Teaser Tuesdays: The Storyspinner

It’s time for another “Teaser Tuesday!”

This feature (or meme)  is one I originally discovered on my friend Kim’s site Book Munchies, and is hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm. For those of you who would like to play along at home (or more specifically on your homepage), here is how Teaser Tuesdays work.

– Grab (one of) your current read(s) and open it to a random page
– Share a couple “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
– BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

—> Now on to the main event!

The Storyspinner (The Keepers’ Chronicles, #1) by Becky Wallace

Hardcover, 432 pages
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Release Date: March 3rd, 2015
ISBN# 9781481405652
Page: 15

 

Jacare slid the glass across the scroll Amelia had been writing on. It smeared the fresh ink and clinked against a jar of sand before coming to a stop.

“Explain this,” he commanded.

“Waiting On” Wednesdays: Queen of Shadows

Waiting on Wednesdays is a weekly event hosted at Breaking the Spine. The purpose is to spotlight upcoming book releases that we are excited for.

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Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass, #4) by Sarah J. Maas

Hardcover, 648 pages

Publication Date: Sept. 1st, 2015
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
ISBN: 9781619636040
Add it: To your TBR Pile or your “Want to Read” list on Goodreads.

The queen has returned.

Everyone Celaena Sardothien loves has been taken from her. But she’s at last returned to the empire—for vengeance, to rescue her once-glorious kingdom, and to confront the shadows of her past…

She has embraced her identity as Aelin Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen. But before she can reclaim her throne, she must fight.

She will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die for her. She will fight for her friend, a young man trapped in an unspeakable prison. And she will fight for her people, enslaved to a brutal king and awaiting their lost queen’s triumphant return.

The fourth volume in the New York Times bestselling series continues Celaena’s epic journey and builds to a passionate, agonizing crescendo that might just shatter her world.

I sort of want to make this reasoning just one big long “YEEEEEEESSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!” but that would be pretty obnoxious. Though I’m not really sure what I can say to properly describe my excitement and anticipation for this next book. If you’ve read the series so far, than you most likely know exactly what I’m feeling. But if you’re not a fantasy fan, or if you started but didn’t like or keep up with the series, I wouldn’t know how to sway you to give it another shot. It’s just wonderful, and each book gets (somehow) better than the last. I love the character of Celaena/Aelin, and find her to be one of the most complex and fascinating characters I’ve ever read. The supporting cast of characters is also magnificent. I’m all tingling on the tips of my toes to see what happens if/when she finally meets her cousin after all these years, will her relationship with Chaol survive, whether or not we will get to see Rowan (please, pretty please, I hope so!!), as well as what’s going to happen with Dorian. I’m so afraid for him, because let’s face it, Maas is not afraid to cut your legs (or your emotions) out from under you. But she’s always delivered before, so I have no doubt this will knock my socks off!

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What are you waiting for this week?

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Teaser Tuesdays: The Orphan Queen

It’s time for another “Teaser Tuesday!”

This feature (or meme)  is one I originally discovered on my friend Kim’s site Book Munchies, and is hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm. For those of you who would like to play along at home (or more specifically on your homepage), here is how Teaser Tuesdays work.

– Grab (one of) your current read(s) and open it to a random page
– Share a couple “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
– BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

—> Now on to the main event!

The Orphan Queen (The Orphan Queen, #1) by Jodi Meadows

Hardcover, 391 pages
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Release Date: March 10th, 2015
ISBN# 9780062317384
Page: 127

A deep voice came from behind me. “You’re just everywhere, aren’t you?”

I spun and had my daggers drawn before his question was half finished. “Black Knife.”

“Nameless girl.” He stood on the edge of the roof I’d just left, with only a small jump between us.

Harry Potter Moment of the Week #36

This is a meme started by Uncorked Thoughts which aims to share with fellow bloggers a weekly slice of HP awesomeness. It is an awesomeness that only increases with time and number of reads. Once a week we will share a character, spell, chapter, object, quote etc. from the books/films/J. K. Rowling (or anything Potter related)! Each topic will be posted on Uncorked Thoughts HERE. There will also be  free weeks where everyone can share whatever topic they want! Be sure to share your link on the main site for all other HP MOTW fans to enjoy!

This Week’s Theme: What Character would you erase if you could?

So, as the previous week might have suggested, I don’t think I’d really want to erase any of the characters from this series, as I love them all, even when they are flawed. Even when I don’t like them, I think they served a really great purpose in the story. So the idea of getting rid of any of them seems a bit absurd. That being said, there is one character that I really soured towards over the course of several re-reads… Cho Chang.

Now, here’s my reasoning. I would get rid of Cho Chang because honestly, she serves little to no purpose in the overall scheme of the series. She’s Harry’s first crush, and when we first meet Cho, I can see why. She’s smart, pretty, she’s an athelete on the Quidditch field and that’s someone Harry can admire. I liked that. But as things happen, and you get to see more of her, there’s nothing in her personality to appreciate. After Cedric’s death she becomes one of those obnoxious females who’s rather weak-willed, easily jealous, and hung up on the past. I mean, I get it. She lost someone she loved and she’s young. But I disliked the character choices for her, she stops being able to play, does poorly in school, and caves under pressure. Maybe some see her as being “loyal” to her friend, but I just don’t care. She doesn’t grow through her struggles, she crumbles. I can’t get into her as a character. I don’t find anything redeeming about her in the long run, she just kind of fades. I feel like, of everyone in the series, Harry’s world would not miss this incarnation of her.

That being said, I don’t necessarily think I’d want to get rid of her or erase her entirely. Just this version of her. I’d like her better if she hadn’t been such a blubbery mess that was hung up on comparing Harry to her dead boyfriend. It would have been cool if she’d been just a little bit stronger, and then perhaps the new version of her character could have joined Harry and the DA at the Ministry. He could have experienced his first girlfriend and maybe not been so emo throughout book 5, and then maybe when they went home for the summer they could have broken things off because long distance relationships suck, and maybe Cho would have found someone new in the summer. Or she could have understood that dating someone while you’re still grieving over a lost love is a bad idea, and just turned him down entirely. Then later on in the series, maybe she could have been a little more involved in the final Battle of Hogwarts, because as she is written, I really don’t care about what happened to her.

Well, that’s really all I’ve got for ya! Just a small moment of sweet HP goodness! I hope you enjoyed it, and please, feel free to share your own thoughts on what character you would get rid of in the comments below!

Harry Potter Moment of the Week #35

This is a meme started by Uncorked Thoughts which aims to share with fellow bloggers a weekly slice of HP awesomeness. It is an awesomeness that only increases with time and number of reads. Once a week we will share a character, spell, chapter, object, quote etc. from the books/films/J. K. Rowling (or anything Potter related)! Each topic will be posted on Uncorked Thoughts HERE. There will also be  free weeks where everyone can share whatever topic they want! Be sure to share your link on the main site for all other HP MOTW fans to enjoy!

This Week’s Theme: What Character do you wished you’d invented?

Um, I assume this question means, aside from ALL of them? Hah, cause then I’d be J.K. Rowling, celebrated author who never has to worry about money again, ever. Which would be nice…

But back on topic, this is a ridiculously hard question to answer. For one thing, the main reason that everyone loves these books so much is BECAUSE OF THE CHARACTERS. They’re so wonderfully rich and full of life, and they all have flaws, and great backstories, and everyone has ones that they love, or love to hate. They are what drive the books and the fame. So when it comes to picking one… it’s mostly just another excuse to play favorites. Which I will totally do now.

Once again, I’ve got to go with my girl, Hermione. No offense to all the other characters, as I’ve mentioned, they’re all pretty beloved (to me as well as many others.) But Hermione has a special place in my heart, for her strengths and her weaknesses.

I like her best because of how imperfect she is as a person. She’s someone I related to since I first picked up The Sorcerer’s Stone. She’s constantly rushing ahead to find the answers first, to get things right and be the best academically, not realizing all the social consequences for her actions. It doesn’t win her many friends to start off, but she’s not often bothered by that. She understands the value of intelligence, and she knows it’s drawbacks too. I was always driven and determined like her. She learns quickly from her mistakes and doesn’t give up easily. She doesn’t suffer fools or bad behavior well, and she can be cranky, especially when people (friends) do things to jeopardize her good standing. She cares about rules and proper authority. She’s pushy, and bossy. She doesn’t really care (at least, not as much as other people) about her looks, but when she gets picked on because of it, you can still see that it has an effect on her. For all her innate witch-y prowess and skills, she is so utterly human.

The reason why I chose her as someone I wish I’d created is because, well, none of the people in this series would have survived without her. She’s such an essential character, emotionally, magically, and plot-wise. Ron and Harry would absolutely have failed school without her, they would have died tragic deaths without her, and they would have suffered emotionally without her. I would absolutely love to be able to write a character who is such a linchpin to the story, who is so captivating, and who also does such a wonderful job of explaining this world to Harry and to us. I think that’s why she resonates so well with people, in spite of her flaws. We might be seeing this world through Harry’s eyes, but he mostly learns about this magical world from his friends, notably Hermione. Her explanations help us as readers to understand how wonderful and amazing things are because she understands the Muggle world as well as the magical one. She straddles the line better than anyone.

Well, that’s really all I’ve got for ya! Just a small moment of sweet HP goodness! I hope you enjoyed it, and please, feel free to share your own thoughts on what character you wish you could take credit for in the comments below!

Harry Potter Moment of the Week #34

This is a meme started by Uncorked Thoughts which aims to share with fellow bloggers a weekly slice of HP awesomeness. It is an awesomeness that only increases with time and number of reads. Once a week we will share a character, spell, chapter, object, quote etc. from the books/films/J. K. Rowling (or anything Potter related)! Each topic will be posted on Uncorked Thoughts HERE. There will also be  free weeks where everyone can share whatever topic they want! Be sure to share your link on the main site for all other HP MOTW fans to enjoy!

This Week’s Theme: Favourite book featured within the series? (E.g. Fantastic Beasts)

Okay, so I don’t know that I’d actually want to use this book (it’s not exactly the read-for-fun type) but it is the one that cracked me up the most. Especially the way it came out in the films. It just made me laugh…

The Monster Book of Monsters… I just… I love it. It was such a fun/funny moment that played out pretty well. Those poor Third-years, they just don’t know what hit em. And Hagrid just couldn’t understand why it was so hard for them to figure it out.

My favorite moment with this book was this one…

LOL, I love Neville. This was a super adorable comedic moment for the actor, and I very much enjoyed it. It also livens things up a bit with all the emo moments going on for Harry.

 

Well, that’s really all I’ve got for ya! Just a small moment of sweet HP goodness! I hope you enjoyed it, and please, feel free to share your own thoughts on what your favorite piece of HP literature is in the comments below!

Harry Potter Moment of the Week #33

This is a meme started by Uncorked Thoughts which aims to share with fellow bloggers a weekly slice of HP awesomeness. It is an awesomeness that only increases with time and number of reads. Once a week we will share a character, spell, chapter, object, quote etc. from the books/films/J. K. Rowling (or anything Potter related)! Each topic will be posted on Uncorked Thoughts HERE. There will also be  free weeks where everyone can share whatever topic they want! Be sure to share your link on the main site for all other HP MOTW fans to enjoy!

This Week’s Theme: What would your Animagus form be?

Well, reading this question, I already knew what I thought my Animagus would be, and so I took a little quiz to see if it matched up. It did…

What is Your Spirit Animal?

“The Wolf: Your life is your family. You wrap your mind and heart around them. You are most close to your kids or parents, and you wish that you could be as close as possible to them, even if they’ve already gotten lives of their own. You believe in the family network, and want them to be close to home.

Your home is where your family is, and that’s easy to see, but letting go is one of the toughest things you’ll have to do. You can’t check up on them everyday, or freak out when they’re not around. Just relax and know that everything is okay.”

Now I’m honestly not that paranoid, I don’t freak out when I don’t see my parents or siblings, but I do believe that my life starts and ends with family. My immediate family is fairly large, 3 sisters, two parents, and I honestly adore them. We are fierce in defending each other, even though we can bicker and disagree amongst ourselves. We like to play together, joking and laughing, and we adopt our closest friends into our pack. I’m a nighttime kind of gal, I like being awake when the rest of the world is asleep. I think my affinity for this animal, if it is indeed my “spirit animal” would absolutely make it what I would transform into as an Animagus.

Well, that’s really all I’ve got for ya! Just a small moment of sweet HP goodness! I hope you enjoyed it, and please, feel free to share your own thoughts on what your Animagus would be in the comments below!

Teaser Tuesdays: Shadow Scale

It’s time for another “Teaser Tuesday!”

This feature (or meme)  is one I originally discovered on my friend Kim’s site Book Munchies, and is hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm. For those of you who would like to play along at home (or more specifically on your homepage), here is how Teaser Tuesdays work.

– Grab (one of) your current read(s) and open it to a random page
– Share a couple “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
– BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

—> Now on to the main event!

I think we’ve all experienced trips like this…

Shadow Scale (Seraphina, #2) by Rachel Hartman

Hardcover, 608 pages
Publisher: Random House Children’s Books
Release Date: March 10th, 2015
ISBN# 9780375866579
Page: 60

The epic journey Dame Okra, Abdo, and I made across the Goreddi countryside can be distilled into one word: miserable. It seems grossly unfair to our suffering that two weeks of mud, broken carriage wheels, and Dame Okra’s swearing should be so reducible, but there are only so many saints to swear by, and a carriage only has four wheels.

Mud, on the other hand, is infinite.

Harry Potter Moment of the Week #32

This is a meme started by Uncorked Thoughts which aims to share with fellow bloggers a weekly slice of HP awesomeness. It is an awesomeness that only increases with time and number of reads. Once a week we will share a character, spell, chapter, object, quote etc. from the books/films/J. K. Rowling (or anything Potter related)! Each topic will be posted on Uncorked Thoughts HERE. There will also be  free weeks where everyone can share whatever topic they want! Be sure to share your link on the main site for all other HP MOTW fans to enjoy!

This Week’s Theme: What would your Boggart be??

Unfortunately, I’m very aware of what my might come out of the wardrobe if I were faced with a Boggart.

My most knee-jerk fear is a snake (ugh!) I just absolutely cannot handle them. Anything about them. The Chamber of Secrets is like my worst nightmare. *shudders* If I were to have any phobia that the boggart would come out as, it would most likely be that. I can’t look at them, see them on TV. They literally make my skin crawl.

If the boggart were to go after some of my deeper more emotionally-seeded fears, it would probably be someone telling me I’ve just lost my family, or that I’m never going to be successful, or truly loved, ever (sort of like it telling Hermione she failed everything.) Those are the deep, tragic fears that I think we all try not to think about. Those are the fears that have the power to shatter us. Hopefully I never have to face a Boggart, or these real fears either!

Well, that’s really all I’ve got for ya! Just a small moment of sweet HP goodness! I hope you enjoyed it, and please, feel free to share your own thoughts on what your Boggart would be in the comments below!

Harry Potter Moment of the Week #31

This is a meme started by Uncorked Thoughts which aims to share with fellow bloggers a weekly slice of HP awesomeness. It is an awesomeness that only increases with time and number of reads. Once a week we will share a character, spell, chapter, object, quote etc. from the books/films/J. K. Rowling (or anything Potter related)! Each topic will be posted on Uncorked Thoughts HERE. There will also be  free weeks where everyone can share whatever topic they want! Be sure to share your link on the main site for all other HP MOTW fans to enjoy!

This Week’s Theme: What would your Patronus be?

It’s hard to know what your Patronus Charm might look like, since most of the people who conjure a corporeal Patronus don’t know what it looks like until the first time they achieve it. But it is often an animal that resonates with a person’s spirit (like James Potter’s stag or Pettigrew’s rat) or an animal to which they’ve had an actual, sometimes physical, connection.

So that being said, I think I could hazard a guess at what my potential Patronus charm might be.

The animal that I feel I’ve always had the most affinity with is the wolf. Not only do I find them beautiful creatures, but I appreciate so many of their characteristics; loyalty and protectiveness to family and pack, fierce fighters, teamwork, playfulness, and a keen intelligence. There’s much to admire. So I’m pretty sure if I had a Patronus, it would be the wolf.

Some other possibilities might be below. These are other animals that I appreciate, just perhaps to a slightly lesser degree…

 

The owl, the sea turtle, wild horses, and whales/dolphins are all animals that I have enjoyed or admired at one point or another. I would be happy with any of these animals as my Patronus too.

Well, that’s really all I’ve got for ya! Just a small moment of sweet HP goodness! I hope you enjoyed it, and please, feel free to share your own thoughts on what your Patronus Charm would be in the comments below!