15 Day Book Blogger Challenge Day 5

Recommend a Tear Jerker

I do love a good cry especially when it is related to a book. The most recent book I really cried in was good ole' Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Sirius!?! Seriously? Gets me every time. But another book I remember ugly crying in was My Sister's Keeper. I find that anything by Jodie Picoult can be a tear jerker. Same with Nicholas Sparks. Not to say that I cry in everyone of their books, but I have found myself tearing up in more than one for each author. I don't read a ton of tear jerkers but when a book moves me to tears, it has an impact and definitely improves my view of it. I find I start crying when I have really connected with the characters and it usually takes some very good writing and substance to get me to that point. A death, especially a dog or animal, can lead to crying as well.

Do you shy away from tear jerkers? How do you act when you are reading on the couch and find yourself sobbing when your significant other is in the room? Oh, that's only me? Fine. I wouldn't recommend it anyway...

15 Day Book Blogger Challenge Day 4

What is the last book you flung across the room?

 

Ohhh, another tough one. I think I have two for completely different reasons. Most recently, I read Fool Me Twice, which I reviewed here. As you can see from my review, I was really liking the book and then it just ended. And it was a crap ending! Ughhhh, so frustrating. That one deserved a hard fling across a room. The other one that came to mind was Catch-22. Somehow I made it through all of my schooling (all 18 years of it) without reading this "classic." I should have appreciated it while I could have. I hated this book. I thought it was stupid. I hated the characters and felt like I missed something. You can check out my goodreads review because I don't find this book worthy of re-reviewing.

 

Unfortunately, (or maybe fortunately for people around me and the objects in my living room) I read most of my books on my Nook tablet which is far too precious to fling. But I definitely have the urge now and again. Done any book flinging yourself?

Under the Dome

Title: Under the Dome

Author: Stephen King

Date Read: July 19, 2013

Summary: On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester's Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and fall from the sky in flaming wreckage, a gardener's hand is severed as "the dome" comes down on it, people running errands in the neighboring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact. No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when -- or if -- it will go away.
Dale Barbara, Iraq vet and now a short-order cook, finds himself teamed with a few intrepid citizens -- town newspaper owner Julia Shumway, a physician's assistant at the hospital, a select-woman, and three brave kids. Against them stands Big Jim Rennie, a politician who will stop at nothing -- even murder -- to hold the reins of power, and his son, who is keeping a horrible secret in a dark pantry. But their main adversary is the Dome itself. Because time isn't just short. It's running out. goodreads

Review: Oh Stephen, you've done it again. Sucked me into a ridiculously long book (1,200+ pages) and kept me interested the whole time. I think that's what makes our relationship work. Granted, sometimes you can get a little out of control with the number of characters in each book but I can overlook that. Especially since you have great character development, even for the characters that only live for about four pages. I see you continue to repeat the normal themes from other books and while that would bother others, I find it endearing. I tend to be interested in your view of religion and politics and how you can portray them in each of your stories in a different way.

This particular tome gives us a glimpse at how quickly a society can deteriorate under poor guidance. It took this town about a week to fall apart, mutiny, and find a solution. Granted, that is extreme and they were cut off from the world, but I think it is relatively accurate of how a dictator can quickly destroy a nation. It was also interesting to see what a person will do when they know there are no consequences. And by interesting, I mean terrifying.

"A refusal to face the orderless, reasonless beast, that can arise when frightened people are provoked."

Things quickly became out of control when the Dome came down and Stephen, being his clever self, used multiple points of view, which allowed us various glimpses into the different happenings around town. They also provided us with information that other townspeople didn't have which added to the suspense. It all eventually came down to good vs. evil and seeing who chose which side. In the end, we see that we all make evil decisions as some point, but you either feel guilty and try to make amends or your conscience looks the other way and you go deeper to the dark side. One of the best ways this was portrayed was when two of the main "evil" characters slowly started to rot from the inside out. Gross, but very fitting.

I've heard that people either love or loathe King, and I seem to fall under the former category. If you can deal with a little bit of gore and supernatural, I definitely recommend this thriller. And to you Stephen, thanks for entertaining me and I assure you, I will be back for more.

*Sidenote: They have recently come out with a TV show based on this book. I have recorded it on our DVR but haven't seen it yet. It seems to have a note of cheesiness from what I have seen though.

15 Day Book Blogger Challege Day 3

Day 3: Who are your blogging BFFs?

I'm about to expose myself as the loser that I am, but truthfully, I don't have any blogging BFFs. Yet! I'm relatively new to this whole bloggy world and I'm slowly starting to discover blogs I like to follow and try to comment relatively frequently. Unfortunately, I'm more like the random (possibly creepy...) commenter than BFFs. I'm currently accepting applications for blogger BFFs if anyone is interested. Some of the book blogs I have recently started reading are listed below.

1. The Broke and The Bookish This is actually one of the first book blogs I started following and probably the reason I started a blog of my own. I really like the various contributors because there are usually posts for everybody.
2. Good Books and Good Wine: This is the blogger who actually created this little challenge and I cannot thank her enough for giving me some writing prompts to supplement my reviews.
3. Bitches With Books: A fellow challenge participant.
4. The Girl and Her Books: This is one of the newer blogs I've started following
5. Tripping Over Books: Recently reviewed Monster Calls which is now on my TBR list.
6. Enchanted by a Book: I'm so ready for Divergent too, girl.
7. Ashley's Book Corner: This is a blog that seemed like it started out around the same time mine did but she has way more followers than me.

I'm always looking for new blogs to follow so if you have any recommendations, let me know. Also, submit BFF applications below ;)

A Rare Book Haul

As a self confessed bibliophile, you would assume I have "book hauls" all the time. Oh, I wish. The problem is a serious lack of income that I can dedicate simply to my obsession. This tends to result in a lot of library books and ebooks. I absolutely refuse to buy an ebook. If I'm going to spend money on a book, you can be sure that I am going to line my library with it one day. So, it is a rare occasion I actually have a book haul.

 

Luckily for me, I'm going on a semi-vacation tomorrow. What is a semi-vacation you ask? Well, it's essentially a 14 hour road trip to my favorite place on earth where I will spend the next five days meeting with wedding vendors and finalizing details. While there will be work (oh, will there be work!), I will also be at my favorite place on earth which may actually result in some time in the sun and on the water. *fingers crossed*

 

Which leads me to the necessity of a dead tree book. As you know, I'm a hard core Nook convert but my tablet is not so easy to read in the sun with my shades on. What is a girl to do? Obviously the answer is head over to her local B&N and drop some justifiable bucks. Here my friends, is what I got!

 

Sorry about the iPhone pic

 

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society- This book has been on my to-read list for awhile even though I'm not entirely sure where I heard about it. But it sounds like it involves WWII and books. Two of my fav subjects so I'm sure I'll enjoy.

Gone South- This was technically my "free" book because I had never heard of it before and needed a third book to get the deal. Being a girl in the South, I appreciate a good southern novel and a civil war era home.

Night Circus- Another one that has been on my TBR list forever. A love story set in a dark circus? What's not to like?!?

 

Now, my initial intention was to buy John Greene's The Fault in Our Stars. This is a book that has been talked about a lot and has rave reviews so I figured it would be worth the dollars. The problem is that it is currently only available in hard back which I did not think was necessary (no experience with this author and I may actual disagree with all the rave reviews then I have an expensive hardback I don't like. Not necessary.) Then I started slowly perusing for other options and of course I stumbled upon the

 

BUY 2, GET ONE FREE

 

table. I love a good deal and there were two books that were one my to-read shelf anyway so I decided to go for it. Yes, I ended up spending close to twice the money, but I have 3 BOOKS! (Anyone else use this weird logic when it comes to book buying?) Now I'm set for the entire weekend and can lay in the sun and read until my hearts content. If my vendors cooperate that is...

 

15 Day Book Blogger Challenge Day 2

*Today is going to be my first day incorporating some gifs into my blog, let me know what you think!

 

Day 2: What's your bedtime reading ritual?

 

Oh, reading rituals! Mine have actually varied a lot over the years. In high school, I read every night until bed. Depending on the book, this could stretch for many hours which was not very conducive to getting up early. In college, I rarely read prior to bedtime or at all for that matter because I was surrounded by required reading. In grad school, I finally got back into my routine of reading for fun. I returned to my old ways of reading right before bed and it was a great way to help me relax from the day and transition into nighttime. More recently though, I tend to read on the couch in the evenings while my fiance watches TV. I'm sure he thinks I look a little like this:

 

 

I've actually become pretty adept at reading with TV or video games in the background. I used to be too easily distracted to be able to do that. I also don't usually care about what the fiance is watching on TV, so I'm sure that helps.

 

When it's time to go to bed, we tend to watch a little TV together rather than reading. Plus, that allows for extra snuggle time which is one of my favorite past times (other than reading, obviously.)

 

He's usually just as enthused as me. Not.

If he is out of town though I almost always read before bed because TV can keep me up too late if I'm watching something I'm too interested in. I'm sure my rituals will change again at some point (probably when I have kids) but for now, my plan is working.

 

Do you do anything unique or weird with your reading rituals?



15 Day Book Blogging Challenge

As you may have noticed, the reviews around here have been a little sparse. That may be due to the 1,200+ page book I'm working on finishing (almost there), the fact that I have only 46 days left to finalize everything about my wedding, or that I have very little else going on. Whatever the reason, I'm sorry about the lack of content. In order to spruce up the ole bloggie here, I figured I would participate in a blogging challenge created by April over at Good Books and Good Wine.

I'm starting a little late so I will probably just post when I have a lull in book related banter on my end, but I will link up with every post. You can get the low down and all of the challenge related info here.

And for my first post, 15 book related confessions!

1. I love to read and am constantly reading, but I don't have a lot of people to talk about books with. Hence the blog. My dad and I read some of the same books so he is always good for a recommendation but I really don't have very many people to talk books with. That is super lame so I mostly interact with other bibliophiles on the Internet. (Loser alert...)

2. I'm hesitant about recommendations to friends. Ok, this is weird. I know it and I own it. The thing is, due to numero uno, my friends are rarely looking for books that I enjoy reading and are more looking for quick beach reads. While I have plenty of those to give out, the books I love and would like to recommend to people, they aren't usually interested in. If only I could get one to read The Book Thief. Come on, people!

3. The first two were kind of pathetic so let's make this one fun. I aim to read 100+ books a year and last year was my first year to accomplish this! This year I'm well on my way and am around 54 so far.

4. I read the majority of my books on my nook. I love dead tree books and own too many, but my nook is my go-to for reading.

5. I'm a bad reader/supporter of the reading community and have been known to use TUEBL.com

6. I never buy ebooks and will refuse to for the rest of my life. I get the majority of ebooks from my local library and when I want to buy a book, I go to the Book Dispensary, a book sale, or my trusty B&N. I just think spending money on something that you can't put your hands on is a waste (especially if it's free at the lib!)

7. Speaking of Barnes and Noble, it is my happy place. If I could visit one daily, I would.

8. I enjoy listening to ebooks but haven't recently due to my car's cd player hating me and no longer working. Anyone else driving a car from 1996?

9. I totally judge a book by the cover. Not to say I won't read a book with a boring cover, but if I'm perusing the library or a book store, the only way I'm going to pick up a book I know nothing about is if it has a good cover.

10. I always finish a book. There is one exception referenced here but I will conquer it one day.

11. I hate covers that have the movie characters on them. There is probably a fancy phrase for what this is called but I am not having it! I'm looking at you Nicholas Sparks.

He's hot but I'm still not having it.

 



12. In that line of thought, if I purchase books in a series, I will always buy all of them and they better be in the same format. No going back and forth between hard backs and paper backs. I do this even if I don't really like the end of the series (Sookie Stackhouse for one) but it brings my reading OCD into play and I just can't handle it.

13. I used to be a dog-earer but no more! I now have a lovely bookmark, that is actually the word love (barf, I know), and I use it with all of my books.

14. I will like a book simply based on the characters. I'm not one of those readers that focuses on how well the writing is and the symbolism and yada yada yada. If I like your characters, I will like your book. Not to say I won't hate your book or judge you for poor writing but I am more forgiving if you have great characters and a good story.

15. My TBR on goodreads list consists of 100+ books. I think this is relatively low because I know that there are far more books that I want to read but it's also a little embarrassing due to the fact that I'm obvious missing out on 100+ books.

Well, these are my confessions (did you sing that like Usher while reading that because I totally did) and they are completely random. I look forward to linking up with April and all of the other posts this challenge will create! Do you have any confessions?