Making Up for Monday: Favorite Fictional Villain

Hosted by An Avid Reader; A Wannabe Writer

Each week, I will have a book-related theme or game, or something fun to do that week. And you can play along! All you have to do is find the question for that week, go to your own blog, write a post that day based on that question, and link your post to this one using the link up tool at the bottom of the post.

This Week's Question

Who is your favorite fictional villain?

My Answer:

Just one, eh. Now that's just crazy. Like handing me a bowl of ice cream and saying "just one bite." I've been reading for so long that I could never narrow it down to just one villain from a book, or even just one villain in a book series.

Cover Characteristic: Devils

Each week we will post a characteristic and choose 5 of our favorite cover’s with that characteristic. If you want to join in and share your 5 favorite covers with the weeks particular characteristic, then just make a post, grab the meme picture (or make your own) and leave your URL here or over at Sugar & Snark.

My Picks This Week:

Book Blogger Hop: March 28th - April 3rd — Favorite Book Blogs

Welcome everyone to another post of Book Blogger Hop (hosted by Coffee Addicted Writer). Each week there will be a new topic submit by a blogger and everyone can join in with their answers.

This Week's Topic/Question:

What are some of your favorite book blogs? (submitted by Jack)

My Answer:

I love checking out other people's blogs. For one, it's the easiest way to learn about the latest books and bookish news, and it's great for inspiration when I get the urge to beef up my blog's content. Also, some great advice floating around in the bloggerverse, like Parajunkee's Daily Blogging Tip.

Thoughtful Thursday: Do You DNF?

Hosted by Reading Is Fun Again

Each week, I will post a new bookish thought that I will discuss. Everyone is welcome to join. You can do this in two different ways. (1) You can discuss your thoughts in the comment section of the Thoughtful Thursday post. OR (2) You can post your thoughts on your site. 

This Week's Topic/Question:

Do you DNF (do not finish) books? Do you call it that or do you call it something else? Do you tell people when you DNF a book or do you act like you never read it at all? How have your DNF habits changed over the years?

My Answer:

(Wo)man overboard! If a book just isn't doing it for me, I'm more than happy to jump ship! There are just too many good books in this world; don't let a bad one happen to you.

"Waiting On" Wednesday: Winterspell by Claire Legrand

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights eagerly-anticipated upcoming releases. Click the link to participate.

My Pick This Week: 

Book Title: Winterspell

Author: Claire Legrand

Genres: YA, Fairytale Retold

Release Date: September 30, 2014

The clock chimes midnight, a curse breaks, and a girl meets a prince . . . but what follows is not all sweetness and sugarplums.

New York City, 1899. Clara Stole, the mayor's ever-proper daughter, leads a double life. Since her mother's murder, she has secretly trained in self-defense with the mysterious Drosselmeyer.

Then, on Christmas Eve, disaster strikes.

Her home is destroyed, her father abducted--by beings distinctly not human. To find him, Clara journeys to the war-ravaged land of Cane. Her only companion is the dethroned prince Nicholas, bound by a wicked curse. If they're to survive, Clara has no choice but to trust him, but his haunted eyes burn with secrets--and a need she can't define. With the dangerous, seductive faery queen Anise hunting them, Clara soon realizes she won't leave Cane unscathed--if she leaves at all.

Inspired by The Nutcracker, Winterspell is a dark, timeless fairy tale about love and war, longing and loneliness, and a girl who must learn to live without fear.

I don't really know the story of The Nutcracker well. I did see the ballet a few times as a child but all I remember is being creeped out by the huge wooden face. So it will be interesting to read this to get fresh take on the story. Also, the synopsis on its own sounds pretty cool.

Top Ten Tuesday: My Bookish Bucket List

Top Ten Tuesday is weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish, as they are "particularly fond of lists".

This Week's Topic:

Top Ten Things On My Bookish Bucket List (could be blogging related, book related etc. -- meeting authors, reading x many books per year, finishing a daunting book, etc.)

My Answer:

#1 - Meet Jim Butcher
I've met Nalini Singh. I've met Richelle Mead. Meeting Jim would make my meeting most favorite authors complete. I love his sense of humor and his writing style so much that I just feel like his personality would be that much more amazing.

Also, he just seems so cool. I mean, come on, just look at that picture!

Making Up For Monday: Library Requests

Hosted by An Avid Reader; A Wannabe Writer

Each week, I will have a book-related theme or game, or something fun to do that week. And you can play along! All you have to do is find the question for that week, go to your own blog, write a post that day based on that question, and link your post to this one using the link up tool at the bottom of the post.

This Week's Question

What books do you have on request at the library?

My Answer:

Okay... so this might sound bad but I don't have any at the moment. Now I'm not saying I do not have a library card because I do. It just doesn't get out much. Mostly because I've been using electronic means as of late. I'm not a purest (prefers physical) or a techie (prefers electronic), I'm just into convenience.

Book Review: Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

Author: Daniel Keyes

Genres: Classic, Science Fiction

Format: Audiobook (Audible)

Narrator: Jeff Woodman

Length: 08 hrs and 58 mins

Book Club Pick: Nerds Read Books (part of The OC Young, Fun and Nerdy Meetup)

My Ranking:

Cover Characteristic -- Angels

Each week we will post a characteristic and choose 5 of our favorite cover’s with that characteristic. If you want to join in and share your 5 favorite covers with the weeks particular characteristic, then just make a post, grab the meme picture (or make your own) and leave your URL here or over at Sugar & Snark.

My Picks This Week:

Book Beginnings & The Friday 56: Flowers for Algernon

"Book Beginnings" is a weekly event, hosted by Rose City Reader:

Rules

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.

"The Friday 56" is a weekly event, hosted by Freda's Voice:

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
*Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grab you.
*Post it.
*Add your (url) post to Freda's Voice's Linky. Add the post url, not your blog url. It's that simple.


My Pick This Week: 

Book Title: Flowers for Algernon

Author: Daniel Keyes

Genres: Classic, Science Fiction

Release Date: May 1, 2005 (first published 1966)

Book Blogger Hop: March 21th - 27th — Favorite Meme

Welcome everyone to another post of Book Blogger Hop (hosted by Coffee Addicted Writer). Each week there will be a new topic submit by a blogger and everyone can join in with their answers. You should join us! It's quite fun!

This Week's Topic/Question

What is your favorite weekly meme? (submitted by Kisha @ Books & Shtuff)

My Answer:

Favorite meme? You mean I have to pick just one?

Thoughtful Thursday: How Do You Read Book Series

Hosted by Reading Is Fun Again

I created Thoughtful Thursday, because bookish thoughts kept popping up in my mind while reading, and I wanted to explore these questions and get your opinions too!

Each week, I will post a new bookish thought that I will discuss. Everyone is welcome to join. You can do this in two different ways. (1) You can discuss your thoughts in the comment section of the Thoughtful Thursday post. OR (2) You can post your thoughts on your site. If you do option two, please link back to the Thoughtful Thursday post, use the Thoughtful Thursday graphic, and add your name/post to the Linky widget. If the Linky is closed, feel free to add to add the link in the comment section.

This Week's Topic/Question

How do you read book series? (Do you read each book as it comes out? Do you wait for a few books to come out in a series before starting it? Do you wait until the entire series is out and marathon it? Do you reread all of the books that are currently out before you read the next one?)

My Answer:

I am far from having an A-personality and there are a few things that I am anal about. Actually, this is probably the only one. I will NEVER start a book series from the middle or the end. I have to start with Book #1. It's a moral imperative!

"Waiting On" Wednesday: Wordless (Words Made Flesh #1) --- March 19

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights eagerly-anticipated upcoming releases. Click the link to participate.

My Pick This Week: 

Book Title: Wordless

Author: AdriAnne Strickland

Book Series: Words Made Flesh

Genres: YA, Dystopian

Release Date: August 8, 2014

In Eden City, the Wordless, or illiterate poor, would never even dream of meeting one of the all-powerful Words who run the city-state. Much less of running away with one.

When a drop-dead gorgeous girl literally falls in his lap during his routine trash run, seventeen-year-old Tavin Barnes isn’t sure if it’s the luckiest day of his life, or the beginning of the worst. Because Khaya is also the Word of Life, meaning that she could either heal a wound with a touch or command an ivy bush to devour a city block, depending on her mood.

By helping Khaya escape the seemingly idyllic confines of Eden City into Europe beyond, Tavin unwittingly throws himself into the heart of a conflict that is threatening to tear the city apart… if not the world. Eden City’s elite will stop at nothing to protect the shocking secret Khaya hides, and enlists the help of the other Words, each with their own frightening powers—like the ability to spark a fire, raise a flood, or kill with a touch—to bring her back.

To survive, Tavin must confront the mysteries of his past… and risk sacrificing what he cares about most.

Words are powerful. We definitely know that as bloggers. Combine words with superpowers and I'm all in! This premise sounds pretty unique to me, and I'm more than intrigued.

Making Up For Monday: Favorite Character

Hosted by An Avid Reader; A Wannabe Writer

Each week, I will have a book-related theme or game, or something fun to do that week. And you can play along! All you have to do is find the question for that week, go to your own blog, write a post that day based on that question, and link your post to this one using the link up tool at the bottom of the post.

This Week's Question
Who is your favorite character?

My Answer:

Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden

Just one? There isn't one. I've got plenty!

But at the moment, a favorite who is taking up all of my spare time, is none other than Harry Dresden. I'm currently rereading the entire series, and the third time around had got me right back in love with him.

Cover Characteristic – Robots/Androids

Each week we will post a characteristic and choose 5 of our favorite cover’s with that characteristic. If you want to join in and share your 5 favorite covers with the weeks particular characteristic, then just make a post, grab the meme picture (or make your own) and leave your URL here or over at Sugar & Snark.

My Picks This Week:

"Waiting On" Wednesday: A Shard of Ice (The Black Symphony Saga #1)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights eagerly-anticipated upcoming releases. Click the link to participate.

My Pick This Week: 

Book Title: A Shard of Ice

Author: Alivia Anders

Book Series: The Black Symphony Saga

Genres: YA, Fantasy, Music

Release Date: April 14, 2014

THEIR SOULS, REAWAKENED.

When 13-year-old Lilix Morgan is found alive and floating on a bed of ice at sea, everyone counts it a miracle. Kidnapped nearly four weeks earlier, she remembers nothing of her mysterious abduction. When she tries to remember what happened, she hears only a melody – a faint and delicate set of notes, strung together in a tune she doesn’t understand.

THEIR POWER, UNMATCHED.

A year later and desperate to put the lingering nightmares of her past behind her, Lilix crosses the country to enroll at Baelmorte Academy, aiming to become the violinist she once dreamt of. Things seem to be finally going well, and Lilix settles into a routine of sheet music and inspiration among new friends.

Then the dreams start.

The melody and night terrors she thought she’d left behind return with a vengeance, threatening to ruin her fragile version of normalcy. Then an unlikely ally tells her that she isn’t alone. That there are others just like her, fighting to hide their own shocking truths from coming to light. That they know who she is, and what she’s been through. Now, accompanied by four other girls, Lilix discovers her nightmares are larger than a single trauma; they’re a window to a hidden part of her soul, a place of immense power with a destiny that cannot be ignored.

THEIR BATTLE, IS ONLY BEGINNING.

With this knowledge comes a new and frightening reality. For Lilix has been reawakened to stop an age-old enemy, one thought to have been destroyed centuries ago. Trapped by her destiny, Lilix is torn between what feels right and what she remembers. Her memories tell her of a star-crossed love waiting to be reunited, of friendships and trust broken in the past. But can she save that love when reality brings her an enemy, and an evil that will be the undoing of them all if they don’t destroy it?

The premise sounds intriguing enough and I love reading about magic schools, so I thought I'd give this one a whirl. Plus, the cover is to die for! I love the mask and the black makeup.

Top Ten Tuesday: All Time Favorite Urban Fantasy Books

Top Ten Tuesday is weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish, as they are "particularly fond of lists".

This Week's Topic:

Top Ten All Time Favorite Books in X Genre (you pick the genre!)

My Answer:

This is my very first post for this meme, yay! I specifically chose to start with this topic because it's easy. My genre selection will be my favorite to read — Urban Fantasy. Here are my picks:

Making Up For Monday: Book Lending

Hosted by An Avid Reader; A Wannabe Writer

Each week, I will have a book-related theme or game, or something fun to do that week. And you can play along! All you have to do is find the question for that week, go to your own blog, write a post that day based on that question, and link your post to this one using the link up tool at the bottom of the post.

This Week's Question

Do you lend books out and, if so, what are your rules to lending?

My Answer:

My stance on lending anything is that I only give out what I don't expect back — money, books, whatever. So, would I lend anyone one of my favorite books in paperback or hardback form? Not a chance! I'm not flexible on this. I don't care who you are — acquaintance, friend or family. I've got the same answer for anyone; I just smile real pretty and point toward the nearest library.

Cover Characteristic – Fairytales Retold

Each week we will post a characteristic and choose 5 of our favorite cover’s with that characteristic. If you want to join in and share your 5 favorite covers with the weeks particular characteristic, then just make a post, grab the meme picture (or make your own) and leave your URL here or over at Sugar & Snark.

My Picks This Week:

The Friday 56: The School for Good and Evil (The School for Good and Evil #1) by Soman Chainani

"The Friday 56" is a weekly event, hosted by Freda's Voice:

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
*Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grab you.
*Post it.
*Add your (url) post to Freda's Voice's Linky. Add the post url, not your blog url. It's that simple.

Book Blogger Hop: March 7th - 13th — Schedule for Blogging/Reading?

Welcome everyone to another post of Book Blogger Hop (hosted by Coffee Addicted Writer). Each week there will be a new topic submit by a blogger and everyone can join in with their answers. You should join us! It's quite fun!

This Week's Topic/Question

Do you have a schedule set for blogging and reading time? Or do you not have a set time and just let it happen? (submitted by Elisabeth @ Silver's Reviews)

My Answer:

Ah, discipline; she is a strange mistress. No, I do not have a schedule for blogging or reading. But, do I need one? Yes ... yes, I do.

Thoughtful Thursday: What Is a Classic Book?

Hosted by Reading Is Fun Again

I created Thoughtful Thursday, because bookish thoughts kept popping up in my mind while reading, and I wanted to explore these questions and get your opinions too!

Each week, I will post a new bookish thought that I will discuss. Everyone is welcome to join. You can do this in two different ways. (1) You can discuss your thoughts in the comment section of the Thoughtful Thursday post. OR (2) You can post your thoughts on your site. If you do option two, please link back to the Thoughtful Thursday post, use the Thoughtful Thursday graphic, and add your name/post to the Linky widget. If the Linky is closed, feel free to add to add the link in the comment section.

This Week's Topic/Question

What is a classic book in your eyes? Does it need to be printed before a certain year? Is the definition of a classic a moving target in today' age?

"Waiting On" Wednesday: Take Me On (Pushing the Limits #4)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights eagerly-anticipated upcoming releases. Click the link to participate.

My Pick This Week: 

Making Up For Monday: Bad Bookish Habit

Hosted by An Avid Reader; A Wannabe Writer

Each week, I will have a book-related theme or game, or something fun to do that week. And you can play along! All you have to do is find the question for that week, go to your own blog, write a post that day based on that question, and link your post to this one using the link up tool at the bottom of the post.

This Week's Question

What is your bad bookish habit?

My Answer:

My worse habit is in form of DNF. Sometimes, you just don't "feel" a book. Either the character is annoying or the story is too much and I just can't bring myself to finish it. Only, I intended on using it for a book challenge, or I want to get a review out of it for my blog. So I grit my teeth and attempt to finish it. Which I do... mostly. I will get to about 75 percent done and then I'll put them down, and pick up a new book or more.

Cover Characteristic – Fairies

Each week we will post a characteristic and choose 5 of our favorite cover’s with that characteristic. If you want to join in and share your 5 favorite covers with the weeks particular characteristic, then just make a post, grab the meme picture (or make your own) and leave your URL here or over at Sugar & Snark.

My Picks This Week:

5. Elfland (Aetherial Tales #1) by Freda Warrington
4. Winter Queen (Fairy Queens #1) by Amber Argyle
3. The Hunter's Moon (The Chronicles of Faerie #1) by O.R. Melling
2. Eyes Like Stars (Théâtre Illuminata #1) by Lisa Mantchev


My Favorite Pick:

Book Title: The Faerie Ring

Author: Kiki Hamilton

Book Series: The Faerie Ring, Book #1

Genres: YA, Fantasy

Release Date: September 27, 2011

The year is 1871...

Tiki has been making a home for herself and her family of orphans in a deserted hideaway adjoining Charing Cross Station in central London. Their only means of survival is by picking pockets. One December night, Tiki steals a ring, and sets off a chain of events that could lead to all-out war with the Fey. For the ring is a reservoir that holds a truce between the English royals and the world of the Fey. But there are many who want the ring, including the mysterious Rieker, a handsome pickpocket who has been watching Tiki, and a rebel group of UnSeelie fey who would do anything to break the truce...

A delicious blend of urban fantasy and heart-stopping suspense, the story of THE FAERIE RING takes you from the gritty slums of London to the glittering ballrooms of the Royal Palace to the menacing Otherworld - in a spellbinding tale of mystery and suspense where nothing is what it seems...

This was an easy pick this week. This cover evokes my childhood view of fairies – tiny like Tinkerbell, little ball of light, etc, etc. So simple, yet so beautiful. Black and red are also one of my favorite color combinations.