Taylor Swift Book Tag: Mash-Up

I was not tagged  to for this -mainly because I am in my sad, lonely corner of the internet, but also because I mixed up the questions from the original and from the new one.

These tags were both created by Sarah @ The Book Life on YouTube. The original one was posted last year, and the new one was posted in May.

1. Shake It Off

"The haters gonna hate hate hate" - Which book criticisms do you shake off regardless of what other people think?

This was one of my absolute favorite book that I read in 2014. It was amazing. A lot of people find it confusing, and they don't like it because Shannon tosses us into the crazy world. That was something that I really enjoyed about this book, though, was that it felt like we were just being thrown in with  the main character, Paige. I never felt like I knew more than she did. Also, there's a glossary for a reason.

2. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together

What book or series were you pretty sure you were in love with, but then you wanted to break up with?

Let's be honest, the TV show is so much better. I really liked this book when I first finished it. Then, I sat on it and liked it a little bit less. Then, I started the sequel, but ending up DNF'ing it because it was just absolutely horrible  in my opinion. (I don't want to offend you if this is your favorite book in the world. It just wasn't for me.)

3. Wonderland

"We found wonderland, you and I got lost in it." - Which fictional character would you like to take with you to another world?

I know, you're confused, but let me explain.

I would take Frank Porter with me to Neverland, next to Levi, Porter is one of my favorite contemporary boyfriends. So, clearly, I would take him to Neverland with me, so that we could go on awesome adventures and live forever.

Though I'm not sure if I trust him with those mermaids or not. 

4. I Knew You Were Trouble

Pick a book with a bad with a bad character you couldn't help but love.

DON'T SPOIL ME.  I have only read the first, but I kind of love/hate/love-to-hate Warner. I know a lot of people ship/will ship Warnette until the day they die, so I assume he gets better. But I love him mainly because I am so intrigued by him and want to get to know his character more.

5. Out of the Woods

"When you started crying, baby, I did too." - Name a time you cried with a fictional character.

This book is just, overall, very sad while simultaneously being very happy, but at the end of this book I was sobbing. Not "there was a single tear rolling down my cheek"  crying, but actual, ugly, sobbing. Red eyes and all.

6. Innocent

Pick a book someone ruined the ending for.

Neither of these were intentional, I will say. I bought P.S. I Still Love You  as soon as it came out, even though I hadn't read the first. And I was just admiring the beautiful cover when in GIANT CAPITAL BOLDED LETTERS, the back of the sequel tells me who Lara Jean falls in love with. Thank you, marketing.

Ruin and Rising  isn't something that anyone specifically has ruined for me, but by the way people talk about the characters and the ships surrounding this series, I think I figured out who the main character ends up choosing.

7. Clean

"The drought was the very worst." - Which anticipated book release feels/felt like the longest wait ever?

This is going to be the longest book-buying ban that I've ever been on, and all it is going to do is make me anticipate this book more and more. 

8. Forever and Always

Pick your favorite book couple.

I love Levi and Cath, mostly because I just really want my own Levi, please. Also, can we talk about that little snippet in Landline with Levi and Cath in the truck? It was perfect in every possible way.

9. Bad Blood

"Band-aids don't fix bullet holes." - Pick a book that gave you the most painful of feels.

So many feelings. All the time. So many tears. After I finished this book, I just kind of laid around uselessly for a few days. Gabaldon knows how to rip your heart out, put it back in, stitch up the wounds, and then just rip out your heart again.

Have you ever done a book tag? Do you want to do this one?
If so, you are rightfully tagged by me!

Did you like this mash-up of the Taylor Swift book tags? Should I do more book tags? Tell me down in the comments!

Happy Reading!

#RainbowThon - TBR & Goals

This is the summer of readathons, and this one is pretty unique. It is hosted by the Carpe Librum girls on Youtube (check out videos here and here explaining the readathon more in depth). This readathon takes place from Monday, June 15th to Sunday, June 21st.

I decided to read all red books because 1) I have too many and 2) I don't have too many colorful books on my shelves.

The six books on my TBR are: 

Maus 2

The Wrath and the Dawn

Half Bad

Paper Towns

The Passion

The Five People You Meet in Heaven

However, if I can read four books during this week I will be very happy. This read-a-thon coincides with the Biannual Bibliothon, so I plan on rereading Paper Towns  on Sunday. 

Are you participating in this readathon? If not, you should!

Happy Reading!

To All the Boys I've Loved Before & P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han - Joint Review

The first one, while a little juvenile, was incredibly enjoyable. While Lara Jean calling her father "Daddy" even when she wasn't talking to him directly kind of unnerved me at the beginning, by the end of the book I didn't even notice. 

Sadly, I did not enjoy the second one as much. That is not to say, however, that I did not thoroughly enjoy it.

First, let me tell you about how much I adored To All the Boys I've Loved Before.  

Lara Jean Song Covey. Oh, how I kind of love you, even though you have a lot of growing up to do (and you definitely should read the duology to get to full  character development, but you still get it with the first novel). 

Lara Jean (yes, she does go by both names) or Covey or middle of the Song sisters. She's very naive and innocent and calls her father "Daddy" in a non-ironic way. She loves baking, like, so much. I've never read a book about someone who loves to bake so much. (It's adorable, and I'm jealous of her baking skills.) ALSO, Lara Jean is half-Korean (Yea! Diversity! Representation!) and is the daughter of a now-single father.

Lara Jean has loved a few boys in her lifetime, and when she doesn't want to love them anymore, she writes them a letter. A love letter. A goodbye letter. She seals it, addresses it, and puts it in a hatbox her mother gave her.

I would like to quickly rant about how Lara Jean writes her letters. If she never wanted the boys to find out she wrote them, then  WHY did she address them?

One day at school, one of the boys she was previously "in love" with comes up to her and starts talking to her about a letter that she wrote him. After a moment, she realizes: this was the letter she wrote him in middle school. (Lara Jean is now a sixteen-year old Junior in high school.) When she runs home (no, she literally runs  home), she doesn't find her letters. They've been sent out. 

It sounds typical, and it kind of is, but typical and light-hearted contemporary was something that I needed to kick off my summer. Jenny Han also deals with family relationships: being a middle child, dealing with the eldest child moving away, having a single father, and learning how to step up and be the mother-figure in a family. 

So, Lara Jean has to deal with her sister moving away (and stepping up to be the "mom" in the family) as well as having to figure out how to deal with all of the boys she's ever loved receiving the love letters that she wrote to them. 

It is kind of cliché, so if that's not your thing, then this might not be for you, BUT I still recommend that you try and pick this up because of the family aspect of this book. 

Content: PG/PG-13 - Language: Mild to Occasional - Sex: Mentioned

Goodreads Link - Published: 2014 by Simon & Schuster - Pages: 355

FROM THIS POINT ON, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS FOR TO ALL THE BOYS I'VE LOVED BEFORE.

So, I bought this book before I even read the first book. I regret that, but then again I don't . . .

I think marathoning this duology was a mistake -at least- for me. I noticed things that other people -people that waited a year to read this book- might not have noticed.

The writing style was very different.  Lara Jean -the girl that wouldn't curse in the first book- talks very differently. She says "hell" and "damn" at least ten or fifteen times each in this book. And she seems to have lost a little of her quirky nature. I'm not sure if that was because Lara Jean changed as a character (even though it's only been five days since the last book ended) or if it was Han's writing. I feel like it was Han's writing.

I love seeing the conflict that rests in this book. We see how difficult and messy relationships can be, how Lara Jean has a lot of growing up to do, how she needed to learn how to trust  her boyfriend.

While I found To All the Boys I've Loved Before a little cliché and slightly predictable, this was even more so. It only really bothered me because I loved the first so much, and I didn't get all the same warm-fuzzies I want when I read a contemporary.

However, I think Jenny wants to show more than the warm fuzzies with P.S. I Still Love You.  She wants to show that to be in a working relationship, you need to not lie, you need to be open with your significant other, you need to trust them, and there needs to be communication for a relationship to work.

I do highly recommend that you read this book if you read the first because it is super enjoyable. It's another light contemporary. It's lots of fun, and I didn't want to put it down!

Content: PG-13 - Language: Mild - Sex: Mentioned

Goodreads Link - Published: 2015 by Simon & Schuster - Pages: 337

Have you read To All the Boys I've Loved Before  ? If you did, did you enjoy it? Have you picked up the sequel? You should.

Happy Reading!

Top 10 Most Anticipated Releases for the Second Half of 2015

"Top Ten Tuesday" is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish to share lists (because we love them) about books and bookish things.

**all goodreads links are available through the picture of the cover** 

Sequels in Series I Haven't Gotten To

  

Ice Like Fire // The Heart of Betrayal // Queen of Shadows

New Series / New Standalones

   

Six of Crows // The Rest of Us Just Live Here // Emmy & Oliver // The Sword of Summer (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #1)

Sequels in Beloved Series

  

Carry On // Go Set a Watchman // The Wicked + The Divine, Vol. 2: Fandemonium

Are any of these titles on YOUR list? Tell me down below!

Happy Reading!

Top 5 Favorite Books So Far This Year!

"Top 5 Wednesday" is a weekly meme created by Lainey at GingerReadsLainey on Youtube and hosted by Goodreads hosts Lainey and Mindy. You can find the goodreads group here.

5. Fangirl  by Rainbow Rowell - 4. All the Bright Places  by Jennifer Niven - 3. The Book Thief  by Markus Zusak

2. Outlander  by Diana Gabaldon - 1. The Help  by Kathryn Stockett

What have been some of your favorite reads of this year? Also, what do you think of mine? Tell me down in the comments!

Happy Reading!