21st Bookworms Carnival (GLBTQ Literature) is out + I got an award!

This month is hosted by Renay. Go check it out!

From the books featured in the carnival I'm interested in:
Relief by L.E. Butler reviewed at Curl up with a good book, because it's set in Venice, in the 1910's and it's about painters and ballerinas.
Then of course I want to read Affinity by Sarah Waters reviewed by Alessandra. It's the only book by this author that I haven't read, since I had heard it wasn't her best. But Alessandra made me change my mind.
And Hero reviewed by Nymeth.
Then I'll stop here cause otherwise I'll just replicate the carnival on my blog and that would be stealing:P
Renay also included some links to gay teen literature which made me add more than one book to my wish list. It's just that they sound all so good!
I've added:
Parrotfish by Ellen Wittlinger
Luna by Julie Anne Peters
and Skim by Mariko Tamaki.

I think it's enough...

And now for the award! Emerald fire, Ms Ulat Buku and Shooting Stars Mag awarded me with the buttefly award. Thank you all so much!!! *sending virtual hugs*

the rules are:

1. Post the logo on your blog

2. Add link to the person who awarded it to you

3. Award up to 10 blogs

4. Add links to those blogs in your award post

5. Leave a message for awardee on their blog

This time I'd like to award some illustrator blogs that I visit regularly and which I think are awesome:
Lisa Evans
Irisz Agocs
Jackie Morris
P.J. Lynch
Niamh Sharkey
I love lots of other illustrators but they don't have blogs, or I don't know if they have one. I'll have to keep looking...

Book Binge!

Today I came back home with a bag full of books. OK, they've been sitting in my locker in work for ages but today I decided to actually adopt them and give them a real home among the other legitimate books! I've no excuses, they were FREE and I couldn't resist. But the fact that they are home now means that they're gonna go to the Master List of Books to Read for next year, which I plan to follow religiously. So it was a serious decision to make.
What did I get?

#1 - Mr Toppit by Charles Elton


The cover itself made me want to read it straight away. You can't see it but there's a little round window on the bee, and if you lift the flap jacket you see the "other" cover, which is a children's book called "The Hayseed Chronicles". But this is not a children's book. It's about a series of children's books, and the power that one of its character has on the real world. Or at least that's what I got from reading the blurb and an article on The Bookseller.
To be published in February 2009.




# 2 - The Unicorn Road by Martin Davies

"On the coast of medieval Sicily, and expedition prepares to venture into unknown lands in search of the mysterious beasts of the East.

Five thousand miles away, a young girl prepares to leave the water meadows of her childhood to travel to the Emperor's court.

Neither Journey is destined to run smoothly."

Doesn't it sound intriguing? This proof reading copy also came with an attractive see-through dust jacket, which just reads "Uncover and Discover the magical journey that awaits you". Published in January 2009.

#3 - Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson



This has been out a while but will only be published in Uk and Ireland in January. I've only heard good thinks about Speak, another YA book by the same author, so I have very high expectations for this one. But it's strange how Speak hasn't been published here, isn't it?



#4 - Firmin - adventures of a metropolitan lowlife by Sam Savage

This looks like a kid's book but in fact is not! It's a memoir of a rat who loves literature. "A debonair soul trapped in a rat's body".
I heard it was a publishing sensation in America, but not so much here. I'm very curious!





#5 - Instructions for living someone else's life by Mil Millington


I found myself flipping through it and giggling at what I had read, without even knowing what was going on. So I had to take it home and give it a chance to develop its full potential!
It's about a 25 -year-old guy in the 80's who all of a sudden wakes up in 2006, realising he has missed 18 years of his life. Stuck with a middle-aged body, a stranger for a wife and a life that hasn't turned out what he had hoped for. Nightmare or metaphor? Can't wait to find out.



#6 The Burnt-out Town of Miracles by Roy Jacobsen




I didn't even bother to stop and see what the book is about. I just liked the look of it. Plus it's a lovely, thin hardback. Free. Anyway, let's see what kind of book is it, shall we?
From the back: "My town was ablaze on 7 December, after all four thousand inhabitants had been evacuated, except for me. I was born here, had lived here all my life and couldn't imagine living anywhere else...There is always one, at least one, who doesn't follow the crowd, he doesn't even need to know why, and here in Suomussalmi it was me."
Hmm I still don't know much, but it sounds interesting. Creepy but interesting.

# 7 and last The Birthing House by Christopher Ransom


My proof copy looks much better. It has old-looking, sepia cover, which only says "Do you dare to enter?". I kind of hope they change the colour back to sepia, it looks much more intriguing.

From Amazon: "When Conrad Harrison impulse-buys a big old house in Wisconsin, his wife Jo doesn't share his enthusiasm, reluctant at the idea of leaving their LA life - so Conrad is left to set up their new home as she ties up loose ends at work. But Conrad's new purchase is not all that it seems. Soon Conrad is hearing the ghostly wailing of a baby in the night, seeing blood on the floor and being haunted by a woman who looks exactly like Jo. With his wife away, Conrad becomes obsessed by the pregnant girl next door, Nadia, who claims to be a victim of the evil in the house. The crying leads him to a bricked-up body, and the mystery of the Birthing House unravels, pulling in Jo, Nadia and leading Conrad to a nightmarish conclusion."

This is published in January but I think I'll leave it for Halloween and the RIP Challenge, it sounds perfect.

And that's it! If I ever wonder how I managed to accumulate so many books in so little time..here's the answer. I just can't say no, especially when I don't even have to open my wallet :P
But next year will be different. Oh yeah.

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And now I want to thank Zoe, who gave me the "I love your blog" award! Thank you thank you thank you!
So I'm supposed to:
) Add the logo of your award to your blog.
2) Add a link to the person who awarded it to you.
3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4) Add links to those blogs on your blog.
5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.

But I'll skip nominating anyone, I love all the blogs on my Reader (wow I've only recently discovered it and it's FAB!) and I don't want to choose only seven...
But thanks you so much again Zoe, I love your blog too:)

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One last thing: I went to cinema twice in the past few days. Saw "Inkheart" and I gotta say it was entertaining! I haven't read the book but I can feel they cut through it a lot, which can't be too bad because I remember when I started reading it, it was very long-winded. Now I have to decide whether to read Inkheart or skip it and read Inkspell instead. Touch decision.
I also watched "Changeling" and it was excellent! I loved the 1930's setting and Angelina Jolie gave a wonderful performance. Beside she was stunningly beautiful every second of it. She just earned a new fan.

I've been nominated for an award!

Yuppi!
Thanks so much to Aloi for nominating me for the Brillante Weblog Award!(*happy dance*)

That's great, I feel really honored. Now I can have an "awards" tag :P
So the rules to accept the nomination are as follows:
1. The award may be displayed on a winner’s blog. Check
2. Add a link to the person you received the award from. check
3. Nominate up to seven other blogs. I'll do that now.
4. Add their links to your blog. Check.
5. Add a message to each person that you have passed the award on in the comments section of their blog. will do that too.


The thing is that I haven't been blogging that much lately, and I haven't been reading that many blogs either (*hides under the screen*), but that won't stop me from bestowing this nomination to some wonderful bloggers out there, who I've been reading for a while now, even if not daily...

I'd like to nominate:

1) Raych at Books I done read
Because even if I don't always agree with her, she always makes me laugh, and that's always a good thing. Totally hilarious.

2) Darla at Books and other thoughts.
Because she's another grown up who read as much kids books as me (actually, definitely more than me!) and her blog is an endless source of great books to choose from. Also she posts a lot, and I can't keep up with her reviews, and that makes her brilliant to my eye.

3) Carl at Stainless Steel droppings
Because of the care he puts in all his posts, because he hosts the best challenge around (Once upon a time) and because he introduces his readers to so many talented artists I would hardly come across myself. and not to mention all those giveaways!

4) Nymeth at Things mean a lot.
Because she's Nymeth. 'nuff said.

5) Melody's reading corner because she's lovely and thoughtful and because she gave me Blogging Friends Forever Gold Card Award and I never officially thank her for that on this blog.

Also, speaking of awards, I've seen the nominations for the BBAW Awards 2008 are up at My Friend Amy. Of course, I don't know the majority of all those blogs, so I have a lot of blogging ahead of me before casting my vote!