Misc

Misc

Top 5 Books I want to re-Read

Posted on by J.W. Martin

It’s another Tuesday and another Top 5 Tuesday, hosted by the always amazing Bionic Bookworm, Shanah!

This week we’re talking about books that we want to re-read. Personally, I don’t often re-read books. I already don’t have time to put the smallest of dents in my TBR, and those are all new books. How is my situation going to get better with re-reads.

However, sometimes I look back on books that I “loved” and can barely remember a thing about them. Maybe there is something to this re-reading thing after all.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

As a life-long fan of comic books, I geeked out with this comic-based historical fiction. I feel like I remember a lot of it, but I definitely need to read it again.

American Gods

I enjoyed the first season of the show, but I couldn’t remember how close or far it was from the original book. People would ask me how close they were and all I could do was shrug.

Fahrenheit 451

Haven’t read this one since high school. I remember liking it, and I remember most of the plot points. But with the world going the way it is, I was to read it again and see how close we are to this “future.”

The Hunger Games

I really liked this series. And then the movies came out, and I thought they were really cool and really well done. However, years later, whenever I think of this series I feel like I have a chip on my shoulder. Like something about it left a bad taste in my mouth. I can’t for the life of me figure out why. Re-read required.

Wool

This is one of those rare books that pulled me out of a big-time reading slump. I’ve always wanted to continue the series, but I don’t think I can without re-reading this one first.

Fun fact about this post: You were expecting me to have Ready Player One on my list, weren’t you? You’re not wrong. I want to re-read it pretty much all the time. But I just re-read it before the movie came out.
Book TagMisc

Mid-Year Freakout with a Twist!

Posted on by J.W. Martin
via Giphy

Okay. Yes, it’s June. And yes, that came quickly enough for an, “oh dang.”

I was already putting a post together for this tag, in which I whined about no one tagging me, and then lo and behold, Ally @ Ally Writes Things tagged me. She must be some kind of mind reader. What am I thinking now, Ally?! WHAT AM I THINKING NOW!!

At the same time, Kiersten @ Once Upon A Spine put up a ‘Best Books of 2018 (so far)‘ post that I told her I was going to steal. Actually, I grabbed it and ran. She tried to stop me, but I started tossing Neil Gaiman books over my shoulder and she stopped running.

Kiersten’s post allowed for more than ONE favourite of the year so far. And I’ve had a pretty good year of reading and needed more than one spot.

BEST BOOK YOU’VE READ YET IN 2018 STOLEN POST FROM ONCE UPON A SPINE

Ruthless Magic
The Graveyard Book
The Raven Cycle
Gemina
Macbeth
Something Wicked This Way Comes
To Kill a Kingdom

BEST SEQUEL YOU’VE READ SO FAR IN 2016

Gemina

MOST ANTICIPATED RELEASE FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR

On any given day, I’m really behind on my reading. So it’s hard to look forward when I’m still being crushed by a large pile of books. However, I’ll take an easy out on this one, and say Dark Age by Pierce Brown.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

Dayfall

BIGGEST SURPRISE

To Kill a Kingdom

FAVOURITE NEW AUTHOR

Maggie Stiefvater. I know she’s not new, but remember the part about me being so far behind on everything? Yeah. But I devoured the whole Raven Cycle in the first half of this year.

NEWEST FICTIONAL CRUSH

Lira (To Kill a Kingdom)

NEWEST FAVOURITE CHARACTER

Ronan Lynch

BOOK THAT MADE YOU CRY

This isn’t one of those, “I’m a man and men don’t cry” answers. I just didn’t cry. Probably because I didn’t re-read The Art of Racing in the Rain again. The Graveyard Book came close. Felt devastated, but no tears.

BOOK THAT MADE YOU HAPPY

Room

via Giphy

FAVOURITE BOOK TO FILM ADAPTATION

I’m only halfway through season one, and I haven’t read the book, but 13 Reasons Why has been EXCELLENT so far. 

FAVOURITE POST YOU HAVE DONE THIS YEAR

First Impression Friday!!

MOST BEAUTIFUL BOOK YOU’VE BOUGHT THIS YEAR

Between print and digital ARCs, and books from my backlist, I’ve barely bought any books this year. Can you believe it? Willpower of steal! And cheapness of titanium!

via Giphy

WHAT BOOKS DO YOU NEED TO READ BY THE END OF THE YEAR

Are you kidding me? How much time do you have?

Nevernight
Crooked Kingdom
A Darker Shade of Magic
All Rights Reserved
Scythe
LifeLike

Fun fact about this post: Tossing a bunch of Neil Gaiman books just to get one post idea was probably bad trade…
Misc

Top 4 Great Young Adult Books

Posted on by J.W. Martin

Top 4 Thursday is a bi-weekly mem hosted by Ally @ Ally Writes Things. You should join in and you should see what else Ally has happening on her blog. It’s one of my favs!

Top 4 Young Adult books. This was more difficult than I first thought. The lines between YA and Fantasy/Sci-Fi are sometimes very, very thin. Sometimes I’m shock when a book is given a YA classification, and other times there’s a book that I’m sure MUST be a YA, yet it’s not. So if I’m wrong about any of the books on this list, forgive me. I’m not longer a ‘young’ adult, so I don’t know any better.

Six of Crows

When I picked this up (on the recommendation of every blogger on the planet) I didn’t know what to expect. What I got was something so fresh, so enticing, and so GOOD that even I’M mad at myself for not finishing to duology yet.

Six of Crows book cover

Red Rising

Loved every moment of this book (and every moment of the trilogy.) It rang with some familiarities of other YA books, but quickly put itself above these other books.

Illuminae

Ground-breaking, even if it wasn’t the first book to use such a unique format. There are very few books that I can remember commanding such a strong emotional investment.

Illuminae

The Raven Boys

I was very late to the party on this one, but it’s fantastic. And like other books on this list (pretty much the entire list) you really need to read the entire series to get the entire story.

Fun fact about this post: Obviously, Harry Potter qualifies, but I feel the entire series has transcended genres completely. It’s not YA. It’s HP. Probably has it’s own section in most book stores.
Misc

Top 5 Books I’d Save From a Fire

Posted on by J.W. Martin

This week’s Top 5 Tuesday asks about books that I’d save from a fire. Would it be cheating to say I’d just grab my phone or kindle? Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, that would make for a boring post, so I suppose it’s time to talk books.

P.S. Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme run by Shanah the Bionic Bookworm. If you’ve never seen it before, this is obviously your first week on the internet. Welcome.

Ready Player One

Obviously.

Illuminae

I know it’s not the first book of its kind, but it’s still pretty ground-breaking. And someone has to keep a record of it so the world knows what happened to Kady and Ezra.

Illuminae

Red Rising Trilogy

Cheating? Probably. Let’s just pretend it’s a box set, and that taking a single book out of the box set would have taken more time than just grabbing the whole thing. Gory damn right.

On Writing

Hand downs the best book I’ve read on the craft of writing. We need to save as many copies as possible.

The Catcher in the Rye

This is a strange one. I’ve said many times that I don’t think I could ever convince someone to read this book. “Hey, yeah, so it’s about this kid who tries to act older than he is. He likes wearing a weird hat. Yeah. You should read it.” Once you’ve read it, you understand. Somehow.

Fun fact about this post: I almost added Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt to this list, but I’m pretty sure that book wouldn’t burn in fire anyway…
AllMisc

I called in sick this week… sorry

Posted on by J.W. Martin

Let me tell you… It. has. been. a. week.

Nothing real bad. In the grand scheme of life, a good week to be alive. I have a full-time job, hobbies I enjoy, and a family to love. But, holy crap weasels, was it busy! I went to bed every night way earlier than normal.

Work has been insane, and now that we’re close to the performances of this play I’m going to be in, the practices are many and often. I went to bed every night this week way earlier than I normally would have and got way less done than I normally do. I haven’t even been reading much!

So, apologies if you missed me this week (even though I’m pretty sure the only one who did was my Mom!) I hope to be back next week.

Fun fact about this post: I’m too tired to think of a fun fact about this post…

Misc

My Favourite Bookish Gift Idea

Posted on by J.W. Martin

Day 3 of Blogmas, and I’m actually posting something somewhat holiday-based! Imagine that!

I considered doing a whole gift-giving guide for bookworms, but Elizabeth @ Mountains of Books already put together a phenomenal post with so many great ideas.

However, there’s a gift that totally belongs on any bookworms Holiday list that wasn’t on Elizabeth’s list.

The Nessie Tail Bookmark

I have mixed feelings when it comes to bookmarks. I like them, but I don’t think they’re necessary. I often use a receipt or some other scrap of paper instead of a special strip of paper known as a bookmark.

But just look at this little Nessie! LOOK AT HER! If you want one, which I know you do, the price is steep at $9, but worth it? I guess that depends on you. If you’re like me, and need this, here’s where you can buy it.

Fun fact about this post: I want one or several of these bookmarks.
MemesMisc

November Anti-Book Haul

Posted on by J.W. Martin

Justine @ I Should Read That made an anti-book haul post, and I thought it was just brilliant. Instead of buying a bunch of books and putting together a book haul post, she’s saving her money and posted a list of books she’d like to have. A wishlist of sorts. And smart, since a lot of people do their Christmas shopping this time of year.

So, I’m stealing Justine’s idea, and posting my anti-book haul, or… the books I’d most like to get my hands on.

Sea of Rust

This might be my favoritest cover in the whole world. (I know favoritest isn’t a word, but it feels right) I don’t just want it for the cover. The plot interests me, too. But that cover puts it over the top.

All Rights Reserved

Possibly the most fascinating premise on the list. Every word, whether spoken, written, texted, etc, etc, has a cost. Charged for the simple act of speaking. Chatterboxes would go broke within a day.

Invictus

Author Ryan Graudin tweeted that it was ‘Doctor Who x Firefly’. Sold!

A Darker Shade of Magic

I know, I know. I’m really, really late to the party on this one. I think it’s been at the top of my ‘to-buy’ list longer than any other book.

Gemina

I just recently read Illuminae and loved it. And everything I’ve heard says that Gemina is even better, so… yeah. It’s on the list.

Fun fact about this post: It’s not just Christmas that’s in December, I also have a birthday. *wink, wink* *hint, hint*
DiscussionMiscWriting

100 Followers! Thank-you! Thank-you!

Posted on by J.W. Martin

My blog has existed long before I jumped into the book blogosphere. However, back then I didn’t really know what I was doing—as opposed to now where I BARELY know what I’m doing. I had maybe a dozen email followers, but no daily traffic to speak of.

Then I started talking to Shanah. Yes, the Bionic Bookworm. What she was doing (and still does) seemed like so much fun. It was admirable. I didn’t know anyone else who was doing anything like it, and the whole thing revolved around one of my favorite subjects in the world: Books.

At that point, I thought I’d only post a few times a week. One minimum, three maximum. But then someone likes your post, and another person comments, and then addiction sets in. I’m still not a daily poster, but it’s not for lack of desire. Some weeks I just don’t have much to post about while staying entertaining. Sure, I could do a big long post about my dog and all the different reasons he whines at me in the course of a day, but I don’t want to write that. And if I don’t want to write it, who the heck is going to want to read it? No one. Except my mom.

I owe a massive debt of gratitude to everyone who found my random musings interesting enough to follow this blog. The space I occupy in your daily feed is not something I plan to take for granted. But as long as you’re willing to read my ramblings, I’ll keep writing them.

Fun fact about this post: There was a time, not too long ago, when I thought I’d NEVER get to 100 followers. Now I’ll start thinking I’ll never get 200!
MiscWriting

NaNoWriMonday — Na No What Now?

Posted on by J.W. Martin

With November around the corner, and my intent to take part in my 7th NaNoWriMo, I thought I’d do a weekly post (as long as all goes well) from now until the first Monday in December.

For anyone who isn’t down with the nano, NaNoWriMo is some weird camel-case short form for ‘National Novel Writing Month.’ The original goal isn’t necessarily to write an entire novel in November, but to get 50,000 words. It’s a personal goal, so some people have taken to changing their goal to whatever makes sense for them. 10K, 50K, 100K, edit an existing manuscript, building a tribute statue to the brilliant show Doctor Who. Whatever.

Me, I prefer the classic 50K challenge. This means 1,667 words per night. It’s also going to be the first day that I’ll be trying to balance NaNoWriMo with semi-consistent blog posting. Fingers crossed!

Next week, on NaNoWriMonday, I’ll reveal the story I’ll be trying to write in November. It’s an idea that I’ve had bouncing around my head for a few years now, so it’s nice and marinated!

If this sounds like something you’re interested in doing, I encourage you to go to nanowrimo.org and find out more. It’s a good time.

Fun fact about this post: NaNoWriMo + Monday = NaNoWriMonday! I’m a genius! #NotAGenius

Misc

Goodreads Monday #2

Posted on by J.W. Martin

Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren’s Page Turners. Feature a random book from your TBR. Check out Lauren’s blog while you’re at it.

The little spin I used last week was to use https://www.random.org to give me a random number instead of picking my own book. That was kind of fun, so I thought I’d do again this week.

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

Six of Crows was recommended by everyone on the planet. Okay, maybe not the planet. The blogosphere for sure. Either way, I read it. I loved it.

All the characters are pretty great, but Kaz Brekker is the man. He’s the reason I’m heading back for the sequel.

CK was already out when I finished SoC, but I have this weird habit with series. For the most part, I avoid reading them back-to-back. I have some unfounded fear of getting saturated and never wanting to go back.

It’s silly, cause I can’t think of a time when that’s ever happened, but it’s just how I function.

Fun fact about this post: I recently broke that ‘rule’ of mine when I read Golden Son and Morning Star back to back.