Book Butter Tag!

I just freeking adore tags that compare books to food. Any food. Even butter.

I was tagged to do this by Josh @ Literary Gladiators. I hope you enjoy and I tag everyone! 😀

 

3 Month Hiatus!

Hey there, lovelies! 

My time to take a hiatus has come! A long one, too. I will be spending the next three months in Borneo/Cambodia. I’ve been planning this trip for some time. It’s the very reason I decided to take a break before University!

If you would like to lean more about my trip, visit the organisation I’m travelling with Antipodeans.

So there won’t be much time for blogging. Nor reading, either. I’m aiming to use all my energy to take the absolute most from this experiencing that I possibly can, which means very little internet access. What internet time I do get, will be spent on family and friends.

It doesn’t mean I won’t exists, though! To keep the blog alive, I’ve got reviews and a few discussion posts ready to go. I also have a spotlight for Holly Schindler’s Feral – an exciting book that I won’t be present for the release (which makes me sad). Luckily books last a life time. It will be here when I get back!

I’ve marked this post as sticky, so make sure to scroll down to see my newest post!

So selamat tinggal or lia suhn hao-y! (Like my Malay and Khmer?) 😛

 

And here is some baby monkey pics, 'just cause they make me happy. 😀

 

GIVEAWAY! February Grace’s OF STARDUST & IN STARLIGHT

TODAY I’m hosting a giveaway on behalf of Booktrope – where 7 WINNERS have the chance to win 2 ebooks each! 

Which books, I hear you ask? Both Of Stardust and In Starlight by February Grace! I’ve read both of these books, and I highly, highly recommend you read Of Stardust – see my review here! My review for In Starlight will be up on June the 9th. 

This is a really lovely, quick series that is magical and gorgeous. Also, it focusses around Fairy Godparents, which is awesome! 

– The giveaway in International

– I am not responsible for the distribution of prizes.

– The publisher’s will be in contact within 48 hours of announcing winners.

– Under 13’s must have parent permission to enter.

– All entry requiements must be fulfilled to be a valid entry. All invalid entries will be removed.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow the link to enter. GOODLUCK!

Release Day! REV GIRL (The Go Girls Chronicles) by Leigh Hutton

TODAY is the release day for REV GIRL – an exciting debut from the Canadian-now-Australian Leigh Hutton!

I love me some debut’s. I also love self published books. I feel it is so important to promote these author’s and get their work seen! I will be reviewing this book here on June 1st. Meanwhile, I encourage all of you to check out REV GIRL on Goodreads and Amazon to see if it’s your style. Seriously, it looks kickass.

REV GIRL by Leigh Hutton

Genre: YA, action 

Published: Self published, May 24th, 2014

Inspired by a true story

It’s hard to be the new girl, but it’s even harder being the new girl who races dirt bikes . . . 

Ever since her parents forced her to move from Canada to Silvertown, Colorado, Clover Kassedy hasn’t fit in. So how do you deal when everyone hates you?

Focusing all her energy on racing her motorcycle did it for a while, but now that Clover’s managed to find a bestie and a boyfriend, the pressure on the sixteen-year-old is worse than ever.

She’s determined to get to the World Championships, where she could finally meet her idol – an Australian, the World Champion – and have a shot at becoming a professional dirt bike racer. But with her super- competitive dad, workaholic mother and relentless bullies at races and at high school, Clover is struggling to make her dreams a reality.

Will it be her scheming ex-best-friend who shatters her world? Or will she let her ‘perfect’ boyfriend – the guy who has finally made her feel like she belongs in their school and their town – stop her from becoming an international racing star?

Goodreads / Amazon 

About the Author 

Leigh Hutton grew up in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains near Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She was lucky enough to travel extensively with her parents and younger sister, for horse show jumping – they spent a lot of time in Denver, Colorado, and Phoenix, Arizona – as well as holiday trips across America to the Baja Peninsula, and later on for her chosen sport of dirt bike racing. Her favourite race was Honey Lake, California, in 2002 – the same year she attended her first International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) in the Czech Republic. Here she met a lovely family from Sydney, as well as the Australian team. Leigh moved to Australia a few months later, to race motorcycles. She fell in love with a fellow racer and Brisbane boy, found journalism, which she studied at the Queensland University of Technology, and shifted into media and public relations, to promote Enduro and motocross and its competitors. Leigh has become especially passionate about promoting the growing number of girls and women in all action sports. She is thrilled to have drawn on her experiences to bring you REV GIRL, book one of The Go Girls Chronicles .

Visit Leigh Hutton’s website for more! 

If I Were a Fictional Character #3 – I would be Hazel Grace’s Dad!

 

If I Were a Fictional Character is my way of sharing a little of myself while keeping it book related. I pick a character and compare myself to them. It can be anything – from looks, personality to favourite foods or habits. 

If I were a fictional character, I would be Mr. Lancaster – AKA Hazel Grace’s Dad from TFiOS

I don’t think this guy has a name. So we will just go with Mr. Lancaster or Hazel’s Dad.

I find that in a lot of books, characters don’t tend to cry much. I’m not sure why this is. It could be because the author wants crying to mean some breaking point, or the character is too tough to cry, or the characters are male, or in extreme cases, crying means the end of the world (I’m talking to you, Teardrop). But really, is that real life? I don’t know about the rest of you, but I cry all the time. That’s why I can relate to Mr. Lancaster, AKA the man who cries a lot.

I totally get the crying thing. I can cry over just about anything, even though I consider myself to be in control of my emotions, my tears have a mind of their own and I have no control whatsoever. I’ve even perfected the art of fake crying (thank you, year 12 Drama for harvesting my tears potential). But really, tears can come over the tiniest, little things. I cry at least everyday. Happy, sad, devastated, broken – I get them all.

What do I cry about?

1. Music. I can be often be found crying in the car listening to the radio. Some songs just get me.
2. Books. (duh). I’ve heard a lot of people say that it takes a lot for them to cry whilst reading. But for me, I cry at least once in every book I read – If I don’t cry at least once in a book, it’s a three or worse. Seriously. It must not have been that good if it can’t get even the weakest of tears out at some point.
3. Dreams. I’ve woken up crying multiple times and then conveniently forgotten why.

   
   

4. Day dreams – I sometimes conjure up the most heart breaking things possible and then picture what it would do to me in real life. I can end up a sobbing mess from one of my day dreams.
5. Movies – uh, who doesn’t cry when the dog dies? If you don’t, well…

   

6. The News. Even when the stories are told in the most plain, straight forward of ways.
7. Weddings. I DO NOT wear make up to weddings any more. A complete waste of my time.
8. Laughter – I often laugh so had, that I cry
9. Animal deaths. I once watched a rainbow lorikeet get hit by a car. I picked it up, buried it, and cried. Also, last night I ran over a dead kangaroo. I cried. No idea why, it wasn’t like I killed either of them. I just get emotional over animal deaths.
10. Airports. For me, airports = leaving people. I hate leaving people.
11. Motivational quotes that hit close to home. Oh gee.
12. Getting lost in unfamiliar places. I cry like a little kid getting lost in a supermarket.

I think I’ve established that I cry a lot. Even over pointless things. So it does kind of annoy me that you hardly ever see a fictional character that’s so open about crying. So even though everyone else in TFiOS seems to be a tough cookie and hide the tears, it’s obvious the Dad wears his emotions on his sleeve. Mr. Lancaster cries every time Hazel leaves the house, falls asleep, does or says something profound – and I entirely get that. If I were anyone in TFiOS, I would be him. The tears would not stop if Hazel were my daughter, no matter how much she would hate it.

Your turn! Does anyone else get as emotional as I do, or am I alone on this? Who else cries whilst reading? Is it hard or easy for you? Do you think you would be Hazel’s Dad or Mum? Are you tough or do you show your emotions easily? 

Breezy’s Bookish Week (6)

Hey there, guys! 

As always, I’ll start off by saying how hectic my week was. I’m currently going through a sever organisational slump and I’m behind on everything. I had a shock the other day, considering my Asia trip is only three months away and I still have so much to do (and save). Work have had me in and out all week, and I’ve been so so so tired. After a 5:30 AM start, I would come home and sleep, only to get up later to ward at 6:30 PM. 

So because I’m a tired scatter brain, blogging suffered a little. I only posted two reviews this week and I didn’t get around to enough blogs to comment. I also didn’t read as much as I would have liked and definitely had a mediocre week in books. 

What I Read:

Bloodlines by Richelle Mead
Read it as soon as I bought it – it was good, but not amazing, sadly. 😦

Crash by Nicole Williams 
This wasn’t really for me.

On the blog this week! 

Tuesday: Why I didn’t give The Faults in Our Stars a 5

Friday: I review Dearly, Departed by Lia Hable (includes sexy zombies)

Awesome posts from other bloggers!

Atsi @ Oh, The Book! discusses what she would do if she were a fictional character

Kristy @ Book Nerd Reviews shares some gorgeous bookshelf’s! 

Fiktshun discusses the book industry’s lag in diverse books and why

Sarah @ A Bit Behind on Books discusses education making you too harsh a reviewer

Jeann @ Happy Indulgence shares her DIVERSE recommendations.

Mel @ YA Midnight Reads discusses the use of the S word in books 

Kelly @ Pretty Little Reader asks why she is wasting her time on facebook?

Piracy Is Not the Answer – Josephine @ Dudette Reads  

I wish I could have gotten around a bit more. But I’m happy with what I did find. You guys are awesome!

Oh well, keep inhaling those books! ❤

 

 

Breezy’s Bookish Week (5)

Hey there, lovelys! 

I’m a day late with this post because I procrastinated the whole of yesterday. I spent it by reading Bloodlines by Richelle Mead. That’s a good excuse, right?

But anywho, I was having a fantastic week until it all came crashing down. I read two FANTASTIC books, followed by one I had to DNF. I went to the awesome book sale by lifeline, then nearly died by a garbage truck, which was an accident I nearly caused. Which really shames me to say.

Never trust anyone on the road guys. Especially inexperienced red P platers. Also, garbage trucks have amazing brakes – probably what saved my life.

Lets put that behind me, because I need to tell you the amazing books I read that you MUST READ NOW. 

Ask the Passengers by A. S King
Amazingly insightful and interesting that anyone can relate to!

A Blue So Dark by Holly Schindler
Such a vivid look into schizophrenia

Take Me There by Carolee Dean.
Avoid this book. 30 pages in and I was DONE.

I also had a book haul this week! But I don’t have much time so I’ll just give you the highlights.
There was about 6 books in total I bought, for the wholesome amount of $15. 😀
One of those was Bloodline by Richelle Mead ($3)
Wings by Aprilynne Pike ($3)
Memoirs of a Geisha (Hardback $4)

I also bought new copies of Looking for Alaska by John Green because the lovely Kayla @ The Thousand Lives recommended it. And Fangirl, too, because basically everyone on this planet cannot stop talking about it.

What was on the blog this week?

Tuesday: Review of Fated by Sarah Alderson

Thursday: I discuss my boiling hatred for FATE and LOVE

Friday: A series review of Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

Awesome posts from other bloggers!

Naomi from The Darkest Reader discuss’ what she would do if she met her favourite author(s)

Stella and Jenni vlog a review for the Divergent movie!

Jamie @ Perpetual Page Turner talks about (lack of) diversity in YA books!

Jean @ Happy Indulgence and Chiara @ Books for a Delicate Eternity join up to discuss the Divergent movie!

Ashely @ Nose Graze talks about second books that are doomed to fail 

Kristen @ The Book Monsters posts her Top Ten books to read if you like Once Upon a Time

Trish from Between My Lines guest posts @ Oh The Books! and discuss’s hateful characters in books

Hazel @ Stay Booksih give us 22 ways to make the book community a better, happier place. 😀

Amber @ The Mile Long Bookshelf discuses the wrongs that occur in the book community. Guys, read this. It shocked me, but it might not shock others. I think it is really important that we are aware of our actions when socialising on the web.

Rosie @ Rosie Reads discuses discussions, memes and features! (this is cool!)

Kayla @ The Thousand Lives discuses her landmark books! 

I’ve had a tough week, but it’s great to see all this positive stuff around! Enjoy everyone. Be happy. Avoid garbage trucks and live like you might get yourself crushed by one at any moment.

Happy breathing and reading! 

 

Breezy’s Bookish Week (#4)

Hey there loveys! 😀

What. A. Busy. Week. But it was chocolate filled! So that’s a plus.

I don’t have a lot of news. I haven’t heard back from any more publishers, nor have I received or bought any books this week. My Lion King tickets came in the mail though. SO EXCITING!

Also, instagram is going well.. I think I have a total of three followers in a week? Haha. There’s a huge book community there as well. Which is cool. I was so unaware of it until now.

Okay, so never mind the idle talk above. Here’s the exciting stuff! I’m in the mood of treating myself to new books, no matter the price. Normally I’m a bargain hunter. I either buy books second-hand or I find it cheap. But I feel like I’m missing out on some great books because of this.  (what a bad excuse, I just want books).

Anyway, I was hoping that you guys could help by voting! There are just way too many books I want to read that fit into this category, and I want to limit myself to three or four. Impossible. One of these spots in already taken by a hardback copy of Panic by Lauren Oliver. Because I love her and is one of the few authors on my auto-buy list, and I’m ashamed that I haven’t got it yet.

So, if you guys could vote for the next two or three, that would be great!

The choices are: 

What I’ve Read:

This week I smashed out three books. They are 

Dearly, Beloved by Lia Habel

The Faults in Our Stars by John Green – I didn’t love this book as much as I thought I would.

Willow by Julia Hoban – Not bad, but not great either.

 

On ‘da blog this week

Sunday:Yet another Before I Fall quote. I just love Lauren Oliver, kay?

Monday: I share the movie trailer to If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Wednesday: We play musical books with If I Stay and Where She Went!

Friday: Witchy review of Burn Mark by Laura Powell 

 

Awesome posts from other bloggers!

Kayla talk about characters and books that have influenced her! 

Review of The Break-Up Artist by Philip Siegel @ Blkosiner Book Blog

Jeann @ Happy Indulgence reviews Written In Red by Anne Bishop 

Asti @ Oh, The Books! shares LGBT covers and discusses the common themes. 

Zoe @ The Infinite To-Read Shelf review’s Something Real by Heather Demetrios 

Angel reviews This Song will Save Your Life by Liela Sales @ Spare Reads

Allie @ Little Birdie Books disusses YA rules that must be followed. Ha ha! 😀

Laura Plus Books discusses LGBT side characters! 

You can see that this week was a review week for me. Have a lovely Saturday and hope you all have a great, bookish week! 

P.S Plleaaseee vote and share it around! I can’t wait to buy me some new books. 

If I Stay MOVIE Trailer!?

All blogging and bookish post ideas I had for today are off. You know why? I had no absolute bloody idea that If I Stay was being made into a movie. I LOVE If I Stay. You hear me? LOVE. I get tears every time I think about it.

And I am just. Ah. I can’t believe it. I can’t believe I didn’t hear about it till now.

SO I HAVE TO SHARE! EVERYTHING!

But first, a brief history of my relationship with If I Stay.

I was browsing one of those cheapy book stores where all the reject books are left, just looking for something I might be remotely interested in. Spotting a bright, $3 dollar tag, I pick up a book with a plain looking girl on the front with an extremely vague blurb. Skinny, with a little black mark on the spine. I decide to buy it, giving it the benefit of the doubt. I had no idea how amazing it was or the fandom or a clue about the hype.

That was nearly three years ago, before I joined Goodreads or discovered this world of books. Back when I was just a simple reader. Before I followed hypes or felt a pressure to read.

This book has stayed with me throughout. This cheapy reject with the simple cover earned it’s spot of adoration on my shelf. It’s no longer just plain, but worn in and loved with stained pages. And even though I’m now here and have been exposed to all sorts of books, it has not lost it’s special place.

A lot of you guys have probably already seen it, but I don’t care. Just ’cause I was late for the train doesn’t mean I can’t share!

I absolutely love who’s been casted for Mia! She is exactly how I imagined. Adam but? Hmm. Not at first. He needs to look cooler. But by the end of this trailer he made me a believer. He’s perfect.

Will they be making the movie to Where She Went, as well? Because that would be a dream come true. Really. 

What do you guys think of the trailer? Raise your hands if you cried! To those that have read the book, do you think the casting is right? 

Breezy’s Bookish Week #3

Hey there lovelies, 

I’ve had an absolute heckers week. EASTER, THANKS FOR EXISTING. I’VE DONE NOTHING BUT NUTELLA HOT CROSS BUNS FOR WEEKS.

Oh and thanks Brumby’s for deciding we should stick nutella in hot cross buns and turn me off nutella for life.

But besides working my bum off. I’ve done much more reading than I did last week! 😀

News: Last week I was talking about emailing publishers? This week I got an email back from Allen and Unwin asking me for my address to send over the goods! And Harper Collins directed me to their catalogues and request procedure, and I have since requested for two books. Fingers crossed! 😀

ALSOOOO: I have connected up with Instagram for Breezy Reads! Follow me!

What I’ve read: Burn Bright by Marianne de Pierres 

This book was weird. And I don’t mean the good kind. I mean this has drowned itself in the deep end weird.

Bitter End by Jennifer Brown

 

This was deep. Really, really deep. Deeper than the crazy deep end. It’s gone right down to the bottom darkness.

And I’m also currently half way through Dearly, Beloved by Lia Habel. I don’t know what it takes me so long to read the books in this series! I flew through the other two!

Anyway, that brings my weekly total to 2 and a half. 

Now the last two weeks I’ve been really good! But I went crazy on my spending this week and conrol just flew out the window.

eBooks I bought:

The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski ~ Speechless by Hannah Harrington ~ The Faerie Guardian by Rachel Morgan ~ Confessions of an Angry Girl by Louise Rozett. All from kobo  and under $5!

Paperbacks I bought: 

 Pretend You Love Me by Julie Anne Peters ~ The Divide (The Secret Circle #4) by L. J. Smith ~ Raven’s Gate by Anthony Horowitz ~ Obernewtyn by Isobelle Carmody ~ Ask the Passengers  A. S. King ~ Finnick of The Rock by Melina Marchetta ~ Crash by Nicole Williams

These were all from booktopia (they have a killer clearance sale right now)!

Posts:

Sunday:  I discuss beauty through a quote from Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Tuesday: I finish a series and say goodbye to Marr’s faerie world!

Thursday: I do my second If I were a fictional character post with one of my favourite characters ever, Riley Carver!

Friday: Review of.. Never mind. I was MEANT to be posting a review today, but time got away from me. 😦

Coming up: Some more lovely quotes, a book and a series review (I promise to do both!) and I’m creating another playlist!

 

Awesome Posts from other bloggers!

This is creepy. Cait rats out authors who are secretly animated characters 

Kayla @ The Thousand Lives reviews Town Away by Jennifer Brown! 

Do you find certain paper types annoying? Chiara talks about how paper effects her.

Renae @ Respiring Thoughts recommends some great YA contemporaries that aren’t well known. (I added heaps to the GR shelves)

Josephine @ Dudette Reads reviews Raw Blue by Kirsty Eagar

Reading Teen discusses slow reading habits (I’M GUILTY)

Lindsey @ The Day Dreamer and Candy Eater discusses the misconceptions of a book worm!

Mime stands up for Princess’s everywhere

Atsi @ Oh, the Books! talks about her LGBT reading experiences 

Jeann @ Happy Indulgence hosts a publisher QnA. The timing for this couldn’t have been more perfect. THANK YOU ❤

As you can see, I definitely explored a lot more this week! A lot of these posts are a little old, but that’s cause I went digging on the blogs I love. I should definitely do this more often!

Oh, and another thing.. TOMORROW’S CHOCOLATE DAY, GUYS! And please. If you are in Oz, leave us Brumby girls alone and make your own nutella buns!

Happy reading! (and chocolate eating) ❤