Monday, October 31, 2011

Day 16: Favourite Female Character




Day 01 – The best book you read last year
Day 02 – A book that you’ve read more than 3 times
Day 03 – Your favourite series
Day 04 – Favourite book of your favourite series
Day 05 – A book that makes you happy
Day 06 – A book that makes you sad
Day 07 – Most underrated book An unexpected good read
Day 08 – Most overrated book
Day 09 – A book you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving
Day 10 – Favourite classic book
Day 11 – A book you hated
Day 12 – A book you used to love but don’t anymore
Day 13 – Your favourite writer
Day 14 – Favourite book of your favourite writer
Day 15 – Favourite male character
*Day 16 – Favourite female character*


Alrighty, this one's a piece of cake. Unlike for favourite male characters where I couldn't choose just one, I don't have to think twice about which female literary character is my favourite of all time.
There are plenty of amazing female characters I can think of just off the top of my head - Becky Bloomwood, Georgia Nicolson, Hermione Granger, Cameron Morgan, Jane Eyre, and Elizabeth Bennet, just to name a few, but no one can top KATNISS EVERDEEN.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

New ABC tv series 'ONCE UPON A TIME'


Once Upon A Time is a new fairytale drama on ABC. I caught the pilot episode last week and was BLOWN AWAY! Thinking about it makes me giddy 'cause I'm so excited about this new show!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Day 15: Favourite Male Character(s)



Day 01 – The best book you read last year
Day 02 – A book that you’ve read more than 3 times
Day 03 – Your favourite series
Day 04 – Favourite book of your favourite series
Day 05 – A book that makes you happy
Day 06 – A book that makes you sad
Day 07 – Most underrated book An unexpected good read
Day 08 – Most overrated book
Day 09 – A book you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving
Day 10 – Favourite classic book
Day 11 – A book you hated
Day 12 – A book you used to love but don’t anymore
Day 13 – Your favourite writer
Day 14 – Favourite book of your favourite writer
*Day 15 – Favourite male character*

This is hard! I can't pick only one.
Here is a short list of wonderful male characters I have had the delight of meeting in my lifetime of reading:

Neville Longbottom
Neville is a loyal member of Dumbledore's Army and loyal friend of Harry Potter. He is talented and special in his own unique way, and these qualities bring out the best in him. I would pay big bucks to have a friend like Neville.

Edmund Pevensie
He is Edmund the Just, (younger) King of Narnia. Yes, his judgement and decision-making skills may have been slightly flawed in The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe, but if you've read the books, you'll know that Edmund redeems himself, and becomes one of C.S. Lewis' most beloved characters - at least in my eyes.  

King Trevor the Four Hundred and Forty First or is it Second
From Colin Thompson's children's novel Pepper Dreams, King Trevor is definitely a character to behold. A little bit strange, but confidently confusing, he leads the magical island of Nymphaea with a chocolate bar in one hand and a bowl of soup in the other.

Gale Hawthorne
Katniss Everdeen's best friend and faithful hunting partner. There is no way Gale would miss out on a place on this list. Suzanne Collins knows how to write good characters. For some readers, the perfection of Peeta Mellark may melt their hearts, but Gale Hawthorne floats my dreamboat. (What, too lame? Don't care!) I like the soft-spoken, dark and brooding types. ;)  

Jon Snow
From George RR Martin's epic fantasy series A Song of Ice & Fire, Jon Snow is the bastard child of Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell, and sworn brother of the Night's Watch. He is the most loving of all his siblings (yet he is only their half-brother) - and this is just one of his many endearing qualities.

Mr Darcy
Fitzwilliam Darcy.
'nough said.

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Day 16 – Favourite female character
Day 17 – Favourite quote(s) from your favourite book(s)
Day 18 – A book that disappointed you
Day 19 – Favourite book turned into a movie
Day 20 – Favourite romance book
Day 21 – Favourite book from your childhood
Day 22 – Favourite book you own
Day 23 – A book you wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t
Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read
Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favourite title(s)
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Perth YA Fans Unite!


Perth YA Fans Unite is a campaign recently started by us West Aussie book-lovers and book-bloggers. 
Our goal is to see more authors visit Perth! We want to show everyone that us fans in the West are just as enthusiastic and important as the fans in the Eastern states.
We know that it's difficult sometimes for authors to get here, due to various reasons, but we want to let them know that WA fans matter.

If you're a Perth YA fan, or even if you're not and you sympathise for our cause, please visit our site, like us on Facebook, and most importantly... 
Sign the petition!!! 

Day 14: FAVE BOOK OF FAVE WRITER


Day 13 – Your favourite writer
Day 14 – Favourite book of your favourite writer


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Err, OK. Given that I listed at least a dozen writers for Day 13's topic, I'll choose a book (or series) from one of my favourite writers that I haven't mentioned yet. 



THE GALLAGHER GIRLS SERIES by Ally Carter

Honour her sword | Learn her skills | Keep her secrets

Several years ago, I stumbled across Ally Carter via MySpace (weird, but true!). I'd never heard of this author before and I was immediately intrigued by the Gallagher Girls book series. It was love at first sight. Literally.
The covers really stood out to me, and combined with the prospect of teenage girls as spies-in-training - it was the best and most awesome thing I'd heard of... like, EVER! 

Thursday, October 20, 2011

A little update for you, just for you. (And apologies)


I've been away for over a month and I feel terrible! 
I can't believe that I have neglected you for so long. 
Like Dolly Levi said, I will never go away again. 
I have made a few changes to my blog, they're not very obvious though. But I have added a page linked up the top for my 'Fave Blogs'. There are several author/book blogs that I really like, but this short list includes my absolute favourites, the ones that when given the question, I don't need to think twice about them being my faves. 
I need to make a nice little header for Chimneys and Magic as well - and maybe think twice about this colour scheme and background. I also need to add some fun buttons to put on the side bar for my Twitter, Goodreads, Tumblr and all that jazz.   

Sorry for this boring post, you're probably disinterested by the construction/maintenance work update. 
Anyway, I wanted to say that from now on, I will be posting up quality (I hope) reviews and substantial, fleshed-out posts. Screw the gimmicks, the fluff memes, the way-too-regular visual inspiration posts - I want to present to you guys my bookish musings in the most inspirational way I can. 

I think it'll be much harder work than before, but I hope I can live up to my expectations, and maybe lure in some fresh new book-lovers on the way. :)


Also, I'm a new fan of epic fantasy - the HBO tv series Game of Thrones has got me hooked on it. 
I bought the first two books in the series (A Song of Ice and Fire by George RR Martin), and I am loving it!!!! 


It is everything you want in a fantasy, and I would highly recommend watching it, unless you're a young'un - the sex and violence might be a bit much for the tween crowds, I think. 

Here are a couple more stills to entice you ;)




See you soon. :)

Modelland by Tyra Banks

Sorry for being away for so long.
I accidentally got lost in the real world, got lost trying to escape it, and failed.
You can't really escape the real world, but my mind works in fantastical ways.
At least that's my excuse for being stupid and lazy.

I had seen glimpses of Tyra's book Modelland, but I thought it was a non-fiction documentary style book about the modelling industry, or maybe a biography or something like that. But I'm so glad I pressed play on James Conran's author video for this novel because I was so pleasantly surprised to see that this is a work of fiction.
My favourite. :) Yum yum.

Take a peak at this video - I was unexpectedly inspired.