Shelfari!

Shelfari. That's the name of my new favorite thing.

Shelfari, a combination of the words "shelf" and "safari", is a website for books and readers. Recently, I set up an account with Shelfari. This account allows me to display my books on a virtual shelf. On Shelfari's website, I find the books that I've read, I plan to read, and I'm reading now, and add them to my "shelf". Upon doing this, I can see the book cover on my shelf, and click on them to get more information (synopsis, reviews, character list, author, etc.). In addition, you can rate/review the book for yourself. Another one of my favorite things about Shelfari, is that you can put your virtual shelf on your blog.

As you may have noticed, a smaller version of my shelf is located on the right side of the blog (under the polls). This shelf just shows some of the books that I've added to my account. If you want to see my entire shelf, just click on the word Shelfari, located on top of the shelf. This brings you to Shelfari's website. Here you can see the big version of my shelf, along with my ratings.

Important note: I had some trouble getting the shelf on my blog, and I am experiencing some other problems, too. Because of this, I'm making this shelf on my blog experimental. At any time I could remove it from the blog. If these were to happen, I would include a link to the website, so you could continue the view my books.

I hope you enjoy this new feature on The Bookshelf, and stick with me through the technical problems that I may have.

P.S.- I'm extending the date that the polls close by one week. There's only five votes (on each poll) so far. We can do better than that! :) New date that the polls close: August 8th

Polls #3 and #4: Genres

Wow, it's been a while since the last poll (June 12th)! Due to the vast amount of time since the previous poll, I have decided to publish two polls, poll #3 and #4.

I was originally going to post only one poll, What is your favorite genre(s) of book?, until I realized how many genres of book there are, especially genres of nonfiction. So, I have decided to post two polls: one genres of fiction, the other genres of nonfiction. This means that my unawareness of the amount of genres out there has given you two polls. :)

Another good thing about these polls, is that you can choose more than answer. This is great for people, like me, who enjoy more than one genre. The polls are under the "about me" section, on the right side of the page.

If you don't see your favorite genre on the poll, I'm sorry. You can add it into the comment section, and if I get more than one request for that genre, I'll add it into the results on August 1st (the day the poll ends).

Thank you for your patience, and please, please, please vote!

What I'm Reading (07/17/10)

Yesterday, I bought a new book, The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan. It is about a village in a futuristic, post apocalyptic world. This village is located in a forest, enclosed by a fence. The fence is meant to protect the villagers from what lives in the forest: the Unconsecrated, a.k.a. zombies! I have just started this book, but I'm already loving it. Here's the synopsis from the publisher:

In Mary's world there are simple truths.

The Sisterhood always knows best.
The Guardians will protect and serve.
The Unconsecrated will never relent.
And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth.

But, slowly, Mary's truths are failing her. She's learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future-between the one she loves and the one who loves her.

This is the first book of a trilogy. I hope that I will enjoy this book, and write a review for it.

The Pox Party: 18th Century Meets Evil Scientists

As I mentioned in the last post, I have recently finished The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: Pox Party by M.T. Anderson. This book has won numerous awards, including The National Book Award, The Printz Honor, and dozens of smaller awards. Due to the large amount of awards given to this novel, I knew I had to read it the moment I saw it. And here I am, I have finished The Pox Party, and it was nothing like I would've expected.

Many reviewers that have read this book claim that this novel is hard to get through. Many see this book as too provocative for the age group. In fact the majority of the readers (as seen through reviews), are adults. This Gothic lit follows the the first sixteen years of Octavian Gitney's life. He was a Prince of a far away, African nation. His mother, while pregnant with him, was exiled from the island, and was sold to the Novanglian College of Lucidity. This "college" was a house of philosophers and scientists. All the members of the house performed experiments, the results of which, were supposed to benefit mankind. The experiments were often vile, horrid, and cruel. It was not until one day, years after Octavian was born, did he realize that he, himself was one of the college's experiments.

The experiment was if an African child could thrive, as well as an English child, if he was raised with the same benefits. Throughout his life, Octavian was put through several tests, required to do strange things (including having his food, and his feces weighed), and was given a very rigorous education. Upon discovering this horrifying fact, that he was no more than an experiment, Octavian started rebelling.

One day, the college had decided to inject a form of small pox into themselves, the slaves (including Octavian and his mother), and other persons of high society. These injections were happening because, the small pox were starting to spread through the thirteen colonies, and instead of catching a fatal form of the small pox through the air, the injected were receiving a less harmful dose, and would be kept in a secure house. The college was doing this for experimental purposes, also. The members recorded, in detail, the sufferings of the people, including Octavian's mother. And when something unforgettable happens, Octavian runs away from the horrible wrath of the college. From that point of the story, Octavian starts living life on his own, questioning the differences between good and evil, and liberty and property.

I found this book very thought-provoking. It's not the kind of book to read, when you want to be happy. Honestly, not one happy thing happens in this Gothic novel. This book does discuss some major motifs: racism, good/evil, tyranny, Biblical allusions, and social class.

One other thing that may keep you away from this award winner, is the language. While not foul, it does contain some big, confusing, 18th century terms (novanglian and lucidity, for starters). However, don't let this keep you away. Give it a try. :)

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

End of the Week Update

The "Books Ends" book club has decided on the next book we'll be reading, and it's The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

I have already read this book (I was the one who recommended it), and it's one of the best books I've ever read. Here's the publisher's synopsis:

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlaying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one girl and one boy between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. But Katniss has also resolved to outwit the creators of the games. To do that she will have to be the last person standing at the end of the deadly ordeal, and that will take every ounce of strength and cunning she has.

The sequel, Catching Fire, is also excellent. And one of the summer's most anticipated books of the summer is the last book in the trilogy, Mockingjay.

On another note: I took a break from Three Cups of Tea. Maybe it's because this book is nonfiction, but I found it very dull, and hard to immerse myself in the text. So, I've been reading The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party (I know, it's a looooonnnnng title). I just finished it (about three hours ago), and will write a review for it tomorrow or Monday.

I think that's all I have to say in this End of the Week update. I plan to write these updates on weeks when I don't have enough time, or simply, forget, to update.

Look forward to a review, and possibly a poll coming soon!