The Scrolls

Posts Tagged ‘books’

Pee Ess

I finally finished the book I have been reading for something like 7/8 months! God! I’ll probably finished the second edition of Ultimate Sandman and start Neverwhere and/or the next novel in the Death Gate Series.

On the mention of books, I entered to win a signed copy of Neil Gaiman’s the Graveyard Book – but you shouldn’t (so I can win, duh! ;)) Giveaways are also the subject of one of my recent posts on Reviews by Cole.

Finished, Take Two

So I thought my classes were all done on the 9th, sent in both my finals.. Lo and behold, I sign in to my e-mail to see if the last of myg rades were posted and I see we have a final exam in sociology. Good thing I hadn’t sent back my books to the rental service yet. Bad news it they have to be mailed by the 15th and the 25h just so happens to be a holiday. Here’s hoping I can catch the UPS man today or tomorrow.

Hitting’ the Books

Sunday marks the first day of this semester for me. My second as a (part time) college student. I passed both Accounting and Psychology with As (96% for both). This time around is Sociology and Economics – both of which I have at least a little interest in so I hope it will be a decent semester.

Rather than buying my books ($150 total for both of them, used) I stumbled across a service which allows you to rent your books for the semester at a fraction of the price – Chegg. Very neat.

Other than that, life is quiet,

Legend of the Seeker

Yesterday I was on the computer, half heartedly listening to the TV in the background when a trailer started to play. As I listened to the female character, I thought “What a rip off of the Sword of Truth books.” As it turns out, it’s not a rip off. It’s a television adaptation of those books under the title Legend of the Seeker and it starts tomorrow. As soon I realized that, it gave me shivers! Haha! So I checked out the official site which is full of videos and the IMDB forum which is full of fans like myself who are both excited and hesitant to see the premier tomorrow. I hope it’s good!

Quiet around here

Not too much is going on. I suppose life has slowed down as snow has blanketed the Earth leaving everything literally and metaphorically quiet.

I received my bear, Jack, in the mail the other day. He came complete with an air hole in the box and a bear shaped chocolate snack. The box itself was even creative (besides the air hole) with the inside containing a board game, the story of the first teddy bear and a list of “Things To Do With This Box.” I must say I am impressed with the company. A Vermont Teddy Bear would be perfect for kids of all ages.

Jack himself is impressive. He’s a bit more stiff than I would like but still cuddly and his fur is soft. He’s a gorgeous shade of blue and his attire is impressive made up of velvet and brocade with intricate details on his cap (in the traditional night stocking), jacket and adorable little boots – all of which can be removed when you need to put him in the washing machine to clean (gentle cycle, in a pillow case).

I recently finished The Color of Magic, the first Discworld book by Terry Pratchett. Although short, it was really a fast read. It’s satirical and irreverent without being wordy, poking fun at many fantasy cliches which have dominated the genre for years. Yet, Pratchett uses some of these himself as well as some creative techniques. I’ll admit that some things we simply cannot wrap our heads around because they are so fantastic! Often, his style reminds me of the late Douglas Adams whose series The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy has been a favourite of mine since I first discovered it in middle school.

The novel starts quickly with a great city afire (though Pratchett assures us it will rebuild as it always has) which as been accidentally started by one of the main characters, Twoflower who begins the novel by fleeing said city with his newfound companion Rincewind “the Wizard” who has actually flunked out of wizardry school and isn’t much of a magic handler at all.

The book flashes back to their acquaintanceship where Rincewind discovers Twoflower (and his mysterious sentient chest of Luggage), a visitor to Rincewind’s home city Ankh-Morpork (the first ever tourist on Discworld) and follows them on their coming journey which eventually leads them to the end of the world, literally.

Rincewind and Twoflower live on Discworld, literally a disc sitting on the backs of 4 elephants who themselves sit on the back of a giant turtle (gender unknown which is quite the curiosity to Discworld inhabitants). In such a world, direction is measured in relation to the rim of the disc (rimward) or hub (hubward).

Though they battle the original fire, common thieves, a soul eating monster, imagined dragons who reside in an upside down mountain with their quarreling family of royal imaginers, and eventually end up in Krull at the edge of the world, while avoiding saying the number 8 (which Pratchett also avoids saying by describing it any number of round-about ways) which is closely associated with magic, Octarine (the eighth color, that of magic) and all-things-generally-unpleasant as Rincewind repeatedly eludes the none-too-happy-about-it Death, they remain generally unscathed.

Or do they? I recommend you try this book out and see for yourself (as do countless editors, critics and journalists whose opinions of Pratchett and his works who preface this novel)!