Yay thanks to Stephanie for sending me this for my birthday, because she knew of my love for Larbalestier’s Magic or Madness trilogy.
This was SOOOO different than those books. And SOOOO GOOD. Such deeply written characters. Tangible emotions. Poignant. Sometimes funny. Very affecting.
As you move from section to section in this book, you get absolutely turned around. Fantastic.
Our challenge book for October. I can’t remember what led us to pick this book; I know we (or I) read about it somewhere.
We both LOVED it. It doesn’t hurt that we’re both South Pole/Antarctic junkies and have already read lots of books on the topic/subject/area (including great books by Sara Wheeler! “Terra Incognita” and “Cherry”).
Sym is so smart and fantastically imaginative. It’s one of those books that, rather than having an unreliable narrator, it’s a narrator who doesn’t know everything but as she figures it out, the revelations start coming out fast and crazy and the whole world changes before your eyes. Her obsession with Captain Titus Oates is both humorous and touching.
There’s some really sad stuff and some really amazing stuff and you are just ROOTING for certain things to happen…
Fantastic.
A(nother) series by the guy who writes Uglies, Pretties, whatevers. I had read his stand-alone Peeps (but not the Uglies, Pretties, whatevers).
1: The Secret Hour
2: Touching Darkness
3: Blue Noon
These books are great. Our world…but with an extra hour that happens at midnight that only a select few are “awake” in. A band of losers whose common ground is the midnight hour, when it turns out they have a few special skills of their own.
I really loved these. I loved the members of the group (particularly Dess). I LOVED all the wordplay (fantastic!). I loved how the slithers seemed related to something deeply dark and ancient. I loved the transformation of the group and how their relationships changed.
I am really going to regret that I read most of these from the library. Definitely buying up the set when I have income again!!
A loaner from Anne, who’s been borrowing all my books!!! 😉 Hee hee just teasing. It came with the recommendation that it’s one of her all-time faves so I was excited to delve in.
Totally wicked modern sci fi basically detailing a (slightly into the future but mostly “our”) world falling into catastrophe set off by one tiny thing. It’s so freaking BECAUSE IT SO COULD HAPPEN. I mean really the entire time you’re reading it, you think “this is ENTIRELY plausible and it is FREAKING ME OUT!” Lots of characters in different storylines with loose connections; like the Robert Jordan books in that if you don’t like certain characters, you just hang in there because the ones you like will have another chapter shortly…
Really entertaining. Really scarily plausible.
Ah, the CIFF. One of my very favorite things about living here. So easily accessible. The previous year I saw 15 flicks there. (I KNOW! NUTS!) The year before, six. This year, I was busy with school and skeered to spend much money so I only saw four. And three out of the four were FANTASTIC. So I was extra happy I made good choices!!!
SPY(IES) [ESPION(S)]
Super! Sexy! Sleek! The main dude looked like a French Patrick Dempsey. Loved this movie. Believed in the frustrations and the attractions. Very nicely done.
Love and Savagery
The one of the four that I didn’t think was great. It was beautifully filmed (in Ireland, where it’s set, I presume) but the storyline and most of the acting were really below par. Particularly compared to the others.
Girls on the Wall
A documentary about girls in an IL juvenile facility who put on a musical/play for their families / guardians / etc. based on their own stories. So good. Really intimate look at their lives. There are so many places one’s life can go wrong. So many times the wrong choice can turn into a terrible mistake. And then there are the ones who fight and fight and eventually rise above that. Really powerful.
Fish Tank
Kinda hard to watch. Super yicky subject. Super fantastic (FANTASTIC) acting. I think this one is now being released wider (saw a review of it in EW) and I highly recommend seeing it. I mean, the subject matter is tough. But the acting is so good. And there’s a lot to like here. It really tied me up emotionally. And the main dude, Michael Fassbender, was also fantastic in “Hunger” that I saw last year (and he also plays the Scottish soldier in “Inglorious Basterds”). Dude has fantastic RANGE.
So much fun!! I loved it just as much as my dad did. Sucks that more people didn’t see this because you really missed out on one of the most fun evenings at the movie theater all year. ALL YEAR, PEOPLE.
Loved how un-Juno-like Ellen Page was in a role that could have felt very similar. Loved her interactions with her parents; loved the teams, the camaraderies vs. the rivalries. Loved the music and the boy. LOVED IT.
If you use that search bar over on the right and type in Lanagan, you will find this is an author I adore, this book no less than the rest. Some of these take place in that middle ages/medieval-ish type fantasy land and some are very, very modern. And my very favorite was “Wealth” which I have read over and over both because it’s fantastic and because it feels like it’s part of the same world as Hunger Games.
Yes, it’s a little ridiculous to be writing about this now when I saw it back in September! And anyone who wants to has seen it already. I’m just trying to whip through things and close out Snip PROPERLY for the year although why I feel I MUST do that, I really can’t say.
Anyway…. it was a really great movie. Effects were great, acting was great, intense storyline, very satisfying. My #2 movie of the year. (Hurt Locker was #1.)
I’m so pleased there is quality sci fi being made again. There’s just nothing like seeing it on the big screen.
Bought on a whim.
Really hilarious, irreverent, charming.