July and Booktubeathon 2017 Review

So July I didn't expect to read so much, the beginning of the month started off pretty slowly and then picked up for Booktubeathon, literally the last week of July!

This month I was able to read 8 books. One audio book, one adult fiction, two young adult, two children's books, and two graphic novels.

Lets get into the review

The first book I was able to complete this month was a recommendation from my mom and that's:

The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Phillip Sendker

Published 2002, by Other Press

This book follows Julia...of sorts, she's on the search for her father who disappeared four years ago. After she finds a love letter addressed to a woman in Burma. Leaving the comforts of New York, Julia searches for this woman, knowing she's the key to finding her father. Only to learn more not only about her father but herself as well.

This book....I actually saw this book months ago at a Barnes and Noble and the cover stuck with me. I wasn't sure why until I was finally able to get it from Book Outlet. Only for my mom to tell me she has this book and had suggested it to me a couple years back...oops.

I gave this three stars. It's not that it was a bad book, I actually enjoyed the story, and I love the love story. It just wasn't too impact-full of a story. Yes I remember it, yes there were some impact-full moments in the book, yes I'd recommend this book to someone, but when reflecting back on the book it was good, but no fireworks. Nothing against the book.

So I was able to finish this on the first day of a camping trip. And the fact the camp site was two  hours away I had gotten an audio book since I was driving alone. and it was able to fit in in the trip perfectly going to and coming back from camp and that was:

The Magnolia Story by Chip and Joanna Gaines

Published 2016, by Thomas Nelson Publishers

So if you have ever watched HGTV it's hard not to know about Fixer Upper. If not, well it's an HGTV show with Chip and Joanna Gaines finding the worst house in the best neighborhood and making their clients dream home. They have created multiple businesses under one company name Magnolia, and this audio book is about how they met, how they created Magnolia and how they were inspired by their family values and teachings of their parents.

I love Fixer Upper. Chip and Joanna are just so cute and so funny and instill inspiration and goals not only for my dream home but for a well balanced and happy relationship. I gave this audio book a four out of five stars on Goodreads, but honestly more of a 4.5 and the only critique I had was that I personally felt that when Joanna read it felt too fast, there wasn't enough breathing space between chapters. It seriously sounded like she tried to read the whole book in one breath. But other than that I loved the book.

I then read:

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

Published 2014, by Harper Collins

This book follows Amy Gumm, a Kansas girl wanting to get out of Kansas. Her school life sucks, her home life is spent taking care of her mother who is addicted to pills. Amy want's out. So when a tornado takes her trailer away and she lands in OZ she thinks it's a dream....or maybe a nightmare. Oz isn't what she thought it was based on the stories and movie. Dorothy has taken over and turned Oz on it's head, bent on mining all the magic for herself, even her three lovable friends we knew and love aren't lovable anymore but are Dorothy's henchmen keeping those in Oz in line or getting rid of them permanently. Amy finds herself recruited by a resistance group and they know Amy is the one to end this tyranny by killing Dorothy.

So I had heard some talk about this book but didn't quite know what to expect going into it. I gave this two stars. So I remember going to this website when I was really really into Anime, it was this site that had fan fiction. This is what this book reminded me of. It felt like fan fiction. Nothing was really believable to me, I know it kept saying it was Oz but....I truly didn't believe it.  The story was entertaining enough to keep me interested through out the book, but I didn't take it seriously at all. I feel bad because when posting a picture of my current read in book themed facebook page it seemed as though people were for this book and loved it...I don't get it. I will not be continuing with the series. It had a good premise but the over all writing style wasn't believable, I didn't connect with the characters at all, and the "scary" elements in this were obscure. Over all a bit of a disappointment.

So as soon as I finished this book we got into Booktubeathon 2017.

There were 7 reading challenges and despite me not normally making a TBR I did to fit this challenges and boy did I start feeling pressure mid-week. Those Challenges were:

1. Read a book with a person on the cover
2. Read read a hyped book
3. Finished a book in one day
4. Read a book about a character that is very different from you
5. Finish a book completely outdoors
6. Read a book you bought because of the cover
7. Read seven books

so with that my TBR for this read-a-thon was:

1. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
2. The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
3. DC Bombshells Volume One: Enlisted by Marguerite Bennett and Marguerite Sauvage
4. Words on Bathroom Walls by Julia Walton
5. A Robot in the Garden by Deborah Install
6. Snow White by the Brothers Grimm illustrated by Camille Rose Garcia
7. DC Bombshells Volume Two: Allies by Marguerite Bennett, Laura Braga, and Mirka Andolfo

of those seven I completed three challenges but I was able to read 5 books.

The first one I picked up was:

Words on Bathroom Walls by Julia Walton 

Published July 2017, by Random House Books for Young Readers

This book follows Adam. He suffers from Schizophrenia. He's part of a trial for a new drug to help him cope with his mental illness, and with that going to a new school where no one knows about it, and he plans on keeping it that way. But when the drug begins to fail Adam is determined to keep his secret away from his new friends and his new school.

So this book completed the challenge of reading a book about a character who is very different from me. The character in this book is male, and he suffers from a mental illness. I gave this book 4.5 out of 5 stars. Due to the fact that I've never had to experience with Schizophrenia I can't say if this is a good representation of it. What I can say is that I found in informational. The book is set up as letters from Adam to his therapist, you also get the therapist writing notes about his trial drug along the way. I connected with Adam, I wanted to protect him. There was humor that was relatable, connections and example of current events that made sense and gave me a grounding of when this took place and a better understanding of Adams environment. The half a star taken away was because it got cliche towards the end, it was a bit predictable. The cheesy scene at the climax of the movie. I feel like it could have been written better and could have gone in a less safe direction. But that's just my opinion. Overall though loved the book, it's witty and it's heartbreaking.

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Originally published 1946

This book follows the Little Prince as he goes from his tiny planet to the next, until he gets to Earth and makes some friends. He learns about adults and their odd habits along the way.

So I realized that the book to movie adaption review I could do on this one too, since the movie is readily available on Netflix. I had loved the movie. The book I got lost in a bit. The movie explained the book a bit. With out it context is a bit lost. However, I also feel like if I read this at my leisure and really took the time to analyze it I would appreciate it a bit more. This completed the challenge to read a book with a person on the cover. And I gave it 3 stars, it was cute but I need to be in the right mind set to re-read it.

Snow White by the Brothers Grimm, illustrated by Camille Rose Garcia

Published 2012, by Harper Design

This book completed the challenge of reading a book you bought because of the cover. Now, I could have honestly picked any book on my shelves for this because I believe that judging a book by its cover is something we do because it helps sell the book. With this book I bought it years ago because I love Camille's work. I have several books illustrated by her. I love her gloomy illustrations with the vibrant colors it's gorgeous. That paired with the story of Snow White was fairly entertaining. Her rendition of Snow White to the Evil Queen to the Dwarves were quite dramatic and hilarious. I gave the book over all 4 out of 5 stars. My only critique as that at times when there was text, Camille boxed in the text with again beautiful borders, but had these borders connect with on another, this gets confusing when it doesn't flow with the text itself. Especially when one border skips two others for one at the bottom of the page, it makes me feel like that's where my eye should go but that's not how I should be reading it.

So in terms of challenges that's all I was able to finished I did read the comic books but A) forgot I had to read Volume One in one day... didn't happen and B) Volume two was supposed to be my seventh book but I didn't read The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet or The Robot in the Garden. I also got to a point where I didn't want to follow my TBR anymore, I was ready to pick up a different book entirely, but that I started getting into  DC Bombshells and didn't worry about time.

But I was still able to finish them before July ended so:

DC Bombshells: Volume One Enlisted by Marguerite Bennett and Margeurite Sauvage

Published 2016, by DC Comics

This comic takes a few of the well known comic book heroins and puts them in a WWII setting. Amanda Waller is known for creating the Suicide Squad, well in these she's creating another team, but not of super villians she can threaten to blow the heads off of but super human and talented and killed Women called the Bombshells. She creates this team to help fight WWII as it is starting to tip the balance as the Axis accesses dark power of myth and legend and is bringing the dead back to life. This team is styled in a 1940's pinup fashion and has the witty quips to go with it.

This one was a re-read for me, I got Volume 2 a while back and needed to read this one again enable to remember what the hell was happening, and now I remember why I had a hard time remembering, it's the reason why I gave this 4 out of 5 stars, there's just so much that goes on! In this one volume alone you see multiple origin stories and introductions that the story doesn't even take off until three quarters of the way through, it's really hard to keep track of what's going on. Over all though I love the art style that this has, strong bold colors as well as bold and confident line work, I love the pinup style and fashion, I am telling myself now if I ever get to go to Comicon I want to go as Wonder Woman for DC Bombshells.

DC Bombshells Volume Two: Allies by Marguerite Bennett, Laura Braga, and Mirka Andolfo

Published 2016, by DC Comics

Here the story continues but again I only gave it a 4 out of 5 because although they are able to bring most of the characters together, the left others out that they had had in the first volume. For instance Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy had a couple of chapters in Volume one (and holy crap I love their style) but in this volume they weren't mentioned a bit. However the strong Female theme is awesome, there's some girl girl romances, there's fantastic sister bonds, and even a daunting bad guy. The art is also very strong in this one but There was definitely more of a difference in art style in this one. In the beginning the style is line heavy with angles and basic color, as in there's not much detail or variation in terms of color, kind of the basic of what I expect from comic books, however, by the second "chapter" it gets changed up a bit, the lines are lighter more rounded edges, there is a lot more detail in the color ....it looks more "lush" if that makes sense? dramatic? sexier? pouty?

ugh here:

This is Mera at the beginning of the comic, lines only applied when necessary little high light minimal shadows.

This is also Mera, more line work but on the delicate side and in terms of detail and drama, deeper shadows, and more highlights. more detail over all, but she also has: Thick lashes, thicker hair that floats seductively over one eye, pouty lips, even the bubbles flowing around her are more detailed! in the first volume I didn't notice such a change in style, this one it flips back and forth and it bugs me only because I notice. Ultimately I don't mind either style, actually I think I prefer the bottom, i find it more aesthetically pleasing and knowing that took the time to put more detail in makes me like it a bit more, don't know if it takes longer, (i would assume, but at the same time look at the angle of Mera's body in the upper, that foreshortening though!)

Alright I'll be done with that.

Over all a successful month.

Remember that I also have a youtube channel now, I haven't posted much yet but I hope to here shortly. Channel Name Bitterly Fun.

If you participated in Booktubeathon 2017 let me know how you did in your challenges and in your reading over all.

Until next time!

Litta

Booktubeathon...A TBR

OK so I know I did a tag that explained that why I don't tend to like to do TBR's but to be fair this is for a read-a-thon.

And not just any read-a-thon: Booktubeathon
This read-a-thon is was ultimately made me realize how much booktube could be fun and really really interesting.

Booktubeathon was created by booktuber Ariel Bissett

It's a book-a-thon that, like most book-a-thons, encourage reading, and reading whatever your heart desires really. You can check out the video for it --> [--HERE--]

But there's more fun than just reading, there's youtube challenges for the booktube community, that get announced the week of booktubeathon. There are also Instagram challenges, and this year there is even a book pick. There are also games and events happening on Instagram, twitter and youtube.

This year the Booktubeathon goes from July 24th - July 30th

and the book pick is Juniper Lemon's Happiness Index by Julie Israel

Published June 2017, by Penguin

I can't say I'll read this just because Booktubeathon is less than a week away...and looking at how many books I've already bought this month....nah....

I've never done a read-a-thon before, so I'm not holding my breath on anything.

So with Booktubeathon there are also reading challenges that change every year, and that pretty much constructs everyone's TBR for the week. However, we are not restricted to these reading challenges, it's just something fun.

So that's what my TBR is going to be about. I also know this is mainly a youtube themed...thing.... so it almost seems odd to me to be doing this on a blog but if you see a link

[--HERE--]

know that I dove in and made my first ever youtube video. If that's not clickable, I chickened out and inside I'm beating myself up.

[Update] Holy hell I did it..... Still a little unbelievable to me....hyperventillating a bit but feeling pretty good. I know it's not that great, I realized going in that I have no idea how to edit with Premier Pro CC just kind of winged it....but I hope it'll get better the more I do it.

But really, once the announcement for Booktubeathon came out this year I kept telling myself "now's the time, it's perfect, just do a tbr and get started, just vlog during that week and get used to the camera" so let's see if I do it!!
\....Makes me nervous just typing it...

But for those who wouldn't care to see my face, or go to youtube to see my tbr for this read-a-thon, here's my tbr based of the Booktubeathon 2017 reading challenges.

The list of challenges will also be listed down below for any of you who would also like to do this.

1. A book with a person on the cover

I don't have many of these, because I feel like it ruins my image of what that character should look like, but I picked a book with a character we all just know the image of and that's:

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Expery

Published 1964

This book is the translated french book. I watched the netflix movie adaptation and fell in love with it (seriously it's beautiful). This book is about a little boy who leaves the safety of his planet and explores the universe, Earth included. Through his encounters he finds the vagaries of adult behavior.
At 83 pages I think I can get this one done in a week.

2. Read a hyped book

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

Published August 2015, by Hodder and Stoughton

This book follows a ship of wormhole builders that hop from planet to planet on there way to a job of a life time. But the everyone one of the crew members have their own story. A martian woman trying to put some distance between her and her what she's left behind, an alien pilot navigating life with out her own kind, and a pacifist captain awaiting a loved one to come back from war.

This one is still in the mail. The one I ordered is the UK cover (seen above) but if I don't think it'll get here with in the week then I'll get on amazon prime and snag the US edition

US Edition

 I actually like both covers for different reasons, I wont know if one fits the story better than the other until I read it. But the UK one I love just because that photo is amazing, and I'm a sucker for night skies. The US edition I love because it just screams Sci-Fi, it reminds me of the old Sci-Fi cover art, dramatic and daunting. I can't wait to pick this book up, but at 467 pages this is my biggest book on  my tbr.

3. Finish a book in one day.

For this one I'm choosing a graphic novel, and it's actually a re-read because it's sequel is also on this tbr, and I wanted to re-fresh my memory of what's happened, and that's:

 DC Bombshells: Volume 1 Enlisted by Marguerite Bennett and Marguerite Sauvage

Published March 2016 by DC Comics

So this takes the origin stories of a few of the known DC comic Heroines and puts them during WWII, as well as puts them into these 50's pin up style outfits. I remember seeing the art for this and fell in love with it. The art though out is just so pristine and sharp, and this style is adorable (I want Wonder Woman's outfit)

But I figure this would be a could quick re-read read for this read-a-thon

4. Read a book with a character completely different than you.

Words on Bathroom Walls by Julie Walton

Published July 2017, by Random House for Young Readers

This book follows Adam. Adam has schizophrenia. He sees and hears people that aren't really there. You would think he could tell the difference between his imagination an reality with some of the characters he sees, but he can't. So when a trial drug comes along to suppress these images, Adam goes for it. He feel's like he can have a life, even a love life, but when the trial drug begins to fail, Adam is determined to keep his secret hidden among his new found friends.

I got this book in the mail (you'll see in my book haul for this month) and I hadn't heard a thing about it. The concept seems interesting, and I think for this challenge the fact that the protagonist is of male gender and has a mental illness is pretty different from me.

5. Read a book completely outside

A Robot in the Garden by Deborah Install

Published June 2015, by Random House Canada

Ben Chambers, at 34, feels as though he hasn't done much with his life. So when he finds a robot, Tang in his garden, he's determined to achieve something. Where did this robot come from? How did it get here? Ben is willing to cross the globe to find out these answers, even if it means losing his wife in the process.

I saw this on Book Outlet, and it reminded me of my friend who had an idea for a robot book, she asked me to let her know how this one is.

6. Read a book you bought because of its cover.

This could really be any of my books. I think judging a book by its cover is critical in the book buying process. If I don't like the cover it makes it hard for me to justify buying the book.The cover is part of the book's sales pitch. Bad cover, bad pitch. Of course covers and their art are subjective. So what I think is "good" or "bad" may not be the same for someone else. 

 But for this challenge I chose:

Snow White by the Brother's Grimm Illustrated by Camille Rose Garcia

Published February 2012 by Harper Design

I have owned this book for a while. For a bit in early college I was obsessed with Camille's art work. I still love it, I'm just not actively seeking it at this point. But it's Snow White's story just illustrated by Camille. So it's this over dramatic grotesque type work that I think will be interesting to the story.

7. Read seven books.

So this is where that sequel comes into play (you forget about it?) Another Comic book because I don't know how else I'll get seven books read in a week.

DC Bombshells: Volume 2 Allies by Marguerite Bennett and Marguerite Sauvage

And with that, that is my Booktubeathon 2017 TBR

I hope to keep updating my youtube channel and encourage you to check it out as well. I'm hoping it gets a little better as I get more used to looking at the camera and talking rather than typing about books, and editing.

Let me know if you're going to participate in booktubeathon! What's your TBR?

See you next time

Litta

Booktubeathone 2017 Reading Challenges

1. A book with a person on the cover

2. A Hyped Book

3. Finished a book in one day

4. Read a book with a character that's completely different from you

5. Read a book completely outside

6. Read a book you bought because of it's cover

7. Read seven books 

Nope. Book Tag

Today I'll be doing another tag, this one is called the Nope Book Tag created by Farah at A Booktube Book

As always questions will be at the bottom if you would like to do this yourself.

As always these responses are my opinion alone, if you have differing opinions than I do, then great, we're human. Please try not to be offended by my opinion and if you are I please ask that you leave.

1. Book Ending: a Book ending that made you go NOPE either in denial, rage or simply because the ending was crappy.

I Am Radar by Reif Larson

Published March 2016, by Penguin Books

First off, cover love, otherwise this book was interesting and entertaining, but the ending. THE FUCKING ENDING! Did NOT answer a damn thing. It left soooo many loose ends I threw the damn book.

2.  Protagonist: A main character you dislike and drives you crazy.

Gwen from Everland by Wendy Spinale

Published May 2016, by Scholastic Press

The book itself probably didn't help much but I found her and the story unbelievable and hard to connect with.

3. Series: A series that turned out to be one huge pile of NOPE after you invested all of that time and energy into it, or a series you gave up on because it wasn't worth it anymore.

The above could count for this as well but I'll choose another one.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children  by Ransom Riggs

Published June 2011, by Quirk

I finished the first book, and found it didn't live up to the hype. There wasn't anything particularly wrong with it...I lie, everyone found the photographs really cool and interesting, and yes although interesting I found them distracting and felt like it brought down the book a bit. Not going to be picking up the rest of them.

4. Popular Pairing: A "ship" you don't support.

Maribella and Joseph from Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

Published September 2016, by Harper Teen

No, Joseph and Maribella. I. Can't. It makes me hate Maribella when I did feel sorry for her. I don't even know why, it's not like it was her fault. I hate Joseph because of it too, he can make up whatever excuses he wants just no!

5. Plot Twist: A plot twist you didn't see coming or didn't like.

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

Published February 2017, by Grand Central Publishing

It was just one thing after another with this book. I expected hard times to fall on this family but what happened with Sunja's eldest son...So many tears, I had...just...ugh!

6. Protagonist action/decision: a character decision that made you shake your head NOPE.

The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Phillip Sendker

The fact Tin Win just went to this "uncle" so willingly ticked me off, same with when he didn't say anything about getting his sight fixed. There was nothing wrong with his life with Mi Mi why change it?! I had a fear that he'd lose his unique hearing abilities if he got his sight back.

7. Genre: a genre you will never read.

I don't think there's a genre I won't look at and reach for. Perhaps skeptically, but I wont say I'll never read a certain genre. My mood on books changes consistently so I may not reach for a genre today, doesn't mean I wont reach for it in a couple months.

8. Book format: Book formatting you hate and avoid buying until it comes out in a different edition:

Mass production paperback. My boyfriend gets them and I just can't... I'm not a big fan of paperback in general, but I can hand like the floppy paper backs or the ones that aren't crazy cheap where I know I won't break the spine once I open the book.

Also another one I don't tend to go for right away is Audio, I get particular, biographies and memoirs, sure, it makes sense, other wise I listen and relisten to the sample before determining I want it. Same with Kindle/e-books. physical copies are just easier for me.

9. Trope: a trope that makes you go NOPE.

Under-qualified protagonist succeeding above overly qualified supporting characters- with this the under-qualified tends to be Caucasian who also happens to be "the chosen one" and just kind of skips to a finish line while the supporting characters are people of color who have worked all their lives to get their qualifications but they can't win with out the help of said random Caucasian protagonist.

Also love triangles, especially ones that don't make sense, like there's clearly one the protagonist should choose over the other because one is absolute shit, but they still ponder about it through the whole book to the point where I'm like "you know what if you're having this much trouble, you don't deserve the one you should obviously be choosing and I hope they deny your finicky ass."

10. Recommendation: A book recommendation that is constantly hyped and pushed at you that you simply refuse to read.

I haven't had much pushed at me in my personal life. But on booktube people are really pushing for:

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Published March 2005 by Knopf Books for Young Readers

Every other booktuber talks about this book, and I just have no interest. If a book gets too hyped or someone wont stop talking about it, I just wont pick it up. Mostly because you put too much hype into it and I no longer believe it will hold up to that hype.

11. Cliche/Pet peeve: A cliche or writing pet peeve that always makes you roll your eyes.

This one feels similar to the tropes I dislike but: Beauty Blind: when a female protagonist describes herself as ugly when she's actually really pretty, or argues with family who says she's beautiful or can't understand why a love interest would find her attractive. Stop. Be body positive, and just say "thank you" 

also insta-love and the whole "bad ass brooding" guy becomes "even hotter" when he's being a brooding asshole.

12. Love Interest: The love interest that's not worthy of being one. A character you don't think should have been a viable love interest.

I feel terrible for saying this but I don't think Hermoine should have gotten with Ron. I liked the thought of her and Harry together for a bit, even though that one was a little obvious, and her and Krum...eh... I don't think Krum was the best for her intellectually, but just something else, either that she was happy just being single and having fun every now and then or maybe a lesbian? I feel like Hermoine just kind of deserves more and feel like Rowling just settled on Ron because of how much they've been through.

13. Book: A book that shouldn't exist.

I don't think a book concept shouldn't exist (to an extent) I may dislike Everland the the reason I picked it up to begin with was due to the interesting concept. How about a major re-write? Everland would be my answer


14. Villain: A scary villain/antagonist you would hate to cross and would make you run in the opposite direction.

Professor Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

Movie or book, I don't want to mess with this character. If I lived in that world in the time in which she was a professor I'd be avoiding her like the plague.

Also I'm not sure if this counts or if it's considered "cheating" but Catherine from Heartless by Marissa Meyer.

Published November 2016 by Feiwil and Friends

The reason why I'm curious if it should count or if it's considered "cheating" is because in this book Catherine is the protagonist, but it's also an origin story for the Queen of Hearts from Alice's Adventure In Wonderland by Lewis Caroll. After reading what she "went through" by Marissa Meyer's view point, nope, wouldn't want to cross her path.

15. Death: The death of a character that still haunts you.

I mean aside from the obvious Harry Potter characters

The Lonely Hearts Hotel by Heather O'Neill

Published February 2017, by Riverhead Books

I can't say anything due to spoilers....but this...yup...

16. Author: An author you had a bad experience reading for and have decided to quit.

Jamie McGuire for this reason

Published May 2011, by Altria Books

This book. I don't understand why it has such a high average rating on good reads. This book made me feel sick. I never read the Twilight series but I've seen the movies and I know the gist that Edward Cullen and his relationship with Bella should not, I repeat, SHOULD NOT be romanticized, the same goes for Christian Grey and Anastasie Steele. This book takes that Edward Cullen/Christian Grey trope and gives it steroids, and takes away the vampiric "romance" and sexy-ness out of it. This book makes me re-think of books that should exist (obviously I forgot about it until now) The reason why I'm done with this author, is because this book is part of a series. It eludes me as to why....just why? I'm done and wash my hands of this.

Alright and that's the Nope. Book tag.

If you've done the questions either via blog or youtube video link it to me, I'd love to read/see it.

Until next time!

Litta



NOPE. Book Tag Questions:

1. NOPE. Ending: A book ending that made you go NOPE either in denial, rage, or simply because the ending was crappy. 

2. NOPE. Protagonist: A main character you dislike and drives you crazy. 

3. NOPE. Series: A series that turned out to be one huge pile of NOPE. after you’ve invested all of that time and energy on it, or a series you gave up on because it wasn’t worth it anymore. 

4. NOPE. Popular pairing: A “ship” you don’t support.

5. NOPE. Plot twist: A plot twist you didn’t see coming or didn’t like. 

6. NOPE. Protagonist action/decision: A character decision that made you shake your head NOPE. 

7. NOPE. Genre: A genre you will never read.

8. NOPE. Book format: Book formatting you hate and avoid buying until it comes out in a different edition

9. NOPE. Trope: A trope that makes you go NOPE. 

10. NOPE. Recommendation: A book recommendation that is constantly hyped and pushed at you that you simply refuse to read. 

11. NOPE. Cliche/pet peeve: A cliche or writing pet peeve that always makes you roll your eyes.

12. NOPE. Love interest: The love interest that’s not worthy of being one. A character you don’t think should have been a viable love interest.

13. NOPE. Book: A book that shouldn’t have existed that made you say NOPE. 

14. NOPE. Villain: A scary villain/antagonist you would hate to cross and would make you run in the opposite direction.

15. NOPE. Death: A character death that still haunts you.

16. NOPE. Author: An author you had a bad experience reading for and have decided to quit.

A "New" to Me Idea

Blog Update

So I had an idea for a series of blog posts: Book to Movie Adaptation of the Month.

Essentially I will pick a book with a movie adaptation, watch the movie, then read the book and do a compare and contrast review mid-month. This wont necessarily be a new release of that month, I will be looking into a range of adaptations of current releases as well as releases of old.

The only issue that comes from this is that I cannot watch a movie adaptation of a book I've already read. I just can't, I get so frustrated and irritated essentially I get an image of what characters should look and sound like and more so than not the movies upset me, because I'm not the director. I'm not the casting director. I have no control of who they cast as the characters I've grown attached to. And I'm sure that everyone sees something a little different when they imagine characters, and these directors imagine something different, it's wrong, but it's what they see. This mostly applies to (curently):

Water for Elephants by Sarah Gruen

and

The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins

I read these in my middle school/high school years, and a year or two after I read them the movies came out.

I hear they're good, but not necessarily from people that have read the book... Not that I don't think that it wouldn't be good. It's just I know I wont enjoy them. I'd spend the whole time critiquing the movie and that's not fun for anyone.

Hypocritically I wont be doing Superhero movies, or movies based off comic books. I am a comic book reader (I haven't picked one up in a while) but comparing and contrasting several comics to one movie could in a sense be a simple thing to do, but, I mean, why? It's easy, for me, to forgive director's casting calls for comics, it's easy to forgive plot changes, and that's mostly in part of DC and it's multi-universe. Every new artist that comes aboard DC and starts drawing one of it's many characters, with a new writer ready to put the next spin on a character's background, theme, look is a new universe. And so, I feel, is animated adaptations, as well as movies.

I also wont be doing series, so Harry Potter is out.

But ultimately I've realized I've been reading quite a bit of books I've seen the movie adaptations to, or I really want to read them.

I'm essentially going to start fresh, so any books I have read and movies I have seen I'll re-read and re-watch and review them fresh in my mind.

I probably wont be posting an Adaptation of the Month this month, July, unless I'm able to snag a movie here in a couple of weeks. Although there are a handful I could put those "re"'s to, I'm not going to pick them up right away but will have a set plan to do so in the future.

But I can tell you that the two I'm currently looking at are:

The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman

Published September 2007 by W.W. Norton Company

 This book is set in World War II, following Jan and Antonina Zabinski. This couple owns a Zoo in Poland, and when Germany invades, Stuka bombers destroy the city and the zoo along with it. With a lot of their animals dead, the Zabinski's start smuggling Jews into the empty cages and their large villa, where they hide during the day and dine and communicate at night. Jan is part of the Polish Resistance, hiding ammo and explosives in an empty elephant enclosure while Antonina keeps her unusual household afloat caring not only for her Human guests but her animals as well.

I saw the movie preview when my boyfriend and I went to go see another movie in theaters.... think maybe A Monster Calls...maybe? And I remember seeing that it was based off a book and went "I need to read that!" in which my boyfriend promptly told me "Not til we see the movie otherwise I'll never be able to see it." fair point.

Out April 7, 2017

The movie is directed by Niki Caro who has also directed Whale Rider and is set to direct Mulan.

The screenwriter was: Angela Workman

And stars: Jessica Chastain, who's been in Crimson Peak (Lucille Sharpe) and The Martian (Melissa Lewis) and much more. As well as Johan Heldenbergh a actor and writer from Belgium known for The Broken Circle Breakdown and Moscow, Belgium.

I have a feeling I will cry during the movie, most WWII movies do. I'm hoping to find it on Netflix but if need be I'll buy it. 

The other adaptation I was looking into was:

Horns by Joe Hill

Published March, 2009 by William Morrow

This book follows Ignatius Perrish (Ig) who spends the one year anniversary of his girlfriend's death drunk and doing terrible things. When he wakes up the next morning with a terrible hangover and a pair of horns growing out of his temples. 

Thinking they're the hallucinating product of a mental break down, Ig has spent the last year in a lonely, silent purgatory after his late girlfriend was found raped and murdered. But these horns are as real as they get. Ig was the only suspect in his girlfriend's murder, he was never charged or tried, but never cleared. The public opinion is that his privileged and well connected background led to everything being swept under the rug. Now with no one at his side, not even God, Ig uses the Devil inside to find out the truth behind his beloved's murder.

Out October 2014

This movie is directed by Alexandre Aja known for The Hills Have Eyes and Piranha 3D

The Screenwriter was: Keith Bunin

And stars: Daniel Radcliffe which, if you didn't know, is known as Harry in the Harry Potter Series and Max Minghella who recently played in The Handmaiden's Tale television series (Nick Blaine)

I've seen the movie before and thought it was interesting and pretty entertaining. So in theory I could start reading Horns now and hope to find the movie with in the month, but I'd like to just have both either physically of digitally (like Netflix) with in my grasp.

So those are the two that are on my radar right now. So keep a watch here with in the next 30 days to see which one I did and which adaptation I plan on doing next.

Until next time!

Litta

The Summer Book Tag

Today, despite that I should be packing for a camping trip, I'm going to be doing the Summer Book Tag.

To get me into that summer time feel.

Where I live summer doesn't really feel like "summer" until late July- October. Even town/cities nearest us are surprised as they try to escape the heat of 110 degrees and come to the cost to find it a balmy 65 and foggy.

This tag was originally created by Kaelyn at misskaelyn on youtube. Questions will be listed at the end if you feel like doing this too.

The Summer Book Tag

1. What book cover makes you think of summer?

I've mentioned this book before:

The Bone Sparrow by Zana Fraillon

I can't find the artist of this particular cover, but this cover was basically what made me buy this book. It looked like a summer read. The abstract waves? or perhaps wind? with they dry yellow and gold yellow sparrow. I can almost smell sand and the salt of the sea.

2. What book has brightened your day

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Frederik Backman

This book was so witty and adorable, despite the character understanding grief, the book is just makes me smile with the antics and imagination.

3. Find a book cover with yellow on it.

I have a couple but I'm choosing:
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

Just to mention it as it's story has stuck with me. The conflict between Japan and Korea and how Koreans were treated in Japan and following this family and wanting it all to work out some how. It still makes me wonder how the family is doing.

4. What is your favorite summer beach read?

Beyond the Bright Sea by Lauren Wolk

The setting of this book is on an isolated island, and the detail of the beach makes me want to sink my toes in the sand and feel that wind on my face.


5. What action book had you running for the ice cream man?

When looking for a book to fulfill this question...I can't find an action book. At least not one that made it hard for me to put down....or had enough action in it for me to call it an "action" book.

6. "Sunburn" what book has left you with a bad and/or painful ending?

Everland by Wendy Spinale

I just unhauled this it ticked me off so bad.

This is a Peter Pan retelling, that's set in a dystopian. The synopsis was actually kind of exciting if not a slight rip off from the Hunger Games. A virus is killing off adults, and slowly some kids are starting to have signs of this virus as well. Gwen and her brother seek help from a band of Lost boys to rescue their sister from Hook, a boy who is the son of the woman who is trying to take over England. Sounds interesting right? But insta-love as well as unrealistic expectations of children under the age of 14. That's just my personal opinion.

7. "Sunset" What book gave you the happiest feelings when it ended?

I could very well say My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry again...but out of interest of not repeating myself I'll say:

Of Bees and Mist by Erick Setiawan

This book has magic realism up the whazoo. Meridia is such a strong character that grows into herself so well, and handles herself with confidence and grace. I wasn't sure how this book was going to end, but it tied everything up so nicely that I was relieved and completely satisfied with how the book ended. Plus it's one that pops into my mind often due to how unique it is.

8. What book cover reminds you of a sunset?

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

This is the movie poster edition of this book, and it is literally a sunset. I adored this movie and cried so hard at the ending, and the book was no different.

9. What is one book or series you hope to read this summer?

So for some reason I thought I'd want to read a lot more contemporary girl-ish books but now I'm having this craving for something a bit darker, and one in particular, that I don't have yet, that I really want to read in August, at the latest, is:

Horns by Joe Hill

I've seen the movie with Daniel Radcliff, and thought it was interesting, and at the beginning of the month I saw one of my local book stores had it on sale, but with two books in my hands anyway and my boyfriend pushing me out the door, I was unable to snag it. It's been on my mind ever since.

Alright that is the summer book tag. What book do you hope to get to this summer? Do you recommend one that really has the "summer feel" for you?

Let me know!

Until next time!

Litta


Summer Book Tag Questions
What book cover makes you think of summer?
What book has brightened your day?
Find a book cover with Yellow on it.
What is your favorite summer beach read?
What action book had you running for the ice cream man?
(Sunburn) What book has left you with a bad and/or painful ending?
(Sunset) What book gave you the happiest feelings when it ended?
What book cover reminds you of a sunset?
What is one book or series you hope to read this summer?

Childhood Discovery Reads

In my previous post I mentioned my boyfriend and I have an unspoken agreement to read books of each other's child hood. Well that got me thinking.

What was the biggest book series when you were a kid?

not like a little little kid when you first start to read but you know that sweet age where you start to find books on your own. Perhaps you find them at your school or local library and get hooked, but you're still too young to really have money so you beg your parents for the book, and continue doing so when the sequels start getting published. Then suddenly everyone's reading them. Did you ever have that? and what were the books series?

Two come to my mind. The first being Harry Potter by JK Rowling

This little gem got published in 1998, and at first didn't get much hype. in '98 I was in first grade but I didn't start hearing about it until my third grade year. By the time my mom had tried to get me into it, and actually bought me the Sorcerer's Stone, was my fifth grade year. But I can't say I was interested in it at the time. Probably because the movie was just about to come out. When the movie came out I was 10 and, in my opinion, a perfect age to introduce the Harry Potter series. I grew up with Harry, Hermione and Ron, as they met each other and started being friends at this new school, I was getting ready to move from my elementary school to a middle school. There wasn't a kid I knew that hadn't read the books or watched the movies. I remember taking a field trip to see Chamber of secerets in theaters. While other books were being picked up: Twilight and The Hunger Games.

I didn't get into the books until I saw Order of the Phoenix. I remember when watching that there was so much time lapse I felt like I was missing some key details. It had kind of happened in the Goblet of Fire, but not to the point where I felt like I missed something important.
I got pissed, not only because Professor Umbridge was the perfect villian you'd love to hate, and the time lapse made me feel lost, but because how they portrayed the time lapse in the movie. News article after news article, flying past. My vision sucks, I can't go to 3-D movie's with out getting a headache, even some action movies (damn shaky cam), there needed to be a focus and there wasn't. I get that was kind of the point, to be able to just catch a couple headlines here and there to get the general gist of what was going on, but it infuriated me because if I was able to snag a title or two my head would start hurting and I'd forget what it was anyway. I made the decision to not see any more movies until I read the books and found out what happened.

I didn't pick up the books until 2009. Fresh out of high school and onto a junior college where I found it hard to make friends and found the library disappointing. I picked up a used copy of the Sorcerer's Stone at a used book store, and devoured it. I was 10 again, waiting for my 11th birthday, getting excited about learning new things and if Harry was excited about learning new things at Hogwarts. When I was about done with one book I'd go to the local used book store and look for the next one. Sometimes slowing my reading pace because I'd have to wait a week or so before they got the next book in.

By this point all the books were published and The Deathly Hallows were under controversy due to a potential rating of "R' due to Hermoine showing boob in a scene. It was dropped to PG-13 and the movie was going to be in two parts.

By the end of me finishing the series of books I was crying and cursing JK Rowling for killing who she did (despite knowing due to Deathly Hallows book coming out my junior year of highschool) and critiquing the rest of the movie adaptions. I also dove into the fandom, found out my House (Hufflepuff at the time, after re-taking the quiz Ravenclaw and I'm going to say pending on the day I could be either or) wearing my hufflepuff cardigan proudly and defending the house of any ill conceived notions  and was devouring the information on Pottermore. And like the rest of the Potterheads I want more about the world and was ecstatic about Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them.

I have yet to read Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the play by Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, and backed as the 8th book by JK Rowling, our of pure fear. I got it with the intention of reading it after my boyfriend finished the series. But I was also getting into Booktube and it was just critique after critique about how Potterheads don't except this book as canon. So I'll wait on that a bit.

The second series that comes to mind recently got hyped up again due to Netflix producing the series staring Neil Patrick Harris, and that's A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket.

First published in 1999, I didn't get into them until 2004. This one I picked up due to a challenge my mom had presented to us kids. While we were at a book fair at my old elementary school she'd said she'd get the first three if I would read them before the movie came out (which it was due to that December). From what I remember I got through seven of them, and hated the movie. The movie starred Jim Carry playing Count Olaff and Jude Law as the narrator, and was only focused on the first three books, which I get, there's thirteen but they were off to a good start when I learned that this was going to be the only movie. I found Carry way to animated to be count Olaff. Though I did enjoy Law's narration (find me someone who doesn't love his voice). The movie also irritated me because the events weren't in order. This movie adaption was an early example of why I can watch the movie after I read the book.

The books themselves were charming, and though I didn't finished the series (I do intend to at some point) They held my interest for quite a bit. I was unable to finish due to the lack of access, my mom did buy me the first three, the next four I was able to get from my middle school library, but when in high school our library didn't carry them.

I do feel bad for this series as Harry Potter was just picking up steam about that time, the movies were being produced, the books of the series were still coming out. Even though Lemony Snicket's series was coming out as a movie, it was a flop and therefore over shadowed.

When asking my boyfriend (who is 5 years younger than I am) he said that the series that were popular at the time, were

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

and

Eragon by Christopher Paolini

Also when asking my mom (who is 23 years older then me) this same question she came up with:

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardobe by C.S. Lewis

and

It by Stephen King

Though they both wanted to note that they're not entirely sure if these books were "popular" at the time but rather they were into them. Which I get.

The three of us were those children you would find in the library rather than on the playground. My mom was a "jock" and got along better with boys, but because she wasn't a "boy" didn't always get to hang out with them, so she spent most her time in school reading and doing extra curricular activities. My boyfriend and I realized that we were both those "awkward" kids. Not in any offence to any one, we both switched schools at an awkward time, and found it hard to make friends, the library was a safe haven, and it's books filled that void.

So what series did you first discover and devour as a kid?

Until next time

Litta