Kirstiekins Blogs: August 2015

Bloggers Favourite Book (Part 3)

Thursday

If you've been following the Bloggers Favourite Book series then you'll know that over the past few weeks we've heard from Becky and Somdyuti, two lovely ladies that have a wonderful taste in literature!

This week we have the incredible Leah, whose answers have given me some great new additions to my 'want to read' list. She is also the second person to mention, Anna and the French Kiss, so I think that it may worth googling and reading up about!

Wednesday

Five years ago I read The Kite Runner (also by Hosseini) whilst studying for my English Literature A Level, and I loved it. I loved it so much that when I saw A Thousand Splendid Suns in Waterstones, I bought it and vowed I would read it after I had finished whatever novel I was reading at the time - as you can probably guess, that did not happen. I didn't read it until almost three years later (last week) and I am kicking myself for not reading it sooner. I loved it so much that I have been recommending it to everyone, including my mum; she never usually pays attention when I am gushing about books, but for some reason she listened this time and she loved it too. Go mum!

I'll Give You the Sun has been finding its way on and off my wishlist for the past few months. After reading the blurb, I was absolutely certain that I wouldn't like it, but everyone that I spoke to had me thinking otherwise - gushing review after gushing review, I was curious to see what the fuss was about; and now I know.

I was hooked before I started reading the first chapter.

Monday

Last week had the wonderful, Becky, from BeckyBedbug telling us all about her favourite books. She was an absolute delight, and I can't help but want to hunt her down and hug her, due to her taste in literature! This week, I am welcoming the adorable Somdyuti, and asking her those awful questions, that everyone hates to be asked!

SRSLY. How adorable!? :D

Who are you/what is your URL? (Tell the world who you are! A little self-promo never hurt anyone.)

Hi! I’m Somdyuti Datta Ray from Kolkata, India. I’m 19. I’m doing my Bachelor’s degree in Communicative English and I’ll be graduating next Spring.

I blog at onetinywish.blogspot.in about books, travel and other random things about my life.

Do you have any weird/strange reading habits?

I have an urge to read 10x more right before my exams. All I want to do is read books than actually prep for my exams LOL.

Favourite genres?

Fantasy. Also, Dystopian. I might have an obsession with Fantasy books. But I enjoy anything YA actually. I can imagine myself still reading YA when I’m 80 years old maybe haha!

What was the last book you read, and would you recommend it?

Last book I read was Legend by Marie Lu. It is the first book in the Legend trilogy. It’s a YA dystopian set in Los Angeles, 2130 A.D. Its kind of a suspense thriller.

I heard such great things about the trilogy, so of course I had to pick it up. And ohmygosh it’s amazing. It’s really intense and fast-paced and badass. I’m reading the second book right now, Prodigy. I definitely recommend it.

List your three favourite books, of ALL time:

1. Harry Potter (series) by J.K. Rowling

2. Percy Jackson & the Olympians (series) + Heroes of Olympus (series) by Rick Riordan

3. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

It’s so hard to pick any 3 picks but I think if I’m abandoned in an island, then these are definitely the books you’ll find me reading.

Thinking of the first book you mentioned, why is it your favourite?

I can possibly list about a million reasons why Harry Potter is my favourite but I’m gonna keep it short now. Well, I grew up reading Harry Potter. I was maybe 8 or 9 when I first started reading it. So in a way I could relate to the characters a lot, being almost same age and all. But mostly because, Harry Potter is basically my childhood. I grew up obsessing and fantasising about the characters and the stories. It’s life! And it helped me get through middle school seeing that I was often bullied. I honestly can’t imagine being the person I am today if not for Harry Potter. It taught me so much about life and being myself and valuing friendship and you know, fighting for things we love. Harry Potter is a way of life.

What would you say to anyone that was thinking of reading it?

I try not to judge people who haven’t read Harry Potter yet haha (seriously, though, what are you doing?). But I believe, Harry Potter is something everyone should read at least once in their life. It’s so beautiful and fascinating and just magical.

If you could be any character, from any novel, who would it be, and why?

Hmmmph…. *thinks hard* I would really love to be Celaena Sardothien from the Throne of Glass (series) by Sarah J. Maas. This series is undoubtedly on my list of Top 3 Fantasy books EVER. And Celaena is such a badass character. She’s an assassin and a few more things which I won’t say because they’re spoilers. But anyway, I absolutely love her character.

She’s confident, fearless, brave but also sassy. She knows what she wants and she’s so sure of herself (most of the time). She’s not afraid to fight for the people she loves. She’s amazing. I love her! I want to be her, including the assassin part.

Who is your least favourite character from any novel, and why?

I’ve come across a lot of nasty characters but I think Dolores Umbridge from the Harry Potter (series) is the meanest of all. She’s so unbelievably annoying and evil, like all the way to her core. God, I hate that woman!

What is your least favourite novel, and why?

I recently read Girl Online by Zoe Sugg a.k.a Zoella and ohmygod that book annoyed the daylight out of me. It’s so cliché and unoriginal and the writing style is absolutely sloppy. The characters are too monotonous and overdone. I’m forever losing my cool because of that book. I wrote a review of that book on my blog where I ranted in details. You can read it here.

If you could change the ending of any novel, what would it be? And what would you have happen instead?

There’s one book I can think of actually – Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus #5) by Rick Riordan. I absolutely love Percy Jackson but the ending of Blood of Olympus and most importantly the whole series was very disappointing. It made me so mad because this is coming from Rick Riordan, and I love his books.

If I were to change the ending – not gonna give away any spoilers – I’d add some more action-y stuff in the final battle. Like write it in more details and put Percy, Annabeth, Hazel and Frank in the spotlight. They were completely overshadowed in the last few chapters (what the heck!). So I’ll include them in the battle scenes being all badass. And I’ll make the deaths more interesting.

And finally, the real juicy gossip that everyone wants to know: Snog, Marry, Avoid!

1. Edgar Allen Poe, Sylvia Plath, J.K Rowling?

Marry – J.K. Rowling

Avoid – Edgar Allen Poe and Sylvia Path (no snogging!)

2. Cthulhu, Gandalf, Doctor Frankenstein?

Marry – Gandalf

Avoid – Cthulhu and Doctor Frankenstein (seriously? Bad combo, again!)

3. Douglas Adams, Stephen King, Ali Smith?

Marry – Stephen King

Avoid – Douglas Adams and Ali Smith (too old for snogging!)

And there we have it! Thank you Somdyuti for sharing your opinions, it's been great getting to know you, and about your favourite books! If you have any questions, you can find her on twitter, and over on her blog, http://onetinywish.blogspot.in/

I'm so glad that I found someone else who doesn't like, Girl Online. I'm still confused as to why they want tp publish a second one!

If you would like to take part in a future #Bloggersfavouritebook post, send me an email at Kirstiekinsblogs@gmail.com!

Friday

I mentioned before, that I am one of those people that buys books quicker than I can read them, but it wasn't until this afternoon that I came to realise how much of a problem this is. Just in my bedroom I have 147 books - not including textbooks - and I have read 49 of them. FORTY - NINE. I hate to think what that total number would be if I were to include the books on the bookshelf in my office. Because of this, I have decided to organize my reading habits, and hopefully allow myself to read as many of the unread ones before I have book-buying withdrawal symptoms, and find myself drooling all over the windows of Waterstones Uxbridge. Haha!

My organization plan is simple. I choose five books, stacking them neatly beside my bed, and then I do not buy another book until I finished those five. Once I have read all five books, I can then add a further five books, and keep doing so until I have read the 98 books that I am yet to read, although by that point, I will have another nineteen books to go, and after those, it'll be three - that's if I done the maths right, I have never been one for maths.

My current TBR list is compromised of some books I bought recently, plus a few resident shelf sitters.

I am currently reading, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, which I bought about four or five years ago, after reading The Kite Runner for my English Literature A Level. So Far it is pretty good, and judging by Khaled Hosseini's previous work, I already know that it is going to get better.

Next is Phillip Pullmans, Nothern Lights, a book that I only bought recently but have been ordered to read at least seven times in the past year. It has never interested be before, but I figure it's worth a try if everyone has said so many great things about it!

Third on the list is, About a Boy, another book that has never really interested me before, but I have been asked to read it as part of Kingston Universities Big Read, where the uni are giving this book to all of its students for free, in order to get them reading, and to give everyone something in common. I'm a big fan of books, especially free ones, so no complaints here!

The fourth is, How to Build a Girl by Caitlin Moran. I swore I would never read this book as the author shares a last name with someone who I used to know (who turned into a massive penis face), but after accidentally reading the first page in Poundland a few months ago, I pushed my vendetta to one side and decided to give it a go.

And finally there is: The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy. This is my favourite book in the entire universe, and I reread it at least once a year. What I love most, is that my edition is the trilogy in four parts, meaning that I can read one of the stories, then read a few other books, and then come back to it a month or two later and read another one of the short stories. Plus, even though the movie was terrible, every time I read Marvin I can't help but think of Alan Rickman and LOL a little.

So there we have it, my current TBR list. I'm looking forward to making my way through these and then scouring my Amazon Book Wishlist to choose my reward. I'd love to know if you have any recommendations!

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Thursday

Not so long ago you may remember me stating that I was making myself a TBR list and was only allowing myself fo buy a new book after every time I had finished reading five of them. Well, that didn't work. Maybe it was the pressure of not knowing when I would next be able to buy something new, or maybe it was because I got a little bit down, and instead of buying copious amounts of takeaways I decided to buy copious amounts of books.

How many?

Well, I bought eight, I won six and was sent two to review. I shouldn't have bought any, I, however, have acquired sixteen. SIXTEEN. I am seriously running out of space to put all my books now guys - I am scared that if I put one more book on my shelf they are all going to fall on me whilst I am asleep. ~~Maybe I can convince my parents to move out so I can use their room as a library.~~

What did I buy?

- The Communist Manifesto (part of Penguin's Little Black Classic collection) Karl Marx & Friedrich Engles

- The Yellow Wallpaper (also part of Penguin's Little Black Classic collection) Charlotte Perkins Gilman

I have been collecting these 80p classics since February this year, and I am still nowhere near having the full collection. I bought these two this time as The Yellow Wall-Paper is a personal favourite, and as a human and ex-sociology student I am kind of obligated to have a small soft spot for Marx and Engles.

- Shaking Hands with Death / Terry Pratchett

If I am being completely honest, this was an impulse buy. I loved the original speech, and when I saw this sitting by the till in Waterstones I didn't have to think twice about buying it. Plus it's really teeny and cute.

- Paper Towns / John Green

Pretty much bought this so I could see what all the fuss was about. Plus it's hard to judge a novel without knowing anything about it.

- The Opposite of Loneliness / Marina Keegan

My friend, Daniel read this a while ago and has been trying to get me to read it ever since. It is also this month's #Sassybooks read, so I can hardly not buy the book I will probably be panic reading three days before I write my review of it. It does sound really interesting, so hopefully I won't be leaving it till the end of the month.

-Foxfire / Carol Joyce Oates

After YEARS of this book being on my wishlist I have finally bought it, and I love it already. Yes, there will be a review.

- The Picture of Dorian Gray / Oscar Wilde

I read an excerpt of a novel when I was around thirteen or fourteen and thought it was brilliant, only I could never remember the name of it, or what it was really about. Last Friday I was pottering around a book shop in Brick Lane when this caught my eye, and after reading a few pages I realised that this was the book I had been searching for almost ten years.

- The Sky is Everywhere / Jandy Nelson

I fell in love with I'll Give You the Sun, so decided through a process of 'this book is amazing, to her others must be amazing too' to read Nelsons other novel, The Sky is Everywhere. I love her writing style, how she creates characters, sets scenes, and engages with the reader, so I honestly can't wait to read!

What did I win?

Thanks to the wonderful people at Hotkey moving offices, I got the chance to get my hands on some of their undistributed proof copies - which I think look absolutely amazing! The covers are so simple and give nothing away about the novel, so it really is impossible to judge it by its cover.

I received:

- Friday Brown / Vikki Wakefield

- Paper Aeroplanes / Dawn O' Porter

- The Ghost Bride / Yangsze Choo

- As Red as Blood / Salla Simukka

- Jumble Cat / Archie Kimpton

- Being a Bot / James Dawson

I love receiving book-mail so when the postman knocked on my door with a big parcel full of books, I couldn't shoo him away fast enough - I just wanted to get inside and tear it open! Although, I will say that the fact they are numbered is messing with my brain, as I now really feel that I need all the other numbers to make my shelf look tidy and organised.

What was I sent?

Headline books sent me over two books to review which have been late going up, as I have had to take a few days away from existing and recharge. I have been incredibly stressed and sad over the past three weeks, what with my cat dying, being ill, and having quite possibly a twelve-hour panic fuelled anxiety moment on the way back from Paris.

They sent me:

The Iron Ghost / Jen Williams

Nymphs / Sari Luhtanen & Mikko Oikkonen

Both of which seem really cool and I can't wait to share my views with you guys!

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I now have even more books to try and make my way through. I mean it this time, no more book buying until I have read a good proportion of my current TBR list!

Do you have any recommendations? What was the last book you bought? Please say I am not the only one who buys books faster than I can read them!

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Friday

How do you review a novel that has already been classified as one of the greatest horror novels of all time? No matter what I say, the opinions of previous reviewers are going to prevail. But pretend for a second that The Shining wasn't written by possibly the greatest horror writer this side of 1950 and isn't nearly forty years old. What if it was a brand new novel published this year, written exactly how we know it to be, by a new up and coming author? Say for instance it was Jayne Doe's debut novel, would it still be as widely recognised as what we know it to be today? Probably not. Not because Jayne Doe is a terrible writer, but because it'll be thirty-eight years behind the times, will have a lot more competition, and because let's face it, well recognised women horror writers are few and far between.

Wednesday

Over the next few weeks, I am going to be asking a few bloggers all about their favourite books! I always find it really hard to answer this question myself as my answers are always changing depending on my mood, or the genre that I am into at that specific moment. My favourite book of all time will always be, Enid Blyton's Folk of the Faraway Tree series. My mum would read them to me when I was really small, but then as I got older and learnt to read, I would stay up all night reading them to myself. BUT, if you were to ask me what is my current favourite book, I would be stumped. Nothing I have read recently has stuck with me long enough for me label it with the prestigious title of being my favourite book. Because of this, I decided to put a few of my fellow bloggers on the spot, and asking them the very questions I hate the most.

As I had such an overwhelming response to the project, I decided to break it down into a series of posts, meaning that each week you can check back and see what each of my victims said in response to the nitty gritty questions revolving literature.

First up we have: *Drum roll please* The lovely, Becky!

Monday

In a world full of distractions, it is easy to get a little sidetracked from our end goal. But can we use these distractions to help us reach our end goals that little bit quicker? Well there is only way to really find out!

I like to call myself a writer, and there are lots of tools out there that are aimed at helping writers: Scrivener, Storyist, #AmWriting, #AmEditing, Nanowrimo. However, I decided to take a bash as using unconventional methods and dived deeper into the world of social media, and found myself on Pinterest. Yes you read that right, Pinterest.