Dear Book, I judged you by your cover, I am so sorry

Tags

Bloodlines, Cassandra Clare, City of Bones, Gillian Rubenstein, Legend, Marie Lu, Richelle Mead, Space Demons

So, you know how there’s the saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover”, and you know how we all totally just do it anyway…

Well, there has been many a time where I have not even picked up a book, purely because I didn’t like the cover…and I have regretted it dearly.

So, here are some books that I have neglected to pick up in the past, because of their covers, but later picked them up to discover I loved them.

Legend, by Marie Lu

I saw this book around the place for ages before I picked it up…

That cover just does not appeal to me. At. All.

I can’t remember what made me eventually pick it up, but pick it up I did…and I loved it.

And then Champion destroyed me.

City of Bones, by Cassandra Clare

 As with Legend, I saw this everywhere, but had no desire to read it…I’m just not a fan of that cover.

But then I heard of a book series called ‘The Mortal Instruments’, and it sounded interesting, so I googled it (this was back before I knew about goodreads), and I discovered that it was this book.

I read the first chapter sample thing online, and I was hooked.

Space Demons, by Gillian Rubenstein

My relationship with this series has a bit of a different story.

See, we had to study an author for school (we literally pulled author names out of a hat to see who we had to study), and I was looking at the books our school library had…

The two sequels for this book both looked appealing, which is the only reason I picked this one up…

And it was a good thing I did, because I love this series.

Bloodlines, by Richelle Mead

THIS. SERIES.

I’d been sort of intending to read the Vampire Academy books for a while (those covers held no real appeal to me, either), but I had no desire at all to read this books until I realised that they were the sequel series.

This is one of my favourite series ever!

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So guys, are there any books that you aren’t reading because their covers don’t appeal to you? Have you ever loved a book but hated the cover? What about the other way around? Have you read a book because of its cover, only to be disappointed?

Let me know.

 

TTT: Authors I’ve Read The Most Books From

Tags

Brigid Kemmerer, Cassandra Clare, J.K. Rowling, Julie Kagawa, Kiersten White, Lauren Oliver, Maggie Stiefvater, Rachel Hawkins, Richelle Mead, Rick Riordan

Top Ten Tuesday is a thing where we get given a topic, and we have to list our ‘top ten’ things for the topic. Pretty self-explanatory.
Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This Week’s Topic: Top Ten Authors I’ve read the most books from

1. Richelle Mead: 12 books + 1 extra + 3 graphic novels

2. Rick Riordan: 12 books + novellas

3. Julie Kagawa: 11 books + 3 novellas + bonus scenes

4. Cassandra Clare: 9 books + extras

5. Maggie Stiefvater: 9 books

6. J.K. Rowling: 7 books + 3 ‘textbooks’

7. Kiersten White: 7 books

8. Rachel Hawkins: 6 books

9. Brigid Kemmerer: 5 books + 3 novellas

10. Lauren Oliver: 5 books

TeenCon2015: All the Awesome

Tags

A Court of Thorns and Roses, A Thousand Pieces of You, Amie Kaufman, Becky Albertalli, Brigid Kemmerer, Cassandra Clare, City of Bones, Claudia Gray, Cooper Bartholemew is Dead, David Levithan, Divergent, Dumplin, Eleanor and Park, Fallen, Fleur Ferris, Gayle Forman, Hidden, Hilary Badger, Hunger Games, If I Stay, Illuminae, Isla and the Happily Ever After, Jay Kristoff, John Green, Julie Murphy, Lauren Kate, Lifespan of Starlight, Maggie Stiefvater, Marianne Curley, Marie Rutkoski, Meagan Spooner, Patrick Ness, Paula Weston, Rachael Craw, Rainbow Rowell, Rebecca James, Rebecca Lim, Red Queen, Richelle Mead, Risk, Sarah J. Maas, Shadows, Shiver, Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda, Spark, State of Grace, Stephanie Meyer, Stephanie Oakes, Stephanie Perkins, Storm, Stray, Suzanne Collins, TeenCon2015, Thalia Kalkipsakis, The Astrologer's Daughter, The Fault in our Stars, The Rest of Us Just Live Here, The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly, The Winner's Curse, These Broken Stars, Throne of Glass, Tommy Wallach, Twilight, Vampire Academy, Veronica Roth, Victoria Aveyard, We All Looked Up, Will Grayson Will Grayson

As some of you may have noticed, I was at TeenCon2015 yesterday, which is a part of Sydney Writers Festival.

Painting my Support Team Jamie poster

I started preparing on Saturday, with a big blue piece of cardboard and some yellow paint.

As it turns out, yellow paint on cardboard appears green.

About 10 coats of paint later, the sign was looking adequately yellow.

And then came Sunday, and the journey toward TeenCon began.

Our trip started well, missing the train by a mere minute (I blame trackwork, which required us to go to a less familiar station). After missing the train, instead of having a full half-hour to find the venue, we had 10 minutes.

It took us half an hour.

Nevertheless, we eventually arrived, Team Jamie sign in tow, and ended up with seats…though not ones with an amazing view…

There was a pole in my way

We had arrived during the bloggers panel, in which four popular booktubers were discussing various bookish things.

 

You don’t fall in love like you fall into a ditch

 

 

After the bloggers, the publisher people got up to tell us books that we need to read now, and books we need to pre-order now. Some of the books mentioned were:

(out now)
Red Queen, by Victoria Aveyard
Shadows, by Paula Weston
A Thousand Pieces of You, by Claudia Grey
A Court of Thorns and Roses, by Sarah J. Maas
Spark, by Rachael Craw
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

(coming soon)
The Rest of Us Just Live Here, by Patrick Ness
Risk, by Fleur Ferris
The Sacred lies of Minnow Bly, by Stephanie Oakes
Illuminae, by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Stray, by Rachael Craw (Spark book 2)

And then it was time for the Book Boyfriend Battle, in which each publisher had 30 seconds to talk about their two nominees.

Boyfriends nominated were:

Allen and Unwin
Tarver, These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
Chris Merrick, Storm by Brigid Kemmerer

Bloomsbury
Chaol, Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas
Arin, The Winner’s Curse series by Marie Rutkoski

Hachette
Park, Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
Edward Cullen, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

HarperCollins Australia
Four, Divergent by Veronica Roth
Josh, Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

Penguin Teen Australia
Augustus Waters, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Dimitri Belikov, Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Random House Australia
Cam, Fallen by Lauren Kate
Adam Wilde, If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Scholastic Australia
Peeta Mellark, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Sam Roth, Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Text Publishing
Rafa, Shadows by Paula Weston
Tiny Cooper, Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

Walker Books Australia
Jamie, Spark by Rachael Craw
Jace, City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

 

’twas time for the Jamie sign to shine

Most unfortunately, Jamie did not win. Instead, the winner was

With Chaol and Four coming close second and third.

After the Battle, it was time for TeenCon to end, which meant BOOKS!

Books obtained:
Risk, by Fleur Ferris (extract)
Hidden, by Marianne Curley
Dumplin’, by Julie Murphy
The Astrologer’s Daughter, by Rebecca Lim
We All Looked Up, by Tommy Wallach
Lifespan of Starlight, by Thalia Kalkipsakis
State of Grace, by Hilary Badger
Cooper Bartholomew is Dead, by Rebecca James

And PRETTY BAGS that the books were in.

After TeenCon, some of us stayed behind to chat. I got a picture with the wonderful Claire:

And got to (finally) meet some people who I had only met via twitter.

Which was a lot of fun. We talked about books and…books.

My kind of party.

It was around 9pm when we began the trip home. I reunited with my travelling companions, and we got on a train towards the station.

However, I was to learn that my night was not yet over. As we passed through Central, I had an epiphany:

I had Chemistry homework due Monday morning.

 

The Liebster Award…again

Tags

Cassandra Clare, City of Bones, Harry Potter, Heir of Fire, J.K. Rowling, Michelle Hodkin, Sarah J. Maas, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, Throne of Glass

So, I have once again been nominated for The Liebster Award. Go me!

This time I have been nominated by the lovely Janna from Writing Visually

So, once again, the rules:

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you and link back to their blog.
2. Answer 11 questions from the person who nominated you.
3. Nominate other bloggers.
4. Give those bloggers 11 questions to answer and let them know they’ve been nominated

And now for the questions:

1. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?

I’m tempted to answer with Harry Potter. However, I already have those books practically memorised.

So, since you are forcing me to choose, I’m going to say The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, by Michelle Hodkin.

2. If your life was a book what would it be called?

The Magical Adventures of Cassie the Weird.

Since it couldn’t be a book, I made it a blog.

3. Who was your first fictional crush?

Harry Potter, I believe.

4. Traditional publishing vs self publishing – which would you choose if you had the choice? And why?

Ok, back to the hard questions.

Probably traditional publishing. Because with self-publishing you have to do all the work yourself and that sounds hard and I’m lazy.

5. Ebooks vs real books? Which wins?

Real Books. Always.

6. Do you read picture books or graphic novels? Why/why not?

Not really, but that’s mainly because other books take up so much of my time.

I’ve got nothing against them, though. I just prefer novels.

7. What are your thoughts on NA (new adult) fiction?

Well, I haven’t really read any NA. However I do see it’s relevance, and I think it’s a good genre to have.
Really, I think of it as YA, but for a different age group. People look down on it, but it has so much potential. Because the generation of kids that made YA so popular are starting to finish high school, so they aren’t relating to those character’s as much, and so we need more books about people leaving school and going off to college, or starting work, etc.

8. What is a book you’ve read purely because of the cover?

Ok, this is hard, because I know there is one.

Oh, wait, I didn’t read Throne of Glass for the longest time because of this cover:

But then people started getting excited for Heir of Fire, and then I saw this cover:

And I was like “WHOA! I have to read that!”

9. What must a book have in it for you to fall in love with it?

Words. Words are good.

But aside from that…it usually needs some sort of paranormal/supernatural/dystopian happenings. I’m not a big fan of contemporaries (unless they rip your heart out and leave you to die…then I seem to like them).

And romance. I love romance.

But otherwise I’m not overly picky. I don’t mind clichés or predictability or similarities to other books. As long as it’s done well, I like it.

10. Are there any movies/TV series out there that you think are better than the books from which they originated?

I haven’t seen any that I would consider better as such.

I thought City of Bones came close, though. Because, while I love that series, I do have some serious issues with it that weren’t as present in the movie.

11. Where is your favourite place to read/write?

My bed is the answer to both.

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So, that’s it. I’m not going to bother with the tagging and the questions and things. If you want to consider yourself tagged and answer the above questions, you can go ahead. But otherwise,

Top Ten Books that have Stayed With Me

Tags

Bloodlines, Blue Lily Lily Blue, Brigid Kemmerer, Cassandra Clare, City of Bones, Divergent, Gayle Forman, Gillian Rubenstein, Harry Potter, Hunger Games, If I Stay, J.K. Rowling, Maggie Stiefvater, Percy Jackson, Richelle Mead, Rick Riordan, Space Demons, Spark, Suzanne Collins, Vampire Academy, Veronica Roth

I was tagged to do this one a little more recently than the others by the lovely Renee, who hangs out on Tumblr at Book Boyfriends. Now, I must talk about 10 books that have stayed with me. Let’s do this.

1. Harry Potter, by J.K. Rowling

I think this sort of goes without saying…

2. Percy Jackson, by Rick Riordan

This series is the reason my sister reads. I will be forever thankful to Rick Riordan for writing these books.

3. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins

This book was basically my ‘Welcome to Dystopian! There are things other than Twilight out there!” Before reading Hunger Games, I pretty much exclusively read Harry Potter and Twilight. There were other books, but The Hunger Games pretty much is the reason I read such a range.

4. City of Bones, by Cassandra Clare

Anyone who saw my series review of these books a few months ago will know that I have very mixed feelings about this series. But I think the fact that I read City of Heavenly Fire months ago, and am still thinking about all the issues I had with it warrants it a spot on this list.

5. Spark, by Brigid Kemmerer

I am constantly going back and rereading this, and it makes me cry every single time.

6. Divergent, by Veronica Roth

Every now and then I’ll almost start crying on the train because of the ending, but this was still a truly great series.

7. If I Stay, by Gayle Forman

If there is anyone who has read this book and it hasn’t stayed with them, I want to meet that person and ask them what is wrong with them.

8. Vampire Academy/Bloodlines, by Richelle Mead

I only began reading these in March this year, but I LOVE THESE BOOKS!!!

9. Space Demons, by Gillian Rubenstein

I have a bit of a funny history with this book, because we were in year 7 and we had to pick an Aussie author’s name out of a hat, and research that author and write a book report on one of their books. I got Gillian Rubenstein. Now, I did the assignment and everything (using a different book, who’s name I can’t remember), but then later went back to read more by this author. I immediately dismissed Space Demons because of the name. I then saw a book called Skymaze, which looked interesting until I realised it was the sequel to Space Demons. The same thing happened with Shinkei. So I was like “Fine. I’ll read Space Demons!” And I loved it. And I still love it, 8 years later.

10. Blue Lily, Lily Blue, by Maggie Stiefvater

This whole series, actually, but BLLB is my favourite (so far…there’s one more to go). They are just so amazing, and so different, and I just love them.

Review: The Iron Trial

Tags

Book Review, Cassandra Clare, Holly Black, Magisterium, The Iron Trial

Author: Holly Black and Cassandra Clare

Series: Magisterium (Book 1)

Release Date: 11th September, 2014

How I got this book: Netgalley

Synopsis:

From NEW YORK TIMES bestselling authors Holly Black and Cassandra Clare comes a riveting new series that defies what you think you know about the world of magic.

From two bestselling superstars, a dazzling and magical middle-grade collaboration centering on the students of the Magisterium, an academy for those with a propensity toward magic. In this first book, a new student comes to the Magisterium against his will — is it because he is destined to be a powerful magician, or is the truth more twisted than that? It’s a journey that will thrill you, surprise you, and make you wonder about the clear-cut distinction usually made between good and evil.

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS (and also gets a bit ranty).

This Week in Books

Tags

Afterworlds, Are You Seeing Me?, Cassandra Clare, Darren Groth, Heir of Fire, Holly Black, Illusions of Fate, Kiersten White, Mockingjay, Rick Yancey, Sarah J. Maas, Scott Westerfeld, The Infinite Sea, The Iron Trial, This Week's Adventures

So, it’s been a while…

I realise I haven’t done this post in a couple of weeks…anyone following me on twitter will be aware that I had several tests/assignments, etc., and as such went on a ‘hiatus from life’ (that’s what I’m calling it, because it is the most accurate way I can think of to describe it).

But I’m on holidays now. YAY! (Only for one more week, though).

So, this post is going to contain things from the past few weeks.

Books released:

Illusions of Fate, by Kiersten White

The Infinite Sea, by Rick Yancey

Afterworlds, by Scott Westerfield

Mockingjay trailer:

Books Read:

Heir of Fire, by Sarah J. Maas
*Incoherent noises*

The Iron Trial, by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare
I wanted to like this one…I really did. The review is still under construction, but it won’t be an overly positive one.

Are You Seeing Me?, by Darren Groth
Definitely not my usual type of novel, but enjoyable nonetheless.

This week in blog posts:

Kirsty @ Studio Reads posted the first chapter of Half Wild

Emily @ The Loony Teen Writer started a link up for Loony Blurbs

Cait @ The Notebook Sisters talked about 10 Ways to make a Book Blogger Furious

Maddie @ The Girly Geek did an infographic on eBooks vs Physical Books

Loony Blurbs

Tags

Ann Brashares, C.S. Lewis, Cassandra Clare, City of Bones, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Frances Whiting, I'll Give you the Sun, Jandy Nelson, Laini Taylor, The Lion the Witch and The Wardrobe, The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, Walking on Trampolines

 

Loony Blurbs is this thing hosted by the wonderful Emily at The Loony Teen Writer. Basically, the idea is to make up a blurb based purely on the book’s title.

What’s great about this is that I haven’t actually read most of these books. It makes writing blurbs easier.
Unfortunately, blurb are actually really hard to write…so I apologise in advance for the possible-awfulness of what you’re about to read.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone, by Laini Taylor

Sugar, Spice and Everything nice. That’s what little girls are made of.
Rather, that’s what little girls are supposed to be made of.
But Lucy is different. She wasn’t made from sugar or spice. She was made from smoke and bone.

Roland has heard the legends, but he doesn’t believe them. Until he meets a girl who is different from the others. Could she be the girl of the stories?

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, by C S Lewis

A Lion, a Witch and a Wardrobe walk into a bar. Yes, wardrobes walk in this story.
Each have a story to tell. Each have a past that they don’t want to remember, a past they can’t ever forget.
Yes, even the wardrobe. It’s a magical wardrobe.

The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, by Ann Brashares

Amy has only ever known the life of The Sisterhood; the endless waiting and speculation on the mysterious Travelling Pants. The legend is that one day, the Pants will return, and life will return to the way it should be.

Amy knows she should try to follow her mother’s beliefs. But she doesn’t understand how Travelling Pants could bring peace to a very unpeaceful world. Nor does she understand how so many people could put their hopes and dreams into Pants. But what if there’s a reason? What if the stories are true?

It’s only a matter of time before Amy finds out.

City of Bones, by Cassandra Clare

Don’t drink the water unless you’re 100% sure of where it comes from. Don’t go out after sunset.
And whatever you do, don’t die.

Because here, the dead don’t stay dead. The dead keep walking, the dead keep talking. And the more people die, the worse the situation becomes.
But the living don’t stop dying. And the bones of the once living just keep moving.

I’ll Give You the Sun, by Jandy Nelson

Conner always wins bets. Until one day he doesn’t.
Unfortunately, this was the one time he bet something he couldn’t give…the Sun.
Burdened by the knowledge of what he must do, Conner seeks out the Star-keepers, in the hope that they will give him the sun, so that he can repay his debt.
But nothing is ever that easy.

And that’s it! Let me know what you think (even If you only liked them because they were so bad). I will admit, I am quite proud of some of them. Others…I could be sitting her until next week, and I still wouldn’t be able to write a decent blurb for the idea in my head.

Review: The Mortal Instruments

Tags

Book Review, Cassandra Clare, The Mortal Instruments

Author: Cassandra Clare

Synopsis: When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder― much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It’s hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing―not even a smear of blood―to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary’s first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It’s also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace’s world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know…

Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare’s ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.

How I got this series: Bought them

Thoughts:

I considered reviewing only City of Heavenly Fire here, however, I felt that my opinions of COHF couldn’t be properly expressed without explaining my feelings towards the other books in the series, so I figured I should review the series as a whole, but with a focus on COHF.
Warning: This review will contain spoilers for the entire Mortal Instruments series, as well as some possible spoilers from The Infernal Devices.

Also, this is quite long, but if you scroll right to the end, you’ll get the idea.

Top Ten Tuesday

Tags

Abigail Haas, Cassandra Clare, City of Bones, Dangerous Boys, Gameboard of the Gods, Gayle Forman, Hex Hall, If I Stay, John Green, Legend, Marie Lu, Morganville Vampires, Rachel Caine, Rachel Hawkins, Richelle Mead, Stephen King, Sweet Evil, The Fault in our Stars, To read or not to read, Top Ten Tuesday, Under the Dome, Wendy Higgins

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This Week’s Topic: Top Ten Books I’m not sure I want to read

1. The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green
Or anything John Green really…I’m tempted (as I am by any book that a lot of people are reading), but at the same time, I’m not really into realistic fiction…and I’m kinda proud of the fact that I haven’t read John Green.

2. Sweet Evil, by Wendy Higgins
I started listening to the audiobook, but the narrator had an annoying voice, so I never finished it. My sister has read the series, though, and she loved it.

3. Game board of the Gods, by Richelle Mead
I read the first few pages while in the bookshop, and I didn’t love it straight away. So I might read it some time when I don’t have a bajillion other books to read.

4. The Morganville Vampires, by Rachel Caine
I’ve heard a lot of good things about this series, but there’s 15 books…that’s a lot.

5. Dangerous Boys, by Abigail Haas
I read Dangerous Girls, and while I did enjoy it, there is no denying the fact that it freaked me out.
It’s weird, because I always want to read the creepy books, and then I regret reading them when I finish them, because they freak me out too much.

6. Under the Dome, by Stephen King
I’ve seen a couple of episodes of the tv show, and I’ve enjoyed it…but again, do I want to read it and face the lack of sleep that it almost sure to follow?

And, that’s it for the books I’m not sure about…however, because I still want to make it to ten, here are my Top Ten Books I wasn’t sure I wanted to read, but am glad I did:

7. If I Stay, by Gayle Forman
I only read it because I saw a trailer for the movie, and it looked interesting. I don’t usually read contemporary, but I’m glad I read this one.

8. Hex Hall, by Rachel Hawkins
This was a few years ago, but I saw all 3 books in the shop at once one time, and I thought about it, and I thought about it some more…and I didn’t buy them.
By the time I changed my mind and went back for them, they were gone.
I was kicking myself for months.
Anyway, eventually they showed up again, so I bought them one at a time. And I loved them.

9. City of Bones, by Cassandra Clare
I’ll be honest, the cover was what put me off this book. But eventually I discovered what it was about, read the first chapter online, and then bought the book. I quite enjoyed the rest of the books in the series.

10. Legend, by Marie Lu
Another book who’s cover put me off, and another one that I decided to read once I discovered what it was about.
This was a great series.