Books You're Thankful For/ Top 5 Wednesday

Books You're Thankful For/ Top 5 Wednesday

November 22nd, 2017

For this week's topic, we were supposed to pick out our top 5 books that we were thankful for. 

Top 5 Wednesday is a group created by Lainey of Ginger Reads Lainey on Booktube. It is now hosted by Sam of Thoughts on Tomes on Booktube. Here is a link to the group on Goodreads if you are interested in joining. 

5.) Disney's Wonderful World of Knowledge Vol. 10: Myths and Legends- This was one of the
books that I first fell in love with when I was probably about eight. I really do not know how many times that I actually read this book, but it was a lot. The major focus of this book is on Greek Mythology and this was my introduction to many of those myths. I have always loved Greek Mythology and I believe that this is one of the reasons. Also, Disney's Hercules. Each of the World of Knowledge books was told by a certain character and this one was by Minnie Mouse, which I had loved at that early age. I haven't picked this book up in a very long time and I might just do it sometime soon. It would be great to see again what really got me into Myths and Legends when I was a kid. I'm thankful for this book because of the love of both of these that was instilled in me at such an early age. This whole series is very good for children. I loved every book I read from them.

4.)  Douglas Adams, Neil Gaiman, and Terry Pratchett- I decided to put all three of these authors together because I am thankful for them for the same reason, their humor. Each author has written plenty of books that I could place on this list. Douglas Adam's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is one of my favorite books and its dry sense of humor never ceases to make me happy. Even just thinking about this book brings a large smile to my face. If I had to I'd probably read it every day. Neil Gaiman's books also have this British humor. His books are all very different but there is almost always this wonderful humor. I love the wit that his books hold and they have become favorites because of it. Finally, Sir Terry Pratchett. Terry Pratchett's Discworld series is slowly becoming one of the best series that I have ever read. He's also becoming one of my favorite authors, let alone one of the authors that I admire highly. My one wish was that I could have met him and Douglas Adams before they passed away. I could not pick between any of these books or authors because I'm thankful for them quite equally. They all will also be on next week's list.

3.) The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger- This is my ultimate recommendation. It was one of my first adult fiction books that I ever read and became a favorite right away. I had first heard of this book when the trailer came out for the movie. I saw it at my high school's library and had to take it out before I saw the movie. The day afterward I stayed home very sick from school and literally laid on the couch all day reading it. Over the years since, I have read it five times. Each time I have still connected to it just as much as I did about seven years ago. I'm thankful for the writing style of this book. It is incredible with the non-linear format that Audrey Niffenegger writes in. This is the book that I could probably read at least once a month and would still adore it. It's my favorite book for a reason.

2.) The Land of Stories by Chris Colfer- I'm a big fan of retellings, especially fairy tale retellings. I grew up with the Disney movies and those stories became a passion of mine early on. Chris Colfer was my favorite actor from the tv show Glee and I remember finding out that he was writing a series with fairy tale retellings. I pre-ordered every single one of his books so far and don't plan on stopping anytime soon. Chris's books are some of my favorites and are my favorite retellings. I love his way of playing with the classic tales and making them his own. Watching his main characters, Alex and Conner grow up throughout the series has been a joy. This year the last of the series came out in July. It was a great wrap-up to the series. I'm thankful to be able to enjoy such a great series again that makes me think of my childhood with Harry Potter. The last time I felt the way I did at the end of a series was with Harry Potter and that was ten years ago. These books are everything to me and really are some of the best that I have ever read.

1.) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling- Like many who are fans of this series, it was the series that got me majorly into reading the way I do now. I was a reader before Harry, but I became an avid reader after Harry. It was actually the third book Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban that made me fully immersed in Harry's world. I received the first three books as a Christmas gift when I was around maybe nine. At that time I read the first book but did not enjoy reading too much. Then I saw the first and second movies. The Chamber of Secrets did not help matters (I had a large fear of spiders. I still do). Then I watched the third movie and fell in love with the story. I become totally engrossed in the series and I had to finish the series. Remus Lupin and Sirius Black were and still are my favorite characters. I am thankful for this series because when I think about it I become so happy. It brings back great memories of waiting patiently for the seventh book to release at midnight, staying up until three in the morning reading, and getting emotionally attached to so many characters for the first time. Harry Potter was and still is something I am most attached to and I don't know who I would be without this series. I'm thankful to call this my favorite series of all time and I would never change that for anything.

Writing Tag

✍️ Writing Tag: 
Tag Tuesday, November 7th, 2017📝

In honor of November being Nanowrimo: National Novel Writing Month, I decided to do some writing tags each of my Tuesdays this month. Also, I'm going to spend some time just talking about my writing.

This year I started writing a four-book series, that I have had the idea for since 2014. I am right now working (slowly) on my second novel. It's a twisted retelling of classic stories such as Fairy Tales, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, and Greek Mythology. I am trying to get the first book represented by an agent at the moment. This series has become everything to me and I'm excited to do this tag all about the characters in this story.

This tag was created by Rachel from Rachel Writes here is a link to her blog: http://coffeeandcalligraphy.tumblr.com/post/146337815684/writing-tag

1. A crazy hacker's gone into your computer and has deleted all of your music, except for one song off of your writing playlist. Which song is it?-
🍂 "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" by Celine Dion. It's a favorite of mine and one of the longest songs. Luckily, I have all of it already backed up.

2. Your protagonist and antagonist have been paired by friends to go out to lunch together. Where do they go?
🍂 In my second book, I am planning on introducing a little family restaurant run by some trolls. That would be quite fun for them to go together. Poor Max.

3. You're crossing a bridge when the troll living under it stops you. He demands to read a chapter from your novel and won't let you cross otherwise. Which chapter do you give him?
🍂 I have written the first book in a series with retellings of classic books and tales. One of the chapters is actually focused on a goblin who owns a troll bridge (I won't say why he does). That would be the chapter I would choose.

4. Your friends have invited you out to a party. Surprise! All of your characters are there. Who do you choose to hang out with?
🍂 This is literally the hardest question for me. Well, if they are all there I would be able to meet them all, which would be the best day ever! The character I'd probably hang out with is Lyndell. We would have a great time dancing. The best party ever.

5. Crap. You left your car keys in your house, and you've (somehow) locked yourself out. Which of your characters picks the lock for you?
🍂 Zichwich would be perfect for picking locks. He's a trouble-making goblin. He'd know how to do it.

6. The zombie apocalypse is happening right now.  (It sucks.) Everyone is fleeing the planet and moving to Mars. ONE of your characters can go with you. Who do you choose?
🍂 Probably Arthur, who is first introduced in my second book. He's powerful and would probably be helpful in this situation.

7. You've been given the opportunity to travel to one place (town, building, landmark, country) in your book. Where do you go?
🍂 The White Kingdom, then I'd be able to go to the other worlds also.

8. You meet your main character and start a conversation with them. Problem is, you've got six words or less to do so. What do you say?
🍂 Everything's going to turn out okay. (At least I guess I would. I don't know)

9. Crazy acid rain is falling from the sky. Which of your characters would you use as an umbrella?
🍂 This is so easy, I would use the man in the magic mirror from the hunting cabin (makes sense if you read the book). The mirror would be perfect to hold off the rain. Also, it would not hurt him because the mirror is imperishable.

10. You're out at a restaurant with your main character and the time has come to order dessert. What do you order for them?
🍂 For Max, I'd order something with marshmallows. They have always been his favorite sweet since he was a child.

November (Nonfiction/Catchup Month/ Tome Topple TBR) Reading

November (Nonfiction/ Catchup Month) 

For November I am going to focus on Nonfiction books (that I will list below), The ScalleywagAThon, The Tome Topple Readathon, and two audiobooks.  All of the books in this post are books that I would like to read this month, but it will all depend on what happens. I will be spending a good amount of my free time writing. We will see what happens at the end of the month. 

The books I want to read this month. The Language of Thorns, To Be or Not To Be, the I Hate Fairyland graphic novels, Inkheart, The Final Empire, Dear Luke, We Need to Talk, Darth, On Writing, Guards, Guards, and Pyramids. 

Nonfiction books:

I originally wanted to make this month nonfiction November, but have so many other books to read. Eventually, I decided on these two below for my nonfiction books. 

On Writing by Stephen King- This will be my first ever, Stephen King book. I have heard that it is a very good book and since I have been writing so much lately I figured it would be a perfect read especially for Nanowrimo month (No, I'm technically not participating in Nanowrimo but I am going to be writing a lot this month.) 

Dear Luke, We Need to Talk, Darth: And Other Pop Culture Correspondences by John Moe- I have been wanting to read this book forever and am going to finally pick it up this month. It should be quick. 

ScalleywagAThon TBR:

Click on the image to make it bigger.

I first heard about this readathon today and really wanted to participate in it. The books that I am going to read are ones that I wanted to read this month anyway. It goes from November 5th- 11th. This readathon was created by Ali of HardbackHoarder and Amanda of Read All the Books. Here are the links to their videos Ali's and  Amanda's. 

The Challenges. 

1. You read four books for this readathon. Following the map, you will pick your books that you want to read. 

2. For the first book, you start at 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 and pick one of them. I am planning on number 5: Open Waters- Blue on the Cover. I will be reading I Hate Fairyland Volume Three: Good Girl by Skottie Young. 

3. Next, you follow the lines from that book- It's the white lines for me. So either 6 or 8. I will be doing 6: Jolly Roger-Skull on the Cover. I will be reading To Be or Not to Be by Ryan North: This is a choose your own adventure book taken from William Shakespeare's Hamlet.  I have read some of this before, but have not gotten through all of the choices (and I won't now either). I just really want to read more of this book this month. 

4. Then I have to follow the orange line from 6 to either A or B. I'm going to pick A: Marooned: Stand-alone. I'm going to read Dear Luke, We Need to Talk, Darth: And Other Pop Culture Correspondences by John Moe.

5. Finally,  I will follow the blue line to 10 Rope's End- Read a book in a Day, where I will read Lumberjanes Vol 3. 

These are the four books that I plan on reading. I will be doing a Wrap-up for the week sometime afterward. 

Tome Topple Readathon Round 5 TBR! :

Goes from November 17th- 30th. This will be my first time participating in this Readathon and I am very excited to do it. I just hope that I will be able to complete the challenges I want to. Tome Topple is a Readathon created by Sam of Thoughts on Tomes. It is a readathon where you have to read books that are at least 500 pages or more (tomes). Here is a link to her video discussing this: Tome Topple Announcement & TBR| Round 5

The Challenges:

1. Read more than 1 tome: I plan on reading three. We will see if that happens

2. Read a graphic novel (still over 500 pages!): Habibi by Craig Thompson. I have heard that this is very good and I liked his other graphic novel Blankets, so I'm ready. 

3. Read a tome that is part of a series: Inkheart by Cornelia Funke. I want to finish this series this year and to do that I have to read the first book again. This will be the perfect time to read it. Well, at least I hope. 

4. Buddy read a tome: I probably will not be doing this, but we will see. 

5. Read an adult novel: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson, the first book in his Mistborn series. I have been wanting to read his books for a long time and I figured I would try this month. We will see if that happens. 

These are the three books I plan on reading for the readathon. I will be doing a wrap-up on them once I am done. 

Audiobooks: 

These two books below are books that I have to listen to this month to review. They look incredible. 

All the Wind in the World by Samantha Mabry

Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao

Other books: 

(If I get to them)

The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo: I have already read and reviewed this book. It's incredible. 

Pyramids and Guards, Guards by Terry Pratchett: These are two books that I'm not sure if I'm going to pick up this month. I may decide to save them for December if I don't get to them. They are really just maybes on the list. I was going to read two each month of the Discworld series, but I don't really care if I do it every single month. They both look great though so I'm not too sure.