Friday, May 31, 2013

Armchair BEA Day 4 - Non-Fiction


Armchair BEA Day 4 Question - Non-Fiction
We bridge the genre gap from fiction to all things non-fiction.  Do you read non-fiction? Why or why not?  Is there a specific type of non-fiction that you prefer to read (i.e., historical, true crime, memoirs, biographies, etc.)?  What is the perfect book for a first-time non-fiction reader?


I don't read a lot of non-fiction but when I do I usually look for fun or weird topics.  I also love glancing through some of the art and photography books at the library where I work. It's fun to read non-fiction because it lets you learn something new.  I believe that the perfect book for a first-time non-fiction reader would be either a trivia/story type book or a book about whatever topic they are interested in or would love to learn about.

My Favorite Non-Fiction Series:

Uncle John's Bathroom Reader 
I love these books and have at least 15 of them.  You should see how many pages I've bookmarked to go back to later.  They are both informative and fun.  There are intriguing facts and some crazy stories. The mixture of funny and fact makes for some always interesting reading material.

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Armchair BEA Day 3 - Giveaway

Hello and welcome to the giveaway day of Armchair BEA.  


Here at Bibliognome there will be two winners.  
- One will win a signed copy of Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris.  
- One will win $10 to The Book Depository




a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Armchair BEA Day 2 - Genre Fiction

Armchair BEA Question of the Day:  "What draws you to a specific genre?  Do vampires, zombies, or witches float your boat?  Or, do you prefer the heat of romance? Recommend your favorite genres and/or books and help build reader TBR shelves a bit more!"



I love YA, Sci-Fi, Paranormal/Urban Fantasy and will also read just about anything that catches my attention or has an interesting premise.


- I love YA because there are so many exciting stories in this genre and sometime you’re very surprised at where a story goes.  There are always a myriad of different characters and always something new.
- I adore Sci-Fi because well I grew up on Star Trek so stories set in space really intrigue me.  I think these stories are also great because they let you discover new worlds/think about new ideas.
- Paranormal/Urban Fantasy is one of my favorite genres because of the world building and imagining all the what-ifs of what you would do if you were thrown into the situations of the main character.  

My Favorite Books so far this year are a pretty good mix:






My Favorite Series that I recommend to Everyone:



 




Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Armchair BEA Day 1 - Introductions

 Newest picture taken yesterday of the baby birds that live on top of the light by my back door.  :)

Bibliognome Hulkified :)

Armchair BEA: Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging?

Bibliognome: My name's Becky B.  I'm a Library Assistant at a community college and it's always an adventure with students of every age from high school to the older life long learners.  I've been blogging since August 16, 2010.  I got into blogging because I love books and after discovering/applying to review at other book blogs I thought why not just start my own blog, so that's just what I did.


Armchair BEA: Have you previously participated in Armchair BEA? What brought you back for another year? If you have not previously participated, what drew you to the event?

Bibliognome: I have indeed participated in Armchair BEA before.  I'm back again this year because it's a lot of fun and lets me discover new blogs/ideas.


Armchair BEA: What are you currently reading, or what is your favorite book you have read so far in 2013?

Bibliognome: I have two favorite books I’ve read so far in 2013. Invisibility by Andrea Cremer and David Levithan and Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell.  These books are very different but oh so quotable, you’ll definitely be thinking about these books long past the last page.


Armchair BEA: Which is your favorite post that you have written that you want everyone to read?    

Bibliognome: I’m very proud of Story Time because it’s a story that is kept going by comments and it’s getting really interesting.  Here’s the most current link, http://bibliognome1.blogspot.com/2013/04/story-time_27.html


Armchair BEA: What literary location would you most like to visit? Why?

Bibliognome: I would love to visit the world of Harry Potter (if it was real of course) though I would settle for Harry Potter World the theme park too :).  This world of magic would just be so cool because it's such an immersive world.

Monday, May 27, 2013

Participating and Celebrating Armchair BEA

 
 
* First of all Happy Memorial Day to everybody.

This week I'll be participating in Armchair BEA you can check out the itinerary here, so make sure to stop by each day and participate in all the fun.  

Tuesday - Intro. Where I'll Answer 5 Questions

Wednesday - I'll talk about what I like about specific genres

Thursday - Giveaway Day, stop on by and see what I have to offer :)

Friday - I'll talk about the Non-Fiction books that I adore

Saturday -  Talking about how I keep blogging fun and taking a look at why I love reading YA.

Sunday - What I loved about this week.

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Top 5 Sundays - Best TV/Movie Sidekicks!

This feature was thought up by the awesome Larissa's Bookish Life
Rules:

1 - Write a post listing your TOP 5 choices within the theme I chose (or was chosen on a poll) for the week.
2 - Mention this Blog on the post and link back to it.
3 - Feel free to use the Features image
4 - After you've finished your post, add your link (of the post, not your blog's main page) to the Mr.Linky at the end of that week's post.
5 – If you don’t have a blog to post, just leave your list in the comments =)   
Top 5 Sundays -  Best TV/Movie Sidekicks!


Kenneth from 30 Rock is an awesome sidekick because he's always funny/you never know what he's going to say.

Gus is hilarious, he's kind of the dry wit to Shawn's chaotic craziness.  He also has some of the best one-liners.

There are so many great sidekicks on this show.  My favorite sidekicks are Ruby and Captain Hook. 

Doctor Who is full of awesome sidekicks.  Some of my favorite companions are Donna, Rose, and Amy and then the newest companion Clara falls somewhere in between Rose and Amy on the likable scale.

I love this show’s take on the Watson character.  First of all her being a woman with no interest in Sherlock is great.  Joan Watson actually feels like an equal to Sherlock.

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Weekend Reads - Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls and Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary

I’m alternating between these two books because I recently started reading them both before the David Sedaris signing that I went to.  

I’m loving Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk because it’s kind of like Aesop’s Fables on steroids with a large dose of cursing too.  The illustrations inside are pretty darn priceless too.

Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls is a great mix of both eclectic and serious at time stories.  He really makes even mediocre events sound hilarious.  I also am really enjoying the different monologues that he added to this book.

Friday, May 24, 2013

Author Signing - David Sedaris

As you can see from this autograph David Sedaris is a very funny man and he also likes stickers.  :)

I got this book signed for my co-worker Pam because she agreed to work the night shift for me tonight at the library so I could go to the signing.  :) :)

A copy I got signed for a future giveaway I'll be having.

Went to the David Sedaris signing at The Bookworm, it was so much fun and I don’t think I’ve ever seen the place that packed.  I was also thrilled because I had my autograph line number already (#4) so I knew I'd be at the front portion of the line.  The crowd filled up The Bookworm which had rows of chairs inside and outside (because it’s not a very big store.) He read his story Dentists Without Borders. He’s such a great reader too (I might have to check out his audio books.) I’ve never seen a crowd of that many people so quiet/rapt with attention.  

Sedaris also read, Health Care Freedoms and Why I Want My Country Back which was hilarious.  This story was cool because it was one of the monologues included in the book. He’s done something great here because after meeting so many people that participated in Forensics he wanted to make something so they didn’t have to cut down his other work but instead had a ready made monologue that’s between seven and ten minutes.  I think this is brilliant because I participated in Forensics in college and now how good this material would be to have on hand.  

He said he keeps a diary and then read some entries to us all.  There were lots of laughs when he said that he’s been trying not to curse when the sun is out.  Of course that leave out a lot of his work and boy did he get around those swear words creatively.  He had one entry where he talked about all the Pro-Life signs he saw when he was in Minnesota (there are definitely a lot of these signs in Minnesota because I’ve seen a lot of them too while traveling.)  Then he stated some “facts” like, “Three weeks after conception an unborn baby can write a check.”  My other favorite line of his is when he said that people who have the handicapped spots shouldn’t have political opinions because you already got the best spot, shut the f-up.

A book that he highly recommends is The Book of My Lives by Aleksandar Hemon which the bookstore had one copy of.

The best line of the night had to be when Sedaris said, “I sound like a muppet.” This was by far the best line because he does really sound like a muppet.  :)  

The signing went smoothly and diabetics got priority signing for obvious reasons since it's part of the title of the book.  I'm not diabetic thankfully but still was at the front because of my great #4 line number.  I’m so glad that The Bookworm was able to host this awesome author because it was one heck of a night.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Alien Altercations + Political Style= Intrigue for Everyone

Alien in the House by Gini Koch

* Received from the publisher for review

4 gnomes out of 5 gnomes

The latest book in the Alien series continues to be full of fun and bursting with style/witty banter.  This one did have a whole lot of people dying too so it continues to ramp up the emotional impact of the series.  The stakes since the ending of the last book remain very high and things do intensify for everyone.

Characters I Love:
Reader, Olga, Kitty.  There’s always someone interesting in these books and even the background characters are intriguing/easy to root for.

Characters that I want to see more of:
Ace, Christopher, Walter, Reader.  That’s the problem of having so many characters if you’re like me you want to know/hear more abou them all the time.  I also want to see more aliens because whenever Kitty’s allies from the Alpha 4 system show up it’s never boring.

Characters that I’m suspicious of:
Vance, some of the hackers and pretty much all of the politicians.  That’s what happens though when the action now mostly takes place in the DC area.

Events I Wish There Were More of:
There was a lot less chaos/fallout then I expected when the whole A-C secret was pretty much advertised to the world.  (I was kind of expecting an all out war or something.)  I miss the giant fights but I’m pretty sure that just like in the old before Washington days that there will be plenty of problems in the future.

Suspicions/Worries
The way these books have been going I worry that one of the major characters will die because of one of the many schemes that go on.  

I am also worried that Jamie might turn into some kind of evil genius baby.  She’s adorable and everything but I think she might know too much too fast.  Or that she could potentially ala Star Wars go to the dark side.  

The Ending
The end saw some great politics in action and really shows that Kitty might just finally understand everything she has to do as an Ambassador.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Sentence Sneak Peek - Alien in the House

Alien in the House by Gini Koch

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

* Spoilers are highlighted like so :)
* Received from the publisher for review

AS ANY PERSON WHO’S ever had to hide a huge secret about themselves knows,
being outed before you’re ready is one of the things you fear the most.”

“THIS IS THE THIRD representative to become inca-pacitated in as many weeks,” the TV announcer’s voice shared.”

“AMES, GO YOU!

“ROGER THAT, Walt.”

CHUCKIE NODDED.

“WHY THE HECK NOT?

THE MAN IN THE CIRCLE who might be Clarence re-turned from the dead hadn’t caught me looking, at least I figured he hadn’t because he hadn’t disappeared.”

“YES, ‘UNCLE’ PETER?

DECIDED CLARENCE WAS probably long gone and I’d better do what my new BFFs, the Assassination Squad, said.”

I GAPED AT RAYMOND.

HAD TO SAY this for Len and Kyle—they knew, abso-lutely, when it was time to make a hasty retreat.”

WE WERE MOSTLY NAKED, I was in Jeff’s arms with my legs wrapped around his waist, and he was doing wonderful things to my breasts, when the com activated.”

I DIDN’T WANT HALF of these people in my home, but Cliff had overruled any and all objections with a very simple point—these people were important enough that slighting them would cause us far more problems than if we just played along and pretended to like them.”

THE LAST TIME Vance had shared a dramatic “we’re all gonna die” message with me had been during Operation Assassination.”

I PREPPED MYSELF for words of doom and destruction.”

“RAJ, what the hell is going on?”

LET THAT SIT on the air for a bit.”

ON THAT NOTE of potentially prescient doom, Raj, the boys, and I left.”

I KISSED CAMILLA’S cheek on autopilot.”

THERE WERE A LOT of responses I wanted to give to this statement.”

REYES WASN’T LOOKING at me any more, and his hand felt limp in mine when he’d been holding tightly only a moment before.”

WE HEADED UPSTAIRS.

“I WOULD LIKE TO offer Romania’s good offices to help resolve and repair this matter,” Andrei, Olga’s husband, said before anyone else could speak.”

MY ANNOUNCEMENT engendered lots of gasps of shock from everyone other than Eugene, Mom, and Chuckie.”

WE TOLD MOM and Chuckie we were going to back out and let them and the Head of Field handle things while we returned Prince to his rightful owner.”

I REALLY WANTED TO PANIC.

“HANG ON A MOMENT.

“I’M NOT SAYING you can’t trust me, Kitty,” Raj said patiently.”

“DO WE WAIT HERE for Christopher or do we head up and see about getting something done?”

HAVING HELPED TO SAVE the world more than a cou-ple times myself, this didn’t exactly impress me over-much.”

AS BLOOD SPATTERED, Prince slammed into me and George the Peregrine.”

OF COURSE, it wasn’t that easy.”

HACKER INTERNATIONAL CONSISTED  of the five best hackers worldwide.”

THERE WAS THE USUAL BEDLAM.

“IT SO FIGURES.”

CAMILLA MOVED CALMLY through the room while I contemplated how similarly she and Chuckie appeared to think.”

LET THAT STATEMENT sit on the air for a few moments.”

“YOU’RE ALL HIGH.”

“PEOPLE SAY THAT TO US A LOT.”

JEFF STEPPED OUT, carrying coats.”

JEFF SHOVED ME TO WHITE, motioned for all of us to get back, then ran over using hyperspeed.”

“BYE,” I said to no one.”

I’D BEEN TIRED and upset about Reader being upset with me.”

READER WAS SOMEWHAT understanding about why we’d withheld information.”

WE STARTED GETTING UNDRESSED, rather slowly.”

FOR AS TIRED AS I WAS, both physically and emotion-ally, it wasn’t a shocker that I fell right to sleep once we were done having lots more incredibly fantastic sex.”

“DAD, HOLD THAT THOUGHT.”

“I PLAYED THIS GAME with Omega Red last night.”

CHRISTOPHER, AMY, and White headed out right after eating so they could get going.”

AS I’D SAID, we went to the infirmary first.”

LEN AND READER WERE already inside one of our standard-issue gray limos.”

I DIDN’T THINK ABOUT IT.

AS SOON AS WE were out of sight, Jeff took us to the fast hyperspeed.”

WE STOPPED RUNNING.

OLIVER CHOSE TO STAY at Rayburn to get all the de-tails for his now front-page story.”

“DOWN!”

IT TOOK LESS TIME to catch Chuckie up than anyone else so far, in part because he didn’t interrupt me with questions, and in other part because I was so emotionally freaked out I was talking at close to hyperspeed.”

VANCE AND I HEADED upstairs.”

THAT SAT ON THE AIR FOR A BIT.

WE HEADED BACK DOWNSTAIRS.

“I THINK HE’S RIGHT,” Tim said.”

WE DECIDED TO TAKE the time Brewer had bought us to do what Christopher wanted.”

WE GOT INTO THE ELEVATOR NOW.

“GOOD QUESTION.”

“ALL THAT’S GREAT,” Jeff said.”

THE OTHERS HEADED DOWNSTAIRS.

SINCE DAY ONE with Centaurion Division, gates had been the bane of my existence.”

OUR MUCH SMALLER group of six entered the big au-ditorium that was the Floor of the House of Represen-tatives.”

NOTHING MUCH OF importance happened once the ceremony was over.”

OF COURSE, this didn’t mean I wasn’t surprised.”

THREE OF THE FOUR men in the room looked at me with various degrees of horror in their expressions.”

WE SENT SOME TEXTS and made some calls, so every-one who needed to know was aware of where we were and who we were waiting for.”

CHRISTMAS WAS IN TWO DAYS, meaning Jamie’s birthday was in two days.”

DINNER OVER, everyone went to bed, either in their own rooms or assigned guest rooms, or, in Tito’s case, back to the infirmary.”

JEFF SIGHED as he sat down next to me.”

“HOW DO THESE lines correlate to the murder or sus-pected murder of over twenty people?”

“HOW’D YOU KNOW”

THE FIVE OF US WENT BACK TO BED.

THE BREWERS TRULY didn’t live that far from us.”

TIME MOVED SLOWLY.

“IT SO FIGURES.”

RAJ WAS BETTER at handling the police because he played the Diplomatic Immunity card within a minute of speaking to the officers.”

“NO,” Jeff said flatly.”

TITO HAD NO ISSUE giving Rahmi and Rhee their spe-cial orders.”

“WE DON’T WANT TO kill the assassin?”

“WELL, my bitch of a stepmother’s dead,” Amy said.”

“BECAUSE SHE SCREWED UP,” Michael suggested.”

GOWER GOT THE LOOK on his face that I was familiar with, the one where he was listening to someone is his head.”

THE ROOM WAS SILENT, to the point where someone honestly could have heard a pin drop.”

MY FIGHT WITH NAOMI had taken up a nice chunk of time.”

SENATOR, I need to ask you three questions.”

FORTUNATELY, A-Cs had really great reflexes.”

THINGS HAPPENED VERY QUICKLY.

WE ZIPPED HOME to find Jeff there, pacing in the foyer.”

SPUN AROUND to see Buchanan there.”

BUCHANNAN MADE HIS CALLS.

THE REST OF THE PARTY WAS GREAT.

ALL THE GUESTS who weren’t our friends and family were gone.”

THE RECEPTION WENT more slowly than the wedding had, but it was fun and comfortable, and Chuckie looked incredibly happy and more relaxed than I’d seen him in at least a year.”