Hey Fellow Book-Lovers,
So it’s been quite a while since I last posted anything on this blog. In fact, it’s been almost a whole year. The reason for that, is due to a complete lack of desire to read anything really and then later due to the hectic last year of college. Yep, you read that I right. I graduated from UNR!!! So now that that’s over and done with, I can actually dedicate some time to this blog. So with that in mind, expect some more updates to be coming your way!
Hey Fellow Book-Lovers,
So you may have noticed that I haven’t posted anything since the end of May. I’m sorry for that, I truly am. I haven’t been reading lately, so I haven’t been posting. I know I could have at least kept up with upcoming releases and book to movie news, but I haven’t.
For some unknown reason, I have had no desire to have anything to do with books. It’s as if I’ve lost my drive and passion for them or as if I’ve burned myself out in regards to them, and that scares me. Books have been the one constant in my life (as cheesy as that sounds) and having no desire to have anything to do with them is terrifying.
I honestly don’t know what to do. I’ve tried to read books that I was anxious to read before, and I get/feel nothing from doing so, sometimes going so far as to stop reading them altogether (which never happens). I’ve also tried taking a break from them completely, thinking that stress or work, school, and personal issues finally got to me and all I needed to do was chill for a bit before my itch to read came back. Neither have worked.
So now I’m turning to you. Have you ever experienced this? And if so, how did you get past it/overcome it?
Hey Fellow Book-Lovers,
I am extremely sorry that I haven’t posted anything in over a week now. It’s crunch time at school, so I have fifty million reports, papers, and presentations that I have to write and prepare for. This means little to no sleep for the now zombified me, as well as very little reading (because even in all this crazy-ness I can’t stop reading completely).
I should have something up (more than likely a review) in a couple of weeks once all the crazy-ness starts to taper off. So until then, happy reading!
Hey Fellow Book-Lovers,
So today’s topic is: 
I know I’ve used Goodreads (either as a link or as a reference) in almost all of my book reviews. I seriously would not read or know about nearly as many books as I do without the help of this site. The funny thing is that, although the site first started in 2007, I didn’t hear about it until nearly two years later, and I never would have heard of it unless I had interned at a local bookstore. Before this site, I had no real way to keep track of what I had read as well as whether I liked it or not and why I felt that way (I gave up on lists after I reached the fifth page of just books I owned and I hadn’t thought of blogging just yet).
Goodreads also provided me with a way to connect to others that were just as passionate a me about reading, as well as provided me with upcoming releases and other books that I might ike or be interested in. I think that the first time I ever logged into Goodreads I spent something like three hours just looking at and reading all of the different book descriptions and book lists that the site had to offer. I can still occasionally do that (I know I shouldn’t because my to-read list is quickly approaching 300 on Goodreads, but I just can’t seem to help myself).
Goodreads is an amazing site that I seriously do not know what I would do without. Recently though, Goodreads was acquired/bought by Amazon, and that has a lot of its users in a panic/uproar. Amazon has stated that they have no plans on changing Goodreads, and that they want to use it to expand on their ebooks. Otis Chandler, the founder of Goodreads, has also stated that Goodreads isn’t going to change and is going to remain unique, independent, and run by the same people as before.
Only time can tell what will happen though. For the time being, I am going to stick with Goodreads. But if anything major changes, I won’t hesitate to find a similar site (such as LibraryThing).
If you’re a Goodreads user, comment below and tell me your thoughts in the acquisition. I would love to hear from you.
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Photo Credit –> Goodreads logo
Hey Fellow Book-Lovers,
I know I mentioned in my last post that this time around would be another book review, but I haven’t finished reading Cinder yet. It’s not that it’s bad (it’s not), it’s just that lots of other things have come up so I haven’t had as much time for reading as I would like (insert crying me here). So instead of that I thought discussing one of my other book loves: comic books (or graphic novels as I prefer to read).
(And let us not forget Vertigo).
You see, my dad loves comic books, and between every two weeks and once a month, he would take my brother and I with him when he went to the comic book store to update his collection. For being patient and (somewhat) well-behaved when he was looking, he would buy us any comic book we wanted (within reason). This got me hooked on comics such as Michael Turner’s Fathom , Witchblade, and some others besides the classics of the Marvel and DC universes of course, as well as lesser known comics (because I was a kid and liked the cool cover).
Nowadays, it’s getting harder and harder to find comic books, especially if you want back issues or don’t know what you want and just want to browse. The last comic book store in town that I know of closed a while back, and so now, I have to rely on the internet or bigger named bookstores to get my fix. I mean, no offense to the internet, but I love going into a store and being able to see everything they have to offer. I want to be able to pick it up, and see it for myself. Maybe even read a few pages to see if I’m interested. The internet just doesn’t offer that. I might be able to get away with that in bigger name bookstore, but they just don’t offer as wide a variety of comic books or graphic novels that a comic book store would.
This seriously bums me out, because comic books were a big part of my childhood. I mean, I know the back story (and the different dimension spin-off tales) of almost every major superhero from the comics. It’s something I shared with my dad and my brother, and it’s something that draws people together (just look at Comic-Con of you don’t believe me). I don’t want comic books or the experiences you can gain from comic books to disappear.
Comment and share some of your opinions on or memories of comic books I’d love to hear from you.
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Photo Credit –> Big name comic book publishers
Hey Fellow Book-Lovers,
As I mentioned in my last post, I will be reviewing another book this time around. This is probably true for the next one as well (even if I should spend less time reading and more time studying). So without further ado…
Book: Touched
Author: Corrine Jackson
Genre: YA fiction
Series: Yes, this is book one in the Senses Thieves series
My Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
When I first read the description for Touched on Goodreads, I was seriously excited about the upcoming (okay so it was a few months out) release of this book, so when I saw this book in the bookstore the other day I immediately made it mine and started to read it as soon as I got home even though I was almost done reading Cinder by Melissa Meyer. Sad to say, I was disappointed.
Alright. So Touched is told from the perspective of Remy O’Malley, a seventeen year old who has the ability (or curse) of being able to heal others. This gift comes with a price though, as any injury she heals becomes her own, and she isn’t always able to stop herself from healing people, even if it might mean her death.
The book starts off with Remy being seriously abused by her step-daddy, a serious nutso named Dean. This beating lands her in the hospital as well as a surprise visit from her bio-dad, whom she hasn’t seen in years. Upon learning about the abuse she goes through on a regular basis with no interference by Remy’s mom, Ben (Remy’s bio-dad) has her move in with him and his family in Maine.
It’s there that she finally starts to find a home and a safe place (or so she thinks). This is also where she meets Asher Blackwell, who seems to know more about her abilities than she does. And it’s with his help that she learns more about her abilities and what it means to be a Healer. He also helps confronts an old enemy that is out to kill her and all she cares for.
That description has you intrigued right? I know it had me interested, a I mentioned before. You’re probably wondering then, why I’m giving this book such a low rating. The premise and concept of the book is what kept me reading until the end and why the rating isn’t lower. What had me giving the book a rating of 2.5 stars out of 5 was the relationship between Remy and Asher as well as some other minor details.
The relationship and those minor details I said are the cause all resemble that of Edward and Bella from Twilight. The resemblance is remarkable in fact. I mean a bad-boy who is more than he seems who constantly says he’s bad for the girl and yet can’t keep away, even going to far to show up unexpectedly in her yard at night underneath her window. Then there’s the girl. She sees nothing wrong with this behavior and instead seems to encourage it. That’s not to mention the woods as a main setting and someone out to get the poor girl who must be protected.
I may be too harsh and exaggerating a bit, but it’s still way too similar for my taste. With that said, I still want you guys to read it for yourself (maybe get it from your local library though). Some reviewers out there disagree with me and I want to hear your opinions of the book.
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Photo Credit –> Touched cover
Hey Fellow Book-Lovers,
So, tonight, I went and saw the movie The Host and I thought, “Hey, wouldn’t it be a cool idea to compare the movie to the book?” And before you say anything, yes, I know the movie rarely lives up to the book, but I have to tell you, this was actually pretty well done. Oh, and just so you’re forewarned, I won’t be really providing a description here of what it’s about like I usually do, but I will provide a link to one. First up, the book.
I have to tell you, at first, I was really wary of reading this book. I mean, I admit that I read Stephenie Meyer‘s Twilight saga, but honestly, I was not impressed (yet I read all of them trying to see what all the fuss was about). So when I heard that she has written another book,this time a sci-fi book, I planned on avoiding it, especially when it became popular like her other books had been.
Eventually I did give into peer pressure (or I wouldn’t be writing this) and I’m glad I did. Yes, the book did have some of the cheesy lines that any guy I know would not be caught dead uttering, situations where you’re thinking to yourself “yeah right” or “what the hell” (and not in a good, twisted plot kind of way), and of course Meyer’s ever-present love triangle was in full effect, but I still liked it. The concept was awesome and unique (or at least I think so), the character’s seemed real, with both flaws and strengths that make humans, well, human. It was written really well, and drew you into the world that Meyer’s had created, while at the same time creating vivid scenes and pictures for you.
So it was with some trepidation, that I went and saw the movie tonight. I was seriously worried that they (the producers, actors, whoever) would ruin or not be able to fully express all that the book had to offer and all that I loved about it.
Overall though, that didn’t happen and they did a good job of portraying all the main parts of the book that made it so good. Now, I’m not saying the movie is as good as the book. Of course it’s not. It is still good though.
Yes, I wish that they had tried to show us the different worlds that Wanderer (or Wanda as you may prefer) lived on in the past, but it wasn’t necessary to get the storyline across (it just would’ve been wicked to see). I also wanted to see more of the initial tension and suspicion that was so prominent in the book when Wanderer first came to be with the humans, as well as how that was gradually overcome. It’s hinted at in the movie, but once again, not a main focus of it.
The main thing that makes me think they did a good job with the movie is how the showed the interactions, conversations, and evolution of the relationship between Mel and Wanderer. I felt that this was really well done, and what made the movie.
I’ll leave you with that last opinion, but I’d love for you to go and see the movie yourself and tell me how the it lived up to your expectations.
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Photo Credit —> The Host book cover – The Host movie poster
Hey Fellow Book-Lovers,
Time for another review! Now I know you can’t really guess this from the past books I’ve reviewed, but I absolutely love dystopian novels right now. i am so happy that they’re becoming somewhat of a fad right now. So with that in mind, time to review one of the newest YA dystopian books.
Book: Doomed
Author: Tracy Deebs
Genre: YA fiction, sci-fi, dystopia
Series: Yes, 1st book in the Pandora Books series
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
So the tagline of Doomed is Beat the game. Save the world. And that is exactly what Pandora, the main (chick) protagonist of the book has to do alongside her classmates Eli and Theo, the incredibly sexy new-ish guys at school that just happen to be stepbrothers.The gane that has to be beat is an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Game) called Pandora’s Box. The game is set in the future where the world is in ruin thanks to how we’ve treated it.
The games as been altered by the same man who created a worm/computer virus that took down pretty much everything electronic across the world: the internet, cell phones, lights, traffic signals, everything. This same man unleashed the virus by hiding them within 12 pictures that he had his daughter, Pandora, unknowingly open. These pictures, along with letters, were sent to Pandora on her seventeenth birthday after 10-12 years off being absent. These pictures are the clues to winning the game and saving the world.
There quest to beat the game takes them on a road trip across the country. Where the trio is chased by “alphabet soup” (i.e. every security department acronym in the country such as the FBI). And all this has to be done before the world goes up in nuclear flames at the end of the countdown of ten days.
So I’ll leave you guys with that in regard to the description. I don’t want to give too much away. I loved the idea and the plot of this book. I mean first of all, it’s a dystopia novel. But it’s also more than that. It has Greek mythology weaved within in it in a very awesome way. The characters, while they could use some more development, are (somewhat) real with flaws and strengths. I say somewhat because, come on, guys like Eli and Theo, totally not real, and especially not in high school. It also brings up environmental issues, but in such a way that you’re not pressured to believe one way or another. It’s not trying to persuade you to believe as they (the author) do. And finally, the romance (you knew there was going to be one with a chick and two guys as the main characters) is pretty well done. As with the characters, it could use more development, but I feel it was a nice add-on to the main focus, which was Pandora, Eli, and Theo saving the world.
My only concern with the book is that while I was looking into the author, I found out that the book is actually one in a series. With the way it ended, I don’t see how it can really continue on with the same level of excitement and adventure.
I’ll leave you guys now, and ask you to read the book for yourself, and then tell me what you thought of it.
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Photo Credit — Doomed
Hey Fellow Book-Lovers,
From the picture, you might guess what today’s post is about. A while ago, I wrote about my first real memory of reading. In it though, I don’t think I truly made it clear why I love reading so very much. I feel like it’s time to rectify that. My love of reading doesn’t just come from the fact that it’s something my parent’s fostered with me, or the fact that visiting the library weekly became something of a family tradition. It’s something deeper than that. As Thomas Jefferson once said, “I cannot live without books.”
Now, I know you might not think I’m being serious, but I am. For me, books are my one true pleasure in life. I could not survive without reading. When I come home from a stressful day, have a fight with a friend or a family member, or just whatever, I can pick up a book and that will all just disappear.
Reading comforts me. It gives me something to look forward to. Reading broadens my mind and gives me something new and different to think about. It brings back memories of childhood and carefree times. Reading can give me new perspective on life or let me see things in a whole different light. It draws emotions from me and makes me feel things I never though possible from just black ink on paper (admit it, a few books have brought you to tears before or have made you laugh out loud like they’ve done to me). I think I would go crazy if I couldn’t read; it truly is that big a part of my life.
You may be thinking, “Wow, that’s one obsessed lady,” and you may be right, or, you may not have found something you’re as truly passionate about as I am about reading. I think Nora Ephron sums up my feelings best when she said,
“Reading is everything. Reading makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something, learned something, become a better person. Reading makes me smarter. Reading gives me something to talk about later on . . . Reading is escape, and the opposite of escape; it’s a way to make contact with reality after a day of making things up, and it’s a way of making contact with someone else’s imagination after a day that’s all too real. Reading is grist. Reading is bliss.”
Comment below telling me why you love reading.
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Photo Credit — I ❤ Reading
Hey Fellow Book-Lovers,
In my last post, I talked about new movies that will be coming out that are based on books. This time around, it’s about new YA books that are coming out soon (either this month or next month). In order to save your scrolling finger, I’ve added links to the Goodreads description for each book instead of including it in the post. And just so you are all forewarned, my next post will be a review of K. Esta’s serial novel, Dosterra.
Coming out this month:
Mila 2.0 by Debra Driza
To Be Realeased: 3-12
Promises to Keep by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
To Be Released: 3-12
Clockwork Princess (Infernal Dervices #3) by Cassandra Clare
To Be Released: 3-19
Pretty Girl-13 by Liz Coley
To Be Released: 3-19
Everafter (Kissed by an Angel #6) by Elizabeth Chandler
To Be Released: 3-19
17 & Gone by Nova Ren Suma
To Be Released: 3-21
Going Vintage by Lindsey Leavitt
To Be Released: 3-26
Wasteland (Wasteland #1) by Laurence Klavan and Susan Kim
To Be Released: 3-26
Coming out in April:
Vengeance Bound by Justina Ireland
To Be Released: 4-2
Light (Gone #6) by Michael Grant
To Be Released: 4-2
The Rising (Darkness Rising #3) by Kelley Armstrong
To Be Released: 4-19
Unbreakable (Unraveling #2) by Elizabeth Norris
To Be Released: 4-23
The Rules (Project Paper Doll #1) by Stacey Kade
To Be Released: 4-23
And Just FYI: The release date for the final book in the Divergent trilogy was released to the public. It’s set to come out October 22 of this year. I can’t wait!
Out of these, I am most looking forward to Clockwork Princess, The Rising, Unbreakable, and of course Divergent #3. Comment below telling me what new release you’re most looking forward to!
Photo Credits: Mila 2.0 – Promises to Keep – Clockwork Princess – Pretty Girl 13 – Everafter – 17 & Gone – Going Vintage – Wasteland – Vengeance Bound – Light – The Rising – Unbreakable – The Rules
First off, welcome to my blog. My name is Arianna Catmull. I am utterly in love with reading. Remember high school and that quiet, nerdy/geeky girl that was always reading? Yeah, that was me. Still is, even though I'm now a college graduate. I figure all that reading experience makes writing a blog about books just about a perfect fit.
The Book Nook 