Booking Through Thursday - September 4th, 2014

For awhile it seemed this meme either wasn't adding new posts, or else they just didn't fit anything I wanted to blog about.  But it is the Thursday meme that I'm going to do today since I'm not quite ready to do a review yet.  Here is the question this week for Booking Through Thursday:

We all had to read lots of different things in school—some of which we liked, some of which we didn’t. Are there any authors that you’ve grown to love because you were introduced to them in your English Lit class? Or—the contrary. Are there any you hate because you were forced to read them? Did you ever go back to try them again?

So this is an interesting question to me, because I feel like there are so many classics I hear about kids having to read in school, and I don't feel like I had to read that many. So my answer to this question is going to be a little different from what is actually being asked.  I decided about 5 or 6 years ago that since I felt like I hadn't read that many, that I was going to make it a goal to read one classic every so many books.  My plan lasted about a year or two before I hit one classic that I just could not get through, and I've not really gone back to it since.  That book was Dante's Inferno.  I do think about going to some other classics at some point, and starting over, but we'll see.

So, how about you?  Do you have a book that reading in school made you fall in love with, or the opposite, made you detest it?

And while you're here, don't forget to click on the button below to enter my giveaway in the September is for Sequels Hop.

 

Booking Through Thursday - February 13th, 2014 AND GIVEAWAY!!!!

Since I got a review in yesterday instead of doing a WOW, and I'm not quite done with my current book due to several different reasons, I will join into this meme again, for the first time this year.  Not only that, but since I have passed the 1900 GFC follower mark for my blog, I will also have a giveaway at the end of this post.  Here is the question this week for Booking Through Thursday:

How do you like to spend your snow days? Feel free to gloss over the obligatory parts like shoveling unless you LIKE it. We’re talking ideal, best way to spend a snow day kind of thoughts, here.
For those of you who live in places where snow days simply don’t happen? Feel free to substitute “snow” with “rain” and think about the kind of days when you just want to cuddle up inside where it’s warm and dry.

Now where I live, we actually had 3 snow days last week.  So I only had to go to work at my school on Monday and Tuesday, which was kind of nice.  One thing I love to do is sleep in.  No alarm clock.  I even really enjoy getting up around the normal time, but then taking my pillow downstairs to the couch, and going back to sleep on the couch until I am ready to wake up naturally.  I love to watch the daytime tv that I don't get to see during the school year, Live with Kelly and Michael and The Talk are my 2 favorites, other than my soap, The Young and the Restless, which I record and pretty much watch year round though.  Lots of reading, lots of playing around on the computer.  And I usually get a lot of stuff done for my blog on those days.  The only bad thing about all the snow we got is that I have two little dogs, see the header at the top, and so I have to have a shoveled spot for them to go do their business outside.  And one day last week, I had to shovel every hour because it was snowing so much.  What's great is when the school district goes ahead and cancels school the night before, because then I can stay up in my bed reading that night and not have to feel guilty or wake up too tired. (Maybe next snow day I'll get around to making a new button for this meme when I do it, as the one I have from the website is so small)

Now, on to the giveaway, since I have 1900 followers, I'll be giving away a $19 gift card to Barnes and Noble or Amazon, your choice.  For my international followers, if you don't want the gift card, I will purchase a book for you up to the price of $19 from The Book Depository, as long as they deliver to you.  I'm going to make entering simple.  You just have to be a follower in some way, it doesn't have to be GFC, even though that's where my 1900 is at.  And then I'd love to have you comment on any book review on my blog that you'd like.  In fact I'll let you get more entries by coming back each day and commenting on a different review.  I'll run this giveaway until the end of February, 2 weeks basically.  And when you're done entering this one, don't forget to go enter my giveaway as part of the Romance is in the Air Blog Hop, which is over tomorrow!  



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Booking Through Thursday #3

Well, the book I'm reading is taking me longer than planned.  I should have gone ahead and posted a Waiting on Wednesday yesterday, but didn't.  So I will have to go ahead and post this today, and maybe, hopefully, my review of my book tomorrow.  So, even though it looks like the prompt is from 2 weeks ago, here here is my third time of Booking Through Thursday: (P.S. - I like this meme, but maybe need to make a new button for it that won't be either really tiny or blurry.)

Which is better (or preferred) … stories with multiple character points of view? Or stories that stick to just one or two at most? And, why?

This is a really good question I think.  I do enjoy stories with multiple character points of view, especially when told from a first person point of view.  But, the characters must sound different enough as I read them that I don't forget who we are reading about just because I'm no longer on the first page of that section where their name is.  For example, Maggie Stiefvater's The Raven Boys series is actually done in 3rd person, but the different character points of view are done in a way that is really great!  Unfortunately, even though I am a big fan of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series, I did not enjoy his newer Kane Chronicles series, because of this very reason.  I had trouble remembering who was the chapter narrator because they sounded so close.  Now I never read on past The Red Pyramid in that series, so who knows, maybe it got better.  
So tell me what you think about this topic?  Do you like just one point of view, or multiple?  And would you prefer it be in first person, or third person?
 

Booking Through Thursday #2

Well, I could have saved my review of The Dream Thieves for today and posted a Waiting on Wednesday yesterday, but I was ready to post my review.  So, here we go for my second time of Booking Through Thursday:

Connected to last week’s—it’s one of the ways writing has changed. Books from a century or two ago spent huge swaths of text describing locations and character traits, but modern writing does all of this in shorthand. You might know a character is short with blond hair and blue eyes, but the author leaves the rest for you to figure out on your own. The writer might tell you the story takes place at a beachside town, but leaves the details to your imagination. Why do you suppose this is? Is it that we have shorter attention spans these days? That, bombarded with video and photos as we are, we don’t NEED every detail of an unknown scene described, because we have a stock of images already in our heads?

Now, since I didn't participate last week, I'm not sure how to connect it, but I will answer this question. And I'd actually have to say I disagree with this a bit.  And the reason I disagree comes from the book that I just finished, The Dream Thieves.  I feel as if that author, Maggie Stiefvater really does describe in great detail the people, the settings, etc.  So while I think maybe some authors don't spend as much time on that, I think maybe it has more to do with the specific author's writing style and technique.

How about you?  What do you think of today's books?  Do you feel that more of the details are left out because of the reasons listed above?  Or do you feel there are other reasons for it?  Or do you, like me, think it all depends on the author, and maybe even the type of book?

Booking Through Thursday #1

I thought I was going to have to break my goal of blogging every day for summer, because the e-galley I just finished can't have its review posted until 30 days before its publication date of October 1st.  Soooo, I didn't really know of any Thursday memes, until I found this one!  So, here we go for my first time of Booking Through Thursday:

How do you feel about borrowing books from friends? Is this something you like to do? Does it make you feel uncomfortable or rushed while reading? Does it affect how you feel about the book you’re reading, pressured into liking it?

This is a good question.  I actually don't borrow many books from friends, normally they are borrowing from me!  When I do, it probably depends who it is from.  My sister and I trade books all the time, and I don't feel any pressure really.  My friend Kim and I also trade books, and I might read what I've borrowed from her before anything else I have, but don't necessarily feel I have to rush.  And I don't feel pressured to like it.  I know what my tastes are, and I am comfortable discussing what I did and didn't like with the people that I would borrow books from.

How about you?  How would you answer this question?

And while you're here, make sure to enter my 4th Blogoversary Giveaway and my Authors are Rock Stars featuring Tessa Gratton giveaway.