A Look Back » Alysha♥DeShaé

Linky Problems…
Well, it seems as though the linky I was using for the Read the Bible 2012 challenge has disappeared from the web. :-/ It’s been replaced with some mom advice site… I didn’t even get an email so I had no idea the linkies weren’t working. I’m going to start looking for a new linky solution. Preferably one I can host on this site! If you know of any solutions let me know, please! Until then, just sign up in the comments: By the way, because of the horrible mistake I made in switching to Simply Linked (before it randomly turned into MomAdvice) I don’t even have a list of who signed up. :-( I have a few people in the sidebar and one or two in the comments, but if anyone signed up after my last check (a week or more ago) I don’t know. In fact, the only reason I found out that they weren’t working was because I had a friend request on GoodReads from a new participant. I realized it had been a while since I checked the lists and wanted to add her to the sidebar. :-/
“Dragonflight” by Anne McCaffrey
Back of the Book: HOW CAN ONE GIRL SAVE AN ENTIRE WORLD? To the nobles who live in Benden Weyr, Lessa is nothing but a ragged kitchen girl. For most of her life she has survived by serving those who betrayed her father and took over his lands. Now the time has come for Lessa to shed her disguise—and take back her stolen birthright. But everything changes when she meets a queen dragon. The bond they share will be deep and last forever. It will protect them when, for the first time in centuries, Lessa’s world is threatened by Thread, an evil substance that falls like rain and destroys everything it touches. Dragons and their Riders once protected the planet from Thread, but there are very few of them left these days. Now brave Lessa must risk her life, and the life of her beloved dragon, to save her beautiful world. . . . Pages: 320 Published: 1968-07-?? Format Read: ebook The very worst thing about this book is that Lessa “blurring” herself is never really explained. Through context you realize she’s got some telepathic powers, but it’s never really addressed. The very best thing about this book is DRAGONS! Oh sweet heaven there are dragons! And an entirely new planet! I love visiting Pern. ^_^
“The Future of Us” by Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler
Back of the Book: It’s 1996, and Josh and Emma have been neighbors their whole lives. They’ve been best friends almost as long – at least, up until last November, when Josh did something that changed everything. Things have been weird between them ever since, but when Josh’s family gets a free AOL CD in the mail,his mom makes him bring it over so that Emma can install it on her new computer. When they sign on, they’re automatically logged onto their Facebook pages. But Facebook hasn’t been invented yet. And they’re looking at themselves fifteen years in the future. By refreshing their pages, they learn that making different decisions now will affect the outcome of their lives later. And as they grapple with the ups and downs of what their futures hold, they’re forced to confront what they’re doing right – and wrong – in the present. Pages: 356 Published: 2011-11-21 Format Read: ebook The very worst thing about this book is that it’s over a little too quickly. I would have liked to see some continuation of the relationships after the climax of the story. The very best thing about this book is how amazingly Facebook is portrayed and somewhat oversimplified due to the fact that the characters are simply plunked down in a 2011 Facebook instead of having watched the progression of the site (and the web in general) over the years. Also, best quote ever: I’m going to be mentally ill in fifteen years, and that’s why my husband doesn’t want to be around me.
“Keys to the Demon Prison” by Brandon Mull
Back of the Book: Since ancient times, the great demon prison Zzyzx has protected the world from the most dangerous servants of darkness, including Gorgrog, the Demon King. But now, after centuries of plotting, the Sphinx is on the verge of recovering the five artifacts necessary to open the legendary prison, and all friends of light must unite in a final effort to thwart the Sphinx’s designs and find a safe home for the five artifacts. To this end, Kendra, Seth, and the Knights of the Dawn will venture far beyond the walls of Fablehaven to strange and exotic magical preserves across the globe, where the end of every quest becomes the beginning of another. In this explosive series finale, allegiances will be confirmed and secrets revealed as the forces of light and darkness collide in a desperate struggle to control the keys to the demon prison. Previous books in this series: “Fablehaven” & “Rise of the Evening Star” & “Grip of the Shadow Plague” & “Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary” Pages: 593 Published: 2010-03-23 Format Read: ebook The very worst thing about this book is that this is the end. The very best thing about this book is Bracken! And his true identity. ^_^ I can’t give anything away, and not because it would ruin the story, but because it would be cruel to deprive a first time reader of the suspense and excitement! :-D Happy reading, this series was well worth it! o_O
Walt Disney’s Cinderella
Back of the Book: In her haste to flee the palace before the magic of the fairy godmother loses effect, Cinderella leaves behind one clue to her identity. Pages: 44 Published: 1974-09-12 Format Read: real book The very worst thing about this book is that they eliminate the first shoe shattering. That was one of those “oh no!” moments in the movie that really worries us as youngsters, but they didn’t include it in the book. :-( The very best thing about this book is the simplicity of it. It’s enough to hold the attention of a two-year-old (or a 27-year-old – me) because the story is fun, but simple. I read this to my niece twice last week before her naptime and she loved it! So did I, for that matter! She was even more excited that the copy I read to her was hers to keep. :-) What can I say? My girl takes after her Aunt Lishy in her love of books!!!
“Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary” by Brandon Mull
Back of the Book: Brace yourself for a shocking secret. Two hidden artifacts have been found. Three more remain unrecovered. More preserves face destruction as the Society of the Evening Star relentlessly pursues new talismans. Reading in Patton s Journal of Secrets, Kendra learns the location of the key to a vault housing one of the artifacts. In order to retrieve it, the Knights of the Dawn must enter a death trap a dragon sanctuary called Wyrmroost. The mission cannot proceed without stealing a sacred object zealously guarded by the centaurs. Anybody seen Seth? The race is on to acquire all five of the artifact keys to the great demon prison. Will the Knights of the Dawn conquer Wyrmroost? Who can stop the Sphinx? Can Vanessa be trusted to help? What artifact will be found next? Find out in Fablehaven: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary. Previous books in this series: “Fablehaven” & “Rise of the Evening Star” & “Grip of the Shadow Plague” Pages: 535 Published: 2009-03-24 Format Read: ebook The very worst thing about this book is that Seth still is dashing off into trouble. True, he thinks things through a little better this time, but he still isn’t listening to his elders… It’s a bit frustrating that one of the messages seems to be that “as long as you can justify it and it turns out okay, you can break the rules.” The very best thing about this book is Gavin. This was completely unexpected for me, although Raxtus’s big part felt a little rushed.
“Grip of the Shadow Plague” by Brandon Mull
Back of the Book: Very strange things are afoot at Fablehaven. Someone or something has released a plague that transforms beings of light into creatures of darkness. Seth discovers the problem early, but as the infectious disease spreads, it becomes clear that the preserve cannot hold out for long. In dire need of help, the Sorensons question where to turn. The Sphinx has always given sound advice — but is he a traitor? Inside the Quiet Box, Vanessa might have information that could lead to a cure — but can she be trusted? Meanwhile, Kendra and members of the Knights of the Dawn must journey to a distant preserve and retrieve another hidden artifact. Will the Society of the Evening Star recover it first? Will the plague eclipse all light at Fablehaven? Previous books in this series: “Fablehaven” & “Rise of the Evening Star” Pages: 487 Published: 2008-04-21 Format Read: ebook The very worst thing about this book is that some scenes are a bit more rushed than I would like. The very best thing about this book is Patton and Lena. I can’t say more due to potential spoilers, though.
“Rise of the Evening Star” by Brandon Mull
Back of the Book: At the end of the school year, Kendra and her brother Seth find themselves racing back to Fablehaven, a refuge for mythical and magical creatures. Grandpa Sorenson, the caretaker, invites three specialists — a potion master, a magical relics collector, and a mystical creature trapper — to help protect the property from the Society of the Evening Star, an ancient organization determined to infiltrate the preserve and steal a hidden artifact of great power. Time is running out. The Evening Star is storming the gates. If the artifact falls into the wrong hands, it could mean the downfall of other preserves and possibly the world. Will Kendra learn to use her fairy gifts in time? Will Seth stay out of trouble? DeLaina’s Review on Goodreads.com: The themes in the book are excellent too. For example, the girl is a rule-keeper and the boy is a curious mischief-maker, and one of the central themes is obedience. At the end you figure out that a measure of disobedience was necessary to set in motion the events that eventually lead to the ultimate demise of evil, which could not have happened otherwise. Fascinating!!! (read the entire review here) I chose this book, obviously, because it’s the second in the series I’m currently reading. (The first is reviewed here.) Literary Merit: The conversations and the way the dialogue is written is wonderful. The books are written pretty well in general, but the conversations come across as genuine. There’s nothing unusually stilted about the relationship between Kendra and Seth. In fact, half of their conversations remind me of conversations I’ve had with my siblings. The detail of the world tends to vary, in my opinion. There are times when I can clearly picture the scene as it unfolds, and other times when it’s not so clear. Individual characters are usually detailed fairly well, while a setting not so much. This is understandable and allows my imagination to fill in the blanks, so to speak, but it seems inconsistent because other settings are extremely detailed. Plot: The plot is simple, but strong. For adult readers, you can usually see where the story is going, but that doesn’t take away from the enjoyment. Younger readers, for whom the story is intended, shouldn’t have that problem which will make the twists and turns extremely exciting! Characters: Kendra is one of the main characters. She’s about 15 years old in this book (maybe 14, but I’m pretty sure it’s 15) and she’s a goody-two-shoes. She’s also a tattle-tale, a bookworm, and fairykind. (Read the books and you’ll understand that last part.) Seth is Kendra’s little brother. He’s around ten or eleven years old, and he’s a bit of a dare-devil. Courageous, reckless, and somewhat self-centered, he tends to cause a ton of trouble. He is almost the opposite of his sister, but he does have a good heart. There are tons of characters in this (and the other) books, but I’m not going to list [read full post]
“Fablehaven” by Brandon Mull
Back of the Book: For centuries mystical creatures of all description were gathered into a hidden refuge called Fablehaven to prevent their extinction. The sanctuary survives today as one of the last strongholds of true magic. Enchanting? Absolutely. Exciting? You bet. Safe? Well, actually, quite the opposite. Kendra and her brother, Seth, have no idea that their grandfather is the current caretaker of Fablehaven. Inside the gated woods, ancient laws keep relative order among greedy trolls, mischievous satyrs, plotting witches, spiteful imps, and jealous fairies. However, when the rules get broken — Seth is a bit too curious and reckless for his own good — powerful forces of evil are unleashed, and Kendra and her brother face the greatest challenge of their lives. To save their family, Fablehaven, and perhaps even the world, Kendra and Seth must find the courage to do what they fear most. Pages: 351 Published: 2006-06-14 Format Read: ebook The very worst thing about this book is that the main characters tend to cause their own problems. If they simply followed the rules, there would be many fewer problems… But, then there would be no book! The very best thing about this book is the way Mull writes conversations. They come across, usually, as very realistic. Well, assuming you aren’t taking into account the content! :-p
Super Stupor #4 by R.K. Milholland
This book is mostly about pedophiles, sex dolls, and pheromones. I’m just going to leave it at that… Oh, and there are two not-so-surprise endings at the end! :-p Pages: 36 Published: 2011-08 Format Read: real book
Super Stupor #3 by R.K. Milholland
We learn a bit about alternate realities in this book. And we see a zombie fall in love and watch Rumble Bee team up with a not-quite enemy again. Pages: 32 Published: 2010-08 Format Read: real book
Super Stupor #2 by R.K. Milholland
Soo, there’s a little hanky-panky going on between enemies, some Mexican wrestling, and giant armed panda bear. If that isn’t enough to peak your interest, Randy reveals a secret about heaven on the last page! ^_^ Pages: 40 Published: 2009-08 Format Read: real book
Super Stupor #1 by R.K. Milholland
First of all, I love the opening page. Randy opens up with a horribly awesome joke, a red guy, a blue glowing man, and a green goblin thing. That one strip alone was worth the purchase price to me! This particular page is available on the Super Stupor! website, by the way. Also, Arch-Angela is amazing! She cracks me up more than any other character. Except, maybe, Punchline. Pages: 20 Published: 2008-08 Format Read: real book
Super Stupor
I feel as if I’ve been in a super stupor for the past few days. I’m lethargic, brain dead, and just sort of floating along. Last night was inventory night at work. For over 11 hours we scanned, counted, uploaded, caffeinated, audited, rescanned, re-uploaded, and finally finished. I won’t lie, I could do inventory all day every day and not be bothered. My problem was that we had to do it overnight! I’m getting on in years and I’m just too old to be staying up all night! Yes, all night. From 5:45p Tuesday evening to 5:00a Wednesday morning we were inventorying. On the plus side, I think we did well. :-) Anyways, this post isn’t supposed to be about my super stupor. This post is about Randy Milholland‘s Super Stupor comic books! In case you haven’t heard of Randy (in which case, shame on you), he created the Something*Positive webcomic. I recently bought the four pack of comic books and finished reading them a little earlier today! They were incredible! Funny, obscene, interesting, a little disturbing… In short, everything I expect and love from Randy! ^_^ I won’t lie, I’ve only occasionally read the Super Stupor comics that are available online. I’ve been meaning to read through them all, but never found the time. That being said, the comic books don’t disappoint! Here are a few mini-reviews about each book! Updated – 2012/01/12 I forgot that I had promised myself that no matter how short the review was they would all get their own post. So I just split them all into their own posts… Click the cover pictures below to read them all. :-)
Wrap-Up: The TwentyEleven Challenge
This is my second year doing this challenge, and I fell two short. I was a little disappointed, but I did my best. :-) #1 “Changelings” by Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough #1 “Maelstrom” by Anne McCaffrey & Elizabeth Ann Scarborough #2 “Lost Love, Last Love” by Rosemary Rogers #2 “Bound by Desire” by Rosemary Rogers #3 “Bumped” by Megan McCafferty #3 “Wither” by Lauren DeStefano #4 “The Constant Princess” by Philippa Gregory — recommendation #5 “The White Plague” by Frank Herbert #5 “Johnny the Homicidal Maniac: Director’s Cut” by Jhonen Vasquez #7 “Disney’s Alice In Wonderland the Graphic Novel” by Alessandro Ferrari #7 “Urban Gothic” by Brian Keene #8 “This World We Live In” by Susan Beth Pfeffer #8 “Savage Desire” by Rosemary Rogers #9 “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” by J. K. Rowling #9 “Dark Fires” by Rosemary Rogers #10 “Sweet Savage Love” by Rosemary Rogers #10 “Wicked Loving Lies” by Rosemary Rogers #11 “The Tales of Beedle the Bard” by J. K. Rowling

I’m unproductive…

Posted by Alysha DeShaé on Monday, February 06, 2012 at 08:17 pm A Look Back

Feb 062012

I posted a few things the past couple of weeks, but mostly I’ve been unproductive. I’ve gotten a lot of reading done, though. And I did manage to sleep for almost 22 hours straight!

That sure helped a LOT! It’s amazing how much sleep I needed to be able to feel like a normal human being again. Well, as normal as I ever am. o_O

So, here’s what I’ve done as far as reviews go:

“Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary” by Brandon Mull

Walt Disney's Cinderella

My music posts…

That Butt Thing

Bethany Joy Galeotti

I tried a post full of wrath, but was too tired too remember anything other than how much I hate waking up!

Lissie

I also posted about my reading challenge for the Bible:

Epicurus Quote

I think the only truly productive things that I did these past two weeks (outside of working) was to add pages for the Bible challenge instead of just the single post that I originally had.

I’ll be adding another page for wrap-ups later in the year.

Two weeks…

Posted by Alysha DeShaé on Monday, January 23, 2012 at 12:37 pm A Look Back

Jan 232012

I know, I missed “looking back” last Monday. But I hadn’t really decided for certain that this would be my Monday theme until I couldn’t think of anything else. :-p

Anyways, we have two weeks to look back on today. I’m not going to post pictures of everything because several of the posts tend to fall together, but let’s start with this:

Super Stupor

The above banner links to the original Super Stupor post I made. That post originally included reviews for the four Super Stupor comic books by R.K. Milholland I read along with a lame play on words about my state of being at the time — I was practically a zombie!

The reviews were moved here after I remembered my “one review per post” promise to myself:

"Fabelhaven" by Brandon Mull

I’ve also been reading and reviewing the Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull:

I also introduced my Tuesday Tunes with a song from Paramore and one from the Sick Puppies here:

©Emilyraite

On Wrathful Wednesday there was no post. In fact, my site forwarded you to SOPA Strike all day as I participated in the internet strike and blacked out my site! I still have a small banner in the upper right corner protesting SOPA. Although, from what I hear, I’ll soon be protesting ACTA…

Thursday was “Thoughtful Thursday” and I posted some thoughts about the strike, SOPA, PIPA, and Anonymous’s reaction to the MegaUpload issue. I also raved about an app called AirDroid here:

AirDroid

Saturday I posted a random little thing about how I sometimes have crazy complaining thoughts about stupid things:

I'm Crazy

So that’s our look back on my past two weeks! Tomorrow is Tuesday Tunes and I’ve got a few good songs picked out to share with you! ^_^ Have a good evening, but keep your eyes open because I may have a book review coming later as well!

Wrapped and Challenged

Posted by Alysha DeShaé on Monday, January 09, 2012 at 09:00 am A Look Back

Jan 092012

This past week I managed to post wrap-ups for all of my 2011 reading challenges as well as set up the basics of a challenge for me to host and joined two other challenges for 2012. I feel pretty productive, so I’m going to reshare those posts! :-p

Also, this is probably going to be a regular thing for when I’ve been productive. I’m hoping that seeing this all in one place each week or so will help me continue to be productive. :-)

All the Books of Pern Challenge 2012

Chunkster Challenge 2012

Read the Bible 2012

42 Challenge 2011

2011 E-Book Reading Challenge

2011 Fantasy Reading Challenge

2011 Futuristic/Sci-Fi Reading Challenge

2011 Graphic Novels Challenge

2011 Show Me the Free Challenge

Aussie YA Reading Challenge 2011

Celebrate the Author 2011

Chronicles of Narnia Read-Along 2011

Chunkster Challenge 2011

Full Steampunk Ahead 2011

Harry Potter 2011 Book Challenge

iChallenges 2011 (iFae, iWere, iWitch, iVamp)

Lord of the Rings Read-Along 2011

Nicholas Sparks Reading Challenge 2011

One, Two, Theme

Take a Chance Challenge 2011

The Dystopia Challenge 2011

The TwentyEleven Challenge

What's in a Name 4 2011

Okay, I realize that a few of those wrap-ups were posted earlier in the year, but I still had to catalog them all this past week for the 2011 reading challenges page. Also, didn’t WordPress use to offer a gallery feature for when you posted a bunch of images? If they do, I can’t find it anymore. o_O

Soooo, sorry for the huge line of images, but I’m not changing it now. ^_^

Also, coming up this week, maybe nothing! Haha. This week I’m going to try to focus on reading, tweaking the site’s appearance a little more. I may be changing themes, but I haven’t found one I like more than suffusion, so who knows. There are a few things I’ve been trying to do with the theme since I first installed it that I’m going to try to get working, so if you see the maintenance screen again (like you would have seen all night since I forgot to take it down – my bad!), that’s what I’m doing. Sorry for any inconvenience.