Friday, January 21, 2011

Books = Movies... Question Mark...

Let me preface this entry with saying I work in a movie theater. So I am surrounded by the books here, and then within 2 years, their movies, there. What's actually funny is that I worked at Barnes and Noble during the last Harry Potter Release. And I have been at the theater for the latest 2 of the movie releases. Same goes for the Twilight series. I follow books wherever they go, apparently.

I have seen how the theaters advertise. Simple, cardboard stand-ups with flashy graphics. I am wondering if that would work with books? Could we treat the library like a theater, since so many of the books end up there anyway?

Here are some recent or future book=movies. How cool is the Beastly poster?













Saturday, January 15, 2011

Hold Me Closer Necromancer

I recently finished Hold Me Closer Necromancer.


Description:
Sam leads a pretty normal life. He may not have the most exciting job in the world, but he’s doing all right—until a fast food prank brings him to the attention of Douglas, a creepy guy with an intense violent streak. Turns out Douglas is a necromancer who raises the dead for cash and sees potential in Sam. Then Sam discovers he’s a necromancer too, but with strangely latent powers. And his worst nightmare wants to join forces . . . or else.  With only a week to figure things out, Sam needs all the help he can get. Luckily he lives in Seattle, which has nearly as many paranormal types as it does coffee places. But even with newfound friends, will Sam be able to save his skin?

Things I heart: I loved the characters and the humor. I also really liked how Sam was very accepting of his new found power, instead of the typical teen-angst-poor-me stuff, he took it very much in stride. 


Things I didn't heart: The only thing I didn't love, and it could just be me, I didn't think they explained the concepts of Necromancy very well. I understand why, and I get the author's over all point. I think that every time Douglas spoke about "the powers" he was a little full of himself so he spoke about them in these flowery vague terms, assuming prior knowledge.  I don't want to give too much away, but the mother, Tia also kind of bothers me. Mostly because she is typical. 

I would recommend it to anyone, but especially high school boys. It is sarcastic, funny and shows true friendships. 

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

2011 Debut Author Challenge

From The Story Siren:



Welcome to the third annual DEBUT AUTHOR CHALLENGE!

I'm extremely excited to be hosting the 2011 Debut Author Challenge! I've worked out a few kinks throughout the years and I'm hoping that this year will be even better than the last! This is a post where you can find out a little bit more about the challenge if you are unfamiliar with it and decide if you'd like to join up this year.


2011 Debut Author Challenge participant information:

  • The objective of the DAC is to read at least twelve novels from Young Adult or Middle Grade Authors. While twelve is the minimum there is no maximum limit! I encourage readers who can read more than twelve to do so!
  • Anyone can join. You don't have to be a blogger, and you don't have to live in the United States. 
  • You do not have to have an blog written in English to participate. 
  • You can join at anytime. Deadline to join is November 20, 2011. (not 2010 you still have PLENTY of time to sign up!) The challenge runs from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2011. 

Qualifying books:

  • Books must be a Young Adult or Middle Grade novel.
  • DO NOTE: Just because a book has a teen character or is about a teen, does not mean that it is necessarily a Young Adult novel. 
  • This must be the authors debut with a release date in 2011
  • If an author has a previous novel published under adult fiction/nonfiction or children's fiction/nonfiction, they can still qualify for the challenge if they are releasing their YA or MG debut. 

I have committed myself to at least reading 12 debut books, I figure one a month is a good start. I can be quite the slow reader sometimes. 


    2011 YA Reading Challenge


    Rules:
    1. Anyone can join. You don't need a blog to participate. Create a post about the challenge and link your challenge post up in the linky below.

    --Non-Bloggers: Post your list of books in the comment section of the wrap-up post.


    2. There are four levels:

    --The Mini YA Reading Challenge – Read 12 Young Adult novels.

    --The "Fun Size" YA Reading Challenge – Read 20 Young Adult novels.

    --The Jumbo Size YA Reading Challenge – Read 40 Young Adult novels.

    --The Mega size YA Reading Challenge – Read 50+ Young Adult novels.

    3. Audio, eBooks, paper, re-reads all count.

    4. No need to list your books in advance. You may select books as you go. Even if you list them now, you can change the list if needed.

    5. The Challenge starts on January 1, 2011 and goes until December 31, 2011.


    I am going to be realistic. I am a new YA Librarian and just getting back into reading so I am going to take the "Jumbo Size" challenge. and read 40 YA books.