Halflings

I requested a digital gallery copy of this book without knowing what to expect. Maybe I would have been better prepared if I had seen the cover image of a girl in a red dress with a wing motif in the background. As much as I wanted to like it, it felt like a Twilight derivative with half-breed angels instead of vampires and werewolves. You have the hot, none-human males; one good, one evil, but both dangerous, and a girl who's awkward with boys. The prose is a bit purply as well. All in all, it falls firmly under the "paranormal romance" catagory, not fantasy, and isn't really that unique.
2 stars.

Scones, Soccer, and Spaceships

What do the above three items have in common besides their initial letter? They are things the British do extremely well. While I love scones and have little interest in soccer (well, they call it football but that ruins the rhythm), it is the “spaceships”—aka speculative fiction of Great Britain that attracts my attention. Even before genres were invented, British writers were turning out tales of wonder such as Paradise Lost and The Fairie Queene. As the genre dawned in the early 1900s, George MacDonald and Edith Nesbit were exploring fairy tale worlds in new ways.
The founders of modern fantasy, J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, were professors at Oxford University, with Tolkien even stating his goal of creating a new mythology for England with his Middle-Earth mythos, while Lewis’s Narnia series had thoroughly British roots, and even his Space Trilogy shows amazing development of ideas. A third author who approaches their fame is J.K. Rowling, whose saga of a wizarding academy captured the hearts of millions. Other British authors include Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, Brian Jacques, and M.I. McAllister (who should have more readers). The former two are known for their dry wit and satirical fiction, while the latter are authors of beast-fable.
Douglass Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series features such side-splitting lines as “the ship hung in the sky in much the way that bricks don’t” and “The word yellow wandered through his mind in search of something to connect it to.” His dry style brings a sense of humor to such dreary topics as the end of the world, androids, and evolution. Terry Pratchett takes a similar approach to fantasy in his Discworld novels, a world held up by four elephants on the back of a giant turtle where things happen according to the rules of narrative causality. Characters like Bruatha, Captain Vimes, Granny Weatherwax, and Death’s granddaughter Susan merely turn the world upside down and milk the sacred cows for all they’re worth.
In the realm of beast-fable, Brian Jacques’ Redwall series focuses on an abbey built by woodland creatures and defended against all invaders. Famous on both sides of the Atlantic, his tales of feasts and fights were sadly cut short when he died in February last year. Fans can still enjoy the twenty-plus books in the series. M. I. McAllister’s Mistmantle Chronicles quintet crosses Narnian atmosphere with more Redwallian beasts. All the characters are amazingly realistic, to the point it’s hard to tell minor characters from major.
In the realm of television, the BBC is responsible for Doctor Who, one of the longest running sci-fi drams in the world. Since 1963, viewers have been enjoying the exploits of a Time Lord and his companions exploring the universe in a steering-challenged TARDIS. In the past few years, the show has produced two spinoffs; Torchwood for adult views and Sarah Jane Adventures for CBBC. The later was cancelled after the death of the main actress last April, but is much closer in tone to the original series than Torchwood’s dark, sex-filled mania. Rival station ITV has produced “Primeval,” which follows a rag-tag team of scientists investigating rips in the space-time continuum that leak prehistoric beasts into Southern England. There’s also BBC’s Merlin, of which I have only watched the first episode and was turned slightly off by Prince Arthur throwing knives at a servant for amusement.

Replication

I recieved this book through Zonderhaven's Z Street program for teens. The story of a clone called Martyr and an average teenage girl named Abbey. Without giving any plot, I will say that it was an engaging read that gripped my attention. I also liked how Abbey's slight preachiness to her dad was shown with realistic consquences.

Tagged

I'm It!
I've been tagged by Lostarial. It's been a loooong time since I've been tagged, and it makes me happy.

The Rules Are:
1. You must post the rules.
2. Post eleven fun facts about yourself on the blog post.3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create eleven new questions to ask the people you've tagged.
4. Tag eleven bloggers, however, you can break the rules and tag fewer people if you want. Make sure you hyperlink their names/blogs.
5. Let them know you've tagged them!
6. Have fun!


Eleven Facts about Me:
1. My favorite Doctor on Doctor Who is the Eleventh.
2. I help with Awana on Wednesday nights.
3. My pen name is Catherine Veritas.
4. My favorite fruit juice is apricot.
5. I have nine DVDS in my room.
6. My stuffed puppy is called Moffat.
7. I remained my giant teddy bear after Sarah Jane Smith.
8. I take "weird" and "crazy" as compliments.
9. My favorite color is purple.
10. I am done with Writing of Fiction class.
11. I have completed four NaNoWriMos.
I was tagged with the following questions:

1) If you were a jar, what would you be filled with?
Bubble solution, so that one could blow beautiful bubbles all the time.

2) What is your favorite version of your favorite fairy tale? (My definition of fairy tale is not only Grimm, btdubs.)
Birdwing, an adaptation of The Seven Swans written by Rafe Martin. It's absolutely beautiful in making the fairy characters into real people.

3) What song are you most likely to burst into when you're alone?
Owl City's "The Real World"

4) How do you react when people photograph you?
Oh, okay. Why the picture?

5) If you could change either your name or an aspect of your appearance, what would you do? (Include the changed name/aspect.)
It'd make my hair less prone to tangles. It's a knotted mess.

6) What do you think is the best death scene in a children's movie?
Define "children's movie" first. I guess the two--no, three that come to my mind are Draco's death in Dragonhear, Aslan's in LWW, and Flynn's (almost) in Tangled.

7) A hawt vampire is stalking you! How do you react?
AG! Call the Doctor and get the stupid fish vampire out of my room!

8) Dr. Seuss or Jim Henson?
Dr. Seuss

9) Finish this sentence: If I ran Disneyland...
I'd make a Narnia attraction--either a show or some sort of ride.

10) What is your favorite book to read aloud?
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tuilane by Kate DiCamello.

11) Who is your favorite villain?
Morgoth from The Silmarillion

My questions for others:
1. What is your pet peeve?
2. Favorite genre of books?
3. Two things you like that don't normally go together.
4. What do you see when you hear the word "elf?"
5. What would you do if dropped in a lake of jello?
6. Tumblr or Twitter?
7. If you had to develop an allergy, what to ('work' doesn't count)?
8. What would you dress up as for Halloween?
9. What flavor ice cream would you be?
10. What would you do to torture someone if you were an evil overlord?
11. Best gift you've ever given.

Tagged
Lady Claire
Evergreena
the Traveler
Madis Hartte

Commuter to Reality: I No Longer Dwell There!

I am done with my writing of fiction class!

Commuter to Reality: Transcripts

: So, Miriam, tell me about yourself. I know you have one grown daughter, Sara, who is married to Jonathan, and your husband Thomas died in a crash a few years ago
: Miriam: Yes
: And is there anything else you could tell me about yourself. Cause quite honestly, I can't stand you
: That;s a pity. Why don't you find someone else to talk to, then?
: Nathan: Tempers...
: Because I have to keep you in my story for class
: An assignment? I'm no English teacher, but why would you write about me if you like me not?
: Because my original, Mariam, was too odd for wearing a wedding dress all the time
: I sense you like oddities.
: Yes. And no offense, but the only thing odd about you was your scarf
: And that bugs you?
: IT DRIVES ME BONKERS. AND DON'T BE NICE ABOUT IT, BECAUSE THAT JUST MAKES ME FEEL WORSE. I HAVE ALL SORTS OF ODD PEOPLE IN MY HEAD WHO ARE REALLY INTERESTING, EVEN WHEN THEY TRY TO KILL ME. ALL I GET FROM YOU IS A REALLY BORED BOREDNESS
: Well, I'm sorry
: DON'T
: DON'T APOLOGIZE
: DO SOMETHING INTERESTING. I DON;T MIND VANILLA ICE CREAM BUT i LIKE TOPPING IT OFF WITH TASTY THINGS
(...)
Later:
: If you were sorry, you'd tell me something interesting about yourself, and don't try the skydiving lie again
: But it happened.
: In your dreams, girl
: Just because I only exist in your palty story is no reason to be rude
: Palty! Now listen here, girl, I am already planning on burning you to a crisp, so shut up
: But if you have that planned in the future, I have no reason to cooperate now.
: SHUT UP!
: If you're not going to be polite, I see no reason to be myself
: Well, what are you going to be, a toad? That would be an improvement
: Gal1
: No need to be rude
: And you are being so borrowing I don't really care
: I assume you mean boring.
: Yes
: Shut up
: I'm really not getting anywhere here, am I?
: No

I Am a Follower

From kindergarten games to corporate seminars, the emphasis is often on leadership. Who would want to follow when one could lead? This attitude has even infiltrated the church in America. I am a Follower by Leonard Sweet attempts to turn this obsession on its head. After all, Jesus called his disciples to "Come, follow me," not "Come, lead with me." This call to following does not diminish a believer’s responsibility to others, but shifts it: we are not leaders calling others to imitate, but followers inviting others to join us on our adventure.
Beyond the shift in vocabulary, I find something immensely freeing in the concept. I don’t like to lead—I much prefer working out the tasks someone else has laid out for me. As followers, we are imitating the pattern of Christ, not leaders establishing our own agenda. This discussion is strongly interwoven in the role of strengths and weaknesses in our lives. The emphasis on leadership is tied to an emphasis on strengths, forgetting that “His power is made perfect in weakness.”
I would recommend this book not only for leaders in the church, but also for those who shy away from positions because they don’t feel qualified. The perspective is well worth discussing.
3.5 stars.
I received a free copy of this book from Thomas Nelson’s Booksneeze program but was not required to write a positive review.