Tuesday, 27 December 2016
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:
The Midnight Star by Marie Lu.
Closing out the blogging year with a final book in a trilogy seemed fitting. I hope all of you had a lovely Christmas if you celebrated and otherwise a wonderful weekend. I lived the dream of “All I want for Christmas is you. Just kidding, I sure hope there are books under that tree.”
This trilogy has tested me in a way I never anticipated. I always thought that I was a fairly generous reader in the sense of bestowing empathy to the main character of a book, but in this case Adelina almost gave me whiplash whenever I started to see her side of things with how much she twisted reality (and not just with her illusions) to support her point of view. Ultimately I can say that I am very happy with the solution of everything. It doesn’t absolve anyone of their deeds but it very much conciliates with the overall plot and other characters. I’d say if you like books with an ambiguous main character, like Mara Dyer, this could definitely be a series to look into. If you haven’t already.
How are you closing out the year, bookish and non-bookish? I’m enjoying home comforts and reading a few things I couldn’t find the time for in the past couple of weeks. And I’m definitely watching the storm outside. We should definitely consider changing the lyrics to I’m dreaming of a green and stormy Christmas. Be safe, wherever you are and I hope to see you all healthy and fresh-faced in the new year!
To play along just do the following:
- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
The Midnight Star by Marie Lu.
 |
| The Midnight Star
– G.P. Putnam's Sons |
By the shore, the banners of my ships flutter in the wind. I feel the burden in my chest lighten at the sight, and the whispers stir happily. I’m no longer a prisoner. I am a queen again.
— Chapter 14
Do you greet all the foreigners passing through with knives? That must take up an awful lot of your time.
— Chapter 21
Closing out the blogging year with a final book in a trilogy seemed fitting. I hope all of you had a lovely Christmas if you celebrated and otherwise a wonderful weekend. I lived the dream of “All I want for Christmas is you. Just kidding, I sure hope there are books under that tree.”
This trilogy has tested me in a way I never anticipated. I always thought that I was a fairly generous reader in the sense of bestowing empathy to the main character of a book, but in this case Adelina almost gave me whiplash whenever I started to see her side of things with how much she twisted reality (and not just with her illusions) to support her point of view. Ultimately I can say that I am very happy with the solution of everything. It doesn’t absolve anyone of their deeds but it very much conciliates with the overall plot and other characters. I’d say if you like books with an ambiguous main character, like Mara Dyer, this could definitely be a series to look into. If you haven’t already.
How are you closing out the year, bookish and non-bookish? I’m enjoying home comforts and reading a few things I couldn’t find the time for in the past couple of weeks. And I’m definitely watching the storm outside. We should definitely consider changing the lyrics to I’m dreaming of a green and stormy Christmas. Be safe, wherever you are and I hope to see you all healthy and fresh-faced in the new year!
Tuesday, 20 December 2016
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:
The Twelve Days of Dash and Lily by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan.
Six years after the publication of one of my favourite holiday season books we finally get a follow-up! I fell in love with Dash and Lily quick and hard upon their book and I was happy to leave them after that with a warm feeling in my heart and revisit them in the seasonal spirit. Yet as with so many of my favourite couples I always secretly hoped to find out more about their further lives.
This second book picks up about a year later so it is the holiday season again. Lily’s favourite time of the year ... only something is different and of all people Christmas-cynic Dash misses cheery Lily. I missed cheery Lily as well, she was mostly absent most of the book and it was really hard to compensate for this. In fact I just now realised how much of my love for the first book stems from the extreme contrast between Lily’s holiday cheer and Dash’s cynicism and her slow but steady conversion. And of course all the slow falling in love. Here we have the first serious relationship crisis, which is also interesting to read, but not necessary what I expected from what I thought to be a holiday romance read. I still adore Dash, especially now for all he did for Lily ... although both are to blame for what happened.
Do you have a book that got an unexpected sequel? I’m curious if you think they lived up to the first book. Share your opinions and teasers in the comments!
To play along just do the following:
- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
The Twelve Days of Dash and Lily by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan.
 |
| The Twelve Days of Dash and Lily – Knopf Books for Young Readers |
The truth doesn’t have to advertise itself. All the truth needs to be is true.
— Chapter 7
Escape, sure. But it wasn’t so much about gettng away, as going to. You can go anywhere in a book. Books are adventure. Knowledge. Possbility. Magic.
— Chapter 10
Six years after the publication of one of my favourite holiday season books we finally get a follow-up! I fell in love with Dash and Lily quick and hard upon their book and I was happy to leave them after that with a warm feeling in my heart and revisit them in the seasonal spirit. Yet as with so many of my favourite couples I always secretly hoped to find out more about their further lives.
This second book picks up about a year later so it is the holiday season again. Lily’s favourite time of the year ... only something is different and of all people Christmas-cynic Dash misses cheery Lily. I missed cheery Lily as well, she was mostly absent most of the book and it was really hard to compensate for this. In fact I just now realised how much of my love for the first book stems from the extreme contrast between Lily’s holiday cheer and Dash’s cynicism and her slow but steady conversion. And of course all the slow falling in love. Here we have the first serious relationship crisis, which is also interesting to read, but not necessary what I expected from what I thought to be a holiday romance read. I still adore Dash, especially now for all he did for Lily ... although both are to blame for what happened.
Do you have a book that got an unexpected sequel? I’m curious if you think they lived up to the first book. Share your opinions and teasers in the comments!
Tuesday, 13 December 2016
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:
Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo.
There are a lot of ways to describe how much I adore Leigh Bardugo’s writing, but the simplest is possibly also the best: Her Grisha trilogy was and is a miraculous tale and I fell head over heels in love with it. And now the Dregs dulogy is absolute perfection! The first book is an impossible heist story with twists and turns at breakneck speed. And this second book is all that only amped up to an unthinkable maximum. When you think that nothing can go wrong now expect everything to go wrong at the worst possible moment and in the worst imaginable way. And then expect to keep holding your breath for the next several chapters to find out how this can possibly be solved. I have a feeling that these brilliant characters can beat most of the odds but I still have a bit to go and I’m quite afraid that there is enough time for something to go horribly wrong.
The greatest fun are the characters I already knew from the previous series crop up in unexpected places and hear tales of their deeds like legends. You don’t have to have read the previous books to enjoy this dulogy. You could even read them the other way around.
These characters are not what you’d call wholesome, but I still know that I’d want them on my side whenever possible. Do you know and love ambiguous characters like that? Let me know about them and your teasers in the comments!
To play along just do the following:
- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo.
 |
| Crooked Kindgom – Indigo |
“I would come for you,” he said, and when he saw the wary look she shot him, he said it again. “I would come for you. And if I couldn’t walk, I’d crawl to you, and no matter how broken we were, we’d fight our way out together—knives drawn, pistols blazing. Because that’s what we do. We never stop fighting.”
— Chapter 12
“It’s easier when you’re younger, but so is everything. Children learn languages more easily. They learn mathematics more easily.”
“And they’re unafraid,” said Wylan quietly. “It’s other people who teach them their limits.”.
— Chapter 18
There are a lot of ways to describe how much I adore Leigh Bardugo’s writing, but the simplest is possibly also the best: Her Grisha trilogy was and is a miraculous tale and I fell head over heels in love with it. And now the Dregs dulogy is absolute perfection! The first book is an impossible heist story with twists and turns at breakneck speed. And this second book is all that only amped up to an unthinkable maximum. When you think that nothing can go wrong now expect everything to go wrong at the worst possible moment and in the worst imaginable way. And then expect to keep holding your breath for the next several chapters to find out how this can possibly be solved. I have a feeling that these brilliant characters can beat most of the odds but I still have a bit to go and I’m quite afraid that there is enough time for something to go horribly wrong.
The greatest fun are the characters I already knew from the previous series crop up in unexpected places and hear tales of their deeds like legends. You don’t have to have read the previous books to enjoy this dulogy. You could even read them the other way around.
These characters are not what you’d call wholesome, but I still know that I’d want them on my side whenever possible. Do you know and love ambiguous characters like that? Let me know about them and your teasers in the comments!
Tuesday, 6 December 2016
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Books And A Beat.
To play along just do the following:
What Light by Jay Asher.
’Tis officially the season! And yes, I am aware that we already had the second Sunday in Advent, but I just now started reading Christmas-sy titles and this book is applying for a place on the list of winter classics. And I must say that its chances aren’t too bad in that department. A wonderful romance that is not too cheesy and actually carries quite a few additional messages. I would have loved a little more elaboration on a few of the secondary characters but in this case I’d rate this in the positive column because they were so interesting even though they didn’t all get much page-time.
Fun fact: As this book has 24 chapter you can even attempt to read it as an Advent calendar ... but if you are anything like me you won’t be able to stop after one chapter each day.
Do you have a winter/pre-Christmas classic that you recommend and or read every year? Let’s hear from you in the comments! And in any case happy St. Nicholas Day!
To play along just do the following:
- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
What Light by Jay Asher.
 |
| What Light – Razorbill |
With most zombies, you don’t expect conversation.
“Why can’t you go back to playing princess?”
“I never played princess.”
“Are you kidding?” he says. “Whenever Heather’s mom took the two of you to the parade, you wore your fanciest dress, pretending to be the Winter Queen.”
“Exactly!” I say. “Queen, not princess. You raised me better than that.”
— Chapter 10
“It’s your heart. No one else gets a say in that.”
Sometimes it feels like it’s not even up to the person holding the heart.
— Chapter 18
’Tis officially the season! And yes, I am aware that we already had the second Sunday in Advent, but I just now started reading Christmas-sy titles and this book is applying for a place on the list of winter classics. And I must say that its chances aren’t too bad in that department. A wonderful romance that is not too cheesy and actually carries quite a few additional messages. I would have loved a little more elaboration on a few of the secondary characters but in this case I’d rate this in the positive column because they were so interesting even though they didn’t all get much page-time.
Fun fact: As this book has 24 chapter you can even attempt to read it as an Advent calendar ... but if you are anything like me you won’t be able to stop after one chapter each day.
Do you have a winter/pre-Christmas classic that you recommend and or read every year? Let’s hear from you in the comments! And in any case happy St. Nicholas Day!
Tuesday, 29 November 2016
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Books And A Beat.
To play along just do the following:
The Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan.
I’ve seen Rick Riordan being called scribe of the gods and considering that he is able to write about a multitude of pantheons and tell compelling stories about them this seems like a worthy call sign. I especially love the humour in these books with witty and fun dialogues and narrations. Percy Jackson and friends reminded me of my passion for Greek and Roman mythology and I always smile about the little quirks when I discover a connection either between the individual books or to old myths often with a twist. Egypt also got its treatment and now we have the (in my case) lesser known Norse gods.
This is the second book of what currently looks like a trilogy. I maybe hope that there will be more although I wish Magnus a peaceful afterlife I also want to see him in more quests and epic arguments with his sword. Among other things.
I will admit that it is sort of hard to picture Loki as anyone else than Tom Hiddleston ... and don’t get me started on Thor. At the same time these and many other pop culture references are picked up and get wonderfully twisted as well. Yet I also think that because of their close relationship to current trends the books appeal to their readers at the precise moment of their publication (which is more than enough) but at the same time all these tiny references and extras will be hard to understand just a couple of years on.
Side note: The chapter titles of Rick Riordan’s books are some of the best ones ever – You Keep Using the Word Help. I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means ... for example.
What are your thoughts on very up to date books? Love them for their close relation to current events/references or sceptic about their long term readability? Share your ideas and teasers in the comments.
To play along just do the following:
- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
The Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan.
 |
| The Hammer of Thor – Disney-Hyperion |
With most zombies, you don’t expect conversation.
I figured King Mummy would say RARRRR! Or, at most, BRAINS! And then get down to the business of killing us.
I was not ready for “Thank you, mortals! I am in your debt!”
— Chapter 15
Seriously, I don’t know if there’s a Norse god of dreams, but if there is, I’m going to find his house and hack apart his Sleep Number mattress with a battle-ax..
— Chapter 25
I’ve seen Rick Riordan being called scribe of the gods and considering that he is able to write about a multitude of pantheons and tell compelling stories about them this seems like a worthy call sign. I especially love the humour in these books with witty and fun dialogues and narrations. Percy Jackson and friends reminded me of my passion for Greek and Roman mythology and I always smile about the little quirks when I discover a connection either between the individual books or to old myths often with a twist. Egypt also got its treatment and now we have the (in my case) lesser known Norse gods.
This is the second book of what currently looks like a trilogy. I maybe hope that there will be more although I wish Magnus a peaceful afterlife I also want to see him in more quests and epic arguments with his sword. Among other things.
I will admit that it is sort of hard to picture Loki as anyone else than Tom Hiddleston ... and don’t get me started on Thor. At the same time these and many other pop culture references are picked up and get wonderfully twisted as well. Yet I also think that because of their close relationship to current trends the books appeal to their readers at the precise moment of their publication (which is more than enough) but at the same time all these tiny references and extras will be hard to understand just a couple of years on.
Side note: The chapter titles of Rick Riordan’s books are some of the best ones ever – You Keep Using the Word Help. I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means ... for example.
What are your thoughts on very up to date books? Love them for their close relation to current events/references or sceptic about their long term readability? Share your ideas and teasers in the comments.
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