Hi Internet People,
I read so much and I thought I’d share some suggestions that I think people who like Carmilla would enjoy. These aren’t all vampire books I swear!
Find me on Twitter, @kleffnotes, on my kleffnotes YouTube channel, I write for The Nerdy Girl Express and run their Snapchat, thenerdygirlexp.
Talk to ya later,
Katherine
Hi Internet People,
I read a great queer romance and I thought instead of a formal review I’d share my thoughts and discuss the publisher and what they offer.
Find me on Twitter, @kleffnotes, on my kleffnotes YouTube channel, I write for The Nerdy Girl Express and run their Snapchat, thenerdygirlexp.
Talk to ya later,
Katherine
Hi Internet People,
After watching season one of The Magicians I really wanted to check out the book series. I went to the library, I tracked it down, and I put off reading it for a week and a half. When I did start reading it the first thing that shocked me is that everyone in the book is way younger than the characters in the show. Now I read books and comics where the protagonists are younger than me, I don’t mind that at all. I just had an issue relating to the written characters as much as I did to the on screen characters.
Now for the big reveal, I only made it like 60 pages in and stopped reading it. What really bugged me was the description of Eliot and how he already revealed his “secret background” to Quinton. That totally threw me for a huge loop. I didn’t anticipate it happening so quickly because it seemed like a really big deal in the show that he didn’t want people to know who he really was. Julia also wasn’t at the test and I really like her character, I wanted more of her and Quinton together being excited by the appearance of magic. Then Penny’s intro was not what I wanted. I really like Penny in the show, he does stuff to piss people off, but he is still a developed character. Yes, I know I didn’t read that far, but I just couldn’t connect with it.
In the show I felt drawn in super quickly and I wanted to know everything about the world. With the book I just couldn’t bring myself to care as much about the characters. I was honestly just reading to see how things would differ from the show and I couldn’t even make it far enough to see classes or the action stuff. If I had read the book when I was younger, like high school or even in college, I think I would have liked it more. I also really think if I ‘d read it before watching the show it would have been something I’d loved. I can see why people would like it, but I just can’t read it now.
Find me on Twitter, @kleffnotes, on my kleffnotes YouTube channel, I write for The Nerdy Girl Express and run their Snapchat, thenerdygirlexp, and I post recipes on the iZombie Support Group site.
Talk to ya tomorrow,
Katherine
Hi Internet People,
I talked about seeing Hannah Hart briefly in my review of Buffering over on The Nerdy Girl Express, but I wanted to talk about all the fun I had Thursday night and all day Friday with my friend Maria and my sister Mary in more detail. I was able to get all of Buffering read before I went to Columbus, which added to the excitement I was already feeling about the trip. After a long day at work Maria and I grabbed Taco Bell on a very rainy day and headed out. The drive was really wet, but we listened to an awesome playlist and got to our hotel a little before 8. We got unpacked and then headed out to pick up my sister.
We wound up stopping at Target, which is one of my favorite places and I really wish we had one in the city of Lima, I splurged and bought Halloween stuff and Mary found me some awesome clearance shirts, one of which I wore to the book signing the next day. We all wound up buying clothes, snacks, and Mary managed to find dinner in the 20 minutes that we went shopping. The store was closing and we had no idea, but we shopped fast. We got into the hotel for the night around 10:30 and we planned to get to the bookstore around 6 am, which meant pretty much no sleep was going to happen. Mary read all of Buffering, we watched Dirty Thirty, prepped for the next day, and watched a movie that I think Maria may have found in the Upside Down. It was a strange musical called Open House and there are only two references to it online. It’s so weird!
The next day literally looked exactly the same as the night before. Rain was falling and we were all wearing aspects of our clothes from the night before. I didn’t want my Hannah meeting outfit to get all gross. We got in line, we were really close to the front, and hung out with some really cool people and chatted, also complained about the rain, until we could go in and buy our books. Then we walked back out into the rain and got bagels and coffee at Panera across the street, took Mary back to school, and Maria and I took naps until around 11:30. Then we went to Easton Mall and I bought The Secret Loves of Fangirls and got a new Funko Horror Surprise box, I didn’t get Elvira this time! After walking around in the grey weather we grabbed tea at Starbucks and headed out to get Mary. We got ready at her dorm, Mary did my hair because I am hopeless at it, and then we went to wait at OSU’s Barnes and Noble. We got more Starbucks and I wound up buying My Drunk Kitchen. I was totally going to read it, but I was so excited I couldn’t concentrate.
We went up to the signing and it was all kind of a blur of things. We met up with some of the people from that morning and we all tried our best to not freak out. Meeting Hannah was amazing! She is so sweet and nice and really good at giving hugs. We were all so excited that after meeting her we hung around and tried to chill, then we grabbed Chinese food. We went back to see Hannah head out and then it was back on the road to take Mary back to campus and so Maria and I could get home.
Everything went by so fast and I’m still in shock that I met Hannah. I know it happened, but totally can’t process that fact. I wish I’d talked to her more, but oh well it was still great. My sister and I were talking about how it would just be cool to hang out with her because she’s so chill. I could totally make an epic cheese plate for the occasion. If you haven’t read Buffering yet you really should, it’s such a good book.
You can find me on Twitter, @kleffnotes, on my kleffnotes YouTube channel, I run The Nerdy Girl Express Snapchat, thenerdygirlexp, and I post recipes on the iZombie Support Group site.
Talk to ya tomorrow,
Katherine
Hi Internet People,
It’s the most fabulous time of year full of creepy and spooky things and I need some reading suggestions. I have a bunch of random books I still need to read, seriously tons of them, but I’m in the mood to read some spooky new books. I’m not sure what to read, but I’d love some suggestions.
I have Horns and two books from The Strain trilogy to read still. Admittedly I’m not watching The Strain on tv anymore, but I really liked the first book so I have the rest of them to check out. I’ve been so busy catching up on shows, I’m still woefully behind by the way, but I feel like I need some spooky books beyond what I already have. My local library has a pretty good collection so if you have any suggestions just let me know.
I should finish my Series of Unfortunate Events reread, I’ve been trying, but I’ve gotten distracted. They are sort of eerie, though not really Halloween level spooky. Honestly I just keep getting distracted. Remember my Buffy Live Tweets that just sort of dwindled out. I just got so caught up in new shows that I haven’t had time for them. I’m just so behind on everything. Sigh, I just need more hours in the day. Anyone have a time turner laying around that I can just borrow for a couple weeks. I’d get so much done!
Find me on Twitter, @kleffnotes, on my kleffnotes YouTube channel, I write for The Nerdy Girl Express and run their Snapchat, thenerdygirlexp, and I post recipes on the iZombie Support Group site.
Talk to ya tomorrow,
Katherine
Hi Internet People,
It’s one of my favorite holidays of the year, Banned Book Week! This week is dedicated to celebrating those books that have found themselves censored due to their content. A number of my favorite books are banned in a variety of places. This week you can feel like a dangerous criminal and read anything that you can get your hands on to fight censorship.
For suggestions on how to celebrate the week you can check out the American Library Association’s website. My personal suggestion is to read over their many lists of most challenged books and find one that you’ve never read before. I personally suggest The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Curious Case of the Dog in the Night-Time. The also have a virtual read-out challenge where you make a video about a banned/challenged book that has meant a lot to you. There are certain criteria and you can find all of them here.
I also think this is a perfect week to check out some online book clubs that I really enjoy. If you just want to watch awesome women chat about some cool books you should check out Vaginal Fantasy. Felicia Day, Veronica Belmont, Bonnie Burton, and Kiala Kazebee talk about a variety of books, many of which are romance, but not all the time. My favorite book was Call of Cthulhu. If you like shorter videos that cover more diverse book topics you should check out Slutty Book Club. The channel just started posting new videos after a long hiatus and they’re all about Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
Have a wonderful banned book week and I hope you find something wonderful to read!
Find me on Twitter, @kleffnotes, on my kleffnotes YouTube channel, I write for The Nerdy Girl Express and run their Snapchat, thenerdygirlexp, and I post recipes on the iZombie Support Group site.
Talk to ya tomorrow,
Katherine
Hi Internet People,
I’ve been doing a lot of reading recently, one huge benefit of my new job is that I suddenly have time to actually spend reading on the weekends or before I go to bed. I really enjoy short stories and horror, which is what led me to buy Slasher Girls and Monster Boys. I had heard about the book somewhere online, honestly I don’t know where I just remember seeing it mentioned somewhere. The book is technically YA, but I think any horror fan would enjoy it.
Each story is inspired by something pop culture related. Many reference movies, but others reference songs, television, or books. After you read each story their inspiration is at the bottom of the last page, upside down. I really liked this because knowing that each story was based on something made me want to guess what that inspiration was. I guessed correctly a few times, but I couldn’t get all of them. It made the stories even more fun for me.
It’s hard to pick my favorite story out of the book, but I think “In the Forest Dark and Deep” wins out. This story by Carrie Ryan takes Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and twists it into a murderous tale of youth and possibly love. Cassidy, the main character, found a hideaway in the forest near her house where she could have her own fun imagining anything she wanted. These imagining games were changed when she found an Alice themed tea party set for her by her very own white rabbit. The story moves between her childhood and her life 10 years later. It then ties up by connecting these two parts in her life. I loved how the story progressed and I wasn’t expecting what happened to Cassidy as a child and what then happened to her near her 18th birthday.
I did enjoy reading the entire book, I had a hard time putting it down, even when I was super tired late at night. The stories were full of amazing female characters, even those told from the male point of view showed women with strength and confidence. Women in some cases were also the monsters themselves, but they were wonderfully done. In “Emmeline” we see the strain of war and the destructive power of never wanting to be alone through the title character. “The Flicker, The Fingers, The Beat, The Sigh” showed how a young girl can survive terrible bullying, even though her ending wasn’t what she would have hoped for. The character I really enjoyed was Dahlia in “Fat Girl with a Knife.” She was tough as nails and able to fight her way through the horrors of high school.
If you love horror movies you really need to find this book and start reading it right away. You’ll be sucked in, though make sure you have your lights on. Some of the stories will make those bumps in the night give you chills down your spine.
Find me on Twitter, @kleffnotes, on my kleffnotes YouTube channel, I write for The Nerdy Girl Express and run their Snapchat, thenerdygirlexp, and I post recipes on the iZombie Support Group site.
Talk to ya tomorrow,
Katherine
Hi Internet People,
Yesterday I read all of Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, I had been on a fangirl themed reading binge, and I was really excited to read this book. I’ve heard amazing things about Rainbow Rowell’s books and I decided that I would start delving into her work with Fangirl. I had actually planned to do this as a Fangirl Freakouts video review, but writing about it here seemed like it fit better with the theme of the book.
Fangirl focuses on Cath, a young woman starting her first year in college and finding herself dealing with a lot of changes. Her twin sister Wren has been pulling away from her and for the first time she feels like she is alone. Cath is living in a dorm with the loud and buxom Reagan and while she isn’t sure how to cope with college, she does know that she can find comfort in the internet. There Cath is a star, she’s the super well known Simon Snow fanfiction writer of Carry On, Simon. Thousands of people read her work, but the stress of keeping up with her fanfiction commitments as well as her school work isn’t the only thing she has to deal with. Cath finds herself trying to deal with a number of family issues and her own anxiety. The book not only has this main story, but shows the reader bits of Cath’s fanfiction as well as excerpts from the Simon Snow series. Rowell actually wound up writing another novel based on the Simon Snow characters she created for Fangirl, which I need to find right away.
I loved this book, seriously I read the entire thing in a few hours and I didn’t want to put it down. Cath’s character was wonderfully complex. She was going through so many life changes and watching her evolve throughout the course of the book was so wonderful. I cried with her when things went horribly wrong, I laughed with her when things were going well, and I even found myself loving the characters that she devoted her time to, even though I was only seeing glimpses of Simon and Baz. The book also showed characters coping with mental illnesses that often don’t get addressed in YA novels. I fell in love with these characters and I was rooting for them. The relationship between Cath and Levi was also interesting to read. Even though there were rocky moments it was heartwarming and sweet. I highly recommend this book, especially to anyone who fangirls out about anything. I just wish I had read it sooner.
You can find me on Twitter, @kleffnotes, on my kleffnotes YouTube channel, I write for The Nerdy Girl Express and run their Snapchat, thenerdygirlexp, and I post recipes on the iZombie Support Group site.
Talk to ya tomorrow,
Katherine
Hi Internet People,
Are you looking for a book full of awesomeness that will help you become a better nerd? I talk about the fabulous book The Fangirl’s Guide to the Galaxy by Sam Maggs in this week’s Fangirl Freakouts video.
Find me on Twitter, @kleffnotes, I write for The Nerdy Girl Express and run their Snapchat, thenerdygirlexp, and I post recipes on the iZombie Support Group site.
Talk to ya tomorrow,
Katherine
Hi Internet People,
I love being a fangirl and when I heard about Kathleen Smith’s book, The Fangirl Life, I was super excited. I share all my love for this book in my latest Fangirl Freakouts video.
Find me on Twitter, @kleffnotes, I write for The Nerdy Girl Express and run their Snapchat, thenerdygirlexp, and I post recipes on the iZombie Support Group site.
Talk to ya tomorrow,
Katherine
kleffnotes 