Is Meat a Four-Letter Word?

Is Meat a Four-Letter Word? | OnEarth Magazine

New York City might not be the first place that comes to mind when you think of the sustainable meat industry, but this week the Big Apple is playing host toMeat Week, a series of culinary and educational events aimed at celebrating the chefs, farmers, and markets that are growing that concept into something beyond a niche idea.

What is sustainable humane meat?

How is this idea growing?

Find out in the link!!

Waiting on Wendsday!

Name: Night School

Author:  C.J Daughtery

Synopsis

Allie Sheridan's world is falling apart. She hates her school. Her brother ran away from home.  And she's just been arrested. 

Again.

This time her parents have finally had enough. They cut her off from her friends and send her away to a boarding school for problematic teenagers.

But Cimmeria Academy is no ordinary school. Its rules are strangely archaic. It allows no computers or phones. Its students are an odd combination of the gifted, the though and the privileged. And there's the secretive Night School, whose activities other students are forbidden to watch.

When Allie is attacked one the night, the incident sets off a chain of events leading to the violent death of a girl in the summer ball. As the school begins to seem like a very dangerous place, Allie must learn who she can trust...and what's really going on at the Cimmeria Academy.

City of Glass Book Review

Title: City of Glass

Author: Cassandra Clare

Series: Mortal Intruments #3

Cover Rating: B

Book Rating : A-

Synopsis:

The trilogy clincher of Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments bristles with action. Clary, Jace, Simon, Isabelle, Alec, and the rest of the Shadowhunters crew have already survived their fair share of troubles, but things grow even more intense before the dawn finally breaks.

Mary's POV:

City of Ashes Book Review

Title: City of Ashes

Author: Cassandra Clare

Series: The Mortal Intruments #2

Cover Rating: A

Book Rating: A

Synopsis: 

A murderer is loose in New York City .... and the victims are Downworlder children. Clary Fray and her fellow Shadowhunters have a strong suspicion that Valentine, Clary's father, may be behind the killings. But if he is the murderer, then what's his true motive? To make matters worse, the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, has been stolen, and the mysterious Inquisitor has arrived to investigate, with his eyes vigilantly targeted on Clary's brother, Jace. Clary will need to face some terrifying demons and even more terrifying family decisions. No one said that the life of a Shadowhunter would be easy

Mary's POV:

In a fast review, the book was fantastic.

The story was woven just great with so much twists and action that left me with my mouth open. The characters were great and the style of writing made you feel so many intense emotions!
Also, the book almost broke my heart. I'm team Simon, and the author didn't stop breaking my heart into pieces with each twist.
The only con is that I would have made the ship scenery creepy. I mean the place, not the characters or things involved in there which were surely creepy.

Overall: great read. I read it in 24 hours and couldn't put it down.

City of Bones Book Review

Title: City of Bones
Series: The Mortal Intruments #1
Author: Cassandra Clare
Cover Rating: B+
Book Rating: A-


Synopsis:

Sorry guys! 
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2261214.City_of_Bones

Mary's POV:

Wow, well I don't know where to start. This book was a shock. It had great, creative, thrilling world and great mythology and creatures. I admire the crativity behind this story! I loved the descriptions Clare makes, it paints a picture in your mind, and how she introduces new characters, specially secondary ones. The primary ones, Clary and Jace were different from the rest od the books but a bit stereotypical. Still, they were great. Although the crush-mess between characters almost made it to a love triangle, it had no triangle! Thanks Clare! :) The supernatural characters and the POV of the author are original and creative. They really broke the monotony of other YA novels! Loved that!


The ending  left me totally speechless and starving for more books! It has been one of the greatest endings but at the same time it was a broken-hearted/omg/no-way ending. In such a few pages, the author did so many twists (and very well written) that left me in shock for a couple of hours.
I think the only con in a seas of pros is that I expected Valentine to be evil-er...he wasn't the bad-ass, scary, creepy bad guy I thought he would be. That dissapointed me a bit.


Conclusion:  This was a refreshing read different from other YA books. It has a balance of action, suspense and romance . I would recommend it to any YA lover looking for sth new. 

Sookie Series

I have read 8 out of 11 books from Sookie Stackhouse's series  in about... 2 months. hehe. I admit they are not the best books I have read in my life, and it's a light read, but they are sooo addictive!
Instead of publishing a review for each book which would be cool, I really prefer, besides from the first book's review, writing one for all the series and all the characters! So, I would be posting a new review when I finish the 11th book.
Until then with Sookie Stockhouse :)

Dead Until Dark Book review!

 Book: DEad until Dark

Series: Sookie Stackhouse #1

Author: Charlaine Harris

Cover Rating: A

Book Rating: B

I confess that I read this book beacuse I wanted to see True blood series...(I try to read the book before a series or movie).

The start was quickly paced and generally it was a quick paced, hot, action packed book. There was a point that I thought that Sookie was not going to make it. I mean... the name Sookie is not a name I would use on the main character (if I wrote a story) and she is the normal, perfect blonde with blue eyes that falls for a vampire. I thought, well this may not be good in the end, maybe it is just another romantic vampire story where there is a love triangle or the perfect teen girl. falls for the vampire... but suddenly the action started and I couln´t stop reading this book! I couldn´t put it down.
I read it in 24 hours.

This book has a good plot, and there are a lot of unexpected things happenihng. They got me off base more than once. One thing that got my attention is the way they see vampires (in Sookie's society) was totally different from what I have read going from Dracula, Anne Rice and even Stephanie Meyer.

I think Sookie and Bill make a good couple although I would have liked to know them a little more deeply but I´m just on the first book, so I won't draw conclusions.

I can't say yet if there is a thing that I don't likeVeredict:
I think this book was worth it and I´ll read my way through the second one soon! Paranormal readers will like it a lot!  j

Bookshelf of the Week and update!

Ok I thought I had quite a bunch of books but I would totally faint having that much!

This is the amazing bookshelf of this week!!

Sorry I haven´t been around last couple of weeks.. College finals kept me busy to the point that being a zombie was just around the corner.. I´m back now!!

Sunday Girl

Waiting on Wensday

Title: Witches of east end

Author: Melissa de la Cruz

Series: The Beauchamp Family #1 

From the author of the highly addictive and bestselling Blue Bloods series, with almost 3 million copies sold, comes a new novel, Melissa de la Cruz's first for adults, featuring a family of formidable and beguiling witches. 

 The three Beauchamp women--Joanna and her daughters Freya and Ingrid--live in North Hampton, out on the tip of Long Island. Their beautiful, mist-shrouded town seems almost stuck in time, and all three women lead seemingly quiet, uneventful existences. But they are harboring a mighty secret--they are powerful witches banned from using their magic. Joanna can resurrect people from the dead and heal the most serious of injuries. Ingrid, her bookish daughter, has the ability to predict the future and weave knots that can solve anything from infertility to infidelity. And finally, there's Freya, the wild child, who has a charm or a potion that can cure most any heartache. 

Teaser Tuesday

Book: The Body Finder

Author: Kimberly Derting

"Violet stood up on the watercraft as she came to a stop. Multihued light seemed to be radiating up from beneath the water, centered among the reeds, and then diffusing outward as it reached the surface. Violet had never seen anything like it, and she knew the spectrum of light was defying its very nature by behaving in that way.

It could only be one thing.

There was something dead down there."

Bookshelf of the Week

Livraria da Vila bookstore features creative doors made out of bookshelves. This boostore was designed by Isay Weinfeld, and it is currently located un Sao Paulo, Brazil.

 More info http://www.toxel.com/inspiration/2011/05/24/unique-bookstore-in-sao-paulo/

Waiting on Wensday

Title: Sweet Venom

Author: Tera Lynn Childs

    Grace just moved to San Francisco and is excited to start over at a new school. The change is full of fresh possibilities, but it’s also a tiny bit scary. It gets scarier when a minotaur walks in the door. And even more shocking when a girl who looks just like her shows up to fight the monster. 

    Gretchen is tired of monsters pulling her out into the wee hours, especially on a school night, but what can she do? Sending the minotaur back to his bleak home is just another notch on her combat belt. She never expected to run into this girl who could be her double, though. 

    Greer has her life pretty well put together, thank you very much. But that all tilts sideways when two girls who look eerily like her appear on her doorstep and claim they're triplets, supernatural descendants of some hideous creature from Greek myth, destined to spend their lives hunting monsters. 

     These three teenage descendants of Medusa, the once-beautiful gorgon maligned by myth, must reunite and embrace their fates in this unique paranormal world where monsters lurk in plain sight.

Bookshelf of the week

Bookshelf of the week is a weekly picture of a great bookshelf or a bookshelf you are dying to have.

This week's bookshelf is this book store I can't wait to go to!

Special Teaser Tuesday!

Since I finished my book today, I am going to put a the Teaser Tuesday Julia Kagawa wrote herself!!

Book: Summer's Crossing

Author: Julie Kagawa

Series: Iron Fey

Names are, of course, very important to my kind. Me, I have so many, I can’t even remember them all. None of them are my True Name, of course. No one has ever spoken my real name out loud, not once, despite all the titles and nicknames and myths I’ve collected for myself over the years. No one has ever come close to getting it right.

Curious, are you? Wanna know my True Name? Okay, listen up, I’ve never told anyone before. My True Name is…

The Search Book Review

Title: The Search

Author: Nora Roberts

Huge Paperback (supposed to be hardcover), 488 pgs

Published: July 6th 2010 by Putnam

Cover rating: A

Book rating: B

Goodreads:

 To most people, Fiona Bristow seems to have an idyllic life - a quaint house on an island off Seattle's coast, a thriving dog-training school, and a challenging volunteer job performing canine search and rescue. Not to mention her three intensely loyal Labs. But Fiona got to this point by surviving a nightmare... 


Several years ago, she was the only survivor of a serial killer - a madman who stalked and abducted young women, strangled them, and left them buried with a red scarf on their bodies. As authorities were closing in on the Red Scarf Killer, he shot and killed Fiona's cop fiance and his K-9 partner. 

On Orcas Island, Fiona found the peace and solitude she needed to rebuild her life. Yet all that changes on the day Simon Doyle barrels up her drive, desperate for her help. He's the reluctant owner of an out-of-control puppy, foisted upon him by his mother. Jaws has eaten through Simon's house, and he's at his wit's end. 

To Fiona, Jaws is nothing she can't handle. Simon is another matter. A newcomer to Orcas, he's a rugged and intensely private artist, known for creating exquisite furniture. Simon never wanted a puppy, and he most definitely doesn't want a woman. Besides, the lanky redhead is not his type. But tell that to the laws of attraction. 

As Fiona embarks on training Jaws and Simon begins to appreciate both dog and trainer, the past tears back into Fiona's life. A copycat killer has emerged out of the shadows, a man whose bloodlust has been channeled by a master with one motive: to reclaim the woman who slipped out of his hands...

My Review:

The first time I read Nora Roberts was when I bought the trilogy of Morrigan's Cross, Valley of the Sun and Dance of the Gods. They were incredibly good!! I thought her style was only cheesy-girly-romance kind of books, but I was wrong. The Search is the fifth book I read by her and it was very good. 

The story was quickly paced and it kept me entertained. The writing was easy to read and the sentences were simlple and well crafted. The plot was like a romantic-passion story, with a mix of dogs, crime and cozy suspense. Roberts did a good job on the balance of all of them.

The plot twists are really good. When there was a romantic scene... or something bad happened and another girl was found or it just moved on. I didn't know what to expect, and the twists were very well handled.

I liked Fiona. She is not the typical weak, whiny character. She is a dog trainer of S&R, and surviror of a serial killer. She is an independent, strong woman whose life is totally dedicated to her dogs and she has a lot of guts and courage. She has a good sense of humour 'training the dog and the human'.
Mia is the local vet and she is a funny character with her online dating issues. Syl was just awwesome, sweet and comprehensive. Her connection with Fiona is almost perfect. Simon is a tough guy who inside is all sweet.. although he was a bit cold and mean when he met Fiona and I thought he was a jerk. 
The dogs. I loved the dogs! Fiona's dogs all so adorable and obedient (I have a dog who is NOT)    and Jaws...that puppy just took my heart.

I didn't like the fact that Simon just took the puppy to her classes and then they began an affair-kind of relationship so fast. She was always telling him about her dead fianc'e and he kept telling her she was not his kind and a coulpe of unflattering things...quite confusing right? I also expected more of a big suspenseful ending when they are searching..not just one chapter. I felt like Roberts ran out of ideas and finished the book as soon as she could. The book lost a star there..so I will give it a 4/5.

Bookshelf of the Week

Bookshelf of the week is a weekly picture of an adorable bookshelf or a bookshelf you are dying to have.

This week, the bookshelf  is almost a wall of this amazing living room

E.T

I just love how she looks! Her make-up and the details are very different from anything we are used to. It looks very nice although I would probably I would just put it on on halloween and probably spend the night trying to do the cool forehead details...

I am pro-animals and all that stuff, so I must admit I didn't like the deer shots. I had to look away. I was too attached to the little deer to see that... (although I know it's food chain)..

Apple Quote

"Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square hole. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do." 
—Apple Computer Inc

Teaser Tuesday

Title: The Search

Author: Nora Roberts

" You got yourself out. Nobody helped you. There wasn't anybody to help you. Live or die, it was up to you. It must've been a hell of a thing. I can'y imagine it. I've tried it. I can't...."


"Fiona stepped back to watch. She was, she knew, training the human every bit as much as -possibly more than-- the dog."

Cutest. Dog. Ever

It's just TOO cute to be true. I melted into a human puddle.

Glee Unpretty/I feel pretty mashup

This episode is so ..real and inspiring (can-t find the correct word)

Amazing Book Giveaway!!

Check this incredible book giveaway! She has over 40 BOOKS TO GIVE!! O.O You simply CANNOT miss it!
Plus: It is international! :)

http://bloodybookaholic.blogspot.com/2011/04/spring-cleaning-giveaway-with-over-40.html

Book Day!!

Today is the international book day!! Almost the happiest day on Earth!!

We need to honour our most trusted, beloved and loyal companions, which are always there for us and can be even lifechanging. so.. why not read a good book today?

This photography is called "Teach Me How to Fly´" and I think it captures exactly what books do.. open our imagination and just let you fly. Photographer: fhrankee

Cupcake Envy: Flower pot cakelets made easy

I love to bake and I love cupcakes!! This is a kick ass baker (really... she is amazing) sharing how to do flower-pot cup cakes with us!! Enjoy!

Cupcake Envy: Flower pot cakelets made easy: "Flower Pot Cakelets made easy! The flower pot cakelet designs is so versatile. They make a great gift for Mother's Day, teacher's gifts, bridal showers..."

Duma Key review

Title: Duma Key

Author: Stephen King

Paperback, 769 pages

Published 2008 (first published 2007) by Simon + Schuster Inc.

Cover rating: C

Book rating: B

Goodreads: 

Six months after a crane crushes his pickup truck and his body self-made millionaire Edgar Freemantle launches into a new life. His wife asked for a divorce after he stabbed her with a plastic knife and tried to strangle her one-handed (he lost his arm and for a time his rational brain in the accident). He divides his wealth into four equal parts for his wife, his two daughters, himself and leaves Minnesota for Duma Key, a stunningly beautiful, eerily remote stretch of the Florida coast where he has rented a house. All of the land on Duma Key, and the few houses, are owned by Elizabeth Eastlake, an octogenarian whose tragic and mysterious past unfolds perilously. When Edgar begins to paint, his formidable talent seems to come from someplace outside him, and the paintings, many of them, have a power that cannot be controlled. 

My review:

From a very general point, I liked the novel. The scenery was fresh, the story was original, and  he scared me a couple of times (oh oh and lots of cliffhangers too!!)
The story started all right with a good pace. It gets you a background about the guy and when strange things start to happen, the people he meets... I must  say it leaves you with a feeling that things are not OK although in the book they seem to be all shiny and wonderful.
After that, (around the middle the book-3/4) slowed down. I felt that the sales and gallery part was never ending and it was kind of dull. The last quarter of the book is jaw-dropping. It is fastly paced, creepy, and very well written. I couldn't stop reading!!
There is a twist in the story in the last last chapter(s), although I expected a little more detail and action.
For example, that sth happened with the skeletons in the tank when Edgar was trying to drown Perse.. like starting to walk or that the dead guys appeared in the tank or something.

Besides that, I really liked the book and how he used creativity and art not only as a way of creating beauty but also as a powerful weapon.

Gleek-thriller-moment

BEST GLEE MASH-UP EVER!! (until now at least)

both images were by http://swarley-stinson.tumblr.com/

Red riding hood

I want to see this movie so bad! It looks so cool! It's a totally new way of telling the old red riding hood story, plus it takes it to a whole new level with the wolf-werewolf idea...It's  a got-to-see movie. 

Trailer:

Waiting on Wensday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine that "spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating." 

This week I am waiting on:

Title: Darkness Becomes Her

Series: Gods & Monsters #1

Author: Kelly Keaton

Goodreads:

 Ari can’t help feeling lost and alone. With teal eyes and freakish silver hair that can’t be changed or destroyed, Ari has always stood out. And after growing up in foster care, she longs for some understanding of where she came from and who she is.Her search for answers uncovers just one message from her long dead mother: Run.

Ari can sense that someone, or something, is getting closer than they should. But it’s impossible to protect herself when she doesn’t know what she’s running from or why she is being pursued.She knows only one thing: she must return to her birthplace of New 2, the lush rebuilt city of New Orleans. Upon arriving, she discovers that New 2 is very...different.

Here, Ari is seemingly normal. But every creature she encounters, no matter how deadly or horrifying, is afraid of her.Ari won’t stop until she knows why. But some truths are too haunting, too terrifying, to ever be revealed.

Duma Key advance

2 weeks almost-free from college!! I am so f* happy! (Yeah, once college traps you, it never lets you go) BUT that means it's finally time to finish Duma Key! There are only 200 pgs to go and I've got to say...King is scaring the crap out of me in these las chapters. The stupid cause is that I am reading before going to sleep, which btw I DO NOT recommended unless you are already used to King.

Anyway, I am enjoying this book a lot. It is suspenseful, with a lot of cliffhangers, and it leaves you dangling from the edge of your seat. I will finish it on easter vacations and hopefully posting my review soon!

Lesson learned: Read more in daylight. King teaches you to appreciate the sun.

MJ

Inception

by http://swarley-stinson.tumblr.com/page/7

Abandon

Title: Abandon (The abandon Trilogy 1)

Author: Meg Cabot

Though she tries returning to the life she knew before the accident, Pierce can't help but feel at once a part of this world, and apart from it. Yet she's never alone . . . because someone is always watching her. Escape from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you back.

But now she's moved to a new town. Maybe at her new school, she can start fresh. Maybe she can stop feeling so afraid.

Only she can't. Because even here, he finds her. That's how desperately he wants her back. She knows he's no guardian angel, and his dark world isn't exactly heaven, yet she can't stay away . . . especially since he always appears when she least expects it, but exactly when she needs him most.

But if she lets herself fall any further, she may just find herself back in the one place she most fears: the Underworld.

Wanna hear more? Visit Goodreads! http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9397967-abandon

Blue Bloods cover

It looks so gorgeous!!! It makes me want to read it! Blue Blood covers are the prettiest and coolest!

Note to fans:
There are 7 announced Blue Bloods to end the Blue Blood cycle. The new books will have new and old characters and will be a different Blue Bloods storyline! (the publisher already announced it!)

Earth Hour!!!

26-3-11 is Earth Hour day!!! Millions of people around the world in more than 128 countries will turn off their lights one hour, from 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm. Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia when 2.2 million individuals and more than 2,000 businesses turned their lights off for one hour to take a stand against climate change. One hour has changed millions of minds around the world... itsn´t it great?!!?!

NOW IT´S YOUR TURN!!! Take your stand against climate change. Make a difference :D

Dr. Seuss and a quick Teaser Tuesday note

Dr. Seuss series... They were my favourite childhood books and I must say he just ROCKS! Lots of years have passed... and yet...they still make me happy and I still think they are cool haha :P I remember I loved Green eggs and Ham and The Cat in the Hat, although all of them were an excellent read :)

Teaser Tuesday: Sorry, college keeps me from reading- so I will put a new Teaser Tuesday when I finish Duma Key. (Putting more Teaser Tuesdays from the same book doesn`t have sense...at least for me :P)

(Late) Teaser Tuesday!

Book: Duma Key
Author: Stephen King

"The doll whispered and the muse told its tale. Elizabeth listened and painted the place off Hag`s Rck that very day, the one where Noveen whispered the buried..."

"The headline on the front page is very stark, very bleak, very chilling. Three words. THEY ARE GONE."

"Tom Riley was standing at the head of the stairs.He was naked except for a pair of light blue pijama pants (...) Dried blood streaked back along his right temple like war paint, disappearing into graying hair above his ear."

Oscars 2011

ROFL! I can´t get over it. This is just too funny to be true XD The failed Inception idea is too great! Hope you enjoy it as well!

LOL

Devil Bones review

Title: Devil Bones
Author: Kathy Reichs
Serie: Temprance Brennan
#: 11
Publisher: Scribner
Published Date: August 26th 2008
Paperback edition
Cover Rating: C
Book Rating: D


"In a house under renovation, a plumber uncovers a cellar no one knew about, and makes a rather grisly discovery - a decapitated chicken, animal bones, and cauldrons containing beads, feathers, and other relics of religious ceremonies. In the center of the shrine, there is the skull of a teenage girl. Meanwhile, on a nearby lakeshore, the headless body of a teenage boy is found by a man walking his dog." "Nothing is clear - neither when the deaths occurred, nor where. Was the skull brought to the cellar or was the girl murdered there? Why is the boy's body remarkably well preserved? Led by a preacher turned politician, citizen vigilantes blame devil worshippers and Wiccans. They begin a witch hunt, intent on seeking revenge." Forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan - "five-five, feisty, and forty-plus" - is called in to investigate, and a complex and gripping tale unfolds in this, Kathy Reichs's eleventh taut, always surprising, scientifically fascinating mystery.


Review: I am dissappointed by this book. The idea of the storyline and plot are great, I thought it was even creepy finding all the riual stuff in a basement.. but I have to say the book is not that good or creepy. I slept through the first chapter (not joking) and there were about 5 chapters more which were sleepable.
There is a cool and twist past the half, totally unexpected one! but the author does not take too much advantage of that. Instead, the last half of the book was guessing some code. I would have taken the thing that happened to another level of creepiness..
The cool thing is that Reichs is a real life forensic anthropologist. There are some pages in which she explains scientifically some events when they find a body, I liked that a lot. But otherwise, the main character, Brennan at least the half of the book is much more worried about her love life mess than anything else.
I wished it had more action, using the wiccans, sorcerers and the rest of religions in the book.
Overall, it is an ok book. Read it if you have very much spare time.

The Body Finder

Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her "power" to sense dead bodies—or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes the dead leave behind in the world . . . and the imprints that attach to their killers.

Violet has never considered her strange talent to be a gift; it mostly just led her to find dead birds her cat left for her. But now that a serial killer is terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he's claimed haunt her daily, Violet realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.

Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet find the murderer—and Violet is unnerved by her hope that Jay's intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she's falling intensely in love, Violet is getting closer and closer to discovering a killer . . . and becoming his prey herself.



Oh and P.D The cover is just AWESOME... I can`t wait to read it!!!!!

Teaser Tuesday!

Book: Dark Visions
Author: L.J Smith

"You feel the power", he said approvingly. "Good. You're quite correct; it can be terrible. Bit it also can be very useful."

"THAT thing can increase our powers?" Gabriel said with scorn and disbelief.

I am the messenger book review

Title: I am the Messenger
Author: Marcus Zusak
Pages: 357
Edition: Paperback
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Published Date: 2006
Cover Rating: C
Book Rating: C


Ed Kennedy is an inderage cab river without much of a future. He's pathetic at playing cards, hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey, and utterly devoted to his coffee-drinking dog, the Doorman. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence until he inadvertently stops at a bank robbery.
That's when the first ace arrives in the mail
That's when Ed becomes the messenger.
Chosen to care,he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary) until only one question remains. Who is behind Ed's mission?

Good:
-This book has a good start. The first chapters are very well written and the characters are introduced in a funny way.
-Zusak's writing style captivates you in the story.
-The idea of the plot and well,the story in general, is very original. I bet no one has thought of connecting cards with helping and a cab driver.
-The ending. Although it was a typicall happy ending, it was kind of fresh. I liked it.
-The Doorman is a very expressive dog and funny too.

Bad:
- There are a LOT of holes in the story, many unexplained, random things. I would have liked if he digs deeper into each character and the mystery each one has.
-The main character is intelligent but stupid at the same time. He knows how he can help people ***SPOILER*** and he surprised me with the way he helped Sophie, I liked the idea of the box very much...but when he sees two men in his kitchen with ski masks eating pie (yeah, pie..WTBH) he doesn't do ANYTHING!! I just would have at least tried to escape, instead of talking to them as calmly as he did. It was utterly stupid.

Anyway, it was an o.k. read... If you have time, read it. If you don't, do not stress about it.

Late Teaser Tuseday!

I began this book today!!... and since yesterday I did not have the book, I will make this week's tuesday a wendsday :P



Title: I am the Messenger
Author: Markus Zusak

"For a good ten minutes or so we stand there with the flashlight burning the grave with light. The whole time, I'm trying to guess where and exactly how he died, and more to the point of realizing that poor old Milla's been without him for sixty years."

"Just after five thitry, a lone figure comes from around the side of the house. I think it's a girl but can't be sure because the figure has a hood over the head."

Teaser Tuseday!

Well...since I am reading the same book (The Last Sorcerer), I will put a new teaser next week!


Anyway, I will just write a warning:

I was reading also "Never be lied to again" by David Lieberman and I could not go on with it. This guy is completely psycho about cheating partners, boyfriends, girldfriends, wives, husbands, fiancé, your mom, dad, your dog, your cat... almost anyone!!!! Being a PhD I hoped he would talk more in a real psychological-scientific and practical way which can be applied anywhere (like ex FBI agent Joe Navarro does) but I was truly disappointed by Lieberman.

For the body language fans, he does not say anything new (e.g if the person is saying incoherent things suspect the veracity of what he´s saying...-.- C´mon!!).

He also jumps to conclusions quite fastly. For example, if the person touches it´s nose, she or he is lying. Joe Navarro in his book "What Every BODY Is Saying" explains that these sings are also stress signs and not necessarily deception signs. Before jumping to a fast conclusion, signs like nose touching need to be analyzed with the other body signs, in the context of the situation, and with verbal hints to detect a possible deception. He also marks the importance of analyzing in context by telling that the misinterpretation of signs like nose or ear touching in a courtroom are part of the reasons innocent people go to jail.

Dracula

Title: Dracula
Author: Bram Stoker
Pages: 448
Published Date: January 1st 1994 (originally 1900)
Publisher: Penguin Popular Classics
Cover Rating: D
Book Rating: D

Dracula is a unique horror masterpiece and the most famous of all vampyre tales. Dracula recounts the struggle of a group of men and a woman - Dr Seward, Dr Van Helsing and Jonathan Harken and his wife Mina- to destroy the vampyre, whose sinister earth-filled coffins are discovered by Harker in a ruined chapel adjoining Dr Seward's asylum. Cruel and noble, evilly and fatally desireable to women, Dracula possesses a terrifying lust for power and, like Dr Jekyll or Conan Doyle's Moritary is one of the immortal fictional monsters.

Ok, I read it because it s vampyre classic... I HAD TO read it.

I expected very much of this book but I am sorry to say I did not like it that much. It takes place ina Victorian era, so you will have dark landscapes, places with a lot of creepy and cool descriptions. Stoker has a lot of information about the era (and its backgrounds) and he uses his information in a very good and intersting way to make his story.

The begining was awesome, **SPOILER** I felt the panic that Harker was living trapped in the castle as he discovered that the Count was a vampyre! He could not get out and Dracula (and his wives) wanted to kill him!!... but then it turns out to be a bit boring and had the things that happen were developing very slow until pretty much the end.
I also was waiting for a grand finale but instead I felt it was quite rushed, as if Stoker wanted to finish his novel as soon as he could.

An interesting fact is that Dracula is not the typical creature who is old and bloody and threatens to take this civilised and ordered world back to the dark ages.
This is not my favourite vampyre book, but it is ok. Stoker did a good job for an 1897 novel :)

Pascal

This image is so funny!! :P

Late-Teaser Tuseday (Tuesday I had to study ): )

Book: The Last Sorcerer
Author: Richard Morris

"Arabic alchemy was unknown in the west until the eleventh century when the first translations from Arabic to Latin were made."

"They were substances called "philosophical sulfur" and "philosophical mercury. They were supposed to be quite unlike common substances. For example, it said that philosophical mercury didn't burn".

Welcome to Teaser Tusedays!! starting tomorrow :)

Teaser Tuesday is brought to us by Should Be Reading.

Rules:

1) Grab your current read

2) Open to a random page

3) Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

4) BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

5) Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Take that :P

In 1903, Albert Michelson, one of the 19th century's top physicists, commented "The more important fundamental laws and facts of physical science have all been discovered, and these are so firmly established that the possibility of their ever being supplemented in consequence of new discoveries is exceedingly remote".

Two years later, Einstein published his revolutionary Theory of Special Relativity

:)