T5W: No Thanks

 Characters in unthankful situations.

1. Harry Potter (The Whole War Thing)

All the wizards (and arguably muggles) are having a rough time, fearing for their lives, fighting it out against he who shall not be named. Though not all of them have the same pressures on them quite like the chosen one does.

2. Game of Thrones (The Whole War Thing)

Like Harry Potter the characters in this story all find themselves in situations that are far from preferable. No one is safe, people are dropping like flies, everyone is related...

3. Red Rising (The Crazy School Thing)

Literally thousands of gold youths study and fight to be chosen to go to a school that is every level of f*cked. Also, this book is amazing and I highly recommend you picking it up.

4. The Maze Runner (The Unescapable Maze Thing)

Imagine being stuck in a situation in which you are living in a small compound surrounded by tall walls in the middle of a large maze with no memory of yourself before getting there. Your goal, to run the maze all day, making it back before nightfall of course, in an attempt to make a map that helps you gtfo. I don't know about you, but I would be very disgruntled, to say the least.  

5. The Lord of the Rings (The Whole Ring and Evil Eye Thing)

Poor Frodo was given an evil ring and basically forced to embark on a journey far into enemy territory in order to destroy it and Sam had to put up with his sh*t the whole time. I will say though, if I were in their situation, I probably would have died before I even made it to the Prancing Pony. 

T5W: Topaz

 This weeks topic was originally supposed to be Latin Lit, where we discuss Latin authors characters and the like. But, since I wouldn't come up with a list that followed the guide lines I am going to use the alternative topic. Topaz, this one is all about books that have covers similar to the color of Topaz. 

1. Fangirl Manga Vol. 1 - I have no idea how many of these they are going to make but I have a feeling it is going to kill me slowly inside waiting for the other volumes. 

2. Attachments - An adorable office romance. As someone who is dating someone they met in the office, this story brings up so many emotions and pretty darn cute. Pretty much exactly what you expect from Rainbow Rowell.

3. Dark Age - RED RISING IS AMAZING. (Though everything after the initial trilogy is not nearly as good as the original three)

4. Uprooted - I am a sucker for a retelling. This is the only thing I have read from this author but some of her other work is on my list of books to read. If you have any loved retellings please let me know, I am in the market for some more. 

5. The Name of the Wind - I both love this duology and am disappointed with it all at the same time. Story aside, I can't get over how great this looks on a bookshelf.

Thanksgiving Feast Book Tag

 This tag was created by Elley The Book Otter. I have been reading the same long book for over two weeks now so I have been in the mood for a book tag. I honestly found this one by simply googling "Thanksgiving Book Tag" but it sounded fun, so here we go. Be prepared though, you may get kind of hungry reading the prompts. 

Turkey: The centerpiece of any Thanksgiving Feast, but it’s always dry and actually isn’t that great… – A book that everyone likes, for some reason that completely escapes you.

Stuffing: Warm and filling, and best when smothered with gravy – A comfort read.

Potatoes: Boil ’em, mash ’em, stick ’em in a stew – A book that’s great in any format – hardcover, digital, audio…

Green bean casserole: the obligatory side dish that you have to have… whether you want it for not. – A book that you were obligated to read (for school, for a book club, because it was a gift…)

Jello salad: Look, this is dessert, how on earth does jello with bits of fruit and marshmallows and whipped cream get classified as ANY sort of salad? – A book that is really bizarre.

Cranberries: Do you serve real cranberries, or canned cranberry jelly? A book that is highly divisive – and you have strong opinions about it.

Pie: Whether it’s pumpkin, apple, pecan, or French silk, it’s not Thanksgiving without pie – A book you can’t live without.

T5W: Non-Fiction November

This weeks topic was all about non-fiction that I really enjoyed and would recommend to others. I usually only read autobiographies about funny comedians and you will see below but there are actually a few here that I learned a lot from. Also, as always, let me know in the comments if you have any non-fiction recommendations, I have been trying to broaden my horizons and get more into the genre. 

1. Girl Logic: The Genius and the Absurdity

“Hard work and intention often go unnoticed. All people see is what you don't do or what they think you should be doing better.”

2. Yes, Please

“However, if you do start crying in an argument and someone asks why, you can always say, "I'm just crying because of how wrong you are.”

3. Scrappy Little Nobody

“Oh my god, I just made out with Legolas!' Again, I’m not going to name that actor, as I wish to respect his privacy”

4. The Hot Zone: The Terrifying True Story of the Origins of the Ebola Virus

“To mess around with Ebola is an easy way to die. Better to work with something safer, such as anthrax.”

“You can’t fight off Ebola the way you fight off a cold. Ebola does in ten days what it takes AIDS ten years to accomplish.”

5. When Asia was the World

I wasn't sure what quote to pull from this. This is a fascinating book that takes place from 700AD to 1500AD and talks about everything from the spice trade on the silk road to the apothecaries who exchanged medicine, discussing all sorts of travel from China to the Middle East, sharing knowledge, culture and so much else.

P.S. Happy Veterans day to all those who serve and have served. 

T5W: Read in Translation

 I am going to start by saying that I have no idea if this post is 100% accurate, I literally just googled, "what language was ____ written in?" to figure it out so if I am wrong....sorry. Also, I am very curious what books you have read that were translations of the original, comment down below if you participate in T5W so I can check out your lists. 

1. Inkheart (German)

I read this back in like 8th or 9th grade and I remember being pretty bored through it. But, in the decade since I feel like my tastes have changed and that I may actually enjoy this now if I pick it up, I am just scared to be wrong *awkward laugh* If you have picked this book up please let me know what you think, I am so indecisive.

2. The Little Prince (French)

I picked up this lovely little story a few years back when Netflix released a short of it I really wanted to watch but refused to do so until I had finally read the story....I still haven't seen the short.

3. Persepolis (French)

This was one of those books I had to read in one of my High School English classes and I am so happy that they made me pick it up. It is such a good story but I know that I would probably have never picked it up if I hadn't had to.

4. The Alchemist (Portuguese)

This book was both incredibly beautiful and incredibly frustrating all at the same time. I 100% recommend the read. Just do it, it's short so you have no excuse not to.

5. The Witcher Series (Polish)

Such a good series but I felt like it lost me a little towards the end. I binged the whole series (8 books I think) in like a month and a half and while I don't regret it, I wasn't completely happy with the outcome. It is so hard to talk about without giving anything away. I will give him props though for creating characters I actually cared about and a very rich world.

October Wrap-Up

 October Wrap-Up

Movies and TV

Let me tell you, Lovecraft Country is so freaking good! If you are a fan of Lovecraft, Fantasy, the Strange and the Mysterious, then this is the show for you. It is weird and creepy in all the best ways. 10/10 recommend. I will say though, I have not read the book so I have no idea if its anything like the book or if HBO took a lot of liberties. 

Also, the season finale for The Boys was earlier this month and oh my goodness, what? I need to know what happens next. I don't know if I can say the finale was a cliff hanger but it was definitely not what I was expecting. Also, I feel like the series is veering pretty far away from the comics for any of those who have read them. 

I have also started watching the new season of the Great British Baking show and Emily in Paris. I think the only knew movie I have seen this month is that new American Pie movie, Girls Rule. Let me tell you, I am not like a crazy fan of the other American Pie movies but this one seemed a little forced to be related to them, in general it was just an alright movie. Sorry, I don't have any good movie recommendations. 

Music

We are getting pretty close to nothing but Christmas music everywhere, prepare yourselves. This moth however, I have been listening to a lot of OneRepublic and some of my old playlists from like 2015, I don't know why, but I was feeling kind of nostalgic this month. 

If you have any good TV, movies or music recommendations, please let me know, I am in kind of a slump. 

End of the Year To Be Read

 Because I have no idea what the holidays are gonna look like for me this year both in regards to work and my personal life I figured I would just compile my TBR for the rest of the year, the final quarter, the beginning of the fiscal year, the holiday season....whatever you want to call it. So I present to you my TBR, I tried not to be too ambitious.

1. The Way of the Kings (The Stormlight Archive #1) by Brandon Sanderson

2. Harrow the Ninth (The Locked Tomb #2) by Tamsyn Muir

3. The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton

4. The City of Brass (The Daevabad Trilogy #1) by S.A. Chakraborty

5. Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicles #1) by Jay Kristoff

6. Harry Potter and the Sorcer's Stone (Harry Potter #1) by J.K. Rowling

7. Ready Player Two (Ready Player One #2) by Ernist Cline

T5W: Spoopy Times

I usually say I am not one for spooky reads of any kind, no horror or anything like that but while going through all the books I have read I realized that I have been really into more than I realized. It was really hard for me to condense my favorite into only 5 books so I decided to choose my top 5 spooky reads that I feel like are severely underrated. 

1. The Dark Days Club

London, 1812, demons are trying to infiltrate society at every level. While this book is part of a series I felt pretty content having had only read book one, thus far. There is a lot of dark and creepy things and a girl coming into her own as she realizes demons actually exist and you can't even tell them apart from the rest of us. Let the war begin. 

2. The Man in the Picture

Most people know Susan Hill as the renowned author of the Woman in Black, but I know her more for this wonderful gem. It's a very short read, I believe less than 200 pages, but for something so short it has the same spooky aspects as her other horror stories. This is all about a man with an eerie painting of the Venice Carnival that has the ability to entrap life. 

3. Crane

This is an Ichabad Crane retelling that takes place from the perspectives of both him and his ancestor Ireland Crane and their fight with the curse of the Horseman. I mean, to me, that's enough said, this is a series that also brings in retellings of other old horror tales and creatures.

4. The Girl with all the Gifts 

A story of a young zombie girl who has intelligence seeking out the answers to this apocalyptic outbreak. 10/10 recommend. Also, there is a movie based on this book that is on Netflix though I have no idea if it is any good or even anything like the book itself. 

5. All the Beautiful People

Another zombie tail. This one is a classic about a pharmaceutical company releasing a drug to help bring those with depression's inner self into the light and instead causes them to become uber violent, blood thirsty creature. This was one of those random books I got for super cheap on my kindle and I don't regret it for an instance. This is one of those random, not well know stories that I fell like more people need to give a chance. 

If you participate in T5W or just have some spoopy reads, or show, suggestions please let me know! I am trying to broaden my horizons. 

T5W: Books that Took the Longest to Finish

 Sometimes books take forever because of the length, sometimes it is because you hit a reading slump and in many occasions, at least for me, it is because I am forcing myself to stick out a book that I am just not that into. I really, REALLY do not like writing negative reviews about books, I know that everyone has their own drastically different tastes and that authors put a lot of work into what they put out there but no book can ever cater to the tastes of every person that reads it. Because of this, some books, many of which are parts of series I actually enjoyed, are just a chore to get through for me. So here, I present to you some of said books. I tried to list books that I don't often or have ever talked about here.

1. A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire #2)

This book felt like it went on forever. I really enjoyed book three so I am happy that a forced myself to finish the second one in the series but it was so hard to get through since some of the perspectives annoyed the crap out of me to read, though that is mostly because I didn't enjoy reading from the pov of characters that I really didn't like. 

2. The Ghosts of Heaven

"Four linked stories boldly chronicle madness, obsession and creation though the ages."* Sounds like it would be a pretty awesome set of stories right?  Unfortunately they bored the living daylights out of me. I continued to read it because every story I came across, if I didn't like it, I figured I could power through and the next one would be better. Sadly, that didn't happen, but I spent MANY a nights trudging through it.

3. Life As We Knew It

Life as we knew it....I just....maybe I don't get it? From what I have seen this book (and the whole series?) is actually pretty popular but man, I felt like their search for normalcy dragged on into the mundane and after the initial few chapters it just got too tedious to enjoy. I read this book years and years ago but I remember it taking me well over a month to read because it took so much for me to finish it. 

4. The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #2)

For an author I enjoy and a story line that brought me a lot of joy, book two in the Percy series was a fine example of "the boring second book". I mean, is it just me or the second book in a lot of series the worst one? I know its usually because the book is meant to be a filler book to add detail to the story and the world but man....killin' me. 

5. Way of Shadows

Okay, lets be a bit more positive when it comes to long books. This book took me over a month to read, and its not even that long. I tried reading about two years ago and couldn't get passed like the first thirty pages. This year I restarted it and actually finished it but it was like trying to walk through a tar pit, a tar pit that I enjoyed but tar nonetheless. I have no idea what it was about this book but no matter how much I enjoyed parts of this story it was just really rough to finish and for that reason alone I do not intend on ever finishing the series. 

If you have participated in T5W for this topic or have strong opinions about any of these book please leave them down below!

*Goodreads synopsis

T5W: Fairly Local

 I don't live in a big city like NY or Paris, and a lot of what I read is fantasy that takes place in make believe land so I tried to pull some choices that drew from different genres and places across the US. Enjoy. 

1. Geekerella

Taking place in Charleston, SC, Elle lives with her Stepmother and Stepsisters. Geekerella is definitely not the most unique or anything but it was such an adorable read and I loved all the nods to so many fandoms intertwined into the one the story revolves around.

2. My Calamity Jane

This book will draw you into 1876 America with gunslingers and the wild wild west, oh, and garou. This is a an old timey, old fashioned werewolf hunt with a real life hero-eene as the lead character. Such a fun read. 

3. Ready Player One

Taking place in a few places within 2044 America and the VR world the OASIS. This is another fun read full of fandoms and action, I definitely recommend this book to anyone who has nerdy adventurous side.

4. Dread Nation

Taking place in Baltimore around the time of the Civil War. But the war between the states is derailed when the dead start rising from the battlefields from which they died. I am usually not the biggest fan of Zombie stories but I have to admit that this was a one of the best Zombie stories I have ever read. 

5. Where the Crawdads Sing

Taking place on the North Carolina coast, this story follows the life of the "Marsh Girl". To be completely honest, I am not really in love with this book, other than the end, but I know that it is loved by so many others so I am going to throw it in here. While I won't straight up suggest the book I will encourage those that are interested in it to to give it a chance.