Comic-Con International!

There are eight days until the official start of Comic-Con International. For those of you that don't know Comic-Con is a convention that celebrates comic books, television, movies, and art. This will be my fifth year going with my sister and we couldn't be more excited. My sister and I will be handing out The Nerdy Hedgehog business cards and asking to take pictures of people with the cards. If you get your picture taken with the business card then you will be able to find your picture on my blog!

So I hope to see a lot of you at Comic-con!

Under the Dome: Season Two Episode Two

SPOILERS FOR THOSE NOT CAUGHT UP ON UNDER THE DOME!

The second episode of Under the Dome was a great follow up to the season two premiere from last week.

Last week we were left with the major shock that was Angie McAlister's death. The episode starts off with a sense of normality with the fate of Angie still unknown to the town, but soon Angie is discovered by Junior after his father, Big Jim, tells him to go get the high school ready for the reopening of classes. Junior, devastated, finds Angie's body covered in blood and monarch butterflies.

The town finds out about Angie's death and gathers around the school while an investigation is taking place. There are many accusations that are flown around but none of them seem to hold any water. At around this time Joe Mcalister (Angie's younger brother) and Norrie, who haven't been told about Angie's death yet stumble across the mysterious girl who was the last one to see Angie alive. Joe and Norrie take the girl somewhere safe and end up seeing the commotion going on at the school. Unfortunately Joe realizes something horrible has happened to Angie because everyone there gives him pitying looks (good job guys). Barbie is tasked with delivering the news to Joe, who understandably, doesn't take it well.

 Angie's death isn't the only thing going on in Chester's Mill however, new character Rebecca Pine discovers that there is an infestation of caterpillars/butterflies that are threatening to devour the towns resources. While newly appointed deputy Phil Bushey works on finding Angie's killer, Rebecca, Barbie, and Big Jim team up to fix the infestation problem.

While I really did enjoy this episode I wish there had been more time spent on the fact that suddenly everyone in town just accepts that Barbie was innocent of the murders he was falsely accused of last season. It seems  unrealistic that people would just forget about the people who died last season without a second thought.

I do have to say that Colin Ford, The actor who plays Joe McAlister did an excellent job portraying the pain and despair he was in after he found out about his sister's death.

If you want to find out who the prime suspect is in Angie's death be sure to watch this episode of Under the Dome! and for those of you that have watched it, what did you think of the episode? Let me know in the comments!

Harry Potter Update : J.K. Rowlings New Short Story

J.K. Rowling has introduced a new short story on her website Pottermore. I'll be honest I'm still a bit upset about J.K. saying that she thinks she made a mistake having Ron and Hermione end up together, but that's not going to stop me from reading more about one of my favorite book worlds!

The short story is written as an article from the point of view of scathing reporter Rita Skeeter, so we should know not to put too much stock in it. In the article Skeeter speaks of Dumbledore's Army most of whom are reunited at the quidditch world cup final. as expected Rita Skeeter's article is filled with gossip about our favorite characters including Harry, Ginny Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Luna. While most of the information we get from the article is frivolous gossip about Harry's graying hair, Ron's Thinning hair, and Hermione's wild hair (Rita Skeeter sure is focused on their hair!), we also find out about a new scar that adorns Harry's face that was presumably acquired while working as an auror. Rita Skeeter also talks about Neville Longbottom and his wife Hannah, suggesting that they may be partaking in a bit too much firewhiskey as of late. Not to be outdone Luna Lovegood and her husband Rolf Scamander are also at the world cup without they're twin boys. Rita Skeeter speculates that this is because Luna's sons are "too disturbed" to be out in public.

Like I said earlier no one should ever trust anything that is written by Rita Skeeter, but it was still nice to get a glimpse back in to the magical world of Harry Potter.

Let me know what you think of the new short story in the comments!
Also, Ron and Hermione forever! <3

Books, Books, Books!

There are a lot of great books out there in the world. This is a great time to be a reader whether you love young adult, urban fantasy, or even steampunk. In this blog post I'm going to talk about some books that I would recommend to anyone who has a passion for reading.

There are a lot of young adult books to pick from these days and I have two books I'd love for everyone to read; the first YA book I'd recommend is The bloodlines series written by Richelle Mead. This series is a spin off of her popular Vampire Academy series and in my opinion even better, which says a lot considering how much I love the Vampire Academy series.
The Blurb: 
When alchemist Sydney is ordered into hiding to protect the life of Moroi princess Jill Dragomir, the last place she expects to be sent is a human private school in Palm Springs, California.

Populated with new faces as well as familiar ones, Bloodlines explores all the friendship, romance, battles, and betrayals that made the #1 New York Times bestselling Vampire Academy series so addictive—this time in a part-vampire, part-human setting where the stakes are even higher and everyone's out for blood.

If vampires aren't exactly your thing then I would definitely recommend Looking for Alaska written by John Green. John Green is probably best known for writing The Fault in our Stars and for his YouTube channel, the vlogbrothers, that he has with his brother Hank Green. While I love The Fault in our Stars, Looking for Alaska is just as good.
The Blurb:
First drink
First prank
First friend
First girl
Last words

Miles "Pudge" Halter is abandoning his safe-okay, boring-life. Fascinated by the last words of famous people, Pudge leaves for boarding school to seek what a dying Rabelais called the "Great Perhaps."
Pudge becomes encircled by friends whose lives are everything but safe and boring. Their nucleus is razor-sharp, sexy, and self-destructive Alaska, who has perfected the arts of pranking and evading school rules. Pudge falls impossibly in love. When tragedy strikes the close-knit group, it is only in coming face-to-face with death that Pudge discovers the value of living and loving unconditionally.
John Green's stunning debut marks the arrival of a stand-out new voice in young adult fiction.

Urban Fantasy is one of my favorite genres of book to read, and Kim Harrison is one of my favorite urban fantasy authors out there. So for my Urban Fantasy recommendation it's a no brainer for me to pick The Hollows series written by Kim Harrison. What I love about The Hollows series is that the characters have so many different layers to them. The main character Rachel Morgan is strong willed and does whatever it takes to get the jb done and do what she thinks is right.
The Blurb:

All the creatures of the night gather in "the Hollows" of Cincinnati, to hide, to prowl, to party ... and to feed.

Vampires rule the darkness in a predator-eat-predator world rife with dangers beyond imagining — and it’s Rachel Morgan'sjob to keep that world civilized.

A bounty hunter and witch with serious sex appeal and an attitude, she'll bring 'em back alive, dead ... or undead.

Steampunk is a specific type of genre of science fiction, it involves steam powered machinery and a bit of an alternate history. The book I'd recommend in the steampunk category is The Emperors Edge series written by Lindsay Buroker. This is actually one of my favorite books series because Lindsay Buroker is able to seamlessly mix humor into her writing without making it cheesy. The characters in this series are also so well written that I always want to find out more about them.

The Blurb:

Imperial law enforcer Amaranthe Lokdon is good at her job: she can deter thieves and pacify thugs, if not with a blade, then by toppling an eight-foot pile of coffee canisters onto their heads. But when ravaged bodies show up on the waterfront, an arson covers up human sacrifices, and a powerful business coalition plots to kill the emperor, she feels a tad overwhelmed.

Worse, Sicarius, the empire's most notorious assassin, is in town. He's tied in with the chaos somehow, but Amaranthe would be a fool to cross his path. Unfortunately, her superiors order her to hunt him down. Either they have an unprecedented belief in her skills... or someone wants her dead.

So those are my recommendations for some of my favorite books, if you have any recommendations for me leave them in the comments I'm always looking for more books to read!

Under the Dome: Season Two Episode One

Under the Dome came back full force with it's season two premiere, written by none other than Stephen King himself.

I have been waiting excitedly for season two of Under the Dome to begin and I wasn't disappointed. The characters were just as great as I had remembered and the story just as mysterious.

The premiere episode picked up right where season one left off; with Big Jim (Dean Norris) and Junior (Alexander koch) about to hang Dale "Barbie" Barbara (Mike Vogel) for murders that he didn't commit. Luckily for Barbie the dome begins to put out a pulse that causes half of the town to pass out and begins to send all metal objects hurling towards the dome. Predictably this causes a lot of problem for the people of Chester's Mill and everyone who hasn't been affected by the dome goes to investigate. throughout the episode we are introduced to new characters who will undoubtedly add  more drama to the series.

With the addition of some new characters there seems to be even a lot of secrecy and questions that surround them. There are three new characters that are introduced in the season two premiere including; Sam Verdreaux (Eddie Cahill) a former paramedic who we later find out is Junior's uncle presumably on his mother's side. There is also Rebecca Pine (Karla Crome) a science teacher who is trying to find logical explanations as to why the dome is covering her town and affecting everyone. Lastly we have a mysterious girl that Julia Shumway (Rachelle Lafevre) rescues from the lake. Not much is known about this girl so her whole character is a complete mystery.

SPOILERS
This show is no stranger to killing off characters and with Stephen King penning this episode I knew there was definitely going to be some bloodshed. Despite suspecting that there were going to be some major deaths this episode I was still shocked when Sheriff Linda (Natalie Martinez) was killed a mere five minutes in to the episode. An equally shocking death was that of Angie McAlister (Britt Robertson) who seemed to have been killed with an axe by the mysterious girl from the lake. While death is expected in television it's always hard to see interesting characters that had a lot of potential go. Here's hoping that through T.V. magic we get to see them again, after all Junior's supposedly dead mother is apparently still alive and kicking.
END SPOILERS

Tell me what you thought of the season two premiere of Under the Dome in the comments below