Omgosh?! No Weekly Wrap up???

Never fear! I do have a weekly wrap up this week, it’s just not HERE! Why is that? because I’ve moved! Yup, I finally caved and got my own domain! I used Safe Shark Hosting because Asti and Kelley seemed to have a good experience with it. It was really easy and Adam was really helpful like they had said! He moved everything over for me and it was very painless on my part, all I had to do was put in my paypal information!

So if you would like to continue following me, I’d be ever so happy if you did! You can now find me at: http://aglowormreads.com 🙂

 

Fiction to Film: The Host

 

 

Way back before I started blogging, I read The Host and absolutely loved it! It took a while for me to get into but the second half made it completely worth it. So of course I, like many others, was super excited when they decided to make the book into a movie. Luckily for me, unlike many others, I was not really disappointed with the movie.

I’m not really sure if it’s just because it’s been so long since I read the book that I just don’t remember all the minute details, but I thought that for the time they had, this movie adaptation was fairly accurate. Of course, the movie is usually never as good as the book and that’s the case with this one.

I know a lot of people didn’t like how the “Souls” looked but they were pretty much what I was imagining while reading. I think they did a great job with showing the different voices of both Melanie and Wanda. I can’t really see how they could have done it differently and still make it easy for the viewer to distinguish between the two, especially if they hadn’t read the book. I think the movie could have used a lot more romance between Wanda and Ian, but I will take what I can get. I know that in the movie things seemed a bit rushed, but I think that had to do with how much they were trying to cram into this one movie. The Host isn’t a small book. So the time period wasn’t as easy to grasp as if you were reading. So I think for anyone who hadn’t read the book, it looked like all of this happened in only a short period of time, when it was actually over a longer time period.

As for the casting, at first I wasn’t really sure what I thought of it at first. None of the actors cast were really how I envisioned the characters in my head, except for Jared and I never liked him in the book. Luckily he is played by Max Irons, so even though I still thought he was a jerk (rightfully so) he was still hot. I still prefer Ian though and think that Jake Abel was a great pick for him! I wasn’t really sure what I thought of Saoirse Ronan for Melanie/Wanda but as the movie went along she grew on me and I ended up really liking her. I will say though that their choice for Wanda’s body in the end was not at all what I thought it would be and I didn’t like it!

Overall though, the movie was entertaining, if a bit rushed. I really wish Stephenie Meyer would continue the book series, but I have a feeling she’s not going to. It really is a much better series than Twilight for me! I will probably watch this movie again when it comes out on BluRay.

A Glo-Worm’s Thoughts – Co-Bloggers and the Pros and Cons

 

This post may be a bit ranty at times, but that’s partly why I’m writing it. For those of you that don’t know, I have another blog. On this blog I have two other reviewers. We each post one review a week and rotate certain memes and features, or so we did.

So I started my other blog in December of 2011. At the time I didn’t feel that I read enough to make enough review posts. So I asked my best friend if she wanted to join in to help out. She was happy to do this, so we were two. Fast forward to this past summer. I met a new neighbour who also has a passion for reading and was interested in blogging but wasn’t sure if she would be able to commit to it. So at the time we were having trouble getting as many posts done as we wanted, so I asked her if she wanted to join it. So there were three of us and has been ever since.

Well, the past couple of months, after we’ve been scheduling posts since the summer to make sure everyone gets what they needed done, I noticed that neither of them were following the schedule anymore. So I asked them about it. One never ever got back to me and the other thought for some reason I had removed her from this feature, so wasn’t bother to look or even check the schedule to see if she was on it (huh?!). Basically I had a moment where I wanted to say a few things, I didn’t and just told them both to never mind and scrapped the feature. I could have done it by myself but it was a post that each of us did once a month since it was a bit harder to think of enough ideas each week. So that’s now gone and they are back in their own worlds, the blog has gone on and all is fine.

But I had been thinking about it for awhile and realized a few things. There are things that would have been much easier if I was the only blogger, boom A Glo-Worm Reads was born! Don’t get me wrong, I still love my other blog and my co-bloggers but it has been so much easier alone. There are always going to be pros and cons in any relationship like this, so I thought I would make a list of what I’ve noticed in case you’re thinking of getting a co-blogger. So you can decide if it’s the right choice for you!

Pros:

• More bloggers = less posts that you have to do!
• More blog diversity for types of books read
• Less stress for getting so many books read to review each week
• You always have someone to discuss books with!
• More people to help promote the blog!
• Different review voices (writing styles) for more variety

Cons:

• Sometimes not everyone does their posts
• Sometimes contacting co-bloggers can be difficult, so if something is time sensitive..
• In my case, I do most things, make schedules, find contacts, comment on other blogs, reply to comments
• Co-blogger(s) might quit with no notice (this is always a worry of mine!) Causes stress!
• They might not follow the schedule.
• Can sometimes be more stress/work for one person
• Can’t really personalise anything because of conflicting personalities
• No room for flexibility in blog schedule

Basically I’m not having the best time with my co-bloggers anymore. We’ve thought about getting our own domain and a new blog makeover, but no one was willing to help split the costs with me. Yes, I know I made the blog, but I didn’t even blog a month alone, so there has pretty much been someone there the whole time with me. They could help split the cost but won’t, so I feel like there is a lack of commitment. They say they want the change, but are unwilling to help? I also fund most of the giveaways and such. Most, but not all.

I’ve found that I’m wasting my time making a schedule, so I might just stop bothering if no one is going to look at it. Maybe they will make it? Doubtful. There are times where I feel like everything I’ve done for the blog is taken for granted. I’ve had next to no help lately, other than them getting their posts up on time. It kind of sucks. I’m having a much better time on this blog because I can be more flexible with my posts. this is a much less stressful project for me now.

At least I’m having fun here! I’m sorry if I got a bit ranty, clearly I’m not happy with some things right now. What do you guys think? Are co-bloogers something you would want? My experience with them did start out really great for about 6 months or so, but only recently it’s changed.

 

Review: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1)

by Cassandra Clare

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder — much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It’s hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing — not even a smear of blood — to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary’s first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It’s also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace’s world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know. . . .

My Thoughts: So I finally read City of Bones. It only took me forever to get around to. So naturally, I’m mad at myself for not reading it sooner now! I loved it. I think it took me so long to get to reading it because I eventually waited so long and Clockwork Princess was about to come out, so I figured I would just finish up The Infernal Devices and then start this series so I didn’t accidentally mix up any of the details. Finally, the other day, I picked up City of Bones and started it. Later that day I closed it and picked up City of Ashes. Yup, I read it in a day. Sometimes I wish I didn’t have to sleep though, since I had to put down the next one for bed shortly after I started it.

It seems like to me that everyone has already read this series, pretty much. I feel like I’m late to the game. I really am though. City of Bones primarily follows around Clary (who’s a kick butt ginger by the way, bonus points for her!). She suddenly begins to see people that no one else can see and sees a group, which she learns are Shadowhunters, kill someone in a club storage room. The body just fades away to nothing though. She soon learns that demons are real, and that was what they killed. All of the stories are real. So Clary has to adjust to this new world, which she remarkably does fairly easily, or so I thought. Her mom has been kidnapped and her mom’s best friend has basically told her never to speak to him again. So it’s a bit rough, all she has left is her best friend Simon, who is getting mad at her because she has feelings for Jace, one of the Shadowhunters from the club that killed the demon. Jace is sexy, and knows it. He’s completely arrogant, but she falls for him anyways. Simon loves Clary but never said anything until it was too late. I personally think he’s a bit on the whiny side. So I wasn’t a huge fan of him. I liked Jace though, I always like the jerks apparently. At least this only seems to be in books.. So basically, Clary is trying to find her mom, who’s been taken by someone named Valentine, who is her mom’s ex husband.

Another character that I really love is Magnus Bane. I mean honestly, who doesn’t love him? He’s just awesome and I love that he’s a character that I already know. So there is someone familiar! He brings a lot of laughs with him for the most part since he’s generally a sarcastic ass.

There is a lot of drama going on in this book, and I loved it. There is a moment at the end that made me “ewwwww”. If you’ve read this, I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. But this is a really good book! I just love Cassandra Clare’s characters and world. Everything is just so awesome and fast paced. It was a really fun book to read and felt like it was flying by for me. I will definitely be continuing on in the series, obviously since I already have. I will also be recommending this one to everyone I can and I can’t wait to see the movie adaptation this summer!

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and The Bookish

The Top Ten Character’s I’d Name My Kids After

This is kind of a funny topic for me because technically I’ve already named one of my kids after a couple fictional characters. I only have one kid so far and this has already happened. So when I saw that it was a rewind week and I missed this topic, I had to use it!

1. Kahlan Amnell – The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind [Okay, so technically I haven’t read this series BUT I did watch The Legend of the Seeker. We had a really hard time thinking of a girls name and when we found out we were having a girl, well we had to think of something. While we were laying in bed thinking about names one night my husband asked about Kahlan for a name (we were watching the series), we both liked it and so that’s what we picked. We did change the spelling to Kailyn though, since it looked nicer and since we only watched the show we didn’t know how it was spelled. When I looked it up I didn’t like it, so we fought over whether it would be spelled with a C or a K, right up until she was out when he told me I could have the K. He must have felt bad for me after my labour..lol]

2. Elizabeth Bennett – Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen [I’ve just always like the name Elizabeth since reading this book and watching all of the movies. So yup, Kailyn’s middle name is Elizabeth!

3. James Potter – Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling [Ever since reading Harry Potter when I was younger, I’ve just always wanted to name my son James. Hopefully we have a boy because this is a name that we both agree on for a boy. ]

4. Lily Potter – Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling [One day I decided that I really liked the name Lily for a girl. Then about a year later I realized that my boy name was James and my girl name I wanted for my next one was Lily. James and Lily!! ❤ Unfortunately Chris doesn’t like this one, so it probably won’t be used… 😦 ]

5. Tessa Gray – The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare [This one pretty much just popped into my head and I really like it. I would just want Tessa and not Theresa though because Chris’ aunt is named Theresa.. lol. And it goes with the next middle name I want to use! I will have to see his thoughts on this one!]

6. Jane Bennett/Jane Eyre – Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen/Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte [Jane is so nice and kind and a pretty name. This will be a middle name, so Lily Jane or Tessa Jane. I think they both sound nice.]

7. Alice Cullen – Twilight by Stephenie Meyer [How cute is Alice? I love her and would name a girl Alice. Our last name starts with an A though and I don’t want too many vowel sounds for the first letters. So this probably won’t be used.]

Yeah, I only have seven. We plan on having 3 kids right now, hopefully. I am hoping for a boy and another girl. I have no idea what I’d name a second boy, so hopefully I don’t have that problem!

Mini Reviews!

I read a lot of novellas, so I’m going to try to do a few posts like this when I can, just to give my thoughts on them. They are just going to be short, so there will be a few novellas at once!

Iron’s Prophecy (Iron Fey #4.5)

by Julie Kagawa

Meghan Chase is finally getting used to being the Iron Queen, ruler of the Iron Fey. Her life may be strange, but with former Winter prince Ash by her side at last, she wouldn’t have it any other way.

But when they travel to the Summer and Winter courts’ gathering for Elysium, the oracle from Meghan’s past returns with a dire prophecy: “What you carry will either unite the courts, or it will destroy them.” Now Meghan faces a devastating choice that may determine the future of all fey—and her and Ash’s unborn child…

My Thoughts: I kind of wish that I had read this before I read The Lost Prince, unfortunately I hadn’t gotten it by the time I got The Lost Prince and I couldn’t help but dive in to it as soon as possible. If you can read it first, I definitely recommend that you do. This explains a lot of the mystery and questions I had about why no one wanted Ethan and Kerrian to meet. It’s a very good read!

The Prince (The Selection #1.5)

by Kiera Cass

Before thirty-five girls were chosen to compete in the Selection…

Before Aspen broke America’s heart…

There was another girl in Prince Maxon’s life…

My Thoughts: I’m pretty much in love with Prince Maxon, even more so after reading this. I want America to end up with him, not Aspen. I really liked this glimpse into his life before the selection happened. And to see his thoughts on America when they first meet and she basically tells him off. It was great. This is a very cute read!

Crossing the Line (Pushing the Limits #1.5)

by Katie McGarry

Lila McCormick, Echo’s best friend from Pushing the Limits, first met Lincoln Turner when tragedy struck both their lives. But she never expected their surprise encounter would lead to two years of exchanging letters—or that she’d fall for the boy she’s only seen once. Their relationship is a secret, but Lila feels closer to Lincoln than anyone else. Until she finds out that he lied to her about the one thing she depended on him for the most.

Hurting Lila is the last thing Lincoln wanted. For two years, her letters have been the only thing getting him through the day. Admitting his feelings would cross a line he’s never dared breach before. But Lincoln will do whatever it takes to fix his mistakes, earn Lila’s forgiveness—and finally win a chance to be with the girl he loves.

My Thoughts: I love Katie McGarry’s writing. Even in such a short story she makes me love the characters and become emotionally attached to them! Lila and Lincoln are so cute together. I have to read everything by Katie now, she just does an amazing job putting so many feels into the story. I cried reading this and it’s only 67 pages long. That is how good she is!

Clock Rewinders on a Book Binge (7)

Clock Rewinders on a Book Binge is where Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Tara @ 25 Hour Books shamelessly plug each other, share the fantastic posts, giveaways, or whatever else they found and loved by other awesome bloggers (or authors!) during the week, and talk about the books they plan on reading in the coming week.

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On the Blog This Week:

• Reading With Kailyn: The Gruffalo & Love You Forever [This is a new feature I started this week where I’ll be giving a few thoughts on books I’m reading with my two year old.]
• Top Ten Tuesday: Favourite Books From Before I was a Book Blogger
• I wondered what makes you hit that follow button for a blog
• Also, posted on Owl Read It this week, Review: If He Had Been With Me [This one made me ugly cry]
  

My World This Week:

Well, this week was better than last week in terms of reading and no one being sick. All my daycare kids were here this week, so at least 4 kids to watch every day. I made it through though! I didn’t get any reviews done this week unfortunately, hopefully I can change that next week. But it was a good week. I was pretty much home all week, so nothing exciting really happened.

Around the Blogging Community:

• Jaime talks about recommending books and then shares a success story!
• Asti makes a confession about her feelings on classic novels.
• Kristilyn scared me and then talked about her thoughts on quitting blogging.
• Anya talked about books having different titles and covers in different countries.

Read in 2013 (37)

• Crossing the Line by Katie McGarry
• The Memory Coder by Jessica Brody
• Gameboard of the Gods by Richelle Mead

Currently Reading (3)

• A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
• Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
• I’m With Stupid by Geoff Herbach

Review Books To Read (16)

• The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau
• Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers [OMG I was so excited to see this one in my mailbox!! Thank you Thomas Allen & Son!!]
• Breath by Jackie Morse Kessler

I Own – TBR (94)

• Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire

Did you do/get anything good this week?

A Glo-Worm’s Thoughts: Following Blogs

So last week I was having a comment conversation with Asti and we sort of talked a bit about what type of blogs we like to follow and it got me to thinking:

What is it that makes you want to follow a blog?

I know for me that when I first started blogging, I mostly followed those who followed us and I found a Goodreads group that specifically did this. You follow someone and they returned your follow. Then I realized that hey, these people never really visit. what good are followers that don’t actually visit your blog? Yes, you can claim you have so many followers but in reality, it’s just not true.

So then I started entering the blog hops of giveaways. Nearly everyone wants you to follow them for these, so you end up following hundreds of blogs (and getting hundreds of followers if you also have a giveaway). Again though, now you have all these followers, but they aren’t there because they like your blog, they are just there for free books. So you can claim so many followers again, but no one is still reading your blog.

I’m ashamed that with my first blog I did these things. I have hundreds of blogs that I follow and I don’t have time to read that many. So I’ve been slowly unfollowing people (most of them don’t even post reviews of books I’m interested in) to clean up my bloglovin’. Now before I unfollow or even follow a new blog, I look at the content they have. I’ve become a reader that mostly looks out for blogs that have a variety of content. People who post reviews (of books I’m actually interested in), discussions and don’t participate in an overwhelming number of memes are generally people I’ll now follow.

I like to read reviews of books I’m interested in,if I’m not going to be reading them in the near future, or ones I’ve read. Then I actually have something meaningful I can post on their thoughts.

I like reading discussions. Maybe I’m just really nosy, but I like to know what other people opinions are on certain things. I also like being able to discus and share my own thoughts on it in the comments.

I guess another thing that ties in there is that I like to follow people who actually respond to my comments. I don’t care if they don’t respond to something small, like if I were to tell them I enjoyed their post, but if I leave a meaningful comment that takes me awhile to post and they say nothing? I’m kind of insulted. Again, I don’t care if it takes awhile for them to respond, but if like two weeks later they still haven’t responded to me but have to others, it makes me feel like they don’t care about my comment, even though I spent more than a few seconds on it and clearly thought about what they said. They don’t even have to visit my blog, just leave me a reply and I’ll be happy!

I do like when people comment on my blog. When I get comments from new people, one of the first things I do, after replying to them of course, is to go visit their blog and check out some of their content. If I liek what they have, I’m most likely going to follow them! There are a lot of blogs out there and this is something that can make you stand out of the group.

I also mentioned memes. Some blogs are exclusively memes, did you know that? I know there are tons of memes out there for every day of the week, but if your blog is just memes (no reviews even), you’re not a real blogger, you are just pretending to be one. You have to think about your own content, make something that’s going to separate you from the hundreds of other blogs out there. I’m okay with blogs that post maybe 3 memes a week, as long as they have unique features and well written, interesting reviews, I will follow them. Your content is important.

The last thing I like is unique blogs. The ones who you can tell that they actually care about what they are posting. People who try to come up with their own features, it’s doesn’t always work out for them, but at least they are trying! Or their blog just looks awesome. Maybe their reviews are different from everyone else, it doesn’t matter, if something makes them stick out, I will follow them.

So I guess this is what it comes down to for me, if you want to convince me to follow your blog:

1. Reviews of the types books I like to read

2. Discussions

3. Don’t go crazy on the memes

4. Be unique!

5. Reply if it’s clear I left a thoughtful comment!

6. Comment on my blog so I can check out your blog, if I haven’t already!

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So that’s what makes me follow blogs, what about you? Do you have certain things that will make you press that follow button?

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and The Bookish

The Top Ten Favourite Books from before I was a Book Blogger.

There are so many books that I’ve read that it’s extremely hard to narrow down ten.

1. Harry Potter by J.K Rowling
2. The Earth’s Children series by Jean M. Auel
3. The Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris
4. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
5. The Giver by Lois Lowry
6. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
7. The Guardian by Nicholas Sparks
8. Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan
9. Legend of Drizzt by R.A Salvatore
10. The War of the Ancients and Stormrage by Richard A. Knakk

I’m sure I’m forgetting some, mommy brain makes me dumb sometimes. And yes, technically this is more than ten! But I love series!! ❤

Reading With Kailyn: The Gruffalo & Love You Forever

Reading With Kailyn is a feature that I do biweekly where I give a couple of short thoughts on books that I’ve been reading with Kailyn, my two year old, lately. 

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So this is a new feature that I’ve been wanting to start. Just something fun to do and to keep me from slacking on reading to my daughter, I hope you enjoy it!

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The Gruffalo is one of my favourite books to read with Kailyn. I love the story and rhymes and really get a kick out of the mouse. The illustrations are done very nicely and Kailyn will actually sit still for a lot of it. It’s a bit on the wordier side, but it seems to be one of her favourite books to read because she is constantly grabbing it and sitting down to look at it alone. Picking it from the over 100 books that she has. We have fun making different voices for the animals and always like how the mouse can outsmart them all. The Gruffalo is a great book for toddlers and is fun for even the adult to read. I can’t even count how many times I’ve read it so far and I’m still not bored of it!

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Love You Forever is one of the books I remembered from my childhood that I knew I had to get to read to Kailyn. She actually not all that into this one yet, it’s a bit long for her still. I still love to read it to her though and it doesn’t seem to matter how many times I read it, I still tear up. It’s a great book that shows a mother’s love for her child from when they are born until she is too old to take care of him any more. I would say that this is a necessity for any child’s bookshelf!