Last Chance!

Today is the last day of April, and consequently, the last day to vote for your favorite haiku for the Haiku Contest I hosted this month! Tomorrow I will post the winners, but if you see your favorite still isn't in the lead, you should vote for them now before it's too late.

I've posted the entries here so you don't have to worry about the link:

1. Howling turtle writes
Anyone may enter Thrice.
I don't think that's nice!
By DocLouie

2. Flower of grandeur
Always growing to thrill us
My amaryllis
By Grandma Pat

3.Sunbeams in the clouds
Light lines over miles of sky
Bright spots on the fields
By Chloe

4.Dancing dolphins swim
Jumping in our boat's white wake
They're playing playing with us
By Chloe

5.Harvest time is near
Colored leaves begin to fall
Autumn is now here
By Chloe

6. Howling Turtle writes
Anyone may enter thrice
That is very nice!
By Doclouie

7. Our words have power
They kill or heal equally
Choose truth above all
By Lisa

8. Pure Costa Rica
Clear beauty and energy
An amazing place
By Maya

9. The wolf cries at night
Boy in the wild is now man
As blood hits the ground
By Alleged Author

10. Can't write haikus, but
I love Larissa and blog
so here you go, Lar
By Sarah

11. Long silver-smudged line
Slicing through rippling sea foam
Dolphins diving north
By r.k.pease

12. The warm ocean breeze
Relaxing under palm trees
Lazy days with sun
By Linnea

13. Soaring speeding sphere
Arching plunging toward target
Crowds cheer the tied score
By r.k.pease

14. The Kleenex is blue.
You're almost out of tissue.
Mwahahahaha
By Amanda

15. Revenge is a dish
best served cold. Some sage advice?
Make war in winter.
By Amanda

16. Break out the Ginseng
We are of a certain age
What was I saying...?
By Susan

17. Creativity.
Liminal. Subliminal.
Sacred Soul at play.
By Susan

18. Ashes to ashes.
Smashana Kali watches.
Nothing's as(h) it seems.
By Susan

Follow Friday

Q. Keeping with the dystopian and apocalypse theme that seems to be running rampant on parajunkee.com, I have one very hard question for you: If you were stocking your bomb shelter, what books would you HAVE to include if you only had space for ten?

A.
The Mortal Instruments: 4
Incarceron and Sapphique: 2
The Book Thief: 1
The Hunger Games trilogy: 3

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine.

Book: Witch Song
Author: Amber Argyle
Released: September 1, 2011
Publisher: Rhemalda Publishing

Description: (from Goodreads)

The world is changing.

For thousands of years, witch song has controlled everything from the winds to the shifting of the seasons. But not anymore. All the Witches are gone, taken captive by the dark Witch, Espen.

As the last echoes of witch song fade, Espen grows stronger as winter and summer come within the space of a day. Now she’s coming for the one she missed—a shy, untrained girl of fifteen named Brusenna.

Somehow, Brusenna has to succeed where every other Witch has failed. Find Espen. Fight her. Defeat her.

Or there won’t be anything left to save.


I saw this one on another WoW and thought it sounded really good. I also love the cover!! I'm really excited for this one.

p.s. you only have three days left to vote on my April Haiku Contest! the link to the entries is HERE.

A Book-to-movie adaption I am hopeful about

Hey everyone, as I'm sure you're all aware, today is Monday. If I had to pick a least favorite day of the week, this would definitely be it, and I am positive that I am not alone in this. Since it is Monday, and we've got the whole week ahead of us, why not start off with something exciting? As a general rule of them, movies are never as good as the book it was based upon with very few exceptions, and sometimes the movies are horribly different and everyone leaves feeling disappointed (Eragon anyone). Anyway, one book to movie adaption I feel hopeful about is 'The Hobbit'. I loved the book, my dad read it to me when I was little, and I just adore Middle Earth, hobbits, elves, and dwarves. This is going to be a must-see-on-opening-night thing for me.

Anyway, for fellow Tolkien lovers, this is the website link for 'The Hobbit' movie. Hobbit

Follow Friday

Q. What is on your current playlist right now?
Wow, so many different things!

Dreamcatcher
Christina Perri
30 seconds from Mars
Linkin Park
The Scars
Adele




1) Follow this blog.
2) Follow Elizabeth Sharp, the host of this hop
3) Follow the featured author of the week.
4) Go to Sharp words and copy the image code found there and paste it in your blog. Add your name to the link at the bottom of the post while you are there.
5) Copy and paste the rules in your blog, as well as this week’s question.
6) Answer the question
7) Follow, follow, follow. This is about networking, people, making connections with people in your community. So talk to us. We don't bite! This post serves as a perfect place for you to say hello!
8) If someone stops by, says hi and follows you, the polite thing to do is follow back.
9) Comment here and introduce yourself and you just might find a new follower or two.

Q: What is your most referred to website for your writing?

A: Huh, I don't know, I usually just use my dictionary/thesaurus widget when I am writing, and don't usually refer to one website in particular... maybe dictionary.com?


Be sure to leave a link so I can check your blog out!

Review: Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow

Title: Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow
Author: Jessica Day George
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books
Page Count: 336
Rating: 5/5

Description:

Blessed—or cursed—with an ability to understand animals, the Lass (as she’s known to her family) has always been an oddball. And when an isbjorn (polar bear) seeks her out, and promises that her family will become rich if only the Lass will accompany him to his castle, she doesn’t hesitate. But the bear is not what he seems, nor is his castle, which is made of ice and inhabited by a silent staff of servants. Only a grueling journey on the backs of the four winds will reveal the truth: the bear is really a prince who’s been enchanted by a troll queen, and the Lass must come up with a way to free him before he’s forced to marry a troll princess.

Review:

I just finished ‘Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow’, and thoroughly enjoyed it! I loved the fairy tale feel with ancient legends that were woven into this story. The characters were very well developed, and even the minor characters had distinct personalities. I also love stories with strong female heroines, and this book definitely provides that. The main character Pika, or the ‘Lass’ shows inner conflict, compassion, and strength. I think my favorite character in this book though, was Hans Peter, the Lass’s beloved older brother. I also really liked the cover art, it drew me in, showing the girl staring off into the distance.

Everything about this book was fantastic, and the ending was fantastic. (That last fact gets extra bonus points from me because I’ve read my fair share of books where I adored the plot but when the ending came along I was left feeling… ‘bleh’).

I would definitely recommend adding this book to your TBR list!

Poetry Month Series III of III

This is the third and final part of my three part poetry series that I am doing in honor of poetry month. All three of the poems I did were based of paintings that I saw in a museum. This particular poem was based off of a still life.


A Promise of Return
The rains cease
The mud of spring
Still stuck under fingernails
A bouquet sits in the kitchen
Dew that still drips
Facets of diamonds on marble

Morning birdsong
Sends a breeze through open
Shutters
And the lace curtains
Above the sink and rusty faucets
Dance like butterflies

A phone beeps
And a suit the smell
Of flowers, ferns, and dirt
Is guided to the door
By its owner

He pats his coat pocket
To check his plane tickets
But does not move to wipe
The dirt lodged there

He glances at the blooms
Then to a wooden staircase
Where he ascends in his mind's eye
To where his wife gently sleeps

It is his hope
That with this promise of return

She will not miss him
Quite so terribly

Spreading the Word

Spreading the Word isn't exactly something that I 'host', but it is something I do once in a while to promote a blog I think should be promoted. If you decide to catch on and do it too, I think it is super cool to give deserving bloggers a bit of time in the limelight.

The blog I'm featuring today is AsianCocoa. She is just getting started in the blogosphere and only has three followers! Her blog is absolutely gorgeous, and you should definitely all show her some love and check it out!.

Ciao ! ;-)

~ Larissa

p.s. If you haven't voted for the Haiku Contest, you can find the entries HERE!

Follow Friday and Haiku Poll

Q. Do you have anyone that you can discuss books with IRL? Tell us about him/her.

A. I have a group of friends that I talk about books with. In fact, almost all my friends love to read. They all have similar tastes to me, albeit some of them are slightly more critical of the books then I am. I refer books to them and they refer books to me. We can get onto the topic of books and stay there quite a while!

Please leave a link so I can check you out!

In other News....

My April Haiku Contest is going into phase two as of today. The chance for submitting is over unfortunately, but now we all get to vote, the poll is on the top right of the page! You can refer to the April Haiku Contest page if you wish, but I figured it would be easier if I just set up all of the entries right here for you to vote on, so here we go!

1. Howling turtle writes
Anyone may enter Thrice.
I don't think that's nice!
By DocLouie

2. Flower of grandeur
Always growing to thrill us
My amaryllis
By Grandma Pat

3.Sunbeams in the clouds
Light lines over miles of sky
Bright spots on the fields
By Chloe

4.Dancing dolphins swim
Jumping in our boat's white wake
They're playing playing with us
By Chloe

5.Harvest time is near
Colored leaves begin to fall
Autumn is now here
By Chloe

6. Howling Turtle writes
Anyone may enter thrice
That is very nice!
By Doclouie

7. Our words have power
They kill or heal equally
Choose truth above all
By Lisa

8. Pure Costa Rica
Clear beauty and energy
An amazing place
By Maya

9. The wolf cries at night
Boy in the wild is now man
As blood hits the ground
By Alleged Author

10. Can't write haikus, but
I love Larissa and blog
so here you go, Lar
By Sarah

11. Long silver-smudged line
Slicing through rippling sea foam
Dolphins diving north
By r.k.pease

12. The warm ocean breeze
Relaxing under palm trees
Lazy days with sun
By Linnea

13. Soaring speeding sphere
Arching plunging toward target
Crowds cheer the tied score
By r.k.pease

14. The Kleenex is blue.
You're almost out of tissue.
Mwahahahaha
By Amanda

15. Revenge is a dish
best served cold. Some sage advice?
Make war in winter.
By Amanda

16. Break out the Ginseng
We are of a certain age
What was I saying...?
By Susan

17. Creativity.
Liminal. Subliminal.
Sacred Soul at play.
By Susan

18. Ashes to ashes.
Smashana Kali watches.
Nothing's as(h) it seems.
By Susan

Waiting on Wednesday: The Power of Six

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted at Breaking the Spine.

Book: The Power of Six - Lorien Legacies book 2
Author: Pittacus Lore
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: August 23rd 2011

What It's About:

I've seen him on the news. Followed the stories about what happened in Ohio. John Smith, out there, on the run. To the world, he's a mystery. But to me . . . he's one of us.

Nine of us came here, but sometimes I wonder if time has changed us—if we all still believe in our mission. How can I know? There are six of us left. We're hiding, blending in, avoiding contact with one another . . . but our Legacies are developing, and soon we'll be equipped to fight. Is John Number Four, and is his appearance the sign I've been waiting for? And what about Number Five and Six? Could one of them be the raven-haired girl with the stormy eyes from my dreams? The girl with powers that are beyond anything I could ever imagine? The girl who may be strong enough to bring the six of us together?

They caught Number One in Malaysia.
Number Two in England.
And Number Three in Kenya.
They tried to catch Number Four in Ohio—and failed.

I am Number Seven. One of six still alive.

And I'm ready to fight.


I am really excited for this release! I loved the first book, and the movie was really good - not as good as the book, (but then again, they never are). This is a great Science Fiction series, and if you haven't read the first one (I Am Number Four) yet, you really should!

Poetry Month Series II of III

This is the second part of my three part poetry series I am doing. This poem was inspired by an abstract painting (that is probably important to know otherwise the poem will make absolutely no sense). It was a big painting, it took up a huge space on the wall - it definitely wouldn't fit anywhere in my house that is for sure!

Just a reminder that you have only three days left to submit for the Haiku Contest I am hosting! This will be my last reminder so be sure to click on the link for guidelines. (You can post your entries as a comment for this post - that would probably be the easiest).


Beyond All This

What if
Beyond all this
Was

A cave

That carried you
Away from all that
In an ocean of bath water

To a place
Where red sound
Rises circling, sprouting
Making isles of clumped grass
And seaweed

A place where souls
Are dandelion fluff
And fireflies glow
Brightest in the
Mist

Poetry Month Series I of III

In honor of National Poetry Month, I am doing a short series of poems I wrote. They are all inspired from paintings I saw at an art museum. I searched for them, but I could not actually find a picture of the paintings to post with the poems, so I guess they will have to be descriptive enough on their own.

This first one was a painting of the Seine Valley.


Dream Carrier
The meadow
Overrun with wildflowers
With leaves of luscious green
That reach for the summer sky
The lazy clouds hanging
Like the bees over
Clover

The trail
Cleared by homecoming cattle
Leads down the valley
To the Seine

That long-winding vessel
Carrying the dreams of lovers
And the love searching

To the cradle of the ocean
As rivers do

On a summer afternoon
Where meadows are overrun
With wildflowers
And leaves of luscious green
Reach for the sky

Follow Friday!

Q. Do you judge a book by it's cover?
A. I am embarrassed to say that I have. I judged 'City of Bones' by it's cover and almost did not read it, but my friend said it was good and now it is one of my all time favorites!


~ Larissa

Waiting on Wednesday: Crossed

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted at Breaking the Spine

By: Ally Condie
Released: Nov. 1 2011
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile

In search of a future that may not exist and faced with the decision of who to share it with, Cassia journeys to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky — taken by the Society to his certain death — only to find that he has escaped, leaving a series of clues in his wake.


Cassia’s quest leads her to question much of what she holds dear, even as she finds glimmers of a different life across the border. But as Cassia nears resolve and certainty about her future with Ky, an invitation for rebellion, an unexpected betrayal, and a surprise visit from Xander — who may hold the key to the uprising and, still, to Cassia’s heart — change the game once again. Nothing is as expected on the edge of Society, where crosses and double crosses make the path more twisted than ever.

I am so excited for this book, I loved "Matched" and am highly anticipating its sequel!

New Layout

As I have become more used to the whole blogging thing I have been experimenting with new things, and since I have had the same plain-ish layout since I started this blog last February, I though now might be a nice time for a change. It took me a while to figure out how to get a picture up on the header, and once I did, I realized that my old template formatted it in a really ugly way, so I got a new one. (Wow, that's really weird, the second I finished typing that a bird flew into my window and then flew away. Poor little guy!) Anyway, I got the picture at a botanical garden in Santa Barbara when I was on vacation a few weeks ago, they were sun-bathing, so I had to tweek the photo so it looked more night timey, and... Voila brand new Howling Turtle layout. I'll stop rambling now and let you get back to enjoying your week end.

Cheers
~ Larissa