The Mean Girls Book Tag!

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Today I'm doing the Mean Girls Tag, created by Sarah-Jane from the blog The Book Life. If like me you love Mean Girls and have watched it more than a few times, consider yourself tagged ^^ Please note that I've omitted some of the original questions to re-adapt the tag to my blog. If you wish to do the full original tag, head over to Sarah-Jane's blog.

“She doesn’t even go here!” - Which character would you like to place in a fictional world from another book or series?

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I'd love to see how Percy Jackson would be like in Harry Potter's world. Can you imagine Percy hanging out with Harry at Hogwarts? Fangirl dream right there!

“On Wednesdays we wear pink!” - Repetition. Repetition. Which book gave you deja vu of another book whilst reading it?

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That would be Silas Marner by George Elliot. It's about a bitter old man who gets all his money stolen, only to find a baby abandoned near where he lives shortly after. As he loses one treasure, another enters his life. A few pages into this and I realized it was almost the same story as another book I had just recently read, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin. Turns out The Storied Life is based on Silas Marner! LOL

"You all have got to stop calling each other sluts and whores. It just makes it okay for guys to call you sluts and whores." - Which book gave you the complete opposite of girl power feels?

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Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer. Eclipse by... Oh, you get the point. 

“You go Glen Coco!” - Name a character you felt like you wanted to cheer on whilst reading.

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Elphaba from Wicked by Gregory Maguire. She's Maguire's version of the Wicked Witch of the West in his adult Wizard of Oz retelling. In this version, the Wicked Witch becomes a unique female character who is a feminist and pretty much a rebel in her own way. I was just rooting for her throughout the book, which is not something you'd normally say about the Wicked Witch of the West.

“Get in loser, we’re going shopping!” How long do you typically spend at a book shop?

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If I have friends waiting for me, I'd say about 15 mins. If I'm on my own? I have no time limit ^^

“I can’t help it that I’m popular.” - Which overhyped book were you cautious about reading?

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I was super wary of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and rightfully so. Wasn't impressed by it. Nope. If you've read thriller books by authors like Sidney Sheldon before, you can tell where this book is going by the time you're fifty pages in. 

“I’m not like a regular Mom, I’m a cool Mom.” - Your favourite fictional parents.

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Mr and Mrs Weasley from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. Molly Weasley in particular is such a loving mum. She's also a fabulous mother figure to Harry. She looks after him as if he was one of her own children. Plus, Harry even gets one of the horrible sweaters she makes every single Christmas for her children. If that's not a proof of love :)

“That is so Fetch!” - Which book or series would you love to catch on?

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I wish more people would read Gregory Maguire's books. He writes mostly adult magical realism and fantasy books based on fairytales and popular children stories like the Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland.  I feel like I keep talking about his books on this blog but I can't really help it XD They're just brilliant that way!

So that's it for this tag guys! If you love Mean Girls, feel free to do this tag. If you do it, don't forget to send me a link so that I can read it :)

My Most Anticipated Books of 2016!

With a new year comes new resolutions which you may or may not keep, new blog posts waiting to be written and read and, above all, lots and lots of new exciting book releases!

Today I'm sharing some of those new releases I'm most excited about. If there's a book you've been anticipating but I haven't included in my list, let me know so that I might check it out. I've tried listing the books according to their release dates although for some it hasn't been finalized yet.

A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab

Released on: February 2nd

This is the sequel to A Darker Shade of Magic, which I haven't actually read yet but which I'm hoping to soon. I read Vicious by the same author last year and loved it and I can't wait to read more of her books.

Stars Above by Marissa Meyer 

Released on: February 2nd

This is an anthology collecting the different companion short stories Marissa Meyer wrote for her series The Lunar Chronicles and it will come with a bunch of newly written stories as well. While I'm still a bit sad that the series is now over, this collection comes as a little bonus trip back to the universe of Cinder, Scarlet, Cress and Winter.

Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

Released on: March 8th

This will be the first book in a new Shadowhunter series, set in the same world as The Mortal Instruments and taking place a few years after the events of TMI's last book. TMI and the Infernal Devices, the first two Shadowhunter series by Clare, are among my favorite YA fantasy series and I can't wait to read more books set in this universe. Also, I hope some old fan favorites will be making cameos in Lady Midnight!

The Hidden Oracle (The Trials of Apollo #1) by Rick Riordan

Released on: May 3rd

After angering Zeus, the God Apollo is banished from Olympus and sent down to Earth as a mere mortal. With the looming threat of countless mortal and immortal enemies who want nothing more than to get back at him now that he's mortal, Apollo decides to seek help at the one place where he might still find some: good old Camp Half-Blood. 

This marks the start of a new series set in the Percy Jackson universe. As excited as I am by the promise of some more of Greek demigods and Camp Half-Blood, I'm also a little apprehensive as to how the book will be executed. Apollo will be going to Camp Half-Blood as a mortal teenager. Sure, sounds just like your regular Rick Riordan quest adventure. Except for the tiny fact that this newly mortal teenager is actually the father to a whole bunch of kids at Camp Half-Blood! I will be reading the book because I'd read anything by Rick Riordan, but I'm just a little anxious as to how it'll play out. 

The Hammer of Thor (Magnus Chase #2) by Rick Riordan 

Released on: October 4th

Here's one Rick Riordan book I'm totally hyped for. Last year I read the first Magnus Chase book and really enjoyed it. The last pages of the book left us on quite a cliffhanger and I can't wait to see how this sequel unfolds from that point. This series follows the adventures of a Norse demigod and much like previous Riordan series, it's full of gods, monsters and myths come to life drenched in a fair share of humor and sarcasm. 

Heartless by Marissa Meyer 

Released on: November 8th

Along with Rick Riordan and Cassandra Clare, Marissa Meyer is one of my favorite YA authors. I absolutely loved her Lunar Chronicles series and now that she has a new book coming out, I have more of her cool universes and beautiful prose to look forward to. Heartless will be a retelling of Alice in Wonderland focusing on the Queen of Hearts. I'm not sure yet about the details but so far, the premise looks very promising. 

So those were some of my most anticipated book releases of the year, although I'm sure I'll be adding more titles to my TBR as the year unfolds. Which of these books are you most excited for? Let me know in the comments!

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Cover art by Of Stacks and Cups via Pagemodo

Authors I want to read in 2016

Hi guys! Happy New Year ^^

To kick off this year's blogging, I thought I would share with you some of the authors whose works I hope to discover this year. These are all authors I've been meaning to read for a while now but for some reason, I never got around to doing so. If there are authors here whose books you've read, feel free to recommend which book of theirs I should start first. That would be really helpful ^^

Since this post is more about the authors than the actual books, I've included links to the Goodreads page of each mentioned book rather than write down an actual blurb. 

1. Catherynne M. Valente

She's the author of quite a few books including the Fairyland series and the recently published Radiance. I'm actually pretty hyped about starting her Fairyland series because it sounds both beautiful and whimsical and usually carries great reviews. Radiance too sounds pretty intriguing and I might check it out this year. 

2. Sarah Waters

All I know about this author is that her books are supposedly witty and very good and deal with feminism and LGBT themes. And that's about enough to convince me to pick up her books. Trouble is, I don't actually know which one to start with. I'm thinking Fingersmith or Tipping the Velvet. What do you think?

3. Ali Smith

This is another author who writes a lot about feminism, gender and LBGT themes. Some of her books are quite short, including Girl meets Boy, which was the first book by her that I read. I really enjoyed her writing style and I'm excited to read her other books this year. I think my next one will perhaps be How to be Both. 

4. Jeanette Winterson

This author also covers some themes similar  to Ali Smith's. I read one of her books in 2015, The Stone Gods, which I really enjoyed. It's sort of a dystopian story which transcends time and has some elements of love, science-fiction and fantasy. It's more about the people than the actual setting and does a great job at bringing these characters to life. Hence, I almost hesitate to label it as a dysotpian. I'm not sure yet what other book by her I'll be picking up next so do let me know if you have recommendations.

5. Toni Morrison

This author is mostly known for her African American characters and for discussing themes such as race and equality in her books. I've heard great things about her books and will hopefully be reading Beloved very soon. 

6. Helen Oyeyemi 

Her books take their inspiration from fairytales and swing between magical realism and hard realism. Her books carry more mixed reviews than the other mentioned authors' books but they do sound pretty unique and mysterious. I'm thinking I'll start with White is for Witching first and if I enjoy it, I'll be reading Boy, Snow, Bird next. 

So those were some of the authors I'm hoping to discover in 2016. Looks like it's time to buy some new books! What new authors do you want to discover this year? Let me know in the comments ^^

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Cover art by Of Stacks of Cups via Pagemodo