24h Read-a-Thon (Spring 2014): Hour 1 and Opening Meme

I've been awake for 2 hours now (it's 7h50 as I write), since I had to go to the lab early, it was hard you guys, to wake up for something I really didn't want to do. But is done know, I am back at home, I took a nice shower and the smell of coffee is helping me to feel actually awake :) Now let's answer the opening meme
 
1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
I am in Montréal, Canada

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
For now in my stack I have books that I seriously have to finish, so I am looking forward to tackle all of them. However, if I manage I would like to finally read The Last Unicorn.

the books that I shold finish today :)

 
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
Mmmm, we did get the time yesterday to buy the ingredients so I am very happy to know I will have my Read-a-Thon Chili!!

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
Well if you follow my blog you already know that I am doing my PhD in science and that I recently got engaged. I can also tell you that even though I am not an early morning person I prefer to start my things early, so then I can relax at home. I love sour gummies and chocolate.

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?
This is my 4th Read-A-Thon, the 3rd one as a reader. I am not sure I will be able to make it  like I did last year, so what I will be doing different is not forcing myself to do the 24h, but sticking to what I can. 

Hope to see you during my challenge! Best of lucks and have a great Read-a-Thon!

24h Read-a-Thon (Spring 2014): Hour 11

Hello everybody,

Books finished: 2--> Going Over by Beth Kephart; Delirio by Laura Restrepo
Books started: 0
Pages read:510
Hours slept: 0
Mini-challenges in which I'm participating:Intro Meme, Pick a Paragraph (@ Cautious dot DK); Jigsaw Cover Puzzle (@ Little Miss Reader);Best of your Reading Year (@ Lisa's World of Books); Six Word Celebration (@ Estella's Revenge); Selfie (@ The Book Monsters)

Brace yourselves...the Read-a-Thon is coming

You guys, is finally here, the Read-a-Thon is here...and I am a mess.

See, this is my third time participating as a reader and second hosting a mini challenge (yeii). But all of the other things I managed to free my scheduled completely for the day, as in, I had nothing else to do, but sit and read. I also had my book club books done, a stack of books selected and off course: chili.

And now I am writing this post on Thursday night, after barely finishing my presentation for tomorrow morning at the lab, knowing tomorrow I will have to come in extra early so I can start my experiment before 8am so on Saturday I can go around 6am to finish my experiment in order to be back home by 8 and start reading as I planned.

Do I have my books ready? I would hardly say so. I have 4 books that I am reading right now and of them I expect to finish 3 one of them and ARC I am expected to send a review about; but I also had planned to use the Read-a-Thon to catch up with the pick of the month for Sword and Laser, start another book I got in exchange of a review and catch up with my Once Upon a Time challenge. To make this a bit messier, I received a call today from the library. I forgot I had reserved The Giver! How on Earth did I forget, I have no idea, but since you may have noticed, my reading schedule is kind off tight, so I don't know if I will be able to squeeze that one in. Last year I finished 4 books, started 4 (not the same 4) and it accounted for 1565 pages read. Only a tiny nap of 30 min. Wonder if I will do better this year.

The worst part? No chili you guys! And this is like a tradition by now. But I've completely forgot to buy the ingredients and I'm not sure I will have time tomorrow. Mr. Fiancé is saying here that he will take care of, and I am sure he will, is just that getting ready was part of my fun, but as it happens my cells didn't cooperate for a free Friday night nor a Saturday free schedule.

But at the end is ok, you know why? Because I will still get to curl into my chair, read as much as I can in one day (I might need to get a nap though) and share it with all this wonderful people that are also taking the challenge. So let me hear it for a day full of books and friends! Are you ready?

Angelmaker by Nick Harkway

We can land in the moon […] but we cannot be good, we are wicked. This is a wicked world

Why I read this book
 
All through 2012 and 2013 I read bloggers praises for this book, however I kept forgetting to get myself a copy. Luckily for me the Audible Algorithm showed to me last time I had an available credit and then I was a click away from a wonderful book.

What the book is about

It's hard to put into simple terms what this book is about. I could tell you it's about the end of the world and I wouldn't be lying, but then again is also about love and spies and the underworld of crime. I can tell you it is about a guy coming into terms with whom he really is...and all of these would be true and appropriate, but is not enough to describe what this wonder is about.

First impressions

This book reminded me at first of The Goldfinch, with the delectable descriptions of art work and the rhythm of the story. It was much funnier though and the after a while it got to considerably faster pace. Granted I was listening to it at a 1.25x speed, but what I mean is that little by little the book turned out to be packed with action and hilarious characters that made the whole experience absolutely magnificent.

Final thoughts

Harkaway took what could've been just a crazy story and made it one of the best books I've read that also made me laugh. A lot of the effect has to be awarded to Daniel Weyman, an incredible narrator.

The book is narrated in present tense and in the third person which made me feel like I was watching a movie. This is a good thing for me, since I'm still getting used to building my imagery based on audio. Too many years relying on paper I suppose ;).

What made me love this book so much were, besides the story itself, the women in it. Women of substance, to quote the author, is what made this book unforgettable for me. Most of all: Polly Cradle, Frankie and off course Edie Banister. They are strong, determined, funny...and this is me controlling my major girl crush on them.

At a certain point of the book I was listening to it on speaker in bed, since sadly my headphones weren't working. A sex scene came up and then I got a weird look from my boyfriend...because I was laughing like crazy. It had to be one of the funniest, most witty written sex scene I've read in a loooooong time. This wittiness applies to the whole book.

I would (and I have) recommended this one to everyone I could. I've found ways to drop the book in a conversation that might sound force, but they will thank me when they read the book.
 

The trouble with shooting people [...] is that is hard to do just one

The Normans: From Raiders to Kings by Lars Brownworth

Success in life flowed not from titles or position, but from a willingness to seize what one wanted

Why I read this book

I received a copy of this book through the LybraryThing Early Readers program in exchange of an honest  review.

What the book is about

This non fiction book takes us through the journey of the Normans; from their Viking origins arriving to England and France all through their journey south and their role in the crusades.

First impressions

The language in the book is easy to follow with good narrative, considering it is a history book. I don't know if it was only in the e-book version but there are a bit of editing issues such as weird spaces and typos here and there. The introductory line of main characters as well as the genealogical tree help the reader not to get lost through several generations of Normans.

Final thoughts

The book is very well researched and for a person who likes reading about history as I do this is a very source to learn about this group. It was very interesting to learn that as conquerors, the Normans would not impose their culture, but they would rather respect the one already present while imposing their political power. This made for happier citizens and hence loyal people and in my opinion it was a very smart political move. While I understand that for the time it would've been hard to find records of the women involved, it would've been nice to learn a bit more about them. 

One critic I would have is that sometimes the book felt like it kept coming back to situations already described in previous chapters, but the author referred to them as if it was the first time we heard of it and this for me was a bit annoying because it felt like there wasn't a good flow of the different stories. 

In all I thinks it was a good book. It feels to me that the chapters were treated as episodes of the author's podcast, which would explain the coming back of characters that I mentioned. This would be an advantage if you want to pick up the story at any chapter or episode. I learned a lot and I would like to read the author's other book: The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings

The Liebster Award/ Premio Dardo

Well, for the first time I've been nominated to something like this and usually I don't do this type of posts, but I got quite excited when I saw Helen's comment (from Worlds Inside Books) and so here we are.

Thank you so much Helen for both nominating me and following me :)

The Liebster award!

The rules of this are the following: thank the blog who nominated you, list 11 facts about yourself, answer the 11 questions that they asked you, ask 11 questions that your nominees have to answer and nominate 9 blogs with under 200 followers for the award that are not the one that nominated you. The questions for my nominees and the nominated blogs are at the end of the post.

11 facts about myself:

1. I am from Colombia but I've been living in Canada for the last 5 years...winter does not get easier to cope with though
2. I am fluent in 3 languages but I am working on learning another 2. 
3. I think I haven't mentioned it here before, so here it is: I got engaged this year :)
4. I follow 3 bookish podcasts namely Bookrageous, Book Riot and Sword and Laser
5. I don't really like sports let alone watch them that much but there are 3 of them that I would actually watch and enjoy: Figure Skating, Cheerleading competitions (I used to be a cheerleader) and...the Super Bowl.
6. I cannot work properly in a quite environment; I need my music in order to concentrate. Audio books won't do, because then I cannot concentrate on anything other than the book.
7. I love jigsaw puzzles
8. I hate roller coasters; last time I was in one it was the Dragon Challenge in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. My brother convinced me to sit in the front...I screamed and cried the whole ride.
9. I LOVE gummies particularly sour worms. If I am mad at you, you can help your way to forgiveness with a bag of these.
10. I enjoy making lists of everything; organization is a must for me to a point that some of my friends compare me to Monica Geller.
11. The only thing I guess I have a phobia to is rats. When I see them I start screaming incontrollably and act without thinking. I once climbed a friend, but had no recollection of how I got to his shoulders.

11 Questions/Preguntas from Helen

If you could visit any fictional worlds, which one would it be? / ¿Si pudieras visitar algún mundo ficticio, cuál sería?

     I would love to visit Fantasia from the Neverending Story

And a real place? / ¿Y un lugar real?

     If there is a place that I want to visit and that I haven't it would be England, Sweden and Iceland

What's your favourite thing to do that's not book related? / ¿Qué es lo que más te gusta hacer que no tenga que ver con libros?

     I really like cooking. Another thing that I miss is playing WoW, but lately I've been so busy at work that I had to "choose" and books won.

What made you start a book blog? / ¿Qué es lo que te llevó a empezar un blog literario?

     I wanted to keep a log of my opinions on the books I was reading. During the same time I was considering doing so I started visiting several others and finally I told myself I could try it for a bit. Turned out to be very relaxing to put my thoughts on "paper" and that's why I kept on it.

Which kind of characters do you like most? / ¿Cuál es el tipo de personaje que más te gusta?

     I like witty characters, characters that surprise you even by the end of the book, with different layers. Just as long as they are not predictable.

Which book would you like to see as a movie? / ¿Qué libro te gustaría ver convertido en película?

     That is a hard question. I think I would like to see the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy adapted, but I am afraid that a lot of the fantasy in it might be lost.

Is there any book that everybody loved but you? / ¿Hay algún libro que le gustara a todo el mundo menos a ti?

     I don't know about everyone, but I know Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson has gotten very good reviews in general. I read this book back in high school and while I liked the fact that the subject of rape was addressed I did not like the book. Another one was Jersey Angel by Beth Ann Bauman. I got this book through a giveaway by The Book Girl and I participated because of her review...I was SO disapointed.

Is there any movie that you liked more than the book? / ¿Hay alguna película que te haya gustado más que el libro?

     Yes. I don't Know how she does it by Allison Pearson. I didn't like the book character AT ALL.

What's your favourite genre? / ¿Cuál es tu género favorito?

     I lean more towards fantasy than any other genre, but I really love historical fiction too.

Is there any book that you've read over and over again? / ¿Hay algún libro que hayas leído muchas veces?

     I've only re read 2 books so far: Momo by Michael Ende and The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry . I am planing to re read Harum and the Sea of Stories.

What's your favourite book event? If you've never been to any, which one would you like to go to? / ¿Cuál es el evento literario que más te gustó? Si no has ido nunca a ninguno, ¿a cuál te gustaría ir?

     I used to go to the Book Fair in Bogotá, but it's been a looooong time since I've been, even before I left Colombia. I would like to go to Book Expo America, simply because several podcasts I follow talk about it and it seems like fun!

9 Blogs(+6)

I am nominating 9 blogs here but I am not 100% sure that they all have less than 200 followers, since in some I couldn't find the info. Regardless I really like what they are doing and I believe is worth sharing.

Helen also nominated me for the Premios Dardo (which means Dart Awards in Spanish). You award it to blogs that you like and think are good in their field. However, there are no questions and the nominees are any 15 blogs, regardless of the number of followers. Because I am not too sure on the rules for this other award I've decided to just nominate 15 blogs in total.

1. River City Reading
2. Jayne's Books
3. Writer Grrl Reads
4. Confessions of a Bookie Monster
5. Don't be afraid of the Dork
6. Jenn's bookshelves
7. Capricious Reader
8. Stacks and Shelves
9. Borough of Books
10. The Book Monsters
11. Georgia's Reads
12. Lisa's World of Books
13. Rachael Turns Pages
14. Here There be Books
15. Books on the Table

My 11 questions:

1. Do you make part of any book club? If so how did you come to join it, if not is there any that tempts you?

2. What is your least favorite genre, the one you just can't seem to like at all?

3. Do you listen to any bookish podcasts? If so which one and why?

4. What is your favorite place to read?

5. What is your stand on Audio books?

6. As a kid, what was your favorite book?

7. Do you write in books? If no, how do you manage the notes for your reviews?

8. What is the book that you haven't read but everyone keeps saying you should?

9. Have you ever lied about reading (or not) a book? Why?

10. What is the best bookish gift you have ever received?

11. Do you have a goal of books per year? How do you determine it?

Altered Carbon (Takeshi Kovacs #1) by Richard K. Morgan

When they asked how I died, I said, tell them: Still angry

Why I read this book

This was the March Laser pick from the Sword & Laser book club.

What the book is about

In the future, you can change from body fairly easily, assuming you have the money to afford it. Your consciousness, you thoughts can be uploaded to a different sleeve if you wish so, or even to clones of yourself so you can almost live forever. Takeshi Kovacs a trained Envoy has been forcibly hired to uncover the mystery of a death. The murder has been ruled out as suicide, but the victim does not trust the judgement. Kovacs will try to solve the question and in doing so will entangle himself on a very complicated web that involves the darkest circles in Bay City.

First impressions

The premise e of the book is very interesting; the author questions amongst other things, what defines who we are. At to which point who we are is determined by the body we are in and what depends solely on our minds. While doing so he touches also the idea of a soul, eternity and real death. His critic on religion is quite punch too.

Final thoughts

I quite enjoyed this book, particularly the way it questions identity in several levels. As a detective, noir novella, I believe there are more things to be worked on, but considering this is a first work I thinks it is understandable. Some things that would've helped me lean towards a full 5/5 was the conclusions Kovacs made all along the books. Sometimes I had to re read the paragraph several times and still it wouldn't be clear to me how did he come to a certain idea. While off course I know that part of a detective's job is based on intuition one think I like about crime novels is reading the train of thought of the main character. Having the palm in my forehead moment, if you know what I mean.

Do I think some of the violence and sex scenes were a bit too charged? Yes I do, however this crudeness is probably what makes this book so god in terms of action flow. Some parts of the book are so charged of things happening, actually, that you will have to be fully concentrated or you might get lost. I'm talking from experience here people!

In general a very entertaining noir novella. I've read commentaries saying that as Morgan points at identity in this book, in the rest of the trilogy he tackles some other profound subjects and is mostly curiosity about how he does so that makes me want to continue with Kovacs' story.