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?

Sea of Swords

R.A. Salvatore’s Sea of Swords made me happy. I wanted to read something that would be exciting, hold my interest and not involve too much contemplation, since I would be reading this book in short spurts while taking care of my newborn. Sea of Swords did not disappoint. It had the characters I love coming together and adventuring. There was great build up and a great conclusion. Salvatore gave me everything I wanted and expected from one of his Legend of Drizzt novels.

I don’t really have time to write too much more. I just wanted to get my feelings/impressions up. This isn’t my first Salvatore book and it won’t be my last. My husband has been “encouraging” me to read the series more quickly so I’m caught up with him. I think there are nine books after this one that are currently published. I’m expecting another one, if not two, to be published next year. When will I catch up to him? Maybe before the end of my maternity leave, but I’m not making any promises.

I Had A Baby!

This is my son, born on July 5th. He’s growing well. His sister is getting used to him. She likes him, but has to get used to not having Mommy’s attention all the time. I’m trying to find the balance between the two kids. Luckily, my husband is off for the summer and has been incredibly helpful. Even with my super helpful hubby, I don’t know when I’ll get back to regular blogging. It’s not like he can lactate…. Was that too much information?

While I have a minute, I thought I’d take a look at the thousands of items in my Google Reader. Maybe I should just mark all as “read”.

Anything interesting I’ve missed out in the blogosphere?

Also, I’ve been watching a lot of television, having to feed the infant and not being able to do anything else while I do it, and I see Twitter everywhere. Should I join? I don’t know… Is that just too much work? I’ve been watching the news about Margaret Atwood versus Doug Ford and it’s apparently a Twitter war? Is it too much work?

I’m reading when I can, which isn’t anywhere near what I usually read. I’m trying to read every day, but it only amounts to a few pages. Hopefully, I’ll develop a decent routine soon that includes reading.

Time to get the laundry before the baby wakes up.

Mr. T and Me: The Somebody Kid

Yup, that’s right, I read Mr. T and Me: The Somebody Kid Yup, a Mr. T book. It’s a children’s book. Yup, a children’s book. It only took me about five minutes to read. It was hilarious, the way the children spoke, Mr. T’s dialect and the moral at the end. It was difficult to take seriously. A kid wants to be somebody, ie: he wants to get attention. He does only negative things and ends up getting negative attention. In the end, the moral is obvious; Mr. T corrects the kid’s negative behaviour and then tells everyone, including the troublemaker, that they’re somebody. I didn’t see the God bit coming at the end though and that through me off a bit.

The Somebody Kid was funny in its simplicity and language, but I doubt that I’ll ever read it to my kids… at least, not until they are older, learn who Mr. T is and can enjoy its silliness with me.


[This is a pre-scheduled post.  I figure that I'll have a newborn by now.]

Dead Reckoning

Minor Spoilers. I don’t think I really give anything away, but just in case…

Dead Reckoning is the latest (eleventh!) book in the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris. Originally, this series was called The Southern Vampire Mysteries and when I reviewed each installment, even though it had become common to call them the Sookie Stackhouse series, I kept to the first series title. Today I don’t really want to. Where was the mystery in this installment? In previous books, though there are several different storylines, the main mystery has been something like, “Who killed Lafayette?”, “Who’s shooting shifters?” or “Where is Jason?”. I thought the mystery of Dead Reckoning was going to be “Who attacked Merlotte’s?” but that was discovered pretty quickly.

The book also wasn’t sexy enough. I know that’s not a complaint I often have about books, but this is Sookie Stackhouse. They’re the basis of the HBO series True Blood. There’s a reason the show is the way it is. This book lacked that sex appeal that the previous books had. It’s an aspect of the series I’ve come to expect. With the lack of mystery, the lack of sexiness was even more apparent

Dead Reckoning was all about enemies. There were past enemies, present enemies and dead enemies all causing problems for Sookie. Some were minor, some were major, in a terribly deadly way. Sookie spent the novel trying to figure out how to get rid of her enemies. There was a lot of death, gruesome bloody death, that was telling of how Sookie’s character has changed since way back when she dated Bill Compton.

One thing I did like is that we get to learn more about Sookie’s family history and where her telepathic gift/curse came from. We learn about her fairy heritage in some major ways. I also really liked the evolution of Dermot as a character. Though a fairy, I think he has the potential to be one of Sookie’s closest friends.

There were so many loose end at the end of this novel; Harris listed them all at the end. Sookie has to figure out a lot of different things. There were loose ends at the end of Dead In The Family that other readers complained about, but I didn’t mind the ending. I thought it was fine. It wasn’t a complete story the way some of the previous books had been, but I liked the ending. That’s not what I found at the end of Dead Reckoning. It ended with a checklist.

Though probably least favourite of the series, I still enjoyed Dead Reckoning. It gave me what I was in the mood for, supernatural mayhem. It took me only four days to read. There was a lot of action and adventure. The book was never boring. There is no way that a tangle of loose ends is going to put me off of this series. I’m itching to know what happens next to Sookie and the people in her life.


Other Reviews:
The Phantom Paragrapher  
All The Books I Can Read

If you have a review and would like me to add it, please leave a comment below.

Doing What You Believe In

This week, the Broke and The Bookish want to know who our Top Ten Rebels In Literature are. They can be characters or authors. So, like my Top Ten Reasons I Love Being A Book Blogger/A Bookish Person post, I’ve split this into two sections. They aren’t five and five like the last one, but I think they’re all great rebels, characters and authors. The list also isn’t as detailed as I normally make it, but hopefully the links answer anyone’s questions as to why I picked these particular people.

Characters:
1. Gale & Katniss from The Hunger Games trilogy (for different reasons).
2. Drizzt from The Legend of Drizzt series.
3. Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice / Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
4. Laila & Mariam from A Thousand Splendid Suns.
5. Elphaba from Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.
6. Dumbledore from the Harry Potter series.
7. Horton from Horton Hears A Who!

Authors:
8. Salman Rushdie: Bounty on his life.
9. Margaret Atwood: Oh no! A Feminist!
10. The Romantics: Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley, etc.

Hope you liked the list. Who are your favourite rebels?

Also, I hope I’m having a baby today. I’m more than ready. Ugh.

The Ballad of the Great Yukon Puke On, by noodleepoodlee

That’s right, the author of this “short story” is noodleepoodlee. noodleepoodlee runs a blog, a political [satire] American blog from what I gather. On it she (I think it’s a she, forgive me if I’m wrong) has posted this fictional account of an ousted Sarah Palin campaign worker. I was led to this story by a blogger friend, Ahab. I read his comments on the story and thought it would be an interesting read and an interesting addition to Short Story Monday. The title also has “Yukon” in it, so that was another reason I had to give it a try.

It was an entertaining story as Hobo Joe tells us about his fall from grace; his fall from the inner circle of Sarah Palin. It was definitely funny. Hobo Joe was so easily influenced by the people he met, he was bound to do something dumb eventually anyway. He does realize how he came to be in his present situation. Joe isn’t someone who wonders how these things happened to him. He knows how they happened. In all this craziness, I feel as though Joe also accepts responsibility for his past and present actions. If you want a fun story that makes fun of Sarah Palin and American politics, read The Ballad of the Great Yukon Puke On.

Thanks to John at the Book Mine Set for hosting Short Story Monday.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (3D)

My hubby and I went to see Transformers: Dark of the Moon in 3D this past weekend. (I’m still pregnant, so I’m trying to get in some fun stuff while I can.) If you’re going to see the third Transformers movie, see it in 3D, I think it’s worth the extra few dollars. Michael Bay really made an effort to shoot angles that would be enhanced by 3D. I don’t think this will give too much away, but there is a scene that is essentially shot down the side of a gun. It’s as if the viewer is the one holding the weapon. There are scenes where the characters are swinging around, fighting, things blowing up, all made more interesting (in my opinion) by the 3D effects.

Now for the actually story: Transformers: Dark of the Moon was miles better than the second Transformers movie. In fact, if we could just skip the second one all together and go straight from the first to the third, I think we would. I think the first one was better, but Dark of the Moon is a decent follow-up. I actually thought the plot was interesting. It wasn’t just the Autobots fighting the Decepticons with their human allies, but we discover that the Decepticons have human allies too. So it’s not only giant robots fighting, but good and bad people fighting each other.

I think Sam could have grown more as a person, become more mature. However, I like the return to the comic relief of the first movie. I like the change in Epps. He still works with the Autobots, but he’s tired of getting shot at all the time. I like Lennox too, but what happened to his wife and daughter? They were an important part of his character’s personality in the first movie, but now they’ve disappeared. I also want to add that I love Dutch.

I’m going to geek-out a little, but hopefully not give too much away. I love the actor who did Sentinel Prime. I was surprised and delighted when I realized who it was. I actually think my favourite part of the movie is when he says his famous line… It was so cool. If you know who it is and want to leave a comment and be geek with me, that’s great. Doesn’t Sentinal Prime even look like him?

Transformers: Dark of the Moon isn’t ground-breaking or thought-provoking. It’s a good action movie that makes up for past mistakes. It’s exciting, though about 30 minutes too long. I had fun watching it and I’m glad I got to see it in 3D.

Okay, time for my non-movie related complaint. This is a people complaint that I know I’ve mentioned before. Please, can parents take better care of what they’re showing their children? There was a little boy in the row in front of me that had to be around 6 and that’s too young for this movie. It’s violent. People die. There’s human and robot blood. People disintegrate. There’s a skull practically thrown in your face. Why are you bringing your young child to the theatre, who sounds uncomfortable when he whispers to you? Again, I’m just asking parents, do not take your kid to see a movie just because you either, a) can’t find a babysitter, or b) they ask you to see the movie. You’re the parent. Please make the responsible decision. Thanks.

Do I Say That?

A few weeks ago, I saw this list over at This Week At The Library and wondered if I was guilty of using these stock phrases. smellincoffee highlighted the phrases he’s guilty of using. The original list is from examiner.com and the list below was copied by This Week At The Library from their site, including the examples given and I’m passing it along. My comments are in blue.
1. Gripping
2. Poignant: if anything at all sad happens in the book, it will be described as poignant
3. Compelling  I think I use this word. Do I? Have you seen it?
4. Nuanced: in reviewerspeak, this means, "The writing in the book is really great. I just can't come up with the specific words to explain why."
5. Lyrical: see definition of nuanced, above.
6. Tour de force
7. Readable  I must have said this at some point.
8. Haunting  I’ve said that I’ve been haunted by a book, does that count?
9. Deceptively simple: as in, "deceptively simple prose"  I don’t think I would ever say this.
10. Rollicking: a favorite for reviewers when writing about comedy/adventure books
11. Fully realized
12. At once: as in, "Michael Connelly's The Brass Verdict is at once a compelling mystery and a gripping thriller." See, I just used three of the most annoying clichés without any visible effort. Piece of cake.
13. Timely
14. " X meets X meets X": as in, "Stephen King meets Charles Dickens meets Agatha Christie in this haunting yet rollicking mystery."
15. Page-turner
16. Sweeping: almost exclusively reserved for books with more than 300 pages
17. That said: as in, "Stephenie Meyer couldn't identify quality writing with a compass and a trained guide; that said, Twilight is a harmless read."  I don’t think I’ve used that exact phrase, but I think I’ve said something similar.
18. Riveting
19. Unflinching: used to describe books that have any number of unpleasant occurences -- rape, war, infidelity, death of a child, etc.
20. Powerful  I think I’ve used it too. Sometimes there isn’t another word for it, right?

Thankfully, I don’t think I used a lot of these words. Unless I just don’t notice. Do I use them? Do you find yourself using some of these common phrases?

Clash of the Titans

My husband said to me the day after we watched this movie, “I’m so glad we watched those 4 or 5 movies yesterday.” It was a bit difficult to get through Clash of the Titans without seeing scenes that looked like bits of other great fantasy films. I think the only original part was the fight with Medusa. It was well thought out, precise and I couldn’t recall any other movie it resembled.

Spoilers! I disliked the ending. I find this with a lot of action movies. A group of people (usually men) go on a mission/quest to save a people (or a woman) and all of them die except for the hero. Why? Yes, I understand some losses; it can serve as an emotional plot device to help push the heroes forward. But seriously? They all died? It’s annoying and utterly predictable. Spoilers End

Clash of the Titans wasn’t a bad movie. It just wasn’t particularly good. I’m glad that I didn’t pay to see it in 3D or even in the theatre. It was a decent rental if you’re in the mood for an action movie. Just don’t expect anything original.

Book Sites: Goodreads, Librarything, Shelfari, Etc

Which of these bookish sites do you like and why? I’ve seen bloggers with different accounts on these sites, their widgets on their blogs, but why do you use them? It just seems like extra work to me. This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is asking for the top ten bookish sites. I don’t use these sites. I shop on amazon.ca and chapters.indigo.ca. (I really like online shopping.) I have a profile on the Chapters website, but I haven’t used it in ages. I don’t think I can really afford the time. Maybe I don’t understand the purpose of these sites if you already have a blog. I know they can help you keep track of the books you own and read, but I have an excel spreadsheet for that. I’ve had it for years, long before I even started blogging. So explain me, why do you use these websites?


* I know I’ve done a bad job with the weekly Top Ten when I can’t even get one on my list.

"Pregnancy discrimination is on the rise" from Feminist Philosophers

I saw this post the other day and it scared me.  In case you haven't read it here already, I'm going to have a baby, really soon.  I don't live in the UK, but I can see how this could happen anywhere.

Pregnancy discrimination is on the rise « Feminist Philosophers

How To Survive A Horror Movie: All The Skills to Dodge The Kills

I was in the mood for something fun and something that wasn’t going to make me think too much. Pure entertainment. That’s what I got from Seth Grahame-Smith’s “meta-fictional” book, How To Survive A Horror Movie. What do you do if you suddenly realize you’re stuck in a horror movie? This book is your guide.

How To Survive A Horror Movie goes through how to identify if you’re in a horror movie (having this books is one of the signs). It then proceeds to help the reader discover what kind of horror movie they are in, then it gives you instruction on how to survive. The book is written as though it is speaking to someone who is in a horror movie, all escape methods are about being in the horror movie. The book is hilarious. My favourite part comes at the end, when Grahame-Smith tells you the only way to defeat the biggest bad guy of all horror movies. I also really like the selection of movies to watch at the back. Some of the movies I’ve seen, some I haven’t, but this book makes me want to see them all. The art was also a lot of fun.  I don’t think the book would have been the same without it.

This book is for anyone who loves horror movies or even for anyone who just wants a good laugh.

True Blood Covers From Entertainment Weekly

Some more fantastic True Blood pics thanks to Stargazing.

What’s The Meaning Of This?!

This week The Literary Blog Hop over at The Blue Bookcase wants to know: Should literature have a social, political, or any other type of agenda? Does having a clear agenda enhance or detract from its literary value?

I’m going to try to keep my answer simple this week: It depends on the author. The example of what an author shouldn’t do that Connie gives is excellent. Even though it’s from a book I really enjoyed, Jane Eyre, Brontë’s stopping the story to push her agenda takes away from the work. I also liked the examples Connie gives of how a social/political agenda works in literature. Like 1984, I think The Handmaid’s Tale as well as Margaret Atwood’s other dystopian works, Oryx and Crake and The Year Of The Flood have agendas or are at least commentaries on social issues. I believe H. G. Wells’ The Time Machine falls into the same category. The Eloi and Morlocks are how he saw the evolution of the class system. I’d like to use a literary example that isn’t dystopian or science-fiction, but none come to mind right now*.

What books do you think do a good or bad job at presenting a social or political issue?

* I blame the baby brain for any lack of mental function right now. After the baby is born, I’ll be blaming lack of sleep.

Everyday is a Blog-iday!

Check out a blog started by two of my friends at the office.  Every day is a holiday!  Celebrate with us.  Click the link below to check out the office whiteboard.

Everyday is a Blog-iday!

Wither

Lauren DeStefano’s first novel, Wither was fantastic. I couldn’t resist reading about Rhine, wondering what was going to happen to her next. The story was full of urgency. The beginning was incredible. DeStefano didn’t ease into her story. She started with action, fear and consequence. We learn about Rhine and her past as she moves through the present and worries about the future. In the world of Wither women only live until 20 and men until 25. This has spawned the acceptance of human trafficking, teenage pregnancy (it’s pretty much expected) experimentation on children and slavery. Orphans are bought and sold. Up until the beginning of this novel, Rhine was lucky.

I don’t think I would have picked this up if I didn’t read the review from The Lost Entwife. Then I kept seeing it reviewed on many other book blogs. I stopped reading too much about what other people were saying when I knew I would read it. The topic was just too interesting. The plausibility of that future was too eerie. If something like this happened, would we degenerate to this degree? Wither really grabs onto a large part of what I like about dystopian fiction; the possibility of something bad propelling the human race into a darkness it might have trouble escaping.

Wither is the first book in DeStefano’s trilogy. The last trilogy I read, I was able to reach out and grab each book in succession. The next book in DeStefano’s series isn’t expected until February 2012. I was worried that I would be left hanging, wanting more, unsatisfied with the ending. That wasn’t the case. The ending was great. It really completed this part of Rhine’s story. You know there’s room for more, but if the story ended with Wither without the guarantee of another book, it would be okay. You’d still be left wanting to know more, like so many other books, but the end of Wither felt like an ending, not like a direct enticement to buy the next book… and that’s probably the best enticement of all. The Chemical Garden

I won’t go on too much more. I don’t want to ruin the book for anyone who’s considering reading it. If you are thinking about it, or it’s on your “to-be-read” list, read it. It has pretty much everything I want in a novel. A good plot. Character development. Action and excitement. A bit of love. A bit of hate. Good. Evil. Complex characters that you start out loving/hating and then change your mind about by the end. If you like Young Adult fantasy, science-fiction or dystopia, I think you’ll like Wither.

Other Reviews:

The Lost Entwife

Writing From The Tub

One Book At A Time

The Broke and The Bookish

Indigo

If you've reviewed this book, let me know and I'd be happy to add your link.

Me + Books = Love

This week is the one year Blogoversary of The Broke and The Bookish. In honour of this day they are asking us: what are the Top Ten Reasons I Love Being A Book Blogger/A Bookish Person.

I decided to separate the lists because the reasons I love blogging are not the same as the reasons I love being a bookish (book obsessed) person. So, 1-5 are the top five reasons I enjoy being a book blogger; 6-10 are five reasons I love books (I limited myself on this one). In no particular order….

Blogging
1. I love talking about books.
2. I’ve internet-met so many great people, whose blogs I frequent just because I want to know what they’re up to. (I also want to know what they’re reading.)
3. I can say whatever I want on my blog and I don’t have to worry that I’ll hurt anyone’s feelings when discussing a book (because I don’t lie about books).
4. Blogs have let me discover books I probably would never have read.
5. I hope that my blog is a good way to let other people know about fantastic books.

Booking
6. I love to escape into a book.
7. Books are pretty.
8. Books are cheaper than shoes.
9. My bookshelves make me look smart.
10. Books give me variety and I enjoy variety.

I’m sure that when I start reading other lists, I’m going to come across all sorts of reasons that apply to me, but I didn’t think of adding or they made the cutting room floor.

CanadianBookshelf.com: Discover Canadian Books, Book Reviews, Book Lists & more

John Mutford posted this link on his blog and I couldn't help but click.  If you want to learn more about great Canadian Books and authors, click below.

CanadianBookshelf.com: Discover Canadian Books, Book Reviews, Book Lists & more

A Poor Boy’s Piano, by Susan D. Rogers

Can music mask pain? That’s what I’m left wondering after reading Susan D. Rogers’, A Poor Boy’s Piano (via the blog, Quick Brown Fox.) It was an interesting short story. Printed from the website, it was only four pages. There was a lot packed into that limited amount of words. The plot arched and the main character seemed to learn or at least remember something good. I really like the description of Vancouver and felt that I got a little taste of the city’s personality and its inhabitants (this was probably written pre-riots).

I wanted to rave about this story. I don’t know why. Is it the blog it came from, the picture and description of the author, was it the title? I’m not sure. I liked the story. At first, I felt as though I should feel sorry for the main character, then I realized I might hate him. Was the ending supposed to make us feel sorry for him? Maybe. It was a sad, sweet ending, but perhaps it was too sweet. Without it, though, it might seem like he didn’t learn anything. I don’t want to give too much away for those who want to read the story. I think it’s a decent read; worth the time I’ve spent with it. I am curious how others react. It feels like some people might love it and others hate it.

Thanks to John Mutford for hosting Short Story Monday.