Share-A-Book Saturday (12)

This is something I found over on Just Another Book Addict =), and I thought I'd do my own. There are so many great books out there that get overlooked (especially if they've been out for a while)!

Every Saturday, you share (recommend) a book, preferably one that you haven't reviewed yet. It's just a way to get other books out into the blogging world. This is NOT a review.

Today I'm going to recommend The Raging Quiet by Sherryl Jordan.

Marnie comes to the remote fishing hamlet of Torcurra as the reluctant bride of Isake Isherwood, a lord of her parents' farm. But two days later, while thatching the roof, Isake falls to his death. Marnie's only kindness comes from Father Brannan, the village priest, and Raver, the strange mad boy whose incoherent cries belie his gentle heart. Taking him in one windy night, Marnie makes a startling discovery: Raver is not mad but deaf.

Determined to communicate with the boy whom Marnie now calls Raven, she invents a system of hand-words. Raven learns quickly and has soon all but shed his madness. Yet while Marnie and Raven forge a deep bond, the villagers, already suspicious of Marnie's role in Isake's death, see his transformation as the result of witchcraft. Even as Marnie's and Raven's bond turns to love, and as they uncover the mysterious value of their cottage, Marnie is forced into a witchcraft trial where the test of the iron bar will determine her fate.

Set in the times when magic was a force to be reckoned with, The Raging Quiet is the epic saga of a remarkable woman whose only crime is being different. (Product description from Amazon.com.)

While I'm not sure if I would call this book an "epic saga", it is a really good tale about two people who might not fit in with the world around them, but who find love, understanding, and acceptance with each other.

I was never quite sure if this was supposed to be fantasy or historical fiction. I couldn't quite place the time period, and the village of Torcurra is most certainly fictional. But the villagers are "good" Christian folk who don't think twice about trying to whip the devils out of people they deem to be crazy, witch hunts seem commonplace, and one of the main characters is a priest... so there are some definite similarities with the real world of centuries ago. Ultimately, though, it doesn't really matter. The story is about the characters, and there are some good ones. Marnie is an independent young woman with a kind heart. Raven is deaf and struggling to fit in in a world where everybody assumes he's mad. I loved the interaction between the two, especially as Marnie was trying to teach Raven how to communicate.

I'd recommend this book to readers who enjoy young adult fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, and/or romance. If you're really curious, you can read an excerpt from the first part of the book here.

New Moon may be new, but the hype is getting old...

Judging by the posts showing up in my subscriptions this morning, I think a good 25% of the bloggers I follow are giggly Twi-hards.

I'm having more fun reading the reviews of movie reviewers like Roger Ebert (who doesn't seem to like New Moon very much). And for once, I think I'd have to agree with the Vatican:

"This theme of vampires in Twilight combines a mixture of excesses that, as ever, is aimed at young people and gives a heavy esoteric element. ... This film is nothing more than a moral vacuum with a deviant message and as such should be of concern."

I can't speak about the movie, but that certainly applies to the books. Just because nobody has sex doesn't mean a movie or book is "moral". I'm not sure exactly what the Vatican is referring to there, though. Is it the shallow emphasis on shiny cars and physical perfection? Is it the violence? Or is it the old men who hang around in places where they'll have access to underage kids? Hmmm...

Friday Fill-Ins (15)

Friday Fill-Ins:

1. We need more shampoo. Honestly... is someone drinking the stuff?

2. I saw pictures of my friend's new puppy and it made me smile.

3. If you want me, you'll have to come and find me.

4. It's because I said so.

5. Massachusetts has a proposed 5% sales tax on elective cosmetic surgery; I think they must first carefully define what "elective" is so that people who might truly need cosmetic surgery aren't unfairly taxed.

6. Everyone on their best behaviour makes for a happy holiday.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to washing my hair with a decent amount of shampoo, tomorrow my plans include thinking and Sunday, I want to enchant all the ride-on animals outside the grocery store so that they really can run!

Booking Through Thursday (12)

Booking Through Thursday asks:

Today’s question was suggested by Barbara:

Do you think any current author is of the same caliber as Dickens, Austen, Bronte, or any of the classic authors? If so, who, and why do you think so? If not, why not? What books from this era might be read 100 years from now?

Same caliber as Dickens, Austen, Brontë, or other classic authors? That's a tough question, because those folks weren't really of the same caliber even amongst the group of "classics authors". Some were more prolific, some were more wordy, some were more accessible, and some are only considered "classic authors" because their books are old (not because they're particularly appealing). If we're going by the ability to use proper grammar and spelling, then I'd have to say no; today's authors could learn a thing or two (or more) from yesterday's authors.

As for what people will be reading 100 years from now, I can only hope it's not the Twilight series (unless it's for some psychology class about the weirdness of the Twi-hard phenomenon). I think people might still be reading Harry Potter, simply because it was such a big deal and captured so many people's imaginations (and got them reading).

It would be nice to see award-winning books being read 100 years from now, too. Some of them aren't as popular as the bestsellers... but popular doesn't always mean good.

Thursday Thunks (11)

1. If you won a brand new house in a Dream House Giveaway would you move into it, sell it to pay the taxes and make a profit, rent it out or give it to a family member/friend who might need it?

I don't think there'd be any taxes on it here (Canadians don't have taxes on lottery winnings). Well, there'd be property taxes, of course. So... I think I might live in it for a year (or as long as I could afford the property tax), and then sell it and use the money to build my dream home (which would probably be a lot smaller and a lot more practical).

2. Are you good at billards?

I might be. I've never really tried playing.

3. Does anyone on the planet really want to see Levi Johnston naked in Playgirl (other than when Bristol Palin did)?

I'm sure some people are attracted to attention whores and want to see them naked. I'm not one of them, though.

4. Is your phone ringing right now?

No, but my ears are. Darn tinnitus.

5. Do you think man has eaten or tried to eat every type of animal on the face of the earth at one point or another? If not, what don't you think man has tried?

I doubt man has tried everything. We're discovering new species every day. That said, probably the only animals man hasn't tried are the ones he hasn't found yet.

6. The new movie Avatar has been showing sneak peeks and been hyped to the max. Will you see it?

Is that about little icons that people use on Internet forums? Seriously... if it's been hyped that much, why do I not even know what you're talking about?

7. If a slightly bigger fish eats a small fish, then a bigger fish immediately eats that one, then an even bigger fish immediately eats that fish and then finally a huge fish eats the one that just ate that fish and it gets caught by you... how many meals will you have from that one fish?

Depends on how big the first fish was. (This reminds me of turducken. How many meals do you get from one of those?)

8. If you had an appointment with the doctor and all the plants in the office were dead, would you still see the doctor?

I thought this read, "If you had an appointment in which the doctor and all the plants in the office were dead, would you still see the doctor?" In that case, no. But if just the plants are dead, I wouldn't care. That's more of a reflection on the office manager's gardening skills, isn't it?

9. Have you ever seen the number 666 in a dream?

I don't think so. It wouldn't mean anything to me, anyway.

10. "At 20 years of age the will reigns, at 30 the wit, at 40 the judgment."~ Benjamin Franklin
So what happens at 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100?

At 50, the pocketbook reigns...
at 60, the wanderlust...
at 70, the pharmaceuticals...
at 80, the guilt trips...
at 90, the bladder...
at 100, the DNR.

11. Would you want your phone number to be (area code) 123-4567?

No. Because people would always be dialing your number just to see if it was real!

Word verification Balderdash (11)

This fun meme is hosted by Sheila over at One Persons Journey through a world of Books.

This is the weekly meme where anyone who wishes to play along can take those crazy word verifications they have had over the past week and apply a fake definition to them (much like how you play the board game Balderdash).

Here are this week's words:

burfbabl - noun - a baby's gurgly giggle that is often accompanied by the contents of its stomach

forudde - noun - a type of embarrassment-induced redness that appears on the forehead (as opposed to a blush, which usually appears on the cheeks and neck)

humstrom - noun - a strange, low-frequency noise that is generated by a maelstrom

nultions - plural noun - nutritious foodstuffs that can be packed into a very small area, thus making them ideal for camping trips; trail mix can be considered a nultion

psymolog - noun - a written account of instances of psymo, which is the ability to physically multiply physical objects using only the mind

sonman - noun - the male offspring of another male; see also sonwoman, daughterman, and daughterwoman

Finally!

But you know what? I don't really want to pay $259 for an e-book reader. And when the Kindle editions are more expensive (in some cases) than the actual book... well, what's the point?

I think my reading tastes are a little too eclectic for an e-book reader right now. Maybe once retailers start offering all books as digital books... then we'll see. (I don't think any of the non-fiction stuff I've bought recently was available in Kindle format. So I'd still have to buy those books in paper!)