Tag Archives: amreading

Nov 23 2014
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Book Based Movies

Movie Review – The Hunger Games Series Thus Far

Happy Sunday Bookshelf Battlers!  May the bookshelves be ever in your favor…

The Bookshelf Battler (that’s me, I’m just an important person who refers to himself in the third person) saw the latest installment of the blockbuster book based movie franchise, The Hunger Games:  Mockingjay:  Part 1 in an early Thursday night showing.  The place was packed.  People love these movies.

For those unfamiliar with the books and/or movies (I don’t know, maybe you’ve been too busy coal mining in District 12 to follow pop culture), the series takes place in the  chaotic future land of Panem,  where the the snobby rich evildoers who run “the Capitol” bask in luxurious lifestyles built on the backs of the poor laborers who toil away in the Districts.  No, it was not written by Occupy Wall Street.  The story  follows Katniss, played by Jennifer Lawrence in the role that made her career, as she battles the Capitol’s leader, the sinister President Snow (played by Donald Sutherland.  Yes, he’s still alive).

The series begins with the original Hunger Games in which the Capitol revels in watching an annual extreme reality TV show competition – i.e. The Hunger Games.   Every year, all the districts are required to cough up one young male and one young female to compete in a free-for-all, fight to the last person standing competition.

Here is a parody of my conversation with the world when I saw the first film in 2012:

WORLD:  Oh wow!  The Hunger Games is so awesome!  Go Katniss!  Wooo!  Yeah!

ME:  Umm…wait a minute.  Am I the only one who is disturbed by the fact that this is a movie about children murdering other children?

WORLD:  Wow!  Katniss has a burning fire dress!  What a great movie!  Woohoo!

ME:  How did  this even get published?  Did somebody just walk into a publisher’s office and say, “Yeah, hey listen, check it out, I’ve got this great idea for a novel.  It’s the future.  All these kids are thrown into a dome full of guns, machetes, and weapons and they are forced to shoot each other and hack each other to pieces.”

WORLD:  Woohoo!  Great movie!

ME:  I mean, isn’t this pretty much the The Running Man with kids?

WORLD:  Running what?  Shut up!  We’re trying to watch the movie!  Katniss is going to unleash a bunch of futuristic killer bees on some kids!

ME: The Running Man.  It was a very violent 1980’s movie starring Arnold Schwarzennegger and Jesse Ventura.  It was a futuristic game show where convicted criminals were forced to do battle.  Arnold was wrongfully convicted of a crime he didn’t commit and he had to battle his way out of an obstacle course filled with all kinds of evil psychopaths.  It’s like somebody went to Hollywood and said, “Let’s make The Running Man but with kids!”

WORLD:  Shut up.  Those guys were governors.  They weren’t in any movies.

cropped-hunger-games-bookshelf-battle.jpg

But I suppose once you get around the Lord of the Flies-esque nature of the Hunger Games, it isn’t that bad a series.  I noticed that in the sequel, Catching Fire, there is another Hunger Games battle royale in which grown up adult winners of the past games come back to compete.  I hope this means someone, somewhere said, “Hey wait a minute, let’s cool it on the child vs. child killing competitions.”

Eventually, as the series moves along, it becomes less about the competition and more about Katniss becoming a revolutionary freedom fighter, working to take down President Snow’s corrupt government.  In other words, it starts to become a sci-fi action fantasy and that’s a direction that’s easier to get behind.

In Mockingjay: Part I we finally see Katniss come into her own as a symbol of hope for the anti-Capitol uprising.  Lots of action, special effects, and so on.  Overall, it’s a great series of books and despite my above criticisms (what work is without flaws?) I still find them shelf-worthy.

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Nov 23 2014
2 Comments
Writing

Frozen NaNoWriMo

I edited my work last night.  Stop judging me.  I realized I had made an error that if left unfixed it would have been pointless to press forward.

“That’s what everybody does!  Just write anyway!”

I know.  But the error was such that anything written beyond said error would have become meaningless jibber jabber.

“It all starts out as meaningless jibber jabber!”

I know.

Anyway, here are my tweets of the NanoWriMo Edition of “Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?”

And here is “Let it Go” – NanoWriMo Edition:

I know.  I know.  I’ve spent the past year wishing these songs would go away and now I’ve made a small contribution towards keeping them going.  I am a hypocrite.

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Nov 17 2014
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TV

The Walking Dead 11/16/14

GRR!  ARGH!  SPOILERS AHEAD!  BRAINS!

It was an all Daryl and Carol episode tonight on The Walking Dead.  The Bookshelf Battler’s Observations:

1)  A lot of flashbacks and shifts around in time.  A bit confusing but I figured it out.

2)  That van never would have landed like that but I’m glad Daryl and Carol are ok.

3)  Did the hospital people hit Carol on purpose?  Did she get hit on purpose to find Beth?

4)  Why were all those zombies just hanging out in sleeping bags?

5)  These people have been walking around for years.  Why haven’t they made it out of Georgia yet?

Did you watch tonight’s episode?  Do you have any random comments or questions?  Feel free to share!

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Nov 16 2014
7 Comments
Writing

National Novel Writing Month – or #NanoWriMo

Are you participating in National Novel Writing Month?

If you’ve never heard of it, the two-cent summary is that it is a challenge to write a novel of at least 50,000 words by the end of November.  It doesn’t have to be a good one.  The end result does not even have to make sense.  Don’t bother editing.  Participants will be quick to remind you to write first, edit later.

Write first, edit later?  Seriously?  “That novel will be a bunch of garbledeegook!” you might say.  And you would not be wrong for saying that.  The thing to remember about NanoWriMo is – every novel starts out as a pile of garbledeegook.

Take any classic novel, film, TV episode, whatever.  They all started out in the brain of a writer and said writer had to mix the thoughts around in his brain for awhile before he got things right.  Consider these recently discovered entries from Shakespeare’s personal notebook:

DAY 1 – The title of my next play?  Romeo and Hildegard!  Two lovers who meet, fall in love, enjoy a delightful wedding ceremony, and take part in many years of bliss all the while their respective familes go out of their way to display their acceptance of the situation.

DAY 2 – What was I thinking who would pay 2 shillings to watch such tripe!  I must think of a way to liven things up!

DAY 3 – Romeo and Hildegard?  Hildegard?  Really?  I have to think of a new name for the female lead.  Jessica? Janet?

DAY 4 – Romeo and Juliet!  They meet!  They fall in love!  Their families despise one another and they send Romeo and Juliet a sternly worded letter that they disapprove of their union!  The End!

DAY 5 – Rubbish, Shakespeare.  Rubbish.  Quit writing and get a job at your father’s used horse dealership while you still can.

DAY 6 – Romeo and Juliet!  Their families are the Montagues and the Capulets and they have a longstanding feud!  Perhaps representatives of the respective families engage in quarrelsome activities that doom the lovers’ union!

DAY 7 – Mercutio gets run over by a horse.  No, he gets brained with a frying pan.  No!  Stabbed by Tybalt!  And his dying words are, “I am very offended to have been stabbed!”

DAY 8 – No, he says, “A Plague on both your houses!”  Yes, thus illustrating how petty feuds often pull unsuspecting bystanders into the fray.

DAY 9 – Romeo and Juliet run away from Verona.  They live till a ripe old age and have many babies.

DAY 10 – No, we must have a sad ending.  Romeo and Juliet attempt to sneak out of Verona.  However, the city is protected by a mighty dragon who eats Romeo.  Distressed, Juliet’s rage gives her magical powers that she uses to burn Verona to the ground.

DAY 11 – Preposterous!  Wait, I’ve got it!  Juliet attempts to get away from her family by taking a drug that makes her look dead but actually only causes her to go into a deep sleep for 2 days.  She sends a message to Romeo to meet her at the tomb.  Romeo fails to receive the message due to the incompetence of the Verona Postal Service.

DAY 12 – Romeo meets her at the tomb.  The drug has turned Juliet into a zombie.  She feasts on Romeo’s brains.

DAY 13 – Juliet wakes up.  Romeo is overjoyed.  They run away, live a long, happy life and have many babies.

DAY 14 – Not sad enough.  At the end of their long happy life together, an underlying residual effect of the drug turns Juliet into a zombie.  Now Romeo has his brains eaten.

DAY 15 – That’s too outlandish.  Romeo gets to the tomb.  Paris is there.  He thinks Juliet is dead and mourns her.  Romeo makes a move to stab Paris.  Paris, positioned just in front of Juliet, dodges to one side to avoid the oncoming sword.  At that moment, Juliet sits up, stretches and yawns and says, “Oh wow, I can’t believe I slept that long!  Oh hey Romeo!  ACK!  Why did you stab me?”

DAY 16 – Romeo then stabs himself because he is distraught over stabbing Juliet by accident.

DAY 17 – OK I like the idea that the lovers kill themselves at the end, but this part where Romeo stabs Juliet by accident is ridiculous.

DAY 18 – Alright, check this out.  Juliet is sleeping in her tomb.  Romeo goes to see her, unaware that she is sleeping, he thinks she is actually dead.  He confronts Paris, kills him, then distraught over Juliet’s apparent death, drinks poison.  Juliet wakes up, sees Romeo dead, gets so upset that she stabs herself with a dagger.  Cut.  Print.

DAY 19 – It still needs a little flourish at the end.  Howsabout this?  The Prince and represenatives of the families come to the tomb, see all the bodies, and says, “You know guys, this is some ridiculous bullshit.  Y’all f’d up royally with this one.”  The End.

DAY 20 – I’ve got it!  The Prince says, “For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo.”  Done!  Time for chili cheese fries!”

Yes, readers.  Those are the exact, unaltered entries in Shakespeare’s personal notebook.  I am surprised as you are that they had chili cheese fries in his day.

OK, so maybe I made this whole thing up.  The point is that sometimes writers get so bogged down in criticizing themselves that they never write anything.  Meanwhile, those who actually begin the writing with lesser ideas in place eventually find a way to rework those ideas and build them into something better.

So to all you NanoWriMo Participants out there, good luck!  And as a shameless plug for this writer’s work:  check out bookshelfbattle.com and follow @bookshelfbattle on twitter!

(C) Bookshelfbattle.com  – All rights reserved

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Nov 13 2014
2 Comments
Writing

Les Miserables – #NanoWriMo Edition

Here’s my series of tweets in which I took two songs from the play/movie, Les Miserables and geared them toward #NanoWriMo

Look Down – NanoWriMo Edition

So embarrassing!  One of those tweets has a “You’re” that should be a “Your.”  I wish there was an “edit tweet” function.  Oh well.  Here’s my other twitter-tastic creation:

The Confrontation:  NanoWriMo Edition

Especially creative?  Too much time on my hands?  A little from Column A and Column B?  You be the judge!

Are you participating in NanoWriMo?  Are you at least taking part in the #NanoWriMo discussions?  Follow @bookshelfbattle for more booktabulous fun.

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Nov 07 2014
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Literary Quotes

Literary War Quote – 1984 by George Orwell

Bookshelf Battler here, reporting live from the Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare battlefront.  I have to hand it to this game.  Such ultimate realism – the sights, the sounds, the blasts, the getting shot twenty times and then hiding behind a corner until you get better – ok, so maybe the realism factor isn’t all that high but still it is an all around A+ game.

This week I’m celebrating this game with a tie-in to literary war quotes – mentions in literature about that most necessary (or unnecessary?) of all evils – war.  War.  Ungh.  Goo God yah huh – what’s it even good for?  Absolutely nothin.’

In 1984, (the book, not the year that happened thirty years ago – hey what do you know, Happy Anniversary 1984!) by George Orwell, a vivid portrait the ultimate police state is created, so much so that the novel gave rise to the phrase, “Big Brother is watching you.”

What did this book have to say about violence – as in organized violence ,or in other words, war?  Check it out:

“Those who abjure violence can only do so by others committing violence on their behalf.”  – George Orwell, 1984

Don’t be fooled by the catchy use of the word, “Battle” in the title of this blog.  I’m all for peace, happiness, and tranquility.  But George makes a good point.  Constant threats abound – both from criminal degenerates at home and terrorists abroad.  We are able to sit around and type on our blogs, drink our Mountain Dew, and play our video games because “rough men,” i.e. police and soldiers are taking up arms on our behalf and keeping the bad guys at bay.  Here’s what else George had to say on the subject:

“People sleep peacefully in their beds only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.”  – George Orwell, 1984

My opinion, police and military types often get a bad rap.  They’re often portrayed in pop culture  as savages, jerks, people on a power trip who just enjoy committing acts of violence and while I suppose there will always be a few bad apples in any bunch, we have to be honest with ourselves and realize that we are able to live peaceful lives because the government employs “rough men” (and hey – even “rough women!” to fight on our behalf.

This concept was further immortalized in the 1992 military courtroom drama film, A Few Good Men.  Remember the character Col. Nathan Jessup played by Jack Nicholson?  Here’s the direct quote of his infamous “You Can’t Handle the Truth!” speech:

“Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns.  Who’s gonna do it?  You?  You, Lt. Weinburg?  I have a greater responsibility than you could possibly fathom.  You weep for Santiago and you curse the Marines.  You have that luxury.  You have the luxury of not knowing what I know – that Santiago’s death, while tragic, probably saved lives.  And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives.  You don’t want the truth because deep down in places you don’t talk about at parties, you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall.  We use words like honor, code, loyalty.  We used these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something.  You use them as a punchline.  I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it.  I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way.  Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon and stand a post.  Either way, I don’t give a damn what you think you are entitled to.”  – Jack Nicholson as Col. Nathan Jessup in A Few Good Men

Well, maybe this is not the best example since Jessup was the bad guy in the film but overall, the main point – if you feel the need to criticize police and the military for being “rough men,” try to also keep in mind that their “roughness” is very much needed.

And don’t forget – my Call of Duty character will be exploded 50 times tonight by frag grenades, many of which I tossed accidentally at my own feet, so that you can play peaceful video games like Mario Kart and Minecraft.

Full disclosure – I have to give props to NBC’s The Blacklist because Raymond “Red” Reddington used Orwell’s quote in this week’s episode.  When I heard it, I was like, “Thank you, James Spader!  There’s a blog post!”

In conclusion – don’t forget to subscribe to this blog and follow @bookshelfbattle.com on Twitter.

And if you’re a Walking Dead fan – stop by Sunday night to discuss the latest episode!  What is Carol going to do as a patient at the evil hospital, anyway?

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Nov 05 2014
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Books, Classics, Literary Quotes

Literary War Quotes – A Farewell to Arms

Bookshelf Battler here, reporting live from the Call of Duty home base.  I am working on my fighting skills and have perfect a move where I run my character into a wall for thirty seconds until another player stealthily sneaks up behind me and either a) rudely shoots me in the back b) knifes me in the back c) lobs a grenade at me or d) a combination of a, b, and c.

All part of my genius plan to wear the enemy down.  Once the opposing forces are exhausted from constantly throttling me, I’ll strike!  (And run into the wall for an entire minute before I figure out how to turn around).

Are you playing Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare?  Take a break to read today’s literary war quote:

“If people bring so much courage to this world the world has to kill them to break them, so of course it kills them. The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry.”  – Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms

Ernest Hemingway’s 1929 novel, A Farewell to Arms is a classic love story set against the backdrop of World War I.  Heartbreaking and perhaps even depressing, it pulls no punches in illustrating the plight of those who fight.

What about the above quote?  Essentially, Hemingway is saying that the world is such a harsh place that sooner or later it brings down everyone – pessimist and optimist alike.  Is that true?  Is there anyone who ever manages to get through life without being dragged down by some of the crueler aspects of the world?

Press the pause button on your remote control and share your thoughts in the comment section!  As always, thanks for dropping by and don’t forget to follow @bookshelfbattle on Twitter.

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Nov 05 2014
2 Comments
Literary Quotes

Author Douglas Adams on Elections and Voting

Happy Election Day!

We here at bookshelfbattle.com (and by “we” I haven’t decided whether I am referring to the royal “we” or to the mouse in my pocket) are non-political.  Whether you are Republican, Democrat, Independent, or if you belong to one of those odd parties that believes we should turn the government over to space aliens and/or robots, all we want to do is to discuss something that transcends party lines – the written word.  Also, we want your clicks – your sweet, sweet web page clicks.  So while you’re already here, don’t be a slacker – click on an extra button or two.

Have you ever read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams?  It is by far one of the funniest novels ever written, and it is a fairly short and easy read, so there’s no excuse to not check it out.  Honestly, you should be ashamed of yourself for not reading it already.  Go read it.  I won’t bother to get into the plot because I intend to have a review of this book coming soon.

Adams wrote a number of sequels set in the Hitchhiker universe.  Here’s a quote from one of them that provides some proverbial food for thought:

“The major problem-one of the major problems, for there are several – one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather who manages to get people to let them do it to them.  To summarize:  it is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it.  To summarize the summary:  anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.”  – Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

Of course, Adams was discussing the intergalactic politics of his fictional universe, but it still applies to today’s politics.  In my opinion, today’s political contests have basically become glorified beauty contests where the person who talks the fastest, promises the most, or looks the best wins.  Abraham Lincoln would never win an election today because the media would be all like, “Who cares if he’s the Great Emancipator?  Have you seen his craggy face?!”

Sure, there are many politicians who run because they want to do good deeds and believe their ideas are just and true.  On the other hand, there are a lot of politicians who just want to see their names on signs and get lots of fame and applause.

There are many intelligent people who would be great leaders who shy away from the entire process because their intelligence tells them that they might as well ignore politics altogether rather than get involved and have the media pepper them with questions like, “How many times did you pick your nose in third grade?  Nose-picker Gate!  Film at Eleven!”

In conclusion, whether you are a Republican, Democrat, Independent, or Friends of the Space Aliens Party – enjoy watching tonight’s election results.  May the candidates that suit your personal agendas be victorious and as always, may you crack open a book and share your literary wisdom on bookshelfbattle.com

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Nov 04 2014
3 Comments
Book Based Movies, Video Games

Literary War Quotes

In honor of my latest obsession with Call of Duty, I’ve decided that this week will be a week of literary war quotes.  Throughout the week on bookshelfbattle.com there will be quotes from books, characters, and authors and each will provide a different perspective of war.

Here’s today’s quote:

“A small but noteworthy note. I’ve seen so many young men over the years who think they’re running at other young men. They are not. They are running at me.” – Death, the Narrator of The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

Have you ever read The Book Thief?  I haven’t but have seen the film and enjoyed it.  The use of Death as the narrator was an original, unconventional idea that worked.  It was set during World War II, which was, after all, a very busy time for the Grim Reaper.  Essentially, what the author is trying to convey here is that soldiers often think they are going up against the opposing army but ultimately, they’re engaged in an activity that is just going to bring death upon them way too soon.

To state the obvious, war sucks.  This will be a constant theme of the literary war quotes we will explore.

Tune in tomorrow folks.  Same Bat Time.  Same Bat Channel.

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Oct 31 2014
2 Comments
Classics, Horror

Double Double Toil and Trouble – The Witches of MacBeth

Happy Halloween!

Have you ever wondered how witches obtained their witchy personality traits?

***Crickets chirp***

Ahem.  This is your cue.

“Hey!  Bookshelf Battle Guy!  How did witches obtain their witchy personality traits?”

Oh thank you, Reader.  I thought you’d never ask.

Well, the common conception of a witch is a nasty old hag throwing all kinds of weird ingredients (usually animals or parts of animals) into a boiling cauldron.

We could discuss all day witch-tastic imagery from all sorts of literature but to me, Act 4, Scene 1 of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth stands out.

So park your broomstick and grab your eye of newt, because here are some excerpts and quotes:

SCENE 1 – A cavern – in the middle is a boiling cauldron.

Thunder.  Enter the three witches.

FIRST WITCH

Thrice the brinded cat hath mew’d

SECOND WITCH

Thrice and once the hedge-pig whined

BOOKSHELFBATTLE – So, four then?  The pig in your hedges whined four times?  Why are you hags making this so difficult?

THIRD WITCH

Harpier cries, ‘Tis time, ’tis time.

FIRST WITCH

Round about the cauldron go;

In the poison’d entrails throw.

Toad, that under cold stone

Days and nights has thirty-one

Swelter’d venom, sleeping got,

Boil thou first i’ the charmed pot

BOOKSHELF BATTLE GUY: Pot of poisoned entrails?  That doesn’t sound charming at all.

ALL

Double, double toil and trouble;

Fire burn and cauldron bubble!

SECOND WITCH

Fillet of a fenny snake,

In the cauldron boil and bake;

Eye of newt and toe of frog

Wool of bat and tongue of dog

Adder’s fork and blind-worm’s sting,

Lizard’s leg and owlet’s wing

For a charm of powerful trouble,

Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

BOOKSHELFBATTLE GUY – My condolences, amputated animals.  Apparently witches used to think your parts were magical.

ALL

Double, double toil and trouble

THIRD WITCH

Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf,

Witches’ mummy, maw and gulf

Of the ravin’d salt-sea shark,

Root of hemlock digg’d i’ the dark,

Liver of blaspheming Jew,

Gall of goat, and slips of yew

Silver’d in the moon’s eclips,

Nose of Turk and Tartar’s lips

Finger of birth-strangled babe

Ditch-deliver’d by a drab,

Make the gruel thick and slab:

Add thereto a tiger’s chaudron

For the ingredients of our cauldron.

BOOKSHELF BATTLE GUY – OK, now they’re getting ridiculous.  I don’t even know where to begin.  First of all, allow me to apologize for the racial insensitivity.  What can I say?  This is an excerpt taking from a 1500’s era writer who was writing about ancient witches so it is not like you can really expect a lot of political correctness.  Also, how many babies were getting strangled in those days that their fingers were just apparently readily available to be tossed into witches’ brews?  Those were dark times, my friends, dark times indeed.

ALL

Double, double toil and trouble;

Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

SECOND WITCH

Cool it with a baboon’s blood,

Then the charm is firm and good.

BOOKSHELFBATTLE GUY: – This took place in Scotland, didn’t it?   Where would they have even found a baboon?

ENTER HECTATE to the other three Witches.

HECTATE

O well done!  I commend your pains;

And every one shall share i’ the gains;

And now about the cauldron sing,

Live elves and fairies in a ring,

Enchanting all that you put in.

MUSIC AND A SONG: Black spirits…

HECTATE retires

SECOND WITCH

By the pricking of my thumbs,

Something wicked this way comes.

Open, locks,

Whoever knocks!

ENTER MACBETH

MACBETH

How now, you secret, black and midnight hags!

What is’t you do?

BOOKSHELF BATTLE GUY:  I have no comment, other than I think it is funny that MacBeth openly refers to them as hags.  “Hello, hags!”

Well folks, that concludes my discussion of MacBeth’s witches.  Grab your wolf teeth and dragon scales and toss them into the comment section.

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