Hiatus

After a lot of thought, I have decided to go on a blogging hiatus effective immediately and going through July. I know it’s a long time, but I think it will be good for me. In my 2+ years of blogging here I’ve never been on hiatus, and I have become a bit burned out on it. But my writing otherwise is slowly thriving, and there are things in my everyday life I am trying to figure out. The latter is nothing dramatic, but just the same, I think it’ll be good for me to not have to feel like I have blogging hanging over my head, because lately I’ve had thoughts like, Oh, I guess I ought to write at least one post this week.

I do intend to come back to blogging, and I’m hoping I will feel rejuvenated in August. And I’m definitely not falling off the face of the planet; you’ll still see me on Twitter, Goodreads, Tumblr, Pinterest, and commenting on your blog a week after your post, ha. (Except there are some I actually manage to read the day of. Don’t ask me to explain my methods because I don’t understand them either.)

So until next time…

The Top Ten(ish) Books On My TBR For Summer 2015

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Top Ten Books on my TBR for Summer 2015. So I am pretty proud of myself because I read 7 out of the 10 books on my spring TBR! I also started one of the books but put it down with the intention to eventually pick it back up (the writing book, Save the Cat by Blake Snyder) and then there’s The Hero of Ages, which I intend to start very soon. On the note, let’s start the summer TBR list, in no particular order…

1. The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson

Yes, I really will read this soon.

2. The Start of You and Me by Emery Lord

All you people who talk about the cute, nerdy interactions have made me put this on my TBR.

3. The Distance Between Us by Kasie West

I got the ebook recently and I’m ready to see what the fuss is about!

4. Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee

I’ve heard good things about this one so I put it on hold at the library.

5. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

My dad asked me recently if I had read this yet, since he knew I had gotten it for Christmas. I had to admit I had not, and I told him I just so had much to read! But I think I’ll read it soon so I can tell him I did!

6. The Last Time We Said Goodbye by Cynthia Hand

Another carry-over from my spring TBR, but hopefully I will actually get to it this summer.

7. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

Since the year is halfway over, I really need to think about when I am going to fit in my annual Jane Austen read, which I’m pretty sure will be Mansfield Park this time.

8., 9., and 10…?

So after this I’m not really sure. There are a lot of things I’ve thought about reading and haven’t gotten around to, so depending on library availability and mood, maybe I will get around to some of these…

Or something from my collection that I have yet to read…

 

What’s on your summer TBR?

Brainstorming Blog Titles

Sometimes I go back to my drafts to see if I find any blog posts I started writing but didn’t finish, and I found a list of blog titles/concepts I had written down back when I was brainstorming the concept of this blog over 2 years ago. I have to say, a lot of these I just don’t understand what was going through my head… but I suppose that’s what brainstorming is all about!

– Rewrite (There was a note next to this that said “rewrite with the door open,” and I have no idea what that means.)

– We’re All Stories in the End (This is a quote I like a lot that I have seen attributed to Doctor Who, and there’s also a pretty similar quote in Tiger Lily, though I had not read it at the time.)

– Turn the Page/Page Turner (Page Turner sounds too close to The Perpetual Page Turner, so it’s probably good I didn’t go with that!)

– Young Adult (I liked this one but I knew I was ripping it off of the Charlize Theron movie with the same name.)

– I Love Good Stories (This one was highly considered.)

– Rewriting the first poem you ever loved (I think this is from a quote.)

– Some stories stay with us forever (From Sam’s speech that I talk about all the time)

– Castles in the Air (From a Little Women quote.)

– Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality (from a quote)

– Rage Against Reality

– Art is the only way to run away without leaving home (Again, from a quote.)

– Runaway Art

– The story is never over (This is from a Bablyon 5 movie.)

– Tell Me A Story (I think this one and the next one were derived from a Phillip Phillips song.)

– I’ll Tell You A Story

– Dreaming Awake

– Write. Watch. Read. (I really almost did go with this one, but I thought people would get the order mixed up.)

– Austen, Nolan, and I

– Courageous Creativity

– Creative lifestyle

– Creative Rush

– Batgirl Writes (I think I knew this sounded dorky, but I was trying to show my nerdy side.)

– It’s Like the Great Stories (Again, from Sam’s speech.)

– From Jo & Katniss (Getting there!)

– Myth

– Fable

– Prequel/sequel

– Read. Watch. Write. (Yet another order of those words.)

I feel like that’s a pretty long list! I was trying to iron out the idea that this blog would be about stories of various kinds, and it looks like I might have been considering creativity a topic at the time as well.

What was your brainstorming process for you blog like? 

Mini Book Reviews

I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You by Ally Carter

Genre: YA contemporary

Rating: 3 stars

Content Rating: Pretty clean. I think there were one or two mild swear words.

Even though I didn’t think All Fall Down was perfect, I was so excited by the prospect of reading more Ally Carter after it that I immediately borrowed the first Gallagher Girl book from the library. It was… fine, but a bit of a let-down after All Fall Down. It was more fluffy and more focused on the romance, and I just wanted to know more about the spy school!

(Minor spoiler in this paragraph) And here’s the thing: the romance was so perfectly sweet. Too perfectly sweet. I knew it was doomed. And I was still sad at the end to be proven right. It just felt worthless to read about this wonderful relationship that has to end because of circumstances. I know it’s realistic, but I’m reading a BOOK. Though I will say, I think the important point of this book is that Cammie makes a decision that will impact her future, and I hope to see this played out more if I read the other books in the series. I just would have liked to have seen her struggle through it more in this book.

My review of All Fall Down

Let’s All Be Brave by Annie F. Downs

Genre: Non-fiction/memoir Christian

Rating: 5 stars

Content Guide: Clean.

This was one of those books that I decided to read on a bit of a whim… I had heard good things about it, so when I saw it in a discount Christian bookstore, I wanted to see if it would be a good gift for high school graduates… and then loved it so much more than I anticipated. And the crazy thing is I bought 11 copies of this book for all the 2015 high school graduates I knew (10 girls from my small group I lead at church, and the 11th girl being my husband’s cousin) and I still don’t own my own copy!

So what did I love so much about this book? Imagine sitting down to have coffee with a new friend and them just pouring out their heart to you, sharing with you wisdom and stories of pain and laughs curated throughout the years, and that is exactly what this book is like. It’s inspiring and grounded, not cheesy or cliche. If this even sounds remotely like something you might be interested in, check it out.

Also, bonus points for all the Nashville references and cover!

Firefight by Brandon Sanderson

Genre: YA… sci-fi?

Rating: 4 stars

Content Guide: Some mild language and some violence.

So I had pacing issues with this book. Like, the beginning of the book is just action, action, action, which I feel like should be a good thing, but for some reason I was a little bored. Also, I really don’t understand how David made some of the conclusions in this book that he did, but he’s better versed with his world than I am, so I guess that’s fine. Though this book dragged a little in some parts for me, I did enjoy getting to know David better, and the ending definitely made me interested in what happens next.

My review of Steelheart

The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 4.5 stars

Content Guide: Some mild language and some violence.

I love the characters of the Mistborn world. This time, the focus is largely on Vin, Elend, and I would say Sazed, all of whom I love very much. I was also thrilled to get more of Vin and Elend’s relationship, though sometimes I just wished Sanderson would make it a little more swoony.

I had some mild pacing issues with this book as well, but I was never bored. I do feel like this book might end up feeling like a bridge between books one and two, which is quite something to say about a 700+ page book, but do I think it’s a very worthwhile bridge.

I think my biggest problem with this book is I don’t know when the climax was. I mean, the battle felt a little too… anticlimactic, honestly. They’re dreading it the whole book and then it just happens and people even die and it’s just like… OK, so when am I getting the epic Sanderson climax? Now, the very, very end definitely throws a bit of a curve ball… not one that makes you hang off a cliff or anything, but it definitely makes me interested in book 3. Of course, I would have been anyway, but you know, Brandon Sanderson wants to make sure I’m really REALLY interested in the next one.

And did I mention I love Elend? Because I do.

My review of Mistborn

Have you read any of these books? What are your thoughts? 

The Top 10 Books I’d Love To See As Movies/TV Shows

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Top Ten Books I’d Love To See As Movies/TV Shows. This one was hard because I think we all have love/hate relationships with movie adaptations of our beloved books… sometimes it goes well, sometimes it doesn’t. Here are some I think I would like to see though… just please don’t ruin them! This week’s list is in no particular order…

1. The Lunar Chronicles as Animated Movies

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I never would have dreamed I would suggest this (as regular movies, I figured they couldn’t do the story justice, and then I’m not the first one to suggest something be made animated…), but once I saw the above image (+more!) from Tumblr I was sold. MAKE THIS HAPPEN.

2. The Scorpio Races as a Movie

I liked but didn’t love this book, but I think it could make for a really interesting movie. The book is a little slow and the movie would have to be faster, more focused on Puck’s family, training, her and Sean’s backstories, not to mention more of the island and these dangerous horses!

See my Scorpio Races dreamcast here

3. For Darkness Shows the Stars and Across A Star-Swept Sea as Movies

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I have a lot of love for these books, and I would REALLY like to see them as movies!

4. Code Name Verity as a Movie

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As long as the movie didn’t linger too much on the brutality and was more focused on the backstory and the aftermath, I think this would be a really good one to watch (though we’d all still need tissues for sure!).

5. Crime & Punishment (a good modern-day adaptation) as a Movie or YouTube Series

For my thesis project to graduate from the honors college years ago, I made a short film based on Crime and Punishment, set in modern times. While working on this project one of the things I did was watch a few film adaptations of the story, including a modern one called Crime and Punishment in Suburbia which, quite frankly, was terrible. So I would like to see a really good, modern adaptation of the story (to say my short film was “really good” would be an overstatement, ha).

The reason why I also added “or YouTube series” is because I can see this working out really well. Raskolinkov (we can rename him; I did for my project) is an ex-student with a lot of ideas, and I can see him doing YouTube videos to share these ideas. He would have to commit a crime not nearly as heinous and felonious as murder though if the audience is going to know what’s going on with him, or maybe we just watch his degradation from guilt without explanation until later. There would be interactions with his friend, his sister, Sonia… I just seeing it working if done well.

6. Finding Alice as a Movie

This story about a girl diagnosed with schizophrenia has stayed with me for years, and I think it could be a really good movie.

7. The Mistborn Books as an Epic, High-Budget TV Mini-Series

This would be amazing. I don’t think there is need for elaboration.

8. Ready Player One as a Movie

Images Found Via readyplayerone.com

I know the film rights were bought recently and I honestly believe that, if done well, I could really end up enjoying the movie more than the book.

9. The Silver Chair as a Movie

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I was talking with some friends recently and one of them said this supposed to be happening so I REALLY hope so! Aside from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, this is my favorite of the Narnia books.

10. Leviathan Trilogy as Movies

I think these books adapted to film would be such a fun ride! Alternate history, steampunk, interesting creatures, and adventures all around make these books an excellent candidate for the big screen I believe!

Also check out Jessi @ A Novel Heartbeat’s recent post about upcoming YA adaptations!

What books would you like to see on the big or small screen?