Of Futures with Books

The last post for my book blog has finally come; I can  feel the tears welling up.  After 14 weeks of documenting life, it's all over
I had a lot of fun during this project, and am actually considering adding more posts to it as I keep up my extensive reading agenda. (so many books, so little time to make for them!)
However, this project allowed me to cross off a good deal of books from my four reading lists (yes, i am a little obsessed with books)
I think my future will continue to contain books, no matter how much technology is out there. (I just hope that our society doesn't become like Fahrenheit 451...)

I had several accomplishments during this project, though i was actually surprised that I was able to balance so many books with everything else I had to do
Here are the twenty books I read and my total times

The Shadow Project: Herbie Brennan
City of Ashes:- Cassandra Clare
Wonderstruck-Bryan Selznick
Eyes Like Stars -Lisa Mantchev
Perchance to Dream:- Lisa Mantchev
Oh My Gods:- Philip Freeman
The Secret Life of Bees:- Sue Monk Kidd
Mockingjay:- Suzanne Collins
Rakkety Tam:- Brian Jacques
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane:- Kate DiCamillo
Conspiracy 365 (6 books):- Gabrielle Lord
Catching Fire: Suzanne Collins
The Taming of the Shrew:- William Shakespeare
White Fang:-Jack London
The Two Towers-:  J.R.R Tolkien

Total time this week: 7 hours
Grand total time: 80 hours

(I had originally expected to read 7 books and get 36 hours... wow)

Thank you Mr. Strusz for coming up with this awesome project!!!

Of Reading Experiences

Well, the end of the book blog is quickly approaching (Sad)
But on a lighter note, this week's theme is to describe your history with book before this reading project.
I have sort of alway loved books, especially in grade school. I would often stay in for recess (and then get in trouble) so that I could read.  At one point in eighth grade, I was reading eleven books at once; and, yes, that is possible (don't ask me how, but it's possible.)
In high school, the book reading slowed because of other commitments, but the love of reading remained.  At this point, I have four different reading lists to get through and will probably be adding more books in the future.
I'm actually very thankful for this book blog because it gave me more reason to read and it also allowed me to check off a good number of books from my lists (Thank you, Mr.Strusz!)


Total time this week:6 hrs
Total for project:73 hrs
Books read: 20

Of Making Inferences... Very Late Inferences

Well, I was this close to having my first oops week (Hurray for the little voice in the back in my head!)
I was actually asleep a few minutes before I wrote this so my inferences may not be that great.
Anyway, this week's topic is to make two inferences about your book. I am three chapters away from finishing City of Ashes, which is a very hard book to put down. I would recommend the series for reading

My first inference is about the character Valentine. He is a psychotic Shadowhunter who wishes to cleanse the world of evil by killing Downworlders (just the kind of guy you'd want for a dad, right? Poor Clary and Jace.) Anyway, what I already know is that Valentine is very evil and cunning and what the book tells me is that he has little chance of being stopped. Therefore, I infer that Valentine will probably succeed in his endeavor, but then somehow be defeated anyway (like I said, I'm not in the best shape for making good inferences.)

my second inference is about The Inquisitor.  The Inquisitor is a woman who is called in when the Clave (the main association of Shadowhunters needs something investigated.  What I already know id that she is very mean and non-understanding. What the book tells me is that she blames Jace Wayland for the death of her son at the hands of Valentine (See, I told you he was evil)  What I infer is that the Inquisitor is jealous that Valentine was allowed to keep his son while hers was killed and is incapable of pushing off old grudges.

Total time this week: 5 hours
Total time for project: 67 hrs

Of Movies and Celebrity Casts

Okay, VERY excited about this post!

I'm supposed to compile a celebrity cast that would be used if the book I was reading were to be made into a movie.  I just started City of Ashes and i'm only one chapter in so far. However, I still remeber characters from the book before it (City of Bones) so I'll just use the characters from that book. Enjoy

Clarissa 'Clary' Fray- The main protagonist in City of Bones.
Actress: Bonnie Wright

Simon Lewis- Clary's best friend
Actor: Tyler Posey

Jace Wayland- A shadow hunter and love interest of Clary.

Actor: Jamie Campell Bower

Isabelle Lightwood- Jace's adopted sister; a shadow hunter.
Actress:  Danielle Panabaker

Alec Lightwood- Jace's adopted brother; a shadow hunter.

Actor: Andy Garfield

Hodge Starkweather- The tutor of Jace and the Lightwoods; a former Shadowhunter.

Actor: Hugh Grant

Magnus Bane- The 367 year-old, bisexual High Warlock of Brooklyn.
Actor: Wes Bentley (now try to imagine him with really wild hair...with glitter in it)

Valentine Morgenstern- A particulary evil Shadowhunter who is also Clary's father.

Actor: Richard Armitage (He's supposed to have light blonde hair , but I felt that the face was really good. Armitage just has this bad guy look to him.)

Lucian 'Luke' Graymark- Clary's uncle. He is a werewolf.

Actor: Sam Worthington

Total time this week: 2 hours

Total time for project: 62 hours

Of Spring Break Trips and Crappy Books

This weekend was spring break, which also brought with it the Washington D.C trip.  While the trip was awesome, the reading material was less than satisfactory. Okay, I'll be straight forward: it sucked.
I spent (or rather wasted) a couple of driving hours reading Mockingjay, the final book of the  Hunger Games series.  Now, the book wasn't all bad, the first part was pretty good, and a few selected tidbits through out, but over all, I was not impressed.  When I finished it, I literally closed the cover and said 'That was crap.'

First of all, the plot line of this book felt very rushed, like the author was trying to rush the story to an ending; this made it hard to follow what was happening to the characters.A lot of it was on Katniss as well.  She changed personality way too much during this book. Either she could handle something, or she couldn't.  Also, far too many good characters were killed off. One of my favorites had a few sentances of death, and then he was gone. Really?  For a character like him I think he could have gone alot more ceremoniously than that.

Total time read: 10 hrs
Total books read: 17
Total time for project: 60

Of Great Expectations

Okay, this one's gonna be a quickie because I need to sleep.
The wonder full theme for this week is to talk about the expectations you had of your book and if said book is in fact keeping up with those expectations
I just finished reading The Secret Life of Bees (which is a very good book, by the way)  and I have to say that it certainly lived up to my expectations. I actually watched the movie last year, so I had an idea of the storyline, but the book was even better.  Kudos to Sue Monk Kidd for a very good book!

I will be starting Mockingjay tomorrow, so hopefully that goes well..

Total time read this week: 7
Total time for project: 50
Books read: 16

Of Agonizing Antagonists

    This week's glorious topic is antagonists.  For any who don't know, the antagonist is essentially the 'bad guy'of the story who works against the protagonist, or the 'good guy'.

I have to admit this was little tricky to write about.  The book I'm currently reading is called Oh My Gods, and is a collection of Greek and Roman myths told in modern wording.  Aside from all the violence, disturbing murders of ones children, and gods seducing mortals, it's pretty interesting. 

Unfortunately, because it's not all one story, there isn't just one antagonist.  Fortunately, I just finished reading the section about Troy, so it's a little easier. If I had to decide on one, I'd say the main antagonist in the story is Eris. 

Eris was the Greek goddess of chaos, and because of this, wasn't invited to the wedding of Thetis and Peleus because Zeus was afraid she would cause discord at the celebration. So, being very put off, Eris tossed a gold apple into the party inscribed with the words 'For the Fairest'.  It was this apple that caused a squabble between Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite, and ultimately started the Trojan War.

Total time this week: 4 Hrs
Total time for project: 43
Books read: 14

Of Plot Twisting

This week's post is all about plot twists. If you could make a plot twist to your book, what would it be?
I just finished reading Perchance to Dream, which is the sequel to Eyes Like Stars. 
The books center around Beatrice Shakespeare Smith (Bertie), a seventeen year old girl who lives at the Theatre Illuminata.
Through a roller coaster of events, Bertie attempts to find out who her parents are, and also deals with the troubling issue of two boys, both of which are vying for her attention. 
One of them, Nate, is a pirate from The Little Mermaid and is always there for her, while the other, Ariel, is a romantic air spirit from The Tempest. Nate is kidnapped by a sea goddess in the first book, after which Bertie leaves to rescue him.  By the end of Perchance to Dream, Bertie does succeed in rescuing him, but  not without difficulty.  The sea goddess tries to make her choose between Ariel and Nate (she must choose the one she loves most to escape and leave the other behind), but it is revealed that Bertie loves both boys equally.  Because the book was already full of plot twists to begin with, it was hard to find a good one, but i think the best one would be if Bertie had indeed picked one boy over the other.  I wonder if she would have eventually regretted it if it had happened, and how it would affect her quest to reunite her parents.
I guess I'll just have to wait until the last book to find out what happens for sure.  (Library, I need you to come through for me here!)

Total time this week: 5 Hrs
Total time for project: 39
Books read: 14

Concerning The News, Whether You Want to Hear it or Not.

Local Theater Headed for Change
This month was a time of heavy change at the world renowned Theatre Illuminata.
The theater, which is home to a wonderful cast of players, was thrown of it's usual tilt as it staged a new play by its new director, Beatrice Shakespeare Smith.  Miss Smith has been at the theater since she was a little girl, and according to inside sources has had a reputation for being rebellious.
"Sometimes I find it a wonder that she hasn't burnt the place to the ground," says the theater's stage manager.
Mrs. Edith, the Theatre's costume director, strikes a softer tone.
"She can be insensitive at times, but ithink she's capable of correcting it."
And Mrs. Edith's words certainly fulfilled themselves, as Smith lead a campain to repair the Complete Works of the Stage, a book that contains all of the plays used by the Theatre.  During her efforts, she was also preparing an Egyptian themed version of Hamlet, which was to make it's debut earlier this week.  However, patrons of the performance were treated not to the new production, but to a play telling of Smith's life story and how she came to be at the Theatre.  The performance was well recieved, and the theater gained many more patrons.  Shortly afterward, Smith announced that she and a small group of friends would be leaving the Theatre and taking their show on the road. 

Time read this week: 6 hrs
Total Time Read: 34 hrs
Total Books Read: 13

Of Characters You Never Wanted to Meet

Okay, the title is a bit misleading.  This week I need to think of five reasons why I would or wouldn't want to be firiends with the characters or author of my book.

I decided to take a break from White Fang and spent a half hour last night reading The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. Though the book was short, it is to the point and includes some very good characters as well.  I like Kate DiCamillo's books because the tend to be shorter, but at the same time, they are well written and teach a very important lesson.

The first character we meet is a china rabbit named Edward Tulane.  Edward is owned by a little girl named Abilene who treats him with the best care and love.  However, it is Abilene's grandmother who makes Edward realize that he has never really known love.  By the end of the book, I think I would like to be friends with Edward because he has gone through unimaginable things and has indeed been loved and cherished. I think it would be a good lesson to learn from him.

After Edward is lost by Abilene, he is discovered by an old fisherman, who brings him home to his wife, Nellie. While old, Nellie is a very loving and caring person. Though she has no grandchildren in the book, she finds something else to show affection affection to.  She gives Edward the name Susanna and makes dresses for him and treats him like a real child. It is she who first makes Edward  feel truly loved. I think Nellie would be a wonderful grandmother to have. She seems like the kind of person who would be there for you if you ever felt unwanted.  She might also bake you cookies.

One day, Nellie and Lawrence's daughter Lolly comes to visit.  Lolly is a loud, cold-hearted woman who wears too much make up and thinks her parents are crazy.  Just as Edward disliked Lolly, I did as well.  I wouldn't want to be friends with her at all.  She scorns her parents for showing affection to Edward and ultimately ends up throwing him in a garbage dump.  I don't think anyone would like Lolly as a friend.

Towards the end of the book, Edward winds up being used as a scarecrow in a field.  It is here that he meets an eight-year-old boy named Bryce.  Bryce takes Edward and brings him home to give to his little sister,Sarah Ruth, who is very sick.  Bryce's father is a drunkard who hardly ever comes home, leaving Bryce to look after Sarah Ruth on his own.  I look at Bryce as being the world's best big brother.  He looks after his sister, and when she dies and is taken away by their father, leaves with Edward and looks after him as well.  He is a very protective person.

Lastly, I would like to be friends with the author in general.  Kate DiCamillo seems like a very wise person, and someone you could learn alot from.  Her stories are well written, and give a colorful selection of characters to relate to. I would like to know where she gets the inspiration for her stories and how she makes them seem so real.

Total Time This Week: 4 hrs

Total Time For Project: 28 hrs

Books Read: 11

Theme 3: Of Songs and Soundtracks

The long awaited topic has finally arrived!  This week I need to come-up with a 4-song soundtrack for the book I'm reading.  In this case, it's a book i finished reading on Monday, but I had alot of fun coming up with songs and I like the ones I picked. (this post contains some spoilers, so beware)

I wanted to give the Hunger Games in general their own theme.  I think that Blow Me Away by Breaking Benjamin does a nice job of describing them.  During the games twenty-four tributes are pitted against each other in a fight to the death.  If you want to win you need to be smart and move quickly to outwit your opponents; only the strongest will survive...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nTwBF7dM7g

In the beginning of Catching Fire, Katniss and Peeta go on a Victory Tour in which they visit each of the twelve districts of Panem and the Capitol.  As part of this they must act as though they are still in love to hopefully discourage the seeds of rebellion that have been planted in some of the districts.  While Katniss doesn't seem to have true feelings for Peeta, she goes along with the act (partially because of a threat from President Snow)  However, Peeta still shows that he cares about Katniss throughout the book; particularly, comforting her during her nightmares. he also tries to encourage her.  This is one of my favorite songs and I think it somewhat relays Peeta's feelings toward Katniss
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFxxOO-WDc4

In the Hunger Games books, there is a large city in Panem known as the Capitol, which is the home of President Snow and the rest of the socialites of  the country.  The song I picked was a description of  society in the Capitol.  People in the Capitol are obsessed whith the latest fashions and being beautiful, often altering their bodies to be so.  The people there are very high up in status, but even though they may seem to have everything, it must be difficult to always keep up that image.
(This is a link to the lyrics. I don't recommend listening to the song unless you enjoy screamo music, though there are a few parts where there's someone singing normally)
http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/t/the_devil_wears_prada/hey_john_whats_your_name_again.html

At the end of Catching Fire, Katniss is rescued from the games by a hovercraft.  She wakes up in a hospital bed and first assumes that she has been captured by the Gamemakers.  She takes a syringe and goes off to find whoever captured her and possibly kill them.  Instead, she finds Haymitch, Finnick, Gale, and Plutarch Heavnsbee, the head Gamemaker, and learns that they were planning to sabotage the games from the beginning. Unfortunately, Peeta was captured by the Capitol before they could rescue him as well.  Gale also informs Katniss that District 12 has been bombed by the Capitol and destroyed.  I felt that this song captured a feeling of helplessness and sadness, but also gave a glimmer of hope in the fact that there is still a way to over come the things that have happened.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_ZOQOK1nq8

(I was tempted to include 'I'm Sexy and I Know it' and put it as Finnick Odair's theme, but I decided not to, even though one of my friends would have gotten a kick out of it... you know who you are) 


Total Time This Week: 13 hrs 20 min
Total Time For Whole project: 23 hrs 50 min
Books Read: 9 (six of these were only 185 pages each)

Theme 2: Of Thinking Questions

This week's theme is to think of and answer three questions that you would ask someone if you were giving a quiz the book you are reading.  I have to admit, this was a tough theme to write for.  I eventually came up with the following.

What do you think the theme of Rakkety Tam is supposed to be?

 In my opinion, the theme is Good vs. Bad. In fact, this is pretty much the basic structure of all the Redwall books.  To start off with in this story you have Tam and Doogy, free squirrels who have pledged loyalty to a self-proclaimed king and then end up imprisoned for questioning his controversial rule.  While this is going on, enter Gulo, who steals a very important banner and kills many of the other squirrels.  Tam and Doogy are promised their freedom if they find and return the banner. They eventually do this and remove the king from.  Throughout the book, we see others besides Tam and Doogy -hares and woodlanders- who are fighting against Gulo to avenge friends and rid their homeland from this army that has attacked them.  As with most Redwall stories, though there may be losses and hardships, good still manages to triumph over evil.

What humor did you find in the book?
Well, Rakkety Tam  is a rather serious book about a warrior regaining his honor, but as with all Redwall stories, there was still humor to be found.  One thing in particular that I found to be very funny was the Walking Stone.  This object is what Gulo is looking for, as it will give him full authority in his home kingdom.  But of course, his brother steals it and hides it.  When I read the book I figured that the stone was just that, a stone; but, that would be too ordinary. You can't use an actual stone for the Walking stone, no, you need some thing better...like a turtle! Yes, Brian Jacques went and pulled a fast one on his unsuspecting readers. It actually makes sense to use a turtle, but the way it just popped up out of the blue made me laugh . It also begs a question: What did this poor turtle do that it ended up in a snowy kingdom as a power symbol for a group of anthropophagic wolverines?

If you had to make up a negative ending for this book, what would it be and why?
 Given that all of the Redwall stories end with some sort of happy/ good-beats-evil/ woodlanders-outwit-stupid-vermin- kind of ending, this should be fun.  First of all, Gulo would ultimately win in the end, that's all there is to it.  The Walking Stone  would go back to it's miserable life as a symbol of power (Lord, help that poor turtle.) Tam would never regain his freedom as a warrior and die some horribly painful death that I won't go into detail about.   As for Doogy, Gulo would actually carry out his threat at the end of the book and burn him at the stake.  Redwall Abbey, being that it's inhabitance are either dead or enslaved, would be taken over by albino vermin and completely trashed.  I think that's everything... no, wait, its not. To finish it all off, Yoofus the volethief would get away with stealing the sword of Martin the Warrior. Then he'd probobly go and lose it someway or another and Redwall stories would forever lose their meaning.


Total Time Read: 11 hours, 30 minutes

Theme 1: Of Analyzing Cover Art

This week's theme is Cover Art.  Why was it chosen? What does it show? What is its significance to the book? And so on.

Since I am currently reading two books, I'll keep it simple and analyze my favorite.



This is the cover art for Rakkety Tam.  I think the artwork does a very good job at giving you a little prelude to the story without giving anything away.  It introduces you to two of the main characters, keeping the bad one in shadow and showing the good as a hero.  It also includes the sword of Martin the Warrior, which is an improtant prop in all of the Redwall tales.  In all, I think the picture leaves you with a want to open the book. Will the brave squirrel triumph over his mysterious enemy?  You'll have to read to find out.

Total Time Read: 5 hours

Of Bones, Towers, and Scots

Today is the official start of the independant reading challenge, and I am as excited as ever!

Books read from today are: City of Bones (I was on the last two chapters), The Two Towers, and Rakkety Tam .

I started The Two Towers two days ago, and I am about a quarter of the way through.  The Ents just had their Entmoot, and I'm pretty sure we'll be seeing Gandalf again in the next chapter (Its about time! He's been AWOL since the middle of the last book!)

And we mustn't forget Rakkety Tam.  This awesome book follows the adventures of Tam, a Scottish squirrel who apparently enjoys making rackets, and his friend Doogy, who is also Scottish (he wears a skirt!) while they attempt to find Gulo the Savage, a wolverine who is marching accross Mossflower with an army of albino vermin
(Ironic little fact, Gulo actually IS anthropophagic... so my first post would be void in his case)

Keep following for more interesting stuff.
Total Time Read: 1 hr. 20 min.

Lackadaisy: How to nicely insult someone

 You have stumbled onto the musings of Margarita.  Unlike the title of my blog (which is just an archaic way to call someone a slacker) I intend to be anything but lazy when it come to reading books. 
This is my reading blog.  My  goals are to get through seven or eight books,  read more than 25 hours  and hopefully read more than Mr. Strusz (What better goal is there than that, right?)
    My books of choice cover a wide range of topics, from stagecraft, to Australian fugitives, to anthropomorphic animals (not to be confused with anthropophagic, which is used to describe a cannibalistic person...we don't want to make that mistake...)
 Let the crazed reading race begin!