tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81779986674408060272024-03-13T17:31:16.424-04:00The Word Digger . Kierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03882406677613292716noreply@blogger.comBlogger184125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177998667440806027.post-82405790928551033352015-08-05T11:07:00.003-04:002015-08-05T11:07:43.888-04:00Summer of Series Sign Up<center>
I've been meaning to sign up for the Summer of Series since...well, since it first started. But I suck at signing up for things and I procrastinated. UNTIL NOW. I am finally taking the leap.</center>
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If you have no idea what the Summer of Series challenge is, you can go <a href="http://lilisreflections.blogspot.com/2015/05/2015-summer-of-series-challenge.html" target="_blank">here</a> or you can listen to my pathetic excuse of an explanation: The title basically says it all. You try to read as many series as possible! August is the last month for Summer of Series, so I'll try to cram as many series into it as possible.</center>
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My goals:</center>
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<img alt="6342491" height="200" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1379482652l/6342491.jpg" width="133" /> <img alt="7801229" height="200" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1285276245l/7801229.jpg" width="132" /> <img alt="9409469" height="200" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1312142235l/9409469.jpg" width="133" /> <img alt="8069828" height="200" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1345041697l/8069828.jpg" width="133" /></center>
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That may not seem like a lot, but for me, it is alot, especially since most of these are lengthy YA books. But both of these series I'm REALLY excited about.<br /><br /><img src="http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/ag95/3elevendesign/word-sig_zps327f3fb6.png" /></center>
Kierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03882406677613292716noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177998667440806027.post-33594943213848213042015-07-05T01:00:00.000-04:002015-07-05T01:00:00.544-04:00July SST: In Which Rebel Mechanics Is Featured(Guest Post+Giveaway)!<center>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.8000001907349px; line-height: 15.4559993743896px;"><i>A sixteen-year-old governess becomes a spy in this alternative U.S. history where the British control with magic and the colonists rebel by inventing.</i></span></div>
<i><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.8000001907349px; line-height: 15.4559993743896px; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.8000001907349px; line-height: 15.4559993743896px; text-align: left;">It’s 1888, and sixteen-year-old Verity Newton lands a job in New York as a governess to a wealthy leading family—but she quickly learns that the family has big secrets. Magisters have always ruled the colonies, but now an underground society of mechanics and engineers are developing non-magical sources of power via steam engines that they hope will help them gain freedom from British rule. The family Verity works for is magister—but it seems like the children's young guardian uncle is sympathetic to the rebel cause. As Verity falls for a charming rebel inventor and agrees to become a spy, she also becomes more and more enmeshed in the magister family’s life. She soon realizes she’s uniquely positioned to advance the cause—but to do so, she’ll have to reveal her own dangerous secret.</span></i></center>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 15.4559993743896px;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24357092-rebel-mechanics?from_search=true&search_version=service_impr" target="_blank">Add to Goodreads</a></span></span></div>
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Hello, everyone! Today I'm excited to spread around the word of Rebel Mechanics. This is my first time joining the <a href="http://readwritelove28.com/2015/04/04/introduction-to-the-sunday-street-team/" target="_blank">Sunday Street Team</a>, where we bloggers spread around the love for books we're excited about/have already read and loved! This month's pick is Rebel Mechanics by Shanna Swendson. And let me tell you, I'm <i>so</i> pumped to read it! Alternative history+spies+swoony romance=perfect concoction of a book. I'll move on to the important part of the post, now...A warm welcome to Shanna!</div>
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</div></center><a href="http://wordmineur.blogspot.com/2015/07/july-sst-in-which-rebel-mechanics-is.html#more">Continue Reading »</a> Kierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03882406677613292716noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177998667440806027.post-69524685391979041582015-07-01T09:00:00.000-04:002015-07-01T09:00:01.135-04:00What June Brought<center style="text-align: center;">
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Ah, yes. Summer is officially here to stay. The time of sunburns and loads of free time. Besides the sunburns, June was a pretty good month. With the help of readathons, I got out of my annoying reading slump, so I did okay reading-wise, but with the aforementioned loads of free time, I was expecting to get a <i>little-</i>that's sarcasm, just to be clear- more reading done. I attempted to study during part of June for the ACT, but of course I still was pretty unprepared. I'm not devastated by my score and it was what I was expecting to get, but now I really have to get myself to devote more time to studying everyday for a few more months until the next ACT test to get the score I really want. I already have tons of reading plans for July and August, but I have a trip midway through July, so it probably will screw it up a bit <strike>because I'm horrible at reading anywhere else other than my house</strike>.</center>
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<span style="font-size: large;"></span></center><a href="http://wordmineur.blogspot.com/2015/07/what-june-brought.html#more">Continue Reading »</a> Kierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03882406677613292716noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177998667440806027.post-27986404223287133212015-06-20T09:00:00.000-04:002015-06-20T09:00:00.119-04:00Tonight the Streets Are Ours: Review<br>
<a href="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1416414664l/23310761.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="23310761" border="0" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1416414664l/23310761.jpg" width="212"></a><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.8000001907349px; line-height: 15.4559993743896px;">Seventeen-year-old Arden Huntley is recklessly loyal. Taking care of her loved ones is what gives Arden purpose in her life and makes her feel like she matters. But she's tired of being loyal to people who don't appreciate her—including her needy best friend and her absent mom. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.8000001907349px; line-height: 15.4559993743896px;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.8000001907349px; line-height: 15.4559993743896px;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.8000001907349px; line-height: 15.4559993743896px;">Arden finds comfort in a blog she stumbles upon called "Tonight the Streets Are Ours," the musings of a young New York City writer named Peter. When Peter is dumped by the girlfriend he blogs about, Arden decides to take a road trip to see him.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.8000001907349px; line-height: 15.4559993743896px;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.8000001907349px; line-height: 15.4559993743896px;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.8000001907349px; line-height: 15.4559993743896px;">During one crazy night out in NYC filled with parties, dancing, and music—the type of night when anything can happen, and nearly everything does—Arden discovers that Peter isn't exactly who she thought he was. And maybe she isn't exactly who she thought she was, either.</span></i><br>
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<a href="http://wordmineur.blogspot.com/2015/06/tonight-streets-are-ours-review.html#more">Continue Reading »</a> Kierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03882406677613292716noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177998667440806027.post-85545224677717502172015-06-16T00:00:00.000-04:002015-06-16T00:01:45.578-04:00Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My TBR for Summer 2015<center>
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Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created by <a href="http://www.brokeandbookish.com/p/top-ten-tuesday-other-features.html" target="_blank">Jaime at the Broke and the Bookish</a> where you create a list of your top ten favorites of a given category.</center>
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Welcome to another round of Top Ten Tuesday! I didn't consciously decide to do two TBR posts in a row, but I have a feeling the universe is trying to tell me I have too many TBR books.</center>
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<img src="http://i891.photobucket.com/albums/ac118/ROBsessedBlog2/gifs/Non%20Rob%20Funnies/Harry-Potter-I-Dunno-Shrug-Reaction-Gif.gif~original" height="126" width="320"></center><a href="http://wordmineur.blogspot.com/2015/06/top-ten-tuesday-books-on-my-tbr-for.html#more">Continue Reading »</a> Kierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03882406677613292716noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177998667440806027.post-85248216966608249972015-06-12T19:00:00.000-04:002015-06-12T19:00:02.310-04:00June TBRYes, I do realize how strange it is to put up a TBR post now, in the middle of the month. But I'm doing it anyway. So, right now, this is a tentative list of books I'm hoping to read by the end of the month. I'm sticking it to five books, that way I'm not pressuring myself too much, and I can always read more outside of these five books. These are just the five books I <i>really</i> want/need to get to this month.<br>
<a href="http://wordmineur.blogspot.com/2015/06/june-tbr.html#more">Continue Reading »</a> Kierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03882406677613292716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177998667440806027.post-62535776858073852272015-06-06T16:11:00.002-04:002015-06-06T16:11:31.130-04:00Quick UpdateHi, everyone! It's been awhile, and I'm extremely sorry to say that. The main reason for my severe lack of posts for the past few months has been my severe lack of read books. Yep, I was in a pretty bad reading rut from March to May. However, I think I now am *officially* over that darn reading rut, with the help of #TBRtakedown this week. I also have WAY more time on my hands because summer is hereeeee. So, you can now expect the blog to be up and running soon! Thank you for bearing with me!<br />
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Kierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03882406677613292716noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177998667440806027.post-26069605042841290742015-04-01T20:16:00.001-04:002015-04-01T20:16:36.185-04:00What Crazy and Busy March Brought<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's...been awhile.<br />
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March was a good month! Sadly, just not reading or blogging wise. I had tons of fun, even with the stress and tiredness that comes with it. If you read last month's post, you know I entered a writing contest, and I was so hoping to win...and I didn't. It wasn't entirely surprising, but at the same time, it was very disheartening. I had a brief period(by brief, I'm talking like two hours) where I just walked around not too unlike a zombie. But then I realized better things will come and moping won't help me. I also did tons of art things this month-that's where some of the stress and tiredness came from. I got first place in a category, which was fan-freakin-tastic. I wish I could say April is going to be much better, but yeah, with the ACTs and the loads of homework I have at the moment...it isn't looking the greatest. I'm not saying I'm not going to try to blog-I will, I promise-but please don't be angry at me if I happen to only post once or twice or nothing at all.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here's what I read:</span><br />
NOTHING AND I FAIL AT LIFE.<br />
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DNFs:<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16096824-a-court-of-thorns-and-roses?ac=1" target="_blank">A Court of Thorns and Roses</a> by Sarah J. Maas(I feel absolutely terrible for deciding to DNF this, but there was something about it that didn't catch my attention like Throne of Glass. I plan on reading the whole thing when it's actually released, but the first 100 pages weren't as good as I was expecting. The classic too-high-of-expectations-ruin-a-book-for-you. I expect everyone will love this as much if not more than Throne of Glass, but I was really hoping for more swooniness or even sword fighting during the first 100 pages.)<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here's what I received:</span><br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16096824-a-court-of-thorns-and-roses?ac=1" target="_blank">A Court of Thorns and Roses</a> by Sarah J. Maas(Won from the wonderful and awesome <a href="http://shaelit.com/" target="_blank">Shae</a>)<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16181625-lion-heart?ac=1" target="_blank">Lion Heart</a> by A. G. Gaughen(Won also from <a href="http://shaelit.com/" target="_blank">Shae</a>)<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17572846-blythewood?ac=1" target="_blank">Blythewood</a> by Carol Goodman(Given to me by the so sweet and generous <a href="https://twitter.com/tammygeo" target="_blank">Tammy George</a>)<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22609310-confess?ac=1" target="_blank">Confess</a> by Colleen Hoover(Also given to me by <a href="https://twitter.com/tammygeo" target="_blank">Tammy</a>)<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18081228-the-orphan-queen?ac=1" target="_blank">The Orphan Queen</a> by Jodi Meadows(Pre-ordered via Amazon)<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12394044-the-caged-graves?ac=1" target="_blank">The Caged Graves</a> by Dianne K. Salerni(Bought via Amazon)<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/118754.The_Raging_Quiet?ac=1" target="_blank">The Raging Quiet</a> by Sherryl Jordan(Bought via Amazon)<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16085457-shadow-scale?ac=1" target="_blank">Shadow Scale</a> by Rachel Hartman(Won from <a href="https://gonepecanla.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Gone Pecan</a>)<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here's what I watched:</span><br />
I admit, I watched too much TV(part of the reason why I didn't finish one book last month), and I'm too lazy to list them all.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here's what I listened to:</span><br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MisterWives" target="_blank">Misterwives</a>(I became overwhelmingly obsessed with them.)<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikky_Ekko" target="_blank">Mikky Ekko</a>(His music seriously moves me like no other. I started becoming obsessed when the Paper Towns trailer came out and his song came on and I fell in love.)<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fences_%28band%29" target="_blank">Fences</a>(ARROWS I LOVE YOU.)<br />
The rest of the songs I listened didn't really become an obsession...so.<br />
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Kierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03882406677613292716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177998667440806027.post-31316279552589130012015-03-03T12:00:00.000-05:002015-03-03T12:00:10.007-05:00Top Ten Tuesday: All Time Favorite Books(from the past three years)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created by <a href="http://www.brokeandbookish.com/p/top-ten-tuesday-other-features.html" target="_blank">Jaime at the Broke and the Bookish</a> where you create a list of your top ten favorites of a given category.</div>
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I feel like this will be difficult, but maybe I love less books than I think. I guess I'll find out.
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1. Surprisingly, the first book that comes to my mind is a contemporary: Don't Touch by Rachel M. Wilson. I went into this book with low expectations, though I was excited by the sound of the summary. But, wow, Don't Touch was a much more beautiful, vibrantly written novel than I had expected. I loved the entire cast of characters(except one), but I fell in love with Caddie most of all. I'm definitely anticipating Wilson's next book.<br>
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2. A book that is another debut! Again, this book was unexpected, seeing how I DNFed it my first time around. All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill was an engrossing and fantastic time travel book. The plot itself was wonderfully engaging and surprising, but the romance was also notably swoony.<br>
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<a href="http://wordmineur.blogspot.com/2015/03/top-ten-tuesday-all-time-favorite.html#more">Continue Reading »</a> Kierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03882406677613292716noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177998667440806027.post-34443323218029588392015-03-01T01:00:00.000-05:002015-03-01T01:09:06.515-05:00What February Brought<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Whoo, I'm writing this post a little later than I wanted to. Therefore I'm making a late night post! February seemed to be a busy month for me. Obviously, it was exciting too, because I got a gorgeous new blog design and it was my birthday month. I also entered a writing contest, and if I win I'll be able to travel to Washington D.C. I'm crossing my fingers and toes that I'll win. I know I will be really, really depressed if I don't get it, because I loved writing the essay and I loved how the essay turned out so my hopes are incredibly high(which is unusual for me). I'm impatiently waiting for them to pick the winners. Other school stuff got in the way and I watched too many tv shows and I also got sick, resulting in only two books read this month "cries" The good news is that they were two highly epic books.<br>
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<a href="http://wordmineur.blogspot.com/2015/03/what-february-brought.html#more">Continue Reading »</a> Kierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03882406677613292716noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177998667440806027.post-46713161110436872262015-02-27T20:00:00.000-05:002015-02-27T20:00:00.628-05:00How I Feel About ARCs: Discussion<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have quite a long history with ARCs. That's understandable, since I became aware of them only a few months after I started blogging-which reminds me: People who start blogging because of ARCs are ridiculous. No, you are not supposed to blog purely to receive free books. You're supposed to blog for the love of it. "rant over" Back on topic. So, I know ARCs seem to be an extremely popular topic for bloggers. Many older(by old, I mean their blog) bloggers I know struggle with them. They question whether ARCs are worth their time. But I also know plenty of relatively new bloggers love and adore them. As with most situations, there are both pros and cons that come with ARCs.<br>
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<a href="http://wordmineur.blogspot.com/2015/02/how-i-feel-about-arcs-discussion.html#more">Continue Reading »</a> Kierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03882406677613292716noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177998667440806027.post-7413125249099232062015-02-25T08:00:00.000-05:002015-02-25T23:07:43.922-05:00Daughter of the Forest: Review<br>
<a href="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1343589988l/13928.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="13928" border="0" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1343589988l/13928.jpg" width="196"></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.8000001907349px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Lovely Sorcha is the seventh child and only daughter of Lord Colum of Sevenwaters. Bereft of a mother, she is comforted by her six brothers who love and protect her. Sorcha is the light in their lives, they are determined that she know only contentment.</span><br>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.8000001907349px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">But Sorcha's joy is shattered when her father is bewitched by his new wife, an evil enchantress who binds her brothers with a terrible spell, a spell which only Sorcha can lift-by staying silent. If she speaks before she completes the quest set to her by the Fair Folk and their queen, the Lady of the Forest, she will lose her brothers forever. </span><br>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.8000001907349px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">When Sorcha is kidnapped by the enemies of Sevenwaters and taken to a foreign land, she is torn between the desire to save her beloved brothers, and a love that comes only once. Sorcha despairs at ever being able to complete her task, but the magic of the Fair Folk knows no boundaries, and love is the strongest magic of them all.</span><br>
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Daughter of the Forest has been known as a classic fantasy novel, and it was to my delight that Daughter of the Forest deserved its high praise and attention. I discovered while reading it that my older sister had even read it and loved it back in high school. I really-I can't even how awesome this book was. There were many squeals involved(am I the only one who screams into their blankets during an awesome part of their book, because I did that quite often).<br>
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It is with some sadness that I say I didn't love Daughter of the Forest in its entirety. The beginning was definitely hard to get into. Don't let that scare you away! Let me explain. I started Daughter of the Forest about two weeks ago. I then proceeded for another five days to read ten pages every day, because it was, like I said, difficult to get into. It's not as if the beginning was so boring it didn't intrigue me a little, but the pacing was incredibly slow. When you're reading a book that is short and sweet, then move to a book that is, umm, really descriptive, it's hard to get into that book. About the first half of the book spends a better part of its time setting up the world and characters. While I appreciate world building, I felt the pacing could have perhaps moved a bit faster. Even so, the beginning was good. I was excited to see what would happen by the first twenty pages. But knowing that anything exciting wouldn't be happening until another hundred pages put me off, which explains why I had difficulty reading more than ten pages for a couple days. After two hundred pages, though, it was a totally different story. Basically, the real journey starts, and everything became interesting. <strike>Maybe the introduction of the hot romantic interest had something to do with it.</strike> The plot surely picks up pace in the middle, and the climax was perfectly executed. The ending, as well, left just the right amount of satisfaction and curiosity for the next book.<br>
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<a href="http://wordmineur.blogspot.com/2015/02/daughter-of-forest-review.html#more">Continue Reading »</a> Kierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03882406677613292716noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177998667440806027.post-90300291326624459662015-02-24T01:30:00.000-05:002015-02-24T01:30:52.077-05:00Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Book Heroines<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created by <a href="http://www.brokeandbookish.com/p/top-ten-tuesday-other-features.html" target="_blank">Jaime at the Broke and the Bookish</a> where you create a list of your top ten favorites of a given category.
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Alright, I know already how hard this will be. There are too many bad-ass heroines out there in books. I'll see how many I come up with, and if there are a few over ten, so be it!</div>
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1. Celeana Sardothien from the Throne of Glass Series</div>
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2. Vin from the Mistborn trilogy</div>
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3. Quintana from the Lumatere Chronicles trilogy</div>
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</div></center><a href="http://wordmineur.blogspot.com/2015/02/top-ten-tuesday-favorite-book-heroines.html#more">Continue Reading »</a> Kierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03882406677613292716noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177998667440806027.post-88026685695069013322015-02-19T17:52:00.001-05:002015-02-19T17:52:31.358-05:00New Blog Design?!<center style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;">
Hello all! You might have clicked on my website today and seen an entirely new...website? And you were probably were like what happened? What did I miss?? Well, since I'm not always an organized person, I scheduled this post after my design was to go up. I will ignore the huge fail. Let's focus on the bright side: <i>I GOT A FREAKIN' NEW DESIGN</i>.</center><a href="http://wordmineur.blogspot.com/2015/02/new-blog-design.html#more">Continue Reading »</a> Kierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03882406677613292716noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177998667440806027.post-59084555847185767792015-02-18T08:00:00.000-05:002015-02-23T22:35:58.943-05:00The Wrath and the Dawn: Review<br />
<a href="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1417956963l/18798983.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="18798983" border="0" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1417956963l/18798983.jpg" width="212" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.8000001907349px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Every dawn brings horror to a different family in a land ruled by a killer. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise. So it is a suspicious surprise when sixteen-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry Khalid. But she does so with a clever plan to stay alive and exact revenge on the Caliph for the murder of her best friend and countless other girls. Shazi's wit and will, indeed, get her through to the dawn that no others have seen, but with a catch . . . she’s falling in love with the very boy who killed her dearest friend.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.8000001907349px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">She discovers that the murderous boy-king is not all that he seems and neither are the deaths of so many girls. Shazi is determined to uncover the reason for the murders and to break the cycle once and for all.</span><br />
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I had some extreme expectations for this book. If you follow me on twitter or have seen some of my past posts, you know this was my most anticipated debut novel of the year-maybe even my most anticipated novel of 2015. So when I say I was excited for this book, it is a huge understatement. Probably a more accurate description was that I was salivating to read it.<br />
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But the real question of the day: Did it meet my high, high expectations? I can gladly say...it did! Other than a slight problem(I'll get to that later), this book was as awesome as I imagined it to be.<br />
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I first want to address my feelings about my favorite part of this book. The romance. If I learned one thing about the author from reading this book, it's that she can write a swoony romance. Though this book does feature a love triangle-"gasp"-it didn't disappoint me. Plus, you can clearly see who she is going to end up with. <strike>I just really wish Tariq wasn't so annoying.</strike> Khalid and Shahrzad had such great chemistry throughout the book, and not only that, the romance was based off mutual feelings for each other and nobody was trying to force the other to do something they didn't want to do. Ahdieh was so good at excellently building up the romance and the tension, and that is why I enjoyed it so much. In the beginning, the two start off hating each other; it makes perfect sense, since Khalid killed Shahrzad's best friend, and Khalid is frigid towards all of his brides. At one point in the middle, I was growing hesitant about the romance, because it seemed they both were falling in love a bit too soon. However, I needn't have worried! That thankfully did not happen.<br />
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The one thing I found leaving something to be desired was the plot. Do not get me wrong. I expect alot of people will not have any problems with the plot. I feel like this was mostly a personal struggle I had with the book. This may be because the book focused on the romance during long lengths of the book, when I was wishing it might be building in plots and action. Sometimes I found it hard to pick it up again, because the plot was not as engaging as I hoped. Actually, I'm particularly excited about the second book because of this fact. This book felt kind of like an introduction to the world and characters, and I have high hopes the second book will explore the world further and more action will start to appear. Still, at the end of it, the plot was overall good; because of my high expectations, though, again, it left something to be desired.<br />
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Once I look back on reading The Wrath and the Dawn, I realize there was quite a small cast of characters. This, I felt, was to Ahdieh's advantage. This made the characters grow on me and understand their faults and dreams and hopes and feelings. This was another reason why I enjoyed the romance. I felt like I knew Khalid and Shrazad so well by the end of the book. The side characters rounded out the cast members really well, though I won't be addressing my feelings about them each. I'll just mention that reading about them was highly entertaining.<br />
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Overall, Renee Ahdieh writes a beautiful and vivid debut book. The romance was as swoonworthy as it gets. The cast of characters grew on me and drew me to love them with their faults. Though the plot felt dragging at some points of the book, I still immensely enjoyed The Wrath and the Dawn!<br />
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Kierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03882406677613292716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177998667440806027.post-64316730045870332452015-02-08T01:00:00.000-05:002015-02-08T01:23:57.111-05:00It's My Birthday! + GiveawaySo, today is my birthday.<br />
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What's a weird thing about birthdays is that the actual day doesn't feel any different than the last or I've never been especially excited about them. Probably the most exciting thing about them is the build-up to them. Anyways, going past the nostalgic stuff, in celebration of my birthday, I will be telling you 8 interesting facts about myself that you might or might not have known about me. I'm choosing 8 because I am not coming up with 17-the age I'm turning this year- facts about myself(I'm not nearly interesting enough), so I'm choosing 8 since that's the day of the month I was born on. Don't mind that incredibly long run-on sentence...I'm allowed to do that on my birthday.<br />
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1. <b>I am a fantasy nut.</b> This is a very general statement about myself, but I find it fitting 'cause books.<br />
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But I want to extend this statement to movies as well-I love watching movies in fantasy lands too. Bookish fantasy lands will always be better though. Books <i>are</i> better than movies!<br />
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2. <b>I used to have really, really long hair when I was younger. </b>Yes, the weird facts will be appearing in...3...2...1. I had long hair( to my waist) until the summer before 7th grade when I cut it off pixie-short. Another quick fact: the day I cut it all off, I cried, because that is how much I loved my hair.<br />
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3. <b>I have a life-long dream to travel around the world.</b> This is such a common "bucket list" type of thing, but I honestly do want to see the whole world. The longest vacation I was ever on was a week-long trip to Texas in third grade; obviously, I hope my vacations in the future will be better. I just really, really want to see what the world has to offer.<br />
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4. <b>I have a twin sister.</b> I've talked about having a twin sister every now and then over the years, but this is the first time I've ever talked about it on the blog. Well now you know for sure! She's also my awesome best friend-I would actually pick the title of "best friend" before "sister." Is that weird?<br />
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5. <b>Autumn is my favorite time of the year.</b> Winter is a really close second, but autumn beats it by a bit. It's such a gorgeous season, with all the brilliant-colored leaves on the ground. It's also my favorite season temperature-wise; perfect time to break out the boots and coats!<br />
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6. <b>I'm a night owl.</b> Enough said.<br />
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7. <b>I also happen to love chocolate.</b> I have a horrible sweet tooth in general...cakes, donuts, whatever. Candy is my next best friend in the planet though. I don't think I could live without chocolate.<br />
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8. <b>I love Yorkshire terriers.</b> I have grown up surrounded by Yorkshire terriers, and they have definitely made me love their adorable ways. I have my own dog named Dahlia, and she's a sweetie(but one of the shyest dogs I've encountered in my days).<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">(See, they are adorable.)</span><br />
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Whoo, that was more difficult than it looks! This is why I hate talking about myself.<br />
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Of course, what would be a celebration without a giveaway?<br />
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In honor of my birthday, I want to giveaway a highly-coveted ARC of this year: The Wrath and the Dawn. I read it and really, really enjoyed it, so I'm sharing my ARC! Please read my <a href="http://wordmineur.blogspot.com/p/giveaways.html" target="_blank">giveaway rules</a> before entering this giveaway! Should I mention that my ARC is "signed" too?<br />
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<a class="rcptr" data-raflid="6e0c678619" data-template="" data-theme="classic" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/6e0c678619/" id="rcwidget_aex0upno" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a><br />
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<img align="left" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r4GuVfCUTt4/UdsrM2z72II/AAAAAAAAANg/HGkIfIjVYiM/s1600/post+signature-Kierra.png" style="border: 0;" /> Kierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03882406677613292716noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177998667440806027.post-61095989436176413312015-02-02T11:00:00.000-05:002015-02-02T11:00:02.660-05:00Froi of the Exiles: Review<br />
<a href="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1318263959l/12154330.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="12154330" border="0" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1318263959l/12154330.jpg" width="212" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.8000001907349px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Three years after the curse on Lumatere was lifted, Froi has found his home ... or so he believes. Fiercely loyal to the Queen and Finnikin, Froi has been taken roughly and lovingly in hand by the Guard sworn to protect the royal family, and has learned to control his quick temper with a warrior's discipline. But when he is sent on a secretive mission to the kingdom of Charyn, nothing could have prepared him for what he finds in its surreal royal court. Soon he must unravel both the dark bonds of kinship and the mysteries of a half-mad princess in this barren and mysterious place. It is in Charyn that he will discover there is a song sleeping in his blood ... and though Froi would rather not, the time has come to listen.</span><br />
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Warning: This review may contain spoilers of Finnikin of the Rock. If you haven't read Finnikin yet, <i>what are doing</i>?? Go now. Right now. Buy it. Read it. Then come read this review because I'm awesome, and there really is no other reason besides that. That doesn't matter though.<br />
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My feelings for this book can be best described in this one gif:<br />
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However, there's no fun unless I talk about it and I have to somehow convince you guys to read it <strike>but</strike> <strike>that's impossible how can you expect me to do that</strike>.<br />
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Froi picks up from Finnikin three years later. This time, Froi is our main character. Except not, because Lunar-Chronicles-style, we are also able to see from the other characters' points-of-view from the previous book. We are still able to see from the wonderful view of Finnikin and bad-ass Isaboe, but we also get introduced to these other bad-ass characters, like, for example, Phaedra, who is my new favorite side character of all-time, and Lucian, who is part of my new favorite ship of all-time with my new favorite side character of all-time. Yeah, if you couldn't tell I loved Phaedra and Lucian. They just brought all. The feels. However, let me take a moment to discuss Froi <strike>since that is what I should have been doing but Lucian and Phaedra distracted me.</strike> Froi, I was worried about you from the previous book. I mean, how could I not be? You did almost rape Isaboe and you stole <i>alot</i> of things in the past. It was entirely natural to be cautious to what to expect from you in this book. But, Froi, you completely, utterly banished any bad thoughts about you, because you were a tremendously amazing character.<br />
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Marchetta did a superb job writing Froi's character. Froi's growth was huge in the three years we missed between the books, and I was worried it wouldn't entirely seem realistic, because all-of-a-sudden, Froi would be a nice, friendly character in this book. That was not the case. We are able to see all the scars Froi has from the past, but we can also glimpse the hope Froi has now in his new life. He has friends, family, and a home. Marchetta tells him to be satisfied with his new life in the beginning of the book-but fate has other ideas. I won't go further beyond that detail, because I want to remain mostly mysterious about the overall plot of the novel.<br />
The plot of Froi was what I think I enjoyed most about this novel, which is saying alot because I <i>really</i> liked the characters in this book(even more so than in Finnikin). I felt the story interested me more, because I loved learning about a new kingdom from the same world. It was seamless and beautiful the way Marchetta told the story. <i>Everything</i> was perfect in my eyes.<br />
As usual, Marchetta tells an excellent, engrossing, and morally-questioning story. Her writing style is gorgeous like Finnikin of the Rock. However, I have to point out that I'm partial to the plot of Froi. Finnikin of the Rock was amazing, I will give it that. But Froi seemed like so much to me. I loved the new characters, the politically-driven plot, the gorgeously-detailed setting of a new kingdom, and the romance between Froi and Quintana. I just-<i>ugh</i>.<br />
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If you couldn't tell already, anyone who has read Finnikin of the Rock should read this book A.S.A.P. because of its awesome gloriousness. So go off and buy it now if you haven't. If you own it already, what are you waiting for?<br />
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Kierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03882406677613292716noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177998667440806027.post-645480655671805552015-01-31T17:49:00.003-05:002015-01-31T17:49:46.551-05:00What January Brought<div style="text-align: left;">
So January was a pretty good month. It also seemed to have gone by way too fast!</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here's what I read:</span><br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12952710-gilt" target="_blank">Gilt</a> by Katherine Longshore(I also reviewed it <a href="http://wordmineur.blogspot.com/2015/01/gilt-review_15.html" target="_blank">here</a> if you're curious to know my thoughts!)<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16101031-tarnish" target="_blank">Tarnish</a> by Katherine Longshore<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6719736-finnikin-of-the-rock" target="_blank">Finnikin of the Rock</a> by Melina Marchetta(My first book by Marchetta and <a href="http://wordmineur.blogspot.com/2015/01/finnikin-of-rock-review.html" target="_blank">I was not disappointed</a>!)<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12154330-froi-of-the-exiles" target="_blank">Froi of the Exiles</a> by Melina Marchetta<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18630542-seconds" target="_blank">Seconds</a> by Bryan Lee O'Malley(This was my first graphic novel and I really enjoyed it. If all graphic novels will be this good, I have a feeling this will be just the first in a long line.)<br />
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Total pages read: 2,161<br />
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DNFs:<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18668016-brazen?ac=1" target="_blank">Brazen</a> by Katherine Longshore(This was actually looking to be the best out of the trilogy, but I set it down because I was growing bored. I definitely plan on picking it up again, though.)<br />
I'm not even going to list the rest, because I think I started up to ten books in the last few weeks of the month and nothing seemed to interest me. Just know there were <i>alot</i>.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here's what I received:</span><br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18630542-seconds" target="_blank">Seconds</a> by Bryan Lee O'Malley(Bought via Amazon with a gift card)<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20359719-the-perilous-sea?ac=1" target="_blank">The Perilous Sea</a> by Sherry Thomas(Won from Ticket to Anywhere. Thank you, <a href="http://www.tickettoanywhere.net/" target="_blank">Gail</a>!)<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18798983-the-wrath-and-the-dawn?ac=1" target="_blank">The Wrath and the Dawn</a> by Renee Ahdieh(There was much squealing involved! I won this from <a href="https://twitter.com/sarahnlemon" target="_blank">Sarah Nicole Lemon</a>. Thanks again!)<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13455513-dark-star?ac=1" target="_blank">Dark Star</a> by Bethany Frenette(Bought via Amazon)<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12962924-welcome-caller-this-is-chloe?ac=1" target="_blank">Welcome, Caller, This is Chloe</a> by Shelley Coriell(Bought via Amazon. I've been wanting to read this for some time, and I finally bought it!)<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here's what I watched:</span><br />
I actually didn't watch any movies this month, but I have been watching a few TV shows.<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Challenge:_Battle_of_the_Exes_II" target="_blank">The Challenge: Battle of the Exes 2</a>(This is proving to be an interesting season. I am eternally sad for CT. There's a few specific people I really hate, like always, but the good news is that I actually liked Jessica and Dustin <i>alot</i> more than last season.)<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0aSRjxiIj50/VM1azkFi7KI/AAAAAAAAAjU/HyvbumkWbnk/s1600/415815303.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0aSRjxiIj50/VM1azkFi7KI/AAAAAAAAAjU/HyvbumkWbnk/s1600/415815303.jpg" height="400" width="330" /></a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_to_Heart_%28TV_series%29" target="_blank">Heart to Heart</a>(This kdrama has been bringing <i>all</i> the feels. It's a lot more sexier than most kdramas, so that may be part of it. But I also like that the main OTP have great chemistry together.)<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here's what I listened to:</span><br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_the_Woods" target="_blank">Into the Woods</a>(The whole soundtrack from the older play. I loved and obsessed over it the <i>whole</i> month. I, for one, am excited to see the movie.)<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lana_Del_Rey" target="_blank">Lana Del Rey</a>(I discovered her a few years back, and she remains one of my favorite artists. However, I hadn't been really listening to her, but I started listening to her new album this month. I am especially loving Brooklyn Baby and West Coast, but I do love her whole new album!)<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yelle" target="_blank">Yelle</a>(If you don't recognize her, I can believe why. She's a French artist I discovered last year, but this month I've been listening the heck out of her songs! I'm addicted!)<br />
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Kierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03882406677613292716noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177998667440806027.post-54697002009963439502015-01-30T10:00:00.000-05:002015-01-30T10:00:00.658-05:00Finnikin of the Rock: Review<br />
<a href="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1256982126l/6719736.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="6719736" border="0" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1256982126l/6719736.jpg" width="211" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.8000001907349px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">At the age of nine, Finnikin is warned by the gods that he must sacrifice a pound of flesh to save his kingdom. He stands on the rock of the three wonders with his friend Prince Balthazar and Balthazar's cousin, Lucian, and together they mix their blood to safeguard Lumatere. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.8000001907349px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.8000001907349px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.8000001907349px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">But all safety is shattered during the five days of the unspeakable, when the king and queen and their children are brutally murdered in the palace. An impostor seizes the throne, a curse binds all who remain inside Lumatere's walls, and those who escape are left to roam the land as exiles, dying by the thousands in fever camps.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.8000001907349px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.8000001907349px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.8000001907349px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Ten years later, Finnikin is summoned to another rock--to meet Evanjalin, a young novice with a startling claim: Balthazar, heir to the throne of Lumatere, is alive. This arrogant young woman claims she'll lead Finnikin and his mentor, Sir Topher, to the prince. Instead, her leadership points them perilously toward home. Does Finnikin dare believe that Lumatere might one day rise united? Evanjalin is not what she seems, and the startling truth will test Finnikin's faith not only in her but in all he knows to be true about himself and his destiny.</span><br />
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I can't express my love for this book in enough words. I've been trying to form the right words over the past couple weeks, but I'm still having difficulty. It's just such a...<i>beautiful</i> book. I think beautiful describes the book justly. After I finished it, I wanted to hug it to my chest for a couple more hours, savoring the ending.<br />
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Finnikin of the Rock is one of the most creative fantasy books I've read. It avoids all the tropes and cliches most fantasy books have and goes straight onto my list of most favorite worlds(if I had a list). Not only does it have an original world, but it also has the best world-building. The build is steady and increases gently through the book, easing us into the book wonderfully. Some people might not like the sound of "steady" and "gently" as I know certain people want a roller coaster start. Let me soothe your worries. Finnikin is <i>never</i> boring. If you read the prologue, I hope you see what I mean. If you don't like the prologue, it's a sign that this book isn't for you. It's definitely a darker book; there's talk of rape and murder often. But that's honestly why I loved it. It didn't shy away from topics that authors might feel uncomfortable talking about. It not only does this, but it portrays the emotions of families affected by these treacherous offenses realistically. They feel grief, rage, and so many other feelings. They don't forgive or forget easily. The whole book actually depends on these emotions and what these emotions lead to.<br />
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The characters were all affected by the deaths of loved ones or rape. The reason why the characters appealed to me so much is that they all went through tragedy. And their tragedies all shaped and molded them into different characters. Most of the main characters, from the beginning to the end, go through some major character growth as they address their past, and I really enjoyed watching them grow. If I had to pinpoint my favorite part of the Finnikin, it would be the characters. It's impossible not to feel for the characters, because they've gone through so much. <i>They</i> were the reasons why I had gallons of feels throughout the book.<br />
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The reason why I think the word beautiful fits this book so well is the writing. Melina Marchetta weaves an enchanting, effortless tale. Like I mentioned, there's never a dull moment and Marchetta proves that an author can appropriately introduce a new world while also telling an interesting story.<br />
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Overall, Finnikin of the Rock is a must read for fans of fantasy. I highly, highly recommend this book. The story itself was fantastic and interesting, the world creative and original, and the characters were well-developed and engrossing to read about.<br />
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Kierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03882406677613292716noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177998667440806027.post-34492036578955110562015-01-27T01:00:00.000-05:002015-01-27T01:00:00.146-05:00Top Ten Tuesday: Books I'd Want to Read if I had a Book Club<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created by <a href="http://www.brokeandbookish.com/p/top-ten-tuesday-other-features.html" target="_blank">Jaime at the Broke and the Bookish</a> where you create a list of your top ten favorites of a given category.</i></div>
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This will be a tricky post for me, especially considering I don't actually share my thoughts about books besides, well, the internet. But I'm going to take a stab at it!<br />
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1.<img alt="6665671" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1394240671l/6665671.jpg" width="211" /><br />
Mostly when I think of book clubs, I imagine there will be lots of discussion. And when it comes to discussions, I feel like contemporaries would be the easiest to discuss; everyone should be able to relate to it more or less. Please Ignore Vera Dietz deals with issues everyone would be able to relate to-betrayal, death, etc. Also, this would give the perfect opportunity to finally read this!<br />
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2.<img alt="12665819" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1350988374l/12665819.jpg" width="217" /><br />
This is one I read before, but I would love to reread this with a book club. Another Little Piece is gripping and very edgy, and I have no doubt people would feel wildly different things about it after reading it. I would love to hear other's thoughts on it!<br />
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3.<img alt="18528430" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1395628141l/18528430.jpg" width="202" /><br />
This book sounds so interesting and different! A town where lost things and people go? Umm, yes please! Again, I would be interested to know other's thoughts just based on reading the synopsis.<br />
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4.<img alt="13360957" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1371647060l/13360957.jpg" width="211" /><br />
Another dark book by the sound of it, but I think it would be easy to bring up topics to talk about.<br />
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5.<img alt="7514925" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1329681513l/7514925.jpg" width="212" /><br />
There's something about this book that just speaks book club to me(that's weird I know). Intriguing premise: check. Beautiful writing: check.<br />
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6.<img alt="11983940" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1370147602l/11983940.jpg" width="227" /><br />
I'm just saying...I would be totally okay rereading this for a book club. The discussions would probably only consist of squealing, but that's fine.<br />
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7.<img alt="11178225" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1339784547l/11178225.jpg" width="213" /><br />
I actually love talking about historical fiction books, because...I don't know...they're fun to talk about! I would more than likely join a book club if they were planning on reading this.<br />
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8.<img alt="16045088" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1363712741l/16045088.jpg" width="211" /><br />
Again, dark tones. Dark things are interesting to talk about! Or is that only me...<br />
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9.<img alt="12043771" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1314375864l/12043771.jpg" width="213" /><br />
I would be up to it.<br />
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10.<img alt="11284898" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1305031179l/11284898.jpg" width="212" /><br />
Yes, yes, and yes!<br />
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Kierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03882406677613292716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177998667440806027.post-74303585411299936972015-01-15T11:30:00.000-05:002015-01-15T11:30:00.057-05:00Gilt: Review<a href="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1364266703l/12952710.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Gilt" border="0" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1364266703l/12952710.jpg" width="214" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.6000003814697px; line-height: 15.4559993743896px;">When Kitty Tylney's best friend, Catherine Howard, worms her way into King Henry VIII's heart and brings Kitty to court, she's thrust into a world filled with fabulous gowns, sparkling jewels, and elegant parties. No longer stuck in Cat's shadow, Kitty's now caught between two men--the object of her affection and the object of her desire. But court is also full of secrets, lies, and sordid affairs, and as Kitty witnesses Cat's meteoric rise and fall as queen, she must figure out how to keep being a good friend when the price of telling the truth could literally be her head.</span><br />
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I admit, I'm mostly a newbie when it comes to historical books. I've read a few where it's intermixed with fantasy, but it's definitely not heavy on the historical part of it. Gilt appears to be the first-I will dub it-heavy historical book. And no, I don't mean by page amount. When I say heavy, I mean, well, it sticks mostly to history, also weaving some of Longshore's own imagination into the mix.<br />
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I felt the need to point the fact that I'm a newbie to historical books, because I struggled, especially, with the beginning of the book. The author was throwing a whole bunch of historical clothing terms my way-gable hood, strood, stomacher-and if you're a reader like me, it disturbs me alot when I can't get a good visual in my head of a character. I was left sort of floundering with images until I finally gave in a looked up a ton of definitions. Because of this struggle, I had a hard time of getting into the book in the first place. If you're a history buff or you've read your fair share of historical "court" books, I don't think you will have any trouble with this book. The good thing for me is that the book could only get better.<br />
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"Kitty" or Katherine is best friends with "Cat" or Catherine. You know these types of best friends; one is controlling and always wants to get her way and the other is more quiet and goes along for the ride. This is true with Kitty and Cat. Together they form a formidable bond. In most all relationships however, there are most definitely problems. I will be frank-Cat makes a lot of mistakes, which gave her alot of room to grow. I don't feel that the author let Cat grow enough in this book, restricted by the historical accuracy. I felt that Cat should have known better, honestly. Though because this is a historical book, based on facts, I can't exactly blame the author for making Cat appear so...unaware of the consequences of her actions. I felt the opposite was true of Kitty-by the end of the book, she had changed for the better, her experiences making her wiser. She became her own person who made her own decisions. I'm glad the author didn't immediately change Kitty. It was a slow and tedious journey, but it showed how realistic the dilemma is between making your own decisions or letting some one else decide them for you. I for one, could relate to Kitty for that.<br />
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Court life is intriguing, there's no doubt about that. It lends you insight of what people do for power or money and how far people go for either of them. What I appreciate is that no one person is colored good or evil-white or black. Like any good character, they make mistakes. Court life shows this the best. There are take backs of this book, unfortunately. It felt gruesomely slow during the first half of the book, picking up pace sometimes, falling again at another. The ending, of course, became more interesting. The ending was bitter, but the author ended on a hopeful note.<br />
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This book seems to have been unfairly categorized as a historical "romance" book. This book delves so much further than that. It shows the consequences of a person's actions, picking between your best friend or yourself. Very realistic loss is portrayed beautifully in this book. It also teaches you to move on, even when you desperately want to cling to the past. This book teaches important morals in your life, and if only because of that, I think it's a well-worth read.<br />
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Kierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03882406677613292716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177998667440806027.post-53135181978191586872015-01-13T01:00:00.000-05:002015-01-13T01:00:02.739-05:00Top Ten Tuesday: 2014 Releases I Meant To Read But Didn't Get To<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created by <a href="http://www.brokeandbookish.com/p/top-ten-tuesday-other-features.html" target="_blank">Jaime at The Broke and the Bookish</a> where you create a list of your top ten favorites of any given category</i>.<br />
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This post is perfect for me, seeing as there are more than a ton of books I wanted to read in 2014 that I didn't. Fail of epic proportions. Obviously, I'm hoping to amend this problem this year!<br />
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1.<img alt="16150831" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1400697474l/16150831.jpg" width="210" /><br />
First up is the last book in a trilogy. I fell in love with The Darkest Minds two years ago(or is it three now?). I even own this book, but somehow I never found time to read it.<br />
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2.<img alt="20522640" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1392675344l/20522640.jpg" width="213" /><br />
Mortal Heart is yet another last book in a trilogy. I meant to binge read this trilogy, but it didn't exactly go as planned.<br />
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3.<img alt="17378508" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1398366292l/17378508.jpg" width="211" /><br />
Yes I am holding my head in shame at the moment. I was extremely hyped for this book after reading the first two books; I had it pre-ordered around 6 months early and I was ecstatic to read it. I receive it in the mail...and I never read it. I don't know why, exactly. Anyways, I will most definitely read this book in the fall, if not this winter or summer because the fourth book will be coming out!<br />
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4.<img alt="13618440" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1378892134l/13618440.jpg" width="214" /><br />
Have you noticed a trend yet? I think I am allergic to third books. Again, another book I was super duper excited to read, and I never read it. Though I didn't pre-order this book; I finally did get it when amazon was having a sale for the entire series.<br />
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5.<img alt="14061957" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1392398530l/14061957.jpg" width="216" /><br />
I knowwww. Like I said I think I'm allergic to third books. Give me some credit; I didn't receive this book until last month, so that counts for something, right?<br />
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6.<img alt="16181630" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1392431162l/16181630.jpg" width="211" /><br />
So I'm sort of breaking the trend by introducing the first <i>second</i> book in a series. It feels like forever ago when I read Scarlet that I honestly need to reread Scarlet before I read this book, but I thought it was gonna happen last year...it didn't.<br />
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7.<img alt="17375024" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1380643228l/17375024.jpg" width="212" /><br />
Ugh, you don't even know how longgg I've been waiting to read this book. When I first read the summary, I wanted it immediately. Except I never bought it until last year. You see my problem.<br />
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8.<img alt="9627755" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1362064564l/9627755.jpg" width="212" /><br />
I am so ashamed of this. I can't even.<br />
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9.<img alt="16081758" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1400621980l/16081758.jpg" width="210" /><br />
I still haven't bought this, but last year I promised I would, and I would read it. Well then the holidays happened...which resulted in scarce money and times were difficult ;)<br />
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10.<img alt="15791085" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1384367442l/15791085.jpg" width="224" /><br />
Yep, I was incredibly happy to have heard of this book back in...I believe late 2013? Come on, killer fairies? That sounds too enticing to pass up. I finally bought it during the summer and spent $12...to find out that I bought an ARC when the seller listed it as a hardcover O.O I was mad to say the least. I was looking forward to a new shiny hardcover. And then the seller never responded to my email too "epic glare" Irrelevant I suppose, but that's my story how I acquired it, but again, I somehow never read it!<br />
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There you have it!<br />
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<i>Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created by <a href="http://www.brokeandbookish.com/p/top-ten-tuesday-other-features.html" target="_blank">Jaime at The Broke and the Bookish</a> where you create a list of your top ten favorites of any given category.</i></div>
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It has been <i>forever</i> since I did this meme, what with being sparse for a year, but I am so excited to pick it up again! I loved seeing other's posts and sharing my own lists. Plus, this week's topic has me excited as heck, seeing as there are a billion-and-one awesome debut novels coming out. So without further ado:<br />
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1.<img alt="18798983" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1417956963l/18798983.jpg" width="212" /></div>
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If you've been at all keeping up on my blog posts/tweets, you probably know that I am so epically excited for this book. It sounds awesome, what can I say? A retelling of A Thousand and One Nights? <i>Gimme it right now.</i></div>
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<i>2.</i><img alt="18190208" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1417954350l/18190208.jpg" width="211" /></div>
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Yes. I need it.</div>
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3.<img alt="20560137" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1417957944l/20560137.jpg" width="210" /></div>
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First and foremost, just look at the beautiful cover. "lusts for the hardcover" Second: a person going undercover as a slave to save her brother sounds like a book I want to read.</div>
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4.<img alt="22536448" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1417960536l/22536448.jpg" width="211" /></div>
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Again, <i>look at the cover</i>. No further explanation needed, but I'll keep going anyways. Have you read the summary? Because if you haven't you really need to so you can also anguish over the wait until it releases. Misery is better when shared they say...</div>
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5.<img alt="17661416" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1413485149l/17661416.jpg" width="213" /></div>
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I adore contemporary books realistically portraying illnesses/diseases/etc. I've been aching to read another one, especially after reading Don't Touch(which I recommend tremendously) .</div>
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6.<img alt="20757532" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1403198824l/20757532.jpg" width="212" /></div>
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I surprisingly don't often read horror books. I say surprising because I love watching good horror movies. I'm hoping to amend this 2015, and this book is definitely on very-anticipated-shelf. I've also been hearing really good things!</div>
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7.<img alt="18484807" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1418416008l/18484807.jpg" width="213" /></div>
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Some of you may be unaware(or not because I do talk about it on twitter) of the fact that I'm a huge fan of kdramas. I seriously adore them. Especially the romantic comedy types. Come on guys. <i>This is a kdrama addict's dream book.</i></div>
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8.<i> </i>Bookishly Ever After</div>
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This one doesn't have a cover yet, as it doesn't come out until the very end of the year, but it does sound very cute and adorable. Anybody who enjoys books and likes fun and sweet boys should be looking forward to this. Go add it to <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21018154-bookishly-ever-after?ac=1" target="_blank">Goodread's</a>!</div>
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9.<img alt="18488433" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1398171444l/18488433.jpg" width="211" /></div>
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Fantasy and magic and romance awesomeness. Need I say more?</div>
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10.<img alt="17134589" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1410275946l/17134589.jpg" width="213" /></div>
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Another gorgeous cover! Cover artists are outdoing themselves this year. I'm not complaining though. It makes me want know what lies within the pages, and I'm excited to find out!</div>
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There you have it! My severely diminished list of my most anticipated debut books of 2015. </div>
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<b>Link me to your Top Ten Tuesday post in the comments below!</b></div>
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Kierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03882406677613292716noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177998667440806027.post-80928741285515930102015-01-03T20:47:00.001-05:002015-01-03T20:47:06.957-05:00January TBR+Other Random StuffSO, I hope everyone's holiday break has been fun and filled with books and hot cocoa and all that goodness(mine sure has; unfortunately, all that food has to go somewhere and it's gone to my stomach ;p). Basically, this post is just an update on how my life is going and what's going on in my head. That's one of my goals of 2015: don't be afraid to spew words on the blog when you feel like it. Also, another goal of mine is to kind of do a "monthly" meme-type-of-thing. I might do this twice a month, possibly. Maybe tell you guys the books I'm planning on reading and at the end of the month, discuss what books I read and other things I posted on the blog. If you have ideas for me, I'm taking them!<br />
Back onto the main purpose. The books I'm planning on reading in no particular order:<br />
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Physical books:<br />
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Ebooks/E-ARCs:<br />
<img alt="18488433" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1398171444l/18488433.jpg" width="211" /> <img alt="18460392" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1404331702l/18460392.jpg" width="210" /> <img alt="18660756" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1403654718l/18660756.jpg" width="213" /><br />
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You might notice that alot of the books on this month's TBR are physical books. This is entirely because I have too many books on my shelves that I haven't read yet. And alot of them I'm really excited to read! The end result: reading more for my pleasure than obligation to other books I know I probably wouldn't like. Also, some of these I might not read, simply because I didn't like the plot/writing/etc. This year I'm trying to be more flexible, while still sticking to a schedule. I've tried doing the whole-not-DNFing-thing before, and it just ended up worse for me. I'm hoping by doing this, I'll end of happier <i>and</i> with more books read and enjoyed!<br />
Well, I hope everyone had a happy new year's! I will be returning back to school on Monday, so don't be surprised if you don't see me on twitter during the day as often. Tell me about yourselves! What books are you reading? Are you going back to school as well? Are any of these books on your TBR too? Reading goals and resolutions for 2015? Comment freely :)<br />
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Kierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03882406677613292716noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8177998667440806027.post-18109108937515376292014-12-29T14:49:00.000-05:002014-12-29T14:49:18.895-05:00New Year's Resolutions + GifsWith the end of December brings New Year's Eve and with New Year's Eve brings up the topic of New Year's Resolutions.<br />
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I always struggle with New Year's Resolutions. I always start off really good; I'm excited as heck to get started.<br />
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Then reality hits after maybe two weeks.<br />
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Can I really read a book <i>every three days</i>!?? Can I <i>really</i> exercise three times a week?! Eat healthier <i>everyday</i>?!!!<br />
Then I assure myself I can.<br />
<img height="180" src="https://tvrecappersanonymous.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/self-five.gif?w=500&h=226" width="400" /><br />
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Then life gets in the way.<br />
<img height="224" src="http://seitanbeatsyourmeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/joan-holloway-gif.gif" width="400" /><br />
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It's always a constant battle with myself to complete New Year's Resolutions. But guess what? I still love having New Year's Resolutions. They always challenge me to <i>be</i> better. Be a <i>happier</i> person, overall. Even if I don't always meet my goals.<br />
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So, I'm still challenging myself to read 105 books in 2015. I'm still challenging myself to eat healthier, exercise regularly, and blogging at least twice a week. And it will be completely ok if I don't.<br />
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Kierrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03882406677613292716noreply@blogger.com2