Hello, friends! I know my posts have been dwindling as of late, but for those of you who still keep up with my blog and everything, I want you all to know how grateful I am.
So, as you all know, last month I participated in NaNoWriMo-- or National Novel Writing Month. I am pretty sure everyone knows what this is, but the goal is to write 50k words in the month of November. My goal was to double that and write 100k.
And guess what?
I did! I wrote 100k exactly, on a fairytale retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses called Of Roses and Royalty. The book went a direction I didn't think it was going to (and I haven't quite finished it yet... oops?) but I'm glad I got the quantity of words I was aiming for, even if I did not get the quality of the words.
Now for a few quick stats.
Total Word Count: 100,000
Day Reached Goal: The 30th
Day Reached 50k: The 11th... my fastest ever!
Highest Words Per Day: I got 15.3k words for my first day word count... beating my previous highest (11k) by more than 4,000 words!!
Did you participate in NaNoWriMo? If so, how'd you fare?
Sunday, December 7, 2014
Sunday, November 23, 2014
Rainy Reading
There are many things I love about Autumn and Winter... NaNoWriMo, Thanksgiving, Family, delicious food... but one of those things is also rain. Rain is just so comforting to hear against the windowpanes and I love the smell of rain.
And, because the sound of rain is so comforting, it's the perfect time to read a book. Fantasy seems to work especially well for reading in the rainy weather. (Not in the rainy weather exactly... I really prefer to stay inside when it's raining. But to each their own.)
Currently, I am reading The Enchanter Heir by Cinda Williams Chima, the fourth book in a series about magic guilds. The fifth and final book in the Heir Chronicles (this is the name of the series) came out last month, and I'm in luck-- the library has it. So it is lucky for me that over the Thanksgiving Break I get to binge read both of these thick fantasy books.
In NaNoWriMo news-- I'm at 74k words right now, which means I'm behind my goal by ~3k words, but I'm hoping I can catch up (despite the masses of homework I have been assigned. Woe is me.) Additionally, I'm beginning to lose faith in this book. The inciting incident has not even happened yet, and the entire novel is just really lousily written, and really rambly. I'm trying to decide if I should rewrite it. I don't want the 100k words I'm planning on writing to go to waste, but, I really feel like being sick every time I think of my book.
That's a bad sign, isn't it?
I could really go for a bit of cheering up right now. Is anyone else writing for NaNoWriMo? Perhaps you are doing the Blog Ahead challenge I've been hearing about? If so, how is that going for you? Hope to hear from you all!
And, because the sound of rain is so comforting, it's the perfect time to read a book. Fantasy seems to work especially well for reading in the rainy weather. (Not in the rainy weather exactly... I really prefer to stay inside when it's raining. But to each their own.)
Currently, I am reading The Enchanter Heir by Cinda Williams Chima, the fourth book in a series about magic guilds. The fifth and final book in the Heir Chronicles (this is the name of the series) came out last month, and I'm in luck-- the library has it. So it is lucky for me that over the Thanksgiving Break I get to binge read both of these thick fantasy books.
In NaNoWriMo news-- I'm at 74k words right now, which means I'm behind my goal by ~3k words, but I'm hoping I can catch up (despite the masses of homework I have been assigned. Woe is me.) Additionally, I'm beginning to lose faith in this book. The inciting incident has not even happened yet, and the entire novel is just really lousily written, and really rambly. I'm trying to decide if I should rewrite it. I don't want the 100k words I'm planning on writing to go to waste, but, I really feel like being sick every time I think of my book.
That's a bad sign, isn't it?
I could really go for a bit of cheering up right now. Is anyone else writing for NaNoWriMo? Perhaps you are doing the Blog Ahead challenge I've been hearing about? If so, how is that going for you? Hope to hear from you all!
Saturday, October 18, 2014
30 Day Novel Meme... in One Post!
I "borrowed" this meme from this link right here. It looked like a good way to flesh out my novel, and after all, I did warn you about that ramblings thing. My blog might be mostly writing stuff until November is over, in which it will return to its bookish madness.
Speaking of writing ramblings, I was wondering something: what do you think about me starting a whole separate blog about writing? It would be about my journey in my novels, useful tips, and general rambling, as well as editing, prepping, etc. a novel. I'm conflicted at the moment as this would mean running 3 blogs (one a November-only blog, one bookish blog [that would be this one!] and a writing blog [the new one.]) I would like some opinions! :D
Anyway, today I'm going to be answering the questions best I can for you. Here goes nothing.
1- Name of current Project and back story of the name.
The title is Of Roses and Royalty. Since all the sisters are named after flowers, I knew I was going to include some sort of flower in the title. After talking to my writing buddy, she helped me come up with the current title.
2- Genre of the story explained in detail
High Fantasy for sure. It features two royal kingdoms with princesses and curses, but alas, no magic users. I'd say it also has a bit of questing in it, but not much. More just royal conflict, as well as Fairytale retelling.
3- Explain your PoV and Style of writing usedAh, well see here. This is my November project and POV hasn't exactly been settled yet. I'm thinking 3rd person as always, but 1st person might work too.
4- Describe your inspiration and what message you wish to bring acrossI want to portray the message of peacefulness and unity, since it's an important message to me. My inspiration for this came from out of the blue really. I don't remember.
5- Main Character Bio
6- Main Villain Bio
7- A third important characters Bio
8- Descriptions of all other important charactersAll these are in my prep notebook.
9- Explain the main basis of the plot A retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses. No dancing involved in this version though. And no king trying to get people to search for the princesses. Pretty much the only things it keeps from the actual tale are the second kingdom and the twelve princesses.
10- Describe the world that the story happens in (use photos or graphics if you want)Hmm, there was a really cool castle I found earlier that would be perfect. Pretty much it takes place in a Fantasy world, but with no magic save for the curses, which can be explained by the twisted science of my novel, and no magical creatures. The first kingdom is very poor, in poverty, with threats from all kingdoms attacking Daesi (the kingdom MC's live in.) Lore, the kingdom they sneak off to at night, still needs developing.
11- All the Ships in your novel/ Story
-Theodore/Caspia (Thaspia? Caspidore?)
-Bella/Hugo (Uh... uh oh... oh no...how about Bugo, aye?)
Not much romance in this book.
12- Your favourite character to write about and why
CASPIA because I love her character so much. She's so noble, and just wants the best for everyone, but often doesn't get the best for herself. She's the eldest.
13- Your least favourite character to write about and why
Probably Bella, because I feel like I'm really forcing her character more than I ought to.
14- Which character you are most like
Hm, Dahlia probably. We are both very timid and quiet. She likes to garden more than I do, though. And she isn't fond of books.
15- Your favourite part of the story
I can't wait to see what it will be.
16- Describe any other books related to this one (eg. Prequel, sequel, follow up) or If it’s a stand alone, a sequel or prequel that you could writeI'm not sure if it will be a series or not. It depends how many more ideas pop into my head. A possible sequel could be called Of Lupines and Loyalty or Of Lilies and Loyalty. It rhymes! Get it?
17- Which published book it is most likeIt depends if the Twelve Dancing Princesses itself counts. If so, that one.
18- What stage of editing/ writing are you at?Still in prep mode!
19- Writing Playlist
The Medallion Calls (Pirates of the Caribbean)
Anything Two Steps From Hell
20- If it were made into a movie, which Director would direct it and which band would make the soundtrackI don't know.
21- Dream Cast (with pictures)
Emilie de Ravin as Caspia
Anna Popplewell as Freesia (second eldest sister, and villainess)
Anna Saffer as Belladonna "Bella"
Jessica Sula as the twins: Heather and Hydrangea "Heidi"
Jessica Brown Findlay as Dahlia
And I don't know about the other sisters
22- The Ten best things about your story
23- The ten things you could improve
None yet for either.
24- Why are you going to do with it when it’s done?Edit it! And then keep it for myself to look back on and laugh at in 10 years.
25- What is the main twist/ plot point?When they find the door to Lore is the inciting action.
26- What is the most exciting scene/ chapter/ partTheodore entering Lore, because that's what set off the curse.
27- How often do you write it and in what environment?Hopefully all November and December will be writing the novel, and I tend to write at the Write Ins in my region, and my school, and then in my room at 2 in the morning.
28- Who else has read it? Or heard about it? Does anyone know you’re writing?My writing buddies have heard about, as has my brother, and my dad knows I'll be writing it, but I've been very vague with him. (Him: "Have you been doing NaNoWriMo stuff?" Me: "Mm hmm" Him: "What are you writing" Me: "Uhhh a book, probably" that's about as far as it has gotten.)
29- Pretend you’re a critic and give a fair but concise criticism of your project so farWhen it is in the makings, the critics would probably kill it with fire. I'm a terrible writer, which is why I hope I'm never, ever published. haha.
30- Post a chapter or so for everyone to read and review
You know the drill.
Speaking of writing ramblings, I was wondering something: what do you think about me starting a whole separate blog about writing? It would be about my journey in my novels, useful tips, and general rambling, as well as editing, prepping, etc. a novel. I'm conflicted at the moment as this would mean running 3 blogs (one a November-only blog, one bookish blog [that would be this one!] and a writing blog [the new one.]) I would like some opinions! :D
Anyway, today I'm going to be answering the questions best I can for you. Here goes nothing.
1- Name of current Project and back story of the name.
The title is Of Roses and Royalty. Since all the sisters are named after flowers, I knew I was going to include some sort of flower in the title. After talking to my writing buddy, she helped me come up with the current title.
2- Genre of the story explained in detail
High Fantasy for sure. It features two royal kingdoms with princesses and curses, but alas, no magic users. I'd say it also has a bit of questing in it, but not much. More just royal conflict, as well as Fairytale retelling.
3- Explain your PoV and Style of writing usedAh, well see here. This is my November project and POV hasn't exactly been settled yet. I'm thinking 3rd person as always, but 1st person might work too.
4- Describe your inspiration and what message you wish to bring acrossI want to portray the message of peacefulness and unity, since it's an important message to me. My inspiration for this came from out of the blue really. I don't remember.
5- Main Character Bio
6- Main Villain Bio
7- A third important characters Bio
8- Descriptions of all other important charactersAll these are in my prep notebook.
9- Explain the main basis of the plot A retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses. No dancing involved in this version though. And no king trying to get people to search for the princesses. Pretty much the only things it keeps from the actual tale are the second kingdom and the twelve princesses.
10- Describe the world that the story happens in (use photos or graphics if you want)Hmm, there was a really cool castle I found earlier that would be perfect. Pretty much it takes place in a Fantasy world, but with no magic save for the curses, which can be explained by the twisted science of my novel, and no magical creatures. The first kingdom is very poor, in poverty, with threats from all kingdoms attacking Daesi (the kingdom MC's live in.) Lore, the kingdom they sneak off to at night, still needs developing.
11- All the Ships in your novel/ Story
-Theodore/Caspia (Thaspia? Caspidore?)
-Bella/Hugo (Uh... uh oh... oh no...how about Bugo, aye?)
Not much romance in this book.
12- Your favourite character to write about and why
CASPIA because I love her character so much. She's so noble, and just wants the best for everyone, but often doesn't get the best for herself. She's the eldest.
13- Your least favourite character to write about and why
Probably Bella, because I feel like I'm really forcing her character more than I ought to.
14- Which character you are most like
Hm, Dahlia probably. We are both very timid and quiet. She likes to garden more than I do, though. And she isn't fond of books.
15- Your favourite part of the story
I can't wait to see what it will be.
16- Describe any other books related to this one (eg. Prequel, sequel, follow up) or If it’s a stand alone, a sequel or prequel that you could writeI'm not sure if it will be a series or not. It depends how many more ideas pop into my head. A possible sequel could be called Of Lupines and Loyalty or Of Lilies and Loyalty. It rhymes! Get it?
17- Which published book it is most likeIt depends if the Twelve Dancing Princesses itself counts. If so, that one.
18- What stage of editing/ writing are you at?Still in prep mode!
19- Writing Playlist
The Medallion Calls (Pirates of the Caribbean)
Anything Two Steps From Hell
20- If it were made into a movie, which Director would direct it and which band would make the soundtrackI don't know.
21- Dream Cast (with pictures)
Emilie de Ravin as Caspia
Anna Popplewell as Freesia (second eldest sister, and villainess)
Anna Saffer as Belladonna "Bella"
Jessica Sula as the twins: Heather and Hydrangea "Heidi"
Jessica Brown Findlay as Dahlia
And I don't know about the other sisters
22- The Ten best things about your story
23- The ten things you could improve
None yet for either.
24- Why are you going to do with it when it’s done?Edit it! And then keep it for myself to look back on and laugh at in 10 years.
25- What is the main twist/ plot point?When they find the door to Lore is the inciting action.
26- What is the most exciting scene/ chapter/ partTheodore entering Lore, because that's what set off the curse.
27- How often do you write it and in what environment?Hopefully all November and December will be writing the novel, and I tend to write at the Write Ins in my region, and my school, and then in my room at 2 in the morning.
28- Who else has read it? Or heard about it? Does anyone know you’re writing?My writing buddies have heard about, as has my brother, and my dad knows I'll be writing it, but I've been very vague with him. (Him: "Have you been doing NaNoWriMo stuff?" Me: "Mm hmm" Him: "What are you writing" Me: "Uhhh a book, probably" that's about as far as it has gotten.)
29- Pretend you’re a critic and give a fair but concise criticism of your project so farWhen it is in the makings, the critics would probably kill it with fire. I'm a terrible writer, which is why I hope I'm never, ever published. haha.
30- Post a chapter or so for everyone to read and review
You know the drill.
NaNoWriMo, Writings, and Bookish Musings (Part 2)
This is Part 2 of my delayed update post! In this one, I'm going to be talking about my NaNoWriMo plans, general excitement, and so forth. Yay!
NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, for those of you who don't know. The goal is to write 50,000 words of a novel in 30 days-- specifically, the month of November. November is only 13 days away, which means, that NaNoWriMo is looming ever closer.
Last year, I won NaNo with 92k, and for my second year, I want to beat that count and write 100k in the month of November. 3,334 words per day. Let's hope I can make that goal!
Now, the question is: What am I writing? I've actually put some planning into it. It's a retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, but with less dancing, and more Sleeping Beauty. I've got all my character summaries in one notebook, and so far, 7 of the 12 sisters have bios done... I promised myself I would get them all done by the 20th. I better get working on that...
Also, I will probably not post on here during NaNo due to my daily updates on My NaNo Diary where I will be uploading my word count daily, along with writing out my tales of woe for all of you to read.
So yes. Hopefully you will learn more about my project soon-ish. I'm sure as November gets closer, my babble will increase.
NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, for those of you who don't know. The goal is to write 50,000 words of a novel in 30 days-- specifically, the month of November. November is only 13 days away, which means, that NaNoWriMo is looming ever closer.
Last year, I won NaNo with 92k, and for my second year, I want to beat that count and write 100k in the month of November. 3,334 words per day. Let's hope I can make that goal!
Now, the question is: What am I writing? I've actually put some planning into it. It's a retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, but with less dancing, and more Sleeping Beauty. I've got all my character summaries in one notebook, and so far, 7 of the 12 sisters have bios done... I promised myself I would get them all done by the 20th. I better get working on that...
Also, I will probably not post on here during NaNo due to my daily updates on My NaNo Diary where I will be uploading my word count daily, along with writing out my tales of woe for all of you to read.
So yes. Hopefully you will learn more about my project soon-ish. I'm sure as November gets closer, my babble will increase.
NaNoWriMo, Writing, and Bookish Musings (Part 1)
Hey guys! I realized due to how busy October has been for me, that I hadn't actually updated this blog for awhile, and I wanted to get back in the swing of things! Today's post will come in two parts, because a lot has happened in the past month in my little bookish bubble!
First, my Bookish updates. I finished reading The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima, and while it didn't live up to my (admittedly sky high) expectations, it was still a good book. The final book in the Heir Chronicles is coming out on the 21st, so keep your eye out for that!
Currently, I'm reading the second book in that series, The Wizard Heir. The main character in this one is Seph, who I think I like better than I liked Jack. The plot is more interesting to me personally in this book as well and there's one mystery I can't wait until it's solved!
Other books I have finished include Hattie Big Sky and Spook. Hattie Big Sky was historical fiction, so not something I would normally read, but Kirby Larson, the author, did such a wonderful job on this book. The characters were so--so-- they were so good. Not good as in, I baked a pie and it turned out scrumptious. Not good as in 'that was a good book. maybe I'll read it again sometime.' They were good as in they had such kind hearts, such reasonable intentions, such life inside of them that it felt they were real. This is the best historical fiction novel I have ever read.
Spook by Mary Roach, was about the science behind the afterlife. It was for a school project, and if I am remembering right, I posted a review on it on my Goodreads page. I'm Waffle Writer on Goodreads, and I post a lot of reviews on that site. I gave it 5 or 4.5 stars at the time I finished reading it I think. It had lots of humor and hilarity that made me keep turning the pages, but it also had research that the author put into it, and I could tell this was not an easy novel to write. I was also impressed by how unbiased her writing was. She wasn't trying to convince us, or herself really, just was curious about why or why not.
And, last but not least, the other book on my "Currently Reading" stack is Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. I've heard not-so-great things about the author, so I didn't want to read this book, but my English class requires me to, if I want to pass, so alas, I shall have to get over it.
Stay tuned for ramblings about NaNoWriMo, musings about my Novel Work in Progress, and more!
First, my Bookish updates. I finished reading The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima, and while it didn't live up to my (admittedly sky high) expectations, it was still a good book. The final book in the Heir Chronicles is coming out on the 21st, so keep your eye out for that!
Currently, I'm reading the second book in that series, The Wizard Heir. The main character in this one is Seph, who I think I like better than I liked Jack. The plot is more interesting to me personally in this book as well and there's one mystery I can't wait until it's solved!
Other books I have finished include Hattie Big Sky and Spook. Hattie Big Sky was historical fiction, so not something I would normally read, but Kirby Larson, the author, did such a wonderful job on this book. The characters were so--so-- they were so good. Not good as in, I baked a pie and it turned out scrumptious. Not good as in 'that was a good book. maybe I'll read it again sometime.' They were good as in they had such kind hearts, such reasonable intentions, such life inside of them that it felt they were real. This is the best historical fiction novel I have ever read.
Spook by Mary Roach, was about the science behind the afterlife. It was for a school project, and if I am remembering right, I posted a review on it on my Goodreads page. I'm Waffle Writer on Goodreads, and I post a lot of reviews on that site. I gave it 5 or 4.5 stars at the time I finished reading it I think. It had lots of humor and hilarity that made me keep turning the pages, but it also had research that the author put into it, and I could tell this was not an easy novel to write. I was also impressed by how unbiased her writing was. She wasn't trying to convince us, or herself really, just was curious about why or why not.
And, last but not least, the other book on my "Currently Reading" stack is Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. I've heard not-so-great things about the author, so I didn't want to read this book, but my English class requires me to, if I want to pass, so alas, I shall have to get over it.
Stay tuned for ramblings about NaNoWriMo, musings about my Novel Work in Progress, and more!
Monday, September 22, 2014
Happy Hobbit Day!
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| Image does not belong to me. |
Happy Birthday to Bilbo and Frodo Baggins!
I had to interrupt my usual blogging to make a Bilbo Baggins and Frodo Baggins appreciation post. Both of them have their birthdays on September 22nd, and guess what? That's today! I hope everyone celebrated with a hearty second breakfast.
Bilbo Baggins is probably my favorite book character ever, for a lot of reasons. One, his exchanges with Gandalf and everyone else in the Hobbit are really hilarious to read. He just gets so flustered so easily and starts tripping over his words and it reminds me a lot of myself, when I get flustered so I suppose I can connect to him in that way as well.
Secondly, do you know how much Tookish courage it must have taken him in order to go on the quest with Thorin and Company? A lot. A whole Smaughoard worth. He's a hobbit, and hobbits are fairly respectable, especially Bagginses, and they don't just go off on random Dragon-slaying, thieving adventures. All Bilbo wanted was to stay comfortably at home. But then his Tookish side awakened. And thank Goodness it did.
He changes so much over the course of the book, and I remember even when I was young I loved listening to my Dad read about his journey. Even though Bilbo doubts himself in the start, he continues to persevere. The company would not have succeeded without him.
There are so many more reasons why Bilbo Baggins is my favorite book character, but those are just a few. He proves that no matter your age, your reluctance, your self-esteem, all of us have a Tookish spark in us. And if you are unhappy with your current state, then you can always, always do something a little unexpected.
Happy Hobbit Day, everyone.
Monday Musings (3)
Hosted by Should Be Reading every Monday! Haven't done one of these in awhile, but since I haven't done one, I wanted to! Here is the description she has to share:
Musing Mondays asks you to muse about one of the following each week…
• Describe one of your reading habits.
• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it!
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!
Today, I'm going to talk about what books I am currently/about to start reading! Lucky me, I get to do book reports in two classes! My favorite type of homework. For History Class, I have to read a novel set in a historic time period of the twentieth century, and I chose 1918. The book I'm going to start reading is Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson.
It's about a sixteen year old girl named Hattie who moves out to Iowa to claim her Uncle's land after he passes away, all by herself. Why did I choose this one? I really love independent women/young women protagonists from this time period. Her adventure sounds like a very entertaining one to read.
Secondly, I have a book report for English due, and it's to read and do this whole big assignment on a Non Fiction book. For this one I chose Spook by Mary Roach. It's about Science investigating the afterlife, and to be honest from what I have read it's a lot different than I had expected. It's actually pretty witty and humorous in some parts. My favorite quote so far is after she apologizes to the person she was working with. He says: "It's okay, you only lost your mind twice."
And the last book I am reading right now is The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima. This is just a free time reading book. I wanted to read this one because Chima has been a favorite author of mine ever since I read her Seven Realms Series in May or June, I believe. A very skilled author. Thus far her Heir Chronicles isn't quite as good in my opinion as the Seven Realms but I am still liking it.
[[On a non-bookish note, Once Upon A Time returns this Sunday! Who else is excited?]]
Musing Mondays asks you to muse about one of the following each week…
• Describe one of your reading habits.
• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it!
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!
Today, I'm going to talk about what books I am currently/about to start reading! Lucky me, I get to do book reports in two classes! My favorite type of homework. For History Class, I have to read a novel set in a historic time period of the twentieth century, and I chose 1918. The book I'm going to start reading is Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson.
It's about a sixteen year old girl named Hattie who moves out to Iowa to claim her Uncle's land after he passes away, all by herself. Why did I choose this one? I really love independent women/young women protagonists from this time period. Her adventure sounds like a very entertaining one to read.
Secondly, I have a book report for English due, and it's to read and do this whole big assignment on a Non Fiction book. For this one I chose Spook by Mary Roach. It's about Science investigating the afterlife, and to be honest from what I have read it's a lot different than I had expected. It's actually pretty witty and humorous in some parts. My favorite quote so far is after she apologizes to the person she was working with. He says: "It's okay, you only lost your mind twice."
And the last book I am reading right now is The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima. This is just a free time reading book. I wanted to read this one because Chima has been a favorite author of mine ever since I read her Seven Realms Series in May or June, I believe. A very skilled author. Thus far her Heir Chronicles isn't quite as good in my opinion as the Seven Realms but I am still liking it.
[[On a non-bookish note, Once Upon A Time returns this Sunday! Who else is excited?]]
Thursday, September 18, 2014
Review: Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
This review is posted on my goodreads account here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1054856378
I wanted to post it on this blog too, because I'm proud of it haha. Plus, I'm trying out a new, less formatted style of review for this book.
MINOR SPOILERS??
Siege and Storm is the second book in the Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo. I finished it on September 18th, 2014.
My rating is 4.25 because of reasons.
This first reason is because this book was so much better than the first book in the series. There were still a few points in the middle where personally I got through rather slowly, but that's more of a personal problem than a problem with the book.
This took me eleven days to get through, probably difficult with school just starting up. Lots of homework, less time for reading, but it still wasn't quite at the level of hooking where I was putting my reading above everything else.
I did like the characters though, both Mal and Alina were very well thought out, and showed a lot of character growth throughout this book. It was interesting to see how Alina has changed from the beginning of the first book, where she denied having powers and despised being unique, to the end of the second book where she says she would never give up her Grisha abilities. It shows that the events of the trilogy thus far truly have changed her.
The setting was very in depth, I felt like it could have had a bit something more, for example a bit more explanation about who the Fjerdians are, and why they have such a rivalry, and so on but overall it was satisfying.
The plot was steady, I felt like it maintained a steady pace throughout, there were some exciting parts and others that weren't quite as exciting, but it was all quality matireal.
It left me wondering at the end of the book: where's Nikolai? What happened to him? And what ended up happening with Baghra, where is she? Why did Genya change in appearance so much? Why did Alina? And most of all, how will this all end?
I guess I'll just have to pick up the last book to find out!
Thanks for reading. Do you think I should post my Shadow and Bone review on my blog as well, or leave it on my Goodreads? You can find more of my reviews on my Goodreads account, here.
I wanted to post it on this blog too, because I'm proud of it haha. Plus, I'm trying out a new, less formatted style of review for this book.
MINOR SPOILERS??
Siege and Storm is the second book in the Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo. I finished it on September 18th, 2014.
My rating is 4.25 because of reasons.
This first reason is because this book was so much better than the first book in the series. There were still a few points in the middle where personally I got through rather slowly, but that's more of a personal problem than a problem with the book.
This took me eleven days to get through, probably difficult with school just starting up. Lots of homework, less time for reading, but it still wasn't quite at the level of hooking where I was putting my reading above everything else.
I did like the characters though, both Mal and Alina were very well thought out, and showed a lot of character growth throughout this book. It was interesting to see how Alina has changed from the beginning of the first book, where she denied having powers and despised being unique, to the end of the second book where she says she would never give up her Grisha abilities. It shows that the events of the trilogy thus far truly have changed her.
The setting was very in depth, I felt like it could have had a bit something more, for example a bit more explanation about who the Fjerdians are, and why they have such a rivalry, and so on but overall it was satisfying.
The plot was steady, I felt like it maintained a steady pace throughout, there were some exciting parts and others that weren't quite as exciting, but it was all quality matireal.
It left me wondering at the end of the book: where's Nikolai? What happened to him? And what ended up happening with Baghra, where is she? Why did Genya change in appearance so much? Why did Alina? And most of all, how will this all end?
I guess I'll just have to pick up the last book to find out!
Thanks for reading. Do you think I should post my Shadow and Bone review on my blog as well, or leave it on my Goodreads? You can find more of my reviews on my Goodreads account, here.
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Bout of Books 11.0 Wrap-Up
First off, thank you so much for the hosts of this read-a-thon, and the individual challenge hosts for each day. I loved how encouraging everyone was and the challenges were so creative and fun to do! Also, to anyone who commented on my blog during the read-a-thon, thank you! It really encouraged me to read even more.
Now, before this turns into a full on speech, I should get to my progress for the week! I read three and a half books in seven days!
- Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta-- This book was a solid five star book for me, which was really something as I was venturing out of my genre with this book. Jellicoe Road was a real emotional rollercoaster and it had me sobbing, laughing, and gasping out loud at the sheer cleverness of this book.
- Six Months Later by Natalie D. Richards-- While this book was still enjoyable and I finished it in one day, it wasn't quite as good as Jellicoe Road in my opinion. The characters weren't quite as powerful as Marchetta's were, and I just didn't find myself invested into the writing style. However the plot had me hooked!
- Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld-- Four stars from me, because while I really liked it, it just took awhile for me to get really into the book. I have loved the steampunk genre ever since reading Airborn by Kenneth Oppel, and I've always wanted to read something by Mr. Westerfeld. The illustrations in this book were spectacular.
- Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld-- Next, I continued on with the Leviathan Trilogy and read the second book, Behemoth. I thought there was quite a bit of character growth in this one and I found myself really able to connect with these fully-fleshed out people. While I didn't manage to finish this one during the Read-a-thon, I did get halfway through!
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Top Ten Tuesday: Characters Sitting At My Lunch Table
Top Ten Tuesday, as always, is hosted by Broke and Bookish and this week the topic is Top Ten Characters who would sit at your lunch table. I thought it was a very fitting topic for today! (And just to set the record straight I never eat lunch with other people. I'm pretty anxious when it comes to socialization. But let's pretend I had people sitting at my table.)
- Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck from Lord of the Rings by J R. R. Tolkien and...
- Peregrin "Pippin" Took from Lord of the Rings because the two of them are such fun and energetic hobbits that would make lunch really entertaining. It wouldn't get boring with these two around.
- Hermione Granger from Harry Potter by J K Rowling because we share the same interest in reading and she's super smart so maybe she could help me with studying during lunch sometime.
- Sophie from Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones because she's a bit on the quieter side like I am and she's a really sweet person most of the time.
- Cather from Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell because we both like to write, and we're both rather introverted.
- Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit by J R. R. Tolkien since who can have too many Hobbits at their lunch table, am I right?
- Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter by J K Rowling is a very likely choice for me as well, since she is kind-hearted and just a wee bit strange, like the rest of my friends. I think we would get along really well.
- Cat from The Seven Realms by Cinda Williams Chima because even though she's a little on the tougher side, I feel like she would be good at our table.
- Annabeth from Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan since she is also really smart, and I feel like she might fit in at our table.
- Agatha from School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani because she's a misfit just like me, and we could get along famously.
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