Musing Monday - Maze Runner book vs. movie & what book would I re-read

Musing Mondays - August 8, 2016

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme that asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer:

• I’m currently reading…

• Up next I think I’ll read…

• I bought the following book(s) in the past week…

• I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…

• I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…

• I can’t wait to get a copy of…

• I wish I could read ___, but…

• I blogged about ____ this past week…

I’m really upset by  annoyed by...the horrible way they adapted Maze Runner into a movie:

I've been meaning to get around to reading James Dashner's Maze Runner series for years, since about 2010; when I was in Teacher's College because that was during my big YA dystopia phase, but I never did get around to it. When Flavia the Bibliophile posted about bookoutlet.ca last month I decided to check it out, and about $70 later I had 12 new books, Maze Runner and Scorch Trials both among them because they were really cheap so I thought, why not, since I'd been wanting to read them for so long. Added bonus being that with Maze Runner I could check off a couple of more boxes on both of my reading challenges. Maze Runner fulfilled the dystopian novel category of the PopSygar challenge, and then I realised that if I watched the movie and wrote a blog post about it I could fulfill the "read a book that was adapted into a movie, then watch the movie. Debate which is better" challenge. I was originally thinking I'd write a dedicated blog post to debating which version of Maze Runner was better, but then I realised it would actually make a pretty good Musing Monday post.

Let's get into it then, I read Maze Runner from July 27-31, and I did enjoy it. I didn't love it, but it was a good, pretty quick read and it did leave me wanting to read the second one to find out what happened. Honestly some of the characters were annoying, and some weren't really fleshed out enough. Thomas and Teresa being the main two that didn't feel quite fleshed out enough to me, which is disappointing mainly because Thomas was the main character. I'm sure they both get more fleshed out in the sequels. Gally was a super annoying character in the book. He was a jerk, and a bully, but he also made a few good points that were ignored by other characters, mainly because of the aforementioned jerkiness. What Dashner did really well in the book, in my opinion, was setting the scene; he really did a good job of describing both the glade and the maze, I could build a really good mental visualisation of the world that the boys and Teresa were dealing with. Overall, to me, the book felt kind of like if Lord of the Flies and the Hunger Games had a baby, and I like that.

The movie on the other hand...well I honestly couldn't even finish watching it it was just that disappointing to me. From the very beginning it was just super obviously different from the book to anyone who had read the book first. I get that it can be really hard to translate a book that is mainly in the perspective of the main character into a film, but it is doable, my earlier example of Hunger Games is another good example to call on here. It gets right down to specifics though, like, most importantly, changing the order of certain major events in the book, even changing how certain things happened. They also definitely changed some of the characterisations. Alby in the book is A LOT
more gruff and standoffish in the book than he is in the movie, in the movie he treats Thomas as a friend right from the get go. The main characterisation difference though has to be in Gally, now
maybe it's just my soft spot for Will Poulter, but Movie!Gally was a hell of a lot more likable and sympathetic than Book!Gally, at least up to the point that I reached before deciding I couldn't take it anymore. One of the big deals in the book was that Teresa showed up only a day after Thomas, but that was not at all the order it played out in in the movie, in the movie Teresa showed up AFTER another key major event happened to Thomas. Another change they made that kind of annoyed me was the incident with the first greiver that Thomas kills, they changed the way that it happened and the problem with that is the was the way it happened in the book was the seed of the idea that eventually led to them getting out of the maze. It should be pretty obvious by this point, but I will say it definitively: the book was better than the movie. It was honestly like Eragon all over again for me.

          THIS WEEK’S RANDOM QUESTION: Name a book that you hope to re-read some day.

This is a hard question for me actually. I know there a lot of readers out there who frown upon re-reading or say re-reads don't count. I am most assuredly NOT one of those readers. I unabashedly re-read any book that I want to, and I unapologetically count those re-reads in my yearly reading challenges. When the Harry Potter series was still being published I re-read the entire series right before each new book was published, so at this point I've probably read Philosopher's Stone a good dozen or so times, and same goes for Outlander because I enjoyed it so much. Earlier this year I spent about a month or so re-reading 12 of Gena Showalter books just so I could get caught up for the newest book in her series; which at the moment actually accounts for 25% of the books I've read so far this year. So really, it's easy to see that when I want to re-read a book, I just do it. But actually, now that I really think about it there is one trilogy that I would like to get around ti re-reading some day. Guy Gavriel Kay's Fionavar Tapestry which includes The Summer Tree, The Wandering Fire, and The Darkest Road. I originally had to read it for a class in my last year of undergrad at university, Tolkien and Fantasy, so it would be really nice to reread it for pleasure instead of thinking about how I can write a paper related to it.

I wonder if I could get away with counting it for the "a book set in your home state province" part of the PopSugar challenge, I mean it's MOSTLY set in Fionavar, but it at least starts, and has a few other scenes in Toronto, Ontario...it would give me an excuse to reread it this year!

When In Rome - the love of Italian cuisine

Image courtesy of 

Vichaya Kiatying-Angsulee

 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I have long been a fan of Italian cuisine.  I remember as a young girl my parents used to take my sister and I to a little Italian restaurant called Pizzeria Mamma Mia in Southport.  I can't remember why we stopped going but we did visit regularly at one point.  And I do believe the restaurant is still there although I imagine it has changed a bit since I was there.

There has always been something about the right blend of meat or fish, vegetables and herbs that the Italians have perfected and I have to confess I do love my carbs in the form of pasta and garlic bread.  Fortunately there are many Italian dishes that are quite simple to cook although my culinary prowess is not up to the Italian standards.  However it is good enough for myself and my family and friends.

Being on a healthy eating plan means I have to get creative.   Pizza for example is not particularly healthy and despite trying many different forms, there just isn't a suitable alternative that tastes as good.  So I have to limit these to occasional treats and take the calorie hit.

A lot of Italian food though is ideal for healthy living, the Italians use a lot of vegetables in their cooking, especially tomatoes which are perfect for healthier recipes.  Many diets recommending opting for a tomato based sauce dish over a creamy one if you are watching the calories.  Spaghetti Bolognese is one of my favourite dishes as it combines all the above and making sure you use low fat mince, it's a simple dish to create.

Garlic is an ingredient that features prominently in Italian dishes and fortunately I love garlic, both the taste and the smell.  Bad news for any vampires circling the flat but great news for my Italian tastebuds.  The Italians are also fond of aromatic herbs such as basil and oregano and again these feature heavily in Italian recipes.

The Italians tend to cook using Olive Oil which again makes the dishes healthier than using lard or animal fats and is quite commonly used throughout the Mediterranean.

There are some recipes however, that need to be adapted to make them healthy.  Italians are very fond of creamy or cheesy dishes so the trick is to find an alternative that tastes as good but is less in calories.  I'm going to share with you my recipe for Spaghetti Carbonara, finding a low calorie alternative for the creamy sauce.

Buon appetito!

You will need :-

• Spaghetti
• Bacon
• Peppers
• Onions
• Mushrooms
• 2 Garlic cloves
• 80g Primula Light Cheese Spread

Cook the spaghetti as per pack instructions.

Fry the bacon in a pan then add the onions, peppers, garlic and mushrooms.  Fry gently until cooked and then add some water, just to cover the top of the vegetables and add the Primula Light and mix in thoroughly to make a creamy sauce.  Then add the spaghetti to the frying pan and season with salt and black pepper and serve.

Musing Mondays - I'm reading Cursed Child & making book spine sentences

Musing Mondays - August 1, 2016

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme that asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer:

• I’m currently reading…

• Up next I think I’ll read…

• I bought the following book(s) in the past week…

• I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…

• I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…

• I can’t wait to get a copy of…

• I wish I could read ___, but…

• I blogged about ____ this past week…

I’m currently reading…:

 It's been exactly 9 years and 11 days since I last got to experience reading a new Harry Potter book for the first time. This is a feeling I genuinely thought I would never get to experience again and I am so, so glad that I get to. When it comes to books, and reading, there is no great joy for a Potterhead than all of the feelings that come from reading a new story about Harry for the first time. The absolute elation, the giddiness, the racing heart and pumping adrenaline. The competing desires to both race through the book to read the entire thing as fast as possible, and take it so slowly so that it's not over are hard to explain to non-readers. I haven't been able to wipe the dopey grin off my face since I opened the book this morning. At the moment I an taking it slowly, not reading it at anywhere near the break neck pace I read Deathly Hallows (607 pages in about 8 hours on the day it came out, including food and bathroom breaks while talking to Angie on AIM). I'm conflicted because I want to read the entire thing today, I want to devour it...but I also know that, again, this could be the last time I ever get to read a new Harry Potter book, and that's emotional. That's all I'm going to say about it thought because I promised Angie that I wouldn't discuss it anymore until her copy arrives.

          THIS WEEK’S RANDOM QUESTION: Make a sentence from some of the spines of the books on one of your bookshelves.

I may or may not have gone a little over board with this one. I LOVE when people use book spines to create poems or sentences, I've always wanted to do it myself but never have before now. I was always convinced I wouldn't have any book titles that could be put together coherently, I was wrong though. I wandered just the shelves in my rec room (there are many other shelves throughout the house) and actually found quite a few and came up with, in my opinion, a really cool sentence. Which would probably read as a paragraph if I hadn't gotten creative with the punctuation:

-- Override -- Ready player one: the dark is rising, daughter of flames...what our eyes have witnessed; this savage song, days of blood and starlight in the forests of the night...strangers in the land, under the mountain, looking for Alaska; brave new world, clouded vision...the Lost Hero, soulless, out for blood; and another thing...do androids dream of electric sheep? -- Shutdown --

Musing Mondays - I like big books and I cannot lie

Musing Mondays - July 25, 2016

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme that asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer:

• I’m currently reading…

• Up next I think I’ll read…

• I bought the following book(s) in the past week…

• I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…

• I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…

• I can’t wait to get a copy of…

• I wish I could read ___, but…

• I blogged about ____ this past week…

I’m currently reading…:

At the moment I am reading Nimona and I am about halfway through it after starting it just before bed last night. I'd heard of this book before in passing, never anything about it just that it was called Nimona and that it was a graphic novel and that one of the writers of Lumberjanes (another thing I've been meaning to check out) wrote it. I never actually thought about reading it, not until the Student Assistant in my office, Sophia, recommended it to me telling me that she thought I would like it because she had just finished reading our library's copy. I immediately went to grab it from the shelf, but it wasn't there, so I put a hold on it so our other Student Assistant would also be trying to find it for me. In the end it took about a week to find, we figured it must be missing, so I mentioned that to Sophia and she said she was SURE she'd seen it, so she went to where she'd seen it and it was there, it was just mishelved. It's been sitting on my shelf for the last few weeks waiting for me to get to it, and after reading In Odd We Trust this past Friday/Saturday I decided to have a graphic novel weekend and start reading it last night.

So far I am very, very much enjoying it and I fully expect to finish it if not tonight, then tomorrow morning before work for sure. It's fun, funny, colourful and cute. The synopsis from Goodreads does such a great job describing it:

The graphic novel debut from rising star Noelle Stevenson, based on her beloved and critically acclaimed web comic, which Slate awarded its Cartoonist Studio Prize, calling it "a deadpan epic."

Nemeses! Dragons! Science! Symbolism! All these and more await in this brilliantly subversive, sharply irreverent epic from Noelle Stevenson. Featuring an exclusive epilogue not seen in the web comic, along with bonus conceptual sketches and revised pages throughout, this gorgeous full-color graphic novel is perfect for the legions of fans of the web comic and is sure to win Noelle many new ones.

Nimona is an impulsive young shapeshifter with a knack for villainy. Lord Ballister Blackheart is a villain with a vendetta. As sidekick and supervillain, Nimona and Lord Blackheart are about to wreak some serious havoc. Their mission: prove to the kingdom that Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin and his buddies at the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics aren't the heroes everyone thinks they are.

But as small acts of mischief escalate into a vicious battle, Lord Blackheart realizes that Nimona's powers are as murky and mysterious as her past. And her unpredictable wild side might be more dangerous than he is willing to admit.

          THIS WEEK’S RANDOM QUESTION: What’s your most favorite “chunky” book? (over 500 pages)

Several of my favourite books are "chunky" by this definition. I'm one of those book nerds who really cannot, at all, ever just pick one book. My number 1 favourite is a series, specifically the Harry Potter series and asking me to pick only one of those as a favourite gets you 5 minutes of waffling and an "I don't know I love them all, I can only pick one, probably Prisoner of Azkaban then if you're making me choose." reply. So to answer this question I turned to my "favourites" shelf on Goodreads and decided to pick 3 of those to list here as kind of a top 3.

1. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

The 4th installment of the Harry Potter series clocks in at 636 pages in the Bloomsbury edition, which is the edition that I own. It's probably actually a 3 way tie between GoF, PoA and DH as for which of Harry's adventures is actually my favourite. This one has so much going on and it's all so exciting, this was where things started to get really complex, but still before it started to get really dark. You forget that when you only watch the movie and don't reread the book very often, there's soooooo much more going on in the book. Now I want to reread it again.

2. Outlander

So the first time I read this it was because I had to, that's right it was an assigned reading for a course in my undergraduate diploma. It was back in February of 2006, I remember that because I forced myself to read it over reading week. At 896 pages it's the longest of my 3 choices. In 2006 I was dead set against the romance genre, which, thanks to this book I now know was stupid, but at the time I had a different opinion. So being not at all interested in a romance novel I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy this or not...but then I read the description, sword fighting, the highlands of Scotland, and fierce redheaded warriors it basically had everything I love in it, so I thought it wouldn't be too bad. Well it sucked me right in I absolutely freaking LOVED it. I have since reread it probably a good 12 times. But, I have never read any of the other books in the series, I tried reading the second one and I was just done as all get out after finding out who Jamie hooked himself up with after Claire had to go back to the 40s. People keep telling me I just have to push past that part, maybe I will try one day maybe I won't and I will just continue pretending this is a stand alone novel.

3. A Game of Thrones

I wish I had known about these books before they became an HBO series, but alas I did not. That being said I am thankful to the HBO series for introducing me to them because they are really, REALLY good books. I've never really gotten into watching the show, I read about the show regularly but I've never really watched it. I've read all of the books though, all of the very, very long books. The edition I have of this one is 807 pages. As a series opener it does a really good job of world building and stage setting, and of course being George R.R. Martin, you both meet and say good bye to a very large cast of characters throughout this one book. Definitely puts the epic in epic fantasy series,

Lauren

Unboxing - #owlcrate July 2016 - Evil Box

I've been following Owl Crate for about a year now but I could never justify subscribing to it when I already subscribe to both the Marvel Collector Corps (as seen in my last unboxing post) and the Sci-fi Block; when I saw the theme for this month's box I knew I had to subscribe. A good vs. evil box with guaranteed Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter AND Star Wars items plus a brand new book is too much right up my alley to pass up. There was a 50/50 chance of getting either the good box or the evil box and I got:

evil #owlcrate ftw

I must say I am VERY, VERY pleased with this result. I actually squealed with excitement when I pulled that out of the box and then eagerly got to looking at what my items and book were.

Now I'll give you the low down on each of the items and my thoughts on them.

1. Harry Potter Dementor Funko!POP

Thrilled to see this one in the box. It's one of the HP Funkos that I didn't have yet. I had been waffling about whether or not I actually wanted to get it because in the pictures I had seen of it it looked too creepy. But actually seeing it up close really changed my mind. It's amazing, so detailed and just the right amount of creepy. He is now sitting atop my entertainment unit between my matryoshka doll and my Collector Funko!POP.

2. Death Star necklace

It's a cool necklace. It's made of carved wood which I think it great. I'm not usually one for jewelry (Angie will verify that), and when I do wear stuff it tends to lean away from anything ultra feminine  so this would actually be right up my alley to wear if/when I need a necklace. There's only one problem though, the chain is too short for me, boo. So I will try to put it on a longer chain, or I will give it to my cousin Evie for christmas, she likes Star Wars and jewelry.

3. Queen of Hearts magnetic bookmark

I don't tend to use bookmarks, in my own books that is, I always use a marker in a library book or book loaned to me by a friend (in my won books I unabashedly dog ear the pages). Usually though I just use whatever is handy for a marker, today I used my ticket from my trip to Disney in May to mark my place in a graphic novel, but I digress! Yes, I don't normally use bookmarks, but I am a HUGE Alice in Wonderland fan so this one is definitely one that I will use very happily.

4. "Am I not Merciful?" sticker

I could not place this quote but I love it, it's a fantastic quote. So then I reread the evil card that describes the items to see what book it's from, and it's from a book I've never heard of but am now definitely going to seek out. The book in question is, Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff.

5. This Savage Song

This is Victoria Schwab's (aka V.E. Schwab) newest book. I have been wanting to read one of her books every since I saw A Darker Shade of Magic in one of the previous Owl Crates but I never did manage to get around to it. Now I have the perfect excuse for getting around to it :D. Definitely looking forward to reading this one. The summary is very intriguing.

There’s no such thing as safe in a city at war, a city overrun with monsters. In this dark urban fantasy from author Victoria Schwab, a young woman and a young man must choose whether to become heroes or villains—and friends or enemies—with the future of their home at stake. The first of two books.
Kate Harker and August Flynn are the heirs to a divided city—a city where the violence has begun to breed actual monsters. All Kate wants is to be as ruthless as her father, who lets the monsters roam free and makes the humans pay for his protection. All August wants is to be human, as good-hearted as his own father, to play a bigger role in protecting the innocent—but he’s one of the monsters. One who can steal a soul with a simple strain of music. When the chance arises to keep an eye on Kate, who’s just been kicked out of her sixth boarding school and returned home, August jumps at it. But Kate discovers August’s secret, and after a failed assassination attempt the pair must flee for their lives.

As you can see in the photo above, the book came wrapped in plastic and there were a couple of more items hidden in the plastic behind the book:

That right there everyone is a hand written and signed note from Victoria Schwab herself describing the book and telling me to enjoy it, along with an autographed book plate and a teeny little colouring book of YA book covers.

Overall for my first experience with #owlcrate I really couldn't be more pleased! I was thinking about cancelling the subscription right away but after how happy I was with this box I think I will keep it going to see if I can hit good twice and be just as happy with the box for next month, because my Sci-Fi blocks can be a little hit or miss (this month's was such a miss for me that I am not even doing an unboxing.)

Lauren

Tasty Tuesdays - Sweet vs Savoury and recipe for Rocky Road bites

Hi guys

Angie here again.  So the topic of diets and calorie counting comes up where I work on a daily basis.  I am on a team which consists primarily of women and it's inevitable that the subject of food and weight is alluded to.  I know of at least four people on Slimming World, of which I am one.  A couple are just watching their weight but not actively dieting.  Plus there are many more around the office in other teams who follow various plans and diets.

So whenever the subject arises, there is usually the debate over sweet vs savoury.  What's the thing you hate giving up most when dieting?  For a lot of people it's chocolate and cakes etc, the sweet group.  But I would say for just as many its the savoury side such as crisps and pastry etc.

I, for one fall into the latter category.  Ask me to give up chocolate and it's no problem, I don't even crave it and would happily walk past a Mars Bar without blinking.  But ask me to give up crisps and I'll turn into the Incredible Hulk.  I could never and would never give up savoury snacks for any diet and the beauty of Slimming World is that I don't have to, I only have to limit the amount I eat.  Moderation is the key.

But for all you sweet toothed lovelies out there, here is my (NON SW) recipe for Rocky Road


You will need :-

• 300g dark chocolate
• 100g milk chocolate
• 4 tbsps golden syrup
• 150g butter
• 175g digestive biscuits
• 150g macademia nuts
• 150g pink & white mini marshamallows

23cm (9in) square baking tin

        1. Line the baking tin with clingfilm

        2. Put the plain chocolate and milk chocolate into a large saucepan and add the golden syrup and butter.  Place over a low heat and heat gently, stirring constantly, until all the ingredients have melted.  Remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly.

        3. Crush the biscuits into small pieces and then roughly chop the macademia nuts.  Add them to the saucepan with the mini marshmallows and stir until well mixed.  Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and refrigerate for at least 2 hours until the chocolate has set.  Cut the rocky road into small bite sized squares to serve.

Nom nom nom!

Musing Mondays - Spoilers make me mad sometimes & if two of my fave authors would pair up it would be awesome

Musing Mondays - July 18, 2016

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme that asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer:

• I’m currently reading…

• Up next I think I’ll read…

• I bought the following book(s) in the past week…

• I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…

• I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…

• I can’t wait to get a copy of…

• I wish I could read ___, but…

• I blogged about ____ this past week…

I'm (still) really upset by (book/author/bookish-news):

A few weeks back, maybe about a month ago, (not sure really because I keep trying to forget but random things keep reminding me which makes that hard to do) I was scrolling through my pages feed on Facebook and I accidentally read a major spoiler for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. I didn't plan to, I was looking at funny pictures and one was an interesting headcanon, then I made the mistake of reading the comments on that image, in which someone confirmed that that particular headcanon was now canon thanks to Cursed Child. And now it won't leave my head so I am still really angry about that. Sometimes I manage to not think about it but then something random makes it pop right back in there, and if it really is true it's basically ruined the entire twist of the play for me.

          THIS WEEK’S RANDOM QUESTION: Finish the sentence: “If _____ and _____ were to get together and write a book…”

There are so many interesting options I can think of for this, but I think the combination that would really, really be awesome is:

If Rick Riordan and Patricia C. Wrede were to get together and write a book…it would probably the most sarcastic YA mythological book series ever written, with the most badass strong female character at the centre. Rioran specialises in YA modern mythological stories, with Percy Jackson being his most well known of course. These two number among my favourite authors, they're both probably tied right behind JK Rowling actually. One of the best things about Riordan's books is how funny they all are and how sarcastic his characters can be. He also writes pretty good female characters like Annabeth Chase, Sadie Kane, Thalia Grace and Piper McLean to name a select few. He's had a few female POV characters, but Sadie is the closest he's ever come to having a female MAIN character. On the other hand we have Wrede, who is known for her middle grade/YA fantasies like the Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Cecelia & Kate, and Frontier Magic among others. The main reason I name those three series specifically is that they all have one thing that Riordan's books don't, really badass female characters as the main characters in the story. Cimorene from the Enchanted Forest series is one of my favourite characters of all time. She's competent, smart, sarcastic, and funny. So I think if you take two witty, sarcastic authors who both specialise in fantastical YA and mash them together they'd do a beautiful job with a mythological storyline and finally give me something I've always wanted, a Riordan book with a female main character.

Lauren