The Rendition Experience

All those times when I despaired because I was almost done reading a book have come to an end for me. Unfortunately, so has my willpower and ability to cope with more mundane things like house chores.

The world of fan fiction has given me back the characters I love in the long hard times when an author has to write a book and publish it. Sadly, this means that the book that I got hooked on suddenly turns into a whole universe with hundreds of stories. So far this has meant that meal times are an excuse to sit and look at the tiny screen of my smart phone absorbing a little bit more of the worlds I missed when the book was finally closed. I have also learnt to walk while reading and engineered some contraptions in my kitchen in order to have my laptop near me while cooking or doing the dishes.

However, make no mistake! These stories are not just amateur half arsed compilations. These are written by talented people that are so passionate and imaginative that a lot of the stories rival the books themselves. There are a lot of talented writers that seem to just lack the base. Their favourite stories provides them the platform in which to unleash their imagination.

My favourite fan fictions are book based, but there is a whole universe out there. Pick any topic (be it a Movie, a book or a TV series) you want and all you need is to let your imagination reign free.

Ok, ok so I cheated a little and went straight onto the third book, I just could not help myself!!

I'm telling you addictive!

This book is wrapped once again around Bella and Edward and countless enemies (mainly vampires) that hanker after this young woman. I'm telling you she is either the unluckiest girl in the world or the luckiest it does depend on how you look at it.

Jacob Black features prominently in this story as well, Bella surrounds herself with guys who have big BIG secrets, Jacob is no exception.

I hate to say too much about the story at this point, after the film has come out I may say more, most people probably already know this gist of the tale. Vampires have a mortal enemy and have done so for centuries that is apart from the Cullens who because of their strange way of living have a truce with said enemy.

The story centres around this truce and the now apparent competition between Edward and Jacob for Bella's love. This is brilliantly done I might add, it has the right amount of jealousy mixed with humour that make it so enjoyable to read, it's almost like it's being acted out in front of you. The uneasy truce between Edward and Jacob for Bella's safety makes you laugh, and cringe when emotions run raw.

I have to say though my one critique of the whole sage is Edward's slightly over controlling demeanour toward Bella and her seemingly inability to think for herself when he's not around. At times I really want to slap the girl tell her to stop whining and pull herself together, for Vampire or not he is just a boy and he hurt her, she should definitely not let him have so much control. Throughout the book I can see that he is simply guilt ridden over what he did to her and now wants to protect her at all costs, I suppose I can understand that a bit, but I do like it when Bella gets brave and rebels.

Her friendship with Jacob Black has however come at a price as he now feels for her, just as strongly as Edward does and in some ways he is much better for her, (I feel). I enjoyed this story thoroughly and once again read it in two nights (I do have to work and sleep at some point). The story moved me more than the other two, I really feel how torn Bella is as the characters are so well written, if I had to choose between the two, I am not too sure I could.

The book kind of ends on an anti climax, which is good in a way as the story the climatic end is yet to come. But I once again have to promise myself to keep writing. Breaking Dawn will be my reward. I just hope something else just as potent to read comes out so I will continue to give myself the motivation to write lol or I will just read the saga again.

I digress, very well written, and more thought provoking and multi faceted than the other two, there is a maturity to this book that is lacking in the others, I find this deepens the book and gives it more meaning, suddenly the world isn't all Bella and Edward anymore and I like it.

Well, I kept my promise to myself, I wrote more of my story before I allowed myself to buy this, the second book in the Twilight saga. If you dont know what Twilight is by now, then you've been living under a rock or clearly have more of a live than I do lol.

To the book!!

This tale is following directly on from Twilight continuing the romance between Vampire Edward Cullen and human teenage girl Bella Swan. This story however takes a dramatic turn and becomes a story simply about Bella. I shall explain.

*Small Spoiler alert - do not read if you wish to read the book first hand or see the up and coming film*

It begins with Bella's 18th birthday party thrown for her by the Cullens, and due to an accident (they happen frequently to Bella as she is a trouble magnet) she gets a paper cut on her finger and a single drop of blood appears, this causes Jasper (Edwards adoptive brother) who struggles to control his thirst, to try and attack Bella, Edward intervenes (of course) and sends Bella flying which results in a serious gash on her arm and now free flowing blood. This is not good for the vegetarian Cullens who dont drink human blood. Carlisle, the Doctor is the only one who stays with Bella to stitch up her arm. This is when all Bella's troubles begin.

Edward quite understandably freaks out a little and distances himself from Bella before finally telling her that he doesnt want to be with her anymore and that he and his whole family are leaving and it will be like he never existed, (I was sort of expecting this as he can be very melodramatic at times, forgive me if I am too attached lol). He leaves Bella in the forest, heart broken and a complete mess.

The next few pages simply have what month it is on each as it passes for Bella, who is pretty much zombified by Edward's disappearance. And if anyone out there has felt the pain of a seriously broken heart, then you'll find that a nice touch to the book, in those few simple words Stephanie tells you of Bella's state of mind and how badly hurt she is. The real story begins when Bella seems to come out of her waking comatose like state and starts hanging out with family friend Jacob Black.

Jacob appeared briefly in Twilight and it was plainly obvious he had a soft spot for Bella despite being slightly younger than her. He is a fun loving character who enjoys taking risks such as cliff diving and riding his motorbike. Throughout the book the two teenagers become very close, with Jacob making his feelings toward Bella not so subtle. Now Bella is still hurting badly because of Edward but feels quite safe and happy when she's with Jacob, as I read personally, I found myself becoming more in tune with the Jacob character and hoping that somehow she would choose him.

The book goes on obviously with Edward coming back into it, but with a twist which I dont want to spoil for you, all I can say is well done Stephanie, the book kept me gripped once again from beginning to end and I do so hate the band wagon I am neither a teenage girl nor a twilight mum and I love this saga so far. It's addictive and innocently written, it is by all accounts simply a romance based in a fantasy, written in such a way that you can go back to believing in Vampires and magic and true love.

See for yourself, let go and enjoy!

I have been reading several medical thrillers by Patricia Cornwell and while they have been extremely entertaining, they did not thrill me anywhere near as much as Gravity by Tess Gerritsen. I am slowly coming to terms with the fact that it is not thrillers in general that I love. It is Tess Gerritsen!

She is an extremely versatile writer. Gravity brushes on the sci-fi category. The story is about an apparently harmless organism that starts multiplying in a space station and infects and begins killing its occupants. At the centre of the story we have a heroine again. Emma Watson becomes the space station's physician when the current physician is forced to come home due to his wife suffering an accident.
When the organism starts killing the habitants inside the space station, they see themselves stranded and unable to come back to Earth. It is Jack (Emma's nearly-ex-husband) that will do everything in his power to bring her back home.
The book started quite technical to get us used to the NASA setting which made it a bit difficult to start for a NASA newb like me. However, once I got used to the acronyms, the story flowed wonderfully. The story had everything I could possibly like in it. There was the romantic tension between Emma and Jack and the realization of true love when facing disaster. The biology of the organism infecting the crew was interesting and kept me on edge. I really thought they were all going to die and that there was no cure possible.

I was expecting an average story due to the change in genre but it was great. I loved it.

I picked this book up from the MIL's shelf when I had finished Patricia Cornwell's "Postmortem" at the start of my weekend away. I may write about it later.

The author wrote about his experience with a very troubled Border Collie.
I thought it would be a bit of frivolous reading to avoid my boredom. It was afterall, nothing more than a guy's experience on raising a Border Collie (I have one too... Big Deal!). I read the introduction where the author mentions all the dogs he had before and I itched to read more. I was surprised but put it to the fact that I love dogs, so it would only be natural to want to read more about them.

Jon Katz managed to drag me into his life and feel what he felt even without seeing what he saw. His emotional honesty was humbling and brave. It was very personal and made me feel like I was just a friend listening to him tell his tale. I laughed when he was happy or annoyed at "things that dogs do" and I cried when he suffered.

I can't forget that it wasn't just his writing that got me interested in the book. Devon (the trouble dog) is the most amazing (real) dog I ever read or heard about. His intelligence, cunning and pride that I can only really see a hint in my own dog, were so outstanding that sometimes I thought there had to be a person's soul inside him. This book is a wonderful insight into the mind of the misunderstood Border Collie and I a reference to any person thinking of getting one. I shall recomended it to any person thinking of getting one in the hopes that less of this beautiful breed end up in kennels.

Arthur Golden's "Memoirs of a Geisha" left an itching curiosity to learn more about this secret world. I was searching for Liza Dalby's book about her experience in becoming a Geisha when I stumbled upon this book.

Despite being an autobiography, it isn't the correct factual content that charms you to keep on reading. Sayo Masuda, can only write in hiragana (one of the three alphabets required to write comprehensively in Japanese). This is the equivalent of a small child's ability. Yet she found it within her skill to portray her story in a simple way, baring her emotions honestly.

The main difference between this book and the many other Geisha themed books out there is that Sayo Masuda did not write it for profit or fame. She remains anonymous within her own community and her current family has not even read the book.
The reasoning for writing her story was unveiled for the first time by G.G. Rowley - the person responsible for translating the book into English - when for the first time Sayo Masuda decides to meet someone due to the book.
The story may not be chronologically accurate or full of factual content, but Sayo Masuda and G.G. Rowly do a wonderful job at involving us emotionally in this real tale.