tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43569348597233591152024-02-07T07:42:29.714-05:00BookstuneBooksTunehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03190072807277117734noreply@blogger.comBlogger68125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4356934859723359115.post-57267033884405334572021-07-19T14:28:00.000-04:002021-07-19T14:28:46.629-04:00Review: Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston<p><span style="caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3zV_hIfsp8FJkxhPMLpy7KNKWTpOLjZ5o6qbnn5smosC1CI7xAGC3eHruJ2nCfYP_0WCV7VjYOufEJV3ahPBPoehM-M94Jl-T2Sabd3SsoY2UjfxapCLNSQZ4qUUVlpesnsx11cV6qWpz/s1360/61OebCg0kfL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1360" data-original-width="880" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3zV_hIfsp8FJkxhPMLpy7KNKWTpOLjZ5o6qbnn5smosC1CI7xAGC3eHruJ2nCfYP_0WCV7VjYOufEJV3ahPBPoehM-M94Jl-T2Sabd3SsoY2UjfxapCLNSQZ4qUUVlpesnsx11cV6qWpz/s320/61OebCg0kfL.jpg" /></a></div><i>First Son Alex Claremont-Diaz is the closest thing to a prince this side of the Atlantic. With his intrepid sister and the Veep’s genius granddaughter, they’re the White House Trio, a beautiful millennial marketing strategy for his mother, President Ellen Claremont. International socialite duties do have downsides—namely, when photos of a confrontation with his longtime nemesis Prince Henry at a royal wedding leak to the tabloids and threaten American/British relations. The plan for damage control: staging a fake friendship between the First Son and the Prince.</i><span style="caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><i> </i></span><p></p><i><span id="freeText5005938275595299221" style="caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">As President Claremont kicks off her reelection bid, Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret relationship with Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations. What is worth the sacrifice? How do you do all the good you can do? And, most importantly, how will history remember you?</span><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span></i><div><span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-size: 14px;">This book. This book. This book!!! I have not read a book that I have immediately put on my favorites list in such a long time. It made me excited, it had my mind on the story and characters constantly. For me, this is how I know how good a book is. How 5-star worthy a book is.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-size: 14px;">The writing made it so easy to get into. It had realistic dialogue that felt natural, like I could hear some of my own friends talking the same way and of the same things. The conversations were nice, relaxing, and fun! I have laughed out loud in this book - even when I'm not reading it and I just remembered it throughout my day. McQuiston describes actions so well, particularly while a character is talking and in conversation. It makes it feel like I'm right there when it's happening. But even outside of the dialogue, the flow of speech was so realistic that it felt like someone was explaining something to me rather than me reading something. I especially liked how the personalities of the characters weren't just laid out and told to us. It was shown to us, sometimes through little hints that end up coming together and showing you in a subtle way integral parts to these characters.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-size: 14px;">I loved the romance from the very beginning. I think mostly because I loved the characters individually. They were so unique, individual from each other, and all so likable (at least the main characters). Henry was absolutely my favorite. I loved him and just found his personality so adorable and relatable! I also loved the portrayal of Alex. It was so refreshing to see that the main character is the one with the cool façade while the love interest is the one that is nervous, shy, stuttering. But at the same time, these characters were themselves, they did not fill a re-used mold of trope-y characters. I think McQuiston did a great job developing their relationship, I thought it was realistic and I enjoyed seeing it unfold.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-size: 14px;">This is a very character driven novel. So I loved seeing the little clues of Alex and why he is the way he is and how things in his life effected him without it being so obvious, it was subtle and it was understandable and it was so engaging for the reader. The concept of a public self and private self was touched upon quite a bit and I felt so connected to it. I think the building of Henry seeing Alex's private self was particularly well done and touching. I loved the subtle change we see in Alex, what he undergoes to who he eventually becomes. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-size: 14px;">T</span></span><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">he pace was good and gripping enough while not feeling overwhelming. The metaphors and some portions of the writing were so beautiful, they were breathtaking. I loved the text excerpts, the emails (how <i>romantic</i> they were - I died). The wittiness was also mcuh appreciated. As a self-proclaimed political junkie myself, I really loved reading the additions of political talk and the impacts of it in their lives, plus what the characters saw their role in politics as and the change they can create due to it. Even the lesser theme of feminism and Alex's acknowledgement of his mother's influence was so gratifying. It was like one of my favorite things in life added to this already great book. Speaking of: the themes of leaders, their care for their people and how little of that there really is while the hints of the impact having more of those types of leaders would have was empowering and gave me a sense of yearning to want change, to see it just like Alex wanted to see it - wanted to be a <i>part</i> of it. </span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-size: 14px;">There were negatives. Granted, they were mostly overshadowed by how much good was surrounding them so they did not bother me enough to think this was anything but 5 stars. The chapters were too long which doesn't seem like a big deal, and it's not - not really. But, it's easy to kind of need a break instead of being gripped nonstop by the novel. Even if it's not boring, it's just the length of multiple scenes that were clumped together when they really didn't need to be. Sometimes the lingo, the cursing - the multiple "y'all"s, it felt a little forced. Not that they shouldn't be there - just the sheer volume of them and sometimes uncessarily makes it feel unnatural. If they were reduced, it would have felt more natural (like the rest of the dialogue) and their absense wouldn't have taken anything away from the book. Also, sometimes (like once), the descriptions didn't translate well. I couldn't picture what was being described but honestly, it didn't effect me much and I just pushed through and was fine. But maybe it could have added more impact to the scene.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-size: 14px;">In the end, though, I think the story was wrapped up nicely.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-size: 14px;">I just want to say again: I <i style="font-weight: bold;">love </i>Henry so much. How I <b>wish </b>we could have read from his perspective. I want to hear his thoughts and emotions, from the very beginning - maybe even before that. His character was so interesting and I wish we could see Alex through his eyes like we could see him through Alex's. I want to hear his words, his beautiful beautiful words. A Henry POV of RWRB, or a Henry POV sequel? Yes, please. Honestly, Henry might be one of my favorite characters of all time. I adored him just as much as I adored this book.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg07s9eq_VEJVg4_7l3q3YAOjLsstanNz65BpMV7nI5mxiKi8DtDi12EckqkQveHZrgKL1QiV_9RdJDcRHM1v0y0fjxKI2kAIgUripCWflLZesXDT1_ZarY1h9vf1LcpeDy9ie5bUZnKykp/s1070/1070px-5_stars.svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="220" data-original-width="1070" height="83" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg07s9eq_VEJVg4_7l3q3YAOjLsstanNz65BpMV7nI5mxiKi8DtDi12EckqkQveHZrgKL1QiV_9RdJDcRHM1v0y0fjxKI2kAIgUripCWflLZesXDT1_ZarY1h9vf1LcpeDy9ie5bUZnKykp/w400-h83/1070px-5_stars.svg.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div>BooksTunehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03190072807277117734noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4356934859723359115.post-84092977928248060572021-05-16T15:07:00.003-04:002021-05-16T23:03:53.158-04:00Review: Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen<p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><i style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIxLBtO-N6fxK20Nsef6CB0gnbPFIxxLYnRhHWJFeKFjojXcus9xThPjcOeZSS-d_WeHmr1NV4NcplHcMgiKuzA8HwnVVtFlAUPciE6oIEuFYXuUEAEa0JEdzmrfcmZu4PKCqRyiibofPq/s475/23009402.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIxLBtO-N6fxK20Nsef6CB0gnbPFIxxLYnRhHWJFeKFjojXcus9xThPjcOeZSS-d_WeHmr1NV4NcplHcMgiKuzA8HwnVVtFlAUPciE6oIEuFYXuUEAEa0JEdzmrfcmZu4PKCqRyiibofPq/s320/23009402.jpg" /></a></div>Sydney's handsome, charismatic older brother, Peyton, has always dominated the family, demanding and receiving the lion's share of their parents' attention. And when Peyton's involvement in a drunk driving episode sends him to jail, Sydney feels increasingly rootless and invisible, worried that her parents are unconcerned about the real victim: the boy Peyton hit and seriously injured. Meanwhile, Sydney becomes friends with the Chathams, a warm, close-knit, eccentric family, and their friendship helps her understand that she is not responsible for Peyton's mistakes. Once again, the hugely popular Sarah Dessen tells an engrossing story of a girl discovering friendship, love, and herself.</span></i></div></span></i></i></div><p></p><p><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">After a big break in reading, I can't tell you how refreshing it is to read a Dessen novel. She reminds me every time I pick up her stories why she's one of my favorite authors.</span><p></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">While I did feel a sense of returning home (I always know what to expect with Sarah Dessen; deep themes, amazing dialogue, etc.), I did feel something new with this book. It was a weird style for Dessen, compared to the other books I've read of hers. Plot-wise, she kind of reveals Sydney, our main character's, backstory all at once. I found myself preferring her old style where it was mostly shrouded in mystery until it starts to be revealed piece by piece. But it didn't take much from he book because I think the emotional journey Sydney takes is really what starts to unravel and is focused. There really wasn't much of a plot because of this. However, I think the characters were fun and the big theme of finding their place in the world was so relatable that I didn't mind at all. Sometimes, when a character driven story is done well, plot has so little importance to me that I don't even feel its absence and I think this is one of those instances.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Another new thing, more than once, I got the feeling as if I was reading Sydney's diary, as if she was talking to us. Or like those voice over narrations in teen rom coms from the early 2000s. I strangely actually liked it. It felt kind of nostalgic to me.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">I found myself liking the characters, their dialogue that is so ordinary but made me feel like I was a part of their little group. I appreciated the relationships/friendships between all of them. I loved Sydney which isn't something I often feel with Dessen's main characters. But I thought her feelings and thoughts were so painfully </span></span><span style="font-size: 14px;">relatable, I could see myself in her when I was a teenager. I think the book did a great job at showing how Sydney only gets fleeting moments where she feels hopeful and then reality seeps in and it feel like it's taken away from her. It was realistic, it made you feel it. The same thing for explaining just what the Chathams represented for Sydney and why they were important.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">In fact, I was so emotionally involved in this story, because it actually made you </span><i style="font-size: 14px;">feel </i><span style="font-size: 14px;">everything, I don't think I've ever been so frustrated while reading before. But I was frustrated because that's what I was supposed to be feeling. I wanted to actually deck her parents at one point. But as undesirable those feelings were, I can appreciate it from a critical standpoint. Because it just showed how sucked in I was while reading and how much she really made you care about the characters and what happened next. But at the same time, I <i>want </i>to be happy, I <i>want </i>to love every moment. Instead of actually putting off reading because I was so angry at what was happening. </span></span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">There was a subplot that lasted for a couple chapters or so that centers around a character named Margaret. Looking back, it was pretty useless and felt kind of like a waste. I kept thinking it would end up being important, but when it didn't, it felt more lazy than anything. Like it was forgotten. Took a bit away from the book.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">As for the romance, I liked it a lot. I found it to be really cozy. But I found myself liking it more when it was just obvious they liked each other. When they were actually in a relationship, we didn't really see much of them and that's very characteristic for Dessen but that doesn't mean I like it.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">I do like that the story takes place throughout several months, which I think is a great timeline and good pace. I like that there were a lot of symbols in the novel that were referenced a lot, it made their significance that much greater. It was a nice touch that brought everything together because I think it lends to the realistic aspect of it all that, that's how life is: you get reminders of things you've experienced and you do put weight on things no matter how small. </span></span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Saint Anything, what the book is named after, was probably my favorite idea from the book, especially because of where it originated and what it represents. But I wish it would've been more present. It's mentioned maybe three times int eh entire story and it would've been so much better and more powerful if it was a bigger symbol. Especially since, again, the book is literally named after it.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">The ending was really open ended with the characters and I understand that that's kind of the point. Being that the future isn't something you can control. Anything could happen by pure chance at any given instant, and I do like that that's been emphasized and illustrated (shown not told) throughout the entire novel. But I still don't love it. It's a good point but it's just not satisfying for the reader, especially when we start to care about the characters so much.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">I've said some negative stuff about the book that I did not like (along with the really positive I started with). However, that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the book. Overall, it's probably my third favorite Sarah Dessen book. It has it's issues but I still enjoyed the story and characters so much. I found the themes to touching and important and loved the connection Sydney forms with the Chathams and would've loved to see even more.</span></span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFW0Ylnr_hfiMK30sZhSyXUv7PhQpb9mr7Frpw7b0boNzkpy55lcLUlVxGF8Cq5gDv5HpdYiXQu3a2yWmWv-co4rCxy5MTc2qaME3JhB2Izp8xUAyB8VGGKjTO-UThxpcfS1wS4XUh9r50/s1070/1070px-4_stars.svg.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="220" data-original-width="1070" height="105" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFW0Ylnr_hfiMK30sZhSyXUv7PhQpb9mr7Frpw7b0boNzkpy55lcLUlVxGF8Cq5gDv5HpdYiXQu3a2yWmWv-co4rCxy5MTc2qaME3JhB2Izp8xUAyB8VGGKjTO-UThxpcfS1wS4XUh9r50/w510-h105/1070px-4_stars.svg.png" width="510" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">SPOILER</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">I feel like there were a lot of things I wished were fleshed out more. I would've preferred a little more in depth conversation with Peyton about his true feelings and guilt because we think of him in one light for so much of the book so to see him shoulder his responsibility would've been great. I would've loved to see more of her parents' and brother's reaction with Ames' situation. The actual conversation instead of it being just mentioned when it was so serious and built up for so long. I would've loved to see more about Mac's future. I just feel like so much of what could've made this book five stars and made it so much more powerful was robbed, either not mentioned enough or just glossed over. It was more than a little disappointing</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></p>BooksTunehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03190072807277117734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4356934859723359115.post-64254633286531792472021-04-24T15:57:00.001-04:002021-05-16T23:03:13.654-04:00Review: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/10/Six_of_Crows_by_Leigh_Bardugo_book_cover.jpeg/220px-Six_of_Crows_by_Leigh_Bardugo_book_cover.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="332" data-original-width="220" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/10/Six_of_Crows_by_Leigh_Bardugo_book_cover.jpeg/220px-Six_of_Crows_by_Leigh_Bardugo_book_cover.jpeg" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><i>Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone. </i></span><p></p><p><i><span style="caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">A convict with a thirst for revenge<br /><br />A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager<br /><br />A runaway with a privileged past<br /><br />A spy known as the Wraith<br /><br />A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums<br /><br />A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first.</span><br /></i></p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">As someone who had a fun time reading the Shadow and Bone trilogy, to hear how much better Leigh Bardugo got at story telling between the two series, I was so excited. I've heard so many amazing things about the characters, the story and the world and that paired with my excitement to already go back into the Grishaverse, a world I loved so much, I was more than ready to jump into the world. </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">After hearing so much about the story and individual characters, it was more than surprising to see how much I was still blown away. </span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Starting with the writing, I think it was so incredibly perfect and </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-size: 14px;">easy</span><span style="font-size: 14px;"> to suck you into the world. There were times when I put the book down but my mind still felt like I was in Ketterdam with the characters. It was so incredibly immersive and it felt like you were actually there for everything. The mood just helped with that as Bardugo managed to expertly make a tone so dark, somber and suspenseful that had you feeling like you were actually right there with the gangs and dangers of that world. I do love the realism dashed in, the commentary on human trafficking, poverty, addictions, racism, corruption. I will admit it had its moments where I felt kind of bored and would have to put the book down (notably right at the beginning) but that quickly was done away with and the action started, making it hard to even want to put the book down. I would often struggle with wanting to keep reading and wanting to savor the story more. I think the only thing that really took me out of the story was that I found it difficult at times to keep up with the plan being explained, I don't know if it was just badly explained or if it was more my problem, but either way it really took me out of the story but I can only remember it happening once or twice. </span></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-size: 14px;">The plot was just amazing. It was interesting, moved just at the right pace for us to be able to understand the characters better. The different cultures, languages, beliefs, gangs. I felt like Bardugo revealed everything, every back story, so perfectly so she built some suspense but not too much that it got boring without any answers. I loved those backstories just as much as the actual plot (if not more!). And she managed to do it to the point that it didn't effect the actual storyline. At the same time, it was still so poignant and powerful that made you sympathize and fall in love with each character. There were so many twists and turns that I never saw coming and I loved being surprised by them. She had a way of foreshadowing certain things that you know would come into play later but making you forget about them or see them in one light instead of another so when they actually do come into play, they are still so very shocking. I loved being blindsighted by things we didn't know about just like how the characters were blind sighted in their point of view. It's something I've rarely experienced (as it always feels like the readers are clued in before the characters) but I loved experiencing it. It made it feel even more immersive.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-size: 14px;">And as a side note, I loved the mentions of the original trilogy. The Little Palace, the civil war, Nikolai, Zoya....it felt like a little glimpse into the world I had loved and was a part of previously and it almost felt nostalgic. I didn't love so much the animal deaths which I do feel like is a pattern in Bardugo's writing but it's just not my cup of tea, especially with how descriptive they are.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">But all in all, the characters were what got me. I couldn't even pick a favorite character because they were just all amazing. And I also loved their connections with each other, the slight distrust, the acknowledgement of the fragility between them because they weren't heroes. I loved it. Their life stories, their individual storylines that we get to explore and get hints about even if not the full picture, are all so compelling and well developed. Its difficult not to love them all and root for them. This story of people who are seen as expendable, not important to the world, and how these outcasts can survive without the favor of the world. They're likely my favorite parts of the story because they were all filled with so much struggle but at the same time strength that kind of blew me away. I loved how strong all the characters were and how each of them showed their strength and how they had to get it. It was realistic, heartbreaking and made you feel just as determined for them as they felt themselves. I think Inej is the embodiment of this and I just loved her so much. I loved how much she kept true to herself, fought through her tragedies. Her strength even at her lowest times. Her journey to her purpose was so beautiful to see. And I adored her connection with her people, her family (even still), her culture and her faith.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Even the one character I wasn't sure about, Matthias proved himself to be equally interesting in his plight between his values, his country, his faith and what he is now learning about the world and different cultures</span></span><span style="font-size: 14px;">. I don't even think I can put into words just how much I appreciated seeing their different walks of life, how that shaped them and what they became because of them. Especially being able to sympathize with them through their stories - even Matthias, especially Matthias and his culture of hatred against Grisha which, at least in Matthias' case, is put into perspective and given reason but how he still grew from that and used his experiences of the world outside of his little bubble to progress past those thoughts and begin thinking for himself. </span></span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">I loved how badass Kaz was. His coolness in situations even when dealing with Pekka. His story, the understanding of his weaknesses. His intelligence, to see the way he led a gang that wasn't even his, led them to prosperity with his own work. He was such a compelling and terrifying character. And quite possibly my favorite. His backstory was so so heartbreaking and I loved being able to understand him, and how much he always carried that part with him and always has vengeance for it on his mind. It was also great to see the reminders of just how young he was through those scenes where he finally lost his facade, where he was reminded of his losses, where his need for revenge snuck back in. His black gloves and cane just made him into more of an icon in my mind. </span></span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">I loved Wylan and Jesper. Wylan was such a sweetheart and learning about his life, family, made me want to protect him and see him be nothing but happy. I loved his kindness despite everything. Jesper's character being so much deeper than originally thought, both in terms of him coming to terms with who he is, who he wants to be, and also about his past with his family and his addictions was such a pleasant surprise and I just want to know more and more about him and his feelings and struggles. And his attachment with his guns, his love of danger and inability to sit still was such a fun thing to watch. He really added so much personality and life to the story that I really appreciated. I also loved watching Jesper's connection with Kaz and how that eventually changes as the story progresses and what that will mean for their closeness. </span></span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">I felt especially attached to Nina because of her connection with the Shadow and Bone trilogy and again, it felt like such a thrill whenever I could connect the two worlds. I loved her patriotism, so so so much. Her sacrifice. And I loved her friendship with Inej. I think female friendships are so under appreciated and to see it so easily and full of respect and love, it was honestly my favorite dynamic. Which is saying a lot because the subtle relationships between the characters, the friendships, the crushes, the love, the disdainful respect, was so entertaining to read about and really just made me giddy to keep reading about these characters. </span></span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">The romance aspect was great as well. I think it was sprinkled in just enough to really get us invested but not so much that it took away from the actual stories and the individual battles each character goes through. Kaz and Inej's relationship was especially my favorite because to see a character like Kaz who has suffered so much act like such a teenage boy that has a crush and cares about Inej so much but is literally unable to express his feelings and does so in subtle ways instead is such a cute if not exasperating experience that I loved to see play out.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">For a review where I'm sure I said 'love' way too often, I will concede that I didn't love how it ended. I didn't expect a cliffhanger and I would have wished for them to end in different circumstances, to have a more full rounded all-together scene, which we didn't get. But that may be more of a disappointment personal wish than a plot problem because plot-wise, it was such a shocking and exciting (for the second book) turn of events. Also I can't pretend as if I didn't spend the whole book waiting for a Wylan chapter.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/5_stars.svg/1200px-5_stars.svg.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="165" data-original-width="800" height="82" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/5_stars.svg/1200px-5_stars.svg.png" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></p>BooksTunehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03190072807277117734noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4356934859723359115.post-51551114982166901522020-12-13T13:36:00.002-05:002020-12-13T13:38:38.348-05:00Review: Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan<p><a href="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327874609l/7741325.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="318" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327874609l/7741325.jpg" /></a></p><i><span id="freeText3197504976904152368" style="caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">“I’ve left some clues for you.<br />If you want them, turn the page.<br />If you don’t, put the book back on the shelf, please.”<br /><br />So begins the latest whirlwind romance from the bestselling authors of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on a favorite bookstore shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept its dares. But is Dash that right guy? Or are Dash and Lily only destined to trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations across New York? Could their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions? Or will they be a comic mismatch of disastrous proportions?<br /><br />Rachel Cohn and David Levithan have written a love story that will have readers perusing bookstore shelves, looking and longing for a love (and a red notebook) of their own.</span><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span></i><p></p><div><span><a name='more'></a></span><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Put honestly, and bluntly right off the bat, I was pretty disappointed in this book. Which was so unexpected and sad for me who has been looking forward to reading this </span></span><span style="font-size: 14px;">for years (and who specifically bought it not only to read it during Christmas time to really get a feel for the mood established in the novel but also for the Netflix show based on it!). I think it got better as I approached the second half of the novel but it wasn't so much better to save the entire reading experience for me. </span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">I think my first thought of the story itself was: Childish. Which does bring up the question of whether the problem was the story or me. It is a very big possibility that I just read it at too old of an age to really understand the characters (who were my main problem). Perhaps if I had read it when I was younger, closer to when the book came out it would have been a different experience, a much better one at that. Which is something to keep in mind throughout this review. Because putting that aside, I can definitely see the appeal in the story and characters.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">I didn't really like the characters too much. I felt like both of the main characters were too stereotypical - falling so strictly into being 'too preppy' or 'too sardonic'. It felt too black and white which, for a contemporary set in our modern world, didn't seem to realistic. Particularly Dash who was very very pretentious, and not in a way I could come to appreciate. But I do see where the appeal could come in, in the opposite attracts trope which I saw building and I was expecting to love but it just fell flat because it was not capitalized on well. I think this disconnect also made the story feel much too much like insta love for me to like - which is not something I usually mind in stories! The connection they formed so quickly just didn't have much of a reasoning behind for why it was so quick and strong, I couldn't understand it and I think that was a problem for other parts of the story as well. A lot of decisions or changes in thoughts/feelings were so </span><i style="caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-size: 14px;">rash </i><span style="font-size: 14px;">with little to absolutely no explanation as to why. It felt like the story was missing an element that could make a reader feel truly immersed in the story. Even the deeper messages that were introduced throughout the novel felt weak, weakly explained and weakly resolved which didn't make the book feel meaningful at all, or at least not like it felt obvious it wanted to be seen as. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">And after a while, the novel itself became quite boring. It got to the point where I took multiple breaks while reading because I would just lose interest or I felt impatient for a bigger point in the plot line. Especially when it took them so long to meet! There were also a lot of unanswered questions at the end as well at the end but honestly, it wasn't something I minded much about (maybe because I'm aware there's a sequel). That's not to say there weren't interesting points in the reading. I felt like there were pretty entertaining periods where I really liked reading about the characters and even times where I would laugh out loud. Particularly in Dash's portion. I think that is mostly due to Boomer though, who was by far one of the best characters in the novel, his puppy-like disposition especially in contrast with Dash's personality made for such a wholesome and fun time reading (the way I though the whole book and characters - particularly Lily - would be like).</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">When they did meet though, I really enjoyed it and began enjoying the book a lot more. I actually liked Dash a lot more, Lily a lot less. I was really disappointed with Lily, who I liked at the beginning but slowly degraded into annoying and almost unbearable (but became better near the end). I especially didn't like her brother who was selfish, dismissive with Lily being a doormat and weak. Those two characters combined in each of Lily's chapters did not make for an enjoyable experience. But I really liked, at the end, the way their relationship was portrayed. It was cute and just nice to be able to experience (which is what I wished the rest of the book was like). It seemed even the themes of the story got better with this as well. The theme of building people, loving people even, for the version we create of them versus who they really are is such a powerful theme that I've always thought about but never quite seen explained in a book, let alone so well. I loved it and its what saved this book's rating from what it would have otherwise. It made up for a good portion of the book and its downfalls. But saying that, it is quite a shame I couldn't have felt that way about the book for a greater portion of it. Instead, a lot of its disappointment was not made up for and really brought down what I wished was a great experience for me as a reader.</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Through this though, I think the ending and the establishment of the relationships between characters (which, I think the build up portion of the book was not done well but the establishment </span><i style="font-size: 14px;">was</i><span style="font-size: 14px;">) was enough, not to forget how much I disliked the first 2/3rds of the novel, but to get me interested enough to be willing to pick up the next book. Again though, it wasn't enough to make up for the first part of the novel and thus the rating I gave it, 3 stars, is sadly including/reflecting the positive portion at the end. Without that it would easily be a 2.5 or even 2. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4e/3_stars.svg/1070px-3_stars.svg.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="164" data-original-width="800" height="83" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4e/3_stars.svg/1070px-3_stars.svg.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div>BooksTunehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03190072807277117734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4356934859723359115.post-4871318744316265082020-10-10T14:50:00.000-04:002020-10-10T14:50:26.239-04:00Review: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo <div class="separator"><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="326" height="400" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51Bw9aiWYIL.jpg" width="260" /></div></div><p><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: merriweather, georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the s</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: merriweather, georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">houlders of one lonely refugee.</span></i></p><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: merriweather, georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: merriweather, georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: merriweather, georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: merriweather, georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: merriweather, georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span><a name='more'></a></span></i><br /><div>This is such a popular book in the book community, so much so that the Netflix adaptation is going to be released soon! So to say I was dying to read it and finally experience the characters and the world that I have seen so many people raving and talking about is an understatement.</div><div><br /></div><div>The first thing I noticed was the terminology in the story. As expected for a fantasy like this, there were things unique to the story that were created for this world which means I, as a new reader to the Grishaverse, obviously won't understand. But I think there could have been a better job in explaining the world and terminology right when they're brought up. Because otherwise, it got very confusing with the terms and hierarchies just being casually mentioned with no explanation of what they mean right along with them. They were explained better later which is good and helped me feel more immersed in the story but it could have saved a lot of confusion and own research on the reader's part that took me out of the story. </div><div><br /></div><div>However, that being said, the world Bardugo has created was one of my favorite parts of the book. Once you understand it, understand the different groups and what they do, the world is much more understandable. I loved learning about the Grisha, the different orders and the parts of their culture. It was so interesting and it made me want to be part of the world, see the keftas, the magic, in person. The world building was just so good. </div><div><br /></div><div>The characters were great too. I loved Alina as our main character, I found her very reasonable given her background and what she's been through and I really liked seeing her grow throughout the book into a stronger person. Actually, I feel like I liked all of our characters. Mal was great both when he was there and when he was just a thought that followed Alina through her journey. In fact, I think I appreciated all the characters and what they brought to the story. All the main characters felt very distinct and it was east to connect enough with the story to have feelings about all of them.</div><div><br /></div><div>To go along with that, I loved Alina's development. It was easy to understand her feelings of isolation, longing to being wanted, identified, and needed in the world both in being able to relate with her and being able to see why she feels that way given her childhood and past trauma. It was easy to see how her relationships with people around her was affected by this, why she was so drawn to The Darkling or why she wanted to change her feelings for Mal and why, near the end, she was blindsided by the truth of what was going on and how she had been manipulated. It even made her connection with her powers so much more deep than I'd ever read before in a book like this. I loved how much her powers very much personified her independence, individuality and sense of worth. And why her relationships effected her powers and vice versa. It was great to read.</div><div><br /></div><div>The story was crafted perfectly from the beginning and everything just fit and made so much sense in terms dynamics and relationships. It was what made the story so captivating for me and made me be able to read more than a hundred pages a day without even feeling it.</div><div><br /></div><div>The writing style was very good, I was immersed in the story almost immediately and I felt like it flowed very well. However, there was a lot of description in the chapters which at times got to the point where it was boring and it lost my attention to the point where I had to put the book down and stop reading. It felt like pretty slow paced with a large chunk of the book being repetitive and nothing really happening. </div><div><br /></div><div>But in other moments, I was so sucked into the world and the characters that I had literal fangirling sessions. Mostly due to The Darkling whose initial characterization is usually exactly what I love and look for in male characters. I loved the scenes where his signature color was heavily emphasized and Alina was in connection to it as well, the symbol she eventually wore. With this, however, does stem a part of the book that was its biggest downfall in my eyes and the reason I can't give this book a 5 star but it is a spoiler so I'll talk about it more below. </div><div><br /></div><div>I think this was a great start to a series and a great introduction to the world and characters that was so interestingly and intricately done. I also found themes of classism such interesting elements added that really made me more curious about the world. Especially with the constant thought of Ravka being not only behind technology wise and relying on traditional beliefs but also having large wealth disparities. While at the end, I did leave it feeling disappointed, I think the beautiful way Bardugo showed us Alina's feelings and how they influenced her connections with others and her powers was so powerful and made the story what it was. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Star_rating_4_of_5.png/240px-Star_rating_4_of_5.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="51" data-original-width="240" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Star_rating_4_of_5.png/240px-Star_rating_4_of_5.png" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><u><b>SPOILER</b></u></div><div>.</div><div>.</div><div>.</div><div>.</div><div>.</div><div>.</div><div>.</div><div>.</div><div>.</div><div>.</div><div>.</div><div>.</div><div>The thing that left me disappointed the most was what ended up happening to The Darkling's characterization. Which is interesting to me because of all the reviews I've read of this book, no one mentions feeling the same way about it as I do. But as I said, the Darkling's initial characterization was amazing for me. I love morally grey characters (even better: morally grey villains) that may be evil but do so with good, or at least in their mind, good intentions. And the Darkling has those, it was established and run with for a large portion of the book. Which was great and exciting for me to find a character like that. And I did love him a lot, I anticipated all of his scenes. But I feel like all that character development, all the complexity he had was just forgotten, destroyed in the last few chapters. He became just evil and two dimensional. His motivations were just barely touched on as existing and I just couldn't help but be disappointed in the way he ended up being portrayed. I get he's evil and he can be shown in that light whilst simultaneously not losing what he has been hinting and building on throughout the entire novel - the motivation, whether its good or not. It's fine for him to just be evil but I feel like Bardugo tried to push that so much and to do that she did make him much more of a static character than he was for the rest of the novel. And that, for me, ruined what could've been a much more interesting character, storyline and plot and left me feeling very disappointed at the end. </div><div><br /></div><div>But another thing I <i>did </i>love about the story was the dynamic between her power and her independence. The way her dependence on Mal was the thing that held her back all her life and due to that, she felt lost. This led her to want to please the Darkling and love to be in his favor because she felt wanted and he made her feel like she belonged. But later, he was the one who took away her freedom of her power and took her away from everything she had built herself to be. I think it's incredible that Bardugo managed to build that intricate level of connections and it was honestly such a powerful thing to read about and see unfold. </div>BooksTunehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03190072807277117734noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4356934859723359115.post-81871025232012166202020-07-24T15:02:00.000-04:002020-07-24T15:02:34.520-04:00Review: Off Script by Kate Watson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">Emma gets a Hollywood-tinged, feminist update in this funny and fierce retelling of Austen’s classic about a well-intentioned but tragically misguided matchmaker.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">The summer after her first year of college, teen starlet Emma Crawford returns home to Manhattan to prepare for the role of a lifetime—and play career matchmaker to her friends. When Emma’s search for an assistant leads her to the wide-eyed Brittany Smith, Emma sees the big screen in the girl’s future. And because Emma knows best, she’s sure that steering Brittany onto the right path is all she needs to do to make her a star—even if Brittany doesn’t know it yet.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">Emma’s plans start to unravel, however, when professional soccer player Liam Price re-enters her life. Not only is Liam her former best friend’s older brother, but he’s gorgeous, smart, and has no problem pointing out the (totally exaggerated) flaws in Emma’s plans. But as Emma comes in close contact with the darker side of Hollywood, she starts to question the glamorous world she’s always known and realizes her role in it needs to change—if she can find the courage to go off script.</span></i><br />
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<a name='more'></a>This book was so pleasantly surprising! This is the first book I've read by Kate Watson and it just made me want to go back to her other novels and experience those characters/world that she so perfectly created.<br />
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The writing style was very good. It was easy to picture everything in the setting she wanted to establish - which in this case was Hollywood. Reading her characters, the events, the thought processes through every little action, it was so easy to imagine the same things playing out in real life Hollywood. The writing style just felt very natural.<br />
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The characters were one of my favorite parts. While at first Emma, the main character, felt distant we began growing with her as the story progressed and it felt so right, like that was how Watson had always meant it to feel. Emma was so frustrating at times but again, we learn to sympathize with her. And that just made everything seem to realistic. Especially because each character was slightly unlikeable. They each had bad parts of themselves right along with the good. You could almost understand them but still dislike them anyway. And I think that's how people are in real life to so the fact that Watson was able to embody it so flawlessly in her characters was so great to read. Especially since it's so rare to see in books - especially within even our main characters.<br />
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Every character had such interesting background stories because of this complexity within each one. They weren't stagnant. Even the side characters had such rich stories that made you wish you could follow them and see their development, even if it becomes more of watching them spiral. For example, Harlan was such an interesting character and I found myself wanting to read so much more about him even when I started to really not like him towards the end (which was purposely done by the author) because he was just that dynamic like most of the other characters are.<br />
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The absolute best part of this book however was the complexity and different layers with so much complexity Watson builds onto not only the characters and the plot lines. The book wasn't even that long but it managed to pack in such incredibly elaborate stories in a very natural and concise way so that it didn't feel too complicated to read and it was easily understandable. Because of this, when we got to the climax where everything 'exploded' so to say, it just fit so well and made so much sense that it just added that element of being realistic.<br />
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Along with that, I think Watson very skillfully managed not to spell everything out for the reader but instead made deeper plot lines easy to catch on to by yourself, you got to slowly be shown small hints to deeper issues which you could make conclusions up through your own pace and accord. And I think that just made the experience of reading the book that much more immersive. There were so many important topics discussed such as insecurities, alcoholism, abuse, the effect of familial (specifically parental) relationships with their children.<br />
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She also was very good at spreading out background information very nicely so it didn't feel info dumpy but it didn't feel like everything was too spaced out. I never felt bored and instead loved the perfect amount of detail and subtle hints to bigger plot lines given at just the right time. The backstories were integrated so perfectly to correspond to the present times. It helped highlight thoughts or what was currently going on in Emma's head as well as just filled in the reader into the world of the characters before the start of this book which made everything seem that much more understandable and made the world created feel like it was real almost.<br />
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Overall, I was very invested in the book. There was this overarching feeling of dread; like you know everything is just going to blow up, we're heading to this one event that will send everything crashing down as we know it. But it was the good type of feeling you get in tv shows that center around drama like Gossip Girl and shows of that nature. I was always wanting to read more and stay in that world.<br />
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One very small detail that I loved so much was that there was no senseless girl on girl hatred/fighting. Emma and Brittany didn't hate each other, they understood each other even when coming from different backgrounds and I loved that. Often, books add girl animosity for no reason at all and it really makes me not like the book because I hate seeing two girls at odds with each other just for the pure fact that they're both girls within the same circle and 'jealousy' just <i>must </i>be a factor. But it wasn't here and that was so <i>refreshing </i>and nice to see. Even with Vic where everything between the dynamic with her and Emma was stemmed from more complex and intricate reasons than just 'competition'. Even though Victoria ended up being a character I really <i>didn't </i>like, I didn't like her characterization, her motivations or anything about her really. She was a small downfall of the book for me as I wished she was more likable.<br />
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The romantic chemistry was so good too. It was a slow burn and it drove me wild in the best way possible. Liam Price found a place in my heart and I loved the way he and Emma mirrored each other, the way they brought out such private parts of the other out. It was amazing to experience and I wished we could see just a bit more of them because I loved them just that much. The romance was so subtle and by no means the main plot of the story but <i>because </i>it was so faint, it made me so giddy to see little hints of it through glances or small touches. Plus it wasn't overwhelming as to distract from the other equally as important plots or relationships (friendships and family) explored through the story. In fact, while I loved the romance, I think the best plot we explored was the relationship between Emma, her brother and her father. To see Emma's growth as a person and the way her family, particularly Harlan changed alongside her was so heartbreaking but very important to read.<br />
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Honestly, this book was a strong contender for 5 stars. Unfortunately, it fell a bit short near the end. Not to say it wasn't a good ending and that I didn't love to see the big final breakthrough in Emma's fears right before the epilogue but it definitely could have been much more explosive and thought provoking than it was. The story throughout was predictable (especially if you read the summary in the back), however that isn't always bad if the ending is executed right. But the end felt very rushed. The endings of each character felt like a movie summarization with the freeze frames which didn't leave me quite as satisfied as I wished. Plus, throughout the novel, Watson danced around the central topic and the character that embodied it, I suppose. There were several hints and even more education and experience in that topic that Emma went through first hand. However, near the end she just kind of spelled out what it was and what happened in one paragraph. It really took away from the story and I feel like I would have enjoyed it better for us to have discovered it slowly alongside Emma little by little with maybe even a flashback to help us feel the impact as much as we could instead of Emma telling us exactly what happened with just a few sentences and then moving on.<br />
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The story covered the serious, important and so relevant topic but instead of fully exploring it and having it be as thought provoking as it could be, it felt like we were just leading up to nothing. Like a firework sizzling up in the air with no boom at the end. It could have been a much more powerful book than it was. Which is very disappointing.<br />
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However, though that is an influential reason for my rating, it doesn't completely take away the rest of the book which I very much enjoyed and cared about. I loved the complexity, the multilayers and the realistic nature of the characters and plot.<br />
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<br />BooksTunehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03190072807277117734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4356934859723359115.post-30160491768151038282020-07-01T13:31:00.004-04:002020-07-01T15:14:32.189-04:00Mid-Year Book Freakout Tag<div style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1282" data-original-width="1920" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhejoTXVurTdp1uYSG6rSwXzYXCINwBsGOtss68LtV4kYh2pLhIfdIv4jE04Wq1DshQ_Hq0rg37Bo6R44HuutOtbtcSjSHveZGyWsHEZkoagAZct212l_k1qhvfW3kGHDj9REM7FYTypbAn/w500-h334/5y4ljzRrDFA.jpg" width="500" /></div><div><br /></div><div>Hi guys! I was tagged by Delaney at <a href="https://bookloversliftingandcrushing.blogspot.com/">Book Lovers Lifting and Crushing</a>. Thank you so much for the tag, I'm so excited to get to it. Go check out her blog, she is so kind and I love reading her posts. I've seen, and I'm sure a lot of people have, so many booktubers/book bloggers do this tag and it's so interesting to see the different reading habits and books readers have gone through throughout the year - especially this year since it's been so crazy. </div><div><br /></div><div>So let's get right into it and I hope you enjoy!</div><div><br /></div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><font size="5">How much have you read?</font></div><div><br /></div><div>For summer? Not a lot. But I've been taking a summer course so that's the reason why. However, I have been adamant about reading at least a little so I have gone through about 3-4 books this year and I'm working on a 5th. Which I <i>know </i>is pretty bad but I'm focusing on my academics/career so I'm pretty happy about it. It gets better when I'm on winter break.</div><div><br /></div><div><font size="5">Best Book You've Read so Far in 2020?</font></div><div><br /></div><div>Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater which I technically started in 2019 but finished like the second day of 2020 so I'm counting it! <a href="https://bookstune.blogspot.com/2020/01/review-blue-lily-lily-blue-raven-cycle.html">I have an entire review of my thoughts</a> but it was a 5 star book, I love the characters, I love the world. It's my favorite book series and I get this fuzzy feeling everytime I think of it.</div><div><br /></div><div><font size="5">Best Sequel you've Read so Far in 2020?</font></div><div><br /></div><div>I haven't really read sequels thus far so it'd have to be BL,LB by Maggie Stiefvater again for the same reasons above.</div><div><br /></div><div><font size="5">New Release you haven't Read yet but want to?</font></div><div>The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins! I've heard so many things about this book and I have read and loved The Hunger Games trilogy when I was younger so of course I really want to read this book. I think the premise of having our main character be the villain for the original trilogy is so interesting and I think the book can be really thought provoking. One of my best friend's has already read the book and I'm so jealous!</div><div><br /></div><div><font size="5">Most Anticipated Release for the Second Part of the Year?</font></div><div><br /></div><div>Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyer! I feel like both of these last two books I've chosen are continuation of childhood series and that might not be a coincidence. I loved Twilight, books and movies, which I know can be 'controversial' but they were such a big part of who I was when I was younger. I remember hearing about Midnight Sun years and years ago and I thought that it would be so amazing to read the story in Edward's eyes. So to have it finally come out, I'm bursting with excitement.</div><div><br /></div><div><font size="5">Biggest Disappointment?</font></div><div><br /></div><div>It wasn't a disappointment per se, because I enjoyed the book enough to give it 4 stars. However, when I picked up Hush, Hush I expected myself to completely fall in love with the characters, to rave about it. Partly because I spent so many years wanting to read it. However, it kind of fell flat in that case. It was a good book and I enjoyed the characters. But I never felt a huge connection to it, which was more than a little disappointing.</div><div><br /></div><div><font size="5">Biggest Surprise?</font></div><div><br /></div><div>My current read! Off Script by Kate Watson. It's such a good book with an incredibly interesting array of characters that just have so many levels of complexity. It's <i>so </i>good. Not that I expected it to be bad, but I just didn't think I would like it as much as I do.</div><div><br /></div><div><font size="5">New Favorite Author (Debut or new to you)?</font></div><div><br /></div><div>Kate Watson for the reason said above. This is my first book from her and it makes me want to pick up the other companion novels in the series to read more about these characters.</div><div><br /></div><div><font size="5">Rereads this year?</font></div><div><br /></div><div>I'm actually rereading The Raven Boys in Spanish! But not actively.</div><div><br /></div><div><font size="5">Newest Fictional Crush?</font></div><div><br /></div><div>Liam Price (from Off Script) has my heart. And I should also give a shoutout to Patch.</div><div><br /></div><div><font size="5">Newest Favorite Character?</font></div><div><br /></div><div>That's actually a pretty hard one because, since I've only read a handful of books, I don't think I have a favorite character. My standards have also really elevated due to one Richard Campbell Gansey III so it's hard for just any character I like to qualify now.</div><div><br /></div><div><font size="5">Books that made you Cry?</font></div><div><br /></div><div>The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie really hit deep. It was such an unexpectedly emotional read that left me really thinking about culture and race/class divides. </div><div><br /></div><div><font size="5">Books that made you Happy?</font></div><div><br /></div><div>Beauty Queens by Libba Bray! It was such a funny book that dealt so many important messages and shared a lot of my beliefs so it was so great to see them actually written down in a YA book (which really should happen more often)!</div><div><br /></div><div><font size="5">Favorite Book to Film Adaptation?</font></div><div><br /></div><div>I don't think I've seen a Book to Film adaptation in 2020!</div><div><br /></div><div><font size="5">Most Beautiful Cover you've </font><span style="font-size: x-large;">Bought this year (or Received)?</span></div><div><br /></div><div>I bought the Grisha/Shadow and Bone Trilogy and the covers are just so beautiful. Even the spines.</div><div><br /></div><div><font size="5">What Books do you Need to Read by the End of the Year?</font></div><div><br /></div><div>I hope to read to read Six of Crows and/or finish up The Mortal Instruments series.</div><div><br /></div><div><font size="5">Favorite Book Community Members?</font></div><div><br /></div><div>Everyone that is so kind to me. This is such a welcoming and friendly community and I continuously love being a part of it.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>This was so fun! And pretty motivating for me to make more time to read. If any of you haven't done this yet but want to, consider yourselves tagged!</b></div>BooksTunehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03190072807277117734noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4356934859723359115.post-24311555912512536742020-06-15T15:06:00.003-04:002020-07-11T00:17:17.649-04:00Review: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie<div class="separator">
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMZXiGHNsp8o2yTG_6Hu5Texo9_D085BzgAI5pTOI4Nvdv-OXKVjgpLyO68JbeU5_FkAVMuvOxEepTrm3ZypyyreEgR8wiZ0ltYAGDyg8DhfUBUYqTo8i9uZqILM4FVxf0ZuwGFVgcTOZ8/s600/9780316013697_p0_v1_s1200x630-1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="395" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMZXiGHNsp8o2yTG_6Hu5Texo9_D085BzgAI5pTOI4Nvdv-OXKVjgpLyO68JbeU5_FkAVMuvOxEepTrm3ZypyyreEgR8wiZ0ltYAGDyg8DhfUBUYqTo8i9uZqILM4FVxf0ZuwGFVgcTOZ8/s320/9780316013697_p0_v1_s1200x630-1.jpg" /></a></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;"><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">Bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled s</span></i><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">chool on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.</span></i></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;"><i><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: merriweather, georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which is based on the author's own experiences, coupled with poignant drawings by Ellen Forney that reflect the character's art, chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he was destined to live.</span></i></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;"><i><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: merriweather, georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">With a forward by Markus Zusak, interviews with Sherman Alexie and Ellen Forney, and four-color interior art throughout, this edition is perfect for fans and collectors alike.</span></i></span></i></div>
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This book was a lot different than what I expected but it was just as bit inspirational as I expected it to be. I've said a lot that I tend to need a plot in order for me to like a book. But with this book, while it basically had no plot, I was more than okay with it. In fact, I didn't even notice until the end. </div>
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The book was funny at times and while the humor usually wasn't my cup of tea, I could appreciate how realistic it was coming from a 14-year old boy as the main character. It also was a good break from a book that otherwise would've felt like too heavy, too much.</div>
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The writing style was amazing. It felt like the main character was just talking to you. The characterization itself was also so realistic and incredible to read. The awkwardness, the wanderlust, the dreams (even the unrealistic ones) were just how a 14-year old would feel and think while still remaining relatable even to me as an adult.</div>
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The author's way with words hit so close to home for me and really made you understand or empathize the poverty, micro-aggressions and coming to terms with your ethnicity. It's so hard to explain but I <i>felt</i> it in this book. I understood it and it made me emotional even with just 2 chapters in. As a person of color, I felt seen. And not many books can give me that. So to experience it within this book, even in a more lighthearted fashion, was honestly awe-inspiring. </div>
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In the beginning, I kind of had issues with the format of the book. Because while I understood it was supposed to read like a diary, I wanted it to feel more in depth emotionally - it felt very superficial in that, even though it states the emotions, it feels like it's just that: stating, we can't really feel them. But I think either that gets better or I get used to reading it. Because as the book progressed, the scenes really developed into showing important themes and ideas without just laying it out for the reader. </div>
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This book dealt with very powerful topics in very impactful ways. It talked about the idea of tolerance compared to racism (which I found to be very powerful), community vs the individual, including what it means to be a traitor to your culture, your people and how that can clash at times with your own needs, hopes and dreams. This led into the notion of believing in yourself and meeting or defying expectations that are set upon you. It even touches on privilege and the different types of privilege while identifying the need to recognize your own privilege, even if you don't believe you have any. There was a very powerful scene where he compared his own privilege against his reservation to David and Goliath which was so powerful for me and really made me think a lot of my own life and privileges I may not even acknowledge. </div>
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One of my favorite things it covers what the imperfectness of family love. The family in this book was dysfunctional and may not have been the healthiest environment. But they loved each other and showed it in small yet important ways while simultaneously still doing things that hurt their loved ones. It was a very realistic depiction and one that I don't see done often or done well. </div>
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But my absolute favorite theme of the book, and the one that made me reflect on my own life and experience the most was the feeling of otherness. The main character dealt with feelings of otherness due to race and poverty throughout the entire novel and it was very relatable. It was infuriating to read and see but that was why it was so powerful. I especially liked how even after he made friends and felt more comfortable in his new school and environment, those feelings didn't just go away. He still felt like an outsider even though he definitely was more appreciated and loved by his peers. It's not something that goes away even when you make connections and I think the author did an excellent job at portraying that paradox. </div>
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And boy has this book opened my eyes to the modern day issues within the Native American community. I never thought about any abuse, bullying, or vices that occurred on reservations but the way they're portrayed and explained in the book are really thought provoking and again made me more aware of how much I don't know about the struggles Indigenous communities go through. It wasn't something I expected from this book but it was such a powerful ongoing theme.</div>
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The book also explored loss. It explored the loss experienced in death. Which was so well written and that was not something I expected. It was so sudden, as in, we would be reading about ordinary things and then the author would just casually say in the next sentence that something so horrible and traumatic happened. But that was what made it so well written because that is how death is. Unexpected. And he perfected translating that in a book. It was actually so moving and powerful that I wanted to cry. It was really heavy and I took a break in reading because of it. </div>
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It also explored cultural loss. Which is what I actually picked up the book in order to read in the first place. And boy did it not let me down. In fact, one of the most powerful book quotes I've read comes from this very idea in the book. I annotated it because it was so impactful and that's coming from someone who never annotates anything. </div>
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<span style="color: #f57c00; font-size: medium;"><i>"We Indians have lost everything. We lost our native land, we lost our languages, we lost our songs and dances. We lost each other. We only know how to lose and be lost."</i></span></div>
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So yeah, this book is full of powerful powerful quotes, including themes of wanting to leave a mark on the world, on wanting to be free of the limitations set on you by the outside world. By those in positions of power. This book really makes you think and reflect back on yourself and your life. It's such an important book and I'm really glad I picked it up. It didn't let me down.</div>
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BooksTunehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03190072807277117734noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4356934859723359115.post-50675556229769316732020-06-08T15:04:00.006-04:002020-06-08T15:12:57.351-04:00Mystery Blogger Award<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJN0ml4YA4B83y2Hj4jemebVJBv_KqtFPDjd1LOcsiTYFIKWv5Rpy0rE-SjjzPAt5IBJxwAXZVwxgZJaec_uInFR3YN62gg0qB29cZqku3Yd3mUMaiv6rDN6ETNO6x4ur_w_V3POw13Iz7/s720/photogrid_1476365612975.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJN0ml4YA4B83y2Hj4jemebVJBv_KqtFPDjd1LOcsiTYFIKWv5Rpy0rE-SjjzPAt5IBJxwAXZVwxgZJaec_uInFR3YN62gg0qB29cZqku3Yd3mUMaiv6rDN6ETNO6x4ur_w_V3POw13Iz7/s320/photogrid_1476365612975.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I was just nominated for the Mystery Blogger Award by Brooke and Kevin over at <a href="https://www.quillquotes.com/">Quill Quotes</a>. Thank you so much for nominating me. Go check out their blog! The Mystery Blogger Award is a book tag created by <a href="http://www.okotoenigmasblog.com/">Okoto Enigma</a> to find and promote bloggers who "haven't been discovered yet". This sounds like such a fun way to get to know other bloggers and bloggers you're following so lets get started!</div><div><br /></div><span></span><span></span><span><a name='more'></a></span><div><br /></div><div><font size="4">The Rules</font></div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Put the award logo/image on your blog</li><li>List the rules</li><li>Thank whoever nominated you and provide a link to their blog.</li><li>Mention the creator of the award and provide a link as well</li><li>Tell your readers 3 things about yourself</li><li>You have to nominate 10-20 people</li><li>Notify your nominees by commenting on their blog.</li><li>Answer the questions by the person who nominated you</li><li>Ask your nominees any 5 questions of your choice; with one weird or funny question (specify)</li><li>Share a link to your best post(s)</li></ol><div><font size="4">Three Things About Me</font></div></div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>My biggest weakness is math, like I'm so bad at it it's almost ridiculous. </li><li>I have a little (not so little) beagle who is turning 9 this year and he's my entire heart.</li><li>I speak 3 languages though I'm still trying to get better at French. </li></ol><div><font size="4">Questions for Me</font></div></div><div><font size="4"><br /></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"> 1. What is your favorite book quote?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="courier">"First the colors. Then the humans." - Markus Zusak, The Book Thief</font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I don't even know if it's my favorite quote of all time but this quote just jumps out at me. I remember the first time I picked up The Book Thief at a bookstore and read those lines, I literally felt air leave my lungs just because of how captivating and powerful it was just with a few words.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> 2. Is there a movie or series that you think is better than the book</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I absolutely loved Little Women (2019)! The book was good as well but I felt like it was pretty boring at times and hard to get into. However, the movie just brought you in so quickly and really brought the characters to life, had you rooting for them, grieving with them, dreaming with them. The character development shown was amazing. It also might've helped that it had such great actors.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /> 3. Besides books what do you keep on your bookshelves?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">If I buy a trinket that is specific to a book/series, I put them in front of those books. For example, I have a mockingjay pin and two Gallagher Academy pins. I have some handmade items from Latin America including a Russian Nesting Doll and some handpainted wooden fish.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And of course I have a Funko Pop of the one and only Fred Weasley.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /> 4. Do you prefer reading paperbacks, hardcovers, e-books? Reading or audiobooks?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I prefer reading hardcovers just because I don't have to worry much about them getting bent but floppy paperbacks are also a huge win. I prefer reading physical books over audiobooks.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /> 5. What book got you into reading?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Cross my Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter (since I read this third book first, by accident). The series still has a huge place in my heart and if it weren't for those books, I definitely wouldn't be as big of a reader as I am now.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font size="4">My Favorite Posts</font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://bookstune.blogspot.com/2019/06/book-haul-20-books.html">My First Book Haul</a> was such a great post because it was the biggest haul I'd ever bought and it was such a fun experience to go the book sale I went to.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://bookstune.blogspot.com/2019/07/the-raven-boys-by-maggie-stiefvater.html">My The Raven Boys Review</a> was such a long review but it was so great to make and really let out my love and experience with the book which I think really embodies why I became a book blogger in the first place, to have an outlet for all my thoughts.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://bookstune.blogspot.com/2019/11/5-popular-ways-to-organize-your.html">My Bookshelf Organization</a> post which is my most popular post. I loved the research I did for it and seeing how unique bookshelf organization is for each reader.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font size="4">My Questions for You</font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>What book genres do you dislike?</li><li>Have you ever read a self-published book? If not, would you ever want to?</li><li>What was your favorite required reading book in school?</li><li>Do you annotate your books?</li><li>Do you buy more of your books online or from a bookstore?</li></ol><div><font size="4">I tag:</font></div><div><br /></div><div>Jess @ <a href="comfortreadsbookblog.wordpress.com">Comfort Reads</a></div><div>Alette @ <a href="comfortreadsbookblog.wordpress.com">Bookish Munchkins</a></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: "noto serif", serif; font-size: 16px;">Izzati</span> @ <a href="https://bookscoopular.home.blog/">Bookscoopular</a></div><div>Kirsty @ <a href="https://ramblingsofthebookaddict.blogspot.com/">Ramblings of the Book Addict</a></div><div>Evelina @ <a href="https://avalinahsbooks.space/">Avalinah's Books </a></div><div>Rebecca @ <a href="https://beccathewordsmith.blog/">Becca The Wordsmith</a></div><div>Samantha @ <a href="https://fourmoonreviews.blogspot.com/">Four Moon Reviews</a></div><div>Delaney @ <a href="https://bookloversliftingandcrushing.blogspot.com/">Book Lovers Lifting and Crushing</a></div><div>Gemma @ <a href="https://gemmasbooknook.blogspot.com/">Gemma's Book Nook</a></div><div>Marcela @ <a href="http://issisotelo.blogspot.com/">Issi Sotelo</a></div></div>BooksTunehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03190072807277117734noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4356934859723359115.post-34155090052169133052020-05-26T15:12:00.000-04:002020-05-26T15:12:04.121-04:00Review: Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i><span id="freeText13799111005017404905" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">When Nora and Patch are forced together as lab partners, Nora would rather fall to her death than put up with his elusive answers to her questions, his teasing, and his infuriatingly handsome face and hypnotizing eyes. It seems Patch was put on earth just to drive her crazy.<br /><br />But before long, Nora's defenses start to break down as her curiosity about Patch heats up. Why does he always seem to be wherever she is and know exactly what she's thinking? How does he know what to say to both attract and repulse her? And what is up with those V-shaped scars on his chiseled back?<br /><br />As their connection grows stronger, Nora's own life becomes increasingly fragile. Nora needs to decide: Is Patch the one who wants to do her harm or the one who will keep her safe? Has she fallen for one of the fallen?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span></i><br />
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Hush, Hush has become a classic YA, some may even say classic trashy YA. So to say I felt like I needed to read it would be an understatement. Even though it is so well known, I actually wasn't sure what to expect and what I ended up getting from the story was much different from what I thought it would be.<br />
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The writing style flowed so easily that it sucked you right into the story immediately. It was super easy to read and get into. There were times, however, where the changes in scene were very abrupt which really took you out of the story just because of how choppy it felt. I think smoother transitions is definitely something that was missing from this book as it happened enough times that it started to bother me.<br />
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The way feelings were described made them feel almost tangible. It was just so satisfying to read and I think very few authors I have read have written that beautifully while staying simple. The mood was set perfectly as well that it was almost palpable - I <i>felt</i> the world be dreary, foggy and just at the brink of danger just the way it was meant to be conveyed. I could see the scenes so vividly - particularly the more suspenseful scenes - that I could see the visuals as a movie playing out before me.<br />
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Hush, Hush focuses heavily on the romance and the connection between the main characters Patch and Nora. I really liked Nora! She was a great, strong, main character. I didn't find her annoying at all which is so rare. It's so easy for a main character to get annoying to read about but I found Nora to be really entertaining and reasonable. Her best friend Vee....not so much. I didn't like her at all and I really hate reading the trope of having an annoying best friend that the main character allows to get away with anything, including being an awful friend. So it was kind of annoying having to go through that throughout the book.<br />
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As for Patch: I liked him so much! Let's just say I swooned...a lot. He was so mysterious which made him really alluring. His dialogue was the highlight of the book. I'll say I had a lot of mixed emotions about him in some scenes but there was something about him that was just so captivating and made me want to keep reading about him and know so much about him. We never really got to know his emotions very well but the hints of it through his talk and actions were more than enough. He is the perfect embodiment of what I think a YA love interest is. Maybe he would've been <i>perfect </i>if there was slightly more shown of him than just being flirty and mysterious - more sensitive, perhaps - but he was great as he was either way.<br />
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The chemistry between the characters was sizzling and really made this book good. The description during their interactions was amazing to read. The dialogue, the tug-and-pull was so heated and made me feel invested in the book and in our characters. I particularly liked that though their attraction was undeniable, it wasn't something that happened right away. And while there was hesitation, there wasn't so much hesitation that came off as hatred which happens in a lot of stories and really does a disservice to the romance and rooting for our couple.<br />
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The mystery of this novel was surprisingly very good. Usually, I'm pretty good at predicting the plot twists and that really destroys the notion of 'mystery' for the novel. However, for this book, the mystery was actually really interesting and I couldn't predict anything. The revelations and plot twists were so explosive and shocking because of that. I enjoyed that aspect of the book perhaps as much as I enjoyed the romance (which never happens).<br />
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However, one of the biggest issues came with the amount of mystery in this book. Nearly everything was a secret, which wouldn't be an issue, if not for the fact that since there were so many things to be uncovered, the gap between those secrets and uncovering some answers was very big. The mystery felt too spaced out (to the point where more than halfway through the book, nothing had been revealed at all). This caused a lot of the scenes in between this time frame to feel boring.<br />
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When everything was revealed, it felt too info dumpy because instead of revealing the secrets at a good pace which would keep interest high while simultaneously increasing anticipation for more answers, we got everything at once and it was almost too much. I also found that a lot of smaller comments in the book which hinted at secrets were never mentioned again even though they were clearly meant to foreshadow something. Along with that, one of the big plot lines uncovered at the end, I found to be very unnecessary and wasted a lot of time since the resolution happened quickly and off page.<br />
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Overall, I really liked the book! I didn't absolutely rave about it or feel an intense connection with the story or characters but I enjoyed myself reading it. It had so many good points, even through the bad ones, that I had no issues reading more than 100 pages a day without even feeling it. So 4 stars is a very obvious choice for this book's rating for me.<br />
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<br />BooksTunehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03190072807277117734noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4356934859723359115.post-51307294359181617572020-05-14T15:03:00.000-04:002020-05-14T15:03:22.479-04:00Review: Beauty Queens by Libba Bray<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">The 50 contestants in the Miss Teen Dream pageant thought this was going to be a fun trip to the beach, where they could parade in their state-appropriate costumes and compete in front of the cameras.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">But sadly, their airplane had another idea, crashing on a desert island and leaving the survivors stranded with little food, little water, and practically no eyeliner.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">What’s a beauty queen to do? Continue to practice for the talent portion of the program - or wrestle snakes to the ground? Get a perfect tan - or learn to run wild? And what should happen when the sexy pirates show up?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">Welcome to the heart of non-exfoliated darkness.</span></i><br />
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<a name='more'></a><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">One of the most important things to know about me is that I'm not a fan of satire. When movies or shows are satirical, it's almost an immediate turn off and they end up being some of my most disliked series. So it's safe to say, not only did I not know this book was filled to the brim with satire but I wouldn't even have picked it up if I did. Which would've been quite disappointing considering this is one of the few books I had been dying to read for <i>years. </i>Imagine my nervousness once I realized what exactly I had just picked up.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">This book has managed to change my mind about satire as a genre, at least for books. I really enjoyed seeing the ridiculousness of the characters and situations because they called out and paralleled with our society. It was so refreshing to see things that are important but often considered too 'taboo' to talk about, particularly in YA books, finally being written out and expressed. This book covered topics such as feminism, sexuality, racism, identity, capitalism to name a few. They were covered in such a way that the impact of them were felt while also keeping them lighthearted enough to stay on task and on brand with the book. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Feminism</span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> was one of the big themes centered. The great thing about it that I think separates this book from a lot of other feminist novels is that it really focuses on the fact that you can be completely girly, maybe even shallow, without doing a disservice to feminism or your gender. The girls were so badass and prepared but they were also ditzy and materialistic and that is not a paradox, you can be both. Which I think is not nearly touched on enough so it was so great to see Libba Bray take this stance and push it throughout the novel.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">There were a lot of characters in this book. Multiple beauty queens and not to mention the other characters that are brought about as the book carried on. However, something that is rarely seen in other books, this large amount of characters was not confusing at all. Each character was unique: they each spoke differently (accents were very noticeable even in writing in this book) and had different personalities which helped individualize every character. Each character was given their time to shine. Even characters outside of the girls, which I personally really liked because it was like seeing one situation in multiple different angles.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">One of the few annoying parts I felt with this book was one of our main characters, Adina. I've found that while Bray's books are overall celebrates the different ways girls can be feminists, she has the habit of writing her main characters as a 'not-like-other-girls' girl. I have found that I hate reading those types of characters. There's always character development but it's just not enough. It's annoying the judgement Adina passed throughout nearly the whole novel and even more annoying that none of the other girls were able to explain to her the errors of her judgement. It's not one of the issues that is corrected within the novel which I think is a drawback to the point she was trying to make for the entire story.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">The writing style was great! I laughed out loud and my jaw dropped in so many scenes because it was just that entertaining! It started off pretty slow in the beginning so I had to force myself to pick it up but it got captivating as you kept reading towards the middle. However, at the end, the big climax scene, it didn't hold my attention that much to the point where I couldn't stop reading it which I felt was kind of a let down because you want to be feeling that way in the climax. I also felt like sometimes the sentences were a little choppy. Another thing that I kind of didn't like much was that there was a scene where Bray made it kind of a bedtime story within the book and while she found a way to integrate it to make sense, it still felt really out of place with how the rest of the story was written.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">The story itself was very immersive with things like commercials and footnotes throughout the whole story. It read it like a movie where you can imagine where the fade outs/scene changes would be. That, along with so many connections to real life made the story as a whole very captivating. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Everyone in this story has secrets, which is something that makes the story so interesting. What's even better is that they're all revealed at a perfect pace so it doesn't feel too info dumpy with them all revealed at once. There's so many interesting plot twists. It's predictable to an extent but the story as a whole isn't. There a big plot twists that are so unpredictable and really made me gasp out loud. But I will admit there are smaller twists that you can definitely see coming. The ones that aren't though, I loved how deep they were. Bray managed to create a plot while simultaneously writing about important topics that need to be addressed like capitalism and conservation because sadly are rarely ever talked about in books.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">I really struggled with the rating for this book between a 4 or 3.5 because while I loved the majority of the book, there was still a big disconnect I felt from </span><i style="font-size: 14px;">loving </i><span style="font-size: 14px;">this book and its characters which would merit it a 4 star book. However, just the way this book handled subjects I don't see very often in books and the way I could see things that, politically, are very important to me being highlighted in such an intricate and fun way elevated it to that 4 stars it would, otherwise, not have.</span></span></span><br />
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BooksTunehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03190072807277117734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4356934859723359115.post-49192625921612148552020-05-04T15:22:00.000-04:002020-05-04T15:42:20.822-04:00Discussion: Book Cover Changes<div style="text-align: center;">
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Book cover changes are so controversial. Most of the time, people hate them. It messes up the aesthetic of your collection when not all of the cover matches, and often, it's a downgrade from what the original covers looked like. They can be frustrating and annoying (especially if they happen in the middle of a series).<br />
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<a name='more'></a>First, let's talk about why cover changes happen. These can happen for a variety of reasons:<br />
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Book cover changes often help <b><span style="font-size: large;">sell more copies</span></b> of the book! It brings interest back to the book, especially if it's a book that's been out for a while.<br />
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Not only does it <b><span style="font-size: large;">generate buzz</span></b> for people already fans of the book but it helps that renewed interest spread to more, new people. It draws back hardcore fans of the book to get this new edition while bringing in <b><span style="font-size: large;">new readers</span></b> who likely didn't have that book on their radar, forgot about it or are in a better position to buy it.<br />
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It also helps to <b><span style="font-size: large;">rebrand the book</span></b>! This rebranding helps attract new audiences by making the cover more attractive, especially to different/new types of readers. This is true with the kind of rebranding that makes the new cover <b><span style="font-size: large;">more accurate</span></b> for the book it's representing. This means making an Adult book have a cover that differentiates this genre from a YA book, for example. Or, more specifically, having a Fantasy have a cover that is distinguishable to that genre.<br />
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Examples of these include the new covers for the A Court of Thorns and Roses which aimed to really establish it as an adult book instead of the original covers which leaned more towards the YA side of book covers. The Winner's Trilogy also went from a very contemporary-esque cover with ball gowns towards a more fantasy cover including more weapons and a more badass-posing character.<br />
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Some of thee book cover changes are more successful than others. While a lot can look much better and more appropriate for their book, some can seem more like a downgrade and really deter attention and readers.<br />
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Some of my favorite cover changes:<br />
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Some of my least favorite:</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><b><b>What do you guys think of cover changes? What are your favorites/least favorites?</b></b></span></div>
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Without even realizing it, books have been such a formative force in my life. Since I learned how to read, they not only helped me grow academically but also personally. I thought it would be nice to go through each book that made an impact enough on me and my life as a reader throughout my childhood. I think a lot of the books that have impacted me are universal for a lot of young readers and I'd love to have that bond with so many of you!<br />
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If it weren't for these books, I don't think I would be a reader. They weren't life changingly good but they were enough for me to see the allure of books. They felt like tv shows to young me who picked these up at the library but only even more personal because it felt like I was friends with the character, with them in their every day life. I remember, especially, the Rainbow Magic books, I had a goal of reading every single one of the books from the series (but I never quite made it).<br />
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<b>I felt myself step into new shoes and new friendships with these characters and stories that were so entertaining, especially to me as an only child.</b><br />
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<a href="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d1/2a/5b/d12a5be1d1d58d9e2083f61501a32bed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="392" data-original-width="250" height="200" src="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d1/2a/5b/d12a5be1d1d58d9e2083f61501a32bed.jpg" width="127" /></a><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51u-72EK34L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="399" height="200" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51u-72EK34L.jpg" width="159" /></a><a href="https://www.scholastic.com/content5/media/products/40/9780439888240_mres.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="549" height="200" src="https://www.scholastic.com/content5/media/products/40/9780439888240_mres.jpg" width="136" /></a></div>
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These books I read in later elementary school and for the first time, I felt myself be mesmerized by the story. These books had a level of plot twist and mystery to them that gripped me in a way I never thought anything other than TV could. Particularly The Witches which I re-read multiple times and watched the movie, giving me an even higher level of appreciation for how much a story can hold, and Who Stole Halloween that sucked me in so much that I still remember how much I loved it even though I read it in Elementary School<br />
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<b>It opened up my curiosity into reading in a deeper way than books ever had before, actually enjoying the story and appreciating the plot. </b><br />
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These books showed me that books could be meaningful. I read all 3 of these for class. They covered grief, racism, environmentalism. I cried with these books, I emphasized with these books. I own The Watsons Go to Birmingham because it impacted me so much. I've reread it multiple times and remember it even more times. Every time I think of Esperanza Rising, I go back to the time I first read it and how I felt at that time.<br />
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<b>These books showed me the impact a book can have on a reader and how much meaning it could hold, outside of just being fun stories. </b><br />
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<a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/511BdJ3MhsL._SX320_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="322" height="200" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/511BdJ3MhsL._SX320_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" width="128" /></a><a href="https://www.scholastic.com/content5/media/products/03/9780439670203_mres.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="551" height="200" src="https://www.scholastic.com/content5/media/products/03/9780439670203_mres.jpg" width="137" /></a><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51CAXJFTH3L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="319" height="200" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51CAXJFTH3L.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
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These books were my introduction to solo reading and reading at a higher level. They were my first time getting transported to a new world full of wonders and characters that I could see myself with on their journey. Replica, particularly, impacted my reading so much that I could still tell you what the plot was. Children of the Lamp was a book I remember reading and re-reading constantly because it was so new and addicting.<br />
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<b>I really got a taste of fiction, fictional worlds and bonding with the plot with these books and I attribute my current love of fiction and trope preferences to these books. </b><br />
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<b><i>What books do you attribute with shaping you as a reader? Have you read any books I have?</i></b></div>
<br />BooksTunehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03190072807277117734noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4356934859723359115.post-79892214132029202922020-03-09T15:04:00.001-04:002020-03-09T15:08:05.891-04:00Book Unhaul<div>
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I'm on Spring Break so I thought it was the perfect time for some spring cleaning. This means a book unhaul! My <i>first </i>book unhaul. I'm usually one of those people that keeps any and every book I've ever owned but recently, I've found that I need so much more space on my already tiny bookshelves and I was already taking books out I didn't like or am not interested in reading and putting them in a different storage. But after enough books taken out, I thought it was finally time to part with them. Plus, if I can sell them on ebay and get a little extra money from them, that's just a win-win situation right? So here's my unhaul:<br />
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Now this is my pile! Most of these books are just books I don't think I'll ever pick up but there are a few that I have read and mostly liked. This might be a long post because I'm going to go through my thoughts on each book and why I've ultimately decided to part with them.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinUUqPPjlhW-abdbYOEphmpI4wHea-Kqy7NI5cTsw_sDZBGCKWKlYavb6mzSHg4477kMFl3BwQIT2Bip30C-yXDBw2w6kL0qKqb8X8gfFH4-4bZvH-RjyiLLcWxNHRwJ8tn8lmvF_FQ_G2/s1600/fullsizeoutput_338c.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1093" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinUUqPPjlhW-abdbYOEphmpI4wHea-Kqy7NI5cTsw_sDZBGCKWKlYavb6mzSHg4477kMFl3BwQIT2Bip30C-yXDBw2w6kL0qKqb8X8gfFH4-4bZvH-RjyiLLcWxNHRwJ8tn8lmvF_FQ_G2/s200/fullsizeoutput_338c.jpeg" width="136" /></a>The first book is The Bone Palace by Amanda Downum. I was gifted with book years ago by a friend who knows how much I love reading. Unfortunately, not only is it the second book in a series I've never read but it's in a genre I don't normally read or even really like. So I don't plan on even attempting to read the book or series. I'm grateful for the present but it's time to let it go.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB1UBsPt3nfnr9AkKBbErr51EHt_CVL3Njb4eYZsesB6OjG6tsQVJSAlY7Tdm3nX-0bebyB9jpXpzaUcifjbzwFvittG3mijQ7nuq2A_2xx1qqxO4U30cD2anw8f3I_AtwYZdp14C4u7yW/s1600/fullsizeoutput_338d.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB1UBsPt3nfnr9AkKBbErr51EHt_CVL3Njb4eYZsesB6OjG6tsQVJSAlY7Tdm3nX-0bebyB9jpXpzaUcifjbzwFvittG3mijQ7nuq2A_2xx1qqxO4U30cD2anw8f3I_AtwYZdp14C4u7yW/s200/fullsizeoutput_338d.jpeg" width="133" /></a>The next book is Dear John by Nicholas Sparks. I don't even know how this ended up in my possession since I never read adult romance books. While I like Sparks' movie adaptations, I can not see myself reading a book version of those plot lines. I definitely think someone will want to own this book more than I do.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxSpUBD3Y_1srMyQqMJkTV0J7h81ONVm6-UEFUq4Py4w6e8IUuXTV7XZnxMPj0iLW-lDpsatkZic_LnsI0xAWHuYJi8SZKSv_jAwLlPPelSGu6Q3cvqx3Pe3CHbTI-lvgAPIBGRaRpyPhV/s1600/fullsizeoutput_338e.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1054" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxSpUBD3Y_1srMyQqMJkTV0J7h81ONVm6-UEFUq4Py4w6e8IUuXTV7XZnxMPj0iLW-lDpsatkZic_LnsI0xAWHuYJi8SZKSv_jAwLlPPelSGu6Q3cvqx3Pe3CHbTI-lvgAPIBGRaRpyPhV/s200/fullsizeoutput_338e.jpeg" width="131" /></a>Now I'm getting rid of A Game of the Thrones by George R. R. Martin. Now this is a book I actually have read, or at least attempted to (200 pages is still pretty good right?). But as I kept reading, I realized the story line is just a bit too complex for me: too many characters, too my plot lines, too much history. I just wasn't all that interested in continuing, evidenced by the fact that I never watched the show either. I really liked two characters but that is just not enough to continue the book or the series. I know how popular this series is so I know it'll find a better home.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqhaWUG1dd7dTphVCcJLZfuTH3WRq68QDAUDZFQiMSsxjHL_DE84eAi708J22g4HSjF_p_PZDRbyUyeaRo9ws5mTUNJ4kJ94dBStmgffRxujBJcLveciRocsnGJwvnIlU4gDV97KjRTyA8/s1600/fullsizeoutput_338f.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1262" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqhaWUG1dd7dTphVCcJLZfuTH3WRq68QDAUDZFQiMSsxjHL_DE84eAi708J22g4HSjF_p_PZDRbyUyeaRo9ws5mTUNJ4kJ94dBStmgffRxujBJcLveciRocsnGJwvnIlU4gDV97KjRTyA8/s200/fullsizeoutput_338f.jpeg" width="157" /></a>Talent by Zoey Dean is one of the few books I actually didn't like. I read it a few years ago so I don't quite remember what I didn't like but I know it was memorable enough for me to remember I definitely didn't like it. So why hold on to something I didn't enjoy so much that it's the only thing I think of when I look at it on my shelves.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhREJXP1oV9nHb4Aq9jx6qcFEZRf5y2K1-WqKdCj91J-bD_uNrZrw-5a7ddoyp3OQGcHTiRpUN6EV4fF6TclJG4AzJP0mypxFyxaYo9u_jkm-bnbP9cIXtBiXZFsZ-duGHBdT_QS0OLpMap/s1600/fullsizeoutput_339a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1129" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhREJXP1oV9nHb4Aq9jx6qcFEZRf5y2K1-WqKdCj91J-bD_uNrZrw-5a7ddoyp3OQGcHTiRpUN6EV4fF6TclJG4AzJP0mypxFyxaYo9u_jkm-bnbP9cIXtBiXZFsZ-duGHBdT_QS0OLpMap/s200/fullsizeoutput_339a.jpeg" width="140" /></a>I bought Miles to Go by Miley Cyrus back when I was a huge Miley Cyrus fan. Buut things got in the way and I never actually got to reading it and now I'm not a fan anymore so what's the use in keeping it. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAa7TWwtU70-JvzFr2hqZuAfjjsryHs9qLF1YGutcF1FU2Ny938dt_NHVlACvoyOMxzPst7PhDNhZOxIsCz2WsOeCv-9GtsKtjnheZ9HERA8xPXBYPDqCzUKTOHM36LGblrXg-NQDz1pMC/s1600/fullsizeoutput_339c.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1115" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAa7TWwtU70-JvzFr2hqZuAfjjsryHs9qLF1YGutcF1FU2Ny938dt_NHVlACvoyOMxzPst7PhDNhZOxIsCz2WsOeCv-9GtsKtjnheZ9HERA8xPXBYPDqCzUKTOHM36LGblrXg-NQDz1pMC/s200/fullsizeoutput_339c.jpeg" width="138" /></a>Singer in the Snow by Louise Marley is another book I have no idea how or why I got it. I tried picking it up a few times but the writing style was not my favorite and the mood of the book was just not letting me really enjoy the book. I wasn't enjoying the plot or even the story building either. I ended up just having it separated from all of my books because I didn't like it so much so I think it's time to let it go. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3LDR5Rnrsgxq7VrB_9vAhOq_WXsdS-Be3t02JivUUE3DUGdbEUI077XsamWX8TrDJO1YiouojQaRlJ6BVYlelqonKpwiUrCt7khrdLeEC4mB3mLgyb9riEY2bOmk2zhYG9QaeFH-P2ftJ/s1600/fullsizeoutput_339d.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1210" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3LDR5Rnrsgxq7VrB_9vAhOq_WXsdS-Be3t02JivUUE3DUGdbEUI077XsamWX8TrDJO1YiouojQaRlJ6BVYlelqonKpwiUrCt7khrdLeEC4mB3mLgyb9riEY2bOmk2zhYG9QaeFH-P2ftJ/s200/fullsizeoutput_339d.jpeg" width="150" /></a>The Real Enemy by Kathy Herman is a christian fiction novel that I <i>vaguely </i>remember buying. But it's not in a genre I've ever read or am interested in reading so I never actually picked it up and I don't ever plan to.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiET2ZooPtpkaT1w4Fwa7w-QvS5iqwM8vgfwiAh4QZybJCuTcuTCwm6BtQxDUkmuV4P5jDqoIosX4CZ_vwUQ2cka32CqUu1v0j0jQTmou6Bv8uUK1F2EdtKO38D0TAuNq0Y2rwAc7XnDsyv/s1600/fullsizeoutput_339f.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiET2ZooPtpkaT1w4Fwa7w-QvS5iqwM8vgfwiAh4QZybJCuTcuTCwm6BtQxDUkmuV4P5jDqoIosX4CZ_vwUQ2cka32CqUu1v0j0jQTmou6Bv8uUK1F2EdtKO38D0TAuNq0Y2rwAc7XnDsyv/s200/fullsizeoutput_339f.jpeg" width="164" /></a>Next I'm unhauling Rin, Tongue and Dorner by Rich Shapiro. I got this book randomly on the street and honestly? I regret picking it up so much. I tried to read at least the first chapter and I hated the writing style. So I closed the book and hid it from my sight. Getting it out of my house will feel pretty good.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGSKoUEFNvntUqWDtuDvISTKQRptIVnoVyEULmeAo1p0dyam7uiaXTyDjqI5z15AW7wcyJGhmJIpFe_yvdScvL_y2cCRMNRWDf0U1NlukQ8y0baVsRxaM_pE7d9Ok3one7GREygAmTnuDF/s1600/fullsizeoutput_3393.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1183" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGSKoUEFNvntUqWDtuDvISTKQRptIVnoVyEULmeAo1p0dyam7uiaXTyDjqI5z15AW7wcyJGhmJIpFe_yvdScvL_y2cCRMNRWDf0U1NlukQ8y0baVsRxaM_pE7d9Ok3one7GREygAmTnuDF/s200/fullsizeoutput_3393.jpeg" width="147" /></a>Unhauling Harry Potter? *gasp*. Except I'm not, technically. I found a beautiful hardcover version of this same cover for really cheap and I just prefer to keep a hardcover copy of this amazing series. So I am keeping the book, just not this particular copy.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCTchmEhZCS9-guMBzL1ZR4insFhxLqdQDjZZqrWezCT_1KM1tc14Lq9_utEu_G9rfruS_MKAkeSpZPuGhQEgKBXgbvz_6BGLXRvjvoD7yXwzNSIhEbsa9tAZvbKsd7V4Jc_jGRqIh1FfE/s1600/fullsizeoutput_3394.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1154" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCTchmEhZCS9-guMBzL1ZR4insFhxLqdQDjZZqrWezCT_1KM1tc14Lq9_utEu_G9rfruS_MKAkeSpZPuGhQEgKBXgbvz_6BGLXRvjvoD7yXwzNSIhEbsa9tAZvbKsd7V4Jc_jGRqIh1FfE/s200/fullsizeoutput_3394.jpeg" width="143" /></a>I LOVED W.I.T.C.H. as a kid (and still do) but I really only like the cartoon and graphic novels. When I bought this book I really thought it was a part of the graphic novel series. Boy was I wrong. I read it anyway and I think I enjoyed it but it's just not something I want to keep. I'd rather continue reading the graphic novels instead.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD5JaIFhqWhXm8woRozkMJ64H6IsBQWPV706mIYI7mioUeYFzSjruR8DtHAIMqFocIHcjos6RC_0CweVAoAkviI0Jqv_o2w08a_qWkaVXw9tA6nFVheEJAM2ujkbYU4rTDno5W4tCqoKPH/s1600/fullsizeoutput_3396.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1119" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD5JaIFhqWhXm8woRozkMJ64H6IsBQWPV706mIYI7mioUeYFzSjruR8DtHAIMqFocIHcjos6RC_0CweVAoAkviI0Jqv_o2w08a_qWkaVXw9tA6nFVheEJAM2ujkbYU4rTDno5W4tCqoKPH/s200/fullsizeoutput_3396.jpeg" width="138" /></a>Next I have Notorious by Cecily von Ziegesar. Once again, it's not the first book in the series which is the first issue. But it's really a non-issue because I read it anyway and I don't think it took too much away from the story. However, as I've grown as a person and a reader, I don't think I'd enjoy continuing on with this series especially since it's just so long.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP9ed2vfmIJCrOttWHH_sAxsGz7BFN5LC2FWwEGR_wj330oWu0M0FUbm_srMmIFSoC08YuT33GdlTo_yV-ABpUxVsOJ86ba8pNEdQRJj4tYl1eQSC4ndP7RE3D8cobV4Q50I1n4zm_85nQ/s1600/fullsizeoutput_3398.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1084" data-original-width="1600" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP9ed2vfmIJCrOttWHH_sAxsGz7BFN5LC2FWwEGR_wj330oWu0M0FUbm_srMmIFSoC08YuT33GdlTo_yV-ABpUxVsOJ86ba8pNEdQRJj4tYl1eQSC4ndP7RE3D8cobV4Q50I1n4zm_85nQ/s200/fullsizeoutput_3398.jpeg" width="200" /></a>Next I have the first and ninth book in the Princess Diaries series by Meg Cabot. I love Meg Cabot and own quite a few of her books so parting with a few from my Cabot collection has been a really hard decision. I liked the first book fair enough but with the series being so long and, just like with Notorious, since my reading tastes have changed dramatically, I think it's just better to part with this series I don't want to continue.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPO2vz71IArhUCsn30adqDlINnQlf9_JLLDtfipob9-lFSG1vsH-3WtGJ6IS9Hl_euQVh9-R4ibWDxKLZcLcGTnzX6JOHZIv2QOj46N4tdwNc9XLJFPdAAAhi2cNYru_rQojNfEiVDQqe4/s1600/fullsizeoutput_3399.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1176" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPO2vz71IArhUCsn30adqDlINnQlf9_JLLDtfipob9-lFSG1vsH-3WtGJ6IS9Hl_euQVh9-R4ibWDxKLZcLcGTnzX6JOHZIv2QOj46N4tdwNc9XLJFPdAAAhi2cNYru_rQojNfEiVDQqe4/s200/fullsizeoutput_3399.jpeg" width="146" /></a>I'm also unhauling The Devouring by Simon Holt. I <a href="https://bookstune.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-devouring-by-simon-holt.html">reviewed</a> this last year and while I did enjoy the book - I thought the world building was so interestingly done and the plot was really unique - I just don't like anything that has to do with horror and honestly, I'll feel pretty relieved to get this out of my house. But since I know it's a good book, I'll also be pretty happy to know someone else can have the opportunity to enjoy this book more than I did. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGQvsrJgV-Xi_Dcfb0-ZOjNPiV6K5exB0hOBCR8-FKPjTk8JuHgOrmJIQ76vv8CoHWjrUX2tat1h796ybprfEG3wFeJHvSjeRDuh1_QFn3eVysaPMjH5UyIzGle68w-v_rvyCltUGafycb/s1600/fullsizeoutput_33a3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1247" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGQvsrJgV-Xi_Dcfb0-ZOjNPiV6K5exB0hOBCR8-FKPjTk8JuHgOrmJIQ76vv8CoHWjrUX2tat1h796ybprfEG3wFeJHvSjeRDuh1_QFn3eVysaPMjH5UyIzGle68w-v_rvyCltUGafycb/s200/fullsizeoutput_33a3.jpeg" width="155" /></a>Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen is the next book I'm unhauling. I bought this edition when I was younger and unfortunately, I was too young to fully enjoy or understand the novel. Once I read Pride and Prejudice, however, and <i>loved </i>it, I decided to try it again. Not only did I still not like it, I realized it was the plot that wasn't interesting to me - no matter how much I loved Austen's other book. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_4VNaq_C8lwsVjuQQjUwdC-RUMDI6XUzVaH_X0tH1YQ2sLdEVJJ3uyP3z_0JAmMO-VqZMl2DbtVqq7v8hDefZiZiBFWmP71rMvzKb1Kn_QmiSxvaZMVUFQQ-muhtUEc2-aH_kiiMfJeAI/s1600/fullsizeoutput_33a2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1224" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_4VNaq_C8lwsVjuQQjUwdC-RUMDI6XUzVaH_X0tH1YQ2sLdEVJJ3uyP3z_0JAmMO-VqZMl2DbtVqq7v8hDefZiZiBFWmP71rMvzKb1Kn_QmiSxvaZMVUFQQ-muhtUEc2-aH_kiiMfJeAI/s200/fullsizeoutput_33a2.jpeg" width="152" /></a>Last but not least, I'm unhauling Frankly in Love by David Yoon. Now this might come as a surprise since this is a newer release and I haven't even read it yet. But the craziest thing happened when I got this novel from my subscription box: I got TWO (2) copies. I'm keeping one, obviously, as I'm very excited to get to this book. But I definitely don't need two. So no, this unhaul has nothing to do with a very unpopular opinion about this book. It's just being practical.</div>
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<b>Usually in my posts, I try not to talk bad about books even if I didn't like them but I felt like for some here, I had to, in order to explain why I'm getting rid of them. But it still definitely felt weird.</b></div>
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<b>What did you guys think of my unhaul? How often do you unhaul <i>your</i> books?</b></div>
BooksTunehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03190072807277117734noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4356934859723359115.post-2248673267971778482020-02-24T15:33:00.000-05:002020-02-24T15:33:53.854-05:0020 Questions Book Tag<style type="text/css">
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Hi everyone! I'm so excited to get this post up. It's been a month since my last post and I'm so upset about it but school really has been taking up all of my time. However, I've constantly been thinking of posting, reading and I've even bought a few new reads. I thought, what's a better way to come back after a while of not posting? A book tag of course! </div>
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<b>1. HOW MANY BOOKS ARE TOO MANY FOR A SERIES?</b></div>
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More than 5 is definitely pushing it. I just can't think of a good reason for a book to extend itself for that much, especially for a plot to be extended that much. It just dilutes itself and makes the books less enjoyable, in my opinion. It's completely fine if there's many books but they're more of companion series, though.<br />
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<b>2. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT CLIFFHANGERS?</b></div>
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I really don't mind too much because I know there will be a next book but if the next book isn't out yet....that's where frustration kicks in. But that just means the book is that good, so I either way, it's not too big of an issue.<br />
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<b>3. HARDCOVER OR PAPERBACK?</b></div>
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I own a majority paperback and I do enjoy reading from them - especially the floppy paperbacks. But even I can't deny how much more beautiful hardcovers look on shelves.<br />
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<b>4. FAVORITE BOOK?</b></div>
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The books I consider my favorites are so different that I don't really think it's fair to compare them but there are four that always pop into my head, which I think is very telling to how impactful they were to my life:</div>
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<a href="https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/aaa536549d27a72ffab4fc5cb0b08fe3a98195c4/c=17-0-243-402/local/-/media/2015/08/19/YorkDailyRecord/wp-PPYR-BookBuzz-12499-1115_fea_sub-book-thief.jpg?width=580&height=1031&fit=crop" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="450" height="200" src="https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/aaa536549d27a72ffab4fc5cb0b08fe3a98195c4/c=17-0-243-402/local/-/media/2015/08/19/YorkDailyRecord/wp-PPYR-BookBuzz-12499-1115_fea_sub-book-thief.jpg?width=580&height=1031&fit=crop" width="112" /></a><a href="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1573508485l/17675462._SY475_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1573508485l/17675462._SY475_.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
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<b>5. LEAST FAVORITE BOOK?</b></div>
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Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. I usually try not to bash books because I know reading is very subjective. But this book was <i>so</i> bad that it has actually turned me away from ever reading any Hemingway book ever again.<br />
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<b>6. LOVE TRIANGLES, YES OR NO?</b></div>
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Hard no! I honestly think that it mostly takes away from the plot, especially if it is a big focus in the book. Definitely not my favorite.<br />
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<b>7. THE MOST RECENT BOOK YOU COULDN’T FINISH?</b></div>
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I don't actually DNF books. But the most reason one that I took a break from reading since I struggled to get into it was the Kissed by an Angel bind-up by Elizabeth Chandler.<br />
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<b>8. A BOOK YOU’RE CURRENTLY READING?</b></div>
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I'm actually not reading anything at the moment due to my college semester. I've been trying off and on to read Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Keyword: trying.<br />
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<b>9. LAST BOOK YOU RECOMMENDED TO SOMEONE?</b><br />
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I actually think it was the Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo, which is funny since I've never actually read the series. It was just due to the genre and its popularity that I thought it would be a good fit for a friend.</div>
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<b>10. OLDEST BOOK YOU’VE READ BY PUBLICATION DATE?</b></div>
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I believe The Art of War by Sun Tzu was published in 500 B.C.<br />
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<b>11. NEWEST BOOK YOU’VE READ BY PUBLICATION DATE?</b></div>
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I am actually so embarrassed to say that the newest book by publication date I've read has been Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater which was published in 2014. I promise I have newer releases on my TBR.<br />
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<b>12. FAVORITE AUTHOR?</b><br />
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I have an <a href="https://bookstune.blogspot.com/2019/09/top-ten-tuesday-authors.html">entire post</a> about my favorite authors! All time though, I think Ally Carter since her books are what made me an avid reader. Maggie Stiefvater is quickly joining her.<br />
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<b>13. BUYING BOOKS OR BORROWING BOOKS?</b></div>
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Buying books! I love being able to add books I love or am excited to read to my collection and seeing them on my bookshelf.<br />
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<b>14. A BOOK YOU DISLIKE THAT EVERYONE SEEMS TO LOVE?</b></div>
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Some of my least liked books are actually from John Green, who also wrote some of my most loved books, funnily enough. I really didn't like An Abundance of Katherines by him which was such a popular book when I got into the book community. So after being so hyped to read it, I was a little more than disappointed with how bad I found it.<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">15. BOOKMARKS OR DOG EARS?</span></b><br />
Bookmarks! I just got brand new bookmarks and I'm absolutely in love with the different designs and how personalized and unique they can be to the reader. Dog ears just feels like I'm ruining the book.<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> 16. A BOOK YOU CAN ALWAYS RE-READ?</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I don't normally re-read books but Cross my Heart and Hope to Spy is a book that I've picked up more than once without a problem. I've also been wanting to re-read The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">17. CAN YOU READ WHILE LISTENING TO MUSIC?</span></b><br />
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I actually can't. It distracts me way to much and I need to be completely immersed in a story and it's world in order to fully appreciate it.</div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">18. ONE POV OR MULTIPLE? </span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I was just thinking about this recently! It's something new I've determined about myself - I love multiple POVs. Ensemble casts (especially found family casts) are my kryptonite so to read about them all together in everyone's POVs is my favorite thing ever. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">19. DO YOU READ A BOOK IN ONE SITTING OR OVER MULTIPLE DAYS? </span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Over multiple days. It gives me the time to fully appreciate the world, characters and plot. Plus, if I try to red a book in one sitting, it feels like rushing everything and it ruins the magic of reading to me.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">20. WHO DO YOU TAG?</span></b><br />
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I tag everyone and anyone that wants to do this. Consider yourself tagged by me and let me know so I can read your post!</div>
BooksTunehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03190072807277117734noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4356934859723359115.post-22347975292430643642020-01-20T15:05:00.001-05:002020-01-22T20:49:12.556-05:00Discussion: How I Read<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Reading is such a personal experience, in my opinion. The process is unique for everyone. I always find it super interesting to see the process other readers do in order to actually sit down (or lay down) and read a book. So I thought it'd be fun to let you in on how I read, from how I decide what to read to what I do while reading, when I read, and everything in between.<br />
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When I have time, I can definitely read at any time of the day and night. However, I do usually prevent myself from picking up a book in the morning (until probably noon) and any time of night over 10pm. This is just because if it's too early or too late, it'll be more likely than not that I'll be too tired to actually process what I'm reading and I won't be fully immersed in the story, both of which is something I need in order to read and really like a book.<br />
However, this is all when I have time. Due to school and my extracurriculars, I don't actually have time to read for most of the year - which is so disappointing. I tend to only read when I have big breaks - meaning winter break or summer break (I find spring break much too short for me to take my time and read a book). <i>Sometimes</i>, I may listen to an audiobook in between classes but that is very rare.<br />
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: large;">Format</span></div>
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That brings me to the format I usually read. I would say the vast majority of books I read are physical copies and this is because I love collecting books and seeing them displayed on my bookshelves. Looking at them, feeling them and even buying them brings me so much joy. I have read a few e-books and while I have no issue with reading ebooks, its definitely not my favorite format. I've read even fewer audiobooks (try: one.). But I was honestly really pleasantly surprised with this format and though I don't think I can use it to read my more anticipated books, I want to explore it more with all the classics I've been wanting to read but never find time for.<br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">Pacing</span></div>
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When I was younger, I would consider myself a slow reader. Now, though I could still be considered slow in comparison to people, I feel like I read a lot faster than I used to. I can read a book a week if the book is in the usual 300 pages range (usually). I'm actually pretty happy with this pace - if I had more time, I could probably read around 50 books a year with this pace. That, and I believe this pace really helps me appreciate a book more because it gives me the time to do that. I am not rushing to get out of the world and I have plenty of time to get to know the characters and the environment more thoroughly.<br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: large;">Choosing</span></div>
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The age long question. How do you choose a book? I think this breaks down to two categories: How do you choose a book to add to your TBR? and: How do I choose out of my TBR? For this first one, I'll admit most of the books I have on my TBR and wishlist are books I've heard being spoken about in the book community a lot. Of course, they have to interest me in some way - either being from an author I've heard a lot about, the description sounding right up my alley, it being compared to a book/series I enjoyed or just the reviews being great. From then, choosing the next book I read from my TBR relies completely on my mood. Some days, I'll be in the mood for a romance or other days I'll be in the mood for a fantasy or a memoir and then pick my most anticipated from that. I don't really go by a list because I feel like thats an easy way to get started on a book that isn't going to match me at that point in time and it isn't a fair try for that book.<br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Where</span></div>
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My bed and couch are my go to places to read. I can get so comfy and I can control the amount of noise that goes on around me. I can't really read in public because of this (though I have done it on a rare occasion) noise issue, it really brings me out of the world and makes it hard to focus.<br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-size: large;">Music</span></div>
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This kind of goes along with the whole 'I can't read with a lot of noise' thing. I don't listen to anything when I read - even symphonies which I normally love to listen to. It just takes more away from the experience rather than add to it, for me at least. Especially if the music I choose definitely does not go along with the mood the novel is trying to convey. Like imagine listening to Nicki Minaj while reading The Fault in Our Stars?<br />
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-size: large;">Annotation</span></div>
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I actually don't annotate my books just because back in the day I only thought of annotating as writing in my books and I couldn't bear the thought. However, now I'm seeing annotating in the form of those multicolored tabs - each of which symbolize an emotion or literary devices that impacted the reader. I so wish I would have done that and I wish I had enough comfort in the thought of it in order to do it now. I've read some books where certain scenes or quotes are so impactful that even when I first read them, I think "I hope I never forget/lose this moment." Though, with all the books I read, that's exactly what ends up happening but annotation could solve that! But I'm not used to it so I haven't attempted it yet. It's a big hope though.<br />
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<b>There's so much of how I read that I know will eventually evolve with me as a reader. That's why I really like knowing other people's reading styles, because I think it says so much about them. </b><br />
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<b>How do you read?</b></div>
BooksTunehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03190072807277117734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4356934859723359115.post-25258369619992391012020-01-13T15:35:00.000-05:002020-01-13T15:35:45.021-05:00My Reading Goals (Not Necessarily for the New Year)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This isn't my first post of the year but I'll use this as the opportunity to say Happy New Years! I already know starting out that this is not going to be a great reading year for me as the limited time I have to read is going to be even more restricted. I'm going to have to take courses in the summer semester that will take up most of my time so I was so disappointed that I won't really be able to post my reading goals for the year or a 'the books I've read in 2020' thread on Twitter. But, the more I thought about it, I realized that the goals I have, reading wise, are not just limited for 2020. They're goals I can work on constantly and so I want to share my reading goals that I plan to start and reach, eventually - even if it isn't for this new year.<br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">Find a Place to Store my Books</span></div>
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This seems like such a simple goal but I have 2 bookshelves (well 3, but the third is only for my college books). Those 2 bookshelves are already filled up and I'm at the point where I'm starting to stack books on top of the rows, which, even that is starting to fill up. I hope to get new bookshelves that can store more books but the other issue is my house doesn't have the space for those bigger bookshelves so I have no idea how I'm going to work this goal out but I have hope!</div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: large;">Catch up on Popular Series</span></div>
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I've mentioned this before, much more in detail in <a href="https://bookstune.blogspot.com/2019/09/discussion-return-to-book-community.html">this post</a>, but since I took a big break from reading, there are a lot of books I missed out on that were published within that time when I no longer read. I've been trying to juggle reading newer releases while reading those books I wanted to read back when I was an avid reader in 2010-2012. But lately, I've been wanting, above all, to read those really popular books that it seems everyone else has read and has discussions on. I feel so left out! The ones I have pushed up in my list are Six of Crows, The Cruel Prince, and even the rest of the Shadowhunters Chronicles.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #38761d;">Read more Books outside of</span> <span style="color: #38761d;">YA</span> </span></div>
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Now, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with reading primarily YA, or even only YA. You do you. In fact, I think I'll always read a majority of YA books and that's just because I love them! I love YA book so much. But I've found that as I grow older, I'm starting to be interested in genres/categories outside of YA like adult fiction, classics and, particularly, memoirs and biographies. In the past few years, I have found myself not only craving to read more of those types of books but once I did read them, they blew me away so much so that I consider many of books in those categories to be some of my favorites. Right now, I have my eyes on Becoming by Michelle Obama and The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides, and of course all of Taylor Jenkins Reid popular novels. So I really hope to find the motivation to branch out even more and diversify my bookshelves categorically. </div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Read More Self Published Books</span></div>
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So in my entire reading lifetime, I've only read one self published book. Yes, <i>only one</i>. It was a book (Voluspa: A Magical World) sent to me by the author in exchange <a href="https://bookstune.blogspot.com/2012/08/voluspa-magical-world-by-sam-d-ray-east.html">for a review</a> and, to this day, it has been one of the most memorable books I've ever read. I've seen so many great books even just on my twitter that I am dying to read. I'm really interested in Lucid Dreaming by Heather Blair. I think self published books have so much potential and I'd really love to delve deeper into those types of books, especially when I'll have more time to actually be able to read and review them. </div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-size: large;">Get more Bookmarks</span></div>
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I <i>know </i>this is such a weird "goal". But I see so many people have beautiful bookmark collections that compliment their books so well. I own bookmarks but only about five and they're all those paper bookmarks that are all beat up by now. Two of the bookmarks I own I have somehow been able to save since <i>elementary school</i>. So, needless to say, I'm in desperate need to upgrade my bookmarks. Good new though! I'm already getting started on this one. I've bought three super cute bookmark boxes from ebay that I know will look so great in any book. I'm so excited for them to get here, maybe I'll do an unboxing post.</div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-size: large;">Be Involved with Blog Tours</span><br />
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Again, this is not something I can accomplish this year simply due to time and limitations. However! It's something that I've seen a lot on my feed that interests me. I think it's such a fun idea to collaborate both with authors and other bloggers to bring to light amazing new books. It seems like a collaborative and very community centered way to talk about new and up-and-coming authors/novels. I've applied for some in the past but I definitely want to actually be involved in one or two <strike>(or a dozen)</strike> eventually and I can't wait for that day to come! </div>
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<span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: large;">Add Books I've Read to my Bookshelves</span><br />
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Let me explain: There are some books that I've read and really loved but I don't own them. I really want to own them. These include books from the library, required reading books, audiobooks, etc. My longterm goal is to end up collecting these books and adding them to my own personal collection. I've already done this with books like Nevermore by Kelly Creagh. This is the goal that might take the longest but it also seems to be one of the ones that will be the most fulfilling at the end. Off the top of my head, these books include Shakespeare plays, Pride and Prejudice, Saving June by Hannah Harrington, the Gone series by Michael Grant, The Great Gatsby, etc.<br />
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<b>What are YOUR reading goals - both for the New Year and in general? Are any of them the same as mine?</b></div>
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<b>I hope to be able to eventually reach all of my goals, I'm optimistic about it. </b></div>
BooksTunehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03190072807277117734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4356934859723359115.post-51426221110363038502020-01-08T15:42:00.001-05:002020-01-08T15:42:59.221-05:00Review: Blue Lily, Lily Blue (The Raven Cycle #3) by Maggie Stiefvater<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i><span id="freeText10340377781880298435" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">Blue Sargent has found things. For the first time in her life, she has friends she can trust, a group to which she can belong. The Raven Boys have taken her in as one of their own. Their problems have become hers, and her problems have become theirs.<br /><br />The trick with found things, though, is how easily they can be lost.<br /><br />Friends can betray.<br />Mothers can disappear.<br />Visions can mislead.<br />Certainties can unravel.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span></i><br />
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<a name='more'></a>Finishing this book, I was actually speechless. Not because this book didn't bring out any emotions or thoughts out of me, but because it was just so good that I struggled with being able to put them together into one succinct review. But here is me trying.<br />
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Just like in the second book, the <b>writing style</b> was able to bring me right back into the world as soon as I started reading. I could <i>see </i>and experience everything as it was being described. There were some moments near the beginning o the book where I felt like the writing didn't flow as well as it usually does but that ended quite quickly. I felt emotions: grief, love, stress so vividly. I even gasped out loud at times. There were so many little details that became important later on which I loved seeing. Sometimes I picked up on these details before the rest of the characters because I loved the incorporation of them so much. The mood was perfect in nearly all the scenes where it counted. You felt stressed in action-packed scenes, somber in some, clandestine in other. The somber mood was particularly just....incredible. Stiefvater also mastered foreshadowing future events in the book and hyping the reader up. In fact there was something that just made this entire book feel like one huge foreshadowing that's just screaming "the end is coming!" It was heart pounding.<br />
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Personally, I found the pace to be perfect. It let you deeply understand a <b>character</b>'s thoughts and emotions during the gaps between plot points. The book focused a lot on relationships (similar to the first book but even more so) and, that having been my favorite part of the series, so I appreciated it so much and the way the friendships were described made my heart feel so full. There was a bigger exploration into Blue, her feelings about herself, her family and her future which was so relatable and honestly, emotional. There was also a bigger exploration with Adam and I liked him <i>so much more</i> in this book! He has been a continuous problem for me with this series because I haven't liked him as much as I would have wanted but I finally understood him more in this book and I finally find myself rooting for him. It was to the point where I definitely caught myself wanting to cry in some of his scenes. I also really liked seeing the Gray Man's scenes more in this book. I strangely liked how little scenes he was in. I think it was realistic to how many times he would cross paths with Blue and when he did show up, he was memorable and you can really feel him. I really liked seeing how he was with Blue.<br />
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Without revealing too much about the villain, I really enjoyed seeing the different dynamics between the characters opposite our protagonists. They were so complex and interesting! One was so realistic, the other both awe-striking and annoying but they were meant to be seen that way, it wasn't a downfall! Stiefvater is so great at characterization, you think what she wants you to think about a character and she really makes you think about what a villain is and how they're traditionally meant to act.<br />
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Ronan and Adam's scenes were just incredible. Not only because I love both of them so much but because it was beautiful to see how both of them make the other feel: "worthy." All the relationships between different characters were beautiful. The dialogue really helped showcase this and it was funny, realistic and made you as a reader want to be included in their group of friends. The dialogue was one of my favorite parts and I longed to have more just senseless dialogue between the characters. I particularly loved seeing Ronan and Blue's friendship blossom further. It was just incredible seeing how much this book focused on how much they all love and protect each other which has been and will always be my favorite part of this series.<br />
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The <b>plot</b> was a lot more similar to The Raven Boys than it was to The Dream Thieves. It was so similar that the thoughts I had on The Raven Boys review also could be applied to this book. I loved that the book was more centered on the group of character as opposed to mostly one character like the second book. So going into it, I immediately loved unlike The Dream Thieves where I was iffy about the story for a good half of the book. The story balanced the different sub-genres really well. There was just a right amount of romance that doesn't overshadow the plot and is just enough that it leaves you feeling warm inside whenever it does happen.<br />
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One thing Blue Lily, Lily Blue had that I noticed was more frequent in this third book than the second was the connections from this book to, specifically the first book. Connections, references, etc. It was actually so fun to read about and remember the journey we had been taken on from the first book to now. As I've said before, there were small details in this book that later becomes more important and I've really enjoyed trying to find them first and think ahead of the story. But even though I do pay such close attention, I still get surprised by the plot because I truly am not sure about what is in store. Which is so spectacular!<br />
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Individual scenes were pretty much all great! I loved school scenes - Aglionby even made me want to go back to school, or at least a school like that. I loved seeing not only how the boys handled school but also how other students viewed their little group. I wished we saw more of Blue's school - though, I'll be honest, it just reminded me of senior year stress more than anything, which just means the author did a good job of describing both the school and Blue's thoughts on it. I think perhaps the only thing I have to complain about in this book is that there were a few scenes, I can think of 2 specific ones (one of which was a pretty big subplot) that cuts off at the end of the chapter and the result or explanation of it is never spoken of again. It was annoying just because I cared so much that I wanted so desperately to know what happened or for it to at least be acknowledged again. All I can think is that it was not described for a reason, that it'll play a role in the last book. However, thinking more about it, I think one of the scenes was so central to this book, the climax was supposed to be in this book that it really is frustrating to think we didn't get that final moment of closure. But, it's so easy to put this issue aside.<br />
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Overall, this book seems to be more focused towards answering some questions and inching closer to the big end of the story rather than giving plot points. However, I didn't really notice until near the end where I thought 'huh this is almost done, and nothing has really happened.' But oh my goodness the actual end and cliffhanger more than makes up for it. It was so good, so shocking, so heart pounding that I wanted to go straight to the bookstore and buy then read the last book.<br />
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The magic of first meeting the characters and the world will never be beaten but the evolution and strength of the different relationships was so much better in this book and it gives me butterflies just thinking about it. Now, I really think this is tied with the first book as my favorites of this series. Which is saying a lot based on how much I raved about The Raven Boys. Which...I guess this review has become a rave review as well. No surprise that this is a 5 star book!<br />
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<b>SPOILERS! (kinda)</b><br />
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This book was all really surprising to me! I didn't expect so many things: I thought we would learn a lot more about Artemus but I think I'm fine with him playing such a smaller part and I also thought Greenmantle would be introduced in the last book as the biggest villain but boy was I wrong! I really enjoyed Colin a lot, actually. I thought everything about his plot line was so fun - both him, being an asshole and a coward (it was so refreshing to see this side of a villain) and also Adam and Ronan's takedown of Colin.<br />
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Piper was such an enigma. I wasn't sure if I loved her or hated her. Most of the time I really liked her - she was so unlike what a female villain usually is and I really liked reading about her. She's so psychotic but so girly which I didn't know I needed to read about until now. She was really annoying at times but obviously, as apparently the biggest villain, she needs to be - at least a little bit.BooksTunehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03190072807277117734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4356934859723359115.post-26771033472662565802019-12-23T15:00:00.000-05:002020-03-13T12:55:26.006-04:00Review: A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">It’s 1895, and after the suicide of her mother, 16-year-old Gemma Doyle is shipped off from the life she knows in India to Spence, a proper boarding school in England. Lonely, guilt-ridden, and prone to visions of the future that have an uncomfortable habit of coming true, Gemma’s reception there is a chilly one. To make things worse, she’s been followed by a mysterious young Indian man, a man sent to watch her. But why? What is her destiny? And what will her entanglement with Spence’s most powerful girls—and their foray into the spiritual world—lead to?</i><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">As someone who hasn't read much historical fiction, I am so pleasantly surprised with all this book had to offer. At the beginning of the novel, I was a bit iffy on the story and, more specifically, the characters but the problems seemed to disappear as the story continued and thankfully, the real jewel of this novel became the focal point: the plot.</span><br />
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">The <b>writing style</b> was the first bit that caught my attention. It was so descriptive throughout the story! However, at the beginning, even though it had that description, I couldn't feel like I was actually immersed in the story. But all of that gets better as the novel progresses. Something I think definitely didn't help this feeling, was something small but significant in the long run. A character's appearance is rarely described. I think maybe once or twice but this make it hard to be able to understand which character is which until their looks are hinted at again which doesn't happen until near the end. This is important because, for example, two friends are described and one is clearly the leader but after their names were introduced, they weren't introduced paired with their looks so even after I knew all of the character's names, I didn't know who the 'leader' was and am still only guessing from personality traits not because it was told. I also feel like the writing style was very fitting for the setting. The phrases and dialogue was all very fitting to that century and it didn't feel like a mismatched piece of historical fiction with modern dialogue. It helped make everything a little more realistic and believable for the us as the reader to believe we were actually there with Gemma and the characters. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">The <b>characters</b>, though eventually getting better, were one of the downfalls of the book. By characters, I mean Gemma, which is a shame because she's the main character and I think it's so important to like the person we should sympathize with and the person we will be following. I just really found her to be annoying. There were times where I was proud of her because she's not the typical 'think but doesn't speak out' protagonist in that she's realistic with what she gets mad about and defends herself well. Which is really refreshing especially when I've seen so often times when I get mad about something or someone in the story and a protagonist wants to 'be the bigger person' and lets themselves get walked all over. So to see Gemma actually do something about it was incredible! But she lets herself get so blind with anger that I see the cruelty she shows against antagonist even to people close to her, people she should be kind to, and it was uncomfortable to read. A lot of it, I think, stemmed from a sort of superiority complex she had where she thought she was so different and better than the way other girls because of how they're choosing to live their lives or what they like, but in reality, Gemma isn't much different at all. It was really frustrating to see her act like that throughout the book, it wasn't ever something she saw as an issue or something she should fix. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">BUT! Not all the characters were bad. In fact, I found the characters to be so <i>dynamic</i>. Every single character had flaws. There was no obviously great character and that's what made them so realistic and lovable - because you could connect with and understand each of them. It was easy to hate them at times and love them at others. I don't think I've ever read an author that masters this quite like Libba Bray. There was great character development! Characters grew from being static to becoming so complex. The relationship dynamics between friends and especially between family were all so unique and so important. The friendships were so realistic because, again, no one in the group was perfect or even extremely likable but everyone had their own struggles and stories.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">It is obvious that Libba Bray did a lot of research for the myths and settings described in the book which is what helped make the <b>plot</b> so good! The plot was definitely the best part of the book - much better than the characters which is something I usually don't find myself seeing in books. The world set up by the book was so interesting! The secret groups, the orders, their history and the mystery behind the academy and its teachers was something I loved reading about and it was what kept me reading and picking up the book constantly. I loved the pace, there was no info dump so everything was learned in just the right pacing. The foreshadowing was really good as well because small details are brought back, making them so unexpectedly important. Okay, I'll admit it was a little predictable (and by a little, I mean <i>a lot</i>) but you know the book is good when even that doesn't take away from how good the scenes and the story is. </span><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">The romance was nice to see blossoming - it was very organic and slow. Meaning, there wasn't much romance but the rest of the story was so good I didn't even care.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">The plot was amazing but of course, it had it's downfalls. I feel like the magic system was not explained correctly. I finished the book but I'm still confused as to what the magic really <i>is </i>and what creatures really exist within the world. That and throughout the book, Gemma's power was a mystery and the only part of the mystery that was shown to be uncovered is the history behind that power, not her control of it. Yet suddenly, at the end of the book, she was able to control it and it really felt random, out of no where.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">The subplots were amazing as well: Choices, grief, forgiveness, the grayness of life and history repeating itself was <i>so good </i>to see and I think seeing it manifest itself in different ways within different characters was just executed so well. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>Overall</b>, this book was just so good with only a couple of big problems that I found. I'm so glad to have started reading back up again with this book and I am so happy with how much I enjoyed it so I think this is a very solid 4 out of 5 stars!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span>BooksTunehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03190072807277117734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4356934859723359115.post-6249024204059028382019-12-19T15:00:00.001-05:002019-12-19T15:00:47.165-05:00Belated Book Haul!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's been such a long time since I've made a book haul and this haul is a long time coming! These are a few books that I've collected since the last one I made (which you can <a href="https://bookstune.blogspot.com/2019/06/book-haul-20-books.html">find here</a>). I'm so blessed that the majority of these books were sent to me by either the author or a company so thank you so much to everyone who sent these to me.<br />
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This is a much smaller pile but they are books I am so excited about so let's get into it!<br />
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The first pile has:<br />
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Wicked Fox by Kat Cho - which is signed by the author and makes me that much more excited to read this beautiful book. </div>
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Frankly in Love by David Yoon</div>
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Hearts, Strings, and Other Breakable Things by Jacqueline Firkins</div>
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The second pile has:</div>
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Envy by Anna Godbersen (The Luxe #3) - which is really a book I probably shouldn't have bought because I still haven't read or own the second book in the series but it was a thrift store find so I couldn't resist!</div>
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The Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle #2) by Maggie Stiefvater - which I couldn't resist reading already so you can find the <a href="https://bookstune.blogspot.com/2019/08/the-dream-thieves-raven-cycle-2-by.html">review here</a>.</div>
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Blue Lily, Lily Blue (The Raven Cycle #3) by Maggie Stiefvater </div>
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Legend by Marie Lu</div>
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Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen</div>
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<span style="color: #351c75;">In the first pile you can see Hearts, Strings and Other Breakable Things which was my December Book of the Month YA pick. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75;">Book of the Month YA gives you the option to pick between five brand new YA hardcover books (some even being early releases) to be sent directly to your home. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75;">If you want to try the service out, especially during this holiday season, you can get your first box for only $5 with the code <span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-weight: bold; white-space: pre-wrap;">YES5</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">, a perfect opportunity to try the service out if you've been iffy about it,</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-weight: bold; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">and you can also get </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">$10 off a 6 or 12 month gift using code </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-weight: bold; white-space: pre-wrap;">PERFECT10. </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">These offers last until December 31st.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><a href="https://book-of-the-month.ixmz.net/bookstune">Use this link to get try it out!</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75;">These are your December options:</span></div>
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<br />BooksTunehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03190072807277117734noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4356934859723359115.post-75951715478117108502019-12-06T15:49:00.000-05:002020-01-12T13:32:47.234-05:00Get to Know Bookish Terms<style type="text/css">
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Just like any other community, the book community has it's own jargon, slang and terms that are obvious to everyone on the inside but a little confusing to everyone on the outside, particularly the acronyms. However, this can make it confusing for new readers to get into the groove of things when they don't know what everyone is saying and what we mean when we say certain terms. Even for me, a reader who took a massive nearly 10 year break, when I got back into the community, there were a lot of new terms that took me a while to fully understand what they meant. </div>
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So I chose a good number of terms whose meanings I think aren't 100% obvious, separate them into sections where they would relate to one another, and I'm going to define the terms. Hopefully a lot of new readers will find this helpful!</div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;">Acronyms:</span><br />
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To be Read! This is a list (often, quite extensive) of books you need to read but haven't gotten to yet. This is usually, at least for me, books that I own/have borrowed that I have yet to read but are sitting on my bookshelf.<br />
Some people set monthly TBRs - books you want to read that month. But others have an overall TBR of all the books they want to read, eventually.<br />
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Did not finish. This is reserved for those books you <i>really </i>don't like. When you literally don't like a book (for a variety of reasons that is unique for everyone) so much so that you don't even want to finish it. So you don't. You stop reading at whatever point your at and put the book down.<br />
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Main Character. This is the protagonist that a book follows and focuses on.<br />
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Currently Reading/Current Read. This is the book(s) that you are currently in the middle of reading. </div>
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Trigger Warning. This is a list of themes in the book that could potentially mentally affect certain readers. So these lists, usually coming from other readers to make others aware, are important so that readers can know what a book contains and make educated decisions on whether they'll be able to handle reading/experiencing those themes.<br />
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Young Adult. This is a category of books that are targeted for young adult (ages 12-18) audiences - however, and I can't stress this enough, they can be enjoyed by all ages. This targeting is usually done by the age of the protagonist being at around that same age range with the plot dealing with issues rampant with that age group such as first love, finding oneself, school, etc.<br />
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New Adult. Another category of books that are targeted for a slightly older audience but still not enough to be 'Adult'. The age range for this audience is around 18-30. NA is pretty popular with being more sexually explicit but focuses heavily on other topics important for newer adults - college, family relationships, careers, marriage, etc.</div>
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Middle Grade. This is for children in the range between 8-12. It really is set up perfectly for that age group. Not only is the protagonist usually that age, but the plot itself is completely innocent/clean with themes revolving around pre-teen interest, often introducing a reader to a magical world. The reading level is easy enough for it to be a good stepping stone between 'children's' books and more complex books.<br />
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This refers to a book that centers around a theme/protagonist that is a minority or has a marginalized perspective by an author that is a part of that minority/group. It serves as a way to prioritize diversity in books, which is so lacking, and provide not only a voice for those voices that seem to be drowned out in mainstream media/books, but also be able to diversify and extend a reader's knowledge on these books that often deal with important topics.</div>
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A trope is just a theme/plot device that is used really often and is common in a lot of books. Examples could be love triangles, friends-to-lovers, etc. These could be great and something familiar to go into a book knowing but they can also be overdone, especially if it's an unpopular trope.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Insta Love</span><br />
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This is a type of trope. It is when a romance in the book seems to come out of nowhere, that is, feeling unnatural because the two characters never had that time of growing their relationship. Instead it became a serious and highly unrealistic "love" that just seems forced. This is one of those highly unpopular tropes - but could still be good if done right, in my opinion.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Found Family</span><br />
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This is another trope that I think can be a little confusing if never explained. This is when there's a group of characters, usually involving the protagonist, where they aren't blood related but they rely on and treat each other as if they were family. They form their own little family that protect each other, care for each other, and go through their journey together.<br />
(This is also my favorite trope ever)<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Canon</span><br />
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Material, plot-lines, relationships, etc that are officially a part of the book/story. It has been explicitly confirmed and is something that is 100% real in that universe.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Headcanon</span><br />
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A headcanon is something that is not officially a part of the book/story/universe and has never been confirmed. Instead, it is something readers or fans of that world like to assume/believe/pretend is real and part of the story even though it has never been stated in the book or by the author.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Info Dump</span><br />
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This is a term referring to when a book gives the reader a whole bunch of information (on the world, on characters, background information) in a very short period of time. It can often be overwhelming and confusing to have all this information 'dumped' on you without being given enough time to wrap your mind around it, understand it and connect it fully to the story. It can also be detrimental when used in place of slowly letting your character's personality and life be revealed to the reader.</div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: x-large;">Publishing:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">ARC</span></div>
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Advanced Readers Copy. This is a free copy of a book that reviewers/librarians/booksellers can get before the book is officially out/printed for the mass. These come in paperback form. This is helpful to get marketing and book reviews out there before the book is actually out so that the public has a way to know if the book is something they want to pick up. Usually, an ARC can have some mistakes because it hasn't gone through final proofreading but the covers and layout are usually finalized - overall they look very similar to the final copy. It's not a final version of the actual novel but it's almost the final version.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Galley</span></div>
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This is extremely similar to an ARC. It is a free copy of a book sent out in order to get marketing and reviews for the book out before the actual publication. The distinction between an ARC and a Galley is that while an ARC is nearly the completed version (with usually just a few grammar/spelling mistakes that haven't been proofread over), a Galley is missing a lot more. They don't have a completed cover but instead use a stand-in that usually is just a solid color with the title of the book on it. The layout to the chapters and font aren't completed and if any graphics are included, even if just for chapter names, they aren't done. So basically, it's a lot further from the final copy and it's just the manuscript.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">FC</span></div>
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Finished Copy. Now this is a book that gets published in mass for the public to be able to read. It's gone through all levels of editing, designing and is ready to be read by anyone! I'm not sure if it's the same in all countries, but usually in the first year or so that the finished copy is being published, it comes in hardcover form.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Backlist</span><br />
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This are the list of books that are not recently published. Older books from a publisher that are still in print.</div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-size: x-large;">Book Community:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Booktube</span><br />
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It is a community in youtube that focuses on books. It involves creators talking and even ranting at time about books, authors, and just news/events that are currently going on in the book community. There used to be book review videos, they were the most popular type of videos with book tags but now it's leading towards discussion and trends - which are just as interesting and great to watch!</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Bookstagram</span></div>
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This a community on instagram that focuses on books. These creators post aesthetic pictures of their current reads, owned books, borrowed books and their bookshelves. These are great to look at to appreciate the beauty of books and reading itself.<br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-size: x-large;">Reader Trends:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Reading Slump</span><br />
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This is something all readers dread. It is a period of time where you just don't have the motivation/desire to pick up a book and read. If you try, it's often nearly impossible to get through even a little bit of it, no matter how much you want to. This is because your brain just doesn't want to read and doesn't find enjoyment in it. It happens randomly and the cause is unknown. But it sucks.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Wrap Up</span></div>
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A wrap up is an overall view of what books you read and what posts you made that relate to books of whatever period of time you choose your wrap up to focus on (weekly wrap up, monthly wrap up, yearly wrap up, etc). These includes your thoughts on the books, like mini book reviews that won't go in as full of details as a individual book review would but it's a great way to keep others' attention while still being able to talk about a lot of different books and things you've done/experienced. </div>
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<br />
<b>Did I miss anything? What was the term that took you the longest to understand?</b><br />
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<b>For me, it took a long time to fully understand Own Voices and everything it entails, it was just so new to me!</b></div>
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BooksTunehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03190072807277117734noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4356934859723359115.post-55209707406845094432019-11-28T15:00:00.000-05:002019-11-28T15:00:27.486-05:005 Popular Ways to Organize your Bookshelf<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNTuzsr3d2Q0h9RsLWgmb1JY6kGibXc6jh7Q5y1fnTeG11TudZ7ZMhzbPdadQrKYDdiH0lqNSQCXmXliGao0e281jE1QCbzDqdvsrud-OF1u19L_ul14AFKQUQ8Trtv2tMx8CJ81WaLToK/s1600/bookshelf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="939" data-original-width="1600" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNTuzsr3d2Q0h9RsLWgmb1JY6kGibXc6jh7Q5y1fnTeG11TudZ7ZMhzbPdadQrKYDdiH0lqNSQCXmXliGao0e281jE1QCbzDqdvsrud-OF1u19L_ul14AFKQUQ8Trtv2tMx8CJ81WaLToK/s400/bookshelf.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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A bookshelf is something unique and special to a bookworm and it's so fitting that the way the bookshelf is presented and organized be both of those things as well.</div>
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I want to go over the most popular ways I've seen readers showcase their books. All of these are great options for bookshelves of any size and can work for any reader.</div>
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<span style="color: #990000;">C</span><span style="color: #b45f06;">o</span><span style="color: #bf9000;">l</span><span style="color: #38761d;">o</span><span style="color: #134f5c;">r</span></h2>
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This is by far the most popular organization I've seen, especially on booktube! Organizing from color can be just grouping all books of the same color together randomly, creating a rainbow gradient or having patterns of each color having a particular diagonal column pattern. There's plenty of ways to take this organization and making it even more unique to you.</div>
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I have to agree that it is definitely the most aesthetically pleasing way of organizing. It's picture-esque and perfect for posting on instagram to show off all of your books. However, I can definitely see a possible difficulty in finding particular books and even having to split up multiple books of one author and splitting up series.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigksShj5hwuZ_1t8UjBMHgeyL0o6vYfd7FOOlVcJ8QHYim3nOAu3BCqLUdq79xJ1yBbzCaqc7m3zsMAgvQv3Rcsm1kYMz5QeAcj1tXuGN8eYieS5dbXNhNRWbMR2TX2sGLbWQxTNNfwwja/s1600/pf23h6o2y9g21.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1098" data-original-width="1183" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigksShj5hwuZ_1t8UjBMHgeyL0o6vYfd7FOOlVcJ8QHYim3nOAu3BCqLUdq79xJ1yBbzCaqc7m3zsMAgvQv3Rcsm1kYMz5QeAcj1tXuGN8eYieS5dbXNhNRWbMR2TX2sGLbWQxTNNfwwja/s320/pf23h6o2y9g21.webp" width="320" /></a></div>
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Genre</h2>
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I've seen this form of organization a bit less than by color but it is a valid and popular tactic many use. This is just basically separating your books into sub-genres, for example: 'contemporary' or 'historical fiction'. However, I think it can also be twisted into books that all follow a certain trope, popular plot lines, etc.</div>
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Now, while this may not be the prettiest form of organizing your bookshelf since it can involve just putting same genre books together randomly, not caring of how they look as a group, it'll definitely be one of the most efficient. </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">H</span><span style="font-size: large;">e</span><span style="font-size: small;">igh</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">t</span></h2>
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This is how I organize my bookshelf and I love it! It looks so aesthetically pleasing to have your books being all the same height when next to each other or even when the heights slowly diminish. It looks organized and just so satisfying to look at. What's even greater is that, most of the time, you can keep all your authors and series together because they're usually the same height or close enough.<br />
However, this does mean that sometimes you might have to separate series and authors due to any height difference (however, you can always make exceptions, which is what I do).<br />
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<h2>
Alphabetical Order</h2>
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The ultimate organization method! This is a foolproof way of organizing your bookshelf in a way that you will definitely know where all your series and all your books of one author are. The first form I think of when I think of this method is organizing your books based on the last name of the author (so Ahdieh, then Bardugo then Clare, etc.) - first or last. But it can also be based off of the first letter of the title!<br />
The only downside I can think of would be that this could case really short books to be right beside taller books, which can destroy any sort of aesthetic you could be wanting.<br />
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<h2>
Backward</h2>
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And now we come to the most chaotic option. This has definitely been a trend that has picked up its popularity in this last couple of years. This involves putting in your books inverted, which means spine in with the pages facing out. It's definitely an aesthetic all on its own because of the monochromatic finish it will have (mostly) and I won't lie with how nice it really looks.<br />
However I can't ignore the obvious: unless you have great memory, it'll be impossible to know where your books are first go! You'll have to actively take multiple books out and look at the covers to know which books are where and to find any book you're looking for.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRbObjAvY91WWTdPYChEmAjoL4y7LdzG3C0TfVDYzE0UF1pLPsy4leGtgOFNC8OUSmwR_TkSCRS_vLxrciPkYxiWmg2oJOUQGSgApwBoyO9N4TqyY2b5VDRSt8ExE1_FjAYkR8IOOXDKeB/s1600/7aa29ccab3305d7216cbfcde3ca135c8.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRbObjAvY91WWTdPYChEmAjoL4y7LdzG3C0TfVDYzE0UF1pLPsy4leGtgOFNC8OUSmwR_TkSCRS_vLxrciPkYxiWmg2oJOUQGSgApwBoyO9N4TqyY2b5VDRSt8ExE1_FjAYkR8IOOXDKeB/s320/7aa29ccab3305d7216cbfcde3ca135c8.webp" width="320" /></a></div>
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Now just picking one method isn't the end all, be all. You can mix and match, do a combo or make a new method! There's so many things you can do within each method to make your bookshelf even more exciting and unique. Having some stacks of books within your bookshelf is a popular idea. Choosing one or two books every row of your bookshelf to choose to display fully, bookstore-esque, is also a popular design.<br />
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<b>These are absolutely not the only way to organize them so I would love to hear how you organize your bookshelves! What ways to organize did I miss? What are your favorite methods?</b></div>
BooksTunehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03190072807277117734noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4356934859723359115.post-50038055417821428812019-11-11T15:08:00.000-05:002019-11-11T15:08:13.396-05:00This or That Book Tag<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "gentium book basic", serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 2.25rem; padding: 0px;">
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Yay! Another book tag! This is such an interesting tag because I think it lets you see what kind of reader I am in a more detailed way so I'm really excited to show you my reading habits and opinions through this! </div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #990000; font-weight: 700;">1. Reading on the couch or on the bed?</span></h2>
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I don't mind doing both but I tend to read more on my bed! I have more room and it's just a lot comfier.</div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #b45f06; font-weight: 700;">2. Male main character or female main character?</span></h2>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Female characters! I find that the way the world and other characters are described through the eyes of a female character is much more relatable and likable for me. Plus I like the romance a whole lot more if it's through the perspective of a female character. (I do love dual perspectives in books!)</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #bf9000; font-weight: 700;">3. Sweet snacks or salty snacks when reading?</span></h2>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Unpopular opinion: no snacks! It makes me feel icky just thinking I could stain the pages of the book.</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #38761d; font-weight: 700;">4. Trilogies or quartets?</span></h2>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Trilogies. I think in most cases a series can wrap up really nicely in three books and any more it makes the series seem drawn out and often takes away the magic that was there in the first couple books. Of course there are exceptions but, in general I think that's true.</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Fun fact: my biggest bookish pet peeve is when a series is originally meant to be a trilogy and then it gets extended for. no. reason.</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #134f5c; font-weight: 700;">5. First-person point of view or third-person point of view?</span></h2>
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First-person, first-person, first-person. It's so much more personal and it makes me feel much more a part of the story rather than feeling like I'm watching from afar. </div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0b5394; font-weight: 700;">6. Reading at night or in the morning?</span></h2>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Night! In the morning I usually am trying just to actually get my mind awake so I literally could not read and retain information in the morning. That and otherwise, I'd be busy getting ready for everything I had to do in the day. But at night, everything is quiet, calm and just the perfect atmosphere for reading and de-stressing after the day.</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Bookstores. I love seeing all the new releases and feeling the new-ness of all the books. It's so great that usually they have a cafe where you can sit down and read a bit.</span></div>
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Laugh! I think I've mentioned before that I've never cried in a book and you know part of me is glad I haven't. I want to be in love with the world and the characters and in order to do so I need to be happy. Laughing makes me happy and it makes a book and their characters great, lovable and memorable.</div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Black? I'm not entirely sure but I own a lot of books with black covers and they always look really great. I think the contrast between a black background and whatever is in the foreground always looks cool.</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Ah, the age long question. A question I still don't know the answer to. Sometimes I swear I'm plot driven and other times I swear I'm character driven. At the end, I may be leaning towards plot driven because I've noticed that though, if I fall for a character then the book is automatically amazing for me, if the book is intended to be character driven and so the plot is really put on the back burner, I usually don't like the book. I get bored and the characters are suddenly just meh. I think it has something to do with the fact that a character needs to have motivation for me to like them and a huge part of motivation comes with the plot.</span></div>
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<b>Do you guys agree with my answers?</b></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><b>Please feel free to consider yourselves tagged by me! I'd love to see others' answers to these questions.</b></span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><b>It's funny because most of these answers have exceptions. Thinking of the exceptions, they were almost always from The Raven Cycle. Can you tell I'm obsessed with that series?</b></span></div>
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BooksTunehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03190072807277117734noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4356934859723359115.post-39059093812790105052019-10-28T15:00:00.000-04:002019-10-28T22:35:22.000-04:005 Places to Buy Cheap Books<style type="text/css">
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One of the hardest things we have to go through as book lovers is how expensive books are to buy! New books are so expensive and the prices just seem to be escalating, some close to $30 just for one book. Even older books in hardback are still not cheap, ranging from $15-$20, especially if they're from popular series or authors. Paperbacks are cheaper but even then, the prices seem to just not be for those of us who want to own the books we love but have a budget. Especially those of who don't want to spent $30+ for just two or three books. </div>
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Nearly all of the books I've been buying lately, however, have been at a greatly discounted price - both old and newer releases. It's one of the most satisfying feelings to be able to own a book and knowing you got a great deal on it so I want to share where I go to buy cheap books. </div>
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Of course, the library is always an amazing option but I did not include that on my list because I want to highlight places where you can go to own books you really want. Also, there are a lot of great discounted book stores that I'm not including simply because they don't exist in my city or anywhere near me. So my list only includes the places I have personal access to.<br />
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Half Price Books<span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small; font-weight: 400;">Half Price Books is the first place that popped into mind when I thought of "cheap books." It's just what the name says, books at half price or maybe even less than the normal retail price. It's especially great because of how good the books usually are in condition and the fact that they have even newer releases, which is incredible. This price discount also applies to hardbacks! The prices range from $4-$13 usually. Really often, they have clearance events which makes your purchase even cheaper.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small; font-weight: 400;">Another huge plus is the huge selection they have. Like I said, they even include newer releases, which is rare to find in a lot of places on this list. But another thing you will see common in this list is that usually the option of books you will find will vary wildly depending on the time, day and location you go to. However, for Half Price Books, usually I see a majority of the books I could even think of within a genre. I usually don't have a problem going to whichever Half Price Books and finding what I went there to find.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Ebay/Amazon<br /><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;">Online shopping is another popular way to get popular and new books for a lot cheaper. The selection they have is great and you can look up nearly any book and it's available. Even brand new ones! Now, personally, I use Ebay much more often than Amazon when it comes to buying individual books. More often than not, I find the same books for a lot cheaper on there - the only thing is that you have to put special attention to the seller to make sure they're credible. The average price of books I buy on Ebay are $4! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;">Amazon, however, seems to be really great for box sets! The prices for box sets are nearly the same as in Ebay but they look to be in better condition and still at an incredible deal. </span></span></div>
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Goodwill (Any Thrift Shop)<br /><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now this is the option where I think you will find the cheapest books. However, the selection is definitely minimal. It depends entirely on which location and what time you go. There's hardly hardbacks and not many releases within the last few years, especially YA. But, I have bought incredible series starters, stand-alones and sequels of popular series and authors all for a dollar or less at Goodwill and other thrift shops near me. </span></span><span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">There are so many different thrift shop companies that all sell books at these great prices. Usually a paperback is .99 cents while a hardback is $1.99. Which are just unbeatable in my opinion. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">There is always the fact that this option will also give you the highest risk of getting your book damaged in some way, be it the cover, the spine, etc. But all the book's I've gotten from a thrift shop, any damage was small enough for it to not be an issue.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: 400;">Ollie's books are the most exciting in my opinion! Ollie's is a bargain outlet that has its own book section called Bookland. It has a wider selection than Goodwill does but still I wouldn't say it has any book for which you go in there to look. But! The books it does have are popular, sometimes released within the past three years which is good. That and these books are likely to be hardback. Not only that, these hardbacks are usually at around $5 which is such a discount from the $16+ hardbacks usually are. </span></span></div>
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Book Sales/Library Sales</h2>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: 400;">Now this option is great for when you want to buy a lot of books at once. I mean, even if you don't </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">the prices are still super great. But the prices are SO great that it's just a better deal to buy a whole bunch of books for the same price it would be for one or two regularly priced books. Book Sales usually have a price range of $2-4 which include both paperback and hardbacks. Half Price books has one twice every year and your local library has their Friends of the Library sales. These sales have such a variety of books not only because of the sizes of the sales but because the books chosen to be in the sales are not picked through, they're chosen randomly so you have a great chance to get any great book. For these sales, you can usually go to find particular books and you have a good chance of finding them for such a low price, specifically if you're looking for backlist books.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Just if you want to have an idea of what these sales are like, you can always look at youtube vlogs and I also have a <a href="https://bookstune.blogspot.com/2019/06/book-haul-20-books.html">book haul</a> for the Half Price Book Sale I went to earlier this year. I managed to get more than 20 books for $50. That's the same price I could buy 4 hardbacks at regular price or 5 paperbacks!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>What places do you go to buy your books?</b></span></div>
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BooksTunehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03190072807277117734noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4356934859723359115.post-61280789457897076342019-10-15T15:15:00.001-04:002019-10-28T22:37:53.557-04:00Reader Problems Book Tag<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's been a while since I've done a book tag and I've been missing them! They're so fun and a great way to get to know me as a reader. Especially this tag. So let's get right into it and enjoy.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #990000; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. You have 20,000 books on your TBR. How in the world do you decide what to read next?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's kind of like a two step process for me. First, I figure out what mood I'm in. So then I can narrow down my options to just one or two genres. Then from that, I pick just the one I'm most excited for or the one that seems most interesting for me in that moment.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #b45f06; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. You’re halfway through a book and you’re just not loving it. Do you quit or are you committed?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I try never to DNF a book and honestly? I don't think I ever have. If I put a book down, I'll eventually pick it up again, even if its a few years later. I'd be committed to finishing a book halfway through, even if I'm not loving it. I may put it down and read something else instead but then pick it up again in the future. As long as I don't absolutely hate it, I'll finish it eventually.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #bf9000; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. The end of the year is coming and you’re so close, but so far away on your Goodreads reading challenge. Do you try to catch up and how?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yes and graphic novels/manga. I don't read graph novels/manga as often as I'd like and using them to catch up on my reading challenge is just a huge plus. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">4. The covers of a series you love do. not. match. How do you cope?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I complain about it for the rest of my life and every time I see the series on my shelves.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #76a5af; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">5. Every one and their mother loves a book you really don’t like. Who do you bond with over shared feelings?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">No one *cries*. I'd be a miracle if someone I know in real life had even heard of a book I have thoughts on, let alone read it and shares my feelings. But thats why I have my blog and you guys!</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">6. You’re reading a book and you are about to start crying in public. How do you deal?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I don't cry while reading books. Seriously, none of the books I've ever read have made me cry (fanfictions are a whole other story, though). Am I a robot? Perhaps. Do I have emotions? Still to be determined.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #351c75; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">7. A sequel of a book you loved just came out, but you’ve forgotten a lot from the prior novel. Will you re-read the book? Skip the sequel? Try to find a synopsis on Goodreads? Cry in frustration?!?!?!?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">You mean my life? This is what happens for every book I read nowadays. Especially since I'm trying to catch up on the books I wanted to read before I left the book community for a while. Sometimes, if I literally don't remember anything and I think it's necessary, I'll look up a small summary or spoilers of the first book. Otherwise, I'll just go straight into the second book and hope things start coming back to me. Usually that involves a whole lot of confusion at first, but eventually I do remember a lot.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #741b47; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">8. You do not want anyone. ANYONE. borrowing your books. How do you politely tell people nope when they ask?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I just say that I don't let people borrow my books. I don't think that's rude so I hope others see it the same way.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #cc0000; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">9. Reading ADD. You’ve picked up and put down 5 books in the last month. How do you get over your reading slump?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I usually just don't pick up a book until I'm over it. I start doing other things I enjoy for however long is necessary and eventually, I'll get that urge to read again. Or if I really want to read but can't, I pick up a book I already read and loved and just re-read my favorite scenes.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #e69138; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">10. There are so many new books coming out that you’re dying to read! How many do you actually buy?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I always have a list of books I want to read, both that are coming out and backlist. Eventually, I'll buy all of them. But buying books as soon as they come out, unless it's a part of a series that I'm caught up on, I won't buy anything right when it comes out or probably even within the same year it's out.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #6aa84f; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">11. After you’ve bought the new books you can’t wait to get to, how long do they sit on your shelf before you get to them?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">It kind of depends, like I said, on my mood. If it's a book that is just exactly what I want to read genre wise and plot wise, then I'll read it right away. But if it's just a book I'm generally interested in but not hyped about, it might stay in my shelf for a few weeks to a couple of months.</span><br />
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BooksTunehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03190072807277117734noreply@blogger.com0