Weekly Geeks #19: Favorite New Books

The Weekly Geek assignment for the week, to post our favorites so far of books published this year, has made me really really wish I read more "hot off the presses" books! I've only read a handful so far this year, but they are all wonderful, so here's my list as it stands now:

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

The 13th Reality by James Dashner

Farworld by J. Scott Savage

Alcatraz vs. The Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

I'm sure I'd add Brisingr to the list if I'd managed to read it by now!

Tuesday Heroes Thoughts

What I'm thinking after last night's episode (beware SPOILERS for those who care!):

**Is it weird that Sylar is growing on me? Why am I finding myself rooting for him? What a strange sensation.
**I can't believe we are left wondering what's up with Mohinder for yet another week!
**Most stand-out line from last night: "I created you."
**The sharing of the "painting the future" power in the desert has me scratching my head. I can't figure out what's going on there.
**AND... has anyone wondered why Matt doesn't seem to be reading minds?
**Daphne is fun, isn't she. And all the comic relief of Hiro and Ando makes me smile.
**It will be interesting to see what future Peter shows present Peter. Looks like more "shooting" Claire.
**Speaking of which, she's kind of bugging me. And her biological mom too. Is there more to her than we thought?

So Heroes fans.... what do YOU think?

Teaser Tuesdays: The Landlord

Teaser Tuesdays asks you to:

Grab your current read.
Let the book fall open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
Please avoid spoilers!

Page 179: Jamaica Inn by Daphne DuMaurier

The landlord placed his hand over Mary's mouth and forced her back against the side of the carriage. "You'd inform against me, would you?" he said.

The Sunday Salon: Potpourri Day

**This week I got "caught up"... sort of. I did a review a week, and was caught up for a second. But now I'm behind again and have since finished two more books! So I'll review those this week.

**This morning, I started another book, Jamaica Inn! After seeing it on so many of my challenge lists, I decided I better drop everything else and read it. So I'm a couple of chapters in now, and hope to find lots of time to read it throughout this wonderful Sunday.

**I'm dying to read Brisingr though. I ran out and bought it last week, read the synopsis of the first two books, then hurried and put it down before I was sucked in. Since then it's been begging and pleading with me to read it, BUT I have to read these book fair books first. I don't think I'll be able to hold out much longer though, and perhaps by this time next week I'll be deeply immersed in it!

**Celebrate Banned Books Week this week and go out and read a banned or challenged book! Tons of the best books ever are on the list. So just do it!

** I officially took a book off my nightstand and have declared it a DNF! Yes, I've decided to let A New Earth go for now. Perhaps I'm just not needing to find my life's purpose at the moment. Or maybe I know what it is for now... raise kids, adjust to a new job, read my TBR pile, try to keep the house livable, feed the family, keep all the volunteering jobs going, etc. That's my life's purpose for now. So wow, it feels great to let it go and to not feel the need to finish it at the moment.

** I think that's about all I've got! For Weekly Geeks we are supposed to come up with our favorites so far that's been published this year. I bet my list isn't very big since I tend to read older stuff. Maybe I'll be surprised. Anyway, I'll ponder that today and get back with that list tomorrow.

HAPPY Sunday to all! Read tons!

Weekly Geeks #18: Wrap-Up

So how'd I do with my catching up intentions for Weekly Geeks?

1. I DID do a review a day! Well, and when I say review, you'll realize that that means a whole different thing than when some of you all say review! So... being as short as they are, it wasn't too hard to do one a day! BUT... I was behind, and I did catch up.

2. I DID do a challenge update. I didn't realize I've gotten myself in so many challenges (and another new one just this week.) But you'll notice that there's many many overlaps. Otherwise, it would be a no go for me.

3. I DID NOT update my blog roll yet. Some day.

4. I DID NOT fix side bar stuff. Well, a little. I got rid of the Twilight movie countdown. It was bugging me. I put in a new song and quote. But that's about it. I need to do a few more things. My side bar looks very messy to me. Oh, well.

And that's about it! So, half and half successful I guess!

Special Features

Here's a few of the features I'm having fun with on the blog:

Support Your Local Authors: A perpetual (ongoing) challenge where you buy, read and review authors local to you. Promote them to the rest of us! Click here and comment on this post to join, then when you are ready to

review, click here and comment with your link and I'll add it to the main post.

Suey's Top Tens: Every

now and then, I'll make a list of ten of my favorite books in a particular category. Eventually, I hope to have a big long list of categories. Here's what I have so far:

• Historical Fiction
• Childhood Favorites: Picture Books
• Animal Books
• Read Again for the First Time
• Science Fiction/Fantasy
• Love Triangles
• Chunky Classics

Authors Pick Five: Whenever I have contact with an author, my hope is to ask them what five books have been most influential in their life. Here's what I have so far:

• Paul Harris
• Cathy Holton
• J. Scott Savage
• Angela Morrison
• David Ebershoff
• James Dashner

The Bookword Game: An idea hatched by Raidergirl3 of An Adventure in Reading, and she asked if I could be part of it. It's a game where we think of a bookish situation that needs a word to describe, and you, our readers think of, then vote on the words. Very fun! Join us! Here's what we have so far:

• RecommenDud: A book you hate that everyone else love
• CheckBook: A book that you find yourself checking to see how many more pages are left, on every single page!
• Memoread: A book that reminds you of another book you have already read, not necessarily in plot, but in tone and atmosphere.
• Wait-listed: A book that continually gets moved to the 'next in the pile,' but never gets read.
• Marginally Challenged: A book with very little space between lines (likely, it's a public domain book/classic) giving deceivingly few pages to read.
• Misunderbook: A book that you LOVE, but everyone else (well almost everyone) HATES.
• A Flick Pick: A book you read after you've seen the movie.
• Olibook: A book you read because you think you should in order to be well-read.
• Whoopsabooksy: A book you buy that you forgot you already read/own.

The Printz Project: After reading a loving several Printz award or honor winners, I decided I needed to read them all. A project or challenge of this sort didn't exist, so Jessica of The Bluestocking Society and I created one. Join us! It's an ongoing, perpetual, easy challenge.

Weekly Geeks: A wonderful weekly meme started by blogger extraordinaire, Dewey. When she passed on, a few of us came together to make sure Weekly Geeks lived on. I'm happy to be part of that group, and will be posting a question or project now and then on the Weekly Geek blog.

What the family is reading: This is an official feature of sorts where every now and then in a Sunday Salon post , I'll list.... what the family is reading. People seem to enjoy it, so I'll keep it up. The family consists of: The Mr., Bud (20, and away from home at the moment), JJ (17), Moder (14) and Toto (10). Click here for an example.

Review: The Loser's Guide to Life and Love by A.E. Cannon

Book: The Loser's Guide to Life and Love by A.E. Cannon

Genre: YA Romance

Rating: A

For: Fun!

I bought this book from the author herself when she came to visit our library this summer. She was wonderful and the book sounded so funny, so you know, I was a goner!

This story is fun modern re-telling of A Midsummer Night's Dream. There's this boy and girl who are best buddies and work at a video store together. While waiting for his own badge to be made, the boy has to wear a name badge that says Sergio, obviously not his name. But when a cute girl comes into the store that he instantly falls in love with, he pretends like it IS his name and that he has an exotic past. Meanwhile, his friend (the one that's a girl) is falling in love too, and his other friend (the one that's a boy) joins the fun and falls in love. Everyone gets all mixed up with who is who and who loves who! It's hilarious! I loved it! Yet another cute teen romance to devour in a day.