deserves the hype

Title: Six of Crows

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Published: September 29, 2015

Pages: 462

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult

Goodreads Description:
Criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker has been offered wealth beyond his wildest dreams. But to claim it, he’ll have to pull off a seemingly impossible heist:
Break into the notorious Ice Court
(a military stronghold that has never been breached)
Retrieve a hostage
(who could unleash magical havoc on the world)
Survive long enough to collect his reward
(and spend it)
Kaz needs a crew desperate enough to take on this suicide mission and dangerous enough to get the job done – and he knows exactly who: six of the deadliest outcasts the city has to offer. Together, they just might be unstoppable – if they don’t kill each other first.

I’m probably the last person under the sun to read this book.

Despite it seeming like everything I wanted in a book—a heist, clever thieves, angsty romance—it never felt like the appropriate time to read the book. I still can’t say that I finally read it at good time. I picked this book up after reading The Final Empire, another fantasy book that revolves around a heist and one that I love dearly. I couldn’t help but compare Six of Crows to it. That, combined with all the hype surrounding the book, was a recipe for disappointment. However, I still really enjoyed Six of Crows.

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My Halloween Costume // vin from mistborn

Happy Halloween!

Today, I pretended I was Vin from the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson. It was the most excited I had ever been about a costume. I re-read the first book in the series, The Final Empire, just so that I get into Vin’s mindset and browsed several Mistborn fan-sites to refresh my knowledge of the world.

I did my work like a diligent kandra.

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Attempting My First, Personal Read-a-thon

It’s 6:30 p.m. on October 27, 2017, marking the beginning of my first attempt at a personal read-a-thon.

This endeavor was inspired by Reagan from PeruseProject‘s video in which she has her own 24-hour read-a-thon to make up for all the read-a-thons she missed.

Since this is my first time trying anything like this, I’m just going to see how much I can read and collect some baseline data. I’m a slow reader, so I’m expecting to read about 500 pages. I’ll make actual concrete plans of action and goals for future read-a-thons I do. Continue reading “Attempting My First, Personal Read-a-thon” →

Being Mixed

What does it mean to be “Mixed”?

According to Wikipedia:

(What’s that I hear? Oh, it’s just all of my K-12 teachers scolding me for using Wikipedia as a source. Whoops.)

Mixed is an ethnicity category referring to people of two or more different races or ethnic backgrounds.

I’ve heard people say that it’s a derogatory term—some go as far as to say it’s a slur—but as a Mixed person myself, I personally don’t take any offense to it. Perhaps it’s because I grew up privileged, living in a diverse neighborhood where racism was rare and never tolerated. Or, maybe it’s because I feel a sense of pride in being able to claim that I was lovingly raised by two people of different backgrounds and cultures. Whatever the reason, I’m not too keen on discussing the politics of the most appropriate term to call… me.

Instead, in this post, I want to share what it’s like coming from multiple ethnic backgrounds and what unique™ experiences have occurred in my life as a result.

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Blogging vs. Vlogging // Why I Chose A Blog Over Booktube

There are countless of posts in the book blogosphere discussing the advantages and disadvantages of having a book blog, Booktube, or Bookstagram.

I find these posts interesting and have fun reading why people favor book blogging over the other platforms. In this post, I would like to focus on blogging vs. vlogging and why I chose to have a blog over Booktube.

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Quick Reads Recommendations

Short stories are fun. Short stories are my friends.

As the year draws to an end, I find myself searching for quick and short reads in a desperate attempt to keep up with my Goodreads Reading Challenge. It’s more difficult than it seems, though. I don’t want to read just any book for the sake of reaching my goal—the book has to genuinely pique my interest.

I figured some of you may be experiencing the same thing as me, so I thought I would share some of my favorite, quick (under 130 pages) reads. Hopefully, there’s something that catches your eye 😊. Continue reading “Quick Reads Recommendations” →

How To Get Out of a Reading Slump

If you are an avid reader, you have probably experienced a reading slump before or might even be in one right now. The major manifestations of a reading slump include the lack of interest and/or motivation to read or the inability to finish a book. Reading slumps can occur suddenly without a cause, as a result of a lengthy or boring book, or as a result of an amazing, emotionally exhausting book.

As an avid reader myself, I have been a victim of this phenomenon one too many times and am here to offer some tips to combat it. All of the tips include reading a book because I personally find that the key to getting out of a reading slump is to just read and, most importantly, to choose the right book to read. Continue reading “How To Get Out of a Reading Slump” →

Book Review: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman // a subtle and emotional read

Title: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

Author: Gail Honeyman

Published: May 9, 2017

Pages: 327

Genre: Adult Fiction, Contemporary

Amazon / Barnes & Nobles / Goodreads

I picked this book up on a whim, not expecting anything from it, and was hooked from the first chapter.

Eleanor Oliphant, a thirty-year old woman, is content with the routine she has carried out for the past nine years of her life: wake up, work, crossword, work, avoid confrontation, takeout, radio or book, the weekly phone call with “mummy”, alcohol, sleep. She prefers to spend her time alone as she believes other people around her are uncultured and rude. She finds an unexpected friend in Raymond when they help an old man named Sammy after he has a fall on a sidewalk. With Raymond’s assistance, Eleanor begins to break out of her shell, discuss her “mummy” issues and past, and discover that maybe she isn’t completely fine.

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Reverse Culture Shock

Most of us are familiar with the term culture shock. Google defines it as the feeling of disorientation experienced by someone who is suddenly subjected to an unfamiliar culture, way of life, or set of attitudes.

I moved across the world to *UniLand for college about two years ago, and I still experience culture shock to this day. The shock ranges from the simple amazement of the different foods people in UniLand eat to being thrown off-guard when someone questions me on something that is considered a taboo topic in the place I originated from (California). Culture shock is something people told me about and I expected I would experience when I went abroad. However, no one ever mentioned reverse culture shock, or the feeling of disorientation upon returning home after spending months or years abroad.

For my privacy, I’ve decided to call the country I’m studying in Uniland* (university + land)—such a creative name, I know.

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My Favorite Books of 2017 (Part One)

I’m proud to say that ~~although I’ve miserably failed at all my other reading goals for 2017,~~ I’ve kept up with my Goodreads Reading Challenge. I’ve read thirty-five out of my fifty book goal, so I figured I would share which ones are my favorite so far 😊.