Friday Book Blogger Hop - 5/28

Jennifer at Crazy-For-Books started Book Blogger Hop to help people discover old and new book blogs that they didn't know were out there. I myself have gotten a few new followers from people "hopping" over to my blog and I have begun to follow a lot of really fun and interesting blogs out there! It's a great resource to discover new blogs that have reviews of great books!

Her only rules are:
  • Your blog has to have book related content on it, but is not limited to book related content.
  • You need to click on a few other blogger links through the MckLinky posted on her page. It's a weekly event so if you don't have time to click on links to other blogs that day, you can always participate the following week.
Also, if you start following someone on the Hop, make sure you leave them a comment on their blog and let them know you found them through Book Blogger Hop!

OT Follow-Up: Trivia Anyone?

A few weeks ago I wrote about how I've started going to trivia night at a local bar. The trivia always features one question about books (or the two weeks I've gone it has). Three weeks ago I posted the following question:

These three books are all first novels. Name the author of each of them:


  1. Soldier's Pay
  2. The Sun Also Rises
  3. Player Piano
The answers are as follows:

  1. Soldier's Pay - William Faulkner
  2. The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway
  3. Player Piano - Kurt Vonnegut
The only one I knew on this particular trivia night was The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway. Leeswammes correctly guessed Player Piano. I am thinking that she would be great to bring along to a trivia night! Too bad she lives so far away! I am going to trivia next Wednesday so I will try to remember to post the book question from it. Nice job leeswammes!

**I put links to Amazon.com for the three books. Just click on the book title in the question portion (not the answer portion) to see a description of the book on Amazon's site if you are interested in reading any of these. The Sun Also Rises is on my TBR List for this year! I hope I get to it!

Temple of the Winds - Terry Goodkind

I started reading the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind at the beginning of this year because a friend from Shelfari highly recommended the series. Temple of the Winds is the fourth book in the series and continues the story of Richard and Kahlan and their adventures through the Midlands. A terrible plague has broken out in the Midlands and threatens to kill many inhabitants. Through investigation, Richard and Kahlan learn that the Emperor Jagang has unleashed the plague through the use of magic. Men, women, and children alike are all afflicted and few recover. In addition, a prophecy has been revealed that Richard will either have to let the plague go unchecked in which case he will die, or if he chooses to try to find a cure for the plague he will be destroyed in the process. Richard and Kahlan also find out that another prophecy has said that they are both destined to marry other people.

The prophecies themselves made the book quite interesting. They are revealed quite early in the book so I was really interested in finding out how it would all play out. The storyline was more compelling in Temple of the Winds than in Blood of the Fold and I found that I liked this book better than Blood of the Fold. There were some characters that I wasn't overly fond of (Nadine) and a storyline that I thought was extraneous (Zedd and Anne). In addition to the plague, there is a serial killer on the loose that is murdering women. I really found that storyline to be the most compelling in the book because it was the most mysterious. I found myself trying to figure out who it was through most of the book and actually wished Goodkind had written a little more of that story. The politics of the novel was definitely interesting if a little underdeveloped, but overall I like reading how Richard chooses to lead the Midlands and how he deals with people from other lands.

I have to admit that overall I am needing to take a break from The Sword of Truth series. The books are anywhere between 600-800+ pages so I am feeling the fatigue of reading the books. Since it is a series, there is a lot of repetition in the books. I'm sure they were written that way to remind the reader of what happened in the previous book since there was an obvious delay between publication of each book. When I read them one after another, I get kind of tired of the constant reminding of what happened. I also am just ready to read something shorter because I feel like I spend half my month just reading one book. I'm also ready for a little more variety in my reading so I am going to take a break for a month or two from this series. I want to be able to honestly review the book rather than get bitter about series because I'm finding it to be a burden.

I am told that the sixth book, Faith of the Fallen is fantastic so I will continue reading the series. I'm enjoying it, but I will say that it's not my favorite fantasy series that I've read (that honor would go to Mr. George R.R. Martin and his Song of Ice and Fire series). Still the books are adventurous and interesting enough that I want to keep reading it. Also, Kahlan at one point in the series was about the most awesome female character I've ever read (the book I'm referring to is Stone of Tears where she leads a young, inexperienced army into battle--simply amazing). I'm hoping that she regains some of her greatness because at this point, Goodkind's exploration into her humanness has begun to overshadow her role as the Mother Confessor and the awesome inner and outer person that it makes her. I am definitely still wanting to know how all the characters continue to develop so the series is compelling. I just need a break!

Teaser Tuesdays - May 18


Taken from Miz B.'s, Should Be Reading blog:

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Miz B. of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along. Just click the link for Teaser Tuesdays and you can find out how to participate!

Here is my teaser for the week:

"Given that the threatened onslaught of a thunderous LSD-induced psychosis had introduced me to a whole new level of disquiet, it seemed only logical that I increase my alcohol intake to stay calm."  ~p.101, American on Purpose by Craig Ferguson


What is your teaser for this week? You can post a link to your blog in the comments, or if you don't have a blog you can post your teaser in the comments. Happy Tuesday!

Inspiration! Suggestions needed!

I came home earlier today and decided to eat a cup of yogurt for lunch. I flipped on the television to watch some of the boob tube and actually found a really interesting show on the History Channel. The show is called, "America the Story of Us". It was an all day marathon I guess, but I just caught a few episodes that included Westward Movement, The Gold Rush, and the Civil War. I realized that though I've taken a few years of American History, I really didn't pay that much attention or enjoy myself while taking those classes in high school and college. Also, given what is going on with immigration reform, I am becoming more self-aware and more interested in our cultural history. The country is so vast that I don't think we learn much of history other than Colonial American History and these peoples' Westward Movement.

Because of this, I am calling all my followers and others that read this blog to help me out with inspiration for next year! I would like to read more books about American History that isn't the traditional history you learn in high school and college.

Here are a few topics that I find interesting:


  • The Black/African-American experience
  • The Asian experience
  • The Southwest (I'm originally from New Mexico and am much more interested in exploring Southwestern History since the passing of the restrictions on ethnic studies in Arizona)
  • The Native American experience
  • Women's History in America
  • The Cajun experience (I became interested in this when I went to Nova Scotia and learned about the Acadians, some of whom ended up in Louisiana)
  • War experience of minorities in America


NEED SUGGESTIONS!

I would just like to broaden my knowledge of history in the United States. I don't care if it is a novel, a non-fiction book, or if it's controversial. Running this blog has helped me become more open to different reading experiences. Also, if you happen to be from another country and can suggest an interesting novel or historical non-fiction book from your country (that's available in English), I would love to learn more about your culture and country's history as well.


The Killing Floor - Lee Child

Last month's Thrill Me! Book Club read was The Killing Floor by Lee Child. Since I'm new to the thriller/mystery genre, I had never heard of Lee Child. Well, once I let loose that I was reading the book, A LOT of Jack Reacher fans came out of the woodwork to tell me how excited they were that I was reading the book. Because of their enthusiasm, I became more excited about reading the book myself.

The story is about Jack Reacher, an ex-military policeman who has become a self-styled hobo of sorts travelling from town to town with just the clothes on his back. While on his way through Georgia, Reacher asks the bus driver to pull over and let him off on the outskirts of a small town called Margrave so that he can explore the town where famed blues musician Blind Blake died. He goes into the local cafe to eat a meal and during that time, the police storm the cafe and arrest him on suspicion of murder. After proving that he could not possibly have been the culprit, he decides to investigate the murders himself.

The book was a pretty fun read. I really enjoyed looking up some of the blues music referenced in the book on YouTube. The story itself was not a very believable one, but at the same time it was entertaining enough that I enjoyed myself. I have to admit that the story kept me guessing as to who was the murderer which is a plus when you are reading any murder mystery. Oddly enough, at my book group, the biggest complaint was about how dirty Jack Reacher must have been with all the action scenes and just his one change of clothes. Of course there is romance (more man-style than woman-style--meaning that the story wasn't taken over by a mushy love story), but one of the group members felt really turned off that Jack Reacher's involvement with a female character wouldn't have happened simply because he probably smelled too bad! It was rather funny because I hadn't thought about it at all.

I will definitely try another Jack Reacher novel at some point. It was fun enough that I wanted to keep reading on the series at least for now. Here is a Blind Blake video I found on YouTube because his name actually came up a few times in the book. He was a rag time blues guitarist and I found myself enjoying some of his music.

OT: Trivia Anyone?

I've been a little M.I.A. these last few weeks because I feel like I've become a little bit of a shut-in. So, to combat that, I've been making more of an effort of going out and having fun with friends. I've recently been attending a few Sci-Fi Meetups through Meetup.com and I'm still attending the Thrill Me! Book Club through Meetup.com as well.

Last night, my husband and I went with a friend to Wednesday night quiz night at Waterloo Icehouse in South Austin to get our trivia on! I decided to go ahead and write a post about it since there was a quiz question that had to do with books. Sadly, I only knew one of the answers, but I did end up learning something so I thought I'd share this book trivia question with you all!  Here's the question from last night's bar trivia:

These three books are all first novels. Name the author of each of them:

  1. Soldiers' Pay
  2. The Sun Also Rises
  3. Player Piano
Our team, The J. Walter Weathermen, took first place last night (largely due to all my teammates who were AWESOME). We won a $30 gift card for the Waterloo Icehouse which will be great for us all to have an adult beverage at next week's trivia night! We also got our picture put on the Geeks Who Drink blog! Go check out our picture!

Also, if you know the answers to the question comment on my blog and I'll let you know if you're right (...and no cheating! We couldn't look up the answers on our smartphones so you can't look up the answers either)!
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