Book Review: The Stereotypical Freaks

Katie September 11, 2015 0 Comments

The Stereotypical Freaks starts out as just Dan and Tom, who play guitar in Tom’s basement. When Tom sees a guy ask out his crush of six years and then enter the battle of the bands that Dan has been bugging him about entering, Tom impulsively signs them up and then they need to look for 2 more band members.

They end up adding Mark, Tom’s childhood best friend that drifted once he started playing football and Jacoby, an exchange student who is a great drummer.

I don’t want to give too much away, but I thought that this was going to be just another book (comic book) about high school kids starting a band and winning the battle of the bands. Boy was I wrong, it was so much more than that and a very emotional journey.

I liked that before each chapter there were a couple of songs recommended for you to listen to. It ends up being a pretty nice playlist!

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

Four disparate high school seniors come together to compete in their school’s battle of the bands. Sharing a love for playing rock and roll, the members name the band “The Stereotypical Freaks” because they feel stereotyped by their classmates – smart kid, geek, star athlete and quiet weirdo… when in fact they know they are much more than those labels that have been placed on them. When one member reveals life altering news, winning the competition takes on more of a meaning to each member. Scared and angry, upset and yet still with a lot of resolve they set out to win one for the good guys… will they?

Book Review: Uncharted

Katie September 11, 2015 0 Comments

Uncharted is the 3rd book in a series – the first 2 are Unlike Any Other and Unsurprisingly Complicated with Uncut and Unable to Forget still to come. I haven’t read the other books in the series.  Having not read the first 2, I had no problem reading this one as a one-off.

The book starts 10 year ago to give you a back story on Jacob. He meets a girl Pria who he seems to fall in love at first sight with, but she isn’t interested. He tries to convince her and finally she gives him a weekend. When she leaves, he asks for her number, but his phone is dead so she has to write it down.  The paper goes missing and when he decides to go to find her, his life changes, forever.

10 years later and the two have moved on from each other and with their lives, but somehow their paths have crossed again.  Both of them have tried so hard to move on from each other, but are fighting being together again. Will they realize that they truly are meant to be? Or will their stubbornness keep them apart?

I have to say that the beginning of this book really drew me in. I didn’t want to put it down.  Of course, once Pria and Jacob weren’t with each other anymore I didn’t really like the book any more, but I stuck it out to see how things would end up. I was ok with the ending, but a lot of the book was frustrating to read.

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review, I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

Jacob

As a rule, men don’t grow up believing in a happily ever after. We don’t believe in meeting the love of our lives or the white picket fence, and 2.5 children. Every man thinks that those stupid dreams or fantasies are just nonexistent shit until it happens to them. We should have been forewarned.

I wish I was prepared for someone to appear in my life and change all my priorities. I suddenly wanted that fence and children. The part of meeting the love of my life became very real, but I wasn’t ready for suddenly losing it all, and my life plummeting into this shithole forever.

The heartbreak of losing your soulmate is one of the worst pains you will ever live with. I should campaign and warn the young people. Vaccinate against love because if you lose it, you could lose yourself for the rest of your life. The burden on your back will forever mark you and wither away your soul, darkening your days and the rest of your natural life.

This isn’t false advertisement or a dramatic display of one bitter soul.

Pria

I fought by my mother’s side until her last breath, and tried to help my father until his last memories dissipated. My sister is the last one standing, but her life is a miracle that can end at any given moment. All my life I’ve never been alone, but always felt lonely.

Today, my options on how to live my life are endless, yet my heart and my best friend limit them. Stay in Seattle, close to the one person that will never let me inside his world.

The thug, as mom would’ve called him. A man with a bad boy attitude and a heart bigger than the ocean.

Book Review: Uncle Scrooge Pure Viewing Satisfaction

Katie September 11, 2015 0 Comments

I typically do not review comic books because they are harder for me to read, but when I saw this Uncle Scrooge book it reminded me so much of my childhood that I had to give it a chance.  I just had to see what Uncle Scrooge, Donald and Huey Dewey and Lewy were getting into. The book has several different comics within it and all of them are relatively short so they can be read by kids in one sitting before bed or they can read the whole book in an afternoon if they’d like. My favorite of the book was the one where they were on the ship and were trying to find treasure. In addition to a great story, it had great illustrations as well!

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

The adventures of Uncle Scrooge return in these kid-friendly-sized collections. Includes the stories “The Wraith of Gigabeagle,” “Shiver Me Timebers,” “The Duckburg 100,” and more!

Book Review: Thank You Lord, for Everything

Katie September 8, 2015 0 Comments

Thank you Lord, For everything is a sweet board book for children.  Perfect for bedtime and leading into prayers before bed! The bear that is the main character is super adorable and the whole book is a sweet rhyme reminding you to thank the lord for everything throughout the day.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers <http://booklookbloggers.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

About the Book

A new padded board book with cheerful and upbeat rhymes that teaches children to be thankful.

A comfortable and relaxing rhyme tells the story of God’s great blessings in this padded cover board book. P.J. Lyons’ engaging text and Tim Warnes’ playful illustrations remind readers how much they have to be thankful for.

Love surrounds you, beauty, too. Notice how God blesses you! Clap your hands, shout and sing: Thank you, Lord, for everything.

Thank You, Lord, For Everything, is a sweet and gentle rhyme-perfect for bedtime, quiet time, and anytime in between.

Book Review: Millennial Fandom

Katie September 4, 2015 0 Comments

Millennial Fandom is a series of essays about Television Audiences in the Transmedia Age. By definitions – Millennials are those born between 1982 and 2004 (me!) and make up teens and young adults. The book focuses on a few shows, most of which I have watched. It starts out with Glee in ‘The Millennial Hope” section of the book. There is also “Millennial Noir” and “Millennial Transformation”.

Millennial Hope focuses more on positive narratives while Millennial Noir focuses more on negative visions of millennials. It focuses a bit on Gossip Girl and their “OMFG” promos that were the cause of some controversy when they were first released. It also talks about females in power as seen in Gossip Girl, Veronica Mars and Pretty Little Liars (this is also a list of some of my favorite TV shows).  It also focuses on how digital access helps shows – fans are able to post art, fan-fic and interact with the actors from their favorite shows.

It also talks a bit about Tumblr, which is one social media site I have never really gotten into. I have an account but I rarely use it and I just don’t “get” it, I guess. But apparently it is a big deal for many fandoms. Maybe I’m missing out?

Overall this was an interesting read and I liked that the majority of the shows mentioned were ones that I watch so that made it more fun to read. A lot of times these compilations are full of shows and movies I know nothing about but this one I have watched at least 1 episode of almost every series mentioned. (I guess that is because I am a millennial that watches too much TV!)

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

No longer a niche or cult identity, fandom now colors our notions of an expansive generational construct—the millennial generation. Like fans, millennials are frequently cast as active participants in media culture, spectators who expect opportunities to intervene, control, and create. At the same time, long-standing fears about fans’ cultural unruliness manifest in rampant stories of millennials’ technological over-dependence and lack of moral boundaries.

These conflicting narratives of entrepreneurial creativity and digital immorality operate to quell the growing threat represented by millennials’ media agency. With fan activities becoming ever more visible on social media platforms including YouTube, Facebook, LiveJournal, Twitter, Polyvore, and Tumblr, the fan has become the avatar of our digital hopes and fears.

In an ambitious study encompassing a wide range of media texts, including popular television series like Kyle XY, Glee, Gossip Girl, Veronica Mars, andPretty Little Liars and online works like The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, as well as fan texts from blog posts and tweets to remix videos, YouTube posts, and image-sharing streams, author Louisa Ellen Stein traces the circulation of the contradictory tropes of millennial hope and millennial noir. Looking at what millennials do with digital technology demonstrates the molding impact of commercial representations, and at the same time reveals how millennials are undermining, negotiating, and changing those narratives.

This generation—and the fans it represents—is actively transforming the media landscape into a dynamic, culturally transgressive space of collective authorship. Offering a rich and complex vision of the relationship between fandom and millennial culture, Millennial Fandom will interest fans, millennials, students, and scholars of contemporary media culture alike.