Report on Internet User, by: Andrew Pippos

My story this week once again comes from the Fifty-Two Stories website. I can’t really tell you anything about Andrew Pippos because there doesn’t seem to be a lot of information out there. He appears to have a Facebook profile, but it doesn’t really tell you anything.


I’m not really sure how to feel about Report on Internet User. It feels like a report. There aren’t really any proper pronouns. It’s a description of what the main character is doing. You feel sorry for him, but are also disgusted by him. He seems to be some kind of drug addict. Yet, you also feel sorry for the loss he’s suffered. I think he wishes he was a better person. I wonder if the fog at the end is a metaphor for the fog he lives in. It is another short, short story, but it’s not one I’d necessarily recommend.


Short Story Monday is hosted by John Mutford at the Book Mine Set.

WIN the Blind Assassin – three times over! | amused, bemused and confused

 The Blind Assassin is a fantastic novel by Margaret Atwood.  teadevotee is giving away multiple copies at her blog, amused, bemused and confused.  Click below to find out more.

WIN the Blind Assassin – three times over! amused, bemused and confused

What’s In A Name? The Book Blogger Hop

This week's question comes from Jen B. at I Read Banned Books: "Do you ever wish you would have named your blog something different?"

Jennifer has picked an interesting question for this week’s Hop. I like my blog name. I think it reflects me and my personality. I have occasionally wondered if I should have named it something more bookish. “The Eye Of Loni’s Storm” doesn’t really sound like a book blog, but I think it’s the eye of the storm of my life. My blog is calming, where I can reflect and tune out the thunder and wind around me.

How do you feel about your blog name?

Organizing Your Bookcase

Too Much Fun!



Originally seen here: http://inkygirl.com/inkygirl-main/2011/2/25/mesmerizing-video-organizing-the-bookcase.html

Did They Do It Right?

 The Broke and The Bookish want to know, what are the Top Ten Book To Move Adaptations?


1. Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone - All of the Harry Potter movies really, but I think this one was most like the book.

2. The Lord of The Rings Trilogy – What can I say? I loved these movies.

3. The Hours – I know some people didn’t like it, but I thought it was well done.

4. Twilight – I’m not saying it was the best movie or anything, but it was a lot like the book.

5. Interview With The Vampire – This was one of the few times I read the book after seeing the movie. There were definite differences, but I think they really captured the feeling of the book.

6. Memoirs of a Geisha – They left out a lot of the beginning, which I had really liked from the book and part of the end, but I thought the movie was really well done.

7. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe – The movie encouraged me to start reading the books.

8. The Princess Bride – This is based on my husband’s opinion, as I haven’t read the book yet, but he says it’s exactly like the movie.

9. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo – Based on my brother and his girlfriend’s opinions as I haven’t seen the movie yet.

10. Pride and Prejudice – I also haven’t seen this yet, but based on what people have told me, plus what a ton of bloggers have said, it’s great.

I found this one a little difficult. I kind of cheated with 8, 9 & 10. It seems I’ve either read the book or watched the movie, but I haven’t done a lot of both. Sometimes I feel that if I’ve seen the movie, what’s the point of reading the book since I already know what’s going to happen. That’s why I haven’t seen 9 & 10. I had to finish the books first because I didn’t want the movies to ruin the reading experience.

What order do you read/watch in, book first or movie first?

My Flannel Knickers, by Leonora Carrington

“Thousands of people know my flannel knickers, and though I know this may seem flirtations, it is not. I am a saint.” A great title and first line; I couldn't resist.

I’m not really sure what to think of this story. At first, I thought it was about the deterioration of a beautiful woman into and\ old woman who is wishing for her youth. The more I read this short story, the more I thought that she just became a crazy old woman. How did she become a saint? I don’t think she is. She was a prisoner, but I don’t think she still is. Is what she is calling an island really an island or is it just a plot of land she was sent to, where she was “put out to pasture”?

I’m not sure what to think of this story. I found it very odd. I found My Flannel Knickers in The Oxford Book Of English Short Stories and there are no bios included. As most people do these days, I searched Google for Leonora Carrington. I found images of paintings and articles on Leonora Carrington, the Surrealist painter. Mentions of her writing are only a side note, a sentence in passing, whilst the focus remains on her art. Her focus is her painting and it seems to influence her writing, as there was definitely something surreal about this story.

Her paintings are really lovely. I’ve included one with this post. I’d definitely go see and exhibit of her work. While the story was well written and clearly carefully crafted, I’m not sure if I’d read more of her work. I like to be able to follow the plot. Or should I say, I like be able to identify the point of the story. Read Carrington if you like work that is experimental or surreal, but be prepared to read it more than once (I had to read it twice, slowly) to understand what is happening.


Thanks to John Mutford at The Book Mine Set for hosting Short Story Monday.

Fantasy Map

For all the fantasy fans!  I think it's a great map.  Though I read Forgotten Realms, so I wondered where Faerun was.

Original Source:  Stargazing blog by Malene Arpe

Save the Books!!

Too funny to resist!

Where I found it:
Thirsty: A Biblioasis Miscellany: Be Warned.: "Filched from the Bookavore."

Guilty Pleasures at Wonderful Wednesdays

This week Sam at Tiny Library wants to know, what are your guilty pleasures.

Okay. Twilight. It has been questioned whether these books are actually any good, but I devoured every word of them and couldn’t wait for more. I even bought the Bree Tanner novella. (Which I thought was only okay.) I can’t help that I loved them when I was reading them. It’s only later that I realized how flawed they were. But that can’t get rid of the enjoyment I had. Even more guilty, I read The Host. It is supposed to be Stephenie Meyer’s foray into adult fiction. I thought it was definitely more adult, but it has some of the same love-triangle type storylines. I also thought the plot was so completely different from Twilight that you couldn’t help but give it a chance.

What are your guilty pleasures?

Very Short Stories

Below is a link to Wired Magazine.  They have a collection of very short stories.  Six words.  This is where John Mutford found his story for yesterday's Short Story Monday.  The stories are fun and interesting.  Some read has headlines, but many of them are whole stories. 

Wired 14.11: Very Short Stories

I enjoyed Margaret Atwood:
Longed for him. Got him. Shit.
- Margaret Atwood

I also liked Joss Whedon:
Gown removed carelessly. Head, less so.
- Joss Whedon

 Which one do you like?

Three Things You Should Know About Peggy Paula, By: Lindsay Hunter

1. Peggy Paula needs some help.
2. Something is wrong with her self-esteem.
3. She doesn’t seem to have any [parental] guidance.
(My three things.)

Three Things You Should Know About Peggy Paula comes from the Fifty-Two stories website, first introduced to me by John Mutford, host of this weekly event. It’s a great website filled with interesting short stories. Each week, a new one is posted, showcasing a different author. You may not like every story, but they’re all so different, I think there might be one for everyone.

Three Things You Should Know About Peggy Paula was written by Lindsay Hunter, a writer from Chicago, whose first book was published this past fall. She is also the co-founder of Quickies, a showcase for writers’ very short prose / flash fiction.

Peggy Paula was story 42 from 2010. So, I originally read it a while ago, but because of my real life (ie. morning sickness), I didn’t get to review it in a timely manner. This week, I wanted to restart my participation in Short Story Monday and this story was the first that popped to mind. Lindsay Hunter created a character that stayed with me. It’s a short short story, but Peggy Paula was so vivid, that three months later, I still thought of her. Peggy Paula seems as though she could be based on a real person. Peggy Paula is very much the opposite of who I am; I would never make the choices she makes, it makes me wonder how she got to be the way she is. I was intrigued by the story and will be on the look-out for more work by Lindsay Hunter.

Side Note: I think that is a picture of Lindsay Hunter. I got it from Goodreads.


Short Story Monday is hosted by John Mutford at The Book Mine Set.

Looking Back At The Week For The Hop

This week’s prompt, “Tell us about one of your posts from this week and give us a link so we can read it (review or otherwise)!"

I certainly posted some random stuff this week; pictures about Doctor Who and The Superbowl. But they’re not really very bookish. I finished Prince Caspian this week and posted the review yesterday. It was a great book, but I don’t think it was my favourite post this week. I like the little blurb I wrote about libraries, but I hesitated adding it to my Blog Hop post since it was originally something I saw on Nymeth’s things mean a lot. It’s about libraries and the need for them. Libraries do more than just give people access to books. They offer all sorts of facilities and programs that may otherwise have difficulty finding a home. Though the books are the best part, especially for those who love to read, but can’t afford to buy books. I’ve got a picture of my university library up, without which, I would have been lost.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Prince Caspian is the second book in C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia. It was fantastic. It had what I think kids need. Prince Caspian had humour and action. It had talking animals, honour and truth. What’s better than a King wrongfully deposed? Again I found myself wondering why I hadn’t read these books in my youth. I also found myself loving the Pevensie children and all the fun characters.

Spoilers  As with The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe I did appreciate some of the changes made from the book to the movie, though not all. I like that Susan was part of the battle in the movie. It makes sense in the time we live in, though I suppose I understand that when Lewis wrote the series, fighting in a war wasn’t something a respectable young lady did. What I didn’t like was that in the movie, there’s a kind of romance between Caspian and Susan. I thought that add-in was unnecessary.  Spoilers end

In the end, I enjoyed the continuing adventures of the Pevensie children in Narnia. I liked Caspian, the Dwarfs, the Beasts and of course, Aslan. Prince Caspian is an excellent second book in a series I’m enjoying more and more.

Other Reviews:

All Consuming Books

If you’ve reviewed this book, let me know and I’ll add your link. (I can’t believe more of the book blogs I read don’t have this book!)

 

Doctor Who!!!

(c) Bob Canada

I love the recent series of Doctor Who.  I think 10 is my favourite (David Tennant).  I found this fun image from Stargazing.  Check it out.

“Who needs libraries?"

Nymeth writes an interesting article/rant on her blog about the reason we still need libraries.  She is actually going to school to be a librarian, so has a unique perspective.

Apparently, books in the UK are really cheap, so some people wonder why they need libraries.  I can say, books in Canada and the US are NOT cheap.  Libraries are necessary for those who love books, but can't afford to buy their own.  Plus, libraries run all kinds of programs.  Nymeth's details what I think a lot of us book-lovers would say about libraries.  The link is below.

“Who needs libraries? Books are so cheap!”

I included below pictures of the library I most used while in University.  I'm curious to know if anyone recognizes it.

How To Avoid Superbowl Conversations

Image from Here

To see the post I found this on, see below:
Stargazing blog by Malene Arpe

50+ Followers!

Hello to LBC (Laura) at The Scarlett Letter for becoming my 50^th follower!  Honourable mention to Playing Librarian for being 51^st.

The Hop Wants To Know: What Are You Reading?

I thought I’d do some Crazy Blog Hopping this week...

This week we’re being asked "What are you reading now and why are you reading it?"

Right now I’m reading Prince Caspian. It is arguably the second or the fourth book in the Chronicles of Narnia. Why am I reading it? Well, I never read the entire series as a kid. I vaguely remember reading The Magician’s Nephew, but not any of the other books. My wonderful hubby bought me the series box set, so away I go. I’m really enjoying it and am looking forward to rest of the series.

What are you reading?

Literary Blog Hop: Where would you like to go?

Each week the Blue Bookcase hosts the Literary Blog Hop. Each week they give us a question to answer. This week they ask: What setting (time or place) from a book or story would you most like to visit?

I had to think about this for a while. Where would I like to go? I’ve read a lot of good books lately, but I don’t think I’d want to go to those places. The kid in me wants to go to C.S. Lewis’s Narnia. It’s magical and beautiful and the animals talk. The crazy adult in me wants to go to Mid-World, the land of Stephen King’s Dark Tower. Even though that world has “moved on”, there’s so much there, history, myth and magic. I wouldn’t like to live there, but it would be a fascinating place to visit.

Wonderful Wednesdays

Wonderful Wednesdays is a new meme from Sam at Tiny Library. Each week, we are supposed to highlight a book based on the theme or genre given to us. This week’s theme is biographies.

Well, this was easy and difficult. I haven’t really read many biographies, so I don’t have many to choose from. However, as soon as I saw the topic, one came to mind. For a class in University, I had to read Shadowmaker by Rosemary Sullivan. I really enjoyed it. It was about Canadian writer Gwendolyn MacEwan. She is mainly known for her poetry, but she also wrote plays and novels. Her work was brilliant and her life was too short. Side Note: Rosemary Sullivan was the professor of that class and she was fantastic!

Top Ten Best Debut Books

This is an interesting topic choice from The Broke and The Bookish this week. What are the best first books? 

1. Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone, J.K. Rowling – Will this one be on many lists? Rowling created what I think will be a classic in children’s/young adult literature. That might be presumptuous, but I also believe that it’s true.

2. The Crystal Shard, R.A. Salvatore – I’ve read a lot of Salvatore books, but not as many of my husband. The Crystal Shard was Salvatore’s first novel and his first book about the good drow Drizzt. Drizzt has become one of the most popular characters in Forgotten Realms and appears in over twenty novels. Plus, there are graphic novels and games. The Crystal Shard set Salvatore as one of the best and most popular fantasy writers of his time.

3. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson – It really is too bad that Stieg Larsson isn’t around to see what a phenomenon The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and his sequels have become. If the first book of the Millennium Trilogy wasn’t as amazing as it is, no one would bother with the other books, whether the author was alive or not.

4. Coming Through Slaughter, Michael Ondaatje – This isn’t Ondaatje’s first published work, but it is his first novel and it made me want to read all of his novels.

5. The Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger – Though I haven’t read her second book, I definitely want to after reading her first. It is an original and romantic spin on time travel.

6. Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen – Austen published her first novel, Sense and Sensibility under a pseudonym, “A Lady”. It was so popular that a second edition was ordered just a few months later.

7. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold – This is not Sebold’s first book, but it is her first novel. The Lovely Bones is one of the saddest books I’ve ever read.

8. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice – Though it was some time after its publication that it became popular, Interview with the Vampire gave Anne Rice her popularity and the ability to write whatever she wanted.

9. Carrie, Stephen King – The only book on the list I haven’t read. I really ought too. I really enjoy King and Carrie was his first and from what other fans say, one of his best.

10. Twilight, Stephenie Meyer – I’m not a super Twilight fan, but I have read all the books. They’re addictive. Though it’s not great literature and I’m not sure it will stand the test of time, Twilight did start a phenomena for this generation of tweens and teens. It also might be attributed with starting the current paranormal craze in YA books. That’s why it comes in at number 10 for me.

An honourable mention to Generation X: Tales For An Accelerated Culture by Douglas Coupland. This is the only other book I haven’t read, but this book did two things. It put Douglas Coupland on the writing map. It also made “Generation X” or “Gen X” and other similar terms part of pop culture. I don’t know if a writer could have asked for a better first book. I really ought to read it.

I’m eager to see what’s on everyone else’s lists.