The Pandemic of Book Amnesia

Most of the people reading this post are book bloggers or at least very dedicated readers. The type of people that read daily. We devour books like they're food and we're never satisfied. Occasionally we grow impatient with one type of flavour, but upon seeing a really epic trailer for an upcoming book, we get right back into it. We read so much, so fast, and sometimes it takes a toll on our lives. We're those strange people that sometimes would rather just curl up with a nice book instead of going shopping. It's weird to friends who don't read, and we've been told so many times that we read too much.

Another toll it's taken on me is my memory. Now, I'm not blaming books on what I would call "absentmindedness" (or what my mom calls "idiocy"). Rather, where do you think all those thousands, maybe even millions, of words go? They can't all stay in my brain. So some go away. Most people remember general storylines for books they read. They remember character names, backgrounds, covers, anything. Everyone has this issue to some degree, but I feel like I suffer more than others. 

I have book amnesia. Also known as liber amnesia.

It's rather shameful and embarrassing. I have been ridiculed for it. Mostly by this one really mean Vampire Academy/ Sidney Crosby fan, but it still hurts. All jokes aside, I find it really weird and so do others. You might be wondering why, so I'll tell you some of the symptoms of my condition. 

Symptoms

• forgetting character's names. 
• forgetting the story.
• forgetting the title. 
• forgetting what happens
• forgetting I ever read the book.
• forgetting if I liked it or not. 

Now, it's pretty obvious why I write a review for a book almost immediately after reading it. The thing about these "symptoms" is that they aren't exactly bad. Everyone forgets stories and books sometimes. The thing that's a little extreme is how fast I can forget. I've read a book, and a day later can't remember the main character's love interest's name. I've read a book I adored so much that I made my friend buy it and then she reads it within a week of me. We try to talk about the ending but I can't remember it all. It's tragic because you can imagine how much I can remember once I read a sequel of a book I year later. That's right, not much. 

Solutions

I'm a fighter. I refuse to let this conundrum bring me down. I will read books, and damnit I will remember some of them! Mostly, it's my very favourite series that I remember the most, but even that doesn't work sometimes. So rather than lament about the problem, I seek solutions. 

One solution I found was reading Down The Rabbit Hole's Happily Ever Endings posts. I love these. No seriously, they have saved me so many times. Basically, they are the summaries of endings for books and they, along with some spoilery Goodreads reviews, rescue me from reading a sequel of a book I have no recollection of. Especially since in general I don't like to reread. So they have helped me a lot.

What I'm wondering is if this is common among book readers or am I an anomaly. Do you guys suffer from any type of liber amnesia too? Let us commiserate in the comments!

The Age of Reading; Forever YA?

Ever since I was a kid, I've read books for an older age group than mine. I actually didn't like picture books very much as a kid. I found them to be boring and I wasn't interested in books at all until I was old enough to read chapter books. Junie B. Jones was one of the first "chapter" books I read. It was about a kid younger than me, in kindergarten, which didn't bother me much but the next chapter books I got into were about twelve year-olds when I was seven so about a five year gap.

Ever since then, I've consistently read about people older than me. I started to move away from MG in grades 4/5 and by grade 6 I was reading entirely YA. Now, I stick to YA but occasionally will read a MG book (especially if it's by this guy).

Now, I've been reading teen for about five years and again, I can see myself shifting in age. I'm 16 and most YA books are either about characters or aimed towards people a little older, a little younger, or just around this age. When I was younger, I remember loving to read about the first years of high school. I used to always wonder what it was like and the only way I could imagine it even semi-accurately (beyond watchin those shows my mom called "garbage") was to read about it. Now, I've been in high school for three years. I haven't been accepted into Hogwarts (*sobs*) and I don't read those types of books anymore. Once again, my interests or reading levels has shifted upwards.

These days I don't want to read young YA. I've been through that stage, I kind of hate that age, and now I'm wandering more towards books about growing up. If I'm reading a contemporary, it's not about fitting in any more but how to stand out. I read more about becoming an adult, saying goodbye to high school and opening up to university. It's awkward for me sometimes to read about characters noticeably younger. I can't read about 11 year olds as a 16 year old. I find it odd, and also really sad because I remember being 11 and thinking that 12 was this magical age where everything awesome would happen to you. It's not an unpleasant reading experience, but it is a little strange to have a literary crush on a guy even two years younger, which is why I don't connect as well to those books.

Books have always been a source of comfort to me. I've always reminded myself that no matter how sucky anything in my life is, at least it's not as bad as ________'s life when they had to _________ and ended up losing _________.  YA books in particular have done a lot. I owe a lot of my personality and maturity to the YA genre and everything it has taught me.That's why I wonder sometimes if I'll still read YA in the future.

I know a lot of people do. And a lot of you guys make some pretty spectacular blogs with wonderful reviews and features. As much as YA is supposed to be for teens, the YA blogosphere would not be where it is today if it weren't for the "adults" that keep reading YA. You know, the +20 up are a huge demographic blogging-wise and probably when it comes to book sales too. Since y'all actually have some sort of income.

So naturally, being the annoyingly over analytic person that I am, I wonder if I'll stick with YA for life. If when I'm 30 (I don't want to imagine this) I'll still care about the books that made me who I was as a teen in what I'm told are some of the most formative years of life.

As of this moment, I have nothing to worry about. There's plenty in YA that interests me and I don't see that changing for a while. If it ever does change, I don't think it'll be sudden. It'll be more of a progression towards more mature books and I'm not there yet. Nonetheless, I still do wonder.

I know it's not one or the other; teen or adult; but even now I find it hard to figure out what I'd like in the MG world, so I end up not reading any of it.

So I have some question for teens reading YA; do you think you'll continue to do so when you're not in the YA age group anymore? And for you older YA fans, what makes you stick around? Is it a conscious decision? Do you primarily read YA or do you read a mix?

I know people often do posts about this subject so if you already have written a post about why you read YA feel free to link it in the comments.

Thoughts on Book Bloggers' Spoiler Theory Dilemma

This is something that has annoyed me a lot as a blog follower. See, I'll be browsing the Interwebz looking for new books when I stumble upon a review for this incredible book I've been dying to read for, like, ever. I'll open up the blog page, stare lovingly at the cover, read the synopsis, and then I'll finally take a peek at the good stuff- the review.

And I'm always left a bit upset when I see that there is a spoiler warning in the review. Like, for a review of an ARC or a book that has been released less than two weeks ago, the blogger is posting spoilers in their review. That somehow bugs me a lot. I notice it's a personal thing though- I haven't heard of anyone else finding this very annoying.

I'm not going to tell anyone to blog because who the hell am I to do that, so this spoiling thing left me with a question.

When is it appropriate to post spoilers on a blog? 

This answer depends a lot on the type of blogger you are and the type of blog you have. So there is no real answer. 

For me, I hate seeing spoilers in reviews. A review should inform me about the novel without mentioning the specific content. I know that it's hard though to write a good review without any detail. I've written a lot of awful ones because I didn't know what to say other than mentioning some crazy plot twist, especially if said crazy plot twist defined the book for me. 

I also assume most authors hate to see spoilers of their books if their books are new (I'm not sure about this- confirm in the comments?). I've been spoiled for one of my favourite series before and if you've met me in person you'll know how insane that drives me. I try my best to forget about the spoiler (it was tiny, I read it in a split second before realizing it was something I shouldn't know) but some stuff just sticks with you no matter how much you want to throw it away. 

The thing I'm iffy about is when it comes to discussion posts like this or feature posts. See, the point of a book blog is to talk  write about books. That's kind of hard though if you go by the rule of never spoiling anything ever. I want to talk about all the incredible series I read with the insane plot twists and go in depth and rant and gush and have fun. I'm not sure if I should do that. 

It would make me very sad to ruin someone else's reading experience. I try not to ever spoil, even if people ask me to. At the same time, I'm a little burnt out with talking constantly about new books and debuts in series. Most of what I read are books in the middle of series and it's hard to feature these books because to describe the later books there needs to be some sort background information, which would spoil the books. 

That's my dilemma. (I'm prone to extreme exaggerations, if you haven't noticed already.) 

To spoil or not to spoil- that is the question! When do you think it's okay, or if it is even ever okay to spoil on your blog?

Review: My Personal Yearbook

Pages: 63
Publisher: Prufrock Press
Source: Review Copy (Thank you!)
Description (from Prufrock Press): Kids will love looking back at their copies of My Personal Yearbook, complete with reflections about their lives, lists of favorites and hot trends, letters to their future selves, and more. Created by the editors of Creative Kids magazine, the fill-in pages of this book are full of color, cool graphics, and fun activities to help kids document their current passions and interests. Activities include creating a soundtrack for one’s life, making a mock social media page, writing an autobiography, preparing a Twitter-style feed documenting a day in their lives, creating a photo timeline, compiling friends’ advice and reflections, writing a bucket list, taking quizzes about their lives, and much more. Kids will not only enjoy filling in the many pages of this personalized yearbook, they’ll love looking back at it for years to come.

My Personal Yearbook is a fun activity book suitable for I'd say just about everyone. It's something that I've been doing every week or so, and I always end up writing on more pages than I thought I would.

I love the colours and illustrations. The layout is superb- everything just looks so good. It invites some weird doodles and haphazardly taped pictures. It's so authentic and I love that. It's something I have fun with now and in the future I'll appreciate doing. The only layout thing I don't like is that the book is not a hardcover. I think if it were it would be even cooler. It would have a scrapbook or photo album-like feel. It's something so important- you look back at this book and it will remind you of your life, so I'd like it if the binding was sturdier so I could write on it, and heavier so I could stick papers and drawings in that wouldn't fall when I move the book. If that's the only thing I have against the layout you know the book is awesome.

The pages are very complete and are so interesting! There are a lot of topics that I wouldn't even have considered writing down and I had a lot of fun thinking of my year so far. I always left some stuff black because I know times will change. This isn't just a book- at times it's an activity. It's a wonderful time to reflect the past and contemplate the future. The book tries very hard to capture your personality. There are features like "Dear Blabby" where you write a fake advice column which is really cool to look back on and see if you're opinions changed. There's page for texts, tweets, cool stuff, world issues, slang words and translations, and so many other things that are a part of daily life and that I'd want to remember.

I love this book. It's something I do every once in a while, and even after I've posted this review I will keep using My Personal Yearbook. Life is so fast sometimes; I always try to keep a diary or journal but it never works out. Sometimes I just want to slow everything down and appreciate my life, and My Personal Yearbook helps a lot with that. It's something that I want to complete and be proud of. It's decently long (a little over 60 pages), which means that there's enough to do to cover the entire year.

I recommend this book for everyone (especially students) who want to save a year in their life in a colorful, fun book. You won't regret it because it's a blast.

Thoughts on... Reading Here, There, Everywhere!

I've always been the type of person that finishes a book in no time. Seriously, I'm that girl- the one who reads like a book a day. Except I'm not anymore. For the first time in a long while, I've been so busy I only manage about four chapters a day. It's not a reading slump either, I enjoy very much what I read. My life has inexplicably gotten so much more busy, so I thought I might as well share where/when I do manage to read.

On the bus

Every morning I take a 25 minute or so bus ride to school. I always try to make the most of my time so I try to read on the bus. 

Pros: 25 minutes of reading makes me much calmer and more happy in the mornings. 

Cons: I have to stop reading when I get off the bus... and that's often only after I truly feel into what I'm reading so it's a bit jarring. Also, I kind of want to talk to my friends too and I can only do so many things at once. 

During class

I always bring a book to class in case I have a few minutes to read, or we have free time. In some classes we get specific time just to read. 

Pros: I get to show off and promote the awesome books I get to all my peers. 

Cons: I'm so into what I read sometimes that I miss instructions. Also, reading in class isn't usually very continuous. If a teacher notices I have nothing to do, (which is rare in 11th grade) they'll give me something to do. Which sucks. 

When I come home after school 

Ahh, school's over. NOW I can read. Let me bring my bag upstairs to my room and then relax on the bed until my family gets home. 

Pros: Continuous, relaxing, uninterrupted reading time.  

Cons: If I read too early on, I have issues stopping. I have no self control and I will neglect my homework for a really good book. I'm also generally very hungry right after school and I don't want to spill crumbs on my books. 

Before I go to bed

I'm on my bed, relaxing. I've done pretty much all I could do and I decide to end the day with some reading. 

Pros: Comfy, nice, soothing, and potential unlimited amount of time. 

Cons: Staying up too late (anyone else notice their sense of time while reading is completely out of whack?) as well as falling asleep because I'm usually so tired. 

Anyway

I've noticed the best time to read is anytime. Just read as much as you can at any point in the day because it will add up. And don't be upset with yourself for not having time to read. There's always tomorrow. No specific time of day is perfect for reading... at least on a weekday, imo. What do you think? When/where do your read? 

The Weekly Progress (Non-stop Babbling Edition)

Sigh... School has (kinda) started. Last week, I went to do some volunteer thing at school from Wednesday to Friday and it showed me how hard it will be to blog consistently with school. I think I can manage it though with some actual use of a calendar (I hate schedules).

So, I'm probably going to be consistently inconsistent starting from this inconsistent feature that is supposed to be posted every Sunday but hasn't been posted for like a month. Well then. I'll stop with the inane ramblings now.

All book covers link to Goodreads.

Books Read

Yes, I had a freaking FANTASTIC book week. I may have not read very much, but seriously I had a lot of fun reading and reviewing (reviews written for The Forsaken and The Immortal Rules) these books. I cant pick a favourite because they all literally were strong in very different areas. The Far West is a pretty unknown book in a great series so I totally recommend checking the series out. It's so fascinating!

Currently Reading

I still love the cover. Just sayin', but it may not be the best representation of the book because the story so far feels pretty light and is surprisingly humourous at times.

Next I'll Be Reading

Light From a Distant Star is for review, so I'm expecting some good things. Struck and Underworld both look like some fun paranormal reads. I think this week will continue my good books streak! 

Other stuff & recap 

In other news, The Ultimate Reviewers' Challenge is over. Boo. I hope you all enjoyed the crazy amount of reviews. I'm going to try to be a little more balanced now. Something really awesome happened and I won Prize Pack 1 from For What It's Worth! I am beyond excited about that- I did a happy dance when Karen emailed me. :) 

Also, last week's Cover Wars was freaking INSANE. I set a new page view record for Cover Wars- 103. Wow. Thank you all for visiting and voting, it truly means a lot! I hope you guys stick around for tomorrow's Cover Wars! 

I actually managed to participate in some kind of meme last week. Crazy, but I did a Top 10 Bookish Confessions post.

I also reviewed a bunch of books, but Code Name Verity was one of my favourites. Check out my review of it!

Really Random Thought

My computer, phone, and every other spell check in the world is annoying me. I AM CANADIAN. I spell honour, flavour, and favourite differently than Americans. Don't you dare change it without me noticing. *I'm looking at you iPod* 

In Conclusion

I'm kind of crazy right now. Pretty hyper which is weird because I'm really hungry but won't let myself eat until I finish this post. Probably some back to school nerves, because this year will definitely be very different from others (from a social standpoint) and I'm honestly not sure what to expect. I'm hoping for an awesome year for me, and a great week for you too, especially if you're still reading this post. Books-wise, I'm set. :) 

Thanks for visiting! 

Top Ten Bookish Confessions

Top Ten Tuesday is an awesome meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and though I very rarely participate in any type of meme anymore (I admit I suck) I thought the topic was interesting so I'm participating this week. Plus, I don't think you guys want yet another review.

So here are my top ten bookish and bloggish confessions.

1. I have a schedule for every book I read. It goes something along the lines of 3-4 library books, review books, and then personal titles. 

2. I rarely read books I got just for myself and not from the library or for review. It took me more than a year to read Angelfire, not because it was awful (it was pretty awesome) but because there are so many other books in the way. 

3. I never review more than one book on Netgally because I forget about them. Never mind my Kobo is broken right now (*sobs*) but in general I never use it. I have library books and review titles. I've forgotten ebooks before because I'm not used to them. I'll always review a hard copy faster than an ecopy. 

4. Before reading a book, I will search on Goodreads for a 5 star review and a 1 star review. I feel like that way I'll temper my expectations and I'll be better informed. 

5. I usually read longer reviews. I want someone to be specific about things they liked and didn't like, and I want details. I mostly write my reviews in a sort of essay format- intro, three paragraphs (about plot/characters/setting/interests/likes/dislikes), and conclusion (where I'll give a star rating). 

6. My new star rating system: 

1 star= Didn't like the book.

2 stars= An okay read, didn't particularly enjoy it but not too bad. 

3 stars= Liked the book. 

4 stars= Wow, really great read. 

5 stars= You can not top this. Everything I want from a book, no weaknesses, incredible. 

This rating system may not be visible yet (since most reviews i post here are very old). 

7. I use a mathematical approach to give a final star rating. Each book can get 1 to 5 points in the following categories: setting, my interest when reading, plot, characters, and mythology (I mostly read paranormals, but if contemporary it will be something like how realistic the book is). 

8. I dog ear books. Bad habit, I know. Since I've gotten some awesome bookmarks from authors I've stopped doing it as much. 

9. I prefer paranormal/fantasy to contemporary. Best books I've ever read have been in those two genres, no matter how much contemporary I read. 

10. On the library catalogue, mostly I pick books based on cover without reading the summary. If a cover makes a book look like it's in my genre, I'll probably request it 

So those are some of my confessions. I could probably go on, but more than 10 is overkill. What are some of yours? And thanks for visiting! 

Thoughts On... Self-Publishing

I read a pretty interesting article on Forbes the other day. (Twitter followers know I like reading articles about random stuff by now.) It was about why Indie and self published books may push the book industry to become better. It's a great article by the way; very informative so please do check it out if you have the chance.

I read the article from a very interesting perspective- that of a blogger. The article has many subsections and I thought I'd share some interesting points from the article, as well as present my own opinions.

The first section of the article is about how some bestselling mainstream authors see Indie publishing. Most notably, there was a very interesting quote from an author called Brad Thor.

"The important role that publishers fill is to separate the wheat from the chaff.  If you’re a good writer and have a great book you should be able to get a publishing contract."

This is a controversial idea. The article itself goes on to speak about how this isn't necessarily true, but I'm going to talk about this from a reader's perspective.

A while back, I brought a review title to school. It was self published and the cover was interesting enough that some classmates looked at it. One classmate asked me why it looked different (as in, where's the publisher) and I tried to explain self publishing to her. The reaction from her and other students was something along the lines of "So anyone can write their own book and have it published?" Yes. And no.

The thing publishing does that is so awesome is that theoretically, the books being published are quality titles. Self publishing on the other hand can be done by anyone. This is good in a way- more stories, more writing- but what kind of guaranty do I get as a reader that the novel I'm reading is any good?

A lot of bloggers have stopped accepting Indie titles and I totally respect that because everyone has read a book they didn't feel like it should be given to readers. Either there are grammatical errors (more than three in a book is a BIG nono for me) or the writing style needed work (awkward phrasing, plot pacing, etc.) but evidently there are some Indie titles that are really good and awesome. How do you find the diamonds in the rough? By reviews. But generally, people don't want to look at a bunch of maybes in their search for a good book. They're looking for a surefire hit. And the surest way to find a good book is to read published titles.

That doesn't mean Indie titles are inferior. All it means that every published title has been read several times by many people. Edits have been made and obviously, the book has been deemed one that should be read by others. It's the same principle as everything else in life. Even blogging. Popular blogs are ones that are linked in tweets and in other blog posts. The more followers you have, the easier it is to get even more. However if you're a newbie blogger, you have a harder time getting real followers because your product isn't certain. People don't know if you'll continue blogging every week or if you'll give up within a month. This uncertainty isn't very helpful, but if you want to be a decent blogger you'll continue with the quality content until people feel more secure in following you. Same goes with little known Indie authors. If their book is really good, it should create some buzz.

Whenever I agree to review an Indie title, I feel like I'm taking a chance. I've read more titles I didn't like than ones I did. (By the way, check out Lynn Seresin's Thin Air. I really liked that book.) I did consider not reviewing them anymore, but I want to promote good books so I will accept Indies in the chance that I'll find an incredible read I can hype up to everyone I know.

The thing about Indie titles is that there are so many of them, and a lot of them are new. They don't reach many people that aren't serious about reading (i.e., have a Kindle). Even when you do see reviews of Indies, if there aren't many reviews of that book it's hard to believe all the positive 4 & 5 star reviews without seeing a 1 or 2 star review. Anyone can write a review these days, so I personally see it as a red flag if the only reviews I'm seeing are positive, especially if there aren't that many reviews in general.

Self published titles are unknown commodities. Published titles aren't always books I like, but their presentation is supposed to be top notch. They're supposed to be books I may like considering what's trending in the market, while Indie authors are more free to write whatever they want. Both ways of writing have their merits, and both are far from being perfect methods.

My  personal opinion is that when there are two books offered to me, Indie or traditionally published, I'll probably go with the sure thing and go for tradition. But that's just me. If an Indie title piques my interest, I will check it out, perhaps a bit more cautiously because I don't know what I'm getting.

Indie publishing in general is a good thing. It pushes publishers to have more decent pay, lowers the price of books, and maybe instead of books being published because they're trendy, it shows publishers that different types of books can also be popular. Maybe this will lead to publishing more of a variety of books and through that, maybe the quality of books in general will be raised. 

I still prefer published titles as a whole, but I think it's unfair to say that self-published books in general are books that aren't good enough to be published through traditional methods because they're all of a lesser quality. What Indies are doing is changing the industry, and it might even end up to be for the better. 

Thanks for reading! 

What a Cliche; Stereotypes in YA

Don't you hate stereotypes in YA? Especially the characters. How unoriginal can an author be to include such clichés. They're so unbelievable, right?

 Every reader is on the lookout for that perfect book with the perfectly original characters. But at what point do the original characters we seek become stereotypes themselves? So by saying we don't want one type of character because they're overdone, aren't we as readers encouraging authors to write another sort of character that at first is deemed original but a year later is nothing new?

 Why am I asking this question? Well, I was reading a book I really liked. I wrote my review, then went on Goodreads to check out other people's thoughts. Now this is stupid and I'm probably looking for trouble when I do this, but I looked for really negative review to compare that reader's reading experience to mine. I read a few, then settled on a review from a pretty popular reviewer. She had valid points for why she didn't like the book (obviously I disagreed with a few of them but that's a matter of personal taste) and I got to one point. She couldn't believe in the reality of the book because one of the characters was the stereotype of a gay guy.

 Gay teen stereotype: fashion & style obsessed, energetic, positive, dreamy 

Gay boy in the story: fashion and hair skills, loves to cook, energetic, smart, over the top


 Yeah, she's right. He was what we call a stereotype. But that doesn't mean he's unrealistic. (Now, this post isn't just about the 'gay boy' stereotype- insert anyone you like.) It got me thinking, why can't an author write about this type of character? I mean, some guys probably are like this in real life. Many aren't. I think we've established that everyone has their own personality, so what if someone's personality is similar to a stereotype. Are we saying, "No, you can't be gay and like clothes and be really excited about hot guys because that would mean you're a stereotype"?

 Obviously, I have a lot of respect for this reviewer so I know she didn't mean what she wrote so literally. I'm being very nitpicky, but don't you think it's ridiculous that people are looking for completely original characters when even people in real life don't always seem to be completely original, especially when you don't know them that well? I have met people who seem stereotypical, especially at first glance: the super smart Asian chick; the hotshot athlete that gets along with all the girls; the popular idiot. Undoubtedly there's more to these people than I know and that's why they aren't stereotypes. Because they walk and talk and live. So if these people exist in real life, why can't they exist in books without readers feeling like the characters aren't original?

 I think it's the author's job to add depth to all their characters but they shouldn't refrain from including the right character in the right scene, even if said character seems to be a stereotype at first impression. And as readers, we can't expect every character to be unexpected. That's crazy. We should allow authors to show us the unique personalities of their characters instead of comparing them to other characters we've read of before. Basically, be more open to the differences and focus less on the similarities. This is especially important when it comes to reviewers because we're so analytical when we read and we constantly compare books. I understand it's much easier said than done and I'm not even sure if I'm doing this right or not.

So what do you think? Agree, disagree, think I'm a total lunatic? Leave a comment and let me know!

Recommend me a Classic

I don't read classics. Honestly, they don't often interest me. I think it has a lot to do with society and the difference in thinking and writing, but at 15 I can't honestly think of any classic I really want to read. I'd rather read modern interpretations and re-tellings. I know this is some type of blasphemy. The story should be the same, right, so how can I not like the older books but like the newer ones. I can't relate with older reads. I appreciate the writing but the stories themselves very rarely are things I'd read out of school. 

So what's the point of this post? I don't know. I know so many people love classics and I'm wondering if maybe I just haven't read the right one. Maybe someone could recommend me a classic that I'd like? So I thought I'd make a list of classics I've liked and classics I didn't like. Some I've only watched the movie of, but I didn't like the general storyline. 

Like

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Little Women

The Little Princess 

Didn't Like

The Arabian Nights 

Lord of the Flies 

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

A Wizard of Earthsea

Treasure Island

Romeo and Juliet*

The Taming of the Shrew*

*love the language but the plot doesn't interest me

I really can't stand too much description. I will skip over it no matter how good the story is- it was one of the reasons I couldn't read the His Dark Materials series. I also am not interested in pure romances- I want more action than that. I'm looking for an interesting, fast paced read that is entertaining. I personally don't care how literary a book is if it doesn't entertain me. 

I'm really interested in seeing your recommendations. :)

Thoughts on... Endings That Changed A Series

These days, most books are part of series. Trilogies, sagas, and the like, have become the norm in YA. With all these long winding, complicated stories, there is more excitement, more action, and more suspense than ever in books. Some series have me flipping pages as fast as I can trying to get to the end, just so I can read  the final climax and the accumulation of multiple books full of tension and danger. 

Sometimes, the endings don't disappoint. Sometimes, they really are epic (see: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows). Other times, endings leave us underwhelmed. And sometimes, endings change the way we see a series. This is what I want to talk about. 

The conclusion of a series can change how the entire series feels. I usually give conclusions really high ratings because they're what everything's been leading to. Sometimes, a conclusion can change the way you look at a series. I'm going to use three examples of books who's conclusions completely changed my perception of the series. Beware, I will be writing spoilers to better explain my thoughts.

1. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (Twilight #4) 

I was a Twi-Hard. Loved the series. Read the books over 5 times each. I remember when I first got the books. I went to the library and asked if they had Twilight because I used to be active on this website called Stardoll (I was in 6th grade, ok!) and I noticed so many people admiring Edward. So when I asked my librarian for the books, she said there weren't any at the moment because the series is really popular. Instead I got a copy from my mom's coworker. I devoured the books. Seriously, within two days I was done the series. 

Eclipse was my favourite. I was totally Team Edward. When I read Breaking Dawn, I wasn't satisfied. I wished there was more action. I couldn't believe that Bella- a character moderately ordinary and who I could relate with, got freakin' pregnant. That's what the whole series was leading up to? Renesmee? 

I'm not much of a fan of the series anymore, and that's partially because Breaking Dawn was so strange to me. It used to be a cute love story, but then there was a baby. It kind of woke me up and changed the way I saw the series. 

2. Darkest Mercy by Melissa Marr (Wicked Lovely #5)

I'm a huge fan of Wicked Lovely (I even joined the fansite and forums- I was in the Summer Court) but Darkest Mercy changed my perception of the series. You see, I was an enormous fan of the Summer King, Keenan. And when I say enormous, I mean enormous. I participated in discussions about Keenan and defended him. Whenever I saw the sun, I would always think of him. He was what I thought of as Summer. Guess my reaction when Keenan gave up the Summer Court in Darkest Mercy. :O 

I understand why he did it, but when I read that part I closed the book and cried. It completely changed the series and I felt like my favourite character's identity was changed. I still love the series, but that one part of the ending completely changed my perception of the series. I was cheering on him and Ash so I was upset to see him leave the Court. It was a very bittersweet ending. 

3. Bloodrose by Andrea Cremer (Nightshade #3) 

Bloodrose made me want to scream. I loved Nightshade, Wolfsbane was less good but I liked it enough because I supposed Bloodrose would feature Ren a bit more. 

Ren. Here's the issue with having a love triangle. When you create a love triangle, a lot of people are going to have difference of opinions on who should get the girl. And when you have people like me who get very attached to characters, the way you treat one of the love interests is very important to me when considering how much I enjoyed the story. 

Bloodrose made me want to scream and forget what I had just read. It made me hate Calla and Shay for both treating Ren so bad. I absolutely hated the last book. Calla led on Ren, and when Ren died I remember being furious. I had never been that angry at an author for wrecking a character I loved. I was upset to the point that I vowed not to read another Andrea Cremer book ever again. Bloodrose wrecked the whole Nightshade series for me. That conclusion is an example of a bad one. 

These are all examples of books with endings that changed the way I saw the series in a big way. They were highly awaited books and each ending engineered a different, yet emotional response. What are some endings that changed a series for you? Yours can be a little more positive than mine were. ;) 

My New Blog Look... What do you think?

Most people know how I love pretty things. That's why I have a feature just for pretty books, called Cover Wars. I also like new things. I got the bird design a while back and I thought it was beautiful. However, it's summer now and I really wanted to change things up. So now, I downloaded the "lemon" template from my favourite website for blog designs EVER, The Cutest Blog on the Block. Check them out- they have some really awesome stuff.

I love this design. I love how clean it is, and I have always loved high contrast designs. I started off with a black and hot pink design. Then I moved on to a more red and blue design. Now I'm on to a yellow design.

What do you guys think? Do you like it? Do you have any blog design sites you love?

Thoughts on: Beautiful People in Books (And Love!)

You know how it seems like almost every YA book features a romance involving two (sometimes three) stunning characters? Ever read a book and thought, why do these people not look normal? Why can't they be ugly!

Well, I read a book I enjoyed. After rating the book on Goodreads and writing my review, I looked around to see others' reactions to the book. One person said something very interesting: why can't that guy the main character likes be ugly? Why does he have to be hot?

That made sense in a way. I mean, the world is not filled with stunningly attractive people. At the same time though, and I may not know too much about this, but don't you have to be attracted to the person you love? Don't you have to think they're beautiful? Can you be in a real relationship with someone whom you consider ugly?

I'm not being superficial here. I'm saying that some people, you look at them and think "Damn, that's hot." But others, maybe you'll notice they have great eyes or hair. There will be initial attraction. From there, don't people in love usually notice all the great things about their partner after they got to know their personality? So of course, in a story that is told in the biased perspective of one fallen-in-love character, there are beautiful people.

Would you call your (good) friends ugly? I wouldn't. So maybe that's why there aren't so many real "ugly" characters in books. It's hard to imagine an ugly character, and unless it's some kind of enemy. The main character usually perceives their loved ones as beautiful. That doesn't mean they are the drop dead gorgeous model some people imagine in their heads- it just means that they are beautiful to the characters, and from there the reader gives them a look based on their own definition of beauty.

*all images were pertained from the awesome website, http://www.sxc.hu/

What do you guys think of that? Agree, disagree, is this completely wrong? 

Random Musings: To Vlog or Not to Vlog

A while back, I was browsing Twitter when I came across a really interesting discussion. It was about what people thought of vlogs. Now, I know most blogs have a post like this at some point. Bloggers want to know what their followers like. So I've decided in my ever organized manner to devise a pro and con list for vlogging.

Keep in mind I rarely vlog so I'm probably missing a bunch of points.

Pros

• Super easy (all you do is talk!) and it doesn't take long so it's perfect for the days when you're short on time
• You get to really connect with your readers because it puts a face to the blog. Readers will get to know you better and the better they know you/your blog, the more likely they'll stick around.
• What better way to show personality? You can really gush without it being too weird that you're going off topic. 

Cons 

• Technology issues. I'm not saying everyone has them, but sometimes it takes forever to post to Youtube or to save/upload your file. And you may not have that time. 
• Editing- Assuming you want to edit, this can take a while depending on how much you want to do and how good you are. The more professional ones are edited, but it's a lot of work.
• Some people don't like to talk. Obviously, that will turn people off from vlogging. 

Now that was all from the vlogger's perspective. I may or may not have a post about vlogs from a blog reader's POV.

Do you vlog? Why or why not? Anything I'm missing?

Random Thoughts: Books You Won't Write Reviews About

As a book blogger, a lot of my posts are reviews. You wouldn't know that looking at my recent posts, but most of what I do for this blog is read and review. (And yes, I will post more reviews at some point. They're all written on my iPod, but need to be formatted for the blog.)

There are some books that I won't review though. Some books are perfect to review- you know what you want to say, you can clearly analyze the book. Others are harder. You have to think a little and you feel more "meh". What I want to talk about is those books that you don't write a review about.

What books are they? 

I recently have not written any reviews. I've also looked at reviews I've written and thought, "Gosh, what an awful, unhelpful review. No way I'm going to post that." This usually happens when I'm reading a book further along in a series or the finale. Cuz if I've stuck to a series for long, I usually have some type of emotional attachment and it's hard not to rave about the awesomeness of the characters or the plot. (Ex: Every review I've done for Michael Grant's Gone series or Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympian and Heroes of Olympus series.)

If I really like a book, it's hard to write about why. You ever read a book and you're thinking, OMG I LOVE THIS. Now try to explain why you like it. Sometimes you like something because it appeals to you and others may not understand that because different things appeal to different people. 

If I really hate a book, it's also hard to write about. My most negative reviews are not written on my blog. Books that have resulted in strong negative feelings will rarely get a review. They'll get a couple lines in Goodreads (that's why you should be my friend! For extras!) or maybe I'll write a really scathing and awful vent about why I couldn't stand the book, but then I'll delete it. (Happens more often than you'd think.) 

There are also books that are really popular and that I didn't much care for. (Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor.) These are the really hyped, popular books. If I don't feel like I have much to add to the discussion, I probably won't review these books. It's kind of hard to have seen dozens of reviews a book and expected to love it just to find out it wasn't your type of read and you're not that into it for some reason that's hard to explain. 

Finally, there are books that I read for fun. Books (usually won in a giveaway, belonging to me, or after a reading slump) that I read just for the sake of reading. I always try to remember that I'm a reader first and a reviewer next. This is probably 1/3 books normally (recently: 5/6) that are read for the fun of it. If I constantly analyze a book it's hard to get into the story because I'll keep trying to evaluate a character's depth or a plot's originality. And sometimes I don't want to do that. Sometimes I just want to read for the sake of reading. 

In sum: 

I'm unlikely to review: 

• books near the end of a series
• books I loved
• books I didn't like at all
• books that overly disappointed me for some intangible reason
• books read for the sake of reading

(It took me 5 paragraphs to say this. I love to ramble. :P ) 

How about you? What books will you not review? Agree/disagree? Let me know your thoughts in the comments! 

And thanks for reading! 

Book Blogger Confessions (1)

I know I'm a little late joining, but I really wanted to participate since I think this sounds like a great meme.

Book Blogger Confessions is a meme hosted by Tiger from All Consuming Books and Karen from For What It's Worth Reviews all about blogging experiences, issues, whatever. It will be be posted on the first and third Monday of every month and I strongly encourage you to check out their blogs for more information, as well as a linky to everyone else's answers. 

Or for more information, read this post. 

This week's question is: 

How has the "job" of book blogging changed your reading habits? Both pro and con.

Pros: 

I read much more and I realize the value of a book so much more. 

Blogging has made me read more than ever. Reading isn't some solo, individual act I do anymore. It's not something I feel alone in doing. Before blogging, I thought no one else ever read as much as I did. I knew other people that read similar books, but not as much. It felt like I was weird to read so much and care so much about books. Ever since I started a blog I've realized other people care about books as much as I do, and even more! There are so many fabulous blogs showing such dedication that just really enhances the reading experience. 

Seeing posts everyday about books and all the cool books people are excited about as certainly expanded my TBR. I don't think I'd have read even a 1/4 of the books I do if not for blogging. For example, before blogging I would not read contemporary. My only experience with contemporary was Gossip Girl, The A-List, The Clique and all and those are fine books but after a while I felt like I got tired of them. Blogging has introduced me to many more contemporary reads like If I Stay, Between Shades of Gray and The DUFF to name a few. 

Nowadays, every time I read a book I think of all the work that went in it. I read the blurbs carefully, I think of what the cover is trying to say, and I all out examine the book in a completely different way. I am much more respectful of books since I now have an inkling of what publishers and authors go through for each book and I can fully appreciate a book even more. 

Cons: 

Reading is now much more stressful. I have more to read, I have to read it "better" (more carefully, questioning how I feel about the book) and I have to read it faster. It means I have to change my reading habits and reading is more than just a hobby now. I can't just simply pick up a random book. I have a whole schedule I need to follow. It's kind of overwhelming. 

I miss the days when I could just simply enjoy a book without having to explain to myself why I enjoy it. Analyzing a book makes its faults more apparent so I think- and this is awful, but it may be true- that I like books in general less in some level. Reading slumps are more common and reading feels like a job sometimes.

And since I'm not the kind of person that can end on a negative note:

But blogging is exactly what I needed, as a reader. I think my reading would have slowed down if I didn't take the step to the "next level". I'm passionate and always 100% into my interests. Without people to talk books to, I wouldn't have continued reading half as much as I do now. 

I know sometimes I complain about how reading feels like work now that there's so much pressure behind it, but sometimes that's a good thing. Reading is even more rewarding than ever. Every time I get a comment on a review, it instantly brightens my day. Having a review request for a book I really want makes me jump up and down. Even though blogging has gotten me to reach new reading lows, it's also gotten me to reach highs that I would never have had if I hadn't started a book blog. 

My point? It's worth it. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

*ahem* Sorry for that reaallly long answer... did I mention how much I love to talk? Anyway, thanks for visiting and I'd love if you'd share your thoughts in the comments. Happy blogging!

Stats of 2011

I love visiting other blogs and reading about the different stats they had so I'll share some of mine as the year draws to a close.

Most Popular Posts


1. Cover Wars: Incarnate vs Exiled 
2. Review: Far From the War
3. Review: Seize the Story: A Handbook For Teens Who Like to Write

Most Referring Sites (besides Google)

1. http://thebooknympho.blogspot.com/
2. http://sarahbear9789.blogspot.com/
3. http://thecaitfiles.blogspot.com/

Search Keywords


1. tantalizing illusions
2. tantalizingillusions.blogspot.com
3. charmfall chloe neill


Countries Audience is From


1. United States
2. Canada
3. Germany
4. United Kingdom
5. Australia


Browsers

1. Internet Explorer (33%)
2. Firefox (29%)
3. Chrome (21%)

Hope you guys found that interesting. Here's to 2012 having even better stats! Happy New Years!

Non-Bookish Interests (1) : Hockey

OMG. Is it even possible? P.E. does things that do not involve books, blogging or reading? Yes, yes, it's true. I love reading but books aren't my entire life. There is more to me than that. That's why for the next while, every week I'll be posting about something that does not include books but is a part of my life. This way, you'll know the blogger behind the blog. Plus, I get to rant tell you all about my interests. It's a win/win situation.

So. Me.

You know I'm a Canadian right? And what do Canadians love? Let's go down the list.

- beavers
- maple syrup
- poutine
- hockey
- tuques

Wait a minute. Go back up. Hockey. That is one of my biggest current interests. Yes, this tiny bookish girl is a closet hockey addict.

It all started in Grade 2 when the giant Ottawa Senator's mascot, Spartacat visited my class because we won some reading thing. We had a pizza day, they gave out Senators binders, and everyone dressed up to show their Senators pride. Grade 2 me had a lot of fun and since then I've always liked the Senators.

When I saw my dad watching hockey, I started to sit and watch with him. It's one of the few interests we have in common.

 And that brings me to today. I now love hockey even more and I'm starting to understand it. I love to watch the Senators play though it doesn't bother me at all whether they win or lose. The way they play is so highly entertaining. 

Nothing is as addicting and thrilling as a hockey game. I always find myself so energized after a game. Especially a close game, or a game that is just plain fun to watch. If you know even a little bit about the Senators, you'll know they fight to the end, so they end up with many close games.This makes for highly entertaining games as everyone plays all out. 

For example, that last game against the Pittsburgh Penguins? I had the biggest grin on my face and I was jumping up and down the whole time. (If you want a recap of game highlights, check it out here!)

That's my first interest. Watching hockey. I'm trying to get lessons so I can learn how to play myself. It's my favourite sport and a high speed, high energy game. I love it!

So how about your interests? Do you love to watch a particular sport? Do you play one? Are you a fellow hockey fan? If so, what team? Let me know it all in the comments!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Spotlight on.... Blog Designs: Their Importance

The first thing most people notice when they look at the blog is the design. The colours, the headers, the background. It's like the cover of a book being the first thing we see. They're our first impression.

We know that, but how important can a great design really be? That's my question for today.

Personally when I visit different blogs during hops, the ones with pretty designs strike me the most. I'm an universal lover of pretty things and a pretty designs are a part of that. I think that I'm more likely to think a blog is professional if they have a professional looking design.

On the other hand, content should always be more important than design, right? No point having a pretty blog if you have no real content to post. I think most bloggers can agree that content is infinitely more important.

I'm going to end off with this question:

There are two blogs. One with a very simple design and another with much more aesthetic features. They have the same content and market the same. Which one will be more successful and how much more successful do you think?

Ratings- What They Mean to Me

This has been on my mind for a while so I thought I'd share. Ratings. Many (I would even say most) bloggers have their own system of them. Some like them, some don't. I like to have them around so people can see which books I love above all (the 4-5 stars) and which books didn't work.

Over the last few months, I've been noticing a trend in my ratings.

Down. I'm not rating book as high anymore. These are ratings from reviews that haven't been posted yet so it may not be noticeable yet, but it is there. It's not because the books I'm reading are awful. I've read some awesome titles. I think it's more because I'm getting more confident in expressing my opinions and reviewing.

When I first started blogging I was just so excited and wrote very positive reviews. I didn't really feel right posting to the internet negative thoughts. My reviews were honest but more on a sugar coated positive scale as I was learning what to do.

Now after some time, I've reviewed a lot and I know what I like and don't like. I'm confident that if I had an issue with a book, it's worth being mentioned seeing as someone else may have had the same issue. I've learned to not be influenced so much by the hype. This results in rethinking my rating system.

I'm going to be even more honest now.

1 star will mean this book incited very negative feelings. As in, OMG I hate this book. (I'll never say that though. I won't even bother reviewing a one star book because this means I can't think of the positive.)

2 stars means the book was okay. I didn't really think much of it- it wasn't good or bad. It was lacking and there was some stuff I didn't care for.

3 stars means I liked it. It's more good than bad, so I like it. It's not amazing though.

4 stars means it's really good. You could even say great. I really liked this book and 4 star books are usually among my favourites.

5 stars (which will now be very very rare) are books that all throughout had me amazed and in awe. Nothing was wrong with this book. I was satisfied in every way.

To make sure I'm giving the right rating, I'm also employing a "find the average" system. Every book is given a 1-5 score on 4 fronts: Characters, World, Plot, and Interest. I'll then find the average and if needed (like 3.25 score) I'll round it up or down.

This all being done so that books with high scores deserve them. All books shouldn't get 4s. It's my way of being even more honest and improving my reviews.

So what do you think? Do you give high ratings a lot? Are you harsh? Are you forgiving? Do you think a lot when it comes to ratings? Do you even rate?