Meandering Along

So I’m really, really thankful that I already own Book of a Thousand Days in hardcover. Otherwise, I’d end up with this. Look, it’s not like it’s bad or anything. Just… I don’t know. I’m not a huge fan. Maybe it’s because for the last two years I’ve been staring at the other cover. Or maybe it’s because I’ve never been a fan of covers that have the character’s faces on them. The thing I loathe most about the cover is the fact that Stephenie Meyer has a blurb on there. Again? I mean, seriously. She’s already all over the Books of Bayern. Does she honestly need to be on this cover too? I’m the sort of person who would not read a book if Stephenie Meyer had blurbed it, so I suppose I’m lucky that I discovered Shannon Hale before then. Thank you, Stephenie Meyer. Thanks for showing up nearly everywhere in life. Sadly, it’s gotten to the point where I hardly notice all the Twilight-y stuff out there simply because I’m used to it and I expect it to be there. Oh, society… Where did you go wrong? Well, society was already going the wrong way before Twilight, but when Edward and Bella barbies start showing up, you start thinking that you’d like to exist in an alternate universe from most of humanity.

   I’m only writing this because I woke up this morning and realized that I hadn’t posted in a few days. For some reason, I will forget all about blogging. I really will, which is odd considering that I really do love doing it. After three or four days go by with no posts, I will remember again. I’ve always sort of been that way. Except for those times when I will post five days in a row or something. I haven’t done that in a while though.

Anyway….

   I’m reading Star-Crossed by Linda Collison. I was enjoying it up to about page ninety. I’m not really enjoying it anymore. All of the characters are really aggravating people. Seriously. I don’t like any of the characters. Sure, I can like rather unlikable characters. That’s what makes them likable. Their unlikableness. (Attolia, for example. She’s really not that nice. But she rocks. And I love her.) But I can’t like any of these characters. I wish they would all go away. Yes, that includes tar-stained fingers sailor dude. That includes the Scottish doctor. And it includes the main character. Maybe a hurricane will come and sweep ‘em all overboard when they’re on the ocean…. Hmm…. Ahem. Sorry about that lapse into evilness. I really can’t help it.

   It is rather sad that I can’t like the main characters. I mean, they are technically the sort of characters I would like. I think the reason I don’t like the doctor is that he’s a (formerly) red-head doctor. That’s a problem. Dr. Neal McNeal of Christy is a red-head doctor, and nobody beats him. Or even compares for that matter. I normally like spunky heroines. But not Patricia. She just irks me. I want to tell her to shut up. And then the handsome sailor dude. (I can’t even remember his name right now. That’s rather sad…) He’s just….no personality. Nothing to really set him apart from any other sailor dudes, except that he seems more moral than most. He also sort of reminds me of Mr. James Emerson Fletcher of the Bloody Jack series. That’s also a problem. ‘Cause Jaimy is just awesome and stupid and annoying hilarious to read about. (I still don’t get why he hasn’t dumped Jacky. I so would’ve if I were him.)

La dee dee dee dah….

   I know there was something else I wanted to talk about. I just can’t remember what it is. That’s annoying. Oh! I remember. I’ve been meaning to say a few things about Inkdeath since I finished. Yes, I finished it months ago, but I always forget to say something about it. I’m going to talk about some spoilery aspects of the book.

So…

*INKDEATH SPOILERS*

(Heh, that was fun to write. All caps and everything.)

   To sum up my opinion on the book—Whatever and Dustfinger rocks. Have you ever finished a book and been like, “Whatever. Okay. That was nice. Moving on.” Yeah, that was me upon finish Inkdeath. It was rather boring, I think. The only reason I actually liked this book was that I love reading about the Inkworld. It’s fascinating. I wouldn’t actually want to live there though. (I’d much rather live in Bayern as Geric’s wife, thank you.) My biggest problem with the book is rather silly, but it really did bug me. Now, Dustfinger has always been my favorite characters. ‘Cause he’s awesome and ‘cause he’s a firedancer. So I liked Farid too. As a firedancer. Not so much as Meggie’s boyfriend. (I’m not overly fond of Meggie.) Plus, Farid was pretty cute. I don’t care that Farid didn’t end up with Meggie. I really don’t. I don’t like Meggie, therefore I don’t care if she ends up with some inventor dude with a girly name. Good for her. Be happy. I’ll marry Farid. What made me mad is that Farid acted like something of a jerk. I couldn’t even like him because he was acting like a jerk. Sheesh. But, hey. Dustfinger still rocks and is way cooler than Mo. Adderhead was pretty awesome, but only because of his name. Adderhead. Teehee. I wonder what inspired that. I’ll have to ask him.

I mean, seriously. Take a gander at the “books read in 2008″ page. Yeah. Did you see how many books I read this year? I’m rather amazed actually, considering how busy 2008 has been for me. But I think that a majority of that reading was done late at night, (school nights included) in the car, etc. Oh, and when I took a trip up north last august, I spent a good deal of time with my nose pressed in a book. Yes, I read several books while on vacation. It was a good vacation.

And now I have even more proof of my book freakishness. What I am about to tell you is very important. I don’t want to see you make the same mistake. Whenever you go somewhere, take some money with you. Please. Just do it. You want to know what happens to you when you don’t bother taking money with you? Okay, this might scare those of you who are of a very sensitive bookish nature.

Ready?

When you do not take money with you, you will enter Borders. Oh, it gets even worse. Borders will be having this freakin’ huge blow out sale. Not only that, but I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You; Sold; Battle of the Labyrinth; and Audrey, Wait! will be on sale. In HARDCOVER FORM. For 3.99 EACH.

Yes, that happened to me yesterday. And I am still not quite recovered. So maybe you’re thinking that I should just go back to that Borders and bring my money. Ah, yes. I thought the same thing. But this morning my sister was going to take me and the car wouldn’t start.

Lesson: Do not leave your money at home.

Leigha

P.S. I still can’t believe I read 222 books this year. Gah!

    *Breaking Dawn Spoilers*

   So, I finished Breaking Dawn, and my feelings on it are exactly what they were when I finished the book. Thoughts that went a little something like this: “What the heck?” Yeah. That’s a good question. I mean, I really can’t think of a better way to describe this book. There were so many moments that left me scratching my head. Not because I was confused or anything, but rather because, well, it was so weird. So headtabling. So bizarre. What was with the plot? Or a better question to put forth is was there a plot. I just don’t see how this book was necessary. Couldn’t Stephenie Meyer just end her series (not saga) with Eclipse? I guess not. *heavy and dramatic sigh*

   Since practically everybody knows about this book, I’m just going to pick out a few things that particularly stood out to me.

   What was wrong with this book? Where to begin? Oh, I don’t know. I’ll just start with the most disappointing thing that happened. There was almost no Jane. Now what was up with that? The Volturi rock, and they’re way cooler than any of the werewolves or Cullens. (With the exception of Alice {because she rocks} and Emmett {because he has dark curly hair})

   Reneesme. Oh, my gosh. If that isn’t a “what the heck” moment, I don’t know what is. And then Jacob imprints on her? Oi. (In case you are one of the few people who have no idea who Reneesme is, I shall tell you. She’s the Bella and Edward’s daughter. Yes, they had a daughter. Why? Because Bella’s just so perfect that she’s got to have everything.) I want you to imagine something. Say some guy falls in love with you, and then you find out that this guy was in love with your mom. That is just gross.

   Poor Jasper. I mean, poor Jazz. Why was it necessary to give him a nickname like that? Just imagine knowing someone named Jazz. “Hey, Jazz! What’s up?” I don’t know. Something about it sounds wrong when it’s used to refer to male vampire. But, hey, why call him Jazz? Why not Per? Or Sper? Or J’per? Don’t look at me like that. I’m just throwing out suggestions here.

   Yes, I realized that I’m being nitpicky here, but that’s just how I am. Nitpicky. About everything.

   I must admit that I didn’t read completely through. I was quite bored and ended up doing some skimming. Though what I actually read made me laugh. I got a few good laughs out of reading this. I’m just glad that I borrowed it from someone rather than buying it.

   Now, I already knew that I didn’t like the Twilight Series. But after this book, I liked it even less. I own The Host, but I’m not sure that I want to read it. If I do, it won’t be for a while.

Anyhoo…

   I just finish This Lullaby and loved it. Remy was a fantastic narrator, and Dexter cracked me up. I was please to see Scarlett from Someone Like You make an appearance. (By the way, Dexter and Remy make an appearance in Just Listen.) I think it’s cool how Sarah Dessen did that. Next, I plan to read Dreamland. I can’t get Keeping the Moon at the library, so I’m going to have to buy it. I saw it at Borders yesterday, and I would’ve bought it, but the fact that I have no money stopped me. Money. Yeah, it’ll disappear on you. I swear, one minute there’s a crisp twenty in your purse, and then you go to Borders and it just jumps out of your purse at the cash register.

   Caption contest to be soon…

   Leigha

   So I thought I had this funny blog post planned, but I decided not to post it quite yet. It needs just a bit more tweaking. Anyway, I’m in the mood to rant, but I really don’t know what to rant about. Hmm… Oh, I got something. I’d like to rant about people. I am not a people person. There are some people that I like and am close to, but as a general rule, people bother me. If you’re a nice person, I’ll like you. If you’re rude, I have zero tolerance for you. I tend not to talk when I’m around people I dislike because nothing good is going to come out of my mouth. I try to be a nice person. I really do. But sometimes it’s just so hard when there are a million rude people out there. Now, I’m not inclined to talk a lot around people I don’t know, but sometimes people can say the meanest/stupidest things, and it’s all I can do to keep from lashing out at them. Yes, I have a temper. I’m pretty good at controlling it though.

   I don’t think I’m a likable person. I can get along with people, but I don’t usually get close enough to a person for them to make up their mind as to how much they like me. I think people would say three things about me if asked. One: “I like her. She’s a really great person to be around.” (Not many people would say that because I don’t spend a great deal of time around several different people.) Two: “I guess she’s nice. I don’t really know her.” (That’s what most people who have met would say.) Three: “I can’t stand her. She never talks.” (I hope people wouldn’t judge me based on that, but people have. I just don’t like to make small talk with people I don’t know. I’m far too shy for that.)

   Aside from some people in real life, the only other people I like are my internet friends. You know, the LRRH-ers and my faithful blog readers. You guys are cool, hands down. The LRRH-ers because, well, they’re LRRH-ers. And my blog readers because, hey, you’re taking time to actually read what I’m rambling about.

   I think I’m a friendly person though for all my unlikable-ness. I’m polite to people I’ve just met. I simply shut my mouth if I don’t like them. See, I don’t like to be mean. I’m a very sarcastic person, and that’s really not always a good thing. I’ve hurt people’s feelings before. Not purposely, but it’s happened. I feel horrible when I make someone feel bad because I know what it’s like to feel bad because of other people. Sometimes I just wish people could be nice. It’s not that difficult when you think about it. Sure, I may rip the Twilight Series to shreds, but I don’t bash the fans personally. (Even though I don’t bash them, Edward and Jacob fangirls are scary.) But, hey, they could easily say that Geric fangirls are scary. I wouldn’t agree with that, but I wouldn’t get angry either. I’ve get better things to stress over.

   Okay, now that I got that out of my system, I will attempt to say something a bit more cheerful. Um… I’ve finally started writing again. My break did me a world of good, and I’m feeling much more confident about my writing. In celebration, I will post a few short scenes on the “Snippets” page. (Email me for the password if you don’t already have it.)

   I’m sure there are other cheerful things I can think to say. I’m working on a silly post, a post about fanatical sports fans, and a part three of reasons why fictional men are better.

   Cheerful…cheerful…

   I have a new fictional crush. Wes from The Truth About Forever. To quote the book: “Sa-woon!” I was rereading this book simply because I haven’t read it in a while, and then it dawned on me. Wes is just plain awesome. (Okay, so he was in jail before. We all make mistakes. ) Next I plan to reread Just Listen. After that I want to read more of Sarah Dessen’s books. I got a bunch out from the library to read after I finish Just Listen. Let’s see… I got Someone Like You, This Lullaby, That Summer, Dreamland, and Lock and Key. (I’m on a waiting list for that last one, but the rest are all sitting in a pile beside me bed.) Unfortunately, my library doesn’t have Keeping the Moon. *growls menacingly*

   Oh, and to explain the pile beside my bed. The books in that pile are the books I’m currently reading and about to read. That stack is quite high. It’s as tall as my bed, and that’s saying something because my bed is rather high. And the stack in order from bottom to top is…

The Truth About Forever *

Speak *

Catherine, Called Birdy

Miss Spitefire *

The Floating Island

The Thief Queens Daughter

The Hollow Kingdom *

Just Listen *

Someone Like You

That Summer

Dreamland

This Lullaby

Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City *

Annie, Between the States *

I, Coriander *

The Poison Apples

Carpe Diem

The Foundling

* Rereads

Okay, I need to remove some of those books from my stack because I’ve already read the first six listed.

   Well, this turned into a much longer and more rambling post than I expected. I’ll be impressed if you read the whole thing. It’s just that I started out talking about one thing, and then that led to another, which led to another. What can I say? Zees sings do ‘appen.

Leigha