red-letter days (+ contest)

It WAS my birthday. It IS the New Year. I HAVE a new job…started Tuesday, actually. Also, Christmas was only a bit ago, and I moved across the country last week (AGAIN). It seems like my life’s been ‘all shook up’ for a while now, and the flakes might just start to settle to the bottom of the snowglobe if I don’t do anything crazy. Cross your fingers...

photo courtesy of Bakerella

So, just the facts, ma’am. New location: Washington, DC. New job: at an international non-profit. New home: moved into an apartment with college girlfriends when my college roommate moved out into her own place. New favorite bookstore: unknown. If you know of any super places in the DC metro area, help me out!

Silly anecdote: on the first day of my new job, the lights in my office went out. Good news, though. I have a window, and we were fine on light until around 5pm. Also good news? I have a Greek co-worker (his voice…!). Like, wow. I got laughs out of my roommates with my meager impression skillz. But he really does have a hot accent. Oh, and yeah? I cleaned the coffeemaker. Nice.

Second day of my new job (today): lights get fixed. I make many trips to the dumpster and start organizing the heck out of my desk. The lights go OUT. Greek co-worker with delicious voice offers to make coffee. I say ‘yes, please!’ It's a shame he’s leaving in two weeks…

In honor of all this craziness (new job! new town! new home!), I’d like to hold a contest. For…NEW BOOKS! Of your choice. Yep, $25 to The Book Depository.

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If you’d like to win $25 US to The Book Depository website, make sure to post a comment. I’ll give away one (1) prize to a lucky entrant.

To enter:

Leave a comment on this post answering the question, “What’s your drink of choice while working or reading?”

Please include your email address or another method of contact. Giveaway is open internationally. It will close on January 20 at 11:59pm EST, and I will notify the randomly selected winner via email.

Winner will select titles from the website, the sum of which may total no more than $25 US. I will then place the order, to be delivered to the address provided. Any unused money will revert to me (celi.a, owner of adventures of cecelia bedelia).

Good luck!

finished: young adult dystopian reading challenge

This last year I took part in the YA Dystopian Reading Challenge put on by Bart’s Bookshelf. It went from October to December, and the object was to read four books that answered the description in the challenge title (young adult + dystopian. also, reading.). As it’s now January, I thought I’d do a ‘wrap-up’ post and tie all those ends up neatly. True confession: I actually only read three books. *gasp* You can click on the links below to go to my reviews.

The Knife of Never Letting Go

Unwind

Skinned

Never fear! There will be plenty of continuing YA & dystopian content here in the coming months. Sometimes even in the same stories! The dystopian/post-apocalyptic titles I plan to get to in 2010 include: Restoring Harmony, The Road, Genesis, How I Live Now, Life As We Knew It, The Ask and the Answer, Monsters of Men, The Dead-Tossed Waves, The Island at the End of the World, the last Hunger Games novel, Inside Out and Tomorrow, When the War Began. I’ll probably add one or two more, and save a couple for another time. But 2010 should be dystopia-wonderful!

everything austen challenge – officially over

Unofficially, will continue forever. I mean…wait. I got all that Austen out of my system, didn’t I? Err…

The Everything Austen Challenge was hosted by Stephanie’s Written Word, and it was a huge success. That’s not just me talking, either. I met many people throughout the blogosphere with a passion for Austen, and we all enjoyed the challenge together. But let’s get to the fun part: where I list what I was supposed to watch/read, and then what I DID watch/read.

My original list:

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Mr. Darcy, Vampyre

Prada and Prejudice

Emma (1996)

Becoming Jane (2007)

Lost in Austen (2008)

My extended list – Everything Austen (x2):

Darcy and Anne

Me and Mr. Darcy

Persuading Annie

Sense and Sensibility (2008)

Persuasion (2007)

I Have Found It [Kandukondain Kandukondain] (2000)

What I ACTUALLY read/watched (click for link to my review post):

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters

Emma (1996)

Becoming Jane (2007)

Darcy and Anne

Sense and Sensibility (2008)

Persuasion (2007)

Mansfield Park (2007)

Captain Wentworth’s Diary

Northanger Abbey (2007)

PLUS, my dad reviews Lost in Austen (2008) and a look at an old favorite – Pride, Prejudice and Jasmin Field.

In case you weren't counting, that adds up to 12 items, though a couple of them creatively filled the 'requirements.' So I hereby declare that I completed the challenge! In 2010 I hope to read: Mr. Darcy, Vampyre, Prada and Prejudice, According to Jane, Mr. Darcy and Me, Scones and Sensibility and Persuading Annie. And if a couple more should pop up in my reading list? All the better!

sea monsters rule the day

I’ve discovered, much to my surprise, that I like classic novel mash-ups. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies? A delicious farce, and one of my favorite books of the year. I won’t defend it as real or wonderful literature. I only found it extremely enjoyable. It was laugh-out-loud fun, and quotable too. Definitely something to throw out into the conversational arena when you need a little humor or a couple of raised eyebrows. So when I heard Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters was coming out, I was delighted. Actually cackled with glee.

From the publisher of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies comes a new tale of romance, heartbreak, and tentacled mayhem. Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters expands the original text of the beloved Jane Austen novel with all-new scenes of giant lobsters, rampaging octopi, two-headed sea serpents, and other biological monstrosities.

As our story opens, the Dashwood sisters are evicted from their childhood home and sent to live on a mysterious island full of savage creatures and dark secrets. Can they triumph over meddlesome matriarchs and unscrupulous rogues to find true love? Or will they fall prey to the tentacles that are forever snapping at their heels? This tale blends Jane Austen’s biting social commentary with ultraviolent depictions of sea monsters biting. It’s survival of the fittest—and only the swiftest swimmers will find true love!

So obviously Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters should be a favorite, just based on the title, and the description sounds pretty fantastic, too. And in parts it was hilarious. There were moments when I felt the need to read aloud. But unfortunately the combined effects of typographical, continuity and factual errors kept me from really enjoying the book. I felt that I couldn’t focus on the content for the sake of the grammar. That’s a shame (and a disappointment).

The book has an added mystery, which I quite enjoyed, as it gave the reader something to puzzle over while ‘admiring’ the addition of sea monsters to a beloved text. So it’s not just S&S PLUS sea monsters, it’s an extra parallel storyline. The thing was, during the last third of the book especially, this additional content was not integrated well into the whole, and mistakes such as spelling troops ‘troups’ were littered all over the place. I can forgive a lapse or two – as my brother Joey says, “I find a couple of typos a book.” It’s when you find that there are enough to count, to keep track of…that’s when the reading gets tough.

I got the feeling that this book was pushed through the editing process to make a deadline, and not given the same care and attention as the previous title, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Either that, or it was meant to look sloppy. In any case, I have a hard time recommending it because I wasn’t able to enjoy it fully. Here’s hoping for better luck with Quirk Classics in the future.

I read Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters for the Everything Austen Challenge hosted at Stephanie's Written Word.