June Book Haul!

 

So I bought quite a few books this month and I don't exactly know how to feel about it. I did do pretty good throughout the year with not buying so many books so I guess I deserved to binge a bit in June! Here are the beauties I bought this month:

 

 

500 Writing Prompts- Barnes & Noble- $7.99

Made You Up by Francesca Zappia- Barnes & Noble- $17.99

 A Court Of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR #1) by Sarah J. Maas- Barnes & Noble- $17.99

P.S I Still Love You (TATBILB #2) by Jenny Han- Barnes & Noble- $17.99

Sea Of Monsters (Percy Jackson #2) by Rick Riordan- Library- $1

The Vanishing Season by Jodi Lynn Anderson- Library- $0.50

Anne Frank: The Diary Of A Young Girl by Anne Frank- Library- $0.50

Only The Good Spy Young (Gallagher Girls #4) by Ally Carter- Half Price Books- $8.99

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (Collector's Edition)- Target- $15.99

The Name Of This Book Is A Secret by Pseudonyms Bosch- Library- $1

Disney's Alice In Wonderland by T.T Sutherland- Library- $1

Life Of Pi by Yann Martel- Library- $1

The Bobbsy Twins: Own Little Railroad (1950 edition) by Laura Lee Hope- Library- $1

Theodore Boone: The Abduction (Theodore Boone #2) by John Grisham- Library- $0.50

Theodore Boone: The Activist )Theodore Boone #4) by John Grisham- Library- $0.50

The Blank Book by Lemony Snicket- Library- $0.50

The Truth Behind The Series Of Unfortunate Events by Lois H. Gresh- Library- $1

 



June Wrap-Up!

 

So this past month has been one awesome reading month for me! I read a total of 16 books (seven novels and nine graphic novels) and I have to say, I'm very proud of myself for that! Most of the books I read this month were also really great reads with only a couple of books falling short. Here's my complete wrap-up for the month!

 

 

 

Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen (favorite of the month!)

The Heir by Kiera Cass (The Selection #4)

Miki Falls: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter by Mark Crilley

Houdini: The Handcuff King by Jason Lutes

This One Summer by Jillian Tamaki & Mariko Tamaki

Death Note vol. 1: Boredom by Tsugumi Ohba

The Last Time We Goodbye by Cynthia Hand (2nd favorite of the month!)

Peanut by Ayun Halliday

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

Lola and The Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins (reread) 

Anne Frank: The Diary Of A Young Girl by Anne Frank

The Adventures Of Superhero Girl by Faith Erin Hicks

Disney's Alice In Wonderland by T.T Sutherland

 

I'm so happy that I was able to read so much and complete my TBR challenge:

Read a book set in a place you've always wanted to visit.

(Lola and The Boy Next Door)

 

So what was YOUR favorite read of the month??

Let me know in the comments! Read on bookworms! See you in the next chapter!

 

 

 

 



Fangirlistic Playlist #1: THE FEELS!!

(photography skills! ⬆⬆⬆)

 

So recently, this past month, I've been experiencing some major feels when it comes to a few stand out books that I've read. Some caused me heartache while others plainly left me crying in the corner. Others made me feel empowered while others left me wondering what the heck I'm doing with my life. We all have these feelings whenever we read a book that effects us in an emotional way and that's just the life of fangirls and fanboys all around the world. Once you're in, there's no going back. So without further ado, here are some of my favorite tracks that I have turned to time and again for comfort when dealing with THE FEELS:

 

1. When your OTP goes down in flames.

 



 

2. When the ending has you like ". . . . ."

 

 

3. When your OTP realizes too late they're meant to be

 

 

4. When a character starts falling in love with the wrong person in the love triangle and it's too late for you to begin liking them because you can see right through them . . .
 

 

5. When there's so much going wrong it's not even funny

 

 

BONUS: 6. When you desperately want your fictional boyfriend/girlfriend to exist

 

 

So what other feelings do you have after finishing a book? Leave your feelings down below and maybe I'll make a playlist inspired by it! Read on bookworms! See you in the next chapter!

Music Matching Monday: The Last Time We Say Goodbye

For this book, it has a bit more of a depressing subject which is why I kind of saved this one for a while after reading it. This book deals a lot about suicide and a girl named Lex who has so many unanswered questions as to why her brother committed suicide and what she could've done to stop it from happening. If you read my review of this book, then you might know just how much of an impact this book had on me. I really wanted to find the perfect song for this book so after some research, I ended up finding one beautiful song that I think fits so well with this book for many reasons. One is that the song talks about playing along with life and pretending that you're fine when really, you want nothing more than peace and quiet which was exactly the case with Lex and her brother Ty. Lex had so many questions about her brother's suicide and no matter how much she tried to move on, she couldn't find closure. She needed to know what happened the day Ty took his life and what his final message to her was. She didn't think the last time she said goodbye to her brother would be just that. I hope you guys enjoy this one!

 

SAY GOODBYE by Katherine McPhee

Review: The Adventures Of Superhero Girl by Faith Erin Hicks

The Adventures Of Superhero Girl by Faith Erin Hicks

Rating: PG

Genre: Graphic Novel

Score: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Page Count: 112

Stand Alone

Publisher: Dark Horse Books

Published: February 26, 2013

 

What if you can leap tall buildings and defeat alien monsters with your bare hands, but you buy your capes at secondhand stores, and have a weakness for kittens, and a snarky comment from Skeptical Guy can ruin a whole afternoon? Cartoonist Faith Erin Hicks brings her skills in character design and sharp, charming humor to the trials and tribulations of a young, superhero battling monsters both supernatural and mundane in an all-too-ordinary world.  

 

Review:

PROS:

1. So this is yet another graphic novel that I stumbled upon while perusing the shelves at my library and I honestly picked this one up because of the author. I absolutely loved Faith Erin Hicks' Friends With Boys so when I saw this cute book, I couldn't just leave it there! Anyway, here's my review:

 

2. This time, I'll be starting with the characters to change things up a bit for you. I really loved all the characters in this book! I thought they were all really entertaining and goofy and witty. They had me laughing out loud and I really loved that. I also really loved our main character of course, Superhero Girl. I thought she was a fun character that had to struggle with being in a town with the lamest super villains you could imagine. She wanted so badly to be a great superhero but didn't exactly have it easy. What with her very own brother stealing the spotlight from her, she didn't exactly live up to her own fantasies of being the best superhero the city's ever had. The characters were just a lot of fun and I really enjoyed them.

 

 

3.Now I'm getting into the art! As always. I really loved the art in this book for many reasons. One was that it had a really fun color pallet with bright colors and fun hues. It wasn't too much for the eye to handle which I very much appreciated. Second was that it was really simple art just like in Faith's previous graphic novel that I talked about and I really liked that as well. I liked all the detail with this graphic novel as well and I also loved the varying character signatures such as this gal's green hair and Superhero Girl's mask. Obviously, you could easily tell them apart from each other.

 

4. Last but not least, I just thought it was a really fun and quick read that you could pick up in one sitting or if you need to kill some time, this one took me a little less than an hour to finish. I definitely recommend this book if you want a fun read or if you're looking for some new graphic novels to check out! This one I really loved and I kind of wish there was a sequel.

 

 

 

 

I hope you guys enjoyed this book review! If you have any other book requests you would like me to review, just leave a comment or send me an email! Read on bookworms! See you in the next chapter!

 



Book Talk #4: Boy vs. Girl POV

So recently I was going through my books on my shelf and realized two things: (1) I own a lot of Dystopian books (2) and most of the books I own are from girl POVs. It's not strange to own more of one POV than the other but I decided that this could be a chance for me to list my reasons for reading more books from a female POV than from a male's and which one I prefer at certain times and what exactly comes into play when I feel like reading from a boy's POV more than a girl's. Now that I've rambled enough, it's girls vs. boys time! Let the showdown begin!

 

1. Relativity

Obviously, being able to relate to a character is important for enjoying the story. When it comes to POVs, however, I always tend to relate to female characters more when the story is told by them. I can relate more by not just gender wise but also some of the insecurities and "girl problems" they face. Such as crushes, self-consciousness, friendships, way of thinking etc. Most times I enjoy the story more when I can relate to the character that's telling the story because of those things. I definitely think that's one of the reasons I tend to be a little more iffy if a story is told from a guy's POV. However . . .

 

Sometimes you need to get away from the drama. I love having a few books on the side that are told by a guy's perspective when I've just finished a book with a really annoying storyline or female protagonist. Sometimes I can actually relate to the guy characters more than others. For example, one book I loved was The Maze Runner for multiple reasons. One was that I related to the fact that Thomas was in an environment that surprisingly had nothing but boys living in it. My life has always been full of boys at my side what with a brother, nephews, cousins, uncles. The majority of my friends are boys and the characters reminded me of them because of their leadership habits, funny jokes, sarcastic personalities and even loyalty.

 

2. Storytelling

When it comes to storytelling, it really does all come down to which you're in the mood for. Lately I've been in the mood for more action-packed and fast-paced books. Something sci-fi or futuristic. It's a bit more difficult to find a book- in my own personal experience- that has those factors without it being from a girl's POV. Now, I love a kick-butt female protagonist but sometimes, I just want the book to focus on the action and world, which tends to be the trend with books told from guy POVs.

 

When it comes to contemporaries, however, a girl's POV is preferred. Considering the fact that I'm a teenage girl with issues (we all have them) I love reading a nice and fun contemporary told from a girl's perspective because I can imagine the feelings she might be having towards a cute guy she wants to be with. I can also relate to her way of thinking more than I can if I read a contemporary told by a guy's perspective. I can relate more to the things she says, does, or thinks when it comes to her wanting a guy to notice her or get the message.

 

3. Writing

Finally, the last reason just comes down to the option of whether or not I like an author. Now, female authors can write a really good book told from a guy's perspective (Asylum by Madeline Roux) and a male author can sometimes write a great book told from a girl's perspective (The Fault In Our Stars by John Green) but sometimes books can fall short.

 

Not to be sexist or anything, but I sometimes gravitate to buying books by male authors when I want a book told from a male POV and gravitate towards buying books written by female authors when I want a book told from a girl's POV because of one reason: authors of the same gender as their character POV can sometimes understand their ways of thinking a little better and thus create a more realistic character. Even though I'm a writer myself, I know for a fact that I could never write a story from a guy's perspective because I don't think like a guy and couldn't even begin to understand what a guy would do in certain situations. Not only that, but it just connects back to the second reason. Boys tend to skip the drama which can be really refreshing and girls tend to have a little drama and more complications with friends and boys.

 

Everything really comes down to personal taste of genres, characters, storytelling, world building etc. Some people only read girl POVs, some read only boy POVs, some read an equal amount of both or read more of one than the other. I fall into the latter one sadly. I would love to read an equal amount of both POVs because both are entertaining and can be really interesting and a lot of fun to read. Once again, these are my personal reasons when picking whether to read a girl or guy's perspective. So what falls into your reasoning when it comes to choosing? Do you look more for world building, amount of action, romance, relativity or something else entirely? Or does it even matter what perspective you read? Please let me know what your thoughts are and if you have an awesome book written from a boy POV, leave your suggestions in the comments! I want to stock up!



Mean Girls Book Tag!

I wasn't tagged by anybody but I thought this was such a fun new tag! This tag was originally created by Sarah Jane @ TheBookLife on YouTube!

Mean Girls is pretty much the epitome of the teenage years in high school and has become somewhat of a phenomenon amongst teens both then and now in present time. Let's face it, we've all seen the movie and for some it's a guilty pleasure. Nonetheless, there is an undeniable love for this movie for so many people that I just had to put my two cents in for this tag! Let's get started!

 

1.  "It’s pronounced like Cady” - Which fictional character’s names did you get completely wrong? 

 

There have been countless times when I've pronounced names in books completely wrong, mainly in fantasy novels such as Throne Of Glass and The Young Elites but luckily it wasn't as bad with those two books. Partly because the first one has an actual pronunciation guide. Anyway, one name I just couldn't wrap my brain around was Matias from Legend by Marie Lu. I pronounced it as Ma-tie-as when really, it's pronounced Ma-tay-as. Too bad I had to learn that from my brother who was listening to the audiobook. I still sometimes mess up his name every now and then but at least I'm learning, right?

2. “She doesn’t even go here!” - Which character would you like to place in a fictional world from another book or series?

 

I seriously think that Juliette would make a very fitting member to the world of The Young Elites by Marie Lu. Not only do the main characters have some really cool powers, but they're also very kick-butt and actually are the good guys despite how much hate they get from the people. I think Juliette would fit in very well because of her unique power and the group might even welcome her with open arms. Well, maybe not so open . . .

3. “On Wednesdays we wear pink!” - Repetition. Repetition. Which book gave you dejavu of another book whilst reading it?

 

I feel like this book is pretty much going to be the default answer for this question. Red Queen didn't really stand out as it's own thing. The elements that were involved in this book were reminiscent to other YA Dystopian books such as Divergent, The Hunger Games, Throne Of Glass, The Young Elites, Shatter Me and many others. This book had potential but it reminded me of so many other books while reading it.

4. "You all have got to stop calling each other sluts and wh****. It just makes it okay for guys to call you sluts and wh***." - Which book gave you the complete opposite of girl power feels?

 

Not to be repetitive with this book, but even though I loved this book very much, I couldn't get over an aspect of Juliette's character that I just didn't enjoy. I was expecting her to be more of a powerful and determined character but I was disappointed to see her turn into more of a weak and almost self-pitting female protagonist. It was different to see that type of character in a dystopian book but I just didn't get many girl-power moments with her.

5. “You go Glen Coco!” - Name a character you felt like you wanted to cheer on whilst reading.

 

One of my top fictional heroes is Cinder, hands down! I loved her from the very beginning of this series and I LOVE her character development throughout the rest of the books, especially in Cress! There were so many times when I just wanted to throw a parade for Cinder and I was literally cheering her on in a certain scene when the odds were not looking good at all. All her friends were in danger, including Cinder and they thought they were all going to die but then Cinder stepped up and was like "Denied!" Anyway, as you can see, I think Cinder freaking rocks!

6. “Get in loser, we’re going shopping!” How long do you typically spend at a book shop?

 

Typically it depends on what bookstore I'm in. If I'm in say Barnes & Noble, I can spend anywhere between 1-2 hours in there. I just love looking at all the thousands of books they have there and just bask in their beauty! Although if I'm in Half Price Books, I can only spend 30-45 minutes in there otherwise one of two things happen: (1) I end up buying way more books than I planned (discounts, man) or (2) I get sucked in by all the great titles if I'm in there for too long, which causes the first problem to occur. Regardless, there's just something about seeing all the beautiful books in one place that's just so magical!

7. “It’s not my fault you’re like in love with me or something!” - Which character would have to get out a restraining order on you, if they were real?

 

This sums it up pretty well:

 

 

8. “I can’t help it that I’m popular.” - Which overhyped book were you cautious about reading?

 

I've actually had so many books that I've been nervous to check out because of hype and things of that nature. Two books I was nervous to check out were Throne Of Glass and The Hunger Games. Even though I enjoyed them, they didn't live up to my expectations. They were both a little bit of a flop for me but I'm still glad I finally gave them a go.

 

9. “She’s a life ruiner. She ruins peoples lives.” - We all love Regina George. Name a villian you just love to hate.

 

Now I've read a good selection of villains in my past but none amount to the one and only Queen Levana from The Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer. When it comes to my favorite villians, Queen Levana is probably my favorite of all time! I actually have a post where I talk about my top five favorite villains which you can check out HERE! When it comes to villains, I have yet to find another that tops this evil queen. I honestly don't think I'll ever find one for that matter and I'm okay with that!

10. “I’m not like a regular Mom, I’m a cool Mom.” - Your favourite fictional parents.

 

I haven't read a lot of books that have really great parents- either the character doesn't remember their parents, doesn't have any, or hates them- but these two stood out. Both sets of parents in both books were really fun to read about. They had an equal balance between being really fun and kind of goofy but also being good parents that actually "laid down the law".

11.  “That is so Fetch!” - Which book or series would you love to catch on?

 

One series I seriously needs to be hyped more is the Theodore Boone series by John Grisham. I read these books a few years ago and I seriously fell in love with this middle-grade mystery series! With the recent release of the fifth book in this series, I feel like this is the perfect time for new readers to check it out and experience the awesomeness that is Theodore Boone! The books are really entertaining and even nail-biting at times! I really love this series and if you haven't read it yet, I definitely recommend you try it.

12. “How do I even begin to explain Regina George?” - Describe your ideal character to read about.

 

I feel like I have somewhat of a typical character love but here are my preferences: When I'm reading about a female protagonist, I love a kick-butt, strong and independent character that doesn't give up easily such as Cinder or Tris. When it's a guy, I love a sarcastic, witty and even goofy character such as Captain Thorne from Cress by Marissa Meyer. I don't know what it is about those types of characters that gets to me but I can't help it!

13. “I just have a lot of feelings.” - What do you do when a book gives you a bad case of ‘the feels’?

 

Usually when I have a bad case of the feels after reading a book, I usually go straight to Netflix or YouTube for comfort. I don't have friends that read the same books I read. The books that they read I usually have never heard of at all. Because I don't have friends to fangirl with, music and videos help to comfort me. Usually I watch some booktube but most times I listen to "Natural Disaster" by Pentatonix, for whatever reason, that's my go-to song when I'm feeling the feels. Sometimes I go on Goodreads or stalk the hashtag for the book on Instagram or Tumblr. We all deal differently, right?

14.  “Nice wig Janice, what’s it made of?” "Your Mom’s chest hair!” - Which characters one liners would you love to claim for your own?

 

There are so many great one-liners out there in the world but some of the ones I wish I could claim are those said by Captain Thorne and Lemony Snicket. They're so clever with the things they say and most times I'm jealous I didn't think of them myself.

15. “Boo, you wh***.” - Name a time a characters decision has made you roll your eyes





In case you haven't been following my blog for very long, you might not know how I felt about Janie from the Dream Catchers trilogy by Lisa McMann, more specifically, the sequel, Fade. There were so many times when I wanted to shake the crap out of Janie and she annoyed me to no end. She was just a really dumb female protagonist in the sequel and I honestly didn't like the book because of her. It makes me feel bad to say these things because Lisa McMann is one of my favorite authors. Janie was a character I just couldn't deal with.

 

 

I tried to keep my answers short for this one since there were quite a few questions. If you read the entire post, comment "Grool" in the comments! I hope you guys enjoyed this tag! If you want to do this tag, please do and feel free to say I tagged you! Read on bookworms! See you in the next chapter!