The moon never beams without bringing me dreams...

What book are you currently reading?
1) Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan.
2) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling.

How far in are you?
1) 146 of 310 pages
2) 210 of 223 pages

What's it about?
1) 2 teenage boys meet by chance in a place neither of them are supposed to be and find they have the same name.
2) Harry learns he is a wizard and goes off to Hogwarts, etc, etc

Are you enjoying it?
1) Yes. I love the way this book is written, and I love that the characters sound like modern teens. The moments when pop culture crops up are great, and the dialogue is sharp.
2) Again, yes. I've read the Harry Potter books before, multiple times, but I don't read the early ones as often as I do the later. There's a sweet, nostalgic charm to the first books in the series; not only am I reading the story, I'm remembering what was going on in my life when I first read it.

Taken from Booking Through Thursday.

1. What’s your favorite time of day to read?
I don't know if I have favourite time to read as such, but most of my reading happens in the afternoon or at night.

2. Do you read during breakfast? (Assuming you eat breakfast.)
No. During the week, I eat at my desk when I get to work, and on weekends I just have a cup of coffee. I sometimes read during lunch, though, and I often read newspapers during dinner.

3. What’s your favorite breakfast food? (Noting that breakfast foods can be eaten any time of day.)
Don't have one. Apart from eggs and/or bacon, which I don't consider breakfast foods anyway, I hate breakfast foods.

4. How many hours a day would you say you read?
Hard to say because it varies. I read less during the week; maybe only a couple of hours. One weekends I can sit and read for hours. I've slept whole days reading if I'm really into the book.

5. Do you read more or less now than you did, say, 10 years ago?
Hmmm...I was...12...so I probably read less now, but I would say I read wider. At that age I tended to read the same books over and over again, and didn't venture far from the authors I knew.

6. Do you consider yourself a speed reader?
Yes, but I'm pretty speedy at everything, just in general.

7. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
Does instant teleportation count as a superpower? I'd love to be able to do that; my life would be so much easier.

8. Do you carry a book with you everywhere you go?
Yes. Sometimes more than one.

9. What KIND of book?
Fiction, as that's pretty much all I read.

10. How old were you when you got your first library card?
Seven.

11. What’s the oldest book you have in your collection? (Oldest physical copy? Longest in the collection? Oldest copyright?)
I have no idea. The first book I can remember receiving just for myself is Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone when I was ten, so I'll just go with that.

12. Do you read in bed?
Not usually.

13. Do you write in your books?
Not since my high school English classes. I never had a problem writing in those, I think because they weren't mine, per se; I wouldn't even have bought them if they weren't assigned. I never write in books I buy for enjoyment.

14. If you had one piece of advice to a new reader, what would it be?
What is a "new reader" exactly? I guess I'd tell them to not be afraid to try new things. Branch out, and don't read something just because everyone else is.

What book are you currently reading?
One Day by David Nicholls.

How far in are you?
305 pages of 435.

What's it about?
2 friends, Dexter and Emma, and their lives over the course of 20 years based on just one day of the year: July 15th.

Are you enjoying it?
Yes, I really am. I didn't see the movie but I've wanted to read this book for a long time. I love the characters, they're very real to me, and I love the way it's written. It just feels so effortless. Plus, the fact that each chapter is just one day in every year, but I'm never confused by what's going on is a testament to the writing and Nicholls' talent.

I'm behind, I know. I've had a lot going on with end-of-semester assignments and work, etc. I wrote one for last week's episode, but it was short and only done the night before the next episode aired so I didn't bother copying it across to LJ. If you're still interested, you can read the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" post here.

BUT! I'm finished uni for the year now, and I'm determined to do my write-up's soon after each episode. You can also read this week's recap at WordPress here.

Original air date: 27 October 2011
Written by: Rebecca Sonnenshine
Directed by: David Jackson

Official synopsis: NIGHT OF ILLUMINATION — As Mystic Falls prepares to celebrate the traditional Illumination Night, the town is invaded by spirits of the dead. After a particularly violent encounter with an angry spirit, Damon asks Bonnie to find the reason behind the ghosts’ surprising power. Elena convinces Jeremy to use his connection to the other side to help her find a new way to reach Stefan, leading Jeremy to a terrible choice. Finally, Alaric discovers a long-hidden clue to the past. *

( Read Review )

What book are you currently reading?
The Sword of Albion by Mark Chadbourn. Published as The Silver Skull in the U.S.

How far in are you?
176 pages of 542.

What's it about?
England is under constant threat from Spain but what the majority of the country don't know is that they face war on another front: from the Unseelie Court of malicious faerie folk. Enter Will Swyfte: Elizabethan England's greatest spy, who's job it is to keep the country safe from the faeries and make sure their greatest weapon doesn't fall into Spanish hands.

Are you enjoying it?
Hell yes. I'm really enjoying this book and the only reason I'm not finished it already is because my time has been seriously taken up by work and end of sememster assessments for uni. But the adventure is great and the action enticing. The characters are enjoyable, and Will in particular has those rakish qualities I love in fictional heroes. Plus, it's just an all-around well-written book. Overall a really good read so far.

Original air date: 29 September 2011
Written by: Caroline Dries
Directed by: Chris Grismer

Official synopsis: THE ROARING TWENTIES — Klaus and Stefan arrive in Chicago, where Stefan is reunited with a vampire (guest star Claire Holt, “Pretty Little Liars”) who hasn’t really moved on from her interest in him decades earlier. In a flashback to Chicago in the 1920s, Stefan comes face-to-face with a shocking chapter from his wild past. After Damon gets a tip on Stefan and Klaus’ whereabouts from an unexpected source, he and Elena follow their trail. Back in Mystic Falls, Tyler is concerned about Caroline and turns to Sheriff Forbes for help. *

( Read Review )

Last season, I sent all of my reactions via email to a friend of mine, as she's a TVD viewer and fangirl as well. This year, though, I've decided to make it official, with a spiffy new blog on WordPress which will remain linked in the sidebar. However, because so many of my TVD friends are here on LJ, I'll be cross-posting all reaction posts. This one is a bit late because I forgot to actually post it here, but I'll try to be on time in future. You can either comment on WordPress or here on LJ. It's up to you!

This post is available on WordPress here.

Now, without further ado...

The Birthday

Original air date: 15 September 2011
Written by: Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec
Directed by: John Behring

After a 4 month hiatus, The Vampire Diaries is back for its third season. And thank God. For me, the week’s are never longer than when there’s no Vampire Diaries to look forward to.

In the Season 2 finale, we were left with:

• Stefan sacrificing himself by agreeing to give into his darker urges
  and join Klaus, in exchange for a cure for Damon’s fatal werewolf bite;
• Damon and Elena shared a goodbye kiss…which then proved awkward when Katherine arrived with the cure;
• Caroline reconciled with her vampire-hunter mother;
• Jeremy was brought back from the dead…with the ability to see the ghosts of his dead ex-girlfriends; and
• Alaric took up residence on the Gilbert’s couch.

With all that up in the air, there was a significant amount of hype around the Season 3 opener.

( Read Review )

Taken from book_memes.

What book are you currently reading?
The Rogue by Trudi Canavan

How far in are you?
267 pages of 495.

What's it about?
This is the second in the Traitor Spy trilogy (the sequel series to Canavan's hugely popular Black Magician trilogy), and has a number of point of view characters and plot lines, including tracking down the rogue magician in the city of Kyralia, and novices rebelling against the Magicians Guild and learning the forbidden art of black magic.

Are you enjoying it?
Yes, for the most part. Canavan's Black Magician trilogy is a particular favourite of mine, so I was really anticipating the first book in this trilogy. Unfortunately, I was largely disappointed, both with the plot and the characters. So I decided to just borrow The Rogue from the library instead of buy it. Thankfully, The Rogue is overall more interesting. I find I'm looking forward to specific characters, even though I've never been paticularly interested in them in the past. I'd say I'm most disappointed, though, in the novices learning black magic. The main novice is mousey and doesn't actually want to use the magic she's learned. Which is probably the point, but I find her irritating, maybe because Sonea (the MC from the first trilogy, and the first novice to actively learn black magic before it was reintroduced to the Guild) so obviously had a goal in her learning of the magic.

SPOILER ALERT!



Bloodlines is the first book in Richelle Mead's latest YA series (also titled 'Bloodlines'), a spin-off series from her popular Vampire Academy novels, but Bloodlines will follow a set of characters who were relatively minor in the first series, specifically Sydney, Adrian, Jill and Eddie.

( Read more... )

All in all, this is an excellent read and I'm sure VA readers won't need my encouragement to pick up Bloodlines. The characters are engaging, the plot exciting and the dialogue witty: Mead at her best, to say the very least. The high school element isn't really a large part of the novel either, so older readers shouldn't find themselves frustrated with petty teenage drama. The only disappointing thing about this book for me is that it had to end, but even the ending is a hook. The last line sets up where Book 2 will begin so perfectly  that I'm already on the edge of my seat.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

As an extra, this series was, according to Mead, supposed to be told in third person, with each chapter in a different character's point of view. In that version of the book, it was going to begin with Adrian. Seeing as that's all changed now, Mead officially released Adrian's lost chapter just prior to the Bloodlines release. You can read it here.

*Source