Month: June 2015

Someone deems me worthy for a Liebster Award + June Book Haul!

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So, first up, the wonderful Irene at Tea, Book, & Me has nominated me for a Liebster award (bless her cotton socks!) which is lovely. If you don’t know what a Liebster Award is, it’s an award for bloggers with under 200 followers. So the rules for the Liebster award are: Eleven Questions 1. What is that one quote that identifies you as a bookworm? Explain its significance. “It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.” I think all bookworms are, in a way, the sum of the books they’ve read. 2. Do you love the smell of ancient books more so than the fresh new one you just bought? no. actually, the smell of really old books makes my nose sting. 3. Hardcovers, paperbacks, or ebooks all three, but mainly hardcovers and ebooks 4. If you love a book, would you want it to be adapted into a film? Why or why not? absolutely! I love to see how other people imagined …

Recom-Monday-tions – The Ocean at the End of the Lane

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This is one of the only books that when I finished it, I immediately turned back to the beginning to read it again. It’s a rather strange book as it is actually adult fiction (despite what my university’s bookstore shelves it as) but it’s written like a children’s book. I’ve really never read anything like it. This is the story of a man travelling back to his childhood home and rediscovering memories he thought he had lost. Memories of a strange girl and her duck pond that was actually an ocean. Memories of finding a friend when he thought he was helpless and alone. This book is so beautiful. It is one of those books I talk about frequently as often being my favorites, those quietly beautiful books. This book was probably in my top three favourite books I read last year. It is just so unique and wonderful. Everyone Should really give this book a go. It’s also quite short so it will only take you a few hours and it will be a …

The Would You Rather Book Tag

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So, in case it isn’t plainly obvious from the title, this tag poses a series of questions where you must decide which one you would rather. Now this is not officially a photo tag, but well, that’s the way I roll. Thank you to Aimal at  aimalfarooq for tagging me. Let’s get on with it, shall we? Would you rather only read trilogies or only read standalones?   I will have to go with trilogies here. I love standalones as well, but most of my favourite books are part of a series. So there you go. [also, even when it’s blurred to hell, you can still see that damn sticker mark on More Than This! Curses!] Would you rather only read male or female authors? Female. Although giving up Patrick Ness would be incredibly difficult, but overall the ladies have my heart. Would you rather shop at Barnes and Noble or Amazon? Shipping from both of these places is too expensive, so I don’t shop there a lot. But if I had to pick I would …

Currently reading

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So after finishing Sabriel by Garth Nix, I was going to pick up Lirael straight away, but the pages of my copy are kinda wonky and so it’s currently sitting under a big pile of books to straighten it out. So when this arrived in the mail, I decided, why not?  I don’t really know much about this book except that it’s about subway-dwelling vampires and that it has had some amazing reviews. I actually ordered a hardcover copy of this but instead I received a paperback, and also only an uncorrected proof copy as well. Seriously. That’s about the opposite of a hardcover! Stern words were had with the bookseller. That’s for sure. I am also reading The Invasion of the Tearling by Erika Johansen on my Kobo, The Fever by Megan Abbott on my phone, and listening to the Audiobook of A Game of Thrones. Yeah. I’m definitely not a one book at a time woman. What are you guys reading at the moment? Do you read multiple books at once?

Book Review: Sabriel by Garth Nix

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“Death and what came after death was no great mystery to Sabriel. She just wished it was.” When I picked up this book on a whim (it was on sale and the cover was so gorgeous) I wasn’t intending to read it right away. But then my husband decided to get a haircut and I started it while I was waiting, and then I couldn’t put it down. I’ve honestly been in a bit of a reading slump lately, and this book finally broke it. What’s it about: Sabriel’s father fails to arrive for a visit at her boarding school, and one of his monstrous dead servants arrives in his place, carrying a sack of her father’s necromancing tools. Sabriel knows this can only mean one thing – that her father is trapped somewhere within death and only she can find him. Taking up her father’s tools of a sword and set of bells, Sabriel must cross the magical wall into the Old Kingdom to find her father and learn what it means to be …

Friday Photographer Feature – IsIlluminating

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This week’s featured photographers is one of those rare and magical bloggers who mainly feature adult fiction, and man does she have good taste in books. Her photography is incredibly diverse with a huge range of styles and I absolutely love it. If you are looking for pretty pictures of books, but are a bit tired of seeing the same books, check out Vicki from IsIlluminating on Tumblr. You won’t be disappointed. On to the Questions! Name: Vicki Location: Melbourne Favourite book: The Little Prince Favourite Classic: The Odyssey Favourite Book to Photograph: Anything by Coralie Bickford-Smith Hogwarts House: Griffindor Random Question: Nuclear war has broken out. Luckily, you are in possession of a bunker, but it can only hold four. Which book characters do you choose live in your bunker with you? – Atticus Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird) for his wit and wisdom – Tyrion Lannister (A Song of Ice and Ice series) for entertainment – Ponyboy (The Outsiders) for a loyal companion – A Genie (The Arabian Nights tales) maybe it can fix the …

Recom-Monday-tions! Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

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Okay, so technically it’s no longer Monday for me, but it is still Monday in many parts of the world (I checked!) so I’m not a complete failure. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is one of my favourite series and I absolutely cannot wait until Library of Souls comes out in September. This series is the story of a lonely boy trying to uncover the mystery behind a set of strange photos that belonged to his grandfather and finding where he truly belongs. Even if that is the last place he ever expected. It is equal parts creepy and absolutely adorable and heart-warming. I was put off from reading this initially because I had seen many negative reviews on Goodreads complaining that this is not scary. It’s not, but nor is it meant to be. It does have a creepy element to it, but I don’t think it was ever intended to be classified as horror. But what it is is lovely and well-written and overflowing with wonderful characters. If I had to classify …

Goodreads Trolls getting you down? my personal story, but also a solution!

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So, I have a self-published book, well two actually. A friend and I wrote them together, self-published them, and eagerly frequented the Goodreads page to see what people thought. To our surprise, we received mainly 5-star reviews. We weren’t expecting them, as I really don’t think our book is perfect. There is a lot I would change and I think the sequel is a huge improvement (and yeah I’m pretty proud of that improvement). But anyway, I digress… One day while checking how our book was going I saw one review that just said something along the lines of “What a crock. These reviews are obviously paid for.” I was shocked by this, as firstly, I didn’t know that paying people for reviews was actually a thing people did, or that someone would make such a damning claim without any evidence what-so-ever, besides the fact that we self-published our book. Anyway, understandably upset, I did the stupidest thing you can do. I defended myself (although very politely). Bad Idea. Very bad idea. This Goodreads user …

Blog Tour Review and Giveaway: Thief’s Magic by Trudi Canavan

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I am so happy to be concluding the blog tour for Trudi Canavan’s book, Thief’s Magic (Book I in the Millenium’s Rule Trilogy). This is actually my first blog tour so it’s quite exciting. Thank you to Hachette Australia for inviting me to participate. What’s it about? This is a book of two completely different stories. The first is the story of Tyen, a sorcery student at the Academy, a powerful university that trains students in everything from History to Sorcery. While on a school trip, Tyen finds a magical book that used to be a person, a she to be exact. But rather than luring muggleborns to a giant snake monster, she reads the thoughts of anyone who touches it and stores that information to pass on to anyone who asks for it. I want one. When the Academy takes the book from Tyen and figure out what she can do (and that she’s read all their thoughts), they completely flip out and Tyen is forced to run from his home to save her. The …

Friday Photographer Feature – The Book Castle

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Guys, guys! I am so so so excited today because today is Friday and that means it’s photographer day and I have another amazing photographer to feature today. Her photos are just so beautiful and I am in love with every single one of them. There are no words to describe their gorgeousness. This will be pretty photo heavy because not choosing to feature every single photo was pretty hard. It’s Alice from The Book Castle Okay, enough drooling. Onto the questions! Name: Alice Location: Oslo, Norway Favourite book: Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, The Diviners by Libba Bray, A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin (plus so many others) Favourite classic: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, Far from The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy Favourite book to photograph: Generally, any beautiful classics are my favourite models. Hogwarts house: Ravenclaw! Which four authors would make up your ultimate book club: J. K. Rowling (mostly so I could be in the presence of Her Highness), Chimamanda …