Genre Favorites Blogfest

 

It's time for Alex J. Cavanaugh's Genre Favorites Blogfest! According to our awesome ninja captain, we're supposed to talk about our favorite genres of music, books, movies, and our guilty pleasure from one of the categories.

Music

A few of my favorites that are on my Kindle Fire.

My favorite genre is pop music, i.e. whatever is playing on the radio. My favorite radio station in the area is K92.3 FM. They're awesome!

Books

Just a few of my mystery books.

I love mysteries and thrillers. I want to try to figure out what's going on. Who did the crime? They're so much fun.

Movies

A sample of my horror movie collection.

I love horror movies. The thrill of the scare and then the laughter afterwards.

My Guilty Pleasure

And yes, I like the books the musicals are made from. The cat pillow case is my cat Cinderella's.

Showtunes! That's right. When the house is empty, I can be found belting out songs from Wicked, The Phantom of the Opera, Cats, and many more!

So what are your favorite genres?

Fantasy Chat: Last Fantasy Book Read

 

This month I've been reading two fantasy-related novels. 

The one is The Peculiars by Maureen Doyle McQuerry. It's an interesting YA Steampunk novel. I finished it over the weekend, and it's a solid 3 bookworms from my bookworm rating scale on Surrounded by Books Reviews. I haven't read a lot of steampunk and this one also has a good dose of mystery and peculiarities to it. Click here to read the description and add to your Goodreads list.

The other book is Slipstream by Michael Offutt. Yes, I was one of the lucky few to receive an ARC. This one is borderline science fiction and fantasy, and I'm really enjoying it. So far, it's right up there to high four to possibly five bookworms. Strange things are happening to the MC, and I can't wait to find out more. Click here to read the description and add to your Goodreads list.

So what fantasy book are you reading now? Or which one did you read last? What did you think of it?

Knowledge Tuesday: Harry Potter Books Word Counts

No one can disagree that JK Rowling’s Harry Potter books have become a phenomenon. I picked up Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in summer 2001. Then I read it and the other three that same summer and had to wait for what felt like an eternity for books five, six, and seven. On Friday, the last part of the movies will arrive—and yes, I’m attending the midnight showing—and it’ll be the end of a series that means so much to me. Of course, that meaning will come on Thursday’s post. *grins*

Today, I want to talk the books in word counts:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – 76,944 words

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – 85,141 words

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – 107,253 words

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – 190,637 words

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – 257,045 words

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – 168,923 words

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – 198,227 words

That’s a grand total of 1,084,170 words. Over a million words. Wow. I would’ve read a million more. *laughs* And, that’s not even including Quidditch Through the Ages, Fantastical Beasts & Where to Find Them, or Tales of Beedle the Bard.

Of course, as writers, we should pay attention to how many words the first book was. That’s pretty normal for a children’s fantasy novel. Maybe bordering on high for a word count range for that age group—although, who are we kidding? Harry Potter is for all ages.

They say it takes 10,000 hours or 1,000,000 words to write anything worth reading. I wonder how many words JK Rowling wrote before Harry Potter. I would say she definitely has mastered her fantastic Harry Potter universe.

Personal Thursdays: My First Love

Yes, today I'm talking about my first love. This love is for books. All books. The first three books I remember reading were Danny and the Dinosaur by Syd Hoff, Johnny Lion's Bad Day by Edith Thacher Hurd and Clement Hurd, and Sam the Firehouse Cat by Virginia Parsons. It branched out from there with Nancy Drew books, the Sweet Valley High series, Stephen King, and Michael Crichton. The list could go on and on, and I now have over 1,000 books in my room.

This first picture is of my room with my wall of books.

These are my two newest bookshelves. Most of the books are doubled up on the shelf. I wish it wasn't like that, but I have more books than shelves. And, yes, those boxes to the left hold books too.

This is my Cinderella on the boxes. She loves sitting there, especially to get away from Romeo when he's chasing her.

This is my small bookshelves in front of my window. I have my nonfiction books here, my language books, and my mythology books from when I studied Classics.

I've had this white bookshelf for a long time. I think it might've belonged to my mom at one point. It's rather rickety, so I put my paperbacks on it.

Then, here is the bookshelf on the left. This is where my Surrounded by Books picture was taken too. By the way, I won that bookworm at the Salem Fair a few years back.

 

 And, when I ran out of room, the rest had to go in the floor in boxes, bags, and just sitting there. Someday I'll have a home for all my book babies. Someday.

 

 And, I left a special place for the magazines and anthologies I have stories in. *grins*

And, since I've ran out of room for most physical books, I have over 100 books on my Kindle. I must admit I prefer reading on my Kindle. It's easy to hold. I don't have to worry about losing my place. There are a lot of books there for me. I'm still a collector, though, and as a collector, I'll probably always by hardback and paperback books. I just need more room. Lots more room.

By the way, this is just the collection of books in my room. I have more elsewhere. 

*sighs* I love books.

Harry Potter 7.1

Tonight at midnight, I'll be at the movie theater watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, or what I like to call Harry Potter 7.1, since it's the first part of the two-part movie. 

I became a Harry Potter fan in the summer of 2001. The first movie was coming out in November, and I heard of the books. Several friends recommended them, so I decided I would give in and read the first book. I bought the copy in paperback at Walmart. Then, a strange thing happened. Like most people who read the books, I was sucked into this magical, fantastical world. Reading the first book wasn't enough. I scrambled to the store and devoured the second book, the third book, and the fourth book. What? JK Rowling hadn't finished the others! What was I going to do while I wanted for the fifth book to come out?

I created a roleplaying game on yahoo groups. Then, I created another Harry Potter roleplaying game. Then, I joined other people's Harry Potter roleplaying games. At one point, I was in over twenty different Harry Potter RPGs. It wasn't enough. The fifth book came out. The movies were there. I had to do more.

In 2003, I began to write Harry Potter fan fiction until 2005. It was my start of writing, even though I was playing in someone else's world. 

From RPGs and fan fiction to reading the books and watching the movies, I was as immersed in Harry Potter's world as the characters were to some extent. 

For the last two books, I went to Harry Potter book parties at Walmart, and I won a free copy of each book because of my vast knowledge. *smacks head* I still can't believe I forgot Brian, though, for Albus Dumbledore's full name. I knew all of it except the simplest name! It was great. 

When I held Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in my hand, the first thing I did was turn to the last few pages. I had to know whether he lived or died. Yeah, I cheated, I know. But I had to know. I couldn't read the rest of this wonderful series without knowing. Then, I turned to the beginning and kept reading until it was finished. I cried almost the entire way through that book. It wasn't just because everyone was dying. It was because it was the end of something I loved. There would be no more (unless JK Rowling changes her mind). 

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the only book in the series I haven't re-read, and I haven't re-read the other books since reading it because I know who will die and it makes me sad. I'm still not over Dumbledore's death! Poor Dumbledore! *sobs*

Okay, I'm okay. I even miss Voldemort. I never found him to be evil. Misguided perhaps, but not necessarily evil. You want evil, you go to Umbridge. I loath that woman. Abhor her. Hate her. There isn't a word strong enough to share in my passion of hatred for her. 

And, I still think Snape is the best, most complicated character ever. 

So tonight, I will go with tissues in hand to cry, laugh, and cheer on my favorite trio. I can't wait to see this movie, even though it does make me sad that it's so close to the end of the Harry Potter movies. 

And, I still like to think the Harry Potter world might be real.

But, shh, don't tell the Muggles.

Obsession

I admit that I'm a little OCD. I have to have my post it notes in a nice straight line. I don't like to touch dishes after their wet. Ew! I hate condensation on glasses and use a paper towel/napkin around the glass when if it has ice. These are just a few of the quirky things I do, but I have a real obsession. This obsession is...

BOOKS!

Yes, I love books. I enjoy reading, but it delves deeper than the desire to read books. I want to possess them. All books. I'm not too picky when it comes to books I want to own, even though I might be a bit pickier about which ones I want to read. Whenever I go to a store, I have to look at the books. If I go near Barnes & Noble, I have to go in or really want to. And, don't get me started on Amazon.com. *sighs* I could peruse their virtual shelves for hours.

Hardpack, paperback, ebook, it doesn't matter. I want them all. I have over a thousand books lining my shelves and stacked on the floor in my room. I have other shelves in a closet in Hekate's room filled with my old childhood books. Oh, those Nancy Drews and Sweet Valley High. I couldn't begin to tell you how many books are in there. Probably several hundred. And, I'm slowly growing my Kindle collection of ebooks. I'm up to almost fifty, and the only reason it isn't more is lack of time to add them all.

Yes, I can't download Kindle books at home because we live too far from civilization. I don't get enough bars. It's a tragedy, but it saves me money.

Ah, money. If I had all the money I could want, then I would finally have all the books I want. A library of books all for me, me, ME! I would buy up all the print books possible and use my Kindle for the ebooks out there. I'd be in very big trouble, if I had money...and space.

I get a weird satisfaction from buying a book or books. It's probably a lot like drinking or smoking or sex. Yes, I'm obsessed. I'll admit it.

But do I really want to change it?

Nope. Not one bit.