Category: Thoughts on books

Jan 09

Oh so bad

          While reading Overachievers by Alexandra Robbins last night, I was completely shocked while reading about cheating in schools.  If I remember correctly, the statistic was that 90% of teenagers cheat on homework.  There was other percentages about test and that sort of thing as well.

          At first I thought, who on earth would do that?  Sure, some people do but how could it me that many.  I started to think that I was one of the 10% then actually realized that wasn’t true.  Let me confess, here and now, I often copied other people’s math homework right before class.

          Shameful, I know.

          To defend myself a little, the ironic part was I always did well on the test.  The person who I cheated off of for homework, cheated off me for test.  Plus, I never cheated in college.  That degree is one hundred percent mine.  I think that was maybe the big difference for me.  High school was something that you absolutely had to do.  College was a choice I made so I felt a drive to do it well. 

          Another thing this book has made me think about so far is where I fitted in on the Overachiever vs Slacker scale while I was in school.  My high school was definately very different than the one described in the book.  The first school I went to consisted of a large numbr of kids that knew they would go to college at BYU, go on a mission, or get married right away.  As a freshman, I took AP classes but the stress of high grades didn’t come through yet.

          The last three years I attended a fairly small high school.  I think there was maybe 200 people tops in my graduating class.  Because the school was small, there was not a huge range of classes.  There was only a handful of AP classes.  I think I took the only science one available and all the english ones.  Grade wise I got mostly A’s.  A few B’s and gasp, a C in advance math which I dropped the following semester.  On my SATs I got 1280 (I have no clue how I actually remember that since I never actually needed it since I transfered into college).  I was editor of the school news paper and on dance team.  I also had a part time job.  Wow, I honestly never realized how much I did until I wrote it down just now.  I definately felt like I floated through school.  Looking back, I guess I was an overachiever.

          College I think I was an overahiever in some places but not in others.  I got nearly straight As.  My GPA would have been better if there wasn’t a huge problem with being in the wrong math class.  Two seperate advisors put me in a particular class. I strugged to no end.  I ended up failing once and dropping out half way a second time.  The third time I talked to someone I found out that all along I was in a class meant for engineering majors, not english.  I was extremely mad but at least aced the real class I needed.  Spanish was the other class I slipped down to a B a few semesters. Besides that I worked my ass off to me the top of all my classes. 

          Were you an overachiever in school?  Did you ever cheat?

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Dec 28

More Sookie Stackhouse!

******Contains details from Sookie Stackhouse books and some spoiler/info I’ve found on season three.*********

 

 

          So I’ll admit, the first few Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris did not really catch my attention.  The first two books I thought were okay but they did not stand out to me.  I found them entertaining but I thought the television series was doing a better job at really filling out the story.  Obviously, the show varied a lot from the books but it did it in a way that stayed true to them.  Does that make sense? Anyways, I ended up deciding to pick up Club Dead as a fast read.  I am now completely hooked on the series!

          Club Dead really picked up for me because there was more than here is Sookie and Bill and here is a problem happening.  It made it, here is Sookie and Bill is gone but Eric is there and another guy and Sookie has tons of stuff to deal with.  I absolutely love what a strong character she become in this book.  She basically kicks ass.  Plus I think Harris really caught on to Sookie’s voice in this novel.  It came alive more than the previous books in my mind.

          The next book, Dead to the World was actually my favorite in the series so far.  Hate to spoil this to all the Bill fans out there, but he’s out and Eric is in (at least for this book) and I absolutely love it.  Pam also starts to have more personality in this book.  This book was funny, sexy, and a story that I could barely rip myself away from.  Now I’m only two books (plus the short stories) away from being completely up to day.  I’m actually quite sad about that.  I want more!

          Besides the books,  I can’t wait for more True Blood. I liked both seasons so far (yes even the crazy Greek stuff in season two) so am interested to see if it will follow the book.  If so, I think the book is going to get better and better.  Before I wrote this, I decide to see if I could figure out where season three was going.  Let’s just say, big question mark at this point.

          I tried not to read too much since I don’t want to spoil the season for myself.  I have never been one to read television spoilers.  The anticipation of watching it each week is better.  I found two sites that said a little bit and interestingly enough, the said complete opposite things.  First was IMDB.  It has episode one listed as “Pack of Wolves”.  There is two other titles for episodes listed two but it has no details on any of them.  This makes me super exicited because Club Dead introduces us to the super sexy werewolf Alcide.  He sticks around for more of the books too.  Plus, who doesn’t love a werewolf/vampire/girl with weird mind power love triangle?  Sorry, I had to referred to Twilight at least a little.  I bet you anything that people will say True Blood is copying Twilight even though Club Dead was out years before Twilight.  

          Personally, I really hope this is the way that the story goes.  It makes sense with the ending of last season, if I remember right.  Could Bill have suddenly disappeared because of A) vamps trying to get his computer disk, B) Lorena calling him, or C) the Queen showed up?   All of these (well minus A, since we don’t know about his computer stuff yet) would fit with the last season plus the book.  Plus didn’t I hear rumors about Evan Rachel Woods showing up more in season three.  Sidenote to anyone that has read the books, how perfect is she for that role?

          I also found a site that listed news about a girl being cast as Crystal.  This makes me super hopeful for the show following the books.  She doesn’t actually show up until Dead to the World but she is definately a big(ish) character. She is a character that is meant to be disliked but not exacted hated. I think seeing her on screen will be funny.  Maybe the show is going to roll two books into one season. I’d be okay with that because I can’t wait for more Eric! Plus that would make Quinn show up sooner too. He is going to be someone super hot, obviously.         

          Another site I found that I can’t remember the name of listed episode one as “Mine”.  It then gave really long details on every little thing that happens in this episode.  I scanned through it (again, not wanting to ruin it for myself) and found that it was giving a completely different story than Club Dead.  There was something about other vamps trying to take Sookie and Bill saying “She mine.” There was a lot of stuff on Layfette and Tara.  Layfette is not in the books at all so it would seem if they are focusing on him that they are getting even further from the books. 

          Only time will tell I guess.  What do you think will happen in season three?  Have you read the books?

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Posted in Book Reviews, Thoughts on books, thoughts on movies

Jul 06

Sookie Stackhouse and Serena van der Woodsen

***Contains some discussion on events that happen in Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris.   I am trying my hardest not to spoil anything but I just wanted to warn people.  I’m going to be discussing a couple scenes in contrast to the show.***

 

As requested by KonstantinMiller, here is some more thoughts on tv shows verses books. 

 

          I came across this on YouTube and thought it was quite fitting.  I loved that Stephen Moyer has read quite a few of them.  It seems weird to me that the other two stopped.  More so that there reason’s for stopping was that they wanted to take their characters in their own direction.  Those two characters were not present in the least in Dead Until Dark. 

          In Season Two, Tara is staying fairly close to her character in Living Dead in Dallas.  In the book she is Sookie’s friend from high school that is dating a guy named Eggs.  Yeah, that matches perfectly.  Towards the end of the book we see them in a situation similar to the party scene that was in S2 E3 of True Blood.  Tara’s reaction to the party seemed to be similar in the two.  Like she was there on her own accord but it was making her uneasy.  The writers of True Blood are doing a good job of filling in Tara’s story for us.

          As for the Maryann character from the show, she is deviating a long way from the novel.  In the book we only see her as what she really is which they haven’t competely covered that yet. If you have seen interviews or read any, they have been openly discussing that though.  In the books Sookie and Bill leave to Dallas and something obviously happens between Sam and Callisto. Maryann’s name is Callisto in the book.  I don’t know why they changed it.  I liked Callisto better since the tattoo on my rib is actually the Callisto constellation from my favorite Greek myth.  I named my cat at my parents’ house that too. Anyways, in the tv series they are obviously going to have Bill and Sookie leave soon.  Following with the rest of the tv show, the writers are finding themselves trying to write stories about what is happening in Bon Temps completely on their own.  It is going to be very different from the book but I think as long as they keep the characters in tack in isn’t going to bother me too much.  Plus I love Sam don’t mind seeing more of him.

          Another book series that is now on tv that I realized I have read is Gossip Girl.   I think I’ve read about five or six of the books.  I do intend to someday finish them.  They are extremely fast to read.  Perfect for a break after a lengthy or dense book.  Like True Blood, the show Gossip Girl is staying fairly close to the books.  The characters are there and some of the story lines are but we are seeing lots of differences too. 

          Some characters are completely different. Eric van der Woodsen for example is the older brother that has a thing with Blair in the books but a younger gay brother on tv.  Aaron Rose appears in the books as Blair’s stepbrother who has a crush on her. On the show he is a random dude that Serena dates.  I actually didn’t watch most the second season so I don’t know if they did more with him or not.  The parents play a lot more into the television show as well.  I really like the story the tv producers came up with Rufus and Lily.  Personally I wouldn’t mind if they show mostly focused on them. 

          The spin off doesn’t sound all that appealing to me though.  Maybe I’m just getting old and teen drama’s aren’t as much my thing.  Although I did absolutely love Priveledged.  I think it got canceled already though.  Very sad. The main character was attempting to be an author.  It is another show based on a book.  How to Survive the Filthy Rich by Zoey Dean.  Maybe I will try to find it next time I’m at the book store.  It would be interesting to compare how a book series converts to a tv series verses a single book being made into a tv series.  I do have Sex and the City by Candace Bushnell but haven’t read it yet.   Ah the list of books I want to read in the near future.  I really do have stacks and stacks of them.  Just call me Alaska Young.

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Posted in Thoughts on books, Thoughts on tv

Jul 06

Looking For Alaska by John Green

          I just spent hours with tears trickling down my cheeks.   At times I sobbed more than I have in probably years.  Others, my hands started to shake making reading hard.  Yes, I was reading a book.

          That book was Looking For Alaska by John Green. 

          A few months ago I happen to pick up Paper Towns.  I had seen it all over shelves everywhere and finally came across a used copy and figured why not.   I read it in one sitting.   It was mysteries and captivating.  Hands down, I knew it was one of the best books I had ever read.

          Then I got caught up reading other books.  I went through a handful of ones I already had and new ones that I was excited for.  Somewhere along the lines I picked up Looking For Alaska.  It was a used copy with a note stuck in the pages.  It was a referance to nerdfighters. The book was also signed by John Green.  I set the book next to my bed.  I wanted to read it soon but something else kept coming first.

          I started to get into vlogbrothers and nerdfighters.  I thought to myself I really need to read Looking for Alaska and go buy An Abundance of Katherines.  Still I did neither until yesterday, the Fourth of July.  I finished reading one book and decided it was time to take on Alaska.  It was late in the afternoon.  Already after dinner time.  I sat outside and started reading.

          I read most of the way through Before.  It was brillant. I laughed and fell in love with the characters.  I saw myself so much in Alaska and even quite a bit in Pudge.   Having to go to work was like a curse.  More than anything else I wanted to stay home and see what was next for Pudge, Colonal, and Alaska.  I read for so long that I barely left myself time to get ready for work.   When I got off work I uploaded my pictures as fast as I could, wrote my descriptions in record time and was curled up reading again.

          I got to After.  I cried.  I knew I had to go to sleep because work was early in the morning. It was as good of a stopping point as any other.  I couldn’t wait to get home and read the rest.

          After is the most devestatingly beautiful thing I have ever read. You know how sometimes, no matter how much you are enjoying a book you scan over some paragraphs.  I can honestly say I read every single word of Looking For Alaska.  It was like if I missed one single thing it would be a shame.   My eyes were wet through the whole thing.

          This is a book that I honestly feel somehow impacted my life. I don’t know how exactly but I know it did.  It hit me so hard that I think my perspective from here forward will be different.  

          When I read Notes From my Travels by Angelina Jolie I felt the same thing.  I know, I know.  You are rolling your eyes thinking how could anything by Angelina Jolie be that influential on a person’s life.  To that I say, just read it.  Jolie wrote it when she was seeing third world countries for the very first time.  She is describing them exactly with the shock and innocent perspective that I think every American would relate to.  I could never look at the world the same way after reading her book.

          Now I will never see my own world the same way after Green’s.  That is the power of books.  They bring us a world that we will never experience but that doesn’t mean we can’t take experience from them.    I have a feeling this will not be the only time this year that I read Alaska.  I can’t wait to see what I learn next time through.

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Posted in Book Reviews, Thoughts on books

Jun 29

True Blood vs Sookie Stackhouse novels

I often hear people comparing books to movies.  I think something that happens less is comparing books and television shows.  Obviously, there is not a huge market for tv shows based on books but there is some.  It seems like not as many people pay attention to those book series though. 


For example the other day at work I was talking about True Blood with a coworker and I said that I know what was going to happen because I was reading Living Dead in Dallas (if you read TV Guild magazine this week it kind of indicated which story lines are staying with the books).  He has no clue that there was even books.  I found that so weird because I thought it said somewhere before or after the show that it was based on the series.  Not to mention the fact that the first two books which have cover with the actors on them have been sitting on the end caps at Target.

Then last night before a work meeting I stopped at the bookstore.  My boss asked me what I bought and I said Deadly Decisions by Kathy Reichs then explained that it was the series that Bones was based on.  Again, no  one around us seemed to have any clue that the show was based on books.


Why is that? Maybe it is just because I’m such a huge bookworm but I usually pay attention to if a show is based on one.

Especially with True Blood, I have noticed people complaining about it not sticking to the books.  Personally I actually have no problem with that.    I feel that in any case (tv or movie) that there is two ways to do it; you can recreate the book or you can use it as a reference.


In the case of the Sookie Stackhouse novels, the reader really is only getting Sookie’s side of the story.  We don’t see any backstory with Jason, Sam, or any of the other characters.  When you are making a tv show, there has to be more than one storyline going or it gets boring.  The shows writers do a great job as far as I’m concerned with using the characters in a way that is true to the books while still making there stories better for tv.  


Furthermore, I don’t think the books are necessarily amazing pieces of literature.  They are more of a fast and entertaining read.   Along with that though, I think it takes an enormous amount of talent to write a book that is successful and a number one best seller on the New York Times list.  I fully admit, I have every intention of reading the whole series because I do really enjoy them. 


With Bones there is a far bigger gap between the show and books.  Sure the main character is named Temperance (which I named my cat after by the way) and she is a forensic anthropologist that works with the FBI but that basically ends the similarities.  I don’t see people complaining about how different those to are though.  Maybe it is because they are so different that people have an easier time seeing that the tv show is just using the books as a starting point.


The Tempe books are extremely well written.  I don’t read tons of crime series but I do think that Reichs’ novels are among the best I have come across.  They are written on a high reading level but are so good that I can’t put them down so end up finishing them in days.  The story comes together in such an interesting way in each novel.  The show writers do a good job at bringing that element into the episodes as well.


So what does everyone else think?  Have you read a series that had a tv show based on it?  Do you think True Blood or Bones is completely ruining the books or doing them justice?


On a sort of related note, I noticed the other night that the last four books I have read were Deja Dead, Death Du Jour, Dead Until Dark, and Living Dead in Dallas (currently reading).  Do you see something in common? Maybe I should read something not so morbid sounding next, haha.  Actually next I will definitely be reading Deadly Decisions by Kathy Reichs.  Maybe after that I will go for something less dark sounding.

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Posted in Thoughts on books, Thoughts on tv

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