BeforeUGo - January 2010 Recommendations

HELLO!

We decided to have a short month of recommendations. We needed a break. So, here is a short list of bands we recommended via our Twitter (twitter.com/BeforeUGo)…

THE SCENE AESTHETIC - http://www.myspace.com/thesceneaesthetic
MUMFORD AND SONS - http://www.myspace.com/mumfordandsons
A FINE FRENZY - http://www.myspace.com/afinefrenzy
LETTERS AND NIGHT - http://www.myspace.com/lettersandlights
BAND OF SKULLS - http://www.bandofskulls.com/ & http://www.myspace.com/bandofskulls

So, that was Jan for this year! Check us out on Twitter or Facebook!

See ya in Feb!

King Julian's Pick Up Line of the Week

Now it's time for King Julian's Pick Up of the Week...

"What is a simple bite on the buttocks among friends? Here, give me a nibble."



And that was King Julian's Pick Up Line of the Week!

GoodRead - "Betrayed" (A "House of Night" Novel)

Okay, I have no idea how am going to start this review! So, while I try and figure out how to start this review, let me give you this youTube video to watch while I figure how what the write...



So, with that song playing (you can download that from the US House of Night site - http://www.houseofnightseries.com), let me see if I can attempt to write a review on "Betrayed", the second book in the hugely-popular teen series, House of Night, written by P.C. & Kristin Cast.

Taking place a matter of weeks, if not days, after the events of the first book in the series, "Marked", things seem to be going pretty well for Zoey Redbird. She's managed to settle in her new finishing school of vampyres, the House of Night and, with the help of her friends, she seems to be coming to terms with not only her new powers but becoming High Priestess in Training and leader of the Dark Daughter. Things are going well.

As, as we all know, when that happens, things will go horrible wrong. And they do.

Human teenagers are beginning to go missing and evidence is pointing towards the House of Night. Not only does Zoey have to worry about that but Zoey has to figure out what to do with her boyfriends (that's right. Plural) but something strange is happening inside the House of Night...

Again, like the first book and (as I stated in Marked's review), this book is a super fast read and it does grip your as you speed through the pages. This book is holds your attention as it adds a new edge to the whole vampire story and I can see myself reading the next book in the series, Chosen.

But, again, I have some issues. This book, like the book before it, doesn't tied everything up for you. This book gives out more questions then answers and changes characters in ways you don't see coming from what you read from the first book. This book series is a book series has "the long game" in mind.

So, for a casual reader, this might not be the best series to go with...

But, I quite like it and, if I ever make it through (or just half) my "To Read" pile, I might try and read Chosen. But I would like some answers.

And oh, the betrayal... now, that would be telling, wouldn't it?

GoodRead – “Lord Sunday” by Garth Nix Teaser

With barely a month to go if you live in Australia and two months to go if you live in the USA or in the UK, the final book in Garth Nix’s spellbinding series “Keys to the Kingdom” will be on bookshelves. And, the lovely publishers of the book series in Australia released a podcast of the author himself reading the first two chapters to wet our appetites.

But before I briefly talk about it (without spoilers!), you will see the UK, US and the Australian covers and you will read the Product Description from Amazon.co.uk and Wheelers.co.nz.

Amazon.co.uk Product Description
In this seventh and last book of THE KEYS TO THE KINGDOM, the mysteries of the House, the Architect, the Trustees, the Keys and the Will are revealed, and the fate of Arthur, our Earth, and the entire Universe is finally decided. Arthur has wrested the Sixth Key from Superior Saturday, but has fallen from the Incomparable Gardens; fallen not to the Upper House but to somewhere completely unexpected. Alone in enemy territory, as his mind and body are further transformed by the power of the Keys, Arthur must struggle with himself as much as with his many enemies. Meanwhile, Arthur's friend Suzy Blue plots an escape from her prison in Saturday's tower, as battle rages above and below. Saturday's elite force is pressing on into the Incomparable Gardens, while her massed sorcerers fight a desperate rear-guard action against the Piper and his Newnith army. On earth, Leaf has to cope with the aftermath of a nuclear strike. Responsible for all the Sleepers in Friday's private hospital, she needs all the help she can get, particularly as Leaf herself has become a target for intruders from the House. And the tide of Nothing continues to rise, destroying everything in its path...

Wheelers.co.nz Product Description
Master of the Incomparable Gardens, the last of the Trustees, and the most powerful Denizen in the house, Lord Sunday is a fierce opponent. And Arthur is running out of time. With everything falling to pieces around him, Arthur must be quick if he is to stem the tide of Nothing and save the House and the Secondary Realms. But he is beset by worries. Will he ever get home to his family? Does he have a home and family left? Is he even really human anymore? And perhaps most urgent of all: What will be revealed when the Will of the Architect is finally made whole? Lord Sunday is the stunning conclusion to the blockbuster Keys to the Kingdom series.

Now, am going to VERY BRIEFLY chat about the podcast of Garth Nix reading the first and second chapter of Lord Sunday (there’s no prologue read, even though each book in the series has one… hmmmm…)

Chapter 1 is about Arthur and what happened to him after the cliffhanger ending of Superior Saturday. It’s quite surprising for me as this chapter, Arthur isn’t the Arthur I relate him. He’s now beginning to struggle to stay human as he has becomes more Denizen and not a nice Denizen at that.

Chapter 2 is about Suzy Blue and this chapter brings some much-needed light relief after the heavy first chapter (has nothing to do with the fact that she’s one of my fave characters within the series). We see what happened to her after the events of Superior Sunday and we met a new character who I love! You might think he’s a bit slow but I love him!

And that’s it! No more from me on the subject! I’m going to put the link for the podcast below and I will wait (impatiently) for Lord Sunday…

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=350710673&subMediaType=Audio

Random FaceBook and Twitter Statues

I have just realised that, over the the past few days, that I have used fairly strange and quite weird statues on my Facebook and Twitter. So, I decided to quickly go through them over the past few days and share the strangest and funniest with you. Enjoy!

Inside me, there is a confident grown up just screaming to get out. But my hyper and childish self won't let that happen!

Mauris, my arm is tired. Wave it for me... Faster, you naughty little monkey!!!

AaaaaaaaaahI'masnake!!!!

WHAT DID I MISS?! WHAT DID I MISS?! (what? No, I do not have a beer belly. How dare you advertise that to me, Facebook!)

Just compared a piece of chocolate to a Praying Mantis... Go figure that one out

With my entrance to Narmia hair, am ready to start my world conquering plans today...

"SOOKIE! Did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire?!"

There's a football team in Spain called 'Mon the Heehaw. I want to follow them. No reason expect that if you say it really fast, it sounds like "Mow The Eeyore"!

Fat And Cute Cats Vs Scary Screaming Cats

Right, let's have some random cat videos from the beloved YouTube!!!

First, scary and slightly evil cat (no, not the scary screaming cat!)


Second, the FAT cat. I want to adopted this cat so BADLY!!!


And now, thirdly... well...


And now, let's do the SCARY cat video! (cover your ears!)

So, is this a blog about 'Twilight: Graphic Novel' or about Fandoms in General?

Atom Books – UK publishers of the Twilight Saga (plus a book publisher I have high respects for) – were thrilled this morning when they released the press release saying that they had the UK publishing rights to “Twilight: The Graphic Novel”. Based of Stephenie Meyer’s bestseller and drawn by Young Kim, this new version of Twilight is meant to give a new dimension to the Twilight Saga and should react out to a new audience.

Now, as much as I am intrigued on this and how the artist retells the story (but will I buy it? Not sure, if I tell you the truth), there will be people out there who are wondering if fans wanted this or if the publishers are pushing this to make more money?

As a fan of the Saga, I don’t want future generations to look back at the Twilight Saga and remember it for cheap bic-a-bac. I want them to look back and see the books, the starting point, as the most important thing about the Twilight fandom. If not the books, then how passionate the fans were about these books.

And to me, like every fandom out there (whether that is a fandom based on a book, film, TV show, movie, etc), the most important thing is not only what started the fandom, but the fans of that fandom.

GoodRead - Trend Setters?

I was wondering this today at work about authors and how/why their work got popular and how?

Think about it, if you will. When Harry Potter became popular, wizards suddenly became the “In” thing to read. The UK publisher ever printed an Adult Cover for those “grown-up” fans who were ashamed to read Harry Potter with the kiddy cover.

Then Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy came along and then, people started to read epic books that question religion.

Then conspiracy theories suddenly became popular due to one Dan Brown with his Da Vinci Code.

Then vampires became very popular due to Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga.

And with every successful novel or series, there have been an upsurge of books that it linked in somewhere to the original. Look at vampires at the moment. Stephenie Meyer got popular, now we can’t go into the Young Adult section without seeing a supernatural or a vampire series waiting to catch your eye – ie. House of Night series, True Blood, MorganVille Vampires, etc.

Some people call these upsurges a fad. Some don’t, but they call them trends that will stay with us for quite some time.

So, with these authors that start a trend, are they trendsetters or were they at the right place at the right time, making them lucky?

I go with luck. But maybe the world of the internet has changed. I discovered two/three authors last year via podcasts and sites such as Twitter and YouTube. Both couldn’t exist without the internet. Whether people like it or not, the internet and social networking sites are playing a part in what books we decide to read or pay attention to.

So, what’s the next trend to hit the Teen section of a book shop? Well, by the looks of it, there are three contenders. We have the werewolves (and not a vampire in sight), Angels or dark human nature stories.

The best 3 examples from each of these 3 areas, I have read and reviewed. And they are, as followed:

Werewolf – “Shiver” by Maggie Steifvater
Angel – “Hush, Hush” by Becca Fitzpatrick
Dark Human Nature – “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins

Each of these seem to be making headway in the Young Adults section and all these books have got attentions of, not only readers and other authors, but also by film companies. The film rights to Shiver has been bought by Warner Bros (?), Hunger Games has been bought by Liongate and an angel-based story Fallen by Lauren Kite (with its three unwritten sequels) have been bought by Disney.

Each book within these 3 areas have fiercely loyal fans (and I class myself as one of them), but I have a feeling that angels might have the edge over the other two areas over the course of this year.

But whatever happens, it looks like fantasy or paranormal will be hanging round in the Teen Section for quite some time to come…

Random (And Slightly Creepy) Song Lyrics

What is it about stop listening to the radio then rediscovering it that makes you suddenly aware of random song lyrics? I have 3 examples (one of which I'm going to read out on YouTube this weekend - remind me!) and you guys can example to me what they mean (the last one the most)!

"Your lips are nettles,
Your tongue is wine,
Your laughter's liquid,
But your body's pine..."
(The Violet Hour by Sea Wolf - New Moon Soundtrack)

"Let me lick you up and down till you say stop
Let me play with your body baby make you real hot
Let me do all the things you want me to do
Cause tonight baby I wanna get freaky with you."
(Freak Me by Another Level [ok, you are NEVER licking me without my permisson! And what do you think I am? A First Class Stamp!])

And now... the creepiest of the all!!!

"You know its the bomb diggy diggy when we get jiggy,
let me piggy back ride on it all night long, while i'm singin' my song,
all thru the hoody hoody wanna get that goody goody,
You know it's the bomb diggy diggy bomb bomb diggy,
Can I get some of your bomb diggy jelly jelly goody chocolate puddy,
Wanna get a little bit of your goody, goody ... goody, goody."
(Bomb Diggy – Another Level [ewwwwwwww!])

EDIT!

Karen Walker's Pick Up Line Of The Week

Now it's time for Karen Walker's Pick Up Line of the Week...

"Martini, honey, and don’t waste any space with those olives!"



And that was Karen Walker's Pick Up Line of the Week.

GoodRead - UK Cover Vs US Cover

Sometimes, though not often, UK publishers change cover designs on books to get a wide appeal. This worked well in the UK with Kathy Reichs novels and other publishers are doing the same with other authors, like Tess Gerristen.

One series cover design that changed was the "Mortal Instrument" series by Cassandra Clare. For the first two book, there was a design of one of the characters face with a metal, rusty shine to it. But then, on the release of the third book in the series "City of Glass", the UK covers were changed to the US design on the book.

So, as a Cover Vs Cover isn't just a "UK vs US", it's a "Before Vs After".

So, this was the first design of "City of Glass", in keeping with the first UK covers of "City of Bones" and "City of Ashes":



And this is the design of "City of Glass" that the UK now has, which is the US cover as well:



Now, which cover do you guys prefer? Now, weirdly, I like both. I like the original UK cover because it was shocking to look at, yet in fitted perfectly with the first two covers. But there is an air of coldness of this cover, whereas the US cover (and the UK cover that we know) seems more engaging, but I can understand how some people felt when they got their hands on this book and discovered that it didn't match the rest of the series.

But I like both. I love the US (now UK) cover of "City of Bones". But what do you guys think? Leave a comment and let me know!

Scooby Doo and Starbucks

So, Kraft Food has now bought Cadburys (NO!!!!). But, I heard another takeover...



Sorry. Bad joke.
(But I love the photo I took on my photo so I decided to share...)

January Blues

As a friend said to me today after completely freaking out at work, "January is the Year's Monday."



I love my friends sometimes for lines like that.

GoodRead - UK Cover Vs US Cover

Another day, another UK Cover Vs US Cover. Yes, I know it's very quick after WAKE's but I found the countdown to this book's sequel, LINGER, and felt that I HAD to do this cover real quick.

The cover in question is SHIVER by Maggie Stiefvater.

Now, this is the UK cover:



And this is the US cover:



And as you can see, there isn't much difference and yet, there's so much. Now, I love both covers for different reasons, but I love the US cover more. The white represent the snows of winter that's heavily used in the story and it looks more colder which suits the story perfectly.

But I love both book covers. So lush and wonderful. But what do you think? Do you prefer the UK cover or the US cover?

A Brit Having a Rant Over Prop8 (WARNING - THERE ARE SWEAR WORDS!)

I had a chat with someone about Prop8 (It's about Gay Marriage in the US State of California), I ranted about this in my facebook status bar and tried to update. Couldn't do it. Cos my rant was 646 characters long, and the max it could have was 420. So, after showing this to a friend via facebook mesage and seeing their reaction ("Shiiiiiit. That was fucking amazing! I'm twitpic-ing this!" - http://twitpic.com/xpcq0), I decided to add it on here so you can see me throw a computer hissy fit! ENJOY!

Ever though I am not American, feels the need to scream at this stupid stupid Prop8 thing! EVERYONE IS EQUAL, YOUR ASSHOLES! NO MATTER YOUR GENDER, AGE, SEXUAL PREFERENCES, BACKGROUND, RELIGION, WHATEVER! PLUS, THERE ARE MORE IMPORTANT THINGS GOING ON IN THE WORLD TO WORRY ABOUT (GLOBAL WARMING, THE ECONOMY CRISIS, ETC) THAN WORRYING ABOUT THAN WHETHER OR NOT A GAY MAN OR WOMAN SHOULD MARRY THEIR LOVER! IF THEY LOVE EACH OTHER, THEN THAT'S ALL THAT MATTERS! SO, PEOPLE, GET A GRIP AND DEAL WITH SOME REAL ISSUES THAT MIGHT BE USEFUL TO OUR CHILDREN RATHER THAN A WASTE OF OXYGEN THAT YOU SEEM TO CALL A "PROBLEM", OKAY?!

rant over. Carry on.

GoodRead - UK Cover Vs US Cover

After me doing "UK Cover Vs US Cover" on Trudi Canavan's "Priestess of the White" where you guys agreed with me that the UK cover is better than the US Cover), I wanted to do this again with other cover.

I sense this will become a regular thing with me.

This time, I decided to do Lisa McMann's "Wake".

Now, this is the UK cover:



And this is the US cover:



So, what cover do you prefer? I prefer the US cover, shockingly! The UK cover seems very childish whereas the US cover seems dark and leaves more to the imagination...

But what do you think? The UK cover of "Wake" or the US cover?

(I did review this book earlier on in the blog. If you want to read it, click here!)

Random Book Quotes 4

Seeing as today is Random Book Quote Day (http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=190301033340&index=1), I decided to yet another Random Book Quotes thing on Twitter and on Facebook. So, here they are...

Facebook Quote - "And next moment, he was out in the dark, quiet street, heaving his heavy trunk behind him, Hedwig's cage under his arm." (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, JK Rowling, page 28.)

And now, for the Twitter...

Quote 1: "If the bodies were there, I couldn't find them." (Death Du Jour by Kathy Reichs. Opening Line.)

Quote 2: "You wouldn't expect the radio to work afterward. But it does." (If I Stay by Gayle Forman, page 11).

Quote 3: "Wait!" she gasped. "can I speak before I die?" (Priestess of the White by @TrudiCanavan. Page 12 of @orbitbooks edition)

Quote 4: "I have a variety of names," replied the cat. (Sabriel by Garth Nix, page 94) (Note, was going to quote "The Mephisto Club" by Tess Gerritsen but couldn't find a quote I liked...)

Moo! (Aka Mad Cow Art Disease)

I keep seeing this lady's name around. That's probably because there's a small art shop near where I work and I keep seeing some of her works in the window. And, feeling a bit bored at work, I Google-imaged the artist's name. Her name is Caroline Shotton, and some of her work is original and others are brilliant! So, cos this is my blog, am going to up load some of her works.

I don't know all the names, but one is called "The Moona Lisa". Which one is that, one wonders?

When You Get Snow, Make Snow Art!

Blame Maureen Johnson's Twitter For This!

As I said before, blame Maureen Johnson (http://twitter.com/maureenjohnson)for this video...

Or, maybe I just have too much time on my hands...

And You Thought The Snow Was Bad Now....

For those of you saying that the UK Snow at the moment is bad, I would say watch this...



I just love this video...

Strange Doodle

Hi there!

I have a question to ask you. While I was at work (no snow day - grumble), I started to doodle randomly on a post-it note. When I looked down, I saw the below:



So, answer me this: what the hell did I draw? Leave your ideas and theories below....

GoodRead - UK Cover Vs US Cover

I've seen this done before on several blogs and, I love the idea behind this and decided that I will copy it too. Now, I don't know who started it but I will find out and I will thank either via edit or in another blog.

Basically, this is the bit where we compare the UK cover of a book with the US cover of the same book. Now I know I talked briefly about this in a previous blog entry, "Never Judge A Book By Its Cover...?" (http://thepewterwolf.blogspot.com/2009/11/never-judge-book-by-its-cover.html) but seeing these blogs and rereading my blog, I thought it would be a cool idea to compare and see what we (me and you, dear reader) think about each cover...

Wasn't sure where to start, went into a bookshop today and randomly picked a book at random. I choose "Priestess Of The White" by Trudi Canavan.

So, this is the UK cover of "Priestess Of The White":



And this is the US cover of "Priestess Of The White":



So, which cover do you prefer? In my opinion, I prefer the UK cover more. There's something quie mysterical about the UK cover, whereas with the US cover...

But I'm more intrigued about your answers. Which cover do you prefer? The UK Cover? Or the US Cover?

Every Day... (My Motto For 2010!)

I must thank my twitter and Livejournal friend Nicole (http://twitter.com/melovecoffee and http://organizedmess.livejournal.com) for this photo. I'm not sure if she took it or she found it on the net, but I really liked it and I've been meaning to upload it to here and, maybe, facebook. So now, I have finally stopped thinking of excuses and an upload this picture. So, Nicole, thanks!!!