The Quiet Concert: October 2013

Showing posts with label October 2013. Show all posts

October 2013 Recap

Nicole survived The Field of Screams in Lancaster, PA but never again. Met my fear quota for life.
Nicole went to the Eagles vs Cowboys game and it was AWESOME (too bad the Eagles lost)
Ashley ran a 10k dressed as Belle with her fiance dressed as the Beast and got a fancy finishing medal.
Ashley bought her wedding dress this month!!!
HALLOWEEN

Thoughts for Thursday (5): Halloween Edition - Our Fear Landscapes!

Welcome to Thoughts for Thursday! This feature is our outlet to talk with you about whatever we currently have on our minds. It might be bookish, it might not! Now for this week's thought:

Our Fear Landscapes.

Inspired by the Divergent series (which we still like because we haven’t yet read Allegiant), we chose to celebrate this Halloween with our readers by giving you all a glimpse into what our fear landscapes would likely be. Now, we are limiting ourselves to three fears each, otherwise this post would be endless because Nicole is afraid of everything. And we are going to be honest, but try to also keep it light so as not to be depressing. Feel free to share with us your own fear landscape in the comments below!

1. My biggest fear is losing my grandmother. Next to my mother, she is easily the most important person in my life seeing as she practically raised me and is the best woman in the world (by popular opinion). This is also a very real fear for me because she is 84 and it is inevitable. That being said, if I had to face my fears, I know one of them would be losing her and I expect my challenge would be to not completely fall apart. Alright, on to less depressing things…

2. I am terribly afraid of spiders, among other creepy crawly things. Like so afraid, that any time I see one, no matter the size, I scream bloody murder and suddenly have super human speed as I move myself as far away from hideous beast as possible. Considering I live in the woods, this happens more than I care to admit. I have also given my friends and family heart attacks on several occasions. So I can only imagine that to face this fear I would probably be attacked by hundreds of unnaturally large spiders (think Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets) *shudders* and would have to calm myself down. This would be more than impossible to do but in all likelihood I probably wouldn’t make it past the first fear, so it doesn’t matter much.

3. Lastly, I am afraid of being tortured. I’m not afraid of dying or even experiencing pain in the traditional sense but rather having pain inflicted upon my person in imaginative and horrifying ways. I can thank all of the horror movies I’ve watched as a kid for this one and my addiction to Criminal Minds for feeding it every Wednesday at 9pm EST on CBS (I blame Shemar Moore and Matthew Gray Gubler for making me tune in every week). I don’t even want to think about how this fear would manifest. Put me in any horror movie with a gruesome prolonged death and that’ll do it.

Why did I think this was a good idea for a post again? Cue the nightmares.

1. It is going to sound crazy but one of my biggest fears is throw up. Both throwing up and being around it. The whole concept creeps me out. It is not just a dislike it is a run away or have a panic attack kinda fear. So in my fear landscape I would probably have to either get sick or remain calm with people getting sick around me..... **shudders**

2. One of my other fears is being asleep and having someone break into my house or having someone hiding in my house until I go to sleep and then sneaking out and robbing me or worse. Every time I am in bed and hear a weird noise I jump a bit. Though I am not quite sure how that would manifest in a fear landscape besides having to overcome the robber.

3. My third fear that would probably manifest would probably be being chased by bad guys or being wrongly accused. Some how getting framed for something and being chased by police or bad guys. Again I am not sure how it would manifest exactly - maybe me being chased then having to surrender.

What do you think would appear in your fear landscape?

Top Ten Scariest Looking Book Covers

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's Top Ten list is "Top Ten Scariest Looking Book Covers".

We don't read very many scary books so we expanded the scope to include creepy book covers too.

What are your top ten?

Never Fade (The Darkest Minds #2) by Alexandra Bracken

Title: Never Fade

Series: The Darkest Minds #2
Author: Alexandra Bracken

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Release Date: October 15, 2013

Pages: 512, Hardcover
Source: ARC obtained at BEA

Summary from Goodreads:

Ruby never asked for the abilities that almost cost her her life. Now she must call upon them on a daily basis, leading dangerous missions to bring down a corrupt government and breaking into the minds of her enemies. Other kids in the Children’s League call Ruby “Leader”, but she knows what she really is: a monster.

When Ruby is entrusted with an explosive secret, she must embark on her most dangerous mission yet: leaving the Children’s League behind. Crucial information about the disease that killed most of America’s children—and turned Ruby and the others who lived into feared and hated outcasts—has survived every attempt to destroy it. But the truth is only saved in one place: a flashdrive in the hands of Liam Stewart, the boy Ruby once believed was her future—and who now wouldn’t recognize her.

As Ruby sets out across a desperate, lawless country to find Liam—and answers about the catastrophe that has ripped both her life and America apart—she is torn between old friends and the promise she made to serve the League. Ruby will do anything to protect the people she loves. But what if winning the war means losing herself?

Review

My thoughts on this book are a bit contradictory. At 500+ pages, I think this book is unnecessarily long. However, I never got bored with the story. In fact, I think I might have liked this book more than the first. But I guess I feel that, although I was entertained, the plot didn't progress as well as it should have, especially for such a high page count.

This is through and through a road trip book. Ruby and gang do not stay in one place for very long. But unlike the middle of The Darkest Minds, I do think Bracken fills the pages better this time around. Unfortunately it still reads very much like a middle book in terms of plot development. Aside from the very beginning and very end, when we get some answers, the events that take place are probably inconsequential to the overall plot.

However, I do think Never Fade had great character development, which is probably where most of the focus goes to. This is most noticeable in Ruby's character. Ruby's learned a lot about her powers and by the end of the book she can control them very well. But the more she uses her powers, the more conflicted she becomes over the person she's turning into. There is also the return of some old characters but with an entirely new dynamic which leads to some very interesting encounters. I liked where Bracken took things for the most part. And we also meet a few new secondary characters. Most noteworthy is Vida, who requires a certain level of patience on our part not to want to slap, repeatedly. But she could also be a breath of fresh air.

One thing I must comment on is that I was really happy to see Ruby use her powers, for better or for worse. I really hate when an MC has powers and doesn't use them much, if at all (very common in YA). Where is the fun in that?

Oh, one more thing. I am not sure I agree that the ending was AMAZING. I mean it was good, but yeah....

So I think many fans of The Darkest Minds will enjoy Never Fade. If you tend to be more critical of writing, you might take greater offense to how the story progresses. But overall this is an entertaining book that I enjoyed reading. I think the premise is really interesting and I look forward to reading the next book.

Thoughts for Thursday (4) - Oh, Lorde.

Welcome to Thoughts for Thursday! This feature is our outlet to talk with you about whatever we currently have on our minds. It might be bookish, it might not! Now for this week's thought:

Oh, Lorde.

I have pretty much been listening to Lorde's new album, Pure Heroine, on repeat. I think her songs are awesome so I thought I'd share some of my favorites with my fellow music enthusiasts. I will try to limit myself to only a few.

Bravado

White Teeth Teens

Swingin' Party

Tennis Court

Team

Still Sane

Alright, I really want to keep going (I am obsessed) but I will stop myself. Some honorable mentions are A World Alone and Million Dollar Bills (very catchy). Enjoy!