Postcards

I haven't posted in awhile. I haven't stopped reading, I just keep forgetting to write something about the books that I have been reading. Speaking of which, I think I have a few things to update on goodreads.com as well.

Back in September 2011, I joined a website called postcrossing.com. Simply stated, you send a postcard to a random person somewhere on the globe, and a different random person from somewhere on the globe mails one to you. I have almost 100 and have sent just as many.  Even though I live in Toronto, I was getting pretty bored with the usual postcards. Really not alot of selection to be found. So I started making my own and mailing those with the black and white photos that I have been taking. I've built quite the portfolio in a small period of time. I will try to get some of my photos up on here. If anyone is interesting in my postcards, let me know.

Abandoned Houses: A Passionate Love-Hate Relationship.

There is something to be said about an abandoned house and the way its boarded up windows and doors can spark the imagination.
I love abandoned places. The mystery of them, the unconventional beauty and the way they break my heart. Unwanted, inconvenient, wasted.
Here in the Greater Toronto Area abandoned houses are a dime a dozen. In my town there are three on the same stretch of road. So many of these places seemed to be guilty of nothing more then standing in the way of someones idea of progress. One day we will miss these grand old structures.

"If these walls could speak..."

Nothing screams "ghost story" like an abandoned house. Ever since I read Dark Matter by Michelle Paver, I have been re obsessed with ghosts and the modern ghost story.

This particular house is located not far from where I live. the sheer size of it gives me chills. Then add in the whispers and rumors of murder and haunting and Evergreen Residence may be just what I need to get my imagination running and to write my own ghost story.

#6 The Weird Sisters - Eleanor Brown

Three sisters have returned to their childhood home, reuniting the eccentric Andreas family. Here, books are a passion (there is no problem a library can't solve) and TV is something other people watch. their father - a professor in Shakespeare who speaks almost exclusively in verse - named them after the Bard's heroines. It's a lot to live up to.

Witty and charming. I enjoyed every minute of it. The dynamics between the three sisters portrays the relationships between sisters wonderfully. Sometimes reminding me of my mother and her sister, sometimes myself and my own sister. Well written and easy to immerse yourself in completely!

#3 Beautiful Chaos - Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Ethan Wate thought he was getting use to the strange, impossible events happening in Gatlin, his small Southern town. But now that Ethan and Lena have returned home, strange and impossible has taken on new meanings. 

Looking forward to the fourth book. Amazon.ca has Beautiful Redemption's release date as October 23 2012.

#2 Beautiful Darkness - Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Ethan Ware used to think of his small Southern town as a place where nothing ever changed. then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret would that had been hidden in plain sight all along. 

Picks up nicely where the first one left off. I think I read all three books in the series in about 1.5 weeks.

#1 Beautiful Creatures - Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power and a cuse that has haunsted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps, and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

A great teen fiction with a rich setting in the south with its colour history and culture of magic and superstition.

So Many Books...So Little Time.

 I've read three books this week alone, five since the beginning of the year. My goal on www.goodreads.com is 100 for the year. 95 more to go.
There was once a time where this did not seem like such a bit challenge...the days before kids and married life. I have been happily married since July of 2011 and have two beautiful sons. Warren who is 4 and Shepard who is 10 months.
In the days before I had my boys, I could easily read a book a day! Every spare moment would be dedicated to reading. These days I read while Warren is at school and Shepard is asleep and in the evenings when my husband is home from work. I try to remember to bring the current book that I am reading in my purse and read whenever I find a moment. I'm also trying to keep the TV off and read instead. With a 10 month old...not always so easy.

#4 Dark Matter: A ghost Story - Michelle Paver

A marvelously written tale set in the desolate far north. Paver's descriptions easily transport you to isolated Gruhuken and the characters are very vivid. The ghost story is wonderfully chilling and eerie without being gruesomely gory or horrific.
I thoroughly enjoyed the goosebumps without the nightmares. I wish I could find more modern ghost stories like this.

#5 The Rings of My Tree: A Latvian Woman's Journey - Jane E. Cunningham

The well told story of Mirdza, who was a young woman displaced from her homeland of Latvia during World War Two.
Jane E. Cunningham writes beautifully from Mirdza's point of view that connecting with Mirdza through Cunningham's writing is seemless.
Mirdza's quiet strength and resilience is admirable as well as her selfless helping of others despite her own misfortune and suffering.

My mother always said that you can tell a good book by how hard it makes you cry.

As a Latvian-Canadian, the story especially hits a tender cord with me, and helped me to connect with my own family's story as they were displaced from Latvia and eventually found their way to Canada.