Saturday, May 28, 2011

Shelving Saturday - #6

Welcome to Shelving Saturday


Shelving Saturday is a weekly blog event I have started here at Eastern Sunset Reads.   Each week I will post a shelving dilemma or question and you can join me in the response.
 
Please feel free to post on your blog and link back here, please be sure to post the link to your response in the comments so I can come and check your Shelving day out!


This week's question is how do you decide what genre shelf you put your books on, if you shelve by genre? Do you go by what the book store has it shelved under? Or do you read it and then decide for yourself where the book belongs?



This has been a personal dilemma for me for some time, I try to read the books and then decide what shelf to put them on. The problem occurs when I have a series like Robin D. Owens' Summoning series that is both fantasy and romance, so do I put it under fantasy or do I put it under romance, or do I create a whole new shelf?! Drives me crazy, but since my romance shelf is pretty full, this particular series sits on the fantasy shelf.

 

So how about you?

Friday, May 27, 2011

Bedtime Story: Curious George

Time again for a bedtime story on Friday night. 


Curious George by H.A. Rey

Synposis from Goodreads: " The first adventure in this highly popular series tells how the little monkey Curious George, caught in the jungle and brought back to the city by a man in a yellow hat, can't help being interested in all the new things around him. Though well meaning, George's curiosity always gets him into trouble. Young readers can easily relate, and Rey's cheerful illustrations celebrate Curious George's innocence."

My Thoughts: A great classic book every child should remember! Now that I re-read it I have to remind myself that it was written in 1941! So many kids have loved this book. I remember when I was little after my mom read this book to me and then later to my brother I decided I was going to work in a zoo or foster baby wild animals.  The colors and the artwork in Curious George attract children's eyes and all the trouble he gets into can be used to remind kids what not to do.

My Rating:  While I enjoy Curious George and definitely respect its long standing time as a favorite, Curious George wasn't my favorite.  I give it a rating of Three Paws and I will read this to kids in my life!




Sleep Good and Sweet Dreams

Follow Friday # 3 & In My Mailbox #6

 
To join the fun and make now book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:
  1. (Required) Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Host { Parajunkee.com } and any one else you want to follow on the list
  2. (Required) Follow our Featured Bloggers - http://magnet4books.blogspot.com
  3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing.
  4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments
  5. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "HI"
  6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
  7. If you're new to the follow friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

Q. How many books do you read in a week? And in what format do you read them, or listen to them?

It really varies, and depends on the amount of time and the genre of books I am reading. Usually though I read between 3 and 5 books a week. At least one or two are print version and the rest are on my Nook.  I am able to read books from the Nook a lot more because I have it downloaded on my work computer and can read in between clients. I do enjoy audio books as well but really prefer to read, for some reason I feel as if I can enjoy the book more using the voices in my head. The only time I prefer an audio book is if I know that I am going to end up crying (Like with Dewey the Library Cat, I wouldn't have been able to see the words if I had read the print version of it by the end).
 
 
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   In My Mailbox is a weekly event hosted by The Story Siren that I have decided to participate in.

How IMM works:
Make your own IMM post! You can post about books you've bought, gotten from the library, received for review... books don't have to arrive via your mailbox. 
I post every week, but you don’t have to. You can do one week out of the month or every other week it’s up to you. 
You don't have to call your post In My Mailbox... (some people don't even have mailboxes!)
I post my IMM on Sunday, but choose a day of the week that works for you.
Once you have your IMM posted, come back to The Story Siren on Sunday and add your link to the list. 
Try to post a comment on other bloggers IMM posts. I don’t expect you to post a comment on every single one, but pick a few!

All book bloggers are welcome, while I’d like to keep the theme to YA literature it’s NOT a requirement.

There is no right or wrong way to do In My Mailbox, you can vlog, you can take fun picture, you can use the books cover art, it’s up to you!

Most importantly HAVE FUN!

Sooo I was planning on having a book buying ban but then I needed a couple of graduation book gifts from Barnes & Noble and . . . . well . . .  I can't get out of there without at least a couple books for myself!
 
Synopsis from Barnes & Noble: "The daughter of a Warrior King, Lara was trained as a healer, helping both friend and foe. And when the enemy warlord agrees to cease hostilities in exchange for Lara, she agrees to become the Warprize."
I will have this review for you in a bit ;)  I also had to download the next two books in the series today because I couldn't wait to read them!
 
 
 

Synopsis from Barnes & Noble: "Ruith had long managed to ignore the magic in his veins, until aiding Sarah with her ill-fated quest forced him into places where his heritage was impossible to deny. Faced with an ever-increasing number of enemies who covet his power, Ruith must accept his birthright and gather his father's spells together so he can destroy them-or turn away and allow his father's evil to overcome the Nine Kingdoms.
Now, Ruith and Sarah must rely on each other more than ever-for everything they value is at risk: the Nine Kingdoms, their lives...and their hearts."

I still need to get Book #4 but I found this on sale so snagged it!


Synopsis from Goodreads: "John Knowles' beloved classic has been a bestseller for more than 30 years and is one of the most moving and accurate novels about the trials and confusions of adolescence ever written. Set at an elite boarding school for boys during World War II, A Separate Peace is the story of friendship and treachery, and how a tragic accident involving two young men forever tarnishes their innocence"

I remember reading this one in school and thought it would be an important one to have in my collection.




Synopsis from Goodreads: "When her eccentric friend Dr. Reit invents an amazing transport into other worlds, Sheila McCarthy accidentally falls through the portal into the kingdom of Arren. There, Sheila finds herself part of a band of warrior-women. Astride unicorns, they gallop toward a dazzling city made of marble. But will they arrive in time to stop the evil king and his wicked wizard henchman from carrying out their deadly plans? And will Sheila ever be able to return home?




Thus begins the spellbinding story of an ordinary teenager trapped in an extraordinary place. Swept Away! and Sun Blind are the first two novels in the dazzling adventure The Secret of the Unicorn Queen.
The Secret of the Unicorn Queen is the newest addition to the Del Rey Imagine program, which offers the best in fantasy and science fiction for readers twelve and up."

This was a favorite series of mine when I was a kid, and I could never remember the name of the books or the author.  In my free time this week I went on a hunt and finally found out, then went on a hunt to get the books and wow, they were kind of pricey. But I managed to find them at a more reasonable price, this is the first one to come in the mail, I am still waiting for the other 5.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Booking Through Thursday #3 - The RUT

Booking through Thursday is a weekly event hosted by Deb at BTT


This weeks Question is:
Do you ever feel like you’re in a reading rut? That you don’t read enough variety? That you need to branch out, spread your literary wings and explore other genres, flavors, styles?

My Answer:

Most Definitely! That was the reason I originally started this book blog was to get out of my rut of Fantasy and Paranormal Romance.  I set up this blog with my 2011 Reading Challenge in mind (which has been slow going) so that I could branch out again.  I go through this regularly, I find a genre I love and then I just following other book recommendations in that same genre and next thing I know I have read nothing but say Historical Romance for 6 months straight.

I have to say all my fellow book bloggers have opened my reading up again. I love most genres of books so it is great to come across a review for a book in a genre I haven't read in years. It reminds me how I loved that genre (even though I likely left it because I had been in a rut in the past).

I think its good to try a variety of styles of writing and genres, it keeps your mind open to new things and ideas.  The only books that I don't really read are Mysteries (but I am working on changing that) and current Non-Fiction (because I read to escape the current world).


So how about you? Are you in a rut or have been in a rut? How did you get out of it or do you prefer being surrounded by your favorite genre?

Been lost in the country Panem . . .

So I know I have been MIA for several days but I do have a very good reason, I swear!  I finally decided to read the Hunger Games trilogy, and boy what the heck was I waiting for?!



Synposis from Goodreads: "In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that will weigh survival against humanity and life against love."


My Thoughts & Review:
When I originally finished the book, I couldn't even put any decent thoughts together so I through a quick comment up on goodreads so I would remember the moment: "I can't say a lot not because my heart is still racing and Hunger Games literally left me breathless! I had to take several deep breaths after finishing it to try to settle my nerves and heart! Why oh Why did I wait so long to read this book?! Unfortunately now I have a wedding to go to and don't think it would be proper for me to sneek my nook in with me hahaha!"

As I said above when I first finished this book I was out of breath literally, my heart was racing and my hands were shaking. It was amazing that an author could get a reader so involved that the body actually reacts to the events taking place. I loved the characters Suzanne created and the world they live in could easily be imagined,unfortunately. The action in the book is fantastic, its a constant adrenaline rush and it kept me involved throughout the whole book.

My Rating: I have definitely added Hunger Games to my favorite books list. I definitely give this one Four Paws and Stump Wag! I had too much of a reaction to the book not to give it a top rating.



Synopsis from Goodreads: "Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark won the annual competition described in Hunger Games, but the aftermath leaves these victors with no sense of triumph. Instead, they have become the poster boys for a rebellion that they never planned to lead. That new, unwanted status puts them in the bull's-eye for merciless revenge by The Capitol."

My Review: I read through this book really quickly, it really almost seemed like a transition book to me. Maybe it was the addition of allies that made the drama not as intense to me, but I wasn't left breathless or shaking like with the Hunger Games. Catching Fire definitely seemed to be moving more into the political battle as opposed to the main characters just trying to survive and get their digs in every once in a while. By the end though I did want to know what happened next and was eager to read the next book.

My Rating: Due to the fact that the first book left me so shaken, Catching Fire left me a little disappointed. So I give it a rating of Three Paws. It was a good book, one I kept reading but it didn't catch me the way I expected it too.


Synopsis from Goodreads: "Young Katniss Everdeen has survived the dreaded Hunger Games not once, but twice, but even now she can find no relief. In fact, the dangers seem to be escalating: President Snow has declared an all-out war on Katniss, her family, her friends, and all the oppressed people of District 12. The thrill-packed final installment of Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy will keep young hearts pounding."

My Review: This final installment was a must read, you couldn't leave this trilogy without concluding it. Unfortunately for me, Katniss lost nearly all her appeal. I almost wish that Suzanne Collins had changed the protagonist for this third book. I was much more interested what was happening with the other characters involved. Again it was another mainly political conflict book, showing the deceit, head games, and power plays people are willing to do for gain in power. It seems that there is a trend lately with trilogies I have read that the ending seems kind of abrupt to me. It left me kind of puzzled as to how after all the conflict, that things just end. The resolution seems very thrown together and not carefully thought out as the rest of the trilogy.

My Rating: Unfortunately, Mockingjay just did not live up to my expectations but it was still an interesting read and needed to complete the trilogy. I give it a rating of Two Paws and a Stump Wag