Jinx by Meg Cabot

Hey

So it’s been a while since I have blogged and this is due to the avalanche of homework I have. I did the not so smart thing and left most of my homework left to the last two weeks of holidays. There’s sooooo much, a little introduction into year twelve I suppose. This means that I will be blogging much less than I had hoped. I will endeavor to blog at least once a fortnight if not once a week. But I really wanted to post something so here is a little mini review of Meg Cabot’s Jinx. Enjoy!

Does Jinx have bad luck - or special powers?
Misfortune has followed Jean Honeychurch all her life - which is how she earned the nickname Jinx. And now her parents have shipped her off to New York City to stay with relatives - including her sophisticated cousin Tory - until the trouble she's caused back home dies down.
Could she even be . . . a WITCH?
Tory is far too cool to bother with Jinx - until Jinx's chronic bad luck wreaks havoc in Tory's perfect life--including causing Tory's crush, Zack, to start paying way too much attention to her red-headed cousin from Iowa. Only then does Jinx discover that beneath Tory's big-city glamour lies a world of hatred and revenge. Now it seems that the jinx that's driven Jean crazy may just be the only thing that can save her life . . .

How have I not read this book before? I love Meg Cabot and have read all her books but this one, until now. I told my book reading friend Nat I hadn’t read it and she laughed at me! It’s been sitting in my bookshelf for about a year and for some unknown reason I was reluctant to read it. I was crazy! I read it in one day and found that like other Meg Cabot books that I loved it. 

Jinx is such an innocent, adorable well meaning person that I fell in love with her straight away. As a character she’s really kind and a little naive which makes her all the more endearing to readers. I felt a connection to her because generally in my group of friends I’m like Jinx, naive and innocent when it comes to some aspects of being a stereotypical “teenager”. 

 Zack is the boy next door, literally. He’s sweet and funny and their relationship makes me smile. Tory is a great antagonist and I felt a bit sorry for her although her actions are a little unbelievable. 

I loved the whole witch aspect to Jinx; I find different religions including Wicca and the past actions towards witches quite interesting. I thought it was great the novel tries to make people understand that generally religions like Wicca that involve “witches” aren’t the stereotypical witches we see in pop culture and that in fact they are more about harmony and nature. I thought the plot was really interesting and while a little stereotypical still surprised me. I love Meg’s style of writing; her novels are always funny and great reads. 

I loved reading Jinx; it was cute, funny and easy to read. 

I can’t wait to read Meg’s new novel Abandon when it comes out. As always comments are appreciated.

Also, Jess from The Tales Compendium, thank you so much for the recommendation for Skulduggery Pleasant, my dad started reading the first book and he loves it:) I haven't read it yet but as soon as he's finished that book is mine! Oh and happy blogoversary!

Hope your all enjoying your holidays if you have them:D

Winnie the Pooh!

Hi my names Monique
Everyone:*Hi Monique*
And I am a Disney addict

Leader: "So Monique tell us how it all started"
Me: "Well, I guess growing up in what they call the "Golden age of Disney" the 90s may have had something to do with it. I saw the Little Mermaid and her voice, I was captivated and wished everyday to be able to sing like that. I became obsessed. Unfortunately to this day the wish remains unfulfilled however my obsession with Disney has stuck with me. I laugh, scream and cry at Disney art, rush to see and buy Disney movies and have Disney related discussions with my friends. In maths my friends and I named polynomials Hercules to make maths more tolerable. In fact one day when I have kids I shall name them Simba, Aladdin, Mulan and Pumba! and-
Leader: Thank you Monique that's enough now-
Me: "No!! I must explain the depth of my love for Disney I.... hey what are you doing, let go of my arms, don't drag me out! DISNEY FOREVER!! I will be back!!!"

Okay, so the part about naming my kids Pumba, Simba and Aladdin are a lie but the rest is true. I'm still considering Mulan:) Yes, among my many addictions Disney is one of them. Why am I bringing up this topic? Well because last year I found this awesome trailer for Winnie the Pooh, the movie in traditional Disney style!

(Sorry its so small, I'm not sure how to make it bigger)  And I thought I should share it with you guys, whether you be Disney fans or not no one can deny how adorable this trailer is! For those of you who like the song it's called Somewhere Only We Know by Kenane. I love Christopher Robins accent! It is sooo cute! It's supposed to be out in the US in July so I'm not sure about Australia, and then again it could change as release dates sometimes do.

Who is your favorite character from Winne the Pooh? I can't choose! I suppose if I had to it would be Piglet or Eeyore. I never much liked Rabbit, I always thought he was a girl for some reason, then again I thought Tweety was a girl, I must have bad gender distinction skills

In terms of Disney Animated movie characters as I said Ariel  from the Little Mermaid was always my favorite because of her voice. Then of course looking at awesome bad-ass skills there's Mulan and Meg from Hercules is one sassy, sarcastic love interest. In terms of boys Aladdin was always my favorite, who wouldn't fall in love with that street rat and laugh at Genie. Hercule's is a close second. For animal characters you can't go past Mushu and I have a soft spot for both Abu in Aladdin and Meeko in Pocahontas. Hades is a pretty awesome villain and Ursula always freaked me out.

Now for one of the best parts: songs! Some of my favourite songs are Disney songs from movies! A Whole New World from Aladdin and Part of Your world from The Little Mermaid are fighting for top position. Hakuna Matata and I'll Make a Man out of you are both in play list I listen to before tests to get pumped (I may or may not have broken some items while training to be a man). Zero to Hero, I won't Say I'm In Love, Colours of the Wind, Beauty and the Beast, Love Will Find A Way and Can you Feel the Love Tonight are just some of my other favorites.

There's just something magical about Disney movies. I mean admittedly they aren't always the best in terms of morals (Ariel changes herself to be with a guy, so anti-feminist) but they do have some good ones. Mulan- It doesn't matter what gender you are, you can do anything. Well actually that's the only one I can think of at the moment...... a little help? Anyway moving on, it doesn't matter where or how old I am, whenever I watch a Disney movie or anything related I am instantly transported to back when I was six, I knew nothing bad in the world, and I could be transported to worlds where animals talked, magic existed, romance always worked out (Pocahontas excluded) and there was always a happy ending. No matter how untrue that is in the real world it always makes me feel a bit better just being in that world. As I said its something magical.

Okay so I used a whole post to express my love for Disney. Its out of my system....... for now MWUHAHAHAHAHAHAH (my attempt at a Disney villain laugh) So tell me some of your favorites and what you think of the trailer:D Are you as excited as I am?

Until next time:D 

Byes!

Reccomendations please!

So this is not a review, no this is a cry for help, assistance and overall expertise from my book loving/ knowledgeable friends!

So a while ago I got my dad into reading! Well, reading YA anyway. He used to read I think, if the shelf of books he has is anything to go by, but I haven't seen him read for many years. Except for the Harry Potter series, he read all of them along with my brother and I.

Recently he read all seven of them them again in preparation for the first installment of the last movie. After he finished reading the last book I figured I might get him to try reading the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini and the Rangers Apprentice series by John Flanagan, both of which I had been thinking of recommending to him for a while. And he actually loves reading them, he actually spends hours on the couch just reading:)

I think its so nice to have something in common with my dad, now we even have discussions about the books (we both think Halt is just hilarious), before we never had much to talk about and I'm really surprised that books are the thing that's bringing us close together, I bask in the awesome bringing-people-closer-together- power that books posses!!  My brother has accused my of bringing my dad over to the dork side, hey at least we have π! (Lame joke I know, but I still love it)

Anyway the problem is that my dad is nearly finished Brisingr, the third book in the Inheritance cycle and is about to read the Emperor of Nihon-Ja which is the current Ranger's Apprentice novel. Hence my plea for help. I need some recommendations to give him next, I'm fresh out of ideas. I gather that he likes books from a male perspective, slight romance is acceptable, and a fantasy element is appreciated. I've given him Percy Jackson to read but he hasn't read it yet, however I'm not sure he will like it as much as the others. So given that he has read Harry Potter, The Rangers Apprentice, Inheritance Cycle and about to read Percy Jackson can anyone give me some recommendations for some books he would like? Even if they don't fit the other books he has read but you think he would like it anyway please tell me! I really appreciate all your help.

So tell me how have books brought you closer to someone? And what other awesome super powers do books posses?

Bye!

Review: Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews

Happy New Year!!!!! Wow, its 2011 which means soon its  year 12 for me!! I can’t say I’m excited, since I have an avalanche of homework, which is the reason I haven’t posted anything for a while. A week of nothing but homework and I still have heaps more to go. If this is just the holiday homework for year 12 I shudder to think what actual year 12 is going to be like, it almost makes me want to cry. I have to work extra hard this year which meant it wasn’t the best idea to start a blog……  oh well, so how was your Christmas?

Mine was nice, we couldn’t visit relatives since the train was booked so we stayed home and my mum cooked. She’s Thai so she didn’t know how to cook the traditional Christmas food, so instead we had roast duck, marinated pork, and pork bread with cucumber dressing, chips and a tiramisu cake. Not the most conventional Christmas but really what counts as conventional? The main thing is that my family was with me, that was the best part. For Christmas I got the new iPod touch, I had to pay for some of it so I am terribly in debt, which means no buying books for a long while.

Lately I’ve been re-reading old books and the Percy Jackson series, but I have read a few ones that are new to me. I’ve started reading the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews and I love them! I read the first three and am anxiously awaiting the fourth from the library. So here is my second review of the first in this series, Magic Bites.

Review: Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews

Atlanta would be a nice place to live if it weren’t for the magic….  When the magic is up, rogue mages cast their spells and monsters appear, while guns refuse to fire and cars fail to start.  But then technology returns, and the magic recedes as unpredictably as it arose, leaving all kinds of paranormal problems in its wake.
Kate Daniels is a down-on-her-luck mercenary who makes her living cleaning up these magical problems.  But when Kate’s guardian is murdered, her quest for justice draws her into a power struggle between two strong factions within Atlanta’s magic circles.
The Masters of the Dead, necromancers who can control vampires, and the Pack, a paramilitary clan of shapechangers, blame each other for the bizarre killings – and the death of Kate’s guardian may be part of the same mystery.  Pressured by both sides to find the killer, Kate realises she’s way out of her league – but she wouldn’t have it any other way.

Magic Bites is the first novel of the Kate Daniels series written by both Ilona and Gordon Andrews who go under the pen name of Ilona Andrews. It is set in modern Atlanta, but not the one we know, the city experiences magic waves and flares that eats away at buildings and is at war with technology, and is home to vampires, magic users and shapechangers (oh my). Kate is a mercenary who cleans up problems caused by magic, she works alone and shuns all relationships, but when her guardian Greg is murdered and she is assigned to find who killed him she is unintentionally sucked into a potential war between the vampires and shapechangers. 

I love this type of book, for those of you who like the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs you will adore this series.

 Kate is tough, sarcastic character who jumps head first and thinks later. Because of her hidden powers she decides that caring about people would be a weakness so she has minimal contact with others, but ends up creating really strong friendships despite herself. Derek, or as she sometimes refers to him as her teenage werewolf sidekick is thrust upon her as a guard but becomes genuinely fond of her and she in turn feels protective of him. 

 Now for Curran *sigh*, Curran is now officially my new book crush. Curran is a shapechanger that shifts into a Lion and is the Beast Lord of Atlanta, meaning he is responsible for all the shapechangers in Atlanta and that they all answer to him. When a problem arises in the pack that they can’t solve without help he reluctantly calls for Kate. Their first meeting results in Kate both insulting him and challenging him which really shows the type of relationship they have. They have a heated not really romantic friendship with both trying to be the dominant one. They have this back and forth snappy dialogue that makes me smile every time I read a scene between them. I love those kinds of relationships in books. 

The plot is really interesting, both vampires and shapechangers have been turning up dead, Greg, Kate’s guardian was investigating them when he died and that’s how Kate gets involved. It’s really fast paced with more action than you could throw a stick at (though why you would want to throw a stick at it is beyond me, that expression always puzzles me). Mysterious, action packed with a hint of romance, this book is awesome! I can’t wait to read more of Ilona’s books. 

Second review finished! As always constructive criticism is welcome though not as much as comments which I love to read and respond to. Does anyone know of books that are similar to this and the Mercy Thompson series? I have a sudden craving for action packed books and would love to receive some recommendations. Hope you all have a great year.