YouTube, Netflix, and Lists

I'm BA-ACK! Again.

Anyway, I got a YouTube account! It's right here, so if you want to watch my fave vids or friend me, go right ahead and do so. Enjoy! And yes, that I am indeed subscribing to country music artists. *is very proud of self*

Anyone who gets movies from Netflix? I've seen so many movies already (I've been listing them) and, well, we've been getting a lot of cool stuff!

Speaking of lists, I've been making a ton of lists lately: favorite books, favorite movies, and how I compare to the typical teen (the last of which I found 25 MAJOR differences at least). If wanted, I can delight you all in lists in those (Netflix movies seen, favorite books, favorite movies, and the differences lists).

Another thing: I've been needing to change the template. I shall be doing that soon and try to post more on both here, B1000, and BF. Sorry for holding y'all up! :(

Last but not least, I have a sort of survey question for everyone: What's the best book that you've read this summer, not counting re-reads?

While I was gone...

Hmm, seems like everyone disappeared for a week or two, missed the computer, and came back today. Do we all think alike or something?

Anyway, I was thinking of posting about this article on LRRH, but I didn't want to spawn any "controversy", so I hope this is ok to post here. I always thought that there should be age restrictions on books, but....well, what do y'all think? B/c I always hate it when I want to read a book and have to go through tiresome research to simply find out whether it's clean, so, personally, an age restriction (like MPAA ratings, if you're still confused) would be great for books.

Opinions?

Bliss!

Butterfly Forest is back on track officially! Right after writing up this post, I hope to get some new reviews written up. Next is an album review, and if you don't know which one it is yet...well, I won't tell you, it'll be a surprise, but IT'S NOT A COUNTRY ALBUM. Yes, you'll all be "le gasping", but it's not. Will y'all read it?

Next, on B1000, I'm going to write another new post about fictional characters. Ooh, how fun! I hope y'all will stay in tune to B1000, b/c there will be a lot of interesting posts on there. I'm telling you, you don't want to miss it.

Another thing I've been wondering. I need everyone's help on it. Do you think I should move to B1000, since most everything I talk about is MOLD related? Opinions, please!

On the Fifth of July...

...I shall talk a bt about the Fourth of July. We didn't get to BBQ (though we will next wk or something), but I did end up getting a stomachache all day. Fun, eh? *roll smilie*

Anyhow...BB news is that I'm working on my movie review (thanks to SophieCouture, b/c of her comment on my blog I was reminded that I should really get to work on it. I'm sure most of you know what it is already, but for those of you who don't....well, it'll just be a surprise then.

After my review, I hope to work on my B1000 post on B1000. (sounds strange if you say it aloud *lol smilie*) Then, hopefully, I can write some more reviews (but not necessarily post them), and finish up Sisters Grimm #2: The Unusual Suspects. Wow, that bk is good! Even better than the first, I have to say. I'll do a review on that, too, of course.

So, since I have lots to do, and apparently this wk was Foreign Language week, I'll say "Au revoir! Adios! Aufweidersein (sp?)! Ahn-neeng-gah-say-yo! (Korean, btw)"...I've ran out of foreign languages.

[edit: my movie review is now published. Please stop by and take a look at it on Butterfly Forest!]

OH. MY. GOODNESS. I. LOVE. THAT. BOOK. PERIOD.

YES I DO. LOVE it. Figured out what I'm talking about? B1000. Yep. I finished it last night and, well, I think it's about time I fixed up my "favorite books" list and rearranged it. So I said that PA would have a "special place in my heart"? OK, so maybe it gets an honorable mention, but B1000....WOW. I don't think I've ever read a book that was so classic that as soon as I was reading the last paragraph I wanted to reread the whole thing over again. WOW AND SOIL I LOVE THAT BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, I'm going to write up a schnazzy little (forgive me, my reviews aren't really little ;-) ) review on Butterfly Forest soon. *sigh* I love B1000!!!!!!!!

Quote of the Week

"If all the world hated you and believed you wicked, while your own conscience approved of you and absolved you from guilt, you would not be without friends."

Which author said these words of wisdom? What book of theirs was it from? Take a guess!
(btw, Delaney, I shall get that excerpt out to you...Monday, tomorrow. Promise!)

Talk About Crazy Dreams!

I don't know why, but ever since summer "officially" started again, I've been having crazier dreams than ever. Maybe my "creativity" is coming back to me, or something, but I've been having really random dreams. You know, stuff like LRRHers in a wagon cart *roll*, but last night I had a really, really, weird dream. It was like I was watching a movie; a Hayao Miyazaki movie, but it was adapted from MY book. But I've never had the idea for this book before. It was so real, so when I woke up this morning (ok, at 11 am, then), I thought, "THAT is my idea for my book!" You see, last night I officially decided to be a writer. Officially decided. It's going to be hard, I know, but just maybe this idea--this crazy idea--is going to be the book that will help me be a writer. I know, I know, I probably sound like my brain is in fairy-tale land or whatever, but it's true! Anyhow, so in addition to writing Heaven's Stars and Pandora's Box, I'm going to write this new one. I think I'll call it...The Elements, though that's tentative.

Other BB news...hm...oh, yes, I finished Part 1 of B1000 last night and I'm in Part 2 now! I started really reading it on Monday (shows you how slow I am), so hopefully I'll be able to do a review on it next wk on Butterfly Forest! Stay tuned! :-D

Half-Way Reviews: Mia, CCB Part 1

This is going to sound really tuppid to everyone, but until I figure out what to write about, I'm going to have half-way reviews. These are reviews of books I'm in the middle of reading and how I like them so far. And since I'm not really reading all of those books under "What I'm Reading Now", I'll just do the two that I've been really, really, really reading. That would be Mia by Laurence Yep (AG bk) and Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman.

OK, so for Mia. To be honest, I had very low expectations for this bk. It had kinda low ratings on Goodreads, so I didn't think this would be as good as the other AG bks. But I was surprised! Well, first off, it's kid lit, but it's really quite good! Laurence Yep did a fantastic job w/ the narrating; you could almost hear a 10-year-old girl narrating this story! Sometimes some of the dialogue does sound a wee bit younger or a wee bit older than what a 10-year-old says, but other than that, this bk is cute. This one even has some humor that you just can't resist chuckling to. So far I'm on Ch 6 (I think), literally half way, but I'm really liking it so far.

Catherine, Called Birdy. I finished the first chapter in about half an hour, which is kinda short considering how slow I usually read. Either I'm finding everything funny, or I'm just reading a lot of funny bks, b/c this is also quite humorous and comical. The narrating is also terrific; you forget that this is written by a modern-day author and not by a Medieval teen. I'm quite pleased with this one. The bk did fool me: it may look like a thin little bk, but it's not a light read. Or maybe I'm just too slow. ;-)

BB News

This is a heads-up for everybody. Well, first off, BB Times will be turning boring soon. Since I'm running out of things to talk about, I think I'm going to make this like a reading journal and talk about my writing process. Yup, so boring stuff. Second thing, Ripsnorter is going to go bye-bye. Not exactly, but I'm going to get rid of it and go to Wordpress instead. I know, I know, it's a major change, but I going to probably call it "The Cloud Chronicle" (long story why, but anyhow, if you want to know, go ahead and contact me). As for DLP...I'm going to keep it for a bit, but I might move it to TCC, too, and have it as one of those private things. So, just to let you guys know. I'll post anymore new stuff. This will all probably go into effect...this Saturday at the earliest. Oh yeah, and on a last note, on Saturday I will also change the template and stuff on here. So major stuff coming. Prepare yourselves.

Author Meme!!!

Tagged by Aren of Taiger

Uhh...first, before I begin, it's best that you know that I'm going to cheat and look at this list of favorite authors I made up on Word a few days ago, so my answers aren't exactly..."improvised".

Rules
Link to the person that tagged you, post the rules somewhere in your meme, answer the questions, tag six people in your post, let the tagees know they’ve been chosen by leaving a comment on their blog, let the tagger know your entry is posted.

Who’s your all-time favorite author and why?
Ay, yi, yi...hard, hard, hard. *runs to look at list* Probably Jane Austen or Roald Dahl or Shannon Hale [edit: and all the ones mentioned below].

Who was your first favorite author and why? Do you still consider him/her among your favorites?
My first fave author would be...Tomie dePaola. How can you not laugh and love Strega Nona? Or those 26 Fairmount Avenue books? They ROCK.


Who’s the most recent addition to your list of favorite authors, and why?
After carefully looking over my list, I'd have to say Shannon Hale. Well, I just recently read PA several months ago, and that was the very first I read from her, so she is my latest, most recent fave author. Or perhaps Jacqueline Wilson goes second; she's a pretty recent addition, and I really want to read all the rest of her books. Double Act was awesome.

If someone asked you who your favorite authors were right now, which authors would first pop out of your mouth? Are there any you’d add on a moment of further reflection? Shannon Hale...Jane Austen, after some thought. I previously mentioned Roald Dahl and Tomie dePaola and Jacqueline Wilson...after cheating, how can I forget Edward Eager, Eleanor Estes, and E. Nesbit and Kate DiCamillo? *le gasp* And J.K. Rowling!!! Duh!!!

I tag....*prays that they haven't been tagged yet* Delaney, anime, Maggs, Summermoon, and Anilee!

Whatcha readin'?

I'm in a little bored mood. I mean, c'mon, it's almost midnight.

Anyhow, so I was on Goodreads, and I know there are some of you (like me) who read a ton of books at the same time. But really, what book are you really, intently reading? Like what is the first book on that stack of books that you have waiting for you that you pick up and just start reading? And what do you plan on reading next?

Sorry, it's just a really random question that I just had to kinda blurb about. Oh yes, and anime helped me figure out how to make this: ♥. Oi, why couldn't I figure out to use the key pad on the side? Other symbols you can make: ☺☻♦♣♠•◘○.

You can tell I'm bored.

I'm in competition.

Yup, that's right. I'm in competition with

the silver bugs.

Yes, the silver bugs. They're after my books. I'm seriously not kidding. If you find that you have a lot of silver bugs at your house, it's because they're after your books. They want them...oooo scary, eh? This is not a joke at all. This Terminix guy told my mom that when she pointed out that we have a ton of silver bugs at our house, and it's because they want my books. MY BOOKS. Now what's up with that? Hmph.

Anyhow, I should really get that new template soon. *yawns* Maybe this weekend or so.

MOLDy Blog!

So, earlier on BB Times, Delaney and I were talking nonstop about a MOLDy Blog that should be started, and on LRRH I started a whole thread about it. So I was just wondering for those of you who read my blog if y'all can answer a few questions:

***Are you going to do it or not, or at least comment on it once in awhile
***Name for the blog (you can see stuff we came up with on the post about New BB Updates
***Content (list of stuff on LRRH)
***The admin: who will it be?

Hope I can get answers to these questions asap!

BB Updates!

There's going to be some new stuff coming to BB Times!!! At the end of MM2008, I'm going to (finally) put my Project Playlist on here. Several other new stuff:

***Layout--Yes, I think I will have a new layout, and I have an idea of which one it will be (from Pyzam). Stay tuned for it!

***Quote of the Week--I'm going to try to have a quote of the week on my header. It will be changed every Sunday afternoon (or Saturday night, depending on my schedule that week), and it will always be a very MOLDy quote I found from Goodreads or Wikiquote, like the one above.

***"Posh People's Brilliant Blogs"--Instead of putting your names, I'm going to put the title of your blog instead, and add some new ones. Some links on there will NOT be found on here. The reason is because I'm going to link review blogs to Ripsnorter, so don't freak out or get mad at me if you don't see your blog on here--most likely, it'll be on RR. Also, I think I'll be shortening the title to something like..."Posh Blogs". The word "posh" just sounds so...posh!

***"Awesome Authors"--that's just a tentative title for another new section. This will have links to my fave author's site, or at least list them (if they don't have a site). Though the title is tentative. Which is better: "Awesome Authors" or "Inspiring Authors"? Or should I do "writers" instead? Opinions, s'il vous plait!

A Very Pointless Post

Sorry for a really pointless, time-killing post, but...I thought I can enlighten y'all on something you might hear your annoying classmates/neighbors say once in awhile:

So, like you should like say this like in a like Valley girl like accent because like it makes it like more like funner. Like why do like people like say like "like" like all the like time? I mean it like is like so like really like annoying. Like one day can we like not like say like "like" like at all? I mean like please like peoples.

Hehe, *clears throat* ahem. That was sorta funny. Anyhow...I'm so behind on RR reviews. Sorry, everyone! I promise I will try to do schedulized (if that's a word) posts from now on so that there is a new review more often. I'm working on a "Ratatouille" review at present, though for some reason, my "creative juices" aren't flowing very well. *sigh* Maybe I can switch off between that one and the "Coco" album review. Or write some of Gracechurch Girls. *goes off to write*

BB's Top 20 Books

Well, I've seen Miss Erin, Anilee, anime, and Summermoon do this.

What: Top twenty favourite books in no particular order. Don’t think about it for too long. Take twenty minutes only to compile your list. Bold the ones you’ve read, or reread, since you’ve started blogging. Include novels, non fiction and plays.

[OK, so I don't know how long I took, but I know I have way more than 20. Sorry, but I have a lot of favorite books...but PA is #1 in my heart, of course. ;) And I tried putting them in order, but...took to long.]
26 Fairmount Avenue Series by Tomie dePaola
American Girl Series
Girls of Many Lands Series
Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
Lady Grace Mysteries
The Doll People Series by Ann M. Martin
The Sarah, Plain and Tall Series by Patricia MacLachlan
A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond

Matilda Bone by Karen Cushman

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl

Matilda by Roald Dahl

Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl

Half Magic by Edward Eager (plus all his other books)

The Witch Family by Eleanor Estes

Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Princess Academy by Shannon Hale

Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza
Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata

Cages by Peg Kehret

Captain's Command by Anna Myers

Dog by Daniel Pennac
The Legend of Holly Claus by Brittany Ryan
Holes by Louis Sachar
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo
Dragon: Hound of Honor by Julie Andrews Edwards and Emma Hamilton
Double Act by Jacqueline Wilson
Going for Great by Carolee Brockmann (I know it's AG, but it deserves honor)
Stolen Words by Amy Goldman Koss (Also AG, but it also deserves honor)
The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White
Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes
Five Children and It by E. Nesbit
Pinky Pye by Eleanor Estes
The Alley by Eleanor Estes

Attention, Shaniacs!

SQUIGGLE!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Squee + Giggle = Squiggle; something I came up with while I wasn't on here or LRRH)

I, the "Editor-in-Chief" of BB Times, am very pleased to announce (after my long, stressful break--isn't that an oxymoron?) the release of a new Shannon Hale book. No, it is not Rapunzel's Revenge, nor is it Forest-born, but it is... *drum roll, please*

ENNA BURNING in KOREAN!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fantabulous or what, my friends? Indeed, after almost four years of selling well in the U.S., EB was released in Korea, April 15, 2008! Take a good look at the cover: (I'm not quite sure whether the black frame is there in the cover, but I doubt it)

EB is the third Shannon book to be translated and published in Korea. The first is actually Princess Academy (directly translates into Princess Academy), which came out July 16, 2007. Second was The Goose Girl (in Korean, Goose-Keeper Princess, but if you try to translate this using one of those computer translators, you'll get Princess Hitting a Goose...oh dear...), which was released December 15, 2007. The official title (translated) is The Princess's Maid and the Secret of Fire. Sorry, Enna, but you aren't mentioned in the title.

And I learned something. Dictionary.com is so funny! If you translate: 프린세스의 시녀와 불의 비밀 (EB in Korean), it comes out to this: "maid and sudden secret of phosphorus three".

Now...names. Very important. English names don't translate into something into Korean that actually mean something, but I thought I'd experiment with Dictionary.com, just to see what they say.

Shannon Hale: 섀넌 헤일 (pron: Shah-nun Hay-ill; Dictionary.com says: "The Hale whom it spreads out"--lovely, eh?)

Ani: 아니 (pron: Ah-nee; Dictionary.com says: "It knows")

Isi: 이지 (pron: Ee-gee; Dictionary.com says: "Intelligence"; so I guess if you say "Ani-Isi", Dictionary.com would think that you're saying "It knows intelligence.")

Enna: 에나 (pron: Eh-nah; Dictionary.com says: "Enna"--surprise, surprise)

Leifer: 레이퍼 (pron: Lep-pah; Dictionary.com says: "The ladles"--don't ask why)

Miri: 미리 (pron: Mee-ree; Dictionary.com says: "In advance"--which is sort of ironic, because in the PA cover above, Miri is in front of all the rest of the girls)

Peder: 페더 (pron: Peh-der; Dictionary.com says: "Feather"--they rhyme! Kind of reminds me of the linder hawk...)

Olana: 올라나 (pron: Oh-lah-nah; Dictionary.com says: "It rises"--maybe her temper in the beginning of PA does? ;) )

Mt. Eskel (called Eskel Mountain): 에스켈 (pron: Es-kehl, then with the Korean word for mountain; Dictionary.com says basically the same thing)

Danland: 댄랜드 (pron: Dahn-lahnd; Dictionary.com says "The land which it puts"--OK, puts...what???)

For more info, you can go to: http://www.openkid.co.kr/author/author_view.asp?id=011688&svrt=00. It's all confusing and everything, but the first red link is PA, the second is GG, and the third is EB. If you click on them and scroll down, you can see one of the illustrations in the books. Yes, Korean readers get Shannon books with ILLUSTRATIONS. So lucky! And the drawings are very cool and awesome. I'm so jealous!!!!!!!

Shan-fans and Shaniacs, isn't it a great, happy feeling when you know that the international Shannon love is spreading? ;)

Lots of Love,

bookbutterfly :D