tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49322922476368235262024-03-10T23:22:45.785-04:00Writer of WrongsReviews, Bookish Discussions, Giveaways, and all things YAGillyBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622344092774777709noreply@blogger.comBlogger727125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932292247636823526.post-23206820949593719022018-01-07T00:00:00.000-05:002018-01-07T00:00:01.475-05:00End of Year Survey: 2017<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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LORDY THIS IS GOING TO BE LONG SO I'M SKIPPING AN INTRODUCTION. As always, <a href="http://www.perpetualpageturner.com/2017/12/8th-annual-end-of-year-survey-2017-edition.html" target="_blank">link to Jamie's original post here</a>, and yay team! We survived 2017! *collapses in exhaustion*<br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="278" data-original-width="1024" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoZZM5ZD3-FXxT1JJFuK2Q9jg41sbOza9FB51VJXd6H6LkQf2jWS46cDwKmy8_InBPLLokORmQTb7dCHK-b1VmXvPvWmKdyd-1KgmbhQ4pzitOnwsvxou6r1DvwTjj6BzMky0ntuZswiaW/s640/reading-stats-2017-1024x278.jpg" width="640" /><br />
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<b>Number Of Books You Read: </b>98<br />
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<b> Number of Re-Reads:</b> 19 (!!! So many! Including the entire HP series and entire Hunger Games series which is basically non-fiction at this point)<br />
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<b> Genre You Read The Most From: </b>Fantasy (quelle surprise) <br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="435" data-original-width="1600" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit0nPv6bVLIyrdyz31SClLeKNckhxoHZ95sphT0GSCK2LRu7zfyhNJn8nSVOaN6nfk_soe8jsZZyjmJHqq1BvH6xjZ5HSaOXCq48xid-wdlwehWQ9vG2qs0dJbPgyQJJsyAEskGPQ6yAlR/s640/best-YA-books-2014.jpg" width="640" /><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>1. Best Book You Read in 2017? (not counting rereads)</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Fantasy faves: </b></span><br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjND_0n3hXn0bmKBazCWAyUyoaolurfMJ7lvLM_yt8mw1FGr9-qzaxjgY99FsEqj5ZhI2fFQO8FMtRikstQfRHKRiHqrbJ1WxqWhBq9n3TFOH1BsrK0QXeKu9lSliGzF8CavH6xOxajyDMO/s320/enchantment+of+ravens.jpg" width="211" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiusXgrJxqr7MqJvSdd_VVY-gz0S4QjTTrhYIttROs2WoujHpHVmVKxR4uirtuOJkSvfp3NpuxPiOlxV6xMpxiUIn9qXaagmHpcrmh9TSVaECasVpnP4CODAoKVwTUEQZ86yFLScGRi9kC5/s320/furyborn.jpg" width="212" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic1ShCb0LVqPu_miLlRXYhdzTa2cLcGGfgSeJixIlYvn0gNHk-5PcIWMpYWLGHM7qfnJnIsn694UxvR1X5H7d93pyWvVsxhMmut2317Bm209jja2LsNVKAOkqFul3XDUD6_oSiv3DGmiy0/s320/gentlemans+guide.jpg" width="209" /><img border="0" data-original-height="474" data-original-width="318" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixI0wKK6A5GKX1LwJ7i3XQ0YLSwAxyzJgDwYFdP5elhe-iqWL_vblC4v4Q-IaULQ3cCcD51iQaZSEpgBbWrOJSfbpqet3gL2Ll-m1GPolNJ83KQE2hHxSUJzfF0YUA8NnNOAKwjl3qxFvt/s320/girls+made+of+snow+and+glass.jpg" width="212" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLIWGud76xA2e7GdsipPeeMMmh0ewHaYhOMTK_xf6c9w-XOtuoaV5r0niXx62X4HQ9NS42IsmH8fb1LQjFZBUqO_MlrD-XLQ4fRiv5JEs6cQmwI6gd-NWuoXEBulAxg11TRXwIFBT16DGs/s320/heartstone.jpg" width="211" /></div>
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<img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="312" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWqRFTXDo2Z3SS8xXbYyF2eYu-Of4YC904pvPkiuXw2sx4XkcuIhwR20weFA6gij8YfTJbAA7tXN_e87myYphV9XlIyZZYyj327kdDM16In2DOUYI-QbuDLABJ0pu_oVlp3zIytzFisOcJ/s320/troubled+waters.jpg" width="209" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq9JQ9QaeyFL8sH8cfuzepyqW_zrTjhI6ePSmro4Uv607azfjZM4lm-b2jr2f_TJNZhON-8xQCO5dtQjQA-M2FpcKkC6vqk4Hi-PC9R7DILpI3NElSbvcXu92IqpZN4Q3266iN6QCAVfQw/s320/windwitch.jpg" width="209" /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Contemporary faves: </b></span><br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ntxa5UlSW9wPSQd__V_LRnWyA9GgNl54DMDoY8hyphenhyphen6jkeGQPipxqJVDcv3ft8Xiay_xjf1yEtNaQWpkVY0Wp35iSk69XygZPH-ZBeGnCEXT32jguw1IRbJ3VGDAVOA3BCc4wrIKusMn5P/s320/alex+approx.jpg" width="212" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiHEtOTiQMmuq2C08i_L35oLq-VG_jdjFYMq3IBVyDMaWkvKUoo-y301pdroTY-z93XLuUBDE7Obc5ttUtvhiemoGY8_iLpzkUfl5cY7eDvzGAgq7AeS9D7YPS7LVpP4v14TRo8NYWAlrv/s320/eliza+and+her+monsters.jpg" width="209" /></div>
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<img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPXHB_aiIgmkSEnkoXqEoXxEp6yC0cl1lZBdLft-t4XfKozp2xHTVhUj4Y9Sjb5k_yTXdJepEhyaoAfjhnCwcKfplaWyKBwdFFh3ltO_KuzI2CKUGu0BlNdQAvDE6dZCv02xA0BYFFORT5/s320/foolish+hearts.jpg" width="211" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyWzRDKnzqycbM9JhMFBxxlsC-Bx2ka9Br52-byhrgDsfaEdz9P5Tc6NeD6Lt48_61gtn_WNO4cNTIylruEOrrA5H52YqeXuAl8Lhk0JRW-1GbrzS3VXzUZWWnD1PTA-cs8wX8A-foMQ1o/s320/letters+to+the+lost.jpg" width="209" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2xVdvq5dJlVIgUXiUdGVg1sd9IQWD87k68viX-Vh62gewsSOWrZ-7z1ai1JQOlq72v8zDijYbJBDPglgFpSu3R3loNgURKhpkF-0pTJE4JlqoBpUNhawSKoDuRxcZtxmRXhlCDeSvKE49/s320/shuffle+repeat.jpg" width="209" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6H4ToykhDd8QCAyPZlm1xVrDpAiFtcbW0gD1z3VPafEmYObX1jWvj5F_h-77yYrR4pBYGylIRMIqqD7ZcQy7cLq4cJEoQuQCia2Y4FimWB6fB1sqimHn9lX-8fbT_KTJIkn_dNIMvfJEv/s320/tell+me+three+things.jpg" width="209" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXKQKwTp9cteZI9P-kXJRncFwFN5KHgFqKMx0-jXUX82uUD19GadJ7Oi8GR7zji6k0HxCk0VDDNZX9tm3jvcgdcIWXhyphenhyphenfT3fG4ZCZ9tsRnaZ5VoRiYKugsknzu4Zl9UMv7ndp-gBXz44nS/s320/upside+of+unrequited.jpg" width="209" /></div>
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This was definitely the year that I tried my hand at grief books, something I have historically avoided. Some of them were too much for me (looking at you, Nina LaCour), but the ones I loved, I LOVED. I normally lean towards the flufftastic when it comes to contemps, but some of the years heavier hitters made it on my faves.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Classics faves: </b></span><br />
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I'd been meaning to read The Princess Bride since FOREVER, and I finally tried my hand at a non-Anne L.M. Montgomery and absolutely loooved it.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Adult romance faves:</b></span><br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKqoB4tKVpb4gp9IYxLBkRWqsSvTi19qYocI8ZkzgZa0Jyeb8Wa0FOBEA8eckwoLnCjshIThK4n1ChIwUL0Z2lMueooryi7x7zAkjs9Wwqp0pwre18HQi26o9UZoazWTXL2xDf83C7Qbb3/s320/because+of+miss+bridgerton.jpg" width="211" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="292" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3CA0lBeOgByTMwbreWg4l0Az2qSWbh-AQIB45Adp7fNstkl6_43LQgsr0SC0NOAtleiKFf1OEzPEE4Zk9dx4wHSCeBAXHW5DjgTjSEi_51n2Do5mu_JUf6aNHYXQQhYoSv5hMDdEfidHB/s320/bet+me.jpg" width="195" /></div>
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<img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSEyhyphenhyphen0bVUSsGSfljE4IF-eoaaZu43eWfEN8o3kGgsuUstFPGCKEElfR8Fnc8eeC7D9_xcRA3u9tmm8q0XTvDwV_fjkDRjT5TL4ekEdrUY5kAeoCl5sHvmTH-A83gdwEHRB8HwLLObw_mu/s320/the+duchess+war.jpg" width="212" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="295" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3iv7bkggTBGKCgMy9NEo6rUTglD-fW0qz_tkPrxNxEV5ld0BQqcAaq_2cH3RRd_6ckJt-Rm3pWOwfKdsGrhJBqittbssUdXqbIRErU1sD4-le29UA6NOPVLtMB7oB3x6ZnmG5TC085ajI/s320/romancing+mister+bridgerton.jpg" width="196" /></div>
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2017 was the year I discovered JULIA QUINN! I read her entire Bridgerton series, which I looooved (for the most part. One or two of them were not my faves and DAMN THOSE BEES), but my favorite was Colin and Penelope's book. MY BAES. But my favorite Julia book by far is Because of Miss Bridgerton which is just f l a w l e s s. But I think my favorite romance novel of the WHOLE YEAR was Bet Me. I JUST LOVED IT SO MUCH.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going to Love More But Didn’t?</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx8Fj7R03_5PlNbR4YTBmMv0U8VXcjdqxDL7KsjjVhQ2DFJD2VnN9dEvI0e3OF6ExK-M8d5yAHt9TPW118xu-HKYrK60s5rOrYR7nRXD2aQthqej3cwwhI8g7S5IE76Kkow9KuRX2hMgTr/s1600/by+your+side.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx8Fj7R03_5PlNbR4YTBmMv0U8VXcjdqxDL7KsjjVhQ2DFJD2VnN9dEvI0e3OF6ExK-M8d5yAHt9TPW118xu-HKYrK60s5rOrYR7nRXD2aQthqej3cwwhI8g7S5IE76Kkow9KuRX2hMgTr/s320/by+your+side.jpg" width="212" /></a><br />
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Waste of a perfectly good library, alas.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>3. Most Surprising (in a good way or bad way) </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Surprised me in a good way: </b></span><br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="266" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9JGD6HeXxswbaICDsFLz8vo86npOzqOMLfZC8l0U0nLnSokzEkZmlJ38lK1ftu2a0Uiaukm8YQldzOlCezBUMcdjcU7w3H3Wxq0HAE5vOfEXyzGYrWOD43f3yY1FlmWsg3cJT6Yvd3Oz4/s320/the+blue+castle.jpg" width="211" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjND_0n3hXn0bmKBazCWAyUyoaolurfMJ7lvLM_yt8mw1FGr9-qzaxjgY99FsEqj5ZhI2fFQO8FMtRikstQfRHKRiHqrbJ1WxqWhBq9n3TFOH1BsrK0QXeKu9lSliGzF8CavH6xOxajyDMO/s320/enchantment+of+ravens.jpg" width="211" /><br />
<img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="310" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQCFpi46AGJaFe7_htglJM7ic6VOlwHvb3e7gcOhf19hu3E-LbscRxCEOsVdEXUIHDHPL-8-dDCF39SFtUMuqzIkWBmV2AsyCAtftmZHtJZAE8yDuqBRA9igUhu9PmVxHb-TyTX2RbI82u/s320/princess+academy.jpg" width="208" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKqoB4tKVpb4gp9IYxLBkRWqsSvTi19qYocI8ZkzgZa0Jyeb8Wa0FOBEA8eckwoLnCjshIThK4n1ChIwUL0Z2lMueooryi7x7zAkjs9Wwqp0pwre18HQi26o9UZoazWTXL2xDf83C7Qbb3/s320/because+of+miss+bridgerton.jpg" width="211" /><br />
<img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0SfAxZEo008efBotOt88nKbX0R0liD3LzWYlsLiIBtsZcbJy7U-oDJKcyaSy1xS3Va4VzApfuLZP21wG_hFhWgxRui2LAP4y7g7qj9LFzZrlAoBXF-URrMJI9L9c0Z8PJUc408eKZpRlb/s320/starflight.jpg" width="209" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm4JQx8EhO383VYCdcNMw7pftKf53mU6jFpXf1NuXApNBHQkdok2ntHbiGxmbK95WEkj5xt-br-ZYvA1giDqw6-gnLxqXCxoYVG89vqlPXs0cciuEvgstYLg9oiqYOUWaegxJbSYXPwYEZ/s320/what+goes+up.jpg" width="209" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJoHIHyRAx8yJks30xcczxA8YzBqv2e8GnG5wSOsA99k5R6AekyI4uF8Fe3f1EYQ4siGbUpCURs4F-QLxKgovam63kyt4BVrxk9lUHMfbLq3_MiFA7U9UoIbkG34HryfXiBdvUkJP0SbRm/s320/prince+in+disguise.jpg" width="209" /> <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Surprised me in a TWISTY way: </b></span><br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTn7buIriAjr0cIKjT8A0uHzk2rsqSqNUP70db2wi5nF6Cf0uoFV16i7gz80-EPnRQwXyCkpswFkY4DRi-D6KCxoDB81q6r4G2hyphenhyphend_1dwGbTfol43NVcD__RkVBn-UmiIzjtbtkLsHG2LV/s320/these+ruthless+deeds.jpg" width="212" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="306" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRwCCjpERL969fOsb7xUg6NN-EOFXBfV_Q_-clJ-_F383XRy7V9Wzh6ELNakKIZ19bvhZ540iY31JTXV4o4xPdNbbp4G1SmlQn2neNq0m9ZE_GtcxBb8d1aZn4QQUUrggP_WSrkXrkQBKn/s320/traitor+to+the+throne.jpg" width="204" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="311" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6VFMMJC8uWDclKfKj8dmOBIawFJeGdo_sHmC4_nS5B_V_Hv1LIwweQ2qbUs4evWuyjIfiT_Q5PZZBYPk_i0QsPsdcg22lkU7m6JST4-Zd3xlI7GLW6ZOv72mZewZ_qxOz6DViOlvnMmfY/s320/warcross.jpg" width="208" /><br />
<br />
Honestly I should have seen the <i>Warcross</i> twists coming but I did not and definitely muttered an impressed, "Oh, snap" at my book and nodded in gentlemanly appreciation.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Surprised me in a bad way: </b></span><br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfv6hER_HQATLykagmvunXfEIwsX2j5eFPE9obVCWNVOfnY519oTdcnKLA7h7-U2mcbpOFWX9DQ6bSU6dbbwXdfbmJNa0hHn6yws60C9aclhSzkVZWv8rtj_BudvnImXfhDEU3heaOz9DS/s320/three+sides+of+a+heart.jpg" width="211" /></div>
<br />
Three Sides of a Heart is an anthology of short stories about love triangles (I like love triangles when done well, SUE ME) and I was expecting a lot more contemporary, and romance, and cuteness...and mostly got spec fic? Like why was this mostly sci fi? Truthfully, I didn't GET some of them (and I outright HATED one or two) but there were some gems in here.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>4. Book You “Pushed” the Most People to Read (And They Did)? </b></span><br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="474" data-original-width="318" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXm7UG4kNmKdYrrs64G635iRfbEp_bQPMo0ik5HXlrC9dW3yxHGZNHFr93dY_jgtN1xpL6jHf0HdSb8alqxlKe6wS_RTqu4Wr1pp3KrDQ4R_8aQeNoHK2zXgVwyZdDZIBBb7aaylInizAw/s320/bear+and+the+nightingale.jpg" width="212" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOrt9ZxY_dNbt5CUwOqt931hz8FVhQoaUkLcna7ZpqpsQGf9jJNMRX-rRlhTzpRxHpPGnbpA8cYbpmaM1BMRYCjqYtyD36chubny9Y6cOCZPrXry1RA7UmJLDNTLyDyRLDOGPm3vBfujWv/s320/in+other+lands.jpg" width="211" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiHEtOTiQMmuq2C08i_L35oLq-VG_jdjFYMq3IBVyDMaWkvKUoo-y301pdroTY-z93XLuUBDE7Obc5ttUtvhiemoGY8_iLpzkUfl5cY7eDvzGAgq7AeS9D7YPS7LVpP4v14TRo8NYWAlrv/s320/eliza+and+her+monsters.jpg" width="209" /><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>5. Best Series You Started in 2017? Best Sequel of 2017? Best Series Ender of 2017? </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Best series started:</b></span><br />
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<b><img border="0" data-original-height="474" data-original-width="318" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXm7UG4kNmKdYrrs64G635iRfbEp_bQPMo0ik5HXlrC9dW3yxHGZNHFr93dY_jgtN1xpL6jHf0HdSb8alqxlKe6wS_RTqu4Wr1pp3KrDQ4R_8aQeNoHK2zXgVwyZdDZIBBb7aaylInizAw/s320/bear+and+the+nightingale.jpg" width="212" /></b><b><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiusXgrJxqr7MqJvSdd_VVY-gz0S4QjTTrhYIttROs2WoujHpHVmVKxR4uirtuOJkSvfp3NpuxPiOlxV6xMpxiUIn9qXaagmHpcrmh9TSVaECasVpnP4CODAoKVwTUEQZ86yFLScGRi9kC5/s320/furyborn.jpg" width="212" /></b><b></b><br />
<b><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="312" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWqRFTXDo2Z3SS8xXbYyF2eYu-Of4YC904pvPkiuXw2sx4XkcuIhwR20weFA6gij8YfTJbAA7tXN_e87myYphV9XlIyZZYyj327kdDM16In2DOUYI-QbuDLABJ0pu_oVlp3zIytzFisOcJ/s320/troubled+waters.jpg" width="209" /></b><b><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKqoB4tKVpb4gp9IYxLBkRWqsSvTi19qYocI8ZkzgZa0Jyeb8Wa0FOBEA8eckwoLnCjshIThK4n1ChIwUL0Z2lMueooryi7x7zAkjs9Wwqp0pwre18HQi26o9UZoazWTXL2xDf83C7Qbb3/s320/because+of+miss+bridgerton.jpg" width="211" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDvs58kce1swJDIj6dQYC0UFjNE5JgZJzT_pKXTiZmBhj2YKiasTFgZX3o9RpSaeEFsQOaqM28_rFeK9Jx-gnlEtsVlkOdg6zmGtM2Sl_Co48KZ4XYYfGXWfZ4nYClGY1NgqpmJ0Rd5mF0/s320/song+of+the+current.jpg" width="211" /></b><b></b><br />
<b><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="295" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_PFbcBSPp-IizVC1z_XwadQbx2IYBxhh4o0NNfl8ufySy16VmMteToubWSfIvDPR6FvTzoZ0pC3wTXg0SRZg6KT7fgOqBL-ONXErbvDze9OpaA-Bx8HBUPg3j5finH3NMwQmOKq7sHkqY/s320/duke+and+i.jpg" width="196" /></b><b><img border="0" data-original-height="399" data-original-width="255" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhejGnv0Rl1Nf02oErq3p5ca8JiV_jMCOgYqdLSWaYmXCIqLeXLBP6IJh9I0dizhquw0ootY9U8L4pqUcgOErJ9Lw9znCU4XjgULLSWbo9obqDI1EBkRwXBQsyk_Yr2pYDyVvUZAxt9edyn/s320/last+namsara.jpg" width="203" /> </b><br />
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(started AND FINISHED The Bridgertons all in one year, HELLZ YEAH go me woohoo)<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Best sequel:</b></span><br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTn7buIriAjr0cIKjT8A0uHzk2rsqSqNUP70db2wi5nF6Cf0uoFV16i7gz80-EPnRQwXyCkpswFkY4DRi-D6KCxoDB81q6r4G2hyphenhyphend_1dwGbTfol43NVcD__RkVBn-UmiIzjtbtkLsHG2LV/s320/these+ruthless+deeds.jpg" width="212" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="306" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRwCCjpERL969fOsb7xUg6NN-EOFXBfV_Q_-clJ-_F383XRy7V9Wzh6ELNakKIZ19bvhZ540iY31JTXV4o4xPdNbbp4G1SmlQn2neNq0m9ZE_GtcxBb8d1aZn4QQUUrggP_WSrkXrkQBKn/s320/traitor+to+the+throne.jpg" width="204" /><br />
<img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq9JQ9QaeyFL8sH8cfuzepyqW_zrTjhI6ePSmro4Uv607azfjZM4lm-b2jr2f_TJNZhON-8xQCO5dtQjQA-M2FpcKkC6vqk4Hi-PC9R7DILpI3NElSbvcXu92IqpZN4Q3266iN6QCAVfQw/s320/windwitch.jpg" width="209" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibGTRThRHdhWHcMNRLsc0U9ZIXVGYVOAq4JOP_zPvduqWRyvda6rvN7ej9b8o-VZ2MdvvPxGdwl_m9X5jdHAXR6m-sEfDsdxlDyXX6ZRFBcaKjEzH9A-RiMUTzcvSd7_DWNfOhh1xzqTkk/s320/dark+days+pact.jpg" width="211" /> <br />
<br />
All of these upped the ante of their respective series in a major way. I was hooked all the way through them, and a few of them are major chunksters so that's no mean feat. BUT THEY'RE ALSO ALL LIFE RUINING IN EXACTLY THE WAY A SERIES SHOULD BE. Foaming at the mouth for the third installment in all these series.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Best series ender: </b></span><br />
<br />
<b> </b>Deathly Hallows and Mockingjay were the only series enders I read besides the last Bridgertons book, which tbh I did not like at all, even though I loved (nearly) all of the previous books in the series.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>6. Favorite New Author You Discovered in 2017?</b></span><br />
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Julia Quinn! Sarah Tolscer! Angie Thomas! Stephanie Garber! Katherine Arden! Kristen Ciccarelli! Honestly, tons more, even the ones whose books I haven't read yet.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone? </b></span><br />
<br />
The audiobook of <i>Pride and Prejudice</i>? I mean, <i>Pride and Prejudice</i> is obviously incredibly in my comfort zone considering I have read it eleventy times, except i have only finished one audiobook IN MY LIFE and I was totally obsessed with this version and even got Gaby obsessed yisss victory <br />
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Oh and <i>Princess Academy</i>! I don't read nearly as much MG as I should, and only read one this year, YIKES. So even though Princess Academy is, on paper, SQUARELY within my wheelhouse subject-wise, age category-wise it's a stretch, so GO ME again.<br />
<br />
I did stretch myself when it comes to my narrow contemporary wheelhouse (fluffy romance ftw) and read a lot more ISSUE-Y books, which I usually avoid like the plague. Like everyone in 2017, I read and was blown away by <i>The Hate U Give</i>, even though it's super not a Gillian kind of read, but that's definitely the point of the book.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year? </b></span><br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="306" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRwCCjpERL969fOsb7xUg6NN-EOFXBfV_Q_-clJ-_F383XRy7V9Wzh6ELNakKIZ19bvhZ540iY31JTXV4o4xPdNbbp4G1SmlQn2neNq0m9ZE_GtcxBb8d1aZn4QQUUrggP_WSrkXrkQBKn/s320/traitor+to+the+throne.jpg" width="204" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq9JQ9QaeyFL8sH8cfuzepyqW_zrTjhI6ePSmro4Uv607azfjZM4lm-b2jr2f_TJNZhON-8xQCO5dtQjQA-M2FpcKkC6vqk4Hi-PC9R7DILpI3NElSbvcXu92IqpZN4Q3266iN6QCAVfQw/s320/windwitch.jpg" width="209" /><br />
<img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiusXgrJxqr7MqJvSdd_VVY-gz0S4QjTTrhYIttROs2WoujHpHVmVKxR4uirtuOJkSvfp3NpuxPiOlxV6xMpxiUIn9qXaagmHpcrmh9TSVaECasVpnP4CODAoKVwTUEQZ86yFLScGRi9kC5/s320/furyborn.jpg" width="212" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAyKQV_gs7oZFx1SI57_rmL-G8JQoilWgyVpfZ6q_qQefPRq-Pf9AHk1OMMVIr6XXkzDiizLcBgVjm8Y1eHLbMXS2OBZg3z4-Oa0AckPVumWyXkOn-AzEtvQuhYZNCPxvclNi2BbAzIvce/s320/valiant.jpg" width="209" /><br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"> <b>9. Book You Read in 2017 That You Are Most Likely to Re-Read Next Year?</b></span><br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLIWGud76xA2e7GdsipPeeMMmh0ewHaYhOMTK_xf6c9w-XOtuoaV5r0niXx62X4HQ9NS42IsmH8fb1LQjFZBUqO_MlrD-XLQ4fRiv5JEs6cQmwI6gd-NWuoXEBulAxg11TRXwIFBT16DGs/s320/heartstone.jpg" width="211" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibGTRThRHdhWHcMNRLsc0U9ZIXVGYVOAq4JOP_zPvduqWRyvda6rvN7ej9b8o-VZ2MdvvPxGdwl_m9X5jdHAXR6m-sEfDsdxlDyXX6ZRFBcaKjEzH9A-RiMUTzcvSd7_DWNfOhh1xzqTkk/s320/dark+days+pact.jpg" width="211" /><b></b><br />
<b><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKqoB4tKVpb4gp9IYxLBkRWqsSvTi19qYocI8ZkzgZa0Jyeb8Wa0FOBEA8eckwoLnCjshIThK4n1ChIwUL0Z2lMueooryi7x7zAkjs9Wwqp0pwre18HQi26o9UZoazWTXL2xDf83C7Qbb3/s320/because+of+miss+bridgerton.jpg" width="211" /></b><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOrt9ZxY_dNbt5CUwOqt931hz8FVhQoaUkLcna7ZpqpsQGf9jJNMRX-rRlhTzpRxHpPGnbpA8cYbpmaM1BMRYCjqYtyD36chubny9Y6cOCZPrXry1RA7UmJLDNTLyDyRLDOGPm3vBfujWv/s320/in+other+lands.jpg" width="211" /><br />
<br />
I tend to lean toward rereads that'll make me happy (see exhibit: entire Harry Potter series) (though I did reread The Hunger Games and there is NOTHING HAPPY THERE), or I reread to indulge in ship feelings because I AM WHAT I AM.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2017?</b></span><br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="313" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlPML-QTzMBvc4x1oUSZmI5JEKB_1PpwS9mZhOi_bm_-GtkFWop3nlvM4NWMIRDYG0qOOy2sLXFCyRKN6KhpD2kHpOlwuVK7w03TlI9_OaIuPg9ZhnktVVH4m5STQhgdsZzC3DBsuK7Yqs/s320/language+of+thorns.jpg" width="210" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOIwBIoOZ2WcI0Ojvm_H0o9dePh6Ne9-R0e7X_1j_jDzygKacnWXwDALKbEfE2Rj2Zp9hAGuOku0Uz19RZHpCT-Nx4a2rqGwFzwHHmXJDTAr1anmvi1booPDh14BCfoRbodW8s_tHnsAjd/s320/furyborn.jpg" width="213" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6cmSmKIScxEm0X3wzAiwc95gRdObMMFhtVkoPBNGd5rD1kQ47U9eSPAV36SPczS1g8Nsuz-Gernjcq48TZAo7Ko8pPY0qZeRifVCPcgp3bQRnhJTUjXdRaS4D7kTz_P2s_9qq5AyAS3I5/s320/enchantment+of+ravens.jpg" width="212" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="313" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYvU-mh7cnWLD5YcWC6gREFdqFaQQrVvlK_mUOvJBG9gPmb6bRM7dctawHxX_MCKGHX8E30b-ueXqYQAGsGF2XG9ly3-aLN0aInpritwFhQ-gu_QD7bw9JWfa_ineuOzMTA8SAbsuX_He5/s320/caraval.jpg" width="210" /><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="286" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqMpcJru6Y-5LFJyv0o0okZVpfQyxuqhVu4VVPq2xQEFdcG4WLaA5SjhCEwWDfbmknRy1DUzT17L4tCAABsE030VqlUW7Y5JGzrFmdMwaYp1KLpCGT4GxBg-aZvr96sIwPG1pbXGjIS91M/s320/anne+of+green+gables.jpg" width="228" /></div>
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and a special shout out to the Owlcrate edition of <i>Foolish Hearts</i>, which I absolutely ADORE:<br />
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bdnh3Qdn6a8/" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">A post shared by Liz (@lizetleslivres)</a> on <time datetime="2018-01-06T18:12:58+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Jan 6, 2018 at 10:12am PST</time></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>11. Most memorable character of 2017? </b></span><br />
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Starr Carter from <i>The Hate U Give </i>. ELLIOT SCHAFER MY LOVE from <i>In Other Lands</i>. Monty from <i>The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue</i>. He and Elliot are my favorite bisexual disaster boys, I will read 40 books about them please. Gideon Prewitt, TOTAL DREAM BOY from <i>Foolish Hearts</i>. I love him infinitely. Adorable weirdo.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>12. Most beautifully written book read in 2017?</b></span><br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="474" data-original-width="318" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXm7UG4kNmKdYrrs64G635iRfbEp_bQPMo0ik5HXlrC9dW3yxHGZNHFr93dY_jgtN1xpL6jHf0HdSb8alqxlKe6wS_RTqu4Wr1pp3KrDQ4R_8aQeNoHK2zXgVwyZdDZIBBb7aaylInizAw/s320/bear+and+the+nightingale.jpg" width="212" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6cmSmKIScxEm0X3wzAiwc95gRdObMMFhtVkoPBNGd5rD1kQ47U9eSPAV36SPczS1g8Nsuz-Gernjcq48TZAo7Ko8pPY0qZeRifVCPcgp3bQRnhJTUjXdRaS4D7kTz_P2s_9qq5AyAS3I5/s320/enchantment+of+ravens.jpg" width="211" /><br />
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THE BEAR AND THE NIGHTINGAAAAAAAAAAALLLEEEE. Second place goes to An Enchantment of Ravens which is also DIVINE. <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2017?</b></span><br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGeHar5HI53wiQ0Nxgmg4d5wklx0o8WG2tWEJbtdNbPjZ8Syl-oMYLJG5DSv-oPK7n8WowJaSpqlMmjllpTIKyPFMXkL4UC9ZGIyIeqeJQeSDLdXB03kEeOnXAvvQPsZKaomyDJwK-ZJTc/s320/the+hate+u+give.jpg" width="209" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiHEtOTiQMmuq2C08i_L35oLq-VG_jdjFYMq3IBVyDMaWkvKUoo-y301pdroTY-z93XLuUBDE7Obc5ttUtvhiemoGY8_iLpzkUfl5cY7eDvzGAgq7AeS9D7YPS7LVpP4v14TRo8NYWAlrv/s320/eliza+and+her+monsters.jpg" width="209" /><br />
<img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOrt9ZxY_dNbt5CUwOqt931hz8FVhQoaUkLcna7ZpqpsQGf9jJNMRX-rRlhTzpRxHpPGnbpA8cYbpmaM1BMRYCjqYtyD36chubny9Y6cOCZPrXry1RA7UmJLDNTLyDyRLDOGPm3vBfujWv/s320/in+other+lands.jpg" width="211" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyWzRDKnzqycbM9JhMFBxxlsC-Bx2ka9Br52-byhrgDsfaEdz9P5Tc6NeD6Lt48_61gtn_WNO4cNTIylruEOrrA5H52YqeXuAl8Lhk0JRW-1GbrzS3VXzUZWWnD1PTA-cs8wX8A-foMQ1o/s320/letters+to+the+lost.jpg" width="209" /> <br />
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Thought-provoking is easy: THUG. Life changing, personally? Hmmmmmm gahhh. I’m not counting rereads so obviously no HP. <i>In Other Lands </i>or <i>Eliza and her Monsters</i> were so personal to me and just MADE ME FEEL ALL OF THE THINGS. And <i>Letters to the Lost</i>, omggggggg. My heart.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2017 to finally read? </b></span><br />
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Where have I been for the last thirty years, huh? (I HAVE seen the movie thirty or so times, though, I'm not a total heathen)<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>15. Favorite Passage/Quote From a Book You Read in 2017?</b></span><br />
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Eek, I never write these down. Fail.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>16. Shortest and Longest Books You Read in 2017?</b></span><br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="318" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyRcFi4Mk4gsUCy7GrOPl1KtTakaJ9c83PqYLunEluRqQn5XKj3PuU1LUvwKPUM8hrAO2oZb12lJglzJ66H_bWnatqTn53gzTcqhdSbsi0GCckttyCCpuUh7ZWFh0-V0mhfOw78-Gbx8Dl/s320/order+of+the+phoenix.jpg" width="214" /><img border="0" data-original-height="439" data-original-width="318" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggfchxgDfDmeo-vMyBkGdKl3ZRaSPw18h8tSWQ5cTF3USMRfBQf8JQ7XBIwPzF6rkco9o5AzGxVz89bfYpkc3n2kn0r9s5bLGuDpiL5dIEgPTmVIANJ7BujFqnV0h5n6xGaAWqV_Gcv5As/s320/tea+dragon.jpg" width="231" /></div>
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<b>Longest:</b> <i>Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix</i> at 870 pages, because I am twelve years old again somehow<br />
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<b>Shortest: </b>not counting short stories, <i>The Tea Dragon Society </i>at 72 pages<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>17. Book that Shocked You the Most (Because of a plot twist, character death, left you hanging with your mouth wide open, etc.)</b></span></div>
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<i>TRAITOR TO THE THRONE</i>, OMFG. OOOOOMFG.</div>
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<i>The Dark Days Pact</i>, I am SHOOKETH. SHOOKETH TO MINE CORE.</div>
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<i>THESE RUTHLESS </i>(MOTHERFUCKING) <i>DEEDS</i> HAS THE ENDING OF THE YEAR FOR ME. HOLY SHIT THE VERY ANGELS ON HIGH HEARD MY GASP OF SHOCK AND HORROR. THEY'RE STILL SCREAMING AND FANNING THEMSELVES AND COLLAPSING UPON THEIR CLOUD-Y FAINTING COUCHES.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!) </b></span></div>
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Buckle up, kiddos, this is what the whole year is ABOUT in these bloggy waters.</div>
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ELLIOT AND LUKE AKJDHFSJKDGFLSIDHKFS from <i>In Other Lands</i>. READ THEM SHIP THEM LOVE THEM. - Vasya and Morozko from <i>The Bear and the Nightingale</i>. HOW WILL I BE HAPPY WITHOUT A FROST DEMON OF MY OWN? UNREALISTIC RELATIONSHIP GOALS, UGH. - Isobel and Rook from <i>An Enchantment of Ravens</i>. Cuuuuties. - Zoe and Darien from <i>Troubled Waters</i>, slow burn EXCELLENCE and such a great meeting of equals. - Lady Helen and Lod Carlston from <i>The Dark Days Pact.</i> I DIE I DIE. Amore mio. I DIE AGAIN HELP. - Min and Cal from <i>Bet Me</i>!!!!!!!!!!!!! All the !!!! - Robert and Minnie from <i>The Duchess War</i>, what adorable baessss - List of Bridgerton OTPs: Hyacinth and Gareth, COLIN AND PENELOPE, Francesca and Michael, Anthony and Kate (ignore those damn bees), BILLIE AND GEORGE 5EVER. - Dylan and Jamie from the utterly perfectly adorable <i>Prince in Disguise.</i> So banterful! So literary! So inconceivably cute!- Gideon and Claudia from <i>Foolish Hearts. </i>WHAT PERFECTION. MY CONTEMPORARY OTP OF THE YEAR.</div>
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*sobs for a year*</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship of the Year</b></span><br />
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Starr Carter and her family. Molly and her family from <i>The Upside of Unrequited</i>. The Bridgerton siblings and their mother who is <i>perfection</i>. Elliot, Luke, and Serene as a golden trio (plus actual Golden lol) from <i>In Other Lands</i>. Stepmother Mina and stepdaughter Lynet from <i>Girls Made of Snow and Glass</i>, omg my heart. All the girls in Princess Academy. CLAUDIA AND IRIS BESTIES FOR LYFE from <i>Foolish Hearts. </i></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>20. Favorite Book You Read in 2017 from an Author You’ve Read Previously</b></span><br />
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This is a LOT, but I’m going to not count series continuations (so if the only previous book I’ve read is the first in a series, I can’t say the second in that same series.)</div>
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<img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ntxa5UlSW9wPSQd__V_LRnWyA9GgNl54DMDoY8hyphenhyphen6jkeGQPipxqJVDcv3ft8Xiay_xjf1yEtNaQWpkVY0Wp35iSk69XygZPH-ZBeGnCEXT32jguw1IRbJ3VGDAVOA3BCc4wrIKusMn5P/s320/alex+approx.jpg" width="212" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPXHB_aiIgmkSEnkoXqEoXxEp6yC0cl1lZBdLft-t4XfKozp2xHTVhUj4Y9Sjb5k_yTXdJepEhyaoAfjhnCwcKfplaWyKBwdFFh3ltO_KuzI2CKUGu0BlNdQAvDE6dZCv02xA0BYFFORT5/s320/foolish+hearts.jpg" width="211" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXKQKwTp9cteZI9P-kXJRncFwFN5KHgFqKMx0-jXUX82uUD19GadJ7Oi8GR7zji6k0HxCk0VDDNZX9tm3jvcgdcIWXhyphenhyphenfT3fG4ZCZ9tsRnaZ5VoRiYKugsknzu4Zl9UMv7ndp-gBXz44nS/s320/upside+of+unrequited.jpg" width="209" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="312" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWqRFTXDo2Z3SS8xXbYyF2eYu-Of4YC904pvPkiuXw2sx4XkcuIhwR20weFA6gij8YfTJbAA7tXN_e87myYphV9XlIyZZYyj327kdDM16In2DOUYI-QbuDLABJ0pu_oVlp3zIytzFisOcJ/s320/troubled+waters.jpg" width="209" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWgwdgGmxNG99f6kzLNZSj7ka339ZZNMf4A0m04JWxmCTId3RvvKyf_9RcFYt2JBaNkEzHsa7y62yzUwKx5-A8gNw-LZf4dO4YIem-RHo3FeV_zHyYXT_IbvoZ7qi2fGaSo_usUjKV01iS/s320/hunted.jpg" width="209" /></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>21. Best Book You Read in 2017 That You Read Based SOLELY on a Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:</b> </span></div>
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<img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsy-EZvlsMTmeJ-xUoMsD3hc0Mqp3dRX3LJ4B4gYc1JzV654ItAcLnNtFkJXGlAVjkwu_INr-vHzTczwofBqKQbuUvYW5qY_iGYNP0cvVAVU90SETFtKOqh8kB_Q9nGfNi6MZzctiD4aaK/s320/because+of+miss+bridgerton.jpg" width="212" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="292" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjONcYv_tur93-W1bf_nG3TpngIGpsx26R5KSxHPO4CLV0lH0wbkyP3q17N-F-hKo91nNICSCweK9a2vDvW240ZzPyFJG-rhtYktkocrpgL1-NqI9NWgimXow8r0vo0T3ZgrKRozdAoJ1ur/s320/bet+me.jpg" width="196" /></div>
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(THANKS, CHRISTINA)</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2017?</b></span> </div>
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Oh dear. this is a lot. But I’m only going to do NEW ONES of this year (duh, that’s what the question said. Hokay then.)</div>
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Porter from <i>Alex, Approximately</i>, Rook from <i>An Enchantment of Ravens</i>, Morozko my frost demon winterking of my heart from <i>The Bear and the Nightingale</i>, Reid from <i>The Upside of Unrequited</i>, JAMIE FROM <i>A PRINCE IN DISGUISE</i> MY DREAM GUY, Markos from <i>The Song of the Current </i>who is a trope I just can't resist, Colin Bridgerton lord help me, Ethan from <i>Tell Me Three Things</i>, Oliver from <i>Shuffle, Repeat</i>, Gideon Prewitt MY OTHER DREAM GUY AND MY TRUEST LOVE</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>23. Best 2017 debut you read?</b></span></div>
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<img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLMWzKgT15gUXTnaCRm9H86aZe0WeEJrcxPlqmjBUI3z-yFWEBaIXAXUwNiPF-mjEed1uRPqFhgX4ZC_RlYTXAOV2_Y_02yPw8D6d6XtmAK-27jzYrZt1iLHJ6IbGe-ARRgQqR2nZ4FpH7/s320/song+of+the+current.jpg" width="212" /><img border="0" data-original-height="399" data-original-width="255" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihShyphenhyphenma09m8-GRSr5z2RWOkxxt2ijcmlxykPFSI4D_e9g_CG_7cu5BX9r8ttxwlq1ZlT3IfPj-VXBL9ru9XFyQCmp1ToZbc7xyxMJLzSn0nyvoK_VCHFNKGXuQK75YPMODzh2lXGfwIlWA/s320/last+namsara.jpg" width="204" /></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b> 24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?</b></span></div>
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<img border="0" data-original-height="474" data-original-width="318" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXm7UG4kNmKdYrrs64G635iRfbEp_bQPMo0ik5HXlrC9dW3yxHGZNHFr93dY_jgtN1xpL6jHf0HdSb8alqxlKe6wS_RTqu4Wr1pp3KrDQ4R_8aQeNoHK2zXgVwyZdDZIBBb7aaylInizAw/s320/bear+and+the+nightingale.jpg" width="212" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="313" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdNi-t2e8aHOG1N_cp10WY_TNIazuC85S_RSdi92nI_9_sZtFvE37AuVjVl1o8WHBlTieTHunk7Ti_RZWf_T5yXFurC_jjIaLC5RtrSbb3GTQtU0zk1kXJKQ9HQK3RJbOPVkUBx-71vpTa/s320/language+of+thorns.jpg" width="209" /></div>
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Russian-esque fantasy killed it this year *self-serving cough* *eyes dart away guiltily*</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>25. Book That Put a Smile on Your Face/Was the Most FUN to Read?</b></span></div>
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<i>Bet Me! The Upside of Unrequited.</i> Anything by Julia Quinn. All my rereads of my uber faves (except The Hunger Games bc who da fuq smiles during those books). <i>Princess Academy</i>. <i>Queens of Geek. Tell Me Three Things. FOOLISH HEEEEEARTSSSSSS</i></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>26. Book That Made You Cry for THIRTY CENTURIES in 2017?</b></span></div>
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<img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="308" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZWcS_bZJr-zO_aeYrXgTdnPJa8Fb0h0MxFgV6XUQctzwrv8DIw84Irw7EPG9mJumr3PoiqaMJFls7kQ0XCHHkIIoWREhLu5aWgyrk2e96ySgamMPQ29cBgw-DsVDPA0QwYm2mHhd6Uk0t/s320/we+are+okay.jpg" width="207" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-N6fJ0JpMojAGl1MBD9IbT4LBzmiEa11y1OdNZagPDbD7IWIuxBSPyqKCH_wKkG5LZnO39t8y1gbYck7BwZUDGvpW8sQFMYLqtqJ0E7iGZp4Y4DOYtknSegv9gZ9eP95ni_2zL3qHXH4u/s320/letters+to+the+lost.jpg" width="211" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmY2mlyR009pF_0Zi2gk9CA8POIkyYR9rPkNZNsopl2OHnLw0f8zr7H2ZIKmBO3BI8aiEagJY2E1IbUgYlgs54ckuVLAIEXgjI0Dqy-FWNTNGlj_1ftPEGom4SYhMM32M2VMWKEeOC1LmT/s320/eliza+and+her+monsters.jpg" width="211" /></div>
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<i>WE ARE OKAY</i> RUINED MY WHOLE LIFE I'M PUTTING IT IN THE FREEZER FOR ETERNITY. (<i>Mockingjay</i> and <i>Deathly Hallows</i> too. But no surprised there) <i>Letters to the Lost</i> is also a doozy. Oh and <i>Eliza and her Monsters</i>, sweet good lord I finished this book in the bathtub and nearly drowned. I CRY A LOT BUT THESE WERE ALL EXTRA SUPER DUPER SAD OKAY.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>27. Hidden Gem of the Year?</b></span></div>
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<img border="0" data-original-height="474" data-original-width="318" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO63q9_tiyWj3hOFdk4-qy6cH93LAGi1iihsy6pCu5bb0xLpdLzRccJjbaVa1R7XZ6W4167ZOMjRRBs84nWni-CH06QU3Jzt89aH3mBLn3kIgOiWJtENVJ3T5OAkTwF2vK1qF6or8rlM06/s320/girls+made+of+snow+and+glass.jpg" width="214" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib2EseUMTYiSGhOng_nPQ4mjUCARfaOPERmejaDLfHPpTfnyrsQy94YIf3WkvIndp1w3-xgpB_QJK6ePmtcrB-bPu5lRL9vFakoWXt9J_CBRcFHLDAEOYhNWdnnkP7hvRmmaBq61CkN7eh/s320/foolish+hearts.jpg" width="212" /></div>
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<img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKebeZB2Hv3e4Brj6oA32a8HV3gyp-LB9gMHXW9d1hI8StjT1XxbfEsbmzflRe7oy1T3_7PWN804xA_d7_uZGZ6sus-vHh3freSFNP4ymdQ-lYT4RhrQzjWe72L9p5wW1NuA72sKJVVv3o/s320/in+other+lands.jpg" width="212" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMNF-TdM7anKk6hPtlLkOmZ_f8FZqpqAayORPc5SFKOKgGyHfSZE0iPMkfXjRjgdM31mKxxuGicw6WZsLPebL_0Ar_FRRMUU-VyNzMpIf1Mv22dp_012LQ7bOJw_3GbnyFFIIqU18tezTR/s320/what+goes+up.jpg" width="211" /></div>
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If you like funny, off-the-wall, inventive spec fic, PLEASE read <i>What Goes Up</i>. What a gem.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?</b></span></div>
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WHY ARE WE STILL TALKING ABOUT <i>WE ARE OKAY</i>, WE ARE NOT OKAY TAKE IT AWAY</div>
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besides <i>Deathly Hallows</i> and <i>Mockingjay</i> once again: <i>These Ruthless Deeds, Eliza and her Monsters,</i> <i>DARK DAYS PACT </i>GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HELP</div>
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*whispers* <i>amore mio</i></div>
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*dies*</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>29. Most Unique Book You Read in 2017?</b></span></div>
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<img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKebeZB2Hv3e4Brj6oA32a8HV3gyp-LB9gMHXW9d1hI8StjT1XxbfEsbmzflRe7oy1T3_7PWN804xA_d7_uZGZ6sus-vHh3freSFNP4ymdQ-lYT4RhrQzjWe72L9p5wW1NuA72sKJVVv3o/s320/in+other+lands.jpg" width="211" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMNF-TdM7anKk6hPtlLkOmZ_f8FZqpqAayORPc5SFKOKgGyHfSZE0iPMkfXjRjgdM31mKxxuGicw6WZsLPebL_0Ar_FRRMUU-VyNzMpIf1Mv22dp_012LQ7bOJw_3GbnyFFIIqU18tezTR/s320/what+goes+up.jpg" width="209" /></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>30. Book That Made You the Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?</b></span></div>
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<img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVUGtt4Opm8pWV8uOdHquqeUZvF9oC4qXlchY7nd6zH4xJE_LK1VSbiToipeB8OVKKRK-16JGje1u079tJ48VsGvr5ukURQFebq_qrhkPG8o2dqlBFidvq5PHZMjklsHoafvuz7Kb4wv3s/s320/the+hate+u+give.jpg" width="211" /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2017?</span></b></span></div>
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Oof, I was a disgraceful blogger this year (Am I even a blogger anymore? *waves hand vaguely*). I discovered nothing because I did nothing. <strike>I am nothing.</strike> But my beloved Morgan started her own blog, <a href="https://thebookishbeagle.com/" target="_blank">The Bookish Beagle</a>, and it is as charming and funny and adorable as she is!</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2017?</b></span></div>
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Lololololololol</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>3. Best discussion/non-review post you had on your blog?</b></span></div>
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<a href="http://gillianeberry.blogspot.com/2017/08/pitchwars-all-words-and-hello.html" target="_blank">My Pitch Wars announcement post!</a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b> <span style="font-size: x-large;">4. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?</span></b></span></div>
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PITCH WARS!!!! The best thing I ever did ever in my whole life, basically</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2017?</b></span></div>
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<a href="http://gillianeberry.blogspot.com/2017/11/how-i-got-my-agent-tale-of-hogwarts.html" target="_blank">GETTING AN AGENT AHHHH</a>. NGL, I still can't believe it's reality. Sometimes I go look at my Twitter bio just to make sure it's still there.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>6. Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year?</b></span></div>
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Keeping up the motivation to do it AT ALL through an incredibly trying year, both politically and personally. As you can see, I mostly failed—though I don’t call it a failure, since a) I was able to keep up my efforts in my writing and made actual ENORMOUS progress on that front, b) I don't want to put too much pressure on myself for what is essentially a hobby (blogging, I mean). And though it’s always been my primary hobby, I never want it to cede precedence over my own creative writing and my real life. So while I’m sad I didn’t partake in the community or my own blog more this year, I AM glad I was able to focus on other things and actually achieve something in those arenas. And the blog is still here! Rusty in the corners but still chugging along. *pets blog fondly*</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>7. Most Popular Post This Year on Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?</b></span></div>
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<a href="http://gillianeberry.blogspot.com/2017/11/how-i-got-my-agent-tale-of-hogwarts.html" target="_blank">My sparkly shiny agent announcement post!</a> *brief break to cry some more* Oh, and also <a href="http://gillianeberry.blogspot.com/2017/05/anne-with-e-review-more-like-anne-with.html" target="_blank">my <i>Anne with an E</i> review</a> (spoiler alert: I did not approve)</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">8. Post You Wished Got a Little More Love?</span></b></span></div>
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I wish my entire blog got more love FROM ME, oy, I’m sorry ole blog old sport</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>9. Best bookish discovery (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?</b></span></div>
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SUBSCRIPTION BOXES. Omg. I am addicted. It is a problem. but they are so prettyyyy. Right now I have Litjoy, Owlcrate, and Fairyloot, and they’re all lovely and costly and now I live off ramen and tears just kidding or AM I you decide</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>10. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?</b></span></div>
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YES I READ A HUNDRED PLUS BOOKS AND THAT IS LITERALLY THE ONLY BLOGGY THING I ACHIEVED WAHOO GO ME GOLD START CROWN FOR ME QUEEN GILLIAN RULER OF HER TBR</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>1. One Book You Didn’t Get to in 2017 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2018?</b></span></div>
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Er. Like. Hundreds of them. Whoops. <i>Fireblood, Strange the Dreamer, Tash Hearts Tolstoy, Renegades, Jane, Unlimited, Not Now, Not Ever, Retribution Rails, The Duchess Deal, Nightfall (god help me), Speak Easy, Speak Love, Whichwood, Far From the Tree, The Savage Dawn, The Book of Dust,</i> and maaaany more</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>2. Book You Are Most Anticipating for 2018 (non-debut)?</b></span></div>
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<img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="313" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPxmeFEd5wpBlrC3FYeQ0dgxYTLxe37l2AT7BwRj3FAttV1t1fLA7e2-rPMqaXhClIwgNexTpVYTWdPosYZF-tMExEpyLAQpD0L_YA6ZxSc3GI9737F3AMP8VFfLIMbxUTYcVIJckOmvQe/s320/ace+of+shades.jpg" width="210" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="310" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_HjAvfY5dUar8yetOlAqS4QxBebh-1mP8lEG_T2F0uJwPrPorCGRirApxsW2I6F7M5mrJm2dbxN3dE4Z4nqxOSlTjY1oPDGO4_E1rYXX2O7Ace66kY7Z2V6Jjl5FR6SCXUPsOz3BJy30N/s320/boneless+mercies.jpg" width="208" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD47VjA0CFB71tHI1RX6Y_VwG-rFVcEDzlVgjDOwWUVfr1HRWnpsOP_4IRkguPQMj2Cxvnn5TwL-S1N3I45Zm2bD3sQj_8QsrRqLWJaueaNJc8aLauGdTBKpLvTqmLaWbKiIIWSg1H7Co6/s320/heart+of+iron.jpg" width="212" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBMAM0E3700nW9RuPKtelQ4CNjUvVwTbDBpWZE1Stn0wIIqfgiEpvT9GQtrwTwK950T7WybE9sAet7DJWYUrok0xlzRbfuWNqd7_UinzULnjCqFix4IUZhrtUkbSsPKRbRG-CxnorKt4D6/s320/royals.jpg" width="211" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="318" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-BAnYOXc983tUra8PJIuVbJzGek6PFp2P4KR6rqmoGhg1KDm7bif3H2vehnrgGXBSDW-7xIpR_xroAHcYvQMdUnzhU5QdihZOhD9BaHgQ-a0nZBCDTwrBeGvASn5qXKxKFI8FGRhaHVO3/s320/spinning+silver.jpg" width="214" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrTzSO-OFv2oreXqjGLCMdjEPzUAuOzgqVNvUtMHXtN12AjqBA8dQm9iqDdTBxeTs3iVn-9r-dlRGeviWg72bURyp0Ln9AutEK-oTwVkInB0XcsCnnKGPNhXDIYqyNxReRY8xrTGpF8jxu/s320/starry+eyes.jpg" width="211" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh3L88yBUfqtO26vTxTRDTOYCBl1ZDHSod2Hv-KTptXF35-3ZUGnEWYOJFsHikZFKwAslvvQVxaijyqF4iUrSrMXC0W9j9y2AGEk0oPnJN5iEXcTAI5ZSOmr8insyTWCjKCoSbUe3Ln9mm/s320/tempests+and+slaughter.jpg" width="213" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaSu39iSQ1Lrt8x8h0ZqITQg61YwtMnpmuAfRqfrBPRfNul5LaPQMyffmI4rTZG3bW58IURXU8FlbajG1Z9p2AxcMNnl1UEVIFzcqmYgkdvSbKTzN5Nl8WdZlYrgbgG-QLGF-NCX27owho/s320/to+be+honest.jpg" width="213" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYham6O2eSML8PSJqFrScKm8_hhUg93PnRNJgOoz6DN5HPpFD7Eym6lRj0B7gUd_V9NnY1ttmmyXSyAZADP3D4WzaAXRu8toAT_lzxoXs8nk_W-jywE9cvknwX9lJocBsTXwdDT0WwsRkW/s320/way+you+make+me+feel.jpg" width="213" /><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="318" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQG5kGGsWRFE2D5HS-JD8bzRNcXFwFF9xADC8BO0E68YOeJBEYwinkUGhfTUPa_S4IPj2kh4IgAq-PuifwnUt9db4PGW2ZWEX4HKqg8COwOTutFhtalkfBIg6pNPyWsdAj3K-PVbIuzz4Z/s320/prince+and+the+dressmaker.jpg" width="226" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE5t5QzpuD9Hsj4OmXQX4Ks830_zAdcdRfoi76fToux6ENwdoMcVWQH9JfgwPo20YRG9t-hKIEDjZSd1VOGr_CCLwai7lhy2hErHeBeHnd0-8beOlRfWho3VQNKp3bvawKUBr3eQ0ZAY-a/s320/now+a+major+motion+picture.jpg" width="213" /></div>
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<b>No cover yet:</b> <i>Sawkill Girls</i> by Claire LeGrand, <i>The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein</i> by Kiersten White, <i>Beneath the Citadel</i> by Destiny Soria, <i>The Half King </i>by Melissa Landers</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>3. 2018 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?</b></span></div>
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<i>CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE</i> BY TOMI ADEYEMI, <i>A COURT OF MIRACLES </i>BY KESTER GRANT, NOTHING ELSE MATTERS.</div>
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okay other things matter. But those matter most. Because I say so.</div>
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<img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXLfBsu-7baZW_Gy4ez-Kaki8hKJ7RzWrvo-aOJHmPVKp1uJNt6jkG1SN73v3Q7yeQ7FnHoWKX7UCdrHl9GFVKWzIv59WccJ6fSSH_mEpZJtHXam-dE8-hCgArZE0QyUuBxzehF4KkCLAE/s320/ash+princess.jpg" width="211" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSr94pI8wRGAwpm756AGRwOYAUv8FvgDaMw0_m6Y-GAvo6L3Ph2t5HF8GC0liKDwi2RBGFAfn3QoR4Ukt_RHot2HExJn01nkk8oPmUEJSR1VvEa_Vj3pqLpFbbScbQT_1D7gZcsp5epr_i/s320/brightly+burning.jpg" width="213" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdscZjFR54elRpI2CgFqniB8nSrgfq87Bz4XAihGOXtuv1rmzXtdrw4P97h3HuI1U5LCKM6ubHU8FvS1B0XbuRwXn1TXFHHlRHXPG5teYo5HB4SltPpOo-vDzfyOOSZ2Tz4aj0e1xwCyEH/s320/cadaver+and+queen.jpg" width="211" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLB0QUV5945QkbEjUSUOadZtNrk54yZ8mSsmtfm6bo-sh4OypBoLxJVf5vmL4J-hXScRHrZvEBpeNnPCTMbL1baJy2rOup-xgyAMDZmAS6nmofMQQf_mUKnDkA8DWIQNgynn8bJVvvZ1Kb/s320/children+of+blood+and+bone.jpg" width="213" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="310" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZoYmw7LcNp3etCraau5eGApj5xDnVJgxvnZz8Ha_AOUdlTSy6GqQP7gzzrkuW5U7gNgyuJNIS4LkzePYJdwcVRBOpBsUAviW497YO6KiowOKxrqBQvKRrwIjGVAfXZFmBAJ7WnbLTLNPY/s320/dark+of+the+west.jpg" width="208" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ_pKPuugd0Z-ylASOyg7-BAChuzY1s52mJV9gkbRffsz2gUIoECESPQ1j12J-XerlLgMEpXxS7fv4kspPKzouy4Gf2WnlnUBv0rwzksWPK5LNgf-SY2iOZaVBB85Ds7FBVLlQsuo2Wo2B/s320/hazel+wood.jpg" width="211" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOfruVOAoOdwYE_eImbww9VUnU9_DOILnpE8tZyIMpv3eO4z1vm5_gfuKCTH-zLotwNlfbBouCGsG35BTeetnZfR0O1navmaCxBVXK1SuhTRNZ1EtE6zYymm0QSqlrxB5d0m27JqJqCZjw/s320/heart+of+thorns.jpg" width="211" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIlUqOE7ra29f-7duMoklv1nHn2d4ou3F0Y5O428E98d93O0TFTUNBP_x0L52zeWIP_EAjkjHoGW_r3jTV87S16pa8LsMxmQsKCMFZ-80ASXdOUSga9fZFQgCu-txEG3rDG7lRVE_LcM9x/s320/lets+talk+about+love.jpg" width="213" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmsOC-tElcXlebBPf8K2FMye8q3i_OBxIPGl_V2-8lKr1G-unqdQGCdY3vnsXXq-7IF9_6l_Tme4z8nSsbDRjYro8-BgBX9i70MqrcA89c27wEh1S7OmC3277mHKaO6a8byLQCT2EFXEyO/s320/sky+in+the+deep.jpg" width="212" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="316" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitA25TOj5izByI5sMu4j8dzOseq-aWrhJD2RuNoD0YguJ2_OFi_OU7-vkJ-t_rn0mrB1bDz_6FUijkjps-ZOr-k5JLhb2RwCeYNJEk0v4qMciPd8Y5D0gqNp1hQSg-BmHCY3beGiXss1w5/s320/to+kill+a+kingdom.jpg" width="212" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcNzMvZ5iiF0Ok05u5oXTlK9-yr-pb8ZUhO1gmzMOaANkwulffBmpMsWwkAZlLbN3qc61zHl23rOAF4PLSMUeCjL9yg6eg830oXZY_ssENnAAx5oQvsbvND-rQ5I5l7ffnSSqqOKOGanTn/s320/torn.jpg" width="213" /></div>
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No cover yet: <i>A Court of Miracles</i> by Kester Grant, <i>The Nameless Queen</i> by Rebecca McLaughlin, <i>Bloodleaf</i> by Crystal Smith, <i>The Disasters</i> by M.K. England, <i>Not Even Bones </i>by Rebecca Schaeffer, <i>The Vanishing Kingdom</i> by Laura E. Weymouth, <i>Amber and Dusk</i> by Lyra Selene. </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>4. Series Ending/A Sequel/Companion You Are Most Anticipating in 2018?</b></span></div>
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<img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="312" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi29o26vz5fx5iLK9trl726iENJZ7ZmqY7xP7-1aezJDg7krI8BJePLIeAbWhkEiy3OWBiEYPpO5MaXC8QfyH4BphXkSB2qM34ahuWWY1xtnupiLLkGnwjigB9Yw1p4xn0T0yf_ecPlnlqc/s320/hero+at+the+fall.jpg" width="209" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju1EO1watCIuhyphenhyphenuPMTmSWNe77es7OklgCh_ulLKrN-G0zQNEu9nL2X8CbUNibnry-6U9osM-tKYNVvH3rih363LlSYOE_xSWK0Pj9ClYdhMhd6C43qK2gKXnyjRmKiPzUQkIsV4TDzdaFI/s320/leah+on+the+offbeat.jpg" width="209" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="313" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIutbPVvRIYIiqn6Zb9WNn1MxSyhDZdYqu2cvyIRYyGQ2eIvhTPCZ8hGbzFLjEPh6ZdmFE4hCIwoaOgFHlinqMDMWPriR0a88ZLIPjC7ss-QtZ6hv14x6EV9l_KBW_hb4fUvTHFQsAhCeO/s320/legendary.jpg" width="209" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcc40Q3OzPopiD9gbCQlzzVdh_wXauSkp3HoUAzFkwQfmeHDmX-B_kI-NBNT446eYd0ICHYXB9f0J_UfchzoSarfxZ3yf8QFb-TzqIVa-z_bDa4u_6lPTiVEiKHbx_wGlQ5VcsgrGwuky0/s320/more+than+we+can+tell.jpg" width="209" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyFLVZhWQO0pV6ZPN7vFaEOd3YtgzyCjp0IQm5ElQmoHR2dJjxowOXAop8FAEVGhIG1hY5gJ-s1Ce212vnQrJ-tqNOazxY0ocQTaxy6QXjKRjTDLmhTYVD80SHpGcIir7Ud4Z1JcDA7iRo/s320/puddin.jpg" width="211" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1_2mAgeSD6h5PpoBKDiWpcEVktd6ozLUcKHfuJ_4kj7KQIjR0uCkt0CcH12d-vVPyh57dcGkCYvNKbYCY3nMcxU6ckoMrlF4UgfyMd69KxaRAPs5nCoDbqvqqbR0twVPO2iGlfF9h8rUT/s320/restore+me.jpg" width="211" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="313" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim_MrYIAySk45E7peTHAwrypD9XS1MQhG0WNBzz_jMt3wy0k3Po3erWcQ-p2Wq06O46lNIi8SEIqkhsI8JrGUAlueQBg5gcKK-Y_2BNuteVBrWPOwzqLjzHrb4guMyJmSoFmYQkokm4uj_/s320/sightwitch.jpg" width="209" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYjc7nweMDaGMzhvTyntq6ihyphenhyphenbNI6B6VZd-pAOpuMcV8ORXCo5xrBVwu5BXr55gSb4ijezZqCaaxzoXAzlvoF2iPwJARdor92sIhN7OZTeqSIy-L-8XtKHdu0qJQLnj-SlfuQ2XM9XZdqw/s320/these+vengeful+souls.jpg" width="212" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgarK2lhqnelmL38S-_ua9-HLCkyBtzu7u_h1dGDp9QiyuB9WBbzmpaaoGuxLND74sqv90FbR2sie1wHKBDuzjP9L08ejnRF7qne4Ba3szpBdsa09aR_1L-bkFPvx_5_MsYobxI4cJOmNyy/s320/whisper+of+the+tide.jpg" width="209" /></div>
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<b>No covers yet:</b> Lady Helen #3, NO TITLE EVEN, SOB, <i>The Lady’s Guide to Piracy and Petticoats</i> by Mackenzi Lee, <i>The Caged Queen </i>by Kristin Ciccarelli, <i>Dragonshadow</i> by Elle Katharine White</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>5. One Thing You Hope to Accomplish or Do in Your Reading/Blogging Life in 2018?</b></span></div>
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I have many writing life goals for 2018 (*breathes into a paper bag*) but in regards to reading and blogging: just to keep at it, even if I’m busy or overwhelmed! doesn’t matter if i don’t post regularly. I just want to make sure I post AGAIN.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>6. A 2018 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend to Everyone:</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG0KfojPwBYlT3KLZxpDT48YaxmLR-9bA_RuVxtWGheGdosvq5NDEJex7uhamhd2-MzkjaY62Qjt9VlFr7NrR1nxiNailOc94HeRBP01r7YCnDuNmgiI6_LHbhPLuF5noh9TNNSGc4_HRY/s1600/furyborn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG0KfojPwBYlT3KLZxpDT48YaxmLR-9bA_RuVxtWGheGdosvq5NDEJex7uhamhd2-MzkjaY62Qjt9VlFr7NrR1nxiNailOc94HeRBP01r7YCnDuNmgiI6_LHbhPLuF5noh9TNNSGc4_HRY/s320/furyborn.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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I’ve only read one 2018 release, but it was the deeply awesome <i>FURYBORN</i> by Claire LeGrand, and you all need to read it the moment you can. OMFG.</div>
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SO WOW. OKAY. THAT TOOK FOREVER. It's probably 2019 by now. </div>
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GillyBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622344092774777709noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932292247636823526.post-91011612321587717232017-11-27T00:00:00.000-05:002017-11-27T00:00:01.319-05:00HOW I GOT MY AGENT (!!!): A Tale of Hogwarts Houses, Micro Dreams, and Anxiety<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The weird thing about wanting to be an author (besides the fact that it's a totally masochistic thing to want to do) is that the larger dream is comprised of micro dreams. Things like seeing your book in a store, seeing it shelved face out, having a signing in a bookstore, having a signing at a con, being on a panel, getting your ARCs in the mail, seeing your name printed on a reak cover and holding that cover in your hands.<br />
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For me, even before I let my imagination run wild enough to imagine those pie-in-the-sky goals, I had the ultimate dream of writing a How I Got My Agent blog post. (Oh, and putting “rep'd by @AwesomeAgent” in my Twitter bio.) I don't know why this specific goal always seemed so wonderful to me--probably because I've read and loved dozens of them and always found them deeply inspiring. I’ve daydreamed about this post for ages, ever since I decided I really, REALLY wanted to do this masochistic writing thing, back around 2011 when I was young and pure of spirit and unblemished by the harsh realities of the world.<br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="228" data-original-width="500" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvKj6MDuJe_ZijIrLb4-usGGA_hrz6e_U3ro1d5huKjR1jkxn0g-c4V0QEmd2a6ibRnNpQrZFOCOKz1FlleaflpGiKcAxTlLn3BVxpbBR6_7LqNvgxDSqJ9hE3gsK_FXE7ZcLHN4mTc3VR/s400/when-someone-asks-what-you-do-all-day.gif" width="400" /> <br />
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But long before I actively started educating myself on how publishing works (and took a detour through blogginglandia that I so don't regret), I was a writer. (Not a GOOD one, that took like twenty years, but certainly a prolific one.) I definitely was that kid who knew from way early on that making stories was the thing I wanted to do, because I did it all the time. I have twelve-year-old word documents excavated from ancient rickety computers and preserved in the museum of my google drive to prove it.<br />
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So now, naturally, after 12 years in Azkaban waiting to write this post of posts, I don’t have a flippity flopping clue what to say. Other than SOB SCREAM OH MY GAAAHD and other eloquent things that prove that writing the word stuffs is tooootally what I should be doing. BUT ANYWAY. This will be a long one, because it’s been a heck of a month, and I will have to waste a lot of words to find the right ones.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>Previously, on <i>The OC</i>: I applied to this no big deal, absolutely not a life changing thing called Pitch Wars, which I go into detail about <a href="http://gillianeberry.blogspot.com/2017/08/pitchwars-all-words-and-hello.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>. I had Much Feelings and there were Much Happy Tears.<br />
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And then came the WORK.<br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="280" data-original-width="500" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_STmy8erjmHgFUOUe5VoLJYWbea9olCk2CUHpx-oadID6v70HXsTyBbvsHpglBcKXV95Trq89pRGAx4LXEC64zB_FM9e1pa-pgBBVRDfIbp4OJyoTQuJbRefOeL9j_SjDjB_9j4TXe9uH/s400/half+a+book+about+zombies.gif" width="400" /> <br />
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It’s hilariously, tragically infuriating to me that sooo many people somehow think writing isn’t work, because omg, THE AMOUNT OF WORK THAT IS EDITING A BOOK ON A DEADLINE. I've never had a deadline before! It is. It is so. Like your BRAIN. IT JUST. WORDS GONE? WHAT SLEEP. My glorious mentors, <a href="http://www.tomiadeyemi.com/" target="_blank">Tomi Adeyemi</a> and <a href="http://kestergrant.com/" target="_blank">Kit Grant</a>, compiled two exquisite edit letters for me for my Pitch Wars book, SORROW’S HEIR, the first of which was a not at all terrifying 28 pages.<br />
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(It was a very NICE 28 pages! Full of kind suggestions and brilliant ideas and also pointing out all the places I done fucked up so I didn't done fuck up again. WHICH IS GOOD. But I'm pretty sure I had the Pitch Wars 2017 record for longest edit letter, and it was only my first. I got a second one about 6 weeks later.)<br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="228" data-original-width="500" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRmeN1NPPgrwn2-bByxqAk4B6tpnUuKAvCRpQBr0EBcgcrbEegca6P-9qjNb0prKqd4_v3wjC6Jna10EIWZjSr2yKo61I6JbM8pB0PTqk4IlFfsUo4mxORCqSoGDkb_gxAKwGR4-YetgcH/s400/worst+thing+i+have+ever+read.gif" width="400" /><br />
<img border="0" data-original-height="219" data-original-width="500" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU1yDp2yFkh5vSqWXrEDRU2-qoZ7YL7IxyYtLI9S2Pm-4nQpHP4ONUWqSU1Z14wWYRHoVbO7OgAREAMPFdpuIKHY6L6tONUEEItiZzV93wDYebmSZV8tY9C2y69rmCBOCTgdkdZForfVKz/s400/mispelled+rhythm.gif" width="400" /> <br />
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So yes, cue the hardest revisions I’ve ever done ever. My manuscript was 97k to start. I cut about….oh, 30k, and wrote another 40k, bringing my beast of a book, with its four POV characters and massive world building and oh god why did I do this to myself, up to 107k. There were character reworkings and plot obliteration and scaffolding everywhere and line edits for days, and in the end, I had a much better book than the one I started out with. I’m so in awe of what Tomi and Kit were able to come up with and just how HELPFUL they were. THEY KNOW OF WHAT THEY SPEAK. (SO BUY THEIR BOOKS, <a href="http://www.tomiadeyemi.com/books/" target="_blank"><i>CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE</i></a> AND <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33973264-a-court-of-miracles" target="_blank"><i>A COURT OF MIRACLES</i></a>, BOTH OUT 2018, BECAUSE HONESTLY, THEY ARE CREATIVE GENIUSES).<br />
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I know a lot of people aren’t fans of the hybrid Hogwarts houses, like Ravenpuff and Slytherclaw, since duh, the whole point of Sorting is to only pick one. But I think of it more like a scale, or a Venn diagram, or something like that. There are Gryffindors with Ravenclaw leanings, like Hermione, or
Hufflepuff leanings, like Ron, or Slytherin leanings, like Harry. I’m Ravenclaw to the bone, but I’m a certain type of Ravenclaw. I’m one with Hufflepuff leanings. We are not the Sherlocks of the Ravenclaw house, the brilliant and ambitious and inventive, the doctors and strategists. I’m more of Luna Lovegood Ravenclaw, a whirl of benign creativity and Too Weird to Function and frankly a complete disregard for the conventions of reality. THE NARGLES ARE ALWAYS BEHIND IT. Those are just facts.<br />
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I also think we all have four inner House Points Hourglasses, keeping tally of our inner Ravenclaw-ness and so on. I’m naturally full up on Ravenclaw sapphires and Hufflepuff….yellow things. (I think they’re diamonds? I am too lazy to google this.) But my Gryffindor ruby and Slytherin emerald levels are woefully low.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5OUlltq5AZEXLvCNfXQQCYJj80omOejtTCyq_JICm2n0fw8KpSbXmRA1ijUFMURrpTGByT5OYR1SfEIETTHQFrAfYYMQzdY9lEMf7szpJEEy_PyuHq1sLw_TPu0pc5cvIImGFxBtRhwAw/s1600/hourglass+candy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5OUlltq5AZEXLvCNfXQQCYJj80omOejtTCyq_JICm2n0fw8KpSbXmRA1ijUFMURrpTGByT5OYR1SfEIETTHQFrAfYYMQzdY9lEMf7szpJEEy_PyuHq1sLw_TPu0pc5cvIImGFxBtRhwAw/s320/hourglass+candy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">here they are filled with candy, which is absolutely the correct thing</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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But an experience like Pitch Wars--and the spinning carousel of terror and insecurity that is querying--requires you to up your bravery and ambition quotas. So this journey has been all about dragging my Gryffindor and Slytherin levels up into an even balance with my Ravenpuffness. Tomi and Kit are especially good at bucking up my G and S levels, since they are Slytherclaw queens.<br />
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I promise this will come into play later. BEAR WITH ME.<br />
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So after all this editing, and polishing, and editing some more, and freaking out over pitches and first pages came... THE AGENT ROUND OF PITCH WARS.<br />
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DUN DUN DUNNNNN.<br />
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<a href="http://pitchwars.org/pw-372-young-adult-diverse-ya-fantasy-sorrows-heir/" target="_blank">AND MY PITCH WENT LIVE AND THERE WAS MUCH SHOUTING AND EVEN MORE STRESSING.</a><br />
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Here’s how the Agent Round of Doom and Panic and More Panic works. You write a pitch, and you share an excerpt, and then THAT IS IT. THAT’S ALL YOU GET TO DO. So you write this gigantic 107k word manuscript full of all your THOUGHTS and FEELINGS and WITTIEST LINES and CLEVEREST PLOT TWISTS…and you must sell it in 50 words. And then share only 250 out of 107k bookwords and hope that does the trick.<br />
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WHAT. I’M NOT A POET. I DON’T WRITE HAIKUS. I WRITE NOVELS BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW HOW TO SHUT UP. HOW. HOWWW.<br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="245" data-original-width="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOiBMqTAMAsHMcF7prSvwA1MqN_5s-IqoKCeXe5eUBoRuJApSds5Cz3RidkEcXZIzGeEMjAUHetb_TUTsYg8tSemFTGQTr2Qzd-8TpXB2UkzVu-JsdB-aa34r92XsNCyHslSnwyVF7-9_Q/s1600/nick+writing+1.gif" /><img border="0" data-original-height="245" data-original-width="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgUkxOI3ub36du9F4cfLnxS30QPjK7wOEukgZZUCdFOO1LKgvBtAGiDly5sDgQNdaNW-FGetNUoH6T9xWgyMJc1NkymOUBwyWe0JNWn_wP_dKNE6sNXfdLRZMpJeLwElZ9JmiBvA8gKcpW/s1600/nick+writing+2.gif" /> <br />
<img border="0" data-original-height="245" data-original-width="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJgSk_7VD2D-k9t-lak1ozJEbElSsUFFLMIlglh9jv0v4L0HdQDeKFzfdB6k59pVXC4uwNXaBD5pVYSiCJWtvfoWw0mEfNE5x83YIN06Jmxx218Ymhv07KlWxoNPcLj2RlWrAUxWwqmG4n/s1600/nick+writing+3.gif" /><img border="0" data-original-height="245" data-original-width="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEaJph5k3Zg3lmNAQZEVy_7QjzY2wb2qCVPlMwKhL773p2NgMXYqrePStKfUxYZ3JRYApPyDdNtrAuEPEZRtaDNkajvcxJnfdhR39f898LlSbmfoxLQoWLN1I_JUXH35A0_ygqi1JdOVla/s1600/nick+writing+4.gif" /><br />
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So like all anxious bullet blenders whirring at high speed masquerading as functional adults, I was in a state of utter collapsing panic in the hours leading up to AGENT ROUND and our pitches going live on the interwebs. Thankfully I was in New York visiting my mother at the time (and doing my line edits seriously RIGHT UP to the last minute, gahhh), so I was able to distract myself.<br />
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The day the Young Adult pitches went up, I flew back home to LA all the way across the country. THIS WAS ALSO A GOOD THING. I spent the whole morning pre-plane REFRESHING MY PHONE BROWSER LIKE A REFRESHING REFRESHER, dying a little every time I saw a new comment. Because somehow, magically, amazingly, I was getting comments. I was getting requests. I’d written a pitch that worked. I was ON THE FLOOR. (Not literally, literally I was on a plane watching <i>Cinderella</i> and crying into my peanuts, but I did have a moment where I felt like lying in the plane aisle and thrashing like a fish. But they frown on this on American Airlines? For some reason?)<br />
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So I hurried my lazy bum up on those line edits, and the moment we were allowed to send to the Pitch Wars agents who'd requested, I did, right on schedule and in a very timely and professional manner<br />
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HAHA! No! I was still line editing! So adorable you thought I’d ever do anything on time. I stayed up until 5 am, quite literally 5 am in the morning, do not do as I do kids, sleep is your friend, to get my requested fulls and partials out as soon as I could. (I probably should have taken a day. I found typos almost immediately after sending. AGAIN, DON’T DO AS I DO.)<br />
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But Pitch Wars is this funny pressure-cooker-hyper-speed-I-don’t-even-know-what, where if you can feel the moment of RIGHT NOW RIGHT NOW, you go for it. You go full Slytherin, and you think about being ruthless and going for what you want. You go full Gryffindor, and you become brave enough to just say SCREW IT and send off the manuscript you’ve bled all over. So I went for it. And once I sent them off, I was like AH, FINALLY. IT'S OUT OF MY HANDS. I CAN SLEEP. (Because I am part Puff. We just want to sleep and be fed.)<br />
<br />
Eleven hours later I had an agent call.<br />
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O_O<br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="500" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjo9IToLDLRCcyCCI_Xgr_l2SbzBZaATDX2qLznypb2Zj69Qs4h7BDEnXggyKRSQh-h0ZGzwFiAVv-IY6jt6SlJFTAl0q-yt8bOeYBg5J8UfJeV0WDF_SN4Lo7J-Yok86bkKFZ7Hqmp7P0/s400/can+i+get+an+alcohol.gif" width="400" /> <br />
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One of these days I’ll put together a post about what it’s like to query when you are little more than a collection of anxious molecules of caffeine and mental illness bouncing off of each other at a frantic pace, <a href="https://twitter.com/kimkarDASHA/status/930752841873989632" target="_blank">powering generators and the entire country</a>, but for my anxiety in particular, I have much difficulty with phones and with email. I don't know how much you know about querying, but it is….quite literally that entirely. Like, that’s how it works. Why don't agencies accept queries by carrier pigeon? Damn millennials are killing the carrier pigeon industry!<br />
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What followed were more calls, and more emails, and more and more and MORE calls. I had a designated call station set up in my living room, in my comfiest armchair, with a little foldy table for my laptop set in front of me, with a word doc in which to take notes and my browser opened to various references, and a big warm cup of tea set to the side. Also a furry blanket to snuggle under. <br />
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I took a lot of self care steps in the way I set up my querying experience, which again I’ll go into at some point. I was also VERY LUCKY in that I had the best mentors evarrrrr guiding me through things. They had spreadsheets! They had knowledge! They were founts of everlasting support! They had celebratory gifs! How do people query without mentors, because I honestly don’t know. <br />
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I was also lucky in that the number one scourge of traditional querying is the WAITINGGGGGGGGG. I did not have to wait. In fact, I did not GET to wait. There was no time to breathe, because everything I’d wanted for a long time was happening ALL AT ONCE.<br />
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The next two weeks were a complete anxious whirlwind. It was wonderful, and it was stressful as I began to realize I WAS GOING. TO HAVE. TO MAKE. A CHOICE, a position I'd never envisioned myself in. It was rather horrible, actually.<br />
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It is a first world publishing problem to have multiple offers of representation, I know this, but I am an INFP Ravenpuff with a marshmallow heart, and I love absolutely everyone I talked to. And I mean really, REALLY loved. To the point where I cried at the prospect of saying no to certain people (Remember me watching <i>Cinderella</i>? I'm a weeper. I am not a person to sit next to on planes. Random Business Man in the seat beside me actually gave me one of his tissues when Cinderella’s mother passed away. THAT’S TEN MINUTES INTO THE FILM. But that is not what this post is about, moving on.) It was wonderful and gratifying and excruciating.<br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="245" data-original-width="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx1Uv8R4MU8ch4kIcbSGpsMlqrVj-zOWL9h-mfAgTtXuqYlHdzIao60DEW0X4LCBBMyl_xwbF1KvZtRnjoJFKeNyBKp_AdL_HBERz7vGvcgHP-b89MvW2Xv2jurVGa5ca71qi6K38_Yyri/s1600/miserable+and+magical+nick.gif" /> <br />
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Again, my querying experience was highly atypical. Pitch Wars can hypercharge the process, so everything not only happens FASTER but ALL AT ONCE. I was very overwhelmed, and so glad I had a full two weeks to just think. And breathe. And drink a lot of calming tea. (I misspelled that as "tears" on the first go. I probably drank those too.)<br />
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And I was so sure I’d never decide, and that I would always feel completely freaked out, until at the very end I realized…I kind of knew. There was one agent I just couldn't stop thinking about, who I'd jived with completely, and whose enthusiasm for me and my book turned my eyes to hearts. I thought about it like a Slytherin, felt it in my heart like a Hufflepuff, realized all the creative stars aligned like a Ravenclaw, and then COMMITTED like a Gryffindor.<br />
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And that was ABSOLUTELY TERRIFYING, NGL, and yes I cried, all the crying went on. And I definitely went “oh my god oh my god oh my god” for about three straight minutes after sending the email whilst staring at the ceiling. But it all felt right, and amazing, and I realized…….I HAD AN AGENT. The thing I’d wanted most for AGES. HOLY ACTUAL WIZARD GOD.<br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="254" data-original-width="500" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH895ZZMRVZ2jI7GcVILkul08suq2mvYsPATk1Vq7kV5ZvIbVM8cPHbKwUFjkRZW-xI5cN1OrDWOgQmHUwsaFkcvXWpHkcB5-TUgKI43kaJ7wti33IqMgokiVxHykYNMCixZCPltqwnAQe/s400/cotton+eye+joe+nick.gif" width="400" /> <br />
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I know people love statistics (though again, mine are useless because Pitch Wars is its own beast, because you are sending to agents who have already expressed an interest in your book), so here they be:<br />
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<b>Number of manuscripts written:</b> 10+ (I have a very full drawer and about 7 of them shall never see the light of day)<br />
<b>Number of manuscripts queried pre Pitch Wars: </b>0 (I had no Gryffindor rubies)<br />
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<b>Pitch Wars requests:</b> 35<br />
<b>Fulls I actually had time to send:</b> um…I should know this…15? ish? I am a bad statistician and my spreadsheet mentors shall keel haul me<br />
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<b>Times I cried:</b> incalculable <br />
<b>Cups of tea drunk:</b> number too high for known mathematics<br />
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<b>Offers of representation:</b> 8 (!!!!!!!!!!)<br />
<b>Agents I signed with:</b> 1<br />
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I am so beyond over the moon to announce that I’ve signed with the amazing, warm, ferocious, and fabulous <a href="http://www.thebentagency.com/agent_jenny_bent.php" target="_blank"><b>Jenny Bent of the Bent Agency.</b></a><br />
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SDFKHSLKFJHSLDFSUEIJFKSDH !!!!! GBAHDUIFSL:”O!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SCREEEEEEEEEECH!!!!!<br />
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FKDJHSLKKJKSKJFHSLEOFSPEHG!!!!!!!<br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="185" data-original-width="245" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz8q-2nlzPdEbZdvbCYT5hty3RrAIfK950DsY2UnnY54Vm7dPxT7LveFWXQC2xF1Sz_sAhS2unFyqVVHyGUZMN0ufGgQQyCSqkN0EuYZSNWt2f4VZU-_jXb4oAxdS2wiICwaInt3eOv8eK/s400/nick+air+fiddle.gif" width="400" /> <br />
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Jenny is the dreamiest of dream agents and I've pinched myself every day because I can't believe how lucky I am to get to work with her. Seriously, I just pinched myself again, because how is this real life?? AHHHHHH. <br />
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Honestly, that’s all I can say. Just endless ADKFHSL:SLFSSFDHFUS *muppet flailing* *more Cinderella sobbing*<br />
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And thank you to my mentors and my wonderful friends who coached me through this intense and terrifying and wonderful experience, and for messaging me every time I had a new comment on my Pitch Wars post (THAT WAS SO WONDERFUL, SOBS), and just being ABSOLUTE STARS. And thanks to Jenny for being the bee’s knees and so wonderful to work with. I’m just so excited about everything that comes next! Which is more editing! Yay!<br />
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GillyBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622344092774777709noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932292247636823526.post-28173317514102065972017-10-02T00:00:00.000-04:002017-10-02T00:00:29.207-04:00Monthly Recap: September 2017<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFYOJNkNxkIW9pI2kavAmiIc8PQbtriXDY7Z-POO5W2JW9RAIeliCdzl4U-U9w5d7dCFhRXVpQPB3felZaDN6fdnsODBdFxVsGsp-VK4Bf19FsL-w67vYsFnRvHM2921UE3KiZBDk4TwUY/s1600/monthly+recap+final.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFYOJNkNxkIW9pI2kavAmiIc8PQbtriXDY7Z-POO5W2JW9RAIeliCdzl4U-U9w5d7dCFhRXVpQPB3felZaDN6fdnsODBdFxVsGsp-VK4Bf19FsL-w67vYsFnRvHM2921UE3KiZBDk4TwUY/s640/monthly+recap+final.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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It's been a cool minute since I last did one of these, but September was FULL OF THE THINGS, so let's relive it, shall we?<br />
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Okayyy, so, I have not done a lot of reading this month, because I have been WRITING like a WRITING THING (more on that below). But so far what I have read I have very much enjoyed.<br />
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Finished:<br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34076952-the-language-of-thorns" target="_blank"><i>The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic</i> by Leigh Bardugo</a></span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31145039-kissing-max-holden?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank"><i>Kissing Max Holden</i> by Katy Upperman</a></span><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">Still currently reading:</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29385546-warcross" target="_blank"><i>Warcross</i> by Marie Lu </a></span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29385546-warcross" target="_blank"><i>A Poison Dark and Drowning</i> by Jessica Cluess</a>, which I've been reading for like a month but had to pause even though it's REALLY GOOD to focus on my revisions</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23437156-six-of-crows" target="_blank"><i>Six of Crows </i>by Leigh Bardugo</a>, which I'm closely analyzing for my Pitch Wars homework! This book is perfection and I can't believe I waited this long to reread it. I need a yearly dose of Kaz and Inej.</span><br />
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Um, I have been doing a tremendous amount of rewatching because it chills my brain out. I rewatched the entirely of <i>Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries</i>, and a whole bunch of <i>Gilmore Girls</i>. I can't even remember if I saw anything else??? What are brain???<br />
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A post shared by Gillian Berry (@mizgillianberry) on <time datetime="2017-09-23T00:09:24+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Sep 22, 2017 at 5:09pm PDT</time></div>
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BZbpqauHPZ7/" style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">I love old books 📚 What's the oldest book you own? Mine are those Dickens books, which are from 1912! (Swipe to see their gorgeous insides). My favorite old book is my vintage housewife's cookbook from 1937, which was a Christmas present.</a></div>
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A post shared by Gillian Berry (@mizgillianberry) on <time datetime="2017-09-24T17:24:39+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Sep 24, 2017 at 10:24am PDT</time></div>
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A post shared by Gillian Berry (@mizgillianberry) on <time datetime="2017-09-29T20:22:16+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Sep 29, 2017 at 1:22pm PDT</time></div>
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Nothing in September, but I am doing (or attempting to semi do, because I will surely NOT be able to sketch daily) Inktober, so here's a little witch for your viewing pleasure<br />
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Basic witch 🎃🐱☕✨<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/inktober?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#inktober</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/inktober2017?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#inktober2017</a> <a href="https://t.co/JxKd9xdc3J">pic.twitter.com/JxKd9xdc3J</a></div>
— Gillian Berry (@mizgillianberry) <a href="https://twitter.com/mizgillianberry/status/914603112744095744?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 1, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<b><i>Got cultured</i></b><br />
I visited TWO MUSEUMS this month, omg, so art, such intellent, very culture. I went to The Getty and saw an exhibit on Latin American golden artifacts, like crowns and fancy doodads of the Incans and Mayans and Olmecs and everyone in between, then then I went to the Hammer Museum, which I'd never been too, and saw a very THOUGHT-PROVOKING exhibit on Radical Latin American female artist. I felt very Girl Power-y.<br />
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<b><i>Got crafty</i></b><br />
I am in the process of turning my bedroom into Ravenclaw tower, and I'm trying to do it in a more DIY and less SPEND ALL THE MONEY way, so I've gotten back into crafting and needlepoint and all the creative-type things I used to love to do. I'm really enjoying it! I can't wait to see how my room ends up. I'm also in the process of making my own DIY dragon eggs, so pics when that happens! (maybe I'll do a post, idk, don't hold me to anything)<br />
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<b><i>GOT INTO PITCHWARS.</i></b><br />
Okay, so technically this happened in August, but the full EXPERIENCE of Pitch Wars was in September. If you want to know more about Pitch Wars and what it means to get in, go to <a href="http://gillianeberry.blogspot.com/2017/08/pitchwars-all-words-and-hello.html" target="_blank">THIS POST</a>. I've loved being a mentee and meeting all my fellow mentees and doing all the mentor things. LIKE AN INTERVIEW OMG. If you want to see me babble, go to <a href="http://pitchwars.org/pitch-wars-2017-team-interviews-erin-gunti-jennifer-price-with-mentor-kelly-hopkins-and-gillian-berry-with-mentors-tomi-adeyemi-and-kit-grant/" target="_blank">THIS POST</a>.<br />
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<b><i>Revised my novel like a revising thing who revises and does nothing else</i></b><br />
I have never. Revised. So hard. In my life. And I LOVE IT. i am such a Hermione about certain things. Give me all the work, all the homework, all the novel stuff, I WILL DO IT. But also my brain is now sort of made of melted cheese? (Mmm, cheese.) I have written so very many words and thought so very, very hard, but my book is a MILLION times better and I'm now a lot less nervous aobut presenting it at the agent round. (But still nervous, because, like, OMG.) (Also you can't <i>use </i>the word "OMG" in a high fantasy manuscript, which i find <i>exceptionally limiting.</i>)<br />
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<b><i>Met my Pitch Wars mentor, Tomi Adeyemi!</i></b><br />
We forgot to take pictures because we are FOOLS, but we got Thai food and just had the best time. I'm the luckiest, really.<br />
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<b><i>This month's blog posts:</i></b><br />
<a href="http://gillianeberry.blogspot.com/2017/09/the-books-of-2017-part-one-of-many.html" target="_blank">The Books of 2017: Part One of Many</a><br />
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<b><i>Tea! All the tea!</i></b><br />
Every fall, I get obsessed with tea all over again. I am a mega coffee lover, and for years I never even liked tea. And then last year I TRIED AGAIN AND WHO KNEW, I love tea! I'm particularly in love with the Harney & Sons Paris blend, which is black tea (my favorite), but it's very fruity and full and tastes like blackberries! I also adore their English Breakfast blend, which I drink with sugar and milk and it is so cozy, and their Tower of London blend, which is light and sweet. For herbal teas, their lemon tea and their raspberry teas are both amazing! ALL THE TEA ALL THE TIME.<br />
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<b><i>Classics on audiobook</i></b><br />
So I have never, ever been an audiobook-er. I do not have the attention span. But I've found that audiobooking classics (especially when they are narrated by a British human) totally works for my brain. So far I've listened to <i>Pride and Prejudice</i>, <i>Sense and Sensibility</i>, and part of <i>Agnes Grey</i>, which I plan to finish very soon.<br />
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<b><i>Decorating my office</i></b><br />
You guys. I have a problem. I am addicted to fandom prints. I want to cover all the walls with them, but I'm trying to keep it focused just on my office, but I'm seriously in love with how it looks.<br />
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<br />GillyBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622344092774777709noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932292247636823526.post-25457956571376025532017-09-08T00:28:00.000-04:002017-09-08T00:28:10.050-04:00The Books of 2017: Part One of Many<br />
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SO, HEY, i've read a heck of a ton of books this year (I mean, not as much as the ROBOTS who have read nearly 300 books but they are not human so we do not worry about them) and I haven't reviewed, like, any of them. Let's blaze through the books I've read, shall we? And I'll tell you which ones you must toss your entire life aside AT ONCE to read, and you will listen, because that is where we're at in this relationship. OKAY THEN.<br />
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Get ready for some quick impressions of a whole bunch of books I read in 2017, some quick opinions, and some general incoherence! Also, this will not be in order, because why be logical about anything?<br />
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<i>The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue</i> by Mackenzi Lee<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29283884-the-gentleman-s-guide-to-vice-and-virtue" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Gentlemans-Guide-Vice-Virtue/dp/0062382802/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1504843351&sr=8-1&keywords=the+gentleman%27s+guide+to+vice+and+virtue" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Gentlemans-Guide-Vice-and-Virtue-Mackenzi-Lee/9780062382801?ref=grid-view&qid=1504843728336&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Book Depository</a> | <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-gentlemans-guide-to-vice-and-virtue-mackenzi-lee/1124694132?ean=9780062382801#/" target="_blank">Barnes and Noble</a> | <a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780062382801" target="_blank">Indiebound</a><br />
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HI, READ THIS, THANKS. If you like gloriously, gleefully anachronistic historical romps, wonderfully flawed main characters, bad ass broads, super gay sparkle ships, and all around good times, read this! The pacing sagged in the middle, and I didn't love the alchemical semi-magical bent the plot took, but I LOVED the characters, Monty in particular. He is hilarious and broken and the trash prince of my heart. MONTY, MY LOVE, I WILL FOLLOW YOUR EVERY DISASTROUS ADVENTURE TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiayb62gL9fTvqnA75ITl8PPhxL7m1wOMgQn_syOLtCBmZUS4Wf8dw6y3XTgMYMcWD2Q7QdhiykOdUgwHJ-E9DD-gvJHa_Mvy-WAO53IoRKUOkTnan9vDZJ2gJF4JDTbRzHb-UYRJ6zH45s/s1600/28243032-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="308" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiayb62gL9fTvqnA75ITl8PPhxL7m1wOMgQn_syOLtCBmZUS4Wf8dw6y3XTgMYMcWD2Q7QdhiykOdUgwHJ-E9DD-gvJHa_Mvy-WAO53IoRKUOkTnan9vDZJ2gJF4JDTbRzHb-UYRJ6zH45s/s320/28243032-2.jpg" width="207" /></a><br />
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<i>We Are Okay</i> by Nina LaCour<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28243032-we-are-okay?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/We-Are-Okay-Nina-LaCour/dp/0525425896/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504843369&sr=1-1&keywords=we+are+okay" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/We-Are-Okay/9780735232013" target="_blank">Book Depository</a> | <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/we-are-okay-nina-lacour/1124300483?ean=9780525425892#/" target="_blank">Barnes and Noble</a> | <a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780525425892" target="_blank">Indiebound</a><br />
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Okay so this book made me cry for about a YEAR. Fantastically written, searing, honest, brutal, and I will never ever read it again and I'm putting it in the freezer. OUCH. If you like pain, you'll like this. Some people I know were bored reading it, since it's a very INTROSPECTIVE, SLOW <strike>AGONIZINGLY PAINFUL </strike>kind of read. I was very not bored but I was also BLEEDING ALL OVER THE FLOOR, so.<br />
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<i>Song of the Current</i> by Sarah Tolscer<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31450960-song-of-the-current?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Song-Current-Sarah-Tolcser/dp/1681192977/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504843384&sr=1-1&keywords=song+of+the+current" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Song-of-the-Current/9781408889008" target="_blank">Book Depository</a> | <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/song-of-the-current-sarah-tolcser/1124362946?ean=9781681192970#/" target="_blank">Barnes and Noble</a> | <a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781681192970" target="_blank">Indiebound</a><br />
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OH I ADORED THAT. Pirates and riverboats, hate to love, a fiesty and snarky heroine who totally knows who she is and what she wants, a wonderfully snobby love interest, and a funtastic world. I saw all the plot twists coming a mile away, but who CARES, this book is just delightful. If you like fantasy, fun times, swashbuckling, smoochy smooch, sass, and boys with swords, COME ON IN, THE WATER'S GREAT.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC4BRWEi-EK7FkTBSKLuTlkPFc6_O1DKkGtTQJlnV-CHsFGGQqZ6JPZaXiKryKocL7ClhXsg1wlEhC25s2efNscpOK9jN-EO_OBmSSRFRMG3E_wwkwU7Y5nNTcOw7xK5NwNYWyZgjkSD5M/s1600/21793182-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC4BRWEi-EK7FkTBSKLuTlkPFc6_O1DKkGtTQJlnV-CHsFGGQqZ6JPZaXiKryKocL7ClhXsg1wlEhC25s2efNscpOK9jN-EO_OBmSSRFRMG3E_wwkwU7Y5nNTcOw7xK5NwNYWyZgjkSD5M/s320/21793182-3.jpg" width="211" /></a><br />
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<i>Starflight</i> by Melissa Landers<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21793182-starflight?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Starflight-Melissa-Landers/dp/1484723244/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504843401&sr=1-1&keywords=starflight" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Starflight-Meliss-Landers/9781484723241?ref=grid-view&qid=1504843794112&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Book Depository </a>| <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/starflight-melissa-landers/1122111524?ean=9781484747865#/" target="_blank">Barnes and Noble</a> | <a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781484747865" target="_blank">Indiebound</a><br />
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SPACE SHIP, SHIP SHIP. This was also a VERY FUN kind of read, which I am all about. There's a space crew, there is total hate to love, there is space adventures, if that is your jam at all, do give this a go, because I totally inhaled this one. It's not perfect but the dialogue is snappy, there's a found family aspect that always gets my heart a-meltin', and it's how i generally prefer my sci-fi: light and SHIPPY.<br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUzPL-N1Pczy2zhqgd-zcwuo1J9n5W1mjhC7sR2eCNFhQ4sOvFV_WVCJqWI5qaMnPYKgTwV0w7boNvXVS7xZuayHKJ1kdGOdE4H-ySBFHG5cLH_QYfKIRgYlD8cL4nF_-edwC20yPfvxeE/s320/24485589.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="211" /><br />
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<i>Hunted </i>by Meagan Spooner<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24485589-hunted?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hunted-Meagan-Spooner/dp/0062422286/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504843416&sr=1-1&keywords=hunted+meagan+spooner" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Hunted/9780062422286" target="_blank">Book Depository</a> |<a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hunted-meagan-spooner/1123951207?ean=9780062422286#/" target="_blank"> Barnes and Noble</a> | <a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780062422286" target="_blank">Indiebound</a><br />
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This was a lovely, magical, and lyrical fairy tale. And above all, it was SET IN OLD TIMEY RUSSIA, with Russian fairytales and a magical snowbound land and good times. It lacked a bit of depth, but the writing and setting were luscious, and you know I can never resist a Beauty and the Beast retelling. Plus, there is a REALLYA WESOME DOG in this book. Always a bonus.<br />
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<i>These Ruthless Deeds</i> by Tarun Shanker and Kelly Zekas<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30199421-these-ruthless-deeds?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/These-Ruthless-Deeds-Vicious-Masks/dp/1250127955/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504843430&sr=1-1&keywords=these+ruthless+deeds" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/These-Ruthless-Deeds/9781250127952" target="_blank">Book Depository</a> | <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/these-ruthless-deeds-tarun-shanker/1123806912?ean=9781250127952#/" target="_blank">Barnes and Noble</a> | <a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781250127952" target="_blank">Indiebound</a><br />
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HOLY SHIT THIS BOOK IS SO GOOD AND IT RUINED MY LIFE, please read this series so you can experience the OTP angst, the hilarious quips, and the PLOT TWISTS OF DOOM AND DESTRUCTION AND HOLY SHIT DID THEY REALLY JSUT DO THAT??? (In case you don't know, this book is pitched as Jane Austen meets X-Men, which you NEED) (THough I kind of hate that pitch because this book is set in Victorian times, aka not Jane Austen times, but it gets the feeling across and BASICALLY I WANT YOU TO READ THIS SERIES)<br />
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<i>Shuffle, Repeat </i>by Jen Klein<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26067503-shuffle-repeat?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Shuffle-Repeat-Jen-Klein/dp/0553509853/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504843450&sr=1-1&keywords=shuffle+repeat" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Shuffle--Repeat/9780553509854" target="_blank">Book Depository </a>| <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/shuffle-repeat-jen-klein/1122491577?ean=9780553509854#/" target="_blank">Barnes and Noble</a> | <a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780553509854" target="_blank">Indiebound</a><br />
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This was so obscenely cute I'm in pain. I absolutely ADORED this contemporary romance. I'm pretty sure I read it in one sitting. Totally giggly adorably stinking cute. Mega ship. And I'm a sucker for mega judgmental contemp heroines who learn not to be mega judgmental bitches, and also CUTE SWEET ADORABLE LOVE INTERESTS omg my heart is all mushy<br />
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<i>Pride and Prejudice</i> by Jane Austen audiobook (reread)<br />
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This is only the second audiobook I've ever listened to in my life, and it was FANTASTIC. It's the free, public doman librivox version recorded by Karen Savage, and she is british and wonderful. Every single character is utter perfection, I swear she is a wizard. This audio was utterly sublime and I definitely recommend it. It's <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVHu5-n69qQ" target="_blank">here on Youtube</a> for those interested!<br />
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<br />GillyBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622344092774777709noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932292247636823526.post-79649476732368633252017-08-28T18:04:00.001-04:002017-08-28T20:57:44.368-04:00#PitchWars, All the Words, and HELLO<br />
HELLO BLOG. YOU LOOK SO PRETTY. A little dusty and creaky in the joints and I--stop looking at me like that--I know I've neglected you, but that shall all be rectified. Look, I brought presents!<br />
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I got into on Twitter why I've been mostly absent from the interwebs this year (go <a href="https://twitter.com/mizgillianberry/status/900821814787670019" target="_blank">HERE</a> if you want to read a v personal thread full of OPTIMISM and POORLY TIMED JOKES) but needless to say, I have very much missed the book blogging community and yammering on about books--and about myself. (We are the solipsistic millenial generation, embrace it and keep talking about yourself because you are FASCINATING and there is seriously no sarcasm here, I for one am fully interested in exactly what you had for breakfast). Because, speaking of myself, very exciting things are going on in Gillianland!<br />
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Most of you probably don't know that in addition to writing strangely rambly, gif-heavy blog posts full of dad jokes and far too much capslock, I also like to write books. Now, I think I'm pretty okay-ish at it, but I've never had the courage to eeeever submit my stuff anywhere--that, and I knew nothing I'd yet written was ready. Well, over this difficult year, I finished up a draft of a thing that I could tell was the most ready-ish thing I'd ever written. I polished it, and edited it in my own lackadaisical way, fixing the weak ending and clarifying a certain character's plotline (that is still giving me hell, ugh). Well, it still wasn't COMPLETELY ready, but it was far ready-er than it was before!<br />
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Maybe I should....qUeRY itTtttT?!????<br />
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YEAH NO HAHAHAHAAHA FUNNY JOKE GILLIAN *sweats* *eats ice cream*<br />
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But, like, I wanted my book to become a THING, and that's how it happens, right? So I needed to pull on my big girl pants and actually do the thing. But I knew--<i>I knew</i>--my book needed wiser people than I to give it one more ruthless shredding. I was way too close to it, and I had been working on it way too long, and I loved it dearly but also a little bit wanted to set it on fire. (Normal creative people stuff.)<br />
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ENTER....PITCH WARS.<br />
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To paraphrase my eventual mentors (I just spoiled the plot of my own blog post, oops), finding out about the imminent Pitch Wars submission window was like Hagrid busting down the door on my eleventh birthday and handing me a letter from Hogwarts. I WAS A WIZARD. I MEAN, ER, A PITCH WARRIOR. OR I COULD BE. IF I PULLED ON THE AFOREMENTIONED BIG GIRL PANTS (sweatpants, because honestly) AND SUBMITTED.<br />
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Now, what is Pitch Wars, you ask? I'm going to copy and past from <a href="http://www.brenda-drake.com/pitch-wars/" target="_blank">Brenda Drake's website</a>, aka the brilliant mind behind Pitch Wars, and have her explain, because when I tried to tell my mom succintly and coherently about how it worked, I rambled for five minutes and made a lot of confusing hand gestures.<br />
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<i><b><span style="color: #351c75;">Pitch Wars is a contest where published/agented authors, editors, or industry interns choose one writer each, read their entire manuscript, and offer suggestions to shine it up for agents. The mentors also critique the writer’s pitch to get it ready for the agent round. Writers send applications (query and first chapter of manuscript) to four mentors who best fit their work. The mentors then read all their applications and choose the one writer they want to mentor for the next two months.</span></b></i><br />
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<b style="color: #351c75; font-style: italic;">One mentee is chosen by each mentor or set of co-mentors, and they spend two months revising the manuscript and pitch. In November during the agent round, each mentee is featured on a post that includes their pitch and the first page of their manuscript. Participating agents view the posts and make requests.</b><br />
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The submission window was from August 2nd to August 6th. I had heard of Pitch Wars floating around in the Twitterverse, but I only vaguely knew what it was. I stumbled upon <a href="http://www.tomiadeyemi.com/blog/teamclaws-pitch-wars-wishlist" target="_blank">THIS Pitch Wars wishlist post</a> from (my eventual) (spoiled you again) mentors, Tomi Adeyemi and Kit Grant, on July 18th and felt like it was describing my book almost EXACTLY. I decided right then and there I would enter. So I spent the next two weeks feverishly polishing my query, fiddling with my manuscript, and putting together an utter trainwreck of a synopsis seriously throw it into the sea and let the radioactive jellyfish have it</div>
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I always assumed I'd never try any kind of pitch contest, because I am a bundle of jumping anxious beans cleverly disguised as an adult human, and the idea of putting my work out there--particularly as a Twitter pitch--made me feel physically sick. But this was not Twitter! If I fell flat on my face no one would know, and I need never tell the world (and this is a TERRIBLE way to live your life, don't follow my example, be brave and fail bravely for you are awesome and perseverence and woo team)! And it would be good practice for the eventual carousel of terror and anxiety that is querying! I HAD NOTHING TO LOSE. So I did the thing.</div>
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AND IT WORKED OH MY GOD WHAT EVEN ACTUALLY I GET TO GO TO HOGWARTS</div>
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MY NAAAAME ON <a href="http://www.brenda-drake.com/2017/08/pitch-wars-2017-mentors-picks/" target="_blank">THE LIIIIIIST</a> MINE MINE MIIIINNNEEEEEE<br />
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All the way at the bottom is MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!</div>
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Cue a lot of happy sobbing and happy anxiety and holyshitholyshit and IS THIS THE REAL LIFE IS THIS JUST FANTASY and basically A LOT OF THIS</div>
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I'm so grateful to my mentors I don't even have the words. The day of the announcement was just a blur of emotions and excitement and I STILL feel a bit like I'm dreaming?? Like???? Is this really happening??? OH MY ACTUAL WIZARD GOD.</div>
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(BTW if you don't know <a href="https://twitter.com/kgtellsstories" target="_blank">Kit </a>and <a href="https://twitter.com/tomi_adeyemi" target="_blank">Tomi</a>, first of all, rethink your lives, and second of all, CHECK OUT THEIR BOOKS BECAUSE THEY SOUND UNBELIEVABLY AMAZING. Tomi's upcoming <i><a href="http://fiercereads.com/books/children-of-blood-and-bone/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=twitterpost&utm_term=undefined-undefined&utm_content=na-preorder-buynow&utm_campaign=9781250170972&et=36635-n18051896" target="_blank">Children of Blood and Bone</a></i> is a Nigerian fantasy that's <i>ATLA</i> + Black Lives Matter. (!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Kit's upcoming <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33973264-a-court-of-miracles?from_search=true" target="_blank">A Court of Miracles</a></i> is a retelling mashup of <i>Les Miserables</i> and <i>The Jungle Book</i> set in an alternate Paris of hedonistic nobility and seedy criminal underworlds STARRING EPONINE GETTING THE JUSTICE SHE DESERVES. I MEAN. I. MEAN.)</div>
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But Pitch Wars is not just celebrating on Twitter and being like OH YEAH SURPRISE I WROTE A BOOK, THAT HAPPENED, no there are no gifs in it, yeah I was surprised too. What it really is--and why I was so eager to get in--is a mentoring and revising program. Tomi and Kit are helping me whip my manuscript into shape through arduous efforts, and it's the best homework this Ravenclaw has ever had. And they're also helping me figure out the wild jungles of publishing, for which I could NOT be more grateful (seriously, this post could easily be a couple thousand words of me extoling the virtues of Kit and Tomi, but I'll just send you to Tomi's preorder page instead 0:) <a href="http://fiercereads.com/books/children-of-blood-and-bone/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=twitterpost&utm_term=undefined-undefined&utm_content=na-preorder-buynow&utm_campaign=9781250170972&et=36635-n18051896" target="_blank">HERE</a>)</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zelie could rip my still-beating heart out of my chest and I would thank her</td></tr>
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Right!<i> My </i>book! What's my book about? *shuffles like the nervous kid at the front of the class who just got asked what fun thing he did over the summer* Wellllll, it's a reimagining of <i>Anastasia</i>, the greatest film of our time, but with a TWIST. Like if you blended it with some <i>Six of Crows</i> and maybe seasoned it with a sprinkle of <i>Truthwitch </i>and then threw the whole thing into the Wood from <i>Uprooted</i>. There are lost princesses, lying liars, and bottled memories! There's banter! Bi boys! Ships! Murderwitches! Lots and lots and lots of snow! Girls who just want to sleep and eat, stop making them do things! Tragic backstories! Tragic nowstories! Tragedy galore!</div>
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YAY!</div>
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I'm so excited to work on this booook, and I'm soooo excited to be part of the Pitch Wars community. No matter what comes out of it, agent or no, submitting was the best life choice I've ever made. </div>
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I'll be spending the next two months deep in the revising cave, but I am DEFINITELY planning to fling up some book reviews, because I've read a whole bunch of excellent things in the last few months, and there are some books I absolutely MUST shove upon all who make the grievious mistake of wandering into my vicinity. So look out for that! </div>
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Now it's time for me to get back to work.</div>
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GillyBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622344092774777709noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932292247636823526.post-333313618740194002017-06-26T16:34:00.000-04:002017-06-26T16:34:07.892-04:00Happy Birthday, Harry: Thoughts and Feelings and Glasses Raised<br />
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<i><b>“…there will be books written about Harry—every child in our world will know his name!”</b></i></blockquote>
--<i>Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone</i>, Ch. 1<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Let the record show that in the book, Hagrid spelled everthing correctly</td></tr>
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<img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQOlDD8n8ZVXdmafQjGyhgKajShfESu6L_bd3MePO3Y_7_VVrVxvJbLO9L1EMCxySCtCJU-iYtqHmuzcT1smQFB3rqeegCP_rP7CmRQopau2HbyH6HmRrMO12OabwJlDN0-58oXlLLtPUG/s400/3-2.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="266" /><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="325" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7S0nupC2nQVoan84INKi9WJ_1KgfYTiScpMRWi20niITZMIYm2WkjnJxIBG_OsO98zkLdKoMC2ilnnzRQBPWdf0luUvB3MpKuAD0Lev7GVJ99t-2NqD_qK5AXGfAjBU7IPVwe7aB5o6Uh/s400/51txnYl47mL._SX323_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="260" /><br />
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(Fun story: I own thirteen copies of this book, and all the covers in this post are from the editions I own. Yes, I have a problem, and by problem I mean not a problem at all)<br />
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Happy birthday, Harry, my eternal bae (as the kids say, aka the people who, unlike me, weren't alive when the Muggle world was first blessed by the arrival of one Harry James Potter). I reread this whole book today in your honor. It's about my eleventy billionth reread, but it's been years since I treated myself to a full Potter readthrough.<br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="312" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJe3yw8xNZVmxMoGbabHWBQ84h4gBGOQFFtqv-alW7S9UX07L5pazrUCiLiNV0CmZ8eFAijxVG1EynC0fPX6q6rzvP-QPhKV3bPQqBX2atiHGeA2Nxe_7Zpoz0e7iVKDIUA9FnjKvglLpM/s400/17372039.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="262" /><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrjGiF7JBvSJe3vKWY7Mp4syMy869WBMobDLZqV8n3QQd44Q_Npp7o-JZ__smcoeByxHWtqRFEyhncQV47xqdK37GkXffAxudbEUAwVAgsDcMjPD27FzlllRLWrsFMVV6dCR9dtTkqFm8Z/s400/22841994.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="266" /><br />
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All my life, the Wizarding World has been my refuge. I used to sink into the whimsy and bustle and peril of Hogwarts regularly as a kid and as a teen for comfort, for entertainment, for nostalgia, to hunt for clues (because, of course, I am an ancient member of the original generation, and I remember what it was like to WAIT between BOOKS for ANSWERS because <i>we didn't knowww</i> and there was no Tumblr to spoil us). Every excursion into a Harry Potter book is a treat, and every time I submerge I discover more bits and bobs about the world. Every time I hang out with them, the characters carve themselves in my soul a little more deeply. Trite as it is (and this is already a disgusting amount of sentiment, someone cough up some slugs to kill the mood), reading a Harry Potter book is just pure magic.<br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="318" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7XF4qSuaG-8txUsRIx0Lk2E6p717ZqYyhD2gSMHEPTjlUrmhXIa-XZ9LeGkIGTaR9ssRBj48KTvxUwJb4cTC2TF36BzEnVdI7Bwz1eIufnapEReqyrWK0f8Tus8GincjSDKpckj4ehMwC/s400/3102821.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="270" /><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="318" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRhrz5_Qp4YrrPq4mEl4PfHhxT2xHxzeR-23ZJPQFowZOxFOJiAUDuMHYDrbFFpHF3WS7uoI-Y5195I2YrPAAPdZiXGO_QISlQshriCtdjMcwrg3cHV3cYA3xDyKd_7pG-8H7b-3eg0mVV/s400/24490481.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="338" /><br />
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I met Harry when I was in the first grade. Harry Potter wasn't a phenomenon yet--or, more accurately, it probably was somewhere outside the confines of my elementary school, but being a wee six-year-old more concerned with Beanie Babies and whether I could successfully trade my Doritos for Bugles at recess, I didn't know about it. Harry Madness hadn't swept the States yet, at any rate, and nobody I knew had read them. I can picture this so vividly in my mind, but I came home from school to find a bunch of new books spread on my bed--my mom used to do this for me as a treat--and one of boasted had shining, gold, lightning-bolt letters and a boy on on a broomstick, so of course I picked that one up first.<br />
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Dramatic Narrator: (<i>lightning flashes, thunder booms</i>) And she was never the same...<br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="298" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib5L-OZ23AkiSd7QSbaTwCeaycwTh6ImhQePgZtr_AGk0w7MN3j2ddl02x-NPmBox_PeFEzzZs1kVnf0fWqHZb08sAePq028ZJkoSzDawezXMNS10Y1ADs6x_x0f8DuT7qauJJmNN-J_4j/s320/15868.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="200" /><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="318" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh76rFpJJd0l7WKrXFbZrlVm-esfYjKgZtSa9RV4MUoCYmOMXqRVfegqExZaOfHJqpeAE2107pAG76BFlF26F-OzJaIeP14AmDJCNKwEkuLuTsQ5B4naH7qu2kNOmOIE6ZN5bnJ6AXfbq5Z/s320/925412.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="216" /><br />
(oof, are these hideous)<br />
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My mom probably regretted this, since I spent the entire experience pelting her with questions like "How do you pronounce Herm-ee-own?". I even did my first grade, end-of-year book report on <i>Sorcerer's Stone</i>. I drew the final climax in vivid colored pencil, Harry tied up and struggling in the bowels of the castle as evil Quirrel and his Terrible Turban stand before the Mirror of Erised.<br />
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My childhood arranged itself into "Summers I got to read a new Harry Potter book" and "all those other months and years I spent thinking about a new Harry Potter book". I remember where I was when I read every release for the very first time--on the bus to summer camp, in a hotel room in the dead of night, on a couch in my family friends' house, ignoring the ACTUAL PARTY occuring twelve feet away, and--hilariously--on a park bench in the middle of one of the most famous landmarks in the world, ignoring the once-in-a-lifetime views.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">(I bought all four) (DO NOT JUDGE ME) (Ravenclaws are birds and we like SHINY THINGS)</td></tr>
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I became a devotee of the original, hilariously creaky Harry Potter website, a Stone Age Pottermore. My friend and I, in the fourth grade, wrote our own Witch Weekly "magazine" on my family's clunky old desktop (made of dull beige plastic with a MOUSE with a ROLLY BALL, kiddies, and the internet used to SCREAM AT YOU as it slowly, groaningly connected and there were popups and oh god, Ye Olden Tymes are not always so rosy).<br />
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I didn't know that fan fiction was a thing, because remember, this was the Stone Age, so I made it up. I doodled pencil portrairs of Hermione (my sister in soul) in my cow-spotted notebooks, covered in Lisa Frank stickers, and let absolutely NO ONE see them.<br />
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And in those spaces where I wasn't rereading HP or aching for a new HP or making my own HP crosswords for the masterpiece that was the latest edition of Witch Weekly (no, seriously), I devoured every other book I could in the interim, and discovered such wonderful things as <i>A Little Princess</i> and <i>Ella Enchanted</i> and Tamora Pierce and <i>Betsy-Tacy</i> and all the American Girl books.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">yeah, okay, this one you can judge me for</td></tr>
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I'm not saying I wouldn't have become a reader, a fangirl, an artist, or a writer if it weren't for Harry entering my life when he did, but, well, it certainly wouldn't have happened as dramatically, or as soon. From age six to sixteen, Harry and I grew up together, fighting monsters (very different kinds, of course) side by side. And, well, since I handle open sentiment about as well as Ron Weasley does, I'll just end by gruffly saying that through all the toughest times in my life (including this one), The Boy Who Lived, and all the strong, triumphant, funny, real people who fight beside him without giving up, have always been there for me. AND NOW I'M CRYING LIKE A WET CRYING THING. ARGH. *eats a Canary Cream, turns into a Canary, successfully distracts you*<br />
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<b><i>...he couldn't know that at this moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: 'To Harry Potter--the boy who lived!"</i></b></blockquote>
- <i>Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone</i>, Ch. 1<br />
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SO. *raises butterbeer* *well actually it's coffee but LET US PRETEND* To Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived (still my eternal bae)<br />
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<br />GillyBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622344092774777709noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932292247636823526.post-70536868306250141712017-05-25T00:15:00.001-04:002017-05-25T03:22:00.657-04:00Anne with an E Review: More like Anne with an Egads<br />
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Like a lot of bookish little nerdgirls with vivid imaginations and access to a library, I grew up totally in love with my fictional kindred spirit, Anne Shirley. I read all of the books throughout elementary school and middle school, wherein I learned several very important things, like 1) life is better with lots of scope for the imagination 2) tomorrow's another day with no mistakes in it yet 3) puff sleeves are of grave importance 3) Gilbert Blythe is the perfect book boyfriend.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">*dreamy siiiiiigh*</td></tr>
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Then I saw the TV adaptation from 1985 with Megan Follows (which I owned on VHS because I am from the generation of LONG AGO, children, back when you had to HOLD DOWN THE BUTTON TO REWIND THE WHOLE TAPE BACK AGAIN, oh how did we live) and yup, confirmed, Gilbert Blythe is the business. I loved that that adaptation was so loyal to the spirit of Anne and the feeling of Avonlea, how it was all nostalgia and every day magic, shenanigans and childhood adventures. It felt so COSY and full of the pretty prettifulness that is Prince Edward Island. And, of course, well, Gilbert.<br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSCfGYM5UEko23CxeSSwrVMG-MQvrwdzLyfRhxjUY9fChttIFN_8ICj277kpAU6u9ExvGYG0Y3ELUSd_aYykfv5jxZangvpoggp8GnYLeNrP7YCA6wFDv-p4IHgXer1AKw0XcL8RkqupUv/s1600/tumblr_ngr9q2lUXM1qflarbo4_400.gif" style="text-align: center;" /><br />
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Yes I am a shallow as a kiddie pool but I don't care, GILBERT BLYTHE OKAY<br />
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<i>Anne of Avonlea</i>, otherwise known as <i>Anne of Green Gables the Sequel</i>, is also splendid, though I prefer the first half of it to the second. It takes a lot more liberties with the books, basically inventing/merging an entire extended storyline, but it hits most of the right beats, is funny and Anneish, and has my beloved Gilbert in all his Gilbertness.<br />
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We do not speak of the third Anne movie, which is a bizarre, entirely invented, factually strained WWI movie with a random baby in it, and it's only worth watching for Anne and Gilbert<br />
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and especially for this scene which yes I just watched on Youtube six times in a row DONT LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT HOW MUCH THEY LOVE EACH OTHER OH GOD HOLD ME<br />
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What. I'm not crying. YOU'RE CRYING.<br />
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So, after that very long intro, you can probably see that I have a deepheld, lifelong affection for Anne Shirley in her original incarnation, and in her secondary one to boot. So when I heard that Netflix was releasing its own modern Anne of Green Gables adaptation, I was filled with equal amounts of extreme excitement and utter dread. Which of those feelings panned out?<br />
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Why, I should have known it would be the dread. ALAS AND ALACK.<br />
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spoilers for the show here and there, because honestly I GOTTA RANT.<br />
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It baffles me why the makers of this show sought to adapt a cheerful story seeped in nostalgia into something bleak and grim. I'm not a person who thinks that all adaptations ought to be faithful to the word to the original source material (though often they're stronger when they are), but if changes are made, they should be clever ones. The changes in the Netflix series are just <i>completely depressing.</i> Like, oh my god, I wanted to drink straight bourbon while watching Anne SUFFER FROM VISCERAL PTSD and be RELENTLESSLY BULLIED by proto-meninist schoolboys.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">oh, hey, I wonder who he voted for</td></tr>
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The first moment I realized there was something rotten in the state of Avonlea is when Anne is SENT AWAY FROM GREEN GABLES BY MARILLA. WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN? WHAT WAS THAT? WHY ON EARTH? We all knew she'd be back, or there'd be no show! And <i>Matthew Cuthbert, </i>shy bumbling farmer grandpa, of all earthly people suddenly turned into a Victorian era Liam Neeson chasing after his taken daughter and like what on earth, who signed up for this?? Who clicked on an <i>Anne of Green Gables</i> adaptation seeking <i>this?</i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I HAVE A VERY PARTICULAR SET OF SKILLS</td></tr>
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No, honestly, I want to know who they were trying to hook with this. It can't have been people who grew up loving Anne, because there's none of the original spirit of her to be found here. You can see the bones of her story underneath. Sometimes events occur as they did in the books, but they unravel beneath this gloomy pall that makes even the most lighthearted of Anne's misadventures into something shadowed and bleak.<br />
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Time and time again the story twists sideways into the direction of unparalleled tragedy. Matthew is not just shy, sweet, silent Matthew. No, he's got a TRAGIC LOVE and AND GRAPPLES WITH SUICIDE. I mean?? What? <i>What???</i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">YOU PUT THAT DOWN RIGHT NOW MATTHEW CUTHBERT </td></tr>
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Show!Marilla gets invited to a feminist book club. Like, for real. Gilbert and Anne don't bond over adorably competing in class. No, Gilbert's FATHER DIES, something he surely did not do in the books, and they bond over being tragedy orphans. And like, Book!Gilbert is also v popular among the ladies, but like, dafuq is this<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gilbert I will break ALL the slates over your head</td></tr>
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OH AND ALSO THE SLATE DOESN'T EVEN BREAK. LIKE. THEY COULDN'T EVEN FOLLOW THROUGH ON THAT.<br />
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In the books, when Anne goes to school, she's accepted for the first time in her life and immediately falls into the tiny dramas and adventures of being a young girl among other young girls. In the show, she is bullied so deeply, so thoroughly, so horribly, that I honestly felt sick to my stomach. Instead of saving little Minnie May Barry with her childcare knowhow, Show!Anne LEAPS INTO A BLAZING BUILDING AND SAVES THE DAY THAT WAY. And don't even get me started on the cliffhanger.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This has nothing to do with anything, I just thought it should be here</td></tr>
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And then there's the PTSD flashbacks of how abysmally Anne was treated before she came to Green Gables. In the books, it's alluded to that life was no picnic for her, but Anne has retained her Anneishness, sinking into her own imagination to cope, and now that she's finally in a place of love and comfort, she can grow and live. But Show!Anne is still suffering from her abuse (which is portrayed in horrifying, excruciating, brutal detail). On the surface, this sounds like a really good attempt at realism; certainly L.M. Montgomery skated over the ickier aspects of being an orphan in the 1890s, though she still mentioned that Anne suffered pretty horribly at the hands of her former foster/employers. There were still heartbreaking revelations, like Anne admitting that she was so lonely that her only friend was her own reflection.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKflvAeA2rTxr94_Zz2b-ldF9cw2oQHqEe61NZY1rGVH9SYF0p9sn_H9l0j0yehxEe8jalCE1kLJueuopEhzv6dNcCp7wV2uOvvpOb4aKtW9sxtJiqsl7w6oB3zY5NCTdaX8HG4PWuTEZq/s1600/tumblr_op4fcu7mzl1w9cr3bo1_500.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="239" data-original-width="425" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKflvAeA2rTxr94_Zz2b-ldF9cw2oQHqEe61NZY1rGVH9SYF0p9sn_H9l0j0yehxEe8jalCE1kLJueuopEhzv6dNcCp7wV2uOvvpOb4aKtW9sxtJiqsl7w6oB3zY5NCTdaX8HG4PWuTEZq/s320/tumblr_op4fcu7mzl1w9cr3bo1_500.gif" width="320" /></a><br />
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But turning the Darkness Dials up to eleven in all aspects does something funny to Show!Anne's character. Her flights of fancy become less endearing, less admirable, less charming and become...troubling. Uncomfortable. She appears broken, almost manic, and it's honestly very difficult to watch. Anne's glorious imagination and irrepressible spirit are the hallmarks of her character, and the whole book series is about how she brightens the world around her with those innate tools. But in the TV show, those quirks come off as a desperate, almost deluded side effect of her trauma, and they deservedly freak people out. And it's painful to watch.<br />
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I will say that the setting is ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS, and truthfully, the acting is wonderful, even the actress who plays Anne. It's the script and the direction that take her character into deluded territory, and I think under better circumstances, this girl could be a great Anne. It's just such a shame she spends most of the show with a slapped-by-yet-another-trauma expression. The main roles are given a lot of DRAMATICALNESS to contend with, and the actors pull it off, even if it is to me ridiculous. And though they're not my Gilbert and Anne, Show!Anne and Show!Gil are still <i>completely totally fully utterly adorable.</i> It's just such a shame so very many, many injustices have been done to them by a team of truly sadistic writers.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They are still my precious teensy bby ship for always</td></tr>
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I love the idea of doing an AoGG with a bit more realism, with more tactile details and beautiful cinematography. But I did not want this. This just isn't <i>Anne of Green Gables</i>. This show is suffering from a serious identity crisis, and I honestly don't know how to judge it objectively. I can't help but see it through the lens of a lifelong Anne lover and find it hopelessly warped.<br />
<br />GillyBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622344092774777709noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932292247636823526.post-30928644534432360552017-05-10T02:30:00.001-04:002017-05-10T12:04:21.438-04:00When the Movie is (GASP) Better Than the Book<br />
This smorgasbord of unpopular opinions is inpired by Christina's <a href="http://readeroffictions.com/2015/09/the-movie-did-it-better/" target="_blank">excellent post from yesteryear</a>, even though it commits the high blasphemy of thinking <i>Ella Enchanted</i> the movie is better than the book (for the record, I flipping love that movie, but ohmygodno). I know it's basically high bookish blasphemy to EVER think the movie is better than the book. I mean, they cut that one subplot and that ruined the tension and took away from their relationship! They totally cut that one scene that makes the WHOLE SERIES! They gave Movie!Ginny the personality of a paper sandwich! They made Harry and Voldemort grapplehug while they fell off a tower WHAT WERE THEY THINKING I MEAN REALLY--<br />
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Whoops. Tangent. We're here to talk about the movies that are BETTER than the books, not the movies that are sort of great on their own but will never ever capture the true DEPTH AND BRILLIANCE of the Wizarding World and Ginevra Weasley, boss heroine, and what Albus Dumbledore was actually--<br />
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No. Okay. FOCUS.<br />
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Disclaimer that this is my PERSONAL opinion, and you'll disagree with me in some places and agree with me in others and call for my head for a few, but all is fair in books and movies. And despite Christina's <i>Ella Enchanted</i> blasphemy (and inability to appreciate the original <i>Princess Diaries</i>/Chris Pine in a blue button down), I actually agree with a ton of her picks.<br />
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I'm only including books I've read, which means I can't include a 4 page ode to the glory that is the movie version of <i>How to Train Your Dragon </i>or my endless love for the LOTR movies because twelve year old me only made it like 200 pages into Fellowship before I lost the will to live.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #351c75;"><i>Divergent</i> by Veronica Roth</span></b><br />
I enjoyed <i>Divergent</i> the book way back in...2013? I WAS SO YOUNG... but the movie solved a lot of the problems I had with it AND had the bonus of Theo's beeyooteeful face/Shailene's dreamhair/Theo's beeyooteeful abs. We will not speak of the atrocity that is <i>Insurgent</i> or the CATACLYMSIC WORLD DISASTER that was <i>Allegiant Part the First and Only</i>.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #351c75;"><i>Mansfield Park </i>by Jane Austen</span></b><br />
This is my least favorite Austen novel, though I'm an Austen mega fangirl so I think even my least favorite novel is pretty good-seeming-like. I usually I don't like when adaptations muck with the original, but the way this movie moves things about and straight up alters characters just makes for a great movie with a splendid cast. Shout out to the BBC adaptation of MP with Billie Piper, which is actually quite loyal to the book and yet I liked it quite a lotly. Despite her distracting brows, she makes Fanny a lot more interesting than the passive, cousin-loving snoozefest she is in the book (sorry, Fans.)<br />
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<b><span style="color: #351c75;"><i>Howl's Moving Castle </i>by Diana Wynne Jones</span></b><br />
I read the book first as a kid and adored it. I even wrote extremely derivative versions of it as a weensy child, which was a sign of my truest love way been when. So I'm deeply fond of the book. But the movie is just one of my favorite things of all time. It's so gorgeous, so romantic, so funny, SO WONDERFUL. Like, the movie is the business. It's everything. EVERYTHINGGGG.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #351c75;"><i>Twilight</i> by Stephenie Meyer</span></b><br />
A lot of you know I was a huge Twilight fangirl back in the days of about 2007 or so, back when I was a junior in high school (I'm so old hahahahausfsuydifuhsdsdjscry). I went to see the <i>Twilight</i> movie in theaters with a bunch of my friends AND WE WORE T-SHIRTS WITH EDWARD'S FACE ON THEM oh god the follies of youth. So while I don't want to go and burn every copy of <i>Twilight</i> living because hello, my love was strong, yes I read and loved <i>Life and Death</i> THAT SHIT WAS GOOD OKAY DON'T @ ME, I also don't think it's precisely <i>exactly</i> the greatest novel in the world. There are a loooot of wasted pages and Bella Bella-ing and Edward begging to be staked and snooze. But I have a lot of love for the movie, which also has this slight hokey independent film-ness to it that makes it oddly charming. LIKE WHEN THEY PLAY BASEBALL IN OLD TIMEY CLOTHES AND HISS AT EACH OTHER. Come on. That's gold. They also make actual jokes in the movie which Book!Bella and Edward somehow never managed to do.<br />
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But the sequels go all big budgety and blah and everyone starts acting like they've been preserved in some kind of jelly and they wear terrible wigs and Taylor Lautner flexes too many things, who has that many muscles, and pubescent wolfboys are bursting out of their clothes, just <i>no.</i><br />
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<b><span style="color: #351c75;"><i>Stardust</i> by Neil Gaiman</span></b><br />
Another one where I quite like the book, I just LOVE the movie. I could watch that movie every week and never get tired of it. It's just so PURE and ROBERT DE NIRO AS A CROSS DRESSING PIRATE CAPTAIN and Claire Danes is so lovely and Charlie Cox is so cute and there is a ghostly Greek chorus of dead princes and Mark Strong and IT'S SO LOVELY, IT'S JUST THE LOVELIEST FILM, IT MAKES ME HAPPY<br />
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<b><span style="color: #351c75;"><i>Mockingjay</i> by Suzanne Collins</span></b><br />
Okay, hear me out. I don't know where I fall on the schism of <i>Mockingjay</i> the book opinions--I tend to change my mind a lot depending on which analysis i'm feeling at the moment--but the movie versions (particularly part two) solved a lot of my problems with it, mainly Katniss' passivity. I know a lot of people did not like Part 1 in particular, but I did, and I thought Part 2 was really extremely amazing/life ruining/the whole shebang/tears for centuries.<br />
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<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFmX1Q8PVFjMDh0W4IcJp6p8b7E6vpQUKWF6pIQUFeRky3gAZbqdSoFOvNYOAJ9OwB6Ukv-lSa8RpjMZjpys2dHZgmTIhpNCSP4FhXCizgbx3ZCKB5KUAce0LuPENnKcy9HhEsgkJREbua/s320/61zo5tTQk2L._SX335_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="216" /><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1QGYIvTyRPuH-KxK9asvljWEL1laFKHq13V5D7vJalaTnjJrW9nSlFriSU88X5lsH810GXkfKJmnHbjN3L2nvl5pV0ZiDyO9bhBHbtihzFdSwK3xSg27e9PTB3SaVyVQZDrkl3OX0e_mT/s320/61VvbRcbofL.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="240" /><br />
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<b><span style="color: #351c75;">The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett</span></b><br />
I LOVE THIS BOOK A LOT, JUST WANT TO PREFACE THAT. I loved it as a kid, and I love it now. But there's a MAGIC to this movie that's undeniable. (Plus Dickon and Mary are so real, i will fight you, teeny tiny OTP COLIN WAS JUST JEALOUS). I also love the movie (and super old school and loyal BBC adaptaion) of <i>A Little Princess</i>, but that book was my deepest love as a kiddie, so it wins.<br />
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<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdgw9ja_bhBqQvo4afPqQVHSealySFF8YHZZSan7xNCpwCZ_FSEQHd-zWXxaKJzIlecoDBz1SbkszwkbkpKfkbimgCTLqMV-fKt51az2qYdlETKvgUGN4k0__6G_PKkWWusTN-hgyMeIki/s320/north-and-south.jpg" width="205" /><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0e8yUMtRUB04GFKvwgGa-fz-Za29q9in-cvRAPubmfxZOshDtP1QJzZRuV36au0XeUf01XrwzUNPGSf7_Y3OZ3hHBLuczvbAOEBZrxZBkxXf29JIT_SQBpt6bwQsQYS2LPy_M_MojKCe-/s320/north-and-south-2.jpg" width="225" /><br />
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<b><span style="color: #351c75;"><i>Wives and Daughters</i> AND <i>North and South</i> by Elizabeth Gaskell</span></b><br />
Oh look, another one where I quite like the books but FLIPPIN' ADORE the BBC adaptations. The biggest problems with Gaskell's novels for me are the lengths (W&D is ENORMOUS). Obviously a miniseries gets to adapt and shorten, leading to tighter storylines and not as many musings on Christian theory and the minutiae of Victorian social class demarcations and snooze and snore and just kiss already. Plus, <i>North and South</i> has RICHARD "BOYFRIEND" ARMITAGE and the greatest, most anachronistic kiss scene of all time that's not in the book and I. DON'T. CARE. BECAUSE. IT'S. PERFECT. TATTOO. IT. ON. MY. EYELIDS. FOREVER.<br />
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Also, in <i>Wives and Daughters</i>' case, Gaskell <i>died</i> before she wrote/published the last chapter, so it actually <i>ends before it ends which oh my actual God</i>. The BBC version gets points for, you know, having an ending.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #351c75;"><i>Much Ado about Nothing</i> by William Shakespeare</span></b><br />
This might be my favorite Shakespeare play, and that's 1000% because of the movie which I LOVE TO PIECES. Kinda funny I've put this on this list, because the movie uses only the play script so they're kiiinda the same thing, but the bits the movie chooses to cut and focus on make it a better story for me. And the cast is just so WONDERFUL. The chemistry is so real and the setting is divine. I've always wanted to tromp around a sun-baked Italian castle in a chemise, hair blowing wild, singing SIGHHH NO MORE LADIES SIIIIGH NO MOOORE<br />
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<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqwpydijHYt0c1zTtRRHNvX3dU-8ibfcRr6HqIr0CvYrJ0QUd6hlgqIcF5ovaw_Il34YCYKioHpXgzdAJeIsEl1v62MPTwBA_biKIMgxI8_eyVmq9PBZZp0Fc6TSUggWFvkcvMUPjci1iq/s320/71RdKVvOUuL.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="228" /><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFmZc05uZWQ0AuIe7Ijn9PZkcrKT8AGaS1D_fsM9RrVk9oN90uilOuxduVZef8Bt-A4d0-1nrkD8LLLqhUxUmqZb1xU72gyFP7hCpPiHY34R_KLi-MhyfoxdaxD6JL56YdsRXsv8_9FVur/s320/fc3d478a9c54e82b284dd56f5b89a1ec.jpg" width="213" /><br />
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<b><span style="color: #351c75;"><i>Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day</i> by Winifred Watson</span></b><br />
The book is sweet, but the movie is THE LOVELIEST THING IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD SERIOUSLY WATCH IT, LEE PACE PLAYS THE PIANO AND HAS A BRITISH ACCENT, WHY ARE YOU READING MY BLOG AND NOT WATCHING THIS MOVIE.<br />
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<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjr_RosfufiQuN2smoVtKxjaGS4x4wQoeGRzgjKvtBtwLBwmp6_0Xrt54Gb68U8c2AoO6YH_shj0vuwIfbzMq2LbvF9E4FQeRq5XyKOZkYhbgQoQ9jbSSZP8PnuudXUuX89hbslydlp_q-/s320/tuck-everlasting.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="213" /><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggWRgjnk2G5mWY0To7W2ocUbIeDC-o1habiaHpgl0kL0wEY9JuJw0ZIwP9_Px3doimm04TWC8zwgKUZAE-4XjbaEgE2VEGHfKHLdM2TGxRaSt598XKeF5BEEXdwDLg3uqr8YqMt_YGQCRk/s320/tuck-everlasting-movie-poster-2002-1020389022.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="209" /><br />
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<b><span style="color: #351c75;"><i>Tuck Everlasting</i> by Natalie Babbitt</span></b><br />
I read this as a kid and rather liked it, but I also saw the movie as a kid and just thought that Alexis Bledel running through fields in her frothy white dress with Handsome McWhat's-His-Name was just the ultimate in all the beautiful things ever<br />
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<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj32Rk0sD7tirEmvRo9jNtqQzcFKgAs1aUEhtfvCOYdiSyAWwX4Q3Hz8MxaRzAQxxwCkrmYyYea61M64eECKMDjONpbQIby6WUMsWNhu07EcTXHKs7wIMuZEUBERRDIZNTcHRPdk2xXIVod/s320/rehost-2016-9-29-30537d37-ba64-4c68-9266-eac4ed1fd119.png" style="text-align: center;" width="227" /><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdNBSYwWQuc-NLd9Vm-3XivGzGUr-yGLzt6dZybXobuMLItOvy8DUKiS-0mN1hmhruRwoNQkrV7QphfhyQpHU0jCI1Tziz0W9V2Pfu2T1scOuo3EAoRB8EAORf693WMIgVHpXAqbvChErc/s320/sisterhood_of_the_traveling_pants.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="205" /><br />
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<b><span style="color: #351c75;"><i>The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants </i>by Ann Brashares</span></b><br />
Don't get me wrong: like most readerly kids who grew up in the early 2000s, I loved these books (up until the last one where they're all tragic grown ups. WE DO NOT SPEAK OF THAT. I'M SERIOUS ANN BRASHARES WE HAVE BEEF EVERLASTING) But this movie is just so delightful and I love it so and it's missing the sort of....contemplative, emo pretension that the books have that gets real old.<br />
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<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP1BxY1SiSrmUjOlD8Qvcx2ZjyRQiZozYSZCbZVprS55LzpwB7Ce5HDBQ7Bxxoje31Nu5RYeJKBBLHz4DP5jTD9zh1XQqWetIu9GUsIaErMVp7QzVxeQB7kY9GFU19uJU55aHJgjPwoZTo/s320/bookcover-680x1020.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="213" /><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9uvolkbK38ZH5-6U8byyKUpfXf8ROOiAkDd7H6hX7O4N7xKvcCNekSFvEapCxp9fWXPek_mj3BXInNditVEkr3QdV5eswjALaC7Q7qbCl7AXoV2hPuPUCP9y4qxl6Gr44SLvS5JZT0bJN/s320/a-walk-to-remember-movie-poster-2002-1020196028.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="214" /><br />
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<b><span style="color: #351c75;"><i>A Walk to Remember </i>by Nicholas Sparks</span></b><br />
This movie was the BUSINESS back in the early 2000s when I was forming as a human, and I just love it even though it's maudlin and evil and emotionally manipulative. Whatever. I'm all about Mandy Moore and Shane West falling in TRAGICALLY DOOMED LOVE. I tried the book and...well, let's just say Nicholas Sparks and I are never going to be friends.<br />
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<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSK3rg1ltQOOJ0ga1Eo97gBem_VBkxwFaxjqYdheXi_Z_Sq2MKrUvG6UAPdty48uZkKUr-hG3rnfZv-o3cBc28pDdhgOcYKh3M_Kbq59b-v3vIj0IjHIOk0nl6wg9oFXtswwabaj2SC4oy/s320/PrinceCaspian%25281stEd%2529.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="221" /><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnia8oj2N5fSOXIYLM3gR2UjzTIXrLCRan7Bq7QNuaEY-k2-Kdm15gLHo65dAxafO_g0YSmdMjr7GQIxWKJ1Re1eqGiEbtoNAvEFFl3SGGs0WLR0H9969cXSQoMLkFsax4PD6RsNIRbUQc/s320/open-uri20150422-12561-1r40sqi_71f60ace.jpeg" style="text-align: center;" width="213" /><br />
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<b><span style="color: #351c75;"><i>The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe</i> and <i>Prince Caspian</i> by CS Lewis</span></b><br />
Y'ALL ARE GONNA CRUCIFY ME FOR THIS but this book series bored me to tears as a child. I think it may be because I got far enough in when CS Lewis TURNED on Susan for daring to wear lipstick and pantyhose or something and that just really irritated me. But I'm actually quite fond of the movies, even if Aslan drives me a bit bonkers. Especially the second movie. <i>Prince Caspian</i> has WAR AND ACTION AND BEN BARNES SPEAKING IN A VAGUELY SPANISH ACCENT BUT LOOKING SO ATTRACTIVE WHILE DOING IT AND THERE'S A SHIP AND I JUST REALLY LIKE THIS MOVIE, OKAY (though the deus ex lion-a is ridiculous) (but like, HOT BEN BARNES, OKAY, I am so easy)<br />
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<b>So tell me: which movie or TV or web series adaptations do you love MORE than the books? Also, this, for no reason:</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">GET IT SOOZ</td></tr>
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<b><br /></b>GillyBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622344092774777709noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932292247636823526.post-48408317867976597602017-04-11T01:45:00.001-04:002017-04-11T01:48:54.194-04:00Review: The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli<br />
When was the last time I got a review out by release date? Like....2014? I'M SO PROUD OF MYSELF. Clearly, turning 26 has made me grow up at once immediately completely because this is how #biology works.<br />
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<i>The Upside of Unrequited</i> by Becky Albertalli<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30653853-the-upside-of-unrequited" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Upside-Unrequited-Becky-Albertalli/dp/0062348701/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-upside-of-unrequited-becky-albertalli/1123951157?ean=9780062348708" target="_blank">Barnes and Noble </a>| <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Upside-Unrequited-Becky-Albertalli/9780141356112" target="_blank">The Book Depository</a> | <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780062348708" target="_blank">IndieBound</a><br />
Series: No<br />
Release date: TODAY, April 11th, 2017<br />
Publisher: Balzer + Bray (Harper)<br />
Length: 352 pages<br />
Source: e-ARC via Edelweiss/print ARC from ALAMW<br />
Rating: *BIG GOOBER DOOFUS SMILE*<br />
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<i><span style="color: #351c75;">Seventeen-year-old Molly Peskin-Suso knows all about unrequited love. No matter how many times her twin sister, Cassie, tells her to woman up, Molly can’t stomach the idea of rejection. So she’s careful. Fat girls always have to be careful.<br /><br />Then a cute new girl enters Cassie’s orbit, and for the first time ever, Molly’s cynical twin is a lovesick mess. Meanwhile, Molly's totally not dying of loneliness—except for the part where she is. Luckily, Cassie's new girlfriend comes with a cute hipster-boy sidekick. If Molly can win him over, she'll get her first kiss and she'll get her twin back. <br /><br />There's only one problem: Molly's coworker, Reid. He's a chubby Tolkien superfan with a season pass to the Ren Faire, and there's absolutely no way Molly could fall for him.<br /><br />Right?</span></i><br />
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This book made me grin so hard my cheeks hurt. Seriously, I was grinning so hard and for such an extended amount of time that it basically became <i>exercise</i>. I now have buff cheeks.<br />
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Becky has the magical ability to write character that feel <i>so completely like teenagers</i>. I mean, 99% of the books i read star teenagers, but in both <i>Simon </i>and <i>Upside</i>, these characters are just SUCH seventeen-year-olds, in the best, most relatable, and most adorable way. LIke Simon, Molly is just the most precious and relatable cinnamon roll, with a mega precious family, a whole mess of complexes, and the most delightful voice. I could have stayed in Molly's head, chilling with her AMAZING MOMS OMG ADOPT ME, forever. All the characters are just such real people that I feel like I know them, but especially Molly. She is just...I don't have WORDS for her. I just want to hug her and take her out for cake. </div>
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It just makes my heart so beyond mega happy to read Becky's books that somehow they make me completely forget how to word. I swear I used to be an articulate person??? but somehow all I can think to say right now is SQUEEEEEEEE<br />
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<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKb6ZNDUWCvPMbE0p5WXIo3xF7xEWwxQBrF7UoSo2KLKc0ebwdqZvzrjKgeBOvbkbmUZXd1GqT3jzqQogDQ2MbAn4EPeH9aDR5bSgOCmPYz9UexF40TDsWINMzbX24f44knzXtJljCfvA8/s320/Squee.gif" style="text-align: center;" width="320" /></div>
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I know I've used the word "relatable" twice already in this review, but for real, Molly and Teenage Me are kindred souls. I love this girl, and I understood her SO HARD, with all her crushes and her anxiety but also the way she does love herself, and her awkwardness and her PINTEREST-Y CREATIVITY, like girl, we should be best friends, WE CAN CRAFT AND BAKE TOGETHER and be boy crazy but also really freaking terrible at telling boys we like them! Molly, fat anxious heroine of my heart. <3333</div>
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<b><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: large;">I'm seventeen, and I just want to know what it feels like to kiss someone.</span></b></div>
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Molly's growth was wonderful, and the book such felt so...<i>comfy.</i> LIke even as it made me emotional, because I related (BUZZWORD) so much to Molly feeling like her twin sister/best friend--who is cooler and more extroverted and has a girlfriend for the first time--is sort of leaving her behind. And Cassie, said twin, has decided Molly is going to finally DATE a boy, and it's going to be her girlfriend's best friend. But then there's also adorable, nerdy Reid, Molly's coworker, who <i>flirts using Queen Elizabeth I</i>. No, that that sounds like it makes no sense at all, but trust me, it is the cutest flipping flopping thing ever. I WANT TO LIVE INSIDE THIS BOOK.</div>
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The diversity and inclusivity in this book is off the charts. Molly has two moms, one of whom is African American, and they are just the BEST FICTIONAL FAMILY EVER. I'm serious. I want Patty and Nadine to adopt me. I love them. I loved the Abby and Simon cameos. I JUST LOVED EVERYTHING. IM SMILING RIGHT NOW JUST RELIVING THIS BOOK. I don't even know how to review it coherently! I'm just a big mushball. I want to hug this book to my heart. I'm adefinitely a big soppy puddle of gooey happiness. Which is kind of gross, but, whatever. </div>
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ALSO WHY DO BECKY'S BOOKS MAKE ME SO HUNGRY??? FIRST OREOS, NOW COOKIE DOUGH. It's just not nice.<br />
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NOW YOU WANT IT TOO MWAHAHAAAAA<br />
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<b><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: large;">Notable quotables:</span></b></div>
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<b>You would <i>matter</i>. That's the thing. I get into this weird place sometimes where I worry about that. I've never told anyone this--not my moms, not even Cassie--but that's the thing I'm most afraid of. Not mattering. Existing in a world that doesn't care who I am.</b></div>
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<b>It's this whole other level of aloneness.</b></div>
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<b>Except...sometimes I feel like I'm the last alone person. Like maybe there aren't seven and a half billion people in the world. myabe there are seven and a half billion and one.</b></div>
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<b>I'm the one.</b></div>
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<b>And oh. There's a lump in my throat That's another thing about me. If someone says I'm sad, or asks me what's wrong, or tells me not to cry, it's like my body hears: NOW CRY. Lke a command, even if I'm not actually sad. But maybe there are always tiny sad pieces inside me, waiting to be recognized and named. Maybe it's like that for everyone.</b></div>
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<b>But there's this awfulness that comes when a guy thinks you like him. It's as if he's fully clothed and you're naked in front of him. It's like your heart suddenly lives outside your body, and when he wants, he can reach out and squeeze it. </b></div>
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<b>Unless he happens to like you back.</b></div>
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<b>OKAY, IS FUCKING EVERYONE INTO PHOTOGRAPHY THESE DAYS?</b></div>
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<b>"You know, when you're seventeen, everything feels like the end of the world. Or the beginning of the world. And that's an awesome thing."</b></div>
GillyBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622344092774777709noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932292247636823526.post-49215370681334671692017-04-03T02:22:00.000-04:002017-04-03T02:22:52.764-04:00Recent Reads Roundup, Achievements, Quirks, and Imaginary Cupcakes<br />
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HOLY SHIT GUYS, IT'S APRIL, WHUT AND WHUT AND WHUT.<br />
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(I turn 26 on Saturday. Hahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahagodwhyyy)<br />
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2017 has been an...interesting year *purposefully avoids saying why* *YOU KNOW WHY* Let's stick to the reading/blogging front. For me, it's been the best reading year I'd had in...well, i don't know how long, because <a href="http://gillianeberry.blogspot.com/2017/02/in-which-i-apologize-to-goodreads.html" target="_blank">this is the first year I've really been proactive about tracking my reads</a> (*thunks Past Gillian on the forehead*). But while this is the best reading year I've had in time untold, it's probably the worst blogging year I've had since I started blogging (*thunks Current Gillian on the forehead*). So I'm reading all the books YAY but not finding the time or energy to review them BOO. Let's all throw things at Current Gillian. Preferably very soft things. Like teddy bears, or cupcakes, or accolades.<br />
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ANYHOO, because life has been *insert drowning/explodey volcano/screamsobbing/stressed out/panic naptime/seriously-i-need-cupcakes emoji here* (WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT IS NOT AN EMOJI, WE ALL NEED THAT ONE, HAVE YOU <i>SEEN</i> 2017???), I'mma do a quick little catch up on not all, but MOST of the books I've read in the first third of 2017. I'm still hoping, optimistically, to do longer reviews for some of them, but I'm too busy AGING and PANICKING ABOUT AGING to do it at the moment, so a babbling roundup is what you get.<br />
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Also, some of you may have noticed I've basically not been on Twitter this year. I plan to go back! I miss you peeps! But life has been...well, you <i>saw</i> that emoji. So Imma chat with you through this roundup. <3<br />
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Here are all zee books I've read this year! NGL, I'm damn proud of how maaaany there are. I am not one of those people who can read a book a day. I AM BUSY. I HAVE 16 SEASONS OF AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL TO REWATCH AND IMAGINARY CUPCAKES TO EAT AND CEILINGS TO STARE AT.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: x-large;">2017 Reading Highlights:</span></b><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">Favorite shoutouts, starting with the genius sequels</span><br />
<i>THE DARK DAYS PACT </i>OH MY GOD YOU GUYS IT WAS SO GOOD, LIKE RUIN-YOUR-LIFE-AND-PUNCH-YOU-IN-THE-THROAT GOOD, <i>Windwitch </i>by Susan Dennard, and <i>These Ruthless Deeds</i> by Kelly Zekas and Tarun Shanker. They were all even better than their predecessors, and I loved the first books in those series a whole bunch.<br />
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Other faves so far include <i>Princess Academy </i>by Shannon Hale and <i>THE UPSIDE OF UNREQUITED</i> AKA THE CUTEST THING I'VE EVER READ IN MY LIFE YOU GUYS IT IS AN ABSOLUTE MUST READ, STOP READING MY BLOG POST AND READ THAT INSTEAD<br />
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YOU'RE STILL HERE, WHY, WHY ARE YOU NOT READING THAT BOOK OR PREORDERING IT IDK WHEN DOES IT COME OUT<br />
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okay it's not out yet, you can keep reading my very scintillating blog post <i>hey where are you going</i><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">I'm reading a whole bunch of 2017 Releases! Celebrate! </span><br />
aka I AM ACTUALLY...A LITTLE BIT...SORT OF KEEPING UP WITH MY ARCS? I mean no, I'm not, not even a little bit, but I'm doing <i>decently yay Gillian have a teddy bear/cupcake/accolade!</i><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">I've been indulging in fun early cheat reads</span><br />
Like <i>Song of the Current </i>by Sarah Tolscer (PIRATE-ISH FANTASY WITH BOATS AND A BANTERSHIP AND BANTERING ON A SHIP) and <i>What to Say Next</i> by Julie Buxbaum, my current read, both of which I quite love. I'm keeping my TBR FRESH, YO by jumping ahead in ARC order to read things that don't come out for months.<br />
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(I don't have a schedule--I REJECT AUTHORITY, EVEN SELF-IMPOSED AUTHORITY--but I do organize my physical shelves by release month, and there's something so <i>free</i> about just being like FUCK DAT and seizing a book from JULY, even though all the ignored Febrary ARCs stare at me mournfully and wonder where they went so wrong and why I treat them so and was it something they said)<br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">I HAVE GATHERED NEW OTPs!</span><br />
Like Catherine and Andevai from Cold Magic. <i>Dudes. My guys. My sweet fantasy shipperlings. Get thee thither posthaste. </i>(But only if you can handle high fantasy with a shit metric ton of worldbuilding, because the first 100 pages of this clunker are a grade A <i>mess</i>) (But after that...SHIP CENTRAL OKAY)<br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">Adult romance is my current happy place</span><br />
Especially historical with lots of banter and hotchacha sexytimes. I read the ENTIRE Bridgerton series by Julia Quinn, and I loved it! I plan to do a series review, but I've been reading a ton of adult romance this year, including Courtney Milan, Tessa Dare, and Jennifer Crusie, and I ain't mad at it. Nothing lifts the mood better than a good frothy romance between people who can legally drink (sometimes reading nothing but YA can get you in a WEIRD PLACE).<br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">I'm actually reading unread books I OWN on my SHELVES that STARE ME IN THE FACE AND SHAME ME</span><br />
Books like <i>Starflight</i>, <i>Brightly Woven</i>, and the Claire LaZebnik books. It's an ongoing project, but I'm determined to lessen the number of unread books I've bought with my own moneys.<br />
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I have a wretched habit of buying pretty brand new hardbacks and being like OBVIOUSLY I SHALL READ THIS EXPENSIVE VELVET-COVERED MASTERPIECE WITH SHINY LETTERTHINGS AND ENDPAPERS AND DECKLED EDGES AT ONCE and then I at once <i>don't</i> and it just sits there, shaming me. But it's my impossible dream goal to read all the books I own, and, well, I'm nowhere near it, but I'm closer than I was, so CUPCAKE TIME IT IS<br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">I've started to do some rereads! </span><br />
Which I'm soooo happy about, because I love rereading almost as much as I love reading. it's the ultimate comfort activity for me. I very often go and reread my favorite (kissy) bits in my favorite (kissy) novels when I need an instant HAPPINESS BOOST, but this year--the Year of Shite and Being 26 Hahahasobdrink--I felt the need to actively reread MOAR. Because there are so many books I LOVE and I just want to PULL THEM CLOSER TO ME AND HUG THEM UNTIL THEY STOP BREATHING I mean whut this got weird and bookicidal<br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">I've been reading more contemporaries</span><br />
I like the stuff with dragons and magical lands and castles full of attractive lying royals in fancy outfits, you know me (or maybe this is he first post you've ever read from me. If so...sorry oops <i>why are you running away</i>). But for some reason, this year I've been drawn to more contemporary reads than I normally am (and grief ones at that, which is usually a topic I avoid like the PLAGUE, but uhhh I guess I feel like ugly crying a lot? IDK. Can't explain why, because I'm really not enjoying it, but also all the grief books I've read have been REALLY GOOD, so, IDK again. This aside had a point, I swear.)<br />
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ANYHOO. That's enough babbling for one blog post, I think. I clearly miss talking with you guys! <b><span style="color: #351c75;">Tell me how your reading years have been</span></b>, and I'll try to fling some teddy bears or cupcakes are you or maybe just a DRINK because we are all OLD and 2017 is making us OLDER hahahadrinksobu<br />
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unlessyou'reanactualYAthendon'tdrinkjustsobKIDDINGHAVEACUPCAKEANDBEYOUNG<br />
<br />GillyBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622344092774777709noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932292247636823526.post-42123410067443292017-03-23T00:00:00.004-04:002017-03-23T00:00:45.380-04:00Would You Read a Book for the First Time Again?<br />
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I've heard this question a lot over the years. If you could somehow magically re-experience reading your favorite book for the first time, would you? Would you read a book for the first time again if you could?<br />
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When people ask that theoretical question, most people answer YES. I've seen it all around, on blog posts, on tumblr, on BookTube: "I wish there was a device/magic spell that made you forget a book so you could read it for the first time all over again!"<br />
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And I get why people want there. There is nothing like the very first time you read a life-changing, gloriously entertaining, soul-igniting book. It's the best feeling ever. It's the readerly high we all crave.<br />
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My answer, though, is always a resounding "NO."<br />
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"NO, I DO NOT WANT THAT DEVICE/MAGIC SPELL. I do not want to read Harry Potter/<i>Pride and Prejudice</i>/insert seminal/beloved title here for the first time all over again."<br />
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<i>What's got your knickers in a knot? Why are you being so contrary about a hypothetical question, Gillian, geez louise? Have a latte and chillax.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
I WILL take a latte, thank you, but I'm still going to be contrary. For me, when and where I read a Very Personally Important Book(TM) is nearly as important as <i>what</i> I read. I remember where I was when I read every single Harry Potter book, and exactly how old I was. I remember the family vacation I was on in high school when I cracked open North and South. I remember reading Georgia Nicolson books at summer camp, and spending the rest of my adolescence speaking in a rather embarrassing imitation of her. Falling down the <i>Twilight</i> rabbit hole in junior year. Gorging myself on <i>Mockingjay, </i>TERRIFIED of what would happen (rightly so, obviously). Reading <i>Illuminae</i> on vacation and <a href="http://gillianeberry.blogspot.com/2015/10/a-review-in-found-documents-illuminae.html" target="_blank">liveblogging my EXTREME READING EMOTIONS to Meg as I went</a>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBRPex2ApAHoro6dytG3k2ECSV-gWYaBKsH0j2IAHBBoSIWXogPYM5y_gOXTs4nH2PF7RSDfA4HwnaGcsMEr8oAIgGR8HJkCF23xwUmSAWDgtuSJdewUhr-i1a1EO17pNpQ7m0gmyhHUhT/s1600/illuminae+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBRPex2ApAHoro6dytG3k2ECSV-gWYaBKsH0j2IAHBBoSIWXogPYM5y_gOXTs4nH2PF7RSDfA4HwnaGcsMEr8oAIgGR8HJkCF23xwUmSAWDgtuSJdewUhr-i1a1EO17pNpQ7m0gmyhHUhT/s1600/illuminae+1.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ahh, those misty, foul-mouthed memories</td></tr>
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I think of GREAT READING experiences the way I do great life events. I think of the lost week in which I obsessively binged Percy Jackson in the same fond, nostalgic way I remember a great trip I took or a wonderful birthday party. The weekend I read the entire <i>Under the Never Sky</i>trilogy. When I stayed up all night weeping over <i>The Raven King. </i>The way I didn't put down <i>Uprooted</i> for, like, four solid hours, even as I bumped around my apartment and pulled food out of the fridge and tried to feed myself one handed. Those are my favorite reminiscenseseses how do you pluralize that word I give up<br />
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I don't want to erase those memories and do it over again, because I liked it the first time. And I looooooooooove rereading, almost as much as I love reading. There's such wonderful comfort to me in diving back into a book I know and finding new things and hanging out with old friends. I have a really good memory for books, too, so it's rare that I ever have that true "reading for the first time anew!" feeling, and I don't honestly miss it. The second time around is just as good, and it also makes the original read somehow...more precious? More important? Idk. I do get nostalgic for "that time I read this for the first time", though.<br />
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<a href="http://gillianeberry.blogspot.com/2013/03/re-reading-yea-or-nay.html" target="_blank">Rereading: Yay or Nay?</a><br />
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And then there's the last thing: that I'd be a different person if I "forgot" the books. I read the Harry Potter series as they came out, from ages 6 to 16. I'd be a totally different, far less fantabulous <i>moi</i> if I hadn't absorbed and obsessed over those books in my formative years. I don't want to read Harry Potter for the first time again. I want to reread it for the forty billionth time and carve those words into my soul juuust a little bit deeper.<br />
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Okay, this got weirdly deeep on me. I blame my upcoming birthday (a day I'm not hugely fond of) for making me all introspective and angsty and oh god, I'm old, bring me my walker and hot water bottle.<br />
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And now I just REALLY, REALLY WANT TO REREAD HARRY POTTER. The eternal struggle. Do I read new books? Or read Harry Potter? Do I have a life? Or do I just read Harry Potter. (HA. That last one is a trick question. Life IS reading Harry Potter.)<br />
<br />GillyBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622344092774777709noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932292247636823526.post-42857692973099354662017-03-21T00:13:00.000-04:002017-03-21T00:13:09.198-04:00Review: Heartstone by Elle Katherine White, aka PRIDE AND PREJUDICE with DRAGONS<br />
<i>Heartstone</i> by Elle Katherine White<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31290944-heartstone?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Heartstone-Elle-Katharine-White-ebook/dp/B01ER6G0E2/ref=la_B00OH3U8IA_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1490068613&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/heartstone-elle-katharine-white/1123719468;jsessionid=FAA18C6803EA2C5E795C7468BE5FBF99.prodny_store01-atgap07?ean=9780062451941" target="_blank">Barnes and Noble</a> | <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Heartstone-Elle-Katharine-White/9780062451941" target="_blank">The Book Depository</a> | <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780062451941" target="_blank">IndieBound</a><br />
Series: No<br />
Release date: January 17th, 2017<br />
Publisher: Harper Voyager<br />
Length: 352 pages<br />
Source: Purchased<br />
Rating: PRIDE AND PREJUDICE WITH DRAGONS<br />
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<i><span style="color: #351c75;">A debut historical fantasy that recasts Jane Austen’s beloved Pride and Prejudice in an imaginative world of wyverns, dragons, and the warriors who fight alongside them against the monsters that threaten the kingdom: gryphons, direwolves, lamias, banshees, and lindworms</span></i><br />
<i><span style="color: #351c75;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="color: #351c75;">They say a Rider in possession of a good blade must be in want of a monster to slay—and Merybourne Manor has plenty of monsters. </span></i><br />
<i><span style="color: #351c75;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="color: #351c75;">Passionate, headstrong Aliza Bentaine knows this all too well; she’s already lost one sister to the invading gryphons. So when Lord Merybourne hires a band of Riders to hunt down the horde, Aliza is relieved her home will soon be safe again.</span></i><br />
<i><span style="color: #351c75;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="color: #351c75;">Her relief is short-lived. With the arrival of the haughty and handsome dragonrider, Alastair Daired, Aliza expects a battle; what she doesn’t expect is a romantic clash of wills, pitting words and wit against the pride of an ancient house. Nor does she anticipate the mystery that follows them from Merybourne Manor, its roots running deep as the foundations of the kingdom itself, where something old and dreadful slumbers . . . something far more sinister than gryphons.</span></i><br />
<i><span style="color: #351c75;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="color: #351c75;">It’s a war Aliza is ill-prepared to wage, on a battlefield she’s never known before: one spanning kingdoms, class lines, and the curious nature of her own heart. </span></i><br />
<i><span style="color: #351c75;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="color: #351c75;">Elle Katharine White infuses elements of Austen’s beloved novel with her own brand of magic, crafting a modern epic fantasy that conjures a familiar yet wondrously unique new world.</span></i><br />
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PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. WITH. DRAGONS.<br />
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Let's just...let's just marinate in that. Let it seep into our pores and we shall bask in its awesomeness and know that even if the book doesn't end up being that good, it can't be <i>bad</i>, because it is PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. WITH. DRAGONS.<br />
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Like. How am i supposed to resist that? I'm not. I can't. It's in my DNA.<br />
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Already you know from reading the concept (PRIDE AND PREJUDICE! WITH DRAGONS!) whether this is a YOU book or not. Truthfully, you don't need to know or like Pride and Prejudice to like this (but also...<i>why don't you like Pride and Prejudice?</i>) If you like fun, shippy, swoony high fantasy with inventive, if not terrribly deep worldbuilding, first person POV with humor, and a wuick plot, than this is the business for you, my friend. I accidentally read this in one day, and I was so happy at the end of it that I hugged it to my (dragon-loving, Pride and Prejudice-revering) heart.<br />
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This is by no means a perfect book (and it could, in fact, use much more DRAGONS) but BOY HOWDY did I love reading it! Ships and humor and dragon riders and beasties and shippity ship and yes, slightly rushed execution and kinda dropped plots but YOU KNOW WHAT if this means a surprise sequel I am heeeere for it (Seriously. Surprise sequel? Please? A retelling of a different classic literature tale? I ust <i>love</i> a retelling of a classic literature tale, particularly the ones with repressed sexual tension and brooding love interests WEARING CRAVATS)<br />
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Now, there are no cravats in this high fantasy retelling of P&P (unfortunately, the dragon rider warriors have long hair and braids and I had to trot out my trusty inner editor to SCRUB THAT VSUAL FROM MY BRAIN)<br />
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<img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyYL0n838V1ERjUI9TyiKA48M_tvvzGu62US8SyGeaJwSg5NiLWJR-KafA1QpIQLztHgNP61U4al0Ml-RD9m5cXTHKWDzcNFYF9TaUxKi1w5wUw6y0v_peg-V6UYCKZuvSs0XxdYKPavWl/s640/c94ee244-d449-4f4f-8d03-d229450b13b5.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="640" /><br />
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<i>That's better.</i><br />
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Anyway, this book is about Aliza Bentaine and her family, who live in a world besieged by BEASTIES (FYI, this is NOT historical fantasy, and this is NOT England. Yes, I am pedantic enough to be annoyed by the above synopsis). Aliza has just lost her sister to gryphons (poor high fantasy Kitty, we hardly knew ye) and so now the famed DRAGON RIDERS <strike>OF BERK</strike> are coming to stay at Merybourne Manor and fight off the monstrous infestation <strike>and woo the local lady population with their debonair ways</strike>. Of course, the bestest dragon rider in all the land, Alistair Daired, is surly and snooty and just too handsome to be allowed, HARRUMPH. Aliza is not amused.<br />
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I had so much fun with this book. <i>I shipped it so hard</i>, and honestly, I liked it best when it veered away from P&P and did its own super inventive things, which is odd for me because I could probably recite a good quarter of P&P from memory. There were parts of this world that were really cool! I loved learning about the land and the lore and the MONSTERS. MORE MONSTERS.<br />
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Of course, I also loved the direct spin on the plot and characters of <i>Pride and Prejudice</i>. P&P is a perfect book, and the only thing it's really missing are dragons. (And honestly, this book needed EVEN MORE DRAGONS. Most things do.) The book has some debut growing pains--I have particular quibbles with the ending--but it's a <i>thoroughly</i> enjoyable, addictive read. Aliza's voice is really funny, and so is the dialogue. It's sharp and lively and Jane-approved. I stayed up til 2 am reading this, and I regretted it not a whit.<br />
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(Though Jane would <i>not</i> approve of the shirtless boy.)<br />
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(BUT I DO.)<br />
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitUIAT0cE2Eo8avqVrMuNF27Y0wryKir30T1ZJ_8qOI87gHnM6yVJiq4sBuzbpsi1hrvPShSD5e3h2Iai5V66OWOzNjDcl4kroYvd1OECDh_7whBEN6CbKS4pZTBoDLdh77dV0FDCWVoLw/s1600/we-prefer-alternative.gif" style="text-align: center;" /><br />
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What were we even talking aboutGillyBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622344092774777709noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932292247636823526.post-2232393257373125382017-03-20T02:41:00.000-04:002017-03-20T02:41:21.528-04:00DNF-A-Palooza<br />
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<img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIGYZIOsKSemdIS8vfKpW3Vro0TrjniR14u2SK_ev6frNyFDrIfGg3E1IsHAKajDZITWZe_k0yfaJIcaa9h_JoKbNGYent8B-ABktRN4bpyLi4Rocs_S2t6J_VLsTTIZaE60978IzR8xLG/s200/27206507.jpg" width="135" /><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3jU4PsTmn-ZdztH6-cchkor1wmhyphenhyphenCHkvVdtXJQZRoERXj04o1qFjn9gf5yBQU3j0hVHzbyatbb4odGbboqVcm6VziqXrIVloljtfNt7FtSbZD19fRK-o7KNza4Yi903ESmJ_eENR3mJ5_/s200/28588459.jpg" width="133" /><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsCblg_i9I5nGVsRWkfPg5bN-zIJXvkwahVD5gSAejhdlVTtpYfsloitRqlpyK8l1BfJOYEFdVPlS9aI0XFh4mB2U5hxp-ubYB-NCtDp3ZG0OTRXbJ9GdKbUBD5ikZfYJUK3bP0CIyXnS9/s200/28265679.jpg" width="133" /><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Qlzy-urUHO1HdafpkT4nM5_apRSQjhtYjYRxXx2mGfIgVYDPYc8PHaurGRFJ__UPqlI2t2-l5vE8SO8cilQCYov3MbQk7Je5JlXwWOZMVGZDPN3-Vfuf3wnCt_jh2ftaRPcn5fa8Qk9b/s200/25116429.jpg" width="131" /><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifeCNjVYk3Aw0TRdePRVvv9HACnEEgNBVlBKaqadRaBYC1etWDXJRxpn9DMlYrEgLDlifdxC8gq67z7BiriGG1bVmHTq69YwUlEYdlE2KwGDIXnMnoRHX4FsrwmlX2bee9fznBYNHg7f5h/s200/26532931.jpg" width="131" /></div>
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I'm feeling lazy, so let's keep it SHORT and NOT SO SWEET (kind of like me, ba dum TSHHH)<br />
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All the books were ARCs provided by the publisher and I'M SORRY, PUBLISHERS, I WILL TRY TO BE...TALLER AND SWEETER<br />
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<b><i>26 Kisses</i> by Anna Michaels</b><br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27206507-26-kisses?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">Goodreads</a><br />
May 24th, 2016 | Simon Pulse<br />
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<i><span style="color: #351c75;">Kasie West meets Morgan Matson in this hilarious and heartwarming debut about a girl’s summer mission to get over her ex-boyfriend by kissing her way through the alphabet.<br /><br />Getting dumped by her boyfriend is not how Veda planned on starting her summer. When Mark makes it clear that it’s over between them, Veda is heartbroken and humiliated—but, more importantly, she’s inspired. So she sets out on the love quest of a lifetime: use the summer to forget about Mark, to move on, and move up. All she has to do is kiss twenty-six boys with twenty-six different names—one for each letter of the alphabet.<br /><br />From the top of the Ferris wheel at her hometown carnival to the sandy dunes of Lake Michigan, Veda takes every opportunity she can to add kisses (and boys) to her list, and soon the break-up doesn’t sting quite as much. But just when Veda thinks she has the whole kissing thing figured out, she meets someone who turns her world upside down.</span></i><br />
I read part of it was a bit *judgy emoji face* on the main character being kinda brow beaten into kissing a bunch of boys she doesn't reaaaally want to kiss, even if I love the idea, but then read <a href="http://readeroffictions.com/2016/12/review-26-kisses-anna-michel/" target="_blank">Christina's review </a>and was like HA okay no, I'm good.<br />
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<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3jU4PsTmn-ZdztH6-cchkor1wmhyphenhyphenCHkvVdtXJQZRoERXj04o1qFjn9gf5yBQU3j0hVHzbyatbb4odGbboqVcm6VziqXrIVloljtfNt7FtSbZD19fRK-o7KNza4Yi903ESmJ_eENR3mJ5_/s320/28588459.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="212" /><br />
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<b><i>Still Life with Tornado </i>by AS King</b><br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28588459-still-life-with-tornado?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">Goodreads</a><br />
October 10th, 2016 | Dutton Books (Penguin)<br /><br /><i><span style="color: #351c75;">“I am sixteen years old. I am a human being.”<br /><br />Actually Sarah is several human beings. At once. And only one of them is sixteen. Her parents insist she’s a gifted artist with a bright future, but now she can’t draw a thing, not even her own hand. Meanwhile, there’s a ten-year-old Sarah with a filthy mouth, a bad sunburn, and a clear memory of the family vacation in Mexico that ruined everything. She’s a ray of sunshine compared to twenty-three-year-old Sarah, who has snazzy highlights and a bad attitude. And then there’s forty-year-old Sarah (makes good queso dip, doesn’t wear a bra, really wants sixteen-year-old Sarah to tell the truth about her art teacher). They’re all wandering Philadelphia—along with a homeless artist allegedly named Earl—and they’re all worried about Sarah’s future.<br /><br />But Sarah’s future isn’t the problem. The present is where she might be having an existential crisis. Or maybe all those other Sarahs are trying to wake her up before she’s lost forever in the tornado of violence and denial that is her parents’ marriage.<br /><br />“I am a human being. I am sixteen years old. That should be enough.”</span></i><br /><br />This book was just wayyyyyyy too weird for me. For all that I'm a pretty weird person, it turns out that books that really GO FOR BROKE on the weirdness front really often don't work for me. I'm distressingly old-fashioned, I guess. Like intellectually, I LOVE this concept. It is so cool and has the deeps and is genius if you can pull it off. So like, AS King is clearly a super talented smarty pants of the highest order. But this kinda high concept-y magical realism thing just makes me head kinda hurt. I am not a smarty pants of the highest order. (I just want people to kiss and banter and maybe for dragons to swoop by and blow things up. I AM A SIMPLE MAID OF SIMPLE PLEASURES.) Other people will love this, though, without a doubt. Just...<i>pas moi.</i><br />
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<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsCblg_i9I5nGVsRWkfPg5bN-zIJXvkwahVD5gSAejhdlVTtpYfsloitRqlpyK8l1BfJOYEFdVPlS9aI0XFh4mB2U5hxp-ubYB-NCtDp3ZG0OTRXbJ9GdKbUBD5ikZfYJUK3bP0CIyXnS9/s320/28265679.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="212" /><br />
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<b><i>Romeo and What's her Name</i> by Shani Petroff</b><br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28265679-romeo-and-what-s-her-name?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">Goodreads</a><br />
February 7th, 2017 | Swoon Reads (Macmillan)<br />
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<i><span style="color: #351c75;">Understudies never get to perform<br /><br />. . . which is why being Juliet's understudy in the school's yearly "Evening with Shakespeare" is the perfect role for Emily. She can earn some much-needed extra credit while pursuing her main goal of spending time with Wes, aka Romeo, aka the hottest, nicest guy in school (in her completely unbiased opinion). And she meant to learn her lines, really, it's just:<br />a) Shakespeare is HARD,<br />b) Amanda, aka the "real" Juliet, makes her run errands instead of lines, and<br />c) there's no point because Amanda would never miss the chance to be the star of the show. <br /><br />Then, Amanda ends up in the hospital and Emily, as the (completely unprepared!) understudy, has to star opposite the guy of her dreams. Oops?</span></i><br />
OOF. Okay, this was my fastest DNF of the year by far. The writing and I just did nooooot get along. I'm not opposed to young YA by any means, but the main character's voice was just...OOF. OOF OOF OOF BAD ARGH NO BAD. Super shallow, clunky, shrill, painful, badly bad, not for me, baiiii<br />
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Awesome title, though.<br />
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<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Qlzy-urUHO1HdafpkT4nM5_apRSQjhtYjYRxXx2mGfIgVYDPYc8PHaurGRFJ__UPqlI2t2-l5vE8SO8cilQCYov3MbQk7Je5JlXwWOZMVGZDPN3-Vfuf3wnCt_jh2ftaRPcn5fa8Qk9b/s320/25116429.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="209" /><br />
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<b><i>#famous</i> by Jilly Gagnon</b><br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25116429-famous?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">Goodreads</a><br />
February 14th, 2017 | Katherine Tegen (HarperCollins)<br />
<i><span style="color: #351c75;">In this modern-day love story, Girl likes Boy, Girl takes photo of Boy and posts it online, Boy becomes accidentally insta-famous. And what starts out as an innocent joke spirals into a whirlwind adventure that could change both their lives—and their hearts—forever. But are fame and love worth the price?<br /><br />Told in alternating points of view, #famous captures the out-of-control thrill ride of falling for someone in front of everyone.</span></i><br />
I LOVE the concept of this--I really like (well, when they're good) YA contemps that deal with fame and SECRET CRUSH HELLO I SHIP THAT COVER ALREADY--but I had immediate disconnect with the voice which was kinda...forced funny? I dont know, soemthing about the sense of humor grated on me. And when I realized this was going to be a book with a heavy bullying aspect, I had to nope out. It's a personal thing, but I struggle with books where the MC is bullied a lot. It gets to me and I just get really angry and anxious and STRUGGLE. So, a bit sad about this one. BECAUSE I JUST LOVE THAT ADORABLE COVER SO MUCH, LOOK HOW CUTE THEY ARE<br />
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<b><i>Exo</i> by Fonda Lee</b><br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26532931-exo?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">Goodreads</a><br />
January 31st, 2017 | Scholastic<br />
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<i><span style="color: #351c75;"><span id="freeText4961362487595829659">It’s been a century of peace since Earth became a colony of an alien race with far reaches into the galaxy. Some die-hard extremists still oppose alien rule on Earth, but Donovan Reyes isn’t one of them. His dad holds the prestigious position of Prime Liaison in the collaborationist government, and Donovan’s high social standing along with his exocel (a remarkable alien technology fused to his body) guarantee him a bright future in the security forces. That is, until a routine patrol goes awry and Donovan’s abducted by the human revolutionary group Sapience, determined to end alien control.<br /><br />When Sapience realizes whose son Donovan is, they think they’ve found the ultimate bargaining chip . But the Prime Liaison doesn’t negotiate with terrorists, not even for his own son. Left in the hands of terrorists who have more uses for him dead than alive, the fate of Earth rests on Donovan’s survival. Because if Sapience kills him, it could spark another intergalactic war. And Earth didn’t win the last one . .<span style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> .</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span></span></i><br />
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Super cool sci fi concept, and such a spin on FUTURE ALIENS TECH HUMANS STUFF EARTH INVASION BLAH (I am a wordsmith) that maybe someday I'll give this another go. Also, David Levithan PERSONALLY made me take this at ALA, and like...I can't refuse David Levithan TO HIS FACE. (For the record, he has no clue who I am. He just happened to be manning the Scholastic book when I ambled by. But he was very persuasive and David Levithan-y.)<br />
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But I was feeling a bit slumpy when I started this and the 3rd person pov has almost <i>no</i> voice. My sci fi capacities are limited--like, I am basically here for ship, for spaceship, or for Captain Thorne, and that's about as much TECHY TECH as I can handle--so without characters and voice to grab onto, I will just be bored-y bored, which was sadly the case here. (Apparently today's post is all about my personal limits as a reader? ISN'T THAT FUN.)<br />
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<br />GillyBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622344092774777709noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932292247636823526.post-26023585041940338112017-03-14T01:16:00.000-04:002017-03-20T23:55:59.431-04:00Review: Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller<br />
<i>Daughter of the Pirate King</i> by Tricia Levenseller<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33643994-daughter-of-the-pirate-king" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Daughter-Pirate-King-Tricia-Levenseller/dp/1250095964/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/daughter-of-the-pirate-king-tricia-levenseller/1123107057?ean=9781250095961" target="_blank">Barnes and Noble </a>| <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Daughter-Pirate-King-Tricia-Levenseller/9781250095961" target="_blank">The Book Depository</a> | <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781250095961" target="_blank">IndieBound</a><br />
Series: Yes, #1 in the series<br />
Release date: February 28th, 2017<br />
Publisher: Fiewel & Friends (Macmillan)<br />
Length: 372 pages<br />
Source: Purchased<br />
Rating: crack fantasy<br />
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<i><span style="color: #351c75;"><b>There will be plenty of time for me to beat him soundly once I’ve gotten what I came for.</b><br /><br />Sent on a mission to retrieve an ancient hidden map—the key to a legendary treasure trove—seventeen-year-old pirate captain Alosa deliberately allows herself to be captured by her enemies, giving her the perfect opportunity to search their ship.<br /><br />More than a match for the ruthless pirate crew, Alosa has only one thing standing between her and the map: her captor, the unexpectedly clever and unfairly attractive first mate, Riden. But not to worry, for Alosa has a few tricks up her sleeve, and no lone pirate can stop the Daughter of the Pirate King.</span></i><br />
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This review is going to be a total chopped up mess of contradictions, because on the one hand, this was intensely entertaining with PIRATES and PLOTS and STABBING, but on the other, I really didn't like the writing or worldbuilding, but on the other OTHER hand, the ship and their chemistry/banter were off the charts. And now I have three hands, so you see the problem here. THANKS A LOT, DOTPK.</div>
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Alosa is the teenage, swashbuckling captain of a mostly female crew we never really get to know or care for who deliberately gets herself kidnapped so she can steal a map from her enemies (bamf set up). She's fiery, fiesty, and kind of completely hilarious, and always has a trick or twelve up her sleeve. Alosa was a very fun narrator, and with a bit more depth and development, could have been a standout. I like her backstory as the daughter of the pirate king (duh), though I don't really buy her apparent undying devotion to her crew (what even is a Sorinda, who are these people). I loved that bitch was ruthless though. Most fictional pirates tend to be a bit too cuddly, but Alosa will straight up gut a dude without any qualms.</div>
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The other best part was RIDEN. WHO DESERVES ALL CAPS. Honestly, if it weren't for Alosa's humor and her dynamic with Riden, I would have been very whompppppppppp on this book. (I'll get into my whomps in a sec.) Riden is the first mate of the crew that has "kidnapped" Alosa, and even though he has a ponytail, I forgive him, because I lurve him. He and Alosa have a totally great ship thing going on (on a ship! SYNERGY. SHIPCEPTION) where they're basically pitted against each other and always outdoing each other and I'm just here for it, and he's shirtless a lot, and it's just FUN. It's fun ship TRASH which is my middle name and I'm here for it with bells on</div>
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I liked some aspects of the plot, and the overall shape of it, and a few of the characters. Mostly, though, my whomps (the technical term) boil down to the...<i>flimsiness</i>, I guess, of the book. it's very short, and the world-building is basically nonexistent beyond pirates! Sirens! Ocean! Boat! Stab! Which, okay, but eh. The names drove me bonkers. The prose was definitely on the simplistic side, and often clumsy, but Alosa's voice was strong enough to sustain me through most of that. The "twist" with Alosa was pretty darn obvious, but I'll admit a few things took me by surprise (and a few other things made me go ALOSA YOU IDIOT but that's very spoilery). </div>
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ALSO...the book is kinda accidentally sexist. It's all rah rah, Alosa is a bad ass pirate lady with her bad ass pirate crew, but Alosa thinks a lot of subtly No Bueno girl hatery things, and the world is all sexist even though it's a secondary fantasy world and we can live without thisss thanksss, and then there's a part where Alosa uses "thinking like a woman" as a slamming insult and I just</div>
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Why that one, Alosa? Go with a good pirate insult classic.</div>
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I will admit that most of her comebacks make me snort. It's just that one that made me snarl.</div>
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The flimsiness extended to character, plot, prose...even impact. Like, we FINALLY get to see the mighty Pirate King, scourge of the seas, and, you know, ALOSA'S ALMIGHTY FATHER, her motivation for her entire life, basically...and there's not one sentence of description. He walks on deck of the ship and they start talking and we don't even get to know what he looks like? That should have impact! It was just little things like that that just make this a sliiiiightly subpar book. But I also enjoyed reading it tremendously. </div>
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So...IDK. Have at it and see? I AM A WEIRD THREE HANDED REVIEWER TODAY. Don't come for legit fantasy times or PLOT or FEELS or DEPTH (do come for OCEAN depths, though. ba dum tsh). Come for banter sass chemistry smoochie times, and definitely come in a forgiving mindset. But I'm definitely hoping for a sequel with a whole lotta</div>
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GillyBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622344092774777709noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932292247636823526.post-80350814368336183542017-02-23T03:31:00.001-05:002017-03-03T12:22:29.362-05:00Review: The Valiant by Lesley Livingston<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>The Valiant</i> by Lesley Livingston<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30375703-the-valiant" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Valiant-Lesley-Livingston/dp/0448493780/ref=la_B002A59YBY_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1487837362&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-valiant-lesley-livingston/1123839501?ean=9780448493787" target="_blank">Barnes and Noble </a>| <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Valiant-Lesley-Livingston/9780448493787" target="_blank">The Book Depository </a>| <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780448493787" target="_blank">IndieBound</a><br />
Series: Yes, #1 in the series<br />
Release date: February 14th, 2017<br />
Publisher: Razorbill (Penguin)<br />
Length: 372 pages<br />
Source: ARC from ALAMW<br />
Rating: *victorious Cantii war cry*<br />
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<i><span style="color: #351c75;">Princess. Captive. Gladiator.<br /><br />Fallon is the daughter of a proud Celtic king, the sister of the legendary warrior Sorcha, and the sworn enemy of Julius Caesar.<br /><br />When Fallon was a child, Caesar’s armies invaded her homeland, and her beloved sister was killed in battle.<br /><br />Now, on the eve of her seventeenth birthday, Fallon is eager to follow in her sister’s footsteps and earn her place in the fearsome Cantii war band. She never gets the chance.<br /><br />Fallon is captured and sold to an elite training school for female gladiators—owned by none other than Julius Caesar. In a cruel twist of fate, the man who destroyed Fallon’s family might be her only hope of survival.<br /><br />Now Fallon must overcome vicious rivalries and deadly fights—in and out of the arena. And perhaps the most dangerous threat of all: her forbidden yet irresistible feelings for Cai, a young Roman soldier.</span></i><br />
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Well, that was totally bad ass.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">YES, I AM RUSSELL. I VERY MUCH AM.</td></tr>
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I didn't love the start of this--in fact, this is by no means a perfect book, but it is bloody and breakneck and high stakes-y (so a word) and blockbuster-y (so also a word), and from the moment Fallon is captured I was hooked. I want this as a TV show. It's fast-paced and wicked, and full of ladies who kill and stab and punch and shout war cries and I WANT TO BE A BAD ASS GLADIATRIX SISTER WARRIOR, she says, lying in her bed eating a donut.<br />
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(Fun fact: I totally accidentally titled this post <i>The Valium</i> instead. Just, like, imagine THAT one for a second.)<br />
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The characters aren't the deepest things in the world, but Fallon is ferocious and my fave was Elka, nordic crankypants warrior goddess. The plot is really fast in a really great way. There's always a THING happening, which makes this feel like a blockbuster movie in the best way. I did see most of the twists coming, especially (highlight for spoiler: <span style="color: white;">that Lady Achillea is her sister, which is so obvious I'm REALLY GLAD it was revealed early-ish in the story</span>) because I have read a book before, but a few were definitely not what I expected (highlight for spoiler: <span style="color: white;">UM, THEY WANT TO EAT HER?!?!?!?! </span>). <br />
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Fallon's journey as a gladiatrix is, again, not the deepest, most visceral journey ever (not helped by the very modern first person voice), but I totally dug her. She's sharp and fiery and just TOTALLY </div>
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BAD ASS. I really did like the internal lessons she had to learn and concessions she had to make as she matured from a rebellious princess to a gladiatrix learning to play Rome's game.</div>
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The weakest aspect is probably the romance, not that I don't like Cai--he's probably about the nicest Roman soldier you ever will meet--but it's all very QUICK and you know me, I like to suffer the sloooooww burns. (Also, like, is every book boyfriend EVER named some variation of Kai now?)<br />
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But the best thing about this book is just the CONCEPT AND THE SETTING. Ancient! Roman! Gladiatrixes!!! Julius Caesar and Cleopatra and Rome in all its wine and sin and (literal) backstabbing! And front stabbing! And side stabbing! And lots of stabbing!!! (Highlight for spoiler:<span style="color: white;"> THAT HAND THING WAS REALLY GROSS</span>) FEMALE GLADIATORS BEING STABBING MACHINES AND LOOKING HOT AS HELL IN THEIR ARMOR</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">yaaas bitch stabbity stab</td></tr>
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I'm a huge history geek, so I always love reading about yesteryear, but for some reason Ancient Rome has never been one of my geek topics. Not that I don't think it's awesome, but I don't know EVERYTHING about it like I do other periods, so it was super fun for me to get plopped into it and told all about cool stuffs I never knew. Also HELL if I know a thing about Celtic-era Prydain. Basically, it was super cool to read about an era of European history I only know the basics of. I seriously know just enough about Julius Caesar to be REALLY TENSE AND EXCITED ABOUT THE NEXT FEW BOOKS (highlight for spoiler if you've never opened up a history book in your life: <span style="color: white;">because, um, I know how and when he dies, and the shit will hit the FAN, YO</span>) and basically, this was a blast. TWO CAESAR THUMBS UP.</div>
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Yes I know that's not Caesar and that's only one thumb but just work with me</div>
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GillyBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622344092774777709noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932292247636823526.post-8777348963175502742017-02-14T00:00:00.000-05:002017-02-14T00:00:17.570-05:00Review: The Princess Saves Herself in this One<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>The Princess Saves Herself in this One</i> by Amanda Lovelace<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32942666-the-princess-saves-herself-in-this-one" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/princess-saves-herself-this-one/dp/144948641X/ref=la_B01F3X5HYC_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1487037348&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-princess-saves-herself-in-this-one-amanda-lovelace/1123913448?ean=9781449486419" target="_blank">Barnes and Noble</a> | <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/the-Princess-Saves-Herself-in-This-One/9781449486419" target="_blank">The Book Depository</a> | <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781449486419" target="_blank">IndieBound</a><br />
Series: No<br />
Release date: February 14th, 2017<br />
Publisher: Andrew McMeel Publishing<br />
Length: 208 pages<br />
Source: Netgalley<br />
Rating: Save me from this one<br />
<br /><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRYhyLqpiBBMQZcbSzF4TI0epgmt0aR48S5JfB0rW3sQBRAdnxWyGaIMddsDJOkIrJl46s-Yz0lO4kueW8sZowPttbQ1EoQ-Jm2ZJVUDNMvimE0tNuRTUmfRDp8J0xmoJ9LVVz1hq5qDK6/s1600/32942666.jpg" style="text-align: center;" /><br /><br /><i><span style="color: #351c75;">From Amanda Lovelace, a poetry collection in four parts: the princess, the damsel, the queen, and you. The first three sections piece together the life of the author while the final section serves as a note to the reader. This moving book explores love, loss, grief, healing, empowerment, and inspiration.</span></i><br />
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Okay. Yeah. That was....well, not my favorite ever thing. I feel like I just read my middle school AIM away messages or 200 pages of emo Myspace updates. I need to go listen to some Dashboard Confessional STAT. (YES, I AM OLD, OLDY OLD OLD)<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />I love the idea. I love the sentiments and the lessons, and CERTAINLY the feminist ideas at work here. If I saw any of the platitudes expressed in the "you" section on Tumblr, I'd happily reblog them. I definitely appreciate the raw emotions that very clearly went into the writing of them, and how personal the author was willing to get about her life. BUT. Um. Ummmmmmmmm. What the fuck.<br /><br />But that...well. That's just not the kind of poetry I respond to. I find minimalist poetry EXTREMELY hit or miss, and when I (VERY RARELY) read poetry, it's usual the lusher, more ornate kind--or at least the more visually creative. Because this...I mean, there's nothing new here. It's generic Tumblr platitudes. It's emo angst that should be emblazoned over a picture of a sad girl on the beach and put on Pinterest. It's beyond basic metaphors and cliche imagery about hearts and stars and oceans. It's<br /><br />hitting <br />enter<br />after nearly<br />e v e r y <br />w o r d<br />and<br />m<br />a<br />k<br />i<br />n<br />g<br />it<br />feel<br />deep.<br /><br />To me that's just a waste of trees, but hey, to each their own.<br /><br />Again, I APPRECIATE the raw angst here, but it's pretty clunky. There's no subtlety or nuance, which is why it makes me think of 13 year old me, just scribbling out PURE FEELINGS to the page because it was the only person who'd listen and all the feelings FELT SO NEW. Which, I mean, thank you for the nostalgia, if that's what was intended, but as a book of POETRY--sophisticated poetry for the modern feminist--it's a hard pass. I mean, this book of poetry even touched on things that are very personal to me, like grief, but I got zero feels. It was all so distant and buried in cliches.<br />
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Also...it sort of didn't feel like the princess saved herself? For all that I very much agree with all the quotes pulled out of context, the driving force of the author "saving" herself was mostlty the love of a dude. Which is legit, and I'm not knocking that, but. Well.<br /><br />ANYHOO. Examples:<br /><br /><i><b>everyone i love leaves.</b></i><br /><br />I...what? What Peyton Sawyer bullshit is this? That's the whole poem?? ONE TREE HILL WAS WANGSTING LIKE THIS TEN YEARS AGO.<br /><br /><i><b>i hope you<br />treat her better<br />than you<br />ever<br />treated me.</b></i><br /><br />Did you carve this on the door of a bathroom stall or<br /><i><b><br />he loves me.<br />he loves me not.<br /><br />he loves her.<br />he loves her not.<br /><br />he loves me.<br />he loves me not.<br /><br />he loves her.<br />he loves her not.<br /><br />he loves me.<br />he loves me not.<br /><br />he loves her.<br />he loves her not.<br /><br />he loves me.<br />he loves me not.<br /><br />he loves her.<br />he loves her not.<br /><br />he loves me.<br />he loves me not.<br /><br />- i ran out of petals.</b></i><br /><br />And I ran out of fucks.GillyBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622344092774777709noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932292247636823526.post-697729246410617182017-02-12T00:00:00.000-05:002017-02-12T00:00:30.304-05:00Review: We Are Okay by Nina LaCour<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>We Are Okay</i> by Nina LaCour<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28243032-we-are-okay" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/We-Are-Okay-Nina-LaCour/dp/0525425896/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/we-are-okay-nina-lacour/1124300483?ean=9780525425892" target="_blank">Barnes and Noble</a> | <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/We-Are-Okay-Nina-LaCour/9780735232013" target="_blank">The Book Depository </a>| <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780525425892" target="_blank">IndieBound</a><br />
Series: No<br />
Release date: February 14th, 2017<br />
Publisher: Dutton Books for Young Readers (Penguin)<br />
Length: 240 pages<br />
Source: ARC from ALAMW<br />
Rating: Gillian is NOT okay<br />
<br /><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWt3TtJKYI7ghXuvj6b_0T9jnfBCAwq94qET68z-1hp4M4CLwIksEQMvD-L9KA4dg_DZTuP8F21duzoKlTSeDojYlj6pLax-MZ1Ym15UDjqzX33D4hhZ7Sp4KojxJCVwwpQxOy9P40eqQj/s1600/28243032.jpg" /><br /><br /><i><span style="color: #351c75;">"You go through life thinking there’s so much you need. . . . Until you leave with only your phone, your wallet, and a picture of your mother."<br /><br />Marin hasn’t spoken to anyone from her old life since the day she left everything behind. No one knows the truth about those final weeks. Not even her best friend Mabel. But even thousands of miles away from the California coast, at college in New York, Marin still feels the pull of the life and tragedy she’s tried to outrun. Now, months later, alone in an emptied dorm for winter break, Marin waits. Mabel is coming to visit and Marin will be forced to face everything that’s been left unsaid and finally confront the loneliness that has made a home in her heart.</span></i><br /><br />This book is brilliant, and Nina LaCour is a master. And she owes me a stiff drink.<div>
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<a name='more'></a>I should probably rate this five stars because it's absolutely exquisite, not to mention gorgeously written, but I honestly feel so miserable after finishing this book that I can't. LaCour is an absolutely STUPENDOUS writer, and I felt all the things that Marin felt, which is both a blessing and a curse, because this book is so HOWLINGLY SAD. I just feel obliterated. </div>
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This book is about a college freshman, Marin, who has cut off her old life and it basically existing in stasis at her new school on the opposite side of the country. She's about to face a winter break entirely alone in the dorms, surrounded by snow and silence...except her best friend, whom she hasn't spoken to in months, is coming to stay for three days. The best friend who was something more at the end of it.</div>
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YOUCH. OUCHY OUCH OUCH BOOK OF OUCH.</div>
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Nina LaCour has a way of cutting to the ugly truth of things that's so genius, and maybe in like ten years I can read this book again and marvel at it, but honestly the topics in this book veer way too personally close to comfort. I just feel like a wreck. I feel like this book cracked my chest and rummaged around it and poke poke poked at all the most painful inside-bits. Which again is a sign of an EXCELLENTLY WRITTEN BOOK. Very rarely do I read books that speak to me on that personal a level. Like, this is basically a masterpiece, but I also want to put it in the freezer. </div>
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And go watch a Disney movie. In fact, yes, I am going to go watch a Disney movie. I am going to watch <i>several</i> Disney movies.<br /><br />You know how sometimes you read a book that reflects you and you're like I FEEL SEEN! I LOVE THIS BOOK! (like <i>Fangirl</i> and <i>This Adventure Ends</i> did for me.) Well, I did not get that feeling here. I mostly just felt miserable and achy about it. (Which, again, definitely the intended effect, since it's a miserable and achey and heart-wrenching kind of read, but I really just need a lot of chocolate now.)<br /><br />I think you should read this book. Honestly, I do. It's short and powerful, and the characters are full and layered. I felt for them, and I wanted them to be happy, and the dual timeline--Marin's after and before--is executed wonderfully. As the past catches up with the present, you sort of realize you're reading a different book than you thought you were. (An INFINITELY SADDER ONE, IF YOU CAN BELIEVE IT.)</div>
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This book does HAVE hope and joy in it, but the hope and joy just make it SADDER, at least for me. And the mood of the book is so thick with Marin's loss and loneliness that you just feel sort of drowned in it, which--to state once again--is the point, and a sign of tremendous writing. It's so wonderfully done, but spending an hour and a half in Marin's life is no easy task. I don't even know if I was crying for Marin or for myself but just... ouch. ouch ouch lots of ouches. Tissues and ouch and lying on the floor feeling OUCH.<br /><br />If you like uber feelsy contemporary books this is the one for you. If you don't want to spend two solid hours sobbing, then maybe skip this one. And join me as I go watch <i>Tangled</i> three times in a row. </div>
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GillyBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622344092774777709noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932292247636823526.post-30852923839079704792017-02-02T14:08:00.000-05:002017-02-02T14:08:21.675-05:00In Which I Apologize to the Goodreads Challenge and Acknowledge I Have Been a Nincompoop<br />
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Oh, past Gillian. HOW FOOLISH YOU WERE.<br />
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Let's journey back to the halcyon days of 2015 and <a href="http://gillianeberry.blogspot.com/2015/01/why-i-dont-do-reading-challenges.html" target="_blank">this post</a> full of past-Gillian nincompoopness. The post in which I said things like this:<br />
<span style="color: #351c75;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="color: #351c75;"><b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; text-align: center;">Every time I log on Goodreads, there's this bright purple banner begging me--no, </span><span style="font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; text-align: center;">urging</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; text-align: center;"> me--to set a Goodreads challenge. Goodreads wants me to set a goal of how many books I'll read this year, but </span><span style="font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">je refuse, Goodreads</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">. Je hardcore REFUSE.<i> No matter what number I set, high or low, I'll end up wayyyy too married to it. I'm competitive even with </i></span><span style="font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; text-align: center;">myself</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; text-align: center;">. I'll feel like crap if I fail, and I don't want to feel like crap about reading books! I love books! This is why I like to take as much reading pressure off myself as I can...which is hard, considering I've already </span><span style="font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; text-align: center;">got</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; text-align: center;"> a bunch of it.</span></b></span><br />
<i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"></span></i><br />
<a name='more'></a>I also said things like this:<br />
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<i><span style="color: #351c75;"><b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">I am not a well-organized person. I'm just not. I've tried to do calendars and spreadsheets and the like, but I just can't maintain them. Not for blogging. ...</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"> I like to pull this whole blog thing off in exactly the way </span><span style="font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">I</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"> like to do it, because it's for me.</span></b></span></i><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">And a whole bunch of this:</span><br />
<i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><br /></span></i>
<span style="color: #351c75;"><b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; text-align: center;">So why don't I set myself reading goals? Why don't I aim for 100 books a year, 35 fantasies, 25 debuts, 16 diverse reads, and ummm whatever, numbers and maths are hard? Because I like to go with the flow.... I don't really love reducing my own reading experience to stats (... I'm also just not good with </span><span style="font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; text-align: center;">numbers.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; text-align: center;"> They're so... </span><span style="font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">unfriendly</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; text-align: center;">.)</span></b></span><br />
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Okay, it's not <i>entirely</i> a load of unadulterated nincompoopism. It is true that I absolute CANNOT keep to a reading schedule to save my life. (Nor any other type of schedule. I tend to wander mindlessly through the hours of the day like they're just sort of vague suggestions and not the rigorous, societally imposed constructs by which the entire world turns.) I'm a huge mood reader, and I pick things up at random and put them back down and shake them all about and do the hokey pokey and turn them all around and then pick up something <i>else</i> and who ever knows WHAT I'm reading next, surely not I, NOT EVEN THE GODS THEMSELVES CAN GUESS.<br />
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Related: <a href="http://gillianeberry.blogspot.com/2014/01/how-mood-reading-is-both-best-and-worst.html" target="_blank">How Mood Reading is Both the Best and Worst Thing</a><br />
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But this, right here, is the height of Past Gillian's nincompooposity:<br />
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<i style="background-color: white; font-family: Molengo; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #351c75;">How does this relate to reading challenges? Well, I'd suck at them. A lot.</span></b></i><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">Oh my god, past Gillian. YOU IDIOT.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">For the first time ever, I set a Goodreads goal this year: 100 books in 2017. 2016 was the worst reading year I've had in basically ever, and I was willing to do terrible things to make sure I never slumped like that again. Terrible things like--gulp--<i>set a Goodreads goal</i>. Even though it might be too much pressure. Even though I suck at organization. Even though numbers as so <i>unfriendly.</i> Even though even though even though.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">And hey. Guess what. Can you all see what's coming? Are you smarter than a fifth grader? Or at least smart than a Past Gillian?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">That, right there, is the best reading month I've had in well over a year. I want to make out with this picture.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">Why did I think my competitive nature <i>wouldn't</i> work for this?? It's the complete opposite! I've Jedi mind tricked myself! My brain refuses to fall behind that little counter thingamabob, and so it spurs me on. I don't know why I thought setting a yearly reading goal would mean I'd have to follow a reading schedule. Because you are NOT a nincompoop, you're probably like, duh, Gillian. You can still be a mood reader and aim for a reading count. And of course, you non-nincompoops are totally right. I'M SO SORRY, GOODREADS GOAL, FOR EVER DOUBTING YOU.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">I've also always been <i>awful</i> at remembering to put all the books I read up on Goodreads, but now with that goal I'm COMPELLED to keep perfect track and get credit for everything. And now I can see all the books I've read and it's JUST SO TIDY.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">I HAVE SEEN THE LIGHT, AND THE LIGHT IS SHAMING ME. But I'm too pleased with my January stats to care. I READ SO MANY BOOKS THIS MONTH. I FEEL SO ALIVE.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnkWQFVitztwQ94M2OelnCo3j2KGWPxAR9fOi0-bEx5OS6U1-po_nRht3Tfh2VnHHhPDWn1crY0LsHHu0h8lFQFU8dM7vxzBAtdeTG6fdUyoAwaD5YTDBWKUNR9ERVjjC36Hxepxj6wuS5/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-02-02+at+10.45.01+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="613" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnkWQFVitztwQ94M2OelnCo3j2KGWPxAR9fOi0-bEx5OS6U1-po_nRht3Tfh2VnHHhPDWn1crY0LsHHu0h8lFQFU8dM7vxzBAtdeTG6fdUyoAwaD5YTDBWKUNR9ERVjjC36Hxepxj6wuS5/s640/Screen+Shot+2017-02-02+at+10.45.01+AM.png" width="640" /></a></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">I'm still never going to be a person who can say "I'm going to read these four books this month for sure" or "I will read all the review books I have in release date order" or even "yup, that's for sure the next book I'm reading after this." <a href="http://gillianeberry.blogspot.com/2014/01/how-mood-reading-is-both-best-and-worst.html" target="_blank">My reading muses </a>are fickle bitches. But I CAN tell you that imma hit that 100 books read mark COME HELL OR HIGH <strike>DUDGEON </strike>WATER, and for once, it feels pretty damn good to give myself a challenge. Because sure, it kinda sucks when you fail them, but there's no high better than when you beat them.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">And now I don't have to be a nincompoop anymore.</span>GillyBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622344092774777709noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932292247636823526.post-1810752560459911842017-01-17T03:58:00.002-05:002017-01-31T01:19:12.926-05:00Review: By Your Side by Kasie West<br />
<i>By Your Side</i> by Kasie West<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30256248-by-your-side?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> | <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Your-Side-Kasie-West/dp/0062455869/ref=la_B00MCKM9CS_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1484641657&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/by-your-side-kasie-west/1123837204?ean=9780062455864" target="_blank">Barnes and Noble</a> | <a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/By-Your-Side-Kasie-West/9780062455864" target="_blank">The Book Depository</a> |<a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780062455864" target="_blank"> IndieBound</a><br />
Series: No<br />
Release date: January 31st, 2017<br />
Publisher: HarperTeen<br />
Length: 352 pages<br />
Source: eARC via Edelweiss<br />
Rating: I am betrayed and disapoint<br />
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<i><span style="color: #351c75;">In this irresistible story, Kasie West explores the timeless question of what to do when you fall for the person you least expect. Witty and romantic, this paperback original from a fan favorite is perfect for fans of Stephanie Perkins and Morgan Matson.<br /><br />When Autumn Collins finds herself accidentally locked in the library for an entire weekend, she doesn’t think things could get any worse. But that’s before she realizes that Dax Miller is locked in with her. Autumn doesn’t know much about Dax except that he’s trouble. Between the rumors about the fight he was in (and that brief stint in juvie that followed it) and his reputation as a loner, he’s not exactly the ideal person to be stuck with. Still, she just keeps reminding herself that it is only a matter of time before Jeff, her almost-boyfriend, realizes he left her in the library and comes to rescue her.<br /><br />Only he doesn’t come. No one does.<br /><br />Instead it becomes clear that Autumn is going to have to spend the next couple of days living off vending-machine food and making conversation with a boy who clearly wants nothing to do with her. Except there is more to Dax than meets the eye. As he and Autumn first grudgingly, and then not so grudgingly, open up to each other, Autumn is struck by their surprising connection. But can their feelings for each other survive once the weekend is over and Autumn’s old life, and old love interest, threaten to pull her from Dax’s side?</span></i><br />
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You guys, I am so betrayed.<br />
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This book could have been my everything. A fluffy romance novel about a ship TRAPPED IN A LIBRARY?? By <i>Kasie West</i>, goddess of squee, author of my favores <i>The Distance Between Us</i>and <i>PS I Like You??</i> STARRING AN ANXIOUS HEROINE??? Be still my heart! Hold back the tears! My body is ready!</div>
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My body was <i>lied to.</i><br />
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This wasn't a "trapped in a library" romance at all. They're only in the library for under 39% of this <i>very</i> quick read, and then BOOM! Plotberg hit, and we are shunted sideways into a book I absolutely did not come here to read. This is the first Kasie West book that hasn't worked for me. The ship is pretty cute, though, and I really like the boy and Autumn's anxiety for the most part (though I have quibbles), but it all feels a bit...DILUTED. It needed more oomph. The amps needed to be turned up to eleven. They were kinda chilling at a snoozy four, minus a deeply awesome kiss, but it takes aaaages to get there. Generally I was bored and slouchy and grouchy and waiting for personalities to develop. </div>
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Yes, bored. I was so bored! I wanted to feel the squee. I wanted to relate to Autumn, a fellow anxiety sufferer, to the point of tears, but I did not. I wanted to ship to the point of OMG, but I just kind of vaguely liked them. They were cute. Quite cute at times, and definitely good for each other, and definitely the best part of the book. But I never got the <i>spark.</i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJx4k_TJvcY8L5mnogrqkOhV7H3vYht0wYmALKt4wse6X1BDnsk7nMW5F_cf_xz_6_Z5aArD88D4kD3Y2cll_GiVBf4t0fpg1VF_zQbQNMpG2s6wn2hl0arflZfEVlYLW7N5FmM-CL7XML/s1600/giphy-39.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJx4k_TJvcY8L5mnogrqkOhV7H3vYht0wYmALKt4wse6X1BDnsk7nMW5F_cf_xz_6_Z5aArD88D4kD3Y2cll_GiVBf4t0fpg1VF_zQbQNMpG2s6wn2hl0arflZfEVlYLW7N5FmM-CL7XML/s1600/giphy-39.gif" /></a></div>
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I am a wilting flower of disappointment and dismay.</div>
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I like Dax's monosyllabicness, though I wish we'd gotten to know him more beyond his tragic backstory. That's the thing: we don't get to know <i>anyone</i>, even Autumn. There characters all felt a bit flimsy. Don't even get me started on the complete nonentities that are Autumn's (AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL) friends. (THEY JUST LEFT HER AT THE LIBRARY AND DIDN'T NOTICE AND NO ONE'S REALLY VERY SORRY BUT WE'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO HATE THEM AND AND THEY'RE ALL AWFUL AND BLAND WHO IS A CONNOR WHAT IS A ZACK WHEN I GET BORED I GET ANGRY I'M SORRY FOR THE CAPS)<br />
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8u3bjxF5UHb2vhOynYU3FdR8CLo9jUXsyzwf_4-wsVLcOKKRfqXzB3jz39eD24Tvl9ktwdX8KknoUPvgCvGtSkGlivwkJ7AAfDxYIcORiWXPLG7wCJYlii3tTbwNiK7WRr0vC3QaWSjMj/s1600/giphy-38.gif" style="text-align: center;" /></div>
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Sidenote on Autumn's anxiety: my anxiety is moe of the social bent, whereas she clearly has general anxiety disorder, and while a lot of things about her anxiety rang true to me, a couple things did not. She said a lot of the right things, but there were certain scenarios where she was cool as a cucumber that would make virtally all anxiety sufferers FREAK OUT, most notably when she drives hours to visit SPOILER'S SPOILER, a person she has NEVER MET in a city she doesn't know AT ALL and COMPLETELY SPUR OF THE MOMENT. Take one of these elements, and I'll be spiraling, but <i>all of them?</i> Yeah, oh my god, panic city. But Autumns just heads off without a care. Maybe her triggers are very different from mine (being trapped in a library would make me panic A LOT at first but then I'd be like oh my god this is my heaven I hope no one finds me for at least three days)</div>
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But I did appreciate that Autumn's anxiety was so integral to her personality (possibly too integral). I could tell that West was approaching her anxiety with a thought of though, and there were definitely a lot of instances where I was like "oh, wow, that is totally an anxiety thing, kudos and brava". But I didn't <i>connect</i>the way I could, which is so weird when Autumn is on the surface so like me. But I guess the problem was I have no idea who she is below the surface. Alas and alack.</div>
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But the saddest aspect of this <i>whomp, whomp </i>of a read for me: that this is such a waste of the library concept. They could have been trapped anywhere. They don't even read! There are even books on the cover! <i>Why are there no books in your book? </i>Autumn, do you even KNOW what those square-ish things are? HOW ARE YOU BORED YOU ARE TRAPPED IN A LIBRARY!!! READ A BOOK FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY THIS LIBRARY ADVENTURE WAS ENTIRELY WASTED ON YOU WHAT ARE THEY TEACHING THE YOUTHS OF TODAY THEY MIGHT AS WELL HAVE BEEN LOCKED IN A STORAGE CONTAINER OR AN OFFICE CUBICLE OR A TOY STORE BECAUSE ALL THEY DID WAS FLING FRISBEES AND WATCH LOCAL TELEVISION<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Autumn, apparently</td></tr>
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*stops to breathe innn and outtt and innn and chillllll, Gillian, ffs*</div>
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I'm sorryyyyy, but I'm just so disappointed. This was the cutest set up! Imagine your all time OTP locked in a library. The fan fiction practically writes itself! You could read out loud to each other! Or make up a game with the books! A scavenger hunt! Harry Potter trivia. LITERALLY ANYTHING OTHER THAN WATCHING SCOOBY DOO ON THE LOUNGE TV AND THROWING FRISBEES AND MELTING WITH UTTER BLANDNESS UGHHHHH<br />
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And holy hell almighty, did I LOATHE the Jeff/coma plot that suddenly INVADED MY NICE COZY LIBRARY ROMANCE. Hate, double hate, loathe entirely. That wasn't the book I signed up for. It felt like this serious introspect-y YA contemp invaded my fluff-party and it just really didn't work. I hate coma plotlines 9 times out of 10 anyway, but it just never bought the feelings here. It was all so blahhhhhhh. I felt nothing! I couldn't wait for it to end, which is NEVER how I feel reading a Kasie West book. WHAT HAPPENED, UNIVERSE, I DEMAND RECOMPENSE</div>
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Forever in mourning for the adorable library romance this could have been.<br />
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GillyBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622344092774777709noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932292247636823526.post-63849605962588202922017-01-02T00:00:00.000-05:002017-01-02T21:08:46.468-05:00New Year's Bookish Resolutions<br />
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I have never been a New Year's resolve-y sort of person (possibly because I'm far too lazy to have much resolve in the first place). I don't have the discipline for diets or exercise, and my favorite hobbies are eating baked goods and sitting down with a book until my spine curves into a c-shape and my muscles dissolve into pudding. I never do hard numbers for reading goals (see why <a href="http://gillianeberry.blogspot.com/2015/01/why-i-dont-do-reading-challenges.html" target="_blank">here</a>). I go with the flow, man. Peace and love and baked goods.<br />
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But this year, for the first time in my whole life, I FEEL RESOLVE-Y.<br />
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I think I actually AM going to chisel some resolutions into stone (or the internet, which is even more permanent than stone in some ways). By posting them, and having you all read it, I'll have no choice but to at least attempt them with some amount of resolve. And I'll ask you all to shame me if I let them all pass me by.<br />
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I mean, I'm not going to consider myself a failure if I don't achieve them all with full marks and gold stars, and if you're doing resolutions, I urge you not to think that way either. You're only a failure if you don't try, or if you don't allow yourself to stop something which is hurting you. If your resolutions add colossally to your stress, let them go; but if you're too scared to reach for them, REACH, I SAY.<br />
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Okay. That was far too much sincerity for me. ONTO THE RESOLUTIONS.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: x-large;">1. Read more</span></b><br />
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Yes, this is as close to a forced reading count as I can give myself. 2016 was one of my lowest reading years in a long time, and while I had several good reasons (I wrote more words this year than I ever have done ever!), a lot of it was simple laziness/my dear and personal friendship with Netflix. A lot of books I was foaming at the mouth to get to I simply put off. BUT NOT NEXT YEAR. No, next year I will READ THE THINGS. Not <i>all </i>the things, obviously. But I would like to make a more concerted effort to flip my laptop closed and flip a book open.<br />
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For the first time ever, I did actually set a Goodreads yearly goal (100 books), but that's mostly to shame myself into actually logging all the books I read onto Goodreads, which is something I'm woeful at. But hopefully it'll also give me the kick in the pants to, well, read more!<br />
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<b><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: x-large;">2. Blog more</span></b><br />
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Same as above, really, just substitue reading for blogging. CLOSE NETFLIX. OPEN BLOGGER. WRITE THE WORDS. DO THE THING.<br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-size: x-large;"><b>3. Write more discussion posts</b></span><br />
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I loooooove discussion posts the mosty-most and I have MANY OPINIONS and wish to inflict them on all of you more often<br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-size: x-large;"><b>4. CROSS POST MY REVIEWS GOOD GOD GILLIAN</b></span><br />
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I am the laziest laze but my conscience is starting to gnaw at me<br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-size: x-large;"><b>5. Update my review archive</b></span><br />
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WHICH I HAVEN'T DONE SINCE JANUARY 2015 OH MY GOD DON'T LOOK AT ME<br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-size: x-large;"><b>6. Undisclosed writing-related goal</b></span><br />
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MEEP I'm really putting the pressure on myself to do scary things this year and this is definitely the scariest one<br />
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<b><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: x-large;">7. Get back into bookstagram</span></b><br />
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I don't think I've posted a single pic since I moved into my new house, which is MADNESS because my new house is much more photogenic! That stupid algorithm really messed with my love of Instagram. HEY IG IF YOU'RE LISTENING PLEASE GET BLOODY RID OF THE ALGORITH OH MY SWEET LORD<br />
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<b><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: x-large;">8. More art</span></b><br />
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I want to brush the dust of my Society6 and polish my Tumblr and my Redbubble and basically get MORE SERIOUS about doing the artsy fartsy thing, because I really love it<br />
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<b><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: x-large;">9. Meet more blogger bookish types</span></b><br />
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SAY HI TO ME, I SAY HI BACK, I'M VERY FRIENDLY AND PAINFULLY SOCIALLY AWKWARD<br />
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<b><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: x-large;">10. Read more diversely</span></b><br />
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I don't thing I'm going to sign up for any specific categories, but I'm going to make a more concerted effort than I have done in the past. I'm naturally drawn to diverse reads, but I want to actively review more of them.<br />
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And then of course, there's the life stuffs: take care of myself, exercise dear god Gillian you can do it, defeat Nazis, fight evil, ascend the throne, capital R Rebel. The usual.<br />
<br />GillyBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622344092774777709noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932292247636823526.post-81913692971837864462016-12-28T01:19:00.000-05:002016-12-29T13:29:22.302-05:00My Favorite Reads of 2016<br />
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2016 was a complete wash of a year in so very many ways, but at least the books were great, and these in particular! Enjoy my highly biased and highly subjective list of my most loved reads of 2016.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>This Adventure Ends</i> by Emma Mills | <a href="http://gillianeberry.blogspot.com/2016/10/review-this-adventure-ends-by-emma-mills.html" target="_blank">my review</a></span><br />
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MY. HEART. This ship and this FRIENDSHIP GROUP and these feels and Emma Mills, I will write whatever you write next ad infinitum. This is my favorite contemporary of the year and honestly I don't even know how to do it justice<br />
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<img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1wYAxfRPsPpoSLpel1MYHSnd9h438Gm4wkdt3QgwymEFjVtdZdJyqNwWCjYwZZ7YOBFupVBmsSLBD54RgB6V3kgt27RjYaZF40tJv8X77VI91LnmG3p9IP5h7IdcZ0EjRAsxfgNqyhCiv/s400/26073072-3.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="265" /><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The Long Game </i>by Jennifer Lynn Barnes | <a href="http://gillianeberry.blogspot.com/2016/06/review-and-giveaway-long-game-by.html" target="_blank">my review</a></span><br />
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I loved the first book in this series, <i>The Fixer</i>, which is <i>Veronica Mars </i>meets <i>Scandal</i>, but its sequel absolutely obliterated me in the more glorious way possible. It's bar none one of the best thrillers I have ever read, and the plot is so tight and so intense and I care about the characters SO MUCH and the level of capital R Ruined I was by the twists in this book cannot be measured by mankind. My life will end if I don't get a third book.<br />
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<img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEityKt9aZmd48fBiX1IVD5LGU6dvrsPiH_PalvFQT51fG-Yl4rNSUSBEPdaELYlo8HnWuyQl-jLtep7VVaXq5e7pG0_vG16whs8UlDj8YmbPpOtrJn488fAV94DyjL5RLcJtnswbQ8hpoEa/s400/23688792-2-2.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="267" /><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>These Vicious Masks</i> by Tarun Shanker and Kelly Zekas | <a href="http://gillianeberry.blogspot.com/2016/02/these-vicious-masks-by-tarun-shanker.html" target="_blank">my review</a></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">This kind of book is my crack. Delightful and voicey, TVM a</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"> fun, wild old tropefest. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">Powers! Disasters! Fire! Illicit smooches! (THAT SMOOCHING SCENE!!) Betrayal! Deception! Disgrace! </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">BONKERS BANANATOWN ENDING. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">There are fancy gowns and gentlemen of ill repute and reputations to be sullied and governesses of yore plus X-Men powers! PLUS SOME SHIPPITY SHIPS. Just my kind of shenanigans.</span><br />
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<img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuLAovbKXIB6FwWblPg2TAj3Y6HOdjFzqQwp4gz1RpsgmsGiPeBTTFQvYXajKLxbNQV0k9XaHYMtbjdiJY48tas3RNSYtdcnWha0S94T_Q7ezRlYgS1IydbOSk74x8bt6fsXgRTLLHOPI4/s400/15993203-2-2.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="255" /><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The Dark Days Club </i>by Alison Goodman | <a href="http://gillianeberry.blogspot.com/2016/01/review-dark-days-club-by-alison-goodman.html" target="_blank">my review</a></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">it's </span><i style="font-family: Molengo; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">Pride and Prejudice</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"> meets </span><i style="font-family: Molengo; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">Buffy! </i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">dive into the story of Lady Helen Wrexhall, who is making her entree in 1812 society...while also grappling with a possibly cataclysmic supernatural destiny as a Reclaimer. An destiny that she doesn't think she wants anything to do with.</span><br />
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Of all the paranormal/fantasy books set in Ye Olden Times I've ever read, TDDC pulls off the historical aspects of that the best. The detail! I am such a nerd for English history, and the amount of research and depth in this novel is stupendous. And not just that, it really INFORMS the characters and their behavior. Characters I absolutely love, btw. Helen is fantastic, and the Buffy-esque stuffs at play is the coolest things ever. Plus...Lord Carlston. *dreamy sigh* <span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">Smolder smolder, ship, </span><i style="font-family: Molengo; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">smolder smolder.</i><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The Anatomical Shape of a Heart</i> by Jenn Bennett | <a href="http://gillianeberry.blogspot.com/2016/03/review-anatomical-shape-of-heart-by.html" target="_blank">my review</a></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">HEART EYES, and not anatomical ones. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">This book is sort of instalove done right, in that I totally believe these crazy kids are in love despite how quickly it happens. THEY'RE SO CUTE I MELT. Such adorable banter and chemistry and SQUEEE. In addition to be a highly successful romance, TASoaH is also a sensitive portrayal of complicated families and mental illness. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">[six paragraphs of swooning over Jack redacted for the sake of my dignity]</span><br />
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<img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJhM-tAmfAqp91DkN1shLmPbfgC1ujPhD7Fqo7IJRnw4VsgGByga1-uktv3bYP0acJGZzZfJiTP8RBQ2PfFzDWecH-O90e7sfMkbwl8StM71lDkZNFbRu_ZbTtDDxnj47pcIqwCKvH_1JL/s400/28110143-2.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="265" /><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Furthermore</i> by Tahereh Mafi | <a href="http://gillianeberry.blogspot.com/2016/09/what-ive-been-reading-lately-ish.html" target="_blank">my review</a></span><br />
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I don't read a lot of middle grade but when I do it's middle grade like this. The writing is absolutely, eye-meltingly stupendous. I want to frame her words or tattoo them on me I swear. The imagery is so lush and the worldbuilding is charming and magnificently creative. But mostly Alice and Oliver as the most precious and plucky and complicated little MG heroes and joining on their adventures made my heart grow three sizes.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The Hating Game</i> by Sally Thorne</span><br />
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This book lit me on fire. It is so HOT and ROARINGLY HILARIOUS and SO ROMANTIC I DISSOLVED INTO A PUDDLE READING THIS. The best kiss scenes I have ever read are in this book and it is an absolute masterclass in sexual tension and banter and LIGHTING ME ON FIRE<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Written in Red</i> and <i>Murder of Crows</i> by Anne Bishop</span><br />
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Adult urban fantasy is a veeeery tricky thing for me, especially one with shifters (the whole bestiality kink thing honestly mostly freaks me out) but oh my god is this series AH-MAZING. The world building is so unique and different and not like any other urban fantasy I have tried (and failed). The ship is beyond slow burn to the point of agony but IT! IS! SO! TRUE!!!!! and Meg and Simon I will <i>follow you into the sun if that is what it takes</i> and basically I get all of zee feels with this series<br />
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<img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF7_gL3aK_n1Hu0zaLuM0j0HH3T007xj0aycaSPMMHSyfb3IKb6HM4MZI6vocou7L78Au6tRZ41REuNCrOPAH8kkFsjrCEVxs0nuhdu1gk5DGNVM0QRNRxl_jB-uvV95sNi1oHv2-JgBLh/s400/345660-2.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="242" /><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Summers at Castle Auburn</i> by Sharon Shinn | <a href="http://gillianeberry.blogspot.com/2016/06/reasons-to-read-summers-at-castle.html" target="_blank">my review</a></span><br />
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NEW. ALL. TIME. FAVORITE. This older classic is so glorious, so magical, so shippy, and so coforting that reading it felt like rereading an old fave from your childhood, like warm blankets and hot beverages and loved ones and comfy old armchairs and everything good and glorious and lovely and my love for this beautiful little fantasy novel knows no bounds<br />
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The works of Tessa Dare | <a href="http://gillianeberry.blogspot.com/2016/03/when-scot-ties-knot-or-when-grump-beats.html" target="_blank">my review-ish</a><br />
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My discovery of the wide world of historical romance began with a hard fall into Tessa Dare's side-splittingly hilarious Regency romances. I started with <i>When a Scot Ties the Knot</i>, which made me WEEP with laughter, and worked my way through the other two Castles Ever After books before sweeping through all the novels and novellas in her Spindle Cove series (save the latest one, which I plan to read very soon!) My personal faves were <i>Scot</i>, <i>Romancing the Duke, A Week to be Wicked</i> (possibly my fave of all) and <i>Any Duchess Will Do</i>.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>A Shadow Bright and Burning</i> by Jessica Cluess | <a href="http://gillianeberry.blogspot.com/2016/09/review-shadow-bright-and-burning-by.html" target="_blank">my review</a></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">Oh my god, these characters, and their beautiful banterelationships and my feeeeeels. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">THIS BOOK MADE ME SO HAPPY. It was everything my little heart wanted. I had such feelings about the characters like you would not BELIEVE. This was just a big delicious </span><i style="font-family: Molengo; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">fest</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "molengo"; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">, basically. Like TVM and TDDC, it's a historial (ish) fantasy full of ships and magic and pretty dresses and delightful dialogue. It's less historical historicalness than TDCC and more like TVM, where the focus is on the interpersonal relationships and epic plot twists and fun action times and healthy banter. I would follow the heroine, Henrietta Howel, to the ends of the earth. I CANNOT WAIT for the sequel! (And for my ship to sail) (I know what I'm about)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Up to This Pointe</i> by Jennifer Longo</span><br />
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One of my favorite contemporaries of the year. Harper's story made me feel SOME KINDA WAY. It was vivid, heartbreaking, funny, and fulfilling. Highly recommend.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The Raven King</i> by Maggie Stiefvater</span><br />
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I don't even know what to say about my love for this series (which is why I STILL haven't reviewed this despite reading it in April). THe Raven gang are some of my favorite fictional characters ever. They're barely fictional to me and I wept copiously for the last 100 pages of TRK as I felt EVERY POSSIBLE feeling and ughhhh I just miss my babies so much<br />
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Honorable mentions: <i>Rebel Magisters</i> by Shanna Swenson, <i>Truthwitch </i>by Susan Dennard, <i>Rebel of the Sands</i> by Alwyn Hamilton, <i>The Shadow Hour</i> by Melissa Grey, <i>The Rose and the Dagger</i> by Renee Ahdieh, <i>Neverseen</i> and <i>Lodestar</i> by Shannon Messenger for supermega feels reasons<br />
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GAH, I'm sure I've forgotten something, and I'm going to kick myself for it later, but this is a start at least!<br />
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EDIT: I FORGOT <i>CROOKED KINGDOM </i>OMFG I DONT DESERVE TO BLOG WTF GILLIAN<br />
<br />GillyBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622344092774777709noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932292247636823526.post-47994343419800399482016-12-20T03:25:00.000-05:002016-12-20T03:25:00.494-05:00Do You Review with Your Head or Your Heart?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The title of this post may sort of sound like the beginning of a cheesy country song, but this is actually a push and pull I struggle with a lot when it comes to rating and reviewing and MOST ESPECIALLY recommending.<br />
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Sometimes I read a book, and intellectually, I think it's stellar. Tidy writing, banging metaphors, deep and timely themes, impressive characters, award worthy whozits and whatsits galore. But I didn't get the FEELS. My brain went "oooh, yes" and my heart went "blerghhhhhhh."<br />
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Sometimes I read a book, and, intellectually, I see the flaws. The pacing flags. The worldbuilding is thin. I guessed the plot twists. BUT OH DEAR SWEET SHIPPIDY DOO DAH, DID I GET THE FEELS.<br />
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I'm usually the type of person who (if you haven't noticed in my last 800 blog posts and 100k tweets) tends to review on the FEELSY FEELS side. I recommend with my big squishy hheart. I give five stars for my emotional investment (and my capacity for emotional investment in fiction is sky high), and not so much for the craft/quality of the book. I weight the emotional aspects of reading more heavily. In other words, I am massively subjective when it comes to reviewing.<br />
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<img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjsyerS22yzpMyuvvpmp4uJMjcRErYcmVdxn9KrHQYk-9yRYREE5YScOGfTwGSF4EbbxeBN2wfguhoxZ751rPnGOGVlmvbR4jGcJ3wCNiWyIybwWfPi2jVahnR-xnLCWhl3SLzMhaMPrLx/s320/giphy-37.gif" style="text-align: center;" width="320" /><br />
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Sidebar: Reading is an inherently subjective act, since all fiction is bound to be filtered through the reader's feelings/experiences/viewpoints/etc on and on, but even within that, I'm extra super purposefully subjective. I can forgive basically any flaws if I care enough about the characters, and I have before.<br />
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But this is where things get TRICKY. Because what if you FIVE STAR GUSH GUSH THESE ARE MY FAVORITE FICTIONAL CINNAMON ROLLS KNOW THEM AND LOVE THEM push a book on someone...who DOESN'T read that way? Someone who, when they read that book, says "oh, yeah, the characters were nice, but the plot was very predictable, and the worldbuilding had no heft to it. It's at most a three stars."<br />
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*small break to cry readerly tears* *being a chronic Recommender of Things is a tough job, my friends*<br />
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That person, it seems, is most like a person who reviews with their heads. They are good at weighing all the elements of a story equally. In some ways, their reviews can be trusted more, since they're slightly less influenced by personal taste.<br />
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(Sidebar the second: My reviews, I will be the first admit, are ENTIRELY SKEWED towards people who like the same tropes, genres, and SHIPSSSSS as me. Like, I know you wonderful people. Most of you like the things I like, which is why you keep showing up in my little corner of the interwebs.)<br />
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Or maybe they're NOT a head reviewer type person (all reviewers have heads and hearts, you know what I mean). Maybe they're also a heart type, but their heart type things don't line up with your heart type things!! Because that's the danger with being a heart-type reviewer: there is NO GUARANTEE that the things in that book that set your heart aflame, and made it easy for you to overlook the flaws, will be the same things that make a fellow reader's heart go kaboom.<br />
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It's all so fraught, you guys.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">So, I want to know: do you review with your head or your heart? What do you do when those two things CLASH when it comes to a book?? Besides cry into the pages? Let me know!</span></b><br />
<br />GillyBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622344092774777709noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932292247636823526.post-82820177240764305022016-12-14T03:41:00.003-05:002016-12-14T18:11:07.423-05:00A Deluge of DNFs<br />
<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiunX1OfuEVEKcdwQ4yyijBtWtnwDS997LsOkYJtnypIy6EOjrtbgT6s_p9j090GcL7ovYBNHMPkclpGPnx-mI7a2ReSge7eZGhcDuTghqXNE4Sle-MFREzLvTjawAQDeHDMAU0I_M-eqrS/s320/28220892.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="214" /><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPr5CyTVYXiKLqzf_agLfl3rjWi8EJFfEA3weh2zNvgBC6lIyCE_3vZoKeWlIRF82JHe7J0R6ocxX4YEN-mddw-TgYDU_J-wbYB34hP7MHv6Z_2CWHXCMywuxFEoO57E2UApLznKJ7GX7C/s320/28260524.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="211" /><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil11HjGeAx67GWh1LsusLuKNcL5BTeiFU5RKbkYy57-J5zYNGoROXhHRvvSMGBjCe5iCMXpl1zV4KAxy1HTnJd-COzn2WAvD7SDt5AxOD1uZGC8W4kAQF2JRROvSEgW1d_e5po-xppqtQr/s320/28512629.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="211" /><br />
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I'm woefully behind in reviews, so here are some DNFs from all the way back in September (oof, Gillian). SLOWLY BUT SURELY, I WILL CATCH UP. Ish. Kinda.<br />
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<i>Vassa in the Night</i> by Sarah Porter<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28220892-vassa-in-the-night?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">Goodreads</a><br />
Length: 296 pages<br />
Publisher: Tor Teen<br />
Release Date: September 20th, 2016<br />
Source: ARC from the publisher<br />
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<i><span style="color: #351c75;">In the enchanted kingdom of Brooklyn, the fashionable people put on cute shoes, go to parties in warehouses, drink on rooftops at sunset, and tell themselves they’ve arrived. A whole lot of Brooklyn is like that now—but not Vassa’s working-class neighborhood.<br /><br />In Vassa’s neighborhood, where she lives with her stepmother and bickering stepsisters, one might stumble onto magic, but stumbling away again could become an issue. Babs Yagg, the owner of the local convenience store, has a policy of beheading shoplifters—and sometimes innocent shoppers as well. So when Vassa’s stepsister sends her out for light bulbs in the middle of night, she knows it could easily become a suicide mission.<br /><br />But Vassa has a bit of luck hidden in her pocket, a gift from her dead mother. Erg is a tough-talking wooden doll with sticky fingers, a bottomless stomach, and a ferocious cunning. With Erg’s help, Vassa just might be able to break the witch’s curse and free her Brooklyn neighborhood. But Babs won’t be playing fair…</span></i><br />
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I think this book is probably really good, but I could tell almost immeditely this was noooot going to be a Gillian read. The writing is gorgeous, the atmosphere vivid, the imagery original, but holy shit is this book way too weird for me. I want to be the kind of person who likes WTF books--sometimes I worry that I love commercial fiction too much and need to branch out (I don't, commerical fiction is the best, I AM A BASIC BITCH)*-- but oh boy, with a few exceptions, I generally can't do weird on this level. Like, it's not the pseudo-magical realism aspects of the fantasy that got me. I can roll with a supermarket on chicken legs, no problem. But the plot...I have no idea wtf is going on, who to root for, do I ship, what drugs are we on, WHAT IS HAPPENING, abort abort, not for meeeee<br />
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*my god can I go on tangents<br />
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPr5CyTVYXiKLqzf_agLfl3rjWi8EJFfEA3weh2zNvgBC6lIyCE_3vZoKeWlIRF82JHe7J0R6ocxX4YEN-mddw-TgYDU_J-wbYB34hP7MHv6Z_2CWHXCMywuxFEoO57E2UApLznKJ7GX7C/s1600/28260524.jpg" style="text-align: center;" /><br />
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Stealing Snow by Danielle Paige<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28260524-stealing-snow?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">Goodreads</a><br />
Length: 375 pages<br />
Publisher: Bloomsbury<br />
Release Date: September 20th, 2016<br />
Source: ARC from the publisher<br />
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<i><span style="color: #351c75;">First kisses sometimes wake slumbering princesses, undo spells, and spark happily ever afters.<br /><br />Mine broke Bale.<br /><br />Seventeen-year-old Snow has spent her life locked in Whittaker Psychiatric—but she isn’t crazy. And that’s not the worst of it. Her very first kiss proves anything but innocent…when Bale, her only love, turns violent.<br /><br />Despite Snow knowing that Bale would never truly hurt her, he is taken away—dashing her last hope for any sort of future in the mental ward she calls home. With nowhere else to turn, Snow finds herself drawn to a strange new orderly who whispers secrets in the night about a mysterious past and a kingdom that’s hers for the taking—if only she can find her way past the iron gates to the Tree that has been haunting her dreams.<br /><br />Beyond the Tree lies Algid, a land far away from the real world, frozen by a ruthless king. And there too await the River Witch, a village boy named Kai, the charming thief Jagger, and a prophecy that Snow will save them all.</span></i><br />
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Hooooo boy.<br />
<br />
I'm just going list my grievances in a mad word rush because god, no: The asylum setting is beyond ridiculously unrealistic and utterly boring, I can see bad mental health rep coming from a mile away, if you walked into a mirror the mirror would shatter and you may get cut but you caN'T WALK THROUGH MIRRORS SO YOU WON'T BE ENTIRELY DISFIGURED WITH SCARS, stiff dry writing, her "true love" with broody Bale is the most boring thing in the world, I'm sure he's not end game, but it's literally ALL HER CHARACTER THINKS ABOUT AND IT'S SO BORING, what even <i>is</i> a Bale what is he <i>like</i> what does he <i>do,</i> same goes for Snow, and just.....*slow sad deflating noise*<br />
<br />
Cliche overload. It's like she fed Alice in Wonderland, the Snow Queen, Snow White, Narnia, and YA madlibs into a blender and then just kind of poured it out and said THERE YOU GO.<br />
<br />
I didn't even make it to the part where this book becomes a snowy fantasy magicstravaganza. I gave up when the second of the cabal of male love interests arrived and introduced himself as Jagger, thereby ensuring that I sing Maroon 5 in my head for the REST OF ETERNITY, which was so rude I had to DNF on the spot.<br />
<br />
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil11HjGeAx67GWh1LsusLuKNcL5BTeiFU5RKbkYy57-J5zYNGoROXhHRvvSMGBjCe5iCMXpl1zV4KAxy1HTnJd-COzn2WAvD7SDt5AxOD1uZGC8W4kAQF2JRROvSEgW1d_e5po-xppqtQr/s1600/28512629.jpg" style="text-align: center;" /><br />
<br />
<i>Diplomatic Immunity</i> by Brodi Ashton<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28512629-diplomatic-immunity?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">Goodreads</a><br />
<div>
Length: 368 pages<br />
Publisher: Balzer + Bray (HarperCollins)<br />
Release Date: September 6th, 2016<br />
Source: e-ARC via Edelweiss</div>
<div>
<br />
<i><span style="color: #351c75;">Aspiring reporter Piper Baird decides to write a scathing exposé on the overprivileged students at an elite Washington, DC, school, only for her life to change when she begins to fall for the story's main subject, in this new realistic contemporary romance from Brodi Ashton, the author of the Everneath trilogy.<br /><br />Raucous parties, privileged attitudes, underage drinking, and diplomatic immunity...it’s all part of student life on Embassy Row.<br /><br />Piper Baird has always dreamed of becoming a journalist. So when she scores a scholarship to exclusive Chiswick Academy in Washington, DC, she knows it’s her big opportunity. Chiswick offers the country’s most competitive prize for teen journalists—the Bennington scholarship—and winning will ensure her acceptance to one of the best schools in the country.<br /><br />Piper isn’t at Chiswick for two days before she witnesses the intense competition in the journalism program—and the extreme privilege of the young and wealthy elite who attend her school. And Piper knows access to these untouchable students just might give her the edge she’ll need to blow the lid off life at the school in a scathing and unforgettable exposé worthy of the Bennington.<br /><br />The key to the whole story lies with Rafael Amador, the son of the Spanish ambassador—and the boy at the center of the most explosive secrets and scandals on Embassy Row. Rafael is big trouble—and when he drops into her bedroom window one night, asking for help, it’s Piper’s chance to get the full scoop. But as they spend time together, Piper discovers that despite his dark streak, Rafael is smart, kind, funny, and gorgeous—and she might have real feelings for him. How can she break the story of a lifetime if it could destroy the boy she just might love?</span></i><br />
<br />
Omg. No. What happened? I really liked Ashton's debut series, <i>Everneath,</i> and hear <i>My Lady Jane</i> is nothing short of a delight, so when I heard Ashton was writing a contemp romance in the vein of <i>Anna and the French Kiss</i>, I was super excited. But no, oh my god, no, no thank you, no gracias, and goodnight.<br />
<br />
The voice of the MC really grated on me, and while I loved the setup of her family situation (money troubles, job troubles, new school with lots of rich kids) and kinda wish the book had chosen to focus on that, I could NOT with Piper herself. She wants to be a journalist, but oh dear god, she is the worst journalist in history. Yes, she's seventeen, but GIRL, oh my god. Also, I just know this is going to be one of those books where the MC is lying about A THING and that THING builds up unil I'm a total wreck of stress waiting for that house of cards to come inevitably crashing down on her head and <i>I am just not strong enough for those books, you guys. </i><strike>And please stop kissing in the middle of the street I get he is cute but those are CARS they will HIT YOU I am too old for this</strike><br />
<i><br /></i>
I just didn't find Piper endearinginly or funnily awkward--just awkward. I noped out real fast, aka in the first scene where she meets her love interest by FALLING AND RIPPING HER JEANS RIGHT DOWN THE FRONT and guYS noooo my second hand embarrassment.<br />
<br />
The moment we learned the love interest--the son of the Spanish Ambassador<strike> Pepito</strike>--is named <i>Rafael</i> bloody <i>Amador</i>, I was done. He was so clearly being fetishized (my family is Spanish, I'm not here for this latin lover bullshit) and his name is AMADOR. AMADOR. WHICH MEANS LOVER IN SPANISH.<br />
<br />
Adios para siempre.<br />
<br /></div>
GillyBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622344092774777709noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932292247636823526.post-56274394140979596112016-12-13T04:24:00.000-05:002016-12-13T19:02:38.994-05:00The Shippy Awards 2016: The Winners!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcoMyrUmZUT_NWA8MaesbWwtGTkD9u3KbCmPfe9I5-YyFlgUg1fqTFYv18AV9ojVmcz19gl2ECFnK2pbXKBTJ47Q_2maeii57pZ4K2UQvTIgb4a8AXeBFIfDCNMqlPx9PfbOXGoZp916b7/s1600/shippy+awards+banner+transparent.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcoMyrUmZUT_NWA8MaesbWwtGTkD9u3KbCmPfe9I5-YyFlgUg1fqTFYv18AV9ojVmcz19gl2ECFnK2pbXKBTJ47Q_2maeii57pZ4K2UQvTIgb4a8AXeBFIfDCNMqlPx9PfbOXGoZp916b7/s640/shippy+awards+banner+transparent.png" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
THE SHIPS HAVE FOUGHT. The ships have battled. Some ships have sunk, others have risen victoriously, cresting waves and zooming along tides and doing other improbably nautical things, since I am not a sailor. But only the most seaworthy ships have survived the journey. DID YOU FAVORITES MAKE IT TO THE END?<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>I hope so, or this will be very depressing. ANYWAY. Thank you to everyone who voted in the last round! An absolutely staggering number of you turned out to support your OTPs and NOTPs alike, and I'm so thrilled and also honored. I love that so many of you actually enjoy partaking in my funny little reindeer games. You truly are my reindeer! People! Whichever, let's have some eggnog and toast the winners.<br />
<br />
The winning ships have earned one of THESE magnificent magnificents:<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiirtzk8FO1Edso14FT4HY-l6fEFcd5QYkh9XZRj5XMsWdJISeC28FZy33VC3mIMmpaX05xX63Ns1jTQGkZUE-HvBtKByGuCvAJ8PtobZIrqsTuw_6OD2U8p4Jm0ClYv_b9z1aRW9EAXcjI/s1600/shippy+2016.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiirtzk8FO1Edso14FT4HY-l6fEFcd5QYkh9XZRj5XMsWdJISeC28FZy33VC3mIMmpaX05xX63Ns1jTQGkZUE-HvBtKByGuCvAJ8PtobZIrqsTuw_6OD2U8p4Jm0ClYv_b9z1aRW9EAXcjI/s400/shippy+2016.png" width="339" /></a><br />
<br />
A SHIPPY! Why yes, that is a drawing of a trophy that does not exist. IT IS THE MOST COVETED MADE UP TROPHY IN THE UNIVERSE. <br />
<br />
AND NOW, LET US ANNOUNCE THE WINNERS OF THIS GLORIOUS DRAWING OF A TROPHY THAT DOES NOT EXIST!<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: x-large;">Ultimate Ship Honors</span></b><br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Best Ship of the Year</span></b><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuN8d2n-HzgnpBKg7VInoPuk7tvQBjMRvDhxuBZh00KkVQOxZ8vlmmxtc2bqoapOIFW7heaLL6xYFQzfkvprB-10fMgXs4-2s9OIzKnktkdzS0mbgAlTzbCt3tfQc-UDH8r5eHrCwXs7j8/s1600/17927395-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuN8d2n-HzgnpBKg7VInoPuk7tvQBjMRvDhxuBZh00KkVQOxZ8vlmmxtc2bqoapOIFW7heaLL6xYFQzfkvprB-10fMgXs4-2s9OIzKnktkdzS0mbgAlTzbCt3tfQc-UDH8r5eHrCwXs7j8/s320/17927395-2.jpg" width="210" /></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Feyre and Rhysand from <i>A Court of Mist and Fury</i> by Sarah J. Maas with 40.4% of the vote</span><br />
<br />
Runners up: Kaz and Inej from <i>Crooked Kingdom</i> by Leigh Bardugo, with 22.2% of the vote<br />
<br />
This was by far the most highly voted category, but as you can see, one ship rather ran away with the competition.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Shippiest Book</span></b><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuN8d2n-HzgnpBKg7VInoPuk7tvQBjMRvDhxuBZh00KkVQOxZ8vlmmxtc2bqoapOIFW7heaLL6xYFQzfkvprB-10fMgXs4-2s9OIzKnktkdzS0mbgAlTzbCt3tfQc-UDH8r5eHrCwXs7j8/s1600/17927395-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuN8d2n-HzgnpBKg7VInoPuk7tvQBjMRvDhxuBZh00KkVQOxZ8vlmmxtc2bqoapOIFW7heaLL6xYFQzfkvprB-10fMgXs4-2s9OIzKnktkdzS0mbgAlTzbCt3tfQc-UDH8r5eHrCwXs7j8/s320/17927395-2.jpg" width="210" /></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>A Court of Mist and Fury</i> by Sarah J. Maas with 37.7% of the vote</span><br />
<br />
Runner up: <i>Crooked Kingdom</i> by Leigh Bardugo with 37.2% of the vote<br />
<br />
(Are you sensing a pattern/theme-ish thing? Get used to this pattern/theme-ish thing.)<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Best Author of Ships</span></b><br />
<br />
<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghUvw7G4fvujlnPRHucJsEDfjLRJcGCWa7BdaUZpOe-jarcuWKs0Ggao_-OD4v-ae-X1fvoXh7b-fnDevggcUlok648RmRG6r79bzhPTPMmGdQTwCNEKT3950PEQLbvoRSB_WOZ2XUv9WS/s320/22299763-3.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="210" /><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Leigh Bardugo with 36.3% of the vote</span><br />
<br />
Runner up: Sarah J. Maas with 32% of the vote<br />
<br />
AND THE PATTERN/THEME-ISH THING REVERSES! Still the same general pattern-ish pattern, though.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Best Debut Ship</span></b><br />
<br />
<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLdQ38nKpn8_mdxkq3D5c9d2QsrsbkdKT5bg46Y31MGO7p6RcjKkpJXzRNrr634Q76NKV3gwSSGg0wmetpgpTf0tutJKQoiV3aC5L7b5loeGVrkk2tP1fJdO4TDmLQXBaCswxOm-53uX0R/s320/25760792-3.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="207" /><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Danny and Colton from <i>Timekeeper</i> by Tara Sim with 15% of the vote</span><br />
<br />
Runner up: Lucy and Josh from <i>The Hating Game</i> by Sally Thorne<br />
<br />
The closest of all the races! For perspective, third place (a tie between Henrietta and Blackwood from <i>A Shadow Bright and Burning </i>and Maya and Amar from <i>The Star-Touched Queen</i>) were tied at 13.9%. NECK AND NECK IN THE DEBUT RACE.<br />
<div>
<br />
<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Best QUILTBAG+ Ship</span></b><br />
<br />
<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghUvw7G4fvujlnPRHucJsEDfjLRJcGCWa7BdaUZpOe-jarcuWKs0Ggao_-OD4v-ae-X1fvoXh7b-fnDevggcUlok648RmRG6r79bzhPTPMmGdQTwCNEKT3950PEQLbvoRSB_WOZ2XUv9WS/s320/22299763-3.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="210" /><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Wylan and Jesper from Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo with 37.3% of the vote</span><br />
<br />
Runners up: Adam and Ronan from The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater with 34.7%<br />
<br />
Another VERY tight race, at least between the top two. They fairly decimated the rest of their competition, but the lead was exchanged multiple times.<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<br />
<span style="color: #351c75; font-size: x-large;"><b>What Makes a Ship</b></span><br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Hottest Hook Up</span></b><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuN8d2n-HzgnpBKg7VInoPuk7tvQBjMRvDhxuBZh00KkVQOxZ8vlmmxtc2bqoapOIFW7heaLL6xYFQzfkvprB-10fMgXs4-2s9OIzKnktkdzS0mbgAlTzbCt3tfQc-UDH8r5eHrCwXs7j8/s1600/17927395-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuN8d2n-HzgnpBKg7VInoPuk7tvQBjMRvDhxuBZh00KkVQOxZ8vlmmxtc2bqoapOIFW7heaLL6xYFQzfkvprB-10fMgXs4-2s9OIzKnktkdzS0mbgAlTzbCt3tfQc-UDH8r5eHrCwXs7j8/s320/17927395-2.jpg" width="210" /></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>A Court of Mist and Fury</i> by Sarah J. Maas with 49%</span><br />
<br />
Runner up: <i>The Hating Game</i> by Sally Thorne with 19.3%<br />
<br />
Yeah, there really was no stopping the winner of this one. Feysand finishes strong.<br />
<br />
snerk<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Best Kiss</span></b><br />
<br />
<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj8bMuuXbtkYKIjeCPz_DmTCws7sXvOn_LETyBmwjMH7bKLsGYoptxonH1y2r94mgy0WjES9oWU-b84vFPimIXoMX8RsMZ7OX8HmBQsZnA7p238gbstsUsX5OyLh-KzM0zx1jq1NcjEeq1/s320/The_Raven_King_Cover_Official.jpeg" style="text-align: center;" width="211" /><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The Raven King</i> by Maggie Stiefvater with 29.7%</span><br />
<br />
Runner up: <i>Crooked Kingdom</i> by Leigh Bardugo with 20.9%<br />
<br />
It is a truth universally acknowledged that if two super cute boys make out, the shippy people of the interwebs are going to vote for it.<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<br />
<span style="color: #351c75; font-size: x-large;"><b>Tropes</b></span><br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Best “I Hate Your Face But Also I Want to Smash It Against Mine”</span></b><br />
<br />
<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQFRc7pgdb_uja-7JJZiPrrW31w-S0mO0bploHKgsGIqakwXqupDLS6l0y6gJZj3deQ6H9n4QRsuq6od1yEk_mQ9ygMHn_Sq-s2Xhq69Gr5NhLuW_oGgojB0oebEvP_KETbYWElClSKI7R/s320/25883848-2.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="212" /><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Lucy and Josh from <i>The Hating Game</i> by Sally Thorne with 31.2%</span><br />
<br />
Runners up: Elide and Lorcan from <i>Empire of Storms</i> by Sarah J. Maas with 29.2%<br />
<br />
Elide and Lorcan were leading for most of the race, but the Lucy/Josh lovers really came on strong at the end and there is no way for these things not to sound dirty<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Best “Friends to Lovers”</span></b><br />
<br />
<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghUvw7G4fvujlnPRHucJsEDfjLRJcGCWa7BdaUZpOe-jarcuWKs0Ggao_-OD4v-ae-X1fvoXh7b-fnDevggcUlok648RmRG6r79bzhPTPMmGdQTwCNEKT3950PEQLbvoRSB_WOZ2XUv9WS/s320/22299763-3.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="210" /><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Kaz and Inej from Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo with 34.4%</span><br />
<br />
Runners Up: Ronan and Adam from The Raven King with 19.5%<br />
<br />
<i>Baes.</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Best “JUST KISS ALREADY”</span></b><br />
<br />
<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghUvw7G4fvujlnPRHucJsEDfjLRJcGCWa7BdaUZpOe-jarcuWKs0Ggao_-OD4v-ae-X1fvoXh7b-fnDevggcUlok648RmRG6r79bzhPTPMmGdQTwCNEKT3950PEQLbvoRSB_WOZ2XUv9WS/s320/22299763-3.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="210" /><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Kaz and Inej from <i>Crooked Kingdom</i> by Leigh Bardugo with 29.4% </span><br />
<br />
Runners up: a THREE WAY TIE between Ronan/Adam and Blue/Gansey (you trolls) from <i>The Raven King</i> by Maggie Stiefvater and Jesper and Wylan from <i>Crooked Kingdom</i> by Leigh Bardugo with 11.8 %.<br />
<br />
LOOK KAZ AND INEJ HAVE VERY SOLID REASONS FOR WITHOLDING THE MASHING OF ZEE LIPS but also dear god my precious tortured babies love each other <i>love each other</i><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #351c75; font-size: x-large;"><b>Genres</b></span><br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Best Fantasy Ship</span></b><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuN8d2n-HzgnpBKg7VInoPuk7tvQBjMRvDhxuBZh00KkVQOxZ8vlmmxtc2bqoapOIFW7heaLL6xYFQzfkvprB-10fMgXs4-2s9OIzKnktkdzS0mbgAlTzbCt3tfQc-UDH8r5eHrCwXs7j8/s1600/17927395-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuN8d2n-HzgnpBKg7VInoPuk7tvQBjMRvDhxuBZh00KkVQOxZ8vlmmxtc2bqoapOIFW7heaLL6xYFQzfkvprB-10fMgXs4-2s9OIzKnktkdzS0mbgAlTzbCt3tfQc-UDH8r5eHrCwXs7j8/s320/17927395-2.jpg" width="210" /></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Feyre and Rhysand from <i>A Court of Mist and Fury</i> by Sarah J. Maas with 40%</span><br />
<br />
Runners up: Kaz and Inej from <i>Crooked Kingdom</i> by Leigh Bardugo with 38.3%<br />
<br />
Another category with an ABSURD number of votes. This one was such a whirlwhind to watch, oh man. Feysand took an early lead--a HUGE one--but then Team Kaz/Inej came LEAPING up from behind to overtake them, but then in the late hours, Feysand just could not be beat.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Best Contemporary Ship</span></b><br />
<br />
<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhprZVdkyBKMjDdALS_wyQhwo9tYvIGSthYusIWp-Wc6K2ueVRNTIbtpMfIqmTVoN93g04F0iBI2X_p7-QcSK9dNbjha5sI_GpsxIuuT48OeZl2x2CuuJ_Zux3D5KyqSRIvq3eSgkFYkRVN/s320/17838528-2.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="212" /><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Andie and Clark from <i>The Unexpected Everything</i> by Morgan Matson with 21%</span><br />
<br />
Runners up: Lily and Cade from <i>P.S. I Like You</i> by Kasie West with 19.4%<br />
<br />
The tightest race after the razor-close debut BATTLE OF DEATH. Third place (Lucy and Josh from <i>The Hating Game)</i> had 18.3%, and really, all six categories had at least 11% of the vote.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Best Paranormal Ship</span></b><br />
<br />
<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj8bMuuXbtkYKIjeCPz_DmTCws7sXvOn_LETyBmwjMH7bKLsGYoptxonH1y2r94mgy0WjES9oWU-b84vFPimIXoMX8RsMZ7OX8HmBQsZnA7p238gbstsUsX5OyLh-KzM0zx1jq1NcjEeq1/s320/The_Raven_King_Cover_Official.jpeg" style="text-align: center;" width="211" /><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Ronan and Adam from <i>The Raven King</i> by Maggie Stiefvater with 26.6%</span><br />
<br />
Runners up: Blue and Gansey from <i>The Raven King</i> with 24.5%<br />
<br />
Oo, this was a close one. The two Raven Ships battled it out for ultimate supremacy, trading leads and cutting each other off at the pass, but in the end, Ronan Lynch refuses to lose any kind of race.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Best Science Fiction Ship</span></b><br />
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<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwRQ_c_bx6g-V_YD_GAgDcTy1S_SIg3OZwzv5hzv0kAmjaM7SM1PyV9wCWDn2AQwMKTd41TP7sHek-fs666MzN60O3u0u0Pdrt-SkacxssLcLDO-tY5BQ5PihHRrLqdo_Y1F9n3Zvdb_U0/s320/StarsAbove-2.jpg" style="text-align: center;" width="212" /><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Cress and Thorne from <i>Stars Above</i> by Marissa Meyer with 37.7%</span><br />
<br />
Runners up: Cas and Swift from <i>The Abyss Surrounds Us</i> by Emily Skrutskie with 19% of the vote<br />
<br />
Cress and Thorne barely even starred in a book this year, and yet such is the power of their love that they are the first repeat winners of a Shippy Award, having dominated last year's Best Sci Fi Ship category! Thorne expected no less, I am sure. <br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-size: x-large;"><b>Fun With Ships</b></span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Most Un-Ship</span></b><br />
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We have an absolute dead tie down to the vote count for two SJM ships:<br />
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<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuN8d2n-HzgnpBKg7VInoPuk7tvQBjMRvDhxuBZh00KkVQOxZ8vlmmxtc2bqoapOIFW7heaLL6xYFQzfkvprB-10fMgXs4-2s9OIzKnktkdzS0mbgAlTzbCt3tfQc-UDH8r5eHrCwXs7j8/s320/17927395-2.jpg" width="210" /><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIFROaUgVnQrbSVemx94sqamosV-w4BSD5Y1GuInfiExfy2qPhV-2Xs6AkO_R6huWpL-3iubYoX6x2Ddf5bTCxAaz4M2RdPxdhGr6wLiJD-SfcQBGOX_Jz7M6AxV6v5IcWFzKDc5WNjASV/s320/EOS-Cover-3.png" style="text-align: center;" width="210" /><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Dorian and Manon from <i>Empire of Storms</i> by Sarah J. Maas</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Feyre and Tamlin from <i>A Court of Mist and Fury </i>by Sarah J. Mass</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">each with 32.8%</span><br />
<br />
Runners up: Aelin and Rowan from <i>Empire of Storms</i> by Sarah J. Maas with 14.9%<br />
<br />
WELL.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Best Crackship</span></b><br />
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<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIFROaUgVnQrbSVemx94sqamosV-w4BSD5Y1GuInfiExfy2qPhV-2Xs6AkO_R6huWpL-3iubYoX6x2Ddf5bTCxAaz4M2RdPxdhGr6wLiJD-SfcQBGOX_Jz7M6AxV6v5IcWFzKDc5WNjASV/s320/EOS-Cover-3.png" style="text-align: center;" width="210" /><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Dorian and Chaol from <i>Empire of Storms</i> (kind of, sorry Chaol) with 31.2%</span><br />
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Runners up: Manon and Asterin from <i>Empire of Storms</i> by Sarah J. Maas with 18.1%<br />
<br />
AND THE STUCKY OF YA CONTINUES ITS REIGN, netting the second repeat Shippy of tonight's broadcast! TBH, I consider both of these ships completely canon, so honestly, what are they doing in this category<br />
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Best Friendship</span></b><br />
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<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj8bMuuXbtkYKIjeCPz_DmTCws7sXvOn_LETyBmwjMH7bKLsGYoptxonH1y2r94mgy0WjES9oWU-b84vFPimIXoMX8RsMZ7OX8HmBQsZnA7p238gbstsUsX5OyLh-KzM0zx1jq1NcjEeq1/s320/The_Raven_King_Cover_Official.jpeg" style="text-align: center;" width="211" /><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Raven Gang from <i>The Raven King</i> by Maggie Stiefvater with 25.2%</span><br />
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Runners up: Nina and Inej from <i>Crooked Kingdom</i> by Leigh Bardugo with 19.5%<br />
<br />
*Gathers all my beautiful friendships in a big beautiful squishy hug*<br />
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<b><br /><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Best Adaptation Ship</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Bellamy and Clarke from <i>The 100</i> with 48.5%</span><br />
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Runners up: Claire and Jamie from <i>Outlander</i> with 32.4%<br />
<br />
And everything is right in the world.<br />
<br />
<br />
THANKS FOR TUNING IN, my lovely shippy people! I'm sorry if your faves lost, but they are still good ships, Brent, and just for the hell of it I'm giving all of THEM made up trophies too! Only the winners get the full bragging rights, though, and a special PLAQUE on their SPECIAL (DRAWINGS OF) TROPHIES<br />
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Ship long and prosper *hugs for all*</div>
GillyBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622344092774777709noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932292247636823526.post-67183453556177544552016-12-09T19:51:00.000-05:002016-12-09T19:51:01.557-05:00Monthly Recap: November 2016<br />
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<br />
.....why, Gillian? Why are you making us relive November? I THOUGHT WE WEREN'T GOING TO TALK ABOUT NOVEMBER.<br />
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October was an absolutely appalling reading month for me, but I was determined to do better in November. Then, of course, THE APOCALYPSE happened, and...well. But I did actually read more this month than the month before (not difficult), and some of those books I even loved! TAKE THAT, NOVEMBER, YOU BIG STEAMING PILE OF HATRED AND POO.<br />
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<i>Frostblood</i> by Elly Blake<br />
<i>Of Fire and Stars </i>by Audrey Coulthurst | <a href="http://gillianeberry.blogspot.com/2016/12/review-of-fire-and-stars-by-audrey.html" target="_blank">my review</a><br />
<i>Lodestar</i> by Shannon Messenger<br />
skim-ish reread for comfort: <i>Bloodlines</i> series by Richelle Mead (when I'm stressed, I hang out with my favorite ships, and Sydrian was calling me)<br />
<i>A Darkly Beating Heart</i> by Lindsay Smith | <a href="http://gillianeberry.blogspot.com/2016/11/what-ive-been-reading-lately.html" target="_blank">my review</a><br />
<i>Beast</i> by Brie Spangler | <a href="http://gillianeberry.blogspot.com/2016/11/what-ive-been-reading-lately.html" target="_blank">my review</a><br />
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I ALWAYS FORGET WHAT I READ I REALLY NEED TO START WRITING THIS SHIT DOWN<br />
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<b><i>Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life</i></b><br />
SO, THAT HAPPENED. I have many THOUGHTS of course and lots of FEELINGS but I must say I had a grand old time watching it the day it dropped. I live on the West Coast, so I really wanted to stay up until 12:01 and watch it the moment it went up on Netflix, but Thanksgiving driving and baking and socializing exhausted me, so I watched it first thing the next morning. I made coffee and crawled into bed with my leftover pie, some mac n' cheese, and my laptop, and I didn't move for six hours (except to reheat my coffee/mac 'n cheese/fetch more pie) in true Gilmore style.<br />
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<b><i>Moana</i></b><br />
More about that below because I lurved it!<br />
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NOTHING</div>
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I AM A BOOKSTAGRAM FAILURE</div>
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To be fair, my house was a mess of boxes for like three weeks and that is not photogenic but still, bad blogger, <i>bad</i></div>
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Keep moving, nothing to see here, literally, <i>I am made of fail</i><br />
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<br />
<b><i>Unpacked boxes, set up house, DID ALL THE THINGS</i></b><br />
My house looks like a house! Lots of life thingies and adult doodads<br />
<br />
<b><i>Brought out all my holiday decorations!</i></b><br />
I am a direct descendant of Cindy Lou Who, so I reeeeally get into the spirit<br />
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<b><i>Thanksgiving</i></b><br />
I had a really love Thanksgiving, which was a bright spot in a month of poo. I made the desserts, which just so happened to be caramel pumpkin pie, brown sugar tart, cinnamon ice cream, and the favorite of the table: apple sorbet. Mmmmmmm. Happy leftovers were happy (there was no leftover ice cream or sorbet, tragically.)<br />
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<b><i>NaNoWriMo</i></b><br />
Well. Ish. Because of the global November blues, I only managed to churn out 10k on my WIP. The good news is, I was doing a NaNo CHEATY CHEAT, and starting with a WIP that was already at 40k. SO TECHNICALLY I HIT 50k WORDS. IT IS A NOVEMBER MIRACLE and it all happened in the final hours of the month. I think I'm back in the creative swing of things, and ye old WIP is chuggin' along at about 54k now. YOU CAN DO IT, LITTLE WIP!<br />
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<b><i>Stress ate because November was the grade A worst</i></b><br />
*pulls you all in for a group hug* *gives you apple sorbet and brown sugar tart*<br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
<b><i>Saw </i>Moana</b><br />
AND IT WAS SO GOOOOD<br />
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<b><i>SHIPPED</i></b><br />
The Shippy Awards are here! So I spent a lot of time putting that together and thinking about my fave ships this year. Plus I read some super shippy things this month, including <i>Frostblood</i> (new ship!!! SO SHIP!!!) and <i>Lodestar</i> which oh god save me I ship that damn middle grade ship so much if they don't become canon I will QUITE POSSIBLY PHYSICALLY CEASE TO BE I'll just evaporate I swear<br />
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<b><i>This month's blog posts:</i></b><br />
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<a href="http://gillianeberry.blogspot.com/2016/11/what-ive-been-reading-lately.html" target="_blank">What I've Been Reading Lately</a><br />
<a href="http://gillianeberry.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-shippy-awards-2016-voting-round.html" target="_blank">The Shippy Awards 2016: Voting Round</a> (STILL OPEN, GO VOTE!)<br />
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<b><i>Moana</i></b><br />
AHHHHHH! I loved it so much! Lin's songs were MAGIC and I have been singing Moana's songs in my head (and not in my head, my dog is very distressed) nonstop for the last two days. The animation was gorgeous and Moana is the hero we deserve. Plus it was super funny and the Rock was a delight. It was a bit heavyhanded with the message but honestly, I loved Moana so much and could watch that animation all day and THE MUSICCCC (minus that "Shiny" song, sorry Lin) and I am a happy Disneyphile<br />
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<b><i>Hamilton Mixtape</i></b><br />
WHAT DID WE DO TO DESERVE SUCH BOUNTY?? Oh, right. We survived November 2016. And months January through October 2016.<br />
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<b><i>Pentatonix Christmas</i></b><br />
I've loved Pentatonix since they were on <i>The Sing-Off</i> way back when because I am a Pentatonix hipster. I am BEYOND OBSESSED with all of their Christmas songs/albums and basically, treat yoself to some gorgeousness and give this a listen:<br />
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<br />GillyBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622344092774777709noreply@blogger.com2