Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Things That Make My Reading & Blogging Life Easier

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week.

This week’s theme is Top Ten Things That Make Your Life as a Reader/Book Blogger Easier. This is a toughie. Can I get to ten?

1) Goodreads: What is there to say? I love being able to keep track of my reading, love seeing what my friends are reading, love the great resources. One nifty aspect (yes, I used the word “nifty”) is being able to access so many cool stats about my reading. Author I’ve read the most? Check. All books I’ve rated 5-stars in 2013? Check. No end to the awesomeness of Goodreads.

2) The public library. I love my neighborhood branch. It’s clean, it’s bright, it has views of the ocean, and it has everything I could possibly want! I especially love being able to put in requests and have books transferred to my branch.

My library. I love it so.

3) Good book sections in the newspaper: My local newspaper has an excellent Sunday book section. In addition, a couple of years ago I treated myself to a mail subscription to the Book Review section of the Sunday New York Times. Both are wonderful resources for me to use to stay current on new releases, see what’s being promoted and what’s coming up, and keep up with all the various bestseller charts. Maybe (okay, more than likely) I’m a dinosaur for continuing to rely on paper resources, but I do find these invaluable.

4) NetGalley: A huge and heart-felt THANK YOU to NetGalley for providing access to all those wonderful pre-release review copies. Even though I don’t always get approved for the books I want, I get approved for a lot — and have read and reviewed some wonderful books thanks to this terrific resource. Plus, their Wellness Challenge earlier this year was so helpful!

5) Other bloggers: Oh, you guys! You rock! It’s such a thrill to interact on a regular basis with so many smart, funny, insightful people. I’ve found the book blogging community to be so warm and supportive in the 1+ year I’ve been blogging. Couldn’t do it without y’all!

6) Free tools: How I love the free stuff! My superstar go-to resources right now are Pixabay for free public domain images and Picmonkey for awesome photo editing tools. Of course, every once in a while, I’ve wanted a special something that I couldn’t find via a public domain image library — and I’ve found some great items via IStockPhoto. The prices are reasonable, and the selection is terrific!

7) Social media: For keeping up to date, as well as heaping doses of pop culture wackiness and nerdgirl fun, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest are endlessly helpful — and totally diverting, especially when a little procrastination is called for.

8) Post-It flags: Silly, right? But since I prefer to do my reading with physical books, and since I refuse to highlight or underline, these little flags are my go-to item for marking pages or passages that I want to find again. Especially for books I know I’ll be reviewing, they’re essential. (You should see my current book — it’s like a little rainbow flag all along the edge!)

I get a bit carried away sometimes.

9) Kindle/E-reader: I really do prefer physical books, but most of my review copies are e-books. On the down side, the review copy formatting is often problematic. On the plus side, I do love Kindle’s highlighting feature, which makes it so easy to mark and return to passages of interest.

10) My family: Much as they may mock me at times (“Reading? Again???”), my loved ones are pretty good about giving me quiet time when I need it to read, to write, to edit… so long as I come back and play board games or otherwise make myself useful when I’m done.

Oh, and I guess I’ll add in a #11! This one occurred to me on the late side, and I don’t want to delete any of my first ten…

11) Authors who rock! I really, really appreciate the authors who take the time to answer questions, interact with readers on a regular basis, and respond with warmth and friendliness when contacted. And the authors who’ve appeared in my local bookstores, signing books, and even taking pictures with fan after fan? Priceless!

I guess getting to ten wasn’t that hard after all! What’s on your list this week?

If you enjoyed this post, please consider following Bookshelf Fantasies! And don’t forget to check out our regular weekly features, Thursday Quotables and Flashback Friday. Happy reading!

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Do you host a blog hop or book blog meme? Do you participate in a meme that you really, really love? I’m building a Book Blog Meme Directory, and need your help! If you know of a great meme to include — or if you host one yourself — please drop me a note on my Contact page and I’ll be sure to add your info!

12Aug2013

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books With A Snowy Setting (brrrr!)

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week.

This week’s theme is Top Ten Favorite Books With X Setting. I always enjoy the topics that are a bit open-ended like this — it’s so much fun to see the creative ideas that bloggers come up with! I myself was feeling a bit less than creative… but for whatever weird reason, sitting here in the middle of summer, I started thinking about snow… and cold… and ice… and Antarctica. So for no very good reason, my theme this week is snowy settings — books that either take place entirely in a snowy or bitterly cold place, or have very memorable scenes that take place someplace full of snow and ice.

(A note about me: I HATE being cold. So this is a weird choice for me. Still. Here we go.)

The Snow Child A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1) The Silent Land The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, #1) The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia, #2) The Shining (The Shining, #1) The Long Winter (Little House, #6) Life As We Knew It (Last Survivors, #1) Midwives The Snowy Day

1) The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey: This magical story of a childless couple who may (or may not) have made a snow child that comes to life is full of bone-chilling descriptions of life on an Alaskan homestead.

2) A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin: The Wall! A giant wall made of ice! Need I say more?

3) The Silent Land by Graham Joyce: Honestly, one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read, set in and around a ski resort in the Pyrenees during an avalanche. Snow everywhere!

4)The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman: I just love the armored bears (hurray for Iorek Byrnison!) and the gloom and mystery of the Far North.

5) The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis: The White Witch has condemned Narnia to a never-ending winter. Snow, snow, everywhere! It actually looks lovely, but all the talking animals seem to want spring to arrive.

6) The Shining by Stephen King: A family spending the winter snowed in at a creepy mountainside hotel? Now there’s a recipe for a relaxing vacation!

7) The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder: Those blizzards scared the heck out of me at a young age.

8) Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer: An intense world-wide winter brought on by global natural disaster. Let this be a lesson to all of us: Keep canned food on hand at all times.

9) Midwives by Chris Bohjalian: Or, the perils of a home birth in the middle of winter in Vermont. Just saying.

10) The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats: A perfect picture of all the ways a kid can have fun on a day full of snow. Because I really should end this list on a cheery note, don’t you think?

I thought I’d have a hard time coming up with ten — but as it turns out, I could have kept going! So I’ll give “honorable mention” to a few more books set in the ice or snow, best read with a warm quilt and a cup of hot chocolate:

Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple (for the Antarctica scenes)
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
Ice Bound by Dr. Jerri Nielsen
Mrs. Mike by Benedict & Nancy Freedman
Odd & The Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman
The Wolves of Mercy Falls series by Maggie Stiefvater
The Ice Dragon by George R. R. Martin
The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse

See, I don’t compulsively include the same books every week! Look, I made it through a whole top 10 list without mentioning Harry Potter, The Sparrow, or Outlander… oops.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider following Bookshelf Fantasies! And don’t forget to check out our regular weekly features, Thursday Quotables and Flashback Friday. Happy reading!

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5Aug2013

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I Wish Had Sequels (so I could stay in those worlds just a little bit longer…)

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week.

This week’s theme is Top Ten Books I Wish Could Have Had Sequels. According to the description, the point here is to identify books or series that are complete (i.e., not open-ended or on-going) — but where you want more anyway! That sounds easy to me. How many times have I finished a book or series with tears — not because of the actual plot developments, but because I just didn’t want to leave that world? Here are my top 10 choices for fictional worlds I want to live in forever:

I never did get my acceptance letter…

1) Harry Potter: Well, obviously! J. K. Rowling may think she’s written all she needs to about Harry and friends, but I beg to disagree! I’d read about Harry and the gang any time, any place. They can be grown-up, middle-aged, and dealing with their mortgages — I don’t care. Take me back to Hogwarts, please! Don’t abandon me to the Muggle world just yet…

2) Lord of the Rings: I guess it’s clear that I belong in a fantasy world. I know there’s a lot of additional material available regarding Middle Earth, but I want more of THIS story. Tell me what Aragorn did once he was king! How did Frodo make out after he sailed away? I love the characters in LOTR so much, and I want to know what happened with the rest of their lives, even if they mostly sat around singing songs and smoking their pipes!

3) The Sparrow and Children of God by Mary Doria Russell: Children of God is the sequel to The Sparrow, and the story is certainly complete after the second book. Still, I’d like to know what happened to the children and descendants of the main characters, and how society developed back on the planet of Rakhat after all these events took place.

4) All Men of Genius by Lev AC Rosen: Here’s a book that just cries out for a sequel… and I believe the author still hopes to write one. The world of All Men of Genius is original and engaging and just SO MUCH FUN. Please, please, please do more!

5) The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley: I believe that the author has said that she’s written all that she intends to in this world — the kingdom of Damar — but I’d love to see another adventure involving the unforgettable Harry Crewe and King Corlath.

6) The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger: Again, this story had a very definitive ending, as it should have. And yet… I’d love to see TTW: The Next Generation. After all, there’s still Alba. What was her life like? How did she manage her gift? How was her experience impacted by the scientific discoveries brought about by Henry and his research? I’d really love to know.

7) His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman: Just rip out my heart and leaving me hanging, why don’t you? I need more Lyra, I need more Will, I need to know that they find a way to see each other again!

8) Codex Alera by Jim Butcher: The series had a great ending — but I would have happily continued reading about Tavi, Kitai, and their realm.

9) Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell: Yes, I do know that there was an officially sanctioned sequel (Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley) — but it wasn’t written by Margaret Mitchell, so for me, it doesn’t count. I actually disliked Scarlett very, very much, and unless it came from the pen of Margaret Mitchell, I refuse to believe that that’s how Scarlett’s story was supposed to go. So there!

10) Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer: Because I want to know whether spending eternity with ~~your stalker~~ the guy you fell for in your teens — with everything about him always staying exactly, exactly the same — is really that great a life. And just how many times can you sit through high school?

I’m sure there are plenty of book worlds that I’d love to go back to. Which obvious ones did I miss? What books do you think would be even more perfect with a sequel or two? And seriously, can someone please convince JKR to write another HP book or seven?

If you enjoyed this post, please consider following Bookshelf Fantasies! And don’t forget to check out our regular weekly features, Thursday Quotables and Flashback Friday. Happy reading!

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29Jul2013

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Favorite Beginnings/Endings In Books

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week.

This week’s theme is Top Ten Favorite Beginnings/Endings in Books. For me, I’ll focus mainly on opening lines or passages, but with a few endings thrown in as well. (No spoilers, I promise!)

Great beginnings:

1) A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens: Can you get more perfect than this?

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way…

2) Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell:

Scarlett O’Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm as the Tarleton twins were.

3) The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger: I love the entire prologue (and the entire book). This isn’t the first paragraph in the prologue, but it sums up the mood of the book so vividly:

Long ago, men went to sea, and women waited for them, standing on the edge of the water, scanning the horizon for the tiny ship. Now I wait for Henry. He vanishes unwillingly, without warning. I wait for him. Each moment that I wait feels like a year, an eternity. Each moment is as slow and transparent as glass. Through each moment I can see infinite moments lined up, waiting. Why has he gone where I cannot follow?

4) Outlander by Diana Gabaldon: The entire introductory piece is so wonderful that I have to include the whole thing:

People disappear all the time. Ask any policeman. Better yet, ask a journalist. Disappearances are bread-and-butter to journalists.

Young girls run away from home. Young children stray from their parents and are never seen again. Housewives reach the end of their tether and take the grocery money and a taxi to the station. International financiers change their names and vanish into the smoke of imported cigars.

Many of the lost will be found, eventually, dead or alive. Disappearances, after all, have explanations.

Usually.

5) The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell: The prologue is too long to include in its entirety, but here’s the very first sentence:

It was predictable, in hindsight.

And the last sentence of the prologue:

They meant no harm.

I love how the prologue lets us know that the actions in this story were taken with the best of intentions… but that things went horribly wrong. The rest of the novel explains the how and why, but the prologue is just perfect in setting the tone and the mood for everything that follows.

6) The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams:

Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.

Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-eight million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.

7) The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman:

There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife.

Ending with a bang:

8) A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens: Yes, again! One of my very favorite book lines:

It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.

9) Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell: Proving that baseless optimism is as least quote-worthy:

I’ll think of it all tomorrow, at Tara. I can stand it then. Tomorrow, I’ll think of some way to get him back. After all, tomorrow is another day.

10) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling: Is there a more satisfying ending than these three words?

All was well.

BONUS BEGINNING:

I was all ready to wrap up this post and consider it done, when my son pointed out to me that I left out something important. So here’s one more great beginning that really shouldn’t be overlooked:

The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien:

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider following Bookshelf Fantasies! And don’t forget to check out our regular weekly features, Thursday Quotables and Flashback Friday. Happy reading!

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22Jul2013

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Words/Topics That Make Me Run For The Hills

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week.

This week’s theme is Top Ten Words/Topics That Will Make You NOT pick up a book. I can’t necessarily say that there are ten words that are absolute no-nos for me, but here are a few words and general concepts that will pretty much guarantee that a book isn’t for me. (And of course, I absolutely reserve the right to change my mind at a moment’s notice!)

1) Legal thriller/courtroom drama: Mostly, these just put me to sleep. I’ve read some Scott Turow and John Grisham, but I’m done now, thanks.

2) Shopping/”shopoholic”: I just can’t stand fiction that makes me feel like I’m reading an issue of Vogue or W. No name dropping of designer brands, please! No catwalks, no models, no fashion. Not for me, especially not in my reading.

3) Baking/Cupcakes: What’s with all those books with cutesie dessert themes? I love to eat (especially desserts!), but I’m not a foodie. I don’t want to read about people’s cooking and baking habits in my fiction.

4) Angels: First it was vampires, then werewolves, then a host of other supernatural beings, but it seems that angels have been getting more and more popular in YA fiction over the last several years… and I have no interest at all.

5) Brides: Nope, I don’t want to read fiction where the sole focus is on wedding planning, getting engaged, or landing Mr. Right.

6) Academia: Novels set in universities, dealing with interdepartmental struggles, fights for tenure, etc just don’t appeal to me. Unless there’s a twist, as in A Discovery of Witches or The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane — in which case, scholarly research totally works!

7) “My year of”: It seem like half the non-fiction titles that get lots of attention are versions of “My Year Of…” — my year of following the Bible, my year of reading self-help books, my year of not spending money, on and on.

8) “The Next”: This is really more a complaint about marketing than about the books themselves, but I wish publishers would stop blurbing new books with the phrase “the next” — as in “the next Harry Potter!” or “the next Twilight!” or “the next Hunger Games!”. When I see those words on a book cover, I just think that the publisher/marketer must be kind of desperate. Let it stand on its own! Books billed this way almost never live up to the hype, and it’s not fair to expect them to.

9) Heinous crimes/serial killers/grisly murders: My tolerance for reading about hideous, violent crime has shrunken to almost nil. It’s not that I need everything neat and rose-colored, and I don’t mind reading about awful events if it’s in the service of an amazing plot. But I will just never be drawn to a book that’s strictly a police procedural plotline.

10) Covers like these:

Kiss of Snow (Psy-Changeling, #10) Changing the Game (Play by Play, #2) The Duke of Shadows To Tame A Highland Warrior (Highlander #2)

No bare chests on my books. ‘Nuff said.

I realize that this list makes me sound like a big curmudgeon. But truthfully, it was a lot easier putting together a list of words/topics that are my “yesses”! Are any of my turn-offs on your list this week? Or do you love any of the ones that I hate? Share your thoughts in the comments!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider following Bookshelf Fantasies! And don’t forget to check out our regular weekly features, Thursday Quotables and Flashback Friday. Happy reading!

15Jul2013

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Authors Who Deserve More Recognition

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week.

This week’s theme is Top Ten Authors Who Deserve More Recognition. My top ten are:

1) Mary Doria Russell: I love everything she’s written, but my absolute favorite is and always will be her first novel, The Sparrow. I can never refrain from gushing about this book — so don’t get me started!

2) Nicole Peeler: If you enjoy urban fantasy, love feisty female lead characters, and a great sense of humor, check out this author’s recently completed Jane True series.

3) Lev AC Rosen: His first novel, All Men of Genius, was published in 2011, and has been on my list of favorites ever since I read it. The funny, complicated plot zooms along, filled with a steampunk sensibility and shades of Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde. Just delightful.

4) Octavia Butler: This amazing science fiction writer is no longer with us, but her impact on the genre and on literature in general should get much more attention than I think it does. Her work is often hard to take. Nothing is sugar-coated, nothing is prettied up. In books like Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents, she presents a terribly bleak vision of a not-too-distant future. Still, I’ve read very little that matches the power of her writing, and I recommend Octavia Butler’s books to just about everyone.

5) Bee Ridgway: Debut author Bee Ridgway published one of my favorite books of 2013, The River of No Return, and I’ve been raving about it to anyone who’ll listen. If you enjoy historical fiction, time travel, and unforgettable characters, check it out!

6) Nancy Werlin: This author has written two of my favorite young adult books about faerie magic and curses, Impossible and Extraordinary. I’m eagerly awaiting the publication of her new book, Unthinkable, this fall.

7) Bill Willingham: Okay, Bill Willingham’s Fables series is wildly popular in the comics/graphic novels world, but people who don’t normally gravitate to that genre are missing out! Seriously, even if you don’t normally read graphic novels, give the Fables series a try. I know I was immediately hooked. With amazing depth, character development, and suspense, these books are truly remarkable.

8) Graham Joyce: I’m not sure how well known Graham Joyce is in the US, although I believe he’s quite successful in the UK. I fell in love with his 2010 novel, The Silent Land, and have been slowly working my way through more of his books since then.

9) Siobhan Fallon: As far as I know, this author has one book to her name, an incredibly powerful short story collection called You Know When The Men Are Gone. I don’t usually care for short stories at all, but I loved this book and recommend it every chance I get.

10) Robert Galbraith: LOL. If I’d written this list a week ago, you’d be justified in asking, “Robert who?” But in light of this week’s big reveal, I doubt that Robert Galbraith will lack for attention in the slightest!

Have you read any books by the authors on my list? If so, do you agree that he or she deserves more attention?

Thanks for stopping by! And don’t forget, it’s not too late to enter my blogoversary giveaway!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider following Bookshelf Fantasies! And don’t forget to check out our regular weekly features, Thursday Quotables and Flashback Friday. Happy reading!

8Jul2013

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Best/Worst Movies Adapted From Books

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week.

This week’s theme is Top Ten Best/Worst Movie Adaptations. Back in December, I did a top 10 list featuring the top 10 movie versions of classic books — so in the interest of not repeating myself, I am not including any of those movies here. After all, I am not Clueless, and I do have some Pride (and Prejudice). I wouldn’t want my blog readers to be Gone With The Wind due to my Vanity (Fair). (Click on the link above if you want to see all of my classic choices!)

Best:

1) Much Ado About Nothing: The new black-and-white film directed by Joss Whedon is modern, funny, snappy, and a pure delight.

2) The Hunger Games: I don’t know about you, but I was very pleasantly surprised by how great this movie turned out to be. Maybe it helped that I hadn’t read the book in a couple of years, so I couldn’t indulge in my usual post-movie nitpickiness. In any case, I thought The Hunger Games managed to pull off the very hard combination of being faithful to the tone and overall content of the book while still managing to be cinematic and a great piece of entertainment on its own merit.

3) Lord of the Rings trilogy: These movies are all just so, so beautiful and inspiring. Visually stunning, gorgeously acted, all put together so perfectly.

4) Coraline: I loved this animated adaptation of the Neil Gaiman book. The Other Mother was appropriately creepy, and watching the movie really felt like stepping inside the book.

5) Carrie: Sure, this is going back a ways, but there’s something so iconic about the shot of Sissy Spacek covered in blood. The movie captured the horror of Stephen King’s novel so effectively, and managed to be super-scary and surprising even for people who’d read the book.

Worst:

1) The Other Boleyn Girl: Does it count as a bad adaptation if the source material wasn’t great to begin with? I have a circular relationship with this movie and book. I saw a trailer for the movie, thought it looked good so I decided to read the book, wasn’t crazy about the book, and then found the movie disappointing as well. Eric Bana was so miscast as Henry, and Natalie Portman just wasn’t Anne Boleyn. Plus, the plot of the movie veered off in strange ways from the plot of the book, which already took a lot of liberties with the story. Just not good, all the way around.

2) The Hobbit: Sorry, Peter Jackson, but one wonderful book does not need to be three movies. The Hobbit movie was not boring to watch, just overstuffed. J. R. R. Tolkien wrote a terrific, compact piece of fiction. Other than making more money, why split it into a trilogy?

3) The Time Traveler’s Wife: Terrible casting, especially Eric Bana as Henry. (Hmm, maybe I just have a problem with Eric Bana playing characters named Henry?). The Time Traveler’s Wife is one of my very favorite books, but I found the movie bland and watered-down, without the book’s tragic arc and sense of doomed romance.

4) The Stepford Wives: Maybe it’s dated, but the book by Ira Levin was definitely a suspenseful thriller in its day. The 2004 movie version starring Nicole Kidman tried to be a comedy and failed miserably. Just painful to sit through.

Mixed bag:

The Harry Potter movies! Look, I’m a huge fan of the books, and I like — sometimes even love — the movies, but the books and the movies feel like totally different animals. The first two Harry Potter movies were not good works cinematically. They were so faithful to the books that they didn’t stand on their own as movies (if that makes sense), and had more of a juvenile sentiment to them than was necessary. I liked the Prisoner of Azkaban very much as a movie, if I overlooked the sometimes glaring departures from the book. Still, it had a sense of style that was its own, thanks to director Alfonso Cuarón, and was both fun and suspenseful to watch. In some ways, I consider Goblet of Fire to be the best movie. I loved the Triwizard competition set-pieces, including the dragon chases, the underwater scenes, and the hedge maze. Yes, there’s the problematic portrayal of Dumbledore in this one, which I know upset a lot of HP fans (myself included) — but as a movie, it was quite spectacular. The Half-Blood Prince movie didn’t feel quite right to me, perhaps because of the omitted background scenes and the changes to the climax which made the events make less sense on screen than they did in the book. And the Deathly Hallows movies? Amazing, in some ways — visually stunning, with some very satisfying emotional pay-offs (Snape!), and I loved the illustrations used for the tale of the three brothers… but also long and with some strange choices in terms of what was included and what was cut. Kudos to the Deathly Hallows movie, thought, for explaining the whole Elder Wand mumbo-jumbo much more concisely than the book ever did.

So what books-into-movies make your top 10 this week? Any you especially love or hate?

If you enjoyed this post, please consider following Bookshelf Fantasies! And don’t forget to check out our regular weekly features, Thursday Quotables and Flashback Friday. Happy reading!

17Jun2013

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books on My Summer TBR List

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week.

This week’s theme is Top Ten Books At The Top Of My Summer TBR (To-Be-Read) List. I splurged quite a bit this spring on brand new books (thanks especially to some extraordinarily well-timed gift cards — hurray for gift cards!). Unfortunately, my reading has not kept up with my buying, so most of those lovely new books are still sitting on my shelf, waiting… waiting… waiting…

I just had to buy these books — and I’m hoping to settle down with at least a few (if not all) of these this summer. Here are the top 10 books that I’m really dying to read in the coming months:

The Golem and the Jinni

1) The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

2) The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

Life After Life

3) Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

A Tale for the Time Being

4) A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

The Firebird

5) The Firebird by Susanna Kearsley

Out of the Easy

6) Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys

Midwinterblood

7) Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick

Joyland

8) Joyland by Stephen King

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk

9) Billy Lynn’s Long Half-Time Walk by Ben Fountain

Saga, Volume 1 (Saga #1-6) Saga, Volume 2

10) Saga, volumes 1 & 2 by Brian K. Vaughan

What’s at the top of your summer reading list?

Have you voted in my vacation reading poll yet? Rather than pick my own reading material for my upcoming trip, I thought I’d let everyone else do it for me! Here’s the link to see the options and cast your vote. Choose wisely! Whichever books get the most votes by Friday are going straight into my suitcase.

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10Jun2013

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Beach Reads

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week.

This week’s theme is Top Ten Beach Reads. When I hear the words “beach reads”, I picture a blanket, a sun umbrella, some palm trees, white sand, gently rolling waves… Bliss!

What makes a good beach read? Nothing too heavy or sad — no tears allowed at the beach! It should be engrossing enough to hold your attention despite all the beach-y distractions — but nothing that you couldn’t put down at a moment’s notice in order to run back into the surf or go get another piña colada. Extra points for a summery setting, maybe an island getaway or a beach town, a cottage on the dunes, or even a barbecue or two.

As usual, the big challenge was in limiting myself to just ten… so here is my top 10 list containing slightly more than ten books:

1) Firefly Beach by Luanne Rice — or really, pretty much anything by Luanne Rice. This author specializes in stories of sisters and families, usually in beach town settings, somewhere with a coast or a harbor. You can practically feel the sea spray and hear the waves crashing when you read these books.

2) The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares. This story of four friends, one pair of jeans, and and an unforgettable summer strikes just the right balance of ups and downs, with plenty of self-discovery and girl power.

3) Another sisterhood book: Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells. Southern fiction at its best! Mothers, daughters, friends, secrets — just emotional and involving enough to enjoy on the beach, maybe with a mint julep to help move things along.

4) What’s beach reading without a good family saga or two? Something that spans generations, sweeping in scope — enough to keep you from nodding off in the sun. A few “classic” family sagas perfect for the beach would be Evergreen by Belva Plain, The Immigrants by Howard Fast, or The Bastard by John Jakes.

5) An afternoon at the beach is the perfect time to sink your teeth (ha!) into the first volume of a good, juicy urban fantasy series. I’d go with Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse, #1) by Charlaine Harris, Tempest Rising (Jane True, #1) by Nicole Peeler, or Soulless (The Parasol Protectorate, #1) by Gail Carriger. Nothing says summer like vampires, werewolves, and selkies!

6) How about something utterly silly? The island setting makes this one a beach read for me: Island of the Sequined Love Nun by Christopher Moore. Almost all of my top 10 lists include a Christopher Moore book. Why stop now?

7) If this is a serious beach vacation — we’re talking a week in Maui, not just a couple of hours at the local strip of sand — then a big chunky book with lots of plot will keep you going for days (or weeks) at a time. I’d pick A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin or Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. Not the sunniest subject matter, but you won’t lose interest and you won’t run out of reading material.

8) For that New England summer feel, there’s Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead, a story of a WASP wedding weekend in which nothing goes as planned.

9) I think I need to mention a young adult favorite of mine: Sea Change by Aimee Friedman, about a city girl forced to spend a summer on a remote island with big secrets. There’s love, there’s a mystery, and there are beautiful beaches! I have the impression that not that many people have read Sea Change, which is a shame. It’s lovely and romantic, yet with a lead female character who stands up for herself and makes some healthy choices.

10) And my final selection is one that I took on vacation a few years ago, and which worked out perfectly for me as a beach read: My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me: Forty New Fairy Tales by Kate Bernheimer (editor). This collection includes stories by some truly amazing writers (Neil Gaiman, Kelly Link, Karen Joy Fowler, and more). Each story is captivating, but you can easily toss the book aside in between stories for a quick dip in the water or a game of beach volleyball.

Ah, summer…

What will you be reading on the beach this year?

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3Jun2013

Top Ten Tuesday: Planes, Trains & Automobiles: Top Ten Books Featuring Travel

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week.

This week’s theme is Top Ten Books Featuring Travel In Some Way (road trips, airplanes, travelogues, anything where there is traveling in the book) . Great topic for kicking off all that summer reading we’re just dying to get to… and for getting in the mood for summer vacation!

I may be stretching a bit for some of these, but here are the top ten books I’ve read that involve planes, trains, automobiles… ships, horses, spaceships… So long as it’s a form of transportation, it counts! (Note: I’m providing links to the books on this list which I’ve reviewed here at Bookshelf Fantasies. Click if you want to find out more!)

1) Voyager by Diana Gabaldon. Book three in the amazing Outlander series features a whole boatload of travel, literally, as our heroes make a perilous Atlantic crossing, back in the days before luxury cruise ships. 18th century sea voyages were not pretty, people.

Voyager (Outlander, #3)

2) Morgan’s Run by Colleen McCullough. Another sea voyage! Another really uncomfortable, unhygienic, and altogether awful sea voyage, in this case transporting prisoners from England to the newly established penal colonies in Australia. Terrific book, terrible travel conditions.

Morgan's Run

3) Beauty Queens by Libba Bray. Think of a cross between Drop Dead Gorgeous and Survivor, and you get an idea of the weird zaniness that is Beauty Queens, an amazingly funny young adult novel about a group of teen beauty contestants stranded on a deserted island after a plane crash.

Beauty Queens

4) Changeless by Gail Carriger. Speaking of air travel — the 2nd book in Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate series features a delightful journey (or float, to use the correct parlance) by dirigible. Very proper, very Victorian, very fashionable.

Changeless (Parasol Protectorate, #2)

5) The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving by Jonathan Evison. This affecting, sad-with-a-touch-of-humor tale of a caregiver and his young charge includes an ill-advised road trip through the American West, with stops at bizarre roadside attractions such as the world’s biggest pit. (review)

The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving

6) Snow Mountain Passage by James D. Houston. Talk about a terrible journey. You really can’t get much worse than the horse and wagon caravan crossing the Sierra Nevadas in the middle of winter. Yes, this book is about the Donner party — but quite a bit of it is about the caravan’s ill-fated early stages as the wagons cross mile after mile of wilderness in hopes of making it to the golden land of California before first snow.

Snow Mountain Passage

7) Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed. My only non-fiction title on this week’s list, Wild is a travelogue within a memoir — or is a memoir within a travelogue? Take one terribly unprepared hiker, put her on a months-long journey by foot from Southern California to the Washington/Oregon border, and you get a riveting tale of travel and self-discovery. And lots of drama about the condition of the author’s feet. (review)

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

8) NOS4A2 by Joe Hill. Maybe not an obvious choice for a list about travel, but this super-creepy horror novel revolves around several key vehicles: a Rolls Royce Wraith, a Triumph motorcycle, and a Raleigh Tuff Burner bicycle. Hell on wheels, indeed. (review)

NOS4A2

9) Mrs. Queen Takes the Train by William Kuhn. Main character Elizabeth (as in, her royal highness the Queen of England), bored one day, decides to get on a public train and go visit her decommissioned yacht. Mrs. Queen quite enjoys her train voyage, rubbing elbows with her unsuspecting subjects and visiting the snack car. Quite a remarkable outing, all in all. (review)

Mrs. Queen Takes the Train

10) I did say something about spaceships, didn’t I? For my #10 entry, it’s a toss-up between several sci-fi books that feature long and important journeys by spaceship to far-off worlds. Hey, it’s a kind of travel! My favorite space travel books are:

The Sparrow (The Sparrow, #1) Children of God (The Sparrow, #2) Redshirts Across the Universe (Across the Universe, #1)

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell (and the sequel, Children of God) — for serious questions about faith, with truly unforgettable, heartbreaking characters
Redshirts by John Scalzi — if you want to laugh out loud (review)
Across the Universe by Beth Revis — for a bit of YA romance mixed into a mysterious space adventure

Honorable mention:

Because I never seem to be able to stop at just ten, I’ll include a few other books that popped out at me before I could hit “publish”.

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight Just One Day (Just One Day, #1) Where'd You Go, Bernadette Life of Pi

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith — on an airplane!
Just One Day by Gayle Forman — on a train! on a boat! (review)
Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple — on a cruise to Antarctica! (review)
Life of Pi by Yann Martel — on a lifeboat! With a tiger!

Okay, stopping now. What did I miss? What are your favorite books featuring travel? In looking back at my list, I see an awful lot of awful travel experiences. I hope you came up with a cheerier batch of books than I did!

Happy trails!

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