Tag: books

Sunday Post | Happiness Is…

Posted January 27, 2024 by Haze in Sunday Post, Weekly Book Memes / 28 Comments

Welcome to the Sunday Post, a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer to share weekly news and updates on what we’ve been up to on our blog, with our books, and book-related happenings. 

Happiness Is…

We got to go to the zoo this week and see the Penguin Walk! I loved it! They were so adorable and I loved watching them walk! The big furry brown one is Augustus, and he was chirping so happily, omg! It’s lucky they cordoned off the space and had people controlling the crowd and protecting the penguins from me, because it was all I could do not to throw myself at them!

Happy!

I also went down to the Central Library this week because it’s been a while, and that’s another happy place for me! I wanted to browse books I might not have found on my own (like I don’t have enough books already anyway!), and I ended up with more books than I can carry, so I just took a couple and placed a hold for the rest.

I asked about book clubs because the library used to have a whole bunch of them listed in the programs guide, but apparently, they have no more book clubs now, ever since the pandemic. Which is really disappointing to hear.

Not so happy. =(

I’ve been looking for an in-person book club for a while but haven’t found one that would be right for me. Logistics is an issue for me so there are limited locations I can travel to, and there was a couple that seemed to be “dinner and book club” things, which would be too pricey for me. A book club at the library would’ve been perfect for me, but oh well. I’ll keep looking.

Or maybe I’ll start one! Does anyone live in Calgary, Canada, or knows someone who lives here and wants start a book club with me? Lol! (I’m only half-joking!)

As for reading, I’m also very happy because I managed to read three books that I’d been wanting to read for a while!

I finally finished The Rook by Daniel O’Malley, Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher, and by popular demand, The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. I loved how many of you were telling me to read it and how much you loved it. Well, I read it! And I loved it! Thank you for your enthusiasm for the book! I’ve written a review if you wanna know what I thought!

Last Week on The Blog

This Week

I have started on Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries and I am loving it so far. I just got the second book in the Checquy series on audio today, and I’m excited to dive in as well! I’m happy I didn’t have to wait too long after finishing The Rook!

I am still planning to read The Dance of Anger. I know I said I’ll try to read it for last week, but I was caught up with other books and activities, and wasn’t in the right frame of mind. I’m still not ready to give up on it, but I’m not certain if I should give up on it for now and pick it up again a couple of weeks later. I’ll just play it by ear and see how I feel.

How was your week? I hope you had a great week last week, and I hope you have a great one again this week!

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Top Ten Tuesday | Books I Meant to Read in 2023 but Didn’t Get To

Posted January 22, 2024 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 58 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Books I Meant to Read in 2023 but Didn’t Get To

Oh, the shame!

Not only are there so many books that I meant to read in 2023 but didn’t, some of them go so far back on my TBR list, I don’t even remember what they’re about or if I still want to read them! These are just the few that I most want to read, and I really hope I get to them some time this year!

Top Ten Books I Meant to Read in 2023 but Didn’t Get To

Top-Bottom, Left-Right:

  1. The Rook by Daniel O’Malley – Well, the whole Checquy series, actually. This is the first book in the series, and I’ve read it a while ago. I meant to reread this and then the rest of the series in 2022, but I didn’t, and then I meant to read it in 2023, but didn’t. The good news is, I got the audiobook last week and have started reading it, finally! So hopefully I’ll actually finish the series this year.
  2. Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir – I keep meaning to read this and the rest of the series too, but this one isn’t my fault. It took a long time to get to me on the waitlist, and I had other books in the queue as well, and didn’t manage to get to it before I had to return it again for the next reader. Let’s hope the timing works out for this year!
  3. Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer – And yet another series I meant to read. I hear great things about it, I just haven’t gotten around to it.
  4. The Glass Chateau by Stephen P. Kiernan – This is one of my favorite authors and I’ve read all his other books. I was so excited when this book came out last year, and I meant to read it, but I took it for granted and before I knew it, the year ended and it’s still unread!
  5. The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang – I loved the first book in this series, and I have this and the next book on my high priority list. The first book was good but a little heavy, and I’m afraid the next books will be too, so I’m procrastinating a bit.
  6. Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller – By all accounts, I think I’d love this book and I keep meaning to read it but I just haven’t picked it up yet.
  7. Between Us by Mhairi McFarlane – I’m not too ashamed of this one because it’s relatively new, but I originally planned to read it as soon as it came out, so I hope I get to it this year.
  8. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster – I’ve had this on my physical bookshelf for a couple of years and I keep meaning to read it. It was supposed to be one of the first books I meant to read this year too, but I haven’t gotten to it yet.
  9. The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon – I won’t lie, I’m a bit intimidated by the size, but then again I do love big books. I’m not in a hurry to read this, but I do want to try to get to it before the end of 2024.
  10. Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder – This series has been on my TBR for years and years and years. I hope to at least read the first book this year!

Did you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Are they worth still keeping on my TBR for 2024?

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Top Ten Tuesday | Bookish Goals for 2024

Posted January 15, 2024 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 44 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Bookish Goals for 2024.

This topic is giving me a bit of anxiety. I’ve got bookish goals for this year, don’t get me wrong, but they’ve been mostly held loosely in a “we’ll see” way. Writing them down here and talking about them make them feel more serious, and I’m not sure I’m ready for that. On the other hand, maybe this is exactly what I need to help me achieve those goals.

Many of them are related and build on each other, so in a way, I could either easily achieve most of them, or fail at most of them!

Top Ten Bookish Goals for 2024

Read more non-fiction – Specifically self-help and reference books I bought long ago that I meant to take notes on. It’s just so easy to breeze through fiction, while putting non-fic aside because I feel like I need to put aside focused time for them.

Take notes and/or annotate books – I love annotated books, but I find it hard to read while annotating because I get so engrossed and forget to stop. I also can’t annotated borrowed books, so I’ll need some kind of notebook if I want to take notes on library books.

Read slower – I tend to rush through books and end up forgetting details, and eventually forgetting the stories. I have reread books without realizing that I’ve read them before! My whole reason for wanting to take notes is so I’ll slow down and remember the books I read.

Write reviews for books I read – Another way to help me remember the books I read, but more concise. I anticipate being very long-winded with my annotations, and the reviews will help me summarize my thoughts.

Read books I own – Related to the first goal, but not limited to nonfic. I just want to read some of the books I bought long time ago because I wanted to read them then and never did. It’s so easy to get caught up in the excitement of new books, and prioritizing library books because they have deadlines. There’s no urgency with books I own because they belong to me, but I should at least try to read some this year!

Prioritize older books on my TBR instead of new releases – I mean… LOL! Look, I know me, and I know I can’t resist new releases. We just did a TTT on anticipated new releases, ya know?! But I’m going to try to read more old books than new ones?

Finish some of the series I’ve started – So. Many. Series. So. MANY. I need to finish some of them or I’ll go crazy. I don’t know why I do this to myself.

Read more diverse books – I tend to not pay very much attention to what I read or who the authors are beyond the fact that the book’s premise interests me. I do end up reading many diverse books anyway, but I’d like to be more intentional about choosing them.

Read more in print – Physical books or ebooks. Last year more than half my books read were audiobooks, and that’s because it’s convenient for me when I’m getting chores done, and necessary for me to get to sleep, but that means I’m usually borrowing whatever audiobooks are available in the moment instead of reading physical books and ebooks I already have. I end up reading a lot of books I’d never heard of nor were interested in. On the bright side, I’ve also discovered some great books by accident because of this.

Reorganize my bookshelves – It’s a bit messy right now, ngl. And I’ve also got non-bookish stuff, random files, piles of paper, taking up space on those shelves because I have nowhere else to put them. I’d have to go through them all to clear up space.

DNF books I don’t like sooner – I’m really bad at this and I need to get better. Rationally, I have no problem DNF-ing books, but emotionally, I always hope that they get better and I keep reading to give them that chance.

I hope I’m able to achieve most of these. What are your bookish goals this year?

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Sunday Post | Cold, Cats, Cookies

Posted January 13, 2024 by Haze in Sunday Post, Weekly Book Memes / 30 Comments

Welcome to the Sunday Post, a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer to share weekly news and updates on what we’ve been up to on our blog, with our books, and book-related happenings. 

Cold, Cats, Cookies

I was in a funk this week. I didn’t have my usual energy this week and spent a couple of days being moody and just laying in bed reading (might be I was just using the moodiness as an excuse to stay in bed and read, but you have no proof).

To be fair, it was a really cold week, with temperatures going down to -36 Celcius, so it’s just much more comfy to hide under the covers than try to do anything else. Even the cats were so cold, all three cuddled up together, which they very rarely do! Also, to be clear, I didn’t have a cold. It was just really cold, and I had a mood.

I did bake some cookies though, which took a lot of time because I made 4x the recipe, but it was yummy and totally worth it! And we got some heat from the oven too, so win-win!

On the reading front, I finished The September House and The Librarian Spy, so yay! I also posted my notes and reactions for The September House that I wrote in my e-reader as I was reading. It’s password-protected and spoiler-filled, but if you’ve read it and are interested in my notes, password is “SPOILME0002”.

I also finally got Light Bringer by Pierce Brown on audiobook. It’s the sixth book in the Red Rising series, and I’ve been so anxious reading about characters that I’ve loved since the first book. Things haven’t been going their way for a while, and I’m just really afraid for them. If this was the final book, I would be expecting a good resolution, but there’s going to be a seventh book, so I’m not sure if we’re going to be left hanging again.

For nonfiction, I’ve started reading The Dance of Anger by Harriet Lerner and it’s really kicking my ass, to be honest. I’m reading it very slowly, and it’s bringing up a lot of difficult topics. I’m sure it’s good for me to work through them, but I’m not sure if I’m ready for it right now.

Last Week on The Blog

This Week

I’m pretty sure I can finish Light Bringer this week. I’m not so sure about The Dance of Anger, I’m contemplating if I want to leave it for another time, but even if I decide to continue, I will be going slow, so it’s going to take me a while.

I also just got The Switch by Beth O’ Leary on audiobook, and I got a physical copy of Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries from the library, so they are on the list right after Light Bringer. I’m feeling pretty happy because I’m doing well with actually reading the books I listed on my Winter TBR a few weeks ago. Let’s hope I keep it up!

How was your week? I hope you had a great week last week, and I hope you have a great one again this week!

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Spotify Wrapped Book Tag 2023

Posted January 1, 2024 by Haze in Book Tags / 5 Comments

I first saw this book tag from Jaime @ Keeper of the Wood Between Worlds. She did this book tag a few weeks ago and I’ve been meaning to do it too, before the end of 2023, but I guess I’m a little late! Still, better late than never! This tag was originally created by Rosina @ Lance and Dagger Books, and you can find her latest one here.

In Rosina’s words:

The idea of this challenge is to put your 2023 playlist on shuffle, and for the first three to five songs, you need to pick a book you read in 2023 that fits that song. It doesn’t have to be a perfect fit. You just have to explain why you chose that book for that song. Obviously, you won’t have a book match for every song, so you can skip some if necessary. But the idea is that you at least need to try, even if it is embarrassing. 

So here are mine:

Hold Me Now by Renee Olstead = Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

Hold Me Now is primarily a love song, and while Flowers for Algernon has some romance in it, it’s not the main point of the story. But they are both so sad and emotional, and they break my heart into tiny pieces and I am very much in my feels. They both have that devastatingly hopeful/hopeless yearning, wanting to hold on, and yet very much aware of the inevitability of the end. Every time I think of either of these song/book, I have to pause and feel my feels and it takes a while.

Silent All These Years by Tori Amos = Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

Silent All These Years and Sharp Objects both have a kind of sinister feel, with things not being said, and hidden danger. They both dance around the topic of abuse, glossing over it, minimizing it, never outright saying it but allowing the listener/reader to infer it on their own. There’s also a nostalgic feeling to both of them, a revisiting of the past. I feel like the whole being silent thing, on both these song/book, allow hurt, abuse, danger to thrive. It’s when you finally give voice to things and bring them to light, that things get resolved. But with these song/book, do they?

Where I Belong by Adrian von Ziegler = 10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston

This pairing is a little bit more subjective. I mean, they were all subjective, but this one is even more subjective because Where I Belong is an instrumental piece, and there are no lyrics for me to go by, only the title and the feel of the song.

So for me, Where I Belong feels happy and joyful, and gives me found family vibes of home and belonging. I’m a huge fan of found family stories, so I actually read a few books in 2023 that fit the theme, but many of them also have elements of pain and sadness, some more than others. The one I thought that fit best, was 10 Blind Dates, because even though there are a few conflicts moving the story along, the book as a whole was just so fun and joyful, and that sense of belonging was so palpable.

There you have it; my Spotify Wrapped Book Tag done! I’m only doing three because it’s harder than I thought to find the perfect pairings! But I had fun doing this and I loved thinking about why the books matched the songs.

I don’t have anyone to tag except my predecessors, but if you’d like to do this, please do! And let me know so I can check out your post!

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Sunday Post | My First Sunday Post

Posted December 3, 2023 by Haze in Sunday Post, Weekly Book Memes / 12 Comments

Welcome to the Sunday Post, a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer to share weekly news and updates on what we’ve been up to on our blog, with our books, and book-related happenings. 

This past week was my first week book blogging again, so there’s that! There’s nothing much to show on my blog just yet, but I wanted to do a post anyway to commemorate my first week. Plus, although I haven’t posted much yet, I did spend a lot of time browsing other book blogs and book memes, and even signed up for a couple of reading challenges which I’m really excited for!

Last Week

This Week

  • I will be posting my first weekly book memes!
  • Planning to get started on The Classics Club challenge by
  • Reading Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
  • Reading Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree
  • Writing a review for The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin

Honestly, I’m still new to book blogging again so I don’t know if I can do all that I want to do, especially since the coming weeks are busy end-of-year ones, but I am excited to be here again and I’m going to keep reminding myself that even if I can’t do it all, I’m happy just to be blogging again!

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