Fairy Metal Thunder Read-A-Long: Week 3


Read-Along/Scavenger Hunt Schedule for Fairy Metal Thunder:
July 6th: Chapters 1-6 hosted by Missie of The Unread Reader
July 13th: Chapters 7-13 hosted by Kelly of Reading the Paranormal
July 20th: Chapters 14-20 hosted by Tina of Tina’s Book Reviews
July 27th: Chapters 21-27 hosted by Jen of In the Closet With a Bibliophile

Week 2 Discussion Questions for Chapter 14-20:
  1. In the beginning of chapter 14, poor Jason is having a tough time at work. It's busy, people are rude, there are hot girls talking to him, big lady's are about to starve, all in all bad work day. So tell us about a time when you had to deal with a pushy customer or rude behavior, did you freak, keep it together, throw a slawburger?
    Well, you see, I'm in Sales which to some may be known as the 5th level of Hell.  (I hope the power's that pay don't see this, lol).  I have some really good clients that I'm happy to jump through hoops for but then I also have some that are all "gimme, gimme, gimme now".  Sorry folks, the Veruca Salt routine isn't cute!  When they begin to have their tantrums and throw a fit because they can't understand why they can't have what they want NOW, I play it cool.  As tempting as it would be to tell them to quit their whining, I can't because I still needs to get paid!

  2. In chapter 16, Jason is getting ready to shoot his rocking music video and perform for a crowd. Have you ever made a rock video, been in a play or anything that shows you doing something with musical talent? Extra points if you want to show us.
    Sadly, I didn't inherit the musical gene in my family pool. We only had two and each of my brothers got one. One brother played Trumpet and the other played Clarinet & Sax in the school band.

    The only talent I have is dancing!  I'm not "So You Think You Can Dance" material, but I can get down at a party ;)
     
    Yeah, I love the "WTF" look Vanessa has on her face, LMAO!

  3. Speaking of videos, the boys have a little chat about Steven Spielberg in chapter 17, what is your favorite Spielberg movie? Can't think of one...well then tell us about one of your favorite Sci-fi movies.
    Of the movies he directed, I like: Jurassic Park (the first one), I actually liked A.I. even though it was hella long (and Jude Lawe is still sexy, even as a robot), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, but my favorite is probably Hook.  Hook is a classic!
    Of the movies he produced, I like: Who Framed Roger Rabbit (childhood favorite), Men in Black, and Monster House :)

  4. At the end of Chapter 17 the guys say bye to Dred who is getting ready to move, did you ever have to start over in a new school or new place when you were in high school? Was it good, bad...horrible?
    Not when I was in high school.  I've only lived away from home once and that was right after I got married.  My husband was transferred to a station in the northwest suburbs of Chicago so we lived there for about 4 years.

    It was coooooold, but we had a GREAT time living there!  Chicago is an amazing city and we made some lifelong friends there :)

  5. If you had a pet Unicorn, what would you name it?

    And I shall call him "Fruity McSparklepants"
    (Btw, I think this dude lost a bet...a BIG one!)

  6. And just for fun: Would you rather be pecked to death by a vulture or eat a Goblins toenails???
    Ok, really...you had to go there, huh?
    Well, shit!  If I had to pick [assuming there's a 12-gauge shotgun to my head forcing me to make this horrendous decision] then I choose to eat Goblin toenails.  Why?  Because I can crush them, add salt, pepper and maybe some balsamic vinegar and then still have the option of regurgitating them.
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Discussion: Classifying Genres - Part 2

You may recall that a few weeks ago I did a post titled Classifying Genres - Part 1 all about how we, as bloggers and bookworms classify book genres. We got some really great feedback on this post.  Some of you even went so far as to do your own posts about how you classify genres: 

The Overstuffed Bookcase: Genre Definitions
Project to be Read: Genres

We love that you did this because it proved how varied classifying genres really is.  If these posts taught us anything, it's that genres are far from "black & white" which leads us to our next discussion post, "Classifying Genres Part 2: The Crossovers".

*rolls up sleeves*

Ok, it's about to get serious!
If classifying genres isn't confusing enough, let's muddle it up some more but trying to classify the crossovers.  Ya know, those books that fit into not just one, but TWO or more categories.  Here is where my head goes all Beetlejuice!

Examples:
YA Historical Fiction
YA Horror
Historical Paranormal
Horror / Humor 
Sci-Fi / Fantasy
Dystopian / Post-Apocalyptic
Etc.

Let's start with the easy ones, the YA crossovers. For the sake of simplicity, we'll just say that YA is any book where our protagonist is a teenager and the book is aimed at the adolescent market.  Since YA is such a broad category, it stands to reason that we'll have a great variety of sub-genres within YA: Contemporary YA, Teen Romance, Paranormal YA, Fantasy YA, etc.  Enter YA Historical Fiction and YA Horror and that's where I have to stop and think.  

Here's an example of a YA Historical Fiction in which I was torn whether to categorize as either YA OR Historical Fiction.  In our New Release post, I filed it as a Historical Fiction because that was my first reaction to it when I saw the cover and read the blurb.  In addition, Philippa Gregory is a known Historical Fiction writer.  However, I was "corrected" and told that it was actually a YA.  Well, both are correct so I guess it's really up to us decide if it's a YA first or Historical Fiction first.   

Tidbit: If you go to B&N, you'll find this book in the Teen section.  In Goodreads, though, more people have filed this book as a Historical Fiction than YA.

Jenny Pox by JL Bryan is a good example of what I consider a YA Horror.  Jenny is a teenager as well as her love interest and the villain.  What makes this book horror are some of the intense and graphic scenes in the book.  There's an especially mature sexual scene as well as some pretty gory scenes that I would not suggest a 15 year old read.  In my opinion, this book is more appropriate for older teens and beyond which begs the question "Is "Jenny Pox" more teen or more horror?".

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake is another good example of a YA Horror.


This is an example of a Historical Paranormal.  Firelight by Kristen Callihan is set in Victorian London. The heroine has a very dangerous and powerful ability and the hero is plagued by the consequences of a mystical mistake.

Kiss of the Rose by Kate Pearce is also a good example.  It's set in Tudor England where King Henry VIII's life is threatened by vampires and he must turn to Druids for protection.

This is a genre that I enjoy but is not so common so I always have this weird sense of conflict when I try to place it.  I guess creatures of the night are reserved for modern times (we'll just ignore the fact that the original Dracula was written and set in the 19th century).  Alas, these books went into my Historical shelf.

Horror Humor is a wee bit more uncommon and I imagine it's because telling a story that is both horrifying and amusing is a daunting task.  I personally haven't read Pretty When She Dies by Rhiannon Frater but I was told that it's gory, scary but also contains scenes that make you laugh.

Another that I think would fit nicely into this genre is Shaun of the Dead.  Most of you have probably seen the movie so you know that it's hysterical, but the zombies galore and gore qualify it as a horror as well.




The Pendragon Legacy by Susan Kearney...
Oh, where do I even begin with this?

Spaceships and alien planets = Sci-Fi √
Dragons = Fantasy √
Telepaths = Paranormal √
Society enslaved & ruled by enemy tribe = Dystopian √
Hot, steamy smexy smex = Romance √

So tell me, where in the hell do I file these?  That's right, on the Sci-fi/High Fantasy/Paranormal/Dsystopian/Romance shelf...DUH!

And now our favorite: Dystopian / Post-Apocalyptic

We all know what these mean and while they do seem like they'd be synonymous with each other, I don't think that's entirely true. 

*takes deep breath*

A Post-Apocalyptic event is likely to lead to a Dystopian society but a Dystopian society can exist without having been created by a Post-Apocalyptic event.  A fellow blogger and rockin' chick commented on our original post stating that she couldn't think of a Dystopian that was NOT the result of a Post-Apoc event but Delirium by Lauren Oliver, Divergent by Veronica Roth, and Matched by Ally Condie are good examples of just that.  In those, a broken society is the result of people on power-trips or trying to "reorganize" society.  My blogger pal said that she could, however, think of books that are Post-Apoc but NOT Dystopian which I'm not so sure of.  In my opinion, a dystopian society is not just a people ruled by a corrupt government but can also be a people who live with no societal structure so in effect wouldn't Post-Apoc be a sub-genre of Dystopian?

*phew*

Examples of what we can consider a Dystopian / Post-Apocalyptic is:


In these stories, a dystopian society is the direct result of a catastrophic event that negatively impacted society.

Also a good post that elaborates on Dystopian Fiction is:
Dystopian Fiction: What is it Really? over at Giraffe Days

So there you have it folks.  I'm sure there are LOTS of other "crossovers" that I haven't mentioned but these are the ones I've personally come across.  I guess the line that divides one genre from another will continue to blur as writers experiment with new ideas and stories and we, the readers, will just have to do our best to keep up :)

Are there any other interesting "crossovers" you've encountered?

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New Releases 7.17.12

♥ Contemporary Fiction & Chick-Lit ♥
None

♥ Urban Fantasy ♥
None

♥ Steampunk ♥
None

♥ Paranormal Romance ♥
None

♥ Historical Romance ♥
A Most Naked Solution
A Most Naked Solution by Anna Randol

♥ Contemporary Romance ♥
None

♥ Romantic Suspense ♥
None

Happy shopping and happy reading
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Blog Soulmate: Hannah from Once Upon A Time



Every week, we announce a new recipient for our BLOG SOULMATE AWARD! This is our way of helping spread the word about awesome bloggers we love!

BLOG SOULMATE is back and this week's award goes to:

Hannah from Once Upon A Time . . .
Once Upon A Time
Blogging since December 2010

Find Hannah on: Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon
  1. What made you decide to start blogging?
    I've been blogging in general for years. I started out with a livejournal, I imagine, and eventually moved onto Wordpress where I blogged about my teenage life and how unfair it was! Eventually I moved that stuff to a written diary, thank god, but I started blogging about a game I play, World of Warcraft, about 2 and a half years ago now. There's a huge community surrounding the game and it was so much fun that once I decided to quit (which didn't last), I didn't want to stop blogging so I looked into the other hobby I'm particularly passionate about. Reading. And slowly my personal blog which I kept on the side evolved into the book blog I still write today.

  2. Favorite and least favorite things about blogging?
    I love the community! I doubt I would have continued without it. There are so so many amazing and fun people involved in book blogging. You can make friends from all over the place, near to home or on the other side of the world. There are events, read-alongs, read-a-thons, giveaway hops, memes, twitter chats... all sorts of things that you can join in with and it's so fun. I love the people I've met while doing this.

    My least favourite thing has to be the attitudes. Some people get greedy, some people get bitchy, and some people get a little up themselves (not everybody, I feel I should add. I stick by 'I love you guys'). Sure, that's something you'll come across in all walks of life but I just feel as though all of the drama-inducing negative attitudes completely goes against the idea that this is a book blogging community. You know?

  3. If you could hang out with ONE author, who would it be and why?
    Oh my god! I'm terrified of meeting authors I love and respect in case they're awful. Haha. Though I know that's pretty unfounded. I don't know though. Hmm.. there's a pretty big difference between meeting an author and hanging with them. Maybe Belle Whittington? She's a lot of fun to talk to!

  4. What is the ONE book you tell everyone they 'have to' read?
    It varies depending on the person's reading tastes, but I'll go with Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle #1) by Patrick Rothfuss. I adore this book and I think I've recommended it to every fantasy lover I've come across! The story is fantastic and rich, and the writing style is simply...wow. There are two layers to it. The modern day, and the story being told, and it's written in such a lyrical style I found myself swooning over the words.

  5. Do you have any bookish guilty pleasures?
    I always consider chick lit to be my guilty pleasure but at the same time I don't feel at all guilty reading them, haha. I love how light and fluffy and fun chick lits are. There's little to no darkness in them, and sometimes I just find it nice to have a little break. I really do enjoy a good chick lit with a decent sense of humour!

Now tell us 5 random, non-bookish things about yourself:
Ooh, okay, well...
  • I'm a gamer. I've already mentioned that I play World of Warcraft in which I used to raid, amongst other MMORPGs, single player RPGs, and simulation type games (i.e. Sims 3).
  • I'm pretty much addicted to Pepsi Max. I like the caffiene and yumminess and I can't enjoy full fat cokes, diet drinks, or even stuff like coke zero, so Pepsi Max it is and I pretty much always have a glass next to me.
  • I don't drink alcohol. And you should see the looks I get when I say that! It's scary how large a part of our culture drinking is...but anyway. I just don't enjoy it, so I don't spend the money.
  • I'm currently living in South Wales with my other half, also known as Dan, in our first flat. We're engaged, have been together for four years, and actually met in World of Warcraft!
  • I really really love pugs and one day, when we're out of this flat, I want to have a little pug called Muffin!
So Hannah is pretty much a DELIGHT!  Hit her up on Twitter and check out her blog to see what we mean :) 

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Fairy Metal Thunder Read-A-Long: Week 2


Read-Along/Scavenger Hunt Schedule for Fairy Metal Thunder:
July 6th: Chapters 1-6 hosted by Missie of The Unread Reader
July 13th: Chapters 7-13 hosted by Kelly of Reading the Paranormal
July 20th: Chapters 14-20 hosted by Tina of Tina’s Book Reviews
July 27th: Chapters 21-27 hosted by Jen of In the Closet With a Bibliophile

Week 2 Discussion Questions for Chapter 7-13:

1. Unfairly grounded by his parents, Jason decides to lie to them so he can go to the audition in Minneapolis. Unfortunately, not only does the audition end poorly but his parents discover his lie and things go downhill from there. Tell us the most outrageous lie you've ever been caught in. Bonus points if you can provide pictorial proof. Reenactments eagerly accepted.
Picture it...Miami Beach...1999...
I'm 19 and shit-faced for the first time.  I drank too many Screwdrivers and Vodka Cranberries on an empty stomach.  My girl friends and I are cracking up at...the air for all I know (because that's what happens when you're drunk ) and stumbling down Washington Avenue in South Beach.  I made it home in one piece, but went straight to the bathroom where I proceeded to worship The Porcelain God.  The next day, I wake up like it's all good in the hood!  (Fact:  I've never had a hangover!)

Dad: "What happened to you last night?"
Me:  "Nothing."
Dad: "What did you eat last night?"
Me: "Not much, why?"
Mom: "What did you drink last night?"
Me: *blank stare* <--BUSTED!

Photo reenactment only!
I never actually got in trouble with the parentals though.  I think mom figured that the shame of having my head in a toilet and asking for death was punishment enough! lol

2. In Faerie, Aoide is summoned to see the Faerie Queen. Have you ever met someone important like the Faerie Queen? Someone famous? Tell us the story behind how it happened. Once again, pictures are a plus!
 Living near South Beach, we've seen a few celebs just hanging around, like Jennifer Lopez (yes, her booty is redonkulous), LL Cool J, Lebron and Wade (duh!), etc.

The only one I have a picture of is when we met Malibu's Most Wanted, Jamie Kennedy.


I've also gotten to meet FABULOUS authors at the Dark Days tours and met authors Lauren Oliver (photo below), Carrie Ryan, Andrew Smith, Richelle Mead,Lauren Kate, Kimberly Derting, Claudia Gray, Dan Wells, Tahereh Mafi, Veronice Rossi, Gayle Forman, Candace Bushnell, and more!  

3. Caught lying to his father about his non-existent job at the car wash, Jason has now found gainful employment at Buddy McSlawburger's - where he's forced to wear "the funny hat" as part of his uniform. What's the worst job you've ever had? Did it involve a particularly noxious uniform? Tell us about it - in riveting, full-color detail!
My first job is the only one that made me wear a "uniform" and (unfortunately for you) it wasn't as bad as McSlobberbooger's, lol.  I worked at a novelty shop where I had to wear a really snazzy blue apron w/ red trim.  The purpose was to let customer's know who the employees were (since we wandered the store performing different tasks) and I carried scissors, an order pad and a pen (and various other items) in the front pockets.

4. In an effort to regain their stolen instruments, Aoide and Rhodia travel to the sugar swamp to hire a hunter. Wouldn't you love to live somewhere where the water is sweet and the grass is made of sugar cane? Show us a picture of you enjoying your favorite sweet treat. Or, rewrite history and tell us how your version of the sugar swamp would differ from the one in the book.
I don't eat a whole lot of sweets but I do have some favorites like: créme bruleé, anything chocolate, Peanut M&Ms (best candy ever), frozen yogurt from Menchies (topped with coconut flakes, marshmellows and Marachino cherries), and S'mores (gift to mankind) :)

Below is a picture of what happens when you get between me and my chocolate ganache birthday cake!





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