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Showing posts from September 26, 2010

Anachronistic

There are some people who are struggling to understand exactly what steampunk is. To understand it is pretty straightforward but to try and explain it gets a little more convoluted. The basic concept of alternate history is relatively easy to explain, but once you start getting past that people tend to get lost.  Wikipedia let me to the word anachronism to aid in the understanding of steampunk. I think it perfectly encapsulates what makes steakpunk fiction unique.   a·nach·ro·nism [ uh - nak - ruh -niz- uh m]   –noun something or someone that is not in its correct historical or chronological time, esp. a thing or person that belongs to an earlier time. an error in chronology in which a person, object, event, etc., is assigned a date or period other than the correct one.     You want to read steampunk, share your opinion and reviews with like minded people? You want to get recommendations from others because you have no idea where to begin?

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

    What, you ask, is the most wonderful time of the year? Is it Christmas? Nope! Is it Thanksgiving? NOPE! My favorite time of year is better than any holiday because it comes TWICE every year.  Do you know what it is? It’s our book fair!!!   I am thrilled to be doing another Scholastic book fair at my daughter’s school. We managed to get more books than we ever have before and I am very excited.  In case you were wondering, here’s a picture that basically give you the whole idea of how our book fair is set up this year.   You can kind of see the other book fair lady in this picture and all that really does is make me happy that I was the one taking the picture.  There are so many reasons to love the book fair.  There are the books. And the….books. And more important than that is getting these kids excited about books and reading. At our school we work really hard to find the right book matches for people, especially ourselves! No, we love helping the students out whe

YA-D2 LV3

It is no secret that I like dystopian fiction. You know, like isn't even a good word. I adore it! I am researching dystopia  from two sides, fictionally and academically. Each informs the other in my quest to better understand what dystopia means and how to classify it. My interest in dystopia started later than most. I don’t ever remember being exposed to dystopian young adult or middle grade fiction in middle school. The closest example would probably be The Wave which I read in middle school.  The scariest thing about The Wave was that it was based on true events.  One of the interesting distinctions in some dystopian definitions is that the story must be imagined and not be based on actual events. Do you think this is always the case? (To find out more about The Wave please check out this review .)   The first dystopian book I read was in high school when I was 15. We read 1984 and I remember it forever changing the way I read and the way I saw the world.  Ever since I

Anna Scanlon

I love Anna Scanlon . She is a generous and amazing person. Do you want to know why I love her? Well, let me tell you. She may have not chosen me personally to receive an ARC of Matched but random.org did and Anna was the one who was generous enough to offer up my top wish list book item in a contest and now I am a proud owner. It showed up today and it is so shiny and I love the cover and it’s MINE MINE MINE! Today Anna Scanlon is my hero. And she can be your hero too. I am not sure how exactly but maybe you will find a way unless she is your hero because of the pure joy I am feeling right now at owning this wonderful book by and author I hope to meet very soon.   I may seem a little excited but I am more than excited and I just wanted to let everyone know how wonderful Anna Scanlon is for being a part of this. And thank you random.org, you are my new best friend.

Reading Lists

I don’t know why I do it to myself. It is a strange form a torture, yet at the same time I am having the hardest time pushing from one book to the next right now, so maybe it is needed. It is inevitable.   There is something to be said about listing your intentions and then following through with them or not. Not too long ago I listed my tentative list of the next 10 books I would like to read. And I just wanted to check in to see what kind of progress I was making.   Rae by Chelsea Swiggett (currently reading) Boneshaker by Cherie Priest The Dead Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan (started) Book I haven’t finished yet ( Cherry Heaven , Never Let Me Go , The Iron Heel ) FINISHED Never Let Me Go Grimspace by Ann Aguirre (need to track down) Perdido Street Station by China Miéville (audio, saving for steampunk challenge starting Oct. 1) Incarceron by Catherine Fisher (started) Epic by Conor Kostick Exile by R. A, Salvatore (audio) The Windup