BOOK BEGINNINGS FRIDAY #15 | Morning Star

It’s been a year, BBF. Almost. My last post for this meme was posted on 27 February 2015. Yep. I missed you.

Look, I even made you a nifty banner thingy!

Book Beginnings @ Rose City Reader. Share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.

I have a love/hate relationship with the Red Rising trilogy by Pierce Brown. The first one, I was meh about but was interested enough to anticipate the 2nd book. Golden Son, I liked. A LOT. It’s not “love” status but definitely loved it more than the first one. That made sure that I’ll definitely read the 3rd one.

I saw a copy at Target when it came out. I wanted to get it. I had it in my hand as I walked around. But I put it back. My previous copies were digital. If I end up loving this final book, I’ll thrift the series. Yes, I’m one of those readers who don’t mind ebooks but buy physical copies of books/series that they love or like a lot. I even collect Jane Eyre covers. So yeah, I put the book back and instead, got the digital copy.

Here’s the first paragraph of the prologue:

I rise into darkness, away from the garden they watered with the blood of my friends. The Golden man who filled my wife lies dead beside me on the cold metal deck, life snuffed out by his own son’s hand.

What I like the most with this trilogy is that it doesn’t shy away from the gore, death, and despair. It is considered a YA novel but unlike a lot of YA dystopian that I’ve come across, this doesn’t sugarcoat the reality of war and conflict. Sort of like in The Hunger Games. They don’t come at you and say it to your face but the fact is, they kill children. It doesn’t go into much detail but the idea is there. Here, both the idea and the image are on the page.

I said this in my Golden Son review, I kind of wanted to re-read the previous book before delving into this. All I clearly remember from it was that I liked it a lot. Yeah, a few plot points here and there but I do have the urge to re-read it. Maybe I will once I get physical copies of the book. Next project after the Harry Potter re-read maybe?

Anyway, I know I’ve said in previous posts that I’m reading other books. But I have to put them all on hold in favor of this one. Frankly, I can’t think of anything else until I read this book. Yes, the thirst is real. I feel that I’ll never make progress with the other books unless I get this out of the way. Well, I do have a long weekend. Bring it on!

Friday Finds #1 – Retail Therapy

I could’ve easily made this a stand alone post but with so many weekly memes floating around, I might as well make it one. It’s more fun that way. And I love it when posts follow a certain theme.

FRIDAY FINDS showcases the books you ‘found’ and added to your To Be Read (TBR) list… whether you found them online, or in a bookstore, or in the library — wherever! (they aren’t necessarily books you purchased).

Can you blame a girl if she wants some retail therapy? This Monday was pretty awful for me. We were supposed to go to Hollywood, taking my niece around LA. We were so close to our destination already when something came up and I had to swing by work. Sigh. Half the day, wasted. I won’t go and air dirty laundry here or anywhere else on the Internet but that’s the gist of it. I had to do something to release my stress and retail therapy was it.

But I just blew out my “disposable” monies on concert tickets. Heh. But that’s okay. Goodwill was nearby and I scratched off two books from my wishlist for under $5.

I’m still looking for a copy of The 120 Days of Sodom that agrees with my price range. I’ve read parts of it on my e-reader but I prefer reading BIG bricks in book form rather than digital. Juliette has more than 1500 pages. I wonder if and when I’ll go through this.

Under the Banner of Heaven had been on my wishlist for years. I have a couple of Jon Krakauer‘s work and I am a fan of them. I’ve read some about the topic of this book and it made me so interested, I just had to get this book.

Now, if only I can find the time to read them.

BOOK BEGINNINGS FRIDAY #14 | Insurgent

It’s still Friday here in a rather gloomy Southern California. Better late than never, ei?

I originally planned to put The Last American Vampire by Seth Grahame-Smith as today’s BBF but I ended up finishing it just a couple of minutes ago. If I don’t get too lazy, that’ll be my next review on this site. So I jumped right into the next book in my queue, Insurgent by Veronica Roth. Because, movie.

Book Beginnings @ Rose City Reader. Share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.

It’s been a while since I read Divergent. I remember loving the world-building and the POV presentation. I saw the movie twice in two countries. I wasn’t the biggest fan of it but I did like it enough to watch it twice. After that, I heard not so good things about the last book which deterred me from continuing the series right away. But with the movie coming out in a couple of weeks, I decided that there is no better time than now to read the second book. Let’s deal with the 3rd one later.

I wake with his name in my mouth.

Will.

Before I open my eyes, I watch him crumple to the pavement again. Dead.

My doing.

Is it so bad that I had to look up who Will (and Peter) was when I read this? –___–

To be fair, I’m always like that with series that I don’t read in one go. It’s been almost a year since I read the first one and it’s not like it’s a fandom that I emotionally invested myself in (Lord of the Rings, hello) or something that I grew up with (Harry Potter, hi).  I’m about 30 pages in and so far, I’m liking it. I figured this book starts about a few hours after the final scenes of Divergent. I like that it’s a fast-paced start and hopefully, it stays that way. It feels like it’s been a while since my last dystopian YA and I think I can handle it again.

BOOK BEGINNINGS FRIDAY #13 | Dark Triumph

How fitting is it that my 13th entry for this meme is dark, gothic-themed? I mean, assassin nuns!

Book Beginnings @ Rose City Reader. Share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.

I read the first book in this trilogy some time last year. I picked up the next two books at the author signing. So I have all 3 books signed and now I’m reading book 2. Yes, my signed copy. This series is written and researched so well, so believable, and man, how can you resist assassin nuns?! Do me a favor and include this trilogy to your TBR. His Fair Assassin trilogy, jsyk.

I did not arrive at the convent of Saint Mortain some green stripling. By the time I was sent there, my death could be numbered three, and I had had two lovers besides. Even so, there were some things they were able to teach me: Sister Serafina, the art of poison; Sister Thomine, how to wield a blade; and Sister Annette, where best to strike with it, laying out all the vulnerable points on a man’s body like an astronomer charting the stars.

It’s been some months since I read the previous book and I admit, I was a bit lost the first few pages of this one. It jumps right into it. As I understand, it is a trilogy but each book can sort of stand alone. I mean, it’s still better if you’ve read Ismae’s story because it introduces most of the backstory of the convent and what they teach, as well as meeting the heroines of the next two books.

I’m a fan of this series of books. Already, I’m enjoying Dark Triumph more than Grave Mercy. I do have the final book, Mortal Heart, waiting in the wings. I think this is that kind of series where you need the previous one to be fresh in your mind before reading the next one. We’ll see. It’s a new year and there are new books to add to the TBR!

BOOK BEGINNINGS FRIDAY #12 | To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before

Reminds you of that oldies song, right? I remember the Julio Iglesias and Willie Nelson version. How about you?

Anyway, I just finished The Madman’s Daughter by Megan Shepherd and I was looking at the contents of my Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook for my next read. I have some good selections but I needed to take a break from my usual genres. Hence, this choice

Book Beginnings @ Rose City Reader. Share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.

The book I chose is To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han. Can anyone tell me what I’m getting myself into? This is not my usual genre and frankly, I shy away from covers and titles like this. But the Goodreads blurb looks charming and who knows… Maybe all I need is a good novel to introduce me to another genre.

I like to save things. Not important things like whales or people or the environment. Silly things. Porcelain bells, the kind you get at souvenir shops. Cookie cutters you’ll never use, because who needs a cookie in the shape of a foot? Ribbons for my hair. Love letters. Of all the things I save, I guess you could say my love letters are my most prized possessions.

Y’know, I can relate. I’m somewhat of a hoarder as well. I save all the receipts of my DVDs. I keep the tags of my bags in the inner pocket of said bag. I collect museum pamphlets as souvenir. Hey, you’ll never know.

As for the book, I haven’t gone past the prologue, intro page. I’ll let you know what I think after I finish it.

BOOK BEGINNINGS FRIDAY #11 | The Madman’s Daughter

My last BBF post was on a first book in a trilogy. I’m sensing a pattern here…

Book Beginnings @ Rose City Reader. Share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.

Halloween is… today! Are you dressing up? I’m saving that for tomorrow when my brother and I head to Comikaze Expo 2014!  I’ll be a Gryffindor student.

I’m a huge fan of the horror genre. I’ve watched so many horror shows and movies in my years as a living being. I’ve fantasized about being one of the undead, specifically the blood-sucking non-sparkly kind. I would make it a point to watch horror movies around October-November. But with books? Not so much.

I’ve read horror books but in random. It just so happens that the current book that I’m reading somewhat falls into that hole: The Madman’s Daughter by Megan Shepherd.

The basement hallways in King’s College of Medical Research were dark, even in the daytime.

At night they were like a grave.

Rats crawled through corridors that dripped with cold perspiration. The chill in the sunken rooms kept the specimens from rotting and numbed my own flesh, too, through the worn layers of my dress. When I cleaned those rooms, late at night after the medical students had gone home to their warm beds, the sound of my hard-bristle brush echoed in the operating theater, down the twisting halls, into the storage spaces where they kept the things of nightmares. Other people’s nightmares, that is. Dead flesh and sharpened scalpels didn’t bother me. I was my father’s daughter, after all. My nightmares were made of darker things.

I latched on to this book so quickly. Usually, it takes me a while to warm up to a book but with this, I hit the ground running. Immediately, it’s very dark and intriguing. I’m loving it so far. 🙂

FIVE FRIDAY FAVORITES| Authors of 2014 so far

Every year, I set very modest reading goals for myself.  Twenty-five books instead of a hundred.  I’ve since passed that 25-book mark and I’m still going.  Almost all of the authors that I’ve read so far this year are “new to me”.  I may have encountered their titles in the past but it’s only now that I’ve actually picked up their work and read it.  I have a fairly small roster so picking 5 shouldn’t be too hard, right?

Five Friday Favourites is a weekly event hosted by me, Book Badger, where once a week, a five favourites subject will be posted by me and everyone is welcome to join in.

Favourite Authors of 2014 So Far

1. DIANA GABALDON.  I cannot get enough of the Outlander series.  And I can’t believe that it took me this long to finally give in and read it.  Actually, it took a TV show but ever since loving the hell out of the first book, I’ve plowed through the next ones.  I’m already on the 4th!  When you look at her bio, she is a woman of science but her writing is so beautiful, her settings are well-researched, and her characters are very rich and complex.  I was immediately sucked into her Scotland and absolutely fell completely in love with Jamie Fraser as well as Claire, Fergus, Young Ian, and Roger.  I figured if I survived the A Song of Ice and Fire series, I can do this one.  Turns out, this is a much easier read and it really tickles my romantic side with all of Jamie’s priceless quotes of love.

2. MAX BARRY.  You guys need to read Lexicon.  I’ve been trying to write a review on that for months but I keep postponing it.  Anything for an excuse to re-read it.  It’s one of the most complex yet engaging and intelligent thrillers that I’ve read ever.  It’s not for a newbie reader for sure.  But a hardcore bookworm will see the absolute beauty in that book and in Max Barry’s work.  I am looking into his other books and as soon as I finish with the Outlander novels, they’re next in line.

3. ERIN MORGENSTERN.  Her imagination is so awesome.  Her writing style is enchanting and it’s like she really brings you into the world that she’s built.  The Night Circus is one of those books that I picked because of the cover.  It ended up being one of my favorites.  And everyone I recommend it to get back to me with praises about the book.  So far, The Night Circus is her only book but I’m patiently waiting for her next one, her next world.

4. GILLIAN FLYNN.  I haven’t read Gone Girl yet.  But if it is anything like the writing style and build up in Dark Places, I’m in!  A lot of the mystery/thrillers that I’ve read are written by male authors; it’s refreshing to have a woman’s touch.

And that’s where my list ends.  I have a couple more names in my pool but no one else jumps up at me as a “favorite” apart from these authors.  I like their books but I don’t really remember them as the author of that particular work, you know what I mean?  (LOL, that sounds awful.)

I know for some that it seems that I like the book more than the author.  That does happen but for these authors, I will really actively seek out their other books.  I’ve since gotten multiple copies – and signed ones as well – for Diana Gabaldon’s books, and have met her in person.  All of them are on my radar; that if they come out with new material, I will definitely be interested.  Another author that should be on this list is James Rollins but I haven’t read anything of his so far this year.  However, in the case of John Green… I will religiously watch his Youtube vlogs and videos but I might not pick up his other books.  I wasn’t a fan of The Fault in Our Stars and the hype over that book spoiled everything for me.  While I do like John (and his brother, Hank) Green, the Youtuber, I’m not a fan of him as an author.

There are a lot of authors out there.  I understand that it’s a challenge to get your name out there.  I have so much respect for anyone who publishes their work, being proud of it, and ready to take anything that is thrown at them by the public.  Personally, I don’t think I can do that – both publish and take the heat from readers.  I’m lucky to have mostly positive reactions to my fan fiction but putting up original work is a whole different level.

BOOK BEGINNINGS FRIDAY #11 | The Strain

Note: I scheduled this to post on Friday, 08/22, night but for some reason it did not post.  I didn’t notice it until I logged into my WP account and checked my stats.  It’s a fail but hey, better late than never, right?

——

I haven’t done this meme in a while.  That’s because I’ve been reading looooong books lately.  Specifically, the Outlander series.  And I’m not reading as much as previous months so progress has been slow.  I’m currently on book 3, Voyager, but the book’s been breaking my heart so much I had to stop for a while.

And I recently started on a new TV show.  Actually, I’m doing a catch up on several shows.  One of them is Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan’s The Strain.  It’s a vampire show on FX but before you roll your eyes and change the channel, it’s not a True Blood replacement now that the HBO show is leaving us for good this Sunday.  It’s also not the cheesy Vampire Diaries type with alcohol-drinking high schoolers and feuding brothers and witches.  It’s a very grown up vampire story.  More on the horror side rather than the paranormal romance genre.

Book Beginnings @ Rose City Reader. Share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.

What do you know… it’s based on a book trilogy!  I then decided to give it a go.

“Once upon a time,” said Abraham Setrakian’s grandmother, “there was a giant,”

Young Abrahams’ eyes brightened, and immediately the cabbage borscht in the wooden bowl got tastier, or at least less garlicky. He was a pale boy, underweight and sickly. His grandmother, intent on fattening him, sat across from him while he ate his soup, entertaining him by spinning a yarn.

A bubbeh meiseh, a “grandmother story.” A fairy tale. A legend.

This book is definitely not your “grandmother story”.  And it’s neither fairy tale nor legend.  It’s a modern vampire story.

By the time of posting, I only have to watch the season one finale of the show.  I’m already halfway done with the book but even at the 1/4 mark, I’ve already decided that the book is leaps and bounds BETTER than the TV show.  It’s not that the show is bad, no.  The book is just better.  And it gives more insight to the situations and characters.  Understandably, they had to cram a lot in the 6 episodes so far but even those don’t have that much material.  I love the mythology in the book that was clearly lacking in the show.  And they switched up some things; I don’t know how that will work out.

But the nerd in me is amused that Samwisge Gamgee and Mr. Argus Filch are in the same show.  In fact, the character that David Bradley (Filch in Harry Potter) plays in the show was supposed to be given to John Hurt… he played Ollivander in Harry Potter.  😉

I don’t mean for this to be any kind of review, by the way.  But I am enjoying the book so far.  Hopefully, this will break the review drought that my blog is experiencing at the moment.

FIVE FRIDAY FAVORITES| Secondary Characters

I follow a beauty guru on Youtube with a weekly series called Friday Favorites and a Possible Poo (whoo!).  In fact, I just finished watching her video for this week.  I love her and she’s so much fun.  Shout out to Melissa!

And then I found a Friday Favorites for book blogs.  Normally, I do Book Beginnings on Friday but since I’ve not started a book in, I don’t know, two months now… I haven’t had anything to post as a book beginning.  I’ll come back to that eventually but for now, I have another list meme.  As you know, I love lists and I never tire of doing them.

I came across this one from Book Badger:

Five Friday Favourites is a weekly event hosted by me, Book Badger, where once a week, a five favourites subject will be posted by me and everyone is welcome to join in.

So who are your favourite secondary characters? Do you feel the same or do you have others from the same series that need the limelight?

Here I am, about to establish my own loophole.  Anyone who is not the lead/main character is a secondary character, right?  Or in a much broader term, a supporting character.  Leads share a scene or chapter with several different characters.  Even if in the whole scheme of things, Boy A is considered a minor role, maybe for a scene, he serves as a secondary to the lead.  Get what I’m saying?  Yes, this is a srs thing. XD  I’m just trying to distract you from my possible cheating.  Hahahaha!

credit to OliverandPercy @ Tumblr

1. Oliver Wood from the Harry Potter series 
Note that I read the first HP book waaaay before the movies were even made.  So while Sean Biggerstaff!Oliver Wood is the highlight of the first movie, he was just icing on the cake for my love of Oliver Wood.  He played second fiddle to Harry Potter in a couple of scenes, even being the actual leader in some chapters.  Azkaban is his book with the Quidditch Final and all that; sadly, all of that was cut in the 3rd movie.  Sean Biggerstaff’s beautiful face and Scottish accent were the exact same visage and voice that I conjured up in my head for the Oliver Wood character.  Bravo, casting department.

2. Haymitch Abernathy from The Hunger Games trilogy 
As I mentioned in a previous post, Haymitch is my favorite Victor.  Not Katniss, not Peeta.  Haymitch.  Sure, it was Katniss and Peeta who saved their asses in the first arena but without Haymitch convincing Seneca to play up the love story, it wouldn’t have been front and center.  The Careers will bring in most of the action but Haymitch had the idea to give the fickle Capitol citizens something to cry over, break their funny little hearts.  He’s a functioning alcoholic.  But even with the influence of liquor, he strategized beautifully.  And we can’t forget how badass he was in his own games, a Quarter Quell.

3. Murtagh Fraser from the Outlander series
Jamie Fraser’s godfather.  An extremely loyal Scottish clansman.  I mentioned before that I don’t like anyone hurting my not so wee Jamie.  Therefore, I love anyone who cares deeply for him.  Murtagh may seem rough and tough but he definitely has a soft spot for his godson and Claire, Jamie’s wife.

4. Rudy Steiner from The Book Thief 
The only thing worse than a boy who hates you: a boy who loves you.  If you haven’t read The Book Thief, look away now.  Rudy’s death is one of the hardest to take.  I loved him as soon as he was first mentioned and I was rooting for him to survive the war and get together with Liesel.  I loved Max too but Rudy was just so precious.

5. Sophie Neveu from The Da Vinci Code 
Ahaha, so random!  I just thought of the Robert Langdon books and decided to pick #5 from the lot.  Sophie is my favorite Langdon leading lady because she kept her cool throughout the whole thing.  She thinks fast on her feet and she doesn’t wait for anyone to form her own solutions.  I like strong female characters.

That went well, don’t you think?  🙂

Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green | Book Beginnings Friday #10

The Fault In Our Stars / John Green

I figured I can hit two birds with one stone.  After all, I read this book in one sitting.  (Well, a little over two hours if you don’t count the break I took when I hit the 50% mark.)

Book Beginnings @ Rose City Reader. Share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.

I finally made myself read it.  I thought I should start right away since the movie’s release date is coming up very soon.  But it took me about a feature film’s length to get through it.  People kept on telling me that it’s one of the best things they’ve read and they never cried harder over a story.  Oh-kay.  Break out the tissues!  So… did I?

Late in the winter of my seventeenth year, my mother decided I was depressed, presumably because I rarely left the house, spent quite a lot of time in bed, read the same book over and over, ate infrequently, and devoted quite a bit of my abundant free time to thinking about death.

If you take all those except the part about death, then I’m also depressed, according to Hazel Grace Lancaster’s mom.  Depression is a side effect of dying.  (… Almost everything is, really.)  The book is pretty quotable in a rather defeatist kind of way.  At least, that’s the vibe I got from it.  Like the speaker is sure that she’s going to die – the question is not if, but when.  That’s a different perspective for a book that deals with cancer.  Normally, it’s all about survival, or The Fight, or staying alive.  Most teens in YA literature seem pretty unaffected by the world; Hazel Grace seem to be just waiting to die.

It was well-written, sad, hopeful… but that’s about it. Unfortunately, I’m not as impressed by it as a lot of you guys are. I’m not saying it’s not good. It is good. It’s emotional, thought-provoking, and like I said, sad and hopeful. But did I need the Kleenex? No. I couldn’t even make my tears show up even if I tried hard. And I’ve cried over less stuff, like… fanfiction.  I kept waiting for the Kleenex moment but it never came.

This is my initial reaction to this book.  (Actually, I wrote something similar straight to GoodReads as I marked this book Read.  I’m editing this to include some other stuff that I poured over later.)  I’m seeing the movie will be something like The Spectacular Now, another Shailene Woodley film. A very laid-back, realistic, artsy film, more suited for smaller film festivals than a worldwide distribution.  I saw some movie stills and I have a feeling that I might shed some tears over the movie.  This book didn’t even strike a nerve.

Honestly, I think the more people telling me about TFIOS, the more ~desensitized~ I get? Idek. I’ve been told by a LOT of people about this book – both from hardcore readers and those just buying the hype – and that may have contributed to my indifference. Or I’ve experienced and attended my own share of deaths and funerals for very close family relations; I know that pain and how REALLY painful it can be that I don’t need a book to tell me that.

To be fair, it’s not the cancer talk that’s heavy.  It’s Hazel’s pre-eulogy about the love she shared with Gus that got me feeling anything.  Her talk about infinites and how many infinites she get to spend with Gus, man… that almost had me.  I’m a sucker for a tragic love story.  I’m known to cry over really good angst fanfiction.  (You see, if I can cry easily over fanfic, why can’t I with this when it made so many tears fall already?)

Again, if you liked it, hooray. It was just okay at most for me.  It was a quick read because it was well-written but I’m just too detached.  But since so many of you loved it, I’m struggling over the fact that I didn’t.  Maybe I just wasn’t getting it.  But no… I know how it is to lose someone you truly – TRULY – love and a book just cannot put that into words.  Sorry.

Rating: 3/5. If John Green’s other writing is like this, I’ll pass.