tags

Tag | Bookish Book Lover Tag

Emma3 Comments

Welcome one, welcome all! Today, I’m here with the Bookish Book Lover Tag, which was created by Shantelle @Shantellemaryh Although it seems her blog doesn’t exist anymore, oh no! I saw this tag recently thanks to Stephanie from Adventures of a Bibliophile. Let’s not waste any more time, let’s jump straight into the questions…

What books are you currently reading?

At the time of writing this post (though hopefully not at the time of publishing this post), I’m currently reading a few things: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, The Tell-Tale Heart and Other Stories by Edgar Allen Poe, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling, and If We’re Not Married By Thirty by Lucy Bell. The first three of those are audiobooks and the first two are for the sake of completing a couple more Around the Year challenges. The latter two are just for fun!

What’s the last book you finished?

I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O’Farrell – I didn’t really know what to expect at all because I’ve never read anything from this author before but it came highly recommended from someone at work. It turned out to be awful and shocking and kind of morbid but also weirdly uplifting too and I really enjoyed the writing style (even though it’s non-fiction, so can you really tell what someone’s fiction will be like from that?) so I’ll be checking out some more Maggie O’Farrell in the future for sure.

Favorite book read this year?

I have to choose just one?! I’ve had a pretty damn good reading year, all in all, and there have been a lot of 4+ star reads, but off the top of my head some major contenders are: Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, Furyborn by Claire Legrand, The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry, The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heilig.

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Tag | The Greek Gods Book Tag

Emma3 Comments

Hi folks! Today, on this Thursday evening, I bring you a fun book tag, who would’ve guessed? I wasn’t actually tagged but I saw this tag very recently over on Luna’s blog and it was created by Zuky. Since it’s about greek gods and I loved learning the mythology and legends when I was younger (still do, if I’m honest), it seemed like an impossible tag for me to pass over. So here we are – let’s get straight to it!

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The Rules

  • Pingback to Zuky here so she can read all your posts!
  • You can use her graphics if you like, but you don’t have to if you don’t want to.
  • Tag as many people as you want, but please share the love.

gg_zeus

ZEUS: KING OF THE GODS – YOUR FAVOURITE BOOK

I have too many: Pride and Prejudice, Rebecca, Good Omens, Persuasion, The Graveyard Book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Six of Crows, The Secret History, Fangirl… I could go on.

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HERA: QUEEN OF THE GODS – A BADASS FEMALE CHARACTER

Speaking of Six of Crows, can we talk about Inej Ghafa for a minute? Because Inej. Need I say more? I think not, the Wraith speaks for herself.

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Tag | Bookish Naughty or Nice

Emma7 Comments

Welcome one, welcome all, to another Tag Thursday! Since we are deep in the midst of Blogmas, I thought I would bring you a festive themed tag this week. This week’s tag comes courtesy of Jenn who created the tag and Jenna and Luna who were kind enough to tag me and it’s called the Bookish Naughty of Nice tag. Let’s make that list and check it twice…

Rules

  • Tag & link the person who tagged you
  • Tag and link me/this post (if you would be so kind, I love reading your answers!)
  • Tick/cross off the ones you’ve done
  • Tag another 10 people!

If you’ve not been tagged, go ahead and do it anyway!

Received an ARC and not reviewed it ✓

An eARC, yes – I’m bad. A physical ARC, no, by virtue of the fact that the only physical ARC I’ve ever received has been a freebie in a Fairyloot box!

Have less than 60% feedback rating on Netgalley ✓

Yeah, uh, it me. I got really bad about this in the middle of the year and I still haven’t managed to claw my ratio back up to an acceptable number. Something to work on for 2019!

Rated a book on goodreads and promised a full review was to come on your blog (and never did)

No? I don’t tend to pre-review books much on Goodreads, nowadays I only use it to track the date I read a book, quick status updates, and give them a star rating. I nearly always forget to put full reviews on Goodreads and then go back and do them in batches when I do remember!

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Down the TBR Hole #25

Emma2 Comments

Welcome folks to the twenty-fifth round of Down the TBR Hole! For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, check out the previous posts via the tag or check out Lia at Lost in a Story who is the creator of this wonderful meme/project.

I’m trying to make this a regular feature of my blogging schedule because it’s good to regularly reevaluate if/why you want to read a book – that way you don’t come back to your TBR years later and have no clue why a title piqued your interest in the first place. I’ve also added a summary of results bit at the bottom of each round so I can track how many books I’ve kept and ditched from my TBR shelf in each round and overall.

Just a reminder of how this works:

  • Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
  • Order on ascending date added.
  • Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books
  • Read the synopses of the books
  • Decide: keep it or should it go?

Outside of doing these posts semi-regularly I have also been culling my TBR list at random points when I’m bored – all of this is good in terms of getting my TBR to a reasonable amount of books but it also means that these posts are getting harder for me to do as I’m beginning to really agonise over whether to ditch or keep books on there. Not that any of this is a bad thing! Let’s get going on the 10 books under scrutiny today…

1. Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld

Why is it there? The concept of this was too good to pass on: it tells of a young, aspiring author who gets a book deal for her YA novel, moves to New York, and ends up in the world of publishing and maybe falling in love along the way? Meanwhile, in alternate chapters, her YA novel is told to the reader too. And I presume there’s some kind of connection and parallel to be drawn etc. etc. and it all sounds so very meta. I haven’t read anything Scott Westerfeld before and I’m sure this would be a good way for me to get into trying his writing out as I love books about books.
Do I own it? Yes
Verdict? Keep

2. The Bookshop Book by Jen Campbell

Why is it there? I absolutely adore Jen Campbell’s Booktube so it’s no surprise that when she said she was writing a book about bookshops, I jumped at adding this to my TBR list. I still haven’t read it, mostly because I have to be really in the mood for anything non-fiction, but this definitely feels like a book I will pick up and put down when the moment strikes and I’ll love hearing about some of her favourite bookshops.
Do I own it? Yes
Verdict? Keep

3. The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg

Why is it there? A while back, this first book in a series was always either cheap or free on Kindle, so it kept popping up on my Amazon lists when I scrolled through the ebooks on offer. I briefly looked into it and, from the blurb, was told it was about paper magic. That seemed like a damn good enough reason for a book-obsessed girl to add it to her (at the time) not very large TBR. However, since then, I’ve read books with out-of-the-box magic systems and enjoyed them so, as harsh as this sounds, I feel like this book looks like a case of a great concept but perhaps (maybe possibly) with not good enough writing to pull it off. That sounds way harsh but yeah I think that’s what has put me off picking this one up for all this time… eek!
Do I own it? No
Verdict? Ditch Continue reading →

Tag | The F.R.I.E.N.D.S Book Tag

Emma6 Comments

I saw this tag recently over on Kristin’s blog, but it was originally created by Roxanne from An Average Life. I love Friends, and it’s definitely a show that I keep coming back to for nostalgia and comfort reasons – I don’t think that will ever change, although my opinions on each of the characters and their decisions always seems to as I get older! But before I end up just ranting how terrible Ross is, let’s just get on with the tag instead.

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Tag | The Disney Tag

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I found this amazing Disney themed Tag on Michelle’s Purple Pumpkin Blog, and it seems quite fitting because as you read this I will be arriving in Disney World Orlando, all excited to experience the magical world of Disney for the very first time. As I’m writing these we’re a few days away from the holiday but I am so excited so I figured it would be useful to channel this energy into something semi useful by completing a Disney themed tag!

1. Favourite Disney Film?

I always struggle to answer this succinctly but I’m going to try. My first true love of Disney will always be Pocahontas when it comes to the animated films and Mary Poppins for the live-action ones. Most recent new love is Moana and Hercules (I did not fully appreciate the latter properly when I was younger so I consider this a “new” love to me).

2. Favourite Disney Character?

Again, it’s so hard to pick one but since I’ve spied that sidekicks and princesses can pop up in the questions after this, I’ll try to pick a Disney “prince” for this one. I love Flynn Rider from Tangled – who wouldn’t? (Also, and this explains SO much about my taste in guys, Roger from 101 Dalmatians.)

disney_flynn.gif

3. Favourite Disney Princess?

Can I pick Megara from Hercules and Rapunzel from Tangled? They’re both kick-ass in their own ways and I also love me some sass.

4. Favourite Disney side-kick?

Meeko from Pocahontas, no question about it.

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Tag | Fall Book Tag

Emma5 Comments

Can you smell that? It’s the smell of encroaching crispy leaves falling off trees and Starbucks churning out PSLs. That’s right, it’s Fall – or, Autumn, as we English people say. And in celebration of this transitional season into the best of the year (Winter, obviously), I’ve found a book tag, the aptly names Fall Book Tag. No messing around with fancy names here, no sir. This tag was created by Bionic Book Worm and I saw it over on Stephanie’s blog so I couldn’t resist giving it a go.

Crisp Fall Air – A Book That Felt Fresh and New

The first thing that came to mind was Genuine Fraud by e. lockhart. I know other authors have written stories in reverse order but this used that device in a really interesting way so it started with, say, chapter 20, and worked its way back to chapter 1 so you understood the motivation behind what brought the protagonist to the situation she was in at the start of the book/end of the story. It didn’t feel gimmicky either, it completely fit the tone of the story being told, which was quite refreshing, like that sweet, sweet fall breeze.

Howling Winds – An Ending That Blew You Away

I could pick so many series enders for this. I mean, shall I be typical and mention a certain duology by Leigh Bardugo? Or perhaps a trilogy by V.E. Schwab?

But if we’re talking about real ‘makes you gasp with surprise’ ending that made me frantically turn over the pages expecting (nay, needing) more story right this second, then I guess that would be the thing that happens at the end of The Mime Order by Samantha Shannon. I don’t know if I’ve ever quite recovered from it.

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Down the TBR Hole #24

Emma4 Comments

Welcome folks to the twenty-fourth round of Down the TBR Hole!

For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, check out the previous posts via the tag or check out Lia at Lost in a Story who is the creator of this wonderful meme/project.

I’m trying to make this a regular feature of my blogging schedule because it’s good to regularly reevaluate if/why you want to read a book – that way you don’t come back to your TBR years later and have no clue why a title piqued your interest in the first place. I’ve also added a summary of results bit at the bottom of each round so I can track how many books I’ve kept and ditched from my TBR shelf in each round and overall.

Just a reminder of how this works:

  • Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
  • Order on ascending date added.
  • Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books
  • Read the synopses of the books
  • Decide: keep it or should it go?

Outside of doing these posts semi-regularly I have also been culling my TBR list at random points when I’m bored – all of this is good in terms of getting my TBR to a reasonable amount of books but it also means that these posts are getting harder for me to do as I’m beginning to really agonise over whether to ditch or keep books on there. Not that any of this is a bad thing! Let’s get going on the 10 books under scrutiny today…

1. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

Why is it there? As is typical of most classics on this list, I’m not entirely sure when or why this was added. However, having had a quick glance on Goodreads at the verdicts of my fellow readers, they said it’s a must read for fans of Jane Austen so I probably should give it a go.
Do I own it? Yes
Verdict? Keep

2. Love in a Cold Climate and Other Novels by Nancy Mitford

Why is it there? Once again, I have little to no recollection of how this ended up on my TBR. I likely decided that I knew nothing about the Mitfords so should give this a go. The thing is, so little time, so many books I want to read…
Do I own it? No
Verdict? Ditch

3. Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh

Why is it there? For some reason, I’ve decided I’ll quite like Evelyn Waugh books. The thing is… I’ve never read one. However, I’ve seen enough synopses to reckon out that I will probably indeed enjoy the likes of Brideshead Revisited and this book too.
Do I own it? Yes
Verdict? Keep Continue reading →

Down the TBR Hole #23

Emma2 Comments

Welcome folks to the twenty-third round of Down the TBR Hole! As I mentioned in my last round of DtTH (nope, that acronym isn’t particularly attractive, is it?), this little project has been a great way of weening down my TBR over the past year so I’ve decided to keep it up and make it a semi-regular feature in order to spring clean my TBR aka be realistic about what books I aspire to read and what books I actually will read.

For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, check out the previous posts via the tag or check out Lia at Lost in a Story who is the creator of this wonderful meme/project.

I’m trying to make this a regular feature of my blogging schedule because it’s good to regularly reevaluate if/why you want to read a book – that way you don’t come back to your TBR years later and have no clue why a title piqued your interest in the first place. I’ve also added a summary of results bit at the bottom of each round so I can track how many books I’ve kept and ditched from my TBR shelf in each round and overall.

Just a reminder of how this works:

  • Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
  • Order on ascending date added.
  • Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books
  • Read the synopses of the books
  • Decide: keep it or should it go?

Outside of doing these posts semi-regularly I have also been culling my TBR list at random points when I’m bored – all of this is good in terms of getting my TBR to a reasonable amount of books but it also means that these posts are getting harder for me to do as I’m beginning to really agonise over whether to ditch or keep books on there. Not that any of this is a bad thing! Let’s get going on the 10 books under scrutiny today…

1. A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood

Why is it there? I’ve seen the film and absolutely adored it, so naturally I wanted to read the book for myself. I don’t really know much about how this reads as a story, but I’m sure it will be enormously sad, based on how I felt about the film, and I just need to wait to be in the right mood for reading that sort of thing…
Do I own it? No
Verdict? Keep

2. The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens

Why is it there? Since I haven’t read nearly as many Dickens novels as I feel I ought to have, as a Literature graduate, I added all the Charles Dickens books to my TBR list many moons ago… and then did precisely nothing about it. As it stands, I’ve only read 5 of his novels and there’s like 15/16 – this is one of the many I haven’t yet read, but it sounds absolutely bonkers so I’m here for it, when I finally decide that reading a 500-page book is a good idea.
Do I own it? Yes
Verdict? Keep

3. Jackaby by William Ritter

Why is it there? I remember vaguely seeing this book pop up in some Booktubers’ hauled videos and then I saw Stephanie from Adventures of a Bibliophile review the series very positively, and that helped to move this book onto my actual TBR. It’s often described as a late 19th-century historical fiction/paranormal mystery that’s reminiscent of Doctor Who meets Sherlock, so I’m definitely up for trying that out sometime (hopefully) soon.
Do I own it? Yes
Verdict? Keep

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Tag | Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag

Emma3 Comments

Greetings one and all, today on this auspicious day I bring you a tag which you may very well have seen floating around A LOT – the Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag. The tag was originally created by Ely and Chami, and it does the rounds at this time of year as all us book bloggers, Booktubers, and book enthusiasts alike look back over what we’ve read so far in the year and (maybe) freak out about all the fantastic (and not so fantastic) books we’ve read. I think that’s all the introduction it needs so, without further ado, let’s freak out…

1. Best book you’ve read so far in 2018.

This question is never not tricky. If we’re discounting re-reads, then The Language of Thorns, The Power, The Girl from Everywhere, The Essex Serpent, The Lie Tree, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, and Genuine Fraud have been my 5-star reads. As far as my favourite goes, that would probably be either The Essex Serpent or The Lie Tree, I read them at a similar time though so maybe I was just in the right head-space to REALLY love what I was reading. Both were full of mystery and definitely NOT what I expected them to be. But I’m not choosing between them.

2. Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2018.

Despite my commitment to finish series this year (a resolution I have been failing hard), I actually haven’t read that many sequels at all – I can literally count on one hand the amount of sequels I’ve read, and have fingers to spare. So, the choice is limited but, thankfully, I’ve read a pretty good sequel and that was the second book in Marie Rutkoski’s Winner’s Trilogy, called The Winner’s Crime. The stakes were raised so much higher from the first book and this sequel had much more court politics and intrigue and spying so, suffice it to say, I loved it.

3. New release you haven’t read yet, but want to.

I’m really bad at reading things on time, ask my protesting pile of eARCs on NetGalley if you don’t believe me! How “new” is new though? Because I still haven’t read Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi and that came out back in March. I’m a bad reader, I know.

4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year.

I’m sure there are many others that I’m forgetting right now as I’m faced with this question but the thing that sticks in my head is the two books we have to look forward to from V.E. Schwab, Vengeful, sequel to Vicious (which I still haven’t read, I know, I need to), and City of Ghosts which is about a girl who can see ghosts and is set in a very haunted Edinburgh. That’s all I need to know, I’m in.

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