G is for Grant | Blogging from A to Z

Feed
by Mira Grant

Ah, here it is: my favourite book of 2014. People who've been following my blog for a while are probably sick of me gushing about it, but I'm not going to stop talking about this book until I've gotten more people reading it. And hopefully loving it, too.

I adored this book. Adored it. I'm not a big reader of zombie books at all, but Feed isn't your typical zombie book - in fact I'm not even sure I'd class it as a zombie book because it's less about blood and guts and killing zombies and more about how the world would react to this kind of virus. Grant's attention to detail in this book is just stunning, and in Georgia Mason she's created one of my all time favourite heroines. Georgia made me want to trust journalists, that's how much I love her.

I'm not gonna lie, it's not all that hard for me to get emotional; give me a heartbreaking scene in a book or a film and the likelihood is I'm going to tear up. There have only been a few books, however, that have made me sob, and Feed was one such book. This book broke me - in fact I'm fairly certain I cried more over this than I did The Book Thief, and I cried quite a lot over The Book Thief.

I've since made it my mission to read as much of Grant's work as possible, because I just think she's fabulous. I still need to read Blackout, the final book in the Newsflesh trilogy, which I haven't finished yet because I don't want this trilogy to end, and also because both Feed and Deadline made me cry and I'm not sure I can take any more heartbreak. Grant also writes under her real name - Seanan McGuire - and has written an urban fantasy series following a changeling, October Daye. I have the first book in that series, Rosemary and Rue, and I'm looking forward to reading it soon!

Basically Feed is amazing. Read it.

My Favourite Sci-Fi Heroines | Sci-Fi Month 2014

Sci-Fi Month continues! Today I'm going to be talking about my personal Top 5 Science Fiction Heroines. I love me some female protagonists, in fact if I pick up a book while I'm out shopping and I don't find the slightest sniff of a female character in the blurb I will not buy that book. I've got nothing against male protagonists, but I'm 23 and I'm tired of sausage fests.

Linh Cinder from The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer: I love The Lunar Chronicles. Since reading Cinder I've become a lot more confident in reading sci-fi, and Cinder has become one of my favourite heroines. After spending so many years convincing myself that I wouldn't be welcome in the science fiction fanbase, it always seemed so male-orientated when I was younger, it's been a real joy to stumble across a series like The Lunar Chronicles, which has not one, but four heroines. There's a heroine for everyone in this series, which I love, but Cinder is most definitely my personal favourite.

Cosima Niehaus from Orphan Black: Another story with a heroine for everyone. I started watching Orphan Black earlier this year and I love it! Tatiana Maslany is the most amazing actress and I love all of the clones, but there's just something about Cosima which always makes her the first clone I think of when I think about the show. She's adorable; I love her passion for science and I really wish my hair looked like hers.

Georgia Mason from the Newsflesh trilogy by Mira Grant: For those of you who have been following my blog for a while this should come as no surprise. I adore the Newsflesh trilogy, and after reading Feed earlier this year Georgia quickly became one of my favourite heroines of all time. Who knew anyone could love a journalist so much!

Sarah Connor from the Terminator series: I grew up watching the Terminator films with my Dad, and no matter how many times I watch it I never get tired of Terminator 2. What I love about Sarah is that she's actually incredibly flawed, and yet she's still an incredibly competent, resilient, tough lady. For an action heroine of the early 90s she's awesome; she isn't put into a box as a hardcore, emotionless bitch, but she's also far from typically feminine. I have a lot of time for Sarah Connor, and I was very disappointed when she didn't make an appearance in Terminator 3!

Inara Serra from Firefly: Ah, the show that was cancelled before its time. Like Orphan Black, this is another show with a cast of characters who are difficult to compare because all of them are likable and dislikable for completely separate reasons. I love the women in Firefly; Kaylee is adorable, Zoe's fantastic and River's a sweetie (albeit an annoying one). Any one of them could have made my list, but what I love about Inara is the way she challenges the stereotypes we have surrounding sexuality and getting paid for one's 'services'. Plus she always wears the prettiest dresses.

Are there any heroines of sci-fi that you love?

Books I Want Adaptations Of!

Book adaptations have been everywhere over the past few years, and this year has seen plenty; from Hannibal to Outlander to The Maze Runner.

I love adaptations, I'm always fascinated by what different directors and actors and screenwriters do with the stories we know and love; I can't wait to see Francis Lawrence's adaptations of Mockingjay and I was ecstatic when I learned that Bryan Fuller is involved with the adaptation of Neil Gaiman's American Gods.

That being said, there are still a few books out there that I would love to see adaptations of, and today I thought I'd share them with you!

Those of you who have been following my blog for a while will know that back in May I read Mira Grant's Feed, the first book in her Newsflesh trilogy, and loved it. It broke my heart, but I loved it, and I think it would make a brilliant television show. I wouldn't want to squeeze this story into a 90 minute film, and considering each section of the book starts with a quote from Georgia or Shaun's blog I think they'd be great episode openers. I know I'd watch it!

C. J. Sansom's Dissolution, the first in his Shardlake series, is another book I think would make a great television drama. I love a good historical drama, and historical crime is especially fun! Considering this particular book takes place in the creepy, confined space of a monastery I think it'd be a lot of fun to watch. Dissolution was in fact adapted for BBC Radio 4 in 2012, but sadly I hadn't read the book then and had no idea it had been dramatised - I wish the BBC would make it available to listen to again!


I had to read Haroun and the Sea of Stories during my first year of university, and I highly recommend it if you're a lover of stories - this book is so much fun! It's bizarre, but it's brilliant, and I think it would make a fantastic Studio Ghibli film. Sadly Studio Ghibli has recently said that they are taking a break from animated films, but hopefully that break won't be a long one because their animation is just stunning. When they decide to return to animation, I'd love to see an adaptation of Haroun and the Sea of the Stories; they did a wonderful job with Howl's Moving Castle, so I'd love to see them interpret this book!

Anne Brontë's Agnes Grey is one of my favourite classics. I'm not entirely sure why I love it so much, I just do, and yet it doesn't have a single adaptation aside from another by BBC Radio 4 which I did manage to listen to. It was only an hour long, which I can understand because the book itself isn't long at all when we compare it to other Victorian novels, and while I did enjoy it I'd love to see Agnes come to life on my screen. I love a good period drama, and I think Agnes Grey would make a lovely one!


All of us are guilty of a good old chick flick every now and then, those feel good, comfort films that we put on when we need cheering up, we feel ill or we just want to have a laugh, and I'd love to see someone make a chick flick out of Elizabeth Noble's Things I Want My Daughters to Know. I don't know what it is about this book exactly, I just loved it a lot when I first read it. It's the kind of book that can make you both laugh and cry in the space of a few minutes, and it handles quite a sensitive storyline in a really lovely way. With the right director I think this book would make a very sweet film.

Are there any books you'd like to see adaptations of, or do you prefer your stories to stay on the page?

J.

Stories & Songs

For those of us who love books, the stories and characters we adore never leave us when we close the book, instead they follow us around and sometimes even influence what we do and the choices we make. Sometimes, when you're sat relaxing with your iPod and your headphones, a song starts to play that reminds you of a story or a certain character, and before you know it you can't listen to that song without remembering that particular book.

It's certainly happened to me more than once, so today I thought I'd share with you a small selection of songs that make me think of some of my favourite books!

Feed

by Mira Grant

"O Children"

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

Pass me that lovely little gun

My dear, my darling one

The cleaners are coming, one by one

You don't even want to let them start

They are knocking now upon your door

They measure the room, they know the score

They're mopping up the butcher's floor

Of your broken little hearts

O children

Forgive us now for what we've done

It started out as a bit of fun

Here, take these before we run away

The keys to the gulag

O children

Lift up your voice, lift up your voice

Children

Rejoice, rejoice

The Gargoyle

by Andrew Davidson

"Iris"

The Goo Goo Dolls

And I'd give up forever to touch you

'Cause I know that you feel me somehow

You're the closest to Heaven that I'll ever be

And I don't wanna go home right now

And all I can taste is this moment

And all I can breathe is your life

When sooner or later it's over

I just don't wanna miss you tonight

And I don't want the world to see me

'Cause I don't think that they'd understand

When everything's made to be broken

I just want you to know who I am

Blood Red Road

by Moira Young

"Barton Hollow"

The Civil Wars

I'm a dead man walking here

But that's the least of all my fears

Ooh, underneath the water

It's not Alabama clay

That gives my trembling hands away

Please forgive me father

Ain't going back to Barton Hollow

Devil gonna follow me e'er I go

Won't do me no good washing in the river

Can't no preacher man save my soul

Hannibal

by Thomas Harris

"Drumming Song"

Florence + the Machine

There's a drumming noise inside my head

That starts when you're around

I swear that you could hear it

It makes such an almighty sound

There's a drumming noise inside my head

That throws me to the ground

I swear that you should hear it

It makes such an almighty sound

Louder than sirens

Louder than bells

Sweeter than Heaven

And hotter than Hell

I ran to a tower where the church bells chime

I hoped that they would clear my mind

They left a ringing in my ear

But that drum's still beating loud and clear

Catching Fire

by Suzanne Collins

"Glory and Gore"

Lorde

There's a humming in the restless summer air

And we're slipping off the course that we prepared

But in all chaos, there is calculation

Dropping glasses just to hear them break

You've been drinking like the world was gonna end 

(it didn't)

Took a shiner from the fist of your best friend

(go figure)

It's clear that someone's gotta go

We mean it but I promise we're not mean

And the cry goes out

They lose their minds for us

And how it plays out

Now we're in the ring

And we're coming for blood

You could try and take us

But we're the gladiators

Everyone a rager

But secretly they're saviours

Glory and gore go hand in hand

That's why we're making headlines

You could try and take us

But victory's contagious

Review | Feed by Mira Grant

Feed

by Mira Grant

My Rating: 

The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beaten the common cold. But in doing so we created something new, something terrible that no one could stop. The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: FEED. Now, twenty years after the Rising, bloggers Georgia and Shaun Mason are on the trail of the biggest story of their lives - the dark conspiracy behind the infected. The truth will get out, even if it kills them.

Have you ever had a book take you completely by surprise, to the extent that what you thought would end being up a book you enjoyed ended up being a book you adored?

Very recently, Feed was, for me, exactly that kind of book.

I can say without a doubt that Feed is not only one of my favourite reads of 2014, but also one of my favourite reads of all time. I loved this book. So much.

Feed is the first book in the Newsflesh trilogy, and follows bloggers Georgia and Shaun Mason, and their friend Buffy, who are hired to follow and cover the presidential campaign of a popular senator. They live in a world in which both cancer and the common cold have been cured, but when these two cures met and mutated they transformed into a virus that reanimates the dead.

Civilisation hasn't collapsed in Feed, at least not in the first world countries, there just happen to be zombies and measures have been taken to prevent the spread of the virus. The amount of detail Grant has poured into this world - from the hygiene procedures to the exclusion of red meat from our diets - is just exquisite, and even though Georgia, our main protagonist, spends a lot of the novel explaining certain things about her society to us I didn't find it boring at all.

What I love about this book is that it's unlike any other zombie story I've come across - in fact I'd even go so far as to say this isn't really a zombie story. There are zombies in it, but Feed is a lot more focused on people and the pursuit of truth. As someone who's always been somewhat cynical when it comes to journalism, this novel gave me renewed hope that there are journalists out there who want to find the truth and tell it.

Throughout the novel there are some very powerful and thought-provoking passages from Georgia's blog, and I loved reading them. Georgia has quickly become one of my favourite heroines. I love how committed she is to her job and to sharing the truth with the world. Her narration was a joy to read; she's funny and honest and just gorgeous. In fact considering this book is a little on the chunky side (my edition is 571 pages) I flew through it! Then again, I'm not usually intimidated by larger books unless the page count gets into the thousands, so keep that in mind if you prefer a 300-400 page read.

The entire cast of side characters in Feed were also a delight. Georgia and Shaun's relationship was lovely, and it was so refreshing to read the first book in a trilogy that didn't hint towards any romance whatsoever. I'm not an enemy of romance by any means, but I love series in which romance doesn't develop instantly, and to be honest it's a nice change to read a series that doesn't prioritise a love story over the quality of the plot.

Feed is also the first book to make me sob - really, really weep - since I read The Book Thief a couple of years ago. It's not unusual for me to cry over a book, but it takes a really good book to make me blub and the ending of this book made me sob my heart out. This book has one of the most shocking endings I have ever come across, and if you plan on reading this trilogy then please don't look into the second or third books until you've finished the first - some editions of the second book include a huge spoiler for the end of the first book in the blurb!

Honestly I have nothing to criticise about this book. It's become one of my favourite books of all time and I'm in love with it. I've heard some readers say the villain of this book was a little too obvious, and while I agree to some extent I found the protagonists' story so exciting that I didn't mind that. What I will say is that I wouldn't recommend this to any reader looking for a 'blood, guts and gore' kind of zombie novel; Feed is less about the zombies and more about how the rest of the world is reacting to them, so it would make a great read for anyone out there who's squeamish but still wants to read a zombie novel.

I love this novel, and this trilogy, and I highly, highly recommend it!

J.

Reading Wrap-Up | May 2014

I only got through two books this month because I ended up becoming obsessed with a new trilogy that I'm currently in the middle of finishing, but I enjoyed both of the books I read!

Attachments

by Rainbow Rowell

My Rating: 

"Hi, I'm the guy who reads your e-mail, and also, I love you . . . "

Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder know that somebody is monitoring their work e-mail. (Everybody in the newsroom knows. It's company policy.) But they can't quite bring themselves to take it seriously. They go on sending each other endless and endlessly hilarious e-mails, discussing every aspect of their personal lives.

Meanwhile, Lincoln O'Neill can't believe this is his job now- reading other people's e-mail. When he applied to be "internet security officer," he pictured himself building firewalls and crushing hackers- not writing up a report every time a sports reporter forwards a dirty joke.

When Lincoln comes across Beth's and Jennifer's messages, he knows he should turn them in. But he can't help being entertained-and captivated-by their stories.

By the time Lincoln realizes he's falling for Beth, it's way too late to introduce himself.

What would he say . . . ?

In May I read my very first Rainbow Rowell book and it was very cute! I've been interested in Attachments for a while now because when it comes to contemporary I tend to read more adult contemporary than YA contemporary, not entirely sure why, though.

Now that I've read this I'm even more eager to read Fangirl and Eleanor & Park to see what Rowell's YA is like. If you're interested in more of my thoughts on Attachments there'll be a review up on Friday!

Feed

by Mira Grant

My Rating: 

The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beaten the common cold. But in doing so we created something new, something terrible that no one could stop. The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: FEED. Now, twenty years after the Rising, bloggers Georgia and Shaun Mason are on the trail of the biggest story of their lives - the dark conspiracy behind the infected. The truth will get out, even if it kills them.

And here we have my new obsession. I bought Feed over Easter - it's one of those books I've been seeing in Waterstones for years and kept meaning to pick up - and as soon as I started reading it I loved it. This book is so funny and thought-provoking and sad. I bauled my eyes out when I read the end of this book, in fact I haven't cried that much at the end of a book since I read The Book Thief.

It's the first zombie book I've read and I loved it because the focus isn't really on the zombies, it's more about journalism, politics and the truth, and it's safe to say Georgia Mason is now of my new favourite heroines. I adore her.

I definitely recommend this trilogy (I'm over half-way through Deadline right now and it's just as brilliant) but don't look up either of the second books if you haven't read the first - some versions of them have spoilers in their blurbs!

Those are the two books I read in May, and I'm really not at all bothered I only managed two; I've discovered a fantastic new series, and now I really want to check out Mira Grant's Parasitology books, too.

What did you read in May?

Top Ten Tuesday | Books That Made Me Cry

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find out everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's Top Ten Tuesday theme is a freebie - we can pick our own topic! So, as I'm currently in the middle of a trilogy that's breaking my heart more and more with each page I turn, I thought today would be a fitting time to share with you the top ten books that have made me cry. Unfortunately I could only think of nine, but that'll have to do!

I never used to be much of a crier when it came to books and films, but half way through adolescence I started becoming an emotional wreck whenever I watched or read something which, for whatever reason, really struck a chord with me. There are a lot of instances in which I haven't cried where I probably should - I've never found any of the deaths on Game of Thrones particuarly cry-worthy, nor did I cry while reading Mockingjay - but do something horrible to a character that I love and I'll weep.

So, in the order I read them, here are the ten nine books that made me weep:

Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman
I first read this series, which deals with themes such as race and terrorism, back in my early teens, and it had a huge impact on me. The first book in the series has always been my favourite, though the other three are also brilliant in their own way, and it has the honour of being, to my knowledge, the first ever book that made me cry. This is still one of my all time favourite books, and if you haven't read it you're missing out.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter is always going to be one of my all time favourite series, and as a lover of Sirius Black I'm sure those of you familiar with the series can understand why this book made the list. I'm still not over it.






Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

I'm sure all of you can understand why this book's on the list. Oddly enough I didn't cry because of the deaths in this book, I actually cried because of the epilogue. It was so emotional to see these characters that I'd grown up with leading happy, peaceful lives, and knowing that as soon as I finished reading the epilogue the story I'd followed for the past ten years would be over.



Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks

During the first year of my A Levels I studied War Literature, and while Birdsong wasn't on our syllabus we were given it to read by our teacher and I'm so glad we were. If you're familiar with the BBC adaptation but haven't read the book please, please read it; the adaptation was appalling compared to how exquisite this book is. Considering it takes place during WW1 I'm sure you can imagine why this book made it onto my list, and now is the perfect time to read it as this year marks 100 years since the start of the war.


The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

WW2 this time, and I imagine even those of you who haven't read Zusak's masterpiece know someone who has; this book touches everyone who reads it in some way, and I'm not ashamed to say I cried more than once while reading it. If you've yet to read it then do pick it up, but I'd recommend the film adaptation too - it's a great adaptation!



The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

An obvious one, I know. Do I really need to say why this book made me cry? I'm pretty certain everyone in the world has read this book by now. I wouldn't call this book one of my all time favourite books by any means, but all the same I found it very emotional.





Glitches by Marissa Meyer

This is probably a bit of an odd one because it's really more of a short story than a book, but I cried reading this. If you're familiar with The Lunar Chronicles then you've probably read this (but if you haven't Meyer has made it available online here!) and if you're not familiar with The Lunar Chronicles then you need to make yourself familiar with them. It's one of my favourite series, and it's so fun. This is a prime example of what I mentioned earlier: getting emotional over a certain character.

Cinder is one of my favourite fictional heroines (why not check out my Top 5 YA Heroines?) and this story takes place before the events of Cinder when Cinder is a little girl. It just broke my heart to see her so little and so vulnerable and so unloved by the majority of the people around her. I definitely cried.


Feed by Mira Grant

And now we're onto the trilogy I mentioned above as currently being half way through. I can't say too much about this book because the reason it made me cry - and I mean really, really cry - is a huge spoiler for those of you who might want to read it. Those of you who have read this book, however, can probably guess why I cried so much at the end of this book. This is another case of growing attached to a character and then having my heart broken because of it. If you haven't read these books yet please do, I haven't even finished the second book yet but I'm already certain this is one of my new favourite trilogies.


Deadline by Mira Grant

Yep, that's right. The second book made me cry, too. In fact I'm not even half way through this book yet and I've already cried almost as much as I did at the end of the first one. Again, those of you familiar with this book can guess why it's already made me into an emotional wreck. Read this trilogy, but prepare yourself for heartbreak.



So those are the top ten nine books that have made me cry! Which books make you emotional?

Top 5 | Fictional Siblings

When it comes to the relationships in the books we read I think romantic relationships tend to get the most focus, which often means that other relationships - whether they're platonic or familial - are forgotten. This is a real shame, because there are so many amazing friends, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles and grandparents in fiction that deserve to be celebrated.

This is the first in a small series of blog posts celebrating the underappreciated relationships in fiction. So, without further ado, here are my personal top 5 favourite fictional siblings!


Bellatrix, Andromeda and Narcissa, from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

At number 5 we have a set of characters who are rather different from the other siblings on this list, because we don't know an awful lot about them. The majority of the siblings I've chosen for this list I've chosen because I love the way they interact with one another, but in the entire Harry Potter series we never see all three of the Black sisters together. We meet each of them individually - and indeed Narcissa and Bellatrix are still on speaking terms - but we have no idea how the three of them acted around one another when they were younger.

These three are some of my favourite characters in the series, and while I would love to have known more about them I can understand why we don't learn everything. Their relationship is not integral to Harry's journey.

What I love most about these three is that everything they do, they do for love. Bellatrix's unhealthy obsession with Voldemort drives her crazier than she already was, and she does things for him no sane person would ever do. Andromeda defied her family and ran away so that she could spend her life with a muggleborn, distancing her from the sisters who, at some point in her life, she must have loved. And then we have the fantastic Narcissa, who lies to Voldemort's face to save the life of a young boy because she's a mother, and she knows that if the tables were turned she'd hope Lily would do the same for Draco.

I just love these three a lot.



 Boromir and Faramir, from The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

At number 4 we have the only brothers on this list! While I was compiling this little list I began to notice how few books I actually own that include brothers. I had plenty of sisters to choose from, but I really had to look hard to find any brothers on my shelves who I felt strongly about.

Technically I'm cheating a bit here, because while I adore The Lord of the Rings I haven't actually read the books yet, but as I mentioned in my 2014 Booket List I'm hoping to cross The Lord of the Rings off my TBR list this year!

I am a huge fan of the films though, and I love the relationship between Boromir and Faramir. What I love about these two is that they so easily could have been a pair of siblings who hated each other; Denethor's favouritism could have distanced the two of them so much, but instead Boromir takes good care of his little brother. In fact Boromir acts like more of a father to him than Denethor does, and Faramir in return loves his brother unconditionally.

These two make me wish I had a brother.


Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

At number 3 we have a set of sisters I couldn't possibly leave out of a list like this. This book and its characters are on many of my favourites lists; it's one of my favourite classics, includes one of my favourite heroines and one of my favourite fictional friendships. While I love Jo's friendship with Laurie and her relationship with Professor Bhaer, it's her relationship with her sisters that I love the most.

What's lovely about these four is that they're all so different, so each of their relationships with each other is different, and yet they all compliment each other beautifully. There's a sister for every kind of person; in fact for a 19th century author Alcott does a pretty wonderful job of portraying women who are desperate for independence and women who are desperate to be married, and treating all of these women with equal respect.


Georgia and Shaun, from the Newsflesh trilogy by Mira Grant

At number 2 we have a fairly recent discovery of mine. I read Feed, the first book in the Newsflesh trilogy, just last week and I absolutely adored it, even though it broke my heart.

I'm glad I came across this book when I did because I've been wanting to compile this list for a while, and yet I noticed I had a distinct lack of important brother and sister relationships in the books I read. Then I read Feed, and fell completely in love with Georgia and Shaun.

What I love about them is not only are they funny - so funny, I love their banter - but they're also not at all ashamed that they're close. They love each other absolutely and they will defend each other until the ends of the earth.


Katniss and Prim, from The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins

At number 1, it really just had to be the Everdeen sisters. 

When it comes to The Hunger Games I find a lot of people tend to argue as to whether or not they're on Team Peeta or Team Gale, but for me the real love story in The Hunger Games is between Katniss and Prim. In fact nothing that happens in these stories would have happened if Katniss hadn't had a little sister that she loved more than anything else in the world. Katniss enters the Games to save Prim, and she ultimately ends up becoming the Mockingjay to avenge Rue, who reminds her of Prim.

For such a popular trilogy the relationship between these two is incredibly underrated, and personally I feel as though Peeta gets a lot of the credit that really belongs to Prim. Katniss wasn't a closed, cold young woman until Peeta came along; Prim is proof that everything Katniss does comes from a place of fierce love.

Who are some of your favourite siblings in fiction?

What's Up Wednesday! | 21/05/14

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly blog hop created by Jaime Morrow and Erin L. Funk as a way for writers and readers to stay in touch!

What I'm Reading

Last week I took part in the Bout of Books 10.0 read-a-thon. I had  a very ambitious TBR and ended up reading none of the books on it, because a) I ended up having a very busy week (which literally always happens to me whenever I have something else planned) and b) I continued reading Feed by Mira Grant, got really into it and then had my heart shattered into a million teeny tiny pieces on Saturday when I finished it.

Since then I've been in... not a slump, exactly, but I've been in mourning since finishing Feed. This weekend I'm going to buy myself a copy of Deadline, the second book in the Newsflesh trilogy, and then I'm sure my already broken heart will break a little more.

Even though it broke my heart I highly recommend Feed; it's a zombie novel, but really it's actually more of a novel about the importance of truth and the news and it's just very thought-provoking and funny and heart-wrenching. Read it!

(Warning: If you look up Feed stay away from the other books in the trilogy; there's a huge spoiler in the blurb of the second book for something that happens at the end of the first!)

I also read the first few chapters of Philip Pullman's Northern Lights during the read-a-thon and I'm hoping to get back into that soon, I've enjoyed what I've read so far, and I also need to start Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. I'm supposed to be reading it alongside my lovely friend Laura right now, but Feed broke me to the extent that I just wasn't in the mood for a happier, contemporary read over the weekend.

What I'm Writing

As always, I'm working away on Bloodroot and Bracken. Recently I've started to become more and more interested in one of my novel's side characters (which is ironic because she was originally going to be dead until I realised she was more helpful to the plot alive) and I'm considering writing her her own novel at some point in the future.

It's funny how the smallest characters make the biggest impression, isn't it?

What Inspires Me Right Now

The past few days I've actually found the weather pretty inspiring as far as novel writing goes. We've had a few really hot days here and on Monday it was really humid, so it's been getting rather stormy; one of the main characters in my novel is called Thora, so I can't help finding storms a little inspirational!

What Else I've Been Up To

At the weekend I went to see Godzilla. I feel like every week I update this section of WUW with a cinema trip, but I do go to the cinema a lot - I love me some films!

Godzilla was... interesting. My friend and I weren't really expecting much, and while it wasn't a bad movie, it's not quite the movie the trailer leads you to expect. Considering it's called Godzilla, Godzilla himself isn't in it all that much.

Other than that it's been pretty quiet here the past few days!

What's new with you?

Bout of Books 10 | Mid-Week Update!

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 12th and runs through Sunday, May 18th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 10 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team.





When I said this was the first Bout of Books read-a-thon I hadn't been too busy to participate in I obviously spoke too soon.

I've managed to get a little reading done - mainly yesterday, to be honest, because I didn't get any reading done on Monday or Tuesday due to other commitments - but nowhere near as much as I'd hoped to read by this point. I still have the rest of tonight and the next three days to catch up, though, so not all hope is lost!

Contrary to my TBR, I've been reading more of Feed by Mira Grant and I've started Northern Lights by Philip Pullman. I'm really enjoying Feed - in fact I'd love to be reading it now, but I have some uni work to do - it's the first zombie story I've come across in which society hasn't just crumbled, and it's funny, too. Before the read-a-thon I was up to page 47, and now I'm on page 117, so I read 70 pages of Feed yesterday.

I picked up Northern Lights in the early hours of Wednesday morning when I couldn't sleep and I'm enjoying that one too; it's one of those fantasy books I'm always ashamed to say I haven't read. So far I've read 67 pages.

So, in total, I've read 137 pages so far this week which is terrible progress, but I didn't get any reading done on Monday or Tuesday and I'm unlikely to get any done today because I have uni work to do that I'm not likely to finish before midnight.

Hopefully I'll get a lot of reading done over the weekend. I'd love to finish Feed and I think I should be able to; it's a little thicker than the average book but it's so fun and easy to read. It'd be nice to get a good chunk of Northern Lights read too; I'll try and finish it if I can.

I'm also finally going to start Fangirl tomorrow! I'm going to be reading it alongside my friend Laura, and I think it'll be nice to have a contemporary novel there for when I want to take a break from zombies and daemons.

How's your progress so far? What are you reading?

J.