Book Blogger Hop/Follow Friday/Updates

Why, hello there, readers! Not a huge amount of updates this week. For those following my reality show news, the digitized footage is in and on its way to the editor for the 3rd pass! I now understand why producers handle five projects at once-- television pre-production is such a waiting game!!!


This Week on the Blog:
Review: Enclave
Hunger Games Movie News


I'd like to remind you all about the review I did of Stacey Kade's 'Queen of the Dead'. It just arrived at the bookstore (mine, at least!). It comes highly recommended from Brooke's Box of Books!


Also, congrats to Ricki at Reading Challenged! Ricki recently won a copy of 'Sweet Valley Confidential' courtesy of Francine and Ann Marie!


And onto the Hops...

The Question of the Week is:
What book-to-movie adaption have you most liked? Which have you disliked?


Answer: By far the worst adaptation known to man (or me at least) happened to one of my favorite book series-- The Dark is Rising sequence. Susan Cooper's 'The Dark is Rising' was adapted into the travesty that is known to movie folks as 'The Seeker'. *shudder* I don't blame acting, directing, or the decision to cast an American lead instead of a British one. I blame the script writer, John Hodge. John, just so you know, I'm never hiring you-- for anything-- ever. Mr. Hodge decided the term adaption meant keeping the main characters names the same as in the book, but re-writing everything else. And I mean everything. Heck, he invented a twin brother for Will and decided that Will, the human boy, would be one of the signs! How ridiculous. John Hodge, you suck. (Oddly enough, he hasn't actually worked on anything according to IMDB since 'The Seeker'. Just desserts? I think so...)  His excuse was that the book originally didn't have enough action to keep the story entertaining.  Well, I agree to an extent.  But that means using your brain to enhance the features in the book or, if you want to add something, add something that makes sense.


Ironically enough, my favorite movie that was adapted from a book is 'The Neverending Story'. I know it jumps from the book in large ways, but I think it's fantastic. While it may not play out entirely like the book, the feeling of the book was definitely present. And seriously, Atreyu trying to get Artax to cross the the Sea's of Sadness (or whatever it was called-- I forget at the moment)-- so sad!!!





The Question of the Week is:
How many books do you read in a week? And in what format do you read them, or listen to them?


Answer: I typically bank one book a week. 99% of the time it is a physical book, not an ebook. I don't really have an e-reader, though I'm considering getting the new Nook Simple Touch eventually... I'd love an e-reader I could put my manga scans on, but I don't know how in the heck I'd ever do that!


And that's it for this week!  See ya again soon!

Book Blogger Hop/Follow Friday/Updates

Hi all!  Brooke here!  This week kind of flew by, didn't it?!  No hard core updates this week.  I finished watching 'Hikaru no Go'.  While I hated to see it end, the ending was quite fitting.  One of my favorite things with anime finale's is when they bring back the characters-- all the characters-- that played a part and 'Hikaru no Go's finale did that perfectly.  


Also ending this week is 'Smallville'. In reality, I probably only watched the pilot and this two hour finale, but after ten years of seeing promo's during other WB/CW shows, I felt I needed to be there to watch the finale.  Again, it was a nice ending.


And 'Vampire Diaries' had its season finale.  It wasn't as crazy an 'oh my gosh' moment as seasons one's cliffhanger, but still this finale was very, very good.  I already miss it.  It needs to start season 3 soon!!!


This week on the blog:
Review: The Lens and the Looker


I missed my usual meme this week, so I plan on adding another post to the blog tomorrow or during the weekend to make up for it.  I'm thinking it's about time to post my review of 'Enclave' or 'Immortal Beloved'!


Onto the Hop's...








The Question of the Week is:
Tell us FIVE quirky habits...
Answer: 
1- I don't mind wearing matching earrings of different colors or two colors of nail polish at the same time.
2- I can only take one book at a time.  Multiple books and me don't mix!!!
3- If you were to call me, 8/10 times it will go to VM and I'll call you back!  If I don't know a number, 10/10 times it will go to VM.  I totally screen my calls. 
4- I talk with my hands, even when I'm on the phone.  At work, someone will call and ask about where their hold will be held and I'll be pointing to the registers while telling them.  What can I say?  I'm Italian...
5- I have a knack for remembering the names of toys/dolls from years past.  For example, I can spot a Spectra from a mile away, can name all the Jem dolls, and can pretty much judge what decade a doll came out by looking at it!

The Question of the Week is:

If you were given the chance to spend one day in a fictional world (from a book), which book would it be from and what would that place be?

Answer:  Two answers.  First, I'd love to spend time in JK Rowlings Wizarding world.  Heck, I'm even looking forward to one day going to the Florida amusement park!  

Second, a little more down to Earth, I'd like to see Susan Cooper's Wales.  I know, she pretty much took it from the actual Wales, but I'd love to see the places described in the book!!!  One day, I really do plan on making a trip around the Dark is Rising sites!

That's it for this week.  I promise, more updates will pop up in the days ahead!

Book Blogger Hop/Follow Friday/Updates

Hello, folks! Fun week? Busy week for me! Remember that reality show I mentioned I was working on? Well, we finally got the re-shoots for the sizzle reel done. I believe it will be smooth sailing from here. Pitch meetings, here we come!


As for reading, most recently I finished 'Enclave' and 'Abandon'. You can read my review of 'Abandon' on the blog already. 'Enclave' will be up later. I'll let you in on a secret-- I enjoyed it!


This Week on the Blog:
Book-alike: A Doppleganger meme
Review: Abandon
Contest Reminder: Sweet Valley Confidential-- Ends May 19th


And onto the hops...

The Question of the Week is:
Are you going to Book Expo America (BEA) and/or the Book Blogger Convention (BBC) this year?


Answer: Alas, I am not attending. I can't afford to go to NY at the moment. I'd love to attend both of those conventions, though. I'm totally addicted to attending conventions of all kinds-- anime, comic cons, ala's... And conventions that give away free books?! *wide eyed* Love them. Maybe one day I'll get to attend BEA or BBC. Just not this year.





The Question of the Week is:
What is the most emotional scene in a book that you have read lately?


Answer: My family jokes that I'm made of ice. I'm not a crazy emotional person, but certain books have made my eyes water a twinge. The ending of 'A Certain Slant of Light' gets me every time I read it-- it's just beautifully done. 'The Hunger Games' has some real tear jerkers. The first book had a moment with a sweet, young character meeting her demise-- it was depressing. Oh, and let's not forget the entire 'Life as we Knew It' trilogy. That series had a whole undercurrent of depressing!


And that's it for this week! See you again soon!

Book Blogger Hop/Follow Friday/Updates

To start off this weeks update post, I'd like to congratulate Meredith M. Meredith has won ebook 'Seeing for the First Time'. Please check your e-mail, Meredith, for an message from me! This week has been filled with work, meetings, and Hikaru no Go watching, but not so much reading. This weekend, I'm really going to pick up my pace and read something!


This Week on the Blog:
Review: Till Death Do Us Bark
Happy Star Wars Day
Contest: Win Sweet Valley Confidential
Author Interview: Francine Pascal of SVH fame


Make this blogger happy and check out some of the above posts and leave a comment? A bunch of fun content was published this week, including a contest, author interview, and some fun Star Warsy links!


Now onto the Hops...

The question of the week is:
Which book blogger would you most like to meet in real life?


Answer: Any, really! I don't have any specific people in mind. All the blogs I follow are great!


The question of the week is:
Circle time! Time to share. What character in a book would you most like to be, what character in a book would you most like to date?


Answer: I'm not sure!!! In terms of what character I'd like to be, I'd love to experience Hogwarts. Count me in as an unnamed Gryffindor! Not Harry Potter or even Hermione, but just a nameless student who gets to deal with magic everyday, but isn't being hunted by you-know-who. 


I would also love to be a Stravaganti from the Stravaganza series (Mary Hoffman). It would be fantastic to be able to go back and forth to Talia.


As for the perfect YA boyfriend... Oh, goodness, who to choose! At the moment, Archer from 'Hex Hall' has my heart. He seems perfect. Strong, hot, romantic, and funny. A perfect combo! St.Clair from 'Anna and the French Kiss' is a close second. I mean, come one, he has an accent!!!


And that's it for this week, folks!  See ya next hop!

Book Blogger Hop/Follow Friday/Update

Hi gang! Hope everyone's week went well! This passed week has been both excellent and troublesome. Reading wise, it was a bit dry. I have started a book called 'Silver Smoke'. It's a YA Supernatural novel dealing with angels. So far, so good!


This Week on the Blog:
Review: Anna and the French Kiss
Top Ten Tuesday: Mean Girls
Ebook Giveaway- Ends May 5th! (Low Entries!)


And on to the Hops!

The Question of the Week is:
Summer is coming quickly - what 2011 summer release are you are most looking forward to?


Answer: So many books are coming out this year I want to read. Sticking to the summer months, I am most looking forward to the sequel to 'Knightley Academy' entitled 'The Secret Prince'. 'Immortal War', the next book in the Vampirates series should be coming out soon, too, though the release date on Goodreads has it as earlier this month. 'Tigers Quest', sequel to 'Tigers Curse', comes out in July. Oh, and let's not forget 'Wolfsbane', sequel to 'Nightshade', also due out in July.





The Question of the Week is:
Keeping with the dystopian and apocalypse theme that seems to be running rampant on parajunkee.com, I have one very hard question for you: If you were stocking your bomb shelter, what books would you HAVE to include if you only had space for ten?


Answer: This is hard b/c most of what I read are series and I can't imagine only bringing one book from a series into my shelter!


1: The Dark is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper (five books, bound as one novel paperback)*
2: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer*
3: The Host by Stephenie Meyer*
4: Aliens Ate My Homework by Bruce Coville
5: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling
6: Dramacon: The Mega Edition by Svetlana Chmakova (All three volumes bound as one!)
7: An Atlas or world travel guide (to remember what the world was like before whatever made me enter the shelter)
8: The Skipper Doll reference guide*
9: A Barbie collectors book
10: Shutterfly photo books printed with pictures from my childhood, California, and Italy.
11: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by, well, you know who


And there you have it. My nine choices for what books I would take to sustain me if I were in a shelter, unsure of how long I'd be down there. I'm sure some people think I wasted space with the S. Meyer titles, but 'Twilight' and 'the Host' never get old for me. The Dark is Rising Sequence holds my favorite book in the whole wide world, 'The Grey King'. I'd need the Skipper and Barbie collectors guides to remember what my collection held if, in fact, my collection was gone. 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' and 'Prisoner of Azkaban' are my favorite H.P books. Books with *'s by them are what I would need to bring if I were moving somewhere or if I were flying somewhere and needed a book I knew I would enjoy re-reading.


So there you have it, That's it for the hops this week! See you next week!

Book Blogger Hop/Follow Friday/Update

Wow, what a week! There's been a bit of a commotion on this little blog this week as I posted my first ebook review, along with a Q/A with its author and a giveaway post!


I also made a few less happy posts this week-- one about the closing of the North American Tokyopop offices and one about the passing of Doctor Who actress Lis Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith to Who'vians). I found a nice tribute on youtube.  My layout cuts off the right side of the screen.  Click the video to watch via youtube.

I'll link to those posts in a moment, but first, are any of you Star Wars fans? If you haven't checked out 'Star Wars: The Musical', then, sorry, but you have to now. The link is HERE. If you go to 'The Musical' link on the right sidebar, you can play and download all the fantastic songs that these guys put together. Kind of wish LucasFilm would have done something with these songs or the concept!!!


This Week on the Blog:
Contest: Win 'Seeing for the First Time
Author Interview: Nicole Zoltack
Review: Seeing for the First Time
Top Ten Tuesday: Characters I'd Name a Kid After...
You Will Be Missed, Lis Sladen
Bye, Bye Tokyopop


And On With The Hops...

The Question of the week is:
If you find a book you love, do you hunt down other books by the same author?


Answer: I try, but many times I'll only enjoy a handful of books by the author. Universally, I love Bruce Coville's works. As far as other series, I thought I'd love DJ Machale's new series, but didn't. While I loved Cirque Du Freak (by Darren Shan), I didn't love Demonata. Even Stephenie Meyer. Loved Twilight and The Host, but the sequels, not so much! And finally, while Susan Coooper wrote my favorite book, I really could never get into anything else she wrote.



The Question of the Week is:
What is on your current playlist right now?


Answer: I'm a bit weird when it comes to music. I don't have a playlist, persay. I usually turn on a radio station and listen to random mix's. I'm a huge fan of Pandora radio and recently, groove shark.


If you were listening to a mix of my Ipod, you'd hear at lot of: The Monkee's, Hanson (yes, they still make records!), various showtunes, my favorite anime/drama themes, hits from the 90's pop era, and tons of regular pop/rock (from all decades).


Actually, a lot of my taste in music comes from my mom. Odds are if she played or plays it, I tend to enjoy it. That would be one of the many reasons I know lyrics to many a Barry Manilow songs and Bobby Sherman song. (The Monkee's was totally Nick@Nite's fault!)


That's it for now, folks! See you next week and don't forget to enter my contest!!!!! (If any of you'd like to help me out on this, I'd love a bit of advertising for it! Let your readers know!!!)

Book Blogger Hop/Follow Friday/Update

This Week on the Blog:

Review: Sweet Valley Confidential

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I'd like to see as Movies

The Question of the week is:
Outside of books, what is your guilty pleasure?


Answer: I DVR 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic' for myself and if ever it comes on DVD, I plan on buying it! I've been a MLP fan since the 80's and had doubts about this new cartoon that premiered on the Hub this year. Never would I have thought I would love it as much as I do! It's actually quite funny for kids of all ages (20 somethings included!).


And that's it for this mid-week hop!


Question of the Week:
Do you have anyone that you can discuss books with IRL? Tell us about him/her...


Answer: Does IRL stand for 'in real life'? I've never heard of it before! In real life, I talk to many people about books. Most of the time, I talk to my mom. We read the same books. Recommend them to eachother all the time. I discuss books with friends and co-workers, too.

Book Blogger Hop/Follow Friday/Update

Hi there, readers! It's that time again! Another week, another hop/update post! This week has been quite a busy week for the blog. I did my first IMM meme and have some neat stuff planned for upcoming weeks. :-) Plus, I received my first 'review copy' from a publisher. All in all, it's been a good week!


This Week on the Blog:
Review: Filling The Family Tree
Review: Queen of the Dead
In My Mailbox meme


Now, onto the hops!

The Question of the Week is:
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?


Answer: I don't really remember pulling any real pranks... Kind of boring of me, right?  On the same note, I don't remember anyone really pulling a prank on me.  


I don't see a follow friday for this week, so I'll leave you here for the week!

Book Blogger Hop/Follow Friday/Update

Happy Hop! I'm due in at work in an hour, so this will be a quick one!


This Week on the Blog:
Review: Afterlife
At The Movies...

The Question of the week is:
If you could physically put yourself into a book or series…which one would it be and why?


Answer: I want to choose a few stories for this weeks answer. First, I'd love to be part of the world created in 'The Dark is Rising Series'. Their adventures are beyond cool. Also, sign me up for 'The Neverending Story' tour. How neat would it be to be in Bastians position and be able to have adventures in Fantasia, meet Falcor and Atrayu, and all in all have a fun place to always go if you need to? And last, Harry Potter. Who doesn't wish they were a wizard now and then? I don't know how many times I've tried 'lumos' to no avail. I've always wanted to go to a boarding school (for real!) and Hogwarts seems like a great choice!!!





The Question of the Week is:
Inspired by the inane twitter trend of #100FACTSABOUTME, GIVE US FIVE BOOK RELATED SILLY FACTS ABOUT YOU.


Answer:
1- While I'm a twenty-something, I have yet to find a good 'adult' book (aka any book out of the basic 'fiction' section of a library or bookstore). YA and Juvi are still my favorite age ranges. Every book I've read from the adult fiction arena has been one that could easily crossover to a younger audience ('Ender's Game', 'The Host', to name a few!)
2- I don't like smelly books or books that have circulated in libraries for too long. Books that look old or used just turn me off!
3- Believe it or not, I tried my hand at fan fiction years ago. I wrote fan fiction for the 'Dark is Rising' series and 'Pendragon'. All very short stories. I think they're still floating around the web on my LJ somewhere...
4- I tend to like books with Arthurian legend to them.
5- I totally judge books by their covers...  A bad habit, but it's hard to read a book that has an ugly cover...


That's it for this edition of the Friday Book Blogger Hop/Follow Friday/Update! Till next week!

Book Blogger Hop/Follow Friday/Update

Hey Hoppers! Hope the week has treated you well! Hard to believe we're in the third week of March already, huh? Before I go on, I'd like to wish you all a 'Happy St. Patrick's Day' and a Happy Birthday to my grandmother, who is currently celebrating in Heaven! It's been a few years, but you are still missed!

This Week on the Blog:
Review: Radiance
At The Movies...
Review: Demonglass


Onto the Hops...

The Question of the Week is:
Do you read only one book at a time, or do you have several going at once?


Answer: I typically read one book at a time. I like being able to concentrate on one story instead of many! Too many books means too many plotlines running together!!!





The Question of the Week is:
How did you come up with your blog name?


Answer: Brooke = One of my various names. Box of Books = Something I always love to pick through because I love seeing what's new and exciting in the book world! Hense, Brooke's Box of Books. My name came about pretty quickly. As I mentioned last week, I like alliteration. I wanted a name that had that going for it, too.  All in all, it was pretty painless!


That's it for this week. I just came back from a comic convention and am wiped! See ya next week!

Book Blogger Hop/Follow Friday/Update

Wow, I almost forgot! Today's Friday! Good news, folks, I've caught up on my reading and have new reviews set to pop up on Tuesday for the next three weeks. Yay! Also good news, the paper edit of my reality show promo reel is done and ready for the editor. After we get the finished product edited, it's off to the races, er, pitches!


To all those in Japan, Hawaii, and everywhere else affected by mother nature, my thoughts are with you! I've been a fan of Japanese entertainment, manga, dolls and overall culture for so many years that I feel a bit connected to the country, even though I've got no real ties to it. The images of the earthquakes and water overtaking whole towns is quite sad. My thoughts are with you!!!


This Week on the Blog:
Review: Dramacon
At The Movies...


And onto the hops!

The Question of the Week is:
If I gave you £50 (or $80) and sent you into a bookshop right now, what would be in your basket when you finally staggered to the till?


Answer: If I were given $80.00 for books, I would probably have these:


-A hardcover copy of 'Hex Hall' (retail: 17.00)
-A hardcover copy of 'Blackheart: Vampirates 4' (retail 17.00)
-A hardcover copy of '43 Old Cemetery Road' (retail together at around 20.00)
-A hardcover copy of 'Matched' (retail: 17.00)
-A paperback copy of 'The Host' (retail: 10.00)


That's 81.00 right there. Then I'd probably head to the DVD dept and see if they had anything cheap. :-) Course, this is all assuming I didn't have a staff discount at said store. If I did, I would probably pre-order the the newest Knightley Academy book. :-)


Most of the books in my cart would be hardcover copies of books that I've read as ARC's and want in a more durable binding.






The Question of the Week is:
Just like Ashley said (love it) "Ashley the girl..." who are You the Boy/Girl, instead of You the Blogger?


Answer: I had to decipher this question, but now I get it! Brooke the girl? I'm a college graduate (2007) with a BA in Television Directing. (Yes, that is what it says on my transcripts!) I want to work in the television/film industry as a writer or producer. You might ask why I, a college grad, am still looking for work in my chosen field... Well, it's because I can't seem to get enough money together to live in California. Television and Film projects all come out of that state, whether or not they shoot in that state. To get solid footing in the industry, I'll need to move. I'm in the works of trying to get out there sometime this year to really start my career path. At the moment, however, I'm content with working at a bookstore as a minion (whoops, I mean part time employee) and working on my reality show.


I live at home with my family and two adorable dogs. You might wonder how in the heck I can survive my family, but I can. I quite enjoy them... most of the time! I'm still looking for my prince charming, but am sure one day we'll find each other. It wouldn't hurt if he turned out to be Zac Efron or Gregory Smith! :-)


I collect many things, but my largest collection is dolls. Mainly, I collect Skipper (Barbie's Little Sister), Asian Ball Jointed Dolls, Monster High, and My Little Ponies. Recently, I've learned how to re-root dolls who have suffered bad hair cuts. It's so much fun giving them a new look. If you have any gently used Barbie dolls that you want to donate to my hobby, please let me know. :-)


Anywho, there's so much more I could talk about, but that's it for now! I hope you all enjoyed the hops this week and I hope to see you again next week!!!

Book Blogger Hop/Follow Friday/Update

Hi guys! Right on schedule, here's a quick update post and the usual meme's!


I'd just like to point out a neat blog that I recently discovered-- The YA Review Directory. The admins take links of your reviews and post them up in sortable categories. It makes it easy to find reviews on specific books! It also seems like a good way to get your name out there if you want more hits on your blog! Check it out by hitting the button below!

I've been playing with Goodread stats lately and according to the page count stats for 2010, I read 21,714 pages!!! Geez! That's a huge step above 2009 that had over 14,700! I have a feeling the jump has a lot to do with this blog!


This Week on the Blog:
Review: The Emerald Atlas
S.O.S Book of the Week


And without further ado, the hops!

The Question of the Week is:

Who's your all-time favorite book villain?

Answer:  My all-time favorite villain. I'm not sure! The best villains are the ones that give me that 'love to hate' feeling. Voldemort from Harry Potter was a great villain. Sidorio from Vampirates is a contender for this, as well!


See you next week!

Book Blogger Hop/Follow Friday/Update

Hello Hoppers! Welcome to the blog! Today was a very slow week at the blog. *My apologies!* I wish I had some really good reason-- like school work or work, but in reality, I had a head cold that rendered me useless a few days this week! As far as reviews, I'm playing catch up and will have a review of 'The Emerald Atlas' up within the next few days.


Check out Small Review's latest post on 'The Iron King'.  She compares a handful of blogs reviews on the popular title, mine included!  


This Week on the Blog:
Mini Fantasy Cast- Across the Universe
Review: Lego Star Wars: Save the Galaxy


Onto the Hops!






The Question of the Week is: Share your current fav television show! Tell us a bit about it...


Answer: This post could get *very* long! I love television and have a ton of favorites. Here's a few of them!


Doctor Who:

My mom brought home the first series of the 'new' Who (starring the ninth doctor) on a whim. I had seen some Doctor Who before, mostly with Tom Baker. Watching Christopher Eccelston as the ninth doctor was a totally different experience from watching those older episodes. I was hooked on the whole Doctor Who universe after two episode and have been a dedicated, slightly obsessed (in a healthy way!) fan ever since! It amazes me how seamless the cast changes are when the Doctor regenerates. I've never seen anything like it before and doubt I ever will from any other show.


Avatar: The Last Airbender:

Don't write this off as any old cartoon. Avatar is ten times better. The story is addicting and pretty complex for a kids show. And the animation? So well done! This is something you'll want to check out if you haven't already!


The Vampire Diaries:

This is a fantastic show. Seriously, it's so good! First, we have the hotness of the Salvator Brothers. (I'll take whichever brother Elena doesn't want!)  Then, we have some great storylines that really do keep you guessing. (Like this week, who saw all those plot changes coming?! This show is just perfect!)


The Amazing Race:

If there's one show I need to make plans around, this is it. The Amazing Race is the only reality show I really follow. It's fantastic, smart tv. This season should be great as it's an all-stars season. My picks for top three? The Globetrotters, The Cowboys, and the beauty pageant girl/father team (who's names I forget at the moment)!

The Question of the Week is: Do you ever wish you would have named your blog something different?


Answer: The name of my blog? No, I still like 'Brooke's Box of Books'. I've always liked alliteration. Call me a kid if you like! Plus, I can picture some cute graphics if I ever get to giving this a proper, unique layout. My little avatar opening a crate of new books... It could be cute!


That's it for this week. Thanks for hopping by!!!

Book Blogger Hop/Follow Friday/Update

Hi ya to all those hopping by this weekend! Thanks for stopping by! This week... Well, not too much went on this week. Just the basic stuff-- work, attempting to write, failing to find a plot, a visit to the hospital for a medical thing my Grandpa was dealing with (he seems okay now!)...  But overall, not too much.


The blog was a little dry this week, too. My apologies! I welcomed another author to my humble webspace this week, which rocked! The regular review and SOS post will be up next week. :-)


This Week on the Blog:
Valentine's Day Post
Heads Up! Borders Files Bankruptcy!
Truth or Dare Meme
Author Interview with Lou Aronica
Review and Contest posts were posted today and should be directly under this post!


Time for the hops!










The Question of the Week is:
If you are a fan of Science Fiction what is your favorite book? If you haven't read Science Fiction before...any inkling to? Anything catch your eye?


Answer: I love sci-fi titles aimed at the juvi and teen market, though a few adult titles have caught my eye. One of my guilty pleasures is reading Star Wars novels. I was much more into it before they killed off most of the Solo children, but 'The Thrawn Trilogy , 'Courtship of Princess Leia', and the 'Young Jedi Knights series' will always be favorites of mine! (If you want to read Star Wars novels and haven't yet, start with the 90's releases. They have a good level of Star Wars fun mixed with new stories!!)


A few other reads--


'Enders Game' and 'Enders Shadow' by Orson Scott Card-- Two of the few adult sci-fi title I like. They have a good story that isn't too overrun with technical stuff! It helps that the main characters are kids, too.
'The Host' by Stephenie Meyer-- I just adore this book!!!!
'Aliens Ate My Homework' series by Bruce Coville-- This was a favorite of mine as a kid and I still occasionally re-read this series about Rod Allbright, grade schooler who may just be half alien and ends up on a crazy quest!

The Question of the Week is: 
What book(s) would you like to see turned into a movie?


Answer: So many answers!  'The Grey King', the 'Young Jedi Knights' series, 'The Host', 'Knightley Academy', (a remake of 'Twilight' with a decent Bella would be nice), 'The Grimm Legacy' (though I'd like to WRITE this script)...  The list goes on and on!


Thanks for hopping by!  See you next week!

Book Blogger Hop/Follow Friday/Update

Hey weekly hoppers!  I hope your week was eventful!  Mine sure was-- I participated in my first virtual book tour, cut a good 6 inches off  my hair and now have a stylish shag cut, and have been enjoying re-watching 'Ghostwriter: Season One' on DVD.


This Week On the Blog:
SOS Book of the Week
Contest: Win A Copy of Tomorrow's Guardian
Review: Tomorrow's Guardian
Author Tour: Q&A with Richard Denning
Fantasy Cast: Tomorrow's Guardian
Review: Angelfire


And onto the hops...

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


My Answer: This week I participated in my first Virtual Blog Tour and posted my first author interview! It was a fun experience! Were I to choose a post from this week to highlight, it would be the author interview with Richard Denning. Reviews are fun to read, but interviews, especially those that don't only talk about the book, are a great opportunity to meet the author, virtually, of course!





The Question of the Week is: What is your favorite romance hero-type? Stereotype wise. Do you like the strong silent type or the brute macho man?


My Answer: Oh dear. I don't know! I don't go for the 'bad boy' per say, but I wouldn't turn down a sarcastic charmer like Damon (Ian Somerhalder) from The Vampire Diaries or a handsome hockey player! :-)

Truth or Dare:  Today's dare is... find a song that reminds you of a book. Could be the latest book you've read, or your all time fav. Tell us about the book and show us the video in a blog post.


Keeping this in the paranormal realm, the 'Fallen' series by Lauren Kate has always reminded me of the songs of Evanescence. You probably don't need a description of the series, but just in case-- 'Fallen' is the first book in a YA paranormal series that tells the story of Luce, a seemingly normal girl, and Daniel, an Angel who loves her. (And Miles, whom I totally think she should be with because of how much of a dork Daniel was in the sequel 'Torment', but I digress!)


Here's a video of 'Bring Me To Life'...



Thanks for hopping by and see you next week!!!!

Book Blogger Hop/Follow Friday/Update

This week has been crazy with extreme snow fall!  I love it!  It got me off work for a few days and helped me finish 'Tomorrow's Guardian' and 'Angelfire'.  Not only that, but I *finally* finished a Chatty Cathy re-root I've been working on forever!!!


FYI, Groupon is offering a Barnes and Noble deal today and through the weekend!  You pay $10 for a $20 giftcard!  That's 50% savings!!!  Check Groupon out HERE!  


Onto the hops--

The question is:

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

My Answer: Well, I actually just finished 'Angelfire' and haven't started anything new yet! The next book on my list is 'The Emerald Atlas' by John Stephens. My mom read it a few weeks ago and said I should read it. Also, after just finishing a YA supernatural romance, 'The Emerald Atlas should be a nice change!

The question is:

What is the book you are currently 'pushing'?

My Answer: Now that 'Hex Hall' is in paperback, I'll be pushing that to readers at the bookstore. As for books that are brand new, I'm not sure what I am going to push... I did quite enjoy 'Angelfire' and will be recommending that to readers because of how fun of a read it turned out to be!


See you all next week!!!

Book Blogger Hop/FF/Update

Another weekend, another hop post! Nothing huge happened this week, but I did find out that I have a tentative pitch meeting scheduled for early March! (For those who don't know via my various award posts, I'm working on trying to pitch a reality show with a fellow producer and up until now pitch meetings have always been something that will come *eventually*...) Fingers crossed everything comes together in my favor this next few months!!!


Anyway, as for what's been going on here this week...


Fantasy Cast: The Grey King
S.O.S Book of the Week
Review: Across the Universe by Beth Revis


And next week, don't forget to stop by and 'meet' author Richard Denning. I'll be posting a review, interview, and fantasy cast for his novel!


Onward to the hops!

The Question of the Week is:

What is/was your favorite subject in school?

My Answer: My favorite subjects in school were writing, reading, art, and extra curriculars (if those count!). If I had to choose just one, I guess I'd have to go with art in grammer school. I loved making new things every week!


And in high school? My extra curricular school activity-- Auroris Dance Company. Seriously, those four years of being part of Auroris got me through high school! (I pretty much disliked the whole high school experience, apart from dances and special events! Overall, it just seemed like four years of putting job training on hold to learn science and math-- ick) If we're being strict about classes, then I guess band or acting classes would win out.  But, I preferred Auroris over both of those options on a typical day!


College brought with it a load of classes I loved.  My favorite being 'Writing for Television'.  It was during that class that I discovered how much I enjoyed the process (and I wasn't actually all that bad at it, either)!

The Question of the Week is:

What book are you most looking forward to seeing published in 2011? Why are you anticipating that book?

My Answer: There are so many books I'm looking forward to this year!!!  I'm very much looking forward to Demon Glass (sequel to Hex Hall), Prized (sequel to Birthmarked), and Wolfsbane (sequel to Nightshade)!  Oh, and Passion (sequel to Fallen and Torment)!


Thanks for stopping by my blog this week! See you again soon!!

FF/Updates

Hello friends! Welcome back to the blog!  I hope you have a fantastic weekend.  Fun news-- the movie I was an extra in is now in theaters!  It's entitled The Dilemma and stars some pretty popular actors.   I've been told by my grandfather that you can't see me, but if you do watch it, I was there while they shot the scene in the hotdog joint!  (Funny, though, the movie itself is sooo not my taste!)


Now, here's the usual updates and hops!


The Contest: For all interested, Marg was the winner of my Gift Card Giveaway! I had a total of 179 entries and gained a good 140 some followers. Geez! Thanks to all who entered! (I won nothing this week... Oh well... Next hop!)


New on the Blog This Week:
Forever Favorites Review: Stravaganza series
Meet Stephenie Meyer Contest
The SOS Book of the Week- which was slightly delayed due to our internet being out all day Wednesday....


Follow Friday:

The question of the week is:

Who do you cheer for?

My Answer: The only sport I really enjoy is hockey. I got behind the Blackhawks this past Stanley Cup season. It was exciting to see them win the Cup. Yay Blackhawks! I prefer seeing games in person. Watching them on tv takes all the drama out of it. It's much more fun to be in the stands and see the guys skating around, making goals, checking each other here and there, and staging fights. My goal is to have season tickets to a team eventually!


See you all next week!

Book Blogger Hop/Updates

Welcome to the blog, folks! I can't believe it's time for another Book Blogger Hop!!!  (I'm still catching up with comments from last week!)


First, a bit of housekeeping! Want to win an Amazon giftcard?! Enter my contest! The rule are simple and listed on the post. This contest runs through the 17th!


This Weeks Updates:


Contest Info!!!
Review: The Iron Queen
SOS Book of the Week
Award: The Stylish Blogger


Now onto the Book Blogger Hop!

The Question Is:

Why do you read the genre that you do? What draws you to it?

My Answer:
I've always been drawn to fantasy, supernatural and sci-fi titles. I'm not sure why. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that my mother used to read them out-loud quite a bit when I was young or that delving into a new exciting fantasy world has always been more interesting to me than normal life? I'm an imaginative person who is usually pretty happy most of the time. I tend to not let negatives come in the way of things and try to never stop believing in something just because others say it can't happen or doesn't exist. Fantasy, supernatural, and sci-fi tales tend to have some elements similar to how I look at life. Then again, I'm not sure why exactly I like these titles. They've just always spoken to me. :-)


And a extra for you this week-- Follow Friday:



The Question Is: What makes up your non-human family?
My Answer: My non human family consists of two dogs.  They're both at least half black lab and adorable.  The fantastic thing about them is that they get along well, even though they are so different (in how they act, not their color or look!).  Each was saved-- one from a shelter and the other from someone who couldn't handle themselves, let alone a dog.  Before them, we had a Golden Retriever (the best dog ever, btw) and a few birds.

See you all next week and don't forget to check out my contest post!!!!

Book Blogger Hop/Updates

Hi Guys! Welcome to 2011!!! 


This week for me has brought me into a little debt-- brought upon by my mom saying, "It's a Byer's skirt! You have to try it on!" Well, I did try on the skirt and a number of other things that (remarkably) fit me well! Since I'm a tough size, I decided I should add the clothes to my collection and, well, I have lots of nice sweaters and skirts now. :) Just not so much money. 


Plus, there's that Asian Ball Jointed Doll I want to buy sometime this month...


What's Been Happening Here:
S.O.S Book of the Week
Review: The Iron Daughter
NookColor Contest Alert

The Question Is:

What book influenced or changed your life? How did it influence/change you?

Answer:
Influenced or changed my life... This is a tough one. Let me go with 'influence', more so than 'change'. I'd have to choose 'Twilight'. It was the first book where I really interacted with other readers. In the past, I had never really had many books that I could talk about to a huge group of people and have them know what I was talking about! It was quite a change when 'Twilight' came along because so many people from so many different age ranges read it. That whole reading experience was pretty interactive.  'Twilight' and that wave of interaction led to me reviewing for Amazon and eventually starting this little blog.


Come back soon and look forward to a giveaway starting on the 14th as part of a giveaway hop!!!