Jane Eyre continued

I'm officially done with the novel which means one book completed for my Dusty Volumes Challenge! I cheered as Jane ran from Mr. Rochester and screamed at St. John's horrible twist of scripture. Telling someone that it is their duty to God to have sex and produce children with you isn't doing God's work, it's rape! I love Jane for standing up for herself and I was actually happy that she lived the life she choose based on her own happiness. I still don't like Mr. Rochester, but they obviously love each other and in the end that's all that matters.

On a side note, I forgot to mention in the last blog that the random language barrier in Jane Eyre was frustrating. The random statements in French or German were so random and I never really understood what Adele was saying. At least it didn't take away from the overall point or theme.

Edwards suck

I started rereading Jane Eyre months ago and I am finally almost done with it. I read it back in high school and I remember hating it, but one of my close friends recently became obsessed with it so I decided to give it another try. When starting it I was blown away. Bronte is such a wonderful writer. The book itself is simply beautiful. I loved Jane herself and I was certain that by the end my hatred for the book would be gone. Unfortunately Mr. Rochester entered the picture and I began to hate the book again. The way Jane speaks of herself and how Mr. Rochester speaks of her enrages me. Jane is such a great character, but her acceptance of Mr. Rochester's actions is not okay. I love her for running away, and I know when she goes back to him I'm going to throw my book. I'm glad I reread it and I've highlighted at least ten passages, but in general I'm not a huge fan.



Last month I read Water for Elephants for book club and I was pleasantly surprised. I'll be honest, I expected to hate it simply because I knew Robert Pattinson was in it. The book was quirky and unexpected. The idea of the circus could have failed, but there was enough information and details to bring you into the circus community without being overwhelmed with facts.

Spoilers.

I knew from the introduction that Marlena was a victim of domestic violence and I worried about how the author would present the relationship. It was written well and in a logical, realistic way based on my own experience working with victims. I was amazed and actually laughed when Rosie was the killer. I loved it. Such a wonderful twist, and frankly I was happy to see the animal standing up for itself! I'm glad I read the book and I am excited to see the film, even with Robert, haha!

Dreamcatcher

This is my second book completed for the Stephen King challenge. I'm happy to report that I enjoyed Dreamcatcher a lot more than The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. I thought the book was completely captivating, which it needs to be considering it's almost 900 pages. I loved the story of the five boys and teh back and forth between their current situation and their past. The middle section focusing on the military aspect of the situation seemed too seperated from what I was believing to be the original plot. I felt there could have been a better way to introduce the military actions without creating another set of characters. the Kuntz story seemed to mainstream for me. I wish King had focused on the five men with only minor military sidebars. Either way, I still enjoyed the book and I have faith now for the rest of this challenge!

14 books down and 86 to go

I decided to try the goodreads 100 in 2011 Challenge. I didn't start any of my challenges until March so I now have to read at least 2 books a week for the rest of the year. I'm totally screwed. Sunday night I made a list of the books in the order I want to read them so I can complete my other three challenges (Hogwarts, Dusty Covers, Stephen King) and catch up with the Anita Blake series and all of the Jodi Picoult books I haven't finished. If I get complete the goodreads challenge I'm going to be incredibly proud of myself, and extremely surprised! Wish me luck :)

Also, I really need to get working my my script for scriptfrenzy! I haven't written a single word! Thank goodness I have the plot and characters worked out in my mind!

Read-a thon!

It's finally here! I've been excited for over a month and now the day has finally arrived! This is so much better than Christmas! I'm off to spend the day with "A Killer Plot" and then as many Laurell K. Hamilton books (Anita Blake series) that I can fit in! I hope everyone is having a lovely read-a-thon!!!!

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

I don't know why it took me so long to reread this book. I know I enjoyed it the first time I read it, but rereading it with the film characters in mind made it even better. To be able to perfectly imagine the actions and hear the voices was amazing. I am a total sap and started to cry the minute Hedwig and Snape were introduced. Now that I've reread the first book (25 points for Ravenclaw!) I can't wait to reread the entire series. I'm so glad I joined the Hogwarts' Challenge!

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon

I've wanted to read this book for years. I thought of all the Stephen King books this would be the one that affected me the most considering I'm such a fangirl. I was totally wrong. The "it" creature in the novel was a total joke. Seriously, a wasp-bear god like being. Really? I don't know what I expected the plot to be, but I had this image of a fangirl who thrived off the idea of her hero while lost in the woods. While this is somewhat true to the book, the strength drawn from Tom wasn't as clearly written as I had hoped (except for the girl's final gesture). I imagined myself becoming caught up in the fandom of Tom Gordon and connecting with Trisha because of my own fandom, but that didn't happen. Incredibly disappointed. This is the second King book I've read and I'm sorry to report that I enjoyed The Cell more than I enjoyed this book. I hope the older King classics will win me over.

On another note, I saw Source Code. FAIL. So stupid. It was like an extended episode of The Outer Limits, only with the beautiful Maggie Gyllenhaal. Of course, having it star Torri Higginson like a real episode of The Outer Limits would have been more awesome. I'm off to play some Bingo on Facebook before finally crashing. Saturday shall be filled with homework, Stargate Atlantis (Torri <3), and rereading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone!

Crazy for Books

I have to admit that I'm not the most intersting person, but I love reading other people's views and I hope my are some what entertaining. The blog hop is helping bloggers unite and I hope to meet friends and fellow bloggers!

Review of The Book Thief

My book club book this month was The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. What an amazing novel. Not only is it the first book I've read from the view of regular German citizens during World War 2, but it's the first book I've ever read where Death was the narrator. Having death speak for this period in Germany is brilliant. The novel was about a girl who learns to love reading by reading books she has stolen with her father. The family hides a Jew in their basement to protect him from the Nazi soldiers. Max, the Jew, because close friends with the girl and he writes her a book called "The Word Shaker." I loved the story of the word shaker. It spoke about the strength of words and how powerful they can be if you stand behind what you say, or how weak they can be without support. While it took me about 20 pages to really get into the writing style, I became addicted and I'm so glad I stuck through this novel because it is absolutely original and brilliant.

Hogwarts Reading Challenge

This challenge is my favourite just because it makes me feel like an actual Hogwarts student. After taking the sorting hat test I was, of course, put into Ravenclaw. Duh! I am a proud student of that house and I even have a scarf and hat to show my pride :) Ironically I have more pride in Ravenclaw than I do with VCU and its stupid basketball team! Okay, back to the point. For each HP book you get 25 points and then 15 for HP related books. In addtion you must read a book for each of the casses and there are mini-challenges. I'm going go rock it out for my Ravenclaw!!! As I did with my other challenges, I've decided to write out the books I plan on reading for each class so I can see my progress! I am such a frakin' dork!

Transfiguration - The Drag King Anthology

Defence Against the Dark Arts - anything Laurell K. Hamilton (aka Anita Blake)

Charms - Under the Tuscan Sun

Potions - The China Study

Astronomy - The Abduction Enigma

History of Magic - Who Cooked the Last Supper?: The Women's History of the World

Herbology - Eating Animals

Arithmancy - Three Junes

Ancient Runes - Confederates in the Attic (it's as ancient as I get!)

Divination - The God Delusion

Care of Magical Creatures - His Majesty's Dragon

Muggle Studies - Pushed

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - Done! 25 points for Ravenclaw!

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Dusty Volumes and Stephen King Challenges

I have decided to write out the books I want to read so I can keep track of my goals and to get me excited about the challenges! For one challenge I am reading 11 books that were all published before 1960. A lot of these are books I've wanted to read and never found the chance and some are just books I want to reread. The second is comprised of Stephen King books. I've always wanted to get into King's books so I hope that reading a variety of them will show me what everyone loves about him!

Dusty Volumes Reading Challenge

The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

Emma by Jane Austen

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier

The Story of O by Pauline Reage

Stephen King Books

Dreamcather

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon - Done!

Carrie

The Dead Zone

Misery

It

Shawshank Redemption

Needful Things

Thinner

The Shining

Different Seasons

The Tommyknockers

First Post!

I'm not exactly sure what to do with a blog, but I'm excited about the possibilities. Expect rants, fan girl stories, and maybe a few secrets. I'm incredibly excited about all the reading challenges I've joined and I can't wait to read my ass off! Kate's trying to help me link the challenges to my page, but right now I'm just going to put in the website. Sorry for my lack of technology skills, lol.

24 hour Read-a-thon!!!!

http://24hourreadathon.com/

111 in '11

http://lifeisshort-readfast.blogspot.com/

Dusty Volumes Reading Challenge

http://midnytereader.com/2010/12/dusty-volumes-reading-challenge.html

Hogwarts Reading Challenge

http://worthreadingit.blogspot.com/2011/01/howarts-reading-challenge-2011.html

The Stephen King Challenge

http://www.bookchickcity.com/2010/12/sign-up-2011-stephen-king-challenge.html

This year is going to be AMAZING