photo links

i added photos of us on the sidebar for the time being. they still need to be more bookie, but wanted to get a feel of how it would look. it's also nice because if you click on the photo it will open up our individual blogs.

i will add lauren and mike (and anyone else who formally would like to participate - let me know via comment!) when i can get a good picture of each of them. mike doesn't keep normal pics of himself on facebook apparently...in fact, if you go solely by the photos he chooses to use to portray himself he looks like this:




anyway. let me know what you think.

Facelift

I agree with Miri. We got distracted this summer from sharing our happy reading times. In an effort to revitalize our efforts I have finally picked a layout for the blog. I really think this one is it. I may mess with the colors, but the widgets and the ability to quickly post something new are back again and I am a happy camper - give me your input via poll answer.

I will also be adding stuff on the side bar again - book lists, more author blogs (pass them along in the comments if you have the links!), photos, etc. I thought it might be fun to add photos of ourselves doing something bookish (ie: reading) to put with our names and individual blogs. So, I will be bugging you about this...send me a photo! I'll take one soon to get things started.

In the meantime, if you take one, email it to me at lilifin.dilifsi (at) gmail (dot) com and I will add it quick like a bunny.

I think we need to pick a book and a date to discuss. We can make it in a month (end of September) or in two months - depending on everyone's schedule with school and work. I'm totally flexible. OR we can finish reading whatever we are working on at the moment and each discuss them individually but at the same time (if that makes sense). Maybe Sunday afternoon/evenings? Maybe Tuesday nights? Obviously we will have to work around schedules again, but we can all blog or even instant message our discussions.

If we want to get really into things (now that Megan has a Mac) those of us with cameras can video chat (I think skype and msn have free services) a discussion. Miri, do you have a camera/mic on your computer? If not, then we'll obviously think of something else.

Anyway, these are my ideas. I'm currently reading The Book Thief, which I know Megan and Miri have both read.

Oh, my other idea is to get someone new invited - but we can try for that after our first trial run.

Alright, give me some input.

I submit that we do not post on here enough.

Liz, Mike's sister, started a book club here that I've really enjoyed going to. It was a little awkward at first because basically we'd go in a circle, everyone would tell about their book, and then we'd be done; but now we all talk about our books and other books that we're interested in, and it's really fun. I've always wanted to be part of a group like that, but I like it even more when it's this particular group because I know you girls so much better.

So... can we try and make this blog more involved/post more often? It would help us keep in contact even better and I would really like it. Love you :)

The Dark Side of Camelot

I've been reading this for the last couple weeks alongside my other book. I found it randomly at Borders and picked it up because it looked interesting, and then I went and got it at the Orem library so I could keep reading it. It's a book about the Kennedy family and essentially how they were all terrible people, which I never knew. Anyway it's good, you should check it out.

feedback please

I'm testing new layouts thanks to Miri and Megan but I didn't want to use my regular blog to do it. So this is where our little book blog gets to be a guinea pig.

What do you guys think? Miri, how do you deal with not having the "new post" and "customize" options in the upper right hand corner of the blog? I think that's the only thing I don't like. That and it got rid of my widgets. I'll have to organize that with new stuff soon.

The Wheel of Time

So you might remember when I read The Eye of the World a while ago. I was mildly surprised at my response to it; not love, but definitely not hate. I liked it, and thought I probably wanted to read the second one, but I found myself dragging my feet and decided I wouldn't force myself. Eventually, though, I did read The Great Hunt, and as I was reading that one I discovered that I was really growing to like the series. I'm now on book four, The Shadow Rising, which follows The Dragon Reborn, and I am really into the series. So if you're interested, I think I'd recommend them. However, a couple things to consider before you start.
1) There are eleven books, with the twelfth (allegedly) on the way. These are not small books. The Shadow Rising is the biggest one so far, and it's over 1000 pages, but all the others are at least 500. I made no commitments to the entire series when I started, and I'm still not entirely sure I can summon the courage for the remaining seven, but thus far I have been unable to stop myself in the middle of it. This is probably due to my weird perfectionism that won't allow me to leave something in the middle even if I want to. I do like the books, though, so that's a part of it too. I'm into the story. I'm just not excited about those ones in the middle of the series that have such a reputation for hundreds of pages where nothing happens. Ugh.
2) Robert Jordan is a really annoying writer, for more than one reason. First is that he doesn't appear to understand/care about the rules of letter sounds in the English language. He makes up names all the time that don't sound anything like what they look like they should sound like (there's a pronunciation guide in the back), and it's frustrating to me. Second is that he writes really irritating characters. The girls start off okay, but as the series goes on they start pining after some of the male characters and it just gets dumb. Also the male characters are SO annoying in that they will never accept anything that's happening. Also Robert Jordan's use of slangy-type language is soooo silly, and even four books into the series I still cringe every time.
However. That said, I am still reading the series, and liking it a lot. Every now and then I have to rant to Mike about the latest thing that's annoying the crap out of me, but thus far the books are interesting enough to keep me reading. If you're looking for something fun and frivolous to occupy your time (and if you have a lot of time that you would like occupied), go ahead. They're fun.

Author Websites - YA Lit

Meg Cabot - She even has YouTube clips that are random and funny.

Shannon Hale - Love her books. Love her blog.

The YA YA YAs - because no one blogs like YA librarians.

Stephenie Meyer - how can we forget good ol' Steph? we can't. why can't we? because she gave us Edward Cullen and we'll be eternally grateful...no matter how frustrating Bella gets.

The Truth about Forever

Sarah Dessen is fast becoming one of my favorite authors. Yes, the main characters suffer from what Lauren finds to be quite annoying - the inability and/or unwillingness to TALK to the people closest to them, but Dessen writes this out in a much more realistic way. This isn't a teenage girl who doesn't want to talk to her father about her teenage vampire boyfriend or the blood-thirsty monsters that are currently tracking her down - this is a girl who watched her father die and subsequently shut down emotionally and focused on anything that didn't remind her of her dad. Of course you would have trouble talking out those things. So it's not nearly as frustrating - it's "tragical" (which just happens to be one of my new favorite words thanks to this book). You can relate to the main character, Macy, because everyone has lost someone or something in their life and almost everyone has gone through a period of not talking about how that made them feel. It's hard and it's terrible and dealing with it is almost as bad as actually experiencing it.

Dessen let's Macy work through all of her grief in a very normal and realistic way - nothing unbelievable or extraordinary happens. It's summer, Macy's boyfriend leaves and she is stuck at a boring job with people she hates. She happens to find another job with nicer people who don't know about her situation and loves being anonymous and untroubled by what happened. Then they find out and end up being amazing people, supportive and loving.

My favorite of all is Wes (of course this is the guy she falls in love with because there is always a guy to fall in love with in books). He's quiet and sweet and artistic...I'm a sucker for those artistic types. He is the first one to really just let Macy say what she needs to say and the first one Macy will say those things to. He's one of the most perfect male characters I have read...flawed but better for it, attractive but unaware, kind and caring but protective and not overbearing.

I was surprised at how much I liked "Just Listen" and happy to find that I liked "The Truth about Forever" even more. I will definitely be reading the rest of her books in the near future.

The Book Theif (again)

I just finished this book and it is MARVELOUS. I absolutley adored it. It's sad but sometimes funny and terribly hopeful and wonderful. The main characters are so amazing, and the way that it's written is really kind of unique very powerful. Highly recommended.
Next up for me: The Road (finally). So far it's good.

The Book Thief

It sounds like we are all trying to read The Book Thief - I've been stalking a copy at the library as well. I will try to come up with a list for us to choose from.