Teaser Tuesday: The Dead Girls’ Dance

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers

So this week I’m reading The Dead Girls’ Dance by Rachel Caine, the second in the Morganville Vampire series. Didn’t particularly rate the first but I’ve heard enough good about the series to give the second a chance.

My teaser:

You walk up to the first cop you see and you tell him you need to see the mayor about Frank Collins. And you tell him Frank Collins has his daughter, and she’s going to pay for the life she already took, not to mention the one they’re about to. ~ pg 245, The Dead Girls’ Dance, Rachel Caine

Whisper Giveaway on Sparkling Reviews

Sparkling Reviews is hosting a giveaway of a signed copy of Whisper. As with all the giveaways I bring to your attention, this one is INTERNATIONAL!

Review: To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Title: To Kill A Mockingbird

Author: Harper Lee

Series: N/A

Genre: Literary Fiction

Publisher: Arrow

Summary (from Goodreads)

Lawyer Atticus Finch defends the real mockingbird of Harper Lee’s classic, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel—a, a black man charged with the rape of a white woman. Through the eyes of Atticus’s children, Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with rich humor and unanswering honesty the irrationality of adult attitudes toward race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s.

What’s Good About It

Where can I start? I love this book. There’s good reason it won a Pulitzer and studying it for GCSE Lit didn’t kill it off for me. (Yes those two things are about on a par in terms of quality assurance.)

The story remains so timeless because it is the perfect window into that era of history – an era filled with things we often feel uncomfortable about. The terrible racism and the inequality of society are digestible because they are seen through the innocent eyes of a child. A child who questions the ‘truths’ of life as it was known in the American South in the 1930s with that brilliant insightfulness that children have. Harper Lee’s greatest success with her one and only novel was in achieving Scout’s perfect voice.

The anecdotal style of the telling compliments the narrator too – children don’t see the bigger picture, they see the smaller details, moving from one memorable incident to the next. The masterful way everything builds up throughout the novel is a real credit to the story telling, each little event a metaphor or bearing some relevance that only becomes apparent later in the novel. It’s wonderfully whimsical to read, but incredibly clever in its construction.

The moral dilemmas faced by the characters remain as pertinent today as they were back then. Though we have less racism, less inequality, there is still much to be desired from society. People are still treated differently according to race, religion, sexual preference and social class. Though we are largely much better than we once were, certain scenes still pack their political/emotional punch even now 50 years on.

On a slight sidenote, before my gushing love for this book becomes nauseating, my sister hates it. Absolutely hates it. She also had to study it at school, and I blame this for her venomous attitude towards it. I asked her why, but she is rarely coherent about why she dislikes things (or indeed why she likes things… you tend to get fangirl squees or non-fangirl bashing where Ivy is concerned.) As far as I could tell, she couldn’t get on with Scout as a narrator. Found her whiny apparently. So I guess it’s not for everybody, and I’ve seen a fair few reviews on Goodreads that rate it poorly, but as far as I’m concerned (and it is all personal opinion in the end) this is as close to perfect as a book can get.

What’s Not So Good

Not anything to do with the book itself, but if you are under 15, please please read this before you have to study it at school… It deserves to be loved, not pulled to pieces and studied intensely until it is hated!

Rating: 5/5

Portal Chronicles Giveaway on Sparkling Reviews

Head over to Sparkling Reviews for a chance to win the first two books in the Portal Chronicles. Sounds like a fab series so don’t miss out!

V Festival 2010

Not exactly to do with books. Well, not to do with book at all, but indulge me.

My family and I, in various different combinations of siblings, cousins, parents, aunts and close family friends, go to the V Festival every year. I think I’ve only missed one since the first time I went. I was fifteen and collapsed in the toilet queue from heat exhaustion – not as terrible as it sounds, I got to use the clean St John’s Ambulance portaloo and be waited on by a cute paramedic. While my mother took embarrassing photos of me looking grey and pathetic, but let’s not dwell on that minor detail. At least I didn’t have Facebook back then

Festivals are always carnage, and we don’t even camp. Living just down the road from Weston Park, we can easily commute. Good when it pours with rain solidly for the week before, and across the weekend as it did two years ago. I was worried I would never get my poor little Fiesta out of the car park, but at least I didn’t have to sleep in a puddle that was once my tent.

This year was no exception, although the weather was considerably better than it has been some years. Look, photographic evidence of the sun shining. –>

(You’ll have to take my word that it was taken that weekend, but I am an honest person, you can trust me )

Best of the Fest

There were a lot of great acts playing this year. Sunday’s line up was like my dream festival lineup from about 1.30 til the end. The Magic Numbers, Newton Faulkner, Scouting For Girls, Joshua Radin, Ellie Goulding, Florence and the Machine, Kings of Leon. And Saturday wasn’t half bad either, with Seasick Steve, Pixie Lott, La Roux and Imogen Heap to name a few.

All these acts were great, except Kings of Leon, who were okay, but not exactly the bold, brash headline performance I like to see. The Scissor Sisters did a great show (that year I fainted) and Muse were worth waiting for on the Rainy Festival From Hell year. Kings of Leon were… meh.

But, what I like best about Festivals is the chance to see some acts you’ve not heard of before, or vaguely know, in those bit between slots when you have no one you desperately want to see, giving you time to check out some new stuff.

My best find this year was The Temper Trap. (Who I discovered I actually have a track of on a compilation CD in my car, and never knew it.) Their performance of Drum Song totally won me over. You can see a recording of the most important bit here. Not V Festival, but they did the same thing. Drums plus water equals one happy Liberty. Yes I really am that easy to please.

All I Want For Christmas is a Keytar

Imogen Heap was great too. Not an artist I’ve listened to much, but ickle sis Ivy is a huge (and often incoherent) fan. Hence I found myself standing not 5 metres from the front of the stage, admiring Imogen in all her quirky glory.

And deciding that I really really want a Keytar. If I ever get rich this will be my first impulse purchase. Other half talks of cars, houses and expensive holidays when he muses about winning the lottery. Me? I want one of these babies.

£820??? That’s extortion. I guess I will have to keep dreaming. And save up my christmas and birthday money for the next 15 years.

And Now for a Round-Up of the Weird and Wonderful…

Because Festivals are not normal places. I don’t know if it’s the ‘jazz cigarettes’ or the abundance of alcohol, but people get up to some strange stuff. Like the very drunk man who waved his belt at me like it was a part of his anatomy from that general region and said to his equally drunk girlfriend that ‘this looks like a good place to sit down.’ People are strange.

And the Best Welly Award Goes to…

The bloke I saw wearing a pair of these. How unbelievably awesome are these? I may have to retire my marshmallow wellies in favour for a pair.

Not that we really needed wellies this year. The sun (see above) meant the second day I actually wore walking boots. Much more comfortable than wellies over a long period in my opinion, but nowhere near as sexy as some of the amazing wellies we saw throughout the weekend.

Fancy Dress

There wasn’t actually as much of this as there has been in previous years, but we still saw some good examples:

Some pirates, several all in one body suits in various colours, two bananas, a caveman, several men in dresses (always disturbing), some nerds, some Where’s Wallys, Spongebob Squarepants, some cows (with udders), The Village People, Mr Krabs, a whoopie cushion (seriously) and some Oompa Loompas.

Award For Most Friends Made

Definitely goes to Ivy. Apart from by brief incursion with the belt man, hardly any randoms spoke to me. Which is exactly how I like it when said randoms are high, drunk or both.

Ivy, however, had a man doing impressions of Tommy Cooper for her, someone take a photograph with her, and many people asking her if they were at the right stage. We think it might have been the fez she was wearing.

Some Parting Advice for Future Festival Goers

Whatever you do, don’t forget the AntiBac. Honestly, if you pack one thing in your festival bag, make sure it’s a bottle of this stuff.

(Yes, those are my hands, and my awesome fingerless gloves, genuinely knitted by my nana. Eat your heart out Shreddies.)

Giveaway On A Bookish Obsession

There are some great books up for grabs over on A Bookish Obsession, including some signed goodies! Be sure to check it out

Top 100 YA Books – How Many Have You Read?

YA Top 100 for 2010

Persnickety Snarks List of Top 100 YA Novels (2010): based on a reader poll conducted for five weeks between April and May 2010. Over 735 respondents shared their top ten YA books from all over the globe; 80% were female.

Ones I’ve read are in bold ones on my TBR pile are in italics.

1. The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins

2. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s (Sorceror’s) Stone – J.K. Rowling

3. To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee

4. Speak – Laurie Halse Anderson

5. Northern Lights (The Golden Compass)- Philip Pullman

6. The Truth About Forever – Sarah Dessen

7. The Book Thief – Markus Zusak

8. The Outsiders – S.E. Hinton

9. Twilight – Stephenie Meyer

10. This Lullaby – Sarah Dessen

11. Looking for Alaska – John Green

12. Just Listen – Sarah Dessen

13. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – J.K. Rowling

14. Little Women – Louisa May Alcott

15. City of Bones – Cassandra Clare

16. On the (Jellicoe Road) – Melina Marchetta

17. The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger

18. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – J.K. Rowling

19. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

20. Along for the Ride – Sarah Dessen

21. Shiver – Maggie Stiefvater

22. Vampire Academy – Richelle Mead

23. Graceling – Kristin Cashore

24. Thirteen Reasons Why – Jay Asher

25. Sloppy Firsts – Megan McCafferty

26. The Lord of the Rings – J.R.R. Tolkien

27. Alanna: The First Adventure – Tamora Pierce

28. Ender’s Game – Orson Scott Card

29. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

30. Uglies – Scott Westerfeld

31. A Great and Terrible Beauty – Libba Bray

32. Tomorrow, When the War Began – John Marsden

33. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks – E. Lockhart

34. Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen

35. The Westing Game – Ellen Raskin

36. Paper Towns – John Green

37. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – J.K. Rowling

38. Catching Fire – Suzanne Collins

39. A Tree Grows In Brooklyn – Betty Smith

40. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian – Sherman Alexie

41. Lock and Key – Sarah Dessen

42. The Amber Spyglass – Philip Pullman

43. Evernight – Claudia Gray

44. Sabriel – Garth Nix

45. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – J.K. Rowling

46. Beautiful Creatures – Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl

47. Forever – Judy Blume

48. I Capture the Castle – Dodie Smith

49. Ella Enchanted – Gail Carson Levine

50. The Princess Diaries – Meg Cabot

51. Stargirl – Jerry Spinelli

52. Howl’s Moving Castle – Diana Wynne Jones

53. The Dark is Rising – Susan Cooper

54. Hush, Hush – Becca Fitzpatrick

55. Saving Francesca – Melina Marchetta

56. Second Helpings – Megan McCafferty

57. Dreamland – Sarah Dessen

58. Eclipse – Stephenie Meyer

59. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist – Rachel Cohn, David Levithan

60. Fire – Kristin Cashore

61. The Chocolate War – Robert Cormier

62. Weetzie Bat – Francesca Lia Block

63. The Diary of a Young Girl – Anne Frank

64. Looking for Alibrandi – Melina Marchetta

65. How I Live Now – Meg Rosoff

66. City of Glass – Cassandra Clare

67. Keeping the Moon – Sarah Dessen

68. Breaking Dawn – Stephenie Meyer

69. Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging – Louise Rennison

70. If I Stay – Gayle Forman

71. The King of Attolia – Megan Whalen Turner

72. Wintergirls – Laurie Halse Anderson

73. Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast – Robin McKinley

74. The Blue Sword – Robin McKinley

75. Feed – M.T. Anderson

76. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants – Ann Brashares

77. Go Ask Alice – Anonymous

78. Wicked Lovely – Melissa Marr

79. Lord of the Flies – William Golding

80. Someone Like You – Sarah Dessen

81. The Forest of Hands and Teeth – Carrie Ryan

82. Jacob Have I Loved – Katherine Paterson

83. The Knife of Never Letting Go – Patrick Ness

84. Poison Study – Maria V. Snyder

85. Shadow Kiss – Richelle Mead

86. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle – Avi

87. An Abundance of Katherines – John Green

88. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon

89. A Ring of Endless Light – Madeleine L’Engle

90. Glass Houses – Rachel Caine

91. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party – M.T. Anderson

92. Walk Two Moons – Sharon Creech

93. Whale Talk – Chris Crutcher

94. Perfect Chemistry – Simone Elkeles

95. Going Too Far – Jennifer Echols

96. The Last Song – Nicholas Sparks

97. Before I Fall – Lauren Oliver

98. Hatchet – Gary Paulsen

99. The Pigman – Paul Zindel

100. The Hero and the Crown – Robin McKinley

I’d have done a lot better on this list if I read Sarah Dessen XD I think multiple entries by the same author should be disallowed….

Book Blog Hop 10

The question on this week’s hop is do you use a rating system for your reviews? Yes! I just keep it simple, out of five, with half marks for those books that aren’t quite at the next level, but don’t deserve to go a full star down. I’ve not had to give a rating lower than 3/5 yet, but this is the general rule of thumb for the ratings:

5/5 – absolutely brilliant

4/5 – pretty great

3/5 – average, or could have been fab but had significant flaws

2/5 – flawed but readable

1/5 – tosh

So, do you guys use a rating system? I’ve seen some pretty creative ones out there on the blogosphere

Summer Blogger Award :)

Thank you to Kelsey from Ketch Tavern for this award!

The rules are simple: thank the person who gave it to you with a link back in your post, and send this on to fellow bloggers who rock this summer. List 4 rocking bloggers (if you can or have the time) to share this with, and post a note to them through their comments.

My choices for this award are:

1. Swords For Fighting

2. Supernatural Snark

Everyone else I would have given it to has already recieved one from one of the people before me!

Book Habits Questionnaire

This questionnaire was created by The Literary Lollipop but I saw it on Thoughts of  a Book Junkie

1. Favorite childhood book: The Northern Lights by Philip Pullman

2. What are you reading right now? To Kill a Mockingbird

3. What books do you have on request at the library? None. I want to go in and request City of Ashes though.

4. Bad book habit: Starting fifteen different books at a time and leaving them all round my house. I have at least one book to read in every room I think.

5. What do you currently have checked out at the library? Nothing, but I did read a book someone else checked out of the library… does that count?

6. Do you have an e-reader? Nope, unless my iPhone counts?

7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once? I always have more than one book halfway through at a time. Current tally? 7.

8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog? Not really. I still read anything and everything. I now just have a much bigger TBR pile.

9. Least favourite book you read this year: What I Was, Meg Rosoff

10. Favorite book I’ve read this year: Tough choice… Going to go for Feed by Mira Grant.

11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone? Fairly often.

12. What is your reading comfort zone? YA/Urban Fantasy

13. Can you read on the bus? Last time I read on the bus, the bus nearly drove past my stop. Last time I read on a train I left my handbag on the train when I got off. Me and reading on public transport is not a winning combination…

14. Favourite place to read: On my sofa. While sunbathing on holiday is good too, but we can’t, unfortunately, have that every day.

15. What’s your policy on book lending? I lend books to my siblings, my cousins and my best friend. But no one else.

16. Do you dog ear your books? Not on purpose. They do tend to get that way though when they’ve been read a few times.

17. Do you write notes in the margins of your books? No… I had a friend who used to lend me books and asked me to write a score out of ten in the front. I could never bring myself to do it.

18. Do you break/crack the spine of your books? I’ve always wondered how you avoid doing this??

19. What is your favourite language to read? English. I wish I was fluent in another language enough to read but I’m not. My linguistic skills extend to one bad french joke (not even a rude one) and asking what you like to do in your spare time in German. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t understand the response.

20. What makes you love a book? Great characters, great plot, great world. A book can have any combination of these things and I’ll read it, but for me to truly love it it has to have all three.

21. What will inspire you to recommend a book? If I really enjoyed it.

22. Favourite genre: YA Fantasy

23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did): Non-Fiction. I really wish I was the sort of person who could demolish non-fiction books. It would help research for my writing. I generally make about a page before I get bored and resort to wikipedia.

24. Favourite Biography: I’ve read about three, two of which I was forced to and hated. The other was Billie Piper’s which I read when extremely bored. It was the most interesting and had pictures. So I’ll have to go for that one.

25. Have you ever read a self-help book? (And, was it actually helpful?) Can’t say I have.

30 How often do you agree with the critics about a book? Depends who they are. It’s all taste at the end of the day.

31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews? It’s really hard. I always try to say what I thought was good about a book, or what sort of person might enjoy it. But you have to be honest at the end of the day, and if something sucks, I have to just say so.

32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you choose? Chinese

33. Most intimidating book I’ve read: Um… I can’t think of one?

34. Most intimidating book I’m too nervous to begin: I don’t think there’s a book I’d be nervous about reading.

35. Favourite Poet: I generally don’t get on with poetry but I did like Tim Burton’s poetry collection

36. How many books do you usually have checked out from the library at any given time?

37. How often do you return books to the library unread? Not very often. If I bother to track down a book in the library, I generally really want to read it. I have returned a couple unread though. Well, unfinished.

38. Favourite fictional character: Matthew Swift from A Madness of Angels by Kate Griffin

39. Favourite fictional villain: Mrs Coulter from Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy.

40. Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation: Ones that have been pushed down my TBR pile – have to read them if they’re all I have!

41. The longest I’ve gone without reading: A week maybe?

42. Name a book you could/would not finish: Attonement by Ian McEwan. Ugh.

43. What distracts you easily when you’re reading? Other people. I have to be alone to read.

44. Favourite film adaptation of a novel: My Sister’s Keeper. The book was okay, but a bit schmaltzy. The film was really good.

45. Most disappointing film adaptation: The Golden Compass. It wasn’t even close to the book.

46. Most money I’ve ever spent in a bookstore at one time: If music books count about £80, otherwise about £20.

47. How often do you skim a book before reading it? Almost all the time.

48. What would cause you to stop reading a book halfway through? If I can’t get on with the writing style, or if the characters/plot/world building are all rubbish.

49. Do you like to keep your books organized? They are organised how I can fit most in my puny cuboards at the moment.

50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once they’ve been read? I’d love to keep them all, but since I moved out of my parents’ house, I’ve had to be more sparing with the ones I keep. My Mum has a big box in the loft that are mine, but I’ve been giving a lot to charity shops lately.

51. Are there any books that you’ve been avoiding? Wuthering Heights. I have to read it for work, but I’m so not interested.

52. Name a book that made you angry: Breaking Dawn. What was up with the ending?

53. A book I didn’t expect to like but did: Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

54. A book I expected to like but didn’t: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

55. Favourite guilt-free guilty pleasure reading: Urban Fantasy. There are some great examples of it out there, but a lot of really bad examples, but I love most of them XD