Hello people! This is Pride Month, so I thought it was about time to do a post about some of the books I read which had LGBT+ main characters, secondary (important) characters and/or dealt with LGBT issues.
Tag: More Happy than not
Top Ten Tuesday: Quotes from Books I loved this year
Hello, welcome back to another Tuesday. Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s theme is:
Top Ten Quotes I Loved From Books I Read In The Past Year Or So
Suddenly I’m very glad that I’ve been collecting quote posts and creating and inserting quotes images on my reviews for a few months, because it means that I have those made already. Sure, there are probably some great quotes that I’ve read lately that won’t be in here, not that they wouldn’t be in my top ten, but I’m just too lazy right now to go look for them 😛 – so this is the Top Ten of quotes that I had already collected, and posted, on this blog.
1. Fangirl, Rainbow Rowell
2. Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda, Becky Albertalli
3. The One Thing, Marci Lyn Curtis
4. My Heart and Other Black Holes, Jasmine Warga
5. Attachments, Rainbow Rowell
6. More Happy Than Not, Adam Silvera
7. Crown of Midnight, Sarah J. Maas
8. You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost), Felicia Day
9. An Ember in the Ashes, Sabaa Tahir
10. Heir of Fire, Sarah J. Maas
The Pastry Book Tag
Hello, welcome back to another book tag. Raven @Dreamy Addictions tagged me for the Pastry Book Tag a while back – thank you Raven! So, let’s do this!
1. Croissant: Name a popular book or series that everyone (including you) love.
I will go with the most obvious answer in the history of books: The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling. I know a few of you haven’t read this – and that’s totally fine – but I’m yet to see anyone that has read it and didn’t like it.
2. Macaron: Name a book that was hard to get through but worth it at the end.
The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux was a bit tricky to get through. It is a unique way of storytelling, and it was one of the first books I read in English – the book itself was first written in french. And to top it off, I read it while I was on vacation a few years back and my mind just wasn’t totally in it. I did love it though, so, totally worth it at the end.
3. Vol-au-vent: Name a book that you thought would be amazing but fell flat.
A Whole New World: A Twisted Tale by Liz Braswell. I had such high hopes for this book… but it fell more than flat, it actually opened a hole on the ground and buried itself. Not good…
4. Pain au chocolat: Name a book that you thought would be one thing but turned out to be something else.
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. Ok, to be honest, I had no idea what it was about before I started, I assumed (because I didn’t read the blurb) that it was about someone fangirling about something. It is about that, but not exactly, it’s so much more.
5. Profiterole: Name a book or series that doesn’t get enough attention.
The One Thing by Marci Lyn Curtis totally deserves every attention out there. Why isn’t everyone talking about it? This book is fantastic and I think that everyone should be planning to read it… now!
6. Croquembouche: Name a book or series that’s extremely complex.
My default answer would be Game of Thrones, but I’m gonna go with the Throne of Glass series, by Sarah J. Maas. Each book gets more and more complicated, a lot of action, a lot of characters and a lot at stake…
7. Napoleon: Name a movie or TV show based off a book that you liked better than the book itself.
Hmmmm, not an easy one… I guess my answer will be New Moon by Stephenie Meyer. I wasn’t a big fan of the book – let’s face it, it’s a bit boring and all – but the movie is slightly better and the cinematography is actually pretty cool.
8. Empanada: Name a book that was bittersweet.
For this one I’m gonna go with More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera, because it is more happy than not, but it still left me utterly heartbroken.
9. Kolompeh: Name a book or series that takes place somewhere other than your home country.
This one is easy… almost all books take place somewhere other than Portugal or Spain, so I’m going to go with The Infernal Devices trilogy, by Cassandra Clare, which takes place in Victorian London.
10. Pate a Choux: Name one food from a book or series that you would like to try.
Everything from Harry Potter, Throne of Glass and the The Wrath and the Dawn. The food is described so vividly that it’s impossible not to want to try every single thing they mention.
Ok… that’s it! I’ll tag EVERYONE that hasn’t done this one and would like to give it a go.
#TackleTBR: Bookish Scavenger Hunt!
Hello people! I’m doing my second challenge for the Tackle your TBR Read-a-thon! Today’s challenge is hosted by Jess @Princessica of Books and it’s an ultimate bookish scavenger hunt.
I’ll give you a set of categories and you scavenge your bookshelves finding books that fit into those categories! Pretty simple and super fun 🙂.
A 2015 Debut Author’s Book!
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard and More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera were two amazing debuts this year.
Books that You Have Read at Least Twice!
I’ve read the Twilight series and the Harry Potter series at least twice… 😉
A Cover-Lust Book (a book that has a beautiful cover)!
I couldn’t really talk about gorgeous covers without including Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi, which is probably the most beautiful cover I own. Other covers that I love are My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga and The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.
A Book You Always Recommend!
Why haven’t you read Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell or Simon Vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli? GO read them right NOW! This two books are amazing, and I’m always half-tempted to pick any of them up and re-read them…
Something on Your Bookshelf That is Not a Book!
I love my Hermione wand…
A Book That Has A Kick- Ass Butt Female Protagonist!
The Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas has the amazing Celaena (though I like her new name better… my “Fire-breathing bitch-queen”). Then in The Wrath and The Dawn by Renée Ahdieh there’s the amazing Shazi. And Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is pretty amazing as well.
The Inside Out Book Tag
Hey, in celebration of the fact that I just watched Inside Out this week and loved it, I decided it was time for this book tag! This time I was tagged by Raven @Dreamy Addictions and Anjie @Love Thy Shelf and Prima @Panda Loves Books, thank you so much Raven, Anjie and Prima 😀 !
A book that brings you joy
For Joy (which by the way, I’m totally getting a POP figure of Joy), I chose a book that gave me great joy last month, You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost), by (the Queen) Felicia Day.
A book that makes you angry
I’m gonna go with Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi, which I just spent the whole night reading. I love book so much, but I was so angry for some parts of it. *SPOILERS* Adam just made me so damn angry throughout this book, the things he says to Juliette, wow, there was a moment there that I had to shut the book and take a deep deep breath!
A book that makes you sad
So many books make me sad… but I’m going for More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera. This book made me cry sad tears 😦 .
A book that Disgust You
I usually don’t go for books that will disgust me, obviously. Right? The obvious answer to this would be something like 50 Shades of Grey, but I have no intentions of reading those books (sorry to whomever enjoyed them). So I’m going for another book in the Shatter Me series… sorry people, but it took over my life this week and I’m having a hard time letting go. It’s a toss between Destroy Me and Unravel Me and both for the same reason: Paris Anderson. I wanted to put more than a couple of bullets in his head, what he did to Warner?! GRRRRR!!!!
A book that brings you fear
For Fear I’m going with An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. Those trials gave me the heebie-jeebies, and I was terrified for Laia and Elias’ lives.
This was fun! For everyone who hasn’t watched this fantastic movie yet, what are you waiting for? For those who saw it and haven’t done this tag yet, consider yourself tagged!
Bout of Books 14: #FictionalWorldTravel
The first challenge of the Bout of Books Read-a-thon is the Fictional World Travel Challenge!
Basically is to show 3 to 6 books of fiction that take place in countries other than my own. I decided to go ahead and do it because it’s do damn easy – I can’t even remember a book that has action in either Portugal or Spain (not counting national authors).
-
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz – El Paso,Texas, USA
- More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera – Bronx, New York City, USA
- Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare – Victorian London, UK
- Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux – Paris, France
- Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden – Kyoto, Japan
- The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion – Melbourne, Australia
More Happy Than Not (Adam Silvera)
>>> Nº 17 on My 2015 Reading Challenge – A book a friend recommended <<<
In the months after his father’s suicide, it’s been tough for 16-year-old Aaron Soto to find happiness again–but he’s still gunning for it. With the support of his girlfriend Genevieve and his overworked mom, he’s slowly remembering what that might feel like. But grief and the smile-shaped scar on his wrist prevent him from forgetting completely.
When Genevieve leaves for a couple of weeks, Aaron spends all his time hanging out with this new guy, Thomas. Aaron’s crew notices, and they’re not exactly thrilled. But Aaron can’t deny the happiness Thomas brings or how Thomas makes him feel safe from himself, despite the tensions their friendship is stirring with his girlfriend and friends. Since Aaron can’t stay away from Thomas or turn off his newfound feelings for him, he considers turning to the Leteo Institute’s revolutionary memory-alteration procedure to straighten himself out, even if it means forgetting who he truly is.
Why does happiness have to be so hard?
(A book recommended by a “friend” is just a way to put it… actually who recommended this book was Becky Albertalli, author of Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda on her Twitter!!! But I’m just going to roll with it…)
Ok, I’m not even sure where to start with this book… it took me a big by surprise, in a good and bad way… I’m being vague here! I’ll try to do better.
I found the beginning of the book kind of slow, and I wasn’t truly understanding the great reviews that came along with the book at that point, because the writing so far was good, but the story itself was nothing spectacular. But then it all changed.
There’s a twist, you see… the blurb only tells you the setup, but doesn’t prepare you for the reality of what actually happens to Aaron when he’s pondering if he should go to Leteo. That moment will break you, Goddamnit, it broke me so completely, and from then to the end I was totally numb, crying without actually noticing and unable to put the book down.
This book is GUT WRENCHING! Don’t be fooled by the title, sure you might at some point of it feel more happy than not, you will come to terms to what happened, but it was not OK! None of it was OK!
It deals with such important issues as homosexuality, lack of living conditions, homophobia, extreme violence, and the realization that whatever your sexual orientation is, it is not changeable and it is not forgettable. You are who you are, and you can only be happy when you’re ok with you are!
Don’t be fooled by the title, this is no happy story, definitely no happy ending, the guy doesn’t get the guy and a lot of bad stuff happens… but you should definitely read it! This was me by the end of it…
Enjoy 😉
Rating: 4.5 Stars
3 Days, 3 Quotes Challenge (3): Day 1
Here we are again! I really love this 3 Days, 3 Quotes thing, and I was (again) nominated by Annemieke @A DANCE WITH BOOKS, so obviously I will take the opportunity to share 3 lovely quotes again with you.
If you want to check out my previous 2 Challenges, here you go:
The Rules:
- Thank the person who nominated you.
- Post a quote for 3 consecutive days (1 quote for each day).
- Nominate three new bloggers each day.
I will start with a quote from a book I just finished a couple of days ago, and that I still haven’t found the guts to review, which is More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera. Let me just say, the smile is deceiving…
Let me just tell you, I don’t think I will ever forget this book… it was, to say the least, sucker punching in itself.
Today I’ll nominate, and remember, you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to, but you should:
- ERIKA & MIEDJEL @Partners in Books
- @teenage lunatics
- Rae @bookmarkchronicles
And YOU, obviously! If you’d like to do this challenge, please do!!!!
August TBR
As promised in my July Wrap-up, I will now share with you the books I’ll be reading in this month of August.
I will have a little more time this month than I had the last one. For one, I won’t work on weekends, because it’s August. The university will be empty, so I’ll use my time better, not having to wait for other people is extremely gratifying. We’re not having insufferable heat anymore here (which I hope holds up). So, this is my month in books (click on the cover to go to their GoodReads pages):
1. More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera – I’ve actually already started this one and am close to finishing it.
2. Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas – obviously, right?! I wasn’t able to fit it into last month, but I’m sure will make time for it now, starting tomorrow (probably)!
3. Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi – I will finally read the Shatter Me trilogy! As soon as I am done with Heir of Fire, I will pick this up.
4. Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi
5. Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi
6. Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari and Eric Klinenberg – Like Bossypants, I decided to try the audiobook, which is great. I’m already 1 hour in and Aziz is super funny. I realized that audiobooks are perfect when I’m at the gym, walking to the university or grocery shopping!
7. The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh – I plan for this one to be the only book I buy this month (and it’s already on it’s way), but I definitely want to give it a go before the last week of August.
8. The Assassin’s Blade by Sarah J. Maas – Now I know I’m pushing the envelope, I HOPE I get time to squeeze this one in, I think it’s highly likely.
And that’s it! Obviously I would like to have more time and fit more books in (Ready Player One, you’ll be next), but I’ll have to see how this month unfolds. What do you think of my book choices for this month of August?
July Book Haul
Hi! As promised, I’m here today to share with you my July book haul, which obviously includes my shiny new The Mortal Instruments books, with their amazing new covers (the last books just got in today).
Let’s start with The Mortal Instruments, which by the way, I have obviously already read some time ago…
But they are so damn beautiful… look at their spines…
Right?! Right? Gorgeous!
Other series that I got my hands on this month was the Shatter Me trilogy. I had been trying to get them for a while now, but the bookstore usually just had 2 of the 3 books, and I wanted to buy them all at the same time, to make sure their sizes were the same. A couple of weeks ago I went to the bookstore to pick up another book, and there they were, so, obviously, they came home with me. Shatter Me, Unravel Me and Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi.
As I had mention before on a Top Ten Tuesday post, I got Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, Magisterium: The Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, Hollow City by Ransom Riggs, The Princess Bride by William Goldman, Charmed: The Power of Three by Eliza Willard and Constance M. Burge, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan and The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer.
– click on the covers to go to their GoodReads pages-
My More Happy Than Not book by Adam Silvera finally arrived – on the day that I had to buy The Shatter Me series…
And, I got The Assassin’s Blade by Sarah J. Maas, the novellas from The Throne of Glass series.
Finally, I bought The Fangirl’s Guide to the Galaxy: A Handbook for Girl Geeks by Sam Maggs, with illustrations by Kelly Bastow.
And that’s it, 21 books, next month will be a light-to-nonexistent book haul…
My Tiny Obsessions 