Flowers on a Friday

Hi, my name is Emma and I have developed an obsession with taking photographs of flowers.  In a bid to keep sane, I'm trying to do more things that make me happy...and taking rubbish photographs is one of those things!  

Top Ten Most Anticipated Releases For the Rest of 2015

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and The Bookish.  This week's topic is "Top Ten Most Anticipated Rest of 2015".  I've got to admit - I struggled with this one!  Normally, I have a list of 10 easy, but this time I had to actively search for more books...not that it's a bad thing (for me anyway...our bookshelves, maybe) as I've found some books that I'm now super excited for!

1. Winter - Marissa Meyer (November)

I can't believe this is going to be the last book in the Lunar Chronicles!  I remember reading Cinder and not being overly impressed but still intrigued; then picking up Scarlett and being like, oh that was a bit better, and then loving Cress!  I can't wait, but at the same time, I don't want the Lunar Chronicles to be over...

 2.Manners & Mutiny - Gail Carriger (November)

Another conclusion of a series - seriously, where has the time gone?!  I swear the first book was only published last month...I haven't managed to read books 2 and 3 yet - I do own copies, but I'm thinking of going on a binge once book 4 has been published - so I hope the series has been continuing the steam-punk fun of the first book - and I hope there's plenty of Bumblesnoot!

 3. The Rest of Us Just Live Here - Patrick Ness (August)

I really like the sound of  the Xander-type character - especially as so many books are about the "CHOSEN" one!  Plus, I'm always up for more Patrick Ness goodness.

 4. Carry On - Rainbow Rowell (October)

I'm not too sure about this one...but I have really enjoyed Rainbow Rowell in the past, so I'm still going to seek out a copy.

 5. Armada - Ernest Cline (July)

I hadn't realised that this was coming out until I saw all the BEA posts where people had managed to snag a copy.  It hadn't come up on the book club list, and I've never seen RPO in the bookshop at work, so I thought I would have to order a copy in upon release - which is no big deal.  Cut to last Wednesday when I nearly screamed when I saw a copy in the proof section.  It's now sitting on my bedside table and I can't wait to start (I've got to work my way through some library books first...).

 6. Why Not Me? - Mindy Kaling (September)

I liked Kaling's last book, so this is a bit of a no-brainer!

 7. You're Never Weird on the Internet (almost) - Felicia Day (August)

I'm actually really excited for this one - and the release date is perfect timing for a late birthday present!

8. The Heart Goes Last - Margaret Atwood (September)

I'm cheating with this one, as I'm currently reading The Heart Goes Last - and man is it a doozy.  I hadn't realized that it was previously released in serial form, but it makes sense to me now because I keep picking it up and putting it down unable to read large chunks at a time feeling a need to process what I've just read.  

9. Saga Volume 5 - Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples (October)

Is it October yet?  Becuase I Cannot.  Wait. Much. Longer.  Trying my best not to go and buy the single issues, but must resist....

10. The Bazaar of Bad Dreams - Stephen King (November)

New short story collection from Stephen King - I really hope by short story they mean short and not short for Stephen King - as that would probably be the length of a normal novel!

What's on your TTT this week? Any books coming out this year that you would recommned?

The Glass Republic

Pen's life revolves around secrets; the secrets behind her three-month disappearance from school last winter, the secret cause of the scars that mar her face, and, most secret of all, her mirror-sister Parva: her doppelganger in London-Under-Glass, the city behind the mirrors. 

Pen's trying to forget Reach, Filius Viae and the Wire Mistress and get back to a normal life, but when Parva vanishes, she has no choice but to seek out London's stranger side.  And when Pen journeys through the mirror, she finds a world where scars make you beautiful and criminals will kill you for your face - a world in which Pen's sister was keeping secrets of her own.

I can't actually remember a lot about the first book in Tom Pollock's Skyscraper Throne Trilogy.  It probably is a good case for binge reading book series once all the installments have been published!  My lack of recall meant that I spent the first quarter of The Glass Republic feeling a bit lost and trying to re-boot my memories of what had happened to Beth and company...but looking back on the reading experience, I didn't really need any prior knowledge.  In fact, I actually enjoyed this second installment a lot more than the first.  

I remember that I had a hard time trying to visualise all these expansive, wonderful and imaginative ideas of Pollock's - the majority of his characters are made up of elements of the city and I could only imagine how much it would cost to adapt these books into a film/t,v, series - and this would mean that I was often reading passages without fully taking them in.  Yet, with TGR, I had no problem and felt fully immersed within Penn's story.

Penn is promoted from Beth's sidekick to fully fledged protagonist in The Glass Republic, and we follow her as she struggles to fit in after her dual ordeals in The City's Son.  With all that Pollock has put her through, Penn's character could have easily slid into 'check-list' territory.  Yet, there's so many layers to Penn, and to all of the characters that inhabit this strange world, that every action and reaction reads as genuine.

If you haven't had a chance to check this series out, I highly recommend it.  The concluding book in the trilogy, The Lady of Our Streets was published last year, so I'm hoping the library will get a copy in stock soon. What I love most about this series is that I honestly do not know where it's heading - and I can't wait to find out.

Cypress Gardens

I got a new camera for my birthday last year but hadn't really taken it anywhere to test out all the functions...then on Christmas Day we went to Legoland Florida. The park used to be called Cypress Gardens, and Legoland have still kept a small corner of the botanical gardens - a perfect place to go take pictures!  It's so tranquil in that part of the park, and there are some absolutely beautiful plants - not to mention the supernatural-looking banyan tree!

Holiday Reads

A few weeks ago I went to Menorca for a holiday with Matt's family.  The most important part of going away is planning the books that you're going to take, right?

To take with me I picked two books that had been sitting on my bedside table for about 5 months, Station Eleven and The Bees and then a book that I'd recently picked up from the bookshop at work, Signal to Noise.  As a backup, I also had downloaded Frostbite by Richelle Mead if I wanted something a bit more light and fluffy.

I didn't get as much reading done as expected, as the Villa we were staying in was kitted out with a  ping-pong table and a pool table, plus we would spend the evening playing cards which was super fun (while laying your winning hand you had to sing The Terminator theme tune - something that Matt and I have always done when playing cards but have now passed over to his family).

I started reading The Bee's but after 50 pages realized that this wasn't perhaps the best book to start with.  I plan to pick it up again in the future, but my relaxed holiday brain couldn't wrap itself around the hive concept.

I then basically devoured Frostbite - which is crazy to me because normally I hate reading on my Kindle Fire.  It was okay - I wouldn't recommend it, it's pretty much everything I would normally hate in a book, but I knew that going in.

Thinking that I better actually read one of the physical books I brought with me, I started Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel, and it surprised me by not being at all like I thought it was going to be.  From the blurb, I had initially pegged Station Eleven as being set completely within a dystopian world- post major event - the whole way through, but this only makes up small sections of the novel.  Instead, the story explores how one man's life can impact others around him.  I really enjoyed it and wished it was longer in some ways...which is always good.  I liked the fairytale, and I liked this depth of sadness that followed throughout the whole narrative.

Next up, was Signal to Noise, which again turned out to contain a different story to what I expected.  There were vibes of The Craft, but, to be honest, the magic isn't that big of a deal within the story, and again the real story is more about the relationships between all of the characters. I loved all of the angst of Meche and Sebastian and also their relationship - how much they both loved each other but how crappy teenage stuff got in the way of them realizing that.  I liked how Meche hated Seb for chasing after the popular girl, and actually recognized that she was doing the same thing by chasing after the popular boy.  Lovely little read, and was a great way to cap off the holiday!

Top Ten Books I'd Love To See As Movies/Tv Shows

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and The Bookish.  I did the whole "books I'd like to see as movies/t.v shows" topic for TTT in 2013 and none of them have been put onto either the big or small screen as of yet, so I thought I'd shake things up a little bit (a.k.a I can't think of anything new).  Instead of books I'd like to see, I'm going with 4 adaptations that I'd like erased from history because they are awful, and then 6 adaptations that are surprisingly good.

The Worst:

1. Northern Lights/The Golden Compass
I cannot express how disappointed I was with this movie.  It came out not long after I had to read Northern Lights for my Children's Literature Module at Uni - so I was super hyped for the movie!  All I can remember is thinking that it was super long and completely sucked anything good from the source material.  Also **SPOILER**- no we cannot go to sleep!  You are supposed to be dead!

2. The Time Traveller's Wife
I didn't want to see this movie.  However, my boyfriend knew that this was my favorite book and was all like, we should go...I really wish I had told him flat out no.  I know that adaptations are just that - adaptations and not literal copies - but you still have to maintain the essence of the text (see below for good examples of this).  The film changes too much, plus there is an utter lack of chemistry between the two leads, and I just can't.

3. Sookie Stackhouse Mysteries/True Blood
I never got the True Blood love...I thought it was so cheesy!  Add that to too many changes, and I didn't make it past episode five.

4.The Dresden Files
Don't mess around with Bob!  He is perfect in the books.  Don't mess with perfection!

The Surprising:

1. Warm Bodies
I know there were a few changes, but this film is so cute and has a great soundtrack too!

2. We Need to Talk about Kevin
The film is not an easy watch but is an outstanding adaptation that doesn't sanitize the unsettling nature of the source material.

3. Harry Potter Series
I can't think of a reason for this one.  The first films are cheesy as a desert course for those who don't like sweet things (apparently they exist...I am not one of those people.  Chocolate cake forever!), but they are still endearing and it's somewhat lovely to watch everyone grow up on screen.

4. Hunger Games
I'm not a fan of The Hunger Games, but I've got to admit that the first movie is a pretty good adaptation.  I even got bored in the same bit of the movie that I did in the book!

5. Girl With the Dragoon Tattoo
Both the Swedish and the American adaptations are awesome - go watch them!

6. Gone Girl
I think David Fincher has gotten that it's all about essence - and Gone Girl had the unhinged in suburbia down pat.  I think I may also have it figured out that it's all about distance...the more time I have between finishing the book and seeing the movie often leads to me actually liking the film.