In My Mailbox - 03/11

In My Mailbox is a fun meme from the Story Siren where you can show off the books you received over the past week!

I didn't think I went too crazy this week, but somehow my IMM list is long anyway. I think I am most excited for Tomorrow Land and my favourite cover is Pretty in Black.

What did you get this week?







eBooks for Review:
Auraria - Tim Westover
The Croning - Laird Barron
The Moonstone Series - Marilee Brothers
The Shapeshifter's Secret - Heather Ostler
Tomorrow Land - Mari Mancusi
Spirit's Princess - Esther Friesner

eBooks as part of upcoming blog tours:
Pretty in Black - Rae Hachton
Straight to Hell - Michelle Scott
Meeting Destiny - Nancy Straight

Review - The Keeper of the Isis Light by Monica Hughes

Goodreads Blurb:

Olwen Pendennis is the Keeper of the Isis Light. She and her companion, Guardian, have lived alone on the planet Isis since the death of her parents. But then a group of colonists arrives on Isis from Earth, settling in the valleys – the only places where they can breathe and not be harmed by the planet’s harsh sun. Olwen fears these new inhabitants may ruin her world forever, and at first, it appears she is right.

My Thoughts:

I read this book when I was a preteen and remember enjoying it, but for some reason I never read the 3rd book of the trilogy and therefore decided to reread it. However, the second time around I liked it less. I still love Monica Hughes and her writing style, but this book's content didn't measure up to my remembrance/expectations. I was highly annoyed by the insta!love between Mark and Olwen. I can kind of understand it from Olwen, since she hadn't met a boy her age before, but it just seemed very unrealistic. If there had been more development of Mark and Olwen's relationship, I think I would have had no trouble with this book (scientific qualms aside).

Overall though, this is a fun, short sci-fi read from my favourite sci-fi writer, the late Monica Hughes. It touches on deeper themes such as prejudice, environmental stewardship and living a contented life, but I didn't feel like I was being lectured.

I'm on to the 2nd book now, the Guardian of Isis and am enjoying it as well.


Favourite Scene:

I love the scene at the start, where Olwen spend a content afternoon on top of the mesa. That sounds like the perfect way to spend a day and Hughes describes it beautifully.

Favourite Character:

Guardian. He's like a less-creepy Mary Poppins.

Rating: 3 Hearts

Find it Here: Goodreads | Amazon| The Book Depository

Source: Gift from a family member

Review Copy Cleanup - Cuddle Up With a Book

This is my bed, where most of my reading is done. I read a lot on my laptop, since I share the kindle with my boyfriend and I don't want to clutter it up! The only problem is I sometimes get distracted on the internet when I mean to be reading! I love reading in bed because it's super comfy and when I get really tired, I can lean my head against the windowsill. Plus I can just close my eyes and fall asleep anytime. In case you're wondering, my reading buddies in this picture from left to right are: Caped Carl (you can't really see it, but he wears a cape), Mystic and Pinky!

Friday 56 - The Keeper of the Isis Light Edition

The Friday 56 is a fun meme from Freda's Voice

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you.
*Post it.



This week for Friday 56, I'm doing The Keeper of the Isis Light by Monica Hughes (the other books I'm reading are on kindle, so it's a little harder to find page 56).

Because I talked about this book yesterday, I wanted to show an alternative cover

"She looked down the long valley towards the village on the east bank of the lake. There were Tens of little black figures swarming around like fire ants, but none of them was recognizably Mark."

Theme Thursday - The Keeper of the Isis Light Edition

Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event that will be open from one Thursday to the next and hosted by Reading Between Pages. Anyone can participate in it. The rules are simple:

• A theme will be posted each week (on Thursday’s)
• Select a conversation/snippet/sentence from the current book you are reading
• Mention the author and the title of the book along with your post
• It is important that the theme is conveyed in the sentence (you don’t necessarily need to have the word)
  Ex: If the theme is KISS; your sentence can have “They kissed so gently” or “Their lips touched each other” or “The smooch was so passionate”

This will give us a wonderful opportunity to explore and understand different writing styles and descriptive approaches adopted by authors.
March is going to be all about making life easy. This month we will do ‘Pick what you see first‘ themes.
Open the book you are reading –> Open the page number that has your birthdate (I was born on the 4th so that is Page 4) –> pick the first sentence from it and post the snippet. Sorry, but ‘No Ebooks’ this time as well. With this week’s theme, we will also get to know your birthdate 

BIRTHDATE - First snippet from the page that is your birthdate

My current non-ebook is the Keeper of the Isis Light by Monica Hughes. I loved Monica Hughes when I was younger, so this is a bit of a throw-back, but I remembered that I never read the final book in the Isis series, so I'm starting over. I was born on the 4th, so page 4, here we go!

"Sometimes Olwen felt stupid about her report. Why would anybody parsecs away on Earth be interested in what she ate for breakfast, how she was doing in celestial mechanics, what she felt about life in general?"

What an Animal Reading Challenge

I love reading challenges. I love animals. Therefore, I'm super excited to join the What an Animal Reading Challenge (I'm sure this is better logic than I applied when reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies). This fun challenge is hosted by it's very own blog, which is fun.

Here's the rules:
The What an Animal Reading Challenge IV ends at the end of this month on February 29th. Our new challenge will begin on March 1, 2012 and end on February 28, 2013. The rules are really simple...


1. Read at least 6 books that have any of the following requirements:


a. there is an animal in the title of the book

b. there is an animal on the cover of the book

c. an animal plays a major role in the book

d. a main character is (or turns into) an animal (define that however you'd like).

2. The animal can be any type of animal (real or fictitious)--dog, cat, monkey, wolf, snake, insect, hedgehog, aardvark...dragon, mermaid, centaur, vampire, werewolf...you get the idea...


3. Challenge runs from March 1, 2012 to February 28, 2013. That’s a full year to read at least 6 books (you can read more if you’d like). You can still sign up after March 1st as long as you can get 6 books read by February 28, 2013).


4. Books can be fiction or nonfiction.


5. You may make a list of books at the beginning of the challenge or you can just list them as you find them.


6. Book titles may be swapped out at anytime (assuming you made a list to begin with).


7. Crossovers with other challenges are permitted and encouraged.


8. You don't have to have a blog or write a review, but you can if you want to.
 If you don't have a blog, just post in the comment section that you'd like to join. You can post your books in there.

9. Books can be in any format of your choice (print, audio, ebooks)


Sweet deal, my current read, Gate to Kandrith already applies. Bonus!

Review - Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

Goodreads Blurb:

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.”

So begins Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, an expanded edition of the beloved Jane Austen novel featuring all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton—and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she’s soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers—and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield. Can Elizabeth vanquish the spawn of Satan? And overcome the social prejudices of the class-conscious landed gentry? Complete with romance, heartbreak, swordfights, cannibalism, and thousands of rotting corpses, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies transforms a masterpiece of world literature into something you’d actually want to read.

My Thoughts:

I like Pride and Prejudice. I like zombies. So it stands to reason that I should like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. But I don't. I think it's because I'm a purist and I don't like people messing with things I like. Especially Pride and Prejudice. I only lasted 5 minutes in the newest movie (the one with Keira Knightley) because I loved the old one and now everything was wrong! 


Beyond my own personal bias, I still don't think it was done as well as it could be. It messed up the story enough to annoy people like me, but I don't think there was enough zombie mayhem to attract the action movie/book crowd. There was a lot of talking about zombies, but much less slaying of zombies.


I also need to mention that Elizabeth Bennet was a complete witch in this book. She was constantly murdering people or at least fantasizing about it (yes, ninjas are people too). I found her completely unlikeable and she definitely didn't deserve someone as awesome as Mr. Darcy (who was only slightly less awesome in this book).

Other, more minor, complains: 
1. Why was this book so obsessed with kung fu? I personally don't think butterfly kicks are the best way to dispatch a zombie. And you have to travel to China or Japan to learn to use a bladed weapon?
2. Since when can muskets fire multiple balls like a semi-automatic? (I'm talking about the scene where Elizabeth kills a pile of zombies with her musket while jumping off her carriage). 
3. Why couldn't Lydia (or at least Mrs. Bennet) be eaten by a zombie? Why?

My Favourite Scene:

The end. I was just glad it was over.

My Favourite Character:


Mr. Darcy, as always. But Elizabeth definitely didn't deserve him in this book. Not even close. I would have rather seen him end up with Miss Bingley or his cousin!

My Rating: 2 hearts

 

 

Where to find this book: Goodreads | Amazon| The Book Depository


Source: I got this book as a present from my momma!