Book Blogger Hop 7.29.11

It’s been awhile since I stopped by the Book Blogger Hop hosted by Crazy-For-Books.

This week’s prompt:

“Highlight one book you have received this week (for review, from the library, purchased at the store, etc.) that you can’t wait to dig into!”

I just checked out The House of Dead Maids by Clare B. Dunkle from my library. I loved The Hollow Kingdom Trilogy by this author and sought out more of her work.

This novel is a prequel to Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, narrated by Tabby Aykroyd, nursemaid to young Heathcliff. I can’t wait to discover what Dunkle has added to the classic tale.

It’s described as “YA fantasy horror.” I don’t read much horror. I hope I can handle it!

Follow Friday and Book Blogger Hop 5.27.11

Follow Friday is a weekly hop hosted at Parajunkee’s View. Link up to find new reads and bookish blogs.

This week’s question: How many books do you read a week? In what format do you read them or listen to them?

My answer: I read about one book a week. In the winter I read more; in the summer I read less. I read traditional print editions. I just love physical books…the covers, the smell of the paper, the way they look on my shelves.

The Book Blogger Hop is hosted at Crazy-for-Books.

This week’s question: What book-to-movie adaptation have you most liked? Which have you disliked?

My answer:

My favorite book-to-movie adaptation is The Princess Bride. Yes, there are some differences between the book and screenplay, but both are absolutely wonderful.

I’m not sure I can pick my least favorite adaptation. Recently, I was a little disappointed with the Percy Jackson movie. I missed all of the book scenes with Ares.

Follow Friday and Book Blogger Hop 4.22.11

Follow Friday is a weekly hop hosted at Parajunkee’s View. Link up to find new books and bookish blogs.

This week’s question:  What is on your current playlist right now?

My answer: Here’s a few…

1. MGMT- Electric Feel
2. Yeah Yeah Yeahs- Cold Night
3. Johnny Cash-Hurt
4. Pixies-Tame
5. Gogol Bordello-60 Revolutions

The Book Blogger Hop is hosted weekly at Crazy-For-Books.

This week’s question if from The Paperback Princesses (I love their blog):

If you find a book you love, do you hunt down others by the same author?

Yes. When I find a new favorite author, I have to find out what else they have written. Sometimes, I am surprised to discover that I am not reading a debut novel, but the first of that author’s novels that was released by a big publisher. A little research can unearth many hidden gems! 

Follow Friday and Book Blogger Hop 4.15.11

 Follow Friday is a weekly hop hosted at Parajunkee’s View. Link up to find new books and book blogs!

This week’s question:  Do you have anyone that you can discuss books with IRL? Tell us about him/her.

I work in a public library, so I discuss books with my coworkers and patrons on a daily basis. My best friend Julia and my sister Heidi also love to read, so we are always talking about books, especially fantasy novels.

Julia is from St. Petersburg, Russia, so she has a different perspective based on the Russian literature she has read over the years. I love hearing her thoughts and comparisons. Julia’s tastes range from Juliet Marillier to Gogol to Victor Pelevin.

 Heidi is two years younger, and I remember reading Anne of Green Gables aloud to her back when we were girls. Heidi really loved Howl’s Moving Castle by the late Diana Wynne Jones and the Artemis Fowl series. I’m lucky that to have a best friend and sister who are also booklovers!

The Book Blogger Hop is hosted weekly at Crazy for Books. 

This week’s topic: Pick a character from a book you are currently reading or have just finished and tell us about him/her. 

I’m just started reading Matched by Ally Condie. Cassia’s grandfather is an interesting character. He has a bit of a morbid sense of humor, and I feel like he is hiding a secret. Although he is not outwardly rebellious, I sense that he does not conform to the utilitarian society that he lives in as much as he leads others to believe he does. I can’t wait to read what happens next!

Book Blogger Hop 4.1.11

The Book Blogger Hop is hosted weekly at Crazy-For-Books. Link up to find new reads and bookish friends!

This week’s question:

“Since today is April Fool’s Day in the USA, what is the best prank you have ever played on someone OR that someone has played on you?”

My answer:

Well, this morning my mother told me to expect a big nor’easter storm. After months and several feet of snow, I was about to fly into a rage against Mother Nature. Then Mom grinned and said, “April Fool’s Day!”

Follow Friday and Book Blogger Hop 3.25.11

Follow Friday is a weekly hop hosted at Parajunkee’s View. Link up to find new reads and book blogs to follow!

This week’s topic: List five book related silly facts about you.

My list:

1. Some of my kitchen cupboards are filled with books instead of dishes.

2. If I don’t like the way a story ends, I’ll make up my own conclusion at night before I drift off to sleep. The Little Mermaid was living happily-ever-after in my mind long before Disney came out with their version.

3. Sometimes I read during load times when I’m playing my Xbox 360. This feels über-geeky.

4. One of my criteria for a handbag is that it is large enough to carry a book.

5. If I forget my book at home on a work day, I feel like my hour lunch break is ruined.

The Book Blogger Hop is hosted at Crazy for Books.

This week’s question:

“If you could physically put yourself into a book or series…which one would it be and why?”

It’s difficult to choose just one! I don’t think I can.  Here are three book worlds I want to visit:

1. The Great Gatsby:

I wish I could attend one of Gatsby’s parties. I’d wear a slinky 1920s dress, sip from a long stemmed glass, and oscillate between fivolous and political conversations.

This line lures me:

“In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars” (Chapter 3, The Great Gatsby).

I’m sure I’d get sick of the excess and and affectations, but I’d like a taste of party life during The Jazz Age.

2. The Sevenwaters Series:

I want to live in the lovely ancient forests in the Sevenwaters series, where fey roam and the mortal inhabitants practice powerful hearth magic. Actually, I’d like to visit any of the worlds in Marillier’s novels: Wildwood, the Light Isles, Whistling Tor…well, maybe Whistling Tor is too frightening.

3. The Airborn Trilogy

Kenneth Oppel’s steampunk world is amazing. I want to ride in airships, discovering new species like cloud cats. I’m not sure I’m brave enough to board the Starclimber though. Is Airborn ever going to be made into a movie?

Book Blogger Hop 3.4.11-3.7.11

The Book Blogger Hop is hosted weekly at Crazy-for-Books. Join to meet fellow book lovers and discover new reads.

This week’s question comes from Mia who blogs at Girl About Books:

“Who’s your all-time favorite book villain?”

I love the villains in both the book and movie version of The Princess Bride. I have trouble choosing between Prince Humperdink or Vizzini. Their evil natures are exaggerated; they parody other villains.  Their depravity? “Inconceivable!”

Book Blogger Hop 2.18-2.21

The Book Blogger Hop is hosted weekly at Crazy-for-Books. Join to meet fellow book lovers and discover new reads.

This week’s question: “What book(s) would you like to see turned into a movie?”

Sometimes I get nervous when a book I like is made into a movie. I’m afraid of being disappointed. Right now, I’m anticipating The Hunger Games movie, hoping the movie version isn’t vastly different from the book.

 I think Bloody Jack would make an awesome adventure movie. Is there an actress who could play the pirate girl Jacky Faber? I’m not sure.

 Also, I think Cherie Priest’s novel Boneshaker could easily be turned into a movie. It’s a steampunk zombie novel, filled with action and terse dialogue. The sets could be amazing!

Book Blogger Hop 2.11.11-2.14.11

The Book Blogger Hop is hosted weekly at Crazy-for-Books. Join to meet fellow book lovers and discover new reads.

This week’s “question”:

Tell us about one of your posts from this week and give us a link so we can read it (review or otherwise)!

This week I participated in The Broke and the Bookish’s meme “Top Ten Tuesday.” I listed the top ten characters I would name my child after. This was a fun meme. I was surprised to see so many of my choices on other people’s lists!

Book Blogger Hop 2.4-2.7

The Book Blogger Hop is hosted weekly at Crazy-for-Books. Join to meet fellow book lovers and discover new reads.

This week’s question:

“What are you reading now and why are you reading it?”

This is sort of a painful subject. I just finished Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, the second in the Hunger Games Trilogy, and I need to read Mockingjay, but it didn’t come through interlibrary loan yet, so I’m faced with a weekend without it! Damn cliffhanger endings. I picked up The Hunger Games because of the great reviews, and I wasn’t disappointed.