Cover Crazy (5)

Cover Crazy is a weekly meme hosted by The Book Worms on Mondays.  Its a brand new meme where the idea is to showcase a  beautiful book cover each week. This week I'm crazy about.....

The Storyteller

by Antonia Michaelis

What I love about it:

• The contrast of the red rose with the snowy background. The combination of red, white and black always draws my eye. 
• This reminds me a lot of the cover of Jane Yolen's Briar Rose and it also sounds very similar in plot as well; Briar Rose was one of my all time favorite books from when I was younger too.
• I like that the hint of icy blue swirls in the background almost seem like the stem to the rose, yet is more delicate than an actual thorny stem.
• The stem is then reflected in the font of the title which I love. It is harsh too look at and yet swirls out of the Y in feminine organic loops, emulating the same feeling of a rose.
• Everything about this cover intrigues me, I couldn't wait to read the synopsis when I saw it.

What cover are you crazy about this week?

The Elfin Child Review

The Elfin Child
by Philip G. Bell



This is a children's fantasy story that follows a boy recovering from illness in the city and sent to the country to stay with his Aunt during the school holidays. Whilst playing in a nearby wood, he meets an Elfin boy of the same age. Although initially wary, he eventually allows himself to be drawn into a parallel world , full of strange creatures. He also discovers that prophecies foretold that he would save this world from a dire fate. The book was originally written for children from around the age of 9 years and up, but has proved popular with teens and adults.




CHARMING.
The Elfin Child is exactly what I always want a children's fairy tale to be. There are elements that are comical, magical, scary, and captivating. This book put me back in the imaginative mindset of a child. 

Once upon a time...
An eleven year old boy is sent to his aunt's house for the summer to toughen up his body and mind. While there, an Elfin child talks to him in the woods and brings him into the realm of the elves. He is told of this prophecy in which a human child saves the elfin race from the evil Voros, a Bogenvalk, who is destroying all the mythical creatures one race at a time. In order to fulfill the prophecy he goes on the adventure of a lifetime through this fantasy world with the elfin child as his guide.

The characters in this book are so loveable and definitive of the fantasy genre. The boy himself is written as the typical protagonist of most children's fantasy books; starts off weak and picked on and through his adventures, strengthens himself physically, mentally and emotionally. He is very childlike and it is so easy to stay in the mind of a child throughout the book which is why I think I found this book so enchanting. The elfin child himself is almost intimidating at first because he is very haunting. But then you realize he is just playful and mischievous like woodland creatures should be. The elves remind me a lot of hobbits from The Lord of the Rings. Each chapter of the adventure we meet a new character who personifies significant traits of fantasy characters. 

The writing is very interesting. It is written for kids with reading disabilities who can't focus or process a lot at once. So every page is broken into short paragraphs with gaps between them. There are also some dialogue that is either all capitalized or bolded. This serves to allow the mind to process short amounts of the text before moving onto the next. I actually found this style to be extremely helpful for me and I don't even have a ready disability. This book is a gateway for children to be welcomed in the genre of fantasy. It has stories and characters in it that remind me of famous fantasy stories like Labyrinth, Spirited Away, The Odyssey, and The Lord of the Rings. Yet this book remains very childlike and it left me smiling.

4 out of 5 stars, middle of the bookshelf, lovely book that reminded me of the magic of your imagination.

In My Mailbox (4)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by awesome Kristi at The Story Siren which allows bloggers to share what books they bought/received each week.

HOLY BOOKS BATMAN!

I apparently felt the need to make up for not buying any books last week by going to the final couple days of the Borders sale. And man oh man did I make up for it.




Borrowed:
Vanish by Sophie Jordan
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski


Purchased:
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Heart of Darkness & The Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
The Fall by Chuck Hogan & Guillermo Del Toro
The Illumination by Kevin Brockmeier
Token of Darkness by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
Morpheus Road: The Light by D.J. MacHale
Dust by Joan Frances Turner
Department Nineteen by Will Hill
Moon Palace by Paul Auster
Selkie Girl by Laurie Brooks
Dog Blood by David Moody
Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Ice by Sarah Beth Durst
Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder
Dragon's Oath by P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast
One of Our Thursdays is Missing by Jasper Fforde
Ancestor by Scott Sigler
Ascendent by Diana Peterfreund
Harmonic Feedback by Tara Kelly
Grendel by John Gardner
Thirteen Days to Midnight by Patrick Carman
Blood Red Road by Moira Young
Night Star by Alyson Noel
Inconvenient by Margie Gelbwasser
Dream Girl by Lauren Mechling
Dream Life by Lauren Mechling
Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers
Raised by Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Graveminder by Melissa Marr

Whew...that's it.

What did you get this week? Did anyone else take advantage of Borders closing?

Cover Crazy (4)

Cover Crazy is a weekly meme hosted by The Book Worms on Mondays.  Its a brand new meme where the idea is to showcase a  beautiful book cover each week.  This week I'm crazy about.....

Pure

by Julianna Baggott

What I love about it:

• Even though it is following the Twilight inspired trend of black simplistic covers that I am so sick of seeing, I have to admit I do like this one. It actually intrigues me to find out what the butterfly in the jar represents instead of just looking at it be thinking, "Hey look a flower on a black cover...again...cool."
• I like that the glass jar reminds me of The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, simple but very meaningful use of "containment" for the butterfly.
• I like how bright blue the butterfly is in contrast to the black and also in contrast to the dusty fog in the jar.
•  The use of light is interesting, how it is shining from one side and yet the dome seems to glow.
• The lettering may be the typical bold swirly lettering on a lot of these covers but I like that it fades out.

What cover are you crazy about this week?

In My Mailbox (3)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by awesome Kristi at The Story Siren which allows bloggers to share what books they bought/received each week.

This week I actually didn't buy any books! *pats self on back* But I did get a few galleys from netGalley and I went to the library. So this is what I got.

Borrowed:
Zombie, Ohio by Scott Kenemore
Diary by Chuck Palahniuk
Only Revolutions by Mark Z. Danielewski
Monkeewrench by P.J. Tracy

Received:
Every Other Day by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
The Butterfly Clues by Kate Ellison
Daughter of the Centaurs by K.K. Ross

I honestly have no idea when I will have time to read these or what made me go to the library in the first place this week but I'm sure you can all relate to that unnatural drive to new books. Le sigh...here's hoping I get to them!

What did you get in your mailbox this week?

On My Wishlist (3)

On My Wishlist is a fun weekly event hosted by Book Chick City and runs every Saturday. It's where we list all the books we desperately want but haven't actually bought yet. They can be old, new or forthcoming

Vanish
by Sophie Jordan
Release Date: September 6th, 2011

To save the life of the boy she loves, Jacinda did the unthinkable: She betrayed the most closely-guarded secret of her kind. Now she must return to the protection of her pride knowing she might never see Will again—and worse, that because his mind has been shaded, Will’s memories of that fateful night and why she had to flee are gone. Back home, Jacinda is greeted with hostility and must work to prove her loyalty for both her sake and her family’s. Among the few who will even talk to her are Cassian, the pride’s heir apparent who has always wanted her, and her sister, Tamra, who has been forever changed by a twist of fate. Jacinda knows that she should forget Will and move on—that if he managed to remember and keep his promise to find her, it would only endanger them both. Yet she clings to the hope that someday they will be together again. When the chance arrives to follow her heart, will she risk everything for love? In bestselling author Sophie Jordan’s dramatic follow-up to Firelight, forbidden love burns brighter than ever.

 Damned

by Chuck Palahniuk

Release Date: October 18th, 2011

The newest Palahniuk novel concerns Madison, an eleven year old girl who finds herself in Hell, unsure of why she will be there for all eternity, but tries to make the best of it.

The author described the novel as "if The Shawshank Redemption had a baby by The Lovely Bones and it was raised by Judy Blume." And "it's kind of like The Breakfast Club set in Hell."

Freeze Tag on the Highway 

by Brian Krans

Release Date: July 19th, 2011

Freeze Tag on the Highway takes place during the last week of summer at Camp Wazeecha, a therapeutic, confidence-boosting camp for teens with developmental disorders, low self-esteem, and authority issues. While the brochure promises positive results, the camp s director, Jake, sedates himself with the kids' medication while leaving them to play on the jungle gyms of their chemical imbalances. When most of the staff quits in protest, Jake is forced to watch a few of the kids he despises more than the camp itself. Author Brian Krans ruthlessly intertwines images of picturesque summers and the chaos of being a teenager.

Theme Song Thursday! (7)

This week I am reading Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick. So far it is an extremely horrific and disturbing zombie apocalypse type of story. The pages are filled with gore, terror, and sheer survival. The song I picked for Ashes is out of a concept album called Home by Gavin Castleton.

Gavin Castleton-The Wall Starts to Give

Find more Gavin Castleton *NEW VIDEO* songs at Myspace Music 

Sorry for not having a video, couldn't find one for this song but at least there's a link!
This song parallels the part of the book I am at with the part of the album perfectly. In both, the characters are starting to realize just what they are up against and that they are desperate for safety from the oncoming horrors of Z-Day. This entire album is very similar to Ashes, both follow the story of a zombie apocalypse complete with all the grossness and vulgarity of the situation. Definitely check both this book and this CD if you are into zombies and horror.