The Eagle Of The Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff

The Eagle Of The Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Normaly I read a book before I watch the movie based on it. But when I watched "The Eagle" I didn't know there was a book out there. I loved the movie so when I heard about the book I was pretty sure I would like it, too.

And I loved it! I know I did a lot of 5 star reviews lately, but this one really deserved it!

"The Eagle of the ninth" is set in Roman Britain. 12 years ago the ninth legion marched into the mists of Caledonia to battle an uprising. No one ever heard anything from them. Now Marcus Aquila, son of the legion's commander, follows his fathers tracks into the enemy land to find the precious eagle. The standard of the legion and symbol of Rome. He's acompanied only by his slave Esca as they both explore the boundaries of friendship, loyalty, and honor.

So where do I start with my review? There was a lot I loved about the book that was better than the movie (Cottia to name just one), and there were some moments I liked the movie better than the books (Escas Gladtiator scene, for example)...

Rosemary Sutcliff has a really great writing style. She delivers a beautiful image of ancienct Britain and the people living in it, so vivid that you fear and wish the scene comes to life between the pages.
I cannot even pick a scene I liked the most, since there were so many with big symbolism or pure epicness (yes, I have to call it "epicness") in it.

Beautiful Creatures/ The Hobbit Trailer...

Hello everyone :)
There is a lot going on in the books-to-movies world lately, here are some quick updates:

As some of you may already know the first Beautiful Creatures trailer was published a few days ago:
But what is Beautiful Creatures? It is a movie based on a book by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. It's the first one in the Caster Chronicles series.

There were no surprises in Gatlin County.
We were pretty much the epicenter of the middle of nowhere.
At least, that's what I thought.
Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong.
There was a curse.
There was a girl.
And in the end, there was a grave.

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

And in other news:
There is a new Hobbit trailer! And new fotos! I'm so hyper excited over here! I was really obsessed with the Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit is one of my favourite books ever. I can't wait to see the film. (And I guess I don't need to tell you anything about the book ... but I'll do anyway :D)

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, who wrote it for his own children, is (in my opinion) one of the best fantasy novels ever written. It's a magical fairytale that will take viewers and readers back to middle-earth. The book tells the story of Bilbo Beggins before The Lord Of The Rings: 

And finally I found out that the official date for the first episode of Game Of Thrones Season 3 is the third March 2013. That means a lot of waiting for me that I will gladly spend with reading the books... again :D
What book-to-movie do you eager anitcipate the most these days? Have you read any of the these books?
Tell me about it in the comments :)

Love and Words
KJ

All covers and summaries taken from Goodreads for advertising puspose only.

Mari Mancusi signs a new book deal!

Hey everyone :)
Here are some news for you:

Mari Mancusi, author of the Blood Coven series just announced today that she signed a new deal with Sourcebooks Fire!
She describes the new novel, which will be the begining of a trilogy as more action packed and darker than the Blood Coven books. It centers around sixteen year old Trinity Brown who get's a Dragonegg which is destined to either save or destroy the world. Here is the summary taken from Mari's Blog:

An Author Interview: Cassandra Giovanni

Hey everyone ;)

This is the first interview with an actual real author I ever did, and I'm super excited right now :) So thanks again to the amazing Cassandra Giovanni who answered some questions for me!
Cassandra Giovanni is the author of In Between Seasons which I really liked and reviewed a few days ago.
Here is the whole interview (including a sneek peak on her new novel :) )

1. Why did you choose independent publishing over being wrapped up by a publisher?
My original plan was to get an agent, and then get onto a label with a large publisher. I did look at smaller indie presses, but when I started to think about self-publishing I felt that doing it "my" way was the best choice. It was very important to me that I be able to use my photography for the book covers, and marketing pieces, but as I looked at larger presses, and even the smaller presses I realized that I would not have this sort of say. I started looking into my self-publishing options, and then I took the dive. I made some wonderful author friends along the way, and even ended up with a mentor who guides me through this unknown but beautiful world. I like being self-published because I get to be me, and I get to make the choices of how my books will be me.

2. How important are, in your opinion, social networks like Goodreads or Facebook for todays publishing world?
I think that social media is something that authors do have to embrace, but must choose to embrace in their own way. I do not utilize facebook on my own account, but on occasion I have my friends "blow up facebook" with information on my books, and I encourage my readers to "talk me up" on facebook. I enjoy Goodreads because it feels like a facebook that is focused on bringing authors and readers together. As for the growing "twitterdom", I am clueless, and don't do that either. I feel that authors should keep in mind that with social media they can easily become "spammers". A author should always genuinely care about their readership, and spamming doesn't demonstrate this. I try my best to get to know those that I friend, or friend me, but with a growing friend list, and fan list (I can't believe it my self) it is hard. I still personally log onto each person that becomes my friend, look at their blog if they have one, and try to personalize a comment on their page. 

3. What inspired you to write In Between Seasons?
What's funny about this question, is that I get asked this a lot, and surprisingly each time I have to think about it. There are two main things that inspired it, one being the building on the cover of the novel. I drove past this for days, months, even a year possibly, and each time I did, I wanted badly to photograph it. Then came the dream. It was very vivid. I was Kate, and my husband was Hunter. The dream felt rushed and clipped, but the emotions were so clear. It began with me running to a house, and closing the door behind me, as I did the glass shattered and an arm pulled me out the door and dragged me through the woods. Then the scene skipped to the invasion, and I remember the feeling that I HAD to save "him", and breaking into the basement and stealing the guns. Then it went to a scene where we were running down a hill through a forest of trees. It skipped again and there we were at the ocean front. You read the book, so that scene is exactly as I felt it and saw it. Even though Hunter was my husband in the dream, I felt as Kate did, as if when he grabbed my arm it was the first time I had seen him. 

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower

Hey folks :)
So here is my review of The Perks Of Being A Wallflower! It is the first one in my 50in1 yearly challenge (yay only 49 to go! :D) and I finished it just before I posted the challenge, update.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is going to be a really hard review to write. How can you write about something when the only thing that comes to your mind is "I freakin' love this!"

I so a trailer for this book a few weeks ago and since I adore Logan Lerman I thought "Hey, I need to watch that movie!" But I always love reading books before watching the movies based on them. What is more fun than sitting in the theatre an screaming "They ruined the book!" at the begining of the ending credits?
I told my best friend about it, she read bought the book and finished it within two days comanding me to definitely read it "like just now"!
So I read it.
And damn, that's a good book!

The story is told through letters freshman Charlie writes to an unknown person. Charlie is really introverted and does not have a lot of friends outside his family. Last year his best friend died and he still needs to figure everything out about that. In his first year in high school he meets Sam, the in his opinion most beautiful girl in the world, and her stepbrother Patrick. They include him in their circle of friends and he becaomes part of their life. Together the new friends discover themselves and their place in this world through what you could call "sex, drugs and rock'n'roll".
Charlie telly the reader about his problems in life as a wallflower and he has a unique view on everyone else in the story.

Charlie is in my opinion one of the nicest characters I ever read about. He is introverted and he does not quite participate in life. But because of that he sees things differently and asks questions about life most people would never think of. This gives a phylosophical touch to the entire novel.
Charlie's awkwardness around other people, mostly girls, makes him unbelievable cute. I really wanted him to have his happy ending and to finally get over the things that trouble him. One more reason for the greatness of this novel is the fact that, in his letters, Charlie never quite explains what "messed him up" because he doesn't really now it himself. The reader needs to read between the lines and put the pieces of the puzzle together himself (until you finally learn the truth at the end)
My favourite scene was the brownie scene in the first part of the book. Charlie was indeed really naive and "the milkshake dialogoue" was unbelievable funny. That's one more great thing about the book: It is really tragic and funny in the same time. I cried my eyes out for Charlie, more than once, because he made me love so hard and because it was a really sad story after all.
And now the things I didn't like: There was actually just one thing I did not like about the book: There was not one character in there, that was reallly deeply happy. Through all that heart break, growing up, and finding your self it would have been nice if someone would have been happy at least a little while. And though I know there are no real happy endings in live it would have been nice to see just a little tiny one in this book.

A little Off topic that isn't quite off: I started watching Squaresville over on Youtube a few weeks ago. It's a really funny webseries following the lifes of two teenagers that don't quite fit in and really don't want to anyway. Seriously check it out if you don't know it by now! As I started reading "The perks" I was reminded of these characters. A crossover of those two stories would probably unbelievable cute and funny (and I would definitely ship Charlie and Zelda as a couple. We could call them "Charda" XD)
So all in all I have to say: I have a Charlie-esque crush on this book!

What Rachel thinks of it: "Awesome" Well that's a long review, but thanks for the input anyway :D

View all my reviews
So looking back now I don't think the trailer looks that great. I don't think he captures the tragedy of the book. But I still hope the movie will be great! If it is not than it aachieved at last one thing: It got a lot of people to read the book. And I will never regret reading it :)
Have you read the book? What are your predictions on the movie The Perks of Being a Wallflower?
Love and Words
KJ

50 books in 1 year aka she went insane... again!

Hey folks :)
And yeah, I'm well aware that I suck at posting regualry... But I'll try harder. I need to try harder. Here is the reason why:


So I asked myself what I could do in my free time to get myself back into reading and blogging more. Inspired by a Sparknotes post series (which you can find here) I made a bet with one of my friends (you all know her, it's the amazing Rachel Shelley!) that I would be able to read 50 books within a year (so from last week until my next birthday) and write a review for each... So wish me luck, I hope I will be able to do that, because right now Rachel is using her demonic mastermind to find a dare for me to do when I don't get to the finish line of this bet.

Update: So Rachel found something...something evil. Something I would never ever do freely. If I'm not able to finish 50 books and reviews within the next year I have to visit the Irish Pub with her and sing karaoke all alone. In front of everyone... That does not sound mean? Have you ever heard me sing? That would be the most embarassing thing ever and I will probably get sued for torturing the other guests.
Oh, and did I mention: If I not at least read 30 books Rachel will tape it so you can all watch it on youtube. Yay, for the evil mastermind!
So internet you are my witness: I will read or sing!

And I already started praying that it will be the first one. Because when I start to think about it now, fifty books are a lot...

Love and words
KJ

Edit 1: So I decided I'll post my updates directly under this post so I (, you, and Rachel) can keep track of my progress:
Time to finish: 4 months and 0 week
Books finished and reviewd:

1. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
2. The Eagle of the ninth
3. A Clash of Kings (no review planned)
4. Matched (also used in the Dystopian Challenge)
5. Valkyrie Symptoms
6. The Demon Lover
7. Tuor and The Fall of Gondolin
8. A Storm of Swords
9. The Hobbit Official Movie Guide 
10. Danton's Death
11. Pretty Dark Nothing
12. Demonic Dora
13. Ruby Red
14. The Weather Factor (no review because this ain't a fiction book)
15. Masque of the Red Death (maybe a future review, 3 out of 5 stars)
16. LA Candy (no review because this book good 1 out of 5 stars)
17. Labyrinth
18. The Valkyrie Profiles
19. Persephone
20. Cypher, the mountain giant
21. Children of Ymir
22. Terrible Tudors
23. Slimy Stuarts
24. The White Queen
25. Shifter
26. Love Exactly

At my current pace I will: desperately fail...

In Between Seasons by Cassandra Giovanni

Oh my gosh!
When was the last time I posted anything? Feels like ages ago! I'm so sorry for the long silence but right now I'm not sure if I will keep up this blog in general. A lot of things are getting in the way and I feel like I become more and more lazy with each passing day...
But anyway here is my review for In Between Seasons:

In Between Seasons by Cassandra Giovanni
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was lucky enough to receive a copy of „In between Seasons“by Cassandra Giovanni (who is not just really talented but really nice, too :D) through a Read and Review program on Goodreads. And here is what I thought about the book:

The story takes place in a dystopian version of North America set in the near future and follows the protagonist Kate Eriksson.
The world is at war. Kate is 18 years old and lives with her family somewhere in the middle of nowhere. All she knows is that something is very wrong with the world she lives in and all her parents tell her is a lie. One day she meets Hunter and he gives her the chance to learn something about the truth. But Hunter is not who he seems to be. They both find something in each other they would have never expected.

What I liked the most about this book was the clueless ness of the main protagonist Kate and that she knows not much about her world. The story is told from her point of view and is therefore really mysterious. The reader does not find out what exactly happened to the world. I needed to think about the book while I was reading it and to put the parts of the puzzle together while Kate was doing that, too. It was not too easy as in other books but on the other hand not too confusing. This really turns the book into something new and unique in the wave of dystopian/ post-apocalyptic stories that become more and more mainstream these days. And I always love it when a book starts with some action and you don't need to fight your way through a dozen chapters before something finally happens.
Everything Kate ever thought to know or not know crumbles around her as she learns the truth about her family. Cassandra Giovanni gives Kate a unique voice and her actions, even more important her feelings and thoughts are understandable and don’t seem to come out of no where.
Hunter on the other side is mysterious and dark but gives Kate and with that the reader the chance to see him from a different side. I really liked how everything turned out with them.
Both, protagonists and supporting characters are three dimensional. The author knows what she is doing and has a nice easy-to-read writing style.
Every character seems to hide a secret or pretend to be something he isn’t. There is a lot of mysteries going on and a lot of truth to be unfolded, but that never distracted me from the romance. The author is able to connect the storylines perfectly, one of the main reasons I liked this book so much. I never needed to think about the book as much as I thought about this one to be able to write a review. There is something mysterious about the story that just keeps you reading and reading. As desperately as Kate struggles to find the truth and deal with it, I wanted to find out what was going on and raced from chapter to chapter.
Sometimes the story slowed down a little, but it was never so much that I would call it a negative aspect.

I didn’t like the ending that much, but I can’t tell you a lot about why I didn’t like it, since I don’t want to spoil anything. It was a good ending, but it was just not my type of thing :D
Because of the fact that the ending was the only negative thing about this book the positive things outweigh and the story convinced me completely.
All in all I recommend this book to fans of the genre and everyone who wants to try something new. It is a book that makes you think but can still count as a light read.

And I’m pretty sure that we will hear some more from Cassandra Giovanni in the future. If her next book is like this I will definitely check it out.

Guess what? I'll be posting an interview with Cassandra Giovanni in a few days (or weeks, don't nail me down on that). So if you have any questions for her feel free to ask them :)

Love and Words
KJ

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