Pure Imagination

My New Design!

Feb

2012

I switched to WordPress over a month ago and my BIGGEST concern was my design. I had no idea how to design for WP and I was coming in completely blind. So needless to say I was thrilled when I found some really helpful sites and managed to get my design up and running fairly quickly!

What do you think of it? It’s definitely different. I wanted to go with a more simplistic look because that’s really more my style anyway. I plan to put more time and effort into my post setup and things like that too. I’m really unnaturally excited about my drop down menu! Most of the options are blank pages at the moment, but I’ll be fixing that over the next few weeks. I would love it if you grabbed my new button to replace the old one.

I think I will start offering WordPress designs in the next few months on my design blog. I need a little more practice first.

Filed Under: Blog Design, blogging

Top Ten Books That Broke My Heart

Feb

2012

29 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the awesome people at The Broke and the Bookish

This is a anti-Valentine Top Ten Tuesday! This week’s topic is books that broke my heart a little (or in my case, a lot).

1. Delirium by Lauren Oliver
This book seriously broke my heart. Seriously.

2. Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma
The ending of this one was very unexpected for me. I blubbered. It was an ugly cry.

3. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
Maggie Stiefvater has said that she wrote this with the intention of making readers cry. It worked very well. My heart was broken! But I loooove that it was mended before the end. Yay for no cliffhanger!

4. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenneggar
This broke my heart more than any book ever. I don’t think anything will ever top it.

5. I Now Pronounce You Someone Else by Erin McCahn
This was one of those books that subtly broke my heart. Where you know it’s for the best, but still….it’s sad.

6. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
This one broke my heart for many reasons. Namely because it really wasn’t what I wanted to happen….(although I am not team Gale! Team Peeta all the way) and…(spoiler!) Prim.

7. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince & Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
You know why…

8. Crank by Ellen Hopkins
So heartbreaking on so many levels.

9. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
I don’t see how this couldn’t break your heart.

10. Ballads of Suburbia by Stephanie Kuehnert
So many sad things take place in this book. It’s a little depressing but a fantastic book.

Filed Under: Top Ten Tuesday

Review: Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Feb

2012

15 Comments

Release Date: March 6, 2012
Age Group: Young Adult
Series: Delirium #2
Received From: Publisher
IBSN: 9780061978067
Blurb:

I’m pushing aside the memory of my nightmare,
pushing aside thoughts of Alex,
pushing aside thoughts of Hana and my old school,
push,
push,
push,
like Raven taught me to do.
The old life is dead.
But the old Lena is dead too.
I buried her.
I left her beyond a fence,
behind a wall of smoke and flame.
Lauren Oliver delivers an electrifying follow-up to her acclaimed New York Times bestseller, Delirium. This riveting, brilliant novel crackles with the fire of fierce defiance, forbidden romance, and the sparks of a revolution about to ignite.

Delirium was my favorite book of the year back in 2010 when I read it. It surpassed every single other book that I read before it, and honestly I haven’t read a book that made me feel like that since. You know that feeling I’m talking about. It’s what readers live for, right? Being consumed by a story. Living and breathing it in those few hours or days that you are reading it. Books that just blow you away and leave you in awe for days afterward. That was Delirium for me. That’s some back story for you, so that you understand just how much Pandemonium meant to me.

I’m going to start off by saying this is going to be a terribly hard book to review. I don’t want to spoil the first book or this book. So this will probably be vague at best. If you’ve read Delirium you probably have one huge question for Pandemonium. I did. It was something that I needed know. I had hoped and wished and wondered about it often in the year between reading these books. But ultimately I was surprised, but not the way I thought I was going to be. No, I was surprised that when I started this book I stopped wondering. It’s a testament to Lauren Oliver’s writing that she could make me forget about that burning question for awhile. I was so captivated by this new hard and scary world that Lena was living in that Alex became a afterthought. That really, really surprised me.

Don’t get me wrong he was always in my mind, because he was always in Lena’s. Just glimpses and small passages full of such longing and emotion it would bring tears to my eyes. But Lena’s life is very different in this book. She has became hard and so strong. Really this second book was much more about getting to know Lena. And I must say that I love what I saw. She is so complex and well written.

There are some new characters introduced. Some I loved, some infuriated me. All of them were pivotal. Once again Oliver’s writing makes me feel something that I didn’t think was possible. I can’t say what that is, but when you read it you will know.

I’m almost done, I promise! The book is written in a very different kind of format. A Then and Now format. This made the book super intense. There was always some horrifying action happening. It was completely impossible to put down. As far as sequels go this is a incredible one. It’s not at all what I was expecting. It ended up being so much more.

The ending did not destroy me like Delirium‘s, but I might be destroyed a different way. By questions. Lots and lots of questions. There’s also a tiny bit of frustration too. Because that is not how I wanted things to play out, but I’m going to leave it in Lauren Oliver’s capable hands. I trust that she will get us where we need to be in Requiem. Overall, I don’t think I could have asked for a better sequel to a book that I loved beyond measure. Lauren Oliver is a master of her craft.

If you’ve read the book already and want to discuss, I am totally up for it!

Filed Under: Delirium, Dystopian, Lauren Oliver, Young Adult

In My Mailbox!

Feb

2012

29 Comments

In My Mailbox was inspired by Alea at Pop Culture Junkie and created by Kristi at The Story Siren.

I realize now that I really should have turned my phone sideways…but I’m too lazy to film it again.

Shadow & Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Where It Began by Ann Redisch Stampler (my review)

Charmfall by Chloe Neill
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
Green Heart by Alice Hoffman
The Hunger Game Tribute Guide

Filed Under: In my Mailbox

Saturday Situation! Link up your reviews & giveaways

Feb

2012

1 Comment

Happy Saturday everyone! It’s time for a new Saturday Situation, hosted by Candace at Candace’s Book Blog and myself. So, here’s the scoop: I’m going to set up two Mister Linky’s. One for Giveaways that you want to promote and one for Posts that you want to promote. The posts can be reviews, discussions, rants, events you are planning, anything that you want people to read! I know there’s so many great posts out there that often go unread. Here’s your chance to tell the world! Feel free to link up to other bloggers posts as well! Let’s spread the love!

Reviews/Posts Linky!

In this Linky please link directly to any posts you want to share with the world! Example: Name: Fallout Review URL: http://www.pureimaginationblog.com/2010/09/review-fallout-by-ellen-hopkins.html

Please do not post giveaways in this Linky! They go in the bottom one!

Book Related Giveaways Linky!

In this Linky please link directly to any book related giveaways you have! Example: Name: Middle Grade Giveaway-It’s Raining Cupcakes and other Ends 9/30 URL:http://www.pureimaginationblog.com/2010/09/middle-grade-giveaway.html

Filed Under: Saturday Situation

Thoughts on The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Feb

2012

15 Comments

Last year I posted this and asked my reader friends what you thought of the Millennium Trilogy. After reading what people thought I promptly decided the books weren’t for me. Everyone said the first book was horribly horribly slow and I don’t do well with slow pacing. So I didn’t really give them a second thought until a friend of mine listened to the audiobook. She went on and on about how amazing it was. Then when the movie was released she had no one to go with and since I’m such an awesome friend I went with her. Even though I did not want to. I even complained about it on Twitter. I also found out it was almost 3 hours long after we were already at the theater. (It was the 9:00 show too…)

Now that I have given you that long back story let me tell you that was utterly enthralled by 20 minutes into the movie. I remember thinking ‘Now I’m going to have to take back all those things I said on Twitter ’cause this is spectacular.’ It really, really was. I saw the movie again 2 days later and then bought book 1 and 2 the next day. I’m hooked obviously.

So now that I’ve read the book do you want to hear my thoughts? Everyone said the book is sloooow. They even said that it takes 200 pages to stop being boring. That is all very true. I don’t know if the fact that I saw the movie first made it more or less boring for me. That doesn’t really make sense…See I knew the book was going to get incredible it just takes awhile to get there. I definitely think that it’s worth it in the end.

I read the book while reading other books. That’s not something that I do often but I think it’s a good approach for this one. It does take about 200 pages to hook you but when it does…Wow! The mystery is so so compelling and even a tad bit creepy. I think that it’s one of the best I have ever read. Lisbeth Salander is amazing. Ahhhmazing. Mikel was okay…I liked him better in the movie–probably because it was Daniel Craig. I can’t wait to read book two and find out more about Lisbeth. (Side note: Mara Rooney is nominated for best actress for her role as Lisbeth and it is well deserved)

I knew before watching the movie that there are some graphic scenes. Namely a rape scene. It is graphic but I think it’s much more graphic in the movie, oddly enough. I’ve never been bothered by stuff like that so it really wasn’t an issue for me.

Overall, I do recommend the book. Yeah, it’s really slow in the beginning but the mystery surrounding Harriet Vanger and the compelling character that is Lisbeth Salander make it worth the read.

Filed Under: Adult, Millennium Trilogy, Review

Review: Pure by Julianna Baggott

Feb

2012

14 Comments

Release Date: February 8, 2012
Received From: Netgalley
IBSN: 9781455503063
Blurb:

We know you are here, our brothers and sisters . . .
Pressia barely remembers the Detonations or much about life during the Before. In her sleeping cabinet behind the rubble of an old barbershop where she lives with her grandfather, she thinks about what is lost-how the world went from amusement parks, movie theaters, birthday parties, fathers and mothers . . . to ash and dust, scars, permanent burns, and fused, damaged bodies. And now, at an age when everyone is required to turn themselves over to the militia to either be trained as a soldier or, if they are too damaged and weak, to be used as live targets, Pressia can no longer pretend to be small. Pressia is on the run.
Burn a Pure and Breathe the Ash . . .
There are those who escaped the apocalypse unmarked. Pures. They are tucked safely inside the Dome that protects their healthy, superior bodies. Yet Partridge, whose father is one of the most influential men in the Dome, feels isolated and lonely. Different. He thinks about loss-maybe just because his family is broken; his father is emotionally distant; his brother killed himself; and his mother never made it inside their shelter. Or maybe it’s his claustrophobia: his feeling that this Dome has become a swaddling of intensely rigid order. So when a slipped phrase suggests his mother might still be alive, Partridge risks his life to leave the Dome to find her.
When Pressia meets Partridge, their worlds shatter all over again.

Pure was nothing like what I was expecting. Nothing. It’s dark and twisty and crazy imaginative. It took me a little while to fall into the world, but once I did there was no looking back.

This is a very different dystopian. There are aspects that most books in the genre have, but Julianna Baggott takes everything just a few steps farther. Some of it, like the people fusing with objects or even animals parts, are horrifying and completely unimaginable. But that was what made me sit down and take notice of this story. Then there is the other aspect of corrupt, evil government turning on its own people. This is something that doesn’t seem too far fetched and that makes the story even more powerful.

The world in which Pure takes place was really my favorite part of the book. It’s a little on the disturbing side and if there’s anything out there like it I haven’t saw it. The book is told from alternating points of view. I found that I liked Pressia, she was strong and capable. I didn’t connect with Partridge as much, but once I found the rhythm of there voices I enjoyed the story much more. That took a little while, but it was worth it in the end. Oddly enough I really enjoyed El Capitan’s perspectives. He was very well developed and I just found him fascinating.

Overall I enjoyed Pure. It might not be a book for everyone since it’s on the darker side of dystopian, but it was a fantastic and richly detailed world.