Bookssssssssssssss

"There was a time when I believed I was the redeemed one, the boy borne safely home on the ebb of whatever freak tide carried Peter and Jamie away. Not any more. In ways too dark and crucial to be called metaphorical, I never left that wood."

I just finished reading In The Woods by Tana French, great book, it'll keep you on the edge of your seat, I guarantee it! I started The Book Thief two days ago and lovin' it! From what I've read it seems like a very unique novel and I can't wait to go deeper into it.

Critics Say. . .                        In The Woods, Tana French
[French] sets a vivid scene for her complex characters, who seem entirely capable of doing the unexpected. Drawn by the grim nature of her plot and the lyrical ferocity of her writing, even smart people who should know better will be able to lose themselves in these dark woods.

Marilyn Stasio - New York Times

Readers who like their hardboiled police procedurals with an international flair will love Irish author Tana French’s debut novel... In the Woods is as creepily imaginative as it gets.
USA Today

                                               The Book Thief, Markus Zusak 

The Book Thief is unsettling and unsentimental, yet ultimately poetic. Its grimness and tragedy run through the reader's mind like a black-and-white movie, bereft of the colors of life. Zusak may not have lived under Nazi domination, but The Book Thief deserves a place on the same shelf with The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank and Elie Wiesel's Night. It seems poised to become a classic.

USA Today - Carol Memmott

[A]n absorbing and searing narrative.

Washington Post - Elizabeth Chang 

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summertime and the living is easy

Ahh Portugal, SUCH a nice country...! I lived most of my life in Africa and in the U.S, but I'm proud to say I'm Portuguese even though I don't enjoy speaking the language too much because it stresses me out. I go to Portugal every summer to see my wonderful family and wonderful friends, for me it's the best time of the year. Ohhh the nostalgia! Anyways, I mostly stay with a group of friends and cousins and we go around doing just about anything, jumping from place to place like gypsies, going to the beach every day without wearing sunscreen (and getting the worst possible sunburns as a result) and doing loads of stupid things.
These pictures were taken last summer though, I'll be posting NEW ones as soon as I set foot in Portugal, I haven't bought my plane ticket yet which is really a bummer but I'm very very excited. I'll be staying at my aunt's gorgeous house in Lisbon for some time and get a job somewhere, I might even translate a book from Portuguese to French (ya, my first language is French) and thennnn move around a bit.
Anyways, I have to go walk my dog, this time not in heels ha, and study for my driver's license.
PEACE

06/05/2010

Let me just tell you, Montreal is the greatest city in the world. Some people say Montreal is America's "Paris" or Canada's own (little) Big Apple. Don't know if you've ever been there, but Montreal CANNOT be compared to any other city. I've been to Paris and New-York, trust me, Montreal's unique and wins hands down.

Ok, so I finally finished organizing my computer and, as I promised on the last article, I'm posting part of my "salvaged" pictures.
Didn't do much today, I walked my dog with my sister, a rather intense activity because my dog isn't a normal dog and has the strength of an ogre, despite his size. He's a Jack Russell. Again, don't let appearances fool you. This is how it goes: -he pulls you forward and you try to slow him down by pulling the leash so hard that he starts choking on himself and making scary breathing noises, -going downhill is a pain because you end up running after him with your arm sticking out, -going uphill isn't so bad because he's actually doing the walking for you, -when he sees people he goes bananas and starts barking and jumping around, perhaps of joy, I'm not sure really (I know babies intimidate him) -and finally, when he sees other animals of his kind and not of his kind (rabbits, birds, squirrels) he goes bananas but to a whole new level, as in the leash flying out of my hands and my dog Spot (yeah I know, original eh?) disappearing into a bush. He eventually comes back, but yes that's walking my dog. Oh yes, another thing, I walked him in high-heels, (something my sister warned me not to do) fell obviously and now my knees look like a war-zone haha.
Anyway shit happens, karma's a bitch.

1.8 Million

Hello! I'm eating peach Greek yogurt as I write this. Just thought you should know. My computer's finally getting organized which is a maaajor relief and really a delight as I am finding more and more pictures I didn't realize I had. It's like turning your attic upside and going through your childhood again, except in this case it's not my childhood and let's face it, looking at forgotten albums on your desktop is far less poetic than the attic scene. Still, I thought I should do something with these poor, abandoned photographs, revive them in a strange way. I have massive amounts of them, of course I didn't plan on posting them all, just a few relevant ones. I actually think I might do one more article like this. Anyways, these pictures were taken both on the night before the Inauguration of president Obama (YES WE CAN!) and on the day of the Inauguration. Not only did we celebrate the most anticipated Presidential Inauguration of all time, but we also celebrated one of my best friend's birthday. Wicked deal eh? We stayed at a friend's house who lived downtown (15 minutes away from the Capitol by car), we had to get up at five in the morning, one because we had to WALK there, and second to avoid missing something. The toughest of us stayed awake the whole night and at 5 in the morning, on Tuesday the 20th of January, there we were with our winter boots and army coats marching towards what was the biggest event in American history. It took us a long time to get there, it seemed like forever and on top of everything I think it was the coldest day of the year. We had tickets so we weren't far from the Capitol and we saw the Swearing-in Ceremony annnd the Inaugural Address. The whole thing BLEW my mind; you could smell the hope in the air (and hot dogs) and it felt like we were in the 70's or in Woodstock. We were among the 1.8 million people who attended the Inauguration and hell, I was tired and I couldn't feel my toes (my whole body would be more precise, just sayin') but I wouldn't change the experience for anything.