2014, book events, toronto international book fair

[Toronto International Book Fair] — Author Signings and How-To’s

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Hello readers of the world (again)!

It’s officially two weeks until Inspire! Toronto International Book Fair running from November 13-16, 2014. Remember, if you need a vacation destination, perhaps this is a good excuse to come visit Toronto, Canada! If you haven’t read my initial post about the fair, you can read all about it by clicking here.

Below, I’ll be shedding some light on information which was recently made available regarding author signings. I mean, c’mon, authors are rockstar’s to readers and signatures are basically our form of crack. Oh…wait, just me? I hope not.

This isn’t a sponsored post. I’m not making any of the rules listed below, just paraphrasing key details (and we all know how unreliable I am). So for full details on author signings, you can click on this link to read all about it.

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2014, Book Review, coming of age, dystopian, series, YA

[Review] The Ask and the Answer – Patrick Ness

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Book Title:       The Ask and the Answer (Chaos Walking Trilogy, #02)
Author:                        Patrick Ness
Number of pages:  519

Synopsis:

the ask and the answer - patrick ness (cover)We were in the square, in the square where I’d run, holding her, carrying her, telling her to stay alive, stay alive till we got safe, till we got to Haven so I could save her – But there weren’t no safety, no safety at all, there was just him and his men…

Fleeing before a relentless army, Todd has carried a desperately wounded Viola right into the hands of their worst enemy, Mayor Prentiss. Immediately separated from Viola and imprisoned, Todd is forced to learn the ways of the Mayor’s new order. But what secrets are hiding just outside of town? And where is Viola? Is she even still alive? And who are the mysterious Answer? And then, one day, the bombs begin to explode…

(re: Goodreads @ The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness)

Should this book be picked up? the tl;dr spoiler-less review:

– Ness is a wizard. You can’t prove me wrong.
– Character development of supporting cast is stellar. Also, a horse tries to replace Manchee–get out.
– Narrative is slower paced but the tension and suspense of all the unknowns keep the energy alive with some unexpected plot twists.
– Everything you thought you knew from the first novel may be discarded because doubt and question marks are thrown everywhere and at everything.
– The ambition in thematic discussion is elevated to regard a wider breadth of issues (i.e. war and terrorism, groupthink culture, ambiguity of morality, philosophical ideologies, hope and faith, racism, pressures of self-identity in a information-filled world).

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Initial Thoughts

I think I would have enjoyed this book if I sat down and read through it instead of sporadic reading while on commute. Alas, it was still good but I think it could have been better if the circumstance of the reading environment were different. That being said, I don’t think I was able to truly capture the essence of this novel in this review…but I tried anyway.

This is the second book to the Chaos Walking Trilogy, if you would like to read my review regarding the first book, The Knife of Never Letting Go, you can click here.

Disclaimer: Potential spoilers inherent to this review from here onward.

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2014, meme, top ten tuesday

[Top Ten Tuesday] – #35 – Top Ten Movies To Get In The Halloween Spirit

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Top Ten Tuesday is an original weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. I thought this would be a fun way to share a condensed version of potential rambles and thoughts that I have.

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This Week’s Theme:
Top Ten Movies To Get
In The Halloween Spirit

Initial Thoughts:

(I’m alive!)

When I think of Halloween, images of Fall weather and dark subject matters are conjured first. So with this in mind, I tried to come up with a balanced list for all ages. But with this particular genre, it’s mostly about the interest and propensity to sit through mind boggling and heart-pounding scenes that seem to matter most. Some are creepy, some hurt your brain, and some are just funny—but many listed are worthy viewing experiences because of the notoriety that comes with it.

All images link to their respective Rotten Tomatoes review (because I couldn’t think of anywhere else to link to.)

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