Archive for July 2017

Well, that's over. Time really flies by fast (don't we hear this said every month during the recaps?). I don't exactly know why I decided to do a recap - I didn't want to at first, because everyone does them but I think recaps are very helpful. Let's see what I've got.

What have I been able to read this month? I haven't actually kept track of it, so it will be a surprise to me too.

LIKE A RIVER GLORIOUS by Rae Carson - on sale September 27, 2016

Read

Storm Siren by Mary Weber. 4/5 stars. It was a good book. I have no complaints. It just reminded me of so many other things I've read.

Like a River Glorious by Rae Carson. 4.5/5 stars. Sequel to Walk on Earth a Stranger this was just as good and I highly recommend this series to anyone who likes historical fantasy!

The Death Cure by James Dashner. 4.5/5 stars. I did a review of this trilogy last week. And this book just broke me into a thousand pieces.

Roseblood by A. G. Howard. 3/5. Nothing bad with this, I just found it... boring? I was looking for epicness and creepiness, but instead it was just romantic and moody. Huh.

Strange the Dreamer (Strange the Dreamer, #1)

Currently reading

Siren's Fury by Mary Weber. This is the sequel to Storm Siren and the middle is dragging, but the villain is remarkable :D

The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. This is so. much. fun. I'm a Tolkien fan who has only read LotR and so I'm *busily* (#not) fixing that.

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor. I might be in love, idk? Here are some quotes that should make you understand:

Also, I got a review copy of A Question of Honor by Jesseca Wheaton, and I must get into it soon. I'm also waiting for Jonas and Olivia which Victoria Minks agreed to send me :D Soooo... in conclusion not a very good reading month but I blame NaNo.

And how's the writing going you ask me? I've done fairly well, and yet not quite as much as I'd hoped. I've done about 21,192 words collectively. But my goal was 50 k. In all honesty, I didn't make my goal because I procrastinated too much (don't we all). One lesson I learned is this - later never comes.

On to my numerous works in progress:

Broccoli Queen

My main project here is now at maybe 15k? I have no idea. It's so hard because all the other things were coming and distracting me. Still I'm quite happy with my progress, even though I am having trouble with my plot (i.e. telling myself it's too cliche).

The basic idea of this story, in case you don't know, is four girls contending to be the queen's heir.

You Are My Nemesis

That's the working title and all thanks to Jem Jones for the idea! Basically it's about two supers who are rooming at the same boarding house and become best friends in ordinary life - but what they don't know is that they are arch-enemies in their superhero/supervillain life!

Nine Lives Plus One

(or something of the sort)

I don't really want to give too much away about my wips yet because they are so raw and so new and this one was kind of a random burst of inspiration and the idea is: a seventeen year old boy must find out why someone is trying to kill him and why he won't die.

Short Story // The Top of the World

(or Falling from the Top)

Also inspired by Jem, this is the story's prompt -

--{Assassin vs. assassin [prob. dystopian?]}--

"I'm the world's second best assassin and you're the world's best assassin and my new target and I have a professional reputation to maintain but you're really cute."

Short Short // The Sun is Still There

This I sent over to Anna for her contest, and we'll see what happens with that one - just be patient!

Short Short // Just a Flash of Inspiration

This one might come your way sooner or later. It's kinda based off an experience I had - how I saw a guy at the bus stop from the car window and how he was still in my mind 45 minutes later and I was trying to work him into a story. Will he ever know that? Nope.

I don't really know why I am doing this one but I just am because why not.

- Abi's published her novella Andora's Folly which is fantastic and I highly recommend you pop over to her place and follow the blog tour which is going on NOW. Also read my review of it here.

- Livy Jarmusch published her book The Coronation. I think it's the first of a trilogy. I don't know when I will have the chance to read it but it sounds really cool and you should check it out (just click the links).

- K. A. Emmons is publishing her sci-fi/fantasy thriller novel, The Blood Race! I want to read it sooo bad, but it's gonna have to sit on my tbr for a little while yet *sigh*. Still, you go have a look right now!

- It's been said that The Rebellious Writers are starting a website - and that will be opened on August 9 - I am so stoked for this! And you all should go stalk them to find out more!

- Aimee is announcing her new site and blog tomorrow and I. cannot. wait. And is there anyone here who listens to the Bright Eyes podcast? I must run around to it soon. It sounds really cool.

- The amazing Silmarillion Awards took place and it was really a lot of fun! You ought to go check out the winners if you have the time. I am too lazy to go linking you to all the posts so just go here to Tracey Dyck's blog and you'll find the links at the end of the post :P

- And then there's Exiles coming out and I've been contemplating taking a full Internet hiatus until the hype dies down because I CANNOT STAND HEARING ANYMORE ABOUT THE AWESOMENESS OF THIS SERIES. I've staring at them on my tbr longingly ever since I first heard about them *cue sobbing*

Someone help.

I'm not going to give you a life update because there's nothing to say about my life. However-

- I've discovered Imagine Dragons and I've been going over and over their songs Bet My Life on You and Walking the Wire and I'm getting story inspirations. I always do from music.

Here's a list of post ideas and inspirations that I must do someday and feel free to steal ideas. How many ideas do you go through in a month? I go through few new ideas for writing every week. How many come to fruition is another matter all together.

- Liv wrote a post about 51 books she is ecstatic to read and I must do one also so that you can listen to me scream about my bookworm problems of not being able to buy them all. What do you say?

- Katie Grace and Jane did the #wipjoy tag and I must do it too sometime to introduce you all to my novel in more detail! And you should really think about doing it as well.

- I thought I should torture myself by doing posts about my top five favorite things in the book world - like characters, or ships, or covers, or titles, or something, but it could be very painful and problematic so we shall see...

Finally I redesigned this blog and what do you think? I'm also trying to sort our my fonts and post titles and pictures and color schemes, and just want to say thanks to Katie Grace for giving me a little bit of help finding template sites!

That's July at a glance!

Now you tell me what happened to you! Or if you are doing a recap post tell me about that and I'll come and read it and comment!

xx lisa

Hello everyone, today I'm giving you my first book review of this blog. (But in case you are wondering, I do review everything I read, and those are all up on Goodreads.) And the review is not going to be of just one book, but rather of three (hence, "trilogy"). I kinda like doing series reviews because I get to say everything I want to say about that story in one review rather than in three. The bad thing is, series reviews tend to have spoilers for the first books. However, I am going to try my best here not to ruin anything for you if you haven't read this series.

from pinterest

First of all, can I just say how much I love everyone in here? I was pinning stuff on my Maze Runner board and just internally screaming at the epic-ness. Just so you know.

However, my review will be coherent and sensible, I promise.

The Maze Runner

"If you ain’t scared, you ain’t human.

"When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his name. He’s surrounded by strangers—boys whose memories are also gone.

"Nice to meet ya, shank. Welcome to the Glade.

"Outside the towering stone walls that surround the Glade is a limitless, ever-changing maze. It’s the only way out—and no one’s ever made it through alive.

"Everything is going to change.

"Then a girl arrives. The first girl ever. And the message she delivers is terrifying.

"Remember. Survive. Run."

The Scorch Trials

"Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end.

"Thomas was sure that escape from the Maze would mean freedom for him and the Gladers. But WICKED isn’t done yet. Phase Two has just begun. The Scorch.

"There are no rules. There is no help. You either make it or you die.

"The Gladers have two weeks to cross through the Scorch— the most burned-out section of the world. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them.

"Friendships will be tested. Loyalties will be broken. All bets are off.

"There are others now. Their survival depends on the Gladers’ destruction—and they’re determined to survive."

The Death Cure

"It’s the end of the line.

"WICKED has taken everything from Thomas: his life, his memories, and now his only friends—the Gladers. But it’s finally over. The trials are complete, after one final test.

"Will anyone survive?

"What WICKED doesn’t know is that Thomas remembers far more than they think. And it’s enough to prove that he can’t believe a word of what they say.

"The truth will be terrifying."

"Thomas beat the Maze. He survived the Scorch. He’ll risk anything to save his friends. But the truth might be what ends it all.

"The time for lies is over."

First impressions

I borrowed book one, and it sat on my desk for three weeks before I picked it up and read it in one day. Exactly the same thing happened with the two others. Why? Because I was SCARED AS TO WHAT HORRORS I'D HAVE TO GO THROUGH.

Reading experience

Very gripping. As I said, once I began I finished all in about a day.

Characters

First of all, I love Thomas. Why? Because he is seriously epic xD I was so happy I was finally getting to read a male author and meet a male main character again, because I have been so full of female authors and protagonists the past few months. And neither James Dashner nor Thomas disappointed. Thomas was so incredibly sensible. Not in the slightest like some of the girls whom I have been reading lately. He knew when to listen and when to obey, but he didn't buckle down or let others push him around. He stood up and did what he believed was right. He didn't panic nor pick fights for no reason because he was frustrated. He kept his head all along. He was a hero if I ever saw one. I fully agree with the speech Minho made about him at his first Gathering. Also, what was terrific was this – Thomas was completely honest with his friends. What bugs me incessantly is when the hero has a secret, and when we know it would be best if he/she told his/her friends about it, but he/she doesn't, and later it comes out too late, and either something terrible has already happened, or everyone gets furious. But Thomas told them just about everything. That was awesome!

However, considering, at times it felt he was too perfect compared to the others. How was it that he - even though he was the newest, least experienced person - was so much more heroic? How was it that only he had any attractive qualities to the girls? Obviously it's why WICKED chose him, but still. I don't really care though, because he's amazing.

I also liked all the other characters. I might even be in love with them? To quote someone (I don't remember who) "these guys are like bros". Even though they really annoyed me at first by keeping so. many. secrets. (WICKED was sooo frustrating because they had so many secret and were always lying!) I really felt for all of them. It was, as a matter of fact, fun to be among so many boys for a change and I learned to love them all. I didn't even hate Gally. I mean, I think Gally was really unreasonable and stupid at first, but I kind of felt sorry for him. I haven't seen the movie versions of these books but I know Will Poulter was acting Gally so that might have something to do with my not-hating him? :D Anyway. I really felt about Chuck the way Thomas did. Chuck was just the best in book one, and I liked Minho more and more as we went on. And Newt. The glue. Newt totally broke my heart in book three. The other guys, even if they didn't play as huge a role, were okay and I liked them – Alby, and Jorge, and Aris, and Frypan, and so on and so forth. Sure they were impossible and annoying sometimes and yet I never despised any of them. Quite the opposite, I loved their fighting spirit, and that determination despite everything that was so horrible.

As for the girls... Teresa was something. I have an incredible amount of respect for her, and I understand everything she did – and yet I also fully understand Thomas's feelings and reactions to her. Brenda was really surprising at first – I got a few laughs from her, and even though I frowned at her a few times in the beginning, I really grew fond of her.

As for the "bad guys" - were there any "bad guys"? Let me tell you they were horrible and infuriating and WICKED never ceases to puzzle and annoy me. But in here there was a serious case of doing the wrong thing for the right reason (i.e. saving humanity). It presented a wonderful qualm and food for further thought - how far is far enough? How far can you go for the "greater good"? A unique "antagonist", I think - because it was an organization, and they were trying to do what was best - though I still think maybe at the expense of their conscience. (Also the Rat Man was infuriating and just terrific.)

Romance

This was the first time there was a “love triangle” with two girls and one boy, which was interesting to say the least, but I was okay with it. For one thing, Thomas was so sensible most of the time and I totally got all his feelings and for the most part they were busy trying to get themselves not killed so there wasn't all that much time for romancing. Still though – why is everyone falling for the main character? All the time? Doesn't any of the other guys deserve some attention? How was Thomas the only decent enough person? And what about the other girls? Hello? But this can be overlooked, because it happens everywhere all the time.

Setting

The settings. Honestly, they was awesome. Different from the other sci-fi settings I have been in so far. They was fascinating. The maze, the scorching desert, the towns, the WICKED headquarters, the city (Denver). I probably wouldn't have been able to picture it correctly if I hadn't seen the movie images, so that really helped.

Plot

The plot. It was great. My favorite part was when ... well, when Thomas was being heroic, of course. It was super exciting. I just couldn't put them down. I had to see how they solved things and got out out of sticky situations. There were surprises along the way. And I liked the work and planning that went into it – things didn't always get solved by chance or luck. Sometimes they were just following their instincts, but they had brains, so awesome. I loved their fighting spirit, and that determination despite everything that was so horrible. The worst parts were how many people died. I really hate the Creators. Those kinds of people in sci-fi really tick me off. And all the secrets! *screams* That was one thing that kept me reading! These books basically leave the characters and reader clueless for most of the time and always suspecting things and people and trying to guess the lies and the truth and the motives.

The death + damage

For the ending, I love the story incredibly much. And death. Just saying. Lots of death and destruction. Obviously I died over and over again, but I like the authors who are not afraid to do damage and who aren't afraid to shatter the readers hearts. Ouch.

End feelings

And the last book, ending, was so horrible and shattering, and everything was just a horrible and terrific end-of-the-world story and wow some resolution. I don't know if I should be happy or devastated. But you know, sometimes I plot and write devastating sad endings, so I'm good.

Recommendations

Well, just because I loved it, doesn't mean you will. So I am not going to shove it your face screaming at you to read it. You should have a good idea of what is going on after reading this review, and even a better idea if you have read others. I will just ask you four more things -

Do you like sci-fi, and dystopia, and the end-of-the-world? Because if you don't, or are tired of the genre, you might not enjoy this.

Can you take being in the dark half the time, screaming over the secrets, the mysteries, the lies, and all the things that you can't understand or don't yet know? Because if you can't stand that, you are in for trouble.

Content wise, can you take made up language? I didn't have too much of a problem with this, but others might have.

Also, can you take violence? Because these things are heavy with violence. James Dashner tortured his characters like OH! HOW COULD THEY GO THROUGH ALL THAT?! So violence sensitive people, look out! (People set on fire and having their heads eaten off and beasts that kill you and crazy nut cracks who may be cannibals and so on and so forth.) I was seriously freaked out on occasion (good job, I like being freaked out) and it was so creepy and suspenseful. HELP. Honestly, I didn't have trouble with it at all, but there have been times someone complains about how violent some book I loved was, and I'm like, "Are you sure we read the same book?"

If you are fine with all of that, go ahead. And I hope you have a marvelous adventure!

Rating

In the end guys, four and a half stars for the full series (though I think the first book deserves five) !!!

So, have you read The Maze Runner?

If you haven't, will you? If you have, what do you think? Feel free to share your opinion!

I want to know how you feel :D

I have a little hobby. Not even a hobby really, just a little collection I add to every now and then. And what's this collection? It's a collection of phrases. The phrases are like mottoes, gleaned from various places - poems, books, quotes, songs, movies. So I thought today I'd give you a few to see what you think and to tell you about what they mean to me.

// chase the sun //

This came from the poem "As I Grew Older" by Langston Hughes. This is kind of a personal motto *points to header* and it carries double meaning. In the poem the sun is symbolic of ones dreams, so in one way, this says "follow your dreams". For me, there's also a play on the word "sun". It could be "the Son". And there is a verse in the Psalms that says, "the Lord God is a sun ... for those who walk uprightly". So this also reminds me, "Chase Jesus. Run after God. Follow Him"

// dandelion in spring //

I once mentioned this in a previous post. And who originally was the dandelion in spring? You might recognise the reference, but if not, let me enlighten you. It's Peeta. It's Peeta Mellark. The symbolism is so beautiful. Peeta means so much to me. Who was he? He was the good one. He cared. He wanted to be different, and he was. He was the one who loved Katniss when she thought he was her enemy; he was there when she needed someone; he was so patient; she didn't deserve him. I'm not saying Katniss wasn't a hero. On the contrary she broke for that world and she broke for those people. But Peeta was one of those quiet ones who empower others, whose goodness you don't quite realise you depend on until they are gone. Peeta, to me, is so much more than a love interest or one point of a love triangle - he's a hero in his own right. Katniss is too much of who I am - Peeta is so much who I want to be. I think.

// call the storm //

Not a direct quote, I don't think, but this came from Six of Crows where Inej decides that with the money she gets out of the heist she will buy a ship and hunt down slave traders. She wanted to call a storm, a deluge, to rage against the injustice and slavery. She wanted to rise against the oppressors and yes, I this what should happen?

// he commands my destiny //

Out of what song? Do you recognise this? It's from In Christ Alone. Think about it. Destinies aren't just for heroes or chosen ones. We all have a destiny. Jesus has a destiny for you. Find it. Seize it. And even if terrible things happen on the way - even if you live through the end of the world (or the almost end) - remember, whatever happens, he commands your destiny!

// it begins with you and i //

From Britt Nicole comes this line. "Be the Change" is the song and it is so terrific. Hey, friends, it begins with you and I. Here. Now. Together we can be the change. I am going to use this for some book I write in the future and I think it's a marvelous theme. And this is something I think applies to all of you - I am especially thinking of my writer friends here. Think about it. Think about the writing world. There you can be a change. We are here together.

// live life for another //

From For King and Country. This song "Fix My Eyes" has the most wonderful stanza. This ties in with all the other mottoes I had here. Doesn't all of what I used before include living for others? And isn't that a beautiful part about the books we read? Because even while a lot of the time the characters are trying to find out who they are and what they were meant to be and do, so often they are living for others. They are saving the world! They care for their families and friends. And sometimes their enemies. For their people. Sometimes, many times, despite being self-centred often enough, our heroes and heroines do give a great example!

// stay hungry stay foolish //

And where did this come from? These were the closing comments of Steve Job's speech "How to Live Before You Die". You could understand this is many different ways, but I chose to understand it like this. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness ...” “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise...” So, remain hungry for God. Remain foolish for God. Probably not what he meant, but you know. Sometimes you can adapt.

// first robin //

I had a lesson in my literature once on an essay called "The First Robin" (I think). And it showed us how one robin has to choose to be the first to return home in the spring. How the others tell him he shouldn't and how they discourage him and think he's crazy, and yet he does it. And probably it is too cold up north and probably he dies - freezes to death - some morning, but yet he was the first robin, who dared to do what others didn't. And there are many such people in history. Columbus, Galileo, and many of the heroes. Let's be first robins too.

So that is my post for this week. Hope you enjoyed it! If any of you have any such phrases that play in your minds, or that you collect on paper, let me know! I love to add to my list! And besides, I want to see what inspires you!

Pages

ink well, peeps

xxxx Lisa

So until next time,

Happy noveling!

xx Lisa

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