Month: May 2019

Pride & Parties | Bi-Weekly Update

aquapages // eline5 Comments

New book posts:

Other books I’ve been reading:

*this reader is on a hiatus as i’m spending all my free-time getting drunk and dancing. not preferable in the long run as my feet hurt so much and i miss book&tea time, but it’s much fun and going to persist another week until exam season is upon me (so more likely semi-hiatus until the end of may)*

Other blog posts I liked:

  • I really haven’t been able to catch up on everyone’s great posts, so if I’m commenting on two week old posts soon that’s why!
  • Run Away With Dream Thieves posted Muslim book recommendations, which immediately added a lot of muslim books to my TBR. Always looking to read about other cultures and learn along with being entertained. Also lovely to see someone who’s muslim liking Angel Rahim in “I was born for this” by Alice Oseman! I thought that was such a great book about fan-culture, but also self-discovery and friendship, etc.
  • Acquadimore also talked about diversity in her post of What changed in American YA from 2010 to 2019. Again with the theme of wanting more non-US YA books and more diverse perspectives, even if it’s gotten better. Whatever gets popular all of a sudden becomes such a trend in the American YA market, making books similar, which is unfortunate I think.

Added to TBR:

Three things on my mind:

  • I’ve been partying and finishing up my final tests before exam season, like I said I would last update. It’s really been great spending so much time with friends! Of course I’ve done things I’ve come to regret the next day, but mostly when I wander off alone at a party bored out of my mind, so now that we’ve all figured that out it’s gone better, HAH.
  • I also went to my first pride parade!!! With friends! It was pouring rain and my feet were so painful after the previous night, but pride surprisingly really shifted something in how comfortable I was, seeing people of all ages show up, along with going with close friends supporting each other. It was in a tiny community for the second year in a row, so it was really visible how much it meant to other people there too. I really appreciated the different christian organizations and groups that showed their support as well, which was a new thing to see for me.
  • AURORA’s new music video is out, and of course I love “The River”

Festival Cover | Friday Face Off

aquapages // eline2 Comments

This is a weekly thing created by Books by Proxy, but currently run by Lynn’s Book Blog.

This week’s theme: “As full of spirit as the month of May” – A cover featuring a festival/party/celebration. More book covers should have people having fun on the covers, when I went looking it was weirdly rare to find.

My pick: The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

A fictional magical festival where people die works within the prompt right? The red covers make sense because of the blood and violence in the book. I’m guessing the focus on horses is because that’s popular, but it doesn’t really give off the magical island feeling this book has. The first three covers kind of put me off this book because I’m not a big fan of horses, but it was just such a different and deeper book than expected.

Paperback (2013) Scholastic Press | Hardcover (2011) Scholastic Press | Paperback (2011) Scholastic

German (2012) Script5 | Spanish (2013) Destino | Italian (2012) Rizzoli

Persian (2013) Behdad (ISBN13: 9786008939078) | Chinese (2015) 长江文艺出版社 | Traditional chinese (2013) 大智通文化行銷 (ISBN: 9866364968) 

My favourite:

The Chinese (2015) 长江文艺出版社 edition is so different and I don’t know if it would be the one to attract the most readers here, but I really liked the concept and how it shows the magical realism part of this book. Something like this mixed with the persian more violent version would be perfect.

The Sunshine Blogger Award (2)

aquapages // eline4 Comments

Tagged by Beth Jones at The Books Are Everywhere, thank you! I really liked the questions you asked, especially about bookish group of friends and hobbies.

Rules:

  1. Thank the blogger who nominated you.
  2. Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you.
  3. Nominate 11 new blogs to receive the award and write them 11 new questions.
  4. List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award in your post/or on your blog?

The questions

1. When do you read more, day or night?

I read more in the evening because I have to wake up super early during the week. But I prefer reading during the night, as I’m more of a night-owl forced to be up at 5 am with the morning birds, haha.

2. How many unread books do you own?

Ebooks and physical books in total I think I’ve got record many currently – around 25 books. Mostly because I’ve downloaded some free classics.

3. Which 2019 release are you super excited for?

These witches don’t burn by Isabel Sterling seems like it’s written for me based on the synopsis and that cover. It’s out 28. May.

4. Which authors are on your auto-buy list?

Patrick Rothfuss (haha), Brandon Sanderson (if I can keep up)

5. Which book do you hate/dislike and everyone loves?

I find that it’s quite a lot that I dislike personally, but I can also realize why others like them.

6. Name a book or series you’d love to see as a movie or TV show.

Everything leads to you by Nina LaCour is such a cute lesbian story that I would love to see played out on screen. It has a lot of drama, but also aesthetic elements as the protagonist is a set designer in LA.

7. How many books are too many in a series?

Depends on the kind of series. If it’s entertaining and maybe shorter and episodic books by a good author there can be ten books in a series. Too many YA books are trilogies that shouldn’t have been, though.

8. Name your favourite bookish group of friends.

http://maldecorum.tumblr.com/post/158330811398/team

The foxhole court by Nina Sakavic is a well-loved and hated book series. I want to read it a third time before making any reviews about it, because I love it, but I can definitely see why some wouldn’t. There’s this made up college sport called Exy, where a group of “misfits” are put on one team – the foxes. This book series should definitely also be adapted to a netflix tv series!

The beautiful fanart is by maldecorum!

9. Which book(s) do you have fond memories of?


Fresh off the vampire craze that was Twilight me and my bestfriend (around 10 years old) read Cirque du Freak by Darren Shan together, discussing it in depth – it’s 12 books and it was awesome. It got all the vampires and circus troop bonding/killing each other.

10. What’s your favourite bookish map?

Aesthetically, this map from Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore is one of my favourites.

11. Other than reading, what do you love to do?

Play the piano, but I’ve been really bad at doing it lately. Being in nature, in general, but especially by water. I really love swimming in the summer, as there’s no all-year indoor pool nearby. Love watching figure skating on tv, strangely enough!

I trained taekwondo for two years before it was impossible health-wise, and then never got to start up again because of schedule. I really loved to fight and learn to defend myself, it was really addicting and a great way to train, with a group of people I really liked. I started taekwondo because I moved, and could no longer take dance classes (which I’d done nearly my whole life), which I also loved, but was less good at. I wonder now, with moving next year to a bigger city – if I should take up taekwondo or dance classes again? I think I’m going to try both out, but most likely it will be taekwondo or another type of fighting style. I really like performing on stage dancing, but it’s just so hard not compare yourself to others (especially with those huge mirrors) and even though I took hiphop we were a group of girls that I was friendly with, but didn’t really connect with. It was so refreshing fighting and not having to think about looks, and the teacher immediately calling you out when you did something wrong, because you want to improve. That honest, but constructive feedback was really great. Also I’m just a better fighter than dancer, haha.

I nominate…

My questions

  1. A place you would want to travel to next
  2. Which authors are on your auto-buy list?
  3. What could a synopsis include that would immediately make you want to read a book?
  4. A stunning book cover
  5. At what point do you DNF books? Is it a certain percentage through it?
  6. Would you prefer to live in a big or small city?
  7. Favourite mythological creature?
  8. One of your goals for 2019
  9. How many languages do you know and what would you like to learn next?
  10. A book quote you like
  11. Recommend me some book blogs you follow!

Queer Girls YA Book Recommendations #1

aquapages // eline7 Comments

As a queer girl I’ve certainly read too few books where women love women (wlw). Complete reviews I’ve written are linked.

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour

  • Marin leaves her old life behind without telling anyone. She’s already chosen her college for fall, so she leaves early and stays at a run down motel until it opens. The book starts with Marin staying behind at the college dorm as everyone leaves for winter break. She’s anxiously awaiting the visit from her “old” friend Mabel and that her lives, which she’s managed to keep seperated until now, are going to clash.
  • The lesbian relationship was so cute in that they had history, both fucked up and now have no idea how to talk to each other. There’s this whole mystery about why Marin left her old life so abruptly, which it’s obvious Mabel is trying to figure out too. It slowly unfolds until it both doesn’t matter and you kind of understand it. It’s a weird feeling, but I adored it.
  • Snowed-in scenes like it’s an actual fanfic, where the couple just spends large parts of the book alone at the college

The Miseducation of Cameron Post

  • A SAD STORY, but also about being brave and sticking up for others
  • The main character is finding themselves as a lesbian, growing up in Montana
  • At one point in the story her family sends her to a religious conversion therapy camp – which I think you should be prepared for going into this book
  • Queer people bonding together and becoming friends
  • Has a movie adaption with the same name, which conveys some of the same messages, but not so in-depth and emotion as this book. For example there’s this huge betrayal that happes, wrecking Cameron Post’s life for a while, and in the movie she just seems generally depressed for a while because of her circumstances. Also the movie is worth it simply because Chlow Grace Moretz is the lead *hearteyes*.

Girl Mans Up by M-E Girard

  • Penn is 16 years old and struggling with her gender identity, especially with hanging around tougher boys that doesn’t leave her alone to figure it out. Definitely a lot of unwelcome questions and harassment about it.
  • Loves video games
  • She seems to go towards idenitifying as a butch lesbian and the parts where she’s figuring out her attraction to girls and going into her first relationship are so cute. The balance between the cute and ugly parts in this book is really special.
  • Dealing with family that doesn’t understand or accept non-hetero sexualities

Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour

  • It’s a lovely story of a girl who works with decorating movie sets falling in love with a mystery and then the girl underneath it. 
  • Entertaining, sweet and filled with special moments

Which queer books (especially with queer girls) have you read?

Blue Cover | Friday Face Off

aquapages // eline2 Comments

This is a weekly thing created by Books by Proxy, but currently run by Lynn’s Book Blog.

Weeks theme: “How sweet to be a cloud, floating in the blue” – A cover that is predominantly blue

My pick: Bitterblue (Graceling #3) by Kristin Cashore

Hardcover, Dial (2012)

Paperback (2012), Gollancz

German version, Carlsen (2012)

Bulgarian version, Емас (2014) (ISBN13: 9789543572861)

My favourite

I’d never seen the foreign editions, they’re so different! I really don’t have a favourite. Do you?

Honorary mention

Taiwan version of Graceling, the first book in the series. LOOK AT THIS BEAUTY!

Never Let Me Go | Audiobook Review

aquapages // eline2 Comments

I really had hope of liking this book, but it just did not work out at all.

Pages: 288

Genre: Contemporary, (a bit of sci-fi dystopia so small it shouldn’t be mentioned in fear of getting your hopes up)

Synopsis

Hailsham seems like a pleasant English boarding school, far from the influences of the city. Its students are well tended and supported, trained in art and literature, and become just the sort of people the world wants them to be. But, curiously, they are taught nothing of the outside world and are allowed little contact with it.

Within the grounds of Hailsham, Kathy grows from schoolgirl to young woman, but it’s only when she and her friends Ruth and Tommy leave the safe grounds of the school (as they always knew they would) that they realize the full truth of what Hailsham is.

The audiobook

Made by Faber & Faber Audio. The narrator was great, slipping you right into that british boarding school with lots of descriptive language. Hearing it out loud does make my annoyances with the writing more prominent as the book progressed. The voice given to the boy Tommy was so annoying and douchey as well, and made it subconsciously hard to like him. Took me a while to figure that one out. It’s a good audiobook, if you would prefer that.

My thoughts

three out of five stars

This was promoted to me as with an dystopian vibe, or at least set in an alternate reality where things are pretty similar to ours, but not quite. At the very least – that there would be mystery! WRONG. It’s as british boarding school children without parents and a few questions that I’ve ever gotten, but without the curiousity to figure out the answers because they all have a great time generally. And then it moves over to other settings as they grow up, but mostly it’s not that different from like a very good orphanage program. I feel tricked, and almost gave it two stars just out of that.

My thoughts about one hour into this book:

I often think that books should come with a “how it will make you feel”, as it’s just as or more important than the synopsis. The beginning of this book was pure mimring about the past, someone telling a story of how things once was with a mystery of why attached to it. And that was perfect for my mood. It was spring break, which for Norway means everyone that is able to is at cabins at the mountain and I was sitting outside just beneath them, the first week of real sun and warmth allowing it. I had time, even for a slow-paced book.

Me halfway into the book:

I’m desperate for this pace to get quicker, someone tell me if any mystery or society-critical questions is coming up at all. I’m so bored.

Me after finishing the book:

It just never delivered.

There’s lots of reviews I saw that was like “oh no, don’t read reviews it might spoil the mystery!” WHAT MYSTERY? This is not the book for anyone who have read fantasy or sci-fi.

*SPOILERS BELOW*

Or even watched Orphan Black. That is one tv series that takes the concept this plot completely misses to act out. This is one of the books that thinks it’s smart, without really coming up with any critical questions or message about society. The writing of the plot had one goal – to leave out as much as possible – so that it would have enough secrets to be interpreted as a mystery. And the “kids” get to ask all their questions at the end to their former teachers, about everything that’s kept from the characters and more so the reader, and it just isn’t satisfying or revealing at all. Overall, I liked the actual writing, although I don’t think it’s everyone’s taste as the main character is really observant and telling the story like a fake memoir.

The beginning is lovely, but then the plot never unfolds with the message it claims to have and the “mystery” doesn’t hold up.