King Arthur Movie Tristan

Here's what I read & reviewed in October:

1. The Darkest Night by Gena Showalter

2. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants: The Second Summer of the Sisterhood


3. 20th Century Ghosts


4. Immortal Warrior


5. Monster of Florence



These were all good reads!

Happy Halloween everyone. I'll be heading off to work today dressed as a witch.
Then i'll take the kiddies trick-or-treating later on in the evening. I'll be posting pics :) What are you up to? Dressing up?

I have met and like Gary Goodyear but I do not suggest I have been to Chez Goodyear on a Saturday night for cigars and sherry. On a couple of occasions I have met him in official capacity, and lets face it, he's a good politician which means he presents well. That said I am pleased for Gary Goodyear who today was appointed Minister of State for Science and Technology, an appointment I think is overdue.

During Minister Goodyear's first term as an MP, over the period of the Paul Martin Government, he was the head of the Conservative Party Ontario Caucus. After Stephen Harper's 2006 increase in pay grade, I thought it possible that Goodyear would be rewarded for his work with the Ontario Caucus with a key to the cabinet bathroom. It was not to be, which makes this appointment, in my opinion, overdue. Goodyear has been a loyal party man during his time as an MP, and an opportunity to show his executive mettle is warranted.

Congratulations Minister Goodyear.

Are you a spine breaker? Or a dog-earer? Do you expect to keep your books in pristine condition even after you have read them? Does watching other readers bend the cover all the way round make you flinch or squeal in pain?

I am soooo bad when it comes to treating my books. I don't mean to do it, it's just the way I handle them. Funny enough, I dog ear them, break the spine, some I have to tape the pages if they fall out or tear. My favorite bookmark is a clip on, so it tends to leave dents in the pages. I also tend to bend the book cover and the pages i've read all the way back as I'm reading. So the book kind of 'curls'. However, my hardcover books are easier to keep nice. It's the paperbacks that I tend to abuse...lol.




But I cannot STAND it if a book gets dirty. Dirt bothers me. Any kind of stain on a book, and I won't want it anymore.
That's why I rarely lend books out, I don't like to get them back dirty.
I have a friend who keeps her books immaculate. I don't know how she does it, after she reads a book, it still looks new, like it's barely been opened.


My books may look beat up, but it just means I appreciated them and read them!


And I should also mention that I do take good care of the books that are lent to me as well as library books I borrow.

Check out Coffee Time Romance
They've got lots of book reviews, author links, contests, e-cards and some other fun stuff over there. Plus the site is all dressed up for Halloween...too cute.

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:


Grab your current read.

Let the book fall open to a random page.

Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.

You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!


currently reading:

Romeo, Romeo by Robin Kaye

He dragged the slip of the fabric down her long legs and kissed his way back up her inner thigh. He tuned into her, concentrating on her breathing, the little noises she made, her quivering muscles, her sweet scent.

Ah, broken is the golden bowl! the spirit flown forever!

Let the bell toll! -a saintly soul floats on the Stygian river -

And, Guy De Vere, hast thou no tear? -weep now or never more!

See! on yon drear and rigid bier low lies thy love, Lenore!

Come! let the burial rite be read -the funeral song be sung! -

An anthem for the queenliest dead that ever died so young -

A dirge for her, the doubly dead in that she died so young.



"Wretches! ye loved her for her wealth and hated her for her pride,

And when she fell in feeble health, ye blessed her -that she died!

How shall the ritual, then, be read? -the requiem how be sung

By you -by yours, the evil eye, -by yours, the slanderous tongue

That did to death the innocence that died, and died so young?"



Peccavimus; but rave not thus! and let a Sabbath song

Go up to God so solemnly the dead may feel no wrong!

The sweet Lenore hath "gone before," with Hope, that flew beside,

Leaving thee wild for the dear child that should have been thy bride -

For her, the fair and debonnaire, that now so lowly lies,

The life upon her yellow hair but not within her eyes -

The life still there, upon her hair -the death upon her eyes.



Avaunt! tonight my heart is light. No dirge will I upraise,

But waft the angel on her flight with a paean of old days!

Let no bell toll! -lest her sweet soul, amid its hallowed mirth,

Should catch the note, as it doth float up from the damned Earth.

To friends above, from fiends below, the indignant ghost is riven -

From Hell unto a high estate far up within the Heaven -

From grief and groan to a golden throne beside the King of Heaven."



-Edgar Allan Poe

Author Margay Roberge has stopped by my blog and kindly granted me an interview. Margay is the author of Nora's Soul , due to be released in November. Read on for the interview.









Bookworm:
Welcome to my blog Margay and thank you for taking the time to grant me an interview. Please tell us a bit about yourself.

Margay:
This is the hardest part of the interview for me as I am much more comfortable writing about my characters than myself. I am a stay at home mother dedicated to raising my two daughters, one of whom is special needs, while balancing my own issues with a debilitating condition, Multiple Sclerosis. My life is a balancing act of parenting, managing medical needs, school issues, and writing time.






Bookworm: Tell us a bit about your book "Nora's Soul". What inspired you to write it?


Margay: I know it might sound trite, but it truly did come to me in a dream - actually two dreams, which were interconnected. It was so vivid, it haunted me and I just had to write it. Nora's Soul is about a young woman who's lost her faith in angels following the death of her brother when she was twelve. But the angels have not forgotten her. Now an adult, on the verge of another personal disappointment, the angels have found her again and begin to plague her, in her opinion. There are two angels who are haunting her, one light (Peter) and one dark (Dante) and they are battling over the ultimate prize - Nora's Soul.




Bookworm: What was the hardest thing about writing this book? How long did it take you to write?

Margay: The hardest thing about writing this book was getting it right. In the beginning, Dante was supposed to be evil, the devil, but along the way, he balked at that role. Soon, I realized that he wasn't evil, just misunderstood. It kind of happened around the same time that he stepped forward and became a larger part of the book rather than just a satellite character and made me realize that he has a greater story to tell and will probably be doing so over another book or two. I have been developing this story for several years now.




Bookworm: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

Margay: I just really hope they enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it.



Bookworm: Who are your favorite authors and what is it that really strikes you about their work?

Margay: I have a wide range of favorites. I love Julia Quinn because nobody does Regency romance the way she does. I adore Meg Cabot because she writes with such wit and skill in both young adult and adult and switches between the two with such ease. I am a new fan of Stephenie Meyer because she has such a raw talent and really knows how to tell a gripping story and has done her fair share to encourage literacy in our youth. And of course, there's Jane Austen, who did more for the female authors to follow her than perhaps any other, not to mention that it is a truth universally known that any book with the name Jane Austen attached is bound to be an interesting read and will translate well to the movie screen.





Bookworm: Last but not least, if you were stranded on a deserted island, and were allowed to bring 3 items with you, what would they be?

Margay: Only three? Let's see. A book I wouldn't mind reading again and again, something to write with, and my imagination.



Nora's Soul, by Margay Leah Justice, coming soon from Second Wind Publishing, LLC


click here for an excerpt from the book


visit Margay's website: http://margayleahjustice.com/





Special thanks again to Margay, it has been a pleasure getting to know a bit about her and her upcoming book. Nora's Soul sounds like an interesting and inspiring read.

Mailbox Mondays

I found this over @ Dar's blog and thought I'd play along. Especially since a few books arrived in the mail this past week.





Grit for the Oyster

250 Pearls of Wisdom for Aspiring Writers

It’s your story, too. That little voice inside you wouldn’t go away either, and so here you are, pursuing your writing dream.



Visit the author's website: http://deboracoty.com/










library thing is sent me an ARC of The Islands of Divine Music by John Addiego : The Islands of Divine Music is a novel of five generations of an Italian-American family finding its place in the New World. Against a backdrop of Immigration, Prohibition, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Vietnam War, and the new millennium, five generations of the Verbicaro family make their way from Southern Italy to San Francisco as each character brushes up against some aspect of the divine.

title: Immortal Warrior

author: Lisa Hendrix

release date: November 4, 2008

genre: paranormal romance/historical

pages: 338

rated: 4 out of 5






This is book 1 in the Immortal Brotherhood series.

Ivar Graycloak is a brave warrior, a man known for his strength and integrity. He is also a man with a terrible secret. Long ago he was part of a Viking crew cursed by an evil sorceress to live for eternity as were-creatures. An eagle by day and a man by night, Ivar has lived a solitary existence for over two centuries. Then the king orders him to marry.



Lady Alaida is everything a man could want in a bride—intelligent, spirited, and beautiful--and their wedding night is a balm to Ivar's lonely spirit. Then a seer brings him word of a dark vision, one that makes Ivar vow to stay away from his lovely wife forever. But now that Ivar has sampled Alaida’s passion, her humor and warmth, he is enthralled. His traitorous body—his very heart—longs for that which he can never possess.



Lady Alaida may surprise him yet, though, for she has a power of her own—a power that will either destroy everything they hold dear or ultimately set them free…

Viking warrior Ivar Graycloak has been cursed, he is to turn into an eagle each morning. Brand, one of his men, killed the son of the witch Cwen, and her revenge was to curse them. Each of the Viking men that were part of the crew are cursed to turn into animals each day. They live with this secret for many years with no hope of breaking the curse.


King William wants to award Ivar for his loyalty with a home and a bride. He gives Ivar the land of Alnwick and Lady Alaida's hand in marriage.

When Ivar first sees Alaida, there is instant attraction. He has hope of finally living a normal life with a wife and a home.

Alaida, however, is not too happy with finding herself being married off and her land being given over to her husband. However, Ivar begins to win her over little by little.





After they are married, Alaida notices her husband leaving every morning before she wakes up and not returning till the sun sets. He tells her he is out hunting, but Alaida senses there is something wrong. Then Ivar learns that his curse might be passed onto his children, so he decides not to sleep with Alaida anymore. Which leaves her feeling horrible and wondering if her husband is cheating on her.

She wanted him to kiss her and carry her upstairs and release this desperate ache that rose up in her every time he came near, and in the same thought she wanted to beat her fists against his chest in frustration and rail at him never to touch her again.

I enjoyed Immortal Warrior. I found it interesting and the plot was well written. The story did keep me hooked until the end. I like the way the author wraps up Ivar and Alaida's story in the end, yet keeps it open for the rest of the cursed Vikings.



I liked Alaida's character. I found her to be strong and smart. I'm not sure if I liked Ivar that much, he was ok. I almost felt like he was selfish, like he didn't care about Alaida's feelings too much. Instead of confiding the truth to her, he lies about the real reason he leaves each morning and doesn't return till sunset. And then once he thinks that if he gets her pregnant, the child will be cursed like he is, he chooses not to sleep with Alaida. Instead of just telling her the truth, he makes her suffer.





I did enjoy the tension between the two and the love scenes were well done.

In one swift motion she slipped over the edge of the tub and onto his lap, straddling him there, trapping him with her body. His hardness called to the rising wildness within her. She moved and he groaned.

"Take me." A whispered command.

I also like the supporting characters in the story. Like Brand, Ivar's friend, who is cursed as well. Brand ends up meeting the village healer, Mereywn, and falls for her. I'm interested in seeing what becomes Brand. I actually like these supporting characters better than the main ones in this story.







I have an interview scheduled with author Lisa Hendrix on Monday November 10th. So stay tuned for that.



I have received this book as part of http://www.pumpupyourbookpromotion.com/



special thanks to Tracee!

Happy Sunday Salon everyone, wow, time does fly and October is nearly over! I got some good reads in this week and even and had an author interview.


Lou Aronica stopped by my blog on his blog tour and granted me an interview: click here to read more.


I finished reading & reviewed 20th Century Ghosts: Not all the stories were scary, some were just strange...kind of like something you might see on the The Twilight Zone....
click here for my full review...






I also mentioned the great books that arrived in the mail this week. I'll be reading & reviewing those within the next few weeks.


Current Reads:



I'm on the last 50 pages of this one and hope to have my review up this week. It's been a good read, it's kept me interested. I have an interview scheduled with author Lisa Hendrix on Monday November 10th. So stay tuned for that.





I just started this one and so far so good! I hope to be doing an author interview for this book too, so stay tuned for that as well.





What are you up to today? Reading anything good?
------------------------



p.s:
Wisteria, for several weeks I have not been able to get into your blog. Just wanted to let you know, I hope you see this post! I keep getting an error message. I didn't want you to think I just didn't want to visit anymore.

There came a wind like a bugle;


It quivered through the grass,


And a green chill upon the heat

So ominous did pass

We barred the windows and the doors

As from an emerald ghost;

The doom's electric moccasin

That very instant passed.


On a strange mob of panting trees,

And fences fled away,

And rivers where the houses ran

The living looked that day.


The bell within the steeple wild

The flying tidings whirled.


How much can come

And much can go,

And yet abide the world!


-Emily Dickinson



art titled 'dragon charmer' is by josephine wall

Alice has given me this pretty award:









Thank you Alice, I think your blog is great too :)

I've given out my own award in the past, I'm re-giving it now since I've found new blogs that I enjoy visiting.

So here's my award for the following recipients:



If your name isn't on here, silly me, I forgot! Take it anyway :)

Alice

Sam

Sleepy Reader

Jezebelsk

Yvonne

Shannon

Book Zombie

Literate Housewife

Kara

serena



past recipients: j.kaye,
tink,
becky,
c.j.,
stephanie,
cheryl,
sarai,
gautami,
irish,
my journey through reading &
kerrie

title: 20th Century Ghosts


author: Joe Hill

genre: horror

published: 2005

pages: 311

rated: 4 out of 5

Imogene is young, beautiful . . . and dead, waiting in the Rosebud Theater one afternoon in 1945. . . .


Francis was human once, but now he's an eight-foot-tall locust, and everyone in Calliphora will tremble when they hear him sing. . . .


John is locked in a basement stained with the blood of half a dozen murdered children, and an antique telephone, long since disconnected, rings at night with calls from the dead. . . .


Nolan knows but can never tell what really happened in the summer of '77, when his idiot savant younger brother built a vast cardboard fort with secret doors leading into other worlds. . . .


The past isn't dead. It isn't even past. . . .

After reading Heart Shaped Box, I really wanted to pick this book up as well.


The short stories included are:

Best New Horror, 20th Century Ghost, Pop Art, You Will Hear The Locust Sing, Abraham's Boys, Better Than Home, The Black Phone, In The Rundown,
The Cape, Last Breath, Dead-Wood, The Widow's Breakfast,
Bobby Conroy Comes Back from the Dead, My Father's Mask and Voluntary Committal.




I enjoyed reading 20th Century Ghosts. Not all the stories were scary, some were just strange...kind of like something you might see on the The Twilight Zone.

I thought Pop Art was interesting, it was so bizarre. I have never read anything like that before, about a boy who is made out of plastic, but I think it's all up to interpretation.

You Will Hear The Locust Sing grossed me out, I could have done without reading this one. A young boy wakes up to find he has turned into a giant locust, with an urge to kill and eat.


Abraham's Boys was actually like a mini spin off of Bram Stoker's Dracula. It was disturbing and has Van Helsing in it along with his two young sons. He's not a nice guy and is still hunting vamps.

Max fumbled with the picture frame, struggling to fit the calotype of the murdered woman back into place...then saw something else, went still again. He had not until this instant taken note of the figure to the far left in the photograph, a man on the near side of the bed.

Better Than Home and In The Rundown weren't scary. The story 20th Century Ghost , about a ghost that haunts a theater, wasn't scary either.




Best New Horror was nice & freaky. And the ending leaves it up to the readers imagination, sometimes this annoys me, but this time it worked. It was a good short and creepy tale.


The Black Phone creeped me out too, I couldn't put the book down at that point, I needed to see what happened to the kidnapped boy and the haunted phone.



Last Breath was really good. It's about a man who captures dying peoples last breaths and showcases them in a museum.



My Father's Mask was very creepy. A 13 year old goes to an isolated cabin with his strange parents. When they get to the cabin, there are masks all over the place...soon enough the boy finds his parents wearing these masks.

He wore the clear plastic mask that had been hanging in the window of the great room the night before. It squashed the features beneath, flattening them oput of their recognizable shapes. He stared at me blankly, as if he didn't know I was lying there in the bed, or perhaps as if he didn't know me at all.

I've been on a book ban since August, but I broke it recently to purchase this book.
All in all, this collection of short stories was pretty good. I didn't like the stories that weren't scary though, I felt like okay what are these doing in this collection? Like Dead-Wood , which was barely two pages long.

But the ones that were scary, did really creep me out.
I liked Heart Shaped Box better though. I hope Joe Hill continues to write novels.



the author: Joe Hill

I mentioned before that Joe Hill is the son of Stephen King. I think the two have similar writing styles.








visit the author's website: http://joehillfiction.com/

Booking Through Thursdsay

Name a favorite literary couple and tell me why they are a favorite. If you cannot choose just one, that is okay too. Name as many as you like–sometimes narrowing down a list can be extremely difficult and painful. Or maybe that’s just me.

What a great topic. Here's are few of my favorites:


1. Elizabeth Bennet & Fitzwilliam Darcy from Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice: This is one of my favorite couples ever. I've re-read this novel again and again, and I never tire of it. I know what will happen between the two, yet I have to keep reading it. I like how Darcy is the reserved, shy type. And Elizabeth more playful and outgoing. The two compliment each other so well.





2. Scarlett O'Hara & Rhett Butler from Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind: Scarlett does everything she's not supposed to, she goes against every kind of social standard for the time, and so does Rhett. Plus Rhett isn't afraid to tell her off every once in a while. These two are made for each other.




3. Romeo & Juliet : It's the whole star crossed lovers thing. And this was my favorite movie adaptation, I think it was so well done.





4. Captain Wentworth & Anne Eliot from Jane Austen's Persuasion: Just the thought that after all those years apart, the two found each other once again. And Wentworth can write a love letter like nobody's business. He writes a line in his letter to Anne, that is one of my favorite lines in a book ever: You pierce my soul.





5. Aragorn & Arwyn from Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings: Arwyn, being elven, gives up her life with the elves to be with Aragorn. After he passes away, she dies of a broken heart. In the book, Aragorn & Arwyn's romance isn't too intense, but they did play it up for the film versions and it was done well.

I would rather share one lifetime with you than face all the Ages of this world alone....I choose a mortal life.