Bout of Books Readathon Challenge: Cover Love

This blog has moved to Ms. Buff’s Blog…  Please click through to enter the challenge.

Let’s talk cover love today.  I’ve admitted in the past to being a cover snob.  I love a pretty or interesting cover.  Often it’s the cover that gets me to buy the book.  I tend to be attracted to the more abstract covers, but sometimes ones featuring people grab me.

My favorite cover from this past year’s reads is the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman.  Okay, I’m cheating a bit, but these are too gorgeous not to include all three.  J picked up this box set at Half Price Books sometime in 2010.  I love the colors, the raised gold lettering, and especially the constellations in the background.  These covers fit the story to a tee.

Honorable mentions:

The Magicians and The Magician King by Lev Grossman — These two fit beautiful together.  I get a sense of Fillory in each cover.

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake — Look at those colors!

Sunshine by Robin McKinley — My cover actually sparkles and somehow it doesn’t seem cheesy at all.  Plus that little bit of red really calls to the vampires in the story.  Amazing!

Allison Hewitt is Trapped by Madeleine Roux — Check out the zombie peeking at Allison through the books tacks. Very scary!

I also hold a place in my heart for funny or ridiculous covers.  I really love this selection.  Check them out!  Questions: Does anyone else have issues with where that pile of wood is on The Rifleman?  What is up with Retief’s codpiece?  Does anyone else agree that clowns are always scary, but extra so when it looks like one is trying to pick you up?  And is that a weedwacker or are you just happy to see me?  Extra creepy…

Now I want to hear yours.  What’s your favorite cover?  Or What’s the funniest cover you’ve seen?  Tell me in a blog post (linked in my comments) or in the comments section to win.

Prizes:

• 2  $10 Amazon or Book Depository GC — Favorite cover and funniest cover
• 2  Choice of book or series from my giveaway pile — Random winners

Rules:

• Must be a participant of Bout of Books to enter
• Must leave a comment or link to your blog in my comments section
• Prizes are open only to the US
• Contest runs 12:01am CST to 11:59pm CST

Giveaway stash (note that all books are preloved, but in good condition):

• Allison Hewitt is Trapped / Sadie Walker is Stranded by Madeleine Roux (2 books)
• As the World Dies trilogy by Rhiannon Frater (3 books)
• Newsflesh trilogy by Mira Grant (3 books)
• The Jewel of St. Petersburg by Kate Furnivall
• The Girl from Junchow by Kate Furnivall
• Consider Lily by Anne Dayton
• Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick
• The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
• The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
• The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever by Julia Quinn
• Bridge of Scarlet Leaves by Kristina McMorris
• Arthurian Romances by Chretien de Troyes
• Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky
• An Offer You Can’t Refuse by Jill Mansell
• Pinned by Sharon Flake
• Serial by Jack Kilbourn and Blake Crouch
• Mythology by Edith Hamilton
• A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
• Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson
• The Tudor Rose trilogy by Susan Wiggs (3 books)
• The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O’Connor McNees

Good Luck and Happy Reading!!!!!

 

Ornament Exchange Thank You

I signed up for The Reading Fever’s Ornament Exchange this year.  I love all these gift exchanges this time of the year.  I received Diana @ Book Adventures for my partner.  And she sent me a most awesome ornament.

Does anyone recognize this awesome image?   It’s from one of my favorite books: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams!  This ornament has earned a respected place on my Christmas tree.  Thanks Diana!

Thanks again Diana!

P.S. She wrote me a nice thank you post on her blog.  Check it out here. 

 

Secret Santa Thank Yous

I signed up for two different book exchanges this fall.  I’ve received my books, so it’s time to send back some thank you love to the senders!

I received two books from Allyson… Stealing Fire by Jo Graham and Storm Glass by Maria Snyder.  So excited to read them after January.  Thank you!

I received two amazing books from Alicia.. The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen and Brithmarked by Caragh O’Brien.  Looking forward to diving into these.

 

Top Ten Tuesday — 2012 New-to-Me Authors

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This meme was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We’d love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of our bloggers’ answers. Everyone is welcome to join.  If you can’t come up with ten, don’t worry about it—post as many as you can!

I read a ton of New-to-Me authors this year.  Here’s my 10 highlights:

1. Mira Grant — I thoroughly enjoyed Grant’s Newsflesh trilogy.   I can’t wait to see what else I could read from this author.

2. Rhiannon Frater — Another great zombie trilogy.  I’ve been seeing a huge bunch of rave reviews for Frater’s other books.  I must check them out.

3. Madeleine Roux — I’m sensing a trend of great zombie authors…  Anyway, loved these two companion novels.

4. Libba Bray — The Gemma Doyle trilogy was great.  Looking forward to other books.

5. Philip Pullman — Very layered books

6. Mike Mullin — Scared the crap out of me.

7. Kendare Blake — Another scary book.  I really want to read the sequel.

8. Carlos Ruiz Zafon — The Shadow of the Wind was a great love letter to books and literature.

9. Robin McKinley — Sunshine was so beautiful, I’m kind of afraid to read her other books for fear that they won’t live up to it.

10. Lev Grossman — The Magicians was very complex and interesting.

 

Book of Lists (I’m Late per Usual)

I ran across this idea on At Random, I followed her links to Kapachino’s original post:

Because I’m suuuper original I’m calling it the Book of Lists because that is essentially what it will be. Just get yourself a book – make a minibook out of chipboard and binder rings like I did or grab a blank journal, a spiral notebook, scrapbook, anything of the sort – make sure it has some empty pages, and you’re ready to go.

Every month there will be a topic for a list, and the object is to craft it on a blank page, take a photo of your list, then blog it. You can get elaborate scrapbook-style, or even jot it down with your favorite pen. If you want, you don’t even have to make a book and you can just blog about the list topic (even though then it’s not really a book of lists, but that’s cool). My style is somewhere in the middle.

I just absolutely love this idea.  I’m a crafter.  I love lists.  Why not combine the two into a new project?  Sounds like the perfect plan for me.  Unfortunately I didn’t get to the posts until today…  The holidays have been rough on my blog reading.  At any rate, I’m jumping in.  I have a ton of journals and notebooks lying around the office.  I grabbed one, personalized it and started on my journey.  Here’s the notebook:

I chose a simple composition notebook with some pretty stripes.  Then I dove into my crafting supplies for some great stickers to add a title.  Simple but with a bit of flare, very me…

And now on to December’s list: wish list…  

I didn’t go overboard with stuff, but I just made a simple list of 17 things I am wishing for right now.  Some are creature comforts and some are more life related.  I think this sums me up nicely.

Next month: We’ll be posting on January 7 and the topic is “looking forward.” That could mean what you’re looking forward to, your goals for the year, or however else you interpret it.

 

Top Ten Tuesday — Santa Please Bring

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This meme was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We’d love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of our bloggers’ answers. Everyone is welcome to join.  If you can’t come up with ten, don’t worry about it—post as many as you can!

Here’s my Christmas wish list this year:

1. Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

2. Reached by Ally Condie

3. City of Lost Souls, Clockwork Prince, and Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

4. The Twelve by Justin Cronin

5. The Wild Rose by Jennifer Donnelly

6. Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale

7. Out of Oz by Gregory Maguire

8. Empress of Rome by Kate Quinn

9. A Lady Most Willing by Julia Quinn

10. Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

 

Top Ten Tuesday — Winter TBR

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This meme was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We’d love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of our bloggers’ answers. Everyone is welcome to join.  If you can’t come up with ten, don’t worry about it—post as many as you can!

I’m cheating this week.  The real topic is “2013 New Releases I’m Looking Forward To,”  but here’s the thing: I don’t usually keep up with new releases. Sure, I grabbed them from time to time, but it’s usually because someone else recommends.  I don’t sit and wait for the new releases.  Instead of the real topic, I’m sharing my Winter TBR list.  The topic seems to have been left off the list for this season.  These books are all those that I need to read by the end of the year to knock out some reading challenges.

2012 Still Need to Reads

1. The Magician King by Lev Grossman

2. The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan (about halfway through)

3. Mythology by Edith Hamilton (currently reading)

4. The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins

5.  The Firemaster’s Mistress by Dickason

6.  Arthurian Romances by Chretien de Troyes

7. Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky

8.  The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O’Connor McNees

2013 First Up Reads

9. The Kingdom of Ohio by Matthew Flaming

10. Rest of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series

Fall TBR Recap — How I did based off of previous TTT post.  Pretty close to reading them all! (20/27)

1. As the World Dies trilogy by Rhiannon Frater
2. Feed by Mira Grant
3. Deadline by Mira Grant
4. The Kingdom of Ohio by Matthew Flaming
5. The Maiden’s Hand by Susan Wiggs
6. At the Queen’s Summons by Susan Wiggs
7. P.S. I Love You by Cecilia Ahern
8. A Kiss in Time by Alex Flinn
9. Mythology by Edith Hamilton
10. The Princess and the Bear by Mette Ivie Harrison
11. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
12. The Girl from Junchow by Kate Furnivall
13. The Jewel of St. Petersburg by Kate Furnivall
14. The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O’Connor McNees
15. As You Like It
16. King Lear
17. Pericles
18. Cymbeline
19. Othello
20. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sleep? by Philip K. Dick
21. Snow Crash By Neal Stephenson
22. Outlander series
23. HP 7
24. A Wrinkle in Time by L’Engle
25. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
26. Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson
27. Arthurian Romances by Chretien de Troyes

 

In library paradise

I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library. — Jorge Luis Borges

You know the library in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast?  Yeah, that’s heaven to me.  I’ve always dreamed of living in a house just big enough for a proper library room.  A room filled floor to ceiling with bookcases, a comfy leather chair with ottoman, a small side table with reading lamp (just big enough for a cup of tea), and possibly a fireplace. That is heaven to me. I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately.  I have an iPad.  I am trying to read more digital books (save space and for travel purposes), and yet I keep going back to the old physical library.  I still want that room.  I fear that the old libraries of the past will slowly disappear in our newly digital world.  I don’t want to lose that comfort, that little piece of paradise in our chaotic lives.

From Beautiful Libraries

 

I’m a book discriminator…

“Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.” — PJ O’Rourke

I have a confession to make…  I discriminate based on books.  I always check out what others are reading.  And I make conclusions about who they are based off of those books.  I’m not proud of this fact, and yet I continue to do it.

You want an example?  The easiest one is Fifty Shades of Grey…  My first thoughts when seeing a woman reading this (because I’ve never seen a man reading it): she doesn’t actually read.  It’s a harsh statement.  I don’t think those people actually read the same way I don’t think members of Oprah’s book club read.  For them it’s a social activity   It’s a way for them to be part of the “cool” club.  They don’t read for the love the story or the author.  My second thought: she doesn’t have a healthy sexual relationship.  The sex depicted in the book is gross (and this coming from someone who likes sex and reading erotica).  The sex is bondage, but the worst form.  It’s one step away from rape and I just cannot find that sexy at all.  My third thought: how can she read beyond the typos?  Ugh! Typos annoy the crap out of me.  I just paid X amount of dollars for a published author.  I expect it to be edited at least for typos.  I would really like if it was edited for content as well.  But no…

My example got kind of ranty, but that’s the train of thought that rolls through my brain when I see someone reading Fifty Shades of Grey.  I have many other examples of my book snobbery.  Readers of science fiction: lonely.  Readers of literary fiction: snobs.  Readers of young adult (but are adults): wannabe teenagers.

Why do I have all these thoughts?  I read all these different genres (except  Fifty Shades).  I enjoy these different genres.  I love reading a variety of types of books by a variety of authors.  And yet, I judge others by their reading choices.  I want to change.  I want to a equal opportunity acceptor of reading habits.  I want to not see the book, but see the person.  End personal plea.  Now let me go and read my fluffy romances with the rest of the housewives…

 

Upcoming Blog Hop Giveaway

I signed up for an upcoming blog hop giveaway…  Look interesting?  Join me.  If not, keep it on the calendar and lookout for some great books up for grabs.