Finally.

This is it. However, even though the required blogging has come to a close, I'm not so sure I'll stop. (: Follow me if you decide the same.


Where and when did you find yourself sitting down to read? Do you tend to read with music on, or in silence? By the computer? Did you find yourself checking your phone a lot, or do you ever lose yourself in the reading? Do you ever talk about the books you read with your family or friends or teachers?

My reading mostly occurred directly after school, in bed before I turned off my light to go to sleep, while watching TV with my mom (except during a few select shows), and whenever I found a quiet moment over the weekend in which I couldn’t bring myself to write. I sometimes took my book in by the computer with me while scouring Facebook (I have dial-up internet…it entertained me while the pages loaded) and working on my stories, though it was very rarely that I started reading while I was trying to write, only when I needed a kick of inspiration.

I can only really write while listening to music, not so much read. Music, for me, relieves stress and causes ideas to happen, so it’s ideal for writing. However, while I’m reading or doing homework, it thoroughly distracts me (mostly because I have almost a chronic case of singing along to things). As for the phone, I never check my phone, haha. I can’t text; my cell phone exists solely for calling my parents when I’m out.

There have been books I’ve sat down to read that I kind of have to force myself through, but for the most part it’s very easy for me to get lost in a book after the first twenty-five pages, even less if it’s an amazing book by my standards (The Forest of Hands and Teeth was that way). In other instances, it may take longer (like Thirteen Reasons Why) for me to become enthralled with what I’m reading, but it still happens eventually. This is the main reason why I don’t like to give up on a book.

I talk about books to a couple of my friends, sometimes my mom. However, for the most part, I seem to be more interested in books and writing than my friends and I read very different things than my mom, so… No, not really. I wish I could talk about reading and writing more though, considering how much I love both.

It's been a great experience. This is Marceline, AlyGator, Purple Leader,...and Aly. (: All signing off.

For now. ;)

On Writing...

So, hopefully if you've read more than one post on my blog before, you know I write like a maniac. This includes poetry and song lyrics, but primarily novels. I've completed eight novels and a short story over the past two or three years, all spread out of course. However, I have like thirteen ideas for books that never quite made it past page 15 where paper is concerned.

I don't have a particular genre that I stick with except the fact that in almost every one of my books, there's some sort of supernatural aspect and a bit of a love story twisted in. Other than that, time and setting vary, plotlines differ immensely at times...etc.

My most recent finished novel is my pride and joy, entitled The Night. It came out to 120 pages (though that page number is growing as I edit) of single-spaced 10-point text. A simplistic title, yes, but the storyline makes up for it because it's truly the most complex plot I've ever planned out and written up.

I love writing. Absolutely love it. I may write up a synopsis for The Night eventually, but you can ask Ty Thomas if you know him, I had a minor seizure trying to intelligently explain it just because there are so many details to consider, especially surrounding one of the protagonists, Shay, who cannot remember the first 19 years of her life. The lost piece of her past remains a partial mystery throughout, though the reader starts out knowing more than she does, just not all.

The Night will have three follow-up novels, the first of which I'm working on right now and finally having some effortless success with. (:

Will post more about this in the future problamente. (:

That's all for now~

Hear You Me (May Angels Lead You In)

by Jimmy Eat World


One of my all-time favorite song lyrics is in this song:

"On sleepless roads, the sleepless go."

It's made its way into my art projects, been referenced in things I've written, etc. I just love it.


There's no one in town that I know.
You gave us some place to go.
I never said thank you for that.
I thought I might get one more chance.

What would you think of me now,
so lucky, so strong, so proud?
I never said thank you for that,
now I'll never have a chance.

May angels lead you in.
Hear you me, my friends.
On sleepless roads the sleepless go.
May angels lead you in.

So what would you think of me now,
so lucky, so strong, so proud?
I never said thank you for that,
now I'll never have a chance.

May angels lead you in.
Hear you me, my friends.
On sleepless roads the sleepless go.
May angels lead you in.

May angels lead you in.
May angels lead you in.

And if you were with me tonight,
I'd sing to you just one more time.
A song for a heart so big,
God wouldn't let it live.

May angels lead you in.
Hear you me my friends.
On sleepless roads the sleepless go.
May angels lead you in.

May angels lead you in.
Hear you me my friends.
On sleepless roads the sleepless go.
May angels lead you in.

May angels lead you in.

Currently speaking... (Over the past two weeks, anyway)

Secrets and Shadows - Shannon Delany (304 pages)
A Need So Beautiful - Suzanne Young (267 pages)
Ninth Key - Meg Cabot (287 pages)
Divergent - Veronica Roth (487 pages)
Anna Dressed in Blood (147 pages -- Still reading this one.)
_____________________________
Total for this week... 1492 pages.
Two weeks ago's total: 1014 pages.

Semester Total So Far: 9613 pages.


Sentences of the Week:

3rd) And in my last second, all I can think is: it is so beautiful. - A Need So Beautiful

2nd) It's her. She's flickering in and out like an image on a computer screen, some dark specter trying to fight her way out of the video and into reality. When her hand grips the rail she becomes corporeal, and it whines and creaks beneath the pressure.
...
She is terrible. Not grotesque, but otherworldly. - Anna Dressed in Blood

1st) Mustardseed grinned at Bertie. "I was never any good at geometry, but you're stuck in a (love) triangle, aren't you?"
"Shut up," she ordered, even as Moth asked, "But what if there were four of them?"
"That's a love rectangle and five people would be a love pentagon."
"And what are six people in love?" Cobweb demanded.
Mustardseed thought it over a moment. "Manslaughter, I suppose." - So Silver Bright, Lisa Mantchev

This sentence wins the prize for the past two weeks because I cracked up laughing. XD

A Haunting Read

May I just say first that I love the cover art of this book.
Secondly, the book is awesome, too.

This is centered around Cas Lowood, a high school student whose occupation is killing ghosts. He is the only one in the world who can manage this, and before him, his father until he was murdered by one of the ghosts he'd sworn to kill. This is no secret; he gets tips and letters from all over the world requesting his abilities and he travels with his "kitchen-witch" Wiccan mother and their black half-Siamese cat, Tybalt, who can sometimes sense the ghosts Cas searches for.

Their latest move is to a town called Thunder Bay, where Cas has heard tales of a house on a hill, its hallways prowled by a phantom locals refer to as Anna Dressed in Blood.

Real name, Anna Korlov. She was brutally murdered in 1958, and she still wears the white dress she wore on the day of her murder, which now drips blood at the hem.
Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian house she used to call home.

But she, for whatever reason when Cas steps over the threshold, spares his life.

I'm about halfway through though I just started it yesterday and it's really good, but very intense. Definitely recommended if you want to sleep with the lights on. (:

"Masks" by Shel Silverstein

Happened upon this while servicing in the library today. (: I really liked it and it'll soon find its way into my Moleskine.

She had blue skin,
And so did he.
He kept it hid
And so did she.
They searched for blue
Their whole life through,
Then passed right by--
And never knew.

The Book Line-Up

I'd better get reading... x___X I think I have an addiction to books. While that's not necessarily a bad thing, it gets to the point that I end up checking out books whenever they appeal to me and I think I'm going to read them. I always do in the end, but I cause myself a headache every time I look at the stack and consider the due dates...

So, here's the order of my future reads. (: Hopefully I'll get them all in before our blogging stops.

After I finish Divergent, I'll be moving on to:

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

You Against Me by Jenny Downham

Darkness Becomes Her by Kelly Keaton

Starlighter by Bryan Davis

Forbidden by Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee

and

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

(Which I have been dying to read! No pun intended...)

Wish me luck and that's all I can say. (:

The difficulty of being different.

Currently reading Divergent by Veronica Roth, a dystopian novel set in Chicago where whatever path you take changes both your life and you forever.

In society, there are five factions, each dedicated to a particular virtue: Candor (honesty), Abnegation (selflessness), Dauntless (bravery), Amity (peacefulness), and Erudite (intelligence).

Every individual must choose a faction to join on their sixteenth birthday, including, main character, Beatrice Prior, who really does not know what path her life will take. You see, she is torn between remaining true to her family or finally being true to herself.

After she makes a choice that even surprises herself, as it turns out, she embarks on a journey of self-discovery, adventure, and finding previously missing meaning in her life.

I love this book. Thankfully, I didn't make the mistake of returning it today after getting irritated with the writing style. If there's one thing I've learned this semester in Etymology, it's to not discredit a book simply because it can be frustrating to read for a while. If I had conformed to my previous writing style peeves, I would have missed out on this awesome story.

Divergent is certainly different from the books I usually read. Instead of having any supernatural twist to it, this novel is purely human and corrupted without the help of monsters. I believe anyone could read this book and enjoy it, especially if the twisted dystopian genre is something you already know you like. It's very interesting and enthralling, containing a good mixture of fight/battle scenes (which are plenty) and emotion.

Divergent is one of those novels that can paint pictures in your mind, consequentially grabbing you and not letting you go, even after the conclusion.

Definitely recommended. I'd be doing a diservice to this piece of literature if I didn't. (:

Driving Sans Headlights

Second original song (posted, anyway) by...me, Aly Noble. Yes, I really did just reveal my secret identity.
Will I change my alias after this? Probably not.


Your resonating cries
Of disproved alibis,
They echo through the night
And wrap themselves in lies

Alone within the dark
Confines of the car
The world turns black and gray
Down to the final star

In all that we have left
We are cold and bereft
Within our chilling shells
That stiffen with each breath

When all is said and done,
And all is lost and won,
Will you remember me
(And all things we’ve begun?)

We’ve lost all that is right
We lost it all that night,
In the absence of the light,
We drove without headlights
I cowered down in fear,
Make this disappear,
We lost it all that night
Driving sans headlights

Pardon me, but I
Must say what’s on my mind,
I’m not sure this is real,
Could we have really died?

And though you shake your head
And comfort me instead,
I know them as the lies
Your fading echoes said

Yet still I move in close,
Two angels in repose,
Just please remember me
(Wherever we may go)

We’ve lost all that is right
We lost it all that night,
In the absence of the light,
We drove without headlights
I cowered down in fear,
Make this disappear,
We lost it all that night
Driving sans headlights

Now that I’m buried deep
Like long-stowed memories,
I still just wonder why
I didn’t take the keys.

Meg Cabot, why you do this? xP

Whilst reading the second installment of Cabot's "The Mediator" series, I stumbled upon something most unfortunate...

So much for reading something not involving vampires.

I have no problem with vampires, I really don't. Heck, the books I write involve their fair share of vampires. But, really? I was using this series about GHOSTS, thank you, to get a break from vampire novels. I love the paranormal/supernatural element in stories, but sometimes, vampires just don't belong. ><"

Anyway, rant aside, book two of "The Mediator" series, Ninth Key, has been good so far. I half-expected to tire of the series temporarily (especially because I have a book at home I've been dying to read...), but I'm interested again. The narrator's voice was getting on my nerves a little last night, but I think I should be fine. (:

So, yes, Suze Simon (which sounds way too much like the girl from The Lovely Bones for my liking, but no complaints). Still going to her new high school in northern California, still bantering with Jesse (the ghost haunting her bedroom), and still being coerced into fighting ghosts by fellow mediator, Father Dominic, who is also the principal of her school.

And she's gotten a nasty case of poison oak. She makes it clear on the first page of Ninth Key that, similarly to how everyone told her there would be palm trees in the first installment, no one told her there would be an abundance of poison oak.

Close-reading Bingo

The blog sitting opposite mine is "Contemplations."

In violation of...
Rule #2: Don't use a long quotation as the subject of a sentence.
and Rule #6: Avoid the verbs "use" and "shows."

He uses figurative language to describe a “steeper escalator of daylight, formed by the intersections of the lobby’s towering volumes of marble and glass, met by the real escalators just above the middle point.”

Rule #3: When discussing your supporting quotes, don't be vague.

The towering volumes of “marble and glass” and brushed “brushed steel side-panels” of the escalator create an elegant and ornate atmosphere.

Rule #4: When discussing the effects of a passage, avoid referring to the way it affects "the reader" or "the audience."

(I felt this would fall into the same category.)

The speaker’s careful, precise, and harmonious description...



And for the BINGO...

I enjoyed Zengarine's response the most. (:

Werewolves, CIA, and the Russian mafia

First of all, I'll put up what order the books in this series go in because I had some small confusion with that, as mentioned in previous posts... I just finished the second installment and can't wait to get the third (again... I wish I'd just kept it, but I didn't know I'd fly through the second one so quickly. -.-).

13 to Life
Secrets and Shadows
Bargains and Betrayals

Essentially, the series surrounds Jessie Gillmansen as she a) copes with her mother's death and her changing family life, b) struggles to be the stronger person in her friendship with Sarah, the reason Jessie's mom died, c) begins to discover the strange secrets surrounding the Rusakovas, a family just moved to her hometown of Junction from Russia with more than a few tricks up their sleeves.

I love this series because the writing style is interesting for pop fiction, but most of all, I love that the female protagonist has a brain. It's astounding how much better the story is! She's normal, down to earth, flawed, and very smart. It's more than just her growing interest in/romance with the youngest Rusakova boy, Pietr, that builds the foundation of the story, it also involves problems with her friends, family, and self.

In other words, there is more to think about than just making goo-goo eyes at the male protagonist. Plot twists are our friends and seem to be a dying (and very useful) tool in writing.

RECOMMENDED. Read it. (:

Practice Diction Analysis

J.D. Salinger’s vulgar, slang-riddled diction in Catcher in the Rye conveys Holden’s scrambled and, frankly, immature mindset and ironically implies that he is not the brightest of minds. A pessimist to boot, Holden begins his life-story by describing his childhood as “lousy” and his parents as “nice and all…but touchy as hell.” He favors phrases such as, “kind of crap,” “goddam,” and an occasional “as hell” at the end of a particularly vehement statement. At this point in Catcher in the Rye, the denotative word choice serves to conjure disregard for Holden’s mental capacity. However, this later becomes ironic in that Holden actually has a good head on his shoulders; he’s just had some trouble staying on track in life.

Ahora mismo~

So Silver Bright - Lisa Mantchev (356 pages)
Shadowland - Meg Cabot (287 pages)
Overbite - Meg Cabot (275 pages)
Ransom My Heart - Meg Cabot (96 pages -- I stopped reading this one.)
_____________________________
Total for this week... 1014 pages.
Last week's total: 764 pages.

Semester Total So Far: 8121 pages.


Post Awards ("Posties")
1. All three of these titles are similar because of the boringly aggravated language use. - posted by Mello, "The Average Life of a Teenage Bookworm."

2. The melodic feeling one infers from the town of Wall is merely a reaction to its physical beauty and awing presence. - posted by When Autumn Came, "The Blog of Epic Proportions."

3. The introduction of a work of literature sets the standard for the rest of the work, showing if the author is eloquent and poetic or blunt and caustic. In Neil Gaiman's Stardust, Gaiman writes poetically with colloquial language, using words that are neither dissonant nor melodious, in order to describe the setting. - posted by Zengerine, "ZENGERINEgoesacademic."

4. The elevation of Stardust and Rebecca are both elevated and ornate whereas Cormac McCarthy uses a familiar and colloquial elevation in Blood Meridian. - posted by Anon Nona, "Bud in the Garden."

5. The speaker describes the houses of Wall with casual, blunt language such as "square" and "old." Also, the speaker repeats conventional adjectives. For instance, another wall built of "square lumps" is described as "old." - posted by Star-Belly Sneech, "The World Is Ours."

Orthodontistry has nothing to do with it.

Overbite, Meg Cabot's sequel to her vampyric thriller/romance, Insatiable, starts off six months after where the first book ends. Meena, a psychic of sorts in that she can see how a person is going to die, is having trouble sorting out exactly what she wants to do about her now ex-boyfriend, Lucien, a.k.a. Vlad the Impaler's (Dracula's) son and Prince of Darkness. She also has mixed feelings for her new coworker, vampire slayer, Alaric Wulf. However tumultuous Meena's love-life may be, the world around her is becoming even more so. Murders are starting up again, more grotesque and frequent than last time and it's up to them to solve the problem before it gets any further out of hand.

This is not a series; Meena's written story ends with this book. I enjoyed it almost as much as the first one (Insatiable remains my favorite) and although the ending was bittersweet, it was right. That's all I'll say about it. (:

Recommended. Adventurous, funny, romantic, action-y... These books have it all.

Upcoming Books

Just an update.

Chosen
Overbite
Secrets and Shadows
Ransom My Heart (not sure if I'll end up reading this one)
A Need So Beautiful
The Ninth Key

And as soon as I get them...

Anna Dressed in Blood
Howl's Moving Castle
I Am Number Four
The Iron Knight

I'm also going to be spending time editing one of my own books, so I believe that should count for some of my reading. (:

Over and out~

Style Mapping

The stylistics of Meg Cabot's Shadowland prominently feature straightforward, conversational word choice and a devil-may-care tone for the reader. Immediately in the beginning of the novel, "They told me there'd be palm trees. I didn't believe them, but that's what they told me." Cabot uses blunt, familiar words to make her protagonist easy to relate to in these first few sentences, using denotative language and a bit of humor. Similarly, P.C. and Kristin Cast's Chosen relies on familiar word choice in order to relate to the reader, a commonality in the pop fiction world. " 'Yep, I have a seriously sucky birthday,' I told my cat, Nala. (Okay, truthfully she's not so much my cat as I'm her person. You know how it is with cats: They don't really have owners, they have staff. A fact I mostly try to ignore.)" The Casts include friendly parenthesized declarations to the reader, taking on a style that suggests a "You know how that is?" attitude. On the opposite end of the literary spectrum, Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky is begun with, "On an exceptionally hot evening early in July a young man come out of the garret in which he lodged in S. Place and walked slowly, as though in hesitation, towards K. Bridge." Picturesque and somewhat blunt all at once, Dostoevsky describes a man walking down a street in a sensuous, tangible string of words that sets an automatic environment for the scene at hand.

Ghosts and Stuff

Meg Cabot's "The Mediator" series tells the story of Suze Simon, a sixteen year-old girl who rather reluctantly communicates with the dead. At the start of the first book, Shadowland, she is forced to move out to Northern California to live with her mother, step-father, and three step-siblings she fondly refers to as Sleepy, Dopey, and Doc.

She finds a problem with the house immediately: it's an old building. Suze hates old buildings because of the paranormal experiences she's had in them. The older the building, the more likely that someone has died in there, she notes with more frustration than concern.

Suze proves to be right about the ghost situation; a nineteenth century cowboy lives right in Suze's new bedroom.

Not only does Suze have to deal with a ghost in her room and all the familial and new-girl issues that come with her giant move from New York City, there is also a ghostly disturbance at her new high school.


I'm probably 2/3 done with the first installment of the series and I'm really enjoying it, as I thought I would. (: I recommend it if you like quirky protagonists and a fair amount of phantoms.

Quarterly Currently~

Insatiable - Meg Cabot (454 pages)
Betrayed - P.C. and Kristin Cast (310 pages)
_____________________________
Total for this week... 764 pages.
Last week's total: 462 pages.

El gran total: 7107 pages.


Reflection

For the most part, I find myself reading at night in bed or after school on the couch in my living room while my mom watches shows on the DVR. I'm not surprised (well, I am a little) by the quantity of my reading, but I am surprised by how many books I've found to read and liked this quarter. Usually that is a huge obstacle for me; if I don't know the author, I usually won't pick it up. As you can probably guess, this means I struggle with finding new books to read. However, that hasn't happened this year. Maybe it's because of this class or maybe it's the new experience of being a student assistant in the library. I would venture to guess that both had something to do with this little change of heart and I'm glad I finally broke out of that shell I was in, because I didn't used to be so picky. I've found some books that I really love this quarter and I can't wait to see what next quarter brings.

What is it with books making me cry this year?

I ask you! It's awful! At least that means they're good, I suppose.

I'm about 3/4 of the way done with P.C. and Kristin Cast's Betrayed, the second installment in the "House of Night" series. If you're wondering, this is what made me cry. Be forewarned if you haven't already read this.

For that matter, this book is also making me extremely frustrated. Why? Because, to avoid spoilers, having an issue deciding on a guy is a huge pet peeve of mine when it comes to female protagonists nowadays. Really? It's not that hard.

Rant aside, I'll soon be moving onto another Meg Cabot book (still no Princess Diaries, just not interested!). That novel is called Shadowland, and it's the first in her Mediator series about Suze, who can communicate with the dead. I accidentally grabbed a later installment in the series and only just realized my mistake today after looking up the series on Wikipedia. Oops.

I had a similar incident with the 13 to Life series, in which I looked up the title of the second book a very long time ago, forgot it, and then grabbed what I thought the second novel was at the library probably a week ago. I sat down to start it last night and, about fifteen pages in, realized I had no clue what was going on. I'd checked out the third book. Oops.

Well, I already described Insatiable by Meg Cabot in my last post (a recommended read), so I'll try and give a spoiler-free explanation of P.C. and Kristin Cast's Betrayed. Well, this novel continues with Zoey Redbird's attending of the House of Night school for fledgling vampyres. She's just become the leader of a sorority of sorts called the Dark Daughters and there have been a few bumps along the way in this next chapter, including a new love interest (thus my frustration).

It's like a car accident. It's horrible, not fun, you want to look away, but you just can't. You have to keep watching. GUH! Dx

Before I read Shadowland, I should probably read So Silver Bright, the third installment of Lisa Mantchev's magical Bertie Shakespeare series. This one is set in modern times (I think...) and most of the story takes place in the Théâtre Illuminata, a spellbound place where every character from every play ever created resides and performs. Bertie, or Beatrice Shakespeare, was taken in by the Theatre as a little girl and has formed everlasting bonds with the characters though she is not one herself.

She acts as an assistant, of sorts, to the Theatre and the shenanigans that go on in that place? Just wow.

When the Théâtre becomes endangered after the Book (a list of all the characters and what binds them all to the Théâtre) is stolen, Bertie and her always-ravenous fairy friends from A Midsummer Night's Dream (Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Mustardseed, and Moth) and Nate, a pirate from The Little Mermaid must find and return it before characters like Bertie's friend (kind of) Ariel, the wind spirit from The Tempest gets his hands on it and releases his mischief on the outside world.

It's really the most unique, imaginative, playful, and heartwarming set of novels I've found and read in a long time. (: Definitely recommend them!

If you should choose to read this series by Lisa Mantchev, the books go in this order:
Eyes Like Stars
Perchance to Dream
So Silver Bright

And that's my two cents for the week between this blog post and the last~!

Again, I take it back.

Okay, so I'm now reading the sequel to Marked, titled Betrayed.

Marked got better after about the first hundred-fifty pages or so because it increased in the magic and action department and by that time I was used to the writing style and setting. A few unexpected things occurred, too, but just in case you're reading this and considering trying this series, I won't say a word about them.

Not my favorite book, but entertaining. I'm glad someone forced me to read it, haha.

I'm also simultaneously reading Insatiable by Meg Cabot. After reading her mythical spin-off of the tale of Hades and Persephone, I decided I'd try a couple more of her books (that weren't princess-related. Sorry, Mia). Insatiable came up on the library search and I tracked it down to find that it, too, was a vampire book.

...*sigh.*

I'm going to clear this up once and for all because if you're a regular reader of my blog (first of all, thank you), you're probably wondering, "Okay... So you read some books that the vampire-drama True Blood is based on, you liked Marked, and you now claim that you don't like vampire books?"

I do enjoy books on vampires. I like supernatural stuff. What I don't like is how after Twilight was released and dragged to fame by its raging club of fan girls, the only books seemingly published were about vampires with a soft heart. I'd originally looked into Meg Cabot's books to see if she had more Greek myth-based novels because that turned out to be exceedingly interesting to me.

So when I found yet another vampire romance novel, my first thought was, "Not you, too."

However, I started Insatiable two days ago and I really, really like it. The title comes from the soap opera channel for which the female protagonist, Meena Harper, writes dialogue. The storyline, just after the first 100 pages already contains vampires, vampire hunters, eccentric neighbors, and a bunch of mysterious events, especially concerning Meena. Even she isn't normal; she can look at a person and see exactly how (and I believe when) they're going to die. And she absolutely dreads it.

It's a different and much deeper story than the shallow stories publishers seem to be drooling over nowadays. I also enjoy Meg Cabot's writing style (it's easy to read and very easy to identify with) and her interesting storylines.

In other news, I have waiting for me at home after I finish these novels...
Haunted, Meg Cabot and So Silver Bright, Lisa Mantchev (love her (: )

Currently~!

Thirteen Reasons Why - Jay Asher (248 pages)
"Hare Moon" - Carrie Ryan (19 pages)
Marked - P.C. and Kristin Cast (195 pages)
_________________________________
Total for this week... 462 pages.
Last week's total: 706 pages.

That thar grand total: 6343 pages.

On a side note, I didn't comment on "Hare Moon" pretty much because I'd forgotten I'd read it. Though written by one of my favorite authors (Carrie Ryan, The Forest of Hands and Teeth) and written on a good storyline, the different style (she wrote in 3rd person rather than her usual 1st person perspective) threw me off.

Recommended as a good short story, just read it before you read any of the Forest of Hands and Teeth books since it's a bit of a prequel.

Sentences of the Week:

3rd place) Just when I thought my day couldn't get any worse, I saw the dead guy standing next to my locker. - Marked

2nd place) Tomorrow, the world will be hers. - "Hare Moon"

1st place) I look down at my lap, at the Walkman. It's too dark to see the spindles behind the plastic window, pulling the tape from one side to the other, but I need to focus on something, so I try. And concentrating on the spot where the two spindles should be is the closest I get to looking into Hannah's eyes as she tells my story. - Thirteen Reasons Why

Knowing the story, it's simply a very, very powerful few lines. I love the comparison between the two tape spindles and Hannah's eyes, but the comparison is heart-breaking, too, because it is at this very moment you can truly imagine what Clay is going through. I think I mentioned this before, but this book? It made me cry. That hasn't happened since the last Harry Potter book.

Amazing book and story that grabs onto you right away and holds on until the end, both burdening and comforting all at once.

Marked for Meh.

Making my Friday blog posts since I didn't end up having time yesterday with the St. Francis workshop I was at. Came home trying to catch up on stuff and I suppose this just slipped my mind... Sorry, Mr. Hill.

At the moment, I'm reading Marked, the first installment of P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast's "House of Night" series. To be perfectly honest, the reason why I'm reading this book after it's been so talked about and popular for so long? I was cozened into reading it by my friend Skyler. -.-

So, Marked, if you haven't read it already, is centered around a girl named Zoey, who gets marked to become a vampyre by the Tracker (who I suppose makes his rounds and follows those deemed worthy to become a vampyre; not much is said about him). Zoey, then to the gargantuan dismay of her parents, must go to the House of Night, a boarding school of sorts for fledgling vampyres or she will die. Though her parents are prepared to let her die rather than allow her to become a vampyre, Zoey runs away to her Grandma Redbird's farm and the story begins from there.

I probably would have never read this book had I not felt obligated to. However, it's actually not that bad after slipping back into that whiny-teen-angst writing perspective again. I just don't enjoy books centered around a school (except Harry Potter, that's a totally different story!). I read to escape school troubles and stresses.

I'd recommend this, but it's not one of my favorites. (: Who knows, maybe it will be by the time I'm done with it (which should be soon).

What's going on right now. (:

So I started Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why on some time last week and got to page 40. At that point, I was convinced that I did not like this book. The girl the novel is centered around was making me increasingly angry and frustrated with both how flippant she was and what kind of pain she was causing the main character with what she was doing.

This is the cover of a novel that I, after those irritating first 42 pages, realized I love.

After starting this novel last week, not picking it up until last night, and then finally trying it again and flying through last night, I can honestly say this has been one of my favorite books in a long time. Not only was it a touching emotional whirlwind of a story, it was easy to read yet well-written and thought-out.

The story begins the day the main character and narrator, Clay Jensen, receives a package with no return address. Inside the package are cassette tapes marked with little blue numbers, but no labels. Upon popping in the first tape and pressing "Play," Clay hears the last voice he ever expected to hear again: the voice of his long-term crush with a not-so-great reputation, Hannah Baker.

Why would hearing her voice be such a shock to him, you ask?
Because only two weeks earlier, Hannah committed suicide.

Her recorded voice informs Clay that on the tapes are thirteen reasons why she did what she did, thirteen instances that led up to her taking her own life, and every one of these reasons involves a specific person. The tapes are to travel through these thirteen people, ultimately to end up in the hands of the final person who let her down. And if anyone on this list gets the bright idea to dispose of or keep the tapes so the secrets stop there, there will be consequences.

Whoever currently has the tapes is being watched.


The story really hit home with me, I'll put it that way as to not go into some maudlin spiel (vocab!). I also took a step back and thought for a moment, what if what happened to Clay as a side-effect of what Hannah did to herself happened to me?

I'm going to be honest with you, reader, I cried.

That's how powerful this book, story, and topic is.

Throughout this novel, I laughed, cried, seethed, and smiled. I would definitely recommend it, just don't give up during the first 40 pages. 'Cause as frustrating as they are, those pages, those feelings that brew in you as you read, are all part of the grand effect of the novel. (:

Some surrealness.

Love this piece. (:

Actualmente...

Abandon - Meg Cabot (306 pages)
The Iron Queen - Julie Kagawa (358 pages)
Thirteen Reasons Why - Jay Asher (42 pages)
_________________________________
Total for this week... 706 pages.
Last week's total: 138 pages.

El gran total de todos los totales: 5881 pages.


Sentences of the Week:
3rd place) "Go ahead, laugh. ...Oh, well. I thought it was funny." - Thirteen Reasons Why

2nd place) Then you repeated those magical, dreamlike words, "I'll catch you." - Thirteen Reasons Why

1st place) "Will you be all right, Grim?"
Grimalkin glanced over his shoulder and a smile curved. "I am a cat." - The Iron Queen

Being a cat lover and owning a cat who I think would say things like that on occasion if he could, I appreciated this line.

The Great Return Race and What's Happening Next

So, I went to renew my book last night (The Iron Queen) from the Aboite library, only to find that I could not, due to the fact that there was a hold on it... About 2/3 of the way through with a due date of tomorrow...well, needless to say it was either turn it in then or try to finish it without skimming.

Thus, the Great Return Race was born.

And ended some time during 3rd period today. So it wasn't really even worth naming...but that's what I did. (:

So, The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa, the third in her Iron Fey series, was just as good as the first two. (: For some reason, this one took me more time to get through than the others as I've been working through this book for a little less than two weeks. In this, Meghan Chase (main character and daughter of the Faery King, Oberon), previously banished from Faery, is summoned back to help in the war against the Iron Fey. This novel, I found to be very symbolic in terms of creativity and passion vs. the march of continuous progress. It represents the creative mind as a dying breed, which, in reality, it sadly is. The resolution was also pleasantly symbolic in what must happen for creativity and technology to coexist and advance.

I could also apply it to myself because I both appreciate technology and find it interesting, but the products of creativity are what make up my hobbies and what my life revolves around. The Iron Queen is also, as the previous two, a simply entertaining story.

Up next will either be Club Dead, the third book in the Sookie Stackhouse series, or Thirteen Reasons Why, an independent novel surrounding the suicide of a high school girl, who recorded the thirteen reasons why she killed herself and then sent them to either her boyfriend or a boy that wanted to be her boyfriend. I honestly can't remember, but I'll have a more complete description soon. I have a feeling by the end of the novel though, I'm not going to like this girl at all.

Ah, and whilst looking for a good art quote to do part of my sketch journal on this month, I ended up finding a page of art all done on Moleskines. At first, I was reminded of the ink that descended on mine, but these... I clearly have to step up my game. (:

Here's the link should you want to see other awesome pieces done on the pages of a Moleskine.

Great book. Just sayin'.

A dark twist on the myth of Hades and Persephone, Abandon by Meg Cabot takes place in modern times and is centered around a seventeen year-old girl, Pierce Oliviera. Two years prior to when the story takes place, she died.

Yes. You read that correctly.

Luckily for her, her heart restarted and she came back from the dead, but not before she caught a glimpse of what lay beyond. In the underworld she visited, she met John Hayden, a dark character she remembered from a chance encounter with him in a graveyard at her grandfather's funeral when she was seven years old.

Though she believes because she's left the world of the dead, she no longer has to worry about it, she is very, very wrong. For though she fears John, he's not the worst thing out there by a long shot. And although she is unaware of the other dangers that lurk, they are far from unaware of her.

Personally, I loved this book. I love how it ties into myth and all the subtle nuances and twists it contains throughout the story. I also found myself really fond of the characters by the novel's close, both sympathetic for what they've gone through and liking each (that the reader is supposed to like) as a person. This was the first book I'd read by Meg Cabot and I was a little iffy at first. However, it's a great twist on an ancient story and well worth reading. (:

In short, I'll be getting the sequel as soon as it comes out.

I Tried

Song lyrics. One of mine. (: Written August 22nd, 2011.
Comments (good or bad) are loved.


You tread the path of fools and villains
The difference being your self-convictions,
Spinning about, without self-control,
Unsure just how you got here-

within this place of fire and water
And under both, you’ll fly to the slaughter
You, the pilot to your plummeting plane,
And I, the speed bump in your way

Ring-ring, the doorbell sings.
Knocking all over my window panes.
The clang of prison bars show
the extent of your charms

I trip you up, so unexpected,
on this road of hurt down which you are headed.
You brush aside my words, but I don’t blame you
when all you’ve known is deceit

Pin me to the polygraph,
flip the switch now, I’ll only laugh
as all the blips and beeps finally sweep
my heart into your ears

I’ll grow on you like moss on a boulder
if you’ll only stop and remain forever more
with me, away, from your dark chosen goal,
calm, serene, away from here

Pin me to the polygraph,
flip the switch now, I’ll only laugh
as all the blips and beeps lastly sweep
my heart into your ears

Take my face between your hands
and bury it under golden sands
‘cause the mask I wear can not compare
to what you hide behind

Pin me, take me… Pin me, take me…
Oh, pin me, take me…

Pin me to the polygraph,
flip the switch now, I’ll only laugh
as all the blips and beeps lastly sweep
my heart into your ears

Take my face between your hands
and bury it under golden sands
‘cause I will still exist, whereas you’ve mis-
placed yourself

‘Cause you’re still going, fully knowing
what you’ll become.

Everyone... And no one, at once.

Tonight, I went to the 7:30pm performance of Cirque du Soleil's Quidam with my mom. Honestly, it was probably one of the most beautiful and enthralling things I've ever had the privilege to see. The stunts were amazing, the story was deep and moving, and the costumes/setting work were beautiful and eye-catching. I was so glad to have the opportunity to see it because not only did it awe me, but it has given me so many new ideas to use in my art.

I'm exhausted yet still stunned all at once, so I'll say it one more time: Quidam was enchanting and an experience I'll not forget any time soon. (:

If the title has you a little confused, it's the definition of Quidam, an original word constructed by Cirque du Soleil. Curious as to its meaning, I Googled it just now and it represents the feature character in the show, who represents "everyone, and no one, at once." Honestly, the character of Quidam reminded me of a Hayao Miyasaki creation. (: I loved him the moment he set foot on stage!

And here he is! --

Currently...

Way too busy lately.

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim (106 pages)
The Iron Queen (28 pages)
________________________________________
This week's total... 134 pages.
Last week's total: 912 pages

The totalest total of all this blog's totals: 5175 pages.


Now for the Sentences of the Month awards...

In 4th place... I knew I was supposed to be happy, but part of me felt personally assaulted. Like he'd been a negligent prince, yet I still believed in the monarchy. - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim

In 3rd place... But rural northern Louisiana wasn't too tempting to vampires, apparently; on the other hand, New Orleans was a real center for them--the whole Anne Rice thing, right? - Dead Until Dark.

In 2nd place... "You love each other--anyone can see that, looking at you--that kind of love that can burn down the world or raise it up in glory." - City of Fallen Angels

And the winner is...

1st place... "It's not a file hidden in a birthday cake, but it'll keep my hands from falling off." City of Ashes

This was the winning sentence because, standing alone, it is so absurd. It still makes me laugh and I have to say it's a great quote. Even in context it doesn't make complete sense. (: On a sidenote, this quote came from Cassandra Clare's City of Bones series, which is an awesome series. I probably already recommended it once before, but I will again. Excellent story. <3