Thursday Thought: How Much Do You Spend On Books?

How much do you spend on books each year?

How much have I spent on books in my life?!

I was looking through my review pile the other day which consists of about twenty books both read and unread. That doesn't include other books I have waiting to be read that aren't for review. It doesn't include comic books, graphic novels or manga. It doesn't include all the books I already own.

I read about three books a month, plus one or two comic books. I aim for around 50 books a year. Luckily I don't have to buy reading books much at the moment thanks to my reviewing gig (they're sent from publishers for free) so that saves me a fair chunk. If you have the spare time and love reading, look around for websites and blogs that need reviewers, you get paid in books! I used to review manga and anime too which worked in the same way but was less frequent than the website I now review for. I probably still spend a good few of hundred a year on comic books alone. But I'm sure we'd all agree it's money well spent!

Image from: Prettybooks

What about you?

Coveted Cover: Dash & Lily's Book of Dares

Well after saying yesterday how I thought Pod had a pretty poor cover I'm glad that today I get to feature a pretty one! Covers are hard to put together, how can you sum up an entire book in one image that will make people want to read it without giving the game away?

Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Okay so I haven't read this book (but a friend of mine has which is how I found it) but look at that cover! That is a very cool cover. It's an really interesting way of laying out the title and author names and it also gives an impression of where the book is set and when. It's quite light-hearted, fun and romantic, plus the heart is really cute. So yeah, I'm sold.

From Goodreads:

“I’ve left some clues for you.
If you want them, turn the page.
If you don’t, put the book back on the shelf, please.”
So begins the latest whirlwind romance from the New York Times bestselling authors of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on a favorite bookstore shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept its dares. But is Dash that right guy? Or are Dash and Lily only destined to trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations across New York? Could their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions? Or will they be a comic mismatch of disastrous proportions?
Rachel Cohn and David Levithan have written a love story that will have readers perusing bookstore shelves, looking and longing for a love (and a red notebook) of their own.

Page Turners: POD

I am currently reading:

Pod by Stephen Wallenfels

Okay so I started this last night and I won't be passing judgement yet but seriously, this book has possibly the most boring cover ever. I have a review cover so it's just got a plain black cover and I was looking forward to seeing something interesting on the real deal but this is it?

These are the alternatives:

I am disappointed. The middle version appears the most online, but the last example is probably the best of a bad bunch. Also no one can seem to decide if it's POD, Pod or P.O.D. on websites.

This is in no way a criticism of the author because you rarely get much of a say in what artwork appears on your cover and I hope that he's happy with it (I know authors who hate their book's covers) and I know that his book has got pretty stellar reviews all round. The actual story sounds really good so I'm hoping that it's better than the cover. Which wouldn't be hard. I'm not sure what I want to cover to look like but the first two just look so incredibly boring that if I saw them in a shop I'd never pick them up. The third one is pretty decent  though.

From Amazon:

POD's - strange alien spheres hover menacingly in the sky, zapping anyone who ventures outside. Will is 15 and stuck in his house with his OCD dad. They're running out of food...Megs is 12, alone and trapped in a multi-storey carpark. The hotel next door is under the control of dangerous security staff, but Megs has something they want, and they'll do anything to get it...When the aliens invade, the real enemy becomes humanity itself. What would you do to survive?

 The most recent book I finished in-between Unleashed and Pod was:

DOGS: Bullets and Carnage Volume 6

It finally arrived and it was so good! I love the whole series and it just gets better with each volume. This volume sees a lot of things starting to make sense in regards to characters backgrounds. But now I'm back at the stage of having to wait another year for the next volume. Boo!

From Amazon:

Boasting furious action, switchback plotting, magnetic characters and dazzling art, Dogs tells the story of four individuals struggling to survive a dystopian urban future by gun and sword and courage and luck.

Listen To This: Gotye

Gotye - Somebody I Used To Know

Experimental indie rock by a Belgium/Australian rather pretty (if a bit weird) male singer-songwriter. Right up my street. Although some of the music videos teeter on the edge of being nightmarishly surreal.

Sunday Catch Up

Well, first I am sorry for not updating yesterday (I've done it now) but I was ill so spent the day napping and feeling sorry for myself. Not fun. I didn't get any work done yesterday at all! My fiancé was also ill this week, on Valentine's day, so I'm blaming him.

Other than working I have been reading One Piece (I'm up to volume 4 now) and reading DOGS: Bullets and Carnage Volume 6 which was amazing as always and I'm so sad that I have to wait another year for the next volume. I rarely read comic books or manga that are currently being published because I hate having to wait, I like to get a nice buffer in-between.

We ordered our first Chinese in our new house the other day, well it was Thai and Chinese, and we both completely forgot how gross leftover Chinese smells the next day. Ew. What is that? At least it was yummy to eat.

I also decided to print off two pages of one of my novels and see what it would be like as a comic book. Two pages of writing translates roughly to eleven pages of a comic book. For some reason I find that really cool.

I have heard back from any other agent's this week, but they've still got about a month and a bit.

Well, I hope everyone's had a nicer weekend than me!

Something For The Weekend

Something to watch:

Arrietty

From Amazon:

Arrietty is the latest release from Studio Ghibli, based on the classic children’s book The Borrowers. Tiny 14 year old Arrietty lives under the floorboards of an old house with her father and mother. Their peaceful life is dramatically changed when the ever curious Arrietty accidentally allows herself to be seen by Sho, a poorly and lonesome 12 year old human boy. The fledgling friendship between the two lonely children causes Haru the housekeeper to become aware of the borrowers’ existence. The family of little borrowers are forced to choose between staying in their well-established home or leaving for the uncertainty of the great outdoors.

Something to read:

How to be selfish...in a good way.

Amazing places to experience around the globe.

Something to do:

100 amazing hairstyles!

Feature Friday: Video Games Are More Creative Than Reading

"Video games are more creative than reading" [source]

Katamari Damacy is definitely creative!

Or at least so say award-winning playwright Lucy Prebble and this has caused more than a few people to be aghast by such a notion. But why? Prebble believes that video games are more creative because you are more involved in them than you are with books or watching films. She also believes that gaming is an artform, just like theatre.

I can understand that view because in some ways you are passive when reading because you're not controlling the characters or the stories whereas with games you are, some more than others. However at the same time when you are reading you have to imagine the world and characters, whereas with games that is all done for you. One thing they both have in common is that you need to remember what's happened before you paused or put the book down so that you can continue onwards and you also have to invest in the story and characters so that you can get something out of it.

I've heard some people claim that books are obviously better because you get an emotional response from them, where as you don't with games. That's just silly. I can think of more games that have made me laugh than books. I can also think of more films that have made me cry than books. But that doesn't make one better than the other. I still love books because they are a solitary thing whereas games and films are more of a shared experience.

Lucy Prebble from: The Guardian

I doubt that Prebble meant to upset anyone with her comments. She's a writer herself so she obviously loves the written word, but she also loves games and there is nothing wrong with that.

I do agree with one comment she made. I do think that a lot of parents fear that if their kids get into video games then they'll become pasty little fatties who grunt very so often when they want more crisps or coke and only talk online to their fellow gamers. But seriously, that's just ridiculous and if you're even a semi-decent parent you don't have anything to fear. Just tell them to turn it off and shove them out the front door every so often to go play in the park. It's not like reading a book can make you lose weight either, you're still sitting around and not talking to anyone, yet we would rather our kids read.

You can have both. I adore books and I adore video games too. We own all the current generation consoles as well as a lot of older and retro consoles too. We have hundreds of games. I watch TV a lot, films a lot and play a game for a few hours every day or so. But I also read every night before I go to bed. I also go outside and I'm certainly not a pasty little fatty...although I am pretty pale.

This is one of those cases where you really can have it all. Games are fun and creative outlets and they can be social too, books are fun and creative, films are fun and creative. At the end of the day it's about how you use these things. If you're just staring blankly at the screen and going through the motions like a robot then no, it's not good. But the same can happen if you're reading a really boring book, you won't take anything in.

I love that Prebble has such positive things to say about video games, we need more people to stand up and reassure parents that their kids will be fine if they play games, as long as they're still good parents. My only issue is that by saying such a thing you are potentially pushing kids away from books and that's not a good thing. We all need to read more, stories are a huge part of our culture and history, there are so many ways to experience them so why not try and find as many ways to do that as possible? 

The Great Gatsby, also a NES game!

ENJOY ALL THE STORIES!