Tag: book blog

Misc

Getting to know you better tag

Posted on by J.W. Martin

I was tagged to do this by the awesome, prolific, three-time Intercontinental champion, and always-interesting Bionic Bookworm. You go, girl!

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN BLOGGING?

Official Book blogging would be May of this year. I had a blog for a long time before that, but it was aimless and I didn’t do a good job of keeping it updated. I guess I was just looking for a topic that could grab me and keep me interested. Turns out that topic is books!

DO YOU ENJOY DOING TAGS?

Yes! I don’t do too many at this point. I’m still pretty green in this community and don’t have a lot of followers just yet, so tags don’t come my way too often. But when they do I’m all over them like a fat kid on a smartie!

DO YOU FOLLOW THE BLOGS THAT FOLLOW YOU?

Yup! I like to believe that anyone who is gracious enough to follow me deserves the common courtesy to see what they’re up to. The only exception so far was a blog that didn’t post in English. Why do I have to be such a unilingual fool?!

DESCRIBE YOUR BLOG IN 5 WORDS

I only get five? Crap!

HOW MANY POSTS HAVE YOU MADE ON YOUR BLOG? (NOT COUNTING THIS TAG)

139, but only 37 since turning over to a book blog. And honestly, not all 37 of those posts are book-based. A few were movie-related. Some were just about the origins of sayings, and one was a stray thought I had about the movie Toy Story!

ON A SCALE OF 1-10, HOW MUCH DO YOU ENJOY BLOGGING?

Most days, 9. If I knew how great of a community this was, I would have joined a lot longer ago. And it’s just pure fun! Blogging used to be 100% chore. But since making the switch, it doesn’t feel like much of a chore at all. I don’t have time to post as often as I’d like, but maybe that’s a good thing. You’d all be sick of me! “I know it was a good book, but does he have to reference Ready Player One in every post?”

POST SOME LINKS TO BLOGS YOU ENJOY READING

I Should Read That, Once Upon A Spine, Mom’s Book Collection, Kristin Kraves Books, Forever and Everly, MNBernard Books and Comma Hangover. There are a lot more. Too many to list, to be honest.

WRITING OR READING BLOG POSTS?

I don’t want to choose. Why are you making me choose?! I guess If I had to choose, I would pick writing. Then again, if I wasn’t reading, I probably would have a really hard time coming up with things to write about. Therefore, reading. However, with all that reading, I’d be really inspired to write something. BUT…

I TAG…

The same people I mentioned in ‘blogs you enjoy’ question. No obligation, though.

WWW Wednesday

WWW Wednesday – August 16, 2017

Posted on by J.W. Martin

Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike! What day is it?

And one of my favourite memes to take part in on a Wednesday is the WWW Wednesday meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words.

This meme tries to answer the following three questions:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you finish recently reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently reading:

Golden Son

I’m a big fan of the first book, so I’m excited about this one. I’ve just started but from everything I’ve heard this series only gets better with each book.

“Golden Son continues the stunning saga of Darrow, a rebel forged by tragedy, battling to lead his oppressed people to freedom from the overlords of a brutal elitist future built on lies. Now fully embedded among the Gold ruling class, Darrow continues his work to bring down Society from within.

A life-or-death tale of vengeance with an unforgettable hero at its heart, Golden Son guarantees Pierce Brown’s continuing status as one of fiction’s most exciting new voices.”

 

Recently finished:

Snow Crash

This book was strange, but good. I’ll be posting a review in the near future.

“In reality, Hiro Protagonist delivers pizza for Uncle Enzo’s CosoNostra Pizza Inc., but in the Metaverse he’s a warrior prince. Plunging headlong into the enigma of a new computer virus that’s striking down hackers everywhere, he races along the neon-lit streets on a search-and-destroy mission for the shadowy virtual villain threatening to bring about infocalypse. Snow Crash is a mind-altering romp through a future America so bizarre, so outrageous…you’ll recognize it immediately.”

 

What’s next:

Morning Star

I read Red Rising when it first came out but didn’t continue it until recently. With Golden Son on the way, I’ll most likely finish up the series just after.

“Darrow would have lived in peace, but his enemies brought him war. The Gold overlords demanded his obedience, hanged his wife, and enslaved his people. But Darrow is determined to fight back. Risking everything to transform himself and breach Gold society, Darrow has battled to survive the cutthroat rivalries that breed Society’s mightiest warriors, climbed the ranks, and waited patiently to unleash the revolution that will tear the hierarchy apart from within.

Finally, the time has come.

But devotion to honor and hunger for vengeance run deep on both sides. Darrow and his comrades-in-arms face powerful enemies without scruple or mercy. Among them are some Darrow once considered friends. To win, Darrow will need to inspire those shackled in darkness to break their chains, unmake the world their cruel masters have built, and claim a destiny too long denied—and too glorious to surrender.”

 

How about everyone else? What are you reading? Have you read anything I’ve mentioned?

Misc

Top 5 buzzwords that make me want to read a book

Posted on by J.W. Martin

This Top 5 Tuesday meme is hosted by the Bionic Bookworm. Go check out her topics for the rest of August.

I’m not sure the words I picked qualify as ‘buzzwords’ but they are words (or maybe concepts) that I find irresistible when I find them in a synopsis.

ARCHNEMESIS

Rand al’Thor vs. The Dark One. Harry Potter vs. Voldemort. Batman vs. The Joker!! There’s just something about archnemeses. A nemesis is fine. It makes for a good story, as long as it hasn’t been done poorly. But when two people/groups have been battling for what seems like forever, everything just has more levels of depth. Each character’s story, motives, feelings, point-of-view are there enforce. By the end (if there is an end) the opposing forces are connected in some way. They could almost feel like friends.

Man Runner

DYSTOPIAN

A lot of people are sick of dystopian stories, but so far, I just can’t get enough. Big, scary government in an all-but-destroyed world? Yes, please! I think what people get sick of is when dystopian stories start looking too much alike. Dystopian can be a big, wide genre, but when they all start pitting people against each other in a survivalist situation, well… That’s when we end up with The Hunger Mazient Rising. There’s a lot of gold to come from this mini-genre.

MONSTER

I love monsters. Demons, vampires, werewolves, zombies, or better yet, some kind of monster I haven’t even heard of before! If your book has a cool monster with well-thought out mythology and the whole thing is brand new to me… you’ve got my money.

Nevernight

ASSASSIN

Oh, man. Is there anything cooler than an assassin? Probably, but they’re way up there. Schools of assassins, assassins vs. assassins, assassins on a lifelong search for personal happiness and pirate treasure… It’s all good.

PARALLEL UNIVERSE

This might be my favourite of them all. The possibilities are endless. It’s a tough thing to screw up, but when someone finds really exciting and unique possibilities, that’s when things get really interesting.

Deal of the Week

Deal of the Week… and it’s only Thursday!

Posted on by J.W. Martin

Super quick post, but I just had to shout out about an eBook deal I just got for a buck!

I know, I know. Some people detest eBooks, and I get it. Paper books are WAAAAAY better. I prefer them, too. But I don’t bring paper books with me wherever I go. I know myself too well. I’d lose all of the books if I did. So I always make sure to have interesting eBooks on my phone so I can still have exciting things to read if I find myself with a few spare minutes at the Doctor’s office, or while waiting in line at the grocery store, or being dumped in the middle of the Mohave desert.

Okay, I’ve buried the lead enough. Here’s the book:

hell divers by Nicholas Sansbury Smith

HELL DIVERS by Nicholas Sansbury Smith

Goodreads Synopis:

More than two centuries after World War III poisoned the planet, the final bastion of humanity lives on massive airships circling the globe in search for a habitable area to call home. Aging and outdated, most of the ships plummeted back to earth long ago. Enter the Hell Divers—men and women who risk their lives by diving to the surface to scavenge for parts that keep their homes in the air. When one of the two surviving airships is damaged in an electrical storm, a Hell Diver team is deployed to a hostile zone called Hades. But there’s something down there that’s far worse than the mutated creatures discovered on dives in the past—something that threatens the fragile future of humanity.

It’s easy to find an eBook for a dollar these days. There are thousands of them at any point and time. What’s not so common is to stumble upon a dollar eBook that ticks all the boxes. Fantastic cover, intriguing premise, a plot that doesn’t sound cliche, and even a kick-ass title! I can hear some commercial voice over guy using his ‘action voice’ saying, “Hell Divers! They dive into HELL!” Sounds redundant, right? Wrong. You should hear how awesome it sounds inside my head. Double plus awesome.

I’m not sure when I’ll actually get around to reading this one, but I’m excited!

Has anyone read this? Or have you also found some great deals this week? Is ‘Deal of the Week’ something that should show up on this blog a few times a month?

Awards

The Sunshine Blogger Award

Posted on by J.W. Martin

sunshine blogger award

My first award nomination! Excuse me while I happy dance this out.

http://gph.is/1porduD

A big thanks to Kawther @ The Villain Library for the nomination. If you aren’t already following The Villain Library, you should start. By the way, how cool is the name ‘The Villain Library’?!

 

What is the Sunshine Blogger Award?

The Sunshine Blogger Award is given to those who are creative, positive and inspiring, while spreading sunshine to the blogging community.

How Does It Work:

  • Thank the person(s) who nominated you in a blog post and link back to their blog
  • Answer the 11 questions sent by the person who nominated you
  • Nominate 11 new blogs to receive the award and write them 11 new questions
  • List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo on your post and/or on your blog

Kawther’s questions :

  1. What is your ideal vacation? Scotland & the Loch Ness. It’s a place I always wanted to go, but since writing a book that takes place there, my desire to go there has multiplied by a hundred times.
  2. What do you love about yourself? Tough question. I guess my imagination. I usually can’t look at something without a potential story running through my mind.
  3. What do wish you could change about yourself? Procrastination! It’s something I’ve been planning on resolving for some time. I’ll do it… tomorrow.
  4. What book are you reading now? I have a few going. I have an ARC of Soul Taker on the go, as well as an audiobook version of A Memory of Light.
  5. What keeps you blogging? I don’t know. Fun, I guess. I haven’t been concentrating on the Book Blog aspect of it for very long and every day I’m just looking for more to do and read.
  6. Who’s your favorite book Villain? Randall Flagg. He’s mainly from Stephen King’s The Stand, but he shows up in a lot of King’s other stories. A lot of times it’s someone just using the initials RF, but it’s him. He’s always different so there isn’t one characteristic that I can point to. I just like the idea of this villain with such unimaginable power that he can go wherever (and whenever) he wants. So much power, yet so much mystery.
  7. Do you have pets? 1 dog (Dexter) and 2 cats (Frito and JuJube)
  8. What’s a must read book you would recommend for me? Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.
  9. What hair color would you like to have? I’m fine with dark brown. Never wanted another color.
  10. What is your favourite season? Spring. I don’t like being hot or cold. And as a homeowner, I love a season where I don’t have to run the furnace or the AC!
  11. What book character have you fallen in love with? Not sure I ever have. I’ll have to make a bit of a reach here, into TV land, and pull out Miss Amelia Pond from the Eleventh Doctor’s reign. She’ll do.

http://gph.is/2chjY91

My Nominees:

P.S. I know some of you are probably being nominated for the 10th time this week, so DO NOT feel obligated if you don’t want to or don’t have time to accept the nomination.

My Questions:

 

  1. What book needs to be turned into a movie?
  2. Which book universe/world would you most like to visit?
  3. If your life was a book, what genre would it be?
  4. If you could pick any literary character to help you bury a body, who would it be?
  5. What made you start blogging?
  6. Who’s better: heroes or villains?
  7. Look to your right. What do you see?  
  8. What’s in your pocket right now?
  9. What do you think of this whole fidget spinner craze?
  10. In honour of Sorcerer’s Stone turning 20, what house are you?
  11. What are you reading now, and what’s next?

Again, this is not limited to those who’ve been named, but at the same time, no one should feel obligated to do this if they don’t want to. I’d love to hear some of these answers though. Especially question number 4.

Misc

The Age for Loving Books

Posted on by J.W. Martin

We hosted my son’s 9th birthday party yesterday. We had 15 nine-year-olds running around the yard spraying super soakers and hucking water balloons at each other. They had fun, and it was fun just to watch.

My son got many great gifts. One of which was a Guinness World Book of Records for Gamers. All kinds of records and interesting facts all based around video games.

I saw this and thought, “What a cool gift! It’s right up my son’s alley since he loves video games, it’s probably packed with interesting stuff, and the cover’s even pretty decent.”

My son, on the other hand, was probably thinking, “A book? I really need to re-evaluate who I invite to these things.”

He’s not a book kid. And I’m perfectly fine with that.

http://gph.is/2j6OJvi

Okay. It tears me up a bit, but he’s going to be who he is. I often encourage reading, but I don’t force it on him. Duct taping a book to his face so it’s the only thing he can see might have the opposite effect to what I’m going for.

And he’s still young, which got me thinking. What age was I when I really embraced reading? I want to say 10 or 11 and it started with comic books. I couldn’t get enough of them.

Books came a little later. Almost exclusively The Hardy Boys. Frank and Joe were the bomb. Thinking back, they probably weren’t great books. Both Frank and Joe seemed to be near-perfect. They never made a mistake and had the answer to every question. But these books have been around for generations, so obviously there’s something there.

A few years later, I got into a series called Endworld. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, a herculean chap named Blade (yeah, I know) and his friends would run around finding groups of villains and mutants and have giant shoot outs that always seemed to end in hand-to-hand combat. Again, my hindsight tells me they probably pretty bad, but at the time I loved them.

How old were you when you started reading? Do you remember what you started with?

BooksMisc

How Do I Choose What to Read Next?!

Posted on by J.W. Martin

How do I choose my next read? Please help, cause I really don’t know.

I’ve really only entered the Book Blogosphere a short while ago. I still don’t read nearly as many books as some of the bloggers I look up to (I still need to devote some time to writing) but my reading time has definitely increased.

Part of that is to have more interesting things to post about, but mostly it’s because of all this bookish exposure to new and exciting reads. That being said, my TBR (‘to be read list’ for those who aren’t obsessed) has grown out of control. It used to sit at around a dozen books at any given time. Now it’s just under a hundred!

A lot of you with TBRs much bigger than that are asking me, ‘What’s the problem?’ You want to know what the problem is? I’ll tell you! I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO CHOOSE ONE BOOK FROM A LIST THAT BIG!

Is there some kind of dance I should be doing until a sign appears? Do I write the titles of all the books on

Do I write the titles of all the books on chi chi fortune sticks and shake them in a cup until 1 falls out?

Do I blindfold myself, spin around a room and read the first book I happen to put my hand on?

Should I line all my books up and call to them, waiting for the first one to come to me?

Ouiji board?

Magic 8-Ball?

All joking aside, how do you pick the next thing you’re going to read?

Misc

Who doesn’t love a good bookmark?

Posted on by J.W. Martin

bookmark? you mean quitter strip?I love a good bookmark. I think it might be misplaced book love, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, is it?

When you spend so much time with a book that you really love, and every time you open that book your bookmark is the first thing you see, or course you’re going to love that bookmark! I wonder if the opposite can happen if you end up not liking a book…

I don’t mean to mislead you, I don’t always use bookmarks. In fact, I rarely use bookmarks. Here’s why:

Cost

When I walk into a store and see a rack of bookmarks, I get excited. They look so cool and have pictures of my favourite things. Look at that one! What a clever saying. And that little dangly part has a TARDIS on the end! That’s amazing! Eight dollars? Who in their right mind is going to pay that? It wouldn’t be so bad if I only had to buy one, however…

I Lose Bookmarks

Do you know how many bookmarks I’ve bought over the years? Do you have any idea? Seriously, can anyone tell me? Cause I have no idea. It’s a lot, though. Yet they’re all gone. Sometimes I leave them in books (even when I get to the end) and will reclaim these lost bookmarks years later, only to lose them again.

There’s always something else around

Look around you. Odds are there are 10 things within sight that can do the same job a bookmark does. A scrap of paper, that playing card, a photograph, the receipt from when you bought the very book you’re reading! I picked up a book my son was reading the other day, and he had throw a kleenex in there. Not only does that work, but it might be ingenious if you’re reading something emotional!

Sometimes they aren’t needed

When faced with the choice, I will pick a dead tree book over an eBook every time, but I still read eBooks from time to time. Most reading apps have a little button you hit to drop a bookmark in. Just like eBooks themselves, the bookmark button is convenient but just not the same as the real deal. You ever tried sticking a receipt or a kleenex into a reading app??

Do you use bookmarks? If not, what do you use instead and why?