Liar (2009)
Written by: Justine Larbalestier
Genre: YA/Fiction
Pages: 371 (Hardcover)

The premise: ganked from BN.com: Micah will freely admit she’s a compulsive liar, but that may be the one honest thing she’ll ever tell you. Over the years she’s fooled everyone: her classmates, her teachers, even her parents. And she’s always managed to stay one step ahead of her lies. That is, until her boyfriend dies under brutal circumstances and her dishonesty begins to catch up with her. But is it possible to tell the truth when lying comes as easily as breathing?

Taking listeners deep into the psyche of a young woman who will say just about anything to convince them — and herself — that she’s finally come clean, Liar is a bone-chilling thriller that will have listeners seesawing between truths and lies right up to the end. Honestly.

My Rating

Keeper Shelf: there are very, very, VERY few books that I want to keep around to re-read over and over and over, but this is definitely one of them. The book engaged me on so many levels that I can't wait to read it again and see how the story changes. And because of the book's deliberate yet delightful ambiguity, this is a book I can enjoy over and over and come away with a different interpretation every time. If you're a reader who absolutely MUST HAVE a DEFINITE ENDING with DEFINITE ANSWERS, you may want to shy away from this one. But oh, that'd be a shame. This book is so well-crafted that you'd be missing out on a really great story. Like I said, whether you read YA or not, if you only ever read ONE novel in your life that's targeted to YA, you should read this one. Because it transcends age. It transcends genre. It's a memorable book that I won't soon forget, and once you read it, you won't either.

Review style: short and sweet and ABSOLUTELY NO SPOILERS. You will RUIN this book if you spoil it for yourself, even if you spoil yourself a little bit. The full review just lists five reasons why you should give this book a shot, so if you're interested, feel free to click the link below to my LJ. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome. :)

REVIEW: Justine Larbalestier's LIAR

Happy Reading! :)

F: 1/2
W: 2/2
E: 2/2 (taking my free day since I spent literally all day cleaning my room)
S: 2/2 (where once was chaos order now reigns supreme XD)
p: 2/2

Just posted Review: Destined for an Early Grave by Jeaniene Frost

food: 2/2
water: 2/2
exercise: 2/2
challenge: 2/2
post: 2/2

total: 10/10 :)
numbers: 1/?/10

( this got a bit long winded... )

So i'm starting on the first of january with a 7 day fast.
The second week in i'll be on 100 calories, the third week 250, the fourth week 500.
If things go well, then i'll repeat it.

Stats:
Height 4'11"
CW:105lbs
HW: 120lbs
LW: 98lbs
GW: 82lbs

I've had eating issues since i was 11, which then progressed through time. I started purging a couple years back, which, in all honesty, has really been my downfall. Since purging i gained weight, and have found it more difficult to lose weight. I hope that by being a part of a community with a "plan" and daily posts will make it easier to keep a proper track on myself.

Here is the link to just his monologue. He does mention working on GH.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/116581/saturday-night-live-james-franco-monologue

All right, here's my list! Comment if you've read any of 'em; we'll discuss.

--

( The list )

--

Right now I'm reading Slut! Growing up Female with a Bad Reputation by Leora Tenenbaum, as well as this year's edition of the Best American Poetry. I'll most likely finish reading these before 2009 ends.

This is my first review. I have looked over many different reviewer's styles and come up with my own. So, voila.

---

Kushiel's Dart (2001)
Jacqueline Carey
Fantasy - Alternate History
901 pages

From Library Journal (off of Amazon.com)
Trained from childhood to a life of servitude and espionage, Phèdre nó Delaunay serves her master, Anafiel, as a courtesan and spy, ferreting out the dangerous secrets of the noble houses of Terre d'Ange. When she uncovers a treasonous conspiracy, however, her life takes on a new and deadly purpose. Set in a world reminiscent of late medieval and early Renaissance Europe, Carey's first novel portrays a society based upon political and sexual intrigue. The author's sensual prose, suitable for adult readers, should appeal to fans of Tanith Lee, Storm Constantine, and Terry Goodkind. Recommended for adult fantasy collections.

My Rating

Familiar Friend

I think I will be going back to this novel again and again for entertainment.

My Review

I really enjoyed this book. It was a breath of fresh air in a stale genre. The setting was beautiful and well thought out, coming from Genesis 6, the verse that says the sons of god found the daughters of men to be beautiful, and lay with them, begetting the Nephilim. She imagined a country populated with their descendants, and thus was born Terre d'Ange. The whole of the story is set against this subtly alien backdrop, where it seems mostly familiar, but not entirely. It really sets the tone for the novel.

The novel is not simply a showcase for the world setting, however. It is truly a character driven novel. The interactions of the main characters are the heart of the novel. Set against a backdrop of politics, intrigue, sex and war, the deep and sometimes subtle characterizations shine as you discover the histories and intertwining connections between the nobles of Terre d'Ange and Phèdre.

All in all it was a very satisfying read. I would recommend it to anyone mature enough to handle the concepts of graphic warfare, murder, slavery, sacred prostitution, consensual and non-consensual Bondage / Dominance / Sadism / Masochism.

I didn't have internet access in the past couple of days because something was wrong with my parents' internet. I spent the past couple of days at their place because of the hols and I feel absolutely horrid because they always make me eat so much and I always gain a couple of pounds while I'm with them. Now, I don't have a scale with me so I don't know how much I've gained, but my stomach is all bloated and two days before New Year's Eve and my uber-posh party this is FAIL. I feel so awful. :(( I'm going to fast all until New Year's Eve. (Though I said this today, too, and I STILL bought something to eat instinctively when I realized that they sold the perfect pair of shoes that I was going to buy :(( They were THE pretties zebra print pumps... and they're gone now :/ )

DAY 24

Food: 1/2
Water: 1/2
Exercise: 2/2
Challenge: 2/2
Posting: 0/2

6/10

DAY 25

Food: 0/2
Water: 2/2
Exercise: 0/2
Challenge: 2/2
Posting: 0/2

4/10

DAY 26:

Food: 0/2
Water: 1/2
Exercise: 0/2
Challenge: 2/2
Posting: 0/2

3/10

FAIL, FAIL, FAIL. :((((

Today (day 27):

Food: 1/2 (not bad... but considering I should have fasted... :/)
Water: 2/2
Exercise: 2/2
Challenge: 0/2 
Posting: 2/2

7/10

27/??/188

I'm finishing tomorrow and I feel like crap :(

Title: Emerald House Rising
Author: Peg Kerr
Genre: fantasy

My thoughts: Lightweight. I had been quite taken by the ideas behind the premise, specifically the patterning of gems that built the Piyar culture and the gemcutter protagonist, but the novel itself was disappointing and I particularly disliked the author's voice. While the worldbuilding is creative and ambitious, it's also very wooden. Kerr has a heavy hand guiding the story along, and the narrating throughout was aggravating. The story read like the background setup of a D&D gaming adventure.

( Follow the link to general spoilers about plot details and moanings on the ending. )

Hi All,

Yesterday, Connecticut's esteemed independent bookstore, R.J. Julia, announced its list of the best books of 2009--five fiction, five non-fiction. You can view the list here: http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-3859-Hartford-Books-Examiner~y2009m12d29-RJ-Julia.

Thoughts?

John

f. 2/2- under 900 cals ..roughly
w.2/2 its 40 degrees celcius in australia atm...we're melting have to keep the water up
e.2/2 did a circuit at the gym-despite blistering heat
c.2/2 took my little cousin to the beach
p./2/2 :)

All in all I think thats a very good day one, its been hard to go back to salad and protien after the christmas indulgences...disgusting.

Food - 0/2 Disaster. I was home all day, I watched two movies.. and munched on cashew nuts almost the entire time. At least it was nuts, and not buttery popcorn..

Water - 0/2 Had a Starbucks while waiting for something. Stupid thing is, I didn't even want one. I just wanted a place to wait at and I wanted to get my big bill changed. I didn't want to just sit at Starbucks AND take all their small bills. But at least I ordered no whip.

Exercise - 2/2 I give myself two points for effort, though I didn't finish my routine. When I woke up, my left ankle was a little sore (which is kinda normal after I jog for a few consecutive days) so I decided to brisk walk instead today, but for a longer time period instead. Midway through, my right ankle started to hurt.. so I stopped to take a look at it, and apparently, my socks succeeded in rubbing away my skin and leaving a painful patch of raw flesh! :( So I stopped.

Challenge - 2/2 Did some homework today, and caught up with some friends, and tidied up around the house some more!

Post - 2/2

Total: 6/10

5/--/31

...too scared to weigh... :|

Food - 0/2 estimate of too many calories kept down. sex days without purging, though!
Water - 2/2
Exercise - 2/2 worked out for 6 hours!
Journaling/Posting - 2/2 of course
Daily Self Esteem Challenge - 2/2 i did some extra cleaning, got my blackberry all set up and set back up my computer with all my files and music and programs. wow that was tedious. second time in less than a month =/

I just can't be in the kind of body any more. My mother just brought me home the most hideous PLUS SIZE dress it was freaking massive on me!! But I felt like such shit that she thinks i'm that big! I will not be mistaken for a fat cow any longer. Last night I decided it was the start of a new me, i went by myself and got a tatoo, and I felt as if the moment that ink went on my wrist it would be a reminder of what I wanted ...the body I wanted, the fact that I am the only one in control of my body.

So far day one is going ok, had eggs on their own for breakie, and a tiny bit of chicken and lots of salad for lunch. Sorry about the double posting today, will do stats later, just had to vent!!

Well I've missed some days bc of going home for xmas. i haven't weighed myself but my friend at work told me i look really thin. yay! which is weird bc i stopped the master cleanse at day 5.5 and had major xmas meals.. felt so sick. anyway i have tomorrow to go back to drinking lemonade before going home again for 3 weeks. going to set up a regimine before just floating through the weeks and ruining all the work i've done. today i ate like 4 biscotti, and 10 hard boiled agg whites. so random but cleaning out my fridge before i leave.

f-1/2
w-1/2
e-1/2
p-2/2
c-2/2 bills, unpacking, packing, cleaning.

10,12 lbs last time i checked, ??

I've been having problems with the cut-and-paste function here on LJ working with the LJ-Cut function.  Normally, after I post my reviews on my own LJ, I copy them over here and into a cut.  Since that's not happening, I'm going to just direct everyone to this post of mine from earlier tonight, where I write reviews of varying lengths on:

Stephen King's Nightmares & Dreamscapes
Edgar Rice Burroughs' initial John Carter, Warlord of Mars trilogy
Joseph Pittman's Christmas tale A Wish Upon The Wind
Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol
and
Richard Castle's Heat Wave.

F:0/2
W:2/2
E:2/2
S:1/2
P:2/2

Food: 2/2
Water: 1/2
Exercise: 2/2
Post: 2/2
Challenge: 2/2