Bookworm Update

I am such a sad sack. I haven't finished a book in ages, I never get to read my own books now that I'm back in school. What a drag.

I do want to put it out there, though, that I just started a great internship at Parenting magazine, where I'm the resident book girl! I get to look through all the books that we receive from publishing companies and decide if they're fit to review in the magazine! This means I've taken home a bunch of awesome ARCs!! Here's what I snagged:

-A free hardcover copy of Clash of the Demons by Joseph Delaney

-An ARC of The Chestnut King by N.D. Wilson

-A free hardcover copy of Leviathon, Scott Westerfeld's new book

-A free hardcover copy of Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

And that's only the beginning! I can't wait to review some of these awesome new titles....I just have to read them first.

BBAW Meme: Day 5

Write in 50 words or less…what do you like best about your blog right now and where would you like your blog to be a year from now?

What I love most about my blog right now is its simplicity. I have a pretty simple structure and schedule for posting. I like that I don't feel pressured to post on a daily basis, but I also don't forget about it for weeks at a time.

In a year's time, I would like to be posting more often and have a great following (obviously). I would love to still keep it simple, with reviews and a few weekly memes, but I'd love to be reading a greater volume of stuff. Right now, it's hard because I'm in school and I don't have as much time to commit to books, but I love blogging and I'd like to get more into it.

BBAW Meme: Day 4

Today we encourage you to blog about a book you read only because you discovered it on another book blog. Preferably, this will be a book you loved! You might also write a bit about the blog you discovered it on!

Sadly, I have not done this yet. I am planning on picking up That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo all thanks to The Book Lady's Blog, but aside from that, I've had to many of my own books in the TBR pile to take many recommendations. :(

BBAW Meme: Day 3

We encourage you to be creative with this! Please choose one or two questions to answer or try to answer all the questions in five words or less. Or choose a picture to answer a question! Brevity is the goal of today!

Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack?
Occasionally. I really like cucumber sandwiches when I'm reading.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of
writing in books horrify you?
I only write in school books.

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open?
Post-its.

Fiction, Non-fiction, or both?
Fiction mostly.

Hard copy or audiobooks?
HARD COPY.

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of chapters, or are you
able to put a book down at any point?
Any point.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop to look it up right away?
I've never done that in my entire life.

What are you currently reading?
A Circle of Souls by Preetham Grandhi. My first solicited review ever! :)

What is the last book you bought?
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. I can't wait to read it.

Are you the type of person that only reads one book at a time or can
you read more than one at a time?
I like to read one non-fiction, one fiction, and one school book at a time. No more than that or I get confused.

Do you have a favorite time of day and/or place to read?
Either at 2:30 pm in a comfy chair or 9:00 pm in my bed.

Do you prefer series books or stand alone books?
They both have their place, but I read more series books.

Is there a specific book or author that you find yourself recommending over and over?
Marcus Sedgwick. He's almost completely unknown in the States, but he's AMAZING.

How do you organize your books? (By genre, title, author’s last name, etc.?)
First, in a series. Then, by genre or how well I liked them.

BBAW Meme: Day 2

Post your blogger interview swaps!

I swapped interviews with Elena Gomez, who's blog With Extra Pulp, totally impressed me. Here are her responses to my questions:

1. How did you get started with book blogging?

My friends were getting tired of me overenthusiastically trying to tell them about all the books I’d read. I was sad, but then I discovered the online book blog community and found people also interested in reading and writing about books. I first started on a blog hosting site, then I borrowed an extension of my brother’s URL before getting my own URL a couple of months ago.


2. Has your taste in books changed at all since you started your blog? Do you read more genres than you did previously or do you specialize more?

My taste in reading has definitely expanded. It’s funny actually, that in the process of trying to specialise in a particular type of book for my blog, my personal reading has started going into new genres. I read a romance the other day! I’ve never read romance before.


3. What's your favorite thing about blogging? Do you have a least favorite thing about it?

My favourite part of blogging, besides the community of book bloggers who are the loveliest people, would have to be just the writing part of it. I love to write but I often suffer from writer’s block. Reviewing books keeps the seat warm in between my creative projects. My least favourite thing is keeping up a regular supply of reviews, when I get distracted by rereading favourites such as Jane Eyre and Master & Margarita.


4. I'm a relatively new blogger. Do you having any advice for folks who are just starting out? Is there something you wish you'd known when you started blogging?

Read a lot of blogs. Not just for entertainment, but critically. Look at what works and what doesn’t. Comment lots, book bloggers are welcoming and really supportive of new bloggers. And be patient. It takes a long time to build up readership. I’m still fairly new myself and would like to think there’s still a lot of growing room left for my blog.

There’s nothing in particular I wish I knew because I’ve enjoyed the learning process so far.


5. What are your favorite books of 2009? What 2010 releases are you most excited about?

I don’t read a lot of new books, so I would have to say favourite books I’ve read in 2009 have been Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman, Breakfast At Tiffany’s by Truman Capote and The Master & Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. As for 2010 releases, I can’t say I’m up to date on this, so I have no idea I’m afraid. Actually can someone point me to where to find this information in a handy and succinct format? That would be great thanks.


6. More and more books are being made into movies each year. Assuming you haven't already read the book, what do you do first: Read the book or see the film?

I ALWAYS read the book first, if I haven’t already. The exception to this is Jurassic Park because, well, I watched the movie when I was 5, and my reading level was advanced, but not that u Unfortunately this means I end up disliking the movie in comparison. Maybe I should reassess this order.


7. Where do you get most of your book recommendations? How important are reviews to you when you choose your reading material?

I get my recommendations from the other blogs I read, from my sister-in-law, from said sister-in-law’s book club that I have half-joined, and from conversations in my creative writing and publishing classes at uni. As you can imagine, my TBR pile is massive. Reviews are somewhat important. I mean, I hate to think that a bad review would stop me reading a book but it sort of does.


8. If you had a $1000 gift card to your favorite book store and only half an hour to spend it, which section of the store would you head to first?

It really depends on the layout of the store. But I guess I’d start at the classics, and then work my way around in a clockwise direction.


9. Do you participate in a lot of memes? If so, which is your favorite and why?

I don’t really, but I do participate in Musing Monday, by Rebecca at Just One More Page. (rebeccavoy.blogspot.com) most weeks. I like it because the questions are quite topical and it’s a great way to discover other blogs. And there are a couple that have been floating around Facebook that I decided to do just for fun.


10. What is the significance of the title of your blog, “With Extra Pulp”?

Couple of things - It’s an attempt at irony because pulping is considered BAD in the publishing process and the good publishers have a no-pulp policy. So extra pulp is very bad. But also, it’s sort of meant to loosely describe the types of books I review. Finally, it’s the way I enjoy my orange juice. Oh that’s three things.



There you have it! Wasn't that fun? :)

BBAW Meme: Day 1

The first day of BBAW, Monday September 14th, we encourage you to write a post thanking and spotlighting your favorite blogs that didn’t make the shortlists.

Quite frankly, I don't even know who's on the shortlists. I couldn't view the lists since, by the time I looked, the polls were closed. I've decided I'll just thank the blog that really got me into book blogging. The Book Lady's Blog was the first book blog I encountered and the only one I follow religiously. I learned about memes through this blog, about solicited reviews and about so many books that I'm excited to read. Thanks, Book Lady, even if I never win your contests. :)

BTT: Informative Book

What’s the most informative book you’ve read recently?

The most informative book I've read recently was Galileo Goes to Jail. You can read my review of it here on my blog, but to sum it up, it was a book about science and religion. The book presented 25 myths that have commonly been used to condemn the church in terms of their abuse of scientists. The book had no religious bias; it just wanted to present some interesting new factual insights into that world.

Booking Through Thursday

Club Dead by Charlaine Harris

Title: Club Dead
Author: Charlaine Harris
Rating: ☆☆☆☆(☆)
4/5 Stars

Another Sookie Stackhouse book under my belt and I have to say, I am now obsessed! I felt that this book, Club Dead, was the best book of the series so far.

In this volume, Sookie and Bill are going through a rough patch. Bill is working on a top secret project for the queen of Louisiana and is ignoring their relationship. Soon, Bill goes missing and Sookie realizes that though Bill may be betraying her, she is still compelled to save him.

The most interesting part of this book was the great character development of Alcide, the werewolf. Eric brings Alcide in to help Sookie infiltrate the underworld of Jackson, Mississippi and he is a great new addition to the cast of characters. I really appreciated seeing more of Eric and Alcide than Bill in this book because it gave things a new perspective. I also really enjoyed Sookie's internally conflict in terms of how to deal with Bill or who to have a relationship with. Unlike Bella of Twilight, I felt that Sookie had a real grasp of the fact that her vampire beau might not be the best match for her. Not that I don't love me some Edward Cullen, but Bella is pretty obnoxious.

Overall, I am really pleased with this series. I enjoy reading the Sookie Stackhouse books almost as much as I enjoy watching True Blood, the TV show based on the books.

ISBN: 978-0441010516
Price: $7.00, paperback
Pages: 258