Teaser Tuesdays

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!



Betrayal
by: Mayandree Michel
published: April 1, 2011
format: ebook
My Teasers: "The dark-haired boy's eyes met my gaze, and the light in them fed me strength, making him seem only an inch or two away. I reached out to touch his cheek, and his skin was as smooth as velvet. Then he was where he had been all along, on the ground battling the fierce beasts."


I was so excited when I bought my Kindle and found this in ebook for a buck so of course, I had to get it ^_^ I've been wanting to read this book for awhile, mainly because of the Greek mythology. The Greek myths have been a fascinating subject ever since my childhood and I'm half-Greek myself so I love the idea of it being interwined with YA. As for the story itself, I'm not too far along but so far I like it. The writing is a bit weird to me but I'll explain more in my upcoming review.

Book Review: Brisingr by Christopher Paolini

Brisingr

By: Christopher Paolini

Publication Date: 2008

Goodreads Summary: OATHS SWORN . . . loyalties tested . . . forces collide.
Following the colossal battle against the Empire’s warriors on the Burning Plains, Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, have narrowly escaped with their lives. Still there is more at hand for the Rider and his dragon, as Eragon finds himself bound by a tangle of promises he may not be able to keep.
First is Eragon’s oath to his cousin Roran: to help rescue Roran’s beloved, Katrina, from King Galbatorix’s clutches. But Eragon owes his loyalty to others, too. The Varden are in desperate need of his talents and strength—as are the elves and dwarves. When unrest claims the rebels and danger strikes from every corner, Eragon must make choices— choices that take him across the Empire and beyond, choices that may lead to unimagined sacrifice.
Eragon is the greatest hope to rid the land of tyranny. Can this once-simple farm boy unite the rebel forces and defeat the king?

I’m a huge fan of this series and bought the book when it first came out in 2008 and I just finished it today, I’ve been working on this book for 3, count it, 3 years! Not that I have a good excuse but between getting married, taking college classes that require a butt load of reading and writing, and coming across other reads too tempting to pass up I just didn’t make a lot of progress. Plus, I, nor anyone knew when the heck book 4 was coming out so I didn’t want to finish it only to wait for who knew how long. Once book 4 was announced, I happily dove back into Brisingr.

As the summary suggests, there is a lot of politics in this one which does slow the pace of the story a bit but I thought it was an interesting and important component to the plot and character development. Being a Dragon Rider, Eragon is of course expected to be this great warrior but he must also have good character and judgment, so him having to engage in delicate back and forth dialogue is just part of him growing up. Witnessing Eragon going from a 15 year-old farm boy to an adult and fully-fledged Dragon Rider is one of my favorite things about the series. I think Paolini does a superb job at constantly developing Eragon’s character.

I also enjoyed the continual growth of his and Saphira’s relationship. Their partnership is the heart of the story because they are the last hope for Alagaesia’s freedom from King Galbatorix. Again, from the beginning you can see their relationship constantly growing and improving. That’s how Paolini writes, he’s very gradual about things and some readers simply don’t have the patience for that which is a real shame.

Alright so besides the politics and growing relationships there is PLENTY of action and suspense, especially towards the end. So if you’re having a hard time getting through, hang in there! It’s so worth it, I promise. I don’t want to give anything away but the last few chapters or so were jaw-dropping. I almost cried at one part and happily squealed at another LOL, I’m such a girl!

In conclusion, I love love love this book! Eragon was good, Eldest was great, and Brisingr is awesome. Huge props to Paolini for outdoing himself each time. I am fully confident that Inheritance will be even more awesome and a most satisfying conclusion to an amazing epic.

Final Rating: 5/5

Book Review: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Fahrenheit 451
By: Ray Bradbury
Publication date: 1953

Goodreads Summary:The system was simple. Everyone understood it. Books were for burning, along with the houses in which they were hidden. Guy Montag was a fireman whose job it was to start fires. And he enjoyed his job. He had been a fireman for ten years, and he had never questioned the pleasure of the midnight runs or the joy of watching pages consumed by flames, never questioned anything until he met a seventeen-year-old girl who told him of a past when people were not afraid. Then Guy met a professor who told him of a future in which people could think. And Guy Montag suddenly realized what he had to do...

So it's been awhile, and here I thought summer vacation would be less busy, ah well. So I read and finished Fahrenheit 451 which brings me closer to my goal of reading 35 books in 2011 yay ^_^ I had to read the short story "The Veldt" by Ray Bradbury for my college English class and thought it was brilliant. Recently a couple of friends and I decided to start a book club and when it was my turn to pick the book I chose Fahrenheit 451. It's Bradbury's most popular work and is a required read for many high school students so I figured it would be a good choice. I was not at all disappointed. Fahrenheit 451 is geniusly written with incredible insight about how technology can be detrimental to a society.

Interestingly enough, this book was first published in the 50s but some of the things mentioned are all to familar to someone of modern times. For instance, Guy Montag's wife Mildred often has "seashells" in her ears, listening to music or various soothing sounds while being unaware of reality. This reminded me of a lot of college where students everywhere robotically walk from one class to another while listening to their ipods, purposely cutting themselves off socially. I'm not saying that ipods are bad, but sometimes people become more connected with their technological devices than their surroundings which yes, I would say isn't a good thing. There are other familiar technological "advances" mentioned to make one reconsider if some technologies are more harmful than helpful which is exactly what Bradbury wants the reader to do. The only issue I had with the novel was the language. Taking God's name in vain was pretty common throughout the story although ironically, there were many Biblical references, go figure. Overall however I very much enjoyed reading Fahrenheit 451 and strongly recommend it.

Final Rating: 4/5