Gadget Girl: Kindle vs Kobo (E-Reader Face-Off)

Metric Jenn

Electronics. I love them. I am the epitome of the gadget chic. I had an RCA mp3 player before the iPod was invented. It took a goddamn memory card the size of a greeting card. I had a laptop back in 1994. My dad brought it home and it could barely handle saving .txt documents, but I played Tetris on that bad boy all during my bout with mononucleosis. Going back even further (am I showing my age?), I could espouse the virtues of the Betamax tape over VHS. I love technology and trying new things. When some new gadget somes out, I'm usually the first one boarding that monorail.

CBRIV: Book#13: Divergent Book 2: Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Pinky McLadybits

I finished this book quickly, though I was distracted while reading. I found myself feeling as though there was so much crammed into one book that it was giving me whiplash. That and the continued choices of our heroine, Tris, made this book alright but not as exciting as I found Divergent.

CBRIV: Book#12: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Pinky McLadybits

Young Adult novels are my genre of choice right now, since most of the novels written for adults are stupid and smelly. Young Adult novels are really focused on worlds different from the one that we live in, yet worlds that could be ours someday. Case in point would be The Hunger Games Trilogy, which gives us a glimpse of what the future could be if we keep letting our leaders lie their way into more and more corrupt power. 

Divergent is also about our society changing in order to rebuild after a breakdown, but this time we chose to change in a way that was supposed to keep in power those who would work to avoid history repeating itself. Choices were made that broke society into five factions. The Abnegation are those that chose to believe that selfishness is what destroyed society, so they choose to be selfless. They are in charge of governing the factions since they are thought to be incorruptable. Our main character, Tris, originates from Abnegation.

CBRIV: Book#11: Thirteen by Kelley Armstrong

Pinky McLadybits

This book is the (thus far) very last book in Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series. It is the thirteenth book, fittingly, and brings all of the characters from previous installments together again to fight a Big Bad. This series, if you are unfamiliar, has werewolves, witches, sorcerers, necromancers, vampires, zombies, angels, demons, half-demons fathered by Lord Demons, and regulatory bodies for the supernatural. All of this is hidden from humans.

There will be mild spoilers.

CBRIV: Book#10: Let's Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir) by Jenny Lawson

Pinky McLadybits

I was first made aware of The Bloggess when she got Beyonce, the giant metal chicken. (Not to be confused with the heinously rich and talented Beyonce, wife of Jay-Z and not a giant metal chicken.) I laughed long and hard at the writing style and was hooked on Jenny Lawson's type of humor, which is also my humor. 

When she wrote a book, I wanted to buy it and get the autographed book plate, but the amount of poor we were was more than the amount of money we had. Dammit. I finally broke down and bought the Kindle edition (and before you sneer, "OH! You have a Kindle now but couldn't buy a damn book a few months ago? I CALL BULLSHIT." I'll have you know that it is the Kindle app on my iPad. Which makes me look like a lying liar again, which I am not because I was given this iPad as a gift. I am a lucky girl. And I sound like an asshole.)

I Have No Idea What's Going On And That's Okay!

MelBivDevoe

I just love the expression on this Jeopardy! contestant's face.  Sometimes, you just gotta admit that you have no frickin' idea what's going on.  

Like with this first story.  What the hell was Dave Mustaine, lead singer of Megadeth, taking when he made this statement?  Whatever it was, I think it's time to quit, Dave.  (AV Club)

Or here.  I have no idea what the story line for this W Magazine photo spread is or if there even IS one, but I think I like it.  Linda Evangelista is working the sh*t out of this fetish wear.  Slightly NSFW.  (TLo)

After seeing this amazing cocktail concoction, I suddenly feel the need to have a space-themed party.  Just look at that photo - it's like an aurora borealis in a glass!  Now THAT is some classy jungle juice!  Take note, fraternities and sororities everywhere.  (Geekologie)

Bring On the Weekend! Bring On the Batman!

MelBivDevoe

Our hearts go out to the victims of the midnight shooting in Colorado and their families. (People)

Happy Friday!  Do you have your tickets ready for the premiere of "The Dark Knight Rises" this weekend?  Or have you already seen it at a midnight opening, you lucky ducks?  I won't be seeing it for a few days, which means it's time to avoid the internet again (I won't be spoiled!).  

If you're in a Batman mood, take a trip down memory lane with this real-time review of Joel Schumacher's opus "Batman & Robin."  It's much better if you read this article instead of attempting to watch it yourself... well, better for you, at least.  (Pajiba)

Speaking of superheroes, these amazing retro art posters capture my favorite team, the X-Men, in eye-popping colors.   Who wouldn't want a "BAMF!" poster for their wall?? (Etsy)

Molecule, a new store in NYC, sells tap water.  That's it.  Just specially filtered, $2.50 for a 16-ounce bottle, tap water.  Choice quote from the article - "I think you'll have people who will start becoming water connoisseurs."  Uh.  Even if you add electrolytes and vitamins, it's just WATER.  Sheesh!  (WSJ)

CBRIV: Book#9: The Concubine's Gift by K. Ford K.

Pinky McLadybits

I won this Kindle version of K. Ford K.'s book The Concubine's Gift by replying in time to a Cannonball Read email. I had no expectations or any sort of idea concerning what this book would be about.

I can tell you that a book that begins with the sound of the clicking heels of long dead child prostitutes hasn't exactly ended in the place I thought it would. Not even close. I'm 100% certain I never expected a "sexual psychic" and a town called Valentine to be the subject of this book. 

CBRIV: Book#8: Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris

Pinky McLadybits

I will say that this book, the twelfth book in the Sookie Stackhouse series, was much better than book 11. That doesn't mean I liked it as much as previous entries in the series, but thank goodness some stuff happened. 

Sookie Stackhouse, as everyone probably knows, is a telepath waitress that lives in a world filled with vampires and two-natured people. And fairies. Do not forget the fairies, though I would LOVE TO. 

Before I go further I would like to say, for the record, that I hate the True Blood show on HBO. I hate how Alan Ball changed the characters. I hate how he didn't just use the vast, action-filled book series to guide him. I hate how he added characters that don't exist in the books. I hate how he made Jason Stackhouse a jackassed dolt. I hate hate hate hate it. I do, however, like the people cast in the roles that are in the books and I envision them while reading. Mmmmm, Alcide Herveaux. And spoilers ahoy.

My Name Is M.C.A. And I Still Do As I Please.

Pinky McLadybits

I had last week's links finished before I learned of the death of Beastie Boy Adam Yauch, AKA MCA. I adore the Beastie Boys and I have listened to them since I was young and they were screaming about partying. Cancer is a piece of shit and I hate it. Check out this tribute in photos (Pajiba) and the obituary on the official Beasties page (Beastie Boys). Yauch did so much good with his time here and he will be missed by fans, friends, and family. 

CBRIV: Book#7: The Calling by Kelley Armstrong

Pinky McLadybits

Gawl, I really love Kelley Armstrong books. I've read all of the Women of the Otherworld books, I've read her young adult Darkest Powers trilogy, and this is the second book in her young adult Darkness Rising trilogy.

The books all deal with supernaturals of all kinds. You have necromancers, werewolves, witches, half-demons, sorcerers, vampires, and now we have species thought to be extinct in the mix. IT RULES.

As always with Armstrong's books, the lead is a fierce, badass female who can take care of herself and the people around her. Do the women always have love interests? Yes, but these men are not their entire focus. Usually the women of the otherworld save the men. It's pretty awesome.

CBRIV: Book#6: A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness & Siobhan Dowd

Pinky McLadybits

Conor O'Malley is a boy, though I cannot remember his exact age, who is going through quite a lot. His mother is sick. His father lives in America with his other family. He is picked on at school. He is glossed over at school. He has a recurring nightmare that terrifies him.

And then he is visited by a monster.

This book is a strange creature itself, being the product of an idea started by Siobhan Dowd and completed by Patrick Ness. Dowd passed away and the start of this short novel was handed over to Ness to finish. As I haven't read any of Dowd's previous works, I have no idea how close to her style or voice Ness came or if he even attempted to do that. I do know that this book was not exactly what I expected.

CBRIV: Book#5: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Pinky McLadybits

Samantha Kingston is a popular senior at Thomas Jefferson High School. She and her friends are at the top of the teenage food chain. She has a popular boyfriend, parties every weekend, and all of the things people deem important in their teenage years.

And she's dead. So that sucks.

I didn't spoil anything for you, kids. The book opens with Sam talking to you about what flits through your brain at the moment of your death. The flashes of memories and the things you hear and see and smell before you become no more.

Or before you think you'll be no more. Sam still is when she wakes up the next morning in her bed. Well, she wakes up that same morning in her bed, to be specific.

CBRIV: Book#4: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Pinky McLadybits

Endless descriptions of a circus so lovely and magical that you will long to visit it. A challenge of two players, chosen as children, neither of them fully comprehending the scope of their game or the rules they must abide by. An expansive group of involved people, both on the edges and further out, most unaware of anything happening within the circus that they exist within or follow obsessively. A love that should not be, that is doomed from the start. An ordinary man that is destined for extraordinary things.

These are the intriguing elements of The Night Circus. They are the elements that pull you in with promise and then continue to disappoint and stretch out into long swaths of nothingness as you wait for something to occur.

The very characters we are supposed to invest our feelings and hopes in are not those that I wanted to know more about.

CBRIV: Book #2: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Pinky McLadybits

I was told that I should read Daughter of Smoke and Bone a couple of months ago. So, as I usually do, I put in a request for it at my local library. Alas, my time is rarely my own anymore, with editing and scheduling and poking contributors for content, and my saved book languished for 7 days before being given to the next person on the list.

"Ah, well, " I thought to myself, "Maybe I'll have time to read in a few months or something." Unfortunately, I just keep getting books and then not reading them, yet returning them late and paying fees. Oops.

EvenStevens recently gifted me with Daughter of Smoke and Bone, among several other books, allowing me to read at my own pace. However, once I began reading Laini Taylor's story, I was hooked and had to finish it as quickly as possible. Yay weekends!

Cannonball Read IV: Book#1: A Dance With Dragons by George R.R. Martin

Pinky McLadybits

I know it was mentioned here before, but Pajiba has a yearly Cannonball Read where Pajibans and others compete to read 53 books in a year. You must read the books and then post reviews of those books. You don't win anything other than bragging rights, but those are always good for more than one use. 

This year I chose to do a shorter Cannonball, since my duties with cross-stitching, being Head Bitch here at Hot Ink, and taking care of my family leave me a lot less reading time than years past. As such, A Dance With Dragons is the first book I've picked up and the first book I've completed. All 900+ pages. 

Since this is one of many books in a series, there will likely be spoilers from this point on. You've been warned, Sweetlings!

Getting Crafty with Cleaning Supplies: Make Your Place by Raleigh Briggs

Tamatha

For well over a year now, the Main Squeeze has been on a homesteading kick. I think some of it started when he read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver and Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan some years back.

We started being much more locavore in our food habits; though we've had a summer farm share for over 15 years, we started having a share in a root cellar three years ago, we have our own small vegetable gardens, and we also frequent the local summer and winter farmers' markets--we're those kind of people. He's also gotten into doing more homesteading: some canning, a lot of freezing, and making things like sauerkraut.