Tuesday, August 31, 2010

September Zombies!!!


September Zombies starts tomorrow!!! It's a month of all the brain-eating, shambling, rotting goodness you could ever want. Keep an eye on my blog, as well as Misty at the Book Rat, Velvet at vvb32 Reads (the grand master and organizer of this event), Cecelia at the Epic Rat, and Lexie at Poisoned Reality all month long!

The first week, starting tomorrow, will kick off Zombies vs. Unicorns week. Choose a side! Do you like horses with horns on their heads (...) or the walking dead (WOOO!)? I am the captain of Team Zombie, so I will be posting about the awesomeness that is the zombie. To slake your thirst for the bloodbath between these two supernatural creatures, you can reread my response to a Unicorn enthusiast.

Get ready for zombies!!!

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

I watched Scott Pilgrim vs. the World last week and I absolutely loved it. I've now read the first one and a half comics and it's really shocking how much detail from the comics was put into the film. I really recommend the movie and comics to everyone. You can read my review of the movie at Misfits of Sci-fi, the new website that I'm writing for. I made this awesome avatar (and you can make your own) at the Scott Pilgrim Avatar Creator. Apparently I'm kind of a bitch. :)


Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Reading Questions Meme!


Here's a cute little survey I found on Pure Imagination. I usually don't do these, but I think these questions are better than the average reading survey.

1. Favorite childhood book?
The Hobbit and The Wizard of Oz. I loved to read as a kid and these are the books I remember my dad reading to me.

2. What are you reading right now?
Right now, I'm reading Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce and Rampant by Diana Peterfreund

3. What books do you have on request at the library?
None right now.

4. Bad book habit?
Dogearing pages sometimes and flipping to the end to see how many pages are left, but seeing something important at the sametime

5. What do you currently have checked out at the library?
So many books: Sisters Red, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, Dead Sea, Spells, Wings, Prophecy Sisters...

6. Do you have an e-reader?
Yes, I have an older model Sony eReader. I like it, but I just don't read books on it very much. I prefer the feel of books in my hands.

7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?
I like to read 2 at a time, usually one book I own and one library book.

8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?
Not really. The subjects of the books I read are effected by challenges and events but I read about the same amount.

9. Least favorite book you read this year (so far?)
Frankenstein's Bride by Hilary Bailey was a pretty painful read.

10. Favorite book you’ve read this year?
So many books are good: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, The Reapers are the Angels by Alden Bell, Changeless by Gail Carriger, Shiver by Maggie Steifvater....I could go on and on.

11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone?
Not very often, but my comfort zone is pretty large.

12. What is your reading comfort zone?
YA, historical fiction, horror, mystery, science fiction, fantasy, biography...

13. Can you read on the bus?
Yes, but sometimes I start to feel a bit sick.

14. Favorite place to read?
Comfy recliner chair in my living room or on my bed

15. What is your policy on book lending?
I will lend lots of people books, but sometimes I forget what I have lent.

16. Do you ever dog-ear books?
Sometimes. I know it's bad.

17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books?
Only in books for school where the notes are going to be used for papers.

18. Not even with text books?
I write in text books too.

19. What is your favorite language to read in?
English.

20. What makes you love a book?
Good flow, realistic characters, interesting plot

21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?
Any time I feel inspired or am really emotionally effected by a book.

22. Favorite genre?
horror

23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did?)
I rarely read romances, but I really don't wish I did.

24. Favorite biography?
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi

25. Have you ever read a self-help book?
Nope.

26. Favorite cookbook?
I don't really cook in general.

27. Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or non-fiction)?
The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera

28. Favorite reading snack?
Asian Pear Tea and mini muffins

29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience.
Sometimes books don't live up to the hype, but I don't let the hype ruin my reading experiences.

30. How often do you agree with critics about a book?
It's about 50/50.

31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?
I do it, but I am sure to make very clear what I didn't like about it and what I did like about it.

32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you chose?
French. I've taken many years in this class, but I'm not fluent.

33. Most intimidating book you’ve ever read?
No book has ever intimidated me.

34. Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin?
See above response.

35. Favorite Poet?
Edgar Allan Poe

36. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time?
at least 5

37. How often have you returned book to the library unread?
I used to do it often, but I try to be more diligent now.

38. Favorite fictional character?
There are seriously too many to remember, but I really like Deadpool.

39. Favorite fictional villain?
Tyler Durden from Fight Club

40. Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation?
Anything I'm reading at the time.

41. The longest I’ve gone without reading.
Probably a few days. I start to feel icky if I go too long without reading.

42. Name a book that you could/would not finish.
I finish every book I read. Even A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man which was incredibly painful and one of the worst books I've ever read,

43. What distracts you easily when you’re reading?
Nothing! I get really into the books I read.

44. Favorite film adaptation of a novel?
Fight Club and A Clockwork Orange.

45. Most disappointing film adaptation?
My Sister's Keeper and The Golden Compass

46. The most money I’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time?
I don't even know.

47. How often do you skim a book before reading it?
Never!

48. What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through?
I don't do this ever.

49. Do you like to keep your books organized?
No, sadly. I just put them where they fit because I have a limited amount of room.

50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them?
If I want to reread it, I keep it. If not, I give it away.

51. Are there any books you’ve been avoiding?
Nope.

52. Name a book that made you angry.
See Jane Hit: Why Girls are Growing more Violent and what we can do about it by James Barbarino and Dangerous Women: Why Mothers, Daughters, and Sisters become Stalkers, Molesters, and Murderers by Larry A. Morris. Both works are incredibly misogynistic and insulting to women, as well as rife with badly supported arguments. Both made me so angry.

53. A book you didn’t expect to like but did?
Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves and Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

54. A book that you expected to like but didn’t?
Frankenstein's Bride by Hilary Bailey

55. Favorite guilt-free, pleasure reading?
anything with zombies!!

Waiting for Alice: Madness Returns

I am so incredibly excited!!!! I just saw a huge, beautiful spread in Game Pro magazine about Alice: Madness Returns. It's been almost 10 years after the first game, American McGee's Alice, came out. That game is one of my favorite games of all time. This next one looks like it's going to be even better. The plot of the sequel involves Alice going back to Wonderland to find out the cause of the fire that killed her parents. Here is the fabulously creepy teaser trailer for the new game.


Here are some of the screenshots from the Game Pro article.

I really like the improved graphics, the noticeably older Alice, and the zombie card soldiers! The game is set to release in 2011. I really can't wait to get my hands on this game!!

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Misfits of Sci-fi

I wanted to share something with all of you. I've started to write for a website called Misfits of Sci-fi. I contacted Tamara Brooks because of an add on Craigslist calling for a blogger/nerd, which I totally am. She told me that the goal of the site is to "be fun and silly and occasionally full of nerd-wrath of course but also feature intelligent discourse on the underlying philosophies and principals of scifi and fantasy - kind of like i09 excels at exploring the science part of science fiction." It sounds pretty awesome to me, so I'm really excited to be part of it.

My first post for the site is a review of Garth Ennis' graphic novel Crossed. It's a great addition to survivalist fiction and zombie fans will love it. You can read it here and you can post a comment if you feel like it. :) Hope you all like it!



Thursday, August 12, 2010

My Name is Memory

Daniel has been in love with Sophia for hundreds of years. He’s not a vampire or an immortal or a demon, but merely a human man who can remember his past lives. Daniel and Sophia’s lives have intertwined more than once and things usually end unhappily. In 2004, he has found her (now named Lucy) in Hopewood, Virginia with his ability to recognize souls he previously encountered. He purposefully avoids her for years through high school and finally tries to speak to her on the day before graduation. He only succeeds in frightening her with his talk of their past and pushing her away. They separate and Daniel figures it’s best if he no longer interferes in her life. A few years later, she can’t forget about him, so she researches some of his claims and tries to find him. A complication arises when Joaquim, Daniel’s brother from his first life, poses as Daniel and dates Lucy. Over the years, Joaquim has cultivated a hatred for Daniel and seeks to sabotage Daniel and Lucy’s relationship. Will Daniel seek Lucy out and realize what Joaquim is doing?

I didn’t really know what to expect from Anne Brashares since I haven’t read anything else that she’s written, but I was completely blown away by this book. I figured it would be cheesy and cliché because the basic plot has been done before. I couldn’t have been more wrong. The story is told in alternating chapters from the point of view of Lucy and Daniel. Lucy’s narrative takes place in the present and features her journey from skepticism to acceptance and the discoveries she makes along the way. Daniel’s story, on the other hand, takes place largely in his past lives, showing how their lives have affected each other’s and how each of those lives has ended.

I enjoyed Daniel’s point of view more because of the span and depth of his memories. Brashares excels at creating different moods and settings for her characters with his narrative. It also showed why he has such strong feelings for Lucy, instead of just defaulting to fate. One aspect that I found especially interesting was that Daniel wasn’t present for any incredibly famous historical events. It would have been contrived if he had. He even points out that in the past before information could be instantly exchanged, important events went generally unnoticed to those in the rest of the world. It made the fantastical premise of the novel more grounded in reality and believable. Plus, Daniel’s chapters were in a different, less modern font, giving his story a different feel and look from Lucy’s modern story telling.

The only part of the novel that I didn’t like was the ending. There is no real resolution for the couple at the novel’s conclusion. I feel incredibly emotionally invested in their story, so there better be another book! I would definitely recommend this to fans of books like The Time Traveler’s Wife, where love spans time and space.

My rating: 5/5 fishmuffins

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

SDCC 2010: Nerd Counter Protest

The Westboro Church decided to send some of their members to protest in front of Comic-Con because nerds supposedly put superheroes above God or some crazy reasoning like that. (Remember that these are the people that protest at soldier's funerals.) Anyway, when they got there, the nerds decided to strike back. About fifty people gathered for a counter protest, some in costume and all armed with signs. I personally didn't see this, but I really wish I did because I would have joined in! I was kind of disappointed that the crazies got scared away before I got there, but I'm glad there were plenty of pictures taken. Here are some signs that I found hilarious and awesome.


** All images are from Comics Alliance and Urlesque and are not mine.

In My Mailbox: Comic-Con Edition

I know; I'm still talking about Comic-Con. I've recently become very sidetracked and I intend to catch up on things. So, without further ado, here are the swag and stuff I bought at Comic-Con.

**Free Swag**

* single issues of Fables, iZombie, and The Losers
* Brain Candy by Garth Sundem
* Frankenstein's Monster by Susan Heyboer O'Keefe
* Overwinter by David Wellington
* Drinking at the Movies by Julia Wertz

* Buttons from Vladimir Tod, Walking Dead, and Tofu Girls

* This super awesome zombie print from Recorded Attacks signed by Max Brooks.

* A page from Frank Beddor's new graphic novel, Hatter M Volume 3, out August 10th.


**Stuff I Bought**

* Johnny the Homicidal Maniac Volume 1 signed by Jhonen Vasquez
* The New Dead signed by Max Brooks
* Walking Dead Volume 12
* Batman Soundtrack
* Dead Like Me Soundtrack
* Kirby Krackle's new album E for Everyone
* Looking Glass Wars playing cards


* Hellboy Skelanimal (so cute!)
* AIDS Giant Microbe
* Measles Giant Microbe


* A Cthulhu fish for my car

* Plus about 5 shirts that I'm too lazy to take pictures of

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren.