It’s Mr. Darcy’s turn to tell his side of the story.

LOVED THIS BOOK! Go read it now if you like P&P.

I was afraid, since I had just barely read P&P, that I wouldn’t agree with Ms. Grange on what she thought Darcy was thinking but I do! (Not all of you will probably, so don’t shoot me)

It was great to see through Darcy’s eyes, I fell in love with him even more. A lot of people are very shrewd when it comes to Austen “sequels” but I think this one is great. You can totally see how perfect he is for Elizabeth. In all honesty after I read P&P I wasn’t in love with Darcy (at least, not as much as I was with Firth) but after Mr. Darcy’s Diary I’m swooning. Completely swooning.

The other characters were also very well developed. I loved seeing how truly wicked Caroline Bingley is and how sweet Georgianna is.

SLIGHT P&P SPOILAGE (though you all should know this)

A little warning, Ms. Grange takes the liberty of going a couple months after Elizabeth and Darcy are married. I know that this might bug some of you because it’s not actually in the original P&P, but I found it absolutely delightful. Positively charming!

*happy sigh*

~Enna Isilee

Aza isn’t beautiful, she isn’t even cute. She’s ugly. Everyone knows it, she knows it. She’s big, awkward, and her dark hair clashes horribly with her pale face. She’s surprised when she’s asked to the castle and even more so when she’s asked to stay. Soon she starts to realize that not all is well in the kingdom, but if she plays her cards right she may find beauty… or more.

Fairest… Fairest, Fairest, Fairest. Hm… I’m just going to say it. I’m disappointed. I wonder if I wouldn’t be disappointed if Levine hadn’t written something like Ella Enchanted. Then again… Fairest really wasn’t very good. The story was interesting, but the characters were confusing and complex. And things happened that didn’t seem right. People changed their minds too quickly. The love story in the book didn’t capture me, in fact it made me think, “You think that is love? Are you crazy?” there were a few rare moments when I thought it was a really fascinating story, but not many.

Levine is going to be in my area soon and I’m planning on going to see her. I suppose I’ll have to bite my tongue instead of shouting, “What happened?!”

I think… I would recommend this book, but not if you’re a die-heart Ella fan, because it’s no Ella. Have patience, some parts may not agree with you, but I thought the epilogue was very sweet.

So there’s my slightly-ambiguous entry.

~Enna Isilee

Coming soon, a review on Mr. Darcy’s Diary by Amanda Grange.

I have a second blog that I'm going to use for movies, stage performances, and other media stuff. It's called "An Aspiring Actress's Antics." I might not update it so much as I do this one, and I'll probably be a bit more random there, but I hope it works out.

~Enna Isilee

This is a hard book to review, because I haven’t posted anything about the prequel Peeps but I’ll give it a go.

A disease is spreading through New York. Masses of people are going crazy. They begin hating things they once loved. Rats roam the streets, and “angels” are the only thing saving us so far.

What is this disease? The answer is simple, if unbelievable.

Vampirism.

Throughout the book we learn that this is not the first time vampirism has emerged, but this may be the worst, or best.

A warning. This book is the epitome of “edgy” and should not be read lightly. There are some sexual references and bad words. The people in this book are not saints. But, if this doesn’t bother you I definitely recommend it. The story is interesting and the characters are intriguing. But please be sure to read Peeps first, it gives some more background to the plot.

I won’t say any more because I have no interest in giving it away. So if you’re the kind of person who likes to read a book without fear, don’t read this one. But if you can handle it I say go for it. Had I known how “edgy” it was going to be I probably wouldn’t have read Peeps, but I got caught in the story and couldn’t get out.

With that I wish you good luck.

~Enna Isilee

Coming soon, a review on The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

“To everyone who wrote me to reveal the secret definition of the word ‘trilogy’.” ~Scott Westerfeld.

The Uglies “trilogy” is back, with the stunning fourth book Extras. Extras follows the story of Aya Fuse and her quest to become famous. Taking place about three years after the end of Specials this book does not disappoint. Or at least, it didn’t disappoint me.

In this time everyone is given a “feed,” much like blogs of today, where they can post anything they want. If people read their stuff and talk about it, the person’s “face rank” goes up. The highest being 1 and the lowest being 1,000,000. Aya is in the lower spectrum. A total extra. But she’s got a plan. She’s going to kick a story so huge everyone will have to notice her. But at what price?

I was frustrated at first. I loved Aya but I wanted to know what happened to Tally! I buzzed through the first pages wondering, will she come now? How about now? I eventually got so wrapped up in the story (even without Tally) that I soon lost this hasty approach. Aya is a delightful character and it’s great to get to know her and her feelings. The idea of having an economy based on popularity is a great idea (for a story, I’m not quite sure about real life).

This book is a wonderful rainy day read. If you’ve got nothing to do, sit down with Extras. If you have something to do I wouldn’t recommend this book (I read it in one sitting. One sitting that lasted about 4 hours). A wonderful story that captures you and won’t let go.

Mr. Westerfeld you’ve done it again. Now please allow me to inform you of the secret definition of sequels…

~Enna Isilee

Coming soon! A review on The Last Days by Scott Westerfeld

I finished Pride and Prejudice so I'm back baby! I'm reading The Sorcerer King and I can't wait to be an active blogger again. Woot!

(I'm curious to see how many of you I've lost now. Tee.)

Okay so I won't post very much (even though I'm pretty sure no one cares because I lost my very few readers when I took my month-long haitus) because I'm currently reading Pride and Prejudice. I'm really liking it and I'm half-way through but it's slow going. I suppose I may post something random between now and then. I'll certainly post here about what happens on a certain eventful night that you certain LittleRed-ers should have gotten a PM about... but until then, I'm here.

~Enna Isilee

IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE POST BELOW THIS ONE TITLED "WARNING" DO SO NOW!

Meme given to me by Anilee.

Last book I bought:
Pride and Prejudice Collector’s library edition.

Book I’m reading:
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale. (OH MY GOSH!!!)

Total number of books I own:
103 give or take. Yes. I counted and cataloged.

Three books that mean a lot to me:
Book of a Thousand Days because… ah well DUH!

Trickster’s Choice by Tamora Pierce. I just… phew. I have never actually “read” this book, only listened to it. But for the longest time I pretended my name was Aly Cooper. (I have two stuffed tigers named Aly and Cooper) and I still love crows.

Enna Burning by Shannon Hale. Truly changed my life. Truly.

Favorite Book:
Book of a Thousand Days and Enna Burning by Shannon Hale,

Last film I saw:
Hairspray

Three films that mean a lot to me:
Films don’t really mean much to me. Perhaps if I read the script…

Last CD I bought:
Hairspray soundtrack

Song currently playing:
"Suddenly I see" by KT Tunstall "Let me Take You There" by the Plain White T’s and "Girls just wanna have fun" by Cindy Lauper

Songs that mean a lot to me:
“Suddenly I see” by KT Tunstall

My mom told me this song reminded her of me. Since then I feel like crying whenever I hear it. Once I was surprised to hear it on the radio and I actually did start crying. (I really love my mama)

Favorite Food:
Oh you can not make me decide.

Favorite Drink:
Applebeer! And Milk. Skim milk.

Favorite Vacation:
Oh dear. SLC probably. ;)
Or France. I really want to go to France.

Favorite Vice:
Muahaha!

I tag anyone and everyone! Let me know if you do it!

I'm not going to post until I'm done with my Shannon Hale Marathon. So this is my warning. On September 17 my URL for my blog is going to change from www.storyshanty.blogspot.com to www.squeakybooks.blogspot.com

You have been warned.

Okay so I have 6 votes on my poll (I didn't even know 6 people knew my blog existed!) and it's about even. So I want to hear opinions.

Story Shanty?
Squeaky Books?
What the heck?

What do y'all think?

A strange article appears in the paper. “Are you a gifted child?” Well many children think they are, and many parents think they have such a child. But only four children pass the test. And they are sent into the dangerous Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened (or LIVE) to stop the evil Mr. Curtain from brainwashing the world. But you’ve never seen a school like this.

“‘If any others leave the room in panic or dismay,’ she said sternly, ‘Please be sure to close the door behind you. Your sobs may disturb the other test takers.’ “

Ha! Charming. That is the perfect word for this book. Absolutely charming. A new novel, just come out this year, TMBS is quite hilarious and at the same time heartwarming. The touching story of these four poor kids and their struggle to find a place where they belong is just charming.

There were times where I thought the book was a bit too long. I would think “Okay, okay we get it. Move on!” but then I’d hit another good patch and I would fall back in love with the story.

Definitely a book I would recommend. Not particularly difficult to read, just a bit long in some places. But it’s a nice book that leaves you with a happy feeling. At least it did for me.

Would you consider books entertainment? I would. So then an author would be an entertainer? Sure. (Isn't rationalizing fun?) Well I would like to tribute this entry to another entertainer that really deserves mentioning even though I will not be the first to mention her.

Kristin Chenoweth

I, like many, first heard of Ms. Chenoweth in her amazing performance in Wicked the musical (which started off as a script which is like a book ya know (ooh, more rationalizing)) but she's done so much more than that.

One of my favorite things about Ms. Chenoweth is that she's so cute and funny. I thought I'd share some of these really funny videos with you. The first of which my good friend Taiger led me too.

"Taylor The Latte Boy"


You're a Good Man Charlie Brown--"My New Philosophy"


Wicked-- "Popular"

On a recommendation from LittleRed (who had these recommended to her by Shannon Hale) I read the Prydain books by Lloyd Alexander. I had heard of these books before but I had never read them.

Wow. Busy day. My third entry. Well I'm taking a small break from reviewing and doing a meme. It's my first, so bear with me. I got this from Anilee who got it from Sookie.

1. If I were a planet, I would be: Jupiter, it's big and it's gassy. Tee hee. Actually I would still be Jupiter, I've had a strange fascination with this huge planet.

2. If I were a month, I would be: September. It happens to be my birthday and the beginning of school. Two of my favorite things.

3. If I were a day of the week, I would be: Ooh. Toughy. Hm... I think I'd be a Friday. Sometimes I'm a day off work and school, sometimes I'm not.

4. If I were a time of day, I would be: During the summer I would be 7:00am, it's really pretty. But during all other seasons I would be about 4:00pm. A time to come home and relax.

5. If I were a sea animal, I would be: Oh dear. A sea animal? I would have to say Bubbles from Finding Nemo he's a Yellow Tang.

6. If I were a direction, I would be: Hm... this is hard. I'm all for progress so that would be forward. I'm a dreamer so that would be up. I'm a flip-flopper so that would be left and right. And I'm a procrastinator so that would be backwards.

7. If I were a piece of furniture, I would be: Probably a desk with doodles on it. No bad words scratched into my wood mind ya.

8. If I were a sin, I would be: Pride and Prejudice tape 3, where Darcy proposes to Eliza B. for the first time.

...

Oh! You were talking the 7 deadly sins? Well then I would say... Ooh, it's a tie between anger and gluttony. And pride, and jealousy (are those even part of the 7?).

9. If I were a historical figure, I would be: History was always my worst subject. Maybe... Hm. Napoleon Bonaparte? :P

10. If I were a liquid, I would be: Applebeer. Anyone who hasn't had applebeer is really missing out. It's sweet, it's carbonated and it's "The Soft Drink with a Head" alcohol free.

11. If I were a stone, I would be: Granite. It's simple, but in the right light it sparkles.

12. If I were a tree, I would be: October glory. It looks like every other tree until fall.

13. If I were a bird, I would be: Hm... Something small but showy. Something that thinks it's great, but really isn't. What would that be?

14. If I were a tool, I would be: I have some experience with hammers. But I think I'd be a screwdriver. I can put stuff together, but if you twist too far I just end up crackin' it.

15. If I were a flower/plant, I would be: A pansy. No doubt.

16. If I were a kind of weather, I would be: A rainy day. One of those warm rainy days where all ya want to do is curl up with a good book.

18. If I were an animal, I would be: A dog. Check out "About me" to your right.

19. If I were a color or shade, I would be: Green. All kinds of green. Bright sassy green, deep thoughtful green. All kinds of green.

20. If I were an emotion, I would be: Impatience

21. If I were a vegetable, I would be: Tomato. Is she a fruit? Or a vegetable? No one really knows.

22. If I were a sound, I would be: Laughter. Both hysterical and joyful.

23. If I were an element, I would be: Fire. Then Air.

24. If I were a vehicle, I would be: Oh. I'd have to say a 1993 black Honda civic (guess which car I own?)

25. If I were a song, I would be: "Dragostea Din Tei" by O-zone otherwise known as the Numa Numa song. It's funny. But can be annoying.

26. If I were a movie, I would be directed by: Uh... The latest direct I've heard of is Mr. Brad Bird. So sure, I pick him.

27. If I were a book, I would be written by: I would want to be written by Shannon Hale, no doubt. But I would probably be better of with saying that I too would be written by myself.

28. If I were a food, I would be: Parfait. "Everyone loves a good parfait" ;0)

29. If I were a place, I would be: A library. Possibly bookstore.

30. If I were a material, I would be: Flannel.

31. If I were a taste, I would be: Dark chocolate. I want/try to be sweet, but sometimes I'm just bitter.

32. If I were a scent, I would be: Sweat pea. I really want to be sweat pea. Though my mom says my room smells like a fart.

33. If I were a word, I would be: Obsessed, or obsessive.

34. If I were a body part, I would be: A brain or a hand. Preferably a left hand.

35. If I were a facial expression, I would be: A goofy grin.

36. If I were a subject in school, I would be: Drama!

37. If I were a cartoon character, I would be: Hm... Pluto is my favorite cartoon character. But I would probably be... Sailor Jupiter. Yeah. Gotta love the old sailor moon cartoons.

38. If I were a shape, I would be: An octahedron. Just because it's the most random shape I could think of.

I'm not much a reader of non-fiction, historical or otherwise, but I found this book fascinating. Doulgass is an amazing writer. His words weren't just facts, they were passionate on his standpoint. I have never had much interest in the slave trade. It never seemed to concern me. But this book made me realize what a horrible thing it was.

As I was reading this book however I found that the author jumped around a lot. He knew his story so his brain probably filled the holes but I don't know his story so mine didn't. Often he would say something like "I stayed with that family until I was twelve" and then the next thing I knew he was between the ages of ten and eleven. And he talks about people like he's mentioned them before, but I found no trace of them in the previous text. I got lost often.

A very quick read. I started this morning and I finished this afternoon. Nonetheless this was a wonderful book. I recommend it.


~Enna Isilee

I too read the Twilight series, and I recently finished Eclipse the third and NOT final volume in the series.

I did not like Twilight, or I guess I didn't find anything special about it. I found that Bella and Edward's romance was over-the-top and cheesy. Needless to say many people disagreed with me.

New Moon was better in some ways worse in others. I did not like Bella in New Moon not at all. And the character Jacob just left me confused. But the plot was fantastic and had me on edge.

Eclipse was amazing. One of the best books I have ever read. There was less kissing more action. I thought that Edward became a bit more realistic (yes I am aware that he's a vampire) and what we learned about Jasper and Rosalie was so entertaining. However, Stephenie Meyer is an LDS author I am also LDS; I have always looked past the minor swearing in her books. I understand that occasionally you just gotta put a swear word in. But there are parts in Eclipse that made me feel very uncomfortable. Namely what Bella wants before she's turned into a vampire. It made me feel awkward. Above this it was a fantastic book. If you haven't read the Twilight series I recommend you start now. Should only take you about a week to finish all three books. You can't put them down.

~Enna Isilee

I have followed the craze! Two days ago I read HP&tDH and it was fantastic. J.K. Rowling can't be human. I won't write much just because so many others will. I will just suffice in saying this:

Harry Potter cannot be your favorite book. It's in an entire league of it's own. If you ask someone "What's your favorite book" and they answer "Harry Potter" you have to ask them again "What's your other favorite book?" Because Harry Potter is just so good.

One of the reasons Harry Potter is so good is it's length. I know more than one person who groans and says "I can't read it, it's so long!" But have you noticed that since it's so long you can think about it as you read it. You can solve the mysteries, or at least try to. Whereas in shorter books often they're over before you have time to think.

Well that's my Harry Potter say so. I could go on forever but I won't.

~Enna Isilee

Well, there it is. The (still) long-awaited Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale. Release date is set for late September 2007. How did I get it? I got lucky. I'm no official book-reviewer or librarian, I just got lucky. Real lucky. So don't ask me how to get an ARC (Advance Reading Copy) because I don't know. I wish more than anything that I did, but I don't. The end. ;)

Book of a Thousand Days is abosolutely enchanting. Of course hardly anything less could be expected of Shannon Hale. This tale is based on the Brothers Grimm "Maid Maleen." I would not recommend reading the fairy tale until you have read B1000 for fear of spoilers.

Dashti and her Lady Saren have been locked away in a tower for seven years after Saren refuses to marry the man her father has chosen for her Book of a Thousand Days is the story from Dashti's, the lady's maid, point of view.

Originally set in Mongolia (but then moved to the fictional setting of "The Eight Realms") B1000 is so discriptive and amazing that I truly believe that Dashti once existed. The book is written entirely in diary format so you really get to know her. I will admit that the first ten pages were a bit slow to me and I fear others will find this and not continue reading. Oh I hope not. Because only the first ten pages are slow. The rest of the books sweeps you up and carries you away to a land of muckers, yaks, gentry, and ancestors.

I wept for Dashti, I laughed with Dashti, my whole soul longed to be more like Dashti. She is truly one of the most amazing heroines I have ever read about. Ever. How anyone could not fall in love with Dashti is beyond me. (Hey, I never said this wouldn't be an unbiased blog)

All I really have to say is thank you Ms. Hale. Thank you for this classic that I will read again and again. It's only a matter of time before you are widely recognized as the finest author of young adult literature of our time. Can't wait to see that shiny gold Newbury medal adorning B1000 's cover. Thank you.

~Enna Isilee

I'm a bookworm, it's what I do. I'm going to share my infinite knowledge with all of you now! Don't you feel blessed? Well yeah. This is my story shanty where I write about books I've read. Super eh? Cool.

~Enna Isilee