Thebookdiva's Book Nook 2014 (pg.7)

One of my very favorite places that I have been: Biltmore. I love visiting this astonishing house and its grounds. The beauty of the architecture and grounds is breathtaking. I loved seeing that nothing was spared detail, even the drain pipes were etched or carved into astounding detail. I would have loved to spend several hours, or days, picking my way through the vast library. Which had a vaulted ceiling, floor to ceiling bookshelves (all filled), one wall of enormous windows, and plenty of comfy seating in the middle. I also loved the terraces that looked over the multi-colored trees of fall, and the tulip garden that burst with the colors of red, yellow, pink, and orange. I hope to visit again to take even more pictures, and perhaps sketch some of the rooms.

For people that have never been to my thread, my name is Abigail. I am 18 and this is my first year with the 75ers. I am really into art, photography, and baking. I mostly read YA, graphic novels, and fantasy, but I also read paranormal, historical fiction, poetry, and plays. I like to talk about the artwork in books and how books compare to their movies or tv shows when reviewing a book.

Books Completed This Year: 268

Audio: 12
Books: 259
New Authors: 35
New Series: 19
Books in a Series: 236
New Reads: 191

Currently Reading:

A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
Fairy tail by Hiro Mashima
Barajou no Kiss by Aya Shouoto
Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter Page to Screen by Bob McCabe

TIOLI CHALLENGES:

Read in July:
1. Bloody Cross Vol.2 GN
2. Bloody Cross Vol.3 GN
3. Bloody Cross Vol.4 GN
4. Bloody Cross Vol.5 GN
5. Bloody Cross Vol.6 GN
6. 1/2 Prince vol.1. GN
7. Sword Art Online Vol.1 GN
8. Clockwork Princess GN
9. Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix by J.K. Rowling
10. Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor
11. Shazam GN
12. Red Hood GN
13. Fairy Tail #40 GN
14. Bloody Cross vol. 7 GN

Read in August:

1. A Bride's Story vol.2
2. Ink Exchange
3. Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back
4. Fairy tail
5. Fairy Tail
6. Fairy tail
7. Justice League GN
8. InuYasha 7
9. InuYasha 8
10. Daughter of the Night
11. Inuyasha 10
12. Fairy Tail
13. Fairy Tail
14. Fairy Tail
15. Fairy Tail

Read in September:

1. The Fairy Bible
2. Fairies
3. Library Wars vol.12
3. Fairy Tail
4. Fairy Tail
5. Fairy Tail
6. Barajou no Kiss
7. Barajou no Kiss
8. Barajou no Kiss
9. Return of the Jedi
10. Barajou no Kiss
11. Barajou no Kiss
12. Barajou no Kiss
13. Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
14. The Fairy Encyclopedia
15. Gundam vol.1
16. A Bride's Story vol.1
17. Fairy tail
18. Avengers Vs X-Men

Watched this Month:


1. Castle in the Sky
2. My Neighbor Totoro
3. Kiki's Delivery Service
4. Thor, Dark World
5. Princess Mononoke
6. Pitch Perfect

Top TBR books that I want to read this year:

1. The Night Circus by Erin Morgentstern
2. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien
3. Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin Currently Reading
4. Harry Potter Page to Screen Currently Reading
5. Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
6. Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor
7. Cress by Marissa Meyer
8. The Making of Star Wars
9. Starting Point by Hayao Miyazaki
10. Cleopatra, A Life by Stacy Shniff
11. The Illusion of Life by Disney Currently Reading
12. World War Z by Max Brooks
13. Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff Currently Reading
14. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
15. Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

I thought that for this thread I would post some fanart that I love. Here's an artist that doodles like no one else. His mission is to complete one doodle a day for the entire year. His name is Gabriel Picolo, he's 20 years old, and he lives in Brazil. If you want to see more of his work here's a link: http://365-daysofdoodles.deviantart.com/gallery/?catpath=/

Awesome new thread. I love the fanart!

Happy new thread, Abby!

>9 Kassilem: Thanks Melissa! I'm glad you like it; he's one of my favorites to follow.

>10 Crazymamie: Thanks Mom!

Finding a space to park in the new thread. Weekend plans?

Hello Roberta. My weekend plans are cleaning, laundry, and organizing the garage. Not much to look forward to, but things need doing. Hopefully I can find some time in there to read or do some art. The laundry's the most important thing though, I can't put it off much longer.

Art is important, too! IMHO

Holy moly - those are doodles?! *Hangs head in doodle-underachievement shame*

Happy New Thread, Abby!

^ my first thought too... "wait, those are doodles?!?!"

>14 maggie1944: IMHO? I am not familiar with that abbreviation. Art is very important! I have been working diligently on my GN. The concept art is coming along quite well.

>15 scaifea: hahaha, I know! He is an amazing doodler. There is no way I could ever doodle like that. Thanks Amber!

>16 dk_phoenix: lol, yes! I might post some more of his works, he is an amazing artist!

oooops, sorry. I thought only we older folks get bamboozled by the abbreviations of the digital age. IMHO is an early one, not much used these days, I guess. It means "in my humble opinion" and is used to avoid seeming to be a "know it all" egotist. Fools no one.

Good morning everyone! Well, yesterday was a very busy day. I spent the entirety of it cleaning out the garage with my father and siblings. It was very hot. We are trying to organize everything so that we can fit the cars in the garage. We made some very good progress yesterday, but we still have a ways to go before the cars are going to go in.

This morning was wonderful. Dan, Birdy, and I sat on the sofa in a row and ate Trix cereal, something we haven't had in a very long time, and watched Seinfeld together. I felt like a little kid again as we passed around the cereal and joked around with one another. It was great. I'm really grateful to be so close to my siblings.

I have a full schedule today with the garage, cleaning, and laundry (which might have to wait until Monday), but will be sure to make time to draw or write a bit. Also, I am promising Mercy pics very soon as she has found a new toy that she is thrilled with: a cloth grocery bag.

>18 maggie1944: OH! Well, that makes perfect sense. haha, thanks for telling me!

Happy New thread, Abby! Love the Biltmore topper. Gorgeous. I am going to Asheville next month but I won't have enough time to do the Biltmore tour. Sad face.
Hope you have a fine Sunday.

Thanks Mark! Oh, but Asheville is beautiful as well, lovely scenery. I hope you have a wonderful trip! So far my Sunday is going skippingly, thank you.

Tired.... .... ....and my feet hurt from standing on concrete all day.

We succeeded in getting the van into the garage though! YIIIPPPPEEEEE!!!

Now it is time for pajamas, my sketchbook, and television. Everything else will have to wait till next week.

Good plan!

While I don't really enjoy that actual task of cleaning out things, that feeling of getting is done and gazing with satisfaction at the newly-organized area is amazing, isn't it?
Also, I love the image of all of you sitting on the couch with your cereal - sounds like fun!

>24 maggie1944: Thank you, it turned out very well.

>25 scaifea: I completely agree! I love my things to be clean and organized. I bugs me when my art stuff in particular is a mess, because then I have to sort through all of it to find that one paper I want. Unfortunately, that happens quite a lot.

It was quite fun! I hope that we do it again soon, as it was a perfect start to my day.

Happy New Thread Abby! That Gabriel Picolo kid is pretty amazing, thanks for sharing some of his work with us. I should join you for A Passage to India... been wanting to read it for years, but I'm badly overbooked as always. On the other hand, I might finally get around to rereading the first Harry Potter book this month (on audio).

It's so great that you're close to your siblings. Makes me happy for you.

Evening Ya'll! Well, today's schedule was quite full with cleaning, laundry, more cleaning, book organizing, pet washing, and baking.

Had to get done everything that didn't get done over the weekend. As I don't wish to procrastinate anything till later in the week, I have elected to stay home from frisbee. Missing one day won't hurt anything. I have gotten most of my cleaning done now, some of my laundry, and the banana bars are baking as I type this.

We are having stuffed peppers for dinner tonight, which should be delicious and easy. We will start cooking once my banana bars have come out of the oven. I am very much looking forward to some relaxation this evening after the rest of my work is done. It has been go, go ,go so far. Still, not a bad day, especially since I had the company of the 5th Harry Potter audiobook with me all day.

I know I need to get some reviews done and catch up on LT, but all that is going to have to wait till another day. There is still more to-do! With any luck I will be able to post some sketches, photos, and reviews very soon.

>27 Smiler69: Thank you, and your welcome! I'm pretty sure that I will make sharing some of my favorite artist's works will be a regular thing on my thread for the rest of the year. If you decide to join my mom and I in our read of A Passage to India, be sure to let me know; it would be fun to discuss it as a group. Aahh Harry Potter, my great reading love. I always love to revisit the characters every year. Thank you, they are wonderful friends to have.

I love the artwork! I think it's a bit too fancy to be called doodling, though. I think of doodling as the hearts and stars I draw in the margins of a piece of paper when I'm bored. That kid is an ARTIST!!! Lol. :)

Oh, and happy new thread, Abby!

Happy new thread, Abby! I hope to get to the Biltmore some day. It looks and sounds fab indeed.

Great art doodles by Gabriel - boring classes/speeches/whatevers would be so much more interesting if I could doodle like that!

Hi Abby, I love the "doodles" that open your thread but I would be afraid to ever show you my doodles which would probably more easily fit the label of "scribbles"!

Have a good week!

>30 TinaV95: haha, it is extreme doodling. He is an amazing talent that I love to follow.

>31 TinaV95: Thanks Tina!

>32 jnwelch: Thank you Joe! I hope you do make it to Biltmore, it is worth seeing. I know right?! He goes way beyond my skill for doodling!

>33 DeltaQueen50: Hello Judy! I wouldn't want to post my artwork next to his either. Thank you, I wish you the same.

Be sure to google "zentangle" to see some spectacular doodles! So much fun.

Will Do!

Ok, here are the Mercy pics I promised! Her new favorite toy: our target shopping bag.

Just lovely!

Wonderful color contrasts!

Ilana & Karen - Thank you!

Wow, she's really growing!

Oh, how I love kitty pictures...!

>41 scaifea: Yep, she is fully grown now! She is way smaller than other cats though, it was a shock when we compared her to other cats.

>42 dk_phoenix: haha, I'm glad you enjoy them!

Going to frisbee soon....as soon as the dryer is done. We might be slightly late. I completely forgot today was frisbee until Dan reminded me, and therefor had forgotten to wash up my things. Luckily, his stuff had to be washed too so I didn't feel to guilty about forgetting.

Ah, tote bags! My cat has his own collection of tote bags as well. He actually prefers paper bags, but they don't last very long.

too funny! I love how Mercy dives in and out of hers. I may have to get her another one for Christmas!

>46 Thebookdiva: I also notice there's a tunnel in the background of the first picture - my cat has the EXACT SAME tunnel. He loves it.

That is such a coincidence! Mercy LOVES her tunnel!

Thanks for the Mercy pics -- she's still a beauty

>48 Thebookdiva: That's what happens when a cat tunnel is on sale at Target ;-)

>49 RebaRelishesReading: No problem, I'm happy to share whenever you wish to see her.

>50 norabelle414: haha, true enough.

>37 Thebookdiva: What a cutie!

Thank you!

Sorry I missed your new thread.. still missing it, as I am not caught up. Do I get a point for finding it?

That's quite alright, goodness knows I'm far, far behind on other people's threads. Of course you get a point for finding it.

Here, have a coffee.

Thank you Abby, dear......srsly.

I always appreciate another cup of coffee, thank you!

Hi there Abby, finally managed to swing by and do more than just lurk.

Too hot for coffee today here in Boston unless it's iced coffee.

>56 mckait: your welcome!

>57 maggie1944: I know right? Here's one for you:



>58 cameling: Hello! Lurking is perfectly acceptable! Goodness knows I've done more than my fair share of lurking lately...

I can do iced coffee:

It looks like we got a little Book Nook coffee party going on. I do think that we need some seats in the backyard for this. Pull up a chair ladies!



I hope everyone brought a book to talk about!

Hi Abby! I haven't been by in awhile. I hope everything is going well. I love the ice coffee. Yes, please!!

Oh, just what I need. A lovely picnic table in a softly sunny backyard. It is raining here today, and I'm trying to do the vacuuming for the whole place before I go buy printer ink, and some grocery items. I need a mani/pedi and the dogs need grooming! Not a sit in the sun and chat about books day, but for you guys I'll make an exception. I've got books to talk about.... yes, I do.

What's for lunch?

>62 maggie1944: Hello Mark, indeed it has. I have been completely busy with art lately, so everything is going fabulously! You are more than welcome to join in our coffee party; the more the merrier!



>63 Thebookdiva: Excellent! Lunch....I'm thinking fresh fruit, an array of dainty sandwiches, and some lemonade. Will that be alright?

Absolutely perfect!

Indeed.

Just dropping by to wish you a great day Abby!

>63 Thebookdiva: Abby, you make a perfect hostess! What a beautiful lunch!
I'm going out to lunch tomorrow with some other library folk and I have fish tacos in mind.....

>66 Smiler69: Thank you!

>67 mckait: Any time Kath, any time. ooh, fish tacos could be good. I like my fish on a sandwich, especially if it's grouper.

Morning Abby! Hope you are keeping cool down there. Plenty of pool time, I would gather?

Afternoon Mark. Man, have I been a slacker on LT. Keeping plenty cool, though I haven't been in the pool of late due to the fact that three snakes were found in our yard, YIKES! One was actually in the pool. The thought of possibly swimming with snakes was a less than satisfactory thought.

oh, ick! Snakes in the Pool. Maybe you could write a new screen play, find a Producer, and make your first million dollars on a new movie! Starring.... who would you like to have in your Movie?

Get them out of the pool. That pool is for you human types, and maybe a stray small poodle?

The snakes have been dealt with. Thank goodness.

And let's get some Chris Hemsworth or Hugh Jackman action for the movie. Ooooh I love seeing those boys shirtless.

Ok, I am going to try to be on LT more now. I have been doing art like crazy lately, which is to account for my absence from LT. I know that I am very, very far behind on everyone's threads and hope to rectify that this weekend. I also have several reviews I hope to get to soon, though those probably won't go up till next week. In the mean time, here's one of the pieces I've been working on:



These are three girls I recently met about a week ago. The clothing designs are my own from a few years back (when I wanted to be a fashion designer). Sorry about the blurriness, I'm still working out the kinks of uploading artwork.

Dropping by to catch up with you, Abby... I've fallen seriously behind lately so I'm trying to get to threads as I can.

I love, love, love that piece above! You have so much talent! It's amazing!

I am seriously behind on the threads as well! I'll spend a lot of the weekend trying to get caught back up.

Thank you so much! You have no idea how much your opinion means to me.

You have *such* a talent for drawing, Abby! Amazing!

I'm skimming right on over the snake bit - I don't need nightmares...

Thank you so much Amber! Good thinking; when we first moved down here I had quite a few snake nightmares, but they are all gone now.

We are having make your own pizza for dinner tonight; I'm sooo excited! I'm going to put bacon, sausage, BBQ sauce, cheese, and onion on mine. My stomach is growling in happy anticipation. Seriously....I can't wait. For those of you who don't know me as well, I get cranky when I'm hungry. Really cranky, kinda like Garfield now that I think about it.

>73 Thebookdiva: Clearly, you are a very talented young lady! Those are so well done!

I get grumpy when I'm hungry, too... I was shooing someone out of the library on Wednesday so I could close, and she laughed and asked if I was hangry :)

She is someone who comes there to tutor a little girl named Rory. Rory is a total hoot. We were talking about the fish on day, and I told her that I don't know much about fish... and she looked at me like I was an idiot and said this is a library. Get a book! She then proceeded to show me where to find a fish book.....She's about 11 I think?

I love the drawing of the three girls!

>79 mckait: Thanks a billion Kath! I've been working on my marker drawing quite diligently so that I could do this piece well.

Very funny about the library client, I would totally do that. Lol about Rory. Don't you just love kids? They are ceaselessly making me laugh.

>80 connie53: Thank you Connie!

Ok! Review time at last! I hope y'all don't mind that I just did short, quick reviews. I had quite a few books I wanted to get to since I haven't reviewed anything in what feels like FOREVER. Sorry about that guys (and girls); I hope these make up for it:


The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
Paperback
Rating: 3.5 stars

This short book was beautifully written. It had me rethinking the concept of life and death, and the power of who we are. As I followed the main character through the afterlife, envisioned in a way I had never before encountered, the depth of emotion and truth within the pages startled me. It is a quick read that, I feel, is well worth the time.

Star Wars (dramatized)
Audiobook/Podcast
Rating: 5 stars

I listened to this while mowing the lawn, and when I came back in the first thing I did was ask my mom for the next two. This dramatized version of Star Wars A New Hope was interesting and exciting. All the sound effects were done by the same people who created the sounds in the movies, and the voice actors did a great job with their characters. I could envision every scene as it took place and was surprised at how caught up I got in the storyline even though I knew what was coming. I was thrilled with this purchase.

Bloody Cross Vol.1 by Shiwo Komeyama
Graphic Novel
Rating: 3 stars

Picked this manga out when my mom and I went to Borders. I just took a quick peak through it to see if I was interested, and to make sure the artwork was up to my standards. The storyline of cursed half angels half demons had gotten my attention immediately. These Halflings (for lack of a better word) are cursed to die unless they drink the blood of a pure demon. Pure demons being so hard to find, let alone kill, makes being a Halfling almost certain death. The story follows two Halflings who ally and clash against one another in their struggle to stay alive. Although they fight each other, and team up (grudgingly) when they run into trouble, they are irresistibly attracted to one another. They use one another for their own means, but when they run into a full angel, their world is turned upside down for the worse.

I had expected more out of the storyline in this first novel, and therefore was disappointed with what I found. The artwork was quite well done, and the fight scenes were easy to follow. Also, I liked the cunningness and ruthlessness of the characters. I was never confused about what was happening, which was a big plus as some manga and anime don’t explain things properly. All in all I was withholding judgment until I read the next book in the series, with the hope that more of a storyline would be established in the next volume.

Bloody Cross Vol.2 by Shiwo Komeyama
Graphic Novel
Rating: 3.5 stars

I was not disappointed with this sequel to the first Bloody Cross. The storyline picked up with full-blooded Angels, new curses, and the strange Holy War. The two Halflings (Hinata & Tsukimiya), now sharing the same half curse, are caught up in a search for a Holy Book that has the power to remove their curses. But they aren’t the only ones seeking it. This novel is full of grudging alliances, treachery, battles, and surprising new characters.

The artwork held up in this sequel, and again, I was never confused about what was happening. I was intrigued enough with this book that I was determined to see this series through.

Bloody Cross Vol.3 by Shiwo Komeyama
Graphic Novel
Rating: 3.8 stars

Hinata and Tsukimiya are up for nothing but trouble. Barely surviving their encounter with the fallen angel, thanks to the pure blood angel they were working for, they now owe their lives to the angel. With their curse trouble over, they now take a greater interest in the Holy War. Their lives are on the line again when they face new foes out for their blood.

The story is starting to get really interesting in this volume. I like all the characters, as they are well fleshed out; and I am curious to see what happens to Hinata and Tsukimiya next. They are magnets for trouble and although aware of the physical attraction between them, Tsukimiya is determined not to give into temptation. I’m half hoping she will, and half hoping she will give Hinata what’s coming to him.

*note: I cannot make the pics smaller, so sorry for the hugeness of them.*

Bloody Cross Vol.4 by Shiwo Komeyama
Graphic Novel
Rating: 3.8 stars

The chaos continues in this fourth installment. It’s a whirlwind of information and violence that kept me interested and happy. I don’t want to say too much about the storyline in case any of you pick up this series, so I’ll just say this: new truths and lies are uncovered and allegiances are questioned. The more I learn about this world and it’s inhabitants, the more I like it. I plan to read all the books in this series, as they are fun pick-up put-down books. I am currently reading #8 in the series, and am really enjoying it.

½ Prince Vol.1 by Choi Hong Chong
Graphic Novel
Rating: 1 star

There is not much I want to say about this GN. The artwork was not up my alley, and the characters were shallow and relatively uninteresting. The plot orients around a video game, where the main character (a girl) masquerades as a boy. She is the only character in the game that was allowed to switch genders. The main character wasn’t very smart, and the humor was a bit basic for me. There are a lot of books in this series, so it could very well get better (as many manga series do), but I wasn’t interested enough to continue on.

Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor
Audiobook
Rating: 4.5 stars

Karou has returned to her true world and has found it in ruins. Now the only resurrectionist, the others of her kind are forced to ally themselves with her, but it is a tense alliance. The white wolf keeps Karou on a short leash that has her delving into depression. Meanwhile, the glorious angel Akiva returns to the ranks of his brethren, but is unwilling to continue the slaughter of Karou’s kind. The war drags on in this thrilling sequel to Daughter of Smoke and Bone.

I LOVED this book. The audiobook was amazing, and the storyline completely stood up to the first book. New characters were interesting and fun to get to know, and the old characters kept the action rolling and made surprising decisions. I can’t wait to read the third installment.

Ok, something is seriously whacked with the editing system right now. I cannot make the covers smaller. Please bear with it for now; I will try to fix it tomorrow.

Whew. Crisis averted, my mom fixed it. Believe me, it was scary there for a moment. Days of Blood and Starlight couldn't even fit on the screen.

Not much on the schedule today, just some tidying, art, and a little bit of laundry. Oh, and frisbee this evening. Should be a very relaxing day.

Sounds like a fun day. It must be wonderful to be so talented in drawing and photography. I enjoy seeing your work and am truly awed by it.

>73 Thebookdiva: Such a good drawing, Abby!

So glad you had a good time with Days of Blood and Starlight. Me, too. I still haven't gotten around to the third one, and need to fix that.

Sounds like Bloody Cross got better as the story developed.

>92 RebaRelishesReading: It was a fun day, I got tons of reading done. *blushes* thank you so much, that's a very nice thing to say.

>93 jnwelch: Thanks Joe! I already have my hands on the third audiobook and will hopefully be starting it soon, right after I finish my currently reading. Bloody Cross definitely got better, and it still is. The story line is progressing nicely. They are just quick, fun reads.

Hi Abby, I have just decided that I am going to have a Graphic Novel category over at the Category Challenge next year, so I will be visiting often to get ideas from you! Of course I already know that I want to follow up on A Bride's Story and Emma.

Oh, good for you, Judy. I'm a Kaoru Mori fan.

Hey Abby! Just coming by to try to catch up with you. I still haven't gotten to the first one in the Laini Taylor series, but I have it on my library wish list thanks to your review / recommendation. ;)

Not feeling good. Will reply to posts when feeling better. Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

Sorry to hear you're not feeling well... hope you get better soon :(

Hope you're feeling better, Abby.

Sorry for the long absence folks! Things got really busy and then I caught a bug that lasted about a week and a half. I'm all better now though. I will reply to posts today, but for now, here's an update on what I've been up to:

Books Completed This Year: 246

Audio: 11
Books: 238
New Authors: 30
New Series: 19
Books in a Series: 218
New Reads: 181

Read in August:

1. A Bride's Story vol.2
2. Ink Exchange
3. Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back
4. Fairy tail
5. Fairy Tail
6. Fairy tail
7. Justice League GN
8. InuYasha 7
9. InuYasha 8
10. Daughter of the Night
11. Inuyasha 10

Currently Reading:

The Valiard Mansion by The Ez
King's Folly by WhispWill
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin (this is really getting good)
The Martian by Andy Weir (Almost done with this one)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
Star Wars, Return of the Jedi (IN LOVE with these podcasts)
If I Stay by Gayle Forman (One of my favorite books ever)
Fairytail (lost count of which one i'm currently on)
Bloody Cross (also lost count)

Update on the rest of my life:

Scrabble: Super fun with whole family. We watched the English Patient while we played, and now I have to read the book.

Frisbee: back to it, and loving it.

Art: still obsessed, reworking my own tinkerbell right now. If you guys want I'll share some of my recent sketchbook pages.

Friends: Feeling very comfortable with my frisbee pals, so yay! Also, Mallory (a super cool girl from frisbee and prof. photographer) asked if I would model for her! I said of course and so we are going to do it hopefully sometime next week. I'm really excited and nervous about it.

Cooking: Can anyone say yummy french dip sandwiches & potato soup? I'm hoping to make pumpkin toffee chocolate-chip muffins with streusel topping soon. They were a big hit last time, and I can't get them out of my head lately.

Books: Am borrowing more books from the library as I don't want to spend my money on new books. Saving up for an art program so that I can get into some digital art.

Mercy: Doing splendidly, still as cute as ever.

Heat: it was way too hot for me to play frisbee for a while, but it's cooled down now. We just had a wonderful morning out by the pool on Monday. I really can't wait for fall so that I can bring out my jeans.

Photography: not much to say on this front, I've been too busy drawing. I do have some pics of Mercy and some funny pics of my brother, but that's about it.

I think that about sums it up! Off to go make myself a mocha, but I'll be sure to get back later and reply to posts. Have a good morning everyone!

Good report, thanks, Abby. I'm trying to get my wife to read If I Stay. I really liked it, too. Hope the movie's good.

If you guys want I'll share some of my recent sketchbook pages. Yes, please.

I agree with Joe, we would love to see some of your sketchbook pages.

>95 DeltaQueen50: Way to go! I'm always excited to hear that another person is reading GNs. I hope you find some good suggestions here.

>96 jnwelch: *nods in agreement* I'm having a hard time waiting for October so that I can get the next Bride's Story.

>97 TinaV95: Hello Tina! I hope you like Daughter of Smoke and Bone, the first two are really good! I haven't yet gotten around to the third one myself yet.

>99 bell7: thanks for the well wishes, I'm A-Okay now!

>100 jnwelch: >103 jnwelch: Thanks Joe. The cough and headache have subsided. I am really looking forward to seeing the movie myself! If they stick to the book, they should be fine.

:) I'll be sure to post the sketchbook pages really soon then!

>104 maggie1944: Hi Karen! I'll be sure to post them before the weekend is over!

Thank you all for keeping my thread warm while I was away.

If I stay is one of my favorites as well! That's quite a haul you've got on your plate. I hope they all treat you well

Always glad to hear of other fans. So far I am liking everything I'm reading.

Hi Abby, Glad you're feeling better and back on LT

Thank you!

OK, here are the sketches I promised! This is my moleskin sketchbook (I just call it my idea book), I just scribble out anything that pops into my mind. I usually use the drawings in my moleskins as reference when I actually want to draw something completely out. So none of these are finished works.





First up is my Flower Maiden sketch, I just drew her for fun. You can't really tell in the scan, but there are bunches of flowers in her hair. I'm thinking of redoing her in paint.

The second page of sketches was some practice for drawing bags, goblets, and some scenery stuff. I'm using these as reference for some GNs I'm working on.

Lastly, the third page of sketches was just for fun. I was working on some different hair textures and clothing textures. What inspired the doodle in the lower left hand corner was the phrase, "I see no evil, speak no evil, and hear no evil". The fey girl on the right hand page I also plan to use as practice for painting.

Batch number two!





First up is my pencil and colored pencil drawing. I was just letting my imagination go one day and I came up with this piece. I actually wasn't very happy with how it came out, but whatever. I'm going to try redrawing this idea some time to see if I can't get it to come out better.

Second up is mostly practice sketches. I'm trying to learn how to draw the human body, hands, and how fabric moves. I usually have a lot of pages that look like the right hand side of this one in my sketchbooks. The left hand side is an OC (original character) of mine that I did out in marker. I've been really working hard at trying to learn to draw with prismacolor markers, and this was an early attempt. In case you're curious as to who she is, she's a witch that helps the people and outcast mythical beings of her world. She does not have a name as of yet, so if you guys think of anything, let me know!

By the way, if anyone has any cool, very unique, guys names I would love to hear them as I have several nameless guy characters right now. It would very much help me!

My library books came in! I got several books on fairy lore for a bit of research for one of the GNs I'm working on. The books have already been immensely helpful; my brain is busting with ideas right now.

Having chili cheese dogs for dinner: AWESOMENESS! I love chili cheese dogs. Plus we have bottled root beer - can't wait for dinner.

Love the last stetches on humans. As for guy names? hmm... My favorites right now are Graydon and Hyden. They're two chracters in the book I'm writing right now. :)

Thank you! ooooh, I really like the name Hyden! You're positive you wouldn't mind me using it? & how cool that you're writing a book! How far are you into writing it?

Nah, go ahead and use it. It's not mine to claim. :) As for the book, I'm actually just starting it. I just finished my first book this summer so now I'm moving on to this one. I've been planning it for a while though. I'm about fifty pages in at the moment and am very excited about it. I'm centering this one around the idea of predisposition and how people's prejudice on how you might turn out actually makes it more likely that you'll turn out to be the monster they think you will be. :)

Thank you, that's very nice. That is so cool that you have already written a book. I eventually want to get something of my own published, but like you, I have only just started writing my book. I'm about 80 pages in, but mine is all adventure and fantasy; it's slow going because I'm working on some GN ideas at the same time. Your idea sounds interesting; there has to be quite a bit of truth in the idea.

That is some impressive artwork! You are really talented, I am glad you are taking art classes to further groom your talent.

Excellent drawing / artwork, Abby! You continue to amaze me, dear girl!

Morning Abby! Finally making my way over here, to check in. I hope you are enjoying the holiday weekend and getting some reading in. Tell your Mom, we miss seeing her smiley face around here.

>118 PiyushC: Thank you, that is very kind. Art has always been my passion, I can't think of doing anything else.

>119 TinaV95: Thanks Tina!

>120 msf59: Morning Mark, lovely to see you. The weekend was very nice, we had some fun family time. Will do! Things have been kind of haphazard of late which is why she hasn't been on in a while. I'm sure once things settle down she will be back around.

Your drawings are excellent, Abby!

I love many of the fairy and elfin names that I have come across. Some of my favorites are:

Female: Caelia (means Fairy Queen), Licia (means happy) and Dalira (means harp fairy)

Male: Cort (means bold), Kalan (means warrior) and Derron (means great)

Thank you, Judy! Those names are excellent, thanks for passing them along. I especially like Dalira and Kalan. Caelia has a nice ring to it as well.

>110 Thebookdiva:, >111 Thebookdiva: Nice! How great that you can share like this via scans. It's a pleasure to see your work, Abby.

Aw, you're so sweet. I haven't forgotten about showing you my Alice in Wonderland cast, but I'm doing them all out in color before I post them. I want to make sure that they are just right.

Beautiful art, Thank you for sharing :)

Thank you Kath!

I thought of you today Abby. We made our first ever visit to a Steak 'n' Shake and I remember you chose them for your birthday meal. We had a garlic burger and parmesan and herb fries -- it was WONDERFUL. Now I'll be looking for them whenever I'm traveling.

haha, wonderful! I'm really happy you liked it. It's one of my favorite places to go eat!

another doodle by the artist Gabriel Picolo. If you want to see more of his work here's a link: http://365-daysofdoodles.deviantart.com/gallery/?catpath=/ This piece particularly spoke to me as this character could be me with her knitted hat, coffee, leather jacket, and headphones.

Well, today I'm very excited because Dan and I are going to have lunch with some friends at CrackerBarrel. We are not quite sure how many people are going to show up, but it's bound to be fun no matter who's there.

I also potentially have some commission work that I'll be hired to do. I haven't yet talked to the two different guys who are interested in my artwork, but I'm hoping to hear from them soon. So, I'm quite excited about that. One friend wants to talk to me about doing some concept art for his short film, and another acquaintance want to talk to me about some kind of graphic design project. I have my fingers crossed that I'll have the skill to do what they want from me.

Wow, great news about potential paying art assignments. Good luck.

Thank you. I got more info on the logo gig and decided to do it even thought it's volunteer work. Since I've never done anything like it before I thought that it would be good experience & a way to start getting my name out there. I'm designing three different logos for a youth group with the themes Aliens, Zombies, and tag. They have very basic ideas in mind, so it's very easy work. I'm quite looking forward to starting on it tomorrow.

Artist: Gabriel Picolo. Another doodle for his challenge: 365 days of doodles. He called this the shortest love story ever.

Ok, it's meltingly hot. I've been doing day after day of yard work, and I am SICK of the heat. Can we pretty please just have some Autumn temperatures? I'm SOOOOO ready for jeans and sweatshirts.

Well, for those of you that are interested, the logo thing is not going well. I downloaded a LogoDesignPro disk onto the computer thinking that it would be simple and easy to get the different logos done. I was wrong. After spending an hour learning the ins and outs of the program, I continued on to make the first logo. I had just completed the alien logo and my mouse was reaching for the save button when the program shut down and deleted all my work. This happened twice more. The fourth time I started the logo I saved every little step so that I wouldn't lose anything. I got right to the end and, as expected, the program shut down. No problem cause I saved everything, right? Wrong. As soon as I open the program it shuts right back down. It's entirely frustrating and now I am just drawing the logos out by hand. They won't look as nice, but oh well. (rant over)

Now for some book talk! I recently finished Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas, the third book in a series. It was very, very good. I had a few complaints, which is why it only received 4.2 stars, but I'll go more into detail with those when I give the review. As for Game of Thrones, I am loving the story even though it is taking me a long time to read it. I am determined to finish it by the end of the year. GN wise, I have been as devoted to the Fairy Tail and Library Wars series as ever.

Lastly, I have been so preoccupied with my artwork lately that I have been very absent from the threads. I am hoping to have a nice surprise for all of you soon, so that you can see what has been occupying my time so thoroughly. Off to go continue my work on said project!

Not much to report. Still working on my 'project', and I haven't gotten much reading done. Going to do some baking today hopefully as well. My main priority is to get some logos done and write some more on my computer. So, everything is going pretty well for me lately.

Going to a birthday party this evening for one of my frisbee friends. I was surprised at the invite but thoroughly pleased when she said that it was just going to be a gathering of her favorite people. Dan and I are taking her a goody-basket filled with cookies, chex-mix, peanut clusters, reese's cups, and nutella. There was one part of the goody-basket that I didn't think through though - the basket. We have no basket to put any of it in. This seems like a rather large oversight on our part; we are going to have to figure something out when Dan wakes up.

Reading Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff and liking it so far.

How about a Trick or Treat type pillow case? A big bag of goodies which can be stashed and tapped when needed.

That would have been a good idea. I'll need to store that one for future use. My mom ended up finding a brown gift bag in her closet that worked quite nicely.

The party was very fun with ping-pong, apples-to-apples, and catchphrase.

Sounds like a good time, Abby. We love apples-to-apples; it appeals to a lot of different types of people, and we even got my non-game-playing mother to play it.

Morning Abby! I haven't been by in awhile. We were away. I hope all is well in Georgia. Say hello, to your Mom for me and tell her WE miss her and hope that she is feeling better. Hugs to you all.

>138 jnwelch: Hello Joe! Apples-to-apples is always a favorite when our friends come over. I love that people who don't like games usually even like it.

>139 msf59: Morning Mark! No worries, I haven't been very active of late either. The weather has been nice and cool this week (jean weather, yippee!) so everyones spirits have been uplifted here. I will be sure to send your well-wishes along, don't worry. Hugs to you as well.

Three heavenly words: Pumpkin Spice Latte. I was dancing around the room the other day when I realized that the Pumpkin Spice Latte has returned to Starbucks. I'm IN LOVE with this drink.

My mom and I are going on a coffee run this morning just so that we can have this delicious concoction of milk, pumpkin, and espresso. *happy, happy smile*

Currently Reading:

A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
Fairy tail by Hiro Mashima
Barajou no Kiss by Aya Shouoto
Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter Page to Screen by Bob McCabe

Books Completed This Year: 267

Audio: 12
Books: 258
New Authors: 34
New Series: 19
Books in a Series: 236
New Reads: 190

Read in September:

1. The Fairy Bible
2. Fairies
3. Library Wars vol.12
3. Fairy Tail
4. Fairy Tail
5. Fairy Tail
6. Barajou no Kiss
7. Barajou no Kiss
8. Barajou no Kiss
9. Return of the Jedi
10. Barajou no Kiss
11. Barajou no Kiss
12. Barajou no Kiss
13. Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
14. The Fairy Encyclopedia
15. Gundam vol.1
16. A Bride's Story vol.1
17. Fairy tail

Will be back later with reviews for:

Star Wars, Return of the Jedi
Heir of Fire
Gundam vol.1
Ink Exchange
Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back

>141 Thebookdiva: "Like"

I'm sending the "First Day of Fall" one to our pumpkin spice latte loving daughter.

She, my wife and I all liked If I Stay, so I hope it works for you.

hahaha, I'm glad you liked it. The latte was delicious, and I'm happy to report that Starbucks was very busy and that everyone was ordering the Pumpkin Spice Latte.

If I Stay is a reread for me; I also loved it. I like to read it from time to time; it's one of my go-to books when I don't know what I'm in the mood for.

Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back (Dramatized)
Audio
Rating: 5 stars

For any Star Wars and Audio fans this is a must listen to. It follows the same script, sound affects, and storyline from the Star Wars movies. It was a nice way to revisit the characters and story without sitting in front of the TV for hours. The cast of this podcast was very talented, and the sound affects were spot on due to the sound board of Lucasfilm. I really enjoyed listening to this second installment in the radio broadcasted version of Star Wars.

Star Wars, Return of the Jedi (Dramatized)
Audio
Rating: 5 stars

This third installment of the radio drama had spectacular sound affects and brilliantly portrayed fight scenes. I was curious when I first started this broadcast how they would fully portray the battles of space and Endor, but I needn't have worried. I was never lost or confused as to what was going on. The very large cast maintained their high level of voice acting, and the music was, as ever, fantastic. I liked these Radio Dramas so much that I was very sad when I finished this one.

Mobile Suit Gundam The Origin vol.1 by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko
GN
Rating:3.5 stars

This GN, adapted from the very popular TV show, was quite well done. The art style was different from the manga I usually read, but still quite enjoyable to look at. Some of the fight scenes were a bit hard to follow, but in the whole, the story was well maintained. The characters were likable and flawed which made them seem as though they could, perhaps, really exist.

This is one of the nicer GNs I own with its hardback cover and glossy pages (indeed the reason I picked it up to begin with). It has full colored pages at the beginning of each chapter and then it switches to the standard black and white. It is read in the usual manga style of back to front & counter clockwise.

I am reserving judgement on the story until I have read the second one, as most manga need time to be set up properly.

Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr
Audiobook
Rating: 4 stars

This was a reread for me. This second novel in Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely series holds up to the first. Though the main character in Wicked Lovely is the strong heroin Ash, this second novel focuses on Ash's friend, Leslie. Leslie is unknowingly caught up into the world of fairies, and must quickly adapt to a world she never even knew existed. Leslie is damaged and scarred, but determined to let what happened in the past not frighten her from living her life. I liked the character of Leslie a lot. Although Ash and the other characters from the first novel are also seen in this novel, they are not at any time the main characters. I liked the darkness of this book and how it elegantly drew the readers attention to thoughts and ideas we usually shy away from.

I own both Wicked Lovely and Ink Exchange on Audio book and think that the narrator does a great job of reading these novels. I hope to own the third novel in this series, Fragile Eternity, on audiobook soon.

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
Book
Rating: 4.7 stars

This is the third book in the Throne of Glass series. I am in love with this series and am dying for the next installment to come out already. (this won't be for a long time as Heir of Fire just came out) I read this book within two days of receiving it; it was that good. The assassin Celeana Sardothien is immensely likable as a main character with her sharp wit (and tongue), determination, and killer skills. I don't want to say anything about the storyline, as I don't want to spoil anything for potential readers.

My favorite aspect of these books is the astonishingly human characters. The characters are so well depicted and well rounded that they are entirely real to me. Very few authors have this amazing talent to make their characters leap off the page (in my opinion), but Sarah J. Maas is definitely one of them. I have fallen in love with all the characters, even the retched bad guys, and especially loved the brand new characters that were featured in this novel. The amount of differently rendered personalities is jaw-dropping. The story arc is amazing, fast paced, and packed full of the mystifying.

If there is one complaint I had with this book it is this: In this novel Celeana is often in a crowded kitchen listening to fantastic tales. I was so excited when I was first reading this scene, but then was disappointed as the author didn't actually write down the stories. I was hoping for a further glimpse into the magic world with tales of old heroes and adventures, but the author only writes down one short story. I felt like it was a wasted opportunity to let the reader in on some more history behind magic.

That's a series I am looking forward to reading. :) Glad you love it so much.

If you read it, I hope you thoroughly enjoy it. I love when you find those books that just speak to your soul; this was one of those for me.

'I'm Outta Time' by Gabriel Picolo

My weekend is looking pretty full, but in a good way. I need to do some mowing, cleaning, and washing of pets- the usual. After I have those things done though I plan to do quite a bit of art (I'm working on drawing objects & diff types of fabric), watch some football, and hang out in my pjs. Hopefully I can get my work done quickly so I can get to the fun stuff faster.

I hope you are able to achieve your weekend plans. Sounds like a good balance between chores and fun!

Thank you! Got most of the chores done yesterday, so looking forward to a very relaxing day today.

Well, frisbee wasn't so great yesterday. The temperature was cool and we had a lot of people, but as soon as Dan and I got there I started feeling not so hot. I played all the games anyway, due to the fact that the temperature is supposed to go back up to the 80s and I didn't want to waste the day. By the end of the fourth game I was feeling pretty awful. I sat on the bench while the guys played one last game of endzone. The good news is that more people are becoming aware of our games. We had two wrestlers from Darton (the college where we play) come out and play yesterday because they had heard that we were out there. It's really great to get new people.

Probably won't be on much today due to yuckiness. Going to go get cozy on the coach in pjs with some chai and read. Hope everyone has a good tuesday.