Showing posts with label graceling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label graceling. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

top ten books I don't talk up enough

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted over at the Broke and the Bookish. This week's theme is: "March 22: Ten Books I Really Love But Feel Like I Haven't Talked About Enough/In A While," and I am really grateful for the chance to look back into my bookish past and rediscover some old faves that I may have forgotten about!

1. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree, spends the first years of her life under her aunt's guidance learning to communicate with animals. As she grows up Ani develops the skills of animal speech, but is never comfortable speaking with people, so when her silver-tongued lady-in-waiting leads a mutiny during Ani's journey to be married in a foreign land, Ani is helpless and cannot persuade anyone to assist her.
Becoming a goose girl for the king, Ani eventually uses her own special, nearly magical powers to find her way to her true destiny. Shannon Hale has woven an incredible, original and magical tale of a girl who must find her own unusual talents before she can become queen of the people she has made her own.




2. Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta– I'm dreaming of the boy in the tree. I tell him stories. About the Jellicoe School and the Townies and the Cadets from a school in Sydney. I tell him about the war between us for territory. And I tell him about Hannah, who lives in the unfinished house by the river. Hannah, who is too young to be hiding away from the world. Hannah, who found me on the Jellicoe Road six years ago.

Taylor is leader of the boarders at the Jellicoe School. She has to keep the upper hand in the territory wars and deal with Jonah Griggs—the enigmatic leader of the cadets, and someone she thought she would never see again.

And now Hannah, the person Taylor had come to rely on, has disappeared. Taylor's only clue is a manuscript about five kids who lived in Jellicoe eighteen years ago. She needs to find out more, but this means confronting her own story, making sense of her strange, recurring dream, and finding her mother—who abandoned her on the Jellicoe Road.
 
3. Graceling by Kristin CashoreKatsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight - she's a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king's thug.

When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change.

She never expects to become Po's friend.

She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace - or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away...




4. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell – Two misfits.
One extraordinary love.

Eleanor
... Red hair, wrong clothes. Standing behind him until he turns his head. Lying beside him until he wakes up. Making everyone else seem drabber and flatter and never good enough...Eleanor.

Park... He knows she'll love a song before he plays it for her. He laughs at her jokes before she ever gets to the punch line. There's a place on his chest, just below his throat, that makes her want to keep promises...Park.

Set over the course of one school year, this is the story of two star-crossed sixteen-year-olds—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.


5. The Covenant Series by Jennifer L Armentrout The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi pure bloods have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals--well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures.

Seventeen-year-old Alexandria would rather risk her life fighting than waste it scrubbing toilets, but she may end up slumming it anyway. There are several rules that students at the Covenant must follow. Alex has problems with them all, but especially rule #1:Relationships between pures and halfs are forbidden. Unfortunately, she's crushing hard on the totally hot pure-blood Aiden. But falling for Aiden isn't her biggest problem--staying alive long enough to graduate the Covenant and become a Sentinel is.

If she fails in her duty, she faces a future worse than death or slavery: being turned into a daimon, and being hunted by Aiden. And that would kind of suck.

6. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. The only problem is, once you pass through Coldtown's gates, you can never leave.

One morning, after a perfectly ordinary party, Tana wakes up surrounded by corpses. The only other survivors of this massacre are her exasperatingly endearing ex-boyfriend, infected and on the edge, and a mysterious boy burdened with a terrible secret. Shaken and determined, Tana enters a race against the clock to save the three of them the only way she knows how: by going straight to the wicked, opulent heart of Coldtown itself.

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is a wholly original story of rage and revenge, of guilt and horror, and of love and loathing from bestselling and acclaimed author Holly Black.
 
7. This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales Making friends has never been Elise Dembowski’s strong suit. All throughout her life, she’s been the butt of every joke and the outsider in every conversation. When a final attempt at popularity fails, Elise nearly gives up. Then she stumbles upon a warehouse party where she meets Vicky, a girl in a band who accepts her; Char, a cute, yet mysterious disc jockey; Pippa, a carefree spirit from England; and most importantly, a love for DJing.

Told in a refreshingly genuine and laugh-out-loud funny voice, This Song Will Save Your Life is an exuberant novel about identity, friendship, and the power of music to bring people together
.





8. Inkheart by Cornelia Funke 12 year-old Meggie lives with her father, Mortimer, a bookbinder. Mo never reads stories aloud to Meggie because he has a special gift: when he reads a book aloud, the characters come out of the book and into the real world.

One night, when Meggie was a small child, Mortimer was reading aloud from a book named Inkheart when an evil villain named Capricorn, his aide Basta, and a fire-eater named Dustfinger escape from the book and into their living room. At the same time, Mo's wife Resa gets trapped within the book .

Twelve years later, Capricorn is on a hunt to find and destroy all copies of Inkheart and use Mo's abilities to gain more power for himself in the real world. Meggie discovers her father's secret and, along with the help of Dustfinger and Meggie's eccentric aunt Elinor, fights to free her father and destroy Capricorn.

9. Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge Based on the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, Cruel Beauty is a dazzling love story about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny.

Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him.

With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she's ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.

But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle—a shifting maze of magical rooms—enthralls her.

As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex's secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love.

10. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.

We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart.

Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.
 


what is on your lists this week? 

xx
Caroline 

Sunday, March 15, 2015

spotlight on: fantasy

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

There is something that I've been wanting to bring to These Stardust Words for quite some time, and that is a spotlight series. every month, I want to take a different facet of the bookish lifestyle and highlight it. Be it genre, covers, shipping, writing styles, etc, every month there will be a different theme under our spotlight! 

For March, I want to spotlight a genre, and specifically fantasy. Usually I can manage one or two fantasy books a month before I feel myself slumping and have to go for a more contemporary feeling, but lately I have been tearing through some truly amazing fantasy, one after the other. 

Though I know fantasy is an acquired taste for some, I truly believe that there is a fantasy book or series out there for everyone. So in an attempt to lead those who are less fantastically-inclined in their reading choices to some magical worlds, I've included middle grade, young adult and adult selections. In the adult section, there are some picks for perhaps the more adventurous souls. 

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

top ten tuesday: badass book heroines

Hello all! I'm sorry I've been relatively absent from the blogging sphere for the past couple of weeks, but I've had midterms and an insane amount of writing to do, so that took precedence. But I am back and my schedule is clear for the next couple weeks, so lets talk heroines!

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Bookshelf Scavenger Hunt

Hello and welcome back to These Stardust Words! Today, we're going to be attempting a booktube challenge, which I first saw on Christine and Katy's channels! The challenge was originally created by Sarah, and now its to be attempted by yours truly! The rules are simple- there is a clue given, and you must scour your bookshelf to find a book that fits the description. In the interest of being honest, I'm going to use all my own photos... crappy ones taken off my phone, but mine all the same.

First, here are my shelves.












































Sunday, December 15, 2013

Bookish Identity Tag

1) What dystopian/fantastical world would you live in?

V: Everyone says this during the tag, but I have to wonder- who would live in a dystopian world? I'm not ready to off into the Hunger Games. I'm a fantastical world fan to start with, it's taken me awhile to get into the whole dystopian world thing. (ok...I can actually see myself living in the Shatter Me world if I can be with Warner, but...) so for this answer I'm going with... The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare. Sunny and I said no having the same answers, so you can have Harry Potter Sunny! Merry Christmas! I would love being a Shadowhunter, though. I could travel the world and go to different institutes, I'd be a badass Shadowhunter...yeah. Shadowhunter world. I'm goin' to Alicante, woo!

S: I agree with Vi on this one. Going to Panem? No, thanks. But there are plenty of fantasy worlds I'd be perfectly happy to go into. Harry Potter is an obvious choice, but I also really like the Graceling world... so I'm vacillating and then: DING. I'm going to Camp Half Blood. I want to pick strawberries and swim in the lake and scale the lava climbing wall! I want to be friends with Percy, Annabeth and Grover and be taught by Chiron. I even want to play Pinochle with Mr. D. As long as I'm not the child of a lame god. I'd be someone with super awesome powers and a pegasus. 

2) Who would your partner be?

S: I mean. What kind of a person would I be if I didn't choose my husband, the love of my life, hands-down best male protagonist in the history of the world? Will Herondale. We'd be living in London, happily running about, all badassery and bravado, killing demons and such, then return to hearth and home and hole up in the library reading everything in existence together. The feels. THE FEELS. 

V: If you guys haven't heard, Sunny over here has been reading The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black. I read this book sometime back in er...October? And I. FELL. IN. LOVE. WITH. GAVRIEL. Oh Gavriel my love, the mad poet who is secretly the most awesome person in the entire book and kicks butt and is so loyal and loving but also crazy and powerful and obsessive and poetic and freaking AWESOME. He freaking rocks! Gavriel is the singular most unpredictable, wild, fantastic guy I've read this year. I LOVED READING THIS BOOK BECAUSE OF HIM. Gavriel and I can be happily married and in love and just happily ever after. The end. 


3) Who would be your godly mother/father? [Percy Jackson]

INCLUDES SPOILERS FOR PERCY JACKSON

V: Ok, so I've only read Percy Jackson and the Olympians, not the Heroes of Olympus yet, but I'm going to have to go with Hades. Hades was always a mythological character that fascinated me. Plus, ask Sunny, I'm weird. But I could totally see myself being (SPOILER FOR PJO HERE) Bianca de Angelo and kicking butt. Except, you know (AGAIN A SPOILER I'M SORRY) actually living...but see Persephone is also a character that interested me a lot, so I don't want to have her dislike me like she does Nico, so can I be Hades and Persephone's daughter? Or like a demigod but their demigod? Because Persephone isn't a major god so I want this to work...HEADCANON.

S: This isn't one that's like majorly focused on in the book, but this is one I imagine to be really awesome. I'm going to say this is how I think of being a kid of this god to be, even if it wouldn't actually be like this in the books. So I think it'd be awesome to be the daughter of Apollo. He's archery, medicine, poetry, music AND THE SUN. THE SUN. If Percy can control water, Jason air, Leo fire, why can't a child of Apollo control light? I would be burning people to a crisp with THE POWER OF SUNLIGHT. Bam. And I'd be Katniss. And I'd be healing those bitches with my mind. And singing while I did it. I just really like Apollo ok. 

- Would you be a downworlder or nephilim? [Shadowhunter world]

S: Nephilim. FO SHIZ. I mean, I'm not really digging being a werewolf or vampire, and I like the powers of a warlock but I don't really want to live forever. But being a whip-slinging, rune-drawing, black leather wearing badass of a Nephilim. That I could reconcile myself with. Like IMMEDIATELY. Also if I could live in the London institute and be married to a Herondale that would be much appreciated. 

V: NEPHILIM NEPHILIM NEPHILIM. I was already living in the Shadowhunter world as a Shadowhunter, so what else can I say? For more, see fangirling above in question one!


- Which house would you be in? [Harry Potter]

V: Pottermore sorted me into Slytherin, and I hadn't really thought of what house I'd be in. Then Sunny told me about a super legit Harry Potter house quiz- link it sister!- and I took it. SLYTHERIN! And I really like that about myself. So Slytherins are NOT all the terrible thugs people make us out to be. We're very loyal to each other (Slytherin is like a family, people, we don't step on each other in a competition we look out for each other), we can trust people, but trust is essential to a Slytherin. We're ambitious so we get what we need to done. But we can still have fun, enjoy music, all the ordinary things. I really love being Slytherin, and I'll wear my green and silver proudly. Also, we do get along with people of other houses. Promise. Also, mini rant aside, Draco Malfoy in a Very Potter Musical was awesome!!!

S: Ok so Pottermore sorted me into Gryffindor, which, tbh kind of surprised me. I had myself pegged for a Ravenclaw, but after I took a second quiz (LINK) and I still got Gryffindor, I could see it definitely. I do, in fact, tend to rush into situations without thinking, and while usually I can pull it off, sometimes it backfires in my face. I do tend to have very few fears, either out of stupidity or bravery (or both), and I'm very loyal to a small group of friends. Also, if Hermoine Granger can be a Gryffindor, so can I. (even though the ravenclaw common room is still the coolest thing at Hogwarts). So: I finally have my HOUSE PRIDE! And Vi and I get along pretty well, for a Slytherin and a Gryffindor. :) 

- Which faction would you be in? [Divergent]

V: Dauntless. Let's go jump out of a train guys. 

S: What she said. 

- We wanted to add a question that I really liked: What would your Grace be? [Graceling]

V: It has been FOREVER since I've read these books. But Sunny said I could pick anything. I want to say weaponsmaster like sword and bow because that would be practical in that world. But I'd want to be away from the influence of the king so I wouldn't be used like Katsa. So, a rogue weaponsmaster? That sounds like an interesting life... 

S: I really love the Graceling world. It is one of my favorite series, but if I was to live there I'd just have to be graced. I think I'd want to be graced with the ability to control the elements. Air, wind, fire, earth. That would be super awesome, and no one would be able to touch me. 

Hope you enjoyed! Comment your answers below!

xx

S (+V) 




Sunday, November 17, 2013

Tip Top 25 Favorite Books/Series

This is probably one of the hardest things I've ever tried to do. Narrowing down the hundreds of books I've read in my life to a slim list of the top twenty-five books/series. I tried to be selective, at first only putting down the books that I would save if I only had thirty seconds to pick books, but then I couldn't leave out any of my other favorites, sitting there, staring at me with their sad book faces...
I went a little crazy, I think.
In the end, I came up with fifteen series and ten stand-alones, all of which I feel adequately represent my reading choices, at least for the past few years. If you haven't read one or many of these books, I definitely recommend every single one of them! It doesn't matter your taste in books, I truly believe that all of these books have something for everyone.

80% Read the Printed Word!