The Eight

Hey, sorry for the delay, I'm trying to ignore the Grapes of Wrath that I'm supposed to be reading and also rereading the Harry Potter series for the like 20th time. Anyway, The Eight by Katherine Neville holds a very special place in my heart as it was given to me by my Dad. It was one of his favorite books when it was given to him by his mom in Finland and he decided to give a copy to me.

Here's the premise;

"Computer expert Cat Velis is heading for a job in Algeria. Before she goes, a mysterious fotune teller warns her of danger, and an antique dealer asks her to search for pieces to a valuable chess set that has been missing for years... In the South of France in 1790 two convent girls hide valuable pieces of a chess set all over the world, because the game that can be played with them is too powerful..."

The Eight is a powerful book that keeps up a fast pace throughout it's two perspectives. Normally it's a hit or miss if a book is telling two different stories at once and then melds into one towards the end, however this book does it seamlessly. This book rates a 5 for me and it's a highly recommended book as well. It's well done, smart, funny, and a good balance of the light and dark that comes with power. I can honestly say this book surprised me and delighted me at every turn :)

I'd also like to mention a series that I've found recently, called the Shoebox Project. Being a lover of both Harry Potter and the Marauder's Era (for those who don't know that'd be when James Potter, Lily Evans, Sirius Black and all those lot went to school) it was a perfect fit for the kind of thing I love to read. It's a well done fanfiction about the Marauders, and provides many great circumstances as to why the Map was concieved, why Lily finally fell for James and other stories only hinted at in the Harry Potter titles. I enjoyed reading it and hope that they will come out with the next chapter very soon.

Mood: Struggling with a headache, but otherwise pretty dang happy!

Song O' the Day: Cherry Bomb, both versions old and new

Voyage of the Basset

Have you ever had the book from when you were a kid that you still can read over and over? Voyage of the Basset by James C. Christensen with Renwick St. James and Alan Dean Foster is mine. I can still read it and love the story, looking at the pictures and picking up new details everytime I read it.

The premise is;

"Cassandra Aisling, who was nine year and eleven months old (which made her very, very close to ten), didn't care one jot what sensible people thought. She liked strange, mysterious and magical things. So when her world not just tilted, wholly, truly and topsy-turvily tangled and tumbled upside down, she boarded the H.M.S. Basset, ready to explore the landscape of imagination.

Pledging allegiance to the Basset's motto, Credendo Vides... By believing, One sees..., Cassandra, her skeptical older sister Miranda, and their father, Professor Algernon Aisling, set out in search of the ancient legends. From the flickering flight of faeries to the mermaids' siren songs, a labyrinth-bound Minotaur to a fire breathing dragon, the Aisling family witness firsthand the wonders of the mythological world. Cassandra's adventures intertwine with her father's scientific scribblings to present both new tales and the essence of classic myths."

I love this book with all my heart, for it draws together a lot of my favorite myths and has lovable characters that people of any age could realte to. All the characters are at different stages in life, Cassandra is the little kid who loves magic and finds it in everything. Miranda is the skeptical teenager who is of course, moodier than anything on Earth ;) And Professor Aisling is the man trying to prove to science and modern culture that mythology still has a place in the world. All of them will have to learn (or relearn) that it's not by seeing one believes, it's by believeing one truly sees.

Mood: Sleepy -.-

Music: Those Voices, by StarKidPotter in A Very Potter Sequel

Storm Front: A Novel of the Dresden Files

Storm Front, by Jim Butcher, is the beginning of a wonderful series (that I still haven't read the last of so no spoilers!!!) that has now begun to climb up on my all time favorite series list. I also just found out that the audio tape of this book was narrated by James Marsters, more commonly known as Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which is too perfect if you ask me. Okay, enough with the fun facts, here's the premise;

"Storm Front is Jim Butcher's first novel and introduces his popular character- Harry Dresden, wizard for hire. For his first case, Harry is called in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with the blackest of magic. At first, the less-than-solvent Harry's eyes light up with dollar signs. But where there's black magic, there's a black mage. Now, that black mage knows Harry's name. And things are about to get very... interesting."

As a series that starts out fast and hits the ground running, getting better and better as time goes on. Including faeries that are actually cool, vampires that don't glitter, werewolves who are actually werewolves and not shapeshifters, and a talking skull, this series enchanted me within the first few pages. Harry's dry commentary and wit is a fantastic way to get this story told especially considering his own interesting past times with dark magic, but that's something that you'll have to learn more about on your own. :D

I'd rate this book a 4, only because I know how good this series gets as time goes on. The characters are funny and everything comes together for a clean and throughly enjoyable story, and I reccomend it to all who loved any and all of Joss Whedon's tv series, as well as anyone who'd enjoy a nice and dark fantasy that'll make you want to curl under the covers...

The mood I'm in (because I forgot it last time): Annoyed with my dog. Again. *sigh*

Music I'm listening to: Goin' Back to Hogwarts from a Very Potter Musical is stuck in my head, and if you haven't watched the youtube videos, you're missing out!!!

Chocolat

So first off, I wanted to say sorry! I've been incredibly bad about updating this and really it's only because I've been lazy. However, it's summer and I decided to be a little less lazy and write about this amazing book that was loaned to me.

Chocolat (By Joanne Harris) is a book unlike the movie in many ways. Don't get me wrong, I adore the movie (and for that manner, Johnny Depp in it :D) but the book was very good in it's own right. The premise of the book is this;

"When beautiful, unmarried Vianne Rocher sweeps into the pinched little French town of Lansquenet on the heels of the carnival and opens a gen of a chocolate shop across the square from the church, she begins to wreak havoc with the town's Lenten vows. Her uncanny ability to percieve her customer's private discontents and alleviate them with just the right confection coaxes the villiager to abandon themselves to temptation and happiness, but enrages Pere Reynaud, the local priest. Certain only a witch could stir such sinful indulgence and devise such clever cures, Reynaud pits himself against Vianne and vows to block the chocolate festival she plans for Easter Sunday, and to run her out of town forever. Witch or not (she'll never tell), Vianne soon sparks a dramatic confrontation between those who prefer the cold comforts of the church and those who revel in their newly discovered taste for pleasure. Hailed as "an amazement of riched few readers will be able to resist" by the New York Times Book Review, Chocolat is a timeless and enchanting story about temptation, pleasure, and what a complete waste of time it is to deny yourself anything."

I've got to admit, I borrowed this book thinking 'Wow! This'll be fun to learn more about the romance between Roux and Vianne! That'll be so cool!' Because despite how much I'm a pain about it, I love a good romance book like Pride and Prejudice. I couldn't have been farther from the truth. This book puts a whole new spin on the entire movie and concept, for while the movie is sweet and happy, this book is throughly bittersweet. It's beautiful how much more you understand the motives in each character, especially revealing much of Vianne's mystery, while creating more around her. But you also understand the nature of the Pere Reynaud (who was the mayor, count or whatever guy in the movie) as the book switches from his and Vianne's perpective. I loved how this book showed that no one is completely good and exemplifies how people are shades of gray, and how they grow. Watching Anouk throughout this book was fastinating, and probably could've been a book all on it's own!

I give this book an easy five, and reccomend it to all who know that chocolate come in many different flavors, not just sweet as Hershey's milk chocolate.