Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Teaser Tuesday 6/7/11



Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!
  • Share the title & author so others can add the book to their TBR list

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

The direwolf wrenched free and came to him as the wight struggled to rise, dark snakes spilling from the great wound in its belly.  Jon plunged his had into the flames, grabbed a fistful of the burning drapes, and whipped them at the dead man.  Let it burn, he prayed as the cloth smothered the corpse, gods, please, please, let it burn.

Top Ten Tuesday 6/7/11: Top Ten Favorite Book Settings

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.  This meme was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish.  We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new top ten list complete with one of our bloggers' answers.  Everyone is welcome to join.  All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND post a comment on our post with a link to your Top Ten Tuesday post to share with us and all those who are participating.  If you don't have a blog, just post your answers in the comments.

TOP TEN FAVORITE BOOK SETTINGS

1.  Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy in the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling-  Come on now folks.  Do you really have to ask why this is my top choice?  Hogwarts has always had a special place in my heart.  As a kid I used to daydream that I was wandering down Diagon Alley, navigating the ever changing halls, sipping butterbeer in Hogsmead, and cheering at the Quiddich world cup.  (OK I'll admit, I still daydream about that)...

2.  Misselthwaite Manor and the garden in The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett- The secret garden seems like the perfect escape.  I would love to spend my rainy days exploring the giant manor, finding treasures hidden away by long forgotten inhabitants, and my sunny days out in the garden, playing with fairies and casting a child's magic spell.  I love exploring.  I love finding hidden paths, rooms, and secrets.

3.  Wonderland from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll-  I love wonderland.  I love all of the zany characters that Alice meets throughout her adventure.  I love the mad tea party (why is a raven like a writing desk), the mouse's tale, and the rose garden.  I am so picky about my wonderland, I HATE it when people mix up the red queen and the queen of hearts (chess and cards are not the same).

4.  Narnia from The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis- Who wouldn't want to visit Narnia?  As a little kid I would pretend that the wardrobe in my grandmother's bedroom was a gateway to Narnia.  There I would play with the fauns and dryads, battle the white witch, and go on quests for Aslan.  


5. Hill Top Farm from Peter Rabbit and Friends by Beatrix Potter- Did anyone else watch the BBC cartoons from the 90s?  It was my favorite movie to watch whenever I went over to my grandmother's house (I spent a lot of time there as a kid if you can't tell lol).  Tom Kitten was my favorite.  After watching the cartoon or reading the book I would go out to her garden and pretend to be Beatrix Potter with all of her animal friends.  I'm starting to realize that I have a fascination with British children's literature...

6.  Neverland from Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie-  More British children's literature anyone?  As a little kid I didn't really like Peter Pan because I hated the Disney movie.  It wasn't until 6th grade when I read Peter and Wendy that I realized just how horribly wrong Disney got it.  I loved Tiger Lily and how Peter Pan saved her from the Mermaid's Lagoon.  The quote "to die would be an awfully big adventure" pretty much blows my mind.
7.  Redwall Abbey from the Redwall Series by Brian Jacques- I just want to go to Redwall and EAT!  The food sounds simply amazing.  I love the honor and nobility of the heroes in these books.  I also loved how each book felt very different, some took place at the abbey, some on boats, some to the south, some to the north, but they were all very similar.  Jacques had a very distinct writing style that I could relate to, even when his main characters were woodland creatures.

8.  The Land of Oz from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum- I have a 1908 copy of Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz which was given to me by my grandfather.  I have since read more of the series and I really loved the land of Oz and Ozma, the original princess of Oz.  My favorite place was the emerald city (more from the movie than the books though, gotta be honest).

9.  The Ages from the Myst series by Robyn and Rand Miller- Myst was an awesome computer game series that had three companion books.  The magic of this series is the race of the D'ni write their ages in books that become portals to the actual worlds.  They travel by book.  That is awesome.

10.  Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton- Let's pretend for a second that the dinosaurs don't break out and start eating everyone.  How FREAKING AWESOME would Jurassic Park be!?  I love amusement parks and I love dinosaurs, so it's a perfect match.  I saw the movie when I was six and it thoroughly amazed me.  Later in middle school I read the novel and knew I had found true love. 




Monday, June 6, 2011

Off the Shelf #1

  Hello everyone and welcome to Off the Shelf!  This is my way of sharing any new books I receive or buy as well as let you all know what my reading plans are for the week and what I hope to get off my TBR shelf.

It's Monday! What are you reading is hosted by One Persons Journey through a world of Books. Each week we spotlight the books we are reading, planning on reading or just finished reading.

Finished Reading:

Shine by Lauren Myracle


Currently Reading:
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

Up Next:

by J.K. Rowling


48 Hour Reading Challenge: Final Summary

I had a lot of fun doing this reading challenge!  In total I finished one book I had already began, completely read two books, and started two more.   I started Delirium and couldn't get into it, so I started to re-read A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin.  I read for twenty hours total which was four hours short of my goal and read a total of 941 pages.  I donated $20.00 to the ASPCA, one for each hour I read.  I also won a trivia question on twitter with the epic read-a-thon, so I'll be getting a prize!  That was exciting because I never win anything, so I'm really excited about that.

I wanted to thank everyone that hosted the epic read-a-thon and the 48 hour book challenge at Awesome Bookworm and Mother Reader.  I had a great time, thank you all so much.  You ROCK!

Complete Books:
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Shine by Lauren Myracle
Started Books:

Delirium by Lauren Oliver
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

Sunday, June 5, 2011

48 Hour Reading Challenge: Saturday Summary

After finishing Anna and the French Kiss (at 8:30am....crazy I know) I slept until 2:30 then watched some tv, ate food, showered, then headed off to Starbucks at around 3:30.  I was there until 5:30 then I headed to Barnes and Noble and read at the Starbucks there until 8:00.  I hit up a half price books, found a bunch of Garth Nix's Keys to the Kingdom series (I just need books #1 and #7 yay!) then I headed home.  I read straight from 9:30pm to 1:30 am, then took a Jersey Shore/wash the dishes break.  It's now 4:00am, and I think I'm gonna read for an hour or so then head to bed.

Finished Books


Shine by Lauren Myracle

This book was very good.  I was really impressed with the storyline and how the author handled heavy topics of hate crimes, teen drug use, and sexual assault.  Shine reminded me of Matthew Shepard, and it brought my mind a new focus on GLBT issues that are still very relevant in today's society.  Shine focuses on bullying and peer pressure that can escalate when left unchecked, and how prejudice, ignorance, and intolerance are unhealthy mindsets that lead to a communities destruction.

The Wall Street Journal recently did an article (found here) about young adult literature being too dark for today's teens and it specifically calls out Shine, questioning the subject material and language used in the novel.  I think that the material is something that teens need to be aware of, because it HAPPENS.  OFTEN.  All across the world, and in many places even worse than what is experienced in Shine.  I was rather offended by this article, because it seemed like the author was trying to say that teens shouldn't be exposed to darker subjects such as drug use, abuse, or self mutilation.  Their main argument is that 30 or 40 years ago books that were racey are now considered very tame.  I don't think that this is a reflection of society becoming increasingly more morally corrupt, but rather a society that is beginning to have more open dialogue about issues that have always existed.  If anything I think that today's young adult literature is beneficial because it can help teens who have been a victim of hate, abuse, or neglect find something to which they can relate. This is the same argument against video games.  I think that parents need to be willing to have open conversations with their children to discuss the issues presented in media.

ok, end rant.

Currently Reading

Delirium by Lauren Oliver
I haven't started this puppy yet.  My friends on twitter picked it for me, so I'm planning to read for about an hour then finish it tomorrow.

Total Time: 16 Hours
Total Pages: 822

Saturday, June 4, 2011

48 Hour Reading Challenge: Friday Summary

Here is my progress for the first day.  I'm going by time before sleep, since it's technically Saturday morning, and the sun is up.

Finished Books


Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

I loved this book!  It was such a ridiculous satire, I was cracking up the entire time.  It really reminded me of Drop Dead Gorgeous, it had a very similar sarcastic feeling.  I would recommend this to anyone who likes dark comedies like Heathers, In Bruges, or Saved!.

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

I'm really liking it so far, though I thought it started a bit slow.  Also there were some plot points that I saw coming a MILE AWAY.  And the fact that Etienne is short puts me off because height is one of my top attraction factors.  However, there were parts of this book that had me laughing out loud, shouting in frustration, and swooning.  A really cute read!

Total Time: 7 hours
Total Pages: 472

Currently Reading


Shine by Lauren Myracle



This is the book I plan on starting in the morning...or later today I guess.  For now off to bed!

Friday, June 3, 2011

48 Hour Reading Challenge!




Hey everyone!  I have absolutely nothing planned for this weekend so I decided to participate in a 48 hour read-a-thon hosted at Mother Reader. My official start time is Friday at 11:00pm (it would have been earlier but I fell asleep...oopsies!)  and my end time is Sunday at 11:00pm.  You have to read at least 12 hours to be considered for prizes (easily done) and for every 5 hours reading time you get 1hour of social networking time to update your blog with your progress.  I also plan on tracking my progress on twitter via the hash tag #48hbc.  At the end of my 48 hours I'll write up a summary post with total time and number of books read.  


I'm also participating in  Awesome Bookworm's Saturday read-a-thon.  That starts at noon on Saturday and will run until noon on Sunday.  There are also going to be trivia challenges and prizes for the winner!  I LOVE prizes :)  


Here are some of the books I plan on reading:

  1. Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
  2. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
  3. Shine by Lauren Myracle
  4. Blood Promise by Richelle Mead
  5. Unearthly by Cynthia Hand
  6. Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles
  7. Delirium by Lauren Oliver
  8. Across the Universe by Beth Revis 

 Leave a comment if you plan on participating too!  Happy reading!