TGIF {5}, BOOK BLOGGER HOP {5}, FEATURE AND FOLLOW FRIDAY {6}

TGIF... is a weekly meme hosted by GReads to re-cap the week's posts & to propose a question for followers. 




Brief Blog Recap

*click on title to read review*

Review

Slayers by C.J Hill: My Rating 4/5 Cupcakes

Fairy Metal Thunder (Songs of Magic #1)  by J.L. Bryan: My Rating 4/5 Cupcakes

Review and Author Interview

The Waking Grove by E.S. Lark: My Rating 5/5 Cupcakes

Review, Author Interview, Giveaway

The Protectors (The Protectors Saga #1) by P.M. Dooling: My Rating 5/5 Cupcakes

You can enter to win ecopies of Books 2 & 3 in the series from Dooling (book 1 is free on Smashwords). Giveaway ends TONIGHT at 11:59pm

Character Interview

Melina the dryad from The Waking Grove

This Friday's Question:

Banned Books: How do you feel about the censorship of the freedom to read? Do you think the education system needs to be more strict on what children are exposed to in books?

I am completely against censorship in any form, especially when it comes to books. No one has the right to tell someone else what they can or cannot choose to read...except for parents and guardians who should have the only say on what their child does or does not read. I can understand why people feel the need to ban certain books and I think they do it out of fear and a naive, misplaced notion that they are somehow protecting children. But really, they are keeping their children from learning valuable life lessons and experiencing the beauty of some of the most powerful, needed books written. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but those opinions should not be forced upon others, including the education system. Again, I think it's ultimately up to a parent to decide what their children are allowed to be exposed to.

Book Blogger Hop...is an awesome weekly meme hosted by Crazy for Books that gives book bloggers the chance to discover, support, and connect with fellow book bloggers and book lovers.

This Week's Question

“In honor of Banned Books Week, what is your favorite “banned or frequently challenged book”?”

Cut

Patricia McCormick

I have a lot of favorite banned books, but Cut is definitely one of my top 3 faves. I talk about this book a lot. Like A LOT! But that's because it's one book that has continued to move me, inspire me, and force me to think. It's a powerful book that explores a topic that is very personal to me and does so with such honesty, vulnerability and beauty. I will never get tired of reading this book or recommending it to everyone, especially teens.

Feature and Follow Friday... is a blog hop, hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read, that allows book bloggers to discover and connect with other book bloggers.

This week's featured blogs are:

Q. What book that hasn't been turned into a movie (yet) would you most like to see make it to the big screen, and who would you like cast as your favorite character?

I LOVE this question and my answer is Fablehaven by Brandon Mull. I adore this series and it would make for a fantastical, fun, thrilling movie on the big screen. I'd love to see all the magical beings and to see the actual Fablehaven sanctuary come to life. Now, I've heard rumors that this book is going to be made into a movie, but there hasn't been any official word that I know of. 

Now for casting, the two most important characters would be Kendra and Seth Sorenson. My dream casting for these two characters would be:

Kendra: Hailee Steinfield 

Seth: Nolan Gould

BOOK BLOGGER HOP {3} and FEATURE AND FOLLOW FRIDAY {3}

Book Blogger Hop...is an awesome weekly meme hosted by Crazy for Books that gives book bloggers the chance to discover, support, and connect with fellow book bloggers and book lovers.

Many of us primarily read one genre of books, with others sprinkled in. If authors stopped writing that genre, what genre would you start reading? Or would you give up reading completely if you couldn’t read that genre anymore?

I would NEVER give up reading completely! The mere thought is both terrifying and laughable. I read mostly Fantasy and Paranormal YA/MG books. If authors stopped writing in these genres, I'd probably read more contemporary YA fiction and more of the sci-fi genre. I read quite a bit of contemporary YA fiction now, but I could always read more. And I haven't delved too deep into the sci-fi genre, but it does fascinate me. Anyone have any sci-fi recs?

Feature and Follow Friday... is a blog hop, hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read, that allows book bloggers to discover and connect with other book bloggers.

This week's featured blogs are:

Have you ever wanted a villain to win at the end of a story? If so, which one?

Oh, this is a great question! I've always been fascinated by villains. Blame it on ole' Billy Shakespeare, with his brilliantly crafted villains, such as Richard III or Iago. And of course, the villains of my childhood (Voldemort, the White Witch, Captain Hook) were perfectly loathsome and villainous. But, I'm not sure if I ever wanted a villain to win. I think, if anything, I've wanted certain villains to be redeemed or saved...but I don't think I've ever wanted their evil plans and schemes to prevail in the end. I like a truly evil villain, but I really love a villain that pulls on my sympathies as well. 

Although, if I wanted to be totally honest there's a small *coughbigcough* part of me that really just wanted the Volturi to take out Bella and the Cullens, including that creepy baby, in Breaking Dawn...but then again, I would want the wolfpack to then take out the Volturi and other vamps...but after Bella, the Sparkle Crew, and Creepy Baby were offed...Twilight fans, please don't throw things at me now *ducks just in case*

BOOK BLOGGER HOP {2}, FEATURE & FOLLOW {2}, TGIF {2}

Book Blogger Hop

Book Blogger Hop is an awesome weekly meme hosted by Crazy for Books that gives book bloggers the chance to discover, support, and connect with fellow book bloggers and book lovers.

“What are you most looking forward to this fall/autumn season – A particular book release? Halloween? The leaves changing color? Cooler temperatures? A vacation? (If your next season is other than fall/autumn, tell us about it and what you are most looking forward to in your part of the world!)”

Fall in NC is always very pretty. Plus, Fall means October and October means my birthday and Halloween...both days I quite enjoy. There's something so magical and fun about Halloween...plus its the one day where you're pretty much obligated to eat candy!As for books, I'm super excited about The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan. I've been eagerly awaiting this book release all year!

FEATURE AND FOLLOW FRIDAY
Feature and Follow Friday is a blog hop, hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read, that allows book bloggers to discover and connect with other book bloggers.






TODAY'S FEATURED BLOGS

Q. If you could change the ending of any book (or series), which book would you choose? Why and to what?

Ok, so I know A LOT of people have already chosen Breaking Dawn, but I just have to go with this book too. So beware, cause they're be spoilers and much hatin' below........

Let me start out by saying yes, I read all four books in the series, and no, I would not consider myself a big fan. I didn't loathe the first book, I actually thought it had real potential...but then came New Moon (it was ok, the wolfpack made it bearable) and then came Eclipse (ugh, so disappointing) and by the time Breaking Dawn Fail came along I honestly had no real hope for a good ending. I could spend paragraphs talking about my issues with Meyer's writing...but I won't. I'll just answer the question at hand. How would I have changed the ending of the series? Well, I wouldn't have turned Bella into a vampire, nor would I have had her marry Edward or give birth to the world's creepiest baby. I'll admit that I've always been Team Jacob, but I wouldn't have ended the series with Bella choosing Jacob either. I think I would have had Bella choose herself and to simply choose to live. 

I think my biggest issue with this series is that I honestly gave Meyer too much credit when I first read Twilight. I thought that the series would explore Bella's struggle with wanting to be with Edward but in the end choosing to remain human. In my mind, I created this notion that Meyer was going to explore the complexities of our human nature and was going to make a statement about the sanctity of life and how immortality was unnatural and totally disregarded the whole point of life...the point of life being that if we're lucky we get a 100 years to live, years that we make meaningful by loving, being loved, doing good and then we die and move on to the next great adventure...but in reality, by the end of the series, Meyer had written about a world where vampires sparkle, no one good ever dies, teenage boys fall in love with babies, and selfish girls get everything they want. 

So yeah, you can see why the ending irks me so. I could seriously go on about this for a long time, dissecting and analyzing every aspect of these books (characters, themes, cliches, metaphors, etc) but I doubt anyone would really be interested in that, so I shan't bore you any longer. 

TGIFTGIF is a weekly meme hosted by GReads to re-cap the week's posts & to propose a question for followers. 

This Friday's Question: Making a Difference: Which book(s) would you put in the hands of today's teenagers in hopes of making a difference in their lives?

There are so many great books out there that I would love to put in the hands of teenagers, but I think I'd have to say just about any novel by Lauren Myracle. I sing Myracle's praises a lot on here, but her books have honestly made a huge impact in my life and I have literally placed them in the hands of my 15 year old sister and said "Read this! It will change everything for you".
Her Winnie Years series is a wonderfully funny series that explores that very fragile, intense stage of adolescence between the ages of 11-14, the middle school years. These were extremely tough years for me and I wish I had "known" Winnie when I was that age. Myracle's Kissing Kate was one of the first YA novels that I think explored homosexuality and bisexuality in a very honest, intimate way. And of course, Myracle's Shine is an extremely powerful novel about finding oneself and overcoming our personal pain and struggles. I would and do recommend these books to teens all the time.

Book Blogger Hop & TGIF {1}

    Book Blogger Hop

Book Blogger Hop is an awesome weekly meme hosted by Crazy for Books that gives book bloggers the chance to discover, support, and connect with fellow book bloggers and book lovers.






This is my first Book Blogger Hop post and this week's question happens to be non-book related:

“Non-book-related this week!! Do you have pets?”

Yes, I do have pets...well they don't belong to me, as much as they belong to my whole family (but mostly to my little sister who is a huge animal lover and supporter). We have:



Rambo, our 3 year old Rottie-Lab. He's BIG and looks intimidating, but really he's just a big cuddle-baby.

Angel, our 13 year old Bernese Mt. Dog. She's a sweet old girl.










My sister also has 2 guinea pigs named Zoe and Sugar, and a fish named Sushi. If it were up to my sister and mom, our house would look like a zoo!

 

TGIF

 

TGIF is a weekly meme hosted by GReads to re-cap the week's posts & to propose a question for followers. 

This is my first tgif post.

This Friday's Question:

Book Associations:

Which genre, authors, or particular books do you think

people associate with your reading style?

I think people associate me mostly with YA fiction and all genres within that category (fantasy, paranormal, general, historical, etc). No matter how old I get, this is the realm of books that I always gravitate towards and feel the most at home in. I am a loud and vocal promoter of YA literature because I think it often goes unappreciated by crictics and the media.

I find that I read fantasy and paranormal YA books more than any other genre, but the author I scream about the most actually writes mainly general YA fiction: Lauren Myracle. If you know me, then there's probably a really good chance that I have talked your ear off on atleast one occassion about Myracle and her books. I fell in love with Myracle's style, voice, and humor after reading her book Eleven. After this first taste, I was hooked! For me, there is no other author out there who captures the voice and essence of teenagers and adolescence better than Myracle...she's my literary soulmate.