How has the "job" of book blogging changed your reading habits? Both pro and con.
The Good: I read a lot more books now, much more than I used to which means I have a read a lot of great books that I may have never heard of before because blogging and all the things that come with it have kept me up to date with upcoming books and author news.
The Bad: I am easily influenced a lot more by other people's opinions since I follow so many book blogs and have friends on goodreads so although other people’s opinions have saved me from wasting my time on a bad book it may have also prevented me from reading a book I was initially interested in that I might have found to be good.
There is one word that describes this show “Fun” but since this word alone is not an adequate description I will say a few more. Merlin is an enjoyable, retelling of the Legend of King Arthur told through a different perspective. There are the familiar stories of the Knights of the Round Table, the Lady of the Lake, and the Sword in the Stone but in previous adaptations where the stories are often told from Arthur’ s point of view – the great king to be, Merlin is told from the point of view of the great wizard to be, hence the title.
Often portrayed as a wizened mentor with long, white hair and a matching long beard the Merlin (Colin Morgan) we first see walking casually down a road towards Camelot is actually a gangly, young man with plenty to learn in both magic and life. The former might be more difficult however because although Merlin has been sent to the city of Camelot in the hopes of keeping him safe through proper guidance we quickly learn that anyone who is caught practising magic is executed because magic in Camelot has been banned by the King, Uther Pendragon (Anthony Head), Arthur’s father. Still, not doing any magic at all is virtually impossible for someone who has been able to do it since he could walk, especially when there are many others who choose to use their magic to try and bring an end to Uther, Arthur and Camelot, a goal Merlin cannot allow to happen because it his destiny to ensure that Arthur (Bradley James) becomes the great king he is meant to be who will one day restore magic to the land. Is this a lot of pressure to bestow on one young man? Don’t worry, Merlin has help from his guardian Gaius (Richard Wilson) the court physician and a thirty-foot talking dragon (voiced by John Hurt) who likes to give advice in the most cryptic way imaginable which our main man likes to ignore more than follow.
"One day people won't believe what an idiot you were."
Filled with familiar characters shown in new ways Merlin is a show brimming with fantastic actors, fast paced story lines that tend to wrap up in the span of one or two episodes and is a mixture of serious drama and wonderful humour. The show, I also believe does a great job of showing how the characters we see in Season 1 become the characters we have heard about from the legends, we get to see how each character grows and changes and by seeing their journey the audience has no problem believing that a bully can become a great king, a servant girl a queen, or a naive but loyal young lady become a powerful and evil sorceress. However, despite these high notes I will say that the show Merlin is not perfect because although it is completely enjoyable and entertaining and one of my favourite shows on TV it does have its short comings which I think is due to the inconsistency in writing. To truly enjoy Merlin I am often forced to suspend disbelief in the case of plot holes and out-of-character moments, simple things that could be avoided if more time was spent on polishing out scripts would make this series more than just a fun time but really fantastic but I will say the show improves with each season as does its popularity and cannot wait for Season 5 to be released later this year. Which may indeed be the final season; I am not sure how I feel about this yet.
Archangel Academy is more than a school to Michael Howard. Within its majestic buildings and serene English grounds, he's found friends, new love, and a place that feels more like home than Nebraska ever did. But the most important gift of Archangel Academy is immortality. . .
Life as a just-made vampire is challenging for Michael, even with Ronan, an experienced vamp, to guide him. Michael's abilities are still raw and unpredictable. To add to the turmoil, the ancient feud between rival vampire species is sending ripples of discord through the school. And beneath the new headmaster's charismatic front lies a powerful and very personal agenda.
Yet the mysteries lurking around the Academy pale in comparison to the secrets emerging from Michael's past. And choosing the wrong person to trust—or to love—could lead to an eternity of regret. . .
Michael Griffo is an award-winning writer and one of six playwrights whose career will be tracked by WritersInsight.com until 2010. He is a graduate of New York University, has studied at Playwrights Horizons and Gotham Writers Workshop, and has written several screenplays.
Unwelcome was a good book, I find that it shows not only the wickedness in people that hate you but also the wickedness in people closest to you. In this story you are able to see that even people who love you can betray you without even knowing or by doing it unwillingly. It shows that even as you shower someone with hatefulness they can still find love and even with secrets their love can grow. If people would learn from their problems they would be able fine each other and love each other better.
I think this book was a little slow in the beginning and that that the main character is not really learning anything useful. I also believe that the father of the main character is a little uneven. I am hoping that these books get better over time.
There were some pretty entertaining movies this year - Reel Steel, X-Men:First Class, and Super 8 to name a few including the final Harry Potter movie but next year looks like it's going to be even better.
Title: The Hunger Games Release Date: March 23rd 2012
Sandy: I loved this book series and the trailer looks awesome. I am already a fan of Josh Hutcherson (Journey to the Center of the Earth) and I am quickly growing fond of Jennifer Lawrence (X-Men: First Class)
Title: Underworld: Awakening Release Date: January 20th 2012
Reeshe: the first 3 were good movies
Title: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Release Date: December 14th 2012
Sandy: I loved the Lord of the Rings trilogy and I love Martin Freeman (Sherlock, BBC) who will be playing Bilbo in this.
Title: The Avengers Release Date: May 4th 2012
Sandy: I am a fan of the Marvel movies, not all of them but the majority and to have Robert Downy Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, and Mark Ruffalo all together in one movie which is directed by Joss Whedon...my brain just exploded.
Title: The Dark Knight Rises Release Date:
Sandy: The Dark Knight was awesome, Christopher Nolan is a genius director and I love me some Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway and Joseph Gordon Levitt xD.
Title: The Amazing Spiderman Release Date: July 3rd 2012
Sandy: I was against this movie the moment I heard about it, I mean we just had three Spiderman movies a few years ago but then I saw this trailer and this one looks a lot less cheesy, more darker and just better.
Title: Snow White and The Huntsman Release Date: 1st June 2012
Sandy: The trailer looks so epic! Its going to be both action and adventure. Snow White was my least favourite Disney princess because all she did was sing, cook, clean and get poisoned but in this movie she's actually going to get up off her butt and fight!
Title: Safe House Release Date: February 10th 2012
Reeshe: Looks interesting Sandy: Denzel Washington AND Ryan Reynolds...^_^
Title: Jack the Giant Killer Release Date: June 15th 2012
Sandy: You have to have noticed by now that I like Fairy Tale retellings and I have yet to see one of Jack and the Beanstalk unless you count Puss in Boots, which I don't (though that movie was funny).
Title: Brave Release Date: June 22nd 2012
Sandy: Two words: Disney's Pixar
Now this list was supposed to be a lot longer and actually have more reasons from Reeshe, but getting my co-blogger to do something on time is proving to be an impossible task. So blame her for this short list.
This isn't going to be a regular thing but in the future I can see myself (like today) doing another post like this so they will be numbered :). I have stumbled across a few new YA covers in the past few weeks and thought it would be nice to share them.
The Calling (Darkness Rising #2) by Kelley Armstrong
(UK Edition)
The Immortal Rules (Book of Eden #1) by Julie Kagawa
(US Edition)
Hallowed (Unearthly #2) by Cynthia Hand
(Australian Edition)
Embrace by Jessica Shirvington
(German Edition)
What do you all think? My favourites here are probably Hallowed and The Calling.
Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight—she’s a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king’s thug.
When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change. She never expects to become Po’s friend. She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace—or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.
In the world of Graceling there are two distinct kinds of people - those that are graced and those that are not. The skills of the graced from what I have seen so far in this first book of Kristin Cashore's fantasy series are not as flamboyant or should I say obvious as what you would find in, for example, a comic book. There are no lasers shooting out of people's eyes, or tornado's being formed with a mere thought, the gracelings are what I would describe as unnaturally gifted. A normal person gifted in fighting would beat his or her opponent with almost ease, a person graced in fighting could have a broken arm, be faced off against five people and would still never lose a fight. The gracelings could be the most talented dancers, swimmers, runners, singers, weavers etc. or they could have far more dangerous talents.
Katsa's grace allowed her to kill a man when she was eight years old with one hand and from this moment on she has been used by her uncle, King Randa, to strike fear into the heart of anyone who wrongs him. This along with her particular grace has made others who have not even met Katsa fear her, and her upbringing has not made Katsa the most typical of noble ladies. Still, Katsa despite not seeing herself as anything more than a tyrant leads covert operations where she helps people who need it and more and more recently she is finding it much more difficult to carry out her uncle's orders. However, what really sets things off is while on a mission Katsa encounters a graced fighter who unexpectedly helps her unravel the peculiarities of her own grace as well as the shocking secrets of a foreign kingdom.
The story of Graceling for me was truly about not allowing yourself to be shaped by other people's predetermined thoughts of who you are and about being able to achieve anything as long as you never give up despite the odds. Graceling was also filled with such a diverse combination of awesome characters that ranged from brilliant to kick butt that I can’t wait to meet them again in Fire and Bitterblue.
Main Stars
Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner
The Quileute and the Volturi close in on expecting parents Edward and Bella, whose unborn child poses different threats to the wolf pack and vampire coven.
Warning: Spoilers
Reeshe's Review
I enjoined this movie very much but I think the disappointing part of Breaking Dawn part 1 was when I found out that I would have to wait an entire year to watch part 2. Breaking Dawn was exciting, I never knew what was coming and it gave me goose bumps. I love that Jacob has finally found someone but I also can’t wait to find out what the Volturi will do about Bella or worst when they find out about the baby.
This movie is a rave but I fear that waiting so long will turn me off part 2.
Sandy's Review
Speaking as a non-fan this movie was surprisingly not as bad as I thought it would be even though I found myself laughing most of the time. Except for being a bit drawn out, it was obviously made for book fans and was actually quite decent. When comparing to the previous films I thought the actors were a lot better, there was a lot more humor and I didn’t find Bella dull. She was in danger again of course but this time it wasn’t just outward forces trying to kill her but her own unborn child. Kristen Stewart wasn’t overly awkward in this role and Bella actually seemed like a strong character in a subtle way.
Worst scene: where the wolf pack, as wolves, was communicating telepathically, it was cheesy and their voices, which were altered to have an undercurrent growl, sounded ridiculous.
Best scene: was actually a scene that had me cringing and a few have described as horror movie worthy – the birth scene. It was as if Bella was giving birth to the Anti-Christ - it was everything a normal birth scene had but turned up by 100.
