Category: Listology

Top Ten Tuesday: Things That Make Your Life as a Book Blogger Easier

Posted August 20, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Top Ten Tuesday / 23 Comments

It’s Tuesday again which means time for another round of Top Ten Tuesday; I like joining in of this meme because I have a set topic to work with. Top Ten Tuesday is a book blogger meme that is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week the theme is: Top Ten Things That Make Your Life as a Book Blogger Easier. This is an interesting topic and took me a while to compile a list of then but here you go.

1. Goodreads
As a book blogger I want to be able to look at what is being read by others, what is trending and what people think of the books. I’ve found all the book bloggers I follow are on Goodreads as well and it makes it easier to see what books are trending so you can get onto that book before the public.

2. Twitter
Out of all the social networks, for a book blogger, Twitter is the essential one. I create lists of authors, publishers, readers and book bloggers; this way I always have my finger on the pulse of what is happening in the world of literature. Also follow me @knowledgelost or my blog @litexploration on Twitter (shameless self-promotion).

3. The Library
I know I will never be able to buy all the books I want and this year I went on a semi book buying ban (only allowing myself to buy book club books and essentials). The idea was to reduce the amount of unread books on my shelf but instead it taught me to use the library more.

4. Bloglines
It was a sad day when Google Reader died, bloglines isn’t as good but it was the best replacement I’ve found. As a blogger I want to connect with other bloggers so instead of getting bombarded with emails a RSS reader is a life saver.

5. eReader
I know paperback books are better but as a book blogger I feel I will run out of bookcase space quickly, so an eReader is a great way to store books. I also like the continence of being able to carry a lot of books around at once. An eReader will also be helpful for my next point.

6. NetGalley and Edelweiss
Both a blessing and a curse, NetGalley and Edelweiss are great ways to request digital ARCs to read and review. When I started as a book blogger, I never used these sites but I’ve started to use them more lately; just have to remind myself not to go overboard.

7. The Reading Room
I’m not sure if this is the case with other countries but as an Australian book blogger, The Reading Room has been a great source for physical and digital ARC’s. They have a first in first serve approach and all they ask in return is for you to post the review on their site as well. Similar to Goodreads but useful if you want ARCs.

8. Ultimate Book Blogger Plugin
As a self-hosted WordPress user there are heaps of usefully plugins to make my life easier but as a book blogger the Ultimate Book Blogger Plugin is the biggest time saver. Takes a little extra time creating a post because I fill out the extra details but it auto updates my review list and gave me a whole lot of other useful advantages.

9. Wikipedia
I know it is probably the worst place to go for research but a quick search will give me a whole lot of useful information. I tend to use Wikipedia as a starting point for researching but if I only need a little info, it tends to be the default destination.

10. Bloomsbury Australia
I know it’s weird to have a publisher on a list of “Things That Make Your Life as a Book Blogger” but they have been wonderfully and encouraging. They were one of the first to approach me with an offer of ARCs and seem to be one of the biggest supporters of Australian book bloggers. They deserve to be recognised because they do great work.

I’m sure there are more I could list but there you have it, my top ten. I look forward to see what other people list, maybe I will find some useful tools.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books Set in War Times

Posted August 13, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Top Ten Tuesday / 15 Comments

I think I might be addicted to Top Ten Tuesday, I like joining in and having a set topic to work with. Top Ten Tuesday is a book blogger meme that is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week the theme is: Top Ten Books with X Setting, I’ve decided to look at books set in war times, because it sounds like a different theme. I’ve read some really great novels set in war times and this is a good time to share them with the world.

10. Dog Soldiers by Robert Stone
9. All That I Am by Anna Funder
8. The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers
7. Painter of Silence by Georgina Harding
6. Maus by Art Spiegelman
5. The People of Forever Are Not Afraid by Shani Boianjiu
4. Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain
3. A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra
2. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
1. Catch 22 by Joseph Heller

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Wish Could Have Had Sequels

Posted August 6, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Top Ten Tuesday / 0 Comments

I think I might be addicted to Top Ten Tuesday, I like joining in and having a set topic to work with. Top Ten Tuesday is a book blogger meme that is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week the theme is: Top Ten Books I Wish Could Have Had Sequels. This was a little tough but decided to divide the list and tell you five worlds I’d like to return to and then five stories I would like see been continued; these are normally characters I really enjoy reading about and wonder what happened to them after the book (I know, I know they ceased to exist).

Five worlds I would love to return to;

Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
The City & the City by China Miéville
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes

Five stories that I’d like to see continue;

Gentlemen & Players by Joanne Harris
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
Looking for Alaska by John Green
The People of Forever Are Not Afraid by Shani Boianjiu

Top Ten Tuesday: Words/Topics that will make you NOT pick up a book

Posted July 23, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Top Ten Tuesday / 26 Comments

I think I might be addicted to Top Ten Tuesday, I like joining in and having a set topic to work with. Top Ten Tuesday is a book blogger meme that is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week the theme is: Top Ten Words/Topics that will make you not pick up a book. Being a literary explorer I try to explore all books (I’ve even started reading Twilight, help!) so I have to force myself in genres and topics I would normally avoid. But I thought I might list ten examples of where I would have to force myself.

10. Non-Fiction – I don’t know why but I really need to force myself to read more.

9. Fantasy – I just can’t get into Fantasy, I find them drown out and it difficult to remember all the names, yet I’m ok with most Urban Fantasy.

8. YA/NA – I just not drawn to these books, I like John Green’s style but mostly I think they lack depth.

7. Dystopia – I’m over them, there are just too many out there.

6. Blockbuster Crime Novels – they are all the same and formulaic.

5. Long Series – I don’t want to commit to that many books.

4. Chick Lit – I don’t fit the demographic.

3. Romance – As above.

2. Erotica – As above, again.

1. Paranormal – These are normally romance titles and I’ve never seen one do anything interesting.

Five Decent Film Noir Adaptations

Posted July 20, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Adaptations, Top 5 / 0 Comments

This might be the last in a series of film adaptation posts for a while. Recently I listed ten of the worst adaptations and then five decent adaption; now for Film Noir. I’m a big fan of Hard-Boiled and Noir fiction so it’s time to look at some of the better Film Noir adaptations from these classic novels.

5. They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? by Horace McCoy

4. The Grifters by Jim Thompson

3. L.A. Confidential by James Ellroy

2. Double Indemnity by James M. Cain

1. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

I’m not going to go into too much explanation about these movies; some of them are faithful to the novel and some very different but they are all decent books and film noir classics. I could have also added The Post Man Always Rings Twice, The Black Dahlia, The Long Goodbye and even The Maltese Falcon but I didn’t want to have too many of the same author on the list. Now if you are a fan of Film noir and pulp novels, let me know what I’ve missed.

Top Ten Tuesday: Authors Who Deserve More Recognition

Posted July 16, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Top Ten Tuesday / 0 Comments

I had so much fun doing Top Ten Tuesday the few weeks, I might as well continue. Top Ten Tuesday is a book blogger meme that is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week the theme is: Top Ten Authors Who Deserve More Recognition. I thought I will list 10 artist that I feel are worth reading that you might not of tried.

10. Tom Piccirilli
Recommendation: The Last Kind Words

9. Vladimir Sorokin
Recommendation: Day of the Oprichnik

8. Shani Boianjiu
Recommendation: The People of Forever Are Not Afraid

7. Glen Duncan
Recommendation: The Last Werewolf

6. James Salter
Recommendation: Anything!

5. Philip K. Dick
Recommendation: The Man in the High Castle

4. Liza Klaussmann
Recommendation: Tigers in Red Weather

3. Megan Abbott
Recommendation: Dare Me

2. Deborah Levy
Recommendation: Swimming Home

1. Nick Harkaway
Recommendation: Angelmaker

Five Decent Movie Adaptation

Posted July 10, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Adaptations, Top 5 / 0 Comments

Yesterday I did a Top Ten Tuesday list where I looked at ten of the Worst Movie Adaptations in my opinion. These were books that really don’t translate well to the screen. But as a counter balance I thought I would give you five good movie adaptations. Yes only five, there are not many adaptations that I feel work as well as the book. So in no particular order:

5. Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding

4. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

3. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

1. Scott Pilgrim Verse the World by Bryan Lee O’Malley

Also I would like to include The Virgin Suicides, Revolutionary Road, Perfume, Fight Club, The Road, American Psycho and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy which are not perfect but they are still pretty decent compared to some of the other adaptations out there. Now it’s your turn, what do you like that worked well as a book adaptation? Maybe next time I’ll look at decent Noir adaptations.

Top Ten Tuesday: The Worst Movie Adaptations

Posted July 9, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Adaptations, Top Ten Tuesday / 0 Comments

I had so much fun doing Top Ten Tuesday last week that I thought I would join in again. Top Ten Tuesday is a book blogger meme that is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week the theme is: Top Ten Best/Worst Movie Adaptations. I want to look at ten books that should have never been made into movies because they never work and never will work in this particular format. These are mainly books that have a strong internal monologue, the emotions and inner turmoil is vital to the book and/or they are too many narrators to really work.

10. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
There was a mini-series that wasn’t too bad but the latest attempt at adapting this movie was so bad. I’m a fan of Zooey Deschanel, Martin Freeman, Bill Nighy, Stephen Fry and John Malkovich but no one could save this movie.

9. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
I’m sorry but the 2005 film just doesn’t work for me, there is none of Austen’s wit and only really covers the basic story. I only recently read Pride and Prejudice and adored it but most of the things I love about this book don’t translate to film.

8. Dune by Frank Herbert
David Lynch was faced with the impossible task of turning this seminal sci-fi classic into a movie and he failed, hard.

7. Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
One of those movies, I wish I could unsee. The book was so great, why would they destroy that with a film adaption?

6. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
The most recent adaptation was a horrible, horrible adaptation of such a wonderful book. It was weird how they did the movie and they left so much out. I’m not a fan of Keira Knightley so I was looking forward to the end. I’ve not seen any of the other adaptations of this classic and I never want to see them.

5. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
I keep meaning to write about the Baz Luhrmann version but keep putting it off. This is a book about unlikeable characters and symbolism, and that never worked. To be honest I don’t think Baz read the book and just tried to remake the old Robert Redford movie.

4. Dracula by Bram Stoker
I’ve never seen a Dracula movie that actually works, it’s hard to be faithful to Bram Stoker’s seminal piece of literature and still try to adapt it.

3. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
I’m looking at you Demi Moore, Gary Oldman, and Robert Duvall. It doesn’t work and it shouldn’t be tried again. Try something like a modern retelling like Easy A, it’s not The Scarlet Letter but at least it works.

2. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Most of this novel plays out in the mind of Rodion Raskolnikov; mental anguish and moral dilemmas don’t translate on the screen, I never have watched a Crime and Punishment adaptation and I don’t think I ever will.

1. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
No, just stop it, you will never get it right in a movie, you can’t tell both Victor and Monster Frankenstein’s story at the same time and explore their thoughts and emotion on the screen. Stop trying to ruin my favourite book.

My Top of the First Half of 2013

Posted July 4, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Top 5 / 0 Comments

It’s that time of year, like most serious readers, we get to half way through the year and we start to reflect on what we liked most in the past six months of reading. I thought I might as well do a post about what I thought was great, but I always struggling with posts like this. Do you pick the best books you’ve read in the past six months or the best books released in that period? So normally I do a bit of both; a top five list of each to make a top ten list (which seems the norm). When I started doing top five lists on this blog, I picked the number five because I thought I hadn’t read enough books to necessitate a top ten list, but it turns out maybe it was just easier, so I stuck with it.

Top Five Reads Released In the First Half Of 2013

5. TransAtlantic by Colum McCann

4. The Love Song to Jonny Valentine by Teddy Wayne

3. Tenth of December by George Saunders

2. Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

1. The Son by Phillipp Meyer

Top Five Reads Of the First Half Of 2013

5. Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

4. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

3. The People of Forever Are Not Afraid by Shani Boianjiu

2. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

With honourable mentions to Black Vodka, Gentlemen & Players, Main Street, The Unbearable Lightness of Being and Seating Arrangements. Also some great rereads include Lolita, The Great Gatsby and Heart of Darkness (which I really got a lot out the second time around).

Now it’s your turn to let me know of your favourite books, the new releases and the older books. It doesn’t matter; just what you discovered and loved.

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Intimidating Books

Posted July 2, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Top Ten Tuesday / 0 Comments

I don’t normally participate in Top Ten Tuesday, which is a book blogger meme that is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. But due to not having a post planned today and the fact I couldn’t resist the topic today, I thought ‘why not’. I suspect most people are going to go for the big classics that people expect you to read, so I thought I might add some other books too. So in no particular order;

10. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Have you seen Liberal Arts? There is a scene where Jesse (Josh Radnor’s character) decided to read an unnamed popular vampire novel (Twilight) just so he can properly see what is wrong with it. I feel like I might have to do the same.

9. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
I don’t really enjoy reading Fantasy, so I’m not looking forward to these high fantasy novels.

8. Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
I watched the miniseries and was so bored, but that could be because Eddie Redmayne has no facial expressions.

7. Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
I’m expecting that my experience to this book will be similar to that of The Book Thief. Everyone loves it and I’ll think it was overrated.

6. Anything by D.H. Lawrence
After my hatred for Lady Chatterley’s Love I’m too afraid to try this author again.

5. Finnegans Wake by James Joyce
Have you tried to read this one?

4. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
I was satisfied with the ending of The Hunger Games, I don’t feel the need to continue except there is a movie coming out.

3. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Heavy stuff, but someone’s got to read it.

2. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
My wife loves this book and I don’t want to end up hating books she loves (see Outlander)

1. In Search of Lost Time (Remembrance of Things Past) by Marcel Proust
Long and unfinished, I’m not sure what to expect from this one.