Genre Favorites Blogfest

I need to get on the ball!

Alrighty, so I just learned of another blogfest, this one hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh.  Here is what you have to do! There's less than a day left. lol

Post your favorite genre in the following categories:

Movie

Music

Book

Plus a Guilty Pleasure from one of these categories.

SO, my favorite movie genre might be action/adventure. I love a lot of movies, but no matter the subgenre (fantasy, sci-fi, etc.) If it has action, I almost always watch it.

My favorite music is hard, because I listen to almost everything. I do love my rock, though, mostly classic and bands like Kings of Leon and Foo Fighters.

My favorite book is another hard one because I've read many genres and don't particularly have a favorite...but I will go with speculative fiction.

My guilty pleasure would have to be movies because I'm not really ashamed of the other stuff. lol I sometimes end up liking those TV-kids movies, like the Cheetah Girls 2 and Rags. The ones with music incorporated into them. I can't help it. I'm a kid at heart. :)

Make sure you stop by Alex's blog and the others who have signed up for this. I think I'm #179 or something wild like that. Enjoy your week!

Birdy (Album Review)

I heard this little girl sing "Skinny Love" on Conan, and I fell in love!

"Birdy", or Jasmine van den Bogaerde (what a name), is 16 years old with the voice of someone so much more mature. I can't wait to hear how she grows. Her voice is like cotton, soft, smooth, and sleepy. I almost cried listening to it yesterday, but I was in my feelings, so...at any rate, her voice is emotionally compelling no matter what you're feeling while you're listening to it. I also like to imitate her accent when I sing her songs. She says ool (all) and stroowberries. lol

Her debut album Birdy is an album of covers, which if you asked me 10 years ago (geez 10 years) I would have said is a cop-out, but that's while I was listening to Joss Stone, whose voice I can't stand and music I can't stand even more. SO, when I went back to listen to the originals (haven't gotten to all of them yet) that Birdy covered, I shook my head and said, "Nah, hers is better." The arrangements are beautiful, and you (I) can't stop listening to them.

It's a very mellow album with only one fast song and many mid-tempos. If you're into dancing (not club but contemporary and lyrical) it's good for it. My favorite songs on this album are "Shelter," "Without A Word," "Youngblood," "White Winter Hymn"... I'll stop before I pretty much name the whole album. Birdy has inspiring piano skills. Maybe I'll get back to learning songs; I have to manage my time better.

I'm almost sure her album is available to listen to on Spotify, but I'm not sure because I bought it right after listening to clips on Amazon. You can also subscribe to her on Youtube. "The A Team" is a great song she recently put up.

This album gets 5 stars from me. I leave you with my favorite line from a song that I actually didn't list as my favorite.

People help the people
And if you're homesick
Give me your hand, and I'll hold it.

Winning!

hahaha

Anyway, while I have a TON of blog entries to read (I don't know how they're piling up!), I have actually won two contests in which I've won books and swag! :o

The first is from an old friend of mine, Christian Wynn, who self-published The Holiday Hotel (Jack Taylor Cases, vol 1.) this past April. Here is the blurb from Amazon.com:

Jack Taylor and his mother are still struggling to settle into their new lives without Jack’s father as they journey to his hometown for the holidays. Jack’s mother is clinging desperately to happy memories, but she doesn’t seem to remember that she’s repeating the same day over and over. The same bizarre repeating day brings Jack to a small town, where he finds an unexpected ally in an aspiring investigative journalist who has had a few strange days of her own.

Their investigation leads them to the Holiday Hotel, and the two young people discover that the imaginary characters from their favorite stories are more realistic than they ever could have guessed. In this wondrous hotel for vacationing holiday spirits, Jack finds himself caught up in an otherworldly mystery that threatens to destroy his world along with theirs. With the help of his new partner, an alluring fortune teller, and a few benevolent spirits, Jack uses his crackerjack detective skills to help him solve his first case and come closer to unraveling a deep family secret of his own.

I'm very excited to read this, first because I didn't know Christian wrote a book (I lost touch with a lot of people when I bounced around colleges)! Second, the fantastical element is really cool, seemingly a play on the Ghosts of Christmas, but the Spirits of Mother's Day and Father's Day. I won the book and some posters! No idea what I'll do with the posters, but they're cool to have. hehe

It's available in ebook and hard copy at this Amazon Search result page.

And this week, I won some swag from my AQC friend Terri Bruce, who just released her book Hereafter! I can't wait to buy the book (though I have to lol). For commenting on a blog during her Virtual Tour, I won 2 postcards, 2 bookmarks, and 2 "afterlife" related note cards with matching envelopes.

Hearing the first chapter read by E.F. Jace at Verbose Veracity, I knew I needed this book! The picture was painted so well, and I just can't wait to see how Irene grows up, now that she's dead and all...Here's the blurb. ;)

And the link to the ebook, but there are hard copies, too.

Thirty-six-year-old Irene Dunphy didn't plan on dying any time soon, but that’s exactly what happens when she makes the mistake of getting behind the wheel after a night bar-hopping with friends. She finds herself stranded on earth as a ghost, where the food has no taste, the alcohol doesn’t get you drunk, and the sex...well, let’s just say “don’t bother.” To make matters worse, the only person who can see her—courtesy of a book he found in his school library—is a fourteen-year-old boy genius obsessed with the afterlife.

This sounds suspiciously like hell to Irene, so she prepares to strike out for the Great Beyond. The only problem is that, while this side has exorcism, ghost repellents, and soul devouring demons, the other side has three-headed hell hounds, final judgment, and eternal torment. If only there was a third option...

I just realized that both of these books have fantastical/supernatural elements to them, and that's so neat! I don't think I've read a good "ghost story" in while. My last may have been Christopher Pike's Remember Me, back when I was 12? Sheesh!

Thanks, Chris and Terri! I can't wait to dive into your books. =D