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Tuesday, 17 February 2015

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Problems I Have

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.This week's topic  is: Bookish Problems I Have. 



1. I get distracted easily, which makes getting into a book that might be a bit more challenging SO hard, as I end up getting distracted by shiny objects (literally and figuratively)

2. I work at a bookstore, which is awesome, but that also means I get a discount, which means I have a hard time restraining myself from spending my paycheck on ALL the books.

3. Speaking of buying too many books, have I mentioned how many books I have sitting on my shelf that I haven't read yet? It's humiliating. 

4. I'm super tired lately 'cause school is busy, so it's hard for me to stay awake sometimes if I'm reading before bed. I have to fight to keep my eyes open and need to seriously evaluate the question of "sleep or read?"

5. I want to read EVERYTHING, but I feel like with this blog, I have to keep up with my YA and more modern fiction, because that's what I'm reviewing. But I also want to read the classics, and I just don't know if anyone would be interested in reading reviews on timeless books, or whether or not I could get over the intimidation that comes with reviewing them.

6. My back is beginning to hurt more and more from all of the books -school related and not- that I have in my backpack. Ow.

7. I forget about ebooks! I have egalleys on my phone and computer, but if I don't read them right away, eventually I'll forget about them and then they'll expire!

8. Speaking of forgetting, when I read the first book in a series and it takes a year or longer for the next one to be released, it's really easy for me to lose track of what happened.

9. I'd love to reread more books, but then that stresses me out a bit because I also want to read NEW books and I just can't make a decision. 

10. Reading is the ultimate form of procrastination for me, as I can justify it to myself by saying that even though I'm not doing my homework, I'm still being productive and feeding my mind, even when I'm supposed to be writing an essay.

So those are some bookish problems that I have and am trying to work on! Let me know if we have any in common or if you have any you'd like to share!

Happy reading!
~Kristy

Monday, 16 February 2015

Review: Talon by Julie Kagawa

Author: Julie Kagawa
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Page Count:  449Hardcover
Date Published: October 24th 2014
Find it on Goodreads: Talon
Source: Purchased



Long ago, dragons were hunted to near extinction by the Order of St. George, a legendary society of dragon slayers. Hiding in human form and growing their numbers in secret, the dragons of Talon have become strong and cunning, and they're positioned to take over the world with humans none the wiser.

Ember and Dante Hill are the only sister and brother known to dragonkind. Trained to infiltrate society, Ember wants to live the teen experience and enjoy a summer of freedom before taking her destined place in Talon. But destiny is a matter of perspective, and a rogue dragon will soon challenge everything Ember has been taught. As Ember struggles to accept her future, she and her brother are hunted by the Order of St. George.

Soldier Garret Xavier Sebastian has a mission to seek and destroy all dragons, and Talon's newest recruits in particular. But he cannot kill unless he is certain he has found his prey: and nothing is certain about Ember Hill. Faced with Ember's bravery, confidence and all-too-human desires, Garret begins to question everything that the Order has ingrained in him: and what he might be willing to give up to find the truth about dragons.




Kind of disappointing honestly... I liked it enough, but it was definitely not what I was hoping. But I also don't really know what I was hoping it would be. All I knew was that it was about dragons and I. love. dragons. But this book ended up being more a contemporary summer read with little bits of dragon/action scenes in between. The result? 



I just found it kind of predictable and it was another case of me not really caring about what was happening or what the characters were doing. I really didn't like Ember's voice;  I found it whiny and annoying and juvenile, which made me so sad because she had so much potential. I didn't mind Garret's, but Riley's I couldn't have cared less about. There wasn't much that happened that made me really really excited about this book until the last few chapters, as the battle scene was pretty cool and well written. But then the book ended and even with the cliff-hanger, I just didn't have too much desire to find out what happened next. 

Overall, it wasn't terrible, but I did not enjoy it as much as I had hoped and I was pretty disappointed in it all. This was a story that had so much potential but it kind of felt short in my mind. I liked it enough, but it took me a while to keep going and actually finish. 



Happy reading!
~Kristy

Wednesday, 11 February 2015

Review: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Author: E. Lockhart
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Page Count:  528 Hardcover
Date Published: May 13th 2014
Find it on Goodreads: We Were Liars
Source: Library




A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.

We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from New York Times bestselling author, National Book Award finalist, and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart. 
Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.



Huh. Well, it wasn't exactly what I was expecting... I can't even say too much about this because it's obviously a mystery and that's the whole thing with this book: no one knows much about it until they start reading. However, I will say this: E. Lockhart's prose is beautiful. She has a gorgeous style that made me love reading her work and it was honestly half the reason why I enjoyed the book and kept reading. The story was interesting, but I also felt kind of disconnected from the characters, and I'm not sure if that was an intentional part of the book or not, but it kind of made me not care too much. I did think the whole mystery was interesting enough, but the book still wasn't as WOW as I was expecting it to be. 




Happy reading!
~Kristy

Monday, 9 February 2015

Reading Challenges??

Other than the Goodreads Reading Challenge, I have never participated in any sort of bookish challenge. It wasn't that I wasn't interested, it was just that I had never really paid much attention to them, but this year, as I am trying to break out of my reading habits and try new things, I have decided to participate in some! Or at least try! I totally forgot about the popsugar one, so I'm officially declaring myself as a late participant of it, and as the year goes by, I will be trying to participate in at least one more, maybe two if I'm lucky. Who knows, maybe I'll fail, but at least I can remind myself that the only true failure is not trying, or whatever that quote is.


Anyways, that's all I really have to say about that, so onward with this month of February and newly joined reading challenges!




Happy reading!
~Kristy
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