Photoaday July!

We now have Photoday July! I think this picture prompt challenge has been very fun, I think I'll keep doing it. Are you good with that? I hope so. You should join in....seriously.

Here's the link for more details from Fat Mum Slim...

And here's the list of July prompts:

2012 Beehive Award Nominees

Every summer the teen summer reading program at our library kicks off the summer by promoting the books that are nominated for the Beehive Award, an award sponsored by the Children's Literature Association of Utah. The library encourages the kids to read these books and then vote (on a ballet they provide and can turn in when they return the book) on whether or not they liked the book. 


The list always has some really awesome books on it. Check out this year's nominees:

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys: WWII and Holocaust
Blood Red Road by Moira Young: Hunger Game-like dystopian
Death Cloud by Andy Lane: a young Sherlock Holmes
The Last Thing I Remember by Andrew Klavan: suspense
Okay for Now by Gary Schmidt: historical fiction
The False Princess by Eilis O'Neal: fairy tale
The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen: for sports and non sports fans alike
Sean Griswold's Head by Lindsey Leavitt: romantic comedy
Ten Miles Past Normal by Frances O'Roark Dowell: a band geek book
Texas Gothic by Rosemary Clement-Moore: historical fiction/ghost tory
Variant by Robison Wells: a bit of a science fiction dystopian sort of book
Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier: time travel


I've only read two of these! I have two more on my shelves waiting, and I have added at least two or three more to my mental list.


Which ones would you suggest to read first?

Photoaday June: Day 24, 25, 26, 27

 (PhotoadayJune brought to you by Fat Mum Slim.) 

Character Connection: Cricket from Lola and the Boy Next Door

I really wanted to do a Character Connection (brought to you by The Introverted Reader)  today and the only one coming to mind is Cricket! As in Cricket Bell from Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins. 

It seems that in all the books I've recently read, the characters have not really stood out to me. How sad is that.

But Cricket, from a book I read months ago, still stands out.

So here's the problem, I read it long enough ago (I know months doesn't really seem that long, but it's long enough , believe me!) that I can't remember all the Cricket details.

I think he had dark hair that stood up everywhere.

I DO remember that he is tall and lanky. In fact, he made me think of lanky in a whole new way.

I don't remember the color of his eyes.

But I do remember that he was nice and sweet and charming and clever and smart and patient and present and perfectly imperfect.

And of course I remember the rubber bands on the wrist. :)

Mostly I remember that he just seemed to truly fit the "boy next door" characterization, and I liked that. I liked that a lot!

As you know, I usually like to find a picture of a celebrity that I think would fit the character for the subject of my post. I found it funny that Nicholas Hoult (whose picture I posted just the other day) was suggested in a few blog posts... but the one I liked much better is found in this post. She suggests this guy:

What do you think? Yes or no?


What character is on your mind this week and/or month?

Book Review: Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne

Book: Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne
Genre: YA... sort of a dystopian feeling, but not a real dystopian
Rating:'''''  
For: Fun
From: Bought at the Fierce Reads Tour event

It's hard to plug this book into a particular genre... I guess maybe apocalyptic would be a better term than dystopian. It's set in the very near future and life is pretty much simlar to what we have today (Ipads have taken over the world!) but one day, the kids are going to school when a massive destructive hailstorm occurs. It causes their bus to get in an accident and the other bus following close behind them, drives right into the Greenway (think Walmart) to get out of the storm.

So before they know it, a bunch of kids, without any adult supervision (what happened to the bus drivers you may wonder? Well, stuff happens!) end up hiding out in the store. They find out that not only was there the hailstorm, but all sorts of other disasters that mess with the climate and world... and which in addition, cause a terrible chemical accident.

So the book is about how these kids deal with it all.... sometimes it's very impressive and sometimes not so much.

The book feels like a mash up of several other books. The Mist by Stephen King (where a bunch of people are trapped in the store from the scary monsters in the mist) and Lord of the Flies by William Golding (where a bunch of kids are trapped on an island and have to determine how to survive) and Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts (where a homeless girl lives in the Walmart) and Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (where an event causes havoc and people are suddenly without everything they used to know)

I did really enjoy it .... it was extremely page turning and fun to read. Be warned, however, that the ending is not an ending, but basically a "to be continued". Argh, painful!

Bottom line: I really liked it!

Other Reviews:

Miss Remmers' Reviews
Small Reviews
Annette's Book Spot
Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf

Book Review: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

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Book: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: ' ' ' ' ' 
For: Fun
From: first the library, then we bought it at B and N

The premise of this book sounded so intriguing! And one that I figured I'd probably love, so I managed to get it from the library, despite its popularity. However, since I didn't finish it in time, we ended up buying it because it came out in paperback AND because I hoped my son would end up reading it. More on that later.

So, the story is about this kid who is playing a video game. In fact, his life is basically a video game. It's set in the not so distant future where some genius reclusive video gamer has created a sort of internet that is much much more "real" than what we know today. The world of this time is falling apart and is a really really bad place, so most people log into this connection (called The Oasis) and live most of their lives there.

One day, the guy dies, and has no one to leave all his fortune to, so he has hidden an Easter Egg for the world to find, and everyone jumps into the game with a frenzy. Our hero, Wade, is no exception and because of his cleverness, he manages to do quite well!

In fact, the whole book is his adventure with this Easter egg hunt and all the perils and trauma that goes with it.

The fun thing about this book is the sort of computer and pop culture history that is mixed up in it. The creator of the game (and also the author of the book I'm sure) is fascinated with the 80's time period. So there's much talk about movies, books, music, computers and video games from those years. Of course, being an 80s child myself, this was pretty cool.... if a bit over the top.

However, that being said, I did find some of the detailed gaming descriptions to be a bit over my head. This book is definitely written for an audience that is very much into video games, something I've not bothered with much. So that stuff was a little bit yawn worthy.

Also, I think there's quite an agenda being pushed throughout, but in my anxiousness to just get to the story, I was able to skim over and dismiss most of all that stuff. The writing wasn't the best either, sorry to say.

In the end, I gave it four stars because it was fun and unique, but I was wishing for a 3 1/2 star choice because I sometimes just liked it and sometimes really liked it.

About the time I got my hands on this book, we learned the author decided to have a real life contest simiilar to the one in the book, with the prize being a Delorian car. My son (age 17) jumped on this band wagon and figured out how to clear the first gate without any problem! The next gate opens on July 1 and then the third on August 1. I think he will be right there trying his hand at it! BUT... I still hope he reads this book, it being right up his alley. So far, he's only about 1/4 of the way in. I'm thinking that he might just have to read it  in order to "know" things for the contest! We'll see I guess how that goes.

Bottom line: I liked it... sometimes even a lot! :)

Other Reviews:

Alison's Book Marks
Devourer of Books
Leeswamme's Blog
Love, Laughter and a Touch of Insanity
The Written World

P.S. Everyone is raving about the audio book, I think mostly because Wil Wheaton narrates!

Interview with the author... pretty interesting:

Book Club Report: About a Boy

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This month for  book club we read and discussed About a Boy by Nick Hornby. You can find my review here. The book club pretty much felt the same way about the book as I did. Here are a few random thoughts:

• Did Will redeem himself in the end or not? We were mixed on this. 
• Speaking of endings, which did you like better the book or the movie? Everyone seemed torn on this and liked them both. But the movie ending is especially sweet.
• Most of us really liked Will despite his obnoxious ways, mostly because we couldn't get Hugh Grant out of our heads, and how can you not like him? We did have one person say she did NOT like him and felt he was just as bad as any bad villain.
• Some of us actually felt sorry for Will though. 
• We loved the idea that Marcus has that everyone needs backup people in their lives. In fact, I think we all felt this was main theme and idea of the book, that we need to surround ourselves with people. This, we all thought, is an awesome thing to take home after reading the book and we really enjoyed it for that reason.
• We discussed a lot more, but I must have been quite into it because I didn't take many notes to remind myself what everyone said!

Other random books we discussed at book club:
Sam and Tessa both read and enjoyed Precious Bane from our last meeting. Sam is also reading The Miserables (total American pronunciation of course!).... as he called it.... non-abridged.. with his daughter. Liking it so far! Tessa is reading Beyond Consequences, Logic and Control, a pretty fascinating parenting book.
Jenny read a lot this past month, but only three she felt were worth mentioning: Stolen, Bad Kitty and The Color of Evil.
Jessica A got a jump on book club and read Ender's Game. It was for her other book club. This one will be reading it in August. She also listened to The Book Thief on audio and said, and I quote, "it was freaking delightful!" And... AND... she decided to fess up and admitted to reading  Fifty Shades of Grey! Whoa... we wanted to know ALL about it! :)
Julie read The Night Circus and agreed, it was good and beautiful and hard to describe. Having said that, she  wouldn't go so far as to say it was on the the best books she's ever read.
Jessica N read..... wait for it... About a Boy! We cheered because she hasn't been feeling well and to get the book club book read was awesome!
Suey read Ready Player One, which launched us into a spirited 80s discussion wherein we all learned... again... just how old Suey really is! 
Up next: A sort of informal Jane Austen month where we all hope to read something of hers we haven't read before... or... simply... read something of hers. :) Then in August, when we officially meet again, we'll also be discussing Ender's Game. 
P.S. I just thought you might be interested... the kid that plays Marcus in the movie? Here's what he looks like now:

It's All About Books

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Random Sunday Thoughts

I haven't randomized for a while and since I'm SO not in the mood for the journal-y post I normally do on Sundays, I've decided to ramble. Are you ready?

** I'm loving doing Photoaday... wonder if there will be more prompts for July.. .and should I do it? Even though my July will be pretty much... ummm.... camping?

** Book club was outside this week! (As in...sitting in my back yard.) Good thing it wasn't just one day later because there was this huge fire, and it was terrible smoky outside. We would have had issues breathing!

** I finished fixing up my bedroom corner. See...

** Now I want to keep going... and fix up the other parts of the bedroom. I mentioned new carpet today and maybe, just maybe, it will happen even! The thought of being able to show you before and after pictures motivates me. Weird? But true. So here's hoping you'll all give me, like, massive positive feedback here!!! :)

** I've decided to go see Batman (The Dark Knight Rises) as soon as all the camping is over in July.. at the IMAX.... in 3D. It will give me something to look forward to! Will Spiderman be released by then too? Maybe I'll see it the same day....

** So, I finished season four of Merlin.... LOVED it. Cried. Tristan and Isolde made their way into those last episodes... very interesting interpretations... but I cried. I also finished season one of Buffy. I didn't cry, but I felt the emotion, finally! Looking forward to starting season two today!

** I read all afternoon Friday and started and finished Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne. Quite the crazy story... reminds me of several other books though... a bit Life as We Knew It, a bit Lord of the Flies, a bit Where the Heart Leads (that's the one where the girl lives in Walmart, right?) and even a bit The Mist by Stephen King! Whew. Good one though, I liked it.

** My sister says she will start blogging again, but I've yet to see a post....

** Remember that time I drove across the country? Last year? Yeah, it was a year ago exactly and I wish I was doing it again, only this time I'd send you all postcards.

** Tainted Love is playing on my 80s Pandora station right now... ah the memories! We had quite the 80s discussion at book club the other day. I had no idea some people don't like the 80s! What's UP with that? They were wonderful times!

** My garden looks sickly, just in case you wondered...

** Do you realize we haven't had rain here for weeks and weeks? I'm starting to crave some rain. Usually in the summer we get those cool afternoon thunder deals going on... and so far this year... NOT A ONE!

** I can't seem to figure out how to fit exercising back into my life. I was faithful for years, and now... nothing. This is bad.

** I'm thinking that that's all I'm thinking... mostly.

Have a lovely Sunday!

Photoaday June: Day 21, 22, 23

Buffy Watch Thoughts... Season One Done!

This past week (was it way back on Monday? ) we finished season 1 of Buffy! Wahoo!

I jotted notes as I watched and here's what I thought:

Ep. 9: The Puppet Show

- Wouldn't you want to move by now? Because... sheesh, tragedy at every turn at that high school!
-- Another genuinely creepy one!
-- What's up with the principal? I swear he's a bad guy. (Later we realized he is Quark from Star Trek!)
-- Confusing!
-- Funny ending. That was great!

Ep. 10: Nightmares

-- Spiders, yucky!
-- Boy from the other episode? We thought so at first, but no, it's a different kid.
-- What would be your worse nightmare?
-- I did kinda like this one just for that above question. What would it be, really?

Ep. 11: Out of Mind, Out of Sight

--Sad... and true sort of feeling.
--Cordelia had profound things to say... "sounded by people, but totally alone" (reminds me of the sad JG video of awhile back.)
--Weird guys... strange guys
--Weird strange ending (lol... now... nearly a week later... I can't even remember what the ending was!!!)

Ep. 12: Prophecy Girl

--I can already tell this one is more about the characters
--Much more emotion in this episode... now that's more like it!!
-- I still got a kick out of the fact that she fell/was pushed/died in the muck pond but her white dress was still quite perfect afterwards.
-- Quite the "you go girl!" ending!

Bring on season 2! Let's see if all you crazy Buffy fans are right or not... is it REALLY better? I guess we'll see! I think we plan to watch tomorrow afternoon. We'll be Twittering the time so keep your eye on that if you want to join us!

Review: Cayman Summer by Angela Morrison

Book: Cayman Summer by Angela Morrison
Genre: YA Romance
Rating:' ' ' ' '
For: Fun
From: ebook bought from Amazon

The second book I've read on the Kindle! :) I was excited to see this available so I could wrap up this series which began with Taken by Storm, a book I totally loved. This book concludes the story of Michael and Leesie who have had a crazy tumultuous relationship!

In this book Leesie is recovering from injuries sustained in a pretty bad car accident that happened at the end of the second book (Unbroken Connection.) She feels worthless and hopeless now and has asked Michael to take her away, which he does and so she basically runs away from all she has known, including her family. They end up on Grand Cayman, Michael's favorite place in the world,  where she proceeds to heal both physically and emotionally.

In the process, Michael discovers some things too and makes a few drastic changes of his own.

All in all, I like how the story ended, nice and sweet and happy. The first book, when the relationship of these two is in its beginning, is still my favorite. This book continues the pattern of the first two books, told in both character points of view.... Michael's dive log journal and Leesie's private poetry book.... with a few email conversations from them both scattered in between. I really enjoyed this unique narrative approach throughout the whole series. What a way to get into the heads of them both!

Bottom line: I enjoyed it!

Other Reviews:

For the Love of Books, Music and Movies
Rachelle's Writing Spot
Once Upon a Bookcase

Review: About a Boy by Nick Hornby

Book: About a Boy by Nick Hornby
Genre: Fiction
Rating: ' ' ' ' ' 
For: Book Club
From: the library

What a fun, easy, enjoyable book! I loved the movie way back when and wondered if the book would be similar, and yep, it was. Very very similar, so of course I pictured Hugh Grant in my head the whole time, which was very nice indeed!

This book is.. about a boy... actually.. .about two boys. One big, one little. The big one, Will,  has been gliding through life, not really making any connections, not really doing anything with himself at all, not really engaging in anything at all. And he likes it this way. He wants things to be easy, he's good with it and has no plans to change.

Then there's the little boy, Marcus, who has things like a depressed mum to deal with. And moving to a new city and school, and a dad who lives in a different city with a different family to occupy his time. Oh, and the fact that he, himself, is just plain weird and gets picked on by everyone at school.

When these two meet, they both have things to learn from each other. Marcus learns from Will how to be more "normal" and Will learns from Marcus that life can have meaning, and that it's not that painful after all.

I love the lessons learned from this book. It's really quite lighthearted, even with the serious subject matter, all wrapped up with the sweet and powerful message. Do be warned that there is quite a bit of language if that bothers you.

Bottom line: I really really liked it! And now I'm anxious to re-watch the movie! Maybe even today.

Other Reviews:

Alternate Readality
Things Mean A Lot
Sue's Book Reviews

Photaday June: Day 16, 17, 18, 19, 20

Wait... I got SO behind posting photaday pictures! I'm sure you're devastated! Here's to catching up!

(PhotoadayJune brought to you by Fat Mum Slim.) 

Top Ten Tuesday: Summer TBR Books

This list prompt from The Broke and the Bookish kinda cracks me up this time because pretty much every book here on my shelves is on my summer TBR list...wouldn't it be nice to take the whole summer and just read them all? Yes. But no, it can't happen. So, here are the ten that seem to have floated their way to the top of the pile, and the ones I especially hope to get to sometime this summer.

Top Ten Summer TBR Books

1.Palace of Stone by Shannon Hale.. my first egalley book and I can't wait to read and review it for Utah Book Month in August!
2. Witch Song by Amber Argyle.. another Utah author whose book I hope to read for August
3. Lady Susan by Jane Austen... I think there are plans afoot to have a sort of Jane Austen month in July for book club to catch up on any non-read Jane Austen books... I'm going to do this more obscure one.
4. Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare... this is the first book of the other Cassandra Clare series, right? I've heard about some dude named Will and I'm curious to meet him.
5. Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne... my newly acquired book that everyone seems to be raving about so let's read it!
6. Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens... I was pondering a read along for this book that I've been wanting to re-read forever... anyone interested?
7. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor... I hear this one's good! :) So, what am I waiting for, right?
8. Still hoping to fit in that next Odd Thomas book by Dean Koontz... Forever Odd perhaps it is?
9.Also in August, I plan to re-read Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, with the book club. It will be my at least third time, maybe more, through that book.
10.The Exiled Queen by Cinda Williams Chima... I just feel the need to add this one to the list. We'll see... we'll see.

How about you? What's on your list? Is there anything on my list you think I should go for first, without any further delay?

Review: Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Book: Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
Genre: YA Fantasy/Horror
Rating:' ' ' '' 
For: Fun
From: Amazon for Kindle

This book will go down as the very first book I ever read on a Kindle/e-reader! What an honor, yes? I think so!

This is the story about a kid (already I forgot his name! But it's kind of a strange one.) that hunts ghosts. If there's a ghost around that is causing havoc... or especially killing people, he's the guy to come to the rescue. This is what brings him to Canada to find this ghost named Anna who has been really ruthless.

When he gets there a few different things happen. First, he makes connections with non-ghost people unlike he's ever done before in all his comings and goings. This is strange to him and makes him think differently about his work and his life. Second, he makes a connection with the ghost herself, Anna. She has two sides. The ruthless scary killer, and the sweet simple girl she was before she died. He loves the girl she used to be.

He knows she has some sort of unusual power that makes her so strong and he is determined to figure out what that is and take care of that to solve the issue instead of his normal ghost hunting/killing routine. It's then that we find out Anna's sad background and all the crazy stuff that went on!

This book reminded me a lot of certain scenes from The Vampire Diaries.... namely Bonnie's witch scenes with all the spell casting going on. There was lots of that. It also reminded me of Buffy, since that's particularly recent in my head, with older mentor guy helping them figure out how to best deal with the situation, and with a particular kid who has special unworldly powers to deal with unworldly things. Yes, very Buffy-ish.

It was a fun quick book. Not something I'd recommend  to everyone because of the violent bloody scenes and the witchcraft and the language scattered about, however. But a nice ghost story if that's your thing!

Other Reviews:

The Book Bind
Kay's Book Shelf
Books With Bite
Jenni Elyse

Buffy Watch Thoughts: Season 1 Episodes 6-8

Thursday evening I watched three more Buffy episodes... with Kelly again, and this time we also had Allison from Well-Read Reviews join us half way in! So fun when this happens! :)

Here are my random thoughts from this viewing session:

Episode 6: The Pack

--Weird... but cool drums!
--Another non-vampire episode? Makes me think this is like Supernatural or something we we are just dealing with strange creatures every episode, but not necessarily vampires. Which is fine, except the title of the show is misleading then I think!
-- I was quite distracted during this one because I had like three different phone calls I had to deal with and I couldn't keep pausing because... well... we were all watching together!! Pausing doesn't work!
-- But, I do remember the drums. I guess I like me some good African drums!

Episode 7: Angel

-- Okay, so THIS is the sort of episode I've been expecting all along!
-- I thought that Angel was a vampire all along, but this episode confused me and well, those questions were quickly answered. Buffy didn't know!!!
--What's with the boy? The one with the master? I still don't get what that was all about.

Episode 8: I Robot, You Jane

--Interesting talk about internet fears, from back in the beginning of internet fears.
-- We loved it when Willow chatted online but spoke her chat out loud!
-- This one was genuinely creepy to me... not just corny creepy. I guess that's a step in the right direction!

It appears three episodes is my limit for a one sitting viewing! I get so tired by the end of three of them! But I am warming up to the characters. Giles makes me smile and Willow is so witty.

We plan to watch more on Monday I think it is... about 5:00 p.m. Eastern time. Want to come join us?

Photaday June: Day 13, 14, 15

The Sunday Salon: Short and Sweet

Recent Media Consumption: Mini Reviews

It's summer. Somehow that means lots and lots of watching stuff. I thought maybe I'd report on it now and then and perhaps you have comments to add and we can talk?

MOVIES WATCHED:

The Vow: Did you know this movie about a couple that get in a car accident and the wife loses her memory is based on a true story? Yep, it said so right there on the movie! I thought the movie was... okay.... it wasn't as tear jerky as I thought it would be, and I didn't seem to have as much anxiety over the situation as I thought I would. Weird... maybe just not in the mood? I don't know. But it was good and makes you really appreciate how important our memories are.

Tower Heist: Well, there were some pretty funny parts of this caper movie. I loved all the big names... especially Alan Alda.... what a dude. But there was a lot of body part jokes, which I just don't get. Is it supposed to be funny? So yeah... it was another just okay movie.

WarGames: We needed to make the kids watch this one because we are currently reading Ready Player One together.. some of us... and it's important to know about WarGames for further understanding of the book. So wow, how fun to go back in time to this movie! What a stinkin' cutie Matthew Broderick is in this movie!!! Such a great movie... still. I loved re-visiting it.

Sadly, I haven't watched, like, a REAL movie in the theater for quite some time... since The Avengers almost two months ago now. Wow. Seriously looking forward to the new Batman though.

CDs BOUGHT:

Gotye: Making Mirrors: Finally! I've been threatening this one for awhile! Yay! Cool stuff.. espeically the songs toward the end of the CD.... here's one of my soon to be favorites:

I'm still really wanting the first CD this dude made, but can't find it yet. It has this song on it:

Sigur Ros: Valtari : A very different sound... and one that I quite like for calming purposes! They all sound the same to me though. But cool though, very cool. And calming!

James Durbin: Memories of a Beautiful Disaster: I've wanted this one for awhile too... very rock and roll-ish. Some I like better than others. But I'm still a fan of his mellow stuff. More mellow please! But the song Stand Up is one of my favorites on this album.

Silversun Pickups: Neck of the Woods: Still getting familiar with this album, but I mostly like the very first track called Skin Graphs.

And did you hear that Muse has a new album coming out in September? Here's the cool trailer:

Ah... pretty excited guys.

PLAYS:

The Million Dollar Quartet: Awesome show about an event that happened in December of 1956 when four famous musicians all sort of accidentally ended up in the recording studio together and decided to jam for awhile. The boss decided to flip the switch and record them of course... so this show recreates the whole thing. The four guys: Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins. Awesome show! The guys were so spot on, and all played their instruments for real.

The Wizard of Oz: Really cute show that our local outdoor theater is currently showing. Very cute! They did a great job, but they needed to sing louder!

So...seen or heard any of this stuff? What do you think? What things HAVE you seen or heard lately that you think I need to know about? 

Seven Authors... One Day!

Then we were able to buy books, and get them signed.. here's the quick picture I took of that. Lovely shot, yes? Not.

I ended up with only one book.... Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne. I bought another book for Jenny for her birthday... and then Jenny bought two books, so she ended up with Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, Of Poseidon by Anna Banks and Struck by Jennifer Bosworth. We plan to lend and borrow and get them all read eventually. They all sounded pretty cool and unique and fun, so hopefully our plan works.

So... there's my fun author day! SEVEN in one day! Very fun stuff. So... when's the next one? :)

Photo a Day June: Days 10, 11 and 12

Day 12: From a low angle

Top Ten Tuesday: Beach Reads

The prompt over at The Broke and the Bookish today is to list our favorite beach reads. I think first, we'll need to define the term "beach reads." Yes?

Seriously, I hardly ever go to the beach. First, it's far away, and second it's uncomfortable there what with all the sun, sand and water and such. And if I were to ever go there, I'd probably not get much reading done, but I do know that some people seem to manage this just fine. And when they do, they want a certain kind of book. And I think that kind of book is sort of a brain candy book. Mostly (but not necessarily all)  mindless fluff perhaps. Probably lots (or at least some) of romance, and no hard words and deep thinking. Maybe something especially page turn-y with great adventure and intrigue. And probably not all that long either.

So what books fit that bill for me?

Top Ten Beach Reads

1. Meg Cabot books... like Insatiable.
2. Janette Rallison books like.... It's a Mall World After All
3. Kaki Warner books like... Pieces of Sky
4. Sarah Dessen books like... Just Listen (even though there is a little deep thinking here)
5. Stephanie Perkins books like... Lola and the Boy Next Door
6. Shannon Hale books like... The Goose Girl
7. Simone Elkeles books like... Perfect Chemistry
8. Sydney Salter books like... Swoon at Your Own Risk
9. Alex Flinn books like... Beastly
10. James Patterson books like.... The Angel Experiment

Yeah... I think all those suggestions make perfect beach books!

What's on your beach list?

Oh, and I'd love to hear how you define "beach read." Is it the same as me?

Review: I Believe in Jesus Too by Mark S. Nielsen

Book: I Believe in Jesus Too by Mark S. Nielsen
Genre: Picture Book, Religious
Rating: '''' '  
For: Blog Tour
From: The author

So here I am, stepping out of my comfortable box for a moment to review a sort of book I've never reviewed here on the blog before! That's what happens when you get a nice, personable, email request from the author to participate in a blog tour!

This is a picture book filled with beautiful illustration about kids from all over the world. There's Katri in Finland, Ming in Taiwan, Dimitri in Russia, and many others. This book is a sweet reminder to kids everywhere that other children who live in places different from them, are actually just like them, despite the fact that their life experiences and cultures are different.

Even though the book is aimed to kids that are members of the LDS faith (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) I feel like children from all sorts of religions will relate because not only does it point out the different (yet same) ways the children worship all over the world, it also points out things like their different languages, their different food, their different geographical situations, their different modes of transportation and so on. Any child will learn about how kids live.... all over the world.

And as I said above, the pictures (illustrated by Craig Stapley) are beautiful! I very much enjoyed them, and it made me realize how I've missed reading and experiencing good picture books around here! Ah, to have little kids again. Maybe some day soon? Wait, not so sure I'm QUITE ready for that next phase of life yet! :)

Bottom line: I liked this one a lot.

Other Reviews:

Bloggin' 'bout Books
Fire and Ice
Swinging on Small Hinges
Green Jello With Carrots

Review: Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

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Book: Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Genre: YA Historical Fiction
Rating: ''''' 
For: Fun
From: The library

Wow! Have I heard A LOT about this book or what? Oh, the buzz! So I put it on hold at the library and believe it or not, it came up for me fast! Double wow.

I had no idea what this book was about. Despite the buzz, I skimmed people's comments. Only that they cried a lot, and hugged it to themselves and other such tangible bookish love.

So I was a bit surprised, and interested, to find out that it's about two girls who experience WWII in a very different way than most girls. One is a pilot and another is a spy. They meet each other during a few accidental moments when their paths cross, and become fast friends. Then one night, they have a very exciting flight which does not have a so very happy ending.

The story is told from both of their points of view... first from the girl who is the spy. She happens to be a prisoner at the time of her story, and she goes back and forth from her current prisoner experience, to the past when she met her friend and then recounts the situation which got her captured.

The second part of the book is her friend's side of the story, and she has a completely different experience, to say the least, though also very harrowing.

People, be warned. This is a very gut and heart wrenching book. There are some disturbing moments, there are some very wonderful happy moments. We definitely learn a lot about WWII airplanes and the British protocol at the time. Much of this technical talk went right over my head and I found it a bit detailed, (thus the four stars above) but some WWII fanatics will love this part I'm sure.

Of course I was much more into the characters and their situations and relationship and the wonderful writing that left me totally immersed.

As usual, I'm being very vague about this story because I feel like the less you know going into it, the better.

Bottom line: I loved it.

Other reviews:

Chachic's Book Nook
Things Mean A Lot
Capricious Reader
Beneath Shining Stars, I Read


The book trailer is pretty awesome and doesn't give anything much away, so here you go:

Buffy Watch Thoughts: Season One Ep. 3-5

We managed another little Buffy Watch get together again last night. I was sort of hoping to get through four episodes, but I was so tired by the end of the third one that I had to call it quits! Sorry fellow watchers! This time I watched with both Kailana (The Written World) and Ibeeeg (Polishing Mud Balls.) Very fun! Except when my computer hung up right in the middle of one episode! I guess I was putting it through too much too and it had to call it quits!

Anyway, I tried to jot down some thoughts as I watched, which are as follows:

S1 Ep 3: The Witch
I rather enjoyed this one! It reminded me of.... oh wait, if I say that it would give it away! I will hide it.... it remind me of  Freaky Friday! (drag over that blank space to see!)  Also, I just finished Anna Dressed in Blood and it reminded me of the spells and witches and things from that recent book. I was especially impressed with Giles this episode! I don't know, he just got his coolness on!

S1 Ep. 4: Teacher's Pet
Ugh, this one was gross and dumb! And after the last episode and this one, I'm wondering where are the vampires? Yucky, yucky teacher! And I don't like how this episode tries to say that being a virgin at age 16 is bad or shameful... you know? Makes me sorta mad actually.

S1 Ep. 5: Never Kill a Boy on the First Date
My first thought during this story was that Owen seems nice.... therefore... is he doomed? In the end.... well, I will say almost! Now, this one seemed like what I would think of as a "normal" Buffy show. Buffy trying to be all normal yet having to come to the rescue to save everyone from the vamps. Can I just say one more time... what WEIRD and UGLY vampires in this show! And still wimpy, yep!

But it was fun, and I look forward to more! When should we do it next week? Suggestions?

Photo A Day June Days 8 and 9

Armchair BEA: The Passion and the Future

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Today's final Armchair BEA post is about the future of book blogging and how to keep up the passion. I'm sure I've covered this in years past during the previous Armchair BEAs but here are a few thoughts I have on this subject.

I've been doing this now for over five years. I think that says that somehow I've managed to keep up the passion. Even though I have many up and down moments I truly think I would feel so wrong without this hobby. I would miss it terribly.

So what keeps me going?

The love of books first and foremost. After all it's all about books, right? :) They are just too much fun to read and talk about! I think this is something that will never go away for me. At least I hope so, and as long as this book passion lasts, then the desire to blog about it and share the love will be there.

Also, I think the networking thing I talked about on Wednesday keeps me going. The connections I've made both in the bookish community and online are important enough to me that I hope to keep it up if nothing else then to just stay in touch with people.

Having no set ideas on what HAS to be done blogging-wise helps me too. There are so many things I see other bloggers worrying about that I've never bothered with, and who knows, maybe this isn't so good, but in the long run, I think worrying about those things gets you burned out! Which basically means just do what feels right for you and don't worry about what everyone else is doing. I need to take my own advice on this one a lot actually.

Another way to keep the passion for blogging strong is to change things up now and then. Start something new, change the look, bring up discussion topics, switch things around, meet new bloggers, etc. Just like anything else in life, try not to get into a rut!

As far as the future of blogging itself? I can't wait to see what happens! The past five years have changed SO MUCH, it's hard to imagine what the next five years has in store. People are sitting up and taking notice of bloggers, that's for sure and this fact still blows me away. I, for one, feel that I have no influence at all on the industry, but all of us taken as a whole, totally do. It's very cool. And it's fun to be a part of it.

That's about all I have to say about that! And not that I think I'm an expert or anything, but if you are a newbie and have questions for me... ask away!!! :)

Armchair BEA: My Fun Non-Bookish Life

The topic today is what you do beyond your actual blog. Freelancing, monetizing, that sort of thing. I've actually never been interested in either of these things. To me, this would cross the line of the blog being a for fun hobby to being a job. Maybe someday I'll be willing to cross that line, but for now, I don't need that kind of stress and/or pressure, so I'm content to keep it a hobby. A BLAST of a hobby, a consuming hobby, a crazy hobby, but still... very much a hobby!

Which brings us to the second prompt which says... if none of that applies to you then write about "fun aspect about your blog or life that may be completely separate from books!" Ummm....what about my blog or life is separate from books? Let me count the ways:

Photo a Day June: Days Six and Seven