Books and Bookmarks

I always buy my imported books online, and they hardly ever come with bookmarks, so I have to make do with the ones I find here, in my own country, after the titles are translated and published locally. Even though, these bookmarks are not easy to come by. We have groups on Facebook where we do trades. LOL. Some are extremely rare, and people even buy/auction them, sometimes. 

The few American ones I do have are thanks to a lovely friend from Portugal I met on one of those groups, and she gave/sold me some of the "swag" she got from authors for her blog. She has so much awesome stuff!!!

If you're curious to see some of my books and bookmarks from my collections, here are a few pictures. ;) 

 Interesting to see such different covers, huh?

 Loved this book!

 I must say, I almost fell over when I opened this book and a bookmark fell out! I got it from Book Depo, but something like this had never happened before. Thanks for the treat, Penguin!

 How not to love this series?

 In this case, these are all in the same language. You guys cannot even begin to imagine how IMPOSSIBLE it is to find manga bookmarks. You have to almost literally sell your soul (and go to events in other states and sign up to entire manga collections just in hope to get one or two. It's insane).

Looking forward to reading this one. :3

I know, it's not the right book, but it's such a rare bookmark, I had to show it off.

After Julia Quinn recently came to our country, her publishing house printed more of her previously hard-to-find bookmarks, and I got them in a trade with a nice girl from one of those FB groups I mentioned before. In my particular city, I can never find anything good in the three (THREE!) small bookstores we have. That's what happens when you live in a country that isn't so keen on reading, and you can't exactly afford to live in a capital. 

Funny how they decided on an entirely different theme for the covers.

They just seem so much more... grown up, I guess.

More realistic.

This is a super, SUPER rare bookmark, and an awesome friend of mine, Nat, one of the few who also enjoy reading books in their original language, traded it with me. <3 We've been trading books in English for years, and now moved on to bookmarks as well. :D

LOVE you, L.H. Cosway!!! Still can't believe I won one of your giveaways and that the prize actually made its way to me!!! Thanks for not sucking in this particular case, Brazilian IRS. I'll never forgive you for losing/stealing so many of the books I've ordered/won in these last 5 years. NEVER, I say.

 

Again, I know, entirely different series, but it's the same author! :P

Hah! Even a magnet! So cute. Thanks, Raquel! (My friend from Portugal) 

More sweetness from Raquel.

<3

Damn, I love this author!!! I cried so much with this book!

Those are actually stickers, but... :P

Aaaand we're done for today. :)

Quickie Review/Resenha Curta: O Desfiladeiro do Medo/Coldheart Canyon - Clive Barker

Surpreendente!!! 

Eu ganhei o volume em uma promoção no Twitter, então acabei começando a ler sem esperar muito, mas.... UAU!!! A história ficava cada vez melhor, e quando percebi já tinha passado da metade deste volume monstruoso. Mas nunca vi tantos erros gramaticais, de concordância e de digitação. O editor deve ter ficado com muita preguiça... Mas o que importa é o enredo!! Inédito, maluco, envolvente!

Um livro diferente, que mexe com as emoções, sensações, assusta e nos faz pensar em nossas ações. O primeiro que li deste autor, e estou seriamente inclinada a preferi-lo ao Stephen King. E eu AMO Stephen King.

Atualização: Reli em inglês e é ainda mais assustador! XD I <3 Barker.
Fiz minha mãe ler, ela é doida por terror, e acabei ficando sem meu livro! hehe. Tive que comprar outra edição, mas isso já diz tudo! Vá e frente e ache uma cópia.

Amazing!!! I won this book from a Twitter giveaway, so I began to read it without expecting much, but.... WOW!!!
This story just got better and better, and when I finally had to stop, I was already done with half of this monstrous volume.
Such an excellent plot !! Unprecedented, crazy and engaging! A different kind of book that stirs the emotions, scares you and makes you think about our own actions in certain situations.
This is the first I've read by this author, and I'm seriously inclined to say I like him better than Stephen King. And I LOVE Stephen King.

(Got my mom, a horror aficionado to try this, and she stole the book from me. So, yeah. Go read it!)

Quickie Review/Resenha Curta: Jogo da Velha / Noughts and Crosses - Malorie Blackman

Nossa... é impossível não se "contrapensar" ao ler este livro. Eu desafio os leitores a não sentir raiva e preconceito dos personagens... o enredo mexe muito com as nossas crenças, sentimentos, em especial este terrível preconceito contra a cor da pele. Pessoas que se consideram 'não-preconceituosas' irão se flagrar tendo pensamentos de ódio e racismo, seja contra sua própria cor ou a cor oposta da sua. é um assunto bem forte, com um 'lenço' de romance adolescente distópico por cima.

Oh, man... it's impossible not to find yourself being a bad person in your own head while reading this book. I challenge readers to not feel anger and prejudice against the characters... this plot sure messes with a lot of our beliefs, feelings, especially this terrible prejudice against skin color.
People who consider themselves 'non-judgmental' will have to put in some effort not to feel hate against their own color or the other. It's a book about a 'Romeo and Juliet' kind of couple, but it actually deals with a much bigger issue, that of color, injustice and racism in society, be it ours or a dystopic one.

Quickie Review/Resenha Curta: We Need to Talk About Kevin/Precisamos Falar Sobre o Kevin - Lionel Shriver

Paciência para achar o tesouro... Admito que o começo foi bem enfadonho e por pouco não larguei a leitura... mas logo que me acostumei com a narrativa e estilo da mãe de Kevin, o gosto foi crescendo. 

Este livro é uma mistura de drama, com muito terror e pitadas de esperança...a vida de Kevin foi algo muito...estranho, ele era estranho, mas interessante por ser assim. 

O jeito como é descrito por sua mãe é bastante íntimo, cativante...assustador. A frieza dele como ser humano, que era demonstrada em certos episódios contados, te faria pensar nos livros de Stephen King. A ignorância de seu pai dava nos nervos... e sua irmãzinha, pobrezinha, dava raiva E pena. O mais interessante era a relação (?) dele com a mãe, que tinha diversos baixos e leves piques esperançosos...mas todos sabem o final disso... o que interessa é saber a origem do monstro.

Gostei muito do filme, também, que vi bem depois desta leitura. É o tipo de coisa que fica com você, e se já é chocante imaginar, conseguir visualizar é ainda mais... horrivelmente cativante.

Just keep on reading... I'll admit that the beginning was pretty boring and I almost quit reading... but then I eventually got used to the narrative and the style of Kevin's mother, which I quickly grew to enjoy.
This book is a mixture of drama, horror and pinches of hope... Kevin's life was very strange, but he was the strangest of all, interestingly so.
The way his mother describes him is quite intimate, captivating... scary. His coldness and heartlessness as a human being was demonstrated in several instances, bringing to mind something Stephen King might create. His father's ignorance was very irritating... and his little sister made me feel a mixture of rage and pity.
The most interesting was his relationship (?) with his mother. She would repeatedly think things were getting better, until they became worse. An we all know what happens at the end of it... but this is the story of how this monster was created.

I really enjoyed the movie, as well, after reading this. This story is the kind of thing that stays with you, and if it was already shocking to imagine what happened, it's even more... horribly captivating to watch things unfold in the big screen.

Quickie Review/Resenha Curta: Shiver / Calafrio - Maggie Stiefvater

Quickie Review/Resenha Curta: Shiver / Calafrio - Maggie Stiefvater

Li no original, em inglês e gostei bastante. A impressão é em azul escuro, bem climatizante com o inverno que a autora tanto enfatiza, o romance é leve e tocante, sem forçar, o enredo também eletriza, sem cansar, e o final traz lágrimas aos olhos. Muito fofo. Muita gente não gostou porque ele realmente não é rápido, seu desenvolvimento é mais lento, mais calmo, o que também tem a ver com os longos invernos americanos.

I've read it in the original English and really liked it. It was printed in dark blue, which brings to mind the winter season, something the author uses so much. The writing is light and touching, there's nothing forced about it, the plot sucks you in, without fail, and the end brought tears to my eyes. Very cute. Lots of readers did not like, because it really wasn't so fast-paced, with a slower, calmer development, something that also has to do with winter.

Quickie: The Duke and I / O Duque e Eu - Julia Quinn

Man, I keep reading Quinn's books out of order! Anyway, her books are usually a hit-or-miss thing to me, an I'm glad to say this one instantly hit the spot. .P It's the first Bridgerton book, and it was super cute. I felt really connected to our hero, because I sometimes stammer myself, as well, which is a super irritating, embarrassing and powerless thing to suffer through, specially when I'm feeling nervous and/or angry (the worst time for it to happen, really). Daphne was a strong, likable heroine, and even though I understand the author was trying to introduce us to the family for the upcoming books, I wish we got to see them interacting more with some other characters.  And we never found out what was in the letters. But it's no biggie. These books are excellent to clear the pallate, you see. They're very light readings, they make you chuckle a few times... and, well, that's pretty handy, sometimes.

Cara, eu continuo lendo os livros da Quinn fora de ordem! Mas de qualquer forma, as suas histórias geralmente são do tipo 'amo ou odeio', mas este foi amor instantâneo, não se preocupe. :P
É o primeiro livro Bridgerton, e foi super fofo. Eu senti uma ligação grande com o nosso herói, porque eu às vezes gaguejo também, o que é uma coisa super irritante e embaraçosa, especialmente quando estou nervosa e/ou brava.
Daphne é uma heroína forte, simpática e, apesar de eu entender que a autora quisesse nos apresentar ao resto da família para os próximos livros, eu queria vê-los interagindo mais com alguns outros personagens. E nós nunca descobrimos o que estava nas cartas.
Mas tudo bem. Estes livros são excelentes para limpar o palato entre leituras pesadas. Eles são fofos e levinhos, fazem você rir... e às vezes é só disso que precisamos.

Review: Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan

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Fiquei muito surpresa com o tanto que gostei deste livro. Esse não é o tipo de coisa que prefiro ler, com temas futurísticos, de naves e tudo o mais, mas realmente foi cativante e envolvente. Depois que terminei, tive que sair na rua gritando para todo mundo comprar e ler, de tão bom e impressionante que achei! (Ok, eu forcei meus amigos a me escutarem falando sobre o livro por meia hora, e meio que os ameacei a lê-lo, mas não foi na rua e tals.) Adorei os temas feministas e bem atuais na nossa sociedade. Eu simplesmente amo distopia, e foi por isso que este livro foi direto para a minha estante de favoritos. 

Atualização: Já consegui fazer/forçar duas amigas e a minha mãe lerem Glow/Brilho, e elas amaram. Mais gente precisa ler. ;) É muito mais do que a sinopse descreve.

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16-year-old Kieran was the first child to be born abord the Empyrean (closely followed by Waverly, his probable wife-to-be), and was highly celebrated by a crew that went through so many hardships trying to find a way to cure the fertility problems they started to suffer in their journey to a new planet. That is why everyone assumes he'll be the next Captain. But his chance to prove himself worthy comes way sooner, and in a much more difficult package than he could ever have predicted.

The spaceship New Horizon should have been years ahead of the Empyrean, but for weeks now they have been getting closer and closer. The crew is alight with curiosity, but the Captain seems quite nervous. And with no lack of reason. The New Horizon is preparing to invade his ship and kidnap all the girls. And kill everyone that gets in their way (some of them more than deserved it -especially the MEN-, but it wasn't really the way to settle things, I guess). When it finally happens, all that are left are the boys, along with a handful of seriously injured adults. 

The kidnapping ship is filled with religious fanatics under the control of Reverend Mather, a woman with understandable reasons, but certainly not deserving of pity. Anne Mather is totally cuckoo. She wants the girls in order to harvest their eggs to impregnate the brainwashed women in her ship. Aaaand she wants to keep the 'egg factories' close by. For now, that is. (evil laugh). Until Waverly finds a way to take off with all the girls in search of their own ship. 

When the girls get there they are surprised (and THAT's putting it mildly) to discover that there were no adults in charge, and that the older boys (Kieran and -hottie-though-slightly-crazy- Seth) had fought a LOT for the power, with Kieran 'winning' in the end. Kieran struggled to find a way to keep the morale of many hopeless newly-made orphans in what was starting to look like a sinking (watch out for the pun!) ship, until he finally found a way to bring them together and restore their hope. With, ta-da! RELIGION. O.o

Waverly's head almost blows up (I could totally picture it) when she sees her beloved almost fiancee and last hope on Earth (uh, ship?) slowly becoming her worst nightmare: another Anne Mather. And Kieran is heart-broken when Waverly doesn't automatically 'digs' his newly found power of 'being the vessel of god and carrier of his will' and all that.

The book ends in a way that was sure to give me a few white hairs and now I can't write much more because I REALLY need to get my hands on a couple of Sparks, like pronto.

P.S.: I noticed tons of people did not like this book, but I particularly found it BRILLIANT. The author was just amazing and found a great way of introducing serious matters (rape, excess of male empowerment and female DISempowerment in a enclosed society -inside a freaking ship lost in the middle of space-, along with excessive religious views, power struggle, and sabotage) to young and mature audiences alike. Sure, maybe this wouldn't be perfect for 13 year-olds, but from 14 up it's one hell of a great book. 

Teens need to know there is evil in the world, and it's usually closer than you think. Power figures, people that should protect and take care of you CAN, in fact, turn out to be the enemy. DUH! Watch out, girls. Men aren't always trustworthy and you should learn it as soon as you can. Oh, and old ladies that look all nice and comfy? Well, they can turn out to be crazy religious bitches who will 'surgically' rape to steal your eggs and shoot you if you try to run from them, but she still totally loves you and wants you safe. In her crutches, but safe. O.o Okay, maybe not the second part (you never know, tho), but the first is a fair warning. 

Remember Red Riding Hood? Now imagine the wolf is a member of your family or your neighbor. Keep your eyes open, don't show weaknesses. They might be a predator. Aaaand enough with this, jeez. This was supposed to be a book review, not a speech on rape awareness. But I do ADMIRE Amy a hell of a lot for putting the word out there in a more constructive way than usual.

This book is amazing, don't let the low ratings fool you. Give it a try and let me know. ;)

Review: Unhinged/Atrás do Espelho - A.G. Howard

Unhinged (Splintered #2) 

by A.G. Howard

      I read this book during the Read Along held by Michelle the Escapist. :) I used my own hardback copy.

     So, in this book we first find Alyssa very confused with the strange things happening when her blood touches her art, creating mosaics with what appear to be scenes of the future. Jeb is back from London to visit and to go to prom with her, but of course things will not go exactly as planned...

     Morpheus comes to ask her help, seeing as Wonderland is a wreck after Red escaped, and is Alyssa's job to defeat her. Enter some family struggles and dark secrets, along with the return of Jeb's memories and sh*t really hits the fan.

     Unhinged was an excellent second book!!! So, so exciting! A real roller coaster of feelings. AG Howard is a very talented author. When you start to think you've got the hang of things, she surprises you and you discover you actually knew nothing. LOL. I love it when this happens. All her characters are SO well developed and multi-faceted, which is such a refreshing thing in YA, where everybody is usually portrayed as being "black or white", good or evil.

    I keep falling deeper and deeper in love with Morpheus!!! But Jeb also manages to touch my heart, that cutie. Poor Alyssa, you really have your work cut out for you. AND WHAT WAS THAT HUUUUGE CLIFFHANGER???? ARGH, MY HEAAAAAAAAAART!!!

    I am in serious need of a new Wonderland dose. I need Ensnared!!! GIMME!!! (I'm getting violent and abusing my caps lock and punctuation. I should go.). Oh, just one more thing: I LOVE THOSE COVERS!!! Okay, now I'm done.

Neste segundo volume, encontramos Alyssa muito confusa com as coisas estranhas acontecendo quando seu sangue toca a sua arte, criando mosaicos com o que parecem ser cenas do futuro. Jeb voltou de Londres para visitá-la e levá-la à festa de formatura, mas é claro que as coisas não vão acontecer exatamente como planejado...

     Morpheus aparece no mundo real, pedindo a ajuda de Alyssa para "consertar" Wonderland depois da fuga da Rainha Vermelha, já que é obrigação dela derrotá-la. Adicione a isso algumas brigas em família e segredos obscuros passados, juntamente com o retorno das memórias de Jeb e tudo vira uma nhaca só.

     Este foi um excelente segundo livro!!! Tão, tão emocionante! Uma verdadeira montanha russa de sentimentos. AG Howard é uma autora muito talentosa. Quando você começa a pensar que está entendendo as coisas, ela te surpreende e você descobre que, na verdade, não sabia nada. RI MUITO. Eu adoro quando isso acontece. Todos os seus personagens são tão bem desenvolvidos e multi-facetados, o que é muito refrescante em YAs, onde todo mundo é geralmente retratado como sendo "preto ou branco", bom ou ruim.

    Eu continuo me apaixonando mais e mais pelo Morpheus!!! Mas Jeb também consegue tocar meu coração, que gracinha. Pobre Alyssa, você realmente tem uma escolha difícil a fazer. E esse cliffhanger???? ARGH!!!