Footenotes: One Final Post...Maybe

You might have noticed that the quality of my blog posts here has gone down dramatically. I sure have. So I realized today that I can't put it off anymore.

I am now closing one door and opening another. 

Today will be the day where I stop using this blog.

Today is also the day that I am opening my other blog, The Giant Pencil!

It's kind of bittersweet, but overall, I'm glad I made another blog. This blog was sort of a test run, and it IS a mess. But now I have a new start, now that I know what I'm doing. 

But I won't stop blogging on here forever. I might occasionally post first drafts of my reviews. But they will also appear in a better format in my new blog, so you might as well look there. 

So, bye, I guess!

Book Blog: Trickster's Choice

I was really excited to read another series by Tamora Pierce! The Alanna series had been decent, and her Beka Cooper trilogy much more enjoyable, so I was curious of how this one would turn out.

The cover is kind of weird. The covers for the Alanna series weren't the greatest, and there is minimal improvement for this one. It's dark and dreary, and the title isn't big enough. And I don't like how she seems to be watching my every move. Freaky.

SPOILER ALERT!!!

Now, let me be frank; the story bored me. It lacked he drama and suspense that I love to read. I think the best part had to be the ending after the duke died, but that wasn't even the big finale I was expecting.

Pierce's writing style in the book has definitely improved since Alanna: The First Adventure. It still takes place in the Tortall world, but with Aly as the main character. My favorite character has to be Nawat. I mean, how can you not like a crow-human?

SPOILERS END!!!

So it was decent. Not something I'd read again, but not something I'd burn at the stake.

Book Blog: White Fang by Jack London

So, let me give it to you straight; I'm not a big fan of classics. At all. And Jack London? I've defiantly heard of him. I even tried reading one of his books, Call of the Wild.

Key word: tried.

In short, I wasn't very enthusiastic in reading this book. And what's up with addiction to wolves? A lot of people like them, but I would prefer the soft, furry puppies that I know and love. The cover, on the other hand, was something to be enthusiastic about. It's very artistic y'know?

The first thing I see when I open the book is an introduction from K.A. Applegate (well, actually, the first thing I saw was the title page, then a list of Scholastic classics, another title page, and the verso), who I know as the author of Eve and Adam. I found that it was one of the most enlightening introductions I have ever read (which is great, but not that big of an achievement considering the fact that it was one of the few introductions I actually read).

So then finally I get to the actual book. And even though it took me a whole week to read it, I actually enjoyed it. A lot.

SPOILERS AHEAD

So it starts out with these two dudes who have a bunch of sleigh dogs. But there's this pack of hungry wolves and a reddish color dog kept bringing the dogs to the pack and eating them. So one of the guys dies and the other guys almost dies, blah blah blah. Then you get to hear more about the reddish dog and how there are three dogs hitting on her. One of them is, like, really young, the other has one eye, and the last one is just some youngish one.

This part was really epic. One-eye and youngish one team up and kill the really young one, and then One-eye kills Youngish! And then She-wolf has the hots for One-eye and have pups together. And, of course, one of those pups is our very own White Fang!

It really surprised me that White was introduced so late into the book. But, hey, fine with me! It's kinda cool to see how everyone is connected. So, One-eye ends up dying and so do White Fang's siblings. And White Fang goes exploring and finds man, who are described as gods. His mom finds him and it is revealed that her name is Kiche. I found the way humans were described very...revealing. I never really thought about how the relationship between man and dog might feel different to the animal than to us.

Gray Beaver acts like a weirdo and gets drunk, eventually selling White Fang to stupid Beauty. And then Beauty is EXTRA mean, making White Fang fight. I was wondering when he was actually going to become a pit dog...it didn't seem like he was going to for the longest time (I read the back cover, y'know?). But he does and then FINALLY he is saved by a new owner!

I love, love, LOVE the ending! When he was learning to love and to be loved, I almost cried. It was so adorable!!!!

"White Fang had ceased eating, lost heart, and allowed every dog of the team to thrash him. In the cabin he lay on the floor near the stove, without interest in food, in Matt, nor in life...And then, one night, Matt...was startled by a low whine from White Fang...A moment later, Matt heard a footstep. The door opened, and Weedon Scott stepped in. The two men shook hands. Then Scott looked around the room.

'Where's the wolf?' he asked.

Then he discovered him, standing where he had been lying, near to the stove. He had not rushed forward after the manner of other dogs. He stood, watching and waiting.

'Holy smoke!' Matt exclaimed. 'Look at 'm was his tail!...He never looked at me that way all the time you was gone.'...What of his joy, the great love in him, ever surging and struggling to express itself succeeded in finding a new mode of expression. He suddenly thrust his head forward and nudged his way in between the master's arm and body. And here, confined, hidden from view all except his ears, no longer growling, he continued to nudge and snuggle" -White Fang, 203.

I thought that the above quote was one of the cutest things! I loved that. So much. Another thing I really loved is that the dog doesn't die at the end. Jeez, what a relief.

SPOILERS END

So, you kind of have to read the book yourself to understand why it's such a good book. The first few chapters might be hard to read, but once you get to the part that focuses more on the dogs (I think it's about Chapter 4), it gets really good! And the chapters are really short, so it won't take that long to get to that point.

Just read it.

Rating: 5 stars

Footnotes: An Update

I feel like a footnote was overdue, so here I am!

This blog has officially reached 1,000 views! I'm so happy! I never thought I'd make it this far. But...then I realized that I'm going to be opening my new blog soon and I kinda got a little sad. 

So, speaking of my other blog, it's almost complete! If you guys have tried to find it, you can't. Not yet, anyway. I have it set so that only the author can see it (I'd be so ashamed if anyone saw my blog incomplete!). But I have already transferred over my book blogs and starting on the footnotes (excluding ones like these; I don't want you guys to get confused).

So, yeah, I think that's it for now. I'll be posting my book blog on White Fang very, very shortly!

Book Blog: Paper Towns

Honestly? This was my least favorite John Green book so far. But it's probably my own fault. I didn't do my research and realize that one of the genres was mystery.

See, the cover looked so innocent! There was a nice little map with a big ol' push pin! And the title, Paper Towns, sounded so cute! Note that I didn't know what a paper town was at the time.

SPOILERS BEGIN

The only time I had to read this week was at night. I thought it was going to be a pleasant nighttime read, so you can imagine my horror when Margo and Q found that dead guy. And when Margo told Q to close the window and Q said that it was as if Margo saw a ghost, I flipped out. So I thought it'd be a good idea to read the back cover which said a bunch of stuff about discovering the real Margo. This added to my panic because I thought FOR SURE that Margo was going to be some ghost seer or something. And I hate ghosts!

By now, you can tell that I probably the biggest wimp ever.

Luckily (or unluckily for me. To save myself from further terror, I refused to read this book only during the day when, incidentally, I didn't have very much time to read, thus the five days it took me to finish a three-hundred page book) that wasn't what the book was about at all, but it didn't help that Q kept suggesting that Margo killed herself! This probably wasn't a good book for me.

Is it just me or did Margo seem a lot like Alaska (from Looking for Alaska) and Q seem like Miles (also from LfA)? Margo and Alaska seemed daring while the dudes were both wimpy, "perfect", and sheltered.

What I DID like was the familiarity of Green's writing style. He never fails to makeme laugh   SOMEWHERE in his book   My favorite part was when the people on the rode trip realized that Radar had to wear a Confederate shirt!

All that aside, this wasn't his finest work. But in his defense, Green wrote this in 2009. He improved a lot since then.

3 stars

Book Blog: Eve and Adam

Alright, I have to admit it; the cover is freakin' amazing. I mean, look at how awesome and science fiction-y that apple look! This is what grabbed my attention. That and the fact that Grant cow rote it. Not that I think he's a fantastic writer or anything. In fact, it took me a while to get used to his writing style in the first book I read of his, Gone. As far as the other author, I didn't recognize it. Apparently, she's married to Grant. Go figure. But, whatever, it'll probably be a pretty good book, right?

Wrong. The plot was a mess. The authors focused on all the wrong details. There wasn't enough development. And who the heck is this Solo guy, anyway? Hello, it's called EVE and ADAM, not Eve and SOLO! I just don't get why he's our leading guy. It should have been Adam. Jeez.

Speaking of leading character, I hated the POV switching between the two (Eve and Solo. And Adam, at the end. But that would make three protagonists, so let's not count him). If you've read my Legend review, you know that I REALLY hate poor executed POV switches, especially in first person. But if you've also read my Under the Never Sky review (and yes, if you've noticed, I AM promoting my other reviews. Is it that obvious?), you know that I DO like POV switches in third person. Now, that does not mean that I will like ALL third person POV switches; I'm saying that, so far, it's better to write in third person if you're going to. But, then again, if you suck at writing in third person, then write in first. Or second. I don't know; don't listen to me. I have no idea what I'm saying.

Onto my next point: the romance was cheesy. Not sure if that's the right word to use or not. But a good novel with romance in it (note the difference from a romance novel) makes you feel the chemistry between the character. I felt nothing. And what's with the whole "Adams the perfect guy" thing? The way he was described did not fit the image of MY perfect guy. I doubt that every single little person in this book would disagree with me.

I really, really hope there isn't a sequel. And hopefully I've learned my lesson; don't judge a book by its cover.

I'm adding an extra star because of the cover. Not that that's fair to the other books over reviews, but whatever. Life isn't fair.

2 stars

Book Blog: Wintergirls

Well, gosh. This book was surprisingly depressing. It shouldn't have been though, surprising. I knew what this book was before I began reading.

The cover looks mysterious and...ice-like, I guess. Seems like an appropriate cover according the the title.

The big thing that I really didn't like about this book was how the protagonist came about her solution to her problems. Not everyone is going to see ghosts of her best friend who died  (which was another thing that I didn't like. I wish the author supplied more details about the best friend before she died. Ad not in those out-of-order flashbacks either).

I'm having a really hard time writing a view about this book, though. The reason? Anorexia is a sensitive topic to, well, most people. The extent of my knowledge about it is none of your concern. But I really didn't enjoy reading this book. Some of you reading might love this book, whether you can relate to it or not. I didn't. So don't tell me that I'm wrong or I can't understand something. Everyone's entitled to their own opinion.

3 stars