Sunday 26 July 2015

Popular: How a Geek in Pearls Discovered the Secret to Confidence by Maya Van Wagenen

Popular by Maya Van Wagenen
Published: Speak, April 15st 2014
Pages: 272
Source: Paperback, purchased
Genre: Nonfiction
Rating: 5/5

How I Felt: Inspirational and relatable! A must-read for anyone that's ever felt like they just don't belong.

This is the first memoir, as well as non-fiction book I've ever read! I was very impressed! It was moving, heartfelt, and honest. I think I might just have to pick up more books from this genre after how amazing this book was!

I read this book in less than 24 hours. I stayed up so late reading it because I couldn't put it down! Then I woke up super early and began reading right where I left off! I related so much to Maya while reading this book, she was so much like me. I'm still the shy, quiet, awkward girl that she used to be. This book inspired me to be more than that. I've never really related as much with a person as I have with Maya.


In short, Maya's writing style is fantastic! And for someone so young! There is true talent in Maya Van Wagenen and I can't wait to see what she does with it! I loved the way this book had charts, blurbs, and pictures throughout. It kept the story going and helped to lighten the mood and made the book a little bit more interesting!


I was moved to tears many times while reading this book! Maya Van Wagenen's writing is truly beautiful and she has so much talent! I hope she writes more books so I can gobble them up like I did this one!

Overall, this book was amazing! I highly recommend it to anyone, there's really no age limit! Truly inspirational! This is a book I'll look forward to rereading whenever I'm feeling blue. Can't wait to see what she writes in the future!


Favourite Quotes:
  • “Popularity is more than looks. It’s not clothes, hair, or even possessions. When we let go of these labels, we see how flimsy and relative they actually are. Real popularity is kindness and acceptance. It is about who you are, and how you treat others.”  
  •  “No popularity exists when tragedy strikes. All that's left are human hearts and love and ache. We all love each other, deep down, and when we see another soul in pain we can't help but hurt too.”  

Thanks for reading!
~Birdie

***Quotes taken from Goodreads.com and Popular by Maya Van Wagenen***
*Info on book taken from Goodreads.com*

Friday 24 July 2015

Perfect Ruin by Lauren DeStefano

Perfect Ruin by Lauren DeStefano
Published: Simon & Schuster, October 1st, 2013
Pages: 356
Source: Hardcover, library
Genre: Dystopian
Rating: 3/5

How I Felt: This book took me a long time to get into. Lauren DeStefano's writing always gives me a hard time and I don't know why it keeps happening. I didn't really like the characters too much. I was just detached from them, I didn't feel any emotional attachment and didn't really care what happened to them.

I picked this book up because of the very interesting premise. It's about this city, sent into exile by this mysterious god because of crimes they committed or things they did wrong (I didn't completely understand what it was they did wrong that got them sent into the sky). They were banished from living on the ground so the city was ripped out of the earth to sort of hover in the sky. This premise immediately intrigued me, but the book disappointed me a little bit.

We see from the eyes of Morgan, who is a 16-year-old living on this floating utopian society. I didn't like her character too much. She was just so naïve and not eager to learn anything about her city or where she came from. She was just floating along relying on everyone else to help her. Sometimes her decisions bothered me, but she wasn't as bad as some other characters I've read about. I'd have to say my favourite character is Basil, Morgan's betrothed. I expected him to get angry with Morgan and leave once he found out what was going on with her family but he didn't and I admire him for that. I thought there was going to be a love triangle with Judas and I'm so glad there wasn't!

A question I had while reading the book was how could they all breathe if the city is so high up in the sky? Isn't the air too thin for them to breathe? And this wasn't answered until more than half way through the book, and it was just kind of thrown in to a train of thought haphazardly as a weak answer without a serious explanation. This, and other instances annoyed me because it led to very little world building. The city itself was vaguely explained which I guess is attributed to how little the king lets the citizens know. But we weren't even given a time period. I was guessing futuristic dystopian, but after reading the synopsis of the sequel it sounds like the 20s. I'm just very confused in that aspect.

The ending left me interested and with a lot of questions but I don't know if I'm really interested in continuing the series. I might just pick it up from the library when I have nothing to read.

I don't really have too much to say because this book just didn't keep my interest enough. It is a pretty slow read most of the time. The characters are pretty shallow in terms of development and emotion. The world is pretty underdeveloped. But the mystery keeps it moving and so do some of the characters.


I recommend it if you've read Lauren's other books or if you like dystopian or mystery books. The concept is unique so if that's enough to keep you going by all means give this a try.

Favourite Quotes:
  • “Every star has been set in the sky. We mistakenly think they were put there for us.”
  • “So many of the things I've wanted are the things I've been taught to fear.”
  • “The madness of youth made me unafraid.”
  • “A strange thing, words. Once they're said, it's hard to imagine they're untrue.”  
Thanks for reading!
~Birdie

***Quotes taken from Goodreads.com and Perfect Ruin by Lauren DeStefano***
*Info on book taken from Goodreads.com*

Thursday 23 July 2015

The Blogger Recognition Awards

I'd like to start this post off by giving a big thank you to the amazing blogger who nominated me! Thank you so much Library Luv over at Beyond the Book Reviews for nominating me! You've made my day!

Rules
1. Select 15 other blogs to give the award to. You might have to do some searching, but you can find those blogs. You can’t nominate yourself or the person who nominated you.

2. Make a post to show off your award! Talk about how your blog got started and give some advice to the other bloggers out there. And share the fancy picture!

3. Comment on each blog to let the blogger know that you have nominated them.

4. Link to the original post at Edge of Night; that way, anyone can find the original guidelines and such.

How Birdie's Books Came To Be
I was thinking about making a book blog ever since I discovered such things existed. None of my friends were as obsessed with reading as I was and I just wanted to be able to have other people to talk to. I first discovered BookTube, but I didn't ever really consider it because I was too scared to put myself out there like that. Then when I discovered the blogging community, I found a way to share my opinions in a way that I was more comfortable with. I didn't immediately make a blog after I decided I wanted to because I had a hard time coming up with a cool, catchy name that wasn't already taken. I came up with Birdie's Books because Birdie is a nickname my friends gave me, and one day when I was thinking of ideas it just kind of stuck. And thus, Birdie's Books was born!

Advice (from a rookie)
I still consider myself a rookie because even though it'll be my one year bloggiversary in a few  days, I still have a lot less experience than some other fantastic bloggers. But over this past year I've learned a few things from blogging.

1. Always be passionate about what you're writing.
If you're passionate, and really care about what you're writing on your blog it will show. You'll be able to tell through your posts if you really care, and not just posting this because you think you need to.

2. Always post about what you like and don't worry about what others are doing.
This is very basic advice and can be applied to anything, but it's important when writing blogs because it's often forgotten. You shouldn't ever think you need to post certain things because that's what all the big bloggers are doing or because you think that's how you'll get more followers. What's most important is that you write the kind of posts you'd like to read. Be unique and have fun with it, that's how you'll get noticed.

3. Write for yourself.
Your blog should be the embodiment of you. It's your escape from when things in you life get too hard. If you don't like the kind of stuff you're writing about, and have to start forcing yourself to write then what's the point? Be confident about your content. Read over it and make sure you like it before you publish it, if it's something you're proud of then don't worry about what others tell you.

I hope this advice helped!

My Nominees
1. Jay at Books by Jay
2. Evie at Prescription Fiction
3. Maddie at The Girly Geek
4. Tash at The Bookie Monsters
5. Erica at Books 4 Ev
6. Lisa at Lisabella Books
7. Ivey at The Hopeless Reader
8. Erin at The Hardcover Lover
9. Jackie at Books from Trees
10. Katie at Polished Page Turners
11. Jodie at Summer B00ks
12. Caitlin at The YA Bookworm
13. Chelsea at Beautiful Fandoms
14. Justin at Justin's Book Blog
15. Aneeqah at My Not So Real Life

Thanks for reading!
~Birdie

Saturday 18 July 2015

My Summer TBR

I'm so excited to be done with school and just have all the time in the world to relax and read! I still have one week left of school so that means exams, but after that I'll be free! These are some of the books I'll be reading in the summer, this isn't guaranteed though because I don't usually stick to TBRs, but these are the books I need to get to before summer finishes!


1. Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid.
Yet another book that's been on my shelves for a while! I got this book when it first came out because it was one of the top books being hauled from BEA that year, a lot of people were reading it and enjoying it so I picked it up! I'm excited to read this because it's a road trip book told from a bunch of different perspectives. It sounds really fun and like a great summer read!






2. P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han.
This is the sequel to To All The Boys I've Loved Before that came out last year. I read the first book as soon as it came out and fell in love with the characters! It was just such a fun, quick, and adorable contemporary read! I'm so excited to pick this one up and see what's going on with some of my favourite characters!




3. Entwined by Heather Dixon.
This book has been sitting on my shelf for about two years and I still haven't read it! I tried to read it a while ago but just couldn't get into it. I really want to give this book another chance because I really like the premise and fingers crossed it'll be good! It's a retelling of the 12 dancing princesses which was one of my favourite fairy tales as a kid!






4. The Archived by Victoria Schwab.
I'm so excited to read this book! It's been on my shelf for almost a year and I haven't picked it up yet because I haven't really ever been in the mood to read it. But now I'm going to read it no matter what! I've heard such great things about Victoria's writing style, and even though I've been told this isn't her best book I'm still so excited to read it and see what it's about and form my own opinions!






5. The Maze Runner by James Dashner.
I'm not too excited to pick up this book because I've tried to read it and get into it multiple times and haven't been able to. I also couldn't sit through more than 10 minutes of the movie. I really like the premise and it sounds really interesting and like something I'd enjoy, but there's something about the writing and story that's making me have a hard time enjoying it.








6. The Forsaken by Lisa M. Stasse.
I picked this book up a few months ago but put it down to read another book. I want to pick it back up and continue reading because I was enjoying it and I've heard good things. It's also been on my TBR pile for a few years so I also want to read it because of that.






7. Incarnate by Jodi Meadows.
Another book that's been on my shelf forever. I bought this book when I was really interested in King Arthur reincarnation stories, and as I outgrew that phase, this book just kept getting pushed back on my TBR list. I want to finally pick it up now that all the books are out and read it because I still find the story really interesting and the cover is gorgeous!

Those are some of the books I plan on reading this summer! Let me know if there are some I should get to immediately!

Thanks for reading!

~Birdie

Saturday 11 July 2015

Open Road Summer by Emery Lord

Open Road Summer by Emery Lord
Published: Walker, April 15th, 2014
Pages: 368
Source: Paperback, purchased
Genre: Contemporary
Rating: 4/5 (88%)

How I felt: This is the perfect summer read! I was surprised by this book, I didn't expect to like it as much as I do. I've seen many negative reviews about this book so I went into it with pretty low expectations, and came out satisfied and pleasantly surprised!

The fact that this was about the best friend of a celebrity really interested me and was half of the reason why I picked this book up. After this book I'm definitely reading books with similar situations.

I really found myself liking and connecting with the main character, Reagan, and her constant need to build walls to protect herself because so many people in her life had hurt her. I really liked how her friendship with country superstar Dee was written and portrayed, it reminded me a lot of the relationship Maya and Riley have on Girl Meets World.

I really like Matt, I liked how he was able to hold a conversation with Reagan and tease her without backing down or getting scared. I admired him for being able to stick around even after she told him about all her mistakes.

I really liked Emery's writing style, it was easy to read and enjoyable. I can't wait to pick up her other book!

One of my favourite parts was at the end when Reagan talks to her Dad about Matt and he's trying so hard not to laugh, it was just so adorable to see her family mending itself and slowly coming together.

I read this book very quickly, in less than a day. I picked it up randomly for a quick, cute, fun contemporary and that's exactly what I got. I just kept reading until the pages melted away and I finally read the last line. This was such a beautiful story, and there were definitely points that made me tear up a bit. I definitely recommend this to fans of contemporary!

Favourite Quotes:
  • “I want to reach back into my history with a grade-school pink eraser, scrubbing away my decisions like mistakes on a math test. To bad I drew my mistakes in ink.”
  • “His eyes are somewhere between gray and blue, and his hair is somewhere between brown and blond, and I am somewhere between hostile and attracted.”
  • “I think it's the bravest thing in the world - to run straight at love, even knowing how badly you could get hurt.”
  • “Stop documenting the moment for a second, he told me. Just be in it.”
  • “Dee says that phrases in songs are like beads in a necklace – they should stand on their own, but they make the most sense together.”
  •   “Laughter feels like our flotation device -- it won't pull us out of the storm, but it might carry us through, if we can just hang on.”
Thanks for reading!
~Birdie

***Quotes taken from Goodreads.com and Open Road Summer by Emery Lord***
*Info on book taken from Goodreads.com*

Tuesday 7 July 2015

My Favourite Books of 2015 so far!

Hey there book lover! Sorry it's been so long since I last made a blog post, I've just been very busy recently and things have finally slowed down now that it's SUMMER! So I just thought I'd share my top 7 books of the year so far because I've already read quite a few fantastic ones that I just need to talk about! Here they are in no particular order.


1. Significance by Shelly Crane.
This is a very recent read for me, I just read it a couple weeks ago in hopes of getting out of a mini reading slump. And boy did this book do the trick! I was hooked from page one and couldn't put it down! It's a paranormal romance that reminded me a lot of the Lux series. The first book is free for e-readers so I highly recommend you check it out!


2. Throne of Glass by Sarah. J. Maas.
This is the first book in a 6 book fantasy series. I picked it up because everyone everywhere has already read it and there were mini fights going on about which ship is endgame so I just wanted to see what all the fuss was about. And I'm so glad I gave this book a shot! It was fast-paced, action-packed, and full of mystery! I have a review of it up on this blog if you want to know more about how I felt!


3. An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir.
Another book I picked up because of the hype, and another book that satisfied me and left me wanting more! A great fantasy book filled with intrigue, mystery, politics, and a lot of fantastical elements! A stunning début! I also have a review of this on this blog if you want to read more about my thoughts.

4. The Heir by Kiera Cass.
Of course I just had to get my hands on this book as soon as it came out because I absolutely loved the Selection series. This book did not disappoint! I just love the characters so much so it was really weird but fun to see them all as grownups and parents! I recommend this book if you love the Selection series! (And I have to say that I'm 100% team Kile!)


5. Angelfall and World After by Susan Ee.
I read these books because I remember Christine from PolandbananasBOOKS was raving about them. I'm so glad I did because they were so fast-paced and entertaining! It was very unique and for the first time in a long time the protagonist was actually intelligent and thought for herself. I highly recommend these and I can't wait to finally get to the last book!


6. Pawn by Aimee Carter.
This book surprised me, I picked it up just to get it off my TBR pile and found myself really enjoying it and wanting to continue with the series. The best way for me to describe it is to say it's a cross between Uglies by Scott Westerfeld, The Selection by Kiera Cass and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. It was so good! I also really enjoyed the second book as well and I can't wait for the third book to come out so I can finally find out what happens!


7. Open Road Summer by Emery Lord.
I didn't expect this book to make this list at all because I've heard and seen so many negative reviews. But I was pleasantly surprised and blown away by this book! It's a quick, fun contemporary that focuses on the importance of friendship. I really liked the friendship aspect of this book and how it was portrayed. I felt myself really connecting with the main character and I really liked how she went through a lot of character development. I just finished this book yesterday so if you want to see my short goodreads review I'll leave that here.


Well, these are just some of my favorite books of the year so far, there are plenty more, I just don't want this post to be too long. What are some of your favorite books of the year so far?


Thanks for reading!
~Birdie

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