The Great Reading and Blogging Block of 2013 - Part 2

Continued...

•  I tried 'The Re-Read'

The re-read is this wonderful thing - unless your my mother who thinks all books were invented to be read once and shelved - that can eat up hours and hours of your time. Time that perhaps you should be using to discover new characters and place. But you know what? You don't want to go and meet some strangers so you go and reacquaint yourself with some old friends instead. 

So as I have been wanting to move on with the rest of the Mary Russell Series by Laurie.R King I thought I would give the Beekeepers Apprentice another read to remind myself of some things before heading on with the rest. 

Good plan, yes?

No. It failed miserably. For 8 weeks!!!!!! I have been reading this books I am not even half way through. 

This is not a reflection on the book. Not at all! It is a wonderful, fun read (FYI if you are a fan of Sherlock Holmes it is definitely up your street). But have I been able to re-read it? Nope. 

So I though that maybe it was a little too soon to read it again. It is a who-dun-it after all and I kind of knew who did the doing. So I moved on again, and again, and again. And every time the re-read failed. 

OK, so the re-read was obviously not the thing to kick start the reading again. 

• The 'To-Be-Read'

Pretty much covered this (see the end of Part 1 about reading first few paragraphs etc)

Another failure. 

• The Audio-Book

I have some epic favourite audio-books. I kid you not. These are books that I have listened to repeatedly. 

Needless to say that this time there magic was a dud and they actually grated on my nerves. 

Can you believe that? I couldn't and I stopped listening ASAP in case I put myself off. 

So then I went for  nice new shiny Audio-book and I downloaded The Fellowship of the Ring. It can be argued that I have been living under a rock for the past... a long time OK, and I have just seen The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers so I thought I would give the books a try.

*groans*

Couldn't someone have warned me?

(more to come on THAT in a future post - or five)

• The 'screw it' plan

Yip, I reached the breaking point. Up until a week ago the only books I had bought in the last 8 weeks were The Lord of the Rings and they weren't getting me anywhere.

So I began the search.

After all the read pile and the TBR pile weren't doing much good so I finally thought 'screw-it'. This is were all logic (not that there ever was any to begin with) goes flying out the window and I look everywhere for a books to just read already!

ASDA (got to love ASDA) came to the rescue with The Zoo (I wanted to read that when it was in hardback so I thought - you got it - 'S-I') and The Witness (haven't read many Nora Roberts books, but I have read some of the JD Robb ones and so 'S-I lets give it a shot' ended up with it in my basket).

But, needless to say, both of these were a bust. Don't get me wrong, I THINK I am going to really enjoy them when I am in the right frame of mind, but the reading-mojo-sucking-monster of doom just wasn't having either of these.

Want to know what finally started be reading again?

Do ya? Do ya? Do ya?

Of course you do.

The £3.33 e-book came to the rescue. Complete with a red cape and hero-music.

Lovely cute heroine, hero who is a bit of an idiot but catches on pretty quick and a not overly complicated story line.

Just what I needed to get me back into the swing of reading again!

Bit anti-climactic really isn't it. Lol.






I am so glad to be finally reading again *happy dance* because not only am I now...well...reading but I also have my blogging brain switched back on. Yay. It was so weird. I have reviews written down (and some even typed up) but I just couldn't muster up the get-up-and-go to post them or do anything really.

But now I am back! And I can even feel the tension and stress draining through my fingers as I type.

Things will be back into some semblance of a schedule this week coming :)

The Great Reading and Blogging Block of 2013 - Part 1

Reader HELL!

I have passed through the fire and emerged. Slightly singed and frazzled but I shall move on from this horrible experience.

Ok, so slightly dramatic there but you get the point.

I think for every avid reader going through a book block/reading block/what-the-heck-where-have-all-the-good-books-gone spell/whatever you want to call it is something that everyone else just doesn't understand. And its ANNOYING because they just don't GET IT1

Do you find reading blocks stressful?

I find reading blocks stressful.

Now from a logical stand point reading blocks should actually be good things. Shouldn't they? Well yeah, because look at all this extra time I suddenly have to get thinks done. The washing up can be done straight after dinner instead of being left until I am eating off a napkin, that pair of trousers I have been meaning to take-up for the past month, smashing lets do it, those receipts that have been sitting around until I got time to do my accounts, awesome, bring it on.

*tumble weed*

You got it. I had ALL of this free time - or supposed to have - because I wasn't reading and still nothing got done - apart from the washing up, I might have been exaggerating a little there.

Why didn't anything get done?

 Because I was -

1.  picking up any unread book on my shelf, reading the first few paragraphs (or pages if it was lucky) and then throwing it across the room placing it back on the shelf with a look of utter loathing. This happened quite a few times. *pets book shelf* Mummy didn't mean it. 
2. Freaking out about all of the books that I felt I should be getting through and I wasn't because I couldn't get into anything. 

It was like some vicious reading-mojo eating cycle of doom. 

And it was uber-stessful and not just because of all the unread books staring  pleadingly at me from the book shelf but because I read to de-stress. Yeah, EXACTLY! How am I supposed to unwind when I can't get into a book? How am I supposed to forget about real-life rubbish and get lost in someone elses rubbish a fantasy word when it won't let me past the first chapter!

So what did I do?

More next time in Part 2...

Woolgather Wednesday (5) To Bookmark or Not to Bookmark, that is the question...?

Hello darlings.

Still working my way through mt notebook of random bookie thoughts and observations.

They come in all shapes, sizes and colours.

You can make your own or buy them. You can get them in paper, card or metal. Hey you can even get ones with magnets and your favourite characters on them.

What am I talking about?

BOOKMARKS!

So guys do you use them?

Or do you ......

DOG EAR!!!!!!!




(this is nothingness btw)






or maybe you are a rebel and use *waves magic wand* nothing....


I love bookmarks, I am tripping over them I love them that much. The problem is though that, all though some of them a VERY pretty they just ain't practical for keeping your place in a book without mangling the page - yip, you know what I mean don't you? We've all been there. Been lured in by the pretty design only to discover upon use that the uber-pretty bookmark is a book eater.

So when it comes to books I am more-often than not a post-it of piece of paper kind of gal.

(although I do have a favourite bookmark that gets brought out of retirement occasional)

Anyway, pieces of paper and post-its are brilliant because I can scribble down notes and page numbers to bore entice you guys with later in a review :)

But, I have a favourite book of mine that gets re-read several times a year. And this book had notes in it, dog-eared pages, a mangled spine and has been sticky-taped in several places to keep it from falling apart. So, I definitely dog-ear too.

And unless the book is below 100 pages I just don't have the patience to go flicking through a book to try and find the page because I have forgotten where I left off. So I don't do nothin'

:0)



*Images do not belong to me*

Woolgather Wednesday (4) What Should I Read (1) and Win a Bookmark

Hello guys, so this week I don't have anything that I have been pondering (well...I do (I actually have a notebook full of them) But this week I thought I would ask you all a question.

What should I take with me for a weekend away from home (I have one coming up in 3-4 weeks).

Here is the lists of books I have on my shelves and I still have to read - some of these are re-reads and bind-ups by the way.

So I am looking for 2 book to take away with me for a weekend and I would love it if you guys could chose which books you would like me to read and try and convince me.

And whoever wins me over to their choice/s will wiiiiiiiiin. Uuuuuuuuuuum *looks around*

Ahaha!

Your choice of a nice and shiny Matilda or BFG bookmark! :)

(Make sure you leave a way for me to contact you along with your recommendation and reason :))


BOOK LIST!

1. Tilly Trotter by Catherine Cookson
2. Rose of Traille by Katie Flynn
3. Camelot’s Shadow by Sara Zettlel
4. Camelot’s Honour by Sara Zettlel
5. Camelot’s Blood by Sara Zettlel
6. Camelot’s Sword by Sara Zettlel
7. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
8. The Ship that Sang by Anne McCaffrey
9. Once Upon a Winters Night by Dennis L. McKiernan
10. Eragon by Christopher Paolini
11. Eldest by Christopher Paolini
12. The Silver Metal Lover
13. The Rowan by Anne McCaffrey
14. Acorna by Anne McCaffrey
15. Acorna’s Quest by Anne McCaffrey
16. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente
17. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
18. A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin
19. Goddess of the Sea by P.C. Cast
20. Goddess of Spring by P.C. Cast
21. Goddess of the Rose by P.C. Cast
22. Storm Front by Jim Butcher
23. The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
24. The Time Travellers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
25. Beatrix Potter by Linda Lear
26. Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson
27. The Other Countess by Eve Edwards
28. Tinker by Wen Spencer
29. Wolf Who Rules by Wen Spencer
30. The Secrets of Love by Rosie Rushton
31. Summer of Secrets by Rosie Rushton
32. Secret Schemes and Daring Dreams by Rosie Rushton
33. Echoes of Love by Rosie Rushton
34. Petals on the River by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
35. So Worthy My Love by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
36. Calling on Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede
37. Talking to Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede
38. Trickster’s Choice by Tamora Pierce
39. Tricksters’ Queens by Tamora Pierce
40. The Waterborn by Greg Keyes
41. The Blackgod by Greg Keyes
42. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
43. The Salamander Spell by E.D. Baker
44. The Dragon Princess by E.D. Baker
45. The Game by Laurie R. King
46. The Moor by Laurie R. King
47. Locked Rooms by Laurie R. King
48. The Language of Bees by Laurie R. King
49. A Monstrous Regiment of Women by Laurie R. King
50. A Letter of Mary by Laurie R. King
51. Healers Quest by Jessica Palmer
52. Fire Wars by Jessica Palmer
53. Return of the Wizard by Jessica Palmer
54. Alien Tango by Gini Koch
55. Alien in the Family by Gini Koch
56. Alien Proliferation by Gini Koch
57. The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
58. Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier
59. Charmed Destinies (3 Novellas) by Mercedes Lackey, Rachel Lee and ragrine Asaro
60. Prospero’s Children by Jan Siegel
61. The Hunchback of Notredame by Victor Hugo
62. The Elvenbane by Andre Norton and Mercedes Lackey
63. The Poison Throne by Celine Kiernan
64. I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett
65. Phoenix Rising (A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel) by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris
66. Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay
67. Playing with Fire by Gena Showalter
68. Up in Smoke by Katie MacAlister
69. Playing with Fire by Katie MacAlister
70. The Scarletti Curse by Christine Feehan
71. Night Shadow by Nora Roberts
72. Crazy Beautiful by Lauren Baratz-Logsted
73. Jane and the Man of the Cloth by Stephanie Barron
74. Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor by Stephanie Barron
75. Jane and His Lordships Legacy by Stephanie Barron
76. The Wizards Ward by Deborah Hale
77. The Destined Queen by Deborah Hale
78. Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin
79. Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini
80. Hunting Lila by Sarah Alderson
81. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (got 100 pages in and gave up)
82. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
83. The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
84. Clarts and Calamities by Henry Brewis (this is one of those lol books that I can read snippets of for a laugh :))
85. The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
86. Ballad by Maggie Stiefvater
87. Lament by Maggie Stiefvater
88. Pagasus by Robin McKinley
89. Nobody’s Girl by Sarra Manning
90. Adorkable by Sarra Manning
91. Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte
92. When God Was a Rabbit by Sarah Winham
93. Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
94. Before I Go to Sleep by SJ Watson
95. Dead Gorgeous by Malorie Blackman
96. My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent
97. How to Twist a Dragon’s Tale by Cressida Cowell
98. A Hero’s Guide to Deadly Dragons by Cressida Cowell
99. All American Girl by Meg Cabot
100. All American Girl – Ready or Not by Meg Cabot
101. The Princess Diaries – Third Time Lucky by Meg Cabot
102. The Princess Diaries – Mia Goes Fourth by Meg Cabot
103. Size 14 is Not Fat Either by Meg Cabot
104. When Lightning Strikes by Meg Cabot
105. Code Name Cassandra by Meg Cabot
106. Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster
107. Snow White and the Huntsman by Lily Blake
108. Shakespeare’s Landlord by Charlaine Harris
109. Shakespeare’s Champion by Charlaine Harris
110. Shakespeare’s Christmas by Charlaine Harris
111. Shakespeare’s Trollop by Charlaine Harris
112. Shakespeare’s Counselor by Charlaine Harris
113. Beyond the Shining Water by Audrey Howard
114. Liverpool Taffy by Katie Flynn
115. A Handful of Silver by Meg Hutchinson
116. No Place of Angels by Meg Hutchinson
117. Unholy Love by Meg Hutchinson
118. The Child Queen by Nancy McKenzie
119. The High Queen by Nancy McKenzie
120. So Silver Bright by Lisa Mantchev
121. The Virgin Widow by Anne O’Brien
122. Teach Me by R.A. Nelson
123. North Child by Edith Pattou
124. Daughter of Twin Oaks by Lauraine Snelling
125. Sisters of the Confederacy by Lauraine Snelling
126. The Long Way Home by Lauraine Snelling
127. The Lark and the Wren by Mercedes Lackey
128. The Robin and the Kestrel by Mercedes Lackey
129. The Eagle and the Nightingales by Mercedes Lackey
130. The Black Swan by Mercedes Lackey
131. The Unlikely Ones by Mary Brown
132. Dragonne’s Eg by Mercedes Lackey
133. The Host by Stephanie Meyer
134. Dear Miss Grey by Shirley Smith
135. A Tall Dark Smith by Joan Smith
136. The True Tale of the Monster Billy Dean by David Almond
137. Dear Mr Bigelow by Frances Woodsford
138. Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler
139. Out of the Dark by Sharon Sala
140. Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
141. The Girl’s Car Handbook by Maria McCarthy
142. As She Climbed Across the Table by Jonathan Lethem
143. If There Be Thorns by Virginia Andrews (I need to read Flowers in the Attic first so if you guys think it’ll be worth my while I read this series :))
144. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
145. Who’s Afraid of Jane Austen? By Henry Hitchings
146. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell
147. The Taste of Sorrow by Jude Morgan
148. Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles
149. Changeling by Philippa Gregory
150. The Secret Me Book by Rachel Kempsten and Meg Leder
151. Shift by Em Bailey
152. Cinder by Merissa Meyer
153. Winging It by Deborah Cooke
154. Divergent by Veronica Roth
155. The Somnabulist by Essie Fox
156. The Klone and I by Danielle Steel
157. Room by Emma Donoghue
158. Ice by Sarah Beth Durst
159. A Place Called Here by Cecelia Ahern
160. Seeing Redd by Frank Beddor
161. Daphne by M.C. Beaton
162. Frederica in Fashion by M.C. Beaton
163. Minerva by M.C. Beaton
164. Deirdre and Desire by M.C. Beaton
165. Diana the Huntress by M.C. Beaton
166. The Taming of Annabelle by M.C. Beaton
167. The Dragon Queen by Alice Borchardt
168. The Raven Warrior by Alice Borchardt
169. Fire Dancer by Ann Maxwell
170. Dancer’s Illusion by Ann Maxwell
171. Dancer’s Luck by Ann Maxwell
172. Firelord by Parke Godwin
173. Exit Strategy by Kelley Armstrong
174. The Princess Dairies – Guide to Christmas by Meg Cabot
175. The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan
176. A Breath of Eyre by Eve Marie Mont
177. I was Jane Austen’s Best Friend by Cora Harrison
178. Decicon at Doona by Anne McCaffrey and Jody Lynn
179. Decisions at Doona by Anne McCaffrey
180. Resenting the Hero by Moira J. Moore
181. The Drowning City by Amanda Downum
182. The Dinosaur Planet Omnibus by Anne McCaffrey
183. Green Rider by Kristen Britain
184. First Rider’s Call by Kristen Britain
185. 32C That’s Me by Chris Higgins
186. Tapas and Tears by Chris Higgins
187. Tinker by Wen Spencer
188. Wok Who Rules by Wen Spencer
189. Chanson de l’Ange by Paisley Swan Stewert
190. Merlin’s Legacy – Daughter of Fire by Quinn Taylor Evans
191. Misery by Stephen King
192. Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon
193. A Cavern of Black Ice by J.V. Jones
194. The Girl with the Glass Feet by Ali Shaw
195. The Phoenix of the Opera by Sadie Montgomery
196. Out of the Darkness by Sadie Montgomery
197. No Return by J.C. Sillesen
198. Forsaken by Theodora Bruns
199. Mon Ami by Theodora Bruns
200. Erik and Christine by Angel Taormina
201. The Phantom Returns by Stefanie Cole
202. The Phantom of Manhattan by Frederick Forsyth
203. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
204. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
205. Emma by Jane Austen
206. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
207. Persuasion by Jane Austen
208. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
209. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
210. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Woolgather Wednesday (3) Kill that Book Stone Dead!

Yip, we all have them. Sadly I think that for those who weren't readers before school this could be a make or break for developing a love of literature.

Thankfully I was a reader before the dreaded English Class leapt upon me.

But, it still well and truly killed me love of some books.

So, shall we begin?

Goodnight Mr Tom

I used to like this but now I can’t even watch it all the way through when the film comes onto the TV. The number of times we read and re-read passages in class because the teacher wasn’t keeping record of where we were in it *shiver* I have never been so glad to get to the end of required read before in my life.

Next up.

Short Stories

Why do English teachers seem to think it is their duty to find the worst short stories and poetry in existence to make their students study. First of all if you are going to pick a story to have them do make sure they understand it. As in don’t have half the text in freaking Gaelic! (Long story, I won’t bore you with that one). But really, iy must be some kind of undisputable law of the universe, or all of my teachers are sadistic and got some kind of twisted enjoyment out of boring us stupid.

Of Mice and Men

Yes, I get this is a classic, highly regarded and all that jazz but I HATED it. I hated it the first time we had to read it and by the time we were done studying it that feeling was fully ingrained.

And the last one that I can bring to mind isn’t a novel but a play. And once again it is a classic.

A Streetcar Named Desire

I have NEVER in my life hated a fictional man so much as I did Stanley and it tainted my enjoyment of the entire play. I despised him. And want to know that is truly disturbing? His kind of characteristics seem to ne seeping into the ‘hero’ characters of a few books I have been reading. Hell no. That IS NOT attractive one little bit people!

So there we have it. The book that thanks to repetitive reading in a short period of time I cannot stand now.

I will say though (before I leave you in peace) that one thing my English class in secondary school did was give me a love of Shakespeare.

Woolgather Wednesday (2) - Spoilers? For or Against?

So another subject that can have people who are usually very calm individuals - kind to their children and always leave tips at restaurants – throwing gazillion page tomes at each other’s heads. 

How do you feel about *whisper* spoilers?

Hate them? Love them? Don’t really care?

Well, if I am honest I am a bit of all three – undecided much.

See, it’s like this. If I am in the book and I am about to pick up a book by an author that I haven’t heard of I will read the blurb. But then after finding out who the main characters are and the general gist of the story I will then read the last few pages. So I would call that a pretty huge spoiler. I know this is a terrible thing to do – or some one of my friends has been telling me for years – but the way I see it is that I am not going to spend £7.99 on a book and spend hours reading it to not like the ending. But there is a difference between knowing the ending and knowing how we got there, that is the kind of spoilers I don’t like.

If I am reading a series of books I don’t skip to the end of the novels to see how it will end as in my book it doesn’t matter as it could all go to hell in the next book. I don’t mind some spoilers for a series, for the next book or whatever, as long as there aren’t any crazy spoilers like “oh you know how Z has been trying to decide between Y and X the past 4 books well guess what? They chose…”  THAT is the kind of spoiler that when it appears without warning has we ready to chuck a nice and heavy special edition copy of War and Peace at someone. I mean, really. I don’t want to know that! And without a warning or anything!! (Yes, this has happened to me, it was a sad occasion)

And then we have would could be called the ultimate spoiler. When the book is turned into a movie or a TV show (Google Game of Thrones). Personally I don’t like to see the film before I have had a chance to read the book. I like to read the book so I can have a good moan about the way it has been murdered in the transfer to the screen ;). I have Water for Elephants and A Game of Thrones sitting on my shelf right now and I won’t be seeing either adaptations until I have read the books (I must stay strong, I MUST). I have done it the other way around and doing so has out me off reading the books, prime examples are PS I Love You, The Other Boleyn Girl and The Time Travellers Wife. I have the books sitting on my shelf but for some reason having seen the films just turn me off reading them…

How do you guys get along with spoilers or film versions of books?

**The images are not mine**

Woolgather Wednesday (1) - Team Paperback or Hardback

The ultimate question, the query that launched a thousand ships. Yeah, not really, but it is something to consider. So, are you team paperback or team hardback. If an unknown randomer came at you would you want your chosen book of the week to make them laugh as you bang them over the head with it or give them a concussion?

That is a very serious question…

So moving along from the silliness serious considerations above let’s get to answering the question.

Cue the bullet points.

Ø  Hardbacks are more expensive. Sad but true. Unless you go into you local works and you can probably pick up the latest tome by Stephen king for under £4.

Ø  But hardbacks come out first. (don’t tell anyone but I think it is a conspiracy shhh)

Ø  Hardbacks are heavy – handy for concussing that unknown randomer, not so much for slipping into your bag and taking to work or school with you every day.

Ø  They look so pretty on the shelf though… - true…yip, I’ll have to come back to that one.

Ø  The dust jackets always end up ripped or buckled or SOMETHING. (all dust jackets are out to get me I tell you)

Ø  And, when all else fails hardbacks are brilliant when you need your telly to be lifted off the table by a few more inches :)

Personally I am a paperback lover myself. Paperbacks are so much easier to curl up with…hardbacks are just bulky.

Saying that I am not totally against hardbacks, I do own some ;) most of them are books that I couldn’t wait patiently for to come out in paperback. And I don’t know about you but I would much rather have a hardback sized hardback book than a hardback sized novel with a paper cover – especially when it seems you are being charged the same price for the privilege. *cough* fix *cough*

So, paperback or hardback?