Top 5 Favourite Books of 2015 (so far)

Hey guys! Today is Top 5 Wednesday! Top 5 Wednesday is a Goodreads group, and you can find the information here.

I really liked this week's topic, but I didn't have time to make a video, so I decided to write a quick blog post about it. So this week's topic is your top 5 favourite books of this year so far. It was pretty easy for me to choose, but they are in no particular order, because I don't roll like that.

5. The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
         This actually the first book I picked up this year, actually. I read it while we were driving home after our Christmas holidays. This is a great dystopian/urban fantasy type story, and the story and the characters just pulled me in. The writing wasn't always my favourite (the author has a tendency to rush through action sequences, which left me feeling lost at times) but overall it was a gripping story and I was just wrecked at the end.

4. Paris Letters by Janice MacLeod
        I read this book just a couple weeks ago, and I still think about something or other about it just about every day. It's a memoir of a woman who decided to save up for a year so she could quit her job and live in Europe for 6 months. The title gives away where she left her heart. The writing was quite beautiful, and I could really feel the author's passion for the decisions she made and the things she was experiencing. It made me feel like I could save up money for a year so I could quit my job too!

3. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
        If you are any kind of geek, or have any interest in video games or the 1980s, this book is going to be right up your alley. The story is set decades in the future, in the 2040s, and the world basically exists in a virtual reality online. The creator of this world passes away and leaves clues for the world's most epic scavenger hunt. Again, this was a story that just pulled me into the world, and I loved (almost) every page! There were a couple things that I found offensive (a rant of heavy Christian/religion bashing, and a crude sexual reference) but otherwise it was so much fun!

4. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
         I love me some WWII fiction, and this was a beautiful one. Doerr's writing was just incredible. He was able to weave together a moving account of two children from different sides of the war, growing up in the middle of it. I was often amazed at his attention to detail, and how he was able to intertwine all of these events to create one long thread. By the end I had experienced all the feels multiple times. Keep your tissues handy.

5. The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson
        I had heard a lot of hype about this book, and I had reached a point where I had to read it because I was scared of getting spoiled! If I had started reading this on a Friday night, I would probably have read most of it through the night. This was such a well-crafted fantasy world! A princess runs away from her wedding, and the prince she left and a hired assassin are sent to bring her back. The tricky part is that we don't know which one is the prince and which one is the assassin. I got so into that part, trying to figure out if my guess was right. But this book is so much more than an awesome fantasy world and a crazy twist. The characters are so awesome, I loved all of them. The princess is one of the best female characters I have read in a long time, and there are good lady friendships! I couldn't ask for anything else, except maybe the second book in the series, like, yesterday!!


What books would make your top 5 list? Leave a comment and let me know!

Summer is here and I'm excited about it.

Summer is almost here! Well, today we have a rainfall warning, but it still feels more and more like summer. Church activities are winding up, and there's a lot more free time on the horizon. I never realized how much you love free time until I started working full time. That was an adjustment. Sometimes I really miss working part-time. I had a lot more time for housework and hobbies.

I have many plans for the summer already, such as:

• doing a bedroom refresh 
• having a garage sale with some friends and getting rid of so much junk
• doing some DIY projects, like painting a couple bookshelves and building an end table
• going to the zoo (I haven't been to the zoo in like a decade or something, and they've added a ton of new things since I was there last)
• writing back to my poor pen pals who probably wonder why I went off the radar
• getting so much reading done!

These are the two tables I'm looking at making. I might make both. We'll see.

I hope to enjoy some of the last two while sitting outside in my lawn chair apparatus. I call it an apparatus because I wouldn't know what else to call it. It's two Adirondack chairs attached with a table in the middle. Very handy. But the table is broken so I have to fix that. And I want to get some cushions, for maximum comfort. I've got my eyes on some seat pads from IKEA, because I'm too lazy to make them myself.

What would you call this thing? Anyway, here it is, freshly painted in my favourite colour. That table wasn't properly attached, so it came off and now I have to fix it.

I'm also quite excited for summer weather, as a lovely bistro just a short walk away from my house is selling gelato. I am pleased to announce the stuff tastes like heaven, and I anticipate walking over there many evenings with a book.

What are you looking forward to this summer?

The Fangirl's Guide to the Galaxy || Sam Maggs

Title: The Fangirl's Guide to the Galaxy: A Handbook for Girl Geeks

Author: Sam Maggs

Length: 208 pages

Publication date: May 12, 2015

Genre: non-fiction

Rating: 2/5

I heard about this book last winter, and I thought it sounded really cool. I definitely consider myself a fangirl and a geek, so this sounded like it would be right up my alley. Plus the cover was adorable! So I was pretty excited when I was able to receive an ARC of this book from Netgalley.

This book is basically an introduction on how to be a lady geek. The author lists many things that have extensive fandoms online, such as Harry Potter, Doctor Who, Supernatural, and many more. There are chapters on fan fiction, conventions and how to navigate them, feminism in the geek world, and other things.

Unfortunately, this book fell very flat for me. The beginning of the book was a list of swag that members of certain fandoms can be seen wearing or owning. That's really all it was. And the book stayed at that shallow level. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I was really hoping for something more in-depth. This really just felt like a book for people who want to be geeks because it's trendy. I also felt like some of the author's points were contradictory, and the whole book felt like a boring mess. I skimmed so much of it because it just wasn't interesting, or it was old information to me as a longtime fangirl.

AND THERE WEREN'T EVEN ANY REFERENCES TO THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY! What?? You copy the title and don't even talk about it at all??

There were some short interviews with well-known girl geeks, and that was neat to see their different perspectives on what being a fangirl means to them. For me that was the only good part of the book. And I had it as a galley, so the formatting on those pages was really messed up and it was hard to read! Sad.

In the end, I would give this book a pass, but make your own life choices!



I received a digital copy of this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Doing a new thing on the internet.

Hello friends, how are you? What is new? I miss your lovely faces. If you still stick with me here, then bravo, you! I have a thing to mention that is new with me. In August, I started a YouTube channel! I know, it's weird. But it's been really cool so far.

This summer I discovered that there are people on YouTube that talk about books. And that was a revelation for me. People, talking about books? Amazing! For a couple months I was really content to just watch other people's videos, but eventually I wanted to start talking about books, too. With the encouragement of Christopher, I started filming videos and uploading them. It was really out of my comfort zone to start, but once I started, it wasn't even that bad!

I still have a lot to learn about making and editing videos, and my videos aren't the best yet, but I've actually had a pretty good response to my channel so far. I have met some really cool people so far, and even if I never comment or interact with people I subscribe to, I still feel like they're my friends. It is really fun to talk about books that I'm reading, books I want to read, and hearing book recommendations from other people. It is so awesome to be a part of the BookTube community.

I called my channel Little Prairie Library. I think it's clever, it rhymes a little bit to help you remember it, it tells you what my channel is about, and it is personalized to me! (I am a prairie girl to the core of my heart) I also started a dedicated blog for book reviews, to tie in with my YouTube channel. I wanted to have a separate blog for reviewing books, because it's apparently easier to get ARCs (advance reader copies) from certain publishers if your blog is just dedicated to books. The blog is still under construction, but there are some reviews already up.

I would love it if you would go check out my YouTube channel and subscribe to me there, as well as follow my book blog!

UDON Manga Classics: Pride & Prejudice

Title: Pride & Prejudice

Author: Jane Austen (original); Stacy King and Po Tse

Length: 376 pages

Publication date: August 19, 2014

Genre: classics, manga

Rating: 4/5

Content rating: G

Back in October, I received this book for review, and I recently realized that I didn't actually get around to writing my review on it! Bad me. I read it in October, shortly after I finished Les Misérables, and I enjoyed it equally well. 

Where the art in Les Misérables is more standard manga, I would say that this adaptation is more of a shoujo manga: the art style is very cutesy, a lot of chibi panels, hearts and flowers in random places, etc. I thought that the art style made it quite fun to read. It's also appropriate for younger readers, if that's a concern for you.

I think the adaptation was quite faithful to the original story. Mrs Bennett was her usual hilariously annoying self, Lizzie over-thought everything, Mr Darcy was brooding... it was fantastic. The characters are so fun to read in the original, and seeing them play it out on the page was a nice experience. Again, if you want to get into classics, but feel intimidated by the original, this would be a good place to start, and get used to the story. That is, if you haven't watched the movie 187 times (like I have..). I have really enjoyed my experiences with UDON's manga classics, and I'm planning to pick up some more in the future. 

I received a digital copy of this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Frozen || Melissa de la Cruz & Michael Johnston

Title: Frozen

Book 1 of The Heart of Dread series

Author: Melissa de la Cruz & Michael Johnston

Length: 352 pages

Publication date: September 17, 2013

Genre: YA, dystopian, fantasy

Rating: 3/5

"Welcome to New Vegas, a city once covered in bling, now blanketed in ice. Like much of the destroyed planet, the place knows only one temperature—freezing. But some things never change. The diamond in the ice desert is still a 24-hour hedonistic playground and nothing keeps the crowds away from the casino floors, never mind the rumors about sinister sorcery in its shadows. At the heart of this city is Natasha Kestal, a young blackjack dealer looking for a way out. Like many, she's heard of a mythical land simply called “the Blue.” They say it’s a paradise, where the sun still shines and the waters are turquoise. More importantly, it’s a place where Nat won’t be persecuted, even if her darkest secret comes to light. But passage to the Blue is treacherous, if not impossible, and her only shot is to bet on a ragtag crew of mercenaries led by a cocky runner named Ryan Wesson to take her there. Danger and deceit await on every corner, even as Nat and Wes find themselves inexorably drawn to each other. But can true love survive the lies? Fiery hearts collide in this fantastic tale of the evil men do and the awesome power within us all." -summary from Amazon

The world in the book was really interesting. It was a very interesting mix of dystopian and fantasy. The premise was also interesting to me, and there were some unique elements to the world. An example is that the currency was heat credits, and things like salt were extremely rare and valuable. I live in southern Manitoba, where we basically are frozen half of the year, so I felt like I could relate to that plot point. The story was well-paced, and I found myself wanting to know what happened to the characters.

Unfortunately, the writing missed a lot for me. The world building was lacking. The point of view switched between the two main characters, and their voices sounded the same. It was hard to tell who the focus of the chapter was supposed to be on. The things that bothered me the most (which feel linked to me) is how quickly things happened, how easily they were wrapped up, and the lack of explanation of things. The characters sometimes seemed to hop from one situation to the next, and sometimes it was so quick that I flipped back to see if I missed something. The worst part was that the big battle scene at the end was way too short! It was very anti-climatic! Everything wrapped up way too quickly, and it didn't leave me wanting to know more about the story, yet I didn't feel satisfied. Which is not what the authors were going for, I don't think. Finally, the insta-love was a little annoying as well. The characters went from not liking each other, to liking each other, and again, you couldn't tell how or where that happened to change.

In general, I though the plot and the story itself were interesting. The writing itself is where it fell flat for me. I am certainly not in a rush to pick up the next book, but I might somewhere down the line. 

I received a digital copy of this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Of Weird Slumps.

[via]

I am in a weird slump.

I haven't written letters in over a month. But I want to. I miss my pen pal friends.

I've barely been reading this month. But I want to. I have an insane pile of books that I'm really excited about.

I haven't been blogging this past year. I have things that I want to talk about, but I'm out of practice and I can barely remember this writing thing that I like to do. I also started a channel on YouTube a few months ago where I talk about books, and I haven't posted anything this month.

I haven't even been knitting this autumn (now winter here), and I want to because I need a new hat!

I'm not sure what's going on. Maybe it's because I'm tired, and the shorter days are just kicking my energy levels in the butt. Maybe I just need some inspiration. But I feel pretty inspired about things!! Which just makes it all so weird.

I hope that soon I will be able to get back to doing things that I love. I miss them.

Some good news though, I'm painting my kitchen cabinets! I can't wait to share photos with you when it's all done! It's taking forever, but we'll get there. We'll get there.