Into The Old World Reading Challenge

Hello everyone! Guess what! We have our first BOOK CHALLENGE! Me and Misha (our co-host), squeezed our minds to think of a good and new challenge for you guys. And tadah! Point of this challenge is to show some gratitude to old books as well. Everyone is talking about the new books and getting ARCs for them, but the old ones deserve attention too right? If you are with us, that's your place. PLUS at the end of the challenge we also have winners with PRIZES! Yay!^^  We made a blog with more info about it. And we really hope you like it that much, that we get the chance to re-use it next year ;)

Main Challenge Info:

Hosts: My Love Affair With Books & Splash Of Our Worlds

Starts: January 1st, 2011

Ends: December 31st, 2011

Eligible books: Everything published BEFORE 2009

Open to: Everyone (blogger or not)

Into The Old World Blog URL: Into The Old World Reading Challenge

Read full Rules and info Here

Sign-Up Here

You know you want it!^^

-xoxo, Yiota 

1. Legacy by Cayla Kluver
2. The Tomb of Hercules by Andy McDermott
3. The Secret of Excalibur by Andy McDermott
4.Strange Angels by Lili St.Crow
5. Bettrayals by Lisi St.Crow
6. King of the Foxes by Raymond Feist
7. Ranger's Apprentice 5 by John Flanagan
8. The Stepsister Scheme by Jim Hines
9. The Hunter's Moon by O.R. Melling
10. The Dust of 100 Dogs by A.S. King
11. The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima
12. The Wizard Heir by Cinda Williams Chima
13. The Dragon Heir by Cinda Williams Chima  
14. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Athanasia:
1. The Valkryies by Paulo Coehlo
2. Dracula by Bram Stoker
3. I Labyrinthi di Athene by Petros Markaris
4. Late Night News by Petros Markaris
5. The Scophenhauer Cure by Irvin Yalom
6.When Nietzche Wept by Irvin Yalom
7. Μια ζωή, δυο ζωές
8. Ουρανός από χώμα, γη και σύννεφα 

We Listen: Teenage Dream by Katy Perry

I'm not a huge fan of music in generall, but Katy Perry's songs stuck in your mind, from her first to the last. Teenage dream is her second mainstream album and it was released the 24th of August 2010. It includes songs that can be heard and danced everywhere and every time. Most of them give you a message, and despite the fact that professionals gave low rates for the album, all the songs are great for me. As my fellow blogger did in the first place, I am going to follow her example and do the "First thought of my mind" thing she did.

1."Teenage Dream": I like both video and song.
2."Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)": Can I have this kind of Friday night?
3."California Gurls": Liked mostly the video and not all the part of it.
4."Fireworks": Love this song.
5."Peacock": What's the secret meaning here? Dirty? Or Pure?
6."Circle the Drain": I would never want to live what she lives in this song.
7."The One That Got Away": It's OK.
8."E.T.": For those that know, the music reminds me of T.A.T.U. Right?
9."Who Am I Living For?": It's fine.
10."Pearl": Rumors say that this song was written for Rihanna.
11."Humminingbird Heartbeat": What a way to start a song. Is she tell us about her sex life in here? (Extra Info: She is now married with British comedian Russell Brand)
12."Not Like The Movies": The one and only slow song from the beginning to the end.

That's it people. Hope you like it and agree with me. If yes or if not, please let me know. By the way, this was my first We Listen review. And something last: I heard the songs at YouTube so for any extra songs or remixes, I have no idea.

Series We Loved: The Adams Family

The family appears to be a single surviving branch of the Addams clan. Many other "Addams families" exist all over the world. According to the film version, the family credo is, Sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc (pseudo-Latin: "We gladly feast on those who would subdue us"). Charles Addams was first inspired by his home town of Westfield, New Jersey, an area full of ornate Victorian mansions and archaic graveyards.^[2]

They live adjacent to a cemetery and a swamp at 0001 Cemetery Lane, in a gloomy mansion. (In The New Addams Family, the address was changed to 1313 Cemetery Lane, in a reference to a rival show The Munsters^{[citation needed]}). In the Addams Family musical, first shown in Chicago in 2009, the house is located in Central Park.^[3]

Although they share macabre interests, the Addamses are not evil. They are a close-knit extended family. Morticia is an exemplary mother, and she and Gomez remain passionate towards each other. She calls him "Bubele",^[4] to which he responds by kissing her arms, behavior Morticia can also provoke by speaking a few words in French (the meaning is not important — any French will do). The parents are supportive of their children. The family is friendly and hospitable to visitors, in some cases willing to donate large sums of money to causes, despite the visitors' horror at the Addams's peculiar lifestyle.

Addams began as a The New Yorker cartoonist with a sketch of a window washer that ran on February 6, 1932.^[5] His cartoons ran regularly in the magazine from 1938, when he drew the first instance of what came to be called the Addams Family, until his death.^[5]

In 1946, Addams met science-fiction writer Ray Bradbury after having drawn an illustration for Mademoiselle magazine's publication of Bradbury's short story "Homecoming", the first in a series of tales chronicling a family of Illinois vampires named the Elliotts. The pair became friends, and planned to collaborate on a book of the Elliott Family's complete history, with Bradbury writing and Addams providing the illustrations, but it never materialized. Bradbury's Elliott Family stories were anthologized in From the Dust Returned in October 2001, with a connecting narrative and an explanation of his work with Addams, and Addams's 1946 Mademoiselle illustration used for the book's cover jacket. Although Addams' own characters were well-established by the time of their initial encounter, in a 2001 interview Bradbury states that Addams "went his way and created the Addams Family and I went my own way and created my family in this book."^[6]

*Audience claps* Thank you, thank you. Now, i know many of you loved these series and ESPECIALLY the movies! which is the very reason why I thought of them. Aaah, i still remember that even as a kid around my 6-7 years old i used to watch those series. I vaguelly remember the cartoons, though the series with the actors from the movie i still remember. I used to be in love with the Wednesday. No, not Morticia like most kids, her I wanted for my mom. *Audience stares at him with a what-is-wrong-with-you look*. What? Anyway, moving on. The Adams family. Never did a show have so much black humor in one show. Never did Goth culture seemed so fascinating and never did Horror became so hospitable. Now...I think I am supposed to say why I loved the show or something right? *Audience moves their heads in agreement* Uhm. Well for starters I kinda find them interesting and I envy them in many ways. As it sais above they might share some rather morbid interests but they are a well form and loving family and even when Wednesday wants to kill her brother he happilly agrees, not to mention that Morticia actually gives Wednesday an axe instead of the knife she was holding. Hell even after all those years I still approach death and harm (myself or on others) with a casual sense of humor *Audience drops jaws and looks at him with shock* .......*Shifting my eyes from left to right*.....HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA im just kidding *Audience leaves a relieved sigh*. There is no axe wielding barbarian waiting to kill you all if you try to leave before im done*switching subjects so the audience does not have time to understand what I just said*. Moving on, to sum things up, Adams family is a show well missed for all of you goth-vampire-morbid-dark-ish people out there that miss the good old black humor and all of those interesting characters. Anyway...i think im done...ill leave Yiota freak out or do the corrections...I let you comment bellow. :P

How Many Books Have You Read?

Elizabeth at Swords Of Fighting found an interesting list of classic books, where BBC said that most people have not read more than 6 books of it :o I thought i wanted to try it! Everyone can do it. That's for me, Yiota, only.

Instructions:
•Copy this list.
•Bold those books you’ve read in their entirety.
•Italicise the ones you started but didn’t finish or read only an excerpt.
•Tag other book nerds.
•Highlight the ones that you have but haven't read. They are probably in your TBR stack/on your shelf at the back because someone said you should read them.

Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
The Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien
Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
Harry Potter series – JK Rowling
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
The King James Bible
Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
(1984) – George Orwell
His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman
Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
Little Women – Louisa M Alcott
Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy
Catch 22 – Joseph Heller
Complete Works of Shakespeare
Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier
The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien
Birdsong – Sebastian Faulk
Catcher in the Rye – JD Salinger
The Time Traveller's Wife- Audrey Niffenegger
Middlemarch – George Eliot
Gone With The Wind – Margaret Mitchell
The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh
Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll
The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame
Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
David Copperfield – Charles Dickens
Chronicles of Narnia – CS Lewis
Emma -Jane Austen
Persuasion – Jane Austen
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe – CS Lewis
The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – Louis De Bernieres
Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden
Winnie the Pooh – A.A. Milne
Animal Farm – George Orwell
The DaVinci Code – Dan Brown
One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
A Prayer for Owen Meaney – John Irving
The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins
Anne of Green Gables – LM Montgomery
Far From The Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy
The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
Lord of the Flies – William Golding
Atonement – Ian McEwan
Life of Pi – Yann Martel
Dune – Frank Herbert
Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons
Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen
A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth
The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon
A Tale Of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon
Love In The Time Of Cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck
Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
The Secret History – Donna Tartt
The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold
Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas (en francais)
On The Road – Jack Kerouac
Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy
Bridget Jones’s Diary – Helen Fielding
Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie
Moby Dick – Herman Melville
Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens
Dracula – Bram Stoker
The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett
Notes From A Small Island – Bill Bryson
Ulysses – James Joyce
The Inferno – Dante
Swallows and Amazons – Arthur Ransome
Germinal – Emile Zola (en francais)
Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray
Possession – AS Byatt
Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell
The Color Purple – Alice Walker
The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro
Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert (en francais)
A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry
Charlotte’s Web – E.B. White
The Five People You Meet In Heaven – Mitch Albom
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Faraway Tree Collection – Enid Blyton
Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint-Exupery (en francais)
The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks
Watership Down – Richard Adams
A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole
A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute
The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas (en francais)
Hamlet – William Shakespeare
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl
Les Miserables – Victor Hugo (en francais)

So i have read 10 books, left in the middle 6 books and i have in my TBR 4 books. Ermm...yeah..not that good eh? And it's unfair cause HP and LOTR are over 3 books and they have them as one XD

In My Mailbox (9) - Notable Quotables (10)

In My Mailbox #9 - Weekly meme from The Story Siren
The idea is to post the books you got this week, whether you bought them, got them as a gift, from the library, or received them to review.

Got:
Yiota - Aurelie: A Faerie Tale by Heather Tomlison

Bookmooch:
Yiota -The Rule Of Four by Caldwell & Thomason
Yiota - The Hunt For Atlantis by Andy McDermott



Only 3 books this week but i have so many to read that i'm happy i didn't get more XD What did you get this week?

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Notable Quotables is a meme hosted by Bewitched Bookworms.Each time we share a quote we loved and explain why we picked it. Be part of it here: Notable Quotables

"A shrieking rise of power rushed into my pathways, rocking me against the wall. Ido's body slammed into mine. He was not going to let go. Not now. The Rat Dragon howled, his heavy blue force driven back by the onslaught of sinuous gold. Raw,rejoicing energy flooded my seven centers of power; opening,pushing, seeking. And behind it all, a presence exulting in the joy of release and reunion. I looked up and finally my mind-sight was clear. I could see the Mirror Dragon. My Dragon."

Eon:Rise Of The Dragoneye, Alison Goodman

picked byYiota

I'm a bit tired right now, so i'm just sharing some dragon love. Feel the power. Damn Eona!Can i take your place?plzzzzz.... I need a new dragon book and fast XD Or at least some pure fantasy....next week i will try to order some new ones.

What's yours today?

Games/Books That SHOULD be Movies! #8

Time for Johnny break, guys! He said "no" to should be today...i know i know..how dare he! I should have been the bad admin and make him write it...but let's just say he knows some things about me....shh...anyway...i'm not that funny as he, but you will survive!;) I will write of one of the first books I've ever read. Artemis Fowl-Book I.

Story Summary: (from goodreads) Eoin Colfer describes his new book, Artemis Fowl, as "Die Hard with fairies." He's not far wrong.
Twelve-year-old Artemis Fowl is the most ingenious criminal mastermind in history. With two trusty sidekicks in tow, he hatches a cunning plot to divest the fairyfolk of their pot of gold. Of course, he isn't foolish enough to believe in all that "gold at the end of the rainbow" nonsense. Rather, he knows that the only way to separate the little people from their stash is to kidnap one of them and wait for the ransom to arrive. But when the time comes to put his plan into action, he doesn't count on the appearance of the extrasmall, pointy-eared Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon (Lower Elements Police Reconnaisance) Unit--and her senior officer, Commander Root, a man (sorry, elf) who will stop at nothing to get her back.
Fantastic stuff from beginning to end, Artemis Fowl is a rip-roaring, 21st-century romp of the highest order. The author has let his imagination run riot by combining folklore, fantasy, and a fistful of high-tech funk in an outrageously devilish book that could well do for fairies what Harry Potter has done for wizardry. But be warned: this is no gentle frolic, so don't be fooled by the fairy subject matter. Instead, what we have here is well-written, sophisticated, rough 'n' tumble storytelling with enough high-octane attitude to make it a seriously cool read for anyone over the age of 10

Why Should be a Movie?
Cause it's different. Different magic, different worlds, different species and an original story. Combine our world and a little magic and you get an amazing result. Artemis Fowl is funny, clever with plenty of actions and really good written characters. It could be easily be the next Harry Potter since it has already 7 books as well. Though it doesn't have similarities with it. Of course the movie will mostly for teens but who cares? I will watch it anyway. Most of the movies lately are either remakes or from books/comics. Since they do that..why at least they don't pick different books? All we are getting are vampires, werewolves..sometimes magic or a bad LOTR-alike movie. So...Artemis Fowl is a really good change for me!

Cast ( keep in mind that some of them are not humans):
Artemis Fowl:              A much younger Logan Lerman
Butler:                         Jason Statham
Holly:                          Emma Stone
Maltch:                       Jonan Hill
Root:                          Bruce Willis
Artemis's mum:           Demi Moore
Juliet:                          Hayden Panettiere

Step Up 3 Review

New York's intense street dancing underground comes alive in eye-popping Digital 3D in the third installment of the "Step Up" franchise as the raw, passion-fueled culture goes global. A tight-knit group of street dancers, including Luke (Rick Malambri) and Natalie (Sharni Vinson), team up with NYU freshman Moose (Adam Sevani), and find themselves pitted against the world's best breakdancers in a high-stakes showdown that will change their lives forever.

REVIEW:
I would say it from the start. With scale 1-10 the movie was 5 for me.

I have watched all Step Up movies and i loved them. But from the trailer of this one, i was sure it couldn't be as good as the previous movies. For starters the story was empty and predictable. The old ones had more tension and something more in them. Here i thought they put a story up, just to get a new movie out. After that we have the acting which wasn't even good. The two main actors are losing it and they don't pass their emotions to you. It's like they just saying some lines. Maybe that was why the story wasn't good enough. Of course, we had Adam Sevani (also known as Moose) who thanks god saved the movie. His acting was the best in the whole thing. Same for his dancing. I was happy he had bigger part than at Step Up 2. Also, don't expect the two main actors (you know from the poster) to dance. They barely dance and they mostly at the back of all the other dancers. 

The dancing is good but not as good as the previous movies. Again they use water for a choreography. Except the last choreography, the others are not so special. I don't believe they should have win the battles at all. Lol.. And i didn't like the music so much as well :/ I have seen once again dance battles at You Got Served movie so i found the whole setting of this one, just not good enough for me.

I won't say i didn't enjoy it. But i was more "nahhh...." than "wow good one" at the end. I would love to know if you liked it or is it just me be mean or weird...

Off The Shelf Challenge 2011

Yeah..you guessed right. I (Yiota) will take part in another challenge. Off The Shelf is a reading challenge hosted by BA Reading Challenges. In this one i have to read books from my shelves that cause of the new additions were never got in my hands. If you don't have many that you own, but have a massive TBR shelf you're welcome to read those ones as long as you don't add new ones.

I will try the "Trying" level with 15 books.
My list:
-The Rule of Four, I.Calowell
-Beastly, Alex Flinn
-Dracula, Bram Sroker
-Another Faust, Nayeri
-Wondrous Strange, Livingston
-Once A witch
-White Cat, Holly Black
And some really old books from my TBR that i really need to read:
-Ranger's Apprentice 5, Flanagan
-Ranger's Apprentice 6, Flanagan
-The Scorceress, Michael Scott
-Incarceron
-Faerie Tale, Raymond Feist
-The Eight, Katherine Neville
-The wolves of Mercy Falls: Linger
-Atlantis, David Gibbins

Friday Finds #2

What great books did you find this week? Share with us at Friday Finds.
Friday Finds, it's a meme hosted by Should Be Reading and it's about all the new book discoveries you found about each week. In addition as a movie blog, sometimes there will be new trailers from upcoming movies.

Click on the book covers to read their summaries.




And some of the Debut Authors Challenge 2011 books:


Movies:

Tales of The Otori: Across The Nightingale Floor Review

"In his black-walled fortress at Inuyama, the warlord Iida Sadamu surveys his famous nightingale floor. Constructed with exquisite skill, it sings at the tread of each human foot. No assassin can cross it unheard." "The youth Takeo has been brought up in a remote mountain village among the Hidden, a reclusive and spiritual people who have taught him only the ways of peace. But unbeknownst to him, his father was a celebrated assassin and a member of the Tribe, an ancient network of families with extraordinary, preternatural skills. When Takeo's village is pillaged, he is rescued and adopted by the mysterious Lord Otori Shigeru. Under the tutelage of Shigeru, he learns that he too possesses the skills of the Tribe, and with this knowledge he embarks on a journey that will lead him across the nightingale floor and to his destiny within the walls of lnuyama." Overcome by the intensity of first love and conflicted by split loyalties and his own divided nature, Takeo realizes that he must make his own way on this journey of revenge and treachery, honor and loyalty, betrayal and love. 

REVIEW:
I bought the book in a hurry. It wasn't even at my TBR list. I'm still now sure why i got it...i could have find  something else. And now after i finished it, i'm not sure if i liked it or not. Its genre is historical fantasy, if i'm not mistaken. I have try Japanese-myths-alike books two times before. One with Eon which i loved it and one with two sisters (don't even remember the name) which i hated it. And now this..which i don't know what to think of..

The summary is already too big to say more. Only thing, that except Takeo there also chapters of a girl. While Takeo's story is written in first person, hers is mostly on second. So i had the feeling it was actually Takeo who were telling her story too. 
The development of the characters and the characters themselves are pretty okay. You learn everything for Takeo, so you get to understand him and his actions. The rest characters are a bit of mystery on what they are thinking. And our main girl...well i find her annoying. I really disliked her parts. She is sometimes selfish, stupid and acts only when her life is threatened. The rest of the times she is as if she has no brain in her head.

The story has many many details of the environment. But it was ok for me. Takeo has some special powers and from those descriptions you get a better picture of what he can do. There is also a lot of action, of course. A lot of killing actually. And while the story is good and held your excitement up on what will happen, the last chapters destroy it. It's the first book of the series and it ends so..normally that really i don't care if i will go on with the reading. The main bad guy, was already killed. And Takeo decided what he will do with his life. The only you are questioning is if the love story with the girl will go on. But since i disliked her...not much of interest.

The book in general was a simple ok read. As i said, i still don't know if i like it. Surely, i will not re-read it and i highly doubt that i will continue with the rest books.

THE VAMPIRE DIARIES Review

About:THE VAMPIRE DIARIES is the story of two vampire brothers obsessed with the same beautiful girl, and battling to control the fate of an entire town. During season one, Stefan and Damon Salvatore, returned to their hometown of Mystic Falls, Virginia, for very different reasons - Stefan was determined to get to know Elena Gilbert, who bears a striking resemblance to Katherine Pierce, the beautiful but ruthless vampire the brothers knew and loved in 1864, while Damon was intent on releasing Katherine from the tomb where he believed she was trapped by a witch's spell all those years ago.

*vampire diaries pic designed by Yiota
Review:The Vampire Diaries ! What a show really.. I know that i always don't like the series at the begining but it's true, i thought VD was a litle off at the begining but i don't have to say that i love it now!

Let's start with my favorite character, Damon.. I belive he is a very good actor, he is very diferent from his role in Lost, he plays the bad-good guy, in the begining i didn't like the close ups with the “evil” smile but as the series goes his character is evolving in a very good way. I don't know about you but i think he is better for elena !i LOVE this phrase he said to Stefan when he stabs him in the first episodes “This is john varbatos dude, dick move !!”.


Stefan and Elena are two characters a litle bit flat for me, i don't find their roles so interesting. As for Caroline Forbes i don't like her! She plays the “stupid” girl every high scool movie/series that respects his self has! An other character that i like is Jenna Sommers, Jenna is Elena's and Jeremy's aunt, who takes them in after their parents were killed in the car crash. The actress is very pretty and very interesting, i like the way she plays. Bonnie Bennett, elena's best friend, the witch and Tyler Lockwood are also good. My second favorite actor in the series is Alaric Saltzman, the history teacher at Mystic Falls High. In the begining he made us think that he was a vampire, cuz of the ring and the fact that he didn't go inside Jenna's house when she didn't invite him, but i was relived when we found out that he wasn't, i prefere him human! I was so sad when i though that Damon killed him, remember the dialog they had? Damon : “You tried to kill me” and Alaric : “And you killed me” !!

The show has lot's of humor, i love the dialogs, i love when damon jokes, it has very good moments and also it doesn't have so much blood like “True Blood”. It's very funny that everything is called Mystic something, Mystic High, Mystic Grill etc !!! And in this town they always have events, like every day either they plan or they have an event !! The most important element of the show is that it keeps you in edge also the season is very full with events, in each episod many things happen, the season could actually be two seasons.. i like it that it has so many stories !

I defenately recomend it not only to those who like vampires and stuff but also to everyone, it's a great show you will love it!
You will enjoy the review of the second season when it ends!

The Southern Vampire Mysteries: Dead Until Dark, Review

Sookie Stackhouse is a small-time waitress in a small-town Louisiana. She's quiet, keeps to herself, and doesn't get out much. Not because she's not pretty. She is. It's just that, well, Sookie has this sort of "disability". She can read minds. And that doesn't make her too dateable. And then along comes Bill: he's tall, dark and handsome-and Sookie can't hear a word he's thinking. He's exactly the type of guy she's been waiting for all her life.
But Bill has a disability of his own: he's a vampire. Worse than that, he hangs with a seriously creepy crowd, with a reputation for trouble-of the murderous kind.
And when one of Sookie's colleagues is killed, she begins to fear she'll be the next.

REVIEW:
Curiosity is the main word which describes why I bought this book. I've already seen True Blood and of course I wanted to read the book. Seriously now, the show has too much sex and violence which brings your interest up.

I'm not going to tell you the story, but I'm going to tell you a bit about the two main characters: Sookie is the main character. We are following her mind and thoughts. She is crying a lot, but she recognizes what is happening around her and tell us what is going on. She is not selfish, at all, and she helps Bill despite the fact he's a vampire. But she is a little naive, especially when she learns that Bill is really dead and not a sick person. Bill is the other main character. He is a vampire who tries to leave among humans. When the murders happen, he is calm and gives everyone a reason why he is not a suspect. He knows his powers and what he is and can do and doesn't do foolish things, like attacking Eric even though he wants to.

In the beginning I thought it's going to be boring, because I've already seen the show and I knew what will happen in the end. Well, I was wrong. At the start, there are many similarities, but as the book goes on there are lots of differences. There were scenes I wanted to read and didn't find in the book. And there were scenes that were extremely different than the show. There are characters the series doesn't show, and characters in the series that doesn't exist. Although, the book is written by Sookie's point of view, there are not many emotional scenes. And her relationship with Bill is not as romantic as other relationships. So, if you believe that the book is going to have too much sex and violence, you are wrong (I'm saying that because I know people that hated the show because of these).

Last thing I want to tell you is that: this is my review for only the first book, so if I'm wrong about the similarities and the differences between the show and the book, time will show, so will my next reviews.

Generally, it was a nice book, really interesting and I recommend it to everyone out there who enjoys vampire literature.

Movies VS Books: "Frank Herbert's Dune: Children Of Dune"

Story Summary
Some 21,000 years^[9] in the future, the human race has scattered throughout the known universe and populated countless planetary systems, which are ruled by aristocratic royal houses who in turn answer to the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV. Science and technology have evolved far beyond that of our own time despite the prohibition of computers and artificial intelligence. Humans with highly-developed minds, called Mentats, perform the functions of computers. The CHOAM corporation is the major underpinning of the Imperial economy, with shares and directorships determining each House's income and financial leverage. Key is the control of the desert planet Arrakis, the only source of the valuable spice melange, which gives those who ingest it extended life and some prescientawareness. Melange is crucial to space travel, which is monopolized by the Spacing Guild. Their Navigators use the spice to safely plot a course for the Guild's heighliner ships using prescience and"foldspace" technology, which allows instantaneous travel to anywhere in the universe.

The spice is also crucial to the powerful matriarchal order called the Bene Gesserit, whose main priority is to preserve and advance the human race. The secretive Bene Gesserit, often referred to as "witches," possess advanced mental and physical abilities in part developed through conditioning called prana-bindu training. A Bene Gesserit acolyte becomes a full Reverend Mother by undergoing a perilous ritual known as the spice agony, in which she ingests an otherwise lethal dose of an awareness spectrum narcotic and must render it harmless internally. Surviving the ordeal unlocks her Other Memory, the ego and memories of all her female ancestors. A Reverend Mother is warned to avoid the place in her consciousness that is occupied by the genetic memory of her male ancestors, referred to as "the place we cannot look." In light of this, the Bene Gesserit have a secret, millennia-old breeding program, the goal of which is to produce a male equivalent of a Bene Gesserit whom they call the Kwisatz Haderach. This individual would not only be able to survive the spice agony and access the masculine avenues of Other Memory, but is also expected to possess "organic mental powers (that can) bridge space and time."^[10] The Bene Gesserit intend their Kwisatz Haderach to give them the ability to control the affairs of mankind more effectively.

The planet Arrakis itself is completely covered in a desert ecosystem, hostile to most organic life. It is also sparsely settled by a human population of native Fremen tribes, ferocious fighters who ride the giant sandworms of the desert and whose tribal leaders are selected by defeating the former leader in combat. The Fremen also have complex rituals and systems focusing on the value and conservation of water on their arid planet; they conserve the water distilled from their dead, consider spitting an honorable greeting, and value tears as the greatest gift one can give to the dead. The novel suggests that the Fremen have adapted to the environment physiologically, with their blood able to clot almost instantly to prevent water loss.^[11] The Fremen culture also revolves around the spice, which is found in the desert and harvested with great risk from attacking sandworms. Bene Gesserit missionary efforts have also implanted a belief in a male messiah, born of a Bene Gesserit, who will one day come from off-world to transform Arrakis into a more hospitable world.

Where The Book Wins: Well the book wins in many different aspects, for starters you get to visualize the whole world. It also gives you more time to catch up with the universe. Also the book has a slower flow of the story, meaning that the reader can easilly learn and adjust to the political games of the Dune Universe as well as the life of the Fremen. You also have more time to watch the change of the protagonist that becomes from a wealthy duke used in luxury to a Fremen warrior of the Desert. All in all the book has a lot more details and a slower pace making it easier to understand.

Where the Movie wins: well the movie wins in everything the book doesnt have, which means you actually see the universe. Although there are a few movies that are not good, the one that stands out is the tv series (actually its a movie in 2 parts). It is the only movie that actually has captured the story of the book and tries its best to help you visualize the story. A decent job but not such a good movie overall, its the best movie there is for the Dune fans, but not a good movie to movie fans :P

Final Winner: The book. Because of the lack of popularity or simply because of ignorance from Hollywood there are no good Dune movies, which is a shame.

We Listen: Bethany Dillon Discography

Official:
Bethany started playing guitar at age 10, with Jennifer Knapp serving as an early influence.^[1] Dillon’s musical career began at age 13, recording an independent album (Vulnerable) that ended up in the hands of EMI executive Brad O’Donnell. Audiences connected with her first record almost immediately, and the results included several hit singles, multiple Dove nods, critical acclaim, and an exponentially increasing grassroots fan base that propelled her career forward in great leaps.

For me:
At first i was trying to pick, just one album of hers and do the usual first though but i couldn't decide which one to pick. I really love her music. It's inspiring, calming, beautiful musically and lyrically. It was always give me a smile when i listen to her. Acoustic or studio versions, both perfect. And it's funny that her songs fit so well to all my imaginary characters. I don't really wanna say more..this time i prefer you to listen. I know she is a Christian musician but whatever your doubts are (cause i had many), i believe she deserves a shot.The songs talk about belief in "You" but that doesn't mean the god necessarily.Every song speaks different and that "you" can be anything.At least that's what i believe. I will include my favourite songs of her in the post.

Discography

• Bethany Dillon (2004)
• Imagination (2005)
• Waking Up (2007)
• So Far: The Acoustic Sessions (2008)
• In Christ Alone: Modern Hymns of Worship (with Matt Hammitt) (2008)
• Stop & Listen (2009)
• Bridge Of Terabithia Movie OST

Easy A Review

After a little white lie about losing her virginity gets out, a clean cut high school girl (Emma Stone) sees her life paralleling Hester Prynne's in "The Scarlet Letter," which she is currently studying in school – until she decides to use the rumor mill to advance her social and financial standing.

REVIEW:

I really wanted to watch this one, so when it get available i didn't lose time:P 

Emma Stone plays a high school girl, who lies to her friend (because she is really annoying) and then everything changes. A rumor about her starts and while she tries to help other people (to be other guys) who have problem with their sexual life, she get to be the slut of the school, loses her friends, boys only want her for sex,etc...

The reason i wanted to see this one is because it's different. Most high school movies are about an infamous girl, who is hated by the most popular girl and the she likes her ex-boyfriend and blah blah..you know how this goes. In this one, we see a more normal-real story of a girl. And how she destroyed her reputation by her own mistakes. How the enviromment of the school or her family, acting on the situation and etc. I have to say i liked more than every high-school movie, i have seen so far, and believe me they are a lot! It's funny, cute, clever, original..it's different. Different than we used to. And for once, boys can watch a high school movie which is not girly! Unisex ;)

In additional with all the greatness of the story itself, we have the cast. I knew every single actor. Great names, and everyone fantastic. Emma Stone is one of my favorite actresses and all her roles are so different than each other. I love how great she is with everything she does. The other big suprise for me is Amanda Bynes. I have used to watch her as the "cliche good girl" of the high school movies and here has different role. She is at the opposite side without being mean with no reason.

If you have time, you really need to catch this one. It's easy to watch it, not tiresome and pretty funny.

Full cast: Emma Stone ( The House Bunny, The Rocker, Zombieland), Amanda Bynes (She's the Man, Hairspray), Penn Badgley ( Gossip Girl), Alyson Michalka ( Hellcats), Dan Byrd ( A Cinderella Story, Cougar Town), Thomas Haden Church ( Spiderman 3, Over The Hedge), Patricia Clarkson ( Shutter Island, The Green Mile, Jumanji), Cam Giganet ( Twilight, The Unborn, Pandorum), Lisa Kudrow ( F.R.I.E.N.D.S), Malcom McDowell ( The Book of Eli, Halloween), Stanley Tucci ( The Devil Wears Prada, Lovely Bones, The Terminal), Fred Armisen (SNL, The Rocker, EuroTrip, Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny)

*yeah they are all in ONE movie..haha*

2011 Debut Author Challenge

The time 2011 Debut Author Challenge by The Story Siren has come once again. Last year, when i learned about it was August so i couldn't really started it and i waiting for the next one. So for those who don't know:

Start Date:  January 1st, 2011

End Date:  December 31, 2011

2011 Debut Author Participant Information:

• The objective of the DAC is to read at least twelve novels from Young Adult or Middle Grade Authors. While twelve is the minimum there is no maximum limit! I encourage readers who can read more than twelve to do so!

• Anyone can join. You don't have to be a blogger, and you don't have to live in the United States. 

• You do not have to have an blog written in English to participate. 

• You can join at anytime.  Challenge runs from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2011

Qualifying Books:

• Books must be a Young Adult or Middle Grade novel.

• This must be the authors debut with a release date in 2011. Click Here to see a list with debut novels for 2011.

• If an author has a previous novel published under adult fiction/nonfiction or children's fiction/nonfiction, they can still qualify for the challenge if they are releasing their YA or MG debut

Book i'm planning to read (those books are only for me *Yiota*, i don't know if the rest guys here would wanna do it too. In case they want, i will put their list up as well). There is one for each month. I hope i can manage more.
The False Princess by Eilis O'Neal ( Jan.25th)
Angelfire by Courtney A. Moullton ( Feb.15th)
Falling  Under by Gwen Hayes ( Mar.1st)
Enclave by Ann Aguirre (Apr.12th)
Starcrossed by Elizabeth C.Bunce (May.31st)
Breath of Angel by Karyn Henley ( Jun.21st)
Luminous by Dawn Metcalf (Jun30th)
The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab ( Aug.2nd)
Witch Eyes by Scott Tracey ( Sept.)
Skyship Academy by Nick James ( Oct.)
The Wizard of Dark Street by (Jul.26th)
Frost House by Marianna Baer ( 2011)
Adds out of the scheduled:
Darkness Becomes Her by Kelley Keaton
The Demon's Trapper Daughter by Jana Oliver
Waterfall by Lisa T. Bergren
Haven by Kristi Cook
Rosie by Mariaam Marouf

Warehouse 13 Review

After saving the life of an international diplomat in Washington D.C., a pair of U.S Secret Service agents are whisked away to a covert location in South Dakota that houses supernatural objects that the U.S. Government has collected over the centuries. Their new assignment: retrieve the missing objects and investigate reports of new ones.


Why we love it: EVERYTHING!. The series is probably the most fun to watch for me (Seeker Included) for many reasons. For starters the characters of the series. There is not one person I know who will not say at least once "Yeah i would do that too". Lets pick them apart.

Characters:
Artie is the "dad"/"boss" there. As for his behaviour, he is not the regular "because I said so" person, he is serious off course and incredibly inteligent and he does everything to keep the rest at bay since they are often not to serious.
Pete who is my personall favorite (the guys and I say that I am a mixture of Pete mostly and some parts of Claudia) is the kid of the group. Immature and funny yet serious and clever at times Pete is by far the source of all the laugh in the show. Then we have Myka, the voice of logic and Pete's assistant. She is the book worm and me and the guys relate her to Yiota :P. Quieter than Pete and far more logicall she acts as the voice of logic for the whole team as she is more down to earth than everyone else :P. Claudia (who is 50% my wife...I see her and say yes, so the only thing remaining is that she finds out and sais yes too) is the younger, wilder teammate who also has a father-daughter relationship with Artie. She is brash and often reckless yet she has all the problems a girl around her 20 could have. She is as smart as Artie and sometimes the right hand of Pete when it comes to immature behaviour. Claudia does what everyone who watch the series would do...play with everything in the warehouse. Last but not least is Leena.....Her I dont really care about. She has some weird aura thing going and although she is a valuable member of the team (sometimes) she passes out as generally indifferent. Off course I kept the ULTIMATE character for last. MRS FREDERICK. She is the "big boss" the one who gives the orders! the creepiest-most interesting-most cool character of them all. I wont say more...watch the show!

Plot:
As for the story it is an incrediblly interesting mix of fantasy-sci fi and mystery themes. Interesting plot which focuses around the magical artifacts that Pete and Myka go to capture and bring in the Warehouse and the stories in which they are related to. Off course there is a higher plot which unfolds along with the episodes which makes it incredibly interesting since it combines both short term and long term stories. To say it plainly, although each artifact and its recovery has its own story, the whole stories connect in a more subtle way. Weather its by showing the personall lives and relationships the main characters build, their struggles with their secret identity's restrictions and their personall lives or the main story, the episodes have a steady pace. To all that spray a fair amount of well put humor and you got the idea.

I think that is all...I reccomend this series to everyone who enjoy a bit of mystery and magic (OOOOH *spooky ooh*) and will like to laugh with it as well. 

Yiota edit: It has renewed for the 3rd season too!^^

Artist of The Week #14

Anna de la Meer by *moyan

Official Description Of The Pic from the artist:

Digital Art / Paintings & Airbrushing / People / Portraits ©2007-2010 *moyan PRINT AVAILABLE Anna de la Meer, princess of Kardess. commissioned by Sarah Fearn. character (c) Sarah Fearn, artwork (c) me. stock used, texture of the robe: Burlap by ~Coronach-Stock.

• DeviantArt Account: http://moyan.deviantart.com/
• PageViews: 188.948
• Current Residence: where my cats are
• Interests: drawing and painting....and cats
• Personal Quote: All things are difficult before they become easy.
• Email: silentstudio at gmail.com

In My Mailbox (8) - Notable Quotables (9)

In My Mailbox #8 - Weekly meme from The Story Siren
The idea is to post the books you got this week, whether you bought them, got them as a gift, from the library, or received them to review.

Bought:
Yiota - Across The Nightingle Floor by Liam Hern
Nina- I Am Number 4 by Pittacus Lore

Bookmooch:
Yiota - Secret Garden by Francis Hornot Barnet

Won:
Yiota - The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan REVIEW HERE

Other Staff:
Yiota - 8 bookmarks (various)
Yiota - Book calendar with flower fairies

We are a bit empty today XD What did you get this week?

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Notable Quotables is a meme hosted by Bewitched Bookworms.Each time we share a quote we loved and explain why we picked it. Be part of it here: Notable Quotables

"As they flew over New England, Jason laid out the game plan; First, find some guy names Boreas and grill him for information--

"His name is Boreas?"Leo had to ask. "What is he, the God of Boring?"
Second, Jason continued, they had to find those venti that had attacked them at the Grant Canyon--
"Can we just call them storm spirits?" Leo asked." Venti makes them sound like evil espresso drinks"
And third, Jason finished, they had to find out who the storm spirits work for, so they could find Hera and free her.
......
Leo whistled. "So...giants who can throw mountains. Friendly wolves that will eat us if we show weakness. Evil espresso drinks. Gotcha. Maybe this isn't the time to bring up my psycho babysitter.""

The Lost Hero, Rick Riordan

picked byYiota

I'm always picking funny quotes huh? Oh well..i couldn't say no...Leo is fav char at The Lost Hero and he is so funny. I love how he sees the comic way of everything. He reminds me, myself sometimes. Hope the quote put a smile at your face too. I know for sure, that i'm laughing again XD

What's yours today?