Mini Book Reviews

I read a bunch of smaller kindle books at the beginning of the year so that A. I’d get through some of my 200 kindle books quicker and B. I could easily get ahead in my GR goal in case I fell behind or when months without reading a lot (like I did in February and the beginning of this month!) So here are 5 quick reviews for you!

The Circle (The Heirs of Gorus #1) by Myka Ramos – 3.5 stars
– This had me entertained and interested the entire time. It had amazing opening sentences and I loved this mystery about the wall and I also loved the political mess and the character connections. On top of all that, homosexual relationships are also a major plus and positive for me personally ❤ I really want to read more! I hope there is more! The ending too left A LOT unanswered but in a good way that I wanted to continue!

The Princess of Egypt Must Die by Stephanie Dray – 2.5 stars.
I really like the setting, because I am a huge Egyptian and Greek mythology lover, and so Acient Egypt was an ideal setting for me to be thrown into! It definitely kept me interested throughout too, but, unfortunately I really didn’t like the main character (she was far too naive), and I feel that the story ended when it was JUST about to start getting real good! But I enjoyed it nonetheless and might keep my eye on this author.

The Hero and the Fiend by Glenn G. Thater – 4 stars
This was really good!! I enjoyed the Norse mythology surrounding it (which as you can tell from my review just above, I’m into the whole mythology thing and so Norse fits nicely into it too!). This novella/short story was mysterious, suspenseful, action packed, and a little chilling! I never wanted it to end and I need more!! This author I WILL keep an eye on! There’s definitely something working in his head and I think this world he’s created will be a great thing to explore more (< I’m ill. If that made no sense then I’m sorry!). Also, I really like this cover!

A Dark Kiss of Rapture by Sylvia Day  -2 stars.
Romance really isn’t my thing, which I REALLY realised while reading this because I was so much more interested in the vampire plot line, and just skipping over the romance and sex scenes… The actual vampire part of this story was great and I’d love to know what happens next but the romance… I wasn’t in it at all and it was pretty insta and stupid but that’s me and my personal preferences talking there, you might like it! A little note: you could tell this was written by a woman as it didn’t feel quite realistic enough on the guys side. And unfortunately, there were some cheesy lines too. But I enjoyed the book while I was reading it; at least the plot vampire line I enjoyed.

Claimed by the Beast – Part One by Dawn Michelle – DNF’d/Lemmed (1 star)
I DNF’d this after the first 5 or so pages. I’m just too old for this type of teenage, unrealistic situation and talk and cliche stories. I just wasn’t the correct audience for this that’s all. Maybe if I was 6 or 7 years younger I would’ve enjoyed this (wow, how the hell was I 15, 7 years ago?! Time flies I guess…). The suspenseful writing was great though!! < I can at least give it one positive comment for DNFing it. Sorry Miss Author but just not for me personally!

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And they are 5 mini reviews of kindle books I read recently (actually ALL in January in about a week xD)

Have you read any of these? Gotten interested in any? Let me know below!

The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson

So my last review was way back in November which means I’m 8 reviews behind. So I best start of from where I left off!

Quickie Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars

I put off reading this book for SO long because I was SO worried it wouldn’t live up to book one but oh my god; the was so good!

Brandon Sanderson has such a way of weaving in little clues and things along the way and create these MASSIVE reveals and shockers at the end. Seriously, the last 100/200 pages were INSANE! At the beginning of the story I was like ‘I know where this is going’ and some things that I predicted came true straight away but in true Sanderson style, he ADDS something that you don’t expect to it and it just blows up!! I was completely hooked, so invested, loved every moment of it and holy hell – that ending!

I have to say though; I’m still not a fan of the main romance (but I seriously shipped the other couple in this book though! Y’know Zane!!) but that’s just me not liking romance in books that I read. I prefer books (and movies I think) without romance, especially when they’re fantasy and/or action.

Spoilers (and less coherent thoughts):

I’m not dead!

So I’ve been away for a while haven’t I? I’ve been SO busy with stage plays, musicals and TV/movies at the minute. I have already read 9 books this year and didn’t finish anything in February I don’t think… I promise I’ll catch up on reviews!!! I’m off work ill today so I think I’ll power through writing all my reviews xD

Bear with me!

How is everyone by the way? ^_^

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

I finally got around to writing the review for this! I am excited to get this review out although I am no doubt of one the bajillion positive reviews that you’ve already seen about this book – so sorry that I happen to be matching the popular opinion in this book. BUT, I will take this moment to say: I went into this book with NO expectations. All I knew before hand was:

• About a magic school
• 3 days of a person’s life
• A lot of negative reviews commented about the story being slow and the character being very naive (but this could’ve been more about the second book)
• Pat Rothfuss is such an intelligent, funny and nice guy.

Regarding the last point: It is because I enjoy watching Pat Rothfuss interviews and because I enjoyed his podcast so much, is why I decided to finally pick up this book. He is a great person and it helps to really like the author when it comes to a book, or at least gets me more motivated about reading a book when the author is great!

So without further ado, lets get onto the actual review!

Quickie Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Holy crap this was so good!! From start to finish, I was engrossed with the story. While it’s technically a slow paced story, it no way felt like it dragged once!!! I was so absorbed in the world and what Kvothe was doing and the writing flowed so well that it (again while the story is ‘slow’) reads quickly. Rothfuss hella knows how to write and certainly knows the right words to use!!! Some words I seriously loved! Like seriously, beautiful word choice! My favourite characters… that’s tough, definitely young Kvothe . I loved the conflict between Kvothe and Ambrose was great! But Ambrose does scare me a little and concerned as to what he’ll plot next! I like how our MC is never safe; he’s always at risk of dying or serious injury, as well as not sure whether he’ll be able to afford to live and while it is rather depressing, it was nice not having that safety net. Auri is still a mystery too – how did she get there?! Finally, I like Bast – cannot wait to see how he got picked up along the way and what he actually is! The one main location that I love is definitely the Library! It holds so many secrets and feels like an actual, live character =] From the writing, to the story, to the characters, to the chilling ending (omg the ending was just so chilling and so just dark and powerful!) ; I loved it and I need more!!!!

Quotes:

‘Call a jack, a jack. Call a spade, a spade. But always call a whore a lady. They lives are hard enough‘ << genius!!

‘never do anything in private that I didn’t want talked about in public‘

‘ “You think too much of me.” I smiled. “Perhaps you think too little of yourself.” ‘

‘ It was the patient, cut-flower sound of a man who is waiting for die. ‘ < that ending!!!!

And that’s everything!! I think I’m gunna leave it a while before I start bok two because I don’t wanna rush the two main books and the novella and then have to wait 2 years for the final book. So I’ll see how Rothfuss’ progress is during 2016 before I start reading the second book.

Have you read this? What did you thnk? Do you want to read it? Comment Below!

3rd July 2015 #FridayReads + Camp NaNo Update #1

Don’t kill me… I am still reading Order…. like I said earlier, my mind just isn’t in reading at the moment. But I am currently on their first Quidditch Match of the month and the whole “Weasley is Our King” has started xD

But I received an ARC of Ernest Cline’s Armada earlier this week, so I got right on that as soon as I got it! It’s really good so far even if I’m only on chapter 2 >.< I am loving the pop references!

SO I really need to finish that for the 14th =]

Camp Update:  Yes it’s day three but thought maybe Friday Updates are a good idea as July finishes on a Friday also! xD Progress so far is = I am overwritten for the first two days so I am definitely doing well. It was really easy for me to get back into the story, I am enjoying writing it and I’ve already finished a chapter! =] I am currently on 1346 words!

What’s your Friday Reads this week? Have you gotten an ARC of Armada? If not, do you want it? xD How’s your Camp going?

How We Define Genres?

This discussion idea came to me while I was watching a recent video by Benjamin of Tomes: Fantasy recommends. And it was interesting that he was classing things like The Young Elites and The Whispers of the Fallen as fantasy, whereas they were books I would’ve said were SF or Paranormal. So it got me thinking: How do you personally define what genre something is?

So first I thought I’d give a few things that make me ‘genre define’ a book:

Fantasy
Magic (system)
Dragons
(Most likely) Made-up land/world

SF
Science
Space(ships)
Computers/Technology
Robots
Futuristic

Superheroes
Abilities that isn’t magic/caused by something e.g. DNA.
Abilities created from illness/virus/genetic mutation

Dystopian/Post-Apocalyptic
World gone to shit
Nuclear (power/explosion)
Humanity (almost) dead
Lack of food/water/living/electricity

Paranormal/Supernatural
Vampires/Werewolves
Ghosts
Hunters
Cops fighting SPN crime

It’s not a very solid list but it’s a start of how I define a book in a genre.

What sort of things make you define a book in a particular genre?

Happy Anniversary!!!

Today I celebrate my one year anniversary as Alex in Bookland!!! Wow the year went fast! But let us recap a few things… Firstly, my first ever post!

The Selection by Keira Cass

And now for the reflection; I started this blog, it was because I wanted to talk about books but booktubing was too time consuming and I didn’t have confidence on camera; writing on the other hand I could do because I have numerous blogs anyway dedicated to different things. While I still don’t really have a set way of reviewing things (and I know I’m missing a fancy starring chart) just yet, I hope you’ve enjoyed the reviews and other contents I have put up on this blog and look forward to spending the next year with me!

And there is a big big big big thank you I have to give out; TO YOU GUYS!! You guys are so amazing, supportive and I’ve had many amazing conversations with you all! Let’s carry that on shall we!

Also, on the 16th (last week) I reached two awesome achievements!! 200 posts and 500 likes!!

Once again, thank you all so much and happy anniversary to me!!

5 Classics I Want to Read in 2015

I have accumulated quite a few classics over the years, and I’m not even including the free domain books you can get on Kindle! So here are the 5 classics I will read this year!

As well as an extra classic because it was a classic I started this year and have not yet finished!

I have chosen these classics mainly because they are classics that I own physically and with the high possibility (and certainty) of moving back to Japan next July/August, I need to kind get rid of as much physical stuff as possible so by going through all my physical classics, I will only be keeping the classics (and other books and DVDs etc.) that are top favourites of mine! So not only are they classics I want to read but also books I kinda have to read xD

Which do you recommend I start with?

Books that I Really Want to Read but Too Scared in 2015

Here are some books that I already own but haven’t started reading because of reasons, mainly:

– The hype around it makes me feel my expectation is too high
– It’s an ultimate fantasy must-read and I’m scared I won’t like it

The second one is the greatest reason for this group of books. So without furtherado, here are the books!

By making this list I have hopefully make them become ‘you must read’ books of 2015 xD Wish me luck!

Which book should I read first?! Let me know in the comments below.

Authors I Want to Read/Try in 2015

This list will be based solely on how much the author themselves have intruged and not by ‘what books do I own that are from authors I’ve never touched?’ but will literally be based on ‘I’ve heard this author is a cool guy’ or ‘I’ve only ever heard rave reviews of his books but I only know his name and book titles, let alone what his face looks like!’ xD Here we go! I shall also list the book I most likely to pick up first by them slash the book of theirs I really want to read first!

1. Stephen King – I must get a book and read this man! I love his lectures, I think he’s amazing. I’ve seen quite a few of his adaptation and I really wanna watch Carrie and Under the Dome and I’ve heard great things about… ALL this books! Especially ‘The Long Road’ recently. I must read this man in 2015!

2. Ernest Cline – he owns a freaking working Delorian and made a book filled with 80s gaming culture?! I’m there!

3. James S.A. Corey – because I heard they made an epic SF series that is now getting a TV show and over two years since I bought their first book and I’m still dying to read it?!

4. Hugh Howey – only ever heard amazing things about his books and I own one of his, so I better get on his case and experience the awesome!

5. George Orwell – he’s like the omniscient god in the classics/fantasy/SF world. He’s a man that just floats around every bookreader and seems to get his way into so many conversations and I want to find out just what this man’s writing and ideas are all about.

6. Joe Abercrombie – I’ve heard he’s the king of dark fantasy and I want a slice of a fantasy genre I haven’t tried.

7. Philip K. Dick – another omniscient god in the world that I walk in and yet never touched! =/

8. Patrick Rothfuss – he is on everyone’s radar! He’s a lovely person, his books are supposedly awesome (I have heard quite a bit of negative although doesn’t turn me off in the slightest) and he does a lot for charity and loves table top games – I need to read him.

9. John Scalzi – heard rave reviews about all of his books and they all sound awesome and right down my alley.

10. Gail Carriger – I’ve seen her in interviews and she’s perfectly pleasant! She writes in steampunk all the time which I think is awesome! And she loves octopi and tea! Also, her major at uni was as an archaeologist – how amazing is that?!

Sooooo many more I want to read and devour and maybe I will in 2015 but maybe they’ll have to wait until 2016 =/