January Wrap-Up & Haul

Happy end of January friends! How was the start of your reading year? Was it a nice slow start, or did you dive right in for a double digit month?

According to Goodreads I’ve read 7 books this month, technically I’ve read 10 but I’m willing to settle on 8. Let me explain below:

Chaos Awakens by Carys Mainprize

The first novel i read this year has not yet been published so Goodreads can’t count it. It is the second novel in my best friends fantasy series that features Gods and angels, demons, and a whole host of other supernatural beings all fighting to save, or destroy, the three worlds. It was a beta read and one day I will review this damn series on this blog.

Black Girl Magic: A Poem by Mahogany L. Brown

I don’t know if this should count towards my Goodreads goal but Goodreads counts it making it my first Goodreads read of 2018. This is a beautiful, and powerful poem about being a Black girl/woman and how no matter what anyone else says we are full of magic. I cried reading this poem, in the middle of a bookstore i sat down and cried. I gave this one a 5/5 stars and highly recommend it for any library.

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Harry Potter #5-#8 by J.K. Rowling

Next, in quick succession, I finished up the Harry Potter series which I started just before Solstice. Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince, Deathly Hallows, and Cursed Child took up the majority of my reading time this month and you can see all my thoughts on them right here. All together these 4 books rated 3.75/5 stars.

The Hogwarts Library by J.K. Rowling

This little companion set to the Harry Potter Series is three books total: The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and Quidditch Throughout the Ages, but Goodreads counts the set as one book. This is a bit frustrating but I’ll let it slide since they are quite little and I read them all in a sitting. I gave them 3/5 stars and I talk about these in my Harry Potter Series Chat as well.

 

The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle: The Thing Beneath the Bed by Pat Rothfuss

This is not a book for children. That’s really the only thing that needs to be said of it; it looks like it’s for children but it’s really just not. It’s cute and fun and makes you do a double take. 4.5/5 stars.

Know Your Beholder by Adam Rapp

This is one of those books that I can’t quite describe. The best i can do is to say that it is about a man named Francis Falbo who is suffering from a period of severe agoraphobia who is writing a memoir of sorts about not only his shit show of a life but the lives of his tenants, who live in the 5 apartment units he’s split his old family home into. Among other things he tells us about his divorce, his old band, his tenants whose daughter has gone missing, and his tenant who is drawing nudes of middle aged Black men. A lot happens. It’s hilarious and bizarre and i gave it a 3.5/5 stars.

Nine Pines by August Birch

It’s currently January 29th so i’m starting this short story collection as soon as I’m finished typing this and will update this post accordingly before the 1st of february. I discovered August Birch through his Instagram @August.Birch.Writer and I just got his book so i want to get to it before I get bogged down with moving and such. It’s crime thriller (?) so i’m not sure how I will like it. We shall see.

 

So about 8 books. 3,254 pages (not including the beta read). A good month if you ask me, and I still have 2 days left

Teeny Tiny Book Haul

I didn’t buy a single book this month….I did get 2 though!

The first thing I got was Nine Pines by August Birch, a collection of short stories (I did have to install a Kindle App on my phone for this so I hope it’s worth it.).

Then my best friend gifted me this beautiful signed edition of The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle by Patrick Rothfuss and I DIED. Dead. Gone. I am super in love and count this month as a win.

 

And that’s all she wrote ( actually I wrote about 10,000 words of my novel this month too). How big, or tiny, was your book haul? Let me know and I’ll see you next week with some Black History Month celebrations.

 

 

 

 

Book Chat: Harry Potter by J.K.Rowling

 

The year is 2018 and the last millennial has finally read Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling; a series that has made more fans and more money than god. I’ve done it. I’ve read it.

If you’ve been here before, or you follow my Bookstagram (and you should) then you know that I never wanted to read this series.It’s a natural prejudice against things that become insanely popular; they don’t tend to be all that good, just easily consumed. So I went into this expecting to have a little fun but not to *like* it all that much.

Let’s see how that worked out. Now below is a spoiler free (in case anyone else has been living under that rock with me. I wouldn’t know. It was dark and cozy and full of other great books to read), and is just brief thoughts on each book accompanied by a cute little quote.

Sorcerers Stone– 3 stars

“ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?”

This book is quite clearly a young children’s book (a bit on the young side of middle grade). It introduces us to the Wizarding World and from what I hear a lot of people have fond memories of it. I really didn’t like it. It was painful. The ending was irritating and predictable. I simply did not have that much fun reading this. Had I not already committed to reading the entire series I wouldn’t in anyway felt inspired to pick up the next book.

Chamber of Secrets– 2.75 stars

“When in doubt, go to the

This book, for me at least, was completely forgettable. I was just annoyed by the entire thing and it, even more than the first, made me not want to keep reading. This book seemed to just be Harry not communicating and leading to every problem in the plot. That turned out to be my main issue with the entire series; Harry withholding information for no other reason than to further the plot.

Prisoner of Azkaban– 4 stars

“I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”

The third book in the series wasn’t just the first book I enjoyed but I really fucking loved it. In this book we are introduced to some fun and complex characters, there was a plot capable of a twist and also holding my interest, and it was the first time I started to really like our Golden trio. It’s not the best book in the series but I had a lot of fun reading it.

Goblet of Fire– 4

“Just because it’s taken you three years to notice, Ron, doesn’t mean no one else has spotted I’m a girl”

This one was a better book than the previous one but I liked Prisoner of Azkaban just a tad bit more. i still loved this one though. Again there were some interesting characters and a plot twist that caught me completely off my guard. If looked at by itself this would probably have been a 3 star book but I really liked it as an addition to the series.

Order of the Phoenix– 3 stars

“Give her hell from us.”

This. Book. Dragged. I hated it, I hated Harry,I hated the story, I hated having to read it. This one was another that overused Harry having a shitty and illogical personality just to further the plot and there were several times that I wanted nothing more than to DNF it. The only thing that saved this from being a 2 star was that around page 400 t kind of caught my attention. The story picked up a bit and I found myself actually *wanting* to read it. Fred and George Weasley were my favorite arc in this book and they made it enjoyable. The ending was pretty forgettable but I stayed up until 4am twice for it so it has to get at least a 3.

Half-Blood Prince– 4 stars

Harry was left to ponder in silence the depths to which girls would sink to get revenge.

I flew through this book. Not just in comparison to the 10 or so days it took me to read the previous one but I genuinely finished it in about 2 days. This was fast paced, all of the characters were interesting, and fun, I absolutely loved it. This was the one where i truly started to be a Harry Potter Fan. it’s also the book where I became Ron and Hermoine trash. I have loved them for quite a bit up until this point but this was the book where I started getting so anxious about their relationship and wondering just WHEN they were going to finally get together. My only complaint about this book is that the ending, which I feel is supposed be emotional, just didn’t do much for me. I think Rowling has a hard time making me feel things when she wants me to.

Deathly Hallows– 5 stars

“ARE YOU A WIZARD OR WHAT?”

This is by far the best book in the series. It veers off of the standard story line that the other books have been following and es us on a wild and emotional adventure (emotional for the characters, not for the reader). The characters arcs in this book are great and had me obsessed (Ron & Hermoinie killed me). It was climactic and a fitting end to the journey. Except for the epilogue. It was unnecessary fan service and it ruined the end of the story for me. It took away that satisfaction of the end of a journey.

The Cursed Child– 3 stars

“My geekiness is a-quivering”

This is the 8th installment of the franchise written as a play set 2 decades after the Battle of Hogwarts. It read like fanfiction and I have decided to treat it as such. It adds nothing to the story and was only mildly enjoyable; the best part of the whole thing for me was adding Scorpious to my view of the world. That doesn’t mean I don’t think you should read it, it’s a journey. Just an unnecessary one.

Hogwarts Library– 3 stars

A compilation of “Fantastic Beasts and Wear to Find Them”, “The Tales of Beedle the Bard”, and “Quidditch Throughout the Ages”, this is a cute addition to the Wizarding World. Maybe not something you’d want to read unless you, like me, get giddy about world building.

 

The world is by far my favorite thing about the Harry Potter series. I said above that Rowling didn’t do a great job making anything all that impactful for me so there wasn’t much attachment to the characters so much as the story itself. If these books hadn’t been part of a massive series or if i hadn’t binged it over the course of a month i don’t know that I’d have had such strong feelings about it.

Though I will say that for the lack of emotional impact this series somehow had one of the best romances I’ve ever read. I know Rowling herself says she regrets Ron and Hermoine’s romance and I can’t for the life of me think why. It was amazing to read and I adore them.

In all my rating for the entire series comes to 3.52 stars out of 5 and I’d say that’s pretty accurate. I wouldn’t be opposed to rounding up to an even 4 stars and calling it a day. So yes, I admit it, I *liked* it. Hell didn’t freeze over but the government did shut down.

 

 

 

Hamilton Book TAG

 

Let me explain you a thing; I avoided listening to Hamilton for years because I hate listening to musicals without having seen them. Sometimes it’s hard to follow along and I get spoilers for when I do see it and ugh. Can not. But then my good friend insisted and hassled, he begged, borrowed, and bartered to get me to listen to this musical with him. The next thing i know it’s several months later, my entire friends group only communicates in song lyrics, the baby’s favorite song is My Shot, and two of my friends are seriously considering naming their next beb “Lafayette”. I think this is the natural progression of things. We’re Hamiltrash and proud.

Let’s jump right in to the question though. I found this tag over at The Book Loving Nut, the only thing I changed was that I ordered the questions in the order the songs appear in the soundtrack. Spoiler warning for everything below.

 

My Shot: A Character that goes after what they want and doesn’t let anything get in their way.

Beatrice Lacey from Wideacre by Philippa Gregory. She is the best villain protagonist I have ever read. She knows what she wants and simply destroys anyone between her and those goals.

The Schyler Sisters: An underrated female character.

This may be a cop out but I’m going with two classic fairy tale characters; Ariel and Cinderella. Cinderella is a strong woman, she survives neglect and abuse and still doesn’t succumb to despair. Ariel is curious and strong willed; she’d willing to risk everything for what she wants.

You’ll Be Back: Sassiest Villain.

I can’t really think of any but I turned around and spotted Peter Pan by so, yeah, Captain Hook is hella sassy.

Right Hand Man: Favorite BROTP

Jean Tannen and Locke Lamora are #relationshipgoals af. If you believe that The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch is not a love story you’re wrong. Wrong.

Helpless: A relationship you rooted for from the start.

I honestly couldn’t remember many couples. I’m stuck between Scarlet and Wolf from Scarlet by Marissa Meyer and Meridon and Will from Meridon by Philippa Gregory. I just love them all so much.

Satisfied: Favorite book with multiple POVs.

I was going to say ASoIaF BUT I was recently reminded how much I love the book Little Bee by Chris Cleave and it deserves a shout out.

Stay Alive: A character you wish was still alive.

Super spoiler warning ahead: Zacharia Ferrer from An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. This isn’t even a character that I loved or missed, just a death that broke me. I just had to go back and check the spelling on his name and opened right up to the scene and then I cried. i just cried.

Ten Duel Commandments: Favorite fight scene.

I don’t read many books with fighting that stands out to me so I’m cheating and saying the high stakes card game from Meridon. Holy hell. It’s one of my favorite scenes in a book.

What Comes Next: A series you wish had more books.

The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss. ASoIaF by George R.R. Martin The Gentleman Bastards Series by Scott Lynch. Looking at you guys.

Non-Stop: series you marathoned

I shot through A Song of Ice and Fire in 22 days. Twenty. Two. Days.

What’d I Miss: A book or series you were late to.

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling I’m only 2 decades late. Oops.

Say No to This: A guilty pleasure read.

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer are my favorite books. I love this series. I’m total trash for this series and I super should not be.

The Room Where it Happens: A book world you would put yourself in.

Absolutely Wonderland! Such whimsy! And one of my favorite stories.

The Reynolds Pamphlet: A twist you did not see coming.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is one of my favorites in this series and I super was not expecting Mad Eye Moody to be the villain. That genuinely fucked me up. Also Crookshanks actually being a cat in the previous book caught me off guard.

Burn: The most heartbreaking end of a relationship.

Remember what I said about Beatrice Lacy way back at the start? Her and her first lover Ralph. Just. Read this book. It’s an adventure. Okay.

Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story: A book series that would be remembered throughout history.

Definitely A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. It’s not my *favorite* series but it’s amazing and more popular than god.

 

And there you have it! My Hamiltrash TAG! What’s your favorite Hamilton moment?

 

 

 

 

Pokemon Go Book TAG!

Because of course I am.

I found this tag over at ReadatMidnight.com, you can find the original HERE. All of the images are from the original post so feel free to snag them for your own because they’re pretty fucking great.

Now. Disclaimer. I’m sorry.

I don’t play Pokemon Go.

I know. I’m the literal worst.

But I LOVE Pokemon, okay! It’s like nostalgia all over the damn place, it’s amazing! So I’m doing this tag and no one can stop me. Let’s begin.

I’ve been reading longer than I’ve been doing most things. The first book I read on my own was The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss when I was 3; before that my grandmother (or anyone literate who I could pin down for a moment) would read everything to me. My grandmother regularly read Stephen King to me as a baby, and I am told I requested fairy tales more than anything.

Not much has changed it seems.

I love classic stories; I am a fairy tale hound after all. My favorite well known classic tale is, of course, The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas.

The entire Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. When I was a kid my grandmother bought me Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone but even at that point a lot of people were talking about the books because the first movie had come out and I was already over it. I never read it. I couldn’t find a fuck to give.

I still haven’t found the fucks to actually open any of the books even though I own them now.

If you’ve been here for a while you will know this answer. You can see my love/hate relationship with The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer in my Lunar Madness post from last year. I absolutely loathe how tropey and predictable this series is. . . but I did read every novel and short story set in the world so I don’t think that means much.

There’s a few; Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini, and The Stand by Stephen King. Though I don’t really want to read Outlander any longer when i did I was a bit intimidated by the fact that it was 8 or 9 books long WITH a spin-off series. Nope.

Well a lot of books keep me up at night, I sacrifice sleep regularly to finish a book, so I’m going to interpret this as a book that scared me so much it kept me up even after I’d finished. That has only happened once; Misery by Stephen King. God damned Annie Wilkes TERRIFIED ME.

I’m also a pussy when it comes to horror anyway, and I should have known better than to read it but I like to live on the edge.

I recently read The Name of The Wind and The Wise Mans Fear by Patrick Rothfuss. From page one I determined that, no matter what happens, Bast is the only person who truly deserves Kvothe. I have to live with the knowledge that it will literally never even be entertained as a possibility, I mean they don’t even need to be lovers but Bast is the ONLY person in either book who should be with Kvothe. In fact Kvothe isn’t good enough for Bast but Bast loves him anyway and that’s whats so sweet.

I will go down with this ship. Fight me.

The last page turner I read was Stephen Kings Under the Dome. It’s not an action book, it’s not even really a thriller but dear goddess this book moves. Almost 1100 pages and I COULDN’T. PUT IT. DOWN. I felt like I was in a constant state of “Holy Shit, what’s going to happen next!?”

First off, I love Eevee. Look at that fucking face!

The only stories I will always look forward to seeing more of are fairy tales; more specifically East of the Sun West of the Moon, or Beauty and the Beast. I will lose my shit over any and all new adaptations of that tale. Disney’s live action adaptation of their original Beauty and the Beast has got me more hype than it really should. Their live action Cinderella sucked, but I haven’t seen The Jungle Book. . .

This is getting off topic. Fairy tales. Give me all of them. Is the point I was trying to make.

Fucking Magikarp. Grinding this motherfuckers level up is the reason I hate my life.

The book that surprised me most in the past few years was probably The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey. I went into that book almost blind, even reading the blurb on the back is wonderfully spoiler free, but when I realized it was about the same ol’ dumb goldfish- I mean zombies I didn’t expect to like it as much as I do. You can read my reaction to it HERE.

No. As I stated earlier hype will kill my desire to read anything. It took me a long time to pick up A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin after getting bombarded with Game of Thrones hype from all directions, and I still don’t watch the show.

I’m also not really looking forward to anything I am not already reading and that’s not much at all.

I am a bibliophile in every sense of the word. i want books, pretty books, around me always. That said I shop at thrift stores and don’t usually even know about collectors editions of books I love, because if I did I’d buy them.

The only book I have been craving lately is the 150th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol. I auto buy every new edition of Alice I can find and this one is GORGEOUS. The dust jacket is interesting but underneath is a pale cream fabric cover with a pretty indented Alice on the front. It’s simple. It’s beautiful. I WANT IT. 

Damn. I have been out of the book community way too long guys. I don’t even KNOW of any debut novels coming out that I’m interested in. Recommend some!

My only auto-buy author is Philippa Gregory. I don’t even know why, I dislike her work more and more with each new novel but I’m already programmed to hand her my money so. . .

I stopped reading fantasy series’ in middle school, mostly because I got over waiting for books to come out. I make it a point not to read series’ that aren’t complete now, AND YET here I am waiting for Winds of Winter by George R.R. Martin. I did it to myself so I can’t complain too much.

What I can complain about, though, is the fact that now I’m also waiting for Doors of Stone by Patrick Rothfuss because some asshole I know was like “Tarina, read The Name of the Wind it’s the literal best. Okay now read The Wise Man’s Fear. Okay Doors of Stone is NEVER COMING OUT!” I kid you not that’s how it happened. I’m mad as fuck.

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As always I TAG everyone reading this! Especially you lovers of Pocket Monsters!

Now i need to go the fuck to sleep.