Starting Fresh

Time for a new semester to begin... and for me to buy over 20 books : / Oh well, if I like them, I'll post on them. I am very much looking forward to reading Henry David Thoreau's "Walden" all the way through for once : ). It's going to be a rather busy semester though. I'm sorry I haven't gotten up the "Shadowland" review yet. I'm halfway through and hope to finish it by the end of next week, if not I suck... Anyway for now I'll leave you with a poem from yours truly and hope that you can all forgive me. Good luck to the rest of you beginning new semesters as well!!

Becoming

Without beauty,

I am nothing

The world will never--

Value my mind.

Rude glances come my way,

From strangers on the street

Those I love--

Ignore my thoughts.

I am nothing,

For today I am not beautiful

What will I do--

When my curse leaves me forever?

-written on February 4th, 2009

I'll try to add some more recent work after getting the "Shadowland" review up finally.

One of my favorites

For those of you who prefer the romantic poets, here's one for you:

The Tyger

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare sieze the fire?

And what shoulder, & what art.
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears,
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry? 

 -William Blake (1794)


An absolutely beautiful poem that I immediately fell in love with when I first read it. It has such an amazing message for the reader to figure out and really gives you something to think about. Hope you all enjoy it! This is definitely one of my top two favorites. Hopefully later this week I'll be able to post my review of "Shadowland" and maybe throw a new poem in there too. : )

Finally.....

Okay so I've had many questions about where I came up with my screen name for this blog and I'll finally solve the mystery for all of you : ) Keep in mind this poem has a bit of a dark edge to it, but look a little deeper and you will find the hope. I first came across this poem while taking a British Literature class my sophomore year and I loved Robert Browning from that moment on and I hope that some of you take an interest in his work as well because he truly was brilliant. He writes in a way that really forces you to think, you have to dig deep to find his true meaning. So here it is:

Porphyria's Lover
The rain set early in to-night,
The sullen wind was soon awake,
It tore the elm-tops down for spite,
And did its worst to vex the lake:
I listened with heart fit to break.
When glided in Porphyria; straight
She shut the cold out and the storm,
And kneeled and made the cheerless grate
Blaze up, and all the cottage warm;
Which done, she rose, and from her form
Withdrew the dripping cloak and shawl,
And laid her soiled gloves by, untied
Her hat and let the damp hair fall,
And, last, she sat down by my side
And called me. When no voice replied,
She put my arm about her waist,
And made her smooth white shoulder bare,
And all her yellow hair displaced,
And, stooping, made my cheek lie there,
And spread, o'er all, her yellow hair,
Murmuring how she loved me--she
Too weak, for all her heart's endeavor,
To set its struggling passion free
From pride, and vainer ties dissever,
And give herself to me for ever.
But passion sometimes would prevail,
Nor could to-night's gay feast restrain
A sudden thought of one so pale
For love of her, and all in vain:
So, she was come through wind and rain.
Be sure I looked up at her eyes
Happy and proud; at last I knew
Porphyria worshiped me; surprise
Made my heart swell, and still it grew
While I debated what to do.
That moment she was mine, mine, fair,
Perfectly pure and good: I found
A thing to do, and all her hair
In one long yellow string I wound
Three times her little throat around,
And strangled her. No pain felt she;
I am quite sure she felt no pain.
As a shut bud that holds a bee,
I warily oped her lids: again
Laughed the blue eyes without a stain.
And I untightened next the tress
About her neck; her cheek once more
Blushed bright beneath my burning kiss:
I propped her head up as before,
Only, this time my shoulder bore
Her head, which droops upon it still:
The smiling rosy little head,
So glad it has its utmost will,
That all it scorned at once is fled,
And I, its love, am gained instead!
Porphyria's love: she guessed not how
Her darling one wish would be heard.
And thus we sit together now,
And all night long we have not stirred,
And yet God has not said a word!


-the brilliant Robert Browning

Look deeper before you find this poem disturbing... it may not be what you think... that's why I love poetry, it's meant to be a puzzle that each person can figure out in a different way. The bolded part is my favorite line of the poem, I would love to find out yours as well or even just your reactions, as I know mine wasn't exactly positive on the first read...

Happy new year....

Hey everyone,

Sorry I haven't been writing lately... I seemed to think I would have more time on my hands once school let out for the semester, but somehow that was not the case. Anyways I do have a new book review for you on Meridian by Amber Kizer which I actually just finished as couple days ago. I honestly hadn't heard too much about the book, but picked it up one day while working and read the description, and of course it drew me in. Here is the synopsis courtesy of Borders (LOVE)

"Half-human, half-angel, Meridian Sozu has a dark responsibility.


"Sixteen-year-old Meridian has been surrounded by death ever since she can remember. As a child, insects, mice, and salamanders would burrow into her bedclothes and die. At her elementary school, she was blamed for a classmate's tragic accident. And on her sixteenth birthday, a car crashes in front of her family home--and Meridian's body explodes in pain.

Before she can fully recover, Meridian is told that she's a danger to her family and hustled off to her great-aunt's house in Revelation, Colorado. It's there that she learns that she is a Fenestra--the half-angel, half-human link between the living and the dead. But Meridian and her sworn protector and love, Tens, face great danger from the Aternocti, a band of dark forces who capture vulnerable souls on the brink of death and cause chaos."


The book starts out by dropping you right in the middle of the story and you really have no clue what's going on for a while. You learn information verrrrrry slowly and the characters don't progress as fast as I would have liked. It was extremely creative however with all the lore on "Fenestras" or a type of angel who helps you reach the "good" afterlife. Kizer definitely put a lot of thought into this book which is kind of like a good versus evil battle but not in the most traditional sense. If I'm going to be completely honest, it really didn't hold my interest quite as much as I would have liked it to, but it was still worth reading in the long run (although I say that about most books) . I am still hoping that there will be a follow up book because there were quite a few loose ends in the book and it just really didn't hold itself on its own. I'm not going to put this one on either list, I recommend that you read it and decide for yourself, although you know my opinion on it....

If anyone has any suggestions for some books they would like to see show up on my page for reveiwing, please leave them in the comments and I will do my best to get to them. Next up for review is the 3rd book in Alyson Noel's "Immortals" series, also known as Shadowland. I'm about halfway through it right now and will hopefully get the post up before I leave for FL on Monday. Hope you all had a wonderful holiday and happy new year : )

Poem to hold you over

Hey all,

Sorry about the lag in posts... Finals next week. Once next week is over though, I'll have plenty of time so I promise more posts and maybe actual book reviews..WOW. Anyway here's a poem to hold you over for the time being : )

My regret fills this shallow basin

And begin to spill over, 

Because of the faucet I refuse to turn off.

My good friend guilt has returned--

So that I may bare my share of his weight.

He brings his friend despair,

Who shows me the error of my ways.

I want them to leave me,

But they never will, for always

I am left with their weight and hollowness.

It is I who turned the faucet on,

Why does it remain so?

I pull myself from the basin--

Just as my wings disintegrate.

Hope you liked it. Also, if anyone has any advertising ideas for the blog, I'd love you to tell me!! (PETER) And as always please do comment.

AHH the end of another semester

Hey all,

Hope you're doing well, I'm doing pretty great. However, it's that time of year again where all of my professors give me tons of work to do all at once.... yayy. So as I may be slightly busy this week, I won't be able to get to a new book review until later in the week, but don't worry there WILL be one. Hope everyone else is doing well and not going as crazy as I am with work : /

Short poem and Happy Thanksgiving : )

So since I don't have much time to post this week, I figured I would share a poem I had written a while back. Hope you like it : )

Mending What Never Mattered

Broken shards
Still stick from my head.
You're there always.
I have been mended,
But may never be whole.
Did you break me?
Or did I break myself,
Setting off into a long black, desolate hole.
Singing alone in a room--
A song no one understands,
Yet so many feel.
I have found my comfort,
But have you yours?
How strange of me
To care at all...

Let me know what you think in the comments section. Also wanted to let everyone know that soon after Thanksgiving I should be reviewing two new books (or possibly three) including Ellen Hopkin's newest book, "Tricks" Marcus Zuzak's "The Book Thief" and if I finish it in time Amber Kizer's book "Meridian." Also I am open to suggestions for books you would like to see reviewed so leave those in the comments as well.

Have a good Thanksgiving : )