5 Bad Bookish Habits

I’m starting to realize that I have some bad bookish habits…or maybe I’ve known about them all along and was just in denial? Yeah, the second one seems much more likely since it was entirely too easy to come up with these five habits.

1. I get excited for new books and preorder them…and then don’t read them for months after they have released.

2. I have problems continuing series even if I loved the first book or two. A fantastic example of this is Jennifer L. Armentrout’s Lux series. I’ve read the first three books but I’m avoiding book four for no real reason. This irritates the heck out of a certain friend of mine!! I will admit that Evil Jen gets a teensy bit of enjoyment out of this.

3. I collect bookmarks but rarely use them. I guess I like to look at the pretties but don’t want to risk them being damaged. If it wasn’t a ridiculous idea I would consider putting bookmarks in all of my ‘short list’ books so they’re ready to go when I grab and run. That would require A LOT of bookmarks though since my ‘short list’ is an entire bookshelf with overflow onto a second bookshelf. Which brings me to my next habit.

4. I buy entirely too many books. More than I will ever be able to read. It’s debatable if this one is actually a BAD habit. 

5. I procrastinate. A Lot. When I sign up to review books I usually wait until the week before my post date to read the book and a lot of times you’ll find me finishing my review and formatting my post 10pm the night before it’s to go live. Really, this could be the root of the problem with numbers 1 and 2 as well.

What bookish bad habits do you have?

14 on 14 - 14 Things You May Not Know About Me

14 Things you may no know about me...

1. I love music and singing in my car. Badly :)

2. I truly hate peer pressure. I hate when people try to force you to do things or be a certain way.

3. I am addicted to my iphone but I avoid talking on the phone like it’s the plague.

4. I don’t know how to drive a clutch/stick shift…and I don’t really have any desire to learn.

5. I love being around water.

6. I quote movies. A lot. And I’m always thrilled every time someone gets it.

7. I’m almost 31 and I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.

8. My dog is spoiled…as any only ‘child’ should be.

    8a.  Hubby and I don’t want to have kids…and most people don’t believe us when we say it.

9. I’m a nosey neighbor. I mostly keep to myself but if I hear happenings you’re sure to find me peeking through the curtains. And let me just tell you, there is never a dull moment in my neighborhood!

10. I love food but I’m a picky eater.

11. I love the beauty in art and photography.

12. I have problems with motion sickness on a regular basis.

13. I’m a smart ass.

14. I’m a creative thinker but not if I’m put on the spot. I need time to process.

You know you’re a cover whore when…

I’m an admitted cover whore! Time and time again I fall under the spell of a gorgeous cover! I’ll start off with a few examples and then I’ll hand it over to a few blogger friends. After all, I shouldn’t be the only one confessing my cover whore ways should I?!

You know you’re a cover whore when…

…you order the same book 4 times because Book Depository keeps sending you the WRONG COVER!!! Yes, I did this! I’m looking at you Possessions!

…you believe in love at first sight because you’ve experienced it…with a book…many times...more times than what can be listed in one blog post :)

 

…you have a hard time parting with a book you know you’ll probably never read just because the cover is stunningly gorgeous.

…you have little to no interest in reading a book just because of the cover. Sorry Wendy, I know you loved this one but I just cannot get beyond the cover :(

…you’re bummed because you didn’t get your hands on a book in time before the awesome cover was changed.

Continuing the cover confessions is author and blogger, Julie Belfield

Hey there! My name’s Julie Belfield, and I’m a cover whore.

Oddly enough, I recently wrote a blog post about how I rarely read those things called blurbs. Most books I choose to read come as recommendations. The rest of ‘em? Yeah, those are all the ones whose cover I just couldn’t resist.  Like one of those birds that collect trinkets (magpies? Cuckoos?), I’m just attracted to the shiny. Like, for example, the time I saw one of the covers of Jaci Burton’s Play by Play series over at Burning Impossibly Bright, and decided right there and then that I freaking wanted them on my bookshelf. I didn’t care if the books were any good. I just wanted to stroke the covers. Guess what? I now own a copy of The Perfect Play. Which I stroke – a lot. And I didn’t stop there, because there are many others I’ve been desperate to own and read after seeing the shinies. Like The Selection (the entire series rocks!), Throne of Glass (Maaaaaa-an!), and Iced (dude! Just … dude!), amongst MANY. So, yeah, I’m a cover whore, but I say that with pride. ;)

Next up is Anna from Annaberry Reads

You know you’re a cover whore when…

“…you pay more for the book, versus buying the cheaper ebook, because the cover is so pretty. On the other hand, I’d likely get the ebook if I didn’t like the cover.”

 

And last but certainly not least...

Krista from Krista’s Dust Jacket says

You know you’re a cover whore when…

“…you completely reorganize your entire bookshelf on a monthly basis, just so all the pretty matching cover spines can stay side-by-side.”

“…you willingly buy a book you already own a second time just because the cover has been redesigned and you like the new one better.”

“…your selfies are always taken with your bookshelf in the background because all those pretty covers make a nice photo backdrop.”

Movie Reviews: Beautiful Creatures vs Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters

 vs  

 

images from imdb.com

 

I most of the day to myself on Sunday so I ran some errands and then hit up our local Red Box. For those who don’t know what Red Box is, it’s this magical box and with the wave of a hand it dispenses the movie(s) of your true heart’s desire. Ok, it’s really just a vending machine where you can rent movies for $1 or $1.50. Anyway, I ended up choosing Beautiful Creatures and Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters. It was a pure coincidence (or lack of anything better in the magic box) that I chose two witchy movies.

As with my review of Warm Bodies & World War Z I may include some minor spoilers. Also, I should point out that I have not read Beautiful Creatures so this post is based solely on the movie.

I’ll refer to Beautiful Creatures as BC and Hansel & Gretel as H&G.

Types of Witches

The witches in BC prefer to be called Castors…blah, blah, blah, you say potato I say…potato (hhmm, that saying doesn’t really work in text does it?). Anyway, the Castors look like normal people and not like the stereotypical wrinkly, green skinned witches of lore. In this movie, there are good and bad Castors, also known as dark and light. The movie is about which will claim Lena on her 16^th birthday.

H&G also has good and bad witches. The bad witches (this is where some of the cheesiness comes in) look closer to what you think when you think of witch but really in this movie they look partially evil and partially corny.

slight spoiler in 3…2…1…The good witches look like normal people. That’s only a slight spoiler because in the beginning you, as well as Hansel & Gretel, only know about bad witches.

 

Goals of the Witches

In BC, the dark Castors want Lena to be evil and the light Castors want her to be claimed for the light. Dark vs Light and Good vs Evil. Which side will win the battle?

The goal of the witches in H&G is to take over the world, of course. What evil being doesn’t want world domination?!

 

Movie Genre

BC is more of a romantic drama…if there is such a genre. There is also the slight fantasy element added in the mix.

H&G also has the fantasy aspect, perhaps a bit more than BC but for the most part I would consider it to be an action movie. The hard core action movie fans of the world may debate that classification but really Hansel & Gretel pretty much have made their life about hunting, fighting, and killing witches which sounds like action to me.

 

My Thoughts

BC didn’t impress me and, from the beginning, Ethan’s voice really annoyed me! The tone of his voice and the over-the-top accent just grated on my nerves. I know that’s a strange thing to harp on but I couldn’t help it. His annoying factor did ease up here and there which was a relief.

 

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the only thing that I didn’t enjoy. Overall the acting, the special effects, the insta-love, and even the plot all fell flat for me. I don’t think I’ll be watching BC again and I don’t plan to watch any movies that follow.

H&G may have had some cheesy aspects (i.e. the makeup/costumes used for the witches, the noises that the witches make, etc.) but I liked it a lot more than BC. H&G is a fun and entertaining adaptation of a classic tale. It’s one of those movies that you can watch multiple times and one that would make great background noise as you go about your household ‘chores’. As I alluded to above, the action scenes may not have been the best ever but really who cares, not every movie has to be top notch to be enjoyable.

 

Have you seen Beautiful Creatures or Hansel & Gretel? What did you think? Did you enjoy them?

 

Other Recommendations

 

I don’t have too many witch movies coming to mind right now but if you’re looking for a romancy witch movie then maybe check out Practical Magic. It’s a little older (1998) and the darker parts of it are a bit corny but I'm a Sandra Bullock fan so I like it. :)

Bewitched is another lighter romantic comedy. Despite my having a very hard time seeing Will Ferrell as a dreamboat and the apple of someone’s eye (no offense Will) the 2005 version of Bewitched is my favorite.

 

Thanks for reading!

 

 

My question to you...

Do you think we become desensitized to the genre’s we read most often?

Here’s why I ask:

 

Although I don’t read them as often anymore, I have a not so secret love for horror and thriller books and lately I’ve been craving a read that will make me lock the doors and jump at every little noise. I’ve come across a few books where other bloggers have essentially said that they will have you scared and sucking your thumb for comfort. Naturally, I jump at the chance to read them…only to be left disappointed and definitely not frightened.

An example of this is with Ten by Gretchen McNeil. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good book and worth the read BUT, as I said in my review, it didn’t have me shaking in my boots. Maybe Ten isn’t the best example considering it’s in the young adult genre but there have also been books in the adult genre with the same outcome, a not so scared Jen.

Am I looking for advice in the wrong places? Trusting the reviews of bloggers that may not have similar reading interests after all? OR am I just desensitized after years of reading countless books with serial killers, paranormal creatures, and other big bads? I can’t help but wonder if I would have been more frightened while reading Ten, and other books, if I hadn’t read those other countless books.

 

What do you think, do we become desensitized after reading a lot of books in the same genre?

One unruly book and a giveaway entry...

J.A. Belfield just released a Holloway Pack novella, Resonance (Holloway Pack #2.5), and is holding a contest (click here for more info). Basically all you have to do to enter is post a review of Blue Moon (Holloway Pack #2), which should be read before Resonance, and/or take a picture of yourself with the book. Sounds easy enough right?! So I brought Blue Moon to work with me earlier this week to do just that...take a picture of the two of us. Boy was that a mistake because that little bugger is quite unruly!! She (yes I'm thinking this book should be a 'she') was getting into trouble all over the office!!

She tried to copy herself (shakes head)

And weigh herself on the postage scale

She even tried to laminate herself!

Thankfully I caught her before she got too far, can you say ouch!?!

Once she got tired of office equipment she moved on to other things.

Like strutting her stuff while singing...

I'm a model and you know what I mean

And I do my little turn on the catwalk

Yeah on the catwalk on the catwalk yeah

I shake my little touche on the catwalk

I didn't want to encourage her but I had to laugh at that one.

But she enjoyed the attention and then started singing Elvis into a Sharpie.

And, of course, it had to be Blue Moon...what can I say she loves that song (shrugs)

And then she tried to run away with my coffee.

That's where I put my foot down and said enough!!

I let her talk me into doing a more fun picture but only because

she agreed to be good the rest of the day.

We both LOVE The Walking Dead!

Who knew one little book could get into so much trouble!!

Come back Sunday for my stop of the Resonance Blog Tour.

Queens of Random

Random posts of random things from the Queens of Random.

Bookmark Swap Update (see original post)

Just a quick reminder, if you’re participating in the bookmark swap today is the deadline to have bookmarks mailed out.

Bookmark Giveaway Winners (see giveaway post)

1^st place winner is…

Bella’s Bookshelf

2^nd place winner is…

Miki

3^rd place winner is…

Josie H

Congrats everyone!!

 

February’s Contest Winners

Just a quick note to all of the Blog birthday giveaway winners:

I will be sending your prizes out tomorrow if all goes well. I had planned on sending everything sooner but time has gotten away from me.

When books go wild...

What do you do when a book wants to be read so bad it starts stalking you?

- - -

It all starts innocent enough...just a pretty book sitting on your desk.

Then you turn around and wonder...did I move that book?

You shrug it off because duh books can't move on their own.

And then things start getting strange. You feel like you're being watched.

But still you shrug it off because come on it's just a book!

Then it starts listening to your music... 

eating your food...

Got milk?!

and taking over your computer.

It really sinks in that you're being stalked when you 

find not so subtle notes... 

  

And receive threatening phone calls.

So tell me...

What do you do when a book wants to be read so bad it starts stalking you?



Bookmark Swap: Bookmark Lovers Unite

The holiday season is over and soon enough we will be waving goodbye to the first month of 2013! To help chase off the post-holiday sad mailbox blues Wendy and I decided to host a bookmark swap.

Swap Timeline

·       Sign-ups will be open until February 25^th (Fill out form below to sign up)

·       February 25^th – 28^th Wendy and I will contact you with the person you will be sending bookmarks to

·       Mail your bookmarks out no later than March 15^th

·       Please let us know (via email, Twitter, Facebook, or here on the blog) when you have received bookmarks

Bookmark Guidelines

·       To ensure that everyone gets about the same number of bookmarks we are setting a limit. You can send anywhere from 3-5 bookmarks. This will also save on postage.

·       Bookmarks can be homemade, magnetic, decorative, advertising a book or author, or even signed by an author.

·       We are requesting blog links, etc. on the form so you will have that available to research your swapee. If you want you can base your bookmark choices on what you find.

Fun News

Do you remember, back in June, when Author Amanda Brice stopped by and told you about her plans to kill me?! If you missed the post you can check it out here. At the time it seemed like something in the far off in the distance....but now. Now my fictional death is looming, in my very near future, because Pas De Death (Dani Spevak Mystery #3) releases February 28th!! I have a little less than one month with you, my lovely readers, before I'm offed. I'm very excited to see what Amanda has in store for me!

Amanda Brice's Website

Links for the first two books in the series:

Codename: Dancer (Dani Spevak Mystery #1) on Goodreads, Amazon, & Barnes and Noble
Pointe of No Return (Dani Spevak Mystery #2) on Goodreads, Amazon, & Barnes and Noble
Books 1 & 2 in an ebook bundle on Amazon, Barnes & Noble

'Tis the Season (Part 3)

For some of us it's that time of year when we are transitioning from Thansgiving into Christmas and from Fall into Winter. To mark the occasion, Wendy and I have decided to do a series of Holiday related posts. Part 3 is about holiday themed movies! 

I mentioned in the first 'Tis the Season post that I have a love for Christmas themed movies. Sure they are sometimes predictable and will probably all have that hallmark happy ending but they are guaranteed to leave you with that warm and fuzzy feeling that goes so well with the season.

I really do watch a lot of Christmas movies each year and it would be ridiculous to list them all so I decided to list some favorites.

12 Men of Christmas

Road to Christmas
Home Alone 1, 2, & 5
A Boyfriend for Christmas

Bad Santa
Holiday in Handcuffs
A Holiday to Remember
The National Tree
Recipe for a Perfect Christmas
Santa Baby
Single Santa Seeks Mrs. Claus
Undercover Christmas
Under the Mistletoe
The March Sisters at Christmas
Surviving Christmas

__________________________________________________________

I have found that now as an adult and mother I still love curiling up to watch the holiday movies. (It is a great way to get my son settled before bed too! Some of my favorites are White Christmas, One Magic Christmas, Scrooged, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, and Eight Crazy Nights. I could go on and on, I just love the holidays! I still have a fondness for all the old animated shows too, but my son's favorite is Polar Express so we watch that one quite often through the season.