Reading Along

I love read alongs. So I'm doing two this month. Well, one this month and one that will last a couple of months because this is no small book!

Yes, maybe, once and for all, I'll get this Bleak House book read!  Amanda from The Zen Leaf went and created what looks like a wonderful read along schedule, which I joined of course. Check it out here and come join if you, like me, have always wanted to read Bleak House.

Here's the schedule for that one:

Aug 25 - Chapters 1-7
Sept 1 - Chapters 8-13
Sept 8 - Chapters 14-19
Sept 15 - Chapters 20-25
Sept 22 - Chapters 26-32
Sept 29 - Chapters 33-38
Oct 6 - Chapters 39-46
Oct 13 - Chapters 47-53
Oct 20 - Chapters 54-59
Oct 27 - Chapters 60-67


The idea for this one is to post "thoughts so far" on all these dates. So we'll see how that goes.

The other read along is for the sequel to The Sparrow, one of the most heart wrenching books I've ever read. So, of course, I have to find out what happens next. This one is headed up by Heather (Age 30+- A Lifetime of Book) and Florinda (The 3 R's Blog).  I started reading that one yesterday and will do a half way post in a week or so and a wrap up post and the end of August. 


I hope you enjoying "reading along" with me. And if you want to read for yourself, come join us!

Music Stuck in My Head: Favorite Soundtracks

You've heard me drone on and on about Josh Groban, and talk up Muse, and rave about Michael Buble, and even highlight Mannheim Steamroller, but did you know that I also love, and I mean LOVE movie soundtracks? Here's a couple of my favorites:

From Batman Begins:



From Pirates of the Caribbean:



From Chocolat:



From Lord of the Rings:



And the movie that started the soundtrack fascination? STAR WARS of course! Yes, the original back when I was a mere 12 years old.



I could go and on and on and on about all my movie music loves. What are some of yours?

Calling All Utah Book Bloggers!

It's time once again for another fun gathering of the Utah Book Bloggers and other bookish people! This will be our fourth get together and each time our numbers have grown substantially. Yes this has become quite the event! If you are blogging from Utah, or are an author, aspiring author, bookseller or publishing industry professional from Utah, you are invited to attend. Here are the details:

Saturday, August 28, 2010
6:00 p.m.
Riverfront Park East (10991South Riverfront Parkway in Sandy, same park as last year)
At one of the small pavilions 
Families invited!

It will be potluck salads and desserts (or whatever else you want to bring!). Pulled pork sandwiches and water will be provided.

Also, bring a book to swap (like we did last time.)

Please RSVP by sending an email to utahbookbloggers AT gmail DOT com or a Twitter message to @MawBooks, @SueySays or @mjmbecky. We look forward to hearing from you. You know you don't want to miss this!

Any questions? Just ask either myself, or Natasha at Maw Books Blog, or Becky at One Literature Nut.

And if you're curious as to what went down at our previous gatherings, here's my take on those events:

Winter Blogger Social January 2009
Summer Blogger Bash August 2009
Winter Blogger Gathering February 2010

It really is a lot of fun, so we hope to see all you Utah types there!

My Top Tens: Orphan Books

Ten of my favorite books where orphans play in the starring role:

1. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

2. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
3. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
4. The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
5. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
6. Where the Lilies Bloom by Vera and Bill Cleaver
7. Mandy by Julie Edwards
8. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
9. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
10. A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park

The life of an orphan has been oddly fascinating to me, especially when I was a kid growing up in a family of nine children. I would often make my brothers and sisters play "orphans" with me and we would have a blast pretending at surviving on our own.

What are some of your favorite orphan stories? Which ones did I obviously forget? Make a list and share your link in comments!

Review: This is What I Did: by Ann Dee Ellis

Book: This is What I Did: by Ann Dee Ellis
Genre: YA
Rating: A-
For: Support Your Local Authors
From: I bought it awhile back.

Okay, so this local of author of mine, that I've seen/heard a couple of times but not officially met, writes some hard subject books! Wow. Simply and beautifully written, but really hard subjects!

This book is the story of Logan. He's moved to a new school, along with his reputation, which is actually a false one. Because at his old school, and in his old neighborhood, a terrible thing happened involving his best friend and the girl they both liked. And him. Sort of. And he writes about it in this book and says "This is What I Did:"

And his mom talks too much and soon everyone knows about it, but of course, not really and truly. So things aren't too great for Logan. But he tries to deal with it as best he can, and it's all really very sad and very real.

I loved the writing style. It's like this character of Logan is really just sitting down and telling you face to face his story, in his own words. You are totally a part of his thoughts.

Bottom line: I liked it a lot.

Ann Dee Ellis' personal blog is here. And here is her shared (with Carol Lynch Williams) writing blog called Throwing Up Words. Check 'em out!

Other Reviews:

Maw Books Blog
Cynsations
Teenreads.com
Save Ophelia

Review: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Book: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: YA paranormal
Rating: B+
For: fun
From: the library

I'm glad to have finally read this one so I can form my own opinion. It seems like there's lots of people who love it, and many who also really don't love it much at all..

So for the small few of you who haven't read it, this is the story of Grace and Sam. Right at the beginning of the book, when she is a kid, Grace has a bit of an incident with a pack of wolves. Sam saves her, but not quite in the way you'd think.

Anyhow, she is ever afterwards fascinated with the wolves, especially one particular one with yellow eyes. When one boy in the town goes missing, the men get all crazy and run through the woods shooting the wolves. That causes something to happen which completely changes everything. And so it goes from there.

I really enjoyed the whole wolf thing. I love wolves. They are they coolest looking animal ever. Really. So that was fun. And I liked that the story itself was simple and we didn't have to get a big long lesson in rules of a different world and such.

I did notice that this love story was really really big on the sense of smell. I guess it makes sense, but it was almost to the point of distraction for me.

And as is always, I disapprove of certain teenage choices that are made in this book. Yeah, that seems to happen in these YA books a lot these days.

But for the most part, I enjoyed the story and it's premise. I know Linger just came out and perhaps I'll try to get my hands on it soon!

Bottom line: I enjoyed it.

There's a great website about the book here. Check it out.

Other Reviews:

In Bed with Books
Beth Fish Reads
Devourer of Books
Gallysmith
...and a ton others!

Sunday Salon: Book Stacks

I've got some books to read!

The books below are from the library. I'm half way through The Iron King now and it's... okay. I'm thinking it's a cross between Alice in Wonderland, The Chronicles of Narnia with plot similarities to Need and Captivate. Interesting. But it's not blowing me away or anything.

I tried Captain Wentworths's Diary, but it was just sorta weird and I can't decide to give it a chance or give it up. (Oh, Wentworth.... hmmm... it just clicked.... I wonder if my newest celebrity crush Wentworth Miller was named after a certain Jane Austen character! Coolness!)

I WILL read Children of God because it's going to be a read along this month. Want to read along? Heather will have the details up on her blog in the next day or so.

Okay, so this past week or so I got a lot in the mail... a lot for me anyway. ( I know some of you get this much in a day, but seriously, I don't want that problem!!!) Anyway, you can see that stack below. I'm anxious to get to all of these. And I'm also curious which ones you got and are planning to review also. 

Of course, then there're the ones that are just hanging out waiting for a turn. A turn that seems to never come. Here's the stack that I hope to get to sooner than later. 

So, what should I grab first? Any of them your very favorites that you think I shouldn't wait for even another minute?