24-Hour Read-a-Thon

Posted on October 21, 2009 by janicu

After a lot of peer pressure from this woman, I finally succumbed and joined Dewey’s 24-Hour Read-A-Thon which is this Saturday. I’ll be posting updates throughout the day as I read, but only on the livejournal blog (I’ll probably just keep updating the same entry). This is my list of possible reads:

Cast In Silence by Michelle Sagara
Huntress by Caitlin Kittredge, Marjorie M. Liu, Christine Warren, and Jenna Maclaine
The Sookie Stackhouse books 2 onwards (I need to read them for another challenge)
Nightschool Vol. 1 (manga) by Svetlana Chmakova
Maximum Ride, Vol. 1 (manga) by James Patterson and NaRae Lee
Umm.. *eyes giant TBR*.. let’s see how it goes. I doubt I’ll read more than 2 books really.

Changeless cover

Posted on October 4, 2009 by janicu

Look what Jess just found!!

Changeless by Gail Carriger

The blurb: “Alexia Maccon, now known as the Lady Maccon, awakens in the wee hours of the mid-afternoon to find her husband, who should be decently asleep like any normal werewolf, yelling at the top of his lungs. Then he disappears – leaving her to deal with a regiment of supernatural soldiers encamped on her doorstep, a plethora of exorcised ghosts, and an angry Queen Victoria.

But Alexia is armed with her trusty parasol, the latest fashions, and an arsenal of biting civility. Even when her investigations take her into the backwater of ugly waistcoats and Scotland, she is prepared: resurrecting ghosts, exposing a French spy, and unearthing the mysteries of a stolen Egyptian mummy. She might even find time to track down her wayward husband, if she feels like it.”

For your amusement

Posted on September 15, 2009 by janicu

I have reviews to do but I’m lazy so here’s a funny book cover that gave me some chuckles. This was from a website that posts particularly hilarous covers and blurbs of self-published books. This too was found through twitter a few months ago but I forgot to post it. This cover is my favorite but there are so many funny ones. It kind of reminds me of the awkward family photos blog.

The Curse of the Sourlands

New Modern Faerie Tale series covers

Posted on September 10, 2009 by janicu

I noticed that there are new covers for Tithe, Valient, and Ironside. They sort of remind me of the covers for Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies series, no?

I think Holly Black has good cover karma. These are the older ones:

The hardcover (I really liked this one):

Space Opera on TV: Defying Gravity

Posted on August 21, 2009 by janicu

I know this is a book blog, but I think it’s known by those who read it that I’m a fan of space operas and science fiction romance, and thanks to calico_reaction, I found out about a new show on ABC which I’ve started watching and like so far. It has a few recognizable faces in it: Ron Livingston from the movie Office Space, Paula Garcés from the Harold and Kumar movies, and Christina Cox from TV’s Blood Ties.

Defying-gravity-ron-livingston

Description from Hulu.com:

ABC’s Defying Gravity follows eight astronauts who were handpicked for an incredible six-year journey exploring Venus and other planets in the solar system. Adventures await the crew as they quickly discover their lives and destinies to be intertwined and carefully directed, not only by Mission Control officials on Earth, but also by an unseen force which is much closer and far more powerful.

So far only a few episodes have aired (there’s a 2 hour premiere which hulu calls pilot and episode 1), and you can watch them at hulu here and catch up. The show is on Sunday nights at 10 on ABC.

The show is a relationship drama – there are 8 astronauts on the ship, stuck together for 6 years, and a couple of them left spouses behind who are watching them from Mission Control. It’s being described as “Grey’s Anatomy in space”, but I hope it’s not QUITE like Grey’s Anatomy because I got sick of the partner-swapping there really quickly. Anyway, I want more people to watch it!

Defying-Gravity

Defying Gravity Article on the Wall Street Journal

The Galaxy Express – Defying Gravity: Has SFR Landed on Network TV?

Around the web: Soulless cover art

Posted on August 16, 2009 by janicu

Victorian 2 Piece Traveling Suit alternate view

Victorian 2 Piece Traveling Suit

Look familiar? I was surfing the web and discovered Clockwork Couture, A Fine Steampunk Clothier, and their photoshoot for the Victorian 2 piece Traveling Suit ($320) was used for the cover of Soulless by Gail Carriger: “A high Chinese colar and cuffs adorned with black lace, along with small matching fabric-covered buttons, accent the long-sleeved bodice of our 2 piece, khaki satin lined, taffeta suit which is completed by the full-length skirt with attached bustle and train.”

You can see more details of the umbrella in the original picture, but I love the color of the suit on the book cover, plus the darkening of the model’s skin because the main character, Alexia Tarabotti is supposed to have an Italian complexion. I also love the London background that Orbit books added. I reviewed Soulless over here: vox | wordpress | LJ

Anyway: cool. 🙂

Soulless (The Parasol Protectorate)

Gail Carriger

Ten upcoming movies based on books (in order of release)

Posted on August 9, 2009 by janicu

1. The Time Traveler’s Wife based on the book by Audrey Niffenegger, comes out August 14th.

2. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, based on the book by Judi Barrett (illustrated by Ron Barrett), comes out September 18th.

3. Where the Wild Things Are, based on the book by Maurice Sendak, comes out October 16th

4. The Road, based on the book Cormac McCarthy, comes out October 16th

5. Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant, based on the series by Darren Shan comes out October 29th

6. New Moon, based on the second book by Stephenie Meyer comes out November 20th

7. Fantastic Mr. Fox, based on the book by Roald Dahl, comes out Thanksgiving (November 26th)

8. The Lovely Bones, based on the book by Alice Sebold, comes out December 11th

9. Sherlock Holmes, based on the books by Arthur Conan Doyle comes out Christmas

10. Alice in Wonderland, based on the books by Lewis Carroll, comes out 2010

Moving on, letting go

Posted on July 26, 2009 by janicu

I’ve had a couple of discussions with people whose opinions I like to pay attention to, and after about 7 months of my personal Amazon boycott, I’ve decided I’m over it and will start putting links to Amazon up here again.

1) They fixed the problem with the amazonfail (even though their explanation left me kinda meh)

2) They apologized for moving customers books from their kindles

3) While I still feel irritated that authors can game the system, well.. I’ve moved onto the idea the authors are probably more to blame than the system.

So, thinking about it, I feel like 7 months is enough. While I will probably spend more of my money elsewhere, I no longer think I need to stop linking to them. I also like giving people a choice and I understand a lot of people didn’t have the same strong reactions that I did (in my own household, I have people disagreeing with me). Hopefully amazon doesn’t do something else .. *crosses fingers*.

Now on to grumbling about other things, like how advertisements for that Orphan movie take over one third of the screen while I’m watching the Tour de France. *shakes fist*.

Two challenges: Sookie Stackhouse and Everything Austen

Posted on June 28, 2009 by janicu

There are 3 books I need to review and a few I have to finish reading, but what do I do? Join a couple of reading challenges. Usually I’m not one to join reading challenges but these two were too interesting for me to pass:

Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge

1) The Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge : Hosted at Beth Fish Reads, this one starts in July and the objective is to catch up with the Sookie Stackhouse books. I’ve read just book 1. For some reason or another I never picked up the rest but a couple of months ago I got up to book 6 I think. I just need to read them. This will make me do so. Then I can finally get around to watching the True Blood series, which I’ve been holding back on doing because I haven’t read the books.

Everything Austen Challenge

2) The Everything Austen Challenge: Stephanie from Stephanie’s Written Word has the fondess for Austen like I do, and she’s hosting this challenge which is pretty easy: read or watch 6 Jane Austen related books or movies. You have until January 2010. There’s also a prize – a copy of the Lost in Austen DVD.

I’m looking at Stephanie’s list of suggested movies and books. Is it sad I’ve read/watched many of these? 🙂 Anyway, here’s my 6 things:

Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler – I read the first book, Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict last year and enjoyed it so want to read this one too.
Lost in Austen: Create your own Jane Austen Adventure by Emma Campbell Webster – I found this at Powells!
Jane Austen in Scarsdale: Or Love, Death, and the SATs by Paula Marantz Cohen – I live near Scarsdale so this one has been on my radar as one I wanted to read for a while now. This is my excuse.
Persuasion – I’ve seen this movie (1995 with Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds) about 3 times so far and it’s one of netflix’s watch instantly movies, so this is easy to put on. I may also watch the 2007 one with Rupert Penry Jones and Sally Hawkins again (only watched once which is weird).
By a Lady by Amanda Elyot – this one has very mixed reviews so I’m going to try this one from the library
Jane Austen Ruined My Life by Beth Pattilo – Also to be found in my library

Alternatives:

The man who loved Jane Austen by Sally Smith O’Rourke
Becoming Jane movie
Love, Lies and Lizzie by Rosie Rushton

Vacation in Oregon: Powell’s bookstore

Posted on June 24, 2009 by janicu

OK, I’m in Portland, Oregon right now, which is the reason for the lack of posts from me lately. I could go on about the horrible delays getting here through Chicago on friday or how the airline lost our luggage, but all is soothed by going to bookstores.

Powell’s entrance 1

Powell’s Entrance 2

Powell’s, the largest independent bookseller in the U.S, was one of my first stops here in Portland – this is the Powell’s City of Books location. I will not lie, my heart did beat faster when I saw the Powell’s sign. It’s like falling in love. It takes over a whole city block, has 9 (big) rooms on 4 floors. THERE IS A MAP for goodness sakes. And a few information booths throughout the store which I suspect is for all those people who get lost. I spent a few hours in here, happy as a clam on Saturday and again today. It’s in walking distance of my hotel. I’ve been really good though and haven’t bought much. Just 2 books, 2 book bags, and a t-shirt. I also picked up free stuff – Powell’s postcard, sticker, bookmark, newsletter, and map. I have plenty of time to go back (planning to get another t-shirt). If you spend $50 or more, they will ship the books back for you for free, which is good if you don’t want to bring it back in your luggage.

Powells goodies

Column at entrance

There’s a mix of new and used books all on the same shelves. The prices for used look like they’re around about 60% of new books. The sf and fantasy sections are quite awesome (4+ big rows next to the horror section which was about a row and a half) and I noticed that romance had paranormal romances split into a separate series of shelves, but I thought for such a popular genre, the romance section was pretty small (2 rows).

There’s a post in the “Gold Room” (genre fiction room) which has autographs of science fiction, fantasy, and horror authors who have visited Powell’s. I took pictures of all sides (plus a couple of close ups – Neil Gaiman , Robin Hobb and Elizabeth Moon):