books I just couldn't part with

I came across a surge of YouTube videos with readers sharing their top 5 books they'd save in a fire. This is apparently part of a Goodreads group meme, and thought I'd simply write up a post about something similar. I don't want to say they are the top 5 books I'd save in a fire, mainly because I don't think saving books would even enter my mind during a fire. I'd probably be freaking out and scrambling to get my family to safety. I personally find this top 5 title slightly off putting, so I am changing it up a bit to say that it is the top 5 books I just couldn't part with. This doesn't necessarily mean that they are books that are my favorite, but more they are books that I know I would struggle to find them again in the book world, or hold a very sentimental value to me.

1. Great Expectations. Of course I love this book, one of my all time favorites. I wouldn't doubt that it would be easily replaceable with it being a Charles Dickens', but my specific copy is hardcover, beautifully red, small with a ribbon bookmark, and a Christmas gift from my husband.  I have a lot of good memories reading through this novel. The edition pictured, though, is not my specific edition. I couldn't find it...

2. The Christmas Box Collection. Again, another easily replaceable book, but it was the very first Christmas gift ever from my husband.

3. The Poets Grimm: 20th Century Poems from Grimm Fairy Tales. I love fairy tales and poetry, and searched long and hard for a book that incorporated the two. I was so disappointed to discover that this book was no longer being printed and was super hard to find, and when I did, super ridiculously expensive. I lucked out stumbling upon a copy on half.com being sold for just a few dollars. It arrived horribly packaged that caused some damage to the back pages of the book (I even had to cut some parts off the pages). But, I have a copy with all the poems perfectly readable, and ended up getting it free with the damage. I know I would not ever come across this book in an affordable way again. Plus, it is filled with wonderful poems revolving around women and fairy tales, what more could you want?

4. Beowulf and Other Old English Poems. I searched for a really long time to find a translation of Beowulf that I adore. Even though it is easily replaceable now, I'd be afraid that it wouldn't always be, as there are plenty of translations available and I have a really hard time hunting down the specific ones I want for certain books. Not parting with this one would just make it incredibly easy!

5. The Count of Monte Cristo. I have yet to read this novel, as I just purchased it yesterday, but (hoping that I will love it) I did realize after looking it up online that my specific copy with the movie tie in cover is no longer available, other than finding it used. I only paid $7 for it from my local used bookstore, and I really love the cover of this book. Right now, I would be sad to discover that I loved the book and didn't get to keep this version. It is part of what drew me into considering this novel for an upcoming read. I looks so incredibly awesome!

And yes, I just couldn't limit it to five, I had to add a sixth book:

 



6. Le Morte D'Arthur: King Arthur and the Legends of the Round Table. I have been looking for a good version of King Arthur for probably a good year. I have been disappointed flipping through the many versions I previously considered purchasing, but they did not meet my expectations. I cannot believe I finally have a version that I am pleased with in my hands, with a bonus of the cover being so incredible. I would be sad to part with at this point, especially before I could completely finish reading it.

What about you? What books do you own that you just could not part with?

new books...that are not young adult

My husband had off work today, so I had the luxury of going to our local bookstore by myself! This is a very rare occasion, for me to be out without my girls with me. Not that I want to be out without them, but it was super nice to be able to take my time browsing through books without my husband or my daughters bored and rushing me. I only spent about $25 and came home with a total of 6 novels (all but one were used books). I am super excited to start reading them, and am having a terrible time trying to decide which one to start first! Here are the books I purchased:
The Sharing Knife by Lois McMaster Bujold. I purchased one hardcover that includes book one and two in the trilogy (Beguilement and Legacy), and a third separate softcover of the third books, Passage. I was searching pretty hard to find either a new sci-fi or fantasy series that I might enjoy, and settled on this. I am a bit confused, as the book containing book one and two looks and sounds really awesome, while the third separate one looks and does not sound at all interesting. So we will see.
I also decided that I really wanted to try a Stephen King novel. I am not much for horror or gory books, but I think I can handle scary or eerie (depending on the topic). I thought a Stephen King book would be well out of my norm, and might lead me to some different books I might enjoy. I settled on The Talisman, which is co-written with Peter Straub. It is a fantasy, and sounds really interesting. I hope it goes over well for me!

And now onto classics! I really wanted to get a new classic book. First, I found Le Morte'Arthur: King Arthur and the Legends of the Round Table. I have been really really wanting a good King Arthur book for a long time, since I watched that Merlin series on TV. I didn't really care if it was a classic or a novel retelling, but I settled on this one. It looks like an awesome version. I did find a few series in the fantasy section, but the writing wasn't really pulling me in. This one was in the classics section and immediately drew me in within the first paragraph. Can't wait to start it! This was the only book I purchased that was not a used book.
And Lastly, The Count of Monte Cristo. This was more of a surprise purchase for me. I knew I wanted to look through the classics today and find something new, but I was surprised I was drawn to Alexandre Dumas' books. I have never been interested in reading them before, but today I was actually struggling to choose between the few I saw. I suppose it is not all that surprising I chose this, it sounds similar to The Prisoner of Zenda, which I really liked. I had a hard time finding the specific edition I purchased, as it has a movie photo on the front. I couldn't get the photo to load on here, but you can see the specific cover I have here.

Now I just have to figure out which book I want to start first. I think I may start off with the King Arthur book...but I might change my mind several times before I actually get to sit down and read today.

my Divergent rant

Okay, so I am rethinking my approach on books at the moment. My previous post shared some series I was interested in, but I think I am going to have to swerve in another direction. I beginning to think that I really need to stray from YA novels and read more true to adult novels. I went ahead and (sadly) canceled my order for the Shatter Me series. I am having some of the same issues in Divergent as I had in The Two Princesses of Bamarre. Divergent is really not wowing me like I was hoping it would. At first I was thinking it was due to the fact that I saw the movie already and just knew the story, but there are things within that are just kind of....irritating me? First off, I am super glad that some of the ridiculous things in the movie that didn't make sense (such as Abnegation ruling over everyone because they are the only faction that is a public service, when in fact, they all do things for the community), were not written specifically like that in the book. But there are things that I preferred in the movie over the book as well. For example, the technology. I am reading through this book slightly confused of where this civilization stands in terms of advancement. I mean, they have developed this really awesome serum that one can drink or inject that creates fear within your brain, triggering your mind to experience all of these different kinds of scenarios to test your reactions to fear, while also giving another person the ability to watch these images and scenarios, or to even have them plastered on a screen like a TV show. But, when the Dauntless have their war games, or capture the flag, they use paintball guns? Did paintball guns and tattoo needles and supplies survive the war enough to be usable, or were they re-invented? This seems incredibly silly to me, and I guess I am just a more serious reader? I don't know. On top of that, I have a huge issue with how the author wrote about the Abnegation faction. This is the first year so many teens have left Abnegation, it was apparently rare. Which goes against everything we have learned in science about our human nature. There are actually stages that our brain travels through to get to a point where we can be selfless and truly think of others over ourselves, but all of those teens never felt that human desire to explore who they are? I personally think every one needs to first understand who they are and what makes them tick, before they can suppress and become truly selfless. None of these teens, for years, have been human? They set it up to make it look like Tris is someone incredibly rare and special, yet more teens, logically, should have been craving to understand who they are in this world. And why are they expecting 16 year olds to be able to make a lifelong decision? Haven't they at least gleamed from the previous civilization that most 18 year olds couldn't do that when they approached college? The reason they even have these different factions is in response to the previous civilization, but they chose to make the age younger when it comes to deciding what you want to be for the rest of your life? It is kind of nonsensical. Another small rant, the wording, and sometimes the editing. There are times when there needs to be an obvious space between two different scenes in the same chapter, but there is nothing. It takes me several minutes to figure out what they heck is going on. There is also several chapters where the word "hem" is overused to my liking. Which is kind of random, and weird. I could probably overlook most of these issues that crawl under my skin, my pet peeves of book reading, except for the fact that the entire book revolves too much around the Dauntless training, which is very vulgar and violent, and too little about Four and Tris. The movie was kind of deceiving in that part, it appeared that Four and Tris were an important part in all of this, their growing relationship, but I am almost on page 300, and it barely exists, like a snail crawling to nowhere. I love people interacting, and bravery, and all of that good stuff. But this novel focuses too much on so much negativity, it isn't panning out for me. One thing I do love though, is reading about Tris coming into her own. I like reading about how she grew up forced to completely ignore anything personal about herself, and now she has the freedom to explore it. Even though it shouldn't be a rare thing, it is nice to see that aspect in a character.
I will read the next book when I finish this one, and hope that not knowing the story will allow me to read through it more enjoyably and not focus so much on the little details that don't add up, but after this series I need to do some more researching. I am having trouble discovering things to read, as most searches I do online tend to pool the YA and adult genres together, so it is becoming slightly confusing, and I don't really have a good book store to explore these things. Any tips on figuring out how to separate these genres in book searching on Barnes and Nobles or Amazon? Or anywhere else?

fun trilogies that have caught me eye lately

I have been searching a lot through YouTube videos and reviews online for some new book series that might intrigue me. I'm generally a classic book reader, but lately I've been pondering on the idea that maybe that is why struggle with finding the motivation to read so much. So, I am trying to peruse through books that are popular and more common place lately, discover some new gems for myself. I am being intensely drawn to post-apocalyptic types of books, which is a bit odd for myself, but I am going with the flow. I am currently reading the Divergent series, being about half way through the first book, and have quite quickly discovered a few other series within the same genre that I would really love to give a try. Here is my list of books that I would like to dig into:

1. Finish the Divergent trilogy by Veronica Roth (including the extra 4th book)
 

2. Shatter Me trilogy by Tahereh Mafi
 

3. Under the Never Sky trilogy by Veronica
 

4. The Partials Sequence trilogy by Dan Wells (though I am not entirely sure if it is a series or trilogy, but from my understanding there are only 3 books right now)
 

5. These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman
 

6. The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

 

I went ahead and ordered the Shatter Me trilogy, which I am most anxious to try, and These Broken Stars from Amazon, so I guess those will be my next books to tackle after the Divergent Trilogy. I started reading the snippets available to Shatter Me on Amazon and was instantly loving it and wanting to read more. I have no idea if I will ever pick up the other two trilogies, but I wanted to write up a post about books that have caught my eye lately, mainly so I don't forget.

flash fiction: I sit in class, distracted

I sit in class, distracted. The teacher at the front of the room writes on the chalk board, smearing the chalk across the empty blackness, writing words  I don't understand. The voices gnawing at my ears, the voices that no one else hears.
I look around the room, watching others; faces towards the front, nodding their heads in agreement, jotting down more words in their notebooks. Words. I can't seem to grasp them, other than the silent ones that batter my eardrums. I cup my hands over my ears to block out their noise, feeling as though unseen fingers are prying my own, one by one, away from my protected ears.
The class bell rings and I jump. Everyone laughs at me as I gather my bag slumped on the floor. I dash out of the classroom, out of the school, and hurry home. The sun shines brightly against my eyes; I smile for a brief moment before I hear them again. The voices.
They are always asking me, coaxing me, hoping I will converse. But I ignore them, afraid of what new thing might come of my giving in. My feet pick up pace until I am within my home, slamming the door behind me.
I am alone in my house, the silence should be deafening, though it never is for me. I throw my school bag against the floor and make my way to the kitchen to pour myself a glass of water. The voices become so loud that I can see my water vibrating within my glass, shaking with their words.
I finally give in and scream my answers, scream my thoughts, only to have the voices quiet for just a moment before they begin to chatter on incessantly once again. I throw my glass across the room, watching it smash against the wall. The pieces fall to the floor as water drizzles down the wallpaper, and I once again find myself cupping my ears tightly to block out the sound.

Written by K, Copyright 2015

more random things...including pastels

I have been wanting to find a new medium to do my drawings in, as I love drawing faces but want to add some color as opposed to always just shading and creating with my graphite pencils. So far I have not been pleased with the things I have tried, and feel that I could really enjoy drawing more if I could pinpoint a medium that suites me.

Yesterday while we were out I stopped in Michael's, mainly for a black pen for inking drawings, and stumbled upon pastels, and thought...huh. I have considered using these many times before, but decided to actually take the plunge and give them a go, without knowing anything about how to use them.
I picked a set that only cost $5. I figured $5 isn't bad for giving something a try, not too much money wasted if I don't like it, plus there is a ton of vivid colors in this pack. Here is my fist attempt at using these pastels:

It is suppose to be Octavia from the TV show The 100. Her braid is a bit blended too much in her hair, so it is hard to see. I apparently need to work on braids! I also picked up a pack of charcoal pencils that contained several browns, blacks, and whites. Now, this purchase was a mistake. I had thought I was buying graphite pencils to add to my collection, as I do not own any white or browns, and thought maybe that is all I would need to spice up my artwork. When I got home and opened the package, I realized they were charcoal and was slightly upset at myself for not checking more carefully. I had never used charcoal pencils before, and was a little intimidated by them. However, I absolutely loved using these charcoal pencils for her hair. They work so much more beautifully than graphite pencils. I need to explore using charcoal pencils a little more I think, and I am quite fond of the pastels as well. I have enough fun stuff to work with now to see what I can come up with!

My Divergent Series is Here!

I'm pretty sure my Divergent box set arrived Friday, but my husband and I were too lazy to venture out into the freezing cold to check the mailbox. So I waited until Saturday, and was so excited to get my hands on the box! They are beautiful books, in a beautiful box set, so I thought I'd share some photos:

The box set all together, the spines of the four books.

View of the box from one back corner.

 

The other back corner view.

Books one and two.

Books three and four.

 

The poster that was nestled between a couple of the books.

A close up of the one I am starting on.

Each book has the emblem on in to match the dust jacket. I will only show Divergent, as I will probably show the others up close when I actually start reading them.

 

The box was a bit damaged on the corners and edges, but thankfully the books arrived in great condition! I haven't really purchased hardcovers, and a box set at that, for myself in a really really long time. I am not entirely sure that I ever have in the past! So this is quite a treat for myself, an cannot wait to enjoy these tales. I really loved the storyline in the movie Divergent, and knowing that books tend to be even better than the movies, I have high hopes for this journey. Anyone else read this series yet? What did you think of it?