Booking Thru Thursday

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly meme hosted at Booking Through Thursday. It asks fun book related questions each week. It’s a fun way to get you thinking about your books and share you're thoughts with other book bloggers. Once you’ve completed your post return to Booking Through Thursday and leave a comment and link. This week's question is:

Do you read the inside flaps that describe a book before or while reading it?

That’s a tricky question. Before I found sites like GoodReads or Amazon I used to always read the inside flap, or back of the book. Now, I usually read reviews or book descriptions online and hardly read the flaps anymore. Sometimes for my blog I will re-type the flap if I like how it’s written, but mostly I already know what the book is about before I buy it or check it out from the library.

Booking Through Thursday

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly meme hosted at Booking Through Thursday. It asks fun book related questions each week. It’s a fun way to get you thinking about your books and share you're thoughts with other book bloggers. Once you’ve completed your post return to Booking Through Thursday and leave a comment and link. This week's question is:

Do you think any current author is of the same caliber as Dickens, Austen, Bronte, or any of the classic authors? If so, who, and why do you think so? If not, why not? What books from this era might be read 100 years from now?

Hmmm, that’s a really tough question. To be honest, I think it’s impossible to really compare modern authors with the classic authors. The genre’s and writing styles have changed so much over the years that it would be unfair to really compare J.K. Rowling’s work to Charles Dickens. I do think authors like C.S. Lewis and JRR Tolkein come pretty close though. They were both fantastic writers and still have that classic feel to their stories. I think the Lord of the Rings saga will definitely be around 100 years from now, as well as the Chronicles of Narnia.

I do want to give a shout out to Megan Whalen Turner. Her Queen’s Thief series is pure genius. She is a fantastic writer and each book gets better and better as the series progresses. I also love Sharon Shinn’s work, I’ve really enjoyed her books and still have a few of hers I need to read. Below is just a list of some of the amazing authors that I love:

Nancy Campbell Allen

Cinda Williams Chima

Suzanne Collins

Jessica Day George

Shannon Hale

Janette Rallison

There are many more, but those are just a few that sprang to mind when I thought of who my favorites are.

Booking Through Thursday

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly meme hosted at Booking Through Thursday. It asks fun book related questions each week. It’s a fun way to get you thinking about your books and share you're thoughts with other book bloggers. Once you’ve completed your post return to Booking Through Thursday and leave a comment and link. This week's question is:

Do you read everything all the way through or do you feel life really is too short to read bad books?

Great question! I do usually try and finish every book that I start. I’m always curious how everything will end up, even if I’m bored with the story. Sometimes if the book is really boring or I’m having a hard time getting into it I will skip to the end just to see what happens, then quickly move on to the next book. Most of the time I will only stop reading if I don’t like the content of the book, like if there are graphic sex scenes or other material that I just don’t agree with, then I will stop.

I read for pleasure, entertainment and an escape, so why keep reading if you’re not enjoying the story? I have a huge pile of books to read and won’t waste my time on something that isn’t worth it. So, I guess agree that life is too short to read bad books.

What about you?

Booking Through Thrusday

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly meme hosted at Booking Through Thursday. It asks fun book related questions each week. It’s a fun way to get you thinking about your books and share you're thoughts with other book bloggers. Once you’ve completed your post return to Booking Through Thursday and leave a comment and link. This week's question is:

If you could ask your favorite author (alive or dead) one question … who would you ask, and what would the question be?

The dead author I could have a serious gab fest with would be, of course, Jane Austen. The question I would ask is: what female character, that she wrote, does she identify with the most? I've always pictured her as an Elizabeth but the more I thought about this question I wonder if she identified with all of them in some way? If I could squeeze one more question out of her I would ask her what books she enjoyed reading.

The author, who is alive but not my favorite, who I have a burning question for would be Stephanie Meyer. I would ask her: when she set out to write the Twilight Series if she had always intended it to have four books or if she was swayed by money and the Jacob hysteria to write Breaking Dawn? I enjoyed that book the least and I think it didn't fit in with the rest of the series at all. She should have wrapped it up in Eclipse. Just my humble opinion.

Booking Through Thursday

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly meme hosted at Booking Through Thursday. It asks fun book related questions each week. It’s a fun way to get you thinking about your books and share you're thoughts with other book bloggers. Once you’ve completed your post return to Booking Through Thursday and leave a comment and link. This week's question is:

When’s the last time you weeded out your library? Do you regularly keep it pared down to your reading essentials? Or does it blossom into something out of control the minute you turn your back, like a garden after a Spring rain?

This is a tough one. I try and go through my library each time we move (which is every 1-3 years). Since we move so often I have to keep my collection under control and mainly just keep my favorites. For the most part I get all my books from the library, there are of course a few must-buys. Since I do have to keep it under control my library looks a little small at the moment. Below is a picture of my bookcase, most of the books there are keepers but there are a few I will probably give away before the next move. The other picture is of books I own but haven’t read yet.

Booking Through Thursday

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly meme hosted at Booking Through Thursday. It asks fun book related questions each week. It’s a fun way to get you thinking about your books and share you're thoughts with other book bloggers. Once you’ve completed your post return to Booking Through Thursday and leave a comment and link. This week's question is:

Discuss!
I was wanting to try a certain author and wished I knew someone who had read her works so I could get a recommendation when it occurred to me that having a “YOU ask the question” Booking Through Thursday might be fun. Each participant could ask a question they’ve wanted to discuss with other readers. Perhaps, like me, you’d like a recommendation of a certain author’s best work, or perhaps you LOVE a certain genre or series but no one else you know does and you’d just like to discuss it with someone. Or perhaps you want to try a new genre and would like recommendations from seasoned readers.

I would love to discuss the Classics. I have read some Classics that are so wonderful that they change my outlook on a subject or on life in general, and then I've read other Classics that drive me up the wall. In other words, when they are good they are great and when they are bad they really stink! One such Classic that I've held back reading is Wuthering Heights. Some people love it...mostly characters in other books love it...and then people I've talked to hate it. What's a girl to do? Am I missing something if I continue to scorn this Bronte Classic?

Booking Through Thursday

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly meme hosted at Booking Through Thursday. It asks fun book related questions each week. It’s a fun way to get you thinking about your books and share you're thoughts with other book bloggers. Once you’ve completed your post return to Booking Through Thursday and leave a comment and link. This week's question is:

Would you lie? Have you? Why? What Book?

This was kind of a tough question. There isn't any books that I have read that I would lie about having read. There are a few books that I would classify as "guilty pleasures", but again, they really aren't that bad and again wouldn't lie about having read them. So, I decided I would go with The Luxe because it falls under guilt pleasure. I don't always agree with their lifestyle choices, but I'm sucked into their soap-opera lives. Speaking of which, I can't wait for November when book four, Splendor comes out!

The Luxe

by Anna Godberson

A big, sumptuous tale of catty girls, dark secrets and windswept romance unfurls in this compulsively readable novel of late-19th-century New York City socialites. Godbersen weaves a tenuous web of deceit, backstabbing and pretense that follows four teens: Elizabeth Holland, a prim and proper lady of old-money society, is betrothed to one man, though furtively loves another; Henry Schoonmaker, a debauched playboy who must marry Elizabeth or be disinherited; Diana Holland, Elizabeth’s younger sister who is in love with her fiancé; and Penelope Hayes, a member of the nouveau riche who will stop at nothing to win Henry’s affections. As Elizabeth and Henry’s wedding approaches, the spectacle unfolds in a wondrously grandiose scene, making for a fun, though not entirely unexpected dénouement. A delicious new twist along the Gossip Girl vein, readers will clamor for this sharp, smart drama of friends, lovers, lies and betrayal. -GoodReads

To read Kathy's review click here.

Booking Through Thursday

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly meme hosted at Booking Through Thursday. It asks fun book related questions each week. It’s a fun way to get you thinking about your books and share you're thoughts with other book bloggers. Once you’ve completed your post return to Booking Through Thursday and leave a comment and link. This week's question is:

What’s the most enjoyable book you’ve read recently?

I chose this book because it has just about everything in it: adventure, drama, romance, life and death situations, excitement, betrayal, and much more. After waiting so long for book two to come out and then getting a copy on release day and finally curling up and reading it all added to the overall enjoyment of the story. One of my favorite reads this year.

Catching Fire
by Suzanne Collins

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy. After all, they have just won for themselves and their families a life of safety and plenty. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge.


To read my review click here.

Booking Through Thursday

Booking through Thursday is a weekly event, hosted at Booking Through Thursday, it asks fun book related questions. Its a fun way to get you thinking about your books and share you're thoughts with other book bloggers. This week's question is:

What’s the lightest, most “fluff” kind of book you’ve read recently?

Okay, I hate to call her work "fluff", but I'd have to say the books I read by Janette Rallison. They are light, romantic comedies. I'm really a huge fan now and wish she had more books already published for me to read. I'm already contemplating re-reading a few of them. One of the lighter ones that came to mind is How to Take the Ex Out of Ex-Boyfriend. Such a fun story and I would recommend it to anyone that is looking for a nice fun read.

How to Take the Ex Out of Ex-Boyfriend

By Janette Rallison

Sixteen-year-old Giovanna Petrizzo finds it hard enough to fit in. Three years since her family moved to Texas, she's still the newcomer compared to everyone around her. It doesn't help matters when her twin brother, Dante, takes on the mayor's son by running for class president. The least she could expect, though, would be for her boyfriend, Jesse, to support their cause. But Jesse's apparent defection triggers Giovanna's rash emotional side, and before she knows it, she's turned Jesse from the boy of her dreams to the exboyfriend she dreams of winning back.

To read my review click here.

MeMe's

I have decided to start participating in all the fun bookish activities that are hosted by some of our favorite book review sites. I’ve chosen the top five that I think will be the most fun and also ones that I enjoy reading about myself. I’m hoping Jessica will want to participate in some of these as well (she’s recently started participating in the Retro Friday Reviews, and I’m loving it). Anyway, below are the meme’s we’ll be following.

Monday: Library Loot hosted by A Striped Arm Chair which gives book bloggers an opportunity to share the books they currently have checked out at the library with other bloggers. I go to the library probably more than anywhere else. I'm embarrassed to say that I have about 39 books checked out right now, so I'll probably only highlight the top ten each week.

Tuesday: Teaser Tuesday hosted by Should Be Reading which has you grab your current read, open to a random page and chose a sentence to share. I always get a kick out of this one, and there have been a few times where I add a book to my TBR pile because of one amazing sentence. I'm looking forward to participating in this one.

Wednesday: Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine. With this meme you select a book that hasn’t been published yet that you’re dying to get your hands on. I'm constantly on the lookout for new books and recently started a "coming soon" section on my GoodReads account, so this will be a fun way to show what I'm waiting for and also find recommendations for others who participate.

Thursday: Booking thru Thursday is hosted by Booking Thru Thursday. This is a fun activity where they provide a question about books and you have to answer it on your blog. This should be a lot of fun, I'm excited to see what questions they come up with and hope I can find the answers!

Friday: Retro Friday Reviews is hosted by Angieville. This focuses on old or out of print books that don’t get the attention they deserve. We’ve been participating in this one since the beginning and love it. (Angie, do you have an official “icon” for this?)