End of Year Book Survey.

I'm so excited to be doing Jamie's End of the Year Book Survey.  I enjoyed it last year.  I find it a nice way to reflect back on a year of reading, as well as other stuff that happened, that you might have blogged about.  Do you agree/disagree with any of my answers?  Please leave a comment!  Also, let me know if you've done the survey too.  Happy Holidays!

1. Best Book You Read In 2012?

I decided to go with Jamie’s suggestion (cheat) of breaking it down by genre. I read some really great books this year. This list isn’t even half of them.

Best Children’s Book – Go Away, Big Green Monster, by Ed Emberly
Best Zombie Book – World War Z, by Max Brooks
Best Non-Fiction – How To Be A Woman, by Caitlin Moran
Best Classic – Rime of the Ancient Mariner, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Best Short Story Collection – Forty Stories, edited by Cal Morgan
Best Literary/General Fiction – Canada, by Richard Ford
Best Fantasy – The Magician’s Nephew, by C.S. Lewis
Best Science-Fiction – Insurgent, by Veronica Roth

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

Casual Vacancy, by J.K. Rowling – It was slow to begin with, but it did pick up. In the end, I did enjoy it, but I didn’t love it. You can read my thoughts here.

3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2012?

I knew I would probably like Night of the Living Trekkies, but I didn’t know how much I would love it. I loved every single quirky, geeky reference. It was so much fun!

4. Book you recommended to people most in 2012?

For people who like literary fiction, I probably recommended Canada, by Richard Ford.
For genre lovers, I recommended Night of the Living Trekkies and Divergent…. and maybe World War Z.

5. Best series you discovered in 2012?

Divergent! I can’t wait until the third book is out.

6. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2012?

Is this new to me - like the Top Ten list I did recently - or new as in first book? For new-to-me, check out my Top Ten list from December 11th.

If it’s first books, then I really enjoyed The Maladjusted, by Derek Hayes. Also Darcy Pattison’s non-fiction picture book, Wisdom, the Midway Albatross.

7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?

I read a lot of genres, but something I don’t read a lot of is non-fiction and I actually read three this year!  My favourite was How To Be A Woman, by Caitlin Moran. So fantastic.

8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2012?

I read a few unputdownable books this year including: Divergent, Insurgent, How to be a Woman and Night of the Living Trekkies.

9. Book You Read In 2012 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year:

I don’t re-read a lot. If I do, it’s likely not a book that I only read a year before. But to answer the question, of all the books, I’d most likely re-read Night of the Living Trekkies.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2012?

I can’t decide between:

Insurgent and World War Z.

11. Most memorable character in 2012?

Frankenstein’s creature from Frankenstein.

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2012?

Canada, by Richard Ford

13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2012?

Greatest impact? How To Be A Woman and maybe The Causal Vacancy.  They dealt with social issues, that continue to resonate with me.

14. Book you can’t believe you waited until 2012 to finally read?

The Garden Party and Other Stories, by Katherine Mansfield.  She was the only writer Virginia Woolf said she was jealous off.  How did I wait so long to read her?

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2012?

"Do you not think that there are things which you cannot understand, and yet which are; that some people see things that others cannot?" 
- Dr. Van Helsing from Dracula, by Bram Stoker.

16. Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2012?

By Page Count:
Longest: 541 – City of Glass, The Mortal Instruments #3, by Cassandra Clare
Shortest: 16 – I Love You, Stinky Face, by Lisa McCourt (Children's Book) OR 112 – Matchless, by Gregory Maguire

17. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. etc.) Be careful of spoilers!

The Casual Vacancy, by J.K. Rowling… so many WTF scenes.

18. Favorite Relationship From A Book You Read In 2012 (be it romantic, friendship, etc).

For very different reasons: 

Jim Pike & Leia, from Night of the Living Trekkies
Mina and Van Helsing, from Dracula
Sukvinder and Gaia, from The Causal Vacancy

19. Favorite Book You Read in 2012 From An Author You Read Previously

Blockade Billy, by Stephen King
Fever, by Lauren DeStefano

20. Best Book You Read That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else:

Like I said previously, I don’t read a lot of non-fiction. If I wasn’t recommended How To Be A Woman by a few bloggers I like and respect, as well as one of my real-life friends, whose reading tastes are very similar to mine, I don’t know if I would have picked it up.

Book Blogging/Reading Life in 2012 

1. New favourite book blog you discovered in 2012?

Probably Bridget’s Books.  I only just started following this contributor to The Broke and The Bookish. She has an entire reading project about Stephen King! So awesome.


2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2012?

If I have to pick one, I’d say, Forty Stories, edited by Cal Morgan. I did Twitter sized reviews. It was fun.

3. Best discussion you had on your blog?

The best discussions/comments I had this year weren't on posts about books.  There were on my posts: Image Use, where I talked about copyright and someone getting sued for using images on their website and I Am Without Job, where I talked about getting laid off this year.

4. Most thought-provoking review or discussion you read on somebody else’s blog?

I read the blog, Feminist Philosophers a lot.  It's not a book blogs, though they discuss books sometimes.  I always find myself diving into their posts about genderized products.  I especially enjoyed reading about the new "BiC for Her" pen.  It's so awful.  Ellen even made a video about it on her show a few months back.  

5. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?

I don’t get a lot of event in my neck of the woods. I’d have to drive an hour to go to any bookish events and with the little ones, that’s not happening.  I do enjoy Short Story Monday and Top Ten Tuesday.  I participate in them as often as I can, but it's been a while since I did Short Story Monday.  There's a story I plan on reading this week...

6. Best moment of book blogging in 2012?

Even though it’s not bookish, it happened because I blog about books -I appreciate all the support I got when I posted about losing my job. Thank you again, everyone.

7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?

By views, my most popular post was Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde! Such a great book.

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

This one is a little difficult. I feel pretty loved. My posts get an okay amount of views (okay to me, I guess). In general, I’d like more comments and more discussions about the books (or whatever) I’ve posted about. But there isn’t one post that’s fallen by the wayside. So thanks for the love everyone!

9. Best bookish discovery (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?

I just started using Goodreads this year. It’s a little addictive. I love scanning books with the Goodreads app. I like tracking my progress through a book; I find it encouraging.

10. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?

I don’t join challenges, but I set myself a personal goal of reading 26 books (one every two weeks), which I decided to track on Goodreads since joining this year. I’m at 32 right now. I might get to 33 or 34 before the end of 2012.

Looking Ahead…

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2012 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2013?

Hmm… Number 1 Priority?? I plan on reading His Dark Materials next. However, I did buy The Raven Boys a couple months ago and didn’t read it right away. I don’t want to let it sit on my shelf too long like some other books I have.

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2013?

Though I’m excited for Dead Ever After (I'm loving the cover) and Divergent #3, the book I’m most looking forward to in 2013 is Sever, by Lauren DeStefano. I loved Wither and Fever had me longing for more. Just a couple more months until February!

3. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging In 2013?

I want to read more. I’d like to decrease the number of books I’ve owned for years and haven’t read yet. I’d especially like to read more Stephen King and Margaret Atwood and catch up on the Legend of Drizzt, by R. A. Salvatore.

I guess that’s it for the survey. Thanks to everyone who made it all the way to the end. See you in the blogosphere!

Boo! Top Ten Books To Get In The Halloween Spirit

What books get you in the Halloween spirit?  The Broke and The Bookish want to know (and so do I!)  I think the three horror classics are a must for lovers of the genre (Dracula, Frankenstein and Jekyl and Hyde), but there are others that have a pretty big and/or fun creep factor (Stephen King, anyone?).  Here are my top ten books to get into the Halloween spirit, in no particular order.

1. Dracula, by Bram Stoker
2. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
3. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
4. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson
5. Nightmares and Dreamscapes, by Stephen King
6. The Island of Dr. Moreau, by H.G. Wells
7. Night of the Living Trekkies, by Kevin David Anderson and Sam Stahl (This one is a bit of a cheat.  I haven't read it yet, but I plan on it to get in the Halloween Spirit.)
8. The Vampire Lestat, by Anne Rice
9. The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova
10.Almost any horror novel with Zombies, Vampires, Werewolves or Witches... or maniacal Clowns.

I limited myself to one Stephen King book, not one of his most famous, but still a creepshow.  Also, I think being a Grahame-Smith regency zombie would be a great costume!  I know that Lestat is Rice's second vampire book, but I like it better.  What gets you in the mood for Halloween?

Dracula (The Movie)

The official title of the film is Bram Stoker's Dracula, but I'm not sure if it really is.  One argument for this being Stoker's Dracula is that there are lines the characters say that are right out of the book, which I really liked.  Much of the characters personalities are there.  But holy crap, there are a lot of boobies.

As I said in my review of the book, it had been many years since I watched the movie.  It was so long ago that I didn't remember a lot of it, just the general story.  Re-watching it, the movie came back.  I knew I remembered some sort of romantic storyline between Mina and Dracula.  A storyline which is absent in the book.  The movie gives Dracula a more romantic, tragic air, coupled with his viciousness, serves to make him a more sympathetic, even relatable character for cinematic audiences.

I understand that vampires are probably the most seductive and sexual of the supernatural creatures.  There is the sucking and penetration, much of which is in the neck area, an erotic area of the body.  There is also the romantic idea of being together for eternity.  In the book, Dracula's "brides" are fairly sexual, wanting, even craving Harker.  In transferring the characters from book to film, it seems that all the characters have had their sex drives ramped up to match the brides.  (However, compared to True Blood and other contemporary vampiric incarnations, the Dracula movie is not outrageous.)

I enjoyed the movie.  I think I enjoyed it more the first time, not knowing how it was going to end and without the book fresh in my mind.  It definitely has a dark and creepy air.  The scenery and sets felt a little more obvious this time, now that I'm used to big budgets and CGI.  The lunatic asylum threw me off too. (Were they really like that back then?)  It just seemed so wild and dirty, where in the book, everything felt more clean and organized. 

I really liked the atmosphere, with darkness surrounding the characters, highlighting just what was necessarily, creating an engaging mood and environment.  The actors were great, taking us back to seeing young Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder.  Also, Gary Oldman looks the same and it’s been ten years.  So does Anthony Hopkins, who is a good Van Helsing.  Also, I love Cary Elwes.  I’m not sure if I actually liked Winona Ryder as Mina Harker, though.  At least not the Mina from the book. 

I feel like someone is going to make another Drucula movie in the future.  I don’t think people can help making remakes/reboots these days.  The book is such a rich source material; I can see it constantly attracting people to it.

I’m not sure I like the end of this review/post.  But I don’t have anything else to say except, it was a good movie.  If you like vampires, you should watch it.

I Want To Be In Your Club!

What are your Top Ten Book Club Picks?  This week The Broke and The Bookish want to know.  I’m not sure if my books are going to work.  I’ve never been part of a book club, so I don’t know what kinds of books are normally chosen.  So, I’ve decided to theme my book club picks.

1.     If the book club read Zombie books:  Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, by Jane Austen and Seth Graeme-Smith.

2.     If the book club read Vampire books:  Dracula, by Bram Stoker or Interview with a Vampire, by Anne Rice.

3.     If the book club read Dystopian books:  The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood.

4.     If the book club read Young Adult fantasy books:  Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone, by J.K. Rowling or The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins.

5.     If the book club read Fantasy books:  The Crystal Shard, by R.A. Salvatore.

6.     If the book club read Classics:  Flush, by Virginia Woolf.

7.     If the book club read Mysteries:  The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson or Murder On The Orient Express, by Agatha Christie.

8.     If the book club read Horror:  The Stand, by Stephen King (even though I haven’t read it yet…)

9.     If the book club read Historical Fiction:  The Wars, by Timothy Findley.

10. If the book club read Paranormal Romance:  Undead and Unwed, by MaryJanice Davidson.

What is your book club going to read?

Dracula

In recent years, I feel like we've been inundated with sparkly-inspired vampires.  Vampires that are your boyfriend, that walk around in the daytime and are all brooding and cute.  What happened to the vampire who only wants to rip out your throat? I love Lestat, the vampires of Blade and Buffy. (I know Buffy also started as a teenager, but she killed almost every vampire and demon that crossed her path; she saved the world on a regular basis.  Yes, she dated a vampire too, but she also sent him to hell to save the world.)  I wanted a dark vampire story, where the vampire is the villain and the heroes work tirelessly to save the ones they love and maybe they aren't always successful.

I recently re-read Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and felt that another classic horror was calling to me.  Dracula was the answer.  It was classic, with blood, violence and death. Anyone who calls themselves a vampire fan, has to read this novel.  Bram Stoker is the one who really started the modern fascination worth vampires. Yes, there have been different authors, television shows and movies during the various surges in popularity, but without Dracula, would it be the same?  Dracula will wine and dine you, before killing you.  Dracula will steal your loved ones from you, just for fun.  Dracula is the immortal serial killer. 

I really enjoyed Dracula.  I wasn't sure how I was going to feel in the end. The entire novel is told through various letters, journals, articles, etc., which is fine; I've read stories like that before.  I liked the different perspectives and narrators.  The first part of the novel is told through Jonathan Harker's journal; he is the young lawyer who travels to Castle Dracula.  It was intense, going along with him into all the dark parts of the castle, through all his discoveries and the realization that he was trapped.  It was exciting.

Then we moved to Mina, Jonathan's fiancée and her friend Lucy.  I was bored by these two ladies.  I wasn't sure I'd make it through the novel at a few points.  Some of the information was necessary to set up the rest of the novel, but it seemed to go on forever.  I'm glad I pushed through.  Once the men start trying to save Lucy, it gets more interesting and we are finally introduced to Professor Van Helsing.  

Van Helsing is crazy and fantastic.  How does he know what he knows?  If Dr. Seward didn't know him, they would have lost.  Van Helsing was the key.  He knew what to do.  He told them that Dracula/the Undead/vampires were repelled by something sacred, like a crucifix or holy water.  My side question here, sacred to who?  If it is anything sacred, would the Star of David or Om work as well?  Also, garlic, how did he figure that one out?

One other point about Van Helsing, I know that he's from Amaterdam, but did Stoker have to write his speech that way.  Occasionally, when reading certain notes or dialogue from Van Helsing, I had to re-read it to understand what he was saying.  Stoker also did this with other people who weren't speaking perfect English.  Trying to read accents and dialects was not always fun.

Perhaps a minor spoiler here:  Another part I found frustrating was when they are at Dr. Seward's, first Mina, then others, talk about the mist.  How do they not know? Dracula is the mist! They're trying so hard to protect Mina that they're ignoring the signs. Very frustrating.  I hope I'm not giving anything away, but was so obvious to me.

[I'm moving past the men protecting women issue (man-brain, woman-brain, really?), because of the era of the novel.]

One continuity note, when Dr. Seward is introducing the men to Renfield, where did Harker go?

Reading Dracula has made me want to watch the movie. We have it. I'm not sure how long it has been since I watched it. I barely remember it.  That's good, I think, for reading the novel, but I know there are differences and I want to see now how it compares. That might be something for this weekend.

So now I've read and enjoyed the big three of classic horror, Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Frankenstein. It's been a whole decade since I read Frankenstein.  I think I'll re-read it in October.

"Do you not think that there are things which you cannot understand, and yet which are; that some people see things that others cannot?" - Dr. Van Helsing.

Halloween Reads

I know it's late in the day, but I still want to get my list out there.  Today The Broke and The Bookish want to know, what are your top ten books to read around Halloween.  In no particular order:

1. Dracula, by Bram Stoker (*note:  currently reading)
2. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
3. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson
4. Anything by Stephen King
5. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, by Seth Grahame-Smith & Jane Austen
6. Interview with a Vampire, by Anne Rice
7. The Sookie Stackhouse books, by Charlaine Harris
8. World War Z, by Max Brooks (*note:  planning on reading this soon)
9. Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood
10. How To Survive a Horror Movie, by Seth Grahame-Smith

I don't know how Seth got two books up there....

The Short Stack

This is probably the easiest Top Ten I’ve ever done. This week, The Broke and The Bookish ask, what books top our fall reading lists? I have a ton of books on my to-be-read list. What I try to do is keep a “short stack”, a small pile of books, usually diverse in genre or topic. Here are the books on my short list; hopefully, I’ll get to all of them this fall.

1. Moral Disorder, by Margaret Atwood
2. Everything’s Eventual, by Stephen King
3. Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Volumes 4-6: Time of Your Life, Predators and Prey, and Retreat, by Joss Whedon, etc.
4. The Thousand Orcs, by R.A. Salvatore
5. Mini Shopaholic, by Sophie Kinsella
6. The Silver Chair, by C.S. Lewis
7. The Flying Troutmans, by Miriam Toews

8. Dracula, by Bram Stoker

9. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson

10. Pride and Prejudiced and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls, by Steve Hockensmith

I did have to add a couple to round it out to ten, but the books I included will likely be added once other books in my short stack are read.

What are you reading this fall?

Top Ten Tuesdays: Top Ten Books I’m Dying To Read

Top Ten Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted at The Broke And The Bookish. This week’s topic, pick ten books you’re dying to read.

It was difficult for me to pick just ten. I have over a hundred books that are sitting neatly in my bookcases waiting to be read. Plus, there are the books I don’t even own yet.

Except for the first book, they are in no particular order.

1. Year of the Flood, by: Margaret Atwood – I’ve been itching to read this since it was published. I almost bought it over and over again, but I was trying to be good. But I saw a stack of them at Costco last weekend, and my final bit of resistance was gone.

2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by: Stieg Larsson – I’m not dying to read this as much as a couple of my bookish friends are dying for me to read it. The copy I have is borrowed and, succumbing to peer pressure, I will read this next instead of Year of the Flood

3. Son of a Witch, by: Gregory Maguire – I’ve wanted to read this for a while. I absolutely loved Wicked and I’m going to see the musical in just over a month! I came across a copy of Son of a Witch at a used bookstore. I had to have it, especially after I bought…

4. A Lion Among Men, by: Gregory Maguire – I saw it at a different bookstore and bought it.

5. The Battle Of Jericho Hill, by: Stephen King – This is one of the graphic novels that have been written as prequels to King’s Dark Tower series of novels. Jericho is where THE big battle takes place, helping to forge the man the main character is in the novels.

6. Dead and Gone, by: Charlaine Harris – I’ve read all the books staring Sookie Stackhouse up to From Dead To Worse. After a fantastic ending, I wanted to start the next book immediately. Sadly, I don’t own this one yet.

7. The Chronicles of Narnia, by: C.S. Lewis – I know it’s more than one book, it’s seven. So maybe I’ll just say, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I can’t believe I haven’t read it yet. It seems like something I would have read as a kid.

8. Night of the Living Trekkies, by: Sam Stall and Kevin David Anderson – I just got it last month. A gift from my husband. He knows what I like and this book combines two of my favourite things, Star Trek and zombies!

9. Dracula, by: Bram Stoker – Classic gothic horror. The one that started all the vampire fiction, really. Written before vampires were teen dreams. Here, vampires are scary and I can’t wait to read it.

10. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini – I loved A Thousand Splendid Suns. It was one of the best books I’ve ever read. The only reason I haven’t read it is because I don’t own it. If I somehow got a copy tomorrow, I don’t know if I’d be reading Year of the Flood or The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo next.