For a few reasons.

1. I’m in a no-book-buying mode. I’m also in a reread mood. In combination, this means that I’m reading older books, books that a lot of people have already read. I think part of a book blog is to inform readers about upcoming and newly released books, and since I wouldn’t be doing that, I’m not sure that I see a point.

2. The point would be that this is fun and so I wouldn’t care. But honestly, I’m not convinced that book blogging is for me. I’m not sure if I really like reading a book and then writing my thoughts about it. And more than that, I don’t think I have the time for it.

3. Time. It takes a lot of time to write good reviews and then if you actually want to establish yourself as a book blogger…that takes even more time. And I’m just not sure that I care enough to take the time.

4. It requires the internet. I’d like to cut back on my internet time because I’d like this summer to be productive. I’d love to finish a complete draft of my WIP. And maybe even get a headstart on physics to avoid the math catastrophe of this year. And if I start school earlier…that could mean that I finish school earlier, and that’s an exciting thought, to be done with high school. But anyway, the internet thing is tied into the time thing.

5. I’m a Blogger girl at heart. I keep telling myself that for the amount of time that I end up using this blog, I can stay here, but…I love Blogger so much more. And believe me, that may have something to do with it.

So anyway…yep. I’m probably going to end up taking a break from this blog (and when/if I come back, I’ll probably be on Blogger).

I am still reviewing for www.thepageflipper.com.

I have also just asked to join http://embracethemold.blogspot.com and http://freakybook.blogspot.com, so if you’re still interested in having me review your book, just send me an email at todwellondreams@yahoo.com and I’ll post reviews at both those places, as well as at www.amazon.com and my personal blog http://todwellondreams.blogspot.com (which has a better readership). And I’ll probably still be maintaining my GoodReads (www.goodreads.com/profile/todwellondreams).

And perhaps when I realize that I don’t have to actually write reviews, I’ll actually feel like writing reviews for everything, so maybe I’ll be back before you know it.

Sorry for any inconveniences.

♥anilee

Product Description from Amazon.com:

Cathy’s Book was literally a word-of-mouth success story, with over 120,000 copies of the groundbreaking, interactive teen novel in print. Perhaps less noticeable was the heart of the book: a good story well told. Now fans of Cathy Vickers will return to the exciting, unpredictable world that made the first book such a success. Cathy was your average high school student-doodling in the margins of her journal, crushing on a cute boy, and hanging out with her best friend Emma. As this story begins, she’s trying to keep a job, her journal is stolen, the cute boy is not who he seems to be, and even Emma’s side project/start-up company, Doubletalk Wireless, is about to get caught up in the mystery surrounding Cathy and her search for the truth about her father. Her presumed-dead father. It’s just a simple story really: Girl loves Boy, Boy disappears, Girl discovers secret that will alter the course of humanity….

For all those of you who are interested and not doing anything this evening, at 7:00 PM Eastern time, there’s going to be a chat with C. Leigh Purtill, who wrote Love, Meg and All About Vee.

Join here.

For as long as they can remember, Avalon Greene and Halley Brandon have been best friends, bonding over their mutual love for fashion. Then Halley returns from art camp with a totally new sense of style, one Avalon’s not sure she likes. More than that, both girls have changed during their summer apart. Now the former BFFs are carrying on a sneaky, snarky war. But can they get along to throw one final party or is Halvalon officially over?

read the rest of the review here

Chelsea has opened her new website today, so go check out www.thepageflipper.com. There’s an awesome contest to celebrate, and keep checking back for reviews, interviews, author chats, and more cool giveaways!

For a long time, the kingdom of Cokyri raged war on the kingdom of Hytanica. Then suddenly, Cokyrians abducted forty-nine newborn boys; forty-eight were returned dead. After that, the Cokryians disappeared. Sixteen years later, Alera, the seventeen-year-old Crown Princess of Hytanica, is facing an arranged marriage to a man she detestes when the Cokryrians suddenly reappear. Narian is a teenager from Cokyri who is found within the walls of Hytanica’s city. Alera befriends him, but war with Cokryi may be drawing near, a war in which Narian may play an important role

(Couldn’t she have picked a different name? I go to type “Narian” and write “Narnia” instead.)

I think it is obvious that Legacy is written by a new novelist. It’s not necessarily poorly written, but there are adjectives and adverbs galore, as well as lots of other description that seems unnecessary or poorly worked in. However, I don’t think it’s obvious that Cayla Kluver was only fifteen when she wrote this.

As far as books by teens go, Legacy’s pretty darn good. It’s a thick book, but it’s never boring. Kluver keeps the plot moving along nicely. Though it’s a pretty normal fantasy plot, it’s still enjoyable. Kluver’s characters may be somewhat stereotypical, but they still are three dimensional with the exception of some minor characters. I especially think she did a nice of job of creating Alera, the protagonist, who does share similar traits with other fantasy heroines–she’s opinionated and somewhat stubborn at times–but she’s still not overly bold, which was nice. It’s a solid debut, one that I think could easily have been written by someone older so it’s still a pretty darn good book. I think it’s better knowing that it was written by a teenager, but I still would not have put Legacy down, disappointed, if Kluver were twenty- or thirty-five rather than fifteen.

I had some minor issues with the book, but they’re all petty, mostly regarding the world-building. Kluver did a nice job creating Hytanica and to a lesser extent, Cokryi, though there were just some minor things that didn’t really bug me, just made me wonder, like the fact that the Hytanican calendar is the same as our calendar and that once Kluver mentioned Latin. Was this intentional, or did it not occur to Kluver and her editor?

It doesn’t matter. It’s still well worth reading and is well worth the money (Legacy is paperback for the price of a hardcover).

This, my friends, is fact. You are welcome to deny it all you want, but the truth to what I am about to say remains.

All my reviews and most of my posts are my opinions. Obviously, if I summarize a book, the summary’s fact, but when I talk about the writing or the characters? That’s my opinion. No, I don’t say “This is my opinion” or “I think” all the time, but it’s just a given and should be mentally added in front of most of the sentences. I shouldn’t have to say that every time. Besides, it’s on my About page. It’s pretty pointless to keep restating it all the time. I know most people aren’t geniuses, but I’d like to think that they have at least some common sense as well as a sense of decency.

Apparently, I’m wrong on both accounts.

The other day I got my very first bashing comment. To be honest, I was kind of exciting since although I have gotten a comment that disagreed with one of my negative reviews, it didn’t swear at me, and I’m pretty sure the grammar was acceptable. And actually, I just started laughing when I read this comment. Not that there’s really anything funny about being called an a****** and being yelled at over the internet because you didn’t really like Eldest. It’s just pathetically sad. (Do you hear me, overzealous fans who use annoying chatspeak? YOU ARE PATHETICALLY SAD! Look, now I’m yelling, but I really think I need to get this point across.)

Here’s the thing: insulting someone who’s a perfect stranger and telling them they don’t know anything because they don’t like a certain book…it just…well, honestly, it makes me hate that book even more because it shows that the fans can be jerks.

I like to read the Bringsr forums on Amazon. You get a lot of fans and a lot of non-fans there. The fans question why the non-fans even check those forums. Well, this non-fan finds them very amusing, especially when both sides start bashing the other and look like fools. She also finds it rather hysterical that there are fans who find Paolini to be a very original writer. After all, Star Wars doesn’t have a dragon, right? No, but Dragonridersof Pern does, right? (I’ve never read it.) Only wait. Anne McCafferty gave Eragon a glowing blurb, didn’t she?

I write in a very different tone when I post in those forums. I know that if I say something wrong, more people will beat me up for it than if I share an uncommon opinion here. On Amazon, I keep stressing “opinion”, and certainly, I am nowhere near as biting in my negativity. My Eldest review posted here would not be what I would post on Amazon.

We all have different reasons for liking or disliking books. And sometimes, we can’t pinpoint exactly why. For example, I’d love to dislike Flavia Bujor’s The Prophecy of the Stones. To be honest, Inheritance is probably better-written. Both are pretty ridiculous and cliche and both get preachy, but I think Inheritance is for the most part a step up. Yet I dislike Inheritance and really love The Prophecy of the Stones. And yet, that I love that book is really the only positive thing I can say about it. And it’s not “love-to-hate” or “love-to-make-fun-of”. I really enjoy reading that book.

Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy Eldest. I liked Eragon enough to get the second book (wait…I think I got them both at about the same time because I like to read complete series) and I will read the third book eventually. I’ll just probably wait for paperback because I don’t care enough. But there’s always the hope that Paolini’s writing is going to get better. He has promise. Some of his descriptions are truly lovely (maybe he should write travel brochures?) and when I say that I find his characters flat, I mean boring, not necessarily one-dimensional because I do think there’s some sides to them. Sides I find uber bizarre, but sides nonetheless. I honestly believe that if Paolini had decided to start off with something simple rather than trying for the next great fantasy epic, he probably would have written something good. As it is, Eragon had potential to become a nice fantasy novel for readers not yet ready for Lord of the Rings. I’m willing to blame a poor editing job, but I’m going to spare you my amateur thoughts on editing and why I love it so much. As it is, it’d be pretty interesting to see the first draft of Eragon. Since it was originally self-published, I wonder if any really radical changes were made. I’d have to think that Paolini’s Knopf editor didn’t want to make too many changes to the original edition.

So anyway. When you accuse me of hating Paolini and his writing, that is simply not true. I have never met Paolini. Though his acknowledgements seem to suggest that he’s conceited, he could in reality be a very nice young man who just has trouble writing in a natural voice after striving for epic prose. And yes, I dislike this “epic prose”, but that’s just me. I’m not going to beat you up for it if you love it. I don’t expect everyone to love Shannon Hale’s writing and I don’t care if you hate The Goose Girl. Okay? It’s my all-time favorite book, but if you don’t like it, that’s fine. Just don’t tell me that you don’t like it as much as Princess Academy because Enna’s story is unclean and inappropriate. Because that’s just so stupidly ridiculous. It’s also stupidly ridiculous if you say Austenland is bad because it’s “dirty” (uh…yeah. Okay. Maybe it’s not squeaky clean, but you know, it is an adult chick lit novel, not a young adult or middle grade fantasy novel) or “not what you were expecting” (you picked it up expecting Princess Academy, didn’t you?)

But if you say that you found The Goose Girl slow and you just couldn’t get into it, that’s okay. It is long and probably could have been shorter. But I still love each and every word of that novel dearly. If you say that you read Austenland just because you’re a Shannon Hale fan and so you thought it was just okay because you really don’t like chick lit, that’s fine. You have to judge based on what the book is, and sometimes people forget that.

Everyone has the right to an opinion, and about books, there really is no right or wrong opinion. And everyone has the right to voice that opinion, though it should always be in a respectful way. Yes, sometimes I can get pretty bashing, but please know that I hope that it’s in an amusing way. I don’t mean to hurt anyone’s feelings. Please know that if you love Inheritance, when I bash Eldest, I am not bashing YOU. Eldest is just a book that I didn’t care for. I want to have fun writing my reviews. As Inheritance is already so controversial, it makes the series easy to write scathing reviews for. But take my tone with a grain of salt. This is my blog.

When I write a review, I try not to talk about the author. I will never say “Paolini sucks” or “Bujor’s an idiot for sending her book off to be published”. I focus on the book. The author has little to do with it. I mean, if Paolini writes another book after he’s finished Inheritance, I very well may pick it up, just to see if it’s any different, any better. It very well could be. Once upon a time, I absolutely hated Meg Cabot, though I had only read the first two Princess Diaries books. But I thought they were dirty (I was ten). But then a long time ago (and several years after I had The Princess Diaries), my cousin said that her favorite book was All-American Girl. I gave it a try and I loved it. I read the ninth Princess Diaries book and really really liked it. I feel like an idiot for having said, “I hate Meg Cabot,” which is ridiculous because I love to read her blog. But now, I tend to say “I hate So-and-so’s books.” I want to leave out the people writing them.

Back to the “everyone has a right to voice their opinion” thing. Positive reviews are great. I love to write them. I love to tell people, “This book was great!” But I can’t say that about every book, and I’m not going to. If I read a book I don’t like, I’m probably going to tell people. Maybe they’ll still read the book (I don’t let negative reviews keep me away from a book for the most part if it’s one I really want to read, though I may wait for paperback), but they may have lower expectations, which is always great because it’s easier to like a book if you’re not expecting it to be amazing. The important thing is thoughtful reviews. Reviews that are “OMG!!! THIS BOOK IS AMAZING!!! I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!! READ IT!!!!” are just as annoying as “THIS BOOK SUCKS!!!! I HATED IT!!!!! IT WAS A WASTE OF MY TIME!!!!” Neither are helpful. But we need thoughtful reviews, both positive and negative, so we can see both sides of a book and make educated decisions about whether or not the book is for us.

I believe that those avid fans who go around defending their beloved books on the internet by swearing at the non-fans…I think they that what they’re doing is wrong. Why else would they use email addresses like yourblogstinksalot@yahoo.com? They’re scared that we just might take it into our heads and email them (which we won’t). They think that the anoymosity of the internet will protect them. Well, if any of you avid fans are reading this, how do you live with yourself knowing you take a book so seriously, that you love a book so much, that you just start swearing at strangers on the internet who didn’t like the book? Does that make you feel better? Really? To be honest, it seems an immature way to deal with it. A better way is to either just walk away without saying anything (I do this a lot) or to be honest (in everything) and say why you disagree in a polite way. I don’t care if you do. I appreciate comments that disagree with my opinion and try to point out things I may I have missed. I probably won’t change my opinion, but I like to understand the other side.

This is what I believe: As I have said, we can’t always pinpoint the exact reason we like or dislike a book. There are some really great books out there that I just didn’t love. Like most of my friends love Beauty by Robin McKinley; I’m not even sure I liked it. And as I said, The Prophecy of the Stones is pretty awful but I love it anyway (like I love The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement). You probably wouldn’t swear at someone because they don’t like chocolate ice cream, would you? You may tell them it’s ridiculous, but in a joking way. And if you’re being entirely serious, you’ve got issues. But most people know that you can’t help your tastebuds. You just can’t. I’d love to love chocolate ice cream, but I just really don’t. It tastes funny to me. Other than that, I can’t really describe it. Books aren’t any different, yet people treat them that way. And it’s sad and it scares me. Me, who loves books. Me, who wants to work in the literary world. Books mean the world to me, but being a decent person and respecting others, even when I disagree with them? That’s even more important.

So thanks, guys. Thanks for keeping it respectful and for knowing that there’s nothing wrong with holding an uncommon opinion. You rock. (Die, Edward! Die!)

(And if that’s long and rambling, I apologize. It’s hard to write posts like this.)

You shall have to email me, and even then, I may deny you the link because to be honest, I’m not sure I’m going to let anyone read it. Since yes, it is very mean of me, but it makes me feel better and it was great fun writing it.

Okay. So most of my friends really love this book. But to be honest, I thought it was just all right. I’m not even sure I really even liked it.

It’s a retelling of “Beauty and the Beast” and I suppose it’s a nice retelling as far as retellings go. *shrug* I’m not a huge fan of “Beauty and the Beast” and have never read another retelling of it, so I’m just going to say  that I didn’t really have a problem with it, plot-wise.

But the characters? Fairy-tale retellings should add depth to the characters, but I didn’t know any of the characters in Beauty. None of them seemed to have any sort of three-dimensional personality. So a lot of people point to the sisters as not being evil like in many fairy tales. Okay, so that was nice, that it was a loving family. But what were the sisters like? To be honest, I have no idea; I couldn’t even tell them apart. Same with the rest of the characters. They were dull.

That’s how I’d describe this whole book: dull. For a fairy-tale retelling, there was no magic. Okay, so yes, there was magic in the story (I want that library!) but unlike Ella Enchanted or Wildwood Dancing or The Goose Girl…the story didn’t seem magical. It was just flat, emotionless. The writing flowed nicely and everything but was completely lackluster. It bored me, to be honest.

Do I recommend Beauty? Well…I trust my friends’ judgment. I’m really surprised that I didn’t like this book because I was expecting to love it because A) I love fairy tale retellings and B) a lot of the LRRH-ers love it. So I’d say that because it seems I’m in the minority about this book, I’d recommend giving it a try. I didn’t care for it, but you might.