My Trip to Belfast

Written By: Kellie - Apr• 12•12

About two years ago now, I was at the tail end of my time living in Galway, Ireland. During my time there I was able to go visit several different European travel destinations as if you’re in Europe, you might as well make the most of your time. For me, the most memorable trip I made was to Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was my third time visiting this fantastic city (where my Dad was born) but easily my favorite trip. A big part of this was my visit to the harbor where the Titanic was built, over 100 years ago now. It was incredible!

I took a tour of several important spots, such as the offices where it was designed, I had a look at a lot of the machinery involved and saw the very spot where it sat in the wet dock while it was being built. It was very cool. In the picture I posted you can see the very spot where Titanic began.

One funny story I remember: While they were building they would fill and empty the dock with sea water as needed. At one point, as they opened up the back gate they got an unexpected visitor, a seal! The dock workers spent a lot of time trying to usher the little guy out of the docking area once it was dry again. Picture several grown men running around after a seal. Eventually they called animal services (or the equivalent for 1912) who promised to come in the morning. So everyone left for the day except for the janitorial staff who were working in the same area and within half an hour of the dock staff leaving, someone saw the seal hop up the full flight of stairs with no trouble and jump back into the water. Clever guy!

The entire experience really made me feel a little closer to the Titanic story, as if being where part of the story happened, made me a small part of her history. I’m still learning a lot about the Titanic now, but this trip really got me excited again to learn as much as I can about Titanic.

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Titanic: Disaster at Sea- Philip Wilkison

Written By: Kellie - Apr• 10•12

Review copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Synopsis: Experience all the drama and tragedy of Titanic inside the pages of this richly illustrated narrative. With a pull-out poster and double gatefold diagram, Titanic: Disaster at Sea is brimming with facts, stories, and fascinating people. From the technological creativity of Titanic’s construction to unselfish sacrifice in the face of disaster, this comprehensive book will satisfy readers with its exciting, up-close look at this amazing true story of triumph and tragedy. For ages 8-14.

Review: Even though this book is technically for children and younger teens, I actually managed to learn some interesting things about The Titanic. Titanic: Disaster at Sea was broken down into very easy to follow sections that covered generally basic information but always managed to put an interesting spin onto every section. There is a lot of information here for both Titanic junkies and those who are new to the story alike.

I loved the illustrations that came with this book. They were realistic enough to help to capture the feel of what was going on while being cartooney enough to minimize the bleak feeling that inevitably comes with The Titanic (that not everyone may want to share with their children). There were also helpful little information blocks dispersed within the full paragraphs as well in order to show both the larger picture as well as some of the more interesting tidbits that help capture the mystery.

I would absolutely recommend this book to both people looking to introduce their children to the story of the Titanic and those who are looking to add to their own Titanic book collection with something a little different.

Buy the book @Amazon (US) @Amazon (CAN)

Rating:

 

 

 

Second Opinions:
@Kid-Lit Reviews
@Looking Glass Reviews

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Blair Beed Guest Post: Titanic Week

Written By: Kellie - Apr• 09•12

I am Blair Beed and I am a Halifax tour guide. As with any good tour guide I am a storyteller of the history of my city. (Well there are some that are joke tellers and restaurant critics or read from company notes-but that is another story). I have been telling the story of Halifax and Canada for 39 years and realize you have to be interesting to the listener just as a book has to be interesting to the reader.

It happens that my grandfather was an undertakers assistant helping with preparing the Titanic dead when they arrived in Halifax. So I grew up with that story and also live quite near the three cemeteries where the Titanic dead are buried. Taken together that was a natural story to tell on the motor coach tours of Halifax.
Over time I gathered information on Titanic and after a good response to my book ‘1917 Halifax Explosion and American Response’ I wrote a book on the victims of the Titanic buried in Halifax.
Halifax was in the news from the vary time that it was known that Titanic hit an iceberg. First stories were that Titanic was being towed to Halifax, then survivors were going to Halifax. Then it was the dead being taken to Halifax.
Halifax was the closest mainland port to the sinking disaster with rail access for friends and family to come to identify the dead, people to prepare the bodies and places for the mourners and the newspaper reporters to stay. The White Star Line decided that many of the bodies brought to Halifax would be buried in one of three graveyards in the city. The 150 victims buried in Halifax is the largest burial of victims other then in the sea. Walking in the graves gives reality to the story.

The sinking of the Titanic is not the largest or worst disaster in numbers of dead in the history of the sea. However it happened in a period in history when the world had time to notice. It was the maiden voyage of the largest moving object in the world and the time it took to sink gave survivors vivid stories to relate to the waiting world. The lights were on, the band was playing, some of the richest people in the world were on board. Families were separated and the ocean was calm and clear.
What people do not know about the Titanic was that during and after the two world wars it was almost forgotten until Walter Lord wrote his book ‘A night to remember’ which was followed by the British and American movies. Since then it has been a story kept very much alive.

Never quite clear in the movies was that the Titanic was not racing to win a record for speed in crossing the Atlantic. It was not built for speed to match faster ships of other passenger lines. However the Captain was directing a ship that was going too fast for conditions and even though the course was changed to go futher south if all the ice warnings had been received and treated more seriously the disaster might have been avoided.
Finally many believe the sinking made the rule lifeboats for all. In actual fact the passenger lines had planned on having lifeboats for all passengers and it was not until crews and their unions protested that lifeboats were provided for all on board the ship, passengers and crews.

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Titanic Week Kick-Off

Written By: Kellie - Apr• 08•12

Welcome to Titanic Week at ReaWrite.com! I’m sure there are quite a few weeks like this going on all across the internet but I have always had such an interest in the Titanic and have been keeping track of any special occasions to mark the 100th anniversary, that I really sort of had to participate.

For me, my interest in the Titanic probably initially stemmed from my second trip to Belfast which is where my dad was born and where the legendary ship was built. I was about ten years old and got a Titanic papers set which had copies of menus, boarding passes etc. All kinds of things to spark the imagination. A few years after that is when James Cameron’s movie came out and I really started to understand the significance of this story. This is also when I realized that it came from the same country my dad did and ended up (albeit tragically) right here in Canada. I was hooked.

Since then I’ve read several books about the Titanic, visited the old ship yard where it was built and seen the Titanic exhibit in New York City where they even had a giant block of ice you could touch to get a feel for just how cold that water was the night Titanic sank. So, this week I want to talk about all things Titanic. I hope some of you will jump into the discussion as I know this is something that interests sooo many people and I would love to hear what you all have to say.

This week at ReaWrite.com
-reviews of various Titanic books (we are still a book blog after all)
-a guest post from Blair Beed, author of Titanic Victims in Halifax Graveyards
-lots of interesting facts about the ship and her passangers
-a run down of my last trip to Belfast a couple years ago while they were preparing for the 100th anniversary

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A personal note

Written By: Kellie - Apr• 07•12

So I wanted to take a minute to tell you all about something that is completely unrelated to books, except in that it is what has taken me away from reading for the past few weeks. This past Thursday my best friend and I hosted a fundraiser for our local humane society. The Starlight Soiree was a charity gala for a really wonderful organization (The Mississauga Humane Society) which is run completely by volunteers and saves about 500 pets lives every year.

We had over 130 guests, some amazing prizes and a lot of fun. We planned the whole thing ourselves in just a few months and were really blown away by how enthusiastically the community came together to help. It was definitely exhausting to get the whole thing from concept to completion but it’s something I’m really proud of so I just had to share. I was actually going to write about it yesterday but I ended up sleeping A LOT, as I was a litttllleee over tired.

Anyways, we have some great stuff coming up… Titanic Week starts tomorrow as I have been a big Titanic buff for a really long time and have read some really great books this year that have come out to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the sinking. After that we have Self-Pub week because I believe self published books are a pretty fantastic thing and that there are some great titles out there worth sharing.

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Fair Coin- E.C. Meyers

Written By: Kellie - Apr• 04•12

ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for a fair an honest review.

Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Ephraim Scott is horrified when he comes home from school and finds his mother unconscious at the kitchen table, clutching a bottle of pills. The reason for her suicide attempt is even more disturbing: she thought she’d identified Ephraim’s body at the hospital that day.

Among his dead double’s belongings, Ephraim finds a strange coin—a coin that grants wishes when he flips it. With a flick of his thumb, he can turn his alcoholic mother into a model parent and catch the eye of the girl he’s liked since second grade. But the coin doesn’t always change things for the better. And a bad flip can destroy other people’s lives as easily as it rebuilds his own.

The coin could give Ephraim everything he’s ever wanted—if he learns to control its power before his luck runs out. -Goodreads

Review: As soon as I read the blurb for Fair Coin I knew it was a book I would enjoy. The concept by itself is pretty cool– flip a coin, change your life. It doesn’t turn out to be quite that simple (surprise, surprise), but Fair Coin definitely kept me guessing throughout the entire book.

Fair Coin offers a really interesting take on exploring what could be, within your own life and ends up taking a bit of scientific what if turn later on that will absolutely get your brain going on the possibilities within your own life. While the main character wasn’t exactly someone I have a lot in common with, I still found him easy to root for and someone I could imagine hanging out with which is what usually determines if a book is one I’ll stick with until the end.

My only real issue with the book was that I had trouble getting attached to any of the secondary characters. I never really got to the point where I felt like I knew who they were as individuals (which makes sense within the context of the book but still made it hard to get attached to the characters or to really root for anyone besides Ephraim). Honestly, I don’t even know how I would fix this while staying true to the idea of the story (sorry, you really have to read this to know what I’m talking about) but something just didn’t click for me.

While the story didn’t blow my socks off, I have to give credit here for getting me thinking which is what will make this book stick in my head for at least a few months to come. I’ve already had a couple moments since reading the book a week or so ago, where something seemingly minor has reminded me of Fair Coin. I know I’m being purposefully vague in this review but I really don’t want to give too much away as I absolutely think this is a YA title worth reading.

Buy the book @Amazon (US) @Amazon (CAN)

Rating:

 

 

 

Second Opinions:
@Mindful Musings
@Justin’s Book Blog
@Hooked to Books

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The Fairy Godmother- Mercedes Lackey

Written By: Kellie - Apr• 02•12

Synopsis: In the land of the Five Hundred Kingdoms, if you can’t carry out your legendary role, life is no fairy tale….

Elena Klovis was supposed to be her kingdom’s Cinderella — until fate left her with a completely inappropriate prince! Determined not to remain with her stepfamily, Elena set out to get a new job — and ended up becoming the Fairy Godmother for the land. But breaking with “The Tradition” was no easy matter. True, she didn’t have to sleep in the chimney, but she had to deal with arrogant, stuffed-shirt princes who kept trying to rise above their place in the tale. In fact, one of them was so ornery that Elena could do nothing but change him into a donkey.

Still, her practical nature couldn’t let him roam the country, so she brought the donkey — er, the prince! — home to her cottage to teach him some lessons. All the while keeping in mind that breaking with tradition can land everyone into a kettle of fish — sometimes literally! -Goodreads

Review: I read this book for the first time back in 2005, not too long after it had come out and liked it but  couldn’t fully get engaged in the story. For some reason, I’d been getting this nagging feeling lately like it was time to reread The Fairy Godmother and I’m glad I did. The 500 Kingdoms series is a perfect blending of old fairy tales with new twists and turns which manages to offer something to all kinds of fantasy fans.

First off, I love that this story is self contained. The rest of the books in this series explore the same world but mainly focus on a new character for each book so we really got see the main character Elena from the beginning of her journey to a point where everything is wrapped up and we are left to imagine our own, what happens next. It’s great! I know a lot of us like an occasional change of pace in knowing that a book will leave us desperately needing the next book and instead we can get some closure

The big draw to the 500 Kingdoms books is the world that Mercedes Lackey has created. Within The 500 Kingdoms, there is an unseen force at work, pushing people down well worn paths of well known fairy tales. The tradition wants these types of stories to keep happening and doesn’t care one way or the other if it’s a happy ending or a tragedy. There is so much potential to be worked within these stories as any character can find themselves in any story as long as the circumstances are right.

What makes The Fairy Godmother a great first book in this series is that the main character, Elena is being introduced to this concept as well as she is recruited to be a new Fairy Godmother within a small set of kingdoms and so we learn with her how to guide The Tradition to give things the best shot at a happily ever after and to see how all of this has shaped the world all of these characters live in. Elena is a great character, head-strong and really likeable, so it’s a lot of fun to watch her go from a would be Cinderella to someone helping to shape the world around her.

I’m almost tempted to rate this book a five star because it really is a perfect example of what it’s supposed to be and I loved it. It just wasn’t a mind-blowing, can’t put it down book for me (it’s a fairly long read) but I can totally imagine it is exactly that kind of story for other people like die-hard fantasy or fairytale fans. I’m looking forward to checking out the next books in these as I’m pretty sure I’ll keep falling more and more in love with these stories.

Buy the book @Amazon (US) @Amazon (CAN)

Rating:

 

 

 

Second Opinions:
@Steph Su Reads
@All About Romance
@Bite My Books

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A bit of a reading rut

Written By: Kellie - Apr• 01•12

Lately I’ve noticed that my average rating for reviews has dropped  by a star. The reason for it… I just haven’t been wowed by anything lately and am feeling pretty blah about it. (My next review is a four star, but I wrote that awhile ago). Not to say I haven’t enjoyed any of these books, I’m just really craving something I can lose myself in for a bit and while some titles have gotten close, nothing has quite pulled me all the way in.

It’s possible that it’s just me, and how busy I’ve been is knocking my book-radar off balance, but I don’t think so. I’m reading more than usual in my spare time as books seem to be the only thing that can really give my brain a breather.

So! I am looking for some recommendations. Have you read anything lately that you just couldn’t put down? Let me know in the comments!

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Goddess Interrupted- Aimee Carter

Written By: Kellie - Mar• 31•12

ARC received from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Synopsis: Becoming immortal wasn’t supposed to be the easy part. Though Kate is about to be crowned Queen of the Underworld, she’s as isolated as ever. And despite her growing love for Henry, ruler of the Underworld, he’s becoming ever more distant and secretive. Then, in the midst of Kate’s coronation, Henry is abducted by the only being powerful enough to kill him: the King of the Titans.

As the other gods prepare for a war that could end them all, it is up to Kate to save Henry from the depths of Tartarus. But in order to navigate the endless caverns of the Underworld, Kate must enlist the help of the one person who is the greatest threat to her future. Henry’s first wife, Persephone. -Goodreads

Review: I still can’t get enough of books with modern takes on ancient mythology. Seeing new takes on stories I grew up with is just so much fun for me, and I’m sure for a lot of you as there are more and more books in this genre. But for me, the first books that come to my mind when I think Mythology YA are Aimee Carter’s Goddess books.

The mythological world that main character Kate has found herself a part of by book two in this series, finds a wonderful balance between the old and the new. All of the gods maintain their original personas while still managing to be modern people I can easily picture. I really enjoy the complex relationships between the different deities and it’s interesting to see how Kate manages to work herself into this ancient family.

That being said, I found the plot of Goddess Interrupted kind of hard to follow and a little confusing and so I never managed to get fully immersed in the story, which was disappointing. I just never got to the Oh WoW, I love this book stage. It was still a fun read but I felt like it could have used a bit more polish. The danger in this story is interesting as it absolutely pulls from the very core of Greek mythology, it just could have been a lot more well defined.

I still feel like this book is a great sequel to the first book in the series, The Goddess Test. The two stories flow really nicely, one into the next so I definitely want to see where these book go next and how this story works into the series as a whole.

Buy the book @Amazon (US) @Amazon (CAN)

Rating:

 

 

 

Second Opinions:
@Candace’s Book Blog
@The Book Pushers
@Read, Breathe, Relax

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BEA Planning- Part 2

Written By: Kellie - Mar• 28•12

So, I’ve made a lot of progress in planning my New York trip for BEA and wanted to share it, and really to have everything written down somewhere so I can remember every little detail about this trip from planning to an epic IMM post at the end.

So, four exciting and very lucky things for Kellie.

1) I’ve found roommates, and I really couldn’t be happier. I met Kate (Midnight Book Girl) at BBPOC and she mentioned that herself and two other super fantastic book bloggers Kim & Cindy were looking for a fourth roommate for BEA. Things went from there and I’m in! I’m so happy as while I feel like I would trust pretty much anyone in the book blogger community, I think I will also feel really comfortable with this group which will make the whole trip that much easier.

2) My mom and her sister have long been considering doing a big sister bonding weekend in NYC and have decided to drive up (8 hours!) for the weekend after BEA, which means 2 things for me. A- I’ll get to stay in NYC a little longer and bunk in with them and B- I’ll be driving back with them which means I have a car full of space to take my books home which should save me a good chunk of change on shipping books back to Canada.

3) This also means I only have to book a one way journey and I’ve decided to go by bus even though I get kind of car sick and it’s 11 hours. The things we do to save money. I got a great deal with Greyhound. $40 because I booked so far out! Hurray!

4) I finally registered for BEA! I’d been putting it off for so long because it felt like this trip was too good to be true.

Anyways, that’s all for now but this trip is really starting to come together and feel real. 70 days or so and I’ll be there! Ahh!

Are any of you going to BEA as well? Do you have much planning left to do? I think my next step is getting myself some business cards!

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