Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Please check out her website for more TTT topics!

This week’s topic is:

Books I Enjoyed That Are Outside of My Comfort Zone

(i.e., a genre you don’t typically read or subject matter you’re not usually drawn to)

I just got done reading this eARC of Mooncakes which is a graphic novel and I hardly read graphic novels. I saw awesome reviews for this one and gave it a try and LOVED it! I have a review on it coming up this week!

I don’t read middle grade books but I love Catherine Doyle and decided to give it a try. And I was not disappointed!

I’m not a big mystery fan, but I enjoy this series by indie author K.A. Miltimore who reached out to me to read and review her books. I love the supernatural characters and paranormal elements in this series. It always makes me want to move to a small town in Oregon. 🤔 And eat strangely shaped delicious pastries…😬

My comfort zone for the fantasy genre is more young adult fantasy which are broken up into trilogies and so when I borrowed this book I wasn’t sure what to expect. The Priory of the Orange Tree is a hefty book clocking in at 800+ pages. I read it in one week and I felt like it went slow because I couldn’t connect to the characters as I wanted to and I wanted more dragons really. It was pretty epic in scale, the world building , the length, the weight of the book (I felt like I was carrying around a newborn baby!).

I’ve been easing into reading sci-fi but I still enjoy reading it more as a space opera type books. It has to have romance and I definitely prefer it in as a young adult book. If it gets too technical, it loses me, so give me a book with action and emotion, like The Honors series and I can get into it.

Once in a great while I have the urge to read a book like Gone Girl. It’s not my favorite genre, but sometimes, just once in awhile, I need a good scare or freak out – I don’t know why! 😂 Last year I read Sharp Objects because I heard Amy Adams was going to star in the tv series. So I read the book beforehand and ugh…..it’s disturbing and just what I strangely wanted at the time. TOTALLY out of my comfort zone.

I read this one years ago when it came out in 2008 and I was working in a college library at the time and I borrowed from our collection. There was so much hype over it and so I read it and the whole series afterwards. What I really enjoyed about it was the computer hacking and revenge aspects but geez…it has a lot of disturbing scenes.

Apparently I’m digging deep in my Goodreads READ list to finish this topic…😅 but I read this 10+ years ago?! And I wasn’t into dystopia yet, Twilight was SO big that year, I remember falling in love with Vampires (again, you know there is always a cycle haha)…and I picked up this series and was like…whoa. It was just so different from all the vampire stuff I was reading, it was a breath of fresh air.

Bully romances…I actually liked book one Broken Legacy of this series, but after book two I decided to give up on the series and probably bully romances in general. I love the romance genre, it is what made me fall in love with reading in general. But I can take only so much unhealthy relationships in the romance genre. 😂

Reverse harem books are definitely out of my comfort zone – I tried this series because I love indie author Jaymin Eve, I liked book one but by the time I got to book four I stopped. I couldn’t make myself read book five. I just can’t do the whole one girl, five brothers relationship. 😅 It’s just way too much sharing for my taste. I can deal with a love triangle but more than that…it’s too much for me.

That’s my TTT today! I look forward to reading your lists ~ are any of these out of your comfort zone as well? Let me know in the comments below!

20 Questions Book Tag

I saw this book tag on a few blogs but finally decided to do it after seeing it just recently on Nen & Jen check out and follow her lovely blog for more awesome content!

Let’s do this!

How many books are too many in a series?

I think it depends on the series – some just need to stop at three if it’s becoming repetitive or the writing/editing is suffering (I’m looking at you Anita Blake series 😅). In YA Fantasy or Sci-Fi, I love a good, solid, well written trilogy but lately I am in love with duologies. It keeps the story tight and exciting. But for historical romance novels with a whole family and each family member has a story to tell, I want each sibling or whoever to have their own book. So it depends!

How do you feel about cliff hangers?

I used to hate them, because I hate waiting a year for the sequel. Like why do you have to torture us?! 😂 But now that I blog about books, I have so many books on my TBR list, it makes the time go fast reading other books, and now I don’t mind them so much. Out of sight, out of mind haha…

Hardback or paperback?

I’m not picky anymore. Just give me books.

Favourite book?

I don’t have just one…I just have too many I love equally.

Least favourite book?

I don’t have a book I totally dislike. I mean there are a few, but not at the top of my head.

Love triangle…yes or no?

I love them when the girl picks the guy I want her to end up with. 😂

The most recent book you couldn’t finish?

I don’t know why but I just cannot push on to read Ruin & Rising by. Leigh Bardugo. I barely got through Chapter 1! And I just don’t have a desire to finish. I borrowed it twice already and both times I didn’t finish.

A book you’re currently reading?

The last book you recommended to someone?

Outside of my blogging, I recommended, Frankly in Love, by. David Yoon to one of my besties who is looking for more Asian authors.

Oldest book you’ve read (based on publication date)?

I think it has to be Pride and Prejudice. I’m pretty sure I’ve read older stuff in high school and college, does William Shakespeare count? Or Beowulf (wasn’t that a poem? 🤔)? Haha but the one I enjoyed is Pride and Prejudice.

Newest book you’ve read (based on publication date)?

I read a lot of eARCS that haven’t been published yet, but for published books, I’ll say Vow of Thieves by. Mary Pearson that was published on Aug. 6th. And I’m just looking at my NetGalley list.

Favourite author?

I have too many: Mary Pearson, Sarah J. Maas, Madeline Miller, Jenn Bennett, Sarah MacLean, Lisa Kleypas, Karen Marie Moning….way too many haha.

Buying books or borrowing them?

Mostly borrow because of cost and space but I’ve been buying more because I’m trying out book crate subscriptions. And I told my hubby I finally want a nice big book shelf in the house. I didn’t plan on one because my kids would pull off the books. But I do love our library!

A book you dislike that everyone else loves?

Very unpopular opinion but The Grisha series. 😞 I tried but for some reason, it doesn’t interest me.

Bookmarks or dog-ears?

Bookmarks!

A book you can re-read over and over?

Lisa Kleypas books I’ve re-read a lot when I’m in the mood for historical romance. But I also love the A Court of Thorns and Roses series.

Can you read while listening to music?

I have two children. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I’ve learn to read while listening to gaming youtube videos, Dan TDM videos, baby shark videos, Peppa Pig, Blippy…🤦🏻‍♀️💆🏻‍♀️

Multiple POV or one POV?

No preference, I love both, as long as it’s done well!

Do you read a book in one sitting or over multiple days on average?

If the book is good, then in one sitting (well…actually that’s what I used to do before kids-so I’d say in one day because my kids do come first). But if a book is slow-paced, it will take me a few days.

Who do you tag?

Anyone who wants to do this tag! No pressure. 😘

Thanks for reading my post! Hope you enjoyed it and if you do any book tags, please put your links in my comments. I love reading book tag posts!

Monthly Wrap-Up | August 2019

August is over? What?! Where did the time go? I spent a lot of August at the beach folks and in the heat but it was nice because we were visiting with family. My kids had a lot of fun hanging out at the beach or pool – so much that my son already has two absences this month for school. He had so much fun he got a runny nose and sore throat. 😩 And he just started school…oops! 👀

But I am seriously ready for cooler weather and all things fall. We don’t get fall weather in Hawaii so I love all the fall decorations in the store, pumpkin bread in the stores and gearing up for Halloween. I love the holidays. 😍

So let’s get to it! Here’s what I read in August:

I read some awesome books! I do say 2019 have been really good with releases. 💃🏻 If you want to see the reviews for these books, just type the title in the search box or check out my archives menu. I promise I will update my book reviews list sometime this week.

What did you read in August? Leave your link below in the comments!

Let’s move on to September shall we? ☺️

Top Ten Tuesday

This week’s topic is…

Books I’ve Read That I’d Like In My Personal Library

(perhaps you checked it out, borrowed it from a friend, received it for review, etc. and want to own it yourself.) (Submitted by Annemieke @ A Dance with Books)

I have so many I want – now only if I had the space…haha…

Vow of Thieves by. Mary Pearson – because the Dance of Thieves duology is one of my favorites. I love Kazi and Jase! ❤️ Read it as an arc and need it to complete my set.

The Nightingale by. Kristin Hannah – it’s the book that got me reading all of Kristin Hannah’s work. Read it as an ebook and definitely need a hard copy.

The Cruel Prince, The Wicked King, & The Queen of Nothing by. Holly Black – I’m actually getting the Barnes & Noble trilogy set when it releases in November. Can’t wait!

Every Judith McNaught book in Hardcover – because her books made me fall in love with reading when I was a teenager.

Most of Lisa Kleypas historical romance books – I want almost all of them, because after Judith McNaught stopped writing, Lisa Kleypas books filled that void for my love of historical romance novels.

His Hideous Heart by. Dahlia Adler – because I love Edgar Allan poe and only read this as an arc. Will add it to my collection once it releases.

The Bridge Kingdom by. Danielle L. Jensen – hopefully I can get the set once the series is complete. Love this first book, hope the rest lives up to it!

Inferno and Mafiosa by. Catherine Doyle – I have Vendetta, from the Blood for Blood series but need the other two. One of my favorites!

The World on Either Side by. Diane Terrana – read this as an arc and I absolutely loved it.

The Bone Witch Series by. Run Chupelco – because I need more filipino authors on my book shelf and I love this series.

What books do you want on your bookshelf? Leave me your answers or link in the comments below! I’d love to hear from you!

First Lines Fridays

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
Finally… reveal the book!

Happy Aloha Friday everyone! What a week! We have visiting family from New York and California, so it’s been busy around here. We have been hanging out at the beach a lot and since my son turns 7 years old in five days and our family leave this weekend, we have been doing birthday celebrations. Lucky him, he’s having the best birthday ever I think. 🤗

So like I’ve been doing the past few weeks – here are some photos of my week before I do my First Lines Friday.

Hope you enjoyed that! So let’s get to the lines:

“People lived because she killed. And if that meant braving the Arz where even the sun was afraid to glimpse, then so be it.”

⇩

I hope this one is good! I know there was a lot of hype around it so we shall see. I do love the map inside it. 😍

How has your week been going? What are you reading? Have you read We Hunt the Flame? I would love to hear from yo! Let me know what you think in the comments below. 😘

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Check out her awesome blog to check out other Top Ten Tuesday topics! This week’s topic is Cover Redesigns I Loved/Hated (submitted by Rachelle @ Shell’s Stories).

Shatter Me by. Tahereh Mafi

Definitely love the redesigned cover more, it’s so pretty. Looking at them side by side, wow, what an upgrade the new design is!

Throne of Glass by. Sarah J. Maas

The original is pretty but the redesign is much more fierce!

The Luxe by. Anna Godbersen

I read this a long time ago and don’t remember much about it. But I just saw the redesigned cover on Book Outlet and had to wonder if it was the same Luxe I read! It’s so different. I don’t love the redesigned cover.

City of Bones by. Cassandra Clare

I remember buying City of Bones when it was first published and I’m partial to how the original looks more vibrant. So I’ll say I like the original better, the new one looks so bland.

An Ember in the Ashes by. Sabaa Tahir

I thin both these covers look great in their own way. I think I’m more drawn to the first one because of the lettering and colors. For some reason I’m not feeling the red coloring in the new design.

Shadow and Bone by. Leigh Bardugo

I love both covers but the original just embodies the mood of the series I think. Dark, a bit steampunk and Russian inspired.

Vampire Academy by. Richelle Mead

I love the redesigned cover more for sure. I love instead of Rose’s face, we get a rose dripping in blood.

Judith McNaught Books

This goes for all Judith McNaught books, but I had all the books that didn’t have a woman on the cover and I really loved that about her books. So I’m definitely going for the original versions.

Jane Austen Books

I don’t think you can go wrong with Jane Austen book covers! I mean look at these beauties! I can’t compare them to the original, but I bet even the original cover is amazing.

Harry Potter – by. J.K. Rowling

Remember the original? For the middle grade kids that read the original, it’s a totally charming cover. I’m sure there are lots of versions out there but yes I definitely love it with redesigned covers.

Leave me your link to your top ten or top five in the comments! Would love to read your post. 😘

First Lines Fridays

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
Finally… reveal the book!

It’s the first Friday in August guys and girls! Wow, is this year going by so fast. We are in hurricane season and there is a hurricane that is now a tropical storm just traveling south of our islands. In a few days another hurricane which will also become just a storm soon will go north of us. So I’m just monitoring the news but not too worried about it.

In the meanwhile I have started a book today and here is the first lines:

“The calming echo of a holy chant filtered down from the sanctuary and into the cellars. It was late afternoon, just before Vespers, a time where psalms to the gods were given up in an effortless chorus.”

Can you guess what it is?

↯

It’s intriguing so far but I’m only on page 27. Hoping to get further tonight!

What are you reading this weekend? Have you read this book? What did you think? Leave me a comment, I’d love to hear from you.

The Sunshine Blogger Award

Thank you to the fun and amazing book blogger A Little Haze Book Blog for nominating me for my first book blog award ever! 😘 Check out her blog, it’s filled with awesome blog posts and book reviews that always makes me smile!

What is the Sunshine Blogger Award?

The Sunshine Blogger Award is given to those who are creative, positive and inspiring while spreading sunshine to the blogging community.

How does it work?

Thank the blogger(s) who nominated you in a blog post and link back to their blog.
Answer the 11 questions sent by the person who nominated you.
Nominate 11 new blogs to receive the award and write them 11 new questions.
List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post and/or on your blog.

Questions from A Little Haze Book Blog:

What is the first book you ever remember buying?

I don’t have a memory of the first book I ever bought. But I have a memory of my older sister and I, who loved Judith McNaught romance novels, but were too embarrassed to buy them (we were in high school at the time and thought we’d be judge for reading romance novels 🙄). I remember we were in the aisle at Waldenbooks trying to decide who would take the book to the cashier, because we were buying a “romance” novel. 😂 We ended up both walking up to the cashier together, I just don’t remember what book it was!

Have you ever read any book that changed the way you see yourself or how you see the world? If so what book and why?

I just read the arc for Frankly in Love which tackled the issues of growing up Asian-American. There were a lot of things in that book that made my heart ache because I saw myself in Frank Li. It’s amazing when you see yourself in a character, it puts to voice a lot of conflicting things I thought of as a child. The book also made me appreciate my parents and their own journey in life 1000% more.

What is your most unpopular bookish opinion?

I’m not in love with the Shadow and Bone Trilogy. 🤭 I know so many people that is in love with the Darkling and this trilogy and I read book one, barely got through book two and I have no interest to read book three. The Darkling does nothing for me. 😩🤷🏻‍♀️ But do I want to see the series come to life on Netflix? Sure! Because the series might be better for me, if it was brought to life visually on screen.

What is your favourite thing about book blogging or blogging in general?

I like that I get to meet fellow book lovers! Everyone has been so welcoming in the book community. Thank you to my followers for following me!

What is your favourite ever quote from a book and why that quote?

This one is so hard. I can’t pick a favorite ever, but I’ll pick one of my favorites that I have dog-eared in a book on my shelf. I usually don’t EVER dog-ear book pages but this one I did for some reason, so I must have really loved it.

“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.”
― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

I love Jane’s spirit, she’s a fighter. Even with her abusive past and things go wrong with Mr. Rochester, she stays strong.

If you could only ever read books by one author for the rest of your life, what author would that be?

One author for the rest of my life?! Hard question. I’ll choose Sarah MacLean. My first love is romance and they always make me happy, so why not choose an author that will make me feel happy the rest of my life.

What is your favourite genre to read?

Automatically I’d say romance but I’ve been reading mostly fantasy young adult lately but it HAS to have romance in it.

What is your least favourite genre to read?

Horror – sometimes it’s so good it scares the life out of me. It’s a love/hate thing but I try to avoid it most of the time. 😳😣

What is your opinion on open-ended books?

Depends on the book I think. I’ve read some that let me super frustrated. I want to know what happens…

Have you ever bought a book based on its cover alone? If so what was the book and what about the cover drew you in?

All the time. I bought Strange Grace by Tessa Gratton because of the cover. It’s purple and black with a tree with no leaves. There are red petals falling down and I love the font of the title. I love the color combo and the withered looking tree, it’s such a mood. I also haven’t read it yet. Haha…but I love looking at the cover.

Bloggers I’m Nominating (and you are totally not obligated to do this book tag! It’s just for fun but I’d love to see your answers. ☺️):

11 Questions for those Tagged:

What is a book or book series you can re-read over and over again?
What is the book that made you fall in love with reading?
Because I know it’s hard to choose just one, what characters would you name as your ultimate book boyfriends OR girlfriends?
How long have you been blogging and what made you start in the first place?
What is the best book you’ve read so far in 2019?
What is a book that has been sitting on your shelf, unread, for the longest time?
How do you feel about Audiobooks? Love it or Hate it?
What is your favorite genre and why?
What are you currently reading?
Name three music artists, songs or albums that could be the soundtrack to the book you are reading right now?
Where is your favorite reading spot?

Top 5 Tuesday

Alrighty, since Top Ten Tuesday is having a freebie topic for the week and my brain is mush. I needed something quick to do and went to Bionic Book Worm’s Top 5 Tuesday page and thought, let’s give this one a go.

This week it’s choosing books that start with U-V-W-X-Y-Z. Yikes….hmmm, okay, I can do this. 😅

U is for Under Different Stars by. Amy A. Bartol

This one is an interesting world created by Amy A. Bartol. There’s hot guys who are basically aliens, and a girl named Kricket who is on the run.

V is for Vendentta by. Catherine Doyle

One of my favorite young adult mafia series! Sexy Italian guys in a Mafioso family and a girl who’s father’s sins come to haunt her. So good! 🔥❤️

W is for Wicked Saints by. Emily A. Duncan

I’m reading this next, so I hope it’s good! I heard some good reviews on it, have you read it? What is your opinion of it?

X is for Xenocide by. Orson Scott Card

Have I read this? No. This is where I got help from my hubby. I asked him for a book that starts with X and this is what he gave me. 😄

Y if for The Young Elites by. Marie Lu

I think this was the first Marie Lu book I read and I thought it was pretty good but I didn’t read the whole series. I’ll definitely have to pick it up again.

Z is for Alice in Zombieland by. Gena Showalter

Obviously, I’m cheating with this title because I can’t find a Z title I have read! 😩 But I did read this book years ago. I remember it being filled with action.

There you have it! I think I did pretty good, right? I’d love to see your Top Ten Tuesday or Top 5 Tuesday posts, so leave your link in the comment below!

First Line Fridays

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
Finally… reveal the book!

Here we are at the LAST Friday of July. My son starts school in less than two weeks, in-laws are going to be visiting so I’m trying to stay on top of scheduling posts for the month of August, since I’ll be way to busy to be reading as much I usually do.

I’ll be participating in my first Blog Tour which is exciting and can I just say I have been so happy with 90% of all the books I’ve been reading! There is so much good books out there and that makes me happy. Nothing is more sad than a book slump, but so far there has been no book slump on my end – just lots of catching up to do. 😩

Anyway want to see what I picked up next to read? Here’s a hint:

“The gallows had been erected in the shadow of the clock tower, partly so that the spectators could witness the executions without the nuisance of the sun in their eyes, and partly so that the Tribunal could keep its killings on precise schedule.”

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