Where does the time go?

Today, we celebrated my daughters 6th birthday! Crazy, I know! Hard to believe that she's 6 years old now. We had a birthday party over the weekend, but had a little celebration at home today. We read (well, she read it to me) Jazlyn J's Birthday Celebration by Renna Bruce and Robin Oakes

We were lucky enough to have been able to pick this book up at our local Coles, and actually get Renna Bruce to sign it with a little message to our daughter. She was delighted!
For any parents out there looking for some great, educational and inspiring books for their kids, or gifts, these books are great. This is only our second Jazlyn J book, but our family enjoys them a lot. We also have Jazlyn J Gets a Goal, signed by Renna Bruce, and Walter Gretzky.

Anyways, this was just a quick "Happy Birthday" post to my daughter, and I just wanted to share what we read together today!

Gravity Brings Me Down by Natale Ghent

Published: August 25, 2009
Publisher: Doubleday Canada


Summary: A smart and thoughtful story about self-discovery, acceptance, and finding friendship — all in the places you’d least expect.

Sioux Smith is sharp, funny, and wry, and is pretty certain that she sees the world of high school differently from everyone else — a belief that is cemented when she makes an uneasy discovery about one of her school’s “popular” teachers. And while she feels alone at her high school and in her unique slant on small-town life, Sioux finds a kindred spirit in the most unlikely of people: an elderly stranger, who has more insight despite her progressing dementia than anyone else in Sioux’s life. What Sioux and “Miss Marple” learn about each other over tea, illicitly secreted wine, and Coronation Street, makes for a novel with heart and grit in equal measure.

My Review: This book was a prize I won, and before getting this book in the mail (with some other awesome swag) I’d never heard of Natale Ghent. Flipping through the pages, I was surprised to see some little pictures and drawings in the book.
Sioux Smith is the main character of this story and I think one of the best traits about her is that she is so easy to relate to. She feels alone a lot of the time, has parent / family issues and to be honest, she doesn’t really enjoy high school. (Maybe I can relate more, because of my feelings toward my time in high school) Miss Marple, the elderly woman Sioux meets in an unexpected situation, is a sincere old lady and right away the two of them become friends. It’s an odd friendship and Sioux realizes this, but it is a friendship in the end that means so much to both of them.
The back cover describes Sioux as “…sharp, funny, and wry…” and she certainly is all of those. While reading Gravity Brings Me Down I was laughing out loud, and really just having a good time reading it. It was an easy and quick read, but enjoyable nonetheless. The characters are honest, sincere and funny, and the plot is easy and believable. Natale Ghent has a great writing style that many can enjoy, which is the reason why I picked up a copy of her novel, The Book of Living and Dying.
Overall, Gravity Brings Me Down is a great read! For the teens going through high school now, you may feel as if you’re reading an excerpt of your own high school life. And as someone who has gone through high school, it will have you reminiscing in those past years.

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

Published: March 25, 2008
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

Summary: Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what''s normal when you''re a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who''s becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn''t ready to let her go-especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary''s only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil-and also her father.
To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings-and if he is, what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms right in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?

In this breathtaking sequel to City of Bones, Cassandra Clare lures her readers back into the dark grip of New York City''s Downworld, where love is never safe and power becomes the deadliest temptation.

My Review: This is book 2 of Cassandra Clare’s New York Times Bestselling series, “The Mortal Instruments”. If you’ve read my review of Book 1, City of Bones, then you’ll know that I wasn’t all that impressed at the beginning, and it took me a while (chapter 14 to be exact) to get into reading it. That was bot the case with City of Ashes. I enjoyed every page of this book, and I didn’t want to ever put it down. It kept me on the edge of my seat with the storyline, and the characters. First off, the storyling was intriguing, original and exciting. And the characters were fun, complex and easy to empathize with. For me, I do have a “book crush” on Jace, and this book didn’t change that at all! If anything, while fulfilling my need to visualize and read about Jace, it had me crushing on him even harder.Once again, Cassandra Clare’s writing is incredible. Throughout City of Ashes, I could imagine everything. Down to the little details even. “Jace’s voice was still crisp and cool but with an edge to it now, autum leaves frosted with a sheen of hard ice” (page 225, City of Ashes) is an example of Clare’s superb writing. I got chills when I read that line because I totally heard exactly how Jace’s voice would sound.Needless to say, I was so glad that I stuck with this series and read City of Ashes, because it was truly an excellent read, and Cassandra Clare’s writing is something that I couldn’t get tired of!

In My Mailbox (September 26, 2010)

In My Mailbox credit goes to The Story Siren

This week was a good week for me! My daughter and I went to The Word on the Street and we picked up a ton of books! She was lucky enough to pick up over 25 books; novels, picture books, song books, etc.

Bought / Picked up from The Word on the Street:

Because She Can by Bridie Clark
Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan
The Last of Her Kind by Sigrid Nunez
The Book of Living and Dying by Natale Ghent
Married Lovers by Jackie Collins
Bones to Ashes by Kathy Reichs

Gift:

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

Won:

ARC of The Distant Hours by Kate Morton

Signed copy of Fauna by Alissa York

A huge thanks to Simon & Schuster Canada and Random House Canada for the prizes this week!

In My Mailbox (September 19, 2010)

In My Mailbox credit goes to The Story Siren

This is my first "In My Mailbox" and I'm so excited to share with you guys what I got this week!

Bought:

The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

City of Ashes (Book Two in The Mortal Instuments series) by Cassandra Clare

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Published: March 27, 2007
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

Summary: When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder-much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing-not even a smear of blood-to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?
This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know. . . .

My Review: Okay, so I'm going to admit that I was disappointed while reading this book. I had such high expectations of this book. After reading Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare and absolutely loving and devouring it, I was so looking forward to reading this one. But seriously, I felt as if I was reading Clockwork Angel again, but with different character names, and not as interesting a setting. I mean, in Clockwork Angel we had Will, Jem, and Tessa (Jessamine too). In City of Bones we had Jace, Alec and Clary (Along with Isabelle). Sure, these characters weren't exactly the same, but they were pretty darn close. (Will and Jace - both are cocky and conceited, come on, Jace even said "my one true love remains myself" pg 354. Tessa and Clary - both completley oblivious to this whole other world until one day when they are exposed, and thrown into it. I could also compare Jessamine with Isabelle and how similar they are -but I wont)
At first, I wasn't into this book, it took me a lot longer to get into the groove of it, but I stuck to it because there was something in it that made me know it wouldn't be a complete waste of a book. And I'm pretty sure its Cassandra Clare and the way she writes. She has an amazing skill with putting detail in her novels without going over board and making it too much. Her characters are real and mysterious. The detail to the setting was there for sure, but I didn't get the same "wow, this setting is so real" feeling like I did with Clockwork Angel.
But let me tell you this, things started to look up around chapters 14 and 15. The book got very interesting here, and fun! This is, thankfully, where the story started to be its own story! From here on, I could picture in my mind everything that was happening. I enjoyed City of Bones from chapter 14 onward almost to the point of being able to forget that the first part was hard to get into.
But overall, I was glad I read the book, and yeah, I liked it! (I wasn't able to put the book down after chapter 14, and I finished it within a few hours of reading.)

"Catch Up With Hush, Hush Before Crescendo Drops Giveaway!"

No, this isn't my contest!

But you can still enter it. What's up for grabs, you ask? Well, its your very own hard copy of Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick. This New York Times Bestseller that was first published October 13 2009 has been a controversial read ever since. Some love it, some hate it. Now here's your chance to read it, and decide for yourself. With the upcoming and highly anticipated Crescendo (book 2 of the sereies) hitting bookshelves October 19 2010, we all want to get our hands on a copy of Hush, Hush. So all you need to do is go on over to YABookshelf, and enter!

And while you're there, check out some of the reviews posted!

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling

Published: August 31, 2000
Publisher: Raincoast Books

Summary: Harry Potter thinks he is an ordinary boy - until he is rescued by an owl, taken to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, learns to play Quidditch and does battle in a deadly duel. The Reason: Harry Potter is a wizard!

My Review: Just a quick note here, this is my second time reading this wonderful series, but this time around, I’m reading them with my daughter. (Who, to be honest, has always had a bit of a fascination with Harry Potter) So with that said… what a truly great read this was! It was simple, but complex enough to keep it interesting. J.K Rowling has a way with words when writing and I love how she pulls the reader in. I was laughing throughout this book, and engaged while reading. (My daughter was too during reading time and after when she was running around casting spells and such)
The characters in Harry Potter are wonderful, and believable. We have Harry Potter who is an amazing kid, and been through so much in his life but still manages to have integrity and honour. Next we have Ron, and he’s just a funny guy who is a little misunderstood because of his hand-me down robes and his red hair and freckles. Hermione is a rule following, teachers pet kind of gal that we all love because of her intellect and her ability to keep Harry and Ron out of harms way (some of the time). But one of my favourites is Neville and that might be because I hear about him none stop when my daughter talks about the books. He is just a one of a kind character!
The story-line of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is creative, the plot has twists and turns, the writing style is flawless and the characters are absolutely unforgettable. Overall, I would definitely recommend this magical read to children and adult alike!

Room by Emma Donoghue

Published:September 7, 2010
Publisher:HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

Summary: To five-year-old-Jack, Room is the world....It's where he was born, it's where he and his Ma eat and sleep and play and learn. There are endless wonders that let loose Jack's imagination-the snake under Bed that he constructs out of eggshells, the imaginary world projected through the TV, the coziness of Wardrobe beneath Ma's clothes, where she tucks him in safely at night, in case Old Nick comes.
Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it's the prison where she's been held since she was nineteen-for seven long years. Through her fierce love for her son, she has created a life for him in that eleven-by-eleven-foot space. But Jack's curiosity is building alongside her own desperation-and she knows that Room cannot contain either indefinitely....

My Review: This book was definitely an interesting read. Don't get me wrong, it was interesting in a good way. Room had me sitting on the edge of my seat and flipping the pages so fast so that I wouldn't miss anything. Starting this book, I had no idea what I was getting myself into as this was an ARC from a Twitter contest. Upon arrival of the book, I was still unaware of what type of book it was or what it was about really. The box Room came in read "Room's not on any map" and the back of the book was blank! But this didn't discourage me because I'm up to reading just about anything. At the end of this book, I was not disappointed at all and I was so glad that I had the chance to read it! I finished the book, and honestly, put it down and said "wow". The plot was full of twists and had me guessing and needing to read to find out more. The writing was very descriptive, the storyline and the characters unique. The characters in this novel are believable, and I felt for them while I was reading, and after I put the book down each night. Emma Donoghue really knows how to have her characters leave an impression. The narrator being a 5 year old little boy made this read so unforgettable! This book will have you thinking for days on end even after finishing it.

Not book related,

but very important nonetheless! Unfortunately I didn't get much reading done this past weekend, but I have a good excuse! I was in Toronto seeing a concert of pure perfection! Yes, that's right, I saw City and Colour!! (along with Tegan and Sara who were just as fabulous, Ra Ra Riot and Wintersleep too!) Dallas Green has the most amazing voice and to see him perform live was unforgettable! He has power and emotion and so much more in his voice as well as his lyrics - it gives me chills just thinking about it actually! City and Colour played a bunch of my favourites, along with a few new ones, and a song where Tegan and Sara were brought out to perform alongside Dallas. There was an encore (of coruse, right?!) where Dallas covered an Alexisonfire song - Happiness By The Kilowatt, and a huge surprise performance of Sleeping Sickness with Gordon Downie! Overall, it was a fantastic night that had me singing for days instead of reading!