January 2016 TBR

Posted in Wrap Ups And TBRs by TheQuirkyBookNerd

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you all had a fantastic end of 2015 and are having a wonderful start to 2016. It’s time to create the first TBR of the new year, and I am excited to get going on a new reading challenge! This year, I have some standalones and series that I am particularly determined to read, so I’m creating some bookish resolutions lists for myself. I have already posted my series/trilogies TBR (click here to check it out!) and I’ll be posting my standalone list sometime in the next day or so.

I am going to try to read at least one or two books from each list every month, so with those lists in mind, I created my (somewhat tentative) TBR. I am attempting to pull myself out of a slight reading slump, so I don’t want to make a TBR that is too overly ambitious. Many of these are roll overs from other months, so I apologize for the repetitiveness! I probably won’t be able to get to all of these, but they all sound fantastic so I think any of these reads will be a great way to start off 2016!

January TBR

1. Passenger by Alexandra Bracken

This is one of my most anticipated releases of 2016, and it’s coming out in three days! I am so eager to get my hands on this one, and I am definitely hoping to read it before this month is out. There’s no way I can possibly resist any book about time travel!

2. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

This one is rolling over from last month’s TBR. Cinder was one of my favorite reads last year, but I never managed to get around to continuing on with the series before the end of the year. Now that the main books are all out, and with Stars Above coming soon, I really need to finish the rest of these novels. I am completely adoring these stories and I can’t wait to see what happens next!

3. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

I meant to read this back in October and never got a chance to. And now, with the movie coming out this year, it’s become a top priority on my reading list. In fact, I am hoping to read the entire trilogy this year, so I definitely want to get going on it.

4. Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

This is another one rolling over from last month’s TBR. Once again, I must continue my quest to read every word ever written by Gillian Flynn. I am trying to pace myself, since there are only two novels left to read, but I can’t wait any longer. I have to read this one soon!

5. Alice by Christina Henry

I blame Heather for this one! She’s gotten me so excited to read this book that I had to include it in my TBR for the month. I have not heard too much about this one, but what I have heard has been spectacular. From what I gather, it’s a very dark reimagining of Alice in Wonderland with a morally ambiguous villain. I think this book was written for me! 🙂

I am also hoping to start reading a few stories out of The Return of Sherlock Holmes over the course of the month.

Read in December

I had a rather unexpectedly slow reading month and, embarrassingly enough, only actually fully completed one book. However, that one book was absolutely incredible; it was definitely my favorite read of the year! And the second book that I started this month is shaping up to be another new favorite of mine as well.

1. Vicious by V.E. Schwab – I read this in an incredibly fun buddy read with Heather from The Sassy Book Geek and absolutely fell in love with it. The writing, the plot, the characters, everything about this book was wonderful. As I said, this ended up being my favorite novel of the year, and having someone to read and discuss it with made it even more enjoyable. I’m so excited that I finally got a chance to read this book; I can’t believe it took me so long to get around to it! Click here to read my review!

2. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak – I started this toward the end of the month and I’m only just under halfway through it now, so this will technically be one of my first completed books of January. As expected, I am absolutely loving this novel so far, and I am incredibly eager to continue on and finish off the rest of it. This is another novel I’m so glad I’m finally reading, and I can’t believe I didn’t read this sooner!

December Book Haul

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George R.R. Martin
Wool by Hugh Howey
Alice by Christina Henry
A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin
The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
Passenger by Alexandra Bracken (Pre-order)

What books are you guys planning on reading to start off the year? Did you get any books or bookish gifts over the holidays? Let me know in the comments!

-Ariana

30Dec2015

Top 5 Wednesday – December 30th, 2015

Posted in Top 5 Wednesday by TheQuirkyBookNerd

Top 5 Wednesday was created by Lainey at Gingerreadslainey. Every week, book reviewers all over the world are given a bookish topic and respond with their top 5 books (or elements of books) that relate to that topic. Click here for the Goodreads group if you would like to learn more about Top 5 Wednesday and join in!

This week’s Top 5 Wednesday topic is your top 5 favorite books that you read this year. While I didn’t read nearly as many books as I had hoped that I would, this year was pretty fantastic in terms of quality of books read. It was difficult to narrow this list down to just five, but there were definitely a few novels that particularly stuck out this year. These have not only become some of my top favorite novels of all time, but all of these authors were new to me and are now on my favorite authors list as well!

5. Jackaby by William Ritter

This was pitched as “Doctor Who meets Sherlock”, so of course I had to read this immediately—and thankfully, it did not disappoint!

Click here to check out my full review!

4. Cinder by Marissa Meyer

This was my first read of 2015 and an absolutely brilliant way to start off my reading for the year.

Click here to check out my full review!

3. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

This was my first Gillian Flynn book, and by far one of the most intriguing and captivating novels that I read all year.

Click here to check out my full review!

2. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

This is my first time making my way through this series and I am kicking myself for having put these novels off for so long—they are fantastic!

Click here to check out my full review!

1. Vicious by V.E. Schwab

This was my most recent read and my last completed book of the year—and it was definitely my favorite of them all!

Review coming soon!

23Dec2015

Top 5 Wednesday – December 23rd, 2015

Posted in Top 5 Wednesday by TheQuirkyBookNerd

This week’s Top 5 Wednesday topic is the top five series you want to start next year. I have only recently realized just how massive my series/trilogies TBR is. I tend to read a lot of standalone novels, and I have not actually completed all that many series or trilogies in my lifetime so far. But this shall no longer be the case! I am hereby declaring 2016 the year of series reading!

Because my TBR is so long, I decided to do a bit of a twist on today’s topic. Since it was impossible to narrow things down enough, I essentially decided I should make two different top five lists: one of the top five series and one of the top five trilogies I want to read during the course of 2016!

Series

Most of these are series that I intended to read in 2015 and never got around to starting (yes, I did indeed fail quite epically!).

5. The Seven Realms Series by Cinda Williams Chima

4. The Throne of Glass Series by Sarah J. Maas

3. The Raven Cycle Quartet by Maggie Stiefvater

2. The Mistborn Series by Brandon Sanderson

1. The A Song of Ice and Fire Series by George R.R. Martin

Trilogies

Again, many of these are trilogies I wanted to, and subsequently failed to get started on in 2015. I am determined to get going on, if not to finish, a good amount of these trilogies in the new year.

5. The Darkest Minds Trilogy by Alexandra Bracken

4. The Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy by Laini Taylor

3. The Chaos Walking Trilogy by Patrick Ness

2. The Shattered Sea Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie

1. The Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children Trilogy by Ransom Riggs

Honorable Mention: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien

This is an honorable mention because I am not sure that I will be able to make it to this trilogy before the end of the year. I do intend to read The Hobbit in 2016, and to at least finally begin watching the movies. I am hoping, though, that I will be able to make it through at least The Fellowship of the Ring!

What series are you guys planning to read in 2016? Let me know in the comments!

-Ariana

20Dec2015

The Childhood Book Tag

Posted in Tags by TheQuirkyBookNerd

I was tagged by The Orang-utan Librarian to do the Childhood Book Tag. Thank you so much for tagging me! The Orang-utan Librarian is an absolutely fantastic book blogger, so please make sure to stop by and check out this blog! 🙂

1. First book you remember reading on your own?

I have a pretty terrible memory, so this is sort of a difficult question for me! I started reading on my own around the age of three or so, but that was quite a while back so I don’t remember a lot of the first books that I read. However, I do very clearly remember reading a book called The Housekeeper’s Dog when I was about four or five. I also remember being really proud that I could read this book, and not only reading it multiple times to my parents, but also calling up my grandma and reading it to her over the phone!

2. First book you remember having your parents read to you?

Books have always played an extremely important role in our family/household, and ever since I was very young, my parents constantly encouraged me to read. I know that they read to me very often for years, back so far that I am unable to specifically remember a fair amount of those books. The first book I can distinctly recall them reading to me, however, was Fox in Socks.

3. Book you read because of your parents? Because of a friend?

thelionthewitchandthewardrobe For this one, I’m going to have to go with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. My mom grew up reading The Chronicles of Narnia and it is one of her favorite series of all time. So of course, when I showed a love of reading, this was one of the first series of books that she got me to read. And I am so glad that I did, because I absolutely adore these novels!

4. Favorite book from school?

37449 I don’t think it will shock anyone to hear me say that To Kill a Mockingbird is by far my favorite book from school. This novel is just the most brilliant and wonderful thing I have ever read in my life. And here I go again, keeping up my streak of working it into every single book tag post that I write… 😀

5. Favorite book in elementary school?

hp2chamber I had a lot of favorite books during elementary school because, not only was I in elementary school when the Harry Potter books started to come out, but it was also when I discovered The Chronicles of Narnia. Really any of the books from the latter or the first few Harry Potter books could work for this question. However, if I had to choose, I would probably have to go with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. This is my favorite book of the series, and is also extremely special to me because it was the first one I was able to read completely on my own when it was originally published.

6. In middle school?

andthentherewerenone …Would you guys be mad at me if I said To Kill a Mockingbird again? 😀 Come on, I read it for the first time in seventh grade so of course it was my favorite of middle school! Just to change it up a bit though, I’ll throw another one of my favorite novels, And Then There Were None, in there.

7. In high school?

thehungergames This is an incredibly difficult one to choose because a sizable amount of my all-time favorite books are ones I read during high school. I think I will have to go with The Hunger Games for this question. This stands out to me because, not only do I completely adore this book, but it was also the novel that got me interested in dystopians. This is now not only a type of story I enjoy reading, but a type that I absolutely love to write as well.

8. Book you gave up on as a kid that you’d like to revisit?

I can’t actually think of anything that would fit this question. I find it nearly impossible to give up in the middle of books unless I have an extremely good reason to. And that reason is usually that I truly do not want to finish them. So nope, nothing that I want to revisit!

9. Book you checked out from the library the most as a kid?

thebadbeginning This is another question that I can’t think of an answer for. I don’t really remember checking out any particular book multiple times. I tend to not do rereads very often, and all the ones I have done over the years were of books that I already owned. So for this question, I am going to say the A Series of Unfortunate Events novels, because I remember checking these out a lot!

10. Book you made all your friends read?

theadventuresofsherlockholmes Um…To Kill a Mockingb…Okay, you know what? For variety’s (and sanity’s) sake, we are just going to go with The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes for this one, even though that is a slightly more recent occurrence. I’ve totally been pushing this on everyone I know who hasn’t read it yet. And if you are reading this post and have not picked up one or both of these novels mentioned, hereby consider them being pushed on you as well! 😀

11. The book that made you love reading?

harrypotterandthesorcerersstone Again, this would be a toss up between Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I had been reading for a few years before I came to either of these, but they were the novels that truly kick started my passion for reading and love of the written word. If I had to choose one, I would probably go with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. This is a novel that I have a very distinct and very fond recollection of reading at bedtime each night with my parents right after it was first released, and by The Chamber of Secrets, I was reading them on my own (over and over again!).

12. Favorite middle grade read?

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness. I am fairly, though not entirely, sure that this is a middle grade novel. This is by far one of the most poignant and beautiful novels that I have ever read, and I completely adore it.

13. Favorite young adult read?

cinder I am revising this to “one of my favorites” because there is no way I am going to be able to choose just one ultimate favorite. I am also going to choose something that I have not yet mentioned in this tag, so I would say Cinder by Marissa Meyer. I love retellings, and this is definitely the most interesting and unique one that I have read so far.

14. First long series you read as a kid?

thechroniclesofnarnia The first long series that I read in its entirety as a kid would be The Chronicles of Narnia. I finished this well before I completed series like Harry Potter and A Series of Unfortunate Events. Since all of the books in this series were obviously published well before I began reading them, I ended up binge reading every single one in the space of a couple of months.

15. How did you learn to read? How old were you?

Screen Shot 2015-12-21 at 3.16.10 AM I started to learn how to read when I was around one or two years old. I began by memorizing the text of stories from hearing my family read to me, and then I would flip through the books myself and go over the words. Eventually something must have clicked and I began really reading on my own around age three. And boy, did I read a lot!

16. How obsessed were you with the scholastic book fairs as a kid?

Completely obsessed! It was one of my favorite events of the school year; it was like Christmas! I spent far too much time wandering around the book fair and probably far too much money buying books…but it was the greatest! 😀

I Tag:

Heather @ The Sassy Book Geek

Kayla @ Bookedsolid1989

Anna @ My Bookish Dream

Yasmin and Paige @ The Wild Readers

Emily @ The Little Book Affair

Cleo @ Cuddlewithbooks

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11Dec2015

Fall Time Cozy Time Book Tag

Posted in Tags by TheQuirkyBookNerd

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I was tagged by Liam over at Liam’s Library and Marie over at Drizzle Hurricane Books to do the Fall Time Cozy Time Tag. Thank you both so much for tagging me! Make sure to stop by and check out both of these awesome book blogs! 😀

Also, I’m sorry for the lack of posts and slow comment replies over the last few days. I am sick again for the second time in a month and that’s caused me to run a bit behind in posting. 😦 Hopefully this will go away very soon and I can get things back to normal. Thanks for being patient! ❤

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

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Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

I have not yet read this book (I’m still mildly terrified to), but I love the beautiful color scheme of the cover. Definitely very warm and reminiscent of fall!

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

The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

I’m fairly sure that I use the Sherlock Holmes novels to answer far too many tag questions, but hey, they’re some of my favorites! These novels always give me the warm fuzzies no matter what time of year I read them, and for some reason, they always put me in mind of colder weather. They are the types of novels that make you want to curl up with a blanket and a warm cup of tea and read while it snows outside.

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.

thechroniclesofnarnia On a day like that, my favorite genre to read would definitely be fantasy; it’s the perfect sort of weather to sit inside and get lost in another world. In terms of specific books, I’d say any of the Harry Potter or The Chronicles of Narnia books. Also, these are not fantasy books, but To Kill a Mockingbird and any of the Sherlock Holmes novels would be perfect as well. I’m sure I have shocked everyone by not being able to choose just one book! I’m usually so decisive… 😀

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

S04E10_-_Dany_(profile) This is tough to choose just one for; there are so many incredible characters out there! I think I would have to go with either Hermione Granger or Daenerys Targaryen. They are both awesome, strong, and completely badass female characters, and two of my all-time favorites. I also wouldn’t mind trading places with either Holmes or Watson; it would be awesome to work alongside the greatest detective ever, or get to be him!

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

jackaby This is another tough one for me because I’ve not read all that many under hyped books in recent years, or at least ones that I really enjoyed. If I had to pick one, I might say Jackaby by William Ritter. I read this book earlier this year and absolutely loved it. It’s such a fun, hilarious, and enjoyable read, filled with lovable characters and a world that I want everyone to discover. I’m not sure if this is under hyped, but I personally have not heard many people talking about it

Coats, 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 honestly never really feel embarrassed over anything like books or movies or TV shows. I can’t think of any books that I’d feel the need to keep hidden; if I like it and want to read it, that’s all that matters. I’ll read what I want, gosh darn it! 🙂

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

I am going to be extremely cliché here and say basically anything pumpkin related. Seriously though, I love pumpkin; I definitely have a pumpkin addiction. Pumpkin spice lattes are my absolute favorite fall time comfort food (drink). I also love pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins…if it has the word pumpkin in it, I probably like it!

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I Tag:

Since I have been doing a lot of tags recently (and have many more coming!) and since fall is almost over, I’m not going to tag anyone specific. Instead, I tag everyone who wants to do it! If you do, make sure to link me to your post so I can check it out! 🙂

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7Dec2015

The Disney Book Tag

Posted in Tags by TheQuirkyBookNerd

I was tagged by Trisha over at The Bookgasm. Thank you so much, Trisha, for the tag! She has an awesome book blog, so make sure to stop by and check it out! 😀

The Little Mermaid – A character who is out of their element, a “fish out of water.”

The narrator of The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

There is definitely an abundance of characters that could fit this description, particularly in YA literature these days. There are plenty of characters in dystopian situations or in the position of “the chosen one”, but I thought I would go for something a little different. The nameless narrator of The Ocean at the End of the Lane is pulled into a world that he is not at all familiar with: a world of magic, of the unexplainable. He is completely out of his element at first, and in an extremely unique way, in my opinion.

Cinderella – A character who goes through a major transformation.

Katniss from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

This may be a bit of an obvious choice, but I had to choose her for this one. Katniss is one of my favorite literary characters, and is an amazing example of a strong female protagonist. Like many characters in trilogies and series, she changes a lot over the course of the novels. She is brave from the very start, but this truly becomes magnified as the stories progress, and she matures into a great leader.

Snow White – A book with an eclectic cast of characters.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

This was a tough one to decide on because I have read so many books filled with eclectic characters; that is something I totally love! However, I think I have to choose Cinder for this one, though any novel from The Lunar Chronicles could work here. This novel had a great group of wonderfully developed characters, with very interesting and vivid personalities.

Check out my full review here.

Sleeping Beauty – A book that put you to sleep.

The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone by Adele Griffin

I read this book earlier this year and ended up being incredibly disappointed by it. It had a very interesting premise, but the story itself ended up being far different from what the synopsis led me to expect. To be honest, it felt sort of like reading a textbook or a transcript of an event (which may be a more appropriate comparison) than an actual novel. Overall, it just did not hold my attention.

Check out my full review here.

The Lion King – A character who had something traumatic happen to them in childhood.

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

I have to agree with Trisha on this one and go with Conor from A Monster Calls. This book fits this description perfectly, as the entire story is focused on Conor dealing with said traumatic event. This is one of the most beautiful and heartbreaking novels I have ever read in my life, and is also one of my favorites of all time.

Beauty and The Beast – A beast of a book (a big book) that you were intimidated by, but found the story to be beautiful.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

This novel is pretty large and was definitely on the intimidating side for me at first. However, I am so incredibly glad that I went ahead and read it because it turned out to be absolutely amazing! It is beautiful and romantic and one of my favorite stories ever. Plus Rochester is one of my favorite literary romantic interests (totally book boyfriend material!).

Aladdin – A character who gets their wish granted, for better or for worse.

Edmund from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

I had a bit of trouble thinking up a character for this one. I don’t know why, because I’m sure I’ve read plenty of novels with this plot element in them; but I am completely blanking at the moment! The only character I could come up with was Edmund from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. He is expecting one thing, something positive, but ends up getting a bit more than he’s bargained for in his dealings with the White Witch.

Mulan – A character who pretends to be something or someone they are not.

Mare from Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Mare fits this perfectly because that is essentially what she is doing throughout the entire novel. In Mare’s world, there are two types of people: super-powered people with silver blood (the upper class), and people with red blood and no superpowers (the lower class). Mare comes from the latter group, but after it is revealed publicly that she does in fact have powers, she is thrust into the world of the silvers, and forced to pretend to be one of them.

Toy Story – A book with characters you wish would come to life.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

To Kill a Mockingbird contains some of the most wonderful and iconic characters in literature. I would love almost any of these characters (the good guys, of course) to come to life, but I’d particularly love a real Atticus. Who wouldn’t want someone like that in their life? 🙂 *Side note: I have not yet read Go Set a Watchman, so I am referring to the true Atticus!

Disney Descendants – Your favorite villain or morally ambiguous character.

Loki from Marvel Comics

I’m sure this is probably not going to come as much of a surprise to regular readers of my blog! Though I have found a lot of top-notch villains in novels and comics, Loki will most likely always remain my favorite. He is my favorite type of villain: one that is complicated, well rounded, and is not just completely evil all the time. He is a trickster, and you never know what he will do next or what side he is on. His character has so much depth; he is definitely not a cookie-cutter villain!

I Tag:

Heather @ The Sassy Book Geek

Ashleigh @ A Frolic Through Fiction

Kayla @ bookedsolid1989

Anna @ My Bookish Dream

Michelle @ Book Adventures

Paige @ Page by Paige

Imogene @ Amidst the Pages

4Dec2015

The Autumn Book Tag

Posted in Tags by TheQuirkyBookNerd

Winter is coming (Sorry! Had to!) and my favorite season of the year is drawing to a close. So, to finish off the season, I thought it would be fun to reflect back on the best parts of autumn! I was tagged by Windie at Geek Apprentice to do The Autumn Book Tag. Thank you so much, Windie, for the tag! 🙂

What is your favorite thing about autumn?

I love the weather being cool but not freezing, making it perfect for cozy sweaters and boots. And I love the changing leaves and beautiful colors. And pumpkins…I love pumpkins!

What book reminds you of your school days?

Once again, I’m going to have to bring up my favorite novel because To Kill a Mockingbird is the novel that reminds me the most of my school days. It was a book that I, like many people, discovered through school and it is by far one of the best books I have ever read. After studying it for the first time in middle school, I ended up reading this book at least once a year every year following that.

What cover reminds you of autumn?

Beastly Bones by William Ritter – I love the nice warm color scheme of this cover, and the contrast between it and the cooler color scheme of Jackaby. And let me just say (for the millionth time), this series’ covers are insanely beautiful!

What is your favorite horror or Halloween story?

My all-time favorite horror story is The Shining by Stephen King. This is one of the most incredible and terrifying horror stories ever, and it was the only novel I have ever read that has come anywhere close to actually scaring me. I very highly recommend giving this a read if you have not!

What is your favorite horror or Halloween film?

As always, I can’t choose just one! Related to the last answer, my favorite horror “film” is The Shining, but the miniseries version with Steven Weber, not the actual movie version. My favorite Halloween film, on the other hand, is Hocus Pocus!

What fall book release are you looking forward to?

All of the fall book releases I have been looking forward to have already come out. However, I have not yet had a chance to read most of them, so the fall release that I am most looking forward to reading is Winter by Marissa Meyer. I feel like this is definitely many people’s most anticipated fall release, and I am so excited to read this and see how the series wraps up. A very close second would be Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo; it sounds fantastic!

What autumn movie release are you anticipating?

I have been slacking off on my movie watching, so I have not yet had a chance to see any of my most anticipated autumn releases. However, the ones that I am most excited for (and hoping to see soon) are Spectre, Mockingjay, and The Peanuts Movie.

What are the three books you plan to read this autumn?

Since autumn is ending very soon, I figured I would list the three books that I am definitely planning to finish before the end of the year. Chances are I will finish some or all of these in autumn! 🙂

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Vicious by V.E. Schwab

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

I Tag:

Everyone who is reading this and wants to do it! 🙂 If you do, please link me to your post so I can check it out!

-Ariana

28Nov2015

The Bookish Alphabet Tag

Posted in Tags by TheQuirkyBookNerd

Status: Read

X – I don’t actually even know of any books that start with “X” (though I’m sure there are some)!

Y – The Young Elites by Marie Lu

Status: Not Yet Read

Z – None

I Tag:

Catia @ The Girl Who Read Too Much

T.K. @ Read It or Not Reviews

Marie @ Drizzle and Hurricane Books

Zezee @ Zezee with Books

Hayley @ Rather Too Fond of Books

Confessions of A Literary Addict

25Nov2015

Top 5 Wednesday – November 25th, 2015

Posted in Top 5 Wednesday by TheQuirkyBookNerd

This week’s Top 5 Wednesday topic is the top five books you’re thankful for. Of course, as an avid reader and writer, I am just generally thankful for the existence of literature in general. However, there are definitely a few books that have especially affected my reading and writing. These books have truly touched my life, have taught me so much, and have gotten me through tough times. They have inspired me in so many ways and continue to do so every day. These are books that never get old, and become more meaningful to me each time I read them. I cannot express how extremely grateful I am that these works exist.

5. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

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4. Hamlet by William Shakespeare

(I know this is a play not a novel, but it still counts!) 😀

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3. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

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2. The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

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1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

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What novels are you most thankful for? What stories have impacted your life the most? Let me know in the comments! 🙂

-Ariana

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23Nov2015

My Life in Books Tag

Posted in Tags by TheQuirkyBookNerd

I was tagged to do the My Life in Books tag by two lovely and awesome people: Ashleigh over at A Frolic Through Fiction and Michelle over at Book Adventures. Thank you both for the tag! Ashleigh and Michelle are two absolutely fantastic book bloggers, so if you haven’t checked out their blogs, be sure to head on over! 🙂

Find a book for each of your initials.

My initials are AJML so…

…I chose A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, Jackaby by William Ritter, More Than This by Patrick Ness, and Legend by Marie Lu.I have a lot of “A” books, but A Monster Calls is one of my favorite books of all time. Jackaby is the only “J” book I own, but it just so happens to be another favorite of mine. More Than This I have not read yet; I am severely lacking in the “M” book department, but it’s by one of my favorite authors (hence my “A” choice!). I am also severely lacking in the “L” book department, but Legend is fantastic.

Count your age along your bookshelf—which book is it?

I’m 21, so the book I got was…

…Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. I had to use my Goodreads bookshelf for this, but I went in alphabetical order by last name, so it will be the same on my physical shelves once I have them set up. This is embarrassing to admit, but I actually don’t currently have any shelves in my room! I am in the process of rearranging things and adding new furniture, so all of my books are in storage boxes at the moment.

Pick a book set in your city/state/country.

Since I very highly doubt that there are any books that take place in my actual city, I chose my top three favorite American novels.

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Pick a book that represents a destination you would like to travel to.

I decided to choose one real place (Prague) and one fictional place (Narnia).

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor takes place in Prague, a city to which I have already been and have completely fallen in love with. I desperately want to go back for another (and hopefully longer) visit.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis takes you to Narnia, the fictional world that I would like to visit the most out of any I’ve ever read. Also I want to live in England one day, so this could count toward my real place as well.

Pick a book that’s your favorite color.

Even though I love every color and vibrantly colorful things in general, “rainbow” is not technically “a color”. I will now take this moment to address the fact that I am a strange human being (yeah, we knew that already, Ari.) because, having just stated my love of bright, multicolored things, oddly, my favorite color is black…

Once again, I’ve chosen more than one book because Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn has one of my favorite color combinations (pink and black), and Vicious by V.E. Schwab has my other favorite color combination (red and black).

Which book do you have the fondest memories of?

Though I have incredibly fond memories of reading the entire series as I grew up, I have to say, some of my fondest memories are of reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling. This was the first Harry Potter novel I was old enough to read on my own, which made it very special to me, and it also happens to be one of my favorite storylines on top of that. I also have quite a fond memory of going to the midnight release of The Deathly Hallows with my best friend, then staying up all night together and reading it, so that would be a close second!

Which book did you have the most difficulty reading?

I have to admit, it slightly pains me to put this two books next to each other.

1984 by George Orwell I found to be relatively difficult to get though due to the fact that my brain did not click well with Orwell’s writing style, gorgeous as it was. This, however, is an incredible story, one of my favorite novels of all time, and a book that I am very glad I pushed through; it was well worth it in the end!

(Apologies in advance if you like this story. Don’t read on if you did!) Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad on the other hand…where do I begin? This is technically considered a novella because of its length, but I just had to throw this in here. To be completely honest, this was the worst and most excruciating eighty or so pages I have ever read in my life. The writing is atrocious and the story was absolutely not worth the effort in my opinion.

Which book in your TBR pile will give you the biggest sense of accomplishment when you finish it?

Let’s whip out those frighteningly massive books shall we!

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

I tend to get a bit intimidated by giant books sometimes, and these are the two largest ones on my shelf. Aside from the feeling of accomplishment I will get by completing about 2,000 total pages between the two, I feel like these are also two books that everyone has read. Three (or five) other novels I will feel a huge sense of accomplishment after finishing are…

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien

…again, mainly due to the fact that I should have read them by this point in my reading life. Also, I clearly feel quite accomplished by finishing books with authors who have the initials “R.R.” in their names.