taryn k.
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My name is Taryn. I'm in my twenties. I come from the land down under. I'm married. I work full time. I like pretty things. My favourite food is watermelon. I hate dancing. I like to talk. I tend to contradict myself. I hate snails. I like you for reading my blog.

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15 July 2011, 2:24 PM
What I'm Reading

It's been quite a while since I did a "What I'm Reading" post, so I've got a few books to review for you.  Everything I've read lately, I've really enjoyed, with the exception of one that I'm a little bored with, but am trying to get through.  Winter has well and truly set in over here, so I've been loving getting into bed early with my ereader and reading for hours and hours.  Where shall we start?

When I last wrote, I listed a whole bunch of books I was planning to read - first of all Garden Of Shadows by Virginia Andrews, the prequel to Flowers In The Attic, since I was in a nostalgic mood at the time.  So I read it again.  It's so damn trashy! I love it! This is probably the third time I've read this book and it always draws me in.  I feel like it's almost a rite of passage for teenage girls to read Andrews' Gothic romances, even though the content is a little unsavoury at times.

For those of you that haven't heard of the series, the novels follow the Foxworth/Dollanganger family, an upper class Viriginian family living in the 70s (I believe).  The general gist is that Corrine, the mother of the central main characters, Chris, Cathy, Cory and Carrie, is disinherited by her wealthy and cruel father, Malcolm Foxwoth, when she marries her half cousin. Upon her husbands sudden and unexpected death Corrine is left to raise the children herself, and with no form of income she feels she must attempt to get back into her fathers good books.  She returns to her childhood home, but must hide the fact that she has borne children to her half-cousin, otherwise she will never be granted forgiveness.  At the time the novels start it is believed her Malcolm is on his deathbed, not expected to survive a month.  The children are hidden away by Corrine and her evil mother, Olivia, in a room with attic access in an unused wing of Foxworth Manor, with the intention of Corrine winning her father back, receiving her inheritance when he passes and then living comfortably with her children.  Unfortunately for the kids, Malcom clings on to life for quite a long time.  What follows is a soap-opera like family drama with so much scandal and shock (incest anybody?), you're left laughing (but enjoying) at the absurdity.  Rumour has it the series was based on a true story, but who really knows how much further Andrews' takes it.

The prequel to the series is told from Olivia's point of view, starting when she and Malcolm courted, right up to the arrival of Corrine and her children of the night of their imprisonment.  There is so much more scandal and so many more secrets in this book that are never even alluded to in the rest of the series, so it is a fun read if you enjoy the other novels.

This novel, and series, is definitely a guilty pleasure of mine, and has been since I was about 12. I'll definitely get around to rereading the rest of the books in this series, but other more exciting books became available to me as soon as I finished this one.  

Namely, the most recent Sookie Stackhouse novel, Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris. I LOVE these novels. Love them.  Especially at this stage of the game where Sookie has broken up with her beloved Bill and moved on to better and blonder things.  Like Eric. Sigh.

I wouldn't really say that this is a spoiler for the TV show since they seem to be going in an entirely different direction than the novels take.  It was a while ago that I read this, so I can't remember all the details, but from what I remember, Sookie is quite happily coupled up with Mr Northman - vampire married actually - and living in relative peace after his maker was killed and the vamp political hierarchy had been shaken.  Then back along comes Eric's boss, with whom there is a long standing grudge since the revolt against the royals a few books back.  He pretty much wants all the people Eric loves dead. Including Sookie.  Poor Sookie.

So then Sookie prances around a little, as she does, interacting with a bunch of different people and kind of wallowing that she is all tied up in supe business, as she does, and making STUPID decisions. As she does.

I did really enjoy this book, but it didn't really seem to end.  There wasn't a whole lot of questions unanswered and it didn't move forward with Sookie and Erics relationship.  We basically left off exactly where we started - which is Sookie isn't sure who she really wants.  At least if theey'd broken up (which I am totally against, just to be clear), we would have at least had some sort of progression. I'm pretty sure Harris has said there are only two or three books left about Sookie, so they're gonna wanna start getting to the point soon. 

I have a terrible feeling she's going to end up with Sam. And that will piss me right off.  I'm just not a fan.


The Hunger Games. Oh my god. I am in love with this series.  I could not put it down.  I downloaded the entire series in a big omnibus form from Amazon (in fact, I downloaded all these from Amazon), because I couldn't find the separate books in ereader format.  So I was reallllllly hoping I liked it.  So yeah, it turned out well.  This is one of the best series I have read in a long time.  You will notice I am quite partial to the teen-fiction genre. Even though I'm nearly twenty four. *shrugs*

Katniss Everdeen, a teenager living in Panem, an almost post-apocalyptic world.  It's Earth, but not as we know it.  The novel takes place, probably a couple hundred years in to the future, in what was the US.   Panem consists of the Capitol, an incredibly wealthy and excessive city, and twelve outlying, poverty stricken districts, which are very much under the thumb of the Capitol.  At some point during Panem's history, the districts tried to revolt against the Capitol and failed miserably.  As a reminder of the failed attempt at taking them down (although it's thinly veiled as entertainment and as a prestigious event), the Capitol produces an annual TV reality show, where they take two teenagers, a boy and a girl, from each district as tributes and have them fight to the death in an arena. So yeah, not a happy world.  Katniss becomes one of these tributes and we see her journey and struggle through this unfair world.

There is a romance factor to these novels, but unlike most teen novels, it's not the most prominent theme.  I think a lot of readers try to reduce it to this (ie. Team Peeta!! Team Gale!!! Team Finnick!!!!!!) but it is so much more than that.  It's a war series, a series about survival, about protecting what is important to you, about how far you would go to protect your own life, about valuing your life above others, about politics and inspiration.  It's also more realistic than other teen novels, in that good characters die.  As I was reading Mockingjay, I got to the point where I was thinking "Is ANYBODY going to survive this??".

I can't say enough good things about these books.  I can't wait for the movie to come out - I really hope they do it justice.

I'll leave it there for now, because I can just see myself rambling on and on - I'll post the next few books in the next couple of days, I promise.  As always, thanks for reading. Talk to you soon :)

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12 July 2011, 6:40 PM
I love ticklish Eric


Best quotes of last nights episode:

Eric: Sorry, it tickled.

Eric: Are you mine?
Sookie: No.
Eric: Do you belong to some other vampire?
Sookie: No.
Eric: Oh. Would you like to be mine?
Sookie: NO!

Sookie: Eric! You just killed my fairy godmother!
Eric: Oh. Sorry.

Pam: I will eat, *beep* and kill each of you.

Jason: If this is an emergancy, dial 9-1-1 and ask for me.

Eric: Who the *beep* is she? Oh sorry. That was rude.

Eric: I know I'm a vampire, Snookie.

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03 July 2011, 8:04 PM
I Wanna Do Bad Things With You

I know i"m a week late on this, but hey.  True Blood is back. Woop woop!  I've seen the first two episodes of the season, and oh my goodness, I am hooked back in (not that I was ever unhooked mind you).

I probably won't do a week by week post because, let's face it, I'm kinda lazy.  But let's chat about what we've seen so far.  Spoilers ahead people, so if you haven't seen it, now would be a good time to click away :)


First off - I am loving Eric this season.   I love Eric every season, but this season especially.  I can't for the life of me understand why they've made
Sook-eh so anti-Eric in the show.  At least in the books she admits she likes his cheeky personality and thinks he is uber-hot, even if she doesn't want to be in a relationship with him at first.  The look on his face when Marnie cast her amnesia spell! And then he was running down the street all topless and vulnerable - just, oh...

Okay, back to the beginning before I get all carried away.  I was a little ehhh when they started off in the Fae dimension, with the fruit and the light and the time difference and the silliness.  Quickly got far more enthusiastic when they started turning evil and throwing weird fae fireballs.  I squealed when they jumped for the portal and Bill and Eric sensed her presence, and actually got teary when Grandaddy died. Seriously.  How pathetic of me.

Jessica and Hoyt are as adorable as ever - even their fight was endearing.  Although, I could've done without seeing Hoyt eating raw eggs. I think I gagged a little there.

Beel didn't annoy me quite as much as he usually does.  He seemed a little less wimpy than usual, and such an improvement with his hair.  Loved the English accent in the 80s flashback scene.  Not sure how he's going to go as the King though.  I was a bit disappointed that they killed off the Queen.  I quite liked her as a character and I thought they still had a bit of use for her.  Oh well.  I really hope they keep Bill and Sookie  apart for at least this season.  They really need to leave that storyline alone for a little while.

Sam was kind of boring.  I'm not really a fan of Sam, I must admit.  I don't dislike him or anything, but I don't think I've enjoyed any of his story lines.  I'm already bored with this Luna thing, but I guess the shifting into another human thing has potential for being interesting.

How funny was Arlene and her evil baby!? Haha. Poor little thing!  And Andy hooked on V - hilarious!

Tara is sooooooo much better as well.  I like that she still has the 'tude, but she's not "the world is against poor little ol' me".  I wasn't particularly surprised that she'd moved on to women for some reason.  Her lover is very pretty too - well done Tara! 

Lafayette was great as always, although I'm not digging the new 'do. 

Jason's storyline is freaking me out already.  Crystal is just a crazy beyotch.  CRAZY. When those panthers started biting, I was like "EEEEEEK!!"   

And finally, thank the lord people, they have actually shaped Sookie's eyebrows into a decent shape.  Really, how hard is it?

I can't believe we have to wait another whole week for the next episode though.  I can't wait to see more of Amnesia-Eric. And I wonder when Alcide will show up again? And does Marnie actually realise what she's doing or is she really just a vessel?  Are the faeries evil?  Will they keep the Eric-Sookie relationship similar to the book?  Are we going to see more of Nan Flanagan this season?  Is Pam going to kick ass when she finds out what has happened to Eric?  Will Russell Edgington break free?  Will Beel spend some time with Portia Bellfleur then find out she's his great-great grandaughter?

Did I mention I'm Team Eric?

   

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14 May 2011, 2:34 PM
30 Day Challenge: Day 03

Okay, yes, so I missed a day.  But it was completely not my fault - blogger was down all night last night, so I couldn't post. This made me very sadface. Yesterday's topic was favourite television show.  Another tough one.  I have at least three.  In no particular order -

One Tree Hill: This is the only show I will wait the entire season until the DVD comes out before I will watch any episodes.  I could never watch this show week to week, I hate cliffhangers. I love the relationship between Nathan and Haley, I love Brooke (although I prefer teenage Brooke), I hate Peyton, I love that they try to pretend like they're all regular everyday people, but they're actually all rich and famous, I love when they're always so shocked when a psycho shows up, since they have one at least once a year.  I'm so excited for the latest season to be released on DVD.

Glee: I love the singing. That's all there is to it really.  After every episode I'm like "Wow. I wanna be a singer.  I wanna be like Lea Michele". Haha.  The one liners are great too.

True Blood: Absolutely love True Blood.  I'm a vampire fan from way back - Buffy is actually another favourite - so this is right up my ally.  I am Team Eric all the way and I love Sookie's accent.  I will watch three episodes in a row and then get confused when the real people in my life don't speak with a southern drawl.  I must admit I get sick of all the Bill love, since I'm a fan of the books first, but ah well.  What can you do?

I'm obsessed with all three of these, I can't put them in any order. And I'm not even going to try.  So there.

Other honorable mentions go to Buffy The Vampire Slayer, LOST, Big Bang Theory, Dawson's Creek, Friends, The City (how can you not love Whitney Port) and The OC.

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26 March 2011, 10:26 PM
Waiting Still Sucks



Two and a bit months to go.

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19 January 2011, 10:37 PM
What I'm Reading - possible True Blood spoilers!

So I'm reading a few books at the moment and I thought I'd share.  I try to read a fair bit, but do find I get busy, or caught up in a DVD series, so I'm not as avid as I was as a child and teenager.  Plus, I used to do the majority of my reading in the car, being driven here and there - but now I obviously drive myself, so no can do (side note: I don't know how I feel about Audio-books.  I feel like that might be handy on my 40 minute drive to work but I'm worried I'd get annoyed at the voice reading the book if I didn't feel like they read it right. Thoughts?).
I have a Kobo Ereader, which I've been downloading to lately - I love it. LOVE it.  Not saying I dislike REAL books, but honestly, the text is EXACTLY the same, you can carry so many with you, it is less expensive, less paper (save the trees!) and...just damn handy.  Plus, I have no more room in my house to store the books I've read - they're piling up I tell you! 
First book is Skinny Bitch by Kim Barnouin and Rory Freedman.  Yes, it is a diet book.  No, I'm not trying to lose weight.  It contains a LOT of content about nutrition, which is what I was actually looking for in a book - I just want to inform myself about different foods, their chemical make-up and what they are doing to my body, what I can eat that might be more beneficial - not fad diets or fasting or anything like that. 
The best advice I can give you about this book?  If you don't want to become a Vegan or Vegetarian, DO NOT READ.  It will turn you off meat, dairy and everything you currently find delicious. If you are open minded to the idea, go right ahead and prepare to be snacking on pumpkin seeds.  A lot of the foods the writers describe as being 'the devil' I don't generally eat anyway, so I've felt quite smug during some chapters - my biggest problem is their cruel, hard facts about cheese. And bacon. And there was a whole section about the way animals are treated in farms that I couldn't really get through.  But, it is quite funny - it's obviously targeted at an overweight female demographic, but most of the chapters (that I've read so far) and interesting and informative, and it applies to everyone that eats...food. 
I'm enjoying it so far - it's the first book of this genre that I've read.  And so far I've eaten no meat since I started eating it, purchased a whoooole lot of fruit and veg, and I bought tofu - not sure what to do with it, but I bought it ;)  I'm also not sure if I will become a fully-fledged vego, but it has made me think a little more about what I put into my body.  Which can only be a good thing.
*sips green tea*
I've already read all The Southern Vampire Mysteries (or True Blood books) by Charlaine Harris, but I found myself on IMDb a couple nights ago trawling the True Blood boards for new info on Season 4 and in turn started a major craving.  I think I generally prefer the books over the TV show, although it's a damn close call (no Tara in the books really - BONUS.  No Alexander Skarsgard in the books - SADNESS), so rather than re-watch season 3 on my laptop (OMG, how painful was the faerie storyline to watch? I don't know if I can go through it again!), I decided to whip out my favourite book from the series.  That would be Dead To The World.  And honestly, I think this is the favourite book du jour for any Eric fan.  Hello shower scene!
I'm about halfway through at the moment, and ahhhhhh, I love so very, very much.  I love the Sookie/Eric relationship so much more than on the TV show - I feel like TB has taken every good part of the Eric character and taken it away.  Apparently season 4 will be centred on the witch theme on this book, so hopefully this includes the Eric-centred plot line. And hopefully he runs down the road semi-naked ;)
I would recommend the book series to any fan of the TV show (although I might warn Bill fans that the books aren't as favourable to him as Alan Ball is) and to anyone that enjoys a good bit of vampire fiction.  Obviously the supernatural genre isn't for everyone, and there does seem to be a bit of a bandwagon at the moment, which I know can be a bit off putting (there is actually a vampire section is a couple of the bookstores I frequent - not a Sci Fi, or Supernatural - Vampire!).  But these are quite a bit more adult than Twilight (which, incidentally, I also loved while I was reading...now I've moved on a little bit), they can be quite raunchy and there are violent scenes throughout the books.  They're a fun read, not exactly challenging, and you can usually pick the culprit a mile away, but fun nonetheless. Thumbs up!
While we're on the subject of vampires, I also discovered today that you can download the Buffy season 8 comic books on iTunes - they've been made into moving picture comics with audio and everything.  I haven't downloaded any yet, but what fun!  I love Buffy!

Lastly, I finished Influence by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen a little while ago.  You already know of my Olsen obsession, but it's taken me years to actually get my hands on this book (yes ACTUAL book).  And I loved it.  The book is a collections   of interviews with people that the twins find influential and inspirational, mostly people involved in fashion and art.  There's photographers, painters, interior designers, fashion designers, models, writers, sculptors, jewelers.  There is also gorgeous photography throughout and the interview subjects are quite interesting, even if you're not a fan of Mary-Kate and Ashley.
Again, a big thumbs up from me.

Sorry if I've bored you with my big, long-winded post about books.  I know it's not a subject I usually post about, but I've been quite into everything I've read lately, so like I said, I wanted to share.  I know I'm not really the best reviewer or critic, so this probably wasn't that informative, but hey.  I had fun writing about it.

I'm still on holidays so you'll probably hear from me again in the next couple of days.  I hopefully will get a couple things up before the weekend, since I won't have time to post (busy, busy!).
Thank you to all the new visitors I've been noticing on my stats page, I'm excited people are finding me in this enormous blogosphere - feel free to leave a comment and share your thoughts :)

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