Unpopular Opinions

I saw this tag on YouTube and found it quite interesting. Seeing as I don't have a booktube channel I thought I would answer these questions in blog form.

1. A popular book or series that you didn't like

Lord of the Rings....
Don't shoot me, I know it's a classic and beloved but I just found it so boring and I couldn't get into it. Even the movies aren't so great.

2. A popular book or series that everyone seems to hate but you love

I looked on Goodreads and found the lowest rated book that I liked and that was Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger. I thought this book was really curious and I found the characters so unique. I wanted to get to know them and where they were headed. On the other hand it is a strange story and I can see why people may not enjoy it. 

3. A love triangle where the main character ended up with the person you did NOT want them to end up with....

In The Husband's Secret by Lianne Moriarty one of the characters Tess ended up with the wrong man, I can understand why she chose that, but still I wanted her to go the other way. 

4. A popular book genre that you hardly 

Action/Adventure. I'm talking Matthew Reilly, Tom Clancy, Jeffery Archer. Not my cup of tea.

5. A popular or beloved character that you do not like.

Margo from Paper Towns by John Green. I came away from that book really disliking this character, so much so that it pretty much ruined the book for me. If you liked her then the book was great but I didn't like that the book revolved around this awful main character. 

6. A popular author that you can't seem to get into?

Jane Austen... I know, I'm a bad reader, but I just can't relate to her characters at all. I've tried to read Pride and Prejudice so many times but I just can't relate. 

7. A popular book trope that your tired of seeing.

Teenagers falling in love and knowing they've found "the one." Come on guys, you're teenagers, chances are that boy your dating isn't the love of your life!

8. A popular series that you have no interest in reading.

The Lunar Chronicles - I've heard good things about Cinder but when I read the blurb it just seemed 'meh' to me. 

9. The saying goes "The book is always better than the movie", but what movies or T.V. show adaptation do you prefer more than the book?

This one is easy... The Notebook. This movie is one of my favourites, it's such a rainy-day, sick in bed, comfort kind of movie. I could watch it again and again and love it every time. And because of this I had to read the book. But the book did not impress me in the slightest, I was very disappointed. 

That's it from me for today,

Do you have any unpopular opinions? Let me know yours in the comments or link to your post/video covering this topic. I'm very curious to see what people thinking. 

Happy Reading
Sarah

Monday Musings (On Tuesday)

I have a slight time zone issue, because I live in Australia I live my life a day earlier than everyone else! (I know what happens in the future.. mwa ha ha) Anyway, that means a lot of the things I want to participate with weekday names are going to have to be posted on the next day. But I'm ok with that

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme that asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer:

• I’m currently reading…
• Up next I think I’ll read…
• I bought the following book(s) in the past week…
• I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…
• I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…
• I can’t wait to get a copy of…
• I wish I could read ___, but…
• I blogged about ____ this past week…

Or I might answer a few...

I'm currently reading Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman and I'm loving it! Hopefully I'll put aside some time to finish that today. 

I bought the following books in the past week... American Gods by Neil Gaiman This is the little book club book for may/june and I'm looking forward to it. Also Vicious by V.E. Schwab. I love love loved A Darker Shade of Magic so I had to give this a go too!

I can't wait to get a copy of Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. I wasn't too sure if I wanted to read YA and/or fantasy books... but I hit a reading slump because of it. And I've read a few in these genres lately and have been enjoying myself so I'm going to jump in the deep end with this one! 

Happy Reading
Sarah

Bout of Books Wrap Up

Bout of Books 13.0 is officially over and I had a blast!

I started the week off really well and read heaps. But flailed a little towards the end. I said that I wasn't going to watch TV shows this week and that I'd read instead but it didn't stay that way later in the week. Slump much. But I'm pretty proud of myself anyway. I hit all my targets and did a little bit more so overall I think it was a win! 

I read 2 books (plus some), 3 graphic novels and two 'other' books. Let me explain my "others". Lemony Snickett's Horseradish was a book full of short stories and sayings, so not really a novel so to speak. I also read another book with interesting little stories and amazing illustrations. I love Shaun Tan, I can't even tell you how much, his work is truly beautiful and I am so glad I read this - I might even have to go and buy my own copy. 

The three graphic novels I read were the first two books in the Locke & Key series and the 5th book in the Scott Pilgrim series. Loved them all! Locke & Key is something completely new to me, and I'm finding it very interesting. I've borrowed the last 4 books from the library and I can't wait to get into them. Only one Scott Pilgrim to go and I'm a little bit sad to see the end of it, I never thought a graphic novel could make me laugh out loud so often. I'm new to graphic novels but am impressed with these two series, if you have any recommendations let me know. 

For the books I read We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. I won't go into that book here because I've talked about it already this week, but incase you missed that I loved it. The second book I read was Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews and I was pleasantly surprised. I'll get back with a detailed review soon. 

I started but didn't finish two other books. Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams but me into a bit of a reading slump. It's wonderfully written, the language Adams uses is so uniquely descriptive and hilarious, but I felt the story wasn't moving along very fast. I think he gets a bit caught up in describing the situation that I felt the story wasn't going anywhere. I plan to finish it, but didn't want to get slumpy (I know that's not a real word) in the middle of a read-a-thon.

The other book I started was Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. If I pushed myself I could have finished it but I got slack... oh well. I'm really loving this and can't wait to see where it ends up. 

So that was my read a thon experience. Overall I enjoyed it very much and will definitely be joining in again! 

Enjoyable 5stars

Participation 4stars (I slacked a bit at the end of the week)

Reading 3.5stars (Good books but I could have pushed harder)

Let me know how you went

Happy Reading

Sarah

From Modern to Classic

Bout of Books day 4 challenge is being hosted by Ranty Runt of a Reader (gotta love that alliteration!) It is to pick a book that has been released recently that you believe will be a classic in 100 years time. For me I can't go past the last book I read... "We were liars" by E. Lockhart. It was amazing, and I believe will be a true classic in years to come.

Reason #1 This is a modern tale about a wealthy teenager dealing with events that have transpired in her life, and how they come to grips with that. (Holden Caulfield from Catcher in the Rye anyone?) Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this book is a modern version of Catcher but a truly honest account of a young protagonists life from a compelling voice is something that is sure to transcend the generations.

Reason #2  This story is something that will resonate with you for years, it's a story of family, friendship and mistakes and is something everyone can relate to.

Bout of Books Update:
Books: 1
Graphic Novels: 3
Other: 2
(I'll wrap up everything at the end of the week)

I picked up Dirk Gently's holistic detective agency by Douglas adams to read next but I'm not really feeling it. I assumed it would be a fun easy read but it feels very similar to Hitchhiker's Guide (which I love) but perhaps a bit too similar. I think I'll have to put that aside for now and pick up something else. My options are:
The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl - Jesse Andrews
Anna and the French Kiss - Stephanie Perkins
Any suggestions about what I should pick up next? How is your read-a-thon experience going?

Happy Reading
Sarah

Character Face Off

Lulo Fangirl is hosting the second challenge for Bout of Books 13 today and it's a real challenge!

Create the ultimate character face-off.

Pick two of your all-time favorite characters. They can be from the books you chose for the read-a-thon (or not — totally up to you).

Even though they are both your favorite, you HAVE to choose one as the winner. And tell me why.

Sell me on why this ONE character is your favorite character of ALL characters.

I found this quite hard because I generally have favourite stories rather than favourite characters. I also found that because I'm not much of a re-reader the specifics of many characters have faded into the background for me a little. But I did come up with two characters that I am particularly fond of, so here goes....

In the red corner is everyone's favourite heroine of the moment, she's become a of hope for many people and become an symbol for a revolution... it's Katniss Everdeen! (The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins)

In the blue corner, a quiet girl who is not afraid to stand up for what's right in a society where the threats to people's safety are not only real, but hidden from plain sight.... it's Skeeter Phelan. (The Help - Kathryn Stockett)

Whilst Katniss is unwillingly thrust into the role of mockingjay to fight for the cause, she lives up to the role she's been placed in. She does what needs to be done and does so with amazing style. 

Skeeter on the other hand does something dangerous, because it's the right thing to do. She becomes a leader to a group of people that she doesn't belong to and as such is cast away from her own. The threat she faces is a real one and I admire the way she handled it without ever taking any credit for what she's done. 

 The winner? Skeeta. I love the fact Skeeter gives up everything when she doesn't have to, she's fighting not for people she loves or because she has to, but because it's what she believes is right. 

I really have a thing for strong female characters, and there are many more that I could have included here... who are some of your favourite females?

Happy Reading
Sarah

Bout of Books Update #1.5

I must say I am very proud of my progress. I am not a fast reader by any means so it's good to be getting somewhere, I feel like I'm actually accomplishing something. Yay!

I finished We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. It was Amazing! Completely Amazing. I won't tell you much about it because it's really best if you don't know, but I was blown away. 5 Stars

I also read Locke & Key, Vol. 1: Welcome to Lovecraft. I wasn't sure if graphic novels were going to be my thing but I really enjoyed this one. I felt like I really got to know the characters, and I jumped at all the right places. I am very excited to read the rest of this series.  Another 5 stars.

This morning I finished Horseradish by Lemony Snicket, which is a short book full of funny sayings and advice. It was very cute and very much in the same style as A Series of Unfortunate Events. A very quick read but I enjoyed it. 3 Stars (enjoyable but nothing special)

Currently Reading: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams. Not sure how I'm feeling about it yet....

How is everyone going with the read-a-thon? If you have a blog link it down below and I'll come by and say hello

Happy Reading
Sarah

Bout of Books update and challenge #1

Bout of Books is underway! I am 3/4 through We Were Liars by E. Lockhart and loving it. Should have it finished by bed time.

The first challenge is hosted by Writing My Own Fairy Tale and involves answering some questions. Here goes...

1. How do you organize your shelves?
I have a bookshelf with six shelves. Three of those are beatifully organized by colour and size, and have some nerdy bits amd pieces among them. I am very proud of the state of these shelves. 

The bottom three are less impressive, one has cookbooks (I have quite a few) one has photo albums and scrap books and the third has all my novels/bits and pieces that I haven't managed to find a place for yet among the pretty shelves... one day it'll all be as nice as the top three. I hope. 

2. What s one of your favorite books that's not in one of your favorite generes?
Well that's easy! A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab. I am not a fantasy person but this one sounded pretty cool to me, and I loved it so, so much!

3. What is the last 5 star book you read?
A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

4. What book are you most excited to read during the read-a-thon?

Locke & Key, Vol. 1: Welcome to Lovecraft by Joe HIll, Gabriel Rodriguez. I've heard good things about this series and have been saving it for bout of books. 

5. What book to you recommend the most?

That is a tough question, it really depends who I'm giving the recommendation to... But probably The Time Traveller's wife by Audrey Niffenenger. 

Friday Finds #01

So technicallyy it's Saturday, but I just found this topic over at A Daily Rhythm and wanted to participated. Better late than never!

FRIDAY FINDS showcases the books you ‘found’ and added to your To Be Read (TBR) list… whether you found them online, or in a bookstore, or in the library — wherever! (they aren’t necessarily books you purchased).

My Finds:

• American Gods - Neil Gaiman

This is the book for Little Book Owl's book club for May/June. It looks really interesting and I've been wanting to read something by Neil Gaiman, so why not start here. 

• A Million Years in a Day - Greg Jenner (A Curious History of Everyday life from the stone age to the phone age)

I found this on the just in shelf in the library and it looked cool. I've been wanting to learn a bit more about history and this looks like an interesting spin on history and how it's influenced the things we do today. I may read the whole thing, or just the chapters that I think are more interesting.

• The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making - Catherynne M. Valente

The title of this book sounds amazing! I couldn't go past it, sounds like a pretty fun book too.

Let me know if you've found any books lately I should check out!

Happy Reading

Sarah

To Be Read #01

Starting Monday I'm doing my first read-a-thon since primary school and I'm getting prepared! I've borrowed alot of books from the library and sorted through my own collection so that I can achieve as much as possible during the week.

Graphic Novels are a new media to me, but this is the perfect oppurtunity to give them a go! Plus I can get through a few of those without stressing myself out too much.

I'm up to Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe (#5) so I'm going to read that for sure. I was very excited to find the colour edition at the library, I cannot wait to get started. In fact I am forcing myself to wait till Monday to read it so I can include it in the read a thon.

I'm also going to try out a new series I've heard great things about, Locke & Key. I've got the first two books in the series ready to go. I know absolutely nothing about them so that will be an interesting experience for me.

I've also picked up a book from my favourite artist Shaun Tan. I love "The Red Tree" and wanted to give "Tales of Outer Suburbia" a go. Tan has the most beautiful art style, and his stories are so moving, I'm looking forward to reading this one.

Horseradish by Lemony Snicket is a quick little book filled with words of wisdom. Shouldn't take long to read and it'll help me complete another 'food and drink' book in my It's all in the title reading challenge.

Now onto novels. I have strategically picked books that are a little shorter or easier to read. I've been wanting to read all these books anyway, and I definately won't get through them all, but I think it's a good idea to have some options.

We were liars - E.Lockhart. I know nothing about this book but from the reviews I've seen it's best to know nothing about this book going into it. It's one of the three books I bought from the dymocks 101 this year.

The Dressshop of Dreams - Mena Van Praag. This book sounds like it's going to be too cute. A dress maker who sews enchantments into clothing to help her granddaughter find love. Sickly sweet but oh so fun.

I have a few more books on order at the library that will hopefully arrive by Monday. I will add those in another post when they arrive.

Can you tell I'm excited?

If you want to join in bout of books click on the link in the sidebar.

Have you read any of these books? What books are you planning to read during bout of books this year? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

Happy Reading
Sarah

Bout of Books 13

My first read-a-thon! 

Well perhaps I did a few in primary school, but this is my first attempt as an adult. I am super excited to get some reading done and be involved in a week long challenge. I'll be updating my progress here as I go along. 

I'm going to keep my goals low, I still have to work and I'm not the quickest reader in the world. So my aim is to get through two novels and two graphic novels. It may not be a big challenge for alot of readers but for me, well, I'd be pretty psyched to get through that much in a week. If I can get through anything extra that would be a super bonus. 

So wish me luck! Details below or you can click on the link in my side bar

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 11th and runs through Sunday, May 17th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 13 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

Happy Reading,
Sarah

Reading Challenges

I love a good reading challenge.

It all started with the Dymocks 101 books... I wanted to read as many as possible (possibly all 101). As the years went on, and the list changed with each year, I started to realise something. Just because a book is on the list doesn't mean I'm going to like it. Don't get me wrong, there are some great books in the list, I have discovered lots of books that I wouldn't have otherwise. However, I have tried to read alot of books that I found so boring. They might be great books, but I couldn't relate and I couldn't get through them.

And this sent me into a huge reading slump. To the point where I went months without reading anything. That was such a shame because I love reading so much... when I have a good book that is.

Earlier this year I put the list and the challenge aside. And it was the greatest decision! I have rediscovered my love of reading and it makes me oh so happy. I have read so much this year that will never be on the list, but you know what? I have read some amazing books.

So onto new challenges!

I set myself the Goodreads goal of reading 20 books this year which I thought I'd be pretty proud of. But I've well and truly beaten that, so I've increased my goal to 50.

I had a look through the Goodreads forums and found a few challenges that I can cater to my reading likes and dislikes. So I still have the goals, and the satisfaciton of ticking off things from my list, but if I don't like something I don't have to finish it, and I can replace it with something more to my liking. Win/Win!

I'm attempting the "It's all in the title challenge" from Goodreads. I've added a few catergories of my own too.
I'm crossing off titles from the "A-Z" challenge.
And last but not least, I'm trying to read 40 of the 50 books in the PopSugar book list.

I'll be back shortly to go through these in more detail, and talk about books I like or didn't like. Let me know you're thoughts on book challenges. I'd love to hear from you!

Happy Reading
Sarah