Hush!

Rarely do I ever find a book where I enjoy it part of the way and get bored half way through, then get excited towards the end. Those excitement waves in books takes the readers on a roller coaster ride where the readers stops somewhere where in the middle and falls flat on their rears. The reader looks around and asks, what just happened? This is one of those books. The author takes the reader on an excitement roller coaster ride and she drops them off somewhere. That's how I felt when I finished the book.
This book starts out with Melkorka at her home in Eire. She is an Irish princess who thus far has lead a life of luxury and happiness. Her parents had given her and her sisters the happiness most children in her time didn't get. Then one day when her father hears that they are going to be attacked by Vikings, he sends Melkorka and her younger sister, Bridget, off to a place of safety but on their way the the sisters gets kidnapped. This begins Melkorka's life of silence and the ordeals she has to go through to survive on her own.
I found her writing enriching and wholesome. Some of the images and references she makes to her being pregnant was wonderful. She also makes nice references to how her being hush has actually gotten her far in life, and led her to leading a nice adventure in life where things could have been worse for her if she had talked, but since she remained quiet things turned out well for her. Her being quiet and beautiful lead her to being loved by a nice man who then, in the authors note, made her become his slave because his wife did not approve of their relationship. Things got worse for her when he heard her talking too, but I won't say too much since I don't know who has read this book, but the information is available online.
Melkorka's silence and obedience leads her to having a comfortable life as a slave. She also has a good heart and the ability to show her goodness through her good nature.We learn that there are times when we should be silent. It is not good to be silent all the time, but it should be incorporated in life. Donna Jo Napoli writes a book where she teaches the readers that 'Silence is Golden.'

Into the Woods

Somehow twisting up fairy tales into a whole new braid never gets old especially when the braid involves a mixture of Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, The Pied Piper of Hamelin, Hansel and Gretel, A bit of the Little Red Riding Hood and Snow White. Lyn Gardner writes a fictional story with action, mystery, a little bit of romance, and adventure leaving the readers thinking what other fairy tales does the author have in store for them when they are reading the book. Lyn Gardner takes the fairy tales and blends them together into a fictional story that readers will not say, “not another fairy tale”

The story opens up with the Storm, middle sister, and Aurora, older sister, living with their parents and enjoying a semi-happy life. Aurora does most of the housework since their mother really never does anything but sleep, look at herself in the mirror, and eat chocolate truffles in bed. Zella, mother, is truly a neglectful mother. She has never been a mother to her children. Their father is always studying and going out on expeditions. The girls mother dies during labor leaving the family behind with another girl. She also leaves Storm with a pipe saying, “Look after it, Storm...It’s not a trinket. Whatever you do, don’t let it fall into the wrong hands.” After their mother passed away, the girls father never changed. He still went about his routine and never thought to look once at his daughters. The girls asked him one day what they should name their baby sister and he said name her anything. Never giving what he said a thought, the girls named their baby sister, Anything. Soon their father embarks on another expedition leaving the three girls behind by themselves. For some time, things went smoothly. Everything was great and Any was growing up fine too, but one day Dr. DeWilde enters Eden End, their home, and he’s not here to be their guardian. He’s here for the Pipe. The pipe that Storm’s mother told her to not let it fall into anyone’s hands. This starts the adventure with more fairy tales and also we start asking ourselves just how sweet and safe our home is.

Storm is a brave and tenacious girl who loves being outdoors and staying active. She is completely unlike her sister, Aurora. Aurora loves to stay home, cook and clean. And Any is a brilliant child. She taught herself how to read before Aurora could teach her. Aurora is constantly challenged in the story. She has to constantly step outside of her comfort zone if she wants to save Any and bring her back from Dr. DeWilde. Storm, on the other hand, has to take the lead and do the dangerous things, but she doesn’t mind it because it makes her feel important. It seems like the roles are switched when the adventure begins. Storm takes the lead many times and Aurora sits back; even though, Aurora is the older sister and should be taking the lead. Nevertheless, the bonds between the sisters get stronger once they realize just how important their relationship is with each other.

Storm and Aurora are plunged into one dangerous thing after another. Lyn Gardner also writes vivid descriptions to create the whole picture while keeping the writing style simple yet challenging with the length of the book for the children. She adds dimensions to the plot and a brilliant twist at the end of the story. The author shows us how important the bond between sisters are especially when no guardian is present in their lives.

Into the Woods stays true to its name. The girls are plunged into the woods after Dr. DeWilde who shows up at Eden End. Lyn Gardner writes an action, adventure novel giving the fairy tales a twist that will have the readers reading well into the night.

Wish I knew!

I have a question for you all. Does anyone read my blog? If you do, let me know what you think about it and how you feel about it at Chandkatukda85@gmail.com. This will give me motivation as to whether I should write more frequently knowing I have readers.


P.S. Please don't say I should write regardless of whether I have readers or not. I say this its because I want to know whose reading my blog and what you think of it.

Green Witch

It's been a long time since I picked up a book that has left me wanting to buy it now and read it until I am not alive. Green, a girl who has lost her family in a fire, lives alone where every seems to grow with her touch. People come to her to tell her their stories and she writes them down giving each story their own flavor with the garden she grows. From the start, one can tell that she carries a huge weight in her heart. She feels responsible for what has happened to her sister, but she manages to move forward with the stories she hears and continues to write because people are coming to her to relieve their burden. She also knows that she has a position in the village as a writer. She knows that people acknowledge and want her to be there. She knows that she is known in the village as a writer. Over time, Green grows into a character with strength and love. The strength and love she did not have before. The strength and love she lost when she lost her family. Readers will tattoo Green in their heart and let the love of stories grow with her.

There is very little dialogue in this story. Some dialogue that is there is in italics, which I find strange because it adds eeriness to the story. Its as if the conversation has taken place in their mind, but we all know that the conversation has taken place orally. Alice Hoffman keeps her writing simple yet adds depth and clarity along with challenges that teens I know will love. The story is in first person yet readers will feel as if she's telling her story in third person. Alice Hoffman takes story telling to a whole different height. The height that old writers use to take.

Green Witch is written not in chapters, but parts I would say that is full emotional depth. Readers will submerge themselves in elements and colors that will change the readers lives.

Evermore

Evermore was one book that I wanted to put down, but could not because I wanted to know what happened next. The writing was not that bad, but the main character, Ever, was annoying. I just wanted to get inside the book, shake her and tell her get a grip. You lived. Your sister needs to move on and Damen is the best thing that has happened well besides her aunt. I wanted to tell her to embrace what she has right now and to cherish it, but Ever is bent on playing woe is me part. I may sound insensitive while saying that, but the truth is Ever seems to finds faults in everything she does. Ever seems to want to shut herself out of her life because she has these powers. Her psychic powers. She should consider that a gift and help other people with it instead of shunning it out. I am deeply troubled with Ever and her actions. I hope she improves in the books to come.
I also found the beginning of the book a little slow. It took 3/4 of the book to get to the exciting part where we find out Damen is an immortal. The story definitely needs work and some action has to come in halfway through the book, but what I did was I just stuck to the book and read it. Then once I got passed the 3/4 mark. The story picks up and now I get to see some action, so the thing is readers will have to force themselves to stick to the book until they don't find out Damen is an immortal.
I won't say the writing is bad. Alyson noel goes into great detail in providing the scene for the party and details of the house. Her book is not heavily on dialogue. It is there, but the there are descriptions and she does showing instead of telling. So I would say pick this book up if you have the tolerance to deal with Ever like I did.

Welcome to the World Uncorporation

Guess what? You will meet people who will not want to work with you. People who refuse to say yes you can do this but I need you to do this. Nope! They want to fill their pockets, so they will find ways to make you pay so they can go home and buy a BMW while you ride that raggedy old Nissan or whatever.
I met such a man today who refused to cooperate with me. He said, "you could do the study abroad program or go to a university in US to study Japanese." I made some proposals, but refused all of them. It's not my problem that you don't have a professor to teach Japanese. They're job is to give me what I want because I am paying them to teach me. Seriously if it wasn't for students, teachers would not exist. On top of that, he treats me like crap.
"I don't think you're understanding me. You will either have to do study abroad or study at a university here." That is not how you answer to students. He couldn't be any nicer. There are better ways to say no than to say that and say no. If he wanted to say no, then why waste my time and make me wait just to say no.
I didn't say anything when I left. I just left his office saying I need time to think about it. Oh and by the way, when I left his office, he said I should get a rich uncle to pay for my education.
Now after hearing all that, can you guess how I'm feeling?

School Starts

I started school back. And this week was good. It went by fast and I got to see alot of people from last semester too. There are also some new faces too, but some do seem friendly. It those that laugh at the professor that I won't associate with. Kind of rude, don't you think?

I"m trying out something new on my blogger too. I will also keep you all updated on my life too. Not that much though. I wouldn't want stalkers. But I will say some things like this. I don't know who follows me, but those who do I'm sure you would be curious as to what I do and what I'm like.

I have already so much homework to do. I have all this reading from each class and assignments to do with it. Geez, these teachers sure don't give us a break. But we can't blame them. Since we did get a week more of break. And I didn't have a hard time adjusting to school either. I was ready to tackle it with all my strength and go back to my classes. I'm usually always prepared for class. I never have adjusting. It's the studying and reading textbooks that I have a hard time with.

Oh well, I'll keep you all posted later. Right now I go study. Later, everyone.