tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40312735837071710682011-12-13T19:58:27.484-08:00The reading habits of an early 20's Aussie girl.Nicole Juliette Canalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16682301976977772625noreply@blogger.comBlogger181100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4031273583707171068.post-80101327784075787652010-09-16T18:03:00.000-07:002010-09-16T18:04:54.199-07:00

So I have a new blog. One that I *actually* intend to follow this time!If you are interested in what I've been reading, please go check out hownotokissavampire.blogspot.com

Nicole Juliette Canalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16682301976977772625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4031273583707171068.post-32864740049238620052009-11-22T15:31:00.000-08:002009-11-24T06:42:49.034-08:00

Little Brother is a book that I cannot recommend highly enough. Whether you are a geek that wants a book where you get the in jokes, a non-geek who wants to understand geeks, or anyone at all that wants a book that will make them really think about the way the world works, then this book is extremely excellent.This book was especially powerful for me because I went into it not knowing what to

Nicole Juliette Canalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16682301976977772625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4031273583707171068.post-69314837467560496172009-11-20T23:03:00.000-08:002009-11-22T15:31:19.067-08:00

... and are wondering what happened to 'next week's' post of over a year ago, Real Life(TM) has somewhat interfered with the running of this blog. For the curious, this mostly consisted of full time jobs, angst, and a very serious car accident. Recently however, circumstances have conspired to make me reconsider what is important in life, and I have realised this blog is something that I very

Nicole Juliette Canalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16682301976977772625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4031273583707171068.post-58984190930683289822008-03-13T19:37:00.000-07:002008-03-13T19:39:24.191-07:00

Teen fiction has a bad rep. When some people think of teen fiction they think of the Sweet Valley High style romances. They think of the trashy "I have to find a boyfriend and look perfect and manage my mazillion friends" kind of books. Usually, I just try point people towards the masses of really awesome teen fiction out there, but this week i was feeling a little ambitious. I challenged

Nicole Juliette Canalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16682301976977772625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4031273583707171068.post-6544208080955540952008-02-24T21:30:00.000-08:002008-02-24T21:34:09.638-08:00

The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl is a book that I was either going to love or hate. It's a book about two subcultures that are very close to my heart, yet are often abused in popular media. When I first saw this book, I was scared it was going to be just another gimmick. Fortunately, Barry Lyga is a true fanboy at heart, and between this and his spectacular grasp of the craft

Nicole Juliette Canalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16682301976977772625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4031273583707171068.post-75596693745934008792008-02-16T04:40:00.000-08:002008-02-16T07:11:44.451-08:00

Nightrain, by Judith Clarke, is one of the of the saddest and most depressing books I've ever read - but I still love itv I'm yet to find anything else that talks so openly and honestly about how hard life can really be. The book beings with the funeral of the protagonist, Luke, as told from the point of view of his two sisters: Naomi, 5, and Molly, 16. Naomi's account especially draws you

Nicole Juliette Canalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16682301976977772625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4031273583707171068.post-49012294510105085612008-01-18T20:11:00.000-08:002008-01-18T20:16:59.629-08:00

Brian Caswell has two talents that a strongly admire; the ability to create characters that will capture your attention and emotions from the start, and the ability to subtly insert moral lessons in his work while still keeping it (mostly) lighthearted and entertaining. His latest anthology, Loop, contains a mix of both speculative fiction and realistic stories which are all examples of what

Nicole Juliette Canalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16682301976977772625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4031273583707171068.post-61882361878091973872008-01-11T17:00:00.000-08:002008-01-11T17:24:45.788-08:00

My first impression of the Water Horse, based on the book by Dick King-Smith, was that we were finally going to be treated to a traditional children's movie, full of the joy of discovery and the value of friendship. I took my whole family to this movie, rather than something like Golden Compass or Enchanted, because I thought that it would be a nice movie about a cool little critter that

Nicole Juliette Canalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16682301976977772625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4031273583707171068.post-71102506356969974472008-01-09T15:37:00.000-08:002008-01-09T15:50:53.974-08:00

Snow Crash is one of those books that just by reading the first chapter you are a better person - it's that damn cool. Authors often put a lot of effort into making their opening pages memorable - but I still don't think I've read or heard anything that caught me in quite the way Snow Crash did. Even if you have no interest in reading the book itself, I strongly encourage you to read that first

Nicole Juliette Canalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16682301976977772625noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4031273583707171068.post-76175293730151536622008-01-01T16:39:00.000-08:002008-01-04T18:37:40.031-08:00

Whenever I hear about yet another childhood favorite being turned into a movie, I'm always at least a little scared, if not outright terrified, about how they are going to butcher whichever beloved book they have just turned their sights upon. Fortunately, I am often good at forgetting about the rumours until I actually see a preview - and in the case of the Northern Lights adaptation this was

Nicole Juliette Canalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16682301976977772625noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4031273583707171068.post-65052688787349486062007-12-02T21:46:00.000-08:002007-12-02T22:37:42.615-08:00

One of the reasons that I love YA books so much, is that the well written ones act as something of a guide to life. For the curious teen (or adult) they are a way of saying "What would happen if... " or "What will happen when...". While every book is about this exploration into other people's worlds, YA is somewhat special because it's target audience are still at a stage where they are desperate

Nicole Juliette Canalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16682301976977772625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4031273583707171068.post-66220097866638067802007-11-09T22:36:00.000-08:002007-11-09T22:39:26.926-08:00

I am a sucker for a good fairytale. I believe that there are things we have to learn in this life, and I love the idea that are mischevious beings out there that want to teach us. Even if there aren't, I love that there are other people that think that way too. Juliet Marillier is one of the masters of fairytale. Her adult trilogy (Daughter of the Forest, Son of Shadows, Child of Prophesy)

Nicole Juliette Canalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16682301976977772625noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4031273583707171068.post-62865666057652509142007-10-23T19:16:00.000-07:002007-11-09T21:43:09.419-08:00

In some ways I don't like Cassandra Claire. There is no rational reason for this, though if you believe internet rumors there could be plenty. I'm fairly sure that the only reason I have for not liking her is a sense of extreme jealousy. Cassandra Claire has gone from being a ridiculously popular fanfiction writer, to being a ridiculously popular novel writer and hanging out with some of the

Nicole Juliette Canalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16682301976977772625noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4031273583707171068.post-37616347714792233672007-10-17T23:01:00.001-07:002007-11-09T21:43:21.740-08:00

Seeker has all of the elements of a good fantasy movie: unsuspecting protagonist, mysterious bad guy, large family of boys, including mischievous twins and a cute younger sister.... does this sound familiar to anyone? While I can't blame the plot, which was written by Susan Cooper well before Harry Potter had even been thought of, I can't help feeling that this movie made not by someone who

Nicole Juliette Canalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16682301976977772625noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4031273583707171068.post-25397926458872661562007-10-06T18:00:00.000-07:002007-11-09T21:43:53.322-08:00

Yesterday I read Dairy Queen. I chose this book because I wanted to sound like I was writing a year eight book report it reminded me of an old anthology I really like, Confessions of a neo milkmaid.It turned out to be nothing like confessions, it turned out to not even be australian. I had to learn this the hard way, after going "but country life isn't like that" I needed a walmart reference to

Nicole Juliette Canalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16682301976977772625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4031273583707171068.post-57991202655922127942007-10-01T02:53:00.000-07:002007-11-09T21:45:28.109-08:00

I've been interested in reading "Does my head look big in this" for a while. The catchy title alone is definately a draw point, plus it was getting a fair amount of media attention. As it turns out, I read Randa Abdel-Fattah's second book, "Ten things I hate about me" first, so I'll talk about that first.The book begins with a class of kids just come back from school holidays, talking about the

Nicole Juliette Canalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16682301976977772625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4031273583707171068.post-84229574620868843062007-08-14T01:57:00.000-07:002007-11-09T21:44:58.528-08:00

When considering this project, i am forced to consider whether I have the ability to be impartial, or more accurately, do I have the ability to write a bad review? See, my problem is - I seem to like everything I read. Some books seem a little slow, or a little simple, or i may not like a specific character, but in general, I like everything I read. So, my goal in this blog is to show WHY i

Nicole Juliette Canalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16682301976977772625noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4031273583707171068.post-11406249107825070392007-08-13T23:03:00.000-07:002007-08-13T23:17:55.032-07:00

As a 21 year old, with friends who read operatic sci-fi and epic fantasy, I often get shit for reading what they describe as 'trashy teen fiction'. I will admit, that some of the books that I read deserve this description, but a lot of the stuff is very well written, very intelligent, and by no means trashy. I would like to be able to share some of the good Young Adult novels I've found with

Nicole Juliette Canalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16682301976977772625noreply@blogger.com1