Top 4 Thursday

AllMemesTop 4 Thursday

Thursday’s Top 4: Books from My Genre that I Want to Read

Posted on by J.W. Martin

Find out more about Thursday’s Top 4 here! It’s a meme Ally @ Ally Writes things started and anyone can participate! Visit this page for the upcoming topics

Not quite sure what “my genre” is these days. I’m all over the place. My gut reaction is to say sci-fi, but everything I’ve been reading and gravitating to recently has been fantasy or non-fiction. How about a compromise at sci-fi/fantasy!

A Darker Shade of Magic

Warcross

Iron Gold

Obsidio

Vicious, Armada, Lifelike, Sea of Rust, Invictus… I could go on. Forever.

Fun fact about this post: This looks a lot like the list of books I said I really wanted to read this time last year…
AllMemesTop 4 Thursday

Thursday’s Top 4 Books I’d Rewrite

Posted on by J.W. Martin

Thursday’s Top 4 is a bi-weekly meme hosted by Ally @ Ally Writes Things. It’s got all the best parts of a weekly Top [insert number here] list, without the weekly commitment. What’s not to love?

This week, we’re discussing books we’d like to rewrite. Whether it’s tweaking an ending or starting from scratch with a really cool concept, certain books just make you wish they had asked for your opinion before editing. Honestly, who are these people that don’t want my opinion?

Dayfall 

This one had such tremendous potential. The sun hasn’t been seen for decades… until now. The execution, however, just wasn’t for me. It was taken in the direction of a cop trying to solve a case while this was going on. I’d rather see it written from the perspective of the everyman who’s just trying to live life while the city is freaking out.

The Sky is Yours

Another tremendous concept. Two dragons circle the city/world endlessly, charring everything in sight. No one knows why. I guess I’d just re-write it to be more about the dragons. They really didn’t play that much of a part. They could have been replaced with torrential rain, or some other annoying circumstance.

Snow Crash

True sci-fi fans would cut me for having the gaul for putting this one on the list, but hear me out. This book did so many things right, I honestly just want to give it a quick edit and cut some of the parts that explained how code and religion were connected throughout the ages. Not to censor anything. I would never. But a rather simple concept in this book was address for pages, and pages, and pages. Then we’d go see what someone else was doing, and then back to more lessons from the Redundant School or Redundancy.

Lock In

I don’t quite know what I was hoping for from this one, but I didn’t find it. The disease that locked people in their own bodies was such a cool concept, I just wanted to hear more and more about it. But instead we focused on a murder case. That’s like your high school math teacher giving a talk on the isosceles triangle while acrobats and juggling flaming chainsaws right outside the classroom window.

Fun fact about this post: ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!
MemesTop 4 Thursday

Thursday’s Top 4 Recent Favourite Covers

Posted on by J.W. Martin

Thursday’s Top 4 is a bi-weekly meme hosted by Ally @ Ally Writes Things. It’s fun and doesn’t always require a wracking of the brain (though there are times!) If you like books or lists or a combination of the two, you should get in on this one.

This week’s topic, recent favourite covers. Recent is a relative term, so I’m going to go with book I’ve read in the last 6 months.

Nevernight

NEVERNIGHT
by Jay Kristoff

This cover was extremely attractive from the second I first saw it, but I found that while reading I was constantly closing the book (sometimes in the middle of a page) to look at the cover to see if I could pick out more details given by the story. Fun stuff!

GEMINA
by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

Duh. No explanation needed.

THE CORE
by Peter V Brett

The swirling cloak/dress. The wonderful blue colour. The badass look on her face. It’s all mesmerizing.

CITY OF LIES
By Sam Hawke

As a surprise entrant, I present you with the cover of my current read. It’s not exactly uncommon for a blade to be featured on the cover of a fantasy novel. In fact, I think you’d be hard pressed to find more than a dozen fantasy covers without some kind of blade. But the fact that this is book 1 of The Poison War, and the knife is smoking with some kind of chemical makes it WAY more exciting.

Fun fact about this post: I decided on the 6-month timeline BEFORE picking covers, instead of picking a timeline to suit any particular cover. Not that I would ever do that… *evil laugh*
AllMemesTop 4 Thursday

Thursday’s Top 4 | Books I Recommend to Everyone

Posted on by J.W. Martin

Just so this list isn’t the four books that everyone knows I recommend to everyone (RPO, Red Rising, Art of Racing in the Rain, etc), I’m going to add a stipulation on this list, that it must be a book I’ve read (re-reads don’t count) in the last 365 days.

Look at that: I’m trying to branch out. Aren’t you proud of me?

Also, if I’m looking for books I can recommend to EVERYONE they need to have the potential to offer something for everyone. Fantasy and Sci-Fi don’t always do that, which helps me narrow things down greatly.

Without any further caveats, here is this Thursday’s Top 4, hosted by Ally @ Ally Writes Things. 

Hex

It’s super creepy, but set in the real world. It’s the kind of thing any Stephen King fan would dig, and if Stephen King fans aren’t an all encompassing market, I don’t know what is.

The Graveyard Book

This one’s a little tougher, being that it’s technically a children’s book. Regardless, anyone who reads this book is going to get something from it. 

Macbeth

Whether it’s memories of forced readings in high school English class, or just a gritty crime-drama, you’d have to be dead to not be on the edge of your seat for the end of this one.

Artemis

The Martian proved that the world is ready for certain forms of science fiction. While this one is quite a bit further “out there” I think it would pull in most of the people who enjoyed Weir’s first offering. 

Fun fact about this post: Six of Crows almost made the cut, but I read it 365 days +2 weeks ago. 
AllMemesTop 4 Thursday

Thursday’s Top 4 Book Titles

Posted on by J.W. Martin

Don’t judge a book by its cover! And that probably extends to its title. Well… I do both.

What kind of titles are we talking about, though? What’s in a title? It has nothing to do with the font on the front cover. Buzzwords don’t necessarily mean anything. A good title is something that when you hear it, without any other elements, you stop and a go, “Oh! What’s that about?”

This week, in Ally’s Thursday’s Top 4, we talk about some of these great titles.

Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe

Maybe it’s because I just finished this book and absolutely love everything about it. However, you hear a title like that, and it leads you to wonder things like, “Who’s Neanderthal? And how does he open this magic door? 42??”

They Both Die at the End

This title is so blatant it makes you question its legitimacy. Is it just giving you the truth? Or is it purposely misleading you?

The Last Namsara

Anytime you hear about the ‘Last’ of anything, it’s intriguing. I didn’t know what a Namsara was, before reading this book, but hearing that there was only one left, I had to know more.

I Am Legend

A bold claim. Are you legend? Are you really?

Fun fact about this post: I suggested this subject for a top 5 Tuesday, so when Ally told me she had it upcoming, I HAD to get on it!
AllMemesTop 4 Thursday

Top 4 Books With NO Romance

Posted on by J.W. Martin

Top 4 Thursday is a bi-weekly meme hosted by Ally @ Ally Writes Things. If you haven’t done the T4T, what are you waiting for? In 2 weeks, we’ll be doing Top 4 Books you read because of something superficial. But THIS week, we talk about books with NO romance.

This is kind of tough one, actually. I’m pretty sure the books on my list have no romance, but there are always details about a book that I forget. So no pointing fingers and calling me names if something I listed has a smidgen of romance, okay?

Room

Pretty confident in this one.

Hex

Just about everything you can imagine happens in this book… except romance. There’s a married couple in it, and sure they probably love each other, but I can’t remember any straight-up romance.

The Hobbit

Not the movie version where Evangeline Lily shows up and falls in love with a dwarf. That didn’t happen in the book. Or it did and I don’t remember.

I Am Legend

Again, not the movie where humans are falling in love with humans, and vampires and falling in love with vampires. Just a man. Alone. Surrounded by monsters.

Fun fact about this post: Post number two for today. Sick of me yet?

 

MemesTop 4 Thursday

Top 4 Thursday – Favourite Short Books (get it, because February is a short month??)

Posted on by J.W. Martin

Short month, short books. Oh, Ally, you’re so clever. Allow me to join you: short intro.

Old Man and the Sea
by Ernest Hemingway

The first time I read this book, I’m pretty sure it was in a single sitting. It wasn’t just because it’s short, Hemmingway flows so effortlessly that you have no clue how much you’re reading. Suddenly you turn the last page, realize hours have passed, and that you’re really hungry.

I Am Legend
by Richard Matheson

Most of the time this is in a full-sized book, but that’s because it comes packaged with a number of other short stories. The actual I Am Legend story is quite short and really powerful. The movie does NOT do it justice. Trust me.

Animal Farm
by George Orwell

Such a strange little book but by the end, you want to cry. Damn you, Orwell!

Fahrenheit 451
by Ray Bradbury

Such a wonderful classic. And never has the mentality of that society been truer than it is now.

Fun fact about this post: It’s short.
MemesTop 4 Thursday

Top 4 Bad Endings (or endings that should have been re-written)

Posted on by J.W. Martin

Top 4 Thursday is a bi-monthly meme hosted by Ally Memes @ Ally Writes Things. This week’s topic, bad endings, or endings that should have been re-written. You can see other upcoming top 4 topics here.

First Phone Call From Heaven by Mitch Albom

It wasn’t just the ending on this that needed to be re-written. Large parts of it did, which all depending on the ending to have impact. There was no impact. And I saw the ending coming from the beginning of the book.

 

Blindness by José Saramago

After an extremely interesting premise, and so many hard-fought battles (while dealing with major adversity) the ending was just… unfulfilling. Was there a point to anything I just read? No? Okay. Thanks.

 

The Hunger Games/Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

I wanted more. For everyone. I know not everyone can have a happy ending, but how about 1 or 2 people?

 

1984 by George Orwell

If I was Bruce Banner, the end of this book would turn me into the Hulk. And it’s made worse by the fact that it’s a great book.

Fun fact about this post: I think I have internal bleeding from not being able to talk about these endings!
MemesTop 4 Thursday

Top 4 Non-Fluffy Books

Posted on by J.W. Martin

Top 4 non-fluffy books (not necessarily books without romance, but books where any romance isn’t fluffy.) Thanks to Ally Memes @AllyWritesThings for hosting this bi-weekly meme. Check out her upcoming topics here.

The Red Rising Trilogy

Yeah, there’s love and slag. But the real mushy stuff happens between books. Darrow and Mustang are obsessed with each other, but it’s not mushy, mainly because they spend most of their time pretending not to be obsessed with each other.

Ready Player One

Parzival and Artemis end up in a relationship by the end, but really, they spend most of their time as friends/team mates.

I Am Legend

This one may not be fair. There are no people for Robert Langdon to do any lovey dove stuff with. And even if there was a scene where he lit some candles, had a long bath, and had some self-romance, it was obviously cut from the final version.

Fight Club

There’s love there, but it’s about a far as you can get from mushy.

Fun fact about this post: There are absolutely no fun facts about this post, except for that fact that there are no facts…