Monthly Archives: July 2013

Matched

31 Wednesday Jul 2013

Posted by in young adult

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Matched by Ally Condie matched

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander’s face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate… until she sees Ky Markham’s face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it’s a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she’s destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can’t stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society’s infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

I did enjoy this book but it was a little predictable and slow in certain places, but it did have me guessing in some bits. One of the main characters Xander, was not likable until the end for me, it was like the author was trying too hard for him to be perfect and he came across as in-human. (Just my opinion).

I love dystopian stories, but I prefer ones with a little more explanation. I honestly do not think people would let themselves get like that, there was no explanation as how why the world got in the state it did, just the way it is now. I just wanted, more.

I think a lot of authors who write YA think the readers cannot handle too much information, when they just give the bare bones it annoys me, we can handle more.

I will read the next one, just because I want to know who put Ky’s face onto the microcard.

If you like YA and do not mind simple reads then this is a good book to read.

Happy reading Bookworms

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Top Ten Tuesdays: First Lines and Impressions from my To Be Read List

30 Tuesday Jul 2013

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The Broke and the Bookish encourages other bloggers to join her in Top Ten Tuesdays. This weeks topic is first lines and impressions from my to be read list. Only ten I need a couple hundred. Choosing which ones to include is going to be difficult. I have chose 5 from my shelf and 5 from my kindle, in no particular order.

1.  The Iron Butterfly by Chanda Hahn the iron butterfly

“When I first awoke in the darkness that was my prison cell, I was brave, fearless and I still had enough fight in me to question the rules. “

I cannot remember what this book is about but it makes me think that there is going to be some sort of fight and possible overtake of government, I like books like this, looking forward to it.

2. The Children’s book by A.S. Byatt Byatt_story_1398961f

“Two boys stood in the Prince Consort Gallery, and looked down on a third.”

Okay so this does not tell you much about what is going on, I know the book is about upper class people in Edwardian times, so the first thing that goes through my head is, are the literally looking down on the third boy or figuratively.

3. The Selection by Kiera Cass the selection

” When we got the letter in the post, my mother was ecstatic.”

Okay, not much to go off of here, reminds me of the start of Harry Potter with the letters but that’s it.

4. The Knight by Gene Wolfe the knight

“You must have stopped wondering what happened to me a long time ago; I know it has been many years.”

The only thing I get from this is that it might be written like a letter or a story.

5. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia beautifulcreaturesbk

” There were only two kinds of people in our town.”

Hmmmm, I am guessing it’s a story about the two different kinds of people?

6. Across the Nightingale floor  by Lian Hearn across the nightingale floor

” My mother used to threaten to tear me into eight pieces if I knocked over the water bucket, or pretended not to hear her calling me to come home as the dusk thickened and the cicidas’ shrilling increased.”

I like how it starts with the guys child hood, probably just a little to see how he gets to where the story starts but it looks like a good start.

7. The Gardens of Almhain by Laura Mallory gardens of almhain

“The sky was an endless canvas of poor craftsmanship.”

Looks like it’s going to have lots of flowery writing and descriptions which I like, also the first sentence seems a little sad.

8. Skull and Bones by John Drake Skull-Bones1

“The six-pound shot came aboard with a scream and a hiss, smashing one of the mainmast deadeyes, punching holes through the longboat secured over the waist, taking off the arm and shoulder of a seaman, as neat as a surgeon’s knife … and throwing the limb shivering at his feet, as if still alive.”

Oh action packed from the sentence, I like it. A little bit gruesome too, but not too much, as you can tell from the cover it’s about pirates and the first sentence does not hide it.

9. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness 220px-Knife_of_Never_letting_Go_cover

“The first thing you find out when yer dog learns to talk is dogs don’t got nothing much to say.”

I do not like the writing style at all, this may have put me off ever reading the book. I will try the first chapter but if it keeps up like this, it is getting deleted off my kindle straight away.

10. A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness Discovery_Of_Witches_gl_30s_320x480

” The leather- bound volume was nothing remarkable.”

The only thing that I get from this is that is possibly about a book. I have been wanting to read this book for ages, but I keep forgetting about it when I am picking up a new book.

Tomorrow will be a review of Matched by Ally Condie, until then, night bookworms.

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Spell Bound – Hex Hall 3

27 Saturday Jul 2013

Posted by in Magic

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Spell Bound the third in the Hex Hall series by Rachel Hawkins.

Just as Sophie Mercer has come to accept her extraordinary magical powers as a demon, the Prodigium Council strips them away. Now Sophie is defenseless, alone, and at the mercy of her sworn enemies—the Brannicks, a family of warrior women who hunt down the Prodigium. Or at least that’s what Sophie thinks, until she makes a surprising discovery. The Brannicks know an epic war is coming, and they believe Sophie is the only one powerful enough to stop the world from ending. But without her magic, Sophie isn’t as confident.

Sophie’s bound for one hell of a ride—can she get her powers back before it’s too late?

Okay it’s been a while since I read this book. I remember how much I liked it and how quickly I read it. I do wish we found out what Cal saw, I can guess but I prefer to know. I also prefer to Archer, so was not a great fan of the ending although she does wrap it up nicely and it does seem like everything as it should be.

It would be interesting to see what happens to Sophie in a few years time, hopefully the author will write another book set then, but prob not.

Also on a different note, I changed my blog address from dottleddolly.wordpress.com to what is now because I thought it should have something to do with books. I thought it would redirect but it does not seem too. Sorry if there has been any confusion.

Until next time, happy reading bookworms.

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The Magic Of Harry Potter

26 Friday Jul 2013

Posted by in Harry Potter

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Where does the magic of Harry Potter come from? I do not mean the spells and actual magic, I mean what makes it so popular? What makes millions of readers always coming back for more? A lot of books have good writing, they also have great characters (both good and bad), good story lines too so why is Harry Potter a nation favourite?

This can never be known for sure, because it is most likely different for everyone, but for me it’s because, the world is so full, and by that I mean everything is explained and no gaps. We also go on a ride with Harry, we learn along with him, he knows nothing of the magical world before the books, so anything he learns we do too. It’s carried out really well, there are no bits where the reader is wondering what’s going on, yet there is still wonder and excitement. It’s a very fine line and J.K. Rowling pulled it of with flying colours.

No matter how many times I read the books, there is always something new I learn, no matter how small it is, it’s still really exciting. I also liked very much how the books grew with the readers, they got darker and they went along. It was also like they were growing with characters, as they got older, the tasks and what they faced got harder, and with worse consequences.

Now here’s the big question. Can it be done again? Can someone (or J.K. Rowling) write another series that is just as good and will capture as many hearts? If so who and when? Will it be Rowling? Will it be you? Or will it be me?

Until next time bookworms

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Top Ten Tuesday – Words that make me NOT pick up a book

24 Wednesday Jul 2013

Posted by in Tuesday's Top Ten

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Top ten Tuesday’s is a feature by Broke and the Bookish, she encourages other bloggers to join in.

1. Zombies – I cannot stand them, I will not read a book with zombies in any shape or from.

2. Aliens – not a sci-fi fan and I associate the two with each other. My boyfriend keeps trying to get me to read Magician, but since it says aliens on the back I cannot seem to find the motivation.

3. Romance – I will read books that have romance, just not ones that is all they are about, i find it boring and lacking suspense.

4. Drugs – Unless it’s something like the matrix I will not pick up a book about pills or any drug, not my kinda thing.

5. Sex – Not a fan of explicit sex scenes, if the book has a good enough story it does not need it.

6. Vampires – Now I know I have read some, but I am just getting bored of them.

7. Time travel – too sci-fi for me, I tried to read the Time Traveler’s Wife, but got bored too easily.

8. Politics – not my cup of tea, I try my best to avoid it in life, I wouldn’t want to read about it.

9. Love triangles – they are just getting too common and predictable.

10. Ghosts – These are hit or miss with, they have to be amazing for me to give them a go.

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The Language of Souls

22 Monday Jul 2013

Posted by in young adult

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The Language of Souls by Lena Goldfinch.15848469

A fast-paced tale of adventure and soul-stirring romance that will leave you breathless.

Solena trespasses into hostile territory to search for a rare herb to cure the grandfather she loves. When a young enemy soldier captures her and she’s accused of being a spy, she discovers just how much she’s risked.

As a soldier, Rundan struggles to please his father, a ruthless army commander. When his father orders him to take the beautiful trespasser to the royal courts, where she’ll surely be tried and executed, Rundan is plagued by an inconvenient desire to protect her.

The handsome young soldier confuses Solena. First, he cruelly captures her, and then treats her with uncommon kindness. When he risks his life to save hers, she fears she may have risked more than her life on her journey…she may have lost her heart.

At just under 150 pages this is a short book, but a good book. It’s nice in the fact that it gets straight to the point but you still get some character development. You know from the start that Solena is going to go on a journey, an adventure. This book shows love of the strongest kind, where you must betray loved ones to be with your beloved. That different cultures should not get in the way of love.

The only real issue I had was with the Votifs, a vessel of burning embers that you keep on you at all times, it’s what keeps you alive and if they dwindle you will die. I just find it a hard concept to grasp, that some embers are what’s keeping you alive, really was not a fan of that concept, but if you can look over it then you should enjoy this book.

A little more about what happened to the characters at the end would have been nice, but that’s just my opinion.

I could not find any articles to do with this book so I just put some random ones in.

Until next time book worms.

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Neville Longbottom – The Chosen One

19 Friday Jul 2013

Posted by in Harry Potter

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As everyone knows Harry Potter is the chosen one, he was the one that had to kill Voldemort and save the world. As people who have read the book will know is that there was a prophecy about this ;

“The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not… and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives… the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…” Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling.

The prophecy was said by Professor Trelawny to Professor Dumbledore, and Snape overheard the first half and told Voldemort which is why he killed Harry’s parents and tried to kill him. Only readers will know that in the fifth book when Dumbledore tells Harry this that he also reveals that the prophecy could have also been about Neville Longbottom, he fits it perfectly, it was only Harry because Voldemort tried to kill him, thus marking him as his equal. Dumbledore does say that he thinks it was always about Harry.

Would things have been different if Voldemort had tried to kill Neville? Would it be him to save the world, would he have had the bravery and skill? Or was he always meant to be where he is, on the sidelines.

Had Voldemort chosen Neville, it would be Neville sitting opposite Harry bearing the lightning-shaped scar and the weight of the prophecy. . . . Or would it? Would Neville’s mother have died to save him, as Lily had died for Harry? Surely she would. . . . But what if she had been unable to stand between her son and Voldemort? Would there then have been no “Chosen One” at all? An empty seat where Neville now sat and a scarless Harry who would have been kissed good-bye by his own mother, not Ron’s? Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

I think Neville would have made a good hero, he is kind to all and does save his friends, he is the one to kill the snake when he thinks Harry is dead. He is overlooked at a lot, less so in the later books, but no-one believes he can help, Harry does trust him before he goes into the forest, to finish what he could not finish.

Now I have only thought a little about this, but here is an article called Neville Longbottom – the Other Chosen One. It made me really think about how much thought Rowling into every little detail. I commend this reader for the article and how much thought they have put into.

I am off to find a book to read for the night. Night bookworms.

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Top Ten Tuesdays – Authors who deserve more recognition

16 Tuesday Jul 2013

Posted by in Tuesday's Top Ten

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Top ten Tuesdays was created by and hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  This week it is authors you think do not get enough recognition. Here is my top ten, in no particular order. Some are fairly well known but more people need to know about them in my opinion.

1. Janice Hardy – She wrote the Pain merchants trilogy. Which has become one of my favourite series. It’s original and full of wonder.

2. Kate Bloomfield – who wrote the Fire Mage trilogy. I have  not yet read the second one, but I loved the first. It was clever and full of original magic. (Shows how under recognised she is, I could not find one related article.

3. Robin LaFevers – You may have heard of her book Grave Mercy about female assassins. It’s well written and captivating, I just think more people need to know about her.

4. Scoot Nicholson – He wrote the fear series (Liquid Fear and Chronic Fear). It’s a crime thriller. Very thrilling.

5. Jessica Soreneson – She has had a lot bad press, she writes young adult fiction and has started to write New adult fiction. Her books are definitely for people who can handle teen angst in books.

6. Joseph Lallo – He wrote The Book of Deacon series. If you like dragons and magic then this series is for you.

7. Nicole Williams – She wrote the Eden series, it’s YA but original and intriguing.

8. Maria V. Snyder – You have probably heard of her, but have you read her books? They are really good and each series is unique and offers something different.

9. Trudi Canavan – Once again you have probably heard of her, but she needs more people to read her Age Of the Five series, and also to bring a new series out because I want to read more from her.

10. Sarah Bryant – My favourite book by her is City of the Sun and it is very difficult to get, but It is so worth it.

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Similarities between Lord Voldemort and Hitler

12 Friday Jul 2013

Posted by in Harry Potter

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Not a very cheery post I know. But one day I was thinking about Voldemort and realised he reminded me of Hitler so I decided to share it all with you and see what you think.

Okay, first things first both are tyrants trying to take over the world and controlling people, killing anyone who gets in their way and took over their governments. They both also have an ideal person that they believe are better, Hitler’s was blonde, blue-eyed and and half Jewish. Voldemort’s is wizard and a pure blood. Muggles should be slaves or dead in his eyes, such as was Jewish people to Hitler. Both tyrants do not fit their idles. Lord Voldemort was a half-blood and Hitler was brown haired, brown eyed. So they both preach idles that they do fit, unfair oh yes.

Both lead but got a lot of people to do their dirty work for them. In both cases people said that they had been forced to do terrible crimes. In Voldemort’s case sometimes by curses so they have no choice, i.e. the Imperio curse which Malfoy used on Madame Rosmerta to get at Dumbledore.

Once the tyrant is dead, the army fell in both cases even though a lot of Nazis or Death eaters still stood.

In both cases people went into hiding, and were being sought out by the evil force that chased them. The people that each was trying to put down were branded in some way. Either with the star of David for the Jewish in Hitler’s case or being made to go to court and have their wands taken away for muggle born witches and wizards in Voldemort’s case.

They both used excessive force and killed thousands if not millions of innocent people. But both were thankfully brought down. Both were destroyed by their own arrogance. They thought they could beat everyone, even when they were losing. They each had someone disobey and order which possibly cost them the war. Mrs Malfoy told Voldemort that Harry was dead when he wasn’t, which helped give confidence and of course Harry to fight again. In Hitler’s case he asked Albert Speer to destroy weapons before they could fall in to their enemy’s hands, Albert disobeyed this order.

Their deaths may vary but what happened after is similar. Both were like spells being broken. People could be free and not hide. The people who could not walk the streets for fear of being captured or being killed could once again walk in the open.

Was the similarity on purpose or just a big coincidence?

Have I left any similarities out? Sorry that it was not a cheerful topic, but one I think is good topic. Until next time bookworms.

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For Just A Minute

11 Thursday Jul 2013

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I know Thursday’s have been designated by me as Harry Potter days, but I have not had time today. This week it will be Harry Potter Friday. A few weeks ago I told you that I entered a writing competition on the good reads group Indie and Proud. I came second. I think this story is really good and unfortunately deserved to win. I have already posted my story The Cliff’s Edge, here is the winning story. I do not own any writes to this. I do have permission from the author to post it here.

Hope you enjoy and until tomorrow.

For Just a Minute …”

By James Spurlock

I don’t know who you are!

You look familiar, though.

Maybe we knew each other once. I can’t remember. Let me think about it for just a minute.

I know where I am. I know that, of course. Who wouldn’t know? It’s a nursing home, isn’t it? The women in white uniforms are nurses. I’m sure of that. They’re always giving me something in a little paper cup. They say to me, swallow this. And sometimes I do, and sometimes I don’t. I might spit it out. They’re always talking. They bother me all the time.

These other people, I don’t know any of them. They all think they know me. I wonder where in the hell they came from. I think I’ve seen some of them before, but, hell, I don’t know where. Maybe they were in a movie. No, maybe they came to our house. Let me think about it for just a minute. I might have worked with them, when I was working. Where did I work? I should know that. I know it was a long time ago.

Damn, you keep telling me something about you think you’re my daughter. Well, I have a daughter. Don’t I? Maybe I don’t. But you do look familiar to me. Look at those kids. They’re beautiful. Somebody must be proud of them. I wish they were my grandchildren.

What? You still think you’re my daughter? Then what’s your name? I know I have a daughter. Why can’t I remember her name?

I’ll tell you what I remember. Stop talking for just a minute and listen to me. You know what I remember? Well, hell, wait for just a minute and I’ll tell you.

I remember now. I remember a man I loved. We got married. Damn, I don’t know when it was. He loved me. I don’t know where he went. Just disappeared one day. Everybody told me it’d be all right. They said we’d see each other again one day. I’m not sure what they meant. No, I’ll talk about whatever I want to talk about. You’re not going to stop me.

I remember something else too. A little girl. Damn, she was pretty. I can’t remember her name, though. Can you remember her name? What’d you say? Oh, that ain’t it. I’ll remember. Give me just a minute.

Doesn’t anybody understand how I’m feeling? All I know is they keep talking about someone named Al something or other.

You do look familiar. Did you tell me your name? Tell me again and I won’t forget it this time. Hell, that’s a nice name. You know what? I think I remember somebody with a name like that.

The man I was talking about. Did you know him? What? Hell, he couldn’t have been your father. I can’t think of his name either. He was a good man, a very good man. Polite too. He used to give me things. Every birthday he’d give me something. No, I don’t remember what.

I don’t think I feel very good right now. I’m kind of tired. And sleepy. I can’t stay awake. Listen, I’m going to close my eyes for just a minute. Don’t you go away. Wait there. And don’t let those beautiful little children go away either.

I don’t like the way I feel right now. What’s a word that’d describe it? I’ll think of it in just a minute.

What?

Well, go away.

I didn’t ask you to come in here.

No, I don’t care if you go away!

Who are you, anyhow?

Tell me again!

Hell, what time is suppertime? They told me, but I forgot.