Hey guys, I've officially passed 50 followers! Thank you all for sticking with me ♥

Now, I've asked in a previous post whether anyone was interested in a custom layout, and not many people replied. So, I'm now offering new choices for the prize (they're both digital prizes, so the giveaway will be open internationally):

1. a $5 Amazon e-giftcard (com or ca)
2. a custom layout design
3. let me save up for something bigger (ex. books) for the 100 followers giveaway

The poll is at the top of the page, I will only host a contest if more than half of my followers are actually interested, meaning at least 25 people need to vote for option 1 or 2. If that doesn't happen, I'll just default to option 3. The poll will be up for a week until February 6th.

Also, my Top Commenters widget is now up and running over on the left sidebar under the "site stats" heading, you may get extra entries into this and future giveaways by being one of the top 10 =)

Sherlock Holmes Novels #2:
The Sign of the Four
by Arthur Conan Doyle

It is in this, the second Holmes novel, that the great detective comes fully to life - not only as a melancholic and an inscrutable master of deduction, but also as an incurable drug addict.
"Which is it today?" Watson asks Holmes matter-of-factly on the opening page of the novel, "morphine or cocaine?"
"It is cocaine," Holmes famously replies. "A seven-per-cent solution. Would you like to try it?"
Mary Morstan comes to Holmes in the hope that he will be able to solve a mystery. Ten years earlier her father, Captain Arthur Morstan, had returned to London on leave from his regiment in India where it is said that he and one Thadeus Sholto, "came into possession of a considerable treasure." By the time his daughter arrived at his hotel, he had vanished without a trace.

Why I Read This
Obviously, having just finished A Study in Scarlet and fallen in love with John Telfer's narration, I immediately started listening to this second book in the Sherlock Holmes chronicles. A secondary reason for my enthusiasm is probably because this book tackles two topics I never quite gleamed from my first contact with the series those years ago: Holmes' drug addiction, and Watson's (second?) wife, Mary. Mary especially was a character I wanted to know more about because the 2009 film completely glossed her over as the token love interest.

First Lines

“Sherlock Holmes took his bottle from the corner of the mantel-piece and his hypodermic syringe from its neat morocco case. With his long, white, nervous fingers he adjusted the delicate needle, and rolled back his left shirt-cuff. For some little time his eyes rested thoughtfully upon the sinewy forearm and wrist all dotted and scarred with innumerable puncture-marks. Finally he thrust the sharp point home, pressed down the tiny piston, and sank back into the velvet-lined arm-chair with a long sigh of satisfaction.

☂☂☂☂.5

I'm glad that Mr. Doyle has understood that audiences did not much enjoy the 5 chapters of criminal exposition (from the first book) as much when Holmes is not there to deduce the hell out of stuff. This second novel of the Sherlock Holmes series delves further into the personal lives of both Holmes and Watson, yet maintains the quality of plot and pacing that the first book had offered.

review posted to Amazon.ca, goodreads, LibraryThing, Shelfari

Sherlock Holmes Novels #1:
A Study in Scarlet
by Arthur Conan Doyle

In this, the first Holmes mystery, the detective introduces himself to Dr. John H. Watson with the puzzling line "You have been in Afghanistan, I perceive."
And so begins Watson's, and the world's, fascination with this enigmatic character.
Doyle presents two equally perplexing mysteries for Holmes to solve: one a murder that takes place in the shadowy outskirts of London, in a locked room where the haunting word Rache is written upon the wall, the other a kidnapping set in the American West.
Quickly picking up the "scarlet thread of murder running through the colourless skein of life," Holmes does not fail at finding the truth - and making literary history.

Why I Read This
I've been a fan of Hound of the Baskervilles ever since I read it as a middle-schooler, but alas I was not particularly well-versed in the concept of "series" then and had thought the book a standalone. By the time I was in high school, I had read a few more Sherlock Holmes mysteries (The Speckled Band, The Red-Headed League) but I had temporarily lost interest in reading. The most recent movie reboot, though rather different from what I remembered from the canon, had resparked my interest in the series and now I'm working my way through the entire audio book collection, read by the amazing voice of John Telfer. Oh, and did I mention all Sherlock Holmes ebooks and audio books (except Casebook in the US) are public domain, meaning they are available for legal downloads at sites like Project Gutenberg and AudioBooksForFree?

First Lines

“In the year 1878 I took my degree of Doctor of Medicine of the University of London, and proceeded to Netley to go through the course prescribed for surgeons in the army.

☂☂☂☂

This introduction of the uniquely gifted detective Sherlock Holmes, seen through the eyes of the humble ex-army doctor John Watson, appeals as both a historical mystery, as well as a deeply entertaining portrait of the eccentric sleuth. It was fun to follow along with the easily sympathized Watson as he struggles to figure out both what Holmes has already been able to deduce from the mystery, as well as the great mystery of Holmes himself. Even though I was not particularly interested in the 5 chapters of the criminal's backstory, John Telfer did an amazing job voicing both an excitable and gentlemanly Watson, as well as a soft-spoken and thoughtful Holmes. So, if you are planning to listen to this series in audio, I highly recommend Mr. Telfer as your narrator of choice.

review posted to Amazon.ca, goodreads, LibraryThing, Shelfari

A weekly feature on my blog where I post up cover images that fit a weekly theme - art styles, artists, colour schemes, etc. In essence, this is a meme that celebrates book covers as pieces of art. Covers link to larger images and titles to goodreads summaries.

This week's theme: Sam Weber (cover artist)
artist website
With the issues of underrepresented/absent PoC covers being voiced as of late, I thought that I could bring attention to an artist who does an amazing job with some PoC covers (as well as non-PoC ones).

1) House of Mystery (graphic novels) Vol.1: Room and Boredom by Matthew Sturges, Bill Willingham	2) Breaking the Wall (novels) #1 Thirteen Orphans #2 Nine Gates by Jane Lindskold
3) individual novels The Gaslight Dogs by Karin Lowachee The Thin Executioner by Darren Shan Scary (Russian) Fairy Tales by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya Prospero Lost by L. Jagi Lamplighter

What first alerted me to this artist's works were the covers for the Breaking the Wall series (the art for the third book Five Odd Honors can be found on the artist's site and is absolutely gorgeous). There aren't many covers I've seen that focus on Asian characters, so these immediately drew me in with their slightly surreal and soft tones. Then, I saw a post on the cover for The Thin Executioner that mentioned this artist by name, whom to my surprise is also the cover artist for The Gaslight Dogs. If you go to the artist's website, you can also see illustrations done for that amazing and horrible book Lord of the Flies, which I found redeems the book by proxy. Slightly. I'm quite intrigued by some of the other books in the artist's gallery as well, and will definitely check out any new projects the artist illustrates.

A weekly meme that asks bloggers to post their opinions on specific topics.
(hosted on Wordpress)

This week's topic: Twisty

1. Do YOU like books with complicated plots and unexpected endings?
Complicated plots are a sure way to lure me into reading anything. I really liked the few Sherlock Holmes novels I read when I was a kid, and mystery novels are still a favourite genre of mine. I like it especially much if the author throws little hints that you would NEVER notice until the big reveal and then I get so "OMGREALLYAWESOME" and want to reread the whole book just so I can go "I see! Right there!"
Maybe off topic, but I also love complicated characters who have very ambiguous motives. I don't usually like it when I can just guess how each character is going to react in every scene and would prefer lots of backstabbing, unvoiced sacrifice, etc. from the protagonists' side (rather than just complicated villains).
As for unexpected endings, it really depends on what kind of ending and how attached I am to the characters. If I loved the characters and the twist ending was "death for the sake of surprise" then I would hate it. There are also "unexpected" endings that I've pretty much figured out before the end of the book (ex. Demon's Lexicon) and thus were quite underwhelming. However, I admit I love sappy happy endings too, and sometimes I'm just in a mood for the characters to live happily ever after. Tragic unexpected endings, I guess, aren't my favourites, especially if I'm very attached to the characters.

2. What book with a surprise ending is your favorite? Or your least favorite?
I have to say Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk has that perfect balance of twisted but unassuming plot and completely unexpected ending (well, middle). The little hints the author dropped with such unassuming but repeated lines as "I know this because Tyler knows this." and his oft mentioned insomnia went by as "quirky" and "suspicious", but I never actually saw the twist coming. The fact that the twist was in the middle was a bit different, but the rest of the book is spent in the Realization stage and I got to say "I see now!" without having to reread the first half of the book again. It's not just gratuitous exposition either, the plot moves on, much like real life would if you've just found out a terrible secret. The fact that the first and second last chapters use almost the exact same wording and format, but the latter carries with it a new layer of understanding is quite ingenious. Sure there's social commentary on consumer society and male social disconnection, but this was an extremely fun book to read for the complicated plots, characters AND middle.

Thanks to miss cindy from oodles of books for this sweet award =)

I just noticed I've got almost 50 followers! So, I would like to award this to every one who has followed me thus far! I know I'm not exactly the most social comment-replyer and I'm trying to fix that, but thank you all for sticking with this blog in all its amateur-ness!

Now, I don't really have many books I can give away at the moment for celebration (most of the ones I own I haven't read myself yet lol) and I'm a bit short on funds, even for Book Depository purchases. However, I'm debating whether I should have a free custom layouts/graphics giveaway. Examples of my work...well the current layout I'm using is the first Blogger layout I've designed so far (I've done a few livejournal and freestyle layouts before), but I'm quite flexible with themes: professional, casual, bright, dark, etc.

If anyone's interested, let me know in the comments =)

A weekly event on my blog where I post about books (not necessarily pre-release or new) that I've just added to my wishlist, along with a little blurb on why I want to read it.
(hosted by Book Chick City & Breaking the Spine)


The Bookman
by Lavie Tidhar
release date: 7 January 2010

A masked terrorist has brought London to its knees - there are bombs inside books, and nobody knows which ones. On the day of the launch of the first expedition to Mars, by giant cannon, he outdoes himself with an audacious attack. For young poet Orphan, trapped in the screaming audience, it seems his destiny is entwined with that of the shadowy terrorist, but how?
Like a steam-powered take on V for Vendetta, rich with satire and slashed through with automatons, giant lizards, pirates, airships and wild adventure, The Bookman is the first of a series.

Why it's on my wishlist
Steampunk is starting to grow on me, even though I have yet to actually read any books in the genre. Otherwise, book-bombs sound exciting 8D Plus, I've always liked (non-romantic) destiny stuff and anti-heroes. V for Vendetta has also been on my wishlist for a while now.

Just grab your current read, open to a random page, and share a few "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
(hosted at Should Be Reading)

“Someone once said that “French is the language that turns dirt into romance.” Valentin knew this to be true because he lived in Paris, and when he wasn’t feeling romantic, he was feeling like dirt.
from prologue of Another Faust by Daniel and Dina Nayeri

I cheated and copied a random passage from the Prologue in text form since I'm listening to the audio version. This book works amazingly well in audio form, especially since the narrator has an amazing range of accents for each of the characters...though they eventually all convert to "American" accents about a few chapters in. Really interesting concepts in this book, looking at the teenage desperation for beauty, love, and fame and how far teens would go to achieve them. I'm quite taken with every single one of the children, and even the "evil" Madame Vileroy. Hoping to finish listening to this by the end of the week and get a review up soon =)

A weekly event to celebrate what we are reading for the week as well as books completed the previous week.
(hosted weekly by J.Kaye's Book Blog)

Completed Last Week

1. A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
   Sherlock Holmes Novels #1
    (audio book read by John Telfer)
2. The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle
   Sherlock Holmes Novels #2
    (audio book read by John Telfer)

Plan to Read This Week

• The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
  Sherlock Holmes Anthologies #1
   (audio book read by John Telfer)
• Another Faust by Daniel and Dina Nayeri
  Another #1
   (audio book read by Katherine Kellgren)

Still Reading

• Poison Sleep by T.A. Pratt
  Marla Mason #2
• Collision Course by William Shatner
  Star Trek Academy #1
• Nightlife by Rob Thurman
  Cal Leandros #1
• Hunting Fear by Kay Hooper
  Bishop Special Crimes Unit #7
• Hero by Perry Moore
• Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman

Main Challenge: GLBT Challenge 2010

January's Mini-Challenge
Take a moment to write a paragraph or two on why this challenge and/or this issue is important to you.

So, I've gone through at least 4 drafts of this and cut out a crapload of excess rambling (I go off-topic on rants often) but it's still quite over the few paragraphs requested. I'm putting this under a cut for those averse to discussions on sexual orientation or large paragraphs of text.

Each week I will post a list of the books I've borrowed, received, or bought. I will keep a weekly tally in each post, as well as a yearly one on the sidebar. All books with PoC themes/authors will be listed for the "New Crayons" meme.
All prices are listed in Canadian dollars.
(hosted weekly by The Story Siren / The Printed Page; New Crayons by Color Online)



Tally for 2010/01/24
Borrowed: 0
Received: 1
Bought: 0
Total Cost: $0.00

Thanks so much to Ryan of Wordsmithonia for this award! He has a great blog with an adorable Favourite Fictional Character weekly feature! Go visit! 8D

This award is to honor certain bloggers that are kindhearted individuals. They regularly take part in my blog and always leave the sweetest comments. If it wasn't for them, my site would just be an ordinary book review blog. Their blogs are also amazing and are tastefully done on a daily basis. I thank them and look forward to our growing friendship through the blog world.

It's quite ironic I'm posting this award after neglecting this blog for a week, but it's incentive for me to work harder, no?

And I award this to:
♥ Ah Yuan @ GAL Novelty
♥ Brizmus @ Brizmus Blogs Books
♥ miss cindy @ simple life and reading...
♥ Alyssa @ Teens Read and Write
...and everyone else who has been commenting on my posts! Thank you all!

Sorry for cheating, but I can't seem to get my top commenter widget working...please don't feel left out =(

A weekly event on my blog where I post about books (not necessarily pre-release or new) that I've just added to my wishlist, along with a little blurb on why I want to read it.
(hosted by Book Chick City & Breaking the Spine)


Inheritance #1:
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
by N.K. Jemisin
release date: 25 February 2010

Yeine Darr is an outcast from the barbarian north. But when her mother dies under mysterious circumstances, she is summoned to the majestic city of Sky. There, to her shock, Yeine is named an heiress to the king. But the throne of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is not easily won, and Yeine is thrust into a vicious power struggle with a pair of cousins she never knew she had. As she fights for her life, she draws ever closer to the secrets of her mother's death and her family's bloody history.
With the fate of the world hanging in the balance, Yeine will learn how perilous it can be when love and hate - and gods and mortals - are bound inseparably together.

Why it's on my wishlist
The summary didn't really click with me (it seems rather generic fantasy inheritance battle-ish), but from the reviews, the author seems to have created a very unique world of Gods enslaved by humans(!!) I've always loved stories with lore on godly figures and their interactions with the "mortals", so this definitely earns a spot on my wishlist/TBR pile 8D

Argh, two Wishlist Wednesdays in a row. Awful I know, and I apologize, but I'm having dorm-mate issues that has been going on for the good part of a month now. Hoping that will get resolved soon...There's also the fact that I'm obsessively working on my dad's birthday present (coming up in Feb):


It's a cross-stitching project that's been stealing my time for a few weeks now. Only need to finish up the border and work with the water(?) splashes a bit more =)

I'm struggling through some of the books I'm reading because I'm in one of those attention-deficient moods and I start a new book every other day orz
Will try to finish some of the books I've been neglecting in the next week, if school work permits...

A weekly event on my blog where I post about books (not necessarily pre-release or new) that I've just added to my wishlist, along with a little blurb on why I want to read it.
(hosted by Book Chick City & Breaking the Spine)


Wolves, Boys and Other Things That Might Kill Me
by Kristen Chandler
release date: 13 May 2010

When KJ Carson is assigned to write a column for her school newspaper about the wolves in nearby Yellowstone National Park, she’s more interested in impressing Virgil Whitman, the new kid in school and the photographer assigned as her partner, than in investigative journalism. But before long, KJ has a face-to-face encounter with a wolf that changes her and the way she thinks about wolves. With her new found passion for protecting these controversial animals, KJ inadvertently ignites the fuse of the anti-wolf sentiment in the community. First Virgil is injured during a town parade, and then her father’s store is set on fire in retribution. To stop the escalating violence, KJ follows Virgil to the cattle ranch of the most outspoken anti-wolf activists in town, against her father’s will. What she discovers there threatens everything and everyone she cares about. In KJ’s fierce and funny attempt to make peace between the wolves and the people that despise them, she must first face her own long-held fears.

Why it's on my wishlist
I've always loved wolves as animals, so an entire story about their controversial nature (one of the reasons I love them) makes for an amazing incentive to me. I also like stories where people are forced into something they don't really care for, and then unexpectedly really liking it. Plus, the cover is pretty 8D

Each week I will post a list of the books I've borrowed, received, or bought. I will keep a weekly tally in each post, as well as a yearly one on the sidebar. All books with PoC themes/authors will be listed for the "New Crayons" meme.
All prices are listed in Canadian dollars.
(hosted weekly by The Story Siren / The Printed Page; New Crayons by Color Online)



Tally for 2010/01/10
Borrowed: 0
Received: 3
Bought: 6
Total Cost: $28.84

First new feature on my blog! I've always loved book covers - who doesn't like pretty pictures? - though sometimes they're amazing while others are horrible. So, I decided to start posting about my thoughts on different kinds of covers.

Since I'm going to stop doing my uber-long Wishlist Wednesday posts - I'll stick with single-book Waiting on Wednesday/On My Wishlist posts instead - this meme will replace that as the most image-heavy post of the week =D

A weekly feature on my blog where I post up cover images that fit a weekly theme - art styles, artists, colour schemes, etc. In essence, this is a meme that celebrates book covers as pieces of art. Covers link to larger images and titles to goodreads summaries.

This week's theme: Silhouettes
a flat/2-D image of people, animals, objects, etc. where the outlines are filled in with a single layer of colour

1) dark & creepy Peter&Max by Bill Willingham I love silhouettes of trees, and this cover used the jagged shapes really well to accentuate the dark themes	2) light & cheerful Scones and Sensibility by Lindsay Eland a really energetic image created using just shades of purple and pink, I really get the feel of the girl going on a mission among the tangled "love vines"
3) colourful An Abundance of Katherines by John Green I personally think this paperback cover shows the difference between the girls better than the hardcover, because it's more about their "inner colours" than their outer appearances	4) simple & clean Totally Killer by Greg Olear the familiarity of these iconic everyday items allow us to recognize them right away, which plays well into the cultural satire theme of the book
5) dramatic Dawnthief by James Barclay the anonymity of the warriors plays up through the exclusion of their faces, at the same time reinforcing the mystery of their world-ending mission as well as grouping them together as a single unit

The problem I sometimes have with covers that feature actual faces is that it kind of takes away some of my freedom to imagine the characters appearances myself. Silhouette covers are thus really great for those who like thinking up their own story imagery. However, picture images are probably better at attracting attention in general, luring people in to look at the details of the clothing or setting, something silhouette images have next to none of. Still, a design based on silhouettes isn't always simple (ex. first two examples) and can still attract attention on aesthetic appeal alone.

Feel free to add your own thoughts on the themes of the week too! I might add a Mr.Linky if people want to participate, but for now, please add any thoughts/examples you want to share in the comments =)

Erm...is anyone else having trouble with their scheduled post thing? I wanted this feature to be posted on Friday, hmm =T

Thanks to Book Snob of Elegantly Bound Books for this award! Sorry it took me quite a while to get around to posting about it orz

List 10 things that make you happy.
Try and do at least one of them today.
o1. reading stories (books/fanfic)
o2. watching stories (TV/movies)
o3. listening to music
o4. playing with codes (HTML/XML)
o5. drawing
o6. taking spontaneous photos w/ phone camera
o7. hot tea
o8. talking with my family (long distance)
o9. daydreaming, zoning out, sleeping
1o. cross-stitching (dragon for my Dad's b-day)

Tag 10 bloggers that brighten your day.
Link back to the person that tagged you.
o1. GAL Novelty
o2. All About {n}
o3. simple life and reading
o4. LA FEMME READERS
o5. Steph Su Reads
o6. Wordsmithonia
o7. Teens Read and Write
o8. once upon a book blog
o9. Book Rat
1o. Bloody Bookaholic

No Booking Through Thrusday post today because the topic (Gifts) I've already covered in my previous IMM post =)

Just grab your current read, open to a random page, and share a few "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
(hosted at Should Be Reading)

“The moonlight reflected off an old medal the president had once given Dad for single-handedly fending off an invasion of telepathic starfish-shaped aliens and illuminated a very distinct impression on the thug's face. Panic.
from chapter 1 of Hero by Perry Moore

Okay, I admit the writing isn't perfect (run-on sentence much?), and there is evidently a more juvenile-fantastical sheen to the superhero theme than Soon I Will Be Invincible. However, I did really enjoy Teen Titans and X-Men Evolution when I watched them a few years back, and I'm getting similar teenager-discovering-and-dealing-with-new-powers vibes from this novel. Also, I'm rooting for the Man in Black/Thom because Uberman/Thom has a bit of the Harry/Ginny feel to it =T

Finally finished working on the structure, I've been staring at XML codes all night long *dead* The coding is modeled after this template, but I've changed some stuff around and added my own touches =)

I've still got a few parts to tweak (the search bar isn't working properly I think) but first, SLEEP.

Also, will do Teaser Tuesday...this afternoon, when I wake up...

Each week I will post a list of the books I've borrowed, received, or bought. I will keep a weekly tally in each post, as well as a yearly one on the sidebar. All books with PoC themes/authors will be listed for the "New Crayons" meme.
All prices are listed in Canadian dollars.
(hosted weekly by The Story Siren / The Printed Page; New Crayons by Color Online)



Tally for 2010/01/03
Borrowed: 1
Received: 0
Bought: 0
Total Cost: $0.00