January Wrap-up!

January was the first month I’d read any books for fun since August, and somehow I ended up reading 10! This month, I finished five regular novels and five graphic novels!

 

Starting off with the Regular Books:

The first book I read was A Winter’s Promise by Christelle Dabos and translated by Hildegarde Sirle. This book took me a long time to get through, but I throughly enjoyed the process of reading. I had a lot of praises and few criticisms. However, the more time that has passed since I read this book, the more annoyed I became. A lot of annoying things in the book I remember (like Ophelia constantly being a wimp despite supposedly having an iron will), and fewer of the things I liked (the characters may have been well developed, but man were they terrible people). I think that this book was incredibly well written despite this, and that it just may not be for everyone. I do want to continue with the series, once the rest come out in English.

The next book I read was The Cruel Prince by Holly Black. I actually read this for a book club on instagram, and I was happy to do so because it had been on my tbr for a long time. I had heard a lot of hype surrounding this book, and luckily I really enjoyed it! It was the kind of book that I just kept wanting to read to see what was going to happen next, and it was exciting all the way through. There were some points I wasn’t as fond of (like a romance between two specific characters…….) but overall I liked how flawed and messed up everybody was: the protagonist, the antagonist, everyone you meet. I recommend this book and am super excited to read the sequel!

This was one of those books that all the cool kids in fourth grade were reading and I wanted to read too, but couldn’t figure out how to find at the library. So, I just decided to read it at the ripe old age of 18. I enjoyed it, and thought that it was well written despite the discrepancy between me and the intended audience. I do think I would have liked it more as a younger kid, but am glad I read it anyways.

I wanted to read The Year of the Rat because the author, Grace Lin, wrote my favorite book of my childhood and my life: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. Year of the Rat is somewhat autobiographical, which I like, and it was cool to read. It’s also meant for a somewhat younger audience, and while I really did enjoy it I think that younger people would enjoy it even more. This is also a very important book, because it has lots of representation for different kids that may read it.

On a very, very different note, we have Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan. This book deals with abuse (mental, physical, and sexual) in a fantasy setting. It became gruesome fast and often, so major content warning for that. That being said, I think that all of the details and emotions are what makes this book so important. The message and characters are well developed and I feel deeply for them. The issues that I have with this book tend to have more to do with book mechanics than anything deeper (a couple of plot points seemed slightly illogical and I would have preferred the book to be told through Wren’s perspective). Everything deeper than that was very well done, and I think this book is so, so important for the topics it deals with.

 

Graphic Novels I Read This Month:

I read graphic novels from two series, so I’m just going to talk about each series together.

The show Avatar: The Last Airbender has a bunch of graphic novel trilogies that have come out now, so I thought I’d read the first trilogy (The Promise). The books are short, even for comics, and it didn’t feel like a trilogy as much as three chapters in one short book. They were a lot of fun, and I can’t say too much without spoiling the show, but the ~vibe~ is similar to the original series and I’m glad I read them!

I also read the first two manga volumes of Your Lie in April by Naoshi Arakawa. I want to watch the anime at some point, but I don’t know if I should finish reading the series first or not. I heard the ending was sad, but I still want to read and watch it! The first two were nice, and actually pretty inspiring, so we’ll see how it goes.

 

And there you have it folks! All the books I finished in the month of January 2019! I hope February will be even better! 🙂

Question of the Day: What did you read in January?

-Josanna

Top Five Wednesday-Top of Your TBR!

This week’s Top Five Wednesday prompt is the top five books on your tbr, so I’m going to go through them 🙂

 

1. Lost Voices by Sarah Porter

This one I have wanted to read ever since reading her other book Vassa in the Night, and I have it out from the library right now, so I might as well read it before I have to return it.

2. Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

I actually just got this from a used book store, and now it is the group book for my team on the Booktube Games, so I’ll be reading it the first week of February!

3. Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

I’m doing the Read Harder challenge from Book Riot this year, and one of the prompts is to read an epistolary novel (novel made up out of documents of some sort) and I had this one on my shelf, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to read it!

4. How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez

I’ve wanted to read this since I read In the Time of the Butterflies by the same author, and don’t know when I am going to be able to read it, but hope that that time will be soon!

5. The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

I’ve heard great things about this one and am excited to learn more about the Mahābhārata, which seems like one of those stories that really deserves more recognition and representation.

 

We’ll see how I do with reading these, hopefully by this time next month I will have read them all!

Question of the Day: What is the next book you plan on reading?

–Josanna

Prideathon TBR

Hello everyone! Welcome to my tbr for a very fun readathon called Prideathon! As you may be able to guess, it is all about lgbt+ reads!!! It starts today, September 25, and goes until next Sunday. There are seven challenges and a group book.

Challenge 1: Book with a trans/ nonbinary mc

I’m reading If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo, which follows a young trans girl, and won a Stonewall honor.

Challenge 2: Book with an orientation you’ve never read about before

I chose Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire, which has an ace main character.

Challenge 3: Non ya book with queer mc

I chose Drama by Raina Telgmeier because I really enjoyed her other books, Smile and Sisters.

Challenge 4: Fairytale retelling with queer mc

I picked Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Basherdoust simply because it sounds really good and really interesting!

Challenge 5: Book about a queer disabled mc by an author who is also disabled

I chose The Last Leaves Falling by Fox Benwell just because it was available at my library and I didn’t know what else to read. Even still, it sounds really good and I’m exited to read it!

Challenge 6: An OwnVoices queer graphic novel

I chose Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Allison Bechdel because there is a musical based off of it that a bunch of my friends like. I’m afraid it will be sad though. 😦

Challenge 7: A bisexual mc m/f romance

I chose Love in the Time of Global Warming by Francesca Lia Block because I like futuristic sci-fi stuff (I think that’s what this is?) and this book looks interesting. Also my school library had it available.

Group Book: They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

I put this on hold at the library but tbh I’m hoping it won’t come in on time because I cannot deal with that much sadness. I’m a happy camper.

I don’t know if you can tell (probably) but I put this tbr together kind of quickly because I didn’t know the readathon was going on until a few days ago. I really wanted to participate once I heard, though, and now I’m really exited!!

The Reading Quest Update!

Hi! So as I mentioned on my twitter, I’m on a semi-hiatus until school gets going  and I get situated. I start the day after tomorrow, so I should probably be posting regularly after about two weeks from then.

Until then, I still want to post once in a while, so let’s get into my reading quest update!

In the last two weeks, I have read four books, two from the mage’s path and two side quests.

First, I read The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman. This fulfilled the requirement of The First Book of  Series.

 

Who doesn’t love a polar bear???

I really enjoyed it, although it took me a long time to read. I don’t quite know why, because it was really quite short, but I could only really manage like 50 pages a day. Despite this, it was a great book and I rated it 5/5 stars. I think I would like to review this one sometime.

The other mage book I read was Everyday Angel: Last Wishes by Victoria Schwab for A Book that Contains Magic. I. Cannot. Get. Over. This. Title. This is probably the most low-key and happy book out of all of V Schwab’s books, and it’s called Last Wishes??? Her book allllll about freaking dead people was called The freaking Archived but Last Wishes is about some kid dancer and a guardian angel? I loved it, and I knew what it was about before I started but still, pick a better title, Scholastic.

Awww adorable wittle tweenagers

Anyways, I gave it a 5/5 stars as well, because it was a beautiful end to the Everyday Angel series, and beautifully written. I really appreciated it even though it is a middle grade book and I, as you can probably tell, am not 11 years old. I will likely do a series review in the future.

 

Also, I read two side quest books concurrently with The Golden Compass because I needed some quick books to pick me up.

One of these was Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai for the Open World side quest.

I really enjoyed it, and it was a very quick read. It is under 300 pages and the story is told in free verse poetry. I rated it 4/5 stars and am not currently planning on reviewing it, but I could do so if requested. It was emotionally moving, and I’m grateful to have finally gotten a chance to read it since I’ve wanted to for a while now.

Finally, I read the Tales of the Peculiar by Ransom Riggs for the Expansion side quest. That book is basically a collection of short fairy tales from the Peculiar universe featured in the Miss Peregrine’s series.

And plus the book itself is just plain beautiful, complete with gold foiling

I did quite enjoy this, and had fun reading it, but I didn’t think it was really analogous to fairy tales, like it is marketed. A lot of the writing felt very modern, and a lot of the tales didn’t feel authentic. That being said, I certainly did enjoy it and thought it was well written aside from that aspect. I gave it 3/5 stars.

Currently, I have 110exp and 175hp which puts me at level 3!

Up Next:

I was originally going to read Sabriel by Garth Nix for the A Book Based On Mythology prompt, but I don’t think I’ll be able to finish it by next week, so I switched to Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit by Nahoko Uehashi. I’m  not too far into it yet, but am enjoying it as of now.

Also, I have started reading Haru Hana: The Complete Collection by Yuana Kazumi, and it’s not my favorite so far. I think this is because the genre isn’t my favorite. Anyways, if there is time before the end of the week I’ll be sure to finish it up!

Are you participating in The Reading Quest? If so how is your quest going?

I so don’t do spooky- Barrie Summy book review

So I read this book because I had it on my bookshelf, and because I’m trying to read all the books I own, and also because my friend Cameron got it for me forever ago as a gift. In like 6th grade. She was basically like, “You like books, right? Here you go!” And then a copy of I So Don’t Do Spooky suddenly belonged to me.

Rating: 2.5 stars

This was a difficult rating to decide on, but I just gave it 2.5 stars because while it certainly did have things that I enjoyed, it mostly had aspects that were either flat, poorly written, or I just didn’t like.

Characters: This category is a big one, since there were many characters that played a variety of somewhat important roles. The main character, Sherry, was actually really mean. She was mean to her family, her best friend, her boyfriend, and basically everyone she met throughout the story. In the end, she did some pretty selfless things, but she was still rude and mean to friends and other people when talking to them- or about them. And all of her meanness goes unpunished, after making unreasonable demands on her friends and demeaning their hobbies for the entire book, they still think she’s the best!

Aside from this, almost all of the side characters were flat, and stayed the same for the entire book. They seemed to change to Sherry the narrator, but this is just because she wasn’t paying attention to them before, and simply learned new things about her friends that were there all along, had she been paying attention. Character and Character development rating: 1.5/5 stars

Plot: The plot was fun, and I can see why it would appeal to kids in middle school. It has fun, friends, a mystery, a devoted boyfriend, and even ghosts. I knew several people on middle school who would have loved to lead the life of the characters in the book. But the thing is, a lot of events just don’t make any sense. The ghostly aspect is especially dripping in plot holes, but the whole thing (no pun intended) has continuity issues as well.

Spoopy af

Also, the plot twists were quite obvious, and I guessed them all before they happened. A younger person, I think, could have as well, and I think that this book kind of talks down to kids in that it assumes that they cannot guess the plot twists.

Also, the book tries to imitate teen texting, which is hilariously inaccurate at best, and cringe-worthy at worst. Plot and plot development rating: 2.5/5 stars.

“omg wat r u doin? want 2 hang out w/out the ‘rents?” Literally no one texts like that.

Other: Other than the things I mentioned earlier, the book was slow. Buuuuut there were enjoyable things as well!

The emotions of a daughter and her mother were captured very well, which is good since it was one of the main themes of the book.

Also, there is a sense of fun in this book that I think is lost in a lot of young adult books. There’s fear and sadness and everything too, but this book is very optimistic and lighthearted at its heart. I really liked this aspect of it. Other things rating: 4/5 stars.

These three ratings average out to 2 and 2/3 stars, but its really more like 2.5 stars because the first two categories are more important to me.

Overall, I would really only recommend this book to people in middle school, because it can be fun, even if I don’t think it’s the best written book in the world.

Review also posted on Goodreads and Amazon.

Anticipated releases for the rest of 2017

So for the next few months there are several books coming out that I am quite exited for, and so I have decided to compile a list of them. There aren’t that many, but there are enough to make a list about, I decided.

1. The Epic Crush of Genie Lo by F.C Yee- I haven’t read any of Yee’s books before (actually I believe this is his debut) but have heard incredible reviews by several people and I really want to check this book out once it comes out (which is tomorrow June 8).
2. The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding by Alexandra Bracken- I read Bracken’s Passenger and really enjoyed it! I’m looking forward to reading Wayfarer sometime soon, and the Dreadful Tale sounds really neat, and fun, and spooky.
3. The first book of the second Miss Peregrine’s trilogy- This book comes out this September, so it seems like it should really have a title by now, but like whatever. I finished the last trilogy recently and enjoyed it, so I’m exited for the next one!
4. When I Cast Your Shadow by Sarah Porter- I read Vassa in the Night by Porter and loved it, so I’m exited for this one, and think I even want to preorder it.
5. Tentacle and Wing by Sarah Porter- This goes along with the last one, and also I think it is impressive that Porter has two books coming out so close together! WICYS is a ya book, while this one is a middle grade.
6. Warcross by Marie Lu- I have seen this book ALL OVER social media and the hype is real. I’m planning to read Legend as part of The Reading Quest, but I haven’t read any of Lu’s work so far.

Well I hope you enjoyed this brief post! What books are you looking forward to reading? Are you anticipating any of these books? Let me know in the comments below! 🙂

Book Review- Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab (non-spoiler review and spoiler discussion)

(I’m going to start with the non-spoiler review, and then head into the spoilery discussion after. Don’t worry, I’ll give you a head’s up. The non-spoiler section may still contain spoilers for This Savage Song, the first book in the duology.)

“I didn’t mean to startle you. But you are standing in my kitchen. And that is my favorite knife.”

It’s no secret that V Schwab is one of my favorite authors- I’ve read almost all of her books. They’re always about interesting people in interesting worlds (with exquisite world building), and it seems like she never runs out of fascinating ideas. So I had high hopes for Our Dark Duet, and somehow it still managed to surpass my expectations.

The book starts a few months after the events in TSS (This Savage Song) with Kate leaving Verity for Prosperity, and August staying with the Flynn Task Force. Ilsa can still reap souls, but no longer with music. Much has happened between the two books.

One thing that was exceptional about this book was the character development- August and Kate of course, but also all of the side characters. The reader gets a lot of insight into characters like Ilsa and Soro (new character) and even those like Sloan so they are understandable, and in several cases purposefully unlikable. Not only does everyone have a backstory, but you can see layers of character shift as the story goes on.

The world building was exceptional as could be expected. It was interesting to see the contrast between Verity and Prosperity too, and how they were both independent territories in the same dystopian world yet very different. The pacing was phenomenal too. I feel like this is a book that you could read quickly or slowly depending on your preferences.

An unapologetic 5/5 stars. Actually, scratch that. 1,000,000/5 stars.

 

Discussion:

(Spoilers beyond this point!)

Damn, V. Why did you gotta go do me like that??? That ending was so rude on your part.

Kate was ma gurl. KATE WAS MA GURL.

But to be honest if she had to go I’m glad it happened like that so we could see August have his soul crushed too. The ending was so evil- and yet so good.

Now I guess since that’s out of the way I’ll talk about the beginning and middle since they were phenomenal (if not quite as soul crushing) too.

I loved Soro. They were ma sunai, even if I kinda didn’t like them at first. I thought they were, like, just a little bit evil when we met them, if you know what I mean. But then their character developed and by the end I was just like

So yeah Soro was basically like my role model and favorite character all rolled into one.

Also Prosperity. Prosperity. It’s too cruel that we will never see more of this evil, insidious city.

So, in conclusion, thank you Victoria Schwab for creating this fantastic, and evil, book. Snail blogger ouuuut.

Review- My Lady Jane

My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows is a historical fiction young adult book that focuses on the adventures of Lady Jane Grey, the nine day queen of England. The first half of the book is somewhat historically accurate, but the second section just throws any attempt to being historically accurate out the window. The whole thing is just a really fun book to read that doesn’t take itself seriously.

 

The book is not a serious retelling of history, and is meant to be a comedy. It certainly lives up to that. It is entertaining and a quick read for its size. It has alternating perspectives (3rd person limited) between Edward (king of England), Jane, and Gifford Dudley (Jane’s betrothed). All of the characters are very likable individuals. The narration is very funny and adds to the whole experience; there is even funny commentary throughout.

 

One problem I had with this book was that it was slow in parts, which is a problem for a comedy, and I didn’t really feel the desire to keep reading. This may have just been a me problem though, so don’t let it throw you off of reading this book, because it certainly was very good overall.

 

I would recommend this book to anyone who is in the mood for a light fun read, and overall I give it a 4/5 stars.

2017 Reading and Blogging Goals!

Hey guys! You may have possibly noticed that I didn’t follow through with my readathon. This is because my concussion made it difficult to use the computer without getting a headache. However, I’m feeling much better right now, so I’ll tell you about some of my 2017 goals and resolutions!

Reading goals and resolutions:

1. Read more adult books- and by this I mean books written for adults, not erotica. I am planning to read at least one each month.
2. Read more classics- I also want to try and read at least one of these each month. These can be children’s classics, regular classics, or really any type of classics. I don’t care, as long as it’s something I’m interested in.
3. Read more nonfiction- Again, I want to try one each month, and read about a variety of subjects.

For all of these, I’m making these resolutions because I enjoy these types of books (actually some of the best books I’ve read recently have been these genres) and don’t get around to actually finding many of them to read. I slip back into hot teen ya fiction because its easy and comfortable instead of trying to find something I’ll enjoy more, ultimately. So, I’m hoping to use these goals to force myself to read these genres.

Blogging goals and resolutions:

1. Make a schedule and stick to it for each month. Seriously.
2. Write more reviews, and more good reviews. Plan them in the schedule, and stick it through.
3. Interact more with other people online.

I don’t think I’ve done a good job this year, and am setting these goals in order to improve for next year.

Additional goals and resolutions that don’t fit neatly into the other two categories:

1. Join some readathons, and before they start this time! I think that would be very fun.
2. Do a good deed for the world/Earth each month.
3. Do a photo project: pick a month and take a new photo of something different but similar every day of that month.
4. Drink more water.
5. Do more things that I enjoy.
6. Spend more time with my friends, and be more outgoing.
7. Have a generally better year than 2016.

Thank you for reading everyone! I would love to hear your feedback! What are your new year’s resolutions? Got any suggestions for books to read in the new year? Have a fun readathon I could join next year? I’d love to year any of your thoughts, really. Anyways, see you in my next post! 🙂