TV Show Recaps

A long time ago before Reeshe moved away to New York she suggested that perhaps I could do TV show episode recaps. Me, being the lazy person that I am wasn't up to the idea. Writing episode recaps would mean that I would have to write a post once a week, consistently. That kind of project requires commitment and discipline, two qualities I greatly lack but you know what this blog has been quiet for quite some time now.

I have been busy with work, school, exercise and home life (not to mention goofing off on tumblr) but it is time I return to Sparrow and Vixen Reviews. Even if renovations are still going on around here it doesn't mean the blog needs to be quiet until everything is ready. So please continue to pardon the dust but don't stay away until everything is all clear.

Now the show suggested for the recaps was Vampire Diaries since we both watch it regularly, well I do I'm not sure Reeshe is keeping track of the new season but since this show is on Season 5 now I don't think it would be a good choice.

My show of choice will be one that has premièred this fall. One that premièred yesterday actually. I am a fan of the TV Show Once Upon a Time and this year a spinoff of the show has started. I will be watching and recapping/reviewing Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. I will do my best to make the posts funny and hope they actually turn out that way.

Here is a trailer for those of you who have never heard of this show.

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Discussion: When there is no room for books

Currently I am quite low in the funds department so I can’t spend as much money on books as I used to. Actually I can’t really spend any money on books for the moment, which is actually a good thing for me since I have 90 books on my shelf or iPad waiting to be read. I am hoping my state of empty wallet means I can knock this number down a good 10 or even 20 books but let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.

Another reason I can’t buy any more books is because I simply have no more room to put them. I have books on shelves, in drawers, taking up space on tables, in boxes and suitcases. The only reason I don’t have books lining my wall along the floor is because our roof leaks but if that wasn’t an issue I am sure I would have books there too. So far this isn’t a major concern since I can’t afford to get more books (and hey I can always get ebooks) but when a time comes and I will need room there is my annual solution – donate books. The library, The Red Cross, and the local Thrift Shop run by the Humane Society all take donated books and I will be visiting one or all of them sometime this year. Maybe I can do this a bit before Christmas :). I would give books to friends but none of my friends here are big readers and all of my big reader friends live overseas :(.

What do you do when you run out of book room? How big is the to-read pile in your home? Do you have any strategies or tips on how to cut that pile down quickly? Do you ever get rid of books or do you keep them forever?

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Pardon the Dust: Mild Renovation

I am currently tweaking the blog's template so if you notice something different or off that is the reason.

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[15 Day Challenge] Day 10: Choosing the Next Great Read

The 15 Day Book Blogger Challenge is hosted by April over on Good Books & Good Wine. You can start the challenge anytime you want, Day 1 is here.

How Do You Choose What Book To Read Next?

It’s all about what I am in the mood far. I’ve learned after suffering through many reading slumps that it’s a good idea to mix things up. Sometimes, especially if you are reading a really good series, you just want to read books back to back. I did this with the Skulduggery Pleasant books; I read the first book and then ordered all the other books in the series that were released. When they arrived I devoured 5 books in as many days (or less). It was great; that series is one of my favourites but reading about the same characters, same world, and same genre for 6 books in a row isn’t something I recommend doing on a regular basis. Why? Because I think you’ll burn yourself out mighty quickly, no one likes doing the same thing over and over again no matter how awesome it is.

Example, I love pasta but there is no way that I can be content with eating pasta all day every day for the rest of my life or even a week. I would get bored and sick of it after the second or third day, by day four I would probably never want to even hear the word pasta ever again but then months later after going pasta-free I am positive I’d be craving pasta again.

So what do I do? I go over what I just read. What did I love about this book? What did I hate? What was the most prevalent thing in the book? What do I want from the next book I am going to read? Do I want the same thing or something different? How interested am I in the premise? Do I want to read this book now? If you're answer isn't a resounding YES for that last question then you are probably better off picking up another book even if the one you were considering has been on your shelf or ereader for a year.

If it's a book you've accepted for review then that's a whole other situation because I'm sure you've set yourself a deadline. However, I don't think results are ever good if you have to force yourself to read a book. For that case maybe you should go through your review books and read the first or first three chapters (depending on length) and see which one catches your interest the most.

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[15 Day Challenge] Day 9: Why I blog about Books

The 15 Day Book Blogger Challenge is hosted by April over on Good Books & Good Wine. You can start the challenge anytime you want, Day 1 is here.

Why Do You Blog About Books?

Well like with anything I love or am obsessed with I want to share it and talk about it. Unfortunately all the people I want to talk about books with who would understand my love for them and be able to talk about them with me live very far, far away.

Actually initially I started blogging because I had a lot of time to kill while I was away at university. I am not a very social person so my only friend was my roommate, I spent most of my time reading books and soon after I started reviewing books and then soon after that the blog was created. I don’t have a lot of time to kill any more so my blogging has staggered but meh I still try to get a post out every now and then. My favourite thing to talk about are book covers and they are pretty easy posts to make. Just post a unique or cool or gorgeous cover and share it with the internet. Like I said I just want to talk about my favourite things with people who share my interests.

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[15 Day Challenge] Day 8: What I like on blogs

The 15 Day Book Blogger Challenge is hosted by April over on Good Books & Good Wine. You can start the challenge anytime you want, Day 1 is here.

Quick. Write 15 bullet points of things that appeal to you on blogs!

1. Discussion posts
2. Cover posts
3. Drop Down Menus (this is more a design thing but it counts!)
4. Book to Movie reviews
5. Simple but pretty/fantastical designs with easily legible posts/text
6. Blogs that I can easily navigate – search bar, paging through posts, links to other pages like a review archive.
7. Multiple ways to follow/subscribe to the blog
8. Funny bloggers
9. Posts on manga and/or other graphic novels
10. The occasional personal post, maybe something that’s done once a week that gives a little insight to the non-book lover part of the blogger.
11. If a blogger went to a book related even like an author signing or something big like BEA I always love hearing how it went, what they did and who they saw.
12. Features unique to that blog
13. Replies to comments - honestly seeing that a blogger responds to their visitors makes me more inclined to leave a comment.
14. Tips and Tricks - I love it when a blogger posts about things that I might find helpful.
15. Rants - I don't like to write them but I do like to read them. As long as it's not a personal attack I tend to find them funny and quite informative.

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[15 Day Challenge] Day 7: Blogging Quirks

The 15 Day Book Blogger Challenge is hosted by April over on Good Books & Good Wine. You can start the challenge anytime you want, Day 1 is here.

Talk about your blogging quirks

This question was hard probably because I didn’t really understand what a quirk was; I had to look it up.

a peculiarity of action, behaviour, or personality; mannerism

And I really can’t think of anything.

• When I was blogging regularly I had a spread sheet with a calendar where I schedule my blog posts. I still have it but am not currently using it.
• I organize specific requests into their own folders in my gmail.

That’s all I got. Sad.

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