Day 11 – A book you hated

I missed yesterday's appointment and I'm sorry. Had to do some stuff and I didn't have time. Ok, a book I hated.

After I started being what could be called a "serious reader" (one that reads more than 3 books a year and finished those books in less than a month) I wanted to see how far could I go in terms of genres and explore my limits. Like I said a while ago, my first contact with horror stories was through Anne Rice's vampires and while I loved the books, I wanted to see if I could handle stories that where scarier, bloodier, with more graphic details and more...let's say gore. Before you think I'm a psycho, I'm not. I come from a family full of doctors, so detailed stories about surgeries and bodily fluids during lunch where a daily occurrence. That and I studies psychology. So to say I can handle a lot of gore and graphic details is to put it mildly. (Just please, no insects or injured kids. That I can't handle!!)

So I started to ask around and most of my friends that liked horror novels told me Stephen King was so much more than Anne Rice. I was excited. I immediately tried to find a book that had the two things I loved most at the time: suspense and vampires. My best friend heard me talking about that and she bought me Salem's Lot for my birthday.

Color me excited. I tried reading the book twice. There where so many things that drove me crazy about that book. First of all, nothing happened for about 200-250 pages. NOTHING. The only thing I remember was that the main character was going out on a very, very boring date. There where also tinny, tinny details about the house. I don't exactly remember why the house was so special or so scary, but it was.

Also, no vampire in those first pages. I was disappointed. You know how in the movies you sometimes get a little scene with a guy/girl going inside a house and it's dark outside and the door closes after him/her and a second later you hear a scream? I was waiting at least for a scene like that. There wasn't one.

I remember seeing a colleague of mine from college reading the book and I asked him at what page he was and if something had happened until then. He was halfway through it and he said "Nothing new".

I can't deny that I liked his descriptions, the way he built his characters. But I think this book is for someone who likes slow-paced books. I am aware that this is one of King's first books, so maybe his writing style improved, but I'm not really sure I'm ready to try another of his works.

Anyway, this is a book I didn't like. What's yours?

Follow Friday (10)

Welcome to Follow Friday hosted this week by Parajunkee and Alison!
The main idea behind FF is just to go see a bunch of new blogs you may never have seen before, and follow the ones you like (and they’ll follow you back!) It’s a total win/win, so take a peek around and follow me!

This week’s question is: 




Q: Define what characteristics your favorite books share. Do they all have a kickass heroine or is the hot love interest the Alpha Male?

There are so many shared characteristics, I don't know how to start. First of all, the main characters are strong. They're not moaning and bitching every 5 seconds, nor do they cry in every scene. Crying is good, but does it have to be all the damn time?

Second, there's a little mystery in the main plot. There's always a little something that will be discovered at the very end of the book, something that I couldn't anticipate. I hate it when I decipher the clues way too early on when the author shows me every card he/she has up his/her sleeve. If there's a serial killer to be tracked down and locked up, don't tell me who he is, it will make me want to throw the book across the room and I don't like that.

Another characteristic most of them share is humor. I say most, because some of them don't have humor, but most of the books I read have a funny scene at least. Either that, or I find the sarcasm of a certain character hilarious, which is just as good. I love a character that is sarcastic, without being disrespectful.

There are many, many more characteristics, but these are the most important for me.

What about you?

Dirty Little Secret (1)

Dirty Little Secret is a weekly meme hosted by Under The Covers.

The rules are simple:

1. Be a follower of Under the Covers.
2. Create a post in your blog taking the meme image and copy instructions.
3. Answer the weekly question.

For more information and for signing up, go to the Under The Covers blog.


This week's question:


If you could travel back in time, what era would you like to find yourself in and why?

Ancient Egypt. First of all, I love Egypt and the history of Egypt. So I'd love to spend at least a day in Ancient Egypt, seeing the world as they saw it and see the pharaohs and their queens. Second of all, I'd love to know how they really built the Pyramids and the temples.

What about you?

Day 10 – Favorite classic book

I'm ashamed to say that I didn't read many classic books. I tried to, but they didn't appeal to me. The only classic book that I loved and read more times than I can count, is Pride and Prejudice. I can't give you an honest answer as to why I loved it. I just do. Maybe it was because I loved Elizabeth Bennet and her strength, charm, wit. Or maybe it was because of Mr. Darcy, who, despite being rich and uptight, he has a certain something, sort of a boyish attitude sometimes. I remember thinking he was even a little shy around Elizabeth and he was trying to act tough and bad to hide the way he felt about her.

It's also a very special book to me, in terms of firsts. It was my first classic book, my first book read in English (I remember I was about 12 or 13 and it was actually a hard read, but I managed to read it :P ), it was my first
historical romance, my first British novel. You can imagine, at 12-13, this book meant a lot of firsts in my journey as a reader. Mind you, it wasn't my first book though LOL



What's your favorite classic book?

Women of the Otherworld Reading Challenge

I've heard so much about this series, I'm feeling like I might be one of the very few people on this planet who hasn't read them. So while I was doing my daily blog stalking I saw this Reading Challenge on Lucy's blog (Moonlight Gleam's Bookshelf) and I thought it was the best opportunity for me to read them :D

The reading challenge is really easy. Here are the guidelines:

Each month beginning March 1st, 2012, challenge members will read or re-read the title for that month. In addition, challenge members will either post a review, their reading experience, character castings or anything else related to that title. You have freedom to have fun with your monthly post so be creative! Seeing as this series is 13 novels long, this challenge will last 13 months.


PLEASE NOTE: **You do not have to have a blog to enter this challenge. You must, however, have a Goodreads account if you don't, so that you can link to your posts there.**


**You do not have to participate each month if you don't want to. I want this to be a fun experience for everyone so, if there only a few books you want to read, please feel free to join!**


**If you did not find time to read the title of the month, feel free to write a post about it and indicate why. This will allow you to link up to qualify for monthly challenge giveaways as well!**


To read more about this challenge and to sign up, visit Lucy's post.

I do think it's easy, though I'll have to learn patience and not read ahead schedule. That might become difficult, but I'll behave. Or try.

Happy Reading!

1. Bitten
2. Stolen
3. Dime Store Magic
4. Industrial Magic
5. Haunted
6. No Humans Involved

Day 09 – A book you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving

Oh, there are a number of books that I start reading with this fear. I had this fear when I started reading The Warlord Wants Forever, thinking that it couldn't be that different from other paranormal books I read until then.   I was glad I was wrong and I enjoyed it a lot and I had to read the rest of the books.

Another book I was having doubts about but ended up loving is, like I said hundreds of times before, Harry Potter.

I think about a third of the books I read start like that. I'm skeptical with recommendations so that's why I start the books this way. Just because someone liked a book doesn't mean I will, so I usually don't start those books too hopeful or too skeptical. I just pay extra attention to detail :D


So what's your answer?What's a book you didn't think you'd like but you loved instead?