Saturday, May 14, 2016

A to Z Bookish Survey

This tag was created by Jamie from The Perpetual Page Turner. I've done a few tags now, and I'm really starting to love doing them! This one is called the A to Z Bookish Survey tag.




Author you’ve read the most books from:
Cassandra Clare! I think I've read almost every single book she has published, multiple times. I'm a die hard Cassey Clare fan, and I always have been.
Best Sequel Ever:
I'm only going to count the sequels in a duology, because I have too many favourite sequels. Either Eona by Alison Goodman or The Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake, they were both absolutely amazing and I loved every second of both of them.
Currently Reading:
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Drink of Choice While Reading:
Either water or  lemonade, or hot chocolate if I want something hot.
E-reader or Physical Book?
Physical book, always. I've never owned an e-reader or anything like that, I just love the feel of the pages in my hands too much.
Fictional Character You Probably Would Have Actually Dated In High School:
Gansey from The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater. No doubt there at all.
Glad You Gave This Book A Chance:
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. It had been sitting on my shelf for the longest time, and the trilogy is my all time favourite trilogy ever. (Beside The Infernal Devices, of course).
Hidden Gem Book:
We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates. I had to read this last month for an essay for class, and it was an amazing book!
Important Moment in your Reading Life:
When I started by bookstagram and my book blog last year, they really changed who I was as a reader and who I was as a person. Making them made me even more enthusiastic about reading and writing, and they helped me to meet so many more people than I could have without them.
Just Finished:
The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black (and I loved it!)
Kinds of Books You Won’t Read:
Anything with a lot of romance or a very adulty-type romance. I like lighthearted, YA much better than steamy.
Longest Book You’ve Read:
Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon, at 947 pages.
Major book hangover because of:
Looking for Alaska by John Green. It was such an amazing book the first time I read it, that all I wanted to do was re-read it.
Number of Bookcases You Own:
5, with boxes in my closet, as well as stacks everywhere throughout my room.
One Book You Have Read Multiple Times:
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, it's a book that can always get me out of a bad slump.
Preferred Place To Read:
My bean bag chair, my dad's armchair, the couch, or my bed. Pretty much anywhere I can, but I prefer the comfiest places.
Quote that inspires you/gives you all the feels from a book you’ve read:
"Live in the present, remember the past, and fear not the future, for it doesn't exist and never shall. There is only now." -Christopher Paolini, Eldest. This series was one of the series that really got me into reading and into writing, and it always helps me to try and believe in myself when I need to.
Reading Regret:
Not getting into more classics when I was younger. I've been collecting them for so long, and I've barely read any of them.
Series You Started And Need To Finish(all books are out in series):
I still need to read The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater to finish the series. Also, I just have to read the final book in the Under the Never Sky series by Veronica Rossi.
Three of your All-Time Favorite Books:
I'm keeping Harry Potter out of this, because obviously it's one of my all time favourite books, ever.
1. TID and TMI by Cassandra Clare (I just can't pick, I love them all too much!)
2. Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor
3. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
Unapologetic Fangirl For:
Cassandra Clare anything. Movies, books, fandom stuff. If Cassandra Clare writes 3000 books in the Shadowhunter world, I will read all of them. Multiple times.
Very Excited For This Release More Than All The Others:
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor. Ever since I finished the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy I've needed MORE from her. I'll read anything she writes. I'll read her grocery lists.
Worst Bookish Habit:
Buying more and more and more and...more books before I have even put a dent in my TBR pile.
X Marks The Spot: Start at the top left of your shelf and pick the 27th book:
Just One Day by Gayle Forman.
Your latest book purchase:
The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black and Ice Like Fire by Sara Raasch.
ZZZ-snatcher book (last book that kept you up WAY late):
Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater. I read that book super late into the night, and I regret nothing.

Monday, May 9, 2016

May 2016 TBR

I was so insanely happy with the amount of books that I read last month, and I really want to keep the pace up this month and really start to cut down on my massive TBR pile. I also have insanely awful luck and sprained my ankle a few days ago, so I'll be lying down and hopefully reading a lot this month!


This month I plan on reading:

     1.   Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

I bought this book last month because I saw it on the list of books that were recommended for us to read for our essays for my English class. It kept calling me so I figured I would pick it up! I already read it, but I will discuss my thoughts on it in wrap up at the end of the month.
     2.   The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer


I also picked up this book last month, and I've been meaning to read it for awhile. It looked like a relatively fast read, so I thought I would give it a go this month and see how it is.


     3.   The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black


I've wanted to read this book for awhile, and I am really in the mood for a fantasy type book without the long series. This is a standalone fantasy book (which you NEVER see) so I'm definitely going to read this one this month!
     4.   The Raven King (The Raven Cycle #4) by Maggie Stiefvater

I never got to buy this book last month, and it is definitely happening this month. It's one of my most anticipated reads of 2016 so I need to get to a bookstore and read it ASAP!
     5.   The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson


My book club was planning on reading this book last year for one of our reads, but we ended up not reading it and reading another book instead. I've been meaning to read it ever since, and since I saw it for super cheap last month I bought it, and I really want to get to it this month!
     6.   The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

One of my goals for this year was to read at least one classic a month in order to slowly cut down on my classic TBR pile, and since I need to read this one for English class this month, I figured I would count this one as my classic for the month!

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

April 2016 Wrap-Up

This month was actually an awesome reading month for me, which I am pleasantly surprised with! School is really picking up, but I still managed to read a total of 7 books! I read every one on my TBR as well, expect for The Raven King, as I haven't gotten it yet.


I read:
  • ★★★★☆ King Lear by William Shakespeare
  • ★★★★★ We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates
  • ★★★☆☆ Brave New World by Aldous Huxley7
  • ★★★★★ The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle #1) by Maggie Stiefvater
  • ★★★★★ The Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle #2) by Maggie Stiefvater
  • ★★★★★ Blue Lily, Lily Blue (The Raven Cycle #3) by Maggie Stiefvater
  • ★★★☆☆ The Ghosts of Heaven by Marcus Sedgwick


The first book that I completed this month was King Lear by William Shakespeare. It wasn't my favourite of his plays, but overall I enjoyed it and I thought that it was definitely one of his best. King Lear is a tragedy, but I still really enjoyed the extremes that some of the characters went to, as well as the humor in it. Shakespeare has a tendency to put a lot of dry, dark humor into his tragedies, and it always makes the play much more enjoyable for me.


The second book I completed was We Were the Mulvaneys, which I needed to read for my English class. I picked it on a whim, and I am so insanely glad that I did. Not only was the novel very detailed and the plot attention-grabbing and interesting, the novel also had many important messages and I think it is one of those books that everyone should read at some point in their lives. I have a full review here if anyone is interested in reading more of my thoughts on this book!


The third book I read, and the first book I fully read this month was Brave New World. I have many mixed feelings about this book, from the beginning all the way through. I found it to be very rushed and also lacking a lot plot wise, as well as making some of the characters just disappear at points and never bringing them back. The writing of the characters was great though, and the way that they spoke was just amazing to read. This book was enjoyable, but I'm glad it was only 220 pages. I feel kind of neutral about it, as I didn't particularly enjoy the whole book, but I also didn't not enjoy it. Some parts I loved, some scenes are some of my absolute favourites from a classic novel, but other parts I just couldn't stand, so therefore I gave it three stars.


I then powered through The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, which was a re-read for me. I read it back in 2013, and I still loved every page of it. Maggie's writing is always amazing and intoxicating, and I love how she manages to string words together and create worlds and characters that are so unique but are also so relatable. The Raven Boys is an amazing book and I have absolutely nothing but the highest praise for it. Her characters are different while still being relatable, her stories are fascinating and heart-grabbing, and her characters' relationships are so beautiful to read about. I loved every second of reading this book, the first time I read it as well as this re-read. I have a full, spoiler free review of The Raven Boys here if you want to read more!


I also powered through The Dream Thieves, which is the second book in The Raven Cycle. I didn't love this one as much as I loved The Raven Boys, mostly because we didn't get as much Gansey as in the first one, but I still completely loved it. Maggie Stiefvater's writing is so beautiful and wonderful and I love it so, so, SO much. Her characters developed so much in this book, and we learned so much about all of them in such a short time. I have a full, spoiler free review up here if you're interested in reading more of my thoughts!


I then read Blue Lily, Lily Blue, the third book in The Raven Cycle. This one was probably my least favourite out of the first three, but it was still easily a five star book. The characters and the plot become darker, we start losing characters, and everything becomes more intense. I cant say too much about this book without having any spoilers, so I'll leave it at that! I also have a spoiler free review here if you want to read more of my thoughts!

I had high hopes going into the next book I read this month, which was The Ghosts of Heaven. I didn't know going into it that it was split into four different parts, of which I enjoyed some but not others. The first quarter of the book I was not a fan of, as it was in more of a poetry style. The second part I enjoyed, and the third even more so. The fourth part I thoroughly enjoyed, and it was what saved the book for me in the end and pushed me through to the end of it. The book was good overall, and I did enjoy it, but I personally feel that I will never re-read it as I don't believe that I would be able to find anything in it to make it worthwhile for me to re-read it.

Sunday, May 1, 2016

April 2016 Book Haul

This month I got 18 books...kinda insane for me. Hopefully I can keep it down to a minimum next month. I got:

Adult:
  1. Room by Emma Donoghue (Movie tie-in paperback edition)
  2. You Had Me at Hello by Mhairi McFarlane (Paperback)
  3. The Shock of The Fall by Nathan Filer (Paperback)
  4. It Started with Paris by Cathy Kelly (Hardcover)
  5. Burial Rites by Hannah Kent (Paperback)
  6. The Promise of Stardust by Priscille Sibley (Paperback)
  7. The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North (Hardcover)
Young adult:
  1. Envy (Luxe #3) by Anna Godbersen (Paperback)
  2. My Beating Teenage Heart by C.K. Kelly Martin (Paperback)
  3. The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson (Hardcover)
  4. Zeros by Scott Westerfeld (Hardcover)
  5. Ghosts of Heaven by Marcus Sedgwick (Hardcover)
  6. Trial by Fire by Josephine Angelini (Hardcover)
  7. The Infinite Sea (The 5th Wave #2) by Rick Yancey (Hardcover)
  8. The Here and Now by Ann Brashares (Hardcover)
  9. The Accidental Highwayman by Ben Tripp (Hardcover)
  10. The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black (Paperback)
  11. Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch (Paperback)