Feature and Follow Friday #190

Welcome to the Feature & Follow

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Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

What sets this Hop apart from others, is our Feature. Each week we will showcase a Featured Blogger, from all different genres and areas. Who is our Feature today? Find out below. Just remember it is required, if you participate, to follow our Features and you must follow the hosts (Parajunkee & Alison Can Read) as a courtesy. How do you follow someone? Well, if you have a preference, state it in your #FF post. A lot of blogs are transitioning to Wordpress in which they do not have the luxury of GFC, so an RSS subscription is appreciated or if you choose an email subscription. If you don't have GFC please state in your post how you would like to be followed.

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Genre Overload: Too Much of a Good Thing?

Five and a half years ago, I picked up a lovely little book called Twilight (highly obscure title...I'm sure none of you have heard of it). Prior to that time, my fiction reading was strictly limited to contemporary and historical fiction with the occasional fantasy thrown in. Vampires were never invited to cross my threshold. And apart from Lupin, I knew nothing of werewolves. Witches and wizards...they were okay in moderation.

In my post Twilight high, I sucked up every YA paranormal fantasy I could find. I read it all - the good and the bad (and for you Twilight haters, there are paranormal fantasies worse that make Twilight look like Pulitzer quality literature in comparison). I wasn't picky.

Waiting on Wednesdays: Death Sworn by Leah Cypess

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine!

Death Sworn by Leah Cypess

Publish Date: March 4, 2014

Publisher: Greenwillow

I think I've used this for my WoW before, but I so love Leah Cypess that it's worth revisiting. It's almost out!

Something Real by Heather Demetrios

Something Real by Heather Demetrios

Release Date: February 4, 2014
Publisher: Henry Holt BYR
Source: Bought

Summary

There’s nothing real about reality TV.

Seventeen-year-old Bonnie™ Baker has grown up on TV—she and her twelve siblings are the stars of one-time hit reality show Baker’s Dozen. Since the show’s cancellation and the scandal surrounding it, Bonnie™ has tried to live a normal life, under the radar and out of the spotlight. But it’s about to fall apart…because Baker’s Dozen is going back on the air. Bonnie™’s mom and the show’s producers won’t let her quit and soon the life she has so carefully built for herself, with real friends (and maybe even a real boyfriend), is in danger of being destroyed by the show. Bonnie™ needs to do something drastic if her life is ever going to be her own—even if it means being more exposed than ever before.(courtesy of Goodreads)

Manga Mondays #176: Death Note vol. 3 by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata

Manga Mondays Meme

I've been doing Manga Mondays every week since I started my blog almost 4 years ago. It started out as a personal feature, but I decided to turn it into a meme last year. There are quite a few people who do Manga Mondays. I don't claim by any means that I owned or created the idea of Manga Mondays - it's an obvious choice given the alliteration. I think a meme is a great way for everyone to publicize their own Manga Mondays and get a little more publicity.

The linky will be below my review.

Death Note vol. 3 by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata

Summary

Light Yagami is an ace student with great prospects - and he's bored out of his mind. But all that changes when he finds the Death Note, a notebook dropped by a rogue Shinigami death god. Any human whose name is written in the notebook dies, and now Light has vowed to use the power of the Death Note to rid the world of evil. But when criminals begin dropping dead, the authorities send the legendary detective L to track down the killer. With L hot on his heels, will Light lose sight of his noble goal...or his life?

Hard Run Light is chafing under L's extreme surveillance, but even 64 microphones and cameras hidden in his room aren't enough to stop Light. He steps up the game, but before the battle of wits can really begin, a family emergency distracts him. But even though Light isn't using the Death Note right now, someone else is! Who's the new "Kira" in town? (courtesy of Goodreads)

Review

It's been such a long time since I've read Death Note. Luckily, volume 3 was easy to follow and the plot elements came back to me quickly.

Feature and Follow Friday #189

Welcome to the Feature & Follow

---

Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

What sets this Hop apart from others, is our Feature. Each week we will showcase a Featured Blogger, from all different genres and areas. Who is our Feature today? Find out below. Just remember it is required, if you participate, to follow our Features and you must follow the hosts (Parajunkee & Alison Can Read) as a courtesy. How do you follow someone? Well, if you have a preference, state it in your #FF post. A lot of blogs are transitioning to Wordpress in which they do not have the luxury of GFC, so an RSS subscription is appreciated or if you choose an email subscription. If you don't have GFC please state in your post how you would like to be followed.

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How TV Turned Me Into a Reader

Okay, the title is a bit misleading. I've been an obsessive reader for a very long time. But over the past year, TV shows have profoundly impacted my reading habits.

Growing up, my genre choices were self-limited. I read large amounts of non-fiction, but few types of fiction. I would only touch contemporary and historical fiction. Granted, I did read all age groups from middle grade to YA to adult, even after I finished law school.

Then came Harry Potter and I was willing to give the occasional fantasy a try. Then came Twilight and I sucked up every YA paranormal fantasy my hungry paws could grab. Then came blogging and I discovered a true passion for high fantasy and even adult romance (which I had turned my arrogant nose up at for years).

Waiting on Wednesdays: After The End by Amy Plum

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine!

After The End by Amy Plum

Publish Date: May 6, 2014

Publisher: HarperTeen

Mixed feelings on this. The plot actually doesn't sound that great to me. But it's Amy Plum! I loved her Die For Me series.

Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl

Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl

Release Date: August 3, 2006
Publisher: Penguin
Source: Library

Summary

Special Topics in Calamity Physics is a darkly hilarious coming-of-age novel and a richly plotted suspense tale told through the distinctive voice of its heroine, Blue van Meer. After a childhood moving from one academic outpost to another with her father (a man prone to aphorisms and meteoric affairs), Blue is clever, deadpan, and possessed of a vast lexicon of literary, political, philosophical, and scientific knowledge - and is quite the cineaste to boot. In her final year of high school at the elite (and unusual) St. Gallway School in Stockton, North Carolina, Blue falls in with a charismatic group of friends and their captivating teacher, Hannah Schneider. But when the drowning of one of Hannah's friends and the shocking death of Hannah herself lead to a confluence of mysteries, Blue is left to make sense of it all with only her gimlet-eyed instincts and cultural references to guide - or misguide - her.

Structured around a syllabus for a Great Works of Literature class and containing ironic visual aids (drawn by the author), Pessl's debut novel is complex yet compelling, erudite yet accessible. It combines the suspense of Hitchcock, the self-parody of Dave Eggers, and the storytelling gifts of Donna Tartt with a dazzling intelligence and wit entirely Pessl's own.(courtesy of Goodreads)

Manga Mondays #175: The Girl Who Loved Doctor Who by Paul Cornell

Manga Mondays Meme

It's been far too long since I've done a Manga Mondays. I'm going to try to get back into the habit.

I've been doing Manga Mondays every week since I started my blog 3 years ago. It started out as a personal feature, but I decided to turn it into a meme last year. There are quite a few people who do Manga Mondays. I don't claim by any means that I owned or created the idea of Manga Mondays - it's an obvious choice given the alliteration. I think a meme is a great way for everyone to publicize their own Manga Mondays and get a little more publicity.

The linky will be below my review.

The Girl Who Loved Doctor Who by Paul Cornell

Summary

In this special one-shot story celebrating the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who, a strange force flings the TARDIS and the Doctor into our own universe! Once here, the Doctor encounters a 10-year-old girl who happens to be a huge fan of the Doctor Who TV show. The Doctor grapples with being a fictional character and monsters lurking at the girl's school on the way to coming face-to-face with the actor who portrays him, Matt Smith! (courtesy of Goodreads)

Review

Slight departure this week. I'm reviewing a western style comic instead of a manga series. I still plan on reading mostly manga, but I think it will be fun to throw is a western style comic every once in awhile.

Feature and Follow Friday #188

Welcome to the Feature & Follow

---

Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

What sets this Hop apart from others, is our Feature. Each week we will showcase a Featured Blogger, from all different genres and areas. Who is our Feature today? Find out below. Just remember it is required, if you participate, to follow our Features and you must follow the hosts (Parajunkee & Alison Can Read) as a courtesy. How do you follow someone? Well, if you have a preference, state it in your #FF post. A lot of blogs are transitioning to Wordpress in which they do not have the luxury of GFC, so an RSS subscription is appreciated or if you choose an email subscription. If you don't have GFC please state in your post how you would like to be followed.

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Movie Adaptation Book Covers

*I'm back from my Australia/New Zealand trip!!! I had a wonderful, wonderful time. I'm still trying to catch up with jet lag. I keep wanting to sleep until noon, which is 6 AM Sydney time. Hopefully I'll be back to commenting in a day or so.

I approach book to movie adaptations with a heavy sense of apprehension. A movie nearly always fails to reach the splendor of a book that I love. I'm sure most of you feel the same.

Even worse than the movie oftentimes is the movie book cover adaptation. You take a perfectly good book cover and ruin it by sticking a sappy photo of the stars on the front cover. But it's not always bad. Sometimes a movie cover captures the spirit of the book. Or the original cover is so bad that the movie version is equivalent or better.

Waiting on Wednesdays: The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine!

The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

Publish Date: March 4, 2014

Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux

I have a very early copy of this from BEA but haven't read it yet. Everyone I know who's read it has raved about it.

Feature and Follow Friday #187

Welcome to the Feature & Follow

---

Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

What sets this Hop apart from others, is our Feature. Each week we will showcase a Featured Blogger, from all different genres and areas. Who is our Feature today? Find out below. Just remember it is required, if you participate, to follow our Features and you must follow the hosts (Parajunkee & Alison Can Read) as a courtesy. How do you follow someone? Well, if you have a preference, state it in your #FF post. A lot of blogs are transitioning to Wordpress in which they do not have the luxury of GFC, so an RSS subscription is appreciated or if you choose an email subscription. If you don't have GFC please state in your post how you would like to be followed.

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Australia Bound!!!!

**This was scheduled to post Monday two weeks ago but for some reason it didn't go up. I'm posting it now to explain why I disappeared for two weeks. I'll be back home and back to blogging in a few days now!

Hey guys,

I'm off to Australia and New Zealand for a few weeks!!!!

I'll still have my Waiting on Wednesday and Feature and Follow Friday posts, but otherwise, I'm taking a few weeks off. See you in the middle of February.

If you have any tips for things to see in Australia or New Zealand or any YA books I should pick up, let me know!

Waiting on Wednesdays: Sweet Reckoning by Wendy Higgins

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine!

Sweet Reckoning by Wendy Higgins

Publish Date: April 29, 2014

Publisher: HarperTeen

I really liked the first two books in this series and the covers are all stunning!