Book Blog Walkers February Check In

I was so happy when I stumbled upon Book Blog Walkers. The Geeky Book Bloggers Blog is the host so pop over there for all the details if you are interested in participating.  I have a lot of fun with the twitter hastag #bookblogwalkers .  Everyone keeps each other motivated .. it's fun.

This month I haven't been doing great.  It got really really cold and I hibernated in the house.  So I did my Biggest Loser video.  But then last week I got lazy and didn't do anything.  I also have not attempted Yoga since that first day.  I hurt ALL weekend after I did it so now I am a little leery about doing it again.  I need to give it a try again because if I don't there is no way I am going to ever be able to stretch like they do in the video.

I have really been behind on weights since I haven't been going to the gym.  I try to do some weight training to prevent Osteoporosis.  I am a small girl so I have small bones.  Plus my mom and aunts have Osteoporosis so I have a high risk of getting it. I used to take a notebook to the gym to keep track of how much weight I am doing and to be able to up it every so often but now I just keep it in my head.

Be sure to join in if you want a little motivation for working out! #bookblogwalkers

Mount Rushmore of Movies... Best Books to Movies

I was excited to see this challenge hosted by Two Dollar Cinema where to participate, simply choose the top 4 of anything cinematic and explain why it should be carved into the side of a mountain forever. Remember, these are real people carved into imaginary rock - so choose wisely!   I decided to chose the best book to movie adaptations, and since this is Mount Rushmore I have to pick faces from these movies to go on the mountain.  By the way as a side note, I have been to Mount Rushmore and it is an amazing place to visit.

So... in no particular order let's give this a go!  I would love to hear what you think are the best book to movie.  The ones I am going to list are books I have actually read and movies I have actually seen.  So there may be better adaptations out there I just haven't read or seen them yet.  Honestly as I sit here thinking about my list it is so much easier to think of the worst book to movie. 

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson foreign film (2009).   If you watched the American film and not the Swedish film then I am sorry for you.  The foreign film is amazing.  I would totally put Lisbeth Salander on Mount Rushmore. I am still sad that Larsson passed away after writing this series. It is fantastic and I am sure he would've continued with more great novels.

Blade Runner or Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick is a wonderful book!!!  The movie is an amazing piece of Science Fiction film.  Dick passed away before the film was released but did read the screenplay and enjoyed it. I don't get a chance to read a lot of Sc-Fi so I am always glad when I come across a good one.  Harrison Ford on Mount Rushmore.. PERFECT!

Lord of the Rings of course.  I really do think these are great books and great movies (unlike the Hobbit).  Lord of the Rings does a really good job of bringing the books to screen. Of course there are changes and fangirls like myself will complain, but I can't see how this film could be any better. So which character on Mount Rushmore?? Gandalf of course!

The Wizard of Oz film based off the Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum.  After reading the book I realize what a great movie this is.  Yes the ruby slippers are actually silver but really I can see why the color was changed.  So who should go on Mount Rushmore?  The Wicked Witch of the West.  What a neat character for the mountain.

 

This was pretty fun!!!  I enjoyed thinking about the new faces for Mount Rushmore!

Waiting on Wednesday- Mr. Mercades by Stephen King

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly book meme hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, where we have the chance to share what upcoming releases we are on the edge of our seats in anticipation for.

Here is the book description:

 It is a riveting cat-and-mouse suspense thriller about a retired cop and a couple of unlikely allies who race against time to stop a lone killer intent on blowing up thousands.

Retired homicide detective Bill Hodges is haunted by the few cases he left open, and by one in particular: in the pre-dawn hours, hundreds of desperate unemployed people were lined up for a spot at a job fair in a distressed Midwestern city. Without warning, a lone driver ploughed through the crowd in a stolen Mercedes. Eight people were killed, fifteen wounded. The killer escaped.

Months later, on the other side of the city, Bill Hodges gets a letter in the mail, from a man claiming to be the perpetrator. He taunts Hodges with the notion that he will strike again. Hodges wakes up from his depressed and vacant retirement, hell-bent on preventing that from happening. Brady Hartfield lives with his alcoholic mother in the house where he was born. And he is indeed preparing to kill again.

Hodges, with a couple of misfit friends, must apprehend the killer in this high-stakes race against time. Because Brady's next mission, if it succeeds, will kill or maim hundreds, even thousands. Mr Mercedes is a war between good and evil, from the master of suspense whose insight into the mind of this obsessed, insane killer is chilling and unforgettable.


SO EXCITED!  What are you guys waiting on this week???  Be sure to stop by my Stephen King Fans group on goodreads to chat about this book!!

Top Ten Books I'd Want to Frame as Pieces of Art

This week's Top Ten Tuesday is a rewind topic.  So I get to pick a topic that's been done before.  Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the wonderful blog at The Broke and the Bookish! This is where we post our top ten based on bookish topics.  I don't always participate in TTT but this week I found and old topic that is right up my alley.  I love art, and seems like a fun topic to me, so here are some book covers that I would love to have in hanging in my house.

 

 Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll 

 Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling

Ash by Malinda Lo

Doctor Sleepy by Stephen King

The Arrival by Shaun Tan

 The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King 

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill

Champoin by Marie Lu- Review

Champion by Marie Lu

I have been trying to read this every since this book came out!  I received it from the library when it first came out but only read half of it before it was due back.  I only just got the book again and almost didn't finish it this time around either.  Here is the goodreads description:

June and Day have sacrificed so much for the people of the Republic—and each other—and now their country is on the brink of a new existence. June is back in the good graces of the Republic, working within the government’s elite circles as Princeps-Elect, while Day has been assigned a high-level military position. But neither could have predicted the circumstances that will reunite them: just when a peace treaty is imminent, a plague outbreak causes panic in the Colonies, and war threatens the Republic’s border cities. This new strain of plague is deadlier than ever, and June is the only one who knows the key to her country’s defense. But saving the lives of thousands will mean asking the one she loves to give up everything. With heart-pounding action and suspense, Marie Lu’s bestselling trilogy draws to a stunning conclusion  

Yes! Another trilogy done. Though, like I said, I started this way back in November. I don't know what it is about this book... but I didn't feel the need to finish it. I was just going slow reading along. This book series has been a fun ride though.  Marie Lu does an excellent job of writing.  It's like practically reading a movie script, similar to the Hunger Games type of writing I think.   Lots of action and suspense in the book.

The last book in this series we find the Colonies and the Republic finally coming to some type of agreement.  One of my favorite things in Champion is that we actually get to leave America and go to Antarctica and see how the rest of the world is.  Clearly when we leave and see America it is a third world country basically.  Totally unlike America we are used to now.  I still like the characters in this book.  Day, June, and Anden.  The author is a great character writer.  This time around though I did think Anden just got the brush off.  Poor guy.  Sometimes I think he should've been the guy for June, though from the start of the series we all knew it wouldn't go in that direction.

The ending of the book did surprise me.  I wasn't sure exactly where it was going go to go.  Lu didn't have to give us some crazy ending either.  She wrapped the book up pretty nicely.  I was surprised to even read a section that was "10 years later".  At first I was like.. really??, but then I was glad things weren't left up in the air.  I did like reading about what June was doing during those years.   I was a little bothered by the ending

SPOILERS:  So Day forgets June... but you would think SOMEONE would tell him about her.  He would've heard more of the story about her from someone.  I just think when he did finally see her at the end he would've known what she looked like especially since he and his brother were in Antarctica and he probably googled himself there.
END EPOILERS

OK... I just had to get that off my chest.  I think this is a pretty amazing series.  One of the best I have read.  I look forward to see what Marie Lu has in store for us in the future.

The crystal ball says:

Clouds are covering! A read that lets me down every now and then but peaks out of the clouds!

Check out my reviews:
Legend by Marie Lu
Prodigy by Marie Lu

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne- Review

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

I really enjoyed this classic book.  I have been meaning to read a Jules Verne book for a long time but never have.  Then my most recent Project Disney - Atlantis came up and I had to read this book for that.  I am really glad!  Even though honestly there was hardly any story in this book about Atlantis.  Captain Nemo visits it briefly.  Here is the goodreads description:

Jules Verne was one of the earliest science fiction writers. He based his stories on the inventions of the day and made educated projections of future technologies. Like the best science fiction writers he did not let technology overtake his story or his characters. In 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Verne created the character of Captain Nemo and his submarine vessel the Nautilus. An entire ecosystem under the sea was shown by Verne and he showed how men could live in this environment. After reading this book, you will never forget Captain Nemo and his crew battling the giant squid and feel a certain degree of sadness when above water civilization finds them.  

Of course I had heard of Verne's most famous books. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Around the World in 80 Days, I just had never read them before. I knew of Captain Nemo but not really who this person is in literature.  Just what movies and pop culture have told me. I was pleasantly surprised. Despite the book being written in 1869 is still reads really well.  Sometimes when I read old books they are dated but this one stands the test of time. 

The story is a great adventure story. You get to go on this great adventure in the ocean inside a submarine that is piloted by Captain Nemo.  There is A LOT of scientific information in this book though.  Lots of descriptions of fish fish fish.  Did I mention fish???  And Plants!!! It is like reading a researchers journal at some parts. The Professor Arronax who ends up on board with Captain Nemo loves this and collects as many plants and shells and whatever else he can.  Towards the last chapters of the book I did start to skim these paragraphs. Just way way too much.  I don't even know if have the creatures mentioned were real or not?  Well of course the big monster at the end of the book isn't.

 

Jules Verne just has a way of writing that captures the imagination.  I could feel myself on the ship The Nautilus, as if I was apart of the adventure. There is one character, Ned Land, who starts to get panicky and wants off the ship.  While reading I started to feel like him and just wanted to get back to land.  I also thought before reading the book that 20,000 Leagues was how deep the Nautilus goes in the water.. but it is actually how far the distance Professor Arronax travels in it.  I have no idea if I read a good copy of the book?  I read that over the years the translations have cut more and more and even words and character names have been changed. 

I have been trying to read more classic books lately and this one is great for those who like science fiction.  I am glad that I ended picking it up and can't wait to read more Verne. 

The Crystal Ball says:

Clouds are covering! A read that lets me down every now and then but peaks out of the clouds!