Insurgent ~ **Release Tomorrow**

Sooo.. tomorrow is the much anticipated release of Veronica Roth's second book in her stellar series, Insurgent. I, along with many other obsessional readers, have been waiting an entire year for this book to be released, so if you're like me, and need a distraction from the anticipation, here's a few little items to quench the thirst.

*Browse Inside* Insurgent by Veronica Roth (Thanks to Harper Teen) 

Enjoy fellow bookaholics ;)

Happy Reading Everyone :)

~ Keely ~ 

Musing Mondays

This week we are musing about ...

Do you listen to audiobooks? If not, why not? And if so, what has been one of your favorites, so far?

It's been a couple of years since I listened to an audiobook, but it's not like they were a bad habit that I felt I needed to quit. I actually really like audio books. Back then, I used to drive quite a bit more, sometimes making an eight hour haul to see my boyfriend (now husband) and in lieu of music, I opted for some James Patterson or Nora Roberts. Also, I used to listen to them when I'd had a bad day or my eyes were tired ~ I could sit in the dark with my eyes closed or run off frustration with headphones and still git my literary fix. I guess my favorite in my small library of audiobooks would be the few House of Night novels. I liked the narrator and I love the books :).

What about y'all?

Happy Reading Everyone :)


~ Keely ~

Booking Through Thursday

Yes! I love Thursdays! Another day closer to the three 'R's' :: Rest, Reading, and Relaxation.. I definitely live for the weekends...

This week's question asks:

Has a book ever inspired you to change anything in your life, fiction and not-fiction alike?

Whether they are fiction or non-fiction, books are the ultimate learning tool. I read mostly fiction, and although the stories may not be based on actual events, the core of these books are basic human elements we experience everyday. Love, pain, friendship, betrayal... I could go on and on and on... I couldn't choose one book in particular, but books as a whole allow me to see myself more clearly in regards to the way I react and what I think while I'm reading. I believe I'm a better person because of books; even if I haven't experienced a situation myself, I've read about someone who has, and each time I read, I gain knowledge about life.

Every book changes my life.


Happy Reading Everyone :)


~ Keely ~

WWW Wednesday

Merry Hump Day! I can't believe I even made it through the jingles of my alarm to get to this point this early in the morning... between a 13+ hour day at work and unusual trouble sleeping, coffee and kava are my best friends :)

Here's my WWW:

What are you currently reading? I'm hooked on anything Jamie McGuire these days. I'm reading Providence, a distinct novel of light and dark. 

What did you recently finish reading? I completed Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire in a record time of a day and a half... Like I said, I'm obsessed with this author right now.. Check out my review here.

What do you think you'll read next? Welllll... this is going to be a tough decision.. I might read Requiem, the second in the Providence series, but I also have Fire by Kristin Cashore in the mail (Check out my review of the first in that series, Graceling, here). 

Happy Reading Everyone :)

~ Keely ~ 

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I'm becoming a Jamie McGuire fan (I just posted a review of Beautiful Disaster - here), so I started reading another of her books, Providence. This is the first in a series, and I'm starting to see a trend as I seem to be getting less and less sleep with every page of McGuire's that I turn.

Here's my teaser:

"The attention turned to my hand. I balled it into a fist; I wouldn't give up my father's ring. Grahm seemed to notice my decision and they all took a step forward, preparing to take it from me. Four sets of malevolent eyes shifted in unison as a familiar voice growled from behind me."






Happy Reading Everyone :)


~ Keely ~

Musing Mondays

Happy Monday! (if there is such a thing)... It's a rainy, dark, and overall gloomy day here in Maine ~ perfect day for curling up in front of my fire and reading ~ and lucky for me, work isn't on the docket today :).

Here's this week's Musing Monday:

Other than working at a job, what is your biggest interruption to reading? What takes you away from your book(s)?


As much as I'd love to permanently live inside the magical pages of a book, I can't allow my life to happen around me while I immerse myself in my own little world. It's difficult to pull myself away, but I have a wonderful husband and two furry children who deserve my undivided attention, and I have a new house that I am slowly but surely forming into a cozy sanctuary. That and I have family that lives a few hours away, and most of the time, weekends are filled with visits and busy plans that don't involve quite, alone time to read (I wish I could read in the car while my love drives, but it inevitably makes me sick).  Another thing that takes me away is the stress caused by my job. I'm only there forty hours a week, but sometimes I come home unable to focus on anything because of a headache due to the silly and ridiculous events of the day. Finding a job I love (and get paid for) isn't an easy task ~ that's why I try to fill the rest of my day with things that truly matter to me whether it's reading, writing, or family.

Happy Reading Everyone :)


~ Keely ~

Books to Movies: The Host

Stephenie Meyer has become a household name. Even if you've never read her books, you've at least heard of her and her either much-loved or much-hated Twilight series. (I'm in the 'much-loved' category, and I'm not the least bit ashamed to admit it.) In the middle of the Twilight hype, Stephenie released The Host, the first book I ever read by her and one that was completely over-shadowed by the noise of squealing Team Jacob and Team Edward teenage fans. It's a shame, really, that this book didn't receive the attention it deserved. It's more science fiction than paranormal ~ think Revenge of the Body Snatchers ~ but it's more about the surviving and thriving elements of humanity than about the conquering of the world by an alien race. Just trust me ~ it's good ;).

They made movies of all of Stephenie Meyer's other books, so it makes sense that would make one based on The Host. I stumbled upon the trailer and cast list ~ the movie will be released in March, 2013 ~ and although the trailer looks awesome, I'm a little perturbed about who they are casting as Melanie Stryder ~ Saoirse Ronan. I love her, don't get me wrong, but I always pictured Melanie as this dark Amazonian looking woman   who can outrun just about anyone. I guess we'll find out..

My preconceived notions aside, here's the trailer for The Host. Looking forward to it :).

Happy Reading (and Viewing) Everyone :)

~ Keely ~ 

Review: Beautiful Disaster

The new Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn’t drink or swear, and she has the appropriate percentage of cardigans in her wardrobe. Abby believes she has enough distance between her and the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college with her best friend America, her path to a new beginning is quickly challenged by Eastern University’s Walking One-Night Stand.

Travis Maddox, lean, cut, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby needs—and wants—to avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight ring, and his days as the charming college co-ed. Intrigued by Abby’s resistance to his charms, Travis tricks her into his daily life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain abstinent for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis’ apartment for the same amount of time. Either way, Travis has no idea that he has met his match.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This book literally kept me up all night~something which hasn't happened to me in a while. I thought I'd lost my 'reading mojo,' as someone so cleverly put it, but this book brought it back with a vengeance. I'd heard about it through a fellow book blogger, and so much was the gushing in the review, I had to give it a try. If was I was tired, had a headache, and was gulping down coffee as if my life depended on it the last couple of days, it was because of this book. It was so worth it.

Beautiful Disaster revolves around the unlikely, crazy, ecstatic, depressing, and sometimes psychotic relationship between Travis Maddox and Abby Abernathy. Travis has never had a problem getting girls, and he's never particularly wanted or needed them (except for a quick romp on his famous couch) until he met one girl who wouldn't give into his reputable charms. (That's how it always happens with guys like that right? They love a girl who won't put up with their crap and sees them for what they are.) However, Abby's not the innocent girl we expect and has a past that she's trying bury, a past that she's reminded of when she's with Travis, giving her contradicting feelings and causing her to constantly second guess their relationship.  

The intensity of the emotions in this book really put a strain on my nerves and patience, but as a glutton for punishment, I loved every minute of it. Travis and Abby are insane, individually and about each other, but no matter what happens, how big the fight, how impossible it seems, they always come to the conclusion that they belong together. The roller-coaster relationship of theirs is not lacking in love, but they still have a lot of growing to do and obstacles to overcome before they can come to the point where nothing can stop them. 

In some of the reviews I've read, I've heard there is too much violence, cursing, etc, etc... I thought that's what made this book real. People curse, they are essentially violent, they make huge mistakes, and are sometimes physical about releasing their anger. That's the reality of being human. We can't always control ourselves according to 'civilized' society. Travis's constantly flaring temper is huge part of what makes him who he is, what causes him to be the 'screw up' he believes himself to be, and it's up to Abby to love him anyway. That's what this book is about - loving someone for who they are, not trying to change or save them, but loving them without conditions. 

I wish I could say this book was an easy and light read - it's anything but that. It's an intense and extremely emotional ride from start to finish. One of the best and most realistic love stories I've ever read. 

Happy Reading Everyone :)

~ Keely ~

*Below are quotes I highlighted through my Kobo app. They are just few excerpts that made me laugh out loud or smile in that completely predictable girly way.* 

Kobo Highlights:

~America rolled down her window and spit out her gum. "You're so obvious. Why didn't you just roll in dog shit to make your outfit complete?"~

~"Hell yes, he's cute...in that preppy, missionary position kind of way."~

~"Jealous of what? The STD infested imbecile you're going to piss off in the morning?"~

~"It looks like Vegas threw up on a flock of vultures," America sneered.~

~"I know we're fucked up, all right? I'm impulsive, and hot-tempered, and you get under my skin like no one else. You act like you hate me one minute, and then you need me the next. I never get anything right and I don't deserve you...but I fucking love you, Abby. I love you more than I've loved anyone or anything, ever. When you're around, I don't need booze, or money, or the fighting, or the one-night stands...all I need is you. You're all I think about. You're all I dream about. You're all I want."~

~"It's dangerous to need someone that much. You're trying to save him and he's hoping  you can. You two are a disaster." ... I smiled at the ceiling. "It doesn't matter what or why it is. When it's good, Kara...it's beautiful."~

Chapter Reveal: City of Lost Souls

I just finished the second book in The Mortal Instruments series (check out review here), so needless to say, I'm little behind as City of Lost Souls the fifth novel in the series is to be released soon.
So for those of you who are 'on top of things' and are waiting with twitching fingers to get your hands on this much anticipated book, Cassandra Clare has so kindly revealed chapter one ::

Chapter One Reveal Here

Either this will hold you over or drive you over the edge ;)

Enjoy!

Happy Reading Everyone :)

~ Keely ~

Review: City of Ashes

Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what's normal when you're a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who's becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn't ready to let her go — especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary's only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil — and also her father.

To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings — and if he is, what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms right in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?

In this breathtaking sequel to City of Bones, Cassandra Clare lures her readers back into the dark grip of New York City's Downworld, where love is never safe and power becomes the deadliest temptation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Without a doubt, Cassandra Clare knows how to weave a twisted fairy tale into something you just want to wrap around yourself and curl up with for hours. I'm usually a character driven reader, but in this unique and rare case for me, I think I'd have to say the story creates the characters. There are so many unexpected elements, tragedies, emotional spikes, and battles that as soon as you get used to the way you think the story is going, it changes on you and presents a completely different perspective. The storyline is creative, original, and completely open to anything both possible and impossible.

I'd love to take a stroll through Clare's magic-filled mind. Her descriptions always leave me wondering, "how'd she come up with that?" Her imagination seems childlike, but it also adds that tinge of horror that makes what we are reading believable - in that fairytale way, of course. The demons she comes up with are, strangely, one of my favorite aspects. Some of them made me gag - no, really - which they are inevitably supposed to do with their evil intentions and overall nastiness. Disgusting demons aside, the other creatures she depicts, such as the fairies of Seelie Court and the hybrid Downworlders, draw you to this 'other' world, making it seem more real than the 'mundane' world Clary always thought was reality before she discovered the Shadowhunters.

The one and only problem I had with the book was Clary. She's not the most unlikable heroine I've ever come across, but her suffering maturity level and unfailing ability to ignorantly force her way into grave situations - on the premise that she wants to 'help' when really she just freezes, screams, and waits for someone to save her - really grated my nerves. However, I do understand that this world is still new to her and that she severely lacks the training that the others possess. I hope her 'helpless female syndrome' subsides as she learns more about herself and her heritage.
Now although I did say that I think the storyline steals the show in this book, as a character driven reader, I couldn't help but be entranced by the complexity of the relationship between Jace and Clary. All I'm gunna say is that I don't think Jace is who he thinks he is, and the angst they are causing each other is going to, has to, subside eventually.

Happy Reading Everyone :)

~ Keely ~

City of Lost Souls ~ Trailer Debut

OOOO, so I've just finished City of Ashes, but I came across the trailer debut for the fifth book, City of Lost Souls in Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series. If I wasn't motivated before to move immediately to book three, I'm definitely dying to find out what happens now... I've got a lot of catching up to do...

Check out the trailer at Entertainment Weekly . I've got chills....

Happy Reading Everyone :)


~ Keely ~

Booking Through Thursday

I can't believe I've made it to Thursday.. I imagine myself, usually on Mondays, getting through each long day, trying to blow it off as no big deal, even though I have no desire doing what I get a paycheck for. Thank God for books and the book blogging community, where I can immerse myself in the things that truly matter :)

This weeks question asks:

What are your literary "pet peeves"? 

The things that drive me bat-s***-crazy in the literary world are pretty similar to the "nails-on-a-chalkboard" incidents that irk me in real life. I'm a character-driven reader ~ I feel that the characters are what make the story and everything else just trickles down from them. So when a character is shallow, lazy, helpless, and just plain stupid, I get a little irritable. (People are the only things that bug me in real life, so I guess it makes sense that characters are the source of my annoyance in the literary world).

One example that comes to mind, probably because it's the most recent book I completed (yay! I finally finished it!), is Clary from Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series. I love the series, but Clary.. she's just.. well.. annoying. She always wants to be in the middle of the Shadowhunter "fights," but when they find themselves in the thick of it, she freezes, screams, and waits ever-so-patiently as a ten foot demon is fatally creeping towards her to be saved by someone else who already has their hands, clothes, and hair full of gooey monster ichor. She doesn't think about the situation at hand, and only worries about what she's feeling, about getting gratification or resolution for her worries, when really, a little patience would go a long way and not ruin everyone's careful plans. Sorry, I ramble. But her helplessness and idiocy just made me so furious!

So to make a too-long story short, characters are usually the biggest source of my literary "pet peeves." I don't mind if they make mistakes - in fact it's the faults that make the story interesting - I just want them to learn from those mistakes and realize it's probably in their best interest not to repeat them ~ although many seem to create patterns, which just rakes my nerves.

Happy Reading Everyone :)


~ Keely ~ 

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

It's a beautiful Tuesday morning in Maine. I've got the windows open, listening to the birds and the peepers, and I'm chugging coffee as if my life depended on it ~ feels like it kinda does this morning. :)

I've been working on quite a few other writing projects, so my reading and blogging have been severely impacted. I can't seem to finish a book lately! Hopefully, once all the hectic-ness subsides, I'll get my butt back in gear and manage to fit all the things I love into one day. Until then, here's a teaser from Cassandra Clare's City of Ashes:

"That scent he associated with Clary, a mix of floral soap and clean cotton, was gone; he smelled only blood and metal. Her head tilted back, her eyes rolling up to the whites. The wild beating of her heart was slowing -- stopping -- " 






I can't wait to finish this one! It just gets better and better :)

 I hope everyone has a splendid week!

Happy Reading Everyone :)


~ Keely ~

Happy Friday the 13th! ... Or not..?

The sixth day of the week. The thirteenth day of the month. With their associations to evil, these two numbers are eerie enough by themselves; put them together and all hell breaks loose. According to the superstitious anyway. That raises the question: Why are we so afraid of Friday the 13th?

Honestly, I enjoy the fact that it's Friday the 13th, and not because it's supposed to be evil. I don't believe that. It gives the day an aura kinda like Halloween, my favorite time of the year, and I love the spookiness that goes along with the day. Other people, on the other hand, will go so far as to forgo driving on this day due to their paralyzing superstition. I wonder how many people called in sick today?

Friday the 13th only came to exist because we created the calendar. It's an 'evil' of our own making (most evils in the world are) and people tend to take it very seriously. Think about it. Our world, our time, revolves around the number twelve ~ the number of 'completeness.' Twelve months in a year, twelve hours on the clock, twelve apostles... you get the idea. Thirteen is considered the 'Devil's Dozen.' It's also said, based on the Last Supper, that if you having thirteen people at a table will result in the death of one seated. Scientific studies have been done, and according to the British Medical Journal, car accidents increase "by as much as 52 percent." I guess I believe the numbers, but how much of that percentage is real and how much is caused by people thinking it will happen, so it does? We do that, you know. We get all worked up and afraid of something, inhibiting our perceptions, so the bad things we were so afraid of do happen, not because of evil lurking around a specific day of the month, but because we allowed it to control our thoughts.

To top it off, there are three occurrences of Friday the 13th in 2012 (supposedly the 'year of doom'), all exactly thirteen weeks apart. How spooky is that?

So, books to read on this cursed day:




Friday the 13th by Simon Hawke

Friday the 13th by Michael Avallone

So, whether you're superstitious or not, good luck on this supposedly unlucky day!

Happy Reading Everyone :)

~ Keely ~

Booking Through Thursday

This weeks question asks:

What book took you the longest to read, and do you feel it was the content or the length that made it so?

Without hesitation I will say the book that took me the longest time to read was Stephen King's The Stand. This book took me at least three months to finish. At 1,152 pages, the length was no doubt a contributing factor, but the content and writing style of Stephen King forced me to take a few days leave here and there. I love dark novels and the cryptic wording for which Stephen King is so famous, but the book is just so damn long that I had to take breaks from it as I found myself in a near constant state of melancholy. There are great and happy moments in the book; it is, after all, about good vs evil, but if you've ever read Stephen King, you know that even the brightest moments are laced with shadow. I loved it, but it was definitely a challenge to get to the end.


Happy Reading Everyone :)


~ Keely ~

Beautiful Creatures

You know, I find it very difficult to keep up with the news about new novels, author tour dates, and film adaptations. It's not that I don't look or don't care, it's just that there's so much of it! I'll focus on a few authors, follow them and their work only to stumble upon news of another of my favorite authors that's over a month old! It's rather discouraging.. But I keep at it ;)

So my point is, I discovered some very exciting information this morning. My favorite series, The Caster Chronicles, by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl will be adapted onto the big screen in February of 2013. Last month, Kami Garcia posted a list of the cast, and for the most part, I'm really liking the direction this is going. 

Viola Davis will be Amma ~ I mean really, who else could play the strong-willed, strict, loving, mother figure of Ethan Wate?

Jack O'Connell will play Ethan Wate. Not sure how I feel about this one, but then again, I had a problem at first with Josh Hutcherson playing Peeta, and that turned out to be a glorious decision.

Alice Englert will be none other than the mysterious and powerful Lena Duchannes. Not sure what I think yet.She's typical of what beauty is today. I pictured Emily Browning as Lena ~ uniquely beautiful. 

And my favorite, Link, will by played by Thomas Mann. Looking at him, he gives me a new face to put to Link. Perfect!

And Emmy Rossum will play the sexy, troubled, lolli-pop-riot-causing Ridley. I would never have guessed it, but after seeing her in Shameless, I think she fits the role pretty well.

You can see who else is cast here on Kami Garcia's blog. So much to look forward to!!

There were no surprises in Gatlin County. 

We were pretty much the epicenter of the middle of nowhere. 
At least, that's what I thought. 
Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong. 
There was a curse. 
There was a girl. 
And in the end, there was a grave. 
Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever. 

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them. 

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

Happy Reading Everyone :)

~ Keely ~

Young Adult Fiction

Most of the books I read fall into the YA category ~ especially if it's YA paranormal fiction. I guess in a lot of ways, I'm still a young adult at 25, but I'm definitely nowhere near the squealy high school teens that wear "TEAM JACOB" t-shirts. Maybe that's a little harsh, but trust me, I went to the opening night of New Moon (never went to an opening night again), and I swear the sixteen year old mini skirt sitting next to me nearly hyperventilated because of Edward. Anyway, I get off point. Lately, I've been trying to expand my library, reading books I wouldn't normally read in order to get out of my comfort zone and learn something new. I love it, I really do, but there's just something about YA fiction that keeps me coming back, and I began to wonder what the insistent attraction was.

The YA books I read usually take place in a world different that the one at present. Either it's an apocalyptic futuristic setting or it's in the present where other realms exist alongside the one of humans. Typically, the hero or heroine is a young, unique person trying to find their way and discover who they are. Young adults feel so much because a lot of what they experience is for the first time. I've said many times that I'm a sucker for raw emotion, and in the mind of someone inexperienced and perhaps a little naive, you don't get any more stripped and bare than that. These characters are lost, don't fit in the normal world, and must reach inside themselves for a strength and courage they never knew they had to find themselves and discover or save a place where they belong. Now, they aren't all like that, but my favorites definitely are.

So I guess I haven't really answered the question yet: Why do I love YA? Well, I'm still figuring out who I am and what I'm supposed to be doing with my life. In a lot of ways, being in your 20s is a lot more difficult than being in your teens because the real world is all around you, and it's cutthroat. This is the time you find your place, whether it be a job, a career, or a hobby, and for someone like me living where I live, it's pretty difficult to get to where I want to be. As if I'm even sure where that is yet. I find that people see me as a little weird, different, and outside the way 'normal' people think ~ needless to say, I rarely find a group of people where I fit in. YA fiction is something I can relate to or use as an escape. I can empathize with the characters who are frustrated with the feeling of being confused or lost, and I enjoy the thought of other worlds and seeing places that shouldn't exist. It makes this real world full of people who are just trying to get what they can out of you a little easier to digest.

I guess we could say similar things about all books. They are a transport out of our reality, but they also teach us about the bare bones of  humanity and what is truly important in this life: love, honor, courage, determination, strength, loyalty... I could go on and on..

So whatever genre you choose, enjoy :)

Happy Reading Everyone :)


~ Keely ~

What is evil??

What is evil? A question boasted by Anne Rice's novel, The Wolf Gift

Above is a link to an article I wrote posing a question and opinion about the meaning of what it is to be 'evil.'

Anne Rice writes, "It's blunders, people making blunders, whether it's raiding a village and killing all the inhabitants, or killing a child in a fit of rage. Mistakes. Everything is simply a matter of mistakes."

Check it out, take the poll, and let me know what you think!!!

Happy Reading Everyone :)


~ Keely ~

Reading to Write

“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There's no way around these two things that I'm aware of, no shortcut.” ~ Stephen King, On Writing


“It's hard for me to believe that people who read very little (or not at all in some cases) should presume to write and expect people to like what they have written.” ~ Stephen King, On Writing




I'm a reader ~ something we've already established long ago. But, I'm also a writer, and even though I do have a blog which requires me to write posts at least every other day, you might not have known that I also write fiction. Of course, none of my work is public, except to the eyes of my ever-supportive husband, but that's because it's not finished. Whether it's good or crap remains to be seen, but the artist in me does not like to reveal anything but a finished product,

I used to be intimidated by writing. I didn't know where to start or what I should write about. I'd create outline after outline, like I did with my college research papers, and try to go from there only to reach dead ends every single stinkin' time. I thought everything needed to be organized, in precise order, and perfectly edited as I went along. Then, after a very frustrating hour of writing and deleting, I started researching. Yes, I had the nerve to actually Google "how to write a novel," (shameful, I know) and I came across the usual infomercial-type ads telling me they could help me write a book in thirty days, blah, blah, blah, BS... but once I got past the salesy gibberish, I landed upon the inspiration and the confidence I was painstakingly looking for.

Anyway, as you can tell from the quotes above, a lot of this inspiration was instilled in my growing writer's mind by the revered Stephen King.

Who knew reading was one of the tools needed to write? I had no idea I was learning to write as I read, and now that I'm aware of the knowledge I can take away from every book I read, I find myself rereading paragraphs, highlighting sentences that are unusual or have beautiful descriptions so I can tuck them away for future reference. I still read just for the joy of reading ~ there should be no other reason for it ~ but now I know that my obsession is much more than an infatuation or a hobby and will help me hone my skills as a writer.

So, I had the reading part down to a tittle, but I still needed to work on just sitting down in front of a blank page and filling it. Where in the H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks should I start?

Then I came across a quote by another favorite of mine, Nora Roberts. "You can fix anything but a blank page," she says. That got me thinking ... that I was thinking too much. I just needed to write. Crap can always be fixed, but a blank page ~ there's nothing TO fix. So I did that thing that either carries me off to another world or blocks my creative mood completely ~ I thought.. and thought.. and thought.

Why did everything have to be organized? I wasn't writing a college paper. I wasn't getting graded on this or had a deadline. I was doing this for myself. So I threw everything I thought I should do to a dark corner of my mind where it wouldn't (hopefully) slither up and bother me, and I just sat down and wrote the first scene that came to my head. It wasn't in the beginning of the story, it wasn't at the end ~ it was somewhere in the middle. A few days later, I reread the scene I'd written and ideas just started flooding in. How did this character get to this point? What tragedies and joys have these characters experienced to make them who they are? What type of world are they living in? And from there, my own writing inspired what is becoming the rest of my book.

So what I gathered from all this, so far, is that to be a good writer, you have to read ..and read ..and read... and after you do that, you need to knock down all the boundaries and organizational walls you set up in your mind and just let the words flow from your fingers.

Don't edit. Don't fix. Don't stop.

Just write.





Happy Reading (or Writing) Everyone :)


~ Keely ~

Booking Through Thursday

Today's question asks:

If someone asked you for a book recommendation, what is the FIRST book you'd think to recommend (without extra thought)? 

Lately I've been recommending The Hunger Games to a lot of people, being that there's an insurmountable amount of hype involving Suzanne Collin's story, and I get asked about it a lot. If they've read that, and liked it, I'll point them toward Veronica Roth's Divergent or Marie Lu's Legend or (yes, there's more) Moira Young's Blood Red Road. All favorites of mine, all falling in a similar genre.

But typically, I don't recommend a book until I ask someone what their interests are. Or, if I come across a book that I believe someone I know will enjoy, based on their interests, I mention it. I love getting people to read, and what I've found is that I can usually nudge people that typically don't read obsessively (like I do) to get absorbed in a book.

For example, my little brother (who doesn't read, really) bought Max Brook's The Zombie Survival Guide, probably because the title was unusual and he thought it would be funny. But he enjoyed it, so when I started reading World War Z, another of Max Brook's works, I told him about it and he immediately went for it and began to gobble it up.

Another friend of mine LOVES The Walking Dead ~ maybe as much as I do ~ and she told me that she wanted to read more. I pointed her towards Amanda Hocking's Hollowland series. I've yet to know if she's gunna go for it, but I know she'll love it...

My point is that you can't recommend just any book to just anyone ~ you might turn them off of reading, which in my eyes is a tragedy (unless they are readaholics and don't get discouraged by reading a book a two that just don't do it for them). The book has to fit the person.

I can't recommend a book without "extra thought" of the other person's unique interests.

Happy Reading Everyone :)


~ Keely ~

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Well, Monday's over, so that's a start.. I'm sick, again ~ it's becoming my normal state these days.. But on a brighter note, I'm reading Anne Rice's (the queen of paranormal) new book The Wolf Gift. I was stoked when I discovered she was coming out with something new in the genre we all fell in love with her for in the first place.

So here's a little tease from The Wolf Gift:

"Every particle of his body was defined in these waves, the skin covering his face, his head, his hands, the muscles of his arms and legs. With every particle of himself he was breathing, breathing as he'd never breathed in his life, his whole being expanding, hardening, growing stronger and stronger by the second."





Can't wait to review this one!

Happy Reading Everyone :)


~ Keely ~

Musing Mondays

This week’s musing asks…

Do you belong to any book clubs — face-to-face, or online? If so, how long have you been with the group(s)? If not, why?

I don't belong to any book clubs, never have, and not sure if I will in the future. I enjoy book discussions and seeing what other people have to say, but the idea of having a deadline on a book I'm reading or not getting to choose my next read turns me away from book clubs. I have enough deadlines and things I 'need' to do ~ I don't want reading to become a part of that. It's an area in my life where I have free reign, no rules, no limits, no timelines; the one thing I have complete control and choice over ~ and I'd like to keep it that way.

Happy Reading Everyone :)


~ Keely ~