Sweets and Hearts

The Big Month of May - I read three books!

1. A Feast of Crows by George R.R. Martins
2. The Elegance of a Hedgehog by Muriel Burberry
3. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Release Date: May 15, 2012
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Received from: NetGalley
Rating: 4
Cover Thoughts: Well it's not my favorite but it fits the book

Synopsis:
I have two weeks. You’ll shoot me at the end no matter what I do.

That’s what you do to enemy agents. It’s what we do to enemy agents. But I look at all the dark and twisted roads ahead and cooperation is the easy way out. Possibly the only way out for a girl caught red-handed doing dirty work like mine — and I will do anything, anything, to avoid SS-Hauptsturmführer von Linden interrogating me again.

He has said that I can have as much paper as I need. All I have to do is cough up everything I can remember about the British War Effort. And I’m going to. But the story of how I came to be here starts with my friend Maddie. She is the pilot who flew me into France — an Allied Invasion of Two.

We are a sensational team

Quotes:
“I am no longer afraid of getting old. Indeed I can’t believe I ever said anything so stupid. So childish. So offensive and arrogant.
But mainly, so very, very stupid. I desperately want to grow old.”

““Verity,” I said in English, and exhaled every last molecule of nicotine and oxygen I had inside me. Then gasped: “‘Truth is the daughter of time, not authority.’ “And: “‘This above all, to thine own self be true.’ “I gibbered a bit, I confess. “Verity! I am the soul of verity.” “

Minor Annoyances:
“Posted! You’re not even any of you in uniform!” Five dutiful Aircraftwomen First Class straightened their Air Force blue cardigans.

Definitions:
Septicemia - is bacteria in the blood (bacteremia) that often occurs with severe infections
It won’t be tetanus, as they inoculated us, but may be septicemia; I don’t think those pins were very clean. There was one I missed for a while after I pulled the others out, and the spot is very sore now.

Review:
I am not sure what I expect out of this book. I think I expect a casual story about someone fighting in world war two. Instead I found Julie, a spy and Maddie, a female pilot. I found a story woven with lies and half truths and some very crazy torture scenes that aren’t actually describe but if you have a vivid imagination like me you just need a basic knowledge of what they could have happened and know it to be true.

I don’t really want to talk about the story, other than I enjoy it and will probably buy it when it comes out. I loved the use of Peter Pan and how the windows were left open. The ending was a bit of a surprise and yet when I think back about it, it was the only ending that concluded. I am not sure if a person could jump back from that.

I had to read the book in smaller dosages. World war two is something I have read allot about and study a fair bit, I might not know all the details but it is something dear to me. Reading about someone being so brutally tortured when they weren’t even part of the Hitler Jew campaign is horrifying.

And well, that’s that

The Elegance of the Hedgehog

This is post number 25 since I started reading this book. All but one will be on my Jane Austen Blog. While this may not be as many as I usually do for Jane Austen books, my understanding of this book is not as great as my understanding of Jane Austen. I am still confused by many of the theories and things that were written. To be honest I don't know if I would ever understand. I don't know if I would ever read this book again, purely because I don't understand. That said it is a fantastic book, interesting read and complicated to write about.

Renee Michels 54 years old - A Concierge
pages 13-17, 27-32, 38-46, 49-51, 54-62, 67-73, 76-79, 84-87, 92-97, 101-106, 111-120, 129-134, 142-150, 157-161, 169-179, 182-186, 192-200, 207-210, 215-230, 237-248, 255-266, 269-285, 288-316.

Paloma Josse 12 years old daughter of rich parents
pages 18-23, 33-37, 47-48, 52-53, 63-66, 74-75, 80-83, 88-91, 98-100, 107-110, 121-125, 135-141, 151-156, 162-166, 180-181, 187-191, 201-206, 211-214, 231-234, 249-254, 267-268, 286-287, 317-320.

Favourite Pages
Pgs 63-66 - the meeting of the two dogs
Pgs 70-72 - last moments with Lucien
Pgs 297 - counting whiling getting ready for her date
Pgs 301-303 - descriptions of Japanese Cuisine while on her date

Favorite Quote (I actually have dozens of favourite quotes.. go through these posts to find them, this is just one I had not yet mentioned)
Pg 241

“it is patently clear,” she says, “that you are very intelligent”
And since I am too taken aback to say anything else:
“You have found a good hiding place.”

END THOUGHTS
Oh my goodness. how sad. I totally didn’t expect that to happen. What an ending. Renee just dies... the unexpected a flower shop van hits her and she dies. Her dying words are beautiful and it is so sad.


NOTE
I rated it 3 Stars on Goodreads. While I really enjoy it, I don't like the fact that there's so much I didn't understand. The story is so good, but I need fully understand to rate a book higher.


♥ Namine ♥

Song of Fire and Ice Book #4 by George R.R. Martin

A Feast of Crows
From Wikipedi

A Feast for Crows is the fourth of seven planned novels in the epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire by American author George R. R. Martin. The novel was first published on 17 October 2005 in the United Kingdom, with a United States edition following on 8 November 2005.

In May 2005 Martin announced that the "sheer size" of his still-unfinished manuscript for A Feast for Crows had led him and his publishers to split the narrative into two books. Rather than divide the text in half chronologically, Martin opted to instead split the material by character and location, resulting in  "two novels taking place simultaneously" with different casts of characters.

Review
I have to say, thank goodness I didn't read this book in 2005! Because I hated it. There's no Dany and dragons or Tyrion, minimal show time with Jon. Thankfully there was Ayra, Brienne and Samwell, though definitely not enough. At least now I know that tomorrow I can go pick up Dance with Dragons and continue on with hopefully all my favourites.

This book revolves around
Pate - minimal remembered by the end of the book, other than he pops up, but as someone else in the end.

Cersei Lannister - drove nuts, her logic is so illogical. But I am very curious about where the book leaves her

Ser Jaime Lannister - can't decide is he good or bad or just stupid. Easily decieved by Cersei... but slowly growing up to see what she's become. He grew on me. But he's not Tyrion.

Brienne - I LOVE Brienne, but there were major parts of her story I struggled to read, it was just to graphic and horrible.

Alayne Stone - I liked the parts she was in but it wasn't enough and there was a total cliffhanger. Does she except littlefingers offer? How long will she play this game?

Cat of the Canals - definitely my favourite and that's all I am gonna say

Samwell Tarly - next in line. He is so whiny but then he's not

In the Iron Islands: Prince Aeron "Damphair" Greyjoy, Princess Asha Greyjoy, and Prince Victarion Greyjoy - didn't really enjoy any of their stories I just wanted to go back to Cat of the Canals or even Cersei.

In Dorne: Areo Hotah, Ser Arys Oakheart, and Arianne Martell - loved Arianne and would like to get to know her more. Don't really remember the other two.

Off to read another book!!

Book Club

Good Morning!!!

Today is Book Club day... what book was picked.... The Elegance of the Hedgebog by Muriel Barbery.

Renée is the concierge of a grand Parisian apartment building, home to members of the great and the good. Over the years she has maintained her carefully constructed persona as someone reliable but totally uncultivated, in keeping, she feels, with society's expectations of what a concierge should be. But beneath this facade lies the real Renée passionate about culture and the arts, and more knowledgeable in many ways than her employers with their outwardly successful but emotionally void lives.

Down in her lodge, apart from weekly visits by her one friend Manuela, Renée lives resigned to her lonely lot with only her cat for company. Meanwhile, several floors up, twelve-year-old Paloma Josse is determined to avoid the pampered and vacuous future laid out for her, and decides to end her life on her thirteenth birthday. But unknown to them both, the sudden death of one of their privileged neighbours will dramatically alter their lives forever.

This book is a hard read. So hard in fact that I started doing vocabulary lists on my Jane Austen Project Blog... When I wrote this post I had been reading it since Tuesday April 24th and was 55 pages in. Fingers crossed I managed to finish it Saturday in time for book club


EDIT: Book Club was cancelled at last minute... not sure when it will be. I did finish the book by 3 in the afternoon Sunday May 6. I have a massive amount of posts with voca and quotes still posting on my Jane Austen Blog. My Review will post when those posts are complete on May 19, hopefully by then book club will have been schedule so I can get everyone else's thoughts too.

Book List

I have a stash of books I need to read....
1. The Feast of the Crows by George R.R. Martin (on page 195)
2. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery (on page 50)
3. Once Upon a Summer by Janette Oke
4. The Winds of Autumn by Janette Oke
5. Winter is Not Forever by Janette Oke
6. Spring's Gentle Promise by Janette Oke
7. Little Princess by Conor Grennan
8. Daring Chloe by Laura Jensen Walker
9. In Every Heartbeat by Kim Vogel Sawyer
10. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
11. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
12. The Girl in the Clockwork Collar by Kady Cross
13. Snakehead by Anthony Horowitz
14. Tigers Curse by Colleen Houck
15. Tigers Quest by Colleen Houck
16. Tiger's Voyage by Colleen Houck

My goal is to have all those books read by the end of June. We shall see.

Sweets and Hearts

April 
a sad month, I need to read some light books. Part way through the month I started reading The Elegance of a Hedgehog at the same time as reading  A Feast of Crows. To much heavy BIG books. As soon as I am done those two I will be reading something extremely light and fluffy! As for right now, I only finished two books in April.

1. the Telling by Beverly Lewis (OWN)
2. A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin (EReader)