TBR’s and Thoughts

It’s the beginning of June and I had you guys all fooled thinking that I’m here to present to you my monthly TBR. Well sorry to disappoint, but no this ain’t no TBR for you kids. This is just a little discussion about TBR’s.

And for those of you who don’t know what a TBR is: it stands for “To Be Read” – a list of books you plan to read (in a month)

So it’s that time of the month again where TBR’s are popping up everywhere and it got me thinking… “Do I want to create a TBR for the month of June and attempt to finish it?” Nahhh not really. I think TBR’s are cool and a great way to help plan out what books you want to read in month, giving you structure but it’s SO HARD to follow through with it.

When I first started bookstagram, I tried to create a TBR and follow along but it just became too hard for me. I would go to the library and borrow books, I’d buy new books – so many things came in the way that I just gave up on trying to follow them. The structure of having a TBR was nice, but I prefer the spontaneity of being able to choose whatever I want to read depending on my mood.

Nowadays I just create a small little “Hopeful Reads” list for myself for each month where I have a list of books that I hope to read soon. It kinda pushes me harder to get to the books further at the top of my TBR rather than following a structured list; giving myself the freedom to do whatever I want. This month, I hope to reread The Wrath and the Dawn and read The Rose and The Dagger… But it could always be pushed to July.

What do you guys think of TBR’s and do you like setting monthly TBR’s for yourself?

xx Sarah 🙂

Review: Emotions by Arnulfo Cantarero

Pages: 264 pages
Genre: Young Adult, Sci-Fi
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform (October, 2015)
Format: paperback
Buy It Here:
Amazon | Goodreads

*I was given a free copy of Emotions from the author in exchange for an honest review*

Jason Ariaz is not your average 22 year old. He has been enhanced but that’s only the beginning. He is an emotionless extraterrestrial born to human parents and living amongst us. Both him and his implanted thinking computer were damaged on landing and must go through life as less than what they really are. The purpose of their mission: to gain permanent emotions from the more primitive society that is Earth. If he is successful, he will be the first of his species to do so in nearly 200,000 years. Hope lies in the fact that he is capable of emotional episodes and he has been able to forge true friendships. However, he does have the chance of completing his mission if he can truly care for Ariel, the closest human in his life. But he better know his heart soon. Their lives are in danger of ending tonight, unless he can recover what his species has lost.

First off, I’d like to thank the author for sending me a copy of Emotions to read in exchange for an honest review! When I first read the synopsis of this novel, I was extremely intrigued. I mean, imagine living a life without emotions… My life is literally built on a range of emotions so I could not imagine what it was like to live in Jason’s shoes.

As I picked this book up, I am not going to lie, I was confused. Like looking around confused, asking people, “Where am I?” confused. The beginning was all over the place –  it was going back and forth between different time periods and everything just seemed so random, like it didn’t fit in. It was hard getting into this book because I was so utterly lost, but things did pick up a bit about 1/3 of the way in.

Underrated Series: The Heir Chronicles by Cinda Williams Chima

Whenever people ask me for a fantasy recommendation, the first series that pops into my mind is always The Heir Chronicles by Cinda Williams Chima. I first read this series several years ago back in 2011 and it blew me away. For a 10 year old me, it was hard getting into the book,especially since the prologue bored me out, but as I kept reading, the action just keeps building up. I read this book in literally one sitting, getting up only to go to the bathroom or get food. It was that amazing.

The Warrior Heir

The Wizard Heir

The Dragon Heir

There are two more books following The Dragon Heir, but it follows a separate story line.

This series is exciting and action packed – full of magic and fighting, with a side of hot protagonist. A definite page turner, I really think this series deserves a lot more attention. If you guys haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend The Heir Chronicles by Cinda Williams Chima. It’s exciting and action packed, and trust me, it won’t let you down.

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About the Author

New York Times bestselling author Cinda Williams Chima comes from a long line of fortune-tellers, musicians and spinners of tales. She began writing romance novels in middle school, which were often confiscated by her teachers.

Her Heir Chronicles series (magic comes to contemporary Ohio) comprises The Warrior Heir The Wizard Heir . The Dragon Heir The Enchanter Heir, and the Sorcerer Heir.

Chima’s Seven Realms series launched with The Demon King in 2009; The Exiled Queen in 2010. The Gray Wolf Throne in 2011, and The Crimson Crown (2012.).

Her Shattered Realms quartet launches with Flamecaster in April 2016.

Review: Me Before You by JoJo Moyes

Pages: 369 pages
Genre: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary
Publisher: Penguin Books, first published January 2012
Format: paperback
Buy It Here:
Indigo | Book Depository | Amazon | Goodreads

Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life—steady boyfriend, close family—who has never been farther afield than their tiny village. She takes a badly needed job working for ex-Master of the Universe Will Traynor, who is wheelchair-bound after an accident. Will has always lived a huge life—big deals, extreme sports, worldwide travel—and now he’s pretty sure he cannot live the way he is.

Will is acerbic, moody, bossy—but Lou refuses to treat him with kid gloves, and soon his happiness means more to her than she expected. When she learns that Will has shocking plans of his own, she sets out to show him that life is still worth living.

A love story for this generation, Me Before You brings to life two people who couldn’t have less in common—a heartbreakingly romantic novel that asks, What do you do when making the person you love happy also means breaking your own heart?

Reading Me Before You was truly an emotional roller coaster. I honestly did not think I would enjoy this novel as much as I did due to the hype, but if it wasn’t because of the hype, I don’t think I would have picked this book up.

Starting off, I was a little skeptical about the way things were turning out. Similar to how Louisa saw things with Will, and how he didn’t seem to like her at all, she didn’t think she would last. Well I saw the book the same way. I was like, oh, there’s another 250 pages? How is this going to go on? But boy was I surprised because it’s a roller coaster that only goes up, my friend. At first, I thought this book was super predictable, but it just keeps coming at you with so many surprises you won’t know what hit you.

Guest Blog Post: Review: George by Alex Gino

Pages: 195 pages
Genre: LGBT+, Middle School, Fiction
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Format: hardcover
Buy It Here:
Indigo | Book Depository | Amazon | Goodreads

BE WHO YOU ARE.

When people look at George, they think they see a boy. But she knows she’s not a boy. She knows she’s a girl.

George thinks she’ll have to keep this a secret forever. Then her teacher announces that their class play is going to be Charlotte’s Web. George really, really, REALLY wants to play Charlotte. But the teacher says she can’t even try out for the part . . . because she’s a boy.

With the help of her best friend, Kelly, George comes up with a plan. Not just so she can be Charlotte — but so everyone can know who she is, once and for all.

Picking up this book I didn’t expect much. My friend had lent it to me, knowing I was a LGBT+ supporter. I expected a typical trans coming out story and honestly, that’s what I got.

This book was very predictable. A young girl perceived as a boy struggles through bullying and self discovery. I had strong hopes that this book would be different and that there would be a huge plot twist, but unfortunately there was none.

What I did like about this book was the narration. I’ve never considered the thoughts of a transgender person and what they have to go through. George had an intriguing voice that kept me reading (even if the story was predictable). The author themself is transgender and you can definitely tell by the experiences George goes through. One of my favorite things about this book is Alex always uses female pronouns for George, from start to end.

Although this book was very predictable George’s narration make the book much more enjoyable. Overall I did like this book but I don’t think I would recommend it to others unless your desperate for an LGBT+ themed book.

2/5 Stars

(Guest Blogger: Jenna Q.)

I’m Back With a Reading Slump & Various Other Things

Whoa hey world! Guess who? It’s me, Sarah! I haven’t seen you guys in what feels like forever and I’m pretty sure I’ve missed out on a lot… Including reading some fantastic books because I’ve been hit with a reading slump that’s been hangin’ around since January and I can’t get rid of it.

It’s so easy to give other people advice on how to get rid of a slump but when it comes around and hits you, it’s impossible to shake off. I can’t get into a book and I’ve been wasting so much time doing absolutely nothing. If you guys have any tips on getting over a slump, please leave them in the comments below! I’ll love you forever. ❤

And keep an eye out for some new posts coming soon!

xx Sarah 🙂

R.I.P. Alan Rickman

So Alan Rickman died of cancer this morning and I am absolutely devastated. This was such a huge shock for me because I am a huge Potterhead and I still can’t wrap my mind around the fact that he’s gone.

Alan Rickman was an outstanding actor and his portrayal of Severus Snape was absolutely spot on; I can’t imagine anyone else playing him. I remember Snape being one of my least favourite characters when I first started the Harry Potter series, but my love for him grew and grew. Alan played Snape exactly the way I imagined him to be.

New Year, New Resolutions

Who here is still writing their dates with 2015 as the year? I am. *cringes* If I don’t fix this anytime soon, I’m pretty sure writing the date correctly is going to end up as one of my new year’s resolutions. And speaking of resolutions, I’ve got a few new year’s bookish resolutions coming at ya!

1. Book buying
Anybody ever hear of a book buying ban? Man this is painful… Probably even worse than a junk food ban. Even though I know I still have tons of unread books on myshelf, I still can’t resist the temptation of buying a book every time I go to a bookstore. You leave the bookstore with such a thrill after buying a book it pains me to leave a bookstore empty handed, so this year, I’m going to try to limit the amount of books I purchase. I usually leave the bookstore with no more than 3 books, but this year, I’m going to allow myself to buy a book after reading 3 books on my bookshelf. My friend Zeynab from @zey_books on Instagram originally came up with this idea of reading 10 books before purchasing something new, but 10 is too much for me, so I’ve shrunk it down to 3! Let’s see how this will go for me.

2. Read a recommendation
My friends are always recommending new books for me to read, but it takes me months before I get to reading a recommendation, so this year I’m going to try to get to them faster. Brandon Sanderson is a huge author that my two friends Amy (@book.boardgames) and Zeynab (@zey_books) highly recommend, so I think I’m going to start with reading Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson…

Top Ten Favourite Books of 2015

2015 is over and I’ve read several amazing books over the past year. Although I didn’t get to read as many books as I had hoped to, let’s hope I’ll get to read more in 2016. I have no idea what the future has planned for me to read, but let’s take a hop back in time to my top ten favourite books of 2015… In no particular order of course. It was so hard enough narrowing all the books I read in 2015 down to 10. To think of having to place these in a particular order… Oh no.

1. An Ember In The Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
An Ember In The Ashes was a beautiful book to hold in my hand, but even more beautiful to read! Both Laia and Elias had such strong personalities they were impossible not to love; and the story itself was just a wonderful roller coaster ride. I loved each and every moment of it and I cannot wait for the release of the second novel.

2. Cinder by Marissa Meyer
I can’t believe I didn’t read Cinder earlier! With the release of Winter and a lot of hype surrounding this novel, I knew I had to finally pick it up, and I did not regret this one bit. Cinder worked up so many emotions inside of me I couldn’t put it down! I think fairy tale retellings might be one of my new favourite genres.

3. To All The Boys I’ve Loved before by Jenny Han
I can’t get enough of Jenny Han’s writing style! It’s so simple and her stories always make my heart swoon. Lara Jean and Peter together always put a smile on my face even though Lara Jean acted kinda childish sometimes.

4. More Than This by Patrick Ness
I am not going to lie, Patrick Ness is one of my favourite authors and More Than This is hands down one of my favourites written by him. This story touched on so many different “touchier” subjects and it really made me think a lot. I still sit and think about this story to this day and what life would be like if we lived in Seth’s world.

A Very Happy New Year Update

Happy New Year everyone! 2016 has finally hits us and I hope you’ve all been fabulous and have a very exciting TBR planned for the month of January! Woohoo the first month of the new year.

If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been gone for a while but now I’m back and I’ll be coming at you guys with new reviews and other posts so stay tuned!

The new year is going to be filled with new challenges, but one of my new year’s resolutions is to post more, so here’s to a new year and a new and improved blog. *in which a very excited Severus Snape starts cheering for me*

xx Sarah 🙂