Month: July 2015

July Book Haul Parts Two and Three

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So I have two bookhauls today (I guess they could be merged into one, but I think they go nicely as separate entities). If you missed Part One you can view it (and all my book-hoarding craziness) here. Firstly, we have my SUPER B&N LEATHERBOUND CLASSICS BOOK HAUL! LOOK AT ALL ITS MAJESTY!!! Beautiful aren’t they? *hugs them all* And now I have Part Three of this month’s book haul. They are probably three of my most anticipated book releases of the year (along with Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray, which I also received in ebook format) I’ve already read an extended preview of The Dinosaur Lords from Netgalley and although it’s a bit … unusual I am enjoying it (how could I not enjoy something with dinosaurs? how?) and I’m a few chapters in to Armada. I can’t wait for The Rest of Us Just Live Here as Patrick Ness is one of my absolute favourite authors. I was so thankful for receiving this final copy from Walker Books after not being able …

Friday Photography Feature – Coverbound

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Happy Friday, everyone! I hope everyone has had a great week and is excited for the weekend. I decided that I would like to start featuring some lesser known book photographers because there are some really great ones out there and they all deserve some recognition. So I would like to introduce you to  Verónica from Coverbound and her lovely photos. Questions!  Name: Verónica Location: Portugal Favourite Book: Too hard, next! *ahem* The Night Circus, The Lunar Chronicles, anything by Agatha Christie, Harry Potter, The Falconer aaaand I’ll stop now D: Favourite Classic: Oh no. The Three Musketeers, Dracula, Northanger Abbey and The Book Thief (it’s totally a classic, trust me, it’s science) Favourite Book to Photograph: Right now I’m gonna say it’s The Night Circus. It’s so pretty *.* Hogwarts House: Slytherin! Yeah baby!! 😀 Random Question: If you could use one magical spell from any book what would it be and what would you use it for? Gee, never thought about this… Lemme think… I don’t know, maybe Accio or Apparition (is that …

Photoset: The Looking Glass House by Vanessa Tait

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“Women were supposed to want children more than anything else, Mary knew. Perhaps when she had her own she would feel the same way, though she could not imagine it. As far as she could see, children were like savages and it was her purpose to try to tame them until they could fit into the civilized world like everybody else.” This is the story of Alice Liddell, the young girl who inspired Alice in Wonderland, and it’s written by Alice Liddell’s actual great-granddaughter. Pretty cool huh? I’m currently reading this one at the moment. Find it here: Goodreads. The Book Depository. Amazon. Kobo.

Reviewer aspirations? Things you should know about Netgalley.

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Netgalley Starting to review books can be a bit daunting, and so I thought I might impart a bit of wisdom that I’ve gained during my time as a book blogger. I may actually make this into a series, focusing on a different aspect in each post. Today I thought I would cover Netgalley, the website that bloggers use to obtain ARCs from publishers. It can be a bit confusing, and I’m still not completely fluent in their ins and outs myself, but here are some things I’ve noticed. Netgalley is probably the most frequented site by book bloggers to obtain their ARCs. Netgalley has an extensive catalogue of books available for review. Some are openly available (you can find these by selecting the ‘Read Now’ filter). Read Now books are great for someone just starting out because they don’t require approval. To gain access to most books available on Netgalley you will need to be approved by the publisher. Once you obtain a book from Netgalley, you simply read it, review it, and send your feedback to the …

Recom-Monday-tions! The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

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Everyone who knows me on tumblr knows how much I love this series. This series follows the story of Paige in a futuristic (but kind of old-timey) London where being a Clairvoyant is punishable by death. Paige is a Dreamwalker for an underground Voyant crime syndicate, and just by being alive she is breaking the law. I honestly wasn’t expecting to love this book that much, but it has become one of my absolutely favourite series. I am enamoured with it. This series has one of the most richly imagined worlds I’ve ever read, it is completely immersive and so intricately created. I even liked the second book in the series (The Mime Order – review here) even more than the first and I absolutely can’t wait for the next book. You can find it here:  Goodreads. Amazon. The Book Depository. Kobo. (the ebook is usually really cheap too!)

Book Review: The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

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This book has been so hyped up. You’ve all heard over and over again how great it is and you’re probably sick of it by now, bit I’m sorry to say, you wont hear anything different here. This book was awesome. What’s it about? In this retelling of 1001 Nights, Shazhrad volunteers to be the next victim of the cruel king who chooses a new bride each night only to kill them at dawn, or order to gain access to the king to get revenge for her best friend. She manages to survive her first dawn by telling the king a story and using the age-old tool of cliffhangers to keep the king coming back for more. But things start getting a tad confusing when she starts having feelings for the king, and even more confusing when her asshole of an ex comes to take her back. What did I think? I read this book in one sitting as it just dug in its hooks and wouldn’t let go. There are two main highlights with …

Friday Featured Photographer: The Book Ferret

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Happy Friday, everyone! So last year, I won second place in the Booklr Award’s Best Book Photography, and today’s featured photographer is the one who beat me. And you can totally see why. Today’s photographer works more as part of a team rather than solo, and she has some of the cutest little helpers around! It’s Meredith from The-Book-Ferret and her wonderful little models, Quigley and Diggle. Question Time! Name: Meredith Anderson Coffman Location: Salt Lake City, Utah but soon to be Chicago, Illinois! Favorite Classic: Pride & Prejudice Favorite Book to Photograph: Anna and the French Kiss Hogwarts House: Ravenpuff Pride! Random Question: If you were to write a novel about the adventures of Quigley and Diggle, which fictional world would it be set in? I think Quigley and Diggle would fit so well in Hogwarts! They would have quite the time exploring all of the books and crannies in the castle! You can find Meredith on: Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram, Vine,  Snapchat: bookferretsnaps. Thank you very much to Meredith (and Quigley and Diggle) for …

Lit Lists: Beloved Fictional Animals

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So this is my first of this new feature where I make a list of books (with photos. of course) based on a particular theme. The themes will range from very broad to very specific depending on where my little heart takes me. It could be a wild ride (probably not though. reading lists of books is actually a rather sedate activity now isnt it?). The books may also be either books I’ve read, am currently reading, or books on my TBR. I may also take requests for list themes. We’ll see. We all love fictional animals, often more than the people in the story. But they often go the way of Old Yeller (also a fictional animal, thus demonstrating my point). I don’t know for certain why this is, but I’m working with the theory that authors are just plain evil. Although many of the animals on this list do make it through the book/series alive and unmaimed, I’m sorry if this brings up any painful memories for anyone. 1. Manchee from The Chaos …

Disney Princess Book Tag!

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Firstly, no one tagged me, so I just tagged myself. This awesome tag was originally created by Of Stacks and Cups. Once again, not originally a photo tag, but you can just try to stop me! One.Snow White-Name your favourite classic. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll Two. Cinderella- Name a book that kept you reading well past your bedtime. The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon Three. Aurora- Name your favourite classic romance. Even though I now realise that this story isn’t really romantic at all and is actually pretty horrific, I loved The Little Mermaid by Hans Christen Andersen when I was younger. Four. Ariel- Name a book that’s about making sacrifices and fighting for your dreams. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas Five. Belle- Name a book with a smart and independent female character. Sabriel by Garth Nix Six. Jasmine- Name a book with a character who challenged the social conventions of their world. Red Rising by Pierce Brown Seven. Pocahontas- Name a book whose ending was a roller-coaster of emotions. The …

Recom-Monday-tions! The Diviners by Libba Bray

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As I am currently reading the sequel to the amazing The Diviners by Libba Bray, Lair of Dreams, I thought this might be a nice time to recommend the first book in the series to everyone. The Diviners is a story of many stories, but our main protagonist, Miss Evie O’Neil, is a young, and rather mischievous, psychic girl from Ohio, who wants nothing more than to see her name in lights. After she uses her gifts to reveal a few too many secrets of powerful men, her parents send her to New York to live with her strange, occult expert uncle (because that’s the way to sort out a troubled teen, right, guys?). Evie sees her new life in 1920’s New York as a dream come true… until she gets tangled up in the web of a supernatural serial killer. This rather hefty book (weighing in at 592 pages) is absolutely brilliant! It’s just as full of laughs as it is full of feels. There are so many amazing characters in this and the …