How much did I love this Robin Hood retelling? I'll gush about it tomorrow, but I just couldn't resist pulling a teaser for Teaser Tuesday from it even though I've already finished reading it.
"Are you thinking of leaving because of Gisbourne?" he asked, his voice soft. He came close to me. His hand rested on the tree by my head, and he were close enough that his body were warmer than the rest of the forest. I nodded. My pipes felt thick, like I couldn't swallow proper. "When you're ready, Scarlet, you can trust me..." (page 29)
And here's a teaser from the book I'm actually in the middle of reading, and I picked this one because I love how it explains the title:
"Do the clouds ever clear?" she asked. "Completely? No. Never." "What about the Aether? Does that ever go away?" "Never, Mole. The Aether never leaves." She looked up. "A world of nevers under a never sky." She fit in well then, he thought. A girl who never shut up. (page 124)
This week I had the itching to watch North and South again (it's my third time). I love this movie so much and I hope to read the book one day because we all know books are always usually better than their movie counterpart.
So why do I love North and South?
Um, DUH.
Okay, why do I love North and South ASIDE from Richard Armitage?
The time period. It's no secret that I love almost anything historical. When I first watched North and South, I remember googling it because I had to know exactly what time in history it takes place (I had a pretty good guess based on the clothes).
Margaret Hale wears this fantabulous green dress at the end of the movie but I couldn't find a decent picture of it. Boo.
I love to compare what happens in this novel/movie to what else was going on in the world at the time. North and South was written (or maybe published?) in 1855 and takes place in a fictitious town in England (not to be confused with the miniseries North and South about the American civil war). It's about a family who moves from the idyllic countryside of Helston to the industrial town of Milton where the booming trade is cotton. It deals with rich and poor and the difference between the classes, the relationships between employers and workers, religion, and of course my favorite- ROMANCE.
But this isn't your normal romance. It can be compared to Pride and Prejudice in how Darcy and Elizabeth completely misunderstand each other until they come to know what makes the other person tick. The relationship between Mr. Thornton and Margaret Hale is very similar, except it's surrounded by a backdrop of a smoky town, a dangerous strike, and scandals galore. (Okay, maybe not galore, but there are a few.)
There are so many standout scenes in this movie, but a big fave of mine is when Mr. Thornton is at the window and says, "Look back, look back at me." *swoons, then dies*
I seriously just spent the last hour watching fan videos and it was very hard to pick, but I finally decided on this fan-made trailer, mostly because it contained the least amount of spoilers but still a few of the good parts.
It's Road Trip Wednesday and here is what YA Highway wants to know:
In our Bookmobile
selection this month, Debra Driza's MILA 2.0, the main character discovers
she's an android trained to obey orders. We want to know: What other
human-like robots (or robot-like humans?) have you enjoyed in books, TV, or
movies?
I hate to do it, but I'm going to give the obvious answer here, mostly because I'm not that into robots or sci-fi.
And here it is, the OBVS:
Cinder!!! This book was completely unexpected but also very awesome. It's been quite awhile since I read it, and I have a TERRIBLE memory so I can't even say much about it other than it was GOOOOD. Can't wait for the next one!
On the flip-side, I've got a fave robot-like human. Check this out:
If you haven't watched The Lizzie Bennet diaries on YouTube, then WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR??? Anyway, this episode is right smack dab in the middle, so if you haven't watched it or read Pride and Prejudice, you might not get what's going on. BUT I love Lizzie's robot-impression of Darcy near the end. "Darcy-bot malfunction, Darcy-bot malfunction."
Right now I'm reading Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor- the sequel to Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I'm about halfway thru and I've got mixed feelings about the book so far. Which is disappointing because I don't want to have mixed feelings. I want to LOVE it like I loved Daughter of Smoke and Bone. There's still time for things to change though so I'm holding out hope.
"Calm down, Karou," said Ten. "No one wants to kill-" "Oh, really. No one wants to, or no one will?" Did she expect Ten to sugarcoat it? "Fine. No one will," said the she-wolf. (page 141)
When I first read today's Road Trip Wednesday question, hosted by YA Highway, I thought,
Oh crap.
Here's the question:
April is National Poetry Month! Share your favorite poem(s) or poet
I've read some great poetry in the past, but *cough* it's been awhile. Do you think I can remember a fave poem/poet? Um, that would be an obvious no. I know I've read poems that I've totally loved, I studied different poets in school, but nothing sticks and I don't have one book of poetry on my bookshelf. (I feel so ashamed.) I need to go watch Dead Poets Society- I used to love that movie and I'm sure there's a poem or ten in there somewhere that I love.
Anyway, I'm going to totally cheat because I finished Clockwork Princess a few days ago and Cassandra Clare likes to put poems at the beginning of each of her chapters and this is one I particularly liked:
If the past year were offered me again, And choice of good and ill before me set Would I accept the pleasure with the pain Or dare to wish that we had never met?
-Augusta, Lady Gregory "If the Past Year Were Offered Me Again"
And now I'm going to totally mack off what YA Highway did for their song of the week except I've got something better than Benedict Cumberbatch. (What is it about Brits and their totally swoony voices?)
I've got two Teasers for you today! Lucky you, right?!
My first is from Clockwork Princess, the conclusion (I hope, but you never know) of The Infernal Devices trilogy by Cassandra Clare. She wrapped up the trilogy quite nicely, I LOVED the epilogue, however I do have a tiny complaint that the book was unnecessarily long. I love Clare's books, but the main conflict gets resolved and then you've still got more than 100 pages of reading until the end. There could definitely have been some cuttage going on, in my opinion.
But don't let that stop you from reading it! Okay? Okay! Here's my teaser:
Clare's books have the prettiest covers!
"Tessa is gone, and every moment she is gone is a knife ripping me apart from the inside. She is gone, and they cannot track her, and I have no idea where to go or what to do next, and the only person I can imagine speaking my agony to is the one person who cannot know..." (page 221)
Aaaaand for Teaser #2, I give you, Pandemonium, the sequel to Delirium by Lauren Oliver, also a great book although I don't know how much I like the "Now" and "Then" format. Or maybe I'm just being extra-picky today, who knows.
It occurs to me, then, that people themselves are full of tunnels: winding, dark spaces and caverns; impossible to know all the places inside of them. Impossible even to imagine. (page 276)
There's been so many great songs that I've fallen in love with lately, that I've got to share today for my Friday Loves post. These songs come on the radio and I immediately crank it and either sing along at the top of my lungs, or get lost in a daydream about I'm not telling because that's none of your beeswax. ;)
Note: Every time I try to attach a YouTube video, I get a lot of "Video player is too small" which really limits what I can post. Boo. Which is why I usually end up with live performances or lyric videos.
I'm actually not a big Maroon 5 fan, but I LOVE this song! (Duh)
This song is just so beautiful that I could listen to it over and over. (And if it happens to be about Chris Brown, well I choose to ignore that so it doesn't ruin it for me.)
This is a get up and dance, put you in a good mood kind of song.
Beautiful! And I've totally got a story scene built around this song.
Mumford & Sons have been popular for awhile I think, but I'm just now getting into them, all thanks to this song.
The Veronica Mars Kickstarter success makes us wonder, what YA book would you
raise $2 million to see a movie version of?
Confession #1: I never watched Veronica Mars
Confession #2: I would never raise money for someone else to make a movie. Why am I so stingy you ask? Well, for one, it's not like I'm rolling in it. I've got four kids and I'm a stay-at-home mom. For two, movie people make SO MUCH MONEY (most of the time) so why should I shell out? You know how much it costs for me and the hubs to get a babysitter and go to a movie just once??? A LOT!!!
Okay, I'm done with the money rant.
Just because I probably wouldn't pay someone to make a movie out of a book I love, doesn't mean there aren't TONS of books that I'd love to see made into movies. In fact, almost every book I read I imagine what it would be like on the big screen.
#1: Anna and the French Kiss. (Wait, I used this answer last week!) Who wouldn't want to see Anna's love story unfold in Paris? Of course, if we have Anna, then we'd have to have Lola too.
Etienne St. Clair?
Okay, this guy is actually French, not British, and probably too tall... but who the hey cares???
#2. The Leviathan Trilogy. It would be very difficult (maybe even impossible?) to make these books into a movie, but wouldn't they be SO COOL? I would love to see some of the machines and animals come to life on screen.
#3. The Fallen series and The Hush, Hush Saga. We've had vampire movies, zombie movies, witch movies. Where are the angel movies??? Both of these book series would make great movies. And let's not forget the totally hot male leads. Rawr.
#4. Anything by Ally Carter. Wouldn't her Heist Society or Gallagher Girls series be great movies? Ooh, or maybe a TV series! It would be so fun!
I swear, I always seem to finish a book on Monday night so when Teaser Tuesday rolls around, I've got nothing.
No biggie, though right? I just have to watch out that I don't reveal spoilers when I give my teaser. But since I'm a crappy book reviewer (I LOVE books! ALL books!), that's not much of a problem.
I LOVED Mind Games. (See? I LOVE BOOKS SO MUCH!) Kiersten White has now become a fave author. I loved her Paranormalcy trilogy, but I wasn't sure if I'd be as into something different. WELL I DO. Mind Games is BETTER, IMO. It was so fast-paced and yet still feely. The relationship between the sisters is deep and wonderful and awful. Fia was totally believable even when she wasn't relateable. It was awesome. You should put it on your TBR's NOW.
Okay, I'll stop yelling and do my teaser already.
The moment he bends over to help the sorrow-eyed spaniel puppy, I know I won't be able to kill him. This, of course, ruins my entire day.(page 3)
I could have pulled teasers from every page because this was one of those books that doesn't waste one word. But I'll only do one more.
I don't like my hands anymore. I used to think they were pretty. Now they look like they belong on someone else's body. Someone who kills people. (page 88)
If you could visit any country with a
fictional character as your guide, who would you pick and where would you
go?
That's easy-peasy. I'd want Harry to show me around London. But not the real London, but the hidden, witch and wizard part of London like Diagon Alley. And he could take me to Hogwarts while he was at it. Then again, if I actually could meet Harry, I'd want to meet everyone else to, so he'd better bring along Hermione, Ron, Fred, George, Dumbledore, Sirius, Snape, Malfoy, Dobby... EVERYONE.
If I have to pick a REAL place (although there's a part of my brain that refuses to believe Harry's world isn't real) then I'd probably hijack St. Clair and ask him to show me around Paris. And by hijack, I mean that Anna could not exist, because otherwise, where would the romance be? I would want St. Clair ALL TO MYSELF. (But don't tell my husband I said that.)
My kids are off school this week and I completely forgot to post today! So here's my teaser for Teaser Tuesday way late in the day. It's from The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks.
...he tried to figure out his next move. He had no illusions that it was going to be easy. He didn't know much, after all. All he had was a photograph... (page 25)
And because I was just listening to this song in the car and it's the exact same title (though absolutely no relation to each other), here's The Lucky One, by Taylor Swift:
