Popcorn-Scented Fever Dreams

January 26, 2015 by Caitlin

Title: Silver Screen Fiend: Learning About Life From an Addiction to Film Author: Patton Oswalt Published: January 6, 2015 Genre: Biography Rating: ★★★★☆ Patton Oswalt gets me. Or rather, I think I get Patton Oswalt. His latest book Silver Screen Fiend is all about his addiction with film – his encompassing obsession that stemmed from “If I can watch it, I can do it!” Never mind school and work and experience – Patton felt that simply absorbing as many films as […]

Categories: Book Review • Tags: biography, book reviews, movies, nonfiction, Patton Oswalt

Three Amazing Things: Love, Friendship, Cats

January 14, 2015 by Erin

Title: Three Amazing Things About You Author: Jill Mansell (To be) published: January 15, 2015 Genre: Contemporary fiction, chick lit Rating: ★★★★☆ It’s not difficult to imagine where this novel is headed right from the start – the first few pages, labeled as happening “now,” briefly describe Hallie, a young woman with cystic fibrosis, as she prepares for an imminent lung transplant that will change her life. Immediately flash back to “before,” and the narrative alternates between Hallie’s pre-transplant story […]

Categories: Book Review • Tags: chick lit, contemporary fiction, four star review, jill mansell

Close Encounters of The Library Kind

September 30, 2014 by Caitlin

Title: I Work at a Public Library Author: Gina Sheridan Published: July 2014 Genre: Nonfiction (although often stranger than fiction) Rating: ★★★★ When people think of a librarian, they’ve often told me they call to mind the classic bespectacled spinster, sternly shushing noisy children. This is simply just not so – librarians are as diverse as libraries themselves, which aren’t exactly the revered temple of literature you’d think they’d be. Libraries, contrary to popular belief, are often full of hijinks, odd patrons […]

Categories: Book Review • Tags: GIna Sheridan, librarians, library love

“The Lynburns, egolomaniacs and tricky bastards” – Book Review

September 26, 2014 by Erin

Title: Unmade (Lynburn Legacy #3) Author: Sarah Rees Brennan Published: September 23, 2014 Genre: Young adult paranormal/gothic mystery. With sorcerers! Rating: ★★★★★ (If you haven’t read the first two books in the series, Unspoken and Untold, be warned of spoilers ahead, but no spoilers for the third book!) After the maddening cliffhanger ending of Untold (in which Jared Lynburn is buried alive in a wall by his evil sorcerer uncle, Rob), Unmade starts out dark and stays dark, with consistent bits of snarky banter […]

Categories: Book Review • Tags: gothic, human sacrifice, literary bingo, paranormal, sarah rees brennan, socerers, young adult

Why, cello there…

August 22, 2014 by Jessi

Bingo Square: Book That is a Movie in 2014 Book: If I Stay, Gayle Forman Favorite Quote: Adam lay down on my bed, stretching his arms above his head. His whole face was grinning–eyes nose, mouth. “Play me,” he said. “What?” “I want you to play me like a cello.” …Aaaanndd it goes on from there. I’ve never giggled so hard in my life. Yikes. Main character, Mia Hall, and some baseball card type stats: Parents: Progressive, avid rock music […]

Categories: Book Review • Tags: book versus movie, contemporary YA, Film Fest Friday, Gayle Forman, If I Stay, literary bingo, teenage romance

Recommended Reading: Georgette Heyer

August 16, 2014 by Erin

Today marks the birth of one of my favorite romance novelists, Georgette Heyer. Celebrate by rereading an old favorite from her considerable backlist, or by discovering and falling in love with her work for the first time. During an impressive writing career that spanned almost six decades, Georgette Heyer crafted stories mostly set in the early 19th century during the British Regency period, and her attention to accurate historical detail is remarkable. You’ll come away from any of her books […]

Categories: Book Review • Tags: British Regency period, happy birthday georgette heyer, recommended reading, romance novels

I DO believe in fairies! I do! I do!

July 23, 2014 by Jessi

Bingo Squares: Book on Tape, YA Based on a Fairy Tale, Alliterative (errr, Assonontal) Title, Reread a Book I Loved as a Kid Book: Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine Favorite quote: “I had wanted to tell her about the afternoon I spent flying down the stair rails at home, never noticing the gradual shedding of my breeches.”–Prince Charmont You got it, folks, this kid hit four bingo squares with one book. [cue whatever is included in over the top celebrations (e.g. […]

Categories: Book Review • Tags: Ella Enchanted, Gail Levine, literary bingo

Adventures in Flawed Coping Mechanisms – Bingo Update

June 26, 2014 by Caitlin

Bingo Squares: Read a biography, read a book by someone under 30 Book: Hyperbole and a Half, Allie Brosh I think this might be cheating on Literary Bingo a little bit. Allie Brosh’s hysterical, charming and odd blog comic has been online since 2009, and I have casually perused them for years. Now some of them (mainly those pertaining to her life) have been compiled into a book. In my defense, there’s a large portion of the book that I hadn’t actually […]

Categories: Book Review • Tags: allie brosh, alot, literary bingo, simple dog

An Open Love Letter to Diana Wynne Jones – Film Fest Friday

May 23, 2014 by Caitlin

While it is indeed Film Fest Friday, I just  want to note that this entry also counts as an accomplishment: I crossed off my “Howl’s Moving Castle” square on Literary Bingo! Howl’s Moving Castle Book release: 1986 Movie release: 2004 Where to watch: I have one request – just try it with the original Japanese voice work. It’s charming, a little deadpan and sincere. And Calcifer! I love that crabby voice. I’ve loved Diana Wynne Jones since I was a kid. It […]

Categories: Adaptations, Book Review • Tags: adaptations, children's literature, Diana Wynne Jones, fantasy, literary bingo