Month: October 2018

Tag: Halloween Book Tag

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Happy Halloween! Siobhan tagged me in this Halloween Book Tag and what better way to celebrate today than to answer some spooky questions?

Carving Pumpkins | What Book Would You Carve Up and Light on Fire?

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven. I’m still so mad about it.

Trick or Treat | What Character Is a Treat and What Character Is a Trick?

Treat: Michael Phan is the actual best and no one can convince me otherwie.
Trick: Justin from Troll — I mean, honestly, just read my review.

Candy Corn | What Book Is Always Sweet?

You probably thought I was going to go with Starry Eyes, but I went with Alex, Approximately instead! This is such a cute romance about online friends who meet in real life!

Ghosts | What Character Would You Love to Visit You as a Ghost?

Sam from Emergency Contact can visit me any time. He can make me lattes and send me nice messages… sounds wonderful.

Dressing Up in Costume | What Character Would You Want to Be for a Day?

I say this in every tag, but LUCY HUTTON from The Hating Game! Work in publishing, sit next to Joshua, banter all day… sounds pretty great to me.

Favourite Scary Must-Read for Halloween

I don’t really read scary books, but 172 Hours on the Moon is the only spooky book I’ve ever given five stars.

If You Could Find Anything, from Any Book, in Your Trick or Treat Stash, What Would You Hope to Find?

I would love an alethiometer from His Dark Materials. I need something to tell me whether I’m making the right decisions in my life.

In Which Fictional World Would You Like to Go Trick or Treating?

I think it would be a lot of fun to go trick-or-treating in Red London from the Shades of Magic series. Imagine dressing up and going around with Kell and Lila and Rhy and Luc? Amazing.

What Book Villain Would you Not Like to Meet Alone in a Dark Alley on Halloween?

I would very much like to not meet Levana ever, let alone in a dark alley on Halloween. While I know that she probably wouldn’t do anything overtly violent, I’m sure that she’d mess with my mind enough that I’d never be the same.

Would You Rather Dress Up as a Vampire, Zombie, Werewolf, or a Shadowhunter?

I would probably want to dress up as a vampire because I never got into zombies, a werewolf costume sounds like a lot of work, and I’m not a big shadowhunter fan.

What Is Your Favourite Halloween Candy?

I love sour candy and Sour Patch Kids are probably my favorite.

Today’s the day, so I’m not going to tag anybody in particular, but if you want to do a spooky tag on this spooky day, please feel free! ❤

Book review: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

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Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
Rating: ★★★★☆
Links: Amazon • TBD • Goodreads
Publication Date: August 15, 2013
Source: Purchased

“A line that should never be crossed is about to be breached.

It puts this entire castle in jeopardy—and the life of your friend.”

From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul as black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil.

Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.

Then one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena’s world shatters, she will be forced to give up the very thing most precious to her and decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie… and whom she is ultimately willing to fight for.

So, funny story, one night a few months ago, I had some Fireball and went to Barnes and Noble and bought a ton of books. Like, so many that the guy who checked me out made a face. This book was one of them. I’ve actually been carrying it around with me for about two months meaning to read it and I only just finally got around to it. The release of Kingdom of Ash (along with Daniel‘s recommendation) finally got me to pick it up.

I’m not really sure why I waited so long to read it because this book was great. I read a few pages after work on Thursday, maybe 100 pages on Friday… and then read the rest in two sittings on Saturday. The break between sittings was to go to Barnes and Noble for Heir of Fire.

It’s going to be so hard to keep this review spoiler-free if I talk about literally anything that I liked or disliked plot-wise, so I think I’m just going to say a couple things about the characters:

  • I didn’t mind Celaena in the first book, but I loved her in Crown of Midnight.
  • I know that a lot of people hate Chaol, but I still like him. (Although we’ll see how I feel after the next five books.)
  • I feel like we don’t know Dorian that well yet, but I like him a lot.
  • Nehemia is the greatest.
  • If anything happens to Fleetfoot, I am going to be inconsolable.

Now all I can say is that I can’t wait to jump into Heir of Fire.

Have you read Crown of Midnight? Do you think I can take a week off work to marathon this series? Let’s talk in the comments!

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Tag: Would You Rather (Spooky Edition!)

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Thank you to Hannah for tagging me in this Halloween-themed Would You Rather tag!

👻 Thrillers or supernatural(s)? 👻

Unless we’re talking fantasy novels, I don’t really go for supernatural creatures that much. So thrillers, I guess.

👻 Ghosts or zombies? 👻

Ghosts for sure! I’ve never been able to get into zombies.

👻 Vampires or werewolves? 👻

I’m not really a big fan of either vampires or werewolves. So I guess… either one, or maybe neither.

👻 Witches or monsters? 👻

This is so hard because August Flynn from V.E. Schwab’s Monsters of Verity duology is my favorite and I also love several fictional witches… but I don’t think I could abandon August, so I’ll go with monsters.

👻 Would you rather read a book with 13 chapters or with a black cat on the cover? 👻

Let’s be honest, I’m always going to pick the book with the cat on the cover. (I say as I’m typing this with my cat in my lap.)

👻 Would you rather read a spooky book in the dark with only a candle for light or by yourself in a locked brightly lit room? 👻

Just for the sake of my eyes, I think I’m going to go with a brightly lit room.

👻 Would you rather face your worst fears or be trapped in the mind of a killer? 👻

I’ll face my worst fears, thanks.

👻 Would you rather watch a scary movie or read a scary book? 👻

Hmm… I think I’ll watch a scary movie. BUT NOT BY MYSELF. I need my cat in my lap and I need a friend.

👻 Would you rather read spooky books during the fall time or all year? 👻

I don’t really love to read spooky books ever, so I guess I’ll go with during the fall.

👻 Would you rather read 10 spooky books in October or 10 spooky books all year? 👻

Ten spooky books all year seems like a lot for me, so I don’t think I want to concentrate them all in October. I guess I’ll spread them out so I don’t accidentally traumatize myself.

Since Halloween is tomorrow, I’m not going to tag anyone in particular, but please feel free to do this if you want to! And, as always, let me know in the comments if you agree or disagree with my choices!

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten spooky books I’ve actually read

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Happy Top Ten Tuesday! Today’s theme is a Halloween freebie and I decided to go with ten spooky books that I’ve actually read! I hardly read any spooky books, so I had to consult Goodreads to see which books have been shelved as “spooky.” Let me know if any of these are not actually spooky. Also, I had to go all the way back to like 2006 for this list.

Did you do your own Top Ten Tuesday post today? Feel free to leave your link and I’ll check out your post! What are your favorite spooky books? Let’s talk in the comments!

Tag: Fall Into Fall Book Tag

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Just when I thought I had already done all the fall-themed book tags, I found out that there was another one! Thanks, Clarissa, for tagging me in this one! ❤

Crunching Leaves: The world is full of color. Choose a book that has reds, oranges, and yellows on the cover.

A book I loved: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
A book I hated: Allegiant by Veronica Roth
A book in between: The Romance Reader’s Guide to Life by Sharon Pywell

Cozy Sweater: It’s finally cold enough to don warm cozy clothing. What book gives you the warm fuzzies?

I still get the warm fuzzies thinking about Emergency Contact.

Fall Storm: The wind is howling and the rain is pounding. Choose your favorite book OR genre that you like to read on a stormy day.

It’s been pretty stormy here in New Jersey recently, and I have been marathoning the Throne of Glass series.

Cool Crisp Air: What’s the coolest character you’d want to trade places with?

I said it when I reviewed it and I’ll say it again now — Bex is way too cool for me.

Hot Apple Cider: What under hyped book do you want to see become the next biggest, hottest thing?

Honestly, Love Scene, Take Two was the most adorable book and I don’t even know how it hasn’t blown up. Four months after its release and it’s still under 350 ratings on Goodreads!

Coat, Scarves and Mittens: The weather has turned cold and it’s time to cover up. What’s the most embarrassing book cover you own that you like to keep hidden in public?

I’m sure that I probably have some embarrassing book covers (although most would be Kindle books, I’m sure) but honestly… I don’t really care that much. People can judge me for what I’m reading if they want to, but I’ll just be over here enjoying what I’m reading and writing blog posts about it.

Pumpkin Spice: What’s your favorite fall time comfort food/foods?

First of all, I love pumpkin anything. Every fall, I make pumpkin cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting and take them to work and they’re always gone within like an hour. I also love apple, so apple pie, apple crisp, apple turnovers, apple cider, apple cider donuts from this orchard by my house, spiced apple juice from the fancy juice shop downtown… anything, really.

I’m not tagging anybody for this one, but if you love fall (or if you just really love tags), please do it and link back to me so that I can see your answers! ❤