Love, Lies and Lizzie by Rosie Rushton

This is the fourth Jane Austen in 21st Century YA novel written by Rosie Rushton. Rushton's teenage version of Elizabeth Bennet and her sister are looking for guys, just like the Bennet sisters in the original Jane Austen novel. In Love, lies and Lizzie they don't write letters to their loved ones; they have cellphones, Internet and all the other devices of modern technology to help them out. 


Rushton is faithful to the original storyline. Of course there are some changes, since the story takes place on a different century. To make the story flow well, some changes are made. For example, Bennet's are not poor in this novel. Mrs. Bennet has inherited a fortune from her third cousin. They buy a house from a neighbourhood filled with rich people and start social climbing. Mr. Bennet's precious library and books has transformed to music room and Wagner. 


The personalities of the sisters have been updated well. Lizzie is independent and she speaks her mind, Jane is kind, Meredith (Mary) is an eco-activist afraid of global warming, Katie (Kitty) and Lydia are twins. Lydia is wild and rekless. Katie wishes she could be like Lydia. James Darcy is arrogant and rich, his friend Charlie Bingley a push over. Drew Collins is as wonderful as in the Austen's original novel. You know what I mean.


While reading this books it is interesting to note the differences between the original novel and Rosie Rushton's YA novel. At least the character of Charlotte Lucas was a suprise for me. What is also interesting is to note all the British words Rushton uses, such as snogging. Since the previous novels by Rushton were familiar to me, I knew the meaning of those words pretty easily. 


Love, Lies and Lizzie is a good YA book with complex characters and good plot. Connection to Jane Austen's original novel is made by the use of quotations from the original novel always at the beginning of the chapter. I recommend this book to fans of Pride and Prejudice, but also for others. You don't have to know anything about Jane Austen/Pride and Prejudice in order to enjoy this funny and gorgeous young adult novel.

Waiting of Wednesday (#4)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill@Breaking the Spine. It allows us to introduce some upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating.

Mockingjay (Hunger Games #3) by Suzanne Collins
Published August 24, 2010 by Scholastic Press
Description (from Goodreads):
Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she’s made it out of the bloody arena alive, she’s still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss. And what’s worse, President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either. Not Katniss’s family, not her friends, not the people of District 12. Powerful and haunting, this thrilling final installment of Suzanne Collins’s groundbreaking The Hunger Games trilogy promises to be one of the most talked about books of the year.

13 to Life: A Werewolf's Tale by Shannon Delany
Published June 22, 2010 by St. Martin's Griffin
Description (from Goodreads):
Something strange is stalking the small town of Junction…

When junior Jess Gillmansen gets called out of class by Guidance, she can only presume it’s for one of two reasons. Either they’ve finally figured out who wrote the scathing anti-jock editorial in the school newspaper or they’re hosting yet another intervention for her about her mom. Although far from expecting it, she’s relieved to discover Guidance just wants her to show a new student around—but he comes with issues of his own including a police escort.

The newest member of Junction High, Pietr Rusakova has secrets to hide--secrets that will bring big trouble to the small town of Junction—secrets including dramatic changes he’s undergoing that will surely end his life early.

Lydia Bennet's Story by Jane Odiwe

Description (from Goodreads):
In Lydia Bennet's Story we are taken back to Jane Austen's most beloved novel, Pride and Prejudice, to a Regency world seen through Lydia's eyes where pleasure and marriage are the only pursuits. Lydia's dream of following the regiment to the fashionable resort of Brighton comes true, she is soon the darling of all the officers and tempted not only by a handsome royal dragoon, but drawn to the irresistible charms of one already well known to her. But the road to matrimony is fraught with difficulties and even when she is convinced that she has met the man of her dreams, she quickly discovers that her hero is not the man she believes him to be. Before long his reputation has her running back to Hertfordshire to be reunited with Bennets, Bingleys and Darcys, meeting once again for a grand ball at Netherfield Park. Will she resolve her problems to find happiness or will the shocking truth about her husband cause the greatest scandal of all?

My thoughts: 
First I have to mentio that I've never really liked Lydia. In Pride and Prejudice she is annoying, stupid and reckless character who just cares about having fun and spending time with the officers. After reading this book by Jane Odiwe I have to admit that I started to see Lydia in a different light. Odiwe portrays one of the most annoying characters of Austen's Pride and Prejudice in a light that makes her likeable, even lovable. 


Odiwe's story is divided into two parts; part 1 is concentrated on the happenings in Meryton and Brigton. The actions portrayed in Austen's Pride and Prejudice are told through Lydia and what happened to her. Part 2 continues the story of Pride and Prejudice and tells what happened after the point Austen ended her story. So, 'Lydia Bennet's Story' is partly retelling of Austen's Pride and Prejudice, partly a sequel to it. 


In the first part of the book, we get to know how Lydia fell in love with Mr. Wickham and how their relationship developed. Lydia is still that silly young girl who only cares about getting married before her older sisters. She runs away with Mr. Wickham and gets married with him because she honestly believes that he is in love with her. 


The second part of the book opens the relationship of Lydia and Wickham more widely to the reader. Lydia learns that Wickham has a relationship outside the marriage. She, of course, gets really upset, because she has really believed that Wickham loves her. While reading the second part of the book I really started to feel bad for Lydia. She grows as a person and understands that his love is not directed to her and that he married her only because he was forced to do so. 


During a ball at Netherfield, Wickham appears to the place looking like a begger. A great scandal from Wickham's past is revealed and Lydia notices that Wickham is totally different man that she thought him to be. Lydia is not sure will she ever be able to love again after a disappointment she has experienced with Wickham. Luckily a brother of Lydia's friend helps her to recover from the bangs of disappointment and offers her a new change to love again.


Almost every chapter of the book includes a diary entry from Lydia. From these diary entries it is evitable to Lydia grows as a person. I personally liked the second part of the book better because it introduced new characters and because from it, it is evident how Lydia grows as a person and learns from her past mistakes.


Jane Odiwe has also written a novel called 'Willoughby's Return: A Tale of Almost Irresistible Temptation' which is a sequel to Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility and 'Effusions of Fancy' which is a nice little book consisting beautiful pictures from the life of Jane Austen. Odiwe is currently working on a novel called "Mr. Darcy's Secret" which will be published during the Spring 2011. 


Check out Jane's beautiful website from here and her blog from here.

Jane Austen's Guide to Good Manners: Compliments, Charades & Horrible Blunders by Josephine Ross

"This little guide is the oucome, ultimately, of a correspondence between the Authoress of several novels, including Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Mansfield Park, and her eldest niece - Anna Austen, of Steventon Rectory, in Hampshire."

Published: October 3, 2006 by Bloomsbury USA
Illustrations by Henrietta Webb

Description (from Goodreads):
Jane Austen’s Guide to Good Manners is a light-hearted, insightful handbook written as if intended for her original Regency Era readers, and illustrated throughout with beautiful watercolors. When Anna, Jane Austen’s young niece, sent her a novel for “literary comment,” Jane loved everything about it, except its utter disregard for the manners of the day. The resulting and tender correspondence between the two serves as the foundation for this instructional book.
Etiquette and social behavior of the early 1800s come to life in lovely chapters teaching one on how to pay and return formal “calls,” how to properly refuse a proposal of marriage, who should lead off the dancing at a country-house ball, and what to wear for a morning walk. Jane Austen used these daily customs and niceties to brilliantly illuminate the cloistered world of high society women in her timeless novels. Now with this delightful handbook of correct social behavior, readers will learn just why Mrs. Bennet of Pride and Prejudice couldn’t call alone on her new, rich, bachelor neighbor and had to force the reluctant Mr. Bennet to do so…even as he uttered “Tis an etiquette I despise.”
An indispensable gift for any Austen fan, this beautiful book will prove irresistible to anyone wishing to go back in time to the atmosphere of their favorite Austen novels.

My thoughts:
The ones that I've been following my posts frequently already know that I am doing this school essay called EE (extended essay) about a topic related to Jane Austen. At this point my research question is: What was the role of dance during the time and life of Jane Austen and how does it affect the relationships and plot of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and Emma? Because of this essay, I ordered several different books related to Jane Austen and dance (you can see the other books from my latest IMM post.)

This little guide to good manners was a light and fast read. It has some beautiful illustrations by Henrietta Webb. Those illustrations make the reading even more pleasing. Even though I've done different types of research about Jane Austen for years now, and I already knew something about the manners of the society, it was interesting to read this book, since it highlights some advices Miss Jane Austen herself gave to her niece about how to act in the society.

Since I first time read Pride and Prejudice I have wanted to build a time machine so I could travel back in time to 19th century. The world Jane Austen's novels portray is the world I dream about. I know there were many negative things in the society of that time, and all and all, in the life of the people. But the way Jane Austen portrays the society has made me fall in love with it, and I have become extremely interested about the history of Jane Austen herself and about the society of her time. 

For me, the most useful part of this book, considering my essay, is 'Dancing and Dining'. The other sections of this book are 'Manners makyth Man- and Woman', 'The Forms of Introduction', ' Calling and Conversation', 'Dress and Taste', 'The Subject of Matrimony', 'The Family Circle' and 'The Assistance of Servants'. 

The ideal society I would love to live in would be the mixture of Jane Austen's society and the society we live in right now. I would love to attend formal balls, learn how to sing and dance properly, live in a big country house or manor and ride horse carriages. But I would not want to say goodbye to proper shower, computer, cell phone and the fact that I can wear jeans and short dresses. What I really would love to get from Jane Austen's society to the current society is the manners and respect. I want guys to act like gentlemen, not like animals. I want young people to show respect for older people. I think that the current society is slipping at those things.


I recommend this little book to every fan of Jane Austen, especially at those who are not yet so familiar with the society Jane Austen's novels talk about. This is a delighful addition into my collection of Jane Austen related titles.

Fictional Lover of the Week Jane In June special: Edmund Bertram

Somehow my blogger messed up and this post got all the way behind the other posts, so I will post this one again (I posted it first time today but I don't know what happened. )

Since the Jane In June event is still going on at Misty's blog, Book Rat, I decided to choose one of my favorite Austen heroes to be this weeks Fictional Lover.

Edmund Bertram from Jane Austen's Mansfield Park

-Major protagonist in Jane Austen's 1814 novel Mansfield Park
-Second son of Sir Thomas of Mansfield Park
-Plans to be ordained as Clergymen, he has been given the living of the local parish when his uncle died
-Naturally kind and compassionate person
-Edmund threats Fanny Price, her poor cousin from Portsmouth who moves to Mansfield Park, as his equal when the other members of his family tend to explout Fanny's good nature and mock her less privileged upbringing
-Edmund is friendly and encouraging towards Fanny which makes Fanny fall in love with him as they grow up
-When Sir Thomas and Mr. Tom Bertram, Edmund big brother, travel to Antigua, Edmund becomes the head of Mansfield Park
-When Mary and Henry Crawford arrive to the parish of Dr. Grant, Edmund falls in love with the beautiful and talented Mary
-Edmund declares to Fanny that Mary is the only woman in the world whom he can think as his wife
-After the elopement of Maria Rushworth and Henry Crawford, Edmund visits Mary in London and notices that Mary is in every way justifying the actions of her brother. She starts to blame Fanny for what has happened. She says that if Fanny would not have declined Henry's proposals nothing would have happened. Edmund gets extremely upset about Mary's comments, especially about Fanny, and leaves from her never coming back. 
-When Edmund returns to Mansfield Park he tells Fanny about his disillusionement with Mary's character
-In the end realizes that it is Fanny he has always loved
-Marries Fanny and they move to the parish near to Mansfield Park

So, what do you think about Edmund? 

In My Mailbox (#19)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi@The Story Siren.

From Mail:

Jane Austen for Dummies by Joan Elizabeth Klinger Ray
Description (from Goodreads):
Explains Austen's methods, motivations, and morals

The fun and easy way to understand and enjoy Jane Austen

Want to know more about Jane Austen? This friendly guide gives the scoop on her life, works, and lasting impact on our culture. It chronicles the events of her brief life, examines each of her novels, and looks at why her stories - of women and marriage, class and money, scandal and hypocrisy, emotion and satire - still have meaning for us today.

Discover
* Why Austen is so popular
* The impact on manners, courtships, and dating
* Love and life in Austen's world
* Her life and key influences
* Her most memorable characters
  
(I don't consider myself as a "dummy" when talking about Jane Austen. I am extended essay (the ones who have done IB diploma are most probably familiar with it) about Dance during Jane Austen's time. I ordered this book because I knew that it would have everything explained with details, but also in a way that it is easy to understand.)

Dating Mr. Darcy: The Smart Girl's Guide to Sensible Romance
Description (from Goodreads):
Do you love Pride and Prejudice?
Still holding out hope that theres a Mr. Darcy in your future?
Crazy enough to believe that you can change a Mr. Wickham into a Mr. Darcy?
Any girl who has seen Pride and Prejudice knows that the much misunderstood Mr. Darcy is the ideal gentleman. Is it possible to find your own Mr. Darcy in todays world?
With spiritual insights along with smart tips, best-selling author Sarah Arthur helps you figure out a guys Darcy Potential (DP) and refine your Creep Detection System (CDS).
Smart girls still believe in love.

The Jane Austen Handbook: A Sensible Yet Elegant Guide to Her World by Margaret C. Sullivan
Description (from Goodreads):
Jane Austen published her first novel in 1811, but today she's more popular than ever. Film adaptations of her books are nominated for Academy Awards. Chick lit bestsellers are based on her plots. And a new biopic of Austen herself Becoming Jane arrives in theaters this spring.

For all those readers who dream about living in Regency England, The Jane Austen Handbook offers step-by-step instructions for proper comportment in the early nineteenth century. You'll discover:
How to Become an Accomplished Lady
How to Run a Great House
How to Indicate Interest in a Gentleman Without Seeming Forward
How to Throw a Dinner Party
How to Choose and Buy Clothing


Full of practical directions for navigating the travails of Regency life, this charming illustrated book also serves as a companion for present-day readers, explaining the English class system, currency, dress, and the nuances of graceful living.

Jane Austen: The World of Her Novels by Deirdre Le Faye
Description (from Goodreads):
"Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, Emma, Persuasion - all present delicately crafted contemporary observations of life in early nineteenth-century England. In Jane Austen: The World of Her Novels, renowned Austen scholar Deirdre Le Faye brings this world to life, imparting an understanding that enormously enriches our appreciation of the work of this best-loved of English novelists." "Le Faye begins with a meticulously researched overview of the period, from foreign affairs, fashion, and social ranks to transportation, candle etiquette, and sanitation practices. She goes on to consider each novel individually, explaining in detail its action, its setting, the reaction of public and critics, and Austen's own feelings about the book. The witty and pertinent illustrations, many never published before, allow the reader to visualize not only Austen and her surroundings, but also the people and places that appear in these beloved novels." Jane Austen: The World of Her Novels is essential reading for students of literature and social history and for all Jane Austen enthusiasts who want to gain a new insight into her work. 

Jane Austen's Guide to Good Manners: Compliments, Charades & Horrible Blunders by Josephine Ross and Henrietta Webb
Description (from Goodreads):
Jane Austen’s Guide to Good Manners is a light-hearted, insightful handbook written as if intended for her original Regency Era readers, and illustrated throughout with beautiful watercolors. When Anna, Jane Austen’s young niece, sent her a novel for “literary comment,” Jane loved everything about it, except its utter disregard for the manners of the day. The resulting and tender correspondence between the two serves as the foundation for this instructional book.
Etiquette and social behavior of the early 1800s come to life in lovely chapters teaching one on how to pay and return formal “calls,” how to properly refuse a proposal of marriage, who should lead off the dancing at a country-house ball, and what to wear for a morning walk. Jane Austen used these daily customs and niceties to brilliantly illuminate the cloistered world of high society women in her timeless novels. Now with this delightful handbook of correct social behavior, readers will learn just why Mrs. Bennet of Pride and Prejudice couldn’t call alone on her new, rich, bachelor neighbor and had to force the reluctant Mr. Bennet to do so…even as he uttered “Tis an etiquette I despise.”
An indispensable gift for any Austen fan, this beautiful book will prove irresistible to anyone wishing to go back in time to the atmosphere of their favorite Austen novels.

(Review coming up next week!)

Jane Austen: Real and Imagined Worlds by Oliver MacDonagh
Description (from Goodreads):
In this elegant and fascinating book, a distinguished historian shows how Jan Austen's novels illuminate early nineteenth-century English history and how, in turn, an appreciation of this period in history enriches our reading of the novels. 

Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy #1) by Richelle Mead
Description (from Goodreads):
St. Vladimir’s Academy isn’t just any boarding school—it’s a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They’ve been on the run, but now they’re being dragged back to St. Vladimir’s—the very place where they’re most in danger. . . .
Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy’s ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi—the world’s fiercest and most dangerous vampires—make Lissa one of them forever.

Frostbite (Vampire Academy #2) by Richelle Mead
Description (from Goodreads):
 
WHEN LOVE AND JEALOUSY COLLIDE ON THE SLOPES, WINTER BREAK TURNS DEADLY...

Rose Hathaway's got serious guy trouble. Her gorgeous tutor Dimitri has his eye on someone else, her friend Mason has a huge crush on her, she keeps getting stuck in her best friend Lissa's head while she's making out with her boyfriend, Christian.

Then a massive Strigoi attack puts St. Vladmir's on high alert, and the Academy crawls with Guardians-including the legendary Janine Hathaway...Rose's formidable, long-absent mother. The Strigoi are closing in, and the Academy's not taking any risks. This year, St. Vlad's holiday ski trip is mandatory.

But the glittering winter landscape and the posh Idaho resort only provide the illusion of safety. When three students run away to strike back against the deadly Strigoi, Rose must join forces with Christian to rescue them. Only this time, Rose-and her heat-are in more danger than she ever could have imagined. 

Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy #3) by Richelle Mead
Description (from Goodreads):

WHAT IF FOLLOWING HER HEART MEANS ROSE COULD LOSE HER BEST FRIEND FOREVER?

Rose Hathaway knows it is forbidden to love another guardian. Her best friend, Lissa-the last Dragomir princess-must always come first. Unfortunately, when it comes to gorgeous Dimitri Belikov, some rules are meant to be broken...

But since making her first Strigoi kills, ROse hasn't been feeling right. Something dark has begun to grow in her mind, and ghostly shadows warn of a terrible ecil drawing nearer to the Academy's iron gates. And now that Lissa and Rose's sworn enemy, Victor Dashkov, is on trial for his freedom, tensions in the Moroi world are higher than ever.

Lying to Lissa about Dimitri is one thing but suddenly there's way more than friendship at stake The immortal undead are on the prowl, and they want vengeance for the lives that Rose has stolen. In a heart-stopping battle to rival her worst nightmare, Rose will have to choose between life, love, and the two people who matter most..but will her choice mean that only one can survive? 

For Review:

A Girl's Guide to Life: The Truth on Growing Up, Being Real, and Making Your Teen Years Fabulous! by Katie Meier
Description (from Goodreads):
A Girl's Guide to Life offers girls a fun, healthy approach to facing their adolescent years.
This complete resource helps teenage girls deal with all the traumas, dramas, and triumphs in their lives. The book is divided into Body, Mind, and Soul sections to address the relevant issues in each area of a young woman's life. It's "the" book for any girl wondering what's happening to her body, soul, and mind during these crazy years.
Revised and updated to include information on texting, sexting, and the viral cultural in which teens live, this book will help girls navigate their way through what can be a very tumultuous time in life.
With conversations with real teen girls, a foundation on God and the Bible, and helpful tips and questions for the reader, girls will gain an encouraging and fresh perspective on their lives.
A Girl's Guide to Life offers teen girls a new approach to facing their adolescent years.

(This has some religious stuff which I don't really care about, but otherwise it sounds interesting and light read.)

Bought:

Fallen (Fallen #1) by Lauren Kate
Description (from Goodreads):
There’s something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori.

Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price’s attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah, Georgia. He’s the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move.

Even though Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce–and goes out of his way to make that very clear–she can’t let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, she has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret...even if it kills her.

(I simply had to buy this one when I saw it at the local bookstore at Friday. This is one of those books which has been hyped everywhere in blogsphere but which has not really catched my attention, like Shiver was as well. I hope I love this as much as I loved Shiver).


Punainen Viiva (Red Line) by Ilmari Kianto
Description (by your truly):
Punainen Viiva by Ilmari Kianto is a novel about the first parliament election in Finland. It is written by Ilmari Kianto, a finnish author and poet and it was published in 1909. It tells the story of poor Topi and Riikka Romppanen. 'Punainen Viiva' comments the new law made in 1906 which gave a right to vote for everyone over 24 years of age. It was the first time women were able to vote as well. Punainen Viiva is a great novel about Finnish history and the people who lived during that time.

(This is one of my final examination books for Finnish. I saw an opera made from this book at fall and liked it a lot, so I am looking forward to read this one.)

So, what did you get this week? Leave me a link and I will check your mailbox out.  

Me and Mr Darcy by Alexandra Potter

There are so many of these Pride and Prejudice spinoffs that you really cannot keep count with them. Me and Mr Darcy by Alexandra Potter is one of them. It is a story about life, love and most importantly dating literature's ultimate hottie, Mr. Darcy. 

Emily Albright from New York has got some horribly dates. She is getting desperate. She decides that everything is over between her and modern-day life dating. She rather just curls up at sofa, takes out her favorite novel, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and starts reading about the man of her dreams, Mr. Darcy. When her best friend suggest a wild party trip to Mexico with the girls, Emily decides to travel to England for a guided tour of Jane Austen's country. 


The trip is not like she expected. The bus is filled with giggling old ladies and only one men, Spike Hargreaves, a journalist writing an article about why Mr. Darcy has earned the title of the most desired men of the world. 


At points the story gets all supernatural when Emily suddenly meets Mr. Darcy himself. Darcy is broodinly handsome and the first time Emily sees him he rides across the field in a damp shirt which clings to his chest. (lol) All this supernaturality and the fact that at points Emily and Darcy start to speak the words Elizabeth and Darcy speak in Pride and Prejudice just made me laugh, not in a good way. 


Emily starts to question that is Mr. Darcy really the man he wants, or is someone else, perhaps Spike, more her type. Eventually Emily stops dreaming about Mr. Darcy because he is fantasy and settles for something else.

Okay, the idea of this novel is... okay? But otherwise, it was pretty much a mess to be honest. The beginning of the novel was okay, the ending so so, but otherwise, it was pretty much wasting my time. The name of the novel made me all interested about it, even the synopsis at the cover was okay, but as a novel, this was a disappointment for me.

Picture of the Week (#2)

Hey! This week's question is: If you could pick only one book with you to a deserted island, which book would that be?

Leave me a comment telling which book you would take with you and most importantly, why?


Have a nice weekend and remember to Read,Read,Read!

Character Connection

Character Connection is a weekly meme hosted by The Introverted Reader.It allows us to spotlight characters we love. Mr. Linky will be posted on the blog every Thursday.

As it is Jane in June month, I chose Jane Austen hero for this week's character connection. For most of us Mr. Darcy, Colonel Brandon and Mr. Knightley are very familiar. Somehow I always feel that Mr. Edmund Bertram from Mansfield Park is the hero who is kept in the shadows. Since he is my second dearest Austen hero (after Darcy, suprisesuprise), I want to write how much I love him.

Dear Edmund,

Today, in my blog, I tried to express my love to you in words. It is very hard since there are no words to express what I feel for you. Since the day I was first introduced to you I knew that you are something very special. The way you took Fanny into your family, befriended her at a moment she needed a friend, opened my heart to you. 

You are not alike your brother Tom. He of course too, is a very handsome man. But there are more to you than your looks. You are kind, honest, intelligent and caring. Of course, since you are a normal human being like everyone else, you also have your faults. When you think that you have fallen in love, you do anything to please the one you love. But can that be considered as fault? In Mansfield Park you think you've fallen in love with Mary Crawford. You do what she wants, you even change your principles about play acting for her. When I was reading about your "love" to Mary, I honestly felt bad for you. I knew that your heart would be broken at some point, I knew what kind of woman Mary is.

In the end of the book, when you united with Fanny, it made my heart burst from happiness. Fanny is the perfect woman for you! She also is caring, intelligent, honest and kind. She has loved you since she was a little girl. She trusts you and you trust her. You have known each other for so long that you know her and she knows you. I am sure that you will be really happy together in your little parsonage. To end this letter, I must admit that I am jealous of Fanny since she is one lucky girl having a man like you loving and admiring her. 

With love,
Milka

Mini review of Edmund Bertram's Diary by Amanda Grange

Edmund Bertram's Diary, like the other Austen hero diaries by Grange, tell us the familiar Austen stories from the point of view of the hero. The novel starts from Fanny's arrival to Mansfield Park. We get to meet young Edmund, Tom, Fanny and the Bertram sisters. As the story develops the characters grow up and Mary and Henry Crawford come to Mansfield Park. Since the novel is written in diary form, we really get to know what Edmund thinks and feels. He highlights his crush (and love) towards Mary Crawford and writes about his plans for their future. 

While reading the novel it is evident that Fanny has a big role in Edmund's life. She is the one he wants to talk about events in his life. She is the one he can trust. The false love Edmund feels towards Mary blinds him and he does not notice that it is actually Fanny he loves. My favorite part of the book is when Edmund FINALLY notices that he loves Fanny.

Edmund Bertram's Diary by Amanda Grange is the best Austen hero diary I''ve read so far. You all should check it out, especially if Edmund is not that familiar character to you. 

And yeah, Edmund is the gorgeous fictional lover of the week! 

Waiting on Wednesday (#3)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill@Breaking the Spine. It allows us to introduce some upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating.

Prisoners in the Palace by Michaela MacColl
Published: 01 September 2010
Description (from Goodreads):
Prisoners in the Palace -- London, 1838. Sixteen-year-old Liza's dreams of her society debut are dashed when her parents are killed in an accident. Penniless, she accepts the position of lady's maid to young Princess Victoria and steps unwittingly into the gossipy intrigue of the servant's world below-stairs as well as the trickery above. Is it possible that her changing circumstances may offer Liza the chance to determine her own fate, find true love, and secure the throne for her future queen?

Meticulously based on newly discovered information, this riveting novel is as rich in historical detail as Catherine, Called Birdy, and as sizzling with intrigue as The Luxe. 

All that Mullarkey by Sue Moorcroft

Description (from Goodreads):
Revenge and love: it's a thin line... The writing's on the wall for Cleo and Gav. The bedroom wall, to be precise. And it says 'This marriage is over.' Wounded and furious, Cleo embarks on a night out with the girls, which turns into a glorious one night stand with... Justin, centrefold material and irrepressibly irresponsible. He loves a little wildness in a woman and he's in the right place at the right time to enjoy Cleo's. But it is Cleo who has to pick up the pieces of a marriage based on a lie and the lasting repercussions of that night. Torn between laid-back Justin and control freak Gav, she s a free spirit that life is trying to tie down. But the rewards are worth it!

My thoughts:
Cleo and Gav. Gav and Cleo. In the eyes of their friends, they are the perfect couple with a perfect marriage. And that is what they both also believed. When Cleo finds the writing from their bedroom wall, everything changes. "This marriage is over". The writing on the wall drives hurt Cleo into a one night stand with Justin. Will Justin remain as a one night stand, or will he become something more?

Justin, good looking and charming. He meets up with Cleo at the local night club. A night of chatting and dancing turns up into a night at him bedroom. Right after the action he notices that they forgot something important. Protection. 

Gav. He has a secret of his own he tries to hide from his wife. Cleo, the love of his life. At least he believes so. The worries he hides from his wife changes him. After confessing his secret for Cleo, he hears that the wife he thought was so perfect, has a secret of her own, a secret which changes their life. Can their marriage survive what has happened? Will they get a second chance?

Hearts are broken, secrets are revealed, and lifes change. With will Cleo do when she has to face the consequences of the one night stand? How far is Gav ready to go in order to get her wife back? And will Justin turn out to be something more than just a one night stand? 

I read 'Starting Over' by Sue Moorcroft a while ago and enjoyed it a lot. This book did not turn out to be a disappointment either. All the way from the beginning I started to like Cleo. She is independent and she does not hesitate to say what she thinks. He is compassionate and caring and calm, but she also has a wild side. Justin, a bit of a bad boy, has a one night stand with her, which eventually turns out to something more complex. 

All and all, All That Mullarkey was a enjoyable, fast read. Moorcroft's characters are interesting, and the plot keeps moving smoothly. After reading 'All That Mullarkey' and 'Starting Over', I must say that Sue Moorcroft has definitely become one of my favorite authors. Her writing style is very engaging, you just have to keep going. 

I want to thank Choc Lit publishing for sending me a review copy of this book. 

Shiver (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #1) by Maggie Stiefvater

Description (from Goodreads):
For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human ... until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

My thoughts:
Since this novel was published, I've seen it everywhere around blogsphere. Seriously, everywhere. It of course catched my attention, but I never reacted like "OMG, I JUST NEED TO READ THAT BOOK ASAP". When I saw that the Finnish translation of this book was coming to the collection of the local library, I decided to give it a try. 

Grace has been watching a certain wolf for the last six years. This is the wolf who saved her from the forest when she was still a child. It is her wolf. One day a boy appears to Grace's door. When Grace sees the eyes of this boy, she knows that he is her wolf, the one she has been watching for the last 6 years, the one she has been obsessed about, the one she cannot live without. 

Sam has been living a two lifes; during the summer he is Sam, a human, during winters, he is a wolf. The winter is coming and Sam cannot understand why he is still in the form of a human. When the weather gets colder and colder, he has to fight not to be transformed into a wolf. Now, when he has met Grace, the girl he has been watching for the forest for the last six years, he is ready to everything to stay as human. 

I really liked this book. I really did. At Goodreads I gave it five stars. One major complain I have is the fact that I had to read this one in Finnish and the tranlation sucked big time. Seriously, I am not even going to go there since I could write thousands of words about the horrible translation. I really need to get this one in English, since I really want to read the whole amaziness again.

I really like the character of Grace. She has been basically raising herself all the way from her childhood. She has a good relationship with her parents, but they seem more like her friends than her guardians. She likes reading and she is interested about the wolfes of the forest behind her house. Rachel and Olivia, her best friends, know about her obsession for the wolves and somewhat also share the interest. As the story progresses, the reader gets to know more about Grace's friends, especially about Olivia. The death of Jack Culpeper, a boy from Grace's school, ravishes the whole school. But is Jack really death? Isabel, Jack's sister, knows that Grace knows something. But what?

Love between Grace and Sam is something special. They've had connection for a long time, and when Grace meets Sam as a human, it feels like all the pieces of the puzzle are put into their right places. One reason why I really want to read this novel in English is the fact that there were some poetry and songs Sam told to Grace, and I really want to read those in English. Especially in those, the Finnish translation sucked.

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater was a lot better I expected it to be. I can't wait to get my hands into Linger. I am definitely going to read that one in English, the Finnish translation of Linger will be published in 2011. 


This is the first novel written by Maggie Stiefvater published in Finnish, so it is her Finnish deput. Because of that, I can use it in the deput author challenge hosted by Kristi@the Story Siren.

The Season of Second Chances by Diane Meier

Description (from Goodreads):
A world of possibilities opens up for Joy Harkness when she sets out on a journey that’s going to show her the importance of friendship, love, and what makes a house a home

Coming-of-age can happen at any age. Joy Harkness had built a university career and a safe life in New York, protected and insulated from the intrusions and involvements of other people. When offered a position at Amherst College, she impulsively leaves the city, and along with generations of material belongings, she packs her equally heavy emotional baggage. A tumbledown Victorian house proves an unlikely choice for a woman whose family heirlooms have been boxed away for years. Nevertheless, this white elephant becomes the home that changes Joy forever. As the restoration begins to take shape, so does her outlook on life, and the choices she makes over paint chips, wallpaper samples, and floorboards are reflected in her connection to the co-workers who become friends and friendships that deepen. A brilliant, quirky, town fixture of a handyman guides the renovation of the house and sparks Joy’s interest to encourage his personal and professional growth. Amid the half-wanted attention of the campus’s single, middle-aged men, known as “the Coyotes,”and the legitimate dramas of her close-knit community, Joy learns that the key to the affection of family and friends is being worthy of it, and most important, that second chances are waiting to be discovered within us all.

My thoughts: 
The reader is introduced to Joy, a 48-year old women from New York. She has built an impressive career and she is successful, but along other people, she do not know how she should act. She got married when she was young, but after couple of years of the marriage, she divorced and moved from St. Louis to New York City. She moved to the city with big dreams. She had always dreamed about her life in New York, but when she got there, she realized that it is nothing like she dreamed about. She goes on years, just by doing her job and not getting to know people. When she is offered a job from Amherst College, Massachusetts, she leaves the city and begins a journey which changes her life.


Without much of a thought, Joy buys a Victorian House, which is on a bad condition. My bad, I really mean bad. Everyone in the city recommend her to call to Teddy Hennessy, a handyman who has specialized on renovating Victorian houses. Teddy renovates the house, and at the same time, makes it feel like home. Sooner or later, Joy notices, that without Teddy, the house does not feel like home. But it is not that easy, even though they both are adults. Teddy is utterly blind when it comes to his possissive mother. Can Teddy start a life of his own or will he be ruled by his mother? What can Joy do to make Teddy choose her?


Even though Joy is a lot older than me, I was somewhat able to identify with her. She is not a very social person. She likes to be on her own, read novels and poetry. She does not know how to act with children, I get the sense that she does not even like them that much. I had to pick this part from the book which was totally hilarious and reminded me of myself:


I was left with four little girls, and I was on my own. 
"Okay," I said, searching for suitable subjects to discuss, "who likes Jane Austen?" This was met with complete silence. 
Jackie, the oldest and the most sophiscated of the girls, looked at me with furrowed brow, as though she couldn't quite remember. "Who is she?"


When Joy moves to Amherst, her life changes. First she feels that other people are trying to push themselves into her life. She feels like she just wants to be on her own, like she did in NYC. But when she gets to know these people better; Josie and Fran from her work, people from her work project and the other people of the town, she notices that she actually likes them, and eventually she starts to see them as her family. It is interesting to follow how Joy changes and in a way grows up throuhg the time she spends with these new people who eventually take an important place in her life.

I really liked this novel. It made a difference to my current reading. I've been mostly reading YA novelsrecently, and this definitely wasn't YA novel. This is one of those books I would love to give to my mother and tell her to read it. Too bad she does not read novels in English. I recommend this novel especially to women at the age of Joy, the narrator of this novel but for others too. If you come by this novel, you definity should give it a try.

I want to thank Jason Liebman from Henry Holt and Company for providing me a review copy of this gorgeous novel.

In My Mailbox (#18)

In my mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi@The Story Siren.

From Library:
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater (the review coming up next week)
Description (from Goodreads):
For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human ... until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever


Mary, Bloody Mary (Young Royals, Book 1) by Carolyn Meyer
Description (from Goodreads):
Teen fans of the movie Elizabeth will be fascinated with the pomp and sinister intrigue of Mary, Bloody Mary, an engrossing story about the teen years of Mary Tudor, half sister to Queen Elizabeth and daughter to Henry VIII. As a baby, Mary was adored by her father, who carried her around on his shoulder and displayed her for the court to admire. But as his marriage with her mother, Catherine of Aragon, waned for lack of a male heir, Henry began an affair with the beautiful Anne Boleyn. Mary was convinced that Anne was a witch. Didn't everyone know she had a sixth finger? And wasn't it Anne who persuaded Henry to declare his first marriage invalid (rendering Mary a bastard)? As the king grows ever colder, Mary is banished to a distant house, forbidden from seeing her mother, left to wear rags, and finally--at Anne's bidding--summoned back to court to be a servant to her baby half sister Elizabeth. Once there, Mary lives in constant dread that she will be poisoned or sent to the executioner's block in one of her father's rages. By the time Anne Boleyn herself is beheaded, Henry's first daughter has become the bitter and angry woman who was to be known as Bloody Queen Mary for her savage religious genocide. Carolyn Meyer, long acclaimed for her teen fiction (Drummers of Jericho), accurately captures the glitter and grandeur as well as the brutality of this fascinating period in history.

So what did you get this week? Leave me a comment with a link to your IMM and I will check them out. :)

The Princess Wedding

Today, Victoria, The Crown Princess of Sweden, Duchess of Västergötland will marry a commoner, Daniel Westling. Since we don't have a royal family here in Finland, some people are really interested about the Swedish Royal family. The wedding will be shown from at least 3 Finnish TV channels, and I will be probably watching the seremony as well. I am extremely happy for Victoria and Daniel and I hope that they will be happy and live long together.


Well, since this weekend is all about royalty, I was thinking about posting something about my favorite princesses. I chose one fictional and one real life princess to post about.

If I have to choose one Fictional Princess who has really affected my life in someway, I must say Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo, the Crown Princess of Genovia (Mia Thermopolis) from Meg Cabot's Princess Diaries novels. She is a geeky teenager from New York City (in the movies she lives in San Francisco) when his father, who has become a sterile through testicle cancer, announces that he is the ruler of Genovia, and in that way, Mia is his heir. 

Mia has no idea of how to act as a princess. Her nagging grandmother from Genovia tries to teach her all about being a princess. Mia's life is already difficult enough, and the appearance of Mia's father and grandmother does not help the situation at all. One day, she is a geeky, tall and grizzly haired high school student with bad skin, next day she goes to school wearing a new hair do, new clothes and everyone knows that she is a princess. Mia becomes extremely popular, but she notices that she cannot trust everyone.

I really like Princess Mia because she does not change her personality even though she learns that she is something a lot different she though herself to be. She remains as herself and reading the novels is hilarious. She keeps her old friends, makes some new friends and falls in love. She finds her own prince from her friend's Lily's brother, Michael. Even though they have some difficulties, in the end they get together again.

I love the happy ending princess Mia gets. Well, it is not really an ending, since in the last book, Mia ends her high school, but you know what I mean about ending. The readers and the lovers of the series are satisfied with the happy ending for Princess Mia and we can only imagine what happens to her and Michael. 

Even though I love the movies made about Princess Mia, I like the books much more. The books are a lot more detailed and they introduce a lot of new characters. I wish the movies would have been made as the books and then there would be 10 movies. I would not mind that at all. :)

When it comes to real life princesses, when asking my favorite, I would answer Diana, the princess of Wales. She was born to aristocratic family and married Prince Charles on 1981. She was the mother of the Crown Prince William and Prince Harry.

 
I admire Princess Diana because she did some very important charity work in England as well as around the world. She was interested about helping people suffering for example from AIDS. She was a patroness of organizations helping drug addicts, elderly people, homeless people etc. She also worked with the landmimes and she is believed to have influenced the treaty which created the international ban on the anti-personnel landmimes. I admire the fact that even though she was a part of the royalty, she came along the common people and helped them through her royalty. She put the higher position into good use.

She was a princess without a happy ever after. She married Prince Charles, a man who in fact probably loved his former girlfriend and his current wife, Camilla Parker-Bowles, even though he was married to Diana. They separated and their divorce was finalized on 1996. 

August 31, 1997 will probably be a day the whole world will remember forever. Princess Diana and his boyfriend, Dodi Al-Fayed died in a car crash in the Pont De l´Alma road tunnel in Paris. Diana's funeral took place at Westminster Abbey on 6th of September, 1997. An estimated 2.5 billion people watched the funeral. 


Diana was a princess, a charity worker, a public face, a favorite of the paparazzi but most importantly, she was also a mother. She loved her sons, William and Harry, and spent as much as time with them as possible. She wanted to raise her sons without all the fuss of the royal family, but for most of the times, it was not possible. The love of her sons towards her is also evident from for example the big concert Prince William and Prince Harry held from their mother's honour in 1 July 2007 at Wembley Stadium. The concert was broadcasted in 140 countries, which really shows that Diana really put mark on the whole world, not only in England. 


Who is your favorite fictional princess/member of royalty? Who is your favorite real life royal?

Book Blogger Hop (#5)

Book Blogger Hop is a weekly meme hosted by Jennifer@Crazy For Books.
By participating you have a good chance to get some new blogging friends and to find some amazing blogs you have not noticed before.
 

Picture of the Week (#1)

How has your week been?
This week, I want to ask you about your favorite book series? Which is the series you wish that would just go on and on? Please leave me comment by telling me why you love the certain series so much? What series you think everyone should read? Are you sick of some series?


Have a great weekend and remember to Read,Read,Read!

The Importance of Being Emma by Juliet Archer

Description (from Goodreads):
Mark Knightley - handsome, clever, rich - is used to women falling at his feet. Except Emma Woodhouse, who's like part of the family - and the furniture. When their relationship changes dramatically, is it an ending or a new beginning? Emma's grown into a stunningly attractive young woman, full of ideas for modernising her family business. Then Mark gets involved and the sparks begin to fly. It's just like the old days, except that now he's seeing her through totally new eyes. While Mark struggles to keep his feelings in check, Emma remains immune to the Knightley charm. She's never forgotten that embarrassing moment when he discovered her teenage crush on him. He's still pouring scorn on all her projects, especially her beautifully orchestrated campaign to find Mr Right for her ditzy PA. And finally, when the mysterious Flynn Churchill - the man of her dreams - turns up, how could she have eyes for anyone else? With its clueless heroine and entertaining plot, this modern re-telling of Jane Austen's "Emma" stays true to the original, while giving fresh insights into the mind of its thoroughly updated and irresistible hero.

My thoughts:
Emma Woodhouse is 23 years old. She is successful, beautiful, and rich. Her father owns a food company at Highbury, a little village in England. After studying marketing at universities like Harvard, Emma moves back to Highbury and starts working at her father's company. What Emma does not know when she is coming to Highbury is that her father Henry has asked Mark Knightley, Emma's teenage crush, to mentor her. Mark has been working at India for past 8 years and last time he has seen Emma she was still a silly teenager. Mark notices fast, that things have definitely changed during the 8 years of his absence.


Emma and Mark has always been like brother and sister. That is at least what they say. Emma is still embarassed about her teenage crush to Mark. When they see each other again, especially Mark notices that Emma has become gorgeous and he definitely has some un-brotherly thoughts in his mind. Emma also sees that 35 year old Mark is still as gorgeous as he was before.


Like we know from Jane Austen's Emma, Emma Woodhouse likes to do matchmaking. She thinks she was the one who matched Tom Weston and Kate Taylor. Kate worked for Henry's company, but after she got married she stopped working. To replace Kate Henry hires Harriet Smith, a pretty but a little bit silly girl. Emma sees Harriet as a project and she starts to match Harriet with Philip Elton who works for the Finance at Highbury Foods. Quite fast Emma notices that Harriet is not the one Philip has his eyes for.


Flynn Churchill, the son of Tom Weston is a legend at Highbury. Everyone is talking about him but nobody has really met him. When he finally arrives to Highbury, Emma believes that he is the man of her dreams. Quite fastly she notices that he is not the one for her, but she still thinks of him as her friend.


A night after Highbury Food's party something important happens between Emma and Mark. The next morning they both try to make the actions of last night look un-important, but in the end they both know that what happened was really important and unforgettable. When they clear their heads by avoiding each other they notice that they are the one's for each other.


As a lover of Jane Austen I just had to pick this up when I saw it at the bookstore while I was in London. And I must say that I really enjoyed it (it was among the top 10 books I read in 2009).  It is funny, romantic, exciting and it had a gorgeous guy, Mark Knightley, on it. What else could I wish for?

Currently Juliet Archer is writing a book called 'Persuade Me' which is a 21st century version of Jane Austen's Persuasion. It will be published later this year. You can read the prologue and first chapter of the novel from here.

Waiting on Wednesday (#2)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill@Breaking the Spine. It allows us to introduce some upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating.

The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff
Published: September 21, 2010
Description (from Goodreads):
Mackie Doyle seems like everyone else in the perfect little town of Gentry, but he is living with a fatal secret - he is a Replacement, left in the crib of a human baby sixteen years ago. Now the creatures under the hill want him back, and Mackie must decide where he really belongs and what he really wants.

A month ago, Mackie might have told them to buzz off. But now, with a budding relationship with tough, wounded, beautiful Tate, Mackie has too much to lose. Will love finally make him worthy of the human world?

Fat Vampire: A Never coming of Age Story by Adam Rex
Published: July 27, 2010
Description (from Goodreads):
Doug Lee is undead quite by accident—attacked by a desperate vampire, he finds himself cursed with being fat and fifteen forever. When he has no luck finding some goth chick with a vampire fetish, he resorts to sucking the blood of cows under cover of the night. But it’s just not the same.

Then he meets the new Indian exchange student and falls for her—hard. Yeah, he wants to bite her, but he also wants to prove himself to her. But like the laws of life, love, and high school, the laws of vampire existence are complicated—it’s not as easy as studying Dracula. Especially when the star of Vampire Hunters is hot on your trail in an attempt to boost ratings.…

Leave it to Adam Rex to create a thought-provoking novel that takes on teen angst, sexuality, identity, love, and undeath in ways that break it out of the genre.  

Life, After by Sarah Littman
Published: July 01, 2010
Description (from B&N):
After a terrorist attack kills Dani’s aunt and unborn cousin, life in Argentina—private school, a boyfriend, a loving family—crumbles quickly. In order to escape a country that is sinking under their feet, Dani and her family move to the United States. It’s supposed to be a fresh start, but when you’re living in a cramped apartment and going to high school where all the classes are in another language—and not everyone is friendly—life in America is not all it’s cracked up to be. Dani misses her old friends, her life, Before.

But then Dani meets a boy named Jon, who isn’t like all the other students. Through him, she becomes friends with Jessica, one of the popular girls, who is harboring a secret of her own. And then there’s Brian, the boy who makes Dani’s pulse race. In her new life, the one After, Dani learns how to heal and forgive. She finds the courage to say goodbye and allows herself to love and be loved again.   

Like Mandarin by Kirsten Hubbard
Published: March 2011
Description (from Goodreads):
It's hard to find beauty in the badlands of Washokey, Wyoming. Fourteen-year-old Grace Carpenter knows it's not her mother's pageant obsessions, or the cowboy dances and pickup trucks adored by her small-town classmates. True beauty is wild girl Mandarin Ramey: seventeen, shameless and utterly carefree.

Grace would give ANYTHING to be like Mandarin.

When the two misfits are united for a project, they embark on an unlikely, explosive friendship, packed with nights spent skinny-dipping in the canal, liberating the town's animal-head trophies, and constantly searching for someplace magic. Grace even plays along when Mandarin suggests they make a pact to run away together. Blame it on the crazy-making wildwinds that plague their badlands town.

But all too soon, Grace discovers Mandarin's unique beauty hides a girl who's troubled, broken and even dangerous. And no matter how hard Grace fights to keep the magic, even the best friendships can't withstand betrayal.

An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde

Description (from Goodreads):
A dazzling blend of farce and morality, this play explores human frailty and social hypocrisy. Sir Robert Chilton's secret is discovered and exposed. He is accused of having exploited government secrets for his own gain early in his political career. With this revelation from Mrs. Cheveley comes the threat of blackmail and the ruin of Sir Robert's career. Yet in order to be a successful blackmailer, one's own reputation must be beyond reproach.

My thoughts:
I bought this while I was in London and read this a while ago for the first time. Currently I've read for like 4 times. Reason for that is the fact that I am going to direct this play next fall. 

The Importance of being Earnest was familiar play for me when we started to discussing about doing 'An Ideal Husband' as a play. When I read this for the first time I right away knew that this would work well. There are many interesting characters and the relationships between them are complex and interesting to follow.

Sir Robert Chiltern is a successful and respected man in the Victorian Society of London. He is the under-secretary of Foreign Affairs and whatever he does turns into profit. His wife, Lady Chiltern, idolizes her husband and keeps him in a high pedestal. When Mrs. Cheveley, a woman from Lady Chiltern's, and suprisingly also from Sir Robert's past, comes to London she causes some problems to the ideal life of Lady Chiltern and Sir Robert.


Mrs. Cheveley knows a secret from Sir. Robert's past which could destroy the entire career of Sir Robert. She blackmails Sir.Robert and promises to declare his secret to the public is he does not do what she says. Lord Goring, a dandy bachelor, is prepared to help his friend Sir Robert and he knows exactly how he will do it. 


When Lady Chiltern hears about dark past of Sir.Robert she declares that she cannot love her husband anymore. She feels deceived and hurt, she has lost her Ideal Husband. Luckily Lord Goring does the right actions in this case too. Can Lady Chiltern forgive her husband? Can she love him as she loved him before? Is Sir Robert's career destroyed? Does Mrs. Cheveley get want she wants? Can Lord Goring save the day? Read 'An Ideal Husband' and find out.

I am so looking for to work with this play. One of the things I especially love about this play is the fact that it takes place in the high society of Victorian London. I can't wait to see all the costumes and other stuff we will have for this play. I will probably update the progess as it goes on. 

Has anyone seen 'An Ideal Husband' performed as play? Has anyone seen the movie?

The Fictional Lover of the Week: Seth Cohen

Check out the Introduction of Seth Cohen.

Today I want to introduce you to Adam Brody, the man behind Seth Cohen.

-Adam Jared Brody was born in December 15, 1979 at Carlsbad, San Diego County, California to Jewish parents Valerie and Mark Brody.
-Lives currently in Los Angeles
-Adam has younger twin brothers, Sean and Matt
-During high school Adam received poor grades and spent his time surfing rather than studying
-After high school he attended community college for a year, but dropped out in order to move to Hollywood and to become an actor
-After a year of auditioning and training, he landed the role of Barry Williams in the 2000 TV movie Growing up Brady 
-He was cast in recurring roles on Gilmore Girls as Dave Rygalski, Lane's bandmate and love interest
-Appears on American Pie 2 as "high school guy"
-In 2003 he landed for the role which made him famous. He was casted to play Seth Cohen, "new kind of nerdy Jewish guy; both self-deprecating and self-obsesses" on TV series O.C.
-Ranked No. 17 in Independent Online's "100 Sexiest Men Alive"
-Has been twice on Teen People's Annual list of "25 sexiest Stars under 25"
-Was the first male on the cover of "Elle Girl"
-Dated Rachel Bilson, his O.C co-star for two years
-On 2010 Adam linked to Glee Star Dianna Agron
-Plays drums for the band 'Big Japan' with actor Bret Harrison
-Writes screenplays and songs during this spare time
-Has volunteered with the Young Storytellers Program
-Describes himself has "fake intellectual" with sarcastic sense of humor. 
-Is a secular Jew  and has stated that he "couldn't be less religious"

-Movies where Adam Brody appears: The Ring (2002), Mr. and Mrs. Smith (2005), Thank You for Smoking (2006), In the Land of Women (2007), Smiley Face (2007), Jennifer's Body (2009), The Romantics (2010),


Isn't he just gorgeous?
 

100 Followers

Wow! 
That's all I can say.
I never expected this when I started blogging. 
All I can say is THANK YOU! 

There will be some kind of 100 followers giveaway at some point, I promise. Probably next month when I can (hopefully) celebrate getting of this cast in my feet at the same time. So stay tuned, I will inform about it later on. At the moment I just want to concentrate on getting better again. I hope you understand me.

Once again, you all are amazing!  

Btw. I just have to write this somewhere. If you haven't seen Remember Me yet, you should watch it. But remember to have some tissues with you. I seriously cried the last 40 minutes of the movie. 

Bloggiesta: Final Post

I am done with Bloggiesta. It is 8.30 pm here in Finland, and I think that it is a good time for me to stop now. I am going to spend the rest of the night with FIFA world cup and chocolate muffins. 

TIME SPENT FOR BLOGGIESTA:
FRIDAY: 7 hours
SATURDAY: 8 hours
SUNDAY: 9 hours

TOTAL TIME SPENT: 24 hours (wow, that is a lot more than I expected I would spent)


THINGS I DID:
-Back up posts (12 reviews, 3 picture of the week, 3 waiting on wednesday, 3 fictional lover of the week, character connection)
-I edited my 'meet me' and 'review policy' pages
-I updated my challenges (I will not post them here since I have them in good order in my notebook)
-I tried the new blogger template editor and changed my layout
-I added links to my goodreads, twitter and facebook
-I copy and pasted my reviews to Goodreads
-I added Favicon
-I added Gravatar
-I participated in the mini-challenges
-I added the books I have to goodreads
-I got some new blogging buddies


And most importantly, I had a lot of fun.


I am so happy with the outcome fo this Bloggiesta, and I will definitely participate the next time too if possible. :)

In My Mailbox (#17)

IMM is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi@The Story Siren.

This was a pretty quiet week for me, which in a way is a good thing since I am not spending that much of a time reading right now because of the FIFA World Cup.

For Review:
The Season of Second Chances by Diane Meier
Published:March 30th, 2010
Published: Henry Holt & Company
Description from Goodreads:
A world of possibilities opens up for Joy Harkness when she sets out on a journey that’s going to show her the importance of friendship, love, and what makes a house a home

Coming-of-age can happen at any age. Joy Harkness had built a university career and a safe life in New York, protected and insulated from the intrusions and involvements of other people. When offered a position at Amherst College, she impulsively leaves the city, and along with generations of material belongings, she packs her equally heavy emotional baggage. A tumbledown Victorian house proves an unlikely choice for a woman whose family heirlooms have been boxed away for years. Nevertheless, this white elephant becomes the home that changes Joy forever. As the restoration begins to take shape, so does her outlook on life, and the choices she makes over paint chips, wallpaper samples, and floorboards are reflected in her connection to the co-workers who become friends and friendships that deepen. A brilliant, quirky, town fixture of a handyman guides the renovation of the house and sparks Joy’s interest to encourage his personal and professional growth. Amid the half-wanted attention of the campus’s single, middle-aged men, known as “the Coyotes,”and the legitimate dramas of her close-knit community, Joy learns that the key to the affection of family and friends is being worthy of it, and most important, that second chances are waiting to be discovered within us all.

So what did you get this week?

Bloggiesta Update

So I thought I should do some type of update of Bloggiesta so far.

Yesterday, at Friday, I spent 7 hours with bloggiesta.
Today, at Saturday, I've so far spent 8 hours with bloggiesta.
I am pretty satisfied about the time I've spend, since I knew that blogging would be hard this weekend since the FIFA World Cup started. 


Some things I've accomplished so far:
-Favicon
-Gravatar
-8 reviews
-My Fictional Lover of the Week posts
-2 Waiting on Wednesday posts
-New outlook (I played around with the new template manager)
-RSS feed
-I signed in for Google Analytics
-I've made some new blogging buddies
-Added my reviews to Goodreads


Tomorrow I still want to add my reviews of Shelfari and edit my Goodreads TBR list and add the books I have there. I also will write some more back up posts, some reviews and Waiting on Wednesday posts at least.
 

Bloggiesta Mini-Challenges

Check out the mini-challenges for the Bloggiesta.

Write your TO DO list
Since I pretty much wrote it to the previous post, I am not going to write it again. But as a short term goal, I want to put some order to things and as a long term goal, I want to be able to post at least two reviews a week, so I need to write back up posts and order my stuff in a way that it will work.

Your Review policy
I got some very helpful tips for my review policy

Backing up your blog
I found this extremely useful since you never know what might happen to your Internet (computer) because of the viruses.

RSS Feed
I hope it works now, I am not about it. I was playing (more like fighting) with it couple of days ago. Well, I will have it there on my sidebar for a while, and if it does not appeat to work I can always delete it. 

Be Brave
As the other challenges before, this one was also very useful. It encouraged me to send some e-mails for couple of different sources. This challenge really conveys a good point- by trying to write something powerful, something individual, you catch attention a lot better than in trying to copy what others write.

It's All About The Numbers
I tried to add the Google analytics thing, not sure did it work though. I would be interested to see some statistics about my blog.

Embracing Community
A great challenge to connect with the book blogger hop

All the challenges have been great, and I will look at the challenges from previous Bloggiesta's as well, since these were really helpful.

Book Blogger Hop (#4)

Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Jennifer@Crazy For Books.
Book Blogger Hop is a great way to get to know other bloggers. I personally have found some great blogs during the weeks I've been participating.

Bloggiesta

Bloggiesta begins today! It is actually my first time participating, and I must say I am super excited. If you want to take part at the fun, click here.

Here is my plan for Bloggiesta:
-Write backup posts (9 reviews so far)
-Work on series posts (fictional lover of the week, waiting of Wednesday etc)
-Put invatations for guest posts
-Edit my about me page, review policy, etc.
-Update my challenges and actually see which ones I've been trying to complete
-Find new blogging buddies
-Try to use the new blogger template editor
-Add links to my goodreads, twitter, facebook etc. to the sidebar
-Put my reviews into some type of order and make an alphabetical list of them
-Copy and paste my reviews to Goodreads
-Copy and paste my reviews to Shelfari
-Add Favicon
-Add Gravatar
 Add books to my TBR pile at Goodreads and mark what books I have etc.

Purge by Sofi Oksanen

Description (from Goodreads):
Soon to be published in twenty-five languages, Sofi Oksanen’s award-winning novel Purge is a breathtakingly suspenseful tale of two women dogged by their own shameful pasts and the dark, unspoken history that binds them.

When Aliide Truu, an older woman living alone in the Estonian countryside, finds a disheveled girl huddled in her front yard, she suppresses her misgivings and offers her shelter. Zara is a young sex-trafficking victim on the run from her captors, but a photo she carries with her soon makes it clear that her arrival at Aliide’s home is no coincidence. Survivors both, Aliide and Zara engage in a complex arithmetic of suspicion and revelation to distill each other’s motives; gradually, their stories emerge, the culmination of a tragic family drama of rivalry, lust, and loss that played out during the worst years of Estonia’s Soviet occupation.

Sofi Oksanen establishes herself as one the most important voices of her generation with this intricately woven tale, whose stakes are almost unbearably high from the first page to the last. Purge is a fiercely compelling and damning novel about the corrosive effects of shame, and of life in a time and place where to survive is to be implicated.

My thoughts:
Wow. For the first time in a long time I can honestly say that I am proud about being Finnish and proud about the fact that I speak language such as Finnish as my mother tongue.

After winning the Finlandia Prize (the most prestigious literary award in Finland, awarded to the best fiction book, best children's book and best non-fiction book, 30,000 euros) Sofi Oksanen has been everywhere. Literally. She is in the news, in the newspapers, everywhere. Probably a week after she won the prize I got totally annoyed of her and her praised novel, Purge (Puhdistus). I did not know what the novel was about, and I did not even want to know.

Like you can probably guess from my previous paragraph, I had a huge amount of negative expectations towards this novel. I visit the bookstores weekly and every week this novel has been on the "most sold" shelf. Now when I broke my ankle and I am just spending time at home, I told my mother to bring me it from the library. I was too curious to pass it.

I am so happy that I overlooked my negative taughts and read this book. All the way from the beginning of the book I knew that I would like it. The way Oksanen uses the Finnish language (yes, I read this in Finnish, which is really rare, since I mostly read in English) is amazing. I did not even know you can use it like that without making it hard to understand. I would love if you would have a change to read this in Finnish too, but probably the translation is pretty good as well. I saw the English copy of this novel at the local bookstore, maybe I buy it at some point and read it since this is definitely one of those books I will want to go back to.

The Purge tells a story through the eyes and thoughts of three different characters. Aliide Truu is a elderly woman living alone in the Estonian coutryside. One day she notices a body of a girl laying on her yard. The girl, Zara, is in need of help. She has left from her home to the West, to Germany, in hope of a money for studying. The work that was promised to her turned out to be something very different she thought, and she notices that she is working as a prostitute for an employee who is ready to do anything to keep her working. Aliide decides decides to help her and by seeing a photo Zara carries around she discovers that it is not by coincidence that Zara popped out to her yard. 

As the story develops, the past of both characters, Aliide and Zara, is opened to the reader. Aliide's youth, her love to her sister's husband Hans and the acts she was ready to do in order make him love her are described wividly. Zara's past is told as it is, violent and disturbing. What I really liked about this was the fact that the sexual abuse Zara experienced was told without hesitation. It really opened my eyes about the situation Zara was in. The novel also introduces us to Hans, who through his journal entries opens up his story. I think that the journal entries were a great addition to this novel since otherwise the story is about the situation of women. By reading the journal entries by Hans we get to know what was going on in a man's head.

The disturbing harshes of the lifes of these two women, the despair of Hans in losing this wife and daughter, the passionate love of Aliide towards Hans and Zara's hope of better future make this story a breathtaking read. It opens up the Estonian history by introducing us to there three very different personalities who have a deep connection between them.

It is hard to define how wonderful this book was by using words. You just have to read it by yourself. I cannot believe I am actually saying this about a Finnish book. I think this is actually the first Finnish novel I ever review to my blog. So that shows you how much Finnish literature I read. I am so happy this book will be published on different languages, since I want others to have a change to read this amazing novel about passionate love, despair, shame, history, the need for home and the want to be free.