24 January, 2014

Friday Finds #1

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FRIDAY FINDS showcases the books you ‘found’ and added to your To Be Read (TBR) list… whether you found them online, or in a bookstore, or in the library — wherever! (they aren’t necessarily books you purchased).
So, come on — share with us your FRIDAY FINDS!




My Finds:

          

        


I subscribe to Bookpub, a daily e-mail that gives me a number of deals on e-books. I tend to only collect ones that come up free.

23 January, 2014

Feature and Follow Friday #14

Increase Blog Followers 

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!

This Week's Question:

What books are you looking forward to reading in 2014?

I made a recent post about this, but I am looking forward to reading (and finishing):

Personal Reading List: 4 New Books

If it's not clear, I dearly love books and have a reading list that is probably as long a list as the video games, movies, and music that I enjoy. That being said, here are four new books I've added to my personal collection over the past month but haven't quite gotten around to reading yet.


Title: A Hobbit Devotional: Bilbo Baggins and the Bible
Author: Ed Strauss
Summary: This cute little devotional parallels passages in the Bible with various passages in Tolkien's famous novel The Hobbit. Ed Strauss does a good job at using Bilbo as an example of relatable experiences that many of us have experienced in our day to day lives. 

I have managed to start reading this, though I've not gotten very far, I'm finding it very enjoyable.


Title: A Dance with Dragons (A Song of Fire and Ice #5)
Author: George R. R. Martin
Summary: A Dance with Dragons picks up where A Feast of Crows leaves us in the epic saga of Westeros and the struggle for the position of King on the Iron Throne. 

I received this book for Christmas, however since I'm still working my way through A Feast of Crows, I'm afraid this one will have to wait a while. Perhaps it's a good thing the sixth book in the series hasn't had a release date announced yet.

Credit via Goodreads

Title:  Souless: An Alexia Tarabotti Novel (The Parasol Protectorate #1)
Author: Gale Carriger
Summary: Alexia Tarabotti is laborig under a great many social tribulations. First she has no soul. Second, she's a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social etiquette. Where to go from there? From bad to worse apparently, for Alexia accidentally kills the vampire -- and then the appalling Lord Macon (loud, messy, gorgeous, and werewolf) is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate. With unexpected vampires appearing and expected vampires disappearing, everyone seems to believe Alexia is responsible. Can she figure out what is actually happening to London's high society? Will her soulless ability to negate supernatural powers prove useful or just plain embarrassing? Finally, who is the real enemy, and do they have treacle tart?

I started this novel last fall, however life got hectic and I had to return it to the library. Now I've gotten my own copy, so we'll just start over again and see where Alexia's adventures lead her.


Title: The Sable Quean
Author: Brian Jacques
Summary: In which Buckler the hare, Blademaster of the Long Patrol, must save the youngsters of Redwall Abbey -- kidnapped by vile Vilaya the Sable Quean and her vermin Ravagers -- and stop the villains' conquest of Mossflower Woods...

I've love the Redwall series for a very long time, and have only a few more of the books to add to my collection. I haven't read this particular one yet and was thrilled to be able to add it to my collection.

14 January, 2014

Teaser Tuesday #7

 
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!


The gravity of her statement merely seemed to amuse him. 'My dear Mrs. Avery, if he'd ever once thought that you were actually a spy,then you'd never have been allowed into this building. At this moment you'd be languishing in His Majesty's Prison Holloway awaiting execution.'
                                                 -Dance Down the Moon, pg 87. by Robert Bartram

Movie Review: The Book Thief


Released: 27 November, 2013
Producer: Lionsgate
Run Time: 131 minutes
Rating: ★★★★☆

Review: 

13 January, 2014

Television Review: Reign

Series Logo for Reign.jpg

Run Dates: October 2013 - Present
Producer: The CW
Run Time: 60 minute episodes
Number of Seasons: 1
Number of Episodes: 8
Rating: ★★★★☆

Summary: Set in 1557 France, the series follows the life of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots at French court while she awaits her marriage to Francis, France's future king, to whom she has been engaged since they were six. At court, Mary has to contend with the changing politics and power plays, as well as her burgeoning feelings for Francis and the romantic attentions from Francis' bastard half-brother, Bash. Francis' mother, Queen Catherine de' Medici, is secretly trying to prevent the marriage due to a prediction from seer Nostradamus, that the marriage will lead to Francis' death. The series also follows the affairs of Mary's Scottish handmaidens Kenna, Aylee, Lola and Greer, who are searching for husbands of their own at court. (borrowed from the Wikipedia article.)

Review:

06 January, 2014

An Apology

I would like to offer an apology to everyone who follows my blog. I know it has been silent for nearly a month now, and that is unprofessional. To say the least that life has been overwhelming and busy, with a close relative dying close to Thanksgiving and the stress of the holidays sinking into my routine and life. While I have several movie reviews to write and a large number of books to review, life comes first. 

I do hope that everyone had a good holiday season no matter if you celebrated Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, or some other holiday and that everyone has a wonderful new year in 2014.

-Kathryn