Tag Archives: booktube

The Book Combo Tag

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This tag was created by Jesse at jessethereader on YouTube. I thought this tag was creative and it really got me thinking, so I figured I’d share it with you!

1. What two authors would you like to see put their writing skills together to write a book?

I’d love to see Cassandra Clare and Sarah J Maas put their writing skills together. Can you imagine? Two fantasy authors coming together to create epic characters, epic plot, an epic world… Oh! I’m getting all excited just imagining my own mash-up!

2. What is your favorite author collaboration? Whether it be a short story collection or just a book that the authors worked together on.

Hmm, I think that “These Broken Stars” and “This Shattered World” by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner take the cut because they wrote characters that are likable and relatable, as well as worlds that are truly captivating. I love their sci-fi exploration and how the two work together. It’s truly great.

3. If you could combine two stories and make them a book of their own, which would they be? & what would the reworked title be?

Oooh, what if The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare was mashed with the Divergent world by Veronica Roth? I think that would be kind of interesting. Clary is part of the society of factions and discovers that, not only is she Divergent, but there are monsters out there, too? Ahhhh, so cool!

And the reworked title would be… The Mortal Instruments: Divergent. (Okay, yeah, it’s horrible, moving on…)

4. What two characters from different books do you ship?

Hmm… Why is this always a hard one? I think I’d pair… Maxon from the Selection series by Kiera Cass with Cleo from the Falling Kingdoms series by Morgan Rhodes. They’re both royals, they’re both kind of stubborn in their own ways, but I think Maxon’s calm demeanor can help to reign in Cleo’s outgoing personality.

5. What two worlds from different stories would you like see come together to be one epic world?

Maybe the world of “Cinder” by Marissa Meyer coming together with the world of “Snow Like Ashes” by Sara Raasch. One world is much more decimated than the other, while the other has magic in some ways and flourishes. I think it would be cool to combine technology with old world magic.

6. What duology/trilogy/series would you have liked to see be combined in to one book?

Well, in all honesty, I think any novella of a series should be included at the end of any of the books in the series rather than being a separate entity entirely. I enjoy the side stories and they usually add to the characters or the plot already, so it’s always enjoyable to read them. I just wish they were more often than not included in the main books, you know?

What are your answers for these questions? Let me know in the comments!

Top 5 Wednesday: Books That Made You Think

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Hey, it’s time for Top 5 Wednesday again! This week is all about books that made you think. Well, hmm, that seems a little vague. But I guess find the deeper meaning or made me think about something that reflected in my life? Sure! We’ll go with that!

houseofthescorpion5. “The House of the Scorpion” by Nancy Farmer

I know I used this book in last week’s T5W, but this book was just so impactful on me as a teen. It made me think more about what if: what if we lived in a society like that? What if I was a clone and had to give my life to someone I didn’t even know (myself, essentially)? What if I hadn’t read this book; would I still love reading as much? (Yes, most definitely.)

thisstarwontgoout4. “This Star Won’t Go Out” by Esther Earl

This book was non-fiction and had many writings by Esther, as well as her parents and others. It was a true story about her life with cancer and how she ultimately died from that cancer. It just made me think what if I had cancer? Would I keep my faith like her? Would I have so much will to live and vitality as Esther? Would I blog about it? Start a charity around it for those with the same cancer?

acertainslantoflight3. “A Certain Slant of Light” by Laura Whitcomb

This was one of my favorite books as a teen (plus it was the only book I ever actually read for required summer reading) and it had a big impact on me and why I loved to read. It was beautifully written and was a great tale about love, loss, and dealing with being dead. It made me think about just how beautiful it would be to live the life the characters did and how they lived could affect others, ultimately making them better people. It’s amazing the power of a story, really.

trolls2. “Trolls” by Brian and Wendy Froud

I love their art and storytelling, I really do. This book is more art than story, but it still tells a great many tales about trolls that I had never known about. It made me think of how much of the magic we had as a kid gets lost as we grow older, dealing with “reality” rather than “unreality.” I love to think that there are things out there, special things, magical things. It makes the world just a little bit more interesting.

stardust1. “Stardust” by Neil Gaiman

As my first Gaiman book, this was a beautiful piece of art. Seriously, art. I loved the way he wove the story and told it from so many perspectives, eventually linking them all together and having the story come together as one. It made me think of my own writing and how I want to become a published author one day. His style is definitely an influence on my own and I just think that his writing has its own life, breathing and alive. I want to strive to get my own words to be like that one day.

So that’s it for this T5W! Let me know what your top five picks would be for this topic!

One Box Unboxing

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I just couldn’t NOT share this with you, so… here it is!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au19MDcI9Hc

I’m so happy! They’re beautiful covers and the concept behind the world themselves sounds awesome. As a fantasy lover, it calls to me.

The Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson consists of:

It’s a story about how an evil is sweeping over the land and how the future of the empire rests in the hands of troublemaker and his young apprentice. It has love, loss, despair, hope, and Allomancy – the magic of the metals.

Sounds cool, right?

Well, I’m intrigued and I’m very excited to read it!

Let me know if you’ve read this series, if you plan on reading it, and what your thoughts were!

Letting Reviews Affect What You Read

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Okay, so I’m currently reading some books, right? I mean, I wouldn’t have this blog if I wasn’t, but I’m trying to red some books. I do a TBR every month, try to get through those, but sometimes I just can’t. And it’s not any one particular person’s fault other than my own.

But when I watch or read reviews (as non-spoilery as possible) before I even start a book, I put expectations on said book.

It’s seriously a problem and I’m getting really frustrated about it.

I’m currently reading “Red Queen” by Victoria Aveyard and this book has been hyped up through the wazoo for the past few months (the cover! The world! The plot! OMG! is essentially all I’ve heard.) and so of course I’ve seen or heard from several people whom I respect as fellow book bloggers/vloggers that have done reviews on the book.

And their words are sticking with me as I go and it’s driving me crazy.

Now some of these people absolutely LOVED this book. Like, it was one of the best books they’ve read so far this year. And that’s great for them, really, it is. And then there are others that say it was okay, that it was eh, and that it reminded them too much of other books. Those opinions are perfectly valid, too.

And I seem to be thinking of all of the opinions of every person I’ve watched has made as I’m reading through it making it hard to clear my mind of everyone else’s thoughts but my own.

I’m pretty sure I’ve projected those same feelings onto others books I’ve tried reading but couldn’t get through. And it’s not fair on me as a reader to be doing this to myself.

Then I think, “Well, why aren’t I loving this?” “Yeah, I guess it is kind of reminiscent of ____.” “Oh, yeah, I wonder how this romance is going to happen.” And the list goes on.

So pretty much my question for you lovely readers out there is this: how do you separate the voices of others and focus on the voice of yourself?

I’m having a lot of trouble, guys, and I want to enjoy the book for what it is rather than not enjoy it for what everyone else thinks it is. You know?

Help.

(P.S. This doesn’t just go for this one book in particular, as I’ve stated above. There are a couple other books I’ve read in which others’ opinions cloud my own judgement and enjoyment of the book. This just happens to be what I’m currently reading, therefore it’s at the forefront of my mind.”

Top 5 Wednesday: Books You’d Save in a Fire

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Okay, so I’ve been wanting to do Top 5 Wednesday for a while now, but I haven’t participated because I never think to do it until Thursday or Friday, and that just defeats the purpose of it being on Wednesday. Well, now I’m going to do it! So, the topic for today’s T5W is: Books you’d save in a fire. (The way this works is you count down from 5 to 1 in order of the books you’d be less likely to most likely… but they’re obviously top five… anyway…)

twilight5. “Twilight” by Stephenie Meyer

The reason this makes the list is because during the time that the book first came out, yes, I was a huge fan. Yes, I still like the series. And it’s signed. So… yeah. Plus it’s my most read book to date.

winniethepooh4. “The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh” by A.A. Milne

I bought this on my first trip to Disney World for my honeymoon in December and I love how beautiful the edition is. I grew up with Winnie-the-Pooh in movies, but I was never able to read the books because, well, I never owned them until now! Definitely a must save.

cityofheavenlyfire3. “City of Heavenly Fire” by Cassandra Clare

Though I have yet to read this book, it’s a massive thing and it’s the wrap up to the entire series. I love the Shadowhunter world and how Clare writes, so I’d definitely want to keep this book.

houseofthescorpion2. “The House of the Scorpion” by Nancy Farmer

This was one of my favorite books as a teenager. I just have so many memories of reading it and rereading it and how it actually made me want to read more. This is definitely one I would try to save in a fire if possible.

heiroffire1. “Heir of Fire” by Sarah J Maas

I love this series SO MUCH. Like seriously, I can’t handle it. I’d definitely have to save this book, if not the whole series if I can grab them in my hands. It’s currently my favorite fantasy series and it’s just one of the best series I’ve read in a long time.

So there you have it! T5W is complete!

Accompanying video: T5W | Books You’d Save in a Fire

Let me know what your top five picks for books you’d save in a fire would be.