Fandom Mashup (#12)

Hosted by Micheline at Lunar Rainbows Reviews.

Micheline has come up with a great idea and I can't pass up the opportunity to participate.  Each week Micheline will pose a unique fiction scenario and I will choose 5 characters from 5 different fandoms to help me with the situation.  It's going to be quite fun, I can already tell!

Scenario: You've discovered that your world has become a dystopia and have been recruited by an elite anarchist group.  Who's in the group with you?


Day (Legend by Marie Lu) - He's definitely someone I want in a group of elite anarchists.  Usually, he's more of a loner, but I think he would enjoy working with this group of people.  He's got extraordinary skills including wall scaling so he would bring us an advantage.

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Adelina (The Young Elites by Marie Lu) - She is the perfect person to have in an elite anarchist group, partially because she'd been apart of an anarchist group.  Plus, she's got abilities that are sure to come in handy in the dystopian world.

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Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games by Stephanie Meyer) - Katniss not only survived a bunch of her government's sadistic, screwed up attempts to torture their citizens, but she also unintentionally started a revolution which she intentionally finished.  She is fierce, intensely perceptive and defiant.  She believes in what she believes.  She is the perfect person to have on the team.

Weasley Twins (Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling) - There's nothing more fun than a little Weasley twins anarchy.  They are incredibly funny, but when situations turned serious, they were among the first to do something.  They joined Dumbledore's Army right from the beginning and they defied Umbridge and that's the tip of the iceberg.

Notable Quotable: Stephanie Tromly (#97)

"...Henry gets 'hero handsome' and all I get is 'Jehovah's Witness'?" 
     --Trouble is a Friend of Mine

Harry Potter Moment of the Week (#63)

hosted by Uncorked Thoughts and Lunar Rainbows Reviews.

Favorite Chapter Titles.

I have favorite chapter titles from each book, so I'll give you some from each!  Some of these I just love the title and some of these I love the events that go on in that chapter.  Nonetheless, they are my favorite Chapter Titles!

Sorcerer's Stone:                                        Chamber of Secrets: 

The Boy Who Live                                        Dobby's Warning
The Letters from No One                              The Very Secret Diary
The Forbidden Forest                                   The Heir of Slytherin


Prisoner of Azkaban:                                 Goblet of Fire:

Talons and Tea Leaves                                Weasley's Wizard Wheezes
Flight of the Fat Lady                                  Aboard the Hogwarts Express
Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs         The Madness of Mr. Crouch
Hermione's Secret                                      Priori Incantatem


Order of the Phoenix:                                Half-Blood Prince:

The Advance Guard                                    The Other Minister
The Sorting Hat's New Song                        The House of Gaunt
Luna Lovegood                                           The Unknowable Room
The Beetle at Bay                                       The Phoenix Lament



Deathly Hallows:

The Seven Potters
Kreacher's Tale
The Final Hiding Place
The Prince's Tale
The Forest Again
The Flaw in the Plan

Ready Player One

by Ernest Cline
published: Broadway Books, 2011
pages: 372

When the creator of the worldwide virtual reality gaming system, OASIS, dies, he leaves his fortune hidden in an egg somewhere in his digital world.  People all over the world have been searching ever since.  Wade Wilson stumbles across the first clue that leads him closer to the ultimate prize.  However, time is not on his side; Wade must beat a slue of other competitors including some that are willing to kill.  There's only one way to survive: to win.

This book was a bit of a rollercoaster.  There's so much action packed into the story.  It had me on the edge of my seat wanting to know what happens next.  I loved all the plot twists and the big reveal; you never know who to trust when everything is online.

There was a bit of a lull in the story about halfway through.  We had some character development, but other than that not much seems to happen.  I found myself skimming the page every once in a while, waiting for the next moment of high action.

The vast amount of 70s and 80s references were incredibly entertaining.  I grew up on that kind of pop culture thanks to my dad, so I knew most of the references on the spot.  It was so much fun to geek out while reading this book.  I thoroughly enjoyed slipping in and out of OASIS with Wade.

OASIS is a virtual reality that I would love to visit.  The world is so intensely huge, there something for everyone.  Each planet is described with such vivid details that it feels like you are right there with all the avatars.  We only got a small peak into the virtual world.  There is some much left unexplored that it's incredibly enticing.  I  would love to explore it, I wouldn't be very good at the MMO (massive multiplayer online) parts of OASIS but it would definitely super cool to experience it.

Ernest Cline creates an amazing world with an intense adventure challenge to complete.  I definitely enjoyed reading this book.


Stars: 3.5/5

Praise:

"As one adventure leads expertly to the next, time simple evaporates."
      --Entertainment Weekly

"An action-packed, highly entertaining, nostalgic thrill ride through the past combined with the danger and excitement of a not-too-distant future."
      --New York Journal of Books

"An adrenaline shot of uncut geekdom... [featuring] the perfect lovable/unlikely hero."
      --Publishers Weekly

A Full House Reading Challenge 2015 book.
A 2015 TBR Pile Challenge book. 
An Alphabet Soup Challenge book.
A 2015 Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge book. 

Top Ten Tuesday: Debut Authors That Have Me Looking for Their Sophomore Novel

hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Apparently, I don't read very many debut books.  I'm going to have to change that next year.  Here are 7 authors that have me looking forward to their sophomore novels!


1. Stephanie Tromly - I flew through Trouble is a Friend of Mine and it seems to me that her sophomore novel will be a sequel which makes me so so excited because I was not ready to be done with Digby.  He is awesome!

2. Laura Wetterson - She wrote such a fun story with My Faire Lady.  It was the first book I read that took place at a Renaissance Faire, which is one of my favorite places.  I love that aspect of the book and it was a very cute read.

3. Leah Rae Miller - The Summer I Became A Nerd was such a great fast read.  I loved that it put being a nerd in a very positive light and it even included LARPing which was fun to read.  I read this book a couple of years ago and I'm excited to see what she will write in the future.

4. T. Michael Martin - I enjoyed reading The End Games and definitely liked his writing style.  It was an incredible journey of survival.  I'm very intrigued to see what his next book will look like.

5. Sarah Raasch - So technically her sophomore book is out already, but I haven't had a chance to pick it up.  It's the sequel to Snow Like Ashes which was an amazing book!  I thoroughly enjoyed it and really got into that fantasy world.  Reading the sequel will happen so very soon.

6. Lori Goldstein - Her first book Becoming Jinn first caught my attention because I hadn't seen very many books about genies.  It sounded interesting and very unique so naturally I preordered it and then read very soon after I got my copy.  It was such an interesting story and her sophomore novel will be the sequel so I'm very excited to learn more about the world of jinn!

7. Ernest Cline - Ready Player One was highly entertaining and pretty much a great read.  So his sophomore novel should be just as good since I'm pretty sure it follows the same video game vein as his first.

November TBR: Crunch Time

Okay so there are only two months left this year and I have quite a bit of challenge reading left to do.  I'm 85% positive that I won't finish every challenge I've attempted this year, but that's okay.  I'm going to try anyway!  This list is going to be half of what I have to read to finish everything.  December will be the other half.  I wish anyone else who is trying to complete challenges God's speed too!  Here we go.

Currently Reading

• Room by Emma Donoghue

Possible Candidates

• War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells (TBR)
• Uglies by Scott Westerfeld (TBR) (Rec.) (ABC) (Ult.)
• The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness (Rec.) (Full) (ABC)
• Graceling by Kristen Cashore (TBR) (Rec.)
• The Rose Society by Marie Lu (FULL)
• Matched by Ally Condie (TBR) (FULL) (Ult.)
• The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Gailbraith (Ecl.)

Book Club

• Room by Emma Donoghue

New Releases

• Winter by Marissa Meyer (Nov. 10) 
• Soundless by Richelle Mead (Nov. 10)
• Harry Potter Coloring Book (Nov. 10)

Key:
(Ecl.) = Eclectic Reader Challenge
(New) = Newbery Reading Challenge
(Full) = Full House Reading Challenge
(TBR) = 2015 TBR Pile Challenge
(ABC) = Alphabet Soup Challenge
(Ult.) = Teenreads Ultimate Reading
(Rec.) = Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge 

Fandom Mashup (#11)

Hosted by Micheline at Lunar Rainbows Reviews.

Micheline has come up with a great idea and I can't pass up the opportunity to participate.  Each week Micheline will pose a unique fiction scenario and I will choose 5 characters from 5 different fandoms to help me with the situation.  It's going to be quite fun, I can already tell!

Scenario: You've been imprisoned by an unfair and tyrannical leader for speaking your mind.  Who do you hope is in there with you?  For company AND to help you escape!

Harry Potter - He's like the poster child for defying tyrannical leaders.  He took down Voldemort which in and of itself was an incredible feat.  However, how he dealt with Professor Snape is the reason that he makes this list.  Snape may have been "good" in the end, but the treatment of his students were often times incredibly abusive toward the students.  He exploited his power as professor because of a childhood grudge.  Harry Potter, without really breaking any rules, put Snape in his place so many times.  He's got a knack for defying leaders that abuse their power.

Jaron (The Ascendance trilogy by Jennifer A. Neilson) - He is about the most defiant person I've ever read about.  He's a thief and a king and he knows how to sneak around and get out of really tight situations.  He'd be great to have for company, but also for plotting our escape and eventual coup of said tyrannical leader.

Peeta Mellark(The Hunger Games) - This was a tough call between Katniss and Peeta.  I would have chosen Katniss because she went up against not one but two possible tyrannical leaders and won, but Peeta has actually been captured by one.  He knows what could happen to prisoners.  That might make us more prepared in our attempts to escape.

Jonah (The Giver by Lois Lowry) - This one is a little more subtle.  There may not have been one leader to pinpoint as unfair or tyrannical, but Jonah was the first (and possibly the only) one to notice the sameness and question it.  For this reason alone, he'd be great company but more important his observation skill would be incredibly helpful during the planning and execution of our escape.

R2-D2 (Star Wars) - Okay so this robot might not have any direct connection to defying an unfair leader, but he is pretty nifty to have around.  R2-D2 is all about taking risks and tampering with things.  So if we're in a high tech prison we should be all set with alarms and locks!