Where would you want to live in the ASoIaF. world?

*THE ISLE OF FACES*

To explain my choice:

1) Being half irish and having lived in ireland for many years, and having heard so many local fairy/ghost stories from my relatives, I’ve always had a love of all things fantastical and mythical in any shape or form.

That being said after reading A Game of Thrones for the first time and looking into the back stories of Westeros, I’ve become fascinated with the Children of the Forest and the Weirwood trees, mostly because they’re VERY similar to the Fairy Trees I’ve read about in Gaelic Folklore.

2) If I had to choose between Westeros, Essos or Sotheros - I’d definitely choose Westeros as it has the green forested landscape I love (and isnt ridiculously hot)

Essos is beautiful, dont get me wrong but Im not comfortable with a) slavery and b) the chances of being slaughtered by a Dothraki Horde 

Sotheros, of course is a no brainer - uninhabited jungle full of unknown beasties.

3) Anyone who knows me knows I can be quite … reclusive :P opting to sitting in quiet corners of coffee shops, bars or a grassy knoll doodling/sketching over coffee instead of going out to clubs and getting sandwiched between creeps. I LOVE forest areas - one good point to the Isle :)

On top of that I’m ridiculously bad at conflict - I would be useless in a fight - though I am actually good at archery (for some weird reason) I not the fittest person so would probably die quite quickly :P

SOOO I’d want to be in a place secluded and well protected with lots of protective cover.

And where people would be reluctant to visit.

So the Isle is perfect for me :)

Covered in a forest of Weirwood, surrounded by a lake, thoroughly creepy to deter people - altogether very mysterious.

Build a nice secluded place, fish, hunt and occasionally scare the life out of some townspeople when I stop by for a visit ;D

Perfect :)

Favourite Character from the book or show

This is a really hard question because there is so many I love

my favourites hands down are:

Arya Stark (because she’s a tomboy and a smart alec ;D)

Jon Snow (because he’s the broody guy that really needs a hug, and a looker)

 Tyrion Lannister (because he’s TYRION for God’s sake xD)

But after reading A Clash of Kings and seeing Season 2, there’s a new winner in my book

and that winner is Jaqen h’ghar.

Tom Wlaschiha has done THE perfect rendition of Jaqen anyone could ever imagine.

He’s mysterious and charming, in a stab-you-in-the-neck-for-a-price kinda way

<3

So Jaqen it is :D

At first, I was apprehensive about reading A Monster Calls for two reasons: 1) because it was classed as “Young Adult” or “teen” fiction, of which I rarely find anything worthwhile and 2) Because I have read enough mediocre books of the “fantasy/horror” persuasion to write my own.

A Monster Calls though, is far from disappointing.

A wonderfully intense emotional journey, with the kind of hard truths that everyone fears to acknowledge, I myself felt that uncomfortable twist in my stomach at some of the chapters.

Ness’s wonderful literary style makes you want to read it cover to back in one sitting, and read it again and again.

With such a desensitized new generation, very few books of late have evoked so much emotion from myself. As such, this is definitely one of my most memorable and all-time favourite reads.

Also, I am officially in love with Jim Kay, the Illustrator in charge of these:

Jim Kay’s Website

Patrick Ness’s Website

SCORE: 5/5

I’ve officially made this one of my favourite reads ever on my Goodreads :)

guardian:

Beautiful bookshelves

Fun Bookshelf Designs

youngwordsoldheart:

It’s not a good novel without a great, complex, villain.

Not a, “Ha! I’m evil for evils sake!” but one, for example, like Irene Adler. She is a villain, she carries out crimes, tricks and manipulates the hero (Sherlock) and profits at the expense of others.

But if you go into context, for a woman of her time, that is a major accomplishment; to be on level (if not succeeding it) with a man.

Olives: A Violent romance - Alexander McNabb

On Olives so far:

Mr McNabb is a local author who finally published his own book independantly after years of hard work - Congrats! :)

Was kind enough to visit the TwitbookClub at our usual haunt in Wildpeeta for an interview about his book. We had lots of laughs and got author insight on the story.

@ The Back:

When Paul Stokes runs out of choices, his only path is betrayal. 

The fragile peace is holding. Behind the scenes, the Israelis are competing for dwindling water resources as Jordan and Palestine face drought. Daoud Dajani has the solution to Jordan’s water problems and is bidding against the British for the privatisation of Jordan’s water network. 

When journalist Paul Stokes befriends Dajani’s sister, Aisha, British intelligence agent Gerald Lynch realises Paul offers access to Dajani - the man threatening to drain Israel’s water supply and snatch the bid from the British. Blackmailed by Lynch into spying on Dajani, his movements seemingly linked to a series of bombings, Paul is pitched into a terrifying fight for survival that will force him to betray everyone around him. Even the woman he loves. 

Olives explores love in conflict, the pull of home set against the excitement of the new and a people trying to live alongside the conflict we see on television, the human stories behind glib media coverage that reduces the ebb and flow of existence to a few throwaway catchphrases. Forced to spy for his country, Paul finds himself embroiled in a struggle for survival between good and evil where the people he wants to see as the good guys are worse than he could ever have imagined.

So far the storyline has got me sitting on the edge of my seat what with the looming cloud of uncertainty you feel for Paul and the Dajanis as he struggles with the pressures of spying on his friends or face persecution.

Also constantly guessing about the relationship between him and the lovely daughter of the Dajani family - Aisha - and whether or not they’ll have a happy ending.

Before anyone starts to assume this book is just feeding off the political and human rights situation in Palestine, I would tell them not to shove the book onto that shelf just yet.

McNabb hasn’t made it a clear-cut Good vs Evil political intrigue, as is so monotonously used in most cheesy propaganda-esque novels. In fact the line is quite blurred.

Both “sides” have a darker element to them - they’re not all pristine and transparent - as most of these situations are in reality. And its the realistic imagery (utilised from years of living in the Middle east) that immerses you into the Olives world.

I’m excited to see where it leads.

Want more info? Check out the Olives Blog

So far the book is only published and for sale in Bookstores in the the UAE, but is available for delivery from The Book Depository for approx £10 (shipped free to over 100 countries including US :] )  

It’s available on Kindle here

Available for shipping in the US on Amazon (paperback $11.51) here

Also available on iBooks and Barnes & Noble. Just search “Alexander McNabb”

Alexander MacNabb on Twitter

TwitBookClub on Twitter

:)