The Vampire Diaries

Helllooo Blog Readers!
Please make your way to

in order to read my thoughts on the new CW series, THE VAMPIRE DIARIES!!!!
I know you're interested.
Also, I've been updating like crazy with all of the books that I read this summer, so definitely go check those out, too. :-)

My friends Rachel and Josh are going to be arriving tomorrow morning, which I am super psyched about! YAY for Rachel and Josh!!!! This, of course, means, though, that I most likely won't be updating for a little while. I'm going to try to post about Slovakia before they get here, but it looks like Budapest is going to have to wait until after they leave.
Never fear, though, blog readers, all of my summer vacation pictures WILL eventually get posted!

I laugh in the face of progress

Tomorrow is Celine and Guilhem's wedding, and while I have a dres picked out (I will be sure to post pictures after the fact), I have NO SHOES TO WEAR! It wouldn't be appropriate to wear my Converse or sneakers with the dress, it's too hot for all my boots, and aside from that, I don't really have any other shoes here. So, today was going to be "find shoes to wear with dress day."

It is almost 4:00, and I still haven't left my apartment.

I don't think the finding shoes thing is going to happen. Especially considering I am leaving for home on Tuesday, and since Guillaume has the day off on Monday, and I will be out of town for the wedding tomorrow and Sunday, I have to pack today. I was also wanting to redye the blonde in my hair and paint my fingernails. Oh, and I have to go grocery shopping to make sure we have food to eat while there (where is there?, you may ask. I can never seem to remember. It starts with an M).

When did laziness take over my life?

I thought Mike Dirnt should make an appearance in this entry.

In other news, I have FINALLY started putting some serious work into my second novel, which is my summer project along with editing my first novel. Who knows, maybe it will actually happen. Here's to hoping!

Alright! I'm off to start some of my much needed to do list! Wish me luck!(Have you guys noticed how pointless my posts are starting to get now that I have stopped working?)

Morals in the Workplace and Brizmus Blogs Books

First of all, I know it's a day late, but HAPPY 4th OF JULY!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Being in France, I unfortunately didn't actually celebrate. Perhaps there were festivities going on here, but I didn't hear anything about them.

Instead, I hung out with Bastien, my French friend that I met in Montreal (who actually introduced me to Guillaume). He's living in Shanghai now (after a brief stint in Australia), and it was SO good to get to catch up and talk comics, etc. . .



One last thing before I call it a day.
I find that I am ALWAYS wanting to write things about the books that I read. And I'm always having to stop myself from writing entry after entry just about books. So I finally decided to start another blog in which I will write everything I have to say about BOOKS! You can find me at:
BRIZMUS BLOGS BOOKS

Future TV Addict

So, I was thinking (yet again) about Privileged being canceled and thinking (once again) about how devastated I am over this. And I was wondering - why did none of the hardcore fans that knew that there was a possibility that it be canceled start a "send cucumbers to the production team" campaign. You see, in the series, they always drink cucumber water when they study. This would have shown how much the fans loved it, which in turn would have made the CW think "well, if the fans love it this much, other people must love it, too. They've just not seen it."
This is what happened with Roswell. After the first season (the best season of any TV show ever to exist in the history of television - I just finished watching it again, and it is soooooo so so so SO good. I'm definitely going to regive the second season a try), the WB was thinking about canceling the show, and so all of the hardcore fans (minus myself, unfortunately) sent bottles of tabasco to the producers. This is what the aliens put on their food in the show. This showed them what dedicated fans Roswell had, and in the end, because of that, they decided to have a second (and then a third!!!! which I am psyched about finally watching) season.
So why couldn't the fans do this for Privileged? But then, maybe it wouldn't have worked, because apparently they moved the time of the show around and did massive publicity and just couldn't seem to get other people interested.

Anyhow, so yeah. I was super mad at the CW for a little while about that. But now that I have seen the new lineup for the next season of TV, I am over my anger, and I am actually incredibly psyched.
I will, of course, continue watching GOSSIP GIRL. Hopefully it will continue to be awesome. And, of course, I will keep watching SMALLVILLE. I'm with it until the very end.




And then, the show that I am absolutely the most psyched about, there is a new series called the Vampire Diaries coming out!!!! It is based on the books by L.J. Smith. I have never read them (although I am planning on getting on that promptly), but some of my favorite books back in the day were "the Secret Circle" trilogy by the very same author. They are sooooo good, and I am actually midway through rereading them now. Also, Ian Somerhalder, who is incredibly gorgeous, is going to be starring in it. Most of you probably know him from Lost, which I tried to watch, but it bored me. I, however, originally fell for his hotness on a TV show which (incredibly unfortunately) only lasted one summer season (why do I always fall for the shows that don't last?) - Young Americans. On which he is at an all boys school and starts falling for this person at his school, so he thinks he is gay. But it turns out it's a girl disguised as a guy trying to piss off her parents. Something like that. So, anyhow, I love vampires. I love L.J. Smith. Ian Somerhalder is hot and from Louisiana (born in Covington). I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Between me and the Vampire Diaries, if you missed that.

Vampire Diaries Leads


Then, there is "Parental Discretion Advised," which actually looks really cool - about a girl trying to become an emancipated minor who ends up finding her parents in the process. More than all that, though, the awesomest thing about this show is that it stars SHIRI APPLEBY, of Roswell fame (have you noticed how everything always goes back to Roswell with me?)!!!!!!!! I love love love her to death, and I really don't think that anyone could have made a better Liz Parker than her. Unfortunately, though, I have seen her in very little since Roswell (I think Swimfan and Charlie Wilson's War are it, despite her having been in quite a few other things). Anyhow, so I'm really psyched about actually WANTING to see her new show.

And then there's Melrose Place. I'm not sure if I'm going to love it or not, but it seems to be starring Ashlee Simpson, and despite it being mega uncool to like her, I sort of think she's awesome. So I'm going to at least give it a try.
I've decided that I'm also going to give the Beautiful Life a try, although I don't really know why. It's got Corbin Bleu from High School Musical in it, so I am SLIGHTLY tempted, although I am FAR from convinced that I will actually love it.

Then, a TV show which I am more than overly excited about, and which I in no way have the CW to thank, is one that was based on one of the greatest teen movies of all time: 10 Things I Hate About You. That's right - it's becoming a TV show. Thank you ABC Family!!!! It premieres July 7, and I will be there.


Anyhow, that's enough from my TV addicted self today. I've got to finish the book I'm reading (sooooo good - book 1 in the Bartimaeus trilogy by Jonathan Stroud) and watch the first episode of Smallville Season 7 before Guillaume gets home and we go eat delicious Ehtiopian food.

For the record, I do do things other than watch TV. I taught until 3 PM today and then came home and worked out and took a shower. And then I worked on getting my resume perfect and sent some e-mails asking people to be references for me. And I talked to my Mom on the phone for a while and wrote this blog entry. And I studied Japanese for about an hour. So I really don't spend all of my life just watching TV.

Go Ghent!!!!

This is the awesomest - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8046970.stm

If you don't feel like reading it, a brief summary: Ghent, a small city in Belgium, has instated a weekly veggie day. This basically means that all civil servants and government officials will opt for vegetarian meals one specified day of the week. In September, school children will follow suit. And while I'm guessing that what goes on at the homes of the school children can't be controlled, this means that school cafeterias will offer 100% vegetarian meals at least one day of every week. SOOOOO COOOOOOLLLLL!!!! I am SO proud of Ghent! I just hope that there will also be vegan options. Because they are doing this to try to recognize the impact that livestock has on the environment. And guess what - milk also comes from livestock.
Anyhow, I am SO proud of Ghent!

In other news, I finished and loved the book that I was reading!
the Memory Keeper's Daughter - Kim Edwards
**** 1/2 (4 1/2)
I LOVED this book. It was beautiful and poetic. Each passage was written with so much love that I couldn't help but wonder how she managed to write a whole book's worth of such passages. Kim Edwards delves into and explores what it really means to love and how different people go about loving. This is so vague, something no one really understands, and yet I got the feeling that she really does understand. She also explores people's motivations for doing the things they do, and she manages to find reason without taking away from spontaneity. In a way, though, she goes too far, giving clear reasons when the characters probably had no real reasons.
Again, I repeat, I loved this book. But it's kind of a downer of a book, so it may not be for everyone. After all, it's about a family based on a lie: the father giving away the daughter because she has Down syndrome and then claiming she died. And about the woman who raises the not dead daughter.

I was reading this during my lunch break in front of all of the other teachers at one of the schools I work at, and I couldn't help myself. I just burst into tears. It was kind of embarrassing.

Missing Neil Gaiman and Three Day Weekends

So a week ago today, Neil Gaiman signed books at the FNAC at St-Lazare. And guess who wasn't there! Yes, that would be me. Why wasn't I there, you ask? Because I DIDN'T KNOW THAT HE WAS GOING TO BE THERE until 3 days after he was there. And upon learning that I had missed him, I was overwhelmed with a complete and utter devastation. Sadness. Seriously. I mean, we're talking about me, here. A person who once drove 6 hours from Montreal to Toronto just to see him give a reading and then get her books signed. And then who drove the six hours back that same night, arriving in Montreal at around 3 in the morning, because she had an important test the next morning that she couldn't miss.
Okay, that felt weird writing that in the third person about myself. But that's how much I love Neil Gaiman. For serious. So you can imagine how truly devastated I really was about finding out AFTER THE FACT that he did a book signing in Paris. Especially since NO ONE I want to see(author or band) EVER comes to Paris.

Anyhow, this missing of Neil Gaiman resulted in me finally registering for Twitter. Every day lately I hear something new about how Twitter is the new thing and about how it is the greatest thing to hit the internet in ages and how all the stars are using it and how addictive and wonderful it is, etc. etc. etc. . . Yet I really just couldn't see the appeal. Now I get it. I missed Neil Gaiman. If I had been a Twitter user at the time, I would have been following Neil Gaiman on Twitter, and I would have seen his updates and therefore KNOWN that he was going to be in Paris. And then I would have been there, and I would have gotten my copy of "The Graveyard Book" signed. Which, ironically, I haven't actually read yet. I keep putting it off and putting it off because I know how awesome it is going to be, and I am so excited about reading it. But once it is read, it is read, and then I won't get to feel excited about reading it anymore.


Okay, enough bellyaching. Things haven't been all bad lately. On Thursday night, Margaret came over for dinner, and it was great to get to catch up. It had been a long time. We had homemade lentil burgers (from the recipe in How it All Vegan) with homemade French fries - the SEB fryer that only uses one tablespoon of oil is AWESOME! For dessert we had delicious chocolate hazelnut fondue with apples and bananas. Scrumptious! Guillaume and I got into a fondue fork fight. :-) Margaret seems to be doing well here in Paris, and I'm looking forward to dinner at her place this upcoming Thursday.

Then this weekend was a three day weekend - the second in a row, and Guillaume and I had a great time. We went to a little market at Bastille and we cooked delicious food (This website of Ethiopian recipes is becoming a favorite of mine.) and watched Death Note and went to see "Star Trek" and "Wolverine: Origins," both of which I thought were fantastic. Star Trek was really amazing, though. The story was just fantastic!, and the special effects were amazing and the acting was amazing (even if Spock was a little rounder than I thought he should have been), and yeah, it was just wonderful. I'm really thinking I might need to download all the old episodes of the original and of "the Next Generation" to watch them all again. Or buy them. I think I might want to own them. I'm thinking I definitely have to go see the movie again in the theatre. Awesomeness.

fuji sama no pazuru

So, I just finished a half hour Wii Fit Workout, and now I am all sweaty and gross. It's funny how playing a video game can make you sweaty and gross. Although I don't know if we can really call Wii Fit a video game. But there are some parts of it that are very fun.

I also had a job interview today. And granted - it is a job that will take me one hour a week and pay me 15€ for that hour, so I don't know if we can call it a real job. But that doesn't change the fact that I had to interview for it. And I was all nervous, but I think I did really well despite that. For those of you wondering, it's a job giving a private English lesson to a 9 year old. Like I said, I think it went really well, and the family was in awe over my fantastic French speaking skills (which, I know, will help me in no way, shape, or form at teaching English), but I don't think it was enough to actually get me the job. Because I told them that there is a possibility that I will be leaving next February, and I think they want someone a little more long term than that. Oh well. It's probably best if I don't get it, given that it's a whole 45 minute or more commute to get there.


In other news, I finished the puzzle that I started working on before I became distracted by the impossipuzzle. It's so beautiful, isn't it? And it was so so so so SO much easier. It was like floating on clouds, working on it, as opposed to yanking out teeth (which is how it was to do the impossipuzzle). I can't wait to go see Mount Fuji next year when I will be living in Japan for a few months (fingers crossed for me on that one).


This weekend is a three day weekend, and I am very excited about it. This weekend, I will watch tv then read then sleep. Kondono shuumatsu, watashi wa terebi o mite hon o yonde nemasu.
Okay, I just needed to say that because I know how to say it in Japanese! YAY! I am so psyched about how much I love my Japanese classes. I think that, when finished with my present book in progess aka book number two, my third book will have to take place in Japan. Which means that I will DEFINITELY have to move there some day.

Oh, also, I finally got around to reading Tara Duncan, which has been on my bookshelf for ages, and I just finished this morning a book that I FINALLY got around to reading and that enormously exceeded my expectations:

Tara Duncan: Les Sortceliers - Sophie Audouin-Mamikonian
**** (4)
First of all, WHAT kind of last name is Audoin-Mamikonian. I can't help but wonder if she made it up. Secondly, this book is adorable! It took me a little while to get into it, because in the beginning I couldn't help non-stop comparing it to Harry Potter. This was hard not to do because there are just so many similarities. But the fact is that, while Tara Duncan is a French female Harry Potter, she is also someone else entirely. And in the end I became captivated by her and her friends and their adventures, and I'm looking forward to reading about the next of her adventures. Unfortunately for those who don't read French, though, it hasn't yet been translated to English. Or at least not that I can find.

Ransom My Heart - Mia Thermopolis with help from Meg Cabot
***** (5)
I should have expected that this book exceed my expectations, given that it was written by Meg Cabot. But still, it's a ROMANCE novel. And I couldn't really except to L<3VE a ROMANCE novel. But I managed to get past the rare and occasional "lewd" scene and love this romance novel. The story was so good, and it was amazing how Meg made it seem as if it really was written by Mia. There were parts that were just so cute and touching, and I totally fell for the characters. This is a romance for teens while not being a teen romance. If that makes sense.

The end.

Falling Walls and the Wire

What, you may be asking yourself, are those two beautiful pictures of? Well, it's a very interesting story, actually, and some of you may have already heard it.
A very huge slab of concrete fell out of the wall of a building right onto me. Or perhaps I should say slid forwards out of a building down my leg.
I was just minding my own business, leaning my leg on part of what seemed to be a very sturdy building, when a huge hunk of it fell out onto me. And then smashed my foot, crushing into small pieces on the very edges.
The concrete won. Aside from the edges that had crushed off and the fact that it was no longer part of the wall, it seemed to be doing just fine at the end of it all. The one person that witnessed the event actually laughed at me.
These pictures don't really do justice to the size and discoloration of the bruises.

Anyhow, things in Audrey Land are going pretty well. I finished Smallville season 5, which ended amazingly, and I had promised Guillaume that I would start to watch the Wire, so I am now on the 5th episode of the first season.
Now, I have heard many magnificent things about this show from many trustworthy sources (namely, Meg Cabot's blog and Guillaume), and so I am sad and disappointed to say that - I'm just not loving it. Sure, there are funny lines and the characters are interesting and there is a TON of stuff going on. But I just, well, find it without any particular interest to ME. The episodes are just a little less than an hour long, and I can't sit through one without doing a million other things. Today I actually played a level of New Super Mario Brothers while watching. And I checked my e-mails. And I made my lunch.
Maybe that's the problem - despite everything that's going on in the show, I still feel like I can follow without actually paying attention.
Anyhow, I guess I'll just keep watching and maybe eventually it will intrigue me.

Other than that, I decided to read and finished "the Blind Assassin" by Margaret Atwood and was once again disappointed by the Man Booker Prize. At least it was better than the other two. I was mostly just bored with it. I would give it 2 1/2 stars, or 3 if I am being nice.

Now, though, I am reading "the Shack" by William P. Young, which is a book that Kristen gave us all for Christmas (I just accidentally typed that she gave it to us for Kristen), and I am LOVING it! It's very well written, and it raises quite a few interesting topics that really make you think.
One thing I have always wondered is why God, in general, is almost always portrayed as a man. I mean, he is supposed to be nurturing and forgiving and all-loving. These are attributes that are far more often given to a mother than a father. So why has God always been considered more of a father figure than a mother figure. The book gave me a very satisfying answer to this question: ". . .once creation was broken, true fathering would be much more lacking than mothering. Don't misunderstand me, both are needed - but an emphasis on fathering is necessary because of the enormity of its absence."
I would not call myself a Christian. I would not call myself a religious person. But I think I can safely say that, despite its overt Christian undertones, this book is for everyone who has ever been sad or afraid or confused. Which is everyone. And I would thus recommend it to everyone. But maybe I should finish it first.

Aside from books, tomorrow I am going to see AN CAFE!!!!


I am so so so so SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO psyched! Even if I have to go alone. And then on Thursday a mega cleaning frenzy must take place. And then Alex comes!!!! And then Mom and Grandma come!!!! And then Kristen comes!!!! And then we go to Annecy!!!!
Did I mention that I am PSYCHED?!?
Now, I am off to Japanese class.

Man Booker

The Man Booker Prize is a weird thing, I think.

The first Man Booker winner I read was "the Life of Pi" by Yann Martel. I LOVED it. Seriously. It was a great book. I just loved the author's way of xepressing himself. And the story was so fantastic and interesting, and I just wanted so badly to believe. And I loved all the imagery and the way the author presented it. I really think that the only thing about I didn't like was that it wasn't a true story. And that the author decided last minute to try to make you believe that even within the fiction it wasn't true. I really did love this book.

The second Man Booker winner I read was "The God of Small Things." You can find what I thought about this book written in my post about my summer book list (sorry, I don't know yet how to link to other posts - any help?). To summarize, it was the worst book I ever read. I don't know how I finished it. I hated the author's writing style. I hated the story. I hated the non-stop onomotapoeias. And more than that, I sort of hated the characters. It intrigued me enough to hope that the ending might make it just a bad book and not a horrible book, but I hated even the ending. Somehow the ending managed to make it even WORSE, which before the ending, I didn't think was possible.

Now, the most recent book I've read, "the Gathering" by Anne Enright, was also a Man Booker winner. And it, too, was horrible. The main character was ridiculously annoying. There were times when I just wanted to strangle her (rather a violent reaction to a book character, I know). The author also did the really annoying onomatapoeia thing from "the God of Small" things, but less, so it was a little less annoying. Anne Enright seemed to be going for the vaguness of old memories, and she really got it. Everything just seemed vague and out of place, and stories were ending before they even started. And, as a reader, I never knew what to believe or even what she wanted me to believe. This put together could have actually been nice and given a great impression of how she was feeling (the premise was her family getting together because her brother died). But it wasn't. The best way to describe it is just plain ole boring and slightly annoying.

Okay, so now I'm confused. Because "the Life of Pi" was so good, but "the God of Small Things" and "the Gathering" were both horrible in sort of the same way. And yes, I desperately want to read "the Blind A"ssassin" by Margaret Atwood. But it is VERY long, and it also won the Man Booker prize. So I'm afraid to start it because then I will have to finish it, and I will have wasted far too much time reading another horrible book.

Anyhow, it is a dilemma. And while it is not a big dilemma, I still thought that it was worthy enough of a long blog post. Has anyone read "the Blind Assassin?"

Now that that is out of the way, things are good with me. I have been putting off cleaning the apartment, but it has to happen soon with the end of the month approaching and my visitors coming. I am SO psyched! YAY for Mom and Kristen and Grandma and Alex!!!!
And getting ready to see An Cafe. I can't stop listening to them! I can't wait to speak Japanese so that I will understand what I am listening to without having to read the translations. It might be a while, though.

Books on Break

Like I said in my last post, I read quite a few books over my break that I ended up LOVING, and so I thought I would do again what I did with the books I read over the summer - that is, rate them and say a few things about them. So here we go.

Blindness - Jose Saramago
* * * * * (5)
I absolutely LOVED this book! I had for some reason heard bad things about it, but I can't even begin to understand why. I really couldn't put it down, and I am now dying to see the movie, despite the fact that there is NO possible way that it will do the book justice.

Plum Wine - Angela Davis-Gardner
* * * * (4)
This book was a great look at what it must have been like for an American woman to be living in Japan during the Vietnam war. It was touching and heartwarming, and I managed to basically adore it despite not really liking the two main characters. I think that's saying a lot.

the Princess Diaries #10 - Meg Cabot
* * * * * (5)
So, I unfortunately like Mia less in this book than in the other books. She has also become a flexetarian that is flexible even for a flexetarian, which I think is ridiculous and kind of a cop out. But still, it was the last in the Princess Diaries books, and despite my minor complaints, it was possibly the best of them all. I feel like saying - Meg Cabot has done it again!

South of the Border, West of the Sun - Haruki Murakami
* * * * (4)
I love Murakami's writing style and the way he always manages to turn a slightly boring character that one would rarely ever think about into something fascinating and almost always strange. This book isn't any exception to that, and I loved it for everything it was, and there was nothing missing from it. It's just so hard, though, not to compare it to everything else I have ever read by him, and because of that, I just can't give it the five stars it perhaps deserves.

Breaking Dawn - Stephenie Meyer
* * * * * (5)
Everything that I want and have to say about this book would probably be considered spoilers, so I'll keep my mouth shut (or rather stop my fingers from typing). It was wonderful and fanastic and perfect.

the Spiderwick Chronicles #3: Lucinda's Secret - Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi
* * 1/2 (2 1/2)
These books are for someone way younger than me. Each of them takes about a half hour to read, and I probably should be reading them all together instead of separating them like I have been doing. Maybe then I would like them more.

And now I have just started "the Gathering" by Anne Enright. I've really just started it, so I don't know how I feel about it, but I get the feeling that I will most likely be slightly disappointed after the amazingness of all of the books I read over break.

Anyhow, there are LOTS (maybe I should even say TONS) of books that I have read between now and the last time I wrote a book list, but I just felt like I needed to do that given the incredible awesomeness of the books I read over the break. So those books are just going to have to live without an Audrey blog rating. At least for now.

Audrey's Summer Reading List 2008 Part 2

Alright, so to make it a little bit less overwhelming, here's part 2!!!! And for those of you that asked me last time what YA is - Young Adult. Meaning that these are books for people about 10 years younger than I am. :-P

Big Boned - Meg Cabot
* * * * * (5)
It's Meg Cabot; need I say more?

Avalon High - Meg Cabot
* * * * * (5)
Again, Meg Cabot

Kabul Beauty School - Deborah Rodriguez
* * *1/2 (3 1/2)
This book was terrific; it was comedic but to the point about a very serious topic: Afghanistan. The story was heartfelt, touching, and amazing. Sadly, though, it was badly written, which took away quite a bit from what could having been an AMAZING book.

the Spell Book of Listen Taylor - Jaclyn Moriarty
* * (2)
Australian YA. I was expecting real magic, but instead I got quirkyness. :-(

the Man of My Dreams - Curtis Sittenfeld
* * *1/2 (3 1/2)
Curtis Sittenfeld is a wonderful author, and while this book was nothing compared to Prep, it was still a very enjoyable and thoughtful read. (Can a read be thoughtful?)

A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini
* * * * * (5)
Now THIS is an extremely well-written book about Afghanistan. I wasn't sure if Khaled Hosseini would top "The Kite Runner," but with "A Thousand Splendid Suns," I really think he managed. Three decades of Afghanistan history, two very different women brought together through their struggles. . . I laughed and cried, but more than anything, I hoped.

Size 14 is Not Fat, Either - Meg Cabot
* * * * * (5)
I did mention before, I think, that Meg Cabot is just amazing.

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian - Marina Lewycka
* * (2)
Don't get me wrong, I DID like this book, and it was well-written. I just didn't particularly like the WAY it was written. And the characters annoyed me. And if anything, it made me hate both Russia and the Ukraine. And yet I am for some reason oddly compelled to read other books by this author.

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister - Gregory Maguire
* * *1/2 (3 1/2)
If you read "Wicked" and liked it, you should also read this. I like Gregory Maguire enough to keep reading everything he writes, even though I don't really find anything special or impressive about his characters, his stories, or his prose.

I Am American! (And So Can You!) - Stephen Colbert
* * * * (4)
My brother gave this to me, and before that I had never heard of Stephen Colbert. And so while reading, I had NO idea if he was joking about things he actually believed in or joking about things he found ridiculous. Until I read the speech he gave to Bush at the end. I don't think I'll start watching the Colbert Report, but this book was HILARIOUS!

Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Shiguro
* * * * (4)
A colony of clones raised to be organ doners. This book could have gone either way, and it went the right way. Instead of focusing on the unbelievable or the ridiculous, he focused on the PEOPLE and the EMOTIONS, and in the end it made for a brilliantly touching book.

the Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
* * * * * (5)
Kind of like "The Host," this book immediately jumped to my top 10. Don't let the cover fool you! This book is romantic (while making you believe that it's not), funny, sad, happy, original, scary, and everything else that a good book should be. (Yes, Kristen , I have read this book. :-P)

Pretties/Uglies/Specials - Scott Westerfeld
* * * * (4)
I loved this YA trilogy. Even though it was written for younglings, I thought it brought up some really interesting ideas and points that ALLOWED you to think without actually making you think. Which I thought was cool. The stories were great, and the characters were well-developed, even if the two main characters COULD get annoying from time to time. I'm looking forward to reading Extras, which makes these books not a trilogy despite still being considered a trilogy.

Spin - Robert Charles Wilson
* * * * * (5)
This book is an amazing modern day sci-fi creation. I really thought that sci-fi had just sort of gone down the drain. I still love fantasy, but when it comes to sci-fi, I had resigned myself to the fact that if I wanted a good read, it had to be an old read. This book proved me wrong. What would happen to the Earth if some hypothetical beings encased it in a sort of membrane inside of which time moves millions of times more slowly than on the outside? This book brings up many important and interesting issues and makes something that is really probably outside the realm of possibility seem, well, possible. AWESOME book!

Shoe Addict's Anonymous - Beth Harbison
* * * * * (5)
This is what a chick lit book should be. Seriously. It was the best and most refreshing book of the genre that I had read in ages. All that was missing from the experience was a comfy couch next to a fireplace with a steaming mug of vegan hot chocolate.

Keeping the Moon - Sarah Dessen
* * * 1/2 (3 1/2)
I normally love Sarah Dessen. When it comes to emotional, lesson teaching YA books, she really is the queen (I could be saying this, though, just because she wrote the books that were the basis for "How to Deal," one of my favorite movies of all time). Sadly, though, I didn't feel that this book lived up to most Sarah Dessen standards. It was good and touching and predictable, yes, but I just felt that there was something missing.

Playing With Boys - Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez
* * * (3)
This was TRYING to be everything a Mexican chick lit book should be, and that was just the problem. It was trying way too hard. It was a quick, fun read, but there were often things I just wanted to rewrite for the author.

the Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
* * * * 1/2 (4 1/2)
This book was FANTASTIC! It was a mystery with mysterious subplots. And those mysterious subplots had more mysterious subplots. But in the meantime you sometimes wonder if what you are reading is actually a mystery. This book was really perfect. And hello, a Cemetery of Forgotten Books. I MUST find one of these! Aside from the fact that I would have ended it differently. And that there was one thing (which would give away too much of the book for me to say) on which pretty much the whole story was based but that didn't actually make sense to me and was never explained. Which is why it only gets 4 1/2 stars. I still HIGHLY recommend it!

And presently reading:
The Gravedigger's Daughter - Joyce Carol Oates

I've just started it, but so far it seems good, aside from the really erratic punctuation. It's my first Joyce Carol Oates, but I hear she is amazing and that when I am done, I will want to read everything by her.

Audrey's Summer Reading List 2008

Since reading is basically my favorite thing in the world to do (with the exception, perhaps, of sleeping, but only when the book I am reading is not the best book ever), I decided to compile a list of books that I read over my summer/beginning fall(i.e. the months of July, August, September, and October until now) , with ratings and one or two sentence reviews. Perhaps this will help some of you who may be having trouble finding something to read. Or it might give you an idea of books that you could recommend to me (you'll see I have very varied taste, so it's not that difficult)!!!!
N.B Some of these books might have been read before that date but accidentally gotten mixed in, but for the most part, this is the list! Also, there are a lot, so I've decided to separate it into two posts. Please don't feel too overwhelmed to read them all. :-)


Your Big Break - Johanna Edwards
* * * * (4)
Great chick lit! Not the BEST, but still a very satisfying and diverting read!

The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy
(0)
I would give negative stars here if I could.
This is possibly the WORST book I have ever read. The author was trying to hard, and it seem like she was deliberately trying (but failing, actually) to confuse the reader (maybe into believing that there was a point to her ridiculous prose). I persevered thinking the end would maybe save it; it absolutely did NOT!

the Almost Moon - Alice Sebold
* * * (3)
Certainly not "the Lovely Bones," but still a well written, interesting story (that only bored me a very little bit).

A Lesson Before Dying - Ernest J. Gaines
* * * * * (5)
A story about how a life can be changed for the better, even in the worst of circumstances. Heartfelt, well-written, powerful!

Before I Die - Jenny Downham
* * * (3)
She has cancer, she dies. I cried and cried. It was good, but I didn't actually LIKE the main character, so not great.

Wicked Lovely - Melissa Marr
* * * * (4)
The best kind of YA fiction - YA fantasy fiction! I loved this book, really! And I'm looking forward to reading others by Melissa Marr!

Eat Pray Love - Elizabeth Gilbert
* * * 1/2 (3 1/2)
A wonderful, descriptive book that makes one want to take off and explore the world for as long as necessary. Even if sometimes it got repetitive and long. By the end I was ready for it to be over, but at the same time not. As there were still life lessons and amazing experiences to be had by the author.

To Have and To Hold - Jane Green
* * * * (4)
Jane Green is one of chick lit's best, and this was a refreshing change from most chick lit in that it really made me feel that I was watching the characters instead of just reading about them.

Peony in Love - Lisa See
* * * * 1/2 (4 1/2)
I would give this 5 stars, except that it's Lisa See and it's not "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan." I really can't get enough of this author and everything by her.

Airhead - Meg Cabot
* * * * *(5)
Predictable but at the same time not predictable and different. I literally could NOT put this book down, and I will be buying the sequel the DAY it comes out and most likely reading it then. I would recommend this book to any YA fan.

How to Be Bad - E. Lockhart, Sarah Mlynowski, and Lauren Myracle
* * (2)
I was expecting a lot more from this book. Don't get me wrong, I ENJOYED reading it, but by the end I sort of wanted to shake the authors and ask them to do things differently. If you like YA, though, don't listen to me, as most people seem to be giving it 5 stars.

Twilight - Stephenie Meyer
* * * * * (5)
When it comes to vampire love stories, this is as good as it gets. Romance, suspense, excitement, and VAMPIRES all packed together. . . I wanted more, and thank goodness, there was more to come.

New Moon - Stephenie Meyer
* * * * * (5)
As if romance, suspense, excitement, and VAMPIRES weren't enough, let's throw in
WEREWOLVES! While not as fantastic and riveting as Twilight, this is still one of the best books I have ever read. Seriously. And y'know what - maybe it was actually better than Twilight, as this one also made me feel sad.

the Host - Stephenie Meyer
* * * * * (5)
I'm still thinking about this book. I've had dreams about this book. It's riveting, tantalizing, and emotional, and it left me questioning myself and the world and civilization. This easily jumped to the top of my top 10 (which may actually contain more than 10 books, but in no way takes away from the validity of what I am saying about the awesomeness of this book).

Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
* * * * * (5)
HOW had I not read this book before? A sci-fi classic and with reason! It left me LONGING for more!

Les Thanatonautes - Bernard Werber
* * * * (4)
This was an AMAZING book that only gets 4 stars from me. Because when they stared putting ads up on the road to heaven, that just got to be a little too much for me. It was cheesy in a book that was trying to be serious. Aside from that, though, this book was next to perfect, and it left me wondering if some day humans will find a way to explore the afterlife.

Hyperion - Dan Simmons
* * * * * (5)
Another 5 stars, another sci-fi classic that slipped by me in my youth. It's the story of seven very different pilgrims on the same quest for seven very different reasons. The telling of the story and the story itself was original and magnificent!