On the Bookshelf

If you have ever asked yourself where the Gold Snitch came from, how the Bludgers came into existence or why the Wigtown Wanderers have pictures of meat cleavers on their robes, you need Quidditch Through the Ages. This limited edition is a copy of the volume in Hogwarts School Library where it is consulted by young Quidditch fans on an almost daily basis.

Proceeds from the sale of this book will go to Comic Relief, who will use your money to continue improving and saving lives - work that is even more important and astonishing than the three and a half second capture of the Golden Snitch by Roderick Plumpton in 1921.

- Albus Dumbledore

Harry Potter fans will be able to appreciate this delightful companion book. Readers of the series will recognise it as one of the books read by Harry Potter and his friends throughout the series, to aid them with the wizarding sport of Quidditch.

 Quidditch Through the Ages takes you through the history of the sport, it's rules and regulations, and a variety of exciting and often dangerous manoeuvres. The best part of the book is where it describes various Quidditch teams from around the world. While it was great to discover that I have a local team, it is only a shame that neither Rowling nor her editor realised that it should be "Wollongong Warriors" rather than "Woolongong".

Perfect for anyone planning to convince their friends to don matching uniforms and run around the back yard on broomsticks (don't pretend that you have not at least wanted to try) but will mean little to anyone who has not yet read the actual Harry Potter series (or seen the movies).

Go the Wollongong Warriors! They'll wipe the floor with the Thundelarra Thunderers any day!

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling

Terra

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• 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!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

'You think everyone wants to steal me,' Fire said mildly. 'If your own father had me tied up and sold to a monster zoo for spare change, you'd claim that you suspected him all along.'

From page 29 of Fire by Kristin Cashore

Terra

So, I have decided to participate in just one more meme. Musing Mondays is hosted by Rebecca over at Just One More Page.

This week, Rebecca asks:

"What happens when you see a movie based on a book/story, especially one you’ve not read? Do you feel the need to track it down and read it?"

Usually when a movie takes my interest and I hear that it is based on a book I try to read the book before seeing it. The release of the movies encouraged me to finish reading all of The Lord of the Rings and I have been in love with the books ever since. In the case of The Children of Men by P.D. James, I was glad that I had read the book first as the movie absolutely butchered it. On the other hand, I had not thought that Memoirs of a Geisha would be my style but the fact that I enjoyed the movie encouraged me to give it a try and I found that I loved it.

Terra

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. Go here to find out more.

Posting is still slowish because of my back but also because of have now picked up a couple more injuries to nurse. I have been a complete walking disaster lately, I swear. Hopefully everything will heal up quickly though.


Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Tantalize caught my eye because the main female character is called Quincie Morris - a direct reference to the young Texan, Quincey Morris, who played an important role in the defeat of Dracula in Bram Stoker's famous novel. If any vampire writer wants to catch my interest, showing respect for Dracula is a good way to go about it.
The Phantom of Manhattan by Frederick Forsyth
For those that haven't heard, this is the novel that Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical sequel to The Phantom of the Opera is based upon. I will try to approach this book without too much prejudice but when Love Never Dies was announced I cringed with horror. After hearing the plot of the musical (and some of the music too) I am left envisioning a train wreck. Forsyth published The Phantom of Manhattan after discussing it as a sequel to Phantom with Webber, only for Webber to originally pull out as he felt that their ideas were too difficult to adapt to the stage. From initial reviews, it sounds like a real shame that Webber changed his mind.

Terra

From the Back Cover
Evernight Academy: an exclusive boarding school for the most beautiful, dangerous students of all—vampires. Bianca, born to two vampires, has always been told her destiny is to become one of them.

But Bianca fell in love with Lucas—a vampire hunter sworn to destroy her kind. They were torn apart when his true identity was revealed, forcing him to flee the school.

Although they may be separated, Bianca and Lucas will not give each other up. She will risk anything for the chance to see him again, even if it means coming face-to-face with the vampire hunters of Black Cross—or deceiving the powerful vampires of Evernight. Bianca's secrets will force her to live a life of lies.

Yet Bianca isn't the only one keeping secrets. When Evernight is attacked by an evil force that seems to target her, she discovers the truth she thought she knew is only the beginning....

Warning: This review contains some spoilers.

I did not dislike Stargazer as much as I did Evernight but I remain far from being a fan of the series.

In Evernight Gray tried to draw a comparison between the themes in her work, particularly pertaining to Raquel and Erich, and Bram Stoker's Dracula by having the book and it's flaws discussed in a class. This time around, they discuss Romeo and Juliet and Bianca wonders if her relationship with Lucas is the same kind of foolish love shared by Shakespeare's famous "star-crossed" lovers, risking everything for someone that she hardly knows. I came to feel that, in regards to the relationships in the book, Gray sets up a lot and then doesn't follow through. Bianca has doubts about Lucas and there is conflict between them but everything of course turns out fine between them in the end. The attraction between Balthazar and Bianca is explored but just as it seems like it might genuinely develop into something the nature of their relationship abruptly changes to make way for Bianca and Lucas to be "true loves" again.

In Evernight the twists were more difficult to guess but not necessarily appreciated for it. In Stargazer most of the twists can be seen from a mile off. One wonders why Bianca cannot figure out the obvious and when she does it is only when the information practically drops in her lap. Readers may find Bianca quite dislikable because of this and some of her poorer choices.

On the positive side, Stargazer contained much more action which was much more welcome than sitting in on more classes and cattiness in the hallways. We got enough of that in the first book. Support characters also received much more development, adding more depth to Gray's world. Vic, for example, is not just the funny guy in the group but he is actually pretty smart and philosophical.

I doubt that I will actively seek to read the next instalment in the series, Hourglass, but seeing as this book showed some improvement on the previous, in hope that the next book is improved yet again, I may read it if it shows up available at the library.

Also Check Out
Evernight by Claudia Gray

Terra

From the Back Cover:
In the early days of the Civil War, rumours of gold in the frozen Klondike brought hordes of newcomers to the Pacific Northwest. Anxious to compete, Russian prospectors commissioned inventor Leviticus Blue to create a great machine that could mine through Alaska’s ice. Thus was Dr. Blue’s Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine born.

But on its first test run the Boneshaker went terribly awry, destroying several blocks of downtown Seattle and unearthing a subterranean vein of blight gas that turned anyone who breathed it into the living dead.

Now it is sixteen years later, and a wall has been built to enclose the devastated and toxic city. Just beyond it lives Blue’s widow, Briar Wilkes. Life is hard with a ruined reputation and a teenaged boy to support, but she and Ezekiel are managing. Until Ezekiel undertakes a secret crusade to rewrite history.

His quest will take him under the wall and into a city teeming with ravenous undead, air pirates, criminal overlords, and heavily armed refugees. And only Briar can bring him out alive.

My Thoughts:
Scott Westerfeld really did word it best when he described Boneshaker as a "Steampunk-zombie-airship adventure of rollicking pace and sweeping proportions, full of wonderfully gnarly details." I have always loved a good zombie story and I have always liked steampunk for its visual elements - the fashion and the style - but as of yet had not ventured very much in to reading the genre. For others looking to explore the steampunk genre for the first time Boneshaker is an excellent place to start.

The story passes back-and-forth between Briar and Zeke. Priest has a knack for knowing just how long to leave us following one character before the need to find out what is happening to the other becomes too overwhelming. There is at times quite a bit of walking around under the city but Priest breaks it up with interesting and well rounded characters. I found Briar a particularly fascinating character to explore with many different facets as a mother, a woman, granddaughter, and her past as a wife and then now as the widow of a notorious man. But not only were the main characters well characterised, but Priest includes a support cast of quirky and unique characters.

At the end of the book Priest admits to the warping of both geography and history to suit her story. Knowing absolutely nothing about the history of Seattle I really would not have known otherwise but I certainly do appreciate the research that went in to this and the consideration that she has put in to these changes. Also, I love her response on her website FAQs to the history in her books being inaccurate: "It isn’t inaccurate, it’s alternate."

Another really nice touch was cracking the spine and discovering the brown coloured font within. It was a nice little surprise that added a little to the steampunk feel of the reading experience.

Boneshaker is a well paced, action packed, and exciting read. It is a great place to start for those looking to foray into the steampunk genre as well as being an excellent and unique addition to the zombie genre.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Terra

So, my back is just about better, which is a relief, so I am making my return. Remind me never to fall asleep on the couch while watching TV ever again. It's not worth the pain that follows. T_T

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• 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!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I slid the card between the door and the doorjamb and started jimmying the lock.
Five minutes later I was still uselessly wiggling the library card around, my hands now cold, wet, and clumsy. On TV, this part always looked so easy.

From page 4 of Stargazer by Claudia Gray.

This line amused me so I decided to share it as this weeks teaser instead of choosing something at random.


Terra

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. Go here to find out more.

I've hurt my back which is why posts have been minimal over the past week and why they will probably remain so for the coming week as it is not so comfortable to sit at the computer for very long at the moment.

Fire by Kristin Cashore
I absolutely loved Cashore's Graceling so I have really been looking forward to getting the chance to read Fire. This book is set in the past of the same universe as Graceling but it sounds like it is going to be quite a different story.

You can read my review of Graceling here.

Terra