Fairytale Retelling Reading Challenge (2015)

Mel at The Daily Prophecy is hosting a Fairytale Retelling Reading Challenge for the upcoming year, and even though I told myself that I wouldn’t participate in any reading challenges unless they helped me get through my ARC pile, I just couldn’t say no to this one!

The challenge runs from January 1st – December 31st 2015.

The goal is to read fairytale retellings, but if you want you can also pick other retellings. It’s up to you what you count as a fairytale. Here are a couple of books you can pick from: my bookshelf with fairytale retellings and Fairytale lists on Listopia. You can read Middle Grade, Young Adult and Adult books for this challenge.

There are 6 different levels you can aim for:

-Prince Charming: 1 – 4 books.
-Magic mirror: 5 – 9 books.
-Big bad wolf: 10 – 15 books.
-The wise princess: 16 – 20 books.
-Wicked fairy Godmother: 21 – 25 books.
-Bluebeard: you are killing it! 26+ books

Here’s a tentative list of the books that I’m interested in reading:

Ideally, I’d like to get around to reading all of these, so hopefully that can happen! And if there are any fairytale retellings that you think I absolutely must read, please let me know! 🙂

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The Made in Canada Challenge

Despite being a proud Canadian, the number of Canadian books I have read (both in terms of author and setting) are few and far between. In fact, despite compiling this list almost a year ago, I am ashamed to admit that I’ve only read one of the books that I marked as “have yet to read.”

As a result, I’ve decided to challenge myself to read more books by fellow Canadians since it’s always lovely to read books that take place in familiar settings. I’ll be linking up my progress on this page as I go along, in case you’re interested in giving some of these books a read as well!

If you’d like to participate along with me or provide me with recommendations, that would be wonderful! After all, the more exposure that these lovely authors are getting, the better! 🙂

First Reads Reading Challenge

Think about your favourite author for a minute. If you’re anything like me, the thought of reading their newest book fills you with a warm, fuzzy, excited feeling. Now, try to remember that feeling you got when you first picked up one of their books – and, more importantly, that feeling of awe when you finished reading it and added the author to your must-read list. That beautiful feeling is the point of this challenge, which is hosted by Debdatta from b00kr3vi3ws.

Due to the heavy demands of university, I’ll be participating at the novice level, where I’ll be challenging myself to read 1-25 books by authors whose works I’ve never read before. Seeing as how I’m one of those people who tends to mostly read books by authors I already know and love, I’m excited to expand my reading horizon — who knows, maybe I’ll find a new favourite author!

The list (so far):
1. Pawn by Aimee Carter (review)
2. The Butterfly Clues by Kate Ellis (review)
3. Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan (review)
4. Asylum by Madeleine Roux (review)
5. Pantomime by Laura Lam
6. Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier
7. Incarnate by Jodi Meadows (review)
8. The Theory of Everything by Kari Luna
9. What’s Left of Me by Kat Zhang
10. When the World Was Flat (and we were in love) by Ingrid Jonach (review)
11. A Mad, Wicked Folly by Sharon Biggs Waller (review)
12. No One Else Can Have You by Kathleen Hale (review)
13. These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner (review)
14. The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman (review)
15. And We Stay by Jenny Hubbard (review)
16. Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King (review)
17. Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty (review)
18. The Glass Casket by McCormick Templeton
19. Half Bad by Sally Green
20. Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys (review)
21. Born of Illusion by Teri Brown (review)
22. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling (review)
23. The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson (review)
24. Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins (review)
25. The Break-Up Artist by Philip Siegel (review)
26. Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira
27. The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski
28. The Museum of Intangible Things by Wendy Wunder (review)
29. The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle (review)
30. In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters (review)
31. Dear Killer by Katherine Ewell (review)
32. Also Known As by Robin Benway (review)
33. A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall
34. The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen
35. The 100 by Kass Morgan (review)

ARC August: Final Update

It’s the last day in August, which means it’s time for the final ARC August update!

This month, I read the following ARCs. If you’re interested, you can click on the cover image to be taken to my review.

I also read Powered by Cheyanne Young, which doesn’t have a cover image yet. My review will be posted closer to the release date (November 28), so all I’ll say now is that I really enjoyed it.

Overall, I made my way through 13 ARCs this month. I didn’t complete my list (possibly because I kept adding ARCs to it and possibly because I read a bunch of library books when I probably should have been reading ARCs) but I made a pretty decent dent in my pile, so I’m quite happy with my results! : )

30 Day Book Challenge: Day 25

I stumbled across this 30 day book challenge by The Chronicles of Radiya and decided to give it a try. Hopefully it will lead to 30 consecutive days of blogging that liven up the blog a bit and give us a chance to get to know each other a little better.

Day 25: A Character Who You Can Relate To The Most

Every year, on the first day of school, my parents remind me of my very first day of kindergarten: all of the children were standing with their parents, and I was the odd one out, lined up against the wall waiting for the bell to ring so that I could finally start school. So I’m sure it comes as no surprise that this love for learning has remained with me to this day.

In the same way that Hermione read Hogwarts: A History in advance to prepare herself for the school, I would spend the last few weeks before high school started up again reading and reviewing my notes just to make sure I wasn’t behind. (I also get to do that next week, to make sure that I’m all ready for university classes again). I would have a different book with me every day at school that I would read between classes, much like Hermione who seemed to live in the library.

I was called “Hermione” by one of the boys in my grade five class when I was new to the school and had a habit of answering all of the teacher’s questions and correcting his mistakes (much to his annoyance). It got to the point where I was given a limit of how many times I could correct my teacher or comment on a topic per day, probably because I came across as an “insufferable know-it-all.” That certainly wasn’t my intention; I have always researched topics that interest me, and can therefore speak (somewhat) intelligently on a variety of topics. Of course, it also meant that I had to help others with their homework and proofread essays… but I can’t say I minded that too much.

I’ve always greatly admired Hermione for her intelligence, her bravery, her fairness, and her loyalty. She’s been my role model since childhood, and I can guarantee that she’ll continue to influence my decisions in the future.

What character do you relate to the most?

30 Day Book Challenge: Day 24

I stumbled across this 30 day book challenge by The Chronicles of Radiya and decided to give it a try. Hopefully it will lead to 30 consecutive days of blogging that liven up the blog a bit and give us a chance to get to know each other a little better.

Day 24: A Book You Wish More People Would’ve Read

I’m awful at answering this question. There are a lot of books that I think are underrated, which I’ve featured in my Saturday Showcase posts… but here’s one that I feel that everyone, young or old, would benefit from reading.

I only picked up The Bully Book because it was written by a member of Team Starkid, so I certainly never expected to enjoy it as much as I did. The Bully Book covers a wide variety of issues – the bystander effect, bullying, peer pressure – in a powerful, thought-provoking, and interesting manner. It may be a middle grade novel, but its message is something that everyone would benefit from.

What book(s) do you wish more people would read?

30 Day Book Challenge: Day 20, 21, 22 & 23

I stumbled across this 30 day book challenge by The Chronicles of Radiya and decided to give it a try. Hopefully it will lead to 30 consecutive days of blogging that liven up the blog a bit and give us a chance to get to know each other a little better.

I was away in Simcoe for the Gentlemen of the Road stopover this weekend (which I’ll likely make a huge post about, even though it has nothing to do with books) and, once again, I forgot to schedule my 30 day book challenge posts. Here’s another “four bookish things to learn about Erin for the price of one post,” so I apologize in advance for how long this post may be!

Day 20: Favourite Romance Book

I don’t really read books for the romance; I read them for the plot. That being said, there are a lot of contemporary YA books that have adorable romances that make me swoon, smile, laugh, and occasionally cry.

I already mentioned this one in my day 5 post about a book that makes me happy, but I’m going to use it again anyways.

By now, I’m sure that you all know how much I dislike instalove. It may just be the more pragmatic part of me speaking, but I feel like love at first sight isn’t really love – after all, how can you fall in love with someone that you don’t really know? That’s why dating the person and getting to know them before declaring your love for one another is important, but it seems to be skipped over a lot in most books… instead, characters are just inexplicably drawn to one another because they find each other attractive.

Thankfully in Anna and the French Kiss, the relationship between Anna and Etienne starts as friendship and then grows to something more. It’s a realistic progression filled with sweet moments and complications. I fell in love with Etienne along with Anna and was completely invested in their relationship. They’re just too cute.

Day 21: Favourite Book From Your Childhood

When I was younger, I absolutely loved the Inkheart series. I desperately wanted to be like Meggie and Mo, since I’d have so much fun with my favourite book characters. I identified with them so much: they loved books as much as I did, and insisted on carrying as many as they could with them whenever they traveled. I haven’t re-read these books in years, but I sincerely hope that I’ll still enjoy them as much when I give them another read in the future.

Day 22: Favourite Villain From A Book

Ooh, this one is an easy one! I absolutely love The Darkling from The Grisha series. The Darkling is my favourite kind of villain: the morally ambiguous kind. He’s such a complex character: as evil as he may be, he has these flickers of humanity that are intriguing and make him a more sympathetic character. I’m sure that he feels like his actions are for the greater good, and he had completely convinced me that he was trying to help Ravka… right up until the tables turned and left me confused and hurt by his betrayal. I can’t wait to see why he did all of the horrible things that he did, and I’m really excited to see if he has a redemption arc in Ruin and Rising.

Day 23: A Book You Wanted To Read For A Long Time But Still Haven’t

I’ve heard so many wonderful things about Angelfall and it’s been on my to-read list for ages. My library has finally ordered in a copy — and, of course, I’m heading off to school in a week so I’ll have to put off reading it for even longer. I will get to it eventually, I promise!

ARC August: Update #3

It’s the end of the third week in August, which means it’s time for another ARC August update! I think I’ve been doing pretty well so far, even though my list hasn’t stopped growing yet. I’ve been updating the original post as I finish/add ARCs, and it can be found here.

So far, I have read the following ARCs. If you’re interested, you can click on the cover image to be taken to my review.

I’ve officially read all of the ARCs that I’ve received from Netgalley! YAY! : ) Next, I plan on reading Powered by Cheyanne Young, since I received a copy for review and it looks really neat.

If you’re participating in ARC August, leave me a link to your update so that I can check out your progress.

30 Day Book Challenge: Day 19

I stumbled across this 30 day book challenge by The Chronicles of Radiya and decided to give it a try. Hopefully it will lead to 30 consecutive days of blogging that liven up the blog a bit and give us a chance to get to know each other a little better.

Day 19: Worst Film Adaptation of a Book

It’s been years since I read Eragon, but I remember thinking that the book was beautifully written and fun to read. Unfortunately, the movie completely crushed my desire to reread the book with its choppy plot and poor acting. One day, when all memory of the movie is gone, I may attempt to read the series again.

What is your least favourite movie adaptation?

30 Day Book Challenge: Day 18

I stumbled across this 30 day book challenge by The Chronicles of Radiya and decided to give it a try. Hopefully it will lead to 30 consecutive days of blogging that liven up the blog a bit and give us a chance to get to know each other a little better.

Day 18: A Book That Made You Laugh

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell is one of the best books I’ve read this year. I absolutely adored Beth and Jennifer’s relationship, and some of the things that they said reminded me so much of my own friendship with my best friend. A combination of their emails to one another and the reminiscing that resulted from them made me laugh at the most inappropriate times — on a train, surrounded by people that I had never spoken to; in the hospital while I was waiting for a volunteer interview… It’s okay, though: this book was excellent and made the stares and strange looks that I received completely worth it.

What was the last book that made you laugh?