Weekly Geeks - P.A.D.B.

P.A.B.D. has plagued me on and off for my entire life. I know many bookworms who are faced with the same problem. Please read on to see if you have PABD and see how you can help yourself or others suffering from this disorder.

So what is P.A.B.D.?

Post Amazing Book Depression - The over-whelming sad feeling one gets after finishing a great book.

See the Signs of P.A.B.D. go to Weekly Geeks.com

Why Does it Have to End?

 There have been only a hand full of books/series that I have had P.A.B.D. In fact one book that I am reading now (An Irish Country Girl by Patrick Taylor) is one of them. Although the book I am reading now is the 4th book in the Irish Country series and I have not read the first 3 yet. I have absolutely fell in love with the character Maureen "Kinky" Kincade. I only have about 2-3 chapters to go and I don't want it end. The writing has such magic and decribes wonderfully what Ireland feels like. But since I was given the book to do a review I will be finishing it... I suppose.;-)

 I Knew it From the Start

I can remember one of the first times I had P.A.B.D. and it had to be during a reading a V.C. Andrews book/series. I do mean the original V.C. Andrews books not the ones written after her death. In middle school my favorite series was the Casteel series starting with Heaven. The stand alone novel by Ms. Andrews called My Sweet Audrina was thrilling and I loved the name so much I used it as my first email. I made websites about the books and author. I read fan fiction and even wrote fan fiction. I collected all the books and even had many european additions which eventually I gave away after the books lost there magic so to speak.

Always Full of Surprises

 Suprisingly the is the book that I remember thinking, when I wasn't reading, what is so and so doing or going to do. I say surprisingly because I gave the book a not so good review. That book is A Decent Ransom by Ivana Hruba.

The book had me so tense in a not so good way that by the end of it I wasn't dreading the end I was begging for it.

Weekly Geeks - Comments

Commenting. It can be a fun way to connect to your readers. It can be the a source of frustration as a blogger. A comment can make your day. A comment can cause an argument. Today let's talk commenting.

Do you have a commenting policy? For example:

*Do reply to all comments? If you do, how do you do it? Email? On the blog?
*Do you use moderation?
*How do you handle trolls? Flaming?
*How much do you tolerate from a belligerent commenter before you close or delete comments?

Have you ever gotten a comment from someone you admire? An author? A superstar blogger (the ones with the book deals)?

How do you feel about author comments? Are they welcome or do they make you nervous?

Word verification? Yay or nay.

And then there's spam. How do we combat the evil that is spam?

Talk about your experiences with any of the above. Share your wisdom with other bloggers. What works on your blog? What doesn't?

If you are feeling brave, try something new and report on it later in the week (a new commenting widget or spam catcher. These will vary depending on your blog).

Or write a commenting policy, even if no one sees it but you.

Or comment on some blogs you've never commented on before. 

As always, take this prompt and make it your own.

Comment button from The Vintage Moth.

Comments.... how I love thee.

Let me count the ways.

1.Comments bring me joy... well except the spammers. ( Speaking of spammers I am the only one who gets the the poetry spammer or Chinese writing. Just curious.)  I love any comments. Even the little ones that the person may think it is a generic post because they can't think of anything that doesn't matter I still love those comments.  Getting one makes me do my happy dance.

2. Surprise Comments - These are the ones I least expect and they are probably the ones from authors  or illustrators who I find a review or comment I made about there book. 

Well there is probably more but I can't think of any.

There is one thing I like least about comments and that is that I don't leave enough on other blogs.  I always have hard time thinking of what to say.  Does any one else get comment writer's block?

Weekly Geeks - Author Fun Facts - Chris D'Lacey

Weekly Geeks is a event that happens every Saturday go to WeeklyGeeks.com to participate

This week’s theme is: fun facts about authors.

How to:

1. Choose a writer you like.
2. Using resources such as Wikipedia, the author’s website, whatever you can find, make a list of interesting facts about the author.
3. Post your fun facts list in your blog, maybe with a photo of the writer, a collage of his or her books, whatever you want.
4. Come sign the Mr Linky below with the url to your fun facts post.
5. As you run into (or deliberately seek out) other Weekly Geeks’ lists, add links to your post for authors you like or authors you think your readers are interested in.

Chris D'Lacey

1. a) He has written many books for children but is best know for The Last Dragon Series (He is holding the first book in that series above, Fire Within)

b) When he started writing he wrote a 250,000 word story about polar bears to be given to his wife for Christmas.

c) The ceramic dragons mentioned in The Last Dragon were made by Mrs. Pennykettle in the book. In real life Mrs. Pennykettle is based on a real woman who does make ceramic dragons. (One dragon is in the picture above)

Weekly Geeks( Haiti) and more

To my recollection I have not read any books about Haiti. Nor have I read any by someone from Haiti. So to remedy that fact I decided to check out books about or take place in Haiti. After checking out places like Goodreads.com and PaperbackSwap.com. I found at least three books that interested me. The first one, "Josephine's 'Magination: A Tale of Haiti" by Arnold Dobrin, was a childrens' picture book and was available for swap. The other two, "Anacaona: Golden Flower (The Royal Diaries)" and "The Magic Orange Tree : and Other Haitian Folktales", are on my wish list. So that two children books and one folklore book.


I have drawn a picture of a child that could be of Haiti holding a blanket around herself. On the blanket there is a heart and in the heart is the image that can be found on the Haitian flag.

Weekly Geeks - Local Authors

This week, take us on a literary tour of your hometown! Do you live in a place where a famous author was born? Does your town have any cool literary museums or monuments? Does Stephen King live at the end of your street? Was Twilight set in your hometown? Share your fun literary facts about the town or area where you live. You can talk about famous (or not so famous) authors who live there, novels that have been set in your area, or any other literary facts that you know about where you live. Feel free to embellish with pictures of places and/or authors, maps of the area, and fun facts about the authors. As usual, feel free to personalize this. Don’t like your hometown? Pick another! Do you live in a literary wasteland? Feel free to expand and discuss a region. Feel like returning to a place you lived 20 years ago? Go for it!


In my area of Bucks County there are two authors that I can think of that lived in the area. They are no longer living but we have there books, houses and building named after them to remember them by.

First Author is Pearl S. Buck author of The Good Earth which is a book I started and never finish. Not because it is bad just the opposite actually. I just was reading it when I made trips to the book store and I lost my place. It's been a while since i went back to it so I don't think I could find where I left off. If you would like to see a picture of the farm she lived on go here it also has a biography and can tell you more about her.

The second author is James Michener I guess his best known novel would be Hawaii? He known for doing epic novels. Wikipedia has a list of his novels here. We have a Museum named after him. I have yet to read one of his books my husband has though.

I don't know of any books based in Bucks County but I know of a movie Signs with Mel Gibson. It's not a good one I know but you get the idea of what the area looks like because they filmed it in the area.

Weekly Geeks - Reviews!

Event takes place at http://www.weeklygeeks.com/

And now, thanks to the awesome team that is so good to continue hosting our Weekly Geeks activity, I am honored to guest present the idea. I only ask you to do one, some, all or none of the following:

1. Explain your review format - if you have one. Or maybe your rating system?

2. Highlight another book-blogger's review format by linking to a favorite example - don't forget to tell us why they are a fave!

3. Do a review in another book-blogger's format of your latest read. I did this just the other day when I had read a great post discussing what makes a good review and 'borrowing' from a comment by Ramya. That post was one of Bethany's and my example giving Ramya the credit is here.

4. Highlight a past review that you are particularly proud of and why the format or structure may have had something to do with it.


The review format I use is from a challenge site that I signed up for.
Title:
Series::
Author(s)::
Genre::
Summary:
Finished:
Pages:
Challenges:
Rating:

My Thoughts:

About the Author:

I didn't always use it and to be honest I still haven't found a way to post my reviews that feel like me yet. When I first started blogging I just posted a big paragraph of what I felt about the book and to this day I still say those post are more real to me. Not that the ones I post now are fake. The reason i use the review format that I do not is I don't always know what to say and it helps me think a little.

If you want you can check out my favorite review I posted here.

I do use a rating scale that I made up graphics for that I use.


One day i may go back to the original way or a different way to write the reviews as for now it will stay the way it is.

Weekly Geek - Animals

Weekly Geek.com

This week you are asked to share books (fiction or nonfiction) and/or movies which center around an animal or animals.
Which are your favorites? My favorite book about an animal when I was young was The Pokey Little Puppy. It's been a long time since I read and I can't think about what it is about. As I got a little older my favorite books changed to Charolette's Web and Old Yeller . These were book that I read over and over again.

Which touched your heart the most? Ones that touched my heart where probably the later two mentioned above. But more recently I would say A Mama for Owen. It is based on a true story and it is so sweet.

Which have found their way onto your wish lists or TBR stacks? I have Dewey on my TBR Mt.

Is there a childhood favorite? I would have to say out of all of them my favorite has to be Charlotte's Web by E.B. White. That is the first author that ever got me interesting in reading all of there books.

Have you ever named a pet after an animal from a book or movie? Actually yes but i can't seem to find the book. I was walking out of a library when I was young and I remember seeing a book called something like Chino the Cat. It had a orange and white tabby kitten on the cover. I never read the book because I could never find it again but I remember thinking if I have a orange and white cat I will name him Chino. Low and behold I got my wish and I named the pesky critter Chino. We had kinda a love, hate relationship. I despertly wanted to love the cat and he wanted nothing to do with me. I only had him for a month or so and then my dad gave him to my aunt who had him for many years. He is long gone now and in his later years mellowed out and seemed to like everyone except most men and especially my dad.

You get the idea! Have fun with this; use your imagination. Share your thoughts!

Weekly Geek - Book Covers

Judge a Book By Its Cover!

This week it's all about judging books by their covers! Pick a book--any book, really--and search out multiple book cover images for that book. They could span a decade or two (or more)...Or they could span several countries. Which cover is your favorite? Which one is your least favorite? Which one best 'captures' what the book is about?

Here are covers I liked. I picked book only about Faeries

1)Faerie Tale by Raymond Feist

2) Faerie Wars by Herbie Brennan

3) The Faerie Path by Frewin Jones

4) Faerie Lord by Herbie Brennan

5) The Faerie Queen by Edmund Spencer

These are the covers I didn't like of the same books listed above. That first one is really creepy.

Weekly Geek - Classics

In the third Weekly Geeks of 2009, let's have fun with the classics. For our purposes, I'm defining a classic as anything written over 100 years ago and still in print. (If your memory needs jogging, see: Classic Literature Library for examples.)

For your assignment this week, choose two or more of the following questions:

1) How do you feel about classic literature? Are you intimidated by it? Love it? Not sure because you never actually tried it? Don't get why anyone reads anything else? Which classics, if any, have you truly loved? Which would you recommend for someone who has very little experience reading older books? Go all out, sell us on it!
I am a little intimidated by classics mostly because when I read them I don't remember them. They just don't stick in my brain like more recent books do. That does not mean it stops me from trying to read them. Ones I remember that I do love.
1) Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
2)Dracula by Bram Stoker
3) A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
4) Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
5) Les Misrables by Victor Hugo
6) Dead Souls by Nicolai Gogol
7) Little Woman by Lousia May Alcott

I also at on point in my life was a fan of Edgar Allan Poe. I can't really read too much scary stuff now though. I still have a collection of his work that hopefully I will read again someday.
I would recommend for someone starting on classic Little Women, or Treasure Island.


2) A challenge, should you choose to accept it: Read at least one chapter of a classic novel, preferably by an author you're not familiar with. Did you know you can find lots of classics in the public domain on the web? Check out The Popular Classic Book Corner, for example. Write a mini-review based on this chapter: what are your first impressions? Would you read further? (For a larger selection of authors, try The Complete Classic Literature Library).

I read the first chapter in Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie. I have never read Peter Pan by I have read the Disney versions of the stories. Peter Pan is so differently written. It is almost I hate to use the word but it is a little scatter brained or maybe a better explanation because scatter brained makes it sound bad, but it like a child's thought process it starts in one place goes to another and ends where it started out again. I like that it capture's something so child like.

3) Let's say you're vacationing with your dear cousin Myrtle, and she forgot to bring a book. The two of you venture into the hip independent bookstore around the corner, where she primly announces that she only reads classic literature. If you don't find her a book, she'll never let you get any reading done! What contemporary book/s with classic appeal would you pull off the shelf for her? I tend to stick to children books so I would have to go with Charlotte's Web by E.B. White which I can't believe but was only published in 1952.

4) As you explore the other Weekly Geeks posts: Did any inspire you to want to read a book you've never read before—or reread one to give it another chance? Tell us all about it, including a link to the post or posts that sparked your interest. If you end up reading the book, be sure to include a link to your post about it in a future Weekly Geeks post!
Alessandra at Out of the Blue wrote about reading the first chapter of Wizard of Oz also something I have never read. Go here to see the post.

What it Means to Be A Weekly Geek!

For those who have been with the group, either from the start or joined within recent months, what does being a member mean to you? What do you enjoy about the group? What are some of your more memorable Weekly Geeks that we might could do again? What could be improved as we continue the legacy that Dewey gave us?

For those just joining us, why did you sign up for Weekly Geeks? What would you like to see here?

For me being a member of Weekly Geek... I don't know really. I know why I started participating and let's just say that I don't always show up every week but this was the first event I ever joined. I joined to say "HELLO HERE I AM GEEKY AND PROUD!" It started out as a intro to the blogging world and something fun to do. It still is.

One I think memorable Weekly Geek I think was when Dewey had a list of first lines from books and we where suppose find the title. I don't think it worked out so well but I thought it was nice try she just maybe had to many. I think this was a weekly geek thing I hope I am not getting it confuzzled with something else but I might be.

Edit : I just read someone else post and it was the Scavenger hunt I was thinking of .... silly me.

Weekly Geek !

In the spirit of the amazing community building that Dewey was so good at, tell us about your favorite blogs, the ones you have bookmarked or subscribe to in your Google Reader, that you visit on a regular basis. Tell us what it is about these blogs that you love, that inspire or educate you or make you laugh. Be sure to link to them so we can find them too.

At the moment I use google dashboard to visit the blogs I like. Here are the five top ones.

1. Becky's Book Reviews - This was one of the first site that got me wanting to start a book blog that and Dewey's site.

2. J. Kaye's Book Blog - J. Kaye is fun and always updated frequently. She always coming up with new ideas to promote others.

3. Fantasy Book Critic - This blog keeps me updated on the newest Fantasy book and graphic novels coming out.

4. An Adventure in Reading - I really enjoy reading this blog and I enjoy the event that raidergirl3 holds every Tuesday- Where are you now?

5. The Thrillionth Page- I may have much books that I read in common with her but Carolyn Jean makes me laugh.