Top Ten Tuesday: Holiday Reads

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Hello! Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl, and this week’s topic is holiday reads: books you like reading during the holiday season.

Whether or not you celebrate any holidays over the winter, it’s a perfect time to curl up with a book and read for hours, so here are some of my favorite books to read over winter break and the holiday season

1 The Penderwicks, by Jeanne Birdsall

2 The Penderwicks on Gardam Street, by Jeanne Birdsall

3 The Penderwicks at Point Mouette, by Jeanne Birdsall

4 The Penderwicks in Spring, by Jeanne Birdsall

5 The Penderwicks at Last, by Jeanne Birdsall

The whole entire series is amazing, and the Penderwick siblings are some of my favorite bookish characters! Jeanne Birdsall’s The Penderwicks series is the perfect thing to read over the holidays.

6 Secrets at Sea, by Richard Peck

7 The Mouse with the Question Mark Tail, by Richard Peck

(I have a signed copy!!!!!!!!!)

These two books aren’t exactly part of a series, but they are part of the same world, where mice are everywhere. They are really cute stories, and as always with Richard Peck’s books, are full of humor.

8 Absolutely Truly, by Heather Vogel Frederick

Truly, the main character, recently moved to Pumpkin Falls, Massachusetts, where her family owns a bookstore called Lovejoy books. Lovejoy books is so amazing and cute, and I wish there was a bookstore like it where I live! It’s so cute in so many ways; the pumpkin whoopie pies, Miss Marple, the store’s mascot and dog, and the fact that they let people just come in, hangout, and read!

9 The Mother Daughter Book Club: all of them! (also by Heather Vogel Frederick)

The ways that the book club discusses books, and how they host their meetings is so fun and festive all year round, and the way that the series follows a bunch of different girls lives is so amazing and so fun to read! I’ve only read this series one, but I want to reread it already!

I could list so many more books, but I’m going to end with just this for today!

What are some books that you like to curl up with in the winter and during the holiday season? Do you like some of the same books? Chat with me in the comments below!

The War that Saved my Life, by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

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Hello everybody! I was planning to write this review on Thanksgiving, but that didn’t happen, so here it is now.

Goodreads Summary:

(by the way, I got a Goodreads account, which has actually turned out to be pretty cool, but that’s for another post…)

Ten-year-old Ada has never left her one-room apartment. Her mother is too humiliated by Ada’s twisted foot to let her outside. So when her little brother Jamie is shipped out of London to escape the war, Ada doesn’t waste a minute—she sneaks out to join him.
 
So begins a new adventure of Ada, and for Susan Smith, the woman who is forced to take the two kids in. As Ada teaches herself to ride a pony, learns to read, and watches for German spies, she begins to trust Susan—and Susan begins to love Ada and Jamie. But in the end, will their bond be enough to hold them together through wartime? Or will Ada and her brother fall back into the cruel hands of their mother?

This is my second favorite book I’ve read, behind only the sequel, The War I Finally Won.

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars; an amazing book!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

(I’d do 50 out of 5 stars if I could!!!)

Characters:

The characters in this story are very detailed, and are not only described in depth during the book, they also have backstories. Their histories are also told to the reader, and that makes the book even more complete. Here are a few sentences on a couple of the main characters:

Ada:

Ada is so strong, and so brave. She takes care of herself and her little brother Jamie, so when Susan Smith takes her and her brother in, she doesn’t think she needs to be taken care of.

Susan Smith:

Susan still mourns the death of her closest friend Becky, and she doesn’t think that she can take in two children, but she learns a lot from the experience.

Lady Thorton:

Lady Thorton lost her two brothers in the first world war, and is terrified at the idea of her son Jonathon becoming a pilot, and she is determined to do her part at home to make the war end quicker. She is very active in the war efforts, and it’s her who places Ada and Jamie with Susan.

Plot:

The overall plot is about Ada’s everyday life living with Susan, but there are many ‘subplots‘ if that’s even a thing. Stuff like Ada learning to ride Butter, Susan’s horse, or Jamie’s frequent visits to the airfield, are twisted into the plot in ways that fit together and make sense.

One of the most remarkable things about The War that Saved my Life is that Kimberly Brubaker Bradley makes a book about someone’s everyday life interesting. I know that Ada’s life is not normal; there are many aspects in which Ada has so many crazy things going on. However, Ada is shown as a regular girl, with some extraordinary stuff happening in her life, and its interesting to read! Usually, most people would find a book about a regular kid’s life boring, but Kimberly Brubaker Bradley takes the crazy stuff happening to Ada away, and shows that deep down, she’s just a regular ten-year-old girl.

I don’t know if that last paragraph made any sense, but basically what I was saying was that Ada has crazy stuff going on, but Kimberly Brubaker Bradley puts that away and instead writes about the story the kid who wants to learn to ride a horse, and writes about a kid falls asleep in the field and gets a sunburn. Ada’s clubfoot is a big part of the story, but it’s not her defining feature.

How I first read this book/where I got the copy:

This was my summer reading book when I was nine. At my public library, each summer you get a free book, and I chose The War that Saved my Life!

Conclusion:

Overall, this book is amazing. The War that Saved my Life seems sad, but really, once Ada and Jamie are introduced to Susan, only a few chapters in, if you stick with the book, it is so amazing and happy!

I highly recommend it if you’re a fan of historical fiction, and realistic fiction. Actually I recommend this book no matter what! It’s technically a YA book, but younger kids and adults will equally get a lot out of it.

What do you think? Have you read The War that Saved my Life? Chat with me in the comments below!

Happy Reading!

November Wrap Up

Published on by Aria2 Comments

Hey! I can’t believe it’s already December; the season of holidays and snow! (haha it doesn’t snow in Eugene in December) I am so excited for winter break, and fun fact: Hanukkah falls right over Christmas this year!

Anyways, November has been a crazy month, but I actually managed to read quite a few books, so here’s my hopefully mostly complete list of the books I read in the past month, and by TBR (to be read) for the next month.

Books I read:

My TBR:

In December, I’m going to continue to reread the OBOB (Oregon Battle of the Books) books, but I there are also some books I’ve been wanting to read for a long time. I actually either own or borrowed from the library all of the books on my TBR, so here’s a picture of them, and a list of the titles:

  • The Book Thief, by Marcus Zusak
  • Sarah’s Key, by Tatiana de Rosnay
  • The Pox Party, The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing #1, by M. T. Anderson
  • The Giant Pumpkin Suite, by Melanie Heuisier Hill
  • Girl on a Wire, by Gwenda Bond
  • The Wolf Wilder, by Katherine Rundell
  • For Black Girls Like me, by Mariama J. Lockington
  • All the Answers, by Kate Messner
  • Orange for the Sunsets, by Tina Athaide

That TBR and rereading the OBOB books is a lot, but I am going to try!

Posts I want to Write:

This month, I want to write:

  • 3: Top Ten Tuesday
  • 4: WWW Wednesday
  • 3 4: Let’s Talk Bookish
  • 4: Book Reviews

That’s 15 posts, which is a lot, but I really want to post more, especially book reviews, because even though they are the hardest posts to write, they are still really fun, and I enjoy it a lot!

So, that pretty much wraps up my month in books, so I hope you all have an amazing December!

Happy Reading!

Let’s Talk Bookish: How has reading shaped/changed your life?

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Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly discussion hosted by Rukky @Eternity Books where a bookish topic is discussed each week. This week’s topic is: How has reading shaped/changed your life?

This is kind of going to be my Thanksgiving post about bookish things because I’m so grateful for the ways that reading has shaped and changed my life!

1 The biggest way that reading has changed my life is this blog. I never really imagined having a blog where anyone could read my writing, and that I would feel comfortable with that. I have been always really private with my writing, never letting anyone else read it, and I would come up with ideas for stories, but never finish them. I guess in a way, blogging has also shaped my life for the last 3 months, (I can’t believe it’s been that long!) as well as changing it.

2 Reading is my go-to activity. If I’m bored, I’ll read a book. In that sense, I guess, reading isn’t a chore for me; it’s something I want to do, something fun. I’m really grateful that my parents made reading a ‘normal’ thing for me, and that I have access to so many books.

3 I love writing. Because I love writing so much, it makes me look at the books I read in different ways, and then understand them differently. Reading books about things happening in the world, or historical events is a really interesting and informative way to learn about some topics, and more fun than learning facts from a textbook.

4 Reading has improved my grammar, and my other writing skills. Reading gives me more exposure to the grammar, and that influences my writing, so it makes me a better writer.

5 Reading has made me more empathetic; reading books about all different types of people from all different types of view really shows what life can be like for other people.

So, that’s how reading has shaped and changed my life! Do you agree with these? Chat with me in the comments below!

Happy Reading!

WWW Wednesday

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WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by  Sam @ Taking On A World of Words. How it works is I answer 3 questions:

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  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

What are you currently reading?

I am currently reading The Blackthorn Key, by Kevin Sands and The Teacher’s Funeral, by Richard Peck

What did you recently finish reading?

I recently finished reading Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus, by Dusti Bowling.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Next, I want to reread Falling Over Sideways, by Jordan Sonnenblick

That’s it for today, so happy reading, and have a great Thanksgiving!

Let’s Talk Bookish: Do bloggers/reviewers have to review every book they read?

Published on by Aria2 Comments

Happy Friday! I’m very excited right now for this week’s Let’s Talk Bookish! Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly discussion post hosted by Rukky @Eternity Books. Today’s topic is  Do bloggers/reviewers have to review every book they read? (Suggested by Heran @ Be Frisky)

Definitely not! I read way more books than I review, mostly because I just don’t have enough time to review them all!

Book reviews take way longer than most other posts I write, because I usually write a short summary, and I try do that without any spoilers, and that usually takes me a while. Then I write my thoughts on the book, which takes less time than the summary, but I still have to make sure I don’t give away to much about the book!

I do think that bloggers/reviewers should review a lot of books, because that’s what their blog is about. Even though tags and discussion posts are really popular as well, reviews are what the blog was started as!

All together, that takes a while, and to write an entire review, I have to set aside enough time for it, so in conclusion, I definitely don’t think that bloggers have to review every book they read, but that they should definitely review some of the books they do read.

Happy reading!

WWW Wednesday

Published on by Aria
This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is unknown-3.jpeg

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by  Sam @ Taking On A World of Words. How it works is I answer 3 questions:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

What are you currently reading?

I am currently rereading Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus, by Dusti Bowling

What did you recently finish reading?

I recently finished reading Ms. Bixby’s Last Day, by John David Anderson.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Next, I really really want to read The Book Their, by Marcus Zusak

I’m going to keep this pretty short today, so happy reading!

The Novice, by Taran Matharu

Published on by Aria3 Comments

This is the first actual review that I’ve done in almost a month, and I’m going to try to start writing at least a paragraph or two on each book that I read, but for now, my thoughts on The Novice.

To be honest, I wasn’t actually that excited to read it in the first place. It seemed a lot like a bunch of other, mediocre books that I’ve read. The Novice is about a boy named Fletcher, an orphan who was working as a blacksmith’s apprentice, and discovers that he has the ability to summon demons.

He ends up going to a school where he learns to harness those powers and learns spells and magic. The students train all year for an ending battle of duels, where the winners will be chosen to become high ranking officers in the ongoing fight against the orcs on the elven front.

The part that I liked the best about this book, was actually the middle section. The first part started out, not really slow, but not really making a lot of sense, and not really fitting together well.

The middle part, however, was fast paced, intriguing, and really made the first part make way more sense.

The ending was disappointing. I knew that the Novice was part of a series called Summoner, but the way that it ended was a total cliff hanger. It was a hanging-by-one-hand-off-the-steep-side-of-Mount Everest hanger. It was really annoying that it ended like that!

I did read the sneak peek at the next book, but that didn’t actually start right where the last book had left off. Personally, I would have loved to have the second book in the trilogy the second I finished the Novice, but sadly, I didn’t have it with me.

So, in conclusion, I would recommend the Novice if you enjoy reading books with fantasy elements like spells, demons, orcs, elves, dwarves, and books involving a select few with a special power used to protect the rest.

What do you think? Have you read this book before? Do you like cliff hangers, or do you prefer when books end with the main conflicts resolved?

Chat with me in the comments below!

Let’s Talk Bookish: Plot or Characters: Which is more important and why?

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Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly discussion hosted by Rukky @Eternity Books where a bookish topic is discussed each week. This week’s topic is: Plot or Characters: Which is more important and why?

Both plot and characters are essential to a story. Plot, of course, is really important. Without a plot, there wouldn’t be a story and everything would be really boring. Characters are also really important. Characters make stories personal, and relatable.

A very good plot, however, can make mediocre characters look better, and the overall book pretty good. I don’t think that it works the other way around. A book with amazing, detailed characters is amazing, but if the plot is only okay, the book isn’t that fun to read.

So, in conclusion, while character development is important, I think that overall, a good plot is more beneficial to a good book.

What do you think? Which do you think is more important? Chat with me in the comments below.

Lets Talk Bookish: Should readers read books that aren’t for their target age?

Published on by Aria

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books discussing a bookish topic each Friday. I know that this post is almost a week late, but this week’s topic is super interesting, and I suggested it, so I have a lot of opinions on this, so without further ado; Should readers read books that aren’t for their target age?

My short answer: YES! Don’t just stick to books that are for your age group. Personally, I read lots of books that some people would say are definitely not targeted for my age group. I’m 13, but I still enjoy reading books that were my favorites when I was a lot younger. Pippi Longstocking, for example will never get old. That series, by Astrid Lindgren, is hilarious, and I’ve reread it so many times!

I’ve also read books that are most likely aimed at much higher age groups. This happens way less now, but there were times when I was younger when I read books that were definitely not for my target age. There is some stuff that I learned, mostly historical content, because I love historical fiction, that was shocking that I didn’t necessarily know, well, existed.

One of the most drastic examples of this is my first experience reading The War that Saved my Life, by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. I got this book from the library when I was 8 or 9, and while it is now one of my favorite books, it took a while to process it. The story is about a girl named Ada, who was born with a clubfoot, and is treated very harshly by her mother who is ashamed of her because of her disability. The book is set during the second world war, a short time before the battle of Britain, where London was bombed 57 nights in a row. Ada is kept locked up in their London flat, and is very harshly abused and mistreated. She escapes that when her brother is sent to the countryside because of bombings, and she runs away with him. They end up living with a woman named Susan Smith who cares for Ada and Jamie, and is very kind to them.

When I first read this book, it was the first time that I’d really been exposed to what the harshness of child abuse can look like, but I don’t see that as a bad thing. Reading has taught me about countless things, and I know that I would not have been exposed to or learned about many things I now know if I hadn’t read books for all different ages.

That said, there are good things about reading for your age level. It can be a good way to find books you’ll enjoy, but you should never feel pressured to read books for your age group.

What do you think? Do you think that readers should read books for their target age, or that they should read whatever they want? Have you had experiences with books like I did with The War that Saved my Life?

Chat with me in the comments below!