Today I woke up with my entire day planned out. First I would de-clutter the rec-room, attempt to bathe the dogs, get a jump on the ever-growing laundry pile, and between loads while the washing machine was working it’s magic I was going to catch-up on some challenge reviews – specifically the book and TV show reviews for My Friend Amy’s L.J. Smith Vampire Diaries challenge. The books themselves are re-reads for me, as I had devoured them at age 13 when they were first released. So far I’ve read the first omnibus which contains books 1 and 2. Let me say they are just as awesome as I remembered! As for the new TV show, just last night I finally caught up with all the episodes so far. (Gotta love network channels that include full episodes for viewing online!) I’d been a bit worried at first that the show would slaughter the original story, but so far I’m loving it. The show is different but I think the balance of good changes versus bad changes isn’t going to be an issue for me. And the actors chosen for the roles have terrific chemistry which makes it all the more enjoyable. My biggest complaint as of now is from the latest episode, involving Stefan and Damon’s past lover Katherine. In the books she was portrayed as a very sweet, caring girl – however in the show she’s a raging manipulative bitch. Not sure why this aspect was altered, but I’m still hopelessly addicted.
Back to my super organized to-do list for today, let’s see what I’ve got accomplished:
De-clutter rec-room
Bathe dogs
Do laundry
Vampire Diaries reviews
Wow! How impressive, an entire day to do four little things and all I managed to cross off was laundry (mainly because people look at me strangely when I run out of normal clothes and am forced to wear my pajamas in public.) Keep in mind though that I did do six loads of laundry today (am I the only mother of teenaged boys who wear like a gazillion outfits a day!?) You might be wondering what kept me from being more productive today – and my answer is a book! While attempting task one of my list (de-clutter rec-room) I decided that I would gather together all those books sitting around my house that I only own because someone said I HAD to read it. You know the ones I’m talking about, those books that you’d never pick up on your own, and people look at you like you have three heads for not having read it. My mission was to whittle this pile of books down, choosing randomly I would read at least 50-75 pages. If I wasn’t digging it – I’d chuck it out. Good plan I thought. My pile was made and I felt a surge of hope, thinking that soon I would have space for new books! But I made the mistake of taking a peek at the top book in the pile, which turned into me lounging on the sofa reading intently. 500 pages later it’s nearly midnight. (sigh) In case you’re curious the book was called The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel and I was almost 100% sure this would not be a book I’d enjoy (I mean really a 
prehistoric historical novel featuring cavemen? So not me.) But I was so into it, and literally could not set it down. Now I must go tomorrow immediately and pick up the next book (oh yeah and even worse it’s a series known as Earth’s Children, just what I needed right now!) Really, really want to find out what happens next – but I know I’m in for a disappointment because I just read a post over at A Certain Bent Appeal called “Books To Lose Your Virginity To” (a freaking hilarious new feature at this blog) and this series is featured. So in this post the Earth’s Children series is described like so “The series is truly bizarre in that the first book is a close examination of early human societies and customs and the following books are more like straight-up loincloth porn.” POP! Hear that noise? It was my hopes exploding. LOINCLOTH PORN!! That is just wrong on so many levels.
Happy Sunday Everyone!
© 2008-2010 Joanne Mosher of The Book Zombie. All rights reserved.
11 comments:
I read Clan of the Cave Bear in high school (over 20 years ago) and adored it. And even after all these years, I have never forgotten it. I can remember specific parts and every thing... I own the rest of the series but have never read them. But I know I can pick up the next one (The Valley of Horses) without having to read the first again, although I might read it again anyway. It's THAT good! I sincerely hope the loincloth porn thing is an exaggeration because I'm so not in to that!
If it had said zombie porn would you have hopped in the car immediately to go and buy? :-D
My friend has been pestering me to watch Vampire Diaries for a long time, but I told her I want to read the books first. But she's being very insistent, so if I don't find the books soon, I'll probably start on the series.
Ahahahaha! I can't say I'd have thought twice about that book but since you said it was prehistoric fiction, I found it fascinating. It's on my wishlist now! haha Thanks for that ;-) .
The Vampire Diaries has been on my wishlist for ages but I've not known whether to get it or not. Now that you've said you like it (and the fact that you didn't like Twilight), I'm definitely going to give it a go. :D
It's great to see you're enjoying these the second time around. Not all books hold up well to a re-read.
So... since our meet-and-greet didn't happen in the summer, how about the winter? Let me know if you are down here for any reason, otherwise we should work something out before the snow starts falling!
I love that the books are rereads for you, too. I agree about the show....mostly good but slightly confusing for doing the rereads and watching the show at the same time. My brain is feeble what i can say?
I've never read Clan of the Cave Bear, but I have heard that the whole series is curiously addicting. I'm glad you are enjoying it and am looking forward to your review!
I love Vampire Diaries, too, but I can't say that I'm in love with the TV series thus far. The characters--especially Stefan and Elena--just aren't as interesting in the series. Though, I have to say, Damon almost makes up for that! He's a total character and I *heart* him. :D
HA! Joanne, I missed this post somehow. I'm going to have to look back and see if you reviewed the next books in the series. Hope you enjoyed them. They may be a bit, *cough* scandalous, but I did find them enjoyable back in the day. :)
I think that assessment of the Earth's Children series is exactly right- I loved the first book, and then was surprised when the following ones just um, degraded further and further into being mostly about s-x. Valley of Horses is worth a read, still. I couldn't get through the third one, or any after that. Good luck to you!
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