claire may start the books as the prototype meek, shy, nerdy, and naive girl, but she grows that backbone right quick when she needs to. in fact, nobody is ever what they seem to be- the vampires aren’t all evil, the humans aren’t all good, the parents aren’t all perfect, the popular girls aren’t all plastic- cos they’re all just people.

the twists and turns in this book kept me on my toes, and showed me just how much i love this town and these characters, even the jerks. absolutely cannot wait for the next one.

(also, SUPER-AWESOME CONGRATS to rachel caine, who made the new york times bestseller list with this one!! i am so, so proud of her today.)

wild child: i’m not ashamed to admit that i have the taste of a 12 year old girl, so yes, i liked this. it could have been better- it was pretty predictable and one of the plot points made absolutely no sense- but it was sufficiently cute. also, i really like emma roberts. i just wish she would pick better scripts!

the duchess: oh god this was so boring. i do not get the appeal of ralph fiennes (outside of lord voldemort, because he is hot as voldey-poo) and keira knightly should stick to less dramatic roles.

the curious case of benjamin button: this was a gorgeous movie, and i kind of want to read the story it was based on now, but a) this was entirely too long, b) the katrina thing was really stupid, and c) the script needed some work. plus, as much as i love them both, brad pitt and cate blanchett had no chemistry, so i spent way too much of the movie wondering why they were making out. (there were a lot of good quotes though!)

a new wave: this was kind of dumb. i watched it because i like some of the actors, but it really wasn’t worth it.

secretary: this movie sounded a lot more interesting than it actually was. maggie gyllenhaal was excellent in it though.

material girls: normally i really like hillary duff movies, but this was terrible.

dragon hunters: i really liked the art and the ‘verse, but the story itself was pretty run-of-the-mill.

oh, and i just tried to watch elizabethtown but it was so completely terrible that i turned it off. i know i come into all kirsten dunst movies with a chip on my shoulder, but no, this was just bad.

(and i mean, he’s john f’ing green! i love him! and his brother hank! they are made of awesome.)

this is another book that makes me think so much, about the world and people and how i fit into this world full of people. i’m sorry, i’m making this book sound so stupid, and it truly isn’t. people aren’t what they appear to be! people are capable of even more than they think they are! happy endings are not necessary to end up happy!

(i am outrageously excited for john’s orlando stop on the tour de nerdfighting.)

looking for alaska is one of those books that changes the way you see the world. that’s a rare thing in a book, and rarer still for it to happen when you are 23 years old, but this one did it.

(i’m a firm believer that life-changing books have maximum impact if read between the ages of about 12 and 20. i can still appreciate books (and movies, and music, and) that would have completely shaped my world if i had had them in high school, but they very rarely get to that place inside me where the books that made me who i am reside.)

in short, i love every single thing about this book, and want to reread it until it becomes such a part of me that i can never be without it again.

first of all, the thing that pissed me off the most (and that i could be wrong about, so maybe someone will correct me) was the lack of azric’s sister. you do not put a gun in the first act and then never fire it!

second of all, the girls definitely get shafted. don’t get me wrong- i love the girls in these books! but the boys get bigger storylines, they get to be the heroes, they get to be the bad guys, they get to be the mentors, they basically get to be badass! while the girls are brainy or scared or not given enough depth. haaaaaaaaate!

third of all, this is not really a trilogy! i mean, if it IS really a trilogy, wow, way to suck. but the bad guy gets away! (and don’t even get me started on his goddamned immortality.) the conclusion is such crap, for realz. the ‘ships don’t even fully happen (which annoyed me, even though the ‘ships themselves annoyed me. but then i saw the piri/tiaret and stopped caring about how stupid this all was.) and the great epic isn’t finished and UGH, i wanted this to be complete!

anyway, you should probably not bother with these. (sorry ashley. still read tigana though!)

i love so many things about this video! i mean, a) i love the song. b) i love youtube covers. c) i love UKULELE youtube covers. d) i love youtube covers with like eighteen videos all rolled into one because they really bring the song to life and also you can tell that the vlogger is dedicated because that has to take forever. and d) julia nunes loves this video, which means it must be good!

the flashes of wanting to be an adult novel are, thankfully, uncommon. but the villain who is literally one of the stupidest villains i have ever read and the completely obvious (to me, anyway) piri storyline will completely turn off ya readers, while the branding, slavery, and torture are, i think, a bit much for the middlegrade readers.

(and yes, i try not to underestimate kids, and i did transition from middlegrade to ya pretty early, but these books would never have worked for me. they would have been too violent for me in the beginning, and too predictable once i made the switch.)

(again though, the universe and the story itself ARE interesting enough that i am still reading these fairly quickly. they just could be a lot better.)

one of my friends loaned me his copy and told me he had never made it to the end- the book just got too confusing and he no longer had any idea who anyone was. i have a terrible memory for names so this should have scared me off, but grisham’s lazy writing made it easier for me since when a character has multiple names he tends to use every single one in each sentence.

the whole plot was pretty ridiculous, the characters were generally unlikeable and inconsistent (and carictures of themselves), and the whole thing seemed to lack a constant strand to hold the book together.

so as a novel, pretty terrible. as a love letter to all things italian though, it got the job done.

which isn’t to say that parts of this book aren’t heart-breaking the first time around, because they are. this is just one of those rare books that even normal people who don’t need to reread things all the time should reread. i mean, just the prologue is INFINITELY more powerful the second time around, even without everything else!

i love so many things about this book besides its ability to break my heart. i love the world kay creates, and i love his characters. i love how well-written brandin (the bad guy) is, and i love how torn dianora is. i love the relationships and the makeshift families these characters build, and i love how well they work together. i love their religion and their moons and their wine and their music. i love sandre and alesson and catriana and devin and alais and rovigo and baerd bar saevar di tigana, and i love how this book manages to break my heart and put it back together again in the space of a single paragraph.