Saturday, December 31, 2011
Friday, December 30, 2011
Follow Me Friday (#22)
This is the day of the week where we get to know each other better by answering a question devised by our lovely hostesses Parajunkee & Alisoncanread. We also gain new followers by joining each other's sites via GFC, so please let me know if you're a new follower since I automatically follow back. And now for this week's question....
Q: The New Year is here — and everyone wants to know your New Years Blogging Resolution! What are you going to try to revise, revamp and redo for 2012 on your blog?
Wow! So for 2012 I would like to just work on a few things. First I don't want to focus so much on getting followers. I have to remember that if the content is good the followers will come. I am going to try to put a "about the author" mini box that pops up when people leave comments. I have seen it on other blogs and just need to figure out how to do it. I would also like to change my "stars" for the books.... right now I use cats and would like to use something else. Not sure what yet. Lots of work to do... but I love to blog so I am happy to do it!
First & Last: What was the first book you read in 2011
and the last you finished in 2011? How do you feel about these books?
Would you recommend them to other readers?
I love this questions... let me see.... so it looks like the first book I read was... The Making of Empire Strikes Back which to be honest I don't even remember this book! So I would not recommend it. HAHA! It must've not been a book I read from cover to cover. I probably just looked at the pictures in it. And the last book I read this year was The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern which I did enjoy and would recommend if you like books that are real descriptive. All in all I am a little disappointed in how many books I read this year. I thought I would read way more then I did... but next year I plan to read a lot MORE!! 100 maybe!!
Happy Follow Friday everyone!! And Happy New Years!!
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Lady Gaga- Review
Checked this book out from the library.... goodreads description:
In this book of original, behind-the-scenes photographs, acclaimed photographer Terry Richardson follows superstar Lady Gaga during one year of her life, from Lollapalooza through the final show of her Monster Ball tour. During the time period he followed Gaga, Richardson took over 100,000 images and attended more than 30 Monster Ball dates around the world. From the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards to the Don't Ask, Don't Tell repeal rally in Portland, Maine, to the Thierry Mugler show at Maxime, Paris, Richardson captures Lady Gaga as you've never seen her before. A year-long global odyssey- -all access, nothing off limits--this is the book Lady Gaga fans have been waiting for.
Amazing pictures! Any big Gaga fan would just love this book! It is like a book that you buy at a concert... no words just all photos in color pages!! This book shows her just relaxing... no make-up, performing, and the photographer takes some great shots!! I took some pics from the book to share:
Top 10 Book Covers of 2011
(click the picture above to find out how to participate).
The Night Circus... I just love this cover!
Witch Song by Amber Argyle
Have not read...
Incarnate by Jodi Meadows
Have not read....
Crossed by Ally Condie
I just love the covers on Matched and Crossed
Remembrance by Michelle Madow
Have not read...
Dust and Decay by Jonathan Mayberry
have not read.. I think it is a great horror book cover
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Anathema by Megg Jensen
have not read....
Ingenue by Jillian Larkin
The Pledge by Kimberly Derting
have not read....
Hummm... seems like I like dark covers with girls in capes!! hahaah! What is on your list? Can't wait to see!
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern-Review
The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night. But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands. True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus performers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead. Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.
This book is a great story.. the descriptions of the circus are magical. I just love how I really felt that I was in each circus tent. I could see myself in the Ice Garden. The love story was good as well.. but I wish that the author had went into it just a little bit more. My only other problem was that there was no magician's duel. It made it sound like there was going to be, but then it was just one magician making a better tent then the other.
I will also admit that I got a little confused with the time frames in the book and eventually had to go back and start checking the dates on the beginnings of the chapters. The telling of the story was told to us by one character telling another character what happened. So sometimes that got confused because it kept jumping from past, present and future. So I had to pay close attention.
I do think though that the book was very magical and worth reading if you are tired of the same old stories... girls loving boys, vampires and the supernatural, and similar books. I love that we are taken on a great descriptive journeys through magic. The author does very well with describing even the littlest details of the circus.. the fact that everything is white, black or red only. And even the clock in the story is one of the most magical pieces. I almost gave it 4 cats... but the slow start made me give it three cats!! Enjoy this book!
If you haven't been to a Cirque De Soleil show you must go... that is what this book made me think of. I've been to the Mystere show in Las Vegas and it was amazing and out there and magical like this book! Here is a pic from the end of the show!
Monday, December 26, 2011
Top 10 Books I’ve read in 2011
Author: Stephen King
Published: November 8th 2011 by Scribner
My number one book is 11/22/63! This book is AMAZING! One of his best in a long time. I will take you on a time traveling journey!
Title:Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth
Published: May 3rd 2011 by Katherine Tegen Books
I loved Divergent. It was my favorite YA distopian novels this year. I am dying to read the next book in the series.
Author: Adam Mansbach
Published: June 14th 2011 by Akashic Books
This book is hilarious! I recommend if you don't want to buy it or check it out from the library to look it up on youtube.com and listen to Samuel L. Jackson narrate it!
Title: ParanormalcyAuthor:Kiersten White
Published: August 31st 2010 by HarperTeen
Ok so I know this wasn't published in 2011 (the second book was) but the first time I read it was in 2011 so I am going to count it. Now if only Ms. White would do a Q&A with my book club on goodreads!!
Title: Harry Potter Page to Screen: The Complete Film Making JourneyAuthor: Bob McCabe
Published: October 25th 2011 by Harper Design
I have not done a review on this book yet. I checked this MASSIVE book out from the library and then bought it for my husband for Christmas so I wanted to wait for that before I did a review. This book is WONDERFUL and perfect for any Harry Potter fan. Especially the ones who are so sad there are no more movies.
Title: The Night CircusBy: Erin Morgenstern
Published: September 13th 2011 by Doubleday
Ok this is another book I have not done a review on... because I have about 100 pages to go. I should be reading it right now but I am writing this post instead!! It is so good and very descriptive. Nothing like the vampire, werewolf novels that are so popular which makes it more of a refreshing book!
Title: The 39 Clues Series: Medusa's PlotBy: Gordon Korman
Published: August 30th 2011 by Scholastic Press
I don't see many of my fellow bloggers reading the 39 Clue series... but man they are good! So good in fact that in a couple of weeks when I do my first giveaway I am going to give away book 1!
Title: VixenBy: Jillian Larkin
Published: December 14th 2010 by Random House Children's Books
This series is great! I think people aren't reading it though because it came out at the same time as the popular series Bright Young Things (which I have not read so I can't compare). This is a fun series though and I recommend it if you are interested in reading a YA book that takes time during the Flapper era.
Title: The Iron KingBy: Julie Kagawa
Published: February 1st 2010 by Harlequin Teen
Ok I know this is another 2010 book, but again I didn't read it till 2011. I also read the Iron Daughter in 2011 too. Great series!
Title: Dead Reckoning
By: Charlaine Harris
Published: May 3rd 2011 by Ace
Love the Sookie series. Kinda sad there are only two more books!
Ok so those are my choices! Leave me a link to yours!
Nook Color Skin (and all ereaders)
I love my Nook Color... and I have been eyeballing the skins for it for a while. The best ones I have seen are from Decal Girl. They have such vibrant colors and styles. And they are not just for the Nook but for the iPad, the Kindle, laptops, you name it. I also love that they come with a code so you can get a matching wallpaper. The wallpaper does match... in the photo below it doesn't look like it but it's just how the picture turned out. I really love these and they are fairly cheap. It was about $12. So go order yourself one from Decal Girl!
Sunday, December 25, 2011
In My Mailbox (#14)
So I wasn't going to do a post today since it's Christmas. But I got a lot of books from the library last week and wanted to go ahead and post them. I received the new Janet Evanovich Explosive Eighteen , Richard Matheson I am Legend which is the book club pick for December for my Stephen King Fan club, Hans-Ake Lilja's Lilja's Library: The World of Stephen King who just did a great Q&A with my Stephen King Fan Club (link listed above), the new Lady Gaga book called Lady Gaga, Lord of the Rings Location Guide given to my husband from his friend who just got back from New Zealand, and finally my last library book is The Walking Dead compedium volume one by Robert Kirkman.
WOW ok three more books that I actually won from giveaways...
Thanks to Amanda @ Maestra Amanda's Bookshelf for Princess Ben!
And finally thanks to Malinda Lo @ Malinda Lo's blog for her book Ash that I won... AND IT WAS SIGNED!! She stopped by my Young Adult Book Club Q&A and did a Q&A with the group.
Ok that was a long long in My Mailbox this time. Lots of work put into this post.. PHEWW!!
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