Wow! She Still Blogs! A Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag

Hi world! Remember when I used to put up regular posts? You know your life is busy when on your DAY OFF you still can't find time to write a post. My last post was my month in review for June and it is well into July. But alas, I have two minutes to myself, and so I decided to do one of those Mid-Year Book Tags. I feel like I haven't really chatted about my reading (or lack thereof) this year, so I thought this would be a good chance to share some favourites.

Best Book You've Read So Far in 2019: 

Without a single doubt, Crazy Rich Asians by: Kevin Kwan. It was light-hearted, hilarious, and so romantic. I flew through it and the movie is awesome as well.

Best Sequel You've Read So Far in 2019: 

Not a sequel, but as part of When Dimple Met Rishi series, There's Something About Sweetie takes the cake. I thought the characters were so lovable and I was happy to get an ARC of this!

New Release You Haven't Read Yet, but Want To: 

I really want to read Red, White and Royal Blue by: Casey Mcquiston! I thought I would get to it this summer, but then life got in the way. I will get to it eventually!

Most Anticipated Release For The Rest of The Year: 

Probably Call Down the Hawk by: Maggie Stiefvater. It's the first book in her Ronan Lynch series, and I used to love The Raven Cycle. I understand she has had some problematic elements and I don't think the books are the quality literature I once thought they were, but it'll be a nice return to my teenage obsession.

Biggest Disappointment: 

Children of Blood and Bone by: Tomi Adeyemi. This book was hyped so much, but I just found it kinda boring.

Biggest Surprise: 

Wide Sargasso Sea by: Jean Rhys! I was not expecting to like this book because I had to read it for school, but it was so well-written and an amazing Jane Eyre retelling!

Favourite New Author (Or Debut to You): 

Michelle Berry was a debut author for me and I loved her book The Prisoner and the Chaplain! I also got to interview her too and she was super nice!

Newest Fictional Crush: 

Nick from Crazy Rich Asians. Nothing else to say.

Newest Favourite Character: 

Seth Clearwater from The Twilight Saga. I never really appreciated him before but now I love him!

Book That Made You Cry: 

I didn't actually cry, but My Lady Jane could have made me cry with laughter at times.

Book That Made You Happy:

I re-read To All the Boy's I've Loved Before and that book never fails to make me smile!

Your Favourite Book to Movie/Tv Adaptation From This Year: 

I haven't read Birdbox, but the movie was amazing!!!

What's Your Favourite Post From this Year? 

I really liked my post, Why I Don't Want to Get Published. It was really good for me to get that stuff off my chest.

Most Beautiful Book You've Bought So Far: 

Slayer by: Kiersten White, for the sole purpose that anything related to Buffy is beautiful.

What Books Do You Need to Read by the End of the Year? 

I need to finish my re-read of the To All the Boy's series, and I also need to get going on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics. I finally bought the first volume and I hope I love them!

This has been my year so far! I know it's no secret that I haven't been posting or reading regularly, but I'm still here. Don't forget me book community!

Emily @ Paperback Princess

Month in Review: June

Why does it seem like the moment I am done school, I actually find I have less time to read? I think it's because breaks in between classes and obviously required reading makes me read more. But now that I'm working eight hour shifts at a time, I have less time to crack open a book. Anyways, here's an update on a not so productive reading month:

What I Read: 

The Sands of Ammon (Alexandros #2) by: Valerio Massimo Manfredi, Iain Holliday (Translator): 2/5 stars

And that's it. This is the only book I read in June. I'll post a full review of this book, but basically I wouldn't call it my favourite book of the month (even if it was my only book), because it was just: meh.

What I Blogged: 

Blogging wasn't very productive either. However, I did finally post my review of My Lady Jane, which was so awesome to write because the book was, well, AWESOME. You should check it out.

Favourite Blog Posts: 

Cee talks Anxiety and Worrying about Sh*t She Doesn't Care About 

Erin discusses The Redundancy in A Court of Frost and Starlight 

Veronika talks about All the Stuff that Annoys Her in Book Reviews 


Life Stuff: 

All work and no play makes Emily a sad girl. I feel like I missed out on a lot of fun things this month because it's all just work, work, and more work. I know the money pays off but, when I see my friends all doing fun stuff without me, it does dampen my mood.

However, my manager has been so gracious to give me July 1st off, which for those of you who don't know, is Canada Day, and I am so excited about it!! I've gotten used to having to work through summer holidays, so the day off to just be patriotic af will be great. I'm looking forward to it.

So that was my June. Kinda boring if you ask me. But, I do have some fun things to look forward to in July.

How was your June?

Emily @ Paperback Princess

My Lady Jane by: Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows

Genre: Young Adult, Historical Fiction
Published: June 7, 2016 by: HarperTeen
Pages: 491
Rating: 5/5 stars

Sixteen year old Edward is king of England, though he is much more interested in finding a nice lady to share his first kiss with rather than running an empire. He is also dying of a mysterious illness, and must find a successor. Edward's cousin Jane is a smart young woman with her nose in the books, who is less than enthused when Edward marries her off to Lord Gifford, an awkward man with an interesting secret, he shape-shifts into a horse. When Edward, Jane, and Gifford get caught up in a conspiracy for the crown, it is up to the trio to put aside their differences, before someone takes their heads.

If you have followed my blog for a long time you might know that I have been DYING to read this book for a long time. I just never really got the chance... until now. I was so happy to have finally experienced this hilarious masterpiece, and boy did I fly through this novel.

The commentary in this book is witty, charming, and so easy to get through. The authors continuously break down the fourth wall by incorporating their thoughts into the story, and there are little remarks here and there that would make any history or pop culture aficionado chuckle. (That Red Wedding reference.)

The characters are so lovable and incredibly well-written. Jane is smart and level-headed, Gifford is awkward but oh so charming, and Edward is sarcastic and pure. I was rooting for every single one of them and I think the authors did a great job at making their personalities add such wit into the story.

Let me get this straight, this book is a far-stretch from the actual story of Lady Jane Grey, but the premise is incredibly unique that I think even historians would let it slide. I have always been interested in British history, and this book takes a well-known story and puts a funny twist to it. The ending is a lot less dark than in the real tale, and I think that's what makes this story really heartwarming. It was just so fun.

Have you read My Lady Jane? What did you think?

Emily @ Paperback Princess

Month in Review: May

Emily continues to win at blogging by posting her May monthly review into June. *sighs.* ANYWAYS, if you still care, here's what I got up to in May:

What I Read:

Dear Evan Hansen by: Val Emmich, Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul: 4/5 stars
Love from A to Z by: S.K. Ali: 4/5 stars
Crazy Rich Asians by: Kevin Kwan: 5/5 stars
Children of Blood and Bone by: Tomi Adeyemi: 2/5 stars

Favourite book: I flew through Crazy Rich Asians! It's a pretty hefty novel for being a romance, but it was funny, informative, and so addictive. I have also finally watched the movie and I am just in love with this whole story.

What I Blogged:

I actually did well in scheduling posts ahead of time in May. Well, besides this post. My favourite blog post in May was My Favourite Resources for Writing for Fun. It was fun sharing some tips!

Favourite Blog Posts:

Cee asks, "Is this Dystopia?"

Lais discusses Her Favourite Bookish Names 

Shayna reveals Characters that Remind her of Herself 

Life Stuff:

The most exciting thing that happened in May is that I bought my first car! It is really great to have some independence now and I am really happy with it. I feel so grown up lol.

I also have been working a lot more, which is good on the idea that I have to make more money, but it also means that I have had less time to do more fun stuff. Oh well, it'll all pay off in the end!

Since having a car means I can come and go as I please, I have been utilizing my library a lot more! It wasn't always accessible for me to go often, but now I am checking out a ton of books at a time lol. Hopefully this means more reading!

That was my May! How was yours?

Emily @ Paperback Princess

Re-Reading The Hunger Games: My Thoughts

This post is well overdue since I am already into summer but- remember that YA fiction course I took where I discussed Twilight? Well, we discussed The Hunger Games too and I thought I'd do a post on it as well! This post will be comprised of all three books in the trilogy, because most of my thoughts are the same across the entire series. So, here's what it was like to re-read The Hunger Games series, eight years later!

Let me start off by saying, that when I first read the series in 2011, I hated it. I thought the first book was ok, but as the series progressed I found it boring and confusing. Come to think of it now, I honestly think that I personally hadn't matured enough to fully understand the intense political themes in the series. Now more than ever, I have a new appreciation for all that Suzanne Collins was trying to convey.

My professor pointed out that the romance isn't the central plot in this series, as opposed to Twilight, and I would totally agree. Instead, I think we get a really in-depth look at political divide, as well as some allusions to the two opposing sides of the political spectrum. Hear me out, the Capitol represents heavy spending, frivolousness, a divide between the rich and poor. In Mockingjay, District 13 is presented as radically opposed to the Capitol, everyone is equal, though their rebellious tactics aren't exactly moral. I think that Collins did a great job at capturing the difference between the two extremes of the political spectrum. It all totally makes sense to me now!

When I got to Catching Fire, I reminded myself how much I love Finnick Odair. His character development is truly 10/10 and my professor pointed out how awesome it was that he didn't really portray hegemonic masculinity as much as Gale did. Finnick should be protected at all costs.

I found myself being less interested in whether or not Katniss chooses Peeta or Gale and more on whether or not she would be swayed by Snow or Coin. The ending of Mockingjay was so unbelievably epic and should go down as one of the greatest plot twists in history. While my class did have a bit of a problem with the epilogue, and I agree, I do think it reduced the power of Katniss' character a lot, I would still say that the ending is satisfying.

Overall, I am really happy that I found a new appreciation for this series. It is political, powerful, and presents morally ambiguous characters that you can root for and somehow also end up hating. I loved every second of this re-read.

Have you read The Hunger Games? What did you think?

Emily @ Paperback Princess

There's Something About Sweetie by: Sandhya Menon

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary
Published: May 14, 2019 by: Simon Pulse
Rating: 5/5 stars

Ashish Patel, fresh from being dumped by his ex-girlfriend, has completely lost his sense of self. His parents insist they can find him a great Indian-American girl to date, and this search ends in Sweetie, a track star whose traditional parents often remind her how much she lacks due to her weight. As Sweetie and Ashish begin to date, Ashish begins to rekindle the romance he once thought was dead, and Sweetie breaks out of her shell and owns herself for who she is. There's Something About Sweetie is a heartwarming companion to When Dimple Met Rishi, that includes lovable characters, witty humour, and a Bollywood reference or two.

I loved this book! I was really curious to see what Menon would do with the Dimple and Rishi world, and this book was that answer. I thought it was really cool to see what Rishi's brother has been up to, and how the two differ from one another. Sweetie was such an awesome main character, and Menon did a great job at writing a fat main character whose worth does not diminish due to her weight. This book is of course, also #ownvoices when it comes to Indian representation, and I very much appreciated every reference to Indian food and culture. Being half Pakistani, I could understand a lot of Ashish's and Dimple's family structures and thought it was extremely accurate.

I liked this book because it was simple, straight to the point, and it was very realistic. Ashish and Sweetie are just two ordinary teens trying to find themselves. They aren't written to be these grand philosophical characters who have everything figured out, and I think that's what makes them very relatable. Their relationship is slow to start and very pure, and I found myself rooting for them every step of the way.

Overall, I thought this was a fun romance that is also incredibly diverse. It is easy to get through, and the ending satisfied my love of the world of Dimple, Rishi, and their friends and family. This was a positive book that I think all should read if you love some fluffy romance!

Emily @ Paperback Princess

Paperback's Pondering's: My Favourite Resources for Writing for Fun!

As some of you may know, I put up a blog post recently about Why I Don't Want to Get Published anymore. I just find writing to be a tedious task when I do it with the intent of it being shared with the world. I don't want writing to be a "job." Thankfully, since coming to this revelation, I have started enjoying writing for fun a lot more, and have been using some resources to help. Here is how I like to write for fun:

1. Writing in the "500 Writing Prompts Book"

Check out the book I use here: 500 Writing Prompts

My mom got me this book from Indigo for Christmas. It has some of the funnest writing prompts, with the line space so you can write right in the book. Some are short, some are long, and I have so much fun completing them. My favourite one thus far was "an alien has just abducted you. Provide the reasons why they should return you back to earth." It doesn't have to be serious or philosophical, and I like to experiment with form while doing it.

2. "Story in a Bag" Exercises

This was provided to me by my creative writing professor, with the intent to write longer short stories. Basically you are given a prompt, and after every paragraph, a new prompt is thrown your way to incorporate into your story. Sometimes it turns into a mess, but it's funny nonetheless. Here is one I followed to help with setting:

•Describe the setting using all five senses and showing the time of day.

•Demonstrate time passing in a scene.

•Have a character hold a conversation – one character is local to the setting and the other is

unfamiliar.

•Create a conflict and change the apparent temperament of one of the characters.

•Introduce a third character and escalate the conflict. Use mirroring in the dialogue. Include a 

descriptive passage about the surroundings / setting.

•Stage an interruption.

•Create some sense that all is lost for one of the characters.

•Have one character exit the setting and another enter.

•Include a short description of the setting – what has changed?

3. Cute Notebooks for Free Writing

I have found that when I am writing in a cute notebook, it inspires me to sit down and write even more. Recently I have been writing in a Game of Thrones Lannister notebook, and it just feels very whimsical and regal. Perfect for fantasy writing!

4. Writing Without Thought Verbs

Check out this link: Nuts and Bolts: "Thought" Verbs

Again, taken from a project I had to do in university, writing without thought verbs is a great way to develop your characters and show, not tell. It is tedious to do when being marked on it, or worrying about editors and publishers, but for fun, I don't take it too seriously. I just find it as a great way to improve my writing.

5. Writing on Pinterest

You heard me. So recently I had to do an assignment where I had to pick a social media and write using that media. I picked Pinterest and wrote a really fun wedding themed story revolving around the wedding inspiration I found on Pinterest. A now I am obsessed with writing cute little stories to go with some of the most creative photos on Pinterest. Sometimes it really helps to have a photo to go off of!

Those are the things that I am loving to do with writing at the moment! How do you like to write for fun?

Emily @ Paperback Princess