Across the Universe, Beth Revis

We meet Amy as she and her parents prepare to be artificially frozen for 300 years. Reason? They are to be one of a hundred people sent to a new planet to escape a financial devastation that has been reducing the resources of planet Earth. These hundred people have been carefully selected for their skills, from biologists and geologists to army personnel who will all attempt to build a new society. Amy is the exception to those being frozen, she is branded non-essential cargo, shipped on board at the request of her parents who are essential.

Amy is 16, a passionate red-head and in love with her current life. She's a very real character and that gives this story a strong heart. Next we meet Elder - that's his name and rank - on board the space ship which is carrying Amy and her parents to the new planet. Problem is, things on the ship aren't as they were back on Earth. Obviously you say, but its been nearly 250 years and a lot has changed in this society that began with volunteers and now contains people with little choice.

When Amy is unfrozen before arriving on the planet - she is devastated. Elder, who is 16 and next in line to rule the spaceship begins to see his world from a different perspective, after meeting Amy. As she questions the habits and rituals of the ship, so to does Elder begin to see that perhaps all is not well on the ship. Then follows a race to stop a murderer from unplugging the other 99 frozen beings on board while dealing with feelings that are new to the both of them.

This is a great sci-fi read, it's a love story cum dystopian mystery. The characters and story are well formed, be warned however it is not a cheerful book. The under laying themes are well put across and the only flaw I found was that the ending is ambiguous. Luckily, this is the first of a trilogy and the author has promised the second instalment due out this year will change everything you think you know.

4*s

Meth, Acetone & Me!

I have had the most chemically enhanced weekend in all of Sydney - I’ll bet on this.

First house run down - we have three bathrooms, one each for mum and I and a communal downstairs one for visitors and the all and sundry who come by. Yep, that’s you in the back there =p

The downstairs bathroom is the only one which actually resembles a bathroom (somewhat) at the moment. It has wall and floor tiles, a vanity, loo and a shower cubicle. The mirror isn’t up yet so we do this weird thing where we have placed a

mirror up against the wall in front of the vanity - awkward but functional.

As we had trouble with the tiler, some of the paint went on the walls before, after and during the tiling process. What does this mean in English? We had paint and grout splatter on my beautiful black floor tiles. This week I decided as we’d finally completed the bathroom, the splatters must be eradicated too!

So, off mum and I went on Thursday to find what exactly could get rid of this problem. (Note - if you find yourself in a similar predicament I hope you have the common sense to utilize my handy work detailed below.) After many false starts and wasted energy with cleaners that cost half my kidney and my first born - I discovered Acetone!

It’s basically, the harsh base of nail polish remover - how I discovered this shall remain my own shameful secret but the fact that it works will help renovators all over I hope. If you’ve spilt paint on your tiles and its dried, Acetone works. Found in good hardware stores everywhere, no doubt.

Also, the previously bought Meth - which failed in the task I desired for it - proved to be fantastic remover of grout stains from my wall tiles. So not only have a managed to clean the floor and make them sparkle, sparkle, sparkle but the walls are pretty gleam, gleam, gleam as well!

Downside to this beautiful experience, my fingernails and cuticles are on the verge of falling off. Sigh, note to self: wear gloves next time, chemicals aren’t skin friendly.

Now onto other news - Aunt E is moving in with us come mid March. She’s looking for a good apartment to buy and as she needs time to find something half decent and in the area she desires - she’s moving in with us! It’s pretty exciting stuff for a few reasons - we can all live together and not commit murder, as proved by last October. I’ll have people at my house more often then twice a week - mum and I are more like ships passing in the night these days. And I have a 9 year old to play all my games with! I know, its like getting my own real live doll. Mwhahahaha!

Also, I’m going to do posts as often as I can - that recap the Pyaar Kii Ye Ek Kahaani (A Kind Of Love Story) series for all my friends - yes the three of you who like Abhay as much as I do, weekly. Its too much effort to email you one at a time and who knows, I may even get the show more fans. Here’s crossing my fingers that Vision Asia doesn’t cancel the channel from its subscriptions listing.

Right, so here I go - and don’t forget to check in this week, I’m finally, finally going to make a genuine effort to review the several books I’ve read and been too lazy about. Some of it comes highly recommended!

Intoxicatingly yours, LM.

Bad Moon Rising, S. Kenyon

If you’re one of those poor souls that hasn’t yet had the pleasure of entering the Dark Hunter universe, my sincere condolences and I hope you remedy this sad state of affairs soon enough. Go here and have a nosey around - then head to the book depository and buy the first one, go on, it’s the best decision you’ll make this year until you buy the second one and so on!

This is the 14th installment in this series and I have to say Kenyon gets better with every book. The first one, the second, third, were each... Unique in plot and idea however there was a formula. Perhaps Kenyon realized this as the fourth was quite a bit different and from there on the universe has developed into a force - a phenomenon - to be reckoned with. The characters, the story and the lore has gotten tighter and more and more intriguing with each novel.

What I can disclose with confidence. There are to be four main characters. Acheron, Savitar and Jaden being three of those. There is a fourth whom we are yet to meet - but who will no doubt rock my pants, ahem, our pants off. To tell the story of each of these characters we have people within their inner circle who are each given a novel. I think we had something like 11 or 12 books between the initial Dark Hunter novel and Ash’s book. Each book in between reveals a little more about Ash as well as moving the story forward.

The Dark Hunter were just the tip of the ice berg - we now have demons, arcadians and katagria to play with. What began as a feud between Artemis and Apollo (yep, of course the Greek gods started it all!) has now begun taking a darker turn with several things we knew about the universe being called into question...*Darth Vader music*

Bad Moon Rising tells Fang’s story. Ok so the name’s could have been a little less, cliche, but considering Fang is a kind of werewolf (things are always more complex than that in the DH verse) who has brothers Fury and Vane... Shh about the names. And he falls in love with a bearswan - one of the most vicious and lethal creatures in his world, not to mention a race his cannot mate with. And so the saga begins... With consequences for everyone.

Honestly? This won’t make a whole lot of sense if you’ve not read at least a little of the DH verse. If you have, this book will turn your whole world into one big question mark and then some. This is great fantasy fiction, a fun and thrilling diversion from the repetitive vampire and angelic fiction that is popular right now.

5*s (and no, I’m not biased)

Who belongs to this fish?

I'm just going to feel a little sorry for myself now. It's necessary I think, every now and then to victimise yourself as completly as you can and then later, when you feel a little more honest to say, what bullshit darling.

There are several big things planned this year - a trip to Wales, road trips, Hunter Valley weekends, pj parties at the movies and of course obligatory sleepovers at my place. So why do I want to run away so fast everytime someone mentions any of these?

That's not positive you say.

I can see several outcomes for all of these things we've planned - by we I mean various friend groups and myself. Some are pleasant and others not so - I suppose they ned to be attempted before they are determined, right.

This makes no sense to anyone who isn't me, right? Right. Ah well, I'll have to leave this pity party for now and publish what I had come here to do.

Smile, folk, it's what I encourage.

The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating, E.T. Bailey

This is one of most lovely books. Non-fiction, which I haven’t really read much of. But I can see, its clearly time to start. Elisabeth was incredibly ill for almost twenty years. During the initial year when she was confined to her bed, a kind friend placed a forest snail in a flower pot beside her bed.

At first she wondered how this could possibly be a relief to the regular boredom she was subject to. However as she began observing the small creature and following its daily patterns, she began to appreciate its life - the largeness of this small creature was a marvel.

In this account of that year, we follow Elisabeth’s observations of the snail, its life span and the things she begins to appreciate through its presence. If you’ve read the Anne of Green Gables books, or the Pollyanna books, you’ll realize that to learn a lesson it doesn’t necessarily require preaching - an example or story can serve as just a large form of inspiration.


I think we should all take the few hours needed to read this book, if for nothing else but for a smile and appreciation that is sure to come from the experience.

4*s

Runaway, Meg Cabot.

If you’ve read Airhead then you should know all about this book. The final part to the trilogy (Being Nikki was the second) is a decent fare. Nikki and Em start of the novel being kept hostage by the scion of the Stark group of companies. Part humorous, part serious message, part a mixed bundle of tricks and treats. This was an unusual series in its entirety, I think. Nikki’s body is mixed with Em’s mind - the message till the end of book two is that beauty isn’t as important or easy as it’s made out to be. In book three we find ourselves at a compromise. Em begins to appreciate Nikki’s body and the perks that go with it.

I have a few problems with this whole idea to be honest - why does she suddenly prefer being Em in Nikki’s body? Isn’t this the opposite of what the series set out to say? I suppose some may appreciate that she was able to be intelligent and beautiful at the same time. I find fault in the end message being beauty and mind make a person happy.

There is also the Christopher track - the best friend who doesn’t realize he loves her until Em is physically buried and her brain is transplanted into the body of a supermodel. Sure book two points out he hadn’t realized this until he lost her - fair point. Many people realize what they’ve lost once it isn’t around anymore. However, he lies to Em (in Nikki’s body) throughout the novel until she herself doesn’t work out that he knows the truth. In book three he develops a large complex about her not ‘needing’ him. 


Yep, they actually have a conversation where she realizes he needs to feel needed. The issues I have with this could fill a very long blog, so we’ll just stick with, I don’t agree with the concept and it was a downer for me in this story.

This is a strictly ok series from a largely fantastic author. Read it with the context in mind, models and a world where beauty reigns supreme. I’d much rather you all read the Princess Diaries series again.



Read an excerpt here.

2*s

The Wildkin's Curse, Kate Forsyth.

The second part to a series which completely escaped my radar, The Wildkin’s Curse is a fast paced book filled with high adventure and wit. The kind of novel that appeals to all fans of quest-esque novels. Zed, Merry and Liliana embark on a dangerous journey with the aim of rescuing a princess trapped in a tall tower on the edge of a cliff.

Several problems arise: the princess may not want merit rescuing, every word she speaks will come to pass; Zed is the heir to the throne which has imprisoned the princess, Liliana is the cousin of the princess with a secret of her own. Meanwhile, Merry discovers their quest may have greater meaning for the folk of several kingdoms then they have ever imagined.

The first installment to this series was The Starthorn Tree, one I’m hunting down right now (Part three comes out in April this year I believe). The Wildkin’s Curse is a brilliantly written book with surprises at every turn. I vote we all read it and then attempt an adventure of our own!

4*s

New form of rock

Happy new year all! It's been a few weeks coming, but as I've been busy enjoying the newness of 2011 I suppose this is a good thing..right?


What have I been up to, you ask? Well, a feat has been achieved - completely unintended however I'm pleased this happened. Something I've missed doing. Reading! I've read 6 novels so far in 2011, and I'm impressed because half of those were read between Saturday and today. So, woo!


Now, as you visit for reviews and opinions, I'll end this here - all the best this year. Smile, laugh a little and make a few choices. I certainly intend too.