Currently reading, Netgalley, and other ramblings

So I'm currently listening to Harry Potter again on my iPod. Don't ask me why. I have no idea but I really wanted to listen to the series again. I know I'm weird but oh well. I enjoy it and it helps get me through the day sometimes. Thank God I can listen to my iPod at work.

I'm also currently reading A Study in Silks by Emma Jane Holloway, book one in The Baskerville Affair. This is a book I've received from Netgalley for review. I recently finished The Waking Dreamer that I also received from Netgalley and it was good so I'm really excited that I've been getting more approvals from Netgalley.

Netgalley is a website that allows book review blogs to get advanced copies of certain books to review prior to the release date. When I first joined I wasn't getting any approvals. My blog was new and apparently my profile wasn't good enough. Once I started publishing more reviews I started getting most of my requests approved which is very exciting. A lot of the books are from new authors who aren't really known to the world. The Waking Dreamer is a good example. I have a pretty big list that I have to get through and I'm hoping that I will like them all.

I publish my reviews on this blog, Goodreads, and now Amazon. The author of The Waking Dreamer requested that I post the review on Amazon so I obliged. It makes me feel all kinds of special when I get to read these books in advance even though there are a lot of people who get the same opportunity. My blog is not as big as others out there. Mine actually is extremely tiny but I'm okay with that. I love reading and this blog is a great way for me to talk about what I've read and hopefully to help others read too.


A Study in Silks is an interesting book so far. I'm not that far into it but I'm working on it. It's set in Victorian London but it has the steampunk setting and the main character is the niece of the famous consulting detective Sherlock Holmes. Of course there is magic involved which makes it all the more interesting and obviously you can't have a story about someone related to Sherlock Holmes without a murder. I've read other reviews for this book that have been good and bad. I will withhold judgement until I finish the book and move on to the next two books in the series.  After A Study in Silks I will be moving on to A Study in Darkness, book two in The Baskerville Affair. Or not. It depends on if I like the story. I hate not finishing a book but sometimes that has to happen.

Of course I will be taking a break from the Netgalley books when any author releases their next book in the series. Allegiant by Veronica Roth, the third book in the Divergent series, is coming out October 22nd. Insurgent, the second book, ended with a huge cliffhanger so it's going to be great. Then Archangel's Legion by Nalini Singh is coming out October 29th. I've been waiting for this book for a long time as well. I've missed Elena and Raphael so I'm excited to have them as the main focus again.

I've been keeping up with Ilona Andrews and Jeaniene Frost via Twitter and their blogs. I've been waiting for so long for the next book in the Night Huntress series. I'll have to reread and review. Up From The Grave comes out January 28, 2014. It seems like forever away. Ilona Andrews just finished Magic Breaks and it's going through edits and it doesn't even have a set date yet. The snippets are killing me. Then we have City of Heavenly Fire coming out in 2014 as well. The book cover hasn't been revealed yet and after the cliffhanger ending of City of Lost Souls, it's going to be great. The wait for these upcoming books is killing me. I need it to be 2014 already.

In other exciting news that is probably old news now, there is going to be another Harry Potter movie!!! Jo Rowling herself will be writing the script and it's going to be awesome. This is something us Potterheads have never read before so it's going to be completely new to us. That is something I haven't experienced since Deathly Hallows came out. I'm so excited and I can't wait until Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them hits theaters. This is a movie I am willing to pay for. 

My Thoughts on Books and Movies

I few of my favorite books have been or will be turned into movies. I'm an avid reader and take my books very seriously. I'm the person who gets mad when they get the small things wrong in the movies but I have learned to let some of the small things go. Sometimes it's impossible to get the tone or feel of a particular scene into a movie and have it be good.

Harry Potter is a big example of books that got turned into movies. Harry Potter was already a pretty big deal when it first got turned into the movie but then it exploded. I think they did a wonderful job casting for the roles. Everyone is perfect or pretty close to perfect. I still have a problem with some of Michael Gambon's portrayals as Dumbledore in the movies. Dumbledore was never one to explode or roughly grab Harry by the collar and demand if he put his name into the Goblet of Fire. It was so not Dumbledore.This picture is perfect:

It's sad that Richard Harris died because he was the perfect Dumbledore for the first few books. I don't know if he could have physically done the acting for the later books when we see more action from Dumbledore, particulary in Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince.

So not Jace for me.

Recently Beautiful Creatures and The Host came out as movies. I enjoyed The Host despite it's extremely slow start. I also really like the Beautiful Creatures series. I have a problem with some of the cast. The same is true for the City of Bones cast. The movie hasn't come out yet but the cast has been known for awhile. I love this series and I hate the cast. Jamie Campbell Bower just is not Jace Wayland. I am actually unsure as to whether I want to see this movie. I see people who love Jamie as Jace but I just am having a hard time with the entire cast.

Seriously what is Clary doing here?
This is not in the book.

I'm one of those people who wants them to take everything from the book and make it into the movie. I will watch a 5 hour movie if they would make it go in order and/or not cut things out. Prisoner of Azkaban (yes I keep referencing Harry Potter. I'm a Potterhead. I can't help it) is a huge example of epically not following the book's timeline. Harry didn't know who sent him the Firebolt and he definitely didn't get it at the end of the year. Hello! McGonagall took it away from him on Christmas. The opening scene is the worst. Harry is performing magic under his sheets. Harry is under age and therefore cannot do magic AT ALL outside of school. He got a Ministry letter in Chamber of Secrets because Dobby performed magic near him. There were no heads that blocked Hermione and Ron from entering the Three Broomsticks. There wasn't a head talking on the Knight Bus. I liked how J.K. made the houses and streetlamps jump out of the way when as the bus was driving and they didn't even do that.

I can continue on about the 3rd movie for ages. It was my favorite book at the time and they ruined it. They also ruined the ending of Deathly Hallows Part 2 by having Harry break the Elder Wand instead of fixing his Phoenix wand. Honestly, what were they thinking?

Then you have movies like Eragon. Eragon is a great series and it could have turned into a great movie series. It's almost like a young adult version on LOTR. But the movie was awful for those who read the book.

But you also get movies that are great and/or better than the books. I read the Fellowship of the Ring. I was bored the entire time. I was bored out of my mind. I just could not get into the book. But I watched the movies and I liked them. I actually managed to enjoy the Hobbit but haven't seen the movie yet. Perks of being a Wallflower was also a really good movie though it does help that the author was also the director so I won't count that one.

I was nervous about the Hunger Games and then I saw it and was in love. Jennifer Lawrence did a fantastic job. Certain things had to be explicit in the movie that was simply a thought in Katniss's mind but I was okay with that because they had to. Also, Peeta lost his leg in the book and his wound in the movie was like a scratch but that's just me being picky. I can handle it. The movie was brilliant and I can't wait for Catching Fire.


I like movies, I like books. I just wish that directors could find a way of making them pair up more equally for some movies. I'll probably see City of Bones and eventually see Beautiful Creatures. I can only hope the image of the characters in my mind for the characters don't get replaced by the actors.