Day 19 – Favorite book turned into a movie

Pride and Prejudice. And especially the TV show (1995) with Colin Firth. Let's face it, besides his sexy accent, he's a VERY good actor. And I liked him as Mr. Darcy. That and it was a BBC production. When do those guys ever make a bad movie?

  

Hmm...I might watch the movie again. What's your choice for this topic?

Teaser Tuesday (17)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teaser this week is from Ugly To Start With by John Michael Cummings:

Just like that, Marty was inside our house. He was probably the only man in town who could kick my father’s ass

What's your teaser this week?

Day 18 – A book that disappointed you

I was prepared to say there wasn't a book that disappointed me, but then I remembered that's not completely true. Before I go on telling you about a book that disappointed me, let me tell you what it takes for a book to let me down.

I'm not a strict reader, I don't care if the book isn't what I expect it to be. So if I'm hoping for a book to be funny and it's actually tragic, I don't mind, as long as it makes sense. It takes a lot for me to be disappointed by a book, but the chances increase when that book is part of a long series. Series that I actually love, mind you! 

What really disappoints me is when a character acts in a manner that is so different than anything he/she ever did in the series/book. So if  a strong, manly, smart guy acts like a complete wimp all of the sudden, that might make me lose my focus. It's not about doing the logical thing. Even if I want to roll my eyes when a character does something that to me seems stupid, I realize that it makes perfect sense for said character. And to be honest, I'm not one to judge, I do stupid things all the time, like all people do. So it's ok for a character to make a mistake. But have a complete transformation and become someone else? That's something I don't understand. 

A book also lets me down when the focus changes too much. If the real main characters of the book aren't the same as the one's the blurb said they would be, that is so disappointing for me. It pisses me off when I'm supposed to be reading the story of a certain character, but instead the subplots take charge one too many times, making the main character actually become second character in his own story. 

There aren't a lot of things that can let me down, but when that happens, I get sort of pulled out of the story and I feel like I'm looking at the words, instead of "seeing" them come to life. Sounds weird, but it is what I feel.

Anyway, a book that has disappointed me was Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris. The reason is that for some reason, in this installment of the series, Eric is a shadow of himself. He's not the sexy, dangerous, powerful, strong, sarcastic, fun, entertaining, manly vampire we've known for 9 novels. I don't remember anything happening that could make him change that way. It's actually the only reason I didn't finish the book the first time I tried reading it and I'm really wary of trying to read it again. I liked the old Eric, with or without his memory. But the Eric we have in DITF isn't the one I like.




What book disappointed you?

Cover Love (6)

This feature is hosted by Carmel @ Rabid Reads. The rules are very simple. Choose a cover (or two, or three), preferably new-ish, and share what you like about it. Grab the graphic or don't just so long as you link back.


My pick this week:




I know I mentioned a lot of times that I really, really love chick lit covers, because usually they are cartoon-like and so so cool. Also, I realized this type of cover really captures the essence of the book and (a huge bonus in my head) there is little chance of being disappointed by the cover model. I really hate it when the cover model is nothing like the main character in the book. But I'm rambling *sheepish*


I love all of Sophie Kinsella's covers, so it's really no surprise I like this one too. I love the fact that you can't see the girl's face. And that bird sitting on the "O" is amazing! I really can't wait to get my hands on this book.

What's your pick for this week?

Book Review: On Message by Joyce T. Strand

Author: Joyce T. Strand

Series: Jillian Hillcrest Mysteries #1

Rating: 5 cups

Source: copy offered by the author

Blurb (from Amazon):

Murder intrudes on Jillian Hillcrest’s routine as head communications executive at a small Silicon Valley biotechnology company. She is eagerly staying “on message” to inform investors, the media, and the community about her company, Harmonia Therapeutics, and its latest drug candidate in Phase 2 clinical trials for the difficult-to-diagnose and treat autoimmune disease, lupus. When someone near to her is murdered, a determined San Francisco police inspector involves her in the investigation, convinced she is key to solving the crime. She co-operates fully only to find that solving a murder is more hazardous than writing press releases. On Message is the first of a series of Jillian Hillcrest mysteries.

A mystery after my own heart. There are so many things I loved about this book I seriously don't know where to start. First, I had no idea who the killer was. I was thinking of a different person so I was so happy and pleasantly surprised that I was wrong. Second of all, I liked that there was always a phrase or a small scene or a detail that changed my opinion of certain characters. Then there's the fact that I couldn't figure out the motive for the murders. For me, that was one of the things that kept me reading the book. I really wanted to know why.

Jillian is a wonderful character. She's smart, strong willed, funny, stubborn, friendly. Also (and this is one thing that made me love her more) she's a coffee addict. She's also still friends with her ex husband and I liked that. That might be a strange friendship, but I'm fond of those. And the romance addict in me hopes that maybe they'll get back together and stay that way :P

I loved the pacing. The book didn't stall when it didn't need to and it didn't rush when it wasn't necessary. Another thing I loved were the smaller chapters with POVs from other characters. I loved that. Besides having the previous chapter end with a cliffhanger, you would also get a view inside some other character's head and that made the entire book feel multidimensional. Sort of like one of those "meanwhile" moments in movies. I loved that.

Oh, I also loved Cynthia Anderson, Jillian's neighbor. Reminded me of one of my older neighbors back home and how much I loved her. I do believe everyone needs a neighbor like Mrs. Anderson.

I don't know if it's good or bad (if you ask me, it's a very good thing), but I can't think of a single thing I didn't like or that I wished was different. I think it's one of those mystery books that any mystery fan should read, so it's definitely on my Recommended list. I also can't wait for the next installment, Open Meetings, sometimes this year I think.

Do read this wonderful book, you won't be disappointed!

My Rating:

Follow Friday (12)

 

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!


This week’s question is:


I like unique names for characters and am looking forward to coming up with some when I start writing. What's the most unique character name you've come across?


This is a difficult one. Since I've started reading paranormal and fantasy stories, novels, books (call them what you want/like) I've encountered a lot of unique names. I couldn't tell you which was the most unique, because they all are in a way. So I'm going to list some of my favorite below, with the book and author, and let you be the judge.

• Frodo, Gandalf, Éowyn, Éomer, (and the list goes on and on) from The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
• DiStephan from The Dragonslayer series by Resa Nelson
• Xhex, Blaylock, Payne, Xcor, Tohrment and almost all of the Brothers from The Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward
• Eidolon from Pleasure Unbound by Larissa Ione
• Lothaire, Carrow, Rydstrom and some other from the Immortals After Dark series by Kresley Cole
• Acheron from the Dark Hunters series by Sherrilyn Kenyon

I could go on and on, but I'd probably bore you to death. That and I can't think of other unique names (cool too) at the moment. I love unique names, because they make the characters memorable. I will always know who Aragorn is, as I'll always know who you're talking about when you say Lothaire or Eidolon or DiStephan. 

What's the most unique name you've encountered so far?