EVERY HEART A DOORWAY -- POPSUGAR READING CHALLENGE #6

image from Goodreads

What would you do if you found a door that didn't belong? Would you go through it? What if you came back but were irreparably changed?

I chose this book for the Popsugar Reading Challenge number 6: A book with a plant in the title or on the cover.  The cover has a forest of trees on it.

This is the premise behind Every Heart A Doorway by Seanan McGuire.  Kids are pulled through doorways to different worlds. Many don't return, but sometimes they come back.  These kids are given a chance to acclimatize back to our world with the help of Eleanor West and her school.

Nancy is the main character in this book, but she has changed since her experience in one of the Underworlds. Her parents send her to Eleanor's school to get 'better'. Here she finds she can be her new self but always hoping she can find the door back to her new home.

She is surrounded by a plethora of other characters that have had similar experiences like hers just in different worlds. Each have their problems.

It also becomes a bit of a murder mystery. It's not a super duper complicated, but it does give a bit of extra spice to the story line.

I read this book in two hours. I recommend it for those that like magical realism and fantasy as well as a bit of darkness.

I would love to see Nancy's world.  If you could go anywhere through a doorway, what kind of world you would wand to find?

THE GUN SELLER -- POPSUGAR READING CHALLENGE #3

Image from Goodreads

Okay, when I saw Hugh Laurie wrote a book, I was with the bandwagon that said, "Dr. House wrote a book! I'm down!"

So I knew that he was a musician as well. Those moments on House where he played the piano were real. So I was happy to choose his book for  Pop Sugar Challenge #3: A book written by a musician (fiction or nonfiction).

It started out swimmingly with a snarky but nice guy Thomas Lang. It ended up with what felt like a thousand characters and lots of political intrigue.

I got a bit lost on who was a good guy and who was a bad guy.

The book was okay, and I'm glad I read it. I wish I had enjoyed it more.

MASQUERADE AND THE NAMELESS WOMEN -- POPSUGAR READING CHALLENGE #4

Image from Goodreads

This one was a bit different from the rest. I didn't start to read it as one of the challenge books. I picked it up because it sounded twisted, which I admit, I needed considering all the lighthearted manga and books I've been reading.

Challenge four of the Pop Sugar Challenge is: A book you think should be turned into a movie.

I found that as soon as I got into the book, I actually said to myself (in my head) that I would love to watch this. It was then that I realized that there was a challenge that fit this idea.

I was attracted to the cover at first, but once I read the premise, I hesitated on buying it. I took the plunge and ate that puppy up in one day.

The premise isn't unfamiliar. Serial killer who works with police. The Dexter series by Jeff Lindsay is an example of this.

Masquerade and the Nameless Women was a fun read for me. I would really love to have a second book that pits the serial killer and the rookie cop obsessed with finding him together.

CHINA RICH GIRLFRIEND -- POPSUGAR READING CHALLENGE #34

image from Goodreads

I chose this book for: A book that includes a wedding. One -- because I read the first book and wanted to read the second, and Two -- because as soon as I saw it had a wedding in it, I was happy place it there (since I was not looking forward to finding a book with a wedding in it.)

I thought it was not quite as good as the first one. I wasn't a fan of the character Kitty Pong in the first book, and she ended up being a major character in this book.

Astrid's love life gets even more complex as Michael becomes an idiot when he makes millions. His whole personality changes into some monstrous version. I guess it was in him before, but it was sort of shocking to see.

I did enjoy the book enough to go on to the third one.

DRAGON BALL 4-6 3-IN-1 EDITION -- POPSUGAR READING CHALLENGE #40

image from Goodreads

Okay, so this one was a no brainer.  I have a huge collection of manga that I have to read, which includes Dragon Ball.

I made it one of my "resolutions" to read some of the completed series I have (as in the ones I didn't read last year).

So I chose Graphic Novel as Your favorite prompt from a past Popsugar Reading Challenge.

This version of Dragon Ball is the only English uncensored version out. The Big Editions from Viz are censored. I even checked with them to make sure.

Anyway, I've watched the entire series of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, which i loved.  (Sigh, Vegeta.) So I decided to collect the manga because I like to read the source material.

It was fun. I love it. It's like watching the anime without the filler episodes. I'm hearing the voices and everything.

I could even place this under the nostalgia category, but I have something else in mind for that one.

So who else loves DB and DBZ? Whose watched and/or read it?  Who was your favorite character?

THE LITTLE PRINCE -- POPSUGAR READING CHALLENGE #22

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This was one of the harder ones so far to fill for me.

Number 22 on the Popsugar Reading Challenge is: a book recommended by a celebrity you admire.

I'm not really into admiring celebrities much. Maybe a shallow glance at Facebook and People magazine blurbs about them. So it was hard to find one that I truly admire.

I ended up choosing Emma Watson. She is an advocate for many things. She also took her education seriously despite becoming a star as the bookworm witch, Hermione Granger.

She recommended The Little Prince.

I look back on the book and I still have no idea what I read. It was an amalgamation of children's story, philosophy, fantasy, life lessons, and I don't know what else.

It's the sort of book that takes two or three readings to get the deeper meanings of the work.  It's worth another read.

What does The Little Prince mean to you? Let me know in the comments below.

23 MINUTES -- POPSUGAR READING CHALLENGE #18

image from Goodreads

And so we come to the next of the Popsugar Reading Challenge books. The challenge parameter is: A book that takes place in a single day.

The proper name for these types of novels is called Circadian novels.

This one is by Vivian Vande Velde. She writes YA novels. My two favorites by her are Dragon's Bait and Companions of the Night. The first is a fantasy about a girl, a dragon, and revenge. The second has a girl, a vampire, and people trying to kill them.

The one I got from the library to read is 23 Minutes. This one is about a girl who can turn back time. She can only go back 23 minutes and only 10 times. Each "playback" (as the main character calls it) had unique elements each time.

I think the author did an amazing job. She told the same 23 minutes completely different each time. I must admit there were small repetitions, but event those were dissimilar.

I enjoyed the book immensely.

What would you change or fix if you could go back 23 minutes?

CRAZY RICH ASIANS -- POPSUGAR READING CHALLENGE #25

image from Goodreads

So I was at Walmart last Sunday. I was doing a bit of shopping and ended up passing the book section. (Yeah, okay, I deliberately went there. That section just calls to me and I cannot resist its temptations.)

Anyway, I saw this and picked it up. I had seen the movie with my sister when it went into Red Box. I enjoyed the movie enough to check out the book.

I'm glad I did. The book had way more drama than the movie. Not that the movie didn't have drama. Only the movie was more geared toward the comedic side of things.

The con is that there were A LOT of characters to keep track of including family members, and friends, and friend of friends, and kids of friends.  Also, there were footnotes that translated the language. They were translated the one time but sometimes things were used more than once. I didn't want to go back and look for the translation again.

I enjoyed the book.  Oliver has got to be one of my favorite characters in the movie and the book. Peik Lin Goh is another. I totally had Awkwafina's performance in my head as I read it.  She was amazing.

One of favorite lines that Peik Lin says is: "I have no idea who these people are. But I can tell you one thing—these people are richer than God."

Have you read or watched the movie? Who was your favorite character?

THE MARTIAN -- POPSUGAR READING CHALLENGE #14

image from Goodreads

This was on my reading list for the longest time. And I mean the loooongest time.

I saw it at the library and put it on my reading list (in hardback). I watched the movie; it was still on my reading list.  I got the paperback last year --- and it was still on my reading list.

So I finally broke down and picked it up for the Popsugar Reading Challenge #14: A book set in space.

Let me tell you, I loved it!!! I highly recommend the book.

The book was intelligent and funny and just plain cool.  The book had a bit more depth (naturally) and had some great new bits not seen in the movie.

One of my favorite scenes is still the moment where he calls himself a space pirate.  My other is when he razzes Carl Sagan about colonizing Mars.

So what were your favorite scenes or lines from the the book or movie?

GOOD 2019 EVERYONE!!

I've been busy for the last few months. The real life job has been full of books, books, and more books.

I had to use up the money from (I think) three grants before they expired. That meant A LOT of processing.  The good thing is that our public library now has a decent manga collection that I feed with my regular funds. 

The cool thing is that the stats for the collection was astounding. It had super high stats for the year.  It did better that some of our other collections. Woot!

Image from Playway.com

And it was not only books. There were a ton of playaways. Those are audio books. Tiny, portable, and can go just about anywhere.  They run on a AAA battery. 

I had two major projects in the works that had to be done. A major weeding of my Juvenile and YA sections.

Other than that, life has been going on. We were sadden to lose one of our fur babies. She was 17.

We were all depressed.

A month later, my brother brought home an impy little turd named Reba. She is a tiny 7 lb. bundle of Speedy Gonzalez energy. She has two motions stop and light speed.  She is also a sand worm from Dune. She burrows under the covers like one.  Nothing like getting a frigid nose butting your arm at 3 a.m. so she can bury herself under the covers.

I have decided to do the Popsugar Reading Challenge again. 

I know, I know. I tried in 2015 and didn't finish. This time I've planned ahead and found books to fit the categories ahead of time. So now I just have to read them.  Plus, I decided to do a reading log to go with it.

I've labeled the reading log with each of the Popsugar challenge categories ahead of time. Now I just fill in the pages with the books I choose.

I've also decided to pledge a set number of books in the Goodreads reading challenge, which I've never ever done before. I officially read 300 books (okay, mostly manga) last year. This year I said 250.

Sounds like a lot, but it's not really.

I also want to downsize my billions of books. So I'm bound and determined to read them and get rid of the ones I don't want anymore. 

So how has your January treated you?

READING CHALLENGE 2015 #15 -- A BOOK WITH MORE THAN 500 PAGES

The five Hitchhiker books and short story

I find every once in a while I love to read something off-the-wall strange and something totally rack-your-brain weird. This set of books-in-one takes the cake on all accounts.

This is the chronicles of the misadventures of Arthur Dent, a mild-mannered and boring Englishman, and a motley crew of misfits including Marvin the Robot, Trillian, Zaphod, Ford Prefect, and a host of other strange, strange beings.

As the series goes on it gets stranger and stranger, but it all works in a strange sort of way.

By far my favorite book is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy followed by Restaurant and the End of the Universe. My next favorite is So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish where Arthur meets Fenchurch.

I recommend these for those who like going on an acid trip through words.

READING CHALLENGE 2015 #14 -- A CLASSIC ROMANCE

Okay, I had two ways I could have gone for this category.  I could have read something along the lines of Jane Austen or Bronte or whatever else is classified in that genre.  My other choice was go the more simplistic route and choose an actual romance romance.

As you can tell I went with the tried and true romance.  Johanna Lindsey has been writing romances since I was a kid.  For me, I would classify her in the classic romance authors.  I mean she's still publishing after twenty plus years (give or take).

Anyway, this book is the second in the Callahan-Warren whatever (I'm not sure if it's a duology or if there will be more).

Max is wanted by the law and Degan goes after her without knowing that she is a she until he captures her.  Then it's a trek through the wild west with bullets flying and ex-fiances popping up to say howdy.

A pretty good book, but not the best she's written.

BOOK CHALLENGE 2015 #13 A BOOK THAT BECAME A MOVIE

Okay, I admit to bawling my brains out at the end of the movie when I was a kid.  What?! How could anyone not cry at the end?

Anyway, the movie actually followed the book very well. All the pertinent points of the story were there.

What they did not have in the movie did not detract from it at all. The minute details that filled the pages of the book were so neat.  There's back story on Schmendrick and more details about Haggard and his lands. Lir's story is there as well.

Also the world has more people and places that fill the story.

I liked this book.  As I read I watched the movie in my head when the scenes were the same.

Sigh.  And now I have America singing the theme song to the movie stuck in my head. Brick wall here I come. 

BOOK CHALLENGE 2015 #12 -- A BOOK WITH A LOVE TRIANGLE

So this is the second book in this series.  We find Cassie and company in the chaotic aftermath of the first book.  A new agent appears and has connections with Dean before he joined the group.  The game's afoot (heh heh) as a murder victim is found on a college campus.

The love triangle comes in as Michael, Cassie, and Dean (with a bit of Lia mixed in) deal with their feelings.  Cass has feelings for both Michael and Dean, but she doesn't know which one has her heart more.  Michael keeps pushing her into realizing her true feelings.

This book was fun because if you like sick and twisted serial killer stuff then this .  I liked that the triangle because it doesn't overwhelm the rest of the story.  Personally I thought that it created some of the actions in the story.

READING CHALLENGE 2015 #11 -- A BOOK WITH NONHUMAN CHARACTERS

Chronicles of Nick book 4

Okay, I've come back to this series because in this book 99% of the characters ARE NOT HUMAN! Most of the characters are demons, gods, and various other entities.  If I'm not mistaken there are six true humans in the entire book:  Nick's mom, Bubba, Mark, Casey, Alan, and Tyree. Alan and Tyree only show up for maybe two chapters, and Casey shouldn't count because she's possessed.

Anyway, Nick has more fun, fun, fun adventures trying not to get killed or drained or kidnapped by beings that want his powers.  Also, he's on the outs with Kody because Death (aka Grim) has to screw with him. How else can he bring about the Apocalypse, I ask.

All in all, it was a good book, but it took me longer to finish because I was not enjoying the Casey moments.  It was one of those things where I wanted to bash her head in because she made my skin crawl, which happened to be about a third of the book in the middle.

Once that was over, the rest of the book was awesome because the action happened and the shiznit hit the fan in a major way.  AND THEN THE ENDING!

Omg! That ending was a WTF if ever I read one! 

BOOK CHALLENGE 2015 #10 -- A BOOK MORE THAN 100 YEARS OLD

Okay, I had to fudge on the cover for this book.  The version I read was from Arcadia House and published in 1950.  It held the novel Kidnapped as well.  I could not find a picture of it like I did with Oscar Wilde.

Anywho, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was written by Robert Louis Stevenson and published in 1886.  This was a novella technically.

It's about a Doctor Henry Jekyll who created a solution from different compounds that transformed him into his purely evil side called Edward Hyde.  Only somewhere it went wrong and the doc lost control of his metamorphosis.

Hyde did all the doctor wished he could do.  It's almost like he wanted to be Dorian Grey only he didn't want to own up to his dark desires.  He just wanted to reap the benefits and live vicariously through his other persona.

I was somewhat disappointed by the fact that most of the actions were after the fact.  I was hoping I to live through the adventure, but that was not the case.  We get to see the aftereffects through Gabriel Utterson, Jekyll's lawyer and friend.

Other than that, it was an interesting book, which put me into the mood to read Mary Reilly by Valerie Martin and watch the movie with Julia Roberts and John Malkovich. 

BOOK CHALLENGE 2015 #9 -- A BOOK BY A FEMALE AUTHOR

This is an author I have never of before, but I loved the interesting cover so much that I wanted to see what it was about.

Let me tell you I was enthralled with the blurb!  The premise is a tiny bit far fetched, but still plausible. Who knows what the government actually does in reality, I don't.

Anywho, I ate this book up. I was sucked in from the first page to the end.  That hasn't happened in a long time.

So it starts out with Cassie working at a diner.  She was taught to read people by her mother before she died.  When she's approached by a young man, her world is drastically changed.  She becomes a part of a group of teens that work cold cases for the FBI.  They are all classified as Naturals.  Their talents to read people and crime scenes are being honed.

Then a serial killer targets Cassie with a cat and mouse game for the highest stakes.

It's a fun glimpse of BAU training and has the slight hints of I Hunt Killers.  

BOOK CHALLENGE 2015 #8 -- A BOOK BASED ENTIRELY ON ITS COVER

It's so hard for me to pick up a book and not read the inner jacket.  It's nearly impossible.  After that initial love-fest with the cover, I have to see what a book is about.  Only I finally did it.  The book was called Beastkeeper.

As you can tell by the cover, it's stunning orange and black silhouette style draws the eye.  Then the white accents pulls the eye deeper into it and then you notice the intricate details throughout.

The story was good.  It was a interesting fairy tale.  I won't share any details about it.  Sorry.

BOOK CHALLENGE 2015 #7 A BOOK ON THE BYU HONORS LIST

An Ideal Husband (Image from Amazon)

The BYU Honors List has many titles to chose from from different periods of history and places around the world.  It was a difficult decision, but when I saw that Oscar Wilde was on there, I thought, "Why not?"

Since I was thinking of choosing another one of his works for a different challenge (Well, I still am, but that's beside the point), I went with An Ideal Husband.

I had watched the movie based on the play and thoroughly enjoyed it.  It stars Rupert Everett and Minnie Driver as Lord Goring and Mabel respectively.

So, I read it and am surprised to say that the play was even more amusing than the movie.

Main premise of the play is that Arthur, Lord Goring, has to help his friend who is being blackmailed by an old acquaintance.  Mrs. Cheveley wants a scheme to pass the House of Commons despite it being a swindle.

Taking place within 24 hours, the play is fast paced within the three acts.

A funny misadventure with witty banter among the characters.

BOOK CHALLENGE 2015 #6 A BOOK WITH A NUMBER IN THE TITLE

Book 2 One False Note

One False Note is the second book in the 39 Clues.  In this book, the two Cahills, Amy and Dan, travel into Germany and Vienna following the musical clue from the first book.  They follow the life of Mozart and of his sister as they try to find the next clue.  It's a race against others who are ruthless enough to kill.

With death-defying explosions, mystery, and adventure, they do pack a wallop. They have historical figures, places, and facts all throughout the book, but in such a way that I wasn't realizing I was learning things.  The books take those historic figures like Mozart, Ben Franklin, and Marie Antoinette and have them connected through the fictional Cahill family.

These books are in the Juvenile section of my public library.  Written by various authors including David Baldacci, Rick Riordan, and Margaret Peterson Haddix.  I picked up the first on a whim, and I must say that they are quite fun little books.

I would definitely recommend them.