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Reading List of the Month May 26, 2012

Juggling!

So I have this slight problem with reading one book at a time. I’m aware I’m not the only one. But this has gotten really bad. If anyone has noticed, I’ve been ‘reading’ Heist Society and Madame Tussade for a few weeks now. At least. But I am also now allegedly reading Matched and The Goddess Test. Am I reading all of these books right now? Yes. And no. I have started all of these books. I had to stop reading the first two due to exams, but I have one more exam left and started reading the last two yesterday. Which will I finish first? Probably The Goddess Test as it appears to be the thinnest, and I’ve spent mosts of my day reading it already, instead of revising.

Anyway, I’ll let you know who one the race. And be honest. Have you ever read more than one book at a time and what do you think the reason is for this? Are you doing it right now? If so, please comment and tell me what you’re reading 🙂

Action May 26, 2012

COMING SOON

Artemis Fowl & The Last Guardian

To be Published 10th of July 2012

Seemingly nothing in this world daunts the young criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl. In the fairy world, however, there is a small thing that has gotten under his skin on more than one occasion: Opal Koboi. In The Last Guardian, the evil pixie is wreaking havoc yet again. This time his arch rival has reanimated dead fairy warriors who were buried in the grounds of Fowl Manor. Their spirits have possessed Artemis’s little brothers, making his siblings even more annoying than usual. The warriors don’t seem to realize that the battle they were fighting when they died is long over. Artemis has until sunrise to get the spirits to vacate his brothers and go back into the earth where they belong. Can he count on a certain LEPrecon fairy to join him in what could well be his last stand?

US Cover

UK Cover

My Verdict: Well I myself have not read the previous book as I felt that the series should have ended a long time ago. Things got way too confusing after the time travelling business but I won’t stop fans from giving it a go. The US cover is stunning but it takes away a lot of the secrecy I know Arty likes. He would never reveal himself like that! But boy does he look good. As for the UK cover? Meh. Sorely disappointed. I hope Colfer ends this series with a big bang!

advice May 24, 2012

Tackling Writer’s Block

All too often, writer’s get stuck when writing. Sometimes it’s easy to overcome, other times it’s much trickier. When you can write about almost anything you want, you would think that the possibilities are endless. Unfortunately, it is the writer who determines how far they can go. So what do I do to overcome writer’s block?

I give it a break. This can be helpful if you’ve been writing for a long time and if you take some time off, you may feel a lot more able when you come back to it. This is not helpful when you have a deadline to make, however.
I write from another character’s perspective. Exploring how other character’s feel about events can open up doorways into a process of thinking that you might not have otherwise thought of. I would like to warn you not to get too carried away though.
Write another part of your story. Who says you have to write everything in chapter order? Right now I’ve written chapter 9 without yet finishing chapters 7-8. Heck, I’ve written chapter 14, but now most of the chapters between that! When you are the writer, you ar win control. Well, most of the time. Your characters may feel that it is up to them to lead you in the write direction.
Talk to your characters. I know this may seem a little crazy, but I read somewhere that Stephen King did this. I’m not entirely true if it’s accurate but I gave it a shot, when I was alone, thankfully. It seemed to work for me. Pretending that your characters a real can help you empathise with them. (ah! Just nearly got struck by Stefan, who’s insisting he’s real!)
I read my chapters out loud to myself. I find that it’s like when I compose and playback sections of the song to myself. I hum a tune and see if it works with what I’ve previously composed. The same can be said for writing. Reading it out loud brings the story to life in a way, keeping it in your head doesn’t. Plus it helps if you’re as egotistic as me. I’m in love with my own voice. You may disagree with the quality of it if I ever get my audio produced.

Well that’s all I can think of for now. Sorry, if it doesn’t help. I’m happy for you if it does.

Don’t let writer’s block tackle you, tackle IT!

Mufunde, out
x

Coming Soon May 24, 2012

Kiersten White Competition

So I’ve just entered a competition being ran by Kiersten White for the ARC to her upcoming novel, Endlessly, the finale to her Paranormalcy trilogy! This is my entry for the biggest disappointment if I were to meet a supernatural:

Finally got myself a genie but he’s so stingy he won’t give me all of my three wishes. How is one wish enough? He’s not even anywhere near as cheerful as the one from Aladin.

Don’t miss the finale! TWO more months!

Action May 24, 2012

Saying Goodbye is Never Easy

Alex Rider Series: Ended with Scorpia Rising

I loved Alex. He was like a young James Bond, only cooler and funnier. He went through a lot and this is obvious form the way the series evolved. When he was captured in the earlier books, he would always banter with the villains. Later though, it was far too serious for this and there was a much darker tone. The threats became much more sever. In the first book, he was threatened to have his face carved. In Ark Angel, he nearly faced having a finger chopped off. In Snakehead, he nearly had his organs removed. Very severe. But through it all, Alex has persevered and I very much like his character development.

Favourite villain: Yassen Gregorovich (first appearance: Stormbreaker)
Favourite vialliness: Julia Rothman (first appearance: Scorpia)
Favourite mission: Skeleton Key

Wicked Lovely Series: Ended with Darkest Mercy

I’ve blogged about the Wicked Lovely series before, but basically it is about the different faerie courts. This includes the Summer Court (mostly featured in book #1 and #3), the Dark Court (mostly featured in book #2 and book #4), the High Court (mostly featured in book #3) and the Winter Court.
What is unique about this series is that there is an ever changing multiple narrative throughout the series. This series will entice and grip you. Don’t forget to read Faery Tales & Nightmares, the companion novella!

Favourite character: Irial, King of the Dark court
Favourite couple: I’m caught between Leslie & Niall, and Aislinn & Seth.
Favourite book: Ink Exchange

Missing/ 1-800-Where-R-U-? Series: Ended with Missing You

Jess Mastriani is your typical 16 year old girl with anger management problems. Things take a turn into weird lane when she gets struck by lightning and gains powers to locate missing people through her dreams. Thinking that her new ability is a gift, she begins making anonymous calls to help the police find missing people, but then the FBI try to find her. Then she accidentally finds someone who didn’t want to be found. (Synopsis for the first book, When Lightning Strikes)
And of course there has to be some romance, so queue Rob Wilkins, bad boy extraordinaire. They met in detention! He helps her out through all the madness. But what with him being on parol, he doesn’t think that the two of them can be together. 🙁 Sad times.
This series is exhilarating and thrilling. With action, drama and romance all wrapped in one.

Favourite book: Sanctuary
Strange fact: The protagonist, Jess, and I BOTH play the flute!

How appropriate that the last book is called ‘Missing You’! I miss you too Jess!!!

The Mediator Series: Ended with Twilight/ Heaven Sent (UK title)

Suze Simon is your usual ghost buster extraordinaire! So she’s basically not a typical 16 year old. When her mother remarries and moves them to sunny California, she has a lot of adapting to do, what with her new school run by nuns! Then there’s the hot ghost who’s been dead for over a 100 years living in her bedroom. I don’t know what she had to complain about. This six book series was engaging, and thrilling. There was romance and just a hint of horror (come on! I scare easily!). Read it before you’re undead!

Creepiest character: Paul Slater
Favourite villain ghost: Jesse’s ex

The Hunger Games: Ended with Mockingjay

Oh, I’m sure there isn’t a single self respecting teenager alive (living in America and most countries in Europe, at least) who doesn’t know about the amazing Hunger Games Trilogy.

Favourite Tribute: Apart from the protagonists it would have to be Finnick. Sexy!

The Kane Chronicles: Ended with The Serpent’s Shadow

So Rick Riordan has ditched his toga for a crook and flail. In this amazing new-ish series (well, the last book was out May 1st 2012), brother and sister Carter and Sadie Kane find out that they are descendants of two great pharaohs. And that they are magicians! You’d think that would be awesome if not for the ancient gods that their father accidentally unleashed on the world. And now if they don’t stop Set, the evil god of Chaos, it’ll be the end of the world- no pressure! ( my synopsis for book #1, The Red Pyramid)
This series captured much of the same humour that made The Percy Jackson series so amazing. This one has two equally engaging narrators and it’s filled with adventures you’ll love to relive.

Favourite god: Bes (Anubis came REALLY close)

Favourite goddess: Bast

Favourite Carter quote: “Noble” I agreed. “That’s the first word that comes to mind when I think of pigeons”- The Serpent’s Shadow

Favourite Sadie quote:

Favourtie Horus quote-
Carter: “She’s almost as annoying as you”
Horus: “Impossible! No one bests Horus!”- The Red Pyramid

Favourite Ra quote: “I like Zebras… Weasels are sick”

Most detested villian: Setne

WELL, THAT’S ALL OF THEM. FAIR THEE WELL!

*sobs

Art May 19, 2012

More Art to Celebrate :D

Well, I couldn’t help notice that a lot of people viewed the art that had featured on my blog last time, so here is some more:

THE HUNGER GAMES SUZANNE COLLINS

Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark by plank

Gale, Katniss and Peeta by daekazu

THE KANE CHRONICLES BY RICK RIORDAN

Carter Kane by CelticBotan

Sadie Kane by bibbidy-boo

THE MEDIATOR SERIES BY MEG CABOT

Suze and Jesse by YukoRabbit

Jesse and Suze by moonynia

MAXIMUM RIDE SERIES BY JAMES PATTERSON (I need to get round to reading this!)

Max by starwarsgirl345

The ‘flock’ by sundang

THE HEROES OF OLYMPUS BY RICK RIORDAN

I’m not sure who the official artist is, but these illustrations were compiled together by falconfliesalone

Left to right: Hazel Piper Jason Frank Percy. And Leo sitting down. By magnetic-porcupine

Action May 16, 2012

The Kane Chronicles: The Serpent’s Shadow

Goodbye! For now!

Best Quote: MANY! But I don’t want to give too much away.

Shocking Resolution (No spoiler): The resolution to the love triangle between Walt, Sadie and Anubis.
Favourite Appearance: Neith, goddess of hunting and weaving
Favourite Magician: Apart from the Kanes (and Walt is too easy), it has to be Felix. He is soo cute! Got to love him and his penguins.
Useless information I have gained: The names and purpose of the five parts of the soul, as dictated by Egyptian Mythology.

This is the grand finale to the epic trilogy that is The Kane Chronicles. It does not disappoint as Riordan has included a lot of action, drama, and of course, CHAOS! Once again, Carter and Sadie both narrate- and interrupt each other from time to time. They do a bit of travelling, although I would have to say that the travel in the other books was a bit more extensive. The travelling in this novel is mostly through the Duat rather that actual places that we know of, such as how they travelled to Russia in the previous novel.

Relax because Anubis does indeed make an appearance, thank the gods. I very much like him but Riordan does not focus very much on his character development, possibly because this is not a YA Romance novel. I guess we must all just leave the majority of his character to our imaginations… Similarly, Zia Rashid, Carter’s crush, is also here. I really like her and you will be happy with their ending, although there is a bit of an awkward chapter here. Read it and then you will understand.

At the centre of this novel is the struggle between good and evil- Ma’at and Isfet. I’m not a fan of Apophis, but I really linked Kronos from the Percy Jackson series. I’m not sure why. He was incredibly cruel and sadistic. Maybe more so than Apophis. This is rather typical of children’s novels but I like how sometimes the right choice does not seem obvious. Although the prophecy is not as clear as that of Percy Jackson, one thing is made clear from the beginning- Apophis will swallow Ra. So technically it’s not like I was giving you a spoiler.

I rather liked the opening to this novel, although I think it kind of gave away too much. Having said that, there is no way that they would have recorded their account of how they saved the world if they had not been there to do so. Therefore, it was already clear that Apophis failed but the novel is not so much about ‘Will the world fall?’ but the journey of how they saved the world.

My only actual criticism is that Riordan did not reveal very much about quite a few of the supporting characters. Jaz was in ‘The Throne of Fire’, making her seem fairly important but she did not do very much in ‘The Serpent’s Shadow’. Similarly, I was left wondering which god will Felix follow the path of?

I had expected the problem that arose from saving the world all along, what with the need for balance. This may not make sense right now unless you have read this book, so I advise that you do so immediately. This is me being pushy (haha!). Riordan also implies that whilst this may be the end of the series, you may be seeing more of the magicians in the future. I can’t wait!

I GIVE IT A FIVE STAR RATING!!!

Hello May 7, 2012

Avengers Assemble

Hello, many of you may already know about The Avengers (or ‘The Avengers Assemble’, as they have renamed it for the UK audience thanks to Johanna Lumley). I’d been meaning to watch it a long time ago but my cousin hadn’t been free. After finally getting round to watching it today, I am thoroughly pleased with how it turned out. I won’t give any spoilers out but you should just know that it was epic.

For those of you who do not know about the Avengers, you really need to find out. You shame yourself. The Avengers is comprised of Thor, Hulk, Captain America, Iron Man, The Black Widow and Hawkeye.

To me, there was a resemblance to Transformers, what with the whole ‘End of the World’ scenario and giant machines. But it was a lot funnier, and just generally cooler. I am a Transformers fan though. Oh, and the female character in this one, The Black Widow- she was NOT just there to be pretty. I congratulate Scarlett Johansson.

My favourite Avenger in this one was probably either Hulk or Iron Man. Now that’s saying a lot because I did not particularly like the HULK movies, but Mark Ruffalo really brought out something special here.

There is a lot of banter between the heroes here, and quite a few fights between them. I would not suggest leaving this viewing for a bathroom break so do what I did and go before the viewing. And PRE-BOOK seats!!! ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE SEEING IT IN THE WEEKEND. And STAY until the VERY end after ALL of the credits. Can’t wait until the sequel.

Mufunde, out

Coming Soon April 29, 2012

The Lost Prince Book Cover Reveal

Saying goodbye to Meghan was sad but there is going to be a spin-off series! With Ethan Chase!

There is not a lot I can tell you about this new series except that it will be called Call of the Forgotten. I will update when I get news, but for now please appreciate Ethan’s hotness.

Please excuse me whilst I wipe my drool.

Faeries April 28, 2012

Faery Tales & Nightmares by Melissa Marr

This is an anthology book, consisting of short stories from Melissa Marr’s Wicked Lovely series, and a number of original ones too.

Tale of Content

“Where Nightmares Walk”
“Winter’s Kiss” (Fairy Tales)
“Transition” (Vampires)
“Love Struck” (Selchies)
“Stopping Time” (WL World)
“Old Habits” (WL World)
“The Art of Waiting”
“Flesh for Comfort”
“The Sleeping Girl and the Sumer King” (WL World-ish, it started the series)
“Cotton Candy Skies” (WL World)
“Unexpected Family” (WL World)
“Merely Mortal” (WL World)

I thoroughly enjoyed this anthology book. Admittedly, there were a couple of stories that didn’t make any sense to me but the ones that did were great. I have read other anthology books with the some problem, such as Prom Nights from Hell but I think the major advantage with them is that the stories that they consist of are a short read each. I also very much like the dynamic that it presents. F&N revisits some of my favourite character such as Irial, Niall and Seth. But even for those who have never Marr’s WL series, there are some good stand alone short stories, with Love Struck being my favourite.

Seeing Irial, Niall and Leslie was great as I’d really missed them. My favourite quotes was between Niall and Irial:

Niall: Don’t be an ass, Irial
Irial: There are some things you can’t command, my king
Hilarious!

Their strange relationship has always worked for me because for a start, they’re faeries. And the short stories in this anthology is what reassured me that I liked them. Their relationship is complicated but they are ultimately so interweaved that you can’t get rid of one another. And I’m glad that Niall and Seth are patching up their friendship. For those of you who have read Darkest Mercy, you will understand.

The stand alone short stories were interesting. For those of you are are unaware of what selchies are, they are basically like mermaids but instead of being half fish, they are half seal. But unlike mermaids, they can get rid of their tail and assume a full human form by removing their pelts. I do not want to give anything else away. Let’s just say it’s about a girl and two selchies. For me, the odd balls were Where Nightmares Walk and Flesh for Comfort. Sorry Marr.

Ultimately, this is a must read for Wicked Lovely fans, but its definitely open to other readers.

So basically, if you’ve read the Wicked Lovely series, this is a MUST READ! But there are other non-WL stories that are good. I especially liked the Selkie story. I hadn’t expected such a happy ending, but I loved it.