Friday, October 30, 2015

Author Signing - Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Went to the Carry On signing at The Bookworm. It was a lot of fun, I even had her sign the Simon Snow pumpkin that I made.




Thursday, October 29, 2015

My Favorite Quotes/Lines - The Martian

The Martian by Andy Weir

“I would only be “in command” of the mission if I were the only remaining person. What do you know? I’m in command.”
“An ironic death for someone with a leaky space suit: too much oxygen.”
“So yeah. I’m fucked.”
“My asshole is doing as much to keep me alive as my brain.”
“Hell yeah I’m a botanist! Fear my botany powers!”
“I’ll just have to survive to make up for it.”
“As you can see, this plan provides many opportunities for me to die in a fiery explosion.”
“Turns out even NASA can’t improve on duct tape.”
“If ruining the only religious icon I have leaves me vulnerable to Martian vampires, I’ll have to risk it.”
“Well my math was a damn liar!”
“Damn it, Jim, I’m a botanist, not a chemist!”
“Disco. God damn it, Lewis.”
“Something very hot and very explodey had happened, and I wasn’t sure what.”
“And my dumb-assery almost got me killed!”
How come Aquaman can control whales? They’re mammals! Makes no sense.
“But with all due respect to Carl, I can call it whatever the hell I want. I’m the King of Mars.”
“I’m the first person to be alone on an entire planet.”
“I haven’t been this excited about a “yes” since prom night!”
“In your face, Neil Armstrong!”
“Yeah, I know. A lot of my ideas involve setting something on fire.”
“Yes, of course duct tape works in a near-vacuum. Duct tape works anywhere. Duct tape is magic and should be worshiped.”
“Life is amazingly tenacious. They don’t want to die any more than I do.”
“I’m on my own.”
“Mars and my stupidity keep trying to kill me.”
“Yeah, that’s right, Mars, I’m gonna piss and shit on you. That’s what you get for trying to kill me all the time.”
“As with most of life’s problems, this one can be solved by a box of pure radiation.”
“If I’ve learned one thing from my stay at Club Mars, it’s that everything can be useful.”
“You may be wondering what else I do with my free time. I spend a lot of it sitting around on my lazy ass watching TV. But so do you, so don’t judge.”
“Disco: Lifetime supply.”
“Live Another Sol would be an awesome name for a James Bond movie.”
“No plan survives first contact with the enemy.”
“He’s a clever son of a bitch.”
“As soon as the rover toppled, I curled into a ball and cowered. That’s the kind of action hero I am.”
“They’re probably worried.”
“Beers for everyone if I get back to Earth.”
“It’s the simple things in life that matter.”
“Then I sat for a moment, dumbstruck that my plan had actually worked.”
“You’re sending him to space under a tarp.”
“If I survive this, I’ll tell people I was pissing rocket fuel.”
“I’ve done a little of everything here, because I’m the only one around to do it.”
“But consider this: I’d get to fly around like Iron Man.”
“It’s true, you know. In space, no one can hear you scream like a little girl.”

“But really, they did it because every human being has a basic instinct to help each other out. It might not seem that way sometimes, but it’s true.”

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

"Waiting On" Wednesday - The Bazaar of Bad Dreams: Stories

"Waiting On"  Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week I'm waiting on...  


The Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King

* Book will be released November 3, 2015


Check out the description from Goodreads:

"The next short story collection containing many of the previously published but hard-to-find short stories published since Just After Sunset."


I love King’s short stories and can’t wait to read this collection. I find his short stories actually scary and they’re one of the only books to give me bad/scary dreams.

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Review - The Martian

The Martian by Andy Weir

5/5 starry eyed gnomes

Wow this book, this book was freaking awesome.

It's a true edge of your seat adrenaline filled story.

Such a great character study of the main character and even the side characters were fascinating.

Mark Watney is a character you'll find yourself truly rooting for.

Humor + scince fiction = a definite win.

My Formal Letter to THE MARTIAN

Dear THE MARTIAN, I think I love you. You my dear are one of the best books I've read this year and I can't believe I took so long to read you.

You made me laugh a lot and are full of many truly quotable quotes.

An expert at suspense and tension is what you are. Your story is finely crafted and the feelings and characters almost leap off the page.

Your scince/techno jargon never got to be to much which in itself is no small feat.

Your message of survival, exploration, and most of all hope is something universal that everyone should agree on.

PS: I can't wait to see the movie based on you.
PPS: Saw the movie based on you, it was awesome but not as awesome as the book.

Stay cool,

Bibliognome

Monday, October 26, 2015

Sentence Sneak Peek - The Martian

The Martian by Andy Weir


The first sentence from each chapter of The Martian, it's a mini summary of what you can expect to read.

* Spoilers are highlighted like so :)

“I’m pretty much fucked.”


“Okay, I’ve had a good night’s sleep, and things don’t seem as hopeless as they did yesterday.”


LOG ENTRY: SOL 25


Remember those old math questions you had in algebra class?”


LOG ENTRY: SOL 32


So I ran into a bunch of problems with my water plan.”


LOG ENTRY: SOL 38


I’m still cowering in the rover, but I’ve had time to think.”


“VENKAT KAPOOR returned to his office, dropped his briefcase on the floor, and collapsed into his leather chair.”


LOG ENTRY: SOL 63


I finished making water some time ago.”


“HELLO, AND thank your for joining us,” Cathy Warner said to the camera.”


LOG ENTRY: SOL 79


It’s the evening of my eighth day on the road.”


LOG ENTRY: SOL 90


Seven days since Pathfinder, and seven days closer to home.”


“SOMETHING’S COMIN IN...”


“WATNEY SLEPT peacefully in his bunk.”


The employees of Deyo Plastics worked double shifts to finish the Hab canvas for Ares 3.


AUDIO LOG TRANSCRIPT: SOL 119


You know what!”


“[08:12] WATNEY: Test.”


“Martinez:
Dr. Shields says I need to write personal messages to each of the crew.”


“LOG ENTRY: SOL 192
Holy shit!”


LOG ENTRY: SOL 197


Sigh...”


“HEY, MELISSA...”


LOG ENTRY: SOL 376


I’m finally done with the rover modifications!”


LOG ENTRY: SOL 431


I’m working out how to pack.”


LOG ENTRY: SOL 458


Mawrth Vallis!”


LOG ENTRY: SOL 476


I think I can work this out.”


“THE DEPARTMENT heads stared at the satellite image on the projection screen.”


LOG ENTRY: SOL 505


I finally made it!

“THEY GATHERED.”

Friday, October 23, 2015

Weekend Read - Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, Book 1: The Sword of Summer

I loved the Percy Jackson series and was so-so on the ending but loved the rest of the Heroes of Olympus series. This Magnus Chase series is turning out to be crazy in a very good way. I never know what’s going to happen next.

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

"Waiting On" Wednesday - Lost Ocean

"Waiting On"  Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week I'm waiting on...  


Lost Ocean: An Inky Adventure and Coloring Book by Johanna Basford

* Book will be released October 27, 2015

Check out the description from Barnes & Noble:

"From the creator of the worldwide bestsellers Secret Garden and Enchanted Forest, a beautiful new coloring book that takes you on a magical journey beneath the waves

With Lost Ocean, Johanna Basford invites color-inners of all ages to discover an enchanting underwater world hidden in the depths of the sea. Through intricate pen and ink illustrations to complete, color, and embellish, readers will meet shoals of exotic fish, curious octopi, and delicately penned seahorses. Visit coral reefs and barnacle-studded shipwrecks, discover intricate shells and pirate treasure. Secret Garden and Enchanted Forest fans and newcomers alike will welcome this creative journey into an inky new world."


I know this is a coloring book but it still looks like it’ll be a lot of colorful fun. I don’t know about you but I do still enjoy coloring.

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

My Favorite Quotes/Lines - Carry On

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

* Spoilers are highlighted like so :)

“You’ve slain a dragon, Simon. Surely you can manage a long walk and a few buses.”

“Baz was sure I’d singed off his eyebrows, but he looked fine to me—not a hair out of place. Typical.”

“Footballer mansion … Magickal boarding school … They both seem like crap in the light of day. (Especially when you wake up in  a room with seven other discards.)”

“But no one loves magic like I do.”

“Siegfried and fucking Roy, Penny, I know that it’s serious.”

“It’s the good things that’ll drive you mad with missing them.”

“Also, I felt sorry for you,” she said. “You were holding your want backwards.”

“But at Watford, magic is just the air that we breathe. It’s what makes me part of something bigger, not the thing that sets me apart.”

“Fuck the Wavering Wood.”

“Out, out, damned spot!” * (I need this spell to be real.)

“I don’t expect people who come to my house to obey whatever’s cross-stitched on the throw pillows.”

“He is our greatest threat. And you are our greatest hope.”

“We can’t just stop living because we’re at war.”

“My mother says you should never have more people in your life than you could defend from a hungry rakshasa.”

Father Christmas isn’t real,” I day, “but the Tooth Fairy is. There’s no rhyme or reason to this stuff.”

“And what does it mean to take care of power? Do you use it? Conserve it? Keep it out of the wrong hands?”

“Should we teach only poets to read?”

“...didn’t care if magic was real at that moment. Because roast beef and Yorkshire pudding are fucking real as rain.)”

“And they become more powerful,” she went on, “the more that they’re said and read and written, in specific, consistent combinations.”

“Clear the air!”

“No! I don’t! I want to be someone’s right now, Simon, not their happily ever after. I don’t want to be the prize at the end. The thing you get if you beat all the bosses.”

“(Definitely more disappointed in my queerness than my undeadness.)”

“Float like a butterfly”

“Actually, I don’t know if he ever is happy. It’s like he’s got two emotions—pissed off and sadistically amused.”

“My road to hell isn’t paved with good intentions—or bad—it’s just my road.”

“I won’t,” I say. “I’ve never turned my back on you. And I’m not starting now.”

“And then he kisses me.”

“He’s so cold, and the world is so hot.”

“I wonder how long he’s wanted this. I wonder how long I’ve wanted it.”

“Sunlight burns me,” I say. He shrugs. “Me, too.”

“The kissing. That’s new. The wanting to kiss.”

“I’m in love with him. And he likes this better than fighting.”

“What a pair of splendid morons you are!”

“Can I be in love with a supervillain?”

“What you are is a fucking tragedy, Simon Snow. You literally couldn’t be a bigger mess.”

“Because we match.”

“You saved the day, you courageous fuck. You absolute nightmare.”

“Everything is starting to make sense.”

“He’s still everything else he’s always been—brave, honest, inflammably handsome (even with that fucking tail)—but I don’t think he wants to hear all that.”

“Don’t let me be one of the things that keeps you from peace, Mother. I’m all right.”

“I was eleven years old, and I’d lost my mother, and my soul, and the Crucible gave me you.”

“Simon Snow, I choose you.”

“It’s just—I really hoped there’d be sandwiches.”

But maybe I’ll honour her memory by fucking right off, the way she tried to.”

“I never thought there was a path that would lead to both of us alive.

Monday, October 19, 2015

Review - Carry On

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

5/5 gnomes

Dear Carry On,

You are such an awesome story. You’re full of weird and wonderful characters. You are a hard book to classify but I probably love you even more for that. I’ve been intrigued by your characters since I first read about them in the chapters from Rowell’s other book Fangirl.

You are an amalgamation of so many great chosen one/fantasy stories yet you bring something shiny and new to the table.

Your love story and breaking of the love triangle made me smile. This also shows some great relationships and how they change over time.

Your use of words/phrases was so clever. Having nursery rhymes, common phrases, and song lyrics be so magical is really fun. It’ll really make the reader wonder what phrases could be used and what you could accomplish with them.

Simon, Baz, Penny, Agatha: all your characters were surprising and different in very good ways.

PS: If this is how Rainbow Rowell writes fantasy, I really can’t wait to see what she writes next.

Sincerely,

Bibliognome