September 2014 | Monthly TBR

Hello once again! I hope to keep this post fairly short, but I am determined to try to do this thing again! And with success!
If you're not sure what I mean by Monthly TBRs (which probably you do), it's basically just a list I make for myself at the beginning of each month on what books I plan to read. This month I picked out 5 physical books for myself out of my TBR jar, and I'll just list them down below! As far as ebooks go, I don't know if I'll read anymore other than Da Mo Yao (Ballad of the Desert) by Tong Hua this month, which I started near the end of August. 

September TBR Goodreads shelf

My September TBR...GO! 

• Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
• The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
• One-Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
• Escape from Camp 14 by Blaine Harden

 (covers below in order)

That's the end of my September TBR! I tried to put a variety of books in there. I think these are the perfect books to start off my school year. What books will you be reading? 

 Have a great day! :) 

August TBR // July Wrap-Up 2014

Hello internet! I hope you're having a fine day.
I've been slowing down with my posts A LOT lately so I thought that a monthly wrap-up/tbr would be a short, easy, and fun thing to do.

I still have my blog challenge to complete, and I think I will be continuing it soon but for now, I'm posting whatever suits my mood. ^w^

Although, I am relatively certain that I will have a book review up tomorrow. Stay tuned!


For the month of July, I didn't read that much (surprise, surprise) even though Booktube-A-Thon was in the same month...I didn't end up participating. Stupid math class. TT^TT
I actually started a few books but some I didn't finish.
\\Here's the books that I did finish: 

• The Emperor's Edge by Lindsay Buroker \\ Review
• The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin (guess what book review I'm posting next...totally not obvious right?)
• We Were Liars by E. Lockhart \\ Review
• The Fault in Our Stars by John Green: To be honest, even though there is so much hype around this book, I didn't like it that much. I guess it's my fault because I went into the book with high expectations and got disappointed. John Green's writing style isn't for me, but I do appreciate the concept of the book. After I finished the book, it really didn't impress me so I immediately went back to doing other things that I had to do. And that's a good sign that it's a "time-passer" book for me. So my rating is a 2.30/5.00 stars.

\\My August TBR! 
Wanted to mention these ratchet but fab DIY TBR Jars I made!

• Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman: I've heard pretty good things about this book, however, that it seems like an encyclopedia rather than a historical fiction novel. Also, on Goodreads, a reviewer said that Blankman artificially researched the topics in the book (the book is set in Germany; WWII period) AKA she's never actually been to Germany or had a grip on the German language. This is quite sad to hear, but I hope I will enjoy this book. I'm going to try to go into the book blind and not let a negative review affect me. Nonetheless, the cover is beautiful, no?

 

• The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin: This is no surprise that I'm reading this. It's the sequel to The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer and I'm excited to read this because I've heard from lots of people that this is better than the first book! Not that I didn't like the first book but better is always a good thing. The third book, and the conclusion, The Retribution of Mara Dyer, is coming out November 4th!

 

• Dark Currents by Lindsay Buroker: Also another sequel I'm reading. This is one of the books that I started in July. For me, it's really slow so far, but I'm sure it'll pick up like it did in the first book. Excited for some more Amaranthe and Sicarius! I ship them.

• Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov: Yet another book I started but didn't finish. From what I've read so far though, this book is hella good. Crazy, fantastic writing. 

And those books above ^ are the ones that I chose for myself to read. So I'm really loose about completing them. The books I'm about to list, however, are ones that I have to read for school so I must absolutely finish.

• The Stranger by Albert Camus: I've started this one and I just can't get into it. Disappointing because this is regarded as one of the top greatest classics. Hopefully as I progress through the book, I'll enjoy it more. Thankfully this is such a short book.
• Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe: Have not started this book yet but I have the same expectations as TS for this. Again, thankful that my English teacher chose another short book.
• A Taste of Conquest by Michael Krondl: Bleck, this looks like a realll fun book. I have to read this for AP European History and write a 5-paragraph essay on it. :( 

Okay! So that's it for my July Wrap-Up/August TBR! I hope you enjoyed this post.

Have a great day! ^^

BookOutlet Haul #3 | Unboxing video!

So I tried to spice things up this haul by making a video! Sorry, it's like ten minutes ahahaha.

First BookOutlet Haul
Second BookOutlet Haul

This was something very different for me and I didn't know how well it would go. Sorry about the quality! It was better when I filmed it but when I put it into VideoPad to edit it and export it, the quality dropped...I probably needed to adjust the settings for better quality...:P

There's random text slides that pop up every so often in the video but ignore that. xD I have terrible editing skills. 

Have a great day! :D

Weekly Reads! June 6-12

Well, since my other Weekly Reads challenge failed, I'm going to start up a new one! Yay! I'm definitely going to with this one, this time. Pinky promise.

Anyway, here's my list of books that I plan to read the week of June 6th to June 12th:

• The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
• Cinder by Marissa Meyer
• Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King

That's it! Wish me luck! Sorry I couldn't include pictures(because I'm lazy) so it looks rather plain and boring but that's okay since that's the embodiment of me.

Have a great day! 

Weekly Reads!-A new thing?

Since I'm on summer break right now and I have lots of free time on my hands...what a better time to start reading and being productive, right?
I don't actually know if this is a thing out there on booktube or on other book blogs or whatever but I have decided to do this "challenge" of sorts to see if I can get some reading done this summer! I call it "Weekly Reads" and at the beginning of each new week, I make a post about the books that I plan to read (and complete) that week. Now I'm relatively sure someone else has done it because it doesn't seem too original but I'm just saying that so I don't get pointed at for saying that I came up with it first. xD Weekly Reads kind of sounds like a "Summer Reading Plans (if you've been on booktube)", except weekly.

So now, without further ado, I present to you, the books I plan on reading for this week; starting today, June 24 through next Tuesday, July 1st!

The Fault in Our Stars (shortened "TFIOS") by John Green

 I know, I know, you can't possibly believe that I haven't read this book, can you? Well, there's a reason that I haven't gotten to this book yet. One, I've been putting this book off for other books, and I'm sad to admit that. Two, I've mentioned in one of my previous posts before that I was in a very long book slump where I didn't read books at all (except my required reading) so I didn't really get in on the hype of the rising popularity of this book. Of course, I had heard of it a loong while ago but I never imagined that I would read it. But now, here I am with a purchased, paperback copy of The Fault in Our Stars and I think I'm going to enjoy this book, and as well, cry ugly tears like I've heard everybody has.

Legend by Marie Lu

The Legend trilogy has gotten as much hype as The Hunger Games trilogy or the Divergent trilogy and again, a lot of people might be surprised as to why I haven't read this trilogy yet but no fear, I have the boxset in my hands now and I'm planning to marathon it. One of the things that I find unique about this trilogy is that it's written by an Asian author and it's gotten pretty famous. There's Jenny Han and Julie Kagawa of course but I don't know, I was pretty surprised (there needs to be more diversity in YA literature! Of course there IS diversity, but just not the right authors be recognized.)

Apparently it's supposed to have a similar feel to the mentioned trilogies above, and discusses the government and politics (maybe?) and I think there's a rebellion of some sorts similar to The Hunger Games. Excited to read this!




 Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles) by Marissa Meyer

If you've seen my first BookOutlet Haul, you would recognize this book here. I've decided to read this this week because I'm a little wary about this trilogy (and I want to know if I'll like it ASAP...so if I don't, I can sell it.) It has an interesting premise for sure but I feel like it's the execution that will make me not want to buy the rest of the trilogy. Like, I will probably like it enough to read the whole trilogy but just not buy it. You feel me? Like, not Ready Player One level. But then again, there isn't a book that is on Ready Player One's level in terms of fun and entertainment. I hope I'm wrong though. But my wallet does need a rest so I don't know if I'll be buying the second and third books in this trilogy.








Well that was it! If I do really good with reading this week, I'll probably get to reading my summer assignment books (which I should read first anyway but you know me; YA addict.)

Today is a good day to have a good day.~ <3

Day 3-Things that make me happy

Day 3 of my 31 Day Blog Challenge is things that make me happy.

Link to my first post: 31-day Blog Challenge!~

Again, since I don't want this to be too long of a post, I will limit it 5 things that make me happy.

By the way, who's watching the FIFA World Cup right now? This is the first year I'm watching it (and the first year I actually care). I'm rooting for the meager amount of Asian countries in there; South Korea, Iran and mostly Japan (and I still support them now, even though they lost to Cote d'Ivoire and tied with Greece (their prospects are not looking good) but it doesn't look like any of them win the tournament xD. Well, I don't think any Asian team will, like, ever. I guess soccer is just a thing that's limited to soccer fans within the Asian country; it's not a national thing (like China, and I found it funny that they didn't qualify this year. They are even worse than the countries I mentioned above at soccer but they made a big deal about it by sending as much press as they could over to Brazil.) Compared with South/Central American and Europe where soccer, or football (which makes better sense to me to call it that), is widely enjoyed in most of their countries. They have a longer history with soccer and also more...talent; I'm not exactly sure how to state this but I hope you get the general idea of what I'm trying to say. They're built differently over there. xD

But surprisingly this year, Japan and South Korea didn't really suck that bad...especially Japan. They definitely played better than when I last took a peek at them in the 2010 World Cup (which I vaguely remember.) So congrats to them for improving! They have a bright future!

Anyway, but my top contender for winning the World Cup, it would probably have to be Germany. I saw their match against Portugal and they pretty much crushed them; 4:0. Not only that, but their technique and play is so freaking beautiful. They really are skilled. My favorite player that game was Ozil because his ball control is amazing and I thought he played well. Don't take my words seriously though, I'm not an expert on soccer. xD

Ahem, I spent too much time talking about the World Cup so let's move on to today's challenge, shall we?

5 Things That Make Me Happy

1. Food 

Oh yes, the good ol' food you eat when you're depressed over a hard breakup. That familiar companion you have when you're lonely. Food will always have a special place in my heart. And it makes me especially happy when I'm on the verge of starving and I take the first bite and feel like I'm in heaven. The types of foods I like are, sweets, pizza, noodles, rice, sushi, pasta, bread buns, frozen yogurt, etc. Generally, I crave Chinese food and Italian food constantly, which is kind of weird, I know.

 2. Watching a show (be it anime, movie, etc.)

This should be obvious, since I like watching anime, but the reason why I like watching shows so much is because I love being immersed into the story and characters. Of course, it's not too good to be obsessed and unable to differentiate between reality and fiction (which I do probably way more often than I should) but I like to take risks. ;P Haha, no I'm actually a very cautious person. Cautious and stupid. Anyway, it doesn't have to be anime specifically; I got very engrossed in The Walking Dead tv show before the 4th season started and then I kind of dropped it sooo yeah. I also liked The Big Band Theory. And Two and a Half Men was my guilty pleasure. My sentences are getting reallly awkward.

3. Books

Not just reading books but buying books, touching books, looking at my bookshelf, just gives me so much joy. I don't know what it is but yeah, call me a book pervert if you want. ERMAHGERD BERKSSSS

4. Nature

To describe what I like about it in more detail, I like being outside (though I don't go out a lot xD) and sunbathing while admiring the forestry scenery around me. It's just so peaceful, relaxing, and I feel content with life. It's like, I'm reaching enlightenment or something. You know what, I should probably just stop writing sentences. 

.....

Okay, one more thing; my favorite place to sun bathe is in my backyard which, since I live in a townhouse, is shared by many families but basically, we have a gorgeous view of a pond (and forestry surrounding it.) Probably the best house location I've ever had. 

 5.  Kungfu/Tennis/exercise in general (sleeping is a close second)

I like sweating. Is that weird? I don't know, maybe it's not the sweating I like, but the exhilaration I feel when I pushing my body to the limit. Also the knowledge that you're burning calories is very appealing too. Speaking of exercise, I need to do more of that this summer. xD It seems like when the school year is over, I always feel like laying around and not doing anything, even though it's the perfect time to get things done.

Soo...that was my 5 things that make me happy! :D Yay, I feel a little happier typing this all out ahaha.

End note: My second BookOutlet order arrived today so I'll be doing a post on that soon! I feel like I have so many ideas on what kind of posts to create for my blog but no idea on how to execute them. Ya feel me?

Today's a good day to have a good day.~ <3

So, um, wow.-BookOutlet Haul #1

WARNING: Whoa, very long post. o.o

Miraculously, on the day I created my blog, my BookOutlet order came to my door. *angel music starts playing*

Just a quick explanation of BookOutlet; it's basically the best site to buy books from (other than Amazon.com). They sell new books for ridiculously cheap prices just because, for example, they have a marking from the original manufacturer or overstock. They also sell scratch-and-dent books, aka books that have some wear and tear to them but the prices on them are heavily reduced. Most of the books on their site are at least 60% off the original price of the book AND THAT IS CRAZY. Granted, it sometimes doesn't have the books I want but usually I can find some books I want to buy.

The only downside is the shipping. It starts at $3.99 for 2 books and they $0.50 for every other book you have(so if you get 4 books like I did, the shipping would be $4.99). If you get a lot of books, no matter how cheap they are, the shipping will get to be more and more expensive(it's not really that bad, but when you think about the fact you could get another book for the price of the shipping...it kinda sucks). That's why I only got 4 books but then I saw more books that I wanted on the site and went back for another order. xD That's the reason I put the title as "BookOutlet Haul #1"; I will be doing another one of these when I get my second order(I got 5 books in that one :3 so excited!)

Ahem, so anyway! Onto the haul! You can bet that I'm making reviews for all of the books that I've shown here! Maybe not soon but someday!

Here is the lovely box it came in! Oh how seeing their logo nearly brought tears to my eyes! 

Also, ignore my messy bed please. lol 

This is what I see when I open the box (of course I took out the brown paper packaging to make it look nicer but yeah, THANK BROWN PAPER PACKAGING. You did my book babies well.)

 The first book I see is...of course, Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion!

Now I know, I know, how could I have not read this already? There was so much hype about the movie and even before that, the book was pretty popular too...I did hear about this book but I just never had the chance to pick it up. Oddly enough, a few years back I was hesitant to buy any books at all. Now, I'm a shopaholic...

Synopsis (from back cover): "R is having a no-life crisis--he is a zombie. He has no memories, no identity, and no pulse, but he is a little different from his fellow Dead. He may occasionally eat people, but he'd rather be riding abandoned airport escalators, listening to Sinatra in the cozy 747 he calls home, or collecting souvenirs from the ruins of civilization.

And then he meets a girl. 

First as his captive, then his reluctant guest, Julie is a blast of living color in R's gray landscape, and something inside him begins to bloom. He doesn't want to eat this girl--although she looks delicious--he wants to protect her. But their unlikely bond will cause ripples they can't imagine, and their hopeless world won't change without a fight."

The storyline sounds really cute! I can't wait to devour this book! <--see what I did there? 

P.S. and all it had was this. Besides this, the book was is PERFECT condition. Unbelievable. And I got it for $4.99! 

This next book I got is Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff. It's the first book in his "The Lotus War" series. The third book is expected to come out on September 23, 2014.

Synopsis (from Amazon): "The Shima Imperium verges on the brink of environmental collapse; an island nation once rich in tradition and myth, now decimated by clockwork industrialization and the machine-worshipers of the Lotus Guild. When hunters of Shima's imperial court are charged by their Shōgun to capture a legendary griffin, they fear their lives are over. Any fool knows the beasts have been extinct for more than a century, and the price of failing the Shōgun is death.  Accompanying her father on the Shōgun’s hunt, the girl Yukiko finds herself stranded: a young woman alone in Shima’s last wilderness, with only a furious, crippled griffin for company. Even though she can hear his thoughts, even though she saved his life, all she knows for certain is he’d rather see her dead than help her. But together, the pair will form an indomitable friendship, and rise to challenge the might of an empire."

I haven't read any other books by Jay Kristoff so I don't know whether or not I'll like his writing style but the premise GUYS. THE PREMISE. IT'S TOKYO STEAMPUNK. How freaking cool is that?? There's not much diversity in YA novels, and japanese culture is not often combined with steampunk so basically my head is exploding right now. It sounds SO AWESOME. But I'm also afraid that my high expectations for this book will be crushed. 

I've read a few reviews on Amazon.com and a lot of them say the same thing. Apparently the character interactions are awkward and forced, it wasn't written well, etc. Something that did make me regain hope was that the general consensus was that the second book redeemed this book so, I'm looking forward to that! I picked up the second book in my second BookOutlet order! :) 

One notable thing that I read in a review is that this book would probably gain the love of otaku fans, which is perfect! I wouldn't necessarily call myself an otaku (because it has gained a negative connotation) but I do like anime and manga...if you didn't catch on. xD 

 YESYESYESYES ALL THE YESES! 

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

 This is a very popular book on BookTube and has been raved about ALOT pretty much everywhere. 

I've read about halfway through this book and decided I needed a physical copy of this (I was reading on my iPad mini) and bought it on BookOutlet.

Again, this is the only mark I found on the book. One thing I was surprised about this book was that it was thicker than I expected. I don't know, it looked thinner when I saw people holding it up in their videos. 

Synopsis: "Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan, but for Cath, being a fan is her life--and she's really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it's what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath's sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can't let go. She doesn't want to.
Now that they're going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn't want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She's got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words . . . And she can't stop worrying about her dad, who's loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?

Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories? And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?" 

I can't wait to finish this book! I can really relate to Cath, in the sense we're both introverts and write fanfictions (although I can't say that I'm as obsessed that she is. xD) 

 My last book of this haul is Cinder by Marissa Meyer. The fact that it was set in modern Beijing really intrigued me. Besides that, it was really cheap so I decided to get it. Are you starting to see a patten to how my mind works? xD 

This book is the first in the Lunar Chronicles trilogy, and the two other books, Scarlet and Cress are already out. I plan on getting them both in the future so I can marathon this trilogy. 

Synopsis: "Sixteen-year-old Cinder is considered a technological mistake by most of society and a burden by her stepmother. Being cyborg does have its benefits, though; Cinder's brain interface has giver her an uncanny ability  to fix things (robots, hovers, her own malfunctioning parts), making her the best mechanic in New Beijing. This reputation brings Prince Kai himself to her weekly market booth, needing her to repair a broken android before the annual ball. He jokingly calls it "a matter of national security," but Cinder suspects it's more serious than he's letting on. 

Although eager to impress the prince, Cinder's intentions are derailed when her younger step-sister, and only human friend, is infected with the fatal plague that's been devastating Earth for a decade. Blaming Cinder for her daughter's illness, Cinder's stepmother volunteers her body for plague research, an "honor" that no one has survived. 

But it doesn't take long for the scientists to discover something unusual about their new guinea pig. Something others would kill for."

Seriously sounds freaking interesting. I'll have to finish reading the books my school assigned me to read over the summer first, sadly. Though I doubt that they won't be good books. 

Above; The Stranger by Albert Camus and Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Since I have to do it for school anyway, I will be doing an analysis of these 2 books...probably soon if I don't procrastinate.

Well, that's the end of my haul! I can't wait for the other books I've ordered to arrive. :D :D :D 

Have a fantastic day~ <3