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Top Five Posts of the Year

I always like to take a few minutes to look back at the year and see what you liked the most.

Here are the top five posts of the year, based on your page views.

5. Book Review: My Soul to Keep by Rachel Vincent

Did you read any of the Soul Screamers books?

I’m a fan of Rachel Vincent’s Shifters series, but I was afraid to try her young adult books–I like the adult content in the grown-up books. I finally broke down and read all of the Soul Screamers books that were currently available. I like them, but as with most young adult books, they read a little too fast.

4. Movies That Stand the Test of Time

I don’t know about you, but going back to an old favorite film is no fun when the jokes fall flat and the look is dated. I watched Secret Admirer again a few weeks ago, and it is still really funny.

What movies from your childhood are still fun to watch?

3. Book Review: One Bloody Thing After Another by Joey Comeau

Book reviews are popular, it seems.

This book, however, was not as much fun to read as the Soul Screamers books at #5 on the list. I felt like I really should have liked it, and it was well-written, but something just didn’t work for me. Did any of you read this book? If so, tell me what I was missing.

2. I Want an IMDB for Commercials

I know that such as database would be insanely tough to populate and keep up with, but how many times have you wondered who an actor or a voice was in a commercial? There’s really nowhere for us to look.

1. Supernatural: The Season So Far

Supernatural posts are always the most popular, and this one didn’t disappoint. (What can we say? Even if we agree on nothing else, we agree that we love our Winchesters!)

Now that they have revealed more about what the heck is up with Sam, I am enjoying it a lot more than I was when I wrote this post. They have explored the concept of the human soul and shown what it might be like to live without one, and I am liking it. I will be interested to see how they pull that soul out of the cage and what shape it is in when they get it.

How are you feeling about the show? Have the episodes since this post published made you happier with the post-Apocalypse season? Or are you losing interest?

Looking Ahead

Now that we’ve dissected what we’ve already done, tell me what you want to see in 2011.

Thanks, and happy new year!

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Win a Copy of Spotted: Your Only Unofficial Guide to Gossip Girl

Crissy Calhoun loves Gossip Girl.

That is obvious from the loving tone she use to describe the show and its creators in Spotted: Your Only Unofficial Guide to Gossip Girl.

Calhoun pulls together actor and character sketches for the main cast. She describes in detail every pop culture reference, every nuance, and many of the notable outfits in each episode. She compares the plots of the episodes to the books. She even discusses the gaffes, logic flaws, and character development problems and inconsistencies in each episode.

I have always loved these types of episode breakdowns on my favorite shows, so I jumped at the chance to receive an ARC of Spotted from ECW Press. I didn’t learn as much about the world around me as when I read the unofficial guide to the X-Files, but I learned a lot about New York society and the original book series. (No, I didn’t read them.)

I also found out about the backgrounds of the creators. Josh Schwartz’s profile was particularly interesting because he has been behind some of my other favorite shows, such as The O.C. and Chuck.

I am amazed at how prescient Cecily von Ziegesar was in creating the all-seeing, all-knowing, and all-important Gossip Girl blogger for her books. Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage seamlessly updated the concept to include texting and instant messaging, but the core concept remained the same.

Spotted covers seasons 1 and 2, episode-by-episode. It was released in September, so it includes some of the more recent developments off-screen—most notably, the hookups and breakups. I hope to see future installments that cover the rest of the shows run. Perhaps it could be a subscription service with a printed annual compilation at the end of the season.

Uber-fans may also be interested in the Gossip Girl book box set due out in November.

Now on to the fun part. Much as I would like to keep this signed Advance Reading Copy of Spotted, I am going to give it to one lucky reader. (Believe me, I’ve been going back and forth about whether I wanted to keep it or share it all week!)

Enter the random drawing by:

Commenting on this post.
Tweeting a link to this post in Twitter. You’ll need to comment letting me know that you tweeted. Include your Twitter username for verification.
Posting a link on Facebook. Again, comment letting me know that you posted the link.
Adding Pop Culture Curmudgeon to your blogroll. Comment that you did that and include a link for verification.
Posting something about Pop Culture Curmudgeon or the contest on your blog. Comment that you did it and include a link for verification.
Subscribing to the RSS feed or email feed. Comment that you did it to be entered.
Following Pop Culture Curmudgeon on Twitter. Again, comment with your Twitter username for verification.

You receive one entry for each action, so you can potentially receive seven entries.

The winner will be announced October 30. Entry deadline is 11:59 p.m. Eastern, October 29, 2009.

No transfers or substitutions.

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The Truth Behind Fiction Friday

Fiction Friday will begin this week. As my penance for not getting my review done for last Friday, I will post of review of not one, not two, but three books. (I felt a little like Ron Popeil there–Wait, there’s more!)

Check back tomorrow morning to find out which books I think you should read next. Until then, I’m wondering whether you want recommendations of books that I enjoyed, or whether you are interested in hearing about books I thought sucked, too.

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Book Reviews Are Coming

The verdict is in. Book reviews would be much appreciated. So, I will begin a new semi-regular feature here on Pop Culture Curmudgeon, Fiction Fridays.

I’m sure you’re thinking, today is Friday, where’s the book review. I thought I could get one done last night, but instead I was focusing on doing a recap of an old episode of Supernatural for Supernatural: Metal Teeth Chomp. I do love that show. I’ll try to get a review posted later today. Until then, here is a link to a post about some paranormal romance books.

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