Friday, May 7, 2010

Recently The Huffington Post put together a list of their favorite bookish people to follow on twitter. Here's a quick look at who they picked to find out more about each person click on through to the original post using the link above.

@maureenjohnson
@realjohngreen
@BookMadam
@booksin140
@bookoven
@SideshowAmi/
@jodiwilldare
@nalohopkinson
@dbgrady
@peterstraubnyc
@docbrite
@RealCliveBarker
@sarahreesbrenna
@JulieKlam
@elizabetheslami
@trumpetcake
@hollyblack
@carrieryan
@stephenfry
@BookBitch
@TheAuthorGuy
@EloisaJames
@joypreble
@piper
@aswinn
@elissastein
@GreatDismal

Now I ask, how many of these people were you already following before you read this article?
It is a sad state of affairs but before I read this article I was only following 1 of these people. I am a bit ashamed but the problem has been remedied and I am now following all of them. I think I am over compensating but it is what it is.

Read the Book, See the Movie Challenge Sign Up.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

I need this like I need a kick in the head but I'm joining another challenge.

Here are the details of the Read the Book, See the Movie Challenge hosted over at Ready When You Are, C. B.

The Read the Book, See the Movie Challenge is based on a simple idea--read a book, see a movie based on the book, include both in your review. Whether yours is a book blog or a movie blog, this could be a way to add some spice to your posts, expand your outlook, have some fun. Mostly, have some fun.

You don't have to write full reviews both the movie and the book. You can write a review of one then add a brief paragraph or just a sentence or two about the other at the end.


Select a challenge level:

• Matinee: one book/movie
• Double Feature: two books/movies
• Saturday Movie Marathon: four books/movies
• Film Festival: eight books/movies
• Festival Jury Member: ten books/movies

The challenge will begin on New Year's Day 2010 and will last all year.

I am going to go for the Film Festival level of a challenge mainly because I already know there are at least four books I have read that I haven't seen the movie to go along with it and I don't see it as much of a challenge if I don't have to read any books so the Film Festival level forces me to go out and read some books too. I don't think this one will be too hard to finish by the end of the year, we'll see.
I'm not sure exactly all the titles I will read/watch but I know I will do
How To Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell (need to read)
Lovely Bones by Alice Seabold (need to watch)
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (need to watch)
Eragon by Christopher Paolini (need to watch)
The Neverending Story by Ralph Manheim (need to read)
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult (need to watch)

the other's I will pick up as I go along.

Book Review - Club Dead by Charlaine Harris

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

I picked up Club Dead (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 3) by Charlaine Harris at the library as fast as possible after finishing Living Dead in Dallas. I am officially hooked on these books. Club Dead is where the books really start to veer from the TV show which makes sense considering that this is the 3rd book and the show has only had 2 seasons but still there are things in this book that I really wonder how they are going to put them in the show. I am interested to see what they put in, what they change and what they take out all together.

I don't want to give a description because I don't want to give anything away and the description on Amazon gives away too much this time so again I will just say this, READ IT!

Also this knocks off another one in the Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge.

Teaser Tuesday

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

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 (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Here are mine:

"No shipwrecked mariner on a desert island could have welcomed the appearance of a sail with greater enthusiasm."

and

"It would enable me to sleep more comfortably than on the stairs"

I can't tell you the exact pages because I am reading it on my iPhone using Stanza which I love but it breaks the book up into parts and then makes up new page numbers so they wouldn't mean much if someone were trying to find the exact quotes. They are both from The Man Upstairs & Other Stories - From the Manor Wodehouse Collection, a selection from the early works of P. G. Wodehouse

Book Review - The Finer Point of Sausage Dogs by Alexander McCall Smith

Monday, May 3, 2010

I listened to the unabridged audio of The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs by Alexander McCall Smith a few weeks ago when I was in Florida to make my driving around go faster. I have wanted to read a book my McCall Smith ever since I worked at Barnes and Noble when the Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency books were really popular. I was looking for a title to take care of a spot on the What's In A Name Challenge and this fit perfectly.
I was really happy with this book, it was cute and entertaining. I really liked McCall Smith's style so I will be picking up more of his books in the future.
Product Description from Amazon:

Readers who fell in love with Precious Ramotswe, proprietor of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, now have new cause for celebration in the protagonist of these three light-footed comic novels by Alexander McCall Smith. Welcome to the insane and rarified world of Professor Dr. Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld of the Institute of Romance Philology. Von Igelfeld is engaged in a never-ending quest to win the respect he feels certain he is due–a quest which has the tendency to go hilariously astray.

In The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs, Professor Dr. Von Igelfeld is mistaken for a veterinarian and not wanting to call attention to the faux pas, begins practicing veterinary medicine without a license. He ends up operating on a friend’s dachshund to dramatic and unfortunate effect. He also transports relics for a schismatically challenged Coptic prelate, and is pursued by marriage-minded widows on board a Mediterranean cruise ship.

1. Food

2. Plant

3. Title

4. Place Name

5. Body of Water

6. Music Term

Book Trailer Awards

Sunday, May 2, 2010

I am so interested to see what turns up from the First Annual Moby Awards for book trailers. Find out more here.
Anyone can submit a video by visiting their submissions page here.

Book Review - Doctor Who and the Genesis of the Daleks by Terrance Dicks

Saturday, May 1, 2010

I picked up Doctor Who and the Genesis of the Daleks by Terrance Dicks at the library not too long ago. One of the differences between this title and the other Doctor Who novels I've read so far is that this one isn't an original, in other words it's just a novelization of one of the Tom Baker television series.
That doesn't make it any less appealing to me however since I have a hard time paying too close attention to the old episodes so even though I've seen them playing in the background while my husband was watching them I couldn't tell you what actually happened until I read this book.
This book shows us the beginning of the Daleks. Where they come from, who invented them and why and what The Doctor does to try to stop it all from happening.
Although it was a little script-like in the reading it was just as easy to get into the story as all the other Doctor books I've read. This read had an extra bonus of being able to brush up on my important Doctor history in a way I just couldn't with the television show.

This book also takes care of one of my selections for the Doctor Who Reading Challenge and one for the Time Travel Reading Challenge.