Feb 28, 2011

Tiny Ball of Light, by Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley



I laughed so hard when this was on! It was amazing, the best part of the ceremony. The other "songs" were brilliant too, but I couldn't find them on You Tube.

Did you watch the Oscars?

Everyone on the internet is saying that Anne Hathaway and James Franco didn't live up to hosting it, but I loved what they did, it was fresh and funny and adorable.

Anne's dresses were great, and James' dress was too! :D

xo,
Ella

Feb 25, 2011

Finding Hogwarts and LeakyCon 2011

Through this youtuber I found this:




Seven people traveled to the UK to find the magical castle that lights up our imagination. And they made a documentary about it. And it'll be featured in LeakyCon this year.




I long to go to an event like this one, where I'd be with hundreds of people who love the same things I do, and who wouldn't think I'm crazy for quoting Harry or any of the other characters at any given moment.

And I'd love to see Finding Hogwarts. It sounds like the most brilliant thing ever made, after the HP films.

Have you ever gone to LeakyCon, or are you going this year?
xo,
Ella

ps: Please excuse the lack of images, I seem to be having a problem with Photobucket, but I'm fixing it!

Winner of Madame Tussaud!

And the winner is... Colleen Turner!
She'll receive a signed copy of Michelle Moran's latest book, Madame Tussaud, and this lovely pair of earrings.

Congrats Colleen!


-------------------------

Did anyone notice that I passed the 170 followers mark? When did that happen?!
I am thrilled! I wanted to thank those who read my blog often, you're wonderful!
And since you're so wonderful, I'm thinking of having a giveaway. But not until I reach 200 followers and this blog turns two, in a month! TCM will be two years old on March 28th!
So, help me reach 200!

xo,
Ella

Feb 24, 2011

In Loving Memory of L.K. Madigan


I just found out about this terrible event and it has me in tears. Author L.K. Madigan has passed away from pancreatic cancer, yesterday, Feb 23rd. 

Lisa Wolfson was her real name, but she published her two YA novels under the alias of L.K. Madigan because she didn't want to scare off the male readers, which she considered "rare, elusive creatures". She was 47 years old. 

Her first book, Flash Burnout, won the William C. Morris Award, a Northamerican honour given by the the American Library Association to the best book for young adults by a first-time author. Her second book, The Mermaid's Mirror was published last year.

In her last blog post she wrote:
I’ve been lucky for twenty years. I was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 27, and I didn’t expect to make it to 32. But I did, and once I passed that five-year mark … I started to think I was going to live. At age 34, I had my beautiful son. Two years ago, my dream of being a published author came true. And during these twenty years, my beloved has been by my side. We rode the marriage roller coaster together, sometimes laughing and sometimes screaming.

So lucky.

I’m not angry about the diagnosis. How can I feel angry when I had this gift of time? I’m not even afraid of dying. We all die, and I made my peace with that a long time ago.

I don't know what else to say, other than I'm shocked. 

Lisa, you will be dearly missed by everyone who knew you and those of us who didn't, but still get to read your work. Through it, you'll live on. 

We'll see you in your next life, which I'm sure will be just as thrilling and full of creativity as this one was. 

Feb 14, 2011

Blogger Lovefest: Yahong Chi


Today, I'm celebrating Valentine's Day for the first time ever! I was assigned to a Secret Valentine, and I got one too. I wonder who mine is.

The Valentine they assigned to me was Yahong Chi, a European children's writer and blogger.

Some facts about her:
  • She lives in Canada and reviews books for several magazines.
  • She wants to visit Australia, like me.
  • She loves Avril Lavigne, like me!
  • She's a wannabe writer.
  • She interviewed Beth Revis!
Yahong, you have a wicked cool name. You live in Canada, which means you can speak English and a little French, languages I love. You love Avril-freakin-Lavigne! You're a writer, and even though I'm not planning on getting published anytime soon, I write too.
All in all, you're awesome.

This song is for you:



Happy Valentine's Day!
xo,
Ella

Feb 7, 2011

Have you caught the love fever?

I've never really celebrated Valentine's Day; it's a Northamerican holiday that's just now spreading across the globe, and I'm still reluctant to see it all as a good thing, because I think it's completely capitalistic and a huge market for almost every gift card/teddy bear/flower/chocolate/etc. etc. seller, especially the big companies.

BUT!

This post is about the good side of Valentine's Day.

Tahereh Mafi, Sarah Enni, Kate Hart and Kristin Miller are having a Valentine's Day Blogger Lovefest. And I think that's really cool. You'll be someone's Secret Valentine, and someone will be yours! And there are a couple other things you can do too.

Check out those links and see how you can join!
xo,
Ella

Feb 5, 2011

Book of Shadows (Sweep, #1), by Cate Tiernan

Book of Shadows (Sweep, #1), by Cate Tiernan on Goodreads

Release Date: March 22nd, 2007
Publisher: Puffin
Age Group: Young Adult
Categories: Paranormal, Witchcraft, Religions, Wicca, Family Issues,
Source:Web
Overall: 5 Monkeys
Read on January 2011





Summary from Goodreads:

Morgan thinks witchcraft is laughable when her best friend Bree drags her to a meeting of the Cirrus Coven. But during a cermony led by Cal, Morgan's long-time crush, Morgan feels a shock. Suddenly everything looks brighter, clearer. Morgan doesn't want to get involved with witchcraft-but she feels like witchcraft is choosing her.
My Opinion:

This is an old book, that was first released back in 2001, but it's like reading about today or last year. Nothing much has changed since then, "high-school-wise", in terms of cliques and such.

BoS is like reading a diary of a girl who makes the transition from Catholic (or Protestant, it didn't say or I don't remember) to Wicca, the witches' religion. And by Witchcraft, I don't mean devil-worshipping or pinning needles into a voodoo doll. I mean, a completely tolerant and nature-focused religion. I know about it because I've been reading about Wicca for a year now. So when you hear the words Wicca, Witchcraft and witch all in one conversation, don't jump to the conclusion, "Oh, so she/he's gone dark and from now on will be wearing black and listening to satanist rock bands," because that couldn't be more off the point. 

But this isn't a lesson on Wicca or Paganism, or History, for that matter. 

Morgan (conveniently named that, since Morgana was a powerful witch in the Arturian era) is a sixteen year old girl. Simple, the my-best-friend-is-prettier-than-me type, who knows nothing about witches... until Cal comes along.

Cal is your typical hot new boy in school, but there's something else about him. He's a witch (not a wizard -that's in Harry Potter only, people!- nor a warlock -that's in Charmed!-, but a witch. In Wicca, there's no distinction between male and female when speaking of witches.) 

Cal gets along with everyone in school, he's very sociable and likeable, and that's how he invites a group of people to celebrate Mabon with him (Mabon is the Autumnal Equinox). Morgan and her BFF, Bree, apart from other people, go to the Circle (think about it like Mass for Witches). 

Immediately, Morgan starts to feel different, elated. Until she passes out. Cal will later explain to her and the others that she fainted because she's a very strong energy conduit. 

Morgan starts to feel something for Cal, something she's never felt before for a boy. But, so is Bree. Bree claims she's in love with Cal, and Morgan will step aside to leave room for her to go after him.
You can see what's going to happen there, can't you? Boy drama.
A major revelation takes place in the end. The pace is fast, but not rushed, and you hardly notice you're done with the book (at least, that happened to me. The book was done before I realised it!).

The Sweep Series consists of fifteen books, I'm already reading the second, and it's just as great as this one. It's also getting re-published, and with a facelift! They're now out in bind-ups of three titles each (you should be able to find the first three books, meaning nine titles -three in each book- in bookstores now).

Cate Tiernan is also the author of the Balefire Series and the Immortal Beloved Series.
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