Monday, April 29, 2013

In love with Graffiti

Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley
Rating: 5 out of 5 hearts
264 pages
Released: August 2012
Buy it @ book depository

"Let me make it in time. Let me meet Shadow. The guy who paints in the dark. Paints birds trapped on brick walls and people lost in ghost forests. Paints guys with grass growing from their hearts and girls with buzzing lawn mowers."

"It’s the end of Year 12. Lucy’s looking for Shadow, the graffiti artist everyone talks about.

His work is all over the city, but he is nowhere.

Ed, the last guy she wants to see at the moment, says he knows where to find him. He takes Lucy on an all-night search to places where Shadow’s thoughts about heartbreak and escape echo around the city walls.

But the one thing Lucy can’t see is the one thing that’s right before her eyes."



Review

Does it have to end?! This is another Australian book that has completely blown me away! Cath Crowley knows how to write about a character and make them feel so real. The book is told from Lucy & Ed's point of views, it goes back and forwards between them and every now and again there will be a poem from "Poet" (which also tells another side to the story).

I had heard many good things about this book, so I thought it's definitely time to give it a go. I am so glad I finally did because it was amazing and inspiring! In such a short amount of time I was drawn into the story and managed to fall head over heels in love with these weird band of characters. They had me swooning, laughing out loud and heartwarming me all over.

This is one of those extraordianry books that is all about the characters and you feel like the story is weaved in amoung them. I love it when a character can jump off the page and that's how I felt about each and every one of them. What I also noticed was not only did the characters bring this book to life, but the art seemed to bring colour and life to it also. So many of the characters get their inspiration for their art from life experiences and at times the art almost felt like it's own character.

It all seemed to zoom by and I almost feel like I have to read it again to really take everything in.
This is my first Cath Crowley book and after reading this I plan to read as many of her other books that I can find. I recommend everyone read this book!

On the cover

This is so cool! The vibrant yellow on a black background is screaming to be noticed. I love the way the words come spraying out of the can and the title text is awesome, I just love love this cover.

What I'm listening on Audio to next: Eve & Adam by Michael Grant




Saturday, April 27, 2013

Unique Love Sami products

I love trims, especially pretty and fancy ones. I like to collect all different types to make flower brooches/hairclips. Below is a picture of some trims I bought on ebay and also lots of pictures to showcase what I made with this trim and some other pretties I have collected along the way.






Some of these are still for sale, to view more details you can visit my facebook page



Sunday, April 14, 2013

Truly happy and positive refugee

The Happiest Refugee: A Memoir by Anh Do
Rating: 5 out of 5 hearts
229 pages
Released: September 2012
Buy it @ Angus & Robertson

"Anh Do nearly didn't make it to Australia. His entire family came close to losing their lives on the sea as they escaped from war-torn Vietnam in an overcrowded boat. But nothing -- not murderous pirates, nor the imminent threat of death by hunger, disease or dehydration as they drifted for days -- could quench their desire to make a better life in the country they had dreamed about.

Life in Australia was hard, an endless succession of back-breaking work, crowded rooms, ruthless landlords and make-do everything. But there was a loving extended family, and always friends and play and something to laugh about for Anh, his brother Khoa and their sister Tram. Things got harder when their father left home when Anh was thirteen -- they felt his loss very deeply and their mother struggled to support the family on her own. His mother's sacrifice was an inspiration to Anh and he worked hard during his teenage years to help her make ends meet, also managing to graduate high school and then university.

Another inspiration was the comedian Anh met when he was about to sign on for a 60-hour a week corporate job. Anh asked how many hours he worked. 'Four,' the answer came back, and that was it. He was going to be a comedian! The Happiest Refugee tells the incredible, uplifting and inspiring life story of one of our favourite personalities. Tragedy, humour, heartache and unswerving determination -- a big life with big dreams. Anh's story will move and amuse all who read it."



Review

I am so glad I finally got to read this because it was a wonderful book, I enjoyed every bit of it! I don't normally read biographys, I've read the popular ones "Marley & Me" and "Mao's Last Dancer" and I really enjoyed those as well.

Throughout reading I kept thinking to myself how positive Anh and his family are after all their continued bad luck. I think anyone who thinks there life is tough should read this and see that things may not be so bad and you must always look on the bright side of things.

There wasn't always bad luck in his life, Anh experienced some really good luck moments which were very uplifting. I've never seen Anh live on stage, but I would love to now because some of his stories in this are really funny. I loved re-telling them to friends & family so I could share a good laugh with them.

The editing of the book made it even more enjoyable. The chapters were at times quite long but there were lots of small stories within them that made you want to keep reading. Something else I really liked was all the Australian references throughout the book. Anh gave our beautiful country justice and made me appreciate how lucky I am to have grown up here. Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi!

On the cover

How can that smile not make you want to pick up this book and read all about the happiest refugee. It's not the prettiest cover I must admit but it will always bring back good memories whenever I see it. 

What I'm reading next: Pushing the limits by Katie McGarry



Thursday, April 11, 2013

Books I'm pining for April

"Books I'm pining for" is a feature for new and old books that I want to read. So I thought I would share with everyone these books and to find out what books you are pining for. I missed out on my November books so enjoy these!

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
I have two weeks. You’ll shoot me at the end no matter what I do.

That’s what you do to enemy agents. It’s what we do to enemy agents. But I look at all the dark and twisted roads ahead and cooperation is the easy way out. Possibly the only way out for a girl caught red-handed doing dirty work like mine — and I will do anything, anything, to avoid SS-Hauptsturmführer von Linden interrogating me again.

He has said that I can have as much paper as I need. All I have to do is cough up everything I can remember about the British War Effort. And I’m going to. But the story of how I came to be here starts with my friend Maddie. She is the pilot who flew me into France — an Allied Invasion of Two.

We are a sensational team.


There's some good things being said about this book and I can't wait to read it for myself.


Every Day by David Leviathan
Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.

There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.

It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.


How amazing does that sound! I haven't read a book that's written only by David so I look forward to it.




Shadows by Paula Weston
It’s almost a year since Gaby Winters was in the car crash that killed her twin brother, Jude. Her body has healed in the sunshine of Pandanus Beach, but her grief is raw and constant. It doesn’t help that every night in her dreams she kills demons and other hell-spawn.

And then Rafa comes to town. Not only does he look exactly like the guy who’s been appearing in Gaby’s dreams—he claims a history with her brother that makes no sense. Gaby is forced to accept that what she thought she knew about herself and her life is only a shadow of the truth—and that the truth is more likely to be found in the shadows of her nightmares.

Who is Rafa? Who are the Rephaim? And most importantly, who can she trust?

Fast-paced and gripping, Shadows, the first book in the Rephaim series, is a standout paranormal romance for fans of Richelle Mead and Cassandra Clare.


I am a fan of both Richelle Mead & Cassandra Clare so I think this will be right up my alley!


The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.


I really enjoyed 'The Scorpio Races" and this is meant to be even better.


Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff
The city of Ludlow is gripped by the hottest July on record. The asphalt is melting, the birds are dying, petty crime is on the rise, and someone in Hannah Wagnor’s peaceful suburban community is killing girls.

For Hannah, the summer is a complicated one. Her best friend Lillian died six months ago, and Hannah just wants her life to go back to normal. But how can things be normal when Lillian’s ghost is haunting her bedroom, pushing her to investigate the mysterious string of murders? Hannah’s just trying to understand why her friend self-destructed, and where she fits now that Lillian isn’t there to save her a place among the social elite. And she must stop thinking about Finny Boone, the big, enigmatic delinquent whose main hobbies seem to include petty larceny and surprising acts of kindness.

With the entire city in a panic, Hannah soon finds herself drawn into a world of ghost girls and horrifying secrets. She realizes that only by confronting the Valentine Killer will she be able move on with her life—and it’s up to her to put together the pieces before he strikes again.


This cover is divine and the story sounds spooky & mysterious....


The Farm by Emily McKay
Life was different in the Before: before vampires began devouring humans in a swarm across America; before the surviving young people were rounded up and quarantined. These days, we know what those quarantines are—holding pens where human blood is turned into more food for the undead monsters, known as Ticks. Surrounded by electrical fences, most kids try to survive the Farms by turning on each other…

And when trust is a thing of the past, escape is nearly impossible.

Lily and her twin sister Mel have a plan. Though Mel can barely communicate, her autism helps her notice things no one else notices—like the portion of electrical fence that gets turned off every night. Getting across won’t be easy, but as Lily gathers what they need to escape, a familiar face appears out of nowhere, offering to help…

Carter was a schoolmate of Lily’s in the Before. Managing to evade capture until now, he has valuable knowledge of the outside world. But like everyone on the Farm, Carter has his own agenda, and he knows that behind the Ticks is an even more dangerous threat to the human race...


This doesn't sound like your typical vampire book and I have a copy of it sitting waiting to be read.


Life in Outer Space by Melissa Keil
Sam Kinnison is a geek, and he’s totally fine with that. He has his horror movies, his nerdy friends, World of Warcraft – and until Princess Leia turns up in his bedroom, he doesn’t have to worry about girls.

Then Sam meets Camilla. She’s beautiful, friendly and completely irrelevant to his life. Sam is determined to ignore her, except that Camilla has a life of her own – and she’s decided that he’s going to be part of it.

Sam believes that everything he needs to know he can learn from the movies ... but now it looks like he’s been watching the wrong ones.


This sounds like a lot of fun! And I adore that cover, it jumps out at you saying 'Read ME!'





Spellcaster by Claudia Gray
When Nadia’s family moves to Captive’s Sound, she instantly realizes there’s more to it than meets the eye. Descended from witches, Nadia senses a dark and powerful magic at work in her new town. Mateo has lived in Captive’s Sound his entire life, trying to dodge the local legend that his family is cursed - and that curse will cause him to believe he’s seeing the future … until it drives him mad. When the strange dreams Mateo has been having of rescuing a beautiful girl—Nadia—from a car accident come true, he knows he’s doomed.

Despite the forces pulling them apart, Nadia and Mateo must work together to break the chains of his family’s terrible curse, and to prevent a disaster that threatens the lives of everyone around them.


I haven't read any books by Claudia Gray before but I think this sounds like a great place to start. 





That's it for now, What books are you pining for?


Monday, April 8, 2013

Beneath that pretty cover is an ok story

Everneath (Everneath #1) by Brodi Ashton

Rating: 3 out of 5 hearts
370 pages
Released: January 2012
Buy it @ book depository

"Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath. Now she's returned--to her old life, her family, her boyfriend--before she's banished back to the underworld . . . this time forever. She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these precious months forgetting the Everneath and trying to reconnect with her boyfriend, Jack, the person most devastated by her disappearance--and the one person she loves more than anything. But there's just one problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who enticed her to the Everneath in the first place, has followed Nikki home. Cole wants to take over the throne in the underworld and is convinced Nikki is the key to making it happen. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back, this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time on the Surface draws to a close and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she is forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's queen."


Review

Hmm how can I start this review? I guess I'll start by saying that I didn't really like this to begin with. Once I realised that Nikki was so unlikeable because she had been sucked of all her emotions I started to get more into the story. The idea of using mythology and bringing it into the 21st Century is really cool. The author must've done quite a bit of research into making her story feel real, like there really could be cults out there that believe in Everlivings.

I know a lot of people really loved this book but for me there was something missing. I can't say why I didn't get into this book more, I think the characters weren't interesting enough and the story was a little predictable. I did like it but I didn't LOVE it because there wasn't anything to love about it. It was a good enough story that kept me entertained and wanting to know more but I'm not dying to read the next book in the series anytime soon.

Something I really loved was the way the story was written. It didn't start at the beginning, It starts with Nikki waking up in the Everneath but as a reader you have no idea how or why she got there and every second chapter we learn a bit more about Nikki's decision to go with Cole to the Everneath.

On a side note the narrator was the same as when I listened to 'Blood Red Road' which I found very weird to have two books that I listened to so close to each with the same narrator.

On the cover




The cover at the top is the most common cover which is gorgeous! Although the main character never wears a dress like that but I love the mist, it looks amazing! The cover on the left is the cover for the audiobook.....yuk! Her eyes are creepy and the main character isn't blonde, maybe that's the light filter that makes her hair blonde, whatever it is I hate this cover.










What I'm listening on Audio to next: Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley





Sunday, April 7, 2013

Books into Movies that I can't wait for!

It seems that a lot of books are being made into movies recently and I thought I'd share with you some of them that I can't wait to be released!


There is no movie stills yet for this so I've used the book cover. I have to wait a whole year until this comes out but that doesn't make me want to watch it any less.


Based on the book series "The Spook's Apprentice/The Last Apprentice" by Joseph Delaney. This is released later this year and I can't wait! Ben Barnes in anything... YES PLEASE!


Based on the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead. Looking forward to this one because they have recently cast Dimitri and I think they've picked well. As there's no images for the movie yet I thought I'd show off the book covers.


I love the new posters for Catching Fire. I was a bit disappointed by who they cast as Finnick but after seeing the photos, I'm happy!


Only 5 months to wait til this comes out! I am really disappointed by the casting of Jace (actor pictured above) but that won't stop me from getting excited about it.



The long awaited and didn't think it would be released sequel to Percy Jackson and the lightning thief. I haven't read the books yet but I really enjoyed the first movie.



Jeff Bridges is not only in Seventh Son but he is also starring in The Giver. I have loved this book for so long and I can not wait to see how they make the movie.

Here are a few more movies which don't have much information about them yet but are also being made into movies which I loved the books and can not wait to see them on the big screen.


What movies are you hanging out for?










Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Trilogy? I don't think it's necessary

Amber House (The Amber House Trilogy #1) By Kelly Moore, Tucker Reed & Larkin Reed

Rating: 3 out of 5 hearts
368 pages
Released: October 2012
Buy it @ book depository

"I was sixteen the first time my grandmother died . . ."

"Sarah Parsons has never seen Amber House, the grand Maryland estate that's been in her family for three centuries. She's never walked its hedge maze nor found its secret chambers; she's never glimpsed the shades that haunt it, nor hunted for lost diamonds in its walls.

But all of that is about to change. After her grandmother passes away, Sarah and her friend Jackson decide to search for the diamonds--and the house comes alive. She discovers that she can see visions of the house's past, like the eighteenth-century sea captain who hid the jewels, or the glamorous great-grandmother driven mad by grief. She grows closer to both Jackson and a young man named Richard Hathaway, whose family histories are each deeply entwined with her own. But when the visions start to threaten the person she holds most dear, Sarah must do everything she can to get to the bottom of the house's secrets, and stop the course of history before it is cemented forever."

Review

The whole premise behind this book - an old house full of treasure & memories, maybe even ghosts sounds fantastic and is right up my alley. After reading this though, it wasn't what I was expecting. It started quite slow and I was expecting a spooky, stay up all night kind of book but it wasn't. I'm not saying this was terrible, it just turned into something different.

Sarah, her mum & her autistic brother are staying in her recently deceased grandmother's house (Amber House) because Sarah's mother is getting it ready to be sold. Sarah's mum used to live in Amber House when she was a little girl but something happened and she never really wanted to come back. I didn't pick the reason why the mother wanted to stay away but other things were quite easy to pick up on. I'm pretty bad at picking out what is going to happen next in movies and in books, so for someone like me to get clued in means others will know the ending quite easily too.

Don't get me wrong I really enjoyed reading it once I got halfway through mainly because the mysterious back story to who this little girl in white is and why can she see & interact with Sarah if she isn't a ghost? Of course with any teenage fiction these days there has to be a love triangle, luckily I was really glad with who Sarah picked in the end.

The ending was really good and I don't think there needs to be a trilogy written, I feel this book was great on it's own. I've seen the blurb for the next book and I don't think I'll rush out to read it when it's released mainly because this ended really well.

My final thoughts are that this would make a fantastic teen movie. It has everything in there. Suspense, mystery, romance, rich guy on a boat and a ball party where the main character can dress up in a ball gown.

Thanks to NetGalley & Scholastic Inc. for my kindle edition.

On the cover

You couldn't get a more perfect cover that tells you what happens in the book. A spooky house, a maze and a ball. But as this was a kindle edition I didn't get to close the book to look at the front cover, which I like to do often. 

What I'm reading next: The Happiest Refugee by Ahn Do



Monday, April 1, 2013

April Fools!

Pinch and a punch for the first day of the month! It also happens to be April Fool's Day today, so instead of playing tricks I thought I'd share some funny pictures and jokes from my pinterest page, Enjoy!










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