Totally Should've Book Tag

I'm taking a Youtube tag and doing it as a blog tag instead again. This tag was created by emmmabooks on Youtube. I'm doing it after I saw malarayofsunshine do it in a video. As you can tell from the title, these are all "totally should've" questions about books.

1. Totally should've gotten a sequel...
This is difficult for me because, if for no other reason, I feel like everything already has a sequel. I was looking through my absolute favorites list, and while there are stand-alone books there, there aren't any that I feel like warrant a sequel. (But let's be honest, I'd still read a sequel if one was written.) I'm going to go with The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare. It's not easy to say why I made that decision without spoiling the book. The story wraps up nicely, and I'm not sure what the characters would get up to in book two. But now I'm thinking up several ideas that I
might like to see yet will never happen.

2. Totally should've had a spin off series...
Here's the most shocking answer I've ever given: Harry Potter. I debated choosing something unique for a bit, but no, we all know I'd want a spin off Harry Potter series more than anything else. Yes, there's Fantastic Beasts, which technically counts, and the play, which also technically counts. However, since neither of those are in book form (I think think Fantastic Beasts counts here), I think it's still a valid answer. As for what the spin off would be, who doesn't want a Marauder Era series? Though I'd take just about anything else too.

3. An author who should totally write more books...
I'm going to choose Maureen Johnson for this because I'm impatiently waiting for the next Shades of London book. But I also feel uncomfortable choosing her because I know she's been dealing with health issues. I don't want to rant about not getting the next book when I know it's not her fault. When it does finally come out though, I will be so happy.

4. A character who should've totally ended up with someone else...
This one is tough because I tend to be pretty accepting of canon couples. Even when I dislike one, it's rare that I'll have strong feelings about how one of them should have ended up with someone else. Then I remembered the Uglies trilogy by Scott Westerfeld. So my answer is Tally, but I'll keep it vague to avoid spoiling the books. What I will say is that I very much disliked a certain character in that series.

5. Totally should've ended differently...
This is also a tough one because I think I block out endings I'm not happy with. I didn't like the ending of Specials, the third Uglies book, but that goes along with my last answer. If I really hate a ending, I tend to dislike the book as a whole, so it's not so much about how it ended as it is the book overall. Changing the ending wouldn't fix it. The one book I can think of that I enjoyed except for the ending is Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon. Everyone else who reads it seems to love the ending. I really enjoyed the book but felt the ending was a bit off. It was just a bit too unrealistic to me.

6. Totally should've had a movie franchise...
If you'd asked me before Shadowhunters was announced, I'd have said that because I really wanted an adaptation of all the books. Now my answer is the Star-Crossed series by Rachel Higginson. They're some of my favorite books, and the fact that they're self-published means they have even less of a chance of ever being adapted. I'd be so excited for that though.

7. Totally should've had a TV show...
I'd say Harry Potter if it weren't for the fact that I've already used it in an answer. I'm going to say City of Blaze by H.O. Charles. It's been a while, but I raved about this book back when I read it. I still haven't gotten around to reading the rest of the series, but I have such great memories of the first book. I'm still anxious to get to the others. I think it would work well as a big fantasy show, but like
Star-Crossed, it's self-published.

8. Totally should've had only one point of view...
I'd say this for just about any book with more than one point of view with only a couple of exceptions. In fact, that's just going to be my answer. I very much dislike shifting point of view in books. (I don't consider omniscient third person to be the same thing, so focusing on different characters that way doesn't bother me.)

9. Totally should have had a cover change...
I tend to think about self-published books when I think about this. I'll be honest, I'm not that fond of a lot of self-published book's covers. However, I'll answer with a different book: Chasing Mona Lisa by Tricia Goyer and Mike Yorkey.

10. Totally should've kept the original covers...

Original cover

I don't like the new covers for the Mortal Instruments series all that much. I don't know what it is about them, but I don't. The thing is, I'm not that fond of the original ones either, so it's not like I strongly want them to stick around. I just don't like either of them all that much.

11. Totally should've stopped at one book...
This is hard because if I get excited about the first book, I typically like the rest of the series, even if it's not quite as much. I'm going to choose Peeps by Scott Westerfeld for this. The thing is, I haven't actually read past the first book. The first book just feels so much like a standalone that I don't know what the sequel does. From what I've read, it is basically a separate story, which I think is the only thing they could have done.

Shadowhunters Review: 1x03: "Dead Man's Party"

I'm still feeling so excited about each episode of the show, so that's a nice feeling. I've said this a million times by now, but the show does have problems. I think that felt particularly true of this third episode, which I liked slightly less than the second. I can't pinpoint why. But that being said, I did enjoy this episode. It included some details that had me trying not to squeal early in the morning when I got up to watch it and my roommate was still asleep.

For the first two episodes, I watched both of them twice before my reviews. This time, I haven't. I only just watched the episode this morning. I do plan on watching it again (mostly to pick out what details I can), but I'm writing this review ahead of time. I feel like I'm going to forget to say more than I did with the first two. Particularly because I didn't write any notes this time. (It was dark in my room while watching it after all.) I think I can still find plenty to talk about.

Considering the cliff hanger from the last episode, it was a given that this episode would center around the vampires. Camille and Raphael are essentially the only two we're introduced to. I suppose there was also the guy Clary talked to, but I don't know if he counts so much.

Having Camille in the story so early is an interesting decision and one of the bigger changes so far. I like it. While I hate Camille as a person, she looks like she'll be a good villain on the show. It'll be interesting to see how many of her actions from the books will work their way into the show now that things are different. Alec knows who she is already, for one, so that means that, if the circumstances from the book play out, it would feel a bit different than in the books.

The change makes sense though. Being the head of the clan, I like actually seeing her early on. We also got Raphael's line where he told her to go instead of confront the Shadowhunters because she was too valuable. I'm wondering if she will regularly disappear throughout the series and be a character who pops up every so often. I think it could be interesting if we're left wondering when she'll make an appearance again.

The hotel itself looked much different than the one I had imagined in my head, but I liked it. It felt like an appropriate setting for the clan. The idea of them having all these artifacts lying around is interesting to me.

I spent the entire episode wondering if Simon was going to get turned into a vampire. Lo and behold, he didn't, but there was that bit at the end with him looking at the vein in Clary's neck, so I think it's safe to assume that we're on the way there. I'm excited for it.

One thought that only just occurred to me: I've been so caught up in when Simon will become a vampire that I haven't thought about when he'll become a daylighter. And that's kind of important considering he would have to avoid the daylight before that. It'll be interesting to see how they handle that.

I haven't said much about Raphael because, for whatever reason, I don't feel like I have much to say about Raphael yet. His actions largely felt like the actions the Raphael of the books would take, so I'm happy about that. We'll see what happens with him in the future.

Meliorn was also introduced in this episode, making him the first Seelie we've seen on the show. Knowing what I know about Meliorn from the books, I hate him, but I think I would even without having read the books. He just gives off that sort of vibe. Which isn't a criticism. It's the vibe that I think all of the Seelie are meant to have, so I'm glad that was in there. I do particularly hate Meliorn though, so I'm not so sure I want him appearing in a lot of episodes. Every now that then would be okay, but I don't want to have to deal with a lot of him.

There was a much larger development of Clace in this episode, with Clary and Jace spending quite a bit of the episode alone together. It felt a little quick to me considering how much time a TV show gives you to develop a romance, but that isn't inherently bad, I don't think. I don't know. We'll see how I feel after a couple of episodes when I can see what their relationship is like then. Clace is my least favorite (which isn't to say I dislike it) of the main couples, so to be honest, I'm less worried about how their relationship will be handled than I am Sizzy or Malec.

Unsurprisingly, Alec was my favorite part of this episode. I know that he's perpetually cranky in all of these episodes (as he is in the first several books), but that's part of what gets me so excited. I love seeing the early version of Alec and knowing how he's going to grow over the series. It just gets me really excited.

What I particularly loved about this episode was the conversation between Hodge and Alec about Alec being like Hodge. Obviously, that's not at all true in the end, but I like what it's setting up. I think Alec's going to get a chance to develop a bit more quickly in the TV show than he perhaps did in the books. Part of that comes from the freedom the TV show has to focus on the characters other than Clary more than the earlier books did. It gives them more chance to develop Alec right now instead of later.

Between that conversation with Hodge and Alec's conversations/arguments with Jace, I'm looking forward to what happens with Alec in the coming episodes. I'm excited to see him build up his confidence, come to terms with himself, and all of that. It's one of my favorite things of the entire books series, and I'm pretty sure it will be the TV series too.

Also, it looks like we're going to see Magnus again in the next episode, which I am, of course, excited about. Who knows what sort of role he's going to play. Maybe he and Alec will finally meet. If they do, you can look forward to me absolutely freaking out about it next week. We'll see though. I don't want to get prematurely excited about that if it takes a few more episodes. I am excited he'll be in the episode in any sort of capacity though. I can't wait for it.

Life Post: Busy Week

It's been a busy week. I had a club meeting on Monday that was the first of the semester. We wound up painting, and I was the only one who came out of it covered in paint. I blame it on being a secondary education major surrounded by elementary education majors. It was fun though. It had been a long time since I'd done anything that could qualify as arts and crafts.

One of my classes tomorrow is canceled, and I'm planning on using that time to try and catch up on some stuff I'm feeling behind on. Since it's a three hour class, I'll have a lot of time.

Since my last life post, I posted a Reign review over on Youtube. It's for the week before last, not this past Friday's episode. I got behind. I did also post a Naruto Shippuden review for episodes 286-290 though. I'm glad I didn't go as long between video reviews for Naruto as I did last time.

Book Review: Chasing Mona Lisa by Tricia Goyer and Mike Yorkey

ISBN: 0800720466
Published: January 1st, 2012
Publisher: Flaming H. Revell Company
Read from January 17th to 25th, 2016
Synopsis from Goodreads:

It is August 1944 and Paris is on the cusp of liberation. As the soldiers of the Third Reich flee the Allied advance, they ravage the country, stealing countless pieces of art. Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring will stop at nothing to claim the most valuable one of all, the Mona Lisa, as a post-war bargaining chip to get him to South America. Can Swiss OSS agents Gabi Mueller and Eric Hofstadler rescue DaVinci's masterpiece before it falls into German hands?
With nonstop action, Chasing Mona Lisa is sure to get readers' adrenaline pumping as they join the chase to save the most famous painting in the world. From war-ravaged Paris to a posh country chateau, the race is on--and the runners are playing for keeps. 

Review:

I don't have much to say about this book other than the fact that I found it extremely boring. The synopsis claims nonstop action, but I don't feel like that's actually what the book contains. Despite knowing that stuff happens, nothing felt high stakes. I don't know why it failed to considering the book centers around a war and events that should, reasonably, be high stakes. It just didn't feel that way while I was ready.

This isn't a bad book by any means. The writing was fine on its own, and I think the plot had potential. It's hard for me to pinpoint the exact reason the book didn't work well for me. There was just something about it when it was all put together that led to the book not holding my interest well. Other people could very well enjoy it, but the book wasn't for me.

Book Review: Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul by Eddie S. Glaude Jr.

ISBN: 0804137412
Published: January 12th, 2016
Publisher: Crown
Read from January 17th to 22nd, 2016
Synopsis from Goodreads:

A powerful polemic on the state of black America that savages the idea of a post-racial society

America’s great promise of equality has always rung hollow in the ears of African Americans. But today the situation has grown even more dire. From the murders of black youth by the police, to the dismantling of the Voting Rights Act, to the disaster visited upon poor and middle-class black families by the Great Recession, it is clear that black America faces an emergency—at the very moment the election of the first black president has prompted many to believe we’ve solved America’s race problem.

Democracy in Black is Eddie S. Glaude Jr.'s impassioned response. Part manifesto, part history, part memoir, it argues that we live in a country founded on a “value gap”—with white lives valued more than others—that still distorts our politics today. Whether discussing why all Americans have racial habits that reinforce inequality, why black politics based on the civil-rights era have reached a dead end, or why only remaking democracy from the ground up can bring real change, Glaude crystallizes the untenable position of black America--and offers thoughts on a better way forward. Forceful in ideas and unsettling in its candor, Democracy In Black is a landmark book on race in America, one that promises to spark wide discussion as we move toward the end of our first black presidency.

Review:

Democracy in Black discusses many of the current race issues and movements in the United States, and it often does so by connecting them back to the past. I think it does a really nice job of it. The book itself discusses the different political positions most common within the black community and the different ways they look at race, including current power structures that have been created.

I think this is an excellent book for anyone wanting to learn more about what is currently happening in the black community, including movements like #BlackLivesMatter. The book does a great job of laying out where it all comes from, and the author discusses his own belief as to what needs to be done. Not everyone is going to agree with him, but regardless of that, I think his words are ones worth listening to.

This book contains so much information that everybody today should know, and it's one that will definitely have you thinking as you read.. I would recommend it to everyone.

I received this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review.