A very lovely award from a lovely blogger

Today I received this  wonderful award from CMash

And the rules for accepting this award are:

When you receive this award, you must share seven things about yourself and then pass it on to 15 blogs you have recently discovered that you enjoy!

Since I had to list 10 things about myself with yesterday's award, I won't bore you again today.

So without further ado, here are my seven (possibly boring) facts:

1.I had a fish called Ophelia till she went crazy (read: something happened to her swim bladder), swam upside down for a year and a half and died. 

2. I'm American but ever since my best friend showed me an episode of Qi when I was in high school I have been obsessed with British Panel Shows. 

3. I love to bake, but I rarely eat what I've made.  I have been using this as a reason for why I can't live alone. 

4. I was a theatre geek back in high school and had every intent on directing plays for a living. Now I'm in film school. I've dabbled in directing, production design, producing. None of these positions were for me. The only thing that really fit was screenwriting but that is still a bit of a stretch.

5.One of my biggest pet peeves is when someone picks at their nails. To  me they might as well be running them over a chalk board.

6.I love Diet Pepsi

7. My least favorite season is Summer. I hate how hot it gets and how much drama comes about. My favorite seasons are Winter and Spring.

There, I hope I haven't bored you to much with that. 

And here are the 15 new blogs that I have recently found and who I am passing it on to:

1. And the Plot Thickens

2. Bibliotary  

3. Book Rat

4. Book Snake Reviews

5. Confessions and Ramblings of a Muse in the Fog

6. Emily's Reading Room

7. Ex Libris 

8. Learning to Read

9. Let Them Read Books

10.Ms. Martin Teaches Media 

11.She is Too Fond of Books 

12.Suko's Notebook 

13.The Book Mole 

14.The Wormhole

15.Wandering (and wondering) Through YA Lit 

Juliet

Juliet
On Sale 8.17.2010

Anne Fortier

The story begins with one Julie Jacobs. Julie has been entranced with Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet her entire life. When her Aunt dies and leaves her a letter explaining that she is in fact Giulietta Tolomei and that her mother died while investigating a family treasure Julie/Giulietta leaves on the first plan for Siena, Italy. While in Siena she learns that family ties run deep, and that no only were Shakespeare's most infamous lovers real, she is related to the real life Juliet.

When I got Juliet in the mail last week I was both excited and a little concerned for what it would turn out to be. The story itself seems forced. Julie is not likable. Having her goals in live grow from her desperate need to be different from her sister Janice made them both petty and unrelateable.

The story of Siena, and the flashbacks to 1340 were helpful and interesting, but they felt like, with a little more detail they could have been their own novel. This was also a case where I would get to an end of a chapter and be upset that there was a drastic change in time and situation. It would only take a few pages to get back into the groove of that specific story but still, it's never fun to "suffer through" a chapter just so you understand what is going on. I was frustrated all through the middle of the novel, when there was little being discovered and much whining and disbelief.

The romantic elements were definitely the strongest in both storylines. The Romeo and Juliet love through time was less creepy then I thought they would be. In a way modern day Giulietta's journey to love is sweet and understandable, and while it's hard to get into a 1340's mind frame, the original Romeo and Juliet story has its own charms.

All in all, a good summer read, but it took far longer and a lot of suspension of disbelief to get through.

My Rating:
3/5

A huge thanks to the LibraryThing early review program for the copy.

Summer at Hogwarts Reading Schedule

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - 309 pages

Start: Tuesday June 1

End: Saturday June 5

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - 352 pages

Start: Saturday June 5

End: Thursday June 10

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - 448 pages

Start: Thursday June 10

End: Wednesday June 16

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - 734 pages

Start: Wednesday June 16

End: Saturday June 26

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - 896 pages

Start: Saturday June 26

End: Friday July 9

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - 652 pages

Start: Friday July 9

End: Sunday July 18

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - 784 pages

Start: Saturday July 18

End: Saturday July 31

Something Wicked this Way Comes

Hi Everyone!
A week from today starts my Summer at Hogwarts read-a-thon/bookclub/magic fest. Starting June 1st I, as well as anyone else interested is welcomed in reading the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling with me. This is a two month project, with discussions, quotes and reviews for each book.

This is my first time organizing anything like this, and to keep it easy on everyone I'm not going to post a sign up sheet. I'll keep track of comments of people interested, but if you fall behind or the two months proves to overwhelming, no worries. Page wise it works out to reading around 70 pages a day and I'll post a reading schedule on my sidebar.

If you don't have time to read or have recently reread feel free to take part in the discussions. I'm really excited to see what everyone has to say as well as reemerging myself in the Harry Potter story.

I welcome all input and questions!

PS: I know my blog has been more or less stagnant these past few weeks, with finals, job finding, moving and some minor personal emergency I've fallen behind in my reading. Expect a new review in the next few days.

Hopping

Welcome to everyone hopping by! It's the second to last Friday in May and I hope you all are doing well. A week from next Tuesday my Summer at Hogwarts program starts, so if you're interested you should definitely check out the link on my sidebar. Happy Friday to all my fellow hoppers!

Book Beginning on Friday

Book Beginnings on Friday is a new meme hosted by Becky at Page Turners. Anyone can participate; just share the opening sentence of your current read, making sure that you include the title and author so others know what you're reading. If you'd like, share with everyone why you do, or do not, like the sentence.


I just started Juliet by Anne Fortier a few days ago and haven't been my usually speedy reading self. 


Here's the opening sentence:
They say I died.


I'll admit, not the most intriguing opening sentence I've ever read, but it did carry the necessary push to keep me reading. Like I said I just started the book and look forward to finishing it. More than anything I look forward to seeing how this sentence from the prologue relates to the rest of the story. 

Claude & Camille

Claude and Camille

Stephanie Cowell

You've probably heard of Claude Monet, the painter, does lots of flowers and lily pads? Well this is the story of how he became the impressionist that is known and loved. He struggles with his art, with his friends and of course with his love life. He meets Camille, who turns out to be the love of his life, but does she have a secret? Though they come from different classes and have a difficult life today they are truly in love.

I was pleasantly surprised with this novel. I'm a huge fan of historical fiction, and if you share that love this is most likely a story for you. Told entirely from Monet's perspective you get a real feel for the life of a poor artist in Paris. It was interesting to see the interactions of Monet with his other artists friends, like Renoir, Cezanne, Dega's and Manet.. Monet is a flawed character, and his drive to paint nearly costs him everything on several occasions. While this isn't the most original story it was good and engaging. Like i said, if you're a fan of the likes of Chevalier and Vreeland this is a novel for you.

My Rating
4/5

Thanks to Jen at The Introverted Reader for the ARC copy