What should I read next?!

I finished Catriona (book review coming soon!).  It was really good, especially the first half!!  Kidnapped is better, though.  Now I've got to figure out what I'm going to read next...  I think it will probably be Beowulf.  :)

There's been a lot of book reviews on the blog lately; I hope it hasn't become too boring!  I love writing book reviews, though, lol.

Read More

Book Review: "When a doctor does go wrong he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge."

[If there are any typos, please let me know]

The Island of Dr Moreau
by H. G. Wells
Edition: Barnes & Noble Classics volume of five H. G. Wells stories.
Overall rating: 4 out of 5 stars. I would say that it's for older teens and up.

After enduring starvation and near-death in a boat on the Pacific ocean, Edward Prendick is rescued by a young man called Montgomery, who is the passenger of a Hawaii-bound ship. On board the ship is a collection of chained and caged animals, which Montgomery is taking to another island en route, for reasons he won't tell. Prendick finds his situation changing from bad to worse, when he gets taken by Montgomery to this unnamed island and becomes the de facto prisoner of a Dr Moreau, who uses the island to carry out his terrible experiments. Tormented by disgust and fear for his own life, Prendick enters into another, and much longer, quest to survive.

My thoughts:  I wouldn't recommend this as a first H. G. Wells novel.  The story is more of a horror story than science-fiction, and definitely much creepier than his other famous novels. This is probably due to the fact that this story is about a "scientist" using plastic surgery to try turning animals into humans. Thus, the story is not 100% fantasy. And, as usual, Wells's writing style is very effective; he doesn't go into gory, up-close detail, but instead there is a good deal left to the reader's imagination. I think these kind of books tend to be the scariest.

Dr Moreau himself is mainly described as being an elderly gentleman with white hair, a beard, and a calm countenance. It's in his actions that we get to really see what kind of person he is.  He is obsessed with his experiments; the animals' pain is nothing to him, he is only concerned with the end result.  And most of the "Beast People" that do result have to live under his tyrannical reign.  It goes without saying that Dr Moreau is one of the worst characters I've ever read of.

Mind you, the Beast People (as they are called) are in some ways like humans, but they are definitely not humans; and Moreau's belief that he will eventually turn one into a human is just self-deceit.  They can, to some extent, walk and act like humans, and they are trained to talk in very simple phrases, but when left to themselves, they go back to their animal state.  Like Prendick, the reader comes to both pity and fear them. 

Overall, it was an interesting story, but I don't think I'd call this book a "must read".  I had a hard time trying to figure out what this book is about, and even now I'm not sure what its message is supposed to be.  I don't feel like I learned much (if anything) from it...to me, it was mostly a really creepy story; in fact, the animal cruelty was so disgusting, that it almost made me want to become a vegetarian.  This book gets 4 stars because it's written well, and it was pretty much what I expected it to be.  But it wasn't outstanding.  Read The Invisible Man instead.  :)

Read More

Come By the Hills

Read More

Summer 2010...

What I want to accomplish:

Sewing:
- 18th-century coat/costume for my brother. 
- LOTR cape for my sister.
- Skirts
- A case for my music stand. 

Study:
- The Federalist Papers.
- Plants.  This is optional.
- Poetry.  Ever since reading The Lord of the Rings, I've had a better appreciation for poetry, and I want to learn the different meters and stuff. 

Reading:
- The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  Self-explanatory.  =)
- Jules Verne.  For the nostalgia of it.
- Either The Children of Húrin or Beowulf.  Maybe both.
- Catriona
- Other


Other:
- Finish the cover for my nutcracker story, and get the story ready for publishing.  ^_^
- Finish my 18th-century story. 
- Start my 19th-century castle story.  I've been thinking about this one a lot, lately. 
- Research for another story(s).  At the moment, this is optional, but it has to be done within the next year or two. 

Read More

It's sad...

Today I finished re-reading Kidnapped.  :(  It really is an excellent book; the plot seemed even more interesting this time, and the characters are great!  But it's so sad to finish it.  And I almost don't want to read the sequel, because it couldn't be nearly as good.  Especially because Alan Breck Stewart isn't in the sequel much.  :(  Any character that good should be in a whole series, not just one book!

That's another thing about this book.  It makes me wish I were better at writing characters. 

Read More

Awarded by Milisande

I was awarded the Pure in Heart award--thanks!

Rules:
A) Post about your tag!
B) pick ten bloggers who deserve the PURE IN HEART award.
C) leave a comment on the ten people's blog, and tell them that you tagged them! You might want to leave the link, too (you may tag whoever you want, including the person who tagged you, if you like).
D) Answer these questions and put them up in your post:

1: Apples, Oranges or Bananas?  Apples!
2: How many siblings do you have?  Two

3: How old are you?  Teenager
4: Do you live on a prairie, woodland, swamp, city or other?  Suburban/city

5: Scissors or glue? Scissors
6: describe your dream house.  Georgian/Colonial style, two-story

7: Is your room clean?  Sort of
8: If you could be a movie character for a day, who would you be?  Joan of Arc
9: Italy, Greece, France, Spain or England?  England
10: What denomination are you?  I currently attend an Anglican church
11: Do you sleep with a stuffed toy (BE HONEST!!!!)  No

12: Gum, chocolate, or jelly beans? Jelly beans
13: What is your favorite book?  For non-fiction, the Bible.  For fiction, too many to name, but especially The Two Towers, Sherlock Holmes, and Jane Eyre.
14: Favorite ice cream flavour?  Probably vanilla
15: If you had to eat one type of food for two weeks, what would that food be? "Potatoes--boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew!"
16: What is your favorite Olympic sport?  Figure skating and downhill skiing.
17: If you woke up and discovered that you had turned into Miley Cyrus for the day, what would you do ( note, I am NOT a fan)?  Take naps the whole day, until I wake up and had turned back into my normal self. 

18: Describe yourself in three words.  Christian, artist, thoughtful (as in "contemplative").
19: What chore do you positively hate? Weed-eating certain parts of the yard.
20: What is your favorite chore?  Dusting

I tag anyone who would like this award!

Read More

Currently practicing

This piece:


Learning, or trying to learn, pieces by Bach used to be something highly frustrating to me.  And, once I had done so, I dreaded the very idea of learning anything else by him.  Not only was it frustrating, but most of the time I didn't particularly like the song, or quickly got tired of the repetitive, Baroque style.  Maybe I didn't quite understand it.  Recently, however, I've been listening to his music more often, and I think I'm coming to understand it better and appreciate it much more than I did.  It's like reading a book, or poem, which, upon your first reading, you find too dry, too aloof, or too boring; then you come back to it later, read it again, and see it with a whole different interpretation.  I still don't like everything by Bach, but I keep finding pieces I do like, and which convince me that, whether I'm a fan of him or not, he was definitely a genius. 

Read More

Fashion Week for Dolls: Colonial

Fashion Week for Dolls, May 1st-7th 

at Iradessa

This outfit features one of my favourite patterns, Simplicity 9521.  This was also my first time using this particular pattern, but it wasn't too hard at all.



The Simplicity Museum Collection patterns are wonderful; they're most (or all) of them out of print, but you can get them from Ebay.  They're great for recreating your favourite costumes for 11 1/2" dolls!

Read More

Everyday adventures

Within the last week, I...

Worked on a new sewing project: a light green jacket.

Hammered away at a comprehensive chemistry review.  

Heard an excellent performance of Liszt's 1st piano concerto, live.

Tried sushi for the first time.

Finished reading Agnes Grey, sadly.

Watched the 4th episode of Lark Rise to Candleford, but have not yet become a fan.

Rehearsed my recital piece with the pianist.

Remarked aloud, at various times, that I need to work on my story again...





P.S.  Thanks for the tags!  I'll post them soon.  :)

Read More