The Walking Dead Discussion: S5E12 Remember and S5E13 Forget (Spoilers!)

I skipped talking about last week's Walking Dead, so today you get a two-fer.

Last week, we arrived in Alexandria and wow, did it look awesome. Everyone had a shower (except I think Daryl. I would LOVE to see him clean up just a little, you know?) and Rick shaved his beard off and. . . swoon! Sheesh, he looks nice. Yes, I'm a fan of  the no-beard Rick. And then there's an awkward just out of the shower scene with some new person named Jessie. Were there sparks or were there not? But anyway, shes's married. So, there's that.





And Carl connects with some kids. And everyone, almost, gets a job. And they get food and they get interviewed by the sort of creepy city leader (dang I already forgot her name) and it's all very weird.

And everyone is on edge and they refuse to separate and they all sleep on the floor together in one house.

But Rick decides to become a cop again and he gets in the uniform and slow-mos down the stairs and it's all very... weird.

This week, things get weirder. You can totally tell that something is going to go down. Carol and Rick and Daryl are planning something, I'm not sure what, but it involves getting and hiding weapons outside the wall. Then Carol gets caught in the act of stealing them and the kid (Jessie's kid, yes?) gets threatened with death by walker. Or he can choose cookies. What a creepy Carol we saw there, yes?

These guys are plotting something!

And Daryl gets wooed by the gay guys with spaghetti and a motorcycle and they want him to be the next recruiter. And it's all very creepy there too.

Michonne hangs up her sword and becomes a cop like Rick.

And then they all go to a party and sneak around like they are going to be poisoned or something. Sasha has a freak out and I'm not sure what's going on with her.

Carl is trying to figure out that weird girl. Not sure what she's about either.

Oh, and Rick kissed Jessie! Sort of. But the look. Oh my word, the look. That was intense. Jessie is in trouble now! And she has the creepiest of creepers of a husband. So, that might get interesting.

Jessie and Rick 

Then it all ends with Rick leaning on the wall and rubbing his hands down it while a walker rubs hands down the other side.

I DON'T GET IT!!

Things are just very weird, that's all I'm saying.

What do you think is about to go down?

Top Ten Tuesday: Forbidden Love!

I couldn't decide on a topic and now the day is nearly over and I've still not written a post! I hate it when that happens.

But I'll give it a shot with this one.

Ten of my favorite books if you enjoy books with forbidden love:

1. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
2. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
3. The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
4. Scribbler of Dreams by Mary Pearson
5. The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima
6. The Queen of Atolia by Megan Whalen Turner
7. The Far Pavilions by M.M. Kaye
8. Tristan and Isolde by lots of people
9. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
10. Sunshine by Robin McKinley


And here, forbidden love means falling for the enemy, or a person in a completely different "tribe" than you, or someone you should just totally stay away from!

Yeah, so I know there's some really great ones missing from this list, but I couldn't go on forever now, could I? But I would love to know, what's your favorite forbidden love story? Which one must I totally read NOW?

See what topics others came up with over at The Broke and the Bookish!

Book Review Discussion: The One by Kiera Cass

Book: The One by Kiera Cass
Genre: YA Dystopian
Rating:★★★★☆
For: Fun
From: The library

Short Synopsis: The selection is down to four girls by the time this book starts. America is pretty convinced she loves the prince, but is still not totally sure. They start playing the game of who is going to tell whom "I love you" first. It's a little bit silly. . .until it's not and things suddenly get serious.

My Response: Again, I'm fascinated by how much I've enjoyed this series. It's mostly fluff and all about the love triangle and making one look one's best in order to make someone fall in love with you. But then again, if you go a little deeper, there's so much more to it. I guess it's a tricky thing balancing this fluffy seeming story on top of a society and a world siuation that is anything but fluff. The crazy ending came out of nowhere and I think my eyes bulged out of my head a bit! I was worried there weren't enough pages to solve everything! But somehow it did and in the end, I felt that this was a great ending book. I especially loved how, even though we pretty much knew how things would end (I mean, the title of the book, hello!) we still weren't sure until all was said and done!

Bottom Line: Great dystopian series that mixes the fun with the serious!

Let's Talk About: So here's what I'm wondering today... how important is it to you that you not know what's going to happen at the end of a book? I wondered about this throughout this whole series given the fact that it was all pretty obvious. I figured somehow readers weren't bugged by that. And I wondered the whole time how the author would keep us reading even though we knew! Yeah, I find it to be a pretty cool feat that she pulled off! What do you think?

Other Reviews:

Speaking of character deaths, I didn’t realize how invested I had really become with the story and the characters until I found myself sobbing over them. The deaths hurt as much as the deaths did in The Hunger Games, and I think that’s saying something. From Drunk on Pop

So, even though The One didn’t totally live up to my expectations (sigh), this series is still one of the most engaging stories I’ve ever read and I will always hold the first book on a pedestal. From The Obsessive Bookseller

There were so many tense scenes, that made this final book in America’s story so gripping. The One is probably one of the best conclusions I have read so far! From Heart Full of Books

I will also admit that this book really surprised me at the end! From Girl in the Pages

Currently!

Listening: I know I'm a little slow to the party, but I discovered Hozier this past week or two. I especially love Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene:

Watching: Survivor, Walking Dead, Amazing Race and Arrow. All the things I'm watching. I did finish up season one of The 100 on Netflix and.. OH. MY. WORD! Didn't season two just end on live TV? Here's hoping they all show up on Netflix soon. Though I've already been spoiled for a certain thing that I know happens that makes me just crazy in the thinking about :(

Reading: I finished up the Selection trilogy by reading The One this week. That ended with stuff I wasn't expecting! Then we decided to bag Winter's Tale for book club and read Wonder instead. So I devoured that in just a couple of days. Awesome. A much better choice for a book club book!

Writing: Ah. Yeah. So. I did manage about 1000 words toward my ending chapter, but they are awful words! Still trying to think about what else should happen to end this story!

Blogging: Some how, I'm still thinking of all sorts of things to blog about! How does this happen? I still need people to do a challenge for Bloggiesta. Will it be you? PA- LEEZE? My 8th bloggiversary is coming up in a week. I have no plans for any huge celebrations, but I may do a "remember this" sort of post. Hmmm...we'l see.

Eating: I made these cookies to take to family events today. Stuffed S'more Cookies. As you can seem, some of them had their stuffing leak!

Lasagna is in the crock pot right this very now, which we'll be eating in just a few minutes. And... I fell in love with a German gingerbread cake thing that I made for a party at work. Oh! And we went out to dinner last night to a Lebanese restaurant. YUMMY! And they had belly dancers too! LOL.

Crafting: I don't even think I stepped foot into my craft room this week. Or the week before that for that matter. Maybe even the week before that too!

Miscellaneous:

• It snowed a little this week, but then it turned gorgeous again.
• Went to a another gig last night at a place called The Loading Dock, which was really and truly on a loading dock!
• Trying to figure some stuff out that's causing me ulcers. If it ever gets figured out, I'll share then!
• Well, I can't think of anything else to report, so I'm off to go visit family! TTYL!

Potential Books for Book Club 2015

Every year I like to share with you the books we are voting on for the next year's book club schedule. It's fun to see what you all have to say about them!

Here are the possibles for this next year, listed in their respective categories.

October Book

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Dracula by Bram Stoker

Classics

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Animal Farm by George Orwell
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

YA/MG

Wonder by R. J. Palacio

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor

Utah Author

The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams

Elevated by Elana Johnson

The Rent Collector by Camron Wright

Literary Fiction

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

Non Fiction

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

Graphic/Play

Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand

Smile by  Raina Telgemeier

Are there some on this list that you think we simply can't pass up? If so, here's hoping it gets voted in! We are trying to narrow this down to about 12, so only a few will get eliminated. It's always fun to see what pulls out ahead!

Getting to Know You: Favorite Animals

Another installment of Getting to Know You is going on now over at Jenni Elyse's! Make a post and link up! This week we're sharing our favorite animals. I have lots I love, but narrowed it down to the few in this collage. 

Ah, they're all so cute!! And majestic. Animals are amazing. Which ones would you include on your list?

Historical vs. Contemporary

Okay guys! Here's another genre question for you!

We all know a historical novel is one that takes place in the past.  Usually, but not always, a novel based around either a true event, or some big event in history.  And if not that, then you usually learn about customs or practices from the past.

A contemporary novel is one that takes place in the present, obviously! The current day. Now times, dealing with nowadays issues.

But when does one become the other? How far back does "present" day go? And how far close to now does historical come?

I think we can agree that 20s and 30s would be historical. World War II times and the 40s obviously are. How about the 50s and 60s? Yes?

So... what about the 70s? Vietnam war? Watergate? Historical? Probably.

And the 80s? Historical or contemporary? The 90s? Historical or contemporary?

See? Starting to get a little fuzzy, ain't it?

Think of books set in those times periods. How do you think of them? Present day or historical past times? What's the "newest" setting you think of as historical and the "oldest" you think of as contemporary?

Let me know what you think!