Read with Me - Tales of a Wannabe Author, Cosplayer, and Blogger

Hello, everyone! I'm back, and I'm here to report that we now have our Magus Bane and Valentine Morgenstern! The new actors on the Shadowhunters show are Harry Shum, Jr. and Alan Van Sprang! Wow... Just as I'm writing this, Jocelyn Fray has also been cast! Maxim Roy is our Mama Fray! So I guess I'll be talking about the three new actors in this post. So let's get to it! I have to start with Harry Shum, Jr. because he is the one I'm most familiar with. I know him mainly from Glee, which I was a big fan of. I enjoyed his character on that show, and he had some sick moves. But, I also know him from some short videos on the Geek and Sundry YouTube channel. He's funny, and I think his resume show off his acting chops. I also got a good look at some of the new fan-made edits of Harry as Magnus, and I have to say that I can't wait to see him actually play the character. Next up is Alan Van Sprang. To be honest, I've never heard of this guy, but with a quick

Hello, everyone! I'm back and I'm here to review The Clockwork Scarab by Colleen Gleason. In this book, Mina Holmes and Evaline Stoker solve mysterious crimes in a Victorian Steampunk London. But enough about that, let's get onto the review! Let me just say that I went looking for Young Adult Victorian mysteries when I finished Jackaby and didn't have the sequel to fall back on. The premise blew my socks off. The niece of Sherlock Holmes and the sister of Bram Stoker solving mysteries for the Princess of Wales? Count me in. Sign me up. I'll be waiting in line. It sounds absolutely magical. And it was magical... For the most part. I did have my grievances in this book. First, there is a lot of exposition in this book. There's a lot of telling and not enough showing. I would read a sentence and then go through the many different ways I could have seen the information rather than being told. Maybe it's because of the many writing workshops I've been invo

Hello, everyone! I'm back and I'm here to report that Matthew Daddario and Isaiah Mustafa are our new Alec Lightwood and Luke Garroway! The news was announced via twitter last Friday.  It was a little surprising for me. There was a build up for Clary's announcement. The suspense lasted for several days, but for this announcement, I graduated, took a nap, woke up, and found out that we had two new actors for the television show. Now, let's take a look at our new cast members and see if they fit in their new roles. Let's take a look at Matthew Daddario.  Well, we have another handsome gentleman to join the cast. Since we have our Isabelle we can put them up against each other and see if we can accept them as siblings. To be honest, I can go for it. So he looks the part, but does he have the acting chops. After a quick look up on IMDb, I can honestly say that I haven't seen any on his work. So I looked him up on YouTube, and the first thing that pops up is hi

Hello, everyone! I'm back, and I'm here to update y'all on some of the stuff that's been happening, as well as explain my absence... again. I got a good excuse this time! It's official! I have graduated from college with a degree in English. I'm both very happy and very sad to be done with this chapter of my life. I'm proud of all that I've accomplished, but I would love to go back and take a few more classes. It was fun reading books and talking about books. Everything from the metaphors about good and bad karma to absolute narrative ridiculousness that we couldn't wait to be done with was actually pretty fun. Those classes broke me out of my box and forced me to think about reading and writing literature in different ways. Still, I'm excited and a little nervous to begin my next journey. There are some obstacles I need to push through, but I'm hopeful. But that's not everything I wanted to tell y'all. I've got a few posts ready

Hello, everyone! I'm back and I'm here to report the new casting for the Shadowhunters TV show. That's right, we have a new Clary! And I'm here to tell you all about it, and what I think about it. So it was announced yesterday that Katherine McNamara will be our new Clary Fray. Of course, after hint pics went out two days prior, the internet pretty much guessed that Katherine McNamara was going to be our new Clary Fray. Firstly, I'll say that I definitely fan casted Molly Quinn for Clary Fray. So, I was disappointed to hear from Molly Quinn's official twitter that she would not be up for the role. However, I will say that I have come to terms with the decision, and I am now going to (hopefully) judge without any bias. The first thing to judge was her look. She has a fabulous head of red hair. She's absolutely gorgeous. I can definitely see her fitting in with the rest of the cast. People keep calling her short, but being two inches shorter than her

Hello, everyone! I'm back, and I'm here to tell you what I will (hopefully) read within this month. I'm hoping to get further along in a few series that I've started as well as keep up with this month's Booksplosion book. So let's get onto that list! I guess I'll start with the book I'm reading right now, which is The Clockwork Scarab: A Stoker & Holmes Novel by Colleen Gleason. This story is a steampunk take on murder mysteries with the niece of Sherlock Holmes and the sister of Bram Stoker. You can see the appeal for me if you've been a fan of this blog for very long. Next up is the Booksplotion book of the month An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. According to goodreads, this is a high fantasy novel about a slave who, in order to rescue her brother, starts spying in a military academy. Can't wait to read it. I also want to read Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas. As many of you know, I read Throne of Glass last month, but I'm tr

Hello, everyone! I'm back, and I'm here to talk about the new casting for the Shadowhunters TV show. We've now got an Isabelle Lightwood and Simon Lewis. So we can now add Emeraude Toubia and Alberto Rosende to our cast. But how do they stand up to both critics and the fans? As you can imagine, once the announcement was made, twitter blew up. Everyone had a opinion. From "I love them! Perfect!" to "OMG! Are you serious? They don't look like Sizzy!" This of course led to a debate that was basically shot down by our lovely queen, Cassandra Clare. While some are very optimistic as to what Toubia and Rosende will bring to the table, others had a problem with the ethnicity of the actors. To be honest, I don't really care about an actor's ethnicity. Seriously, I would probably care more about hair color than I did about skin color. I don't know what that makes me (a hairist maybe?) but what I really care about (and really what everyone s

Hello, everyone! I'm back, and I'm here to review Jackaby by William Ritter. This story is a mix of Sherlock Holmes and Lost Girl for children. In a small town called Fiddleham, Abigail Rook arrives looking for work and finds Jackaby, a rather eclectic detective who solves crimes... of the paranormal nature. Let's get onto the review! I will say that I've been wanting to read this book for a while. The cover and the preface really drew me in. A mystery with the paranormal? Count me in! Now, was I happy with the experience? That's another story - kind of. I was very happy with my experience. Well, minus the fact that the sequel doesn't come out until September. It was an enjoyable quick read that had interesting lore and brought me out of a depressive slump that finals has put me in. But I'm not sure how emmersive this book is. I never felt like I was a part of the story. It felt like watching a television show while doing my homework. I was paying att