Tag: top ten tuesday

Welcome to another Top Ten Tuesday post, a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Top 10 beach reads or books you want to read on the beach. I don’t go to beach that often, but there are books that remind me of beach and some that I think will be great to read there. So I’m giving you 10 books I recommend to read on the beach. Here they are in no particular order.

Hex Hall (Rachel Hawkins)

I recommend this if you:
prefer magic and loads of humor mixed in a super fluffy beach read.

Along for the Ride (Sarah Dessen)
Keeping the Moon (Sarah Dessen)

I recommend these two if you:
want to spend some time thinking of your life choices (I’m not even joking). Also if you LOVE beach and summer. And Sarah Dessen.

The Summer I Turned Pretty (Jenny Han)

I recommend this if you:
want something light and sweet, but have patience to deal with sometimes annoying MC.

Boy-crazed Stacey (Ann M Martin)

I recommend this if you:
used to be or is a fan of Babysitters Club series. Also if you like kids. :))

Kindred spirits (Rainbow Rowell)

I recommend this if you:
are waiting for your friends to get there and only have only 15 minutes to read. Also, if you are part of a fandom (any fandom – not necessarily Star Wars)

The Name of the Wind (Patrick Rothfuss)

I recommend this if you:
have hours, preferably days, to kill and want to immerse yourself in a book. Also work if you have soft spot for worldbuilding and intricate magic system that works.

The Girl on the Train (Paula Hawkins)

I recommend this if you:
want to read this book because HYPE, but finds it too suffocating or claustrophobic to read indoors.Well, now that you’re out in the sun surrounded by people, there’s no reason not to read it, right? …But why is that person keeps staring at me?

Beauty Queens (Libba Bray)

I recommend this if you:
enjoy satire and absurdities

Guardian of the Dead (Karen Healey)

I recommend this if you:
prefer fantasy book, but wants diversity in your beach read. This unique book blends urban fantasy with Māori mythology, and explore diverse themes.

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Welcome to yet another Top Ten Tuesday post, a weekly fun feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is: Ten Books I Feel Differently About After Time Has Passed (less love, more love, complicated feelings, indifference, thought it was great in a genre until you became more well read in that genre etc.)

I decided to do five each, five books or series I love more now and five books/series I love less as time passed.

More Love

1. The Infernal Devices (Cassandra Clare)
   I used to read The Infernal Devices books as filler in between The Mortal Instruments books because that was how Cassie released them. Now, however, I feel that I didn’t give TID credits for being a great historical fantasy AND for Will and Jem, the very definition of bromance.
2. Anna Dressed in Blood (Kendare Blake)
   When I read it I gave it 3 star, but as time passed I realized that this book lingered on my mind. There are times when I see a YA book about ghost and I immediately compared it (the ghost) to Anna Korlov, who was a total badass.
3. Gone series (Michael Grant)
   Gone was a six-book series and my ratings of the books ranged from 3 to 4 stars. However, as a whole I have grown to love this series more because I think Gone deserved credits for not being your typical kids without adults trying to save the world series. It was seriously dark and didn’t avoid the gore and the horribleness that might come with superpowers.
4. The Diviners (Libba Bray)
   I didn’t appreciate it enough back in the day. Now that I’ve read Lair of Dreams, I realized that The Diviners, albeit a little slow, is a great setup book for the series. The romance in this book still annoy me though so no rating increased from me. LOL.
5. The Heroes of Olympus series (Rick Riordan)
   I owe an apology to Jason and Reyna and Piper and Hazel and Leo and Frank and all the new kids (kids not in PJO) for not giving them enough love. HERE, group hugs.

Less Love

1. Divergent series (Veronica Roth)
   I read Divergent back when I haven’t read that much of dystopian books (and apparently Divergent series are not even that dystopian?). I still enjoy the books, but no longer think of them as special.
2. BZRK (Michael Grant)
   Came from my days when Michael Grant could do no wrong.
3. Paper Towns (John Green)
   I read all of John Green’s books and out of all of them, I retain my ratings for The Fault in Our Stars (never really liked it), Looking for Alaska (liked it, but not loved it), and An Abundane of Katherines (my favorite of his). This one though. As time passed, I fell out of love with Q and Margo.
4. Caster Chronicles series (Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl)
   It promised me great things, but at the end of the day I don’t even care that much about the characters to continue with the series.
5. Team Human (Sarah Rees Brennan and Justine Larbalestier)
   This was the case of 5* rating that never should have been. You see, I was so excited when this book was announced and when it was released I felt that this book was perfect because I wanted it so bad to be perfect.

Let me know:

• Have you ever re-read a favorite book to find it was not that great after all?
• Have you ever avoid re-reading a childhood favorite because you’re afraid you’ll love it less?

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This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is Ten Books I Picked Up On A Whim.

Now, I’m going to explain why I modify the topic, but feel free to skip ahead to the list.

The original topic is quite impossible for me to complete because being the thrifty person that I am, most of my book purchases are well-thought of and well-researched. Except for those times when I accidentally hit 1-click purchase button… However, there’s another thing that plays into my book buying habit and that is the price. I am that person who is forever lured into buying a book if you put a 1.99 tag on it. Hence, I modified the topic just a little to “ten books I bought without doing extensive research and weeks of deliberation” but that is too long for a title so I had to settle for the above, even if I’m not satisfied with said title. The main difference between the books I listed below and my usual purchases are on the “extensive research and weeks of deliberation” but these are definitely books I’ve heard before buying even though I had no idea what they’re about at the time of purchase. LOL. I suppose you can say these ten are ‘hyped books I bought without knowing what they’re about just because they were sold at bargain prices’.

Right, the list… :p

1. The wrath and the dawn (Renee Ahdieh)

I liked this book and there are some elements I really liked, but I have problems with other parts (such as the MC’s motivation, everyone’s motivations tbh) so it’s a 3-star from me. Will definitely read the second book, though.
Verdict: good ()

2. The serpent king (Jeff Zentner)

Haven’t read this one and had no idea what it’s about. I think it involved snakes?
Waitt, don’t tell me.
Verdict: TBD

3. Poison study (Maria V Snyder)

I saw this book on Kindle daily deals and I asked on twitter whether I should buy it. I think it was Sara who said YES and so I bought it. 😀 I’m glad I did because I really liked this book, although I feel it was quite unevenly paced.
Verdict: very good ()

4. The winner’s curse (Marie Rutkoski)

I’ve read 60 pages or so but got distracted by work. I’m thinking to get back to it soon.
Verdict: TBD

5. Angelfall (Susan Ee)

I REALLY LIKED THIS BOOK, can’t you tell? I think Angelfall has been constantly on my top ten lists of everything. The second and third are not as good as Angelfall, but you can read this one and not read the sequels because the story is pretty much self-contained.
Verdict: excellent ()

6. The rithmatist (Brandon Sanderson)

I know right? Hahahahaha.
If you’ve been following this blog for some time, you would notice that I am obsessed with Brandon Sanderson’s writing to the point that I made “reading all Sanderson published works” my 2016 goal (progress: hopeless). But I really didn’t plan to buy it at that time because I want to read Reckoners first, and probably the second Mistborn series. Lame excuse, I know. Well, what do I know? I posi-tute-ly loved Rithmatist, more than Steelheart and Firefight and Alloy of Law. Hopefully he’ll get around to write the sequel soon (AFTER stormlight 3 obviously).
Verdict: very good ()

7 & 8. Dark places & sharp objects (Gillian Flynn)

I only wanted to read Gone Girl, but I cannot resist good bundling price so I bought all three in one bundle. It turned out that Gone Girl is not the only great Flynn’s book. Honestly, I liked Sharp Objects more than Gone Girl, but maybe that’s just me. What I really liked about her books is all of her characters are flawed, sometimes to the point of slightly disturbing, yet you cannot help but root for them. And those twists, GOSH.
Verdict: good () & very good ()

9. Magonia (Maria Dahvana Headley)

I’m sorry I just can’t. I tried, I really did. I managed to read 100 pages or so, but I couldn’t get into it.
Verdict: DNF

10. Under the never sky (Veronica Rossi)

What’s really disappointing for me is that Under the Never Sky started really strong, but then it gets progressively boring and it becomes difficult to keep my interest in the story. This book, however, gets an average 4-star rating on goodreads so obviously I am the odd one out in this.
Verdict: okay ()

Let me know:

• Are you an impulsive buyer when it comes to book?
• What are the factors that influence your book buying habits?
• Based on your experience, does buying books on a whim usually end up well or disappointing?

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I haven’t done a Top Ten Tuesday in like three weeks, but this week’s topic is definitely a must for me. This week’s topic is Top Ten Bookworm Delights, it could be things or experiences related to books that makes me delightful. Let’s do this!

1. Seeing that new release I’ve been waiting for at the bookstore

   We’ve all been there, haven’t we? There’s this new book that everyone’s been buzzing about and you’re just dying to get your hand on it. You visited to bookstore every other day and still no sign of said book. 🙁 Then one day, you walked pass the store and WHOA WHAT IS THAT ON THE DISPLAY? ASDJKHK.

2. Book bargain

   That $1.99 offer on Kindle ALWAYS gets me. Always. I’d hit the one-click purchase button before my brain could process what’s happening. Kudos to you Amazon. That button is my undoing.

3. When I find my soulmate aka a person who loves that lesser known book or author as much as I do

   This is one of the reasons why I enjoy blog hopping (although I haven’t done it for some time now…). Finding another person who share similar taste with you, especially for that lesser known book nobody else ever heard about is totally a wonderful feeling.

4. Be in a bookstore (physically)

   Nearly all book lovers know what I’m talking about. That smell, that atmosphere of being surrounded by books is unbeatable. I used to go to the bookstores (yep, plural) everyday when I worked near a shopping mall. I didn’t even buy anything most of the time, just looking at the beautiful covers and breathing in the smell of new books.

5. Participating in a book chat

   I’m a newbie in this and I haven’t joined that many chat, but for those who haven’t participated before but thinking to join one, go for it! It’s really fun and although it could be overwhelming at the beginning, the joy of meeting new people and reading other people’s responses really worth it.

6. When a friend actually read a book I recommend

   Bonus delight if he/she likes it, but it’s not a requirement. I am terrible at pitching books at my friends so it truly feels like an accomplishment. Hahaha.

7. When my favorite authors announce new books/series

   *FIST PUMP*

8. Got approved for ARC

   This has very rarely ever happened considering I live outside of North America and my blog is still very new and has small number of followers. But when it happened, I totally jumped out of my seat because YOU GUYS I GET TO READ THIS BOOK NOW.

9. Book mail aka Happy mail

   I’m that person who keeps forgetting that I order or pre-order a book. So when said book arrived at my porch, I usually get even happier because of the surprise factor.

10. Finding new bookstore, be it physical or online store

    Do you know that I had no idea that Kindle has been made available in my country until like 4 months ago? Yes, it happened. To this day, I am not sure whether it’s a good thing or bad thing I discover it because since that day I’ve been doing most of my ebook shopping there. And of course there’s the joy of finding Book Depository’s worldwide free shipping policy.

Let me know if any of these items is also on your list!

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Hello and welcome to another edition of Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. After taking a break last week (work was killing me), I’m back with this week’s topic: 10 books I recently read that weren’t my usual genre/type of books. If you’ve been reading my blogs for some time, you’d notice that I mostly read fantasy, usually YA but lately I read more and more adult fantasy. There were times though when I got swayed by recommendations and tried contemporary or classics. The results were varied, but I surprisingly enjoyed many of them.
So here they are in no particular order.

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