Free-For-All Friday #1

Free-For-All Friday is a weekly post where I post whatever I want. It will probably be a show or movie I've watched. 

    When I'm not reading or working on this blog I'm watching Once Upon A Time. The pilot episode was a bit slow and kind of uninteresting but by the time I got to episode 5 I was hooked. That's usually how it goes with me. Unless of course the protagonist annoys me so much that even being committed to a show can't make me continue watching. Like Breaking Bad. The show's protagonist Walter White wasn't my problem his wife was. She was annoyingly cliche.  The show could have been so much better if the writers would've actually spent some time crafting her character to have a real personality. Say for instance if she would have helped Walt sell drugs because he was doing it for them versus her being a typical bitchy, uptight wife. 

    Anyways, let's get back to Once Upon A Time. The show depicts the tales of all your favorite childhood characters as they try to defeat a curse that has banished them to earth where magic doesn't exist. The stories are awesome, filled with romance and conflict. I'm hoping Princess Tiana and Princess Jasmine will make appearances in later seasons. (I'm only on the beginning of season 2, so they could have made an appearance already.)

    My favorite character is Ruby aka Red aka Little Red Riding Hood. She's incredibly badass. Oh, did I forget to mention she's the Big Bad Wolf too. I know it's crazy, right? But on the contrary I think Emma, the protagonist, might be my least favorite character. She's kind of annoying. But don't take my word for it check out the show and tell me what you think. 

Wish List Wednesday #1

The idea behind this post is self-explanatory, but what's new is that I've decided to participate in the blog hop hosted by Dani at Pen to Paper Blog.

"Wish List Wednesday is a book blog hop where we will post about one book per week that has been on our wishlist for some time, or just added (it's entirely up to you), that we can't wait to get off the wishlist and onto our wonderful shelves."

Goodreads Synopsis: A missing child, a buried tin of coins, and a terrible secret — these lie at the heart of Muriel Macleod’s powerful first novel set deep in the back country of early-20th-century Louisiana, where lawlessness still reigns and the voodoo curses and charms of the old ways hold sway. Here eight-year-old Arletta lives with her family in an isolated shack in the woods. Sometimes she sees the white men walking down the track toward her home and knows to hide. But sometimes she sees them too late, until one day she finds the strength to fight back with ferocity. The men don’t return. But when years later she hears that another girl has been attacked, and past meets present, Arletta is compelled to act, plotting a revenge that will leave its mark on history.

I chose this book for my wish list because after watching Beasts of the Southern Wild I've taken an interest in books and movies set in Louisiana. Beyond the setting the story sounds amazing and powerful. I think this book will be a great introduction into the historical fiction genre for me. 

Teen Tuesday #1

I decided to review Richelle Mead's novel Vampire Academy after I saw the movie. Just so this is clear, the movie was god awful. I didn't think any movie could be worse than the first Twilight. Alas, I read the book before I saw the movie and I actually enjoyed it. Here's a snippet of the synopsis:

"St. Vladimir’s Academy isn’t just any boarding school—it’s a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They’ve been on the run, but now they’re being dragged back to St. Vladimir’s—the very place where they’re most in danger."

"Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy’s ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi—the world’s fiercest and most dangerous vampires—make Lissa one of them forever."

So, I'll be completely honest, the first 50 pages or so are completely confusing. I almost gave up. Mead creates this entirely new world with:

Fact Sheet

Guardian Dhampirs are half human/half vampire and can only breed with vampires. They are expected to protect Moroi for life. (Yes, it's a lot like slavery.)

Photo Source: @VAOfficialMovie

Photo Source: @VAOfficialMovie

Moroi aka good vampires don't kill when they drink blood, can go out in daylight, and also use the 4 elements for magic. 

Photo Source: @VAOfficialMovie

Strigoi aka evil vampires kill when they drink, try to kill Moroi, are immortal and freaking strong. 

(Please ignore the grammatical errors in this picture. I did not create it.)

Did you catch all that?

One interesting thing that arose from this series is a lot of slut shaming. I'll be the first to say Rose is a bit promiscuous, but she's also a teenager. I really hated how Dimitri, Rose's love interest, was really heavy handed with the don't-be-a-slut lectures. It reminded me of Edward from Twilight and we all know that story had Mormon overtones. 

Overall, this really complex world makes for a pretty intriguing story.

Pinterest Party #1

Just a few of the most awesome pins of the week.

Bout of Books Update Day 3

Yes, I'm still reading this freakin' book. SMH. I don't feel like I'm ever going to finish. I'll admit that I decided to read the rest of the Stephanie Plum Series for Bout of Books not because I REALLY enjoy the books but more so because I'm already on book 15 and I might as well finish the series.

I seriously can't believe how underdeveloped the plot is. I thought the Anita Blake novels were bad. Janet Evanovich has managed to out do the bull-head I-don't-need-an-editor Laurell K. Hamilton.

The main character Stephanie Plum is a likable Jersey Girl. She has a very funny grandmother, Grandma Mazur, and two hot guys she's in love with. Did I mention she's a bail bonds enforcer? She has all the makings to be a funny, witty, Anita Blake, but she falls short of the mark because she blunders through every apprehension she has to make and no one, not even herself, takes her seriously. I could honestly get over how non badass she is if she would just make some type of decision between her two loves, Joe Morelli and Ricardo Carlos Manoso aka Ranger. She's had feeling for both of them since book 1 and has yet to make a discernible decision. I literally feel like this:



Personally, I think they're both hot, but Morelli is a chauvinist and Ranger is just too hot to say no too. Not to mention Ranger doesn't stop Stephanie from living her life unlike Morelli who wants her to quit her job.

Guess I'll go back to reading...

Review: Poppet

Mo Hayder's Poppet will definitely have you on the edge of your seat with all the lights on. Here's a snippet of the synopsis:

Everything goes according to procedure when a patient, Isaac, is released into the community from a high security mental health ward. But when the staff realize that he was connected to a series of unexplained episodes of self-harm amongst the ward’s patients, and furthermore that he was released in error, they call on Detective Jack Caffery to investigate, and to track Isaac down before he can kill again. Will the terrifying little effigies Isaac made explain the incidents around the ward, or provide the clue Caffery needs to predict what he's got planned?

I have to admit that I've been reading these books out of order Poppet is actually the 6th book from the Jack Caffery Thriller Series.

I love books that make me think. This book had me constantly searching the internet for definitions of what a "poppet" is and other british words. I would love to go into great detail about all the exceptionally written mental health patients, but I don't want to spoil the book for you, that is if you decide to venture into this novel. This books is a definite page turner and will keep you up late at night.

Rating:

Like This, Try This Challenge

I've been eyeing all the challenges offered on the Bout of Books read a thon page and some of them look really fun but require me to do too much like post on instagram and blah blah. So I decided to give the Like This, Try This challenge a try because I'm all about good book recommendations. I decided to take the path less traveled and offer something that isn't a romance or paranormal romance. So, here we go:

If you like:

 The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum 

Then you should try:

Wolf (Jack Caffery #7) by Mo Hayder

Both of these books are Horror/Mystery novels and scared the pants off me! I like a good thriller and a book that keeps me guessing whodunnit. I would also suggest these books vise versa. 

Progress Progress Progress

I'm really disappointed with my fortitude for this challenge. I've read to page 200 but normally I would have been finished by now. Here's a fun quote:

"Gotham City would have been a mess without Batman." 

"Batman was a nutcase. He was a vigilante."

"Well, Ranger isn't a nutcase. He's a legitimate business man."

"He's a loose cannon hiding behind a veneer of legitimacy."

Bout of Books 11: Day One Progress

Monday

Day one was fairly successful. I read to page 77 of Finger Lickin' Fifteen. I have to admit my progress has really been hampered by the Little League World Series. I can't seem to pull myself away even during the commercials. 

Book Started: Finger Lickin' Fifteen

Pages Read: 77

Total Pages: 308

Quote: “You don't have a drop of paint on you," I said. "Why is that?"Ranger smiled, liking that he hadn't gotten hit. "I guess they were hunting pussy.""But I walked into the Motherfuckers room.""Yeah, but babe, you're clearly pussy.” 

Bout of Books 11: Goals

Goals:

Read the next 6 Janet Evanovich books in the Stephanie Plum Series.

  

   

  

Read First Grace on the Right by Charley Davidson.

Bout of Books 11

I decided to give the Bout of Books read-a-thon a try. This challenge lasts a week and only requires you to read as many books as you can. It's more about setting a personal best or finally getting some of those books off your did not finish or to-read list. Check out the challenge here: http://boutofbooks.blogspot.com

Review: Good In Bed

I recently had the opportunity to attend my library's book sale. While there I picked up several books including Jennifer Weiner's novel Good in Bed (Cannie Shapiro #1).

The first 100 pages of this book were really great. I laughed out loud and was getting swept away with Cannie's character. But then I realized a little after page 100 that there is no reason why this book should be 375 pages long. It felt a lot like reading Anna Karenina. 

By that I mean the main story was pretty interesting, but reading all the anecdotes about Cannie's childhood were like torture. The first few were manageable. But I found myself thinking why does this story last for 5 pages? 

Jennifer Weiner needs some practice in brevity. 

Of all the characters Dr. Shapiro's (Cannie's dad) was the most underdeveloped. I didn't read the Q&A at the end of the book, (mainly because I look like this by the time I was finished).



So I don't know if this character is based off Weiner's real life experience or not, but it really doesn't matter. 

Dr. Shapiro's character literally was two dimensional. He was happy at the beginning of Cannie's life and then just derailed into some out-of-control train wreck. The thing that bothered me so much about his character was the fact Weiner couldn't come up with a reason why he left and stayed gone. It didn't have to be some monumental thing like "I'm really a woman trapped in a mans body and that's why I can't love you guys," but he definitely needed to have a reason for treating them so poorly. Everything you do has a motivation behind it. 

Since I'm already ranting I might as well get it all out. 

I was really over all the vegetarian jokes... OK, so I'm a size 16 woman who happens to be 5'2" and I'm a vegetarian. I like food just as much as the next plus size woman. I felt like Cannie's character was really conflicted in a bad way. All she did was bitch and moan about people not accepting her and then she turns around and judges everyone else. I'm guessing she doesn't understand how equality works.



  Overall, I'm relieved this book is over and I WILL NOT be reading anything else by Jennifer Weiner.

Rating

2 out of 5