the eclectic authoress recommends...

50. Unspoken, by Sarah Rees Brennan

Unspoken is the first in the Lynburn Legacy trilogy, followed by Untold and Unmade. It's about the secrets of a sleepy English town, the tropes of Gothic novels, a teen investigative reporter, and two people who can talk to each other in their heads. The characters are funny and fully developed, and I fell in love with each and every one of them (except for the one or two I hate). The relationship between Kami, the protagonist, and Jared, the boy in her head, is agonizing and beautiful. I would recommend Unspoken to anyone, anywhere, without hesitated-- it is storytelling as its finest, with themes pulled from long-ago novels slipping naturally into the present time.                                                

the eclectic authoress recommends...

49. Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

Dead Welsh kings, raven boys, school crests, Latin classes, a house full of psychics, a 1973 Camaro, street racing, caves, a magical forest that moves, missing mothers, friendly hit men, and a girl who makes "energy" stronger-- this is Maggie Stiefvater's series. Blue Lily, Lily Blue is the third book, preceded by The Raven Boys and The Dream Thieves, both of which are stunning. Delve into the world of fast cars and sleeping kings for a few hours--it will most definitely be worth it.

to do

Two weeks ago, I was challenged to write down ten things I was thankful for each week. It's a wonderful exercise to bring you back into a mindset of thanks and joy, and I thought I'd share the idea as well as my list of ten things.

1. Reading Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi

2. "Dancing with the Stars" starting it's new season

3. My car battery being replaced

4. Movie night and bonfire with my friends

5. Painting my nails

6. Lots of birds outside my window 

7. Milkshakes with a friend

8. Talking about syntax

9. Reading writer's blogs and gaining inspiration

10. Eating peanut butter cake

the greats: annika of the pineneedle collective

Inspired by so many amazing women I've been seeing around me- on the internet, in my life, or in print- I've decided to start a new series. Much like stuck in my head or recommendations, "the greats" will share what I love or admire- in this case, people. Without further ado, the first great of many: Annika of the blog The Pineneedle Collective.

Annika is a fashion blogger, but The Pineneedle Collective goes beyond that title. She promotes ethically-sourced fashion, which means refusing to support companies who may use sweatshop labor. To do this, she thrifts (which, if made by an unethical company, doesn't give them any of the profits) and makes her own clothes. She's also studying science in university (and integrates it into her blog posts!), showing that a girl can be smart and pretty and interested in fashion. Largely due to praise being based on appearance instead of academia (or athletics, or art, etc.), girls are underrepresented in scientific fields. People like Annika are important in adolescence, showing that girls can truly be whatever they want.

And so, I applaud Annika as a feminist role model and generally adorable person, and invite you all to look at the lovely pictures and text adorning her blog.

stuck in my head

Annie Clark, more popularly known as St. Vincent, is an American singer-songwriter. She plays several instruments, and began her career in various bands before branching out on her own. A few recommendations:

Cheerleader

Regret

Happy listening! 

stuck in my head

New Zealand is not a country usually associated with music; in fact, it is much more often associated with sheep. For a country that has more wool-producing creatures than musical ones, however, this almost-Aussie country has been making quite the name for itself in the music industry. It all began with the prodigy pop sensation Lorde, who I spoke about in an earlier blog post. Several New Zealander musicians have been following in her footsteps, including brother-sister duo Broods. I have only recently discovered them, and have already fallen in love.

To introduce yourself, try these lovely tracks:

Mother and Father

Bridges

For this talented duo, I predict great things. 

the eclectic authoress recommends...

48. 1776, by David McCullough

I absolutely love history, so when I found out 1776 was required reading for one of my classes, I wasn't perturbed in the slightest. As I read it, I found my expectations were met with flying colors. A wonderfully written, painstakingly researched project, 1776 is the book all histories aspire to be.

the eclectic authoress recommends...

47. "Welcome to Night Vale Radio" is a podcast written by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor, describing a strange desert town. It features the musical weather, mysterious lights above the Arby's, and frequent announcements from the Sheriff's Secret Police. It mixes the completely nonsensical with the surprisingly deep, and is a twice-a-month wonder.

liebester nominations

So, my friend over at the blog Fountain Pen Girl has been nominated for a Liebester Award, which is an award designed to bring attention to relatively unknown bloggers. Apparently, I have to answer eleven questions about myself, then pass it on to a few other bloggers. Here are the questions I was given:

1. Character you love to hate?

Mr. Rochester from Jane Eyre. He has so many problems and so many flaws ("no, I'm not already married, no, my wife isn't hidden in the attic"), but goodness gracious he is beautiful.

2. Book/series that needs to be adapted into a movie/TV show right now? 

We Were Liars, by E. Lockhart. I've talked about this book before, I believe; it's one of my favorites of late. But seriously, it's absolutely wonderful. Also, I'd like to see a miniseries done of A Series of Unfortunate Events, with each book like an hour and a half long episode. The movie for that was completely inaccurate.

3. Author you wish you could write like?

Kurt Vonnegut

4.  The most horribly disgusting, terribly written book you would burn all the copies of if you could legally?

I'm rather against book burnings in general, honestly. I mean, if you burn one book, what's to stop people from burning them all? We don't want to be in a Fahrenheit 451 sort of situation here.

5. Biggest fandom?

"Sherlock"

6.  Novel/series you've written fanfic of/want to?

I haven't written any fanfics (and don't really plan to), mostly because working with characters that aren't your own is tricky. I'd probably go with something from Harry Potter, though.

7. Favorite forced school reading book?

The Lord of the Flies

8. Least favorite school reading book?

Silence, by Shusaku Endo

9. First book/series obsession?

The Boxcar Children

10. Three authors you'd invite to lunch/tea/dinner?

Kurt Vonnegut, Charlotte Bronte, and Sylvia Plath

11. Bookstore you'd raid if you had a $1000 gift card?

Barnes & Noble


Now, I'm supposed to pass this nomination on to eleven bloggers; however, I don't actually know that many, or follow a lot of semi-unknown blogs. I would, however, like to mention a few.

Aerin at artist17b

S.J. Bouquet

I'm not going to type out questions for them, since there are only two, but I would certainly recommend a look at their blogs.

have I become a library?

Now that summer has finally arrived, I've been able to do a lot more reading. Books are some of my favorite things, and (of course) I love to talk about them. Here are a few my most recent reads, and my recommendations.

We Were Liars, by E. Lockhart

Saying too much about We Were Liars would be devastating- this is really one of those novels that is best to go into without presuppositions. The plot is something that needs to be realizes as it's read. There is a rich, rich family, a group of four friends, a summer island, and a secret. I was on the edge of my metaphorical seat throughout my reading of it. (Also, there might have been tears.) We Were Liars is a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful book- I recommend it to absolutely everyone.

A Voice in the Wind, by Francine Rivers

This novel certainly exceeded my expectations. It is part of a series, but this is (so far) the only novel of three I have finished reading. A Voice in the Wind is set in long-ago Rome, when the empire has practically destroyed Jerusalem and the gladiator games are the peak of societal outings. The novel follows a large cast of characters, including the Jewish slave Hadassah, who is trying to hide her Christian faith in Rome, Marcus, her master's ill behaved son, Julia, his little sister- quickly following in his footsteps, and Atretes, a German warrior turned gladiator. Incredibly interesting and unexpectedly developed, Rivers certainly weaves a wonderful story.

13 Little Blue Envelopes, by Maureen Johnson

This Young Adult novel gives wanderlust a new name. Ginny (our protagonist) has an artist aunt who's always doing unexpected things- like a few years ago, when she practically disappeared. Or, rather, Ginny had an aunt; Peg passed away while living in London. All Ginny has left of Peg is a series of letters, held in- as the title illustrates- thirteen blue envelopes. These letters send Ginny all over the world, to Paris, to Rome, to Amsterdam, and always to a new adventure. The absolute best part of this novel is the places- reading about backpacking in Europe creates a definite want to travel.