Book in Review: Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

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Title: Carry On
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Publication Date: October 6th 2015
Pages: Hardcover, 522 pages

Summary (via Goodreads):
Simon Snow is the worst chosen one who’s ever been chosen.

That’s what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he’s probably right.

Half the time, Simon can’t even make his wand work, and the other half, he sets something on fire. His mentor’s avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there’s a magic-eating monster running around wearing Simon’s face. Baz would be having a field day with all this, if he were here—it’s their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon’s infuriating nemesis didn’t even bother to show up.

Carry On is a ghost story, a love story, a mystery and a melodrama. It has just as much kissing and talking as you’d expect from a Rainbow Rowell story—but far, far more monsters.


Holiday Blogger Highlight 2015: Sarah Clare @ Behind On Books


Hi everyone! Are you guys feeling the Christmas spirit? Honestly, for some reason, this year we haven't been feeling that merry or Christmas-y, maybe it's because we've been too caught up with other things that time has sped up and suddenly it's Christmas Eve already without us noticing! Well, to keep the Christmas spirit alive, we've decided to do this little feature in our blog, where we'll interview and highlight fellow bloggers and ask them what they're up to this holiday season. 

For our second Holiday Blogger Highlight 2015, we've got Sarah Clare from Behind on Books!

Merry Christmas 2015 from Geeky Chiquitas!


Merry Christmas, from Geeky Chiquitas!

We hope you guys are having a wonderful holiday. As I (Kimi) write this, I am sitting on my bed at home, snuggled under a blanket, and listening to the Under the Mistletoe playlist on Spotify, as occasionally a firework goes off (which is pretty weird since it's morning here). Meanwhile, Audrey and Beryl are off at Osaka, Japan, doing who knows what (I haven't had an update from them yet) but probably having fun, taking lots of selfies, slurping ramen, and building snowmen (is there snow in Japan right now??? I'm not sure).

Last night for Christmas Eve, we had dinner at my grandparents' place with some relatives. I've been complaining for the past few days that I can't seem to feel the Christmas vibes, no matter what I do or how hard I try. And now that it's finally Christmas, meh, still no holiday vibes. A few years back, Christmas was such a fun holiday and I remember all my cousins would be around at my grandparents' house, since it's our tradition to spend it there. This year, a lot of them have other plans with their family (ehem Beryl and Audrey are gone) so I'm stuck spending the Christmas with my own immediate family, plus a few of my cousins, who are all unfortunately toddlers - and while toddlers are cute, they are no use making conversation with and usually sleep early, so you get stuck doing nothing as you wait for the clock to strike midnight for Christmas day, which is basically what I did last night.

Feature Follow Friday: Best Christmas Gift Received

Happy Holidays everyone! We're still wrapping up our official Christmas day post, but for now here is our Feature Follow Friday! :)


The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee’s View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it’ll allow us to show off more new blogs!


How does this work?

The goal is to increase blog followers and make friends. First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools — keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them “hi” in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you! What sets this Hop apart from others, is our Feature. Each week we will showcase a Featured Blogger, from all different genres and areas. Who is our Feature today? Find out below. Just remember it is required, if you participate, to follow our Features and you must follow the hosts (Parajunkee & Alison Can Read) as a courtesy. How do you follow someone? Well, if you have a preference, state it in your #FF post. A lot of blogs are transitioning to WordPress in which they do not have the luxury of GFC, so an RSS subscription is appreciated or if you choose an email subscription. If you don’t have GFC please state in your post how you would like to be followed. All features are chosen randomly to be the feature. They are not chosen by content or name.

Question of the Week: What was the best Christmas (or other holiday) gift you ever received? - Suggested by Alison Can Read

KIMI:
The best gift I've ever received was a laptop! I received it late, like around January, because it was shipped all the way from the USA. Some other notable gifts I've received: a train set, art paint toy thing, and of course angpao (red envelopes with money inside)! :)

BERYL:

I think the best Christmas gift I've ever received is a box full of pajamas! That was about 2-3 years ago and during that time, I was really fond of anything that has to do with sleeping (lol), up until now. It might not be the most expensive, but I got something I really liked so it was just unforgettable. 

AUDREY:

I believe that the best Christmas gift that I've ever received was my very first phone. It was not a very expensive phone. In fact, it was one of those quite cheap ones, but as a young girl, I thought of this as a step towards becoming more mature. Because of this, the phone became very important to me. To be honest, I didn't use it much at the time, and I got rid of it after a while, but I feel its significance whenever I look back at my past Christmas celebrations. I remember being ecstatic when I received it. That moment became one that I can never forget. 

Follow us below! :)

 

Holiday Blogger Highlight: Jessica @ A GREAT Read


Hi everyone! Are you guys feeling the Christmas spirit? Honestly, for some reason, this year we haven't been feeling that merry or Christmas-y, maybe it's because we've been too caught up with other things that time has sped up and suddenly it's Christmas Eve already without us noticing! Well, to keep the Christmas spirit alive, we've decided to do this little feature in our blog, where we'll interview and highlight fellow bloggers and ask them what they're up to this holiday season. 

For our first Holiday Blogger Highlight 2015, we've got Jessica from A GREAT Read!

1. Do you have any holiday traditions?
Well with my family one gift we can all expect is socks! It's something my grandma used to do for all of us. So it's stuck with us even after she passed away.
Other is one I do for my older sister. I always double box and double wrap her gift because she hates opening presents.

2. 
What's your favorite thing about the Christmas season?
I just love Christmas in general. I love surprising my family with gifts. I love looking at Christmas lights on all the houses. And Christmas cookies are good too! Though not for my waistline! Lol.

3. 
Do you have any book recommendations that are great for the holiday season?
Hmm...that's a bit harder as I rarely read holiday themed reads at the right time! One anthology that I read some years ago was Holidays are Hell. It had some novellas by Kim Harrison, Marjorie M. Liu, Lynsay Sands, & Vicki Pettersson! Another anthology was Wolfsbane & Mistletoe. Those were a bit shorter stories as there were a lot of authors in that one!


4. 
What is your favorite Christmas treat?
Favorite Christmas treat is definitely cookies! Some of them we only make at Christmas time. Like frosted sugar cookies, gooey butter cookies, peanut blossoms! Yum!

5. 
Do you prefer the cold weather or the warm weather?
Definitely the cold! I'm a winter baby. Sorta. So I prefer colder weather. Though St. Louis has crazy weather. Right now it's raining & on Christmas we'll be in the 50s which isn't normal for us.

6. W
hat's your new year's resolution?
I think one of them will definitely be to figure out some self-publishing for my book. Right now I submitted it to a publisher & am still waiting for a response. After that I will figure out what to do!

7. 
Share a picture of your go to outfit this season.



8. Have you decorated for Christmas? If so, please attach a picture. If you haven't, is there any design that you find attractive?





9. 
Movie recommendations?

As some of my blog followers might know my favorite Christmas movies are A Christmas Story and then a more recent favorite Elf! And omg that movie is already over 10 years old! Where has the time gone!

10. 
Share your social media links, etc. (Blog, Twitter, Instagram, etc)


Blog: Jessica-agreatread.blogspot.com
Twitter: Twitter.com/agreatreader
Instagram: Instagram.com/agreatreader

Thank you so much for taking the time to be up on our blog! We're glad to have you for our first Holiday Blogger Highlight. If you guys still haven't, check out Jessica at the links above.


Stay tuned for our next HBH 2015! :)

Waiting on Wednesdays: Summer Days and Summer Nights Twelve Love Stories


"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted here, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:


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Title: Summer Days & Summer Nights: Twelve Love Stories
Author: Stephanie PerkinsLeigh BardugoFrancesca Lia BlockLibba BrayCassandra Clare, Brandy Colbert, Tim Federle, Lev GrossmanNina LaCourVeronica RothJon SkovronJennifer E. Smith 
Publication Date: June 14th 2016
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Book in Review: Lullabies by Lang Leav


Title: Lullabies
Author: Lang Leav
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Publication Date: September 16th, 2014
Pages: 248, Paperback

Summary (via Goodreads):
A sequel to the hugely popular, best-selling Love & MisadventureLullabies continues to explore the intricacies of love and loss.


Set to a musical theme, love's poetic journey in this new, original collection begins with a Duet and travels through Interlude and Finale with an Encore popular piece from the best-selling Love & Misadventure. Lang Leav's evocative poetry speaks to the soul of anyone who is on this journey.


Leav has an unnerving ability to see inside the hearts and minds of her readers. Her talent for translating complex emotions with astonishing simplicity has won her a cult following of devoted fans from all over the world.


Lang Leav is a poet and internationally exhibiting artist.

Our Bookish Christmas Wish List 2015

Hey everyone! It's been a while since I've last blogged. It's been a crazy term for me, I'll tell you guys all about it in a separate post, but for now, I'm checking in to let you guys know about my Christmas wish list for this year! :) There's only 3 days left til Christmas and I'm excited! Are you?

So here is my bookish wishlist, and although I'm surely not getting any of these, it's great to daydream sometimes, right?

1. Kincso Nagy's Harry Potter design concept
This designer created a design concept for Harry Potter books, which includes glow in the dark covers and pop up illustrations inside. Isn't it beautiful?! I would totally buy these books if they were actually created!

Book in Review: Love and Misadventure by Lang Leav


Title: Love & Misadventure
Author: Lang Leav
Publisher: Andrew McMeel Publishing
Publication Date: April 26th, 2013
Pages: 176, Paperback

Lang Leav is a poet and internationally exhibiting artist. Awarded a coveted Churchill Fellowship, her work expresses the intricacies of love and loss.

Beautifully illustrated and thoughtfully conceived, Love and Misadventure will take you on a rollercoaster ride through an ill-fated love affair- from the initial butterflies to the soaring heights- through to the devastating plunge. Lang Leav has an unnerving ability to see inside the hearts and minds of her readers. Her talent for translating complex emotions with astonishing simplicity has won her a cult following of devoted fans from all over the world.

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2015 Reading Challenge

2015 Reading Challenge
Kimi has read 3 books toward her goal of 100 books.
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