February's Book Haul

My Relationship with Books

To be a writer, first you must be a reader. (I think someone important said that.)

My first interaction with books was when my mother would build me little forts out of books, and I'd choose one to pore through. I don't have any memory of this, but mum insists it was really cute.

My first memory of books was reading in the dead of night. When I was a child, I was scared of the dark (still am, come to think of it), so the light in the hallway outside my door was lit until one of my parents woke up or so. Each night, I'd wait for my parents to fall asleep, and creep out into the hallway and sit right down on the floor with one of the numerous books I'd borrowed from the library.
That was how I'd read most of the Harry Potter books, and the Lord of the Rings, as well as playing Pokémon Silver. When I heard the creak of my parent's bed, or the sigh of them being roused from sleep, I would hustle back to bed and pretend I'd been asleep. If I was lucky, it would be a false alarm, and I could go back to reading until it was time for school.
To this day, I have reading-induced insomnia.

When I was in highschool, reading was never really cool, so I stopped it for the sake of joining in with my friends. What they didn't know was that I was devouring books like Les Miserables and attempting at War and Peace. I was the first one in my group--and probably the school--to read Twilight, and thought it meh before moving on to real vampire books like Anne Rice's series.
I'd also spend my nights reading fanfiction, or original fiction online, on fictionpress and its sister site. I must have read hundreds of words worth of books in those years.

It was only when I had graduated from highschool, when I'd removed myself from several toxic relationships, that I'd enveloped myself in the world of books.
I firmly believe that it was my lack of books during my teenage years that made me so heavily suicidal. Now years later, I have my books and I feel so much better.

Books are magic. Everyone says that, and that's because it's true. Twilight was so popular because girls could leave their boring/over-complicated/abusive/etc'd lives for a little while. And it's because I can leave myself for so many hours at a time that I've been able to cope with depression.

And with the devouring of books came the inevitable writing of books. I'd run out of books I'd wanted to read. I'd read everything on fictionpress; so I wrote something I'd want to read.
That part still remains. Right now I'm in the mood for selkie/mermaid hybrids and the end of the world and human sacrifices, and that's exactly what I'm writing.
Write the book you want to read (I'm sure someone definitely said that.)

Books I Read and Loved in 2014, Part 1

Hello wonderful readers, I'm on the cusp of the second half of the year, and I realise I haven't posted in months (I am pretty active on Instagram if anyone wants to follow me in my day to day life. Lots of pictures of my fur babies). So, I thought I'd talk about the books that I've read and loved in the first half of 2014. Currently, I'm sitting at 77 books read, but quite a few of them didn't really move me all that much.

January Book Haul

So... books. I got a lot of them this month. Christmas, birthday, and just a total irresponsibility when it comes to money results in this tonne of books.

Books read in January

This was a difficult month for me. I didn't get many books read, only 10, 3 of which were graphic novels.
It being the middle of summer, we've had weeks where doing anything but lying comatose in front of the air con was unbearable, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees (Celsius, for all you American readers. You have the polar vortex, and we have Summerpocalypse.). And at the same time, depression got in the way, making it difficult to want to pick up books, even if they're wonderful and  make me feel good. I just felt so apathetic about it all.

But whatever, we're here to talk about books, aren't we?

Books Read in March

Well, this month has been a surprise.
I'd been expecting my reading rates to drop significantly, due to uni, but if anything, they've risen! Despite being so super busy, March has been the best reading month this year, having read 25 books. (Though, to be fair, some of them were graphic novels, and a small handful were super short, like, around 100 pages long, for classes.)
~ indicates a graphic novel

1. Wanderlust (Sirantha Jax, #2) - Anne Aguirre 4 stars
2. Lost Voices (Lost Voices, #1) - Sarah Porter 2 stars
3. Falling Kingdoms (Falling Kingdoms, #1) - Morgan Rhodes 3 stars
4. Daisy Miller - Henry James 3 stars
5. Fade Out (Morganville Vampires, #7) - Rachel Caine 3 stars
6. Lovely, Dark and Deep - Amy McNamara 4 stars
7. The Five People You Meet in Heaven - Mitch Albom 4 stars
8. To The Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf 4 stars
9. Trouble in Mind (Birds of Prey III, #1) - Duane Swierczynski & Jesus Saiz 5 stars + fave ~
10. Wonder Woman: Odyssey, vol 1 - J. Michael Strczynski 4 stars ~
11. Crank (Crank, #1) - Ellen Hopkins 3½ stars
12. Just One Day (Just One Day, #1) - Gayle Forman 3½ stars
13. Riveted (Iron Seas, #3) - Meljean Brooke 3 stars
14. Orlando - Virginia Woolf 4 stars
15. Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy Graphic Novel, #1) - Richelle Mead & Leigh Dragoon 3 stars ~
16. When We Wake - Karen Healey 4 stars
17. The Great Feminist Denial - Monica Dux & Zora Simic 3 stars
18. In the Penal Colony - Franz Kafka --
19. Paper Valentine - Brenna Yovanoff 3½ stars
20. Nevermore (Nevermore, #1) - Kelly Creagh 5 stars
21. Princess of the Midnight Ball (Princess, #1) - Jessica Day George 3 stars
22. The Dark Unwinding (The Dark Unwinding, #1) - Sharon Cameron 3½ stars
23. The Miseducation of Cameron Post - Emily M. Danforth 4 stars
24. The Time Keeper - Mitch Albom 2 stars
25. The Death of Oracle (Birds of Prey II, #2) - Gail Simone 4 stars ~

This month:
Pages: 7,054
Avg. Pages: 282 pages per book

Total:
Books read: 61
Pages: 19,214
Average Pages: 315 pages per book

As many books as I've read this month, when I was supposed to be studying, I don't think I'll be able to read even half as many during April. I have a lot of things due this month (including some flash fiction due tomorrow, an essay on Virginia Woolf, and a couple of workshopping sessions). Busy busy busy.

Books Read in February

Well, February was a surprising month. I read over twenty books, which kind of amazes me. I blame the fact that I'm on holidays. When school starts up (on Monday, eeep!) I probably won't have any time to read. I remember that last year, majority of my reading time was done on the train to and from uni, which is about an hour's ride each way.

I was surprised, though because I've been hard at work editing the manuscript for FG to send to some CPs (as I stated in a previous post). Most days were spent with several hours sitting in front of my laptop, with the rest of the day either watching tv shows (I managed to score the first 2 seasons of The Walking Dead, and the first seasons of Pretty Little Liars, Vampire Diaries, and Charmed from my local library), or reading. I think I'm going to miss these holidays.


1. Tell the Wolves I'm Home - Carol Rifka Brunt; 5 stars
2. The Wishing Spell (The Land of Stories, #1) - Chris Colfer; 2½ stars
3. The Age of Miracles - Karen Thompson Walker; 4½ stars
4. A Corner of White (The Colours of Madeleine, #1) - Jaclyn Moriarty; 5 stars
5. The Tea Rose (The Tea Rose, #1) - Jennifer Donnelly; 3½ stars
6. The Grimm Legacy (The Grimm Legacy, #1) - Polly Shulman; 3 stars
7. When We Were Executioners (Dogsland, #2) - J.M. McDermott; 3 stars
8. Dark Inside (Dark Inside, #1) - Jeyn Roberts; 3 stars
9. The Golden Lily (Bloodlines, #2) - Richelle Mead; 4½ stars
10. Amber House (Amber House, #1) - Kelly Moore, Tucker Reed & Larkin Reed; 4 stars
11. Gone, Gone, Gone - Hannah Moskowitz; 2 stars
12. Dragon Slippers (Dragon Slippers, #1) - Jessica Day George; 4 stars
13. Everybody Sees the Ants - A.S. King; 4 stars
14. The Lucky Ones (Bright Young Things, #3) - Anna Godbersen; 3½ stars
15. In Honor - Jessi Kirbi; 2½ stars
16. Starling (Starling, #1) - Lesley Livington; 3½ stars
17. Lord of Misrule (The Morganville Vampires, #5) - Rachel Caine; 3 stars
18. Carpe Corpus (The Morganville Vampires, #6) - Rachel Caine; 3½ stars
19. Mistwood (Mistwood, #1) - Leah Cypess; 4½ stars
20. Life Everlasting - Bernd Heinrich; 3 stars
21. All This Could End - Steph Bowe; 3½ stars


This month:
Pages: 6,832
Avg. pages: 325 pages per book

Total:
Books read: 36
Pages: 12,160
Avg. pages:  337 per book

The most important thing to note about this list is that this month, there are no faves. Sure, I gave some books quite high ratings (5 stars for both Tell the Wolves I'm Home and A Corner of White), but none of them really grabbed me, you know? Maybe this month just wasn't a lucky month, or maybe (I'm sure a lot of non-readers would argue this, like my mother), they've just become meaningless words, because I read too fast.

Nah, definitely not the latter, thank you very much.

I'll just have to read even more books to find a favourite.

I might be posting even less when the semester starts (what, like less than I already have been? HA HA HA), but monthly reading recaps will definitely be happening, because I'm obsessive about recording books. And it'll be one of those things to let you know I'm still alive and haven't been slobbered to death by the giant puppy.
This giant puppy:

I should totally end all blog posts with pictures of Layla, right? Right.

Auto-buy Authors

I don't usually participate in memes. Mostly because I find them somewhat annoying, and because I can never commit myself to actually posting regularly. Because I fail like that.

But today is different. I really like the question posed for today's Top Ten Tuesday (which is hosted by The Broke & The Bookish).
What authors are on your auto-buy list?

Palimpsest by Catherynne M. Valente

1. Catherynne M. Valente is one of my all time favourite authors. Her way with words break me. I've even been trying to get my hands on the hard to find, out of print stuff that she's published with small presses, and it really hurts my wallet, but makes my heart sing with joy.

2. David Mitchell. I tried his book, Cloud Atlas on a whim because I had heard about the gross white-washing that had been done in the movie, and I wanted to see if it was in any way justified (because it deals with a whole bunch of complicated reincarnations) (hint: it wasn't). After Cloud, I was hooked. I tried to get my hands on the rest of his work, and devoured them. As with Catherynne M. Valente, he has a way with words, though in a very different abstract sort of way. His metaphors evoke a surreal image, and I honestly can't handle how perfect it all is.

3. Juliet Marillier. Once again, I was hooked by beautiful words. Not only that, but her world-building, and the careful way she builds her characters leaves me breathless. Daughter of the Forest is a novel that left me depressed, disgusted, heartbroken, and elated.

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

4. Eowyn Ivey. Even though she's only written one book, I know that she is an author I would love to read more from. She has a talent at making the reader feel completely immersed within the world of the book. When I was reading Snow Child, which is set in Alaska, I could feel the cold, hear the crunch of footsteps on ice, and the wail of a howling wind.

5. Alison Croggon. When I was a teen, I absolutely devoured her Pellinor series. I can still remember traces of her novels, and the feelings they made me feel. But when I picked up her newest novel, Black Spring, I fell in love with her work all over again.

6. Laini Taylor. As with every other author listed so far, Laini is mentioned because of her writing. Can you tell I'm a sucker for poetic prose?

7. Franny Billingsley. Again, pretty writing. Her stories are like fairy tales, they evoke a sense of wonder and beauty and magic. Love love love. I just wish that she wrote faster so that I could have more books to devour and cry over.

8. Cherie Priest. The first person on this list who isn't here because of pretty writing. Not that she writes bad or anything. I'm more interested in her imagination. I absolutely loved Boneshaker. The world, the characters, the atmosphere.

9. Neil Gaiman. Of course this man would be on this list. Of-freaking-course. This man is a crazed genius. American Gods is one of my all-time fave novels because of the original vision of mythology being pitted against modernism. And then there's the Sandman graphic novels. And his books for children. And his short stories. And his scripts for Doctor Who... There's just so much that this man has done, and it's all been practically perfect.

10. Alison Goodman. After falling in love with Eon and its sequel Eona, I knew that I had to have every single book that Goodman will ever write. She writes rich, vivid, well-researched worlds, that tackle social issues like femininity, transsexuality, spirituality etc, without feeling like you're being lectured. I love that sort of stuff.

So yeah, top ten authors that are on my auto-buy list.
Here, have a picture of Layla as a parting gift.

Books Read in January

It's hard to believe that January is almost over. Where did all the days go?

I've spent the majority of the month reading, editing, and worrying about adult responsibilities. Very tiring. Even though I'm on holidays, I feel like I've never been busier. 

So, here are the first books of the year. 

1. Heart of Steel (The Iron Seas, #2) - Meljean Brooke

2. Mr Fox - Helen Oyeyemi

3. Rebel Heart (Dust Lands, #2) - Moira Young

4. Fire Spell - Laura Amy Schlitz

5. Please Ignore Vera Dietz - A.S. King

6. The Brides of Rollrock Island - Margo Lanagan *

7. The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera

8. Monsters of Men (Chaos Walking, #3) - Patrick Ness

9. Between the Lines - Jodie Picoult & Samantha van Leer

10. My Sister Lives on the Mantlepiece - Annabel Pitcher

11. Falling to Ash (Moth, #1) - Karen Mahoney

12. Shadows (Ashes, #2) - Isla J. Bick

13. Feast of Fools (The Morganville Vampires, #4) - Rachel Caine

14. The Farm (The Farm, #1) - Emily McKay

15. Jane Eyre Laid Bare - Charlotte Brontë & Eve Sinclair

Lazing out in the sun with the puppy

And because I'm in love with random statistics and such:

Pages: 5,328

Avg. pages: 355pgs per book

Ratings:

5 stars - 3

4 stars - 2

3 stars - 5

2 stars - 4

1 star -1

Of the above books, only one made it to my all-time favourites list: Margo Lanagan's Brides of Rollrock Island (published as Sea Hearts here in Aus). This was my first novel of hers that I'd read, and holy crap, I regret not picking up her stuff sooner. When I find the time, I plan on picking up Tender Morsels. 

Fire Spell by Laura Amy Schlitz was another book that I really loved--unfortunately it didn't make it onto the fave list, through no fault of its own, it just didn't click in that way. 

Pretty pictures make this book readable.

Another unforgettable book--for all the wrong reasons--was Jane Eyre Laid Bare. Curiosity forced me to pick it up. I love Jane Eyre. It's one of my favourite novels ever. But this... this was a monstrosity. It provided for some lol-sy entertainment, though, so I guess it served its purpose.

Other things that happened in January:

- meeting Neil Gaiman (for the second time in my life)

- getting my first tattoo

but both those two deserve their own posts, so keep an eye out in the next few days. ;)

I hope the first month of 2013 passed without any complications for everyone. And I hope February will be just as awesome as January. <3

Books Read in December

Ah, December has come and gone. A whole year has finally passed. December has been fantastic in terms of reading. I mean, I got 28 books read. Truth be told, though, quite a few of those were short story/novella e-books, and it helped me bump up my book count.

December is the time of the year where I hide in my room and avoid all social interactions. The Christmas season is a difficult time for me, and the only way for me to deal with it is to hide and read. I suppose I can't complain when it made me complete my challenge.

1. The Spindlers - Lauren Oliver
2. The Sacrifice (The Enemy, #4) - Charlie Higson
3. The Ask and the Answer (Chaos Walking, #2) - Patrick Ness
4. Grimspace (Sirantha Jax, #1) - Ann Aguirre
5. The New World (Chaos Walking, #0.5) - Patrick Ness
6. Errant (Killer Unicorns, #0.5) - Diana Peterfreund
7. Turn Here - Jackson Pearce
8. Clockwork Chloe - Ian Thomas Healy
9. number9dream - David Mitchell *
10. Black Spring - Alison Croggon *
11. When God Was a Rabbit - Sarah Winman
12. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
13. 172 Hours on the Moon - Johan Harstad
14. The Neverending Story - Michael Ende
15. Never Knew Another (Dogsland, #1) - J. M. McDermott
16. Snow White Blood Red (The Grimm Diaries Prequels, #1) - Cameron Jace
17. Ashes to Ashes and Cinders to Cinders (The Grimm Diaries Prequels, #2) - Cameron Jace
18. Beauty Never Dies (The Grimm Diaries Prequels, #3) - Cameron Jace
19. Ladle Rat Rotten Hut (The Grimm Diaries Prequels, #4) - Cameron Jace
20. Mary Mary Quite Contrary (The Grimm Diaries Prequels, #5) - Cameron Jace
21.  Blood Apples (The Grimm Diaries Prequels, #6) - Cameron Jace
22. Dead Girl's Dance (The Morganville Vampires, #2) - Rachel Caine
23. Midnight Alley (The Morganville Vampires, #3) - Rachel Caine
24. The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien *
25. Snow White and the Huntsman - Lily Blake
26. Ransomwood - Sherryl Jordan
27. Mystic City (Mystic City, #1) - Theo Lawrence
28. The Crimson Thread - Suzanne Weyn

So, on that note, the last monthly recap of 2012 has been posted.
I wish all my followers and readers and people-who-randomly-stumbled-upon-my-blog a fantastic new year.

Books Read in November

November flew by so quickly, didn't it? I was so busy and overloaded with NaNo, but thankfully still managed to get a decent amount of reading done.

As always, an * indicates a favourite book.

1. Faerie Tale - Raymond E. Feist
2. God's War (Bel Dame Apocrypha, #1) - Kameron Hurley
3. There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried to Kill her Neighbour's Baby - Ludmilla Petushevskaya
4. The Amber Amulet - Craig Silvey
5. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet - David Mitchell *
6. Blood Storm (Lharmell, #2) - Rhiannon Hart
7. Carnival of Souls - Melissa Marr
8. After the Quake - Haruki Murakami
9. The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking, #1) - Patrick Ness
10. Ghostwritten - David Mitchell *
11. Every Day - David Levithan
12. Enchanted - Alethea Kontis
13. Infidel (Bel Dame Apocrypha, #2) - Kameron Hurley

The most notable books are, of course, the two books by David Mitchell. He's fairly new to me; I only picked up his most famous novel, Cloud Atlas (soon to be a movie, which is why I was so intrigued in the first place) just last month. Immediately, I was a fan. I'm now going through the rest of his books. Two books on my to-read pile for December are the last two books of his that I haven't read, number9dream and Black Swan Green. To say I'm excited is an understatement. I have high hopes for these books.

Other books I'm planning to read in December include the second and third books in the Chaos Walking trilogy. I'm going to be doing a readalong with Glaiza and Emily from Goodreads when I get back from my vay-cay.

I've got a few more Murakami books to read--I've really fallen for his surrealism--and I want to start reading some more Virginia Woolf.

Sadly, I'm still 7 books behind on my goal of 200 books for this year. I need to read 25 books during December in order to make it. Oy vey. Wish me luck!

Books Read in October

Ah, it's that time of the month again.

No, not that time of the month. I mean the time where I post about all the books I've read.

I didn't manage to read too many books this month. I was busy with assignments during the first two weeks on October, and then I was fretting about NaNo.

While I didn't read as many books as I'd have liked to, I still managed to hit a few jackpots, which balances things out, I guess.

As always, * indicates a fave, and ~ indicates a graphic novel or manga.

1. Night Beach - Kirsty Eagar *
2. Friday Brown - Vikki Wakefield
3.  A Wild Sheep Chase - Haruki Murakami
4. Bayou Moon (The Edge, #2) - Ilona Andrews
5. Holier than Thou - Laura Buzo
6. Fifty Shades Freed (Fifty Shades, #3) - E.L. James
7. Fall for Anything - Courtney Summers
8. The Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass (Zelda, #10) - Akira Himekawa ~
9. Tiger's Destiny (The Tiger Saga, #4) - Colleen Houck
10. The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower, #2) - Stephen King
11. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running - Haruki Murakami
12. Sweet Evil (The Sweet Trilogy, #1) - Wendy Higgins
13. Seraphina (Seraphina, #1) - Rachel Hartman *
14. Death at Victoria Dock (Phryne Fisher, #4) -Kerry Greenwood
15. The Audition (Seraphina, #0.5) - Rachel Hartman
16. Zombies vs. Unicorns -edited by Holly Black & Justine Larbalestier

Of the selection, two really stood out: Night Beach and Seraphina. If you remember in my last monthly book recap, I posted a picture of Night Beach as a currently reading picture. It's a book that I can't help but love. It is subtly scary, has gorgeous prose, and well-thought out imagery and metaphors. And I am all about themes, imagery, and metaphors. I loved it so much I even wrote a review of it for a Non-Fiction assignment.

Seraphina caters to the love of a high-fantasy world with dragons that my younger self used to harbour.   Hartman writes with such fluidity that it's hard not to be enchanted. Coupled with Seraphina's strangeness and the garden inside her head (oh, the garden! Definitely my favourite part of the book), it created a world that I never wanted to leave. I'm greatly anticipating the next book. I don't think I can handle waiting till next year.

Other notable books include both of the Murakami books I'd read this month, A Wild Sheep Chase, and What I Talk ABout When I Talk About Running. Sheep was just amazing. I wasn't quite expecting such a mind-fuck of a book. It felt so surreal, much like a dream, which I've heard is Murakami's usual style, so that makes me super excited to read more of his stuff. Running is a memoir about his life as a marathon runner, though he draws heavily on his writing career, as well. He uses running as an analogy to writing, giving lots of great tips that apply to both. It really perked me up for NaNo.

Books Read in September

Gosh, this has been the crappiest month ever. I've been constantly sick, with on-again, off-again flus, and then I found out that it was because I have sinusitis.
Sinusitis totally doesn't sound like a real sickness. Every time I catch myself saying it, I keep thinking, you just made that word up, didn't you? But I promise I didn't make it up. My doctor must have made it up, or something.
But yeah, that's what my life has been for the past month. I've missed a month's worth of classes, but that's okay, because most of my classes don't actually seem to need me to be present, so I'm a bit lucky. I've also gotten a bit behind on my reading and editing, because sinusitis apparently means that I need to have constant migraines because of the pressure of constantly blocked sinuses. Fuck you, sinuses!
I've been on antibiotics for the last 9 days, and they end tomorrow, but I don't feel much better. Bleh. I hate being sick.

Anywhos, enough of my whining, here are the books I managed to read this month:
As always, * indicates a favourite, and ~ indicates a graphic novel or manga or picture book.

1. Fifty Shades Darker (Fifty Shades of Grey, #2) - E.L. James
2. The Little Storm Dancer (The Lotus War, #1.5) - Jay Kristoff ~
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte *
4.  Flow: The Cultural Story of Menstruation  Elissa Stein & Susan Kim
5. Every Other Day - Jennifer Lynne Barnes
6. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell *
7. The Assassin and the Empire (Throne of Glass, #0.4) - Sarah J. Maas
8. City of Lost Souls (The Mortal Instruments, #5) - Cassandra Clare
9. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter - Seth Grahame Smith
10. The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower, #1) - Stephen King
11. Jurassic Park (Jurassic Park, #1) - Michael Crichton
12. Throne of the Crescent Moon (The Crescent Moon Kingdoms, #1) - Saladin Ahmed
13. Glass Houses (The Morganville Vampires, #1) - Rachel Caine

Image taken on my Instagram

14. On the Edge (The Edge, #1) - Ilona Andrews
15. Adorkable - Sarra Manning
16. The Avengers vol 1. - Brian Michael Bendis & John Romita Jr. ~

So yeah, not much of an exciting list this month. I finish uni halfway through October, so maybe then I'll have more time to read. If my sinusitis goes away, that is.
Of the books I read this month, only two really stood out: Jane Eyre and Cloud Atlas. 

Jane Eyre was read for my literature class for uni, and I loved every moment of it. The writing is just phenomenal, even though sometimes Bronte does tend to ramble on about the most inane detail. I can't wait to write my essay on it concerning gender and societal roles. I'm so excited. *is such a nerd*

Cloud Atlas also had phenomenal writing, but what made this book stand out was the sorta gimmicky way it combined six separate strands to make one overarching story. And each of the six stories, despite focusing on completely different topics, characters, and even genres, was fantastic in its own way. Several weeks later, and I'm still thinking about it. This book definitely needs a reread at some point in the future. Maybe before I watch the film.

Hopefully next month will bring a more fruitful list. I've been going insane from not reading enough. I'm not used to reading at the speed of a normal person. I don't like it. :c

Currently Reading.
Image taken on my Instagram

Can Adults Read Young Adult?

I was in the library today with my mother. We had an hour to kill before an appointment, so we were sitting in the Young Adult section: I was reading Adorkable, and my mum was flicking through some magazines. Then, a middle-aged woman, around my mother's age, walked into the section, and began browsing through the books.

As soon as the woman left, with a stack of YA books in tow, my mother started her rant:

"What is a woman her age doing reading books for teenagers? Has she no shame? Is she so dumb that she needs to read children's books?"
etc. etc. etc.

There's always a stigma towards books that aren't classics and/or literary. Genre books always get a lot of flack. But Young Adult seems to be getting the worst of it. People seem to think that because YA is aimed mainly at teens, that only teens should be able to read it. And, sometimes they go a step further, assuming that because it's aimed towards teens, it's somehow not as intellectual or as deep as adult novels. Basically, there's a lot of ageism going on.

It makes me wonder how people view me. I'm twenty years old. I haven't been in high school for three years. I'm definitely not a teen anymore, and I'm slowly ceasing to become a young adult. And, most importantly, I read practically nothing but young adult. I write only young adult.

Sure, there may be lots of YA books that are vapid and shallow, that are pale imitations of Twilight. But isn't that the same for books for adults? I don't mean to sound like a genre snob here, but a lot of smutty erotica novels are hardly deep (hurr hurr....). I've read a few books that are classed as literary (what is literature, anyway? But that's fodder for another post), that feel shallow, with stupid characters that are nothing more than Edward and Bella as adults.

But on the other hand, I've read some really deep YA, such as The Book Thief, Twenty Boy Summer, or Looking for Alaska, and they all deal with important topics. They are hardly vapid, and there's potential to teach a lot of people. Ditto with adult novels, whether they be literary or genre fiction.

I appologise for this ranty post. I realise it's not really going anywhere. I'm just trying to sort my thoughts into some semblance of sense, and I know it's not really working. Regardless of how much I'm failing at understanding this phenomena, I'd like to know what you guys think. Do you think that adults should be able to read books for teens, and vice versa? Is there something dumb about an adult reading below their age level? Why do you think this is?

Books Read in August

Howdy, folks. I know, I know, it's been a month since I last wrote. I promise, I was going to write a cool post about writing, but then I got horribly sick, right at the time that most of my assessment tasks were due. So yeah, I've been a bit busy. And as a result, I haven't read that much this month.
* indicates a favourite
~ indicates a graphic novel or manga

1. Past the Shallows - Favel Parrett
2. The Doomsday Vault - Steven Harper
3. Ship Breaker - Paolo Bacigalupi
4. The Selection - Kiera Cass
5. Princesses and Pornstars - Emily Maguire
6. Wildwood - Colin Meloy & Carson Ellis
7. Ascendant (Kiiler Unicorns, #2) - Diana Peterfreund
8. Murder on the Ballarat Train (Phryne Fisher, #3) - Kerry Greenwood
9. Rapture (Fallen, #4) - Lauren Kate
10. Irresponsible (Ultimate Spiderman, #7) - Brian Michael Bendis ~
11. End Run (New Birds of Prey, #1) - Gail Simone ~
12. Blood - Tony Birch
13. The Theban Plays - Sophocles
14. Magic Slays (Kate Daniels, #5) - Ilona Andrews *

Photo taken on my Instagram

Wahh, only 14 books read this month. That's almost nothing. And what makes this even worse is that most of the books were pretty meh. The only book that really stood out was the most recent book in the Kate Daniels series, and you can see me rant about how much I love that series here.

So, what books am I planning to read in September? Well, Jane Eyre and Notes From Underground for my Intro to Lit class (*swoon*!). I've already started Jane Eyre, and I'm loving it. It is taking a long tim to read, though, because of the dense writing, but oh man, it's so worth it.

Other books I'm planning on reading:

• Hoping to finish Abe Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. I'm so close to finishing it, but it's just so boring and dry, that I haven't wanted to pick it back up again.
• Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. I really want to read this before the movie comes out. It looks like it could be a fantastic film (yellowface issues aside. Let's not go there.)
• Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. I've never read any of Woolf's works. Perhaps I should start now. 
• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Can't believe I haven't yet read this. 
• Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. I love the movie. So so so much. Let's see how the book compares.
• Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami. Can you believe it, I've never read any Murakami, either. Hopefully this first foray into his work will not be my last.
• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Phillip K. Dick. This is for research purposes. My current novel is a sci-fi/cyberpunk that deals with the idea of humanity in a world with cyborgs and androids. 
• Finally, Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed. I'm so excited to read this. I love love love  books set in a non-white/European fantasy world. And it has a gorgeous cover. Just look at it.

Those are just the books I have from the library. I'm not even going to go into the books I own/ARCs from publishers. Maybe I'll save that for another post.

In the meantime, stay classy, internet.

Books Read in July

July was a pretty good month for me in terms of reading, mostly due to the fact I was on holidays for the most part. 

Surprisingly, a lot of the books I read were fairly good, with quite a handful becoming my favourites--for example, the books by Ilona Andrews and Catherynne M. Valente. Sadly, I also read Fifty Shades of Grey, which, as you can probably tell from my last post, I did not enjoy at all.

* indicates a favourite

~ indicates a graphic novel/manga

1. Magic Bites (Kate Daniels, #1) - Ilona Andrews *

2. Public Scrutiny (Ultimate Spiderman, #5) - Brian Michael Bendis ~

3. Yume No Hon: The Book of Dreams - Catherynne M. Valente *

4. Rampant (Killer Unicorns, #1) - Diana Peterfreund

4. Like Mandarin - Kirsten Hubbard

5. Venom (Ultimate Spiderman, #6) - Brian Michael Bendis ~

6. Morning Glories, vol 2. - Nick Spenser ~*

7. Magic Burns (Kate Daniels, #2) - Ilona Andrews *

8. Magic Strikes (Kate Daniels, #3) - Ilona Andrews *

9. The Bloody Chamber - Angela Carter

10. The Purity Myth - Jessica Valenti

11. Fifty Shades of Grey (Fifty Shades of Grey, #1) - E.L. James

12. Puberty Blues - Kathy Lette (reread)

13. Deathless - Catherynne M. Valente *

14. Go Ask Alice - Anonymous

15. The Springsweet (The Vespertine, #2) - Saundra Mitchell

16. Darkly Dreaming Dexter (Dexter, #1) - Jeff Lindsay

17. The Cement Garden - Ian McEwan

18. Fragile Things - Neil Gaiman

19. Serpent's Kiss (The Beauchamp Family, #2) - Melissa de la Cruz

20.  Cunt: A Declaration of Independence - Inga Muscio

21. The Ersatz Elevator (A Series of Unfortunate Events, #6) - Lemony Snicket

22. Magic Bleeds (Kate Daniels, #4) - Ilona Andrews *

Fifty Shades of Feminism

As a feminist and a book-lover, it should come as no surprise that I read this book. Fifty Shades of Grey, the erotic bestselling novel that started life out on fanfiction.net, is one of those books that starts trends. Just like Harry Potter, Twilight and The Hunger Games.

But what makes it so popular? After all, there are thousands of books that are written far better, have more enticing sex scenes, and have believable characters. Honestly, this whole craze is a conundrum.

This isn’t a review, so much as a commentary on the popularity of 50 Shades, and how it appropriates misogyny, abusive relationships, and rape. Basically, a feminist rant about all the bad things about the book. You have been warned.

So, I guess I’ll just jump right into it:

Christian Grey is an abusive, manipulating rapist.

There is no way around it. That’s what it is.

Anastasia Steel is a twenty-year-old woman, about to graduate from college, when she meets the apparently sexy Christian Grey. She does the typical high-school do-I-like-him? Does-he-like-me? spiel, and they end up together. Whatever.

Let’s talk about how this oh-so romantic relationship is abusive, shall we?

Right from the get-go, Christian is controlling of Ana, from what she wears, what she eats, to whether she shaves or waxes any part of her body. When they go out to a restaurant, this is what happens:

"Two glasses of the Pinot Grigio," Christian says with a voice of authority. I purse my lips, exasperated.
"What?" he snaps.
"I wanted a Diet Coke," I whisper.
His gray eyes narrow and he shakes his head. "The Pinot Grigio here is a decent wine. It will go well with the meal, whatever we get," he says patiently. -pg 152

 Okay, so he doesn't let her choose her own drink, and completely dismisses her when she speaks up. There are many other instances of him having total control of her actions. She is never her own person, and she proves that she's very vulnerable to being manipulated, as we see from the very first page, when her best friend makes her interview Mr Grey, even though Ana doesn't want to.
When Christian finds out that she wants to go to Georgia to visit her mother, he even tries to guilt trip her into not going. She wants to see her own mother! Seriously.

Christian knows that Ana is insecure, and he uses that insecurity to his advantage, much in the way most abusers do. He manipulates Ana into doing what she wants by withholding emotional affection from her, which he knows is what she really wants. It is in this way that he gets her to agree to sign the contract, and to try out the kinky stuff that she's expressed multiple times that she's not comfortable with.
The amount of times that Ana has begged Christian not to be angry with her is appalling, over the tiniest things, from having a male friend, driving her car, and wanting to see her own mother. She is often terrified of him leaving her because of something she's done--usually something insignificant like one of the things I've listed.

On page 476, she tells the reader:

"I become aware that once again the only empty seat is beside me. I shake my head as the thought crosses my mind that Christian might have purchased the adjacent seat so that I couldn't talk to anyone. I dismiss the idea as ridiculous--no one could be that controlling, that jealous, surely."

How is that okay? How is that attractive? This level of jealousy and control is dangerous. Women have ended up beaten unconscious, or worse, dead, because of this kind of manipulation. He even becomes frighteningly jealous of all the males that Ana interacts with, even going so far as to blaming her and making her feel guilty if they call her.


And, on page 498:

"If you'll say no, you'll say no. I'll have to find other ways to persuade you."

Wait, what? Persuading someone to have sex with you, when you know they don't want to, is, to put it simply, rape. Right here, in this quote, Christian Grey is telling Ana that, sure, she doesn't have to have sex with him, but he'll make her want it anyway.

This brings me to the idea that he is a rapist. In the same scene, he tells Ana:

"No one's ever said no to me before. And it's so--hot....I'm mad and aroused because you closed your legs to me... I want you, and I want you now. And if you're not going to let me spank you--which you deserve--I'm going to fuck you on the couch this minute, quickly, for my pleasure, not yours" - pg 348

This right here, ladies and gentlemen, is rape.  And this isn't something that women should be thinking is okay. I've seen so many women whine and moan about how their men weren't more like Christian Grey, and all I can think is, so, you want your man to treat you like an object, to use your body disrespectfully against your will?
Look, I'll let you in on a personal tidbit: I was raped. And let me tell you, it was hardly as erotic as this book makes it out to be. Being raped is the most shaming, traumatising thing I've been through. It has still left me broken and unable to fully put myself into my relationships with men. Every man I've ever come in contact with, from my partner, my father, male friends, or just random men sitting a few feet away from me on the train minding their own business, they all scare me shitless, and I worry that at some point, they will rape me.

That this book sexualises rape disgusts me. That it has taught women to be passive, to have their sex lives dictated by their partners, makes me feel sick to my very stomach. Sure, it's made women far more sexual in their lives, and made them willing to try out BDSM, and other forms of pleasure, but at what cost? When women are saying that they wish their man acted more like this rapist, something is definitely wrong.

Christian Grey, unsurprisingly, does more rapey things.
When he and Ana have sex for the first time, Ana is worried that he won't fit inside her because of his erection. He has to actually explain to her that her vagina expands to accommodate his erection. She's so sexually unaware and immature, that she can't properly give consent. This is why minors can't have sex: because most of the time, they don't know what it is, what happens, and what sort of consequences may arise out of it.

The scariest thing is, Ana, at some point, does realise that she's stuck in an abusive relationship. On page 354, she tells the reader:

"Because I think I love you, and you just see me as a toy. Because I can't touch you, because I'm too frightened to show you any affection in case you flinch or tell me off or worse--beat me?"

It's not even subtle. She's aware that she's being physically and emotionally abused. She's aware that this relationship is bad for her, and she actively fears Christian. At this point of the book, I honestly started crying, because this is a common thought that runs through the heads of women stuck in abusive relationships. They are aware that something's wrong, but they stay. They stay because they're so dependent on the abuser--as Ana seems to be--, or they stay because they fear what will happen if they do leave. This was the breaking point for me, and I can't understand how other women can't see this.

On the back of the book, it says that this book is liberating. No, it isn't. It is slowly breaking down all the progress that us women have tried so hard to achieve. That this book is such a best-seller, and is influencing women's sex lives in such a negative way (and I don't mean with the BDSM, which is actually quite tame, to be honest...), makes me worried.

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Book Rec : Kate Daniels series

Book the first.

Okay, so very recently, I finished reading the third book of the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews.
Oh. My. God.

It is wonderful.

Now, I'm not such a huge fan of urban fantasy. Most of the books I've read in that genre seem to be pretty meh for me. The only other UF that I'd read and loved was the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning, and after Shadowfever, I'd been pining away for a great, new series to fill the void. I read the first books of countless series, all of them leaving me bored. Until now.

Basically, this series has everything I hope for.

Kate Daniels is a kick ass heroine. She has a freaking sword and cuts people apart, and when she meets the Beast Lord for the first time, she calls out, "Here, kitty, kitty", knowing that he could rip her apart if he so wished. How epic is that? She doesn't take shit from anyone, and that's the kind of strong heroine I like to read about, yet she still knows her flaws, and works around them to get what she wants.

Next, there's the romance. It is definitely not insta-love. The romance develops over several books (which spans at least half a year), starting with cute flirtation, finally moving on to full on steamy scenes that had me drooling and wanting more. There's that feeling of anticipation that grows, and Andrews uses that anticipation so well, far better than most romances I've read.

There's a whole range of characters, and none of them are two-dimensional. They all seem to be living, breathing, ass-kicking people, and I love each and every one of them. They grow steadily, and all have flaws that make them real. Damn, it's so hard to find real characters lately. But man, Andrews makes it work.

Finally, I have to talk about the plot. The plots for these books gets better and better. You can see Andrews becoming a better writer with each book, and that sort of growth in writing is something I admire a lot.

Seriously, if you haven't read it yet, I urge you to go and get your hands on them now.