Summertime Madness Book Tag!

Hi there! I was tagged to do this tag by the lovely ladies @ Bibliophile Gathering, Taylor & Stephanie. I saw this tag around, and with the summer-y season here in Canada, this is perfect! Let’s get started!

1. Show a book with a summery cover!

There are so many to choose for this one! But I’m going to go with:

The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West

This cover is totally summery! Just look at it! I happen to have also read this book (I loved it), if you want you can check it out here.

2.Pick one fictional place that would be the perfect destination for a summer vacation!

Huh! This one’s a hard one! But I think I’m going to have to go with what another blogger, Ashley, chose:

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

The Spring Court in Prythian would be a great summer vacation destination! It would be great to just relax and have fun there. Preferably with Feyre, Lucien and the rest of the ACOTAR crew. 😉

3.You’re about to go on a flight to your summer vacation. But you want to read a book that lasts for the whole flight, what novella do you choose?

I don’t know, to be honest. I don’t read many novellas. I suppose I’d probably go with a full-length novel like:

 Made You Up by Francesca Zappia

I recently finished this book and it was amazing!! And it would be perfect for a plane trip. (Review coming soon!)

4. You have a case of summertime sadness what happy book do you pick up to shine a smile on your face?

Ooh, this one is an easy one!

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

This book immediately comes to mind (probably because it was a very recent read)! This book was just so amazing and this is perfect for making a smile appear! (I’ll be posting a review on it tomorrow, keep an eye out for that!)

5.You’re sitting at the beach all alone…which fictional character would be your beach babe?

Hmm… I’m going to try and pick someone from a book I haven’t used yet (sorry, Lucien & Rhysand!) so I suppose…any of the characters from my (if I do say so myself) awesome list of book boyfriends I made for the Secret Life of a Book Blogger tag. XD Fine, fine, specifics, specifics.
I suppose I might choose Leo, or Percy, both from the Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan, or Levi from Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, mostly because they’re all super funny and I think they would be great to have around on a beach to have fun!

6. To match your ice cream you want an icy cool sidekick! Which fictional side kick do you pick?

Arg, this one’s a hard one! I think I’m going to choose…

Annabeth Chase from the Percy Jackson & the Olympians by Rick Riordan

7. Share the Summertime Happiness! Who do you TAG?

• Aentee @ Read at Midnight
• Aira @ Aira Reads
• Alicia @ #Love Books
• Anjie @ Love Thy Shelf
• Ayesha & Monisah @ Twins Turn Pages
• Bhramori @ The Crazy Perfectionist
• Danni Mae @ Danni Mae
• Erika & Miedjel @ Partners in Books
• Josephine @ Josie’s Book Corner
• Lia @ Bookland
• Kelly @ Dancing Through the Pages
• Kyra & Nikki @ Book Allure
• Paperback Discovery
• Parneet @ The Enchanted Book
• Poulami @ Daydreaming Books
• Raven @ Dreamy Addictions
• Summer @ Xingsings
• Tasha @ Head in the Clouds, Heart in the Books
• Chelsea @ Books For Thought

I don’t usually tag so many people in book tags, but I’m feeling the summery mood today, so… happy tagging! ❤

BFF Book Tag!

Hi! This tag is kind of to make up for the tag I missed this Sunday. Anyway, I was tagged to do this by CK @ CK’s Reading Corner, who happens to be the creator of this tag as well!  (Way to go, girl!) I’ve been meaning to post this for a while but never got around to it. This was a super fun tag, so here goes!

1. Setting the Example: A pair/group of book bff’s that you love 

I’m going to have to say Harry, Ron & Hermione from Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling! This trio has gone through so much, and they remained close through it all. Of course, they had their fights and problems, but they always work it out, and are forever loyal to eachother.

How could you not love them?

2. Childhood Bestie: Which book character would you have liked to grow up with? 

Penryn from Penryn & the End of Days by Susan Ee immediately comes to mind! She’s funny, smart, and brave, and completely loyal to her friends and family. She would’ve been an amazing person to grow up with!

You rock, Penryn! (Even though technically I’m saying that to the covers at the moment…)

3. Frenemy: Which book character would bring out your competitive side?

Hm. This is a hard one. I’m not that competitive, so I have no idea which character would bring out my competitive side, but I agree with CK’s pick: Annabeth from Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan. She’s really competitive, and I think she would bring out my competitive side too. 🙂

Ready to fight, are you, Annabeth? (Better get your blond hair on, or I’m calling you a fake.) 😛

4. Fashion Guru: Who would be the bestie whose closet you’d want to raid or would you want to go on a shopping spree with?

I’d love to raid the close of America from The Selection series by Kiera Cass! Not only does she have beautiful dresses, she also has jeans! Awesome fashion sense, here. (If you haven’t realized, I like jeans.)

I’ll be stopping by to pick up that top you’re wearing, ‘kay?

5. The Bad Influence: Which character would you want to commit a small act of rebellion with? (go skinny dipping, sneak into a movie, have a drag race with, etc.)

Margo from Paper Towns by John Green is the queen of rebellion! She is totally gutsy, and is definitely up for a challenge.

Ooh, looking fierce, are we?

6.Blood Brothers: Which character would you want to be your surrogate big brother/sister? (You can do both if you want)

Penryn comes to mind again for this one, but this time I’m going to choose Feyre from A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. After all, Feyre is all a person can ask for in a sister (even though her sisters in the book don’t realize it) and it would be great to have her as my surrogate sister! Cath from Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell would be great too.

As for a surrogate big brother, I’m going to choose Gale from The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. After all, he does so much to help his family, and he would be a pretty cool surrogate brother!

7. Mother Hen: Which character would you want to be by your side when you’re having a bad day to cheer you up?

I feel like Lara Jean from To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han would be great to have on a bad day! She’s just such a fun, lively person, and I’m sure she would be able to cheer me up in no time.

Where’s your smile, Lara Jean? I’m going to need you to cheer me up!

8. The Counselor: Which character would you go to for relationship advice (or) confide a secret to?

To confide a secret to, I think Tessa from The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare would be a great pick, because she’s really trustworthy! I suppose she would be okay for relationship advice too, but only if we’re judging from after The Infernal Devices ended. After all, she did have quite the amount of confusion between Jem and Will!

9. More than friends:Who would be your book bf/ gf (if you like both genders you can choose one of each, but only one choice per gender!)

Argh, such a hard question! I have so many, lol. I’d love to pick Raffe from Penryn and the End of Days by Susan Ee or Will from The Infernal Devices, but I’m going to choose Warner from the Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi. He’s just amazing, so how could I not? ❤

*Melts into a puddle*

10. Tag some Book Buddies!

I tag my next 10 followers:

• Alina @ Scriberblog
• Bri @ She’s Reading
• Tabrizia @ Cup of Tea With That Book, Please
• Sleazy Blogs
• Shelbie @ Lulu’s Rants and Reads
• Aimee @ My Life in Books
• Ashley @ Dear World…
• Joys of bookworms @ Live. Laugh. Read.
• Subdued Flamboyance
• KelzBelzPhotography

Aaaaaaaand…. YOU!

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Thanks again to CK for tagging me! This was a super fun tag! For the people who I tagged, of course, there’s no obligation to do it, but I would love to see your choices if you do. ❤

Happy tagging!

-A

Exploring My Bookshelves #7 (May 29)

Hello bookworms! Today is the last Exploring My Bookshelves post of May, can you believe it? May passed by so fast… anyway, Exploring My Bookshelves is a weekly meme hosted by Victoria @ Addlepates and Book Nerds. The rules are:

1. Post a picture of your bookshelves (preferably literal, but e-book shelves work too)

2. Follow the theme/question about the books on your shelf that Victoria will have set out for us for that week. (Eg. favourite author, cover, etc.)

3. Include the cover and what you thought of it (if it’s read).

4. Link your post!

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Topic: a book you bought just to complete the set

There are a lot of books I could name for this! A few of them would be:

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What books have you bought just to complete the set? Let me know in the comments below or leave your link!

Note: After today, I will be making Exploring My Bookshelves into a monthly meme instead of weekly—it’s just more convenient that way. Credit goes to Summer @ Xingsings for the idea!

Happy Friday!

-A

Top 10 Tuesday #6 (May 19) | Freebie: Top Ten YA Greek Mythology Books/Series

Yay! A freebie! Top 10 Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, and this week’s theme is up to us to choose! So for mine, I chose to make a list of my top 10 YA Greek Mythology books and series. I’ll be listing both books I’ve read and books that are on my TBR.

As usual, in no particular order (All titles link to their Goodreads page):

1. Percy Jackson & the Olympians, Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan (Read)

This series is obviously on the list. It’s the first one that popped into my head, and for good reason!

2. Covenant series by Jennifer L. Armentrout (Read)

I loved this series! It was amazing! Many people compared the series and characters to Richelle Mead’s VA series, and hated on the series as a result. I will admit there are several resemblances, but it did not ruin the books for me! If anything, they were better! (Especially since I liked the main character in Covenant, Alex, much faster than I did in VA with Rose.)

Covenant Series

3. Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini (Read)

This book also involves Greek mythology, while a more different take on it. You can check out my review on the book here.

4. The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter (read)

I also liked this book. It’s a type of re-telling of the Persephone myth, and it was well-done.

5. Abandon trilogy by Meg Cabot (read)

Another Persephone retelling, the Abandon was another enjoyable take on Persephone’s myth.

Abandon trilogy

 

6. Goddess War trilogy by Kendare Blake (first two books read)

This is going to be an amazing trilogy, with Greek gods and goddesses as the main characters. The third book is going to be released September 22nd this year, and I’m so excited! ❤

7. The Gatekeeper’s Sons by Eva Pohler (TBR)

I’ve heard lots of good things about this modernized Greek mythology 6-book series, and I’m eager to start them!

8. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (TBR)

I’ve heard several praises on this book as well, and I can’t wait ’till I read it!

9. Persephone by Kaitlin Bevis (TBR)

Another Persephone retelling! I’m interested in seeing how the authors changed up the traditional Persephone myth to make it her own.

 

10. Betrayal by Mayandree Michel (TBR)

Debut novel of Mayandree Michel, Betrayal follows a girl who is the descendant of Greek gods. Seems very interesting, can’t wait to read it!

 

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So that’s it for this week’s Top 10 Tuesday freebie on Greek mythology books/series! What themes have you done your Top 10 Tuesdays on? I’d love to know them as well as your book picks, so simply link your posts below or comment! ❤

Happy Tuesday!

-A

Top 10 Tuesday #4 (April 28): Top 10 Books Which Feature Characters Who Have Parental Issues

Yay! Another Top 10 Tuesday (a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish)! 🙂 This week’s theme is Top Ten Books Which Feature Characters Who _____. I have decided to fill the blank in with “Parental Issues”. I was mostly inspired with this idea since parental issues (dead parents, abandoning parent, abandoned parent, distracted parent, etc.) are over-used in so many popular YA books, I just wanted to point them out.  Let’s get started. 🙂

Note: All ‘series/trilogy’ link to the series’ Goodreads page. If I have a review for any of the books in the series, the first book’s review will be linked on the name of the series. Otherwise, the series name will be linked to the Goodreads page of the 1st book in the series.

Note 2: There are a few books listed here that include SPOILERS. You have been warned. (I believe the books guilty of charge would be Divergent, Legend and the Mortal Instruments.)

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In no particular order:

1. Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan:

Percy’s lives with his mother, Sally Jackson, and hadn’t known his father existed (and was a Greek god!) until further in the first book. His parent problem would be an AWOL parent case I suppose.

Percy Jackson series

2. Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead:

There are several characters who have parent problems, however I’ll go with Rose’s ones. Rose’s father is dead, and she has a strained relationship with her mother (at least at the start). The dead parent, as well as the abandoning parent (since Rose’s mother has been absent in most of Rose’s life) is the case for this issue.

Vampire Academy series

3. Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins:

Katniss’s father is dead, and her relationship with her mother is a bit strained due to the fact her mother became depressed and zoned out when Katniss’s father died (leaving Katniss and Prim to fend for themselves). This strained relationship does get better, however.

Hunger Games Trilogy

4. Hush Hush saga by Becca Fitzpatrick:

Nora’s father is dead, and Nora’s mother works over-time and is often AWOL, leaving Nora lots of free time. This particular type of parent is quite popular in YA I’ve noticed, along with the dead parent.

Hush Hush Saga

5. Divergent trilogy by Veronica Roth:

(SPOILER) Tris’s parents died in the first book. Tris loved them of course, so there wasn’t any bad blood, this was simply dead parents issue.

Divergent trilogy

6. Legend trilogy by Marie Lu:

June’s parents died when she was really young. (SPOILER) Day’s father was killed before the events in Legend and his mother is also killed in the first book.

Legend Trilogy

7. Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling:

Harry Potter’s parents were murdered by Voldemort as you all [should] know, and he goes to live with the Dursleys, who hate him. The popular dead parent stereotype is used here.

HP series

8. Tiger‘s series by Colleen Houck:

Kelsey’s parents are dead, and she lives with foster parents who aren’t much involved in Kelsey’s life. Of course, Kelsey is 18 throughout basically the whole series, but still. Even before that, it didn’t seem like they made that much of an impact on Kelsey’s life.

Tiger’s Curse series

9. The Dark Elements trilogy by Jennifer L. Armentrout & the Lux series by Jennifer L. Armentrout:

I’m kind of cheating here by putting two series but oh well. Layla has been living with the Wardens her whole life since her mother and father abandoned her. She believed her father was dead but later finds out he was alive and wanted her dead. Her mother’s been MIA.

In the Lux series, Katy’s father died of cancer before the events of the first book, and her mother is kind of the abandoned and distracted parent (which basically lets Katy do whatever she wants).

The Dark Elements series

Lux Series #5

10. The Infernal Devices trilogy by Cassandra Clare & The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare:

I’m cheating again, but too bad. 🙂 Tessa Grey’s mother and father (at least the man she thought was her father) are dead. Don’t want to spoil anything so I’ll leave it at that.

Clary Fray has a mother, and the man she thought was her father is also dead. She only found out about her real father later on in the first book I believe. (SPOILER) Her actual father also dies in the third book.

TID trilogy

Honorable mentions:

• Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell:

Cath and Wren have been living with their father most of their life since their mother left them when they were 8 years old and hasn’t been present as a mother figure in their lives.

Fangirl bookcover

• Twilight saga by Stephenie Meyer:

Bella Swan goes to live with her father, who hadn’t remarried since he and Bella’s mom divorced. With Twilight it’s not a case of a dead parent or a parent MIA/AWOL, it’s more of the divorced parent case as well as the distraced parent/parent-who-isn’t-an-active-part-in-child’s-life case.

Twilight Saga

 

• Shadow Falls: After Dark series by C.C Hunter:

This series (trilogy, more accurately) is a different parent-problem case, since they’re not dead nor divorced, simply estranged from their daughter (Della Tsang). Della is a vampire, and since her parents don’t know that they think she’s become a bad child and distances themselves from her.

Shadow Falls After Dark Books 1 and 2

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So that’s it for this week’s Top 10 Tuesday! This one was more of an open-ended question and I’d love to know what you did for yours! Link your post below or comment! As always, I’d love to hear from you.

Happy Tuesday! For more Tuesday fun, check out my Teaser Tuesday.

-A