The Hamilton Book Tag!

Hi guys! I'm back today with the Hamilton Book Tag. I absolutely and totally love Hamilton, so when I saw this book tag on YouTube, I knew I just had to do it too. This tag was originally created by BookTuber Maureen and you can watch her original video here.

For those of you who are not familiar with Hamilton, this is in fact a Broadway musical about Alexander Hamilton, one of the American Founding Founders. Not only is it pretty innovative to build a musical around a Founding Father, but the musical also features rap music and a pretty ethnic cast, elements which definitely sets this musical apart from what is usually done on Broadway. 

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If like me you live too far to actually watch the live musical, there's already a full soundtrack out there with all the original voices from the musical which you can listen to instead. And the songs are so good guys! Like, I've been listening to the soundtrack on repeat for days! And to set the tone while you go through this tag, here's one of my favorite Hamilton songs for you^^

1. The Room Where It Happens: Name a book world you would put yourself in.

Harry Potter's world, post-Voldy! I mean, who wouldn't want to live there?? You've got magic, awesome food and candy and all those awesome magical knickknacks that would make life so cool. And then you've got Hogwarts. So what if I'm a little older than 11?? I can always apply for a job there, especially with them always losing their DADA teachers XD. 

2. The Schuyler Sisters: Pick an underrated female character.

Blue Sargent from the Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater. Maybe it's just me, but I don't really feel she's talked about enough on blogs and BookTube. As far as YA fantasy main characters go, especially female ones, I think Blue's character is very unique and refreshing. She might not have huge magical abilities or anything, but she still remains a pretty strong female character. But the best part of her character for me is that although she does have a love interest, she doesn't spend the entire book pining for him and does the best to get moving despite her romantic tribulations. Plus she dresses weird and I love her even more for that XD. 

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3. Stay Alive: Name a character you wish was still alive.

Okay, this one is a spoiler for the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins so I suggest you read the spoiler only I've you've read the final book. Beginning of spoiler - I wish Finnick Odair had not been killed off! I understand that they were basically at war in this book and that war comes with casualties but come one, was it necessary to kill Finnick? Right after he got married and seemingly finally got his happy ending??  - End of spoiler.

4. My Shot: Name a character that goes after what they want and doesn't let anything stop them.

For this I just have to pick Celaena Sardothien from the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas. Celaena is such a badass character. She's an assassin and quite the tough cookie, never backing away from what needs to be done to get where she wants to be. Not gonna lie, she's somewhat of a morally ambiguous character too. But she definitely goes after what she wants.

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5. Burn: Name the most heartbreaking end to a relationship you’ve ever read.

Okay for this one I'm picking one of the relationships from Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling. Beginning of spoiler - I just have to go with the Weasley twins because not only are they each other's best friends, but throughout the series, we've also  come to rely on them for their uplifting scenes and jokes. So, to actually see one of the twin die was one of the saddest parts of the entire series.  - End of spoiler.

6. You'll Be Back: Pick the sassiest villain.

Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter, is easily one of the sassiest characters in the series. I love his scenes with Harry and their banter. Draco, especially in the first books, is often so unintentionally funny that you can't help but love his character despite him being so horrible to Harry and the other characters. 

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7. The Reynolds Pamphlet: Name a book with a twist that you didn’t see coming.

I have to go with Clockwork Princess, by Cassandra Clare. If you know anything about Clare's Shadowhunter books, you know they are all full of twists. Well, Clockwork Princess was no exception. Beginning of spoiler - The first time I read the book, I was sure Jem was truly dead. And then, when he's revealed to have not only survived but also been turned into a Silent Brother... Damn, I was shocked! And happy too, but still very shocked. Clare sure knows how to come up with the best twists ^^ - End of spoiler.  

8. Non-stop: Name a series you marathoned. 

Well I do have a habit to marathon books, so that would be most series XD. The latest series I marathoned though was The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare and right now I'm also making my way through the 2 last books in the Mortal Instruments series, City of Lost Souls and City of Heavenly Fire. These are all re-reads for me, in anticipation for Lady Midnight, which I'm hoping to get and read soon. 

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9. Satisfied: Name your favorite book with multiple POVs.

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell. While the book follows mostly the story of Simon Snow, the designated 'Chosen One' in this magical universe, the book is way more interesting and complex than just your average fantasy story and is in fact full of diverse subplots that unfold through the narrative threads of various other characters. 

10. Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story: Name a book/series you feel like will be remembered throughout history.

While the first obvious answer was Harry Potter, I'm actually going to pick the Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordan. For many of us, Percy Jackson is just as beloved as Harry Potter. The first series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, is my personal favorite although the sequel series, The Heroes of Olympus, is no less amazing. I've yet to read the newly released first book in the Trials of Apollo series but with that series coming out this year and Riordan's Magnus Chase series set in the same universe, those books will probably still be around for a while. And I know that I, for one, will definitely re-read my Percy Jackson books a few more times again in the future.

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So that's it for this tag guys! I hope you enjoyed it and as usual, your comments are most welcome. And if you haven't yet caught the Hamilton bug, I suggest you look up some of the songs on YouTube. You won't be sorry, I promise ^^

Reading is not fun anymore?!

Hi guys! So I was in my room yesterday, desperately trying to finish the book I was reading, when I suddenly realized something which caught me completely off-guard: I was not enjoying it at all! And sometimes, yeah, some books don't work for you, but what I realized I wasn't enjoying was not the book but the reading itself. And then it hit me. I had been trying so hard to finish as many books as I could lately that reading had stop being fun.

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Okay, so you're probably wondering why I've been trying so hard to finish my books. Well, those of you who've been here for a while already know this but in short, very soon, I'm moving abroad to do my Master degree. That means that I'll be leaving a bunch of my stuff back at home... including my bookshelf and all of its unread books! 

I know, I know. I can take some books with me. The thing is, I already have so many stuff I must bring with me, which limits the number of books I can take with me. So some books will have to be left behind and there's not much I can do about that. Apart from reading them that is... which brings me back to the whole 'reading is not fun anymore' situation. 

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While I will have a full post for you with more info about my move abroad soon, right now what I can already tell you is that I'll be leaving in roughly 5 weeks. And 5 weeks is a very short span of time to finish a TBR. Usually, I read 1 or 2 books per week. With the move looming closer, I've found myself struggling to complete 4 or 5 books per week and while I've read some good books lately, not gonna lie, after a little while it all began to become a tad exhausting. 

So today, I was thinking I wished I had someone I could discuss about all that stuff with when I suddenly realized that I actually do. I mean you guys, of course ^^ So I decided to write a blog post about it. And make myself a warm cup of tea which I'm drinking while I'm typing this... Tea ♥ 

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Phew! I do feel a little better about it now that I've shared all that stuff with you! And had some tea ^^ 

Okay, so here's what I've decided...

1. I'm going to take a break from reading for a couple of days or more. I had a bit of a burn out here so the best thing is simply to take some time off reading.

2. I'm going to stop stressing about my unread books. I'll pack as many of them as I can and so what if I leave some unread books behind? I can just read them when I'm back, right?

3. Starting from now, I'm going to read only for pleasure. Not to finish my TBR, not to meet any kind of reading goal, nope. I like books and that's the only reason I'll be reading them.

4. I'll read books I want to read rather than books I feel I should be reading. This seems like a simple thing but honestly, sometimes I feel like there are particular books or kinds of books I should be reading and this is just ridiculous. Unless you have required reading for school or maybe for review, there's no reason to push yourself to read things you don't feel like picking up. 

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I guess today's post was more me sharing my thoughts with you rather than an actual book blog post. It's just that I really wanted to share this issue with you guys. So if you have words of advice for me or simply some thoughts you want to share, definitely leave a comment down below! 

Books seem like such a silly thing to get stressed over right?! But I guess that's part of being a hopelessly passionate book lover after all ^^

My Favorite Book Covers

Hi guys! In today's post, I'm going to show you some of my favorite book covers! Like so many book lovers, I have to confess that I am, in fact, sensitive to beautiful book cover designs and have more than once given in to a book purchase because of a beautiful cover. But hey, we all do cover buys every now and then and it's actually absolutely fine! I will say though that all the books mentioned here are books that I've either read and really enjoyed or ones that I'll be reading very soon.

If you want to know more about the actual plot, you can click on the book titles, which will take you to each book's Goodreads page. Let's begin ^^

After Alice by Gregory Maguire

This is probably the most beautiful book I own. This is an Alice in Wonderland retelling and it's written by one of my favorite authors who also wrote other favorites of mine like Wicked and Confessions of an ugly step-sister. To me, this cover is the best tribute to all the things that make up the unique universe of Alice. Each detail on the cover is a nod to an element from the original tale, like the Mad Hatter's hat, the playing cards, the cups, the time piece, etc. To the Alice in Wonderland fan that I am, this cover works like the ultimate fan art. 

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

This is the Puffin Chalk edition of this classic story and it's absolutely stunning. It has French flaps, deckle edges and the most stunning of cover designs. Of all the books in this edition, I think this one is my favorite.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling and illustrated by Jim Kay

This is the illustrated version of the first Harry Potter book and the illustration they picked for the cover is, in my opinion, the one that best represents the story and the magnitude of the series it eventually evolves in. Harry is about to board the Hogwarts Express and for him and us alike, this marks the beginning of an epic journey that stretches through 7 books, 8 movies and one of the biggest fandoms of all time. This image is for me the best representation of Harry Potter and I'm very glad they picked it for the cover of this edition. 

Prince Lestat by Anne Rice

This is the 11th and latest book in the classic Vampire Chronicles series featuring my favorite character of all time, the vampire Lestat. I love Lestat and I'm very glad Anne Rice is finally writing more of his roguish adventures. I also absolutely love this cover design. It's at the same time very mysterious and yet highly reminiscent of the Gothic atmosphere of the earlier books in the series.

So those were some of my favorite book covers. I'll probably be acquiring enough more books during the year to be able to write another favorite book cover post at some point. Meanwhile, if there's a book cover design you really like, feel free to share a link to the picture in the comments ^^

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Cover art by Of Stacks and Cups via Pagemodo