Cress by Marissa Meyer

Well, that was fun! It was so easy to read! What is so great about this series is that each book becomes my new favourite!! Cress was so well done, and imaginative.


Loved Cress' character, she's a dreamer, an Italian opera singer and a dang good hacker... Maybe a bit gullible, but she really wants to believe in the best of people. Her honesty, and vulnerability is quite refreshing. She is a very crucial hero to the success of the good guys.

Captain Thorne is wonderful. He's charming in the worst of circumstances. He has many character flaws, but ends up being a good guy despite himself.







At the end of this I took a deep breath and smiled...

Not gonna lie, I'm kinda jealous of the cover art for the French version!!

I'm very excited to get my hands on a copy of the Fairest, which has the back-story on Queen Levana!!

Check out this link for some great deals!! Chapters Fairest Deals

Kimi ni todoke (From Me to You) 1 by Karuho Shiina

This was a very cute beginning to a lovely story.

I found it most interesting to read from a cultural perspective. I felt I learnt a lot about Japanese high school life, and superstitions.

Manga novels, traditionally written in Japanese, are read right to left, and it took a minute for me to adjust. The English translation is a bit humorous, as well, and now that I've read a fair bit of manga I realize this is a common eccentricity. Its as though I can see the translator in his room holding an English Thesaurus in his hand and he is wondering which word will best describe the equivalent Japanese word. After much googling he finally chooses a word he feels is perfect, when actually its seemingly centuries old to the average North American.

However, the odd peculiarities of the English spoken only add to the unique experience of Kimi ni todoke.



Sawako Kuronuma is a very pretty young girl who tries to do a good deed everyday, but unfortunately she is the spitting image of a character from a horror movie, Sadako, and is treated like a ghost.

Her shy, and subservient demeanor doesn't seem to help her much as most misunderstand it for anger or coldness. A rumor is spread that no one can look in her eyes for longer the 3 seconds without being cursed. Even the teachers become superstitious.





All except Kazehaya-Kun, who always acknowledges her with a friendly "hello." Even remembering her real name, and not the mean nickname that everyone has given her.

Kazehaya sees how kind and good she is, and he wants to get closer to her. However, there is a problem, he too can't seem to look in her eyes for longer the 2 seconds.

Kuronuma believes his interest in her is just kind benevolence, no more.

It is a sweet story highlighting the virtues of kindness and modesty that heroines so often lack.

I can't wait to read book 2 to see how this love story develops...

Click here to see a copy of Kimi ni todoke vol 1 by Karuho Shiina

Olympos by Aki

Manga is such a large section of the book store that I work at, I felt unread to have never sampled some. After briefly flipping through several books I came back to Olympos by Aki - which was my first choice, due to the beautifully illustrated cover, and final choice due to the color and the lovely artwork within.

Let me restate that the illustrations are absolutely gorgeous. I was constantly marveling at the beauty of the characters. Also, the story told was most intriguing, poignant, and sad.

As the title implies, this is a story about the gods of Greek mythology. Apollo is depicted as a beautiful female (though she is referred to as a he, because I believe all individuals of authority are referred to as hes in Japanese) who is terribly bored and mischievous. Not unlike Poseidon, and Hades. Immortality seems to be a bit too unending for them all.

In a beautiful garden, Zeus created in an unknown space, Apollo drops a beautiful young princess (called a prince in the story due, again, to Japanese translation of authority figures) Ganymede who is granted immortality. She becomes quite a piece of entertainment to the gods as they enjoy watching her endure eternity with them.

Ganymede discovers the true nature of the gods is in stark contrast to the way they are portrayed in human fables. Mocking her at one point, Apollo asks what it is mortals thought she did.

What surprises me is the strong philosophical/symbolic undertones. Aki seems to want to show readers the allusiveness of the idolized, truth, good and bad, and immortality.

For instance, in a discussion Apollo and Hades have with Ganymede, she explains that the existence of darkness (Hades) is necessary for the light (Zeus). Hades "is the god of the shadows that are created by the light."

Will the gods end everything for amusement? ...

Click here to see a copy of Olympos by Aki.

The irony of Commitment

Do you ever feel like the universe is trying to send you messages?

I was reading a post by The Mind of Kevin - Freedom and Cages that reminded me of a profound moment in my life.

I was starting to realize my life was headed in a very routine direction... it scared me! A wave of panic was coming over me every time I looked at my planner or thought about my life. I didn't know if I was making the right decisions for me. - And decisions that seemed overly organized just didn't feel like me.

During this time of a pre-pre-midlife-crisis, I did something routine. I went to Starbucks in the morning and got my Cinnamon Dolce Latte. - There is comfort in some routines.

My cup seemingly screamed at me as I read the quote:

"The irony of commitment is that it’s deeply liberating — in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around as rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life." - Anne Morriss

Commitment is deeply liberating! - Could this be true? Was the universe trying to tell me something? The more I thought about it, the truer it seemed.

The truth is routine, and structure isn't actually all that scary. In fact, there is nothing more stressful and tiring than a crazy schedule that has no order. - Trust me, I know.

I took on 3 part-time jobs just to prove this theory. I thought a structure-less life would be fun, and exciting. A new adventure everyday. I never knew what I would be doing one week to the next.

The irony of my crazy experiment was that it was most un-liberating. I was too tired and scrambled to fit in time for my friends, hobbies, and even trying to keep a healthy diet was difficult. Without a plan I didn't really get to accomplish as much as I could have.

As Kevin Ferguson brings out in his blog there is a comfort in what we are familiar with. Like my Starbucks Lattes. As appealing as it may seem, living in the eye of a hurricane is not that great, long-term, at least. A lot of stress can be added to one's life by living chaotically.

So now I have presented myself with a new challenge. I challenge myself to being super organized. - However, now I'm making plans and creating routines around things that add joy to my life.

I have a job, people in my life, and hobbies that I love. They are worth planning for. Its a good life.

We shall see how liberating it is...

Scarlet - by Marissa Meyer

I just finished reading Scarlet (book 2 in the Lunar Chronicles) moments ago, and I instantly felt the need to go onto Goodreads and give it five stars. It was a surprisingly action-packed page-turner, and I read it all in one big wolf-licking gulp (forgive the pun). I have to admire a book that compels me to do that. I rarely give books my figurative five stars of approval unless they have some deeply intellectual underlying thoughts, or quotable life-altering messages, which this book doesn't.

However, it transported me into another world. - I was no longer just in my room reading a book, I was in France jumping-off a speeding train with some huge muscular Wolf-man, or on a huge spaceship navigating my way around radars, hiding like a fugitive. I was in this book, wrapped around its characters. - Eager to see them succeed and be true to themselves throughout their moral dilemmas.

The intricacies, all the character's seamlessly melding together, still blows me away. Its a very detailed story, with fairy-tales intersecting at all angles.

Scarlet is a feisty young lady with fiery red hair (couldn't help love her just for that) who lives in the south of France. She is extremely upset about her Grand-mere's disappearance, and convinced its fowl play. Most of the towns people think she's a little off-her-rocker. - Which reminded me a great deal of Beauty and the Beast. Interesting, too, they both have large "beasts" in them. - Scarlet can be extremely irrational, at times, its enough to make one want to ring-her-neck, and she goes on about her Grand-mere inexhaustibly. By the same token, she endears readers to her by this irrational passion. Especially, our dear Mr Wolf.

Enters Wolf. A strong dark street-fighter with an insatiable hunger, and an ominous tattoo. Before reading Scarlet, do read The Queen's Army, it will heighten your appreciation for Wolf, a deeply troubled and daunting character whom you shall come to love. I feel Meyer really did her homework on Wolves in this retelling of Red Riding Hood.

Most mesmerizing is how the above story is simultaneously told with Cinder's story. Where we get all the juicy details on how Cinder escapes from Royal Guard and continues to grow in her powers of Lunar glamour. Quickly the question of the love between Cinder and Kai enters, and one hopes its real and still alive. Kai, who is, in my opinion, a character most to be pitied, just days into his Emperor-ship he has to choose between true-love and saving his Empire and the world. - Both of which seem to lead to his eminent death. Poor Kai gets no sleep at all.

A character I've never addressed in my review of Cinder is Iko, and its a shame because she adds such life and humor to the stories. Iko is a lovable android with a defective personality chip (which basically means she's fun, dramatic, gets scared, and has crushes like a teenage girl) who Cinder had to rebuild, and save on several occasions. Cinder loves Iko like she's family, and, come to think of it, Emperor Kai feels the same way about one of his droids. The story just wouldn't be the same without Iko.

To digest further subtleties of this story, be sure to read My Friends are Fiction's Interview with Marissa Meyer. The following is an excerpt from this interview where Meyer explains setting choice for Scarlet:

"When trying to choose a setting for Scarlet, I wanted a place that had a history of werewolves and werewolf stories-although the people in my futuristic world aren't superstitious about such monsters, I liked the idea of a very old fear being replaced by a new, very real fear. So when I saw a documentary about a series of killings that happened in 18th-century France, and at the time were believed to be the act of a real werewolf, I felt that worked perfectly for a way to tie the mythology together with my own werewolf-like characters."

I couldn't suppress the constant thought that, done right, this series would make a fantastic movie. Especially with all the high-intensity action scenes in Scarlet. Which isn't as far fetched as it seems after a recent conversation I had with Marissa Meyer on twitter. - it appears movie rights are being discussed. I found myself creating a dream cast for the roles, like:

To quote Marissa Meyer "Lunars are kind of their own ethnicity. Her ancestry is very mixed, and she has tan skin, brown hair, and brown eyes."

- Kristin Kreuk (would be my 1st choice for Cinder, b/c she is Dutch/Chinese but its hard to place her. Also, she can easily be dolled-up and made to look like she's glamouring everyone.)

Jennifer Lawrence as Cinder - might be fun, she has a real intelligent seriousness about her. - 

- Tim Kang as Prince Kai

Or Daniel Henney as Prince Kai -

I know both my Prince Kai picks are Korean, however they could maybe pull-off a Northern Chinese look? No?

- Emma Stone as Scarlet (probably my 1st choice).

Or Brittany Snow as Scarlet.  - 

- Or Rachel McAdams as Scarlet, would be good too, very passionate.

Joe Manganiello is the only actor coming to mind for Wolf -

(To be honest, he was the guy I really imagined Wolf to be while I was reading. - I know, I've got one sexy imagination.)

Can't think of anyone for Captin Thorn at the moment... any suggestions?

You can buy a copy of Scarlet online at: Chapter's Specials

For my review of Cinder (book 1 in the Lunar Chronicles) click on the following link: My Review on Cinder by Marissa Meyer

The Sunshine Award

I was delighted to wake up Yesterday to the notification that I had received this Award from a fellow blogger whom I most sincerely admire, and enjoy creatively. A. K. Anderson - Her blog is always lots of fun, and never the same. She'll get you thinking and make you laugh, often at the same time.

So what is the Sunshine Award?

The Sunshine Award is an award given by bloggers to other bloggers. The recipients of the Sunshine Award are “bloggers who positively and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere.” The way the award works is this: thank the person who gave you the award, and link back to them. Then answer questions about yourself. Finally, select up to 10 of your favorite bloggers, link their blogs to your post, and let them know they have been awarded the Sunshine Award!

What inspired you to start blogging?

I work at a bookstore so I wanted to find a way to get in touch with the book community. I also wanted to organized my own thoughts - to have a point of reference - when it came to books I had read. On a minor note I wanted to meet individuals who could inspire me, and in a way help me fine-tune my own writing.

How did you come up with the name of your blog?

Well... haha. I thought it should express me and my intentions. My name and books. :P

What is your favorite blog that you like to read?

I like ones that are pretty, and colorful. I like ones with giveaway prizes. Ones that have deep insights into an Authors thinking, or perhaps even an actual interview with said Author.  I like ones that have a combo of things to look at like, perhaps the Blogger's vlog, or poetry - I love poetry. More importantly I like ones that share a unique intelligent perspective.

Tell about your dream job.

Honestly, I love what I do. I love waking up in the morning to come into my bookstore and share my passion for literature. Perhaps writing a work of fiction on the side and having that published would be the cherry.

Is your glass half full or half empty?

Oh, its full, baby! :)  I believe positive thinking is 80% of the reason why I never get sick. <cue music>

I believe, I believe, I believe, I believe, I believe... Even when I'm trying to be pessimistic it comes out more like subdued optimism, and I still believe the best will actually happen and surprise me. 

If you could go anywhere for a week’s vacation, where would you go?

Indonesia, Bali. 

What food can you absolutely not eat?

Anything that's still alive or is seemingly looking at me. Or is very slimy.

Dark chocolate or milk chocolate?

Milk.

How much time do you spend blogging?

An hour or two a week.

Do you watch TV – if so, what are some of your favorite shows?

Not much at all, actually... but occasionally I'll sit down and enjoy Oprah, Ellen, or List it or Love it, or some cooking shows... or I did really like MadLove - sad it ended after one season. 

Now, I get to nominated some of my favorite bloggers, and I look forward to their answers to these sunny questions.

History's odds and sods - This lady is fascinatingly well read, and such a pleasure to know. She's is most definitely an inspiration to me. 

Faith Sullivan Writes - Faith is a very talented writer of NA fiction titles Heartbeat and Unexpected. She's fun, down to earth, and very enthusiastic. And a very good twitter friend @_FaithSullivan_ 

Bloggin'bout books - Susan's blog is fabulous, and well-developed. She is a loving mother of four, and incredibly well read. I agree with her reviews 100%! She inspired me to be a more lively blogger. And I hope she writes a book one day. 

In Between  - Jude is a 19 year old university student who is passionate about writing and reading. She's  only been blogging for 2 years and has 1690 followers!! Her blog is lots of fun and has a contest celebrating the anniversary of her 2nd year. 

My Friends are Fiction - Kristen has an amazing blog! She fell in love with Teen Fiction while pregnant, and has some fascinating reviews on the books she really enjoys. Her knowledge and artful thinking becomes very clear in the questions she asks in her blogs. Before reading a book, read her review of it, it will enhance the experience.

Mindful Mundanes - She is an intense blogger and the one who first inspired me with the idea to start blogging. She reads tons of YA fiction, and writes very specific, articulate, and passionate reviews.

Journey of a Soul - CJ Sullivan is a "speculative fiction author" of the Epic Angel Trilogy and has a beautiful blog/vlog combo. She is creative and honest in her blogs, and most enjoyable.

Dyadic Echoes - Andrew is a multi-faceted, and very talented blogger. And a loving father. He does much to support the writing community! 

Ok, there you have it consider yourselves most worthy award winners!! Can't wait to read your answers!

Books in my Soul

One of my favorite Bloggers wrote an article about how the movies, music, paintings, and, of course most especially, books that we grew up with become apart of us. I love this theory, and completely believe it.

Do read her beautifully written blog on this subject: Books in my Soul and the further inspired What art is in your soul?

To follow her on twitter @A_K_Anderson

Also C.J. Sullivan has a lovely vlog posted on her blog of her favorite childhood book. Favorite Childhood Book

And now I attempt to peer into my own soul... What has molded me? What were the books of my childhood that have now became apart of my soul? ...

- Island of the Blue Dolphins - It was b/c of her that I had all sorts of wilderness adventures as a child. I even decorated my room with fur pelts (i.e. my mom's minks - she loved that), rocks, and hanging sticks. Not to mention the yarn spider maze trap I turned my entire room into for a time.

Island of the Blue Dolphins - Chapters Specials

- Miss Rumphius - Its actually based on a the real life of a lady that lived in Maine. Miss Rumphius is a librarian who decides to travel the world. And then fulfill a quest her grandfather gave to her to do something to make the world more beautiful. It  was a quest that always inspired me as a child. And strangely enough my life is truly following a similar path. This is a book I feel compelled to pick-up/buy every time I pass by it.

Miss Rumphius - Chapters Specials

- Little Women - I was Jo. Tom-boy. Writer. Philosopher. Not content with settling down. Little Women - Chapters Specials

- Pride and Prejudice - I was a little bit of all of the girls, but I greatly related to the sarcasm and independent thinking of Elizabeth.

Pride and Prejudice - Chapters Specials

- Anne of Green Gables - Stubborn redhead with a ridiculous imagination that always got her in and out of trouble. - Yup that's me.

Anne of Green Gables - Chapters Specials

- Cinderella/Sleeping Beauty/Beauty & the Beast - grew up singing my way through everything. Also believed Prince Charming might actually exist in all his perfection. - not such a healthy belief, that one.

The Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales - Chapters Specials

- Archie Comics - I've read more Archie comic books then I've read of all other books combined. I just adore Betty. She is Superwomen! She can fix cars. Play any sport like a pro. Bake cake to perfection. She's a straight 'A' student. She is totally sexy, and doesn't really know it. If there was only one character of all literature (yes, I said literature) I could choose to make an impression on my soul, it would be Betty.

She deserves to get Archie, but he doesn't deserve her. Still, I hope she gets him, just because she loves him so completely.

She gets 4 pics in this blog, because she's that awesome.

Archie Comics - Chapters Special

Do the characters of these various books belong in the same room? Let alone altogether affecting one soul? - curious indeed.  Still, I would hope, had they all known each other, they might have been great friends.

What about you? What books have become apart of your soul?