what i'm reading

“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.” 

Kurt Vonnegut - Mother Night

***

Snippet from Goodreads: Mother Night is a daring challenge to our moral sense. American Howard W. Campbell, Jr., a spy during World War II, is now on trial in Israel as a Nazi war criminal. But is he really guilty? In this brilliant book rife with true gallows humor, Vonnegut turns black and white into a chilling shade of gray with a verdict that will haunt us all.

***

Yesterday I started to read Mother Night. I'm such a fan of Vonnegut's work. His novels never fail to interest me. I've made it my own personal goal to read everything the man has written.

Bookish Questions

1. What is your favourite book? I have three: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, and Persuasion by Jane Austen (although it's so tough to pick my favorite J.A. book).
2. Who is your favourite author? Very difficult question. I'm going to have to go with Jane Austen. 
3. What genre do you prefer? Classics and YA.
4. What is your favourite book series? The Harry Potter series, the Infernal Devices, the Mortal Instruments, and The Lord of the Rings. 
5. What books did you hate reading in school? I honestly don't remember having to read any that I disliked. 
6. What is the first book you remember reading as a child? A book with Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.
7. Bookstores or libraries? I love both. 
8. How many books do you own? I have no idea. I haven't kept count.
9. Do you read before bed? Yes.
10. What is your most comfortable reading position? Sitting curled up.
11. What is the most recent book you read? Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut. 
12. What quote from any book will you never forget? "I wish I were a girl again, half savage and hardy, and free." from Wuthering Heights. 
13. Science Fiction or Fantasy? Fantasy
14. What books do you regret reading? None.
15. How large is your bookshelf? I don't have a traditional bookshelf, so I have books everywhere. 
16. On average, how many books do you read per year? It depends, but I've read anywhere from 50 to 100. 
17. What book can you read hundreds of times and never get tired of? Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Northanger Abbey. 
18. Do you like to read outside? I love it. It's one of my most favorite places to read.
19. What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned from a book? I think that when you're an avid reader you're constantly learning important lessons from the books that you read. It's difficult to pick just one.
20. Of the past year, what is the greatest book you’ve read? The Fault in Our Stars, The Book Thief, and Rebecca. 

new kindle! & what i'm reading

I finally got a new Kindle Paperwhite. I had wanted one since they had came out, and it was well worth the purchase price. It's so great to read books on at night. Much easier and cozier than leaving the lamp on the nightstand on while I'm reading in bed. I absolutely love it!

Last night I started The Lightning Thief, the first book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. 

It's such a fun and difficult to put down read. I love that it's very YA. It sort of reminds me of how I felt when I first read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. It has that youthful intrigue. I have the first three books in the series, so I'm looking forward to those. 

What are you reading?

what i'm reading

It's been extremely windy and cold today. It keeps changing from rain to ice to snow and back again.
Aiden and I went for coffee, and I took my Kindle to read. I decided to start Curtsies and Conspiracies, as well as The Prince and the Pauper. Both are relatively quick reads. I'm enjoying them thoroughly.

I've always been a fan of Mark Twain. At the age of ten I read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in elementary school and loved them. I was always partial to Huck Finn, even more so when Brad Renfro portrayed him in the 1995 movie Tom and Huck. My young heart swooned.

Curtsies and Conspiracies is the second book in the Finishing School series. It's very steampunk, which I absolutely love and is one of my favorite genres. I love the main character Sophronia. It's such a fun, inventive series. 

what i'm reading

I'm reading quite a few (& very different from one another) books at the moment. Instead of talking about all of them, I want to mention the classic.

Semi-recently I decided that I really want to read more classical literature, so I've been delving into that again.

I'm introducing myself to Kafka with his book The Metamorphosis.

I'm also planning to read two Jane Austen novels that I hadn't, The Hounds of Baskerville by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Prince and the Pauper by Dickens, and to reread Oliver Twist as well as the Complete Works of Shakespeare. 

francesca woodman

I sort of fell in love with Francesca Woodman's photography when I watched the documentary The Woodmans on Netflix.

I honestly had never heard of her before watching the film. Afterwards I Googled everything that I could possibly find about her.

You can read a bit of her story here.

I find her work so intriguing. It has an eerie quality, so human while conveying a spontaneous emotion. 

If you're interested in photography, or the biography of a girl who created incredibly thought-provoking art, check out the documentary. 

city of fallen angels review

Book Four in the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare

 ***

From Goodreads: 

The Mortal War is over, and sixteen-year-old Clary Fray is back home in New York, excited about all the possibilities before her. She’s training to become a Shadowhunter and to use her unique power. Her mother is getting married to the love of her life. Downworlders and Shadowhunters are at peace at last. And—most importantly of all—she can finally call Jace her boyfriend.

But nothing comes without a price.

Someone is murdering Shadowhunters, provoking tensions between Downworlders and Shadowhunters that could lead to a second, bloody war. Clary’s best friend, Simon, can’t help her—his mother just found out that he’s a vampire, and now he’s homeless. When Jace begins to pull away from her without explaining why, Clary is forced to delve into the heart of a mystery whose solution reveals her worst nightmare: she herself has set in motion a terrible chain of events that could lead to her losing everything she loves. Even Jace.

The stakes are higher than ever in the #1 New York Times bestselling fourth installment of the Mortal Instruments series. 

***

I've fallen in love with this series from Cassandra Clare.  

City of Fallen Angels continues with Clary, Jace, Simon, Isabelle, Alec, Magnus, and the others. It primarily focuses on the relationship between Clary and Jace, as well as Simon and his tangled love life. There are new plot twists, and added drama to all involved.

Simon has been a favorite of mine from the beginning. I love how his character has evolved, and the new changes that he's dealing with. He's nerdy and witty, which is a perfect combination.

I really like Jace, however, I feel that none of Clare's male characters will quite live up to her Will Herondale from the Infernal Devices trilogy. He is in my top three favorite male literary characters. Utter perfection. Jace is sort of a watered down version of Will. He lacks the wit, the sarcasm, the spark that Will had. 

Isabelle is probably my favorite female character from this series. She's reminiscent of Jessamine from the Infernal Devices trilogy, but I think that she's much more grounded and less self-absorbed. 

Clary, is generally likable but I think that it's those around her and the situations that she faces that makes her so. I love her abilities and how she is still discovering new things about her true self and her new world.

All in all this was a really great book that I thoroughly enjoyed. 

I rated this book 5 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.

snow day

th1rteen r3asons why review

Taken from Goodreads: 

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers thirteen cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker, his classmate and crush who committed suicide two weeks earlier.
On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out how he made the list. Through Hannah and Clay's dual narratives, debut author Jay Asher weaves an intricate and heartrending story of confusion and desperation that will deeply affect teen readers.

***

I liked this book, but I wanted to love it. It lacked serious reason behind the plot.

Hannah Baker commits suicide, and leaves cassette tapes behind for those she felt had added to her reasons for deciding to take her own life.

I never felt an extreme emotional attachment to Hannah. I felt that we needed to 'see' more of her, in order to understand why she did what she did. The entire book is listing her reasons and feelings, but I just feel like they were cold and not portraying a psychological issue as well as they should have.

It's easy relate to the pressure, the rumors, and the negative aspects of her life but it wasn't easy to understand why she decided to ultimately take that final step.

I would have like to have seen more mental illness/suicide awareness in this book.

I did like the fact that we see how our actions can affect someone else. We don't realize what someone may be going through sometimes. 

All in all, I enjoyed this read. It didn't quite live up to what I thought it would be, but it was thought provoking nonetheless.


I rated this book 3 out of 5 stars on Goodreads

the bane chronicles

When I realized that there were short ebooks written from the perspective of Magnus Bane (from the Infernal Devices & Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare) I was more than a little excited.

Magnus Bane is one of my favorite characters from either series (the first being Will Herondale, of course). He's interesting, sarcastic, witty, and fabulous. I was so glad to see that his character resumed in the Mortal Instruments series.

I finished What Really Happened in Peru a couple of days ago, and today I started The Runaway Queen. These short ebooks are so fun to read! You're never quite sure what you're going to get with Magnus.

I've purchased 8 of the 10 ebooks so far (yes, obsessed much). 

If you loved Cassandra Clare's other series, I'm sure you'll love these!

You can find out more about them here: The Bane Chronicles

gone girl review

Gone Girl wasn't at all what I expected. Gillian Flynn wove an intense, on edge story of a wife who disappears and a husband who quickly becomes a suspect.

A mystery novel, quickly turned into quite the psychological thriller. 

Brief summary taken from Goodreads: 
On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne's fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick's clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn't doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife's head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media--as well as Amy's fiercely doting parents--the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he's definitely bitter--but is he really a killer?
As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn't do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?

***

I finished this book within two days. It was a pretty constant topic in my mind. I wanted to find out what happened to Amy Dunne. Did Nick do it? Did an intruder kill her? Had she been kidnapped? On and on and on. This is one of those reads that completely suck  you in.

When the plot twist came, I honestly wasn't expecting it at all. I don't want to fully go into it, as I like to keep this blog as spoiler free as possible...but wow. 

If you're interested in a mystery/psychological thriller I would highly recommend this book.

I rated this book 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads

Wrapping Up the Bout of Books Read-a-thon 9.0

I made goal for the read-a-thon!

I managed to finish Allegiant by Veronica Roth in under a week. 

I'm honestly pretty proud of myself because I did have so much going on, and it was difficult to commit to each day.
Honestly, it wasn't a very long read. I did enjoy it very much. However, the ending was a bit 'iffy'. 

I'm really glad that I did decide to participate in the read-a-thon. It was fun to challenge myself with other busyness going on.

Did you participate? If so, how did it go?

Bout of Books Read-a-thon 9.0!

I've decided to participate in the read-a-thon that Bout of Books has organize, here's a bit more about it taken from their site:

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, January 6th and runs through Sunday, January 12th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 9.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

For this particular read-a-thon, I've decided that my goal is to read Allegiant by Veronica Roth during the allotted time (6 days). 

So who's participating?