Usually I am super busy thursday/friday and dont get to participate in FF. WELL NOT THIS WEEK!

Also, a very Happy Thanksgiving to those celebrating in the U.S we up top already had thanksgiving, but that doesnt mean we cant still be thankful anyways ( and participate in Black Friday shopping)!

That being said, it's FF!!! hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee!

This week's Question: It's Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. so we want to know what you are Thankful for - blogging related of course! Who has helped you out along the way? What books are you thankful for reading?

I am thankful for Goodreads. I really dont think I would have found you guys ( yes you!) if it weren't for that website. Its really sparked my love of reading over the last year and has opened me to the blog world so I can finally share my love of reading with all of you. I dont really know anyone ( small town etc) who cares what a read lol. So yeah, Im thankful to anyone who has stumbled on by, and Im thankful I have a blog to share my thoughts on.

I just finished reading The Night Circus ( see below) and I really LOVED it. Im thankful I had time this week to really sit down and enjoy it without too many interruptions, like sleep. :)

Anyways happy follow friday/US Thanksgiving!

For some reason the first few times I'd read reviews for The Night Circus it didn't really capture my attention. I don't really have a big thing for circus' first of all, and I'm not super into very descriptive novels. Reading The Night Circus basically just took what I thought I knew about what I liked, and threw it out the window. In short.

This book had me by page 40. Usually it takes me at least 100 pages to love something. I didn't really know what this book was going to be about at first- well aside from a circus appearing at night of course- but something about magic always draws me in. Maybe its the French. Le Cirque de Rêves I think would have even made a better title for the book. Something about" The Circus of Dreams" just sounds better to me. I dont remember even ordering the book into the library, and after the last book I just read I didnt think anything could really hold my attention. but 40 pages was all it took to get me hooked.

There is a scene in the beginning where we watch Marco and Isobel meet in a cafe, and Morgensterns writing had my flipping pages so quickly I forgot to even eat dinner. I think I liked every single character in this book and was dying to learn more about them. I have heard the haters comment that It was a pretty slow paced story, and it is, but not in a way that didn't make it exciting for me at least. Each chapter made me feel the sense of wonder coming from these elaborate characters, and I can only describe how I felt as warm as if the pages themselves were charmed, and I was under Morgenstern's spell. It's almost as though I felt like I was falling in love.. with a book! It was so enchanting and beautiful and it's easily one of my new favourite books of all time. I have to admit that the ending was a little odd, but it was totally acceptable in a story written like this one. Maybe I wanted something more out of the ending but the fact that it left me with that feeling just goes to show how into this book I was. I guess it had to end sometime, unfortunately. But I was totally captured.

This is the kind of book where I wished I had a little of my own magic, so I wouldn't have had to sleep and I could just stay up escaping to The Night Circus.. well.. all night! I'm now afraid that The next few books I read don't stand a chance at being favourites of mine, because this one was just so so SO good. I wish I knew how to review books properly so that you'd read this and race out to get your hands on a copy. I just absolutely l-o-v-e-d it.

Oh,and also ( sorry, I just could talk about this book FOREVER) I have a really bad habit of judging books by their covers. I think it's because I'm a bit shy and I read in public a lot and maybe I care what people see me reading for some reason... off topic ... I DIDN'T like the cover of this book. It wasn't nearly as enchanting or as beautiful as I imagine it could have been like the story itself. The title looks cool but I would have picked a better picture. in my opinion. OK I'm done. I'll just leave you with the Goodreads Summary which I am sure most of you have already read :)

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.

Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.

Wow- it sure got COLD this week. The snow and ice look like they're sticking around! Supposed to snow again tonight. I think it got down to -4 or -5, so were not super frozen yet but It's definitely chilly out there. I love going out into it for a little while and then walking into the warm house. Makes for some cute pink cheeks and noses!

Anyways, during this week I finally got to finish up the second book of Margaret Atwood's MaddAdam trilogy. I'm sure I have mentioned before that Oryx and Crake is by far my favourite book on the planet, but I wasn't so sure about reading the second one for awhile. I thought maybe perhaps it would ruin Oryx and Crake a bit for me, but in fact, did the exact opposite.

Oryx and Crake was published in 2003, and Year of the Flood in 2009 so who knows when #3 will come out but it's one of those series that although you want to read it asap, its totally worth waiting for.

I am again, SO amazed at how Margaret Atwood created the world as it is in this series. Its unbelievable how talented she is. I cannot praise her enough. And the characters... SO well written that your heart literally aches in places of these books, as you feel they are so real. I can honestly say these are total works of art- easily in the top of my list of the best books ever written that I have read. If you have no idea what I'm talking about- educate yourself and read about this trilogy. It truly is amazing.

I absolutely loved Toby and Ren's stories and how they managed to survive the waterless flood using their Gardeners knowledge. In a time where the world was ending they learned the value of life and survival and it paid off for them in the end with a little luck and a lot of skill. I almost loved Year of the Flood more than Oryx and Crake but I'm not sure if I want to say that because Oryx and Crake was just so incredible. Reading book two just made me want to read book 1 again but alas- there are more books to be read!

And so I leave you with the Year of the Flood summary, book cover, and link to the Year of The Flood website in case your curious little mind wants to check things out farther :) Also it;s highly recommended to read book one first as so many of book one's unanswered questions are revealed to you in book 2.


The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
Adam One, the kindly leader of the God’s Gardeners – a religion devoted 2 the melding of science, religion, and nature – has long predicted a disaster. Now it has occurred, obliterating most human life. Two women remain: Ren, a young dancer locked away in a high-end sex club, and Toby, a former God’s Gardener, who barricades herself inside a luxurious spa. Have others survived? Ren’s bio-artist friend Amanda? Zeb, her eco-fighter stepfather? Her onetime lover, Jimmy? Or the murderous Painballers? Not to mention the CorpSeCorps, the shadowy policing force of the ruling powers… As Adam One and his beleaguered followers regroup, Ren and Toby emerge into an altered world, where nothing – including the animal life – is predictable.

http://yearoftheflood.ca/ca/

Beth Revis, ( as if you didn't already know!) author of Across the Universe and A Million Suns is doing a GIGANTIC thanksgiving (US) giveaway. I mean she's giving away signed copies of every book you want to read.

Once I saw the list, she had me at TURKISH DELIGHT

And now I will tell you about the book I am most grateful for.
That book would be Margaret Atwood`s Oryx and Crake.

This book changed everything for me. I found a true love of reading again, and now live a much more fulfilled life, cuddling up to my books and learning how to de-stress. After the roller coaster of a year I have had, this has been my little escape and I don't know where I`d be without it. It all RE-started with Oryx and
Crake, now proudly, my most cherish book on my shelf, and boy am I grateful. Amazing what a book can do to you.

http://bethrevis.blogspot.com/2011/10/show-gratitude-for-booksand-win-19.html From here!

Oddly enough, the day my dad departed for a a vacay in Hawaii, the library informed me that my ordered copy of Moloka'y by Alen Brennert was ready to be picked up. It's weird/amazing when things like that happen, like it was meant to be!
Paperback, 384 pages
Published October 4th 2004 by St. Martin's Griffin (first published 2003)

Goodreads Summary:
This richly imagined novel, set in
Hawai'i more than a century ago, is an extraordinary epic of a little-known time and place---and a deeply moving testament to the resiliency of the human spirit.Rachel Kalama, a spirited seven-year-old Hawaiian girl, dreams of visiting far-off lands like her father, a merchant seaman. Then one day a rose-colored mark appears on her skin, and those dreams are stolen from her. Taken from her home and family, Rachel is sent to Kalaupapa, the quarantined leprosy settlement on the island of Moloka'i. Here her life is supposed to end---but instead she discovers it is only just beginning. With a vibrant cast of vividly realized characters, Moloka'i is the true-to-life chronicle of a people who embraced life in the face of death. Such is the warmth, humor, and compassion of this novel that "few readers will remain unchanged by Rachel's story.

This book ended up meaning A LOT more to me than I thought it would. Firstly it goes through Hawaii's ( particularly Moloka'i's) history from 1891-1970 covering the Overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii to Pearl Harbour, to the end of the Hansen's Disease segregation. And best of all, it's told through the life of a single person, Rachel Kalama, and those who loved her.

Rachel's story is completely devistating. This story isn't a happy one, in fact, i'll warn you, this book is extremely sad. She is one of the many Hansen's Disease sufferes who was taken from her family and left to live out her days in the 'leper' colony on Moloka'i. Yep, this vook was heeeavy. Before reading this book I had no idea about these colonies or how they operated. I was shocked by the details of this story, and even more shocked that this went on until 1969. I fell in love with all of the characters of this book, and hearing their stories. I felt excited when the residents of Kalaupapa triumphed and made progress, and felt like crying when things went the other direction. Rarely does one get to read a book that makes you feel like you are part of a person's family, and Brennert's historical fiction did just that.

The story to me was all about Ohana-family. I was truly touched by Rachel's story and will never forget it. I was very impressed that Brennert could tell me someone's entire life story in 384 pages and never bore me once. I can't believe I never knew about this subject until this novel. I'm just left gob-smacked really. 5/5 stars, without a doubt.

JUST FINISHED MOCKINGJAYYYYY!!!! finally. I have read the Hunger Games trilogy. I can now officially say that. Go me!

For starters, I wanted to let all of those people ( none who which read my blog ) who thought this book/ending sucked, that they were wrong. In my opinion, of course. It was awesome.

I was worried in book two how Collins would do this whole Katniss love triangle/rebellion thing in book three and I thought it would pretty much be impossible. I was ( SPOILERS AHEAD, id stop right here if you haven't read these books but want to!) worried that the whole third book would pretty much be a battle for Katniss' heart and not about what was actually going on. But, that wasn't the case here. I loved this book, the following of the build-up of the rebellion, where Katniss stood in all of it, and how there wasn't too much lovey-dovey crap. I mean, who has time for that during a rebellion anyway? No, this book was SAD and depressing, and a little slower paced but still page-turning. I wished more people had died in the end like either Peeta or Gale ( or even Katniss herself- it seemed like she was immortal almost) so I didn't have to be disappointed that she ended up with Peeta. But the fact that she did just made me more sad, and although I don't like happy endings, I like things to pretty much resolve and they did and I think it was a job well done in that department.

I especially enjoyed the combat scenes and the District 13 evacuation. The whole hijacking of Peeta was a little strange, but I can handle some strange.
5/5 for sure. Catching Fire was probably my favourite just because of the pace, but this was pretty darn good for a book 3 in a trilogy. I was explaining to Shaun what happened throughout these books because I was just so excited that something big was going to happen. I like when books gets to me like that! The Hunger Games deserves all the hype it's getting for sure.. how many more sleeps til the movie? :)