About a Book in Four Pictures: Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Inspired by Kyle Tezak and his Four Icon Challenge, I will be creating four pictures on my own - or I will borrow from the internet - that will tell you about a certain  book.  Like book reviews, this will help you learn more about some books out there but without having to read lengthy analysis of plots/characters/etc.  This feature will help feed your curiosity about a particular story in the briefest - and more visual - way possible. 

This week's featured book is Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson.  I loved this story, even though the tone was a bit too morbid and poignant.  But it was a really great book, no matter if you want to read it for deeper understanding of eating disorders, or just for a good story. 

From the pictures above, you can now understand that a significant event in Lia Overbrook's life happens in a motel, where her best friend Cassie dies, alone.  She called Lia thirty-three times on her cell phone before she died.  Both Lia and Cassie have eating disorders and even had a pact that they would be the skinniest girls ever.  Apart from this sick goal, Lia also cuts herself in order to ignore some things that she struggles to 'un-feel' within herself.  

I know, it's pretty depressing, but once you get to the end, you will agree that it was more than worth it.

Interested about Lia and Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson?  Check this out:

My book review of Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

ARGH! An Interview with Lord Arkus from the Book, My Sparkling Misfortune by Laura Lond

First of all, let me just assure you that no monsters and/or villains were harmed during this interview.

Next, I would just like all of you to know that it was ARGH who insisted in doing this interview with the famed villain Lord Arkus of My Sparkling Misfortune fame, therefore, should there have been traumatic incidences that occurred during the interview, I am in no way liable.

That said, I'm letting ARGH take the wheel now and I hope you like our beloved monster's first foray into journalism.  Enjoy!

 

Come on, Nina, don't you have any faith in me?  I know how to handle this, I keep telling you that.  Lord Arkus is not dangerous, and besides, all questions I ask him are screened by the ever-present author, Laura Lond, who assures me Lord Arkus cannot hunt me down.

So, hello dear readers!  I am ARGH.  But you already know that.  Well, I'm here to present to you the awesomest character interview in the history of character interviews because Lord Arkus, villain of all villains, the blackest of hearts, and the soulless of all soulless has graced this blog with his presence as he submits himself to an interview and promises not to hit me.

You don't happen to slay monsters, do you?

No, no need to worry. That’s heroic stuff, I don’t do that.

Can you tell us something about yourself that nobody knows?

But as soon as I tell you, everyone will know. So there’s no point.

So you're a villain, can you tell us how that feels?

It’s fun in many ways, you get to set your own rules. But if you are considering this path, I must warn you that villainy is a lonely profession. And you have to always watch your back.

Most villains have a history of how they became a villain.  Can you give us a background on how you came to be?

Well, I am not usually open to sharing personal things like that, in fact I guard my early history, but I suppose there’s no harm if your readers know -- after all, it’s not likely that they make their way into my realm and start talking. So I’ll reveal some of it. I had chosen this fine profession when, as a very young man, I had lost a close friend, and on top of that found myself accused of things I had not done. I figured it was not worth it to try to prove them all wrong -- and I enjoyed their fear of me. So I had embraced this path and proceeded to earn my reputation of a villain.

When did you decide to write your life story?  And what was your aim? 

I thought it was about time a villain had his say. Have you noticed how villains are usually portrayed in books? More like props to move the story along rather than real characters. They are rarely heard or given a chance, they are often misrepresented and underestimated. The latter is fine with me, because when I turn out to be smarter than someone thought, I win. But the overall situation is, well, rather offensive. I thought a book like mine might help to set the record straight.

What are three things that make you most happy?

That would be getting even with enemies, getting even with enemies, and getting even with enemies.

What are books that you love to read?

I like adventure, preferably with sword fights. And of course a respectable villain in the story is always a plus.

I noticed that instead of your name, this book you wrote carries Laura Lond's name.  Do you know her?  And why not your name?

This is something I hope to straighten out someday. Ms. Lond helped to make my book available in your world; I had agreed to it since I did not know how to do it myself, but I had no idea she would put her name on it! If she was a man, I would have challenged her to a duel.

What can we expect from Lord Arkus in the future?  Any plans to conquer the United States?

Luckily for the United States, I reside in a different realm, so the answer is no. But you do have something to look forward to: I am working on a sequel to My Sparkling Misfortune. It will be titled My Royal Pain Quest.

Would you be interested in having a monster in your employ?  I'm not paid much for this book blogging job.

Can you roar and look scary? Those would be the primary qualifications. I do have goblins and other scary things in Arkusville, and there’s always room for more.

-----
Thank you so much, Lord Arkus for answering my questions, and for not hurting me! I enjoyed being in the presence of such villainy and greatness, I was really itching to join his army.  Unfortunately, though, I could not roar, and try as I might, I will never look scary.  What with my spongy body and overall cuteness, I am doomed to look cute forever.  So goodbye, badass monster dreams.  But I am glad that I finally have an awesome villain friend, they're so difficult to find these days.

Quiz: The Ultimate Twilight Saga

Okay, I will now finally admit to you:  There are three book series in the world that I have not yet read, ever.  The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins, Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling, and The Lord of the RingsTwilight series by Stephenie Mayer I have finished every book, except the novella about Bree Tanner.  Why?  You ask me, when I do not even like series books, let alone paranormal fiction, and especially vampires?  It is because of the pure and simple reason that I did not have anything better to do. by J.R.R. Tolkien.  

You see, I read the complete series at work.  My first job was not as a nurse, I was working as a 'glorified typist' who reviewed medical records day in and day out.  I sat in front of the computer and typed eight to sixteen hours in a day, five days a week.  There were times when I would get really bored and tired with what I was doing and my wrists would ache and shake with all the typing I did.  So one day, I found this folder on my computer (which was also used by other employees) that contained all these digital books and one of them was the Twilight series.  I read them all, and I was able to finish them in one week, while keeping ahead of my deadlines.  Reading books energized me, even though what I read was not something I was totally into.

Word of caution though:  Never, ever, ever do what I did, it might get you fired.

I later learned that those books belonged to my boss.

Again, thank you to ProProfs.com and Twilight Obsessed for this quiz!

And don't forget to share your result!  As for mine, well it's safe to say that I failed, despite my reading the complete series.  :D

Quiz: Which Romeo and Juliet Character Are You?

If I am being such a cynic, I would say that Romeo and Juliet is not a love story, but a long-winded, undeserved tribute to two spoiled children who would not listen to their parents and killed themselves because they could not have their own way.

But I am not a cynic, although I am not a romantic either.  But I do appreciate the story and the lesson within its words and events.  So for this week, I would like to see which Romeo & Juliet character each of us are like by answering this quiz from ProProfs.com by Natalie Sung.

Curious about what I got?  Here goes:

My Result: Friar Lawrence on quiz: Which Romeo & Juliet character are you??! You are very intelligent in many things and from experience, you are wise and usually give advice to other friends. Your friends always come to you when in need of help, and you are always willing to do anything in order to help them. You are loyal and can keep a secret well. However, you try to tell the truth as often as possible. You want to keep a good reputation and will sometimes disappoint people to keep it. (You gave poison to Juliet. Enough said) Quiz Maker Take this quiz & get your result

I poisoned Juliet!!!

So what character are you?

Quiz: Are These Authors Dead or Alive?

Hello again  for another quiz!  This time, we are doing something different, we are going to guess whether the given authors are dead or still alive.  I don't know about you, but I only got six correct out of ten questions, and I was a bit ashamed of myself because I considered myself a fan of some that I got wrong.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this quiz.  Just ignore the description below and go on and click Start.  This quiz is brought to us again by ProProfs.com and created by abcblog.

Share your results, okay?

Quiz: Which Hunger Games Character Are You Most Like?

 

The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins is one of those, I'm ashamed to say, books that I have never read yet - like Harry Potter.  But despite that, I am still interested by its story and might read the books in the future.  But for now, let's just get into a fun quiz mode, courtesy of ProProfs.com and the creator of this particular quiz, bmckg.

I did not answer the quiz yet because I did not want to spoil the excitement for when I decide to read the books.  But I will answer this once I'm done reading.  This quiz is mainly for those who have read the books, which is probably everybody - except me.

Don't forget to share your quiz result on the Comments section so you could compare your answers with everyone!

 

Quiz: Which Harry Potter Adult Character Are You Most Compatible With?

I am back with another quiz!  I wanted to do something really book-related but have decided that 'How Much Do You Know About Harry Potter' quizzes are already too common, and besides, I've never read Harry so it's sort of inappropriate and unfair.  Maybe when I've decided to change my mind and read up on all the books then I might put up that sort of quiz here, using all that I have learned.  But for now, for something different, let's see who we are most compatible with among the adult characters from that famous series, thanks to ameliasnape12345678 from again, ProProfs.com.

Have fun and don't forget to share your quiz result in the Comments section all right?

I got Dumbledore, and though I haven't read any of the books, I have an idea about him during hour-long sessions of Harry Potter fan-girl talk between two of my friends. I think he's kinda cute, but I heard he's gay, right?

About a Book in Four Pictures: Life on the Refrigerator Door by Alice Kuipers

Inspired by Kyle Tezak and his Four Icon Challenge, I will be creating four pictures on my own - or I will borrow from the internet - that will tell you about a certain  book.  Like book reviews, this will help you learn more about some books out there but without having to read lengthy analysis of plots/characters/etc.  This feature will help feed your curiosity about a particular story in the briefest - and more visual - way possible.  

I was so excited to create another four-picture book synopsis that after posting the introductory post to About a Book in Four Pictures, I immediately screwed my brain up to think of a new book to work on.  For this week, I scoured my bookshelves for a pretty interesting - yet underrated - book that everybody's sure to love.  And I came up with Life on the Refrigerator Door by Alice Kuipers. 

It's all in pink!!!

From the pictures above, this book is all about a mother who is a doctor, and her teenage daughter who lives in the same house but rarely sees each other.  The most common way that they communicate is by leaving notes on the refrigerator.  This story is told through notes posted for mother and daughter that suddenly unravels in the event of shocking news. 

Want to learn more?  Check out the following:

My book review of Life on the Refrigerator Door

My interview with Alice Kuipers

Life on the Refrigerator Door by Alice Kuipers on Goodreads

Quiz: How Well Do You Know These Teen Fiction Book Covers?

And I am back with another fun quiz courtesy of ProProfs.com and today's quiz maker, emagain.  I literally squealed with delight when I found this quiz on that site as I was really looking for something fun and a bit challenging.  And book related.  Have you noticed that I have been posting quizzes every week now?  I thought this would be great entertainment for us readers and bloggers while we are not thinking about reading and/or blogging, which is what?  Less than one percent at a time?  I know, we are all totally hooked on books and even these quizzes I grab are book-related, but that does not mean we can't enjoy it, right?

So enjoy answering this quiz and you can brag (or rant - whichever way is allowed) about your scores in the comments section.  Game!

Was it too hard/easy?  Are you having fun yet?  There were some books in there that I got really curious about and darn, my TBR pile just got bigger!

UPDATE:  I forgot to include my score when I did this quiz, I got 17 out 20 correct.  Not bad, right?  Maybe hanging out at bookstores does help.  :D

About a Book in Four Pictures

This is a new feature on my blog, Brush Up On Your Reading, inspired by Kyle Tezak and his Four Icon Challenge.  On this segment, I will tell you about a book - it could either be something I've already read or not - using four pictures that I will draw mostly, but sometimes I might also use some pictures from the internet (which will be credited).  Through my pictures, you will try to understand the plot of the story.

Here is an example that will also serve as my very first About a Book post:

I am basing this story on the native story and not the Red Riding Hood book and movie version that were just recently released.

So from the picture, we can infer that it is a story about a girl who wears a read hood that a wolf wanted to eat.  She picks flowers on her way to her grandmother's house and while doing so, the wolf sneaks into the house and eats her grandmother whole and disguises himself as the granny.  When Little Red Riding Hood arrives, she was eventually eaten by the wolf but a huntsman who's after the wolf's skin rescues them by cutting the wolf's belly with an ax and the girl and her grandmother gets out.

I will be doing this randomly, I do not really have a set schedule for this post so better stay tuned to catch my next posts.

 

Quiz: If Your Life Story Was A Book, What Book Would It Be?

Ever wondered how your life story would turn out if a book was written about it?  Did you ever feel like your life could have been a book bestseller but you just weren't sure if writing an autobiography is the way to go?  Well, here's your chance to find out!

I would like to think that my life is simple enough and not that worth too much attention.  Certainly not book worthy.  But it would be thrilling to find a book that would relate to my life story.  So when I found this quiz on ProProfs Quiz Maker from adamadamadam, I answered it and was surprised to find that my book would be The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.  One of my favorite books of all time!  I used to think that Holden and I had a lot of things in common so this result was really awesome. 

Take the quiz now to  find out what book your life story would be!

It would be awesome if you could share your quiz result in the comments section.  Let's have some fun comparing answers!

Feature: Audrey Hepburn and Her Timeless Style

Recently, I picked up a copy of Audrey Style, a book about Audrey Hepburn's style AND lifestyle, by Pamela Clarke Keogh.  I am a very big Audrey fan and this is my first ever book of her.  Reading through it made me believe more in the extraordinary character that she is on- and off-screen. 

I was supposed to write a book review of the above-mentioned book but I was too thrilled to tell you about that book's subject so I'm going ahead with that instead.

With more than one hundred photographs in the book of this beautiful lady, her simple, sleek, and classy style is clearly appreciated.  What is more interesting to note is that most - if not all - of her ensembles are still workable in today's fashions, if not the basic foundation of most outfits.  They would forever be timeless, yet modern.

Her appeal, I found on further reading and research, also extended on her book choices.  Some of her favorite books included:  The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Heidi by Johanna Spyri, and of course, Anne Frank:  The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank.  It is interesting to note that a celebrity of her magnitude still found time to read and be affected by the books she read.  According to her, reading Anne Frank's diary  "devastated her." (Keogh, 196)  She also added that it was a complete account of what she went through in those hard times.  They were the same age when World War II happened and the experience was something that stayed with her throughout her life - unlike Anne Frank who did not survive the war.

I know that this post is totally off-topic since I talked more about a person that the book, but I hope that you would still enjoy reading this as I really had fun writing it :D

Some really fabulous Audrey-inspired outfits:

Breakfast at Tiffany's by Marianna♫ featuring velvet evening dresses

Roman Holiday by audrey2323

Untitled by anebe (off for a while)

 Some Audrey Hepburn Trivia:

1. She once kept a pet fawn named Ip which her then-husband Mel Ferrer gave her in preparation for her role in Green Mansions.
2. She agreed to play Maid Marian opposite to Sean Connery as Robin Hood in the movie Robin and Marian partly because her sons wanted to finally meet Sean Connery who was then-James Bond.
3. On her first meeting with Cary Grant (Charade), she accidentally knocked an entire bottle of red wine all over the latter's suit.

Another trivia:  She draws, and quite beautifully too!  Check out some of her drawings:

Awesome, right?  

The Zombie Survival Quiz

I'm not much of a paranormal fiction fan, but I like me some zombie stories - especially funny ones like I Kissed A Zombie and I Liked It by Adam Selzer, and of course, The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks.  But once those zombie stories come true, they would not be funny, ever.  So in this quiz from ProProfs by deadishere, check out if you can survive the undead horror that are zombies:

Want to know my result?  Here's what I got:

I will survive!  Yeah!


Tell me what you get okay?

ARGH! An Interview

We've known him for quite some time now, and he's actually one of the best form of entertainment on this blog.  For a time now, we've been laughing at ARGH's antics and his insane love of meatballs.  But what do we really know about this green bookish monster?  Time to find out!

I got ARGH to do an interview but reading through it again, I am a bit doubtful if it was any help at all.  But I still posted it, if only for laughter's sake.

So here goes:

Tell us something about you that we don't know yet.

I am the reincarnation of the Lochness monster but I was born to gentle parents with better family dynamics - which made me less harmful.

I also have this little crush on that girl who played Bella on Twilight.  If I was asked, I would agree to replace Rob Pattinson in a heartbeat!

So it's okay to call you Nessie sometimes?

No!

Aside from meatballs, what else makes you happy?

The color green, the sound of book pages being turned, wrestling, meatball ice cream, Glee, and karaoke nights!

I didn't know you can sing.

You're too busy hoarding the mic to notice.  If you must know, I am related to the great Fred Astaire on my mother's side.  

Really?

Yes!  He is brother to uncle of the cousin of the grandfather of my mother's grandmother's cousin.

So a really obscure and distant relation.

But still related!

You know ARGH, Fred Astaire is more known for his dancing so that should make you a better dancer, not singer.  

Whatever.  You need to have a good ear for music to do both.  And dancing's such a chore.  My flabs get smaller if I dance. 

What kinds of books do you like?

I want whatever you're having.  Wait, you asked about books, right?  I thought we were ordering food.  I like reading thrillers, murder mysteries, and contemporary fiction.  I also like the classics and a little dose of graphic novels.  

We've been together for a few months now.  Any plans to write a book review?

Someday, sure!  But I'm not a very good objective reader and you would have to do a lot of heavy editing to keep us from trouble.  I am better at showcasing your features and doing cute and funny poses for your blog.  In short, I'm better at doing looks.  You take care of the brains.

I am sure I look better than you.

I bet a lot of readers will disagree.

Whatever.  Aside from reading, how else do you pass the time?

Watching TV.  As I told you, I love Glee - I have a little crush on Lauren Zizes!  I also love sleeping and dreaming of meatballs.

So aside from gorging on meatballs, you also like dreaming about them.

Of course!  That's the key to a long and healthy life.

*Rolls eyes*  Any plans for the future?

Appearing on TV commercials, replacing Rob Pattinson in the Breaking Dawn movie - why not have Bella fall in love with a fluffy monster for a change?  I am sure I look better than Rob anyway - write a tell-all book, run for President, and eat as much meatballs as I can.

Write a tell-all book?  What are you going to talk about?

The life and struggles of a fluffy green monster like me.  My pain and suffering, my hopes and dreams - very intriguing story!

But you just said that you dream about meatballs.

I said I love dreaming about them, but I also have non-meatball dreams.

Like what?

Replacing Rob Pattinson.

Clearly this interview is going nowhere but meatballs, Rob Pattinson, and other ARGH stuff.  Before we end this interview, do you have any message to our readers?

We're finished?  But I haven't sang yet.  Oh well, to all the readers:  Thank you so much for following this blog.  I know that the only reason you stay tuned is because of my irresistible cuteness.  I can't imagine you sticking around for others stuff, like Nina's book reviews - BORING!  It's sad that you won't hear me sing right now, but I promise you I'll put up my own music video soon, so prepare to be amazed!

-----

Okay, that went well.  I don't know how he will manage to shoot his own video considering he's took big for a regular video camera - I am actually standing on a spot near his ear while doing this interview - but maybe he'll surprise us.

To connect with ARGH, tweet him a message on our Twitter account - he handles the sweet tweets!

Quiz: What Kind of Bookworm Are You?

I have another quiz again for you!  This time, it's sort of a personality that I got from Shanna Miles on ProProfs.com - I would have loved to make a quiz of my own but what with lack of time, I had to make do with this.  But it's really fun and it's nice to get to know what kind of book lover we are.

After taking this quiz, I would love if you could take the time to comment on what you got, it would be fun to compare results!

What Kind of Bookworm am I? » funny quizzes

Lots of Things to Tell You About...

First of all, I'd like to tell you about an exciting giveaway over at Ao's blog, aobibliophile.  He just did an amazing bibliochat with author Laurie Bower who wrote the books Moon Rising and Sunrise To Sunset.  Judging from his book reviews (click on the above titles for Ao's reviews), they sound like really awesome reads and all you fans of the paranormal genre would surely love it.  Ao made the contest really easy, he is going to pick FIVE WINNERS and give them a copy each of Moon Rising and Sunrise To Sunset courtesy of Laurie Bower.  Just head on over to his blog and comment on his interview with Laurie Bower and fill out the giveaway form.  Contest ends February 23 so go on, join in the fun, and goodluck!

Next, we have an upcoming interview with a really cool author, Haresh Daswani, and if you've been following my blog lately, you'd know that I really look up to him and his book, Evolution of Insanity is a great read in my opinion.  Watch out for that interview and a cool guest post from him!

Speaking of interviews, I'd like to announce that I just did my first-ever interview over at Amber's blog, AwesomeSauce Book Club.  It's going to be published on February 25 and I am begging inviting you to watch out for that and see for yourself how I made a fool of myself fared on the other side of the interview table.  And if you are interested to be interviewed yourself by Amber, just comment on her post about Looking for Bloggers Who Want to be Interviewed on her terrific blog.  I repeat, February 25 on Amber's AwesomeSauce Book Club!

And last, because this post is so full of interviews, ARGH has finally persuaded me to do an interview with him!  Watch out for ARGH's interview here some time next week, as he attempts to show shows his serious and intelligent side.

So that's all for now, have a great week and happy blogging!  Stay awesome!

I Am Back: Answers to the Quiz

If you noticed, I have been gone for a few days - been really busy and could not update my blog as much as I wanted to anymore.  So please bear with me.  I would try to schedule posts to keep this blog as current as possible and would try to visit as soon as I can.

Okay, onto better things, I made you answer a short quiz on Valentine's Day that I was supposed to post the answers last Thursday.  However, Thursday rolled in and I was too busy.  So now, I'm giving you the answers to the quiz:

1.  How do you place an elephant inside a refrigerator?

     -Open the fridge, take out all its contents, then put the elephant inside.

2.  How do you place a giraffe inside a refrigerator?

     -Open the fridge, take out the elephant, and put the giraffe in.

3.  The lion king called for a meeting in the jungle and all animals must attend. Which animal do you think would not be able to make it? 

     -The giraffe, since it's still inside the fridge.

4.  If you have to cross a bridge and there were lots of crocodiles, how would you cross it? 

     -You just cross it, the crocodiles are in the meeting anyway!

I told you it's going to be funnier!