Book Blogger Hop: 1/7/11-1/10/11

Book Blogger Hop is back for 2011! To kick off the new year, Crazy For Books has brought us back our little community where we meet other bloggers that share our same interest and expand our little bloggy minds!

This week's question is:

"What book influenced or changed your life? How did it influence/change you?"

My Answer: A book that has changed my life or influence me? I have to say that there are several books that probably have changed/influence my life. Two would have to be Unleashed by Kristopher Reisz and Romiette and Julio by Sharon M. Draper.

When it comes to romance these two books have always been stuck in my head. I loved the real intense romance and I absolutely love the work in of interracial relationships. You don't see that very much, including for YA books. These two books have influenced me that every relationship has their trials and trumpths, but only the bond between two people will help them through it.

I have to say that a lot of the vampire/werewolf/faerie romances have changed my life. It sounds cliche, I know, but they helped me through some really difficult times in my life. Whenever something went wrong or I felt like things were not going to be getting any better, I always went to the library and checked out vampire and werewolf romances by the half dozens. It was my only way to get away and still kind of is. So, I will say that every book I have read has given me some sort of influence, but the paranormal romances is what truly got me through.
 
Something new I will do is tell you guys three blogs from the Blog Hop I chose randomly what I like about them and link back to them. This week, my three is:
 
1. Cafe of Dreams-I picked this blog right off the bat because of the name! (Hint: If you want to become a blogger, the name is EVERYTHING!) But, once I clicked on the blog, it was beautiful, including the header! April's reviews are very thorough and well thought.
2. An Abundance of Books-I picked this one out randomly. I loved the sophisticated design as soon as the blog popped up. It is very simple and cute, very easy on the eyes. The reviews are very descriptive and are over romance, fantasy, etc.
3. Book Soulmates-I picked this because obviously I heart romances! I loved the two little owls looking at each other in the heading. The reviews are put so put together clean. I love the little heart ratings, they're so easy to make, but never done.
 
Comment on the books that changed or influenced you! Put your blog link and I'll add you to the Book Bloggy Friends List!
 
Peace and Fangs,
Alisha

BNR Recieved the Stylish Blogger Award!

The girls over at Hale and Salvatore Supernatural Must Reads awarded us with our second blogger award, the Stylish Blogger Award! (P.S. An amazing blog, check it out!)

Here are the rules:

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award

2. Share 7 things about yourself

3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers

4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award!

....Easy!

7 Things About Myself:

1. I'm addicted to orange juice.

2. I am still in love with Backstreet Boys and N*SYNC!

3. I can NOT read a book that doesn't have any romance in it.

4. My favorite movie is Into the Wild.

5. I have the same pink cell phone I had for 4 years

6. I love watching My Wife and Kids

7. I am a sucker for nice eyes!

15 Bloggers we give this Award to:

The Norwegian Book Girl

The Burtonesque Dolls

ApplesNFeathers

Roof Beam Reader

Vanessa Morgan

My Book Journey

Super Reader Girl's Book Reviews

Booksploring

BookAHolics Anonymous

A Writer's Review

Library Mosaic

Musings of a Bookshop Girl

Alison Can Read

Bibrary Bookslut

In The Next Room

Those are my 15 picks, go check them out and please go check out Hale and Salvatore Supernatural Must Reads because they are FAB-ulous!

Peace and Fangs,

Alisha

Happy 1st Birthday to BNR!

Here we are, peeps! The Big 1 for Black Nailed Reviews! I can't believe I'm sitting here and it's already been a whole year since I started this little blog. I remember I was sitting in my school's library during study hall and put together this whole thing in the matter of 90 minutes.

Some events that went on in BNR's first year:
-Brooke and Maddie joined the team
-Ashley from Ashley's Bookshelf customized the new ILYB Award
-There was the first ever ILYB Awards and Larissa's Bookish Life won Best Blog of the Year
-We made Music Mondays, Wanted Wedensdays, and Film Fridays (and the sadly failed Trailer Thursdays)
-We had the first 12 Days of Bookmas

Some awesome review facts:
-My first review was over Breaking Dawn
-Maddie's first review was over You Again
-Brooke's first review was over Beautiful Creatures
-The most popular posts were My Top 10 Movies of 2010 (48 pageviews), Salt: Movie Review (79 pageviews), PRETTY LITTLE LIARS: STYLISTAS (86 pageviews), Vampire Diaries--Season 2, Episode 9: "Katerina" (87 pageviews), Wanted Wednesday: Vampire Kisses 8: Cryptic Cravings (94 pageviews)
-The Wanted Wednesday: Vampire Kisses 8: Cryptic Cravings's post has been viewed so many times, if you look up Cryptic Cravings, it shows up fourth and if you look up Vampire Kisses 8 Cryptic Cravings, it shows up first...even before Ellen Schreiber's LiveJournal!
-The US is our biggest audience, then UK, and third Germany

I want to say thank you to everyone who we have met in BNR's first year! We can not thank our readers enough for being there for us through thick and thin! We have 13,391 views so far, let's keep making that number grow!

Peace and Fangs,
Alisha

Music Monday: Lady Gaga's New Album

For this Music Monday, I've decided to do it over Lady Gaga's new album that she released news on recently to mostly her Twitter followers. Saying: “THE SONG 2 13 11, THE RECORD 5 23 11". Her new album will be called Born This Way which is following her 2008 album, The Fame.

She released the album cover of Born This Way as well, but it was too racy to put on BNR, so you can check out the cover here!

Gaga herself is gushing over this album and I am a total Monster (her fans' name), so I am not doubting her comments at all! There hasn't been any preview of songs released, but she has given us a date, so expect an amazing Gaga-fabulous song to come out this Feburary!

Visit her official website and Twitter.

Peace and Fangs,
Alisha

Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope

Rated:
PG for sci-fi violence
and brief mild language.

Director:
George Lucas

Writers:
George Lucas

Release Date:
May 25, 1977

Synopsis:
Part IV in Star Wars: A New Hope opens with a rebel ship being boarded by the tyrannical Darth Vader. The plot then follows the life of a simple farmboy, Luke Skywalker, as he and his newly met allies (Han Solo, Chewbacca, Ben Kenobi, C-3PO, R2-D2) attempt to rescue a rebel leader, Princess Leia, from the clutches of the Empire.

My Review:
I first saw this movie when I was about like 8 or 9. I really didn't understand this movie and could care less. When I was about 12 I saw this movie again. I fell in love with this movie. I think that this movie really made me the movie addict I am today.

For those of you who haven't seen this movie, I'll describe the plot. Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) is a young man who lives with his uncle and aunt on a desert planet. See. Luke's parents are dead. One day, as Luke is... outside, something crashes and he checks it out. It turns out there were two robots in there, namely C-3P0 and R2-D2. They have a message to give to some guy named Obi-Wan Kenobi (which turns out to be Alec Guiness!) from Princess Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher). Luke goes off to find old Ben, who lives close to his uncle. Old Ben gives Luke a long story about how his father was a Jedi and he will be one too, etc. When they come back, Luke's uncle and aunt are dead and now, he's not safe. So Luke and Ben and the robots head to Nar Shadaa, a hole, basically. There they meet up with Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and his big, uh, ape-like thing called a Wookie.

There's a lot more plot to this movie, and I would pass the limit of 1000 word before I could explain it all. The fact of the matter is, there's a lot of backstory to this movie.

George Lucas and John Hughes are probably my favorite directors of all time. I recently just re-watched this movie (yesterday) and I thought it was pretty amazing. Instead of really watching the movie I looked at the details. More of the special effects and the transitions. I thought it was really cool because most of the transitions or special effects that were used back then can be created just by a regular person today. For example I like making short movies with my friends on Final Cut Express and you can do laser/missile/explosion effects on it. For transitions there were a lot of cross dissolves and right wipes.

The cast of characters includes some of the coolest, funniest, and most tragic in film, and the actors who play them fit seamlessly into this new universe. Alec Guiness is flawless as Obi-Wan Kenobi, a Jedi on the run from the evil Empire. Harrison Ford is awesome as Han Solo, a smuggler and thief who helps the gang rescue the princess. But the my favorite character of all time is Darth Vader. Not only is he the coolest bad guy, but we learn in later films why he is evil and start to feel sympathetic for him. Not to mention that booming voice that can make ordering a pizza sound threatening. This movie was not only the beginning of the best movie series ever, but it was the beginning of my love for movies.

To wrap it up, I think that anyone who has a passion for sci-fi movies or movies should definitely watch this. I would probably suggest this for ages 11 or 12 and up because it might be confusing for children.

from,
madigan aka m@dz

Review: True Grit

Released: December 22, 2010
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 2 hrs. 8 mins.
Cast: Jeff Bridges, Josh Brolin, Matt Damon, Hailee Steinfeld, Barry Pepper

Director: Ethan Coen
Synopsis: A 14-year-old girl (Hailee Steinfeld) joins an aging U.S. marshal (Jeff Bridges) and another lawman (Matt Damon) in tracking her father's killer into hostile Indian territory in Joel and Ethan Coen's adaptation of Charles Portis' original novel. Sticking more closely to the source material than the 1969 feature adaptation starring Western icon John Wayne, the Coens' True Grit tells the story from the young girl's perspective, and re-teams the celebrated filmmaking duo with their No Country for Old Men screenwriting partner Scott Rudin. Josh Brolin co-stars. Source

Review: I want to say that I am not a big Western fan...including when there is no romance. However, my dad is in love with them. You can see that when he watches a Rifle Men marathon. But, I saw that Rotten Tomatoes gave this a 96% rating, so I had to see what the big hype was about it.

True Grit is a remake of the 1969 movie that starred John Wayne, so I can't say that the plot was original. However, I will say that the plot was refreshing to watch nowadays. Instead of watching robots or horror movies, it was about a daughter who wanted to avenge her father's death. I loved that the plot was very serious but had quirks in between that made you laugh.

I absolutely loved Hailee Steinfeld in this movie. This was a great break-out performance for her. Her accent was phenomenal seeing as how she is originally from California. She was great when she had her parts with Matt Damon and Jeff Bridges. I will say that I thought there were a few romantic undertones between La Boeuf (Damon) and Mattie Ross (Steinfeld). She was amazing, however, and I can't wait to see more of her.

Jeff Bridges is making a comeback, I guess, since he has Tron: Legacy and now, True Grit. I agreed with my dad in that I'm not a big Jeff Bridges fan, but he was amazing in this movie. He is a versatile actor, which I love, and he brings his character, "Rooster", more edge than he already had. Bridges had his little lines throughout the movie that make you laugh, but sometimes they feel a little forces, like they're trying to make you laugh. Bridges was a great in this movie and I'm glad that he and most of the cast were nominated for awards.

I give this movie a four out of four. I have to agree with a lot of the critics and say that this movie was probably the best one of 2010. Even if you hate westerns or need romance, I would give this movie a try because it was absolutely amazing.

Peace and Fangs,

Alisha

More Books!

December 28th

"The non-stop sequel to the Dark Divine delivers an even hotter
"Beware of a kiss under the full moon. It will change your life forever.

romance and more thrilling action than Bree Despain's first novel. Grace Divine made the ultimate sacrifice to cure Daniel Kalbi. She gave her soul to the wolf to save him and lost her beloved mother. When Grace receives a haunting phone call from Jude, she knows what she must do. She must become a Hound of Heaven. Desperate to find Jude, Grace befriends Talbot- a newcomer to town who promises her that he can help her be a hero. But as the two grow closer, the wolf grows in Grace, and her relationship with Daniel begins to crumble. Unaware of the dark path she is walking, Grace becomes prideful in her new abilities- not realizing that an old enemy has returned and a deadly trap is about to be sprung. Readers, ravenous for more Grace and Daniel, will be itching to sink their teeth into The Lost Saint."

Celeste Parker is used to hearing scary stories about werewolves- Legend's Run is famous for them. She's used to everything in the small town until Brandon Maddox moves to Legend's Run and Celeste finds herself immediately drawn to the handsome new student. But when, after an unnerving visit with a psychic, she encounters a pack of wolves and gorgeous, enigmatic Brandon, she must discover whether his transformation is more than a legend or just a trick of the shadows in the moonlight. Her best friends may never forgive her if she gives up her perfect boyfriend, Nash, for Brandon, who's from the wrong side of town. But she can't deny the attraction or the strong pull he has on her. Brandon may be Celeste's hero, or he may be the most dangerous creature she could encounter in the woods of Legend's Run. Psychic predictions, generations-old secrets, a town divided, and the possibility of falling in love with a hot and heroic werewolf are the perfect formula for what happens. . . once in a full moon."

"Vampires have powers beyond human comprehension: strength that defies logic, speed that cannot be captured on film, the ability to shapeshift and more. But in matters of the heart, no one, not even the strikingly beautiful and outrageously wealthy Blue Bloods, has total control. In Bloody Valentine, bestselling author Melissa De La Cruz offers readers a new story about the love lives of their favorite vamps- the passion and the heartache, the hope and devastation, the lust and the longing. Combined with all the glitz, glamour, and mystery fans have come to expect, this is sure to be another huge hit in the Blue Bloods series."

Janurary 4th

"On top of spending her time in a bunkerlike safe house and having her dates hijacked by a formidable Fae bodyguard, Faeriewalker Dana Hathaway is in for some more bad news: the Erlking and his pack of murderous minions known as the Wild Hunt have descended upon Avalon. With his homicidal appetite and immortal powers, the Erlking has long been the nightmare of the Fae realm. A fragile treaty with the Faerie Queen, sealed with a mysterious spell, is one thing that keeps him from hunting unchecked in Avalon, the only place on Earth where humans and Fae live together. Which means Dana's in trouble, since it's common knowledge that the Faerie Queen wants her- and her rare Faeriewalker powers- dead. The smoldering, sexy Erlking's got his sights set on Dana, but does he only seek to kill her, or does he have something much darker in mind?"

Sweet Daydreams,

Brooke