Marvelous Mockingjay

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

This book gets a definite 5 out of 5 gnomes.  Reading through this book there are so many quotable quotes and by the end I know I was pretty emotionally/brain drained.

I loved this book so much.  How much you may ask?  Well, the day it came out when I was at work I bought the eBook version from Barnes & Noble and started reading.  Later on the way home I bought a hard cover copy from Borders with a 50% off coupon.  All together I spent as much as the hardcover of the book would have been without a coupon so yes I feel it was indeed worth the money.

The book starts with Katniss standing in the rubble that was once her home.  Katniss, as anyone who’s read all the books would know, has been through a lot.  She was a different person in this book but she also had been through two fights to the death and is now in the middle of an actual war, I think that would make anybody a loner.  This means that throughout the book she seems more unstable than usual and probably has a severe case of what we today would call PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).  Personally I think I would be cranky too if I was in the situation Katniss was in as she says, 

“Right now, they leave me alone because I’m classified as mentally disoriented—it says so right on my plastic medical bracelet—and everyone has to tolerate my ramblings.  But that can’t last forever.  Neither can their patience with the Mockingjay issue.”

Lots of spoilers after this,

Fallacious Fat

Fat Vampire by Adam Rex

This book gets a 2 out of 5 gnomes, It has a brilliant premise for pretty much the first half of the book but then it kind of throws that right out the window towards the end and the main character becomes unlikeable. 


This book was really kind of disappointing.  I was drawn in by the cover and the synopsis.  I was the first person to even request it from the library. 


Ok, first the premise, Doug is fifteen and now a vampire but he wasn't good looking when he became a vampire hence the title Fat Vampire.  The only other person he tells about being a vampire is his best friend Jay.  The have some very funny escapades in the beginning of the book that involve going to Comic Con and a blood mobile.  Doug usually gets his blood from cows but they have quite the trip to the zoo that involves a panda mom, a baby panda, and a video camera.  Doug escapes but is seen on tape by the camera.


Then comes in the other very entertaining part of this book, the Vampire Hunters TV show.  The host of this show is seen as being pretty much certifiable by his staff.  All they usually do is track down European guys with bad accents and lately have shows of them shooting dummies with stake guns.  Then they see a video and he's sure that there is a real vampire out there aka Doug.


There is humor to be found in this book, the beginning is chock full of funny.  My favorite part is when Doug is trying to transform into a bat but gets stuck halfway thus looking pretty horrifying.  Another great part is the story that Doug tells and the true story about who actually made Doug a vampire.  


The love interest of the book, Sejal, seems like she is going to fit well into the book but she just doesn't.  She has the Google, which is portrayed like severe internet addiction.  When you find out here whole story it just makes her unlikeable.  She seems like a character that didn't even need to be added to the book.

Overall I really wish the book would have continued along like the first part where it was just Doug and Jay and the Vampire Hunters TV show that is after Doug.  When you bring in a love interest who is not interested, and a group or new and old vampires that are supposed to mentor the new vampires, things just kind of fall apart.

The minute Doug starts taking blood from a human he turns into a well to put it nicely, a jerk.  Technically though he should have been changing into a jerk earlier/become better looking from the blood that he stole from a blood mobile earlier in the book.  He even acts like a superhero at one point but nothing ever comes of that part of the story.

The ending, wow, it made me really mad I won't spoil it for you but I hate when endings make no sense or just seem lazy.

This had the creative potential to be truly awesome but alas the author did not put the pieces together in a pleasing way.

Merchandise Monday

Where I show you book related merchandise that I would really like to buy or that I think is awesome.

a necklace based on the pearl that Peeta gives Katniss.

Possibly the coolest shoes ever made.

I wish I had these kind of barbie dolls when I was younger, I'll probably still buy them though because they look cool.

The chocolate sure tasted gross but the cards were cool.

Top 5 Sundays - Favorite Childhood TV Series (1)

 
Top 5 Sundays is a new weekly feature hosted by Larissa's Bookish Life. and runs every Sunday. If you want to know more click here.



Rules:

1. Write a post listing your TOP 5 choices within the theme chosen for the week.
2. Mention Larissa's Bookish Life on the post and link back to it.
3. Feel free to use the Feature's image.
4. After you've finished your post, add your link (of the post, not your blog's main page) to the Mr.Linky at the end of that week's post.

 I've seen this feature on Larissa's blog a couple of times and thought I would join in today.  :)

Top 5 Favorite Childhood TV Series

What a great topic, it was really hard to narrow it down to five shows but also lots of fun.  :)

5 - Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

This was the show to watch after school and I watched it far past the original set of rangers.

4 - Captain Planet

This show was awesome, I remember watching all of them and loving their power rings.

3 - Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers

This is another show that I watched every episode of it had mysteries and great characters even if the main characters were mice and chipmunks.

2 - Beetlejuice

First I watched the movie and then I loved the cartoon show when it came out.  I even dressed in what my parents called the "Lydia" look for quite awhile.

1 - Fraggle Rock

This series had everything: singing, dancing and puppets who were awesome characters.  My favorite character is Red the Fraggle and Marjory the Trash Heap.  This is also the only childhood series that I watched and now own the entire series on dvd.

Winnings of the Week

I won this awesome sounding book from Tiger Holland at All-Consuming Book's Turnaround Tuesday Giveaway and received it this week.  I like how the cover seems to be glowing and the description sounds pretty darn hilarious:)

Infinity: Chronicles of Nick

Fantastic Friday Fave Five

Friday at last so here are the five most recent books I've read that I highly recommend.

The 5 Most Recent Books I've Read and Loved

1.) Mockingjay
2.) Touched by an Alien

3.) *Infinite Days  
4.) *Mind Games
5.) *Sisters Red

* = links to my reviews of these books
the other two have reviews in progress.

Tee-rific Thursday: Mockingjay Merchandise

Just finished the book  Mockingjay last night and wow what an ending :)

In honor of that here are some Hunger Games related merchandise that I wish to own:

First because Thursday is about tees I would like to have this shirt,

and to complete the outfit, I would definitely need these,


I would wear a pair of these everyday :)

Wish List Wednesday

I love this entire series so I can't wait to read these short stories.

The first book was so good, now I can't wait to see where the next one goes.

Mockingjay Madness

A day where I try to sneakily read Mockingjay at work when nobody is looking.  :)

So excited for this book

:) :) :)

So far so good, I bought the eBook from Barnes & Noble.com so it's less noticable that I'm reading then the actual book would be.  :)

My favorite lines from the book so far:

"Some walks you have to take alone."

"Still, I hate them.  But, of course, I hate almost everybody now.  Myself more than anyone."

"To become the Mockingjay...could any good I do possibly outweigh the damage?"

"Oh, no.  It costs a lot more than your life.  To murder innocent people?" says Peeta.  "It costs everything you are."

Dazzling Days

Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel

This book gets a definite 5 out of 5 gnomes, it catches your attention right away, is extremely well written and it has quite the ending.

I absolutely adored this book, 

Main Character:
     Lenah Beaudonte - Vampire Queen, very old (over 500), also sixteen year old girl.

Potential and Past Beaus:
     Justin - the minute Lenah see's him she knows she wants to know more about him but of course 
     he has a girlfriend.
     Tony - Lenah's best friend
     Rhode - the one who sired Lenah, her lover and friend for a very long time.
     Vicken - her lover that Lenah sires when Rhode leaves her for about a hundred years.

The cover of this book is extremely eye catching, it has a shininess to it and the paper has a nice texture to it, it's really what drew me to the book, that and all the other awesome reviews I'd been reading about it.  I enjoy Maizel's take on vampires because in this book they aren't something to be envied and there's no questioning that they are evil.  I also probably love Lenah's character even more because she works in the library at her school.  The writing in Infinite Days is very well done and the present and glimpses of the past really let you see clearly how Lenah's character has changed. 

The story opens with Lenah waking up somewhere cold and alone and then Rhode explains to her that she's indeed human.  He explains the ritual that made her that way and the fact that as a part of it he had to sacrifice himself so she could be human once again.

I like how Lenah is not perfect right away and that she is doing things like sizing up how easily she could be killing some of the people she meets.  It's pretty entertaining when she's shaking people's hands, looking at people's veins and imagining how they would taste.

Of course the boy she likes, Justin, has a girlfriend but Lenah and Justin just kind of click.  Things don't go a hundred percent well at first but you can tell that he's intrigued.  Her experiences as a human really make you think what it might feel like to not be able to really feel the world around you.  Being human again opens her eyes up to the world around her.  A great scene happens in the library when she goes into a listening room and hears opera music for the first time via the stereo system.  Her best friend Tony and Justin slowly bring her out of her shell and make her see the world more.  Things are going well but Lenah's coven still has a connection to her and they don't want to give her up without a fight.

So as not to spoil anything, I'll just say that this book had one of the best endings that I've read in a long time.  The ending of the book is very intense, I've never been so glad to have a sneak peak chapter at the end of a book before.  This chapter for Rebecca Maizel's next book in this series, Stolen Nights makes me want to read the next book even more.  I for one can't wait to see where this series goes in the future.

Sentence Sneak Peak - Infinite Days

Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel

The first sentence from each chapter of Infinite Days, it's like a mini summary of some of what you can expect to read.

"Those were the last words I could remember."

"My house was a stone castle."

"Grief is an emotion not completely foreign to vampires but it feels more like a shift or a change in the direction of the wind.'

"Do something?"

"Bleeeeeep."

"First day of classes."

"As soon as assembly was over, everyone started to move toward the exits."

"At around 3:30, I finished my last class of the day."

"Claudia!"

"You realize we're partners right?"

"I wish I could tell you that I sat in bright sunlight on the bow of the boat with my feet dangling over the edge."

"Lenah!"

"Have you ever in your life wanted to do something terrible?"

"Nickerson Summit is a bridge suspended 150 feet over a river."

"Lenah!"

"Crash--smack!"

"I sat on the Madame Curie statue's basin and looked out at Wick-ham campus, but my eyes quickly lost focus."

"Justin's family lived in...get this...Rhode Island."

"That next morning, I could feel the chill in the air even in the bundles of blankets on the guest bed."

"Tap tap--tap."

"A Chinese vase shattered against a wall in a living room cast in shadow."

"Lenah?"

"Wickham beach was deserted, but I sat on the stone wall, anyway."

"A snowball cam whizzing toward my face and smacked me square in the forehead."

"Two days after my return to Hathersage, I leaned against the window frame and stared out at the fields through an upper-floor window."

"One blink."

"Come," Heath instructed."

"The way the sun filtered through the blinds in Quartz was completely different from Seeker."

"It took an hour to convince Justin that he needed to go about his day as though I wasn't there."

"Rosemary," I told the woman behind the herbs and flowers cart."

"This way," Justin directed."

"Lenah!?""

"I stumbled out of my bedroom, closing the door behind me."

Maizel Monday

Today I'm going to celebrate Rebecca Maizel and her supremely good book, Infinite Days. 

First we'll have a haiku, then later a sentence sneak peak of the book and finally a review.

First a vampire queen

Now a sixteen year old girl

Sacrifice or love

Fantastic Friday

What I'm currently reading and loving, this is one funny book so far.  :)

Tee-rific Thursday: Shirts I own

These two shirts I'm going to show you today are a great way to show that you love books.  I bought them from threadless.com.  Here are some lovely book related shirts that I own,

I think this shirt says both that you love food and books.  :)

 

One of my favorite shirts because it combines literacy, books and comics

Revitalized Red Riding Hood

Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce gets a solid 4.5 out of 5 gnomes, great for those looking for a real kick butt heroine and a surprising twist on a classic fairy tale.

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Fractured fairy tales are always an interesting read and Sisters Red really takes the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood to the next level.  The cover of the book just draws you in to the story and makes you want to read it.

In this tale the heroine does get attacked by the wolf but the woodsman/lumberjack isn’t the one to kill it, she kills the wolf herself all to protect her little sister.  But in the process of killing the wolf she gets badly scarred and loses her right eye.

The wolf in this story though is no ordinary wolf.  It’s refreshing to read a werewolf book where the group of werewolves is definitely not the good guys.  They even call the werewolves Fenris, which goes back to Norse mythology and Fenris being a giant wolf and Loki’s son, instead of plain werewolves which I thought was pretty clever and made the werewolves seem more troublesome.  So the book is kind of like the tv show Supernatural or Buffy with werewolves instead of vampires.

There are two main characters who tell the story in alternating chapters.  They are the March sisters, older sister Scarlett and younger sister Rosie.  After the prologue you find out that the sisters have been hunting the Fenris for seven years trying to keep the town safe and avenge the death of their grandmother.  Scarlett is the strong one who feels that it’s their duty to hunt and kill Fenris because not everyone knows of the danger they represent.  Rosie is trying to follow in Scarlett’s footsteps but her sister is very protective and Rosie thinks there has to be more to the world then just hunting.

The plot really rolls into motion when fellow hunter Silas, the son of the woodsman who raised them and taught them how to hunt, returns.  They realize that the wolves are getting more powerful and attacks are happening more often.  The small town where they live is probably not the best place to find out how and why the wolves are growing more bold so they go to the city.

There’s romance in the air between Rosie and Silas and that doesn’t feel believable in the beginning of the book but by the end you can see them possibly working.  One problem though is a point in the book where Silas pretty much says that he picked Rosie because all Scarlett cares about is hunting.  It’s hard not to miss the cues of who the Fenris are really after but even if you guess long before the character’s do it’s still a very exciting read.  It has a conclusion that would indeed leave room for a sequel which I know I would be more than happy to read.

Malicious Maladies

For my first review on this blog I chose to post my review of Mind Games by Carolyn Crane.  The review's also on Amazon where I originally posted it.

This book gets a 4.5 out of 5 gnomes, it is highly recommended and well worth reading.

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This book has a great concept that will really speak to anyone with neurotic tendencies, which is just about everyone. Warning, you may become more of a hypochondriac after reading this book. I was drawn in by just reading the back cover.

Justine Jones, what a great name I've always been a sucker for alliteration in names, is not your typical kick butt type of woman but as the story progresses she finds herself letting go of her hypochondria related fears.

Having a group that can project their fears and insecurities into criminals by "zinging" them or pretty much drilling a hole in their aura/energy field with their minds and then releasing their own fear or insecurity into the person is a very interesting way to fight crime and disillusion the person thus making them change their ways. The range of disillusion talents really makes you think more of how you act and what your own neuroses might be.  Some of the others make people want to drink, gamble, or make them fearful of natural events or things like the big picture saying things like oh oils not the problem water running out is the real issue.

Packard, the leader of the Disillusionists is a "highcap", what the author calls anyone with psychic powers, who can see the structure that makes up someone like their greatest fears and why they make certain choices.  Packard picks the people that the team goes after by seeing exactly how to disillusion someone.  So it can be a two step or more process.  Step one, Justine gets sent after someone who’s afraid of health issues so she then magnifies the fear of whatever health condition they are afraid of.  Step two is to make the person gamble or risk away all their wealth so another disillusionist comes in and makes the person gamble away their wealth and possessions. 

Packard recruits Justine and they have a very palpable chemistry between them but of course she has a boyfriend and other complications and romantic entanglements ensue. Of course there’s the kind of cliché fact that Packard didn’t tell her everything about the zinging and about himself so this makes Justine unsure of her feelings.  Packard’s nemesis who can interact with the architecture of a building is not as fleshed out a character as he could be but I personally can’t wait to read more about him. I'm not sure I agree with her choice in the end but it has one heck of a conclusion. The book ends on a pretty positive note and I am indeed looking forward to the next book.

This is the Bibliognome

Why the name Bibliognome, well I like gnomes and I like books so I combined the two.  Since starting a full time job as a Library Assistant I've been reading a lot more.  I've always enjoyed reading but now I want to try my hand at reviewing.  Feel free to tell me what you like and tell me what you hate.  I'm always up for a good discussion.