The Book Courtship Tag

Happy Valentine's Day ^^ Okay, so I'm not actually celebrating it this year or anything but I still thought it would be fun to do something a little special for today's post. So I'm doing the Book Courtship Tag. This tag is really cool in that it's broken into 10 phases to represent an actual courtship.  

This tag was created by YouTuber Leah and you can check out her channel by clicking here. And now, let's start!

Phase 1 - Initial Attraction: A book that you bought because of the cover

My bind-up edition of His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman. The books are great but honestly, it was the beautiful cover that gave me the push to actually buy them in this edition.

Phase 2 - First Impressions: A book that you got because of the summary 

After Alice by Gregory Maguire. While I'm a huge fan of Maguire and his books now, back around the time After Alice was first published, I had no idea who he was. What got my attention was the blurb on this particular book which pretty much promised an Alice in Wonderland retelling. And frankly, you don't really need much more to hook me in. 

Phase 3 - Sweet Talk: A book with great writing 

The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter. Actually, anything by Angela Carter. This is a collection of adult fairy tale retellings, all with a dark and often violent twist. Her prose is very poetic and often contains different layers of meaning. Her books often carry magical realism elements or whimsical elements spun into hard realism scenarios. Her books are really beautiful and I would highly recommend you check them out.

Phase 4 - First Date: A first book of a series which made you want to pursue the rest of the series

Cinder by Marissa Meyer. It is the first book in the Lunar Chronicles series and is basically a Cinderella retelling set in a futuristic world full or galactic action, androids and really, really good world building. This and all the other books in the series are simply great and you should definitely check them out if you aren't already a fan.

Phase 5 - Late night phone calls: A book that kept you up all night long

Winter by Marissa Meyer, which is the last book in the Lunar Chronicles. As far as series finale go, this book was simply perfection. It was action packed and superbly written. It's the kind of book that keeps you on the edge of your seat and I couldn't help staying up all night to read it.

Phase 6 - Always on my mind: A book that you could not stop thinking about

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson. This is a very unique Peter Pan retelling with Tiger Lily as the main character and narrated by a very unique version of Tinker Bell. It follows the love story between Tiger Lily and Peter, long before Wendy's arrival at Neverland. It's one of the most poignant YA novels I've ever read and it stuck with me long after I finished it. I highly recommend it. See the quote in the picture below? Gives me the feels every time *sigh*

Phase 7 - Getting Physical: A book in which you love the way it feels

I'm going with my copy of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall in the Penguin English Libary edition. Not only does the cover had a nice, smooth texture, but the inside, the pages are bound in such a way that they get crinkly when you turn them. I love it when books have crinkly pages.

Phase 8 - Meeting the Parents: A book in which you would recommend to your friends and family

A Haruki Murakami book, especially Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and his years of pilgrimage. All of the Murakami books I read so far were great but I feel Colorless Tsukuru is a good place to start when you've never read his books before. It's one of the least weird of his books but at the same time, it still carries the unique and beautiful writing that is characteristic of his books.

Phase 9 - Thinking about the future: A book or series that you know you'll re-read many times in the future 

I'll definitely re-read The Lunar Chronicles and the Harry Potter books again and again in the future. Can you see how worn out my Harry Potter books are? That's the sign of a well beloved book right there. And if you were wondering, those Harry Potter books are in French, which is actually my main language. I also want to re-read Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus, both by Rick Riordan, at some point. And of course, I absolutely need to re-read Tiger Lily.

Phase 10 - Share the love!!! Who would you like to tag?

If you wish to do this tag too, feel free to do so 'cause I'm tagging you, yes, you reading this ^^ If you decide to do, don't forget to link it back to my post and leave me a link to your post so that I can read it.

And if you're celebrating this year, Happy Valentine's Day ^^

How to get back into reading

Hi guys. Today I have quite a different post for you. Some people find it hard to keep the habit of reading after reaching certain events or changes in their lives. They might have really enjoyed books once but they simply gave up reading over time for some reason or another. Life is unpredictable. Things change, stuff happens and along the way, you suddenly realize that you simply don't have time to read anymore. So in this post, I'm going to show you little things you can do to gradually introduce reading back into your life. 

This post has two parts so make sure you scroll till the end. In the first part, I highlight a few reasons why we sometimes disconnect from reading. And in the second part, I suggest a few things that can help to get you back into reading. So let's start.

I used to love reading but now I... just don't?

Time management is tricky. Whether you're starting a new academic year, you just started a family or your job is obliterating all your free time, life can take a toll on your reading. Here are a few scenarios where this can happen:

You're starting uni for the first time and you're either too anxious (that would be me) or too excited to focus on reading.

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Started university is a huge deal whether it completely stresses you out or it's the one thing you've been anticipating your whole life. Between meeting new people, learning your way around the campus and wrapping your mind around the fact that you now have to actually study again, it'll take weeks for you to sink into a more or less normal routine. So, you might not have time to catch up on your favorite book series and it's totally fine.

You have a job. And you're tired. Very tired.

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Whether you're working regular hours or double shifts, it doesn't matter. You're working and that in itself can be tiring. All you want to do when you get back home is take a long shower and spend the evening watching your favorite TV show. That chunky bestseller you bought in a frenzy all those months ago is looking less and less appealing and as days go by, you're slowly coming to terms with the knowledge that you're never actually going to read the damn book.

You just started a family and you're too busy taking care of your new bundle of nappies and cuddles to remember that book you abandoned midway on your nightstand.

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Parenthood is a profession in itself and getting the hang of things takes time. Not to mention energy. Lots of it. So who cares if your TBR is gathering dust? You have a mini me now and you should definitely take the time to enjoy it.

You've fallen out of love with the only book genre you used to read and now you simply have no idea what you want to read next.

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Vampire love triangles just don't do it for you anymore. But then neither do post-apocalyptic scenarios appeal to you. Literary fiction puts you to sleep faster than history classes and contemporary just don't have enough fangs in them. Basically, you just don't know what's left for you to read.

School's over and you just have too many other stuff happening next to pick up a book.

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You might be too busy applying for college or you might be already working. Or, you know, you might be actually enjoying the end of school by taking a well deserved vacation. It's fine, we're not judging. We all need a little break from things every now and then.

So I want to start reading again but I'm not quite sure how...

You need to get excited about books again before you feel the urge to start reading them again. Remember that little thrill you felt when you got your hands on that last Harry Potter book? You need to find that little thrill again. Here's how you can do that:

Start watching BookTube videos. (You know, YouTube videos dedicated solely to books.)

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Watching those videos was what actually got me out of my slump and back into reading again. Watching other people gush about the books they love is bound to get you excited about picking up a book too. Plus, you'll be getting new recommendations in there which are going to help you explore new genres that you might have neither even heard of. Like, I love magical realism but it wasn't until BookTube that I even found out about it. The BookTuber featured here is Christine and you can check out her channel here.

Read an old favorite you used to really love.

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Revisit a book you already love to remember what it was about it that made you love reading it so much. Then, either look up other books by this author or check online for recommendations based on the book to find what you'll be reading next.

Get a Goodreads account to keep track of your reading progress.

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On Goodreads, you get to track your reading progress page by page. You can also see how many books you've completed. This will motivate you to read more and give you a goal to look forward to. I joined Goodreads immediately after getting out of my reading slump and to be part of the community there has definitely made reading a tad more exciting for me.

Read with your kids. They'll love it, I promise.

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Just because you're a parent doesn't mean reading has to be completely banished from your life. If your kids are young, why not take some time each day to read something to them? Not only will you both be reading a little everyday, but you'll also be building memories that I can assure you your children will cherish forever. Indeed, one of the my favorite childhood memory is of my dad reading to me each night before I went to bed.

Listen to audiobooks on your way to and from work.

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Having an audiobook on while you're driving or riding the bus or metro to work will help you get some reading done even if you don't have time to actually read. Plus, if you're listen to them on your way back home too, it'll give you something to look forward to during the day so that by the time you're listening to your book again, you're genuinely excited to pick up where you'd left off earlier. The feeling of anticipation and the excitement of finding out what happens next in your book will gradually translate into excitement for actual physical books and soon, you might start picking up books more and more regularly.

So that's it for this post guys. This was a post I really enjoyed writing and I hope you can find some useful tips in here. As always, your comments are most welcome. Until next time...

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My Favorite Book Romances

Hi guys. As it'll be Valentine's Day soon, today I thought I would share with you my favorite literary romances. Now I don't read lots of romance books as a rule but I do enjoy romance in my books when it's really well done. So, no insta-love for me please, just no! 

Since I'm focusing on the love aspect of the book and the couples featuring in it, I won't be going too much in details about the plot. You can find out more about the books though by clicking on the book titles, which will take you to each book's Goodreads page. Also, this post is absolutely spoiler-free.

Eleanor and Park 

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These characters are from the book by the same name by Rainbow Rowell. Eleanor is plump, has unruly curly red hair and wears horribly mismatched clothes and due to a little bit of all those things, she's a popular target for school bullies. Park is a half-Asian kid who's trying to play it cool by coming to school dressed mostly in black and likes to keep to himself on the school bus, his headphones on. These two couldn't be more different and yet, after discovering a shared love for comics and music, they slowly become friends. As the story unfolds, this unlikely friendship eventually grows into the sincerest of young loves. If you love YA novels and are tired of popular tropes and clichés, do yourself a favor and pick up this book. It's unique and simply beautiful. 

Percy and Annabeth 

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This couple appears in two series (so far) by Rick Riordan, including the Percy Jackson and The Olympians series and the Heroes of Olympus series. In the beginning of the first series, Percy and Annabeth are around 12 and we get but the slightest of hints that something could happen between these two one day. Then, as the books progress, we see their relationship go from a great friendship to a really sweet romance. What I love about their relationship is that while they care a lot for each other, they always value and trust each other's strengths. Percy knows his girl can take care of herself. Likewise, while Annabeth and Percy are strong enough on their own, they also operate really well as a pair, as can be seen in the various action scenes throughout the books. They respect each other's capabilities as much as they love each other and that is something we need to see more among YA couples. Totally giving you the side-eye Edward...

Cath and Levi

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It seems that Rainbow Rowell really gets young love! Cath and Levi appear in her much beloved book, Fangirl. Cath has just started uni and being super shy, she's having a hard time navigating her new environment. Eventually though, she starts to meet new people and one of them is Levi. I feel that to tell you more about their relationship would spoil the book a little for you so I'm just going to suggest you check out Fangirl and see what I mean for yourself. Their story is very down to earth and super relatable. In fact, when I first read the book, I was surprised by how down to earth is was. Rowell doesn't sugar coat their romance at all. And yet, despite that, it does shine out as one of the sweetest book romances I've ever read. 

Tiger Lily and Peter Pan

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Before Peter Pan belonged to Wendy, he belonged to the girl with the crow feather in her hair... Aw, I love this line <3 

Here I'm actually talking about the characters from the Peter Pan retelling by Jodi Lynn Anderson called Tiger Lily, so calm down Wendy purists XD In Tiger Lily, we're offered a completely different take on the original Peter Pan story. Tiger Lily is the daughter of her tribe's shaman. She's an accomplished hunter and considered as being very different even by the other tribe members. Peter Pan is known among them as one of the most dangerous beings in Neverland. And yet, one day, as Tiger Lily's and Peter's paths cross, what ensues is a really poignant romance as it is very rarely depicted in YA fiction. After finishing the book, all I wanted to do was read it all over again because it was simply beautiful. If you want to know more about the actual plot and my thoughts about the book, check out my non-spoilery review of Tiger Lily here. 

So those were some of my favorite book romances. What book romance makes you swoon? Let me know in the comment ^^

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Cover art by Of Stacks and Cups via Pagemodo