, get in a fight with my tripod and re-jiggle all my books.  Lastly there's the After, and that one is a tour of the new, improved bookcase.

So here's the first one...


Wednesday 8 February 2012

I am really weird!!!
A Salute to the General Awesomeness of Books


So yes, this is the kind of crap I think about before I go to sleep, but I knew for a fact that if I didn't get this written down now, it would be lost forever to the deepest and darkest regions of my brain-void.

On to the theme/topic/thing then...

There are many ways in which books kick-everything-else's-ass.  In this blog post I am just describing (really badly) one of them.

I read The Fault In Our Stars by John Green (see previous posts for a review) a little while ago. It was my first John Green book.  I was not really aware of him before, and though I had a couple of his titles in my section at work, I had not picked one up. I'm not really sure what drew me to TFIOS, but I read it, loved it and spent ages trying to sum up my feelings of it (though I ultimately failed on an epic scale). There is something special about this book, and I think it affects everyone in their own, private way.  But, not only did I get to experience the novel itself, oh no...

This then led me to want find out more about the author. I looked him up and found that he not only writes, but also is one half of a very successful youtube channel. I started watching their videos.  Through them, I discovered Nerdfighters and Nerdfighteria, an epic network of people all over the globe celebrating nerdiness. They're also people who are passionate about the same things, and actively try to make the world a better place by defeating the suck that makes the world suck ginormous balls.  Not lame things, but stuff that actually, really matters. Without TFIOS I would never had known this phenomena existed.

Sometimes there are people in the wide, wide world that you see and hear about and you think 'man, I would really love to know them in real life because they exude an aura of major awesomeness and I want to bask in it'.  For me, I want to know John and Hank Green. Their life just seems so amazingly fun and cool and hip and groovy (wow, really channelling my inner stalker now) and they have achieved so much. Plus, they seem like really fun and cool  and hip and groovy people. You know what I mean right (please, or right now I just sound like a crazy person)?  I am really not making sense, mainly because I have no idea how to say what it is I am trying to say. Ok, the other day, I was going to use the word 'retard', and once upon a time, I would have.  But I stopped, and this is ridiculously true and lame sounding, but I stopped myself because I thought, 'I bet neither John nor Hank Green would say retard'. I did that because I didn't want people that I don't know, and will never know, thinking badly of me!!!!! I don't even know if  they would use the word retard or not, that doesn't matter...OMFG, WHAT AM I TRYING TO SAY?!!!!!! This is what happens when you decide to write a blog post at 12:20am. You make no sense brain!!! Basically the vlogbrother's have changed the way I think about certain things. It's like, I want to be a person that they would approve of...or something and if I met them, it would be devastating if they didn't like me (wow, I am really reaching new and unnerving levels of oddness).  I watch their videos, and wish I was like them too. That I could see the world as they do and comment on it in a way that was as entertaining and generally clever sounding, the way they manage to come across with what seems like very little effort. I am content though just to view, enjoy and learn (coz yeah, they teach you stuff too).  I guess what I'm saying is that they have inspired me in a lot of ways but if I hadn't read TFIOS, none of the craziness above would be possible.

So thank you John and Hank Green, for giving yourselves to the world.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And all this comes from just reading one book.  JUST. ONE. BOOK!!!!!! The best part? There are like a million more floating about out there, all of which may lead us to new things and may, for at least a little while, change the way we think.

That is one of the many ways in which books are awesome!!!! And I realise I have said awesome A LOT, but in my defence, it's 12:45am and my minds gone all gooey.


Monday 6 February 2012

Always Judge A Book By It's Cover

Hello, and welcome to the first edition of *see above for feature title*.  Yes I am actually posting something on my blog that hasn't been pilfered from Goodreads or Youtube. This is 100% original and is a celebration of my first follower, the dude that is Theta Sigma!!!

So, on to the thing that this feature is about...and stuff.  I have a cunning plan that every now and then I am going to highlight some of the best (in my opinion, which is usually correct >.<) and worst book covers floating about out there in the big bookish void.

Now, if we are all really, really, REALLY honest with ourselves, we will admit that no-one actually agrees with the expression 'never judge a book by it's cover', because quite frankly, it's stupid.  Here's why. If you walk into your local bookshop and are faced with two books.  One looks like it's been drawn by a blind two year old with no hands, and the other is a beautifully exquisite masterpiece that by rights, should be hanging in a snooty gallery somewhere as a work of ART...which one are you going to pick up?!!! If you chose the toddler fodder, then WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!!! I still don't get how publishers can shove some naff head shot of a person too ugly to be a proper model, on to a book and expect it to sell.  Glancing at my own bookcase *glances at bookcase* there is not one fugly cover present.  Therefore, I willing throw up my hands and say with pride, 'I like books with pretty covers!!!!' That doesn't make me a bad person...slightly superficial, but not bad.

Now I couldn't start and not begin with featuring the incredible and delectable 'Theatre Illuminata' series by Lisa Mantchev. I think I shall let the books speak for themselves...



Oooh yeah, that's the stuff!!! hmmmm, soooo pretty!!!!...Sorry, zoned out a bit there. When exposed to vast amounts of prettiness I go to my happy place, but I'm back now.

Now, if you fail to see the beauty in these incredible images then go away as there is no point in reading this blog if you cannot appreciate wonders such as these!!!! If however you see them for the sumptuously breathtaking marvels that they are, then you may stay >.< (I am of course joking, everyone is entitled to their opinions...even if they are wrong :-P )

The guy responsible for them is Jason Chan. And I hate him. Not in that 'I want to stamp on his foot, kick him the shin and throw books at him', kind of way.  More in the 'I want the superhero power of being able to suck the talent out of annoyingly talented people' kind of way. So yeah, it's basically a simple case of  jealously on an epic scale. I mean LOOK AT THEM!!! The amount of detail is insane and the levels of whimsy are through the roof.  I can't not look at the fairies and melt with pleasure. Then there's the lace-work on that dress? OMFG!!! And I would give my left arm for the ability to use light like he does. *wistful sigh* oh well, I shall just have to be content being able to upon them!! Go check his website (click his name above).

And the BESTEST part?  The books themselves are just as fantastic.  Here's a perfect example of when a book cover accurately represents the glories of the tale that lie within. Lisa Mantchev is a true master of her craft and can paint pictures with words just as well as Jason Chan can paint pictures with fake paints that live inside your computer.  Look out for a video review of The Theatre Illuminata series coming soon (hopefully!!!)

In conclusion, these are the covers to which I measure all others, so it seems only fitting that I give them 5 Bertie's out of 5!!!




 GO READ THEM NOW!!! >.< click the covers to go to Lisa Mantchev's website!!!