My Book Boyfriend: Ed

Looking for love in all the wrong places? Try a book! My Book Boyfriend is hosted by Missie at the Unread Reader :) 

This weeks TopTenTuesday reminded me of all the love I had for Graffiti Moon a few weeks ago and how much I adored Ed.

Ed

• dropped out of year 11
• hair that grows without a plan
• artistic but trouble with words
• graffiti artist known as Shadow

How Lucy sees Ed:

“Every time he looked at me I felt like I'd touched my tongue to the tip of a battery. In art class I'd watch him lean back and listen and I was nothing but zing and tingle. After a while, the tingle turned to electricity, and when he asked me out my whole body amped to a level where technically I should have been dead. I had nothing in common with a sheddy like him, but a girl doesn't think straight when she's that close to electrocution.” 

How Lucy sees Shadow:

“Let me meet Poet, too, but mainly Shadow. The guy who paints in the dark. Paints birds trapped on brick walls and people lost in ghost forests. Paints guys with grass growing from their hearts and girls with buzzing lawn mowers. A guy who paints things like that is a guy I could fall for. Really fall for” 

How Ed sees Lucy:

“Kept dreaming of this spot she had on her neck, this tiny country. I wanted to visit, to paint a picture of what I found there, a wall with a road map of her skin.” 

"Her words are paintings, and I'm painting them on the wall in my head as she talks"

How They Get Along:

“I can't believe you're still mad at me," Ed says.
"You grabbed my arse."
"You broke my nose."
"You broke his nose?" Jazz asks. "You grabbed her arse?"
"It was two years ago-"
"Two years, four months, and eight days," I tell him.
"-and I was fifteen, and I slipped and she broke my nose."
"Wait a minute. How do you slip onto someone's arse?"Jazz asks.
"I meant slipped up. I slipped up and she broke my nose."
"You're lucky that's all I broke," I say.
"You're lucky I didn't call the police."

(My Ed is pictured as the wonderfully quirky Joseph

Gordon-Levitt. If they make this movie, my vote is for him!) 

I don't know what it is about snarky, sarcastic guys but they win my heart everytime. It helps that there is a lot more to Ed and the fun is finding it all out along with Lucy during their epic one night adventure to find Shadow. I highly recommend you go out and discover 

Shadow for yourself!

How about you? Who's your book boyfriend this week?

Top Ten Tuesday: Quotes

Hosted by The Broke and Bookish for those of us that have a love of books and lists! Check them out :)

This week's theme is quotes. Now, I have trouble remembering what I said or did 5 minutes ago, but Goodreads has this fantastic quotes section. So after I read a book, I "like" some of the quotes from it. I decided to go back through the quotes I have liked since joining goodreads and use them. Fun Fact: more than 50% of my quotes were from Melina Marchetta... moving on

My Top Ten Quotes (from my Goodreads "likes"

1. "I'm scared I'm going to spend the rest of my life in a state of yearning, regardless of where I am" ~The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta       

Somehow Marchetta always puts into words the things I am feeling but can't express...

2. "I'm not going to wear a red dress," she (Katsa) said. "It would look stunning my lady," she called. She spoke to the bubble gathered on the surface of the water. "If there's anyone I wish to stun at dinner, I'll hit him in the face." ~ Graceling by Kristin Cashore

The best way to make an impression...

3. "Mum says when wanting collides with getting, that's the moment of truth. I want to collide." ~ Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley

Another author who's words I want to steal.

4. "It is our choices, Harry, that show us what we truly are, far more than our abilities." ~ Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowlings

So many wonderful Potter quotes, but this one has always stuck with me.

5. "Peter would probably throw a party if I stopped breathing." "Well," he (Four) says, "I would only go if there was cake." Divergent by Veronica Roth

I fell in love with Four right here, sarcastic humor is the way to my heart. 

6. "This is the way the world ends - not with a bang or a whimper, but with zombies breaking down the back door." ~ Hollowland by Amanda Hocking

Best opening line, ever...

7. "Remember, we're madly in love, so it's all right to kiss me anytime you feel like it." ~The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Are there deeper, more romantic quotes? Sure there are but I'll always love this one, oh 

and Finnick Odair in his underwear, what a great rhyme...

8. "To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable." ~The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis

I know it's long but it's about the truest statement there is.

9. "We live and breathe words... It was books that made me feel that perhaps I was not completely alone. They could be honest with me, and I with them." ~ Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

Oh books, how I love you!

10. "Nine times out of ten, talking is a way of avoiding doing things" ~ Dealing with Dragons by Patricia Wrede

True that, so I should probably get off my computer, and get back to work...

What are some of your favorite quotes?

Review: Skullduggery Pleasant

Skullduggery Pleasant 

by Derek Landy

My Rating: 5 peaches


Meet Skulduggery Pleasant. Sure, he may lose his head now and again (in fact, he won his current skull in a poker match), but he is much more than he appears to be—which is good, considering that he is, basically, a skeleton. Skulduggery may be long dead, but he is also a mage who dodged the grave so that he could save the world from an ancient evil. But to defeat it, he'll need the help of a new partner: a not so innocent twelve-year-old girl named Stephanie. That's right, they're the heroes. (goodreads description)



Wow, never have I fallen for a skeleton so hard and so fast. From the minute a friend began to read this book out loud to me, I knew I had to have it. I was laughing out loud just from the author's bio on the inside cover!

The Juicy

There is nothing I can say to make you understand how fantastic the writing in this book other than showing you. 

It will make you laugh out loud, literally:  

“What is it?' Stephanie whispered. 'That, my dear Valkyrie, is what we call a monster.' She looked at Skulduggery. 'You don't know what it is, do you?' 'I told you what it is, it's a horrible monster. Now shut up before it comes over here and eats us.” 

"“This is your one chance. Tell me where the key is." "Okay." Serpine raised an eyebrow. "Really?" "No, only joking. Do your worst.”

"You are such a moron"

Don't be jealous of my genius"

Then there are moments of genuine seriousness and beauty:

“There’s no such thing as winning or losing. There is won and there is lost, there is victory and defeat. There are absolutes. Everything in between is still left to fight for. Serpine will have won only when there is no one left to stand against him. Until then, there is only the struggle, because tides do what tides do–they turn.” 

“The world is bigger than you know, and scarier than you might imagine. The only currency worth anything is being true to yourself, and the only goal worth seeking is finding out who you truly are.” 

Along with the A+ writing, Landy has created some completely original characters. No stereotypical hero versus villain here.  You are never quite sure where each character stands, as most fit somewhere in a shade of grey in the whole good/evil spectrum. There are twists amidst all the action to make this a fast paced read and an excellent book to hook reluctant reads, especially boys!

The Pits

I guess if your sense of humor is broken, you might not like this book :) It can be juvenile, but hey, it's a juvenile book! All in all, I didn't find any pits.

Awkward Fuzz

Violence- murder, descriptive fight scenes

Magic/Supernatural

Dysfunctional Families (nicely balanced by Stephanie's family)

My Book Boyfriend #2: Four

My Book Boyfriend is hosted by Missie at the Unread Reader and it's one of my favorite ways to find new books to read :)

May 1st finally came!! Of course, living overseas, I am still waiting for my copy in the mail... 

Anywho, in honor of Insurgent finally being out, my book boyfriend today is Four. 

Because so many people pre-ordered Insurgent, Veronice Roth wrote and released a chapter from Divergent from Four's point of view. If you haven't read it, you can find it here.

Four

• Real name: Tobias
• 18 years old
• dark blue eyes, dark hair
• several tattoos, including those for each faction
• muscular

How he thinks about Tris:

" But Peter's right, she's not pretty, that word is too small. She's not like the girls I used to stare at, all bend and curve and softness. She is small but strong, and her bright eyes demand attention. Looking at her is like waking up."

 

Fearless Four

"I might be in love with you." He smiles a little. "I'm waiting until I'm sure to tell you, though."
"That's sensible of you," I say, smiling too. "We should find some paper so you can make a list or a chart or something."
I feel his laughter against my side, his nose sliding along my jaw, his lips pressing my ear.
"Maybe I'm already sure," he says, "and I just don't want to frighten you."
I laugh a little. "Then you should know better."
"Fine," he says. "Then I love you.” 

Funny Four

“Peter would probably throw a party if I stopped breathing.'
'Well,' he says, 'I would only go if there was cake.”

In Four's Own Words

"Before she got here everything had stalled inside me and every morning I was just moving toward nighttime... My thoughts skip back to the night before, how touching her sent warmth into my hand and through the rest of me, though I was frozen with fear. I press my hands to me head, press the memory away. I can't leave now. I like her too much. There, I said it. But I won't say it again."

My Four is played by Matt Dallas! How do you see Four?

I think my favorite thing about Four is his trust in Tris. He pushes her to her limits because he knows she can do it. They keep each other strong. 

Anyway, I can't wait to learn more about Four in Insurgent, that book better show up at my door soon or I'll be going Dauntless down at the Post Office...

Top Ten Tuesdays: Make it a Movie

Hosted by The Broke and Bookish for those of us that have a love of books and lists! Check them out :)

This week is...           Top Ten Books I Think Should Be Movies!


1. Divergent 
I just reread this book to get ready for Insurgent and I would love to see this in the theater. It's got action, a great climax and amazing characters, I'm already casting Four in my head...

2. Mistborn
Seeing the Steel Inquisitors would probably scare the pants off of me but it would be worth it. Also, there would be some fantastic special affects for the magical elements!

3. Graceling
Because I love martial arts, I love seeing girls kick butt and I loved this book.

4. Unwind
This book is great for discussion and turning into a movie would only increase its impact. I love reading books in class and then comparing it to the movie, this would be great to do in class!

5. Graffiti Moon
One of the best books I have read this year. I would love to follow Ed and Lucy around for a night. The dialogue is already snarky and absorbing, plus you could insert all the fabulous glassblowing and graffiti! Better this kind of romance than another Nicolas Sparks (imo).

6. BZRK
I just read this and I was alternately blown away and disgusted, which I am pretty sure exactly what it was going for. A lot of this book takes places in the nano, where tiny tiny things are huge. How incredible would that be on the big screen, seeing a giant flea, your eyeball or what the inside of your brain looks like...hmmm, on second thought, maybe I don't want to see all that...


7. Skulduggery Pleasant
How fun would this movie be in CG or some type of animation. A smart talking skeleton and his 12 yr old sidekick would be fantastic for kids and their parents. I wouldn't even feel the need to borrow a kid to go see this movie.


8. Hollowland
I know we are getting a Zombie love story later this year in Warm Bodies (truth to tell, I can't wait for it) so let's even it out with some Zombie killing. Mainly, I want to see the Zombie killing lion, I have tried training my cat but I think he will just end up slowing down a Zombie as a snack...


9. Heist Society
Hey, it works for Leverage. Let's see if some teenaged thieves can pull it off. The dynamics between the characters is fun and the heist itself is pretty ingenious. I see it more like Ocean's 11 than 12 or 13...


10. Ender's Game
Ok, so this is a cheat because they are already making this but I am SOOOOO excited for this movie, I want to let everyone know. IMDB it, now!