this little bookie came out today...

i LOVE bakerella. her baking blog is fascinating, she's a total dessert artist. her cake pops are pretty much her signature dessert, and she just came out with her first book that is nothing but cake pops. so cute. i think i might buy it for a christmas present for a certain relative...

reading this right now...

and loving it!

i was so excited to buy it when it came out yesterday.

i'm halfway through and can't wait to see how it ends.

if you haven't read the first two, here they are:

amazing story. after reading each one, i just kept thinking about it for days afterward. so good.

new book: the goose girl

i was kind of hesitant about it, even though i heard it was a good read, because i've read a couple of other shannon hale books and i find them sometimes kind of...boring. it's like she's intentionally writing for a junior high class room with good, standard morals and plucky heroines that you could write an essay about...and it doesn't help that at the back of each book it provides questions for classroom discussions.

but i really enjoyed it. i really like the little world she's created and the story kept me turning pages, i read it start to finish in 3 hours while on a plane. there's 3 other books in the bayern series and i'm looking forward to reading them. i love finding a new book i like, and then finding out there's a whole series.

from left to right, books 2, 3 and 4.

(sorry for the little hiatus from the daily posts. summertime = going out of town.)

i read a pretty fantastic book the other day...

here's the synopsis from shannon hale's website:

When Dashti, a maid, and Lady Saren, her mistress, are shut in a tower for seven years because of Saren’s refusal to marry a man she despises, the two prepare for a very long and dark imprisonment.

As food runs low and the days go from broiling hot to freezing cold, it is all Dashti can do to keep them fed and comfortable. With the arrival outside the tower of Saren’s two suitors—one welcome, the other decidedly less so—the girls are confronted with both hope and great danger, and Dashti must make the desperate choices of a girl whose life is worth more than she knows.

With Shannon Hale’s lyrical language, this little-known classic fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm is reimagined and reset in a land inspired by the Asian steppes; it is a completely unique retelling filled with adventure and romance, drama and disguise.

i really enjoyed it and finished it in about 2 days. the story was compelling and i found myself thinking about it when i wasn't reading it. i'm still thinking about it.

the main character, dashti, is such a strong presence throughout the book. she moved the story forward with her actions and i felt like she wasn't just there in order to narrate the book. (it's written in journal format: "day 1, day 187, etc" from dashti's point of view).

the other main character, lady saren, who dashti serves, was pretty annoying and i only (sort of) liked her at the end. but shannon hale wrote it so that you felt sympathy for her and understood why she was so annoying. i always enjoy when authors make you sympathize with characters that you initially dislike. makes you question some people you might dislike in your own life...

and the romance was very sweet. i think that's part of what made me like this book more than other shannon hale books i've read. i'm such a sucker for romance.

all in all...a good read!

another book i love by sharon shinn:

summers at castle auburn.

i posted about her samaria series which i love to death, but if you're feeling overwhelmed by a 5-book series, summers at castle auburn is a fantastic stand alone book.

here's a synopsis i like from Booklist:

As the illegitimate daughter of a royal lord, young Corie has the best of two worlds. She spends idyllic summers at Castle Auburn, home of her father's family, and the rest of the year with her maternal grandmother, learning the healer's craft. At the castle, Corie is groomed by her uncle for an eventual political alliance through marriage, though she is too dazzled by her handsome cousin Bryan, heir to the throne, to notice. As the summers pass, however, Bryan shows his true colors. The brash, arrogant youth matures into a cruel and self-centered man; a man unfit to be king, some say. At the same time, Corie's eyes open to the misery of the magical aliora, whom she loves, but who are hunted for sport and enslaved by the nobility. Thus, at 17, amid a hotbed of family and political unrest, Corie comes of age, risking all that she loves for what she believes in her heart to be right. Her choices, and the woman she becomes, will change Castle Auburn forever.

i love this book because you instantly lose yourself in this little world that sharon shinn has created, and you either know or identify easily with the characters she writes.

i really wish she would write some sequels to this book, but the only other thing she's written in the auburn world is a short story. it's published in a book called quatrain that features 4 short stories from 4 of her more popular novels (including another samaria angel story! yes!). if you're a fan of her stuff already, than this book is just more of the same stories you already like.

like i said before, yes, she writes mostly fantasy novels, but her characters is what she focuses on...the fantasy stuff just enhances her already fantastic story and the interaction of her characters...read it! :)

new book series!

well, new to me anyway. i love when i discover a new book that i like, and then find that it has 3 sequels already and you don't have to wait. love that!

the first one below called "the luxe" came out in 2007 and it's very gossip girl in the late 19th century. i swear elizabeth holland is serena vanderwoodsen and penelope hayes is blair waldorf.

it's very pg-13 so you don't have to worry about recommending it to your mom...in fact, i read that about the young adult reading section itself in an article the other day. they called it the pg-13 section that mothers and teenage daughters can both read, hence, the twilight explosion.

i just finished the first one last night and can't wait to read the next three. oh, that red dress is gorgeous. i believe this one below is penelope, the coniving one, and the first one above is elizabeth, the "perfect" one.

and i'm not sure yet, but i think this one is diana, elizabeth's younger sister. LOVE these covers.

and the last one, "splendor", came out in october 2009. i'm again not sure yet, but judging from the back cover i think it's carolina broad, a social climber that was a servant in the first book.

anyway, the series has alot of great, interesting characters (although i swear they're just reincarnations of characters from other books i've read) and it's a good, entertaining read.

new book: fallen

sorry, i've been slacking on posts...but it's the holidays yo'.

i found a new book, it's like twilight but with a different supernatural secret.


i really liked the twist at the end, and i recommend this to anyone who likes a quick, entertaining read.

(p.s. i really like the cover, i think it's very appropriate. and pretty.)

sharon shinn is my favorite.

*sorry, this is a long post. but if you're looking for a new series of books to read, this series is one of my favorites.

as a former english major, i am constantly atoning for 4 years spent reading literature that i was forced to read by college professors. i still read the ol' work of literature now and then (most recently, pride and prejudice) but i think there's a part of everyone that enjoys the fluff. for me reading is an escape and i'd rather read fiction that anything else. or us weekly (which i realize is mostly fiction...). i feel like i should be improving my brain by reading great works of literature but for pete's sake sometimes i just want to read some meaningless highly entertaining FLUFF!

have you heard of a little book called twilight?

haha just kidding. while i do love the twilight series (just like all the other 20-something moms like myself), my favorite fiction writer is sharon shinn. you know those books you can read a million times and never get sick of? your comfort shelf books? her books have been on my comfort shelf since i read my first novel of hers, "archangel." yep, the word "angel" is in there and yes, it is about angels. but i promise you, it is nothing like you'd expect. she is an exquisite fantasy writer and blends the realms of fantasy and science fiction effortlessly. now don't get me wrong, whenever i hear the words "fantasy" and "science fiction" being applied to a book, i think of faeries and aliens - BLECH. but i would say the fantasy/science fiction ratio in her series is 90%/10%. she constructs this completely believeable world that is almost exactly like our own...except there's angels.

i don't think the premise is too confusing. it's in the future and a sect of people have left earth because of violence and nuking ourselves to oblivion (there's no writing about earth, it's all on the current planet) and they find a new world that is similar to earth's atmosphere, except it had super violent weather patterns making it almost uninhabitable. they needed to use their technology to control the weather but wanted the future generations to forget all connections with any kind of technology. why? because they want to live peacefully with zero technology because that's what destroyed their former planet.

now this is where it gets interesting. to make it possible for future generations to control the violent weather while at the same time cutting off all knowledge of technology, scientists grafted giant wings onto the backs of some men and women (and altered their genetic makeup so that they could produce more angel offspring in the future). these angels would be responsible for controlling the weather by flying into the sky and singing "prayers" to "jovah" that would abate a storm or ask for rain, thereby making it possible to live on their new planet. by withholding their knowledge of technology, the original settlers would ensure that the future generations would think that the angels were "praying" to a "god" - although it is actually genetically altered men and women singing aural cues to give orders to the ginormous spaceship orbitting in the sky above them all. and they had to give them wings because the spaceship can't hear "prayers" from the planet's surface, they have to be sung as physically close to the spaceship as possible.

sound confusing? each combination of notes in a song an angel sings is like a code asking the spaceship, or who they think is jovah, for a certain request. over time, people viewed the angels as religious leaders rather than just convenient weather controllers.

oh, and also, if the majority of the people did not get together every year on the same exact day and sing the gloria to assure the "god" that they're living in harmony, the spaceship will "smite" them all with lightning bolts and everyone dies. hence, harmony is essential. although, technically, just because some songs are sung every year on the same day doesn't mean a spaceship cares whether or not someone is unhappy or someone dies, etc. but the people of samaria don't know that...

anyways, that's just the set-up. the first book takes place hundreds of years after all that has taken place and the religiously centered technology deprived society is already in full swing.

and of course, there's romance - something that makes any story worth reading to me. not the kinky romance novel kind - just good ol' fashioned love stories.

she also explores societal issues: slavery, social cast, race, religion, commerce, politics, power, etc. she creates this completely believeable world that practially mirrors our own, and more importantly, she creates completely believeable characters. you genuinely care what happens to them, just like i care about what happens to jim and pam on the office because, yes, they are real people to me...ha.

i wholeheartedly love this series. and pretty much anything else she writes.

here are the titles, covers and a snyposis for each book in her samaria series:

(side note: i think the covers are made to grab people's attention and don't really convey the actual tone of the story)

book # 1: "archangel"
"Through science, faith, and the force of will, the Harmonics carved out for themselves a society that they perceived as perfect. Diverse peoples held together by respect for each other and the prospect of swift punishment if their laws were disobeyed. Fertile land that embraced a variety of climates and seasons. Angels to guard the mortals, and mystics to guard the forbidden knowledge. Jehovah to watch over them all... Generations later, the armed space cruiser Jehovah still looms over the planet Samaria, programmed to unleash its arsenal if peace is not sustained. But an age of corruption has come to the land, threatening that peace and placing the Samarians in grave danger. Their only hope lies in the crowning of a new Archangel. The oracles have chosen for this honor the angel named Gabriel, and further decreed that he must first wed a mortal woman named Rachel. It is his destiny and hers. And Gabriel is certain that she will greet the news of her betrothal with enthusiasm, and a devotion to duty equal to his own. Rachel, however, has other ideas..."

book # 2: "jovah's angel"
One hundred and fifty years have passed since the tenure of the Archangel Gabriel and his angelica Rachel, a time of peace and stability. But now, great storms are sweeping the lands, the deserts flood, and the skies rain down death and destruction. Then the proud and beautiful Archangel Delilah falls victim to the rage of wind, as she is torn from the sky, her wing broken. She can no longer soar in the heavens, guiding and guarding those below. She can no longer be first among the angels. Never before have the oracles had to choose a new Archangel while one still lived. And though Jovah's anger blows all about them, still they must consult him. His choice - the angel Alleluia, a solitary scholar of undistinguished lineage. Now the fate of the planet rests with the reluctant Archangel Alleluia, who believes in her duty and her god. And her fate in turn, may well depend on the mortal Caleb, a man who believes only in science - and himself.

book # 3: "the alleluia files"
Legend has it that the Alleluia Files contain the truth about the god of Samaria. Now, a child raised in captivity among the angels will journey the length and breadth of her world to seek the documents that will alter the face of Samaria forever...

*and then, just because she's awesome, shinn wrote TWO MORE books for this series:

book # 4: "angelica" takes place 200 years before book # 1, "archangel."
Two hundred years ago, the god Jovah created a legion of land-dwelling angels, led by an appointed Archangel. Now, Jovah has a new appointee: Archangel Gaaron. For his life-mate, his Angelica, Jovah has chosen a woman named Susannah. Slowly, an unspoken affection develops between the two. But there is a terrible threat besetting the land--and the true hearts of Archangel and Angelica may never be known.

book # 5: "angel seeker" takes place a few years after "archangel" ends, so it gets to revisit some of my favorite characters from book one.
Award-winning author Sharon Shinn returns to the fascinating world of Samaria in a richly romantic tale that begins where Archangel left off. In that time, the women who craved the attention of angels were known as angel-seekers, a term used with awe by some-and scorn by others.

Elizabeth was born to wealth, but circumstances forced her to live as a servant in her cousin's household. Determined to change her life, she travels to the town of Cedar Hills, hoping that an angel will take notice of her, and take her as his own.

Rebekah is a daughter of the Jansai tribe, raised to hate the angels. But when she finds an injured angel near her village, she defies her upbringing to care for him.

In time, these two women, whose paths will cross, will both find what they long for, in surprising-and dangerous-ways.

all right, i know this post has been a novel unto itself, but i promise you if you like twilight or romance or fantasy at all, then you will immediately buy all 5 of these books and enjoy some fluff-reading bliss.

(for an entire list of sharon shinn's books, go to her website here. after you read these books and fall in love with her writing, i would next read the twelve houses series.)