Book Discussions #2

Hey, y'all! Back in June, I did a post where I did short discussions about some stand-alone books that I'd read recently and said that I might make it a series... and that's what I've decided to do! In these posts, I'm going to be doing discussions for every single book I read. This was going to be just for stand-alones, but I realized that (even though I wish I could) I can't marathon every series that I read. So single books within series will be included within these as well. If I read 2+ books of a series back-to-back, they'll get their own posts. I plan on including 6-7 books per post, so new discussion posts will be up after every 6-7 books I read, give or take a few.  These discussions will be entirely spoiler-free and fairly short.

Also, all but one of these were written within a day of finishing the book. so even though it's been a few months since I've read many of these, the discussions were completed when the book was still fresh in my mind. I was waiting for one more book before posting this, but I decided I'd rather get it up before the end of the year instead of waiting for one more book. So here we go!

Looking For Alaska 
by John Green

So, I actually read this all the way back at the beginning of March and forgot to add it in my first Stand-Alone Discussion's post. Oops! But I had a lot of opinions about this book, so I just had to talk about it. I'm probably going to get a lot of hate for this, but... I wasn't impressed. I didn't like it. First off, I didn't like the characters. I couldn't empathize with them because I didn't care about them. Maybe it's because I'm a boring adult, but I found their constant drinking/smoking/rule-breaking to just be stupid, immature high school students trying to be cool and just wasn't impressed. I kinda-ish ended up liking The Colonel, but don't even get me started on Pudge. If you want to know why, ask and I'll explain why I don't like Pudge, but it's a long explanation so I won't discuss it right now. I also felt like John Green wanted to make Alaska this very deep-thinking philosophical character, but she came off as someone trying too hard to pose as a philosophical person. Like she was trying to be the stereotype. Another problem that I had was that nothing about this book kept me guessing or surprised me. I saw the twists coming. All of them. To me, that's a sign of a plot that is way too predictable. Overall, I just didn't like it. Sorry, not sorry.

I gave it 2/5 stars on GoodReads, so I'll give it 4 stars out of 10. Please don't hurt me.

And Then There Were None 
by Agatha Christie

This was not a first-time read for me. If I'm being realistic, it's closer to the 10th-15th read. If you saw my Top 15 Stand-Alones post (Check it out here) then you'll know that this is my all-time favorite stand-alone novel. After all of those challenges and after that huge reading marathon, I just wanted to curl up with my favorite book. So that's exactly what I did. It was a great choice. I read it in just a few hours and really enjoyed reading it again. It was very comfortable and familiar. And great. Philip Lombard will forever be one of my favorite literary characters. It's just a very well concocted mystery and I just love it.

It's my favorite book! How could I give it anything but 10 stars out of 10?!

Ready Player One 
by Ernest Cline

I knew going into this that I was going to enjoy it. Although I didn't grow up in the 80s and I'm not an expert on the decade, I do have a pretty high interest in the decade. Most of my favorite movies are from that decade, and I really enjoy a lot of the rock music from the 80s. Even more importantly, I love dystopians, and I love video games. If you've read anything where I've talked about dystopian novels, you know that when I read a dystopian, I want world building out the wazoo. This book has all the world building I could ever hope for. It made my little curious heart sing. But it didn't suffer because of it. It was still extremely action-packed and really awesome. A lot of the video game references went over my head, since I'm not well-versed in older video games, but the book did a great job explaining things. Honestly, this book just had everything I could want from a book: action, adventure, magic, a fantastic world, a fantastic plot, mystery, etc. it was just all great. 

Overall, I had to give it 10 stars out of 10. 

Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore 
by Robin Sloan

I'm not quite sure what I expected going into this book, but it wasn't really... this. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the book! But it took a really weird turn that I totally wasn't expecting. I knew that there was something weird and mysterious going on with the bookstore based on the synopsis, but I was thinking that it would be something illegal or something like that. Either way, I didn't love this book, but I did like it. There were several things that I thought could have been explained better. There were a few parts where I found myself having to try a little too hard to understand what was going on, because something hadn't been explained enough. Aside from that though, this book was pretty enjoyable. Overall, it was likable but unimpressive.

I decided to give it 7 stars out of 10. 

Fangirl 
by Rainbow Rowell

I went into this book not knowing a ton about the plot or characters... except the main character. When I heard that the main character was an introverted girl who wrote fanfiction and was going to college for the first time, I knew I had to read it because that was me 2 years ago. I feel like a large percentage of young adult readers will be able to relate to Cath. I know I definitely did. This book was completely adorable. I laughed out loud and said "Aww" more times than I could count. It was so cute. It was realistic and believable, and even had some deep moments. But overall, this is light contemporary at its finest, and I loved it.

I think I'm going to go with 9.75 stars out of 10. Almost perfect.

The Bone Season

by Samantha Shannon

Y'all. Y'ALL. So, I had high expectations for this book. It's the first in a new series, it's a fantasy and dystopian mix, it's got a main character who's close to my age, it's set in England... the list goes on and on. The point is, this book had absolutely everything I love in books... and it did not disappoint. The main gist is that our main character, Paige, is clairvoyant. In this dystopian future, being clairvoyant is a crime and clairvoyants are hunted down and killed. There are many many many different types of clairvoyants, and Paige is one of the rarest. She works for a voyant (slang for clairvoyant) gang in London. A lot of people weren't huge fans of this book because they didn't like the info-dumps and they found it hard to keep up with the different types of voyants. But I loved all of that. When I'm introduced to a new form of 'magic' or a new world or a dystopian version of my own world, I want to learn all of the information. And I definitely got that. And loved every second. 

Since it is the first book of a series, there is a lot of world-building and character development, and I really enjoyed it. Another of the key characters, Warden, is especially interesting. I won't go into detail to avoid spoilers, but if you've read the book, you know what I mean. I did find it a bit difficult to keep up with the characters, because nearly all of them have 2 names, and they're used interchangeably, and sometimes it's hard to keep up with which 2 names refer to the same person. But honestly, that's the only criticism that I have about the book. I loved all of it. It was incredible. The Mime Order comes out in late January and I really just don't want to wait two whole months for that book. NOW. NOW. Please, NOW. 

This is an easy 10 stars out of 10. This was amazing.


So that's it for the last Book Discussions post of the year! I hope you enjoyed this! Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Let me know in the comments!

I've started doing Booktube a little as well, so if you want to check that out, you can click HERE. I plan to post most of my videos to my blog, but just in case I miss one or decide not to post it on here, that will keep you up-to date. 

I've also created a Facebook page for my blog, so if you want to check that out and like it, you can click HERE. I'll try to keep that pretty up-to-date with new posts and such.

Thanks for reading! If you like my posts, I'd really appreciate if you'd subscribe/follow so that I know you're enjoying what I'm posting! See y'all soon!

Book Tags: Book Scenario Tag/ Opposites Book Tag

Hey, y'all! So I've kinda run out of Tumblr challenges that I found exciting... I'm gonna try and find more in the next couple weeks, but for today, I just couldn't find any that interested me, so I decided to do a couple book tags that I found on Youtube.

Book Scenario Tag

1. You have to get rid of all your books and you can only keep one from each of these genres - contemporary, fantasy, non-fiction and one other genre of your choosing. What books do you keep?

Contemporary:

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

This book makes me cry every single time I read it, and it is 100% my favorite contemporary!

Fantasy:

Harry Potter by JK Rowling

Don't you DARE try to tell me that this is more than one book. I refuse to choose.

Non-Fiction:

Unsaid Things... Our Story by McFly

Unlike many booktubers/book bloggers, I actually really enjoy non-fiction, specifically when it relates to music, psychology, or a combination of the two. I was really torn between this one and "This Is Your Brain on Music" by Daniel Levitin, which is my favorite music psychology book.

Other genre:

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

So for the "other" genre, I chose mystery so that I could choose my favorite stand-alone novel, And Then There Were None. I was really, really tempted to choose dystopian (aka one of my 2 favorite genres) so that I could choose Ready Player One, but I couldn't leave out my favorite book.

2. You're at the bookstore and you hear a teenager telling their mom they don't like to read, but their mom insists they pick something. You walk over and recommend a book you think is great for people who aren't big on reading - what book is it?

This definitely depends on the person, so I probably wouldn't just recommend one book universally to everyone. My instinct would be to just tell them to read Harry Potter, but that takes a while to get into, especially if you're not 11 or younger when you start it. So I guess that if there's one book I think most people would enjoy, it's...

I have non-reader friends who have read this book and loved it, so I feel like this is a pretty good suggestion.

3. You're not feeling yourself and need a pick me up. Which book do you read to put yourself in a great mood?

This is a hard one for me, because I'm pretty emotionally consistent, so I really don't need pick-me-ups that often, and when I do, I put on some music and I'm good to go. Books take too long to cheer me up. But I guess if I was just going for a cute and happy book, this would be the one I'd choose...

It's just so cute and I want to hug it!

4. You go back in time for a day to your teenage years. What book would you most likely have caught yourself reading?

I read all of the Harry Potter books on a regular basis, but I definitely read this one more than any of the others.

5. Your friend surprises you with a 4 day trip and you have 1 hour to pack. Which book do you bring to read on the way?

Since I'm reading all horror novels in the month of October, I decided to choose one of those. I've already started another book (172 Hours on the Moon) but that's not long enough to keep me occupied for that long. So I chose The Diviners, which is significantly longer and will probably keep me entertained for the full four days. 

6. Your house has been robbed! Don't worry - everyone is safe, but your bookshelf has been raided. What's the book you really hope is safe?

I had to choose both of these, because they have sentimental value for me. If I was forced to choose one, I guess I'd go with Half-Blood Prince because it's my favorite Harry Potter book and I actually got to go to the midnight release of the book. These are more important to me than my signed copy of TFioS.

Also, I would like to apologize for the fact that half of these have referenced Harry Potter so far. Generally, I have other answers, but when you ask about what I'd do if I could only save one book, the answer is always HP.

7. Your friend borrows a book and returns it in awful condition. Do you a) Just pretend you haven't noticed b) Ask them to repurchase it or c) Secretly do the same to something of theirs?

If I'm being honest, I'd probably pretend I hadn't noticed... depending on the book. However, I would hope that I'd be assertive. I don't think I'd make anyone repurchase it, especially since I like to choose the edition of the copy. I think that realistically, I'd probably mention that it didn't return in the condition it left in and give them a chance to explain. If they offered to pay for it, I'd let them. But I definitely wouldn't let them borrow a book again. I typically don't lend out books anyway. I just don't trust people. Lending books makes me nervous.

Opposites Book Tag

1. The first book in your collection/The last book you bought. 

First book in my collection:

I don't remember exactly when I got this, but it was definitely like 2002/2003ish. It's definitely the book I've owned the longest. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince comes in second, in July 2005.

Last book I bought:

I've actually bought one book since this, but I want to save it for the haul, so I'll just show y'all this one. I got it a couple weeks ago, planning to read it immediately, and it didn't happen. I wanted to use it to get out of my reading slump, but ended up just adding another book to the TBR.

2. A cheap book/An expensive book

Cheap book:

Not my favorite classic, but hey, it was 99 cents! And it was the cover I liked and it was in good condition. All good things.

Expensive book:

This is probably the book I paid the most for. I got both this one and Half-Blood Prince the day they were released. For HBP, I went to the midnight release and because I pre-ordered it, I got a discount. I pre-ordered Deathly Hallows and planned to get it at midnight but then my parents scheduled our vacation and we traveled back home the day it was released. So I'd have to wait until I got home to buy it. And I was like "Nope, not having any of that" so I got it full-price at the airport on the morning of its release. My parents didn't get it, but I have never regretted that decision. I don't even know where my 13 year old self got the $35 dollars. Maybe I still had birthday money?

3. A book with a male protagonist/A book with a female protagonist. 

Male protagonist: 

Ready Player One is told from the POV of a teenager named Wade. Y'all, this was such a great book. So awesome. I kinda want to re-read it already, and I read it in August.

Female protagonist:

Since 90% of YA books have a female protagonist, I decided to limit it to books actually told from the first person POV of that protagonist. And the first one that came to mind was Divergent!

4. A book you read quickly/A book that took you a long time to read. 

Read quickly: 

Typically, if I read a book in a day (the first time I read it), it's going to end up as a favorite. That was definitely the case with Clockwork Princess. I couldn't put it down. Other members of the one day club include Divergent, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Thirteen Reasons Why, City of Bones, and The Fault in our Stars... to name a few.

A book that took a long time:

I read the entire series back in the fall of my freshman year of high school (AKA 6 years ago) and I got through all of the other books in like 3 days apiece. And then we came to Breaking Dawn. It took like 3 weeks for me to read this. When I got to the part from Jacob's POV, I just couldn't get into it. Once it switched back to Bella's POV, I started zooming through it again. Breaking Dawn and Allegiant are examples of the negative effects of randomly inserting a dual POV into the last book of a series. Don't do it, authors!

5. A pretty cover/An ugly cover. 

Pretty cover: 

I always choose a book from the Across The Universe trilogy as a pretty cover (because the original covers of the first two are GORGEOUS) but I decided to choose something different for a change. I love the Ignite Me cover. I love all of the colors. So pretty!

Ugly cover:

It's not that this cover is overwhelmingly terrible. It's just that the first 2 books in the Across The Universe trilogy had these gorgeous, space-themed covers, and then they made THIS the cover of book 3, and changed the paperback covers of the first 2 books to match this design, and it's just so much worse. 

6. A national book/An international book. 

National book:

Not only does this take place in the United States, but specifically, Texas, which is where I'm from. Well, kinda. I lived there all throughout High School, so I consider it home. 

International book:

This book was written by a Norwegian author. None of the 3 main characters are American. Most of this book takes place on the moon. Aside from the training they do with NASA, this is about as international as it gets.

7. A thin book/A thick book. 

Thin book:

My copy of this book is tiny. I don't know how many pages it is, but it's really tiny.

Thick book:

This monster has 1079 pages. I think that one of my reading goals for next year is going to be to try and read at least 5 books that are over 800ish pages long. This is definitely on the list, as is Under the Dome, and the first few Game of Thrones books.

8. A fiction book/A non-fiction book. 

A fiction book:

Could this question be any more vague? I just decided to choose my most recent fiction read. 

A non-fiction book:

I decided not to choose McFly again, and this is my other favorite non-fiction book. 

9. A romantic book/An action book. 

Romantic book:

In the youtube video I saw of this challenge, another stipulation was that the book was overly romantic. And that's this book. To much romance, not enough of everything else. 

Action book: 

Yes, I know this is a series. However, overall, these books are very action-focused. Although romance factors in a little (honestly, not a lot at all), it's almost solely focused on the action. 

10. A book that made you happy/One that made you sad. 

Book that made me happy:

This book sent me into fits of uncontrollable giggles. All the happiness. So cute. Much love.

Book that made me sad:

I cry every single time I read this book. Every time. So good. All the sobbing. 

So that's it for today's post! I promise to get back to the actual challenges next time!

I've also created a Facebook page for my blog, so if you want to check that out and like it, you can click HERE. I'll try to keep that pretty up-to-date with new posts and such.

Thanks for reading! If you like my posts, I'd really appreciate if you'd subscribe/follow so that I know you're enjoying what I'm posting! See y'all soon!