Favorite Quotes

'Once upon a time, there was a man as great as the gods...... But even the great can tremble with fear. Even the great can Fall.

Mary E. Pearson, Kiss of Deception

Thursday, December 31, 2015

2015 Yearly Recap



2015 was a very...... bumpy year for me. Overall it was good but there were a lot of lows and the amount of highs don't overshadow the lows. I often hesitated taking opportunities because change, especially big changes, scare me. I don't like it and because of that I missed out on a lot, not just in my "real life" but also with blogging. It's like I am purposely keeping myself stuck in the same routine and in the same place and I'm both frustrated that I'm stuck and I've done it to myself. Added to that is 2015 had a lot of family crisis for me. I don't want to go in depth because I don't know how my family would feel if I told you guys it, but needless to say they didn't make 2015 an especially good year for me.
There were good things that happened this year, though. I started college which was kinda of overshadowed by the stress that I haven't really figured out what I want to go for. I got a new job! Its not the best but it is still so much better than my last job which I sucked out and all of my colleagues hated me because I was bad at it. I did Nanowrimo once again and won! Yay! I take a lot of pride in this because I was behind in my word count for the majority of the month. The first two days were the only days I was caught up. When I had four days left in the month I was 10K behind my word count for that day. However, I somehow managed to get caught up and I finished it with hours to spare. Yay! I also meet one of my best friends. I don't have a lot of friends, and I'm not ashamed of this, and so whenever I meet another one I am so happy! She is da best and we were actually Nanowrimo buddies and we both won, yay!

Even though 2015 wasn't the best year I am very hopeful and optimistic that 2016 will be better. 2014 was a really good year and 2015 was kinda shit. According to the cycle 2016 will be another great year!  Its a new year and a new start. I know I sound sappy and cliche but it's the solace I am taking refuge in.



Moving on from that overly sappy and emotional rant. The books. Because of all that was going on this year; starting college, getting a new job, doing (and winning), Nanowrimo, I didn't really get to read a lot. I actually got into a huge reading slump in the end of August when school started and I never really got out of it. I used to read 6 to 8 books a month with zeal and eagerness but when August hit that went away. I don't even really know why I never got out of the reading slump. I'm hoping the excitement of the new year will kick start my love for reading once more.

~Quick Stats~

Number of books read (according to Goodreads): 52 books
My goal was 100 but I don't care that I didn't achieve that. I have actually never achieved that number, it's just the automatic goal for me. Someday I will get it *raises fist in determination*.
Also, I re-read a number of books multiple times so the actual number is probably more like 60 books.

Number of Re-reads: 15
When I'm in a reading slump I re-read a lot. So these 15 re-reads make up most of the books I read in the last few months.

Number of Pages Read: 16,305
Again, without measuring my re-reads.

Faves:
Queen of Shadows + Heir of Fire + A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. M
Because, duh Sarah J. Maas is the queen of fantasy.

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman
This was such a breathtaking love story and I loved reading every single page of it!

Nowhere but Here by Katie McGarry
I loved this contemporary not only because of the relationships, both romantic and family, but also because of the setting. A motorcycle gang that's portrayed much more realistically, hells yah!

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh
The writing was just beautiful and stunning!

The Heart of Betrayal by Mary E. Pearson
I needed to know how this series continued and it was just as good as the first!

I get into much more depth about these books in my Best Books of 2015 post. 





I did not blog as much as I wanted to in 2015. I am so ashamed of this because I love blogging and I love my blog! I am so happy when I'm blogging and I don't like how I pushed this happiness away simply because I was busy. This next year I will definitely try to blog more. However, I'm not going to feel bad if I don't post as much as I want. I'm not going to let the fact that I don't publish two reviews, or even two posts, a week make me feel guilty. I realize it's okay not to blog that often nothing' wrong with it and so you shouldn't let it stress you out so much. Blogging for me is about getting away from the stress of my life and talking about books. Although, I will try and not take so many breaks from blogging. I took way to many breaks from blogging this year and I don't want to continue doing that.

I did redo my blog design a couple times this year. Every time I redo my blog it takes forever. I am very picky and I want it perfect. However, the only problem is I don't have a clear picture of how I want my blog to look. So there's a lot of experimenting and failing when I redo it. But I still love redoing it. I love how I get to be creative and I get to really make this blog my own. I am in love with the design of the blog as it is now and it took my a long time to get it this way.



How was 2015 for you? Good, Bad, Great?
Happy 2016 reading!




Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Best Books of 2015



I was intending to do the Top Ten Tuesday topic with this post but I forgot. I'm just going to say it honestly, I forgot and now this post  was born.



~These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman
This was such a touching love story! I loved every second of reading it! I loved how their relationship grew from hostility to annoyance, to friendship, and finally to being in love. It was just so sweet which was contrasted so well with the desperation of their situation. And the writing style was just so beautiful! I am in love with this women's writing.

~Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
I read this one very early in 2015 and I am kinda ashamed of it because this was released in 2014. I put off reading this one for far to long which baffled me because I loved it!! I loved every single thing about this book! The characters were so amazing, the plot was incredible, and the world was just freakin great! I re-read this book a good 3 times after reading it. I loved it!



~Nowhere But Here by Katie McGarry
Katie McGarry is such an amazing contemporary writer! I love all of her books and this one was no exception! I loved it and I especially loved the setting! I never read a book surrounding the family of a motorcycle club and I loved it! I loved the family dynamic, the love story between Emily and Oz, the plot, everything!

~Wicked by Jennifer L. Armentrout
It is no secret that I am a big fan of Jennifer L. Armentrout's writing. I just loved this book! I loved the world and the characters and the plot! The story was a bit predictable but the characters and the romance totally made up for it! This book had another romance that I am in love with!

~The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh
This book was just so poetic and heartbreakingly beautiful! The writing was just so amazing and breathtaking! I'm almost certain this author could write about someone making a phone book and it would still be beautiful. Not to mention the setting and the characters!! Everything in this book was perfect! The love story blew me away! It was full of longing and heartbreak and it pierced right through your heart!

~Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas
This book was full of a lot of change. Ships sank and others built in their place. I know a lot of people didn't like this but I loved it! It was a bit of a shock to read but I really appreciated it! The characters were just as strong, if not stronger in this book; they had so much depth! It was beautiful! The plot was so great and it was all so great!!

~The Heart of Betrayal by Mary E. Pearson
The Kiss of Deception was on of my favorite books in 2014 and its sequel was just as amazing!! I loved this book and this world and I think I'm a tad too emotionally involved with these characters. I just loved it and am obsessed with this author's writing style!

~A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
This book was just such an amazing read! I loved it and I'm so glad that Sarah J. Maas decided to publish another series! But back to the book. I loved the story and even though it was very focused on the love story instead of the world but I didn't care because the relationship between Tam and Feyre was so fun and amazing to read!



What were your favorite books in 2015?
Happy 2016 reading!!




Monday, December 28, 2015

Fandom Mash-Up (20)

This is a new fun feature hosted and created by Micheline over at Lunar-Rainbows. For this feature, there will be a new fictional scenario each week and you will create your dream team of five different characters from five different fandoms around this scenario.




With the new year close at hand, you've decided that self-improvement is the way to go. But you need some inspiration. Which characters would you pick to inspire you to better yourself. 



Rose Tyler
She is awesome and she is never afraid to go after what she wants. I sometimes have problems with that. Also, she seems so alive that just being near her would be inspirational.

Luna Lovegood
Luna is the type of person who gives no shits if someone didn't like her. I could use a lesson on that. She would also be fun to just be around.



Avatar Aang
Aang found the perfect balance between being silly and being serious. He'd go from having fun flying through the sky or making marbles spin in a circle in his hand to defeating the must feared man in the world. Also, his determination is so inspirational. 


Mulan
She is another character who seems like such a cool person. I bet she'd have so many stories to say! And again she has so much determination and that would be so inspirational to be around. 

Princess (General) Leia
She is such a smart and intelligent person! It would be so much fun and really interesting to talk with her and be her friend. It would also be very interesting to see all that she does behind the scenes because she is so underappreciated in the Star Wars series and I bet she contributes a lot more than we see. She is just so focused and determined (that's becoming a theme it seems) that it would be inspirational to learn from her. Also, she is the queen of sass.




Who's on your team this week?
Happy Reading

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Fandom Mash-Up (19)


This is a new fun feature hosted and created by Micheline over at Lunar-Rainbows. For this feature, there will be a new fictional scenario each week and you will create your dream team of five different characters from five different fandoms around this scenario.


It's party time! You're going out for a night of well-deserved fun! Who are you inviting along?


Rapunzel
She just seems so fun and cool. We'd go on adventures and maybe she'd bring Flynn along =D!


Amy Pond
I always wanted to hang out with her so of course she's on this list! She lives for adventure and never shies away from anything. 


Aelin Galathynius 
With her we would definitely get into a very dangerous yet incredible adventures. Rapunzel would tell us a myth from her land, Amy would be like "I wonder if its real" and Aelin would suddenly perk up and be like "lets found out!". 


Iron Man
He has a fun personality and he's rich. We could go to Rome or Paris for the night and fly around in his suites. Why the hell not?


Astrid (How to Train your Dragon)
I've always wanted to meet Astrid! She seems like such a fun character and she has a dragon! She'd be the life of the party!



Who would you hang out with?
Happy reading