Category: Ruminations

Blog Hop: Scary for the Screen

On By cherylmahoneyIn Blog Hop, Ruminations7 Comments

book blogger hopThis week’s Book Blogger Hop question: Halloween Edition: What scary book would you like turned into a feature film?

Since I don’t generally like scary books or movies, this question seemed like it would be a bit of a challenge…but then I remembered Lois Duncan.  I like to think of her as the Hitchcock of writers, because her style of suspense and subtlety feels similar to me.  She’s written a lot of very spooky YA novels, some of them fantasy, some not–but even the real-world ones tend to be dark in a fascinating way.

One of her books has already been made into a movie–I Know What You Did Last Summer.  I haven’t seen it, because it looks very unlike the original book (which I have read and was very good).

I’d particularly like to see movies of Down a Dark Hall, Killing Mr. Griffin, or Daughters of Eve (review here)…provided, of course, that they were done right!

Do you have a favorite scary book you’d like to see as a movie?

2013 Reading Challenges – Three-Quarters

On By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations1 Comment

The close of September snuck up on me this year!  But somehow we’re three-quarters of the way through 2013, so it’s time for an update on reading challenges…

All links go to reviews, faded text indicates it was a previous quarter (except for series–too complicated to separate) and if you’re curious about any unreviewed books, just ask! Continue reading “2013 Reading Challenges – Three-Quarters” →

What Are You Reading – Mad Excitement Edition

On By cherylmahoneyIn What Are You Reading?4 Comments

What Are You Reading - ExcitementThis is clearly the most exciting week of the year in reading.  Last week, Shadows by Robin McKinley and Battle Magic by Tamora Pierce both came out.  My library already got me Shadows, and I’m #9 in line for Battle Magic–and the library system ordered ten copies, so I expect to receive it momentarily.

Next Tuesday, The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two by Catherynne M. Valente comes out.  That one I have pre-ordered from Amazon and I’m #1 on reserve at the library, so someone will get it to me quickly (not that I’m obsessive of anything…)

Just for fun, the new Neil Gaiman book, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, which I’ve been waiting on the library hold list for since June, picked this weekend to finally reach me.  And the list was vastly shorter for his newer book, Fortunately the Milk, so I expect that at any time as well.

To top the whole thing off, I got the proof copy of my own novel, which I’m self-publishing in November (more on that here), so I’m reading through that for typos, weird formatting, and final-final-final edits.

So this week I find myself with a large stack of must-be-read-now books, all competing and clamoring for attention.  It’s such a good thing I don’t have many evening plans coming up… 🙂

Saturday Snapshot: On the Edge of Autumn

On By cherylmahoneyIn Saturday Snapshot10 Comments

This is a great time of year.  It’s starting to get cold enough for tea and hot cereal in the morning (very cozy!)…but I can still get fresh berries to put on top!

CerealHave a great weekend!  Visit West Metro Mommy for more Saturday Snapshots. 🙂

Blog Hop: Around the Blogosphere

On By cherylmahoneyIn Blog Hop4 Comments

book blogger hopThis week’s Book Blogger Hop question is more about blogging than reading: What weekly memes do you follow on a regular basis?

To begin, a vocabulary note–as far as I can tell “meme” has two meanings (non-technical ones, anyway).  First, a photo/comic/video/random joke that goes floating around the internet, and if that’s what’s meant, I’d have to just say George Takei and leave it at that.  But I’m pretty sure the second definition is meant, as in a regular blogging event where bloggers all post on the same topic on the same day of the week, and share the posts on a hosting site.  So going by that definition…

There’s the Friday Blogger Hop, obviously, which provides me some fun ideas of different book or blogging topics to write about.

The Saturday Snapshot goes up most Saturday mornings, a meme focused on sharing a photograph (or several).  This one isn’t about books, though it seems like a lot of book bloggers participate, and I usually try to give my photos a literary spin.

What Are You Reading? is a very aptly-named meme inviting bloggers to share their reading plans for the coming week(s).  I usually post for this one once or twice a month.  Officially it’s supposed to be a Monday meme, but I post on Sunday, since my personal blogging schedule calls for a review Monday, and I don’t want to flood people with two posts in one day (it would be a small flood, I guess…but you know what I mean).

Hmm…my memes seem to be rather centered around the weekend, aren’t they?  I hadn’t thought of that before.

Your turn!  What are your favorite memes?  Any I should check out?