The Return to BookTube Tag!

Today is very exciting because today marks my official comeback to BookTube!

For those of you who don't know, 'BookTube' is a YouTube community of readers. There are thousands of channels with videos from book reviews and monthly 'wrap ups' of recent reads to discussions on reading or the publishing industry and in-depth looks at favorite (or least favorite) books. It's a great community for passionate readers.

And if you didn't know, I was once a very active booktuber, but I took an unexpected hiatus when my video editor started crashing on me every 30 seconds or so. (That was a very, very dark time, trust you me.) So a complete overhaul of my video-making system and two years later, I finally stomped on that dastardly fiend Procrastination, took the plunge, and now I'm back to making videos.

HUZZAH!

I have always loved talking about books, whether on YouTube or here on my blog, but there's a certain type of crazy enthusiasm I only find while filming booktube videos.

And thanks to my friend, collaborator, and co-conspirator at BritishBiblioholic, I AM BACK!

No worries! I'm not leaving the blog; we're not talking an either/or situation here. One of my big problems with booktube is that I usually have SO MANY topics and ideas that I can't keep up with them on videos alone, so that content will become 'Blog Exclusives'. (Woo-hoo-hoo, look who's gettin' fancy!)

So if you enjoy my book reviews here, definitely check out my YouTube channel!

And don't miss my giveaway for Robin Hood's Dawn; closes Feb 2.

Disney Songs Book Tag + Story Publication!!!

Today's the day! You can finally read my short story, The Curious Concoctions of Thornton Thoreau, in this month's issue of Bards & Sages Quarterly. You can buy a copy here. Woohoo! This is one of my favorite stories and I'm so excited that I can share it with you.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Being the Disney fan that I am, I could not resist doing this tag video over on YouTube.


Questions:
1. A whole new world - Pick a book that made you see the world differently.
2. Cruella De Vil - Pick your favorite villain.
3. I won't say I'm in love - Pick a book you didn't want to admit you loved.
4. Gaston - Pick a character that you couldn't stand.
5. Part of your world - Pick a book set in a universe you wish you could live in.
6. A dream is a wish your heart makes - describe what the book of your dreams would be like
7. Someday my prince will come - What book character would you marry if you could
8. I see the light - Pick a book that changed your life.
9. When you wish upon a star - Pick a book you wish you could reread for the first time.
10. I just can't wait to be king - Pick a book with some kind of monarchy in it.
11. Colors of the wind - Pick a book with a beautiful colorful cover.

It looks like this tag was started by Aria's Books. Fantastic job, Aria!

And hey, this tag doesn't have to exist on YouTube alone. It will be easily adapted for a blog post, so I'll tag you too, you blogger dying to do this!

The Bookshelf Tour

First of all, a huge thank you to all of my followers, because I just hit 400 subscribers on YouTube. Woohoo!

Today I have for you my very first Bookshelf Tour. I'm excited for this. I've always wanted to do one but, to be honest, I was embarrassed by my bookshelves before. Now that I have three new beauties for all of my books, embarrassment no more! ^_^

A lot of content had to be cut, including the bottom three shelves and several behind-the-knick-knacks stories. Let me know if you're interested in seeing these and I can cobble together another video.

Being Holly Short

Thanks for watching, everyone! Have a fantastic weekend.

August Wrap Up + Book Haul

First up, just a reminder about my Book Giveaway going on right now! I have three e-copies of Cheree Alsop's Werewolf Academy: Chosen to give out to some lucky winners. This giveaway closes Monday, Sep 9, so get your entries in. This is open internationally, so now you have no excuses. ;)

Now sit back and enjoy my August Wrap Up video! All the links are listed down below.

What I Read:

Secret Avengers vol 1 & 2 by Ales Kot
3 stars | Goodreads review

Thor: God of Thunder vol 1-3 by  Aaron
4 stars

Stolen Magic by Gail Carson Levine

4 stars

Library Wars vol 12 & 13

5 stars

Odd Hours by Dean Koontz

5 stars

Sidekicked by John David Anderson

4 stars | Video | Blog

Powerless by Tera Lynn Childs & Tracy Deebs

4 stars | Video | Blog

Marrow by Preston Norton

4 stars | Blog

The Blog Posts

Worth Watching: Battle Creek

Giveaway + Writing Update



Amanda & the Star Wars Summer
Episode I | Episode II | Video

 
Book Haul: 
Mistborn
The Well of Ascension
Legion & Legion: Skin Deep
Infinity Blade: Redemption & Awakening
The Emperor's Soul
Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell
Firstborn
Perfect State 
all by Brandon Sanderson
 Dungeoneers by John David Anderson 
Vicious by V.E. Schwab
Trixter & Tales of Arilland by Alethea Kontis

REVIEW: Powerless by Tera Lynn Childs & Tracy Deebs

Powerless
by Tera Lynn Childs & Tracy Deebs
YA/Superhero Fiction
4 stars

I'm warning you right now. Powerless is not a standalone novel. I didn't realize this until about twenty pages from the end when I realized there was nowhere near enough time to wrap everything up.

It was not pretty.

Powerless was part of my attempt to read more superhero fiction this summer, in keeping with the ALA's Summer Reading theme for the year. This wasn't originally on my list, I just came across it one day at work and thought, what the heck?

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Powerless. It falls more into the realm of traditional YA, which I don't really read, because it deals a lot with teenage angst and romance drama, and I have come to realize that I don't enjoy those kinds of books very much. Powerless also had other elements that I generally don't like in books -the heroine falls for a bad boy, which I am very picky about, and there was quite a bit of swearing.

The reason I couldn't put this book down was mostly the characters, but also the way the authors play with the concept of good and evil -or, more accurately, heroes and villains.

Kenna Swift, our heroine, is feisty, stubborn, smart, and capable. She also happens to be powerless in a world filled with superheroes and villains. Despite her willingness and ability to stand up for herself, she is thought weak and fragile, not only by her powered peers, but by her own mother. It was both Kenna's frustration by this constant underestimation, her determination to rise above it, and her awesome sass that kept me turning the pages. She is fantastic.
 

The story jumps right into the thick of things when three villains break into the super secret superhero lab where Kenna is working late. All alone. And what does she do? She grabs the nearest weapon and tries to fight them off.

This attack leads Kenna to question everything she thinks she knows about heroes and villains, and it will send her into a most unlikely partnership. This was the second big thing that drew me into the story. Kenna is constantly plagued by the question of what makes a hero, and what makes a villain? In this world, the authors have chosen at least so far not to offer explanation on the origin of powers. The only thing we do know is that when a person's power manifests, a tattoo appears under either ear -one to brand a hero, the other a villain. This raises some marvelously juicy questions about a person's actions and morals, and I can't wait to see how the authors handle this down the road.
All of the characters in Powerless are really interesting, though my favorite might be Kenna's technopathic and incredibly paranoid ex-boyfriend.

Back to the bad boy romance. I dislike this type of romance because I hate it when girls are handed these sugar-coated fictional relationships that are unhealthy or unrealistic. Powerless handles this well by not making Kenna naive or deluding herself. Even as she's falling for the bad boy, she knows it's a bad idea. She doesn't just fall for the guy without thinking of the consequences. She also falls for him, not the idea of him, and it's the good in him that she likes, not the bad. She recognizes the bad as bad, and that's a huge win here. There's also the fact that the bad boy respects her. They fight and argue a lot, but as equals, and the moment anyone undervalues Kenna, this guy sets them straight. If there's a way to do a bad boy romance right, this is pretty darn close.

Probably the biggest drawback of this book for me was the swearing, but it never really felt excessive, which is saying something considering it had a lot more than I usually put up with. But its use felt natural, rather than excessive, the other factors of the book made it worthwhile.

So basically we have a strong and sassy heroine, superheroes and villains, treachery, lies, a constantly evolving story line, and a superhero who wears Superman pajamas. Seriously.

REVIEW: Silver in the Blood by Jessica Day George

Silver in the Blood
by Jessica Day George
Young Adult
3 1/2 stars

Jessica Day George, you had me at 1890s Romania.
 
I think the best way to describe this might be The Hunchback Assignments meets Jane Austen. And just that comparison rocks. It has a lot of the same elements of Hunchback Assignments, like the spying and the secret organizations and the time period and the mysterious elements, albeit of a more fantastical nature, but definitely told from a girl's perspective. There's mention of dresses and petticoats, balls and social calls, and of course a nice selection of suitors to choose from. But these are not damsels in distress. Don't make that mistake or else... Well.

Now, I did think that this story had a slow start. For almost the first half of the book, we're tugged along with the main characters on this mystery about their family. I mostly thought it was long because, to the reader, the mystery isn't necessarily that big of a mystery. You figure out the nature of it long before our dual heroines LouLou and Dacia do, so I got a little impatient.
 
That being said, I really did like this story. A historical fiction. Set in Romania. And you know it's got something to do with you-know-who. The concept is clever and it's a unique twist on a tale that's seen a lot of revisions and retellings.

 

There are several fantastic characters in here -from Aunt Katarina to our heroines to cousin Radu to our intrepid heroes and the villains that make my skin crawl. Ugh. Like really crawl. *shudder* I loved watching the development of the characters, especially because one of them was unexpected for me, and I enjoyed that twist. I thought both our heroines had great arcs and development; you could practically taste their excitement and despair.

I loved the tone of the writing. We switch between the perspectives of Dacia and LouLou throughout and, like I said, it feels so Jane Austen. The temperament of girls in the time period was nailed. And not just talking about potential suitors and dresses, but in how they handle unexpected situations. With calm and decorum -and of course a cup of tea.

I enjoyed this story -it's very fun- but I would be even more excited to see a sequel. Things end in such a magnificent place that I want to know what happens next. Plus, I only felt I really got to know the characters near the end of the story. This wasn't due to poor writing or characterization at all. Get that idea out of your head. For some characters, we just don't learn their full role or purpose until the climax approaches; with others, like our dual heroines LouLou and Dacia, what they experience is character development. These characters I liked from the get-go, but where they eventually end up I absolutely love. I want more of them. So while this was a good book, and a book I would highly recommend, I think a continuance of it could be even better.

As a caution, there is some mature content in this book -nothing risque, but one of the villains does threaten to force himself on our heroines, so this book is definitely for older readers.

I loved the story and I loved the characters and I really hope I get to see what happens to them, say, a year or two down the road.

The Book Haul

It's that time again. Time to show off my new books!

But first, a message for our Corny Joke Monday:

Knock knock.

Who's there?

Doctor.

Doctor who?

Exactly.

 

 Onward, ho!

If you missed my post last week, I now have NEW BOOKSHELVES! Because I was also painting the wall where the bookshelves were to be placed, and reorganizing my room, and pretty slow at both, I've had a stack of (semi) newly purchased books piling up in the corner stretching back maybe as far as May. So we've got some catching up to do.

The Books:

Stargate Atlantis: Blood Ties by Sonny Whitelaw and Elizabeth Christensen
The Fires of Heaven by Robert Jordan

The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson

Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott

Public Enemy Number Two & Three of Diamonds by Anthony Horowitz

The Hunchback Assignments by Arthur Slade

The Horizontal Man by Michael Dahl (x2)

Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel by Eoin Colfer

Hidden Mickey by David W. Smith and Nancy Temple Rodriguez

 Candle Man by Glenn Dakin

The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale

REVIEW: Flunked by Jen Calonita (Fairy Tale Reform School)

Flunked
Fairy Tale Reform School, bk 1
by Jen Calonita
Juvenile Fiction/Fairy Tale
4 stars

How is it that fairy tale retellings can still be popping up all over the place? Haven't we had enough of those already? The answer is no, because authors like Jen Calonita keep finding ways to make the classics fresh again. Until they can't do that anymore, retellings are here to stay. (And I love it!)

The little twist that makes Flunked so much fun is The Fairy Tale Reform School. Known throughout Enchantasia as the place where all bad kids go, it's run by Princess Ella's not-so-wicked-anymore stepmother, and the faculty includes her two daughters, Snow White's stepmother, a sea witch, and the Big Bad Wolf. When 12-year-old Gillian is caught stealing one times too many, she's sent packing from her family's shoe and into the waiting clutches of these supposedly reformed villains.

Soon, Gilly's suspicions are aroused by odd behavior from the teachers and the occasional gargoyle attack. Mystery starts crawling out of the woodwork as she and her new friend Jax begin investigating the oddities, especially once they learn that the princesses of Enchantasia -and the prey of the faculty's former nefarious activities- are coming to FTRS for a visiting day. Someone is out to harm the princesses, and who can Gilly trust in a school full of former villains?


The idea of a reform school for would-be villains is brilliant. It's so much fun getting to see not only our classic villains, but a band of mischievous juvenile delinquents all in one place.

Gilly has some great character development. Her string of petty thefts that lead to her stay at FTRS are born of necessity. At least, that's what she tells herself. As events push her to examine the lines between 'good' and 'evil', Gilly begins to realize the easy answers aren't always the best. And in a place where would-be villains go to amend their evil ways, Gilly learns what it is to be a hero.

I love Gilly's spunk and sass; it keeps the pages turning and the story upbeat. But I admit my favorite character here was her friend Jax, fellow thief and cocky troublemaker. (It's entirely possible this was born of his striking similarities to Chase Turnleaf, another favorite of mine, since I was just coming off the high of finishing The Ever Afters by Shelby Bach when I started this.)

There are great characters throughout the story, but it really benefits from the inclusion of so many former villains. How many of us love a bad-guy-wants-to-turn-good story? How many more of us obsess over bad guys WE want to turn good? I love seeing the villains used in this new way. It makes the story fun and unique.

Some elements of Flunked were predictable, but it was still a fun romp. A good book for anyone who loves fairy tales, and especially for the younger readers.

There is currently a Goodreads Givewaway for this book, so head over there and see if you can win a copy!

ARC REVIEW: A Whole New World by Liz Braswell (Twisted Tale, bk 1)

A Whole New World
(Twisted Tale, bk 1)
by Liz Braswell
Retelling/Disney/YA
3/5 stars
Release date: September 1 

I'd like to thank NetGalley and Disney Book Group for sending me an ARC in return for an honest review.

Jafar gets the lamp? A classic story on its head? Officially Disney? I did not hesitate to request this. But I will admit, after the fiasco that was Fairest of All, a retelling of Snow White from the Wicked Queen's point of view that I had major issues with that you can hear all about here, I wasn't sure it would be any good.

The first 5 or 6 chapters are essentially the same as the beginning of the movie, though the author did add in context to beef up the story and connect some of the new dots she injected into the storyline, like hounding in on Princess Jasmine's cluelessness to the plight of the poor and her blossoming determination to basically make Agrabah a utopian society.

 
Overall, this was a fun story. It's always interesting to see a classic twisted around. For the most part I was entertained. It was very, very different from Aladdin, which was kind of the point, but it wasn't just different in story. The characters developed in different directions, it concentrated a great deal on the politics and social structure of Agrabah, and was a lot more serious than the movie. This is not really intended for kids. The tone is much darker and takes on serious issues. Not quite as many laughs.

Many of the major characters didn't have big roles, like the Carpet and Abu, which I totally understand -it's really hard to write good, non-talking animal sidekicks!- but at the same time, I missed them. The Carpet and Abu were there, mind you, they just weren't there often. Unfortunately, because the Genie is in the hands of Jafar, we also don't get as much as him in the story, either. He still gets in one-liners and Genie-ish jokes on occasion, but he's just not as fun and upbeat. *sad face* The biggest change I noticed is that Jasmine basically became the main character. Aladdin has a big supporting role, but this is all about Jasmine. She's the most important piece in this puzzle, the one who gets things moving. She's the one who starts the revolution, for crying out loud! Instead of Aladdin becoming a prince and stepping into her world, Jasmine is thrown into the ranks of the street rats -introducing us to some fun new and interesting characters- and becomes a heroine.
   
One of the things I really liked was Rasoul, the captain of the guards. You know who I'm talking about. This guy. This Rasoul is depicted as a lawman determined to uphold the law but also possessing a good amount of empathy. He is referred to as 'a big, stupid rock of morality', a description I just love to bits. His personality clashes drastically with the guy I remember from the movies -who chains Prince Ali Baba and throws him off a cliff at Jafar's behest- but I didn't care. I liked him too much.

I felt Jafar was dealt an injustice in the climax -parts of his downfall really conflicted with his character for me and I feel it cheapened his evilness. He could have had a better -not necessarily demise, but more his reaction when confronted with his downfall. I feel that he had a very ignoble end, and not in a good way.

The writing was mediocre, and the story sometimes...bizarre. I won't lie. There's some weird stuff going down. It's fun to see a Twisted Tale but it also makes you very nostalgic for the original. Don't take this one too seriously; it might destroy your childhood. There were several references to the movie -made mostly in wishful thinking by characters about 'what could have been'- and one off-handed comment about a staff that maybe grants access to an all-powerful oracle, a la Aladdin and the King of Thieves, which I loved growing up.

I give A Whole New World by Liz Braswell 3 out of 5 stars. It could have been better, but it wasn't terrible. (Just bizarre.) It was interesting enough that I would check out future Twisted Tales to see what will happen to other Disney classics.

May Wrap Up: What I Read, Wrote, and Reviewed

What I read:

Of Enemies and Endings by Shelby Bach

Video Review | Blog
Spelled by Betsy Schow

Video Review | Blog
The Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows

Video Review | Blog 

Seekers of the Weird

**coming soon**
A Whole New World by Liz Braswell

**coming soon**

Bonus! For those of you ecstatic about the upcoming finale of The Ever Afters, I'm putting together a week-long blog party leading up to the release date. I'm looking for fan art as well as fans who want to answer fun series-related questions. If you want to participate or find out more, to that post.

There were also several audiobooks I started that I just couldn't get into. The God Engines by John Scalzi, but I know this disinterest was born of mood. Just coming off Scalzi's Fuzzy Nation, The God Engines was much more serious sci-fi than I anticipated. I'll likely pick it up again.

The second was The Magician's Lie by Greer Macallister. I'm not sure if I just couldn't get into the story or if it was just the audio, but it didn't pull me in. This was on my list of anticipated releases this year, so I might go back to it later.

My Top Tens:

Top Ten Tween Books
Top Ten Beach Reads

On the Writing Front:

I'm getting my second short story published! 'The Curious Concoctions of Thornton Thoreau' will appear in the October issue of Bards and Sages Quarterly.

Looking back, I wonder what I was doing with all my reading time last month. The answer: working on my novel. It's full of loose threads, timeline confusion, and in all around need of tightening, but I've had my nose to the grindstone, and it's looking better every day.

This month, I did discover an absolutely spectacular set of videos on YouTube of all the lectures from BYU's writing class. The one taught by Brandon Sanderson. I feel as though I've struck gold, and I'm more than happy to share my wealth.

And that's it. Ta-da!

Wrap Up, Book Haul, TBR, and Maybe the Kitchen Sink

In which I talk the books I read, the books I got, and the books I will read. Books, books, books, books, BOOKS!

 

ALL OF THE LINKS:

Vlogs:

Mini March Book Haul
Firefight review here and here

 Jackaby Review here and here.

 Mini March Book Haul 

Secret Life of Walter Mitty (Book vs. Movie)

From the blog:

My Thoughts on Frozen
Guest Post from J.E. Thompson
Ten Books From Childhood

EDIT: Something went belly-side up with the scheduler, so here's yesterday's post today. Sorry for the wait.

REVIEW: Jackaby by William Ritter

 



Jackaby
by William Ritter
YA/mystery/supernatural
4 stars












"Doctor Who meets Sherlock" proudly proclaims the cover flap blurb. That's not something a Whovian and Sherlockian can just ignore. At the very least, I had to make sure it lived up to its lofty expectations.

 
In the first chapter, with Jackaby's introduction, I groaned. Just another Sherlock imitation. I have enough of those in my life right now, thank you very much. By chapter two, I realized Ritter took Jackaby in a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT DIRECTION.

Doctor Who meets Sherlock? Try Doctor Who meets Sherlock meets a grown-up and frankly terrifying Spiderwick Chronicles, and you're a little closer to the mark.

Abigail Rook is newly arrived in New England and, looking for a life of adventure, answers an advertisement to become the assistant of one R. F. Jackaby, basically a private investigator specializing in Unexplained Phenomena, who is just about to wade knee-deep into a murder most foul.

Now it warns you right up front that this story has a dose of the macabre and it does. There's blood. The world and ambiance is a cross between Victorian and the Brothers Grimm, which totally worked for me. There's a slew of quirky and interesting characters, something I always love to see, and I especially loved Inspector Marlowe, perpetually grumpy chief of police, and justice hound Charlie Cane. The world has great potential, with dark folklore and a friendly ghost or two. Ritter seems to have drawn no specific line on what kind of fantasy to include, so all possibilities seem fair game at this point.

I found Jackaby to be a very interesting character. He has the unexplained ability to see many extraordinary things that no one else can, but he's very logical, scientifically inclined, and fact oriented. Those qualities should be at odds with each other, but they meshed wonderfully. He's also a bit absorbed in his own thoughts and absent-minded and has some kind of delicious secret back story yet to be revealed. By delicious, I mean obviously scarring and heart-wrenching and my inner fangirl demands to know the cause at all costs.

Which brings us to my pet peeve about this story. The one thing here that truly irked me was the fact that Jackaby made no effort to prepare Abigail for the danger they could potentially encounter. There was no training, or crash course Mythos 101, or even a heads-up of what to expect at any point of the book. Granted, she's thrust straight into the mystery, but they had downtime. Jackaby could have sent her off with a stack of books to research some of the things most people don't believe exist. This peeve might not have bothered me so much if Jackaby didn't become increasingly concerned about her safety, and his failure to prevent ...incidents with some potential assistants of the recent past. At one point he tries to demote her to an office clerk and keep her off the case (which doesn't work. at all.) but he never considers actually arming her with any skills or knowledge that might save her life.

This peeve of mine could turn out to be a character flaw of Jackaby's, an absent-minded and case-driven detective, in which case I'm all for it. Character development for the world! But I am a little concerned that none of his allies pointed it out to him as a bad idea, or decided to give Abigail some words of wisdom.

I'm probably exacerbating this peeve, and don't get me wrong. I really enjoyed this book. It was an interesting mix of murder mystery and folk lore and I can't wait to read the next one. I'm just crossing my fingers that Abigail will start learning things, rather than stumbling into them.

The reason this book didn't get 5 stars was three-fold. The aforementioned pet peeve, but also that I did find myself skimming through sections of description (read as, 'impatient reader') and I felt that some of the mystery elements took a little too long for the characters to get to.

On the whole, this was an entertaining and gripping read. I'm looking forward to the sequel due out this fall, diving deeper into Jackaby's world, and also getting that back story!

Quirky Questions Collab Tag (Video)

Over on BookTube, I've just participated in a huge collaboration project set up by my friend Georgina (BritishBiblioholic) in which a group of us each asked one question to be compiled into a quirky and unique kind of introductory '20 Questions' tag video.

BOOKTUBE = A community within YouTube where people review, talk about, discuss, rant, and obsess over books.

It was immensely fun. Some of these questions are bizarre, some thought-provoking, some truly insightful. (What super power would you choose? Truly? What book title could double as your autobiography?) There some seriously talented and wise people out there.

Here are all of my answers, and all of the questions and their posers are listed out below. Feel free to answer any or all! I don't see why this questionaire couldn't hop to the blogosphere, so no video even required. ;)

Get those brains working!

Georgina (a.k.a. me, BritishBiblioholic) - with the five most exciting questions EVER:
1) "What is your favourite book?"
2) "Who is your favourite author?"
3) "Do you prefer to read standalones or series?"
4) "Would you rather read a standalone book over and over again, or a series over and over again?"
5) "Do you have a favourite BookTuber? If so, who?"

Rachel: "What got you into reading and what got you into BookTube?"
Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/RachelLovesBooks

Sarah: "Pick your favourite fictional character(s); who do you think THEIR favourite characters (fictional or otherwise) would be and why?"
Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHVr8OO7GM-v8La5hlVgt0w

Sabrina: "Which fandom (or fandoms!) are you part of?"
Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/sabriMHA96

Amanda (that's me!): "Out of all of the fictional characters that you know of, which one would you most want to be - and who would you be in actuality?"
Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/ToReadNotToRead

Austin: "If you could try any fictional food (from any book), what would you want to try?"
Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9p0mandwP_GmQZDgjZshqg

Jack: "If you were a book genre, which genre would you be - and what book would you be within that genre?"
Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/ReadingWithJack

Lieke: "If you could write your own book, what would it be about?"
Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/booklikelieke

Katie: "If you could be best friends with any YouTuber, who would it be and why?"
Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/KatieOSheaBooks

Adam: "What is the most embarrassing thing that you can do in the world of BookTubia?" (In your opinion.)
Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/ArrictineReads

Charlotte: "Turn around and look at your bookshelves; out of the books you can see, pick the one with the title that you would give to your autobiography."
Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/LottieLovesBooks1

Sue: "If for one entire year you could live the life of any fictional character, whose would you choose and why? NOTE: Nobody from Harry Potter allowed!"
Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/suemoro

Andrew: "Would you rather live life for 100 'good' years or for 50 'spectacular' years?"
Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/HeavyShelves

Kaisa: "Picture a future where YouTube no longer exists - or else, it's not a popular thing to do anymore. What can you imagine yourself doing instead to share your passion for books and reading rather than making videos?"
Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/MaxieMagyx

Georgina (a.k.a. me being sneaky): "If you could have any sort of superpower, what superpower would you want?"
My Old Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/BookAddict2011

Filipe: "What are the perks of being in a book club/group?"
NOTE: If you don't attend one, give your top five reasons (etc) why you'd want to be in one or something! :)
Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAgW_6p7L0-HIjiCU1Nfmcg

Ivan: "If you had to label your gender WITHOUT using the regular labels (e.g. male, female) what would you label yourself as?"
Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3pB1WMH1RgGY9VJ3yIszwQ

Amber: "What is your first memory of being really excited?"
Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/Nerdybooklover

Ryan: "If you could combine any two superheroes/supervillains and become that conjoined character, who would you combine and why?"
Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/ryanreadsbooks

Tissa: "If you could learn to speak a language overnight, what language would you want to learn?"
Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC858RdKyLF2svHTqkgAvT8Q

Priscilla: "If you could turn any book series into a television show adaptation, which one would you choose and why?"
Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/thereadables

Top 14 Books of 2014

#14

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

by Annie Barrows & Mary Ann Shaffer

Adult Fiction/Historical Fiction

4/5 stars

Video Review

#13

Dearest

by Alethea Kontis

YA/Fantasy/Retelling

Woodcutter Sisters series, bk 3

4/5 stars

Video Review | Goodreads Review

#12

Always Neverland

by Zoe Barton

MG/Fantasy

5/5 stars

Video Review

#11

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore

by Robin Sloan

Adult Fiction

4/5 stars

Goodreads Review

#10

The Ninja Librarians: The Accidental Keyhand

by Jen Swann Downey

MG/Adventure/Time Travel

5/5 stars

Goodreads Review

#9

The Rithmatist

by Brandon Sanderson

YA/Fantasy/Alternate History

5/5 stars

Goodreads Review

#8

The Hunchback Assignments series

by Arthur Slade

YA/Steampunk/Spy

5/5 stars

Video Review

#7

Odd Thomas

by Dean Koontz

Adult Fiction/Paranormal/Mystery/Suspense

4/5 stars

Book vs Movie Video | Goodreads Review

#6

Assisted

by John Stockton

Biography/Autobiography

5/5 stars

Goodreads Review

#5

The Returned

by Jason Mott

Adult Fiction/Paranormal

4/5 stars

#4

Steelheart

by Brandon Sanderson

YA/Superhero/Sci-Fi

5/5 stars

Video Review | Goodreads Review

#3

Serenity: Leaves on the Wind

by Zack Whedon

Graphic Novel

4/5 stars

#2

As You Wish

Inconceivable Tales from the Making of the Princess Bride

by Cary Elwes

Non-Fiction/Memoir

5/5 stars

Goodreads Review

#1

Of Sorcery and Snow

by Shelby Bach

MG/Fantasy/Retelling

The Ever Afters, bk 3

5/5 stars

Video Review

Build It With Books!

A friend of mine gave me the idea to build something out of books. And, well, how did this never occur to me before?! 

Now I put forth the challenge to all. Build it with books. Something, anything, everything. Build it with books and share your photos and videos at #BuildItWithBooks.

Books, baby.

December/2014 Wrap Up and Corny Joke Monday

It's a shiny bright new year, but before I get into my hopes and goals for 2015 (that will be on Thursday), here is my wrap up from the month of December and all those reading goals I set for 2014.

Really, I'm still surprised I managed to read 100+ books last year. I know quite a few graphic novels are responsible for that count, but that's a genre I was hoping to start reading in anyway, so I really consider that a double-score. ;)

~~Links~~
Enchanted Giveaway
Enchanted Review 
Dearest Review
The String Quartet Review
The Hunchback Assignments Review


Corny Joke Monday

How did the telephone propose to his girlfriend?

He gave her a ring.

BOOK REVIEW: Dearest by Alethea Kontis (Woodcutter Sisters, bk 3)

 


Dearest

by Alethea Kontis

YA/Fantasy/Fairy Tales

4 stars

(ARC review; 'Dearest' will be available on Feb. 3)

 
Due to some technical difficulties, this post comes a day late. Apologies for that, but better late than never, right?





First of all, I'd like to thank Alethea not only for the ARC of 'Dearest', but for signing so beautifully the books I bought, for sending enough swag to go around, the much-appreciated Princess Bride references, and for being all around awesome. ^_^

The latest installment of the Woodcutter Sister series deals with Friday, the sweetest, kindest, and gentlest of the Woodcutter clan. While I have nothing against Friday, she was never my favorite of the sisters. Compared to pirate queen Thursday, Wednesday in her black gowns with her poetry and prophecies, sword-hacking Saturday, and Sunday and her magic words, Friday with the big heart and the magic needle seemed a little dull.

I was wrong.
 
Friday was the perfect sister for this story because it played right into her wheelhouse -the need for an open heart and mad sewing skills. She discovers that the seven swans in the palace pond are only swans by day. By night, they are transformed into their true form of seven cursed brothers and she is determined to do everything she can to help them.
 
Much like Friday herself, I learned how a big heart can become a powerful strength, for yourself and everyone around you. 'Dearest' explored a lot more of Friday's character and she may have just become my favorite of the sisters. She isn't a warrior or a hero; she doesn't have any loftier ambitions than becoming a master seamstress and a nun in the abbey of the earth goddess. She loves to help and serve people, and I love that this was used as a character strength. I found her a perfectly wonderful character because she's sweet and kind, but never simperingly so. Sometimes the goody-two-shoes characters can be grating in stories, but Friday is an easily relatable character with very real emotional struggles.
 
Like the other books in the series, 'Dearest' is a love story, and it's split into the perspectives of the hero and the heroine. Something I have always appreciated about this series is that their personalities are never too romanticized. They each have flaws, which they usually overcome on their own, they clash at times, and they always ALWAYS have their own struggles and story lines outside of the romance plot. It deepens the whole experience for me when there's more than just a love story going on. Throw in a bloodthirsty warmonger or political conspiracy to go along with it -that's my kind of story.

Something I didn't mention in my video review was how much I liked Conrad. This new character's role surprised and intrigued me. I can't wait to see where he leads the story in the future. Could we be headed to an Agrabah-like country soon? Will we have jinn or some Aladdin references? A girl can hope. ;)

There was only one thing about this book that I was kind of disappointed about. 'Hero' ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, but 'Dearest' does not advance in the time line. This book takes us back to Arilland and shows us what happened there parallel to 'Hero' instead of taking us on to what happened next. 'Dearest' is a great book and, even though I didn't see what happened next, it still advanced deeper into the larger unfolding story, by bringing a couple more connections into play. But now I have another long wait to find out what happens!
 
One thing I adore about the Woodcutter Sister series are all of the tongue-in-cheek references to the fairy tales of yore. Unlike a true 'retelling' of these tales -like Ella Enchanted or Princess of the Midnight Ball- where the story is the tale, albeit with a new twist, Alethea's use of the classics feels almost incidental. Yes, you could say that Dearest is a retelling of The Six Swans and you could say that Enchanted was a retelling of The Frog Prince, but that would not be doing justice to these books as they are so much more than that. The Woodcutter series inhabits a complex world of Fey and magic, gods and prophecies. Fate and Destiny. And if some of the events that occur happen to tickle a memory, well, that's just coincidence. Alethea's nods to the classics know no bounds, but they are sewn into the fabric of the Woodcutter's reality so gracefully and seamlessly, that it never once distracts the reader, but becomes more of a private joke between us and the author. (Case in point, the orphans that Friday takes to looking after being referred to as 'her Darlings'.)
 
In 'Dearest', we get a new flavor of the world than we have in previous books, specifically with the kind of deities and religious practices that exist. This combination of gods and Fey is particularly interesting to me. In my experience, these have always seemed like opposing ideas in the fantasy genre. You either have gods and religion or fairies and magic, but Alethea has blended them together with a realistic flourish. Fey inhabit another realm, where magic abounds, and they sometimes intermarry with humans and their offspring can be born with magic. It also seems that the ability to use magic can be a blessing bestowed upon favored humans by their patron gods and, like the Greek pantheon, there are plenty to choose from. There is not so much in this book about the gods and religious practices as to make it dull or even too different from the previous novels, but just enough to explain some occurrences in the story and to clue you in that this is a seriously complex and detailed world spread out before us, and we still have a lot to learn about it. I, for one, can't wait to learn more.
 
Four stars to Dearest by Alethea Kontis and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy, especially fairy tale retellings.

In fact, I am so convinced that you will like this series, I'm doing a giveaway for the first book, Enchanted. I do apologize that this will only be open to United States residents, but if you'd like to enter, just subscribe to my YouTube channel and leave a comment the YouTube page of the video at the top of this post.

Good luck!

December Book Haul

Ahhhhhh, that new book smell. Nothing quite like it, is there?




Keep an eye out this week for that Enchanted giveaway!

Corny Joke Monday

How do you measure a snake?
In inches. They don't have any feet.

DOUBLE REVIEW + Major Gushing: The Hunchback Assignments by Arthur Slade (bks 3&4)

Here it is, the moment you've been waiting for!

I had to sludge through the unpredictable temper tantrums of my new video editing program, but I'm now happy to present my spoiler free reviews for Empire of Ruins and Island of Doom, the third and fourth and *sob* final books of Arthur Slade's series The Hunchback Assignments.

But wait! There's MORE!

I couldn't say everything I wanted to say in one video. And let's face it, I want to talk about spoilers.

 

So I did a second video in which I basically gush and rant and rave, so if anyone wants to discuss the events of The Hunchback Assignments, now is the perfect time.

Happy Second Day of Hanukkah!