Category: Uncategorized
Life, Plans and Blogging
The human body really is an amazing thing, particularly when it comes to stress. For three months this year I was under so much stress that I was not allowed to take a break or get sick. My body wouldn’t let me because people were depending on me to get stuff done. But now that the stress is gone and has been replaced by grief, I’ve been having a rough time of it. Which leads me to why I had grand plans for this week that didn’t work out: I got sick. Again.
I think the worst of it is behind me (thank goodness) but I’m still not 100%. At least I don’t have a fever anymore. Anyway, that’s why I didn’t get to blog much this week. Hopefully next week will be far more consistent. I’ve got some good stuff for you guys to look forward to content-wise but also a very exciting contest and an even more exciting announcement that will be made tomorrow.
Why I, a Woman, Enjoy ‘Game of Thrones’
Spoiler Alert: If you haven’t watched the first four seasons of Game of Thrones, don’t read this and get mad at me.
In some places online (as well as in the real world), there’s this idea that of course women can’t enjoy Game of Thrones because it’s sexist. They say it objectifies women, there’s gratuitous nudity, it’s an all boys club meant for medieval fantasy fulfillment and that I, as a card-carrying member of Team Woman cannot possibly enjoy such a sexist show. This annoys me for many reasons but I’m going to explain my logic below for why I enjoy the show, how it could be improved and why these critics aren’t digging deeply enough.
I, as a human being, enjoy the TV show Game of Thrones. It has nothing to do with my gender, but rather my general love of fantasy with good plot lines. Fantasy is one of my favourite genres and while I wouldn’t describe myself as a hardcore fan I do read more fantasy than anything else. I originally picked up George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series because of friend of mine wouldn’t shut up about the TV show and I wanted to read and watch the first season and the first book simultaneously. I was actually impressed with both: the TV show for how well it captured the vivid world Martin had created and the books for actually containing that vivid, well thought out world. Continue reading
Literary Games: Guess the Quote
I thought I’d do something fun this weekend, so I have a game for you all (in part to make up for the lack of posting lately). Basically, I’ll provide you with five quotes and you have to guess which book they’re from. They’re all from traditionally published novels this time around and they’re all most definitely not YA or at least they’re in the upper limits of the genre. Two of them are classics within their genres while the other three have been fairly popular in the past couple of years.
So far there’s no prizes but I hope to be able to offer some little ones in the future. Here are the quotes (and yes, if someone guesses right I’ll post the answer):
1. “You can’t go hunting United States governors with a generic revolver. It simply isn’t done.” –Feed by Mira Grant
2. “My father’s greatest victories were in the Alps, France, the Low Countries, but especially in Germany, where his name will, I think, never be forgotten.” –I, Claudius by Robert Graves
3. “Fifteen! I’d hardly be fifteen and rousting villages.
By the time fifteen came around, I’d be King!” -Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
4. “You know, he never tried to find out what had happened to his relatives in Jamaica? Never even asked. He was so fiercely focused on the fate of our nation, so determined to preserve the dream that created it. I don’t know if great times make great men, but I know they can kill them.” -World War Z by Max Brooks
5. “And hooptiously drangle me with crinkly bindlewurdles,/Or I will rend thee in the gobberwarts with my blurgecruncheon, see if I don’t.” -The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
If no one has guessed any of them by the time I’m done work I’ll post some clues for this evening, with the answers to follow tomorrow morning. So go on and guess away!
Your Open Book and/or Blog Promotion Thread
It’s been a couple of weeks or so since I’ve done one of these so I figured I’d combine my normally two separate topics (book promotion for authors and blog promotion for readers). So if you’re a blogger, post a link to your blog along with a description of it, which can include almost anything like what you write about, who you blog with, etc. If you’re an author, post a link to your book or book(s) and tell us all about them.
Here are the rules:
1. No more than 3 links.
2. No bashing other people’s books and/or blogs.
3. Have fun!
The Best and Worst of July 2014
Yep, this is another Best and Worst of… installment that’s a little late but it’s better late than never. Especially considering all of the tech problems I’ve had recently (and am still having). My keyboard recently died on my desktop so now I have to use a laptop that is way too small for my long fingers. Oh well, things could be worse.
Sadly on the statistics front, July just couldn’t compete with the previous four record-breaking months. Now that Game of Thrones is done for another several months and school is out (so I don’t get hits on my Hunger Games articles as much) I expected my views to go down and I wasn’t surprised when I only received 6,344 page views with 4,568 unique views. Still, that’s much better than last July, which clocked in at 3,958 total page views. My site is continuing to grow in popularity so I can hardly complain about how tough I have it.
Well, what were the best articles this month?
1. Why Girls Hate Game of Thrones—A Rebuttal
2. How to Read 100 Pages in an Hour
3. The Hunger Games and Ancient Rome
4. Discussion: Who are Book Reviews For?
5. Discussion: Your School Reading Experiences
As with the previous four months, my Game of Thrones article gave me over half of the views I received and the other articles preceding it were far behind by comparison (3000+ hits compared to 100). My discussions did better than they usually do, mainly because I haven’t really posted discussions for a while since my tech problems started. Speaking of which, I still have to reply to all of those awesome comments!
So what were the worst articles in July?
1. The Squire, His Knight, and His Lady by Gerald Morris
2. Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare
4. The Fire Within by Chris d’Lacey
5. The Secret War by Matt Myklusch
All of these are reviews this month, which is unusual, but at the same time it’s not all that concerning. They’re all books that have been out for a while so of course they’re not going to get the same amount of hits as newer books that are being talked about all over the internet. I don’t see any repeat offenders so I usually don’t get too worried about which reviews appear on the worst list.
Well, that’s how my July went: lower stats and tons of tech problems but still not too bad. Work is busy, which is good, but at the same time I look back on the slow days of winter with longing because while I’m ringing up customers constantly I’m not getting any cleaning or estimating done. Still, I can’t complain. How was your July?