Tag Archives: weekly features

Thursday Quotables: Girl Waits With Gun

Posted in Thursday Quotables by

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Welcome back to Thursday Quotables! This weekly feature is the place to highlight a great quote, line, or passage discovered during your reading each week.  Whether it’s something funny, startling, gut-wrenching, or just really beautifully written, Thursday Quotables is where my favorite lines of the week will be, and you’re invited to join in!

NEW! Thursday Quotables is now using a Linky tool! Be sure to add your link if you have a Thursday Quotables post to share.

girl-waits-with-gun

Girl Waits With Gun by Amy Stewart
(published 2015)

I’m listening to this audiobook, and absolutely love it! I had a hard time coming up with a passage to share, so I think I’ll just go with the opening of chapter 1, which gives a hint of the quirky charm that’s to come:

Our troubles began in the summer of 1914, the year I turned thirty-five. The Archduke of Austria had just been assassinated, the Mexicans were revolting, and absolutely nothing was happening at our house, which explains why all three of us were riding to Paterson on the most trivial of errands. Never had a larger committee been convened to make a decision about the purchase of mustard powder and the replacement of a claw hammer whose handle had split from age and misuse.

Against my better judgment I allowed Fleurette to drive. Norma was reading to us from the newspaper as she always did.

“Man’s Trousers Cause Death,” Norma called out.

“It doesn’t say that.” Fleurette snorted and turned around to get a look at the paper. The reins slid out of her hands.

“It does,” Norma insisted. “It says that a Teamster was in the habit of hanging his trousers over the gas jet at night but, being under the influence of liquor, didn’t notice that the trousers smothered the flame.”

“Then he died of gas poisoning, not of trousers.”

What lines made you laugh, cry, or gasp this week? Do tell!

If you’d like to participate in Thursday Quotables, it’s really simple:

  • Write a Thursday Quotables post on your blog. Try to pick something from whatever you’re reading now. And please be sure to include a link back to Bookshelf Fantasies in your post (http://www.bookshelffantasies.com), if you’d be so kind!
  • Click on the linky button (look for the cute froggie face) below to add your link.
  • After you link up, I’d love it if you’d leave a comment about my quote for this week.
  • Be sure to visit other linked blogs to view their Thursday Quotables, and have fun!

Top Ten Tuesday: Top ten despicable bad guys in fiction

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by

TTT autumn 2_bsf

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is all about villains — fictional bad guys, TV bad guys, villains we secretly love, or any other spin on the topic.

I’m focusing on really awful fictional villains. Not the “love to hate” kind — there’s no secret love here. I just straight up despise all of these characters — no shades of gray or redeeming characteristics or hidden hearts of gold.

villain

My 10 most hideous, despicable villains fall into two categories — the “real” people, as in, those who inhabit our world and are merely human, albeit terrible humans, and the fantasy/otherworldy villains; who are more easily classified as evil due to their superhuman or supernatural powers.

In the non-fantasy category:

1) Black Jack Randall (Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon): A sadist who delights in inflicting terror, pain, and psychological damage.

2) Stephen Bonnet (Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon): A pirate who’s casually cruel just because. He causes so much harm to beloved characters without even blinking an eye.

3) Dolores Umbridge (Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling): I include Dolores Umbridge in the real-world section of my list because what makes her so terrible is not her magic, but her mundane cruelty. She’s a despotic bureaucrat who enjoys using her power to make others suffer, not through charms or hexes, but by wielding her authoritarian control.

It’s a lot easier, in some ways, to come up with a list of horrible villains from fantasy worlds:

4) Voldemort (Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling): He Who Must Not Be Named. You Know Who. The Dark Lord. Tom Riddle. I don’t think I need to explain this one, do I?

5) Charles Manx (NOS4A2 by Joe Hill): One of the scariest horror novels I’ve ever read features one of the scariest bad guys in fiction. Wow. It gives me the shivers to think about this book too much.

6) The Beast (The Magicians series by Lev Grossman): The Beast is a thing of horror who used to be a person, and I won’t give away more than that — but the horror caused by the Beast is really awful.

7) Sauron (Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien): As with Voldemort, I’m not sure someone who represents ultimate evil needs an explanation!

8) Queen Levana (The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Mayer): Even though Fairest offers a glimpse into Levana’s childhood and seems to provide a teeny grasp at sympathy for her, Levana is such a cruel psycho that she remains an thoroughly villainous character.

9) Joffrey Baratheon (A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin): Horrible little shit.

10) Walder Frey (A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin): Worst host ever, basically.

(Dis)honorable mention (because I ran out of room):

  • From the world of Fables, the amazing graphic novel series by Bill Willingham, come two terrible bad guys who pretty much tear worlds apart: The Adversary and Mister Dark. And because The Adversary’s true identity is a secret for quite a while, I’ll avoid spoilers and not say any more about this character.

What villains made your lists this week? Share your link, please, and I’ll come check out your top 10!

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

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Do you host a book blog meme? Do you participate in a meme that you really, really love? I host a Book Blog Meme Directory, and I’m always looking for new additions! 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!

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Thursday Quotables: The Magician’s Land

Posted in Thursday Quotables by

quotation-marks4

Welcome back to Thursday Quotables! This weekly feature is the place to highlight a great quote, line, or passage discovered during your reading each week.  Whether it’s something funny, startling, gut-wrenching, or just really beautifully written, Thursday Quotables is where my favorite lines of the week will be, and you’re invited to join in!

NEW! Thursday Quotables is now using a Linky tool! Be sure to add your link if you have a Thursday Quotables post to share.

Magician's Land

The Magician’s Land by Lev Grossman
(published 2014)

My progress is slower than I’d really like (crazy week), but I’m finally approaching the end of the Magicians trilogy! I’ve really enjoyed these books… but it’s hard to find meaningful passages that work for Thursday Quotables and which make any sense at all out of context.

I’ll give it a try anyway. Ever wonder what it would be like to experience the world as a blue whale? Main character Quentin gets the chance to find out:

He noticed everything but was concerned with nothing. Drake Passage had the worst weather in the world, literally, but all that meant was that when he surfaced for a breath, once every fifteen minutes or so, the waves broke a little harder against his wide, slick back. He and Plum were great blue gods, flying wingtip to wingtip, and everything around them paid homage to them. Fish, jellyfish, shrimp, sharks; once he spotted a great white, swaggering along by itself through the depths with its permanent shit-eating grin. It had so many teeth it looked like it had braces. Nature’s perfect killing machine! Go on with your bad self. No, really. It’s cute.

What lines made you laugh, cry, or gasp this week? Do tell!

If you’d like to participate in Thursday Quotables, it’s really simple:

  • Write a Thursday Quotables post on your blog. Try to pick something from whatever you’re reading now. And please be sure to include a link back to Bookshelf Fantasies in your post (http://www.bookshelffantasies.com), if you’d be so kind!
  • Click on the linky button (look for the cute froggie face) below to add your link.
  • After you link up, I’d love it if you’d leave a comment about my quote for this week.
  • Be sure to visit other linked blogs to view their Thursday Quotables, and have fun!

Top Ten Tuesday: Top ten books on my TBR list for fall 2016

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by

TTT autumn 2_bsf

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is the top ten books on our fall to-be-read lists. Only ten? I’ll give it a try. Some of these are recent and upcoming releases, and some are books that may have been around for a little while.

My top ten books to read this fall:

1) Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult

small great things

2) Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty

Truly Madly Guilty

3) Cross Talk by Connie Willis

crosstalk

4) Paris For One and Other Stories by Jojo Moyes

paris-for-one

5) Heartless by Marissa Meyer

heartless

6) Yesternight by Cat Winters

yesternight

7) Ghost Talkers by Mary Robinette Kowal

Ghost Talkers

8) Miss Jane by Brad Watson

miss-jane

9) Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld

Eligible

10) The Wonder by Emma Donoghue

The Wonder

What books are on your fall TBR list? Share your link, please, and I’ll come check out your top 10!

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

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Do you host a book blog meme? Do you participate in a meme that you really, really love? I host a Book Blog Meme Directory, and I’m always looking for new additions! 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!

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Thursday Quotables: The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo

Posted in Thursday Quotables by

quotation-marks4

Welcome back to Thursday Quotables! This weekly feature is the place to highlight a great quote, line, or passage discovered during your reading each week.  Whether it’s something funny, startling, gut-wrenching, or just really beautifully written, Thursday Quotables is where my favorite lines of the week will be, and you’re invited to join in!

NEW! Thursday Quotables is now using a Linky tool! Be sure to add your link if you have a Thursday Quotables post to share.

amy-schumer

The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer
(published 2016)

I never really thought of myself as a fan of Amy Schumer. I mean, I enjoy her show when I happen to catch it, and yeah, she does make me laugh — but now that I’m reading her new book, I think I can honestly say that I LOVE her. I wish I could quote pretty much the entire book… but that would not be a good use of space (and there’s a little issue of copyrights), so I’ll just share a random bit that I absolutely relate to:

Being an introvert doesn’t mean you’re shy. It means you enjoy being alone. Not just enjoy it — you need it. If you’re a true introvert, other people are basically energy vampires. You don’t hate them; you just have to be strategic about when you expose yourself to them — like the sun. They give you life, sure, but they can also burn you and you will get that wrinkly Long Island cleavage I’ve always been afraid of getting and that I know I now have. For me, meditation and headphones on the subway have been my sunscreen, protecting me from the hell that is other people.

What lines made you laugh, cry, or gasp this week? Do tell!

If you’d like to participate in Thursday Quotables, it’s really simple:

  • Write a Thursday Quotables post on your blog. Try to pick something from whatever you’re reading now. And please be sure to include a link back to Bookshelf Fantasies in your post (http://www.bookshelffantasies.com), if you’d be so kind!
  • Click on the linky button (look for the cute froggie face) below to add your link.
  • After you link up, I’d love it if you’d leave a comment about my quote for this week.
  • Be sure to visit other linked blogs to view their Thursday Quotables, and have fun!

Top Ten Tuesday: Top ten reasons to listen to audiobooks

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by

TTT autumn 2_bsf

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is an audio freebie – any topic at all, so long as it relates in some way to audiobooks, podcasts, playlists… you get the idea.

Rather than listing some of my favorite audiobooks, I thought I’d list a bunch of the great things about audiobooks. Let’s see if I can get to 10!

  1. They’re great for driving — either short trips across town or hours-long road trips. The miles fly by while listening to a good story!
  2. They keep me from getting bored while doing mindless chores — especially folding laundry.
  3. Audiobooks are a great way to re-read a book without feeling like I’m neglecting newer books that I’ve been meaning to read.
  4. Listening to a book can give a new perspective on a story, just by hearing how the dialogue sounds out loud or how certain parts get emphasized.
  5. Sometimes, the author is also the narrator, and in the best of these, it’s wonderful to hear how the author chooses to portray his/her own characters.
  6. Great narration brings characters to life. For example, I liked Lord John (in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series and in the Lord John stand-alone books), but I didn’t LOVE him until I heard Jeff Woodman’s awesome narration. Somehow, he captures John’s aristocratic upbringing, his dry sense of humor, and his innate goodness so just perfectly.
  7. Funny books are even funnier read out loud. Wil Wheaton brought me to tears — laughing — with his narration of two of John Scalzi’s super funny sci-fi books. Something about the way he pronounced the aliens’ names… call me a child, but I cracked up every time.
  8. Creepy books are even creepier read out loud. Case in point: We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson may be a good book, but the audiobook is creeeeepy. The narrator puts in these odd inflections and does a sing-songy thing with some of the repeated lines, and man, it is so good.
  9. Audiobooks make great exercise motivators! I like to go for long walks, but when I want to go for really long walks, an addictive audiobook really helps. I have a hard time listening to audiobooks if I’m sitting still — so if I’m listening to something really intense or suspenseful, maybe I’ll walk the extra several blocks just so I can see what happens next!
  10. Somehow, I find myself willing to listen to books that I wouldn’t ever get around to reading. Again, this is probably because I listen to audiobooks at times when I just physically can’t read a hard copy book, so I don’t feel like I’m “wasting” my reading time. Through audiobooks, I’ve read some great non-fiction stories, and have even enjoyed a couple of collections of short stories, which I usually cannot stand to read.

There you have it — the 10 things I love most about audiobooks. Do you listen to audiobooks? What do you love most about them?

Please share your TTT link, and I’ll come check out your top 10!

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

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Do you host a book blog meme? Do you participate in a meme that you really, really love? I host a Book Blog Meme Directory, and I’m always looking for new additions! 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!

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Thursday Quotables: The Magician King

Posted in Thursday Quotables by

quotation-marks4

Welcome back to Thursday Quotables! This weekly feature is the place to highlight a great quote, line, or passage discovered during your reading each week.  Whether it’s something funny, startling, gut-wrenching, or just really beautifully written, Thursday Quotables is where my favorite lines of the week will be, and you’re invited to join in!

NEW! Thursday Quotables is now using a Linky tool! Be sure to add your link if you have a Thursday Quotables post to share.

MAgician King 2

The Magician King by Lev Grossman
(published 2011)

I just finished this terrific book, book #2 in The Magicians series. It’s all wonderful, but it’s hard to pick out just one passage for Thursday Quotables!

More or less at random, here’s a little piece of a speech by a favorite character:

“I don’t mind telling you that I found the whole business more than a little provoking. I was being called, you understand, and I most definitely did not want to come. I understand the appeal this sort of thing has for you, quests and King Arthur and all that. But that’s you. No offense, but it always seemed a bit like boy stuff to me. Sweaty and strenuous and just not very elegant, if you  see what I mean. I didn’t need to be called to feel special, I felt special enough already. I’m clever, rich, and good-looking. I was perfectly happy where I was, deliquescing, atom by atom , amid a riot of luxury.

What lines made you laugh, cry, or gasp this week? Do tell!

If you’d like to participate in Thursday Quotables, it’s really simple:

  • Write a Thursday Quotables post on your blog. Try to pick something from whatever you’re reading now. And please be sure to include a link back to Bookshelf Fantasies in your post (http://www.bookshelffantasies.com), if you’d be so kind!
  • Click on the linky button (look for the cute froggie face) below to add your link.
  • After you link up, I’d love it if you’d leave a comment about my quote for this week.
  • Be sure to visit other linked blogs to view their Thursday Quotables, and have fun!

Thursday Quotables: Moby Dick

Posted in Thursday Quotables by

quotation-marks4

Welcome back to Thursday Quotables! This weekly feature is the place to highlight a great quote, line, or passage discovered during your reading each week.  Whether it’s something funny, startling, gut-wrenching, or just really beautifully written, Thursday Quotables is where my favorite lines of the week will be, and you’re invited to join in!

NEW! Thursday Quotables is now using a Linky tool! Be sure to add your link if you have a Thursday Quotables post to share.

IMG_3906

Moby Dick by Herman Melville
(published 1851)

Call me crazy, but I’ve decided to finally buckle down and read Moby Dick, thanks to my favorite new toy, the Serial Reader app. (For more info, check out my post about Serial Reader here.)

Wait, call me crazy? Shouldn’t that be…

Call me Ishmael.

Sorry, couldn’t resist. I’ve read 10% so far, and I’ll admit that I’m actually really entertained! I love the main character’s description of Queequeg, a “savage” with whom he shares a bed at the inn before they ever even set sail:

With much interest I sat watching him. Savage though he was, and hideously marred about the face — at least to my taste — his countenance yet had a something in it which was by no means disagreeable. You cannot hide the soul. Through all his unearthly tattooings, I thought I saw the traces of a simple honest heart; and in his large, deep eyes, fiery black and bold, there seemed tokens of a spirit that would dare a thousand devils.

And a moment later:

He looked like a man who had never cringed and never had had a creditor.

What lines made you laugh, cry, or gasp this week? Do tell!

If you’d like to participate in Thursday Quotables, it’s really simple:

  • Write a Thursday Quotables post on your blog. Try to pick something from whatever you’re reading now. And please be sure to include a link back to Bookshelf Fantasies in your post (http://www.bookshelffantasies.com), if you’d be so kind!
  • Click on the linky button (look for the cute froggie face) below to add your link.
  • After you link up, I’d love it if you’d leave a comment about my quote for this week.
  • Be sure to visit other linked blogs to view their Thursday Quotables, and have fun!

Thursday Quotables: Leave Me

Posted in Thursday Quotables by

quotation-marks4

Welcome back to Thursday Quotables! This weekly feature is the place to highlight a great quote, line, or passage discovered during your reading each week.  Whether it’s something funny, startling, gut-wrenching, or just really beautifully written, Thursday Quotables is where my favorite lines of the week will be, and you’re invited to join in!

NEW! Thursday Quotables is now using a Linky tool! Be sure to add your link if you have a Thursday Quotables post to share.Leave Me

Leave Me by Gayle Forman
(to be released September 6, 2016)

I just read Gayle Forman’s upcoming new release this week — her first book for adults! My review will be along shortly. Meanwhile, here’s a little exchange that made me smile for all the right reasons — an exchange between a pair of roommates who just love to bicker:

“Todd’s all pissy because I went out with Fritz.”

“On a date,” Todd added, as if that sealed the indictment.

“Yes, fine.” Sunita threw up her hands. “On a date.”

“That you didn’t tell me about.”

“That I didn’t tell you about.”

“When it was our night to watch Outlander.”

“We can DVR it. I don’t see see what the big deal is.”

They had me at Outlander.

What lines made you laugh, cry, or gasp this week? Do tell!

If you’d like to participate in Thursday Quotables, it’s really simple:

  • Write a Thursday Quotables post on your blog. Try to pick something from whatever you’re reading now. And please be sure to include a link back to Bookshelf Fantasies in your post (http://www.bookshelffantasies.com), if you’d be so kind!
  • Click on the linky button (look for the cute froggie face) below to add your link.
  • After you link up, I’d love it if you’d leave a comment about my quote for this week.
  • Be sure to visit other linked blogs to view their Thursday Quotables, and have fun!

Thursday Quotables: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Posted in Thursday Quotables by

quotation-marks4

Welcome back to Thursday Quotables! This weekly feature is the place to highlight a great quote, line, or passage discovered during your reading each week.  Whether it’s something funny, startling, gut-wrenching, or just really beautifully written, Thursday Quotables is where my favorite lines of the week will be, and you’re invited to join in!

NEW! Thursday Quotables is now using a Linky tool! Be sure to add your link if you have a Thursday Quotables post to share.

HP4

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling
(published 2000)

It’s never a bad time for Harry Potter.

A week ago, Harry would have said finding a partner for a dance would be a cinch compared to taking on a Hungarian Horntail. But now that he had done the latter and was facing the prospect of asking a girl to the ball, he thought he’d rather have another round with the dragon.

Oh, the woes of a teen boy faced with the horror of getting a date:

“Why do they have to move in packs?” Harry asked Ron as a dozen or so girls walked past them, sniggering and staring at Harry. “How’re you supposed to get one on their own to ask them?”

“Lasso one?” Ron suggested.

What lines made you laugh, cry, or gasp this week? Do tell!

If you’d like to participate in Thursday Quotables, it’s really simple:

  • Write a Thursday Quotables post on your blog. Try to pick something from whatever you’re reading now. And please be sure to include a link back to Bookshelf Fantasies in your post (http://www.bookshelffantasies.com), if you’d be so kind!
  • Click on the linky button (look for the cute froggie face) below to add your link.
  • After you link up, I’d love it if you’d leave a comment about my quote for this week.
  • Be sure to visit other linked blogs to view their Thursday Quotables, and have fun!