Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Top Ten Books of 2017 (So Far)



Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by the lovely ladies over at The Broke & The Bookish. This week, the topic is "Top Ten Books You've Read This Year, So Far". I'll be honest: I've only read 22 books so far this year, so choosing 10 should be fairly easy, haha! Even so, here are my choices (all links lead to my Goodreads reviews):


1. Gemina, by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. This is the sequel/companion to Illuminae, which was one of my favorites of last year. And this was probably my favorite book of the entire year so far! Although I was in a slump while reading it, I could not put this one down and read it in a mere few days! In my opinion, this entire series is just pure fun, and probably my favorite sci-fi series to date.

2-4. The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. These were all re-reads to me, but they all held up the second time around, no doubt about it. I gave each of them five stars on Goodreads. To be honest, I'd forgotten just how much I truly loved them, and I think the first book at least will become a classic in the future, as I mentioned in my review!

5. Revolution is Not A Dinner Party by Ying Chang Compestine. I read this one for book club in my English class, and wow. I was not expecting to love it nearly as much as I did! It's a middle grade historical fiction novel, taking place in China during Chairman Mao's rule. It was so so heartfelt and it was clear the author had channeled her own experiences into the novel, which made it that much more touching.

6. Mindset by Carol S. Dweck. Here's where the ratings/ranking get trickier, because a lot of the ones following are closer to 3.5 stars, starting with this one. I thought some stuff was repetitive but honestly? I think about this book a lot, and apply a lot of the lessons to my own life. It's sort of life-changing, actually, and it would feel like a personal betrayal not to include it here.

7.  Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo. Although this didn't quite measure up to the first book in my opinion, it was a very worthy ending, and I still just have lots and lots of feelings for these characters okay?! I love them. I'm surprised by how much I loved this duology as a whole, because I wasn't the biggest fan (or... a fan, period. Oops.) of the author's first series. But my oh my, she proved her prowess here.

8. Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix. This wasn't quite a reread - I never got the opportunity to finish reading it the first time around. Perhaps that's why I was so happy to read and finish it this time. I really liked the style of this middle grade novel, and the ideas it brought about. Yeah, it was a little overwhelming at one (or two) point(s) but I loved it all the same!
9..Dumplin' by Julie Murphy. Ordinarily, contempary isn't a genre I really reach for, for whatever reason, but I adored this book! Some stuff kind of put me off, but then something else would happen and I'd be right back with it and invested again. It was such a great summer read, and I can see myself rereading it as a beach read in the future!

10. Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them: The Script by J.K. Rowling. A recent read, but after adoring the movie, I knew I had to check out the script. Luckily for me, my library had it in and I devoured it! I really felt like the characters were so solid and the storyline actually felt a bit more assembled while I was reading the script, maybe because I'd already seen the movie beforehand?


Okay, I lied. Even though I've only read 22 books this year, that was so not easy. I've been lucky enough to have read many great books this year that didn't quite make this list, but these are definitely a solid Top 10 for me!

As always, thanks for reading! Let me know if you agree or disagree with any of my choices, or if there are any on here that you've still been meaning to read!

Saturday, June 3, 2017

Fandom Mashup (#6) - Hufflepuff Pride!

Fandom Mashups are a weekly meme hosted by Micheline @ Lunar Rainbow Reviews. Each week, there is a new topic, and participants choose five characters that either will help them with the task outlined, or would otherwise fit with the topic at hand. This was technically the topic for last week, but as a proud Hufflepuff myself, I just couldn't skip out on this one -

"Those patient Hufflepuffs are true and unafraid of toil" - Pick 5 characters from other fandoms that you think would fit in well in Hufflepuff House! 

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  1. Bilbo Baggins, The Hobbit
    The ultimate Hufflepuff, Bilbo is fair and fiercely loyal, just like many a hobbit. While he is more content with his gardens and the worlds in his books, he is still unafraid of hard work and is very brave when he needs to be, just like many of his House! He also just so happens to be my favorite fictional character of all time. Just sayin'.


  2. Samwise Gamgee, Lord of the Rings
    Listen. My brother (and many others) will try to tell you he's a Gryffindor - and he's certainly got the courage for it, sure - but in my eyes, Sam will always be in Hufflepuff. First of all, he's a gardener and we tend to excel at Herbology. Second of all, and most importantly, his loyalty to Frodo and his promise is what drives most of his bravery, showing to me that loyalty is his dominant trait!

  3. Tiana, Princess and the Frog
    One of my favorite (if not my very favorite) Disney princesses, Tiana is just about as patient and hard-working as it gets. She's so dedicated, and while she's also fiercely intelligent, I think she would fit right in with the Hufflepuff house.


  4. Charlie Pace, Lost
    Another one of my favorite characters, would you fancy that! (I might be biased towards Hufflepuffs. What can I say? I just can't help but love them.) While Charlie doesn't quite have the whole patience thing nailed down, he is kind to his core and loyal enough to risk his life on multiple occasions for the people he cares about.

  5. Rey, The Force Awakens
    Last but not least, is Rey. This is one of the ones that isn’t much of a question for me. She waited for years for her family to come back, and is extremely hardworking, patient, and loyal with a high sense for justice.
(Also, bonus from my own original series I'm writing - Chessie! Chessie is incredibly loyal - heck that's her primary motivation, really - and also has a strong moral compass. She's ferociously kind and hard-working and I just love her a lot.)
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This was so much fun and honestly I could keep on rambling about my Hufflepuff headcanons forever... I'm so glad that this prompt allowed me to name at least a few, though. ;)

Who knows, I might be back with more someday, hehe!