Month: January 2015

Dusting Off the Shelves Read-a-Thon

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Dust off Shelves

I’ll be participating in the Dusting off the Shelves Read-a-Thon!

Rules

  1. All books must meet the COYER Price Guidelines (so Free/Nearly Free, eBook or Audiobook)
  2. Find the oldest UNREAD ebook or Audiobook you own and clean it off your shelf.  After you read it or decide to DNF it, move to the next oldest book and so on and so on.
  3. Sign-up by 11:59 PM January 11th.
  4. Post on your blog, twitter, FB, Google+, Booklikes (you get the idea… somewhere!) that you’re participating. That’s the link you’ll need for the Rafflecopter.
  5. Have Fun!

I’ll be reading Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, which I downloaded for free on my Nook FIVE YEARS AGO, because I hadn’t read it since I was a kid!  I never got around to reading the ebook.  In fact, I never even “opened” it.  It’s been sitting on my Nook all these years, waiting for me to remember it’s there.  <<< This is why I’m doing the COYER challenge.  Luckily, Little Women will also count towards the Classics Club Challenge, as well as the next oldest ebook I have, Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe.

Bout of Books 12: Update 5

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Bout of Books

For Bout of Books 12 information and updates, visit the Bout of Books blog.

My Goals

  • finish off the books I’m currently reading. – I’ve finished the books I was reading before Bout of Books 12 started.
  • Read at least one new book off of my TBR shelf.  Onyx Webb was one of the books on my TBR.
  • Finish at least 3 1 book. – I only have one book left to read to reach my goal of 3 books.

Books Read

Pages Read

165.  I’m almost done with The Kingdom Lights by Steven V.S., and with the weather being what it is today, I should have no problem finishing it.  I’ve only got one January review book left, and then I’m back to being ahead of schedule!

Mini-Challenges Completed

I didn’t participate in the mini-challenge yesterday.

Saturday’s Sit Down with Scott Silver

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“Saturday’s Sit Down with…” is my new feature containing author interviews.

Scott Silver

Scott Silver is the author of The End of Violet and Abby.  He studied creative writing at the Fine Arts Center in Greenville, South Carolina and the University of Georgia.  In addition to loving comics and reading YA books, he enjoys listening to cheesy synthpop, hosting trivia nights, and catching up on all the TV shows.

Violet

You open The End of Violet and Abby with a Jesus and Mary Chain quote. Could you tell me why, and also how the band and/or music in general has influenced your writing?

Great question! I’m a big music nerd and wanted a quote that summed up something essential about the story, something that reflected Abby growing up and discovering her inner strength. Jesus and Mary Chain have always been one of my favorites and “Listen to the girl as she takes on half the world…” seemed to fit the bill perfectly.

As I wrote in my review, it’s very clear that “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” is one of your influences. Who, besides Buffy, is your favorite character from the show, and why?

In a lot of ways ‘Violet and Abby’ is my big love letter to Buffy and Joss Whedon in general, which had a huge influence on my writing style. Choosing a favorite character is like choosing between your best friends, but I’ve always had a soft spot for Faith. Amazing character, the cool ‘dark’ slayer but with a lot of complexity right under the surface. One of my favorite episodes is when she and Buffy swap lives and you see how, under different circumstances, she could have become a hero like Buffy. So yeah, 5X5.

Do you have plans to write more stories like The End of Violet and Abby or something different? Why or why not?  Are you currently working on anything new?

I intended ‘Violet and Abby’ to be a stand alone, but if readers like it and request more, who knows? Right now I just started working on a new paranormal story that I’d describe as Ghostbusters meets Hellboy with a little Archer thrown in for laughs. Anyone interested in learning more can join my email list, or hit me up on twitter.

Do you have a specific writing process or any writing rituals? A favorite place? Music or silence?

Like I mentioned, I’m a big music nerd, so when I write I need quiet otherwise I get distracted. Libraries are popular spots and I have my little writing table set up at home.

I love that you’ve written cast interviews for the characters in your book on violetandabby.com. If their story were to be adapted to the big screen, who would you want to play Abby? Violet? Kurt? Any of the other characters?

Hmm….let’s see:

You’ve also made a page of quotes from the book. Do you have an absolute favorite?

The line I’ve probably gotten the most feedback on from readers involves an observation on Girl World about the higher a girl’s voice the more she hates you. I made a conscious effort to incorporate as much real-life high school stuff into the book as possible so I’m glad readers appreciate it.  

Your bio on Goodreads mentions that you enjoy comics. What are some of your favorites?

Oh wow, so many! I grew up a big X-Men fan as well as classic Vertigo titles like Preacher and Tranmetropolitan. Nowadays I love books like Lazarus, Saga, and Ed Brubaker’s Criminal.  

Also mentioned in your bio is that you’ve lived in quite a few places across the U.S. What is one of your favorite places, and why?

Seattle is a really great town, weather notwithstanding. It’s a very nerdy city filled with lots of book fiends and cinephiles and there’s always a board game night happening somewhere.

Besides Jesus and Mary Chain, can you recommend any other great music?

Here’s a few tracks to get you in the proper Violet and Abby mood:

 Violet and Abby Playlist

Bout of Books 12: Update 4

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Bout of Books

For all Bout of Books 12 information and updates, visit the Bout of Books blog.

*Due to Bout of Books, I’ve decided not to do Friday’s Fairy Tales this week, and I’ll also wait until next week to write up my reviews.  However, I’ve got an author interview scheduled for tomorrow, so be on the look out for that!

My Goals

  • finish off the books I’m currently reading. – I’ve finished the books I was reading before Bout of Books 12 started.
  • Read at least one new book off of my TBR shelf.  Onyx Webb was one of the books on my TBR.
  • Finish at least 3 1 book. – I only have one book left to read to reach my goal of 3 books.

Books Read

Pages Read

34.  I’m not going to finish Feast of Fates by Christian A. Brown.  I read another chapter, and found myself feeling so angry and betrayed that I just couldn’t continue.  I’ll post a DNF review sometime next week.  I love The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell, so far, but there were a couple paragraphs towards the end of chapter 12 that put me in such a philosophically thoughtful mood that I couldn’t continue reading until I had gone off to do some productive things that still allowed my mind to do its ramblings.  I treasure books that do that to me, but I can’t have that during a read-a-thon 😉  So, I decided to start The Kingdom Lights by Steven V.S., but I didn’t get very far before The Boyfriend was home and we had Date Night (We finally went to see Battle of the Five Armies.)

Mini-Challenges Completed

I didn’t participate in the mini-challenge yesterday.

Bout of Books 12: Update 3

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Bout of Books

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. For all Bout of Books 12 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

*Due to Bout of Books, I’ve decided not to do Thursday’s Things, or Friday’s Fairy Tales this week, and I’ll also wait until next week to write up my reviews.  However, I’ve got an author interview scheduled for Saturday, so be on the look out for that!

My Goals

  • finish off the books I’m currently reading. – I’ve finished the books I was reading before Bout of Books 12 started.
  • Read at least one new book off of my TBR shelf.  Onyx Webb was one of the books on my TBR.
  • Finish at least 3 1 book. – I only have one book left to read to reach my goal of 3 books.

Books Read

Pages Read

140.  I had to put down Feast of Fates by Christian A. Brown yesterday, and take a break from reading all together, after 2 back to back gruesomely violent scenes. I don’t know if I’m going to pick it back up, but if I do, and I end up reviewing it, it will definitely come with a trigger warning.  When I finally got back to reading, I spent the rest of my time with The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell, which I’m really enjoying.

Mini-Challenges Completed

I didn’t participate in the mini-challenge yesterday.

Bout of Books 12: Update 2

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Bout of Books

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 5th and runs through Sunday, January 11th in whatever time zone you are in. For all Bout of Books 12 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

*Due to Bout of Books, I’ve decided not to do Wednesday’s Words, Thursday’s Things, or Friday’s Fairy Tales this week, and I’ll also wait until next week to write up my reviews.  However, I’ve got an author interview scheduled for Saturday, so be on the look out for that!

My Goals

  • finish off the books I’m currently reading. – I’ve finished the books I was reading when Bout of Books started.
  • Read at least one new book off of my TBR shelf.  Onyx Webb was one of the books on my TBR.
  • Finish at least 3 1 book. – I only have one book left to read to reach my goal of 3 books.

Books Read

Tommy Onyx

Pages Read

415.  I don’t know if I’ll be able to finish Feast of Fates by Christian A. Brown today, but I should be able to get a large chunk of it read, and then finish it tomorrow.  If I do, then I’ll try to finish a 4th book before the end of Bout of Books.  Getting up early yesterday did wonders for my reading time.  However, I had a really late dinner last night and didn’t get tired until around 11pm.  So, I’m back to my usual schedule, which means I won’t get as much reading time in before The Boyfriend is back from work.

Mini-Challenges Completed

I didn’t participate in the mini-challenge yesterday.

#FitReader Challenge: Weekly Check-In #1

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Geeky Bloggers Book Blog
This check in is for Jan.1st – 4th.  My goal for this week was 1K steps per day, and since I hit that goal, I’ll be working towards 2K steps per day from Jan. 5th – 11th.  Every week that I reach my goal, I will add 1K steps until I’m completing 12K steps per day.  After that I’ll add in resistance training and/or jogging, depending on how my knees are doing.  The Boyfriend and I are also going to start going to Hot Yoga classes, and I’ll be participating in FitBit challenges (If you’d like to add me as a friend you can find me HERE.)  I’m following a clean eating “diet”, but I’m not logging what I eat, and because weight has many more factors to consider than just height, I won’t be publicly tracking my calories or weight.
  • Total Steps: 21,116
  • Total Distance: 8.6 miles
  • Total Floors Climbed: 8

Bout of Books 12: Update 1

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Bout of Books

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 5th and runs through Sunday, January 11th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 12 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

My Goals

  • finish off the books I’m currently reading.
  • Read at least one new book off of my TBR shelf.
  • Finish at least 3 books.

Books Read

I’ll be catching up on my eARCs.

Pages Read

*FLAIL ALERT* – 64 pages!!!  I’m hoping to do considerably better today since I went to bed at the same time as The Boyfriend last night and got up at the same time as he did as well.  That means I’ve got oodles more time to read before he gets home from work.  Also, there’s no twitter chat today to distract me 😉

Mini-Challenges Completed

I participated in the Bookshelf Scavenger Hunt.

Classics Club: Ivanhoe

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Ivanhoe

Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott was my book for the Classics Club Spin #8.  I chose to do a read-along, and all the recaps can be found below.  Though the read-along is over, feel free to bookmark the recaps and/or leave comments as you read the book.  Each recap contains some trivia and the spoilers are marked.

First of all, I have to say that I really enjoyed reading this book about 95% of the time.  It’s full of action, adventure, romance, knights, King Richard and Prince John, and Robin Hood and his Merry Men.  It has a wide variety of characters including some I loved to hate and one or two that I was a little ashamed to love, and a couple that provided the comedy relief.  What’s not to love, especially if you’re a Fantasy genre addict like me?!

Then there’s that 5% that I didn’t enjoy so much.  There are parts that get ridiculously slow and the characters get long-winded.  Some of the conflicts get resolved a bit too easily, making the last few chapters a bit anti-climactic.  There’s also the racism that was prevalent during not only the times in which the story is placed but during the times in which the author wrote as well.  Now, I don’t believe in removing those uncomfortable parts from media in order to comply with a much more modern view of the world, but that doesn’t mean I like or agree with them.  I believe it’s important to keep the horrible stuff because 1) taking it out doesn’t mean it never existed, 2) we need to be able to know and understand our history, no matter how ugly, and 3) we need to be able to see how far we’ve come since those times.

While Ivanhoe didn’t make my Through the Magic Door list, because of that 5% I didn’t like, overall, it’s a great read.  I recommend it to anyone who enjoys Romance era fiction, classic Fantasy, or classic literature in general.

Bout of Books: Bookshelf Scavenger Hunt

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Stefani @ Caught Read Handed is hosting one of the first mini-challenges for Bout of Books 12, and it’s a Bookshelf Scavenger Hunt!  Below is the list of items, with the one’s I found in bold, and pics of the books linked to Goodreads:

Find a book with the following criteria on a bookshelf:
1. Find an author with the same initials as you
2. Find a book with the color yellow on it
3. Find an author’s name with the letter “S” in it
4. Find a book with a female protagonist
5. Find the longest book you own
6. Find a book with a map in it or on it
7. Find a book with a face on it (photograph or illustrated)
Bonus: Find something on your shelf that isn’t a book.

Penumbra Historian Girl

 

Hobbit Max