Friday: Music and Must Reads

Welcome to Epic (Chocolate) Fantasy, where I read all sorts of fantasy books and apply my pen to paper, metaphorically of course, to review them. If you're an old follower and you think you've knocked on the wrong door, don't run away! I've just been playing with my template.

Follow Friday is a weekly blog hop hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee. This week's features are Musings of a Book Lover and Badass Book Reviews.

Because of the whole GFC thing, I've added options to follow by email and to add the blog's RSS feed to your reader.
This week's question is...

Many readers/bloggers are also big music fans. Tell us a few of your favorite bands/singers that we should listen to in 2012.

*Laughs.* I am such a sucker for feel-good or dramatic music. I love The Beatles, Wicked, Disney, Third Eye Blind, The Goo Goo Dolls, CCR, etc. My current favorite is the song from the end of Gladiator (which also happens to be my favorite movie), "Now We Are Free."


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TGIF is a meme hosted by Ginger at GReads.

This week's question is...

Which books are at the top of your TBR list this year?


Um...all of them? Haha, I wish. I really can't wait to read the next books in some of my favorite series like Kate Daniels, the Dresden Files, the Hollows, the new Fever world series, and so on. But there are also some older books I've been meaning to get to.

Friday: Unread Books and Resolutions

Follow Friday is a weekly blog hop hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee. This week's features are Pawing Through Books and Book Den.

Because of the future disappearance of GFC, I've added options to follow by email and to add the blog's RSS feed to your reader.
This week's question is...

Go count the unread books on your shelf. How many?

Okay. So actual physical books, only 10-15. Kindle books, a lot, because I pick up random free ones and then forget about them! I'm doing the TBR challenge this year though so hopefully I'll get through some of them. 
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TGIF is a meme hosted by Ginger at GReads.

This week's question is...

What are some of your reading challenges for the new year?


I've challenged myself to read 250 books this year! I'm also participating in several blog challenges, which you can see here, and I'm planning to do the 24 hour Read-A-Thon again this year. Do you have any fun new challenges? (Please say no, I can't handle any more!)

Friday: Inside a Book

Follow Friday is a weekly blog hop hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee. This week's features are From the Shadows I Review and Ce-Ce's Garden of Reviews.
Because of the future disappearance of GFC, I've added options to follow by email and to add the blog's RSS feed to your reader.
This week's question is...

If you had to spend eternity inside the pages of a book, which book would you choose and why?

I shall assume that this question is meant figuratively and not literally, because literally would be both painful and gruesome.

Figuratively, it requires Much Thought. I'm tempted to go with the easy answer of Harry Potter, because I do love it dearly and it would be a great world to live in. (I'm also assuming that in this figurative situation I get to have magical powers. Otherwise my life is exactly the same there as it is here, which is no fun at all.) However, I also think it would be really cool to be an Aes Sedai in The Wheel of Time. I would be Green Ajah, naturally. And I would live in the Borderlands and fight Trollocs and have Borderland Warders.

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TGIF is a meme hosted by Ginger at GReads.

This week's question is...

Which books made it to your Christmas wish list this year?

Since this was the topic of this week's Top Ten Tuesday, I'll send you there for the whole list. But the book I'm most looking forward to is Fate's Edge by Ilona Andrews (The Edge #3). I love everything they've ever written, and I can't wait to read their newest book!

Friday: Old Books and Blog Posts

Follow Friday is a weekly blog hop hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee. This week's features are Books Are Vital and Once Upon a Time.
Because of the future disappearance of GFC, I've added options to follow by email and to add the blog's RSS feed to your reader.
This week's question is...
When you've read a book, what do you do with it?
Normally I keep books because I re-read all the books that I don't hate. I read too fast to buy a new book every time I finish an old one, so re-reading is good for me! If I don't like a book, I'll take it to the used bookstore, where I trade it in for credit for NEW BOOKS. And then the cycle continues. I'm really terrible, though; I can rarely walk into a bookstore without buying something! So I have a lot of books.

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TGIF is a meme hosted by Ginger at GReads.

This week's question is...

What blog post has gotten the most comments/activity on your blog this year?


Aside from memes and blog hops and so forth, I think my most popular posts have been the one where I made up a scale for urban fantasy/paranormal romance, my rhyming review of Harry Potter, and, randomly, my review of The Hollows Insider. (I still don't understand that last one, but it has more than twice as many views as most of my other reviews...maybe my followers are big fans of The Hollows?)

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This week at Epic (Chocolate) Fantasy:
Recipe: Pumpkin Cookies
Review: Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare
Review: Where She Went by Gayle Forman
Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
Not A Review: The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Review: Feyland by Anthea Sharp

Friday: Giving Books and Adapting Movies

Follow Friday is a weekly blog hop hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee. This week's features are Anonymous Reads and Keeping up with Roxy's Books.
This week's question is...
What book do you think EVERYONE should read and, if you could, would you give to all your family and friends?
Tough choice - I'm really bad at picking favorites! There's Harry Potter, of course, but I'm just going to assume pretty much everyone has already read that. I love everything by Jennifer Fallon, Guy Gavriel Kay, and Robin McKinley, so I might say The Immortal Prince or The Lions of Al-Rassan or Sunshine, but maybe those are too genre-specific to apply to EVERYONE. Karen Moning's Fever series was absolutely riveting, but that has the same problem as before. (Anyone noticing a trend in my book choices?) I think, if I were to pick a book for EVERYONE to read, it would have to be Mercury Falls by Robert Kroese, first because it is wonderfully witty and a spectacular story, and second because it's about the Apocalypse, and as everyone knows, the world is going to end next year. So it might help to prepare, at the end of the world as we know it, to, you know, feel fine.

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TGIF is a meme hosted by Ginger at GReads.

This week's question is...

Which book-turned-movie do you feel did the best adaptation? What about the worst?

I generally don't much like movie adaptations that I watch after I've read the books. So my favorites are ones for which I've never picked up the books they're based on - The Bourne Identity, Fight Club, The Princess Bride, and so forth. (I finally got The Princess Bride a couple weeks ago, so I'll be reading it soon! Please don't hate me!) I don't know if there's a particular adaptation I thought was the worst, I'm just not a big fan of them. Anyone seen any real disasters?

This week on Epic (Chocolate) Fantasy:


Review: Drink Deep by Chloe Neill
New O.W.L-Style Ratings
Review: Beyond the Shadows by Brent Weeks
Recipe: Blackened Chicken
My 2012 Reading Challenges
Review: Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah

Friday

Follow Friday is a weekly blog hop hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee. This week's features Lauren Gets Literal are and FicBookReviews.
This week's question is...
What is your biggest pet peeve when it comes to books?
I actually already wrote a post about things I dislike in books. However, I'll be a little less serious here and point out that far too often people misuse words like "nonplussed" (actually means perturbed or surprised), which is something that makes me go a little crazy. I freely admit to being a total grammar nerd! So any sort of divergence from correct usage makes me twitchy.

Just like this. And then I cry a little.

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TGIF is a meme hosted by Ginger at GReads.

This week's question is...

What's your process for writing book reviews? Any tips or suggestions you would recommend to other bloggers?
When I first started writing reviews, they were pretty terrible. (This was my first real review. Don't laugh.) Eventually, because I am bad at quantifying large qualitative concepts, I decided to split up my ratings into plot, characters, and style categories, which also helped me remember what to think about when writing the actual reviews. I've also found that it helps to wait a day or so (but not more than maybe three) before writing a review, especially for books I've really loved or hated. Otherwise you get less than helpful ravings of joy like this or (unpublished) rants.
A last thing that's always fun is to change things up a bit. My friend Chris did a Valley Girl review of Twilight, and another time a few friends and I challenged each other to write rhyming reviews. (Mine was for Harry Potter.)
This week on Epic (Chocolate) Fantasy:Blood Bound by Rachel Vincent reviewThe Next Thing I Knew by John Corwin reviewThe Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan reviewThe Goddess Test by Aimée Carter reviewIf I Stay by Gayle Forman reviewRandom Thoughts: I Need a Hero

Friday Memes 11/18

Follow Friday is a weekly blog hop hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee. This week's features are Lauren's Book Bag and Books and Barks.
This week's question is...
What books do you want for Christmas?
All of them. All the books. 
This is probably not practical. But what I really want for Christmas is for all the books I've been waiting for to be published! Since I can't magically speed up time, for now a few of the books on my wishlist are The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett, Lord of the Fading Lands by C.L. Wilson, and Half-Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout.

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TGIF is a meme hosted by Ginger at GReads.

This week's question is...

Which books are you most thankful for receiving from other bloggers, friends, family members, or publishers?
I'm really happy I discovered the PNR & UF Fanatics group on Goodreads this summer. They've given me so many recommendations, plus sent me some books I wanted! You guys are the best! 

Friday Memes 11/11

Follow Friday is a weekly blog hop hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee. This week's features are Mother Lode and The Book Nympho.
This week's question is...

In light of 11.11.11 and Veteran's Day, tell us about your favorite soldier and how he or she is saving the world. Fictional or real life.

I have two cousins in the military, one in the Air Force and one in the Marines, and I'm very proud of them! Here's hoping all our servicemen and women stay safe, wherever they are.

Fictionally speaking, Gladiator is my favorite movie ever, so the clear winner is Maximus Decimus Meridius. There was a dream that was Rome...

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TGIF is a meme hosted by Ginger at GReads.

This week's question is...

Love-Hate Relationship: which characters from a book do you love to hate?

My first thought here was Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter, of course. He's an obnoxious snot but not actually evil, so it's really quite easy to enjoy hating him!

I also love to hate the Goddess of Pain from Robin McKinley's Sunshine, who is a scary b*tch.

Friday Memes

Follow Friday is a weekly blog hop hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee. This week's features are Sky Ink and The Magic Attic.
This week's question is...
...actually an activity! Share a picture of yourself with your current read!
I'm cheating a little and going with the picture I took for my last post about the Kindle! I just finished The Other Boleyn Girl and I'm not quite sure what to read next - hopefully something more fantasy-oriented, and definitely a little happier! Suggestions welcome :)

TGIF is a meme hosted by Ginger at GReads.

This week's question is...

Gateway books: which particular books opened you up to a new genre?


This is kind of a funny question since I've been reading fantasy pretty much my entire life. But I only recently discovered urban fantasy, and probably the first books of that I read were Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews and Sunshine by Robin McKinley.

Follow Friday (4)

Follow Friday is a weekly blog hop hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee. This week's features are In Which Ems Reviews Books and Reading in the Corner.
This week's question is...
If you could have dinner with your favorite book character, who would you eat with and what would you serve?
Okay, first of all, I am really bad at picking favorites. When people ask me to pick my favorite book, I usually give them a helpless look and shrug because actually listing my favorite books would take far too long and probably bore them. 
However, given that I'm eating dinner with the character, let's arbitrarily limit the pool to characters from a relatively modern version of the world. Otherwise they would totally be freaked out by kitchen appliances and Magic Phone. (This is how I refer to my Android. Don't judge me.) So that leaves us with about half of a gazillion books. (Does anyone know what half a gazillion is?) And because this is a blog hop, let's make it something a little obscure so that I can induce other people to read books I love - hooray brainwashing! 
*flips through mental library*
Aha! I have it. I will have dinner with Mercury from Robert Kroese's Mercury Falls, a brilliant and hilariously irreverent angel. He can do impressive card tricks and make clever dinner conversation. He'll also come in handy if the dinner party somehow gets hit by a Class Five Pillar of Fire. I don't cook all that much, so I think we'll have pasta, but I am all about the baking, so there will be heavenly chocolate cake for dessert (pun absolutely intended).

Follow Friday (3)

Follow Friday is a weekly blog hop hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee. This week's features are Book Savvy Babe and The Bursting Bookshelf.
This week's question is...
What superhero is your alter ego?
I don't know about alter ego, but I've always loved Storm from X-Men. Lightning storms fascinate me - though preferably from inside solid walls of course! And she can fly, which I've always wanted to be able to do. Finally, I love her hair!

Follow Friday (2)

Follow Friday is a meme hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read, and it's a great way to meet new bloggers!
This week's question: If you could have characters from a particular book meet and form an epic storyline with characters from a particular TV series, which would you choose?
I love this question. While the obvious choice here was Twilight and Buffy (and that's definitely a good one), I'm going to try to come up with a little more of an odd couple. 
Option 1: Throw the cast of the The Big Bang Theory into the decidedly non-technology-friendly world of Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels. See how a bunch of nerdy scientists mess things up for Kate and co. Because you know the frequent malfunction of their technology would not stop Sheldon and the gang. They'd probably come up with some kind of device that makes technology work all the time...what? We already had that? Okay, moving on...
Option 2: Shawn and Gus from Psych meet the apparently superstitious and gullible inhabitants of the world of Jennifer Fallon's Second Sons trilogy. Watch Shawn take over the world by convincing people of his psychic "gift."
Option 3: Okay, you know what, I really do want to see Buffy and Twilight together. Please? Pretty please?

Feature and Follow Friday!

I just discovered Feature and Follow Friday, a meme hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. This is a great way to meet new bloggers and increase your followers! This week's question:

If you could pick one character in a book, movie, or television show to swap places with, who would it be?

Wow. That is an incredibly difficult question! I think I would trade with Kate Daniels (Magic Bites) because she is amazing and so is Curran, her sugarwoogums. Also I would not have to learn to respond to a new name :)

However, since that seems unlikely, I recommend you just read the series!