Abducted by Sundays in bed with...10.21.12

I know that technically this post is late and it is after midnight so it is technically Monday. BUT I have not gone to bed yet, so for me it still feels like Sunday.

And this is how I spent my day...

I woke up and spent about a half hour on the phone with Kate. Seriously, sometimes I really forget that she lives so far away and that I haven't seen her in a year and a half because we spend so much time on the phone!

Then I went to church, then Subway, then home to listen to the very last hour of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn!

I am currently in two book clubs, and last night I went to book club A and tonight I was meeting with book club B. Gone Girl was the book selection for book club B for this month, October. But, when I went to book club A last night I was telling some of the other girls how good it was and it turns out that Mandy, who is picking the book for book club A for November, had decided to do Gone Girl!!!

I am so excited! Not only because that means that is one less book club book I have to read this month, but because the book was sooooo good and I can't wait to get to talk about it all over again!

While I was listening to my audio book my older sister called and reminded me that I had made plans to go see The Perks Of Being A Wallflower with her and my mom.

I have not read the book, although I have always meant to. But I can say that the movie was phenomenal and overwhelmingly emotional (at least for me). I don't know who this Logan Lerman is but there are just no words for how good he was! I loved it!

And may I point out that the writer, Stephen Chbosky, wrote the novel, the screenplay, and directed the movie adaptation! That is pretty impressive. I was worried about seeing the movie before reading the book, but then when I saw that the writer was that involved with the adaptation I felt like I could trust him. I'm sure that there were plenty of changes and things cut out or added in, but I still trust him. And I do still plan on reading the book...one day.

After I came home from the movie I fell asleep watching Easy A and then I woke up and had to rush to make potatoes to take to my book club B meet up!

We had a great discussion about Gone Girl and then the other Courtney, who is hosting in November, announced that she has selected The Realm of Possibility by David Levithan for our next book!!! Now, many of you already know that Mr. Levithan is my favorite author, second only to C.S. Lewis. I was so excited when she announced this that I could have hugged her!!!

I can't wait to read this and discuss it with those girls. And I am picking Every Day by Levithan for when I get to host book club A in February. I get excited about this because even though it is not like Levithan really needs my help to further his career, I'm still really exited that now all of my friends are going to be forced to go out and buy his books and spread the Levithan Love!

And of course I plan on sharing all of this with him when I begin stalking him after his book signing in Austin on Friday!

Anyway, so, that was my Sunday. I may not have had as much time as I would have liked to actually read, books still occupied my entire day. I finished an audio book, went and  saw a movie based on a book, and then went to my book club to discuss...you guessed it...a book, and now I am messing around writing a post for my book blog!

Now, before going to bed I'm going to check out audible.com because I have two shining new credits ready to be spent!!!

How was your Sunday?

Abducted by a Fast Camel

Before I get into my review of Away Laughing On A Fast Camel by Louise Rennison, I need to give a big shout out and Thank You to my friends FakeSteph and MidnightBookGirl!!!

I have decided to completely change the way that I have been writing my reviews for my blog and it was inspired by the format that FakeSteph has been using for quite some time now and that MidnightBookGirl has recently begun to write in as well. 

Personally I am very excited about adopting a format for my blog because I think it will go a long way towards helping me get more reviews actually posted to my blog. Right now, we are about half way through October which is ten months into the year. If you go back half that time, just five months, and look at how many actual reviews I've posted (no memes, no discussion questions, I'm talking honest to God reviews) the number would be shocking!!!

In the last 5 months I have written a total of FIVE reviews. Four of which were posted back in June and the most recent one was the post for The Wishing Spell that I co-wrote with OnTheWingsOfBooks. If it hadn't of been for Kim, who knows if that review would have ever been finished! 

I think my problem is that I spend so much time worrying about what "hook" or "voice" I'm going to try to hit with my writing that I end up never even trying. But by taking a format that FakeSteph has been using and tweaking it to fit with the theme of my blog the way MidnightBookGirl has done, I think I will finally be able to get more and more reviews up for all of my lovely followers!

So without further ado...

Just this past week I finished Away Laughing On A Fast Camel by Louise Rennison which is the fifth book in her Georgia Nicolson series...Here is my review:

THE HEADLINE:

Georgia Nicolson tries to solve the mystery that is teenage boys!!! 

THE ABDUCTOR:

This is our fifth look into the diary of Georgia Nicolson. The thing that I do appreciate about Georgia is that she is a very real teenager. She can be vapid and shallow, and even cruel to her best of friends at times. But she also spends a good part of her time in denial, or simply ignorant, about her own feelings and can be very insecure. It is because of this ignorance that I find myself forgiving her for those moments when she comes off as rather bitchy towards Jas or her parents. 

TIME IN CAPTIVITY:

This is the book where we finally get to see a friendship forming between Georgia and Dave the Laugh, for that fact alone I was very grateful! Personally, I'm on TEAM ROBBIE!!! But that has more to do with how adorable I thought he was in the film adaptation (Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging). And because that film was only adapted from the first two Georgia Nicolson novels, Dave the Laugh came off as kind of slimy and weird. I mean Hello! the first time we see him on film he is lighting his own farts on fire! But in this book he is not only Georgia's slightly odd friend that she makes out with from time to time. No! He also becomes her defender, her confidant, and her oracle of all knowledge regarding boys. 

Which is a good thing because her newest Italian love interest, Masimo, has come to town! I don't know how I feel about Masimo just yet. Now that I'm finally warming up to Dave, I don't really want to be distracted. But Georgia does still have some growing up to do so maybe it is best that she doesn't rush things with Dave too fast.

THE POINT OF ABDUCTION: 

I was abducted into this book came fairly early on when Georgia's friend, Rosie, was throwing a welcome home party for her boyfriend, Sven. This is before Georgia has met Masimo so things between her and Dave were still...undefined. When he walks in she tries to play hard to get but Dave convinces her to dance with him. While they are dancing Dave's girlfriend, Rachel, arrives and Georgia ends up leaving the party in tears. For a series of books that are known for being so funny, it was such a heartbreaking moment. You can see how upset Georgia is, but even in her diary entries she can't figure out why! She is blind to her own feelings towards Dave. She doesn't understand them, can't explain them, and even while she is wiping away her own tears she is forcefully trying to deny that she has feelings for Dave. 

That was the moment in the book when I knew that this book in the series was going to be able to offer me just a little bit more then the others. And I was not disappointed! 

ABDUCTION RATING: 

Georgia is starting to mature and her relationships with her friends and family, and of course the boys,  really began to develop in this book! And for every emotional moment there were five hysterical moments that had me rolling on the floor laughing! One such moment I even had to put the book down and email FakeSteph right away because I was laughing so hard and just had to share it with her! If the rest of the books continue to get better and better, like this one did, then I should have no problem finishing this series before the end of the year! 

Abducted by Carrie: Final Thoughts

I really loved reading through Carrie back in September, so I really have no excuse for why on earth it took me soooooo long to post my final thoughts on the discussion questions.

My apologies to Kate but thank you for hosting such an awesome readalong! 

1. If you've seen the movie, how did the book compare?

I have seen the movie, although I don't remember it as well as I remember most movies. I do remember a "gotcha" moment at the end that I was wondering how it would work in the book. But honestly I think I liked the style of the book way better and I secretly hope that when they remake the movie they make it closer to the documentary style of the original book. Like Alpha Dog or The Exorcism of Emily Rose. 

2. Carrie: Victim or Villain? 

I do think that she was victim of some pretty horrific treatment. But I do think that she was a villain because she allowed her power to overtake her and she acted out in a way that was unacceptable. I mean sure, we read a book where someone stands up for themselves by killing their classmates and we almost want to say that Carrie was a bad ass and the other kids deserved it. But when that stuff happens in real life we say that there is nothing someone can do or say to you to justify that kind of an extreme reaction. 

3. If you had TK powers what would you do with them?

I would definitely use them to clean and turn things on and off that are just out of my reach. But I would also be sitting there yelling out "Lumos!" for all to hear me while I'm doing it so that they would think I had mad wicked wizarding powers instead of just regular ordinary TK powers. 

4. The Wreckage talks about the demise of the town.  I've noticed the theme of SK's setting as a character in other works.  What are your thoughts on this? 

I don't read enough SK to comment, but I can definitely see the appeal of setting a book in a small town. Eighty kids die in a town like NYC or LA, that is tragic, sure. No one would deny that. But if those kids die in a small town, every single family is affected, people move away, families break apart, there is no way for a small town to come back from something like that. 

5. Does anybody think they know what line from Bob Dylan was written in Carrie's notebook?

Personally I love Bob Dylan. And I knew this song, not only because I do like Bob and it is a great song, but because I also loved a mini-series that aired once upon a time called The 60's. There are moments in this series, two that I can specifically think of, where the characters quote/sing the song "Just Like A Woman".

Now, my favorite Bob Dylan song is It Ain't Me Babe and my favorite cover was sung by Dave Melillo. He makes it sound kind of poppy and I like it! 

Final thoughts:

My final thoughts are that I loved it! I can totally see myself buying it (I had rented the audio version from my local library) and rereading it next October! I loved the style and the documentary format! It was a great success and it has also sealed the deal between me and one Mr. Stephen King, in the sense that I am now going to have to give more of his books a shot! I can't wait to read Misery!

Abducted by The Golden Compass chapters 18-23

Well, I finally finished the Golden Compass on Saturday!

I wanted to send a huge shout out and Thank You to Andrea and Jessie for hosting the event and thinking up all the great discussion questions! I've been curious about this book for a long time so I was grateful for the excuse to finally give it a shot!

Here are my answers to the last round of questions and I'll be posting my official review, hopefully, in the next couple of weeks! I've got a lot of posts that need to go up but I am going to try to space them out!

Anyway, these questions are brought to you by Andrea from The Overstuffed Bookshelf.

1.  Without trying to get too political, did some of the events in the book seem controversial to you?  What parts were they?  And did they bother you or did you just see them as part of the story?

Yes, the ending did seem controversial to me. But I think it is important to also acknowledge that there is a difference between recognizing something as being controversial and something being offensive. At any point in any story, whether it is a fantasy or contemporary doesn't matter, but if at any point you have your main characters pull out a Bible and start discussing the story of Adam and Eve - that is going to be controversial.  Now, me personally, did a recognize the controversial quality of that ending. Yes, of course. Was I offended? No, everyone is entitled to their own beliefs and to a certain degree that is kind of a huge point to this story. You have this mystical substance called Dust and it seemed to me that everyone in the story had their own idea as to what it really was and what it could be used for. The church/government had one idea, Lord Asriel had another, and Lyra was on a quest to decide for herself what she thought of it. So I can't fault the book for that.
What is scary to me though is that you are going to have, and did have, so many Christian organisations get all up in arms about the characters even discussing religion in a negative way. But I bet there wasn't any controversy at all about an adult killing a child for his own personal gain! Now that did offend me!

2.  Several of the characters in this book turned out to be very different than they first appear.  What characters were you surprised by (if any), and what did they do that surprised you?

The only character that really shocked me with his change was Lord Asriel. I believed him to be good from the part where the narrator pointed out that Lyra had grown accustomed to thinking of Lord Asriel as "father" but that she would never be able to called Mrs. Coulter "mother". I trusted in that until Lyra finally reunited with him and he was all living in the lap of luxury after she had been so worried about him. What an ass.

3.  In the end, Lyra and Pantalaimon "walked into the sky."  If you haven't yet read The Subtle Knife, what kind of other world do you think they're going to end up in? A futuristic city, an underwater realm, a type of heaven, etc?

I really don't have that much of an imagination so when they "walked into the sky" I just kind of assumed the other world would be exactly like theirs. Maybe the humans wouldn't have daemons or their would be no such thing as a talking bear. But in terms of technology advancement language and scenery, I expected it would be much like what she already knows.
But if we are imagining for imaginings sake, then I guess it would be cool if when they walked through the sky they ended up in our world. Like some rooftop of some apartment building in downtown New York City at some point in the 90's.

Abducted by Top Ten Tuesday: 10.16.2012

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish!

This week's topic is:

Top 10 Favorite Authors In X Genre

I have chosen to list my favorite authors in my favorite genre which is general fiction/contemporary adult novels. Don't get me wrong, there are some fantastic young adult contemporary authors as well, and I do love them. But that will be a list for another day!

In no particular order...

1. MAEVE BINCHY! For more on why I love Binchy check out my post HERE

2. STEPHEN KING! I'm still getting used to this guy but I see many great books in my future now that I am finally giving him a real shot!

3. JENNIFER CRUSIE! One of my latest obsessions is listening to her audio books from audible.com!

4. SARAH ADDISON ALLEN! Here book Sugar Queens was my favorite new book that I read this year!

5. NICK HORNBY! I've been loving Hornby for quite some time and reading his book A Long Way Down with my book club this year was a truly great moment for me! 

6. DEAN KOONTZ! I've had so much fun reading through the Odd Thomas series this year. Coming into 2012 I had only read the first one, now I am almost entirely caught up and I can't wait to read more from Koontz.

7. SOPHIA KINSELLA! I've read a couple of hers that I loved and there were a couple others that I didn't. But all in all she is a very funny author and I love the way that she writes women, so I will probably always make a little time for her each year. 

Now, for my last three, I am going to feature authors that I have only read one adult general fiction novel by them BUT authors that I am desperate to read more from!!!

8. HELEN FIELDING! Finally listened to Bridget Jones this year and it was hysterical! I can't wait to see what other characters she has out there!

9. DAVID NICHOLLS! One Day was one of my favorite books that I read just a couple of years ago. I loaned it out to a couple of friends and couldn't wait to see the movie. I have Questions For Starters by Nicholls but I haven't had a chance to read it yet. But his style reminds me of Nick Hornby so I think I am going to end up really liking this guy!

10. DAVID LEVITHAN!!! Many of you may already know that David Levithan is up there as one of my favorite authors of all time! (In case you are wondering...it goes C.S. Lewis, Levithan, then Hornby. Lewis wins out because nostalgia always wins out. And Levithan goes above Hornby because I don't think I will ever get to meet Hornby but my official stalking of Levithan begins in exactly T minus ELEVEN days!!!) Anyway Levithan makes the list because although I have read tons of his YA novels, he has to date only published one adult novel. That novel of course being The Lover's Dictionary which was amazing!!! I may love his YA books, but I really can't wait to see what else he could offer to the world of adult contemporary novels! 

Abducted by The End Is Hear - Readathon 2012

Yeah...so....I totally crashed last night!

I was talking to my friend Kim, then I got off the phone and fell asleep for just like 45 minutes, then I woke up and realized that my friend Kate was getting ready to host the sentence challenge over at her blog and so I started trying to figure out what my sentence was going to be and right as I was thinking up a really good one, I passed out!

Even though I missed my chance to participate, Kate, here is my sentence using just book titles...

It reads "Never let me go one day without you into the wild."

At the time that I was trying to think it up, the challenge hadn't technically started yet and I couldn't remember if I had to use more then three books or not. So I had the part that said "Never let me go one day without you..." but I was trying to work out how to add another book in there when my eyelids became very heavy and that was the last thing I remember.

Anyway, here are my answers for the end of Readathon

End of event meme–

A Readathon tradition! In your final Readathon post, answer these questions and then link to it with the Mr. Linky, below.

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? That would be around midnight, so that would make it hour 17 I think
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? I really did love reading my Odd Thomas books. I think I will stick to novellas and graphic novels in the future because the paste is so much faster you rarely feel bogged down by any boring parts. 
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Honestly, my only complaint was that I felt like there weren't enough cheerleaders. But here is the thing, Did I sign up to cheerlead? Nope, I sure didn't! So I have no right to complain if I didn't sign up to do the job myself. I think next year I am definitely going to sign up for a cheerleading slot so I can spread the love too!
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? As far as the Read-a-thon itself I would say the challenges were awesome this year! But for me personally I would say the best things I did was kick starting readathon at IHOP because it helped me to get straight to reading and using novellas and graphic novels as my reading material. 
5. How many books did you read? I only finished one novella and about 80% of a second one and 60% of a graphic novella. 
6. What were the names of the books you read? Odd Interlude #1 was the one that I finished. Odd Interlude #2 was the one I almost finished and In Odd We Trust was the graphic novel. 
7. Which book did you enjoy most? I was really enjoying Odd Interlude #2 so I guess that one. I can't wait to finish it later today!
8. Which did you enjoy least? I don't really have one! I loved the books that I was spending my day with. But I guess if I said I liked Interlude #2 the most then I guess that would make Interlude #1 the one I liked the least by default. 
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? Nope, but I can't wait to read the advice of others to help me prepare for next spring!
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? Mucho Extremo Likely!!! I love Readathon and I think I would always participate. Some years will be more productive then others, but I think I would always give it a shot!

Abducted by Half Way There - Readathon 2012

Well, I survived my day at work and I finally made it home!

Work was a little bit more busy then I had hoped so I didn't get as much reading done as I would have liked. Then on the way home I had to stop at Mardel Christian book store to pick up a Baptism gift for tomorrow. I went with a cloth book of Noah's Ark and a board book of Jonah and the whale and Joseph and the technicolor dream coat! Even though I spent waaaay more time picking those out then I had intended, it was all book related!!!

I thought for this post I would go ahead and participate in one of the mini challenges. This one is about what we use for bookmarks and is hosted by Nisba Be Praised.


I'm not sure how well you can see it, but I'm using my red bookmark for Lord of the Rings The Two Towers. My friend Andrea got it for me in Italy and it is beautiful!
For Away Laughing On A Fast Camel I'm using my Hufflepuff bookmark that my friend Kate got me because she knows how much I wish I was a Hufflepuff!
And because those are the only friends I have I'm forced to use regular old post-its for In Odd We Trust!



And even though I already missed qualifying for this challenge I'm going to go ahead and do it because I loved doing it last spring!

Here is a picture puzzle for one of my favorite books I read this year!!!

I might have made it too easy, but who cares!?! It is all in fun, right?

Abducted by Readathon 2012

Good morning to all my fellow readathoners!!! And to anyone else out there who is surfing in the web and just happens to stumble across my blog!

I don't know what the weather is like in your neck of the woods but here in Moore OK it is cloudy and dreary and gray! Which, as far as I am concerned, is perfect reading weather! I am stuck at work today until 5:00pm CST and rainy weather keeps the customers away! Add that with the fact that the local university football team, OU Sooners, have a big game against TX starting at 10:00am and I would say it is a good bet I wont see a single customer all day! And for that I say GO SOONERS!!!

Anyway, I know that this post is going up somewhat late but it is not my fault! I actually did get up early and made it to the IHOP down the street from my office by 6:45 AM! I had a delicious breakfast of potatoes and eggs and pancakes and I kicked off readathon with Odd Interlude #1 by Dean Koontz on my Kindle-on-my-pc.

But I couldn't stay at IHOP long because A) I was FREEZING! and B) the internet wasn't working! Can you believe that!!! If you can't trust your local international house of pancakes to have internet, who can you trust???

So, I was forced to leave after only reading about 20% of my first novella, then I went to Walmart to pick up some snacks for the day and that pretty much brings us up to date!

Now, I don't know if this counts, but this morning when I got up I listened to the last 40 minutes of The Golden Compass. I'm not sure if the Readathon officials will count that towards my overall accomplishments for the day, but I'm going to! It is not like I'm actually going to stay up until 7 in the morning tomorrow because I have church. So it will have technically counted towards a 24 hour period, right? I think so!

My official goals for the are as follows:

Odd Interlude #1 - novella

Odd Interlude #2 - novella

Odd Interlude #3 - novella

In Odd We Trust - graphic novel

Odd is on Our Side  - graphic novel

Odd Apocalypse - audio book

And if I have any extra time:

Last 40 minutes of The Golden Compass

Last 40 pages of Away Laughing On A Fast Camel

Good luck to everyone who is participating! I'll be back to post again after I get off work!

Abducted by Golden Compass ch: 1-17

I got off to a very late start on joining in this readalong hosted by Jessie and Andrea!
I've always had it in the back of my mind to read The Golden Compass someday but I just hadn't gotten around to it yet.

I have finally finished the first and second parts of the book which cover chapters 1-17! Now, Jessie and Andrea have provided discussion questions geared to each part of the book, but unfortunately when I was in my car listening I forgot to stop it after the first part so that I could answer the questions before moving on. When I finally got the chance to read Andrea's questions I realized that my answers would be slightly skewed because I had already started the second part of the book.

So when I got to the end of the second part of the book I made sure to stop it until I had a chance to answer the questions for both part 1 and 2!

Without further ado here are my answers!!!

The Golden Compass Part One: Chapters 1-9 Discussion Questions by Andrea!

1.  In Lyra's world, humans have dæmons, little creatures that take animal forms, who are connected to the humans in certain ways.  The dæmons are kind of like an extension of the human.  They can detect each other's feelings, and when one gets hurt, the other feels it as well.  Do you think that these creatures serve a purpose in this world, other than companionship?  And would you want a dæmon of your own?  The dæmons apparently stay in one form once their human is past a certain age.  What form do you think your dæmon would take once you became of age?

I definitely feel that in the book, the daemons represent the true essence of a person. The shape they take says a lot about who you are at the core. Because of this, I think that part of their purpose, other then companionship, is that the shape your daemon takes can tell a stranger a lot about you. Like I'm not sure I would trust someone right off the bat if I could see that their daemon was a snake or a weasel.
Would I want a daemon? Heck no! As the book moves on you really do start to see that the daemon doesn't just represent a part of the individuals soul, they literally are a part of that persons soul. Personally, I wouldn't want a part of my soul out in the open like that, where someone could touch or defile it. I mean yes, in this world they have rules that you aren't supposed to touch or address another persons daemon. But you know that there have to be creepy little perverts in that world that get off on doing just that.
That being said if I had a daemon, I think it would be an otter.

2.  There is a lot of controversy surrounding the His Dark Materials series.  Have you seen any kind of controversial subjects thus far in the book?  If so, what are they?
I knew going into this book that their was a lot of controversy associated with, especially in regards to the Catholic church. Now, I am a Catholic and maybe I'm a bad Catholic because so far I'm not picking up on anything. Andrea has hinted to me that a majority of the controversial parts may be featured more later in the series, so that could be a part of it. So far the only thing I'm picking up on is an anti government / anti establishment feel to it. And I know that I heard the phrase "Vatican counsel" but so far that is it and I'm not too worried. Or again, I could just be a very bad Catholic and I'm not picking up on all the subtle digs at my faith. Who knows!?!



3.  In Part One of The Golden Compass, we learn so much about this world and the plot of the novel, and yet somehow there are already several plot twists.  Did you anticipate any of the plot twists?  Or did they all take you by complete surprise?

I had seen the movie, so no big plot twists for me.


The Golden Compass Part Two: Chapters 10-17 Discussion Questions by Jessie!

1. We have met a large cast of characters now, many with names I find difficult to pronounce! There are people that have come into Lyra's life for good, some for bad, some with motives yet to be determined. Of all the characters, who's your favorite and why?
Hmm...a favorite character. Honestly, so far I don't think I have one that stands out above the rest. I really like Pan, Lyra's daemon. I love the Gypsies. I feel for Roger even though we haven't seen much of him yet. I like Iorek Byrnison. If I had to pick a favorite so far I would say Pan because I love the dynamic between him and Lyra.

2. One of the bigger topics for debate revolve around Lyra and her likeability. Do you like her? What are your opinions of her, her character and her actions? (Bonus: Based on this opinion, what do you think Pantalaimon will settle as?) 

I would say that I like Lyra just fine. She may not be my favorite leading lady but I don't see anything wrong with her. She is fierce and strong. She is very brave and determined and couragous in ways most children aren't. She started out as a little bit of a trouble maker but with everything that she has been through you can really see her heart coming out in her. My favorite scene was when she scratched "Ratter" into the gold coin and places it in a boys mouth. That was very sweet. I could see Pan as a tiger; fierce, strong, noble, with a drive to lead others, intimidating but not as overwhelmingly dominating as a full on lion.

3. Have read two thirds of the book now, what has been your favorite scene and why? Keep in mind that Part II ends with the children escaping The Station in Bolvanger and the battle that ensues between the Gyptians and the Tartars/Gobblers.
I think I am still going to go with the scene I mentioned above, when Lyra gives the coin to the boy. It might sound strange to someone who hasn't read the book, but it is kind of like when people put coins or daisies over the eyelids of a corpse. That boy was so desperate and his pain was so severe that I really felt for him and when Lyra reacted the way she did I was right there next to her wanting to yell at the guy who took the fish even though he didn't mean anything by it.

4. (Optional) In Part II, Lyra befriends Jerry, a seaman who explains that one's daemon settles into a shape/form once the human's personality is determined and settles - a loyal and trustworthy person, for example with a labrador retriever daemon. Take a look at yourself, your personality and describe what you might think your daemon's final form would be. Is this the same/similar or different from what you chose in Part I?

The problem with trying to answer this question is that I really don't have that I'm not that creative and it is hard for me to think of different kinds of animals outside of your every day variety. Originally I said I would have an Otter Daemon, and I still think that would be awesome. They are happy and jovial and playful and so so cute. They adapt well to large groups but many of them prefer to be alone, and that is definitely me. But if I was really being honest I think my daemon would probably an animal that is extremely high maintenance. I don't think I am high maintenance in a shallow materialistic way, but I am in a needing affection kind of way. My inner daemon would be extremely insecure and need lots of affection. What kind of animal is that?

Abducted by Sundays in Bed with...10.7.2012

At the time that I am typing this it is 4:30 in the morning! I fell asleep a little after 9, unintentionally, and then woke up and now I can't go back to sleep! I've been really stressed out lately about a lot of stuff that I have going on right now and a couple of trips that I have coming up, and I just have not been sleeping well as a result.

But I thought I would take advantage of these wakeful hours and get a head start on typing up my Sundays in bed with post!

I'm not going to have too much time for reading today. I recently took on a part time job at Bath and Body Works. I really love working there but the only problem is I hardly ever get to actually work there. When they hire you has "part time" they really mean it! I haven't worked in THREE weeks!!! But today I am scheduled for a three and half hour shift from 12:15 - 3:45. I have to leave straight from church which means my morning will be packed.

But I will have a window of about 2 hours after work and before Sunday family dinner at my parents house where I will be able to get some reading done. In that time I will be trying to get as much of The Two Towers read as I possibly can!

Another goal that I have set for myself is that I want to get caught up on watching the Vlogbrothers videos! I love John and Hank Green and there videos have made me laugh and cry for quite some time now. Unfortunately I got out of the habit of watching them last spring and as a result I haven't watched a single one since I think February. 

In an attempt to kill two birds with one stone, I have devised a system where for every 10 pages of Tolkien that I read I get to watch one video! And since the videos average around 3-4 minutes long I am finding this system to be very helpful!

So far, out of all the ones that I have recently watched, this one is my favorite! 

That Hank Green is so silly! Basically Hank and his friend Michael make two batches of cookies. In one batch they put good things in the center of the cookies, like mini oreos or various kinds of candy. In the other batch they put bad things like pickles and tuna in the center of the cookies. Then they play Hungry Hungry Hippos, and whichever one wins gets to eat a "good" cookie and the other has to eat one of the "bad" cookies. What a creative and disgusting idea! It was all in celebration of when the Hunger Games movie was released in theaters.

Hey Andrea, if you are down, I would totally do this with you before the next movie is released!