fantastically written, but not without its faults

Welcome to my first series review!

Writing this review was an interesting experience for me. For starters, it encompasses my thoughts and feelings for three different books instead of one. I also wrote it well after finishing all the books so my memory of them is kind of fuzzy. Usually, I jot notes while reading books I’m going to review, but I had no intention of making this post until I was almost finished with the third book.

Here’s to firsts!

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The Fall Book Tag

November has just begun and ~~(I)~~ people have already started gearing up for Winter and Christmas. In order to counteract all the excitement for the holiday season and reorient ~~(myself)~~ everyone to the time, I decided to do The Fall Book Tag.

I was tagged by Dani from Perspective of a Writer (thank you!); She’s a sweet girl and her blog is full awesome content, so you should give it a look. Continue reading “The Fall Book Tag” →

Book Review: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo // deserves the hype

Title: Six of Crows

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Published: September 29, 2015

Pages: 462

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult

Amazon / Barnes & Nobles / Goodreads

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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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” →

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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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 😊.

(The books are listed in the order that I read them, oldest to most recent.)

Continue reading “My Favorite Books of 2017 (Part One)” →

Book Review: A Quiet Kind of Thunder by Sara Barnard // a look into living with anxiety and selective mutism (+ a little life update)

Title: A Quiet Kind of Thunder

Author: Sara Barnard

Published: January 12, 2017

Pages: 320

Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult, Romance

Amazon / Goodreads

Goodreads Description: Steffi has been a selective mute for most of her life – she’s been silent for so long that she feels completely invisible. But Rhys, the new boy at school, sees her. He’s deaf, and her knowledge of basic sign language means that she’s assigned to look after him. To Rhys, it doesn’t matter that Steffi doesn’t talk, and as they find ways to communicate, Steffi finds that she does have a voice, and that she’s falling in love with the one person who makes her feel brave enough to use it.