Happy New Year!

As 2010 comes to a close, I would like to thank all my readers, everyone who has ever visited this blog and left a comment, sent me an email, etc. Your support and encouragement motivate me to keep on blogging. You guys are the best!

Happy New Year!

Favorite Books of 2010

This year, I read a total of 92 new books, and I just wanted to highlight some of my best reads this year. I had trouble narrowing the list down, but here are my top favorites (in no particular order):

Books Published in 2010:

Heist Society (Ally Carter)
Mystery, adventure, history, art, and thievery come together in this book for a fast-paced and exciting read.

A Conspiracy of Kings (Megan Whalen Turner)
I've always loved the wittiness and clever twists of the Attolia series, and this newest release did not disappoint.

Perchance to Dream (Lisa Mantchev)
Shakespeare, magic, legends, costumes, mischievous fairies, and lovely words... what more could you ask for? I adore this series (and the covers are amazing as well!).

Scarlett Fever (Maureen Johnson)
Maureen Johnson's writing is so much fun to read. Her characters are so endearing and hilarious, making this a great feel-good book.

Mockingjay (Suzanne Collins)
Although I despised the ending (I'll always be Team Gale!) and was very disappointed in Katniss at the end, this was such an anticipated, mind-boggling, EPIC read that I had to put it in.

The Dragons of Noor (Janet Lee Carey)
Rich in storytelling and magic, Janet Lee Carey's new book is imaginative and original - a must read for anyone who likes fantasy!

The Heart is Not a Size (Beth Kephart)
I actually read this last year, but it's still one of my favorite books. I enjoyed reading about Juarez and the surprising strength of the people there, and this book was written in a simple yet touching manner.

Dangerous Neighbors (Beth Kephart)
Can you tell by now how much I love Beth Kephart and her writing? :D Dangerous Neighbors is a wonderful showcase of her amazing writing talent, and the story kept me reading until the very end.

The Lost Hero (Rick Riordan)
Although this book was a bit of a letdown after the Percy Jackson series, it was still nice to reconnect with the characters and dig deeper into the history and mythology of the Greek gods. And the ending.... all I can say is that I can't wait for the next book!

Clockwork Angel (Cassandra Clare)
A great prequel to the Mortal Instrument series with well-developed characters and a unique story. I would recommend reading City of Bones/Ashes/Glass first though.

Books Read This Year (but not published in 2010)

Study series (Maria V. Snyder)
This is one of my favorite series - it's so full of adventure and exciting escapades and magic that I could never put the books down!

City of Glass (Cassandra Clare)
Thrilling and suspenseful... I don't know how Cassandra Clare does it every time. :)

Leviathan (Scott Westerfeld)
Before reading this book, I barely knew anything about WWI, and I hadn't read anything in the steampunk genre. Leviathan was surprisingly interesting and informative at the same time, and I loved all of the drawings that accompanied the story.

The Mystery of the Third Lucretia/Rescuing Seneca Crane (Susan Runholt)
I discovered this series through another blogger and immediately got hooked! The characters are great and so much fun to read about, and the stories are exciting as well. These books are perfect middle grade mysteries for the average sixth or seventh grader.

Clockwork Angel

by Cassandra Clare

I can't believe I didn't read this book until now! Clockwork Angel is just as good as the Mortal Instruments series. Set a few centuries ago in Victorian London, it follows the story of sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray, who arrives from New York and is immediately wrapped up in the wild and violent world of Shadowhunters and Downworlders. Even worse, an unknown figure known as the Magister is after her.

I didn't think I would like this book much, but I was proven wrong! It was so exciting to get back into the Shadowhunters' world, with a series of new and old characters. The characters were great - way too close to the characters in the Mortal Instruments, but still fun to read about. The plot was great as well, with some nice twists near the end.

My favorite part was seeing the parallels between the two series and having those aha moments when something I read in one of the Mortal Instruments books was finally explained or referred to. Overall, Clockwork Angel was a great start to the Infernal Devices series... can't wait to read more!

Merry Christmas!

CSN Stores Giveaway WINNER!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the CSN Stores giveaway this time! I used a random number generator to pick the winner, who is...

Amber Gi!

Congrats, Amber! I've already sent you an email. If I don't get a response back in 48 hours, then I'll pick another winner.

elapsed moon

I wrote these two poems a few weeks ago. The first one was written when the moon was just rising, blurry and yellowy, and the second one was written about an hour later, when the moon was much higher in the sky and clear and white. Enjoy! :)

I.
the sky holds its breath
in anticipation of the coming snow,
tonight's stage prepared:
frosty cold air stagnant and muffling
while northern winds dance, frenzied,
among the upcoming performers

the moon a blurred pastel smudge
the color of yellow diamonds,
edges gray and foggy.

II.
moon of purest white,
like a diamond inlaid in a
stone of cold winds and
clouds of indigo blue.
all hardened edges and
rims of amber gold,
light reaching to all four
corners of the sky.

the night quietly waits,
and below, the cries
of a child and the
slamming of car doors
sound oddly out of place.

Tangled

On Sunday, I went to go see the new Disney movie "Tangled" with my mom. I loved it! The story was the perfect mix of adventure, comedy, drama, and romance. All of the characters were so endearing and fun, the songs were wonderful, and the animation was perfect. I really liked all of the scenery in the movie. I also liked the fresh take on the classic Rapunzel story - the writers managed to maintain the original idea and feel while adding in a lot of great enhancements.

If you haven't seen it yet, I would definitely recommend going! It's in 3D too, which is always a plus for me. :)

winter dance

It snowed a little while ago, and while watching snowflakes fall outside the window, I wrote this poem:

snowflakes giggle and
chase each other,
following gusts of wind and
swooping through the air,
performing their own ballet.

the choreographer is displeased.
they calm down and tumble quietly
to the snow-softened earth.

the music strikes up again.
frenzied, the winds roll
nimbly in the sky,
snowflakes spinning
around
caught up in their own
winter dance.

Another CSN Stores Giveaway!

For those of you who aren't familiar with CSN Stores, it's an online store that sells a variety of products, from children's luggage to rugs to stationery. If you're looking for holiday presents, CSN Stores is a great option to get all of your shopping done. I just hosted a CSN gift certificate giveaway, and I've received the chance to host another one!

More info:

• One person will win a $65 gift certificate to use at any of the CSN Stores!
• Open only to US and Canadian residents (sorry!), and the gift certificate will not cover international fees to Canada.
• Giveaway ends on Friday, December 10th, 2010.

Because this is a bigger giveaway than the last one, and because it's the holidays, I decided to add in the opportunity to earn extra entries! I want to thank all of my followers and everyone who has supported me so far on this blog. So here's how that will work:

• +1 for simply filling out the form below and entering the giveaway.
• +2 for being a follower of this blog, Book Crumbs
• +1 for every time you link to this giveaway in a blog post, tweet, blog sidebar, etc. (So for example, if you link to this giveaway twice, you will get 2 extra entries.)

To enter, please fill out the form below. After the 10th, I'll randomly select a winner. Good luck!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

I went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 in Imax yesterday! I have to congratulate the director for finally sticking close to the book! I was glad that there were no big changes to the story, and the minor changes fit well and weren't awkward or weird at all.

One thing that disappointed me was how much sitting around there was. I know that most of the first half of the book was just sitting around and going from forest to forest, but I'd hoped that they would add more action in the movie. The action scenes were few and far between, and they were quite short and abrupt as well. Most of the movie focused on the emotional trauma and difficulties that Harry, Ron, and Hermione were going through. The only reason why I wasn't bored was that I knew what was going to happen next, so I could eagerly anticipate it.

I didn't like the casting for Yaxley at all (he was blond, I thought he should have had darker hair and a sharper face), the guy who played Mundungus Fletcher was weird and totally unexpected, but he still kind of worked. The casting for Bathilda Bagshot was spot on and even creepier than I imagined! The scene with her in Godric's Hollow was awesome.

Also, the scene where Dobby dies was so sad! I thought the dialogue in that part was absolutely perfect, especially what Dobby says right before he dies.

I thought that the decision to portray the Tale of the Three Brothers as a creepy animation was a great one - the animation definitely served its purpose and enhanced the story so much!

For those who have watched the movie, I also LOVED the scene with Hermione and Greyback, when she can see him and he can smell her perfume, but not see her due to the protective enchantments! Amazing!

One word of caution for people who are planning to see it - if you haven't read the books, then the movie is probably going to be confusing and/or boring (at least, that's what I think). The storyline can get complicated at times - before the movie, I was trying to explain the story to my dad and it took forever because I had to keep backtracking and explaining side stories of why this character would do this and how Horcruxes are different from Hallows, etc. I know that if I hadn't read the books, I would have had a tough time understanding what was going on. Especially since sometimes, with their British accents (as wonderful as they may be), the actors can be a bit hard to understand, and sometimes they swallowed the words at the end of their sentences.

Overall, though, HP7 Part 1 was a good, dark, and tense buildup to the last movie, which I can't wait to see!

Happy Thanksgiving! Wishing you and your family a very happy holiday weekend. :-)

CSN Stores Giveaway WINNER!

Thank you so much to everyone who participated in my CSN Stores Giveaway! I used a random number generator to pick the winner, who is...

Evelyn!

Congratulations, Evelyn! I've already sent you an email. If I don't get a reply after 48 hours, I'll pick another winner.

If you didn't win, I'm planning on hosting another CSN giveaway soon, so you'll have another opportunity to win a gift certificate. Keep your eyes peeled for that!

Dangerous Neighbors

by Beth Kephart

Katherine and Anna are two peas in a pod, two sisters that are so close together than only death can really tear them apart. After Anna's tragic death, Katherine is so filled with sorrow, anger, and guilt that her desire to live fades away; it takes a series of surprises and near-disasters for Katherine to find her way. As we ride through Katherine's memories and current life, the story of her and Anna is slowly unraveled, until the thing that we've all been dying (pardon the pun) to know about is finally revealed.

Dangerous Neighbors is a quietly powerful and poignant novel that kept me enthralled the whole time. It's a lot shorter than I expected it to be - only 166 pages - but I feel that its brevity only enriched the story. Once again, the main thing that stands out in this novel - and all of Beth Kephart's novels - is the writing. All of the words were so deliberately picked, the descriptions were like poetry, and awkward phrases were nonexistent. Kephart can put things into words that the rest of us cannot, and in such a beautiful and touching way as well.

The characters were also a strong point in this novel. I could relate so much to the main character, especially since I have a sister as well, and even if you don't have a sibling, the characters were so endearing. The variety of people was wonderful.

In addition, I loved the setting. I learned so much about the Philadelphia Centennial Fair of 1876 and so much about Philidelphia in general too. The scenery was breathtaking and the events that occurred in the book felt so real to me, just because I knew that many of them had actually taken place in history.

Beth Kephart has this fantastic knack for details that is hard to come by in authors, and her attention to the little things - the meeting of eyes, simple gestures and words - is what truly makes her an exceptional writer.

Autumn

A couple weeks ago, my sister and I took a walk around the neighborhood and snapped a couple pictures of the autumn leaves before they fell. Maya's posted a couple up already; here are some more:

The Lost Hero

by Rick Riordan

The Lost Hero is the first book in the Heroes of Olympus series, which is the successor to the wildly popular Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. In The Lost Hero, we get to see new demigods as well as old. Percy, Annabeth, and their friends are still in the series and play major roles, but we have new main characters: Jason, Piper, and Leo (all demigods). And they have major obstacles coming ahead - an ancient enemy worse than Kronos is rising, and bringing the dead and all kinds of monsters with her.

The Lost Hero, although it didn't quite match up to the previous Percy Jackson books, was still a good beginning to the series. Riordan has made several huge leaps in his story, and although I'm not too fond of them, they did keep me entertained. The writing was just as good as usual - the humor felt a little forced, but I'm putting that down to the new narrators, who are a lot more flawed (and a bit more annoying) than Percy. There were a lot of twists in the book, and the ending was a depressing cliffhanger that will probably make everyone go, "What??? Noooo!!!"

It probably sounds like I didn't like the book very much, because I'm pointing out all its problems, but I really did enjoy it. I can't wait for the second book and if you're a Percy Jackson fan as well, this is a must-read.