Wishlist Monday {1}

I started this last week and figured out I have LOTS of books I want and barely even know it! So I'll be doing this weekly for me to keep a record of the ones I still need to buy, borrow, win or... Well, get, somehow.

Karma bites - Stacy Kramer

I first read about this book on Melina's blog, Reading Vacation (by the way, you should totally visit her, cause she's 11 and smarter than most 22's I know. Really.) and can't seem to stop wanting it.

Summary from Goodreads: 

Life seems to have it in for Franny Flanders. Her best friends aren’t speaking, her parents just divorced, and her hippie grandmother has moved in. The only karma Franny’s got is bad karma. Then Franny gets her hands on a box of magic recipes that could fix all of her problems. It could even change the world! Finally, life is looking up. But Franny is about to learn that magic and karma aren’t to be played with. When you mess with the universe, it can bite back in unexpected ways. Ouch!

Looks nice, cute and simple, been looking for one of those lately...

Firelight - Sophie Jordan


First off, the beautiful cover. I REALLY love it, I wish my hair was like that *sigh*. And then the story, of course. 

Summary from Goodreads:

With her rare ability to breathe fire, Jacinda is special even among the draki—the descendants of dragons who can shift between human and dragon forms. But when Jacinda’s rebelliousness leads her family to flee into the human world, she struggles to adapt, even as her draki spirit fades. The one thing that revives it is Will, whose family hunts her kind. Jacinda can’t resist getting closer to him, even though she knows she’s risking not only her life but the draki’s most closely guarded secret.

Breathe fire? Secrets? Dragon forms? Someone hunting her? Doesn't that sound just perfect? :)

The education of Bet - Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Of course, something historical! And historical YA is interesting, isn't it? Miss Bet wants to study. Will wants to join the army and NOT study, sounds like a perfect plan - Will joins the army and Bet goes to school. I just wonder if she'll be able to pull it off without it sounding silly, like ALL those movies that go around that theme...

Summary from GoodReads

Bet is sixteen, very intelligent, but only knows as much as her limited education will allow. In Victorian England, girls aren't allowed to go to school.
Will is also 16, and though not related by blood, he and Bet act like brother and sister. In fact, they even look like brother and sister. And though they're both raised under the same roof, by the same kind uncle, Will has one big advantage over Bet: He's a boy, and being a boy means he isn't stuck in the grand house they call home. He gets to go out into the world--to school.
But that's not what Will wishes. He wants to join the military and learn about real life, not what's written in books.
So one night, Bet comes up with a plan. She'll go to school as Will. Will can join the military. And though it seems impossible, they actually manage to pull it off.
But once Bet gets to the school, she begins to realize the education she's going to get isn't exactly the one she was expecting.

Clockwork Angel - Cassandra Clare

 And Clockwork Angel. The Mortal Instruments isn't out here yet, but somehow, The Infernal devices has a larger appeal to me - maybe the historical touch? Probably.

Summary from Goodreads (like you all need it xD):

 When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order amidst the chaos.
           Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, members of a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa soon learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform, at will, into another person. What's more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who runs the Club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa's power for his own.
           Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds herself fascinated by—and torn between—two best friends: Jem, whose fragile beauty hides a deadly secret, and blue-eyed Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods keep everyone in his life at arm's length...everyone, that is, but Tessa.
           As their search draws them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy the Shadowhunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping her new friends save the world...and that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.

And that's all for today ;)
What do you people think, are those good books, will I hate them, will I love them?

By the way, you can find me on GoodReads

my read shelf:

Book Blogger Hop!

Do you use a rating system for your reviews and if so, what is it and why?

No, I don't, I don't like it. I feel that if you give any sort of rating system, you qualify/quantify things that other people might disagree, even if it IS your opinion. I much prefer to mention the good parts, bad parts and then let the reader decide if it's worth a shot or not.

Brazilian Thursday - Eduardo Spohr

Hi guys! So, using some of the advices you people gave me yesterday, I'm switching my Brazilian Friday to a Brazilian Thursday, because, well, on Friday I have the Blog Hop, so I get 2 posts in one day... So now I'll have one on thursday and one on friday "guaranteed" (or almost).

Today I bring you an author that is neither dead or has been translated into English (or any other language other than Portuguese). But they (him and his publisher) are trying to sell the rights for international versions, so you people can poke publishers wherever you are, if you like the story ;)
Also, that means all names and quotes are translated by me and might be different when the book gets oficially translated.

This is my review, originally published on Sobre Livros.

I'm very proud - and aprehensive - to talk to you today about a book I've been following for a long time and am extremelly happy and proud to say is a brazilian one.
The Battle of the Apocalypse is a fiction book, that talks about the last days of Earth, before the Apocalypse. I'm not overreacting when I say that the situation sounds very real, which kind of scares a bit...

The book follows the footsteps of Ablon, a renegade angel, expelled from Heaven for rising against Michael, the Prince of Angels, that wants the destructions of humans, for considering them inferiors and naturally evil - his are the orders for "The Flood" and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

But where is God, you ask me? God is asleep. Each day of the creation took several thousands of years and we would still be on the Seventh Day (when God rested), actually, the Seventh Day started waaaaay back, when men came out of the caves and the whole Bible is just a parable for the whole evolution. Also, on every part where God is mentioned in human history, it was the angels who were speaking on His behalf.

The Battle of the Apocalype takes us not only to the end, the Apocalypse, but also to a journey through the human history, that Ablon witnessed closely, for being stuck to Earth (or Haled, as the angels call it), from ancient Babylon and the fall of Babel's Tower, going through China and Ancient Rome, to the castles of England and the fall of Constantinopla, we see the world history on the eyes of an immortal being, who can  truly see what men are doing and some of the actual reasons for these actions.

Personally, I think it's amazing a book like this by a brazilian author. Really! Despite it all, I do have some prejudice against any historical romance that's not from Great Britain. It's one of my "things" - despite loving historical romances,  all the good ones I've read where from there - until now.

In Babel, Ablon meets Shamira, a young Necromancer, who becomes his friend and accompanies him through the millennia. There is a lot of feeling between them, but it's not a young romantic love, but a full knowledge of eachother, an understanding that doesn't need words it is, more than passion, fellowship, as the one we see in couples together for 60, 70 years.

Of course to every hero, there must be a bad guy and, in this story, since the start we see 2 major villains: Apollyon and "the Dark Angel" whose real identity is only revealed on the final pages of the book. Apollyon, though, is Ablon's enemy since "forever". They were rival generals on the same order, who faced a duel (theoretically friendly) and only didn't kill each other because they were stopped by a superior - and that fight was still waiting to be ended, despite Apollyon being sent to hell and Ablon being stuck to Earth.

Actually, we have villains for all tastes and sizes! Lucifer, of course, Michael, the tyrant Prince of Angels, Apollyon, the Dark Angel, not to mention smaller villains from the historical parts, Nimrod, Mai Yun and the other 2 god spirits, Zamir, and the several angels that try to kill Ablon along the book - and there are several of them.

The story is catchy, surprising and passionate. The characters are very well developed, no part could be cut off, because each little piece contributes to the learning that Ablon is going to need by the end and that's the only way we can understand each of his decisions, each action along the history will take him to the end, that's as surprising as it is philosophical. 

I hope you really felt the excitement I was trying to translate to you, also, I invite you to follow or talk to the author on Twitter (@eduardospohr), he's really nice and open ;)

Two Questions

See, I was sitting here, staring at my blog, wondering... What do you post when you got no review to post?
This book I'm reading... Looks like I'm going to take a couple of weeks to finish, so, what do I blog in between? Sure, I can use some memes, like the Blog Hop, but I won't be doing JUST that, since that's kinda boring, right?
So what do YOU post when you don't have a review or what do you do when a book is dragging along and you can't seem to get it over with - meaning it's slow, you read and read and seems like you read a lot but it's only been 10 pages?

And my second question is... I have a brazilian book to give away. It's a lovely book, by a lovely brazilian author - a great vampire - horror - like book, from back in 2003, when vampires were scary and mean and not shiny and romantic. But it's in portuguese. Do you people think it would be of any use for me to host a giveaway with that as a prize or just host that on the brazilian blog I participate in, so, you know, people who actually know the language participate in? Not that they can't, here, I just thought it'd be a nice thing for a "little hand" to get me some readers and so that foreigners could meet this awesome author...
Any thoughts? Any opinions?

Thank you!

Wishlisting

So, my birthday is on September 11th - I know, very sad day for americans and lots of people around the world, but I swear it ISN'T my fault, I was born in 1987 and I knew nothing about 2001.
*ahem*
As I was saying, it is my birthday soon and, since The Book Depository started shipping FREE to Brazil I figured it was TIME! It was time to check preorders and buy books! They might only get here next year, but if I sit and wait for brazilian publishers, it might take another 3 or 4 years. So I'll still read sooner than expected.

I present you some of my WANTED books! (in no set order)

Runaway (Airhead #3) - Meg Cabot

I read Airhead as a courtesy of the Brazilian Publisher "Galera Record", and read Airhead #2 online, on an ebook. But I want to OWN Runaway, since it's much easier to read...
Airhead was really cool and Being Nikki was not as cool, but the end was definitly steaming hot and with such a cliffhanger that I REALLY need Runaway.





The White Queen / The Red Queen - Philippa Gregory

I read some book reviews about the Red Queen and, even though The White Queen sounded better than The Red Queen, I want both! Also, lots of others by Philippa Gregory.

I love England history. Really. I can't tell one period from another, but I love the queens and princesses - specially the women, not the kings, since it was usually easy for them...

Philippa Gregory seems to be great at describing those and, specially, the period that I like the most, Queen Elizabeth I, Ana Boleyin and all that part of the story that I love so much - women in power - gotta love that.

Crescendo - Becca Fitzpatrick

I read Hush, Hush last July. I need Crescendo. Really bad. I hate reading unfinished series, because I keep stressing over the rest of it!

Even though Hush Hush wasn't THAT big deal, the whole plot was pretty much predictable - ok, not 100%, but it wasn't a major "OH WOW, REALLY?" - Patch... Oh Patch.. I need more Patch, you know? I neeeeed more Patch.





Also, a few series I didn't even begin with, yet:

- The Immortals - Alison Noel;
- Sookie Stackhouse Series;
- Linger + Shiver
- Fallen + Torment
- Iron Fey series (Iron King and Iron Daughter, so far);
- The Hunger Games;
- Wicked Lovely Series

As you can see, I read a lot, but I have a LOT to read. And that's probably an understatement, now that I joined this Book Blog world, I keep finding more and more books that I really want.
I'll try to talk a bit about some books I want every week, not only for you, but mostly for myself ;)

Brazilian Friday - Érico Veríssimo

Hello, hello!
I'm here today to teach you! Yes people! I'll teach you a little something about brazilian authors and brazilian books. Some were translated into English, some weren't, some are dead, some are alive.

Are you up for that?

Érico Veríssimo

So, I started with a writer that's, well, dead. His son is a writer too, but (no ofense to Luis Fernando Veríssimo) I still think Érico was probably the only good brazilian writer for historical romances - that take place in Brazil, too, I've read others that are great but they take place in Europe, mostly.
Some history: Érico was born in December 17th, 1905 and died in November 28th, 1975.
At the age of 9 he already "published" a magazine and read authors like Dostoievski, and his first short story was published in 1929.

I think his most well known work is "Time and the wind" (O Tempo e o Vento) which is a trilogy split into "The Continent" (O continente), "The Portrait" (O Retrato) and "The Archipelago" (O Arquipélago), but usually, each part is also split into more parts, since they're huge.

Time and the Wind tells the story of Brazil and, more interestingly, my state, through the several generations of the Terra and Cambará families, from the 1850's to 1950's (average, they don't talk about years when the story begins), we follow the story of Ana Terra, a strogn woman, who's the perfect stereotype of women who lives here (and her descendants) and Capitão Rodrigo (Captain Rodrigo) who is the stereotype of men here (and marries one of Ana Terra's descendants), but's also an accurate image of the men who lived during those times with several wars and struggles.

Wikipedia says his books were translated into several languages, including English. I'm not 100% sure that'll be the title, but search for Time and the Wind, you will see more about Brazil and how some people and some states have a completelly different history and image than any other here.

Book Blogger Hop

This is my first time participating in Crazy For Book's Blog Hop, but I think I'll keep on hopping weekly ;)
This week's question is "How many blogs you follow?"

Well that's a complicated question! On Google Reader, with my google account, I follow a bit over 20 blogs. but before I understood how to use Google Reader, I've conected to SEVERAL blogs with my Twitter account and I'll have to re-connect to them with my google account. I follow over 240 people on Twitter, most of them book bloggers and I try to read most of what's posted XD
Also, I tend to not comment. I'm trying to change that, but I'm kinda lazy - ok. I admitted!!

Well, I think that's it, keep coming back for more, please! I'll be pleased to have people here hehe

Arcs! Lots of ARCS!

Ok, I told myself I wouldn't do this but, you know, there's this girl and she has a blog and she has this AMAZING giveaway for lots of arcs - ok, just one, but you get to choose, so it's a lot.
And she sounds oh so awesome. So ok,I decided to post, ok? Don't JUDGE MEEEE ;_;

This is her link

I decided to try hard cause I'm one of the people she says are crazy on her book, since I didn't read Beautiful Creatures. But that's cause it wasn't released here yet!! I think anyways.

Also, I would like to thank Sara for opening it internationally, since that's SO cool cause I can participate ;)

So I'm not sure what to say here, so I'll just leave you people to go to Sara's blog and read and participate! Good luck!

Review: The Gospel According to Jesus Christ - José Saramago

Hello readers! The task I have in hands is not easy, after all, it's not everyday I'm here reviewing a book whose author won a Literature Nobel Prize. 

The Gospel According to Jesus Christ by José Saramago, is not for people who prefer an easy and light reading. Not that those people can't read it, but they will hardly be able to finish it. Me? It took me longer to read this one than Lord of the Rings - which is already considered a very "heavy" and complicated book.

Oh yes, a warning. I do NOT want to discuss anyone's beliefs. I'm introducing you to the book, considering the author's beliefs (who, by the way, was an atheist and comunist), not mine and not yours.

Saramago has a unique writing style, with very few "final dots", severl commas and absolutely NO  quotation marks. Lots of dialogues. But, hold on, how can there be dialogues with no quotation marks? I'll explain - all dialogues are "between commas". That alone makes reading very complicated and makes it take longer - until you understand who said what to whom and if it was a question or not (no question marks either). If that wasn't enough, since I read in portuguese, we need to read in Portugal's portuguese, which is a quite different portuguese, not as similar as British English and American English. Not only it's a different language, but his vocabulary was very large and the way he built his sentences was weird, so I had to re-read several times to make sure I got it. 

It's a wonderful book. I'm not discussing that, would never say it isn't, but I thought it was part of my duty here to explain how complicated it is.

Now, a little more about the story, right? Well, we all heard that story since we were little - or most of us anyways. The Gospel, the story of Jesus Christ. But, here, much more about the man than about The Son of God. Actually, it starts with the fact that he was born a son of Mary and Joseph - "made" and born the usual way! 

Preprare yourself for a human Jesus, smarter than others and more sensitive than all, but still human, living among men. Get ready for quick dialogues, full of third and fourth intentions, hundreds of meanings. 

The conversation between Jesus, God and the Devil about God's will and the future is probably one of the most philosofical writings I've ever read, makes you think and, at the same time, says everything, clearly.

I recommend you to read. Really! Calm down, with time, no hurry, no "huge TBR pile waiting got to read fast", because we all know how the story ends - what matters here is the path.

Read it with an open mind, ready to accept that Saramago's beliefs are different than yours, that not everything means literally what it says and that many things are there exactly to shock you, so that people wake up from the numbness where they fall, after centuries agreeing and accepting what others say it's right and true.

    I limited myself to take to me what God didn't want, (...) but's not true that fear is one of my weapons, I don't remember inventing sin and it's punishment, and the fear that always comes with them.
    (the Devil talking to Jesus)

(free translation, by me)

 Originally published on Sobre Livros

Review: Airhead - Meg Cabot

I confess that when I received the book "Airhead" I was a bit ansious. Meg Cabot was recomended several times to me by my friends, but I've never read anything by her, until now. I'm not a fan of the girlie book style (most chick lits are too girlie to me) and I kept remembering of the "Princess Diary" movie, but Airhead changed my impression about Meg Cabot - and I'll never remember her as a Disney pink movie's author.

Airhead is about a girl, Em Watts, who is not popular at all. She's not pretty and she doesn't want to be. She doesn't try to dress fashionable or put make up on, she avoids any attitude that may make her popular - or living dead, as she says those people are, who just agrees with the system, ignoring any other way of living.

Until the moment when she suffers an accident, that would be fatal, and her brain ends up in the body of a Super Model (Nikki Howard). Now, because of a deal - that saved her life - she must live Nikki's life and adapt to all the many things she never wanted, never seeked for and never understood. Like boys falling in love with her - and many of them.

First thing that caught my attention: Nikki has ALL male attention. She can choose any boy around her and they are all beautiful, rich (but not really smart). I confess I'm not cheering for the person Em/Nikki has her intentions leaning toward.
 

Second would be, I see a LOT of myself on Em. Because she's a girl that prefers reading, or playing videogames, than going to a party and that doesn't care much about make-up and beauty products, I really remembered myself on some parts, like this:

“Lulu looked at me, horrified.
- Soap? SOAP? You wash your face with SOAP?
- Well, what else can we use on the skin? - I asked"(free translation, since I read/own the book in portuguese)

I ATE the book in 5 hours, it's an easy read, the story really keeps you reading, you really want to know the rest (which, by the way, you'll only know if you read the whole series) and, above all, you want to see Em showing the world that you can, yes, be beautiful ans smart, always with a great sense of humor.

Originally published on Sobre Livros

Review: Vittorio the Vampire - Anne Rice

Vittorio, the vampire - Anne Rice

Whoever knows Anne Rice, knows they can only expect one thing from her: Surprise.

Despite her several books about vampires, each character is completelly unique, with different characteristics, fears and powers.

Vittorio is another one of them. Even though he's similar, on some points, to Louis (from Interview with a Vampire), he has a much more warrior-like disposition, because, unlike Louis, Vittorio was born during the Italian Renaissance period, being educated as a knight, to protect his land.

The story starts telling about Vittorio's life and his family, who owns some land in Italy, in which several families live, protected by Vittorio's father.

Some vampires show up and propose that they handle to them the children, old and sick, people no one would miss, to them, but Vittorio's father refuses and that causes the death of all his family except, of course, our main character, whose life is saved by Ursula, a beautiful and seductive vampire.

That's when the hunt starts: Vittorio wants revenge for his family, because their deaths made him shocked and unsettled, but, at the same time, starts Ursula's hunt to Vittorio, who, obviously, saved him for a reason.

Well, I'm not telling the whole story here. Of course we know that Vittorio becomes a vampire or that wouldn't be the title of the book (at least in Brazil that's the title), but what I liked, specially, was that we didn't know WHEN it was going to happen! Each moment, each part of the story, we are caught wondering "is it now?".

There are beautiful parts, conversations with angels, beautiful descriptions of the paintings Vittorio loves so much, of the Rubi Graarl Court (hopefully the English name is the same), of Ursula. But also there are parts extremelly irritating, where we think "STOP, DON'T DO THAT", because we know exactly what's going to happen - even though he doesn't see it.

Do not expect a "Twilight" love: Vittorio and Ursula love eachother on a passionate, physical, sad, full of guilt way, after all, she did help to kill his family. After Vittorio is changed, he, unlike Louis menioned above, understands his new situation and accepts it - it's irremediable, and his love for Ursula keeps him alive.

It's a wonderful book, exciting and different from most vampire books you've read, that talks about love and hate, of how close they can be and how can someone be, at the same time, full of hate and completelly good, innocent and benevolent.

After "the tale of the Body thief" I thought Anne Rice had lost it, because Lestat was incredibly boring, sounding more like a dumb Superman and the story was very weak, but with Vittorio, you see clearly it wasn't her, but Lestat that had lost it and me who "had enough of him".

Originally published on Sobre Livros

Brazilian Background

I figured I should tell you (or whoever is EVENTUALLY going to visit my blog since I'm guessing no one is here now) about my brazilian background.
What I think you should know is mostly the one related to books, since that's what we're dealing with here: I'm not really considered normal for my fellow brazilians in general, you know, since I read.
Just recently there was a research that said brazilians read an average of almost 5 books A YEAR. So you can probably guess someone who reads more than 1 a week (on average) is not normal - and I'll tell you, I like not being normal.

Books in Brazil are more expensive than in the USA or most "developed" countries. Minimum monthly wage here is US$ 250,00 (or a bit more, due to the exchange rate) and books average on US$ 15,00. Public libraries are terrible, basically none has the latest releases (I still couldn't find Harry Potter at a library), so you can guess why brazilians don't read.

Also, the "cool" releases also take years to come here. You know Airhead, by Meg Cabot, right? Ok, when "Runaway" (Airhead #3) was released on the US, Airhead #1 was released here. "Being Nikki" (Airhead #2) will be released february 2011 and who knows when "Runaway" will get here. And it's MEG CABOT people, everyone knows she sells like water on a desert, no matter what, so no reason to wait and release 3 freaking years after the american release.

But we, book worms, find our ways. Giveaways by publishers are my favorites. Owning a book blog also helps. Buying abroad may help - Amazon, even with the shipping costs still goes to the same average price regular bookstores here sell for. And now the Book Depository is selling shipping free to Brazil - I see a major credit card debt to me.

I'll talk about brazilian authors one of these days, but's not pretty. We do what we can to help them, since no one else will...

Keep on reading!

The beginning

Hi, hello!
I am part of a GREAT brazilian book blog, called Sobre Livros - means About Books. We've been blogging about books, releases, doing reviews and all that jazz for a nice while now, and I noticed one thing... International authors can't understand what we have to say about them and, you know, maybe they would like to - they would LOVE it if they heard how many good things we have to say!

Also, brazilian writers could use the advertising to people outside Brazil, if they want to get published abroad (who doesn't)...

So I decided I'll open up this small space and share some or all of my reviews, in English. Also, it'll help me promote giveaways and contests I find cool in the international blogs that I can't participate in using Sobre Livros, since that's a portuguese-only blog :)

*hugs*
May