Just Chillin' in my Snuggie...

Part I

Ok, so I don't actually own a Snuggie, despite the fact that I have been pining for one for only, like, 3 years.. Anywho, more on this later ♥

I know that I haven't done a random non-book related post in a while, so here goes: the State of the Union: June edition (which will explain all the goings-on from May... if this makes any sense? Hmm.. I shall sort out the logistics later!)

Moving forward, there have been many events/happenings that I have failed to report to my faithful followers (fingers crossed that you exist!) and I shall try to salvage what I can from this thing I call a memory.

The first thing that pops into my noggin are the Book to Film advancements we have seen this month. First of all, I think that mostly all of the casting is done for The Hunger Games movie, which is uber exciting, and now the movie is filming. They have even been so kind to release a photo of Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss (just to sate all the non-believers out there... Shun the non-believers.. shunnn... ShhhH-UUUUuuUN-UUhhhhhh-tehe, I just had to :) I think it's rather great, and am dying to see more of the cast costumed up! Some more of the star-studded cast includes: Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson, Donald Sutherland, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Stanley Tucci, Woody Harrelson, just to name a few. I am really excited to keep tabs on this as filming progresses, and am reminded even more of how excited I am for the film! Keep up the good work movie people!

In more exciting Book to Film related news, Jace Wayland has finally been cast the the movie adaptation of The Mortal Instruments! So the news is kind of lacklustre for me, because I was sooo pining for hottie Alex Pettyfer, but I have come to accept Jamie Campbell Bower, creepiness and all. I really have come to the realization amongst all this casting buzz, that just because my vision of a character may seem like they fit the look perfectly, the actor also needs to embody the character completely and I trust both the casting directors and the author to choose correctly. Yay for moving forward :)

Next on my list is the exciting release of Glee: The Music, Volume 6 that coincided with the season finale of Glee on May 24th, which was uber-intoxicating as always. This one sounds like it could be one of my favourites out of all the albums, boasting 2 Adele songs, a whole slew of Fleetwood Mac, my favourite mash-up, I Feel Pretty/Unpretty, and 2 amazing new original songs that absolutely blew my mind. Can't wait to pick it up and pop it in the ghetto-blaster!

Speaking of television, there are some awesome new shows starting in the Fall, and also ones that I am mourning, since the networks choose to slaughter some of my favourites! New show Off the Map, which just started getting good; Better With You, that was really quite star-studded and hilarious; Traffic Light, so so funny; $#*! My Dad Says, the hilarious-based-on-real-life sitcom that has been MIA for months; and Mr. Sunshine, the only connection we had left with Ms Chandhandler Bong :(

Having said that, the awesome new shows that are to be replacing these sound pretty darn good. There's Revenge, a creepy yet preppy looking Hamptons drama. The Finder, a spin-off of Bones and probably the show I am looking forward to the most. The Secret Circle, another sure-fire-fav that is based on the books from the same author who brought us The Vampire Diaries. The Playboy Club, a retro yet scandalous looking new drama that I can't wait to get hooked on! Awake, a psychological drama that looks incredibly promising and well written. There are also some pretty funny looking sitcoms: The New Girl, Bent, Apartment 23, Suburgatory, and I Hate My Teenage Daughter. Keep your eyes peeled.

P.S. The new season of Pretty Little Liars starts June 14th!

Also a little bit TV related are some new music videos that I happened to view as of late. Now, I never usually watch music videos, unless I actually search for them for my viewing pleasure. Today I am going to talk about two that I have stumbled upon that have very little in common. Lady Gaga's 7-minute long creep-fest in music video form, Born This Way, and Bruno Mars' cute and amazingly charming rendition of The Lazy Song. Let me start on a good note. I am absolutely obsessed with The Lazy Song video! It is so cute and just seems so homemade and wholesome! Bruno Mars is adorable and I love the choreography and basically everything about the video. And it mentions a Snuggie, which is pretty much my most coveted desire. This video just makes me feel so warm and fuzzy inside, almost as if I put on Bruno's fleece button-down right after he took it off and absorbed his warmth. Too creepy?

Well, might as well carry on that theme. So. Lady Gaga. Strange, check. We did already know this. Out of curiosity (and because I really do like the song Born This Way, and thoroughly enjoy the message it evokes) I decided to watch the video, because let's be honest, the chick is pretty entertaining. I must say that I think it crossed into my comfort zone. No, actually, it saw my comfort zone, and basically spat on it! I think it suffices to say that a part of me died inside after having watched the birth of evil, or whatever the F that was. Like gag-worthy, I swear! Just take my word for it.. it's messed. The sad part is that the rest of the video is pretty decent. I like how Gaga seems so vulnerable and almost normal just dancing around in her underoos. And then the mud, or whatever it was, was a nice touch. Unfortunately I think most people would stop watching after the first, I dunno, 27 minutes!? Let me know what you think: modern and revolutionary, or just plain strange and nightmare-evoking?

Well, that's all I've got for now!

Stay tuned for Part II--Cheers & Enjoy♥

Bare Bones by Kathy Reichs

She works with the dead, but she works for the living.

"Down time" is not a phrase in Tempe Brennan''s vocabulary. A string of disturbing cases has put her vacation plans on hold; instead, she heads to the lab to analyze charred remains from a suspicious fire, and a mysterious black residue from a small plane crash. But most troubling of all are the bones. . . . Tempe''s daughter''s new boyfriend invites them to a picnic -- a pig pickin'' -- in the North Carolina countryside, where a cache of bones turns up. But are they animal or human? X-rays and DNA may link the crimes, but they can''t reveal who is closing in on Tempe and her daughter -- and how far they will go to keep her from uncovering the truth.

                                                                                                                      -Chapters Canada




The sixth installment in the Temperance Brennan series, Bare Bones, was just as much of a smash hit as its predecessors. It embodied mystery and plausibility at every chapter, and of course incorporated wonderfully written themes of romance and family.

Well, Kathy Reichs does it again! I must admit, its getting tough to find different ways of saying the same things; I just love these books. The content is always fresh, and the ideas never boring. Forensic anthropology has never been exposed in such a captivating fashion, and the ever-present wit and spunk of Temperance Brennan is so compelling. I love everything about them.

This time we see Temperance Brennan only in North Carolina (boo-I ♥ Canada), with the addition of her hunky suitor. We see much more character development (which I have been patiently waiting for) that seems to be timed perfectly throughout the series, a characteristic shared with the show, Bones as well.

Well there really isn't much more that I can say other than to try them out for yourself! ( and the show :)


You won't be disappointed!--Cheers & Enjoy♥

Grave Secrets by Kathy Reichs

A harrowing excavation unearths a chilling tragedy never laid to rest.

They are "the disappeared," twenty-three massacre victims buried in a well in the Guatemalan village of Chupan Ya two decades ago. Leading a team of experts on a meticulous, heartbreaking dig, Tempe Brennan pieces together the violence of the past. But a fresh wave of terror begins when the horrific sounds of a fatal attack on two colleagues come in on a blood-chilling satellite call. Teaming up with Special Crimes Investigator Bartolomé Galiano and Montreal detective Andrew Ryan, Tempe quickly becomes enmeshed in the cases of four privileged young women who have vanished from Guatemala City -- and finds herself caught in deadly territory where power, money, greed, and science converge.
                                                                                                                          -Chapters Canada

Another amazing installment in what is now one of my favourite series! Kathy Reichs knows exactly what I want in a novel: some suspense, riveting romance, fascinating facts, and of course, murder!

Grave Secrets was no different from the rest of the novels in the series (you can read all the reviews here!) so it totally delivered. Giving it a teensy bit of an edge though, over all the others so far, was the change of scenery, and way more romantic development, which has been way over do and much needed to sate me!

This time we see the globe-trotting forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan in Guatemala, where she is once again engaging in the ever interesting activity of digging up bones. This time there are some unique circumstances, but before long, we see the plot take a familiar turn for the mysterious and tantalizingly interesting.

Of course, there is always danger lurking for Tempe, and this time she has two nights in shining armour to offer her protection (which was uber-lovely!) and provided just the jump-start Tempe needed to take things to the next level. I won't give it away, but it isn't terribly predictable, which is great, and the book ends with a whopper of a cliffhanger!

So it goes without saying that I think this is a great series for anyone to pick up, especially if you are fans of the also fantastic hit TV show Bones. Also if you like murder mysteries of any kind. The Temperance Brennan chronicles stand in a league of their own and bring so many great themes into a unique subject.


I just love 'em!--Cheers & Enjoy♥

(Rotten) Reminiscent Reads (4)

Reminiscent Reads is a feature that Cait at A Life Like Mine and I started recently to showcase the books we have read before starting our blogs. From time to time we will choose a few, good/bad, related/not, and do a mini-review explaining a little bit about the plot and our overall opinions.

Today's Reminiscent Reads post is not gonna be pretty; it is one of the Rotten variety! So these carefully selected books are at the very bottom of all the books I have read thus far, that is, they rank the lowest. I know, I know, it's pretty mean, but for some reason or another, I really did not enjoy them, and I feel it is right to pass the message along for people to either listen to or debate. Either way it needs to be done. So if you disagree, just let me know. I always like hearing the other side of things :) Enjoy! (or not?)

CUM LAUDE by CECILY VON ZIEGESAR

Written by the author of two of my favourite series’ (Gossip Girl and The It Girl), Cecily Von Ziegesar astonished me when she released this stand-alone novel with a knock out cover! Well, lesson learned: Never Judge a Book by Its Cover! I absolutely hated this book. First of all, it was a ‘slice of life’ novel, and we all know my thoughts on those. Second, it just seemed to go nowhere. And fast! Hardly any of the characters interacted with each other, and when they did, it was so horribly anticlimactic. Nothing ever came to be, and the ending was horrendous! Definitely one of my least favourite books ever!

SARAH'S BOOK by SEAN STEWART

When I picked this book up, it had been on my booklist for a while, and is definitely another case in point against buying a book because of its cover. Or just overall artistic appeal, really. Which is pretty much the only thing this book has going for it. There are cute little doodles throughout, but sadly these cannot overcome the bizarre plot nor mediocre characters. There also just had to be a little Rotten cherry on top: a little bit of unrealistic, far-fetched, and completely unplausible tidbit of freakish paranormalcy that makes me cringe just thinking about! Let me just say this: even though I almost always follow through with series as a rule, I would rather eat my own eyeballs than pick up the next two installments, art and all!

ROSE OF NO MAN'S LAND by MICHELLE TEA

This is by far the worst book I have ever read. I purchased it one day in Chapters, not ever hearing of it before, just on a whim (which is pretty rare for me), and I think that the Gods of Chapters should have smited me at that moment, crying, “No Holly! Ye shalt regreteth thisuth for the resteth of your lifeth!” Not only was this book completely insanely crazy and weird, it wasn’t even interesting, and was really just creepy. Maybe I’m just not the kind of person to like it?, I don’t know... I have pondered many an excuse. Bottom Line: no book that I have read has come close to being as horrible as this one!

MY FRIEND LEONARD by JAMES FREY

After reading and really enjoying A Million Little Pieces, I thought that My Friend Leonard would be as dynamic and insightfully interesting. It was not. Marking (I think) the only book that I have never finished, My Friend Leonard did not start out well, and continued to un-woo me from then on. I do not remember that much about the book (which just reiterates my point) since it was probably about 7 years ago when I read it, but I seem to recall a death that I wasn’t too thrilled about, and really boring plot points. Overall, I think that my stance is just so ambivalent towards the book, which in my opinion is the worst feeling of all.

FABULOUS NOBODIES by LEE TULLOCH

This was one of the few books that I read in my first year of University (ahh, I can just remember lounging on my rez room bed, when I should have been in class... Just Kidding!-maybe) and I remember choosing it because the cover promised me to be ‘glued to it’ by none other than Sophie Kinsella! I mean come on, Sophie Kinsella, my Goddess of Chick Lit and favourite all-time author! I was so crushed when I read this book, and even still question my sanity for disliking a book that Sophie put her sign of approval on! The book was just really weird. It seemed like it could, maybe, possibly be good in a kind of way that is so foreign to your everyday life, so it just has to be interesting. But when all is said and done, the effect was just so strange and the main character so unrelatable, despite all of the characteristics that I shared with her. I really was just disappointed in this book, and looking back, it seems like a waste of time.

Having said all that, I do acknowledge that not every book is suited to everyone, and opinions often vary. Sometimes it just comes down to my expectations being crushed, the book that I read previously, or just the mind set going in, but I definitely do not enjoy all the books that I read! But hey, you have to have some bad ones to make the good ones really stand out, right?


What are you waiting for? Debate Me!--Cheers & Enjoy♥

Fatal Voyage by Kathy Reichs

She has a passion for the truth . . . and this time, it's taking her down.


A commercial airliner disaster has brought Tempe Brennan to the North Carolina mountains as a member of the investigative agency DMORT. As bomb theories abound, Tempe soon discovers a jarring piece of evidence that raises dangerous questions -- and gets her thrown from the DMORT team. Relentless in her pursuit of its significance, Tempe uncovers a shocking, multilayered tale of deceit and depravity as she probes her way into frightening territory -- where someone wants her stopped in her tracks.                                                                                                                           

                                                                                                                         -Chapters Canada




As per the usual, Kathy Reichs totally won me over (which is not that hard, having fallen in love with her other amazingly great novels; find the reviews here!) with her amazing prose, stunning mystery, and realistic romance. I love Kathy Reichs' novels, and Fatal Voyage was no different.

This time Tempe is dealing with a mass death toll from a plane crash, which was interesting to learn about by itself. Of course, there was a second aspect to make me more interested: a murder. The personal, professional, factual, and mysterious aspects were remarkably linked throughout the novel, and there really was never a dull moment. Once again we see Andrew Ryan (swoon) and he is incorporated to perfection. He always keeps me yearning for the next novel :)

The way that the book unfolds is of course enlightening, entertaining, and just plain amazing. Without giving too much away, the answers Tempe finds and the overall denouement were fascinating and so good. I cannot wait for the next book!


Already half-way through it--Cheers & Enjoy♥