Thalia @ Pictures in the Words

Was that supposed to be climactic?

Trenton and Kallista just got into a fight because she was being an idiot (like usual). Trenton threatens to quit working with her on the project, and even throws some serious shade, which is all resolved in a few sentences. 

I don't know, I figure we've just had a time skip of several months, they've been friends for quite awhile now--is this really the first time she's gotten so frustrated? Is this the first time Trenton has said he'll quit if she doesn't stop acting like such a brat? I know it seems like I'm nitpicking, but I feel like a little more drama in either of the characters' reactions here could have made the situation more believable. 

So far, so good. I mean, it's not groundbreaking or exceptional in any way, but it's fairly well written, and I'm interested in seeing where the story goes. Sometimes it's a little frustrating because I can't picture the mechanics of things very clearly (for instance, the tool Trenton and Kallista are trying to put together), but I don't know how much to blame on the writing or myself. Oh well. Right now I'm feeling three stars because I don't feel anything one way or the other. 

Okay, so I dropped everything else to read this book for the book prize I'm helping to judge. But I LOVE Calvin and Hobbes, and for there to be a young adult (technically middle grade, I guess?) novel about Calvin and Hobbes made me geek out a little bit.

Calvin deals with heavy themes and a pretty lighthearted manner. Of course, I appreciated the humor from the comics, and when Calvin begins to question everything he sees provides a legitimate insight to how his disorder affects him. It was well-written, although I wish it was longer and went more intimately into the characters and their stories, because right now, we're barely scartching the surface. The love story between Calvin and Susie felt forced because I didn't know either one of them well enough to believe in it, and it felt a little more like insta-love than true love, you know? 

Also, I can't say how well the schizophrenia was handled, because I don't know anyone personally who has been disagnosed with it. I wonder if it's significant that the doctors say Calvin has auditory hallucinations, but he actually does see Hobbes on a number of occasions--all occasions, actually, even when it's just a flicker out of the corner of his eye. And the idea that you can take a trip across a frozen lake and that will *mostly* cure your mental disorder was probably not intended by the author, but that's the way it kind of came across.

Anyway, all in all, it wasn't long enough for me to develop a significant attachment to anything, although I did enjoy it while I was reading (one sitting in an airport).

This is one of the books being considered for a prize I'm helping to judge this year. As a result, I was sent a handful of books from the sponser (or who I think is a sponser?), and although many of my judge-companion people have already gotten through several of the books on our list, this is my first one. (I started another, but I guess enough people didn't like it enough that I decided to move on.)

I'm going to be a little more meticulous as I go through this book, even though I haven't been very active recently. I want to remember the things I like and don't like about these novels so I can know exactly how I'd like to vote when the time comes. Although I still have so much to do for school and basically no breaks between now and graduation (a year from now), I'm making these a priority ASAP!

So far, it's good. I like the writing, and although I don't know much about the story yet, I'm looking forward to seeing how it all plays out. Trenton is so far likeable, although the love interest/bully were introduced pretty quickly and seem a little cookie cutter. I have high hopes, though!

Okay... I've been at seventy pages for awhile...

BUT it's not really my fault! "Goblet of Fire" is by far my favorite Harry Potter film, and I'm stoked to get further into the novel. School is just kind of kicking my butt, and between maintaining my GPA and working almost twenty hours a week, I'm also supposed to be helping judge a middle grade fiction aware for Mormon authors, I'm one of the vice presidents of a club here on campus, and I'm in the school musical. To name only a few of my extracurriculars...

So I haven't had much time for Harry Potter recently--but Christmas break starts next week (even if it's only two weeks), and I have a loooong flight back to the mainland from this rainy little island. I can't exactly promise I won't binge read Lord of the Rings while I'm home, but I'll certainly make time for this!

Okay, I'll be honest, I finished this awhile ago.

When I first tried to read the Harry Potter books, this is the one that killed me. I never finished it. This time around, it definitely took me longer than the first two--part of that is college and the struggle to read for pleasure when I have so much reading for class; part of it is, while this is one of my favorite movies, it just wasn't a very interesting book for me. It's my least favorite in the series so far, and that kind of sucks, but although it's been a few months since I actually finished, we should all take a second to celebrate that I made it past my sticking point from years ago! Yay!

Aloha, my lovelies!

I've been absent. And by that, I mean struggling through college. I mean, I've been reading (English majors, if you haven't guessed, read a LOT), but I never read anything slowly or... connectedly(?) enough to feel like I can write a review for what I've been reading. And I have so many reviews to catch up on from before this semester even started, way back at the beginning of the summer and everything... *sigh* I'm going to try, though!

I managed to keep the balance between class and reading for fun pretty easily my first few semesters here at school, but I obviously haven't been doing that lately, hahah. It's probably because of my job, which is great and I love it and would never, ever want to work anywhere else on campus, but it does translate to roughly twenty hours a week that I don't get to do homework (and therefore, don't get to read for fun). 

I will eventually catch up. This semester is almost over, which means I've have a week break before my next semester begins. But I'm also part of a song and dance class, and we'll be having rehearsals every day for that week, so no promises I'll be productive then, either.

So, basically, nothing might change, but I did want to pop in and let you all know that I'm still alive, and I miss reading and reviewing like crazy, and I'll do everything I can to get it back in my life. I love you all, and I hope you're all in good places!

So, this is from that time when books always started out with a great summary of pretty much everything that happened in the last book, which I forgot how completely and totally boring that is when you read them close together. 

And, well, I'm still not sold on Rowling's writing. I just don't like the style, or how distant I still feel from the characters. I just can't immerse myself in it. I know it's a fantasy book, but it feels much too unrealistic. With the movies, I can buy into what happens because it feels real for them--this is different. I don't know how to explain it. I'm trying to get into this one, but so far, the first one was better.

(I can already feel my dislike for Ginny mounting, and she hasn't even really done anything yet.)

I ordered this from Amazon from my "to read ASAP" list because a used copy was on sale for about $3. I'm waiting for my copy of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets to get here, so I wanted to read something in the same genre I've been in lately, but also kind of short so I could finish it by the time my book got here.

So I read this yesterday and today, and I'm pretty disappointed. I mean, the narration, for what's supposed to be a seventeen-year-old girl was so...juvenile. It had that stream of consciousness "this is how I feel as I feel it" vibe, and I kind of hate that. So Sarah just came across as young, immature, and somewhat incompetent for most of the novel. I can relate to her having a gorgeous, "every guy wants her and never you" sort of thing (although my prettier best friends have never been as cruel as Brianna is to Sarah, and for that I'm grateful), and some of her descriptions of Ryan were realistic in the feeling they conveyed. I also gave it some points for the positive ending, where, yeah, she gets Ryan, but it's about her moving on from someone as destructive as Brianna. Knowing that sometimes you can't save everyone, and even the people you've loved for years aren't the best for you and you have to let go. That's a lesson I had to learn when I was seventeen, too, and I'm grateful for it.

So, eh, it was a two star read, but certainly not something I'd recommend. I appreciated that it focused on the friendship quite a bit, but the majority of the novel was "RYAN RYAN OMG RYAN HE MAKES ME FEEEEEL THINGS RYAN RYAN RYAN."

Well, the ending was a little... abrupt. Not my favorite way to leave this story, that's for sure. I thought Felicity seemed a little too unchanged until the very, very end, at the pageant, which is less character development than I would have liked. It seemed a little scattered throughout the novel, instead of a smooth progression, so that bothered me a little bit.

Overall, though, I'm pretty pleased. It's exactly what's advertised, and I did enjoy the story for what it was. Of course, it was immature and slightly silly sometimes, and I had to stretch a little to understand some of the characters' ideas, but I did like this story, It's one to at least give a chance, and not write off because it's a little unbelievable. It was a fun ride. Four stars!

This is actually pretty good! It's more believable than I thought it would be (less magical realism and more suspending not exactly disbelief, but skepticism), and I actually love the way it's written. The story is engaging and I enjoy the characters, even if they are a little immature sometimes. 

And while it's not exactly something that makes you think about life, it's entertaining and cute, and that's what it's supposed to be. Meanwhile, it does make you wonder how much effort we put into our appearances. It's interesting for me because, while I don't keep it a secret that I dye my hair red, I can't imagine myself ever being a blonde again, either. I wonder how that'll play out for the rest of my life, so I bond with Felicity over her struggle to accept herself as a girl who does not have naturally bright, coppery red hair. And I love that. It's a silly thing to feel a connection over, but it's there, and it's strong. Definitely better than I thought this would be (especially following a wonder like The Fill-In Boyfriend!).

I feel like it's not even fair to start reading another book, but what can I say? I'm a little addicted to reading again.

I can relate to this, since my red hair is certainly from a bottle (much to the surprise of unsuspecting friends who learn the truth). I'm excited for it, and so far, the writing is good and I'm excited for what's to come!

When was the last time I started and finished a book in one day? Like... maybe four hours. And I will take this time to cheer because MY READING SLUMP HAS FINALLY BEEN BROKEN!!!

This is easily the best book I've read this year. EASILY. Everything about The Fill-In Boyfriend was fantastic, even though it began a little cheesy. Since we met the love interest/fill-in boyfriend on literally page four, I was worried the insta-love would overtake me and ruin what I wanted to like about this book, but I was so pleasantly surprised.

The two main characters, Gia and Hayden, have the most amazing relationship. It has an obviously quirky beginning, since Gia does ask him to pretend to be her ex-boyfriend for prom night, but the development of it afterward is so natural and easygoing. I don't think I've ever read a book with as realistic a relationship as the one in this book. And this is particularly exciting for me because I've been dying to read Kasie West's books for ages and have been holding back for that "are they popular because they're good or or am I going to hate them the way I hate If I Stay and Nicholas Sparks" kind of way. BUT SHE'S SO SO SO SO SO GOOD.

I'll write my review for this when I'm in a less fangirly state of mind. But seriously, I'm so happy. Everything about it made me happy. I'll be more objective later. But right now, I'm just going to emotionally roll around in how happy I am, and also pat myself on the back for this completely impulsive, unfounded, and probably irresponsible buy from the bookstore. (Screw you, TBR!)

Okay, I admit I cried a little bit when Abe's son died. The death of children is just so sad for me to think about, especially when they're close to the main character. I can't imagine losing a child. I can't imagine losing anyone closely related to me. So...

I finished this up last night, and it was...well, pretty anticlimactic. I mean, of course the Civil War had to come to an end, and I knew it would, but Abe pretty much had to do nothing but mope after his son died, and the war ended anyway. Even his "death" was anticlimactic, and treated with such flippancy that it didn't feel like a real ending. I also reject this idea:

It picked up a bit from the beginning, although I'm still not a fan of the style. However, the writing is good, and it certainly sells you (mostly) on its being a biography. There are still some places where the dialogue outside of Lincoln's own journal entries is too precise for me to believe the narrator wrote it/pieced together exactly what was said. That's the problem with this selling as a biography-type story, because you need dialogue in a story like this, but the style makes it so unbelievable.

I think I'm leaning on about three stars right now, because I don't hate it, but I don't love it either.

This is actually very different from what I thought it would be. Where I adored Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, I expected this to have a similar style, but it...doesn't. It's written like a biography, which I don't particularly enjoy, because it's riddled with random quotes and passages written "by" Lincoln between Grahame-Smith's own words. I can't step outside myself enough to not be slightly irritated that it's all Grahame-Smith, and putting quotation marks around certain phrases doesn't make it feel any more authentic.

Hand in hand with that is the constant switch between third and first person. It reads more like an essay (I keep looking for the MLA citations, to be honest) rather than a novel, which I just don't like. I mean, I'm enjoying the story itself, but the style it's written in bothers me.

On the plus side, hey look! It's Poe! (: