Bookish Rants and Raves:Desperately finishing a book

How desperate have you been to finish a book?

Have you been late for work? Late for school? Late for a date?

How about late for a flight?

Recently I read The Casual Vacancy by J.K Rowling. I happened to be about to finish it on a Friday, the same Friday I needed to get on a plane to New Zealand, for a wedding. I was 40 pages out from finishing. In the morning before work I knocked over 36 pages, bad luck and potential lateness (again) left me with 4 pages to go. I was already running on a favour from my boss letting me leave early, which is why I couldn’t risk being late. I didn’t take lunch that day so I couldn’t finish it at work, but I took my book anyway.

At the risk of losing my job I subtly read two more pages at my desk when I was …

Review: A Note of Madness by Tabitha Suzuma

Format read: paperback
Genre: Contemporary
Release Date: 15 February 2007
Length: 305 pages
Publisher: Definitions
Formats available: Hardcover, paperback, ebook
Purchasing Info: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Book Depository US | Book Depository (UK)

Book Blurb:

Why is this happening to me? he asked himself desperately. What is wrong with me?

Life as a student is good for Flynn. As one of the top pianists at the Royal College of Music, he has been put forward for an important concert, the opportunity of a lifetime. But beneath the surface, things are changing. On a good day he feels full of energy and life, but on a bad day being alive is worse than being dead. Sometimes he wants to compose and practice all night, at other times he can’t get out of bed. With the pressure of the …

Review: The Casual Vacancy by J.K Rowling

Format read: Hardback
Genre: Literary
Release Date: 27 September 2012
Length: 503 pages
Publisher: Little Brown
Formats available: Hardcover, audio book paperback, ebook
Purchasing Info: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Book Depository US | Book Depository (UK)
Book Blurb:

A BIG NOVEL ABOUT A SMALL TOWN …

When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock.

Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war.

Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils … Pagford is not what it first seems.

And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has …

Review: Nice Girls Don’t Bite Their Neighbors by Molly Harper

Format read: paperback
Genre: Romance
Release Date: 28 February 2012
Length: 337 pages
Publisher: Pocket Books
Formats available: paperback, ebook
Purchasing Info: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Book Depository US | Book Depository (UK)

Blurb:

With this ring, I thee dead.

Just as Jane Jameson’s unlife seems to be stabilizing, fate sinks its fangs firmly into her butt. Despite her near-phobia of all things marital, her no-frills nighttime nuptials to her sexy boyfriend Gabriel are coming along smoothly. But the road to wedded bliss gets bumpy when a teenage acquaintance is fatally wounded in front of Jane’s shop and she turns him to save his life. The Council pronounces Jane responsible for the newborn vamp until he can control his thirst.

Jane’s kitchen at River Oaks barely holds enough Faux Type O to satiate the …

Review: Shuffle Up and Deal by Susan DiPlacido

Format read: ebook
Genre: Romance
Release Date: 17 March 2010
Length: 419 pages
Publisher: Self-Published
Formats available: paperback, ebook
Purchasing Info: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Book Depository US | Book Depository (UK)

Blurb:

Meet Izzy Santillo. She’s a charming-but-lonely thirty-four year old woman who loves poker and harbors a secret crush on the reigning king of Hold ’em. Meet Nick Nolan, the reigning king of Hold ’em. On the tables, he’s fast and loose and almost always wins. But when it comes to women, playboy Nick holds his cards too close and always loses.

When Izzy and Nick meet in embarrassing fashion at a Las Vegas poker tournament, Izzy’s secret dreams turn into a public nightmare. But despite her humiliation, she may have finally sparked Nick’s interest in something other than cards. Before long, Nick takes a …

Review: Avatar: The Promise Part 2 by Gene Yuen Lang

Format read: paperback
Release Date: 4 April 2006
Length: 76 pages
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Formats available: paperback
Purchasing Info: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Book Depository US | Book Depository (UK)

 Blurb:
Avatar: The Last Airbender creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko continue the story right where the TV series left off! Aang and Katara are working tirelessly for peace when an impasse between Fire Lord Zuko and Earth King Kuei over Fire Nation colonies within the borders of the Earth Nation threatens to plunge the world back into war! Meanwhile, Sokka must help Toph prepare her hapless first class of metalbending students to defend their school against a rival class of firebenders! Written by Eisner winner and National Book Award nominee Gene Luen Yang (American Born Chinese) and drawn by Gurihiru …

Bookish Rants or Raves: Why do I read horrible books?

 

“Why did you bother finishing that if you hated it?”

I get asked this question quite a lot, and it is a fair one. So why do I read horrible books?

I have many reasons:
 I don’t like feeling my time was wasted
This seems contradictory but if I’ve spent a couple of days chipping away at a horrible book, I can’t just leave it. I have put in the time and effort to get this far and now I want to just finish and be done. I hate leaving books unfinished because I feel I still owe them an obligation. (I never claimed to be sane)

I want the right to have my say
I’m a book reviewer! I want to tell people about the books I read and I don’t make a habit of reviewing DNF’s. If I’m halfway through a book and I’ve been rolling my eyes and audibly sighing then I want …

Review: The Killing Dance by Laurell K. Hamilton

Format read: paperback
Genre: Horror
Release Date: 4 April 2006
Length: 387 pages
Publisher: Berkley
Formats available: hardcover, paperback, ebook, audiobook
Purchasing Info: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Book Depository US | Book Depository (UK)

Book Blurb:

The dead obey her, The undead fear her. Anita Blake, animator and vampire hunter, lives a dual life.

My Thoughts:
I will be honest, the events of The Killing Dance nearly had me walk away from this series and not look back.

Anita has a price on her head, considering how many people she has ticked off in the previous books, that isn’t difficult to comprehend. She calls in Edward, one of her only friends and one of the greatest hitmen around to help find out who wants her her dead so badly.

Anita’s character for me in The Killing Dance took a nosedive. …

Review: The Boy Recession by Flynn Meaney

Format read: paperback
Genre: YA Contemporary Humour
Release Date: 7 August 2012
Length: 246 pages
Publisher: Poppy
Formats available: hardcover, paperback
Purchasing Info: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Book Depository US | Book Depository (UK)

Blurb:

It’s all about supply and demand when a high school deals with the sudden exodus of male students.

The boy recession has hit Julius P. Heil High, and the remaining boys find that their stock is on the rise: With a little competition, even the most unlikely guys have a good chance at making the team and getting the girl. Guitar-strumming, class-skipping Hunter Fahrenbach never wanted to be a hot commodity, but the popular girls can’t help but notice his unconventional good looks. With a little work, he might even be boyfriend material.

But for down-to-earth Kelly Robbins, the boy recession is causing all …

Interview with Flynn Meaney

Today, I am super duper excited as we have the extremely funny Flynn Meaney here to discuss her books: Bloodthirsty and her newest release The Boy Recession (look for my review later today).

Amanda: Flynn can you please tell us a bit about yourself?
Flynn: Well, I grew up just outside of New York City and went to the University of Notre Dame, where I majored in marketing and minored in French. I was really lucky in college because I studied abroad twice—in Ireland, where my family is from, and in Paris. I just finished my MFA in Creative Writing from Hunter College, and now I work for a French company as my “day job.”

Amanda: Describe a typical day of writing? Are you a planner or pantser?
Flynn: Ooh, I just googled “pantser”—that’s a new word for me, apparently it doesn’t just mean someone who pulls other peoples’ pants down! I’m not a …