I created an account on Shelfari a while back, but never really got into using it. Just today I decided to revisit it, to see a lot of really nifty improvements, both in the look and feel and with the feature set. I love that you can segregate books according to once you plan to read, are reading, and have already read — plus you can specify if it’s a favorite, if it’s a wishlist item, and/or if you own it.

The last few meta information that the collect is fabulous. I’ll admit I haven’t frequented a lot of book library sites (because it’s always frustrated me at some point) but this last bit was something I was looking for in these types of sites for a long time. I don’t necessarily have all the books I’ve read, after all. A lot of my books are kind of co-owned with my sister. Having these options made me go into a book-adding frenzy.

Until I got frustrated because the editions I wanted weren’t exactly there, did not have the right title, and/or did not have the right cover. For example, I have The Gunslinger put up as The Dark Tower, even though it’s obviously not — it’s only part one of The Dark Tower series, people!

I don’t know if it’s just me, but I’m nitpicky enough to need them to list it correctly, and to get annoyed that I can’t get the right entries. I had the same problem with the books from The Chronicles of Narnia, which is a travesty! I now don’t have Voyage of the Dawn Treader and Prince Caspian in my shelf precisely because of this. Not to mention, the books in my shelf aren’t all from one edition! It’s annoying, really annoying.

What online book library sites do you use? Is there something better than this, that maybe I just haven’t explored enough? Or should I just roll my own?

Finally getting around to that book meme Tina tagged me with a good couple of days ago. I kept putting it off because I have five, read it, five draft posts still waiting to get posted.

The rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people and post a comment on Tina’s blog (she’s the one who tagged me) once you’ve posted your three sentences.

I started reading Eldest by Christopher Paolini just yesterday, as I wanted something not very intellectually or emotionally taxing, and I had previously picked it up at the last MPH warehouse sale (book haul coming soon).

They soon left the buildings and found themselves crossing the barren fields at Tarnag’s base. Beyond those, they reached the stone quay that edged the still, gray water.

Waiting for them were two wide rafts tied alongside a pier.

I am now tagging:

1. Angela
2. Caroline
3. Michelle
4. Danielle
5. Lenneth

I just finished Christopher Paolini’s Eragon, after resolving to read it since it’s been turned into a movie (no, I haven’t watched the movie, and yes, I heard it wasn’t good). As a YA fantasy novel, to me it was pretty typical: fast-paced adventure, magic, dragons, a likeable protagonist who is coming of age. It was an enjoyable read, and I’ll definitely be picking up the next installation soon.

(Spoiler warning! I will be talking about some plot elements that affect the ending of the book.)

I don’t exactly know if I feel it’s doing a good bit of foreshadowing or if it’s too much. I obviously haven’t read Eldest, but already I feel like it’s going to be a no-brainer. For one thing, Angela the witch’s foretelling of Eragon’s future felt like… wait, already? So we already know there’s a near-death, someone who’s family will betray him, and there’s a noble love on the horizon.

I felt the near-death would be Brom right off. I mean, seriously, who else was it going to be? Who else (who’s still alive) was close to Eragon other than Roran, Brom, and Saphira? If Saphira dies, there goes the story. There was a chance it would be Roran, but I felt that Brom would make more sense, more impact.

And besides, there was the whole thing about the betrayal of someone who’s family. That instantly pointed to Roran, but! We skip to the end of the book, where we, omg, find out about Murtagh’s past. Murtagh Son of Morzan who, when sparring with Eragon, was his equal in every respect, even when they tire. There was mention of them being so alike each other, but yet differing in beliefs. Let’s not forget Murtagh’s mother, who came from an unknown village, who mysteriously left when Murtagh was three, and returned just as mysteriously.

Oh, what’s that about Eragon’s mother? His mother, who had become apparently rich, went home to Garrow five months pregnant with Eragon, gave birth, and then pleaded that he be raised there, and then disappeared. I mean, seriously? You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to put, omg, two long-lost brothers together and, in the end, have them face each other in a heart-rending, emotional battle between good and evil! Not to mention battle for the heart of a noblewoman, Nasuada, apparently. There was a stray thought about it being Arya, but you never know. Would that be possible in Eragon’s world?

Okay, maybe I’m wrong about some of these points. I don’t even know what I think about all these guesses of mine. I feel like, what, why is this so easy?? I don’t know if I enjoy it, making all these guesses.

I’m moving along well with the challenges I’ve taken on. As it stands, I’m right on target with 50 Books for 2008, ahead of myself with New Reads for 2008, and on time with What’s in a Name. I have to thank Carrefour for the book sale they had a week or two back… I […]

Saw this around (from Lenneth’s post, actually): Tor Books has a promotion called Watch the Skies, which seems quite mysterious but has free digital books as part of it! Obviously this deals with the science fiction and fantasy genre, and the next book (at the time of this writing) is Old Man’s War by John […]

Lately I’ve just put down Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire and I have to say that it was brilliant — I loved the fully-realized political and spiritual backdrop for the tale, and Elphaba was certainly a character. She’s the title character, but it was […]

A happy, hopeful new year to all!…even though it’s past mid-January already.
I pretty much disappeared after mid-November–from my writing log, anyway–mostly due to a lot of things happening at the same time. Some of them are personal, but most of them were work-related and season-related. I flew home to the Philippines on December 20, flew […]

I hadn’t written more than 700 words the two previous days, but as Singapore is on a holiday today, I tried to catch up. I did pretty well, I think:
NaNoWriMo 2007words: 20,299 / 50,000 (41%)
That’s almost half of the goal by the eighth day, which isn’t bad at all (this might still grow within the […]

So today I think I overreached myself a bit; my Excel report card told me I would finish by November 13 if I kept this speed up. That’s because I’m now at:
NaNoWriMo 2007words: 10,466 / 50,000 (21%)
I stopped myself from writing more this afternoon mostly because I don’t want to suddenly inexplicably burn out, and […]

Courtney posted on her reading blog a few days ago about What’s in a Name?, an interesting reading challenge that spans one year, and requires one to read at least six books in that span of time. Seeing as this merges well with my 50 book challenge practice, I’ve decided I’ll join.
Basically, one has to […]