Keeping up with blogs

So, I was curious.

I know most of us writers follow blogs. Like, a lot of blogs. Like a lot a lot a LOT of blogs. Leastways, I know I've got a ridiculous number of blogs that I follow. Hold on...

Whoa. I follow like 65 blogs. I didn't know that until just now. Howesomever, that brings me back to this important question: how do you keep up with them?

Me, I have this handy dandy tool called the Google Reader. Peeps, that thing is awesome! All the blogs that I love and follow, or subscribe to, I can have them all load in the Google Reader, and I can browse the new, updated blog posts and see which ones intrigue me. Isn't that cool?

Honestly, there's just so many good blogs out there, I know there's not a way in the world that I can't keep up with them, unless I get them all arranged in one good spot. Google Reader's my spot.

How do you follow blogs? Where do you put all your links? Out of curiosity, how many blogs do you think you follow? You are more than welcome to post, "70 blogs... and still subscribing!" if you so desire. And of course, the 70 was merely a random number. :-)

Wednesday: On Reading

So, today is all about what I'm reading.

Well, I have to tell you. I just finished "The Hunger Games", and I know all youse all, or at least most of you out there, have read this book. What was your initial response to it?

This was mine. It was disturbing. Really, really disturbing. You know what disturbed me most? I couldn't put the book down!

I mean, it took me a little while to get my head wrapped around the idea of a gladiator-type future where the children are forced to compete in this "Game" against each other, in a fight to the death. Suzanne Collins does such a good job of portraying her world, however, that you can almost reconcile yourself to the idea. As the book goes on, and you're drawn deeper into Katniss's mind and mentality, you almost get detached from the deaths that occur. In fact, you almost root for some of them. Then, all of a sudden, the author jerks you back into the present, and to the shocking mentality of her world. As I said, disturbing.

However, her style was amazingly gripping. I could not put the book down. I started her book on Sunday morning, and by the afternoon I'd finished it. Afterward, I immediately put her other two books on hold. She had a way of putting her words together that held my attention. That's the kind of writing I want to learn, that taut and relentless string of words that makes me want to turn the next page... and the next page... and the next page.

I give "The Hunger Games" probably a four-and-a-half star rating. I'd prolly give it a five-star rating, 'cept it disturbed me so much! :)

On a lighter note, and totally not in keeping with the topic, this is a note to all you Josh Groban fans out there: HE'S GOING ON TOUR! I just finished purchasing eight tickets, for me and my family members and friends who are going to see him LIVE! I'm thrilled, excited, jazzed... he's my fav'rite singer. Here's the reason why. I'll share with you one of my most favourite songs on his new Illuminations CD. It's called "Hidden Away", and it's absolutely beautiful. Enjoy! God bless.

Wednesday: On Reading

Some writers are so brilliant, I just want to imitate them.

If you don't know it yet, I'll tell you right now. Diana Wynne Jones is one of my favourite authors in the world. She's so imaginative, and she just loves to play with words. When you read one of her books, you can generally tell it's written by her just by the way she uses words. No one else employs word usage quite the same way she does.

When I find a book by her that I have not yet read, I feel amazingly blessed that I have a chance to savour her style again. Whenever she writes, her stories are from a perspective that is entirely fresh and new. Here's an example from one of her books that I was reading a book by her the other day. This book is called "The Eight Days of Luke," and I have to say she shocked me, as she always does, with a versatility of her brain.

In this story, she introduces the main character, David, in once sentence: "Unlike most boys, David dreaded the holidays." That about sums him up. David is unlike most boys, he hates the holidays. Why? Already, you're curious and drawn into the story. Later, she describes how David has decided that smell is more important to the human race than anyone believes, and when he steps into the house it smells "thick and dampish, of polish and old cabbage." At the smell, she writes that David's heart, obstinately cheerful, goes down "about seven notches with a rush." You can just visualize that feeling. It's amazing.

I love to study the way she writes. Look at this sentence: "He got up and stalked upstairs, feeling for the wall as if he thought it might escape him unless he kept in touch with it. His bedroom door did escape him." Isn't that imagery vivid? Look here: "He picked up the skull and knocked an onion ring out of its eye socket." Brilliant! I'd never have thought of that line! Last, one of my favourite lines ever: "Christopher discovered that you dealt with obnoxious masters and most older boys the way you dealt with governesses: you quite politely told them the truth in the way they wanted to hear it, so that they thought they had won and left you in peace."

So, after reading many, many, many of her books,  I've discovered that I'm endeavouring to come up with new, fresh ways to say things that will make people think, "Wow, that totally hit the picture!"

Which authors do you read over and over again, just so you can study how they DO it?

The Ring of Solomon

Bartimaeus is back... and he's just as funny as ever!

Jonathan Stroud has written a masterpiece of wit set in the time of King Solomon.

King Solomon is an evil king, intent on ruling the world under the iron fist of fear. He commands a Ring of great power, a Ring that, with one twist, allows him to command all the spirits that reside in the Other Place. With the might of that Ring, all the world cowers in obedience before his omnipotence.

The djinni Bartimaeus has been summoned and bound to a magician in punishment for having escaped and slain his previous master. Forced to work for Solomon's henchman, Khaba, Bartimaeus and six other disgraced djinn are hard at work on his Solomon's new temple, with strict instructions to use no magic in the temple's making. When these orders are disregarded, Bartimaeus and his six companions are sent to hunt out other creatures who are disrupting trade routes. 

Elsewhere, the Queen of Sheba has received multiple marriage proposals from Solomon, which she has refused. Now Solomon threatens to destroy her country's frankincense trade. To keep her country's peace intact, the Queen sends Asmira, a guard in her regime, to kill Solomon and steal the Ring. Fiercely loyal and obedient even to death, Asmira sets off to Jerusalem.

On his hunt, Bartimaeus meets Asmira as she is traveling to Jerusalem under an assumed identity. After many episodes, during which Bartimaeus is beaten by a very powerful marid and imprisoned in a bottle, Asmira summons Bartimaeus and makes him her slave, with orders for him to assist her in killing Solomon and stealing the Ring. Despite the seeming impossibility of the task, Bartimaeus shines his way through with his customary wit, sarcasm, and ingenuity. During their escapades, Asmira and Bartimaeus form an uneasy respect for each other. As the climax reaches it's conclusion, surprising facets of Solomon's true character begin to emerge.

This book is a must-have companion to the previous books in Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus trilogy. (1. The Amulet of Samarkand; 2. The Golem's Eye; 3. Ptolemy's Gate.) The Ring of Solomon will fast become another favourite to diehard Bartimaeus fans. I give this book a five star rating, but I happen to love sarcastic djinnis with a penchant for eating weaker spirits.

My Rating:

*****

Leviathan: Scott Westerfield

Prince Aleksander, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne in the year 1914, is woken up in the middle of the night by his tutor and his fencing master. At first, he thinks they're taking him out on another one of those midnight drills that he is expected to do whenever it is deemed necessary. However, this time it is not a drill. It is an escape. Alek's parents have been killed, poisoned by German sympathizers, and the prince is next on their hit list.

   Alek's escape coincides with the escapades of Deryn Sharp, a young girl who has joined the British Air Service disguised as a boy. Deryn, a midshipman aboard the Darwinian airship Leviathan, is a brilliant airman. Her love of flying makes the danger of her deception a worthwhile venture. During an intense air battle, theLeviathan is heavily wounded and forced to crash land in the freezing Swiss terrain, coincidentally near a secret castle where Prince Alek and his men have taken refuge.

   This story ends on an unexpected cliffhanger, leaving you open and ready for the second book in the trilogy, Behemoth.

   This story, set in a steampunk World War I, grabs hold of the reader from the first paragraph. Scott Westerfield writes an imaginative alternate world about how history could have been. Peopled by Clankers -- men who put their faith in machines of metal -- and Darwinists -- men who command genetically engineered vehicles such as the Leviathan. an enormous whale-like air ship with it's own ecosystem --Leviathan is a must-read for the avid steampunk reader.

   This book was a masterpiece of storytelling. Perhaps my only complaint about it was the Darwin element. I am NOT a fan of Darwin, nor do I believe any of the theories he came up with. However, Scott Westerfield manages to take the theory of Darwinism just far enough to explain his biological air ships. Aside from that one element, this was a fantastic story.

My Rating:

*****

Under the Green Hill: Laura L. Sullivan

Perhaps the Morgan children would never have met Phyllida and Lysander Asher, their distant English relatives, were it not for the epidemic that threatened America. Afraid for their children, college professors Tom and Glynis Morgan ship their children off to England.

For Rowan, Meg, Priscilla, and James Morgan, life with the Asher's seems like it could be ideal.  The house, officially named "The Rookery", is enormous, with lots of places to explore, and a fabulous garden just outside the house. The only downside to their stay may be the last-minute additions of two boys, both of them sons of other college professors: Finn Fachan, an annoying boy that the four Morgans despise equally, and Dickie Rhys, a bookish boy that the Morgans mostly ignore.

The Ashers are pleasant old people. However, they have some very strange rules. The children wonder, why is the forest forbidden? Why can't they give their names to strangers? And why mustn't they accept food from anyone?

Very soon, the Morgans discover the reason. They have arrived in England on May Day, and when they ignore the Ashers' warnings and venture beyond the grounds on the first night of their stay, they come upon the Green Hill, threshold of the Seelie Fairy queen's domain. There, Rowan is chosen to be the Queen's champion in the Midsummer War, a battle fought between the two opposing fairy courts, Seelie and Host. Rowan is their human champion. He must fight the Host's human champion, and either he or his opponent must die.

Determined to save her brother, Meg vows to do all she can to prevent Rowan from fighting in the battle. When she discovers that, without the spilling of the blood of mortal man the land will die, Meg is in a quandary. Can she justify preventing the War to save her brother if it means destroying England?

This was a very gripping story. Laura L. Sullivan draws heavily on Celtic and Arthurian legends to create a story that is as real and believable as the sun outside.

My Rating:

*****

The Magic Thief: Sarah Phineas

What do a thief and a wizard have in common?

They are both trying to discover why the magic in their city of Wellmet is disappearing.

When Connwaer, a young thief, picks the pocket of the wizard Nevery and steals the wizards locus magicalicus (a stone that helps a wizard focus his magic), the wizard can only wonder that the locus didn't kill the boy.

Nevery takes the boy home, curious about his affinity to magic. Conn will be Nevery's apprentice, on the condition that he find a locus magicalicus of his own. Conn has only a month to do this, and it becomes a near impossible task as he also spends his time trying to discover who... or what... is stealing Wellmet's magic.

This is a romping good story, the first in a trilogy. Conn was a good character, personable, likable, with a distinctive voice.

My Rating:

*****

The Name of This Book Is Secret: Pseudonymous Bosch

"Cassandra" is your normal, average, eleven-year-old school-girl...except she has pointy ears. She carries a backpack all the time, because her motto is "be prepared".

Also, Cassandra isn't her real name.

Cassandra and her colloborator Max-Ernest (a small, hyper, non-stop-talking boy whose name really isn't Max-Ernest) are thrown into a dangerous predicament when a real-estate agent drops off the box called "Symphony of Smells" to Cassandra's surrogate uncles. Cassandra is curious about the death of the magician, to whom the Symphony belonged, and when she and Max-Ernest go to investigate the house they come face-to-face with the eerie Ms. Mauvais and strange Dr. L, who are after a certain journal that contains a dark...Secret.

Cassandra and Max-Ernest manage to keep the journal away from Ms. Mauvais and Dr. L long enough to discover the message hidden "underneath" the journal's pages. They are clever and plucky enough to rescue a classmate, Benjamin Blake, a unique boy with "synethesia" (the gift to see things as a mixture of colours, smells, and sounds), from a dismal fate.

This book started out very, very deliciously, with an intriguing twist of writing-style and a delightfully confusing plot. I felt that the end kind of got a little too weird, but I want to read the second book in the series, to see if I really do like the books.

I recommend this book at least for a one-time read. It's got a good pace and intriguing style. It wasn't until the very end that I felt a little disappointed.

 My Rating:

* * * * *