The Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag

Hello, welcome to another book tag. I saw this tag in a few blogs, namely at Kira’s @FIEITTYREADS and Rogan’s @Signing On blogs, and I thought it would be a fun tag to do, given that it’s past the middle of the year (and I’m already late for it).

1. BEST BOOK YOU’VE READ SO FAR IN 2015

From the books released this year, it would have to be The One Thing, by Marci Lyn Curtis. Besides fiction, I would also name Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari and Eric Klinenberg, and You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) by Felicia Day.

2. BEST SEQUEL YOU’VE READ SO FAR IN 2015

This will have to be Crown of Midnight, by Sarah J. Maas, although it wasn’t published this year… it counts, right?

3. NEW RELEASE YOU HAVEN’T READ YET, BUT WANT TO

Thor, Vol. 1: Goddess of Thunder by Jason Aaron (Text), Russell Dauterman (Illustrator). I’m really curious about this comic, I really need to order it.

Also, Made You Up by Francesca Zappia.

4. MOST ANTICIPATED RELEASE FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR

Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas… Is it September 1st yet?!

 

5. BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

Girl Online by Zoe Sugg, I was just expecting something a bit better. To be honest, I’m conflicted about the book coming out, the sequel, because for one side, this book really sucked, but by another, I kind of want to know what happens to this characters…

6. BIGGEST SURPRISE

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, I’m still obsessing about it and I read it months ago!

It is definitely amongst my favorites of this year, and although I love the Throne of Glass series, I think that this one might even surpass that.

7. FAVORITE NEW AUTHOR (DEBUT OR NEW TO YOU)

My new debut author is Becky Albertalli, author of Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda. That book is amazing, and I love love love her writing.

New to me, is Sarah J. Maas. Seriously, how did I go by so many years without knowing about her?

8. NEWEST FICTIONAL CRUSH

The most recent?! Rowan Whitethorn from Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas.

9. NEWEST FAVORITE CHARACTER

Shahrzad from The Wrath and The Dawn by Renee Ahdieh. I’m about to finish the book and this girl is amazing. Seriously, she’s gold!

The book is amazing, by the way, I’m not done yet and I can tell you that it’s going on my favorite pile.

10. BOOK THAT MADE YOU CRY

What books doesn’t make me cry, it’s more like it…

My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga made me cry big time!

11. BOOK THAT MADE YOU HAPPY

This one is easy! Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli really put a smile on my face the whole time. This book, wow, it made me smile and laugh and gasp out loud, lovely, perfect!

12. FAVORITE BOOK TO FILM ADAPTATION YOU SAW THIS YEAR

This is a very tough one. I can’t think of any…

13. FAVORITE REVIEW YOU’VE WRITTEN THIS YEAR

Another tough one, I’m not a good critic, especially of my posts… I really liked to review The One Thing this week, but you tell me, which is your favorite review that I’ve written this year?

14. MOST BEAUTIFUL BOOK YOU’VE BOUGHT SO FAR THIS YEAR (OR RECEIVED)

Ohhh, this is hard! I guess I have to go with the Shatter Me series, because those covers are just AMAZING! Beautiful beyond words.

15. WHAT BOOKS DO YOU NEED TO READ BY THE END OF THE YEAR?

Oh, so many! Starting with the series in the photo above, then The Lunar Chronicles, then a lot of others… eheh!!!

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That’s it!!!! I’m tagging EVERYONE who wants to do this tag!!

The Harry Potter 30 Days Challenge #22

Welcome back for the 22nd day of The Harry Potter 30 Days Challenge! As you know by now, Leannaatc @Short Story Long had this idea of a month full of Harry Potter and you can find the prompt for each day here here.

– Day 22: Would you rather read only Harry Potter for the rest of your life or never know it existed? –

Wow, talk about a doubled edge sword! I actually thought a bit about this and my answer is: never know it existed.

I love Harry Potter, obviously, but it wasn’t the series that got me into reading, or that made me love fantasy, so I would rather have access to every other book out there, then to just read Harry Potter for the rest of my life. Does it make sense?

And honestly, if I never knew it existed, I wouldn’t know what I was missing out on, so it would all be fine…

(source)

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– Day 1: Favorite Book? – 

– Day 2: Favorite Movie? –

– Day 3: Is there anything in the film adaptations that annoyed you? – 

– Day 4: Who’s your least favourite female character and why? – 

– Day 5: Who is your favourite male character and why? –

– Day 6: Which house would you want to be in? –

– Day 7: Who’s your favourite female character and why? – 

– Day 8: What’s your favourite lesson from the series? – 

– Day 9: Who’s your least favourite male character and why? – 

– Day 10: Horcruxes or Hallows? – 

– Day 11: Which character would you say you are most like? – 

– Day 12: Favourite ship? –

– Day 13: Least favourite movie? – 

– Day 14: Team Voldemort or Team Harry? –

– Day 15: Pick three characters to be your best friends at Hogwarts? –

– Day 16: Expecto Patronum! What form does your Patronus take and why? –

– Day 17: Favourite Harry Potter Fan adaptation? –

– Day 18: Least favourite book? –

– Day 19: Do you prefer the books or films? –

– Day 20: If you got to meet one member of the cast, who would it be? –

– Day 21: Pick one character to bring back from the dead –

The PHD Movie 2: Poster and Screenings

If you’ve been following me for a while now, you know that I’m quite excited about the upcoming movie The PHD Movie 2. You probably don’t know what it is about, because frankly, most people that actually read the PHD Comics are grad students, but I digress… PHD Comics is this great site with (as you might have guessed) grad school related strips, you can check it out here.

In 2011 they decided to do a movie with some themes from the comics and so The PHD Movie was born. I love it. It’s short, and it’s likely that it won’t appeal to people outside of Academia, but it does give a great sarcastic view of this world, and it made me (humble graduate student at the time, feel less alone). In 2014 a kickstarter for a sequel was launched and the goals were met – I’m a proud backer!

So I’m super happy that the movie is almost coming out, and that I can share the poster, trailer and screenings with you guys.

Go here for the screenings page – I’m just sad that they won’t be screening the movie in Spain, but no worries, I’ll get my movie in the mail soon enough!

Heir of Fire (Sarah J. Maas)

Consumed by guilt and rage, Celaena can’t bring herself to spill blood for the King of Adarlan. She must fight back…

The Immortal Queen will help her destroy the king – for a price. But as Celaena battles with her darkest memories and her heart breaks for a love that could never last, can she fulfil the bargain and head the almighty court of Terrasen? And who will stand with her?

*** WARNING, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS – BECAUSE IT’S QUITE IMPOSSIBLE TO TALK ABOUT THIS THIRD BOOK IN THE SERIES WITHOUT SPOILING SOMETHING FROM THE PREVIOUS TWO BOOKS! ***

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First off, this series just keeps getting better and better and I can’t wait to see what Queen of Shadows will bring.

I really loved that this book was about Celaena facing her past and come to grips with who she really is. Because, let’s face it, she’s magnificent! She grew so much in this book and we finally get to see what happened all those years ago, on the night that she woke up between her dead parents. I finally understood what stood in her way, and so did she, and I was so glad that she finally accepted all of her and was kind of happy about it. Although I spent a good portion of this book crying my eyes out…

Now let’s talk a bit about the guys, I’ll start with the “old” ones.

Chaol Westfall, I have to tell you, my irritation with him at the end of Crown of Midnight eased a bit, but this guy had so much trouble choosing a side… please… I mean, MAN you are a grown man, you’re not even a boy like Dorian! I get it, really, I realize that his main concern was not picking a side but keeping everyone safe, but that just didn’t work for me. While I like Chaol a lot, I was screaming internally at him most of the time. I was glad when he FINALLY made up his mind – after a few lovely harsh words from Dorian – and chose the RIGHT side! I’m quite curious to see him reuniting with Celaena now…

Dorian Havilliard, I keep loving him more and more each book that goes by. In this book he moved on from Celaena, while still clearly loving her as a friend. He started to learn how to control his power, and even fell in love. But poor guy, for a boy who’s supposed to be quite promiscuous, he manages to date the only 2 girls in his kingdom that only share his bed fully clothed… I hated when Chaol was not telling him the truth, but I loved his reaction when he finally learned it, he didn’t hesitate! He knew right there and then that the right side was Celaena’s and he would do whatever in his power to help her… against HIS OWN FATHER! I mean, this guy has balls!!! His lessons to Chaol?! EPIC! I’m really worried about that ending though, I don’t know how he’ll get away from that, I just hope he’s still himself by the time Celaena manages to get him.

Now on to some new guy, Aedion Ashryver, yes, Aelin’s cousin. Oh my! What a man! I mean… he’s the male version of Celaena, quite literally… HOT! As soon as he got his first POV, I liked him. This guy will move heavens and mountains to get his Queen back safe and sound. No hesitations. I also liked that after all those years, he was still jealous of Dorian.

But my favorite ever has to be Rowan Whitethorn… I LOVE HIM! He always saw Celaena for what she really is… Aelin. He saw the potential, the fear, he didn’t cuddle her, he pushed her so she would push back. And it worked, he helped her build herself up… Oh, he’s just the best!

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– Now, just to make it clear, here’s my standing on the ships. –  

1. Aelin and Rowan – Yeah yeah, I know they’re only friends, and I like that friendship a lot, but really, all those nights sleeping in the same bed, seeing each other naked, being carranam, … I don’t know, let’s just say that I wouldn’t mind it at all if their relationship evolved, because I think that out of all the guys in these books, Rowan is the one who understands her better, and who loves her the most just as she is.

 

2. Aelin and Dorian – Yes, still up high on my list! I always loved them together, but now even more. They both grew up so much, that now I think Celaena would not only understand Dorian’s life, but they could embrace it together (seeing as they’re both heirs to their respective thrones). And he accepts her for who she is – granted, he actually hasn’t seen it yet, but he will… Also, theirs powers are complementary! That has to mean something, right? And Dorian trusts her implicitly and is letting Fleetfoot sleep with him, so there’s that!

3. Aelin and Aedion – Oh, before you kill me, I know they’re cousins, but they both say at least twice that they’re distant enough, that the conversation had actually occurred. And I think there might be something there, at least from Aedion’s side, though I do hope he gets to see her – I’m pretty sure Chaol will be able to get him out somehow.

4. Celaena and Chaol – See how I didn’t use her real name there?! So, I think this ship has sunk! Again, I love Chaol, and I know he’s crazy about the girl, but he still wishes that she was just Celaena, who she’ll never be again, and I don’t think he would be able to manage her real self and all that that entails. Also, I think Celaena is done, she finally took off her ring 🙂 .

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I also enjoyed Manon Blackbeak and the witches. Actually, when her POV started, I wasn’t really into it, but then I just found myself rooting for her and Abraxos, and somehow (weirdly) I ship her with Asterin…

I’m so excited for book 4! I want to know how Aedion will be able to get out of his cell, how Chaol will stay hidden from the King and how he’ll fight, how that damn necklace is coming off of Dorian’s throat, how long will Rowan stay away from Adarlan, how Aelin will be able to trick everyone, … I want to know!!!

Also, I missed Elena, Gavin and Mort on this book, I was kind of hoping that Gavin would appear to Dorian and help him control his magic somehow, or at least that Mort would speak to him, like Celaena thought that he might… oh well…

Rating: 4.8 Stars