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Tag Archives: reading

Book Review: Maskerade by Terry Pratchett

03 Wednesday Feb 2016

Posted by Ermilia in Eliabeth, Reviews

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

book, book review, books, Discworld, fantasy, fiction, Maskerade, mystery, Phantom of the Opera, reading, review, reviews, Terry Pratchett, witches

Maskerade

Discworld #18, Witches #5

by Terry Pratchett

genre: fantasy, mystery

Summary from Goodreads

Maskerade by Terry PratchettGranny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg, the Discworld’s greatest witches, are back for an innocent night at the opera. Naturally there’s going to be trouble, but at the same time there’ll be a good evening’s entertainment with murders that you can really hum to.
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Emotionally Crippled by Books

13 Wednesday Jan 2016

Posted by Ermilia in Eliabeth

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

book, books, challenge, GoodReads, reading, review, reviews

It’s that time of year again. Time to make another goal on Goodreads after evaluating how I did last year. I’ve committed to 24 books this year after missing last year’s goal of 36 books by 3. Blind Sight has been on hold while Ermisenda takes care of some health concerns so this year will be focused more on writing than reading.

I admit somewhat shamefully that of the 33 books I managed to read last year, enough of them were children’s books that it became my top genre for the first time ever. Some people asked me why I was counting them… well I wouldn’t have been anywhere near my 36 if I hadn’t. That said, I did a better job at picking books. Nine were 5 stars, eight were 4 stars, and only three were one star, giving me the best average star count since 2012.

emotionally-crippled-by-books

I also did a far better job practicing what I preach. Also for the first time since 2012, fantasy was my *cough-second-cough* most read genre instead of romance or adventure. Admittedly, two out of two books this year have been romance, so I’ll need to work on that.

The longest book of 2015 was a record breaking 530 pages: The Wolf of Wall Street.

If you would like to join me in the reading challenge, it’s really fun. Even if you don’t want the pressure to hit a goal, you can commit to one book, but still get to see the stats at the end of the year which is always fun to compare. You can friend or follow me here.

Best of luck to everyone else already participating in the challenge.

-Eliabeth Hawthorne

Don’t Feel Guilty Just Read

09 Wednesday Dec 2015

Posted by Ermilia in Eliabeth

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

books, music, parody, reading, Uptown Funk

I found this video on The Literacy Site. The post challenged you to name all of the references, but since they pull out the books for most of the lines, it’s not particularly hard. Even so, it’s an interesting parody on Uptown Funk. Check it out.

Blind Sight: Aniela | Chapter 2

07 Tuesday Jul 2015

Posted by Ermilia in Blind Sight: Aniela [Novel], Eliabeth

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Blind Sight, fantasy, fiction, reading, urban fantasy

Blind Sight: Through The Eyes Of Aniela Dawson

Eliabeth Hawthorne

Chapter TWO

A GREEN GLOW

Blind-Sight-Ana-Book-Cover

Aniela lay awake in bed and stared up at the ceiling. The tiara sat on her vanity, but never before had she wanted it less. Ever since she could remember, her mother had favored her over her sister. In her naïve ignorance and sibling rivalry she had thought it a positive until maturity enlightened her to the irreparable rift that had occurred between her and the twins because of it. Theodore did not dislike her the way Tatiana did, but could never truly befriend her. Part of her wanted to be mad at her mother for bringing about the final act that would forever keep them apart, and yet she felt guilty for not seeing it coming.

The alarm went off at 5:15, as it did every day, indiscriminate of weekdays or weekends. Aniela went to the bathroom, washed the sleepy dirt out of her eyes, and removed any signs of the tears that had dried to her cheeks. She would be glad to leave this world to her brother, craving instead a different life, one that did not require her to always be up early, always be presentable, and sacrifice her own desires for obligations. She made her way to breakfast. Regardless of the chaos afternoons and evenings frequently held for her, she could always count on the morning routine.

James sat at the head of the table, sipping his coffee and staring at the newspaper, but closer inspection of his unmoving gaze told her his normal routine ended there. She also now realized he had the paper strategically folded to hide the front page from view. If Alaya had noticed, she was not commenting, nor did she show any curiosity toward the matter. She sipped her tea casually across from him with her perfect make-up and without a hair out of place. She offered no indication that she had flown off the handle the night before. Aniela watched them both, amazed at their ability to compartmentalize. While Alaya’s behavior was not a surprise, she wondered how James could act as though nothing had happened, since he was Tatiana’s advocate in the family.

Her gaze flickered to Theodore. She was still half-afraid to look him in the eye, lest he return an icy glare, but his eyes were not even open. The serving cart rolled around to each of them. Aniela looked disapprovingly at her dry whole-wheat toast and grapefruit half as her plate floated to its place. She reached for the butter, but felt a sharp sting as Alaya slapped her hand.

“Aniela, what have I told you about empty calories?”

When Theodore reached over and buttered his pancakes, apparently unobservant of the impending punishment, he succeeded without retribution. Aniela gave her mother a look of exasperation.

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__fiction versus non-fiction

02 Thursday Apr 2015

Posted by Ermilia in Ermisenda

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

books, fiction, non-fiction, reading, writing

keep-calm-and-read-non-fiction-6As of late, I’ve been only interested in non-fiction. If you follow the blog, that probably isn’t a surprise to you (The Feminist Porn Book, Secret Sex Lives, Perv, etc.). I find it interesting that I’m in a non-fiction phase because I’ve never had it before. I hated reading non-fiction (even though I enjoyed learning). My heart was set only on fiction and the more fantasy-like the better.

Somehow this flipped a few months ago and now I can’t imagine picking up a fiction book (at least for a little while longer). I think it has to do with not being at university. I technically started again this week, so maybe my non-fiction interests will wither, but I had been university-free for nearly four months. I think that when I am not learning, I want to learn through my books. And when I am busy with university or school, I want to run away to fiction (instead of learning in my leisure time).

I’m sure I’m not the only one with this relationship with my fiction/non-fiction genres. Are you similar? Do you read ONLY fiction or non-fiction or do you alternate? Let us know in the comments below! 🙂

– Ermisenda

Eliabeth’s Year in Books

29 Thursday Jan 2015

Posted by Ermilia in Eliabeth

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

book, books, fiction, reading

2014 was an interesting year. I participated in an A-Z Author Challenge on Goodreads, which forced me to look for authors whose first or last name started with each letter of the alphabet. Looking to finish the more difficult letters first, I picked up The Jungle by Upton Sinclair as my first book in January… it was the last book I finished.

You would think that while I was looking for authors to satisfy the challenge requirements, I would have gone back to authors I’ve read before. I’m sure that was the plan, but that’s not how it worked out. Of the 37 books I read this year, 31 were authors completely new to me and two were books by an author I’d never read before 2014, (aka, the second two books in The Selection series which I started and finished in 2014.) Only four books were by authors I’d read before. The top three most read genres were young adult, romance, and dystopian. For an urban fantasy author, I failed miserably, reading only two books in my own genre.

elias-year-in-books

How did that affect my ratings? This year seemed to be one of extremes. Either I loved the book or hated it, making a two bell curve distribution compared to a five star heavy 2012 and a nearly even distribution in 2013. I read fewer books than in 2012, but more pages (ignoring the fact they were all on Audible).

Continue reading →

__a reading by a former heroin addict

22 Thursday Jan 2015

Posted by Ermilia in Ermisenda

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

drug stories, heroin addict, heroin feels nice, reading, reddit, upworthy, writing

I found this great reading on Upworthy. Very powerful. It’s very hard to understand the psyche of an addict when you have never been one. But this response gives a glimpse into that experience.

What did you think of it?

– Ermisenda

How Well Do You Know Lord of the Rings?

18 Monday Aug 2014

Posted by Ermilia in Eliabeth

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

books, eagles, Lord of the Rings, movies, reading

When I watch a movie, I don’t usually notice plot holes. They have to be pretty glaring because otherwise, I just suspend disbelief long enough to enjoy the fictional tale. I realize I am in the minority on this, especially for certain fandoms.

For example, I didn’t realize how big a fuss people made about the Eagles in Lord of the Rings until I showed the following pin to my roommate (who has read the Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion multiple times).

Lord of the Rings Eagles 1

Continue reading →

Picture it & Write

10 Sunday Aug 2014

Posted by Ermilia in Eliabeth, Picture it & Write!

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

book, books, death, grave, photography, reading, tombstone, writing, writing prompt

Welcome to the Picture it & Write creative writing exercise. I invite people to join in, comment with your paragraph of fiction to accompany the image. It doesn’t have to follow my story or reflect the same themes. It can be a poem or in a different language (please provide a translation). Anyone who wants to join in, is welcome. This photograph will be reblogged under Ermisenda on tumblr and added to the Picture it & Write gallery on Facebook and Pinterest.

Please continue to write however you’re inspired, but add a tag to the beginning of your post if there’s mature content in order to keep Picture it & Write an engaging event for all of our followers.

book-readers-grave

 

What will my legacy be? What will I leave the world when my bones have turned to dust and I have rejoined the earth? Will it be a pile of leather and dead trees or will my characters and their stories live on in the hearts of readers?

–Eliabeth Hawthorne

Picture it & Write now supports The Girl Effect, a movement empowering girls to break the cycle of poverty in their communities, countries, and world. All profits from the publication are donated to this cause.


Everyone is welcome to use the button, just link them back to the Picture it & Write category or Ermiliablog! :) Share your love for Picture it & write on your blog with the image below. Be proud, and stylish ;) !

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Guilty Pleasure Reads

19 Monday May 2014

Posted by Ermilia in Eliabeth

≈ 18 Comments

Tags

book, books, fiction, Fifty Shades of Grey, read, reading, Twilight, War and Peace

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

-Eleanor Roosevelt.

I think the same goes for feeling ashamed. When kindle (and other e-readers) first came out, there were plenty of memes about letting women read trashy romance novels in public. At first, I was excited too because, let’s face it, there are some guilty pleasure books I don’t want people to see me reading. I’m still working on it, but I love this sentiment:

dont-be-ashamed-to-readIt’s like admitting that Sailor Moon is one of my favorite movies and that I play the My Little Pony game on Android. Most of my guilty pleasures are childish, but to feel ashamed, I have to care what strangers think… and the people who know me who “sneak up” without meaning to. Minor details. I hope to someday be comfortable enough to whip out any book I’m reading and just not care; until then, I have my trusty kindle.

-Eliabeth

Do you have any guilty pleasure reads?

 

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Ermisenda and Eliabeth are coauthors blogging about books, life, and everything in between. May Ermilia Blog inspire you today!

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