Thrusday Tea

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Happy Thursday!  Thought I'd forgo my usual cup of coffee this morning and instead grab a current book I'm reading and a cup of tea!  This meme is hosted by Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog .

All you need is a book and a cup of tea to participate!

The Book: Started Early, Took My Dog by  Kate Atkinson.  

I signed up to participate in a blog review for this book solely on the strength of the title of the book.  It caught my fancy.  I didn't know it was part of an ongoing series, but so far that hasn't seemed to make a difference.  I'm still in the early pages (60 of 385), so I'm still getting introduced to the main players.  Jackson Brodie is an interesting character, and I love that he puts a man bullying a poor dog in his place.  Of course he ends up with the dog, echoing Tracy Waterhouse's earlier, and completely unexpected, rescue and purchase.  I still have no idea where this book is going, but I know I want to come along!

The Tea:  Peppermint Tea!  Right now, as part of my complicated diet, I'm not drinking milk.  I like milk in my coffee and black tea.  The only way I can drink tea sans milk is to find really yummy teas, and peppermint is my absolute favorite.  I almost feel like the grown up my license states I am.     



So what's your current read?  And if your a tea drinker, what's your flavor?

 

And now for Day 9 of Dollar Bin Horror Movie Challenge!

Day 09 - Your favorite exploitation / grind house type film:

Death Proof!

I'm sad to say I don't watch much of these kinds of films so I'm going to have to go with Death Proof.  I love any Tarantino movie- the guy's a freaking, freaky genius, and I love the girl power at the end.  The movie also as the super amazing Zoe Bell  in it (as an actress and not just a stunt double).  My husband thinks I'm crazy, he totally thought I'd prefer Planet Terror, but I love, love, love when the victim goes all kamikazee on the killer.  I Spit on Your Grave would probably be second, but I have major problems with some of the plot line in that movie.

I heard that they did a remake of this film, but I don't think I'll ever get around to watching it.  Once with the original was more than enough. 

Before I Fall Review

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
From Goodreads:

What if you had only one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?

Samantha Kingston has it all: the world's most crush-worthy boyfriend, three amazing best friends, and first pick of everything at Thomas Jefferson High—from the best table in the cafeteria to the choicest parking spot. Friday, February 12, should be just another day in her charmed life.
Instead, it turns out to be her last.
Then she gets a second chance. Seven chances, in fact. Reliving her last day during one miraculous week, she will untangle the mystery surrounding her death—and discover the true value of everything she is in danger of losing.

 
My Thoughts:  Lauren Oliver won me over with Delirium. I'm a bit sad I didn't read Before I Fall first but I really loved this book, despite that it was a more depressing version of Groundhog Day. I fell in love with Kent as Sam did, I was able to see past the bitchiness of Lindsay, to see the hurt, insecure girl behind the surface nastiness. Watching minor characters like Anna and Juliet and even little Izzy get their chance to shine was wonderful. The ending got to me, there were tears. It's a great book for a rainy day!

Before I Fall gets a Midnight Rating of 11pm.   

Now for the Dollar Bin Horror Movie Challenge!
Day 08 - Your favorite anthology:

Campfire Tales.  I love short horror movies, as much as I love reading them! It's also got Glenn Quinn, who is sorely missed in the acting world, and James Marsden.  Classic scary tales brought to life on the big screen, does it get much better?  Of course, as this is a book blog, I have to recommend a great scary tales anthology- Joe Hill's 20th Century Ghost, hands down.

Back to the Sweet Valley!

It's heeeeeeeere:

I pre-ordered it, and now I can't wait to see what the Wakefield twins and friends are up to!  I might not be able to wait until Readathon.  I hope to see Steven, Cara, Lila, Enid, Jeffrey and Bruce mentioned.  Character I most hope has been killed off or will be?  Todd.  He of the "coffee colored eyes".  I know, I know, he's Elizabeth's first love, but I always preferred green eyed, soccer playing Jeffrey. 

Any Sweet Valley fans foaming at the mouth for this one?  Can a Babysitter's Club Reunion be far behind?

Now onto the Dollar Bin Horror Movie Challenge!
Day 07 - Your favorite supernatural horror film:

Carrie- hands down I wish I'd had telekinesis when those wenches poured pig's blood on me at my prom!  Okay, that didn't happen.  But how nice would it be to send a jerky driver off the road after he/she cuts in front of you without using their turn signal?  See, I'd only use my powers for good!

Readathon Is So Near I Can Taste It!

I can't wait for April 9th!

There is something magical about an approaching Readathon, something in the air that makes me buy and check out books at an alarming rate, something that reminds me to request off work for that weekend, and brings to mind all the snacks I'll need to buy to keep me up and reading!

Two of my real life friends are participating this year, which makes me over the moon happy!  Courtney can be found at Abducted By Books (and she's doing a giveaway!), and Katherine is currently hard at work on making a book blog. I just looked and she has her blog started, just no posts yet- feel free to give her a follow anyway at KatByrdie!

For those of you that might be unaware of what Readathon is, or overwhelmed at the thought of trying to do a 24 hour event, fear not!  First and foremost, Readthon is a book reading event, full of mini-challenges, giveaways and fun!  And of course, books.  You do not have to stay up the full 24 hours... I usually take a nap in the wee hours of the morning, waking towards the end to tweet til the end.  A lot of people have things that they have to do that day, and here audio books can be your best friend.  Those with kids will often have their kids read along, which I think is awesome!  It doesn't matter if you're a super fast reader, of a slower paced reader, you can read as much or as little as you want.  In fact, I've signed up to cheerlead the last few Readathons, and have had a blast.  I'll be doing it again this year.  The one thing I'll do this year differently is that instead of posting every 2 hours, I'm just going to make 4 posts, and update them with whatever challenges I'm doing at that time.  That way I don't blow up someone's Google Reader... I don't want to be unfollowed for posting too much!

The mini-challenges are fun, ranging from easy to thought-provoking.  But the best thing of Readathon for me?  Connecting with all of you on Twitter!  Reading used to feel like such a lonely hobby, but since I've found a community of book loving people, it no longer feels like that.  I can't wait to see what others have to say about books I'm reading, or being introduced to books I haven't met yet.  During Readathon I really get the sense of all the bloggers I'm following me, and I always find some truly wonderful new blogs and tweeters.

So if you're participating, leave your Twitter name, and I'll give you a follow.  If you're tottering on the fence, then leave a comment and I'll give you a push into the Readathon garden!

I'm currently working on my Pile O' Books for Readathon, which will be towering and completely unrealistic but fun to construct and take pictures of regardless.  Here's some pics of past Readathon piles (of course, one I'm using as my blog pic):

*See my first 2 were completely ridiculous!  I did better with my last one, because most of those were graphic novels, with a manga and a children's book thrown in along with a few YA.  I still did not complete the pile, but I came the closest to doing so ever. 

What book are you most looking forward to reading during the Readathon?

On another note, today is Day 6 of the Dollar Bin Horror Movie Challenge.

Day 06 - Your favorite vampire movie?


Since I already picked The Lost Boys for a different day, and there can be no repeats, I'll choose From Dusk Till Dawn.  I actually own this script... and have acted it out with friends whilst drunk... and not so drunk.  I still use lines from that movie ("Okay, ramblers, let's get rambling.")  Of modern vampire movies, I really enjoyed The Hamiltons and if you did too then you need to read The Radleys by Matt Haig. You'll thank me later.
 

Day 5 and Book Club Rant

Another day, another horror movie.  Hosted by Dollar Bin Horror

Day 05 - Your favorite monster movie:

The Descent- I have no idea what the hell those cave thingys were, but they scared the crap out of me. I think they were meant to be humans evolved into sub-humans from living underground, making them a close relative to those good ol' boys in Deliverance.

Short Book Club Rant:

My book club meets at Barnes and Noble in the cafe.  We often close the place down, talking about books and just about every other topic we can think of.  We're a friendly bunch.  In the middle of book club, after having been there for over 2 hours, a young woman came up to our tables (there were 6 of us, so we had 2 tables) and told us in a saccharine voice that basically we were talking too loud and she and her friend were trying to study.

Now I have no problem with people using the cafe to study.  I understand the allure of coffee and snacks to fuel you as you read, write, or research.  But it's a cafe, not a library.  If you need quiet to study then perhaps a book store cafe on a weekend night is not the wisest choice.  And if you do choose to study there, you do so at your own risk.  Which we sweetly pointed out to the young woman.  I don't know if she saw it our way, but she sat back at her table and didn't attempt any more noise interventions with us, since we stayed another two hours.

I'm honestly slightly offended that she came over to us and scolded us is her fake nice voice (think Dolores Umbridge, I seriously suspect the girl has kitten plates decorating her room at home).  We weren't being loud, the cafe was very crowded.  There is much laughter during our book club meetings, so I can see that would be annoying if you were trying to concentrate on complicated math (they had fancy calculators).   And I can see them wenching about us behind our backs. But to actually come up to us and scold us like children talking during study hall is offensive.

I was, I am, offended.  Although, since I hate math, I'd be pretty testy if I was trying to study too.  But I would have gone to a library, not a cafe, on a Saturday night.  And I wouldn't sit down by a clearly advertised book club- oh, that's right, we have a sign.

Rant over.  I know I probably overreacted, but that admonishment put a small damper on my book club fun.  It's the one night a month that I get to spend with women friends under the age of 80 discussing books and movies about books, and then invariably Kathrine will bring up Star Trek and we'll have to talk her back down from deep space. Or I'll bring up Stephen King and/or serial killer trivia.  So, you know what, math girl?  I'm not alright with you clouding up and raining all over my parade.  But I do have some thoughts on what you can go do with that calculator...

Book Thief and Day 4

I just finished reading The Book Thief...

                                        It was amazing...

                                                             That's all that needs to be said.

The Book Thief  by Markus Zusak
From Goodreads:

It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . .

Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.

This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.

The Book Thief gets a Midnight Book Rating of Midnight.  My book club meets tonight to discuss it, and I just hope I don't start crying.  I'm still a little shaken up.  That's what an amazing read should feel like.

Okay, moving on, it's Day 4 of the Dollar Bin Horror 30 day challenge!
 
Day 04 - Your favorite werewolf film: Underworld

You know, I wasn't a huge fan of the werewolf when I was younger.  I'm a vampire girl to the bone.  I liked An American Werewolf in London, liked Wolf, but I never thought of werewolves as hot until Underworld.  Of course it helps to have the smoldering yumminess of Michael Sheen and Scott Speedman to make a case for werewolves being sexy and superior to vampires.

See what I mean?  Love them werewolf boys!

Blog Hop March 25th

It's been awhile since my last hop so I thought it was time to participate once again:

 

This week's question comes from Mina who blogs at Mina Burrows:

 "If you could physically put yourself into a book or series…which one would it be and why?"

 

Hmm... this is a hard one for me.  My friend Courtney picked Harry Potter, and I'm tempted to answer what as well, but I don't want to be a copy cat.  I guess then I'd have to choose the Odd Thomas series by Dean Koontz.  I would love to be a friend to Odd Thomas, to help him out on his journey to save the world a little at a time.  Plus, despite the heat, Pico Mundo sounds like a terribly interesting place to live.  I'd want to be friends with Little Ozzie, to bring treats to Terrible Chester in the hopes that he wouldn't pee on my shoes, and  to eat some pancakes that Odd's whipped up just for me.  

 

 

 

 

 

Now also for my 30 days of horror challenge being hosted by Dollar Bin Horror:

Day 03 - Your favorite slasher movie:

I like all kinds of horror movies but slashers aren't normally top of my list.  That said, I really liked the horror of the Hostel movies.  But out of the two I preferred Hostel 2.  I felt like the main character had more of a storyline and background.  I liked that she was a lesbian, although it would have been nice if she'd been a little more comfortable with that and more open.  Normally in a horror film, lesbianism is used only for orgy plots, so its nice to see gay main characters that aren't constantly nude or stereo-types.  Plus, I love the ending of Hostel 2, because I love any horror movie that has an element of revenge to it.  I don't know what that says about me, but feel free to interpret away!

Day 2, and Fragments Review

As part of the Dollar Bin 30 Day Challenge here is my Day 2 answer:


Day 02 - The horror film that you relate most to:

Hmm, this one's hard.  Probably Lost Boys.  I love that movie so much, and I've watched it countless times.  As much as I love vampires, especially literary vampires like Eric Northman and Edward Cullen, the vampires in Lost Boys feel more realistic.  That vampires, if they truly existed, would be all evil giggles, and ugly, scary vampire faces when they turned.  I loved the romance between Star and Michael, and I like how even though she's a little scared and passive during most of the movie, Star eventually starts standing up for herself.  But in all honesty, I relate best to the nerdiness of the Frog Brothers.  When I was a kid I was always convincing myself that I was a lost pet detective, or ghost hunter, or the fifth Bangle.  I could have wholly accepted the idea of the undead walking around Fairfax, Virginia.  Sadly, I wasn't allowed to watch Lost Boys until I was a teen, but I probably would have imagined myself as the Frog sister.

Star, played by Jami Gertz.  I still want her cool gypsy skirts from the movie!

Now let me do a quick book review, since this is meant to be a book blog...

Fragments: Poems, Intimate Notes, Letters by Marilyn Monroe.

From Goodreads:

Marilyn Monroe’s image is so universal that we can’t help but believe that we know all there is to know of her. Every word and gesture made headlines and garnered controversy. Her serious gifts as an actor were sometimes eclipsed by her notoriety and the way the camera fell helplessly in love with her.
But what of the other Marilyn? Beyond the headlines and the too-familiar stories of heartbreak and desolation was a woman far more curious, searching, and hopeful than the one the world got to know. Even as Hollywood studios tried to mold and suppress her, Marilyn never lost her insight, her passion, and her humor. To confront the mounting difficulties of her life, she wrote.
Now, for the first time, we can meet this private Marilyn and get to know her in a way we never have before. Fragments is an unprecedented collection of written artifacts, notes to herself, letters, even poems in Marilyn’s own handwriting, never before published, along with rarely seen intimate photos.
These bits of text jotted in notebooks, typed on paper, or written on hotel letterhead reveal a woman who loved deeply and strove to perfect her craft. They show a Marilyn Monroe unsparing in her analysis of her own life, but also playful, funny, and impossibly charming. The easy grace and deceptive lightness that made her performances so memorable emerge on the page, as does the simmering tragedy that made her last appearances so heartbreaking.
Fragments is an event, an unforgettable book that will redefine one of the greatest stars of the twentieth century and which, nearly fifty years after her death, will definitively reveal Marilyn Monroe’s humanity

My Thoughts:  I really didn't know much about Marilyn Monroe before reading this book, beyond her marriages.  I found myself going to the internet to look things up.  This book does not give a whole lot of biographical detail about her if you're unfamiliar with her life.  It's amazing  that someone can be so different from their public image, but Monroe definitely was.  She was always struggling to be better, to be more worthy, but ultimately her depression and insecurities would take over. I did feel like I was reading someone's diary, it felt a bit voyeuristic. 

Fragments gets a Midnight Book Rating of 10pm.  Whether you're a fan of Marilyn Monroe's or not, I think it's an interesting look into a private life we don't usually get a chance to see- can you imagine someone looking through your book of thoughts, or scribbles on random pages? I'd probably suggest reading a biography on her first if you don't know much about her.  That would make Fragments a better Midnight read.

Goodbye, Borders, Part 2.

I thought I had made peace with Borders closing, but I just had to make one more visit...

The books were 40% to 50% off, how could I resist?

I'm sure some of these books will be making their way into my Readathon pile. I can hardly wait!

Will there be any more fond farewells to my local Borders?  I don't know, but I certainly wouldn't bet against it!

Also, please check out my friend Courtney's Blog Anniversary Give-Away at Abducted By Books!

I've also decided to do Dollar Bin Horror's 30 Day challenge.  Here's what it is:

The rules are simple, just pick your favorite horror film for each day! However, you can't pick the same horror film more then once. So once you pick say The Exorcist for your favorite horror film involving the powers of Hell, you can't repick it again for any other day what so ever including favorite horror film. So let's get to it! This is the 30 Day Horror Film Challenge!



Day 01 - A horror film that no one would expect you to love, but you do
Day 02 - The horror film that you releate most to
Day 03 - Your favorite slasher
Day 04 - Your favorite werewolf film
Day 05 - Your favorite monster movie
Day 06 - Your favorite vampire movie
Day 07 - Your favorite supernatural horror film
Day 08 - Your favorite anthology
Day 09 - Your favorite exploitation / grind house type film
Day 10 - Your favorite psychological horror film
Day 11 - Your favorite science fiction horror film
Day 12 - Your favorite horror film involving the occult
Day 13 - Your favorite horror comedy
Day 14 - Your favorite zombie film
Day 15 - Your favorite horror film involving serial killers
Day 16 - Your favorite childhood themed horror film
Day 17 - Your favorite horror film remake
Day 18 - Your favorite foreign horror film (outside of your country of origin)
Day 19 - Your favorite horror film involving the powers of Hell or Satanism
Day 20 - Your favorite horror film involving a killer animal
Day 21 - Your favorite medical horror film
Day 22 - Your favorite horror themed TV show
Day 23 - Your favorite made for TV horror film
Day 24 - Horror film in which you perfer the edited version over the director's cut
Day 25 - A horror film that you used to hate, but now like
Day 26 - Your favorite horror film to watch as a child
Day 27 - Your favorite guilty pleasure
Day 28 - Your favorite horror film that no one's ever heard of
Day 29 - Your least favorite horror film of all time
Day 30 - Your favorite horror film of all time

I know this doesn't have a huge tie-in to books, but as a Midnight Girl, I do love my horror flicks.

So my Day 1 pic: A horror film that no one would expect you to love, but you do:

American Psycho 2!  I'll be honest, I didn't really care that much for the first movie.  But for whatever reason, I really like the second one.  Maybe it's because my Dad told me that women couldn't be serial killers when I was a kid, and I remember thinking some woman should do something about that... Of course he was wrong, there are women serial killers. And fortunately I decided on a less bloody career. 

Samples and Quotes #1

The awesome thing about being a Kindle owner is getting to sample books before I buy them.  Every book that I see on my Google Reader that catches my fancy, and I'm off to Amazon to download the sample so that I not only try it out, but remember the name of the book.

Here's the problems: I was up to over 80 sample on my Kindle, and I hadn't touched them in months.  So now I'm in the process of going through them.  A few are from books I've already downloaded or read, so I immediately delete those, but the rest are carefully read and I either write the name down in my little book of Quotes and Thoughts,  or the delete is final. 

The other day was rainy and I had some time on my hands.  Now, I could have read one of the many books I'm currently involved with but the main reason I haven't gotten to my samples is because I feel like I'm wasting my time.  So I made a project out of it.  And I found a few good quotes to add to my book list, and several books I want to read (I put an asterisk by the ones that need to go straight to the front of the TBR line).  I've still got about 50 more to get through... *shivers*

Occasionally I'll be posting book quotes to share with you all, and so away we go:

"Occasionally I still had trouble with the idea that I was in the world but not of it, if that makes senses."
     ~Queen of the Dead by Stacey Kade (ARC so it may not be final)

"It's hard to explain but when she's angry, it feels as though someone has put me together incorrectly like a bookshelf with a row of upside-down books."
     ~Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce

"Now the trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed."

'"Narnia, Narnia, Narnia, awake.  Love. Think. Speak. Be walking trees.  Be talking beasts. Be divine waters."'
     ~The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis

"It's like this every time we're in the same room; nothing has changed in the year since this whole mess started- she's tracking me, I'm tracking her.  The defense department would kill to have radar this good."

"Kathryn was the kind of person who was alone a lot.  Nobody ever left me alone.
   Hanging out with her, we could be alone together."
     ~Rival by Sara Bennett Wealer

*This one's from a movie... deal with it*
"He used to be a dick.  He's not a dick anymore."
     ~The Postman Always Rings Twice (the lawyer is explaining that his employee used to be a private investigator).

"Kim's never said anything like that to me- I'd rather kill you than have you be fat.  But she never just accepted me for the way I was.  She was always, "Let's try this new diet.  We'll diet together.  I could always lose ten pounds." She was thinking, And you could lose a hundred."

"I hadn't noticed until now how fat she is.  I mean, I noticed she was fat.  Fat kids always notice other fat kids so they can compare themselves and think, I'm not that fat."

"I like her.  She seems to be at peace with herself.
   I think Emily has courage."
     ~By The Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead by Julie Anne Peters.

"She saw the face of a complete stranger and memorized every detail.  A blond man with intense blue eyes and a tilted, angular face about a foot from hers.
     "Hello.  My name is Anders Jonasson.  I'm a doctor."'
     ~The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest by Steig Larsson (this is only meaningful to me because I have a major crush on the hottie Swedish actor who plays. Dr. Jonasson in the movie.  And he does have intense blue eyes!).

"The best men are not consistent in good- why should the worst men be consistent in evil?"
     ~The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

"Welcome to Sudden Death- or as I like to call it, Suprise Demise, room 1118."
     ~Spooky Little Girl by Laure Notaro

Okay, I've bored you enough!  Feel free to share any good quotes you've run across recently in my comments!



 

Narnia Readalong #3

So I'm a little slow on the uptake, and I missed the first two posts but I did read both The Magician's Nephew and The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. However, now I'm caught up with the Narnia Readalong, having finished The Horse and His Boy the other day.

When I was a kid I loved The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, but I never read any of the other series until about 6 years ago. So while I've read tLtWatW dozens of times, I've only read The Horse and His Boy once before.  Which is a shame, since it's a great story.

So here's my muddled thoughts on The Horse and His Boy:

Aslan is my favorite part of the story, and the different roles he plays to get the children and the horses to their destines.  Someday, when you read about a woman who got mauled to death after climbing into a lion's cage, please know that it was me and I just wanted a little cuddle with the Lion.  Maybe I should just settle for finding a really cute stuffed lion toy...

My other favorite character was Hwin, I loved her patience and cool head.  While Bree, Shasta/Cor, and Aravis were flawed characters, I liked that Hwin was herself.  I envy her calmness.  Since it's much safer to try to find a talking horse than climbing into cages looking for Aslan, I will continue trying to make small talk with the ponies at the fair.

The book started off a little slow for me, but by the time the horses and the kids are being chased by the lions, the pace picks up.  I liked the peek into the life that Aravis was leaving behind, it would have been a very comfortable one, but it's shallow and loveless.  The friendship that four find makes them all the better for it.


The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis gets a Midnight Book Rating of 11:00 pm, as I enjoyed it on several levels.  The series can be magical and good no matter if your religious or not, but being a Christian adds to a level of emotion for me.


Briefly I'll give my thoughts on the first two books.

The Magician's Nephew: Uncle Andrew is a tool.  Digory behaves a bit badly, but comes round in the end.  Polly and the Cabby are wonderful.  I really felt like I was there while Aslan created the world Narnia inhabits.  It was truly beautiful.  It's a good introduction to the series, although I'm fine with those who choose to start with tLtWatW and finish with TMN... and that's probably the order I prefer.

But I do love that is the boy, Digory, who brought evil into the land, and not yet another Eve. :)


The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis gets a Midnight Book Rating of 10:30pm. 

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe: One of my all time favorite books, from childhood up until now.  There's something about that first trip through the wardrobe and Lucy meeting Mr. Tumnus in the snowy wood.  I have always clearly been able to see scenes from this book in my head.  Each time, despite knowing that he'll soon be bounding around like a kitten, the book breaks my heart when Aslan goes to the Stone Table.  And the book really makes me want some Turkish Delight, but I've never had it since I only think of eating it when I'm reading the book.  Seriously, I really need to try it!  I wonder if it's good enough to betray my brothers... okay, I'd probably give them up for some raw cookie dough.


The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe gets a Midnight Book Rating of Midnight, because it's a favorite of mine and that's all the reason I need.