GREY...the book

Did you know that writer E.L. James published another Fifty Shades book - this time written from Christian Grey's point of view? The book is simply titled Grey.

I was able to get my hands on a copy and decided to read it.  Yes, I was curious to see how it would compare to the original Fifty Shades book (of which I completed reading the entire trilogy).

I don't give spoilers but some of my descriptions might ruin the book for you so if you haven't read it yet, you might want to stop reading this now.

My Two Addictions This Season

I haven't been blogging much lately. No, I'm not addicted to Mafia Wars all over again...and no, I haven't joined the Candy Crush Saga mania either. Actually, I've been addicted two other things - The Blacklist, which airs Monday nights on NBC, and reading post-apocalyptic and dystopian novels on the Kindle Fire HD that I received for Christmas.

Dan Brown's Inferno

If it seems like I have been absent from my blog, it's because I've been trying to catch up on other activities I like such as reading books that I keep acquiring (but fail to read for lack of time) and watching series episodes (like the movie adaptation of Stephen King's Under the Dome).

Another Two Thoughts on Tuesday

Here's Thought Number One: There's another series of books that I've gotten hooked on reading this year.  I've been reading Lauren Kate's FALLEN series which is a love story about a mortal teenage girl, Lucinda Price, and a mesmerizingly handsome fallen angel, Daniel Grigori.

Two Thoughts for Tuesday

First off this Tuesday, I wanted to share that I recently started using a website called Pinterest.  Before I could even gain access to the site, I saw that a lot of my friends were already "pinning" pictures on that site and sharing them on Facebook.  It looked pretty cool to me - the idea of having an online bulletin board for pictures (and videos) wherein you can save things and/or share things.

Two Thoughts on Olympic Tuesday

First of all, I don't watch television much these days since I've been catching up on a lot of reading. I'm getting left behind by my favorite authors who keep putting out new novels and I haven't even read all their previous releases yet. And then I get caught in the wave of newer writers whose books are drawing popular attention because they're being turned into movies (The Hunger Games and Twilight, for instance).

Two Thoughts for Tuesday

First it was Twilight, then it was The Hunger Games, now it seems women everywhere are driving sales up for Fifty Shades of Grey and getting really bloggingly excited about it! That includes me! I read the first book and am half-way through the second book (Fifty Shades Darker).

To be honest about it, I wouldn't be reading it in public like those women in the picture (LOL!) because it is classified as adult reading material (erotica). Twilight and The Hunger Games, on the other hand, are found in the Young Adult/Youth sections of libraries and book stores. The "Shades" series definitely does not fit in there. ;)

My Pick for Anastasia Steele

While I'm wondering who might end up getting cast as Christian Grey in the movie adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey, my mind is wandering off to who might get the part of Anastasia Steele.

I've read somewhere that the character was written with Kristen Stewart in mind and I can see how she's definitely fitting for that role...especially with Ana's constant lip-biting, which we see her do a lot in many of her movies.

My Pick for Christian Grey

I just started reading Fifty Shades of Grey...and so far, I agree that it deserves the attention it's been getting! It is very well-written...explicit, yes, but it proves itself true to the genre of erotic fiction. You can practically visualize the characters in their places, with every movement, see their facial expressions, and hear every thought that comes to their minds, especially Anastasia's.

Two Thoughts on Tuesday

First off, I got a late start to writing my Tuesday post for BlogDumps' Top Sites Tuesday meme.  Maybe because I get so involved in reading on my new Nook color that my hubby got me for my birthday/Mother's Day present.  (This year my birthday fell the day before Mother's Day).

The Hunger Games book

Last night, I finished reading Suzanne Collins's 1st book of The Hunger Games trilogy. This first book, The Hunger Games, was released in September 2008, followed the next year by Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games), and later, of course, by Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, Book 3). These were best-sellers in the Young Adult (ages 12 to adult) fiction category...the same category as other best-sellers like The Twilight Saga and The Vampire Diaries , which have also been dramatized on-screen.

Peeking into the rock star life...

I was surprised to find Tommyland at my favorite public library so when I saw it, I didn't hesitate to pick it up. After all, Tommy Leeof Motley Crue is one of my favorite drummers in rock history. I was curious to know what he might have to say about his crazy life story that might be different from all the tabloid stories I've read about him. Did you know that he had such supportive parents as a teen that even though they feared that he would forever be an unknown musician making noise in their garage, they didn't try to stifle his dreams? They'd even go to his gigs when he was still struggling. Such proud parents...

In stark contrast, Axl Rose of Guns N Roses (like I even had to say which band he's from) had a troubled childhood (he had an abusive stepfather who surprisingly forced Axl to basically memorize The Holy Bible but yet couldn't seem to practice what he preached). It's no wonder Axl ended up getting into so much trouble later in life. I read about this in Stephen Davis's Watch You Bleed: The Saga of Guns N Roses, which I also borrowed from the public library a few weeks ago.

Sometimes, it can be quite interesting to get an insight into a celebrity's world - which is why entertainment gossip columns get so many readers (both in print and on the Internet). I even enjoyed reading The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star - the autobiography that Motley Crue's Nikki Sixx wrote, detailing his descent into drugs and his near death experience that brought him back to the real world. I even bought the The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack he recorded with Sixx:A.M. to accompany that book. And man, his life is truly something! I mean, after all that he's been through, he's really lucky to be alive - and considering all the toxic things he's put into his body, he still turned out not so bad looking for his age, too.

Anyway, out of these three books I mentioned, I really enjoyed Nikki Sixx's Heroin Diaries book the best. Tommy Lee's Tommyland was just so-so. Personally, I think it would've been better without the constant "interruptions" of conversations between his male member and himself. The graphic descriptions of the women he had sexual encounters with were a little much for me. Watch You Bleed, on the other hand, was just a little dry and other than the details of Axl's childhood history, the book didn't present much more than I already knew about Guns and Roses.

Twilight DVD Release Parties

It's coming soon...the Twilight (Two-Disc Special Edition) will be out on DVD on March 20th! Many cities will be hosting their own DVD release parties. Remember when Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, Book 4)came out and fans flocked all the bookstores midnight for its release? Well, if you don't remember, that's okay...I didn't think it was a big deal myself when I heard about it because I hadn't yet read Twilight (the first book in the saga) at the time. It wasn't until I read the book that I realized what all the buzz was about.

Anyway, one of the most popular Hampton Roads area bands, Star33, will be playing an acoustic show at the DVD Release party being held next week at the Barnes and Nobles store at MacArthur Center in Downtown Norfolk. I thought I'd mention this because I've met the guys from Star33 and caught a few of their shows over the past two years. I'll blog about them later. In the meantime, if you're a Twilighter like me, check out your local bookstore schedule in case they're having a party, too. Or if not, be sure you grab yourself a copy of the DVD before they sell out.

Watch You Bleed

I was listening to my favorite morning radio program, The Tommy and Rumble Show, on FM99 this morning as I drove to work. They interviewed Stephen Davis, a New York Times best-selling author, whose most recently released book is entitled "Watch You Bleed - the Saga of Guns N Roses".


Watch You Bleed is an unauthorized biography of Guns N Roses. According to Stephen Davis, he didn't actually interview any of the band members for this book, but spoke to people who knew the members of the group as they rose to fame. He details experiences and conversations the members have had with these people, the sometimes funny and sometimes tragic things that the public was not largely aware of during the time.

In his radio interview, he mentioned how the lineup for the band had changed and how the changes greatly affected their music. One thing he noted, that I was actually not aware of, is how the original lineup (the one that actually reached the most success) broke up. When they did, part of the greatness of their music died. He said that Izzy Stradlin was the brains behind GNR's music because he "wrote" Appetite For Destruction, GNR's biggest album. That album was certified 15x platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. And when Izzy left, the albums that followed just could not compare to Appetite's intensity.


Yeah, that was one really awesome album!!!

Anyway, I'm actually quite anxious to read the book. I've always been a big fan of Guns N Roses' music. And to get a behind-the-scenes kind of look at the lives of the band members would be really cool! I can't wait to get a copy of that book...