Mundie Moms

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

2011 Mundie Moms Favorites: Settings


Today's 2011 MM's Favorites is settings. This year there's been some fabulous places we've enjoyed "visiting" via the books we've read. Whether the setting was a real place like Paris with Jules or Vail, Co with Ren and Calla, a historical setting like Victorian London with Will and Jem or a place that exists in our minds like Idris with Jace and Clary. Settings have allowed us to explore new places and fall in love with places we wish we could go visit for a day, or two.

Here's our list of favorite settings from this year:
  1. London (Clockwork Prince, The Faerie Ring & a few other books we've read this year)- Victorian London, Modern Day London, pretty much London of any time period after sewers were invented
  2. Amber eyes (City of Fallen Angels)- OKay, this one made me snort, because Sophie has a way of making a "setting" out of anything, though she does make an excellent point- Staring into Jace's eyes and trying to determine the exact shade of amber. Cracked? Cloudy? Clear and committed? What?!? That's not a setting? Well, it is for us. Pick any location where we can start into his eyes and we're there.
  3. On a horse (The Iron Queen/ The Iron Knight)- To counter her setting, I think my birthday post for her had the best setting- on the back of Prince Ash's horse. What? It's a setting- he'd take you for a horse ride through the woods, the mountains, really anywhere you need to go.... just think, you'd have a good excuse for holding on tight, not that Sophie would need that. haha
  4. In a carriage (Clockwork Prince)- We both agreed that a carriage ride with Will and Jem counts as a setting.... we don't need to explain why that one is on our list. The same goes with feeding the ducks.... *snickers*
  5. The Mountains: Vail, Co (Wolfsbane) & The Tetons, WY (Unearthly)- Running with the wolves in the woods of Vail, Co. I know what you're thinking, it's like running with the wolves on 1st beach, only we're not chasing vampires here (not that that wouldn't be fun), we're running just because we can. Seriously, who would say no to running in wolf form through the woods with Ren. Or how about skiing with Christian or fishing with Tucker in an mountain lake? I'm so there!
  6. 14th Century Italy (The River of Time Series)-This has Sophie's favorite, HBWS (hot boys with swords) and three dashing guys who courageously defend their land, their families and homes at any cost. What's not to like about this setting?
  7. The Ocean/Beach (Tempest Rising, Moonglass)- It doesn't matter if it's undersea or next to the shoreline, there's something romantic about an ocean side setting that sucks me in.
  8. Future Cities (Divergent, Legend, The Pledge, Possession, Shatter Me, Delirium)- Who wants to live in a place of utopia when you can have unrest, and action? Certainly not us. Not only did we fall in love with the characters and the stories, but the world building that each of these books contains is brilliant. We'd happily go running into the face of danger in each of the cities from these books, as long as we had each of the book's characters right there with us.
  9. The Woods (Wolfsbane, Forever, The Dark & Hollow Places, Eternal Starling, Desires of the Dead, Trial by Fire, Blood Solstice etc)- Pretty much many of the paranormal/urban fantasy books that I loved this year had some sort of "woods" or in "the forest" setting. Whether a big chuck of the story was written there or a pivotal scene, there's something about being in the middle of a bunch of trees that just gives off a certain vibe that I loved.
  10. Paris (Die For Me)- One word, JULES. Okay, there's more reasons than just Jules for why I loved this setting.
Honorable mentions just for Sophie:

King Caspian's quarters and Dr Who's time traveler Oh wait, sorry, those aren't books. HAHA See I told you I'd find a way to list them..... what about Michael's arms for when you time travel? *snickers*

What are some of your favorite settings?

Twitter Tuesday - Ally Carter


I love this time of year because we get such delicious prezzies from our favorite authors. And one book that we, here at Mundie Moms, are highly anticipating is Ally Carter's fifth Gallagher Girl's book, Out of Sight, Out of Time. Here's a quote from it:
There are fourteen routes a person can take from the library to the suite where I’ve lived since my first day of seventh grade. I knew which one was fastest, which was busiest, which one had the most awesome views and the route that was most likely to make a girl freeze to death in winter.

But that night I didn’t settle for any of those. No, that night I went straight for the part of the mansion that no one but the teachers ever used. The halls were long and narrow and empty, nothing but faculty living quarters and the occasional bookcase to mark the way.

It was easy to feel like I was the only person in the mansion (which was totally what I was going for) right up until the point when I heard a voice say, “Cammie?”

Zach was there. Zach was there wearing nothing but a towel, but the being there part was far more concerning than the towel part to tell you the truth (the towel part brought up a whole different set of issues.) Because something in the way he was looking at me told me that I had completely and totally failed in my attempt to hide.

I didn’t know which was more frustrating, his penchant for showing up at utterly embarrassing portions of my life or the looks he gave me when he did-- like he knew more, saw more, understood better than anyone else on earth and right then I kind of hated him for it.
I can't even begin to tell you how fast I'll be at my local bookstore on March 13th, because I must know what happens next. Zach and Cammie are definitely on my Top Ten Couples list.

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