The Friday 56 (79) Grand Forks by Marilyn Hagerty

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. For the full rules, visit the the page HERE

Synopsis from Goodreads...

A legendary 86-year-old food critic brings together a collection of the best down-home, no-nonsense restaurant reviews-from Red Lobster to Le Bernadin-culled from her fifty year career...

Writing for her local North Dakota newspaper, the Grand Forks Herald since 1957, Marilyn Hagerty went from obscurity to overnight sensation in 2012 when her earnest, admiring review of a local Olive Garden went viral. Among the denizens of the food world-obsessive gastronomes who celebrate Alice Waters and Michael Pollan, revere all things artisanal, and have made kale salad a staple on upscale urban menus-Hagerty's review ignited a fiery debate over the state of American culture. Anthony Bourdain defended Hagerty as an authentic voice of the larger American culture-one that is not dictated by the biases of the food snobbery that define the coasts. In this refreshing, unpretentious collection that includes more than 200 reviews culled from a voluminous archive spanning over fifty years, Hagerty reveals how most Americans experience the pleasure of eating out...

"It's different, all right. It's alive."--Grand Forks by Marilyn Hagerty

Comments: When I fist saw Grand Forks, I thought it would be kind of interesting to read.I like how its just a collection of various restaurant reviews. I started this book earlier in the week and finished it yesterday afternoon. It was pretty great.

What are you reading this week?

Review: Burning Emerald by Jamie Reed

Title: Burning Emerald
Author: Jamie Reed
Source/Format: Purchased; Paperback
More Details: Young Adult; Paranormal
Publisher/Publication Date: Dafina; May 29, 2012

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

Dating the most popular guy in school is every girl's fantasy. But to Samara Marshall, he's a dangerous force come to rekindle their tangled past. Only it's not her past. Samara faces a challenging senior year. Controlling her inner demon is a struggle, even with help from her Cambion boyfriend, Caleb. But her life takes a turn for the worse when the hottest jock in school begins pursuing her--especially since Malik's anything but what he seems. They share a connection from a forgotten past--a secret that could destroy her and Caleb. As the attraction becomes harder to resist, Samara is now at the mercy of the demon within her. To break free, Sam must fight a battle where she is the enemy and the prize...and victory will come at a deadly price...

The Cambion Chronicles is one of my all-time favorite paranormal series, yet, oddly enough, I never got around to getting the second book. However, all that has changed. I have finally read the second book, Burning Emerald, and I’ve been thoroughly reminded why I love this series so much.

The plot picks up after the end of Living Violet, and Samara must deal with the drastic changes in her life. Really, Burning Emerald had a lot going for it, with character and story development that I initially missed. This is just one of those series that kind of requires a full read, or else pieces will be missing. So even though I loved the third book, reading Burning Emerald added a lot of context and clarity to what ultimately ended up happening. So, if you ever read this series, don’t do like I did. Don’t skip the second book; go straight through from start to finish.

Also, the writing in this series is just one of my favorite styles. Reed knows what she’s doing, and expertly applied her skills where they were necessary. Samara’s perspective was unique, to say the least.

Reed knows how to write and develop characters. I think that’s one of the reasons why I keep coming back to this series. Samara Marshall is one of my favorite characters for a number of reasons—her resilience, personality, and individuality. Plus, her relationship with her boyfriend, Caleb, is just awesome. I loved their individual moments, but I also enjoyed the scenes they shared together. Samara’s friends and parents were my favorites of the secondary characters. I especially loved how involved Samara’s parents were in her life.

Burning Emerald answered a lot of questions for me, and I am glad that I finally got a copy. After all, finishing The Cambion Chronicles was long overdue on my end.

Musing Mondays (63) Where Do You Buy Books?

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme hosted by Jenn at Books and a Beat, that asks you to muse about something book related each week.

My musings for the week...

Random Weekly Question: What is your worst habit as a reader?

I have never actually thought about this before. I mean, what defines  a bad reading habit anyway? I guess, for example, my post on common/uncommon fictional hobbies. So, going along those lines, habits considered to be bad or good is totally subjective and dependent on the person being asked.

I guess, my worst habit would be that I dog ear the pages of my books. However, that's not actually a bad thing. I've noticed that the more dog eared pages = how much I've liked and enjoyed a certain book. Basically, I bookmark all my favorite scenes.

Other musings...

I took an impromptu beak last week. Well, I’m back, and oh man, it’s officially October. Only 28 days left until Halloween, hooray. Sorry, I do love summer, but I also love Halloween stuff too. Plus, the weather is finally starting to cool down a bit, which is great. So, goodbye summer, see you next year!

Anyway, to start out this week, I want to talk about where I get the books that I review on Our Thoughts Precisely. This probably won’t be the longest post ever, but I did want to talk about this eventually.

I enter giveaways, so I've won some of the books. I’m not that big on ARCs, and I usually only request the ones I really want. And even then, that’s pretty few and far in between. So, a lot of the books that get reviewed are ones that I already own—purchased before I started blogging, or I just bought them and let them collect dust on my shelf. For that reason, I have been reading a lot of backlist books this year. And it’s been great to finally make a dent in the books I own, but haven’t read. I primarily buy books from Barnes & Noble or the Book Depository. For Barnes & Noble, I like to go to the store, especially when I have a coupon.

Another place I buy books is actually the dollar store. Yes, the dollar store. It’s only recently that I’ve started looking there for some of the older books I want. I’ve found a few that have been on my list for a long time, and the second book of a trilogy I wanted to finish.

This next one is pretty self-explanatory: the library. Alright then, moving on.

I also get books from Blogging For Books. I actually like how they’ve set up the request system. And they’re my go-to place for finding random books that I may have overlooked, never heard of, or are nonfiction.

So, that’s pretty much it. Those are all of the places that I get books from. I do need to get back into going to my local library again. So, that’s what I’m hoping to do this month. So, what are your favorite places to buy books? Or, what are you looking forward to this October?

Musing Mondays (62) What's On My TBR + Obscure Books & Movies

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme hosted by Jenn at Books and a Beat, that asks you to muse about something book related each week.

My musings for the week...

Random Weekly Question: What is currently on your TBR pile?

I don't really have much on my current TBR except for The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson (the edition illustrated by Sanna Annukka). Other than that, the books I want to read haven't been released yet.

Other musings...

Random weekly question from September 12th: What obscure book do you think should be turned into a movie?

This is actually a pretty interesting question. Many of the books I’ve read, I wouldn’t consider them as obscure since they’re fairly well-known. And since I think this question needs a little more space than a short one paragraph answer, I’m going to use it as the theme for my musings this week.

Usually, when I think of book to movie adaptations, I immediately think of the dozens of YA books that have already gotten the movie treatment. For my list today, I want to talk about ones that haven’t been adapted. I also want to include books that I think would make a great TV series/special. So, without further ado, here’s my list…

Founding Myths by Ray Raphael—I picked this one even though its nonfiction. I think it would be great as a history TV series of some kind or a two part special. I do love history and I do like things that delve into the more obscure facts—or even clarify misconceptions about historical facts. Needless to say, if Founding Myths ever got turned into a movie/TV show or special, I would watch it.

The Night Has Teeth by Kat Kruger—I liked a lot of things about The Night Has Teeth. What I really enjoyed about it was Kruger’s take on werewolves plus her choice of setting. The combination had an interesting result that made the book one of my favorites. I also think it would make a great movie.

Scorched by Mari Mancusi—there’s never enough dragons on screen. So, Scorched is definitely one of my picks for this list. It has dragons, enough said.

Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World by Rachel Ignotofsky—Like Founding Myths above, I would definitely like to see this one on the screen. However, I think it would be better as a series rather than just one film, so that more time could be dedicated to each scientist and their respective accomplishments.

Kat, Incorrigible series by Stephanie Burgis—Historical setting+magic=yes! This is one of my favorite middle grade series for a reason, and I would love to see it adapted into movies.

Double Vision series by F.T. Bradley—I would love to see this series on screen. This series had humor, action, and junior agents working for a shadowy organization.

What books do you wish were a TV series/special, or movie?

The Friday 56 (78) Hourglass by Myra McEntire

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. For the full rules, visit the the page HERE

Synopsis from Goodreads...

One hour to rewrite the past…

For seventeen-year-old Emerson Cole, life is about seeing what isn't there: swooning Southern Belles; soldiers long forgotten; a haunting jazz trio that vanishes in an instant. Plagued by phantoms since her parents' death, she just wants the apparitions to stop so she can be normal. She's tried everything, but the visions keep coming back. So when her well-meaning brother brings in a consultant from a secretive organization called the Hourglass, Emerson's willing to try one last cure. But meeting Michael Weaver may not only change her future, it may also change her past. Who is this dark, mysterious, sympathetic guy, barely older than Emerson herself, who seems to believe every crazy word she says? Why does an electric charge seem to run through the room whenever he's around? And why is he so insistent that he needs her help to prevent a death that never should've happened?

""Yeah, because that worked out so well. There's no love there, Lily." And for me there probably never would be. No matter how much Dru protested, I didn't think I had any to offer.--Hourglass by Myra McEntire

Comments: I was in the mood for a paranormal novel, and this one seemed pretty interesting. So, I'm giving it a chance. This quote doesn't come from page 56, but I liked it more than the others. I'm not very far in yet, but so far so good...

What are you reading this week?