Happy Meme

There was no solid Booking Through Thursday prompt to post about today so I'm going to do a little happy meme instead. :P

Korianne tagged me for this.

- Link to the person who tagged you
- List 6 things that make you happy
-Post the rules, tag 6 others and let them know you did
-Then tell the person who tagged you your entry is finished!

1. Chai tea. I'm not a huge coffee person. I'll drink it, yeah, but with lots of sugar. The better option would be the calory filled cup of chai. Mmm.

2. Charlotte Sometimes' CD. Found it thanks to I Heart Daily and now I'm listening to it obsessively

3. Taking pictures. I'm definitely not very good but it's fun to do. I'm taking one self portrait a day this year. :)

4. Changing seasons. Which is good since I live in the state with the craziest seasons. I like each of 'em and they all happen to the fullest here.

5. Books.

6. Finding the perfect shampoo. 

V.C. Andrews Challenge #1 - Flowers In The Attic

Most families in books, at least books of any worth, are delightfully flawed and dysfunctional. You come to love them because of their ability to come together and rise above hard times. 

That situation is about as far from the Flowers In The Attic family that you can get. All of them, Corrine, Chris, Cathy, Carrie, Cory, and the father whose name probably starts with a C are perfect. There is literally nothing wrong with them. Physically at least. 

Chris has a large hillock of maleness resting on his hardened thighs.

Cathy has a voluptuous figure and bouncing breasts.

When I read the descriptions of these people I swear I gagged. 

And to add to that, they're all freaks. Complete freaks. No one in the book is sane or competent or even remotely likeable. 

So the story begins.

We are introduced to our family when they are all together, perfect, and happy. And then suddenly the dad dies in a freak accident. Oh deary me! Poor mother doesn't know how to be independent! So let's write off to our long lost parents who are very wealthy and will surely help us.

The thing is, those parents wrote mommy out of their will because her marriage was sinful and forbidden...for reasons I won't tell you. 

But still, Corrine hitches a train to go out to the land of the mansions and strike a deal with her mom. Her father is "close to dying" so if Corrine acts fast, she can get him to forgive her and write her back into his will again. Because it would be oh SO hard to go and learn how to work and make a living for yourself. No. For her it's all or nothing. Riches or poverty. 

But the catch is that the dying grandfather doesn't know about the four children his daughter had through her rotten marriage and if he did find out about them he'd surely never forgive her! Whatever shall we do know?

Oh I KNOW. Let's lock the kids in the attic until the old coot dies. 

So into the attic the Dollanganger kiddies go. They stay there for YEARS. There might possible have been some sexual activities going on. Or maybe some poisonings/whippings. Or maybe even some blood drinking. You never know what's going to happen when you lock up four siblings in a room unsupervised. And those lovely breasts and hard male parts just add to the fun. 

Doesn't this book sound HORRIBLE?! It was. It really was.

But for some twisted perverted reason, I liked it. Maybe not "liked" but kinda got sucked into it. It's so bad that you can't help but read. I apologize for my behavior. 

This is going to be one interesting year. 

10 more sensuous V.C. Andrews books to go.

Bits 'n Pieces - Martin Wilson

Martin Wilson is the author of the marvelous novel, What They Always Tell Us, a review of which can be found here. I thoroughly enjoyed it. You can visit Martin's site here to learn more about him and his book. I love his answers to the questions so...enjoy! :)

This or that:
Rain or shine?
Shine
iPod or mp3 player?
iPod
Movies or TV?
You know, usually I’d say movies. But lately it seems like I watch more TV b/c so much good stuff is on (Lost, Mad Men, Friday Night Lights, True Blood—a few of my current faves), and a lot of it is way more compelling than what’s playing at the Cineplex these days.
City or country?
City to live, country to visit.
Mountains or beaches?
Beaches
Dots or stripes?
Stripes
Dogs or cats?
I like both, but lean toward dogs
Cooking or eating out?
Eating out! I can’t cook.
Coffee or tea?
Coffee. But I love tea when I am sick or have a sore throat.
Books or magazines?
Books, of course!

Favorites:
Book-
Hard to pick just one. But if I must, it would be Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler. I’ve read this book five or six times, and each time I read it I find even more things to love about it. It may be on of the most perfect novels I’ve ever read. Honorable mentions: The Folded Leaf and So Long, See You Tomorrow, both by William Maxwell; the stories of Alice Munro; The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder.
Book store-

The Strand, New York City
Movie-

Again, it’s hard to pick just one. I am a fanatic about Alien and Aliens, though otherwise I’m not a crazed sci-fi fan. I also love Picnic at Hanging Rock, a moody and haunting Australian film about a group of school girls who vanish under mysterious circumstances. And I am a sucker for teen movies, my two favorites being Heathers and Clueless.
Music artist-

I’m not a very hip person when it comes to music. Right now I’m into Keane, Coldplay, and the Killers. Yawn, right? But hey, I like catchy pop. I am always happy when listening to Madonna and Electric Light Orchestra. And I am still obsessed with the score to The Hours by Philip Glass.
Website-

Right now, I am obsessed with all things political, so Daily Kos, Salon.com, Huffington Post, to name a few. I also love the site www.someecards.com. Hilarious stuff there.
Designer-

Hmm, not a big fashion plate here, so I’ll leave this blank. If I had a ton of money to blow, though, probably Brooks Brothers.
Coffee chain-

sadly, yes, Starbucks
Guilty pleasure-

Eating candy. I try not to, but I have gone on some candy-eating binges lately. Mainly because I discovered this store called Economy Candy in the Lower East Side, and it has gobs of candies that I used to gorge on when I was a kid—Bottlecaps, Razzles, Sugar Babies. If I buy candy I will devour it pretty quickly.
Restaurant-

Z Tejas in Austin, Texas
Color-

Blue

Have you ever:
Lived abroad?
Yes, I lived in London for 6 weeks one summer.
Gotten a tattoo?
No
Stayed up for the midnight release of a movie or book?
Yes, for one of the Lord of the Rings movies. I was dragged by friends but had a blast.
Disliked your job?
Yes.
Cried during a movie?
Yes, plenty of times. Most recently I cried watching this amazing German film called The Live of Others. I also cried while watching Atonement.
Sang karaoke?
Yes. Actually, just about two weeks ago! But before that I hadn’t done it in ages.

Questions:
If you were on a desert island, what 5 things would you bring with you?
War and Peace by Tolstoy, because I’d have tons of time to finally read this!
Moleskin notebook and a pen (okay, I cheated, that’s two things)
My iPod
Pictures of my family
Coffee
What’s on the list of things you have to do during your life?
Mainly travel far and wide. I want to go to Australia, Africa, Italy, Greece, Spain, Scandinavia, among other places. Also, ideally I’d like to write a novel every two years. I’d love to run a marathon but I’m not sure my body (nor my brain) could handle it.
If you could have one super power what would it be?
To become invisible. Or to be like Samantha on Bewitched and wiggle my nose and make anything I want to happen happen.
What’s your perfect music playlist?
Instrumental stuff mixed with Madonna, ELO, Keane, Coldplay, and other pop music. I’m loving the new Genius function on iTunes, which creates playlists based on your favorite songs.
What’s the one food you could eat day after day and not get sick of?
French fries.
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
As I mentioned above, probably to Australia or Greece.
What moment in history do you wish you could’ve experienced?
I’d like to go back to New York City in the 1970s so I could buy an apartment in a neighborhood that used to be scary but is now insanely expensive. Otherwise, for less selfish reasons, I’d be curious to see ancient Greece when it was at its pinnacle, or maybe the Revolutionary days of the United States.
What does your dream library look like?
I dream of having an apartment lined with bookshelves in every room. I am a rabid book collector, and right now I have too many for my own good. My shelves are two rows deep, so I can’t even see a lot of my favorite books. So my dream library would spread across many rooms, always leaving room to add more to my collection.
When you walk into a bookstore, where do you head first?
I usually go to the new paperbacks or the new hardcover fiction.
If everyone had to read one book, what would you have it be?
Mine! Just kidding. But seriously, these are tough questions! Just one book? I really can’t answer that. I would hate to live in a world where we could only read ONE book.

Thanks so much Martin! And now you all must go and read What They Always Tell Us. MUST.

The To-Read Pile(s)

This has never been a very big blog. I don't have very many page views or very many followers or commenters in comparison to a bunch of the other YA review blogs out there. I'm totally fine with that, but the thing that amazes me, is how big my pile of books to read has gotten. I rarely receive review copies so most of these are from swapping books with other bloggers or from bookmooch, but STILL. It's going to take me the rest of 2009 to get through that stack at the rate I've been reading. Grrr. Which is exactly why I need to pick up the reading pace. If I'm not on very much for the next week or two it's because I'm going to start a rigorous reading schedule. :P Not really, but I AM going to try to crack open the books more. The first semester of the school year is over so I don't have too much to worry about right now...

So you know, if you've been wondering; where is that review you promised me in October, Liv? It's probably in one of those pictures above. There are also some other books I need to get from the library that I've promised reviews for, but I think it would be smartest to prioritize and read the books I actually own first. :)

And if you DO see that I'm posting excessive Twitter updates in the next week, feel free to reprimand me and order to get offline and read. You'd be amazing if you did that.

Booking Through Thursday/Saturday #19: Inspired

On Saturday

Since “Inspiration” is (or should) the theme this week … what is your reading inspired by?

What is my reading inspired by? Um...everything. I don't know! This year, I'm reading a lot of books that are well known and which have received a plethora of good reviews thus far as well as some lesser known YA novels. Sometimes I read books off of suggestions from my teachers or for school assignments. So I find books to read from school/friends/reviews/other bloggers.

My reading itself is inspired by my curiosity. I learned to read when I was pretty young and I always enjoyed getting lost in my Dr. Seuss. Since then, I've progressed towards bigger and better novels until I'm where I am now. I love being able to learn something new from what I read, whether that be a new perspective, new pop culture references, or new little factoids. I also enjoy getting lost in books. It's fun to be branded as a bookworm, I think. I embrace it. I've been told I'm "smarter than I look" (think about that for a while) so I'm totally fine with being a little nerdy, glasses and all, so I can make myself look a little more intelligent. So I guess my reading itself is inspired by learning and being able to delve into a new world. And also maybe redeeming myself, smarts-wise. You know, showing that I'm not that dumb blonde. :P

Made To Last...The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold - chapters 13 through 15

Chapter thirteen:

-Clarissa makes me sick. I'm hating that girl right now. She's a complete fake.

-ALSO. Mrs. Salmon is horrible too. Argh. This book needs to get happy soon. 

-We have sad but genuine husbands who are beaten up and tormented, we have cheating wives, we have backstabbing classmates. Come ON Alice Sebold, insert some cheerfulness please!

-Although I guess Buckley's situation right now is good. He's got a nice school life. 

-Every time I read about Mr. Salmon my heart hurts. Maybe it's because he reminds me of my dad and just about every other father out there. I really can't get over his character. He's a poignant guy.

-Oh the piggy back ride! *sighs* I'd type up the whole page about it but that'd be excessive. Go read p. 160-161 please, guys.

-Mr. Salmon's doing good. Getting back in with his children. Although he's right, Abigail should be making an effort too. Especially for Lindsey's sake.

-Is LINDSEY going to sneak into MR. HARVEY'S HOUSE?! Didn't see that one coming...if it's actually coming.

-Busted Mrs. Salmon. Thank god for Grandma Lynn. 

-Abigail really needs to get herself together so I can stop hating her. I understand that she's kind of lost herself and finds herself when she's with Len. But still. I just want to see her actually mourn for her daughter and go back to her family.

-Rayrayray. Mmm. My poor boy.

Chapter fourteen:

-Mr. Harvey is a creeeper. He's got some serious issues. He wants to kill everyone he sees. Badbadbad.

-So Lindsey IS breaking in. Yikes. I hope it isn't all for nothing.

-This would make a perfect movie scene. The spinning, hallucinating, mystery, and suspense.

-Reading all those stories about the different women and girls he had raped and or killed was chilling. Ages six to forty-nine. That's a LOT of unsolved cases. I thought the police were able to catch people like this for the most part?

-That was extremely close. Geez. But at least she got some sort of evidence! At least I think she did...

-I really wish we got to hear more about what heaven's like. They have a cafeteria? Hmm.

"And as Flora twirled, other girls and women came through the field in all directions. Our heartache poured into one another like water from cup to cup. Each time I told my story, I lost a bit, the smallest drop of pain. It was that day that I knew I wanted to tell the story of my family. Because horror on Earth is real and it is every day. It is like a flower or like the sun; it cannot be contained."

-Susie gets to meet all of the other women and girls that Harvey killed. To find solace in a group of people like that is...I don't know. It's just really heart-warming yet heart-breaking.

Chapter fifteen:

-Alice Sebold is a little manipulator. Up until now I've been feeling all malicious and hateful towards Mr. Harvey and then the author has to throw in this little part that demonstrates how horrible his parents were and how he had a pathetic childhood. Nothing can excuse killing of course, but every time I read something like this, just an itty bitty piece of my hate floats away. Not very much though.

-Geez. His mother was HORRIBLE.

-Mr. Harvey's going to leave town. No! Grrr...

-Don't the officers sense something off about Harvey? Urgh. I guess he's just a really good liar.

-Oh Mrs. Salmon. 

"Len was about to say something; I could see my mother notice his lips just as they parted. She shut her eyes and commanded the world to shut up - screaming the words inside her skull. She opened her eyes and looked at him. He was silent, his mouth set."

-The problem with this book is that there's no set good side and bad side. I really empathize with Mrs. Salmon because of all the things she's had to endure in her life. In that respect, she a really decent woman. And then she goes off and has sex with Len. It's hard to hate her because of all she's gone through but I really want to. And I want to hate Len too because he's a part of it. But I can't. I'm caught in the middle. I feel sooo emotionally manipulated...

Mmmm.

September 8th it is.

I can NOT wait. 

Just thought I'd share the cover with you guys. :) Thanks to Lenore.

I'm not sure if I like the color/picture/title treatment yet, but we'll see if it grows on me.

I do like the title itself though...

Aah! I really can't wait. I need to see what happens to my dear Peeta.