Blog Update....8 Weeks Late

Hey guys! How's it going?

What? Not good? Oh yeah, my bad, I guess I should have told you that this update would be late instead of right on July 3rd when I got back from camp....

Well, there isn't anything you can do about it and you have 11 posts (now 12) in 2 days to make up for it! (If you are looking at the post dates of some of them, thinking "Wait, some of these were posted back in June and July, they didn't come today..." should first of all be thinking "Dang! How did he manage to pile 4 blog posts into one minute, conveniently the last minute before the month changed?" and then realize that I have magical computer powers that lets me go back in time to look like less of a slacker. Well, really it is just to keep the Books of the Month in the right month, but anyway, the "not looking like a slacker" thing is a nice bonus. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming. That isn't regularly scheduled at all.)

So sorry I have not posted in a timely fashion, but hopefully all of these posts will help make up for it, especially this one.

Well, school has started, and unlike my dreadful premonitions of having absolutely no time to read and therefore not being able to post here, I have read more in the last week or so than in the previous two months. Of the recent stuff, I was totally pumped about Outside In. It was definitely a step up from Inside Out, and even that was really good. So check it out. (That means both of them if you haven't read Inside Out.)

I have been in book-lover heaven recently because I have realized how much stuff is coming out soon! Here is what I can remember quickly, but I am sure there is more.

Inheritance
Well, as many of you know the Inheritance Trill- I mean Cycle (Stupid series name change....gets me every time....) is one of my all time favorite series. I am such an Eragon nerd that I was Eragon for Halloween one year and won the Shur'tugal costume contest. Plus, my most popular posts have all dealt with the Inheritance Tri- Cycle (Dang, it still got me!), especially the Eragon Book Three Predictions. I may or may not make a predictions post in the near future. It depends on how much homework my teachers want me to have. (So if you really want a post, you should email them and tell them to not give me much. ;) )

Anyway, the final installment, Inheritance, is coming out November 8! Still pretty far away, but I'm pumped, nonetheless. You can see the cover below with the green dragon that was originally going to be the cover for #3, but Chris decided that the trilogy should have a fourth installment....If you are interested in a chapter exerpt, check out the Barnes and Noble page for Inheritance. You have to scroll down a little ways to get to it. To see some thoughts by the experts at shurtugal.com, click here and look around. There is some very intriguing stuff.

The Death Cure
One of my more recent favorite series is The Maze Runner Trillogy, which I will probably reread in the near future. Its conclusion, The Death Cure, will be released on October 11. I am super pumped! Here is the cover:Some information can be found at the Maze Runner Website, and the Kirkus review can be seen on James Dashner's blog. Both places have info on the book, but you will probably find more on the blog. I hope we finally get some answers in this one!

A few other books of importance (not that books not mentioned aren't) will be released soon, such as Rick Riordan's Son of Neptune coming out in early October, and others have already been released, like Pittacus Lore's The Power of Six! With all of these fantastic books coming out, it is hard to keep track of everything, so make sure to visit your local library and/or bookstore often for the latest teen reads! (Wow that was cheesy, but it really is good advice.)

I would like to have discussed some new Hunger Games material that has been released, but that will have to wait for another update. If you have any announcements about the movie, please comment and let me know! I'm not always good at keeping up with the latest news!

As always, please leave your comments, questions, complaints, concerns, etc. You can contact me in a multidue of ways. First of all, you can comment here on this post, or any other post here on the blog! I love to hear from you all, even if it is a "Sounds like a good book!", so take the twenty seconds to post. The next way is to post on the Corey's Book Talk facebook page! Another method is to @ mention @CoreysBookTalk on Twitter. Finally, if you are lucky enough to know me in person, you can talk to me about book stuff any time!

Well, that's all for now. Happy reading!

Corey

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Blog Update with Broken Records!

Hey everyone! Book Talk has broken some important records!

Okay, to start off with, this has been the longest amount of time I have consecutively blogged on my blog. I have had 3-6 blogging streaks (I can't remember the exact number. If you have some free time on your hands and it means that much to you, you can go look in the archives and figure it out yourself.), and this one has been been 6 months long! I intend to just keep letting that number grow, but I thought I'd share the milestone.

Related to that previous record, 2011 now has 37 posts, beating out 2006's 32! I was going to tell you this new accomplishment earlier, but I figured I'd wait until I could reveal the final record as well.

The final record broken is actually happening RIGHT NOW! (For me anyway, since I am writing the post right now...) THIS post, yeah, this one RIGHT HERE is the 100th post on Book Talk! That's quite a few, and once again, it should keep on growing!

Alright, now that the records are out of the way, I get to talk about whatever pops into my head! First of all, I want to say happy end of the school-year to everyone! Not sure if you are out yet or have been out for a week, but it is about that time of year when we get to kick back and relax for a few months before doing it all over again. Make sure to visit your public library or local bookstore and keep reading throughout the summer!

I promised I would keep you updated on Hunger Games stuff, so here is latest I have found:
This is the first picture revealed of Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss. Although the she is 20, in this image at least she seems believable age-wise. The hair is very good and the outfit seems to be what they describe in the book. The only thing that doesn't make me think Katniss is that Katniss is supposed to have been nearly starving most of her life, where in the picture she looks skinny, but still well-fed. I totally understand that to look starved would be nearly impossible to fake for a movie, and it really is a minor detail. Really, most of my doubt for Katniss has been wiped away. I just can't wait for more news!

Hmm....I think that is all of the book-related news that I have for the moment. My closing announcement is that I will be at a camp from mid-June to early July, and I have no idea when I will be even able to read, let alone post on the blog. I hope to be able to still get a lot read and have books to review when I get back, but if you don't hear from me for a few weeks, know that I am not giving up on the blog, I'm just away for a while.

As always, please leave some recommendations for books to read, your own thoughts on recent books, any new Hunger Games news (or other book-movie news), and any suggestions for the blog in general!

Happy reading!

Corey

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Blog Update on a new Mac!

Hey Everyone! Long time, no...uh....read? Eh, you get the point...

I realized the other day that I had not done a Blog Update in AGES, so I thought I'd say hello! Not too much blog stuff to talk about today, so I guess I'll just have to randomly ramble for a few minutes about whatever pops into my head.

First, I guess I should explain the title of the post. As it was recently my B-Day, I got a new computer! It is my first Mac and I LOVE it! It runs super fast and has all sorts of neat features. It was sad saying goodbye to my trusty Dell, but the sadness didn't last for long. :)

In other news, I won an advance copy of Neal Shusterman's Everfound! I hope it will arrive sometime next week, but I really have no idea. And don't worry, you will only have to wait a few more weeks before you can get it. Also on the topic of Shusterman, I was intrigued by one of his recent facebook posts. Mr. Shusterman was going to be contributing to an anthology, and he learned that one author's story was rejected because it contained a male-male romance. In response, Mr. Shusterman is writing his story as a male-male romance, but in a very interesting way.

Okay, so here's the concept of the short story I plan to write. Due to all the gender-related troubles of the day, in the future, gender isn't assigned until the teenage years, when people can choose for themselves. Two teens deeply in love choose - one male, one female -- but due to a clerical error, they both end up as male, and it can't be undone. Now they're left to deal with it...

The story, to be titled "A Matter of Personal Pronoun", is very intriguing, and has caused heated debate on Shusterman's facebook page. I personally am not going to be sharing my opinion on this topic, as not to offend anyone, but I think that this story will include the issue of gay relationships in a very interesting and new way, no matter what your personal opinions are on the topic. If you would like to see the posts about this story, see Neal Shusterman's facebook page.

In other news, I have officially heard that the Hunger Games is going to be a movie! I am not really excited about this, because I am VERY nervous that they are going to mess up this great story. If done well, this movie could be AMAZING and VERY powerful, but based on most book-inspired movies, I am doubtful that this will happen. Oh well, there is nothing I can do about it but hope that they do the movie right. I will keep you updated as I find out more info.

Alright, here is the part where I need YOUR help! That's right, I'm talking to YOU! Right now, 90% of my book recommendations come from the Amazon recommendations based on previous purchases, but there are obviously limitations from a computer choosing my books. Since you are reading my blog, you probably like books at least similar to the things I like, otherwise it would be a slight waste of time. (Unless you just like my fantastic writing, which is understood.) My request is for you to recommend some books for me! I still have a few in my wish list on Amazon, as well as a few on my bookshelf that I want to read, but suggestions from you all would be greatly appreciated! Plus, I just like hearing from you ! There are many ways to talk to me: leaving comments on this (or any) post here on my blog, post on the Corey's Book Talk facebook page, or mention @CoreysBookTalk in a tweet! I try hard to check all of these places frequently, even if I do not post frequently. I love getting into extended book talks with people, and that is what this blog is for! Don't be afraid to leave comments on posts; it makes my day every time I see new comments to moderate!

Well, I think that is about all I have to say for now. (And I actually wound up talking about book-related stuff! Miracles happen!) As usual, keep checking up on twitter and facebook for updates, feel free to give any suggestions for books to read, new types of posts for the blog, or any other new blog features, and keep reading!

- Corey

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Blog Update in a Blizzard

Hey Everyone! It's another Blog Update! (I changed the name from Weekend Update to Blog Update because last time it was on a Thursday, and this one is on a Tuesday.)

As you may have noticed, I have not been timely with my book review lately, but they are now up. I have been very busy lately, but I hope to improve.

The main topic of this post is the brand new Facebook page I set up for the blog! So what are you waiting for?!?! Go "Like" it and tell your friends! (For easy access, there is a "Like" button just to the right of this post in the handy-dandy side bar of awesomeness, just beneath the twitter feed.)

Well, maybe not just yet, I guess I have a few more things to say. The purpose of the Facebook page will be to give smaller updates (like what I need to be doing more often on Twitter, sorry about that), spread the word of the blog easier (by having you all like the page and suggest it to your friends, as I have done), and to get more community interaction. This page will make it easier to get your input, suggestions, and book recommendations, as well as converse with other readers.

Oh yeah! You probably are wondering why this update is in a blizzard! As it turns out, I am in a Blizzard Warning right now, either the first or second in my town's history! We had 6 inches a few hours ago, and it has still been snowing. You know what, let me go check the new total...brb...

...okay, it is VERY cold outside. It is hard to tell exactly how much we have due to a layer of ice underneath and wind blowing the snow everywhere, but it is somewhere around 7-8.5 inches, and it is still snowing. For some of you, this sounds like nothing, but for me this is VERY rare, and it was 70 degrees on Saturday.

Well, that's all for now! Have a great rest of the week, and keep reading!

- Corey

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