Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts {4}

Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts is a random posting of what's on my mind bookish and otherwise. Sometimes 10 things, sometimes less, always hosted by Bookishly Boisterous.

1. Oy, my life is so swamped with life stuff instead of all of the reading of the books right now. The only reading time I've gotten (other than reading to my kids at bedtime) is the middle of the night insomnia reading resulting from the life stuff. It's not quality reading time folks. Anna Dressed in Blood is the book winning my attention, though, and making it even harder to fall back to sleep. That book is turning out to be a surprise win for me. Could my heart be opening up to YA horror? We'll see.
   
   
   
   
   
2. So the Divergent trailer was released yesterday. Are you excited? I'm actually a little disappointed, but it's entirely possible my disappointment in the series is affecting how excited I am for the movie now. I feel like something is missing. The trailer wasn't tense enough for me. Those initiation scenes in the book - like having to jump off the wall - were so tense. I was most looking forward to those moments in the movie and without any build up, just a jump in the trailer, I just didn't feel it. I'm hoping the full version will be a different story.
   
   I got very emotional watching the Hunger Games trailer the first time. "I volunteer as tribute!" Who cares if that little sister crap was a gimmick. Gimmick me up, folks. I didn't have any moments watching the Divergent trailer. Well, other than the moments with Four... but those aren't the moments I'm getting at here. Here is the trailer if you missed it:
   
   
   
   
3. Speaking of Hunger Games, did you see where Entertainment Weekly asked the Hunger Games cast to name their favorite YA books? Of course we could count on Jennifer Lawrence to love Harry Potter. Peeta... Peeta loves Catcher in the Rye. That's just another reason to be team Gale.
   
   
4. The USPS is going to start delivering Amazon.com packages on Sunday. I'm all confused why people think this is a bad thing so I'm just going to let you read about it here at NPR and here at NYTimes.
   
   
5. I'm on the hunt for some great book related podcasts. Do you have any favorites?
   
   
6. A gigantic Harry Potter group read starts next week on Goodreads. I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep up the very aggressive one a week schedule, but I'm going to try. I'm planning to revisit these books on audio because I love Jim Dale's recordings of HP, and I don't think I've even heard the last two on audio yet. I tried to listen to The Night Circus on audio this past year and Jim Dale's voice kept making me think everything was happening at Hogwarts. I may be ruined for other Jim Dale recordings.
   
   
   
   
   
7. I'm hoping to have my internet (and my cable TV!) hooked up this afternoon. No more tethering to my cell phone. I will make up for my lack of blogging/participating SOON!
   
   
8. Thanksgiving planning is in full force. My niece has requested pumpkin pie this year so I am in need of a great pumpkin pie recipe. The only recipe I have ever used is from the back of the Libby's can. It's actually not a bad recipe, but I'm not an expert in pumpkin pies.
   
   
   
   
   OK, you know what - I just stole that picture from Libby's website, and it is totally making me want to stick to the Libby's recipe. PIE.
   
   
9. A lot of the stores are starting their Black Friday sales on Thanksgiving day this year. That's pretty crazy stuff. I feel bad for retail employees having to work through Thanksgiving dinner. I, on the other hand, am one of those frugally coupon people and this whole Black Friday on Thursday thing is luring me out of my nest.  I usually stay away from the Black Friday crowd, but Mama needs all the things. What are your thoughts on Black Friday shopping? Do you partake? I usually only do my Black Friday shopping online.

Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts {3}

Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts is a random posting of what's on my mind bookish and otherwise. Sometimes 10 things, sometimes less, always hosted by Bookishly Boisterous.

1. We are finally moving into our new house so I will have very limited internet for a while. This is greatly affecting my posting and commenting. We are out of city limits so I won't find out if we can get service soon until tomorrow.
   
   
2. I've been spending all of my spare time moving and sleeping so I've read pretty much nothing all week long. I need to download a new audiobook at the very least before the weekend.
   
   
3. Entertainment Weekly is trying to crown the best YA novel of all time. "We’re pitting 64 young adult books against each other in a March-Madness style game to determine which you think is the best of all time." Round one is HARD already. At least A Wrinkle in Time (one of my favorites) is up against Dune (one of my least favorites). That was an easy vote. You can vote on each of the round one brackets here.
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. The Opening Round of the Goodreads Choice Awards is also happening. I hate these awards just as much as I love them. The only categories I feel comfortable voting in at this point are horror and middle grade. I'm contemplating voting in the memoir category (for The Spark) even though I still have I Am Malala on my TBR. Do you guys only vote if you are well read in the category or do you feel comfortable voting regardless? I usually only vote if I've read at least all the books I want to read out of a particular category.
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. While we are on a role with book awards, Publisher's Weekly has revealed their 101 best books of 2013. I'm not sure why the Children's Fiction won't be posted until next week, but you see the best books broken down by category here. It looks like a good list, but I don't think I've read a single one of their selections.
   
   
   
   
   
6. Liam Hemsworth was on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno promoting Catching Fire. You can watch the first clip of Catching Fire at the end of his interview:
   
   
   
   
   
   Team Gale *cough*
   
   
7. I'm wondering if anyone has signed up for Oyster yet? It's the "netflix for books" service that allows unlimited book downloads for $9.95/month. When I first heard about Oyster I thought "isn't the library already a netflix for books?" but I can now see a lot of merit in using Oyster. I do get free access to ebooks from my library, but I have to wait in line for them. I think Oyster could be an awesome asset for voracious readers. The only issue I see is whether or not the books I really want to read will be available on Oyster (which is pretty much the only issue I have with Netflix as well). You can get your first month free at Oyster. If you decide to try it out or have tried it, let me know what you think.
   
   
   
   
8. Best of luck to those participating in NaNoWriMo. For those of you who may not know, NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month. The goal is to write 50,000 words during the month of November. I used to love participating in NaNo, but over the years I've fallen off participating. I was hoping to jump back in this year just for fun, but the move has made it pretty impossible to keep up. Are you participating this year?
   
   
   
   
   
9. Author John Hornor Jacobs tweeted about a site called I Write Like this week. It's fun site where you paste in something you have written and the site tells you who you write like. I took what I wrote for NaNo this year (before I decided I couldn't keep up) and pasted it in to I Write Like. My result: Stephen King. First of all, I'm pretty certain I don't actually write like Stephen King, but what a badass answer. I can't imagine a better answer given my taste in books. Play around with it and see who you get. I apparently wrote this blog post like Chuck Palahniuk.
   
   
10. That's it for this week. I'm sorry if you haven't heard from me much in a while! I'm hoping things will start getting back to normal next week.
    
    

Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts {2}

Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts is a random posting of what's on my mind bookish and otherwise. Sometimes 10 things, sometimes less, always hosted by Bookishly Boisterous.

1. Simon & Schuster is creating a new science fiction, fantasy, and horror imprint. This is exciting news! I have been crying all year about the lack of full length horror in my life. I'm really happy about the SF & F, too, but I'm hoping horror gets represented early on as well. Source
   
   
2. THIS. This is why I feel like a double agent during real life book conversations. I have to actively stop myself from being a reading one-upper. I think extreme readers can be that way to each other sometimes (I welcome it!), but it's a bit much for mere reading mortals. I try to save up all of my overly excited bookish nerdouts for you guys. You're welcome.
   
   
3. I have a lot of mixed emotions regarding i09's Divergent article. If you've read Divergent, there's a lot worth taking in in the article, but it has minor spoilers so stay clear if you haven't read it and are concerned. There is a telling quote from Director Neil Burger: "I think the book is really true to the essence of the script" Um, what? Don't you have that BACKWARD? The rest of the quote is spoilerish so I will let you read it there, but I really don't have a good feeling behind the changes they have made. There is a reason I have been championing Lionsgate making these films. Saving up the difficult bits of the book for the end isn't it. On the other hand, Four.
   
   
   
   
   
4. It's Halloween! My son's school had a "spooktacular" Halloween program this week. It was awesome. Watching him do Thriller on stage was one of the highlights of my life. Unfortunately he got sick after we got home from the program so along with the threat of heavy rainfall, our Halloween plans hang in the balance!
   
   
5. J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan (who wrote The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi) will be writing the scripts for the Star Wars sequels! This is really great news. Every announcement that has made since Disney acquired Star Wars has been better than the last.
   
   
   
   
   
6. Amazon implemented Kindle Matchbook this week. Have you looked to see how many books are available for you to match? When Amazon did something similar with music CD purchases, my Kindle cloud was filled with so much awesome music for free. I had visions of suddenly owning my favorite books in eformat, but all I got was a mediocre list of ebooks I could buy at $2.99. Let's be honest, that's how much I usually pay for my ebooks (or less) unless it's a pre-order I can't live without. I'm hoping there are folks benefiting from Matchbook much more than I did.
   
   
7. The books for World Book Night have been selected. Are any of you signing up to be book givers? My top choices from the list are Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, and Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow.
   
   
   
   
   
8. I've hardly read a thing this week. I'm in the middle of two awesome books, but I can't muster up the brain power to pick up either one! I find when I get really stressed I can't focus on the story; I just wind up staring at the pages not knowing what I've read. I think I may just try to catch up on some sleep for a couple of days.
   
   
9. I'm moving soon so I've been packing up all of my books. It has been really hard to box up the books I wish I were reading right now. I actually had to leave out a couple I haven't started yet JUST IN CASE.
   
   
   
   
   
10. If you need some awesome music to listen to for Halloween, The 99 Darkest Pieces Of Classical Music is one of my favorites. I will be listening to it all day today.
    
    
    
    
    

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Republic of Thieves | Read-along Part I

If you aren't reading or haven't read The Republic of Thieves (the third book in Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastard series), you probably don't want to read this post. Spoilers are sure to run rampant here. If you'd like to join in, you can find the read-along schedule here or feel free to jump in in the comments and let me know your thoughts!

My initial thoughts regarding The Republic of Thieves is how much easier of a read this book is versus the previous two. Is it just me? It's possible I'm getting used to Lynch's style and I do already know the characters, but there seems to be a change in how well the story flows.

1. We get to reminisce with several old friends in this section - Carlo, Galdo, Chains. How did you like this? Bitter sweet or happy dance?
   
   Happy dance! At first I thought oh no, more interludes..., but I actually love the interludes right now. I love the old friends, and I love Sabetha, but I'm probably getting ahead of us here.
   
   
2. Finally, the infamous Sabetha makes a physical appearance, albeit in Locke's reminisces. What are your impressions? How do you think the romance, if there is to be one, will play out?
   
   I adore how smitten Locke is with Sabetha. I am loving the interaction between those two (and Chains). I'm not sure that anything romantic will ever come of their relationship, but we do already know they are with each other as Gentlemen Bastards for a significant amount of time. At this point, Sabetha is starting to warm up to Locke. "Not today, at any rate," she said softly.
   
   How do you guys feel about the scheme where Locke thought Sabetha had been kidnapped? I have mixed emotions about it. The Bastards are fiercely loyal, and to me a scheme like that would dissolve so much trust. I do see it as a moment that will shape who Locke is, though. I WILL NEVER LOSE AGAIN!
   
   
3. After trying absolutely everything to save Locke, Jean still won't give up. What did you think of that little pep talk he gave Locke concerning Patience's offer of healing?
   
   Wow. Jean made a strong point by using the image of Ezri burning so that they could live. Locke's reaction was immediate.
   
   
4. Locke has a few caveats to working for the Bondsmage. Wise or just Locke grasping for some control over his life? What would you ask Patience?
   
   It's definitely wise for Locke to make the terms of their agreement absolutely clear. Those damn Bondsmagi pop up wherever and in whomever they want. I wouldn't want to be in their debt. I'm surprised Locke will have answers at his beck and call, but that will be a great asset for him. I, personally, would ask questions about magic. There are plenty of powers I would like to yield.
   
   
5. At the end of this section, we see that all is not as Patience laid it out. How much do you think Patience knows of the plot to off Locke and Jean? Do you see it interfering in the rigged election?
   
   I don't know what to think about Patience. My first reaction is that she is unaware, but we are talking Bondsmagi here. Also, can we bring up the fact that she's the Falconer's mother? This whole Patience thing is a lot for me to wrap my head around.
   
   

Be sure to check out the rest of today's read-along posts here.

October 27 | Currently Reading

I'm doing my update post early this week so I participate in a readalong tomorrow. Are you guys reading anything spooky this week for Halloween? My Halloween pick this year is going to be Anna Dressed in Blood. But first...

Last week I finished reading Red Seas Under Red Skies (Gentleman Bastards #2) by Scott Lynch. I think I liked it even more than The Lies of Locke Lamora. There were some really dark moments that I loved pretty hard core.

I also read Half-Minute Horrors as part of my Anthology Month. It had a lot of spooky flash fiction from well known authors. I would highly recommend it to a younger reader who enjoys horror. I don't think that was the intended audience, but I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I were still in my Christopher Pike days.

This week I have ambitious plans for the following:

I'm also giving away a blu-ray of The Conjuring this week if you are in the mood for a scary movie.

I hope everyone has a wonderfully spooky week! Be sure to let me know what you are reading while you are here. Let me know in the comments or leave me a link!

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This post is being shared as part of Book Journey's It's Monday! What Are You Reading?