[Cilla's 2016 Highlight Reels] Firsts and Achievements

08:00 Cilla 8 Comments



I've always loved reading end-of-year best-of lists. Now that I have my own blog, I thought I'd write a couple of my own! Every day from 28 to 31 December, I'll be sharing some of the highlights of my 2016 in music, movies, television shows, books (of course), and life.

In case you missed them:
↠ My favourite television shows of 2016
↠ My favourite music and movies of 2016
↠ My favourite books of 2016

It's the general consensus that 2016 has been a terrible year, globally speaking. Personally, it has been challenging and busy, but on the whole, pretty all right! For the last day of year, I thought it's best to end on a high note and look back on the good things that have happened.

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[Cilla's 2016 Highlight Reels] Books

08:00 Cilla 16 Comments


I've always loved reading end-of-year best-of lists. Now that I have my own blog, I thought I'd write a couple of my own! Every day from 28 to 31 December, I'll be sharing some of the highlights of my 2016 in music, movies, television shows, books (of course), and life.

This post is the obvious list: best books I've read this year! Blogging has introduced me to some books that I wouldn't have otherwise heard of, and some of those books have been amazing. Here are 7 of them, in no particular order, with snippets of my reviews for each of them:


16 comments:

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[Cilla's 2016 Highlight Reels] Music and Movies

08:00 Cilla 4 Comments



I've always loved reading end-of-year best-of lists. Now that I have my own blog, I thought I'd write a couple of my own! Every day from 28 to 31 December, I'll be sharing some of the highlights of my 2016 in music, movies, television shows, books (of course), and life.

For this post, I'm going to highlight my favourite tunes and movies of the last year. Writing this up makes me realise I've gone to the movies a grand total of 1 time this year though. So if you have any recommendations on which ones to catch up on, hit me up in the comments!

4 comments:

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[Cilla's 2016 Highlight Reels] Television Shows

08:00 Cilla 4 Comments



I've always loved reading end-of-year best-of lists. Now that I have my own blog, I thought I'd write a couple of my own! Starting with this post, I'll be sharing some of the highlights of my 2016 in music, television shows, books (of course), and life.

As the title suggests, today it's all about my favourite music and television shows from the last year. 😁 These are the shows I've binged, newly discovered or re-discovered, and generally fallen in love with. If you haven't had to listen to me squeal about them, you're about to now.


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The Chanukah Book Tag

16:14 Cilla 4 Comments



Happy holidays!! I hope you had/are having a great holiday period, whether or not you celebrated Christmas. 😄 The lovely Clara @ Lost in My Library created this book tag to celebrate a holiday (other than Christmas) that takes place around this time of year. I don't know much about this holiday at all, unfortunately, but I've been reading up on it while working on this tag, so thanks for the learning opportunity, Clara!


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The Upside of a Failure: Things I Learned From Failing NaNoWriMo

08:00 Cilla 10 Comments



Last month, I made a decision on a whim to do NaNoWriMo. At the beginning, I wrote up an introduction to my WIP, and was pumped to work on my writing. I was on fire for about the first week, then... I stopped. Still, even though I flinch a little as I look back on the 10,000 words I've written in November, I feel that I've learned some things from the experience.

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[Book Talk] Sometimes I Watch the Movie Without Reading the Book

05:00 Cilla 6 Comments



I don't know if it's the hipster part of me or the bookworm part, but there's a certain satisfaction that comes with being able to tell people that I've read the book that's being made into a movie/television show. Maybe it's because I tend to think that adaptations are somehow of lesser quality than the original material. Which reader hasn't come away from watching an adaptation of their beloved book thinking "the book is SO much better"?

That sentiment isn't always true, of course. I personally enjoyed The Hunger Games movies more than I did the books. I tried to read Wicked with no success, but was utterly in love with the play. Then there are occasions where I'd rather watch the adaptations before I read the book, or even instead of reading the book. Don't be horrified! I have some good reasons for this choice.

6 comments:

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[Cake Break] It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

05:00 Cilla 8 Comments
I love Jamie at Perpetual Page-Turner's feature here, where she talks to her readers as if they are meeting up for coffee. I adore getting to know a little more about her this way, so I'd like to follow her lead and maybe make some connections myself! I'm adapting it slightly because I go for sweets over coffee. So, have a cake break and chat with me?

8 comments:

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[Review] A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis

05:00 Cilla 6 Comments



"Grace Mae is already familiar with madness when family secrets and the bulge in her belly send her to an insane asylum—but it is in the darkness that she finds a new lease on life. 

When a visiting doctor interested in criminal psychology recognizes Grace’s brilliant mind beneath her rage, he recruits her as his assistant. Continuing to operate under the cloak of madness at crime scenes allows her to gather clues from bystanders who believe her less than human. Now comfortable in an ethical asylum, Grace finds friends—and hope. But gruesome nights bring Grace and the doctor into the circle of a killer who will bring her shaky sanity and the demons in her past dangerously close to the surface. 


Title: A Madness So Discreet
Author: Mindy McGinnis
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Source: Library
Release Date: 06 September 2016

Review


Without a doubt, A Madness So Discreet is my most anticipated book of 2016. It took me ages to actually get my hands on it and, thankfully, it didn't disappoint. It's set in Victorian-era mental asylums, which were all well-researched. It talks about how society defines and treats madness. It has a murder mystery that comes with a dark twist. Its characters are complicated and prickly at times, but thoroughly human in their flaws and decisions. In short, it has everything I'm fascinated by, and Mindy Mcginnis delivers them all wonderfully. 


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[Blog Tour & Giveaway] The French Impressionist by Rebecca Bischoff

13:00 Cilla 2 Comments
"Rosemary is fifteen and gloriously free, on her own for the very first time. Part of an exchange program for aspiring artists, she arrives in sunny southern France with a single goal: she doesn’t plan to leave, ever.  She wants a new life, a new family, and a new identity. But her situation, crafted from lies big and small, is precarious.

Desperate to escape haunting images from her past and a stage one helicopter parent, Rosemary struggles to hide her lack of artistic talent and a communication disorder that has tormented her all her life. She believes her dream of a new start will come true, until she unwittingly finds herself enveloped in a decades-old mystery that threatens to ruin her only chance for success.  Determined to stay, Rosemary must choose whether or not she’ll tell the biggest lie of all, even if it means destroying the life of someone she cares about.

Dramatic, heartwarming, and full of teenage angst, The French Impressionist perfectly captures the struggle of those who feel they have no voice, and also shows the courage it takes to speak up and show the world who we really are."


Title: The French Impressionist
Author: Rebecca Bischoff
Publication date: 6th December 2016
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult

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November Wrap-Up Giveaway

05:00 Cilla 0 Comments


This month, I'm hosting the giveaway for Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction's wrap-up round-up! If you haven't participated before, this giveaway is a scavenger hunt, where you have to visit the wrap-ups and answer some questions based on those posts. You can also enter by leaving comments on the posts.

This giveaway is open internationally as long as The Book Depository ships to you. Winner can pick any book up to $15 from TBD.

The Link-Up

Check out the November wrap-up posts below!


Giveaway


To enter, simply follow the directions in the Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Aussie YA Bloggers Secret Santa Blog Hop 2016

04:06 Cilla 12 Comments


 This year, I'm taking part in the Aussie YA Bloggers' Secret Santa! It's my first time participating, so I'm excited to join on all the fun. 😁 This post is part of the blog hop. 

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19 Thoughts Had While Reading Emma by Jane Austen

05:00 Cilla 6 Comments



You guys, I finished reading a Jane Austen book! 🎉🎉

Why is this such an achievement, you ask? Well, though I've watched Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and a number of their reincarnations on screen, my previous experience with them in print was one of confusion and a lot of effort. At fifteen, the language barrier seemed insurmountable. Now, ten years later, not only did I finish Emma, I understood it. It was still not effortless reading for me, but some parts made me laugh, others made me cringe, and I got it.

Anyway, the point of that intro is this: because I understand the book, I can actually share my thoughts on it with you! This is more a list of random comments than a proper review, but hopefully they're still coherent. 😄 Possible spoilers ahead!


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[Rewind] November 2016

05:00 Cilla 15 Comments



We're almost at the end of the year, guys! I'm excited for Christmas, if nothing else, for the music and the atmosphere. I considered putting my Christmas playlist on to write this post, but it still feels too early. Anyway, this is about the past month.

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[Review] The Sunshine Time 1 by Sonal Panse

05:00 Cilla 0 Comments


"The times are turbulent, and so are the romantic tangles. 

On the long train journey from Samanbar to her new home in Alsalem, Lea Chantry is intrigued by a handsome and taciturn Mitrione officer, quite enough to disregard the deep-rooted familial hatred of the dreaded paramilitary force and make a nuisance of herself."

 Title: The Sunshine Time - Season 1 Episode 1
Author: Sonal Panse
Publisher: Maysun In C
Source: Electronic copy provided by the author
Release Date: 16 October 2016

Review

The first installment to The Sunshine Time has an endearing leading lady in no-filter, irreverent Lea Chantry. The story's most entertaining moments come from whenever she opens her mouth, and I found the dynamics of her family fascinating. I found it difficult to grasp the context this story exists in, however. 

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[Book Talk] Pop Culture References: Alienating or Illuminating?

12:29 Cilla 12 Comments



Once upon a time, before I had access to cable television and internet connection, I was a fairly sheltered kid with limited knowledge of Western pop culture. These days, it's easy to Google something, but back then, if I didn't understand a reference in a novel, I pretty much guessed from context. So when I started reading The Princess Diaries, there was a lot of guessing going on. I figured Lifetime had a lot of weird, cheesy movies. The Blair Witch Project was probably a horror movie. I never watched Party of Five or Pretty in Pink, but they sounded like cute movies. (Mind you, I was also around eleven years old at this time.) 

Even now that I have more exposure to Hollywood and such, there are still references I stumble over. When a character talks a lot about bands I never listen to, for example, or movies that are a classic but I've never seen (for instance: The Rocky Horror Picture Show references in Perks of Being a Wallflower). I generally don't mind guessing (or Googling), but there are times when having to do that stops me from relating to the character's passion or understanding what they're talking about.

On the other hand, it can be argued that having to Google those references can be educational. Though I still have never seen The Rocky Horror Picture Show, I know who Frank-N-Furter is now. My friend, an avid reader of The Princess Diaries, told me that she looked up the books and movies mentioned in the series - which she otherwise wouldn't have heard of - then proceeded to read/watch  (and sometimes enjoy) them.

References to popular culture in books are unavoidable, considering that some pieces of it can be a kind of shorthand that everyone gets. I don't mind those shorthands sprinkled across a story, because then I can either move past it or learn something new. But when the story is drowning in them and I don't get them, they would likely put me right off reading it.

What do you think?  
Have you ever been put off a book because of its large dose of pop culture references?
Or have you ever learned something new from such a book?

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[The List #2] Something Old, Something Borrowed

07:19 Cilla 2 Comments


I started this feature to hold myself accountable regarding my TBR, as I have a tendency to pick up a new book despite a pile of unread books. Given I read 3 out of the 4 books I listed, I'd say it worked! So here we go again.

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

The Story: Destined to destroy empires Mia Covere is only ten years old when she is given her first lesson in death. Six years later, the child raised in the shadows takes her first steps towards keeping the promise she made on the day that she lost everything. But the chance to strike against such powerful enemies will be fleeting, so if she is to have her revenge, Mia must become a weapon without equal. (Goodreads)

Why I Want to Read It: Because I still haven't! 😢This is the book from my previous list that I didn't get around to. I actually started reading the first five pages, but found that I wasn't in the right mood to engage with the story. 

The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

The Story: On a beautifully restored barge on the Seine, Jean Perdu runs a bookshop; or rather, a 'literary apothecary', for this bookseller possesses a rare gift for sensing which books will soothe the troubled souls of his customers. The only person he is unable to cure, it seems, is himself. He had nursed a broken heart ever since the night, twenty-one years ago, when the love of his life fled Paris, leaving behind a handwritten letter he has never dared to read. His memories and his love have been gathering dust - until now. 

Why I Want to Read It: I, naturally, love bookshops, so the idea of a bookseller who knows exactly what book you need is fascinating. I'm hoping it will be a sweet story that's as good for the soul as the books its main characters hand out to his customers.

The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray

The Story: It has been a year since Gemma Doyle first arrived at the foreboding Spence Academy and much has changed. Having bound the wild, dark magic of the realms to her, Gemma has forged unlikely and unsuspected friendships with Ann and Felicity, and Kartik, the exotic young man whose companionship is forbidden. She has also come to an uneasy, tenuous truce with the fearsome creatures of the realms.

But now the time has come to test the strength of those bonds. As her friendship with Felicity and Ann faces its gravest trial and with the Order grappling for control of the realms, Gemma is compelled to decide once and for all which path she is meant to take. Her destiny threatens to set chaos loose, not only in the realms, but also upon the rigid Victorian society whose rules Gemma has both defied and followed. Where does Gemma really belong? And will she, can she, survive?

Why I Want to Read It: Five years after I bought the series, I'm nearly finished with it! 🎉 I'm excited to see how the series will be wrapped up, and where Gemma, Ann, and Felicity ends up.


What's on your TBR right now?

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[eARC Review] Timekeeper by Tara Sim

09:00 Cilla 4 Comments


Two o’clock was missing. 

In an alternate Victorian world controlled by clock towers, a damaged clock can fracture time—and a destroyed one can stop it completely. It’s a truth that seventeen-year-old clock mechanic Danny Hart knows all too well; his father has been trapped in a Stopped town east of London for three years. Though Danny is a prodigy who can repair not only clockwork, but the very fabric of time, his fixation with staging a rescue is quickly becoming a concern to his superiors.

And so they assign him to Enfield, a town where the tower seems to be forever plagued with problems. When a series of bombings at nearby towers threaten to Stop more cities, Danny must race to prevent Enfield from becoming the next target or he’ll not only lose his father, but the boy he loves, forever.

 Title: Timekeeper (Timekeeper #1)
Author: Tara Sim
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Source: Edelweiss
Release Date: 08 November 2016

Review


Timekeeper gets its first line perfectly right. Two o'clock was missing. Right away, my curiousity was piqued. I had to know how this world works! The world-building that followed matched that first line in terms of intrigue. The plot too was fascinating, the mystery unfolding well throughout the book. Unfortunately, I wasn't as invested as I wanted to be in the characters. 


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[Announcement] Paved With Books Got a Makeover!

07:00 Cilla 6 Comments


Hey guys! This is just a quick post to let you know that - after months of my hemming and hawing - this blog now has a new theme! :D

The majority of the makeover is in place, but the refining stage is still underway. There will be posts or pages that need to be re-formatted following the change of theme. I know there's at least one space that I'm still leaving empty: the built-in Instagram widget at the bottom of the page which I'm still working out. Bear with me on this!

I hope none of this will get in the way of your experience of this blog, and that the theme overall is actually an improvement!

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[Review] Blood for Blood by Ryan Graudin

18:40 Cilla 4 Comments


"For the resistance in 1950s Germany, the war may be over, but the fight has just begun.

Death camp survivor Yael, who has the power to skinshift, is on the run: the world has just seen her shoot and kill Hitler. But the truth of what happened is far more complicated, and its consequences are deadly. Yael and her unlikely comrades dive into enemy territory to try to turn the tide against the New Order, and there is no alternative but to see their mission through to the end, whatever the cost.

But dark secrets reveal dark truths, and one question hangs over them all: how far can you go for the ones you love?"



 Title: Blood for Blood (Wolf by Wolf #2)
Author: Ryan Graudin
Publisher: Orion's Children Books 
Source: Bought
Release Date: 6 October 2016

Review

Blood for Blood gave me one of the worst book hangovers I've had in the last few years, and I wasn't even finished reading. I read this book on a tram one morning, and had this moment of having to remind myself that I was in a peaceful, beautiful city - not war-torn Germany. There were times when I had to put the book down for a moment because I was getting upset, yet I'd pick it right back up. It's intense in terms of emotions and actions, and the stakes never let up once. In short, it lived up to every expectation I had following Wolf by Wolf.

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[Rewind] October 2016

12:33 Cilla 2 Comments


I'm excited for November! I'm halfway through my course, it's time for NaNo, and we're moving ever closer to Christmas. All in all, it should be a good month (even with the revision that I'm currently putting off). Looking back, October wasn't too bad either. Once I've pushed past the deadlines, that is. I'm desperate for a proper holiday, but I feel that my life is on the right track at the moment. It's a nice feeling, and I really hope it lasts.

Anyway, onto bookish and blogging matters!

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[Beautiful Books] Meet My 2016 #NaNoWriMo Novel

18:24 Cilla 2 Comments


With a little push from Geraldine on Twitter, I've decided to join NaNoWriMo this year! I don't know if I can get to 50k, considering I do need to study for an exam. However! I'd like to at least devote an hour every day to writing this project.

Anyway, for this year's NaNoWriMo, I'm going to pick up where I left my Camp NaNo plot, because that's the manuscript I'd really like to finish. I've talked about it here before, but I've been pretty vague about describing it. So here it is! This post is linked up with the Beautiful People Linkup hosted by Cait and Sky.

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[Review] Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

04:16 Cilla 4 Comments


It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children. While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.

Title: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Author: J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, Jack Thorne
Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books
Source: Borrowed
Release Date: 31 July 2016

Review

After high school graduation but before university, I was required to take several classes before I can proceed with my undergrad. One of those classes was English Literature, in which we were going to do Othello. I read the book before classes and felt dread creep up on me: I didn't get Shakespeare at all! I was surely going to fail. Then, in the first day of class, the teacher came armed with a CD player. "This is a script for a play," she announced. "It's meant to be heard, not read." 

This memory kept popping up in my head as I read Cursed Child. It was the thing that kept my expectations in check, though they were still sky-high. I've loved Harry Potter so much, this installment can't be anything but fantastic. Though I suspect the play would be incredible, the script didn't make for a fantastic read. Though there were moments in it that made me smile, it didn't come close to the original series.

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[Book Talk] My Favourite Lady Detectives (and Why I Love Them)

11:36 Cilla 8 Comments



I have a soft spot for lady detectives. I prefer Miss Marple over Hercule Poirot, Nancy Drew over the Hardy Boys. Not that I don't like the men, but there is something about the ladies that's refreshing. This is especially the case when the mystery is set in the past. We all know that anyone can be a detective if they want to be, regardless of gender, but these ladies often have societal norms to deal with. To me, that makes them doubly fascinating.

So today, I want to highlight the lady detectives I love most.

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[Cake Break] Something New

17:23 Cilla 8 Comments


I love Jamie at Perpetual Page-Turner's feature here, where she talks to her readers as if they are meeting up for coffee. I adore getting to know a little more about her this way, so I'd like to follow her lead and maybe make some connections myself! I'm adapting it slightly because I go for sweets over coffee. So, have a cake break and chat with me?

8 comments:

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[Quick Stops] A Common Enemy

05:56 Cilla 6 Comments


“So much good, so much evil. Just add water.” (Markus Zusak)

Usually, I don't gravitate toward stories about wars. It's too horrible to think of, and I've already seen so much of it on the news already. I don't know what possessed me to pick up three novels about World War II one after another (other than the fact that they all sounded compelling). In the end, I'm glad I did. 

The following books are respectively about a book thief, a skinshifter, a shielded young woman - three very different characters with different lives, but fighting the same fight. Which one should you read? All of them.

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[Rewind] September 2016

14:46 Cilla 4 Comments



We're officially in the final quarter of the year! I'm mostly excited about this because it means summer break is approaching. September wasn't bad though.

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[Book Talk] Why I'm a Terrible Book Clubber

17:52 Cilla 8 Comments


I love the idea of book clubs. So many times I put down a book needing to squeal with someone about a plot twist or a particular moment, and couldn't think of anyone! Having a book club seems like the answer to that. Plus, meeting other bookworms and discussing books - it sounds like my favourite kind of past time. As the title of this post hints, though, the reality doesn't quite match the idea for me.

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[The List #1] The TBR Pile of Indecision

17:04 Cilla 4 Comments



I am terrible at sticking to a TBR. I keep changing my mind about what I want to read next, and I have a bad habit of picking up books from the library on a whim. This isn't a bad thing necessarily, except that my TBR pile keeps growing. This is despite the fact that I'm reading more than I have in the last two years!  

So, I'm going to start this monthly post where I hold myself accountable for my TBR. We'll check in next month to see if I've stuck to the list! The following are books that I intend to read in no particular order.

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[Series Review] Revisiting The Princess Diaries

08:48 Cilla 4 Comments

Title: The Princess Diaries (I-X)
Author: Meg Cabot
Source: Bought and borrowed
Synopsis: All she ever wanted was for her best friend's brother to notice she was alive-and to pass freshman Algebra. But now that her dad's told her she's heir to the throne of the country of Genovia (and that her horrible Grandmére is going to be giving her princess lessons every day after school) Mia Thermopolis has enough problems to fill a lifetime of diaries....

add to goodreads


Review:

Over the past year, I have been slowly rereading The Princess Diaries. I reviewed some of the books as part of my book club with Cam. I haven't bothered with the last few (for reasons that I'll discuss in a moment) and decided to do one review for the first ten books now that I've finished them.

4 comments:

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[Book Talk] When is the Best Time to Listen to Audiobooks?

16:50 Cilla 8 Comments



I have been listening to audiobooks more and more lately. This is partly due to their accessibility - I can download them from my phone - and partly because it helps me rest my eyes. To me, audiobooks are a little like bedtime stories from your childhood: someone's reading out loud to you and doing all the appropriate voices, and there's a 'sleep' option.

Is bedtime the best time for audiobooks though? After a few days of listening at different times during the day, here is what I've found:


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[Review] Ross Poldark (Poldark, #1) by Winston Graham

08:30 Cilla 2 Comments

Title: Poldark
Author: Winston Graham
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Source: Library
Synopsis: Tired from a grim war in America, Ross Poldark returns to his land and his family. But the joyful homecoming he has anticipated turns sour, for his father is dead, his estate is derelict and the girl he loves is engaged to his cousin.

But his sympathy for the destitute miners and farmers of the district leads him to rescue a half-starved urchin girl from a fairground brawl and take her home - an act which alters the whole course of his life ...

add to goodreads


Review:

I came to this book in a kind of roundabout way. My friends gushed about the Aidan Turner-starred series at the start of last year, then this year I realised it was based on the book. I ended up reading the book before I started the series, purely because I saw that the audiobook was available in my library. At this stage, all I knew about Poldark was that Aidan Turner was swoon-worthy, which means nothing when it comes to the book.


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[Rewind] August 2016

17:16 Cilla 4 Comments


It is that time in the academic year where I think of doing any writing that's unrelated to my coursework and instantly feel guilty. In fact, I'd interrupted the writing of this blog post twice to go work on an assignment. When I'm not thinking of assignments, I'm trying to not ruminate about the crazy learning curve that is my placement. "You're doing your master, you don't have a life," said one of my lecturers. I suspect she's right.

But anyway! 

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[Book Talk] The Upsides of a Book Budget

17:40 Cilla 4 Comments



If you've been here before, you may know that I have been trying to stick to a book-buying ban of sort. I set myself a book budget of $100 for the year. I was literally the only one who was optimistic about this goal; even my mother didn't think I'd be able to do it! Unfortunately for my wallet, she was right, but not by too much! My spending on books for 2016, so far, stands at $200. Not bad for someone who can easily spend triple that amount.

Apart from skepticism, the general reaction from other book lovers when I say 'I'm on a book buying ban' is incredulity. Why would anyone deny themselves books?! It is bad for your health. In a way, this is true. The amount of times I wandered into a bookshop only to browse longingly and exit empty-handed is depressing. I would love to have unlimited money and buy all the books. Alas, I do not.

A couple of good things have come out of holding myself to a budget though!

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[Match Made in the Pages] Neville Takes Prim On A Date

18:30 Cilla 8 Comments


Hey there! I hope you're all having a good start to your week, and welcome back to Match Made in the Pages. This feature is the collaborative effort of Team Periwinkle as part of #BBCP2016. In Part 1, I asked Neville Longbottom some questions in an effort to set up his online dating profile and left it up to you guys to pick his date!

The suggestions were really fantastic, and one in particular sparked my imagination. So, what would it be like if Neville Longbottom and Primrose Everdeen went on a date? I think it would go something like this:

8 comments:

Thanks for reading! It makes my day to hear your thoughts and I will respond asap. :)

[Review] Yellow by Megan Jacobson

19:15 Cilla 4 Comments

Title: Yellow
Author: Megan Jacobson
Publisher: Penguin Teen Australia
Source: Bought
Synopsis: If fourteen-year-old Kirra is having a mid-life crisis now, then it doesn't bode well for her life expectancy. Her so-called friends bully her, whatever semblance of a mother she had has been drowned at the bottom of a gin bottle ever since her dad left them for another woman, and now a teenage ghost is speaking to her through a broken phone booth. Kirra and the ghost make a pact. She'll prove who murdered him almost twenty years ago if he does three things for her. He makes her popular, he gets her parents back together, and he doesn't haunt her. Things aren't so simple however, and Kirra realises that people can be haunted in more ways than one.

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Review: 
"Because you don't get to choose your parents, and at some point you realise that maybe your parents just aren't able to parent very well, but we exist, and the only choice we've got in the whole situation is whether we're gonna love them anyway. It's as simple and messy and complicated as that."
Yellow is one of the four books I bought at the YA Squad event in Melbourne, and it was the one I was looking forward to the most. It's not because of the cover (though it is gorgeous) or the premise (though phone calls from a ghost sounds pretty cool). It's because of what Megan Jacobson said about the main character being a quiet girl.

4 comments:

Thanks for reading! It makes my day to hear your thoughts and I will respond asap. :)

[Match Made in the Pages] Set Neville Longbottom Up on A Blind Date!

18:01 Cilla 6 Comments


Welcome to the first installment to BBCP Team Periwinkle's project: Match Made in the Pages! Over the next two weeks, we want to send some of our favourite characters on a blind date. It's a blind date for two reasons: we'd like you to set them up, with a character from a universe other than theirs! Have a read of their dating profiles, leave a comment with your thought on who they should go on a date with, then come back next week to see how we imagine that date would go!

Let's kick things off with the boy who saved Hogwarts - Neville Longbottom. Here is how I think he'd go if he had to answer questions for a brief online dating profile as an 18 year old (let's pretend he has access the internet somehow):

6 comments:

Thanks for reading! It makes my day to hear your thoughts and I will respond asap. :)

[Rewind] July 2016

13:46 Cilla 7 Comments



July was busy, as always. My attention drifted further away from this blog as I focused on other things. For once, it wasn't all about school! 

I spent some time working on my writing in July. I reached my goal of 12,000 words for Camp NaNo. While I'm sure my draft needs a lot of editing, I'm further into this story than I have ever been, and I'm excited about it! I also got a piece published at The Regal Fox - read it here and read the other fantastic pieces as well while you're there. I'm hoping I can keep this up, and one day I'll actually complete a manuscript.

For now, let's focus on the books that are actually published!

7 comments:

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[#PotterheadJuly] In Defense of Cho Chang

18:27 Cilla 17 Comments



Cho Chang, best known as the first girl who caught Harry Potter's eyes or one half of Harry Potter's first (disastrous) romantic relationship. Most of the Potter fans I've talked to either don't care much about her, or find her annoying - an obstacle in the way of Harry's true soulmate. The fact that she had chosen Cedric first and couldn't seem to forget him probably didn't help. I have always had a soft spot for Cho, however, and I believe she has more depth than what we've gotten to see.

17 comments:

Thanks for reading! It makes my day to hear your thoughts and I will respond asap. :)

[Review] Frankie by Shivaun Plozza

18:00 Cilla 4 Comments

Title: Frankie
Author: Shivaun Plozza
Publisher: Penguin
Source: Bought
Synopsis: Frankie Vega is angry.

Just ask the guy whose nose she broke. Or the cop investigating the burglary she witnessed, or her cheating ex-boyfriend or her aunt who's tired of giving second chances...When a kid shows up claiming to be Frankie's half brother, it opens the door to a past she doesn't want to remember. And when that kid goes missing, the only person willing to help is a boy with stupidly blue eyes … and secrets of his own. Frankie's search for the truth might change her life, or cost her everything.


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Review:

 A couple of months ago, I went to #YASquad2016, whose line-up included Shivaun Plozza. Writerly advice and discussions were had, but there was one thing Shivaun said that stuck out to me. I'm paraphrasing here, but she mentioned that she had to get the voice of the character right before she could write. Not surprisingly, Frankie's voice is the strongest thing about Frankie.

4 comments:

Thanks for reading! It makes my day to hear your thoughts and I will respond asap. :)

[Conversations #5] In Favour of Book Series

18:43 Cilla 12 Comments


Conversations is a new meme created by Geraldine and Joan to encourage more discussions in the book blogging community. Every fortnight, they post a question to respond to. Every fortnight, they post a question to respond to. I thought it would be fun, and I'm looking forward to read everyone's response!

Today, the topic is: Reading book series: yay or nay? 

12 comments:

Thanks for reading! It makes my day to hear your thoughts and I will respond asap. :)

[Snazzy Snippets #3] Stepping Back in Time

16:26 Cilla 0 Comments


Snazzy Snippets is  a bi-monthly link-up for writers hosted by Emily of Loony Literate and Alyssa of The Devil Orders Takeout. Every two months, Emily and Alyssa post three prompts which you then share a 500 word of less snippet of your writing in response to each prompt.


For the past two editions of Snazzy Snippets, I've focused on my mermaid WIP. In the last one, I shared some snippets that I thought I would significantly revise and, guess what, I revised them. This WIP has recently undergone some major tweaking in terms of plot and world-building, and I'm currently in the middle of another draft for Camp NaNoWriMo. I'm really excited for it and hopeful I'll actually complete one draft. 

For this post, however, the prompts are more appropriate for my other writing project. Cor and I have been writing together for years on a role-playing website and having a blast doing it. So it seems natural that we take that collaboration (somewhat) offline and write a novel together! Our story goes something like this: a chance meeting between a boy and a girl leads them to uncover skeletons in their families' past and a threat to their futures. Spoiler alert: the boy and the girl aren't going to fall in love. 


0 comments:

Thanks for reading! It makes my day to hear your thoughts and I will respond asap. :)

[Review] Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith

11:50 Cilla 2 Comments

Title: Career of Evil
Author: Robert Galbraith
Publisher: Mulholland Books
Source: Borrowed
Synopsis: When a mysterious package is delivered to Robin Ellacott, she is horrified to discover that it contains a woman’s severed leg.

Her boss, private detective Cormoran Strike, is less surprised but no less alarmed. There are four people from his past who he thinks could be responsible – and Strike knows that any one of them is capable of sustained and unspeakable brutality.

With the police focusing on the one suspect Strike is increasingly sure is not the perpetrator, he and Robin take matters into their own hands, and delve into the dark and twisted worlds of the other three men. But as more horrendous acts occur, time is running out for the two of them…


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Review:
“Strike knew how deeply ingrained was the belief that the evil conceal their dangerous predilections for violence and domination. When they wear them like bangles for all to see, the gullible populace laughs, calls it a pose, or finds it strangely attractive.” 

 I'll be honest - if this book wasn't written by J.K. Rowling, I probably would never have gone near it. While I've learned to stomach Bones, a plot that involves severed body parts is usually too much for me. This time it is no different, but I found myself sucked in anyway.

2 comments:

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[Rewind] June 2016

06:20 Cilla 8 Comments


June marked an important milestone for me: I finished the first semester of my degree! It feels like the easiest part of the course is over, and very soon I'm heading into the real work. I can't tell whether I'm excited or nervous for the practical components of the degree, though knowing that my classmates feel the same way about it all makes me feel rather better.

In other news, I'm doing Camp Nanowrimo in July! The story idea I've been carrying for about two years is finally coming together (in terms of world-building anyway), and I haven't been this keen to write a proper novel in a long time. My wordcount goal for Camp is 12,000 words, but my real goal is to develop a daily writing habit.

Anyway, onto some blogging and bookish news!

8 comments:

Thanks for reading! It makes my day to hear your thoughts and I will respond asap. :)

[Conversations #4] My Rules for Potential Book Borrowers

07:16 Cilla 11 Comments


Conversations is a new meme created by Geraldine and Joan to encourage more discussions in the book blogging community. Every fortnight, they post a question to respond to. Every fortnight, they post a question to respond to. I thought it would be fun and I'm looking forward to read everyone's response!

Today, the topic is: What are do’s and don’ts for someone who wants to borrow your books?

11 comments:

Thanks for reading! It makes my day to hear your thoughts and I will respond asap. :)

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