Tag: reading

reading

Because hope is a magical word…Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Elodie

Disclaimer: Laini Taylor has a way with words, she makes magic with them and spreads hope while touching your heart…

Summary from Goodreads: Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky. In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.  And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.  Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious “errands”; she speaks many languages—not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out. When one of the strangers—beautiful, haunted Akiva—fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself

I finished Daughter of Smoke and Bone this week-end. I had picked it up after reading so many good reviews about it and seeing it showing up on Best Reads of 2011. I was not quite sure what to expect from it. I went into reading this book with anxious questions: would I actually enjoy it? will I feel with Karou?

And then…I read the first sentence.

The story of Karou and Akiva is not just another star-crossed love story. It takes your heart, breaks it and tries to mend it as it goes.  Karou is the type of heroin you root for.  You feel close to her as the book reveals her personality and her quirks.  The way she reacts makes sense because that´s how well you get to know her. What I particularly enjoyed is how true the emotions felt in such a fantastic world. And there are the details: you can roam the streets of Prague with Karou (I´ve been there once and this is such a magical place), you can learn so much about men with mustache (and here I mentioned this in my Happy Friday post but it reminds me of the way Gogol wrote), you are reminded how there´s always more to a story than the surface, how myths grow on history (to use Laini´s words)

Favorite quotes:

  • “Stop squandering yourself, child. Wait for love.”
  • “Have you ever asked yourself, do monsters make war, or does war make monsters?”
  • “She had been innocent once, a little girl playing with feathers on the floor of a devil’s lair.”
  • “My life is blood because my world is beasts”
  • “Wishes are false. Hope is true. Hope makes its own magic.”

So tell me, what book surprised you recently? and did you have a nice weekend? 🙂

Happy Friday, reading, revising

Happy Friday #5: Reading, Revising and Rollers…

Elodie

It’s already the 5th week of “Happy Friday”.  Yay!

Ok I have to admit there will be no rollers in this post…I was just looking for another word starting with the letter “R” 😀

* Happy for Christa: I started following Christa a few weeks ago and I am happy I did  ( I found another Center Stage fan). In case you have not seen Christa´s news, she announced on Wednesday her book deal with SimonPulse. The story of Ani and Ben  is not the kind that will make your heart flutter with happiness, actually it might tear up and break but it seems to be powerful, gut-wrenching. It’s a story which needed to be sent to the world.

* Revising: Chapter 4 and I had a date. We fought. We made up.

* Reading: I am in the middle of a Daughter of Smoke and Bone and wow, Laini Taylor has a magical way with words. I love all the references of men with moustache (for some reasons, this reminds me of one of the short stories from Gogol)

I did a little happy dance yesterday as I joined NetGalley to receive ARCs on my Kindle (thanks to Tarah who posted about currently reading Goddess Interrupted) As you may have guessed from my January books post, I have a lot of time to read…so that will be great to get my fingertips on some not-yet-released-look-at-me-I’m-so-cool-books… And I already got approved for some. (more on them soon…ta ta ta da *that was me building up suspense*)

* On InstaLove by Jaimee: If you have not yet seen Jaimee’s post on InstaLove, go ahead, I’ll wait here.

waits, waits, waits.

Cool, you’re back 🙂 While I do enjoy Valentine’s Day a tad more than Jaimee apparently, I wholeheartedly agree with her take on InstaLove. My heart beats a bit faster when I can see the sparks between people as they first lay eyes on each other call it InstaYummfactor) and then the fireworks when they first interact with one another (call it InstaConnection). I do need the connection though, the laughing or the long discussions. I need something. If there are no explanations or if the love is just based on the looks or does not seem reciprocated (the guy is a jerk, stalker, ignores her completely…) then it can become more of an InstaObsession. While the story can still work if the main character conveys this to the reader (and not just the I am so happy, we’re in love), it needs to develop.

* Honeymoon: And because I just talked about love, I am happy to report that hubby and I have finally booked our flights for our honeymoon (we got married in August). We’re going to the US for 3 weeks. Road Trip. Mustang. Leaving the work Blackberry at home. We’re going to visit dear friends in many States  and spend some time in a Bed and Breakfast in Cape Cod…and I will get to roam the streets of Manchester-By-The-Sea (that is where my WIP takes place…I talked about it in my Dreaming of a Writing Retreat post)…

I wish you all a wonderful week-end and I am looking forward to know what made YOU smile this week 🙂 

reading, revising

My January books :D

Elodie

Yesterday, I posted a letter “Dear Book, it´s not you it´s me” in which I tried to explain to this wonderful novel that this was not the right time for us to become involved. I just figured out why. The book I was trying to read (and only got a few pages in) was in French. I love reading in my mother tongue as it helps me to remember the way the words flow, their melody, their strength and their passion.

However, I am currently revising my first draft – and I write in English. Reading in one language while my brain keeps on calling me back to my manuscript which is in another language just does not work right at the moment. The funny thing is that it does not bother me when I write.

And I did do plenty of reading this month in English. Really, I enjoyed 15 books (see my Goodread shelf for more info): 13 young adult novels and 2 were thrillers 😀

I commute and I took a short writing break after finishing my first draft. Plenty of time. Some of those books took my breath away. Out of 15, it´s difficult to pick only one book and I won´t 🙂 but I will name the ones that sticked with me for a long long time after I put them down.

The Hunger Games trilogy, Divergent, Anna and The French Kiss, The Statistical Probabability of Love at First Sight…

What do all of these books have in common despite being so different?

I felt with the characters on many levels, the voices were amazing and the emotions jumped out of the pages right into my heart 🙂

Which book(s) did you read this month that you simply could not put down?

reading, revising, writing

Dear Book…It’s not you, it’s me

Elodie

I need to apologize to the book I am currently reading. 

It’s just not the relationship it used to be and it is all my fault.

Dear Book,

I am sorry that I am not paying attention to you as I should, or that it is taking me longer to care about the characters. It’s not your fault, it’s mine.

I know you don’t believe me. I see you looking at me with your big dark words. You think I’m just saying it to make you feel better. But it’s true.  I am not ready for a committed relationship  at the moment.

It sounds cliché you say. Please don’t cry. I know you want my fingers on your pages. I promise to come back to you when I feel less distracted. I know I should not be looking at that other book this way but we grew older together. The words on its paper are mine, you see and I recognize their potential. The characters are in my head and they won’t rest until I give them more time.

You are truly a wonderful book and I do love you. I just don’t love you that way yet. Maybe we’ll get there if I give you a try. Maybe you will help me get the voice in my own draft even stronger.

I guess time will tell but in the meantime, please don’t take it personally. I am sure somebody else somewhere already loves you the way you deserve to be loved.

Take care

Elodie

Now tell me 🙂

Do you sometimes get too distracted to really engage in a book ? or how do you deal with revising/reading?

Happy Friday, reading

Happy Friday #4: Shatter Me and other stories

Elodie

Shatter Me

Goodreads summary: Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.  The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

I won Shatter Me at the beginning of the year and as you can imagine, did a little happy dance. It is the first book I win and it is signed by the author (Thanks again, Beth!).  Really, it is signed and with a great reminder too!

I received the book on Tuesday and started reading on Wednesday.

And…I love it! I want to hug it and hug Tahereh Mafi (not in a weird way just in a “Thank you for writing this book” way)

At the beginning I was unsure, the writing looked a bit different  innovative and I wondered if I could get used to it. Honestly, I did not dive into the story right away.  I was intrigued. My oh my, but when I did jump into it, there was no coming back 🙂 I did get used to the visual, I enjoyed it but I especially relished the poetry falling from some of the sentences and…the relationship between Juliette & Adam is jumping out of the pages. Their story made my heart beat a bit faster. For those of you who read the book, may I just say “Shower scene”, for those of you who didn’t let’s just put it that way: it is steaaammmmy and totally makes sense for the story. It’s not one of those shower scenes in a movie where you just know it has been added so the viewers can see a little bit more skin for no apparent reason. My hubby still loves these scenes 🙂

The way Adam handles his little brother is just another factor to root for him and brings on so many more emotions in the story. Of course, Shatter Me brings much more to the table that those two relationships, it handles feeling different, feeling rejected and acceptance in a touching manner.

Some of my favourite quotes:

  • “Hate looks like everybody else until it smiles”
  • “He takes my hand. Intertwines our fingers. Offers me a smile that manages to kiss my heart.”
  • “I grin. ‘So you’re ten years old?’ He crosses his arms. Frowns. ‘I’ll be twelve in two years.’ I think I already love this kid.”

Versatile Blogger Award: Thanks again Ann Elise Monte and S.M. Boyce 🙂

ChangeWriteNow:

Doing pretty well this week – and stopped smoking on Monday, 5.30pm. Technically one of my goal was to reduce smoking not totally quit but I told myself it was time. I am 30 years old, it’s a good age to stop smoking :-). If I could talk to my 23 year old self, I would tell her “It’s not worth it, it will increase your anxiety, not decrease it…and quitting will kick your butt” I am a paradox, never smoked in France where all my friends did and started in the US. Everything is a learning experience, I am trying my best, let’s see how it unfolds.

So, tell me what made you SMILE this week?

Road Trip Wednesday, writing

Two worlds collide…

Elodie

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway’s contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody’s unique take on the topic.

This week’s topic: Write a dialogue between two of your favorite YA characters

Two worlds collide in my imagination even though they may have more in common than what they think: Sean from the Scorpio Races meets Anna & Etienne from Anna and The French Kiss.

Or where a boy from the Island ends up in Paris…

I know it has to be a dream. Puck always sleeps right next to me but as I extend my arm, I realize she is gone and I hear whispers above my head.

“Do you think he is awake?” A girl’s voice fills my ears. I open my eyes slowly and I am taken aback. Nothing seems familiar. My soul needs to venture where the salty air can steady my breath so that I know I am alive.

“Hello mate, are you alright?” Another unfamiliar voice, this one coming from a man with a strange accent…Maybe they took me to the mainland, maybe Puck is around somewhere, waiting for me to wake up.

“Where is she?” I finally manage to ask.

“Who are you talking about? I remember when I first arrived, I cried a lot but you’ll get used to it. I mean it’s not all that bad. You’re in Paris after all…and if you like movies, you’re in the right place. Etienne and I are will go see one tonight. You’re more than welcome to join”

My eyes widen as I slowly process what she is telling me. I try my best not to stare at the blonde streak inside her brown hair. I notice the way she says the boy’s name. A caress to him.  The way he looks at her tells me all I need to know.

“It cannot be.” I do not say another word. They cannot know that my heart is longing for the one I know will share my life. She and I do not question our future; we found each other and ourselves at the same time.

I block out the noise and as darkness surrounds me, I simply wish to be back where I belong.

The End

Do you sometimes wonder what a character from one novel would say to a character from another novel?

What did you think about Sean’s encounter with Anna and Etienne?

Looking forward to your comments 🙂

Happy Friday, reading, writing

Happy Friday #2 – The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight and other stories…

Elodie

Last week, I started the Happy Friday feature and here comes round 2…Looking forward to know what made you happy this week!

This week’s reading

* The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight: Beautiful! Though this is narrated in the 3rd person, I could feel with the main characters. The anxiety of Hadley resonated in me and talked to me in personal terms so I may be a bit partial but for a book to do this, the voice has to be strong. This story is not a simple love story; it is much more than this. It shows difficult family relationships and how love can show itself in the most unexpected places.  Two of my favourite quotes from the book:

  • “And for some reason, that was even worse. in the end, it’s not the changes that will break your heart; it’s that tug of familiarity“
  • “That she’d gadly curl up on the grass for him, make a bed out of the dirt?”

* The Hunger Games trilogy: Amazing! Heart-wrenching! This trilogy will stay in my mind for a long time. It shows the human emotions in such a raw manner, it magnifies them, it blew me away.

I started Cinder yesterday and I’m looking forward to get into the story…

A nice reminder for us writers 😀

Lucky 13s view on “Tough Time Trouble” and especially this part made me smile as it is such a great reminder! (even though I still dream :-))

Most of us will not be the writer who pours out their first book ever in a few weeks, considers drool-ridden offers from 10 agents, has their book go to auction for over half a million dollars, and snags a movie deal as icing on the cake. Those writers are still human. None of these things gives them the ability to poop sunshine or pee rainbows.

A song

I revealed my first name on Wednesday in my Road Trip Wednesday post and I am overwhelmed by the comments this post received. THANK YOU 🙂 and if you wonder how to pronounce my first name…here is a little song from the 80’s


Others:

  • WIP progress: I am almost at 58k…but the moment which made me smile the most had to be writing a steamy scene while commuting and feeling my face getting flushed
  • ChangeWriteNow: I am feeling quite giddy since I did much better than last week. I am falling into a routine, making it somewhat easier and my team is just great! (thank you ladies)

What made YOU happy this week?

Have a wonderful weekend everybody 😀

reading

My list of books for January 2012 :-)

Elodie

As you may already know, I commute. When I am annoyed because I´m tired or because Deutsche Bahn fails me (really, even in Germany trains are late or no shows), I try to remember that this commuting time is actually “me” time. I use it to write and to read. I usually have plenty of time to dive into several novels in one week.

Here is the list of books I am planning to read this month (actually I have already read 4 of them :-))

Young Adult


 Divergent, Catching Jordan, The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, The Hunger Games Trilogy (I am totally late on that one :-)) and Cinder I have already read Divergent, Catching Jordan and The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight and loved all of them 🙂 Great reading month so far! I reviewed Catching Jordan and Divergent in this post.

Historical Fiction

Le Testament D´Olympe (as there is no summary on Goodreads, I translated the blurb from amazon.fr: In the middle of the 18th , two sisters have lost touch with each other. One, serious and resigned, is sent to a convent and becomes teacher in a castle. The other, seeking freedom at all costs, succeeds in going to Paris with the Duke of Richelieu. She dreams of theater but Richelieu gives her to Louis XV who installs her in Versailles). A brilliant destiny opens its door for her…until a tragic end)

I also already read another romantic suspense from Karen Rose…

So that´s my plan for January…

What books are YOU reading this month?

Happy Friday, reading, writing

Happy Friday: I fell in love with my kindle and other love stories…

Elodie

Welcome to Happy Friday!

Alison spoke about finding the silver lining and it stuck with me…I try to see the positive in life, in people, in little things and while I have been called “sunshine” at work (yes I’m talking to you lovely co-workers), it is not always easy to do so and I do sometimes fail miserably. And that’s where Happy Friday comes in. On most Fridays, from now on I will share some writing/reading/blogging stories that made me smile. Today’s special: love stories. Oh and I’d love to hear in the comments what made YOU happy this week!

My fingertips touched its screen and I knew it was right

Do you remember when I wondered if I should get a kindle? I blogged about it, I asked Twitter about it…Hubby kept on telling me that I should (I think the amount of books in our apartment may have play a role) I decided to get one and guess what? I am in love with it! It’s small, it’s light (a definite plus during my commute), it can hold thousands of books. I am also not the definition of patience…Being able to get a book in a matter of seconds? *happy dance*. I will not give up on paperbacks and hardcovers, I love them dearly but the kindle has now a place in my heart too…

My heart melted a litte: Kreative Award!!! 🙂

Yesterday, I just received the Kreative Blogger Award from Jenny 🙂 I am still so happy about this. Thank you again! I also shared 10 things you might not have known about me and passed on the award to 6 wonderful bloggers.

You had me at hello: Divergent & Catching Jordan

 This book really blew me away and it was hard to catch my breath after reading it. The first words that came to my mind were “WOW” and “AMAZING”. After awhile, I was able to put into more words the magic it created for me and the main reason lays in the raw human emotions Veronica instilled throughout the novel. I felt with the characters, they were close to me as if I could touch them…Cannot wait for the sequel (my full review and summary on Goodreads)

You know the happy feelings you sometimes get after meeting somebody for the first time? Before you start overanalyzing every little word and gestures? Well that’s how I felt about Catching Jordan: the happy butterflies. I never played football, don’t really understand it (and yes I still watched the Superbowl while I lived in the US :-)) However, I was tall in junior high and high school until boys started to get their growth spurt. I reached 5’10 quite fast and maybe I identified with Jordan for that reason or maybe it was just that I enjoyed the interaction she had with the football team or maybe because I developed a crush on Henri and Carter…Seriously, Carter is awesome! (summary and my full-fledged review on  Goodreads)

Bonus smiles:

  • ChangeWriteNow update: I am proud to be the team captain of the wonderful International Women of Mystery, who are great motivators…The first week is almost up, it overall went quite well (apart from some water stories :-))
  • WIP update: A new twist appeared out of nowhere and I reached 54k 🙂 YAY!
  • Upcoming blogfest I will be taking part of: In February, Oasis for YA is organizing That’s YAmore Blogfest 🙂
  • All the comments on my blog!: really it made my week I’ll be replying to each and every one of them over the week-end but in the mean time, feel yourself hugged (if you don’t like hugs a handshake is on its way)

Have a wonderful week-end everybody! I’ll be back on Monday with my To Be Read pile of January 🙂 But before you go, I’d love to hear: what made you happy this week?

personal, reading, writing

2012 – Goals, resolutions…and shooting for the stars

Elodie

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you, your family and loved ones. Wishing you happiness, love, success, health and wonderful moments to come in 2012…

I rolled into 2012 with hubby and his family, champagne, good food and lots of laughs…and as I checked my emails in the early hours, I saw that I won a contest! Yay 🙂 I am going to receive a copy (autographed copy!!!) of Shatter me by Tahereh Mafi! Thank you so much Beth!!!! It has been on my TBR pile and I´m so excited about this…

I like the fresh start feeling of a New Year, not the “everything-is-erased-and-I-am-a-new-person” but “I-learned-a-lot-from-you-2011-and-I-am-ready-for-some-changes-in-2012″…On top of learning from the past, one should also never forget to reach for the stars and to dream. So here are my 2012 goals and resolutions!

Writing-related

  • Finish the first draft of my WIP
  • Edit it and make it ready for submission
  • Query said-WIP and find wonderful agent who had desired my manuscript without knowing it, who falls helplessly in love with it and helps me to take it to yet another level…Wonderful agent then sells it to great publishing house and I become part of the class of 2014.
  • Start working on my second novel
  • Establish regular contact with the wonderful people I might swap manuscripts with in the future 🙂 (yes Tarah, Heather and Hannah, I´m talking about you…:-))

Reading-related

  • I am not setting myself a goal of books to read per year because I know I have my commuting time which allows me to read, a lot.
  • However, I will make better use of Goodreads.com and will write more reviews about the books I read (on there and on here).

Other

I joined the Change, Write, Now challenge. It´s not really about the competition, it´s more about the support we will give each other in reaching our goals. I will update you from times to times on how this is going for me 🙂 Part of these resolutions concern:

  • Stepping away from the computer and my cell phone…from times to times…
  • Spend more quality time with hubby (he also says to be nicer to him but it´s wishful thinking cos I´m already super lovely  :-))
  • Become more organized so that I can give myself the gift of time
  • Cut down on some bad habits and pick up some good ones (including working out more often)

In 2012, I will also continue to update my blog regularly and I look forward to “seeing” you on the blogosphere or on Twitter 🙂 because you are awesome! Cheers to you!

Did you set yourself some goals for 2012?