Intimidating TBR Book Tag

Time for another book tag! I have something like 80 unread books on my physical book shelf at home, so my TBR pile definitely qualifies as intimidating! (We'll ignore the fact that my Goodreads TBR shelf has 300 books on it..!)

I'm going to use my physical books for answers for this tag, and you can find the original here!

1) What book have you been unable to finish?
Here's a photo of my "to donate" pile at the bottom of my bookshelf.

Yeaaah. (And no, none of those count in my 80+ books.)

To be fair, not all of them are unread. Some of them I read and didn't like. But there's more than one there and I couldn't finish.

What book have you yet to read because...
2) ...you just haven't had the time?
The entirety of the Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson.

I even own all three books. I just keep telling myself to wait until I have time to sit down and totally immerse myself. But I'm definitely just making excuses.



3) ...it's a sequel?
The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski.

Everyone says it's brutal and cliffhanger-y. So I've been procrastinating while waiting for book 3. I'm going to have to read book 1 again before I go on, because it's been too long! (Also why I'm procrastinating.)





4) ...it's brand new?
I am super procrastinating on Passenger by Alexandra Bracken right now. I want to read it! But I keep picking other things up first!









5) ...you read a book by the same author and didn't enjoy it?
This was the reason I waited so long before picking up Maggie Stiefvater's The Raven Boys. Which, WOW, I'm glad I got over that.

Other than that, I don't think this applies to anything currently on my TBR shelf. (Though I am procrastinating on Blue Lily, Lily Blue because I'm ridiculous. Sigh.)


6) ...you're just not in the mood for it?
All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.

I know this is going to be good. I like historical fiction. But man, I know it's going to be a heavy read. And I just don't know that I'm ready for those kind of feelings right now.





7) ...it's humongous?
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo.

I'll be honest. I don't know if I'll ever actually read this brick cover to cover. Chapters here and there? Sure. Orestes Fasting, Pylades Drunk? Already have, more than once. But straight through? Probably not. I'm keeping it forever though, because I finally found the edition I wanted.




8) ...because it was a cover buy that turned out to have poor reviews?
Most of those are in my huge donation pile, honestly. I tend to regularly pull books from my shelves and purge them. Mostly to the tune of: why did I even buy this? What was I thinking?


9) What is the most intimidating book in your TBR pile?
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.

Firstly, it's huge. Second, it's so well loved.

Listen, I'm sure I'm going to like it. I read the first 50 pages a few years ago and liked where it was going. But man. MAN. I am so intimidated. I want to pick it up. But ugh.


10) Who do you tag?
Anyone that wants to give this a try and has a ridiculous TBR like me! 123go!

Let's chat in the comments!

Nine Circles of Hell Book Tag

All right, it's time for another book tag! I saw this randomly on Youtube and thought it looked fun, so let's give it a shot. The original is here.


Limbo
1.What book series have you read the first book, but have not made the decision to finish the rest?
Oh, so many. I have a "series-dropped" shelf on my Goodreads. But hm, let's pick something interesting...

How about the Kate Daniels series by Illona Andrews? I read book 1 and thought it was okay, but it was a little too much: "look, a strong female character look how strong and female she is, she totally fights all the time and hates everything" and UGH. Exhausting. Can we not?




Lust
2.What book do you not own, that you can not wait to get your hands on.
I would probably commit homicide over a copy of Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo. Especially since the cover reveal. I hope it has black edged pages like Six of Crows.



Gluttony
3. What book or series could you read over and over and never get your fill?

Forever and ever and ever amen.


Greed
4. What book do you need multiple copies of even though you own enough of them?
... Oops, Rainbow Rowell strikes again. I have two editions of Fangirl, will likely by another edition of Eleanor & Park at some point and will definitely buy future editions of Carry On.



Wrath
5. What book did you hate and would never recommend?
I have a "dont-bother" shelf on Goodreads as well. But let's pick something I'm particularly salty about.

... I sort of want to mention Ready Player One by Ernest Cline again. But I've done that recently. And it's not that I actively hated it, because I didn't. It had it's moments. I just am bitter about what could've been and get irrationally sour when people rave about it.

Oh I know! Let's talk about Moth by Daniel Arenson instead. What a piece of garbage. The best summary of this is another one star review from Goodreads: "This book features characters you won't care about and conflicts that are contrived."



Heresy
6. What book or series got really low ratings or that most people despised, but you LOVED?
I tend to not swing this way that often.

Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson has a 3.66 average rating, but I adored it. But that's about as close as we get to really different opinions.



Violence
7.What dystopian book or series had the most violent society in your opinion?
I mean, this is really just trying to pick between evils.

I'm going to mention the No. 6 manga because there are some really graphic depictions of bodies, with the main characters actually needing to literally climb a mountain of corpses to escape.



Fraud
8. What book did the cover or synopsis not truthfully depict the story?
I'm just going to sit in my corner and be forever bitter about how More Than This by Patrick Ness turned out. Like, damn son, commit to your genre already. This would've been so much more compelling without all the sci-fi nonsense--and that's coming from someone who usually loves sci-fi nonsense.

Bah.



Treachery
9. What book series did the protagonist start off strong but grew weaker as time went on?
The Steel Remains by Richard Morgan.

This started off really well. There was a cool fight scene and as we started exploring the world and mythos, I thought I'd end up enjoying this. But it derailed for me at some point. Probably when Morgan started liberally tossing the word "f*ggot" around.

Look, I picked this up for queer fantasy. For once could we just not with the world where your protagonist is gay, but it's not acceptable for that to be the case? Also, none of parts with regards to Ringil's sexuality were handled very well, in my opinion. It was like he was gay for shock value and nothing else. (I'm not finishing this series either, in case that was unclear.)


And there you have it! What did you think of the tag? Have you read any of these? What would your answers look like? Let's chat in the comments!

Totally Should've Book Tag

I saw this tag going around and thought it would be fun to do. Check out the original here!


1. Totally should've gotten a sequel
The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black.

I've heard rumblings that this may turn into a series of some kind, which I am totally up for. This book was fantastic as a standalone, but I'm not going to object to getting to spend more time in this world!





2. Totally should've had a spin off series
The Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor

I would probably do pretty much anything for more Laini Taylor at all in general, but I adored this series and lot and it's definitely left itself open for a spin off, so who knows?





3. An author who totally should write more books
RAINBOW ROWELL

And by more I mean MORE SIMON SNOW, but also really just more anything. But more fantasy for sure.

4. A character who totally should've ended up with someone else
I'm usually pretty good about rooting for the right love interest in a triangle. But I'm still a little baffled that Harry/Ginny was endgame. Not that I was ever actually convinced I would get Harry/Draco, because hello, I understand how this works, but I think things would've been more compelling with Harry alone.

(Not that I read the last two books. Because I rage quit after OotP. For a lot of reasons. But shush.)

5. Totally should've ended differently
Arranged by Catherine McKenzie

This is a really different type of book, because I'm not one to usually read straight up chick-lit. But the concept of arranged marriages was interesting and I was in the mood for fluff and it started off well enough. But things kind of went downhill. And there was dumb "twist". And there needed to be 300% more kicking his dumb ass to the curb instead of forgiveness and blah. This left a bad taste in my mouth.

6. Totally should've had a movie franchise
The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE. Holy smokes, can you imagine how awesome this would be. I am, of course, choosing to interpret this as "a movie franchise with adaptations I will be happy with" so.

(It was this or the Starbound trilogy by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner, tbh. So all my faves are sci-fi.)



7. Totally should've had a TV show
The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson

I had a hard time with this one, but I went with The Rithmatist because I think you could do some neat episodic things with the whole mystery aspect of this. And you could introduce the magic system incrementally
like the book does. And there's a lot of room for expansion.




8. Totally should've had only one point of view
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

If only because I couldn't actually tell the POVs apart. Seriously. Sometimes I would read something and go, "Wait, what? Who's narrating this section again?" Yeah. If you can't write different sounding characters, don't bother.

Otherwise, I tend to like multiple POVs quite a bit. But mostly because I like ensemble casts.



9. Totally should have a cover change
The Others series by Anne Bishop

I love this series a lot but man those covers do it NO justice at all. Bleh.

10. Totally should've kept the original covers
The Lynburn Legacy by Sarah Rees Brennan

WHYYYYYYY.

11. Totally should've stopped at book one
To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

I just don't really see why a sequel was necessary. I sort of liked the open-ended-ness of the ending. And I haven't heard super positive things about the second book anyway. I don't really intend to read it either.




And there you have it! What did you think of the tag and my answers? Got any of your own to share? Let's chat in the comments!

Unpopular Opinions Book Tag

One of the things I really love about reading (or watching movies, or really any kind of entertainment) is that we can have such differing opinions on things. There are messages and themes, highs and lows, favourites and most hated... and we've all read (or watched) the same thing!

Sometimes though, it's almost more interesting to see what books you didn't like more so than the ones you liked.

And thus, the Unpopular Opinions Book Tag. (Created by TheBookArcher)

Now listen, we'll probably feel differently about some (or a lot!) of these. And that's okay. This is in no way a personal attack trying to bash anyone. This is just my opinion.

So, let's get started!

1. A popular book or series that you didn't like
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. Yeah, that's right, we're going to start off strong.

Listen, I rated this book three stars when I first read it--which is "I liked it". But the more I think about it and the more I listen to people talk about it, the more my dislike grows. Wade was an unlikeable, self-insert, circle jerky everyman and everything in the book would've been 1000% better if it had been Art3mis' or Aech's story. There was like fifteen seconds where Cline tried to talk about sex and gender and race and the way you represent yourself which was super interesting and then it was just over.

I am going to admit to a teeny bit of malicious joy when I see people being disappointed in Armada for many of the same reasons.

2. A popular book or series that everyone else seems to hate but you love
I don't really think I have anything that works for this? Though, I guess I have seen some unfavourable opinions of A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas--and I did enjoy it. But there's nothing else really polarizing that I can think of.

3. A love triangle where the main character ended up with the person you did NOT want them to end up with OR an OTP that you don't like
I'm usually pretty good about predicting how love triangles are going to resolve, so I don't get unnecessarily attached to the "wrong" person. But I can't really think of a true love triangle that I had really strong feelings for either way.

Except. I know it's never going to happen. But I really want a threesome between Harper, David and Ryan from Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins. Most love triangles should be solved with threesomes, but alas I read YA.

If we're talking OTPs I don't like, I don't really understand the obsession with Alina and The Darkling from Leigh Bardugo's Grisha trilogy. Like, okay, I get it in book one. But after that? I have a lot of complicated feelings about Ruin and Rising, but the way the romance plotlines got wrapped up was not particularly surprising.

4. A popular book genre that you hardly reach for
Straight up contemporary and/or literary fiction. I'm just generally not interested. I like my fiction to be more escapist. Give me sci-fi and fantasy any day of the week.

5. A popular or beloved character that you do not like
Everybody says Snape, am I allowed to say Snape too?

Listen, I was really confused for a while, because I really loved Alan Rickman's portrayal of Snape, but I kept getting that mixed up with actually liking Snape.

Also, full disclosure, I rage quit the Harry Potter series after Order of the Phoenix because no. So I haven't actually read the last two books. But I know what goes down. And I'm going to sit in my corner and read Harry/Draco fic and not be sad about it.

(I really thought about using HP as an answer for #1, but decided against it because I don't want to get lynched. I have a lot of complicated feelings about all this, but that's definitely a post on its own if anyone's interested.)

6. A popular author that you can't seem to get into
A.S. King. I've read two of her books and just been mostly underwhelmed. I keep hearing great things and am meaning to give a few more of her books a good honest try, but they're not really high on the priority list.

7. A popular book trope that you're tired of seeing
Fewer unnecessary love triangles, more threesomes?

I mean.

No, but really, I am so super tired of insta-love. Maybe I just have unrealistically high expectations because of fanfiction, but I need my mutual pining and slow burn. Please please please, let me get what I want.

8. A popular series that you have no interest in reading
Anything by Cassandra Clare, truthfully. If I was twelve, maybe I'd be interested in The Mortal Instruments, but I just have no desire to get involved in that.

9. The saying goes "the book is always better than the movie", but what movie or T.V. show adaptation do you prefer more than the book?
Stardust. Which is based on the Neil Gaiman book. But I saw the movie first and it is one of my favourite movies of all time. I read the book after, because I was so in love, but it just wasn't as charming as the movie. And I found out that Captain Shakespeare was invented for the movie and I just. That is unacceptable.

I mean, I like Gaiman's writing, but it's definitely a lot darker than the way Stardust the movie set itself up.

I feel like this tends to happen to me if I see the movie before reading the book, but only sometimes.

And there you have it! The Unpopular Opinions Book Tag! Feel free to give this a go if you want, it's super fun!

Any unpopular opinions to share? What did you think of my answers? Let's chat in the comments!

Book Tag || Top 2 Books From 6 Genres

I really need to work on posting more. It's just that this month has been crazy busy. So I thought I'd do a book tag to spice things up.

I found this a while ago on booktube and thought I'd give it a go. It was created by Benjaminoftomes and the original video is here.

The gist is to recommend 2 books from each of the 6 genres. I'm going to try to work a little outside the box and do what I can to pick books I haven't already gushed all over the place about. We'll see if that works!

Dystopia

1. The Darkest Minds Series by Alexandra Bracken
   (Give book 1 a chance to get rolling and I promise you won't regret it. Some of my favourite ensemble dynamics ever come from these books.)
   
2. Wool by Hugh Howey
   (While I do think the latter parts of this sort got off track, there was something so unique and different about the Silos. I picked up the first few parts for free or cheap digitally on Amazon...)

Honourable mention to Daniel H. Wilson's Robopocalypse which actually made me terrified to get on an elevator for a while.

Romance

1. Anything by Rainbow Rowell. No, I'm serious.
   (Though I have a special place in my heart for Fangirl.)
   
2. Pivot Point by Kasie West
   (This may seem surprising, but I enjoyed this book a lot more than I expected to. And it was an interesting twist on the predictable YA love triangle set up.)

I don't really read a lot of straight up romance. Unless it's fanfiction. I mean, what.

Fantasy

1. Cold Magic by Kate Elliott
   
   (I desperately need to reread this book and continue the series, but I remember just loving it.)
   
2. The Belgariad Series by David Eddings
   (A great intro to high-fantasy. Full of all the wonder, magic and tropes you'd expect. And starring an unforgettable cast of characters.)

I feel like this section was harder than it should have been. I need to read some more fantasy stat!

Sci-Fi

1. Redshirts by John Scalzi
   (Ridiculously fun and funny. If you even have a passing interest in Star Trek, check this out.)
   
2. The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
   (Parallel Earths, speculative fiction, and a dynamite collaboration--what's not to love?)

It was really difficult not to mention Marissa Meyer's Lunar Chronicles here, but I figured you already knew I adored those books!

Paranormal

1. Daughter of Smoke & Bone Series by Laini Taylor
   (Okay, so maybe this is predictable, but this series is amazing and I am dying waiting for book 3.)
   
2. The Raven Cycle Series by Maggie Stiefvater
   (... Again, surprising no one. I love the complexity of this series.)

I don't read a ton of this genre, or at least not much has caught my eye.

Historical

1. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
   (I'm sorry, it's impossible not to mention this book. I am just so in love with this portrayal of Patroclus. And I just have so many feels.)
   
2. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
   (This totally took me by surprise. It's not a book I would've picked up on my own, but it came recommended. I really like the epistolary style--it had me thinking in letter format for days!)

Gail Carriger's Soulless and Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan are also highly recommended. But those are more alternate history than true historical, so!

And that's the tag! What do you think? Have you read any of these books? Feel free to hit me up with some of your own recommendations too!

Book Tag || Harry Potter Spells Tag

So, I saw this tag going around before Christmas and have wanted to give it a shot. I figure since things have been a little quiet around here recently, this was a good time to do it!

This tag was created by TurtleSympathy on Youtube... with the original video here.

Onto the questions!

1. Expecto Patronum: A childhood book connected to good memories

I'm going to have to go way back with this one and talk about RL Stine's Goosebumps series. I know that might seem a little weird to connect it with good memories, since Goosebumps is the children's equivalent of horror... But Goosebumps books were one of the first times I can remember really loving reading. I devoured these books and for a while they were literally I could talk about when people mentioned books. I love reading because I loved reading Goosebumps. So.

2. Expelliarmus: A book that took you by surprise

Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor. I did not expect to love this book as much as I did. Ugh, it was just so good. And the illustrations were amazing. I did a review of this book here and had to retroactively sneak it on to my top reads of 2013, that's how much I loved it!

3. Prior Incantato: The last book you read.

Sapphire Blue by Kerstin Gier. Meh.

4. Alohamora: A book that introduced you to a genre you had not considered before.
Worldshaker by Richard Harland. When I first picked this book up, I'd assumed it was fantasy. What with the whole living on airships bit. (It was totally a cover-buy, shush!) But as I got into things, I realized it was really an alternate history book--a "what if", if you will. I hadn't really considered that before and was pleasantly surprised by the revelation. (The book itself, unfortunately falls into "just okay" territory and was kind of a waste of potential.)

5. Riddikulus: A funny book you've read.

Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh. Hilarity. Do yourself a favour and read this immediately.

6. Sonorus: A book you think everybody should know about.

Most of my favourite books already have enough hype surrounding them. So let me go a little off the beaten path and recommend a graphic novel instead--Saga by Brian K Vaughan. So so amazing. People have described it as Romeo & Juliet meets Star Wars, which isn't inaccurate, but also only just barely scratching the surface. It's a visually stunning space opera with family at the centre and lots of shades of grey. It's phenomenal.

7. Obliviate: A book or spoiler you would like to forget having read.

The Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks. UGH. What a waste of my life. I just did not enjoy this series at all. Truth be told, the only reason I managed to slog through the whole darn thing was because it was June and I didn't have guaranteed employment in the fall, so there was nothing else to do during exam week. I couldn't prep any courses because I didn't have a job. So it was supervise exams, clean out my room and then read. I powered through this series in two weeks because I literally had nothing else to do with my time. And I didn't enjoy it. (Logan was a decent character, though, but I couldn't stand Kylar. At all.)

8. Imperio: A book you had to read for school.

I'm going to pick a book I enjoyed reading for school--George Orwell's 1984. At my school we had TA (teacher advisor) periods, once a day. It was for homework and whatnot and had students from all grades (9-12) in it. In grade 12 we also got to pick from a selection of books for our independent novel study. And I remember being in grade 9 or 10 and seeing a grade 12 student reading 1984 and thinking to myself, "That's the book I'm going to pick in grade 12." And I did. And I loved it.

9. Crucio: A book that was painful to read.

Can I use Night Angel again? No? Okay. Then let's go with A Strong and Sudden Thaw by RW Day. In theory, this book should be doing everything right for me. Post-apocalypse/dystopia. Dragons. LGBT content. Sounds great!

It was not. In fact, it was so bad I immediately went out of my way to get rid of the stupid thing. It was so overwrought. So soap opera-y. So actually bad in places. And it included the most awkward and badly written sex scene I have ever read in my life. (And that's saying something, because I have been on the internet for a long time and have read pretty terrible fanfic smut by 13 year olds.) Skip this one. Seriously.

10. Avada Kedavra: A book that could kill (interpret as you will).
Water by Terra Harmony. I think I picked this up cheap/free on kindle because I was bored. I certainly know I read it because I was bored. I was visiting a friend out of town and had to entertain myself at her apartment during the day while she went to work. So I read this. It was barely even worth the distraction. I should have settled for staring into middle distance all afternoon. I wrote a rather scathing review on my Goodreads after having read it--check it out.

And there's the book tag! Have you read any of these books? What do you think? If you want to take a crack at the tag, feel free to link me to your posts!

Book Tag || New Year's Resolutions Tag

In conjunction with my 2014 Goals post, I thought I'd take a crack at the New Year's Resolutions Tag made by CharrsNewChapter on Youtube.

So! Here are the questions!

1. An author you'd like to read (that you've never read before). 

Almost all of them? I tend to put books on my tbr list based on whether they sound interesting and not really take author into account. But if I have to choose....

I'm going to go with Alastair Reynolds. I have two of his books and he's lauded as one of the greats in sci-fi, so I need to get on that, I feel.

2. A book you'd like to read.

You mean the 280+ on my tbr list on Goodreads isn't sufficient? There's almost too many too choose Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi is high up on my list. I've got a copy on my shelf and everything...

3. A classic you'd like to read.

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. This will probably not happen this year, but I can dream. I grew up on the musical and have been devouring the fandom output since the movie came out last Christmas. It's just that I know this book is a huge commitment, so that's intimidating.

I also want to find a copy with the translation of Orestes Fasting, Pylades Drunk in which Grantaire's dialogue is translated to "Do you permit it?" Because, as I said, the fandom has taken over my life. (I found "If you'll permit it?" or something similar once. So close!)

4. A book you'd like to re-read.

I think I'm overdue for a reread of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Having seen the stylish movie adaptation last year made me realize it's been a long time since I read this book. And since I consider it personally influential (more on that later, perhaps in another post) I think it's time to revisit it.

5. A book you've had for ages and want to read.

Again, almost too many to list. (I have this bad habit of buying books and then not reading them in a timely manner.)

But let's go with Cold Fire by Kate Elliott. This is the second book in The Spiritwalker Trilogy and I adored Cold Magic and own Cold Steel, so I really just need to get moving with this series. (And actually, I feel like Cold Magic probably warrants a reread before I push on further. Good thing one of my resolutions this year is to complete more series!)

6. A big book you'd like to read.

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. I actually started this back in 2012 and probably got 50 pages in before I set it down. I remember really enjoying it, but it just wasn't what I was in the mood for at the time. It's definitely a denser read and at the time I needed more fluff, so I set it down and haven't come back to it. But it's time to, I think.

7. An author you've previously read and want to read more of.

I'm super excited to read more from Laini Taylor, Rainbow Rowell and Marissa Meyer!

8. A book you got for Christmas and would like to read.

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake. I've got this lined up for the Bout of Books read-a-thon next week, so hopefully I'll get around to it!

9. A series you want to read (start and finish)

The Legend Trilogy by Marie Lu. I have heard so much about this series and it sounds like it's right up my alley. It's probably going to be one of the first books I borrow from the school library this year, if I can get my hands on it!

10. A series you want to finish (that you've already started)

The Divergent Trilogy by Veronica Roth. I read book 1 back in 2012 and was underwhelmed overall. But with Allegiant just being released and all the hype around the movie, I'd like to be in the know. So I'll probably reread Divergent before tackling Insurgent.

11. Do you set reading goals? If so, how many books do you want to read in 2014?

Always. And as always, the goal is 50 books. Fourth time's the charm?

12. Any other reading goals?

Check out my 2014 goal post from a few days ago

What do you think? Do you have any resolutions for the new year? Or any goals? Let me know! And if you want to give the tag a shot, feel free! (And link me so I can see your responses!)