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Who is she?
♥ a 26-year-old book fanatic
♥ compulsive book buyer
♥ mostly interested in chick-lit, historical reads (19th & early 20th cent.), YA
♥ not interested in crime & paranormal stuff
♥ will not read anything remotely religious
♥ favourite authors include Sophie Kinsella, Jodi Picoult, Marian Keyes etc.
♥ some of all-time favourite books include Wintergirls, We Need to Talk About Kevin, The Time Traveler's Wife, The Collector, Harry Potter, 1984 and many others
I was lucky enough to attend the London Book Fair this year - I've attended once before and last year we were sadly unable to attend due to the volcanic ash cloud issue. This year, however, there were no such unexpected problems so I got to go there again, yay! The visit was work related (I work in publishing) as this is a trade fair so mostly professionals attend, which makes the LBF slightly different to BEA or the Frankfurt Book Fair. It takes place in April every year at Earls Court.
London is my absolute favourite city in the whole world so to be able to attend a *book* fair there is like a dream come true. We were there for about two days, which were very, very busy and filled with countless meetings with publishers' sales reps, making new contacts, picking up catalogues etc. My schedule was completely full in advance so I didn't get to attend any of the lectures or presentations that were taking place, I was really just rushing from one appointment to another so I'm afraid I don't have any generally exciting news to share, sorry. :) In can say that it was a brilliant experience, lovely and very exciting - and rather exhausing too, but all worth it!
I honestly don't really know what to talk about so I'll just attach some pictures that I took - I hope you can see the slideshow below? I took pictures of various stands (BEA & PW, Harper Collins, Hachette, Hodder, Little Brown, Simon & Schuster, Random House etc). There are some pictures taken from above to show the venue as such. There's one showing the entrance to Earls Court, taken from the top of a doubledecker bus as we drove past it after the first day. There's also a picture of my favourite stand - the Hay House one, which is pink & green & white and generally FABULOUS, I totally fell in love with it. I apologize about the pics being a little blurry, but I was honestly in a hurry taking them so this was the best I could do to give you an idea of what this fair looks like.
If you have any questions, then please fire away. :)
This post is slightly overdue, seeing how it's 2011 already, but better late than never, right? :) Yeah, so here are some of the upcoming releases that I'm very excited about! Please note that this is just a draft and that the list will be updated (erm, hopefully) as time goes by.
Are you looking forward to any of the books below too? Is there anything you think I should add? :) JANUARY
Now that 2010 is officially over, I can finally declare my top 10 books of the past year so without further ado, here they are in all their glory ... 1. THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE by Jandy Nelson This one was simply too stunning for words. I just cannot get over the fact how beautifully written this book was and I loved the little handwritten notes between chapters. 2. MINI SHOPAHOLIC by Sophie Kinsella Ms Kinsella delivers again! I absolutely adore all her books and this one was no exception - so wonderful and almost TOO hilarious! Long live the Queen of Wit Lit! 3. HELLO, HEARTBREAK by Amy Huberman This one was a pleasant surprise! I wasn't expecting all that much, but I ended up laughing so much it literally hurt, plus the book made me feel all warm and fuzzy. So cute and incredibly funny! 4. MIDNIGHT GIRLS by Lulu Taylor I only finished this like a couple of days ago so my review is yet to come, but whooooa this book was just brilliant! A totally gripping bonkbusters with lots of glitz & glamour and twists & turns! Incredibly well-plotted with great character development. It's well over 600 pages, but I honestly couldn't put it down!
5. PERSONALLY, I BLAME MY FAIRY GODMATHER by Claudia Carroll Such an adorable (both inside & out) read - a fairytale gone backwards in a hilarious fashion! I love Irish chick lit!
6. THE HUNGER GAMES & CATCHING FIRE by Suzanne Collins I know these were not published in 2010, but I simply cannot not feature them. Totally not my kind of reads, but I was just blown away by how gripping this series was. Granted I felt Mockingjay was a bit of a let down, but the first two installment were just amazing - brutal and crazy, but SO good!
7. THE LIBERATION OF ALICE LOVE by Abby McDonald Abby writes amazing chick lit and I loved this book, just like The Popularity Rules! Great plot idea and well executed too!
8. SPOTLIGHT by Ilana Fox Another gripping chick lit book! Loved the cover and the book was simply unputdownable!
9. SWAPPED BY A KISS by Luisa Plaja Such a cute read about what happens when your crazy wishes really come true - I still smile just thinking about this book, it was so wonderful!
10. THE FINISHING TOUCHES by Hester Browne I may not be too keen on the idea of finishing schools, but what makes this book so amazing is mostly the writing and the characters, most of whom I grew really fond of. This book was SO much better than I expected and it cracked me up at times!
Even thought I've only read 60+ books (disappointing number, I know!!), it was still quite difficult to narrow it down to just 10, but after some thinking I came up with the list above!
Honourable mentions aka the AWESOME books that nearly made the list (in no particular order):
Cally Taylor: HEAVEN CAN WAIT
Muriel Zagha: FINDING MONSIEUR RIGHT
Kristin Walker: A MATCH MADE IN HIGH SCHOOL
Ruthanna Hopper and Amanda Goldberg: CELEBUTANTES
Tara Hyland: DAUGHTERS OF FORTUNE
Martel Maxwell: SCANDALOUS
Sarah Webb: THE LOVING KIND
Liane Moriarty: WHAT ALICE FORGOT
Jojo Moyes: THE LAST LETTER FROM YOUR LOVER
Michele Gorman: SINGLE IN THE CITY
Kate Morton: THE DISTANT HOURS
2010 wasn't a bad year for me as such, but there's always room for improvment so I hope 2011 is even better - speaking of which, look out for my list of exciting 2011 releases, coming soon! :)
To celebrate the UK release of THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE by Jandy Nelson, Walker Books are organizing a fantastic blog tour before the book officially comes out onJune 7th! Today it's my turn to post a couple of extracts from this . I couldn't possibly choose a favourite excerpt myself as each sentence is simply brilliant so I was very happy that the people at Walker suggested one for me - and I have to say that I am very, very pleased with their choice! I finished the book the other day and it was undoubtedly the best book I've read this year. It literally blew me away and I'm still shocked by how incredible it was. What really makes this book is the amazing writing - and you can get a taste of it if you follow this blog tour. Yesterday's excerpt was posted by Chicklish and tomorrow you'll find one at My Favourite Books turn so don't forget to stop by there!
Anyway, without further ado, here are 'my' excerpts from this extraordinary book ...
“Want to play, Joe?” I say, heading upstairs for my clarinet.
“Holy shit,” I hear, then apologies to Gram and Big. Back on the porch, I say, “You start, I’ll follow.” He nods and starts playing some sweet soft chords in G minor. But I feel too unnerved for sweet, too unnerved for soft. I can’t shake off Toby’s call, his kisses. I can’t shake off cardboard boxes, perfume that never gets used, bookmarks that don’t move, St Anthony statues that do. I can’t shake off the fact that Bailey at eleven years old did not put herself in the drawing of our family, and suddenly, I am so upset I forget I’m playing music, forget Joe’s even there beside me. I start to think about all the things I haven’t said since Bailey died, all the words stowed deep in my heart, in our orange bedroom, all the words in the whole world that aren’t said after someone dies because they are too sad, too enraged, too devastated, too guilty to come out – all of them begin to course inside me like a lunatic river. I suck in all the air I can, until there’s probably no air left in Clover for anyone else, and then I blast it all out my clarinet in one mad bleating typhoon of a note. I don’t know if a clarinet has ever made such a terrible sound, but I can’t stop, all the years come tumbling out now – Bailey and me in the river, the ocean, tucked so snug into our room, the backseat of cars, bathtubs, running through the trees, through days and nights and months and years without Mom – I am breaking windows, busting through walls, burning up the past, pushing Toby off me, taking the dumb-ass Lennie houseplant and hurling it into the sea— I open my eyes. Joe’s staring at me, astonished. The dogs next door are barking. “Wow, I think I’ll follow next time,” he says.
Between chapters there are always handwritten, poignant notes and poems, written by grief-stricken Lennie. She writes them on pieces of paper, on her shoes, on trees, on walls, everywhere. She doesn't keep any of them, though, she just leaves them at various places.
You can see an example of the right (click to enlarge). I've never seen anything like this in a book before and I thought it was a fantastic addition!
As I said, this is my favourite book of 2010 so far and you can find out why if you come back tomorrow when I'll be posting my review - oh and I'll also be hosting a giveaway with an awesome prize (a copy the book + some great swag) so don't forget to check that out! :)
It's time for another Cover Win/Fail feature! I have so many of these lined up, but I'm planning to take it slowly, maybe one every week or every two weeks. If you're not familiar with this feature, it's basically just where I spotlight two covers - one that I love and one that I don't love all that much. As always, I mean no offence, I'm just expressing my humble personal opinion and you're more than welcome to disagree. :) On to this week's picks!
I absolutely *adore* this cover! The book's not out yet and I have to admit I'm not too blown away by the plot summary, but gosh the cover is just breathtaking! Gorgeous illustration, wonderful colours, pretty text, simply amazing! I can tell that someone put a lot effort into designing this cover and it really paid off! I have such a strong urge to own this book and just stare at it, even if I never read it, lol.
I still remember how this cover had me raising my eyebrows the first time I saw it months ago when someone reviewed the book and it stayed on my mind ever since, heh. Sadly I found the cover so off-putting that it took me ages to even bother finding out why there's a cock on the cover and now I know that this book (which doesn't even sound that bad) features a prize-winning rooster - well, the cover may thus be fitting, but *I* still think it's not the best choice for the cover image. I know I'd never pick it up in a book shop, let alone spend money on it, but that's just silly ol' me.
What do you think about these two covers? Alternative opinions are always welcome! 'Till next time, darlings. ;)
ps: It's Friday so you know what that means - time for another Book Blogger Hop, hosted by Crazy for Books! Don't forget to visit her site and participate in The Hop, it's a fun way to find great new book blogs! :)
My giveaway of 5 trade paperback copies of DAUGHTERS OF FORTUNE ended a few days ago and I'm really sorry about not posting the winners earlier, I've just been very busy lately. Better late than never though so withour further ado, the winners of DAUGHTERS OF FORTUNE aaaaare:
Congrats, darlings, and I hope you enjoy the book! Please email me at bookaliciousss @ gmail . com to claim your prize - you have 72 hours so hurry or I'll have to pick a new winner! ;)
Thanks so much to everyone who entered and don't worry if you didn't win, I'll be hosting more great giveaways soon!
Until then, you can enter the AWESOME
75 followers giveaway at Stories & Sweeties! Little Miss Becky is giving away three books, two of which I'm seriously *dying* to read (WHISPER & THE CLEARING)! Feel free to enter here or just keep your fingers crossed for me, please! :)
As some of you already know, I'm a huge cover junkie. I'll be the first to admit that I judge a book by its cover and I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing ... What I appreciate about beautiful covers is that someone put a lot of effort and thought into it and made it irresistable - I often have the urge to buy certain books just because the covers are a work of art, even if I don't like the story, I just want to stare at the cover, heh. On the other hand, if a cover is (in my humble opinion) poorly designed or boring or just plain unappealing, then I don't feel guilty at all about disregarding a certain book. Because honestly, I *buy* most of my books and if I'm going to spend my money on something, then at least make it worth my while - I want the whole package. Is that weird? I know it's shallow, but I don't feel too guilty about it. :)
I know some people only care about the story inside, but to me the covers are immensly important too and I always comment on them soooo I thought I'd dedicate a new feature here just to the covers. I've decided to call it Cover Win/Fail - it'll be posted sporadically (basically whenever I feel like it :p) and in it, I'll highlight two covers, one that I love and the other that I don't love. Is that wrong, to diss other people's work just like that? I do feel a bit iffy about that, but I mean no harm, no offence, it's all just MY PERSONAL OPINION and please do let me know if you disagree with my choices; other points of view are always welcome.
Anyway, without further ado, here are my two choices:
Cover WIN:Encore Valentine by Adriana Trigiani This is a sequel to Very Valentine (which I won on Novelicious, yay!) and I'm head over heels in love with this cover, it's too pretty for words. Some people don't really like drawn covers, but I'm a huge fan of them so you'll be seeing a lot of them here. And what's not to love about this cover? Pretty colours, lovely font, cute drawing - we have a winner! I'm not crazy about the plot itself, but I'd frame the colour, ha! Gorgeous!
Cover FAIL:I'm So Happy for You by Lucinda Rosenfeld This one makes me shudder! As I said, I like covers with drawings on them because that tells me that someone put a lot of effort into it, but what I do not appreciate are covers with horrible stock images and normal font on them, eurgh. I really dislike the *orange* dress - who wears dresses like that? And even if a hideous dress like this plays an important part in the story (which I hope it doesn't), I'm sure it didn't have to be reflected on the cover if the publishers wanted this book to sell. So yeah, I dislike the style and the colour of the dress and simple font - it's too boring and unappealing and I'm afraid it wouldn't interest me in reading the back cover to see what it's about.
So what do you think of this new feature, is it too controversial? :) Do you agreee/disagree?
Today is a big day: March 2nd in the official publication day for BEFORE I FALL, an incredible YA debut by Lauren Oliver. The blogoshere has been gushing about it for months so if you haven't heard about it, you must've been living under a rock and you really need to get with a program - trust me, you do not want to miss this amazing book - scroll down to see how YOU can win a brand new copy of BEFORE I FALL along with some signed bookmarks!
Here's a quick plot summary:
"Sam Kingston is dead. Except she isn’t. On a rainy February night, Sam is killed in a horrific car crash. But instead of seeing a tunnel of light, she wakes up in her own bed, on the morning of the same day. Forced to live through the same events – the drive to school, skipping class, the fateful party – she struggles to alter the outcome, but wakes up again on the day of the crash. What follows is the story of a girl who comes of age in a matter of days. Who discovers, through heartbreaking insights, the consequences of her every action. Of a girl who dies young, but in the process learns how to live. And who falls in love . . . a little too late."
I got a chance to read it online (legally) on a HarperCollins site a few months ago. I wasn't supposed to review it, but the book affected me so much that I just could not resist, I had to get it all out of my system. I described it as a book with "NICELY COMPLEX PLOT, WELL STRUCTURED, WONDERFUL CHARACTERS, BEAUTIFUL WRITING, THOUGHT PROVOKING, EMOTIONAL - ALL IN ALL, AN OUTSTANDING DEBUT!" You can read the whole review here and this book honestly moved me so much that it ended up being my second favourite book of 2009 and virtually *everyone* who has read the book so far has been amazed by it - it's just the kind of a novel that really makes you think and stays with you forever.
Oh and guess what - the foreign rights for this book have already been sold to FOURTEEN countries even before this book was officially published. Yes, that's how good it is! :)
Both the UK and the US trailers have been released - they're both great so click here to watch them!
The woman we have to thank for this incredibly powerful book is LAUREN OLIVER (visit her official site), who is not only so very talented but also unbelievably nice! I was lucky enough to interview her and please find her answers below!
Let's start with the standard question: What was the inspiration for Before I Fall? It's such an original book so I do wonder how you came up with the idea for it! Thanks! The idea for Before I Fall came from a bunch of different places. I used to spend a lot of time trying to imagine, in as much detail as possible, a “perfect” day: the kind of day I wouldn’t mind reliving forever. So I’ve always had that question in my mind. Additionally, I’ve always been interested in the mean girl phenomena and in themes of change and redemption—and ultimately, even though Before I Fall has a very strong narrative structure, I do see it as a character-driven book about change.
How long did it take to write the book? I imagine it must've taken a while since the story is so complex. Were there any particular scenes you were struggling with? How did you get published in the end? You know, I was working from an extremely solid and intricate outline, and generating the outline was certainly the most difficult and time-consuming part of the process, I would say. The actual writing of the book only took about five-six months. It was surprisingly easy, actually, as was the publishing process; I believe my agent managed to get us a deal within a few days.
However, before people start throwing shoes at me, I will say this was not my first attempt at publication. I had previously completed two adult novels, neither of which was ever sold.
Can you tell us more about this "universe" (for the lack of a better word) where Sam finds herself reliving the last day of her life seven more times? [SPOILER ALERT! PLEASE DO NOT READ ON IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE BOOK YET.]
Hmm. I mean, in some ways I envisioned it as kind of a limbo. She is able to effect changes in the lives of the people around her, and so alter the legacy she will be leaving behind, but ultimately she is still penned in by the ultimate circumstances of her death. I guess you could say that that—that event, that death—is the concrete limit, the axiom on which her other actions must be based. That’s why, for me, there was never a question of allowing her to live on at the end.
Which five words would you use to describe Before I Fall? Redemptive; realistic; hopeful; sad. That’s only four but I think they are sufficient.
How did you decide on the title? Did you have any alternative titles in mind? Originally we called the book IF I SHOULD FALL, but we felt it was somewhat too ephemeral and also very similar to IF I STAY, a book that was being released at the time. But it took us about 500 titles to get from IF I SHOULD FALL to BEFORE I FALL, if you can believe it! I'm terrible at titling. :)
Would you change anything about the book now if you could go back? Is there anything you wish you could've written differently? There is much I would change on a line-by-line level. I feel I've already grown and developed as a writer, and there are certain phrases in the book that don't feel quite right to me anymore. But on the whole, no; I'm happy with the book's overall structure and content. I'm not one for regret, in any context!
The book will undoubtedly be a massive hit and I wouldn't be surprised at all if it were turned into a film. Should that happen, who would you like to see starring in it? Oof. I don’t know! I can only hope your predictions for the book’s success are correct. I actually can see Kristen Stewart playing Sam, and I’m not just saying that because she starred in Twilight! And I could completely see Dakota Fanning playing Lindsay; she looks just like the way I envisioned Lindsay in my hed.
What was the best and the worst thing you've heard/read about Before I Fall so far (in terms of reviews etc.)? The best thing I’ve heard was that the book has caused a girl to reconcile with her mother, from whom she was semi-estranged; also, a blogger told me that the book helped her grieve the loss of a younger family member. People have been generous so far in terms of criticism, but probably what most aggravates me is when people think that I’ve included a superfluous quantity of drinking and drugs. We really did drink that much in high school! I was just trying to depict my experiences realistically. And besides, the whole point of the book is how unfulfilling those moments can be, and how what really brings happiness are moments of true connection and sharing.
What you working on now? I am editing my second book, DELIRIUM, which will be released in early 2011. It’s very different from Before I Fall, a kind of dystopian Romeo-and-Juliet story, and I am very, very excited about it.
* * * * *
To celebrate this awesome day, I'm also hosting a One lucky winner will win a hardcover copy of BEFORE I FALL and some *signed* swag! Here's what you have to do in order to be entered into this contest:
you have to leave a comment telling me WHY you'd like to win/read this book (+1)
you have to be a follower of my blog through Google Friend Connect (+1)
Those who are more determined and want to have more chance of winning can get more entries by:
As you may know, I've just acquired a shiny new three-column layout and with it also a couple of other things: 1 - two lovely buttons; 2 - more than enough space to feature other blog buttons. And so I was wondering if any of you might be interested in a little blog button exchange? If you'd like to have your button featured on my sidebar, then please comment below saying that you've already posted one of *my* blog buttons (scroll down, the codes are on the left) on your sidebar and I'll add yours too. :)
Hello, kids - today we'll be discussing my shiny new books & my super duper , how exciting is that?! :)
Firstly, I got some amazing books this week and here they are in all their glory:
PLAYING THE FIELD by Zoë Foster - Having adored Air Kisses, I've been wanting to read this one soooo badly, but since it has just been published in Australia, it isn't available on Amazon or Book Depository, boo. :( Thus I'd like to thank (like, a million times) the awesome Zoë and her publicist Kim for very kindly sending me this book and making me a veeeery happy bunny!
SWEET LITTLE LIES by Lauren Conrad - I bought the first book ages ago and still haven't read it, but I pre-ordered the second one nonetheless because it was so cheap that I just couldn't resist. Cute cover too!
PRINCESS FOR HIRE by Lindsey Leavitt - Another book that I pre-ordered a while ago! I went with the UK cover because it was three times cheaper than the US one and I have to admit I wasn't too sure about the UK cover at first, but it looks lovely in person and it's really growing on me!
Secondly, my blog has just received AN EXTREME MAKEOVER!!! I've been wanting a three column layout for a while now and I had a general idea what I wanted my layout to look like so I contacted Rachel @ Parajunkee Design to help me out - and here's the result! Click here to see what my layout looked like before - yeah, talk about an upgrade of the year, huh? :) I think Rachel did an amazing, amazing job and I couldn't be more pleased with the final result - it's a million times better than I expected! Rachel is so creative and I really can't recommend her enough! She's a book blogger herself and she offers 25 % discount for book bloggers and authors so she's really affordable and worth every single dime! I contacted her saying I'd like to have a banner with three girls reading on a couch and each sort of personifying three genres I read most often: chick lit, historical and YA. She did the first draft incredibly fast and it was amazing, but then I still had like a million suggestions and ideas what could be changed and tweaked and whatnot. Trust me, I'm not the kind of person to say, "Just make my layout look pretty!", I pretty much commented on every colour and shape and came up with neverending ideas and suggestions, which probably drove poor Rachel crazy, lol. I'm a bit of a perfectionist and I bet I was the customer from hell, but Rachel seriously did the most awesome job - not only did she carry out my ideas, she made them look even better! So I really just want to thank her for putting up with me and creating my favourite layout ever! Phew, that was long and rambly as always, lol!
Anyway, I just wanted to say that Parajunkee is amazing and that I simply adore my new layout and I hope you like it too! :)
ps: Oh and I'm also in the process of creating my Goodreads account (it's nowhere near done and it's taking ages, I still have many more books to add and no time), but still feel free to have a look and follow me there or whatever: click here to visit my profile. I'm really new to it so excuse all the mess, I'll sort everything out soon! :)
I honestly wasn't planning on posting today as I'm really tired, but I sort of changed my mind after reading some of the posts about J. D. Salinger's passing, which was announced yesterday. I found out about it on Twitter and I can't say I was terribly heartbroken personally, but I do acknowledge the loss of a great writer who wrote of my favourite books ever: The Catcher in the Rye (based on this short story). Yes, it's "a classic", but I don't think I would've given it a chance if it hadn't been sent to me by a certain someone back in early 2003, I think. ;) I guess it's just not the kind of book I'd usually pick up myself, but I'm so glad I was encouraged to give it a chance as it instantly became one of my all-time favourite books. I remember reading it in one sitting and then re-reading it as soon as I was done. Back then I was 17 and very angsty so the book really, really spoke to me like nothing else I've read before. Back then it was just perfect. I've considered re-reading it now (at the ripe old age of 24!), but I'm slightly worried that I just wouldn't really be able to relate to it anymore since I've changed so much since then (some might even say I've had a personality transplant, lol) and I'm worried about being somewhat less impressed now ... Not very likely though as reading some of the amazing quotes from the book brought it all back to me and I still love Holden's words of wisdom! I remembered I actually posted a whole bunch of my favourite quotes on my old Livejournal thingy back in 2003 - I found them now and I thought I'd share some of them here! Enjoy! :)
"Certain things they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone. I know that's impossible, but it's too bad anyway."
"If you sat around there long enough and heard all the phonies applauding and all, you got to hate everybody in the world."
"You take somebody that cries their goddam eyes out over phony stuff in the movies, and nine times out of ten they're mean bastards at heart. I'm not kidding."
"Then I thought about the whole bunch of them sticking me in a goddam cemetary and all, with my name on this tombstone and all. Surrounded by dead guys. Boy, when you're dead, they really fix you up. I hope to hell when I do die somebody has sense enough to just dump me in the river ot something. Anything except sticking me in a goddam cemetery. People coming and putting a bunch of flowers on your stomach on Sunday, and all that crap. Who wants flowers when you're dead? Nobody."
"Goddam money. It always ends up making you blue as hell."
"I’m always saying ‘Glad to've met you’ to someone I’m not at all glad I met. If you want to stay alive, you have to say that stuff, though."
"I felt like jumping out the window. I probably would’ve, too, if I’d been sure somebody’d cover me up as soon as I landed. I didn’t want a bunch of stupid rubbernecks looking at me when I was all gory."
''All you knew was, you were happy. You really were.''
''The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was.'' "They advertise in about a thousand magazines, always showing some hotshot guy on a horse jumping over a fence. Like as if all you ever did at Pencey was play polo all the time. I never saw a horse anywhere near the place."
"It said if you had any sores in your mouth that didn't heal pretty quickly, it was a sign that you probably had cancer. I'd had this sore on the inside of my lip for about two weeks. So I figured I was getting cancer. That magazine was some little cheerer upper."
"Game, my ass. Some game. If you get on the side where all the hot-shots are, then it's a game, all right - I'll admit that. But if you get on the other side, where there aren't any hot-shots, then what's a game about it? Nothing. No game."
'I'm just going through a phase right now. Everybody goes through phases and all, don't they?' "
When I was all set to go, when I had my bags and all, I stood for a while next to the stairs and took a last look down the goddam corridor. I was sort of crying. I don't know why. I put my red hunting hat on, and turned the peak around to the back, the way I liked it, and then I yelled at the top of my goddam voice, 'Sleep tight, ya morons!'"
"Then I started reading this timetable I had in my pocket. Just to stop lying. Once I get started, I can go on for hours if I feel like it. No kidding. Hours."
"The goddam movies. They can ruin you. I'm not kidding."
"That's the whole trouble. You can't ever find a place that's nice and peaceful, because there isn't any. You may think there is, but once you get there, when you're not looking, somebody'll sneak up and write 'fuck you' right under your nose."
"I always pick a gorgeous time to fall over a suitcase or something."
"I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes. That way I wouldn't have to have any goddam stupid useless conversations with anybody. If anybody wanted to tell me something, they'd have to write it on a piece of paper and shove it over to me. They'd get bored as hell doing that after a while, and then I'd be through with having conversations for the rest of my life."
I mean, surely this book wins the The Book with the Best Quotes Ever Award? Just reading them again after all these years makes me smile. :)
So yeah, RIP, Salinger & thanks for writing such a great book!
Have *you* read The Catcher in the Rye and what did you think of it?
The other day I read on My Favourite Books that an interview with the one and only Lemony Snicket took place some time ago on Webchats.TV so I thought I'd share this fantastic video.
Are there any Lemony Snicket fans in the house? I've read all the 13 books in A Series of Unfortunate Events and I thought they were absolutely brilliant. I admit I was disappointed with the last installment (so many unanswered questions, argh!), but overall I absolutely adored the series. I thought it was very clever and original and above all hilarious - I really enjoyed the dark humour featured in all the books. The series is a bit wacky, but still very very clever, and there are so many mysteries that you just can't stop reading. "Who/what is VFD? What's up with the sugarbowl?" and oh so many more, but sadly most remain unresolved, heh. Nonetheless, the books are a massive delight to read and even though I guess they're supposed to be MG, I recommend them to *everyone*, honestly. Just thinking about the books now really makes me want to re-read them! :)
Anyway, without further ado, here's the interview with Lemony Snicket's "representative" (aka the author himself, LS is his pen name) Daniel Handler. I really wanted to share this because I really liked it and it made me laugh so much. Plus, in case you didn't know, the author is already working on a new series, which should be out in a couple of years and I'll most definitely read it!
OK, I'll shut up now and let you enjoy the interview, which doesn't really answer any questions, but it's bound to at least make you smile or even crack you up - and that's something, eh. :)
So 2009 really is almost over, huh? I can't believe it went by so fast! Overall it was a good year for me and quite an exceptional one book-wise, not only have I discovered book blogs and become completely and utterly addicted to them, but I've also read many fantastic books! Altogether I still haven't read as many books as I'd like, but out of the 70 or so that I have read, there are some books that really stand out ... It wasn't easy choosing just 5, but I've decided to (mostly :p) focus on books that were published in 2009 to narrow it down a bit. Anyway, without further ado, I'd like to present to you the 5 books I personally found the most bookalicious ...
*drum roll* Ta-da, ta-daaaaa! *spotlight*
1.WINTERGIRLS by Laurie Halse Anderson (my review here) I pretty much knew this book will be my favourite this year as soon as I started reading it. Words cannot express how amazing and breathtaking this novel is, you just have to read it to believe it. Some people find the topics discussed too disturbing and while I can't say that they weren't, I also think that the well tackled topics combined with the truly masterful writing and the beautiful cover made this book . And not just for me - Chicago Tribune has recently named it one of The Most Influential Books of 2000-2009, which in itself is almost as amazing as the book itself. ;)
2.BEFORE I FALL by Lauren Oliver (my review here) Yes, yes, I know this book wasn't published in 2009, buuut the reason why it's on the list nonetheless is because it was far too powerful to be missed. Luckily, I got the chance to read it in advance and while I thought it sounded really interesting, I never thought it would blow me away SO much. It's such an amazing book, so wonderfully complex and well written and really powerful, it's still fresh on my mind months after I've read it. Everyone else who's read this book was completely amazed by it - read some advance reviews here. This book comes out in March 2010 (I can't wait to buy a finished copy!) and I predict this will top many, many lists of favourite reads next year!
3.THE BOOK OF TOMORROWby Cecelia Ahern (my review here) Another book that I expected to be good, but I never thought it would completely rock my socks off, heh! Tamara is one of my favourite narrators ever and I was really gripped by her story and all the mysteries. I was totally engrossed in the story and I fell in love with the quirky characters. This book is no masterpiece as such, but it's definitely one of the most enjoyable books I've ever read! Absolutely loved it!
4.TWENTIES GIRL by Sophie Kinsella (my review here) This was my most anticipated book of this year and so you might be wondering why the hell isn't it also my #1 pick then if I'm such a huge fan of Sophie Kinsella, right? Let me assure you, Twenties Girl most definitely lived up to all my impossibly high expectations and I *loved* it, but the thing is, I expected this book to be fantastic and hilarious and amazing - and it was. So the surprise factor was missing, whereas all the other books blew me away and I guess I just like it when that happens, heh. But yeah, Sophie Kinsella can do no wrong - I've read all her books and loved them all!
5.AIR KISSES by Zoë Foster (my review here) Another book that took me completely by surprise! I was a little sceptical about the premise, but gosh darn it was it enjoyable! This one stands out because of the original writing style (it's oh so witty) and the adorable characters were fantastic too! I read it in one day and I had this whole permanent goofy grin on my face as I was reading it. It may not be a masterpiece, but definitely a very enjoyable and quick read! I can't wait to read more by Ms Foster - her next book Playing the Field comes out in February and I'm already excited!
Phew, right, those are my books of 2009! If you've already picked yours, then feel free to let me know which ones you chose as I love these kind of posts, I just find it so interesting to see what stood out for other people.
That's it for me this year! Thanks so much for visiting & following my blog and reading & commenting on my ramblings, I really appreciate it!
Lastly, I'd like to wish EVERYONE a very Happy New Year and all the best in 2010! Hope it's a fantastic year for all of us! Keep up the good work, fellow* book bloggers!!! :)
(* - What is the non-sexist word for 'fellow'? This question has been bugging me for ages, lol!)
We're about to wave buh-bye to 2009 and most of us are already thinking about 2010. You never know what a new year has in store for you, but one thing's certain - 2010 is going to be an amazing year for books! There are just sooo many exciting new releases that we all can't wait to get our hands on, right? Speaking of which, below you can find the list of books I'm personally reeeeally looking forward to in 2010! JANUARY ♥ Splendour by Anna Godbersen (7th) ♥ The Secret Year by Jennifer Hubbard (7th) ♥ The Mark by Jen Nadol (19th)
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