Poetry Corner #24

Be Kind
     By: Charles Bukowski

we are always asked
to understand the other person's
viewpoint
no matter how
out-dated
foolish or obnoxious.

one is asked
to view
their total error
their life-waste
with
kindliness,
especially if they are
aged.

but age is the total of
our doing.
they have aged
badly
because they have
lived
out of focus,
they have refused
to see.

not their fault?

whose fault?
mine?

I am asked to hide
my viewpoint
from them
for fear of their
fear.

age is no crime

but the shame
of a deliberately
wasted
life

among so many
deliberately
wasted
lives
 is. 

I'm happy that I'vestarted blogging again it makes me happy and gives me something to do!

DFTBA
-Janussa

Monthy Roundup & Looking Forward to Febuary

 

Perfect Lies (Mind Games #2) ---Kiersten White

Ignite Me (Shatter Me #3) --- Tahereh Mafi

I can't think of very many books that come out in February so I'll do some of the book I want that came out in January.

     

Her Dark Curiosity (The Madman's Daughter #2) ---Megan Sheperd

This Star Won't Go Out: The Life and Words of Easter Grace Earl --- Easter Earl

Into the Still Blue ( Under The Never Sky #3) ---Veronica Rossi

There are so many new amazing books!

Also, if you haven't heard of tThis Star won't go out you should click on the link. It's a about Easter Earl a girl who died at the age of sixteen in 2010 from Leukemia. There is a forward by John Green and it is an inspiring story.

I linked the books to goodreads so just click on the titales and you can read summaries of the books.

So they released a TFiOS teaser Trailor!

DRUMROLL
A TFiOS MOVIE TRAILER

I think the trailer is perfect and I'm super excited for the movie! What  do you think?

Well January went fast!
Favourite book from January was probably Between Shades of Gray.

Right now in school we're choosing our classes for next year. Next year will probably be really hard but I'll get though it somehow.

DFTBA

-Janussa

Book Review: Nantucket Blue

By: Leila Howland
Pages: 294
Release Date: May 7, 2013

For Cricket Thompson, a summer like this one will change everything. A summer spent on Nantucket with her best friend, Jules Clayton, and the indomitable Clayton family. A summer when she’ll make the almost unattainable Jay Logan hers. A summer to surpass all dreams.

 Some of this turns out to be true. Some of it doesn’t.

When Jules and her family suffer a devastating tragedy that forces the girls apart, Jules becomes a stranger whom Cricket wonders whether she ever really knew. And instead of lying on the beach working on her caramel-colored tan, Cricket is making beds and cleaning bathrooms to support herself in paradise for the summer.

But it’s the things Cricket hadn’t counted on--most of all, falling hard for someone who should be completely off-limits--that turn her dreams into an exhilarating, bittersweet reality.

A beautiful future is within her grasp, and Cricket must find the grace to embrace it. If she does, her life could be the perfect shade of Nantucket blue.

Rating: 2

Review: This was a cute summery story about Cricket  Thomson. Cricket goes to Nantucket in the hopes of having an unforgettable summer. Her summer was unforgettable but nothing like she expected. She expected to spend it with her best friend, Jules, in Nantucket. She expected to be the girlfriend of Jay Logan. She expected everything to go perfectly. This is all before Jules calls to tell Cricket that Cricket can't come to Nantucket with her. She goes to Nantucket anyway, finds a job so she can stay and hopes to surprise Jules and still have a great summer. Within the first week of being there Jules acts completely different and admits some terrible things and Jay starts ignoring Cricket. And that's only they beginning.

It's an interesting story of Cricket finding her way and trying to survive in Nantucket but not everything can be paradise.

This is a total summer read even though I read it in January it

It was a simple, cute story. I enjoyed most of it but it lacked something that made it different from all the summer, beachy love-stories. Why must the majority of love stories take place in the summer? I've read some really good summer love stories but this didn't stand out as much. It was a cute love story but that's it just a cute love story. It lacked life and flare to make it special.

I was disappointed this book could have been better. I know other people who read this book will disagree with me but just was not something extraordinary, it was just average. When looking for favourite series average and normal will not do I need something special, different, unique.

It's a cute story but  don't feel like I learned anything or that I'm better off now that I've read this book. I'm sure this book is great for someone but it just wasn't for me.

DFTBA
-Janussa

Book Review: Defiance

By: C.J. Redwine
Pages: 403
Release Date: August 28, 2012

Summary: Within the walls of Baalboden, beneath the shadow of the city's brutal leader, Rachel Adams has a secret. While other girls sew dresses, host dinner parties, and obey their male Protectors, Rachel knows how to survive in the wilderness and deftly wield a sword. When her father, Jared, fails to return from a courier mission and is declared dead, the Commander assigns Rachel a new Protector, her father's apprentice, Logan--the same boy Rachel declared her love for two years ago, and the same boy who handed her heart right back to her. Left with nothing but fierce belief in her father's survival, Rachel decides to escape and find him herself. But treason against the Commander carries a heavy price, and what awaits her in the Wasteland could destroy her.

 At nineteen, Logan McEntire is many things. Orphan. Outcast. Inventor. As apprentice to the city's top courier, Logan is focused on learning his trade so he can escape the tyranny of Baalboden. But his plan never included being responsible for his mentor's impulsive daughter. Logan is determined to protect her, but when his escape plan goes wrong and Rachel pays the price, he realizes he has more at stake than disappointing Jared.

 As Rachel and Logan battle their way through the Wasteland, stalked by a monster that can't be killed and an army of assassins out for blood, they discover romance, heartbreak, and a truth that will incite a war decades in the making.

Rating: 3

Review: I enjoyed this book a lot. I liked the book and the character's. I think Logan and Rachael were great characters. But the book lacked something... it was good but not outstanding.

I did like this book from both Logan and Rachael prospective. It gave the reader insight into both characters lives and feelings. If the entire book was from Rachel's prospective I might not have finished it. Rachael was a weak character. She was brave and tough but she lacked some personality.

The setting was confusing it was fantasy (or that's what I expected it to be) but there was technology so it was also kind of dystopia.

I just don't really know what to say about this book and I'm probably making it sound like a terrible book and it's not. It's a book that's just for the sake of reading but not for having an important meaning.

I really did like Rachael and Logan, they are really cute an I want to see what will happen to them in the next book. It's a series that I will continue reading. I enjoyed the characters and the setting and I want to see what will happen to them.

Overall it was good I did enjoy reading it and I don't regret it. It's a book to read to pass the time and that means it's still a book worth reading.

Favourite Quote:

“It’s probably my job to tell you life isn’t fair, but I figure you already know that. So instead, I’ll tell you that hope is precious, and you’re right not to give up.”

DFTBA
-Janussa

Book Review: Between Shades of Gray

By:  Ruta Sepetys
Pages: 338
Release Date: January 1, 2011

Summary: It's 1941 and fifteen-year-old artist Lina Vilkas is on Stalin's extermination list. Deported to a prison camp in Siberia, Lina fights for her life, fearless, risking everything to save her family. It's a long and harrowing journey and it is only their incredible strength, love, and hope that pull Lina and her family through each day. But will love be enough to keep them alive?

Rating: 5

Review: This book was everything I expected and more. It was beautiful. It was Gorgeous. It was heartwarming. It was sad. It teaches about about hope when all seems lost and love when it's the saddest times. It warms it warms your heart and tears it apart at the same time.

From the first page to the last the book draws you in and don't want to stop reading. The book is a relatively easy read, but the topic is not so easy. There was so much pain and loss in the book. When someone they cared about died, you get a glimpse at the NKVD doing terrible things to innocent people. The war was so terrible. Set in Lithuania during WWII, it was a terrible time in history.

When people think about WWII they always think about Germany and Hitler and what the Nazi's did, but he was not the only one ripping families apart and causing people pain. In Between Shades of Gray the pain is so raw. You can feel all of it. Even as something may being to look up, the NKVD do another horrible thing to take away their hope.

Lina had so much strength and bravery. She preserved and kept going when it seemed like there was nothing good left to work for. She saw so many terrible things and still kept going because of hope and love.

It really makes me think in perspective. I know that I complain about my life sometimes and this book really makes you realize that most people have it pretty darn good. They were shipped around in cattle cars and were treated worse than dogs. 

Between Shades of Geay is an eye-opening book. It makes you appreciate what you have and it makes you grateful for the life you live. This book is a treasure and the words in it are so moving and powerful. I recommend this book to everyone!

Favourite Quotes:

“Have you ever wondered what a human life is worth? That morning, my brother's was worth a pocket watch.”

“Sometimes there is such beauty in awkwardness.”

“We'd been trying to touch the sky from the bottom of the ocean.”

DFTBA and have an awesome Sunday!
-Janussa

Poetry Corner #23

I thought since I'm back that I should start this again :) Enjoy!

It sifts from Leaden Sieves
     By: Emily Dickinson

It sifts from Leaden Sieves -
It powders all the Wood.
It fills with Alabaster Wool
The Wrinkles of the Road -

It makes an even Face
Of Mountain, and of Plain -
Unbroken Forehead from the East
Unto the East again -

It reaches to the Fence -
It wraps it Rail by Rail
Till it is lost in Fleeces -
It deals Celestial Vail

To Stump, and Stack - and Stem -
A Summer’s empty Room -
Acres of Joints, where Harvests were,
Recordless, but for them -

It Ruffles Wrists of Posts
As Ankles of a Queen -
Then stills it’s Artisans - like Ghosts -
Denying they have been -

I recently had to memorize this poem for English :)

DFTBA
-Janussa

Book Review: Mind Games

By: Kiersten White
Pages: 237
Release Date: February 19, 2013

Summary: Fia was born with flawless instincts. Her first impulse, her gut feeling, is always exactly right. Her sister, Annie, is blind to the world around her—except when her mind is gripped by strange visions of the future.

Trapped in a school that uses girls with extraordinary powers as tools for corporate espionage, Annie and Fia are forced to choose over and over between using their abilities in twisted, unthinkable ways…or risking each other’s lives by refusing to obey.

In a stunning departure from her New York Times bestselling Paranormalcy trilogy, Kiersten White delivers a slick, edgy, heartstoppingly intense psychological thriller about two sisters determined to protect each other—no matter the cost.

Rating: 5

Review: Okay, I may have a slight obsession with book covers but honestly look at that it is amazing! Before I even knew what this book was about I wanted it just because I wanted that amazing cover on my shelf. I hope I'm not the only one that does this. I don't judge books by their covers but a book with a good cover is so much better.

done with that little rant now I'll talk about the book.

The book focus's on two sisters, Fia and Annie, who both have "superpowers" or that's what we can call them. Both sisters only want to protect each other. Annie is blind and instead of sight she can see things that may happen in the future. Fia's "superpower" is she has perfect instinct. Imagine what it would be like always knowing what the right answer is and what you should do. Annie is able to see some of the things that will happen to her sister and it makes her worry about Fia even more. Both sisters are burdened by knowledge. Knowledge of what to do. Knowledge of what will happen. Knowledge burdens them and it prevents tham from being free. Having this knowledge makes them valuable.

The writing flows off the page and it makes you connect with the characters and feel sympathy for them even if you may not relate to them exactly. Once your a few pages in you're already stuck in the book, it's fast paced and you just want to know what will happen to the characters.

The plot and characters were so well designed. The plot is quick and it sure packs a punch for being a shorter book. Your always on your toes wondering what's going to happen next. The character besides just Fia and Annie are so well described. I happened to like Fia a bit more but the writing does not make everyone aromatically like one sister more than the other. As the book goes on you come to learn so much about them and why they made the decisions they did.

I was so fascinated by everything in the book. I am definitely excited to read the next book.

Favorite Quotes

“I am the ocean we lived on for two months. I am empty. I am nothing.”

“Their smiles are lies. Most smiles are.”

“Planning is not my friend. Impulse is.”

“I should curl up in a ball and cry. Instead i think about everything in the whole entire world that makes me angry - There is a lot, oh, there is a lot - and I start singing Justin Bieber at the top of my lungs.” 

DFTBA
-JaNuSa <--- I'm weird sometimes

Book Review: The Chaos of Stars

By: Kiersten White
Pages: 288
Release Date: September 10, 2013

Isadora's family is seriously screwed up—which comes with the territory when you're the human daughter of the ancient Egyptian gods Isis and Osiris. Isadora is tired of living with crazy relatives who think she's only worthy of a passing glance—so when she gets the chance to move to California with her brother, she jumps on it. But her new life comes with plenty of its own dramatic—and dangerous—complications . . . and Isadora quickly learns there's no such thing as a clean break from family.

Rating: 5

Review: First can we just take a moment and enjoy the cover, it is beautiful!

Now on to the details of the book. It's a coming of age story for Isadora who comes to San Diego to live with her brother. She is the daughter of Isis, the Egyptian goddess of motherhood, and growing up in Egypt she never traveled, had not been on a plane, did not know how to ride a bike or drive a car, and Isadora is very opposed to the idea of love. Throughout the book she experiences new places and emotions she didn't even realize she had.

She is required to work on an exhibit at a museum for her mothers art and while there she becomes friends with Tyler, Scott, and Ry. With them she learns to live and be free while learning to appreciate her parents. She learns to take risks and live for what she has now instead of concerning herself with the pain that may come later.

I was excited to read this book because I have read the Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan and I loved the Egyptian mythology. Obviously this book is very different but it is wonderful to see how Tyler, Scott, Ry, and Isadora all evolve throughout the book.

When it ended I just wanted more I grew to love all the characters and I didn't want this to be my last time with them, but alas it is a standalone novel (well it is right now). It is a good ending but you just don't want to leave them behind you want to hold onto them.

I would definitely recommend this book!

DFTBA
-Janussa

I'm back?! I think!

Hey! Soooo its's kind of been a while and by a while I mean since last summer.

I'm going to try this again and I want to know if you guys remember me r even kind of care so please comment so I'm not all alone it will make me want to come back a lot more.

I tried to come back in may but I never posted and it didn't work but this time I'm reallygoing to try and make this work.

I to talk to you guys a lot more
DFTBA
-Janussa (p.s. that's my full name and I have always gone by Jane before this on the blog)