Top 5 Wednesday: Favourite Mothers/Maternal Figures

Hey Everyone,

Today's post is all about books that have great mothers or other maternal figures. I love to read books that involve families and with mother's day just around the corner, now would be a great chance to share some of my favourite fictional mother figures. I have learnt through reading that a woman doesn't need to be your own mother in order to be a maternal figure for you and it has been wonderful to watch these type of relationships blossom. So let's get into it!

5. Elsie “Ella” Foxx

(Will & Whit By Laura Lee Gulledge)

Ella Foxx is the aunt of Will and becomes her guardian when her sister and brother in law (Will's parents) die in an accident. I chose her as one of my favourites as she is quite a fun and easy going personality but she also really looks out for Will. She tries her best to make Will feel better and encourages her to go out and have fun when she knows Will is feeling down or scared. 

Review Tuesday: Saga Vol. 1 By Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples

Hey Everyone,

Today's review is of a comic trade that is very popular and one that I read at the end of 2014. Saga is a well known comic series that has gotten great reviews all over the internet. I have quite a few things to say about this first volume of the series and so I thought I would a full review for you all this week. Let's get into it!

Title: Saga - Volume One
Author: Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples
First Publication Year: 2012
Publisher: Image Comics
Goodreads Link: 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15704307-saga-volume-1
Plot Summary: Described as "Star Wars" meets "Game Of Thrones", Saga follows the story of Alana and Marko who meet as soldiers on opposite sides of an enormous galactic war. Though the two come from feuding homes, they still manage to fall in love. Now targeted by their own people to stop them from running away together, the star-crossed lovers with their newly born child are determined to start a fresh new life away their dangerous world. 

Mini Review Saturday: Parody Picture Books

Hey Everyone,

Today's review post is a collection of a different type of book that I have yet to review. I love to read some short books every now and again especially when I need to take a break from bigger reads. The type of books I normally pick up in between book is usually either a graphic novel or humour books. So today I'll be reviewing a few humour books, specifically picture books that are parodies of children books. Let's get into it!

Title: We're Going On A Bar Hunt

Author: Josie Lloyd, Emlyn Rees & Gillian Johnson (Illustrator)

Publication Year: 2013

Publisher: Constable

Goodreads Link: 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18660771-we-re-going-on-a-bar-hunt

Sentence Summary: Parents book a babysitter and go bar jumping in this parody of the children's book, 'We're Going On A Bear Hunt".

Mini Review: This was actually the first parody book I've read that was a take on a picture book and I thought that it was okay. I've read the original book "We're Going On A Bear Hunt" a bunch of times especially when I used to work in Child Care and so I am very familiar with the story. I felt like this book was trying a little too hard to be similar to that story and so at times I lost it's humour. In saying this, the book was still quite entertaining at times. I did find myself laughing at some language they used to describe the bars or the drinks they drank. Even as someone who doesn't drink very often, I was still able to appreciate that aspect of the book. Another thing that I actually didn't enjoy about this book was the art work. Though it was creative with a style that made the illustrations look like recycled materials, I wasn't able to enjoy it as it wasn't really my type of styler. I also was expecting to see similar art in the book that was used in the original story as it would of made the story funnier. Overall, it was an okay parody book that I will still talk about to people but it wasn't what I was expecting for a parody of popular children's book. 

Star Rating: 3/5 Stars!

Book Tag Friday: Taylor Swift Book Tag

Hey Everyone,

Today's post is a tag that I saw a lot of booktubers doing in 2014. One video in particular that I really enjoyed watching was Kat's from Katytastic on Youtube. The tag connects two things that I love, Books and Taylor Swift and so I knew I had to do it. This tag was originally created by Sarah-Jane from The Book Life on Youtube, so please be sure to check out both Sarah-Jane's video as well as Kat's Video. Side note: I will be doing Kat's version as she added a couple of awesome questions.

Now let's get started!

1. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together 

(Pick a book or series that you were pretty sure you were in love with, but then wanted to break up with.)

If I Stay By Gayle Forman: This was a hard one but I ended up choosing this book purely because I did enjoy it but in the end it just wasn't very satisfying. I gave this book still a pretty decent rating but mainly based on other aspects of the book like the writing. I don't hate this book but it is one that I was loving but ended up not feeling great about. 

6 Authors I Have Yet To Read!

Hey Everyone,

Today's post is all about authors. I only discovered booktube, bookstagram and goodreads over the last couple years and I must say that since then I have been introduced to so many authors that I had never previously heard of. Though I've tried to have at least read one book of some of the more popular authors I have heard of, I have still so many more that I have failed to check out. Here is a list of six authors (as well as the main book of theirs that I want to read) that I am kicking myself for still not reading. So in no particular order, let's get started!

1. Morgan Matson

Amy & Roger's Epic Detour: I heard about Morgan Matson when her last book, Since You've Been Gone had just been released. There was talk about her and the book everywhere and I looked up what other books she had written. This one has gotten a lot of positive reviews and the story sounded perfect for me as I love a good contemporary. I really need to read this book as soon as I can because I just know that I'm going to enjoy it.

Top 5 Wednesday: Book You're Intimidated By

Hey Everyone,

Today's post is all about books that intimidate me. There is a lot of books and series that are pretty daunting to me and so I usually put off reading them for as long as possible. I normally get intimidated by the size of a book more than the story itself. An example of this was that I was really afraid to read Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix because its 800 pages long but I eventually had to read it to progress the series. This is just one reason as to why some books intimidate me more than others. So here are my top five books that I am intimidated by. Let's get started!

5. More Than This By Patrick Ness

(https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18158411-more-than-this)

I have yet to read a Patrick Ness book but I've heard amazing things about this one. What intimidated me is not only is it almost 500 pages long (which too me is big) but also it seems to have a complex plot that many reviewers say is better to experience than be told. I really want to read this but I am more hesitant to pick it up because I have no idea what I'll be getting myself into. I hear that is really creative and beautifully executed but I'm too afraid to start it. 

Review Tuesday: Batgirl Vol. 1-3 By Gail Simone

Hey Everyone, 

Today's review is a DC comic series that I have started but have yet to finish. The Gail Simone run of Batgirl is one that I have been wanting to read for a while and last year I was able to read the first 3 volumes. I hope to read the rest of the volumes that are available soon and so far now I will just review these volumes. 

Let's get into it!

Series Title: Batgirl (Batgirl Vol. IV)
Author: Gail Simone
Illustrator: Various Artists
Number of Books: 5
Series Summary: After being bound to a wheel chair for three years from the brutal attack by the Joker ("The Killing Joke"), Barbara Gordon is back on her feet and she is ready to take on the world as Batgirl. Taking on Gotham City along side the rest of the Bat family, Barbara faces villains of all sorts to keep her town safe but those aren't her only problems. As she tries to keep her other life hidden from her family especially her father, Jim Gordon the well regarded commissioner, Has Barbara bitten off more than she can chew? Is she ready to push passed her past demons to do her duty? 

Mini Review Saturday: DC Comics

Hey Everyone,

Today's post is a collection of reviews of some DC comic trades that I have read. I like to pick up comics every now and again as I find them to be great fillers in between books I'm reading. I especially love reading about Batman because it is such a crazy world to be sucked into. So let us get right into the reviews!

Title: Black Canary and Zatanna: Bloodspell

Author: Paul Dini & Joe Quinones

Publication Year: 2014

Publisher: DC Comics

Goodreads Link: 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23278621-black-canary-and-zatanna

Sentence Summary: Two unlikely heroines; Black Canary and Zatanna, join forces to defeat a supernatural enemy.

Mini Review: I was very excited to read this standalone graphic novel since its release but personally I was a little bit disappointed. I was first introduced to Zatanna in the Complete Hush story arc and Black Canary in Birds of Prey series and absolutely loved them. Since I was so interested in these characters, I went on to do some research to discover they had a short story together. This was music to my ears as I was ready to learn more about them. The plot in this book, unfortunately fell a bit flat for me as it started off quite interesting but as the story progressed I began to lose interest in the plot and was simply continuing to finish the story. I think I would have liked it more if there was more build up and detail in the events that were taking place as things tended to move quite quickly and were pretty brief. Looking at this book from a different angle, I really enjoyed reading about these two strong heroines again as I got to see them in a different setting and learn more about their abilities which was really fascinating. I also really loved the art was it was so colour filled but had a nice simplicity to it. Overall, if DC decides to write more graphic novels along this plot, I don't think I would continue to read them as it didn't grip me enough but I am still very much intrigued by Black Canary and Zatanna separately and so I would be interested in checking out other arcs they may be involved with.

Star Rating: 3/5 Stars!

Book Tag Friday: The Bedtime Book Tag

Hey Everyone,

Today's post is a tag I found on another book blog called "My Little Book Blog" which is called The Bedtime Book Tag. I was stuck on what tag to do today and stumbled upon this one which I thought looked pretty cool. If you would like to see the "My Little Book Blog" post that inspired this post, the link is: https://mylittlebookblog.com/2015/11/27/the-bedtime-book-tag/. So lets get straight into it.

1. What Book Kept You Up All Night Reading?

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell: I read this book in two days and read the majority on the second day. I refused to sleep until I finished it and honestly it was totally worth it.

Book Series I Need To Complete #1

Hey Everyone,

Today's post is all about the series that I have started but have yet to complete. There are a few of them that I have started that still have books coming out but there is also a whole lot of series that have sequels already published that I have yet to catch up on. This post will be a list of 6 of these series and because there are so many of them, I will be doing more posts (like this one) with more series over the next few months. Also I will not be going into too much detail about them to keep the post short. Let's get into it!

Series Title: White Rabbit Chronicles 

Author: Gena Showalter

Number Of Books: 4

Series Status: Completed

Goodreads Link: 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18749067-alice-in-zombieland

Sentence Summary: Alice Bell has her world turned upside down when she discovers that her apparently insane father was telling the truth, that monsters do exist.

Books Read: 

- Book 1: Alice In Zombieland (2012)

- Book 2: Through The Zombie Glass (2013)

Books Left: 

- Book 3: Queen Of Zombie Hearts (2014)

- Book 4: A Mad Zombie Party (2015)

Top 5 Wednesday: Books with "Hard" Topics

Hey Everyone,

Today's post is all about books that contain hard hitting topics such as mental illness, abuse, discrimination, etc. I've read a few really good books that deal with difficult subjects in such a great way. So here are a few titles that I really liked, that I actually got a greater respect for because of how well they projected these topics. Let's get into it!

5. So Much To Tell by John Marsden

(https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12526815-so-much-to-tell-you)

One of my favourite books from back when I was in school. I really enjoyed reading this book as a school text as I felt like it had a very important message. The story is told through the diary of a 14 year old girl who chooses not to speak. After a traumatic incident that occured at home, Marina is now in a boarding school where her parents sent her to "get better". It is such a touching story that I feel is really eye opening and that does have a slight shock factor. 

Review Tuesday: Billy And Me By Giovanna Fletcher

Hey Everyone,

Today's post is a review of a couple of books I read in March last year. In honour of the reveal (last month) of the cover for the sequel, "Always In Love" the books I will be reviewing today are "Billy and Me" as well as the novella sequel, "Christmas With Billy and Me" by Giovanna Fletcher. Let's get right into it.

Title: Billy And Me
Author: Giovanna Fletcher
First Publication Year: 2013
Publisher: Penguin UK
Goodreads Link: 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16112830-billy-and-me
Plot Summary: Sophie May was just an average young woman living in a little village with her mum and working in the local teashop but that was until she met Billy. After a film starts production in Sophie's little town, she meets the well known young actor Billy and instantly the two fall for each other. Will their relationship be able survive in the spotlight? How will Sophie cope with her life being made public?

Mini Review Saturday: Non-Fiction Books

 Hey Everyone,

I just wanted to start by saying thank you to you all for understanding that I couldn't get this post done in time for yesterday but I'm glad I was able to post it today for you all. Today's mini review compilation are reviews of some of the non-fiction books that I have read over the last few years. So let's dive right into it!

Title: The Alphabet of the Human Heart: The A to Zen of Life
Author: Matthew Johnstone & James Kerr
Publication Year: 2009
Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia
Goodreads Link: 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8101382-the-alphabet-of-the-human-heart
Sentence Summary: An A to Z look at the good and bad things in life and ways to push through the trials to remain positive.
Mini Review: I actually discovered this book at work as I was cleaning up the self-help section. I was immediately drawn the cover and as I started flipping through it, I found it was a very interesting type of self help book. At the time that I finally decided to read it, I was in a bit of a reading slump due to certain things that were happening in my life at that moment. I really needed something to pick me up and this book was a great help. Filled with beautiful illustrations that express both the positive and negative feelings, I began to feel inspired and guided towards what I need to do next. The format of the book is also quite amazing as one half of the book is the positive side and then you flip the book over to read the negative side. This format was great as they both ended on the same note to show that everything is connected which was interesting to see. It is quite a short book with little text but once I finished, I did feel much better than I did when I started it which was just what I needed at the time of reading it. I have now read a few of Matthew Johnstone's books and have enjoyed that but I must say that this one would definitely have to be my favourite so far. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a little pick me up as It did help me a lot.
Star Rating: 5/5 Stars!

Book Tag Friday: New York Times "By The Book" Tag

Hey Everyone,

Today I will be doing New York Times "By The Book" Tag. I stumbled upon this tag through Max over at WellDoneBooks on YouTube. He is a booktuber I follow and when I saw him do this tag, I thought it looked like a lot of fun. This tag was originally created by Marie Berg (who is another book tuber). Be sure to check out both the original video and Max's video to see their answers to this questions. They are both awesome Booktubers and I highly recommend checking them out.

So let us begin the tag!

1. What book is on your night stand now?

My side table actually holds some of my favourite graphic novels as well as some that didn't fit anywhere else. Besides those, it also holds my TBR books which includes Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger and The Hogwarts Library by J.K Rowling.

March Instagram Book Challenge

Hey Everyone,

So today's post is a wrap up of how I did in the March Instagram Book Challenge. Just like last month, there are many different ones you can participate in but the one I chose to do was created by @Celinereads, @Alittlebookworld and @booknerd_reads on Instagram. So in case you didn't see my posts each day, here are all the photos I posted with their captions.


"Hey Everyone, I had a lot of fun doing the #celineandsethfebruary16 challenge and so I decided I'm going to be doing it again in March with the #celineannajillmarch16 challenge by @celinereads and a couple other bookstagramers. I'm excited to do it again next month :) #bookstagram #marchbookchallenge #funtimes"

Top 5 Wednesday: Rainy Day Reads

Hey Everyone,

Today's post is all about the perfect books to read during a rainy day. On those type of days I love to read books that are simple, light and quick. I find that by reading these type of book it helps me relax and get my mind off the terrible weather. Here are just some books that I might pick up during a rainy day. Let's get started!

5. Maybe Someday By Colleen Hoover

(https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24445517-maybe-someday)

A wonderful love story between two different people who overcome barriers and bond over something they both love, Music. This is a perfect read for the rainy days as it is both a easy read as well as a serious one. It is a beautiful book that makes me happy when I read it.

Review Tuesday: Falling Into Place By Amy Zhang

Hey Everyone,

Today's post is a review of a book that I mentioned in my March wrap up on Saturday since it was one of the first books I read last month. I have a lot of feeling about it and so I wanted to do a more depth review of it rather than just a simple on in my wrap up. This book is Falling Into Place by Amy Zhang who is a debut author. So let's just jump straight in the review.

Title: Falling Into Place

Author: Amy Zhang

First Publication Year: 2014

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Goodreads Link: 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22103884-falling-into-place

Plot Summary: It was late one afternoon after school when Liz Emerson drives her car off the road. After such careful thought, her plan was to die instantly and make it look like an accident rather than a suicide. But there was one thing Liz never could understand that she failed to take into account, which was Newton’s laws of motion that she has been learning in physics class. So now instead of dying on impact, she lies in hospital in a deep coma with a voice telling her to "Stay Alive". Will Liz wake up? Will anyone notice that it wasn't an accident?

Mini Review Saturday: March Wrap Up (2016)

Hey Everyone,

Today's post is a compilation of reviews of all the books I read in the month of March. I feel like I had a good reading month as I was able to read more books in March than I normally have in the past. I managed to finish 8 books with only 3 of them being ebooks although I didn't get a chance to read any graphic novels this month as a couple of the books I read were pretty long. So without further ado lets get into the books I completed this month.

Title: Chat (Cyber Series: Book One)
Author: Nan McCarthy
Publication Year: 2014 (Originally 1996)
Publisher: Rainwater Press
Goodreads Link: 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22006627-chat
Sentence Summary: The year is 1995, Bev (a hard working editor) meets Max (an advertising copywriter) in an online chat/forum after Max asks her for advice on being an editor but despite Bev's persistence to keep things professional, Why is it that Max seems to be forming feelings for her?
Mini Review: This was the first book I read in the month of March and it was one that I discovered on Playster that I thought sounded interesting. The book recalls the tale of two people who meet online back in the time when the internet was still a fresh thing in the world. The story is completely told through the emails and chat messages that these two characters exchange between in each other. I love reading books in this style but didn't entirely have high hopes for this book as I was simply just looking for something to start the month with and I really wanted to read something that was told in this format. I must say I am glad I didn't have high expectations for it as it wasn't really a special story. In general it was a pretty basic story of an unlikely friendship with the one of them wanting more than that. It was a very quick read as it was only a short ebook and so there wasn't a lot going on within the plot. Also I didn't find the characters to be very interesting either. I couldn't connect with them on any level and thus I didn't really feel for them as they expressed their own personal stories. Overall it was simply an okay read but is not something that I would necessarily recommend to people.
Star Rating: 2.5/5 Stars!

Book Tag Friday: The Book Heart Tag

Hey Everyone,

Today I will be doing The Book Heart Tag which was particularly made for Valentines day but I felt like doing it this week for you guys. I stumbled upon this tag as I was going through my subscription feed and saw Lindsey (over at Lindsey Rey on Youtube) do it and thought it looked fun. This tag however was originally created by Booktubers, Sanne at Booksandquills and Jean at Bookishthoughts Be sure to check out both the original video and Lindsey's video to see their answers to this questions. They are all amazing Booktubers and highly recommend checking them out.

So let's get started!

1. Who is your favourite literary couple?

Landon Carter & Jamie Sullivan (A Walk Too Remember by Nicholas Sparks): I have read a lot of contemporary novels and have seen a lot of really good literary couples but these two would definitely be my favourite. They are just completely perfect with each other (Photo on the right is Mandy Moore and Shane West playing these characters in the movie adaptation).