Saturday, June 7, 2014

The One The highly anticipated third book in Kiera Cass's #1 New York Times bestselling Selection series

The highly anticipated third book in Kiera Cass's #1 New York Times bestselling Selection series, The One will captivate readers who love dystopian YA fiction and fairy tales. The One is perfect for the fans who have followed America's whirlwind romance since it began—and a swoon-worthy read for teens who have devoured Veronica Roth's Divergent, Ally Condie's Matched, or Lauren Oliver's Delirium.
The Selection changed America Singer's life in ways she never could have imagined. Since she entered the competition to become the next princess of Illéa, America has struggled with her feelings for her first love, Aspen—and her growing attraction to Prince Maxon. Now she's made her choice . . . and she's prepared to fight for the future she wants.
Find out who America will choose in The One, the enchanting, beautifully romantic third book in the Selection series!

Kiera Cass graduated from Radford University with a degree in History. She grew up in South Carolina and currently lives in Blacksburg, Virginia with her family. In her spare time, Kiera enjoys reading, dancing, making videos, and eating unhealthy amounts of cake. You can learn more about Kiera at kieracass.com, follow her on twitter via @kieracass, and see her silly videos at YouTube.com/user/kieracass.

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Memoirs of a Geisha

Review:koffeetoes


"He was looking at me as a musician might look at his instrument just before he begins to play, with understanding and mastery. I felt that could see into me as though I were a part of him. How I would have loved to be the instrument he played!" these are the thoughts of 11-year-old Chiyo after her first meeting with the Chairman on the banks of the Kaino River. The chairman's charisma, charm, gentleness and sensitivity are a like a soothing balm on Chiyo's soul. A flash of an oasis in the cruel life that Chiyo lives in the okiya, a Geisha house. The encounter remains etched forever in Chiyo's mind and she decides to work hard towards becoming a successful Geisha, successful enough to win the affections of a man like the Chairman. Geishas are women trained to entertain men in 17th century Japan. They were trained to be skilled artists and conversationalists able to win the hearts of powerful men. Often they are misunderstood as prostitutes. But the journey from an ordinary girl to a geisha is not just tough but cruel. And that is what Memoirs of a Geisha is all about. The lives behind the painted masks of geishas and the pains with which they have to learn their arts of seduction. However, it is not just the beauty that makes a successful geisha, it is being present at the right place at the right time, and most importantly with the right man. It is amazing how the Arthur Golden has seen through the heart and soul of woman, who as a little girl who is cheated into coming to Kyoto by Mr. Tanaka a trader after her mother dies. Both Chiyo and her sister Satsu are sold. But while Satsu’s fate is to be sold into prostitution, Chiyo’s beauty and translucent eyes see her at the doors of an okiya.
At first Chiyo is devastated, separated by her sister and family and oppressed by the vain geisha Hatsumomo she doesn’t see any hope in her life. She hates being a maid in the okiya and dreads the life of a geisha. But life takes a turn when she come to know of her father’s death and her chance encounter with the chairman. In a way, the desire for the chairman fires her ambitions as she decides that one day she will have the chairman as her patron. It is not long before Chiyo becomes Nitta Sayuri, one of the most popular geishas in Kyoto.Golden, an MA in Japanese History from Columbia University with his lucid writing skills and arduous research has given us a peek into a now forgotten world of geishas of Gion, Kyoto. Right from the dressing style of the geisha, that is different from that of a prostitutes to the concept of the mizuage, Golden with his eye for detail has brought alive a time gone by. For the Geisha system was abolished right after the World War II. It was also beginning to fade away as rich patrons couldn’t afford to keep the geishas. Golden follows the thread till the end as Memoirs sustains the reader’s interest, weaving its way through the lives and loves of a Geisha. The tale though fictituous brings to light the reality that geishas lived half-a-century ago.
Memoirs of a Geisha Originally published in Shvoong: http://www.shvoong.com/books/474352-memoirs-geisha/

Monday, May 26, 2014

Comics by women for women - CLAMP

Review:Diotimia


Who says comics are not literature?
Comics are a great combination between the letters and the graphic arts, the union that allows its clear understanding by people at various levels of knowledge, which in theory, make them more democratic compared to books and exhibitions of arts, especially in times of Today, with the advent of the internet, where one can find a plethora of available works, just have patience to make downloads.Como I really like Eastern comics, then they will have the privilege today! Next week we switch to Josi!
Manga are Japanese comics and manga are the artists who give life to them, and perform the work skillfully, nourishing a certain contempt for technological support, their work is handmade, manga are often made only with a fountain pen and ink! In Japan they are taken as seriously as the novels here in Brazil, the industry works in full swing and every year, 3.ooo artists employ as mangaka in Japão.Números impressive, no?As a big fan of this sport literary''m here to defend them and traverse a bit about women who are in them inseridas.Podem be villains, damsels, believe they make a difference! But, however today I speak of women who create the comics! These women who I''m talking use no additional assistant, why not work with goals, but with quality! Each is responsible for a part of the work in making of manga!
I speak of that group CLAMP is one of the most acclaimed groups mangaka today. Emerged in the 80s, when a group of friends decided to get together to publish short works unofficial, so-called doujinshis.Na most often they parodied pre-existing series, such as a classic work of Saint Seiya yaoi.
Yaoi is the part of male homosexual comics, in fact they have different aspects but this is a matter for the future.
In 1987, they decided to start producing their own stories, and 89 received the proposal to officially publish the magazine Wings, RG Veda, was the group''s debut work of CLAMP. After the premiere the group reached stardom, and published major successes that are sure many of us have caught on contact format anime, cartoon deles.Alguns examples are: X/1999, Magic Knight Rayearth, Cardcaptor Sakura, Tsubasa Chronicle , Chobits among many outros.Atualmente the group is composed of artists Mokona, Satsuki Igarashi, Nanase Ohkawa and Tsubaki Nekoi but grew to 11 members at the beginning!His trademarks are the extremely elaborate scenarios and characters where every detail is worked to perfection, see the hair, eyes and clothes prepared, determined the fact that "CLAMP style." It is impossible not to look at a manga or an anime and not know how to differentiate what is and what is not CLAMP. Also the plots are developed taking into account the cultural and religious tradition Nipponese, whose belief is based on animism and anthropomorphism of nature, a characteristic found in Shinto, the great pillar of the essence of the Japanese people.
Therefore, their stories are intriguing issues involving ancestry, mysticism, karma, stories that were not resolved in a lifetime and that will have to be resolved in other incarnations, be they issues of love, friendship, hatred or vingança.Também''s humorous elements and a certain eroticism yaoi and yuri [lesbianism] in their productions. The intertextuality between the works themselves is a very good employee to maintain the loyalty of the public, because they always bring the key piece that will solve some mystery in other works, by the way extended.All these elements makes the manga group CLAMP captivate not only the girls, who are originally directed, but also to boys. I hope the success of the group CLAMP here is inspiring to our group blog! How are gone my links to download some manga group CLAMP, and even then it is not feasible because there are hundreds of volumes, I will put videos of anime adaptations of works some of the girls!
Comics by women for women - CLAMP Originally published in Shvoong: http://www.shvoong.com/lifestyle/hobbies/2359014-comics-women-women-clamp/

Sunday, May 25, 2014

james patterson, best seller book

It is no surprise that in January, 2010, The New York Times Magazine featured James Patterson on its cover and hailed him as having "transformed book publishing," and that Time magazine hailed him as "The Man Who Can't Miss." Recently, NBC's Rock Center with Brian Williams profiled Patterson's prolific career, AARP named him one of the "50 Most Influential People Who Make Our Days a Little Brighter," and Variety featured him in a cover story highlighting his adventures in Hollywood. In 2013, it was estimated that one-in-five of all hardcover suspense/thriller novels sold was written by James Patterson, his books have sold over 300 million copies worldwide, and he holds the Guinness record for the most #1 New York Times bestsellers of any author. And his success isn't based solely on thrillers like the perennially popular Alex Cross, Women's Murder Club and Michael Bennett series. Patterson is now also the current bestselling author in the young adult and middle grade categories. He's been called the busiest man in publishing, and that's not just because of his own books. For the past decade, James has been devoting more and more of his time to championing books and reading. From the James Patterson Pageturner Awards, to his website ReadKiddoRead.com, to his College Book Bucks scholarships and his regular donations of hundreds of thousands of books to schools here in the states and troops overseas (see interviews on Fox & Friends, The Dennis Miller Radio Show and CNN.com), Patterson has passed on his passion of books and reading and supported those who do the same. Jim personally funded a major ad campaign re-printing a recent opinion piece on CNN.com about how it is our responsibility to get our kids reading. The ad has run in the

James Patterson Most Popular Books

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Explore the sights of Inferno alongside Robert Langdon in this exclusive first look at Dan Brown's latest thriller

Q&A with Dan Brown

Q. Inferno refers to Dante Alighieri´s The Divine Comedy. What is Dante’s significance? What features of his work or life inspired you?
A. The Divine Comedy—like The Mona Lisa—is one of those rare artistic achievements that transcends its moment in history and becomes an enduring cultural touchstone. Like Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, The Divine Comedy speaks to us centuries after its creation and is considered an example of one of the finest works ever produced in its artistic field. For me, the most captivating quality of Dante Alighieri is his staggering influence on culture, religion, history, and the arts. In addition to codifying the early Christian vision of Hell, Dante’s work has inspired some of history’s greatest luminaries—Longfellow, Chaucer, Borges, Tchaikovsky, Liszt, Monteverdi, Michelangelo, Blake, Dalí—and even a few modern video game designers. Despite Dante’s enduring influence on the arts, however, most of us today have only a vague notion of what his work actually says—both literally and symbolically (which, of course, is of great interest to Robert Langdon). A few years ago, I became very excited about the prospect of writing a contemporary thriller that incorporated the philosophy, history, and text of Dante’s timeless descent into The Inferno.

Dan Brown
DAN BROWN
Q. Where did do your research for Inferno? How long did you spend on it?
A. Researching Inferno began with six months of reading, including several translations of The Divine Comedy, various annotations by Dante scholars, historical texts about Dante’s life and philosophies, as well as a lot of background reading on Florence itself. At the same time, I was poring over all the new scientific information that I could find on a cutting edge technology that I had decided to incorporate into the novel. Once I had enough understanding of these topics to proceed, I traveled to Florence and Venice, where I was fortunate to meet with some wonderful art historians, librarians, and other scholars who helped me enormously.
Once this initial phase of research was complete, I began outlining and writing the novel. As is always the case, when a book begins to take shape, I am drawn in unexpected directions that require additional research. This was also the case with Inferno, which took about 3 years from conception to publication.
With respect to the process, the success of these novels has been a bit of a Catch-22. On one hand, I now have wonderful access to specialists, authorities, and even secret archives from which to draw information and inspiration. On the other hand, because there is increased speculation about my works in progress, I need to be increasingly discreet about the places I go and the specialists with whom I speak. Even so, there is one aspect of my research that will never change—making personal visits to the locations about which I’m writing. When it comes to capturing the feel of a novel’s setting, I find there is no substitute for being there in the flesh...even if sometimes I need to do it incognito.
Q. What kind of adventure will Robert Langdon face this time? Can you give us any sneak peak at the new novel?
A. Inferno is very much a Robert Langdon thriller. It’s filled with codes, symbols, art, and the exotic locations that my readers love to explore. In this novel, Dante Alighieri’s ancient literary masterpiece—The Divine Comedy—becomes a catalyst that inspires a macabre genius to unleash a scientific creation of enormous destructive potential. Robert Langdon must battle this dark adversary by deciphering a Dante-related riddle, which leads him to Florence, where he finds himself in a desperate race through a landscape of classical art, secret passageways, and futuristic technology.
Q. What made Florence the ideal location for Inferno?
A. No city on earth is more closely tied to Dante Alighieri. Dante grew up in Florence, fell in love in Florence, and began writing in Florence. Later in life, when he was exiled for political reasons, the longing he felt for his beloved Florence became a catalyst for The Divine Comedy. Through his enduring poem, Dante enjoyed the “last word” over his political enemies, banishing them to various rings of Inferno where they suffered terrible tortures.

From Publishers Weekly

The threat of world overpopulation is the latest assignment for Brown's art historian and accidental sleuth Robert Langdon. Awakening in a Florence hospital with no memory of the preceding 36 hours, Langdon and an attractive attending physician with an oversized intellect are immediately pursued by an ominous underground organization and the Italian police. Detailed tours of Florence, Venice, and Istanbul mean to establish setting, but instead bog down the story and border on showoffmanship. Relying on a deceased villain's trail of clues threaded through the text of Dante's The Divine Comedy, the duo attempt to unravel the events leading up to Langdon's amnesia and thwart a global genocide scheme. Suspension of disbelief is required as miraculous coincidences pile upon pure luck. Near the three-quarters point everything established gets upended and Brown, hoping to draw us in deeper, nearly drives us out. Though the prose is fast-paced and sharp, the burdensome dialogue only serves plot and back story, and is interspersed with unfortunate attempts at folksy humor. It's hard not to appreciate a present day mega-selling thriller that attempts a refresher course in Italian literature and European history. But the real mystery is in the book's denouement and how Brown can possibly bring his hero back for more. Agent: Heide Lange, Sanford J. Greenberger Associates. (May)

Monday, May 19, 2014

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas


Five years ago, Carl Johnson escaped from the pressures of life in Los Santos, San Andreas, a city tearing itself apart with gang trouble, drugs and corruption. Where filmstars and millionaires do their best to avoid the dealers and gangbangers. Now, it’s the early 90’s. Carl’s got to go home. His mother has been murdered, his family has fallen apart and his childhood friends are all heading towards disaster. On his return to the neighborhood, a couple of corrupt cops frame him for homicide. CJ is forced on a journey that takes him across the entire state of San Andreas, to save his family and to take control of the streets. Rockstar Games brings its biggest release to mobile yet with a vast open-world covering the state of San Andreas and its three major cities – Los Santos, San Fierro and Las Venturas – with enhanced visual fidelity and over 70 hours of gameplay. Languages Supported: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Russian and Japanese. For optimal performance, we recommend re-booting your device after downloading and closing other applications when playing Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. For information about supported devices and compatibility, please see: Mobile Version developed by War Drum Studios www.wardrumstudios.com

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Veronica Roth

http://www.amazon.com/Veronica-Roth/e/B004FX672S/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&linkCode=ur2&tag=homelive0c-20&linkId=R4JZONB4PIO4GDSU
Veronica Roth was born in a Chicago suburb, and studied creative writing at Northwestern University. She and her husband currently live in the city that inspired the setting of the Divergent Trilogy.
006202406X Allegiant (Divergent Series)
Veronica Roth

0062024043 Insurgent (Divergent, Book 2) (Divergent Series)
Veronica Roth
0062345214 Four: A Divergent Collection (Divergent Series)
Veronica Roth

0062024035 Divergent
Veronica Roth
1442416890 City of Heavenly Fire (The Mortal Instruments)
Cassandra Clare