Top Three Wednesday: Top Three Contemporary YA Novels

Another round of our Top Three Wednesday! Today we will be talking about our Top Three Contemporary YA novels. Who doesn’t love YA? There is this sense of comfort, of home-y feel when I am reading YA novels. And yes I do admit that sometimes I am too old for YA, but I just could not resist them, there this magnetic pull that I dare not fight. Because, admit it or not, we sometimes crave for the YA “feels”, the perfect one to read after a grueling, say adult fantasy or a dark book. YAs are truly a breath of fresh air.

 

 

1. Winger by Andrew Smith

You can check my review of the book here. This book just took me by surprise. I never had big expectations, I read it without knowing much about it. All I know is it is about a 14 year old boy in a boarding school. I have not read anything like it before so I went ahead and bought a copy and read it during the Anti Bullying Readathon hosted by Sarah on book tube and goodreads. I was not that excited to read the book since I thought I might not be able relate to it or identify with the character. But boy I was sorely mistaken. This book was a gem, I never thought I would like it this much. Ryan Dean West character was not one to miss. The book was funny and deep at the same time. I never thought I could get so much out of it. And that ending! Oh my goodness it broke my heart, I was sobbing like crazy. This is one of the best books I read in 2014. And oh there is this some kind of Looking For Alaska feel to it.

 

 

2. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Ahhhh this will always be a favorite YA of all freaking time! I never thought I could love a book so much! This book kept me company when I was in the hospital taking care of my dad. And I couldn’t have picked up a better companion. The story of Eleanor and Park is not like the typical YA stories. This one right here has depth, it was not the usual immature and whiny characters we have grown accustomed reading. Now this one for me is a cut above the rest, and to this day not one YA contemporary has replaced this in my heart. What I would trade to read it for the first time again. This book introduced me to Rainbow Rowell and her brilliance. She is one of the authors I have high respect to and on my bookish bucket list is to meet her. I love the innocence in this book, that pureness of first love and also I loved that Eleanor was the representation of undervalued girls and how her character has been a relevant one in the society we live in today. Hmmm now I’m sensing a reread coming in the future! I want to meet them again!

 

 

 

3. Puddle Jumping by Amber L. Johnson

Another book that will always hold a special place in my heart. Too bad I don’t have a physical copy! This book is about a guy who has Aspergers and a girl who helped him and the beautiful relationship that sprung from it. Gahhhddd, I cannot recommend this one hard enough! I think I have tabbed almost each page. This book was so beautifully written and after reading it you will just hug the book and cradle it for as long as you possibly could. There was sincerity, coyness and most of all – heart. I loved how this book talked about a mental condition such as Aspergers and how the characters had their flaws yet despite it, they are beautiful. This is definitely one of the best YA books out there! Amber L. Johnson is such a great writer, she weaves perfect heartfelt stories that you wouldn’t want to miss. Definitely a must read for young and adult alike!

 

So there you have it guys, another Wednesday has passed. Are you excited for the weekend, it is Valentine’s day! Where are your partners taking you? Hope you will have a great time! Till next post! Bye!

 

Advertisement

Top Three Wednesday: Villains

 

Oh the characters we love to hate, but a good book is nothing without these villains. Those characters we like to strangle, those characters giving our favorites portagonists a damn hard time, those characters we want to see suffer in the end. These villains stir up a lot of hatred within our hearts, and more often than not we get carried away. I’m telling you, you are not alone. I feel it too, more often than humanly possible. I have to remind myself from time to time that these villains are only fictional, but sometimes you just couldn’t help but rant about them over and over until you are sure you have cursed them enough. haha so without further ado, here are my top villains.

 

1. Cersei Lannister from A Song of Ice and Fire series by George RR Martin

I am almost finished with Game of Thrones (oh those 835 pages of pure reading experience) I have 150 pages left and I am eager to finish it in the next days. You know it needs undivided attention, just like every high fantasy there is. (Don’t you worry I have watched every episode, so I know what Cersei Lannister is capable of doing) So yes Cersei, that cunning vixen, she’s so clever, even Eddard didn’t see what will befall him. Cersei Lannister’s character is not the average villain, she knows what she wants and have different, subtle means of getting it. Yes it may be subtle, even sugar coated to look as if what she was doing was innocent, but boy when everything unfolds you will not believe how she did it. Cunning indeed. One just cannot escape the wrath of a Lannister. I loved how George RR Martin make such diverse characters! I never thought I would love the series even more. Gahhhh can’t wait to read all the books and curse Cersei over and over.

 

2. Leah Smith from Dirty Red of Love Me With Lies trilogy by Tarryn Fisher

Tarryn Fisher is known to make great villains and Leah Smith took the cake for me. She was vicious, she liked to do things her way no matter the cost and there’s just no stopping her. The first few chapters of Dirty Red had me so frustrated with her character, I hated her with so much passion. She was selfish and with next to nothing moral fibre in her being, especially what she did with the baby. My goodness this woman made me roll my eyes because of too much frustration, I swear if I could climb inside the book I would be strangling her with her red hair. Especially so because she was the one getting in the way between Olivia and Caleb. But as the story progresses, I understood her story, but that didn’t make me like her, I just understood where she was coming from, the hate for her character was still ever present. You see Tarryn Fisher was an effective writer, she made me feel so much hatred towards a fictional character that I didn’t even believe possible until then. I may have forgotten a lot from the story since I’ve read it like three years ago, but the feeling of hate will never be forgotten. Haha, that’s how great Tarryn Fisher made her. Leah Smith’s character will stay with you forever.

 

3. Amy Elliot of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Another strong character. Amy made me question a lot of things! Can she be considered a villain? Well, for me she is. Gone Girl was one of my favorite books of all time, I mean how can you not love such a twisted story. I was in awe of that twist, I didn’t see it coming. Gillian Flynn will always hold a good spot in my heart. So Amy Elliott, she seemed to be an ordinary girl right? I was actually rooting for her the first half of the book, how she became so lonely, how she missed her old life, how she gave up a lot of things for Nick, how she feel caged in that big house they call home, or how she longed for those days when she and Nick were happy. I mean, this is a story of a woman who had to give up a lot of herself for the man she married, my sympathy was with her. But then, Gillian Flynn turned everything into 360 degrees. Turned out Amy was a pathological liar, a selfish woman and a complete psycho. The way she planned everything down to the nitty gritty details, ahhh it was just mind blowing. The ending did not sit well with me, I mean Amy deserved to rot in jail hahah that’s how mad I was towards her character, but then maybe that ending was what the book needed, that Amy could never get what she wanted out of Nick and she will be living her miserable life for the rest of her days.

 

So there you have it my top three villains. Who made it to your list? Next week will be our Top Three YA Novels, oh wow, this will be hard for sure! You can check the list of themes here.  Bye! And see you next post!

 

 

 

Top Three Wednesday: Non-fiction books

Good day people of the internet! It is yet again Top Three Wednesday! This week’s theme is Top Three Non-Fiction Books! You can check all the themes here.

I immensely enjoy non-fiction books especially memoirs, but sadly I have not read much of it. Fret not, I included it on my Bookish New Year Resolution, so here’s to hoping I could cover a lot of non-fiction books this year. Amongst all the ones I have read here are the top three that I really enjoyed a whole lot!

1. I’m Special and Other Lies We Tell Ourselves to get through our Twenties by Ryan O’connell

 

 

This book is the bible of every twenty-somethings. I was able to relate to the majority of this book. As I have mentioned on my review here that truer words were never spoken. It is just the perfect read for lost and confused twenty-somethings such as myself, and all others who are in the same predicament. It was somewhat an affirmation of whatever you have been going through, somewhere in the world someone experiences the same thing. That you’re never really alone, that whatever is happening may it be the lowest point of your life or the ever constant struggle of starting out a career and finally stepping out of your comfort zone, these are perfectly normal. You stumble and stand up, like a cycle. This book has taught me that not everyone you meet is worthy of your time, effort and trust. That people come and go and the true ones will stay no matter how ugly things turned out. This book showed that you can never get things right the first time, that being a twenty-something in this world full of doubts and negativities may just be the best thing, because then you know who you want to be and know those who are genuinely there for you through the good and the rough times. This book spoke all the things I couldn’t, all the inhibitions and confusions. I highly recommend this one to every twenty-somethings who felt like everyone’s getting on with their lives except them, after reading this you will have that renewed passion, like you could take on anything. This one right here is truly an inspirational book.

“I don’t regret anything. And neither should you. You should remember all of it. You should remember all the time you wasted in your bed, or someone else’s bed or at some bar where you overheard the same drippy conversations. You should remember how thin you once were despite subsisting on beer and pizza. You should remember all the people you tried to love all the people who tried to love you. All the awful overpriced apartments, all the toxic friendships, and all the money you spent on things you can no longer recall. Then I want you to remember the moment you developed a keen understanding of what works for you and what doesn’t. I want you to remember being comfortable in your own skin and not feeling like you have to apologize for every little thing, I want you to remember the first time you decided not to put the entirety of your self worth in someone’s careless hands. Because moments like those are the most valuable – instances in which you felt yourself no longer becoming the person you want to but already being it. That’s pretty fucking special.”

 

2. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

Oh boy, this book made me laugh out loud in public, it was truly embarrassing, they all thought I lost it. Hahah but I love that in a book, it is hard to make someone laugh we all know that, but this book made it so effortless. David Sedaris has this incomparable humor. I have yet to read his other works, but Me Talk Pretty One Day took funny to whole new level. The perfect book to read after a heartbreaking book or when you just feel shitty, you know, those days. If you are looking for a light and fun read then this one I highly recommend, that is if you are okay with laughing in public and people looking at you funny haha!

“If I could believe in myself, why not give other improbabilities the benefit of the doubt? I accepted the idea that an omniscient God had cast me in his own image and that he watched over me and guided me from one place to the next. The virgin birth, the resurrection, and the countless miracles -my heart expanded to encompass all the wonders and possibilities of the universe.

A bell, though, that’s fucked up.”
― David Sedaris, Me Talk Pretty One Day

3. I Feel Bad About my Neck by Nora Ephron

Nora Ephron holds nothing back. This is my second Norah Ephron read, I have read and enjoyed I Remember Nothing, now I understand why she has been a staple read of every woman young and not too young alike. She was downright funny if she wants to and can be serious when the need for it arises. I love reading her life. I love how she enjoyed every minute of it. She has distinctive voice, one you can truly relate to and agree on. She will guide you through life and the intricacies of it and how you deal with them. Bless her soul for imparting knowledge to all women, how to overcome struggles and be the person you are meant to be, living the life you wanted.

“Reading is everything. Reading makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something, learned something, become a better person. Reading makes me smarter. Reading gives me something to talk about later on. Reading is the unbelievably healthy way my attention deficit disorder medicates itself. Reading is escape, and the opposite of escape; it’s a way to make contact with reality after a day of making things up, and it’s a way of making contact with someone else’s imagination after a day that’s all too real. Reading is grist. Reading is bliss.” 
― Nora Ephron, I Feel Bad about My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman

So there you have it, my favorite nonfiction books, I’m sure I will be encountering lots of it this year, but for now these books will stay on my top list. So what books made it to your list? I would like to know! Next week’s theme would be Top Three Villains, that should be exciting, ahhh those characters we love to hate!

 

Til next time! 🙂

Top Three Wednesday: Favorite Male Characters

Hello! Wednesday is here again, time for our Top Three! You can check here for the list of the themes.  This week’s theme is our Top Three Male Characters. I know guys you have a lot of Book Boyfriends, but sadly you only have to choose the top three. This is also hard for me, because come on, how can you just choose three? But I guess there will always be those characters that made you feel wanted and unwanted emotions alike. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the male characters are “book boyfriends” because, let’s be honest this could be a little too shallow haha but we live for this characters, it makes the reading more exciting, especially on my part since I am a sucker for good romance. But if you feel like putting a male protagonist who is say for example a father who really took good care of his kid in the novel, then please do so. The concept of Favorite Male Characters is not just boxed into the book boyfriend category, whichever reasons you have please feel free to write it. I definitely would like to know! So let’s start, shall we?

1. Akiva of Daughter and Smoke and Bone Trilogy by Laini Taylor

I never fell in love with a character the way I fell in love with Akiva. My love for this character is beyond comprehension. I’ve been raving about him on and on, always trying to insert his greatness to every conversation surrounding about the trilogy. He was smoking hot and I mean than in the figurative and literal sense. His wings has this fiery glow and his body literally feels hot. (Oh like Jacob in the Twilight Saga, no, please, for the love of god no, don’t compare Jacob to my Akiva, just don’t). Akiva is a seraph who belongs to the Misbegotten, an army of angels. So you could very well imagine his built and his strength not to mention he can do magic and stuff.

His character will hypnotize you and captivate you and you will not give any kind of resistance, because you will let it. I was so attached to this character, even I am starting to be alarmed by it. Now I am in the mood for a reread. I need my Akiva fix.

His relationship with Karou is just so pure and true. You cannot miss the way his character entwine with that of Karou, how they are just perfect together and how they are able to take on whatever hindrance to their love affair. It was more like the Romeo and Juliet kind, which I am totally a sucker for, who could blame me?

2. Jon Snow of A Song of Ice and Fire Series by George RR Martin

Nedd Stark’s bastard. It’s true that I only have read the first half of The Game of Thrones, but I am no stranger to Jon Snow’s character, as I have watched the whole Game of Thrones series, there are bits that are not shown in the TV show, but mostly it stayed true to what was written in the book. I could claim him to be a favorite male character, because why the hell not? Who could stop me? Haha. Jon Snow’s character started off as someone who is too confident bordering arrogance (that is in the book 1 at least) but later on he came around and showed redeemable qualities, leading the night’s watch at a young age, setting to be a good example, a loving brother, and over all a good person. I could not also discount the fact of how badass his character is, his ability in battles. His seriousness when the need for it arises, and his humor and how he loosens up from time to time. I loved that his character evolved in such a noble and commendable manner. I could not wait what will happen to him in the next season and the next book. He is the guy I always root for, so I hope there will be great things for him for the next season. Cant.WAIT.

 

3. Raffe of Penryn and the End of Days Series by Susan Ee

My love for Raffe can be traced back to my love fro Akiva. After I have read the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series, I instantly craved for fallen angels or just angels in general. There is so much about fallen angels that appeal to me so much. I was in the look out for more books with the same story line such as The Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy. So I chanced upon Angelfall by Susan Ee and I loved it, I was over the moon in love with the series. It has a different take on the story of angels falling in love with humans, but is equally amazing as The Daughter and Smoke and Bone trilogy. And Raffe, oh my god lord, he is the epitome of the word perfect. Susan Ee painted his character in the best light, it was just purely exceptional, and the big shocker on book 2 World After, I could remember how floored I was. One of the best character build up I have read in years!

 

So there you have it, I hope this will be enough reason for you to read the series if you haven’t already. I bet my life on it you will not regret it!

Join me next week! Our theme will be Top Three Non-Fiction Books! I am excited to show you what is on my list!

Tata!

Top Three Wednesday: Favorite Female Characters

It is yet another Top Three Wednesday! If you like to see the themes for January until March you can check it here. I update it from time to time. If you have any topics/themes in mind feel free to suggest the same and I will include it for the succeeding months. Please tag me whenever you post Top Three Wednesday, I would like to see your posts! 🙂

This Wednesday is all about our favorite female characters! The one you root for, that one badass female character, or that one you can most relate to, whatever may be the reason, by all means put it! I would like to know! Since I started doing this Top Three Wednesday, I think this week’s theme has got to be the hardest. I just love so many female characters that it is really hard to just pick three. But I am going to try really hard.

Without further ado, here are my top three female characters.

credit to the rightful owner of the Photo

1. Karou from Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy by Laini Taylor.

 Karou was one of the characters I fell in love with in an instant, aside from being a badass, sassy and just all in all awesome, I loved how character has its soft side. How she doesn’t lose focus of what is important, and how she approach things head on but with caution. I also loved the fact that she was not the typical whiny female protagonist we see in most YA fantasies today. She was definitely mature and can handle things with grace. Karou’s character evolved so much throughout the whole series, Laini Taylor painted her in the best light. I was rooting for her the entirety of the trilogy. I could not love her enough! It is as if you wanted to be just like her. She’s one of the characters that have made an impact on me.

 

credits to the rightful owner of the photo.

2. Penryn from End of Days Series by Susan Ee. 

Now Penryn, this kick-ass heroine is quite a character.She’s like the human version of Karou, what with all that skills and intelligence, she sure found a place in my heart and made a freaking tent inside it, intending to stay there for a long time. I loved her character so much so that I would name my daughter after her. That’s how I was attached to Penryn. That’s how much I enjoy reading her. Susan Ee did not made her into an immature being, into an annoying character that is too painful to read, no, Susan Ee made her into an independent and responsible girl with so much determination in her. I think we all have a Penryn inside of us.

 

3. Hermione Granger from Harry Potter series.

 A no-brainer eh? Well, when talking about favorite female character, Hermione will always be on everyone else’s list. I mean, why the hell not. I grew up reading her, I grew up wanting to be her. And despite her being a Muggle, she worked her way to earn her rightful spot. I wouldn’t dwell much how she played an important role in the whole series, because you all already know that for sure. And yes, we cannot discount the fact that she loves book to a fault, just like all of us.

 

So there you have it, my Top Three Favorite  Female Characters, so who made it to your list? Our theme next week is Top Three Favorite Male Characters. Hope you could join me!

 

Top Three Wednesday: Books That Changed You

I changed it quite a bit, instead of Books That Changed Your Life I used Books That Changed You. I realized the term “changed your life” is quite grand and overwhelming. Even I was intimidated by it.

So “changed me”, this is also quite overwhelming but a little manageable for lack of a better word. You see, you can use this topic loosely, by all means if the books really did change your life, please post about it, I would like to know. But as for my case, I have yet to encounter a book that will change my life, the 360 degree change kind. The books I am going to talk about today would be the books that changed something in me, stirred up something I didn’t know was inside me, may it be suppressed feelings, or a characteristic unbeknownst even to me or a perspective over something that I would never thought I would be having had it not for these books. There are a lot of books that changed me in different ways, but these books were a little different from the others.

Without further ado, these are the books that made a change in me.

1.  I Remember Nothing by Nora Ephron This is a non-fiction book. I was looking for I Feel Bad About My Neck also by her but couldn’t find a copy anywhere. I have heard a lot of things about her writing from dear friends who enjoyed her works a lot. In case you are not aware, she was the one who wrote When Harry Met Sally. I chanced upon this beautiful copy in a secondhand bookstore and thought I would give it a go. I read during one of the toughest moment of my life, when my dad was diagnosed with cancer. And again, as I have been telling, the perfect book will always find you, it is as if they have a mind of their own and will present themselves to you the very moment you need them. That was what I felt when I was reading this book, all the realizations of life came pouring in. To say I was engrossed would be an understatement. Her book is a breath of fresh air, like an affirmation of some sort. I loved how honest it is, how things were never sugarcoated. It made me see things differently, that life isn’t always sunshines and rainbows but you gotta make your own sunshine. The quotations and passages are so spot on, you could not help but agree. I specifically liked the part where I think she was already diagnosed ( she died I think over a year ago already)… Let me quote it.

The realization that I may have only a few good years remaining has hit me with real force, and I have done a lot of thinking as a result. I would like to have come up with something profound, but I haven’t. I try to figure out what I really want to do every day, I try to say to myself, If this is one of the last days of my life, am I doing exactly what I want to be doing? I aim low. My idea of a perfect day is a frozen custard at Shake Shack and a walk in the park. (Followed by a Lactaid.) My idea of a perfect night is a good play and dinner at Orso. (But no garlic, or I won’t be able to sleep.) The other day I found a bakery that bakes my favorite childhood cake, and it was everything I remembered; it made my week. The other night we were coming up the FDR Drive and Manhattan was doing its fabulous magical, twinkling thing, and all I could think was how lucky I’ve been to spend my adult life in New York City.

 

2. Invisible Monsters Remix by Chuck Palahniuk This is the weirdest book I have read to date. It is on my top favorite books of all freaking time. It was amazing and beguiling. Weirdly relatable and just truly twisted, it will leave you a little disoriented and questioning what the hell just happened. I love when books do that. Like your comprehension skills and existence are now being questioned, literally what is air? haha. That constant feeling that maybe you missed out on something, that feeling of being incomplete, open-ended, that unsettling feeling gnawing inside you – this book did just that to me, and surprisingly I succumbed and didn’t complain at all. This book made me into a critical thinker, not that I wasn’t before, but this one took it to a whole new level. Like I was taken as a shallow person but came out with a brand new thinking over a whole lot of things, somehow this book made me a deeper person, than I could care to admit.

“No matter how careful you are, there’s going to be the sense you missed something, the collapsed feeling under your skin that you didn’t experience it all. There’s that fallen heart feeling that you rushed right through the moments where you should’ve been paying attention.
Well, get used to that feeling. That’s how your whole life will feel some day.
This is all practice.”
― Chuck Palahniuk, Invisible Monsters

 

3. Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami Read Haruki Murakami they say, and you will be left questioning almost everything. This was my first Haruki Murakami, which reminds me I should really get to the monster of a book 1Q84, crossing fingers I could read it this year, anyway, so Haruki Murakami presented us with this novel which at first I thought was just a romance novel with annoyingly cheesy characters. But boy I was mistaken. It was not at all annoying, not cheesy, but deep, way too deep. It was painstakingly beautiful, raw, haunting and just sad. There was a hole left in me after reading it. There were a lot of wisdom that poured out of this book. It will make you see things in a different light and see the bigger picture. It was not written to please the readers, it was written the way the author see fit – realistic and philosophical. This book made me a mature reader, made me crave for books that could instill wisdom and open my mind to things I would rather ignore.

To all Haruki Murakami virgins, I think this is the perfect book to get you started. Hope you’ll enjoy his writing style as much as I did, because no one writes like him, he is exceptional.

“But who can say what’s best? That’s why you need to grab whatever chance you have of happiness where you find it, and not worry about other people too much. My experience tells me that we get no more than two or three such chances in a life time, and if we let them go, we regret it for the rest of our lives.”
― Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood

 

There you have it, I hope you could find time to read these books, if you haven’t. So what books made it to your Top Three I would like to know!! Tag me! 🙂

For next Wednesday we will be talking about our Top Three Favorite Female Character, oh that should be easy! Have a great week ahead! 🙂

Top Three Wednesday + Updates

I am so sorry I was not able to post my Top Three Wednesday yesterday, as I was super busy catching up with friends and doing mundane things. Ha! Our supposed to be Top Three Wednesday is: Books That Changed Your Life in lieu of the coming new year.

I decided to carry it over to January 2016, why the hell not, it is still a fitting topic, for a brand new year! hehe, stop, I may or may not be making excuses, but let this pass, okay? haha.

So for January I took the liberty again of choosing the Top Three topics, again, you could comment down below the topics you want and we can do it on February and the succeeding months. 🙂

January 6: Top Three Books That Changed Your Life

January 13: Top Three Favorite Female Characters

January 20: Top Three Favorite Male Character

January 27: Top Three Nonfiction Books

So that should cover us for the whole month of January. Comment down below the Top Threes you want to feature on your respective blogs!

Happy New Year and enjoy the rest of the Holiday break! Cheers to you guys!

Top Three Wednesday: Christmas Themed Books

 

Ho! Ho! Ho! Christmas is upon us! Can’t believe this Friday is Christmas already! Have you received early Christmas presents? I have!! 🙂 I will show all the books I got for Christmas! You see, readers are the easiest ones to give presents to. 😊

So for this Wednesday it is our Top Three Christmas Themed books, I have not read a lot of it. I have read a lot of short stories though. The ones I have read are all so cute and just plain amazing so I wouldn’t want to miss the opportunity of sharing them with you.

1. Sundays at Tiffany’s by James Patterson

I was so in love with the movie not knowing it was based on a book. So when I found out, I looked for a copy and devoured it as soon I got them. Thanks to my dear friend Nica for helping me get a copy. The movie was different from the book, but it was equally amazing. I think this book was the reason why I loved books with angels. So to those who have no idea about this book, imagine your guardian angel falling in love with you, and you to him. ❤ Add the fact that most of the book transpired during Christmas season. There sure is something magical about that. It will give you that happy and satisfied feeling and a little crazy dream that what if it happens to you too.

Now I can see myself rereading this one. It has been two years since the last time I read this! Oh Michael, how I’ve missed you! ❤

2. Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

This book screams cuuuuuute in all the right places. Book like this is the reason why I love YA and find it hard to resist it. Dash and Lily’s voice are both fun to read. Also I loved the fact that both of the characters are bookish and the book started inside Strand Bookstore. If you want a that feel-good book, this one is definitely the one to read!

3. My True Love Gave To Me by Various Authors edited by Stephanie Perkins

Ha! Sorry had to include this one even if I am not done with it yet. I am already half way through though so don’t give me that look. It had mixed reviews, but that doesn’t change the fact that this one is perfect for the holidays. As I’ve said, I have not read much novels set on Christmas, thus explaining why this one made it to my list.

This book is written by various authors, including Laini Taylor (the main reason why I bought it haha) Rainbow Rowell, Jenny Han, Stephanie Perkins and many others. Each story is unique from the other.

So there you have it! My Top Three Christmas Themed Books! I hope everyone is having a good time this Holiday Season!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!
Oh I will be posting Bookish Resolutions and a review of my reading life for 2015 and my Top 15 books of 2015. Hope you could check that out!!

Top Three Wednesday: Most Read Authors

Heyya! And I am back with another Top Three Wednesday! If you wish to do this with me check this link. Today we are doing the Top Three Most Read Authors.

Oh the authors we love so dearly, that we just couldn’t get enough of their works so we need to read every thing they have written, yes even their grocery list! 🙂

I noticed that I’m not the type of reader who binge read books by one author. I fear that if I do so I would end up not loving them just as much. I’ve always wanted variation. For an instance if I just finished a contemporary book, my next read would be a fantasy one. I never read one genre alone, say for the whole month. I don’t want monotony, i don’t want to end up having read too much fantasy to last me a lifetime. Like I’ve said I want variations. Also applies to authors, I seldom binge read, so when I do, it means I loved the author to a fault. But even if I love them too much, I pause and pick other books before I get on with the other books by said author. I hope I am making sense here. Haha.

So without further ado, here are my Most Read Authors.

I’m basing this one on my Goodreads account. 🙂

1. Laini Taylor

Laini Taylor

I first heard of Laini Taylor last 2012. I have always been intrigued by her book The Daughter of Smoke and Bone. When I read the synopsis of it on goodreads, I immediately added it to I want To Read category. Back then there were no physical copies of her book in our local bookstore, so I didn’t had the chance to read it not until 2013. When I found a copy of Daughter of Smoke and Bone and Days of Blood and Starlight. I bought them immediately. And boy  I was taken aback. The writing style was really good. I remembered putting on my review  that it was BACON, that good! So from then on my love for this author flourished. The Daughter of Smoke and Bone is my favorite trilogy to date, maybe of all time. So yeah, that says a lot about this author. I have also read Lips Touch Three Times which was also so good. She has this way with words and world building that you just could not get enough of. She writes so vividly that you could actually feel you are part of the world.

I wish she would write a new series, it’s been a long time since her last book Dreams of Gods and Monsters has been published. I am in need of my Laini Taylor fix. And oh I am praying to everything that is holy that she  visits the Philippines!! I’m dying to meet her!!

2. Tarryn Fisher

Tarryn Fisher, my spirit animal. Haha. I have only read three of her books, and each of them holds a special place in my heart, especially the book The Opportunist, that book spoke to me in more ways that one. I’m not saying that what has transpired in my own life is the very same thing written in the book but events there are too familiar that I could see myself in it. She writes characters that you’ll love to hate and hate to love. Her characters’ complexity makes all her books very engaging and total page turner. She doesn’t write mediocre stories, you will find yourself at the edge of your seat all the freaking time. She writes so beautifully, it would tear your heart out.

I was so happy to have met her! She was such an amazing person and very beautiful too! Now Tarryn, please visit the Philippines again!!

3. Rainbow Rowell

To date she has published five books Attachments, Eleanor and Park, Fangirl, Landline and Carry On. I have only read the first three books. My favorite amongst the ones I’ve read is Eleanor and Park. That book holds a special place in  my heart, I read it during the darkest days of my life and I’m so glad it kept me company through the ordeal. It is true what they say you are never alone when you have a good book.

Rainbow Rowell’s books give you that warm and fuzzy feeling. Like warm blanket on a cold rainy afternoon, like a cup of tea to soothe you after a tiring day. She’s one of the contemporary authors I highly recommend. You can never go wrong with a Rainbow Rowell book. And what I love about her books are they are different. Distinct from one another that you will never get tired, as they don’t run the same story or same plot. Each book has something different to offer. And most of all it can be enjoyed by teens and adults alike.

Please visit the Philippines too, your Pinoy fans are dying to meet you!

 

So there you have it, my Top Three Most Read Authors!! So who made it to you list?

 

Have a nice day ahead!

 

Next week we will be talking about Top Three Christmas Themed Books. 🙂

Top Three Wednesday: Romance Novels

 

Hi! I am back with Top Three Wednesday! Today is all about Romance novels (a genre I really really love! Probably my favorite genre of all, I’m hopeless romantic like that, so deal with it, haha)

So my top three would be a no brainer. If you have been following me on Instagram, you probably know by now how obsessed I am over these books.

1. This is A Love Story by Jessica Thompson

This one still holds the number one spot. I just love this book so much I cannot even tell you the full extent of it. I loved it so much I skipped class just to finish it (if you have been my classmate in law school, you’ll understand the gravity of this, I don’t miss classes except when I am too sick, so yeah). Haha those are good times. This book is so well-written, the characters relatable, the plot will simply draw you in. It was one of the books I had a hard time putting down. Oh what I would trade to read it for the first time. Some found it dragging, or the pacing too slow, but for me it was just perfect – just what the whole story required. It was also heart wrenching, I cried buckets! You can check my review here.

I highly recommend this one to all the hopeless romantics out there. This book is just for you, you wouldn’t want to miss this one out. I wouldn’t want to go into much details, I want you guys to experience it yourself, then come back to me and talk about all the unsettling emotions, prepare a tissue please!

Here are some quotes form the book:

I believe that love is an overwhelming, all-consuming force, and when it’s genuine you can’t really ignore it. No matter how long it takes. It knocks down your door by force. It keeps you awake at night. It plagues your thoughts and burn your soul. If it is love, they won’t need me at all. By telling my daughter that the man of her dreams loves her too, would I not be getting in the way? Meddling with fate?”

It must be difficult loving someone that much and having to pack it away into a little box and pretend it isn’t there’
That was a very good way of describing it. A little box. Packed full of love. Love that I had never really been able to express, so it was banging away at the sides and screaming to be let out.
‘Yes it has been. And really, it’s a little box I carry everywhere with me, because I guess the love never properly goes away.”

 

2. The Opportunist by Tarryn Fisher

Oh boy! This book is a whole lot of another story. This book ripped my heart out, crushed it beyond recognition. I swear I needed a new heart after I read this one. The whole series was my favorite, but among the three this one holds a special place in my heart, I could identify with the main character in a lot of ways. Their love story was not the typical kind, it was full of complications, making the story so captivating, it will grip you like a vise. You can check my review here.

Here are some quotes from the book:

“You can only give your heart away once, after that, everything else will chase your first love”

“I think that after the first time you give your heart away, you never get it back. The rest of your life is just you pretending that you still have a heart.”

 

3. Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover

Ahhhhh! This book is currently my favorite Colleen Hoover novel. This book is not your typical love story, it is not the mediocre kind. It was well-executed and the plot perfectly laid out. It will give you that warm and fuzzy feeling in the end. And yes read it whilst listening to the playlist, you’ll appreciate the whole novel even more. You can check my full review here. 

Here are some quotes from the book:

“How ever, I’ve learned that the heart can’t be told when and who and how it should love. The heart does whatever the hell it wants to do. The only thing we can control is whether we give our lives and our minds the chance to catch up to our hearts.”

“We try so hard to hide everything we’re really feeling from those who probably need to know our true feelings the most. People try to bottle up their emotions, as if it’s somehow wrong to have natural reactions to life.”

 

So there you have it guys, my Top Three Romance Novels. 🙂 I didn’t put much details on each book, to avoid spoiling you guys. 🙂

Please feel free to do this Top Three Wednesdays with me! Next week we will talk about Most Read Authors! It would be exciting!