Reader Rayna

Month: April 2015

  • Book Blogger/Tuber TMI Tag

    I was tagged by Warisha at warishareads and since I thought these questions were really fun and thorough, I wanted to do this tag! It was originally created by JiixBooks on YouTube. Here are the questions:

    1)Whose clothes style from a book character do you like?

    Hmm. I think America’s from The Selection series by Kiera Cass. I love the idea of wearing gorgeous dresses all the time. So beautiful.
    2)Your book boyfriend/ fictional crush?

    Kaden from “The Kiss of Deception” by Mary E. Pearson. That boy, just… *melt*
    3)Ever loved a character but than started hating him?

    I… am not sure…
    4)Biggest/Longest book on your shelf?

    This is a hard question because does this mean height? Width? Book pages? Well, I’m going to go with pages, and that’s one of the Song of Ice and Fire books by George R.R. Martin. Mass paperback = thick copies.
    5)Heaviest book on your shelf?

    Probably my Broadview Anthology of British Literature textbooks. Those babies weigh a ton.
    6)Do you have any book posters?

    Unfortunately, not. >:
    7)Do you have any book themed jewelry?

    Do Walt Disney World Alex and Ani bracelets count? >> Or Mickey Mouse earrings?
    8)Book OTP?

    Clary/Jace from The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. Karou/Akiva from Daughter of Smoke and Bones trilogy by Laini Taylor. America/Maxon from The Selection series by Kiera Cass. And it goes on and on.
    9)Favorite book series?

    The Throne of Glass series by Sarah J Maas.
    10)Favorite Book-to-movie soundtrack?

    I quite enjoy the Harry Potter soundtracks.
    11)A book story you miss/ wish would continue?

    “Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda” by Becky Albertalli. I WANT A SEQUEL. AHHHHH.
    12)Favorite stand-alone?

    “Fangirl” by Rainbow Rowell. Nostalgia, romance, fanfiction. I mean, it doesn’t get any better than that.
    13)Since when do you read books?

    I started reading from a very young age and have always loved reading. I can’t pinpoint the exact time because my love for reading formed before my first memories did.
    14)Which Hogwarts house are you in?

    Hufflepuff all the way! Woo!
    15)Quality you look for in a book?

    The story has to be interesting to me. Vague, generic types of plots don’t intrigue me. Plus the writing style has to grab me, too.
    16)Favorite book quote.

    I just did a Top Ten Tuesday post on some inspiring quotes! My favorite, though, would probably have to be the one by George R.R. Martin. I love living thousands of lives through reading.
    17)Favorite author?

    Sarah J Maas, Mary E. Pearson, Cassandra Clare, Laini Taylor, to name a few.
    18)Favorite book cover?

    Hmm.. I do love the Shatter Me trilogy book covers by Tahereh Mafi. Those are some stunning covers, indeed. (The remake, not the original.)
    19)Action or Romance?

    Romance, foreverrrrr. ❤
    20)Where do you go when a sad moment happens?

    In a book? Um… I just keep reading?
    21)How long do you need to finish a book?

    Depends on the length of the book, how invested I am in the story, and how much free time I have.
    22)How long is your mourning period?

    Well, it depends on how affected I am. Something like “Allegiant” by Veronica Roth took me a while to get over and digest what I had read.
    23)Least favorite Book?

    “April Morning” by Howard Fast. Boring. So boring.
    24)Turn on in a character?

    Humorous, sassy, caring.
    25)Turn off in a character?

    Jerk. Mean. Forceful.
    26)Reason I joined Booktube/started book blogging?

    Well, I started Booktube because I happened upon a video one day and thought it was really cool. Then I wanted a blog to make everything come together nicely. Frankly, I love my blog more.
    27)Name a scary book?

    I haven’t really read any scary books yet…
    28)Last book that made you cry?

    “My Heart and Other Black Holes” by Jasmine Warga. Read my review here.
    29)Last book that you gave 5 stars?

    “My Heart and Other Black Holes” by Jasmine Warga.
    30)Any favorite book titles?

    Like, the titles themselves? I’d go with “These Broken Stars” by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner.
    31)Last book you read?

    “My Heart and Other Black Holes” by Jasmine Warga.
    32)Book you’re currently reading?

    “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft” by Stephen King.
    33)Last book adaptation you watched?

    Insurgent. Just… read my review.
    34)A book character you always wanted to talk to?

    Celeana Sardothian/Aelin Ashryver Galathynius from the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J Maas. Or Rowen. OR Chaol. Or any of the characters from that book, except the king. He’s scary.
    35)An author you always wanted to talk to?

    Sarah J Maas. >> I mean, c’mon. Yes, please.
    36)Favorite Book snack?

    Don’t really have one.
    37)Book world you want to live in?

    The world in “The Kiss of Deception” by Mary E. Pearson. I think it would be cool to live in a different world with swords and battles and cute guys like Kaden… >>
    38)Least favorite world you want to live in?

    The Divergent world.
    39)Last time you smelled a book?

    I think it was sometime last week…
    40)Weird insults used in books?

    When it’s more geared toward their world and you don’t really understand how it’s an insult (more fantasy books).
    41)Favorite romance book?

    Straight up romance? I enjoyed “Enchanting the Lady” by Kathryne Kennedy.
    42)Do you write?

    I do indeed. I have a writing blog, I’ve participated in NaNoWriMo and am currently participating in Camp NaNoWriMo. I’m working toward writing my second book while editing the first.
    43)Favorite magical item?

    Uhhh… Magic itself?
    44)Your Quidditch position?

    The crowd.
    45)Name a song you connect to a book.

    Is it cheating if I connect the soundtracks of book-to-movie adaptations to their books? >>
    46)Favorite book related chat up line?

    “Oh, I loved that book!”
    47)Have you ever used it?

    Probably.
    48)Favorite book fandom?

    All the fandoms!
    49)How many books do you own?

    Okay, I’m including the books I don’t currently have at my apartment and the books on my ereader. It’s probably well over 300 books.
    50)Who do you tag?

    All of you beautiful people!

    But more specifically…

    Blaise at thebookboulevard

    Emily at bbooksmart

    booksoverpeople

    Annnnnd that’s it! If you want to do this tag, please do! Then link me back in the comments and I’ll check it out!

  • Always Having a Current Read

    I was inspired to write my own blog post about this from Jamie over at Perpetual Page Turner and so I’m going to discuss reading for fun vs not or because you feel guilty for not reading a book. Read Jamie’s post here.

    So I think we’ve all be there. If you have a blog or Booktube channel that specifically deals with books, book reviews, hauls, etc, then you’ve probably felt the pressure to keep up with the “competition,” so to speak. Before I started blogging or anything, I barely read anything for fun. I went months and months without reading books for pleasure simply because I didn’t have the time or the desire to. Well, sometimes I’d have the desire to and I still wouldn’t read much. I’d get books, but never read them or only partly.

    I did pick up several over the years, but not nearly as much I’ve read in just the last seven months since I started blogging/vlogging. And when I did start reading again I had forgotten what it was like to read so many books and to just allow myself to be engrossed in them.

    Now that I’ve been doing this for a while and slowly getting the hang of it, this year in particular I’ve realized that I’m just picking up one book right after another. I always seem to have a current read.

    When I first started late last year I kept picking up and buying books simply because, well, I thought that was the right thing to do. I wanted to catch up to those that could read over ten books in a month, where I was only reading maybe two. I tried convincing myself that the amount that I was reading was fine, that I didn’t need to catch up to anyone.

    But then that little voice in my head said, “You’re not doing well, Rayna.”

    And I believed it. Those first few months were a struggle for me in terms of the reading and blogging world. I felt like I was drowning in a sea of books that I was never going to read because I bought more than I could read in a single month.

    Once 2015 came around, though, I think something clicked.

    I do set TBRs and goals for myself each month, but as the year has been progressing I’ve been lessening the amounts of books that I set on my TBR, and by this I mean that I’m only picking three or so books that I definitely want to get to for that month, and if I finish them then I have the rest of the month to read (or not read) whatever I want.

    And for me, right now, that’s been super freeing.

    Just last month I read a total of seven books. Seven! I’ve never, ever read that many in one month and I never thought I would (mind you, I’m talking novels, not comics/manga, which I can read super fast because PICTURES!).

    I had only set a goal of four books for last month, so I read an extra three. I think that’s fantastic! I read books that I wanted and I read books where I didn’t have a “set schedule” in which I wanted to read them. I think that it was freeing.

    But always having a current read has also been a bit difficult because sometimes I’d want to literally just sit in the world of the book I had just read and bask in it for days and days. I’d force myself to continue on, and I pined for that other world, the characters, everything! If it was the first book in a series, I’d want to immediately pick up the next, and so on.

    Sometimes it was because I was reading them so fast, within a day or two, that I just wanted to keep going because I was challenging myself on how many I could read (I’m very competitive against myself).

    I don’t regret doing this. I loved continuing on, getting my overall TBR pile down (I still have over 140 books I need to read if I want to get my TBR down to zero anytime soon), and just exploring all of these new worlds and authors as I went.

    Personally, setting goals for myself helps immensely for anything, really. If I don’t set a goal, I don’t get anything done. Ever since I discovered Booktube and started my own book blog, I’ve fallen in love with it. Sure, sometimes it feels like a chore, but most of the time I just love sending out my own thoughts about the books I’ve read or the tags I’ve done or the discussions, like this one, that have been on my mind and I’ve wanted to see what others’ opinions were on the topic.

    It can be restraining, but I’ve discovered what works for me, and even though it may mean that, right now, I always have a current read, I’m okay with that. As long as I give myself small TBRs, the rest of the time I’m free to decide what I do and don’t want to read.

    There’s obviously no right or wrong way about reading. Read as fast or slow as you want, as many books as you want in a given month, day, year. Whatever suits you best. Don’t feel like you have to keep up with someone’s reading schedule when you know you can only handle so much.

    Also, don’t get me wrong: I do take breaks from reading. This month I’m participating in Camp NaNoWriMo, so I’ve been way more focused on writing than reading, and I’ve read three books, all of which weren’t on my TBR. But I also watch Netflix or just browse the Internet or do whatever I want that doesn’t involve reading. I need my down times, too, you know? It’s healthy that way.

    What about you? Do you ever feel like you HAVE to have a current read? Has your reading increased since starting a blog/vlog? If you don’t do either of these things, what are your reading habits? Let me know!

  • Top 5 Wednesday: Most Frustrating Characters

    Welcome to another Top 5 Wednesday! Today’s topic is the top five most frustrating characters. We all have them and I do, too.

    cityofbones5. Jace from The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare.

    I wanted to slap him for just being so…stupid throughout the first three books! He acts like a tough guy and shoves people away, but what he really needs are his friends and to just let people in.

    heiroffire4. Chaol from the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J Maas.

    I love Chaol, don’t get me wrong, but MAN was he annoying and so frustrating in “Heir of Fire.” Like, seriously!? Let go of that loyalty toward a king you KNOW can’t be trusted and just love your friends! Urghhhh, he made me so mad.

    allegiant3. Tris by the Divergent series by Veronica Roth.

    Okay, this was mostly through “Allegiant” when she became frustrating, but really, she always had to be the hero and try to figure everything out and sacrifice herself… It got annoying. I just wished she’d trust her friends more, really.

    theelite2. America from the Selection series by Kiera Cass.

    Like, what were you even doing, America? I love you to death, BUT YOU WERE SUCH AN IDIOT IN “The Elite.” Like, seriously!? Why would you try to jeopardize SO MUCH!? Arghhhh, she really got under my skin in the second book.

    hporderofthephoenix1. Umbridge from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.

    Okay, I’m cheating here because I haven’t actually read the book where Umbridge makes her appearance. But GOD DO I HATE THIS WOMAN. She is the most frustrating, manipulative, deceitful, vindictive character! She’s worse than Voldemort! Ugh, I really don’t like her or the way she treats anyone.

    What are your top five most frustrating characters? I know we can’t list them all, because there’s WAY too many, but I think five’s a good number. Let me know!

    Accompanying video: T5W | Most Frustrating Characters

  • Top Ten Tuesday: Inspiring Quotes

    Welcome to another Top Ten Tuesday, as hosted by the lovely people over at The Broke and the Bookish! Today’s topic is inspiring quotes from books. We all have quotes that we love from books, so whether they inspire you to write, challenge you, encourage you, makes you think, and more. So here are my top ten quotes that inspire me one way or another:

    1. “We were both silent for a minute. And I wondered for the first time whether ‘feeling feminine’ just meant feeling good in your own skin.” -“None of the Above” by I.W. Gregorio. This quote just strikes a kind of happy nerve with me because I often am not sure how I feel in my own skin, but this one, about “being feminine,” as a woman it just makes me feel good to know that I should be happy in my own skin. And I’m working on it.

    2. “‘A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies,’ said Jogen. “The man who never reads only lives once.’” – “A Dance with Dragons” by George R.R. Martin. As an avid reader and lover of books, this quote is very resonant within me right now, and frankly, always has been. I love reading and the fact that I get to travel to new worlds, time periods, and meet and fall in love or hate characters, is truly mind boggling to me. (No, I haven’t read this book yet, but it’s on my shelf waiting to be read.)

    3. “‘I am in love with you,’ he said quietly.

    ‘Augustus,’ I said.

    ‘I am,’ he said. He was staring at me, and I could see the corners of his eyes crinkling. ‘I’m in love with you, and I’m not in the business of denying myself the simple pleasure of saying true things. I’m in love with you, and I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we’re all doomed and that there will come a day when all our labor has been returned to dust, and I know the sun will swallow the only earth we’ll ever have, and I am in love with you.’” – “The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green. This quote inspires me because it makes me think: what if someone loved another so much that they proclaimed it this way? What if there was such an undying love for another that it makes them just say everything they believe and that they know they love a person? Really, this quote just makes me warm and fuzzy inside, but it also inspires me in terms of how I want the romances I write to be seen: large and wonderful and dynamic.

    4. “Writing isn’t about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friend. In the end it’s about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life as well. It’s about getting up, getting well, and getting over. Getting happy, okay? Getting happy… this book… is a permission slip: you can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will. Writing is magic, as much the water of life as any other creative art. The water is free. So drink. Drink and be filled up.” – “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft” by Stephen King. This book is on my TBR for this month, and though I haven’t read it yet, when I saw this quote it just brought something to life within me. Writing is magic. It’s beautiful and freeing and all encompassing. It’s a glorious gift to be able to write, and to write well. But it’s also something that we can’t take for granted.

    5. “Bravery hides in amazing places.” – “The One” by Kiera Cass. This quote is just true: sometimes the bravest acts are from the ones you least expect it from, and in the most trying of circumstances.

    6. “‘Guards are of no use in a library.’

    Oh, how wrong he was! Libraries are full of ideas – perhaps the most dangerous and powerful of all weapons.” – “Throne of Glass” by Sarah J Maas. Books are some of the most dangerous weapons of all – use them wisely.

    7. “What people never understand is that depression isn’t what’s on the outside; it’s about the inside.” – “My Heart and Other Black Holes” by Jasmine Warga. This quote rings so true to me that I’d shout it from rooftops if I could. Just because an outward expression of happiness or joy is being used in that current moment, doesn’t mean that the person isn’t dealing with something more dangerous and chaotic on the inside.

    8. “‘I see only reminders that nothing lasts forever, not even greatness.’

    ‘Some things last.’

    I faced him. ‘Really? And just what would that be?’

    ‘The things that matter.’” – “The Kiss of Deception” by Mary E. Pearson. It’s so very true: the things that matter are the things that last forever: family and love are two of the biggest things I can think of personally.

    That’s all I could think of for this week, but that’s a pretty decent amount, right? Some quotes that have inspired, hit me hard, made me smile, and all that.

    What’s your number one quote that you’ve been inspired/encouraged by? Let me know!

  • My Heart and Other Black Holes Book Review

    myheartandotherblackholes

    Title: My Heart and Other Black Holes
    Author: Jasmine Warga
    Publisher: Balzer + Bray – an imprint of HarperCollins
    Publication Date: February 10, 2015
    Genres: Young Adult – Contemporary
    Pages: 302
    Format: Purchased Hardcover

    This book has a trigger warning for suicide. If this topic makes you uncomfortable, step lightly into reading this review or book.

    “My Heart and Other Black Holes” by Jasmine Warga is a book about sixteen-year-old Aysel (pronounced Uh-zell) who is extremely depressed after the murder her father committed three years prior. She has lost all of her friends and she feels outcast by her family. She goes on this website called Smooth Passages and finds an ad for a “suicide partner” and says she’ll do it with this guy on the specific day that he requested, about six weeks later from that point.

    But as she keeps on thinking about how much her death from the world will help her, she realizes that maybe there is more to the world.

    I started reading this with a lot of sensitivity brewing in me because of my personal past (and present) and how much I can relate to Aysel’s feelings of depression and suicide.

    That being said, that is not why I rated this 5/5 stars.

    The writing was fantastic and kept the plot moving forward. Yes, at times I thought it was a bit slow and dragged out, but I also understood the importance of those scenes when they made a reappearance later in the book.

    The plot itself was something I’ve never read about – or have chosen to read about. As it’s such a personal topic for me, I have a very sensitive heart when it comes to it. But the story itself was gripping and I wanted to cheer for the characters to get better and to realize it wasn’t their fault and that it does get better. But I understand how depression works and how that black slug that Aysel kept on referring to just squirms around in your heart and your whole being to now allow you to see the light behind the darkness that’s enveloping you.

    The plot consisted of a concept I wish also didn’t exist: suicide partners. They were planning the day in which they would do it, they found a spot where they wanted to it, and they made some conditions in which they would used to keep themselves on track. But I think that Aysel and Roman slowly developed that friendship and kinship and chemistry over their short time together because of their common bond in depression. Roman felt he was to blame for his sister’s death; Aysel was afraid of how others would think of her if she turned out exactly like her murderous father. As they developed the kinship and really got serious about everything, and slow buds started to open Aysel’s heart and shine in that light, I loved it when it became a turning point.

    I thought there was great character development. I saw the transformation in Aysel and was so glad when I saw it. Roman was the tough one and the stubborn one, but I completely understood where he came from and why he blamed himself so heavily for what happened.

    Yes, there were some parts that could have been explained more or actually happened (I really wanted her to confront her father) and maybe some things should have been different, but for the subject matter of the book, this was beautifully written.

    As I stated, I rated this book 5/5 stars.

    And please. If you or someone you know is in a situation like this, please have them (or you) talk to someone who can help and be a positive bright light in that darkness. You have no clue how much that light will be of value to that person one day.

    These resources can be found at the back of Warga’s book:

    Suicide is and never will be a joking matter. Don’t make light of it. Not all stories end like Aysel’s and Roman’s, so please, just reach out for help if it’s needed.

    Accompanying video: My Heart and Other Black Holes Book Review