Booking Through Thursday

Today's prompt is one after my own heart!

Are you a spine breaker? Or a dog-earer? Do you expect to keep your books in pristine condition even after you have read them? Does watching other readers bend the cover all the way round make you flinch or squeal in pain?

Oh goody! I can discuss this one. I love to keep my books in the best condition I can. If I read a hardcover, I immediately pull off the book jacket and keep that safe while lugging the book around with me. It's much easier to keep a hardcover in good condition don't you think?

With my paperbacks, I am a little less careful. I would prefer to keep them looking good but sometimes stuffing them in bags or purses causes a bit of wear. I can tell if I've read a book by looking at it's spine. There is usually that tell-tale bend in the middle. I don't think this can be helped!

I do not like to see other people bend the cover back. I don't know why they would do that! The book never goes back on the shelf the right way and won't stay closed laying on a table! I don't dog-ear either. I have quite the collection of bookmarks. Every time I grab a new book to read, I grab a book mark to go with it.

So. . . bottom line. My books are usually neat and tidy and if you borrow my books, I'd appreciate you keep them that way!

Let's Do Some Critical Thinking!

In order to stop the boring LOTR updates (chapter 9 done by the way), I thought I would compare the book to the movie. . . just a little bit. Obviously I can't compare the whole book. Frodo and Sam haven't even appeared yet. I don't want to pick apart scenes - Denethor did not throw himself off the wall - but I find it quite interesting what Tolkien did.

It's been two years since I read Fellowship so I can't even remember the set up on that one. I do remember that The Two Towers was broken up into books, just like The Return of the King. I had forgotten that and once again was asking "Where's Frodo?" before realizing that his story would come later.

What I'm trying to say is that The Return of the King is broken into two books (and then a massive appendix). The first book deals with Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Gadalf, Pippin, Merry, Faramir, Eomer, and Eowyn -to name just a few. The second book is about Frodo, Sam and Gollum, and what happens after they destroy the ring.

All through this first book I've wanted to know what's going on with Frodo. Obviously time will overlap once I start the next section. It's an interesting way to write. I don't think I'd ever be that ambitious but I admire Tolkien for it.

I don't think I've made much sense. At least I had something to say!

Teaser Tuesday!

Shocker! I'm actually getting this teaser in before the sun sets. That hasn't happened in a while. I'm still reading The Return of the King *sigh* but I'm making progress.

From page:291

So it was that near the end of a wild and wet evening in the last days of October the five travellers rode up the climbing road and came to the South-gate of Bree. It was locked fast; and the rain blew in their faces, and in the darkening sky low clouds went hurrying by, and their hearts sank a little, for they had expected more welcome.

The Lord of the Rings; The Return of the King by JRR Tolkien

LOTR Update! (Again)

Well, I have completed chapter 5. It was a nice short chapter. I'm moving right along and on schedule. Rohan just rode into battle. There is a huge lack of Legolas in this book. He just follows Aragorn along. He should have his own book. Which of course should have it's own movie. Which of course should star Orlando Bloom. Just a dream of mine. I don't have much else to report. I don't have any other book news.

I did see the TV trailer for Twilight for the first time today. It looks good. I know that it won't live up to what I've built in my mind, but I'm sure I'll enjoy it anyway.

Hope you had a book filled weekend! Here's a LOLCat for your enjoyment:

LOTR Update

I just wanted to report in on my The Return of the King progress. I've read 2 1/2 chapters! If I read a chapter a day (meaning I have to finish chapter 3 tonight) I will finish on November 9th. I'm sure you are all on the edge of your seats so I'll be sure to check in regularly.

Booking Through Thursday

Here is today's prompt:

Got this idea from Literary Feline during her recent contest:

“Name a favorite literary couple and tell me why they are a favorite. If you cannot choose just one, that is okay too. Name as many as you like–sometimes narrowing down a list can be extremely difficult and painful. Or maybe that’s just me.”

Ok, let's see. . . That's hard! I feel like I need to choose characters that everyone knows! I've read a ton of romance/chick lit in my life so there are plenty of couples to choose from.

Here's a few:

Stephanie Plum and Joe Morelli. I like them as a couple because I like the way Joe treats her. She's awful to him but he'll declare his love anyway.

Edward Cullen and Bella Swan. This is a couple that will be together through eternity. Literally. I think the idea of some supernatural pull that is forcing them together is what I like about them. Edward is overprotective and old fashioned. Bella is whiny and stubborn. They should never get along. Their love for each other seems to transcend the boundaries of humanity. Bella came into her own as a vampire and it was at that point they were on equal footing.

Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley. I think that the reason I see them as a couple is because Ginny was able to provide Harry with what he wanted most in his life. She not only gave him a family, but gave him her extended family. He finally had parents, brothers, sister -in -laws and someone who loved him exactly for who he was. Ginny knew Harry's faults and insecurities but loved him anyway.

High Five by Janet Evanovich

I'm finally getting a chance to review the books I read on vacation. Yeah!

In reviewing High Five, I should address the rest of the Stephanie Plum series because I don't think I've ever reviewed any of them on this blog. I read the first book last summer on my Alaska cruise. I bought it for my mom as a Christmas gift because I thought she might like to start a new series and I wanted to read it too. My mom read it and really didn't care for it too much. I think her view jaded me a bit so I decided that I didn't really care for it either.

Until I left the book on the ship and couldn't stop thinking about it.

I started thinking that it was actually a pretty funny book. Morelli was just plain hot and really Stephanie is quite a character. Maybe I really did like the book! Yeah! I did like the book! I went out and bought Two for the Dough and Three to get Deadly. After reading book two, I really liked the series and requested the rest for Christmas. Now I'm picking my way through them, alternating between other books because I don't want to run out of Stephanie Plum books. That would be horrible. It's nice to have so many books in a series to look forward to.

High Five starts out with Stephanie trying to catch a little person who failed to appear at his hearing. This man happens to be quite irritated with her and it doesn't go well. She's also looking for her uncle who has disappeared. All the favorite characters are there. Grandma Mazur is always fun. She's one of the best characters in the series. Morelli is still hot, Ranger is still hot and I'm really anxious for Stephanie to pick her man. Lulu is the faithful friend as always. Stephanie manages to get one car blown up and another one stolen, so she's back with her Buick.

All in all, it's a fun read. There are many laugh out loud moments. Janet Evanovich has a way with her characters and since there are so many books to read, I look forward to reading them. Good book. Good series.