Wear the old coat and buy the new book [Austin Phelps] 
As promised, here is a post to talk about my reading in January. The pace will slow down, because time is running, but it was nice while it lasted. And, of course, there are between seasons, but that's another story.
* GH * The book that has had the honor of being the first of 2011 was
"Mini Shopaholic" of
Sophie Kinsella. A committed and deep reading, short * & irony sarcasm *. Every now and then you also need to lighten the gray matter and relax the synapse.
And Becky Bloom, star of the "Shopaholic" is always her, tender and sentimental, able to rip many smiles. He lives in his world, becomes one billion movie in my head, troublemaker and invented stories as I could to stick to the reality of his imagination. An unrepentant clumsy, but it's all in good faith and always have happy people he loves. And the saga continues ... Soon after I read
"The Passage" of
Justin Cronin.
I bought at the airport before Christmas, I could not resist the review reported on the cover:
By the third chapter, Was trash piling up in our house because i was too scared to take out the garbage at night. - Ron Charles, The Washington Post [trad.: Already the third chapter was a mountain of garbage accumulated at home because I was too afraid to leave their homes at night to take her out].
Actually personally I have not found so frightening. And secret government experiments in search of the gun end fine novels I've read. Despite this, the 879 pages are very light. At all times it was extremely difficult decision to close the book, any time it was and whatever he called commitment.
beginning, the story takes place rapidly and reaches the that looks like a conclusion and you wonder,
And now, what will happen? It's happened all over and we're only on page 250! Then the chapter after attacks, and the next, and the next ... and things continue to happen, remaining glued to the story because the pace does not really ever haul. Whenever you feel you have reached the terminus, within half a chapter you realize that it was just one stop. To arrive at the right moment in which everything is questioned and then demand changes and you wonder,
But how can end it all in twenty pages?! The secret government experiment that aims to create the final weapon is called NOAH. It was found that being the human gland, responsible for the physical growth stops working reached the age of maturity. That's because it starts the process of aging, which leads inevitably to death. The purpose of the experiment is to make that up and running even in the gland Subjects adults, so as to prolong their lives by improving their physical performance. There is need of "volunteers", or people who freely give their consent before a simple choice. Usually things go like this: Dear Tom
. You are sentenced to death and the day after tomorrow you will be given lethal injection. But if you come with us and let us use you as guinea pigs in our laboratory for a scientific experiment which can not of course say anything, then you have guaranteed amnesty. What? Here recruited twelve volunteers. The thirteenth is a girl (who gets kidnapped) and is also the only one that reacts in the manner expected. All others are transformed into immortal beings, very strong, very tall, very ugly, not riesocno to curb the urge to jump on people to worry. Can not stand the light of day, then come out only at night. If the person bitten is not torn and survives, becomes in turn. A
tell it seems the umpteenth found in vampire style and / or werewolves. In fact, the history and evolution of the characters and their vicissitudes is managed very well, which is in no way spontaneously think of vampires / werewolves while reading. The child is the key to resolve the tragic situation in which humanity falls when the twelve subjects used for the experiment can escape. A reading that does not get bored.
It changes style with
"Counting Stars" of
David Almond. Not the kind of book I read as normal, but I can not say that I regret. This is a collection of stories and family anecdotes, narrated and seen through the eyes of a child who understands and believes and sees only a part of reality and trying to grow but not too much. Tender and delicate, simple as they are simple things for children.
Then it was the turn of
"Moufletto and The Endless Forest" of
Joan and Donald Lapadula Corrias Lucente, fun and very short children's book. The Moufletto is a mysterious animal that seeks playmates, but nobody knows what it is, not even him. Funny story, written in very simple and unpretentious, is a pleasure to read for children who have just started reading alone.
fifth book of 2011:
"The City of Dreaming Books" of
Walter Moers. But how beautiful
Librandi? A city that lives and breathes books and reading, where each store has on display books, paper, bookmarks, pens, notebooks ... where recreational and daily activities include group readings around the fire, recitation of poems, where premises are open all night to help readers "of the early hours" to always find a comfortable niche. There are also strange creatures and dangerous secrets, and they are the ones that the protagonist - a dinosaur from the name of Ildefonso De Strong Vermicchio Sventramitis - will reveal through a dangerous and avventurosissimo journey in the catacombs under the city. It is a very funny novel and, in some observations about writing, writers and publishers, definitely very fresh!
was then the turn of
"The Journey of the Witch Girl " of
Celia Rees, quickly followed by
" If I Were a Witch " .
In the first book follows the story of Mary, a girl whose grandmother is arrested and convicted witchcraft in England in 1600. The child then embarks with a community of Puritans sailing to America. travel and settle with them, but has a different spirit that makes you appreciate the natives and the nature that surrounds them. Mary is a young girl grows up and independent and autonomous, and this bothers a lot of the community leaders, who insist to seek (and find) the evil and Satan in every little thing. When the word "witch" has started to bounce from side of the village, Mary already understand how it will end, but luckily it has friends.
"If I Were a Witch" is the sequel to "The Journey of Witch Girls" and is set to today. A student of Indian origin
reads documents and makes dreams that pretend to be somehow linked to Mary that is said in the first book. Thanks to the capabilities of its shamanistic grandmother lives on the salient episodes in the life of Mary, who suffered the end of Native American tribes at the hands of the Europeans.
Overall, the two books cover the life of the early Europeans transplanted to America at the expense of native people, convicted for the mere fact of its existence and to be different. The religious of the time there are a good figure, but not the adventurers and the Europeans who had faced the trip just to make a fortune. And there's a fine figure even the Indians, unable to unite against the common enemy. In conclusion, the bitter conclusion is that, for whatever reasons and ideologies each is believed better than the others and ended up not winning the best, but only the strongest.
A brilliant and really fun reading the book was number eight in 2011:
"Beastly" of
Alex Flinn. It begins with an exhilarating
chat in a forum reserved a support group for processing. Participants in the chat are the Beast, The Frog Prince, The Man Bear and a siren that is considering swapping her voice in exchange for a pair of legs to win his true love. If these characters are familiar, we have been right: they are the ones!
The novel follows the story of the Beast and is set in modern-day New York where the young son of a famous TV presenter is obsessed by money from physical and, considering the only values \u200b\u200bworthy of note in the world. Until, of course, a witch turns him into a monster and promises that the spell will be broken only if a girl will love him and give him a kiss to seal the feeling exactly two years later. Very funny and well treated the transposition of the story.
The following two books are my heroine
Robin Hobb! After having chosen "The Liveship Traders Trilogy" one of the most exciting readings I've ever done, I could not miss the following:
"The Chronicles Rainwild" . This is another trilogy, which remains incomplete at the time. The first book is titled
"The Dragon Keeper" and the second "Dragon Haven" . We are in the mysterious and fascinating land crossed by the Rain Wild River, the river water is so acidic that no vessel is hard to long, unless it is built with what everyone calls
Wizardwood , a magical properties of the wood used to produce ships in a position to buy awareness, consciousness and personality. Behind this
Wizardwood , but there are some secrets that the people of Wild Rain has come to know and that has to do with the population of the Dragons. And the Dragons star in this sequel: assisted by a bunch of young outcasts, embark on the journey to the mysterious city of Kelsingra, where they hope to be able to establish themselves and restore the luster to the family of dragons, the importance and respect it once had.
Soon after I granted a brief reading off topic with the text
"Losing weight Eating" of
Patrick Holford. Accalcatevi not and do not worry: our not reveal anything that we did not know already. But speaking of fiber called glucomannan
as an effective support in weight loss. Try it.
The last book I finished in January
"Harpy's Flight" of
Megan Lindholm. Megan Lindholm's real name is Robin Hobb and "Harpy's Flight" is one of his early novels.
I liked it, I really liked and I liked everything. I can not decide between what the setting, the main character, creatures, traditions of the peoples ... I have conquered. Probably all of these things and the whole. A fine novel, well built between the present and flashbacks that tell us everything we need to know without getting bored and not "know" little lesson. With my great disappointment and extreme desperation, I discovered that "Harpy's Flight" is the first of four novels, which is currently not available because it reprint. I'm still deciding whether to search for used or pre-order on amazon.
I currently have in your hands
"Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom" of
Cory Doctorow, my thirteenth year reading and looking good!
So
HAPPY NEW YEAR and GOOD READING
everyone!
