All posts filed under: Books

Book Review: The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

A little delayed but here is the long-awaited book review of The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George that I had finally finished reading some time over the week. I must admit that the book was pretty damn amazing. Why? No matter how desperate I wanted to finish reading the book and keep up with my 2016 Goodreads Reading Challenge, I also wanted to take my time with it. It was quite a dilemma, indeed. What I liked about the book was the writing style. It was casually-written, injected with lots of bookish humour and dry sarcasm. The kind of dry Bitish wit that mocks your intelligence but you know they’re just kidding. They don’t mean to put you down or ridicule you. They just want to make you laugh. I also loved how literary it was, with the author leaving a smattering of bite-sized pieces of quotes in books written by dead (or still alive) bestselling authors. Monsieur Jean Perdu’s occupation as the literary apothecary, where he turned a little barge into his floating book clinic on the Seine, sealed my love for …

Five Months of Being a Librarian

Originally posted on Am I Thirty Yet:
Yesterday I celebrated my graduation. I technically graduated way back in December of 2015, which feels like ages ago, but the ceremony was yesterday. Since I skipped my graduation for my Bachelor’s, I decided to attend this one. It was mostly a bunch of nonsense. People are still spewing those same you-can-do-it speeches that we all know are bullshit. But I am still glad that I went. It was nice to see all my old classmates and to celebrate one last time one of the best decisions I ever made. It took me awhile to decide to go back to school. I wasn’t anywhere close to paying off my student loans and the thought of adding on even more debt, made me want to puke. But I knew I wasn’t happy with my current job and needed a change. Books and libraries always fascinated me. Somehow I just knew it was a career I would love. So after doing some research, I took the plunge and went back to…

The Rose and the Dagger (Renée Ahdieh)

Originally posted on My Tiny Obsessions:
The much anticipated sequel to the breathtaking The Wrath and the Dawn, lauded by Publishers Weekly as “a potent page-turner of intrigue and romance.” I am surrounded on all sides by a desert. A guest, in a prison of sand and sun. My family is here. And I do not know whom I can trust. In a land on the brink of war, Shahrzad has been torn from the love of her husband Khalid, the Caliph of Khorasan. She once believed him a monster, but his secrets revealed a man tormented by guilt and a powerful curse — one that might keep them apart forever. Reunited with her family, who have taken refuge with enemies of Khalid, and Tariq, her childhood sweetheart, she should be happy. But Tariq now commands forces set on destroying Khalid’s empire. Shahrzad is almost a prisoner caught between loyalties to people she loves. But she refuses to be a pawn and devises a plan. While her father, Jahandar, continues to play with magical forces…

Book Review #71 – I Am Malala, by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb

Originally posted on Cat's Shelf:
Hello guys! It’s time for another non-fiction review. I bring you I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban (pt. Eu, Malala: A minha luta pela liberdade e pelo direito à educação), by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb. Get this title from Book Depository Once child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world. If you’re a feminist, like myself, you’re most likely aware of Malala’s work and a bit of her story already. She is a Pakistani girl who always fought against the Taliban oppression in her region, specially against their wrong ideals of preventing girls from getting educated. In 2012, Malala was shot in the head by the group and had to flee her country, living now in England but still continuing her activism. In this book, she tells her story, right from the beginning of it all. I really admired Malala before starting this and I’m glad to say that reading this book only made me admire and…

Book Review #66 – Breakfast at Tiffany’s, by Truman Capote

Originally posted on Cat's Shelf:
Hey guys! Today’s post is going to be about Breakfast at Tiffany’s, by Truman Capote. Buy this book from Book Depository Recently I read another of Capote’s books, In Cold Blood (I posted my review here) and I totally feel in love with his writing. But before that, I found this beautiful (and super cheap, I might add) copy of Breakfast at Tiffany’s at a flea market, so I just bought it without thinking a lot. Unless you live under a rock, you’ve probably heard about the movie with the same name as this book, staring Audrey Hepburn. I mean, that’s probably what most people think about when they hear the tittle. Of course, this book contains that, but it’s not all. It also contains other short stories, like House of Flowers, A Diamond Guitar and A Christmas Memory. From what I can understand, most editions of this book contain the four stories. I read this when I was at a particular busy time in school but that didn’t stop me from…

Jane and the Waterloo Map by Stephanie Barron Blog Tour + GIVEAWAY

Originally posted on Reflections of a Book Addict:
When I was first asked to join the blog tour for Jane and the Waterloo Map by Stephanie Barron, I was super excited. It’s been a while since I’ve read the other books in the Jane Austen Mysteries series, but I remember loving the idea of Jane Austen as a sleuth. It’s obvious that Jane was observant in real life, as her observations and commentary on the societal events of the day were both astute and very progressive. Therefore it’s not exactly a stretch to think that she would be observant enough to solve mysteries. From the great success that Barron has had so far, it’s clear that many other people agree with me and have loved to see Jane in this new and exciting role. This time we follow Jane as she embarks on an exciting treasure hunt that has very dangerous and real implications. (Below the book blurb and author bio are giveaway instructions so you can win your own copy!) Book Blurb: November, 1815. The…

Swan Boy

Originally posted on drinkingbooks:
Today I’m going to be talking about the beautiful Swan Boy by the wonderful Nikki Sheehan which is not released until 5th May 2016. I received a copy of Swan Boy via Rocktheboat (I also got a freaky awesome bookmark too!) in exchange for an honest review. And I can assure you this is an fantastic book! I gave it 5/5 Stars on goodreads. Firstly, here is a look at this gorgeous cover. From the cover I imagined the story to have something to do with Swans, a boy and London from the red bus. I was not wrong. Swan Boy is about a boy called Johnny who has recently moved from his home with his younger brother and mum after his dad sadly died unexpectedly. Normally a book with a young child in can be a bit… put off-ish. But Sheehan captured the essence of what being a kid is- pretending to be anything you want! Drawing on tables, being told its your bedtime (when really its like 5 hours…

Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin

Originally posted on A frolic through fiction:
*All reviews I write are spoiler free* What a confusing title! Way too much repetition in those six words. I finished reading this book on Wednesday, but since I uploaded my discussion post that day, I saved my review for today. Also having wolves as my favourite animal and being quite artistic came in handy when I needed a background for the review image, since I had this painting I did years ago stuck to my wall! Ahhaha 😀 So let’s talk about Wolf by Wolf! Title: Wolf by Wolf Author: Ryan Graudin Publisher: Indigo Series Status: The first in the Wolf by Wolf series (others yet to be released) Number of Pages: 379 My Rating: 4/5 stars!    (Found on Goodreads) Once upon a different time, there was a girl who lived in a kingdom of death. Wolves howled up her arm. A whole pack of them-made of tattoo ink and pain, memory and loss. It was the only thing about her that ever stayed the same.Her story…