Thursday, March 21, 2013

Goodreads

       Goodreads is an amazing website for all book lovers. It is a place where you can keep track of the books you would like to read as well as books that you have read. You can do many more activities on this website, such as enter giveaways, like quotes, and play trivia quizzes.
      After creating a Goodreads account, the website will ask you to complete a few optional steps. This includes things such as choosing your favorite genres and rating books. Once officially on Goodreads, you are free to explore the website. When you rate 20 books the website will begin to give you book recommendations based on the books you have read as well as your favorite genres.
      If you decide you might like to read a book, you can press the 'Want to Read' button and it will add it to your 'To Read' shelf. You always have the option to delete books from any of your shelves. To access your bookshelves, all you have to do is press a button labeled 'My Books'.
      Giveaways, quotes, and quizzes are located underneath the 'Explore' tab. The giveaways are not fake, you will definitely receive your book if you win. I have won a giveaway before and received the book very quickly.
      If you choose to friend someone on Goodreads, you are subscribed to all their updates, such as when they add a new book or when they enter a giveaway. Many authors are on Goodreads, and you can become fans of them to subscribe to their blog posts as well as Goodreads updates. You can compare books on your list to books on theirs, and see their ratings compared to yours. You are able to suggest books to authors and friends.
      There are so many things to share about this website to share with you, but I will save them for a later post. I definitely suggest it to anyone who is an ardent reader or who enjoys any type of book.
      If you have any questions about the website, please comment them and I will do my best to help.

Monday, March 18, 2013

Pride and Prejudice Movie Adaptations

      Usually when you read a book you love, you end up disliking the movie, because it is so different from the book. The reason I watched a Pride and Prejudice movie in the first place was because I was at a party and we all voted to watch it. We watched the one with Keira Knightley.
      As we all watched, my friend and I couldn't help but point out the differences to each other, and there were many. It was a very good, two hour long movie. It just wasn't like the book. While we watched it, my friend told me that she owned a longer version. She also informed me that her version was incredibly accurate.
      The first thing I did when I got home was look up Pride and Prejudice on YouTube. I was looking for the two hour version, since we were not able to finish it. Instead, I found a 1995 version with Colin Firth (the one my friend has). Since it said part 1 and the video was an hour long I figured that I may as well watch it.
      From the very first scene I knew that it would stay true to the book one hundred percent. I almost got up to grab the book, since they were quoting from it. I was planning on following along. You can find this on YouTube, there are six episodes. Some episodes you may be able to find in full, some may have parts to them. I absolutely love this version and plan on ordering one from Amazon. This version is about six hours long.
      For those of you who have Netflix, there is an adaptation on there. I don't particularly like this version. There is no real reason for that, other than I am not a fan of the costumes or of the actors and actresses that they chose. It is very accurate when compared to the book. This is also in episodes. To watch this whole thing is about five hours. In any case, I would definitely recommend reading the book before watching a movie adaptation.
Link to the 1995 version on YouTube:
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQSFmrkR-QA&list=PL3A59C0B9B8A77286

I also was able to find the 2 hour long one online for free, here is that link: http://www.4shared.com/video/_XC7Tmrz/PrideAndPrejudice2005.html

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Reading Festival

      Yesterday, I went to the Readfest festival in Ft Myers, FL. It was fantastic! The goal of the festival is to promote reading and library use, and all the funds they make from book sales are donated to the library. There are many different authors who will be signing books. There were adult, teen, and children authors. They sell books next to the signing tent, so if you do not own a book by a specific author you can pick it up at the festival. The authors have specific signing times, but will stay until their lines are empty, so if you are in line you will not miss the author! I had my books signed by Gail Carson Levine, one of my favorite authors. I also had a few books signed by Annie Barrows, an author I enjoyed in elementary school.
       There is a teen's area, which is slightly separated from the rest of the festival. In this area there are crafts, such as duct-tape lanyards and ear bud holders. This time there was Just Dance 2 for the Wii. The best part, in my opinion, was the free books. You are allowed to choose any free book to keep, and this includes advance reader's copies. 
       Young readers will also have a great time at the festival. There are crafts designed for young children, and they also are allowed to choose a free book. Of course, this free book is a children's book, not teen's book.
      It is not necessary to pack a lunch, as they do have food there (including funnel cakes, yum!)
      
      I had fourteen of my books signed, and I got a free advance reader's copy of Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library, which is in stores June 25. One of my new books, Andromeda's Turn, was written by Libby Svenson, who I also had a chance to meet, while she was in 7th grade. I haven't read this book yet, but it looks very promising. I hope some of you will consider attending this free festival in the future. Here is the link to the website: http://readfest.org/
Gail Carson Levine, author of Ella Enchanted, signing my eight book pile.
 
I also had my books signed by Annie Barrows, author of Ivy and Bean as well as The Magic Half.