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…