Wednesday, February 11, 2009
A.D. 62 Pompeii: Rebecca East
"A twenty-first century woman is stranded in first century Pompeii when a time travel experiment goes awry; she is sold to a wealthy family as a house slave. This provides her with an intimate, upstairs/downstairs perspective on household life in ancient times. At first she does menial work, but she improves her situation by telling stories and making prophecies. As her influence grows, she wins the love of her master and his daughter and provokes the vengeful jealousy of his wife. In this gentle fable about the power of stories to change people's lives, the heroine uses sources that include fairy tales and great works of literature to argue for women’s rights and the humanity of slaves, and to inspire herself and others to be resourceful, courageous and independent. Miranda's own life becomes as mythic as the stories she tells. In a narrative that is part adventure, part romance, and part fantasy, the heroine triumphs over adversity and makes a place for herself in the world of the past."
I loved this book. It was so full of surprises and excitement that I couldn't put it down.
When I first got the book I was worried that I wouldn't like it and put it on the back of the bookshelf. I am so glad now that I have read it.
In the beginning of the book, when she first travels back in time, it was so well written that you didnt know if she was ever going to get out of her predicament but in the back of your mind you knew that everything was going to be all right.
I want you to enjoy every last minute like I did, so i don't want to give to much of the book away. But I do think you should read it.
-Sarah
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Reading!
(please excuse the "click to look inside". The bad thing about a brand new book is there isnt a lot of pics to upload : ( )
And possibly after that:
City of Bones
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Newletter
So me and a bunch of blog friends have created an awesome newsletter. You can sign up for it by going to this link.
http://yablognews.blogspot.com/
my bookshelf
Sorry for the sideways picture, I wasn't thinking when I took it. The top 2 rows ate books to read, the bottom two rows are already read. I'm missing a couple on the bottom row ... hmm
: (
Already read shelf 1.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Meet the Authors!
Back of the Book Bonus! Peeps: Scott Westerfeld
"Sing "Happy Birthday"
Many microscopic parasites (and other germs) exsist in the air and on everyday surfaces. They get on your hands, and when you touch your mouth, eyes, or food, they take the opportunity to slip into your body. So wash you hands often, and when you do:
- a) Use warm water
- b) Use soap
- c) Sing "Happy Birthday" at a normal tempo.
Dont stop washing until you are done with the entire song. And by the way, quite rubbing your eyes so much!
If You Eat Meat, Cook It Good
A major vector of parasites is predation: one animal eating another. That's because when you eat an animal, you're exposing yourself to every parasite adapted to living inside that animal, and every parasite adapted to all the things it eats.
Meat-bourne parasites include hookworms, tapeworms, blood flukes, and more. There are zillions of them. YOur humble author is a vegatarian (for non-parasite-related reasons), but you don't have to go that far. It doesnt hurt you to eat a few worms every once in w while, as long as they're thoroughly cooked. So don't eat rare meat, and memorize this simple rhyme:
If your burger oozes red,
Send it back; them worms ain't dead."
-Peeps by Scott Westerfeld
I really enjoyed this book. Although I'm not sure if a lot of other people will. It may freak other readers out with its graphic boilogical detail. So if your really into biology (and dont have a sensative stomach) this would be a great book for you.
Whats really interesting about this book is that every other chapter is about a parasite (Toxoplasma, trematodes, plasmodium to name a few). It must have taken a lot of reasearch to come up with all of those different parasites.
It also has a sequal! called The Last Days. YAY! I havent gotten it yet (im hopsing that one of bookmooch, or paperback swap comes up) but if not soon Ill have to go to the book store and buy it, either way...
I would really like to hear what everyone else thought of it too if youve read it or are going to read it, I want to see how many people accual like the whole boilogy concept (I know I did!)
-Sarah