WWW Wednesday (13)

Back in the swing of things, at least kind of. Another WWW Wednesday. Normally I only do these every other week, but thought since I had a few already, I might as well do another.

WWW Wednesday is a meme run by MizB at Should be Reading, and she asks that you answer these three questions:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you'll read next?

Currently-Reading:
I got my currently-reading list on Goodreads down a bit. It still has quite a few, but I feel like it always will, it's below 10 and that's kind of all I can hope for, I think.

I'm almost 50% through The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe and just over in Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman. I also started The Circus of the Damned yesterday and am a good amount through that. And I'm sure there's more, I don't have everything on Goodreads.

Read:
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (3/5)
I don't know why, but there's just something about this that makes it so hard to get into. Maybe it's too hard to suspend by disbelief or maybe it's how much Alice just annoys me, either way, it's an okay read, but - can be too crazy and for me that's saying something

Glory in Death (In Death #2) by J.D. Robb (5/5)
This one, I feel, was a bit better then the first.

IT by Stephen King (5/5)
A reread of an old favorite. I've read this book many, many times and it's fantastic and I notice something different every time.

The Laughing Corpse (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #2) by Laurell K. Hamilton (4/5)
Good. This world is very interesting and it always has some amusing and funny parts. I've heard that the series goes very down hill later, but - for now it's pretty good.

To-Read:
I want to finish those that I mentioned up above in currently-reading and book three in the In Death series, just barely started. Also, Hunter's Prayer and Grave Peril, I've really got to get around to finishing series instead of just starting them all the time.

February Wrap-Up/March TBR

I'm always late with these, aren't I? Well, better late then never, I guess. I think it's because I'm always going 'well, I didn't read much, why do one?' and then my brain goes 'so you have them for the whole year!' which would be nice. So here I am again...

I only read two books in February, but I'll take it instead of none. They were:

• The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson (5/5)
• Marilyn: Her Life in Her Own Words:..... by George Barris (4/5)

Both were good, as you can see. I really wanted to do a full review of The Emperor's Soul because it was fantastic and I feel like not a lot of people will read it, given that I'd never heard of it before, but it was amazing. You can see it's Goodreads page here to judge it for yourself, but it's 100 days of this women trying to make a soul and it's amazing. I was surprised with how rich the world seemed and how in depth it is, because it's not a long book, it only over those 100 days, and it's not even really a full 100.

Now, onto the what I'll be read in March, which has already started. I've already finished a short story (in audiobook form) by Neil Gaiman, which was amazing. I'm also currently reading much too many books, as I normally am. Including, which I hope to finish. The Violinist's Thumb, about DNA, and The Regulator's by Stephen King. I'm about half-way though both, as of when I write this.* The first is amazing and so interesting and the King one is also amazing and since I'm halfway through, I only have the faintest idea what the hell is happening and am loving the ride. I love Stephen King's books and this one is no exception so far, so I'm excited to see where it goes.

*I finished the Violinist's Thumb before this posted and thought I might as well add that, it was amazing. I also started and finished Naked in Death, which was actually pretty good, too. I've already read three books this month! Maybe that reading slump is vanishing? I hope so... (knock on wood).

WWW Wednesday (12)

My first one of these of the year. I can't believe I haven't done one yet! I'm slowly getting out of my reading slump and at least I've read something. Anyway, WWW Wednesday is a meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading and it's asked you answer there three questions:

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you'll read next?

Currently-Reading:

Not as many books as normal, surprisingly. I'm at about 5, I think, on Goodreads, normally I'm 10-12, but I'm not complaining, I don't think it's a bad things, that's for sure.

Read:

Ubik by Philip K. Dick (5/5)

I did a very long review on this one, that I'm kind of proud of, that you can find here.

You Have to Stop This (Secret #5) by Pseudonymous Bosch (5/5)
Very good end to an amazing series, truly. I adored this series and I put off reading this one because I didn't want it to end.

My Story by Marilyn Monroe (5/5)

This is very good. I don't think I'll review it, just because I really don't know what to say about it, but it was good.

The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson (5/5)
I really enjoyed this book, it was so interesting and complex, and had so much story packed in it without feeling overwhelming.

Marilyn: Her Life in Her Own Words... by George Barris (4/5)
It was okay, good even, and I really enjoyed reading more about her.

A Study in Emerald by Neil Gaiman (5/5)
First Audiobook of the year! And it was very short, but I couldn't find an ebook copy. Anyway, this is a fantastic short story, I really wish that it was longer, I'd love to spend more time in this universe.

The Violinist's Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, Lost, and Genius, as Written in Our Genetic Code by Sam Kean (5/5)
This was an amazing book about our DNA and everything about it, a very interesting read and an all around fantastic book. I'm kind of hoping to do a full review on this one, we'll see.

Naked in Death (Death #1) by J.D. Robb AKA Nora Roberts (4/5)
This book was okay. I may have suspected who the killer was right away, but I have read way too many books like this. It has SciFi elements that are just cliche and kind of unimportant. It was pretty good, though, considering that. And, oddly enough, this was published the year I was born so that's weird.

Robot Dreams by Sara Varon (5/5)
This was an amazing book, considering there's no dialogue in it and, really, no words. It's a graphic novel and had an amazing story, the end kind of stomped on my heart, but - it was bittersweet and perfect. I'd highly recommend it!

The Magician's Nephew (Chronicles of Narnia #1) by C.S. Lewis (5/5)
I've never actually read the Narnia books, I'm not entirely sure why, but as a kid I guess I just didn't get to them before I made the leap into YA and horror (mostly horror, at first I skipped right over YA). But this was really good and I'm excited to read the others in the series.

The Regulators by Stephen King (5/5)
Finished just before midnight on Wednesday and thought I might as well add it. An awesome book and I'm still processing it but it was amazing!

Read Next:

I have no idea. I have so many books I haven't read, and a couple I have to get through for school, and just a lot of books everywhere. 

Reader's Block? Bloggers Block?

I have never gotten writers block, not really, not to a point where I would of considered it 'writers block.' (Knock on wood, that is). But I have an amazing problem with getting in a reading slump so bad I would definitely consider it a reading block. And I could give you reasons, but they all sound kind of silly or stupid, well, to me, at least.

And when I'm in one of these reading slumps, as I have been and still seem to be, I also am in a blogging slump, because then I have nothing to blog about. I bring this up now, because I'm in both, as I'm sure you've noticed. I've been in a reading slump for a while, a long time. Between school and writing, I just haven't been reading (and the February vacation spent in Florida at Disney and the following sickness).

So here I am, trying to think of something to blog about. I've read a few books this year, but - not any that I really have enough to say about (this is probably related to it, too). Anyway, the point is, is that I have been forcing myself to put side aside and read and listen to audiobooks when I can pay attention to them. (I am, actually, currently reading a book about DNA that is completely fascinating and amazing). So that's promising, once again knock on wood, so hopefully there will be some blog posts soon.

I also got a couple Stephen King audiobooks from Audible that were surprisingly not expensive (and I had two credits) and am currently listing to some favorites and such, hoping this will kick me back into reading.

However, this isn't the reason I'm making this blog post. I was actually wondering about if you get reading slumps and how you deal with them or try and snap yourselves out of them? I'd be curious to hear of your antics.

I should go now and try and read something, I guess, I'm a little over halfway through that book on genetics and some others that I could probably actually finish pretty quickly if I could just focus. I hope to be posting more and better quality stuff soon, as soon as I shake myself of this monstrous reading slump.

Book Review: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Book: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy #2)
Author: Douglas Adams
Genre: Humor, SciFi/Fantasy
Rating: 5/5
Page Count: 256
Favorite Character: Probably Marvin. I mean, I adore the other four as well, but Marvin is just perfect with all his comments.

Plot: (From Goodreads)

Facing annihilation at the hands of the warlike Vogons is a curious time to have a craving for tea. It could only happen to the cosmically displaced Arthur Dent and his curious comrades in arms as they hurtle across space powered by pure improbabilityband desperately in search of a place to eat.
Among Arthur's motley shipmates are Ford Prefect, a longtime friend and expert contributor to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; Zaphod Beeblebrox, the three-armed, two-headed ex-president of the galaxy; Tricia McMillan, a fellow Earth refugee who's gone native (her name is Trillian now); and Marvin, the moody android who suffers nothing and no one very gladly. Their destination? The ultimate hot spot for an evening of apocalyptic entertainment and fine dining, where the food (literally) speaks for itself.
Will they make it? The answer: hard to say. But bear in mind that the Hitchhiker's Guide deleted the term "Future Perfect" from its pages, since it was discovered not to be!
"What's such fun is how amusing the galaxy looks through Adams' sardonically silly eyes."


Review:
I really loved this book. I mean, I really liked Hitchhiker's Guide, too. This one wasn't better, exactly, but I could appreciate it more because I was expecting it more, I guess. I knew what would be involved and I adored it even more.

I don't know why I like this series as much as I do, maybe because I do read a lot of heavy books and humor books or just some fluff is always nice, humor, though, is amazing. So in this one, they go to the Restaurant at the end of the Universe and I loved how it was explained and how, if you thought about it, it made no sense. But, then again, nothing really makes sense in these, does it?

Everyone was up to par, no one seemed out of character to me, and I loved how it all happened. Ford, Zaphod, Trillian, and, of course, Arthur are all just hilarious and possibly insane, in the best way possible.

This is definitely what to pick up if you're looking for something completely hilarious and frequently insane.