Kelly Oram's Blog, page 24
January 12, 2011
Across The Universe by Beth Revis
Um, first of all, being sick SUCKS. Sorry, just had to get that off my chest because I'm miserable right now. But what better way to fight off the flu with an AWESOME book?
The book is: Across The Universe by Beth Revis
I rated it: 5 out of 5 stars! (Woot!)
The Goodreads summary is: Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.
Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.
Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.
My Overall Thoughts: Across The Universe = LOVE. As in, I LOVE this book. This is a dystopian sci-fi murder mystery romance. How freaking cool is that? The only thing it was missing is superpowers lol. This book has something for every reader. Mystery. Intrigue. Creativity. Drama. Thought-provoking conflict. Romance(That isn't overly abundant and cheesetastick like some writers do. *cough* ME *cough*).
I loved the main characters and felt the POV's switching really made the book. But I also loved all the secondary characters too. Great villain. He wasn't entirely black and white and I pitied him and could even understand why he did the things he did. Love it when that happens!
I was sucked in from page one and never once got frustrated with the plot or pacing. I was never bored or felt the need to skim anything and also never felt like I didn't get enough from the writing. I was never frustrated by all the secrets and lies, just fascinated. And I was literally kept guessing until the very end. I did NOT see that coming. (Not the who--I had that figured out, but the surprise after the who... vague I know, but I don't want to give anything away. Once you've read it you'll understand.) I was thinking it was something else and I was wrong. AWESOME!
The only thing that could almost be a complaint, and it's not really a complaint, but I was left a little wanting in the romance. Just a tiny bit. (Which means most people won't have this problem as I like a LOT of romance) But then, more romance could have changed the tone of the story and I wouldn't want to do that at all.
And finally, last but not least.... because you know I have to say it.... Drum roll please.... This is a stand alone novel! YAY!!!!!! (please excuse my horrid use of caps and excessive exclamation marks, but I was just so excited.) There could easily be follow up novels written. It'd be very easy to create more story on this ship with these characters, (and I wouldn't be surprised if there are some planned) but as it is, those books do not have to be written. The story that this book told is complete. It was such a breath of relief.
Anyway, I would recommend this book to most people. And I'd go so far as to say that even if you don't think you like sci-fi, you should give this book a chance. I'd bet you'd still like it.
Congrats to Beth Revis! Brilliant debut!
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The book is: Across The Universe by Beth RevisI rated it: 5 out of 5 stars! (Woot!)
The Goodreads summary is: Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.
Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.
Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.
My Overall Thoughts: Across The Universe = LOVE. As in, I LOVE this book. This is a dystopian sci-fi murder mystery romance. How freaking cool is that? The only thing it was missing is superpowers lol. This book has something for every reader. Mystery. Intrigue. Creativity. Drama. Thought-provoking conflict. Romance(That isn't overly abundant and cheesetastick like some writers do. *cough* ME *cough*).
I loved the main characters and felt the POV's switching really made the book. But I also loved all the secondary characters too. Great villain. He wasn't entirely black and white and I pitied him and could even understand why he did the things he did. Love it when that happens!
I was sucked in from page one and never once got frustrated with the plot or pacing. I was never bored or felt the need to skim anything and also never felt like I didn't get enough from the writing. I was never frustrated by all the secrets and lies, just fascinated. And I was literally kept guessing until the very end. I did NOT see that coming. (Not the who--I had that figured out, but the surprise after the who... vague I know, but I don't want to give anything away. Once you've read it you'll understand.) I was thinking it was something else and I was wrong. AWESOME!
The only thing that could almost be a complaint, and it's not really a complaint, but I was left a little wanting in the romance. Just a tiny bit. (Which means most people won't have this problem as I like a LOT of romance) But then, more romance could have changed the tone of the story and I wouldn't want to do that at all.
And finally, last but not least.... because you know I have to say it.... Drum roll please.... This is a stand alone novel! YAY!!!!!! (please excuse my horrid use of caps and excessive exclamation marks, but I was just so excited.) There could easily be follow up novels written. It'd be very easy to create more story on this ship with these characters, (and I wouldn't be surprised if there are some planned) but as it is, those books do not have to be written. The story that this book told is complete. It was such a breath of relief.
Anyway, I would recommend this book to most people. And I'd go so far as to say that even if you don't think you like sci-fi, you should give this book a chance. I'd bet you'd still like it.
Congrats to Beth Revis! Brilliant debut!
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January 11, 2011
I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore (My first read of 2011)
Okay, so I'm a little late with my first book review of the year, but there were birthday parties and the flu involved and blah blah, you don't want my excuses. Better late than never right? And I've already read book two, so that review should come shortly too.
The Book Is: I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore.I Rated It: 3 out of 5 StarsThe Summary From Goodreads is: In the beginning they were a group of nine. Nine aliens who left their home planet of Lorien when it fell under attack by the evil Mogadorian. Nine aliens who scattered on Earth. Nine aliens who look like ordinary teenagers living ordinary lives, but who have extraordinary, paranormal skills. Nine aliens who might be sitting next to you now.
The Nine had to separate and go into hiding. The Mogadorian caught Number One in Malaysia, Number Two in England, and Number Three in Kenya. All of them were killed. John Smith, of Paradise, Ohio, is Number Four. He knows that he is next.
I AM NUMBER FOUR is the thrilling launch of a series about an exceptional group of teens as they struggle to outrun their past, discover their future—and live a normal life on Earth.
I AM NUMBER FOUR.
I AM NEXT.
My Overall thoughts: In a word? Fun. Who doesn't love kids with superpowers and aliens trying to take over the world? I am a total sci-fi nerd and loved the subject of this book. I was actually intrigued by the title alone and the brief summary completely sold me. As soon as I saw it I knew I'd have to read it, that's how much I loved the concept. And in that respect, the book did not disappoint. The plot was so creative and fun and done very well. I loved the pacing of the book and the story structure. I loved watching John come into his powers and loved learning about the alien races and his history. I also loved the suspense element of this book. That's what kept me turning page after page and made me not want to put it down until I knew how it ended.
The thing that kept me from absolutely loving this book was the writing itself. It was very streamline with not really much voice or personality. It made everything feel sort of blan, characters included. The characters all seem very one dimensional. As a book this was a little disappointing, but what that means, is that I can really look forward to the movie now. To me the book read like a glorified screenplay which means I doubt I'll be disappointed in the upcoming film. With such a strong plot and awesome action sequences it should be a lot of fun, and with these characters, the actors will have a lot of room to develop them without having to meet a ton of expectation. Like say the way Rob Pattinson had to live up to Edward Cullen or whoever plays Katniss will have to live up to Suzanne Collins's legacy. For the characters in I Am Number Four, that shouldn't be as difficult and should make watching the movie enjoyable.
I recommend reading this book if you're looking for a quick, fun, read and love superpowers! And I'll let you know my thoughts on the movie vs. the book after I've seen it. The movie releases February 18th and I'm making some of my friends read the book so that they'll go see the movie with me. Here's the trailer in case you're wondering, And I'm very curious to see how Alex Pettyfer does since so many people have said he'd make the perfect Peeta. (lol I'm a natural skeptic and I worry that no one will be good enough to be Katniss and Peeta. Hopefully I can be proved wrong.)
What do you think? Peeta? Not Peeta?
The Book Is: I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore.I Rated It: 3 out of 5 StarsThe Summary From Goodreads is: In the beginning they were a group of nine. Nine aliens who left their home planet of Lorien when it fell under attack by the evil Mogadorian. Nine aliens who scattered on Earth. Nine aliens who look like ordinary teenagers living ordinary lives, but who have extraordinary, paranormal skills. Nine aliens who might be sitting next to you now.
The Nine had to separate and go into hiding. The Mogadorian caught Number One in Malaysia, Number Two in England, and Number Three in Kenya. All of them were killed. John Smith, of Paradise, Ohio, is Number Four. He knows that he is next.
I AM NUMBER FOUR is the thrilling launch of a series about an exceptional group of teens as they struggle to outrun their past, discover their future—and live a normal life on Earth.
I AM NUMBER FOUR.
I AM NEXT.
My Overall thoughts: In a word? Fun. Who doesn't love kids with superpowers and aliens trying to take over the world? I am a total sci-fi nerd and loved the subject of this book. I was actually intrigued by the title alone and the brief summary completely sold me. As soon as I saw it I knew I'd have to read it, that's how much I loved the concept. And in that respect, the book did not disappoint. The plot was so creative and fun and done very well. I loved the pacing of the book and the story structure. I loved watching John come into his powers and loved learning about the alien races and his history. I also loved the suspense element of this book. That's what kept me turning page after page and made me not want to put it down until I knew how it ended.
The thing that kept me from absolutely loving this book was the writing itself. It was very streamline with not really much voice or personality. It made everything feel sort of blan, characters included. The characters all seem very one dimensional. As a book this was a little disappointing, but what that means, is that I can really look forward to the movie now. To me the book read like a glorified screenplay which means I doubt I'll be disappointed in the upcoming film. With such a strong plot and awesome action sequences it should be a lot of fun, and with these characters, the actors will have a lot of room to develop them without having to meet a ton of expectation. Like say the way Rob Pattinson had to live up to Edward Cullen or whoever plays Katniss will have to live up to Suzanne Collins's legacy. For the characters in I Am Number Four, that shouldn't be as difficult and should make watching the movie enjoyable.
I recommend reading this book if you're looking for a quick, fun, read and love superpowers! And I'll let you know my thoughts on the movie vs. the book after I've seen it. The movie releases February 18th and I'm making some of my friends read the book so that they'll go see the movie with me. Here's the trailer in case you're wondering, And I'm very curious to see how Alex Pettyfer does since so many people have said he'd make the perfect Peeta. (lol I'm a natural skeptic and I worry that no one will be good enough to be Katniss and Peeta. Hopefully I can be proved wrong.)
What do you think? Peeta? Not Peeta?
January 1, 2011
Bring on the new year... and the resolutions!
Happy New Year!(Here's one for the grandmas.)
The Oram Family January 1, 2011Kelly, Josh, Matthew(3 1/2mos.), Jackie(6-in 5 days.), Josh jr.(7)
Some people rag on New Year Resolutions. *cough* Josh *cough* But some of us aren't as naturally organized, and motivated, and self disciplined as my husband and need to have specific goals set. I, the queen of procrastination, also need the looming deadline, so I'm all about resolutions.
2010 was a fairly big year for me. I took my first trip to Europe, published a book, and had a baby. Busy, busy, busy. And it all flew by in a blink.
2011 should be a relatively calm year but with two main events. (Assuming I manage not to have any more babies!) First I turn the big 30 in March, and then I will celebrate my 10th wedding anniversary in September. (Hmm... I wonder if I can talk my husband into taking me on a cruise. I've never done that.)
Anyway, in anticipation of this relative calm I'm expecting, I'm going to set myself some time consuming goals this year.
1. Lose the weight.This is completely unoriginal and unexciting, I know, but seeing as how I had that baby last year it's also completely necessary. I plan to lose at least 15 pounds. I figure a half a pound for every year I am old sounds reasonable. It should also put me comfortably back into the majority of the clothes hanging in my closet. Ideally 25 pounds would be best because that would put me back in my skinniest skinny jeans, but we'll see. I'll start with something a little less daunting.
2. Get in shape.Again, I'm going with unoriginal, but I don't just want to lose the weight, I'd like to get healthier in general, so I'm making the goal to work out as well. A bunch of the ladies from my church have a great exercise program that they do 5 days a week. I've been going one of these five days and am thinking I'll join the full program this year. And who knows, since they're all marathon runners, maybe I'll even be adventurous and run a 5k. (for the record this would probably kill me, so no promises.)
3. Read a book or two.A week that is. Last year I averaged about two books a week. This year I'd like to read a book a week. But I am going to set a specific goal that I branch out and read at least one non YA book a month and one of the books I read this year must be a classic. I'd also like to set a goal to review each book I read this year on my blog. I love reading book blogs and while I know I don't have the time it takes to keep up with starting a book blog, I do love sharing my thoughts on the books I read, so I'll be posting those here.
4. Write a book or two.As I just completed a manuscript, I really don't want to let myself "take a break" now that I'm done. When I did that last time it took me a year to really start writing again. So, this year's writing goal is to finish my current work in progress, which has about seven chapters to go, and then start and complete a first draft of something completely new by the end of the year. With my busy schedule, this should take some effort, but should still be completely doable.
5. Find an agent.Though I can't really set this as a goal because it's not one hundred percent in my control, I'd like to have an agent by the end of the year as well. I didn't seek representation with my first book and really wish I had. So right now I'm cleaning up my next completed manuscript and compiling a list of agents I'd like to contact. Exciting times! We'll have to see how that goes, but hopefully someone will be brave and take me on. And hopefully it won't take me to the end of the year to find someone.
Well, that's it. And that's enough for one year, wouldn't you say? Wish me luck!
The Oram Family January 1, 2011Kelly, Josh, Matthew(3 1/2mos.), Jackie(6-in 5 days.), Josh jr.(7)Some people rag on New Year Resolutions. *cough* Josh *cough* But some of us aren't as naturally organized, and motivated, and self disciplined as my husband and need to have specific goals set. I, the queen of procrastination, also need the looming deadline, so I'm all about resolutions.
2010 was a fairly big year for me. I took my first trip to Europe, published a book, and had a baby. Busy, busy, busy. And it all flew by in a blink.
2011 should be a relatively calm year but with two main events. (Assuming I manage not to have any more babies!) First I turn the big 30 in March, and then I will celebrate my 10th wedding anniversary in September. (Hmm... I wonder if I can talk my husband into taking me on a cruise. I've never done that.)
Anyway, in anticipation of this relative calm I'm expecting, I'm going to set myself some time consuming goals this year.
1. Lose the weight.This is completely unoriginal and unexciting, I know, but seeing as how I had that baby last year it's also completely necessary. I plan to lose at least 15 pounds. I figure a half a pound for every year I am old sounds reasonable. It should also put me comfortably back into the majority of the clothes hanging in my closet. Ideally 25 pounds would be best because that would put me back in my skinniest skinny jeans, but we'll see. I'll start with something a little less daunting.
2. Get in shape.Again, I'm going with unoriginal, but I don't just want to lose the weight, I'd like to get healthier in general, so I'm making the goal to work out as well. A bunch of the ladies from my church have a great exercise program that they do 5 days a week. I've been going one of these five days and am thinking I'll join the full program this year. And who knows, since they're all marathon runners, maybe I'll even be adventurous and run a 5k. (for the record this would probably kill me, so no promises.)
3. Read a book or two.A week that is. Last year I averaged about two books a week. This year I'd like to read a book a week. But I am going to set a specific goal that I branch out and read at least one non YA book a month and one of the books I read this year must be a classic. I'd also like to set a goal to review each book I read this year on my blog. I love reading book blogs and while I know I don't have the time it takes to keep up with starting a book blog, I do love sharing my thoughts on the books I read, so I'll be posting those here.
4. Write a book or two.As I just completed a manuscript, I really don't want to let myself "take a break" now that I'm done. When I did that last time it took me a year to really start writing again. So, this year's writing goal is to finish my current work in progress, which has about seven chapters to go, and then start and complete a first draft of something completely new by the end of the year. With my busy schedule, this should take some effort, but should still be completely doable.
5. Find an agent.Though I can't really set this as a goal because it's not one hundred percent in my control, I'd like to have an agent by the end of the year as well. I didn't seek representation with my first book and really wish I had. So right now I'm cleaning up my next completed manuscript and compiling a list of agents I'd like to contact. Exciting times! We'll have to see how that goes, but hopefully someone will be brave and take me on. And hopefully it won't take me to the end of the year to find someone.
Well, that's it. And that's enough for one year, wouldn't you say? Wish me luck!
December 27, 2010
Holiday traditions, not traditional holidays.
We'll start with the Oram family Thanksgiving in 30 seconds...
I know what you're thinking. Where's all the pictures of the food? Did anyone watch the Lions play? And... was that a camel???
I can explain.
There is nothing my husband hates more in life than Thanksgiving. Seriously. He hates it. Hates loud family gatherings. Hates football. Hates turkey, stuffing, yams... pretty much all food served at Thanksgiving dinner save the pumpkin pie.
Well, he married into the right family because as much as he hates Thanksgiving dinner, I hate cooking it. (And cleaning it.) I get this from my mother. Growing up, my family decided cooking thanksgiving dinner was overrated and a waste of a day off, so we always went to a buffet every year and spent our time saved not cooking or cleaning doing fun things like going to the zoo or bowling or the movies.
When my husband learned of this he was basically thrilled. This year, in grand Hamilton tradition, we went went with my parents to the Phoenix zoo, then to the buffet, and then took the kids to see Tangled. (Very cute but I was disappointed in the music. The horse=awesomest character in the movie.)
And then there's Christmas...
Traditional, right?
What? You don't make smores over a campfire on your back patio every year? At least there was hot chocolate involved. See?
(Yeah, I'm totally rockin' the I heart Troy High School Musical mug. I'm cool like that.)
Okay, this is only the second year doing this, (and last year I wasn't there because my husband and I jumped a plane to Germany Christmas day and left my kids with my sister...) but it's also only our second Arizona Christmas. I have a feeling this one's going to stick! Here are a couple of thing the kiddos got for Christmas this year. Santa was really nice to me and brought Josh and Jackie a trampoline. Better than a babysitter!
I know what you're thinking. Where's all the pictures of the food? Did anyone watch the Lions play? And... was that a camel???
I can explain.
There is nothing my husband hates more in life than Thanksgiving. Seriously. He hates it. Hates loud family gatherings. Hates football. Hates turkey, stuffing, yams... pretty much all food served at Thanksgiving dinner save the pumpkin pie.
Well, he married into the right family because as much as he hates Thanksgiving dinner, I hate cooking it. (And cleaning it.) I get this from my mother. Growing up, my family decided cooking thanksgiving dinner was overrated and a waste of a day off, so we always went to a buffet every year and spent our time saved not cooking or cleaning doing fun things like going to the zoo or bowling or the movies.
When my husband learned of this he was basically thrilled. This year, in grand Hamilton tradition, we went went with my parents to the Phoenix zoo, then to the buffet, and then took the kids to see Tangled. (Very cute but I was disappointed in the music. The horse=awesomest character in the movie.)
And then there's Christmas...
Traditional, right?
What? You don't make smores over a campfire on your back patio every year? At least there was hot chocolate involved. See?
(Yeah, I'm totally rockin' the I heart Troy High School Musical mug. I'm cool like that.)
Okay, this is only the second year doing this, (and last year I wasn't there because my husband and I jumped a plane to Germany Christmas day and left my kids with my sister...) but it's also only our second Arizona Christmas. I have a feeling this one's going to stick! Here are a couple of thing the kiddos got for Christmas this year. Santa was really nice to me and brought Josh and Jackie a trampoline. Better than a babysitter!
December 22, 2010
A Christmas Story (That doesn't shoot anyone's eye out.)
Children are great. Okay, sometimes children are great. Today, when my son had a massive meltdown about getting out of the bath and then sat in the empty tub screaming for half an hour? Not so great. But the other night when we were talking about the true meaning of christmas with our kids? Great.
So, funny story. The other night we were reading this story in the December Friend magazine about Christmas. In the story the mom was telling her kids how Jesus Christ was God's gift to us and that we should give gifts back to God to show our appreciation.
So we asked our kids how can we give Heavenly Father gifts? Josh gave us a blank stare. Jackie thought about it really hard for a minute and then (in all seriousness) answered, "You can wait until you're really old. Then you make Him a present and hold on to it really tight. That way, when you die you take it with you to heaven and you can give it to Him."
Kids are seriously the best.
Merry Christmas everyone. Have a safe and wonderful holiday!
Here's the link for the story we read. It's called Straw For The Manger.
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So, funny story. The other night we were reading this story in the December Friend magazine about Christmas. In the story the mom was telling her kids how Jesus Christ was God's gift to us and that we should give gifts back to God to show our appreciation.
So we asked our kids how can we give Heavenly Father gifts? Josh gave us a blank stare. Jackie thought about it really hard for a minute and then (in all seriousness) answered, "You can wait until you're really old. Then you make Him a present and hold on to it really tight. That way, when you die you take it with you to heaven and you can give it to Him."
Kids are seriously the best.
Merry Christmas everyone. Have a safe and wonderful holiday!
Here's the link for the story we read. It's called Straw For The Manger.
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December 10, 2010
Welcome December! I'm allowed to read again!! (Review for Lauren Oliver's Delirium!)
So I basically have to ground myself from reading for the month of November if I ever want to finish NaNo. (Which I so won this year, go me!) But going a month without reading? It KILLS me! (I also cheated a few times and read four books last month. Shh! Don't tell my husband.)
Anyway, welcome December and all the books it allows me to read! I don't always review books, but I try to. But since I was lucky enough to get my hands on an advanced reader's copy of Lauren Oliver's Delirium (thank you lovely Goodreads first reads giveaways!), I figured I'd share my thoughts on here.
So the book is: Delirium by Lauren Oliver.
The Summary from goodreads is: Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn't understand that one love -the deliria- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the governments demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holway has always looked forward to the day when she'll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.
But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.
I rated it: 3 out of 5 starsMy overall thoughts:Over-all consensus? I liked it. But not nearly as much as Scott Westerfeld's Uglies. And I can't not compare the two books. From page one Delirium had an Uglies feel to it because the concepts are exactly the same with just a twist on the type of procedure people go through to be secretly subdued. Lauren Oliver's writing style isn't particularly my favorite. That's not necessarily a bad thing, just a personal taste thing. I tend to have the attention span of a gnat and Oliver will spend pages and pages at a time of just description, back story and inner dialog. At one point I counted 14 pages straight without a single line of dialog. For my ADD brain, that's essentially 13 pages worth of skimmed or skipped paragraphs. I need character interaction to move a story along. So this book felt incredibly slow. It also felt a little redundant--constantly drilling the same points into us over and over.
But still, the book was enjoyable even if I did skip or skim a bit. It picked up a lot in the last half to third of the book, which helped and I loved the romance of it. That is where I liked this book more than Uglies. The Uglies was a book that focused on the adventure and the conspiracy and along the way a romance flourished. But Delirium definitely focused on the romance that spawned an adventure and a conspiracy. I've always liked books that focus on the romance. I was a little disappointed by the end, but I suppose that's what the sequel is for. And hey, at least it had some resolve, if very little. (I'm not going to rant about the popular trend right now about books that just stop and don't try to wrap up anything at all... okay, so I'm ranting. sorry. stopping...)
I enjoyed the main characters and liked how Lena's eyes were slowly opened to the "system" and how she was being lied to and controlled, it just seemed to take way too long to get from one event to the next. I'd say that this book was good, and I'm sure many will be a lot more happy with it than I was. And as for book two? Well, it will probably make the bottom of my to-read list. Will I be holding my breath for it? No. But would I pick it up if I had nothing else I was dying to read at the moment? Sure. Will I be running off to read Lauren Oliver's other book Before I fall? Eh... maybe someday.
Does this book make me very self conscious about my own writing? Definitely lol. But then, every book I read does that.
I kind of feel this sounds like a somewhat negative review and feel the need to stress that I still thought it was a solid book and think there are many people out there who will really enjoy it. I think my dislikes were more a personal preference thing.
So Have you read or reviewed this one yet? What'd you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts. Or if you've reviewed it on a blog somewhere, feel free to post a link to it.
Anyway, welcome December and all the books it allows me to read! I don't always review books, but I try to. But since I was lucky enough to get my hands on an advanced reader's copy of Lauren Oliver's Delirium (thank you lovely Goodreads first reads giveaways!), I figured I'd share my thoughts on here.
So the book is: Delirium by Lauren Oliver.
The Summary from goodreads is: Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn't understand that one love -the deliria- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the governments demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holway has always looked forward to the day when she'll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.
But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.
I rated it: 3 out of 5 starsMy overall thoughts:Over-all consensus? I liked it. But not nearly as much as Scott Westerfeld's Uglies. And I can't not compare the two books. From page one Delirium had an Uglies feel to it because the concepts are exactly the same with just a twist on the type of procedure people go through to be secretly subdued. Lauren Oliver's writing style isn't particularly my favorite. That's not necessarily a bad thing, just a personal taste thing. I tend to have the attention span of a gnat and Oliver will spend pages and pages at a time of just description, back story and inner dialog. At one point I counted 14 pages straight without a single line of dialog. For my ADD brain, that's essentially 13 pages worth of skimmed or skipped paragraphs. I need character interaction to move a story along. So this book felt incredibly slow. It also felt a little redundant--constantly drilling the same points into us over and over.
But still, the book was enjoyable even if I did skip or skim a bit. It picked up a lot in the last half to third of the book, which helped and I loved the romance of it. That is where I liked this book more than Uglies. The Uglies was a book that focused on the adventure and the conspiracy and along the way a romance flourished. But Delirium definitely focused on the romance that spawned an adventure and a conspiracy. I've always liked books that focus on the romance. I was a little disappointed by the end, but I suppose that's what the sequel is for. And hey, at least it had some resolve, if very little. (I'm not going to rant about the popular trend right now about books that just stop and don't try to wrap up anything at all... okay, so I'm ranting. sorry. stopping...)
I enjoyed the main characters and liked how Lena's eyes were slowly opened to the "system" and how she was being lied to and controlled, it just seemed to take way too long to get from one event to the next. I'd say that this book was good, and I'm sure many will be a lot more happy with it than I was. And as for book two? Well, it will probably make the bottom of my to-read list. Will I be holding my breath for it? No. But would I pick it up if I had nothing else I was dying to read at the moment? Sure. Will I be running off to read Lauren Oliver's other book Before I fall? Eh... maybe someday.
Does this book make me very self conscious about my own writing? Definitely lol. But then, every book I read does that.
I kind of feel this sounds like a somewhat negative review and feel the need to stress that I still thought it was a solid book and think there are many people out there who will really enjoy it. I think my dislikes were more a personal preference thing.
So Have you read or reviewed this one yet? What'd you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts. Or if you've reviewed it on a blog somewhere, feel free to post a link to it.
November 30, 2010
Our Final Winner for November!
Sorry, this should have been posted Monday but with the holiday, and NaNoWriMo coming to an end, and school starting again... blah blah blah... you know. Life. I'm a slacker. Anyway. Congratulations to our fourth and final winner!
Ambur!
Age 19
Alberta Canada
Ambur's favorite books: Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine, The Mortal Instruments and Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare, The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins, and Firelight by Sophie Jordan.
Ambur was chosen from the followers of this lovely little blog of mine. Okay, probably not lovely, probably just too pink. But whatever, that's the glory of it being mine. I can do whatever I want with it. And considering I get the itch to redecorate often, if you don't like the pink, well, it's won't be around forever.
Anyway, I love the blogosphere. I don't necessarily do a good job at keeping my blog up, but I love to read other's blogs. I for one am addicted to book blogs. Because there are far too many books I always want to read and if I bought them all I'd be broke. It's nice to have an idea which ones I'll really love. Hence book blogs. Well after contacting the lovely Ms. Ambur, I've discovered that she has a lovely little book blog of her own called Burning Impossibly Bright. I promise it's way less pink and much more active than mine, so take a minute to go check it out!
And since I have way too many blogs I love to stalk to name them all, I'll just ask you to name them for me! SO do you have a blog you keep up? What's it called? What's it about? Family? Fashion? Books, books, and more books? Want to share it with us? Leave a link to your blog in the comments below or if you don't have a blog, toot someone else's horn and give us a link to a few of your favorites!
Ready, set, go!
And again, Congrats Ambur! Hope all this month's winners enjoy! Happy reading everyone!
Ambur!
Age 19
Alberta Canada
Ambur's favorite books: Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine, The Mortal Instruments and Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare, The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins, and Firelight by Sophie Jordan.
Ambur was chosen from the followers of this lovely little blog of mine. Okay, probably not lovely, probably just too pink. But whatever, that's the glory of it being mine. I can do whatever I want with it. And considering I get the itch to redecorate often, if you don't like the pink, well, it's won't be around forever.
Anyway, I love the blogosphere. I don't necessarily do a good job at keeping my blog up, but I love to read other's blogs. I for one am addicted to book blogs. Because there are far too many books I always want to read and if I bought them all I'd be broke. It's nice to have an idea which ones I'll really love. Hence book blogs. Well after contacting the lovely Ms. Ambur, I've discovered that she has a lovely little book blog of her own called Burning Impossibly Bright. I promise it's way less pink and much more active than mine, so take a minute to go check it out!
And since I have way too many blogs I love to stalk to name them all, I'll just ask you to name them for me! SO do you have a blog you keep up? What's it called? What's it about? Family? Fashion? Books, books, and more books? Want to share it with us? Leave a link to your blog in the comments below or if you don't have a blog, toot someone else's horn and give us a link to a few of your favorites!
Ready, set, go!
And again, Congrats Ambur! Hope all this month's winners enjoy! Happy reading everyone!
November 22, 2010
Congtrats to this week's winner!
Congratulations go to Tina for being this week's winner.
Tina!
Age 24 Cainta, Rizal
Philippines
Tina's Favorite Books: The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen & Feed by Mira Grant
Today's winner comes from the Being Jamie Baker page in the wonderful world of Facebook. Haven't heard of Facebook? Then wow, you must live in a cave. Anything so popular there's a movie about it starring Justin Timberlake that's a frontrunner in this year's Oscars is okay by me. And incase you were wondering, no. I am not addicted to Facebook. (I'm also a liar.) So, if you're addicted to Facebook like me, and don't have enough things to "like" yet, I recently had to make a "Kelly Oram" author page because I felt bad that I had to keep denying friend requests of people I don't know. It's brand new and about as popular as tofu popsicles lol so you should go like it and make me feel loved. My goal is to become as popular as this pickel.
Anyway, congrats again Tina! Still one more chance to win! Next week I'll be randomly selecting our last winner from the followers of this very blog. Good luck everyone!
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November 15, 2010
Happy Hump Day! (My tricks to beating the midway NaNo blues.)
Happy Hump Day to all you NaNos! (NaNoers?)
Today is November 15th which means we are officially half way through NaNoWriMo. (otherwise known as National Novel Writing Month.) Good news is I reached 25k so I'm right on track with my word count. Bad news is, I wanted to throw my computer across the room yesterday. Yeah, it was one of those days, and I ended up with a severe case of the NaNo blues.
For those of you who have ever done the challenge, you probably know what I'm talking about. The first week of NaNo you've been anticipating the challenge and you're all excited to get started. Everything's new and fresh and fun! You write like the wind and you see that little green bar starting to make real progress.
Then week two arrives and you start to lose that zeal. You're not quite as excited and it's easier to get distracted by exciting things like Twitter (and writing blog entries like this one.) Plus, all the things you blew off last week while writing finally demand your attention. (ie: homework, grocery shopping, your son's seventh birthday...) Anyway, you miss your first word count or maybe it's your second or third. You start to fall behind, you're past the beginning of your story and have finally hit the point where things start to get complicated and writing feels a little bit more like actual work. And that damn green bar doesn't seem to be getting anywhere!!!
Well folks, now it's hump day. Officially half way. Which means begin week 3. And I'm here to tell you that week 3 will make or break you! Take it from someone who has failed the NaNo challenge for the past two years thanks to none other than the dreaded week three! It's seriously the worst. Most likely, you're a little behind and starting to feel how much you've got to make up to finish on time. But you're not really very close to the finish line yet either and it's starting to feel like November is THE LONGEST MONTH EVER. You start to wonder why you signed up for this stupid challenge in the first place. A finished novel? Who needs it!
When you get the NaNo blues don't let it beat you! This is not easy, but I promise it's worth it. Even if your novel isn't finished in 50k words, just hitting that goal and knowing you survived NaNo is motivation like no other. Your novel will be finished in no time after that. But if you give up and fail now your novel runs the risk of being bumped off the list of "recently opened" files in microsoft word. Trust me. My last year's project is still sitting at thirty whatever thousand words it was at when week three killed me.
So how do you pull through the nasty motivation-killing week three of NaNoWriMo? Here are a few things that have really helped me this year. (And look at me, hump day and I'm ahead of schedule!)
1. Stop mid scene! I read this blog not long ago and I can't remember the link, but it said to never stop writing after finishing a scene or (heaven forbid) a chapter. Okay, I do this. I SO do this. I finish a scene and it feels like a stopping point so I'm good to call it quits. The problem is, it makes it a lot harder to start up again. I finish a chapter and then it takes me like a week to go back to my story. Obviously not a good tactic when your on a NaNo deadline.
I experimented with this these past two weeks and I can't believe the difference it makes! When I'm feeling the need to take a break or have things I need to get done, I don't wait until I hit the end of a scene. I stop mid conversation. Sometimes even mid sentence. This has been the BIGGEST help. I walk away and it's like turning off the Radio mid-song. Worse than annoying everyone with singing Katy Perry's California Girls over and over again, I find myself literally saying the rest of the scene out loud. I can't get it out of my head and can't wait to get back to it. Then when I sit down, I also know exactly where I'm going and the next thing I know my daily word count was reached 800 words ago. Seriously try it!
2. Unplug! The Internet is your best friend, but during NaNo it's your worst enemy. Twitter? facebook? Glorious Youtube? JUST SAY NO! There is nothing worst than being in the middle of a scene and telling yourself you need to look something up. One quick visit to wikipedia and two hours later you're sending the link of Weezer vs. Toni Braxton or the latest Old Spice commercial to all your friends on facebook and you've written three sentences.
Here's what you do. You take your laptop to a place that doesn't have wi-fi or you turn off your airport. Disable the darn thing. If you physically can't connect you will get so much more work done. If you actually do need to look up some random fact for your story do this: Blah blah blah this is my sentence [insert random fact here] and continue on writing. If you can at all help it, look up research after NaNo. Needless to say this trick helps me a LOT. (when I can accomplish it. Clearly I am failing this one at the moment. But I'm justifying it by telling myself I might just help someone else.)
3. Get to know your local NaNoers! This one surprised me with how helpful it's been. Get to know the people around you who are doing the challenge. Hit up a write in. I've gotten to know the other people in my town who are participating and have added them as my writing buddies. We chat on the forum and have had fun at a few writ-ins. It has been so motivating to be doing this challenge with people I have met in person. We are all cheering each other on, and it just means more somehow now that they are more than screen names. (Special shout out to all my Arizona-Elsewhere peeps! We're rocking it this year. Keep it up!)
If you're leery of meeting people on the internet or can't make it to a write-in or live in the boonies, find a friend who likes to write and bully them into doing the challenge with you. Strength in numbers, I'm not even joking. Even having just one person doing it with you can make all the difference in the world.
And finally...
4. JUST DO IT. Having a bad day? Writing a tough scene? Just force yourself to push through it. Even if you don't finish the scene or don't hit your word count for the day, MAKE YOURSELF WRITE at least a little bit EVERYDAY! It's hard to have to force yourself, but if you do it anyway, you'll feel better about yourself since you didn't give up and you'll get a small kick of motivation.
So there you have it. Kelly's tricks for beating the NaNo blues. NaNo, like everything else in life, is work. Hard work. But it's very worth it. You learn a lot about yourself as a writer, and you develop important habits that make for a successful career. Plus, if you can just finish that first novel, writing forever on will be much easier because you'll realize that it is in fact possible to write a book. Just remember that writing the novel is only the first step. Where November is National Novel Writing Month, December should be National Novel Editing month.
Good luck everyone! And to all my fellow NaNoers, if you've discovered any helpful tricks, by all means, do share!
For those of you curious what the pesky little green progress bar looks like, here's mine... MsKelly
And because I know you're dying to know now... Weezer Vs. Toni Braxton and the latest Old Spice commercial
Tweet
Today is November 15th which means we are officially half way through NaNoWriMo. (otherwise known as National Novel Writing Month.) Good news is I reached 25k so I'm right on track with my word count. Bad news is, I wanted to throw my computer across the room yesterday. Yeah, it was one of those days, and I ended up with a severe case of the NaNo blues.
For those of you who have ever done the challenge, you probably know what I'm talking about. The first week of NaNo you've been anticipating the challenge and you're all excited to get started. Everything's new and fresh and fun! You write like the wind and you see that little green bar starting to make real progress.
Then week two arrives and you start to lose that zeal. You're not quite as excited and it's easier to get distracted by exciting things like Twitter (and writing blog entries like this one.) Plus, all the things you blew off last week while writing finally demand your attention. (ie: homework, grocery shopping, your son's seventh birthday...) Anyway, you miss your first word count or maybe it's your second or third. You start to fall behind, you're past the beginning of your story and have finally hit the point where things start to get complicated and writing feels a little bit more like actual work. And that damn green bar doesn't seem to be getting anywhere!!!
Well folks, now it's hump day. Officially half way. Which means begin week 3. And I'm here to tell you that week 3 will make or break you! Take it from someone who has failed the NaNo challenge for the past two years thanks to none other than the dreaded week three! It's seriously the worst. Most likely, you're a little behind and starting to feel how much you've got to make up to finish on time. But you're not really very close to the finish line yet either and it's starting to feel like November is THE LONGEST MONTH EVER. You start to wonder why you signed up for this stupid challenge in the first place. A finished novel? Who needs it!
When you get the NaNo blues don't let it beat you! This is not easy, but I promise it's worth it. Even if your novel isn't finished in 50k words, just hitting that goal and knowing you survived NaNo is motivation like no other. Your novel will be finished in no time after that. But if you give up and fail now your novel runs the risk of being bumped off the list of "recently opened" files in microsoft word. Trust me. My last year's project is still sitting at thirty whatever thousand words it was at when week three killed me.
So how do you pull through the nasty motivation-killing week three of NaNoWriMo? Here are a few things that have really helped me this year. (And look at me, hump day and I'm ahead of schedule!)
1. Stop mid scene! I read this blog not long ago and I can't remember the link, but it said to never stop writing after finishing a scene or (heaven forbid) a chapter. Okay, I do this. I SO do this. I finish a scene and it feels like a stopping point so I'm good to call it quits. The problem is, it makes it a lot harder to start up again. I finish a chapter and then it takes me like a week to go back to my story. Obviously not a good tactic when your on a NaNo deadline.
I experimented with this these past two weeks and I can't believe the difference it makes! When I'm feeling the need to take a break or have things I need to get done, I don't wait until I hit the end of a scene. I stop mid conversation. Sometimes even mid sentence. This has been the BIGGEST help. I walk away and it's like turning off the Radio mid-song. Worse than annoying everyone with singing Katy Perry's California Girls over and over again, I find myself literally saying the rest of the scene out loud. I can't get it out of my head and can't wait to get back to it. Then when I sit down, I also know exactly where I'm going and the next thing I know my daily word count was reached 800 words ago. Seriously try it!
2. Unplug! The Internet is your best friend, but during NaNo it's your worst enemy. Twitter? facebook? Glorious Youtube? JUST SAY NO! There is nothing worst than being in the middle of a scene and telling yourself you need to look something up. One quick visit to wikipedia and two hours later you're sending the link of Weezer vs. Toni Braxton or the latest Old Spice commercial to all your friends on facebook and you've written three sentences.
Here's what you do. You take your laptop to a place that doesn't have wi-fi or you turn off your airport. Disable the darn thing. If you physically can't connect you will get so much more work done. If you actually do need to look up some random fact for your story do this: Blah blah blah this is my sentence [insert random fact here] and continue on writing. If you can at all help it, look up research after NaNo. Needless to say this trick helps me a LOT. (when I can accomplish it. Clearly I am failing this one at the moment. But I'm justifying it by telling myself I might just help someone else.)
3. Get to know your local NaNoers! This one surprised me with how helpful it's been. Get to know the people around you who are doing the challenge. Hit up a write in. I've gotten to know the other people in my town who are participating and have added them as my writing buddies. We chat on the forum and have had fun at a few writ-ins. It has been so motivating to be doing this challenge with people I have met in person. We are all cheering each other on, and it just means more somehow now that they are more than screen names. (Special shout out to all my Arizona-Elsewhere peeps! We're rocking it this year. Keep it up!)
If you're leery of meeting people on the internet or can't make it to a write-in or live in the boonies, find a friend who likes to write and bully them into doing the challenge with you. Strength in numbers, I'm not even joking. Even having just one person doing it with you can make all the difference in the world.
And finally...
4. JUST DO IT. Having a bad day? Writing a tough scene? Just force yourself to push through it. Even if you don't finish the scene or don't hit your word count for the day, MAKE YOURSELF WRITE at least a little bit EVERYDAY! It's hard to have to force yourself, but if you do it anyway, you'll feel better about yourself since you didn't give up and you'll get a small kick of motivation.
So there you have it. Kelly's tricks for beating the NaNo blues. NaNo, like everything else in life, is work. Hard work. But it's very worth it. You learn a lot about yourself as a writer, and you develop important habits that make for a successful career. Plus, if you can just finish that first novel, writing forever on will be much easier because you'll realize that it is in fact possible to write a book. Just remember that writing the novel is only the first step. Where November is National Novel Writing Month, December should be National Novel Editing month.
Good luck everyone! And to all my fellow NaNoers, if you've discovered any helpful tricks, by all means, do share!
For those of you curious what the pesky little green progress bar looks like, here's mine... MsKelly
And because I know you're dying to know now... Weezer Vs. Toni Braxton and the latest Old Spice commercial
Tweet
This Week's Book Winner!
Congratulations to this week's Being Jamie Baker Book-A-Week Winner!
Bailey!
Age 16
Anthem, Arizona
Bailey's Favorite Books:
The Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa and
The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins
This week's winner came from the Twitterverse. We all know Twitter. Some of us even have twitter accounts. If you'd like to follow my excessive tweets (not that I'm a Twitterholic and need an intervention or anything...) you can do so at @kellyoram. You can also follow Bailey at @angelgirl122193. I've learned she's a YA book blogger, so check her out!
A couple of my personal faves to follow are @ConanOBrien, @ABennettBooks, and @nickcarter. Yes, I realize this is a completely random combination, and that last one makes me a huge dork, but I find all three highly entertaining.
Anyway, enough about Twitter... There are still two lovely more weeks in November which means I still have to choose two more lovely winners from either followers of my blog or a fan of the book on facebook. So, if you want to win go follow and/or like and yadda yadda yadda. Wow I feel repetitive. I guess that means it's time to shut-up.
Congratulations Bailey!
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Bailey!
Age 16
Anthem, Arizona
Bailey's Favorite Books:
The Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa and
The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins
This week's winner came from the Twitterverse. We all know Twitter. Some of us even have twitter accounts. If you'd like to follow my excessive tweets (not that I'm a Twitterholic and need an intervention or anything...) you can do so at @kellyoram. You can also follow Bailey at @angelgirl122193. I've learned she's a YA book blogger, so check her out!
A couple of my personal faves to follow are @ConanOBrien, @ABennettBooks, and @nickcarter. Yes, I realize this is a completely random combination, and that last one makes me a huge dork, but I find all three highly entertaining.
Anyway, enough about Twitter... There are still two lovely more weeks in November which means I still have to choose two more lovely winners from either followers of my blog or a fan of the book on facebook. So, if you want to win go follow and/or like and yadda yadda yadda. Wow I feel repetitive. I guess that means it's time to shut-up.
Congratulations Bailey!
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