Book Talk

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Hey everyone. I hope you're doing well! I wanted to talk about books, what I've been reading, what I want to read, and other things. 

So recently I've been getting into nonfiction a bit more. I especially love books about creepy or strange things, such as unsolved crimes, strange phenomena, mysteries, and modern day controversies. For example I recently read Going Clear, which is about Scientology. I'm looking into books about Jack the Ripper, for example books that speculate on his identity. What are your favourite nonfiction books? What topics are you interested in reading about?

I attempted to read the first Spiderwick Chronicles book in french, but I failed miserably. It turns out my french skills are much worse than I thought! So I guess its to the picture books I go. I am so annoyed how after thirteen years of french classes and living with a family who speaks french fluently, the language still does not stick in my brain! It is so incredibly frustrating. Do any of you struggle with this? And for those who are great at your second language, how did you accomplish this? Any tips?

I'm so happy I renewed my library card. While I have lots of books to get through at home, taking a walk on a nice day to the library, sitting down for a bit and reading bits and pieces of books, is somehow relaxing. I like the general quiet one finds in a library as well, its like taking a break from the outside world for a while. 

How many books have you all read so far this year? I've read 35 according to Goodreads, which is 70% of my goal of 50 books for 2018. 

Happy reading!

Wrecked by Anna Davies

Series: N/A
Author: Anna Davies
Page Count: 336
Published: May 1st, 2012
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
  3 Stars ★★★

Miranda lives on Whym Island with her grandmother, where superstitions about sea witches are popular among the locals. The death of her parents isn't the only tragedy she has to deal with....one night, she and her friends get into a boating accident. She survives, and holds memories of a mysterious boy on the beach.

Christian is a betwixtman from Down Below. He saved Miranda from drowning, but Sephie, the sea witch, isn't happy with him. She charges him with killing Miranda, and he has a time limit. Things become complicated when he starts falling for her. Will Sephie end them both?

This is a case of a book not being horrible but not being amazing either.

There were some things that I liked. I liked the characters, especially Christian. The characters were all pretty interesting, and poor Miranda! Dealing first with the death of her parents, and now the death of some of her friends and her own possible death! Sephie was an interesting villain, although I kind of guessed what was going on with her from the beginning.

I liked the mermaids, mermen, betwixtmen, etc. I love sea creatures/people, and this book gave an interesting twist to the idea of these sea people, or in Christian's case, betwixtmen. He is able to walk on land and transform back in the water, and this ability to walk between worlds was reminiscent of werewolf or shapeshifter books. I also liked that he essentially became an assassin for the sea witch, that added another level of danger, and forbidden romance, to the story.

I wasn't a huge fan of the writing style. It wasn't terrible, and I could definitely see myself liking it if the author had added a bit more description and watched the way she used words....what I mean is that there were sometimes awkward repetitions of words within a few consecutive sentences, which kind of drew me out of the story.

I also think that there could have been some more events going on to make the book seem a bit more dangerous. I know that Miranda's life was in danger but, the focus seemed more on her relationships with others than the threat to her life. I wish there had been more emphasis on creepy happenings, maybe the sea witch could have played around with Miranda a bit more.

Overall, this was an enjoyable, but not amazing, read. I liked the sea people and the characters, but the writing style could have been better, and I wish there had been more creepy events. I do recommend this for fans of young adult romance featuring sea creatures/people and forbidden love.

Find Wrecked on Goodreads

I'm Back! + Summer Plans

Hey everyone.


So I am back! Exams went really well, and I did great on my final projects. Straight As!



I'm hoping to return to a regular posting schedule soon. I took about a week extra off to just relax after exams ended, so I want to get back to blogging and start a spring/summer schedule in general.



I will say, though, that I am having trouble getting the motivation to get out of bed. Its so hot in my room! And for myself, when I'm really warm, I just want to curl up and nap. I'm kinda like a cat that way..... so I'm fighting off some extra fatigue. If anyone has any suggestions for fighting off this tiredness, please do let me know. Also, how do you keep your room cool during the summer? Because sometimes its like I'm being toasted or something.



I also live in walking distance to the library now. I have lots of books to read at home but I want to start walking down to the library and taking a book out maybe on a weekly basis, so I have an excuse to go for a nice walk. Plus I just love being surrounded by books and not being tempted to spend money, as I would in a bookstore. Free books are best books.



I'm also hoping to get writing a story this summer as well. I am having really bad writers block, where I think about my story and its literally like a brick wall. Hopefully I can do something about that.



Poe update: she survived the move! Poor thing, we had to lock her in the bathroom as we were loading my stuff to be transported, and her pitiful meows echoed! There's an issue though.....the landlady has two cats, and one of them in particular does not like Poe at all. Poe is just sitting there and he comes in my room and hisses and hisses! And Poe goes downstairs to explore the house and he full on attacks her! I don't know what to do. Poor Poe, I don't want her to be trapped in my room all summer. Any thoughts on this?



Anyways, thats really it for now, just wanted to give a general update and chat a bit before resuming my usual posts. It's nice to be back! Happy reading.