Top Ten Tuesday: Supernatural Book Gift Guide

hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This week's Ten: is a Holiday Gift Guide freebie so my Top 10 is . . .

10 Books for Supernatural Fans

I have someone I'm forever trying to get to read more and they love the TV show Supernatural so I usually to re to them (or give to them) books that remind me somehow of that show, its characters or whatever. Here are ten of them:

Riders (Riders #1) by Veronica Rossi

Goodreads // review

The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle #1) by Maggie Stiefvater

Goodreads // review

American Gods (American Gods #1) by Neil Gaiman

Goodreads

White Cat (Curse Workers #1) by Holly Black

Goodreads // review

Storm Front (The Dresden Files #1) by Jim Butcher

Goodreads

Paranormalcy (Paranormalcy #1) by Kiersten White

Goodreads // review [of Book 2]

Lailiah (The Styclar Saga #1) by Nikki Kelly

Goodreads // review

Feed (Newsflesh Trilogy #1) by Mira Grant

Goodreads // review

Altered (Altered #1) by Jennifer Rush

Goodreads // review

Unbreakable (The Legion #1)

Goodreads // review

&

Unmarked (The Legion #2) by Kami Garcia

Goodreads // review

All of these books have something paranormal, supernatural about them. With ones like Riders, The Raven Boys, Altered and Unbreakable something about the way the group of characters worked together - especially, in many of them, a few male characters - reminded me some of Sam and Dean's relationship.

In Feed the premise is quite a bit different (with the zombie-like virus taking over) but Georgia and Shaun are siblings who are fighting against it (and blogging) and, though they're a brother and sister, the way they work together so often, travel together, etc has some similarities to Supernatural.

Riders, Unbreakable (and Unmarked) - and maybe Altered - would be the three that I think would be my top If You Like Supernatural, Read This . . . picks.

This is a list I plan to implement so if you have any suggestions, I would love them! And let me know what your Top 10 was this week.

Top Ten Tuesday: Fall TV Edition

hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This week's Ten: It's TV-themed in honor of fall TV and my Top 10 is . . .

10 New Shows I Want to Watch

Pitch

Thursday September 22nd, 9/8c on FOX

Timeless

Monday October 3rd, 10/9c on NBC

The Exorcist

Friday September 23rd, 9/8c on FOX

The Good Place

Monday September 19th, 10/9c on NBC

(then Thursdays at 8:30)

Still Star-Crossed

2017 on ABC

(based on the book)

Macgyver

Friday September 23rd, 8/7c on CBS

Time After Time

2017 on ABC

American Gods

2017 on Starz

(based on the book)

Queen Sugar

Tuesday September 6th & Wednesday September 7th, 10/9c on OWN



Shots Fired
2017 on FOX

(This is Gina Prince-Bythewood and Sanaa Lathan so I really can't wait for it to start!)

Please leave a comment and let me know what shows you're looking forward to seeing - and/or which shows you wish were coming back that aren't (at least, yet!)!

The 100 ~ Kass Morgan (earc) review (on TV premiere date) [@lbkids @KassMorgan #The100 @cwthe100]

The 100 (The Hundred #1)
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
September 3, 2013
323 pages
add to Goodreads/buy from Book Depo/or Amazon ($3.99 on Kindle)

In the future, humans live in city-like spaceships orbiting far above Earth's toxic atmosphere. No one knows when, or even if, the long-abandoned planet will be habitable again. But faced with dwindling resources and a growing populace, government leaders know they must reclaim their homeland... before it's too late.

Now, one hundred juvenile delinquents are being sent on a high-stakes mission to recolonize Earth. After a brutal crash landing, the teens arrive on a savagely beautiful planet they've only seen from space. Confronting the dangers of this rugged new world, they struggle to form a tentative community. But they're haunted by their past and uncertain about the future. To survive, they must learn to trust - and even love - again.

Kass Morgan's The 100, published in September, has been made into a TV show, premiering in the US tonight on the CW.

A sort of Lord of the Flies meets Lost meets After Earth, The 100 has one hundred teen offenders sent from their home of spaceships to Earth. After The Cataclysm, humans fled to space in order to survive. Now, three centuries later, they believe it may be safe enough to return.

The one hundred young people, from Confinement, are  sent to see if the planet is yet viable.

Told from the points of view of several different characters, The 100 lets us know what it is like both on the ship and on the ground. The characters have their own reasons for being in Confinement and sent to Earth, reasons they don't want to think about and/or keep secret. The closer we get to finding out their 'crime' the more we learn about them, the other characters part of their life before the mission, and about their society and its operation.

The mission itself is a surprise to the hundred, as is everything they encounter there. Yet, the majority of the book seemed to focus on interpersonal relationships and romance. There was arguing, fighting after the landing about how to go forward, about any form of societal structure and rules. I wished for more, though.

They are teens - some tougher, harder than others - who are on Earth after spending their entire lives (as did generations before) aboard a spaceship city. Their adaptation felt too blase and too quick.

Reading of the characters' past interactions did lead to discovering why they were there in the first place and gave some insight into who they were, usually, and how they'd changed. It also made the romance(s) work.  There was just too much focus on the romance, for me. If the science fiction side (from the ships to the Cataclysm to how Earth had changed, etc) were stronger or even if there had been more 'discovery' after the landing, it would have been better.

As it is, The 100 is a fun, fast read with some sci-fi elements that presents an interesting society aboard the ships that I hope to see expanded in the second book.

Several twists and big moments in the story, including one big one, were ones that were either heavily foreshadowed (to the point of being almost obvious) or I simply predicted it/

The television version of The 100 premieres tonight so I don't know yet how it will compare to the book. Based on the synopsis and the characters listed on the show's imdb page, the premise is slightly altered (after 97 years, not 300) and several characters either have different names or are not included.  The 'series preview' on the CW show page also has some immediate differences (saying what would be spoilery for the book!).

I really like the premise of both the book and the show - as well as where the novel ended - so I'll be checking out the show (tonight, 9pm ET/8pm CT) and looking forward to Book 2, Day 21

Rating: 7/10

thank you to LBYR and NetGalley for my egalley to review

Doctor Who: Dead Air - James Goss (audio) review

Doctor Who: Dead Air (BBC Doctor Who: New Series Audio Exclusives)
AudioGO Ltd
May 11, 2010
read by David Tennant
add to Goodreads/buy from Book Depo/or Amazon

An exclusive audio story, read by David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor

'Hello, I'm the Doctor. And, if you can hear this, then one of us is going to die.'

At the bottom of the sea, in the wreck of a floating radio station, a lost recording has been discovered. After careful restoration, it is played for the first time – to reveal something incredible.

It is the voice of the Doctor, broadcasting from Radio Bravo in 1966. He has travelled to Earth in search of the Hush – a terrible weapon that kills, silences and devours anything that makes noise – and has tracked it to a boat crewed by a team of pirate DJs. With the help of feisty Liverpudlian Layla and some groovy pop music, he must trap the Hush and destroy it – before it can escape and destroy the world...

Written specially for audio by James Goss and read by David Tennant, Dead Air features the Doctor as played by David Tennant in the acclaimed hit series from BBC Television.

Dead Air is one in a series of audio stories the BBC has produced featuring whomever is, at the time, the current Doctor. Some are a bit longer -- closer to novel/audiobook length. At seventy-one minutes, Dead Air is closer to novella length. There are no print equivalents of these 'audio exclusives.'

While there is, obviously, nothing visual with Dead Air aside from whatever your imagination creates, it still feels very much like an episode -- or two -- of the series. Some of that is, yes, due to the length. Most, however, is due to the writing, the pacing and the characters, Tennant is the Doctor here just as he is (okay, sorry, was) in the show. It doesn't feel like he's reading someone's lines or playing someone else's character, it's simply the Doctor off on another adventure. This isn't fanfiction, it's simply some more fiction.

Dead Air doesn't seem to fit into the Doctor's timeline anywhere in particular -- at least not that I noticed. So, I don't think you need to know the Doctor Who story line to understand any of what's happening. Nor do I think anything in Dead Air spoils any of the Tenth Doctor's story but that one I'm not sure about because I wasn't listening for that.

This may even be a great story for those who don't like (possible?) or know Doctor Who. It has fun twists and turns. Apart from the Doctor and the known Doctor Who elements, the plot itself is almost like The Twilight Zone in some (good) ways.

If this had been an episode of the series, it would be up there with "Blink" as one of my favorites.

Rating: 9/10

Black Friday: Movie + Book(ish) Deals

If you're like me you're not one to camp out in front of the mall instead of spending a nice, relaxing Thanksgiving with family or to spend the wee hours of the morning fighting the crowds to save some money.

But I do like to pick up some DVDs and Blu-rays on the Black Friday deals - usually ones I already planned to buy but sometimes others than look just too tempting to pass up.

As I'm also not one to make my Black Friday list months or even weeks in advance (and I :\ thought yesterday was Monday until about 5:30) I present my list today in the hopes that it might help someone else out . . .


Most of those on my list are ones that have either been featured on a Cinema Saturday post previously and/or somehow relate to a book. To make organization/viewing a bit easier, I've added them all to an Amazon aStore (even the things that are maybe not at Amazon/not cheapest there).


Links in this post go to reviews/posts I've done about the movie/show/book but everything should all be included: here If not try the search box:




Amazon, Target, Best Buy & Walmart below

Glee Giveaway

Are you a Gleek? Or maybe just want to see what it's all about?

Did you see my Cinema Saturday post on Season Three of Glee?

If you did, you saw that it was one of my favorite seasons. I loved that we got to see some vulnerability from the characters were usually just seen as tougher, harsher or harder. It became more of a character show for me, I got to see the deeper parts of some of my favorite characters.

Want to see if you agree with me?

I ended up with two copies of the Blu-Ray, so I'm giving one away!!

giveaway is US only

a Rafflecopter giveaway



thanks to Think Jam for the copy of the Blu-Ray!

Cinema Saturday

Glee Season Three
20th Century Fox
August 14, 2012
Not Rated; 963 minutes, 22 episodes
Blu-Ray: 4 discs, Region A/1; DVD: 6 discs, Region 1
IMDb show info/DVD & BluRay on Amazon

After their controversial finish at nationals in New York in last season's (somewhat iffy overall) season finale, the Glee kids from McKinley High are back home in Lima.

The third season brings the question of whether or not New Directions will make it to Nationals again - and how they'll fare if they do - as well as what will happen with a lot of the club (Rachel, Finn, Puck, Santana, among others) in their last year at McKinley.


Season Three of Glee continues with the musical aspect (characters, as part of their high school glee club, singing current, past - and some show tune - hits, often with choreography. With songs from The Go-Gos, Pink, West Side Story, Michael Jackson, and Whitney Houston, among others, this season does not disappoint.

As some of the characters prepare to leave McKinley, changing, at the very least, the dynamic of the show, Glee actually gives us a better look at some of them. We get to see the more vulnerable side of some of the show's more caustic regulars - without losing what's made them so great over the past seasons. It not only made the characters seem more real, it made the show feel more whole - and gave it more depth.

Some of the more examined characters from past season, namely Kurt and Rachel, seemed not to change very much. Though, they were definitely not neglected and had a lot happen to them, as well. (Disclaimer: I personally, am not a Rachel fan and several events this season moved me from being neutral towards her to actually disliking her.)

Like in past seasons, Glee addressed social issues that one may - or may not - deal with in high school or after, but which are important to discuss, either way. They did so without sounding preachy or moving into public service announcement territory. The resolutions weren't always perfect, not always neat and tidy but that actually kept it seeming real.

For the look we got into some of the less 'big' characters, the issues addressed (so well), and the arcs of the upperclassmen characters, this might be my favorite season of Glee.

I missed a lot of episodes as it was airing (I"m looking at you DirecTV and your issue with thunderstorms) and was actually feeling unsure of the direction of the show. Either watching the season as a whole or seeing the episodes I missed has reminded me what I do love so much about the show (and, to be fair the bits I don't love so much). I'm feeling hopeful for the start of next season.


The Blu-Ray, as a whole has a great set-up. The audio for the musical numbers is fantastic, the menu is easy to access and gives quick access to not only the summary - and titles - of the episodes on the disc but those of the whole season. When pausing, the progress bar that is displayed is not only for the episode, but the whole season. Each new disc knows that a season is in progress and will start at the beginning of the episode - as opposed to the main menu - if you wish. It's an excellent disc setup. (Though my Blu-Ray player that needs an upgrade did seem to take forever to start playback; the internet connected one that is updated had zero problem.)

Bonus features: 
Disc 1:
Glee Music Jukebox (videos of the music numbers from episodes on the disc)
Glee Under the Stars
Ginger Supremacists
Sue Flashback

Disc 2:
Glee Music Jukebox
Santa Baby

Disc 3:
Glee Music Jukebox
Glee Give a Note

Disc 4:
Glee Music Jukebox
Glee-Swap: Behind the Scenes of 'Props'
Meet the Newbies
Saying Goodbye
Ask Sue: World Domination Blog
Return of Sue's Quips

My Faves:
Three great things from the season:
1) Santana - in general and that she seemed to get more screen time
2) Santana and Brittany
3) Becky's inner voice

Three favorite episodes from Season Three:
1) Props
2) Yes/No
3) Choke




thank you to Fox and Think Jam for the Blu-Ray that I reviewed!

Teen Wolf 2.1

The premiere of Teen Wolf Season Two (show page on MTV) is tonight after the MTV Movie Awards! The episode airs at 11 (you can check here for the repeat airing times as well).

Episode two (and all subsequent episodes) will air at the usual time, Monday at 10/9c.

My Cinema Saturday post on the Teen Wolf Season One DVDs is here


Excited to see what the new season has to bring? I know I am!

Cinema Saturday

Teen Wolf: Season One
MGM Television
May 22, 2012
12 episodes; 522 minutes (3 discs)
IMDb; DVD; Amazon Instant Video
starring: Tyler Posey, Crytal Reed, Colton Haynes

Developed as a series for MTV by the creator of CBS's Criminal Minds, Teen Wolf is a redo of the 1980s Michael J Fox movie of the same name. The TV series, however, is not a remake of the movie, it only follows the same basic premise: a teenage boy turns into a werewolf and has to deal with it.

In the TV show, which is about to start its second season on June 3rd (in a special premiere after the MTV Movie Awards, regular airings are Mondays, beginning the 4th, at 10/9c), Scott (Tyler Posey) is attacked by a werewolf. The 1985 movie is a comedy, the series more of a drama.

Teen Wolf is very cleverly written. It's almost a shame that it's on MTV because some people might miss have missed it or written it off because of some of MTV's reality programming. Teen Wolf is a teen show but it's less soapy and cheesy just about every CW show on right now. The teenagers don't feel like someone writing teens who can say, do, be the most in 42-ish minutes for maximum effect.  It's definitely an amazing summertime, fun show but it's also, actually, really good.

Allison (Crystal Reed) and her story have an interesting story line that just seems rife for somethign to blow up and become trouble for several someones; Stiles (Dylan O'Brien) is probably my favorites, funniest best friend since Landy Clark (Jesse Plemons) on Friday Night Lights. I think the only character/actor I don't really like is the coach (Orny Adams).

Teen Wolf's werewolves are noticeably less hairy and animal-y than those in other current, popular movies and shows MTV's series aims to keep their werewolves sexy at all times - even when they're not quite human looking or acting.

There is a lot more of the upside to Scott's being bitten, at least at first. The Teen Wolf movie focused on the characters struggle between the benefits and the curse that came alongside them, the TV show does seem to more heavily emphasize the good . . . but that doesn't mean the angst isn't still there.

The CGI in the first episode is pretty bad. It either gets less used and/or better later on though because I didn't take as much note of it. The make-up and stunts were much better - and also seemed to improve as the show progressed.


The filming itself does an excellent job mixing 'horror' with 'teen show,' the long dark shots of isolated locations followed by someone all alone, etc. when things need that edge of creepiness but well bright, well lit places for the daytime, other side of the story scenes. The show really does a great job mixing the werewolf story with Scott trying to be a normal teenager trying to get through high school, get a girlfriend and be on the lacrosse team.


DVD Note:

The DVD is also 'musically altered,' meaning some of the songs on the DVD release are different than those that played during the episodes when they aired. (I know why this happened when they got rights to for broadcast versions of stuff but didn't know about DVD releases, not sure why it happens now when DVDs are basically a given.) While I didn't see the episodes as they aired, the music now seems just great.

It also features an extended season finale!



(Thank you to ThinkJam for my copy of the DVDs.)

Out Today!

There are several DVD/BluRays and books out today . . .

Two BluRay/DVDs that I want to highlight are:

This Means War (IMDb/Amazon)
The spy-caper, almost-love-triangle, rom-com starring Reese Witherspoon, Tom Hardy and Chris Pine.

My post on it is here.

and

Teen Wolf: Season One (IMDb/Amazon)
The MTV remake/redo of the old Michael J Fox movie into a TV show about a teen who's bitten by a werewolf and has to deal with not only becoming a werewolf, but the enemies it brings him. The show stars Tyler Posey, Dylan O'Brien, and Crystal Reed.

I'll have a post about this on Saturday!

Meanwhile, you can also see the first ten minute of Season Two:

Get More: Teen Wolf, Full Episodes

or watch full episodes of Season One online here
(Season Two, episode one airs after the MTV Movie awards June 3 and then episodes air Mondays at 10/9c)


and one of the books out today is:

Unbreak My Heart by Melissa Walker


you can find my review of the book here; and my interview with Melissa here

Cinema Saturday [Bones - Season 6]

Bones (Sixth Season DVD)
20th Century Fox
October 11
1000 minutes
imdb/Amazon [DVD; Blu-ray; Instant Video]/iTunes

The fifth season of BONES (airs Thursday at 9pm on Fox) ended on a pretty big cliffhanger - well, maybe not cliffhanger in the technical sense of the word, but it was a pretty big where-is-this-going-to-go-now ending.

In the fifth season finale, also the 100th episode, a lot happened: Angela and Hodgins are off to Paris; Brennan (Bones) (along with Daisy) is going to the Maluku Island for research for a year and Booth (after telling Bones of his feelings and her rejection) is back with the army and going to Afghanistan for a year.

Booth: I don’t do really good with change, I guess.
Bones: Well, you’re better than I am
Booth: The pyramids are better at change than you are. …It’s a joke. Hey, I was being affectionate.
Bones: Oh. [Pause] Will you go back to the army?
Booth: It’s what best for me right now.
Bones: I’ll only be gone for a year.
Booth: Me too. So, hey, what’s a year?
Bones: It’s the time it takes for the Earth to make a full revolution around the sun.
Booth: In the scheme of things. You know, the grand scheme of things. I’m just saying a year, you know, it’s not too bad.
Bones: Right.
Booth: Right?
Bones: We can come back, pick up where we left off. Nothing really has to change
Booth: No, things have to change. You know what? Hey, I taught you about eye contact, you taught me about evolution. So… here’s to change.
Bones: To change.
(transcript found on EW.com)

With not a lot of resolution, we're left wondering just where the characters - and, more importantly, their relationships with each other, will be once Season Six pick up . . .


And Season Six does not disappoint in the slightest. While the Season Five finale left the door open for so many possible disappointments, Season Six came in and seemed to know that, turning out to be, quite possibly the best season yet.

Focusing very much on the relationships - especially that between Booth and Bones - Season Six is a brilliant season of BONES. In the season opener The Mastodon in the Room, we find out what Booth and Bones -as well as Daisy, Sweets, Angela, Hodgins, and Cam have been up to during the time between seasons. Viewers don't have to worry about the gang being apart for long - and the writers come up with a great way of not only bringing everyone together, but also showing, quickly, how everyone feels about each other.

It's not, though, smooth sailing. New characters are introduced and old troubles from the past season are still present and did not remedy themselves during the characters breaks from each other.

While continuing to solve cases as brilliantly as they have done in the previous five seasons, the BONES characters are shown more personally and as individuals this season. The show maintains its ability for new - or sporadic viewers - to watch and episode or two and enjoy it without knowing the characters or their interpersonal relationships. Yet, it also rewards the loyal viewers who have been with it from day one by finally advancing those interpersonal relationships to somewhere great.

And using them to end the season on yet another I-need-to-see-the-next-season-now!! What's great for anyone who missed this season, though? You can grab it on DVD and catch up fast - then watch any missed Season Seven online and start watching the new Season Seven episodes Thursdays on Fox at 9/8c


This season, more than any other has me interested in reading Kathy Reichs' Temperance Brennan Novels series. I think it was the growth we saw with the characters. And that there was more interaction that year than others between them outside of the lab/working cases. The series starts with Deja Dead and I'm excited to being . . .


Favorite Quote from Season Six:
Micah (played by Enrico Colantoni aka VM's dad): "You're alive, and she's dead. Ergo, ipso facto Columbo Oreo."
Bones: "Those last two words, one is the capitol of Sri Lanka and the other is... a cookie."
Micah: "It sounds like Latin."

5 Standout/Favorite Episodes (in episode order):
The Body & The Bounty
The Doctor in the Photo
The Bullet in the Brain
The Blackout in the Blizzard
The Hole in the Heart

Special Features:
Audio Commentary–The Doctor in the Photo
Audio Commentary–The Blackout in the Blizzard
The Daredevil in the Mold–Extended Episode
The Bikini in the Soup–Extended Episode
The Visual Effects of Bones
Gag Reel
The Killing Pilot Episode
(and it's not a Special Feature but ep 19 'The Finder' is sort of the pilot of a spin-off)

(DVD provided by Fox for review - thank you)