Monthly Archives: October 2007

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

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Title: The Golden Compass (aka The Northern Lights)

Author: Philip Pullman

Series: His Dark Materials #1

Genre: Fantasy Steampunk (YA)

Pages: 432 Pages (Hard cover)

Original Publication Date: 1995

Overall Rating:
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Summary from Shelfari

It was no ordinary life for a young girl: living among scholars in the hallowed halls of Jordan College and tearing unsupervised through Oxford’s motley streets on mad quests for adventure. But Lyra’s greatest adventure would begin closer to home, the day she heard hushed talk of an extraordinary particle. Microscopic in size, the magical dust–found only in the vast Arctic expanse of the North–was rumored to possess profound properties that could unite whole universes. But there were those who feared the particle and would stop at nothing to destroy it. Catapulted into the heart of a terrible struggle, Lyra was forced to seek aid from witches, gypsies, and formidable armored bears. And as she journeyed into unbelievable danger, she had not the faintest clue that she alone was destined to win, or to lose, this more-than-mortal battle….

My Thoughts

I loved the story itself very much and I loved the story’s ideology because it’s so different from the norm and it made you think. I can’t wait to watch the movie when it comes out in December and I can’t wait to read the two sequels, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass.

I read this because of a book club I’m in with Erin, Becky, and Gentry–a few of my co-workers. Interestingly, I was the only one who liked the book. None of them enjoyed the religious undertones, which I thought were interesting and gave the book depth.

The Golden Compass begins when Lyra Belacqua–an orphaned, eleven-year-old girl–secretly enters the Retiring Room, despite resistance from her dæmon, Pantalaimon. Little do they know that by witnessing the events in the Retiring Room, their lives will change forever. Inside the room, Lord Asriel (Lyra’s uncle) shows the resident scholars a picture of mysterious elementary particles called Dust.

Dust is a source of contention in Lyra’s world. The Church fears it and will do anything–ethical or not, usually the latter–to find out what Dust really is and how to destroy it because they think it’s the cause of original sin. Because of this belief, children turn up missing with rumors of death and/or experimentation.

Lyra and Pantalaimon are catapulted into a series of dangerous obstacles they must overcome to save the missing children. Secrets are learned along the way and encounters with nomads, witches, and armored bears are just some of the adventures Lyra and Pantalaimon have.

What to Say

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I love my blog, but I feel like I’m running out of things to say or write about. My life is just too boring without an upcoming release of another Harry Potter book or another book in the Twilight series.

I know I could post about work, but I think that would bore you. I could post about how far I am in reading The Golden Compass, but I decided to write about that when I’m done. I really don’t have a lot of things to say right now.

Almost everyone I know has cute kids to write about on their blog or that they’re expecting a cute kid in the near future. I think kids make it easy to have something to write about, but I’m not about to have a kid just so I can have something to say on my blog. But … thank goodness for my friends’ cute kids!

Corey and I watched Jack and Sheridan yesterday, so Ali and Tyler could watch the BYU game in the president’s box. I don’t know how Ali does it! We only watched them for five hours and she takes care of them 24/7. Jack and Sheridan are so energetic. I get tired just watching them. They were really good for us and we had a lot of fun with them.

One of the first things Jack did for us was try to pick himself up. It was quite funny. He stood in the middle of the living room, grabbed his pants at his legs, yanked on them as hard as he could, and said, “I can’t pick myself up!” Corey and I chuckled.

After Ali and Tyler got back from the game and after the kids were in bed, we played a round of Ticket to Ride. I love playing games! Ali won, as usual, but we still had a great time.

We talked about instrument playing while we were over there. I don’t remember how it came up, but we found out Tyler used to play the saxophone. I mentioned I played the oboe at one time. I also mentioned why I chose to play the oboe. I decided to play the oboe because if I ever ran into a cobra, I could charm it and prevent it from biting me. :oops: Yeah, I’m a little paranoid. It’s a great story. I mean how many people say they learned to play an instrument just because they wanted to play it? That’s boring! My reason has character and flamboyance! ;)

I guess I ended up having something to say after all. Hopefully, I’ll have something else to say sooner rather than later.

Weekend Fun

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I met some of the people I’ve been talking to on the Twilight Lexicon on Saturday. We had dinner at Los Hermanos and had a great time talking about Stephenie Meyer’s wonderful world and our own lives.

(Kayla and Tracey are the two I went to see Becoming Jane with.) After two hours at the restaurant, we were asked to leave because another big party was waiting for our table. We were bummed that we had to cut our party short, but we already have a date set for another get together.

*****

Because I worked as the person in charge of certification for Dentrix, I’ve had the opportunity to meet a lot of people. In fact, I call two of them my surrogate mommies. Jamie’s from New Jersey and Alice is from Kentucky.  After I had dinner with the Twilight Lexicon group, I went to a second dinner with Jamie and Alice since they were in town for training. I love spending time with them and enjoy every free moment we can get together.

*****

After church on Sunday, I went over to the our friend’s to give them some cookies. Corey and I completely spaced Ali and Tyler’s house warming party on Friday and I wanted to take them a treat to say sorry. :oops: (I’m glad we have such a good relationship with them, so they know we didn’t flake on them out of malicious intent.)

Corey didn’t come with me because he wasn’t feeling well. The first thing their son, Jack, said to me when he opened the door and saw it was only me was, “Aunt Jenni, you lost Uncle Corey!” I told Jack that Corey stayed home and he said, “That’s okay! You can still come in.” While I was there, Jack took me into his play room, a common thing whenever I’m there. As I entered the room, he said, “So, this is where I live,” like he was trying to make small talk. :lol: He’s so cute and so smart for an almost-three-year-old. I can’t believe he’ll be three in three weeks!

Ali and Tyler gave Corey and me a picture of their daughter, Sheridan. This picture was one of her six-month pictures. The lady taking the pictures took a lot of pictures. They all turned out so well that Ali and Tyler had a hard time choosing which ones they wanted to print. I love this picture because Sheridan’s eyes are so big and blue and she’s sucking her thumb, which just melts my heart.  She’s so cute!  Sheridan’s now eight months old and crawls up a storm. She’s also learned how to pull herself up against things to help her stand. She’s growing up way too fast!

Character Slogan Contest

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Stephenie Meyer is hosting a two-word character slogan contest. I’m so excited! :D The winners will receive a set of audiobooks from the Twilight series, courtesy of Random House Audio Publishing.

These slogans will be put on T-shirts that you can buy. (I haven’t bought one yet, but I will at some point.) Edward, Alice, and Jacob already have two word slogans.

  • Edward = Bite Me
  • Alice = Wanna Bet
  • Jacob = Hot Dog

If I can come up with anything ingenious, then I’ll enter. A few of my friends have come up with some good ones, so I hope they’ll win unless I enter, of course. :lol: