Little Bits of Wisdom- May, August, and Septemer 2010

So I haven't posted my monthly quotes in forever! So here's a catch up:


"It was harder to be bold when the whole world seemed to be watching your every move." -Michael Grant, Gone

"Evil things love chaos." -Michael Grant, Lies

"Sometimes life gets tough and scary, okay? We've all been scary places before. But here we are, right? We're all still here." -Michael Grant, Lies

"There was no better way to understand life than to live it-if not through your own life, then through another's... Not to read was to turn your back on the wisest of minds." -Ted Dekker, Thr3e

"You don't fight evil with evil; it just creates anarchy." -Ted Dekker, Thr3e

"The heart is always at liberty- the sudden spark of feeling, the quick jet of passion, the mellow glow of satiated love. In all these states, the heart has its independence and will not be governed. The great secret is that all the conventions of society can be satisfied, and still the heart is at liverty. The heart knows what it knows, and it knows when it is met in a rapture of recognition." -Sena Jeter Naslund, Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette

"It's never something huge that changes everything, but instead the tiniest of details, irrevocably tweking the balance of the universe while you're busy focusing on the big picture." -Sarah Dessen, Lock and Key

"'And the rest is history.' I said.
'Nah,' he shook his head. 'The rest is now.'" -Sarah Dessen, Lock and Key

"Not everything's perfect, especially at the beginning. And it's all right ot have a little bit of regret every once in a while. It's when you feel it all the time and can't do anything about it... that's when you get into trouble." -Sarah Dessen, Lock and key

"Dark days often force us to become more ingenious, to monitor and modify the ways we reached failure and reshape them into a new patter of success." -Isaac Fleischmann


Ok, I admit it. I only found one in September and I found it in my business textbook (thank you Mr. Fleischmann!). So I took it out of context a little, who cares? I mean, you would never have known that the last quote was actually talking about how patents have actually risen since the whole economic crisis rose, would you, now? =D But whatever. But I'm just starting My Dearest Mr. Darcy by Sharon Lathan, so once I finish that one I'll move onto the new book in the series and review it, yes?

As always, feel free to comment and follow me on Twitter and stuff. You can see my THREE latest tweets over on the right hand side of your screen. It always makes me happy when I get new comments and followers! *hinthint*

Anyways, thanks for reading!

Love,

Kristi

Lies

Author: Michael Grant

It's been seven months since all the adults disappeared.

Gone.

It happens in one night. A girl who died now walks among the living: Zil and the Human Crew set fire to Perdido Beach; and amid the flames and smoke, Sam sees the figure of the boy he fears the most: Drake. But Drake is dead. Sam and Caine defeated him along with the Darkness-or so they thought.

As Perdido Beach burns, battles rage: Astrid against the Town Council; the Human Crew versus the mutants; and Sam against Drake, who is back from the dead and ready to finish where he and Sam left off. And all the while deadly rumors are raging like the fire itself, spread by the prophetess Orsay and her companion, Nerezza. They say that death is a way to escape the FAYZ. Conditions are worse than ever and kids are desperate to get out. But are they desperate enough to believe that death will set them free?

447 pages. 12 hours. Minus the times that I left to go to lunch with my family. Minus the time I spent searching for the keys to my dad's truck (which my mom seems to have accidentally forgotten to take them out of her purse when she went down to Texas this morning). And minus the times that I spent inspecting the gorgeous handwriting that my best friend put ALL over my car for my birthday. So 8-9 hours, possibly? That's how long I spent reading this book today. 

If you've read any of my Twitter things lately, you already know I have been looking forward to the newest novel in the Gone series (and if you haven't been paying attention, first of all, now you know, and second of all, you should definitely follow me. =D). And let me tell you, I was not disappointed. 

I was hooked from the very first sentence, all the way to the last one. When I was forced to put the book down, I was a VERY unhappy camper. It was just so exciting throughout the whole thing.

What was really great about it was the unpredictability of the novel. Usually, I'm pretty good at guessing what's going to happen, just because I read so much in general, and so many authors seem to be incapable of writing anything that doesn't sound like something else that's already been written. However, this is most definitely NOT the case with Michael Grant. I only had ONE correct prediction, and it doesn't really even count, because I was half wrong at the same time. That is majorly impressive.

And as with the other two books in the series, I loved how realistic the characters were, even the ones that had crazy powers. All of them were complex enough to be real people. They had their good qualities and bad qualities. Astrid, for example, while she does remain Astrid the Genius, proves that while she's theoretically the best person to lead the FAYZ, she doesn't manage to pull it off due to her failure to work with the team to accomplish what needs to be done. Diana also shows that even though she's on the side of bad boy Caine, she actually is a good person.

I love the writing style. The dialog is mostly perfect and completely appropriate for each individual character. A lot of authors have problems with that, in my opinion, and all the dialog sounds like the same person could be saying each thing. Also, I love the little humor that's added into it. When the book gets really intense, sure enough, a joke will come up in the perfect spot. Grant performs an amazing balancing act!

I must admit, however, that I was very confused at some points in the book, especially with the whole Drake/Brittney thing, but that's how Grant set it up, I think. Everything that was supposed to make sense at the end, did. However, there were of course, the new mysteries that were brought out. Like what's behind the FAYZ wall, for example. Were Orsay and Little Pete right that the parents lay just outside, watching and waiting for the children? And what exactly happened to Mother Mary? I have a feeling that her story isn't over yet. But I believe there's going to be six or seven total books in this series, and this is only number three, so there's plenty of time to learn all the answers. 

The only bad thing I thought was that Michael Grant definitely needs to get a better proofreader. I swear, punctuation and spelling mistakes are my pet peeves when I'm reading. However, that still didn't detract from the general awesomeness of the book. =D

So, as you can tell, I LOVED IT. End of story. I mean, if you knew me and what I normally read, you would NEVER think that I would like this book at all. These books are the only sci-fi ones that I like. I just generally don't enjoy sci-fi books, so I give major kudos to Michael Grant. And I must say that I don't hate looking at the cover. Sam is a very, very nice looking man. =D

Anyways, the plan was to finish reading Dear John since I ditched it to reread the Gone series. However, I was supposed to move today, but that didn't happen, so all of my books are currently in storage. =C But I bought Jane Austen's Emma yesterday, so I'm going to read that. And while it is going to be my first time reading it, I'm not sure if I want to take on reviewing a classic.... So I probably won't do a review for it. Therefore, I have no idea what book I'll be writing about next, but I'll update my Twitter account and you can see my latest 3 (?) Twitter posts on the right hand side of the page, so you can keep updated there. =D Or you could just follow me. =D And, as always, please feel free to comment about anything! I love comments!

Anyways, thanks for reading!

Love,

Kristi

My Top 5 Favorite Books (That I Actually Have!)

So, it's taking me about forever and a day to finish Safe Harbor by Luanne Rice, but not because it's bad. I actually like it just as much as I did when I was younger. So that's good. =D I've just been incredibly busy, so here's a new post, like I promised! 

1. Pride and Prejudice- Jane Austen

You just can't beat a classic. Especially when it's THE best classic EVER (in my opinion, of course. =D).

2. Thirteen Reasons Why- Jay Asher

I've never met anyone who's read this book and hasn't loved it. That just proves its awesomeness.

3. Anything Sarah Dessen.

I swear, I love every single one of Sarah Dessen's books. However, my favorites out of those would probably be  Just Listen or Dreamland or Along for the Ride or The Truth About Forever. Dreamland is by far the most intense, but they all are absolutely amazing.

4. Gone- Michael Grant

This is actually a series, so you can count Hunger in with this one. I must admit, I really didn't want to read this book, because I'm really not usually a fan of all that sci-fi stuff. But it was one of my good friend's favorite books and he asked me to read it so I did. I loved it and I am eagerly awaiting the next book, Lies. It looks epic and comes out 3 days before my birthday! =D

5. My Sister's Keeper- Jodi Picoult

I've only read it once, but it was amazing! It was WAY better than the movie, and was actually very surprising, and it's very hard to come up with unpredictable endings nowadays. 

So I had to get these all down soon since my books will be packed away in a few weeks, since my family and I are moving. However, I have decided that they will be the last things packed up (and they're going in my favorite suitcase!) and the first things unpacked! So, there shouldn't be a horrible backup in my reviews! I'll make sure to try to finish Safe Harbor soon and then will read Rumors by Anna Godberson  and post the review. So, if you want to discuss or talk about anything, make sure to leave a comment and such! 

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Kristi

Book Quotes-2009

So, during the summer of 2009 I started writing down quotes that I found in books that I liked, and I figured that since I'm taking an abnormally long time to finish my book, I might as well post the some of the ones I found last year, and then I'll start posting new ones at the end of every month (I'll put January's with February's). 

And, just for reference, they're in the order that I found them, and quite a few of them are quotes from real people that I just read in a book. I liked them all at some point, for some reason, even if I don't remember why now. And I write the quotes down whether I liked the whole book or I didn't, so just because I have a quote down, doesn't mean I liked the book (although most of them I did like. =D).  I hope that you'll read some of these and hopefully share your thoughts with me at ihs_colorguard@yahoo.com! Enjoy!

"You don't want the best of times to be just one thing, forever. You have to have lots of bests of times, each one topping the last." -Sarah Dessen, Along for the Ride

"It's the things you fight for and struggle with before earning that have the greatest worth. When something's difficult to come by, you'll do that much more to make sure it's even harder- if not impossible- to lose." -Sarah Dessen, Along for the Ride

"It didn't make you noble to step away from something that wasn't working, even if you thought you were the reason for the malfunction. Especially then. It just made you a quitter. Because if you were the problem, chances were you could also be the solution. The only way to find out was to take another shot." -Sarah Dessen, Along for the Ride

"It was so easy to disown what you couldn't recognize, to keep yourself apart from things that were foreign and unsettling. The only person you can be sure to control, always, is yourself." -Sarah Dessen, Along for the Ride

"Perseverance and spirit have done wonders in all ages." -George Washington

"You can't be trapped by other people, you can only be trapped by your own fear. Defy and win." -Michael Grant, Hunger

"There are few certainties in life. Chin up!" -Sharon Lathan, Loving Mr. Darcy

"I wished to be as happy as I was at that moment. Fool that I was, I had no concept of the greater happiness in store for me." -Sharon Lathan, Loving Mr. Darcy

"Life is not flawless, no matter how close one may obtain excellence." -Sharon Lathan, Loving Mr. Darcy

"We learned our lessons via grievous methods, but we did learn them." -Sharon Lathan, Loving Mr. Darcy

"It is time- more than time- to reflect and construct a better way of life. You are getting older and you no longer have the excuse of youth." -Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II

"I've seen everything, known everything, and forgotten everything." -Marie Antoinette

"Prudence, patience are my lot. Above all, courage." -Marie Antoinette

"It is in misfortune that you realize your true nature." -Marie Antoinette

"I had friends; the idea of being separated from them forever, and their sufferings as a result, are one of the greatest regrets I take with me to my death; they should know that at the last moment I think of them." -Marie Antoinette

"It's vital to keep a sense of humor when the world seems to have suddenly become a very strange place." -Michael Grant, Gone

"No man knows til he suffered from the night how sweet and how dear to his heart and eye the morning can be." -Bram Stoker, Dracula

"I've given lots of people chances.... But there's only so much faith you can have in people." -Sarah Dessen, Someone Like You

"I wondered again why the right thing always seemed to be met with so much resistance, when you'd think it would be the easier path. You had to fight to be virtuous..." -Sarah Dessen, Someone Like You

"You can't just plan a moment when things get back on track, just as you can't plan the moment you lose your way in the first place." -Sarah Dessen, Someone Like You

"I was beginning to see, though, that the unknown wasn't always the greatest thing to fear. The people who know you best can be riskier, because the words they say and the things they think have the potential to be not only scary but true, as well." -Sarah Dessen, Just Listen

"I mean, when you really thing about it, music is the great uniter. An incredible force. Something that people who differ on everything and anything else can have in common." -Sarah Dessen, Just Listen

"And as to our destinies, yours and mine, we must simply do the best we can from day to day, and not think too much about tragedies." -Carolly Erickson, The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette

"A lot of people mistook ignorance for stupidity, and knowingness for intelligence." -Michael Lewis, The Blind Side

"...He actually believed that to be light of heart is the same as being light of head." -Kathryn Davis, Versailles

So, I definitely didn't realize that there were so many Marie Antoinette quotes, because I didn't really read that many books about her recently (besides the one I'm reading right now). I guess I managed to lose my notebook and forgot about it as well, (and therefore didn't write in it) because I'm smart like that. =D So, again, feel free to email me with comments, book suggestions, ect. at Kristi_Reads@yahoo.com. Next time I post quotes, there definitely won't be as many, because this is around 6 or 7 months worth of them, and I'll only be doing two month's worth from now on.

Anyways, thanks for reading!

Love,

Kristi