bookish crazy

ARCHIVES FOR MORE POSTS

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

10:51 PM

Has finally finished my major SRA report! :)
i'm quite pleased to say , this draft, i feel so much more satisfied.
The previous draft is like so childish compared to this :)


M i the only one who will compile a series of songs to help inspire me ?
i have quite a lot of streams on youtube, i have one for happy songs ( in case i feel emo) and the whole evening i've been listening to one that's labelled " relaxing and inspiring songs".
Basically its full of my favourite movie soudtracks and orchestra works.
when i really concentrate i hate songs with words, distracts me completely.

and just as i finished the report and sent it out with a very proud, happy and light heart, i heard this song from Alice in Wonderland.

you can click here to hear it

it reminds me of the book i was reading today, called " I, coriander" which is the 2005 Gold award winner for the nestle children's book prize.




Although its written for children, it is full of suspense, and it speaks of medieval happenings, beliefs,practices and my favourite, fairy and folk lore.

many stories have been loosely spun around that of a mortal falling in love with a fairy and having a child, but i have yet to read a book so full of details that are 90% believable.

90% because the fairy mom turns out to be a princess( typical for children books)

it speaks of little coriander growing up not knowing her real birth place, and when suddenly a pair of breathstakingly beautiful silver shoes appeared mysteriously at her doorstep, her world starts to change.
For no one can go to the fairy world unless he is of that descent, and the shoes will bring her that, and slowly she grew to learn about her fairy blood and how she uses it to thwart the evil that has beset her family. This is because the story is set in period after the Commonwealth, and the peasant folks are extremely jumpy and cautious of witchcraft ,and torture, cruelty and inhuman methods are used in the excuse of " ridding the world of evil" as a guise.

Coriander's mother turns out to be a fairy princess who has a shadow of everlasting light, which is highly sought after, which placed her in peril in her own world, so she escaped to the mortal world, and gave her shadow to her husband for safe keeping, for it tugs her back to the world she wants to escape from.

Though the plot may seem kiddish and unreal, the writing definitely makes up for it.
The feeling of terror, helplessness, hope and horror are portrayed very clearly, in the most poetic and yet layman way possible.

Since its a child's book, i had no trouble finishing it in approx 2 hours.

an excellent read, and the amazingly detailed line drawings only adds to the charm of the book.

-----------------------------------------------------------

this reminds me of another series i've recently picked up, called the dreamhouse series, its about a creepy old house build on the principles of Time itself, and a mysterious antechamber allows its occupants to travel through various periods of times, but remain in a certain for too much, and you will be forcibly sucked into that period with no hope of returning as you have altered too much of that period of time to be allowed to leave.
But a gatekeepers, the frightened Knight family found themselves unable to leave the house due to their perogative as the gatekeepers, and one by one, their family memebers are claimed by time.
of course, sometimes beasts or monsters will come through accidentally to their time, and a strange, diabolical man who should have died many centuries ago is determined to get the house for himself so he can control the world, for who controls time will control man.No one knows who he is, as he's known as someone differnt in each era and time that he has stayed in.

It tells of loss, yet hope, as they struggled to travel everywhere to find back their lost kins, and the amazing perils they met along the way. It sure is a really intersting way to incorporate different parts of history in one series without being boring.


so far, i've only read 2 of the 4 in the series, so i dun know much either..

----------------------------------------------------------------

i've also been chasing the series by garth nixon called The keys to the kingdom.
i started the first book when i was sec 1, but there's 7 books in all, and the author writes slowly.

this is also about another world accessible through an ancient house that only the Master can see. and this Master is carefully chosen by the higher denizens of the house, which comprises of 7 people, one for each day of the week, with Lord sunday being the most powerful and Mister monday being the lowest.
the thing is that each of these rulers have their own kingdom and together they comprise of the universe in that world.
and they will only have power on the day they are ruling.

this boy called arthur was given the power of Master, as Mister monday knew he was going to die soon and then the power can be wrestled from him " rightfully" but it happens that Arthur did not die due to an accident,and of course mister monday wants him dead. and they only way he can escape this is to collect the keys ( which can take many forms) as that was his source of power.

each denizen has a key of power.
and of course after arthur defeated mister monday, everyone wants to attack him, because they are next in line and feels threatened , and he has to keep continuing or he will just die like that.

there are elements of norse and greek mythology as well, and also very steampunk elements such as windup clocks and medieval castles.
I love the way everything is so descriptive that i can imagine every single scene in my mind, and tht everything is so believable when it all comes together.

i'm still desperately looking for Superior Saturday, and Lord Sunday.
but the library always seems to have them on loan..

sad..

well, now you know, i'm a terribly bookish bookworm, i have read all 4 books that i've borrowed in one single day before. haha :) and when harry potter and the twilight series came out, i read the entire series in 3 days each.

ah well, when it comes to books, i cant be a little mad sometimes.

if my textbooks are as interesting as these books

Toh Wan Qin Roxanne

Create Your Badge

profile
Hello. my name is (Roxanne),and this is my online diary.

I love the color YELLOW, though i don't wear it.

I love clowns, frogs, polka dots, and whimisical brollies.

I love olden english, the Victorian era, and am a steampunk fan.

I love good architecture, classic designs, photography, and arts and craft.

I am a die hard Romantic and I love doing things with people I love.

It is my ambition to be a businesswoman , and my childhood dream to be an air stewarddess.

I am random and fickle like the wind.

75% unpredictablilty 20% steadfastness, and 5% craziness

blogskins / livejournal

friends
One Two Three Four Five Six Seven

Archives
• May 2005
• June 2005
• July 2005
• August 2005
• September 2005
• October 2005
• November 2005
• December 2005
• January 2006
• February 2006
• March 2006
• April 2006
• May 2006
• June 2006
• July 2006
• August 2006
• September 2006
• December 2006
• January 2007
• April 2007
• May 2007
• June 2007
• July 2007
• August 2007
• September 2007
• October 2007
• November 2007
• December 2007
• January 2008
• February 2008
• March 2008
• April 2008
• May 2008
• June 2008
• July 2008
• August 2008
• September 2008
• October 2008
• November 2008
• December 2008
• January 2009
• February 2009
• March 2009
• April 2009
• May 2009
• June 2009
• July 2009
• August 2009
• September 2009
• December 2009
• January 2010
• February 2010
• March 2010
• April 2010
• May 2010
• June 2010
• July 2010
• August 2010
• September 2010
• October 2010
• November 2010
• December 2010
• January 2011
• February 2011
• March 2011
• April 2011
• May 2011
• June 2011
• July 2011
• August 2011
• September 2011
• October 2011
• November 2011
• December 2011
• January 2012
• February 2012
• March 2012
• April 2012
• May 2012
• August 2012
• January 2013
• February 2013
• April 2013
• May 2013
• September 2013

credits
☀ CSS/BG ☁ PHOTO