Amy C. Shaw

The Would You Rather Tag

September 6, 2015 • 4 Comments

Thanks to Charlene @ Bookish Whimsy for tagging me to do this, even if this questions are very hard!

1. Would you rather read only trilogies or standalones?

Even though there are some trilogies I have dearly love (The Hunger Games and the Grisha trilogy, most notably), I am a huge fan of standalones. It’s so much easier to pick up a book without the commitment to read further, and I wouldn’t have to deal with disappointing sequels either!

2. Would you rather read only male or female authors?

I have to say I am really NOT a fan of this question, but I will say female authors since that is primarily what I read. But if I had never been able to read The Chronicles of Narnia or Mistborn or The Book Thief merely because they were written by men that would be a tragedy!

3. Would you rather shop at Barnes & Noble or Amazon?

I definitely feel a lot more love for Barnes & Noble and try to do most of my book shopping with them. Unfortunately, sometimes I do go with Amazon even though they anger me in multiple ways, but B&N is definitely my fave.

4. Would you rather all books become movies or TV shows?

I think more books are better fit to become movies than they are TV shows. And besides, there’s no way I could keep up with that many shows!

5. Would you rather read 5 pages per day or 5 books per week?

Wow! So one of these is way too little and the other is way too much! I guess I’ll go with 5 books a week, and here’s hoping this is my job, where I can be paid to read one book for 8 hours every weekday!

6. Would you rather be a professional reviewer or author?

Even though being a professional reviewer would be 100 times easier in my opinion, it’s never been an aspiration of mine. I have wanted to be a published author for a large portion of my life. So I think that’s a previous obvious answer.

7. Would you rather read your top 20 favorite books over and over or or always read new ones you haven’t read before?

Even though I do enjoy rereading favorites, I would have to go with always reading new ones. There are always new favorites waiting to be discovered, and how else would I be able to find them? The memories of my favorites will live on in my heart, and many have movie adaptations as well.

8. Would you rather be a librarian or a book seller?

That’s really hard to say… it would depend on which library and which bookstore. But I do think librarians probably have better hours, so from a practical standpoint, that would probably be my answer.

9. Would you rather only read your favorite genre or every genre except your favorite?

If I can count young adult as my favorite genre, I would just stick with it because there are still so many subgenres within it. I just hope I wouldn’t burn out in 20 years.

10. Would you rather only read physical books or ebooks?

As convenient as ebooks are, physical books are my first love.

I’m tagging anyone who is interested! What would you rather do in the above scenarios?

Mini Book Reviews: The Sci-Fi & Fantasy Edition

September 2, 2015 • 3 Comments

All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill

Young Adult Sci-Fi/Contemporary

I read several reviews for this book and knew of all the hype, but I still didn’t fully know what to expect from it. As you can see above, it blends genres, which I love. The book follows two timelines, a previous timeline that reads like a contemporary-turned-thriller, and a later timeline that reads like a sci-fi with just a taste of dystopia (but don’t let that scare your dystopia-weary soul, because I promise it’s not like another rehash of Divergent or anything). The plot was great, the characterization interesting, and I just loved seeing how everything weaved together. And the way time travel was handled in this book was well-done. I will say that while I thought the ending was really great and fitting, it made me raise my eyebrow a little like the Fringe finale, where I was questioning how exactly that could have happened that way, but I do forgive it because I think it was the right ending.

I really enjoyed this one and only had a few minor issues with it. However, for some reason this one doesn’t really stick to as a favorite that will stand the test of time, so it’s not quite a 5 star read, but it was definitely worthwhile.

Rating: 4.5 stars

The Winner’s Crime by Marie Rutkoski

Young Adult Fantasy

I really enjoyed The Winner’s Curse, and while I didn’t love this one as much, I still enjoyed it a good bit! I admit, I’m suffering a bit from book amnesia on this one since I have waited a while to review it, but I do remember the twisty mind games that I enjoyed in the first book continuing through this one, though it did play out a bit differently. It’s more of Kestrel trying to tiptoe around the emperor and not reveal her hand to him, rather than her manipulating situations.

My biggest complaint about the book is that I wanted more of the emperor’s son, who I actually really liked and would have liked to have seen more friendship between him and Kestrel. I was also very sad about how things turned out with Jessi and Ronan, but I’m not saying Rutkoski made the wrong choices about them because sadly, I don’t think she did. I just liked them in the first book and hated to see how they acted in the second.

I think I found the romance between Kestrel and Arin a little more interesting this time around, but I’m actually still not a super hard shipper for them. But the ending definitely left me intrigued for the last book and to see how it all plays out.

Rating: 4 stars

The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson

High Fantasy

I don’t know what I can say about this book. There is so much heartache, so many surprises, an adorable and perfect dance scene with Vin and Elend, and the ending is just… WOW. I think Brandon Sanderson is a master when it comes to endings (well, writing in general really). I was so floored by how it all played out, how it simultaneously ripped my heart out and crushed me and made me kind of angry to being so perfect and what it needed to be. I mean seriously, how does that happen?! Also, I think every question I had about this world and the characters was answered. So yeah, if you have any interest in these books, read them.

Rating: 5 stars

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Science Fiction

I enjoy the movie adaptation of this book, but I did not expect for the book to actually line up with so much of the movie! There are a few things I like better about the book, and a few things I like better about the movie, but overall this book is a fun romp through the galaxy that makes you think of improbable possibilities. I will say that the book ends much more abruptly than the movie, without a really nice wrap-up, and is clear you are supposed to continue on with the next book, which I imagine I will do one day!

Rating: 4 stars

Have you read any of these books? What are your thoughts?

Star Trek DS9 Season 1: My Top 5 Fave Episodes

August 31, 2015 • 6 Comments

As my husband and I are going through our second full watch of Star Trek as a couple, I thought it would be fun to report on the highlights along the way. So I decided to copy the same format as Charlene at Bookish Whimsy, who is going through her first-ever run of Star Trek and sharing her favorite episodes for each season. To compare, see her favorite episodes of season one of Deep Space Nine.

On this rewatch of Star Trek, we’re watching the episodes in the order they were aired, meaning that in the middle of TNG season 6, we started incorporating Deep Space Nine episodes into the mix. It’s been interesting so far to see DS9 with knowledge of what happens; I have had more appreciation for some of these earlier episodes (especially the pilot) and some of the characters that it took me some time to care for (namely Kira, Nog, and Garak). And in case you’re new to my blog, Deep Space Nine is my absolute favorite, so it’s a joy to see the characters again.

I thought I would go ahead and mention two honorable mentions: A Man Alone (for Odo’s speech about compromise in relationships) and Babel (for “simple hesitation!”). Overall, season one really isn’t so bad as some make it out to be. On with the Top 5…

5. Past Prologue

I decided to put this one in my Top 5 because it’s the first time we see Garak. I actually didn’t like Garak on the first go-around until the episode “The Wire,” but this time I like him and his complicated friendship with Bashir right away.

4. Emissary

I have a lot more appreciation for the pilot now that I’ve seen the whole series. There is a lot of exposition and introductions, and I got a little tired of Sisko trying to explain linear time to the Prophets/wormhole aliens for the 100th time, but overall this pilot was pretty solid. It was definitely a better start to the series than TNG’s pilot. UGH.

3. Captive Pursuit

This is a pretty good O’Brien episode where he befriends an alien from the Gamma quadrant whose whole existence is about being hunted. It definitely raises interesting Prime Directive related questions.

2. If Wishes Were Horses

This is probably surprising to a lot of people, but I really have a fondness for this one. I’ve always shipped Bashir and Dax, so I just love his pining over her at the beginning of the episode, and then to have the “imaginary” Dax throwing herself at him. I remember very specifically from my first watch of DS9 that this was the first episode where I finally felt connected to the characters and decided I would probably would like DS9. I don’t know why, but it is what it is.

1. Duet

This is an early turning point for Kira, in which she learns she can’t paint all Cardassians with the same stroke. It’s a twisty episode that keeps you guessing and a good episode for DS9 period, not just a “good for season one” episode. It’s non-happy ending is exactly the sort of thing you come to expect from DS9 as well.

What are your favorite episodes of Deep Space Nine season one?

Star Trek TNG Season 6: My Top 5 Fave Episodes

August 24, 2015 • 7 Comments

In case you missed it, I did my Top 5 of Season 5 on Tumblr during my hiatus.

As my husband and I are going through our second full watch of Star Trek as a couple, I thought it would be fun to report on the highlights along the way. So I decided to copy the same format as Charlene at Bookish Whimsy, who is going through her first-ever run of Star Trek and sharing her favorite episodes for each season. To compare, see her top 5 favorite episodes of season six of The Next Generation.

On this rewatch of Star Trek, we’re watching the episodes in the order they were aired, meaning that this season we started incorporating Deep Space Nine. This meant that it took us a longer time to finish season 6 (it feels like ages since I saw the early episodes of the season!), and it also meant that I anticipated Deep Space Nine nights and not TNG nights… oops… That makes me sad because I do love TNG, especially these later seasons, but I just love DS9 so much and have been so happy to see all the characters again. It’s going to be even worse when we’re watching Voyager episodes too… But on my with my favorites of the season! (Note: Tapestry is an honorable mention. Even though I don’t generally like those “It’s A Wonderful Life” plot elements or Q, I do think it’s a worthwhile episode.)

5. A Firstful of Datas

I don’t particularly care for Lore (or B-4 from Nemesis, shudder), but any other time Brent Spiner gets to deviate from the typical characterization for Data, I’m pretty happy. In this one, something goes haywire and Data is all over the holodeck, but not in typical Data fashion. I also enjoy seeing Troi fitting in well with the Wild West theme of the holodeck program.

4. Starship Mine

Picard kicks some butt in this episode! It’s nice to see him deviate from his normal behavior, but it still feels like Picard. I’m a little surprised he doesn’t seem more remorseful about killing the baddies, but they were after him! Also noteworthy: Data’s attempt at small talk.

3. Rascals

This episode is just plain fun, and the actress who plays younger Guinan seriously NAILS her character role. There is definitely some suspension ofdisbelief in how bad things get on the Enterprise before “children” have to save the day, but still a fun episode nonetheless.

2. Frame of Mind

This is one of those psychological episodes of TNG that just really surprised me. Riker is playing the role of a character in an insane asylum for a play on the Enterprise, yet also finds himself in an actual insane asylum, being told this he has delusions of life on a starship. My biggest complaint about this episode is that it wasn’t a two-parter that delved deeper into the story, and that none of the ramifications were ever shown.

1. Chain of Command Parts 1 & 2

These episodes are just phenomenal; they truly make the psychology minor in me geek out. In fact, I wrote a post a while ago comparing Picard’s torture to the torture in 1984. THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!

What are your favorite episodes of TNG season six?

Mini Movie Reviews: Inside Out, Ant-Man, and Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

August 21, 2015 • 6 Comments

Inside Out

I have not been happy with Pixar’s sudden shift from creating brand new, original stories to CRANKING OUT ALL THE SEQUELS, though admittedly, I had also not been happy with their last original offering, Brave. My expectations for Inside Out were cautiously optimistic. Thankfully, I really enjoyed it! The main character, Ryleigh, is about 11 or 12 when her family makes a big move from Minnesota to San Francisco, and I was really able to relate to it with the big moves I’ve made in my life. I really enjoyed all the characters and, as a movie about emotions should do, it gave me all the feels. Definitely recommended.

Ant-Man

With Ant-Man, the latest offering of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe (note: do there is a difference between Marvel’s cinematic universe and other Marvel films that are being released like X-Men, the new Fantastic Four, etc.), I was again cautiously optimistic. The marketing department had not done much to convince me this would going to be better than an average superhero movie (because I expect better these days), but I also hoped it was probably going to be pretty good because, well, Marvel Cinematic Universe. Thankfully, it was quite enjoyable, maybe not profound or earth-shattering, but very funny. I think this movie for me is what Guardians of the Galaxy was for a lot of other people, with just a little twist in the typical superhero image and fun. Paul Rudd really sold the show for me. Recommended.

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

I like the first MI movie. I kind of liked the second and third ones for a while… and I still think the third one is a pretty strong movie, but man does Phillip Seymour Hoffman freak me out in it… but recently I have grown a little less interested in them. Probably because they’re all overshadowed in my mind by the fourth one, Ghost Protocol. Brad Bird did an amazing job with the direction, I liked the addition of Jeremy Renner to the team… I don’t know, it just hit all the right notes for me. It’s got to be one of my favorite action movies. So my hopes were high for Rogue Nation and THEY WERE MET. This movie was twisty and left me guessing constantly. This is definitely going to be one I will want to watch over and over again like Ghost Protocol. Highly recommended!

Have you seen any of these movies yet? What are your thoughts?

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