I am lame...

Wow, I can't believe it's been over 5 months since I last posted. I'm so lame. Not only has it been a long time, but I've only read ONE new book since then. Life got really crazy. 2009 didn't start very well for me, and that's an understatement. I just hope that the rest of the year is better. I'm not sure how much more I can take. Anyway, on to less depressing things...

I'm beginning to get more reading time in, so hopefully I can update more again. I went to an awesome writing seminar last weekend. The surprise party I planned for my mom's 50th birthday was great. My sister-in-law and niece are coming to visit in two weeks! And to top it all off - my birthday is in 6 days! Woohoo!

Sorry for the (long) interruption. Back to your regularly scheduled programming...

NaNoWriMo 2008!

I recently heard about NaNoWriMo, and I'm so excited! NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. The goal is to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. It begins on November 1st and ends on November 30th. The NaNoWriMo website has information about the challenge and it's where you can sign up! It sounds like fun and it's a good way to start writing that novel you've always wanted to write! I just wanted to write a quick post about it. I probably won't be updating for awhile because I'll be working on my novel and visiting with family a lot during November.

The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub

I can't believe how long it's taken me to update my blog. I feel awful!! I've been so busy lately, so I haven't had a lot of time to read.

I finally finished The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub. I had to renew it twice so that I wouldn't have to pay a fine. The book is about a 12-year-old boy named Jack who is trying to find a cure for his dying mother. He discovers that he can enter another "world": the Territories. He must find the talisman so he can save his mother and her "twinner," the Queen of the Territories.

My family really wanted me to read this book because they all loved it, so I got it from the library. I'm really glad I did, too. The Talisman is probably my favorite book by Stephen King (I haven't read anything else by Peter Straub, so I can't really say anything about him). I liked that the book wasn't as gruesome as some of the other books I've read by Stephen King. I'm not really into scary books, but this one really wasn't. I liked Jack, but I think my favorite character was Speedy. I'm trying to decide if I'm going to read the sequel, Black House. My father and brother say it's more disturbing than The Talisman so we'll see.

I'm going to be rereading Eragon and Eldest before I read Brsinger by Christopher Paolini, which is good because my mom isn't finished reading it yet! I'll try to update again soon. I just don't feel all that inspired to write.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

It took me forever to finally read this book! I got it from the library a couple of months ago, but never read it because I was rereading the Twilight series and then I read Breaking Dawn. By the time I was ready to read something new, this book was due back to the library. I begged them to renew it again for me so that I could finish it, and I finally have!

Here is a summary from Publisher's Weekly:

English nurse Claire Beauchamp Randall and husband Frank take a second honeymoon in the Scottish Highlands in 1945. When Claire walks through a cleft stone in an ancient henge, she's somehow transported to 1743. She encounters Frank's evil ancestor, British captain Jonathan "Black Jack" Randall, and is adopted by another clan. Claire nurses young soldier James Fraser, a gallant, merry redhead, and the two begin a romance, seeing each other through many perilous, swashbuckling adventures involving Black Jack.

I am having a hard time deciding how I feel about this book. It was difficult to read because I had a hard time getting in to it at first. Then, I decided I liked the book and wanted to continue reading, but by the time I was near the end, I just wanted the book to be over. It was very difficult to read the end of the book. If you've read this book, you know why. Some people have called me closed minded because there are just some things I don't want to read about or watch in a movie, but it's just the way I am. I wasn't emotionally ready for parts of this book as I was expecting it to be a cute historical fiction/romance/chick lit book. It was, up to a point. Overall, the book was good, but not my favorite. I haven't made up my mind about reading the rest of the series yet.

2.5 out of 5 stars for my own reasons.

More About Breaking Dawn

So I decided that I wanted to write exactly what I thought about Breaking Dawn without having to avoid spoilers. I'm going to do that here. Just follow the link...

Don't read the rest of this post unless you've read the book!!!

Click for review with spoilers
My opinions about this book have changed so much as I had time to think about it. I still really like the book, but there are some things that bothered me.

I LOVED the wedding and the beginning of the honeymoon! That was very cute and very Bella and Edward. When I realized that Bella was pregnant (getting sick after eating), I was like, "NO! How could Stephenie do that!!!" I'm still not so sure about it, but it's what Stephenie Meyer wanted, so it's how it should be, obviously!

I liked that the second book was in Jacob's perspective. It was very interesting to see things through his eyes, especially the imprinting! I really liked the chapter names; they definitely sounded very Jake-like! I was definitely weirded out about the imprinting on the baby thing, though. It was weird because she's Bella's baby. I mean, Jake kissed Bella and had some very naughty thoughts about her, and now he's in love with her CHILD?!?! WTF?! I'm still not totally happy with that part. I was hoping Jake would end up with Leah, but at least he's happy. The birth/death scene was pretty good. It was very emotional when Jake was pumping her heart and everything. I was pretty close to tears at that point.

By the way, what is up with the baby's name?! Renesmee?? You've got to be kidding me. What was Stephenie Meyer smoking when she came up with that one?! Her middle name, Carlie, would have been a better first name than Renesmee!

I really liked when Bella "woke up" as a vampire. I thought it was kind of cool how Stephenie Meyer described it. I was a little confused about why Edward wasn't being very fatherly. He didn't say anything about Renesmee when Bella "woke up" and I don't really remember him holding her that much at all! It was very weird. I thought you were supposed to love your kids more than anyone else, including your spouse!

I thought Charlie accepted everything way too well.

Jake: "I'm a werewolf and your daughter is something else, but we're not going to tell you what."

Charlie: "Ummm...OK"

??????

What kind of parent would just say "OK"??? Whatever.

I'm glad that the book had a happy ending, but the Volturi scene was so anticlimactic! It was just like, "We're going to kill you! ... Oh, um never mind. Bye!" I did really, really like Bella's power and the very end where she lets Edward into her mind. That was very cute!

So, overall, I enjoyed the book, but I think Stephenie kind of lost sight of her characters and made their personalities all weird and not like them at all! Edward was so boring and kind of shoved into the background. I liked it better when he was all protective of Bella. And what was up with him calling Jasper "Jazz"??? No one had ever called him that before! When did that start? I'm done. I just wanted to write what I really thought about the book with as many spoilers as I wanted. Sorry it kind of turned into a rant!

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

Don't read this review if you haven't read the other books in this series, as it may contain spoilers!

I finally finished the book! I got it the minute it came out at Walmart, but I haven't had much time to read it. I'm glad I finished it! It was great! I think it was a good end to the saga. I'm a little sad that the series is finished, but I'm not feeling as depressed as I thought I would.

I wasn't sure I was going to like Breaking Dawn at first. I was a little unsure of where the story was going, but I started to like it more and more! I want to reread it already, but I have a lot of library books to read. I've renewed them as many times as I can already. Well, I hope Stephenie Meyer changes her mind and decides to continue to write books in this series. I have to say that it pushed the Harry Potter series out of the top spot on my favorite series list. I guess I'll just have to make do with the movie and the guide that are being released in December!

5 out of 5 stars, of course!!

Post-Reading Deprsession

I'm getting closer to the end of Breaking Dawn and I can feel that my post-reading depression (I swear it exists!) is going to be worse than usual. I'm kind of procrastinating so that I can hold it off a little longer. This happens to me a lot when I finish a really good series, or even just a really good book. It happened with the Harry Potter series, Uglies series, His Dark Materials, and Pope Joan, Eclipse, and The Host. I can't believe I'm almost finished with the Twilight series! It's not fair! I'll post about the book when I finish, and after I come out of the "depression" a little bit.

Note: I realize that post-reading depression is not really depression as it only lasts a few days or so, but it's the best way I can describe the feeling. It's pretty awful and emotionally draining.

The Waste Lands by Stephen King

This is the third book in the Dark Tower series. If you haven't read the first two books, don't read this review as it contains spoilers.

The Waste Lands is the third book in Stephen King's Dark Tower series. It continues the story of Roland and his quest for the mysterious Dark Tower. As Roland, Eddie and Susannah continue their journey, Roland is fighting madness. When he stopped Jack Mort from pushing Jake in front of the car, he changed the past. If Jake didn't die, he must not have met Roland at the way station. But, if Roland didn't meet Jake at the way station, why did he remember it happening? Jake is feeling the exact same way in his own reality. He eventually finds a way to Roland's world and joins the quest for the Dark Tower. The foursome must follow the path to the Dark Tower and they have two children's books from Jake's "when" to help them.

That was a terrible synopsis, but I've found that it's very difficult to summarize the books in the Dark Tower series. Once I start my summary, I feel like I want to describe every detail. I'm trying to stay away from too many spoilers, though. Anyway, I really enjoyed this book even though it took me over a month to read it. It really had nothing to do with the book, though, it was because of a pretty crazy month. I liked The Waste Lands more than The Gunslinger and I definitely want to read the next book.

4 out of 5 stars

I'm going to reread Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse before Breaking Dawn comes out on August 2nd, so it may be a little while before I post again. I guess I could post about the books again with my opinion about them after a second read. Maybe I'll do that...

Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson

Here is a synopsis from Amazon.com:

"Ever hear of Zeus? Michelangelo? Attila the Hun? According to 14-year-old Molly Aster they all derived their powers from starstuff that occasionally falls to Earth from the heavens. On Earth, it is the Starcatchers' job to rush to the scene and collect the starstuff before it falls into the hands of the Others who use its myriad powers for evil.

On board the ship Never Land, an orange-haired boy named Peter, the leader of a group of orphaned boys being sent off to work as servants in King Zarboff the Third's court, is puzzled by his shipmate Molly's fantastical story of starstuff, but it inextricably binds him to her. Peter vows to help his new, very pretty friend Molly (a Starcatcher's apprentice) keep a mysterious trunk full of the stuff out of the clutches of the pirate Black Stache, a host of other interested parties, and ultimately King Zarboff the Third."

This book is very cute! I love how it's a prequel to the Disney movie. It was obvioulsy written for a younger audience, but it made it very easy to read. Life has been pretty crazy lately, so I needed to read something that would be quick and easy. I love how the story explains how the orphan, Peter, went from being a "normal" boy, to the flying and forever young Peter Pan. I can't wait to read the other books in this series. I hope they're as good as this first one.

4 out of 5 stars

Once Upon a Time in the North by Philip Pullman

Once Upon a Time in the North is about the aeronaut, Lee Scoresby, when he is about 24 years old. He has just won his balloon in a poker game and is flying from city to city looking for work and adventure. He lands in Novy Odense and meets some very interesting characters there, including talking bears! He decides to help a ship captain with a customs dispute and mayhem ensues.

This book is very cute. I read it in about an hour and a half as it's only 95 pages long. It's not part of the His Dark Materials trilogy, but it has some of the same characters. It takes place 35 years or so before The Golden Compass. I really enjoyed reading about Lee Scoresby when he was young. He's my favorite character from The Golden Compass, so I definitely found this book interesting. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who liked His Dark Materials. I haven't read Lyra's Oxford yet, but I'd like to. It's similar to this book in that they are both about some of the same characters from the trilogy but are not actually part of the trilogy themselves. Anyway, Once Upon a Time in the North was a very quick, easy read, and very enjoyable.

5 out of 5 stars

Two for the Dough by Janet Evanovich

This is a sequel. Don't read this review unless you have read the first book, One for the Money, as this contains spoilers.

Two for the Dough is the second book in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. It continues the story of Stephanie's life as a bounty hunter. This time she's looking for Kenny Mancuso, a guy who shot his friend in the knee. Joe Morelli is back on the force and is getting in Stephanie's way. They're both looking for Kenny while also trying to solve a mystery involving missing caskets.

This book was so fun to read! I really like this series. I just wish everyone else didn't love it so much, too, because it's very hard to get from the library. I sat on the waiting list for over a month before I got the book! Well, it was worth the wait. Two for the Dough was fast-paced, funny, and easy to read. I love that Stephanie has to try very hard to be a bounty hunter (and not a very good one at that!). I'm tired of the books about people who "fight crime" with the ease of a superhero. It makes Stephanie seem more real and makes the story more believable. These books remind me of Meg Cabot's Size 12 is Not Fat books. I see many similarities between Stephanie Plum and Heather Wells. I can't wait to read Three to Get Deadly! I guess I should put it on hold at the library now...

5 out of 5 stars

So, on a personal note...

My husband and I bought a house just over a month ago, and we have been completely redecorating it. I don't want to ever touch a paintbrush again in my life, but we're still not finished. We've been spending a lot of time at the house, so I haven't had as much time to read. I will try to keep updating, but we'll be moving in soon, so that will take time also. We're moving to a different county so I will be using a different library. I hope it's as good as the one I'm currently using!

The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King

Warning! This is a sequel to The Gunslinger. If you haven't read the first book yet, don't read this review as it contains spoilers.

The Drawing of the Three is the second book in The Dark Tower series by Stephen King. It continues the story of Roland's search for the Dark Tower. Roland must "draw" three people to help him on his quest. All three are from different times in New York City. Roland enters their minds and draws them into his world. The first is Eddie, a young drug addict; the second is Odetta, a schizophrenic; and the third is Jack, a serial killer. In some way or another, all three of these people are important to Roland's quest for the Dark Tower.

This book was definitely better than the first. It was easier to read and introduced more characters. They are really what makes the book interesting. We still don't know very much about why Roland is looking for the Dark Tower or what the tower is, but I assume eventually that will be revealed. The book was definitely pretty graphic in the violence department (it wouldn't be Stephen King without the violence, though). Overall, this book was way better than the first, and made me want to read the third book, The Wastelands.

4 out 5 stars