Book Bucket List | New Series for a New Year!

I've been in a reading rut lately where it's been hard for me to keep reading a new book after starting.  I was looking through books that are coming out in 2014, and a lot of them are the latest in a series.  So here are a few series to start if you need extended reading material.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs was one of the most popular paranormal books in the last couple of years.  The story follows Jacob, a sixteen year old reeling from a recent family tragedy.  On the island of Wales, he comes across an abandoned orphanage and finds clues about what happened to its residents and why they're no longer there. Hollow City is the next book in this series and it comes out on April 14th.  Jacob ends up in London, which is the hotbed of Peculiars.  Unfortunately, Jacob and his friends are at risk again, but this time from a super natural threat.

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer is an updated take on the Cinderella story.  Instead of being the downtrodden step sister, Cinder is half android, which makes her a second class citizen.  However, she is unaware of her true identity which turns out to be too dangerous of a secret.  The third book in the series, Cress, is being released this February.

Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion was a popular title after it's release because it was almost a spoof on teen romance stories like Twilight. (Because honestly, who falls in love with a zombie??)  In a recent interview, Marion said that he set out for Warm Bodies to be a self contained story in a single book, but the world kept expanding in his mind.  In 2014, the sequel to Warm Bodies will be released.  You can also see the film based on the first book, which we have in our collection.

Books On Film: Teen In '13 (A Review)

Film adaptations of teen novels, spurred by the success the Twilight movies, haven't slowed down yet. In 2013, we saw the adaptation of Catching Fire, The Host, Beautiful Creatures, Warm Bodies, The Perks of Being A Wallflower, City of Bones, and Ender's Game. 

Which 2013 teen adaptation did you like best?
	Catching Fire
	The Host
	Beautiful Creatures
	The Perks of Being A Wallflower
	Warm Bodies
	City of Bones
	Ender's Game
pollcode.com free polls

In 2014, we will see even more teen books brought to the big screen. For the rest of this month, I will talk about several of the upcoming teen book to film adaptations.

Covers courtesy of LibraryThing.

Books On Film (Special Edition) | SDCC for Book Readers

Everyone knows that San Diego Comic Con draws in comic book publishers, artists, and fans. Did you know that San Diego Comic Con also draws in general book publishers, authors, and fans, too?

There is a whole section on the exhibit floor that is full of nothing but book publishers. Big and small publishers are there with books for sale at a discount, advanced copies of upcoming titles, and book signings with authors.

One might think that publishers might only bring science fiction or fantasy titles to Comic Con, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. There are displays for children's books, teen fantasy, adult urban fiction, and much more. The titles span every fiction genre and there books for readers of all ages.

Publishers also host panels to showcase upcoming titles. Panelist, including authors, do book talks and answer questions about their titles. Aspiring writers also have the opportunity to attend panels about writing and publishing lead by authors and industry experts.

Of course, since book to movie/tv adaptations are all the rage there are plenty of book derived things to see, too. To start, all the halls at the convention were decorated with giant banner's from the television adaptation of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series!

While at the convention, I attended a panel for the television adaptation of Stephen King's Under the Dome, walked through a set & costume display for the movie adaptation of Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game, the cast of the movie adaptation of James Dashner's The Maze Runner were present for a panel, and I passed by a huge decorated booth giving out t-shirts and posters for the movie adaptation of Veronica Roth's Divergent---just to name a few things.

 

And, of course, no one can't forget the costumes! There were plenty of Harry Potter and Game of Throne characters, of course, but I also ran into at least one Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter and these Warm Bodies cosplayers.

All in all, San Diego Comic Con is a fun time for comic book fans, anime lovers, gamers, tv and movie watchers, and readers!

All photos taken by me at San Diego Comic Con International 2013.

Just Life | Help! Zombies Are On The Loose

Welcome to the Zombie Land.

It seems like, everywhere you look, there are traces of these man-eating monsters.

From television programs to books, to movies, we are bombarded by zombies these days. Vampires move over, zombies are taking over.

We even have these hilarious zombie bookmarks at Chavez Reference Desk, courtesy of CA office of traffic safety warning us about these dangerous zombies who are apparently "driving" freely among us.

Let me introduce these zombies to you, maybe you are one of them and haven't realized it yet:

1. Glam Zombies- Those of you who put on your makeup while driving fall under this category.
2. Grubbin' Zombies- If you eat and drive at the same time, You fall under this category. (Honestly, who doesn't fall under this category)
3. Party Zombies- Those of you who dance while driving are definitely Party Zombies.
4. Day-Dreaming Zombies- Those of us who pay attention to everything on the road except driving fall under this category.

So be aware! 

Zombies are everywhere and anywhere even in your library. 

If you want to have one of these zombie bookmarks, come to the Chavez Reference Desk.  

Anyway,

Are you a fan of the Walking Dead television series? Did you know that it is based on the comic books by Robert Kirkman?

Here are a few of his books if you want to test-drive them:

The walking dead. Book 1

The walking dead : rise of the Governor 

I just finished reading Warm Bodies. It is a love story between a zombie and an ordinary girl. It is the perfect book if you don't have anything else to read. Its' movie adaptation just came out too. I tried to watch it one late night while falling in and out of sleep. The movie had too many scary skeletons. I stopped watching it and instead had nightmares that entire night. 

I tell you. I am so fearless.

There is also another zombie movie on the horizon called World War Z. It is based on the novel World War Z : an oral history of the zombie war by Max Brooks. The movie is coming out on June 21st.

Who knows, maybe I am gonna gather up my courage and read this book. I might even go and watch the movie with my dear husband who thrives on scary movies & books.
 
So tell me what Zombie books are you reading nowadays?

Signing off until next Monday- A Grubbin' Zombie

And don't forget to bite into a good book until next time.